//------------------------------// // Chapter 25 | The Badlands // Story: A Different World: The Future and Fate of Equestria // by Riclo //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle's POV I couldn't remember the last time I had seen the sun. For what was probably the past couple days - not like I could even tell when a day had passed - we hurried south towards the badlands. Our trek was relentless. The constant threat of enemies kept us on the move non-stop, and civilians who were older and not fitted for those kinds of physical demands were grimly forced to be left behind - and that wasn't including all the others that had already been killed during our escape. Whatever traumatizing events I had been through already paled in comparison to what I, or rather, all of us were going through. Never before had any of us seen so much death and destruction happen so fast and right in-front of our eyes, and not everyone could cope with it. Some civilians had already ran off in some crazy, fanatic madness - none of us would probably ever see them again. Shortly after our escape from Canterlot, we soon found that something amidst the air somehow prevented our magic from working, which only made our trip even more barbaric. From then on out the consistency of our magic was.. not very consistent. I noticed that it seemed to correlate with the dark grey clouds - the closer we were to them, the less our magic seemed to work. Currently it was okay, but it wasn't very reliable knowing that it could cut out at any time, which would put a huge cut in our defenses. At the moment we had just finished visiting the nearby Dodge City, where we explained to the locals there of our dire situation as well as what had happened with Tartarus opening up. Thankfully they hadn't been effected yet, and after some discussions with the town's mayor and the rest of the populace, we teamed up in pursuit of the badlands. The supplies that the town had were much needed considering we had escaped Canterlot with barely anything at all, and for once things seemed like maybe it wasn't going to be so bad. I had been wondering almost constantly over what happened with Celestia and my other friends; I assumed they would be fine in the princess's care, but I still wondered how things must've went way up on that mountain. Did they have something to do with Tartarus opening up? Was Duston really there? I hoped I would find out soon. We didn't exactly know what to do in Canterlot, so I felt pretty hopeful that at least Celestia knew what she was doing. The entrance to the badlands was just south of Dodge City, which is the direction we were currently headed - it would probably be only a couple more hours before we arrived. Because of my damaged horn and everything else that I was presumed to have been through, Shining Armor had made me sit in one of the wooden carriages carrying our supplies so that I wasn't walking anymore. I really hadn't been in the mood to decline, so that's where I still was, laying on my fore-hooves and staring at the pathway ahead of us with a tired expression. "Why are we moving so slow?" Trixie's voice spoke up. She was in the carriage next to me, and not because she was asked to - while Shining forced to me to get on, Trixie yelled at him to let her on too. Since he wasn't in the mood to argue, he agreed. "This humidity is one of the worst things Trixie has ever had to experience. We're not even in the nearby swamp - we're outside of it! Why is it still so humid?" "Trixie, please." I sighed and rolled over, staring up at the cloth ceiling of the carriage. "Complaining isn't going to make it better. Just be glad you're not out there walking with everyone else." "Trixie is allowed to complain. She can do what she wants." She replied. "After being almost killed, I expect some better treatment than this. I shouldn't even be here! Ugh." Trixie shook her head and groaned. "Honestly, it was my own greediness to want to be revered by all of Equestria, not just Los Pegasus, that got me into this catastrophic mess. I should have just stayed in that stupid city!" I clenched my teeth as I listened to her rant - all of us had almost gotten killed, not just her. Listening to her self-obsessed point of view was really ticking me off, but I didn't have the energy to yell at her about that right now. She wouldn't shut up about how she should've stayed in Los Pegasus either - was she too dumb to realize that Tartarus would eventually effect that place too? "Hey, maybe when we reach the badlands, you can ask whoever the leader is to treat you like royalty. I'm sure that will go smoothly." "You know, you're exactly right." Trixie grinned, before shaking her head and frowning. "Although, I probably shouldn't expect much from a rustic lizard place like this. Royalty there is probably only as good as an average Ponyville citizen." 'Great, she's going to be like that now.' I thought to myself as I sighed. 