The Elements of Harmony are scattered across Equestria to train and become stronger to defeat a great evil.
After being defeated by Law, spirit of order, Discord scatters them to the farthest corners of Equestria. Now the Elements must become stronger, learn new means of fighting, and turn into the heroes they were meant to be.
In the Western Ocean, Rainbow Dash becomes a pirate captain. Loyalty to her crew and her friends will be tested as she learns to command the wind. She will battle with swords and rifles. Most of all she will have to learn the history of the vast sea.
Up in the Crystal Mountains, Spike will grow and mature as he trains with a dying order of peace loving dragons. Temptations will present themselves to hinder Spike's dedication to his friends. One million scrolls is nothing for the scribe of Princess Twilight.
Far east, Pinkie Pie stumbles into a secret village. Her obnoxiousness might be the end of her. Will laughter be heard in the village of silence?
Sunset Shimmer never thought she'd return to Equestria. She was happy to be wrong. Now that a great evil threatens to take her home away from her, she must learn the power of her voice to find a place she belongs.
The unicorn kingdom is cold and cruel. A generous mare like Rarity will have trouble surviving the harsh tundra. Will the common folk be thankful enough to help her or will the vile nobles slam their iron hooves on them.
Fluttershy is happy to find a good friend in her time of need. However, when new laws pass that prevent her from aiding him and his family legally. Fluttershy will turn to nefarious means of profit.
When Zecora came to her village, Applejack was suspicious. She never trusted strange ponies from foreign lands. Now the tables have turned and Applejack has become a stranger in a strange land. She must learn to trust strangers if she wishes to return to her family and friends.
The Badlands. The place where exiles go. A harsh desert wasteland full of monsters and psychopaths. Twilight will be forced though many trials in this land. Will she keep her sanity or will madness claim her fragile mind.
Twilight Sparkle was thrown into a wall. Hitting the floor with a loud thump.
A great evil appeared in Canterlot. A great evil similar to Discord but at the same time not at all like the demented spirit of chaos.
Twilight’s eyes tried to focus on the menacing figure. It was pure grayish white, symmetrical features, and was as long as a serpent. This was Discord in perfect order. A being the complete opposite of chaos. It’s marble like skin left imprints in the floor. The terror flared its bat like wings in triumph. Howling a victorious roar. It slowly stalked the princesses.
Twilight ran towards the creature in a vain attempt to stop it. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Pinkie on top of Applejack. Bloody and bruised. On the other side of her laid Sunset Shimmer holding her ribs together. Everything slowed down as she drew closer to the foul creature. Rainbow managed to get to it first only to be flicked out of the air like a house fly. Fluttershy was comforting a badly injured Spike. Her tears trailed down to Discord himself, wheezing with a claw holding him up. Twilight met with Rarity as they ran to their target. Their horns glowed brightly, ready for one last attempt to save the princesses. The creature swished its tail and embedded the two in the floor.
“You foals will never end my reign,” it stated in a monotonous tone.
The creature stared down the princesses. Both claws rose with the two held by the neck. They struggled in fear. A grey glow crept across their bodies. Each limb hardened and froze. All color vanished to be replaced by pure marble. Their screams fell silent once the glow consumed their muzzles.
The creature released his grip. Both princesses clanged against the tile floor as statues. An expression of fear forever plastered on their faces.
The monster turned its attention to the last alicorn in the room.
“You know my name?”
“N- No,” Twilight whimpered.
“I am that which is and will. My word is just and must always be obeyed. I am order incarnate. I am Law. Remember that while you decorate my throne.” The monster named Law lifted his claw to repeat his action.
Before anything could be said or done, Discord appeared inches away from Twilight’s face.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered before striking Twilight with his paw.
The last alicorn flung into nothingness in the blink of an eye. With the same amount of speed and time, Discord struck the remaining ponies and dragon in the room. Each of the vanished into nothingness, each of them were separated, each of them were sent far away where Law would never find them.
“Unpredictable as always, brother,” Law stated.
“I’m not your brother. We look alike and have control over our respective forces. That’s it,” Discord growled.
“Agreed. Now you run,”
Discord vanished.
—————————————————————————————————————————————
In the middle of the western ocean sailed a pirate ship of small size. The captain was cruel, greedy, and dirty. Needless to say; the crew hated him more than anything. Most members of the crew were female with only a select few males. Each night the captain would demand to have his way with one of the ladies or he’d force them to walk the plank. The crew spent many days plotting a mutiny. Everything was prepared; weapons at the ready, all crew members agreed to it, and the next course of actions were set. All that was left was to pick a new captain.
“Oi, Captain!” the look out yelled.
“Aye?”
“There’s a rainbow wench ahead!”
The captain pulled out a telescope to view his prize. Floating in the water was a rainbow maned pegasus. She was battered and bruised with sharks swimming around her. The captain chuckled with nasty thoughts and red cheeks.
“Bring her aboard!”
—————————————————————————————————————————————
The Crystal Mountains are not known for the dragons that live there. In fact, not many are aware dragons lived there at all. They were peaceful beasts. Never interfering with the problems of the outside world. Their days were spent eating gems naturally grown in the mountains and perfecting their breath magic. Their order was small and dying out. No new dragons cared to join. A fear of losing their legacy weighed heavily on the few elder dragons.
Then a purple and green comet landed in the middle of their garden.
It was a baby purple dragon. The poor thing looked abused with scorched scales. However it did seem healthy with a full belly and he retained the scent of fresh books and powerful magic.
The young drake groggily opened his eyes with a groan.
“I need an adult,” he moaned.
“I am an adult,” the elder dragon whispered before carrying the young drake inside.
—————————————————————————————————————————————
In the eastern lands of the Unicorn Kingdom rested a village of earth ponies. A secret village whose residents trained in the art of stealth. A village of ninjas, they vowed never to let others know of them nor would they allow any to leave their village alive. Their secrecy and silence were far more important than any other thing in their lives. If any nation were to discover them than all hopes of reclaiming their homelands from the unicorn invaders would be in vain.
The side of the mountain exploded in pink dust.
The entire village collected around the thing that caused such destruction. The bright pink pony that made a noise so loud it echoed through the valley. A vibrant mare who was a complete stranger to their lands.
She quickly stood up and shouted, “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie! Who are all of you and where am I?”
—————————————————————————————————————————————
Applewood. Home of famous actors and musicians. A town where the most amount of bits earn you the biggest spot light. This was a town of gullible fillies and stupid stallions. A con artist would thrive in a city like this. Which explains why Flim and Flam bought a house here.
“This is the life, eh Flim?”
“It sure is Flam!”
The twins cheered to themselves. They had made great success so far. Swindling any little pony that stumbled across them. By strange coincidences, they managed to make themselves happy and the pony they swindled happy as well! Amazingly weird! Must be something in the water.
Back to their current state, they were running low on cash. They needed something that would last them long enough to retire. Flam had an idea.
“But where would we find a musician with talent and popularity?”
“How about that Trixie? She’s been a star attraction since Las Pegasus!”
“No. She has her own manager and I don’t think he’s looking to give her up easily.”
“Well we’ll have to find someone! It’s not like our next big star is going to fall out of the sky!”
That was when Sunset Shimmer fell on top of Flim.
—————————————————————————————————————————————
The Northern Unicorn Kingdom was a land of ice and steel. It was so cold up there that even Windigos needed warmth. The kingdom was ruled by a sour family. They had as much appreciation for art as a fish appreciates dry land. A king, a queen, two princes and a princess made up the royal family. Their rule was violent and selfish. Their demand was so high that they forced all towns to become giant sweat shops. No breaks were allowed, food and sleep were scheduled, and any wish the royal family had were expected to be fulfilled. If expectations weren’t met, punishment would be invoked.
A white light shined behind a tall building.
A small filly with a blank flank turned the corner and saw a beautiful white mare. Her mane was a royal purple and her coat blended with the snow. Her cutie mark displayed three blue gems. She was the most radiant thing the filly had ever seen.
The mare coughed and weakly stood up. She gazed at the filly with calming blue eyes.
“Pardon me but do you know where I am?” a small breeze hit her, sending shivers down her spine, “And may I stay in your house for the evening?”
The filly smiled widely and nodded. She lead the beautiful mare to her hut where the other workers lived.
—————————————————————————————————————————————
Labyrinth, the Minotaur city. An outstanding marvel of engineering. Every hour the city would shift and change. This would confuse a tourist but the residents find the random shifts welcoming. This city was fit for those who could adapt to changes and become stronger with each day. All minotaurs claimed this to be the city of perfection. Other nations had difficulties understanding them but the minotaurs had little to no care about their policies.
Iron Will strolled down the road picking flowers for his mother in law. A tough lady with a heart of gold. He couldn’t help but remember the pony he helped long ago. The memory of the shy pegasus standing up to him with the words “no means no” gave him a sense of ironic joy. She was not satisfied with his help but she wouldn’t have stood up to him without it. If he needed the money bad enough he would’ve been mad. Instead he is thankful for the timid mare for showing him limits to his lessons.
An explosion erupted ahead. A pink and yellow mushroom cloud puffed.
“What the heck is that?!” Iron Will shouted.
Like the other minotaurs he set out to see what it was.
“Out of my way, Iron Will needs a better look!”
The minotaurs huddled around the crater. The dust cleared to reveal a yellow pegasus with a pink mane. Iron Will recognized this pony very well.
—————————————————————————————————————————————
The jungles of Zebrica are dense and dangerous. If you are not careful you’ll end up being eaten by a giant scorpion, a basilisk, or a swarm of fire ants. That’s only the least threatening stuff too. The only way to travel safely through this jungle is to know the plant life. The plants tell the zebras what’s around the corner, what they’re able to do, and when a storm is on its way. The zebras listen to the plants warnings and heed their advises.
A lone zebra wondered around the jungle looking for food. He had gathered fresh fruits and vegetables. The last item on his list was a good spice. He knew the perfect herb to pick.
Pushing some vines out of the way, he walked into the grove where his desired plant was.
Under an orange earth pony with a hat.
The pony opened her eyes and stared at the zebra. It only lasted two seconds before the both started screaming.
“ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH-“
—————————————————————————————————————————————
Badlands.
The name of a wasteland where Equestria’s worst go to live in exile. Everything there is either a bandit, a psycho, or a monster. Mostly monsters and psychos. You’d be lucky to find water or an abandoned cloud. This was a harsh land full of dangers most ponies can’t handle, both mentally and physically. This land is ideal for none and a nightmare for the pampered.
A blue pegasus roamed across the sand and stumbled upon a head.
This wasn’t the strangest thing he ever saw as he simply pulled the alicorn out of the ground with ease. The strange part was that she was an alicorn.
The pegasus slapped her awake, startling her.
“AAAh, Who are you? Where am I? Are we dead? What happened to the princesses?!” she sputtered around.
“In order; doesn’t matter, Badlands, no, and I have no idea.”
The alicorn turned with full attention, “Badlands? I think I’ve been here before?”
“Good, that means I won’t have to drag you,” the pegasus said as he walked away.
“Wait! Where are you going?”
—————————————————————————————————————————————
Discord stood at the tip of Twilight’s castle.
Ponyvile developed well since the castle magically appeared. However, everything changed for the worse on this day. What was once a peaceful and thriving town on its way to become a city is now in ruins. A one way war wage through Ponyvile. Discord destroyed all buildings from the apple farm to the edge of Everfree.
The screams of panicked ponies echoed through the burning home. Although Discord loved to cause panic and mayhem, he did not take pleasure in destruction. Chaos was fun, destruction was not. Destruction left nothing once it was done. What could’ve been a game turned into a serious disaster. No matter what side he was on or what he would get out of it he would not take pleasure in destruction. Something his opposite would never understand.
