//------------------------------// // One if by Land // Story: The Chronicle of the Return // by DracoUnis //------------------------------// "Hold still, Lanternlight." Rarity floats another length of cloth around my shoulders. She's been pinning bolts of various colors and materials to me all morning, and I am quickly running out of patience. I need to go hunting today. My meat cellar is a little bare. "Rarity, I appreciate the effort, but do you really need to do this all right now?" I try to keep as still as possible as I talk. The unicorn frowns as my duty mark manifests on the back of the cloth, then clicks her tongue and removes the cloth draping me. "The Princesses haven't even sent out the invitations to the feast yet. You have plenty of time to come up with my suit for the party." "You can't start too early," with her horn aglow the white unicorn makes several cuts and adjustments as she speaks. "Besides, this way I have plenty of time to make any necessary adjustments or changes. It's a terrific challenge making your clothing, and I'm a little embarrassed to say that I've had to rely on trial and error. Mostly error." She mumbles that last part. "So I want to take my time and get this right. Any designs catch your eye?" With a sigh I step off of the platform and begin rifling through the sketches lying on a nearby table. I can tell that most of them are inspired by the carvings in Ceatus's barrow. Most of them are a little too ostentatious for my tastes. One has a ridiculous headdress that is modeled after a flame. Another is encrusted with enough gems to make Elton John envious. Not my style, even though gemstone studded clothing is Rarity's signature. As much as I want to spare my friend's feelings, none of these outfits really appeal to me. I'm about to say as much when a hastily opened door preempts me. A tan earth pony with red hair and a rose cutie mark is panting by the door. I recognize her from my first visit to town, she was one of the first ponies to panic and hide from me. I think her name is… Roseluck? Something like that, anyways. "L-Lanternlight! A monster! There's a monster tearing up the square!" Rarity looks at the pony interrupting her work with more than a little annoyance. "Really, Rose. You should not just barge in like that. It's unladylike. Besides, you're probably just overreacting again." At that moment, a boulder the size of a small house slams into the lawn outside, just to the left of a smaller grey boulder that was already there. Rose glares at the unicorn and points a hoof at the boulder without even looking over her shoulder. "Does that look like overreacting to you?" The pony's voice drips with sarcasm. The white unicorn gives the red-maned pony an embarrased grin. I stuff one of my jacket's pockets with a handful of sketches. "Sorry Rarity, duty calls." I run out the door and down the street into the square. When I arrive I pause to take in the sight. The square is a disaster area. Wrecked stalls litter the broken ground, spikes and pillars of rock are everywhere, and a few nearby structures are leaning on or sinking into their foundations. It couldn't have happened on a worse day; as a rural town, Ponyville held a farmer's market in the square every weekend. The Apples own a stall and everything. It was a good way for the farmers to supplement their income, not to mention socialize with those who lived in town. Speaking of farm ponies… "Applejack!" I call for her as I run into the wrecked square. Of all the Apples she usually ran the family's stall. Granny Smith was too old, Big Macintosh was to quiet (and distracted nowadays), and Apple Bloom had shown a little too much enthusiasm last time her big sister let her help. I run around a wall of disturbed ground several feet hight and call again, "Applejack!" Whatever had done this was bad news. This damage is on the scale of a small earthquake. After leaping over the remains of a stall I spot, and hear, the pony I'm looking for. "let go ov de abbelss, ya vamit!" The orange earth pony is playing tug-of-war with a strange creature over a basket of apples. Her opponent has a sleek, bullet-shaped body with a kind of spine on its back. It has large, blunt claws on its forefeet, and its hind legs are heavily muscled. The tail is a long, flat affair reminiscent of an alligator. In response to AJ's demand it lets out a low growl that I can feel through the ground. The creature stomps the ground with it's left hind foot, and I feel the magic in the ground shift under my feet. A pillar of earth shoots up under Applejack's hooves, tossing the orange earth pony into the air along with the apples. She shouts in surprise and terror as she flies over the houses, but I see a rainbow streak rush out of the clouds to catch her. Knowing that my friend is in good hooves, I return my attention to this dangerous, and