//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: The Race is On Part 1 // Story: The Best Babysitter // by pchn00 //------------------------------// Chapter 10: The Race is On: Part 1 They followed the trail already cleared in the snow by the other group who had just passed through. Reaching the end of the slope another path climbed up the mountain toward the castle while a flat one to the left lead to the dilapidated earth pony village. The ancient cloud city hovered above it all. Twilight paused and the rest of the group halted behind her. “I think we need to split up girls. Rainbow you take the cloud city and find that helmet. Pinkie you’ll head to the earth pony town. You’re looking for Smart Cookie’s spectacles…she was the Chancellor’s secretary so likely they’ll be in her office. The castle is pretty big, so Jen you’ll come with me to find Clover the Clever’s spell book.” Dash didn’t need to be told twice, she was already winging up to the city floating above. “Back in a flash!” Pinkie seemed a trifle more hesitant to separate from Jennifer, but looking from Twilight to Jen and seeing the determination etched onto both of their faces she could only nod. “Alright…I’ll meet you at the castle lickety split!” With a tight hug for the tall…sorta human Pinkie bounded off. With almost identical sighs the unicorn and unicorn-to-be looked up the steep slope to the castle. “…and we should get climbing.” -Rainbow Dash- Every flap of her wings sent another little bit of pain screaming from her shoulders down to her ribs and through her flanks, but the cyan coated Pegasus studiously ignored her bodies protests. She was literally the only one who could recover her helmet for her team, and that meant her friends were counting on her and NOTHING was gonna stop her. Big a jerk as Lightning Dust is though; Dash had to admit the loony mare was a fast flyer, a fact that worried her. Lightning already had a head start, and she couldn’t fly at her fastest. It was going to depend on the search portion rather than the actual speed if she wanted to win. By the time she reached the city sweat was already rolling down her coat from the effort, but the chill temperature and sudden wind so high up was cooling her down. Being a Pegasus she was more resilient to unpleasant weather than the other pony tribes, but even she felt an uncomfortable bite in the air. Breaking into a gallop (which hurt less than flying but was still pretty uncomfortable), she made her way to the largest structure in the city. If their Hearth’s Warming play was accurate, Commander Hurricane was in charge of the whole city so that’d probly be where she left her stuff. Speeding through the streets Rainbow couldn’t help but draw similarities between this abandoned place and her beloved Cloudsdale. Not exactly an architecture student, she could never the less recognize a lot of similar patterns to the buildings. Even the layout of the streets seemed sorta the same. Of course Hurricane and her assistant (or squire or something? The story is muddled), Private Posey were the founders of Cloudsdale so it made sense. What didn’t make sense was the absurd amount of ice sculptures. Every time she rounded a corner she had to swerve to avoid toppling into another one. Some were alone. Others stood in groups. Almost one and all shared one thing in common; they all had angry looks on their faces. If she weren’t in such a hurry Dash might have paused to wonder why someone would make so many ANGRY looking sculptures. Or how they’d survived the elements for so long. A particularly long, loud, and freezing gust of wind blew over her interrupting her musings. With a heavy shiver she lowered her head and charged onward…telling herself the terrifying howl in the winds didn’t scare her. Nope. Not scary at all. -Pinkie Pie- Despite her light hearted departure Pinkie was feeling anything but. After so nearly losing Jen, than reuniting with her she was already leaving her alone again. Of course she wasn’t ALONE alone, she had Twilight. And Twilight DID join in on her Pinkie promise of looking after the girl but still! It was scary not being with her. Scarier by far than the Everfree Forest, or having to chase away a full grown dragon, or having to babysit the Cake twins! That thought gave pause to her bouncing (she settled into a normal trot). Was it scarier than the Cake twins? Now that she thought about it, it was kinda the exact same stomach twisty sick making scary