• Published 9th Mar 2012
  • 2,568 Views, 12 Comments

Tales of the Cuties - Starwind Dood



A series of side-stories that run parallel to Tales of Harmony

  • ...
0
 12
 2,568

Quest 1: Pokey Pierce

Something To Hold Together

Cutie Quest: Pokey Pierce

New Game

Continue

Options

>Extra

Canterlot: Flying Chariot Hanger

"But I want to go on the chariot!" Apple Bloom whined as her sister was dragged onto the large vehicle, but efforts to jump after her sister were stopped by Pokey's firm hoof pinning her tail. She struggled and pulled against the guard-pony, and if she ever did escape he would drag her back with a flick of his horn. "Big doofus," she moaned as she was dragged back yet again. "Sweetie Belle, can't you do something about him?"

"Nope," Sweetie Belle replied with a satisfied grin, eliciting a very audible groan from Apple Bloom.

"Real helpful— Hey what are you doing!" Apple Bloom found herself hoisted into the air by Pokey, who began to spin her around slowly, carefully inspecting her body. "Put me down! I'm getting dizzy!" she yelled helplessly.

"I'm making sure you're not hurt," Pokey sighed, setting her down when he was done. "You seem fine, so how about you see to standing still while I heal everyone?"

"You can't make me," Apple Bloom huffed, crossing her hooves before finding herself hoisted into the air again. She could see the wry smile on Pokey's face as he dragged her along with him over to Lemon Hearts, still laying on the floor after her gang's defeat.

"Hey," Pokey called to her. "You okay? I know some basic healing if you need any." She didn't respond. "Hey, I'm talking to you." Still no response. He chose to ignore her silence, trotting up to her to begin treating her wounds regardless.

Lemon Hearts stared at him through her squinting eyes, scrutinizing his every action. "Break in and send my friends galloping off, and now you're going to treat my wounds?" Her question was loaded with venom.

"You barely have a scratch on you," he sighed and turned to Gilda. "Hey, griffon, do you need any healing?"

"Touch me with your horn and I'll eat you," Gilda spat back.

"Not exactly helping the stereotype." Pokey turned his attention back to Big Macintosh, who seemed to have no problem holding Sweetie Belle's attention through no effort of his own. "What about you, big guy?"

"Eenope," Big Macintosh answered back quickly and curtly.

"Alright then," Pokey sighed. His ears perked up over the sound of a soft hum, the sound of a Flying Chariot's engine. "Sparkle!" he yelled out. "What's going on! Sparkle!" The Flying Chariot continued to ascend into the air with no response to Pokey.

"Hah, later losers!" Gilda sneered. She unfurled her wings and with a few powerful beats took off into the air like an arrow, catching up with the Flying Chariot and disappearing into it. The vehicle ascended into the clouds, vanishing completely from view.

Pokey and Big Macintosh were left stunned by the events and they both were mentally cursing a mare's name. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked into the spot where the Flying Chariot with confusion and finally Sweetie Belle asked, "When are they coming back?"

"Soon," Pokey answered her quick enough. "Soon, I hope." His hopes were cut off by the sound of Lemon Hearts dry laughter.

"Looks like they're gone," she laughed at them. "There goes your ticket out of here, soldier boy. You're stuck now."

"Applejack will come back for us!" Apple Bloom hissed at her, breaking free from Pokey's aura and glaring menacingly at Lemon Hearts. "Your just sour 'cause you lost to my sis and her friends!"

Lemon Hearts horn ignited as she drew her dagger and held it menacingly at Apple Bloom. "I don't need to take this from you, filly. I could kill you right now if I wanted to." Too many painful memories were flashing through her mind to think straight, or notice Pokey aiming his katana at her.

"Lemon Hearts, as a member of the Canterlot militia I'm going to ask nicely for you to put your weapon away," he spoke with a calm authority, but was met with the sour mare's ire.

"Canterlot is dead," Lemon Hearts scowled back. "What's left is Nightmare Moon's twisted kingdom of loathing, and we're stuck in it. So either start kissing flank, or get a ticket to the gallows like our fiery-maned friend from earlier. I doubt she's still alive."

"What's a gallows?" Sweetie Belle asked innocently, bounding up to Lemon Hearts with bright and cheerful eyes. "Can we use it to get our cutie marks?"

"Cutie Marks?" Lemon Hearts repeated.

"Yeah!" Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom stood together and took a deep breath before shouting, "We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" as loud as they could, making everyone else in the room cringe. "We're on a quest to find our cutie marks!"

