//------------------------------// // 27. Daybreak // Story: Guardians of the Elements of Harmony // by mcb893 //------------------------------// Early Next Morning... Rarity's Fashion Shop "Wake up! Wake up! You promised you would be up by now!" Barns rolled over, groaning as he tried to fall asleep again. These girls were relentless, it was completely ridiculous how much they were bothering him. They continued their delusional rant as Barns shoved his pillow over his head, trying to block out the noise. This did no good however, as he felt one of them begin to bounce on him. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" The fillies cried over and over again. Groaning, he throws aside his covers and sits. The girls cheer that he's awake while he rubs his eyes to get himself fully awake. He yawns and stretches as the girls rush over to his front, and instantly bombard him with questions. He ignores them for a minute while he grabs his gear and his rifle. He checks the chamber, and there is a bullet, ready to be fired if need be. "So whatcha think Frank? Should we go mountain climbin' or scuba divin'?" The yellow filly named Applebloom asks. Barns was pretty sure that this one was Applejack's little sister, just due to the fact she had the same accent the fact she had "apple" in her name. Looking over to them, he sees Scootaloo, Sweetie Bell, and Applebloom lined up in a single line, with the most ridiculous smiles on their faces. "Neither." He says as he opens the door, walking downstairs. "Well, then what do you think we should do?" Scootaloo asks, still right behind him. Barns sighs and looks behind him. The fillies still have the smiles on their faces, which seem like they would be too big to fit their small heads. Looking to each one, he sees the same thing, ignorance. But they were just children, so it really wasn't their fault. "I don't know, now if you'll excuse me, I'm on guard duty." Fluttershy's Cottage Adams awakens to something rubbing against his face. He tries to nudge it away, but it persists, and he eventually has to open his eyes. Next to him is a small bunny, who is snuggled up next to his head, asleep. He gives a slight smile and closes his eyes again. This world was so peaceful, a pleasant change from the atmosphere back home. He breathed out in satisfaction, feeling like he accomplished something. Maybe that was another side effect of this world, being more positive, and feeling good all the time. Who knew? "Ok little guy, it's time for you to wake up." He hears a gentle voice. He feels the small creature stir, and it's warmth vanishes. Opening his eyes, he looked to the right, Fluttershy stood with the tiny creature sitting on her back. She noticed him and smiled. "You can get up too if you want." She said with kindness in her voice. Adams yawned and stretched slightly before getting up. When he looked back over, Fluttershy was giving the bunny a carrot. He shook his head to get the drowsiness out of his mind, and he couldn't help but notice the bandages around her midsection. What were they doing there? She was a pegasus right? How could she fly like that? He decided to leave it alone for now and just make something to eat. After all, it had been a good 18 hours since he'd eaten anything. Some Random Field Daniels quickly pushed himself up, and down again. He had to keep his strength up, 100 push ups wouldn't do themselves. His arms had only just started to get slightly tired, and he was at 69. He breathed evenly and in sync with the pushes, easing his blood flow. Eventually RD came around and stared stretching, she was remarkably flexible. "Should've been a gymnast, never seen anything bend that much." He joking says as he counts number 81. Rainbow just laughs and continues to stretch. For the last ten push ups, Daniels claps to keep an even better sync to slow his heavy breathing. "97...98...98...99...100!" He thinks in his mind. With a victorious shout, he leaps to his feet and pumps a fist into the air. He gives a quick exhale as he makes a windmill motion with his arms, trying to loosen them up. "Alright, you ready?" Rainbow asks as she rears down, ready to begin. Daniels smiles fiendishly and prepares to run, lining up right next to her. Yesterday might have been a tie, but she was going down today. Sweet Apple Acres "Pull!" Instantly, another flying disc is launched into the air, and Connors aims. With confidence, he pulls the trigger, watching as the disc explodes in the air into hundreds of shards. Looking up from his scope, Connors gives a chuckle and stands. Slinging his backpack over his shoulder, he walks over to the ladder at the side of the barn and climbs down. "Well howdy do! That was some spectacular marksmanship!" Applejack shouts as she marks something down on a pad of paper. Connors walks over and looks down at the paper. Two columns mark the paper, one is labeled BM and the