//------------------------------// // Chapter 19: A New Development // Story: The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse: The Equestrian Adventure // by wingdingaling //------------------------------// Chapter 19 A New Development Before the old mare could continue her story, the sky slowly darkened as clouds covered the sky. Leaves rustled past the four ponies on the porch as a chill wind blew past them all. "Strange. It's supposed to be sunny skies today," the old mare said. "What's going on?" the earth pony colt asked. "Oh, probably just some problem with the weather regulation machinery. Come on. Let's go inside." The foals all trotted into the house, followed by the old mare. "Darn weather monitors. When I was a young mare, it was pegasi taking care of everything with their own hooves. Things rarely went wrong that way. Nowadays, the weather report calls for clear skies and we find ourselves smack dab in the middle of monsoon season," the old mare prattled on. The foals all settled themselves on the couch, while the old mare set about building a fire in the fireplace to stave off the coming cold. "What happened next, grandma?" the earth pony colt asked. "Well, after somepony decided the weather needed better regulation, they tried having unicorns help out the pegasi with their magic--" The old mare said, as she placed logs in the fireplace. "No. What happened next in the story?" the unicorn filly asked. "That? You foals want to hop back into the story without even getting a blanket or some hot chocolate for that incoming chill?" "Because the story just gets better. The Goof Knight's son was foalnapped. Him and Rainbow Dash won their first match," the unicorn filly said. "And those weasels are getting beat up for it," the pegasus filly finished. "But, you already know the ending, don't you? So, why not take a break to bundle up for the next part?" the old mare said. "Yeah, but..." The foals on the couch all remained silent for a moment. They already knew that the Goof Knight lost and didn't become the king of Trottingham, which dampened their spirits slightly. But, something about the whole situation made them wonder something. "Grandma?" the earth pony colt began, "The Goof Knight lost, but there are still all those other stories about him. How did that happen?" "Well, that seems pretty obvious to me," she answered, as she placed kindling among the logs. The foals on the couch thought a moment, until the unicorn filly spoke up. "Because, he kept going after he lost to Rex?" she asked. "Bingo," the old mare took a match in her teeth and struck it against the hearth. "It's because he had something to fight for, wasn't it?" her grandson asked. "Mm-hm," the old mare said, as she ignited the kindling. "It's because he knew that even if he lost, he still had to do what he needed to do for the sake of others? Right?" the pegasus filly asked. The fire was lit, and the room steadily grew warmer. "That's right," said the old mare, with a small smile. She looked on the couch at the hopeful faces of all the foals. Even though they knew the ending was bleak, they still sat stalwart, ready to hear the story to the end. With a quiet groan, she reached back and pulled a small armchair closer to the fire to face the foals. "Now, without further ado," the old mare said. The cheers of the crowd could still be heard from inside the halls as Goofy, Dash, Pinkie and Quill traveled back to the fighter's lounge. For Quill, the sight of Rex signalling for Sneek to follow him was something that stuck out in her mind. In her career as a writer, she had written four novels, twenty novellas, three short story anthologies, and countless two-page stories for magazines. And in each and every one of them, there were only two reasons for such a signal: either somepony was committing a suspicious act of skulduggery, or somepony was to be met for a secret rendezvous. Though her preferred genre was romance, she highly doubted the possibility of a romantic getaway. There was a hall that led away from the lounge coming up. Quill’s mind was cluttered with a terrible dilemma. Stay safely on the path ahead and let whatever was transpiring proceed, or step into danger and discover what diabolical plot was unfolding. Quill sighed deeply and clenched her eyes shut. As though not by her own will, her hooves darted around the corner to the adjacent hallway. "What am I doing!?" she thought to herself. Any curiosity left her in that moment, and she turned to rejoin the