apparently earthbending, creature. I enter my fighting stance, but I am ignored in favor of the basket. The whatever-it-is opens its mouth wide, giving me a good look at an impressive array of teeth, and catches the basket. Then it chomps down and swallows, basket and all. It turns its attention to me. In those black, beady eyes I can see that this creature is thinking about how good I might taste. Well lets see if this thing likes spice! I jab a couple of fireballs in its direction, dodging the fountain it sends whistling my way by flicking its tail. My flames splash against its skin and it flinchs. A flinch? I dodge another rock and dash forward, kicking a large arc of flame towards the creature as I close the distance. I alter my course while I'm hidden behind the burning streak. As I predicted, the creature raises up a wall of earth to shield itself from the flames. I hear another annoyed growl, so I leap into the air before a pillar of rock throws me into the sky. My next move is to hit the earth shield with an axe kick firebomb. The dirt construct breaks under my attack, but before I can follow through I'm knocked into the air by a claw swipe. Ow. I hope whoever lives in this house isn't too upset about that second-floor window. By the time I get back to the window I see the creature sniffing the air, then lumbering off in the general direction of Sugarcube Corner. Oh no, this thing is difficult enough to fight without it having the advantage of a sugar rush. I leap out of the window, landing a lot better than I usually do. With big, sweeping movements I build up a large fireball. I'm about to send this thing running towards the nearest river when a pony dives into my line of fire. "Stop!" I toss the fireball into the sky to avoid turning the pegasus into a pile of cinders. "F-Fluttershy," I sputter, "get out of the way! I need to get that thing out of the village!" "Please don't hurt it! It's confused and hungry and probably scared." Scared?! The last emotion I can imagine that creature feeling is fear. Causing fear is more like it. My little light show apparently caught its attention, because I barely have enough time to tackle Fluttershy to the ground before another large boulder passes over our heads. I pull her up and behind cover (pegasi are very light) while I toss more fireballs across the square to discourage the beast from charging us. "Lanternlight! What's going on?!" Great, now Twilight Sparkle has decided to join the party. Luckily I'm not too distracted to duck another boulder. "What do you think? Encouraging," flying rock, "an unwanted visitor to leave through meaningful," another rock, counter with fireball combo, "dialogue." My combo gets broken by an approaching spike of rock. I dodge and the building behind me gets a new entrance. Wonderful, I've graduated from mildly annoying pest to seriously annoying pest. Twilight, oblivious to the flying rocks and fireballs, stares intensely at my opponent. "Is that what I think it is?" I'm forced to keep my snarky response to myself, seeing as I'm busy trying to not die. The creature starts to close the gap between us uncomfortably fast. My unicorn friend looks around the ruined square, in which a good part of the debris is now on fire. She gallops off towards a partially intact stand while I keep trying to convince the beast that backing away from the fireball-chucking human is a good idea. Fluttershy, meanwhile, has the good sense to stay behind cover while trying to convince the two of us to stop fighting. Unfortunately the beast is not listening and I have no plans to die today. Behind me I can hear a knife chopping away at something on a wooden countertop, then a whole clove of chopped garlic floats over my shoulder. The beast stops for a few seconds and sniffs. Then it backs off a step. Twilight steps forward and tells me, "Roast it." When I give her a dumbfounded gaze she says again, "Roast the garlic, Lanternlight! Now!" A light jab, sending a tongue of flame to brush lightly against the garlic, is apparently enough to get the job done. The beast gets a whiff of that and backs up another three steps. Twilight floats the garlic closer and it dives into the ground. We hear rumbling as the creature burrows out of Ponyville, and away from the garlic, as fast as it can. Now that the creature's gone I sit down hard and try my best to catch my breath. I never considered myself a slouch when it comes to physical fitness. In fact I'm probably more active now that I'm practiceing firebending every day. But there is a huge difference between practicing firebending forms in the front yard and fighting for your life. Eventually I recover my breath long enough to talk. "Garlic?" I ask Twilight incredulously. She nods, looking rather pleased with herself. "Garlic," she affirms. "I toss fire at it and it acts like I'm a mosquito. You come along with some garlic and it runs like some kind of demon is after it." I drop the rest of the way to lay the ground. Fluttershy walks up to me with a look of concern on her face. "Lanternlight, you're shaking." I hold my hand up and watch my hand quaver as the adrenaline leaves my system. Suddenly feeling the aches and pains of my muscles, I sigh and cover my eyes. "I could really use a cup of tea right now." