The Fifth Sanctuary
A flash of light appeared at the front of the department store, and two unicorns, a pegasus, and an earth pony appeared instantly.
“Wow! I can't believe it! It actually worked!” Twilight cheered.
“You mean you didn’t know if it would?!” Rainbow asked, still dazed. Applejack, meanwhile, had galloped over to the nearest trashcan and vomited.
“My beautiful coat is covered in ashes!” Rarity protested. “I’m filthy… my luster is gone… I smell like charcoal… WORST… THING… EVER!!!” She cried out.
At Rarity’s complaint, Twilight then realized that the same went for all of them. “Ehh, to be honest I just kinda came up with the idea on the fly. Said I knew a spell so you’d go along with it, I mean what choice did we have?” Twilight asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. Looking over at the sobbing Rarity and nauseated Applejack, Twilight sighed. “Well on the bright side, like I said, it worked! Here we are, in Manehattan now.”
“I guess so…” Rainbow said. “Now we can see what that pony running the museum here wanted, hopefully it’s a way to the Sapphire Spire.”
“Yeah, we’d better get down there right away. Come on, girls!” Twilight said.
“In… a sec… Twi…” Applejack said, still fighting off the nausea.
“Not until I can clean up, Twilight. After all, you couldn’t have pulled this off without me so I insist we shower first before anypony sees us like this and then we’ll consider ourselves even, dear.” The other unicorn said as she trotted up the department store steps.
Before she could reach the doors, however, an all-too-familiar fanfare went off...
~
“I SWEAR when I get my hooves on that ruffian of a draconequus, I’m gonna—” The now-clean Rarity hissed, but was stopped when Twilight stuck her hoof out.
“Rarity, we’re here, so let’s calm down, okay?” Twilight said as they entered the museum.
“Hello? Artifact Search? We’re here on behalf of Mr. Relic Find?” Twilight called out, and as soon as she said this, a pegasus stallion bolted over and came to screeching halt in front of them.
“Oh! You’re here to see the thing I found for him, yes?” He asked.
“Uhhh yeah. He sent us over to see it for him in exchange for showing us some tablet.” Rainbow said.
“Tablet? Ha! That’s nothing compared to this! I’m gonna be in the papers for THIS one, you know!” Artifact Search gloated, then frowned. “HowEVER. you four are NOT Relic Find so I’m not just gonna let you see it for free. However, I think we can work out a deal!”
“Deal? What kinda deal might that be?” Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.
The stallion fawned. “The renowned cellist Octavia is performing at the Bridleway Theater, but I can’t go because I have to fill out the reports on this find! Tell you what, if you four can get me her autograph… I don’t care what it’s on, anything will do so long as you get me that autograph… I’ll let you see what I found.” He said with a smile. “Deal?”
The four friends looked at one-another, then at Artifact Search. “Deal.” Rainbow said.
“Excellent! At the door tickets opens quite soon so you better hurry.” He said, giving a hoofwave. “Shoo, shoo!”
~
“Well at least it wasn’t too costly.” Twilight said.
“You being Celestia’s student thankfully got us that lovely discount, Twilight.” Rarity said with a smile. “Now Rainbow, I trust here you will be taught what real music is, unlike that uncouth noise Miss Vinyl Scratch is so fond of.”
“Whatever.” Rainbow said with an eyeroll as the four were brought to their seats, thankfully a spot that gave them a good view of the stage.
A halfhour later, The light’s dimmed and changed to a serene purple as an elegant, slate-colored earth pony mare with a long black mane and tail, and a pink treble cutie mark entered. She wore a pink bow tie and sat down at her stool in a dignified manner, preparing her cello and laying her bow across the strings. After a beautiful overture, Octavia bowed to the applause, then the lights changed again, and a pianist behind her began to play, and seconds after, Octavia began to sing…
Twilight smiled as she listened, and watched the cellist perform. Rarity had been wiping her eyes, trying her hardest not to break down into sobs. Even Applejack and Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but be moved by the song.
“Wow…” Twilight said.
“My eyes… will they ever… be dry again?” Rarity whispered.
“This ain’t usually my kinda music, but that was right lovely work there.” Applejack said with a smile.