others. "Well, ain't this just dandy?" said a voice from the hall she had just come from. "We go to all that trouble to rig the bets, and for what? We lose everything! I didn't even put my pants on the line, an' those stupid hay-munchers took 'em anyway!" "Could be worse. This is the second time I've dropped trou' today. That goof cut off my belt and stuffed me in some armor earlier," said a second voice. "Yeesh. At this rate, we'll be all runnin' around in our undies for good. Let's just get back to our room, an' hope the others haven't hid our clothes." More of the weasels were coming down the other hall hall. Not wanting to get caught, Quill continued down the hall she had wandered onto. There was no telling what she was putting herself in for. The last thing she wanted was to be nearer to Rex than she had to be. But if she was caught by the weasels, they may have taken her to Rex anyway. Knowing that if she continued she had a chance to avoid a direct encounter with anypony, she walked down the hall, ever careful for any creature that might see her. In the fighter's lounge, the door burst open and the winners marched in. So to speak. Pinkie bounced in, while Goofy's limbs flailed about as he rode on her back. Behind them, Dash was carried in on a stretcher that was carried by two ponies. "Everypony! We won!" Pinkie declared to the others in the lounge. The other fighters in the lounge all crowded around her, congratulating them all on their win. Even from where they were, they had heard about the spectacular defeat of the notorious Theef Lolyfe. Now, among them were a group of heroes. The strangers from far away, who had kindled a light of hope within them. Dash was set down on one of the cots while she grieved over her bruised stomach. "Uuuuggghh..." Dash moaned. Pinkie jumped in to greet her friend. "Dashie! Don't you want to say something to the crowd? We won!" Pinkie declared, as she reared back with her hooves in the air. Goofy fell off her back when she stood up. "Pinkie..." Dash weakly moaned. "Break out the cupcakes and queue up a conga! We are the champions!" "Pinkie...I think I'm gonna hurl..." Pinkie rubbed Dash's stomach. "Not even a jackhammer to the tummy could stop us from--" "Pinkie!" Dash snapped, "For pony's sake...you're killing me faster than those weasels!" "Oh. Sorry," Pinkie said, with a sheepish smile. "No worries...In a few minutes, I'll be back on my hooves and ready to kick some more flank." "That's right, Dashie. And in no time, we'll be facing against that giant, foalnapping, throne-stealing meanie in a super-suuuuuuper...super." Pinkie gradually became aware of the sudden despair around her. Dash, who was grieving over her stomach. The other fighters, who all went silent at the prospect of facing the champ. And Goofy, who was sitting on the floor with his head hung. "Hey? Why isn't anypony happy? We just won our first fight," Pinkie said. This would have been where Pinkie would have thrown a victory party and raised everypony's spirits for the next round. With the added comfort of cupcakes and cookies, it would have been a breeze. However, with no magic, the dreary atmosphere was starting to get to her. She tried to think of a way to put on an impromptu cheer-up party, but nothing available made her think it was possible. Any of her party-throwing inspiration from before had waned. If putting on a party wasn't possible, then what was? Quick Quill scurried through the eerily quiet halls. The quiet was all the more unnerving to her, for what could anypony possibly be doing elsewhere? She came to an open door, where she heard voices coming from inside. "Thattaway! Move thattaway!" "Okayokayokayokay! Igotitgotitgotitgotit--Whoooah!!!" *THUD* Flattening her side against the wall, Quill peered through the doorway, and saw a room loaded with crates. Among the boxes were two weasels, who were huffing and puffing from the tremendous effort they were exerting to move the box in front of them. "Tell me 'at's the last of 'em, mate," said one weasel. "Nah. Still a matty big lowd 'head of us," said the second weasel. "Right pain bein' the only two blokes 'aulin' these up them apples. Don' we get a break?" "Ah'm shure we'll get relief soon enoof. Joost stroot ya best fut forwud an' goong-ho." The second weasel used a crowbar to crack the lid off the crate, and inspected what was inside. "Brilliant. It's all loverly in here. Let's get that next box," he said. The two weasels left through a door at the other end of the room. Quill assumed that