//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Order-naries // by CTVulpin //------------------------------// The group (minus Nurse Redheart, who had left after making sure nopony had a concussion) arrived at Sweet Apple Acres to find that lunch was barely getting started. A large table had been set out in the barnyard, courtesy of Big Macintosh, and covered with a variety of food. To Twilight's relief, only half the choices seemed to involve apples. Rarity and Rainbow Dash were already eating, and Applejack was reaching for a salad when she spotted the new arrivals. She turned the reach into a wave and called out "Hey y'all! I was startin' to worry ya weren't gonna make it! I see y'all brought some new faces." "I hope you don't mind Applejack," Twilight said as her group gathered around the table, "These four just… showed up." "We fell out of the sky," the brown earth pony said, "And we're quite all right, so don't worry about that." "Ah," AJ said, looking worried and then forcing a smile, "Welcome to Ponyville, I guess." "Thank you," the yellow Pegasus said cheerily, "This food looks good; did you make it all?" "Most of it," Applejack said, "with a little help from my folks. Go on and help yerself Miss… uh, I didn't catch your name?" "Come to think of it," Twilght said, "I don't think you've told me your names yet." The yellow unicorn smiled, rolled his eyes, and nudged the grey one in the shoulder. "You can thank our leader here," he said, "Master of not letting conversations go where he doesn't want them to." "You know full well I prefer to limit the number of introductions I need to make," Ash said, aiming a snooty expression at the other unicorn. His face softened into a smile that was reflected by the yellow unicorn and the two stepped back from the table a few steps, where they were joined by the pegasus and earth pony. The grey, fire-maned pony opened his mouth to speak, but then shut it quickly and motioned his fellows into a huddle. They held a quick, whispered discussion before opening up again. "Right," the grey unicorn said, "you can call me Ashen Blaze." "I'm Soul Mage," the golden-yellow unicorn said, and then pointed to the pegasus, "and this is Gold Heart, my twin sister." "Sister?" Twilight and all her friends asked at the same time. "What?" Gold Heart responded, confused, "You can't see it? We look exactly the same, except for these wings I guess…" she concluded, flapping her wings a little. "That's the thing," Twilight said, "You have wings and he doesn't." "Ah," Soul said with a face-hoof, "Right, forgot about that… This complicates things." "Actually," Ashen Blaze said, "I think that helps." He approached the table and put his hooves up on the edge. "You see girls," he said, "My friends and I are not from this world at all. In fact, we're not actually ponies, but whatever flung us here decided we needed to look like the locals." "If you aren't ponies, then what are you?" Pinkie asked. "Uh…" Ash said as he looked to his friends. The earth pony and Heart both shook their heads. "That," Ash declared, looking back at Pinkie, "doesn't really matter. Suffice to say, where we come from, it's not strange that Heart and Soul are related." He got down as the other three returned to the table and started looking over the food. "By the way," the earth pony said, "you call me Gale." There was an awkward silence for a few moments, and then Twilight spoke up and asked, "So, uh, what brings you to Equestria?" "Random chance, so far as I know," Ash said before selecting a plate of baked apples and dragging it closer to him with his mouth. "As to why we are here," he continued, "that is a long, repetitive, and rather depressing tale if we told it in its entirety." He began munching on one of the apples, ignoring the stares being directed at him. Soul rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. "Short version," he said once he had everypony's attention, "There's this monster called Tau'rin that we've been chasing and fighting with across many worlds. Tau'rin seeks to conquer each world we wind up in, and we keep getting in his way. Along with us and Tau'rin, there are seven gemstones that get thrown about every time we travel to a new world. These gems, actually, six gems and a pearl, are the most powerful sources of magical energy we've ever seen. At each stop, we race to gather the gems back together before Tau'rin does, because if he gets all of them, the world we're in… doesn't last very long." "Just what do ya mean by that?" Applejack asked. Ash swallowed the last of his apple and gave AJ a sad look. "I hate to be the harbinger," he said, "but if Tau'rin gathers the seven Gems before we can stop him, your world will be destroyed. Sad to say, we haven't had much luck in the past." Gasps of horror rose up from around the table and Rainbow Dash flew over and shoved her face into Ash's. "What's the big idea bringing all that here?" she demanded to know, "what have done to you, huh?" "I am truly sorry," Ash, unfazed by the pegasus's anger or proximity, "All we've been able to do in the past is hitch a ride when the Gems and Tau'rin move along. We can't control the destination, and we've yet to