Almost every pony in Ponyville had assembled around the town hall despite it being late at night. Mayor Mare was adorned in her dressing gown and had her mane in curlers as she attempted to settle the crowd that was becoming ever more restless but to no avail.
The realisation that every pet and critter in the town had disappeared troubled the masses and consistent chattering emanated from the gathering. Some were hit harder than others however, at the front of the crowd two steams of tears could be seen sprouting out above the heads of others.
“Now now Rarity, i’ma sure Opalescence will be just fine n’ dandy once we find her.” Applejack attempted to calm the distressed pony, whilst somehow containing the feelings over her own missing canine.
The chattering subsided when Twilight took to the stage. “Everypony, as you may already be aware of we are in a state of emergency. All of the pets as well as the wildlife in town have been abducted during the night.” The statement was followed by cries from the crowd, but they are almost drowned out by Rarity’s weeping.
“The first thing we need to do is understand who or what is doing this. And I think I know where to start…” She then proceeded to explain what she saw earlier that night as well as what was written in the tome she read. “We are dealing with a very powerful magic here, there is no way any of us would be able to create as many of those orbs as I saw.” Her stern expression indicated the gravity of the situation.
“But Twi, what do y’all suppose we do?” Applejack inquired from the crowd.
“I will take a small group with me into the Everfree Forest to look for whatever is creating these orbs.” She scanned the large number of ponies before her, looking for those she would take. Twilight already had a good idea of the five she was going to choose.
However she could only count two of her friends in the crowd, Applejack and Rarity. “Has anyone seen Pinkie, Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy? They will be of paramount importance in this plan.”
“I dunno Twi; we ain’t seen um since all this here magic malarkey started.”
After a silent pause speculation began to spread throughout the onlookers. Above other theories Roseluck shouted from the rear of the crowd, “Perhaps they were taken by the orbs too!”
The mayor’s attempts to call for order continued unheeded as the idea sent out a refreshed wave of panic.
With the din loudening Twilight knew she had to bring some calm to the situation if any progress was going to be made.
Unsure of how to get everypony’s attention she resorted to casting one of the spells that she had been practicing the most recently, although she had never used it on such a large scale before.
Channelling her energy she charged her horn and an almighty flash of light swept over the crowd. The mass of arguing equines fell silent as they were engulfed by the spectacle.
After the lightshow subsided it revealed the numerous dazed ponies mostly unharmed, apart from the fact they were now all donning magnificent moustaches.
“Now that I have everypony’s attention.” Twilight muffled though her moustache to the confused but now silent audience. “Oh… whoops.”
Magically removing her own facial hair she continued. “There is no way those three could have been taken, I took the liberty to read about these orbs and it described that only simple minds can be affected. That means only our pets are at risk.”
“Are you sure about that Twilight…?” Mayor Mare asked, pointing at the spectacle unravelling before them.
“Yes, I am one hundred per cent… sure…” Twilight fell silent with her mouth agape as Snips and Snails slowly hovered past the pedestal in a pair of blue orbs.
**********
Moisture glistened off the dark stone walls of the dungeon. A rapid clanging of metal echoed through the halls.
“Could you please stop Rainbow? That is starting to hurt my ears.” Fluttershy begged. Normally passive of other pony’s actions the seemingly endless rattling started to take its toll on her.
“Urgh… Fine!” Rainbow stopped running a hoof along the metal bars of their cell and sat forcefully on the ground with a most irritated expression covering her face.
“Thank you.” Fluttershy mumbled quietly, afraid any attempt at communication will simply aggravate the rainbow haired pegasus even more.
The pair sat in silence for a short while, the crackling from the flame of a nearby torch was the only audible sound.
“I can’t take this anymore! I need to get outa here before I go insane!” Rainbow Dash hated being forced to stay still, and this was the longest time she had spent stationary since she offered to help Rarity with that irritating dress of hers.
Rattling the door of the cage she attempted to break it off its hinges but to no avail.
Lying in the corner of the cage with her hooves covering her ears Fluttershy pleaded once again “Please stop…” her voice could barely be heard over the rattling of the cage.
“I’m not just gonna sit here and wait! For all we know we might be left in here…”
“FOREVER!!!!!”
Caught off guard both of the trapped ponies retreated from the cry and fled to the corner of their cell huddled together.
“Hi! What are you two silly fillies doing in a cage?”
Unsure if what she was witnessing was a hallucination Rainbow rubbed her eyes before taking another look at the sudden burst of colour standing outside their prison.
