//------------------------------// // The Start of a New Story: Part 5 // Story: My Little Pony: The Next Generation // by Song Thought //------------------------------// There was no doubt that this journey was going to be difficult. The ponies thought they were going to be fine for the most part since a good load of them could use magic. Now it seemed like luck wasn't on their side. The ones with magic now looked weaker than the ones who didn’t have any to begin with. This unfortunate event took a toll on them. The loss of magic seemed to be the cherry on top of their anxieties, and now all of them were going to have to deal with it. "Well... no. There's nothing I could say to make this scene look any better," Jupiter said. No one could find the right words to say to cheer up everyone else. They felt a bit helpless. They felt weird. "This isn't the time to lose hope. If we do that now, imagine how the rest of the trip is going to go," North Star said, "We'll just have to go magic-less for now, and hope for the best." Most of the group seemed to agree, but what else could they do? Word was already spreading that they went out to save everyone. There was no going back now. "Yeah. In fact, some of us managed to make it through life without any magical assistance. So, this should be a piece of cake," Hurricane said. Diamond Glow scoffed, “The problem there is you guys were also isolated for most of your lives. The biggest 'threat' you might've had to face was boredom.” “Boredom!?” Hurricane said, rather repulsed. “I mean, it was pretty deadly,” Sweet Tune said under her breath. “And who’s to say,” Hurricane started, “bored kids could be a threat too.” “You’re kidding. You? A threat? You don’t even compare to the things I’ve seen out here- “ “Settle down, alright?” North Star said, getting the two ponies’ attention. “If we fight like this, we’ll all be dead by sunset. Can you two at least try to not start any more arguments?” Hurricane and Diamond Glow were quiet for a moment, “Fine,” they both said. Sweet Tune sighed, "Diamond Glow. You said that you had a treehouse around here that we can go visit for extra supplies. Can you take us there, please?" Diamond Glow smirked and turned towards the darkness of the forest, "Fine, but try to keep quiet while you’re at it. I don't want anyone wining about how 'scary' the forest is," she said as she began to lead the others into the unknown. Apple Crisp approached Cream Cheese, "How scary do think this forest is? Should I be scared?" she asked her. Cream Cheese gave the hybrid a sincere smile, "I don't think there's anything to worry about. You should be fine. Diamond Glow’s just teasing," Apple Crisp seemed happy with that answer. She smiled brightly and continued at a faster pace, leaving the pink pony behind. "Oh, that poor mare," she said under her breath. The treehouse looked to be a lot higher quality than what they were all expecting. It was a bit small, but it looked sturdy. There were also planks nailed into the tree trunk that acted as stairs leading to the entrance of the house. They wondered if Diamond Glow found it abandoned or if she built it herself. It didn't look too rundown, so the latter seemed like the most reasonable explanation. "This is a quick stop to collect some supplies. If any of you want weapons, I guess you can come inside to get some," Diamond Glow said as she started to climb up the planks. The majority went inside. Apple Crisp, Sour Patch, Orchard Drop, and Cream Cheese stayed behind. The realization of what Diamond Glow said finally hit Sour Patch. He turned towards his cousin. "We're going to need weapons?" Diamond Glow was already gathering her things when the rest of them stepped inside the house. It looked bigger on the inside, and it was fairly normal. There was a vanity, a bookshelf, a dresser, even a bed in the corner. Diamond Glow was getting a couple of things from her vanity, mostly bandages. "Wow. This place actually looks pretty neat, and normal. I would expect something more... dark or dangerous. I'm impressed," Hurricane said as he looked around. Diamond Glow headed to the dresser and opened it. Hurricane's eyes widened as he saw what was inside. Diamond Glow was a collector, but not of rocks, toys, or insects. She collected knives. There was a very wide collection of them. There were many different sizes and many different types. Cutting knives, throwing knives, daggers, even your average kitchen knife. “Never mind, I take everything back.” Diamond Glow smirked to herself upon hearing that. Jupiter approached her. “You seem happy. Are you glad you scared the pants off of my friend there?” they asked. “Hurricane doesn’t wear pants,” Diamond Glow pointed out, “and yeah. It always puts a smile on my face when big, tall stallions like him find out I’m not one to be messed with.” Jupiter smiled too, “I like you. You have that whole ‘edgy, tough-girl’ thing going on,” they paused and looked at the stallion as he cautiously looked around, “Hurricane doesn’t want to mess with you, trust me. He just wants to get to know you better. I guess he learned that if he wants to be friends with the tough girl, he’ll need to be tougher himself.” Diamond Glow let out a small laugh as she closed the dresser’s doors, “Well, let him know that he’s going to have to try a lot harder if he wants to be my friend.” “Hey, let me ask you something,” Jupiter started, “If you knew you were going to run into those dangerous threats you mentioned earlier, why did keep coming to the Everfree?” “Well, this place taught me a lot growing up. I come back hoping I can learn more.” “What stuff did you learn?” “Oh, you know how to survive, how to make a second home out of some wood and a tree you found, and, of course,” she pulled out the throwing knife she got from the dresser, “you don’t want to start a fight with the pony holding the knife.” “Nice. You know what I learned being cooped up in my little home where my biggest threat was boredom?” Before Diamond Glow could answer, Jupiter’s smiling expression morphed to a more serious one and their tone got quieter and firmer. They got closer to the unicorn, making sure she could hear them. “The ‘tough’ girl is always the one with the most problems boiling up inside.” Diamond Glow froze. Her expression was stunned yet fearful. She tried to hide it but wasn’t very good at it. Jupiter backed up. Their smile quickly returned, “Or ya know, you’re just a tough girl with nothing