//------------------------------// // The Hero Is Chosen // Story: My Little Chrono Triggers Are Magic // by Pav Feira //------------------------------// 600 AD Puripony Mountains “Isn’t this great, Snails?” Snips looked upward and beamed at his best friend. “Now that Rainbow Dash and her friends joined us, we have a true adventuring group!” “Yeah!” Snails’s face was plastered with a blissful, dopey smile. “Now we can go on adventures! And fight Nightmare Moon! And save the world!” Rainbow Dash trotted alongside the two young colts as the pack of ponies traversed the foliage-covered mountainside. “You bet! I’m just glad that me and my friends are lucky enough—no, honored enough—to be helping out the legendary hero.” Snips nodded, puffing out his chest. “Of course! The legendary hero is more than happy to have brave warriors like you fighting for him. Ain’t that right, Snails?” “Yeah!” From the back of the group, somepony cleared their throat loudly and distinctly. Rainbow Dash faltered slightly in her trot. “Oh. Uh, ‘scuse me, fellas.” She stopped in her tracks and allowed the rest of the herd to move past her, resuming her gait when Twilight Sparkle caught up. “Okay,” Twilight Sparkle muttered under her breath. “You didn’t exactly run the plan by us, but it’s pretty obvious that you’re planning to backstab them.” Rainbow Dash reeled forward, losing her hoofing. A quick flap of her wings saved her from face-planting into the gravel. “Twi!” she hissed. “They’re just a couple of young colts. I’m not gonna attack them.” Twilight Sparkle gave her a bemused stare. “I meant that you’re planning to trick them.” “Oh. Yeah, totally,” said Rainbow Dash. Twilight Sparkle opened her mouth to protest, but Rainbow Dash quickly raised her hooves defensively. “C’mon, you don’t honestly think that these runts are cut out for the job, do you? I’m just gonna play some little pranks, scare ‘em a little, and then we grab the medal. Just harmless pranks!” Twilight Sparkle’s mouth hung open for a moment. Eventually, she chose her words with care. “Okay, Rainbow. We’ll go with your plan.” “C’mon, just give me a... Wait, really?” Rainbow Dash cocked her head and stared at her friend with an arched eyebrow. “Just like that, you’re giving me permission to prank? I thought you had me on lock-down ever since that one time with the cabbage and the drum set.” “I know, but...” Her tail swished lightly through the air behind her. “This isn’t a half-bad plan. And you promised that it’ll be harmless. So,” she said, giving Rainbow Dash a faint smile, “I figure we can do things your way this time, right?” Rainbow Dash grinned and bumped playfully into Twilight Sparkle; the latter’s grin widened in return. “Awesome! Thanks, Twi, don’t you worry. This’ll be over before you know it.” She raced back toward the hero and his companion. “Hey, Snails! Snips! Wait up! I know a shortcut.” ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞ Fluttershy gently floated through the air, suspended by the currents of Twilight Sparkle’s magical aura. She touched down next to her friends on the jagged, rocky outcropping on the far side of the ravine. “Okay, hero!” cheered Rainbow Dash. “Your turn.” “Gee, Rainbow Dash, uh...” Snails cautiously scooted up to the edge of the cliff and peered down. Dozens of meters below, the arid plains of South Zebran waited to claim anypony so foalish as to challenge gravity. The dizzying heights pulled a clammy sweat out of the young colt’s pores. Following suit, Snips peered down into the abyss. He squeaked and clutched his friend’s hooves. “Are you sure this is safe, Rainbow Dash? That sure looks like a long way down.” “Of course it’s safe!” said Pinkie Pie. “It’s not very far. Just move your little rumps! You can—” Twilight Sparkle set a hoof on her shoulder. “Pinkie, we don’t have time for that.” “W-well, hey,” said Snips, pointing at Twilight Sparkle with an accusatory hoof. “She used magic to lift your friend across. Can’t she carry us across, too?” Snails nodded. “Yeah, carry us! With your magic.” “Oh, uh!” Rainbow Dash winced. Her eyes turned skyward, unable to meet the colts’ gazes. “I-I mean, we could, but... Oh!” With a smirk, she beckoned for the colts to cross to her side. “You’re the legendary hero, right? Surely, you can jump across a tiny, little gap like this on your own.” Snails frowned and methodically shook his head. “I’m Snails. Not Shirley.” Snips tried to swallow, but choked on the lump in his throat. He looked up at Snails. “Whadaya say, buddy? Together?” “Yeah!” Snails pawed at the loose gravel under his hooves. “We can do this!” With a running start, Snips and Snails leapt toward the other edge of the chasm with forehooves extended. Their faces dropped when they fell short of the edge, plummeting toward the ground below. Their screams echoed against the face of the mountainside, and the wind tore away at their coats. After a few seconds of free-fall, a rainbow-streaked blur swooped underneath them, slowing their descent. “Whoa, that was a close one! You guys almost made it.” Rainbow Dash tilted her head back and cackled. With a broad push of her wings, she glided back up the face of the mountainside, colts in tow. Snips and Snails looked at each other and winced, before quietly joining Rainbow Dash with a half-hearted chuckle. ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞ Rainbow Dash scowled. “What’s taking you two so long?” Snips’s legs shook violently as he strained to remain on his hooves. He shuffled his legs forward one at a time, slowly climbing the steep, rocky incline. “I’m,” he grunted, “trying!” “Oh dear,” said Fluttershy from atop the two colts’ backs. “I’m being a terrible bother to both of you. Please, you can just set me down here. I can walk on my own.” She started to climb down. The veins in Snails’s neck bulged as he struggled to compensate for her sudden movement. “Heavy!” “Suck it up!” ordered Rainbow Dash as she hovered above the colts. “This is a strength conditioning drill. The two of you are gonna need to bulk up fast if you want to have any hopes of defeating Nightmare Moon.” With a pair of loud whines, the two colts continued to trudge along the path, hoisting Fluttershy up the mountain. ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞ After a long and strenuous trek, the herd reached a clearing near the summit. Snips and Snails collapsed, panting and sweating profusely. The canopies of tall ash trees provided a cool refuge from the hot afternoon sun. “Who knew,” panted Snips, “being heroes would be such hard work?” “My everything hurts,” said Snails. “Whoa!” gasped Rainbow Dash. “Hang in there, hero! We’re not out of the woods yet!” She alertly pointed in front of them. A hulking, muscular goblin stood in their path, snarling menacingly. Reaching behind himself, he grasped the handle of an oversized wooden hammer. He swung the mighty weapon in the direction of the ponies, giving his best effort to win via intimidation. Rainbow Dash turned back and pumped her hooves toward Snips and Snails. “An opponent! Now we can see the legendary hero in action.” The blood quickly drained from Snails’s face. His voice drawled into a drawn-out, monotone, “Uhhh...” “T-The hero needs his rest,” Snips interjected. “Rainbow Dash, you’ll fight on the hero’s behalf.” He pointed a stubby foreleg at the foe. “Go! Vanquish that goblin.” Snails giggled. “Yeah! Vanquish it!” Rainbow Dash blinked for a moment, then grinned. She delivered a crisp salute. “Sure thing, boss. You can count on me.” Drawing her katana, she crouched at the ready. “You messed with the wrong party, bub. The legendary hero says that you’ve gotta go. And now I, Rainbow Dash, will knock you down!” She promptly fell sideways, landing awkwardly on her side. Rainbow Dash rushed a hoof to her crumpled side. “Zounds, my wing! It is most certainly broken. Oh, the equinity!” She turned to the young colts and reached out a hoof towards them. “Forgive me, hero! It’s all up to you now.” The goblin coldly regarded the fallen pegasus before turning its attention to Snips and Snails. He approached the two young ponies and brandished its warhammer. His lips curled upward to reveal rows of jagged, meat-shredding teeth. An unadorned butter knife wobbled in the air, suspended by telekinesis just above Snips’s head. He crouched in front of his friend, glaring down the advancing Mystic. “Don’t take another s-step, ugly! You d-don’t know who you’re up against.” Snails’s breathing came quick and raspy. His eyes darted between Snips and the approaching mallet. “Snips! Get back!” With a snort, the goblin flexed his arms and lifted the warhammer high into the air. His eyes glinted and his mouth curled into a sadistic grin. He tensed his muscles, preparing to make the pudgy unicorn in front of him much wider and shorter. He howled in rage, then, when the Hero’s Medal unexpectedly flew into his eye. He dropped the hammer, clutching tenderly at his bruised eye. Snails hurled his saddlebags and cloak at the incapacitated Mystic, causing the screams to grow more inflamed. “We needa go, Snips! It’s dangerous!” Without another word, he turned and fled, magically dragging his friend by the tail. “But Snails!” Snips flailed his hooves as he scraped across the trail, trying to slow his friend’s retreat. “What about becoming a hero?” Before Snails could reply, the pair disappeared down the trail, safely out of harm’s way. Rainbow Dash’s eyes gleamed. The discarded Hero’s Medal laid before her, just out of hoof’s reach. She beamed at Twilight Sparkle, ears bristling with excitement. “Ha! What now? Didn’t I tell you? Now, I can just grab th—ghck!” The goblin’s warhammer slammed underneath her jaw, lifting her a meter into the air. “Dashie!” called out Pinkie Pie. She snapped her hoof forward, causing her crossbow to spring to life. “Watch out!” “I noticed,” Rainbow Dash grumbled as she tried to relocate her jaw with a hoof. “I guess tha—oof!” The goblin’s strike hit her in the gut, knocking the wind from her. “Rainbow, please be careful.” Fluttershy hopped from hoof to hoof, torn between getting closer to assist her friend and staying as far away from the fighting as possible. “Don’t worry, RD, I’ve got this covered.” Twilight Sparkle leapt in front of the rampaging foe. A small serpentine trail of fire snaked its way around each of her hooves. “This goblin