//------------------------------// // Battles, Part One // Story: A World Above // by KidatHeart5 //------------------------------// The citizens of the kingdom waited in the plaza for Gladmane’s public announcement. Was it something exciting? Something awful? Something unexpected? And why was there a huge cloud near Las Pegasus? The various ponies and creatures in the crowd talked amongst themselves until a fanfare sounded. The herald announced, “His Royal Majesty, King Gladmane!” The crowd remained silent as the king - all dressed in French general attire complete with a fancy cocked hat with a large plume - walked up onto the platform and towards the podium. He then spoke seriously into the microphone, “My friends, a terrible tragedy has befallen us all. Last night, I have learned that the Canterlot family is behind the Dark Rider attacks, including the one from last night!” The crowd gasped. “They are in cahoots with a horrendous beast to snatch innocent children in the middle of the night and frame other kingdoms for it!” He then pointed to the cloud looming behind the palace, “That cloud there is Paraddock, where the beast resides. Make no mistake, my friends. It will wipe us out! First Las Pegasus, and then the world!” Murmurs stirred in the air. “I was gravely mistaken in sending Dandy Grandeur to the dungeon for the crimes of that terrible creature and the Canterlot family, but now they must pay! We’ll go up to Paraddock and snuff out the monster and its cohorts before they annihilate us all! Are ya with me?!” The crowd then burst into angry shouts of agreement. Roar Horn sang, “We're not safe until he's dead…” Sprigfield sang, “He'll come stalking us at night…” Reingling, the director, sang, “Set to sacrifice our children to his monstrous appetite…” Sorreil, the acrobat, sang, “He'll wreak havoc on our kingdom if we let him wander free…” Gladmane sang, “So it's time to take some action, friends…It's time to follow me! Through the mist, through the wood…Through the darkness and the shadows…It's a nightmare, but it's one exciting ride…Say a prayer, then we're there…at the drawbridge of a castle…and there's something truly terrible inside… “It's a beast! He's got fangs, razor-sharp ones! Massive jaws, killer claws for the feast…Hear him roar! See him foam! But we're not coming home 'til he's dead!” The crowd cheered, “Yeah!” “Good and dead!” “Yeah!” All of them sang, “Kill the beast!” As the crowd prepared to march to Paraddock with pitchforks and torches, they sang, “Light your torch, move, you horse…” Gladmane sang, “Screw your courage to the sticking place…” “We're counting on Gladmane to lead the way…” As the angry mob marched out of Las Pegasus, the king sang proudly, “Call it war, call it threat...You can bet they all will follow…For in times like this, they'll do just as I say…” Big Bucks sang, “There's a beast running wild, there's no question…” Jack Pot sang in worry, “But I fear the wrong monster's released…” The mob sang, “Sally forth! Tally ho! Grab your sword! Grab your bow! Praise good Faust and here we go!” Meanwhile, on Paraddock, Steven and the others rendezvoused back in the spell room after searching the entire castle for Mischief. When they had woken up this morning, he was not in his bed. He had mysteriously vanished. Steven fretted, “Oh, where could he have gone?! He has to be around here somewhere!” Silver Tongue sadly said, “I’m afraid I have some bad news.” He magically held out a note as he explained, “I found this at the castle entrance.” He opened it and read aloud, “My friends, I regret to inform you that I will not return with you to Earth. My heart lies with Paraddock, where all things chaotic run wild and free. I wish you the best, Mischief.” Skater grabbed the note as she said, “Let me see it.” She looked at it and her eyes slit in suspicion, “Wait. This doesn’t look like –“ The alarm sounded again and the bejeweled eye on the mirror flashed red. Celaeno exclaimed, “Trouble!” Blaze used his magic to press the jewel on the eye. The light on the surface of the mirror swirled before revealing a large mob marching towards the shadow of Paraddock. They could hear the mob sing, “We don't like what we don't understand…In fact, it scares us…And this monster is mysterious at least…Bring your spears, bring your knives…Save your children and your wives…We'll save our kingdom and our lives…We'll kill the beast!” Steven shrieked, “Aah! They’re after me! I know they are!” Roller waved his hoof in dismissal, “Relax. Without a beanstalk, they can’t get up to Paraddock.” Skater pointed to the mirror, “Not unless they can make that tree magically grow high enough to reach it.” As if on cue, the guards poured something at the base of the tree and it magically began to grow and grow. Blaze exclaimed, “Oh, come on!” Steven bawled, “That’s it! We’re doomed! Positively doomed!” Sky Stinger said, “Don’t worry, Steven! We’ll protect you.” Roller punched his hooves together, “Yeah! We can take anything they can throw at us!” Vapor Trail asked in concern, “But what about Mischief?” Nova asked as well, “And the others?” Zealot said, “We’ll have to worry about them later. Right now, we need to protect Paraddock.” Celaeno