It was a beautiful day. The birds were chirping, the flowers were blooming, and a giant meteor spaceship was falling from the sky at terminal velocity.
None of the ponies paid the rock any mind, for to them it was a semi-regular occurrence to see such craft fall from the sky. The frequency had increased tenfold since Exdeath had returned, so all it did was remind them that the great evil was most likely trying to kill them all at this very moment.
The meteor burned through the atmosphere, charging right for a certain area of the ground that looked a lot like a blue bullseye. Twenty meters from the ground the meteor was stopped by a burst of blue magics, bouncing a little as if it has just landed on a large invisible pillow.
The side of the meteor popped open and Rarity poked her head out. “Why does this keep happening to meeeeee?”
Rainbow Dash flew out and laughed. “It happens to all of us Rarity, you’re the only one who doesn’t like it.”
Rarity moaned as the meteor ship was lowered to the ground slowly by the powerful magics of the area. Twilight Sparkle was utterly fascinated by the magics that were assisting the landing. “How in the world are you channeling enough power into the landing spells?” She said. “Who could have that much power? Are you drawing it from a Crystal?”
Pinkie grinned. “Nope. The magics are drawn from the sky. We’ve got a handy device called a solar panel that turns the sun’s light into magic energy! It powers all kinds of things, and there’s no evidence that there’s any unfortunate side effects!” She raised her hoof. “It’s amazing!”
“Woah…” Twilight said.
Starlight shrugged. “Eh, it’s not that interesting. Though I guess I’ve lived with them my whole life.”
Fluttershy nodded. “It… Um… Is kinda normal. Yes. We also use windmills.”
Pinkie hopped out of the meteor and onto the land. “WELCOME WARRIORS OF LIGHT TO… THE UNITED SETTLEMENTS OF HOOFINGTON! Specifically, welcome to the settlement of Magent!” She bounced up and down. “I love this place!”
“It is home.” Fluttershy agreed. “Though there’s been a few too many ponies here lately…”
“Well we are at war.” Pinkie said. “Meetings are an annoying side effect of that.” Then the pink pony’s eyes lit up. “MAUD!!!”
She rushed across a mile of street in an instant to tackle hug a grey earth pony. To her credit, the grey earth pony didn’t even budge, or change the monotone look on her face. “Nice to see you too, Pinkie.”
“Who is this?” Rarity asked, walking up behind Pinkie.
“This is my sister! Magistrate Maud Pie of Boulder Falls!” Pinkie announced. “Maud, these are the Warriors of Light and Starlight!”
Twilight raised her hoof. “I’m not-“
Pinkie put a hoof to Twilight’s mouth. “Shh. You may not have been chosen by the Crystals but I chose you. That’s good enough right?”
Twilight blushed. “No, really, I’m no hero-“
“To the contrary.” Maud said. “I have heard much of you. You have been as much help to Pinkie as any of the others. I am grateful.”
Twilight was put off by Maud’s monotone voice. “Er… Thanks?”
“The feeling is mutual.” Maud deadpanned.
Twilight and Applejack glanced at each other and shrugged.
“Regardless, there is a meeting scheduled, and it requires your attendance President.” Maud informed Pinkie.
“Oooh goodie!”
Applejack blinked. “Er… Pardon me for asking but what’s a President? Or a Magistrate for that matter?”
Pinkie giggled. “Oh, you could consider us a sort of ‘queen’ over a ‘kingdom’ in Hoofington.”
Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash’s jaws all dropped to the floor.
“Oh come on.” Pinkie said, giggling. “That doesn’t mean anything! I’m elected! The people choose me, I’m not some immortal alicorn or anything. …We don’t even have alicorns here.”
Maud blinked. “You’ve been elected without fail every time you’re run.”
“Well Limestone ran it while I was gone, so I haven’t been Magent’s only President.”
“Of course.” Maud said. “This way everypony.”
It took a few minutes for the four mares to shake themselves out of the shocking revelation that Pinkie Pie was basically a queen. They hurried to catch up with the group.
As they walked through the Kingdom of Magent, they realized that the buildings were a lot taller than those back home. That there were unusual carriages that ran without ponies to pull them. Rectangular objects that displayed images on buildings made out of glass.
“Woah…” Applejack said. “This place is… different.”
“Most certainly.” Rarity responded. “It has an attitude different than anywhere we’ve been so far! Absolutely FABULOUS! And- oh my gosh.” She pointed a hoof. “That mare is wearing a hat on upsidown. I told you it was a fashion statement! But none of you listened!”
Applejack moaned. “This place seems a bit… busy for me. Too much stuff going on.”
