Ponyville’s reservoir was just beyond town, situated in a field between rolling hills, usually unoccupied and a lovely green before grass gave way to forest. The fields were brown with mud now, though, stomped in by huge, reptilian talons. Along the edge of the water, sprawled out like a cat in the sun, lay a massive Obsidisaur, long, curled horns like that of a ram protruding from its craggy head, as it belched dark clouds into the sky. Two others patrolled near it, while a forth lay with its tail held over the water, supporting a large, makeshift box made entirely of slabs of stone.
It was hard to see through the cracks from where Twilight and her friends were huddled, under a blind made from grass and branches beyond one of the hills, but they were positive that was where the pegasi were being held. Peering through binoculars and peeking under a fringe of grasses, Twilight stuck her tongue out with concentration as she tried to see any spec of colour through the mass of rock. Beside her stood Rainbow Dash, alert, frowning with her ears pressed back tightly. Her rear hoof scraped the dirt once in a while, and behind her, Rarity flinched away but held her tongue.
It had been a little while since Applejack and Pinkie had left. Twilight wasn’t exactly certain what to do, but Applejack’s skill with a lasso might prove useful. She had asked the orange mare to return to Sweet Apple Acres to retrieve her rope, and since everypony had been unwilling to send her alone, Pinkie volunteered to accompany her. With that on her mind, as well as what was straight before her, Twilight Sparkle couldn’t help a quiet, tired sigh.
Just a fleck of colour made her gasp sharply and before she could say a word, Rainbow had whisked her binoculars from her and stared into them with such glaring intensity it was a wonder the Obsidisaurs didn’t feel it.
“Fluttershy!” the blue pegasus said sharply.
Twilight’s ears perked and Rarity pushed in, asking, “Is she alright?”
“Can’t tell,” Rainbow Dash replied quickly.
She carefully passed Twilight the binoculars before drawing back, grumbling and pawing at the dark suit that covered her wings.
“This sucks. I wish I could just go in there and-”
“I know, Dash, but we need a plan or this’ll just end up with you caught and Celestia knows what else happening to the rest of us,” the purple unicorn insisted; she smiled sympathetically and Rainbow Dash sighed and nodded.
“Yeah, you’re right,” she grumbled.
She drew a circle in the grass with her hoof and then looked up at Twilight, asking, “Got a plan yet?”
The purple unicorn raised an eyebrow and then shook her head.
“They are made of rock, aren’t they?” Rarity asked quietly. “And their eyes do look like lovely gems. Perhaps I could convince them to leave with some of the stones I have at the boutique?”
“I don’t think so,” Twilight said. “They seem to be really mad at the pegasi.”
“Probably for kicking their tails back in the whenever,” Rainbow Dash said, waving her forelegs dismissively.
“I just feel like we don’t have all the information,” Twilight said. “I hope Derpy Hooves and her friend come up with something.”
“They have been gone for a while,” Rarity said, her ears drooping a little. “I do hope they’re all right.”
“They’ll be fine,” Rainbow Dash said a bit dismissively. “Derpy’s a clutz, but she’s still a pegasus, and if there’s one thing we pegasi are known for is getting the job done... You know, as long as she doesn’t get stuck in a tree or something.”
Rarity bit her lip and Twilight pawed the ground a bit anxiously, but the silence was quickly broken by a double set of quiet hooves.
The three ponies looked back towards town quickly to see Applejack, hunkered low, her rope wrapped around her chest, while Pinkie Pie accompanied her, creeping with her belly scraping across the grass, her face set in a determined grimace.
“Welcome back,” Twilight said quietly as the two mares joined them, “any trouble?”
“Just a little. Ran into one of those Obsidisaurs near Sugarcube Corner. We handled it though,” Applejack assured her.
“He didn’t follow you, did he?” Rainbow Dash asked, getting to her hooves, her eyes wide, and Applejack shook her head.
“Sure didn’t,” the orange mare replied, “Pinkie made sure of that.”
“Pie in the eye, baby! Pie in the eye,” Pinkie said with a triumphant smirk.
“Literally,” Applejack added when the others looked at her with bafflement. “So, what’s the plan?”
“Still working on that.” She peered through her binoculars again. “Rainbow, could you go back to the edge of town and check around? See if there’s anything you can see from another angle? Once we have all the information, maybe then we can come up with a proper plan.”
Rainbow Dash’s ears perked and she nodded.
“I’ll be back soon,” she said hurriedly, and then spun and broke into a gallop.
She was back in the shadows of town within just a few moments. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was looking for, but staying low, she crept around, eying the Obsidisaurs suspiciously. She growled a little despite herself and ground a booted forehoof into the grass harshly. She couldn’t see anything significantly different from this angle, however, so she quickly moved on.
Circling along the buildings, Rainbow Dash kept a steady, angry gaze on the Obsidisaurs at the reservoir. She couldn’t fathom why these beasts were doing what they were, but she knew it made her furious. She wanted to stop them-- to fly at them right now and throw them right into the water-- but it made her all the more anxious to know that wouldn’t work at all. She snorted lightly, but her own sound was swiftly followed by a second. Rainbow Dash immediately jumped upright and pressed herself against the tan-coloured house behind her. Soon, to her relief, the sound became discernible as hooves on the cobblestone around front of the building. Ears perking, curious-- and a little worried-- Rainbow Dash dropped to all fours once more and peeked around the corner of the building.
The pegasus’s eyes widened as she saw Derpy Hooves and her friend-- Time Turner, was it?-- hurrying quietly by.
“H-Hey!” Rainbow called quickly, her voice coming out a little more shrill than she intended.
Derpy paused in her tracks and looked to Rainbow Dash with surprise, and then hissed at the stallion who stopped abruptly too with a loud, confused, “What?” before noticing Rainbow Dash and pausing with surprise. Hurriedly, the blue pegasus trotted up to them, saying, “What are you--? What happened to your clothes?”
“Uhh,” Derpy replied a bit awkwardly, but Rainbow Dash shook her head and cut her off, frowning between the two with confusion.
“How did you two get here?” she demanded.
Derpy bit her lip and looked a bit apologetic, and then held a hoof up to the stallion beside her. He nodded and gave them a bit of space, and before she knew it, the grey pegasus was hugging her tightly around her shoulders. Rainbow’s body jolted with surprise-- she didn’t even have time to say a word.
“Dashie, you’re doing a great job. And you’re going to save them. I promise.”
“Derpy, what-?”
“Just keep going up, Dashie. Trust me.”
The grey pegasus pulled back to hold Rainbow Dash by her shoulders, giving her a warm, gentle smile, before nodding her head at the reservoir in the distance.
“You know what to do,” she said.
Rainbow Dash stared at her blankly and could only think to reply with, “I do?” The other pegasus nodded and was about to say more when Time Turner interjected with a clearing of his throat.
“Sorry to interrupt, but... Derpy, my dear, we should get going,” he said.
Derpy’s ears perked and she nodded, hurrying to join him. Rainbow Dash stared after them in bafflement and called, “Hey!” before the other pegasus gave her a quick salute.
“Trust yourself, Rainbow Dash, you know what to do,” she assured her.
The two other ponies rounded the corner quick, but when Rainbow Dash peered after them, she was startled not to see a single trace.
“What?” she mutter aloud. “But they... didn’t have any information?”
She felt a sudden sting of nerves and looked back at the reservoir. The grey pegasus’s words played over in her head.
“Keep going... up?” she wondered.
She gulped and pawed the ground, then took in a deep breath to steady herself and continued to scout, hoping that Twilight would come up with a plan to save the day as soon as possible.
---
The journey out of the massive cave and back through the Everfree forest wasn’t nearly as daunting as the way there, even though Derpy was all but running on empty. Her legs were cramping up a little, but even though she had slowed a little from the gallop they had begun with, she was determined to see this through. Time Turner let her set the pace, though she was surprised that he didn’t seem even the least bit tired.
Retracing their steps wasn’t hard, but soon enough the ponies and rabbit had arrived back at the steep cliff they had careened off of earlier and slowed without much choice. Derpy took this moment to try to catch her breath and, poking his head from her bag, Angel fanned her with her hat.
“Why don’t you take a quick break?” Time Turner suggested gently.
“Do we really have time?” the pegasus asked quickly, eyes widening.
“Five minutes now will save you a world of trouble later,” he assured her.
A bit reluctantly, Derpy nodded and dropped down onto shabby moss to rest and her friend checked the area cautiously, disappearing behind a tree and some bushes. Derpy took a deep breath, but nearly jumped out of her fur when she heard her friend let out a loud “GAH!”.
“Time Turner?!” she yelped, jumping to her hooves so suddenly that Angel tumbled to the ground, only to see the stallion stumble back into view, missing two of his boots and kicking off a third.