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am sipping a hot cup of jasmine in Twilight's library a few minutes afterwards, watching on as Twilight, Spike, and Big Macintosh practically turn the library upside down. Fluttershy is applying bandages and disinfectant to the numerous cuts I had accumulated during the fight. We haven't seen hide or hair of Applejack or Rainbow Dash yet. They're probably helping Rarity and the others with the cleanup of town square. "What are we looking for again?" Spike asks from the top of a ladder. "Something about rare magical animals from outside Equestria," Twilight says, looking through a stack of books on a nearby table. "I know I read a book like that yesterday. Ohhh, where is it?" Big Mac turns away from a bookshelf. "Ya remember where yah had it last?" The purple unicorn rubs her head with a hoof, squeezing her eyes tightly closed to remember. "I was… reading it before bed. It was so interesting that I took it, AHA!" She's off, climbing the steps to the library tree's upper stories. I grin at the sight, but wince as Fluttershy begins cleaning one of the deeper cuts. "I'm sorry," the yellow pegasus says for the hundredth time. "We're almost done, just have to patch up this last cut and you'll be good as new. With a little rest." I can hear the small undertone of an order enter Dr. Fluttershy's voice towards the end there. "Thanks for patching me up Fluttershy, but I don't think I'll be resting anytime soon." I shrug back into my shirt and jacket, incredibly thankful that I did not need stitches. Fluttershy gives me a look, but lets the matter drop when Twilight comes back down the stairs. "Here it is," the unicorn says triumphantly. "Far Tale's Foremost Guide to Fantastical Beasts for Far-Flung Explorers! Thanks, Macintosh. It was under the bed, just where I left it." "Told'ya," The big colt enjoys a thank-you cuddle. Fluttershy and I smile at the scene while Spike makes a face next to us. "They've been doing that all morning," the little dragon complains. I cover my grin with the teacup when he rolls his eyes dramatically. "So Twilight, what does this book say about our beastie?" The book she floated down with her is very thick, which leaves me to believe that either this Far Tale character was an exhaustive researcher or covered a lot of species. Since the book caught the bookworm unicorn's interest the answer is probably both. Twilight sets the book down and begins flipping though the pages at a rapid pace. "Here it is," she says, "the Terranian Landshark." "Excuse me?" "Landshark." I can't help but facepalm. The name is appropriate, but it's just so corny. Twilight recites the entry, "This large, predatory species dwells in the vast dessert of Terrania. The beasts are rarely sighted as they lay claim to vast swaths of territory in which to hunt. They are especially noteworthy for their prodigious appetites, often compared to that of the Common Parasprite. They will consume any available food source although they prefer meat, but a starving individual will often consume plant matter or c-corpses before moving on to more mobile food sources. Landsharks enjoy a powerful sense of smell, capable of detecting a single drop of water within five miles." "The landshark is a dangerous predator due to its ability to burrow beneath sand, earth, and rock undetected. Rumors hold that certain individuals can expand this ability to control earthen materials within the vicinity. Travelers are advised to follow the native's lead and carry garlic or onions with them when traversing the desert, as the powerful smell of the bulbs are one of the only things garanteed to repel a landshark." Twilight looks from the book, a small, frightened smile on her face. Fluttershy has an equally disturbed look, and Big Mac looks like he's on the edge of panic and rage. We where very lucky that the landshark here was focused more on getting food than hunting ponies. Things could have gotten a lot worse. A welcome distraction barges in the door in the form of the absent ponies. Applejack collapses on the floor while Rarity takes a seat with the rest of us by the table. Rainbow Dash flies through and lands next to me. "Hey there champ," the blue-and-rainbow pegasus gives be an affectionate (but painful) jab in the bicep. "I hear you saved the town from a rampaging monster this morning." I rub my left arm and respond humbly, "I just grabbed it's attention. Twilight's the one who