The Fourth Sanctuary
“Guess we gotta bust our way through, huh?” Rainbow asked with a grin.
“Guess so!” Twilight said, her horn charging up as she fired bolts of magic at several of the penguins, knocking them over. Rainbow flew over the ice spires and landed between two of them, dodging one’s spear and bucking the bird behind her before swinging her hoof up to deck the one in front of her. Rarity focused her magic on a chunk of ice, lifting it off the ground and flinging it at another penguin, smashing him into the wall of the mountainside.
“Well that wasn’t too hard,” Rainbow said with a smirk. As soon as the words left her mouth, however, a sliding sound was heard and three more penguins belly-slid down the side of the mountain towards them, ramming the three of them and sending them tumbling backwards into the snow.
“Okay… that hurt,” Rainbow muttered, getting up and grunting in pain as the penguins stood up, waddling towards them with glowing green eyes and armed with ice spears, prompting a laugh from Rainbow.
“You know, when you’re outta your element you’re kinda silly-lookin’!” the pegasus said, flying around them swiftly and causing a snowy whirlwind to scoop them all up, sending them flying in random directions. “OH YEAH, who’s the coolest pony? That’d be ME!” Rainbow said with a cheer.
“Don’t kill yourself with your pride, Rainbow,” Twilight said. “Let’s try and get into the cave, before more of them show up.”
“Right,” the pegasus said. As they advanced, however, the winds grew stronger again, and more ice spires began to form.
“Allow me!” Twilight said with a smirk, firing magic blasts again to blow up the spires in their way. However, as she did, more formed, circling around them and drawing ever closer to impaling them.
“Rarity!” Rainbow scooped up her friend and flew out of the circle while Twilight teleported herself outside.
“Thank you,” Rarity said, catching her breath. “We’d best find this penguin leader fast, before things get colder. We unicorns aren’t as good at acclimating to cold weather as you pegasi are, I’m afraid.”
A rumble was heard, and the three looked behind them as the ice spires became a giant mouthlike structure that advanced on them rapidly.
“INSIDE! NOW!” Twilight shouted, and the three galloped into the mouth of the cave as quickly as they could, ice covering the entrance behind them.
“Whoa,” Twilight muttered as she looked around. The entire inside of the cave was lined in shining, smooth ice. The unicorn would have thought it beautiful had it not been caused by a threat to Canterlot’s well-being. Cold winds gently blew towards them, causing Twilight and Rarity to shiver and prompting Rainbow Dash to lead.
“Careful, the ground’s slippery,” Rainbow said, flying over it as the two unicorns walked as carefully as they could.
“Oh my goodness… look!” Rarity said, pointing around them with her hoof. All around were the royal guards of Canterlot, all encased in ice and put on display like statues.
“We have to stop him. The longer they stay this way,” Rainbow began. “Well… come on!” she said, flying ahead of her friends.
After a while of journeying through the frozen cavern, they found a small hill going upward, coated in ice. As they approached, however, a pair of penguins suddenly appeared, leaping down the hill and sliding towards them.
“Look out!” Rainbow yelled, leaping out of the way of one and spinning around to buck the other in the face while Twilight blasted the other into a wall.
The one Rainbow had attacked spun out of control and slid across the ice on his back, moaning in pain.
“Alright, pal. Which way to your boss?” Rainbow asked. The green light and purple smoke faded from the penguin’s eyes and he looked nervous.
“Wha?!” it quacked. “The-the boss? H-he’s up there! He gets his power from some weird glowy place! He was able to curse Princess Celestia!”
“What’s this all about?” Rainbow asked angrily. “You realize how much trouble you’re gonna be in when I kick his butt into next year?”
“Ehhh… a lot?” the penguin asked nervously. “I couldn’t control myself, I swear! When he started taking orders from someone called Sombra, everything got all… hazy! I’m sorry! Please, snap him out of it! If you beat him I’m sure Princess Celestia and Canterlot will return to normal!” the bird pleaded.