find something besides the Gems that can hurt Tau'rin." Rarity and Twilight exchanged a glance as they recalled the emerald that had appeared outside of the boutique. "These gems," Rarity said, "Would one of the happen to be an emerald?" "Yes!" Ash said, "Have you seen it?" "A large green emerald landed outside my store shortly after I heard the sound of your arrival," Rarity said, "I was planning to design a hat around it, since it's far too large for a necklace or dress, but if it's yours, I'll gladly return it to you." Ash almost leapt up onto the table in his excitement. "Madam," he said, "You have no idea how easy you just made my life! Let's go get it!" Soul and Gale grabbed onto the grey unicorn and pulled him off the table. "Calm down," Soul said, "We've been here, what, an hour or so? Tau'rin's not going to be able to find and snatch it up so soon. I bet he's still getting his bearings like we are. Let's slow down for a bit, enjoy lunch, and get to know these girls's names." As Twilight observed the four newcomers as she and Rarity walked with them back to the boutique an hour or so later, she could see that they were definitely not ponies by nature. Their gaits were stiff and careful, as if they needed to think about moving on four legs. Many times during lunch they'd fumbled plates and bowls while trying to move them about, and neither unicorn has used his magic telekinesis at all. And although Gold Heart had shown she could move her wings, she remained as firmly on the ground as Fluttershy usually was. Twilight made a mental note to herself to try and teach them the basic tricks of being a pony after they'd retrieved the emerald. They wouldn't get very far if they couldn't do something as simple as lift an object with magic, after all. Heart and Rarity were discussing fashion while the two male unicorns and Gale were trading quips about things that only they seemed to understand, leaving Twilight to her own thoughts. As those thoughts traced their way back to earlier that day, she recalled that Spike was supposed to be delivering something to the boutique. "Rarity, when did you expect Spike to finish his errand?" she asked. "Huh?" Rarity responded, caught off-guard, "Oh, let me think… Any time now I think." "Who's Spike?" Heart asked. "My assistant," Twilight said, "He's a baby dragon." "You have a dragon for an assistant?" Ash asked, narrowing one eye at her, "A fire-breathing dragon?" "Yes." "You live and work in a library," Ash said, "which is built into a tree, with a baby fire-breathing dragon as an assistant?" "He's very reliable," Twilight said, "And careful with his fire. He's only burnt up one book so far." "I'll take your word for it," Ash said, deadpan. After a few seconds, he asked another question, "So, why's he be running an errand for Rarity then?" Rarity laughed, a musical giggle really. "Oh, he's always trying to charm me," she said, "At least, when he's able to speak around me." "And me and Heart being related is weird?" Soul muttered, giving Rarity a strange look. He smiled and shook his head when Rarity returned the look. "Never mind," he said, "I'm in no position to criticize." "If you think I reciprocate his feelings," Rarity began with a glare. "Ok, ok, sorry," Soul said, shying away, "forget I said anything." Rarity snorted, turned up her nose, and sped up a little to pull away from him. The rest of the walk to the boutique was accomplished in relative silence. "Here we are," Rarity announced, opening the door, "the emerald's in the back, if you'll come with me." The group went inside and most stopped to look around as Rarity and Ash continued into the back. Rarity opened the door and paused until Ash motioned for her to go through first. "Why thank you," she said, pleased that at least one of the males was a gentleman. As the two entered the back room, their eyes fell upon a small purple dragon who was just about to bite into the large green emerald. "Oh," was all Ash was able to say before Spike bit down. Ash and Rarity stared in horror for a split second, and then green light began spilling out of the now-broken gemstone. "RUN!" Ash shouted, whirling about and running through the door. "Wha?" Rarity said in surprise. Ash stopped, came back, grabbed Rarity's tail in his teeth, and pulled. "I said run!" he repeated before running for the front door. This time Rarity followed him, with the tendrils of green light right on her tail. As they crossed the showroom, the ground began to rumble. "Runrunrunrunrun!" Ash shouted as Twilight, Soul, Gale, and Heart turned to look. They all took one look at the spreading light, which was now starting to flow into the ground as the rumbling increased, and followed Ash and Rarity in their full-speed retreat. "How far?" Soul shouted over the din as they exited the boutique. "Heck if I know!" Ash replied, "I just hope we can outrun it!" The earth began to rend behind them, with large rock and dirt spires erupting, collapsing, and spinning about in what could only be described as a maelstrom of earth that quickly consumed the Carousel Boutique and an ever-increasing area around it. Just short of the next closest building, the chaos ceased spreading, but