"Cutie quest," Pokey sighed, ignoring the ringing in his ears, "cute." He turned to Big Macintosh hoping for some kind of explanation, but he just shrugged, his eyes half-asleep from either boredom or disinterest. "Great, that was the last Flying Chariot too... well, back to the drawing board."

A single loud and dry laugh echoed through the hanger, emanating from Lemon Hearts, now giggling madly to herself, spread out on the floor and clutching onto her heart-hilt dagger. "You think you can escape this nightmare!?" she asked through her fits of laughter, tears rolling down the side of her face. "That chariot was your last ticket out of here, and it's gone. We're stuck in here! Our fates in the hooves of a crazed goddess!" Her words hung in the air, sapping away at everyone's strength, but instantly cleared away by the words of an innocent filly.

"It's not over till the fat pony sings!" Apple Bloom shouted adamantly at Lemon Hearts.

Lemon Heart's threw a sneer back at the filly. "It's over, just give up-"

"Never!" Pokey interrupted her. "If we can't get out over the city, we'll get out under it! We'll use the sewage system," he declared, bucking open the doors of the hanger, and staring out into Nightmare Moon's spell of darkness. "Hey, big guy," he called to Big Macintosh, "think you can help me out?"

"Eeyup," Big Macintosh answered him. "C'mon Bloom, Belle." The two fillies bounded giddely next to the hulking pony who was catching up to Pokey. Behind them, Lemon Hearts brought up the rear, following along silently.

SKIT: A Piercing Question

Pokey: I see you're coming along?

Lemon Hearts: I also see that you're walking into your doom. I thought it would be fun to tag along and watch the show.

Pokey: You have so much faith in Nightmare Moon.

Lemon Hearts: Faith? That's a funny word to use.

Lemon Hearts: Everypony saw what she was capable of. Her magic is incredible, and she has those wings...

Pokey: I've heard more than enough rumors about winged unicorns. If I have to, I'll find out just how many are true.

Lemon Hearts: You're cantering into your grave, knight.

Pokey: Nothing new, and I'm not a knight.

SKIT: End

Canterlot: City of Darkness

Pokey lead the way slowly, feeling out each step and keeping every sense open to the world. He nearly jumped out of his armor when he felt two large weights baring down on his back suddenly. "Ambush!" he yelled out loud, extending his magic to his katana, but having his horn yanked to the floor, dragging him down and severing his concentration.

"I win!" Apple Bloom gloated on-top of the fallen unicorn. "The ultimate grappling arte! The Lord Of-"

"Get off me!" Pokey roared, suddenly standing up and throwing off Apple Bloom.

"Wah!" Apple Bloom cried as she flew off Pokey, caught by Big Macintosh on his back. "Did I," she groaned through her dizzy head, "did I get a grappling cutie mark?" A quick inspection of her blank flank answered her that she hadn't. "Dangit."

"Cutie Mark?" Pokey groaned. "You tried to throw me over your shoulder for a cutie mark? Just what are you teaching this filly!?" Pokey stared intently at Big Macintosh, waiting for some answer, but the larger pony simple shrugged his shoulder and kept silent.

"I'm sorry, Mr. unicorn," Apple Bloom apologized, smiling sheepishly. "I'm just trying to find my-"

"I know, I know," he groaned, "your cutie marks." Pokey turned away from the filly, ignoring Lemon Hearts' condescending snickers as he returned to his search. "If I'm right, there should be a sewer-hole somewhere nearby here. It'll be hard to find in all this darkness though."

"Why don't you make some light with your horn?" Sweetie Belle asked, curiously eyeing said horn and waiting for the spectacle. "My sister Rarity used it to shine her way through the city before."

"I'm not too good with spells," Pokey groaned. "I can enchant stuff easily enough, but raw magic tends to fizzle out for me."

"So why don't you use your sword."

Pokey nearly doubled over in astonishment. He quickly drew his blade from the scabbard and began concentrating his magic around the blade. "Light magic, light magic, light magic," he chanted as in his mind the blade began to shine with all the light of the sun. He grinned with a sense of accomplishment as the real blade gave off a faint glow, a far-cry from the sun he was accustomed to but good enough to help him navigate. "This will do."

"Impressive," Lemon Hearts commented, staring at her own dagger and careful considering trying to same spell. She slid it back into it's sheath. "Lead the way then."

Pokey shined his blade along the ground, carefully looking for metal grating that might lead to freedom, until another pony found her way onto his back and started jumping up and down him him. "Set my friends free!" the new filly shouted, driving Pokey to the ground.

"Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle exclaimed in unison, jumping onto Pokey to wrap their friend in one large hug.

