The flames of the Twins chased the darkness from the tunnel, providing a very comforting light to the dark world of the Void, and the warmth of their flames even felt comforting to them. Applejack and Rainbow Dash impressions of Wick and Pyre had begun to change with Daing Do’s casual interview with them. Drifting through the air just beside Wick, Daring Do carried her journal and a pencil in her hooves while writing down some notes on each of them. Her questions concerned their time in the Void, what they had seen, what they had eaten, and generally how they survived this long. It was useful information to have seeing as their own stay in the Void was unknown for the moment and if they were to be seperated for any reason Daring Do would be better prepared. Eventually her questions carried over to their childhood, who they were as ponies, it was to establish a background to which Daring Do could add to her future story on her adventure into this other dimension.
“Our mother left us when we were very little, to search for our father in the Void, and leaving us to become the stewards of the Ashen Fields when she failed to return.” Pyre had told her.
The Twins were rather forthcoming about their upbringing, choosing their words carefully, revealing the difficulties of ruling a failing kingdom with a infantile Smolder to look after. When they spoke of their father’s appearance within the mirror, his promise of power, they took no liberties to stray away from their own brand of cruelty shown to their flame ponies. Their father fueled the Twins anger of their mother’s abandonment of them, casting blame to Celestia for banishing him in the first place, and the weakness of their own flame ponies for not winning the war. It was becoming clear that the Twins were manipulated, their rage twisted by their father’s words, and found themselves as instruments of the Mad King’s will.
“Why would you let your father take advantage of you?” Daring Do questioned them.
“Who are you to trust if not your own parents?” Pyre replied with a question of his own.
Daring Do didn’t have a response for him. To Applejack, the Twins seemed to have mellowed out during their time here. Rainbow Dash was gradually warming up to them, having noticed some similarities they shared with Smolder. One of them being that the three brothers shared a quizzical stare that had them wide eyed, brow slightly cocked, and their head tilted just to the right. Their attitude overall had become less jaded and cold. They no longer spoke with a superiority about them, having obtained some humility from their situation, but their personalities were still very much present. Wick was still a very prideful pony, headstrong, confrontational, but every pony saw that he was capable of showing compassion when coming back to save Smolder. Pyre on the other hoof was much more reserved, more dignified, proper, but he too was willing to throw fire whenever his brothers were threatened.
With all the questions being directed towards them, Applejack could begin to see hints of their own uneasiness in wanting to ask about their brother. Although, neither of them seemed willing to ask, perhaps feeling unfamiliar with them to take such liberties, but it was just another trait they seemed to share with Smolder.
“You know, before this whole mess started, we and our friends were asked to help out with the reconstruction of the Ashen Fields. Wingston speared headed the whole idea, but it was because Smolder ended up trying to do everything himself.” Applejack began.
Wick and Pyre took a glance over their shoulders, Applejack having piqued their interest. Coincidently, Smolder’s efforts to do things on his own was another trait that he had picked up from his brothers.
“Being a king doesn’t require you to be apart of every little aspect in the kingdom. Certain things should be left to capable ponies to allow him to focus on more serious and delicate political matters.” Pyre stated.
“He’s a fool.” Wick muttered.
“Well, that’s why we stepped in. Utilizing our skills, we branched out around the Ashen Fields and helped out with some of the problems the flame ponies were having.” Applejack explained.
“That’s when Smolder fell asleep for like three days.” Rainbow Dash tacked on.
“Smolder slept for three days?” Wick asked in disbelief.
“That’s right, although it wasn’t really his idea, because there was something in that ruined Void mirror that kept him from waking up.” Applejack affirmed to them.
Pyre rolled his eyes. “Smolder is a magnet for strange things.”
“Well that’s not even the weirdest part, because when he finally did wake up we discovered a mystery pony hiding out in the dungeons below the castle.” Rainbow Dash contributed.
