//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Stocking Up // Story: A New Era // by Shadowmane PX-41 //------------------------------// "Now, before I let you all go off for your impending doom, I'm just going to get this off of my chest." Sugarcoat led the Main Six, Starlight, and Spike into a large barrack, where ponies were gearing up and testing their weapons and spells out. "I think that her majesty, Abacus Cinch, has finally gone over the edge. Her decision to send you eight on our adventure to stop Umbra is basically just code for: Sugarcoat, I want you to babysit seven foals who couldn't tell a meteor from a meteorite, as well as their baby dragon who somehow managed to get out of wearing diapers, and take them on a quest where they WILL die at the claws of whatever monsters await them down the road." "Sugarcoat, we don't like it either, but it's the cards that we've been dealt." Indigo Zap stomped up and pushed Sugarcoat into a locker. "I agree that it's just come outta nowhere like this, but if Cinch believes that these six kids can take on Umbra and finish him off for good, then we've gotta give them the benefit of the doubt." "Yeah. You don't know them, Sugarcoat." Sour Sweet walked up to the Main Six and pressed her hoof hard against their legs, feeling the strength of their bones and muscles. "Maybe, somewhere deep inside their weak and flabby little bodies, there might sit some magic that could stop Umbra and bring peace, happiness, and sunshine back to White Wings." "Plus, these girls actually seem interesting. Much better than those boring old delegates we're always tasked with bodyguarding every time they come to White Wings." Lemon Zest gave Pinkie Pie a playful nudge on her shoulder. "Especially this one. She seems like she'd be great at a party." "Are you kidding? I LOVE parties!" Pinkie bounced into the air and threw confetti out of her arms. "Back home in Ponyville, my Cutie Mark means that I'm a great partyplanner, partygoer, and party lover! That's three great aspects about me: Pinkamena Diane Pie of the Pie Family!" "Parties?" Sugarcoat grimaced at Pinkie and slapped her hoof to her face. "I don't know why the people of White Wings aren't writing your epitaphs. This is a hopeless endeavour..." "Says the pony who lost herself years ago." Indigo shook her head. "Just take a chill pill, Sugar. These girls might be the quickest to get beaten by King Umbra, but they're still guests, y'know? Treat 'em with respect." "What respect do I have for children?" Sugarcoat snarled. Everyone else made a loud gasp and stared at Sugarcoat, who simply scoffed and turned their backs to them, gathering her gear for the battle ahead. "Why I oughta..." Applejack's face turned as red as a tomato as she glared daggers at Sugarcoat. She snorted out fumes from her nose and charged at her like a bull. "Apologize right now, missy!" "Silence!" Sugarcoat fired a beam of magic at Applejack, welding her to the ceiling and knocking her hat from her head. She stomped on the hat and fired another magic bolt at the cowgirl, removing her mouth from her head and placing it into a recycling bin, which vanished shortly afterwards. "Does anyone else want to mess with me? I could turn your bones into water right now if I wanted to." "That. Is. Enough. SUGARCOAT!" Sunny Flare stomped her hooves on the ground and cast a spell at Sugarcoat's feet, ensnaring her in a giant bubble with pink mist inside. "Sunny! Let me out of here this instant! Do you hear—" As she tried to argue with her friend, Sugarcoat felt the mists from within the bubble fly up through her nostrils and dance around her body. Her eyelids got incredibly heavy and she felt like she had stayed up all night partying "—me? I'm... not gonna... let." Before she could finish, she fell asleep, snoring quietly. "This is one of the spells I keep to myself, girls." Sunny Flare turned back towards the Rainbooms and the rest of the girls. "Necessarium Somno. In the event of someone causing trouble in White Wings, or someone who's just had a bad day, this is the spell I like to use. Once they're trapped inside that bubble, they can't wake up unless I pop it. And once they do wake, they feel refreshed and revitalized." "Necessarium Somno?" Starlight Glimmer's ears perked up as a smile appeared on her face. "Isn't that the spell that was devised by the great sorceress Sand Mare?" "It sure is!" Sunny chirped and nodded her head. "And it's one of my personal favorites too. I sometimes like to combine it with a few other spells so I can get a good night's sleep without any interruptions. Plus, it helps me if Cinch wants me to sleep on a decision without thinking of the bad stuff." "Do