"Too many," Pokey wheezed, "can't breathe!"

"Girls," Big Macintosh bellowed in his most commanding voice. He didn't need to say anything more as the girls climbed down from Pokey's stomped on body.

"Why me," Pokey groaned. He pulled himself back onto his hooves and shot a reproachful glare at the three fillies that tormented him. Neither of the three looked particularly scared as they smiled back innocently. "Little brats," he muttered as he brought his blade back to the ground and gingerly lifted the metal grating with his magic and motioned to the others to get in. In a matter of minutes, they had all disappeared into the sewers.

Canterlot Sewers: Path of Reminiscence

Pokey brought his blade up to shine light through the dark tunnels and found the light of his blade extending much further out than he anticipated. Nightmare Moon's spell of darkness had not devoured the sewer tunnels like it had the city. It was a beacon of hope that he was afraid would be ripped away. "Let's go," he called to the others.

"And trudge through all this muck!?" Sweetie Belle stood on ends on the back of Big Macintosh's back. "If Rarity was here she would have passed out by now."

"Yeah, well she's not," Pokey snapped back, "and this is our best bet to get out of the city. So mucking along it is, or would you rather go back up there?" Sweetie Belle didn't say a word. The thought of Nightmare Moon had her cowering in fear from the confines of Big Macintosh's mane. "So can we go now?"

"Lead the way, oh fearless leader!" Scootaloo squealed as she jumped back on Pokey. "Name's Scootaloo by the way. Sorry I attacked you, but I thought you kidnapped my friends. They're a mess without me."

"Are not!" Apple Bloom retorted from the back of an infinitely irritated Lemon Hearts. "You're the one who needs us. I bet you were running around scared featherless like a chicken."

"Was not!" Scootaloo yelled back.

"Enough!" Pokey screamed. "We don't have time for this. We need to get going now. Everypony, follow me!"

SKIT: Crusaders Reunited

Apple Bloom: So Scoots, just what were you doin' after Nightmare Moon appeared?

Scootaloo: Well, first I was going to rescue Rainbow Dash and Gilda from the depths of Nightmare Moon's evil prison!

Sweetie Belle: Oh my!

Scootaloo: Then I realized I had no idea where that was.

Apple Bloom: Figures.

Scootaloo: So I got lost because it was so dark, but then I saw this unicorn guy's shining sword and you girls, so I swooped in for the rescue!

Sweetie Belle: Wow, thanks Scootaloo. You're so dependable.

Apple Bloom: But we weren't in danger.

Scootaloo: I didn't know that!

Apple Bloom: Because you fly right into everything!

Scootaloo: But if you were in danger then I would have been a hero when I saved you!

Sweetie Belle: Ugh, not this again.

SKIT: End

"So, Mr. Pokey," Apple Bloom called out to him, "what's your cutie mark mean?"

Pokey sighed, trying to keep his attention on the path. "It's a long story. Not very important anyway."

"No way!" Scootaloo shouted. "We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders! We need to know everything about cutie marks if we're going to get our own, so get squawking." She dug a backhoof into Pokey's back, calling him to attention.

"Fine, fine," Pokey sighed, "you little brat..."


Canterlot: Childhood Memories

A little blue colt smiled wickedly down at the sea-green filly in front of him. He had chased her into an alleyway with a dead-end and pushed her into a puddle of back-alley filth. "Gonna cry?" he sneered at her. He almost despised her. She wore her embroidered dress around town, showing it off to all the other fillies and colts. She had been doing it for almost a week. What did he have, he always asked himself. A jacket so full of holes that he had to use safety pins to cover it in patches. "Or are you going to run home to your rich parents to protect you?"

The sea-green filly tried to back away, but she was already up against a wall. Her dress had been ruined. The mean colt had pushed her in a dirty puddle, and he wasn't content with just that. He had always despised her, but she never knew why. She felt tear running down her face, and the sensation made her feel pathetic and weak. "Baw-bawn!" she wailed.

"Bawbawns?" the colt imitated. "Can you even talk properly! You're so pathetic I hate you-"

"Bon-Bon Kick!" The colt didn't know what hit him, but before he knew what happened anther filly had appeared almost out of nowhere and dropped him to the floor. He laid there, clutching his aching side, desperately holding back tears of pain. "What the hay!" he cried out.

"Bon-Bon Reforming Chop!" The cream-colored filly brought her hoof down against the colt's shoulder. "That one was for swearing!" she exclaimed before rushing to the other filly's side, caressing her white mane with care. "There there. You're okay now," she whispered tenderly into the other's ear, calming her down from a fit of tears.

