//------------------------------// // A Daring Rescue and Reunion // Story: Filmatic Escapades: The Pagemaster // by Toonwriter //------------------------------// When they finally reached the shore, Silver and his crew disembarked onto the beach and walked forward into the jungle. Richard, Adventure, Twilight, Spike, Nyx and Phobos followed against their will because Silver had them all looped with the same rope; Richard and Adventure looped by their midsections while the ponies and dragons had the rope looped around their necks. "Well, this isn't humiliating at all." Spike spoke dryly, not liking how he literally had a rope around his neck. "Stay on your toes, mates." Adventure told the others quietly as he trailed them, "When they go for the gold, we'll make our break." "Quit yer squawkin'!" Silver snapped, yanking on the rope and pulling them further while it hurt some of them in the process. "Ow! Easy with that!" Twilight snapped, glaring at Silver. "Oww! That hurts!" Nyx whined, also glaring at Silver. Ignoring their complaints, the captain turned to his crew. "Look to the map. What's it say?" Looking at the map in confusion, Tom pointed to what looked like a picture of a waterfall with the letter "M" and an arrow above pointing to it as he replied, "It's, uh... in the middle, by the waterfall." The fat pirate took the map and turned it, making the M look like a weird-looking "E" while the picture looked different as he said, "No, it's east, by some broccoli." "Give me that!" Silver snapped in annoyance as he snatched the map. "Broccoli?" The parrot squawked as the captain turned the map to reveal what it actually was showing; a picture of a tree above the letter "W". The captain glared at his crew while pointing to the map as he shouted in annoyance, "You half-wits, it's west by a tree!" Then he groaned in exasperation before he continued on as he grumbled, "Oh, east by broccoli..." "They're all idiots." The parrot remarked. Spike couldn't help but snicker as he reflected on the crew's bickering and assumptions. He then whispered to Twilight, "Hey, Twilight?" "Yeah, Spike?" Twilight whispered back. "Why don't we just magic or cut our way out of these ropes?" The lilac alicorn's eyes widened in realization. "You're right. We could do that. But maybe not when they're looking." She replied through whisper, looking to the pirate crew. "How about we do that when the time is right, before we fight the pirates and get our valuables back?" Nyx suggested quietly. "Good idea, Nyx." Twilight approved, "Unfortunately, there's only four of us." Their quiet planning was cut abruptly when they came to a halt. When they looked ahead, they saw why. The rest of the pirates stood frozen with fear at seeing a skeleton lying in the sand with its arms pointed upward. "What sort of way is that for bones to lie??" The fatter pirate spoke fearfully, "It ain't natural!" "This island's haunted." Tom Morgan said in fear. He grabbed the fatter pirate by the collar of his shirt and shook him like a British nanny as he cried, "It's accursed, it is!" Twilight rolled her eyes. "Oh, brother. It's just a skeleton." She muttered to herself. "Superstitious scaredy cats." Nyx said quietly in amusement. Silver shoved Tom Morgan and glared at the fatter pirate as he snapped in annoyance, "Oh, you're all yellow dogs! Open your eyes!" As he said that, he poked the fatter pirate enough to push him to the ground, before he pointed in the direction the skeleton's arms were, "The bones is the compass pointin' the way to the doubloons!" Upon seeing that, the pirates gasped in excitement before they almost immediately broke into a run toward the treasure. Once they reached the treasure chest, they opened it to check what's inside. To their shock, the treasure chest was empty. "It's gone!" Tom Morgan cried in shock as he reached his hand inside the chest. Looking shocked, Silver hobbled over to them, letting go of the rope that held Richard, Adventure, Twilight, Spike, Nyx and Phobos. "Dig deeper, boys!" He commanded in disbelief. The pirates started digging inside the hole, hoping to find at least some treasure. "I say dig deeper! Find the treasure!" Soon enough, after searching, upon lifting up the empty chest and picking up what he could find, he held up... "One gold piece!" Tom Morgan exclaimed in outrage. He held the coin towards Silver defiantly before Silver as he shouted, "This is your treasure, is it?!" Then he and the other pirates started scheming as