going on. I could always be wrong... I mostly am wrong.” Diamond Glow laughed while Jupiter started to walk away, “Anyways, nice talk! Bye-bye!” they said. Diamond Glow’s smile disappeared as soon as Jupiter turned around. It didn’t take much longer for everyone else to be done collecting things, so they all headed back down shortly after. Sweet Tune pulled out a map to track down their next stop. The camp. “If we get a move on now, we should be able to get to the camp at around sunset,” Sweet Tune informed the others, “We can sleep there and continue towards the mountain in the morning.” Let’s hope we’re all in one piece by sunset. she thought to herself. As they began walking, things were quiet. No one was talking to each other. It could’ve been the weight of the entire journey making them nervous or it could’ve been the fact that they all just met each other earlier that day. Either way, things were awkward. Them being quiet also meant that they could hear every rustle in the trees in bushes, every twig that was snapped, and every noise an animal made. Most ponies would be used to those noises coming from a forest, but it made someone like Cream Cheese extremely paranoid. Every noise made her twitch a bit. She scrunched up and ducked her head to avoid touching anything. The thing she didn’t do was make noise. If there was anything scarier than what could potentially be in the Everfree, it was dragging attention towards herself. “Are you okay? You look kinda tense,” said a voice. Cream Cheese looked in the direction the voice came from to find North Star looking at her. Looks like not making noise didn’t do anything. “Oh, me? I’m fine,” she said, followed by a nervous laugh. She was not fine. “I mean, it’s okay if you’re scared. This forest can be pretty scary,” North Star said. “Yeah, you never know what you could find here,” came a third voice. Both ponies saw that it belonged to Jupiter, who was steadily approaching them. They had a mischievous smirk on their face. “I’ve heard that there have been sightings of manticores, cockatrices, timberwolves, even these weird lookin’ things called parasprites,” they continued. Every time they named a creature, Cream Cheese got more and more anxious, leaving her frozen in her spot. “On second thought, maybe you guys don’t need me for this mission,” she said. North Star shot a mean glare towards Jupiter before heading towards Cream Cheese. “We kind of do. I don’t know if you know this, but nine ponies are needed to power the nine elements.” “But we’re not the ones powering the elements. We’re just buying time for our moms to power them up themselves. Unless....” she was struck with a sudden realization, “Are you saying we’re the next element bearers?!” North Star put a hoof up to the earth pony's mouth to quiet her, “Not too loud,” she said, “It’s not official, but it’s a strong theory I have. If everything lines up, we should be able to power up the elements ourselves.” “That’s why you didn’t want Hurricane and Diamond Glow to fight. True friendship is the only thing that can power the elements. You want us all to be friends.” “Yeah, that and the fact that their bickering was extremely annoying. So, you have to tag along and help us. No matter what problems we face, we have to persevere and meet our goal.” “But why are you so focused on us being the next bearers and not having our moms take care of it? The elements will most likely power up that way because they’re already friends. Why do you want all of Equestria to depend on a bond that might not even form?” “So that I can prove a point, okay? My family has already planned my entire life. ‘North Star: Scholar and Princess.’ I don’t want that. I want to protect Equestria. Not as a princess, but a royal guard. I figured that if I’m an element bearer, my family would get the hint that I’m much more than their little ‘plan’ for me.” North Star expected Cream Cheese to be intrigued, even excited, about the idea of them possibly being element bearers. Instead, there was a frown on her face, and she looked mad. She started to walk away, leaving the alicorn incredibly confused. “You know, I was actually considering not going on this mission. The thing that made me go is that, after all these years, I could meet some ponies who would actually want to be my friend. To you, I’m just a steppingstone. We all are,” North Star was stunned. Did her plan sound that awful? “I’m gonna go. Hopefully, there’s someone here that wants to be friends,” Cream Cheese said before she caught up to the others, leaving North Star behind. “North Star, you’re an idiot,” she told herself, “Maybe you should stop being selfish and try to make some actual connections with these guys.” She ran to the rest of the group. “I’m guessing things didn’t go well?” North Star looked at Jupiter who said that after noticing how upset Cream Cheese was. She felt terrible. “Look on the bright side. At least she forgot all about the forest.” It was true. Cream Cheese wasn’t twitching, and she wasn’t tense, but her head still hung low. North Star didn’t feel better. Bud was on the floor of his room, exhausted. He was convinced that the anti-magic shield he made had killed him. He put a hoof up to his chest. There’s still a heartbeat. His head raised slightly as the door to his room opened. It was Dolly with a bowl of food in her hoof. She made her way to the young stallion and sat down next to him. “Eat this,” she said while handing him the food, “You need to recharge before they get here. We’ll need everyone if we want to protect the elements." Bud started to eat the food rather quickly, "I don't know if I'll be ready to fight when they get here. Are you sure you'll need me?" "Yes, we do. If you're not there, Shadow will kill me, and that would not be fun for me." "But wait, aren't you already-" "Bud, don't chew with your mouth full. You're going to choke on your food, also it's disgusting to look at," Dolly interrupted. Bud swallowed the rest of his food. "Dolly, why do you guys want these elements so bad. I mean, you're willing to hurt kids for them. Sounds kind of brutal if you ask me." Dolly gave him a cold stare, "Listen, ponies like us, ponies like you could never be accepted out there. I know I wasn't. Ponies like them ridiculed me, hated me, and hunted me down because I was something that they weren't used to. They did that to all of us, and they would surely do that to you. Why do you think your parents abandoned