nodded, “Right.” She then drew her sword and shouted, “Let’s show them what we’re made of!” The pirates and ponies shouted in agreement before racing out the room. They sang as they ran down the chaotic halls, “Hearts ablaze, banners high…We go marching into battle…Unafraid although the danger's just increased…” Meanwhile, Gladmane and his guards sang as the treetop took them near Paraddock, “Raise the flag, sing the song…Here we come, we're fifty strong…And fifty ponies can't be wrong…Let's kill the beast! Kill the beast! Kill the beast!” They then gasped from the lack of air in the rising atmosphere. Gladmane rasped, “We really shouldn’t sing when there’s hardly any air up here.” On the castle grounds, the group searched for any sign of the mob. The pirates readied their swords and the ponies crouched down to strike at any moment. Mullet whispered, “Yer sure they be comin’?” Zealot answered, “We have to wait till the moment they arrive…whenever that may be.” Nova noticed something and asked, “Wait. Where’s Silver Tongue?” Before her question could be answered, a soft rumbling shook the ground and the leaves of the gingko tree began sprouting from the large cloud patch alongside a stream of water. The treetop rose until it revealed Gladmane and his guards sitting on its branches. When the treetop stopped growing, Gladmane rasped, “Well, well - *wheeze* Geez, this place is high up. *cough cough* Gimme a moment to - *cough* - catch my breath here.” He wheezed and coughed. “Oh, man! How high did we go?!” As the other guards caught their breath, one of them gave a raspy answer, “I think we traveled about –“ Gladmane scolded with his breath getting slightly stronger, “Did I ask for your opinion?” He breathed heavily for a few moments, “Okay…Okay…I think…it’s comin’ back to me…Just…give me a few more moments.” Boyle asked his comrades in a whisper, “Should we strike him while he’s down?” His captain scowled, “Of course not. That’d be very unsporting of us.” As soon as Gladmane caught his breath, he said, “There. Much better.” He straightened up again and said, “Now, as I was saying…Well, well, well. If it ain’t the Guardians of Equestria. Looks like you’re one short. No, wait! Two short! Where is Flurry’s little fiancé, the Guardian of Empathy?” Roller spoke up, “We can defeat you just the same as if they were here.” Gladmane took out his mirror, “Oh, we’ll see about that. Mirror, trap the Guardians and their friends!” As like before, a large blue-green beam shot towards the group. However, Blaze and Nova combined their magic to produce a shield to deflect the beam. It took a few moments before the beam disappeared entirely, leaving the group untouched. Gladmane said, “Huh. Seems your magic is strong, but as long as I have the power of almost every member of the Canterlot family in my hooves, I’ll have already beaten you.” Skater gasped, “You trapped our family in there?!” Blaze shouted angrily, “Let them go!” The king slyly said, “Oh, I’ll let ‘em go…if you can get past my guards first.” He then ordered, “A Squad, take them! B Squad, take the monster!” As B Squad charged towards the castle, Apple Butter cried, “No!” Suddenly, A Squad started to attack the group. They had no choice but to fight back. Mischief awoke to dark surroundings. Where was he? How long did he sleep? And why did his head ache like someone knocked him out? He heard a clinking sound and looked to see chains attached to his cuffed hooves. He then realized where he was: a dungeon! But who would…It had to be Silver. He was the only one Mischief and the others distrusted. It made sense he would want him out of the way. The antlered colt aimed his magic at his cuffs and they came off. He then stood up and bore his magic into the lock. When the cell door opened, he walked out and remarked, “Try harder next time, Silver.” Suddenly, he heard a low sound like many colts shouting and countless hoofsteps rushing above. He thought, Uh-oh. That’s not good. In a green flash, he disappeared. Steven, Gabby, and Vapor Trail anxiously waited in the spell room for something to happen. Steven wondered in concern, “Do you think they’re all right?” Vapor answered, “I hope so. If I know Sky Stinger, he’ll win the day.” Gabby added, “And so will the Guardians.” Steven asked, “What will happen if they don’t?” Vapor wilted at the thought. “Let’s not think about that right now.” Just then, they heard hoofsteps outside. Steven squeaked, “Eek! Hide!” When he dove into the water, Gabby and Vapor inhaled deeply before joining him. The door burst open and several guards slowly flooded into the room. They looked all around before one of them remarked, “I’m getting weird vibes from this place.” Another agreed, “Yeah. I don’t like it. Let’s burn everything down.” Steven gasped underwater when he heard that. He had to do something. This was his friend’s legacy that was on the line. Just then, he knew what he had to do, although it scared him to heck. He bubbled out, “Girls…” He then pointed upwards before he counted down with his three fingers. He shot towards the surface and water splashed onto the guards. When they rubbed their eyes of the water, they saw a sea serpent roaring before them. Steven bravely stated, “Rooaar! I’m