the former whispered, "Let's kill him and eat his parrot." “This is gonna get ugly.” Spike quietly said in concern. "Stand by for trouble." Adventure warned him, the other Equestrians and Richard. “We might’ve known you’d double-cross us!” One of the pirates shouted accusingly at Silver as he and the rest climbed out of the other side of the hole. Without a second thought, the one-legged captain pulled out his pistol and aimed it in the direction of his crew. But before he could say anything, the rest of the crew pulled out their own pistols and aimed them at their captain. “Throw down your weapons, John Silver!” The stout pirate ordered as they glared daggers at him. "Look out." The parrot squawked. "Why, you pack of back-bitin' dogs." John Silver snarled as he reluctantly tossed down his flintlock, "You'll be regrettin' this, George Merry." "Save your speeches." The fatter pirate, George Merry, snapped as he aimed his gun, "Dead men don't bite." Twilight began to fire up her horn, ready to teleport herself, Richard, Spike, Adventure, Nyx and Phobos away from the chaos about to unfold. But before she could even go through with her spell, something made her stop. "Sixteen men on a dead men's stomach." A horrible, ghostly yet familiar voice sang, getting the pirates' attention and scaring them. "No, no! Chest! Chest!" Another familiar voice snapped, correcting the first. “Oh, oh! Chest, chest!” The ghostly voice spoke before giving a goofy yet spooky-sounding chuckle. While the pirates looked around cautiously for the source of the voice, Twilight and the others looked confused but stunned. “It couldn’t be…” Twilight muttered. "Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!" The spooky voice sang while Richard looked nervous from hearing the voice. "Evil spirits!" Tom Morgan cried fearfully. "SANCTUARY!!!" All of a sudden, somebody swung in on a vine from the top of a tree in the direction of the pirates, most of them scattering except for George Merry. The pirate in question ended up getting kicked by whoever had swung in to Richard and company’s rescue before that pirate fell to the ground unconscious. Before the heroes could wonder who their savior was, they landed on their feet looking victorious, revealing themselves to be… "Horror! You're alive!" Richard cried in delight upon seeing the hunchbook standing boldly. "Not for long!" Tom Morgan remarked cruelly as he aimed his gun in the blue book's face, causing Horror to scream in fright. “Hang on! I got this!” Nyx exclaimed, firing up her horn to blast the pirate. However, Nyx didn’t have to do anything because from out of the trees flew a familiar fairy godbook, leaving pixie dust in her wake and in Tom’s face. "AH-AH-CHOO!" Tom Morgan sneezed as he unintentionally moved his arm upward and fired, shooting some coconuts which landed on the head of another pirate, making him dazed. Then the book flew up to him and blew on him, making him topple over before flying up to the tied-up group. “Fantasy!” Richard, Twilight, Spike, Nyx and Phobos exclaimed excitedly. "Naturally." Fantasy said proudly as she curtsied, "Well, who were you expectin', honey, the Tooth Fairy?" She laughed at her tease. “But how did you…?” Spike began to ask. “GET THEM!!!” The group turned to look at the pirate crew advancing towards them real fast. "Ha-ha! At last, a good fight!" Adventure exclaimed excitedly as he picked up his sword. “Let’s ask questions later!” Twilight proclaimed, using her magic to destroy the rope tying her, Richard and the others together, “And let’s take these guys down!” "Right!" Nyx said in determination. "It's payback time!" Spike shouted in confidence as he held up his fists. Twilight blasted at a few pirates, though she accidentally sent one at Adventure, launching him into the air. He ended up landing in the open treasure chest, the lid falling shut and trapping the pirate book inside. "LET ME OUTTA HERE!!" Adventure yelled as he started banging on the chest, trying to escape. "Leave my family alone!" A familiar voice shouted. Twilight looked in the direction of the voice. Could it be...? A familiar brown stallion stood boldly with a determined look on his face as he shouted, "And give them back their valuables, you scurvy dogs, or you'll have to answer to me!" "BEN!!!" Twilight cried excitedly. "DADDY!!!" Nyx exclaimed excitedly. "Well, who were you expecting? The Care Bears?" Ben teased. Some pirates roared as they prepare to attack, but Ben brought out his