“…I believe you,” Twilight said, approaching. “We’ll deal with your boss, and break Sombra’s hold over him and you guys can go back to the frozen lands when this is over.”
“Yes! Of course! But please, be careful! I wouldn’t wanna be on Charlatan’s bad side; that glowy place has made him really powerful and seriously nuts!” the penguin said, nursing his head as he stood up and waddled clumsily towards the tunnels the three ponies had come through.
“Charlatan… that name sounds familiar,” Twilight mused. “Wait, he’s the ruler of the Penguin Kingdom! But I’ve heard he was kind… and a loving father… that’s horrible if he’s fallen under Sombra’s power…”
“Well, Twi, be that as it may, he’s still causing trouble so we best not keep him waiting!” Rainbow said with a cocky smirk as she flew up the hill while Rarity held Twilight as the latter teleported them both to the top along with her. Up ahead was a thin wall of ice that blocked the next passage. With a grin, Rainbow turned and gave it a fierce buck, cracking it, and another kick shattered it completely. The next chamber was very wide and circular in nature, with a set of ice-covered stairs leading up to another tunnel ahead, but a brilliant glowing light stood at the entranceway.
Approaching, Rainbow took the Harmony Stone from her saddlebag and held it out, and was immediately met with a screeching feedback noise that caused the three ponies to cringe.
A sinister, refined laugh was heard as a figure emerged from the light. “Congratulations, ponies. You’ve found the sanctuary!” the voice said, it was deep with a refined, dapper accent that would fit in with Canterlot’s elite; though what emerged was a tall, barrel-chested penguin with an ice crown on his head and a blue beak. “…But it is King Charlatan’s now! Take it from me, if you dare!” he declared, raising his flippers and large, jagged ice spires grew from the walls and over the doorways, and a distorted music from the corrupted melody of the sanctuary began to echo around them.
“So you’re the one behind all this!” Twilight said angrily, her horn charging up. “You used to be a good king, have you been promised power by Sombra for this?”
“That is correct, my dear!” the large penguin said with a smug laugh. “This ‘sanctuary’ as it’s called has granted me great power as Sombra promised it would, and now Equestria will be as the frozen lands! Starting with Canterlot!” he shouted, a pair of glowing blue eyebeams shot from his eyes, freezing over the floor. Immediately, Charlatan got on his belly and slid at them before any of the three could move due to the slick surface, knocking them all aside like bowling pins.
Spinning on the ice, the penguin stood up and laughed, firing coldbeams from his eyes again at the ground, and it slowly formed a large spiky ball of ice.
“What is he—” Rarity wondered, right before Charlatan did a quick charge and knocked it loose, sending it sliding at them.
“LOOK OUT!” Rainbow shouted, pushing her friends aside and barely avoiding getting smacked by the deadly ice ball.
“Stay away from the walls, girls,” Twilight said, attempting to regain footing on the ice as she fired magic at Charlatan, who easily dodged as he slid about on the icy floor. “It’s no good, he’s like a wrecking ball when he slides around like that!” she said, teleporting out of the way just in time before the penguin rammed into her and crashed into a wall, shaking the ice spires loose and sending them crashing around him.
“You can’t keep this up forever, little ponies! Canterlot shall be MINE! Now why don’t you three just, as you youngsters say, chill out?” Charlatan yelled, firing coldbeams at them, this time encasing all three of them up to their flanks in ice. Letting out a laugh, the penguin sneered at them. “I believe telling you to ‘freeze’ now may sound redundant so I’ll settle for suggesting you keep a cool head for what’s to come!” he said, firing coldbeams at the ceiling and forming large icicles. “Ready… and look out below!” he shouted, making a charge and sliding across the floor, past the ponies and into the opposite wall, causing it to shake violently and the icicles began to crumble and loosen.
As quick as she could, Twilight summoned a magic barrier, protecting them the chunks of ice hailing down on them. “Ugh, any ideas, girls?” Twilight asked.
“I think I got one, but we need to get free,” Rarity said. “Get that nasty brute to try it again, then we use our magic to send the ice at him, perhaps it may stun him long enough for Rainbow to get a hit in!”