you? They can't respect us unless we have power. That power comes from the elements, and we aren't going to let some measly teenagers take it away from us!" Bud distanced himself from the mare and looked at her with wide eyes, "Dolly, you're scaring me." Dolly got up, picked up the bowl, and made her way towards the door, "Good. Fear is how we get ponies to listen to you. You'll learn that someday." She opened the door and left the room, slamming the door on the way out. Bud got up and his stomach growled, "I wasn't finished with my food," he told himself, "but after that, I don't think I have much of an appetite." As time went on, the ponies were getting a bit tired from walking and their legs were hurting. Above it all, they were hungry. Sour Patch had a small breakfast that morning and hadn't eaten anything since then. His stomach growled rather loudly, loud enough to catch the attention of his cousin. "I'm guessing you're hungry," Sweet Tune said. Sour Patch silently nodded. Sweet Tune looked around to see if anyone was looking at them, then she opened her bag and let Sour Patch look inside. "Here, take this." Inside the bag was a single apple. It was a bright red and looked delicious, tempting Sour Patch to take it. Something stopped him. "Wait, did you steal this from the apple orchard?" "Don't worry, it was already on the ground. I took it in case I needed it on the trip, but you look like you need it more than I do. Don't eat it right now, or else everyone would want some." It was against Sour Patch's morals to steal something or to take something that was stolen, but his hunger was taking over. He couldn't help it, he needed to eat something. He quickly took the apple and put it in his bag. "Thanks." Before Sweet Tune could respond, she quickly stopped in her tracks. Sour Patch stopped and looked in front of him. If he had taken one more step, he would've fallen into a river. The others caught up to them and stared down at the body of water in front of them. "Well, let's just makeshift a bridge and walk across," Hurricane said. "We should do no such thing," Orchard Drop said, "The path changes here. We have to go down the river if we want to get to the camp by sunset." "So, we build a boat. How long will that take?" Diamond Glow asked. "Yeah, and where do we get started?" Sweet Tune asked. "It's simple," everyone turned around to find Cream Cheese standing at the back of the group, "There are a bunch of dead trees around here that we can use for the actual boat, we can disassemble one of our bags or even use Diamond Glow's bandages for a sail, and we can tie everything together with the vines around this area." Everyone stared at her, not knowing what to say, "We could just, ya know," she pulled a small cube out of her bag, "use this." "I'm sorry, what is that?" Orchard Drop asked. "Whatever it is, it's really cute," Apple Crisp said. "It's an invention I've been working on for a while. It's meant to turn into any transportation vehicle you might need, including a boat," Cream Cheese said as she pushed a few buttons on the cube, "Let's hope this works." She placed the cube down on the edge of the river and stepped back. The cube shook around a bit before opening up and... through some sort of magic, it morphed into a boat. Cream Cheese was the first one to get on the boat. "Come on aboard! There's plenty of room for everyone!" she said. Once everyone was on, Cream Cheese raised the sail, and they were off. Orchard Drop approached her with a map in hoof. "Cream Cheese?" she started, "I wanted to let you know where our stop is. You'll see two tall-standing trees crossing over each other. That's when you know when to land." "Alright, I'll keep an eye out," the earth pony responded. While Orchard Drop walked away, Cream Cheese spotted Hurricane flying off. "Hey, where are you off to," she asked him. "I'll fly on ahead and see if there's anything that could potentially be dangerous. If there is, I'll come back and warn you if there is anything," he said. Cream Cheese happily nodded, and he flew off. Everything seemed peaceful, and the boat looked like it was moving steadily. Cream Cheese left it to be and walked to the edge of the boat. "How long did it take you to work on this?" Cream Cheese looked over to find Sour Patch right next to her. "I don't know. A few years? It was definitely one of my more ambitious inventions. I'm just glad it worked," she responded. "I guess that explains your cutie mark. A talent in engineering? How did you even figure it out?" "Huh, I never thought about it. I guess that I was very bored during the isolation. I wanted to make contraptions that made life a bit easier around the house. I quickly learned how to build new things in new ways, and I figured out how much I liked doing it. It was when I built a machine that helped my family get groceries that got me my cutie mark. It's something about inventing and building machines that makes me feel like I can finally do something with my life. It gives me this sort of peace when doing it," she realized how much she was talking, "I'm sorry if I'm being annoying. I didn't mean to talk so much-" "No- no, it's fine," Sour Patch said, "It just means your passionate. That's good, it says that you have enough room in your heart to have a lot of love for things like that." Cream Cheese smiled. She felt like she was talking too much and wanted to let Sour Patch have a turn talking, but before she could say anything, a deep growling sound interrupted her. It came from her stomach. It looked like Sour Patch noticed as well. She awkwardly blushed. "Are you hungry?" he asked. He picked up his bag, opened it, and pulled out an apple. "Oh, it's fine. If it's your only one, you probably need it more than I do. There's also no other way you can-" Cream Cheese was interrupted when Sour Patch threw half of the fruit towards her, she barely caught it. "Thanks. That was very generous of you." "Hey, anything for a friend." Cream Cheese focused on that last sentence he said, "Wait, we're friends?" Sour Patch smiled sincerely, "Well, I think we are. Are you okay with that?" Cream Cheese smiled back, "Yeah- Yeah, I am." Sour Patch turned back to the edge of the boat before taking a bite of his half of the apple. Cream Cheese did the same. It was nice to know that, after all these years, she finally made a friend. A friend who she knew nothing about. She turned to ask him the question she was going to ask