“Ugh, yuck!” he exclaimed. “It’s like a muddy bog over there! I’ve lost my boots!”
Derpy sighed with relief and dropped back to the ground slowly, putting a hoof to her chest as if to steady her racing heart; Angel grumbled and clambered back into her bag.
“You all right, Miss Derpy?” the stallion asked, trotting over to her as he tilted his head.
“Fine,” she squeaked, “Just... I’m fine.”
He smiled a little and lay down before her, holding one of her hooves.
“Don’t fret, we’re nearly back,” he assured her.
“You think so?” she wondered.
“Oh yes, I have quite a good memory,” he said, and then blushed immediately and laughed at himself, “for times and places, anyhow! I believe if we just cross that muddy bog, we should be back on the way to Ponyville very quickly.”
“You mean... if you cross it?” she asked.
Though her ears drooped, he laughed and said, “I suppose you’re right! Not a worry, Derpy Hooves, I’m confident I can do it!”
“But you just lost all your boots.”
“Very true. But I also just learned not to rush through, haven’t I?”
He grinned and Derpy couldn’t help but begin to share his optimism. She smiled and got to her hooves; he followed quickly and she beckoned for him to lead the way.
He lead her past some bushes and a tree with gnarled bark looked much like the face of a monster to reveal a mire of mud and dead plants stretching out an uncomfortable distance before them. Derpy took off almost instantly, a little nervous, and flapped out over the mud cautiously. Angel squeaked but she shushed him gently before asking, “How are you gonna tell where you can walk?”
“Um... Hadn’t given it much thought,” Time Turner admitted.
Derpy rolled her eyes and snickered, and then folded her forelegs to her chest thoughtfully. She drifted back towards her friend and then circled him curiously. She could see his boots poking, just the tops, out of the mire, though one boot, though stuck, wasn’t in nearly as deep as the others. Eyes widening, Derpy hurriedly landed and scraped together a few small rocks before lifting up again and scattering them over the mud.
“What’s that you’re doing?” Time Turner asked.
“Look,” she said.
She gestured to the stones: some of them sank deep and rather quickly, but others stayed up and in the muck, little grey markers amongst the brown.
“Oh!” Time Turner said swiftly, ears perking high, “Derpy, you’re brilliant, has anyone ever told you that?”
The pegasus blushed bashfully and Time Turner tentatively tested the mud in the shallow spots with a hoof before hopping in. It squelched under his weight but both of them were relieved to see that he didn’t sink where the stones had failed to as well.
Proceeding cautiously, Time Turner stepped from shallow patch to shallow patch, marked as Derpy dropped more stones across the way. He hopped with careful steps as Derpy glided to the other side after the way was marked for her friend. As she situated herself though, a pungent stink hit her nostrils and all the fur on her neck stood on end and bristled. She glanced around quickly but her eyes were quickly drawn to a flash of light behind Time Turner-- eyes? She gulped and said, quickly, “Uh, Time T-Turner, if you c-could just hurry up teeny bit...?”
“What do you-? Oh!” he said as he took an involuntary sniff, “Right, uh...”
He scrambled awkwardly across the mud as a low growl sounded behind him, and though Derpy was ready to high-tail it away as fast as possible, her heart sunk to her hooves as her friend stumbled close to solid ground and slipped back, hooves flailing, as the mud took him and pulled him down as if a monster had grabbed him.
Without a second thought, Derpy rushed for him, throwing herself onto her belly and grabbing his forelimbs and pulling back, though she could barely move. His lower half was completely submerged and he clung to her tightly.
“Oh... Oh dear, Derpy, I’m terribly sorry,” he said hurriedly.
He cast a glance over his shoulder to see, forming behind them, a small pack of Timberwolves, eyes glistening and mouths salivating as they paced and tested the mud with wooden paws. Derpy followed his eyes and gulped, and then tried to heave him back. The effort left her winded, but, slowly, she flapped her wings towards him and tried to get to her hooves.
“Oh, no, Derpy, you’ll just fall in too!” he said. “Leave me here, I’m sure I can fend those brutes off.”
“Not a chance,” the pegasus growled, “Can you feel the ground?”
“Uh... no.”
“Okay, umm... T-Try not to move.”
Derpy gulped, her throat running dry, and her wandering eye drifted past her friend to see the Timberwolves a little more clearly before continuing behind her in the trees. She winced but got a bit of an idea nonetheless.
“Angel,” she said quickly, and the rabbit appeared with a worried look on his face, “can you get me a branch? A big one? And hurry. I-If you can.”
The rabbit saluted her and hopped down from her bag and off into the woods quickly. Derpy grunted and settled down on her belly again.
“I’m sorry,” Time Turner said again.
“Don’t be, it’ll be fine,” she said, even as her gaze headed to the Timberwolves again.
Their growls were getting louder, but even so, they still couldn’t get close. The pegasus didn’t let herself feel any relief at all, however, until she spotted Angel in her peripherals, rolling a large, dead branch back towards them as quickly as he could.
“Great job!” Derpy replied, and then sucked her tongue to wet her mouth for a moment before continuing, “Now just... bring it here. Put it under his hooves.”
Angel did as he was bid swiftly and Derpy guided him to hang onto it. As soon as he did, she jumped up and shoved it so that each end was on the shallow patches on either side of the stallion.
“You have a plan, then?” he asked.
“Yeah, just... h-hang on,” Derpy said hurriedly, and she dragged the branch forward. It rolled a bit, and her friend’s forelimbs were pulled with it, bringing him just a little ways out of the mud.
“Oh! Brilliant!” he exclaimed.
Derpy smiled, but some harsh barking distracted her immediately and Angel yelped and rushed away before she could tell him not to. She looked back to see that one of the Timberwolves had found her stone path. She gulped as it growled and the others seemed to bark to cheer it on. It took off with a bound and Derpy squeaked and hurried to roll the branch closer. Time Turner’s weight was starting to really strain her, though, and she felt herself slowing despite her best efforts.
Come on, Derpy! Come on, come on, come on!!
She gritted her teeth, but was startled suddenly by a flash of white. Her head jerked and her eyes widened to see that Angel had returned, his small arms laded with rocks. With a scowl and a chatter, Angel whipped a stone at the oncoming beast with more speed than was to be believed. It knocked the Timberwolf in the head, dazing it for just a moment long enough for it to lose its balance and, with an alarmed howl, topple into the mud much like Time Turner had.
“Angel!” Derpy exclaimed. “You’re the best!”
The rabbit’s chest puffed out proudly and he held aloft another stone as if it were the most imposing weapon on the planet. The creatures on the other side snarled and another tested the mud, but had its paw stuck almost instantly. Derpy sighed and, finally able to relax just a little, concentrated everything on pulling Time Turner up.
As soon as a single one of his hooves was on solid ground, she grabbed him tightly and pulled forward. He grunted and she shook her head, taking off and flying to take him under his forelimbs, heaving forward as hard as he could, her wings flapping and straining under his immovable weight.
“Almost--!” he assured her, and as soon as his second forehoof was on the ground, he popped out of the mud with a schloop, throwing both ponies forward in a tumbling, flailing mess.
Time Turner righted himself almost immediately, ditching his coat and shaking his muddy fur. Derpy shook her head dizzily and rolled to her hooves, using her wings to brush herself off.
“Phew!” he said, and then gave Derpy a quick hug. “You were very brave.”
“Uh... thanks,” the pegasus said shyly, smiling a little.
He grinned and then trotted back for Angel, who hopped onto his back and then over to Derpy, diving headfirst into her messenger bag.
“Back to Ponyville!” the stallion said.
A growl behind them emphasized the idea and Derpy nodded swiftly. They took off at a gallop quickly through the brush, neither of them able to stop a relieved laugh as they went.
---
The sight of Ponyville roofs past the edge of the woods was the most welcoming thing in the world, even if it was shadowed under black, electric storm clouds. Derpy, Time Turner and Angel hurried back into town, hoping to find the other ponies. The first place they headed was Twilight’s library. It looked much the same as it had before, though there were some clawmarks through the ground around it.
They hurried inside, and were immediately greeted by the sound of small feet, and a voice calling for Twilight. Before they knew it, the heavy wooden door to the basement swung back to reveal a very concerned looking Spike.
“Twilight, you’re-! ...Wait, you aren’t... Where’s Twilight?” he asked worriedly.
“We were actually coming to ask you that,” Derpy admitted.
Spike’s scales paled he put his claws to his cheeks, shaking his head.
“I... I don’t know, but... Oh!” His green eyes brightened and he bounded up the stairs. “Follow me!”