“Pinkie?! What are you doing here? How did you find us?!”
“I’m down here looking for Gummy, he’s really good!” Pinkie Pie had begun looking around the corridor, peaking under the slabs of stone that made up the floor and in-between the cracks in the walls.
“What do you mean “he’s good”? He was the one that threw us down here in the first place!” Dash started getting aggravated; all she wanted was to be free from the Celestia forbidden cell trapping her and Pinkie’s usual randomness wasn’t helping.
“Don’t be silly! Gummy wouldn’t do something like that; he would be too busy playing hide and seek anyway!” Pinkie seemed utterly oblivious to the situation at hand as she continued searching.
“It’s true; he was working with them… just like angel was.” Tears started to well up in Fluttershy’s eyes at the thought of her beloved friend turning against her like he did.
This struck a chord with Pinkie, if there’s one thing that she dislikes more than someone breaking a pinkie swear it’s seeing one of her friends sad. After tilting her head to one side and listening to Fluttershy’s claim Pinkie Pie’s mood changed dramatically.
“Okie Dokie…” Pinkie’s eyes turned to slits as she stopped searching the hallway. Picking up a small stone and tasting it she pondered for a second before walking back in the same direction she appeared from.
“Wait! Pinkie! Let us outta this stinkin’ cell first!” Rainbow cried out after Pinkie as she disappeared around a corner. “Great…”
“Don’t worry Rainbow, I’m sure she will be back to free us soon.” Comforted by Pinkie’s arrival Fluttershy made herself comfortable in the corner of the cell, awaiting the pink pony’s return.
“She could have tried to get us out of here first at least! Now we have no idea where she’s… wait… what’s that noise?”
Rainbow and Fluttershy both perked their ears up to listen out for the mysterious sound.
“Is it… getting closer?” Fluttershy asked puzzlingly, unsure of what direction it was coming from.
“It sounds like it’s coming from above. Watch out!” Rainbow Dash quickly swept Fluttershy from the corner of the cell causing them both to land hard on the floor.
“WHOOOAAAAHHHH!!!!!” A trap door in the ceiling of the cell flew open and Pinkie Pie tumbled out and crashed landed on the spot where Fluttershy was resting a few seconds ago.
“Pinkie!” Both onlookers cried in unison as they rushed over to her as she lay flat on the floor.
Their concerns grew as moments passed looking at the motionless mare, but as soon as worry was about to overcome them Pinkie Pie lifted her head off the floor and with a massive grin on her face yelled “Found them!”
Angel and Gummy then proceeded to poke their heads out of Pinkie’s curly mane with a distinct lack of glowing blue eyes.
**********
On the edge of town within sight of the Everfree Forest a number of ponies gathered around Twilight.
The group consisted of those that refused to return to sleep before sunrise and were reluctant to leave before helping in some way. Three rather exited fillies jumping up and down with excitement could also be seen in the crowd.
Twilight began announcing the somewhat smaller crowd than before. “Listen up everypony. Rarity, Applejack and I will scout the forest to look for any signs of our missing friends. We will hold a large search to look for them in the morning when it is safer.”
The three little ponies suddenly stopped their jubilation upon hearing the plan. “But Twi! How else are we goin’ to get our pony savin’ cutie mar-“ Applebloom was interrupted by Scootaloo shoving her out the limelight. “Rainbow Dash and the others are in danger! We need to help you save them!”
“Sorry girls but it Is far too dangerous for fillies like you to travel in the Everfree Forest.” Twilight had no intention of taking anypony other than her closest friends, especially not three overexcited crusaders.
“You heard her Applebloom, go get some shut eye and y’all will be able to search with everypony tomorrow.”
“You too Sweetie Belle! You shouldn’t even be awake at the moment! Now go and get your beauty sleep.”
The fillies hung their heads and sadly started trotting back to town.
Their mood changed once they were out of sight however.
“Hey girls, you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?
“Sure are, let’s follow them!” Scootaloo was more than eager to get their new plan underway.
Sweetie Belle on the other hand was less than enthusiastic.
“I’m not sure about this girls… Don’t you two remember what happened last time we went in there?” She attempted to talk some reason into the others, but their disapproving stares quickly showed that her concerns were being voiced on deaf ears.
“Enough talk already! Let’s go before we lose them.” Scootaloo lead the way back to the edge of town where they witnessed the crowd of ponies dispersing and the three mares on their way to the forest to rescue their friends.