was where the boxes were coming from. And if that was where the boxes were coming from, there was a chance that it led to the outside. If it did lead outside, she had an easy escape right in her sights. She could leave that awful place and not have to worry about getting killed in the Hastlitude. It was the quickest way to run home and resume her life as it once was. It was possible that there were more weasels there, but if there was the chance it led to the outside, she would have to take it. Quill walked through the room, glancing at the box that had been opened. Inside of it, and others that were inspected were huge, heavy metal plates unlike any she had seen before, along with custom-made armor for an enormous wearer. Most frightening of all, one of the crates appeared to have a cannon inside of it. Not about to worry about it, Quill walked through the door at the other end. What luck! It led to a loading room that was full of crates, and a team of weasels moving them around. She was on a catwalk, where intermittently placed flights of stairs led down to the ground floor. Not taking the chance to be seen, Quill quickly, silently descended the stairs and took cover behind a stack of crates. From her hiding spot, Quill peered through the spaces between crates and her eyes followed a weasel toting a trolley over to a large carriage. Two weasels at the carriage lifted crate after crate, their knees shaking from the sheer weight as they stacked them on the trolley. It was perfect. The carriage was placed in front of a large bay door that was wide open. From there, all Quill had to do was remain unseen and rush out the door. Then, she'd be home free. But, what about the others? The others in the fighter's lounge all had families to go back to. Lives that may as well have ended when Rex had abducted them. She could have gone back to tell them about the escape route, at the risk of being caught and not making it back. Worse, she could be made an example in front of everypony. This was the only chance she had. All she had to do was run. Could she live with herself if she abandoned the others? There was a loud crash at the end of the room, as Rex came bursting through the door. In one hand, he held Sneek by the back of his shirt. "Surprise progress check, boys!!" Rex loudly declared. The champ tossed the weasel in the air, wound one leg backward and unleashed a mighty kick, as Sneek came back down. The weasel went flying into the room, his head crashing through the side of a crate "Oh, will you look what I did? Oh well. If that's as tough as it's supposed to be, his head's in worse shape than the equipment," Rex said. Two other weasels helped Sneek pull his head out of the crate, then turned their attention to their boss. "How's things here? Everything unloaded?" Rex asked. The affirmations all sounded off. "Uh, yup." "Yup." "Uh-huh." "Sound as a pound." Rex smirked at the news. "Good. That's what I like: efficient workers who know that staying efficient keeps them out of traction. Right, boys?" Another round of affirmations sounded off. "Now, listen up, you load of walking pelts: your next job's an important one. You're going to be working delivery. And, here's your package," Rex said. He held up his other arm, and Quill saw him raise up the very same young dog from when she was first abducted. Max, the goof had said his name was. Max swung his fists in the air as he spun around by his collar. "You don't scare me, you big bully! Put me down!" he yelled. Rex obliged by simply letting go of Max's shirt, letting him drop to the floor where Sneek and another weasel grabbed him. "Alright. So, whadda we do with him?" Sneek asked. "OOOOUUUUCH!!!" Max stomped his foot as hard as he could on Sneek's toes, then sucker punched the other weasel in his gut. Both weasels recovered, and drew their weapons to retaliate. Before either could attack, they were both driven into the ground by Rex's gigantic hooves like a pair of nails into sand. Max looked at the hooves that so easily dispatched two opponents at once, then up at the owner. Rex had crouched low so that he was almost at eye level with Max, and the young dog felt a shiver down his spine looking at the champ. "You're scrappier than you look, kid. What if I gave you a hundred bucks to wallop the rest of the guys here?" Rex offered. "No! My dad says not to take anything from strangers!" Max rebuked. The answer made Rex smile slightly. "Your dad's a smart guy. In his own way, I guess. I'm surprised he's even lived long