Hitch, Applejack, Gusty, StarSong, and Bon Bon trotted back to Canterlot, their job done. The bell fragment packaged safely in Applejack’s saddlebags. StarSong was trying to comfort herself by humming a little melody, but from her sour expression, it didn’t look like it was working. Bon Bon also looked depressed, her treasured coat was splattered in with mud and snow and was whimpering as she tried, fruitlessly, to get it off her fur. As for Hitch, he was trying to look upbeat, but he never had to trot so much, he looked like he could use a nap. Applejack sympathised, but she worked on a farm, that and all the adventuring she’s done, she was practically built for stuff like this.
“Are we there yet?” Gusty complained, the job was done so there was nothing but to complain. Her impatience finally shining through.
“Sugarcube, we ain’t close at all. Ya just have to keep on walkin’ like the rest of us.” Applejack scolded the older pony. She got a sigh in response.
***
Sunny, Twilight, Misty, Twilight Two, Bright Eyes, and Gilda were heading towards Griffonstone, the location of the second bell fragment.
Twilight Two still looked mad at being called Twilight Two. Misty was hanging back, looking around shiftily as if she were expecting an attack from somewhere. Gilda was flying up ahead, saying that ‘ponies are still boring, no matter which dimension.” Twilight, Sunny, and Bright Eyes were in a deep conversation about Grogar and his bell.
“So, what’s so special about Grogar’s bell? What does it do?” Bright Eyes asked, her eyes shimmering at the prospect of learning something new.
“Doesn’t it steal magic?” Sunny questioned, recalling some of her dad’s research.
“It does more then steal magic, unfortunately. It consumes all magic, no matter what, and then it can redirect that stolen magic to the wielder. It is quite painful I am told and a fate worse then death, because not only would you be out of magic, you wouldn’t be yourself. Your very identity, gone and then given to someone else.” Twilight Sparkle answered, the mood suddenly dropped. Those who were listening, which was everybody except Gilda, started looking anxious and fidgeted around a bit.
“Do not worry, my little ponies, I have confidence in our friendship.” Twilight tried to harness her mentor’s ability to diffuse the situation, but form their looks, it didn’t work.
***
The third group rocketed through Equestria at super sonic speeds, heading who knows where, scaring creatures at every corner. This group was not decided by Twilight, much to her dismay, but the six of them chose each other the moment she started forming groups.
Pinkie Pie and Surprise were at the lead with manic grins. Patch was close behind, leaving Pinkie Pie and Izzy at the back, wearing smiles but exhausted ones.
“Why do they have to be so fast? These speeds shouldn’t be normal!” Pinkie Pie galloped with all that she was worth.
“I know…huff…but their luminescence are shining so bright right now!” Izzy giggled which spluttered into heaving. Her lungs were not having a good times right now.
“I don’t know what that means. Also, what did Twilight say about clones?” Pinkie was talking about when a third Pinkie popped out of nowhere that looked exactly like this world’s Pinkie. Pinkie was confused.
“No idea!”
Meanwhile at the front of the group.
“Oh my gosh, you didn’t tell me you had a twin sister!” Surprise waved her hooves at the Pinkie clone, her wings buzzing at hyper levels to keep their tempo.
“I don’t!”
“I don’t!”
“Well, that’s not confusing.”
***
Applejack, Starlight, Sweetheart, Scootaloo, Cheerilee, and Rarity took off, heading towards the Crystal Empire after getting a letter from Princess Cadance. In her letter, she said that the bell fragment hit the Crystal Heart out of the dias, causing the shield to slip and letting the storm inside. They havent had time to do anything about since she and Shining Armor had to cast the shield spell before the empire was swallowed by the North again.
Rarity and Starlight walked at the front, trying to plan out their approach.
“Okay, Rarity, since this is your world, what can you tell me about the Crystal Empire?” Starlight asked, wanting to know what was in store for them. Behind them there was a crash and the two looked back to see Applejack face down in the dirt and Scootaloo laughing up the storm. Sweetheart went to comfort the mare while Cheerilee immediately went to scolding her younger sister.
“Mmm, that could be a problem.” Rarity mused before turning back to the earth pony. “Darling, the Crystal Empire is magnificent! Truly a splendor! The sights wiil leave you breathless. Although, now it would be just snowy and cold.”
“Should’ve packed something then.”
“Not to worry! We’ll just visit Manehatten and get some clothes at my boutique! I made the them myself.” Rarity giggled modestly.
***
The fifth team was comprised completely out of flyers due to news of a bell fragment being in Cloudsdale. Cloud Kicker burst through Canterlot doors demanding they send helpd because an object had caused the clouds go haywire, attacking innocent ponies and creating crazy weather patterns. The Weather Factory was taking the hit the hardest.