The two ponies did, and quickly, and they quickly saw what Spike had been thinking of. Near a large window, there was a telescope set up, and the little Dragon had his eye pressed against it, scanning the town. Before either of them could ask, Spike let out another, “Oh!” and then backed away to point out the window.
“I see Rainbow Dash!” he said excitedly. “Just at the other side of town!”
Derpy sighed and smiled tiredly at Time Turner.
“More running,” she joked.
“Let’s go then. Thank you, uh...”
The stallion stared at the dragon blankly, who quickly answered, “Spike.”
“Thank you, Spike,” he replied with a smile, hurrying back to the stairs.
“Thanks, Spike!” Derpy agreed.
The small group rushed off from the library as fast as they could, darting around the sides of buildings, edging quietly around patrolling Obsidisaurs until they saw a flash of rainbow vanishing around the corner of a house where a nervous, green mare peeked out between her flower-print curtains. Sharing a relieved look, the ponies hurried around the corner, Derpy whispering, “Rainbow Dash!” to draw her attention.
The blue pegasus whipped around quickly, eyes wide with surprise, barking out, “Derpy?” rather shrilly.
“How’s everything going?” Derpy asked as they closed the distance and came to a stop.
To her surprise, the other pegasus glowered between her and the mud-soaked Time Turner.
“Where did you two go?” Rainbow Dash asked sharply.
Derpy didn’t know what to say and she awkwardly pointed behind her.
“The... The forest?” she replied, baffled.
The other pegasus frowned even more deeply and said, “What? Whatever! Never mind, look!” She she beckoned for them to follow and then pointed out over some rolling hills. They could see a few specs of colour, the other ponies, under some sort of grass structure out towards the reservoir, with the large, dark and looming Obsidisaurs a bit farther off. There was a strange shape aloft, held on the tail on one of the creatures
“That’s where they’re keeping the others,” Rainbow said.
“But, uh... Miss Rainbow Dash-” Time Turner began, only to make the blue pegasus snort.
“Just Rainbow Dash. Or Rainbow. Or Dash.”
“Right. Rainbow Dash, what exactly are you doing over here?” he asked worriedly.
“Just checking around. Wanted to see if there was anything we could use to our advantage around these monsters. Nothing so far.”
Time Turner nodded.
“Well, don’t worry, we’ve come up with something useful.”
“That’s great,” Rainbow replied, ears perking, “What is it?”
“We need Fluttershy,” Derpy said.
“Well, she’s in a cage,” Rainbow replied, frowning and pouting a little. “Why?”
“It’s a strange tale, really,” Time Turner explained, “but we need someone to sing something rather specific.”
“I know Fluttershy has a great voice, and she reads music, which is important,” Derpy said, and when Rainbow Dash looked at her skeptically, the grey pegasus blushed and said, “I know when Twilight first moved in, Fluttershy was doing the music at the Summer Sun Celebration. Also, I... I was returning one of her chickens to the coop in her yard when she brought you over to... sing about finding a pet?”
Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened and she raised a hoof, saying, “I’ll stop you right there. I hope you’re right. Follow me.”
Turning quickly, Rainbow Dash sunk low to the ground and, a bit awkwardly, Time Turner mimicked her. Derpy held in a snicker and crouched low. The blue pegasus took off fast and low, and the other ponies followed her closely until they reached the other ponies in their hidden blind. All three were greeted by a quick hug from Pinkie Pie while Twilight turned to them and said, quietly, “Welcome back! Did you find anything?”
“Your clothes!” Rarity squealed, “Your fur!!”
She put a hoof to her mouth and Time Turner smiled bashfully. Derpy’s ears drooped and she said, “Sorry, Rarity,” before turning to Twilight.
“We found a wall carving that went with that poem from the book,” she explained. “The Obsidisaurs were calmed by a crystal with a song in it, but it was stolen.”
“No time to find that one,” Time Turner added.
Derpy nodded.
“We need a crystal-- round-- one that can record music like a vinyl record. And we need Fluttershy.”
“But Fluttershy’s still stuck up in that cage,” Applejack said, ears drooping.
“We need somepony who can sing high notes and read music,” the grey pegasus explained.
“Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash agreed immediately.
“I have crystals,” Rarity volunteered.
“Right. I’m pretty sure I can manage a spell to record onto it,” Twilight said. “But... Fluttershy...”
She bit her lip and stole a glance over her shoulder. Pinkie Pie put a hoof to her brow and Applejack frowned with thought.
“Certainly seems like we need to be bustin’ them out of there,” the orange mare said.
“If I could only get above them,” Rainbow Dash growled, pawing the ground, “I could make a tornado blow everything to pieces.”
“There’s no way,” Twilight replied, ears dropping. “Not even you could make a tornado that powerful on your own. And all those other pegasi would end up just stuck in the wind.”
The blue pegasus snorted and trotted around the room, her wings flared up angrily. Time Turner grimaced and Derpy frowned, scratching her chin.
How to get in, how to get in...?
Time Turner somehow was able to teleport, but they wouldn’t be able to get close enough, and he could barely control that as well. Twilight’s magic...? No, if that would work, the unicorn would have suggested it already. Derpy frowned and looked between the group, and then bit her lip.
“Well,” she said, “easiest way to get in is to get put in, right?”
The others looked at her curiously, and Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened as if she was catching on, but before she could say a thing, Derpy filled the others in, “I’ll get myself caught and we can start tornado from the inside.”
“And I can bring that sucker to life from the outside,” the blue pegasus concluded, a grin starting to form on her face.
“Wait a moment--” Time Turner said quickly.
Twilight unwittingly cut him off, musing, “The start of the wind should clear up some clouds, that’ll allow Rainbow to take off and guide the tornado the rest of the way.”
“That old story did say that a great wind was what stopped these things a long time ago,” Pinkie agreed with a smile. “A big ol’ tornado! Cool!”
“Yes, but--!” Time Turner began again, though Rarity chimed in over him.
“It sounds a tad dangerous, but... if anypony can pull this off...”
She gave Rainbow Dash a smile and Applejack pulled forward to put a hoof around Derpy’s shoulders.
“And you know, she may not be the strongest flier, but Derpy’s nothin’ if not reliable, huh?” she added brightly; the grey pegasus blushed a little. “This plan may be a bit nuts, but I’m thinkin’ we could really pull this off. What’ll ya’ll be needing us to do?”
The mare looked between Derpy and Rainbow Dash curiously, and though Derpy’s eyes went to Twilight, the other pegasus said, “Actually, AJ, if you and Pinkie could trip these guys up a little before the wind starts and then get clear...?”
“And Rarity and I will go work on that crystal device,” Twilight Sparkle said quickly, shooting a glance at the other unicorn as if for confirmation-- Rarity smiled and nodded. “And... Mr. Time Turner, if you could come with us?”
“What? Oh! Right, right. O-Of course,” he said quickly, though he cast a forlorn glance at Derpy. “That only makes sense, of course.”
Derpy couldn’t help a smile and he almost shared it-- he was about to tell her to be careful, but quickly, Twilight said, “Let’s get started. Good luck, everypony!” and his vision was taken by pink.
The flash took Derpy aback, and she blinked heavily. Rarity, Twilight, and Time Turner had vanished. Rainbow Dash pulled her aside and took her by the shoulders.
“So you’re sure you can handle this?” she asked. “What’s your wing power?”
“Um... 6, on a good day,” she said, and though the other pegasus frowned, Derpy assured her, “There'll be more than enough of us in there to start a tornado. I just need to get everypony motivated.”
“Right, right,” Rainbow Dash said, nodding quickly. “And once that starts... I got this. Keep going up.”
Derpy was taken aback for a moment.
“Wh-What did you say?” she asked quietly.
Though Rainbow Dash replied with an absent, “Hmm?”, Applejack quickly cut in, her eyes brightening.
“Sounds like a plan,” the orange mare said. “What do y’all need us to do? Specifically, I mean.”
“Pie in the eye?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Oh, oh, what about a trap! We could use a... a big pit in the ground and trick them into it!”
“Pinkie, how in the heck would we dig a big pit without them noticin’?” the orange mare asked with a frown.
“Point taken,” Pinkie said with a nod before her face lit up and her hooves became an erratic, flailing mess. “Oh! Oh! What about a tripwire! And when they trip it, BAM! Pie right in the face!”
“...That’s... not a terrible idea,” Rainbow Dash admitted. “Maybe without the pie...”
“But the pie makes it!” Pinkie insisted.
“Okay, pie, whatever,” the pegasus said quickly, and she waved everypony in close. “I got it. Here’s the plan.”
