//------------------------------// // Chapter 29: Tales a Plenty // Story: Turmoil Rising // by JFT //------------------------------// He couldn’t find it. It has been some time since Flurry Heart led the kind old ram into the library to play hide and seek with the guards outside, yet despite all that time, and keeping the child oblivious to what he was doing, Grogar was no closer to finding the information he was looking for. This place was enormous; he wouldn’t have minded staying here for hours on end, but time was not a luxury he could afford now, as it was only a matter of it before the Crystal Princess returned. He was not likely to get a second chance. “Blast…” he grumbled, as he came to the end of another book, getting no closer to the answers. There had to be some way to thin out the numbers, some noticeable mark or sigil that would differentiate books or a book from the rest. “Again…” he groaned as he came to the end of another one. He had hoped that the one titled “The last memoirs of Amore” would’ve yielded something, but he had no such luck; all he ended up with was her supposed portrait printed on the last page. “Where would you hide it, Princess of Love?” he addressed the picture. “Where would you hide the darkest secrets of your precious empire? How would you mask that which nobody else should find, yet know yourself what to look for?” He was met with silence, not that he expected the picture to speak. His sight traced across the portrait of the tall, regal unicorn mare, her cobalt crown sitting on top of her sparkly raspberry mane, slowly turning blue further towards its tip, her very pale vermillion fur being adorned in blue trappings holding a golden heart, and hear rear end bearing… the mark of a blue snowflake, surrounded by a horseshoe. Something clicked to him. He hasn’t tried looking through the books that bore her so-called “cutie mark”, it would’ve lightened his workload a lot. His horns began to glow brighter, his eyes turning red, and in a matter of moments, the books that were still levitating were sifted through at rapid speed, setting them back on their proper shelves, until only 3 books remained. The first was a book he’s held before, “Amore: The First Crystal Princess”, slowly putting it away, and the second as well, was “Magic of the Crystal Heart”; it seemed that these two were the originals, and the ones that were provided by his co-conspirator were merely copies. After he put it away, he focused on the third book. “Well now… what’s this?” he mumbled. He flipped through the book quickly, his eyes widening, and a smile cracking upon his face. This book… perhaps he was actually onto something. SKREEE! He got startled! A loud screeching noise suddenly erupted and echoed throughout the entire library, and even though it lasted for only a few moments, he immediately knew where it came from. He ran past all the numerous shelves, still holding the book, to where the open window was. There was nothing in sight, but he noticed a green oozing substance spilling over the edge of the opening; he knew what this was. His horns lit up for a moment in dark light before fading out again. “Grandpa Gar!” The yell caught him off guard. The little alicorn was behind him, yet he didn’t hear her coming. Hoping she hadn’t noticed it yet, he quickly slipped the book under his cloak, before slowly turning around. The girl was flying towards him, so it was no wonder he didn’t notice anything. Flurry Heart landed behind him. “Grandpa Gar, what was that noise?” He turned back, looking at the oozed open window. “Some kind of night shrieker, little girl. Not very dangerous on their own… but very loud. Which means, the guards will likely have heard that.” “What do we do now, Grandpa Gar?” she asked. “There’s only one thing we can, child,” the ram answered her. “We’ll have to go back to your room before they all come running here.” “What about then?” “Then?” he gave her an unassured look for a moment. “Then I think it’s time for you to return to bed.” “What? But you were here for so little and we weren’t caught!” the filly moaned. Yet he kept trying to push her to listen to reason. “And it will be a miracle if we’re not caught at this point. Besides, what will happen if your mother finds you out of bed?” “But I don’t wanna go back to bed! No no no!” she whined. The old ram was starting to get frustrated by the child’s attitude, but he could do nothing. He knew now that it’s only a matter of time before the Crystal Princess returned, he couldn’t get caught here, otherwise, he would risk losing an opening to exploit. Yet the same was the case for the princess’ daughter; he needed to stay in good graces with her, or she would likely blab out everything to somebody, exposing their plans, but he needed to get her to stop making so much complaining noise and get her to return to bed before her mother gets back. He needed something to distract her, to make her think of something else… A smile suddenly curled upon his face, as he looked at the filly again. “Tell me, little girl…” he asked, causing her to calm down for a moment. “Do you like to listen to stories?” And with a smile, Flurry Heart vigorously nodded. “Yes yes yes, I do!” “Tell you what, if we can get back to your room, I promise, I can tell you a