you mind if I could have a copy of the spell before we go?" Twilight lifted her hoof. "It might come in handy." "Of course. But first, I really need to get Applejack down from there." Sunny Flare fired a small beam up at the magic holding Applejack in place. Using her magic as a welding torch, Sunny was able to free Applejack and catch her moments before hitting the ground. "Thanks, Sunny Flare." Applejack took her hat and placed it back on her head. "Now, ah only wish that Sugarcoat could be as nice as you." "I know, I do as well." Sunny Flare watched Sugarcoat in her sleep. "Ever since Umbra's last attacks, Sugarcoat's been getting awfully stressed out, obsessively compulsive, and less caring for ponies than she used to be. It's not right for one of the White Wings heroes to start looking down on everyone else around them." She watched a shimmer of light sheen from the bubble that she had placed around her. "That's why Necessarium Somno—or Unavoidable Sleep if you want a translation—is the best spell to fix Sugarcoat up. Now, when she gets out of there, she's gonna think about the positives a bit more, instead of focus on the negatives." "Y'know, Sunny Flare, you're pretty cute, but you're also terrifying at the same time..." Lemon Zest walked up to Sugarcoat's bubble, tapping it gently, only to see that it didn't pop no matter what she did to it. "I just hope I never have to fight you in the future." "Yeah? Who knows what attacks you've been hiding from us?" Sour added. "Maybe you could have a spell that puts some sense into your stupid brain, Sugarcoat!" "There's no point in trying to insult her either, Sour Sweet. Necessarium Somno is soundproofed from the inside out. Not even the loudest explosion, bolt of lightning, or dragon's roar will be able to wake Sugarcoat from her slumber." Sunny Flare launched another magic beam at the bubble, but it bounced off and hit the ground instead. "Plus, it's also immune from being crushed, popped, or ruptured by anything else. Only my magic can wake Sugarcoat back up and free her from sleep." "So... you're going to wake her up now?" One of the guards tapped Sunny's shoulders. "We kinda need Sugarcoat awake if Umbra or the rioters attack again." "I'll wake her up once we depart, Silent." Sunny lifted the orb into the air and cast another bolt at it. "Sweet dreams, Sugarcoat." Sunny Flare's magic made the orb shrink down, which in turn, turned Sugarcoat tiny as well. Once the spell was over, she and the bubble were no bigger than a christmas ornament. "Twilight. Rarity, Starlight, Sour. Follow me. Rainbow, Fluttershy, you're with Indigo Zap. As for the rest of you, you're with Lemon Zest. Get what you can and meet me at the castle entrance." She floated the tiny Sugarcoat behind a curtain and walked through it. "We'll be back shortly." Twilight gave the girls a smile and followed Sour and Sunny through the curtains. "Don't worry about it." Sour Sweet, Sunny Flare, Starlight, Twilight, and Rarity walked into a part that was completely different from what they had seen before. Instead of steel weaponry and armor plating, there were now spellbooks and runes dotted around the place. Waxy candles were lit all around the room, with some black cloaks hanging on hooks around the room. The room was also much darker than usual, with the walls painted a dark shade of blue. "This part of the armory is exclusive for us unicorns." Sunny Flare lifted Sugarcoat towards a pink cloak with Sunny's Cutie Mark on it, setting her down underneath it. "So much so that no-one else knows we're here." "No-one knows?" Starlight tilted her head. "But, there's a door right—" She tapped on the door, but then saw that it rippled as she touched it "—here?" "It's a mirage spell. One that every unicorn in Cinch's ranks knows." Sunny walked towards the door and pushed it open. "Absconditus Andron, otherwise translated as Concealed Corridor." "Absconditus Andron? That's a pretty powerful spell." Twilight watched as Sunny sealed the door, then tried to mirror her actions, only to make the door ripple again. "Yeah, it's not that great. Some guy came up with it because he didn't want to do his taxes." Sour Sweet rolled her eyes and went over towards the books. "Now then. We're gonna see Umbra, so I'm gonna take this... Little bit of that. Oh! Can't forget this one." She began to take spellbooks and levitate them over towards her own cloak. "And this is a spell I'm taking personally, because Umbra hates me and I hate him." "Sour, you're just packing offensive spells." Sunny Flare lifted her brow at all of the spells that Sour Sweet had stacked by her clothes. "Why don't you? Don't you want to stop Umbra?" Sour