The marble beast loomed over Discord.
“I knew you would come to this town,” Law stated.
“Then why didn’t you stop me?”
“You take no pleasure in conquest. If this was a game I would not have questions for you.”
Discord step down from his perch to levitate around Law, “Ask away.”
“You protected those eight beings, why?”
“So they could end you.”
“They are out of my reach.”
“Excellent deduction, Sherclop!”
“They will die.”
“Or they’ll turn you into a jigsaw puzzle.”
Discord flew upward and summoned a rain cloud large enough to put out all fires around town. The panicked screams and crying stopped as all ponies in Ponyvile looked up with confusion. Discord held up two fingers that pointed to Canterlot.
“IN TWO YEARS THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY WILL RETURN AND SMITE LAW. YOU ALL MUST ENDURE ANY AND ALL TORMENT THIS MONSTER WILL THROW AT YOU. IF THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY DO NOT RETURN AFTER TWO YEARS THAN ALL HOPE IS LOST. LAW WILL RULE BUT ONLY TEMPORARILY. PROMISE, NOT ME OR THE PRINCESSES BUT YOURSELVES, TO WAIT FOR THE EVENTUAL RETURN OF HARMONY!”
The ponies didn’t have time to cheer. Law’s cold claws dug into Discord.
Slowly, Discord turned to stone. He used all his strength to keep his two fingers pointing. Never budging an inch, never saying another word, never putting up a fight. He remained in the same pose until he was completely encased in stone.
“Since you wish to keep that promise,” Law planted him firmly on a pedestal in front of Twilight’s castle, “Than you can stay here for them to spite at you when that promise breaks.”
Law gazed at the crowed of ponies.
They knew well enough to bow.
A grey pegasus with a blonde mane caught Law’s attention.
“You there, mail mare.”
“Y-Yes?”
“You heard Discord’s promise. Write it down and send it everywhere.”
The crew covered Rainbow Dash in warm blankets. The damp atmosphere of the ship’s interior made it difficult for them to dry her.
She turned in her sleep. Mumblings softly with a scrunched face. Nightmares or memories haunted her. The crew didn’t know what to do for her. Only a single purple pegasus had enough courage to land a hoof on the twisting mare.
“AAAAH!” Rainbow tackled the pegasus to the floor.
She glanced around, seeing the entire crew step away from her. It was obvious to her that she was on a pirate ship. Didn’t need to question the wooden cabin, leaky walls, and the feeling of being swished side to side. Even a pebble would know they were on a ship. Her attention quickly went to the pegasus she tackled.
“Twilight?”
The pegasus stood up. She brushed some dirt off her blue vest and flicked her mane. She was a direct reflection of Twilight (without a horn). Rainbow was confused as to why her friend didn’t have a horn and looked like a pirate.
“My name’s Bookworm. I’m the ship’s navigator,” Bookworm smiled, “And you are our new captain.”
Rainbow pumped her hoof and cheer ‘Oh yeah’ before remembering what happened to her before, “Wait, I can’t! I have to help my friends! I have to fight that weird rock guy! I gotta save Equestria!”
The crew roared with laughter. Bookworm grabbed Rainbow’s hoof with concern.
“Daw, you must’ve hit your head hard. I’m sure Choppy can help you.”
“Choppy?”
“Our doctor,” Bookworm paused a few seconds, “He’s a griffin.”
Rainbow pulled away and took flight, “Woah woah woah! I’m fine! I don’t need a doctor!”
The crew unsheathed their weapons. All eyes were on Dash. A sense of intimidation and bloodlust filled the deck.
“Are you ready to take the ship, captain?” one of the crew mates asked.
“We’ve waited so long to take this ship! Let us attack No-Beard now!”
“Attack No-Beard!”
“YYYYAAAAAAARRRRRGGG!!!”
The entire crew left to go after the ex-captain, captain No-Beard.
“Don’t worry. You’ll get full control of them once the ship’s yours,” Bookworm assured.
“Are you listening to me? I can’t be a captain! I have to go back and save my friends from that weird rock guy that looked like Discord.”
“We can listen to your fantasies when No-Beard walks the plank.”
“No! I want you to understand here and now!” Dash flared her wings in front of Bookworm. She blocked the exit so she would force Bookworm to listen, “My name is Rainbow Dash! Element of Loyalty! I was with Princess Twilight Sparkle, who you look a lot alike, and my friends when some werido that looked like a scarier version of Discord walked up to us and beat the living snot out of everyone in the room. Including me! Now I’m stuck here wondering how the hay I can get back before something really bad happens to my friends!”
Dash huffed and puffed after her rant. The message stuck with Bookworm well enough.
“Ok, captain,” she stated despite Rainbow’s groan, “We’ll get to your friends after you pick a replacement.”
Dash could only sigh and roll along with it. She followed Bookworm to the top deck. She expected this ’No-Beard’ to be tied up. She did not expect No-Beard to be standing on top of several dozen unconscious ponies. The ruthless pirate wore a smirk that sent shivers down the spine. He held a cannon in his hoof and used it to hit a stallion into the mast like a baseball. Bookworm stood far away and waved.
“You got this captain! Show No-Beard who’s boss!”
“WHAT THE HAY AM I SUPPOSE TO DO?!”
No-Beard loomed over Dash. She could feel his warm breath. The smell of rum and limes assaulted her nostrils. She slowly turned her head. Eyes shrunk to pin needles when she show his cannon above his head.
Thinking quickly, Dash flew out of the way. The cannon made an indent in the deck, splintering the wood. Dash held her hooves high.
“Wait! I don’t have anything to do with this! I just woke up!,” she pleaded, “Listen, I just want to get back to my friends! You can deal with these guys later, ok?”
No-Beard glared at her.
“You shouldn’t have said that,” Bookworm told Dash.
“Do you not know who I am?” No-Beard growled, “Do you not realize you’re in the presence of the great No-Beard?!”
“And here comes the long winded speech…”
“The grand pirate who sailed through treacherous seas. The magnificent gentleman who woos all wenches of all species. The captain of the Leaky Lamb who sank many navy ships. The grandson of the renegade Wonderbolt-“
“Long-Beard? Oh yeah, I read he was the only Wonderbolt that quit because of his facial hair,” Dash giggled, “His last words were ‘If I can’t wax my whiskers than I shall send a hail of iron to Cloudsdale’ Oh ho man was he crazy!”
“He was not! He did eventually launch an attack on Cloudsdale.”
“Yeah but he ended up hitting nothing. The cannon balls went through the clouds and landed on empty ground.”
“It was a minor set back.”
“uh huh…”
“Well what do you know? A mare like you could never be a Wonderbolt!”
That statement made Rainbow rage harder than a bull with a stubbed toe.
No-Beard flew overboard. A single punch left a horseshoe imprint on his face. Rainbow frowned, rubbing her hoof as a satisfactory splash glided over her. She didn’t even notice the crew get back up and cheer their new captain.
“Thank you, captain! We couldn’t have done it without you! What do you want to do now captain?”
Rainbow flinch at the last question, “I’m not your captain! You can ask Bookworm why I can’t be captain. Right now I have to save my friends!”
“Save the captain’s friends! We set sail to save captain… uh…”
“Rainbow Dash,” Bookworm told the crew.
“Let’s save captain Rainbow Dash’s friends! YYYAAAAAAAARRRRRGG!!!”
The crew went back to their stations as though nothing happened.
“What is wrong with everyone? Have you all been drinking sea water?”
Bookworm wrapped a hoof around Rainbow, “They’re not used to doing things without a proper leader. Just stick with us for a while, ok?”
“No, it’s not ok. I have no idea where I am. No idea how to get to my friends. And now a crew of weirdo pirates want me to be their captain! How is any of that ok?!”
“Listen, we really don’t have all day to discus-“
“ENEMY SPOTTED!” the look out shouted as he shot down a messenger bird, “BULLSEYE!”
“Looky Lou! That was a messenger gull! It could’ve had useful information for our new captain!”
“Sorry captain Dash!”
Rainbow face hoofed with a sigh, “Whatever just grab the bird and give me the message.”
“Um…”
“What now?!”
“The messenger gull landed on an island.”
Dash looked at the close by island. It was a simple small island with few palm trees and several rocks. The bird was laying motionless on the sandy beach.
“Fine, just get a row boat or something and let’s get it.”
A small team consisting of Rainbow, Bookworm, and a couple random crew mates took a row boat to the island. Once they reached the island, Rainbow reached for the bird. To the surprise of everyone, the bird got up and flew away. Rainbow growled in frustration but followed the bird anyhow. This repeated several times around the island until Rainbow finally gave up.
“I’m done! I am so done!” she raged, “This is stupid! What’s with that dumb bird?”
Bookworm walked towards the bird. As expected, the bird flew off. Bookworm didn’t show any sign of irritation. Instead she smacked the space in front of her with a wing. This caused a gust of wind to kick up and make the bird plummet to the ground. Bookworm then retrieved the papers from the bird and gave them to Dash. Dash’s response was an open mouth of anger.
“Anything else, captain?” Bookworm asked.
“No,” Rainbow grumbled, “Let’s just get back to the ship.”
“Aye, the ship,” No-Beard said.
The group jumped with swords and guns raised, “What are you doing here?! Shouldn’t you be shark food by now?”
“We were apparently in vegan shark territory,” No-Beard shrugged.
“Vegan what?! How does that even work?! You’re lying,” Bookworm accused.
“Nay, I tell you, those sharks don’t eat meat at all. Not even cheese! They just kicked me on this here island.”
“Is this kind of stuff a running thing with you guys or is it because I’m with you?” Rainbow sarcastically questioned.
No-Beard threw sand in her eyes and grabbed a sword, “Now I be taking me ship!”
Bookworm clashed her sword against his, “How dare you attack our captain like that!”
“No mare can ever be a captain,” No-Beard slammed his sword against hers twice, “Know your place wench!”
The other two crew mates jumped No-Beard from behind. No-Beard kicked one in the gut and chopped the other’s gun out of his hooves. The two looked at No-Beard and threw sand in his face. No-Beard covered his eyes and blocked an attack from Bookworm. Rainbow couldn’t see what was going on but heard swords clanging against each other. Rainbow eventually found some water and cleaned her eyes… Which was a mistake.
“AAAAAAAHHH IT BURNS!” Rainbow yelled.
The two crew mates attended to their captain while Bookworm and No-Beard fought. They had fresh water to cleanse Rainbows eyes. She blinked twice and saw the two fighting. Rainbow grabbed a sword and rushed to help Bookworm. The crew mates followed her lead and attacked with sticks they found lying around.
“Four against one? Tis seems unfair,” No-Beard taunted, “For you.”
“Afraid of getting your butt whopped by a couple of mares?” Rainbow laughed.
No-Beard growled and broke his sword against a couple sticks the crew mates found. The strange fact that the sword broke against wood left all of them staring with stunned expressions. Logic seemed to be absent on this island.
“NAVY’S HERE NAVY’S HERE!” Looky Lou shouted.
The pirates turned to see a navy ship drop anchor. Rainbow smiles while the others whimpered.
“Finally, someone who’ll take me back home,” Rainbow sighed with relief.
The navy crew stormed the island in organized fashion.
The captain of the navy ship stood in front, waiting for something.
“Sir! Report on the pirates, Sir!” a grunt handed the captain a few papers.
The captain read the papers in a maliciously angry tone, “No-Beard, worth 7000 bits. Bookworm, worth 5000 bits. And Rainbow Dash, the element of loyalty…”
Rainbow stepped forward with a happy expression, ”I’m so glade you guys are here! Look, I don’t know who there pirates are but-“
“Shoot on sight, no questions asked.” The captain finished.
