War of the Unfoals

by NPP6

Chapter 10 - Reckless

Midnight stepped into the darkened entry hall. “Starlight? I know you’re here, you opened the door. Twilight told me you could help me find some records; I need everything she has that’s even remotely connected to the spell that made Nyx.”

“First prove you are who you say you are. I can see the black not-ponies moving around out there.” Midnight rolled his eyes; the mare was magically disguising the location of her voice, but not subtler sounds like her twitching tail brushing the crystal floor. Since Vapor didn’t seem to have an heir at the moment, he decided to mention that flaw to her later.

“I’m afraid this will hit a little close to home. They’re called the unfoals…”

---

Twilight was panting slightly as she followed Applejack and Spike into Sugarcube Corner. “Why did they stop chasing us?”

“They won’t come near the bakery for some reason.”

Twilight looked up and gasped as she saw Rainbow, Fluttershy, Discord, and Pinkie. Glancing around briefly, she saw Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo sitting in a booth with another pair of foals. “No Rarity?” She grimaced at the headshakes. “Anyway… The unfoals are afraid of Pinkie Pie.”

Rainbow cocked an eyebrow. “Why would they be afraid of Pinkie? I mean sure, she can come off a little strong, but…”

“Rainbow, do you know what happens when something that’s only half real comes into contact with Pinkie’s… Pinkie-ness?”

“…No?”

“Well, neither do they.”

“So what are these things?”

Twilight looked over to find that the foals had left their booth and inserted themselves into the conversation. “Well,” She answered Sweetie, “They’re called unfoals…”

---

Nursery Rhymes was tracking her son. She knew of a few places he could be, though the state of Carousel Boutique and Cheerilee’s house had her worried. And then she froze at a single word.

It was a name, one that only eight ponies in Ponyville knew. She recognized the voice, but it was definitely not one of them. She turned slowly to find a cloaked figure standing behind her.

---

Twilight sighed as she finished explaining the unfoals. “Midnight says he has a plan, I’m just glad we found all of you here. If we hadn’t been able to find Pinkie or Discord, he was going to have to use the Crusaders as a source of Chaos magic.”

Spike nodded. “He even had Black Diamond take Applebloom and her husband to Nightstone Castle.”

“HUSBAND!?”

Upon later questioning, Discord would emphatically deny manipulating time in that moment. Either way, the echoes of the word “husband” had not even begun before the front doors of Sugarcube Corner had slammed against the outside wall in the wake of three fillies and a colt. In the impossibly short timespan between, the four had come to an agreement with a glance.

Already, the buzz was pulling away. Applejack, being the one most experienced with failing to catch the Crusaders’ favored mode of transport, spun to the resident Draconequus. “Discord! Bring ‘em back here!”

The chaos being shrugged. “Sorry, can’t. Chaos-blinking doesn’t work in this pocket dimension.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Pinkie’s stuck moving normally too.”

The farm mare turned again. “Rainbow, after them!”

A polychrome contrail led out the door. After a moment, Twilight turned to Spike. “You and I are going to have a talk. Now.”

---

Featherdown gave a yawn as she entered the library, “Wha-a’s going on?”

Midnight and Starlight looked up from where they were sorting through scrolls and notebooks. “We were largely waiting for you to wake up.” Midnight turned to Starlight. “I’m going to need your help crafting both spells.”

The mare nodded. “Sure thing.”

“Spells?”

Midnight smiled. “I’ll explain on the way, for now, we need to get going.” Shadows rose around him and reached out to envelop Starlight and Featherdown.

---

The rainbow pursuing them pulled a ninety degree turn straight down and slammed into the ground in front of them. Scootaloo slid to a stop scant inches from her idol, the wagon fishtailing behind her and to the side.

The orange filly spoke first, “Rainbow… Please don’t stop us.”

The racer thought for a moment. “Scoots…” She met her gaze. “Do you know what’s going on?”

“I know my friend probably needs help.”

“This is a bad idea. I don’t know what the situation is, but if Applebloom’s married then getting involved will lead to some bad things for you.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“At least come back so Twilight can explain things.”

“No can do. If we go back they’ll never let us leave, you know that.”

After a moment, Rainbow sighed and turned away. “Take your next left, it’ll leave you the most routes to Nightstone, make it harder for the unfoals to cut you off. Shame I couldn’t find you in the maze that these streets are.” Her takeoff was abruptly interrupted by a hug from behind. The mare reached around and hugged the filly back. “I’m proud of you squirt.”

Four seconds later, the street was empty. None of her companions could hear as Scootaloo sang under her breath.

---

“Spike, you did that on purpose didn’t you?”

“…Yeah, yeah I did.”

“Spike, why?”

“You weren’t going to.”

“Yes we were, we would have–”

“Don’t kid yourself Twilight, you would have never told them. And deep down you know why.”

“Spike now they’re going to go running off to pester Applebloom and–”

“And that’s what you’re afraid of. You and Applejack both. Neither of you likes the fact that you aren’t in control anymore. Because they’ll never let you make Applebloom’s decision for her the way you were going to. She’ll follow her own heart now, and that terrifies you.”

“Spike… this is about Rarity, isn’t it?”

“Maybe it is. Maybe Applebloom’s not the only one you need to stop babying.” And with that, the tiny purple dragon walked out the kitchen’s service entrance into the alley. Twilight moved to follow, but stopped when she heard her name.

Deciding to give Spike some space, she went to see what Applejack wanted.

---

Scootaloo was belting her song at the top of her lungs as they raced down the streets. As she took one corner particularly sharply, Button caught a lamppost with his keyblade and swung the wagon around it to keep it from whipping out and throwing passengers.