asked. "I do, but I don't want to overdose on spells that prioritize on attacking." Sunny Flare started taking spellbooks of her own. "Umbra's magic is belong anything that any of us could compare to. The only one he sees as his equal is Sugarcoat, so we should take some defensive spells just to be safe." "You know that the word defensive is basically just fancy talk for 'I'm not strong enough to stop a tyrannical king of darkness who was born from my friend's shadow and therefore, is all of the darkness of my friend', right?" Sour grumbled and began to open up the spellbooks and read them. "Well, if you're being attacked by the Dragon King, restless spirits of the underworld, or one of Umbra's shadow ponies and you don't have any spells to protect yourself from massive damage, don't come crying to me, Sour Sweet." Sunny began reading her own books. "It seems like you've got some pretty vast knowledge on spells." Starlight looked over the other books. "A Thousand And One Ways to Fell a King? Conjurations, Configurations, and Concealments? Even A Pony's Ultimate Power? This book isn't even sold in Equestria! This is worth millions of bits back home!" "Really?" Sour lifted her brows. "Because here in White Wings it's only fifteen shekulas. Pretty common if you ask me." "I..." Starlight's eye twitched as she looked at all of the other books. All that she had never heard of or that she had known but never set eyes upon until now. All of the information was proving too much for her as she eventually fainted and fell into Twilight's forehooves. "What she means to say is that we're all very interested in what you've got here." Twilight flapped over towards some more spellbooks. "Ooh! This one sounds pretty good. Chain Mail's Magic Mails; Magical Armour For Every Situation. I might just read this one right now!" She flipped the book open to the first page she could find and glued her eyes to what was written down. "I take it you're both spellbook fanatics as well?" Sunny Flare watched as Twilight trotted in place with a massive smile on her face as she continued to read her own book. "Which author's your favourite for spells?" "I'm a fan of Starswirl the Bearded most of all." Twilight neglected to pull her head from her book as she turned back towards Sunny Flare. "Sure, he's an oldie, but sometimes, the oldest spellcasters are the best ones." "Did the ponies of Equestria ever figure out what happened to him once he disappeared?" Sunny Flare lifted a brow and looked up from her first book. "I sure hope that he didn't perish. He was one of this planet's greatest influences in the magical arts." "Feh. He was a fantasy pony dressed up like that guy from those King of the Pendants by A.R.R Chatkien. And Clover the Clever was basically his version of Mobo Fraggins."Sour Sweet shook her head and closed her first book. Twilight let out a gasp as if her favourite puppy had passed away. "You don't mean that, do you?" "Twilight, let's be honest here. The spells of the past have just fallen behind these days." Sour flipped open the next book in her stack. "The ponies these days, though? They know how to make spells that hit the bad guys where it hurts!" Her eyes lit up with fire as a devilish smile grew on her face. "Bu-bu-bu-but, Starswirl the Bearded is one of the best spellcasters of all time!" Twilight threw her hooves down before Sour Sweet. "I don't care about how good the new sorcerers and wizards are. Starswirl's always going to be in my heart, no matter what you say about him!" "If he's so good then why is he missing?" Sour stared at Twilight bug-eyed and lifted a hoof. "Well... he might be late getting home. Or he could be trapped somewhere and is out of breath! Or maybe he could've been kidnapped by a group of ponies who've been able to stop all of his magic spells, rendering him completely powerless against them!" Twilight spluttered, trying to think of a plausible excuse. "Sour, Twilight. Let's not fight." Sunny Flare cast two beams on both Twilight Sparkle and Sour Sweet, both of which loosened up the muscles in their bodies. "Pugna Anti. That should ease your minds. Now, make sure you read up on all you can, because we're departing for Umbra's castle within the hour." "Wait, that soon?" Starlight shook herself once the command sank into her mind. "But we're only just picking up these books! It might take us some time to master the spells. This kinda stuff isn't the stuff you see in Magic Kindergarten, you know." "Exactly." Sour Sweet nodded. "White Wings is the major leagues when it comes to magic, flight, and strength. If you don't shape up, you're gonna fall behind. That's why we five are always training as hard as we can