the earth continued to churn within that area for several minutes. The quake threatened to topple other stores, but they managed to remain mostly intact. The six ponies stood a long distance down the road, panting as they watched the rocks finally settle as the earthquake came to a stop. Where the Carousel Boutique had once stood was now a forbidding tangle of jagged stones at least twenty feet tall. "Muh… muh… my shop!" Rarity stammered in utter shock, "My house! Opalescence!" Ashen Blaze's left eye began to twitch as he gazed on the mess, and then he reared up with front legs spread wide, threw his head up toward the sky and shouted "Skveeeeetch! No!" He came back down with a thud and whirled on Rarity. "You!" he exclaimed, advancing on her, "You… you fool!" "Ash," Soul Mage said, looking worried. "How could you?" Ash continued, ignoring his friend. Rarity began to back way as Ash continued his slow advance. His green eyes had taken on an unnaturally bright color. "Ash," Soul repeated in a warning tone. "Did it not cross your mind to store the Gem more carefully?" Ash continued, oblivious to all except Rarity, who looked like she was about to faint, "That some stupid little gemstone-eating lizard might beat us to it?" "Ashen Blaze!" Heart and Soul shouted at him in unison. "What?" Ash whirled around to face his fellows. His coat had become noticeably darker and his mane and tail were waving about as if they were actual flame. Heart and Soul were standing together facing him; Soul was resting one hoof on Heart's shoulder, she in turn was pointing a hoof at Ashen Blaze, and both were wreathed in ethereal blue flames. Ash's pupils shrank as he looked at them. "Element Wheel, Water," Heart said quickly, and a small blue disc of energy shot appeared in front of her raised hoof and flew toward Ash. It exploded over him in a spray of water, leaving him sputtering and madder than ever. "How dare you!" he exclaimed, launching himself toward the matching ponies. Heart rolled to the side as Soul braced himself to take the impact, jumping up at the last second to wrap his legs around Ash. As the two of them hit the ground and began grappling with each other, Heart joined in. "Hey," Twilight said, moving to intervene. Gale blocked her path and shook her head. "Stay out of this," she said, "We've got this down to a science." She looked at the tussling ponies and added, "Well, almost." After a minute or so, Heart and Soul succeeded in pinning Ash on his back with Heart holding down his rear legs as Soul sat on his chest. Soul Mage flicked his tail toward Gold Heart, who grabbed it in her teeth, and the ethereal flames returned. Soul raised one hoof, around which a large amount of the fire was gathering, and then struck Ashen Blaze across the face with it, crying out, "Snap out of it!" Ash coughed and sputtered a little as the yellow unicorn glared at him and started to lecture. "What is wrong with you?" he demanded, "We've been here only a few hours, and you expect some… pony we've just met to comprehend the power of a Gem she found before we told her about it and take precautions with it? And you've been doing so well with your temper up until now!" "I lost it two worlds back," Ash said, averting his gaze. He sighed and looked toward Rarity, who was still on the verge of hysterics. "My apologies ma'am," he said sincerely, "I had no cause to explode on you like that. I hope you'll forgive me, but I understand if you can't." Rarity didn't respond, she just kept staring at the rocks in shock and finally fainted. Soul took one more look into Ash's eyes, and then he and Heart let him go. By this point, a large crowd of ponies was gathering, throwing out questions and cries of lament left and right. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy came flying over the crowd and landed near Twilight as Applejack pushed her way through to join them as well. "What in Equestria happened here?" AJ asked, staring at the rocks. "The Emerald broke," Ash said simply, shaking off the dust in his coat. "And caused an earthquake?" Rainbow asked, incredulous. "Each Gem represents one of seven elements," Ash said, "The Emerald is the Gem of Earth. As powerful as they are, though, the gemstones themselves aren't indestructible, just… very tough. If a Gem is destroyed, the energies will rush out in search of a new gem to inhabit, leaving behind, well, this." He waved a hoof toward the tangle of rocks. "Although," he said, thinking, "this isn't as bad as the last time a Gem was broken…" "We were on a hillside, the Sapphire's what broke, and I'm pretty sure that underground reservoir was bigger than they thought it was," Soul said. "Not fun…" Ash said distractedly. "Anyway," he said, shaking his head, "this is a bad start; not only are we back to square one, someone's house has been obliterated. As first impressions go…" he trailed off with a weak, embarrassed smile. "Um," Fluttershy said, "Is everypony all right? No one was caught in that I hope." "Every pony made it out," Ash said, "But there was that purple dragon, who I assume was Spike, and Rarity yelled something about an 'Opalescence' before she fainted." "What?" Fluttershy said in the