Dealing with the Devil
---<^^>---
The group had decided to get up for an early start, and Mare Do-Well was thankful they did. About forty minutes after leaving camp a large roar echoed through the forest. “That can’t be good,” she muttered.
“For us or them,” Applejack clarified as she and the others began to quicken their pace. “He could be attractin’ the Wyrms.”
“Let’s move,” Maud ordered and everypony began to run toward the sound. They broke out of the trees a few minutes later and into the forested small town. Rainbow paused in front of the decaying town hall and looked up in astonishment.
“No time for sightseeing!” Mare Do-Well shouted as they all made their way through town. They didn’t have to go that far before a giant tail swung through the street and crashed through a house. The group all stopped just short of the library to see a giant purple dragon with smoky eyes thrash about and claw at the tree. It let out another earth shattering roar as it brought a large forearm down on the house, tearing a piece of it off. The rooms within became visible and Mare Do-Well squinted to see Suntrix pressed up against a bed trying to stay out of sight. “That is a big dragon. You’re show, captain.”
Mare Do-Well turned to Maud who had already unsheathed her blades. “Surround and contain. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, gather any humidity or moisture you can find and create an isolated storm cloud. Twilight, Rarity, start some suppressing fire. Applejack, you team with me and we’ll circle him. Maybe if we get him away from the tree he’ll calm down.” The others all nodded as the two winged members of the group took to the sky while the unicorns both ran to either side of Spike in order to shoot blasts of magic to get his attention.
“What about me?” Pinkie asked.
Maud paused as she was about to swing into the air. She turned to Pinkie with a concerned look. “You just stay here. I’ll deal with this.”
“But I can-” Pinkie was cut off as Maud rocketed into the air followed by her two ponies in uniform. Applejack was the last to get her device ready. She gave Pinkie a regretful look.
“Sorry. She just wants you to be safe,” she said before muttering under her breath. “Ah know the feelin’.” Applejack then took off into the fray leaving Pinkie alone. The pink mare lowered her head.
Spike was not too please to find himself cornered by two mares shooting magical beams at him. It seemed clear to Mare Do-Well that the dragon was not in control of his faculties which made her wonder just how he got like this.
Her blast struck the side of his face, harmlessly bouncing off but drawing his attention. He turned toward her and let out another roar. Mare Do-Well had to dodge quickly in order to avoid another swing of his tail. She jumped through the air and landed on the heft of his appendage as it arced past. Then she ran up its length and jumped up his back before delivering a physical blow with her back legs to his chin. This managed to stun Spike for a moment as well as get his head in position for Rarity to let loose a safe blast of magic that pushed him away from the tree.
Spike reeled on the two mares and lifted a giant claw to attack but was halted once more as a rope wrapped around his arm. Applejack soared through the sky next to him and gripped the rope tight, pulling it with her as she circled the enormous dragon. His arm was pulled along and forced to cross in front of him which put him off balance.
The dragon spun on his heel and flipped over, his head facing the sky just as the two flying members of the team finally constructed a rain cloud above. Rainbow cheekily waved her flank in front of him. “Maybe it’s time you had a little nap,” she chuckled as she stomped on the cloud and a lightning bolt shot down. It struck Spike right in the stomach making the dragon howl in pain but also effectively knocking him unconscious.
With the threat seemingly neutralized, Maud and the others set back down on the ground while Pinkie approached from her cover. Mare Do-Well made sure to check the giant’s vitals, everything seemed okay. “Is he…” Rarity began.
Mare Do-Well shook her head. “He’s fine. Just out cold.” Her trained ears heard a few hoofsteps behind her. “Where do you think you’re going, Suntrix?” Mare Do-Well and the others turned to see the azure unicorn trying to sneak away from the scene. She stopped as they all laid eyes on her.
“Um, nice to see you too?” she replied with a weak grin. She caught sight of Maud. “You were that pony that found me in the woods.”
Maud stepped forward. “Yes, maybe you could explain to us why Spike would take you.”
Suntrix looked between the group and Spike’s giant dragon body. She seemed uneasy. “Look, there are things you probably don’t know about him.” She pointed to Spike. “Things that could get all of us hurt.”