The Twins wouldn’t admit to it, but they seemed desperate to hear more of what they had to say. Luckily, Rainbow Dash and Applejack didn’t mind telling them of the events that had taken place during their time in the Ashen Fields and it was a kindness that allowed the Twins to know of what had gone on during their absence.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash went on to explain to them of the mystery pony turning out to be Princess Sapphire and the theft of an Obelisk. Leading into the appearance of the Orc known as Gorun that threatened to bring an end to flame pony kind. Which all came to climatic battle that had taken place between the Ashen Fields, an army of spiders, and the Great Elder Dragon named Char. The Twins had slowed their pace, so focused on their tale that they hung onto every word they uttered. Rainbow Dash provided sound effects for parts that concerned the dragon and offered to portray the orc in a rather unflattering way. They covered everything they could possibly remember with them, unable to give exact details to what happened to Smolder and the orc as it was told to them by other ponies. While some details were better left for Twilight and the others to fill in, Rainbow Dash and Applejack had given them a solid recounting of everything that had happened up until Smolder had stepped into the Void.
“That idiot willing stepped into the Void?” Wick asked rhetorically shaking his head.
“Yup.” Rainbow Dash replied.
“Wait, I'm confused.” Pyre mentioned quickly looking rather perplexed.
“With what?” Applejack asked.
“Is this Herbal Tea mare Smolder's special some pony or is it Princess Sapphire?” Pyre questioned them.
“Yeah, I was a little hazy on that too.” Daring Do chimed in.
“To be honest, I don't rightly know. It seems like they are all pretty close, but I ain't one to start jumping to conclusions.” Applejack said.
“Well Smolder invited Tea to the Coronation, while Princess Sapphire was forced into an arranged marriage with him, except Smolder ended up refusing it, but sent Tea home to protect her from the Orc and then ended up saving Princess Sapphire from the dragon. We later found out that the lantern Tea had carried Smolder's fire that could reopen the portal, but he asked Princess Sapphire for help in finding all the Obelisks.” Rainbow Dash tried to explain.
“Which explains how and why you ponies are here now.” Wick stated.
“Well we’re still a little hazy on that part.” Daring Do mentioned.
“Your presence here must have something to do with the Arcana and the Storm.” Pyre surmised.
“How do you know that?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“It is the only thing that has happened around here since the appearance of the Elder Dragon.”
“You mentioned an Arcana.” Daring Do quickly pointed out. “Would it’s name happen to Mira?”
“Unfortunately, we know very little about such a creature, including a name. Our father merely mentioned it, but we have not actually seen it.” Pyre replied.
“It would seem like those Obelisks and these Arcana are linked somehow. Just like Tear and how she felt one of the Obelisks being attacked.” Appplejack stated.
“We’re still a ways away from the next set. Hopefully you’re friends have had the presence of mind to stay put.” Wick told them.
“Don’t stop running!” Princess Sapphire exclaimed.
Twilight and Spike galloped past Princess Sapphire with Fluttershy following close behind. A series of spells erupted from Princess Sapphire’s horn, blasting large maggots that broke through the tunnel walls trying to devour them.
“Why is everything trying to eat us?” Spike exclaimed in frightened disbelief.
The purple light from Twilight’s horn led their way through the darkness, shooting spells at any maggot that sprung from the ground or walls before her. No matter how far the group ran, there seemed to be no end to the amount of maggots or worms that kept swarming around them.
Throwing on the brakes, Twilight slid to the edge of a sudden slope that seemed to drop straight down into the abyss below. The loose dirt beneath her hooves was pushed over the ledge from he sliding stop, trickling down into the darkness and proving that there was no end in sight.
“Drop off!” Twilight shouted back down the tunnel.
With a flare of her wings, Princess Sapphire quickly leaped through the air gliding high over the maggots reach. Turning to back towards the tunnel, Sapphire’s mane began storming, her eyes burning blue, before releasing a blast of frost that froze the walls and maggots in ice. Her attack seemed only temporary, the ice already beginning to crack as the maggots attempted to break through, leaving them with little choice but to brave the drop.
“Twilight, I’m going create a platform of ice. We’ll ride it down, but I’ll need your help to keep it from flipping over.” Princess Sapphire told her quickly.
“Right.” Twilight replied.
Another blast of frost escaped Princess Sapphire’s mouth, forming a flat chunk of ice just on the edge of the drop off. Twilight’s magic was already surrounding the ice, stepping onto it carefully while giving Fluttershy a hoof to climb on. The frozen maggots were shattering the ice, squelching their way towards them, snapping their many orifices in desperate hunger. Climbing aboard, Princess Sapphire gave a swift kick to the ledge that the ice clung to. It cracked loudly before suddenly dropping into the abyss with the screams of every pony quickly growing further and further away.