Master Sword and waved it. "Go ahead, try anything. I got my dad's skills." Ben taunted the enemies while waving his sword in determination. "Wait, if Ben's here, does that mean...?" Spike asked, looking excited. "Hang on, Benny! The cavalry is here!" A familiar voice called out. "Up here, ya scurvy scum!" Another familiar voice shouted at the pirates, imitating a pirate accent. At hearing the voices, Richard, Twilight, and the others looked up to the trees with excitement while the pirates looked up in confusion. It was Pinkie Pie and Applejack, respectively, along with not only Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow Dash, but also Starlight Glimmer, Trixie, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Toola Roola and Coconut Cream, the latter group now in the same form as the Mane Six, Spike, Ben, Nyx and Phobos. Right now, all the arriving ponies were dressed like pirates! "NOW!!!" Applejack shouted as she pointed toward the pirates. And with that, the unicorns and earth ponies in the trees swung from vines at the pirates while the pegasi (minus Scootaloo, who rode on Rainbow Dash) flew towards them, all making their attack. Applejack bucked one pirate so hard, it literally sent them flying off into the distance. Fluttershy, being the nervous mare she was, curled up into a ball as a pirate ran at her, but didn’t stop fast enough and tripped over her, sending him reeling into another pirate. “Girls! You’re okay!” Twilight exclaimed, running up to Applejack and Fluttershy as the latter stood up. "Twilight!" Fluttershy exclaimed happily as she hugged the purple alicorn. Twilight hugged back before breaking the hug. “But how did you guys…?” “We’ll tell ya later. Let’s take down these ol’ bilge rats!” Applejack replied. "Right!" Twilight nodded. "Twilight, watch out!" Starlight shouted. “Huh?” Twilight asked, spinning around to look. A pirate was about to fire its gun at her, but a magic blast hits him in the chest. "Take that, you scoundrel!" Starlight shouted in triumph from using her horn. Please note: She still has all four legs unlike how she is portrayed in the pic. Trixie blasted another pirate as she bragged, "A pirate is no match for the Great and Powerful Trixie!" "She's mad!" One pirate exclaims in alarm. "She's possessed!" Another pirate added. "She's crazy!" A third pirate added in. "Good shot, Trixie!" Starlight praised her best friend. "Thanks, Starlight!" Trixie said as the two hoof-bumped. Meanwhile, Pinkie had brought out her party cannon, which Rarity was stuffing with various fabrics. Rainbow, on the other hand, was distracting a handful of pirates, zipping back and forth between them. "That the best you can do?!" She asked, a smug smirk on her face. As soon as they finished stuffing the cannon, both Pinkie and Rarity began aiming at the pirates their multicolor-maned friend was distracting. "Ready..." The party pony said. "Aim..." The fashionista unicorn added. "FIRE!!!" They both shouted as they fired the cannon as soon as the pirates got into the line of fire. Before any of the pirates knew it, they were decked out in very pretty but frilly dresses. The group of pirates noticed their new attire, did double takes and screamed in shock and horror before they made a run for it. Though they had a bit of trouble with the high heel shoes they were also somehow now wearing. Rainbow just laughed at the fleeing pirates, "Nice dresses, "Ladies"!" "Yeah!" Pinkie cheered as she and Rarity gave each other a high hoof. Spike noticed two of the pirates looking around cautiously and smirked. He then leaned to Horror. "Hey, Horror. How good are ya at tying knots?" He asked deviously. "Just watch." Horror replied with a wink. He then climbed up into the treetops really quickly. Before Spike knew it, the hunchbook was hanging upside down over the two pirates and tied the tips of their hats together in a double knot. Suddenly, Horror and Spike, who happened to fly up next to the book, made funny faces at the pirates. Then the two chased after the two, the hunchback going underneath a tree root. Of course, the double knot in their hats got caught in the tree and caused the two pirates to collide with each other, literally knocking them silly. A bald pirate grabbed Fantasy- who was flying in front of him, by her feet with his club raised. "Hey!" She exclaimed, casting sparks in the pirate's face, blinding him. "Why, you...!" The pirate shouted angrily. He then began blindly swinging his club in an attempt to hit the fairy godbook. Deciding to use this opportunity, the Cutie Mark Crusaders ran into battle. Scootaloo first came behind one pirate near the bald one. "Down here!" She taunted. The bald pirate swung at Scootaloo, but he missed, causing him to hit the pirate Scootaloo hid behind. Sweetie Belle ran up near another pirate. "Hi!" The bald pirate swung at the cute unicorn foal, who dodged, causing him to conk the pirate on the head. "Howdy!