enough to have kids." "What do you know about my dad?" Max said. "Would you believe me if I told you he's here right now?" Max's eyes widened at the news. Quill's too. What was Rex going to gain from tormenting the boy, she wondered. "Dad's here?" Max wondered. "That's right," Rex nodded. "He's worried sick about you. Wants to take you home, away from here. Back to where he knows you'll be safe and sound, like any good father would." With a sudden burst, Max tried running past Rex, only to be stopped by one of his hooves. "Let me go! I want to see my dad!" Max protested. With no effort at all, he was pushed back to the floor in front of the champ. "Sorry, but I can't let you do that. Me and him have business together. And you have business with some of my other friends," Rex said. Max was both scared and surprised by being pushed so easily, but his belief in his dad made him able to speak. "Y-You don't know what you're getting into! My dad's the greatest person who ever lived! You'll be mincemeat when he's done with you!" he said. Rex lowered himself so that he was directly at eye level with Max, and spoke in a low, steady voice.  Kid: I don't believe in sugarcoating things. I believe that children have to face the tragedies in their lives, so that they can become more mature, more rounded adults. So, I'm just going to shoot it straight, and tell you that I'm going to make an orphan out of you," Rex said. "J..." The gravity of Rex's tone stifled Max's speech. But, nothing would shake his faith. "J-J-J-Just you wait. M-My dad's going to mop the floor with you!" "Funny you should say that, because he's bringing the mop to me," Rex chuckled, before throwing Max into the carriage. With a stomp of his foot, the ground shook, and the carriage bucked into the air, closing its own doors and locking tight. Next, Rex reached down and pulled Sneek and the other weasel out of the ground as easily as a couple of flowers. "And you, Sneek. You're the only one of these jerks that I trust to get a job done. And believe me, that's not saying much. You keep an eye on that kid while he's getting chauffeured around by you guys. And no roughing him up. If I hear about this kid getting hurt on the way, I'll know it was you. That goes for all of you. Got it? Good." Rex threw Sneek onto the carriage with the others, but held the other weasel in his hand as the carriage sped away. "You! Are you any good with public speaking?" he asked the weasel. "I'm good at fast talkin' the crowd, if that's what ya mean," the weasel choked under the strain of Rex's grip. "Good. Then that makes you the new emcee for the Hastlitude. Now, get moving." The weasel was allowed to wriggle out of the champ's grip, and quickly ran out of the room, past the stack of crates where Quill was hiding, and up the stairs. Quill peered through the space between the crates, and saw Rex standing before the open bay door. All she had to do was wait for him to leave, and her way would be clear. It was her luck that Rex turned to leave the room the way he had come in. As favorable as the circumstances were, the idea of a father missing his son stopped her. Biting her lip as her conscience ate away at her mind, she quickly ran back up the steps, ever mindful to stay quiet. She reached the top of the steps, and just made it through the door, when she was met with a terrifying surprise. Quick Quill yelped and dove forward when all of a sudden there came a sound of a loud, heavy crash just behind herself. When she landed and looked behind herself, she saw that one of the crates from the room below had been thrown behind her. "Darn flies buzzing around! You're going to get swatted one of these days! You hear me?" Rex shouted from the other room. Rather than wonder if he was actually talking about a fly, Quill scrambled to her hooves and ran to tell Goofy what had happened to his son. Rex stood smirking in the other room. Now, he would have a complete advantage against the outsider in Equestria. With the odds in his favor, he left the room to prepare for his next match. In the fighter's lounge, the air of gloom hung heavy. Pinkie tried to think of ways that she could add some cheer to the atmosphere, but still came up short. "Come on, everypony. We're close to winning. Join the fun," Pinkie said, as she twirled a towel around over her head, and folded it into decorative shapes. She looked up from her improvised origami, but saw that nopony was paying much attention to her. The other fighters only looked at her with