//------------------------------// // Fourth Lesson- All Webbed Up // Story: The Magnificent Six // by Paradise Oasis //------------------------------// Fourth Lesson- All Webbed Up "Wake up, you two... da boss wants ta talk to ya!" Glory and Surprise's eyes flickered open, and they found themselves stuck to a dark and dingy warehouse wall. On either side of the two hung several foals, silently staring at the two fillies hanging on the wall. "W-where are we?" Surprise whinnied, pulling at the web-like substance they were entangled. "What's going on?" "Ewwww, gross!" Glory whined. "What the heck is this stuff? It's getting in my mane!" "Ah, youse two are finally awake!" Lucky snorted, stepping out of the shadows to confront the two girls. "I's was afraid my boy's would have to ship ya off, before I's got a chance ta talk to youse!" "You... you fiend!" Glory yelled. glaring down at the gangster pony. "So you're the one behind these foal nappings!" "Yep, you got it, harmony bearer!" Luck sneered, tilting his fedora. "And all of those stupid ponies in Fort Dash, think it's the Ponygans taking em!" "You meanie mean pants! They're hurting innocent ponies because of you!" Surprise snorted. "You won't get away with this! The princess will-!" "Your precious Princess and your harmony ponies won't do anything!" Luck Snorted Back, stamping his hoof. "They're already trotting their way into a trap!" he growled, turning away. "You mares never should have spent that unicorn spy ta get close ta me!" "B-but we didn't send any spy!" Glory protested, pulling at adhesive goo. "And what’s this stuff you've got us and the foals trapped in?" "Oh, didn't I tell youse? Tirek never said ya had ta be delivered in one piece!" The colt pointed a hoof at the ceiling where a shadowy form glared down at them with a single, glowing red eye. "You gotta friend up there, retrieve by my boys from da southern swamps! And he's gonna take care of youse and your friends real good!" .... It was a surprise to many of the merchants and traders in the Stickleway when three patrols of Pegasus guards went marching by, headed down towards the waterfront. Led by the three harmony bearers, the entourage making their way down towards the docks was a sight to behold. "Oh, my! Do you think those poor ponies are going to be all right?" Poesy asked, fluttering her wings as she walked. "I sure hope so, Poesy," Twilight replied, taking point with the group. "Don't worry, we'll be able to stop those thugs from taking them away!" "Shame we decided to leave AJ and the boys behind to guard the margrave," Firefly snorted. "Like those brutes would really try to assault the royal citadel!" "I just hope we can find our friends before those awful goblins try to sell them to Tirek!" Poesy shivered, flying lower to the ground. "Don't worry Poesy, we'll get those two back!" Firefly reassured her. "We'll make em' pay for taking Glory!- well, unless Surprise hasn't already given them a brain hemorrhage with her antics, that is! Being stuck with that Pegasus for too long is punishment enough!" The troop of ponies stopped in front of a ramshackle, run-down old warehouse. The three guards took up position behind the two closed doors as the three fillies steadied themselves. "This is it, girls!" Twilight told them, her horn glowing in preparation. "Be ready for anything!" The guards burst the two doors open and rushed into the large, darkened storage area. Using their horns to light the darkness, they saw only crates and a thin layer of dust. "Wow, doesn't look like there's much here," a disappointed Firefly sighed. "Are you sure this is the right place, Twi?" As the three girls looked at the ceiling, they noticed what looked like spider webbing all around it. Suddenly, Poesy felt several large drops of slime land in her mane. "Oh my, is there a leak in here?" Poesy asked, shaking the goop her hair out. "It feels just... like... drool..." The three girls looked up and saw a large, eight legged form moving around on the ceiling. Suddenly, the arachnoidal horror, four times the size of a normal pony, leapt down at them from above. "Look out, everybody!" Twilight shirked as all the ponies in the room scattered. "It's a trap!" .... "Gee, I sure hope the others are doing okay out there..." Applejack was on a balcony above the megaron, staring at the palace complex stretching below. She was worried about how all of her friends were doing and had ignored all attempts by the princess and the margrave to talk to her. "Don't worry, AJ! I'm sure they're going to be all right!" Lightning told her reassuringly, trotting up behind her. "Those friends of yours are way too tough to be taken down by some thugs!" "I know they are, Light. My pals are tough cookies," the orange filly sighed. "I just wish I knew why Princess Cadence insisted I not go along to help... or wouldn't even go along to help herself "Kinda hard to guess the princess's reasoning on that, AJ." The colt guard shrugged, moving up to stand beside her. "Maybe she's just trying to test the other girls? She wants them to stand on their own four hooves." "Then why won't she let me be out there with them!" Applejack snorted, stamping her hoof. "Blast it, Lightning! Sometimes I think that alicorn isn't the princess she used to be!" "I dunno.. she's been a pretty decent ruler, as far back as I can remember," Lightning replied, staring up at the clouds overhead. "Still, I wonder what she must have been like, back in her heyday..." "The alicorn age of Equestria was not all some make it out to be, take my word for it!" Applejack chuckled, before quickly adding, "At least, that's what Twilight's told me is in her books. The royal sisters and Cadence weren't the divine and perfect beings the ponygans claim they are!" "I've heard