---
Time Turner stumbled as the bright, radiant pink magic faded from his eyes. He blinked heavily and glanced around, startled to find himself in an open, elegant space with mauve walls surrounding and pink, frilly curtains decorating the room and dividing parts of it with dress-draped mannequins, golden mirrors and small dressing rooms. As he tried to regain his bearings, he noticed Rarity hurry across the room, followed closely by Twilight. He stared after them in bafflement before following quickly, asking, “Excuse me. What just happened?”
“What? Oh!” Twilight said, whirling on him. “I’m sorry, you must never have been teleported before! Of course. We’re at Rarity’s place.”
He nodded and watched as the pale grey unicorn hurried around the room, peering behind the curtains and around the edges of the room, muttering “It must be around here somewhere...”
“Miss Rarity, do you need any help?” Time Turner asked.
“No, no, I just need to remember where I-- Ah! Hang on just a moment!”
She whirled on her hind hoof and rushed up the stairs at the other end of the room. Twilight and Time Turner shared a look of raised brows and made to follow her, but before they had even crossed the room, Rarity trotted down the stairs, head held up proudly as she presented a large, gem-speckled violet chest suspended in the blue glow of her magic. Time Turner was taken aback, but Twilight smiled, relieved, and approached her friend as the magic flipped the chest opened and several large chunks of crystal in all different colours presented themselves before them.
“Great job!” the purple unicorn said brightly, and then turned to the stallion behind her-- he was still staring-- “Will any of these work?”
“Um,” he said quietly, his brain whirred and he thought about the dimensions of the groove in the pedestal back in the stone chamber. “Sorry, but would one of you mind defining a unit of measurement?”
“You don’t know-?” Rarity began.
He immediately said, “Very sorry. I have a specific form of amnesia. Specifically, woke up just the other day without any knowledge of... well, the world at all, really.”
The two unicorns looked back at him, jaws dropped, and Twilight quickly said, “I’m so sorry!”
“I didn’t mean to be rude, I just-!” Rarity squeaked, but the stallion raised a hoof as if to stop her.
“That’s absolutely fine, you couldn’t have known,” he assured them.
Rarity bit her lip and cast a glance at Twilight before putting down the crystals and chest, and then hurrying back upstairs, calling, “Just a second!” behind her.
“I hope I didn’t make things awkward,” Time Turner said quietly.
He was relieved to see Twilight shake her head.
“No, it’s fine. Once all this is over, come visit me. I know a memory spell that might be able to help you,” she said, her ears perking up.
The stallion’s eyes widened.
“Oh! Well, thank you very much! Perhaps we could give it a shot.”
Twilight smiled and nodded, and then edged up to the large crystals to look at them. Time Turner joined her and peered between them. A large, clear white crystal looked to be the most promising for now, and quickly, Rarity returned with a stretch of yellow plastic marked with small black lines.
“Centimeters, millimeters,” she explained quickly, indicating each.
He nodded and before he could even concentrate on doing so, his mind brought the numbers forward.
“50.36 centimeter circumference,” he said quickly. “Perfect sphere, so-”
“I got it,” Twilight assured him; she scrunched up her face and said. “Wait a sec. Multiply by pi... Yeah, I got it!”
She lifted the largest of the crystals up in her magic and began to spin it, razors of pink energy shearing it carefully, frowning with concentration. Time Turner sighed with relief and Rarity smiled, laying her measuring tape across the back of her neck.
“I must say, you have quite the brain,” she said, giving the stallion a nudge. “You barely looked at my measuring tape for an instant.”
“It certainly is peculiar,” he agreed.
Rarity looked back at him with confusion for a moment, letting out a "Hmm," before asserting, “I thought you might have some sort of explanation.”
“Not at all, I’m afraid,” he said. “I’ll be honest, I’m probably just as confused as you are.”
The unicorn’s delicate features crinkled in a frown for just a moment, but all three of them were distracted as a loud, rumbling sound rattled the walls. Time Turner put a hoof around Rarity and flattened them both to the floor; Twilight followed their example, moving the crystal low as well as a huge, stoney set of legs and taloned feet passed slowly by the window. Then, sharply following, the sound of thunder set Time Turner’s fur on end. His mind immediately raced to Derpy.
“We have to hurry,” Twilight said, straightening herself quickly, spinning the crystal in her magic even faster. “Or... I do, I guess.”
“Don’t rush, it needs to be just right,” Rarity assured her.
Time Turner wanted to agree with both of them at once. He hurried to the window and peered out, hoping desperately for his friend to be okay.
---
Stretching her wings to warm up, Derpy took a deep breath, letting the wind comfort her as she prepared herself to take flight.
The plan’ll work, she assured herself.
She stood, overlooking the reservoir from a rooftop, trying to steady herself. She had abandoned the tattered jumpsuit and given herself a quick preening just before, hoping that it would calm her nerves. It hadn’t. She cast a glance below her at Applejack, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash. Applejack held her messenger bag, and in it, Angel Bunny sat, looking up at her and giving her a quick salute. Derpy grinned bashfully and, to her surprise, Rainbow Dash gave her a reassuring smile and a nod.
“You ready?” she asked, keeping her voice low.
“Y-Yeah,” Derpy fibbed.
Now or never.
“Good luck, sugarcube,” Applejack said.
“I believe in you, Derpy,” Pinkie assured her with a large smile.
The grey pegasus nodded and took a deep breath. She focused her eyes on the creatures around the water and spread her wings, testing her feathers in the air.
“Okay, go,” she heard Rainbow Dash say.
Derpy took off in an instant, beating her wings hard and fast, letting the wind push her towards the rock monsters. She felt a sudden static rush bristle across her fur and, quickly veered midair as she powered forward. A high buzz filled her ears and light dazed her for just a moment, but she tumbled in a controlled spin, grinning as she realized she hadn’t been struck this time, even as thunder boomed in the air and made her ears ring.
She righted herself and flew straight just in time to see two Obsidisaurs closing in on her as she went lower. She gulped and kept going, cringing and closing her eyes tightly. The impact came quickly-- the wind was completely knocked from her-- and before she knew it she was squeezed tightly in cold stone. Cautiously, she opened one eye and tried not to cry out as her gaze was blocked by the gem-like, yellow eye of the massive monster that had caught her. She bit her lip and the Obsidisaur lowered her a little, snorting in her face with breath that smelled like dirt before it turned and lumbered back towards the water. She saw the one with horns like a ram lying at the edge of the reservoir, and it grunted out a grinding, growl of a laugh as Derpy was brought closer. Her heart was beating frantically, but she tried to get a hold of herself.
Remember the plan. This is working. This is good.
She closed her eyes for just a moment and took a deep breath, but before she knew it she was tumbling through the air. She yelped and landed hard on more stone to the sound of confused; alarmed pegasus voices.
“Who’s that?”
“Did somepony else get caught?”
“It’s Derpy! Derpy Hooves!”
“Is she okay?”
Derpy blinked and tried to right herself, and was helped up by a cautious Fluttershy.
“Oh my, are you alright?” she asked.
Derpy’s eyes widened and before she could help herself, she grabbed the yellow pegasus in a tight hug.
“So glad you’re okay!” she said.
Fluttershy was obviously taken aback and said a quiet, “Oh!” as Derpy pulled back. She took one look over the dozens of frightened faces in the box made of stone and, almost instantly, her resolve hardened.
“Is anypony hurt?” she called.
A wave of quiet “No”s and “I don’t think so”s passed through the flock and the grey pegasus’s ears perked up.
“That’s great,” she said. “Okay. Who wants to escape?”
“Escape?” Fluttershy repeated a bit shrilly.
“We can’t escape,” replied Thunderlane, a dark grey stallion, as he rubbed his blue-silver mane with a hoof, his ears drooping low. “We tried kicking. We tried digging. We tried ramming the walls. Nothing.”
“We even tried asking politely,” Fluttershy added softly. “No luck.”
Beside her, pushing through the group, Derpy noticed a small orange filly with a short, boyish cerise coloured mane hop up, flapping her small wings to little effect.
“I wish Rainbow Dash were here,” she said. “Hey! Did you see her out there? Is she okay?”
She blinked her large, purple eyes at Derpy pleadingly as her lower lip drooped in a pout.
“Scootaloo, right?” Derpy asked, and the little pony nodded. “Rainbow Dash is fine. Don’t worry.”
The filly perked up almost instantly, and Derpy gave her a reassuring smile before looking around the group with a determined expression.
“I appreciate that you are all scared, and probably tired, too,” Derpy said, “but I met with Rainbow Dash before coming in here and-”
“Wait, coming in here?” Flitter, a light purple pegasus with a tattered ribbon in her blue mane, asked. “You mean when you were caught?”
A hurried rumble of voices overwhelmed her quickly and she shrunk, but Fluttershy’s reached her first as she hesitantly tapped her on the shoulder.