may be acting all tough with his large wooden hammer, but let’s see how tough he is when it’s on fire!” The tongue of fire sprang forth. As the flames came in contact with the goblin’s warhammer, they spread rapidly across its surface. The goblin recoiled at first, nearly tossing the weapon away from him. As he watched the weapon burn, his grin grew more sinister and malicious. He pivoted on his heels, swung his flaming hammer, and connected a blow squarely on Rainbow Dash’s shoulder. Rainbow Dash skid across the clearing, kicking up dust and gravel with her hooves. She grunted and shifted her balance, favoring her injured foreleg. “Apparently,” she said, panting heavily, “he’s still pretty tough when it’s on fire.” Twilight Sparkle swallowed. “Oops?” After wounding one of his opponents, the goblin turned his attention to the next closest pony. Twilight Sparkle yelped, curled up into a ball, and summoned a shell of magic from her horn. The goblin assaulted the Protect spell with a rain of enflamed hammer blows. The dual threat of blunt and fire damage fractured the spell, causing hairline cracks to grow across its surface. The goblin reached overhead, readying one final strike to destroy the spell. As his muscles tensed in anticipation, he cried out and tipped backwards. Looking behind himself, he saw that the head of his mallet had become enshrined in a block of ice. “No need to be such a hothead!” yelled Pinkie Pie. “It’s high time we put this meanie on ice.” Fluttershy tackled the creature, knocking him off-balance and separating him from his weapon. She broke off her attack just as quickly as she started, instead rushing to Rainbow Dash’s aid. Pinkie Pie hurled more chunks of ice in the goblin’s direction, intentionally aiming wide. The goblin whined, looking between the magical earth pony and his discarded weapon. With a loud curse in the goblin tongue, he turned and fled down the mountain path, as fast as his stout, clawed feet would carry him. “Yeah, that’s right! You’d better just ski right down that mountain.” Pinkie Pie galloped over to Twilight Sparkle, helping her up to her hooves. “It’s cool, Twilight; the meanie’s gone. Are you okay?” “Thanks, I’m okay.” Twilight Sparkle dusted herself off. “Luckily that Protect spell was enough to keep him at bay.” Rainbow Dash inhaled sharply as Fluttershy’s Cure Beam set about healing her wounds. “Thanks, Fluttershy. That stupid mallet really did a number on my shoulder.” She hesitantly rotated her shoulder, testing its soreness. “Never mind that,” said Fluttershy. “We need to take care of your poor wing.” She gently lifted Rainbow Dash’s wing with a hoof and inspected it. Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “My wing? What’s wrong with it?” “You broke it in that terrible fall!” Rainbow Dash scrunched up her mouth as she pondered what Fluttershy was referring to. With a start, her ears snapped upright. “Oh yeah!” She crumpled her wing off Fluttershy’s hoof, while flailing her own hooves about in an overly-dramatic fashion. “Ow! The pain! The unbearable pain!” She paused, looking up at Fluttershy to see if she was buying the act. She was not. “Your wing isn’t broken.” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck. “Heh. Surprise?” Fluttershy stared down at Rainbow Dash with unblinking eye lights. “I don’t understand,” she said in a flat tone. “Why would you lie about being hurt?” “I’m glad you asked!” Smirking, Rainbow Dash hopped up onto her hooves and walked over to the battle’s spoils. With a flip of her hoof, the Hero’s Medal spun up into the air and landed around her neck. “With the runts out of the way, the legendary hero of Sugardia is now none other than yours truly: Rainbow Dash!” She puffed out her chest and lifted her leg in a triumphant pose. “That’s what this was about?” Fluttershy marched up to her until the two were nose-to-nose. “You pretended to be injured so that you wouldn’t have to fight? So that those poor, helpless colts would do all the work for you? So that they would be scared half to death?” Rainbow Dash held her out at foreleg’s length. “Whoa! C’mon, Fluttershy! Those foals weren’t cut out for serious hero stuff. I was just helping them to figure that out.” “How?” Fluttershy knocked Rainbow Dash’s hooves away. “By nearly getting them killed?” “Fluttershy,” said Twilight Sparkle, meekly raising her hoof, “she wasn’t going to let them get hurt. The plan was just—” Fluttershy reeled around. “You knew?” The rebuke caused Twilight Sparkle to flinch instinctively. “She made a plan to put a couple of helpless children in harm’s way, and you didn’t do a thing to stop her?” The lights of her eyes narrowed. “I’m disappointed in you. Both of you.” “But, I just...” Twilight Sparkle bit her lip and gently lowered her hoof. Her tail curled up between her legs. “Well...” said Pinkie Pie, letting the words slowly roll off her tongue, “you weren’t going to let the goblin hurt them, right, Dashie?” Rainbow Dash emphatically shook her head. “No, of course not!” “And when they fell off that cliff, you were there to catch them.” A weak smile crossed her lips. “You weren’t really trying to put them in danger, right? You were just