bored stares, Goofy was still sulking, and Dash was still grieving over her bruised stomach. "Pinkie...give it a rest..." Dash groaned, before her head sank into her pillow. Pinkie didn't know what to do. Everything she tried ended up in a failure. Now, things were really starting to look hopeless. Maybe it was simply that she didn't have her magic, and didn't intuitively know what would make everypony happy at a party. But, if she asked, perhaps... She decided to start with the sulking goof, "Goofy? Don't you want to celebrate your first win?" "I didn't get a chance tuh find my son," Goofy answered. "I thought we'd get somewheres by winnin'. But, nuthin'. We didn't even get tuh ask sumbuddy 'bout it. Sorry, Pinkie. But, without Maxie, any party's gonna be a mighty gray occasion." Pinkie's mane deflated slightly. Of all the things Goofy could have wanted from a party, Max was the one thing that she couldn't give to him. But, there may have been something else. Before, Goofy had said that all they needed was a little inspiration. If she could offer at least that, then she wouldn't have completely failed. "Goofy...I don't have any foals. But, I do look after two little babies for my friends." Pinkie realized that her experiences with the Cake twins didn't even come close to what it was to raise an offspring. However, working off of that was all that she had, so she decided to give it a go. "I know that it's not the same thing. But, I feel like if anything ever happened to little Pound and Pumpkin, I'd be just as worried and crazy as you. I'd be--" Pinkie stopped herself from talking when she saw the way that Dash was looking at her. She had planned on lightening the mood with a series of hyperbole, like when she tried telling Fluttershy that singing on stage was nothing to be afraid of. Now that she thought about it, that method never worked when she tried it, so she continued with her current train of thought. "What I mean is that if it was me, I'd be doing the same thing as you. I'd want them back as badly as you'd want to see your son again. So, that's why I'm going to stay by you. I Pinkie promise that I won't leave your side, until your son is safe and sound in your home." At first, Pinkie didn't think that she had succeeded. Her mane slowly started to deflate, now that she was powerless to bring smiles to others, no matter what she tried. Until Goofy looked up. "Cross yer heart?" Goofy asked. Pinkie's mane slowly plumped up, and a smile crawled onto her face when she answered, "Hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye." A small smile edged onto the corner or Goofy's mouth. Between Pinkie, the upbeat optimist, and Dash, the hot-headed loudmouth, he felt like he was right at home with his friends. It was then that he knew he could fully trust them on their every word. The door to the lounge opened up, and in walked another weasel. "Okay, where's the team of goofs?" The weasel asked. With no warning, he was jumped by Pinkie and pinned to the ground. "I think the better question is where's my friend's son?" Pinkie demanded to know. "Yeah. Whudda yuh gotta say about that?" Goofy added, standing over the fallen weasel. "I don't know. I didn't even know you had a son! Now, get offa me!" the weasel said. "Horse apples and sour candy! You're not getting up until you spill the jellybeans, mister!" Pinkie said, as she jumped up and down on top of the weasel. The weasel took his club out of his jacket, and held it up for Pinkie's stomach to land on. Once the pink mare had the wind knocked out of her, the weasel stood up. "Tellin' me I can't get up. The nerve," the weasel said confidently, only to have Goofy's toilet plunger stuck over his nose. Goofy pushed the weasel against the wall and lifted him up by the plunger stuck on his snout. "She's right about one thing: you ain't leavin' here, 'til I get my son back. Now, where is he?" Goofy demanded. "I'm tellin' ya, I don't know anything about it! Now, put me down!" "Not 'til yuh at least tell me who would know!" "Aw jeez! Why don't ya talk to the champ? He's the guy callin' all the shots around here!" With a loud pop, Goofy pulled the plunger off the weasel's nose, letting him drop to the ground. "Alright. I will talk tuh th' champ. An' yer gonna take me to him," Goofy said, pushing the plunger onto the weasel's chest. The weasel strained as he pulled the plunger off his chest. "That's exactly what I'm comin' here for. You an' the other three goofs on your team are up to fight him now," he said. "We're