“Um... Did... Did she say anything?” she asked. “Do you have a plan? Maybe a... nice, safe one? I don’t want anypony to get hurt.”
“I-It should be fine,” Derpy assured her, not sounding nearly as sure as she had hoped.
Another wave of voices met the grey pegasus. Her ears drooped and she couldn’t separate one question from another but one thing was clear-- they had no confidence in her. She gulped.
What would Rainbow Dash do? she wondered.
She sucked in a deep breath of air and hurriedly straightened up, reared back on her hind legs, spreading her wings in the cramped space and flapping them loudly, calling, “Quiet, everypony!” with as steady a voice as she could manage. As her front hooves met the stone, she folded her wings in close again, forcing her chest out in feigned confidence.
“We can only get out if we all work together,” she said, “As I was trying to say, I came in here with a plan.”
The voices started again, anxious and frightened; Derpy felt Fluttershy pressing closer to her a bit nervously and Derpy took a deep breath again and reared back to get their attention.
“Listen! They made one big mistake!” Derpy shouted over the noise and then grinned at them. “They kept us together.”
“What are you saying?” Thunderlane asked.
“All of us together have enough wingpower to make a tornado and rip this place apart,” Derpy said, flaring her wings.
“But... we barely have enough room to take off,” Fluttershy said quietly; several others agreed with her.
Derpy winked and assured them, “Not separately, but I figure if we all start off trotting the perimeter and then take off in a ‘line’, we should be good.”
Her fellow pegasi looked at her with surprise and then looked amongst each other.
“That sounds like it could actually work,” Thunderlane said-- he seemed surprised.
The chatter of agreement made Derpy’s heart soar. Her ears perked and she grinned, beckoning to the walls. “Okay, everpony line up in twos or threes. If the strongest fliers could space themselves out as equally as possible, that would be great.” To see them actually move along with her directions gave her a sort of disbelieving, euphoric feeling.
This could actually work!
Beside her, Fluttershy tapped her again and she turned to face her. The yellow pegasus’s ears were drooped and she said, “Um... sorry. I-I’m not sure where to g-go.”
“That’s okay, stay with me.” Der[y patted her shoulder reassuringly and then turned to Scootaloo. “Can’t fly yet, right? Get on my back.”
“Oh! Okay. Thanks,” Scootaloo said, surprised; she did as Derpy had suggested.
“I actually need to talk to you about something right after we get out,” Derpy said to Fluttershy.
“M-Me?” she asked.
Derpy nodded and gently guided her to the closest wall. Once every pegasus was against the sides of the stone prison, Derpy ruffled her feathers and glanced around the flock. Eyes were on her, waiting, and she tried to hide her anxiety as she puffed her chest out a little. She didn’t know many of the ponies here well, but she recalled Thunderlane was a strong flier. She pointed to him and he put a hoof to his chest, eyes widening as he asked, “Me?”
“Yeah. You’ll lead, if you’re okay with that,” she said.
“Right. I got this,” he assured her.
He flared his wings and Derpy grinned. She felt Scootaloo cling to her a bit more tightly and she took a deep breath.
“Trot in a circle first; don’t take off until the pony in front of you does! Let’s go!”
With a hopeful cheer, hooves began to beat against stone as the flock started to move. Derpy tried hard to keep her focus, even as she heard Fluttershy mumbling, “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!” beside her.
Wings began to flap in front of them and the ponies directly in front lifted off. Derpy spread her wings and followed, and with a squeak, the yellow pegasus did as well-- she was almost instantly dropping back, so Derpy grabbed a hoof in hers and pulled her up to match pace, giving her a reassuring grin as the wind began to rise and the sound of beating wings became overpowering. She heard Scootaloo yelp and she called, “Hang on tight!” above the rushing air, flapping as hard as she could as they began to form a circle, tighter and tighter-- the sound of cracking stone made her heart leap, and the grumbling growl merging with the wind didn’t even make her worry.
A rumbling, crackling sound grew even louder and, all of a sudden, like glass, the rock prison shattered as the tornado burst through, wobbly as it was, knocking an Obsidisaur off his talons and into the water.
Light began to stream in from above and, looking up through watery eyes, Derpy saw a blur of rainbow up near the top of the pillar of wind and she beamed.
“Keep it together, everypony, we’ve got this!” she shouted.
“I... I can’t, I can’t!” Fluttershy whimpered-- Derpy turned her head and could see her friend was tiring quickly, but she reached out and took her hoof again, slowing herself this time.
“Just a little longer," she assured her.
The spectrum of colours had completely taken the rim of the tornado now, raising it up and plunging through black clouds, and Derpy heard Rainbow Dash’s triumphant yell even through all the noise. In an instant, the sun burst through, dazing the pegasus-- she tumbled, taking a squealing Fluttershy with her.
Air escaped her and cold water shocked her as she felt her body slow and drop. She floundered about awkwardly for a moment before getting her bearings and rushing to the surface. Breaking through, she gasped, almost choking as harsh wind shoved down her throat. She struggled for a moment before the wind subsided enough to let her take a deep breath, and she looked around. Her left eye veered behind her to see Scootaloo pop up, panting for breath. She turned hurriedly and grabbed the filly to her chest, keeping herself afloat with her wings
“You okay?” she asked.
“Fine,” Scootaloo replied a bit shakily.
There was a sudden splashing beside them and Fluttershy broke the surface as well, gasping.
“Fluttershy!” The orange filly exclaimed.
“I’m f-fine,” she said quickly, and then pointed up, eyes widening. “Oh my.”
Derpy turned to follow her gaze and her jaw dropped.
Just as planned, Rainbow Dash had seized the tornado-- it shone with radiant colours as she guided it to rip the storm clouds apart and the sun streamed in to bathe the land again. A few other pegasi had been thrown as they had, but nothing seemed too serious. The tornado was still close, still tearing up the ground and buffeting what she could see of some of the Obsidisaurs around. Also as planned, most of the Obsidisaurs were already knocked down, some awkwardly roped to each other while others tried to scrub cream pie from their rocky face crevices. She counted twenty altogether, but--
“Where’s the one with the horns?” she wondered; she flapped her wings through the water to take her closer to shore and Fluttershy awkwardly doggie-paddled to follow her.
As they drew nearer to land, she saw Applejack and Pinkie, tethered to a boulder to stand the strong winds. She waved hurriedly; Pinkie saw her and grinned as she waved back. Derpy sighed with relief.
Derpy tossed Scootaloo out of the reservoir first and then hopped out herself, giving her fur a good shake before turning to help Fluttershy out. Her heart dropped to her hooves, though, as the yellow pegasus stood out brightly against a black shape looming beneath her. As fast as she could, Derpy grabbed Fluttershy and yanked her out of the water, ordering, “Fly!” as she grabbed Scootaloo again and took off.
Fluttershy was right behind her, and not a moment too soon as the surface of the water broke, crystalline drops spraying everywhere as massive, stone jaws shot out straight upwards, snapping closed behind their tails. Scootaloo shrieked and Derpy held her close, rolling in the air and racing away from the water as fast as her wings would take her.
Her gaze spun a little out of control but she saw Fluttershy struggling behind her, saw the Obsidisaur heaving its huge body out of the water; saw a bright pink flash before her. Startled, she yelped and her waterlogged wings dipped.
Too low! Too low!
She tried to pull up, but it was too late-- she touched the grass and was sent tumbling. Scootaloo let out a wail but Derpy held her close, trying to protect her, even up until she skidded to a halt, landing heavily on her back as her vision wobbled.
“Ow,” she whined.
She felt Scootaloo hold onto her tightly and when she sat up to look at the little filly, she found her eyes were shut tight.
“I-Is it over?” Scootaloo asked shakily.
Derpy wanted to answer with a yes, but when she looked up and all she saw was the dark, grey stone body of a monster barreling towards her, shaking the ground like an earthquake as he came, her heart sunk. She closed her eyes tightly.
“Don’t be scared. We’ll be okay,” weakly, but her ears snapped up and her eyes shot open again to the sound of a shrill, angry, “HEY!”
Scootaloo looked as well, only to see a streak of pink and yellow rush at the Obsidisaur, stalling it for just a moment as Fluttershy took a spot before it, spreading her forelegs wide.
“Stop! Don’t hurt them! You can’t!” she insisted.
The Obsidisaur tilted its head and, for a moment, seemed to smile before opening its jaws wide to roar in her face so loudly that the little pegasus was blown backwards.
“Oh no!” Derpy gasped; she hurriedly helped Scootaloo up and wobbled to her hooves, hopping to catch Fluttershy as she plopped backwards out of the hair, mane blown askew.