the fearsome monster of this castle! Fear me!” Instead of running away like he hoped, one of the guards told his comrades, “Get him!” The guards threw their spears at Steven, but before they could touch him, the sea serpent dove into the water again. The guards outside the room saw a mysterious figure race by in the waterway. The other guards coming out of the room shouted, “Don’t let him escape!” Meanwhile, Steven swam down the labyrinthine waterways with his head above the water and Gabby and Vapor clinging to his wet neck. Vapor asked, “Are you sure that was smart?! Making them come after you like that?!” He answered, “One, I couldn’t let them burn Capri’s valuables, and two…” he tittered nervously, “…I was kind of hoping they would be frightened instead of me.” Gabby said optimistically, “Well, I think we got them away from her stuff.” Vapor added, “Now there’s the matter of getting them away from us!” Steven said calmly, “I think we’re in the clear, girls. After all, I am a pretty speedy swimmer.” As they entered another hallway via the waterway, the trio suddenly saw two guards closing the watery tunnel in front of them. Steven yelped, “Yipes!” He tried to swim back the other way, but two more guards dropped the gate on the other tunnel as well. They were trapped. They saw no other way out but through the sets of double doors. However, they too were clogged by the mass of guards charging and pointing their spears at them. The captain ordered, “Surrender now, horrendous beast!” Having only one option and hoping for the best, Steven cried out, “Help us!” At that moment, Mischief appeared in an adjacent hallway. He heard Steven cry, “Please help us!” Adrenaline rushed through his veins as he charged towards the source of the cry. As he got nearer, he saw many guards with their backsides towards the doorway. He readied his magic and shot a non-lethal beam that pushed a line of guards aside. Mischief turned back around to face the guards, who were now charging at him. With a mixture of both his martial skills and his magic, he took on every guard that charged at him. He knew he couldn’t keep this up forever, so he had to think of something and quick. Steven cried, “Be careful, Mischief!” For one quick moment, Mischief looked back to see Steven, Vapor, and Gabby. He needed a second hand, so he picked the perfect candidate. He conjured up an aluminum baseball bat and threw it via levitation. “Gabby, I need your help!” After she grabbed the bat, she saluted, “Yes, sir!” Mischief resumed fighting the guards with Gabby swatting them with her bat. After a while, he told her, “I need you to distract them for a bit. Can you handle it?” He really hated asking this of her for fear of putting her in further danger, but he had to trust that she could hold on her own. Gabby nodded, “No problem!” Mischief turned his attention to the closed gate on Steven’s right side. He was about to raise it when a guard lunged behind him. Luckily, Gabby hit the guard with her bat, knocking him unconscious. The antlered colt smiled, “Thanks, Gabs.” She answered, “Anytime!” He returned his focus to the gate and raised it up with his magic. He turned to Steven and Vapor and ordered, “Get out of here, you two! Now!” Steven fretted, “But what about you?!” “I’ll be fine! You need to get to safety before anything else happens! Now go!” Steven reluctantly dived into the open tunnel with Vapor, leaving Mischief and Gabby behind to fend the guards off themselves. There were fewer numbers now due to several of them being unconscious, but the guards left standing still outnumbered the two. Gabby asked Mischief in worry, “What are we going to do, Mischief?” While trying to think up a plan, Mischief’s eyes fell on a light switch. “Stay close to me. I’ve got an idea.” Before the guards could charge at them, Mischief used his magic to flip the switch. The hallway suddenly went dark. The guards were disoriented with their pitch-black surroundings and tried to make sense of the new environment their eyes now perceived. Mischief took Gabby’s claw and whispered, “Going up.” They flew up to the vaulted ceiling and Mischief quickly conjured up a blanket. When one of the guards saw the green flash, he alerted his comrades and the Pegasi guards flew up towards the ceiling. Mischief commanded Gabby, “Pull the blanket back!” Quickly, the two flew towards opposite ends of the hall. The blanket they held stretched with the growing distance between them. It caught the Pegasi guards off-guard as they crashed into the blanket. Mischief then told the young griffon, “Now drop it!” The blanket fell down and landed on the guards, trapping them under its magic-proof and spear-proof cloth. Mischief opened a set of double doors and he and Gabby raced out the dark hallway. Gabby gushed as they flew through the long hallways, “That was super amazing! It was just like the adventures Pony Pan had in the books!” Mischief smiled, “Welcome to a life of daring do.” They flew out the castle entrance and found a battle raging on the wild grounds. Before they could act, Gabby shrieked as she was magically pulled back. Mischief turned to see Silver Tongue grab hold of the young griffon on the edge of the roof.