what!!?" Goofy, Pinkie and Dash said together. "But, we haven't even gotten enough time to rest from our last fight!" Dash said. She was feeling significantly less nauseous, but her stomach was still bruised and aching. "Well, you wanted a meetin' with the champ, and that's just what you're gonna get. A great, big meetin' with the business end o' his dragon sticker," the weasel chuckled. His chuckling ended when Goofy's mop was stuffed in his mouth. "Then, I'll just have to send in the ol' negotiator here. An' buhlieve me, this sucker's got a few tuh say tuh Mister Rex!" Goofy rebutted. He spun the weasel around when he yanked the mop out of his mouth, then kicked him down the hall. "We already know th' way tuh th' joustin' lanes. You just tell yer boss we're ready tuh give him his long overdue wallopin'. With interest!" He turned to face the mares. "C'mon, gals. We got us a match tuh win." He walked forward, pushing the weasel down and walking over him like a doormat. "Yeah! That's the stuff! We--Oooohhhh," Dash groaned, as she groaned after the first few steps over the weasel. The weasel tried to get up, only to have Pinkie hop all over him. "I think you should sit this one out, Dashie," Pinkie said. "No way, Pinkie! I started this joust and I'm--Ouuuch!" Dash groaned. "I think you should squire this one, and I'll be the mount." "Ugh. Squiring. Lame..." "Don't worry. You won't be alone. You'll have Quick Quill with you,” Pinkie said. "Who?" Dash wondered. "Our new friend with the gloomy outlook." "Oh. Her. Like she'll be pleasant company." "Come to think of it: where is she?" The three fighters all walked down the hall and out the door to take their stations at the lanes. Back in the halls, Quick Quill rushed to the door of the fighter's lounge and desperately tried to open the locked door. "Come on! Open up!" she said, futilely rattling the doorknob. "Alright, alright! Let's hear some noise!! This is what you've been waiting for! A match with The Goof Knight against the champ!! Who get's creamed? And who gets crowned?" came an announcement from outside. "Goofy!!" Quill said to herself, before charging down the hall, over the top of the weasel who had been trampled. The weasel on the ground chuckled quietly. Even though he was pummeled, he knew that the team of goofs was in for much, much worse. The crowd was in an uproar about the sudden, and completely unfair change of circumstances. "What the hay's going on!!?" "You can't just scratch all the other matches before the crown bout!!!" "Bloody wanks!!!" Not a single pony in the crowd was happy with the way things had turned out. Most of them were petrified by the idea that Rex would become their king. "Keep it down!! So what if we change the rules a bit? A match is a match after all!" the new emcee said. "Alright! You know the guys in the black door. It's the Goof Knight, and his mount, Rain--Mmm. Well, I don't know who that hoppin' pink weirdo is. Frankly, I don't care. Let's move on to the real attraction of this show. Say hello to the champ: Theronicus Rex!" Through the doorway at the other end of the lanes came Rex, wearing his full body of armor, and carrying his full array of weapons. His appearance was complete with the mannequin set on his back to hold his enormous lance. The champ tromped to his position in the lane, ready to flatten the challenger's before him. "Th-This is it, Goofy. Don't get scared now," Pinkie said, through chattering teeth. "Alright! Jousters ready?" the new emcee asked. Pinkie and Goofy both swallowed and nodded unsurely. Rex rolled his eyes at the pathetic sight, and decided to show how it was done. He yelled loudly as he thrusted his fist into the divider between the lanes. The divider arched up, and the arch ran down its length, until it bopped both Goofy and Pinkie in the chin. Then, it ran the length back, and Rex straightened it out with his bare hoof. Dash stared wide-eyed at the spectacle. She had often fantasized about wowing crowds with a similar stunt, but never had the strength to do it. Was this the power of the magic creatures like Goofy possessed? And would she be able to do such a thing herself? From the black doorway, Quick Quill emerged, huffing and puffing loudly. "Goofy!" she called out. It was too late. The bell rang, and Pinkie ran down the lane with Goofy on her back. Rex dug his hoof into the ground, and started his way down the lane next. The jousters met in the middle, ready to destroy one another. One for the crown. The other for his son.