“He seemed to go down easy enough,” Rainbow retorted.
Suntrix bit her lip, she seemed to be looking at the back of Spike’s neck. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”
Suddenly the dragon’s eyes opened wide. He shot up and whipped his arm out swatting any ponies that were in the way, effectively knocking out Maud’s two comrades and Rainbow Dash and Flutterbat. He now moved with purpose as he made no sound and took in a deep breath. Maud knew what was coming. “Everypony down!”
Spike let loose a torrent of black flames at Maud. The gray mare tried to use the device on her hips to swing away but it was jammed. The flames were almost upon her before a pink blur caught her and pushed her out of the way. Maud fell to the ground and watched the flames consume nothing. Pinkie stood in front of her with a smile before Maud noticed her leg was ablaze. “Pinkie!” Pinkie noticed the black fire on her uniform and began to shake it viciously at super speeds. She winced as the flames took longer than expected to be waved out before dropping to the ground. Maud ran for her and grabbed the back of leg examining the burn. It was superficial at most but something about it just made something in her mind snap.
“I’m fine, really,” Pinkie assured her, but Maud wasn’t listening. “Maud?”
The gray mare drew her blade again, her eyes now as they were when they first met. Cold and lifeless. Spike had finished his fire breath and now seemed prepared to take flight as his wings began to beat. With the few remaining flying team members out cold, only Applejack was able to keep him at eye level, the other two below firing off more magical rounds.
In a sudden burst of unreal speed Maud rushed toward Spike and jumped on his back. Everypony watched in astonishment as the mare ran up his scaly hide dragging her blades behind her as they sparked and crackled against his tough skin. Finally with a cool and calculated jump she flipped forward in midair and swung her blades at the weak spot in the back of his neck. “No!” Suntrix shouted as her horn began to glow.
Maud felt herself get pulled just a few inches backward as her blades did not cut deep into the neck as she intended, instead merely creating a slight incision. The incision was enough for the beating of the creature’s wings to disrupt it and tear it open further revealing a small purple dragon buried inside the tendons within. “Spike?” Maud whispered in confusion as her eyes returned to normal and she plummeted down to earth.
Mare Do-Well and Rarity watched from below, the black mare catching Maud in her magic. “It worked!” Suntrix shouted in glee. “My magic’s back!” Mare Do-Well turned to Applejack who was still in the air.
“Get him out of there!” she shouted. Applejack nodded and swung in close to the dragon’s neck. She pulled out her katana and place it in her mouth before swinging it expertly across the tendons holding Spike. The young dragon toppled out from the neck wound and began to fall to earth where Mare Do-Well caught him. Everypony breathed a sigh of relief before they noticed the giant purple body spike had previously been in control of was without a controller. Its wings locked up and the eyes became blank as it fell. “Get to cover!” Mare Do-Well shouted.
Pinkie struggled to her hooves and zipped over to collect the unconscious ponies before joining the others as they hid behind a wall. The dragon body crashed to the ground in a fiery blaze that seemed to reduce it to less than ash in mere seconds.
“Well, that was… interesting,” Suntrix added nonchalantly.
Rarity reeled on Maud. “Were you seriously going to kill him?”
Maud did not show any emotion. “I made a choice in the midst of battle.”
“That wasn’t a choice,” Applejack interjected. “You went in for the kill.”
Pinkie limped over to her sister. “Maud, were you really going to…”
Maud didn’t even look at Pinkie, trying to hide her face from her. “I…”
Rainbow Dash and Flutterbat finally seemed to come to. “What happened?” Rainbow muttered as she gripped her head.
“Hate to break up the trial,” Mare Do-Well muttered as she looked to the sky. “But it looks like our little skirmish didn’t go unnoticed.” Everypony looked up in despair. Through the trees was not the blue morning sky, but a black one covered in enormous black wings. “The Wyrms are here.”
===E8DB
Rainbow saw the first of the enormous horde of Black Wyrms crash through the canopies above. “This isn’t good,” she murmured.