“WHAT?!”
The navy opened fire. The pirates ran away screaming. Dash flew off to the pirate ship. A hole in her heart weighed heavily on her. She felt betrayed. The navy refused to help her. The only choice she had left was to go with the pirates. She glanced to her right and saw No-Beard.
“Oh no you don’t!” she kicked him in the face.
No-Beard tumbled back and was captured by the navy. Rainbow swore she heard cursing and screaming from him but didn’t care. Right now the only thing that mattered was getting on the ship.
The group boarded the ship and sailed off.
The navy followed them, firing cannons as the pegasi blew wind into the sails. Rainbow noticed this while flying around the ship and ordered all pegasi to do the same. The crew made full efforts to blow wind in the sails. Earth ponies gathered the cannons to fire back at the navy. Unicorns did all they could to steer the ship. All members of the crew listened to Rainbow as she barked orders left and right. With the luck of a stray cannon ball taking out one of the navy sails, the crew broke free to the open ocean.
Dash sighed with relief, wiping the sweat off her brow. With the way clear and calm she sat next to a couple barrels and read the papers from the messenger bird. She was instantly shocked by the first thing she read.
“WHAT THE HAY, DISCORD?” she continued reading. About a few lines in Bookworm came up to her.
“Is everything alright?”
Rainbow shushed her and continued reading. Her mouth hung open as her eyes grew more interested in the article. When she finished reading, she tossed the papers away and asked Bookworm to follow her. The two went into the captain’s cabin.
“Is something wrong, captain?”
“Everything’s going to be ok,” Rainbow laughed, “I just found out my friends are ok. We have a long time until we can get together again.”
“What do you mean?”
“It means I have a lot of free time.”
Bookworm raised her eyebrow, “That’s… nice?”
“But I’m not going to spend it all sleeping like I used to,” Dash’s face became serious, “I have to get better at fighting, better at flying, better at anything if I’m going to take down that rock guy.”
“Why are you telling me this and not the crew?”
“You remind me of a great friend of mine,” Dash shrugged, “More importantly, the crew only needs to know I’M their captain and I only accept loyal members in my crew.”
Looking down he saw bandages on bandages. A silky blanket covered his lower half. He noticed the bed he laid in was larger enough to fit two Big Macs. The room was larger than any room he has seen. A pony would mistake this room for the outside if they didn’t look twice.
A red dragon with yellow horns crawled in the room.
“Ah, You’re awake. That is excellent news,” he spoke in a soft voice.
Spike watched the dragon place a warm cup of tea by him. It was steaming with herbal goodness. An aroma of mint waft against Spike’s nostrils. He picked it up and sipped it slowly.
“This monetary has stood silently in the mountains for 800 years,” the elder dragon spoke, “We held many magical artifacts too dangerous for Equestria. Living off of the crystals that naturally grow in this soil.” A brief moment of silence filled the with (aside from Spike’s slurping)
“Sorry,” Spike squeaked when the dragon glared at him.
The dragon sighed, “But I fear our time has come to an end. We are in desperate need of new drakes. You are the first to arrive in generations. Please, accept the apprenticeship!” The elder begged Spike.
Spike shifted his vision away from the dragon, “Um… I really have to get back to my friends. Can I come back sometime later? I’m sure they’ll understand.”
“Oh thank you, young drake! Thank you!” The elder cheered.
“My name’s Spike,” Spike offered his claw.
“You may call me Blaze,” the elder shook his claw.
The two set off around the temple. If Blaze didn’t insist on asking every dragon they passed, Spike would assume they were taking a tour. What felt like hours took Spike on a journey of wonder. He saw a garden of crystals being harvested by friendly dragons. A rainbow of colors shined brightly, reflecting off the wall behind him in a beautiful polychrome wave. The next room was a library filled with scrolls, books, tomes, and tablets of ancient dragon knowledge. Since Spike lived around ponies nearly all his life he only knew as much as they did about dragons. This was his one chance to learn about his own species! Their last stop was a room filled with… junk.
Shelf upon shelf, in cases, hung on walls, over and under tables. The room was filled with random junk. At the center of it all laid a giant book.
“Ah no, this is the artifact chamber. None of us should be here, some treasures are too tempting for dragons,” Blaze almost walked away before noticing Spike walking up to the book. “Ah, the book of time. Records everything that is and has happened. Ever expanding, ever infinite, ever- What are you doing, Spike?”
“Reading,” Spike gazed at the book taking in the lines he focused on. Suddenly, he panicked and ran away.
“We have to hurry! Twilight needs me! Rarity needs me! All my friends need me!”
“Spike, what is wrong?!”
Spike ran as fast as he could. Opening any and every door he saw. Blaze chased him through the halls, down the corridors, and through several windows. Spike was on a mission of urgency. Nothing would stop him! He tripped over gems but got up and continued running. A female dragon spilled stew over him but he kept running. His goal was met when he opened on final door. A door that lead to a blizzard in the middle of steep mountains. The cold winds blew him back. Tumbling backwards, he was saved by Blaze.
“Young drake! What has caused such disturbance?”
“I have to leave right now,” Spike said weakly, “I have to save my friends from that monster.”
“Spike, you’ve been running for hours,” Blaze sighed, “You are tired, out of breath, and in need of a nutritious emerald.”
“Can’t wait… have to save… everyone…”
“Brother Blaze! Come quickly!” a strange dragon shouted.
“Can it wait, Sparks? I have an apprentice to attend to.”
“It the book of time… It shrunk!”
“WHAT?!”
Spike could barely focus as he felt Blaze rushing him back to the room they were recently in. In haste, Blaze plopped him down and gave him a stick of sapphire. It tasted cold and refreshing, like a glass of ice water. The elders circled the book. To their surprise it did, in fact, shrink in size. It still held the same number of pages but was noticeably smaller than when Spike was first in this room.
Out of curiosity, Spike pushed his way to see the book’s writing. As he read every line, his knees buckled, his arms shivered, and his spine tingled. Tears began to whelp in his eyes. The elders looked at him with confusion of concern.
“Are you well, Spike?” Blaze asked.
“No…” Spike simply stated, “I just found out my home town was destroyed by a good friend,” he continued reading, “And that friend is now a stone statue in front of what’s left of my home.”
“The book only records the most important information in history!” an elder shouted.
“How could this be? What does all of this mean?” another gasped.
“It’s the end of days! All shall be lost! Tartarus is coming, Tartarus is coming!” several started panicking.
“Enough!” Blaze shouted.
Spike raised two fingers. They all stared at him. Waiting for his next word.
“Two years,” he whimpered, “I have two years before I can see my friends again.”
The elder dragons conversed among themselves.
“You’re friends are important, aren’t they?” Blaze asked.
“They saved Equestria several times,” Spike had tears running down his face.
“Have you done anything like that?”
Spike thought for a small amount of time, “I did save the Crystal Empire. But that was a one time thing out of luck. This is… This is the end of Celestia and Luna as we know it.”
Several dragons fainted, more panicked, all roared conversations on what to do.
Blaze placed a claw on Spike’s shoulder, “There are no small achievements. Anything and everything you do to help your friends help change the world.”
Spike looked at him and smiled, “That’s the cheesiest thing I’ve heard anyone say, ever.”
“You’ll hear even more of it with age, young drake,” Blaze chuckled.
Spike turned around with a proud look. He took a deep breath and yelled, “Ok, So what’s first on my apprenticeship?”
Pinkie laid in a jail cell. Mane and tail deflated. She sighed in depression, waiting for her captors to return.
Someone stood at the bars.
“Oh wow! How long were you there?” she asked.
“Long enough to know you’re capable of silence,” the stranger stated.
Pinkie pouted, “It’s no fun staying quiet. I’m sorry for destroying your mountain. Can I go save my friends now?”
“No.”
“Why not?!”
“Because you committed a heinous crime in our village!”
“I said sorry.”
“It’s not the mountain that we’re mad about, it’s the loud noises!”
Pinkie tilted her head in confusion.
“ugh, listen, This village relies on silence. It is illegal to make sounds that echo.”
“why?”
“If we made loud noises, our enemies will find us.”
“Why are they enemies?”
“They stole our land.”
“Why?”
“Because they’re greedy selfish unicorns.”
Pinkie giggled, “Unicorns aren’t bad. I have many friends who are unicorns!”
“Any from the unicorn kingdom?”
Pinkie pondered for a second before shaking her head.
“How is it that you’re only quiet when you don’t have to be?”
Pinkie just shrugged.
The stranger sighed, “I’m just here to deliver food. Your punishment is still being decided. Don’t do anythi-“ It was then he noticed Pinkie was no longer inside the cell.
“Sorry, but I REALLY have to get back to my friends,” she bounced away like a rubber ball.
Pinkie hopped out the door and took in the view. The prison was atop a mound overlooking the village. Numerous houses blended into the forest. Several buildings merged with the side of the mountain. She heard several voices and jumped on the roof.
Several earth ponies ran out, “Where’d she go?” One of them was smart enough to look up, “There she is!”
Pinkie eeped and jumped off the building… that was on the side of a mountain… It was only when she was mid-air that she realized why that was an incredibly stupid decision. Lucky for her, she landed on a pile of pillows. The landing made a loud pomf and kicked up some dust. Pinkie was unharmed and grateful for the chance of survival.
“Deus ex machine, I love you,” she hugged several pillows as a few ponies stared at her.
A group of ponies surrounded her. They seemed to had fallen from the same height she did but effortlessly landed on the tips of their hooves. Pinkie knew better than to stick around a group of angry looking stallions and bounced away.
The stallions chased her. Every effort Pinkie made to slow them down proved useless. Civilians started to jump in front of her or try to stop her in some way. Pinkie grabbed a pie and threw it behind her, not seeing if it hit anything. The pie was sliced eight ways evenly and landed perfectly on eight plates at a restaurant.
Pinkie then tried knocking over barrels but instead started riding one down hill. On the plus side she lost her pursuers. The bad news is they had very good reason.
The barrel hit a ramp and sent Pinkie flying across roof tops. She roughly landed on a tiled roof that began to crumble. She gasped and ran across the falling tiles. Out of breath, she laid on the roof to get some fresh air.
“Can I go home now?” she asked no one in particular.
“Nope,” a voice behind her said.
With wide eyes she looked up to what could best be described as a ninja pony. He wore navy blue suite with matching mask and a katana strapped to his side. He also had green saddlebags that were tattered and loosing throwing knives.
Pinkie jumped up and was pulverized by the ninja pony. The flurry of kicks sent her flying into the forest at the end of the village.
Meanwhile
Two ponies were arguing with each other.
“You gotta believe it!” an orange colt with yellow mane shouted.
“Please, a pink pony falls from the sky and blows up the mountain? Remember when you said a nine tailed fox killed your dad?” a pink filly retorted.
“This is different! Totally the truth! 100% guarantee!”
“Next you’ll tell me how great a ninja you are.”
“HEY, I can so be an awesome ninja.”
“You’re bright orange with a yellow mane and tail. Nothing about you is close to ninja.”
“Says the pink filly.”
“I can hide in cherry trees! Where can you hide?”
Before the colt could answer, Pinkie landed in a near by lake. She had noticeable bruises and scrapes all over her. She floated to shore with an open mouth and dizzy eyes. The two foals pulled her out. It only took a couple seconds for her to gain consciousness.
“Did anypony get the number of that truck?” Pinkie groggily moaned.
“What’s a truck?” the colt asked.
Pinkie sat up and looked over the two. With a happy smile she started her greeting with the usual ‘Hi’ but was stopped by the colt.
“See! Told you I wasn’t lying.”
“So this is the pink pony that fell from the sky? She certainly looks like it.”