'And Celestia wanted her to look after me? Maybe she doesn't know what she's doing after all.' Our trip of what must've been several hundred ponies continued. Shining had directed the guards to be in formation at the front, back, and a few along the sides of our long convey - all of which were on the lookout for any more bad guys. With the luxury of being able to lay down, it didn't take me much longer before I drifted off to sleep. "The badlands are in sight!" I slowly stirred awake after hearing those words. After opening up my eyes, I perked my head up, excitedly looking ahead of us to see the faded red colors of the large mountains that surrounded our destination. The path we were currently on extended straight forward through an entryway in-between the rocky formations - that would be our entry point. Feeling mostly well-rested, I opted to jump off the carriage, trotting all the way up to the front of our convoy where my brother Shining Armor was. "Do you think they'll let us in? I mean, we've got a whole lot of ponies here." I exclaimed, catching Shining's attention as he turned to look at me. "I really don't see why not." He replied. "Are you feeling better Twi? Hopefully this will all be over soon." "I'm fine." I responded simply. A few moments later, and I noticed Princess Luna and Princess Cadance trotting up to the front with us as well - they must've observed that we were nearing the end of our trip. "If my past research is still correct, then King Ralphis should be the leader of these lands." Luna spoke up. "You're right about that." Cadance responded. "Although not much is known about him - our present records are mostly focused on us ponies. We can only hope he's a composed king." "It is in both of our interests to combine forces. I see no reason why he would turn us away." Luna replied. The entrance to the badlands soon approached, where I could see the guards posted on-top of either side of the large divided mountains - they seemed to double take at the huge amount of ponies heading towards them. There was some scuffling and talking, and by the time we approached the entrance, one of the inhabitants came forward from the ground. He was a black-colored dragon, standing on two legs and several inches taller than Luna. He held a decorated spear in his hands, and stood in a defensive position quite a bit away from us. "What is this?" He asked. "We ask that we speak to King Ralphis." Luna responded. "It is of the utmost importance." The dude looked us over afterwards before replying. "Who are you?" "I am Princess Luna. Next to me stands Princess Cadance, Twilight Sparkle - Princess Celestia's student - and Shining Armor, our head of the Royal Guards." "The only name I know is Celestia's." He replied. "Why isn't she with you?" "It's kind of complicated." I spoke up. "Some really bad things have been happening, and just recently a really bad thing happened that puts us all in serious danger." "There is much to discuss." Luna added. "Seeking an audience with Ralphis is our top priority. From there things can be sorted out." "No." The dragon bluntly replied. "Unless you have better reasons than that, then no, go away." "Tartarus has opened up." I exclaimed. "If you know anything about what that means, then you should know how incredibly dangerous this is." "I don't care." He replied, which only confirmed to me that he must've been ignorant towards it - that really ticked me off. "I don't know who any of you are, and also, I don't care." "Who the hell do you think you are!?" Trixie's voice suddenly spoke up. I gasped and looked in her direction to see her walking up towards us. "Trixie!!!!" I screamed at her - I was really getting sick of her, and this just topped things off. "What are you doing!? Who let you up here??" "You have no reason to not let any of us in." Trixie continued. "How dare you even think about acting in such a way towards us! You have no idea just who you're dealing with. You should know that-" I cut her off by trotting over to her and covering her mouth with my hoof. "We don't mean any of that!" I quickly remarked. "Don't listen to her, she shouldn't even be up h-" I was interrupted by Trixie strongly pushing me away. "I demand that you let me in right this instant." Before she could say anything else, Luna took action by magically covering her mouth and levitating her away. When she was a decent distance away, Luna spoke up. "My deepest apologies. We did not intend for such clownish behavior to ruin our meeting." The dragon seemed unfazed however, to which he eventually responded. "Let that pony in. Only she is allowed inside." I was barely able to hold back blurting something out in shock. All of us stood in bewildered silence for several long seconds before Trixie was levitated back up, where we simply watched as she trotted right up to the dragon with the smuggest possible grin I had ever seen. "Finally, some common sense around here." She exclaimed. "Follow me. I will lead you to King Ralphis." The dragon spoke. With that, the two of them walked off, leaving us all to stand thinking about what we had just witnessed. "That... worked?" Shining asked. "I have no words." Cadance added. "As long as our message gets across, then we will have achieved our goal." Luna exclaimed. "Ralphis may have a better understanding of the danger Tartarus holds." "I hope so." I nodded before shaking my head. "I can't believe we have to rely on Trixie, of all ponies for this. She better convey the right message." "I am sure that she will." Luna replied. "But for now, it seems that we must wait." I sighed, looking forward towards what we could see of the inside of the badlands. I was really hating that whatever Trixie said would ultimately decide the outcome of all of us, but it seemed as if it was our only option - we didn't appear to be getting anywhere otherwise. With nothing else to do but wait, I began pacing around in circles. Half an hour passed before we were approached by any more of the badlands' inhabitants. We were all apparently allowed inside, where the 'leaders' of our group were requested to seek an immediate audience with Ralphis - that would mean me, the princesses and my brother. The interior of this place was totally surrounded by mountains, which definitely seemed like it would offer really good