drove it off." Rainbow rolls her eyes and blows off my modesty. Big Mac, on the other hand, walks over to his sister. "Welp?" AJ sighs into the floor. "Tha stand's a loss. It's in more pieces than broken china." The stallion nudges her to stand. "Insurance'll cover it." The orange mare stands up and shakes her head. "That's nawt what's bothering' me, Big Macintosh. We lost almost every apple we brought taday, and all tha others are in the same boat. Golden Harvest walked inta town a bit ago an' she lost her whole cart! If that monster causes any more mischief, we'll barely have enough food left ta last us the winter!." "Unfortunately AJ, that's not even half of the problem." I hate having to heap more bad news on her, but I can't be anything other than strait right now. I'm going to be needing everypony's help to resolve this. "Oh my," Rarity gasps, "don't tell me that this could get any worse than it already is." Oh, Rarity, please learn not to taunt Murphy. Luckily my stallion friend is here to back me up. "Eyup." While Twilight fills the rest of the mares in on what exactly we're getting into, I can feel a plan starting to take root in my head. Some of it's logical, some of it's inspired, and the rest is just plain crazy. So when Rainbow Dash asks "So what are we going to do?", I have an answer. "I have an idea." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It is well past noon when the ponies meet up with me again. I'm sitting on one of the bare, rocky hills beyond the Whitetail wood next to a cookfire. A freshly caught rabbit is roasting on a spit above the fire, and I'm putting away my hunting gear: bow, arrows, and knife. The smell of cooking meat is making my mouth water. I sit down just as the ponies reach the crest of the hill. First Twilight trots up to my little campsite with a determined look on her face. Applejack, Big Mac, and Pinkie Pie come into view after the unicorn, all pulling a wagon that contains a huge metal box. Rarity brings up the rear while Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash descend from the clouds. Soon the whole gang is here, minus Spike. Applejack makes a face when she smells the roast rabbit. "Phewie. Ah could smell that from the bottom of the hill, though I got no clue why ya went through the trouble of cookin' up tha bait." I grin, amused by my friend's discomfort. "Oh this isn't the bait," I wave the skewered meat through the air to cool it, "this is lunch." With exaggerated gusto I take a big bite out of the rabbit, savoring the flavor and the looks of disgust on most of the ponies faces. I swallow my bite and gesture to the other side of the hill. "The bait is ripening in the sun back there. By now it should be nice and fragrant for our subterranean friend." My improvised prank over with, I set the roast rabbit aside. Twilight fixes me with a very serious look. "Are you sure this will work?" she asks. "For the third time, its the only plan we've got," I sigh and run a hand through my hair, "other than hanging ropes of garlic and onions all over Ponyville and waiting for the Princesses to come to our rescue." Oh the irony of that statement. Okay Lanternlight, this is it. This is the first true threat you've faced since becoming Ponyville's guardian. You have a plan and a back up plan. Now it's time to set the scene. "Rainbow, did you get permission from the mayor to lay down the fog?" Rainbow salutes while hovering, "Permission granted. The weather team and I will get started on that in a bit." "Good. Twilight, Rarity, do you have the spell we talked about down?" Rarity pats her curled mane, "It took a lot of practice, but I was eventually able to, eh, somewhat master it." "Don't worry, you did great," Twilight reassures her, "I've rarely seen Spike fall asleep so quickly." "Okay. AJ, how's the cage? I honestly didn't expect you to find one so fast." "I built it!" Pinkie hops into my field of view. "I was helping the Cakes fortify their pantry when Applejack dropped by and asked for help, so I brought some of the stuff we were using to reinforce the floor and made this! I even decorated the inside so the landshark can have a big welcome home party when he gets there!" I resist the temptation to look inside, already knowing that if Pinkie's idea of interior design involves streamers, balloons, and confetti. Besides, why does a bakery need several sheets of six-inch thick iron? And were did my pink friend get the equipment to wield it together? You know what, never mind. Questions and Pinkie Pie don't mix. "Right. We all know what we need to do. Let's do it." Twilight catches up with me as I walk over to retrieve the bait. "I really hope this works, Lanternlight." I look into the unicorn's eyes and feel slightly ashamed. If this plan falls through, I might have to expose the ponies to an ugly part of human nature. As much as I don't