“My name’s Pinkie Pie!”
The two foals said hi.
“I’m kinda lost, can you tell me how to get back to my friends?”
“Where are they?” the filly asked.
“Canterlot.”
The two foals looked at each other with confusion, “You mean outside the village?”
“Eeyup!”
“No one’s allowed to leave the village without permission… Well, except ninjas.”
Pinkie pondered for a moment, “That’s the only way out of this village?”
“Yeah, we don’t like ponies snooping around. Once you’re in here, you’re stuck here. If you want to leave you have to swear an oath to never say a word about this village and kill yourself if you are ever captured. You know, so the unicorns don’t find us.” the filly explained.
Pinkie tilted her head, “What’s wrong with unicorns? A few of my friends are unicorns.”
“The unicorn kingdom stole land from us! They’re the reason we’re in hidden villages,” The colt shouted, “The came here long ago and proclaimed the land as theirs. We didn’t like that, this is earth pony land! Unicorns have no right to claim it!”
Pinkie backed away, “But my friends aren’t from a unicorn kingdom. Me and my friends are from Equestria.”
The two foals calmed down but kept their confused looks, “So you’re not a unicorn spy?”
Pinkie scrubbed her head, searching for a horn. She showed the foals that she, in fact, was not a unicorn. The foals were satisfied and took her back to the village.
While they were walking to the village leader to clear things up, Pinkie found a letter on a board. It read “Disaster in Ponyville” with a picture of a statued Discord. Pinkie decided to read it as she walked with the foals. Odd glances shifted towards her whenever she went ‘huh’ or ‘ooh’ or ‘what?’ The walk felt much longer to the foals because of this. Dealing with Pinkie’s noises was painful and unsettling in the silent village. The tiny group finally made it to a large structure to meet with the village leader. Pinkie was on the last line of the paper.
“So, two foals have captured the prisoner,” an old grey pony grumbled, “Impressive.”
“She landed right in front of us and was ready for an attack!” the colt blurted out.
“BUT we talked to her and found out that she’s not working for the unicorns,” the filly half admitted.
The pony chuckled, “You two will make fine ninjas one day.”
The colt smiled while the filly face hoofed. Neither of them noticed the pony in navy blue behind them.
“Sorry for losing her,” he said with embarrassment, “I got carried away with the kicks.”
“Perhaps you should learn self control so you don’t accidentally kick someone’s head off,” the old pony smiled.
The pony in blue nodded and stood next to the elder.
“So, Pinkie Pie, what business do you have here?”
Pinkie finished reading and looked up, “Oh, well I just fell from the sky because my friend Discord hit me. Then some ponies grabbed me and put me in prison. I escaped and went flying across the sky again cause some pony in blue beat me up. Not sure what happened then but these two foals found me and we talked about unicorns and ninjas and how I can leave this village. BUT I found this news article on Ponyville, my home town, and it was destroyed by Discord! I wondered why he did that but found out it was so he could deliver a message without revealing where me and my friends are so that means he wants us to stay hidden and train to defeat this Law guy, who took over Equestria after turning the princesses into stone, so now I have to figure out what I’m going to do to help my friends defeat Law.”
… I’m not even sure if she breathed during that speech…
Everyone in the room stared at her with confusion. They managed to understand… some of it. Had they been able to wright down what she said, they wouldn’t have a problem. The elder gestured for the paper. Pinkie gave it to him. The elder puzzled over the article and Pinkie’s words.
“How long do you wish to stay, Pinkie?”
“2 years,” she answered right away.
“Well then, in two years, you will train in the art of stealth. You will have to put in all your efforts if you want to learn what we know. Once the two years are up, you will be a full ninja and have permission to enter and leave the village so long of you never tell anyone about us. Do you agree to protect the secret of the village with your life?”
“Sure.”
“Very well, you may start your training with Shuriken tomorrow,” the elder gestured to the pony next to him and chuckled.
The foals jaws dropped.
A random pink pony that fell from the sky was just granted permission to learn the art of stealth for two years and become a ninja. They would have to wait several years before they could be granted permission and this stranger got the ok with a single long winded speech! They were jealous of the pink pony.
Sunset Shimmer sat lazily in a chair. She sighed looking at several posters of her.
“What’s the matter, Sunny?” Flim asked.
“Why am I doing this again?”
“You’re one of the most popular mares in Equestria,” Flam chimed, “One of Princess Twilight’s friends AND the one who defeated the sirens! Ponies from all over will flock to see you!”
“I don’t care about that,” Sunset growled, “I just want to get back to Canterlot.”
“Look, Sunny, makes us some bits and we’ll buy you a ticket for Canterlot. Right now you have a show to perform!”
“And what IS the show I’m performing?”
Flim and Flam looked at each other with uncertain glances.
Sunset face hoofed with a sigh, “That explain why I’m in the most lewd positions on those posters.”
Flim chuckled, “Gotta start somewhere!”
Flam coughed, “But we did set up a microphone, instruments, magic props, etc. just in case you think of something.”
“So you prepared for anything and had no details in the posters but you sold tickets?”
“Sold out the entire theater!” the twin brothers cheered.
Sunset buried her face, “You doomed us all.”
“Mope later, it’s time for the show!” Flam kicked her out to the stage.
The stage was a dump in a run down theater. Old paper cups and newspapers scattered across the floor along side dried soda puddles and popcorn kernels. She noticed the props in the back, visible for the audience. A single pink guitar with white stars was the most disguised item she saw.
The curtains opened up and blew a newspaper at her hooves. Sunset looked down and noticed the front page title, “Discord Destroys Ponyville.” Sunset picked it up and started reading.
The audience leaned forward with anticipation. Several had muted on popcorn or sipped soda waiting for her act. Every time she moved her head of gasped the audience braced themselves. This went on for a few minutes until someone was tired of waiting.
“This is it?! I paid 40 bits for this?! What a rip-off!” the stallion stormed off.
Flim and Flam stopped him, “Wait wait wait wait, We promise the real performance will start soon! She’s just… a little shy!”
“Real performers are not shy,” a mare shouted, “I demand my bits back!”
Several ponies started an uproar, demanding their money returned and ready to gang up on Flim and Flam. The twins shivered with terror as the large crowd slowly moved towards them. Their worst fears were about to be realized as the angry ponies glared at them with mad eyes. Their lives were going so well until now. Why did they think this was a good idea.
“Hello, Applewood!” the microphone buzzed with feedback.
The audience clenched their ears in pain and looked at the stage. Sunset Shimmer stood in front of the mic with a smile. The newspaper she was reading sat beside her, neatly folded. The audience waited for her to finish.
“Sorry about the delay, I had to think of a good song for my first show,” Sunset levitated the guitar to her and strummed a note, “Now… LET’S ROCK!”
The audience cheered, Flim and Flam sighed with relief, and Sunset started singing.
“Gather around, fillies and colts. Dance with my notes.”
The audience went back to their seats with smiles and Sunset continued.
“Long ago and far away, I lived in a land I feared to leave.” The tone was slow and sad at first but gained energy as she went on.
“But time went by and I had no choice, there were people out their who had to hear my voice!”
A giant strike on her guitar pushed the audience back.
“I don’t shine bright but I’ll last long! You’ll see me shimmer on!
The lights out but I’ll still shine! It will always sparkle in your eyes!”
The audience got chipper with the beat just as it slowed down again.
“Weeks to months to years so sad. I look back to what I had lost. The days of youth weren’t always happy but what I don’t remember doesn’t matter!
The past was a blast, the future was bright! My heart was the fire in the night.
Hear me now and listen well.”
She struck two chords, “Harmony is always better.”
She started a solo that lasted a full minute. The crowd was electrified by the performance. They stood and cheered as she danced with her guitar. With a smirk she used her magic to flash some lights and create sparks that threatened to burn the place down. Thankfully, she kept it under control.
“My friends are far and lost, separated by claws of chaos.
Discord knows as well as I, our friendship will never die!
I don’t shine bright but I’ll last long! You’ll see me shimmer on!
The lights out but I’ll still shine! It will always sparkle in your eyes!”
The pace slowed down. Sunset frowned.
“The sun and moon are trapped in stone. Order has taken the throne.
Our only hope is to live two years. Then our friends will be back and we’ll start our attack!”
A fiery spark of energy burst from her guitar and rained teal energy on the crowd. For strange reason the crowed became even more energetic. Their cheers became a thousand times louder. Their stomps nearly cracked the frail floors. Most of all their smiles radiated enough to rival the sun itself.
Sunset smiles with minor confusion.
‘Magic of music, I guess’ she thought before finishing her song.
“I don’t shine bright but I’ll last long! You’ll see me shimmer on!
The lights out but I’ll still shine! It will always sparkle in your eyes!
The pain we feel and the pain we’ll have will be forgotten fast.
Remember those words and remember them well, joy will triumph over despair!”
She finish the song with a strong spike of thunderous magic lightning. It echoed through and out the building.
The crowed gained so much joy in her performance they threw themselves against each other during their applause. Sunset was incredibly happy and embarrassed. Flim and Flam took her off stage, ending the performance.
“That was a spectacular display,” Flam shouted, “We had no idea you were so talented.”
“Yes, those stallions could’ve expected something different but that performance left them happier than they were coming in,” Flim noted.
“So… what now?” Sunset asked.
“Now we schedule your next performance. Maybe set up a record deal. We’ll see in time.”
As they were headed back to their home on a hill, Flim turned to Sunset.
“Be sure you practice that magic with your music. It was great tonight but it can always be better.”
Sunset nodded with a smile.
‘Magic of music, hmm… not the powerful magic I expected but this could lead to something.’
The residents of this town seemed to have collected into one tiny house. Space was a luxury. Although the coughs, sneezes, and wheezing disgusted her, Rarity kept her posture as elegant as always. The earned her strange looks from the residents, all of which seemed to be unicorn.
Across from her seat was the filly and her parents. The filly smiled brightly while the parents scowled. A long scar stroke across the mare’s face. The stallion seemed to have burns on his hooves. It was only now that Rarity saw bruises around the filly’s neck.
She couldn’t stay silent once she set her tea down, “I would like to know everything about this town.”
“The princess and her brothers own this town. Everything that goes through here goes through them,” the stallion stated with a stern look.
“Are you a princess?” the filly asked innocently.
“No,” Rarity answered with a giggle.
“You sure are pretty like one… and you have gemstones for a cutie mark!”
“Ah, I earned that by finding gems for costumes I made.”
“You’re a seamstress,” the mare growled.
“Yes… Is that a problem?”
“Only if you plan on being one of the prince’s wives.”
“Wives? As in more than one?”
The stallion whispered something to the filly. She ran off upstairs.
“Every month…” he started, “A member of the royal family comes here to collect taxes,” the emphasis on the word taxes left an impression of extortion, “If we can’t pay enough they take ponies to their castle where they live the rest of their lives as slaves.”
Rarity gasped, “That’s barbaric!”
“It gets worse,” the mare waved a hoof, “Anytime they feel ‘bored’ of their slave, they kick them out of the castle with a hot iron rod.”
Rarity looked at the mare with empathy, “I’m so sorry… That must have be a horrendous experience.”
The mare merely glared at her.
“Yes, we rather not discuss that,” the stallion mumbled, “More importantly we’ll have to hide you. The collectors are coming today. If they find you… they won’t care about our bits.”
“You flatter me.”
Sirens blared from outside. The ponies inside perked up with grim expressions. The stallion gestured upstairs. Rarity obeyed the subtle command.
Upstairs, the filly held several drawings in her aura. Rarity mentioned for her to go downstairs. The filly obeyed with tears, leaving the drawings.