“It’s worth a shot,” Rainbow said. “HEY fatso! Betcha that won’t work a second time either!” She yelled.
“How DARE you! You shall pay for insulting the sultan of snow, the emperor of ice, King Charlatan!” Charlatan shouted indignantly.
“Bring it on!” Rainbow said with a grin. Growling, Charlatan fired more coldbeams up at the ceiling, forming large icicles again and then readied himself for another belly slide. As he suddenly shot forward like a rocket, Twilight fired a magic blast at the ice Rainbow was trapped in and then summoned a barrier as Charlatan impacted with the wall, shaking the new icicles loose. Immediately as the penguin stood up, Twilight and Rarity used their magic to capture the chunks of ice and flung them at him.
“Gaaahhh! Stop it! Stop it!” the penguin yelled furiously as he swatted at the chunks of ice in vain with his large flippers. “When I am through with you, I will turn you into foals and send you back to Princess Luna personally for this!” He shouted, covering his face from another chunk of ice that went flying at him as he advanced on them. His eyes began to glow again, just as Rainbow flew straight at him, slamming her hoof into his face, then striking several more times. The penguin stumbled backwards, grunting in pain as he fired another coldbeam, hitting Rainbow point-blank but as she was now above him, the frozen pegasus landed right on top of him, breaking her free and stunning Charlatan for a moment.
“Phew…” Rainbow muttered, shaking the bits off ice off her body. “Get ‘em, Twi!” Rainbow yelled. The unicorn nodded, a magic blast charged up as she fired it at the large penguin, sending him flying off his feet and into the nearest wall, breaking some of the ice that lined it and causing it to fall on top of him, burying him up to his neck and the strange harmony faded into silence.
“Uggghhh…” Charlatan moaned, dazed from the avalanche as his crown shattered and crumbled off his head and the magical energy drained out of him.
“Alright, you!” Rainbow said, standing on the fallen penguin’s chest.
Charlatan yelped and struggled under the ice. “How dare you! I will have this kingdom in the name of Sombra!” he shouted angrily.
“Why? Is that what he offered you?” Twilight asked, approaching.
“No! I-I mean yes! It’s none of your business!” Charlatan said angrily, his eyes glowing green briefly. “My heart is cold, I’ve no use for anything but more power for the Penguin Kingdom!”
“I doubt that. I’ve read about you…” Twilight said, glaring at him. “You have a son, don’t you? What’s he got to say about all this?”
“Edgar? What does it matter what he thinks? Father knows best, and Sombra is the best course of action to follow!” Charlatan bellowed, struggling again.
“That’s not true. That doesn’t sound anything like the penguin I read about,” Twilight said. It didn’t surprise her with Luna’s banishment the Princess of the Night would not have recognized him, but Celestia surely did, though she was in no position to confront the penguin king now. “Celestia spoke of you… I remember now… and you cursed her, too! What would your son say if he saw you now?”
“I… little Edgar…” The penguin’s eyes squeezed shut as he remembered playing with his son in the snow, visits with Celestia who had become a godmother to Edgar when he was born… tears formed in the penguin’s eyes as the green light and purple smoke faded out of them, his heart growing warm again. “I… I’m sorry… Sombra, he tyrannized my kind as well, millennia ago… yet now I saw him and could not say no! I desired a great kingdom for my son to inherit, he came in my dreams the past several days… made me cold, and wanting more… I’m so sorry, little pony,” he said, no longer struggling against the ice.
“You have Celestia to apologize to as well,” Twilight said softly, gently cracking the ice apart with her magic, and the frozen cave began to drip as the ice slowly melted away.
“I shall, and the curse should be broken now… I must get home immediately… Edgar is probably worried,” he said, downcast. “One more thing, pony… it is odd, but Sombra felt… close when I heard him… I do not know what that means but I was certain he himself was not far… I will look into this and keep Celestia informed.”
The ice began melting faster, and the passageway leading outside crumbled apart.