The ice platform dropped like a rock, striking the sides of the tunnel and knocking every pony off balance. With the wind racing past them, the ice slowly being chipped away, Twilight did her best to focus her magic on pitching the ice to and fro to keep it level. A sudden flash of Princess Sapphire’s horn created a thousands if not millions of snowflakes to form beneath them from the chunk of ice. With every pony free falling for just a few more seconds, the snow was first to crash upon the ground with every pony plopping atop the soft powder. Twilight and Fluttershy tumbled from the snowbank, their manes coated in flakes ice, looking none too happy with their current situation.
“You okay, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked brushing the snow from her mane.
“I think I’ve had enough excitement for one day.” Fluttershy replied softly.
Spike emerged from the snow pile, wiping snow from his polar suit that had some rather unfortunate tears in it.
“Just once I’d like to go on an adventure where we can eat some delicious treats at some nice hotel near a sunny beach.” Spike mumbled bitterly.
Twilight looked back at the snowbank expecting to see Princess Sapphire emerging from it as well, but found her absent from it. Getting to her hooves, Fluttershy noticed the lack of a Princess among them and approached the snow to have a look.
“Princess Sapphire?” Twilight called out.
With no reply, Twilight walked around the edge of the snowbank to see that the other side of the mound was missing, having fallen off a precarious cliffside. Leaning over the edge of the cliff, Twilight peered over the ledge watching clumps of snow fall into the darkness. Fluttershy and Spike hurried over to have a look as well and saw a soft glint of blue light near the bottom.
“Princess Sapphire!” Twilight called out once again.
“Oh dear, she might be hurt. How are we going to get down there?” Fluttershy asked looking towards Twilight.
“Let’s try to find a way down to reach her.” Twilight suggested stepping away from the ledge.
Princess Sapphire didn’t realize that she had fallen further than the others, having realized too late that most of the snow remained near the ledge while the rest scattered from the fall. Landing hard against the floor, bumping her head and blacking out for a while. Luckily, the impact had been softened, but not by snow. Stirring from her unconscious haze, Princess Sapphire found herself struggling to move.
“Twilight… Fluttershy? Little dragon?” Princess Sapphire mumbled unsure of her surroundings.
Attempting to raise her hoof to her head to ease the pounding within her skull, she found that her arm was being held back by something. Quickly becoming frustrated, Princess Sapphire brought her horn to a bright shine to reveal a rather large pool of viscous goo around her. It’s thickness prevented Sapphire from sinking quickly, although it did envelope most of her back legs and one whole wing making it even more difficult to move. Lifting her arm with all her might, the goo stretched right along with her and slowly globbing itself down her side.
“What the?” Sapphire mumbled frustratingly. “What is this? Sweet Celestia it feels so gross!”
Digging her hooves deep into the dirt, Sapphire attempted to pull herself from the goo, but fell short of dislodging more than a couple of inches of her hind legs. Plopping to the ground, Sapphire let out an exasperated sigh, noticeably tired from all the exploits up until now.
There were three shrill shrieks that gradually grew louder as Twilight, Fluttershy, and Spike fell out of the air into the goo around her. The goo softened their impact, but swallowed them up to their chests. Sapphire looked very surprised to see them.
“What the hay is this stuff?” Spike asked struggling against the goo.
“Why did you ponies jump in after me?” Sapphire questioned them.
“Hide your horn’s light!” Twilight barked at her.
With the amount of urgency and fear in Twilight’s voice, Sapphire diminished the magic from her horn quickly wondering what could possibly be coming. High up above, from the ledge every pony had jumped from, a sickening squelching slap of wet meat filled the cavern air. Every pony fell quiet, watching a darkened mass pass over their heads. Drips of goo plopped down around them, the creature excreting the viscous fluids the group now found themselves in.
“What is it?” Sapphire asked in a whisper.
“It’s like a giant squid or something.” Twilight hissed back.
“We didn’t even know it was there until Twilight’s horn shined on it.” Spike whispered shakily.