feeling she felt when looking after them. And it was not a feeling that agreed with the normally jubilant pony at all. Maybe this whole looking after foals wasn’t all it was cracked up to be? She’d soon entered the earth pony town, but so preoccupied with her own thoughts she hadn’t even noticed. Of course looking after foals was terrifying…and stressful. At the same time…she remembered the little Cakes’ smiles as they slept. Remembered hearing them say her name…some of their very first words. Then she recalled the look on a younger Jennifer’s face as she got the girl to smile, to laugh, and to emerge from her shell. Casting a glance at the castle in the distance Pinkie couldn’t help but smile. She definitely wasn’t the sad, shy little girl she left behind in the human realm. Oh she still didn’t like big crowds, THAT was obvious…but she seemed a lot more confident in herself than she had before. And that only seemed to be growing the longer they were out here! Of course saving the world can do wonders for boosting a pony’s confidence she supposed. Her thoughts were interrupted as she slammed into something hard and cold mid-step. With a little squeak she bounced back and landed on her rump in the snow. A vigorous shake of her head and she was back on her feet casting a baleful eye at the offender. It was an ice sculpture of a mare, a little filly peeking out from between her legs. Trotting closer Pinkie eyed it a bit more carefully. It was very well made even if it was very rude! She gave a little giggle at the thought. She could pick out the individual hairs of their coats. Now THAT was dedication! If only they didn’t have such angry looks on their faces. That sorta ruined the whole piece. With a nod at her expert art criticism she turned to resume her search. She was a mare on a mission after all and all this baby taking care of thinking, and art studying wasn’t helping her find those glasses! A particularly chilly blast of wind tore through the streets with a long mournful howl. Pinkie wrinkled her nose at the sound. “Even the wind sounds sad out here, no wonder those ponies moved!” Giving a little giggle at her personal joke she felt a little perkier and began bounding through the streets again. “Hmm…if I was a Chancellor where would my house be…?” -Twilight Sparkle and Jennifer- “I’m….never…climbing…again….” The purple unicorn gasped. The green coated almost-unicorn nodded emphatically. Both girls were managing to move forward…though it was a heavy trudge. It seemed the further up the slope leading to the castle they got, the thicker the snow grew. This was problematic enough on Jennifer even with her long legs…poor Twilight was floundering badly however. “I know I love hiking but this…” Jen had to pause and take a breath. “…is nuts. How did they do this every day?” With a fierce glare down at the earth pony town she sighed. ‘I could be down there…NOT climbing’ she thought. “Too bad we can’t just…like…teleport or something.” She was obviously in better shape than Twilight Sparkle, but even she was nearing her limits. Twilight’s ears instantly flattened as she stopped her trudge. “…ponyfeathers.” -Rainbow Dash- Dash snorted against the cold wind, giving her wings a couple flaps to clear the accumulating frost. She’d swiftly grown bored of trotting around the city looking for some building that she had no idea what it looked like. The freezing air was starting to get on her nerves too. Why would anypony in their right mind ever settle here? A subtle shift in the air brought her out of her musings. Dash threw herself aside just as a teal and orange streak blasted the spot on the road she’d occupied moments ago, smashing through a pair of pegasi ice sculptures as it flashed passed. “Huh…guess you’re not totally worthless, you managed to dodge one this time around.” Flaring her wings Rainbow Dash looked to the source of the voice. Above her with a smug smile flapped Lightning Dust, hovering in the air over the shattered remains of the ice ponies. “Don’t you have more important things t’do then bug me? Like finding that helmet we’re supposed to be racing for?” The smile vanished from Lightning’s muzzle in a flash, her eyes hardening. “You really think I care about this silly race? About those pathetic Wonderbolts anymore?” Landing hard and crunching more ice pony under hoof the deranged mare stalked forward. “I’m here for one thing and one thing only.” Dash could see it in her posture…lowering her