trying to give them a little scare?” “Right!” Rainbow Dash nodded at Fluttershy while pointing a hoof at Pinkie Pie. “Pranks! Harmless pranks.” “I guess pranks and scares can be fun sometimes. And after all, Dashie just wanted to protect them from the really scary stuff, so I guess her heart was in the right place.” Pinkie Pie turned to Fluttershy, broadening her smile. “Nopony got hurt, and Dashie seems really sorry, so we can let her off with a warning this time. Right, Fluttershy?” Fluttershy trotted ahead of the group. “She’d better not put innocent creatures in harm’s way again.” Rainbow Dash sighed and wiped her brow. “Thanks for the save, Pinkie. Fluttershy sure can be scary when she’s mad.” She followed Fluttershy along the mountain path. “Looks like there’s some sorta cave opening ahead. C’mon, Twi.” “Okay.” ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞ 600 AD Puripony Mountains—Sacred Cave  The party entered the cave in silence. Each pony was trapped within her own thoughts, reflecting on the recent argument and their journey as a whole. Nopony knew what to say or do in order to maintain the peace. Upon stepping inside of the cavern, however, their thoughts immediately unified upon one issue. “Why would—” Fluttershy started. “How is she—” asked Twilight Sparkle. Pinkie Pie blinked. “Well, she certainly, uh—” “What,” Rainbow Dash said flatly. The cave itself was dark and comprised on damp stone walls, much like any other cavern. It was not the cavern itself that the ponies were reacting to, but rather its occupant. A mint-colored unicorn was balancing on her hind legs, slowly walking her way around the perimeter of the cave. When she noticed her guests, she gave a disarming smile and carefully stepped toward them, windmilling her forelegs to keep balance. “Heya! How’s it going?” Rainbow Dash leaned away, raising a foreleg apprehensively. “Good. We’re good,” she said slowly. “How are you?” She closed her eyes and grinned. “Awesome! It’s great to have guests. We’re gonna have loads of fun together—I can tell!” She held up a foreleg for a hoof bump. “High five!” Rainbow Dash stared at the hoof. “Five?” “Lyra?” A second mare, cream colored with a pink and navy blue mane, approached from the rear of the cave. “Is somepony there? I heard—oh for the love of the Sun!” “Bon Bon!” Lyra waved to her friend with both forelegs. “Lookit, lookit! We’ve got visitors!” Bon Bon gritted her teeth. “Exactly. Visitors. So could you please try to act like a normal unicorn for a change?” Lyra frowned and rubbed her chin with a hoof. After a few seconds of contemplation, she grinned from ear to ear. “Nah. I’d rather be a human. Whoosh!” She ran forward a few meters, teetered, and fell roughly on her rump. “Yowie!” “A human?” Fluttershy turned to Pinkie Pie. “Those creatures are real?” “Uh-uh,” said Pinkie Pie, shaking their head. “They’re just mythological creatures, like the koala.” “Lyra and Bon Bon?” Twilight Sparkle asked rhetorically, arching an eyebrow. “You don’t say.” Bon Bon trotted to the side, blocking the ponies’ view of Lyra with her body. “Please ignore my chronically enfeebled friend. So...” She arched her own eyebrow as she stared at the Hero’s Medal hanging prominently around Rainbow Dash’s neck. “Mmm.” The two groups sized each other up in silence, save the howling wind that was sucked in through the cavern’s entrance. “So wait, they have the Lyrabon?” Rainbow Dash asked Twilight Sparkle. “Are they here for the sword?” asked Lyra at the same time, seated behind Bon Bon. “Yes,” growled Twilight Sparkle and Bon Bon in unison. “Great!” Rainbow Dash flared her wings and wiggled the Hero’s Medal with a hoof. “Name’s Rainbow Dash. As you can clearly see, I’m the legendary hero of Sugardia. Got the Hero’s Medal and everything.” Lyra flopped onto her back. “Ugh, this again?” Bon Bon rolled her eyes up toward the cavern’s stalactites and shook her head. “I’m not sure why you sound surprised. It’s always this.” “No, this is important!” Pinkie Pie appeared by Rainbow Dash’s side. “We need the sword in order to stop Nightmare Moon.” Fluttershy looked down at her hooves. “Everypony is counting on us.” Bon Bon’s ears twitched lightly. “Well, hero? Is this true?” “Hell yeah!” Rainbow Dash pumped her hoof. “We’re gonna kick Nightmare Moon’s teeth in. That’s why we need the Lyrabon.” Standing back up on her hind legs, Lyra planted an elbow on the small of Bon Bon’s back and propped herself up, much to Bon Bon’s bemusement. “Why does everypony always screw that part up?” asked Lyra. “A hero is defined by their soul, not their weapon or their own abilities. Giving the Lyrabon to somepony like you won’t accomplish anything.” Rainbow Dash hovered in front of Lyra’s face. “And what’s that supposed to mean?” Bon Bon shook her head. “You’ll see. Let’s just get this started already.” “Start?” Pinkie Pie tilted her head. “What are we starting?" “The test.” The two guardians’ eyes glowed in unison with a hot, white light. Currents of magic lifted them up into the air, rustling their manes and tails with each ebb and flow of power. They smirked at the four ponies below them. Rainbow Dash barely unsheathed her katana before Bon Bon assaulted her with a series of flying bucks. She deflected as many of the hooves as she could, but couldn’t prevent a few well-timed attacks from pelting her in the face. Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle fired their weapons into the air, trying to lead their aim in front of the other airborne pony. Lyra laughed off their attacks, weaving effortlessly between each shot. “Is this all you’ve got? You can’t even hit me.” Bon Bon scowled at Rainbow Dash. “And you’re not trying to hit me. What gives?” She continued to rain kicks down onto her. Rainbow Dash weaved and deflected as many of the attacks as she could. “You’re a pony! Or at least, you look like one.” A particularly fierce kick sent vibrations along the length of the blade, rattling her teeth. “Killing Mystics is one thing. But I can’t—I won’t—kill other ponies.” Bon Bon grinned. “Admirable! But unless you strike back, you won’t—” Her sentence was interrupted as the flat edge of the katana connected with the side of her face, knocking her toward the ground. Rainbow Dash chuckled as she flapped her wings above her opponent. “Who said I wouldn’t strike back?” Lyra yelped and raised a Protect spell in the nick of time. Fluttershy’s jet thrusters blasted her into the bubble with full force, sending Lyra spinning head over hooves into the side of the cavern. “No lethal attacks,” Fluttershy said, “but we will defend ourselves.” She stared down her opponent. “For our sake, and for everypony’s sake.” Lyra propped herself off the wall with a hoof and shook her head, trying to rebalance herself in the air. Before she could fully recover, her hoof was frozen to the wall, pinning her in place. “Seriously!” yelled Pinkie Pie from below. “Both of you crazy, floaty ponies need to chill out.” Bon Bon looked up from her prone position in time to see a pair of ponies closing in on her. Twilight Sparkle slowly rotated her workbench hammer above her head and eyed Bon Bon coolly. From above, Rainbow Dash’s hooves crackled with a surge of electricity. “So,” said Bon Bon, “you can use magic.” Lyra’s horn glowed with a teal light; the ice encasing her hoof shattered. She looked down at Bon Bon. “Guess we should take these girls seriously, eh, Bon Bon? Y’know, we could use that move.” She wiggled her eyebrows playfully. Bon Bon sighed. “Of course you want to use that. Still,” she said, smiling at her approaching opponents, “we haven’t needed that technique since Sir Spike challenged us. Heck, why not?” She looked back up at Lyra and smiled. “Ready, hun?” She leapt over Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash’s heads and drifted toward the roof of the cave. Lyra pumped her hooves. “Aww yeah! Let’s do this!” With a light twirl, she dove from the roof of the cave, plummeting toward Bon Bon in midair. The two guardians collided in a burst of magic that flooded the room with teal light. Rainbow Dash instinctively shielded her eyes. As she lowered her hooves and looked once more, her wings froze and she crashed to the ground. The two ponies had vanished, and in their place stood a towering creature of radiant energy. The beast’s lower half closely resembled one of the guardians—right down to her pink-and-navy-blue tail—except that Rainbow Dash’s head only came up to her withers. The similarities with a pony ended at that exact point; in place of a neck, a humanoid torso jutted out of the equestrian form. Silky, mint-colored hair flowed down the creature’s flesh-colored chest. A flat, human face sneered at Rainbow Dash. With an extended index finger, the luminescent centaur beckoned the ponies closer. Rainbow Dash backpedalled, bumping her hindquarters against a rocky outcropping. She tried to swallow, but her tongue felt as if it took up all of the free space in her mouth. “T-This is their secret technique? Lyrabon...” Twilight Sparkle leapt to her friend’s side and brandished her plasma gun at Lyrabon. “Stay strong, girls! Together, we can do this.” Fluttershy hovered overhead, spilling dark exhaust onto the damp stone floor. “Don’t forget why we’re here!” “I believe in all of you!” Rainbow Dash saw Pinkie Pie bounce up out of the corner of her eye. “S’no way we can lose.” Rainbow Dash looked between the faces of her three friends, each smiling and brimming with determination. She inhaled slowly, then let out a sharp snort. “Right! Time to take what’s mine!” Tightening her bite on the katana’s handle, Rainbow Dash blasted off the ground. She hurtled at full speed toward Lyrabon. Faster than anypony could blink, the centaur swung her fist in a crescent arc, slamming the pegasus sideways into the stone wall. The cavern reverberated with a sickening crunch as Rainbow Dash crumpled to the ground below. “Rainbow!” Fluttershy jetted to her friend’s side at full speed. Her eyes radiated with the emerald light of her Cure Beam, undoing Rainbow Dash’s severe trauma. Lyrabon trotted toward the pegasi; each of her towering hoofsteps brought her a meter closer to the pair. “Freeze, you mean meanie-pants!” A sheet of ice shot out from Pinkie Pie’s hooves, creating a transparent wall between her friends and enemy. Unfazed, Lyrabon turned and bucked the ice wall. Each sharp kick sent a new wave of fractures into the barrier. Rainbow Dash gasped for breath as she rose back to her hooves, blinking back tears as her injuries were undone. “Look out!” she croaked. She grabbed Fluttershy and leapt backwards just in time to avoid a shower of razor-sharp ice shards. Lyrabon crumbled the remains of the wall with a kick, only to stagger as a trio of plasma bolts raked across her flank. “Stay back!” Twilight Sparkle sharply waved Fluttershy back as she provided cover fire. “She’s way too strong. Stick to ranged attacks!” Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth. “No! We can’t just give up like that.” She beat her wings once more and took to the air. “I’m taking this she-beast down my way.” Lyrabon smirked with malice at Rainbow Dash’s approach. Her palms glowed with green magic even more intensely than the rest of her body. A whirling vortex appeared in the center of the cave, turning the howling wind in the cavern into a deafening roar. Rainbow Dash thrashed her wings with all of her strength, until the muscles at the base of her wings burned with unbearable pain. Her struggling was for naught; the cyclone pulled her in, sending her on an uncontrolled tumble before tossing her unceremoniously into a heap on the floor. “I see you, Rainbow Dash! Hang on!” Blue waves of healing energy billowed from Pinkie Pie’s body and drifted over Rainbow Dash’s limp form. The latter coughed and spat until the taste of iron left her mouth. “Fluttershy, we’ve got to get on the offensive!” Twilight Sparkle shouted above the roar of the tornado. She tossed a stream of magical flames at her friend. “Catch!” “Catch?!” Fluttershy screamed incredulously. “Eep!” She instinctively raised a hoof to block the incoming magic. To her amazement, the magical heat absorbed into her foreleg, turning its metal an iridescent red. “Oh, um, I see. T-Take this!” Streams of rocket flame erupted from behind her hoof, propelling the Burning Hoof at Lyrabon. The tornado’s gusts pushed against the projectile, yet it mostly found its mark, catching Lyrabon on the shoulder. She roared in pain, clutching a hand against the seared green hair covering the wound. “How?” said Rainbow Dash between coughs. “How are we supposed to win? She’s way too strong.” Her tail curled up between her shaking hind legs. “It—It’s just not possible! I can’t get anywhere near her!” Twilight Sparkle grit her teeth as her plasma shots were blown off-target. “I can’t hit her with that cyclone in the way!” Pinkie Pie tugged at her mane with both hooves. “I’m running out of ice-related puns!” Her mane whipped about with increasing violence, and she suddenly found herself lifting off the ground. “Yipes!” Lyrabon pushed the whirlwind forward with her magic aura. The tornado sucked Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle up off the ground, tossing them about violently, ignoring their screams of protest. Their crumpled forms skidded roughly across the stone floor of the cavern, sliding to rest at Rainbow Dash’s hooves. Pinkie Pie stood back up, swaying lightly from side to side. Rainbow Dash initially presumed that she was dizzy from spinning in the cyclone or from her injuries, until she started to sing. Don’t quit now! We can’t lose this fight. Just push back with all of your might! Believe in you— Lyrabon’s our toughest foe yet. Stand as one, and tackle this threat! Believe in me— Even though faced with these doubt, crippled by fear, Still we must carry on. Don’t give up hope. Trust your heart. Keep your friends near. If you are hurt, this song will heal all your wounds! If you lose faith, this song will motivate you! If you’re afraid, your friends are all by your side! If you should fall, then I’ll just lift you back up! Don’t give up, don’t give in, fight ‘til the very end! As she sang, Fluttershy shone her Cure Beam at Pinkie Pie. Defying the laws of physics, the beam swirled around her, pulsing out waves of healing in rhythm to her song. One by one, the ponies felt the Aria Beam washing over them, invigorating them with new strength. Rainbow Dash extended her wings and snorted. “Die, dammit!” she screamed at Lyrabon, pouncing at her once more. “I don’t lose!” Her wings beat mercilessly against the cyclone’s currents, each feather and muscle finely-tuned toward keeping herself moving forward. Yet still, she felt herself succumbing to the wind. “I can’t lose!” As she felt herself slipping away once more, she twisted in a quick contortion. A Wind Slash tore out from her katana, heading straight in Lyrabon’s direction. As the sharp shockwave of air ripped through the cavern, it collided with the whirlwind before it could reach Lyrabon. The tornado bucked and swayed before slowly dissipating into nothingness. “I did it?” Rainbow Dash asked aloud to nopony in particular. Even without a tornado, the flapping of her wings generated enough of a breeze to cool the sweat beneath her fur. “I can attack her now?” The corners of Lyrabon’s lips curled upwards as she wagged a finger at Rainbow Dash. With a swift leap off her back hooves, she landed next to Fluttershy. Before the robot could protest, Lyrabon scooped her up and