"Agh!" the colt yelled out. "Why in all of Equestria are you helping out that spoiled filly! Aren't you poor too, Bon-Bon!?"

Bon-Bon turned back to the colt, her piercing and angry look almost breaking the colt's will on the spot. "Pokey, are you stupid or something?" she yelled at him, Pokey almost cowering in fear. "Poor or not has nothing to do with hurting other ponies! Secondly, Lyra's poor too!"

"What!?" Pokey turned back to Lyra, unable to believe his ears. "You're lying! Look at her dress! Poor ponies don't dress like she do!"

"It was," Lyra sniffed, hiccuping and catching her breath, "a gift from my mommy. She made it for me when I got my cutie mark." She hid herself behind Bon-Bon, hiding her face in the other's mane to avoid Pokey's face. "I-I'm sorry!" she cried one last time before disappearing completely.

"Pokey, you're one big idiot!" Bon-Bon yelled before taking her friend and leaving Pokey alone on the cement floor. Never before in his life had he felt so horrible.

That was the first time I ever met Bon-Bon, and Lyra I had been tormenting for a little over a week. Looking back, I feel awful about wanting to hurt her, but I wouldn't have changed my actions if I could. I'm too afraid that if I did I would have never met them, and I would have never befriended them.


"But how did you get your cutie mark!?" Apple Bloom yelled, interrupting his story. "I don't want to know how you made friends and turned your life around, I want to know how you got your cutie mark!"

"I'm getting to that!" Pokey sneered back, angered by the impatient adolescent that was forcing him to remember some of the worst years of his life, but he trudged on through his painful lane of memories. "Meeting Lyra and Bon-Bon is kind of how I got my Cutie Mark..."


Pokey grimaced and bowed his head. Before him, Bon-Bon and Lyra stared at him with a mix of confusion and annoyance. "I'm sorry!" Pokey barked, hoping against all odds that he wouldn't have to repeat himself.

"What was that?" Bon-Bon asked him.

"I'm sorry!" Pokey yelled as loud as he could. "I'm sorry I picked on you, okay!"

Bon-Bon leered at him, uncertainty dancing in her eyes. "Why should she believe you! You're just a bully, Pokey. You could be lying." Bon-Bon didn't like Pokey, but few ponies did. He wasn't a sociable pony. Anyone who got close to him was often met with sarcastic bile. He was just a prick as far as she was concerned.

"But I'm not lying, I'm telling the truth!" He gritted his teeth under the scornful eyes of Bon-Bon. Her eyes dug into him, and he had the sudden urge to try and poke them out, but he didn't move. He sat there, waiting for a response. "So, can you just accept my apology and let me go on my way? I promise I'll never bother Lyra again."

"No!" Bon-Bon decreed, biting down on Pokey's mane and painfully dragging him closer to the silent Lyra, who nearly jumped. "You hurt my friend, and to make up for it you have to be her slave until she says so!" she said with his mane still between her teeth.

Pokey's eyes bulged in their sockets, and he looked back at Bon-Bon with a scornful look. "Why would I agree to that!?" he demanded to know as he kicked and bucked against Bon-Bon's surprisingly powerful jaw. "Dang it, Bon-Bon let go!"

"You want to be forgiven? Then this is how you do it."

"By being a slave!?" Pokey had never met a scarier filly in his life than Bon-Bon.

Bon-Bon grinned and spat Pokey out of her mouth, putting a hoof on him and pinning him to the floor. She turned to Lyra and had a mischievous smile displayed across her lips. "Yep! What do you say, Lyra?"

"I... guess so," the meek filly answered her. She could never say no to Bon-Bon, and she really just wanted to be rid of Pokey as soon as possible, but that's not what happened.

For months, I did whatever little task Lyra could throw at me, and of course Bon-Bon threw in her own eccentric trivialities as well. I'm still not sure why I went along with it. Maybe it was because that relationship was the closest thing I had to friendship, but not long after it might have actually been friendship. We were laughing together like friends would. Lyra would talk to me a little at first, but eventually she was confiding in me her fears and doubts. I wish I had listened more intently during that time. Maybe if I did I would have saved us all some pain, but I was just a dumb little colt. Bon-Bon started being nice to me. That was the weirdest thing but... it made me happy.


"That's a nice story," Big Macintosh spoke suddenly, shedding his characteristic silence. "Friendship really can pop up anywhere if you let it."

"Yeah, I guess it can." Even as he said the words his mind felt uneasy. Thinking back to how he first met Lyra and Bon-Bon had reminded him about his anxieties. After Nightmare Moon appeared he was no longer able to find them, and he was especially worried about Lyra. His thoughts were interrupted though, as Scootaloo impatiently jumped up and down on his back.