head, hind legs tensing, wings flared to give a burst of speed. “You.” Even seeing it coming she was still taken by surprise by the sudden and furious charge from her enraged counterpart. -Pinkie Pie- Pinkie stopped short in mid leap…a physics defying feat for someone without wings or magic. Sitting calmly in the middle of the street was her opponent from Discord’s team. The donkey looked even more morose than usual regarding an ice sculpture of a pair of fighting colts. She knew Cranky wasn’t a bad guy and trotted up to him calmly taking a seat beside him. “Whatcha lookin at?” She knew he heard her by the way he lifted his ear, but he didn’t turn to regard her. The older equine just heaved a sigh. “This. It’s a waste.” He gestured to the silent town with a hoof. Tilting her head as a dog might when their owner was talking to them she looked about. It was an empty town…a little sad sure but… “You mean the pretty statues?” Now he turned to regard her, giving a snort of derision. “C’mon kid don’tcha know the story? The blizzards, the bickering pony tribes, the Windigos?” Pinkie just screwed up her face, more confused than ever. “Well of course silly, every filly learns the story of Hearth’s Warming. The weather got colder and colder the more the tribes fought! So the leaders of the three tribes went out on their own to find new homes!” Cranky just gave a slight nod…his toupee swaying gently, though Pinkie was tactful enough not to comment. She learned it was a touchy subject the hard way last time. “And then?” With an umm she tapped a hoof to her muzzle. “Well they found Equestria…but the blizzard followed them so they took shelter in a cave! Then the three big leaders kept fighting while their secretaries or whatever just did what they were told. And the more they fought the more they turned to ice and…” Her eyes widened in realization as she took in the ice ponies with a new light. “…and…oh…oh that’s so sad. These ponies didn’t feel the warmth of friendship like the others did…did they?” Again the old donkey nodded slowly. “They didn’t. So…here they are. Frozen in time and in hate.” A slow shake of his head as he stood up. “No way for someone to meet their end. Can’t imagine livin like that.” Slowly sinking to the ground before the statue of the little ice colts Pinkie let out a long sigh. “…this adventure hasn’t been very fun.” This caused the donkey to look at her incredulously and she just returned his look with a little smile. “I know it’s silly…we’re racing to save Equestria from Discord…again. But I have good friends with me…even my Jenny-bean’s come back.” Tears were threatening to form again but she forced them back. “We’ve done a lot of dangerous stuff…but we always pull through in the end. Nopony’s ever gotten hurt badly. But what that Lighting Dust did to Dashie…and I thought I’d lost her AND Jenny no less…” She heaved another sigh. “I’m the Element of Laughter…I’m supposed to be full of it.” With a dull thump Cranky plopped to the ground next to her. He didn’t seem entirely comfortable doing this but…he shrugged. “Kid…laughter’s an important thing in the world. Everyone needs it sometimes. Without it…well…” He jerked his head at the ice ponies. “…we all need something to keep our hearts warm. A good laugh, a good friend by our side, whatever makes us happy is important to keep. But there’s a time for fun and games…and there’s a time for being serious.” He heaved another world weary sigh. “Everypony has to grow up sometime kid. Keep your laughter alive, but find a way to balance it with responsibility. D’you get what I’m saying?” Pinkie looked over at the donkey, plucked from the past before they’d become friends…but all she saw was the good friend she’d reunited his lost love with back in Ponyville. With the same small smile she gave him a tight hug. “Thank you Cranky. You’re a good friend.” The flustered donkey gave a snort backing out of the embrace clearing his throat. “Right well…I’m sick of this whole stupid race. Ready to find a quiet spot and just settle down.” His head sank a bit. “Can’t believe I bucked your unicorn friend like I did.” Yet another heavy sigh. “I miss her a lot but…it’s not worth that maniac taking over the world.” With a flick of his hoof he tossed something into the snow before Pinkie. Looking down she saw a pair of very old battered spectacles, the lenses glinting in the sunlight. Slowly she picked them up with a hoof. “Cranky are these…?” With a gruff grunt