“Hide the wounded,” Maud shouted out. Pinkie did just that as the speedster disappeared in a pink blur before reappearing, Maud’s comrades and Spike gone. “Safe?”
Pinkie nodded. “Yeah.”
“Good, cause we sure aren’t,” Applejack pointed out as the first of the Wyrms landed on the ground. They immediately drew their attention to the mares, their sickening smiles plastered across their faces.
“So what’s the plan?” Rainbow asked Mare Do-Well.
“Fight,” the crime fighter responded.
Rainbow’s eyes deadpanned. “Great.” She and the others got into an offensive stance as all including Suntrix prepared for a battle.
A moment passed between the group and the Wyrms before the first of the black beasts rushed forward. The mares all rushed forward as well, Maud holding her blades high and Suntrix brandishing her horn. Then it all stopped.
Rainbow almost tripped over herself as she noticed the Wyrms suddenly stop their movement. She paused as she looked to her companions and saw everypony but Maud and Suntrix could still move. The air was quiet. “What’s going on?”
Mare Do-Well lifted a hoof to a small leaf that had been falling. It now was suspended in midair, as if time had stopped. “Fili-Second, is this…”
“Yeah,” Pinkie responded with a deep frown. “It’s him.”
“Glad to know you recognize my handiwork.” Everypony turned to see a blue stallion with glasses and no cutie mark standing next to Maud, his hoof draped over her like somepony hanging out near a statue. “I suppose there are some introductions needed. Though not to you of course, Miss Pie.”
---<^^>---
“Mr. 4, I assume?” Mare Do-Well asked. The blue stallion did a slight bow for her.
“In the flesh,” he replied and walked over to a frozen Wyrm to tap on its hard scales. “At least if you could call it that. Frankly, I have no idea what I’m made of anymore.” Flutterbat bent low and hissed at him. Mr. 4 glanced at her and hissed in return, his tongue taking the shape of a snake’s.
Mare Do-Well took in the atmosphere around her. Her team seemed about ready to boil over with tension. Both Rainbow and Rarity were poised for an attack. But if everything they had learned about this pony was true then they had no chance against him. At least not yet. That’s why they were here for Suntrix. Not yet, she thought. She saw Pinkie avert her eyes from the trickster, a sullen expression on her face. “What do you want, 4?”
Mr. 4 grinned at her. “You know, you’ve always been my favorite Twilight. So ‘straight to the point’ and serious. No pointless chatting or needless frivoli-”
“What. Do. You. Want?”
He shut his mouth for a moment but shrugged. “Simple answer is that I’ve come to offer you all an out.”
The group was slightly taken aback by this. “What do you mean?” Applejack asked.
Mr. 4’s grin widened. “Ah, sweet Applejack. The wandering Apple. Searching for her lost sister. Eternally dogged by those she once called friends.” He waved a hoof dramatically as he said this making Applejack grit her teeth in anger. “What if I told you I could reunite you with your sister right now?”
Applejack paused. “What?”
He turned to Rarity. “What if I could make it so Nightmare Moon never existed in your world?” Rarity’s magic aura began to dissipate as her face softened.
To Rainbow. “A little twist of fate and Fluttershy could be by your side at the Wonderbolt Academy.” To Flutterbat. “I can take you to a better time when you were happy.”
Mare Do-Well looked over at her companions and saw their faces lose their anger. This stallion was offering them the things they wanted most in the world. She opened her mouth to argue but found herself unable to speak. She glared at Mr. 4 who merely smiled back. “Then there’s you two.”
He turned to Pinkie who seemed to flinch back at his approach. “Would you believe me if I said that wasn’t even my fault for what happened to your world? Well, even if you don’t, you should believe that I have the power to undo it.” Mare Do-Well saw in her eyes that Pinkie was considering.
He turned his gaze to her finally. “And then there’s you. The stoic hero. The enigma.” She was glued in place, whether it was due to the stallion’s power or her own will she didn’t know. “That invasion really changed everything about your life, didn’t it?” He leaned in and whispered into her ear. “I can change things.”
He pulled away and waved his hoof in the air to accentuate his words. “That’s my power. Change. I change the world whether it be for the better or the worse. You each want something changed about your pitiful little lives. I’m offering you exactly that.”