such things before... and I believe that nobody, not even the alicorns, could truly be perfect." He shook his mane, looking back to her. "And besides, becoming a Pegasus unicorn can't be that hard. Tornado told me that Twilight Sparkle herself became a princess after writing her own magic to correct a spell she had put on her friends." "Don't believe all of the legends that have been passed down, kid," AJ told him with a chuckle. "Twilight Sparkle lived an' died a unicorn, the same way she was born." "Well, how would you know that?" Lightning asked skeptically. "And why do you keep calling me 'kid'? You don't look any older that me, or the rest of your harmony bearer friends!" "I gotta a lot more years on me than any of you do, Lightning. I'm even older than Tornado." The filly snorted. "Heck, I really don't think the term 'filly' should apply ta me anymore." "Wow, you look really good for a mare your age!" The colt snorted in shock. "I guess a sophisticated older mare like you wouldn't be interested in a young punk, huh?" "Who ever said I was 'sophisticated'?" Applejack snorted. "That sounds more like Rari- er, Glory than me. I've always seen myself as a country girl." "From What you just told me, 'girl' is hardly appropriate," he thought to himself. "Doesn't bother me any. In fact, I've always had a thing for farm fillies- I mean, mares." He smiled nervously. "In fact, I come from agricultural family, myself!" AJ stared incredulously at the guard colt for a moment, before suddenly smiling. "Ya know something? You're really cute, kid!" She moved closer to Lightning. "So yer a farming family too, huh? Ever have to wake up early and milk the cows?" Meanwhile, Thunderbolt and Fireball were out in the courtyard, sharing their opinions with Tornado on his recent actions. "Way to go, ya old windbag!" Thunderbolt snorted, getting up in his friend's face. "Not only have you got the fillies pissed at you, but now Firefly's gonna be angry with me for being friends with a bigot!" "I have to agree, Tornado. You've put all of us in hot water for your ignorance." Fireball scolded. "It's amazing how a pony that is so smart can turn out to be so stupid!" "Look, I'm sorry I caused so much trouble, okay?" Tornado snorted defensively. "But ponygans have brought me nothing but grief! Why should I have to 'love and tolerate' them?" "This isn't just about loving and tolerating, Tornado." Thunderbolt snorted. "This is about your stupid prejudices not only making the ponies around you miserable, but you disdain for ponies who are different causing you harm as well!" "We can't be pushed around by the ponygans anyway, we outnumber them a hundred to one," Fireball added. "And answer me this, mister historian... if they were so intent on bringing trouble to Zoroponthians, why didn't they take us out back in Equestria, when they were the majority?" "I...well..." he stuttered. "All right, fine. The ponygans have done nothing to be pushed around for, I was completely and utterly wrong." Tornado sighed, his ears drooping. "I'll go and apologize to Twilight and the others as soon as they get back. But how do I stop them from being angry with me?" "Oh, you'll find a way..." the other two colts replied with a smile, trotting away. "...at least, you'd better find a way to make em' happy again!" .... "Girls, look out!" Twilight shrieked, jumping out of the way of a splatter of webbing. The ponies scattered in every direction as the spider landed on the ground. "What- what is that thing?!?" Poesy shrieked, flitting upward as it lunged at her. "An uggo! One of the giant cyclops spiders of the forest of shadows!" Twilight exclaimed, looking first to the webbed up ponies along the wall, then back to the guards. "You boys free the colts and fillies, we'll handle this pesky arachnid!" "Yes, m'mam!" the guards saluted, flying up to free the prisoners. "Stay back girls, I'll handle this overgrown freak!" Firefly dove around several shots of webbing and zipped straight up to kick the uggo in it's single eye. "Take that, ya slimy bug!" Enraged, the colossal spider instinctively dove forward, grasping the Pegasus in it's gargantuan pincers. "Ahhh, lemme go, ya weirdo!" "Hang on, Firefly!" Twilight Shine called out making her horn glow. "I wish... I wish..." she groaned, her unicorn telekinesis slowly pushed the uggo's pincers apart. Finally, Firefly was loose enough to zip out of the monster's grasp, and the pink unicorn collapsed from the effort. "Why you... you big meanie!" Poesy snapped, flying around to and fro to avoid the furry bluer beast's web shots. "How dare you try to hurt my friends! I think you need a nap!" Flying up to the top of the room, Poesy began to vibrate her wings at a rapid pace. A white spore pollen slowly began to drift down and the uggo suddenly started to yawn. At first, the beast continued to thrash this way and that, trying to hit the still-dodging Firefly. But soon the beast began to stumble around, and finally collapsed into a heap on the warehouse floor. "Well, I'm glad that's finally-" Poesy suddenly stopped, as her wings suddenly went translucent, and vanished in a puff of smoke. "Aieeeee!" the yellow filly shrieked, as she tumbled towards the warehouse floor below. "Gotcha!" Firefly called out swiftly swooping underneath the earth pony inches from the concrete. "You alright there, Poesy?" "Yes, I-I believe so," the earth filly replied as Twilight stood back up and dusted herself off. Suddenly, Poesy's eyes went wide as she stared over at the freed prisoners. "Hey, you two! Look over there!" As the guards cut two pods open, Surprise and Glory tumbled out, still in a daze from having their entire heads covered by the webbing. "Hey, girls..." Surprise whinnied, glancing up at them tiredly. "Did we miss anything?"