and a shrug he turned away, starting to plod his way back along the trail. “Figure you bunch should come out on top in this whole mess. Least I can do t’say sorry to your friend.” He let out a strangled yelp as a pink blur crashed into him from behind, crushing him in a huge that threatened to strangle him. “Oh Cranky Doodle Donkey, you’re awesome!” -Twilight Sparkle and Jennifer- Brushing some snow from her shoulders Jen couldn’t help but glare down at the little unicorn, who was sprawled on the stone floor of the castle catching her breath. “I can’t believe you could have just TELEPORTED us here and skipped the whole climb!” Twilight wanted to respond, she really did…but she was far too busy sucking in sweet sweet air flopped out on the floor of the castle. Jen looked about with a sigh and rubbed her hands over her arms vigorously. Even with her new fur coat this place was cold. Cold and BIG. And they had to find one little book in this whole place. Her Find It charm should make short work of the task at least. Glancing down she nudged Twilight. “Look.” Her friend followed her gaze, and saw a pair of shoe prints beside a set of hoof prints. Not made by either of the girls. With a huge groan Twilight got to her hooves. “They got here…first…we need to…hurry.” She was still laboring to get her breath. With a nod she closed her eyes, focusing on finding the spellbook of Clover the Clever. With a gasp she snapped the spell off…it felt like her horn was trying to tug her all over the castle. “…I think we have a problem.” “Indeed!” An imperious female voice intoned. Drawing the gaze of both girls to find Trixie standing on a landing above them. “You have quite a problem.” -Rainbow Dash- Rainbow didn’t want to admit it, but she was in trouble. Even if Lightning Dust wasn’t able to get the jump on her this time, she was still flying at like…twenty percent less than her usual level of awesome. Even eighty percent of her awesomeness was enough to keep her from getting clobbered by the furious Pegasus she was facing, but not enough to turn the fight around. She was a racer not a brawler. Lightning Dust had taken a few shots from the more collected Rainbow Dash. Her injured opponent was keeping infuriatingly out of reach. Every time she attacked the rainbow mare would scoot or dive just avoiding the attack, more often than not giving her a solid buck as she whooshed passed no less. Even so she was fresh and healthy, whereas Rainbow was already tiring, her movements growing more sluggish. “How long can you keep it up Rainbow Dash? Tell you what. Just give up and I’ll make it quick.” The thought of running away made her sick…but she wasn’t here to fight this lunatic, she was here to find Commander Hurricane’s helmet. Her friends were counting on her. “Alright Rainbow…” She muttered to herself. “…time to bring the dash!” With a frown Lightning crouched preparing another springing charge. “What’re you…” She was interrupted by a steak of rainbow color flashing by her…a streak that managed a swat to her muzzle with its tail as it went by. With an inarticulate growl she turned and gave chase. How could she manage that level of speed as beaten up as she was? ‘Ow.’ Was all Rainbow was thinking. ‘Ow ow ow ow ooooow ow.’ Beating her wings furiously she almost felt like she was going to go cross-eyed from the pain. A brief image of one of the other Ponyville pegasi flashed through her head…one with an ocular problem of her own. Banishing the idle thoughts quickly her eyes rapidly scanned the buildings as she rushed by them. ‘Commander’s Quarters’ She blew by it so fast she almost missed the small placard over the non-descript cloud building. Resisting the urge to stop on the spot (aided by the raging Pegasus hot on her tail), she kept flying but made a note of the street she was on. Tilting her wing she swerved to the right abruptly. Then another turn…and another. “I can keep this up all day Dash! How about you?!” The taunting was getting on her nerves…mostly because she knew Lightning Dust was right. Another turn. She could feel Lightning Dust closing on her, slowly but surely she was running out of steam. Another turn…she was back on the previous street. Quickly darting into the space between the buildings, her foe close enough to touch the hairs on her tail. WHAM! Rainbow looked to the ground below her. The pair had been skimming along the surface of the streets when she cut into the alley and abruptly sheared straight