story, the kind you’ve never heard before and never will again,” he said in a gleeful tone. “Wait, hold on. I think I misheard you,” Rainbow Dash said after hearing Twilight Sparkle’s quick explanation to the query. “Did you just say… a friend? King Sombra has A FRIEND?!” “I have to agree, Twilight,” Rarity concurred. “I’m having a hard time imagining that… monstrosity ever had a friend.” “Look everypony, I know it’s hard to believe what I just said, but it’s the truth,” the alicorn tried to elaborate further. “Sometime after King Sombra was destroyed, after the Crystal Empire returned, Cadence and I tried to look for any information about him that could give us some insight, in case he ever came back. And under the Crystal Castle’s throne room there’s an enchanted door which originally led me to find the Crystal Heart, but this time it led us to his study where he kept his journal. And in it, he described in great detail his relationship with Radiant Hope, the only pony to have ever been his friend, before…” she paused. “Before what?” Tempest Shadow curiously asked. The princess resumed. “The Crystal Heart showed both Sombra and her their future, their destiny. Radiant Hope was to become a princess and he… well… what he is now.” She lifted a letter bearing the broken seal of the Two Sisters. “This letter was the catalyst. When princesses Celestia and Luna recognized her gift with magic they invited her to study with them, and he ran away, into the Frozen North, where he found his “mother”.” “Mother? You mean that voice coming from the giant talking red crystal up on the surface wasn’t being facetious?” the fashionista inquired, her attention pulled away from her mane situation. “I fear that’s the case,” Twilight replied. “After that Sombra declared himself king and took over the Crystal Empire, while Radiant Hope alerted the Princesses about what he’s done. Celestia and Luna managed to banish Sombra, but he took the whole empire with him. And after that, the journal ended. And whatever happened to Radiant Hope, nopony knows what happened to her in the end.” “Not true, Twilight,” the wonderbolt said. “I think we know now what’s become of her…” She already knew. Based on what the pegasus and the zebra told her all pointed to that. The crystal pony’s path ended here, in the cold dark depths beneath the frozen wasteland. They all knew at this point, the silence was the only reasonable response to that. “We know she fulfilled her end,” Zecora broke the stillness, “but how, from the world above, did she come to descend?” A good question, for which the alicorn didn’t have an answer, none of them have. Yet it didn’t take long before the eternal scholar jumped to it right away, rummaging through the books, to find one that stood out, which had a bland and title-less cover. “This may be the one book you need, what little information I got came from it,” the shaman answered. The princess opened it, began reading through it, and after a short amount of time passed she finally spoke. “This is it. This is Radiant Hope’s diary. Most of what’s written at the beginning are her final days at the Crystal Empire before Sombra destroyed Princess Amore, then its aftermath when it disappeared.” “What about the rest?” Rainbow Dash inquired. “I was getting to that. Next, it talks about her time studying with the Princesses, but according to the diary she felt completely dejected from the whole experience; her home gone, the friend she betrayed-“ “She betrayed?” the broken unicorn voiced criticism. “From what I recall a few moments ago it was established that Sombra clearly betrayed her and the empire.” “Not the way she saw it, Tempest,” Twilight answered. “She may have told the Princesses to save the Crystal Empire, but at the same time, she also turned her back on a childhood friend in a heat of a moment, a decision that’s clear she regretted. She lost both in the end.” “So then what happened?” Rarity asked. “According to the diary she abandoned her position as a student and just left…” she stopped for a moment before realizing what she just said. “She voluntarily left Celestia and Luna’s tutelage! Can you imagine?! How could somepony ever think of doing-?!” “Twi! Chill!” the wonderbolt stopped her, putting her hoof on her shoulder. “You’re Twilighting.” “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I just…” She took in a deep breath and exhaled. “Okay, I’m good.” “So? Does it say what she did afterward?” the former lieutenant awaited an answer. “Yes, actually. It’s as far as I got. And it goes as follows,” Twilight said as she cleared her throat before she began reading out loud. I’ve arrived where it all ended, where my home once stood, and my best friend lived with me. Both are now gone because of my decision, because of one moment where I let my emotions get the better of me. I have to fix this. I have to make things right. I must find out where Sombra disappeared to on that day, to discover what’s changed him, and maybe I can find a way to undo what was done to him. I’ve managed to hold in my possession a few of his items before the empire disappeared, and in what little time I’ve spent studying in Canterlot, I’ve managed to learn a few useful spells. With the spell that tracks one’s magical essence, I will be