The three fillies quietly followed in tow, keeping their distance and using whatever they came across as cover to avoid being spotted.
**********
The sound of a harmonica had replaced the rattling of bars in the cell; as the melody reverberated through the corridors it dissipated some of the grim atmosphere.
The three captive ponies remained in their prison but the mood had lightened up to an extent with the addition of a couple of small animals. Fluttershy rested in silence cuddling Angel, Pinkie sat playing her instrument with gummy still poking his cockeyed face out from her mane and a rather grouchy Rainbow Dash was slumped in the corner with her arms crossed displaying the most disgruntled face she could muster.
“Why do you even have a stinkin’ harmonica anyway?” Rainbow wasn’t amused by the music that had begun grating on her ears; in her current mood anything other than silence would irritate her.
After finishing the tune she was playing Pinkie swung around with her usual cheery grin on her face. “I always keep it on me; you never know when you might need one!”
“I really like it. It makes this place feel less nasty.” Fluttershy spoke up for the first time since she huddled down with her newly reunited pet.
Rainbow opened her mouth to voice her own opinion on the matter but was cut short by the sound of a slamming door down the hallway.
“Ooh! I wonder who that is!” Pinkie jumped at the idea of more company, however the other slightly more rational ponies in the cell were anxious of whatever was approaching.
The sound of trotting hooves reached the cell, solidifying Pinkie’s hopes of company but striking alarm into the other two for fear that the hooded pony may be drawing closer.
The pair that walked around the corner however confused them all.
Snips and Snails plodded into sight. They were armed with makeshift armour and spears made from wood, their faces void of emotion and their eyes glowing just as the pets’ were before. Both marched into position in front of the cell and stood to attention.
An awkward silence followed as the trio waited for some sort of recognition from their new guards. After a few seconds Pinkie decided it was time to finally break the silence.
“Hi! What are you two doing here?”
The explosion of sound was followed by dead silence.
“HellooOOooo!” The pink pony stuck a hoof through the cell bars and waved it in front of their faces.
After a brief pause Snips responded.
“The Great one does not want us to talk to the prisoners.” His voice was as void of emotion as his face.
“You just talked to them; we’re not supposed to talk to them eh.”
“How were the prisoners supposed to know that if I didn’t tell them?”
And so began the most unemotional argument in the history of ponykind.
The dispute continued for a lengthy portion of time, at which point Rainbow Dash lost her cool. “You have to shut those two up somehow Pinkie, do whatever you did to Gummy and Angel on them or something!”
“I can’t!” Pinkie replied smiling and sounding far too enthusiastic considering the situation at hand.
“Why not!? It couldn’t have been too hard looking at how fast you rescued these two!”
“Because I just gave Fluttershy my last cupcake!”
“Mmrrph!?” An extremely confused Fluttershy with a mouth full of cake shot her head up in confusion at the comment, fearing that she may have just cost them their freedom.
“… huh?” Rainbow Dash felt she should have expected as much from Pinkie, but that didn’t stop her from being just as confused as her cupcake eating friend.
Looking on from Fluttershy’s embrace Angel facepalmed and decided to take matters into his own hands.
Wriggling out of the cuddle he hopped over to the bars of the cell and slipped through effortlessly, he then proceeded to snatch a bundle of keys that was hanging from Snips’ belt before returning to the cell.
The three captive ponies sat silently looking on in disbelief as Angel handed the keys silently to Rainbow Dash.
After comprehending what just transpired before her the cyan Pegasus didn’t hesitate to rush over to the door of the cage and begin unlocking it.
After hearing the unmistakeable clink of the lock Rainbow proceeded to silently push the door open and the five captives managed to sneak past the arguing guards who had conveniently turned away from them to argue.
By the time their captors noticed what had happened the escapees were already making their way up the stairwell.
“The powerful one commands you to stop eh!” Snails was barely audible as the echoed yell reached them.
Dragging Fluttershy in the air behind her Rainbow Dash burst through the main gates of the castle, outside they were met with a refreshing wall of cool night air. Pinkie followed closely, somehow managing to keep up with her usual joyful bouncing.
“Finally, let’s get back to town!” The relief of escaping that cramped cell gave Rainbow a new lease of life.
“Erm… girls?”
Turning around to see what Fluttershy wanted, any joy Rainbow had was quickly replaced with fear as she saw hundreds of small animals flowing out of the ruins in pursuit.