“Eh, not bad. Still prefer Vinyl’s stuff.” Rainbow said with a hoofwave, though looking away to hide the tears welling up in her eyes.
“Well, once the show ends, we’ll see if we can meet up with her.” Twilight said before the next musical number played.
Once the performance was over, the four headed down the hall to visit Octavia’s room, though were stopped by security.
“We want to bring flowers.” Twilight said, holding up the bouquet. The guard looked it over, then floated them back over to Twilight.
“You get five minutes.” He said.
“Thank you.” Twilight said with a smile, leading her friends down the hall and knocking on Octavia’s door.
“Come in.” Octavia’s voice said from inside. Opening the door, they found the cellist tending to her cello.
“That was beautiful.” Twilight said with a smile, floating the flowers to Octavia’s table.
“Thank you. I’m glad you think so.” She said with a small but genuine smile. “This is actually my first time performing in this city.”
“Well, you did an awesome job!” Rainbow said. “Now, look… we kinda wanted a favor here, if it’s alright with you, I mean. There’s this pony who runs the museum and he—”
“I’m already taken.” Octavia said abruptly. “I trust you’ve met Vinyl Scratch?”
“Yeah, she—” Twilight froze. “WHAT?! YOU AND HER?!”
Rarity raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “…You didn’t know this, Twilight?”
Applejack and Rainbow Dash burst out laughing.
“Seriously, sugarcube… for a librarian ya sure can be outta the loop on some things!” Applejack said as she got her laughter under control.
“Anyway…” Twilight said, glaring at her friends then putting on her best smile. “Look, what I meant to say was he couldn’t make it to the show since he got caught up in his job due to some new discovery, so he wanted us to get him your autograph.”
The cellist smiled. “Well, you did bail Vinyl out twice, so I’d think at the very least I owe you something for that.” She said, going to her to her desk. “Very well, do you have anything I can sign?” She asked.
The three looked at one-another, unsure now.
“Uhhh… will this do?” Rarity asked, floating out a scrap of banana-yellow fabric from her saddlebag. “I was saving it, but I feel this may be more important then what I had in mind for it.”
Octavia picked up a pen with her teeth and signed it, then applied some lipstick and gave it a kiss for good measure. “I trust that should reach his standards?” She asked.
“It should, thanks!” Twilight said.
“No, thank you again.” Octavia said, giving them a wave as they left.
~
“Ohhh yes! This’ll do nicely!” Artifact Search said with a grin as he pocketed the signed fabric scrap in his labcoat. “Now, I believe I promised something groundbreaking regarding a way to the Sapphire Spire!” He said, a prance in his step as he lead the way down a long hall, past several exhibits and to a locked door.
“Soooo… what is it? A secret passage past the barrier?” Rainbow asked excitedly.
“Yes and no.” The curator said. “While it DOES lead to provide an alternate route to it, that’s not what this is about. I, Artifact Search, have just proven what all the tabloids in this city claimed… to be completely true!”
“Uhhh what might that be?” Applejack asked.
“There ARE cragadiles in the sewers under the city! Well, one technically, but he’s big enough to be worth at least four!” He said with a sheepish laugh, pausing when he saw all four ponies staring at him. “What, don’t believe me? Go check it out! This is like, big news!”
“What makes ya think we wanna see somethin’ that’d probably try an’ eat us?” Applejack asked.
“Well, the weird thing about this was… not only was it larger then the average cragadile is typically described as, but there was weird light by it and—”
“That's all I needed to hear!!” Rainbow interjected. “We’ll go check it out! Come on, girls, we got a sanctuary to get!”
“Sanctu-what?” Artifact Search muttered as the pegasus zipped past him and into the door, and straight down the open sewer passage within.
“Hey, you girls coming or what?” Rainbow called up. “It’s just a sewer tunnel!”
“You have GOT to be kidding me! I JUST SHOWERED! Rarity protested, prompting a snicker from Applejack.
“Aw, give it a rest, Rarity. Bein’ covered in mud at the Sisterhooves Social didn’t bother ya much.” Applejack said.
“Darling, may I remind you that mud and the FILTH OF MANEHATTAN… pardon my foul language… are two entirely different things!” Rarity said indignantly.