earlier. "GUYS! GUYS!" a voice yelled out, cutting her off. Everyone on the boat saw Hurricane flying towards the boat at the speed of light. "What's wrong?" North Star asked while the stallion landed on the boat. He was very out of breath and panicked, so his answer has made up of a few words. "... river... rapids... ahead..." he said before he lied down. "There are rapids up ahead! Someone, take care of the sails and steering! Everyone else, take cover! We're going to have to ride this thing out!" North Star yelled out. Cream Cheese headed towards the steering wheel and grabbed hold. Diamond Glow looked up ahead, "We're getting close! Everyone brace for impact!" It didn't take long for everyone on the boat to feel the vehicle start to shake. It was tossing and turning. Everyone ducked down and waited for everything to end, hoping that Cream Cheese could get them out of this. The waves got bigger, and the boat started to slightly fill with water. The wind started to grow very strong, ripping the sail. Cream Cheese spotted something up ahead. Two large trees making an x-shape. Their stop. She had to steer them there, and she had to do it fast. She knew that would end up in a crash, possibly injuring a couple of them and surely damaging the machine. She couldn't think about that right now. All that mattered was getting everyone out of the river. She steered the boat to make a sharp right turn, "Hold on tight! It's going to be a rough landing!" she yelled out. The boat made its way onto the shore, tossing everyone overboard. Everyone was dizzy for a minute, and it took them a while to get back on their hooves. Some were wet from the water, and some had scrapes and bruises from the crash. No one was terribly injured, thank Celestia. Cream Cheese looked up to find her invention completely wrecked. It was her greatest accomplishment as an inventor, and now it was nothing but rubbish on the ground before her. She couldn’t help but shed a few tears. She felt a hoof on her shoulder. She looked up to find Sour Patch comforting her. “How are you feeling?” he asked, “I know how much that machine meant to you.” She wiped up her tears with her hoof, “Honestly, a little sad, but that’s beside the point. What matters is that you’re all safe.” “Are you sure?” “...yes. I’m sure.” “I’m impressed that you were able to pull through with getting us to our stop,” Orchard Drop said, “Thank you for that.” Cream Cheese smiled, “No problem. Sorry if anyone got hurt.” “Well, the sun’s starting to go down, and we’re not at our destination yet. I recommend that we start moving again,” Sweet Tune said. “This camp better be less than an hour away, because I need a break!” Hurricane yelled. A few of them laughed as they began walking again. He looked over at Diamond Glow who was staring at the water. “What’s up?” he asked. “Oh, nothing. It’s just, that river has never had rapids in, like, ever.” “Huh, seems suspicious. Do you know what happened?” “No, but whatever it is, it’s not good.” Dark Magic turned the corner to find Shadow locking a metal door at the end of a dimly lit hallway. Everyone knew that door must never be open unless of an emergency. “What are you doing?!” he asked the mare as he ran up to her. She turned around with an annoyed look on her face. “Don’t worry, you big baby. I was just locking it up.” “Yeah, but why was it unlocked in the first place?” “I needed our friend to make a bit of roadblock in those ponies' trip.” “And you did it without consulting me first? Why did you even use HER? You could’ve used yourself or anyone else here.” “The moment called for it. They were approaching a river and I needed someone who could manipulate it.” Dark Magic looked into the window on the door, “How is she doing after that?” “She’s never felt more alive. That’s good because we’ll need all the help we can get to fight those ponies.” “But she’s not a fighter, she’s a mass murderer. Once she’s done with them, she’ll go after us. That mare is never satisfied.” Before Shadow could respond, someone started banging their hoof on the metal door. It came from the inside. A face appeared at the window. It belonged to a mare. Her coat was dark blue, and her messy mane was a lighter tone of the same color. Her eyes were a dark purple and showed the expression of a pony who had snapped years ago. She waited at the window, staring at the two ponies on the other side of it. “Hello, Night Gaze. How are you doing today?” Dark Magic said nervously. The mare didn’t answer, she just left the window and went to the middle of the room to lie down. You could now see that she was a pegasus. Her wings were long and messed up. Mane was short and choppy at the ends. You could see a large deep scar making its way around her entire neck. Her cutie mark, at first glance, was a starry night. You look closer, and the “night” is more of a dark red color. “Don’t worry. Night Gaze has been chipping away at one of them for quite some time now, so she has been rather useful in the past years. She’ll mostly take out all of her energy on that one pony. Leaving us to take care of the rest. She’ll be back in her room in no time,” Shadow said, making her way out of the hallway. “Alright, I’m trusting you on this, but if she kills more than one of them, I’m running,” Dark Magic followed her. “Of course, you are. I never expected anything more from you.” Dark Magic scowled at her. They made their way out of the hallway, but they could still hear the sound of someone hitting the door at the other end of it. It was almost sunset, and the camp was nowhere in sight. Everyone was starting to get tired, but no one felt safe setting up camp just anywhere. They had to stick it out until they reached their destination. More and more of them were starting to go hungry as well. Sour Patch and Cream Cheese knew that one apple wouldn't satisfy their hunger. North Star felt something creeping up on her. She heard the faint sound of growling and felt something breathing against her, but she wasn't scared. "Jupiter, you can try to scare me all you want. I'm not falling for it," she told that something. The growling and breathing stopped suddenly. Jupiter appeared next to her, they groaned. "Sorry, I just want to do something to distract myself from how hungry I am," they said. They were frustrated; North Star understood why. "We should be getting to the camp soon. I'm sure they'll have something to eat there," North Star reassured. "Everything is