“I am sorry again; I wish you luck, ponies. We will pull out at once before it gets too warm!” he said, waddling to the other passage and hopping on his belly, sliding away.
“Weird… Sombra… close?” Twilight wondered.
“Whatever he means, Twi, he doesn’t know either. Even if he did, we don’t stand a chance till we get to all the Sanctuaries, and one of ‘em’s just up ahead!” Rainbow said. “So come on, let’s get going!”
With those words, Rainbow hurried down the cave passage and soon found herself back outside in a clearing. The snow was already melting away rapidly, though up ahead was a circular shape, covered in ice that glistened in the light of the sun as it slowly crept out of the dissipating clouds. “This must be the Ever Frozen Circle,” Twilight said as the pegasus approached, taking out the Harmony Stone again and holding it out.
A soft melody played in Rainbow’s mind, and memories came to her.
“Come on, Dashie! Drink up!” the blue-maned pink mare said years ago, holding out a cup of fresh apple cider to her as they stood near the table where the Apple Family held their business every Cider Season.
“Okay!” the cyan, prismatic-maned filly said as she wrapped her tiny forehooves around the large mug and chugged it down, letting out a small burp after. “Ohmygosh! That was so awesomely delicious, mommy!” she said excitedly, flying into her mother’s forehooves and hugging her tight.
“I knew you’d love it, sweetie!” the mare said, nuzzling her daughter.
Rainbow could feel the taste of her delicious first cup of apple cider in her mouth for a second, and the memory of who had introduced it to her was enough to make her shake a little, missing her that much more. Taking a deep breath, Rainbow kept herself from tearing up again. No need for them to see me go all cryfilly. She thought to herself boldly as she turned to face her friends, forcing a smile. “Well, girls… maybe we should get back to the palace, and check in on the Princesses, huh?” she asked with a grin.
Twilight and Rarity exchanged a glance, wondering what was on their friend’s mind but nodded regardless.
“Once we make sure the guards are okay, that would probably be the best course of action, Rainbow,” Rarity said. “I for one am just glad it’s warming up out here.”
Turning around, the three of them headed back inside to search for the guards that had been frozen at the entrance earlier.
~
“CELESTIA GET THYSELF DOWN FROM THERE AT ONCE!” Luna bellowed in the Royal Canterlot Voice.
“Can’t catch me, Woona!” the energetic filly said with a giggle before blowing a raspberry at her sister and teleporting away again and causing Luna to crash into the column Celestia had been hovering in front of a second ago.
At that moment in a flash of light, Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash appeared in the throne room, noticing it to be in shambles.
“Is this a bad time?” Rainbow asked.
“WE SHOULD SAY SO!” Luna shouted, her voice reverberating across the room as she finally managed to catch Celestia in her hooves and hold her as tightly as possible. “Let’s see you escape me now, sister!”
Before Celestia could respond, however, a brilliant light engulfed her and a second later, Luna found herself struggling to hold her taller, leaner, and once again adult elder sister, causing them both to plummet to the floor.
“Luna… what are you doing?” the very confused Celestia asked.
“You… don’t remember?” Luna asked, staring at her older sister with a look of exasperation and disbelief.
“No, I’m afraid not,” Celestia said, shaking her head as she tried to remember but nothing came to mind.
“When we encountered King Charlatan, who was under Sombra’s influence, you were… hit with an Age Spell. You spent the last few days as a filly,” Luna explained. “And you were not so different then you were the first time you went through fillyhood,” she added with an eyeroll. “Let us leave it at that.”
“Yes. Let’s,” Celestia immediately said, not wishing for any further elaboration on the matter.
“Well, anyway, the guards are fine, too, and will be on their way back. Charlatan is back to normal as well, and is already gonna be on his way back.”
“Oh my… so he was possessed. That explains a lot, he had always been rather benevolent in the past, especially once his son was born,” Celestia mused, rubbing her chin with her hoof. “It would seem Sombra’s power extends beyond Equestria’s boarders, now.”