to make sure that we're perfect. And if you can't keep up, then tough tu-tus, pal. You'll be outta here quicker than you think if you so much as slack off for a second." "It's a strict system, but it works." Sunny Flare took the rest of her books and slipped them into a saddlebag, which she then put onto her body, followed by a cloak. "Queen Abacus Cinch wants to make sure that we're as strong as we can be. You never know when something might come along that's even worse than King Umbra." Sour Sweet shuddered at the thought. "Don't say it too soon, Sunny. It might just happen." And went back to her books. "Alright, newbs. If you wanna be a White Wings Silver Bullet, you've gotta shape up!" Indigo Zap drilled both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, who were both dressed up in Silver Bullet uniforms. "That's why this course here's gonna test your flying skills to. The. Max!" Indigo stepped aside and revealed a massive flying course, one with various twists and turns, enclosed tube sections, walls that sprung up on the path which ponies smashed through, and even rings of fire, spikes, ice, and electricity. The ponies that all ran the course were nimble diving through the rings, performing slick movements with their wings as they cleared each obstacle, giving them brief speed boosts every time. "Now then, let me be perfectly clear with you both. This course is NOT designed for outsiders." Indigo paced back and forth. "I don't care if you're a Wonderbolt, a talented flyer, or even some random person we dragged off of the street. First time you run it, this course is going to eat. You. Alive." "Oh. I don't really like the sound of that..." Fluttershy recoiled and hid her face behind her hair. "Eh, I'm not worried about it." Rainbow Dash opened her wings. "By the time I'm done with this course, they're gonna see what being a Wonderbolt is all about." Rainbow Dash flew towards the start of the course and launched herself through a veil of clouds. Once she came out of the other side, however, she managed to graze her wings on all four of the different elemental rings. By the time she made it towards the walls, her wings had been properly singed, poked, frozen, and electrocuted, so she splatted against the first wall like a fly against a swatter, sliding down towards the ground with her head spinning. "Told ya, Rainbow. This course ain't for the faint-hearted, y'know?" Indigo came up to Rainbow Dash and helped her back onto her feet. "But that's okay, because you're new. I was kinda expecting you to fall at the first hurdle to be honest." "Indigo? I think I have a concussion..." Rainbow Dash's head spun as she rubbed it with one of her hooves. "Is it a bad thing if you think that your friends have been turned into merponies and the world looks like it's underwater?" "Like I said. You're new. It happens. That's why we're gonna train you." Indigo shook Rainbow's head wildly. "Because once you're done, not only will you be able to fly faster, but you'll also hit harder, be able to keep up with Umbra's shadow ponies, and do stuff your Wonderbolts back home won't have seen anywhere else." "Well, it's nice that you're going out of your way for us, Indigo, but I just don't really see how I'm gonna be able to do this either." Fluttershy pointed towards the last part of the course, where ponies were being pushed back by a cloud generating a controlled gust. "I don't think even the Wonderbolts could do this." "Hey. Let me show you something." Indigo flew into the heavy current and flapped her wings as hard as she could. Despite how violent the wind was, she was slowly getting closer towards the clouds. A little smile crossed her face as she brought her goggles down over her eyes and broke through the clouds. She shot out of the other side like a bullet from a gun and performed a wide turn before landing back at Rainbow and Fluttershy's side. "How's that?" "Terrifying..." Fluttershy whispered. "Awesome!" Rainbow cheered. "How did you even do that?! That's gotta be, like, a class ten wind! Not even the best Wonderbolts on the team can break through that head-on!" "Well, I'm not a Wonderbolt. I'm a Silver Bullet." Indigo pointed towards the insignia on her uniform. "And by the time we go out to face Umbra, you two are going to be able to master this wind and many more things Umbra sends your way. So, are you gonna train?" "Yes?" Fluttershy grinned. "Yes!" Rainbow hoof-pumped. "Ah, c'mon. You can do better than that!" said Indigo. "Are. You gonna. Train?" Sje got up in their faces with an extravagant smile on her face. "Yes!" They both said louder. "Louder!" said Indigo "Yeah!" cheered the girls. "LOUDER!" she roared. "YEAH!" repeated