"But what about your Cutie Mark!" all three fillies demanded at once, Scootaloo digging her point in further with each bound on Pokey's backside. "You still haven't told us how you got that!"

"That's the next part, alright!" Pokey yelled, catching Scootaloo in the air with his magic so he wouldn't have to deal with her mild torture. "Just shut up and listen."


It was Hearts and Hooves Day, and in Pokey's patched-up bag was a box of chocolates he had saved up to give to a pony he considered very special. "I'll just give this to Bon-Bon, spew out my feelings, and be done with it," he whispered to himself. He could see her in the streets, hanging out little bon-bons that she herself made. "I'm giving a candy-filly candy. I did not think this out very well," he sighed. He picked up his hooves, and trotted up to Bon-Bon.

"Hey, Pokey!" she greeted him with a smile. "Happy Hearts and Hooves Day! I've got some bon-bons here if you want some."

"No thanks," he grimaced, fidgeting with his bag as he slowly worked up the courage to give her the box of chocolates. "Say, Bon-Bon, what do you think about me?" He wanted to hit himself for his lack of subtelty.

"You're a real prick," Bon-Bon replied flatly. "You're still no good around others, prone to sarcasm, and you think you're funny when you're not."

Pokey's eye twitched, and his horn even gave off a quick discharge of light. "You're no catch yourself, you know!" he yelled back. "You're boorish, loud, violent, and flip out at the drop of a hat!" He was expecting Bon-Bon to reintroduce her hooves to his face, or some other form of physical retaliation. He had also already given up on getting away. He just sighed and waited for the pain, but instead Bon-Bon smiled.

"Yeah, we're both kind of messed up, huh," she giggled. "No wonder we're alone on Hearts and Hooves Day."

"W-well, you don't have to be." Pokey reached into his bag, and brought out the box of treats. "I got these for you because," he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "because I like you." The time between his confession and Bon-Bon's answer was an eternity in-between for both of them, but eternity did come to pass.

"I'm so sorry," Bon-Bon answered him, "but I can't feel that way about you, Pokey."

The box fell to the floor. "W-why not!?"

"I like somepony else. I-I just can't, okay! Just leave it at that!" she yelled hysterically, and then went silent. They both were silent, and it was painful for both of them as well. "Pokey, you have to hold us all together, like one of those pins you have on your clothes."

"What?" Pokey gasped, unable to understand what Bon-Bon meant. "What the hay are you talking about?"

"Don't curse," she reprimanded him. "You're not a bad pony, Pokey, it's just I can't be the mare for you, but I want you to make sure that we're always friends: me, you, and Lyra."

"And why is it my responsibility!?" Pokey demanded to know, becoming fed up with Bon-Bon's constant orders. "Since we first met it's been one thing after another. I can live with your domineering attitude for the rest of my life if you would just like me back!"

"Well that's not going to happen!" Bon-Bon yelled at him. "Okay, you're right. I'm still unnecessarily hard on you, so I promise I'll lighten up if you would just promise to make sure that the three of us never break up , no matter what! Got it!"

"Only if you go on a date with me."

Bon-Bon's eyes flared up. "You just don't get it! Agh!" She stomped her hoof, causing Pokey to jump back. "You know what, forget it. Go do whatever you want, Pokey. Just leave me out of it!" She turned around and left him there, too stunned to follow her. He would never notice the stream of tears coming down her face.

Pokey shook his head shaking some of the daze in his eyes away. He turned back to the dot that was Bon-Bon, becoming lost in a sea of other ponies. He took a deep breath and yelled as loud as he could, "I will!" His nostrils were flared in defiance and for a long time he would not speak with Bon-Bon again. They would never even apologise.

Pokey wanted to get further away from Bon-Bon, so he turned around and came face to face with Lyra. "Agh!" He jumped back in surprise, nearly falling off his hooves. "Lyra, what are you doing here?"

"Well..." Behind her floated a few roses wrapped in a crudely knitted scarf. "I wanted to give these to Bon-Bon as a Hearts and Hooves present."

"So you like Bon-Bon?"

Lyra's eyes nearly popped out of her head as she stared at Pokey with a look of astonishment and fear, a fear that he would not come to understand for a few months. "N-no! This is just as friends!"

"Well," Pokey groaned. "Then take this as a friend." He took the discarded box and shoved it into Lyra's hooves. "I was going to give these to Bon-Bon, but she pretty much stood me up. Likes somepony else anyway." He was angry, and wanted to vent on the closest thing. "How about we go somewhere and eat it all. I need to eat something anyway." Lyra simply nodded her head, and followed Pokey.