starting to look edible. Those trees are," they pointed at some nearby dead trees, "the dirt is," they pointed at the ground in front of them, "and..." their finger moved up and towards North Star, pointing at her. North Star then realized what they meant, "No!" she smacked their paw down, "You can't eat any of us." Jupiter smirked, "It was worth a shot. I still want to eat something." The two of them continued to walk in silence. It didn't take long for Jupiter to hear a rustling in the bushes. They looked around to see where it could've come from. They heard it again. That's when they spotted something in the corner of their eye. It was a shadow of an animal. It was kind of looked like a pony, but they had longer and thinner legs. Atop of their head were some... branches? No, antlers. It was a deer, and it was just standing there. They tapped North Star's shoulder, "What now?" she asked. "There's a deer over there. Do you think they'll know where the camp is?" "I don't know since deer don't normally talk. Wait, is this just so you can- " she looked over, but Jupiter wasn't there anymore. She spotted them flying away, most likely towards the other creature. "Jupiter!" she cried. Everyone else turned towards her. "Where are they?" Hurricane asked. "They spotted some deer over there and went after it," "Why would they want to do that?" Diamond Glow asked. "I don't know, but I feel it's best if it remains that way." "Well, someone's gonna have to go after them." Sweet Tune said. "That would be all of us. There's no way we're splitting up out here." Sour Patch said. "Well then, what are we waiting for?" North Star started to make her way into the bushes, "Let's go!" Meanwhile, Jupiter found themselves chasing after this deer. It was really fast and agile, making it hard for them to catch up to them. It was also hard trying to dodge various trees and branches as they zipped through the darkness. They started to hear hoofsteps behind them. They figured that some of the others started to run after them. They were going to stop, but they spotted an opening up ahead. They could stop there. The others saw Jupiter run into a lit-up opening and land there. At least they stopped. The area they landed in was a circle in the middle of the tall trees. It was almost ominous. They all saw Jupiter, but no deer. "Jupiter!" Orchard Drop yelled, "How did you think that running off into the forest and away from us was a good idea!?" "I'm sorry. There was just something that made me go. I think it's because of everything that's been going on, I don't know," Jupiter responded, "Anyways, the deer disappeared. So now I just dragged you guys out here for nothing." "Not for nothing," Sweet Tune said, "Look up there." She pointed to a small ledge at the edge of the circle. A small pony was standing on it, but they were covered by the shadows of the trees. "Uh, hi?" Jupiter said. Diamond Glow stepped closer, "Who are you? Step into the light and show yourself." "Ceres, are you sure these are the guys?" the shadow said as they stepped into the light. The pony was an earth pony mare. Her coat was a dark brown with markings all over it. Her wild mane was a dark teal. Her eyes were a dark magenta. Lastly, her mane was decorated with a feather. Her face sported an annoyed look. She wasn't happy to see them. "Yeah, I bet my life on it. Why? What's wrong?" said a new voice coming from the other side of the circle. Everyone turned around to find the deer who Jupiter chased. Their fur was a light green and had markings similar to the mare. They had light pink eyes and flowers of the same color placed on their head and antlers. A couple of leaves grew on the antlers. There was also a gem on a piece of cloth tied to the antlers. The gem was divided into four colors: blue, yellow, orange, and green. "They're supposed to stop Dark Magic and the others, and these guys don't look that intimidating. The little white one almost made me laugh," the mare said, stepping off the ledge. Diamond Glow's face turned red with anger, "WHY YOU LITTLE- " she started before being interrupted by Hurricane putting a hoof over her mouth. "I wouldn't start a fight if I were you," he whispered to her. Diamond Glow rolled her eyes and sighed. "You didn't answer her question, who are you?" Sweet Tune asked the two. "Oh, right. We know you, but you don't know us," the deer said while walking up to the mare, "I'm Ceres, and this is Fangs. We were sent by Fortune Teller to come get you." "You know Fortune Teller? That means you came from the camp," Sour Patch said, "Can you take us there?" "That's what we were going to do," Fangs started, "That map of yours is wrong. We don't want anyone knowing our location. Ceres did a good job leading you guys most of the way." Ceres flashed a proud smile. "Okay, so where's the rest of the way?" Orchard Drop asked. "It's right over here," Ceres said walking to the ledge. The majority of the ponies were confused. "That- that's a ledge," North Star said. "Why yes, but it's also a secret entrance," Ceres said. Fangs moved the grass out of the way, revealing a small circle etched into the side of the ledge. She put a hoof up to it. The circle lit up and the side of the ledge opened up like a door, revealing a tunnel. "The first lesson you'll learn around these parts is that there's more to everything than what meets the eye," she said. The two went in first, Ceres having to duck down to fit. The nine other ponies followed in after. At the end of the tunnel was the camp. There were rows and rows of huts that inhabited many types of ponies, each with different types of marks on their coats. Small foals were running around and playing. The ponies seemed to have tamed the nearby Everfree creatures, having them help run their camp in return for an endless amount of food and shelter. It looked like the most peaceful place in Equestria. As the ponies walked down the camp, they received stares from everyone. With all of the changes that have been happening that day, they were used to it. They just tried to pretend like they didn't notice it. Apple Crisp didn't. She was waving at everyone who made eye contact with her. If it weren't for Cream Cheese keeping an eye on her, she would've already wandered off to explore this new place. She did approach Ceres and Fangs towards the front of the group. "This place is amazing! How did you two end up here?" she asked them. "For me," Ceres started, "Before the attack, some