“Rarity, we’re just gonna have to tough it out. Besides, I’m sure there’s walkways we can use.” Twilight said.
“Ugh, you girls done chatting? I’m kinda waiting?” Rainbow shouted, annoyed now.
“Coming, Rainbow” Twilight called.
~
“Ugh, this place smells like an outhouse!” Rarity said, cringing and trying to breathe through her mouth, lest the stink cause her to grow nauseous again.
“Eh, ah tend ta pigs every day, Rare. Ah’m used ta this sorta smell.” Applejack said casually as she trotted onward through the dark tunnels, the only illumination was provided by Twilight’s magic.
“Hmmm…” Rainbow said, flying up to a fence wall. “Lemme see if I can knock this down!” She said, flying back and zipping straight at it.
“Rainbow wait!” Twilight yelled, catching her friend with her magic aura. “We can’t go causing property damage! Besides, there’s a door on the other side.”
“O-Other side?” Rarity asked, staring at the grungy river that flowed next to them.
“Applejack, Rarity, hold onto me.” Twilight said, and they were immediately teleported to the other side while Rainbow flew over to join them.
“Hmmm… locked.” Twilight said. Smirking as an idea came, she floated Minuette’s sonic screwdriver out and used her magic to activate it. Several whirs and clicks later, the door swung open. “Ah-ha! Easy!” She said as she walked through, the others following.
Proceeding further down the walkways and switching sides when they needed to, the four ponies found themselves at the end of the road, the paths ending and all there was now was a ramp that descended into the fetid water. The four exchanged a glance, and a worried look came over Rarity’s face.
“Oh, nonononononononoNO! Out of the question! There has to be a way around it!”
“I’m afraid not, Rarity. We don’t know how far this spans, and I’m sure it’s not that deep since the workers have to wade through it.” Twilight said.
“Even still, Twilight…” Rarity began. Realizing she wasn’t going to win, and getting to the sanctuary was a priority she wouldn’t turn away from her friends for, the unicorn sighed. “Let’s just get this done before I change my mind…”
“That’s the spirit, Rare!” Applejack said with an amused grin as she patted her friend on the shoulder. “Now let’s get movin!”
Seconds later Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack were wading through the sewer’s foul, flowing river while Rainbow Dash flew overhead leading the way.
“I still can’t believe I’m wading through this filth to get to the Sapphire Spire…” Rarity muttered with an eyeroll, nearly gagging from the smell.
We'll be fine, Rarity.” Twilight said as her horn showed them that the passage finally lead to more walkways, and a huge round entrance into complete darkness up ahead in the distance that some water trickled out of. “That barrier spell Trixie put over it can only be broken from the inside…”
“Yeah, and you don’t see me complaining?” Rainbow asked as she flew above.
“Rainbow, be quiet. Of course it won’t bother you, you have wings to fly over all this filth!” Rarity snapped.
“Jealous much?” Rainbow asked with a laugh, prompting an irritated eyeroll from Applejack.
“…besides those myths about a cragadile in the sewer are just silly. I’m sure the curator just did that to get some attention.” Twilight said.
As soon as the words left Twilight’s mouth, loud roar was heard from within the tunnel entrance up ahead.
“…EVERYPONY OUT OF THE WATER!” Twilight shouted, panicking and she and her friends screamed loudly. Applejack and Rarity fled to the left catwalk as quickly as they could while Twilight teleported to the opposite side. Rainbow, meanwhile, hovered closer to the entrance as a brilliant light began to shine from it. A cocky smirk formed on her face and she fished the Harmony Stone from her saddlebag. “Alrighty, let’s draw this beastie out!” She said, holding it out.
Sure enough, a horrible screech was heard, causing her and her friends to cover their ears.
“What in tarnation IS that?!” Applejack protested.
“The sanctuary! It’s been corrupted! I’m betting that cragadile’s the reason!” Twilight shouted.
Another roar was heard, and the distorted melody began to echo around the four within the sewer tunnels as a pair of glowing eyes peered through the dark passage. As they drew closer, an enormous cragadile, covered in bits of garbage and filth, emerged from it, letting out a guttural snarl as filthy water spilled from its jaws.