She finally seemed to free herself from whatever held her and let out a loud cry as she spun her back legs for a kick to the stallion’s head. Unsurprisingly, she passed through nothing. Everypony else finally seemed to be out of whatever hold he had placed on them, physical or emotional.
“You’re making a mistake,” Mr. 4 said, now perched atop one of the Wyrms. “You have no idea the scope of my power. I can give you anything! That’s the truth!” His calm demeanor was fading as he spoke, a slight look of hysteria in his eyes.
“Right!” Rainbow shouted angrily. “And what would you take in return! Squid pro quo!”
“Quid pro quo,” Rarity corrected her.
“Uh, right!”
Mr. 4 took a breath and seemed to calm himself. “You just have to be a distraction.”
“Distraction?”
He bit his lip and began to pace on the Wyrm’s back. “So there’s this mare that I need… let’s say… out of play for a few minutes. I’m not asking you to kill anypony, just distract her. Distract somepony for ten minutes tops! Then I’m out of your lives forever. You all get everything you want. Happy endings all around!” He clapped his hooves together. “Sound good?”
Mare Do-Well saw the others falter but she stepped forward. “Just what are you trying to do with all this?”
Mr. 4’s grin faded. “That’s something you don’t need to know.”
She turned from him. “Then no deal.”
“What?!” Everypony else looked at Mare Do-Well as she turned her back on him and they reluctantly followed suit. Deep inside they must have all known that it was too dangerous and unpredictable a deal to take. “Seriously? All of you?” He gritted his teeth in anger. “Fine! Go ahead! I only offered this because I felt sorry for you! So go ahead! Be used like all the rest before you!”
Mare Do-Well saw Rarity’s eye twitch at that last comment. She spun around and glared at him. “You’re insane!” she shouted.
Mr. 4 didn’t seem to react physically to this though Mare Do-Well could tell he was getting annoyed. “That may be true but at least I’m not a dark god with a split personality that murdered my best friend.” Oh, now he did it.
Rarity silently reacted before her eyes turned white and her black aura returned, this time encompassing her whole body. “You insignificant worm!”
Mr. 4 smiled madly. “No, these are Wyrms!” He let his feet go from the Wyrm he was riding and began to float away, time slowly beginning to take effect again as everything began to move slowly. “I really don’t have time to argue semantics with you. After all, you’re not the only ponies in multiverse.” With a wave of his hoof he turned in the air and disappeared.
“Come back here!” Rarity shouted, before time restarted and a Wyrm slammed into her. The rest of the team was caught off guard as well as the Wyrms seemed to come to attention faster than they expected. Flutterbat was chased off by one while Rainbow and Applejack stood their ground a few hooves away and fought a couple vigorously. Mare Do-Well retreated to a reasonably safe location to determine the situation. Maud and Suntrix began moving again, the gray mare throwing herself whole into the fight.
“Maud!” Pinkie shouted reaching a hoof out to grab her. Then suddenly she froze, literally. Pinkie now stood where she had once been, encased in ice up to her neck. Her eyes widened with fear and she struggled to move but to no avail. A Wyrm saw her frozen state and narrowed its featureless eyes at her with that creepy grin on its face. Pinkie tried to call out to anypony but the ice had sealed her throat. The Wyrm sprinted forward, its mouth hung open in an attempt to gobble her up. She could feel tears running down her cheeks as she felt the end coming on. “Twilight, please,” she muttered painfully.
Just then an M shaped shuriken sank into the ice, a small red dot beeping on it. A moment later the shuriken exploded shattering the ice and creating an effective smoke cloud. Pinkie still felt her legs wobble so she didn’t move as a caped figure jumped in and pushed her out of the way of the hungry jaws.
Mare Do-Well landed on top of her and kept her head down so the smoke didn’t get in her eyes. “What the hell was that?” she asked. “Where did that ice come from?”
Pinkie seemed dazed for a moment before she realized who she was looking at and she pushed herself up. “I-I don’t know,” she murmured unconvincingly. “Just… Let’s just figure out the current situation.”