members of my species lived here. When the attack hit, they left to move somewhere more peaceful. They left me behind. I lived about a week by myself before Fortune Teller found me. She took me in and raised me like I was her own. I was there when this place was built and I learned to call it home, but I was 5, so I don't remember much of it. It was another 5 years later when Fangs moved in-" "And we're not going to talk about why I moved in," Fangs interrupted. She looked at Apple Crisp, "No offense, but we just met, and I don't trust just anyone with that information." Apple Crisp stared at her for a moment before shaking her head, "Yeah, it's fine. You can tell me whatever you want whenever you want... you." Fangs was confused for a moment before realizing who she was talking to, "Oh, you're Apple Crisp. The one with short-term memory loss. You don't have to worry about anything I just said." "Oh, okay," Apple Crisp said, "I'll just be on my way then." She backed away, confused. "Poor thing," Ceres said, "Do you think there's anything we can do about that?" "I don't know, I'm not a doctor," Fangs responded. Ceres just shrugged it off and continued to walk ahead. "Note to self: read up on how memory works. Maybe the library has a book or two on that," she said to herself, quietly. At the end of the camp, there was a bigger hut that closed off the pathway. Ceres and Fangs stopped right in front of it, looking back at the others. "This is your stop. Fortune Teller should be inside," Ceres said, "She'll fill you in on any other information you might need to know." The two of them opened the entrance to the hut, signaling the nine ponies to step inside. The inside of the hut looked like a completely different atmosphere. It was a bit messy. Different plants and herbs were on the floor or hung on the ceiling. Books were scattered everywhere. There were papers and scrolls with messy handwriting scribbled on them. A cauldron stood in the middle of the hut. There were also little creatures scattering around the ground. They stopped when the ponies stepped in. They stood on two skinny legs and were mostly covered up by hooded capes. The most ponies could see were their eyes in the shadow of their hoods. "I remember these guys," Sweet Tune said, "I read about them in a book. What were they called?" "Bertuleco's!" a new voice said, "Hooded midgets that dedicate their whole lives to help their master, but only if they're treated fairly in return," the ponies followed the voices to find a pony balancing on the beams above them. They dropped down and landed in front of them, "They are thought to be extinct, but, in reality, they're slowly but surely populating again." The pony turned to the creatures, "Would you all be so kind as to vacate the room for a little while. Some urgent matters need to be discussed. Thank you." The little creatures listened to her and left the room. The pony turned back to face the visitors, "Did you, by any chance, read Ancient Equestrian Magic and Monsters? They’re not many books out there that mention them, but it is a great read." She was an earth pony with a light cream coat and the marks that everyone else in the camp had. Her dirty blonde mane was tied into two low, loose pigtails. Her eyes were olive and full of knowledge. She wore an old orange witch hat that was topped off with various types of flowers. Her cutie mark was an orange flower inside a clear sphere. "Uh, yeah. I did," Sweet Tune said, "You must be-" "Fortune Teller. That's my name, don't wear it out," she said, "How are you, Sweet Tune? I'm thinking well. This is your first time outside Canterlot." Before Sweet Tune could respond, Orchard Drop broke in, "I'm sorry, how do you know this information about her?" "Well, Orchard Drop, it's my job to know everything. For example, I know that you're 15, you're a Capricorn, and that you smile so rarely, a rumor was started about you around the castle stating that you didn't have emotions at all." Orchard Drop was stunned while Sweet Tune tried to hold in a laugh. The unicorn quickly composed herself, "I'm sorry for asking. Although, you still sound a bit creepy." "No, I completely understand. I normally come across that way when ponies first meet me but trust me, you're completely safe," Fortune Teller spotted Fangs and Ceres in the back, "I trust that my greeting committee treated you fairly?" The ponies nodded, but Diamond Glow had a different opinion. "Yeah, if 'fairly' means insulting your guests," she said to herself. "I heard that, Diamond Glow," Fortune Teller said. Diamond Glow looked up and was about to protest but decided that there was no point in doing so. "Thank you for your help, you two, but I can take it from here," the older mare told them. Ceres turned around to leave, but Fangs stayed where she was. "I hope you don't mind, Fortune Teller, but I want to stay and hear what you have to tell them," she said. Fortune Teller gave her a sympathetic smile. "Alright, but only if you don't say a word about this to anyone. You can stay if you want to, Ceres." Both of them walked up to a corner of the hut and sat down. Fortune Teller walked up to the cauldron and signaled the ponies to follow. They all approached the object and stood around it. “I am aware you all know the basic goal of this journey, but I am here to fill you in on some more important information, mostly regarding the enemy,” Fortune Teller started. She dipped her hoof into the liquid in the cauldron. The liquid swirled around until everyone could see a clear image of a necklace very similar to Sweet Tune’s. “If you didn’t know, essence is a villain’s evil desires, motives, and powers. It’s the key factor that made them so strong and powerful. “Once a villain was defeated, either killed or reformed, their essence would leave their being, but it wouldn’t disappear. It would roam the land until it reconnected with its old host.” “Well, if it reconnects with hosts, then why does Sweet Tune have some?” Sour Patch asked. “Thank you for asking, Sour Patch. That leads us to the next topic,” Fortune Teller said, “While some villains were educated on essence, many didn’t even know it existed. The ones who did know chose someone who could carry on their legacy if they were ever defeated. Those ponies could inhabit the essence without it having a single effect on them, other than a power boost. “And Sweet Tune here was given this essence as a gift from her mother. Little did