chucked her straight at Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy collided with her in midair, sent both of them plummeting to the ground, and crushed Rainbow Dash underneath the weight of so much steel. “Oh-my-goodness, oh-my-goodness, Rainbow, I am so-so-so sorry!” Fluttershy removed herself as quickly as she could, bathing Rainbow Dash in more healing light. Rainbow Dash’s face contorted in pain that was far more than physical. She squeezed her eyes shut, preventing tears that would not come. “Fall back! Everypony run for it! This is impossible.” She covered her head with her hooves. “She’s too damn strong! I c-can’t do this!” “Yes, you can.” Rainbow Dash slowly lifted her chin off the ground to look up at Fluttershy. Her muscles were too fatigued to flinch as an explosion rocked behind Fluttershy, bathing everything in the cavern with light and casting a strong backlight onto the robopony. “You’re strong, Rainbow.” Behind them, Lyrabon meekly held out her arms to shield herself, but the steady stream of Antipode rained down on her with explosive force. She roared in pain as the stream of magic pushed her back, preventing her from moving. “Strong?” replied Rainbow Dash, her voice ringing hollow. “Yeppers! It’s not just your muscles, either! It’s your heart.” Pinkie Pie sat back on her haunches, channeling a constant stream of ice from her hooves. She turned her head back toward Rainbow Dash and smiled. “I know, I know, it sounds cheesy, but it’s true! It’s what’s on the inside that matters most!” “Dash!” shouted Twilight Sparkle. Her horn was alight with a torrent of flames. Every muscle in her body was visibly tensed, from her snout to her hooves. She stole a glance at Rainbow Dash. “We made it this far because we all believe in each other. Don’t give up on us. Don’t give up on yourself!” With a shudder, her contribution to the Antipode gave out, as did Pinkie Pie’s. Rainbow Dash’s eyes unfocused. “Don’t give up on...” she murmured. With a flash, her eyes focused once more on Lyrabon. The centaur shrugged off the wounds from the magical onslaught and returned Rainbow Dash’s gaze. Lyrabon gave her a bemused look and arched an eyebrow. Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow and flattened her ears. “Right. Even if this is totally hopeless, I can’t give up. Not yet. Not when other ponies are counting on me.” Lyrabon grinned. “Fluttershy!” snapped Rainbow Dash. “We need a distraction. Can you buy us a few seconds?” For a moment, Fluttershy stood perfectly still. With a curt nod, she turned to face Lyrabon. “Okay, I’ll t-try!” She leapt forward and opened the panels on her flank. Twin lasers blasted into Lyrabon, eliciting screams of rage. “Twilight! Cover us.” Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “Me and Pinkie will take care of this.” Twilight Sparkle’s eyes darted between her two friends. “You and...” She set her jaw and nodded. “Okay. You can count on me.” Lyrabon turned and bucked at Fluttershy. With a quick twist of her underwing jets, Fluttershy blasted herself sideways out of harm’s way, her metal hooves shooting sparks as she slid across the stone floor. Repointing her wing jets forward, she flew into Lyrabon, Flutter Tackling her directly in the torso. Lyrabon staggered and clutched her chest with a hand. “You know what to do, Dashie!” Pinkie Pie tossed a glistening orb of sub-zero magic up toward the roof of the cave. Taking her cue, Rainbow Dash leapt into the air, approaching the ice at a blazing speed. Lyrabon reached behind her to grab a small boulder from the floor of the cavern. With a quick spin, she hurled the stone in the direction of the pegasus. A mere instant before impact, a translucent purple bubble enclosed around Rainbow Dash; the rock shattered harmlessly against Twilight Sparkle’s Protect spell. Upon touching the magical spark, Rainbow Dash’s katana hummed with frozen potential. “You can’t stop us here! You can’t!” She flipped through the air and nose-dived straight toward her foe. “We need to win this fight for her!” The Ice Sword technique slid effortlessly from forelock to barrel to ground. Rainbow Dash hopped back, assessing her enemy. Lyrabon grinned at her. To Rainbow Dash’s horror, the centaur appeared to be completely undamaged by the attack. Rainbow Dash twisted her neck back, readying another slash, when a flash of green light momentarily blinded her. Lyra and Bon Bon stood before her—Bon Bon on three hooves, Lyra on two—each holding one foreleg aloft. “That’s enough,” said Lyra. Bon Bon nodded. “We yield.” “Uwa?” replied Rainbow Dash. She lifted a foreleg and leaned away from the magical guardians. “We will bestow the legendary blade unto you,” continued Bon Bon. “Well, more or less.” Lyra winked at Rainbow Dash. “It’s cool, though. You know exactly what to do. Anywho,” she said, patting Bon Bon gently on the head, “I better get going. See ya soon!” With that, Lyra’s form glowed an intense shade of teal before diffusing into the stone wall. Bon Bon smiled once more at Rainbow Dash before glowing herself. She also disappeared, but unlike her friend, she left something behind. Where she once stood, a small silver object reappeared