“Sure looks like it!” Rainbow said. “And our next stop is Bahamare Island. Apparently Sombra’s after something there, and we gotta find out what as soon as the Doctor’s got the Whoovesmajig back up and flying!”
“Well in that case, as thanks for helping Canterlot through this rather troubling experience, why don’t you three take a rest and have dinner, and tell me all about your adventures so far,” the Princess suggested.
~
“You have done very well so far, my faithful subjects,” Celestia said with a smile as they finished their meal and the somewhat sloppy-looking cake that had followed, which looked as though a rainbow had crash-landed it and died a horrible and twisted death upon it. Luna shifted uncomfortably when she’d seen it, but said nothing.
“I’m very proud of you. At this rate, I am confident you will find the means to stop Sombra for good. Remember, it is you who wield the Elements, so it will ultimately fall on you to destroy him permanently.”
“Will do, Princess!” Rainbow said with a salute. “Just leave it to us!”
“We won’t let you down,” Twilight said as she packed her saddlebags with new supplies.
“I worry about Trixie, however. You say she has fallen under Sombra’s power early on. I suspect it may have been due to her misuse of the Alicorn Amulet,” Celestia said.
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.
“It was created by Sombra in his efforts to match our power. Thus with it his evil power gave it the terrible curse it carries. Trixie had used it for an extended period of time, so its lingering effects, I suspect, may have made her more susceptible,” Celestia explained. “Though given she no doubt felt vulnerable and afraid after you had helped her, she may have also been in a state that Sombra could take advantage of… I only hope that there may be a chance of helping her still.”
“We will try,” Twilight said. “Sombra is bringing out the darker tendencies in ponies. We have to work fast to get to these last Sanctuaries. Once the chance comes after we’ve figured out what Sombra’s hiding from us in Bahamare Island, we’ll take care of one that’s in Manehattan as well.”
“Then we wish you the best of luck,” Celestia said, nodding to them as the three stood together and vanished in a flash of light.
~
“Ah! Welcome back, ladies!” the Doctor said as he trotted over with a grin. “The weather’s quite lovely again, I will say!”
“You can thank us for that,” Rainbow said with a laugh.
“Hm, so it seems,” the earth pony said. “Spike? Are those final touches ready?” he called out behind him.
“Almost, Doctor!” the young dragon called out, and seconds later he ran over with a wrench in his claw. “All finished!”
“Smashing!” the Doctor said with a grin. “Now all you three need to do is hop on in and press the new blue button I’ve installed till the words Bahamare appear on it and then press the green switch, and off you go!” he explained.
“Thank you, Dr. Whooves,” Twilight said with a smile.
“Just the Doctor, please and thank you!” Whooves said. “And I will say, Spike’s been quite helpful as my temporary assistant!”
“Well, he didn’t get to be my Number One assistant for nothing!” Twilight said with a laugh. “Well, we’d better get going, then.” She explained before looking over at Spike. “I can’t tell you how much help you’ve been. Keep it up and I’ll make sure you get plenty of gems when this is over!”
Spike licked his lips hungrily. “You mean it, Twilight?” he asked, eyes wide with wonder.
“Of course, Spike,” Twilight said, patting the young dragon and joining her friends in the Whoovesmobile.
“For good luck, Spikey-Wikey!” Rarity said, blowing a kiss to the dragon, which promptly caused him to fall on his back with a big smile again.
“Thank you,” he fawned.
“Alright, girls, ALLONS-YYYY!” Whooves declared, pressing a switch and opening the roof, and the airborne vehicle rose up, and flew off in the direction of the renowned Equestrian island resort…
SANCTUARY GUARDIAN
Whew, another chapter up! 
The plot continues on!
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Trust him. He's the Doctor.
RELEVANT:
Spoiler alert
No, there isn't.
3666100
Just HAD to go there dincha?
3666154
3666455
Did you expect any less?
3666455
Most adorable?
Please allow me to introduce you to:
Cewestia and Woona
Qween Kwisawis
Pwincess Cadenz
And this is for those of you who don't have diabetes yet.