Rarity glanced over the drawings. There were beautiful displays of many different places. Places she was familiar with, places she wished to go, even places that seemed to be seen in fiction. A palace at the bottom of the sea? Such thoughts made her wish fantasy was reality.
A loud bang echoed.
“We don’t have anything left!” a voice cried.
“You took everything! Our money, our food, even our dignity! What more can you take?”
Rarity peeked out the window. Lines of guards presented a tiny colt no bigger than Sweetie Belle. Only difference was he was plump as a turkey and had features that belonged to a rat more than a pony. His pink snout twitched as he sneezed. Snot hanging from the tips of his whiskers. Yellow eyes judging the ponies before him matched his bucked teeth.
He was repulsion made flesh.
Rarity did her best to hold the contents of her stomach.
The repulsive colt scurried by the ponies. He eyed all the mares, stopping at a young filly.
“Yes… you’ll make a lovely wife,” he hissed, “Take her!”
The stallion pushed him, “You will NOT take my daughter!”
The colt growled with a hiss, “EXECUTE HIM!”
The guards readied their spears.
Before they had time to react, Rarity leaped out of the window. She wore an angry face that would intimidate the demons of Tartarus. The guards shivered at her sight. The colt drooled.
“Ooh, pretty mare,” he turned to the guards, “Take her as well!”
Rarity slapped him.
The crowd gasped.
The colt turned with mad eyes, “That’s not how a wife is suppose to behave,” with his magic he forced Rarity on her knees, “You need to learn your place!”
Rarity lit her own magic and pushed him off balance. The colt stumbled over his own blubber and fell in an ice cold bucket or snow. The guards readied themselves. Rarity gazed at the guards with fiery eyes.
“Shall we start?”
The guards looked at each other and charged for the civilians.
“Barbarian!” Rarity cried before her assault.
The first guards was the most fortunate. Rarity grabbed his spear, shoved it into his leg, and tossed him into the others. The next guards staggered and found Rarity’s muzzle in his face. She planted his face in the snow and jumped off his back. In the air she took out two guards with a graceful telekinetic twirl. Those two should’ve held onto their jackets better. They twisted and roughly landed on the guard buried in snow. Three more charged her. Rarity ducked so the three would bash into each other.
“Stop!” the colt shouted, “That’s it! I’m telling my dad!” He levitated a piece of parchment and a quill.
The letter he wrote was fast (possible barley legible) and sent via green flames.
“Now you’re in for it! My dad’s going to bulldoze this entire back water shGAK”
Rarity refused to let him finish.
The town folks trembled. They knew what was coming, Rarity did not. She looked at the guards and saw them panic from her sight. She may have caused ruin to the lives of all these ponies. She questioned if it was worth it.
“Miss,” the filly chirped, “You’re going to save us from the king, right?”
Rarity started at the filly in the eyes. Her sad pupils filled with hope and despair. The same look was in the eyes of all ponies there. She noticed the pudgy colt with red marks on his face. She already saved the filly from slavery and her father from death. Why couldn’t she at least try to save the town?
“Fillies and gentle colts,” she called, “You do not know me nor do I know you. My name is Rarity. Element of Generosity, proud friend of Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
Several murmurs danced around the folks.
“I do not know how or why I am here but I can see you all are in desperate need of help,” she used her magic to tie the colt in a tight bind, “We will use this repulsive creature as a negotiation tool. We will promise no further harm to him in exchange for our voices heard. We will promise to return him to his father in exchange for independence. One way or another, this town will be freed!”
There was a mild applause from the town ponies. Much to Rarity dissatisfaction, she at least understood this was a tall order and a rousing speech isn’t going to win the town that easily. An idea struck her head. She would have to make a plan with the other town ponies.
She walked to the shivering guards with a warm smile.
Few Hours Later
The king’s small army carried him on a cushioned throne. He wore thick robes to keep warm. A shiny crown glistened on his rodent like head. The scent of aged cheddar and wine lingered around him. He was the size of a small building and just as heavy. It took the entire army he had with him to lift his lard.
Rarity saw the slow paced stallions creep closer. Feeling like ages before they finally came close.
The king stepped down from his throne. The earth shook slightly with each step. One could swear they saw his belly jiggle when he took a breath. His yellow eyes narrowed on Rarity.
“Where’s my son?” his voice was high pitched and squeaky.
Rarity waved a hoof at some guards.
The king laughed, “You handle my guards very well. If I had someone like you to train them they could handle a delicate mare like you,” he looked at the guards that had his son, “Release my colt and arrest this mare!”
The guards ignored his command.
“Did you not hear me? I said arrest that mare! That’s an order!”
The wind blew echoed in the brief silence. One of the guards coughed.
Irritated, the king turned to Rarity, “What did you do?”
“She made a deal,” one of the guards said, “We agreed.”
The other guards perked up. They leaned in with interest, eyeing Rarity. The king was steaming with rage.
“I order you to tell me!”
Rarity scoffed, “Order? Such barbarism is unexpected from a unicorn,” she glanced at the king, “Although… I’m not entirely sure you would even be considered a pony.”
The king growled.
“I’ve been on plenty of adventures and town shenanigans to know how to make things work properly. Our negotiation was civil and polite… given the reputation they had with the town folks.”
“But in no time we earned their trust,” a guard interrupted, whispering ‘sorry’ to Rarity.
“Indeed. I showed them a filly’s drawings. I promised to bring beauty like that to this place.”
“Ha! Beauty? You promised beauty?” the king snorted, “Beauty isn’t going to go far in this land. All that matters are the peasants getting their work done so I can have a hot meal.”
The towns folks sneered at him. Guards backed away. Rarity sighed with pity.
“I suppose you never heard of Snowdrop, did you?”
“Who?”
“Snowdrop, the mother of winter. She was a pegasus from Cloudsdale, Equestria.”
The king peeked interest in the story.
A snowflake gently landed on Rarity’s hoof. She examined it. A smile cracked her face and she held the little snowflake closer.
“She was blind yet she managed to see beauty in ice. When she first developed what we call snowflakes, the other pegsi laughed at her. It was only the princesses that saw her meaning. Thanks to her we-“
“Blah blah blah, snow is snow. nothing special about it,” the king scooped a pile of snow, “See? It’s just ice.” He chucked it at Rarity.
She took the ball to the face, not caring about any damage it may have done. She wiped it off and turned her back.
“Negotiations have fail,” she sighed as she sauntered off.
The king had a confused look before he noticed the angry town ponies with pitchforks, spears, and torches.
“Where did you get those?” he panicked.
“You ordered us to keep them in a barn,” a guard replied, “When we sided with Rarity we opened the barn to everyone… How’d you think we earned their trust so fast?”
The king’s guards pondered for a moment. They saw an opportunity and wondered if they should take it.
“You wouldn’t dare!” the king cried.
The guards grinned maliciously. As the town ponies, the guards and the royal guards closed in, the king sweat a lake. With bulky movements and slow rolling, the king held on to his son. His horn began glowing canary yellow. In a flash the two rat ponies disappeared.
“Teleportation,” a guard observed.
Rarity leaned on a fence. She took in the scenery. A wonderful sunset over a frozen ocean. Glaciers bobbed up and down the waters. Pelicans swooped down to catch fish. Abandoned ships littering the harbor, none of them appeared functional.
“It is pretty.”
“Pardon?”
“This place… I never noticed how it looks. Guess I never knew what beauty was until you showed up.” the guard chuckled.
“Yes… tragic.”
“Something wrong?”
“Just thinking about my friends… hope Ponyville’s ok…”
“Oh! That reminds me of today’s news,” he searched his jacket and pulled out a piece of paper, “Here you go.”
Rarity took it in her magic and read. Her expressions changed quickly and dramatically. When she finished she kept her posture straight. She neatly folded the paper and gave it to the guard.
“So…”
“So?”
“The king’s still around.”
“Yeah… He owns all the lands in the unicorn kingdom. Heard they invaded Earth pony lands too. This is defiantly the only place that rebelled against the king.”
“Hmm… odds are not in our favor.”
“Nope.”
“Do you think if you learned how to make friends you’d stand a chance?”
“Absolutely!”
“Then let’s make a deal. I teach you how to make friends and you teach me how to fight.”
“You don’t know how to fight?”
“Not as well as a professional.”
“I think some of the other guards have more experience.”
“Don’t worry, I can spare time for everypony. In fact… I have two years to spare.”
“And that’s the last thing I remember,” Fluttershy told Iron Will.
She was thankful that Discord managed to send her to a good friend of her’s. Although it was strange to see a full city of minotaurs. She expected a single maze that held Iron Will’s family.
Instead she sat in a small fragment of a much larger maze. A constantly changing maze. Shifting every day, hour, minute? Seems that it had a mind of its own and changed whenever it felt like it. Any creature would be confused and want to leave this area as soon as possible. No wonder no pony visited the minotaurs.
Poor things probably got lost.
“Iron Will is sad to hear that,” the minotaur sighed, “Iron Will hopes to help you find your way back.”
“Oh thank you, mister Will!”
Iron Will patted his son’s head and told him to go help his mother.
“But… minotaurs have problems with people leaving Labyrinth. It’s not an easy thing to do.”
Fluttershy sulked in defeat. Tears welled in her eyes.
“Aw, don’t cry. It’s just this place is a giant puzzle. If you don’t learn how to exit properly you end up getting lost.”
Fluttershy nodded with understanding.
“Unfortunately, Iron Will can’t teach you about Labyrinth.”
“B-But…”
Iron Will held up a finger, “No buts! Iron Will has a room you can use but Iron Will still has a job to keep.”
“Ok…”
“Don’t worry, Fluttershy, Iron Guard’s going to take good care of you.”
“Who?”
“You’ll find out tonight.”
Fluttershy frowned. She glanced over to see a familiar lamp, “That’s a nice lamp.”
Iron Will smiled as he grabbed the Discord shaped item, “I found this at a bizarre that didn’t accept bits. Looks just like Discord! Oh, I don’t think you ponies knew he was held in high honor amount the minotaurs.”
“No, we didn’t know that,” Fluttershy gasped.
“Discord created the city of Labyrinth during his reign. Before, minotaurs herded in grassy fields and were quickly gobbled up by hydras and other monsters.”
“Discord saved your species?”
“Yeah! We were so thankful for him that we devoted our art, weapons, and homes on his teachings. The way of chaos has been an important part of minotaur culture ever since.”
“I almost feel bad for calling him a meanie now.”
“Ah don’t feel too bad. You’re friends with him now! That’ll get all minotaurs to help you.”
Fluttershy giggled before realizing something important.
“Um… can you point me to the bathroom, please?”
“Oh sorry Fluttershy. I’ll walk you there. It’s going to take a long time for you to learn a maze.”
“How long does it usually take?”
“About two months.”
Fluttershy’s eye widened, “How long would it take to learn Labyrinth?”
Iron Will frowned, “Two years if you’re determined enough.”
The two walk along walls, around corners, and through arches. The small journey was confusing and seemingly lasted forever. Eventually they made it to a door labeled ‘bathroom’ Iron Will knocked. With no answer he opened the door and let Fluttershy in.
Fluttershy couldn’t help but think of the amount of time she’d have to spend before seeing her friends again. Two years is a long time to be alone. She misses them. She misses Discord, Angel, and all the cute critters that collected around her cottage. She was going to have to endure it. Angel can take care of himself and the animals, she said to herself. Even if he couldn’t she had other friends that knew how to take care of them… Like the veterinarian! … who’s name she never learned. Pinkie would be so disappointed in her.
Fluttershy knew it was going to be difficult. She knew what she had to do.
Hopefully this Iron Guard will be as nice as Iron Will.