other is labeled DC. In BM's column, there are six black Xs, and two red Os. However, his column contains nothing but black Xs. He smiles and places his rifle on his shoulder. All in a day's work. "Eeyup." Is all the large stallion says. Connors sets his gun down and grabs one of the multiple buckets of water that had been brought outside. Bringing the container to his lips, he lets the liquid fall down his parched throat, exhaling in relief when he sets it down. He and Big Macintosh shake hands(and hooves) and congratulate the other on their performance. "Well, me and Big Macintosh gotta get back to work." Applejack says as she begins to pack up. "Want any help?" Connors asks as he sets his rifle next to him. The two ponies look at each other and smile. Macintosh nods and AJ turns back to him. "Sure partner, let me show ya what ya can do." Connors sets his backpack down and begins to follow the young mare. Finally, some actual hard labor, he felt like dead weight around here. Garage, About 2 Miles from Sugar Cube Corner Hans watches as the sparks fly from the piece of metal. He slowly adjust the torch so that it begins cutting into a different area, that way the exhaust would be even. He paused momentarily and lifted his mask. Noticing that a few things were too large, especially for something a pony would use, he sighed and flipped his mask back down. "Something wrong Jakey?" Pinkie asks as she bounces over, hard hat on top. Hans sighs. "I thought I told you not to call me that." "Aw come on! Pleaseeeeee?" "No! You can call me Jacob, but that's as casual as I'm letting it go." Pinkie sighs and looks down at the ground. Hans quickly gets back to work and starts his torch up again. He need to be more careful, one slip could cause him to mess up again. Only this time, he would have to start all over again. "So what are you working on Jacob?" "Found some plans for a go-cart, and I decided to try and make a solar powered version." "OOHH! Can I help?" Looking over and pausing for a moment, Hans sees Pinkie bouncing happily, clearly excited to be spending time with him. "Yeah sure, grab that blow torch over there and do what I do." He says as he points to a torch, which Pinkie takes enthusiastically. Hans grabs a mask and hands it over to her, which she instantly puts on. Hans draws back slightly, but chuckles. She looked ridiculous with a hard hat AND mask. Nevertheless, he tells her to watch his movements and replicate them. Sparks fly past his face, and he can hear Pinkie humming a song. She actually had a pretty good voice. Canterlot, Royal Palace Moore tapped his feet against the marble floor, nervously rubbing his hands. Where was the Princess? He had set up this meeting two hours ago, who knew what was going on? Twilight placed a hoof on his knee, and he looked down to her. Questioning eyes stared back at him. He looked away. This was not something that could be discussed with so many civilians walking by. This was shocking and confusing enough for him alone, who knew how an innocent pony would respond? The doors to the meeting hall opened, and Moore instantly stood, giving his military salute. Standing there was Princess Luna, and she smiles at him. Moore doesn't move a muscle. Luna gives a slight chuckle. "At ease Staff Sergeant." She says. Moore brings his arms down. "Is your sister here? You both need to hear this." He says nervously. The princess nods and leads him and Twilight to the hall, where Celestia sits with that trademark smile of hers. Moore only wished he had a reason to keep that smile around. "Good morning Staff Sergeant, what do I owe the pleasure?" She asks. Moore sits and gets right to the point. "The thing responsible for these attacks... it showed itself to me... last night..." He says. He notices that there is more panic in his voice than intended, but it pales in comparison to the Princesses reactions. They are wide eyed, as are the guards standing beside them. "It... It did?" Luna asks with fear in her voice. Moore nods and looks around the room. The looks are all the same, fear, and uncertainty. Exhaling, he continues. "It was this red, devil like creature... It had a bald head, blacked out eye, these... lion like claws on it's hands and talons for feet... like some sort of owl." He feels Twilight's grip on his hand tighten, and he places his other hand on her hoof, gently placing it back down. Celestia looks over to Luna, who now carries a sympathetic look. And she nods. Celestia looks back to him, and brings one hoof to the table. "This thing... Did it refer to itself as Mercuito?" Moore grew wide eyed. "Y...Yeah... Do you know what this thing is?" He asked, rising in his seat. Twilight backs away and fear, but Moore quickly calms her. The Princess shares a frightened look with her sister, something that just didn't seem fit for them. Celestia stands and grows very serious. "Come with me. All of you."