Cantelot Plains: Fields of Memories

Pokey sat with his back towards the city, looking out as far as he could across Canterlot and Equestria. He had only the sun and Lyra for company outside the city where few would venture. He ripped apart the box of chocolates and let the little confections float in the air, suspended in his aura of magic, and with a flick of his magic popped one right into his mouth. "Aren't you gonna have one?" he asked Lyra, chocolate still in his mouth.

"Alright," Lyra replied, hooking one of the bits around her own aura and gingerly bringing it to her lips. "It's good," she sighed.

"It's average," Pokey spat. "I bought it for fifteen bits anyway. Happy Hearts and Hooves Day, Lyra."

"Happy Hearts and Hooves Day, Pokey." With a drawn-out sight, Lyra turned to the vast fields before her; fields rife with fruits and chimeras. "Pokey, do you think we'll always be friends?"

"Why are you asking me?" He glared at her. "I mean, well I used to be really mean to you, so wouldn't I be the first pony to leave you?"

"No, you won't." There was a hint of amusement in her words, and with a smile she told him, "Because you're still my slave."

"After all these years," Pokey sighed. "So what does my master command?" he asked with a weary voice.

"I order you to always be me and Bon-Bon's friend."

That night, when I got home to enjoy a nice bath, I found on my flank my cutie mark. It as a safety pin just like the ones I use to patch up my cloths. At the time, I didn't really understand what it meant at first, but as we all began to grow farther and farther apart, I began to realize what it meant. It was my calling in life to hold my friends together.


Canterlot Sewers: Path of Delusions

"That's what your Cutie Mark means?" the three fillies asked with wide eyes, ogling the now-majestic pin etched onto his flank. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle couldn't help but awe and Scootaloo jumped back on top of him, her head hovering just over Pokey's eyes. "So you're a leader pony!"

"I'm nothing like that," Pokey sighed.

SKIT: Did You Hear Her?

Lemon Hearts: …

Pokey: You're silent all of a sudden.

Lemon Hearts: It's not like I've done a lot of talking to begin with.

Pokey: Yeah, but you also haven't said anything snide in awhile.

Lemon Hearts: Your story, it got me thinking.

Pokey: Huh?

Lemon Hearts: We all grew up with so little, barely clinging to what we could have, holding on as tight as we could to our bonds of friendship.

Pokey: You have friends?

Lemon Hearts: I didn't assemble a gang as big as that one out of fear, you know.

Pokey: That's quite impressive then.

Lemon Hearts: But Nightmare Moon shows up, takes advantage of our poverty, and shakes everypony up.

Pokey: Did you hear her voice before she appeared?

Lemon Hearts: Yes, I did, a lot. What about you, Pokey?

Pokey: No, not once.

Lemon Hearts: I wonder why.

Pokey: I think it's because I don't really care about anything beyond my friends. I could go hungry and not give much of a care so long as I knew Lyra and Bon-Bon are fine.

Lemon Hearts: And what would you do without them to drive you.

Pokey: Well... a certain pink pony does owe me some baked goods.

Lemon Hearts: What?

SKIT: End

Pokey continued to sludge through the flowing waters, leading the rest of the group along the way. They were close, he though. Close to the exit and freedom, and just as he could feel a breeze of fresh air, he stopped. The gate out of Canterlot was a few feet away, and between him and the gate stood Lyra, her lyre planted in the ground menacingly. "Hey," Pokey greeted her.

"Hey," Lyra replied back solemnly. Her tone was of one who had tasted the bitter fruits of defeat.

"You're going to try and stop us from escaping, aren't you?" Pokey Pierce lifted his katana from his back.

Lyra wrapped her golden aura around her broad-bladed lyre. "Nightmare Moon is on her way right now."

Pokey Pierce clenched his teeth, hiding his fear. He turned to Big Macintosh and Lemon Hearts. "Take the fillies and hide somewhere!" he ordered them, and with a nod they grabbed the three frightful little fillies and ran into the darkness of the tunnels, leaving Pokey Pierce alone to face his friend like he wanted.

"You were telling them how we met?" Lyra asked him, keeping her eyes to the ground as she pointed her weapon at Pokey.

Pokey unsheathed his katana, allowing the scabbard to fall to the floor. "I'm begging you," Pokey Pierce held his blade in front of himself, glancing at his haggard face in the reflection. "You're the last pony I want to fight, Lyra. Don't let Nightmare Moon control you like this."