Mare Do-Well narrowed her eyes at her comrade but nodded in agreement. “Fine. Where’s Rarity?”
In answer, a blast of dark magic soared past them carrying a Black Wyrm that collided with the ancient treebrary. “Get your filthy claws off me, you damn dirty Wyrm!” Rarity shouted with an echo as she stood back up before the crowd, magic ablaze.
“Rarity!” The tall black unicorn turned her gaze to Mare Do-Well and Pinkie. For a moment it looked as if she would blast them as well, but then her white eyes faded to reveal her calmer demeanor. “Are you alright?”
Rarity looked around flustered for a moment but then nodded. “Yes, yes, I’m fine.”
“Good. Can you manipulate plant life?” Rarity looked taken aback at the out-of-nowhere question.
“Well, I can give it a try. Any reason in particular?”
“A theory.” She turned to the ongoing battle and saw her comrades as well as Maud fighting the Wyrms off as best as they could but only Applejack and Maud seemed to be doing any damage. She turned to Pinkie. “See if you can corral all the Wyrms in one location. Right in front of the library should do it. then get everypony out of the way.”
Pinkie nodded and disappeared in a flash of pink lightning. “So are you going to explain this plan to me?” Rarity asked. Mare Do-Well did. Rarity raised an eyebrow. “That’s the dumbest plan I’ve ever heard.”
<____|=o
Applejack soared through the air, the metal strings of her device holding her up. She felt the pressure of her sword pierce through soft skin on a Wyrm’s back as smoke poured from it. She had been able to take down many but there didn’t seem to be any end in sight. Maud seemed to be in some kind of frenzy as she sliced through the creatures with abandon.
Rainbow and Flutterbat bucked away the Wyrms that got close to them until they were back and back in the air. Rainbow shouted over to AJ. “Hey! We need to do something now! We can’t hold them off for long!” AJ agreed but what were they going to do? Suddenly AJ was snatched from the air by a blur of pink and she found herself by Mare Do-Well.
“What in tarnation?” Before she knew it the others were there too, including Maud. They had to grab the mare’s arms as she swung her blades around haphazardly before realizing where she was. She calmed down enough to see the blur of pink lightning doing circles around the Wyrms. The pink blur went faster and a funnel of pink began to form around them.
“Pinkie!” Maud shouted and struggled even more, managing to break Applejack’s grip on her. Mare Do-Well came in to lock her hooves behind her, holding her close.
“Just wait and watch,” she assured her in a commanding tone. “She’ll be safe.” She turned to Flutterbat. “Take to the sky make sure none of those things get out.” Flutterbat nodded an affirmative and flew off, screeching sonic blasts at any Wyrm that tried to fly out of Pinkie’s air funnel.
AJ turned to Mare Do-Well. “Mind tellin’ us what’s goin’ on?”
“You’ll see if it works,” was all she answered with. Pinkie led the Wyrms over so they were under the treebrary. Off to the side AJ noticed Rarity concentrating hard at something in that direction. With a whoosh of air, the pink tornado disappeared and all the Wyrms were left bewildered for a moment. Then Rarity’s eyes opened.
A burst of magic shot up from the ground followed by one from above. A dark aura coated the branches and roots of the tree as they fell down around the Wyrms and increased rapidly, intertwining and weaving themselves into one giant basket weaved prison. Mare Do-Well turned to Rainbow. “Make sure her magic didn’t weaken the trees by getting some rain in here.” Rainbow saluted and flew off for some rain clouds. She returned a mere second later and let the rain fall on the Wyrms and branches. AJ stood there for a dumbfounded minute and turned on Mare Do-Well. “That’s your plan?”
The Wyrms immediately blew their fire at the roots and all the ponies except Mare Do-Well readied for a fight. Then the black fire receded to show that the prison still held. AJ’s mouth hung open as the Wyrms seemed to accept this and did not try to tear through their cage, instead sitting down and zoning out. Mare Do-Well turned to her, she could tell there was a smug expression under that mask. “Care to do some quality control on that wood?”
“No, thanks,” Applejack muttered. She could already tell from here that the branches were incredibly strong.
