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// Allies Many, Allies Powerful, Allies Incompitent. 
// Story: Children of Equis. 
// by reflective vagrant 
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Applejack managed to get her kin rounded up well enough while Rainbow Dash was able to relay the message to the Buffalo Tribes.


Rainbow Dash's job didn't take much convincing on her part, but rather tallying up all the separate herds and tribes of the Buffalo as she zoomed across the plains to make sure none of them missed out on the message.
"We know of the place that has the feel of wild magic that you speak,"  The chief of the last tribe on her list spoke,  "It has become more vibrant the last few moons, and already knew we needed to stay away.  If ponies say it could cause trouble, buffalo know how to move quickly away when we see your signal in sky.  Go focus on little pony friends in apple tree town."
"Aw yea!  One side down!"  Rainbow Dash cheered after flying off,  "AJ probably is still in the middle of a big speech."
"Just keep the speed down there, Rainbow Crash," Rainbow Dash's squadron leader, Spitfire, called as she grabbed Rainbow's hind leg to slow her down.  "Your sonic rain boom is the primary signal.  You could cause a huge false alarm if you pull one off by accident.  For now, unless it's to give the signal, speeds approaching the sonic rain boom are off limits. That's an order, newbie."


Just as Rainbow Dash and her Squad came flying into Appleloosa, Rainbow Dash saw the streets were bare and the train at the station was absolutely loaded to the brim with citizens.
"Gosh darn it!" an elderly stallion declared as he threw his hat down.  "I know, I know Rusty.  I owe you a round at the salt lick."
"Hey AJ!" Rainbow called out as she landed on the platform.  "You know we were only supposed to tell them to be ready to evacuate, not evacuate them today, right?"
"Yea, I know.  But when they found out that this was an order from the royal sisters, they got all patriotic on me, and when they found out the wonder bolts were rounding up their buffalo neighbors for the same thing, they got real competitive and wanted to be ready to pull out before you came to check up on us."
"Looks like they are ready." Sorin called out.
"Hehe... not quite."  Applejack said with an uneasy face and a shy rub of one hoof on the back of the other leg.  "The engine had a little trouble and we've been sitting here for the better part of an hour waiting on it getting fixed.  Looks like we're going to be docking a spare train from Ponyville here just in case after all."

"Well, it looks like were ready, girls," Twilight called to them from the ticket booth that the Appleloosans insisted she sit in as they showed her their evacuation attempt.  While stretching her stiff form from sitting down for so long, she continued,  "Let's just hope Fluttershy, Rarity and Spike are making as much progress as we are."







"I must say, Rarity!"  Sea Breeze commended, "I have never seen a pony come so close to replicating a briezzie's tender love und care ven weaving de fabric of da vail.  Usually it takes years fer ponies ta be trained in vail weaving!"
"Humph!"  Garble grumbled as he sat there beside Spike.  "I don't see why we can't just blast the rifts with fire and fuse them shut!"
Sea Breeze got right in Garble's face.  "Because, not only do da rifts not work like dat, but de equivalent kind of patch would be far too rigid!  It vould only make de rifts bigger and harder to control in de long run!  Dere's a reason vhy de breezie rift has kept de strongest of all seals through de ages, and it's finesse in our weaving, not raw force you brute!  Be grateful dragon magic is being considered as a component at all!"
Garble simply responded with a nasal puff of smoke, sending Sea Breeze spiraling.  "And I have to be the 'lucky' dragon stuck here providing that dragon magic..."
"Well it wasn't my idea for you to spy on our meeting with Dragon Lord Ember anyway,"  Spike said as he flipped the page in his comic book.  "Be happy she just stuck you with this duty until the prototype is done as punishment instead of for the whole time of production too."
"Yea yea,"  Garble responded just as he threw too much fire breath into Sunburst's device, blowing its fragile components.  "Why can't you do this again, runt?"
Spike put down his comic. "Lets see: A, I have duties elsewhere which I'll be getting back too just as soon as Princess Luna finishes fixing the emergency back door to the breezies' domain open.  B, I'm not old enough to hold the required amount of fire in my belly to supply the entire experiment. C, because your trouble making tends to put you high on Ember's list of dragons she really doesn't want around and sends off to do 'lame' tasks.  And D, by promising you can go home as soon as they record the correct calculations for quality veil thread from dragon fire you'll have motivation to cooperate with us and get it done faster."
With the device being set aside by Garble, Spike wandered off with his comic book in hand.
"Mamby pamby ponies with there mamby pamby princesses..." Garble rambled as he picked up another of the many devices set aside for him, this time feeding his fire breath into it very lightly, blowing it after a couple of seconds instead of instantly.