Lyra lowered her weapon, feeling her inner child pleading with her to not strike, but something else was pulling her legs; desperation. She was desperate for her life. "We don't have to fight," she said softly. "If you would just surrender and go back to town, Pokey."

"I have to go out there," he replied back. "I'm not going to let Nightmare Moon hurt anypony else!"

"What are our alternatives!" she snapped. "We can't fight her, Pokey! But, if we join her, than maybe life will get better. We won't be at the bottom anymore. We won't have to worry about starving!"

"That's wishful thinking, Lyra," Pokey Pierce spoke with conviction. "You felt that hatred within her. She doesn't care about us and will probably discard us the moment Equestria submits to her. She's a monster of hate. Our only hope is to fight!"

"Then we're hopeless!" Lyra picked up her weapon and charged at Pokey Pierce. She swung as hard as she could pouring all her strength and will into the blow, but the attack was deflected. Pokey Pierce, with his pitiful little katana parried her. "Pokey?"

"Brutal Fang!" Pokey Pierce charged right into Lyra delivering a savage series of blow into her body. Lyra's armor protected her from most of the impacts but each blow still wore into her. With one last wind up, Pokey Pierce drove his hoof into Lyra and knocked her off her hindlegs. "Well?" Pokey Pierce shook his hoof, knowing he had done more damage to himself than to Lyra. "Are you going to stand down?"

Lyra picked herself up, willing her weapon back to her. "Your style is still unrefined," she joked, and regretted it. She wanted to laugh with her friend on better terms than a fight. "Don't think I'm going to hold back! And don't you dare either!"

"I can't help it," Pokey Pierce replied, "because I don't want to fight you."

Lyra paused, nearly unable to contain the emotions building in her. "Why you? If it was any other pony I wouldn't be having such a hard time!" She closed her eyes and charged blindly at Pokey Pierce, enveloping her entire body in magic. "Phantom Crescendo!"

Pokey tried to block her, but she dashed right through him, turning around to strike wildly at his exposed backside, the weight of her armor carrying the shocks through his body. He leapt foward, away from Lyra, and tumbled to his side, repositioning himself in front of her again. "I haven't seen that one."

"Stop talking with me like this! We're enemies right now, not friends!" Tears seeped out of her eyes, leaving her emotions on the floor.

"We're always going to be friends Lyra, so I'm sorry I have to do this." Pokey Pierce pointed his blade at Lyra as he readied himself for his strongest attack. "O brilliant blade of coldest steel," he muttered.

"What are you doing!?" Lyra readied her weapon, thinking she could deflect anything Pokey Pierce could throw at her, but she couldn't. In seconds Pokey Pierce was behind her, and he slashed at her before she could react. "Pokey!?" She turned around, barely recovering from the blow, but Pokey Pierce was behind her again, attacking.

"Rend the infinite darkness!" He was moving faster than his own mind could register and was forced to rely wholly on instinct. He dashed at Lyra, striking from every direction at once. "And deliver my friend blissful dreams!"

"Pokey!" At her hooves, Lyra summoned a torrent of water to mire Pokey Pierce's assault and protect her.

"Savage Wolf Fury!" Pokey Pierce roared as he cut through a wall of water with his sword and delivered a swift and powerful kick to the back of Lyra's head, knocking her to the floor. He had won the battle, but it was a victory that left him hollow as he watched his old friend struggle to her hooves.

Lyra struggled to stay conscious in the wake of the blow. Water and sweat clung to her fur, making it harder for her to move. She could barely establish a connection to her lyre, an aura of magic fizzling out around her horn. "Were you always holding back before!?" she yelled out, her voice echoing across the tunnels.

"Nope," Pokey sighed, sheathing his sword and hanging it across his side, "I just needed to win more than you. I'm sure under any other condition, you would have won."

A dark mist filled the tunnels, malignant dots of stars shining in it's twisted depth. Pokey Pierce knew what to expect next, and he shot a quick glance at the three little fillies, cowering in the wooden box silently. Pokey Pierce didn't back away with fear as the mist began to condence into the black monster that had Canterlot locked up in her web of darkness. He faced Nightmare Moon with fierce unwavering eyes.

Nightmare Moon curled her lips and flashed her jagged teeth at Pokey Pierce, an act that would have left any other pony broken with fear, but Pokey Pierce did not balk. He stared at her with his piercing gaze, hidden within it was the smallest glimmer of hope. Nightmare Moon did not like this. "So, you think you can escape?" she hissed, hoping to draw out some form of ire or cowardice from Pokey Pierce, but all he did was draw his sword defensively.