“We learned earlier that their fire doesn’t burn anything but sentient life,” Mare Do-Well iterated as she let go of Maud. “I also noticed on the way here that there were no properly sized claw marks on any of the trees. Normal wild beasts will mark their territory this way, but the Wyrms don’t. It was a fifty/fifty chance, but I guessed that they have some kind of connection to nature. Something inherent in them that forbids them from harming the earth.”
Everypony stood dumbfounded at the superhero. “This was your idea?” Maud simply displayed her normal face, but ran hurriedly over to Pinkie. She inspected her to see if she was alright.
“I’m fine, Maud. Really.” Maud looked her in the eye, the slightest hint of sadness in her eyes before she threw her arms around her.
“I guess you can take care of yourself,” she muttered into her ear. “And you seem to have found some pretty good friends.”
Pinkie smiled at that and hugged her sister back. “Yeah.”
Mare Do-Well lifted her head to survey the scene and stomped a hoof. “Damn it all! Where’s Suntrix?”
{[(SxT)]}
Suntrix hurried through the forest making sure not to leave any kind of trail. She didn’t want any of those heroes following her. Not to mention the Wyrms. She had her magic back now. All she had to do now was make another portal and she’d be out of this wretched place. Anywhere was better than here.
She popped from a bush and yelped as she saw somepony in front of her. Spike had woken up and sat forlornly on a rock as those other uniformed ponies slept at its base. He had his hands together and looked down at his feet in a pitiable expression. Maybe he hadn’t noticed her.
Spike turned his head slightly and saw her trying to flee. “You?”
She bit her tongue. She could still just run. Leave and never look back. But something was telling her to stay. She couldn’t get that sad dragon’s face out of her head. Ugh, she was going soft. “Y-Yeah, me.”
They stood there awkwardly for a moment. Suntrix finally frowned. She was about to leave when, “I… I seriously think I’m going crazy.” She stopped and looked at the baby dragon’s face. He was sad and had lines on his brow that should not be there for somepony as young as him. She sighed as she reluctantly took a few steps closer to him and sat beside the rock, his elevated status on it making them eye level.
“You know,” she started. “Anypony would think they’ve gone crazy if they’ve been through the stuff you’ve been through. I’m actually not surprised you went feral.” She looked and saw that her words weren’t doing much help. “But you seem much better now!”
Spike kept his head lowered, his tired eyes glued to his toes. “Twilight… was all I ever knew. She was there when I was born and every other moment since. And since she’s been gone I’ve… worried that I’m not good enough. That I was never good enough to be with her.” He grit his teeth angrily and clenched his fists, Suntrix taking a scoot away from him nervously. “I mean I could have been a scientist like her. I could have been smart enough to help her investigate the Wyrms. I could have been smart. I could have helped! I could have…” He was beginning to fade as hiccups and choked sobs halted him. Tears were trailing down his face. Then there were warm hooves around his neck.
Suntrix bit her tongue as she held Spike close and pulled his sobbing head toward her. Sure, he could go off any moment and perhaps eat her or tear her in two. So why was she doing this? Why was she risking herself like this? She felt Spike’s tears run down her chest and she let out a long sigh. “I know what it’s like to think that you’ve disappointed somepony. That you haven’t lived up to your potential.” She slowly began to stroke the tiny dragon’s scales back. “There’s this… hole in the back of your heart. That’s the only way I can describe it. This emptiness that only grows bigger and bigger as you think about the one you let down.” They were both silent for a moment as she felt Spike’s tears stop. “Well, I’m not perfect. And you know, neither are you. And… tragedy may happen but that doesn’t give the world the excuse to say, ‘oh, look what you could have done’. This is our life. And I like to think… I know that those we think we disappointed would like nothing more than to know that we lived our lives according to our hearts.”
Spike lifted his head from her chest and sniffled as he wiped his nose with his arm. “You… you really think so?”
Where had all that come from? Was that how she really felt? “Yes,” she replied with a smile.
Spike took a moment to compose himself and breathed deep before standing up. “I’m going to go back and see if those guys need any help. I don’t know if I can or even if they’ll let me. But it’s what I want to do.” He looked her in the eye one more time and smiled. “Thanks.”