into the air. Correctly assuming Lightning Dust was too focused on catching her to pay attention to what was around her, Rainbow lead her in a circle and back to the alley by the Commander’s quarters. An alley with a low brick wall encircling a small long frozen garden between the buildings. A low brick wall Lightning Dust smashed into head first. Easing herself onto the ground Rainbow tucked her wings in tight to her flanks. Flanks that were heaving for breath from the sudden burst of activity her aching body definitely did not want her performing. She gingerly made her way up the steps and into the Commander’s quarters…snapping off a quick salute toward the low wall. “Thanks private.” A small placard on the garden wall read, “Posey’s Private Garden”. -Twilight Sparkle- Shaking the weariness from her body Twilight Sparkle focused once more on her foe above her. The air crackled with magic as both unicorns loosed blasts of pure energy, meeting in the center of the entrance hall. “Just go Jennifer! She’s here to slow us down while Discord gets the book!” Jen was torn. She knew Twilight was right but she didn’t feel right running off while she was fighting. “Are you sure?” With a shout Twilight focused and sent a surge along the line of magic, bursting them apart causing Trixie to flinch back. “Yes I’m sure. She doesn’t have the element of surprise this time. Go!” She felt relieved as the headstrong teen turned without another word disappearing into the castle. Turning her attention fully to the unicorn above her. Trixie seemed even more conflicted now then on the train. “I am glad your friends emerged from the caves alright Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight just shook her head. “Trixie you don’t need Discord to make your past indiscretions go away. If I can forgive you surely others can too.” The icy blue unicorn looked about to agree…but then her eyes hardened and she drew herself up. “No I don’t believe they can. You and your friends are…unique. And not everypony is as kind as the folk in Ponyville. A showmare with a bad reputation can never hope to find an act in a large venue.” Her horn flared with a pale pink aura as she readied a new spell. “No Twilight…this is the only way. I won’t let all my studies and training go to waste!” Twilight leapt forward letting the spell pass over her head harmlessly. As she prepared a counter she felt something wrap tightly around her back leg. Looking back she saw a thick vine growing from the floor…with several more soon sprouting to join its fellow and lash at the snared unicorn. With a panicked shout she whirled and with a blast from her horn incinerated the aggressive flora. Allowing herself a relieved sigh she remembered she was in the midst of a magical duel. She managed to raise a basic shield in time to block Trixie’s next more direct attack. Despite her words of confidence to Jennifer…it seemed this wouldn’t be as easy as she had expected. -Jennifer- Trying to push the sounds of the magic battle raging behind her from her mind, Jen dashed through the hall. ‘Alright…Clover the Clever. Big time magic wizards. Wizards always kept their stuff in creepy basement labs…given how common and cheery unicorns were that was out. Twilight had her big library…that was a possibility. The last was a tower. Every wizard had a tower!’ She spied just such a structure across the courtyard through a window and she allowed herself a smile. “Who needs Find It…that’s gotta be it!” Making her way outside through a side corridor leading to the courtyard she sprinted across the ground toward the tower doors. Tower doors that were standing open. She burst through them then gave a little shriek at the sword suddenly swinging her way. Purely on reflex she flinched her shield up and caught the blade, shoving it…and the man wielding it back. “Ah ha ha! Well blocked! Well blocked indeed!” Discord grinned fiercely taking a fencing stance once again. “I have to warn you m’dear…I probably have A LOT more experience with one of these than you do.” He looked at his sword contemplatively. “Even if it has been over a thousand years since I used one.” Clenching her jaw Jen drew her own sword slowly, letting it extend to its full size. “What? Nothing to say? None of that teenage snark and spunk I so love to hear?” He raised his eyebrows expectantly…but seeing the serious set of the girls face he rolled his eyes. “Oh very well…we’ll do it YOUR way.” And then he lunged.