"I have to try," he answered her, his eyes steeled against her darkness. "Somepony has to stop you."

"So you're a hero, then?" she sneered at him sarcastically, but inside she felt intense anger growing.

"If it's for their sake, then I am!" he roared, filled with conviction and strength. He enchanted his sword with ice and swung widely, carving shards of ice before him out of thin air and then shooting them at Nightmare Moon. "Frigid Blast!"

Nightmare Moon merely stomped one of her hooves and a wall of darkness sprung forth to protect her. The ice shards shattered into bits before the wall, and Nightmare Moon stepped out of the wall unscathed, her face twisted in a spiteful grin. "What say you to this?" she asked as she stomped another hoof, sending out sanguine waves to flood Pokey Pierce's hooves.

Pokey Pierce felt his hooves being bound to the floor. He looked between them and the evil Princess approaching him slowly like a cat toying with a mouse. He wondered if this would be the end of him. His only regret was failing his friends the way he had, and faced with no other option he threw his sword forward, as fast and as strong as he could, and he pierced the body of Nightmare Moon. His eyes widened, at first with a sense of possible victory, but the feeling escaped him as he watched the sword fall to the ground, and the intangible Nightmare Moon walked through him, a wave of icy cold malice passing through him as well.

"You're doing a splendid job already, hero." Her words cut right through him, and she rejoiced at the possible pain she was causing, reveling in Pokey's suffering as she turned and breathed in his ear, letting her cold breath chill his spine.

Pokey Pierce turned and looked her right in the eye. "So this is the part where I die?"

Everything she had felt in tormenting the stallion vanished, replaced once again by intense rage. Her mane curled around Pokey Pierce's neck, looping around and curling tightly. The mane sharpened itself against his skin, blanancing his life against her razor's edge. "Yes."

"No!" Lyra cried out, swinging down her lyre on the mane. It vainly passed through it, Lyra fell to the floor, almost motionless. "Please, don't kill him."

"And why should I listen to you, my little pony? On what gall would you think to defy the will of your Princess!"

"I beg you, please. Let him live... I'll do anything!" She was crying, her body leaning on the broad-edged lyre embedded on the floor.

"Lyra!" Pokey Pierce cried out.

"Anything?" Nightmare Moon hissed, her dry voice chilling the air. Her mane released itself from Pokey Pierce's neck and slithered over to Lyra's neck. "You're willing to pay quite the price, then?"

"No! Stop it you monster and face me!" Pokey Pierce roared. "Lyra! Lyra!" He tore one of his hoofs out of Nightmare Moon's pool of darkness and reached out to Lyra, screaming her name as loud as he could. "LYRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" He reached out his hoof to the filly he had spent the best years of his life with, but another wave of darkness sent him flying off his feet and crushed him against the walls of the tunnels. The pain of the impact knocked him out, and his body fell limply to the floor.

Nightmare Moon's mane released itself from Lyra's neck, in it's place was a spiked collar. "This is a sign of your eternal servitude, Lyra. If you disobey it will kill you."

The way Nightmare Moon spoke her name numbed Lyra's mind, but at least Pokey Pierce was safe for now. "I understand," she replied, feeling her body being picked off the floor.

"We're about to start a war, and it begins with sinking those pegasi's infernal city." Nightmare Moon extended her mane to Pokey Pierce, lifting his limp body, and on hoof she left the tunnels, never noticing three small fillies cowering in the shadows.

Scootaloo was the first to talk. "Did you hear that!"

Apple Bloom stuck a hoof in her mouth to shush her. "Not so loud, Scoots."

"Pokey," Lemon Heats whimpered.

Scootaloo tossed shoved Apple Bloom's hoof aside, tears streaming from her eyes. "She's going to attack the Cloud Kingdom! That's where my home is! That's were mommy and daddy are... we have to do something!"

"Just leave that to Applejack and her friends," Big Macintosh said slowly, attempting to calm down the frightened fillies. "We need to get somewhere safe, understand?" Big Macintosh carried them to the gates of the sewers. He pressed his hooves against the gate. It was locked. "Darn it," he cursed. He clenched his muscles, focusing all his energy to to his hooves. "Heavy Bomber!" he cried out, and a powerful white light escaped from his hooves, decimating the gate. Wasting no time, he threw himself through the gate, Lemon Hearts following suit, and galloped as fast as his hooves would allow him, never pausing to look back. Had he done so, he would have seen darkness wrap itself around the fragments of the gate and seal itself behind an impenetrable wall. He led them back to his home in Apple Acres.

Cutie Quest Cleared