**********
“Are you sure about this Twilight? We could have always brought some of them with us; they did seem rather enthusiastic to help.” Rarity voiced her concern as she avoided some particularly muddy looking puddles.
“Definitely, as I said it would be far too dangerous to bring any of them. Odds are not a single one of them has been in the forest before.”
“Yeah I’ma gonna go with Twilight on this one, ain’t safe bringin’ them out here. Especially at this time’a night.”
“I guess you two are right… But I don’t see how that makes this any safer for us.” The forest was eerily quiet that night only adding to Rarity’s distress. The shadows were devoid of the usual ambience created by the nocturnal creatures that dwelled there.
As the last three members of the elements of harmony ventured deeper into the depths of the forest they were utterly unaware of the trio that had decided to follow them.
The three fillies kept a distance between themselves and those they were stalking, using the trees and foliage littering the area to keep a low profile.
There was no way they were going to be seen; however chances were high that they would be heard without the usual sounds of the forest to muffle their movements.
Applebloom lead the way by diving into a nearby bush causing it to rustle violently. She was swiftly followed by Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, both causing just as much of a racket.
“Did y’all hear that?” Applejack said as she swung around, paranoid of the thought that something might be stalking them.
“It was probably just the wind AJ, if anything dangerous was nearby odds are we would know about it.” Twilight made a point to miss out any information in her reassuring statement about how she was ambushed by a cockatrice; the three of them together should be enough to handle anything that small… right?
The members of the search party dismissed the idea of any threats, but as soon as they turned their backs three pairs of eyes could be seen peering from a nearby shrub.
“That there was too close, we need to be a lil’bit more quiet girls.” Applebloom spoke in a hushed voice hoping not attract the attention of her sister again.
The other two crusaders nodded in agreement before breaking their cover and tip-toeing over to the next bush.
Applejack noticed the rustling of plants nearby yet again but silently dismissed it. However instead of subsiding quickly the rustling became more intense and the ground began to rumble slightly.
“Erm, Twi? I don’t think that’s the wind this time.”
Rarity was also starting to become alarmed. “Quite… the last time I felt the floor rumble like this it meant…”
“STAMPEDE!” Just as Rarity was about to finish her sentence Rainbow Dash and her pastel pink and yellow luggage flew past at breakneck speed.
Dash was quickly followed by Pinkie Pie who joyfully greeted the group as she passed. “Hi girls! You better start running! Otherwise…” is all they heard as she bounded out of earshot.
To say that the search party was taken by surprise would be an understatement. Twilight, Rarity and Applejack barely had time to look at what the others were fleeing from before they were swept away by the flash flood of small animals.
The wave of creatures rampaged through the forest channelling through the spaces in-between trees, thankfully avoiding the bush that contained the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
“What in tarnation is going on!? You two ok!?”
Twilight somehow managed to form a response “I’m okay! Where’s Rarity!?”
Just then a white pony burst through the surface nearby screaming and waving her hooves in the air. “AHHHH MY COIFFURE!!!” is all she managed to yell before disappearing under the fluffy waves once again.
Rainbow had already made good headway against the flood but knowing that there was almost no way that her friends would have made it to safety in time she had to check on them. Glancing back she witnessed two of the three unlucky mares struggling to keep their heads afloat.
“Don’t worry guys I got ya!” Dash stopped on a dime and flew back to rescue her friends. This sent Fluttershy soaring forward at the same velocity straight into the greenery of a nearby tree.
Not noticing how the pony she was towing continued on without her, Rainbow Swooped down and grabbed Twilight’s outstretched hoof.
Try as she might the unicorn wasn’t going to budge, not even her powerful wings could overcome the many grasping paws.
Without warning Twilight was sucked into the mass of fur and dragged the unfortunate pegasus with her.
Fluttershy could only look on helplessly from the branch she was slumped over as her friends disappeared out of sight in the seemingly endless river of animals flowing below.
“That looks pretty fun!” Looking up Fluttershy saw Pinkie clinging to the trunk of the tree she was in.
“Oh Pinkie am I glad to see you, I thought me and Angel were going to be left here alone and…”
“Cannonball!!!!” Pinkie Pie then proceeded to dive from the tree and landed with a splash that sent multiple critters airborne. She re-emerged nearby and after spitting out a hamster yelled “Come on in, the fuzz is fine!” as she was swept away with the last of the wildlife.
The forest was dead silent once the wave subsided, leaving one stunned Fluttershy with Angel clinging on to her hanging tail and a very scared but unscathed bush-full of Fillies.