Suntrix watched him run into the brush back towards the others. Finally, she thought, gotta get out of here before something else stops me.
“Hello, Suntrix.” She turned around sharply to see a purple unicorn with a dark purple mane and what appeared to be a haze of cold mist surrounding her. She reached her arm out with surprising speed and locked it around her neck. “Let’s go somewhere private, eh?” A bright flash of light and they disappeared.
---<^^>---
After the battle, Maud made sure to take extensive notes regarding Mare Do-Well’s method of capturing the Wyrms. “Do you think we can do the same thing with rocks?” she asked.
Mare Do-Well thought for a moment. “I don’t see why not.”
Rarity confirmed what everpony was fearing, that Suntrix had left this world. They were about to pack up and take off back to camp when Spike returned. He and Maud stood there facing each other for a long moment before the dragon held out his hands. “I escaped from custody. I’m ready to be taken back for my punishment.”
Maud raised an eyebrow. “As far as I can remember, we had a giant purple Wyrm attack and escape the camp. You’re rescue from its clutches is kind of an added bonus to its defeat.”
“B-But everypony must have seen me,” Spike protested. “What do we say to them?”
Maud smiled at him. “I’m sure nopony in camp actually saw this. What do you think, girls?” The six shook their heads and shrugged their shoulders.
“What video evidence?” Pinkie asked rhetorically.
Maud leaned down to whisper to him. “Plus, it’s probably better if King Pooblood doesn’t try to dissect you.”
Spike chuckled a little. “Pooblood? Did you just make a joke?”
“I’m a comedian.”
After her companions had finally woken up again, Maud and Spike prepared to leave. Mare Do-Well insisting that the group should get going as soon as possible. Pinkie argued but deep inside she agreed. The two sisters stood off to the side as they said their goodbyes. Mare Do-Well positioned herself so that she could hear the fond farewell and whatever useful information she could glean from it as well. However, Applejack stopped her with a hoof before she could get closer. “What are you doing?”
“Ah know what you’re thinkin’,” AJ replied with a stern face. “And Ah’d prefer answers too. But a bond between sisters should not be intruded upon.”
The two stared at each other angrily for a moment before Mare Do-Well clicked her tongue and walked away. She only saw a sincere hug and whisper between the two, unable to make out any of the dialogue. She chided herself for not getting anything, but something inside her was glad that Applejack had stopped her.
The two groups stood face to face with the sisters both in front. Pinkie looked as if she was ready to cry. “Maud. I’m really sorry I have to leave you like this.”
Maud put a hoof up to silence her before she could continue. “Stop. You have a much more important job to do. And you’ve given me everything I need to continue fighting. You’ve shown me that no matter what both my sister and even myself will go on. Now it’s up to you to make sure that stays true.”
Pinkie wiped her eyes and nodded resolutely before flipping her cowl back on. “Right! Everypony ready?”
“Just a sec,” Spike interjected. “So I recognize a lot of you and I get the story. Super cool, by the way! But who’s the girl in the mask?”
Mare Do-Well coughed slightly. “I’m… um…”
“She’s a friend,” Rarity interrupted. “Just like all of us. And that’s all you need to know.”
Spike looked a little dejected but shrugged. Mare Do-Well gave Rarity an appreciative salute and crowded around Fili-Second. “Next stop. Veloci-Lair!” Then in a vibration and sonic boom they were gone.
Spike cleared his ears and then turned to Maud. “So are you ever going to tell me who that was?”
Maud looked off to the side. “Maybe when you’re older.”
@#$%^&(*)&^%$#@
Fluttershy stood atop a large Cliffside overlooking the Everfree and Ponyville. She could remember a time when she was deathly afraid of such heights. Now the nervousness she used to feel just felt hollow. Everything felt hollow.
When she struck down Nightmare Moon it was with the sole purpose of helping those ponies that had been afflicted by her curse. However, with the failed invasion of Sky Glaive and Rainbow Dash’s triumph over her, she felt like she had no right to call herself a leader anymore.