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, standing near one more pirate. The bald pirate swung at Apple Bloom who dodged, making him hit the pirate she stood near. "Nyah nyah!" Coconut Cream taunted as she stood near another pirate before the bald pirate swung at her, causing her to dodge and make him hit the pirate. "Nah nah!" Toola Roola taunted as she stood near yet another pirate, making the bald pirate swing and hit the pirate when the foal dodged him. A smirking Nyx flew onto the bald pirate's head and sat on it before knocking on his head as she said with a devilish grin, "Knock knock knock!" Glaring, the bald pirate made a swing at Nyx with his club. Unfortunately for him, she flew up off his head in the nick of time before he whacked himself in the face. He then groaned as he swayed back and forth dizzily. As the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Toola Roola and Coconut Cream all laughed at that mishap, Nyx and Phobos, the latter dragon who flew up, blew on him, causing him to fall over onto his back. Amidst the chaos of the battle, John Silver began hobbling over in the direction of the boat on shore. However, he stopped upon realizing something and turned to Richard before hobbling his way. "Get aboard, boy! We're gonna be shovin' off!" He practically ordered, "And bring yer friends, too!" "I'm not going with you!" Richard retorted defiantly as Horror stood nearby, attempting to hide in his own covers. "And neither will we!" Twilight shouted. "You want my family? You'll have to go through me!" Ben warned as he stood in front of Twilight, Spike, Nyx and Phobos, readying his Master Sword. "The sword, honey," Fantasy whispered to Richard, gesturing to the lone cutlass at the boy's feet, "Get the sword." Silver's gaze shifted from Richard to the cutlass, then back to Richard as he warned in a threatening tone. "Don't even think it, boy! Ye ain't got the heart!" Richard stared at Silver nervously, then to the cutlass, back to Silver and back to the cutlass as he weighed his options. Acting quickly, he grabbed the sword just before the captain could grab it and pointed it at the latter. "Stay back!" The boy practically commanded. "Avast there, laddy," Silver spoke nervously, complete with nervous smile as he held up his hands, "Somebody could get hurt with that blade ye got there." "Be careful, master." Horror said in concern. "Get going." Twilight spoke, giving Silver a stern look. "We're warning you." Ben threatened as he pointed the Master Sword. Silver only backed away cautiously as his parrot squawked, "In the boat." Seeing his parrot pointing to the rowboat, Silver said calmly to Richard and Ben pointing their swords at him while heading to the boat, "Easy now, mateys. Easy. I'm goin'. Right ye are. Into the boat. Aye aye." He took another look in Richard's direction. "Ye be a hard lad, Richard Tyler." The captain spoke as he chucked his crutch into the boat. Richard and Ben only kept their swords pointed at Silver as the latter pushed the rowboats from the shore and into the seawater. With that done, he hopped into the boat and shot one more smile in the boy and the others' directions. "Good sailin' to ye, shipmates." He spoke before rowing away as he sang, "Fifteen men on a dead man's chest. Yo, ho, ho and a bottle of rum." Richard just stood there, looking a bit dumbfounded as he watched Silver row off as he still held the cutlass. He couldn't help but wonder if that was actually him who stood up to one of the most dastardly pirates in all of fiction. As soon as he let that sink in, he smiled and dropped the sword. "Yes!" The boy exclaimed, doing a fist pump. The instant Richard did that, the others came up to him, cheering for him. "Way to go, honey!" Fantasy praised. "That was AWESOME!!" Spike exclaimed excitedly. "Yeah, you ROCK!!" Scootaloo cheered. "Oh, I wish my dad could've seen me!" Richard spoke excitedly. He then turned to Horror, Fantasy and the other ponies. "Boy, I thought you guys were goners!" "We almost were, until