able to follow the trail to where he went, however, I can already see my journey will not be easy, as his path seemed to have taken him into the darkness of the Frozen North. I only have enough provisions to last for a day, maybe two, but still, I must try. An unexpected predicament happened. I managed to follow Sombra’s trail into the frozen wasteland. I never would’ve imagined how my home could’ve suffered without the protection of Princess Amore’s Crystal Heart. This unkind cold endless dark is what it protected us from. Yet I didn’t expect that the eternal snowstorm would’ve ended by the time I had reached the end of the trail. A great red crystal is sticking out of the ground, and it seemed that only around it, the elements gave reprieve. And it spoke. A voice was coming out of the crystal, asking to know who I was and why I came here. After I explained myself, it revealed something to me: it knew Sombra; he came here, to this place, to embrace his destiny. This crystal, it claimed to have been his mother; she brought him into the world, with the sole purpose to destroy the Crystal Heart and free the rest of “his kind” that have been trapped under the Crystal Empire, so they could destroy it. However, when I asked why I received no response. Instead, the red crystal shot lightning at my hooves, and before I knew it, the ground under me gave out and I plummeted into darkness. By the time I awoke, I realized I was lying on something soft. It seems I fell through a roof of a building, and the bed in the room inside softened my fall. I’m yet to determine where exactly I am. I’ve searched the whole building, starting from the top of the tower in which I ended up and just in case, I blocked the hole in the roof through which I had fallen to make sure the snow won’t get in. This entire place has been buried under it. Whoever lived here had left a long time ago, but as to who I’m not quite sure. Several things hint that this place is Monoceria, the unicorn homeland, but what are the chances that it was buried under a mountain of ice and snow this whole time? I tried to explore the outside, only to be met with snow blocking everything, so I spent a good chunk of time clearing up the courtyard until I finally managed to reach the main gates. I had to break them down since they were frozen solid, only to be met with an open tunnel leading out on the other end, followed by a strong gust of wind. I fixed the gates to make sure the outside elements wouldn’t cause further damage to the interior of the castle; perhaps once all this is done I could tell others about what I found here. “So that explains why everything was cleared out on the way here,” Rainbow Dash spoke. “Radiant Hope was the one that removed all the ice and snow so we were able to find this place.” “Rainbow Dash, please sit down, I’m not finished yet,” Twilight told her. I managed to get out of the tunnel. I had expected to finally be out into the open again but instead ended up in a giant cavern made of ice and snow, and a gargantuan hole in the middle of it. All I could spot was another tunnel not far from it, yet when I tried to approach it I began hearing whispers. They were trying to repel me, telling me to go away, and after I tried descending further, the voice became so unbearable I had no choice but to heed it. I returned to the tunnel that led into the castle, and seeing as I couldn’t go my original way, I instead took the only one that was available. Where the path will lead me, I’ve no idea yet. The wonderbolt knew what the journal was talking about. The whispering in the tunnel where she and Zecora woke up, was likely the same thing the crystal pony experienced. But something was bothering her. She clearly heard the whisper, yet she had to convince the zebra not to follow the tunnel. Did she not hear it? Why? A farmhouse. Or at least it looked like one. It’s positively huge, and judging by the state of it, the elements did more damage to it than the castle earlier. I can’t say anymore what there is. I’ve searched about, cleared the field on the other end of the building, and came across a few houses, some long-since demolished by the storm. The only thing that’s sure is that this used to be a farming community, as I found several rusted tools and frozen vegetables, so who used to live here? The only thing I had to go on was the banner of Monoceria hanging in the big farmhouse, along with two I don’t quite recognize. Was this settlement in some way connected to it? “A settlement? This far north? Under ice and snow?” the fashionista wondered “Then if I’m not mistaken, we have a set path to be taken?” the said shaman asked. Twilight closed the book and put the list back into her backpack. “Not just yet. We first have to go and find the rest of the gang that’s trapped here.” “Sorry to disappoint you, princess,” Tempest finally put her beaker on the ground. “But I fear that’s a wasted effort.” She shot her a glance. “What do you mean?” “While all of you were making yourself comfy here, I went ahead and scouted the rest of the castle for any potential victim. When I heard the scream, I was already on the way back. I found nopony else in the castle.” “I’d appreciate it if you drew as little attention as possible to the reference of the current