“Not much of a talker, are you? Fine by me, I like skipping to the action, anyway!” Rainbow said with a grin as she flew straight at the beast. However, before she could reach it, the creature moved at speed that was seemingly impossible for a beast its size and easily evaded her, diving into the water. Rainbow flew past and tumbled into the tunnel.
“Well, that was an impressive display of agility…” Twilight remarked. “Girls, hang on!” Twilight aimed her horn at the ceiling and fired a blast of light, illuminating the area better. “Now it’ll be harder for him to hide, but stay sharp girls, he’s fast!
As soon as she said this, the beast emerged from the water, snapping its massive jaws at Twilight. The unicorn barely moved out of the way in time, firing several blasts of magic at it to drive it back.
The cragadile snarled in pain, retreating into the murky water and swimming towards one of the walls and slamming it with its tail, and at that moment Twilight noticed a lever it had struck.
“Rainbow!” Twilight shouted. “Get out of that tunnel NOW!” She yelled.
“What are you—” Rainbow began as she heard a rumble and suddenly a wave of grungy water came rushing towards her. Letting out a scream Rainbow galloped towards the exit as fast as she could and flew out, getting decently splashed but avoiding getting washed into the river below.
“Twilight… the water’s rising…” Rarity said as she and Applejack desparately edged to higher ground while the cragadile sneered at them before swimming towards the two ponies. “A little help!”
“Hold on!” Rainbow shouted, swooping down at the cragadile and striking it in the back of the head with a fierce kick. The creature grunted and looked back at her, sweeping its huge tail up and swatting at the pegasus, who quickly dodged.
“Missed!” Rainbow said, dodging another swipe. “Annnnd missed again!” She taunted with a laugh. The creature glared and puffed twin clouds of thick green gas from its nostrils right at the pegasus.
“What’s that suppo—” Rainbow immediately went into a coughing fit, and began plummeting towards the beast’s open jaws. Before she could, however, Rarity’s magic aura engulfed her, yanking her to safety before the cragadile’s jaws could chomp down.
“Hope this works!” Applejack yelled, twirling her lasso and flinging it over the cragadile’s jaws and giving it a firm tug, tying them shut despite its larger-then-average size.
“Twilight! Get that pump shut off!” Rarity shouted, jumping onto Applejack’s back and causing the earth pony to wince a little as the water rose more.
“Right!” Twilight replied, rushing over to where the pump lever was and attempting to pull it with her magic, but it didn’t budge. “Girls! I can’t move it!” She yelled.
“Ugh… hang on… let me…” Rainbow said between coughing fits as she got up and flew over the struggling cragadile, barely avoiding another tail swipe as she flew to the other side of the lever and began pushing. Using her magic again and assisted by Rainbow’s pushing, Twilight was able to finally pull the lever, and the waterflow stopped just as the water reached hers and Applejack’s hooves.
The cragadile, seizing the opportunity with the deeper water, dove under and swam towards its lair, Applejack being pulled along and Rarity hanging for dear life with her forehooves wrapped around her friend.
“Applejack! Rarity!” Twilight cried out, using her magic to fire a blast at the cragadile but missing it as it circled in the water at incredible speed; Applejack and Rarity now riding its back.
“Rnnnbow! Geeh oherrr here!” Applejack yelled, attempting to hold the rope with her teeth as she pulled back. The pegasus flew over and landed next to her, the cragadile increasing its struggling as it suddenly rolled over, prompting the three ponies to hold on tight as they were pulled under water for a second and gasped for air as they were brought to the top. “GRAB THAT ROPE!” Applejack shouted, the body roll having prompted her to let go and avoid a mouthful of filthy water.
“You’re joking, right?” Rainbow asked with a disgusted look on her face.
“Just grab an’ PULL HARD! Ah don’t much care how!" She instructed the pegasus. "When she does, Rarity an’ Twi, fire your magic. Then ah’ll make my move! NOW!” Applejack ordered to the two unicorns.
