Four teenage humans, four pastel ponies and one small baby dragon lay unconscious but only for a moment or so. Luneth was the first to awake. Groaning from the pain, he saw his friends nearby. Slowly, one by one, they came to and opened their eyes.
"What in tarnation...?" Applejack said, slowly getting back on her hooves.
Next was Rainbow Dash.
"Where... where are we? And how long were we out?"
"Did I miss a party already?" Pinkie Pie said, looking around.
Each shook their heads, regaining their senses. They looked around, surveying their surroundings. Arc, Rarity, and Refia took notice of several pieces of burnt wood scattered around them, letting them know that their beloved airship Enterprise was no more.
"I don't believe this!"
They all turned to see a fuming Rainbow Dash and Applejack.
"We've been out cold, had the Enterprise stolen from us, got it back, and now THIS happens!" Applejack exclaimed. "This ain't right!"
Everyone hung their heads, knowing that they were trapped in an unknown kingdom, unsure of why their vessel was destroyed or who was responsible.
"This is really, really bad, Twilight," said Spike. With no response from his friend, he then turned around and noticed something... They were only one head short.
"Wait a minute! Where's Twilight?!"
Sure enough, Twilight Sparkle was nowhere to be seen in the vicinity.
"Maybe she's playing hide-and-seek."
"Pinkie Pie! This is a most serious situation!" Ingus scolded.
"She never takes anything seriously... that is unless someone's in danger," Rainbow sighed.
"Let's split up," said Luneth. "A small purple pony with a horn and a pair of wings can't be hard to find."
"I agree," Ingus replied. He then looked around narrowing his eyes as he looked around once more. "And be on your guard. This wind carries the sound and scent of war..."
They agreed and did as Luneth said, searching each and every inch of the large city for the missing alicorn. This was the kingdom of Saronia, a kingdom torn apart by civil war. Each of the groups went in different sections in search of their friend. Spike, Arc and Rainbow Dash went to the southwestern portion of the city, while Refia, Applejack and Pinkie Pie went to northwestern division. Ingus and Rarity explored Southeastern Saronia while Luneth investigated the northeastern portion on his own.
"Twilight? Twilight, where are you?!" Spike cried out.
"Where is she?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"Where did she go?" Refia wondered. "Twilight Sparkle!"
"Yoo-hoo! Twilight, where are you?" Pinkie Pie called.
"Twilight, darling. Please answer us," said Rarity.
The citizens of Saronia were taken aback by the presence of the sentient creatures walking side-by-side with the humans and ran toward the nearest doors.
"'Scuse me, but did you see--"
A door slammed shut before the pink earth pony could finish her question.
"Do y'all just happen to know where--"
Applejack had the same result.
"Pardon me, darling, but do you by chance--"
No luck for Rarity. Or Spike, or Rainbow.
"Thanks for nothing," the cyan pegasus grumbled.
During his own search, Luneth discovered a standoff between two armies: one decorated in crimson armor, and the other in gold. The boy quietly sneaked beneath their feet and made his way to the gates of a large stone castle. Upon being denied entry, Luneth retreated and quickly ran before being caught in the middle of a potential battle.
Ingus definitely wasn't kidding, he thought. Those guys looked about ready to cross swords at any moment.
Rainbow Dash, Arc and Spike kept calling for Twilight until suddenly, they heard a scuffle of sorts in the northernmost building. Reaching it, they found it was a pub; the sounds of fighting were unmistakable. Inside the heroes found a trio of knights in gold armor surrounding a young boy of 10, laughing cruelly.
"Ha! Get a load of this! This boy here thinks he's the crown prince!" one of the thugs said, laughing. "I hope you know what the punishment is for impersonating a member of the royal family."
Recalling the times he was bullied before this journey began, Arc could no longer stand by and watch from the sidelines. The others joined in as well.
"Uh... stop that!" said Arc, with all the courage he mustered.
"Yeah! Pick on someone your own size, you jerks!" said Rainbow Dash.
"A talking horse?! Hilarious! Some kid bard, a talking horse and a lizard are wantin' us to stop!"
"What are you going to do, boy? Sing us a song of death? Bah ha ha ha ha!" said another one of the bullies.
The two Equestrians did not take this insult well.
"We'll show you!" said Spike.
"Stand back, kid! We'll handle these bozos!"
Spike jumped up in the air, crashing through the roof of the pub, much to the ponies' amazement, including Rainbow Dash.
"Whoa."
"Looks like your little lizard friend's too afraid."
"He's a dragon, you morons! And also... a dragoon."
As soon as those words were uttered, a spear shot down upon the leader of this band of so-called knights with Spike landing on the blunt end of the weapon.
"Please... no more! We yield! We yield!" the thugs said, retreated.
"How's that?!"
"You okay, kid?"