“WHAT THE SAM HILL ARE YOU?” Applejack screamed, dangling from several vines.
The zebra shouted strange tribal words. Applejack frowned.
“Well, if you don’t mind, could you get me down from here?”
The zebra stepped back. He took a machete out of his bag and sliced the vines. Applejack fell with a hard thump.
“Thanks,” she grumbled, “So… you’re a zebra! I knew a zebra back in Ponyville. Her name was Zecora. You know her?”
The zebra blinked and stared at her. Seemingly not knowing what she said.
“Right…” with a sigh, Applejack turned and walked through several branches.
For some reason, this caused the zebra to freak out. Pulling and tugging on her like a foal on their mother. Applejack growled at the zebra, shoving him off.
“What the hay’s gotten into you! You’re acting like-“ her eyes widened in fear once she noticed what was behind those branches.
Several large nests of single eyed birds with long legs scattered across the rocky terrain. They appeared to be sleeping. Slowly, and quietly, Applejack pulled the branches back to their original place. Taking a few steps back before bumping into the zebra.
The zebra grumbled some tribal profanity.
“Sorry,” Applejack whispered, “Let’s get out of here.”
The two slowly creeped away. Carefully, they tried to avoid any rocks and twigs that could make a sound. Occasionally stopping when the sound of those birds stirred.
They didn’t noticed the camouflaged lizard.
The lizard unleashed a bombastic screeched. It echoed throughout the jungle. The zebra’s heart skipped a few beats while Applejack paled to Rarity’s color. As the lizard scampered off, Applejack noticed the birds didn’t wake up.
She sighed with relief, “Them heavy sleepers eh?” she sarcastically asked the zebra with a hung jaw.
An ear splintering whistle pierced their ears.
Applejack looked back and saw the gigantic birds with red eyes run towards them.
Applejack and the zebra ran for their lives. The zebra cursed in his tribal language at Applejack.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it! Just run!”
They ran. They ran so fast and far they lost track of where they were. The birds kept chasing them. Panting, sweating, and thirsty, the two feared that they were going to end then and there. Miraculously, they found a stream they eagerly jumped into.
Not thinking the birds could swim. Lucky for them, they couldn’t.
“Yee-haw! Safe and Sound!” Applejack cheered.
A quiet hiss slithered across her. Her spine tingled with a chill.
“You’ve got to be joking,” she gazed at a serpent with orange eyes and a golden hood. Its fangs dripped with sickly green venom.
The zebra called to Applejack. She glanced over and saw him gesturing down before he dove underwater. Seeing no better options, she dived as soon as the serpent lunged for her.
Applejack was pulled by the zebra. She blindly allowed him to drag her wherever. In a short distance, they were on shore of a pebbled lagoon. They peeled several leeches off them.
“How can any pony live in a place like this?!”
The zebra glared at her.
“Don’t you give me any of that!”
He continued his glare.
“Ugh, fine, just… just point me to the nearest town, will you?”
The zebra muttered tribal nonsense. Applejack followed him up the hill, noticing a very familiar blue flower. She quickly pulled the zebra away from them.
“Whoa there, mister! You don’t want to go near that!”
The zebra noticed the Poison Joke with a confused expression. He pointed at the flowers and looked at Applejack with a question, “Zecora?”
Applejack nodded enthusiastically, “Yes! Yes! I learned about those flowers from Zecora! Oh please tell me there’s some pony like her nearby!”
The zebra quirked an eyebrow before continuing his walk.
“You know, Zecora spoke in rhymes. That a zebra thing or is Zecora weird like that?”
Monkeys chattered in the background. Making the awkward silence feel exotic.
“You don’t talk much… well, not much that I understand. Hehehe… hehe…”
The zebra found a clear path they could follow. A small village laid just ahead of them.
“Thank Celestia we made it!” Applejack noticed a tree with some interesting fruits, “A little snack sounds good right now.”
She reached for a ripe piece before the zebra swatted her away.
She was about to protest until the plant turned around to reveal a VERY pony like plant. Its eyes were yellow, moss hung from it to look like a mane, thick barked hooves creaked with each step, and the fruit Applejack grabbed for was in a most inappropriate area. Applejack blushed with her hat over her face.
After the embarrassing incident the two finally made it to town. The town was completely comprised of zebras. They all stared at Applejack. Some with suspicion, some with fear, and others with intrigue. Applejack couldn’t help but think this was how Zecora felt when she came to Ponyville. At least the zebras didn’t run into their homes.
The zebra she followed led her to an impressively stylized hut. The two masks found in Zecora’s old hut welcomed them inside. The grassy door swayed with ease as a chime notified the owner of this… shop? Home? Whatever this was.
The zebra called to the back. A familiar female voice called back in a rushed tone.
A zebra that looked a lot like Zecora walked up. Everything looked the same between the two. Same eyes, same stripes, same mane. Only difference was the cutie mark. While Zecora held a spiraling sun, this mare held three squiggly lines in a vertical pattern.
“You know my daughter? She writes to me everyday since she arrived in Equestria.”
“Eeyup, name’s Applejack.”
Zecora’s mother offered a hoof to shake, “Welcome to Zebrica. My daughter told me of you and your friends. You don’t intrude on her studies, do you?” she asked with accusing eyes.
“N-No mam! We didn’t even know she was studying anything in the Everfree!”
The zebra chuckled, “Well I guess she learned your language better than. She had to learn from poetry and got in the habit of rhyming all her sentences.”
“Yeah, she still does that,” Applejack giggled.
“Oh, it’s about time Zecora sent me a letter. Would you like to read it with me?”
“Sure.”
The two mares wandered to the back room. There, a cauldron bubbled. Zecora’s mother leaned forward. She motioned for Applejack to come closer. In the bubbling pot came letters in a strange language. Applejack couldn’t read any of it. She could, however read the zebra’s face. Whatever happened in Ponyville must’ve been horrible. Zecora’s mother gasped, then sighed, and finally hummed. She took a good look at Applejack with a confused look.
“So uh… what’d the letter say?”
“We’ll discuss it over tea,” Zecora’s mother said as she walked away, “You’re training will begin tomorrow.”
The unforgiving sun blazed on her back. Sweat dripped from her wing, dragging in the sand. She panted heavily. The stallion refused to speak a word. Her questions remained unanswered. The only thing she knew was where she was.
And she did not like it.
“Are we there yet?” she huffed.
“Yes,” The stallion finally spoke.
Twilight glanced around. There seemed to be nothing but sand and dust around them.
“That’s not funny,” she frowned.
“I wear glasses and you’re the one that can’t see?”
“See what? There’s nothing but sand, sun, and OMPH!” Twilight tripped over something, “rock…”
“That’s actually a boat.”
“Who in Equestria has a boat in the middle of a desert?!”
“This isn’t Equestria.”
Twilight moaned, “I’m going to die because of you.”
“So long as we agree it was an accident,” the stallion chuckled.
Twilight picked herself up with a grunt. She continued following the pegasus. It was now that she noticed solid ice up ahead. A miraculous sight, the closer they got to the ice the more she could see. Eventually a small town covered in sand, stone, and ice was visible. The stallion lead her to a small tavern with a couple ice sculptures in front of it.
“These sculptures are so life like,” she said as she touched the face of one, “Who did these and how did they get ice out here?”
The stallion turned back, “Those… aren’t sculptures…”
Twilight felt the blood drain from her body as she stared into the eyes of the face of a screaming pony frozen in ice. She jolted back with a yelp. Scanning the other not sculptures left one question on her mind.
“What sort of monster would do this?”
“That’d be my mom you’re talking about,” the stallion laughed, walking into the tavern.
“I- I’m sorry.”
“Did I tell you about the time she chopped up some pony and buried her in a box in the middle of Nowhere?”
Twilight shook her head.
The tavern held several ponies. Most of them looked like common bandits. Others appeared to be… ‘flamboyant’ criminals. Only a select few looked unique. Herself, the stallion she followed, and two ponies standing at the bar. An earth stallion twice the size of Big Macintosh and a pegasus mare talking to one of the bandits.
“Listen lady, I got orders to get that money. Either give it up or else,” the bandit threatened.
The earth stallion grunted. The mare held a hoof out that told him to stand down.
“I told you, I don’t owe anyone anything. Now get out before I add you to the collection.”
“You’re bluffing!”
“Well I might get creative,” the mare turned towards Twilight and the blue stallion, “Oh, Teddy, Back so soon? You’re just in time to help out.”
The stallion nodded and trotted to the bandit. On comparison, the stallion was a LOT smaller and thinner than the bandit. The bandit himself was roughly the same size Twilight was.
“Ha! This scrawny little thing? What’s he going to do, collapse?” the bandit laughed hysterically.
The stallion shook his head, “Nah, I don’t fight. Idiots tend to kill themselves for me.”
The bandit growled, “Why you little,” he lunged for him only to see the stallion swiftly step to the side. The bandit flew onto a poker table. The game ended with a very angry stallion. The bandit looked up and gulped loudly.
“Could you please take it outside? I just mopped this morning,” the blue stallion whined.
The angry stallion nodded and grabbed the bandit by the tail. The bandit struggled and cried as he was dragged outside. An audible crunch was heard once they went past the door.
Twilight shivered at what kind of place she stumbled into.
“So who’s the mare?” the pegasus mare eyed Twilight, “Alicorn eh? Well at least she has wings.”
“Mom…” the blue stallion groaned.
“Mom?” Twilight whispered, remembering the not sculptures outside.
“Ok, you can tell me about it later. I embarrassed you enough,” the mare giggled, “So what’s you’re name princess?”
“My name is Twilight Sparkle.”
“I’m Cloudy Bear and these are my sons,” she pointed to the giant earth stallion, “Pig Pen…” she moved her hoof to the blue stallion, “and Teddy Bear.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Twilight offered her hoof to Pig Pen. Said stallion just grunted.
“He’ll warm up to you eventually,” Teddy stated, “Since your here that means you don’t have anywhere else to go.”
“Well I should get back to Canterlot.”
“Don’t bother. Nothing gets back to Equestria once they’re banished,” Cloudy frowned.
“I wasn’t banished! Discord just sent me here so that thing wouldn’t turn me to stone.”
“Right, and Pig Pen is a genius!” Teddy sarcastically said.
Twilight fumed but let it pass, “Fine, whether you believe me or not I still need supplies, rest, and a drink.”
“I’m thirty too, we got cactus juice?”
Cloudy ducked under the bar and pulled out a pair of frozen cacti sliced in half. The liquid in them was lime green and had a powerfully sweet aroma.
Twilight inspected it thoroughly.
“Just drink it. You’ll like it,” Cloudy smiled.
Twilight took a sip of the juice and saw Teddy leisurely drank it like it was fine wine. Twilight quickly finished it.
“Ok, now where can I get supplies?”
“Huey, Dewy, and Loui can help you with that. They run the general store in the center of town.” Teddy commented.
“You may have to help her,” Cloudy winked.
“Alright…”
Teddy tapped Twilight on the shoulder and led her outside. Twilight couldn’t help but flinch at the remains of the bandit. She felt even more nervous at the fact that Teddy didn’t even notice.
“How can you not react to all this?”
Teddy shrugged, “You get use to it.”
As they walked deeper into town, Twilight took mental notes on the ponies in town.
Much like the tavern, they mostly consisted of bandits. What caught her eyes were the strange ponies in masks. They were reminiscent of the crystal ponies’ festival masks. Brightly colored with gem stones around the rims and eyes. Twilight originally thought they were friendly nobles of this town… until two of the opened their mouths.
“I WANT YOUR HEAD ON MY CAROUSEL!” a stallion in a cyan mask shouted.
“EAT MY HOOF SO I CAN CHEW ON YOUR FACE!” a mare replied.