Sweetie Bell lashed out with desperate energy at a wooden awning, collapsing the near end to the ground. Scootaloo made a minor course correction, and flew from the improvised ramp over the group of unfoals that had crowded to block off an intersection.

“How are we not dead yet?” Lily shouted to be heard over Scootaloo’s wings and voice.

Button laughed, “Are you kidding? The Crusaders make this run every day! The only thing new is that the other ponies are our size!”

Fifteen minutes of trick riding later – including one impossible grind where both wagon and scooter had slid along the railing of a bridge – their goal was in sight. The problem? Scootaloo had been scooting all night. She refused to acknowledge it, but she was tiring. The unfoals were gaining on them.

They took another corner, Button stabbing a short cobblestone wall to prevent them slamming into it. As he did, there was a cracking noise. His keyblade had a narrow split starting, running most of the middle third of the shaft.

Sweetie looked from the fractured wood to the colt holding it. “Don’t worry, I’m sure we can fix it.”

Button was silent for a moment. He glanced back over his shoulder at their pursuers, then forward to the road ahead. “No Sweetie, I don’t think we can.” The colt reared up, lifting the key high, then dropped with a battlecry, swinging the weapon low.

The shaft shattered as he struck his target, sawdust and splinters trailing through the air between the handle still in his hoof and the teeth spinning off into the night. The chocking block he had attacked was thrown as well, though it didn’t fly nearly so well. And then the barrels shifted.

The barrels had been stacked to the side of a shop, and now free of impediment, they began to roll. The shifting knocked loose the second line next to them, and the barrels flooded the street behind the foals. Button couldn’t help himself, he had seen the potential for the barrels to bowl over the unfoals, and so they phased through them.

Or at least, the leading side.

Button had never intended for them to be caught by the far side and then trapped in the barrels, but that’s what happened.

Sweetie put a hoof on his shoulder as they watched the chaos behind them. “I’m sorry, I know that meant a lot to you.”

“It’s fine.” Button slid the hilt and remaining four inches of shaft into the holster, clicking the crossguard into its locks. “I’m getting too old for toys anyway.”

---

Twilight shook her head. “I’m sorry Applejack, but at this range and their usual speed, the risk of splicing is too great.”

“Splicing?”

“What happens when a pony rematerializes overlapping something or somepony. It’s messy, and often lethal.”

Further response was cut off by Midnight, Starlight, and Featherdown rising from the shadows. “Hey, saw the lights were on. What’s going on?”

Twilight sighed. “Sweetie Bell, Scootaloo, and two other foals are on their way to Nightstone castle, and it looks like this is all we’ve got to work with.”

Midnight nodded. “Alright, good.”

“What!? How is–” A blue glow enveloped Applejack’s mouth.

“Apologies for the rudeness, but we’re short on time. Discord, I need you to get as many civilians out of here as you can. Get a message to the princesses, tell them to move the sun and moon so that they have my castle between them.”

“Let me guess, at midnight?”

“Yes. Starlight, Featherdown, and I will get to the castle – picking up four friends along the way if possible – to set up the spell. As for you five, I need a distraction. You need to buy me at least twenty minutes so we can reach midnight, possibly more. I have to hurry now, we don’t have much time.”

---

Twilight stepped outside. “Spike, I… Spike?” No. No, this couldn’t be happening, not again. Not twice in one night.

Just as she was about to start hyperventilating, the mare noticed a note scorched into the brick of the alley wall:

“Twilight – Had to borrow your dragon. Don’t worry, I’ll have him back by sunrise. – Distra”

She sighed gently. She didn’t know whether to worry or not anymore, but she supposed this was better than the alternative.

“Just because you’re ready to say something doesn’t mean they’re ready to hear it.”

The alicorn spun to find another alicorn behind her. This one was a colt, somewhere between seven and thirteen, she couldn’t quite tell. “Who are you?”

“Panpipes, Alicorn of Pocket Dimensions.”

“Midnight told me you were trapped on an island.”

“I am, but occasionally I get to bend the rules. Like right now; I was waiting in the wings in case somepony needed to pull the foals out of town. Also we’re not technically in Equestria, this is an island in space-time. So I can visit for a few minutes. Just long enough to warn you really.”

“Warn me about what?”

“It used to be that the lost foals that washed ashore on my island were abandoned, forgotten, or had simply wandered off. Nowadays, it’s far more common to see them show up because their parents don’t let them grow up.”

“That’s not what’s going on here, Spike’s still a baby.”

“…Have Midnight talk to you about that, he’ll have the time to answer. What I can tell you Magic is this; We’re going to meet again, fairly soon. And when we do, you’ll need to answer this question: Do you want Spike to be your baby or your son?” Before Twilight could answer, the colt took wing, made a vertical loop, and nosedived into a puddle, spraying her with water as he vanished.

---

Discord stood in the middle of the bakery’s dining area. He took a breath, let it out, took another, and then, in the space between his heartbeats, reality twisted.

When he opened his eyes, the five mares he had been with were gone. He stepped outside and waited for a moment, smiling as Celestia and Luna landed in front of him.

Author's Note:

Next chapter, the promised moment where they blow a hole in the universe. I'll be honest, I wasn't originally planning on it taking this long.

Comments

[Rhanoa]

“It used to be that the lost foals that washed ashore on my island were abandoned, forgotten, or had simply wandered off. Nowadays, it’s far more common to see them show up because their parents don’t let them grow up.”

I finally get it, the unborn are babies dying mid pregnancy. Can't imagine ponies doing an abortion though.