Rainbow grabbed the rope in her forehooves and tugged as hard as she could. Rarity and Twilight then immediately fired their magic, both striking the beast as it turned in the back of the head. Thrashing angrily, it caused Applejack to get propelled into the air. Doing a flip, the earth pony turned herself in the air and bucked the giant beast right between the eyes, knocking it out cold. The bizarre melody faded, and the unconscious cragadile shrank back down to a normal size. Rarity cringed but sighed in relief as the smiling Rainbow Dash picked her up and carried her over to the pipe entrance, while Twilight floated Applejack over and then teleported herself over to join them.
“Phew-ee! That was a close ‘un!” Applejack said, fanning herself with her hat.
“Looks like I’ll need another shower as soon as we’re out of here.” Rarity lamented, shaking herself off and looking like a mess, causing the unicorn to growl in annoyance.
“Well, either way, now we can get the barrier down and collect the melody of this sanctuary!” Twilight said, her horn lighting up again as she lead them through the tunnel and finding a ladder leading up at the end.
Rainbow grinned and flew up and out the opening, finding herself in what appeared to be a city park of some sort, and was greeted by the sight of the glowing barrier around them. Nearby was a small pink gem that cracked with magical energy.
“This must be what she used. Some kind of charm.” Twilight said as she noticed it upon climbing out.
“So how do we deal with it?” Applejack asked.
“Simple.” Twilight said, stomping it with her hoof and causing it to shatter. Immediately after, the barrier vanished.
“Goodness! LOOK!” Rarity said, marveling at the sight behind them. Turning, the others saw a thick, magnificent spire about twice Celestia’s height made of translucent blue crystal, with several smaller crystals growing around it. “This must be the Sapphire Spire!”
“It looks like!” Twilight said with a smile.
“Well ah’ll be darned. It’s quite a sight!” Applejack said with an approving nod.
“Well, let’s get what we came for!” Rainbow said, taking out the Harmony Stone again and holding it out with her hoof. A soft, beautiful melody played in her mind, and a peaceful sensation came over her as she closed her eyes…
A tiny cyan foal, with a tiny rainbow-striped mane and tail, drinking from a bottle…
Rainbow saw her mom and dad, both looking down at the foal, content smiles on their faces as they turned and kissed.
The foal giggled and her mother held her close, her dad draping his hoof over them both.
Rainbow stood quietly for a moment, and realized her ears drooped for a second as the memory came back to her. “We’re done here. Let’s go.” She said, spreading her wings and flying away from the park. Her friends exchanged a glance and followed quietly.
~
“Well, that’s one more sanctuary down, three more to go!” Rainbow said with a grin as she sat excitedly on one of the beds in the hotel room the four of them had rented.
“If Rarity ever gets out of the shower.” Applejack said with an eyeroll. Rarity had been willing to let the others go before her, provided she got to take as long as she felt she needed, which turned out to be quite a while. However, seconds later, the sound of the water being turned off was heard. “Ugh, finally!”
“Think Braeburn got that message yet?” Rainbow asked.
“Hope so. Appleloosa’s got a candle, too, for important messages. Ah asked him for an update on the weather situation so hopefully we’ll be hearin’ back soon.” Applejack replied.
“Hey, something’s coming through now!” Twilight said as the magic candle flared up, and a scroll appeared.
“Well, let’s see what ol’ Braeburn an’ my brother are up to…” Applejack said, pushing the scroll open. As she read it, her smile faded quickly. “Oh no…”
“What’s wrong?” Rarity asked, emerging from the bathroom and toweling herself off.
“It says the weather’s not stopped. Cloudchaser an’ Flitter went to the gorge to investigate where it’s all comin’ from… not long after they left, the weather got a dozen times worse! Girls! We gotta get down there now, they need our help!” Applejack said.
“Alright, Rarity, let’s get ready, we’re gonna have to do this teleportation spell again.” Twilight said.
“You sure you got it right, this time?” Rarity asked. “I just cleaned off and all…” She said, floating her saddlebags over to herself.
“Second time around, I’m certain I got this. Everypony, hold on tight!” Twilight said, leaving a tip on the bed as they gathered their things and held onto one-another, vanishing in a flash of light.