"Don't worry little breezies,"  Fluttershy Called through the three inch hole in the wall.  While you're protective wall is open, we have many ponies standing guard, each well trained and aware of a breezie's needs.  And if a mean old monster does slip by one of them, Angel will help you drive them out, right Angel?"
Angel only answered by squeezing through said hole with all sorts of colors in his normally white coat, and several breezie children following him to the edge of the hole.  "Aww..."  the children cried in unison before turning back.
Angel then promptly went to a supply chest and found a rubber stopper.  He took the stopper and hopped up to the hole, firmly planting it into the hole.  As he landed he gave Fluttershy an "Ain't no way I'm going back in there," look.
"There,"  Princess Luna spoke, shutting off her magic.  "That should last for a few moons.  Naturally you can collapse it from the inside if you need to, as agreed."







Zecora sat idly on her meditation mat.  Her mind's efforts split between continuing her communications with the other servants of the Animus Mundi and observing her new acquaintance.
<Whether we should teach this creature is unclear.  I ask for the help of any who are near.  The weave of his energy is quite bizarre.  I fear that he is what came from the fallen star,> Zecora pleaded as she saw her guest doing his best to chop firewood for her, and failing horribly.
<But eventually it will learn to do so, whether we teach it or not,>  Another servant broadcast in a light, almost squeaking tone.  <For better or worse, the Animus Mundi's will is not set against this creature and from what you've described it is already showing the signs of accepting it like it does with a fledgling servant who is nearing the completion of their first meditations.   While we will try to help where we can, our duties prevent us from being there in person.  You will have to be ready to do this on your own or not at all.>
The axe that the creature was wielding hit the wood at a weird angle yet again.  Only this time it bounced off, twisted around and hit one of the creature's back paws with the hammering side, gave the creature horrible splinters on its front paws, and probably gave a solid twist to the poor thing's front ankles.  Zecora could feel the agony in his cry before he even started.
<Sadly I also cannot leave my home until my current task is done.->  A deep, bellowing, but reserved voice of a powerful creature called, <-And I agree.  Even if it is not of Equis and has the taint, we cannot change the fact that the Animus Mundi has accepted it as one of its own and is granting the strange creature the right to call upon its power.  The Animus Mundi's will cannot be pleaded with.  All we can do is work with the choices it makes.  The true question is not if we should guide its growth, but how.>
The creature twirled around on his one good hind paw, screaming with as much agony as Zecora expected.  Finally, the creature regained his composure and glared at the small log, as if it were mocking him by still sitting pristine and unharmed on the stump.  He used the bizarre ability that the Animus Mundi had granted him to shift into the shape of a bear and quickly marched back over to it.
A crackling voice, like that of the cawing of a bird spoke up, <You have always been the one able to move around the most freely and aid our charges when our power alone was not enough, Zecora, and I am grateful.  But I cannot leave either. I will send one of my students along with whatever supplies you ask for if I can spare them.  He is a high spirited boy and I find giving him tasks aids in his studies.  You are welcome to use him to assist with your work when he comes and you may seek my counsel in this endeavor whenever you feel the need.  I too find that leaving the creature to learn of its power with its own devices could spell disaster.  At the very least we need to keep an eye on it and guide it away from destructive paths if possible.>
Zecora braced herself for the words she new were coming.
<And learn what it can do so that we can exterminate it like a parasite if its nature proves to be as such.>
She had to shut her eyes as she saw the creature dig its borrowed claws into the log and tear it in half with a fit of rage.  Keeping her eyes from watering up as she did so took all the willpower she had to spare.
<Then I'll trust the rest of you will attend well to the important duties that keep you away.>  She used her sadness to fuel the sternness of her next statement.  <But if I must be the one to teach him, then the servants will trust me to teach him my way.>
Zecora forced herself to keep composure as she closed the link to the other servants.  To be honest, she expected them to be unable to aid her in any real manner, but needed to contact them anyway.  It wasn't that she felt the other servants were incompetent.  Far from it.  They were wise in their own ways.  It was just that they had grown accustomed to simply protecting the races of their regions, instead of teaching them ways of how to protect themselves.
In turn their charges had grown to become dependent on them, generally tying them down until l they could sufficiently train apprentices to take over.  The method of only teaching their personally picked apprentices and leave the common people without even basic understanding had its upsides in some ways, but it also had its downsides.
As the creature shifted back to what appeared to be his natural form she could see a look of shame he had on his face.  She lowered her ears and face into an uneasy but understanding smile, then went over to treat the creature's wounds.