The two then bashed their heads together and passed out.
Twilight couldn’t decide if she wanted to be disgusted or laugh.
“Daw… cute couple,” Teddy cooed.
“If you say so.”
Twilight felt nauseous as they continued their walk. More psychotic ponies in masks appeared along with unique looking ponies. One, she noticed was a red unicorn mare with glowing blue tattoos on her left side. As in the entire left side of the mare was covered in tattoos. Twilight suspected the glowing part was caused by some sort of magic. Next to her was a pink filly with a mask on the side of her face. Twilight averted her eyes when she noticed her cutie mark was a bunch of dynamite with a lit fuse.
Eventually they made it to the store. Twilight expected some stallion that was just as crazy as the rest of the ponies in this town. Instead she was staring at a changeling with a red hat and red shirt.
“Ah, Teddy, how was your trip? Bring me anything?” the changeling hissed.
Teddy pulled out a small ball of sentient fluff. It was the cutest thing in the universe! Big vibrant emerald eyes with cubby cheeks and little paws nearly caused Twilight to have a heart attack. It even held a paper heart with the words ‘I wuv u’ on it. Even though she cringed at the spelling on it she felt enchanted by it.
Teddy threw it at the changeling.
The changeling sucked energy from the creature, “Delicious!”
Twilight flared her wings and lit her horn.
“Calm down, it’s just a Wuv Duv,” Teddy glared.
“A what?”
“Wuv Duv. Town used to be infested with these thing,” Teddy explained, “Until these guys showed up,” he pointed at the changeling with a smile.
“We get fed and keep the town pest free,” The changeling giggled.
“Oh… So this the store you were talking about?”
“That’s right!” the changeling chimed, ”This is the Main General Goods Market! I’m Huey, I run the clothing department.”
“That’s nice but I need supplies.”
“Than you’ll need to speak to my brother Loui. He runs the weapons and farming department.”
Twilight and Teddy walked into the store behind Huey.
“I’ll let my brother know you’re coming to see him!”
The two ponies wandered through the store. Mannequins displayed many cloths and weapons. A fancy dress with an axe, a scarf and fedora with a knife, mixed matched armor with a spear, etc. etc. It felt more like junk than actually goods. Judging by the looks of the ponies in town, this store was their Carousel Boutique.
Twilight bumped into another changeling with a green shirt and green hat.
“Hi! I’m Loui, I run the weapons and farming department,” he greeted, “My brother told me you need supplies. We got a great deal on Boom-spores! Buy two get a Chilly Pepper for free!”
Twilight glanced over to the produce. All the strange plants looked like nothing she’d seen before. A blue pepper laid next to a pair of twitching yellow mushrooms. She assumed that was the ‘boom-spores’ and ‘chilly pepper’ the changeling was talking about. Twilight respectfully declined.
“Oh, that’s too bad. Well what can I get for you today?”
“Just enough food and water to get back to Equestria.”
Teddy and Loui burst into laughter. It went on for a couple minutes. Loui whipped a tear from his eye.
“Sorry but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
“Why not?”
“Because,” Teddy leaned in close, “A dainty little princess like you wouldn’t last long in the Badlands alone.”
“You’re one to talk,” Twilight muttered looking at Teddy’s incredibly small frame.
“HA! You got burned!”
“Shut up,” Teddy grunted, “Unlike you, I actually know what’s out there and have years of experience living here.”
“Oh yeah? All I need to do is some research and I’ll walk through the Badlands no problem! Where’s the library?”
“Oh! My brother Dewy can help you! He runs the information department,” Loui ran off around the corner. In a second, a changeling with a blue hat and blue shirt walked up to them.
“Hi! I’m Dewy, I run the information depar-“
“I get it,” Twilight cut him off, “Couldn’t you settle on one name though? It’s pretty obvious when we only talk to one changeling that just changes shirt colors.”
“What do you mean?” Dewy raised his eyebrow.
“Well, Huey ran off to get his ‘brother’ and we haven’t seen him since. Loui ran off to get you and that only took a second. Hardly any time for someone to notify someone else about anything.”
“You think my brothers and I are the same person? That’s racist.”
“What?!”
“Yeesh, princess, didn’t peg you one for stereotyping,” Teddy sarcastically grumbled, “Shame on you.”
“Are you serious?!”
“It’s ok. I’ll forgive you this time. Just don’t mention it again,” Dewy walked away with Teddy.
Twilight fumed for a moment before sighing and catching up to them.
They made it to a library filled with sheets of paper held together by strings. Many pages to the books scattered across the room. Ink spots dotted the walls and ceiling. All attempts at organizing were in vain as the only thing keeping order was a small magazine with the word ‘I-dex’ on it in red paint… or she hoped it was paint. The smell in the room made her wish she was in the tavern.
“I know it’s a mess but I can tell you where every piece of information that’s in this room,” Dewy picked up a roll of paper, “This here paper talks about the recent attack on Ponyvile!”
“WHAT?!” Twilight grabbed the papers and scanned over them several times, “How did you get this?”
“Same as all other news papers,” Dewy deadpanned.
“How do you get news papers,” Twilight glared not enjoying her time with the changeling.
“We get all important papers from Princess. She likes to keep tabs on the ponies she banishes here and offers anyone born and raised here room in Equestria.”
“Sunshine ain’t getting anyone!” Teddy growled, “She causes all our problems, what right does she have to make offers?”
Twilight jumped away from him. She noticed his head twitched. Subtle psychosis, the most dangerous kind. She immediately regrets being Celestia’s student.
“Relax, she’s been turned to stone!”
“HA! Serves her right.”
“So has Luna.”
“Oh… Well… sorry to hear that,” Teddy reeled back with a sad face.
‘huh? Hates Celestia but likes Luna,’ Twilight thought, ‘Wonder why?’
“So… The papers on the Badlands. Where are they?”
“Um…” Dewy looked around, “Take a seat on one of the tables. I’ll see what I can find.”
Twilight deflated, “Ugh! Figures,” she had had it with this insane place. If she couldn’t get out now she was going to loose it!
A handsome stallion looked up to Law with a smile, “Jack, Jack Of-Trades.”
“Jack,” Law motioned him forward, “It enrages me to know such anarchy exists. Celestia was far too lenient with her banishment system.”
Jack laughed, “Yeah, old Sun goddess denied my proposal every time I showed it to her. She never understood what those bandits were doing.”
The pair entered a chamber, “It is good that we bring an end to such horrors. If you excuse me, I have diplomatic inquiries to attend to.”
“No problem at all,” Jack waved, “I’m going to go ahead and start my project. Hire some meat heads for heavy lifting. Basic business stuff. I’ll send you a letter on our progress.” Jack walked away in a valiant gallop.
Law slicked into the chamber, sinking into a throne at a round table.
“Circles,” he growled menacingly, “No structure, no corners, no lines. I shall remove this abomination once our meeting is over.”
A rat faced unicorn sighed, “As long as we get this done quickly. I have rebels making a mess of my country!”
Law glared at him, “Rebels?! You unicorns used to be more than capable of enforcing your power.”
The unicorn king flinched.
“Now, aside from rebels, There are several matters to attend to.”
An elder unicorn presented a scroll. Law unraveled it to reveal a long list.
“Pirates… more criminals polluting my land,” Law pointed to a nearby guard, “I will not allow such atrocities! Send orders to all enforcers! Any and all crime will be punished by death!”
The room filled with gasps.
“Isn’t that harsh?”
“You’ve gone too far!”
“About time.”
“This can’t be real”
“Who are you to judge?”
Law slammed a claw on the table, “SILENCE! I will have absolute order! If a few rotten seeds get in the way than they shall suffer,” he glanced across the frightened faces, “If not death than they shall be imprisioned…” a few sighs of relief, “in stone.”
Unease shifting occurred as the world leaders looked upon the statues of Celestia and Luna.
“Now then,” Law looked over his list, “Hmm… that seemed to have taken cared of most of the list.”
A small dragon lifted his claw.
“You may speak.”
“Well, I’m not sure about Equestia’s economic status but I’ve heard of a place filled with gems north of the Crystal Empire.”
“Interesting,” Law took a few notes on a piece of paper set before his arrival,” I shall send investigators to peer through those mountains. We should have good relations with the Empire, yes?” He glared at a pink alicorn.
“O-Of course, I’m not sure what’s up there but I’ve heard stories throughout the Empire,” Cadence stated, “They say dragons made their home there.”
“Excellent, we shall,”
“Dragons that breath any element.”
Law towed over Cadence with a mean look, “Never interrupt me, understand?”
She nodded frantically.
“Next order of business, music and art…” he gave a frown, “Are now illegal, they create free thought. Which in turn causes change. Which causes disorder.”
The unicorn king hissed, “Ah yes… Very true. We can’t have such thing in an ideal society.”
The rest reluctantly stayed silent. Except for a minotaur.
“Hold up! The Minotaurs have deep roots in art. You can not outlaw a core center of our culture!”
“Your species is a stain on this world,” Law roared, “Be grateful I do not exterminate all of you. Oh, that reminds me. I understand you can not change your constantly changing home. Therefore, I am making it a law that all minotaurs be bound into their own mazes.”
“What? That prevents us from trade, work, meeting others! That’s a ludicrous law and you know it!”
Law nodded, “Very well, you shall be bound to your own city Labyrinth save for documented diplomates. No other minotaur may leave Labyrinth under penalty of Law.”
The minotaur sat down in defeat.
“As for the rebels mentioned earlier…”
The unicorn king grinned happily.
“They seem to be a minor nuisance. The unicorn kingdom has more than enough resources to take care of their own problem.”
The unicorn king’s eye twitched but knew well enough to stay silent.
Law dismissed the meeting. Returning to his throne in-between two stone statues of the previous princesses. Looking off to the horizon, Law contemplated Discord’s last actions and its connection to recent events.
‘I know you caused these troubles, Discord. Enjoy your stone prison. I shall await your mortals’ return.’
—————————————————————————————————————————————
“Bookworm… you don’t need to be here,” Rainbow Dash sighed.
“Nonsense, captain, a good first mate always keeps a good eye on her captain,” Bookworm chimed.
“In my bed…”
“Well it is pretty cold.”
Rainbow glared at Bookworm for several seconds before her message finally seeped through.
“Fine! If it bothers you so much I’ll leave,” Bookworm hopped out of the covers, “You said you needed to learn how to be a pirate but you don’t act like one.”
“You mean like that perv the Navy caught?”
Bookworm flinched, “Y-Yeah, maybe you’re right. You need a better role model.”
Rainbow shook her head, “Look the only other pirate I know well enough was Hoof-Beard and he’s at the bottom of the ocean sucking face with a mermare or whatever they’re called.”
Bookworm tackled Rainbow with an eager smile, “You met Hoof-Beard?! He’s become such a legend in the pirate world!”
“He had us going all over the ocean with some magic map just so he could declare his love for some fish.”
“Aw… That’s so romantic,” Bookworm cooed.
“Don’t get weird on me, Twi,” Rainbow jerked out of bed, “I-I mean Bookworm.”
“I really remind you of her?”
“Yeah,” She looked at Bookworm up and down, “Only difference is she had a horn.”
“An alicorn? What was she a princess or something?”
An awkward silence fell in the cabin.
“Oh… Do you… Do you love her?”
Rainbow kicked her out of the cabin.
“Why did you have to make it weird?!”
The door slammed shut, leaving Bookworm outside.
—————————————————————————————————————————————
Spike gnawed on an orange gem. The taste was equal to the hottest spice ever imagined.
After the incident with the book of time, several dragons left the temple. Thinking it was the end of days or just the end of the order itself. Very few dragon elders remained. The master gem gardener, the artifact keeper, the gatekeeper, the key master, and the grand elder were the only ones left.