3666014
Rule number one
You skipped the the sanctuary in Manehattan!
If I might make a a few suggestions? This is your bull to ride, and I don't aim to tell you what to do, but in the game, by the fourth Sanctuary it was very obvious that EVERY other sanctuary that you'd come to would be claimed by some baddie, and you'd need to beat them up in order to get the next melody. I do like the variety of villains you've had guarding them so far, (and really the 'beat up the guy to get this' is a running theme in almost every RPG) but why not have someone who's NOT a bad guy/girl claim one of the sanctuaries, or our heroes arrive to witness a self-appointed Sanctuary Guardian (like some sort of hermit or monk) already battling what or who's come to claim it in Sombra's name, or it's claimed by someone and they're off in another part of the world, or it's not claimed at all?
Or maybe rather than just holding out the stone and the sound is recorded the Sanctuary is in a place where, for whatever reason, there is no sound (and maybe no color. You could call it Monochrome Canyon. Maybe be a leftover of Discord's old reign) at all and instead speech bubbles or sound effect flares (pictures like in batman comic books) appear. In this case the Sanctuary could have a music sheet carved into a stone wall with the notes needed to make the sound instead. This could create an extra challenge like them needing to get someone who can read and play musical notes in order to gain the song.
---
This all aside, young Celestia was cute and funny, and clumsy at making cakes.
That's one of the creatures should have showed up in Friendship is Magic since they are kind of nearby where yakyakistan and Crystal Empire in the Frozen area
And apparently he doesn't know how to let it go I guess the cold doesn't bother him anymore yeah I went there and I'm not a shame of it
Oh yeah the little kid I kind of forgot about that I never really watched the G1 movies or shows so I probably will miss some references
With those words, Rainbow hurried down the cave passage and soon found herself back outside in a clearing. The snow was already melting away rapidly, though up ahead was a circular shape, covered in ice that glistened in the light of the sun as it slowly crept out of the dissipating clouds. “This must be the Ever Frozen Circle,” Twilight said as the pegasus approached, taking out the Harmony Stone again and holding it out.
A soft melody played in Rainbow’s mind, and memories came to her.
“Come on, Dashie! Drink up!” the blue-maned pink mare said years ago, holding out a cup of fresh apple cider to her as they stood near the table where the Apple Family held their business every Cider Season.
“Okay!” the cyan, prismatic-maned filly said as she wrapped her tiny forehooves around the large mug and chugged it down, letting out a small burp after. “Ohmygosh! That was so awesomely delicious, mommy!” she said excitedly, flying into her mother’s forehooves and hugging her tight.
“I knew you’d love it, sweetie!” the mare said, nuzzling her daughter.
And that's how she has so much Obsession of the apple cider
I know this was supposed back in 2013 but it would have been even worse if like most creatures like the yaks kirins bat bony hippogriffs
I mean it would make sense since Trixie was crazy with power when she was wearing that amulet that's been a lot of theories where the Alicorn Amulet came from
I scream my head off when he said that in The Slice of Life episode
So basically the girls went to a cold weather try to get to the cave where the king is but a couple of his penguins tried to stop them but of course they couldn't stop them and apparently the one of the Penguins told them that the King was being possessed so that's why they were be infected but still they had to stop him once they made it they finally to the center of where the Sanctuary is but king charlatan block the way and apparently he was supposed to be one of the kindest creatures that Princess Celestia ever met he even have a son named Edgar but King Sombra have corrupted him so they battle him so they can break free from his control and once was that he finally came to his senses and told them about what is going on and he didn't know about Princess Celestia has turned into a kid so him and his kind with turned back and all the snow and ice starting to melt but they finally made it to the end of the cave and found another sanctuary she use the stone and apparently flashback about her time drinking the first time of apple cider and the memory of her mother so once they got that they reported back to Luna that they stopped the penguin King and it looks like Princess Celestia returned back to normal once they told him what's going on and apparently across Equestria there are other creatures are being corrupted so once they were done with that they went back to the doctor and it looks like they finally repaired the ship so now they can have for the Bahamas