state of my mane, Tempest,” Rarity requested, before turning her attention to the princess. “But besides that, I think we can take that as a sign that neither Applejack, Pinkie Pie, or Fluttershy are here.” “Or Spike and Discord,” the alicorn added. “But Zecora’s right, if Radiant Hope’s journal is anything to go on.” She rose, putting the book along with others and the papers back into the saddlebag. “One thing is certain: Sombra brought us all down here, which means they’re definitely trapped elsewhere in this cave system. Everypony ready to look for them?” Rarity put on her hat, stashing her greying mane under it, and soon Tempest Shadow, as well as Zecora, who put the jar containing the aberration back into her saddlebag, rose. However, … “I dunno,” the pegasus voiced a slight protest, “I was just getting cozy by the fire and I don’t relish going on in the cold just yet...” After receiving a moment of frowned looks, even from the zebra, she changed her tune. “Actually… forget I said anything.” They walked across the courtyard towards the castle’s main gate. Both the wonderbolt and the shaman have been beyond them already, so the princess let them lead in front. As she closed the larger doors behind all, she marveled that a crystal pony unicorn had such strong power of restoration that the gate managed to remain intact even after a thousand years. The same couldn’t be said for the stone bridge that lead to the castle, as there were multiple holes in it, but luckily, the ice kept it together. As she looked at the damage, she spotted something though. Far below the bridge in the darkness, she saw a strange eerie green light. It seemed… familiar for some reason. “Yo, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash called as she saw her friend staring at the ground. It got her attention and she quickly ran after them. The castle’s hallways were still crawling with guards, and the little filly and the ram had to tread carefully to not be discovered. Luckily for them, returning to the child’s room was a lot easier than the escape from it. It was easy to recognize a pattern in which the guards were moving about, although it still required some of the elder’s interference to make sure the little one wouldn’t give them away. By the end, they finally managed to reach the doors, and after opening them without making a sound, they retreated inside, collectively giving out a sigh as they closed. “Well done, little girl,” the grizzled ram praised her. “We won.” Flurry Heart on the other hand was already past that. “I don’t care about the game anymore, Grandpa Gar. You said you were gonna tell me a story if we go back, so do it now!” He let out a chuckle. “Of course. I wouldn’t think of going back on my word. Go on, off to bed and I’ll start.” The little alicorn jumped on her bed, and pulled the cover over herself, while she nestled herself on the pillow, waiting in anticipation. The old ram slowly walked to the side of her bed and sat down, before clearing his throat. “So the story goes as such…” A long time ago, in a distant land, long before Equestria existed, there were rolling hills, pastures as far as the eye could see. And there, existed a peaceful village, led by a mighty ram. He was tall, strong, and prideful, for he was stronger than any other animal in his community, so he was basically made a leader. But his greatest pride was his family: a ewe, with whom he had a dozen lambs, ones who would grow up to be big and strong, just like their father. But of course, as is with every big family, there’s always going to be a runt of the litter. “A what?” Flurry Heart asked, not understanding the word. The elder sighed. “Runt of the litter is what one calls the smallest and weakest in the family. Anyway, as I was saying…” The ram was proud of his children… the runt, however, had to live up to expectations he couldn’t reach; he was small, scrawny, and weak. His elder siblings looked down on him, and his father would not give him a break. His mother was the only one who gave him solace, who would comfort him when he was down. One day, after another disappointing moment with his father, she revealed something to him. Beyond the gates leading up to their home, stood a large green rock, almost as big as the ewe herself. She told him, that a long time ago, his father and his friends used to compete over who could move it. It was how he managed to gain a reputation for being strong because he was the only one to have ever been able to move it. And she urged him to keep trying to move it just as he did because eventually, his strength would reveal itself to him. The little runt was inspired and wanted to try his luck, unfortunately, his elder siblings got wind of it pretty quickly and decided to test themselves against the great rock, not letting him do it himself, which dragged all the way to when the sun finally began to set, for that was when residents of the pastures shut themselves into their homes. Nobody dared to go outside the moment when twilight fell because- “When did aunt Twily fall?” the filly interrupted. He gave her a confused look. “Aunt… Twily? What are you talking about?” “My aunt Twily’s name is Twilight,” she explained. “When did she fall?” The elder one sighed, realizing there was a clear loss