“Oh!” the yellow pegasus yelped. “I... I thought that would work.”
Derpy hurried to help her right herself, but the horned Obsidisaur was thundering closer again.
“Oh heck no! It’s Pinkie’s turn now!”
Before they knew it, Pinkie Pie had taken the ground between them and the monster, grinning widely and, to their surprise, wearing a pair of pink, cardboard wings strapped to her back.
“Hey, you big meanie-rock-pants! You want a pegasus? Well, I’m even more pegasus-y than those normal, boring pegasi! Come and get me!”
With that, she ran at him, jumping around like nothing Derpy had ever seen, weaving between the Obsidisaur’s legs as he snarled and shifted, trying to get a good look at her as she ran.
As soon as his eyes were off them, Derpy nudged the others with her snout, insisting, “Let’s get out of here.”
“C-Couldn’t a-agree w-with y-you m-more,” Fluttershy said.
They set off at a gallop towards town, but as they crossed over a hill, Derpy’s heart leapt to see the forms of Twilight, Rarity, and Time Turner racing to meet them. A bounce in her otherwise tired step, Derpy flittered her wings and shouted a relieved, “Hey!” to the other ponies. She saw Time Turner pull ahead a bit, at a full out lope, skidding to a halt awkwardly in the grass as he reached them, hurrying to Derpy as she slowed as well.
“Thank goodness!” he exclaimed, giving her a quick, tight hug, and then peered over her shoulder. “Oh my. That... That seems to be quite the mess.”
Derpy raised her brow and turned to look as Rarity and Twilight hurried up to greet and embrace Fluttershy and Scootaloo. From here, the scene of chaos behind them at the reservoir looked somewhat ridiculous.
Obsidisaurs were still falling over themselves, some seeming too tired to even get up as a small pinprick of orange that was Applejack stood triumphantly on one of their heads. Pinkie was still running almost literal circles around the horned one,, and the rainbow-tipped tornado was ripping its way though the remainder of the clouds on the edge of town, even though it had grown considerably smaller since the last time she had seen it. Derpy couldn’t help a tired laugh and when she turned back to look at her friend, she found him to be smiling at her rather fondly.
“I’m very glad your overly dangerous plan worked,” he said.
“Tell me about it,” she agreed. “Everypony did a great job.”
“Derpy was super brave!” Scootaloo put in, leaning into their conversation with a grin on her face. “Almost as brave as Rainbow Dash would have been, I think.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t go that far,” Derpy said bashfully, waving her hoof as her cheeks pinked.
The other ponies laughed tiredly and Twilight shot her a smile.
“I’m happy everything turned out,” she said. “So far, anyway. Look.”
She produced a spherical crystal carried in the glow of her magic and Derpy’s eyes widened.
“That looks amazing,” she said. “And you can-?”
“I can do the spell,” Twilight said with a nod.
Derpy’s ears perked and she let out a tired, relieved, “Oh good.”
Fluttershy looked between them with a puzzled, worried frown and then turned to the other pegasus and asked, “You wanted to talk to me about something?”
“Oh! Yes! We need you to sing,” Derpy said quickly.
“Sing?” Fluttershy repeated in confusion.
“Indeed,” Time Turner put in. “These beasts are supposedly calmed by song-- a very specific song, in fact-- which we will need to record onto that crystal.”
“Why me?” Fluttershy asked, eyes widening with surprise.
“You are the only one of us who can both properly read music and sing, Fluttershy,” Rarity said gently.
“The written music is in the Obsidisaur’s lair. It’s clear now, though, so it should be safe,” Derpy added.
The yellow mare’s ears drooped and she looked between the other ponies a bit hesitantly before taking a deep breath and saying, softly, “Okay, I’ll do it.”
“Great!” Derpy exclaimed brightly as Rarity gently held Fluttershy's hoof and gave her a reassuring smile.
Twilight’s ears perked up high and she took a quick look around before turning to Rarity.
“Would you mind taking Scootaloo back to the library? We’ll start on our way to... where are we going?”
“A very large cavern,” Time Turner said. “I know the way exactly, though it is rather far.”
Rarity and Twilight shared a worried look before the pale unicorn nodded and said, “Come along, Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were worried sick and they will be very happy to see you, I’m sure!”
“Okay,” Scootaloo agreed, and she moved to follow Rarity as she headed back into town before doubling back, giving Derpy a quick hug and scampering off.
The grey mare’s cheeks pinked and Time Turner snickered at her.
“Shall we be off?” he asked.
Twilight nodded and then looked back at the horned Obsidisaur, which was stumbling dizzily on its talons as Pinkie Pie jumped all over it.
“Hang on,” Twilight said.
With a flash of bright magic, Twilight was gone, reappearing far in the distance, in front of the Obsidisaur, pointedly waving the crystal in the air near it until its attention was drawn.
“What is she doing?!” Derpy gasped.
“Is that what teleporting looks like?” Time Turner wondered absently.
Derpy elbowed him and then took off, eyes wide with worry, but before she could race to Twilight’s side, another flash of magic startled her and the unicorn was back, Pinkie Pie beside her, as the Obsidisaur cast around with confusion.
“Okay, now he knows we have it,” she said.
He spotted her as she spoke and let out a roar so deep it sounded like an earthquake.
“So we should run now, right?” Derpy asked quickly.
“Oh! Right! Yeah, I have a plan, follow me!” the purple unicorn said quickly.
She took off at a gallop back into town and the other followed as fast as they could. Twilight lead them through the streets and, to Derpy’s surprise, to a hot air balloon tethered to the ground near a small, wooden stage.
“Phew!” Twilight gasped, and with a flash of magic that dazed the other four of them, they were in the basket of the balloon.
Derpy stumbled to her hooves, supporting herself against an upside down Pinkie Pie as Twilight’s magic zoomed around the balloon, trying to get it to lift off, cutting off just a few sandbags and then seeming very surprised when nothing happened. Derpy wondered for a moment if there were too many ponies, but had no time to voice her concerns as the rumbling footsteps of the Obsidisaur made them all jump as the huge one with the ram horns, now accompanied by two others and a frustrated Applejack hot on their tails, thundered into town. Twilight’s eyes widened and her magic hurried to cut all the ropes, including the one holding the balloon down; it shot up into the air as if launched from a slingshot.
Fluttershy screamed with fear while Pinkie screamed for fun; Derpy’s head spun and she latched onto Time Turner so she wouldn’t fall over.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” Twilight shouted above the wind.
She scrambled to use her magic to steady the balloon, and then pushed it in the direction of the Everfree Forest. Below, the monsters followed, and more were joining. Applejack could be heard shouting at them, calling them brutes and varmints as she did.
“Applejack!!” Twilight called down, “Can you hear me?”
“Twilight, these things are comin’ after ya’ll like moths to a candle!” the mare shouted back.
“I know! It’s okay!” Twilight replied. “It’s all part of the plan! Can you get to Spike and send a letter to Canterlot for unicorn repair crews?”
“Will do! Good luck!”
Twilight sighed with relief and and then turned to Time Turner, asking, “Which way?” Time Turner’s ears perked up and he stood to peek out over the town, taking Derpy up with him by accident. The magic clouds had been all but destroyed-- the tornado had finally broken up as well. From above, they could see that some of the houses, town hall, and the entire market had been wrecked by large, dragon-like feet. The tracks led straight back to the forest, and Time Turner pointed out the path near Fluttershy’s cottage.
“All right, let’s go!” Twilight announced.
---
Even though the Obsidisaurs were in hot pursuit, Derpy was much more relaxed, curled up in a corner of the basket comfortably. The wind and warm sun were drying her and to be able to take a rest from running and flying felt like a blessing after the day they had had. She took a look around at the others curiously. Pinkie Pie was leaning a bit precariously from the basket, eyes wide as she stared presumably at the creatures below; sometimes she’d make a silly face and look rather pleased with herself. Beside her sat Fluttershy, looking a bit tired and nervous, running her hooves through her mane a bit absently. Twilight and Time Turner both looked rather serious: the stallion kept his eyes out over the forest and the unicorn directed the balloon with her magic.
“Nearly there,” Time Turner assured them. “Are they still following us?”
“Absolutely!” Pinkie Pie replied with a grin. “Woo, there sure are a lot!”
“Oh n-no, will we have t-to run away again?” Fluttershy asked, her body starting to shake.
“Probably!” Pinkie said.
Twilight shot her a scowl as the yellow pegasus squeaked fearfully and Pinkie said, “Just being honest! Look at these creeps! Hey, creeps, NYA!” She made more faces and silly sounds as she leaned out of the basket, and Derpy couldn’t help a small smile. Her friends didn’t seem to be able to either.