“Definitely Pinkie’s speed.” Twilight observed. “I can understand why this is her home. Look at that, free food over there. Just, sitting there. For ponies to take.” She levitated over one of the strange pastries and bit into it. She quickly discovered that lime-watermelon was an amazing flavor and ate it in under five seconds. “…Definitely Pinkie’s Kingdom.”
“They’re called States or Settlements.” Starlight informed her. “There are very few Kingdoms still around in this world - Exdeath’s Resurgence being one of them.”
Maud nodded. “A most horrid development that must be stopped as quickly as possible.”
They continued to trot along the street, drawing more than a few glances from the populace. Rarity could tell that their arrival was a big deal, and that everypony was talking about them. Then she noticed something unusual.
“I say… is that a griffon in the crowd?”
Pinkie nodded. “Yup! Griffons still exist in our world! They may not be the friendliest but they can be good people! One of my best friends is a griffon!”
“Huh.” Twilight said. “Interesting. Any other races?”
“We don’t have many dragons or Changelings left - most were killed off in ancient times. We do have a few Gargoyles though, as you saw in Exdeath’s Castle.”
Applejack shuddered. “Griffons… Never really liked them. Had to deal with a few in my travels…”
“Oh come on Applejack!” Rarity scoffed. “Really? Even after what we saw at Uniforge? That was most certainly a good griffon.”
“Ah seem to recall you were wary of him too.”
“I’ve changed my mind.” She said.
“You better change it quickly.” Maud informed Applejack. “Gilda can sense racism.”
“What in tarnation are you-“
“I SENSE RACISM!” A voice roared from above. A large eagle-headed griffon descended from the sky and pressed her beak into Applejacks nuzzle. “Want to try something mud pony?”
“Gilda!” Pinkie yelled. “That’s Applejack!”
“I know and I don’t care. She doesn’t like my kind. Isn’t that right little mud pony?”
“It is right.” Applejack responded, pushing back with her face. “And you aren’t doing anything to change mah opinion of you!”
Gilda’s left eye twitched. Then she started chuckling. “Hey, Maud, this seem familiar too you?”
“Indeed.”
Applejack narrowed her eyes. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.” Gilda responded.
Maud blinked. “That was exactly what one of our old compatriots said to Gilda when they met. It meets Gilda’s amusement criteria.”
Gilda groaned. “Wow, you sure know how to suck the emotion out of a room. Do you have no respect?”
“On the contrary, I respect Daring Doo highly.”
Applejack’s eyes widened. “D-Daring Doo?”
Maud raised an eyebrow. “You know her?”
“…She was my mother.” Applejack stated.
Pinkie did a spit-take with a can of soda she hadn’t had the moment before. Gilda reeled back in shock. Maud just blinked before speaking. “How is she?”
Applejack frowned. “She… died a few year back. Ursa Major got in a lucky shot.”
Pinkie’s eyes filled with tears and she latched onto Gilda, who looked like she had just been bucked in the face. Maud took a deep breath, clenched her jaw, and let out a long sigh.
“…How did you all know her?” Applejack asked.
Maud was the only one in an able condition to speak. “She was the fourth of our group. The Warriors of Dawn, who originally sealed Exdeath away in your world. She stayed behind to watch the seal.” Maud looked deep into Applejack’s eyes. “How did she live her life?”
“She was happy.” Applejack said. “She married my dad, Applejohn-“
“THAT idiot?” Gilda belted out, starting to laugh. “She married that down-to-earth dirt pusher? Oh that’s a riot!” Then her laughs slowly trailed off into an awkward silence. “…She really did like him I guess.”
Applejack nodded. “He died when me and my siblings were young. Big Mac wasn’t into adventuring and Applebloom was too young when mom was alive, so she took me under her wing and showed me how everything worked. Took me around the world. Told me to watch the forest. I never stopped moving, even after she was gone.”
Pinkie sniffed. “She… She passed her craft onto you. That’s… beautiful.” She drooped. “I… I honestly thought I might get to see her again. Can’t believe I didn’t see this…”
Gilda sighed. “I… We… We always hoped we would see her again one day. It was… Well, it was the one good thing about Exdeath’s weakening seal. We got to go back. Guess it really was worthless. I… ACK.” Gilda started coughing profusely.
Pinkie held her. “You really need to get back to bed-“
“Nonsense.” Gilda shouted. “I’m strong enough to attend a meeting! You may be keeping me out of battles but I will not just sleep while Exdeath tears down our homes!”
Applejack smiled. “…I think I see why mom liked you.”