The massive squid lurched itself across the cavern ceiling, letting its tentacles drag itself down the walls and come to a rest on the other side of the pool of goo the ponies were trapped in. Sapphire’s frosty mane did not admit any sort of light, it did however reflect from other light sources, which nullified any chance of using magic. An upheaval of wind roared through the cavern as a enormous tentacle struck down beside the group, throwing a wave of goo over them, and breaking the ground beneath it. While being covered from head to hoof in this goo was not ideal, the cracks within the ground acted like a sort of drain that began sive themselves from their sticky situation. No pony could see what the creature was doing, it was safe to assume that their presence had gone unnoticed for the moment, but sticking around wasn’t part of their plan.
“Every pony, try making your way towards me. There is some ground here to help pull yourself free.” Sapphire whispered loudly to the lot.
Sapphire assumed that every pony nodded in agreement, unable to see their face in the darkness. There was of course the struggled movements through the goo Sapphire felt from every pony trying to wiggle themselves free, but the effort was exhausting and the progress slow. With her wing nearly free, Sapphire tried fanning it open only to feel the goo had layered itself thick upon her feathers.
“You’re almost out, Princess Sapphire.” Spike whispered to her.
The touch of Spike’s claws on her hoof indicated his attempt to help pull her from the goo, a gesture she graciously appreciated.
“Thanks, little dragon.” Sapphire mumbled.
After about a minute of trying to pull herself free, it had dawned on Princess Sapphire that Spike had already freed himself having fallen further from the ledge than her.
“Spike? How did you get out of the goo so quickly?”
“Oh, I just took off my polar suit and walked across. It was kind of sticky to walk through, but my smaller size didn’t make me sink as much. I really wanted to keep it, they don’t really make things in dragon size, but it was ruined anyway.” Spike told her.
Twilight and Fluttershy had overheard Spike and began to relieve themselves of their now sticky clothing. Fluttershy was able to wiggle free from her polar suit, imitating a butterfly emerging from a cocoon before floating up and over the goo. Twilight had a more difficult time freeing herself from her polar suit, without the use of her magic she struggled to pull herself free. Luckily, Fluttershy took hold of her hooves, gently pulling Twilight free of her gooey suit, and helped her ashore. Together every pony lent a hoof to free Princess Sapphire from the goo, unfortunately pulling much of it with her as it coated her quickly heavily.
“Are you okay, Princess?” Fluttershy asked quietly.
“I did not imagine this day turning out to be so horrible.” Sapphire confessed sounding rather burnt out.
Every pony smiled sympathetically for her, even if she could not see it, knowing that Sapphire had done everything and more to help Smolder. The goo dragged from Sapphire as she got to her hooves, without the use of magic in fear of attracting the attention of the dormant giant squid, Sapphire tried her best to scrape the goo from her hide.
“We’ll need stick close together if we’re going to get out of here and not get separated.” Twilight informed them.
“Just lean against me, we’ll really stick together.” Sapphire mumbled frustratingly.
“Yeah, but which ways out?” Spike asked quietly.
Spike had made a strong point, without any source of light there was no way to tell where anything was. With no pony sure that giant squid had fallen asleep or perhaps lay in wait for a glint of light to appear again, there wasn’t much any pony could do.
“We could try flying back up to where we were?” Twilight suggested.
“My wing is useless to me right now, we’d have to wait for the goo to dry out or something.” Sapphire told her.
The massive creature started to churn, its large tentacle it had slam down beginning to draw back away from them. Loud gurgling sounds of the squid bubbled within it own ilk, while a stream of liquid could be heard in the darkness pouring like water across the cavern floor.
Sapphire could not know what the squid was doing without being able to see, making a quick judgement call, she fired a quick spell high into the air acting like a flare. The spell exploded high overhead, drawing the squids attention upward with its tentacles already reaching for the burning ball of magic. Every pony could see just how massive this creature was, it seemed to be big enough to wrestle with the Elder Dragon Char in some monster battle. What terrified every pony more than the giant squid was the ink it had released, melting the very stone beneath it and rapidly pouring crashing towards them like a tide.
“We’re gonna be turned into goo!” Spike hollered in dismay.
“There are tunnels in the walls of the cavern. We can use one of them to get out of here.” Twilight pointed out to them.
With Princess Sapphire’s spell having given them a much needed look into the darkness, it had also revealed them to the creature. With Sapphire’s mane reflecting in the light of the magic, the creature targeted her over the others that were barely visible to the creature.