Rainbow Dash took off with Firefly at her heels. Zipp and Pipp quickly flew after them, determined not to be left behind. Well, Zipp was, Pipp was worrying too much about how the winds might mess with her mane.
“Wow, I’m impressed. You guys are pretty fast.” Rainbow said smugly, glancing back at Firefly and Zipp. “What about her, should we worry about her?” Pipp on the other hand was flying as fast as she could while simultaneously trying to keep her mane in its state.
“Nah, she’ll be fine.” Zipp was in awe. She heard all about the legendary Rainbow Dash from Sunny and how she was considered to be the fastest flier in all of Equestria, fast enough to do a Sonic Rainboom.
“You’re not bad yourself.” Firefly grinned, daring to poke at the bear.
“Not bad!? I’m awesome!”
“Awesome you say? Do you want to race?”
“Prepare to be left in the dust.” The two mares grinned feral at each other before disappearing in a blur. Colorful contrails were left by both. The winds that buffeted from their wings was enough to catch Zipp unawares and threw her against Pipp, causing both sisters to fall out of the sky before they righted themselves just in time.
“Ugh, ZIPP! MY MANE!” The younger pegasus looked ready to blow her sister into next week but Zipp was already flying ahead.
“Come on, Pipp! They’re already far ahead!”
***
The sixth and last group was the largest due to the fact that reports say that the last shard fell into the Everfree Forest and having a small group would be unwise.
Glory, Posey, Melody, Clover, Toola Roola, Rainbow Dash, Sweetie Belle, and Fluttershy stepped over the line and into the dark forest. Toola Roola was clutching Rainbow Dash incredibly tight, whimpering every so often. Clover was quielty weeping while Glory and Posey tried comforting her. Fluttershy was left to lead with Melody and Sweetie Belle by her side.
“I…I don’t like this.” Toola’s quivering voice rang out. The echoing elicited another squeak of fear.
“We’ve got this, right Fluttershy?” Glory asked, her eyes flashing with some hidden meaning.
“Rig…right, we’ve got this.” Fluttershy has had many trials over the years and her friends slowly got her out of her shell and got her more confident, but this was something altogether. She had no idea who these ponies were and she was back in the Everfree forest for Celestia’s sake! She felt like curling up into a ball, but she couldn’t. She had a job to do. She took a step, and then another, and soon enough, they were deep in the forest.
***
Starlight, Sunburst, and Spike were wrestling with the supposed projector. The films weren’t going in no matter what they did, it infuriated Starlight to no end. It got the point where Sunburst and Spike had to physically restrain but it wasn’t enough and before they knew it, the thing was on fire.
“Serves it right.” Starlight scoffed and attempted to trot away before suddenly realizing what she jad just done. “Oh no! What are we going to do now?”
There was an awkward pause but then Spike spoke up. “What about the projector spell? Twilight used it once before Countess Coloratura’s concert. Did she teach you that one?”
“Oh Spike, you’re a genius!” Starlight immediately brightened and dragged the two guys back to the announcement balcony. “Take it away Spike, we’ll handle the spell.”
The dragon waddled off while Starlight and Sunburst committed the video to memory and then waited for their queue. It didn’t take long and soon enough the whole video played out on the wall. The audience was quiet, then erupted into angry shouting.
Half of them were clamoring to get back to their homes and families, prepare for the oncoming doomsday while the other half were claiming it was a fabrication. There was shoving and several creature had fallen, vegetables and fruits were thrown, there was even a stallion who lit a bottle of cider on fire and threw it. It would have exploded if not for Sunburst.
Starlight was at her wits end and was about to blast them all into silence but then she noticed that the temperature had fallen slightly. She looked up and saw clouds were gathering and snowflakes had started fall.
“Nooooo, not again!”
***
In some undisclosed location, something was happening. Grogar was bellowing from pain and power. He was so close to finding the first of the pieces of the bell before agony had struck him. He had found a cave for himself to hide out and prepared to weather the pain surges.
He had no idea what was happening or why it was so painful, but it felt right. An hour passed, then another, enough time had passed for Grogar to be lost, and then the pain stopped. He stood up, confused as to why nothing had happened. The more time passed, the angrier he got. This phantom or whatever had wasted his time. He prepared his magic to blast himself out of this cave just to make him feel better, before the sharpest pain he ever felt spasmed through his body.
When he came to, he realized that his body had changed. His blue coat was now more purple and his back bore two majestic wings. He even had a unicorn horn set in the middle of his ram horns. Looking inside of him, he found an abundance of alicorn fire and to his eternal surprise, the darkness that controlled him was now his to wield. He grinned evilly, perhaps he should thank these ponies for this gift with eternal balefire and and enough darkness to make eternal night a child’s dream.
With a boom that shook the mountain side, the cave he came out of crumbled under the onslaught of his power before he rose into the sky. Things were about to change and Grogar couldn’t wait.