on the cavern floor. In stark silence, the four ponies circled around the object. It was the steel blade of a broadsword: immaculately polished, sharpened to the finest edge, and roughly severed at its base. The sword’s hilt was nowhere to be found. In light of everything—the epic battle, the thunderous tornado, and now the hollow victory—the deafening silence lasted for what felt like hours, or even days. Eventually, Pinkie Pie was the first to speak up. “That’s it?” she whispered. “I don’t understand,” said Twilight Sparkle, shaking her head. “The sword is broken. How can we defeat Nightmare Moon with just a blade?” “We can’t even repair it without the hilt,” said Fluttershy. She rubbed her foreleg against the back of the other. “Assuming that anypony can even fix a legendary sword.” The cave lapsed back into silence. After another pause of indeterminate length, Rainbow Dash reached down. Carefully biting down on the blade, she lifted it up and placed it gently into her saddlebags. “Right,” she said, smiling back at her friends. “Ready to go?” “Go?” Twilight Sparkle shared confused glances with her other friends before finally settling her gaze on Rainbow Dash. “Go where?” ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞ 600 AD Frog’s Residence “Rainbow Dash!” Frog welcomed her with a hug, and proceeded to hug the rest of the visitors in turn. “My, my, my, but this is a surprise! You’ve only been gone for the afternoon. I didn’t expect to see you for at least a full day. Come in, please; I want to hear absolutely everything.” “It was actually a pretty crazy ordeal,” laughed Twilight Sparkle. She seated herself on one of the pillows that Frog had set out for her guests. “A pair of colts, a pair of mares—” “Oh dear, Frog.” Fluttershy hovered gently above everypony else in the room. She pointed a hoof at the cloth draping hanging along the wall. “This decoration has mud stains all over it.” Frog chuckled. “Oh, Fluttershy, of course it has a little grime on it. I do everything in my power to keep my accommodations immaculate, but when the drapings are literally touching a dirt wall, well, sometimes things can’t be avoided.” Her cheeks turned a light hue of red. Fluttershy stared down at Frog for a moment. “But, um,” she said, turning back to the draping, “I don’t think that’s it. It almost looks like some sort of critter was stomping on this, even though it’s hanging on the wall.” Her attention was drawn to another section of the decoration. “Oh my, it also looks like the fabric was torn here, and then somepony stitched it back together.” Frog laughed harder, waving her hoof dismissively. “Fluttershy, honestly, it’s all right! These kind of accidents are bound to happen in a base d'opération such as this one. That draping was probably damaged and repaired who knows how many years prior. You simply aren’t remembering every little detail from your last visit, I’m sure. Anyway!” She clapped her webbed pads together in glee. “Dish, dish, dish. You were about to tell me all about your adventure today.” “Right,” continued Twilight Sparkle. “So we—RD? You too?” She turned fully to face her friend. “Why is everypony picking through Frog’s stuff?” Rainbow Dash had a deep frown stuck to her face. Her eyes danced about the inside of the pit, searching for something. She smiled as her gaze settled upon Frog’s dress form, still displaying the same gown from before. She glided over and landed beside the dress form. A giddy squeal escaped Frog’s lips. “I knew it! I knew it. You made quite a show of feigning disinterest in my work earlier, but I knew it. A mare of your elegance simply cannot resist the allure of high fashion.” She moved closer to Rainbow Dash, half-trotting and half-skipping. “That piece there should be close enough to your measurements, so if you’d like to try it on, I could resize—” Her jaw locked open in mid-sentence. Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy gasped collectively. “Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?” Twilight Sparkle was barely audible, as both of her hooves were nearly completely covering her own face. “You can’t just destroy other... ponies’...” Rainbow Dash held her hoof against the snapped neck of the dress form; its head hung limply against its own withers. Rainbow Dash buried her muzzle inside the neck of the plastic pony. After a second, she pulled back, clutching a severed, golden sword hilt in her mouth. A single blue sapphire was embedded into the pommel. A few inches of fractured steel blade jutted out above the golden crossguard. Rainbow Dash turned to Frog, whose eyes had grown to the size of dinner plates. “See, when we only found half of the sword up on top of Puripony, I knew we’d find the other half somewhere in here.” Frog frowned and swallowed noisily. “You knew? In here? I’m afraid I don’t follow.” She shook her head rapidly. “Why would you expect for me to be holding onto half of the Lyrabon?” Rainbow Dash lowered her head to the ground. She stuck a hoof underneath the ribbon of the Hero’s Medal and gently slid it off her neck. As she raised her head back up, she smiled at Frog and hoofed the Hero’s Medal to her. “Because it’s yours.”