Like a whip, the creatures tentacle rolled out towards her, it massive suckers peckering to take hold of her. There was no need for words, every pony ran to get out of the way, but Sapphire had elected to run the opposite direction of the others. The tentacle slammed down hard against the ground, splashing the ink that sprinkled the sides of the cavern and melted the rock beneath it.
“Princess Sapphire!” Twilight called out to her.
“It’s after me! Get yourselves to safety!” Sapphire shouted back to them.
Try as she might, the goo that coated her wing would not slide off and kept her grounded. The tentacle slid itself after her, trying to flatten her outright, but the dwindling magic of her flare had shown her a small divot in the cavern wall to hide herself in. Diving in, Sapphire shielded herself while the massive tentacle scraped past her with such force that it carved most of the rock wall with it.
A sudden flash of purple erupted within the cavern, Twilight’s horn a glow from firing a spell at the creature. The massive squid lurched it’s tentacles in Twilight’s direction, allowing Sapphire time to escape, but filled her with dread at the prospect of the others being injured.
The squids tentacle slammed down hard at where Twilight stood, having only missed her by seconds as she teleported herself far to the right of the creature. Realizing that its prey had gotten away, the creature noticed another flash illuminate the cavern, but this time it was green from up above.
“Hey you! Over here!” Spike hollored aback Fluttershy who floated high over the creature.
Out of reach of the giant squid, Fluttershy floated about while Spike breathed several large balls of fire to keep the creature’s attention. With the sinking sickle of the creatures tentacles, the squid lifted itself up the side of the wall to reach them.
“Oh my.” Fluttershy mumbles.
The giant squid flung its tentacle at them, yet Fluttershy floated out of it reach, but the slick of goo the flew from it struck them anyway. Fluttershy’s wing had been gooped just as Sapphire’s had and struggled to keep herself aloft. Spike had been knocked from her back tumbled out of the air. The corrosive black ink of the squid bubbled below Spike who fell helplessly through the air.
“Augh!” Spike cried closing his eyes in painful anticipation.
A streak of black and white cut through the air, snatching Spike before landing in the ink. It was followed by a rainbow streak that came to Fluttershy’s aid. Spike had felt himself being carried, allowing himself to open one eye and see that none of than Daring Do had swooped in to save him.
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight shouted in disbelief.
“Easy there, Fluttershy. I got you.” Rainbow Dash said holding onto her.
Daring Do and Rainbow Dash brought them down to Princess Sapphire and anxious Twilight who quickly rushed over to help them. There was little time for questions or greetings, the giant squid had slopped to the floor, having noticed the bright streaks of Rainbow Dash’s trail. Princess Sapphire quickly stepped up to defend every pony from the squid, but stopped short seeing a sudden explosion of fire appear over the creature.
“Smolder?” Princess Sapphire whispered.
“Not quite.” Rainbow Dash replies.
The explosion of fire flared into two seperate flames, Wick and Pyre landed upon the giant squid burning it with massive amounts of fire they spewed from their mouths. Gurgling cries of the squid causes it to flail all of its tentacles, striking every wall of the cavern, cleaving rock from the walls and throwing goo everywhere.
The Twins were thrown from the creature, slamming up against the side of the walls, but quickly recovering to battle the creature further. With their fire burning wild and hot, the flames of the twins bathed the ground, drying out the goo and making the squids ink inert. Their flames forced the creature back from the others, driving it into a corner where the giant squid attempted to climb up the wall to distance itself from them.
“Now, Applejack!” Daring Do cries out.
High up on the wall of the cavern, Applejack stood at the mouth of a tunnel already bucking the side of the wall creating large cracks within it. With one final buck, the fissures broke open, collapsing the already weakened wall of the cavern and sent tons of rock and dirt down upon the creature. The pony made rockslide struck the creature, burying it under several feet of dirt and large boulders pinning it under a mound of rock. Leaping back from the debris, the Twins stood at the ready, flaring their manes ready to fight again, but watched the last few rocks bounce off the pile with no movement from the creature.
“Is it dead?” Daring Do asked.
“It better be.” Wick replies rolling his shoulders.
Rainbow Dash had flown up to retrieve Applejack as the Twins approached the new group of ponies they had cones across. There were many hugs to be had amongst the reunited friends, hundreds of questions of how each other had gotten here and what had happened to them. The Twins has recognized all in present company, but approached Princess Sapphire first.