want to. "It'll work," I reassure her and myself. I stow the bait, a bloody mix of internal organs from some of my more recent hunts, inside the iron cage. "It's a good plan. Now we just hope that the landshark doesn't…" At that moment I feel a tremor under my feet. I don't even look around, I just shout, "Run!" Before the Earth ponies take off with the wagon I jump on top of the cage and hold on for dear life. The three ponies pulling the wagon spring into a gallop, and as the wagon bumps and bounces it's way across the rocky terrain I see the dorsal spike of the landshark emerge from the ground like an inverted plow. As I suspected, in order to keep up with us it needs to move through the loose topsoil rather than the dense rock under it. Good to know. To my left I can see Rainbow and the other weather pegasi frantically dragging clouds down towards the ground. Their efforts are slowly generating the fog bank we need. The unicorns are keeping pace with the wagon. Boy am I glad to be riding on the wagon. The quadrupeds would have left me far behind by now. I almost panic when I see more of the landshark surface behind us. I have no idea how smart this thing is, but I definitely don't want it seeing the cage we built for it before it gets inside. The wagon hits a particularly nasty bump, and I manage to turn my near fall into a flip and land closer to the ponies pulling the vehicle. "Go faster, go faster. It's catching up with us. Please go faster." "Ya wanna help pull this thing?" Applejack shouts at me as we skid around a hairpin corner. Another crazy idea rattles its way inside my head. "I can push." I carefully stand erect and take my stance atop the cage. "Excuse meEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Applejack shrieks as I unleash a powerful jet of flame behind us. The flames push us forward like a rocket engine. "WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Pinkie shouts in glee as we rush towards the fog bank. My flame jet fades after a few seconds, leaving me panting and exhausted, but that seems to have allowed us to evade to landshark, for now. We slow down as the wagon is enveloped by the fog cover. The unicorns soon catch up with us, and our pegasus friends swoop down to join the group. "Okay, let's get into position," I say in a quiet voice. The Earth ponies unhitch themselves from the wagon and walk away while I open the cage. Twilight and Rarity hide themselves nearby, ready to work their magic. Rainbow Dash remains airborne while Fluttershy lands in a tree, both ready to help where they can. "Here it comes," Big Mac warns me as I'm heaving open the heavy metal door. I duck out of sight before I hear the landshark surface. I can't see it through the thick fog, but I can hear it sniffing the air. Slow, rumbling footsteps warn us of its approach, and in a few seconds the creature becomes a dark silhouette. It cautiously advances on the wagon, sniffing the air around the vehicle with what seems like suspicion. The landshark looks around in the fog. Then it rumbles deep in its throat and turns away from the baited cage. Damn. The plan has not exactly failed, but we need to encourage the shark to enter the cage a different way. Then I see a brightly colored pegasus cut the landshark off before it leaves our sight. "Hey, where do you think you're going?" Rainbow Dash's brash challenge is clearly audible to everyone. The landshark rumbles again and sends a small rock Rainbow's way, but the athletic pegasus dodges easily and charges. The shark ducks into the ground before the she makes contact. The blue-coated pegasus lands and begins pawing the ground as if she can dig her opponent right out of the rock. "Get back up here so I can wup your tail!" The rock suddenly contracts around her hooves, cementing all but one to the ground. "Huh?" Rainbow inspects her hooves for a second before attempting to take off. Although she flaps her wings as hard as she can, she's trapped. "Hey, that's not fair," she shouts at the absent landshark. The pegasus tries do dig herself out with her free hoof, but the rock holding her is firm and sturdy. That's when the shark surfaces again with it's mouth open wide. Dash screams and closes her eyes, shielding herself with one foreleg. I leap out from behind a boulder and throw a fireball into the landshark's gaping maw. I get more of a reaction this time. The shark bellows as my flames singe the sensitive tissue inside its mouth. The creature shakes its head and fixes its beady eyes on me. "You recognize me, don't you Bruce?" I ask the landshark. Bruce growls and his eyes narrow. "Yeah you do. come on." I maneuver myself in front of the open cage. "Come on!" I toss another flame at his face, careful not to hit Rainbow. Bruce bellows and steps forward, sliding the pegasus aside with his other foreclaw. "That's it. Dinner and revenge