in communication, before delving into an explanation. “No, little girl, twilight is what you call a moment in time when the sun has set, its last rays long since passed beyond the horizon, yet you can still see the vague light, just before complete darkness falls.” “Oh…” she uttered, understanding what he meant, and he resumed the tale in turn. They always told their kind to come into the house before the night fell, telling them that horrible things lurked outside at night. The little runt, however, was upset, as he was excluded from proving himself by his elder siblings when he wanted to do it just once. And so that night, as the family was fast asleep, he decided to disobey his parents for the first time in his life. They always told him never to go out at night, telling him something awful was out there, but he’s never seen it, he thought to himself that perhaps that wasn’t even true. So he finally went out of the house into the darkness, to the green rock outside, and finally tried his luck, as he rammed against it, and after bashing his head against it for the first time, he couldn’t help but yelp in pain. That’s when he finally heard something. Something moved in the cloak of night, something heavy, something swift, something that was growling. And that is when he saw them: several red eyes glowing in the dark, approaching him. These were the terrors which his parents warned him about, the beasts that wandered the night. “What… kind of beasts, Grandpa Gar?” the filly asked in a frightened tone. “Oh, I wouldn’t be able to describe them to you, child,” the old ram spoke. “Nothing is more terrifying than knowing that horrifying creatures lurk in the dark, you can’t see what they look like, but you know they are there because you can clearly see their wicked eyes. And that is precisely what the runt saw.” Paralyzed by the sight of the beasts, the runt didn’t move. And as they swiftly approached there was only one who would intervene to protect him. His mother woke up after hearing his cry of pain, only to look for him and find him outside, with horrifying beasts about to get him. She ran and put herself in front of them to shield her child, and in turn, the beasts dragged her away. When the grip of fear finally let loose of the runt, he heard the door of his home slam shut. He ran for the house, desperately banging on the door for his father to save his mother. But he received no reply, and the door would not open, he was only met with silence. He simply wouldn’t come… out of fear. And then… something triggered inside the runt. The fear of never seeing his mother again pushed him in the opposite direction, the desperation of wanting to see her again drove him; if he didn’t do anything, who else would if they didn’t? And so, he ran off, away from his home, after the beasts that took his mother, for he was the only one who would dare. He ran through the night and into the morning, hoping to catch up to them, but alas he couldn’t, he was small and weak, and by the time the sun rose, those he ran after were no longer in sight. He was all alone, away from the home he had known, lost, and on top of that, tired, so much that he passed out. By the time he finally woke up, the sun was nowhere to be seen; he was in a cave and the only light could be seen from the crystals that adorned the cavern. And there… he was looked over by creatures that brought him in when he was found unconscious. Long scrawny brown bodies, with spines sticking out their backs, long muzzles, armed with sharp teeth and black claws, these creatures called themselves Cabras, and they wondered what to do with a little lost lamb they had found. They were tall and imposing, and the runt was shivering with terror. However, there was something that frightened him far more than the look of these creatures: the thought that something bad might have happened to his mother. He didn’t want to feel this way, he didn’t want to be a coward like his father who hid when somebody was in trouble, he wanted to be big and strong, he wanted to be feared so nobody else could threaten him again or anything he cared about. And in a desperate act, he did something unthinkable… he asked the Cabras, to teach him to become like them. “He wanted some other creatures to help him become as scary as them?” Flurry Heart questioned. He chuckled. “I know. That sounds ridiculous, right? And that’s exactly what they thought as well.” They cackled; a little lost lamb wanted to be like them? Absolutely laughable. And for a good laugh, they tossed him into a bramble overgrowth, saying if he managed to get out they might think about it, not that they believed he would succeed. And yet, the runt did it, dragging himself out despite being all scratched up. Then they tossed him into a river, thinking that the strong currents might do the job, but despite their effort, the runt survived, pulling himself out of the water. And so time and again, the Cabras tossed him into possible danger from which he would unlikely recover, however, over and over again, their actions would bear no fruit, as the little lamb seemed to keep coming back regardless. So eventually the Cabras decided it simply wasn’t worth the effort, and allowed the little lamb to walk by their side, undisturbed. The