She thought she was ready to take on Dash, the Wonderbolts, even Celestia. Now she felt like she could hardly take on a bear. She raised a hoof and let a small swirl of black shadows dance around her. She still had the power, more power than she ever dreamed of having, but all the power in the world still didn’t stop her from losing to Dash. She extinguished the shadow by stomping her hoof into the dirt.
“Impressive,” a voice came from behind her. She reeled and blasted a stream of dark magic at the source but to her surprise found nopony there. “You’ve got all the power of Nightmare Moon and yet none of the drawbacks like a certain other mare I know.” Fluttershy turned around again to see the source of the mysterious voice. It was a blue earth pony with glasses and no cutie mark. He grinned at her while crossing his legs in a relaxed posture. But what shocked her most of all was the fact that he was standing on thin air ten hooves out from the ledge of the cliff.
“How are you doing that?” Fluttershy asked with a concerned expression.
The earth pony’s ear twitched and he chuckled at something she couldn’t hear. “Let’s just say, I have a very special talent.” Fluttershy doubted that since this stallion didn’t have a cutie mark.
“How did you find me?”
“I can find pretty much anypony if I look hard enough.” He uncrossed his legs and began to walk on air. “And I really wanted to talk to you.”
“Me?”
“Yes. I have an offer. One that you might be interested to know that your friend, Rainbow Dash declined.”
Fluttershy narrowed her eyes at the pony. She then sighed and turned around to leave. “Rainbow Dash is a good pony. If she didn’t want anything to do with you then it’s probably best I don’t either.”
“Not even when I can offer everything you want?” Fluttershy stopped and peeked over her shoulder. The pony was grinning like a demon.
“What do you mean by that?” Fluttershy asked, turning around again.
He seemed to wait to reply as his ears twitched again, then he spoke. “Exactly what I mean.” He stepped onto the ledge, finally ending his little rebellion against the laws of gravity. “I’m in need of six ponies that can act as… substitutes, you might say. All you’d need to do is simply be yourself. You can finally be one of the Elements of Harmony.”
“The Elements?” Fluttershy chuckled. “Now I know you’re crazy. What makes you think I have what it takes to be an Element of Harmony? I’m a failure.”
The blue stallion walked toward her, never dropping his smile and began to circle her like a jungle cat. “I don’t see a failure. What I see is a pony driven. Driven to protect, to feed, to care for all the ponies under her care.” His words were precise but effective, almost as if he was reading her very soul. The stallion then took her chin in his hoof and raised her head again. “I see kindness personified. You are the caretaker of an entire new race of ponies. A mother of sorts. You deserve to have your dreams come true.”
Fluttershy knew his words were hollow, yet something in them made an anger in her burn bright. All she could think of was Rainbow Dash and the need to overcome her. “Alright. But what do I call you?”
The pony smiled deviously. “Just call me, Mr. 4.”
{[(SxT)]}
Suntrix ripped the hole in space open a little wider and flopped through onto the cobblestone street of an alley, her strength spent. She breathed heavily as a purple unicorn stepped through after her. She sighed morosely. “I was hoping to see something more interesting happen if Pinkie was in danger but that hero solved the problem too quickly,” she lamented to herself. “And you’re certain this is the world I asked for?” she asked.
Suntrix groaned. “Well, you were pretty darn specific! Now let me catch my breath! What’s so special about this world anyway?”
The unicorn walked a little further and peeked out the alley with a smile. Above her on every doorframe hung a purple flag. The symbol on it was a yellow sun with radiant flames spitting from all directions. “Oh, you’ll see soon enough,” she chuckled.
===SS===
Sunset sat in History of Magic class with her head down, trying to pretend to be asleep. “Oh, so it’s over now? Geez, that was long. And really really sad too. Are Spike and Maud going to be okay? Ugh, can’t believe I’m trying to talk to a voice in my head.”
“Ahem!” Sunset froze as she felt the cold stare of the teacher above her. She could not pretend to be asleep now since she had been caught muttering to herself.
“I’m muttering to you, you freaking-”
“Two weeks detention, Miss Shimmer,” the teacher decreed.
“Oh man.”