"Yes. I must say I am surprised to see my saviors being sentient equines and a dragon alongside humans.
"We get that a lot," said Rainbow. "And I MEAN a lot."
"Regardless, let me introduce myself. I am Alus, son of King Gorn and the rightful heir to the throne of Saronia. I thank you for your help, brave ones!"
"A prince?" asked Refia. She and the others bowed.
"It was nothin'," Spike said.
"Prince Alus, what's happening to this country?" asked Arc.
"My father, the king... He suddenly ordered our soldiers to fight amongst themselves! I tried to stop him, but not only did he refuse to listen, but he also threw me out of the castle!"
"What?!"
"That's just plain wrong!" said Applejack. "What kind of parent would kick their own kid out of their home?!"
"Yes..." The prince looked up and stepped forward. "Adventurers, I must ask for your help... I need to return to Castle Saronia and convince my father to cease this nonsense!"
"We're with you, Prince Alus! We'll do our best!" Arc replied. The others agreed.
"We must see the old man."
"Here, Alus. Take this with you."
"We thank you."
"This is only a rumor. But I've heard there is a large bird monster within the castle halls. It is called Garuda. Only dragoons can defeat him."
"In that case, leave this Garuda guy to me!" Rainbow Dash declared. Upon hearing a clearing of the throat, she turned to see an annoyed Spike crossing his arms. "And Spike, too."
The rest of the group rolled their eyes.
Arc and Rarity looked up to the sky.
"Twilight... Where could she be?"
"Wherever she is, I hope she's okay."
Rarity wrapped her hoof around the boy.
Castle Saronia
Reunited, our heroes gathered near the entrance to the castle. They noticed the two opposing sides were still locked in a defensive position, neither one daring to make a move. Realizing that they have no intentions of fighting, the heroes passed them and marched to the castle gates.
"Halt!"
"Guards..."
"P... Prince Alus? Your father has exiled you and has forbidden you to set foot!"
"And that is why I am here. To speak with my father."
Just then, another guard approached the gatekeeper from within the castle.
"Sir, King Gorn has given permission."
"Are you sure?"
The guard nodded.
"That changes things considerably. Very well, you and your party may enter, except for those little ones--"
"Actually, sir... The king has requested their presence as well."
The gatekeeper gave the guard a look of confusion and disbelief. He could tell his fellow guard wasn't lying, so he had no choice.
"Fine. You may all enter."
The ponies and Spike sighed in relief as the guards led them inside the stone castle.
"Please rest here for the night. Your audience with the king is scheduled for tomorrow. Good night..."
Little did they realize that were being watched by a sinister man with red hair wearing a light green outfit.
Later that night...
"Are you asleep?" asked Prince Alus.
"No, not yet," said Arc.
"I can't help but wonder... What has happened to my father? Why would he expel his own son? Do you think... he doesn't love me anymore?" he said, trying to hold back tears.
Arc shook his head. "Sire... No parent would ever lose their love for their children! Your father must've had a good reason for doing this. Don't worry, I'm sure the king will explain everything tomorrow."
"I... I guess you're right," Alus replied. Soon sleep finally overtook him and Arc. Applejack was the only one who kept her eyes open, and yet she couldn't resist the urge to fall asleep with the rest. One thought had kept racing in the orange mare's head: why would the king cast out his own kin?
Two hours later, the gray-haired King Gorn arrived within the chamber and approached his slumbering son. From within his robe, he pulled out a dagger, and poised to strike the prince!
"Alus... it is time for you to die!"
At that moment, Arc and the prince awoke; the others arrived soon afterwards.
"Father! What are you doing?!"
"Yes, what ARE you doing?!" a voice called.
From the stairs descended the same man who eyed our heroes with disdain, the king's evil advisor, Gigametz.
"Are you actually gonna go through with it?! This is yer own son, for Celestia's sake!" Applejack argued.
His hand shaking, the king then raised the dagger... He then turned to the ponies and dragon. His eyes... his eyes had regained color, and as he looked on, he realized the horror of what he was about to do. Gigametz's brows furrowed.
"Finish him, you fool! Finish him!"
"Wrong game, Mr. Evil Chancellor," said Pinkie Pie.
The king faltered, his eyes turning to Gigametz.
"I... am your slave no longer!"
"'SLAVE?!'"
"You fool...!"
Gigametz then took the dagger and stabbed the king.
"Father!!"
"OH MY GOODNESS!!"
"No matter," the evil advisor scoffed, turning his attention to our heroes. "I, Gigametz, shall destroy you all myself!"
At that moment, Gigametz transformed into the winged, eagle-like beast Garuda.
"So that big bird thing those soldiers were talking about was you, huh?!" Rainbow Dash glared.
"Why would ya control the king and kick out his own boy?" Applejack glared.