this enchanting fellow discovered he could float." Fantasy said while gesturing to Horror. "It's hollow." The hunchbook replied, knocking on himself to prove his point as he chuckled. "Oh, Ben, girls, I'm so glad you're all okay!" Twilight exclaimed happily as she hugged Ben Valorheart and her five best friends who all hugged her back. "How'd you guys get here?" Spike asked, looking surprised, "You all couldn't have floated on Horror at the same time." "Easy, I had a raft in my mane!" Pinkie replied, pulling said item out of her mane. Richard looked surprised by this, "How did...? Um... never mind." "We were almost shark food, of course, until they came along!" Rainbow said as she indicated the approaching new ponies. "I can't believe you're all here!" Nyx exclaimed happily as she and Phobos hugged the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Toola Roola and Coconut Cream altogether in a group hug. Just then, the sound of loud knocking came from the chest in the hole nearby. "What's that noise?" Toola Roola asked on hearing the knocking. "It came from over there." Sweetie replied as she pointed to the chest. "Oh my gosh! Adventure!" Nyx gasped. "We totally forgot about him!" Spike exclaimed, rushing to the dug-up hole. Horror went up and got on the lid and sat on it before he asked aloud, "Who's there?" "Adventure!" Adventure replied from inside the chest. "Adventure who?" Horror asked. He liked riddles. "WHADDYA MEAN "ADVENTURE WHO"?!" Adventure yelled angrily as he banged on the chest, alarming Horror, "OPEN THE BLASTED DOOR, YOU DOG-EARED..!!!" Horror frantically searched the chest for a way to open it. Finally, his eyes fell on the latch keeping it shut and moved it up. Almost immediately, the lid of the chest flew open, launching the hunchbook off of the top as Adventure popped out with a shout. Then he looked around and discovered that there was no one left to fight. Fantasy looked amused, "Perfect timing." Adventure snarled and kicked at the sand, realizing it was all over. Gesturing toward Fantasy, Horror, and the new ponies, Richard said with a smile, "We were just thanking these guys for saving us." The pirate book growled in frustration, "Arr! I could've taken the lot o' 'em with one hand tied behind me back!" Waving his hook in the air, he stomped off down the beach. Richard just smiled, "That's just his way of saying "thanks."" "Well, in that case, he's welcome." Rainbow retorted dryly, glaring in the direction Adventure stomped off in. "That's gratitude for ya." Starlight remarked sarcastically. "You said it." Trixie agreed. Horror picked up a purple pirate bandana and a cutlass nearby before he waved at Adventure while calling out to him happily, "You're welcome!" Pinkie then looked like she just realized something. "Oh, by the way, Twilight? I think you, Spike, Nyx and Phobos dropped these." She spoke, digging in her mane. "Dropped what?" Twilight asked in confusion before Pinkie pulled out a few cards. But no ordinary cards... "Our library cards!" Nyx exclaimed happily as she took her library card with her magic. "How did you...?" Twilight began to ask, looking confused. "Remember when we were grabbed by Moby Dick?" Pinkie asked. Spike shuddered, "Don't remind me..." "Ohhhh! We must've lost them during the attack, and we didn't notice!" Twilight exclaimed in realization. "And speaking of not noticing, we got these back for you guys." Starlight said as she levitated some familiar valuables with her magic. "My gems!" Spike exclaimed, accepting them. "Mine, too!" Phobos exclaimed while taking his gems. "My bits!" Nyx said happily, taking her coins. "You got our stuff back! Oh, thank you so much, Starlight!" Twilight exclaimed happily as she took her bits. "Did you happen to get my library card?" Richard asked hopefully. "I'm afraid none of the pirates we fought have that, Richard. I'm sorry." Starlight said sadly. The blond boy's smile faded into a hopeless look before he sulked towards the shoreline. The others only looked on in sympathy as they watched their friend walk out of sight. "Poor Richard." Fluttershy said in concern. Neither of them had noticed Horror following Adventure, still wearing the purple bandana and holding the cutlass he found. The latter hadn't noticed him because he was too busy walking and grumbling in frustration. "Ahoy, Matey! Aye, we're lusty, adventurous men!" The hunchbook proclaimed, attempting to sound adventurous. "Go away!" Adventure snapped in annoyance as he