runt refused to give up; he was determined to become stronger, so he could find the beasts that took his mother away. He would not be a coward as those back home were, he was going to be stronger than the beasts that took his mother. He would become… There was silence in the air, the filly impatiently waiting for the elder to finally speak. “Become what, Grandpa Gar?” His sight shifted to her, the expression on his face looking as if he was about to speak, only for him to smile instead. “That, little girl, is a story for another time.” “Awww, no! You can’t end it now!” the alicorn whined. “Do not worry, little girl. The tale is still long and if you do not get a rest now, we will not be able to play games next time.” She pouted for a moment. “When will I see you again, Grandpa Gar?” “Tomorrow,” he answered and rose, “very certainly tomorrow. But for now, we will have to part.” “Do you promise?” The ram simply nodded. “You have my word, little girl.” Hearing him make a promise put Flurry Heart at ease, as she snuggled up in her cover and pillow to make herself comfy, while the elder tucked her in. “Goodnight, Grandpa Gar,” she said as she closed her eyes. She waited for a reply, but it didn’t come for a while; with her eyes closed, she only saw a vague bright light, before she finally heard the ram speak. “Goodnight.” By the time she finally opened her eyes, the bright light was gone, and so was the elder. She couldn’t understand how he managed to do that, she looked all over the room yet there was no indication of where he went. Then something began to stir at the back of the little filly’s mind, as she scanned the room, seeing her toys sitting all around, covered in darkness, yet there was a distinctly reflected glaze in their eyes. Nothing is more terrifying than knowing that horrifying creatures lurk in the dark, you can’t see what they look like, but you know they are there because you can clearly see their wicked eyes. Those words slowly sank into the child’s thoughts as she could now see multiple eyes, staring at her from the cloaking night, and in fright, she pulled the cover over her head. Led by the wonderbolt and the shaman, the unicorns and the alicorn were led through the frozen tunnel and out into the giant cavern with multiple passageways. Twilight stood about for a moment, marveling over the sight in front of her. Radiant Hope’s journal was proving true; the wide frozen cavern, the gargantuan hole in the middle of it, and several passageways all around it. “So, which way do we go from here?” she asked. “NOT RIGHT!” That quick yelp right next to her ear startled her. It came from Rainbow Dash who had this uneasy look on her face, and she received a frown for it. She coughed, clearing her throat. “I mean… the journal said that Radiant Hope went left after she came out of the castle, right? It’s best we just follow her.” As much as she showed that she was just trying to cover up her fear, the princess had to agree to the proposal – the easiest path to follow would that of the one who already walked it before them, and if they did, it would reduce their chances of ending into some unpredictable situation. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. Let’s go everypony.” Their hooves made crunchy noises as they walked over the frozen earth for several minutes, before reaching the tunnel on their left side, and once again the descent followed into a frozen passage. Zecora went ahead of the group slowly leading them, probing in advance to expose the potentially slippery floor. The pegasus and white unicorn followed soon after, yet as the alicorn was about to do the same, she noticed somebody was absent and spotted the former lieutenant still standing on the plateau surrounding the hole, looking about. “Tempest?” she called. “Is something wrong?” The broken unicorn’s attention was grabbed, as she turned to meet up with others. “No… I’m probably just hearing things.” The light dimmed as they descended into the unknown, but this time around, the two unicorns present assisted in lighting up the surroundings, reducing any potential environmental dangers. After a while, their hooves could feel the crunchy frozen earth again, and their destination came in sight. A wall with a door and window on each side stood in the way, and just like the gates of the castle, these seemed to have been restored no doubt thanks to Radiant Hope. “So… care to guess what’s behind door number four?” the pegasus asked. Nobody said a thing. Instead, Twilight trot to the front of the group and went to open the door. It took only a split second to take in what they saw, as they completely ignored the surroundings and focused on who was in the middle of the room. The pink puffy-maned party planner was levitating off the ground, making weird noises and pulling funny faces. “PINKIE!” the Princess of Friendship yelled in panic. She rushed to her side, but just as she stepped over the threshold of the house, she disappeared into the invisible veil of shadows. “Whoa… this one’s bigger than yours, Rarity,” Tempest commented. “Well, we can’t let Twilight be in there all by herself! Go, go, GO!” Rainbow Dash urged as she went at the back of the group and pushed all of them into the house and straight through the veil as a result.