she know that essence once belonged to her mother and grandmother. When her grandmother, Queen Chrysalis, inhabited it, she chose a suitable replacement.” “But Sweet Tune didn’t even exist then,” Diamond Glow said. “Exactly, and that’s why she was chosen in the first place. You see, Queen Chrysalis didn’t want there to be a pony that could carry on her essence, but she still wanted to choose someone. Not choosing someone would make the essence disappear with the villain. Since changelings can’t love, at least most can’t, many don’t have families. So, Queen Chrysalis wanted to choose someone she thought would never exist.” “A grandchild,” Sweet Tune said. “Yep, but boy was she wrong. That’s why your mother was so confident in giving you that necklace. You’re the only pony in Equestria who could inhabit it.” “But wait, where’s my power boost?” “Oh, it’s there, but you haven’t exactly discovered it yet. That’s a topic for another day." "What would happen if someone who wasn't chosen got a hold of some essence?" North Star asked. "They would get the power, but it would slowly corrupt them over time. That someone wouldn't have a say in their actions. It is way too much power for them to handle. That's where your target comes in. You see, back when your mother first obtained that essence that you have now, the princesses wanted to conduct experiments to learn just how powerful it was. Towards the end of their research, they tested the magic on a dead body. It was proven to bring the body back to life. Someone used that information to bring back Shadow-" "Wait, why Shadow?" Sweet Tune asked, "She was known for being one of the most dangerous ponies of her time." "Yes, Shadow was a pirate captain who craved world dominance. She would travel in her ship to massacre anywhere and everywhere, taking the lives of many innocent ponies. She was killed from drowning after an attack sent by the two sisters. No one knows who brought her back, but what we do know is that their body was found in their lab a day after the experiment was conducted. Shadow herself was nowhere to be found. After some speculating, they discovered that pony somehow found and captured King Sombra's essence. That's the magic that was used on Shadow. "Shadow then proceeded to hunt for more villains' essence and more potential teammates. She did find 6 others to revive using various types of essence. Dark Magic: A popular travel magician who was killed in an animal attack. His essence: Tirek. Dolly: A very famous singer and actress in her time. She was killed from poisoning. Her essence: Sirens. Night Gaze: She belonged to an upper-class family but was disowned and shunned by society. She hung herself. Her essence: Nightmare Moon. Lunar Eclipse: A professor and a news reporter who was mysteriously possessed. He died during the exorcism. His essence: Midnight Sparkle. Solar Disk: A restaurant owner whose reputation got worse over time. He died due to a disease. His essence: Sunset Shimmer. And Dr. Plasma Globe: A scientist with plenty of failed experiments. He was killed by his town. His essence: Discord. Anyone know what they all had in common?" "You didn't mention that. They all murdered ponies at some point, like Shadow," Diamond Glow started, "Night Gaze didn't hang herself because of mental issues. She did it because she wanted to die before Equestria could execute her. Solar Disk's reputation went down because he poisoned the food. He was also thought to be a cannibal, although that's still a theory. Dolly killed any competition who tried to take her spotlight. She was poisoned by an unknown pony because they just wanted to get rid of her. Dark Magic used his magic show to bring in his next victims. Tales were stating that if you went to his show, you wouldn't come back. Plasma Globe's machines always failed because he was so messed up in the head, he couldn't build any of them correctly. He used his machines to get rid of anypony who he didn't like. The only real innocent one is Lunar Eclipse, but that doesn't mean he didn't do anything messed up while possessed," she paused for a moment, "How do I know that?" "How do you know that Diamond Glow?" Fortune Teller followed, "It's almost like someone placed that information in your brain while you weren't looking, but you are correct. The fact that they had that reputation is what drove Shadow to choose them. They're now working together to take over Equestria. They did attempt to 10 years ago, but, of course, you all know that. They did get something out of that attack. While passing by Equestria, they found 3 foals to take with them. Bud, a small colt from Manehattan, and 2 twin fillies from the outskirts of Las Pegasus, Poison Ivy and..." she paused for a moment and eyed Fangs. The small mare sighed and signaled her to go on, "and Fangs." Everyone glanced at her, but Fortune Teller decided not to focus on that too long, "Bud and Poison Ivy were given their own essence, but they were told not to use it so often since the power would be too much on them. Bud was given the essence of a normal changeling while Poison Ivy was given the essence of Gaya Everfree. Fangs was given one too, but she got rid of it at some point. I don't blame her, having something like that in your possession really takes a lot out of you. "Your main goal now is to stall, or even defeat, this threat before they could get their hooves on the elements. Normally, the element bearers could easily get rid of them with the power of the elements, but now they're drained of magic and don't work. Anyone could take them. With the elements, they could easily take over Equestria, and no one will be able to stop them. You got it?" Everyone nodded. "Well then, you guys must be hungry. There's food set up for you in your hut. You will also be sleeping there," Fortune Teller turned to Fangs and Ceres, "Can you two take them there please?" The two obeyed and left the hut. On their way out, Fortune Teller remembered something she was supposed to say, "Also! The magical barrier wasn't put over their hideout. You guys will be able to use your magic there. I thought I should let you know because you haven't realized that you have your magic here." The group stared at her in disbelief. Jupiter then rose from the ground and started to float around, "Ha-ha! I missed this! It feels nice." The others looked at them and smiled "Come on, you guys," Ceres said, "Before the food gets cold." Dinner was great. Most