Rainbow and Fluttershy. "LOUDEEEEER!" Indigo screamed. "YEAH!" Rainbow cheered so loud that she almost through out her voice. Her soundwaves were so strong that they started to blow back Indigo's mane. "Good! Now get goin'!" Indigo patted Rainbow's back, sending her back to the start of the training course. "And don't give up! No matter what!" "Alright. Gonna need these." Lemon Zest picked up her greaves, helmet, and other pieces of her armor and slipped them on one after another, shimmying as she banged her head to the music blaring in her headphones. "Ooh yeah. I feel a beat comin' on!" She rolled forward and landed on her breastplate, locking it in place with the rest of her suit. "Little bitta this. And a little bitta that. Aaand, we are good to go!" She threw her headphones up, put on a helmet, and caught the speakers with her hooves. "Booyah! Still got it." "Woohoo! Nice moves, Lemon!" Pinkie Pie clapped her hooves as fast as she could, lifting Applejack's into the air. "Go Lemon, go Lemon!" "Thanks, girls. I do this stuff on a regular basis here." Lemon put the headphones into her saddlebags. "What? The dancin' or the armor stuff?" Applejack lifted a hoof. "Both. Preferably at the same time if we're going out to face King Umbra." Lemon walked up to Applejack, Pinkie, and Spike. "Don't you feel a tad worried about all this?" Applejack raised a hoof. "If this Umbra feller really is as bad as you say that he is, then shouldn't you cut down on the dancin' stuff and get serious?" "Serious?" Lemon Zest couldn't help but let a giggle slip from her lips. "Against Umbra? You've gotta be kidding, right?" "Kidding? But he's a monster! You saw what he did to Sugarcoat and Cinch!" Applejack's pupils dilated. "Eh, Umbra's pretty big, bad, spooky, and mean, but we always manage to beat him." Lemon Zest adjusted her saddlebags and put the rest of her equipment into them. "It's kind of a running theme here at White Wings. Umbra tries to use some kind of weird plot to cause chaos, then he either comes to us or we go to him, and then we proceed to beat him up, stop his plans, and save our home. It's so overdone that it might as well be a comic book, if you know what I mean." "Oh, I know what you mean, being an avid comic book reader myself." Spike put his claws on his chest and rubbed it down. "But yeah, if Umbra's got you girls in his line of sights now, then you'd better suit up." Lemon Zest walked Pinkie and Applejack over towards the armor and weapons part of the armory. "Here. Take these. You're gonna need 'em for what's up ahead." "Ooh! I like the look of that pink one!" Pinkie went over towards a large pink spear hanging on the walls. She bounced on her tail and tried to pick it up, but once it was out of its' rack, Pinkie couldn't even lift it up. No matter how much she sweated, gritted her teeth, or shook her body, her weapon of choice wouldn't move an inch. "Nnnngh! I... will have you... cute pink spear thingy!" "Oh, did I forget to mention that the armor here in White Wings is incredibly tough?" Lemon Zest knocked her armor with the tips of her hooves. "The metals here are so strong that they can stand up to dragon fire, cannonballs, and even a group of rioting ponies over in Cast Shadow. Plus, they also weigh a few tonnes." "A few tonnes?!" Applejack was about to move, but Lemon Zest darted around her body at ludicrous speeds, dressing the cowgirl up in a similar suit of armor to the one she was wearing. "Wh-whoa. Whoa! Whoa!" Applejack tried to stand upright, but because the armor's weight was unlike anything she'd ever worked with before, her knees were beginning to wobble on the spot. "Ah, get over it. I mastered this baby in a couple of days." Lemon Zest around in circles in her suit. "Sure, I had some troubles myself, but I grew into it. It's practically a workout in itself if you're wearing one of these things. Heck, you might even be strong enough to carry a weapon once we get back home." "When we get back home?! Just what kinda backwards trainin' is this?!" Applejack cried. "The one designed by Queen Cinch. Now c'mon!" Lemon Zest walked towards a door and opened it up. She then dashed towards Pinkie and dressed her in armour as well. "The gym's right this way. We've gotta get you buffed up." "Man, Applejack, you were right. This thing is HEAVY!" Pinkie smiled, but was still able to manage wearing the armor without falling on her face or buckling from all of the excess weight. Her forehead was ridden with sweat and her body was beginning to warm up on the inside. "Somethin' tells me that this ain't gonna be a walk in the park." Applejack grimaced as she and Pinkie followed Lemon Zest through the door.