glared over at Horror before he resumed his trek along the beach, "You don't know what you're talkin' about!" Horror looked a bit hurt, "I- I know I'm not your favorite kind of book. But I could be just like you!" Hearing this got the pirate book irritated before he zipped back to the hunchbook as he yelled at him, "You'll never be Adventure! Ye ain't got the spine for it." Adventure then pointed at Horror's bandana as he finished, "And take that stupid thing off!" Then the pirate book resumed storming off as Horror, whose lower lip began to tremble, pulled off the bandana as he said timidly, "S-sorry." "Oh, he thinks he can be a pirate..." Adventure grumbled as he walked off, leaving Horror feeling alone and rejected. Sighing sadly, Horror slowly hobbled off down the beach in the opposite direction, not paying much attention to where he was going as he dropped the purple bandana and cutlass in his depression. Meanwhile, with Richard, he was sitting on the shore, drawing the word 'EXIT' into the sand with a twig. Much like Horror, he was also depressed at the prospect of not being able to fulfill his promise of checking out Adventure, Horror or Fantasy. "Seize the courage, Richard. Then you will reach the exit." The Pagemaster's words echoed through the boy's mind as he drew a line beneath the 'Exit'. At that moment, a small wave slid up and washed the word away. "I'll never get home." Richard sighed sadly. The Cutie Mark Crusaders walked up to Richard, all looking concerned. "What's the matter, Richard?" Sweetie asked. "Yeah, why are you so sad?" Apple Bloom asked in worry. "You were a real hero." Scootaloo complimented Richard. Fantasy fluttered down in front of Richard as she said, "The kids are right. You did good, honey." "Silver threw Richard's library card overboard after he and his crew captured us." Twilight replied to the fillies and fairy godbook, looking sorry. Richard added glumly, "Yeah, and I can't check anybody out. We'll never get to the exit now." Then he rested his hands on his knees. It seemed that all hope was really lost this time. Fantasy put a comforting hand on Richard as she spoke, "Honey, never say never around Fantasy, because sometimes, you've got to fight to make a wish come true." Then she helped the boy to his feet as she said, "So come on, don't quit on me now." "She's right, Richard," Twilight added, helping the boy to his feet, "We can't go quitting now." Richard could only put his head down, still depressed. Fantasy only lifted his head so he was looking up with a small smile. "Yeah." Farther down the beach, Adventure was grumbling and kicking his way through the sand. "Huh! That crazy hunchbook." Adventure scoffed, "You don't see me pretending to be Horror." Soon, a small piece of paper got stuck to his peg. He tried to shake it loose, but it wouldn't come off. So he lifted his leg and peeled it off. His eyes opened wide and gasped as he smiled when he realized what he was holding. Of course, he yelled out as he tried to keep balance, but landed on his back. Not long after, he came rushing up to Richard and the others, the former sitting glumly while the others looked sympathetic. "Well, why are ya sittin' around like a bunch of old wenches at teatime?" The pirate book asked, coming up to them as he hid his hand behind his back. Then extending both his hand and his hook toward Richard, he said, "Pick one." "Mmm..." Richard murmured, contemplating his choice before pointing to the hand obviously, "That one." Adventure chuckled as he opened his fist, revealing, to the shock and delight of the others... "My library card!" Richard exclaimed, his face lighting up as he took the card from Adventure. "Adventure, where'd you find it?" Twilight asked with a smile. "Wrestled it away from three sharks who was eyein' it for breakfast, at no small threat to me life, neither." Adventure bragged while twisting his hook. "Mmm-hmm." Fantasy murmured, clearly not buying it. "Suuure ya did." Starlight said sarcastically. "Hey, where's Horror?" Spike asked, not seeing a blue book in sight. "Hey, yeah, where is that blue hunchbook?" Apple Bloom asked in confusion. "Wasn't he with you?" Richard asked Adventure. "He was, but he, uh..." Adventure stuttered, "I mean, I sort of, uh... He, uh..." Noticing this, Rainbow glared at him. "Don't tell me you had something to do with it!" She snapped accusingly. Looking at Rainbow for that remark and realizing what she meant, Scootaloo gasped before she glared at