“Heh. You’re smarter than her. Took her weeks to figure it out.”
The mares and griffon continued on towards the center of Magent - a large hexagonal building adorned with pink streamers.
“Welcome to the Hexagon!” Pinkie said, wiping the last of the tears form her eyes. “Basically Central Command for Hoofington during this little war we’re having. Every pony in!”
—
The Hexagon Meeting room was a little crowded - dozens of ponies, griffons, and a few other races were stuffed around a long table that took up most of the space. A few screens were visible on the walls, displaying world maps, troop positions, and something called ‘stock’ prices.
Everypony, everygriffon, and everyone else stood around the table while Maud walked to the head.
“This meeting recognizes Magistrate Maud as the current Chair of Hoofington.” A unicorn announced.
Maud nodded. “Now that we have reclaimed Pinkie and the hostages, the only thing stopping us from invading castle Exdeath and destroying him is the barrier. We have attempted flinging meteorites at the shield to no avail. Since we have yet to discern any way to take the grid down through force, we need to consider another option.”
She glanced around the room to make sure everyone was paying attention. “During the years that Exdeath was sealed in the Otherworld, we examined what he had left behind extensively. Of those things we studied were the four towers he is using to power his shield. We were not able to discern where the towers draw their power nor how to use them, but we did manage to determine their purpose - conduits. Wherever he is drawing his power, those towers are the key to controlling it.”
“How does this help us?” A grey mare shouted. “The towers are inside the barrier and we have no spies left inside!”
“Limestone, the towers extend far beneath the ground, below where the shield protects them. While we cannot simply dig to one of the towers, we do know from our previous studies that the underside of one of the towers is exposed to the ocean. This exposed area is the only weakness we could find in the defenses. The plan is simple - lead a task force through the exposed area using the submarine, disable or destroy the tower, and lower the shield for invasion.”
“They have to know that’s where we’ll come from.” Limestone muttered.
“Not necessarily. It took us years of study to notice the underwater entrance. He may not even be aware it exists.” Maud looked at the various individuals gathered. “That is, unless anyone else has a better idea.”
There was no response.
“In that case, I will begin to form the task force.” Maud spoke. “Pinkie and the visitors from the Otherworld will be coming, along with three squads, two pony, one griffon. I myself will accompany the task force for technical expertise.”
The room gasped.
“Maud!” Gilda yelled. “You’re the Chair!”
“I am aware.” Maud said. “But only myself and the Doctor know the design of the towers inside and out. And the Doctor has never been a warrior. You have the Chair Gilda.”
Gilda blinked, then bowed. “Let it be so.”
Maud nodded. “Good. Now let us discuss what we do once the barrier has fallen."
The meeting blurred as warriors, politicians, and leaders started discussing exactly how to conquer Exdeath’s castle - he had a lot of forces loyal to him. Simply removing the barrier wasn’t going to cut it, there would have to be an actual battle fought to destroy whatever Exdeath was up to in that castle.
It was obvious that nopony or griffon actually knew what Exdeath wanted, but all knew it was bad since last time he was free he went on a rampage across the entire planet.
The meeting lasted many hours, and eventually Pinkie had her friends taken to their rooms for the night while the planning continued…
—
Rainbow Dash was looking up at the stars that night. She noticed Rarity walk up alongside her, but didn’t say anything immediately.
“You know…” Rarity said, looking up at the moon. “There’s a big green light flashing up there.”
“They can launch meteors into space.” Rainbow Dash smirked. “They probably have an entire city up there or something.”
“I wonder if we’ll ever get to go there…” Rarity mused. “Probably a fascinating place.”
The two were silent.
“…We never really did decide where we stood. What our relationship is.” Rarity said.
“Yeah.” Rainbow Dash said. “I’m just… Well I’m not really mad anymore.”
“I know but… We still need to know what we are.”
Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I don’t know…”
Rarity blinked. “…What about just friends?”
“Oh?”
“Not sisters. Not family. And heaven forbid not ‘exes.’” The two shared a laugh at this. “Just friends. We shouldn’t try to be anything special.” She smiled sadly. “I… I did try to push it.”
“And I pushed back.” Rainbow Dash admitted.
“We didn’t handle it that well. But at this point, that doesn’t matter anymore. Let’s just be friends. Close friends, yes, but nothing closer than say Applejack and Twilight. Or even Starlight.”
Rainbow Dash held out a hoof. “Agreed. We need to get over this and focus on the real problems.”
Rarity clasped Rainbow Dash’s hoof, smiling. “Thank you.”
Then the two hugged, and the night became silent once more.