In order they were; Egon, a brown and green land dragon Sparks, a bronze sky dragon Onyx, a black and green land dragon Lazuli, a deep blue sea dragon and Blaze, a fiery sky dragon
As part of his newly acquired apprenticeship in the order; Spike spent most of the evening copying ancient textbooks into new textbooks.
He chewed on his gem slow at first but started munching on it faster and faster. Once the spicy treat was gone, he felt his stomach churn. A deep rumbled played in his belly. His throat felt hot and his eyes teared as he desperately tried to hold in what was coming out. The effort was fruitless. Spike expelled a torrent of flames. The orange flames painted the wall. He bashed his head against the desk when he saw the flame reduce both textbooks to ash.
“Is everything alright, Spike?” Blaze asked, walking in.
“I just burned one of those ancient textbooks and the book I was writing,” Spike mumbled.
“Oh dear, thankfully we had elder make emergency copies in case something like this happened.”
“Great,” Spike sighed look up at the ash marks, “Say, what sort of gems are these?”
Blaze stared at the sack of orange gems under Spike’s desk, “Those would be Pyrus Jasper. One of our prized element gems grown in our gem garden,” he gave Spike a suspicious look, “How did you obtain a full sack of them?”
“Egon said he had too many of them and needed someone to get rid of them,” Spike shrugged, “I figured that I could use a snack while working.”
“You best be careful with these gems,” Blaze scolded, “The Crystal Mountains have grown gemstones with deep magical properties. Any dragon that eats these gems are given an amplified boost to their breath magic. You can usually tell what breath each gem boosts based on color and taste.”
“Wow, so me eating one orange gem made my fire breath super powerful?”
Blaze nodded
“Awesome!”
“You will learn of them tomorrow with Egon. I suspect he purposefully had you ‘test’ those Jaspers to prepare you for your lesson,” Blaze chuckled, “I must warn you, Egon’s teaching methods are always… interactive.”
Spike felt little worry before going to bed.
What did he have to be scared of? He faced evil smoke monsters, angry ponies, and Twilight. What’s the worse that could happen in one day?
—————————————————————————————————————————————
Pinkie Pie snored loudly on a mat in the middle of a room. A large snot bubble inflated and deflated with her breath. It suddenly popped and woke her up. That was when she noticed Shuriken.
“You are an enigma to our species,” Shuriken stated.
“Hi Shury! Is it training time already?”
“No, just thought I could ask you a few questions.”
Pinkie sat up, “Okie dokie loki!”
Shuriken blinked then shrugged, “So you’re from Equestria, right?”
“Eeyup!”
“And you’re friends with unicorns…”
“Uh-huh.”
“How?”
“How what?”
“How could you make friends with those ponies?”
“I make friends with everyone!”
“Why?”
“Because making people happy makes me happy. I want to make them laugh, I want to see them smile, I hope they feel joy. That’s reason enough to be their friend.”
Shuriken sat in silence looking into Pinkies eyes, “I’ll never understand you,” he leaped up to a window, “You’ve given me a lot to think about. Good night,” he jumped through the window.
“Good night! Don’t let the tantalus bite!”
—————————————————————————————————————————————
“WHAT?!” Sunset screamed at the top of her lung.
Flim and Flam rushed in her room, “What is it, Sunny?!”
“Was it a nightmare?”
“A spider?”
“WORSE!” Sunset threw a newspaper at them.
Flam took the paper and read. Eyes widened, he gave the paper to Flim.
“We just got into this gig!”
Flim coughed in disbelief, “How can they do this to us? How could they do this to Equestria?”
“We make a killing playing manager to artists, now it’s enough to throw us in jail!”
“That’s not going to happen,” Sunset groaned.
Flam quirked his eyebrow before Flim pointed out the rest of the article. A cold sweat drenched them.
“W-What do we do now?” Flim asked.
“Oh, I’ll tell you what we’re going to do.”
Flim and Flam looked at Sunset Shimmer. She wore a pair of pink star shaped shades, a fluffy cyan scarf, and a green guitar.
“I’m taking you ‘hostage’ why we- I go on tour,” she jumped down, “There has to be other ponies who make a living off of music. Even more listen to it. I say we start a rebellion with the very thing they deny us!”
“Profit?” Flim chirped.
Flam and Sunset rolled their eyes.
Sunset lit her horn and struck her guitar. A wave of sound pushed Flim and Flam out her bedroom door, “WE’RE GOING TO ROCK AND ROLL!”
—————————————————————————————————————————————
“Oh dear me that is fabulous!” Rarity cried.
“Thanks, the charcoal smeared a little but I managed to make it work,” a small filly smiled.
“You’ll become a wonderful artist one day.”
A guard coughed loudly, “Is- Is it ok for me for move now?”
“Yes, oh I’m terribly sorry for forgetting about you. Dawn was so eager to show me her drawing.”
“It’s ok. How do I look?”
He posed in a velvety sage jacket with gold trim. The design was similar to a Neighpolean commander uniform. With the little fabric and trinkets she could find, Rarity would be able to replicate the outfit for everypony in town. A rebel army has to look appealing to gain numbers after all.
“Thank you for your time, you may go,” Rarity smile shaking the stallion’s hoof as if he was a friend, “As for you, Dawn, I am ever so grateful to have an artist like you here.”
The filly smiled and giggled.
“Have you shown your mother? I think she’ll love the work you did.”
Dawn nodded enthusiastically and darted off.
Rarity sighed, relaxing in her chair. One day and she became the leader of a full blown rebel force. The stories she read, while over romanticized, helped her slightly. She knew she wouldn’t find her special somepony but knew the importance of changing the current political state. Dictatorships didn’t last long, which boosted her confidence, but she did not want to overestimate the ponies around her. These were simple town ponies after all, maybe a few military minds.
It was going to take a lot more than pretty pictures and clean uniforms to get this rebellion moving forward.
—————————————————————————————————————————————
A loud bang echoed off the front door.
“Iron Will welcomes you to his maze,” Iron Will answered.
A very similar minotaur walked in with a sad expression.
“What troubles you, Iron Guard?”
“Law said minotaurs can not leave Labyrinth!” Iron Guard cried.
Fluttershy eeped as Iron Guard fell forward. She scurried off the floor just in time to be swept away by some dust clouds.
“Iron Guard apologies,” Iron Guard grumbled, “Iron Guard knows Iron Will’s job calls for him to leave the city. Iron Guard is sorry.”
“Um… I’m sorry but I don’t understand,” Fluttershy raised her eyebrow in confusion.
“Iron Will can not make money,” Iron Will deadpanned, “What did this Law say?”
“Law stated that no minotaur will ever leave Labyrinth. We can still import good but all exports are illegal. Law threatens to turn anyone to stone if they disobey!”
“Oh my,” Fluttershy trembled, “T-There must be something we can do? You can still give motivation to other minotaurs, right?”
Both minotaurs quirked their brows at Fluttershy.
“Minotaurs are naturally aggressive. We need lessons to calm down not get mad,” Iron Will explained.
“Oh… ok…”
“Iron Guard has an idea,” Iron Guard examined Fluttershy, “This pony might fit where we can not. Iron Guard knows a few… ‘friends’ that could help us out. If this pony is willing to help them.”
Fluttershy quivered. She looked at Iron Will. His pleading eyes forced Fluttershy’s decision.
“o-ok…”
—————————————————————————————————————————————
Zecora’s mother explained all details to Applejack.
Discord destroyed Ponyville, Law turned Discord into stone, ponies rebuilt Ponyville, and Zecora found the Everfree to be eerily calm ever since.
“Woo- Nelly,” Applejack sighed, “Glade everyone’s alright. Discord’s a lot better than he used to be.”
“When order becomes overbearing, chaos becomes a thing of harmony.”
“That’s sillier than Pinkie Pie on fruit salad,” Applejack hummed, “Wonder how she’s doing…”
“Your friends displacement is temporary. Once you’re up to the task, you will reunite in Ponyville.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Applejack clapped her hooves, “So what is there to do here?”
Zecora’s mother chuckled, “I will be teaching you all I know. Which is less than my daughter but far more valuable,” Applejack leaned forward, “First I’ll teach you our language. Speaking your is tiring and I don’t know all the words.”
“Alright, seems fair,” Applejack sat back, rocking her chair.
“Then we visit the ponies made out trees.”
Applejack fell backwards.
—————————————————————————————————————————————
Twilight yawned.
She just finished the last book on the Badlands. Celestia apparently found this place but deemed it too dangerous for ponies. Dragons made small homes in the western region where they hoarded gems, gold, and other treasures in the volcanic landscape. One would have to be delirious to go there without protection. Twilight remembered the time Spike went on a quest to find other dragons.
“Tired, princess?” Teddy taunted.
“Yeah, what time is it?”
“Around 11. You still want to go to Equestria?”
Twilight nodded.
“Fine… Follow me,” Teddy turned around.
“Wait! I need some rest first.”
“Oh wow. I’m so sorry princess. I didn’t know you wanted to die from heat stroke!”
Twilight backpedaled with wide eyes, “It can’t be THAT bad out there…”
“You’ve been here one day,” Dewy stated, “We’ve been here for our entire lives.”
“When you put it like that,” Twilight sighed, “Is it really that safe at night?”
“No,” Teddy and Dewy answered.
Twilight fell on her belly. She covered her head with her hooves and growled.
“Better get going,” Dewy lifted her up, “Teddy’s already gone.”
“WHAT?!”
Twilight galloped out of the store. Searching for Teddy, she found him waiting for her by the door.
“Ready?”
Twilight growled.
“Good, train’s leaving.”
“Train?”
The two started walking and talking.
“The Helios Chariot. It’s Sunshine’s favorite slave’s idea.”
“Equestria outlawed slavery.”
“For everyone who isn’t royalty,” Teddy glared, “Jack used to be a native of the badlands.”
“What happened?”
“Sunshine. He begged her to take him back to Equestria. Once he was there… everything went to Tartarus.”
Twilight noticed a wall of wanted posters. Many of them listed small crimes like littering or public intercourse. About half of them listed serious crimes including murder, arson, theft, and vandalism just to list the boring stuff.
She noticed Teddy’s wanted poster that listed treason.
“Um… Teddy…”
“Jack’s posters. He has one for Luna too. Never put on the bounty walls but still.”
“What did you do to get treason on yours?”
“Hate Celestia, love Luna. Same as everyone else in Badlands.”
Twilight twitched her ears as they came to the train station. A lot of ponies from the bounty wall were there. She could’ve sworn she saw some from town earlier today. The moonlight shined on many masks, weapons, and armor of numerous deranged ponies who probably had their brains cooked in the desert heat.
“Wow! Never thought I’d see this many hunters in one place without something blowing up.”
Twilight recalled learning about Hunters from the books she read.
Banished ponies on an endless search for fame and fortune. No better than grave robbers or bandits. Difference was a hunter would talk to you before killing you in the most painful way they could. A common trait in hunters was living in Badlands and a bad case of psychosis.
An idea hit her, “Teddy… Are you a hunter?”
Teddy chocked on a laugh, “Don’t be silly. I usually stick around town to help my family. That’s about it.”
“He’s what you’d call a uh… personal aid or something like that.” A large stallion told her.
“Oh… ok,” she whispered to Teddy, “Why are they all here?”
“Probably because Jack hires these guys to do his dirty work.”
“HAHA Train’s boring guys! Last one in scrapes the bottom of the barrel!”
The crowed rushed in the now open train. Twilight gave a worried look. Teddy was not amused.
“Relax. I’m just dropping you off to Helios. One of Jack’s guards will help you from there.”