Derpy sat up and stretched her wings and moved to peek out over the forest beside Time Turner. She could see the disruption in the forest marking the way the Obsidisaurs had come out even though, from her point, she couldn’t see the ones following them. Her eyes fixed on a huge gap in treetops and her face lit up.
“Ah!” she said, her ears perking. “There’s the ravine!”
The stallion nodded and smiled, and instantly, Twilight’s magic engulfed the balloon and guided it towards the deep crevice and the river.
“This is much easier flying,” Derpy said with a grin.
Though Twilight nodded, Time Turner shot her a regretful look and his ears drooped. Derpy’s heart sank and she raised her hooves, rushing to assure him, “I didn’t mean it like that! It’s just--! I--! ...Sorry.” She drooped and the others looked at her with worry, but Time Turner let out a tired laugh, saying, “I apologize, I wasn’t... I just felt a little bad that we had to run that whole way before. Back and forth.”
“Oh, good,” she said with a sigh of relief, “because I... You know, no way we could have gotten there without you.”
Time Turner’s face brightened and his tail wagged, and Pinkie cooed an affectionate, “Aww!” Derpy blushed despite herself and she looked out over the edge again. They were drifting over the river now, towards the bank and Derpy said, “Everypony keep an eye out for a bit of a hole in the wall, near some stones in the river.”
“Forget that, I’ll keep two eyes out!” Pinkie exclaimed.
Derpy caught Twilight smiling a little and rolling her eyes as her horn lit up and she brought the balloon in closer-- she looked tired, though. Derpy’s ears drooped, and quickly she turned to look out of the other side of the basket. She felt a jolt of shock when she saw the bank they were leaving behind rimmed with the large Obsidisaurs; prodded on by their large, ram horned leader, they were looking for a way down the ravine.
“I-If we could hurry up just a little,” she squeaked.
Twilight looked back at her with brows raised, but seemed to see what Derpy has quite quickly.
“Point taken.”
Twilight was doing her best, but it was hard for her to control more than just a little speed and the direction they travelled. She guided them towards the cliff on the other side of the riverbank and set them down cautiously before hopping out and grabbing the line in her magic. Derpy flitted out quickly to help her secure it to the rocks as the others left the basket.
“Did anyone see a way down from here?” Time Turner asked curiously.
“No need,” Twilight assured him as she stole a glance down towards the river.
Her magic blinded all of them again and instantly, their hooves were crunching in the gravel near the water. Derpy was dazed and wobbled, and Time Turner caught her quickly-- the others seemed completely used to it.
Grinding roars sounded from the opposite bank, hurrying the ponies on their way, and it wasn’t long before Time Turner exclaimed, “There!” and pointed out the rocks he had used to cross the river the first time.
Derpy grinned with relief and Twilight insisted, “Come on, ponies, nearly there!” She took off quickly and the others followed and within moments they had reached the small, expertly cut entrance to the underground, its darkened path stretching ominously before them. Fluttershy shuddered and looked between her friends cautiously.
“I-Is it safe?” she asked.
“Should be,” Time Turner replied with a nod.
“We were just down there a little while ago,” Derpy assured her.
“But... Where did the Obsidisaurs come from?” Twilight wondered. “They can’t possibly have come from here.”
“You’re right,” Time Turner agreed, starting into the tunnel. “We haven’t the time to be finding their way now, though.”
Derpy nodded and skittered in to join him, a bit nervous despite herself. Twilight followed, nudging Fluttershy inside gently and said, “Right. Let’s go. Pinkie, would you mind watching out here and letting us know when the Obsidisaurs are close?”
“Aye-aye!” Pinkie said, saluting and whirling with a resolute frown upon her face.
“Thanks,” she said, and the others voiced a quick round of thank yous before they headed down into the darkness.
Time Turner was very confident now, and Derpy couldn’t help but catch it a little, trotting alongside him with little hesitation even though she could barely see him. Twilight’s hoofbeats were --understandably-- more reserved and Fluttershy let out small squeaks every little while despite assurances that everything would be fine.
Soon, the flecks of the fire came into view, sprinkling the darkness with little tinges of yellow and orange. Derpy blinked to reorient herself and sighed with relief as the cavern opened up before them. She heard Twilight gasp in awe, and the unicorn gawked at the massive space around them, saying, “I had no idea there was a place like this here!” Derpy took off and pointed across the place to the tall pedestal wrapped in a spiral staircase, saying, “We gotta go up there.”
“Umm...” Twilight said hesitantly, stretching her neck and peering up. “Hmm... I don’t think I can send us there. I can’t see the top properly.”
“Not a worry,” Time Turner said reassuringly, “just to the bottom would be fine.”
“We’ll fly,” Derpy said, taking Fluttershy by the hoof and pulling her gently into the air.
“Meet you there,” the purple unicorn replied.
Her magic swelled and a pulse of pink took her,Time Turner, and their crystal to the other side of the cavern. The stallion waved at them and Derpy waved back before looking at Fluttershy and nodding at the top of the pedestal. She still looked a bit nervous, but she said, “Okay,”, fluttering upwards. Derpy smiled at her and flew ahead, still holding her hoof-- she forced her eyes straight and guided them up. They landed on the top of the pedestal just a few moments before the others joined them. Twilight seemed a little out of breath, and she looked around quickly.
“Okay, what now?” she asked.
Time Turner hurried to the carved wall and beckoned for the others to join him, and then stood on his hind legs as he inspected the spherical dish in the stone. Twilight caught on quickly and gently placed the crystal in the gap. Her face lit up as it fit perfectly; Derpy sighed with relief and Time Turner said, brightly, “Brilliant!”
“Um... So what do we do now?” Fluttershy asked. “You said you needed me, right?”
“Yes!” Time Turner said quickly; he grabbed the crystal in his hooves-- Twilight took it back from him and held it securely, then began to pace along the stone carving, looking at it with wide eyes-- and he pointed at the tiny grooves in the crystal’s spot. “Take a look at this in here. Music, correct?”
Fluttershy hesitantly reared up and joined him, looking closely where he had indicated, and her eyes widened.
“You’re right!”
Time Tuner grinned and quickly, Derpy brought over one of the torches to light the area a little more. Fluttershy squinted and began to hum softly; quickly, Twilight was back beside them, though her eyes were still locked on the stone carvings against the wall.
“These are beautiful,” she said, “and they cover that poem almost perfectly.”
“Absolutely,” Time Turner agreed. “This place is fascinating. I wonder, though, what caused the original confrontation.”
“Hmm... Doesn’t say a thing about that,” Twilight said. “I wonder-”
Her thoughts were cut short by a loud boom and her fur immediately stood on end. Fluttershy yelped and jumped into a rather startled Derpy’s hooves, and Time Turner braced himself on the stone platform before sneaking to the edge and peeking over. Nothing stood out to him and he turned back to the others and shrugged. Twilight’s rigid posture sagged a little and Fluttershy flapped out of Derpy’s grasp with an embarrassed smile before turning back to look at the roundabout music notes.
“So, I need to sing this?” she asked quietly.
“And I’ll record it onto this crystal using my magic,” Twilight said.
“It’s supposed to calm those creatures down,” Time Turner added.
There was another boom, followed by the sound of crumbling rock and a heavy, deep rumble, and Derpy cringed. She hoped this would work.
As Fluttershy returned to the inscription, Time Turner hurried to Derpy’s side and pressed in close to whisper, “It sounds like they’re getting back in, don’t you agree?”
The grey pegasus’s heart dropped-- To hear him just say it like that, oh horsefeathers-- but she knew it was the truth. She nodded.
“I’m thinking, perhaps, you should keep your friend calm and I might go down there again should problems arise,” he said.
“What do you plan on doing down there?” she replied, eyes wide.
“No plan,” he said with a shrug.
“So you’re planning to not have a plan?”
He rubbed his mane awkwardly.
“Well, that’s not-”
“I can fly, I’ll-”
Derpy was cut short as a shriek echoed from down below and, to the bafflement of every pony there, part of the far wall crumbled inwards, rammed by the thick head of the Obsidisaur with horns, a clear spec of pink on his head as he rushed in, followed closely by all of the others.
“Oh feathers,” Derpy gasped.
Roaring, stomping, tails thrashing, the Obsidisaurs trampled through the cavern, and through all that, Pinkie Pie shrieked, “GUYS, T-THEY’RE C-COMING!”, her voiced bouncing up and down with her as the beast tried to throw her from its head.
Twilight put her hoof to her face and let out a noise of frustration before turning to Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus had crumpled against the sphere’s pedestal, shivering and, hurriedly, Time Turner rushed to her to help her up. Twilight joined them, putting a hoof to her friend’s shoulder as she assured her, “Come on, Fluttershy, you can do it. I know you can.”