"Because with Gorn under my power, I can control this land however I see fit. That little brat only stood in the way."
"And what about this war? Why tear the kingdom apart?!" Ingus glared.
"Heh heh heh heh. No real reason. It is no more than a game to me. That's all."
"That's just sick and you know it!" Applejack cried.
"Messing with other people's feelings? That's one game I don't ever, EVER wanna play!" said Pinkie Pie.
Garuda responded by swiping his talons a the the pink earth pony. Pinkie almost hit the wall, but she was saved by Rainbow Dash.
Electric sparks manifested from the wicked being's talons.
"I got a bad feeling about this," said Spike.
"No time, Spike! You and Rainbow Dash jump!" Pinkie Pie commanded. "Do it! QUICK!"
Without another word the two dragoons launched themselves in the air. Stretching his arms out, Garuda unleashed a mighty wave of lightning upon our heroes. It would have been lethal, if not for Rarity conjuring a magical diamond shield protecting them. As strong as it was, the shield withstood the attack in ten minutes, allowing the spell to nearly electrocute our heroes; the caster of the shield in particular suffered the most.
"Oh no! Rarity!"
Arc gave the white unicorn a hi potion, healing her wounds.
"Ha ha ha! Was that the best effort that you could put together?!"
"Hey, featherbrain!" called a voice from above.
Looking up, Garuda saw two spears descending from the skies and before he could react, the impact of the weapons blew him down across.
"RARITY!!"
Spike grew angry, inhaled and let out a powerful flame, nearly roasting the creature. Shaking off the flames, Garuda leered at the small purple dragon/dragoon.
Luneth then charged at the being, and slashed at him. Applejack approached the avian villain, jumped and smashed him with her hammer, causing a good deal of damage. While this was happening, the two dragoons jumped high above once again.
"Enough! I am through playing with you!!"
Garuda charged his talons once more, but with Rarity still recovering, there was nothing they could do but wait and brace themselves. That is... until Garuda's face was immediately covered in streamers and confetti.
"Yoo-hoi! Mr. Evil Chancellor!" Pinkie called out excitedly.
Sure enough, Pinkie fired her party cannon at her enemy.
"What is this?!"
"A distraction, silly!"
One of the spears came done and made another powerful impact, knocking the evil being onto the ground. Spike then came after, grabbing it and making way for Rainbow Dash and her spear to end the battle along with Garuda's reign of terror once and for all. With one final screech, Garuda fell and dissipated, leaving no trace behind. Not even a single feather.
"We did it!!" Pinkie cheered. Indeed, their victory had given our heroes a great increase in strength, speed, and their capabilities for their respective jobs. However...
*music fades out*
The prince rushed to his father's side and carefully lifted his head.
"Father! Are you alright, father?!"
"My son... Alus... Please... forgive this fool of a father..." the king said with a weak cough.
"Father...?"
"As he stated... Gigametz took... control of me... and plunged our fair kingdom into a meaningless war... for his own amusement... He even went as far... as to have me exile my own flesh and blood... By I could never take... your life... That was his downfall..."
"Your Majesty!"
"Ponies... dragons... Warriors of the Light... I thank you for saving Saronia... Alus... I leave the kingdom in your hands... Rule wisely... Rule... well..."
"FATHER!!"
King Gorn closed his eyes for the last time. The guards arrived and promptly carried their fallen ruler's body away to bury him properly.
"I will carry out your wish, Father."
"All hail.. the new king!" Arc said, tears streaming.
Ascending upstairs, our heroes faced the newly crowned king and bowed respectfully.
"Is this...?"
"Aye, lass. We've only discovered this beauty. We call her the Nautilus."
"All RIGHT!! New airship!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"Let's talk with the king some more."
Returning to the throne room, our heroes informed him of their departure.
"It will take some time for construction of the ship's completion. In the meantime, why don't you pay the Great Library a visit?" Alus suggested.
Pinkie gasped loudly. "Library?! That big building in the upper left part of the city?"
"I believe you mean the northwestern portion, right?" Ingus asked.
"Yeah! Me, Refia and Applejack went there looking for Twilight, but then... Oh," the pink mare said.
*music fades out*
"It's alright, sugarcube," said Applejack. She then looked in the opposite direction of the throne. "Don't worry, Twilight. We'll find ya."
???
Somewhere far away from the kingdom of Saronia, Twilight Sparkle lay unconscious, not knowing what where her friends were or what they had been through. Her eyes felt heavy.
"Awake..." said a voice
"...?"
"You must awaken..."
Her eyelids began to move, slowly opening... Her vision had not yet returned. However, she could barely make out an image: an elderly man dressed in red.
"Where... where am I?" she asked.
"You are in my humble abode on the Dalg continent," the man responded.
"Then... you must be..."
The figure nodded.