~
Appleloosa had seen better days, to say the least. Swirling black clouds hung over the sky ominously, winds and drizzling rain blew about as the four ponies appeared in the middle of the town. Windows were boarded and locked shut, The trees had been mostly stripped bare of apples, and nopony was present outside.
“Wow! He sure ain’t kiddin’ about things gettin’ worse!” Applejack shouted over the loud gales as the four of them huddled together, the fiece storms brewing all around them…
SANCTUARY GUARDIAN
Another chapter completed! Stay tuned for next time, which may be up over new years or this friday hopefully. 
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This scene becomes much less comfortable out of context...
Loving your story. Earthbound is one of my favorite video game series and reading this to the sound track has been giving me massive nostalgia. Probably one of the better cross over choices for MLP as they share similar cartoon-y and whackiness factors which makes them mesh up well in my head. The character choices have been well picked, and I'm digging the Rainbow Dash lead.
One question I have though is whats going on with Twilight's life in this? She's a unicorn in this, (which is actually preferred by me
) but the part about of her no longer being Celestia's student is kept in (edit: actually you seem to be going back and forth on this)... yet she's still attending Celestia's school? It's not that important to the story I guess but some clarification with her would be nice. ^^;
3704340
Just for clarification, she IS still Celestia's student, she was just at the academy rather than the castle.
That's actually going to be important in a few chapters.
3704350
They're her entertainment robots.
And I wrote that line.
3704456
Ah alrighty then. She was called Celestia's former student a few times earlier in the story so it was throwing me off.
3704507
I think he was just referring to Twilight living away from the castle.
I think you have to go back and fix an older chapter, add a bit of why couldn't they get pass the barrier earlier. You have them going from Rarity drinking the potion to going to Saddle Arabia. You should add something about Twilight asking Fancy Pants for help about the barrier since he owns the place where the spire is. Then have Twilight trying and failing to get pass the barrier, then they going to Saddle Arabia.
3704742
I mention the barrier can only be deactivated from the inside, so even if Fancy Pants had authority he can't undo it himself, but I can clarify having him explain that. Trixie used a magic gem so she wouldn't have to sustain it herself.
3704532
3704507
Yeah, that's what I was referring to. She visits Canterlot to take exams like she was gonna in Season 3's opener. And when I refer to her in that way it's simply that she's not directly studying under her in person anymore(as she now lives in Ponyville and does so from a distance now). I'm sorry for the confusion!
The Song of the Sanctuaries, which I play whenever rainbow collects a melody. Enjoy.
Unfortunately the video on this chapter is no longer there what was the song was it I am Octavia
Omg yes I ship those two so much and how much opposite they are from each other but yet it works so well
“Well, let’s get what we came for!” Rainbow said, taking out the Harmony Stone again and holding it out with her hoof. A soft, beautiful melody played in her mind, and a peaceful sensation came over her as she closed her eyes…
A tiny cyan foal, with a tiny rainbow-striped mane and tail, drinking from a bottle…
Rainbow saw her mom and dad, both looking down at the foal, content smiles on their faces as they turned and kissed.
The foal giggled and her mother held her close, her dad draping his hoof over them both.
Wow it looks like the teleportation really worked well kind of but at least they made it to Manhattan so what they got there they asked one of the Pony who's in charge of the museum tell them about the tablet but he wanted a deal come down if they can get an autograph from Octavia since he can't get over there which they did and wants her concert was over they met up with Octavia and she was pretty nice enough to help them after all they did for vinyl and once they did they went back to the museum and told them there was a diamond in the park but they had to get past the sewage and unfortunately it is guarded by a cragadile which Rarity did not like the idea but they got to get down there that's where the statuary is once they made it through the Seward they met up with a huge cragadile blocking the path and it's more aggressive because of King Sombra effect on it but they eventually Beat It and they got to the Sapphire and rainbow use the Sanctuary Stone and she's having a flashback about her parents so after that they went back outside and went to a hotel to freshen up that's all they got the mail from Braeburn something is going weird at Appaloosa so they head there right away and apparently things got really bad there I wonder what's causing the weather like this and I really can't say Storm King because he did not appear until season 7 end the movie came around
11242314
Yeah either the person who did the music or because of copyright it could be very annoying half the time but good thing I found the music anyway