“You must be Princess Crybaby.” Wick stated.
“I beg your pardon?” Sapphire asked flushing slightly.
Pyre ribbed Wick with his elbow,glaring at him, while Wick ribbed him back out of protest.
“Lady Sapphire, excuse my brother, his tendency to be rather insensitive can leave many a pony with a rather negative view of him.” Pyre explained.
“H-have we met?” Sapphire asked unsure.
“We technically have met before. I am Wick and this is Pyre, elder brothers to Smolder, and son’s to the Mad King.Your family had come for a visit many years ago, before our father went mad, although you were merely an infant at the time. Which my brother has so elegantly put that you were not very fond of our hospitality.” Pyre told her.
“You would scream on and on.” Wick added walking away from them.
Sapphire flushed feeling rather embarrassed, although she did not quite know how she could have known she was being so inconsiderate at such a young age. Wick stepped over to Fluttershy who was holding out her gooey wing looking rather dismayed.
“Just hold still. I’ll dry it out.” Wick said to her.
Rainbow Dash put a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder to let her know that the Twins were on their side. Wick took a small breath, letting it out slowly, producing a small flame from his lips that sent a rather large amount of hot air over the goo. It quickly dried up, already cracking from the folds of her feathers, but with a few good flaps the flakes had fallen away.
“What about me?” Spike asked waddling over to Wick.
“You’re a dragon, not a filly, don’t be such a baby.” Wick told him before walking away.
“Big, mean ol’ jerk! Can’t help a dragon out! Smolder would have helped me!” Spike hissed to himself trying burn his own goo away.
Pyre stepped towards Princess Sapphire, he was nearly a head taller than her, but came off more gentle colt than his brother.
“Can I help you with that, my Lady?” Pyre asked motioning to the goo that still coated her.
“Y-yes, please. Thank you.” Sapphire said quickly.
“I can’t believe we found you guys, and right in the nick of time! What were you ponies doing fighting a giant squid?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously.
“What are you ponies doing with the Wonder Twins?” Spike asked almost accusingly.
“They helped us out of tight spot with some freaky creature named Aswang. They’ve turned over a new leaf now that they ain’t taking orders from the Mad King no more.” Applejack informed them.
“You saw Aswang too?” Fluttershy asked softly.
“It tried to eat us by making us play a game with a rigged die. Things could have gone south real quick, but we ended up beating it in the end with the help of the Twins here.” Daring Do added.
“We must have encountered him after you guys then, because a giant wolf tore him to pieces when we found him.” Twilight pointed out.
Wick walked over to Princess Sapphire, watching Pyre carefully drying out the goo that still clung to her. She seemed slightly embarrassed by this, which only made Wick smile at her uneasiness which caused her to scoff and blush harder.
“Are you Smolder’s special some pony” Wick asked her.
Every pony’s conversation suddenly died away as their attention had turned to Princess Sapphire who had become nearly purple in the face from her embarrassment.
“Wh-wh-wh-what?” Princess Sapphire stammered.
“These ponies have been telling us you’ve been hanging out with our little brother, that you tried to get him to marry you through some political mumbo jumbo.” Wick told her.
Sapphire’s mane was flurrying with hundreds of snowflakes, tiny squeaks seemed to escape her as she didn’t know where to start on an explanation. The worst of it was having every pony watching her while being confronted by Smolder’s older brothers.
“Leave her alone, Wick. It’s none of our business.” Pyre intervened.
With the last of the goo burned away, Pyre returned to stand with his brother who didn’t seem ready to let up on the issue.
“Of course it’s our business, she could be attempting a hostile takeover, steal the kingdom right from under us!” Wick argues.
Sapphire covered her face with her hooves, never before feeling as embarrassed as she had now with every pony giggling at the idea of her being such a conniving power hungry Princess.
“As unlikely as that may be, we still need to check the other Obelisks for the rest of your friends, if they managed to get themselves pulled in. I don’t like leaving Smolder alone with father for this long.” Pyre stayed.
Every pony perked up at this.
“You know where Smolder is?” Twilight asked.
“He’s back in our cave, his flame was dangerously close to going out and needed to be rekindled.” Wick told them.
“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Rainbow Dash asked in surprise.
“Because the Mad King does not like visitors. Especially ones that helped banish him.”