right here. Come and get it." I hold my ground and jab a flame dart at his right eye, keeping Bruce focused on me. The shark growls and advances further before throwing a rock strait at me. Before I can dodge the projectile is deflected by a flare of purple magic. Twilight is standing next to me, her horn glowing and ready. Oh no. "What are you doing?!" "Covering you." The unicorn deflects another bolder. She then grabs the bottom of my jacket in her mouth and begins pulling me into the cage. "Cmm n." I reluctantly back up, snap-kicking fire Bruce's way. The landshark grunts in frustration and lowers his head. "Twilight there's no way out of here." The glow around her horn intensifies. Bruce pounces at us. Theres a flash of light. Next thing I know I'm standing a few feet away from the wagon as an angry landshark collides with the back wall of the cage. "Closeitcloseitcloseit." Twilight gibbers next to me. Rarity slams the door shut with magic and the Apple siblings throw their weight against it and dig their hooves into the ground. Bruce bellows and thrashes inside the cage as Pinkie slams the lock down on the door. Then she adds a padlock, then wraps the metal box in heavy, padlocked chains for good measure. Twilight steps forward with her horn glowing again. I can see the purple aura of her magic inside the cage and hear Bruce calm down as her sleep spell begins to take hold. Her face is flushed as the unicorn concentrates on the spell. "Rarity…" she calls. Immediately the other unicorn joins her magic to the spell. Bruce calms down more, but he is obviously resisting. He occasionally thrashes in the cage, rocking the wagon side to side. It looks like the unicorns might exhaust themselves before putting the landshark to sleep. Fluttershy floats down from her tree and hovers next to the cage's viewport. And she starts singing. "Hush now, quiet now it's time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now, quiet now it's time to go to bed." I'm about to reprimand the pegasus when I hear Bruce yawn in the cage. Two more verses and the landshark falls asleep with a rumble and a boom. The rest of us hazard a peek inside the cage we see what was once a ferocious and dangerous creature sleeping like an infant. "That's a good boy," the yellow pegasus whispers with a smile. "Don't worry, we'll get you back where you belong before you know it." Bruce rumbles contently and turns his belly towards us. "We!" Pinkie begins before she's shushed by everyone. "Sorry," she whispers, "we did it. whohoo~!" "That's great." Rainbow Dash says from her position. "Now could somepony please get me out of this stuff?" --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A division of Canterlot's royal guard arrives later in the day to take Bruce back to his homeland. The white pegasi are very cross with us for handling this on our own, at least officially. Their commander takes me aside and recommends that I at least send a message to Canterlot before taking on a dangerous creature threatening Ponyville with only the Elements of Harmony as backup. I give him my word that I will do so and they fly away with the cage in tow. I watch the landshark disappear over the horizon and wonder. How in the World did he get to Equestria? Did he wander out of the dessert, or did someone bring him here? If so, why? Was he going to be part of a zoo? Did someone release him in this country intentionally? Well, the answers to those questions won't be found today. The sun begins to set as we begin making our way back to town. I shove my hands into my jacket pockets to keep them warm in the chill autumn evening. Something crumples against my hand. Curios, I remove a balled up piece of paper and unroll it in my hands. It's slightly smudged charcoal sketch, one of Rarity's. It depicts a man of my build in an elegant three-piece suit with a long, arrowhead shaped cape thrown across the shoulders. I smile and gently tap one of the white unicorn's ears to get her attention. "You know, I think I found a design that fits my style quite well." I tell her as I hold the sketch out for her. She looks at me incredulously, then begins to laugh. I join her. It's nice to know that whatever happens here, I don't have to face it alone. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trixie says: The Great and Powerful Trrrixie demands that you comment and rate. Azula says: You should also recommend this fic to your friends. Or I'll find you. GaPT: Right. That way Trrrixie can make her appearance as the rightful focus of the story. Azula: And with the legions of fans at our disposal, we can conquer the sight. Equestria Daily will kneel before us, 4chan will fall, and I, Azula, WILL RULE THE INTERNET!!! Both: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! GaPT: What, what? BTW: Hush Now, Quiet Now by Daniel Ingram. Produced for MLP:FIM