**********
The sky above Ponyville began to lighten as a new day started; a rosy hue tinted the clouds showing that Celestia had started her duties over in Canterlot.
It was at this time that birds would usually begin their songs to welcome the arrival of the sun but today the town remained silent. A few homes saw some movement as the early risers began their day.
One front door creaked open and a rather tired Lyra Heartstrings trotted out, levitating a mug of coffee in front of her she let out a large yawn before setting it down and turning her attention to the morning’s milk delivery.
That was when the rumbling started.
The rippling of her warm beverage was the first warning, as it caught her curiosity the tremor worsened. The bottle of milk standing on the floor before her began wobbling about on her doorstep and soon fell over.
Bringing a hoof up to her eyes to protect them from the rising sun she looked over towards the road into town, what she saw sent her coffee mug crashing to the floor.
The army of woodland creatures and pets had reached town, dotted with hundreds of blue glowing eyes the mass charged downhill and over the small bridge into Ponyville.
It did not take long for the streets to become covered in the brainwashed creatures. Homes were overrun in seconds; animals bursting through locked doors and using their sheer numbers to sweep up those inside.
Before long the population of Ponyville found themselves captive in their own homes. Assorted critters patrolled the streets making sure that escape was not a possibility for the residents. In the centre of town five ponies had been singled out from the rest, held in a makeshift wooden cell hastily constructed by the invaders they sat resentfully.
“Again! Trapped in a stupid cage!” Rainbow Dash was not best pleased with the current state of affairs, being held captive multiple times in one day wasn’t her idea of fun.
“Again? When else did you get locked up?” Twilight and the others were still in the dark about the happenings at the ruins, being taken prisoner by a tidal wave of creatures wasn’t the best time to catch up on the day’s events.
“Yeah… Me and Fluttershy went after those orb things and ended up being taken prisoner in some castle by these fur balls.” Rainbow said gesturing at the rabbits standing guard outside.
“A castle? Did you happen to see anything that might explain what is causing all of this? My books said that it would take a massive amount of magic to cast a spell on this scale.” Twilight knew that if they found out who or what was behind the spell their chances of stopping it would increase tenfold.
“All I saw was some weird hooded pony before gummy knocked me and Flutters out.” Rainbow only described the most important details, the less she had to talk about the whole situation the better.
“A hooded pony? Only pony I know that fits that description is Zecora, and I doubt she would do anything like this… Wait did you say Gummy?!” The three less informed ponies became startled at this development and looked over at the cockeyed reptile standing in the corner of the cage.
“Oh don’t mind him!” Pinkie was quick to defend her pet, holding him up to show them he was perfectly normal. “He’s fine now! That meanie bamboozled him like the others but it’s nothing his favourite food couldn’t fix!” She then fed Gummy another cupcake she had somehow conjured up, his toothless jaws making quick work of the treat.
“Hold on… the cure for the mind control is cupcakes?” Yet again Pinkie’s answer for a problem perplexed Twilight.
“SILENCE!”
A booming female voice hushed the caged ponies and prompted the multitude of animals guarding their prisoners to salute in unison. Silhouetted against the rising sun the mysterious pony trotted towards the centre of town escorted by Snips and Snails who were still donning their guard uniforms.
Rainbow Dash didn’t hesitate at the sight of her captor. “Let me at her! When I get my hooves on her I’ll… I’ll!” Flying into the side of the cage in an attempt to reach her target she flailed her hooves through the gaps of the cage wildly.
“Whoa nelly! Hold on there RD!” Biting onto Rainbow’s tail to hold her back Applejack attempted to restrain the fuming pegasus. “She’ll deserve everything that’s coming to…!” Without warning Applejack lost her grip on Rainbow’s tail causing the entire cage to topple onto its side sending all the ponies within flying.
As she looked on over the pile of pony in the cage in front of her a smirk could be made out on the cloaked mare’s face. “I see you incoherent bunch are still as pathetic as last time. Not that I expected any better!”
“Is that who I think it is?!” Recognising her jailer’s voice a mixture of shock and confusion swept over twilight.
“I believe so…” A rather angry Rarity lifted herself up from the ground, distain seething from her eyes. “I will never forgive what did to me you ruffian!”
“Ha-ha! I knew you untalented fools wouldn’t forget me. Indeed, who could forget…?” The pony flung the hood of her cloak back, revealing a flowing silver mane.
“The great…”
“And powerful…”
“TRIXIE!”