Adventure also. "You yelled at him, didn't you?!" She demanded angrily. "What did you say to him now?!" Fantasy asked Adventure in anger, sharing the two pegasus ponies' anger. Applejack, not wanting things to get out of hand, came up to three. "Okay, okay, girls. Let's try to not let things get outta hand." She spoke to them, looking between them before asking the pirate book calmly yet sternly, "But yeah, Adventure. Were ya bein' mean to him again?" "Well, I, uh, I, uh, I just, uh, uh... I'll go find him." With that, Adventure started to awkwardly shuffle away and walked down the beach to look for Horror. "Yeah, you'd better go find him." Rainbow said, glaring at the walking pirate book. "And be quick about it!" Fantasy added. "Horror!" Adventure called as he looked around. He climbed to the top of a sand dune, "Horror!" He gasped in shock and amazement upon what he saw, "Horror!" What he saw was an unconscious Horror before what looked like a small village that almost resembled a toy village. Strangely enough, this little village was indeed populated by very tiny people. However, the one thing the pirate book was focused on was the unconscious hunchbook being held down by tiny ropes that the villagers were hammering into the ground so he couldn't move. "Horror..." Adventure said in concern. Then he quickly drew his sword as he shouted urgently, "Hang on, mate! I'm coming!" Then he charge toward the village to rescue the hunchbook. When they heard his thunderous voice, the tiny people quickly gathered in military formations and shot little arrows at Adventure. "Tolgo phonac!" they shouted. Seeing the arrows flying at him, Adventure yelped and shielded his face, bracing himself for the impact. However, the arrows only bounced right off him and landed in the ground. The pirate book noticed this and smirked at the tiny villagers, pointing his cutlass at them. "Yer lucky I was published with a thick hide!" He shouted proudly. Just then, one of the little arrows landed on his peg leg. Of course, that had no effect on him at all as he looked at it dryly with an expression as if asking, 'Is that the best they can do?' before he shook the arrow off of him and roared as he charged straight at the tiny men. Seeing him coming, the diminutive archers screamed in panic and retreated in confusion into the brush. "Come back, ya jellyfish!" Adventure shouted confidently as he raised his sword in triumph. Once the miniscule people cleared off, Adventure turned his attention back to the unconscious Horror, cutting away the ropes holding him down and freeing him. "Speak to me, mate." The pirate book spoke, hoping he could hear him. But Horror didn't answer. It was like he was lifeless. Adventure gasped in horror before he picked him up and slowly pulled him into a hug as he said sadly, "Ye had a good heart, and ye was braver than ye knew. I...I'd walk the plank if I thought it would... bring ye back." "That's beautiful." "Huh?!" Adventure asked in surprise, his eyes opened wide as saucers. Horror had just suddenly spoken to him. Richard, Fantasy, the ponies and dragons had just caught up to them while this had happened. They all looked relieved to see Horror was okay, though Rainbow, Scootaloo, Spike and Phobos had on knowing smirks. "This is too cute." The fairy godbook commented with a smirk. "Well, well," Applejack spoke, an amused smirk on her face, "I had a feeling deep down, ya had a heart." At this moment, Adventure quickly dropped Horror before turning to the others with a sheepish laugh. "Are you okay?" Richard asked out of relief. "Thanks to my friend here." Horror replied with a smile while looking at Adventure before he gave him a big hug. "Get off me!" Adventure shouted in annoyance as he struggled to break free from the hunchbook's hold. Just then, Fantasy's wand gave off a powerful green spark, causing her to laugh with excitement. "Did you see that?" She asked. "See what?" Spike asked in confusion. "My wand! It's blinkin'!" Fantasy replied excitedly as her wand sparked some more, "That can only mean one thing!" "The exit!" Richard and Twilight exclaimed excitedly. "The checkout!" Adventure proclaimed, sharing their enthusiasm. "A happy ending!" Horror said happily. "The Land of Fantasy!" Sweetie announced excitedly. Fantasy's wand continued to blink, prompting her to fly off into the woods as it blinked more and more. This caused Richard and the others to follow her with feelings of excitement. "At this rate, the adventure