defense in-case of an attack. The ground consisted of a mixture of dark red sand and dirt, and the surrounding rock formations and houses were all a sun-baked orange color. Once our group had reached the place where they were to reside for the time being, me, my brother and the other princesses followed a few dragon guards over to a huge mountain fortress - someplace I assumed King Ralphis was. We walked up the initial steps and went inside the building, where I was at first surprised at the sudden coolness the shade was giving - I hadn't realized just how hot it had been outside. We continued our way through the well-decorated rock-mansion, until eventually we reached the presumed throne room, where I saw what must've been none other than King Ralphis. Trixie was in the room too, standing off to the side and still looking as pompous as ever. "I hear you ponies have been having issues." The dark yellow dragon spoke. He was about the same height as the other ones we had seen, but was extremely muscular - the kind where it looked like he could walk right through a stone wall. His outfit wasn't very regal though - it was more of a tactical apparel, fitted with various leather straps that were designed to hold objects. "You have been hearing correctly." Luna replied. "The danger Tartarus holds threatens us all. Only minutes after the gates opened, we were forced to escape Canterlot lest we all perished. I worry greatly for the rest of Equestria as this evil spreads." "Hmm." The dragon thought for a few seconds before continuing. "So why are you here, of all places?" "Our decision to come here was made hastily during the heat of battle." Cadance answered. "We were totally unprepared for the event of something so catastrophic happening. Our reasoning lied in the fact that your culture is more.. violent than any other place we could have went to." "Ohh." He grinned. "I like that." He proceeded to look confused. "What do you expect me to do then? Do you really expect me to just house and take care of all of your kind that you brought with you for literally no reason?" "We must combine forces." Luna responded. "Our only chance of survival lies with that, otherwise we are all doomed." "I have some of my guards from Canterlot with us." Shining Armor spoke up. "My name is Shining Armor, and I am the head of the Royal Guards. We would have no problem fighting alongside you. As for the civilians, I am afraid they may be forced to take up arms for the sake of increasing our chance at survival - we need everyone we can get. I'll handle training the ones that I think are capable of it." "I see." Ralphis rubbed his chin for a few moments before continuing. "I guess you ponies can stay here for now. I'll ready my people for battle, but don't be surprised if this 'inevitable doom' ends faster than you think." "The forces of Tartarus are unlike anything any of us have ever seen." I spoke up. "I've read about it before in books... these are creatures that lust for blood and nothing else. I don't think it'll be over that fast." "...Who are you?" Ralphis replied. "Are they making unicorns princesses now?" "She is Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's student." Luna answered. "Huh." He furrowed his eyebrows. "Where is Celestia anyway? The king before me has told of how he's fought beside her and that she is a great warrior. For such a grim situation, I see no reason why she isn't with you." "My sister departed with the bearers of the Elements of Harmony to stop a threat known as Discord." Luna answered. "She had not returned yet when the gates of Tartarus opened up above our capital. I do not know where she is now." "Hmm, well I don't know who that is." Ralphis replied. "Shame, I would've liked to have met her - that'll just have to wait for another time. For now, you can do whatever you gotta do to get ready for battle. You all, as well as Trixie here are free to stay here in the fortress - but no one else. The rest of your ponies will take camp in your designated corner." I clenched my teeth at the thought of how Trixie was being treated as an equal to us - that was not what I thought she deserved, but I had no choice in the matter. "Thank you, King Ralphis." Luna expressed. "We will do our best to prepare ourselves." "Yeah yeah." He responded. "This meeting is over now. I have stuff to do." With that, the dragon walked out of the room, leaving us inside with only his guards. "I'll have my stallions go through the usual drills. Maybe I can get some civilians involved too." Shining exclaimed. Luna nodded. "Me and Cadance will have to make an announcement to them as well - I am sure that not everyone knows what is going on. We need to clear up confusion and tell them of the dangers we face." "Sounds good." Shining replied. With the conversation seeming to reach a close, I decided to speak up. "What should I do?" "You have no responsibilities Twilight." Cadance replied. "Let us handle everything for the time being." I was still a little hesitant to just let go of our situation like that, but I nodded my head - this probably would've been a good chance to finally have some time for myself. I watched as Cadance and the others left the room, and I sighed, staring blankly in-front of me for a little while before looking around. Trixie wasn't even in here anymore; she had probably went off exploring the fortress and judging its quality. I shook my head at the thought of her and left the room - I was feeling pretty adamant that she would never learn her lesson at this rate. With nothing required of me to do, I spent my time slowly trotting around, lost in my thoughts.