didn't know whether it was the actual food or the fact that they just ate something that made it so great. Either way, they were satisfied. As they were getting ready for bed, Diamond Glow was deep in thought. Cream Cheese noticed this and grew a bit worried, "What's wrong, Diamond Glow?" "Oh, nothing," Diamond Glow said, "It's just... I legitimately don't know how I knew that information about those guys. I never read a book on them or never talked to somepony who knew about them. I'm still thrown off about that." "Are you sure?" Cream Cheese asked, "Maybe you did, and you just don't remember." Diamond Glow thought for a moment, then realized, "Now that I think about it, something seemed familiar. I looked at a picture of Night Gaze, and it felt like I've seen her before. Not like a picture or anything like that, but I feel like I've met her." "In a dream, maybe?" Sour Patch said, "Or I think a nightmare would be a better word. She does have Nightmare Moon's essence. She could have used nightmares to try to talk to you." "Yeah, that's it. She didn't try to reach me to be nice. Those nightmares were something else," Diamond Glow said, "I'm going to get ready for bed. Hopefully, that'll distract me." She walked out of the hut. "How much do you want to bet that she's going to run away?" Sour Patch asked the mare. "Don't start with that. I trust that she's a lot more loyal than most give her credit for." North Star walked in the hut with a slight smile on her face, "You guys just missed it. Diamond Glow almost killed Jupiter. I don't blame her; Jupiter was being annoying." Her smile disappeared when she saw Cream Cheese. She felt a bit more awkward than anything, "Hey, Cream Cheese. Can we talk?" "Yeah, I've been wanting to talk to you." The two of them turned to Sour Patch without saying anything. The stallion covered his mouth from the two of them, "'Sour Patch, can you come outside please?'" he said quietly with a high-pitched voice. He removed his hoof and started walking towards the entrance, "Yeah, totally. Sorry, I can't be a part of your guys' conversation, but I'm needed somewhere else. See ya!" Cream Cheese stifled a small laugh, "Well, he's certainly a... character," North Star said. "I think you should get to know him a bit more before you make that kind of judgment," Cream Cheese responded. "Anyways," North Star started, "I wanted to apologize for what happened earlier, about me forcing all of you to be friends. It sounds a lot more terrible now that I think about it. I know that being isolated without any friends is hard, I should know that." "I'm sorry too," Cream Cheese said, "I overreacted back there. I see now where you were coming from. I'm not saying that there weren’t flaws, but I see that you just want to make something of yourself. I support you with that, but maybe you should try to do that without forcing anyone to do anything." "Yeah, I agree," North Star said, "Friends?" Cream Cheese smiled at her, "Friends." The two turned their heads two the entrance to find Orchard Drop dragging in Jupiter and Diamond Glow by the ear, "I swear, you two are going to be the death of all of us," she turned to the other two mares, "If you haven't gotten ready to go to sleep, I recommend that do now. We have a big day ahead of us." Cream Cheese smiled and nodded at the both of them before grabbing something out of her bag then stepping out of the hut. Meanwhile, everyone was already back inside. Quiet conversations were going on and the chirp of crickets could be heard in the distance. Although no one said it, everyone was feeling anxious. The biggest day of their lives is tomorrow, and no one knew if they would live to tell the tale. The one thing they did know is that Equestria depended on them. Cream Cheese walked back in with some large round glasses resting on her muzzle. She made her way to a nearby bed and hopped on. "You wear glasses?" Hurricane asked her. "I needed them for almost my entire life. Though, I mostly wear contacts. After a while, these things got in the way and grew annoying." Diamond Glow approached her, "Can I wear them please?" she asked her. "Oh, yeah," Cream Cheese answered. She handed the glasses to the unicorn. While getting them close to her face, Diamond Glow quickly held them out and looked away in surprise, "Geez, CC! How blind are you?" she quickly handed them back. "As a bat," the earth pony replied. "You hear that, Patches?" Sweet Tune called out, "She's blind too! You two can be Blind Buddies!" Everyone looked at Sour Patch, "Do you wear glasses too?" Jupiter asked. "No," Sour Patch replied, "I just... lost the ability to see through my left eye. Nothing too bad." The whole room went silent. Sour Patch pretended to yawn, "Is anyone else tired? 'Cuz I am. Alrighty, goodnight!" "Aw come on!" North Star said, "You can't say something like that and just brush it off. How did it happen?" Sour Patch took a deep breath, "It happened during the attack. I don't remember much from it because I was in so much shock. Well, one thing led to another, and I got mixed up with some fire. It scarred most of the left side of my body, but most of my coat has grown back since then. The thing that was permanently damaged was my eye," he lifted the part of his hair that covered up the left side of his face. No hair has regrown on the area surrounding his eye. The eye itself looked gray and faded, "Not only did it make my eye look weird, but it took away the ability to see from it. My right one's perfectly fine, so at least I got that." He put on an awkward smile to put a bit of levity on the situation. It wasn't working. "Sour Patch, that's the saddest story I've ever heard," Apple Crisp said, "I think." "Don't be sad, I'm fine with it. I learned to manage, and it doesn't even bug me. Trust me, I'm fine," Sour Patch reassured, "Now go to sleep before we all start sharing stories, okay?" No one argued with him. They were all tired and knew that staying up any longer wouldn't help them the next day. Before they knew it, the lights were out, and everyone was drifting off to sleep. Sweet Tune laid in her bed in silence for a bit. She listened to the outside noises of crickets, a breeze, even the quiet noises of the others sleeping. She thought about all of the changes that day. It was less than 24 hours ago when her necklace started glowing, and this whole thing first began. "Let's just hope it ends well," she whispered, then began dozing off to sleep.