“I can’t!” she whimpered.
“Of course you can!” Time Turner said; he gently turned her around. “Come on now, up. All of us are here for you, dear. You will be fine.”
She squeaked, but the stallion gently covered her ears, saying, “Just focus on the music.” The pegasus cringed and nodded, took a deep, shaky breath, and began again, humming very quietly. Time Turner shot a concerned glance at Derpy, and the grey mare bit her lip. She looked down into the mass of moving stone, and her heart sunk as she saw them crossing the gaps in the floor towards them. Taking a deep breath, she spread her wings wide and tried to focus both eyes on Pinkie Pie. The left one strayed a little in time to see Twilight try to tell her to wait, but she leapt from the precipice before any of them could stop her.
Behind her, as she soared off, diving and spinning a bit awkwardly, Time Turner gawked and Twilight rushed to the edge, shouting, “Wait!” The pegasus didn’t seem to hear her at all.
“I think she went to get Pinkie!” Twilight said, turning on Time Turner with wide eyes.
“Oi,” he sighed, eyes wide, “I guess we should hurry.”
Twilight nodded and hurried back, lifting the crystal high. It started to spin quickly and she said, “Fluttershy, are you ready?” The pegasus lifted her eyes from the notes and nodded. Time Turner tried to quell his outward relief so as not to rush her, and the unicorn smiled gently. Her magic pulsed brightly and the crystal lit up, clear and bright. Fluttershy took a deep breath, steadied herself, and began to sing.
---
As soon as the first soft notes drifted out, the Obsidisaurs below began to slow. Some stopped to look around as if in confusion, and the one with Pinkie on top of it stalled, lifting its head high to try to peer to the top of the pedestal. Derpy took this as her chance. Though she veered a bit clumsily back and forth, she narrowed in on Pinkie Pie and dove in close. By the time she realized her aim was off, it was too late-- she thudded unceremoniously into the side of the creature’s head. She fell, dazed, and was instantly squeezed into the stone fist of the beast and brought to its face as it snarled down at her. She grinned nervously and awkwardly said, “My bad...?”
The beast snorted in her face and opened its mouth, but it was quickly distracted as the crystal’s light from above got brighter, and to even Derpy’s surprise, began to change colours from white, to pink, purple, and slowly to blue and back. The Obsidisaur snorted again and raised its fists to scrub at his eyes, releasing Derpy accidentally in the process. She dropped, but opened her wings quickly to right herself in midair, and then flapped up to Pinkie Pie and grabbed her under her forelimbs.
“Ooh!” the pony said. “You made it!”
The pink mare was still almost too heavy for her, but she managed to lift off and glide just a little ways before, to her horror, she was grabbed again, and so was Pinkie Pie in the beast’s other fist.
“Hey! That’s no fair, you’re way bigger than us!” Pinkie said loudly.
The Obsidisaur roared at her loudly, blowing her flamboyant mane almost completely straight and dazing her a little.
“Pinkie!” Derpy cried out worriedly, and then whipped around as best she could to the sound of stone on stone-- two of the Obsidisaurs were ramming the pillar from either side, and the stairs were shattered quickly as a result.
“Knock it off!” Derpy yelled as she freed one of her hooves and smacked the hand that held her.
Nothing came of it though, and she stared worriedly up at the crystal’s light. Fluttershy’s song was getting louder and stronger, and the light began to change colours even more, going through greens and golds as well and sending little sparkles of light raining down below.
“That’s so pretty,” Pinkie said, staring up with wide eyes.
Another flash of light completely took Derpy’s breath away, and Fluttershy’s song was much louder now, reverberating across the cave ceiling in a slow, beautiful melody. Her voice went higher and higher, lingering for a long while on one last note before falling silent. Derpy had to catch her breath.
---
As Fluttershy sang her last note, the crystal wrapped in Twilight’s magic dimmed a little. The pegasus seemed tired, but Time Turner patted her affectionately on the back, assuring her, “You were brilliant.” Fluttershy smiled a bit bashfully and Twilight hurried past her, placing the orb in its proper place.
“What now?” she asked a bit anxiously.
Neither of the others had time to answer as a sudden stream of light erupted from under the crystal and glowing, liquid something poured out like water. Fluttershy yelped and skittered away from it, hiding behind the stallion fearfully, covering her eyes. The glowing substance erupted upwards like a fountain, suspending the crystal that began to spin and sing once more, projecting dappled colours all over the dark cave. Magical sparks drifted down, forming the shapes of small butterflies that fluttered around them and down below to the baffled Obsidisaurs.
“Fancy that,” Time Turner breathed, eyes wide, and then nudged the pegasus behind him gently. “Miss Fluttershy, take a look at what you did.”
“It’s beautiful,” Twilight breathed.
A bit hesitantly, Fluttershy peeked around Time Turner and her eyes widened; soon enough, she was smiling. The stallion grinned and then turned to look over the edge of the platform. Below him, he could see the Obsidisaurs, gathered, looking up with surprisingly innocent expressions. Again, though, he noted that Derpy was held fast by one of them, but almost as soon as he noticed her, the creature let her-- and Pinkie Pie as well-- go. He watched with alarm as his friend dropped, but to his surprise and great relief, she managed to catch herself in midair and grab Pinkie to slow her fall as they landed gently before the feet of the beast.
“Derpy!” he called, waving to her; he beamed when she waved back.
Above those two, the Obsidisaurs looked almost happy and, calmly, they began to disperse, some laying down in their holes, others wandering off to seemingly groom each other as the song resonated throughout the cavern and the sparkling butterflies lit up the drab stone with colour. Time Turner slumped to the ground with relief and the two mares joined him to look over at the scene.
“Look, you did it,” Twilight told Fluttershy proudly.
The yellow mare’s ears lifted high and her face lit up; none of them could help a laugh as Pinkie Pie shouted a loud, jubilant cheer from down below. Time Turner smiled down at them and relaxed tiredly in his spot as the leader of the Obsidisaurs turned his gemstone eyes up to them. He bared his pointed teeth in a smile and, slowly, turned away to rejoin the others. Time Turner grinned and wiggled his front hooves over the edge. He was jarred from his spot, however, as the crystal let off another pulse of light. He heard Twilight say, “What the-?” and then yelp with surprise. He turned quickly only to see Derpy and Pinkie Pie standing there, looking just as baffled as they did. Before he could ask how, the crystal pulsed again and, suddenly, there was light everywhere and the walls and floor seemed to slip away.
“What the hay is this?” Derpy asked nervously.
None of them had any answers; before them suddenly stretched a range of mountains suspended in the light. The forms of two ponies could barely be gleaned from afar, but what was certain is they were carrying a crystal just like the one they had made. The mountain changed to something else-- the same carved wall as before?-- and the two ponies placed the crystal in its place just as stone jaws came closing in around them.
Just as quickly as the vision had appeared, it faded. The group looked amongst each other, but none had any sort of reasoning for it. Instead, Pinkie Pie began to snicker and shook her mane, making it poof up again, and soon enough, all of them were in a fit of exhausted hysterics.
---
Through the use of Twilight’s teleportation spell, the tired group soon found themselves outside in the orange glow of the setting sun. As the balloon began to carry them back to Ponyville, Pinkie Pie was relating how exciting riding the Obsidisaur with such exuberance that the others could barely keep up. Derpy felt like she could sleep for a month. She leaned half out of the basket, letting the wind brush her fur as she watched the trees pass by below them. She stole a glance at Time Turner and was relieved to see him looking pretty happy, even though he looked just as tired as she felt and the back half of his fur was still dark brown with dried mud. She wondered absently if those Timberwolves had ever gotten across the mire. She also wondered how her friend was feeling. When he came up closer to her, she nudged him gently with her elbow.
“Is your heart doing okay?” she asked, lowering her voice.
“It feels just fine,” he replied, his tail wagging as he reared up to mimic her posture, leaning on the edge of basket, though he put a hoof to his chest. “Still beating a tad fast after all that, I’ll wager.”
Derpy smiled at him and his ears perked high, only to yawn loudly and let out an embarrassed, “Oh!” before wiping the corners of his eyes. She spread a wing and used it to pat his back appreciatively. He smiled and closed his eyes, leaning against the basket sleepily, slumping towards her. Derpy felt herself blush, but in all honesty, she was tired too. She raised her shoulder a little to catch him from slipping and rested quite soundly. After a moment, he quietly said, “We did good today, Miss Derpy..”
She smirked and looked towards Ponyville in the distance. She could see the faint glow of magic: repairs had already started. Her tail wagged and her wings ruffled, contented.
“Yes, we did.”