will be finished in no time!" Nyx exclaimed happily. "Yeah! I'm just so excited, I could burst!" Sweetie squealed. The group continued into the jungle, hoping they would be in the final stretch of their journey through the magical library. As they walked, Richard looked to the other ponies he wasn't introduced to yet. "By the way, my name's-." "Richard Tyler, we know." Starlight said with a smile. "Yeah, we filled them in on who you were." Twilight added. "Anyways, my name's Starlight Glimmer." The pink unicorn spoke, introducing herself before gesturing to Trixie, "This is my best friend, Trixie." "Pleased to meet you." The blue unicorn greeted. "Ah'm Apple Bloom!" "Apple Bloom introduced herself, "Ah'm Applejack's little sister!" "I'm Sweetie Belle, Rarity's little sister!" Sweetie said happily. "I'm Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash's, um... well..." Scootaloo began, not sure how to word it. "She's my number one fan, who is like a little sister to me!" Rainbow Dash said with a grin as she ruffled Scootaloo's mane. "Yeah, what she said!" Scootaloo exclaimed with a smile. "Together with Nyx and Phobos..." Apple Bloom started. "We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Nyx and Phobos exclaimed in unison. "My name's Toola Roola." Toola introduced herself. "And I'm Coconut Cream." Coconut added. "Nice to meet all of you." Richard said with a smile. “Nice to meet you, too.” Starlight replied politely. "Come on, girls!" Nyx exclaimed excitedly as she got on Twilight's back. With that, the gang rushed into the jungle following Fantasy as her wand sparked more and more. Some time later, deeper into the jungle, the group was walking along excitedly, looking forward to reaching the home stretch. “Let’s go, come on!” Richard spoke excitedly, holding Horror by the hand. "Oh, Trixie never realized adventuring with Princess Twilight and her friends would be so thrilling!" Trixie exclaimed happily. "Isn't it, Trixie?" Starlight asked rhetorically, sharing Trixie's excitement. Adventure got on top of a rock before he asked Fantasy, "Are you sure that... swizzle stick of yours is working right?" "Hmm... I don't know." Fantasy replied in sarcasm with a shrug before putting on a devilish grin while holding her wand ready like she was going for a golf swing, "Maybe we should test it!" All of a sudden, she shot a powerful burst of magic at Adventure, who just struck a simple pose. In a flash of light, he was now pink in color, his mustache and bushy eyebrows were purple and he wore a red tutu with frilly sleeves. On his only leg, he had a white loafer. Over his eyes was cyan eyeshadow, lipstick on his bottom lip and atop his head was a blond curly princess wig and a gold tiara. Even his sword had a frilly bow on it. Before he knew it, he began floating in the air. Seeing this, Spike, Rainbow, Scootaloo and even Applejack were doing their best to hold in their laughter. Of course, they failed and just burst out loud with roars of laughter. Not realizing he was floating, Adventure glanced at them. “What’s so funny?” “Oh, nothin’!” Applejack replied, trying to calm herself. “Pfft. Yeah!” Rainbow added, stifling more laughter, “… Princess Adventure!” "Princess Adventure? What're you talking about, Rainbow Da--?" Rarity started in confusion as she and the other Equestrians turned around. But when they saw Adventure's transformed look, they found themselves almost immediately joining Spike, Rainbow, Scootaloo and Applejack in the laughter. "Nice dress, Adventure!" Apple Bloom laughed. Catching on, the pirate book looked down at himself, stammering in confusion. “YOU’VE GONE OVERBOARD, MISSUS!!!!!” He shouted, swiping at himself with his sword and tearing off his dress until he looked back to normal. The yelling made everyone laugh even harder. And upon being back to normal, Adventure was in midair for a moment, but then, he fell down to the ground and crashed, causing the Equestrians to roll with laughter. Twilight managed to quell her own laughter after a few more seconds. “Okay, I think that’s enough laughs for now. C’mon.” She spoke, gesturing for the rest to follow. "Right behind you, Twilight." Ben said after calming down. As soon as everybody had calmed down, they all got to their feet and hooves again before they continued their journey through the forest. The only thing they hoped was that whatever waited for them in the Fantasy section was nowhere near as dangerous as the Horror and Adventure sections.