quietest horrified voice Ash had ever heard, "Oh no! We've got to see if they're all right!" "Come on then," Dash said, zipping into the air before anypony could respond. Fluttershy followed at a slightly more sedate pace. "Well, ok then," Ash said, "Not sure if they'll find anything…" He looked at Heart. "Want to join them Heart? You'll probably see something informational that they'd miss." Heart looked at her wings and flapped them a little. "Yeah," she said uncertainly, "Let's see if I can…" She jumped up and flapped hard, achieving a hover. She looked around as a smile crossed her face. "Cool," she said, "Be back in a moment then." She flew up above the level of the rocks and then took off after Dash and Fluttershy. The crowd of ponies was starting to get restless, so Twilight cleared her throat to address them. "Excuse me everypo-ack!" she said as Ash pulled her back a foot or so by grabbing her tail. "Sorry," the grey unicorn said when Twilight glared at him, "but consider for a moment what you think they should know." "You told us everything," Twilight said, annoyed. "Not quite everything," Ash said, "More than enough, but not everything. Again, think for a second. How do you imagine this herd will react if you tell them the world's in grave danger?" He walked away and stood looking at the rocks as Twilight turned back to the crowd, feeling lik a heavy burden had just been placed on her back. I hope Dash and Pinkie haven't been talking too much, she thought. Looking out at the curious group, she cleared her throat and her thoughts. "Attention everypony," she said, "There's nothing to worry about. This quake was caused by a... magical mishap." That was true enough. "No pony was hurt, fortunately, and it doesn't seem like there's going to be more. So, you can go about your business." She gave them her biggest smile and the ponies began to disperse slowly, until only Pinkie Pie was left standing in front of Twilight. "So what really happened?" Pinkie asked, "I mean, I can see that Rarity's shop got eaten by the ground, and that's really sad. Did something happen with the emerald they were looking for?" "Very much, yes," Soul said with a sigh. "Where's Gold Heart at?" Pinkie asked, looking around, "If everypony got out all right, why isn't she here?" Before anyone could answer, she spotted Rarity, still unconscious, and trotted over. "Wake up Rarity," she said, patting the white unicorn's cheek, "This is no time for napping!" "Leave her be sugar cube," AJ said, "she's had a rough time of it, losing her house, her business, and maybe even her cat. She's probably better of asleep for the moment." "At least while I'm around," Ashen Blaze muttered without taking his eyes off the rocks. "What was all that about anyway?" Twilight asked, "You looked like you were about to change into something else." "I have a temper," Ash said simply, still not moving. Twilight looked to Soul and Gale for clarification, but they both just shook their heads. "This is probably asking a lot," Ash said, looking back toward the group, "considering what we've put you all through in these last few hours, but we're going to need a place to sleep during our stay. The quest is going to take awhile; weeks at best, possibly months if Tau'rin decides to be subtle. Any recommendations?" "Rarity's going to need a place to stay too," Twilight said. "Well she ain't staying at my place, that's fer sure," Applejack said. "I'll take her in," Twilight said after a moment to think. "As fer y'all," AJ said to Ash, "Mah cow barn's not bein' used right now, so y'all can sleep there so long as ya promise not to break anything." She eyed the rocks meaningfully. "I thought you weren't welcoming guests," Ash said, pointing at Rarity. "No, I said I wasn't gonna let her stay," the orange earth pony replied, "And I know she'd agree whole-heartedly. Rarity won't have anything ta do with dirt if she can help it. 'Sides, I don't think anypony else had room for four new tenants." Ash looked like he was going to say something, but Fluttershy's return interrupted him. The pale yellow pegasus was cradling a dirty and very unhappy-looking Persian cat in her arms, which gave a pitiful mew as Fluttershy hovered just off the ground. Rarity stirred, apparently called out of her faint by the cat's voice. She brought a hoof to her forehead in a dramatic fashion as she sat up, and then dropped it as she spotted the cat. "Opal!" she exclaimed, jumping up to her feet, "Oh thank Celestia you're ok!" She ran over, but Fluttershy flew up out of reach. "Sorry Rarity," she said, "Two of her legs are broken and I think she's in shock. I think I should take her back to my place for now. Uh, if that's ok I mean." "Well of course darling!" Rarity said, concerned, "You know I'd trust you with Opal above any pony in Equestria." Fluttershy nodded and flew off as Rarity heaved a big sigh of relief. She dusted herself off and looked around. Ash gave a start and hung his head as she locked eyes with him. "As for you," she said, walking over to him. "I have no excuse for my actions," Ash said, not meeting her eyes, "And I promise, if it's within my power, I will fix this." "Thank you," Rarity said kindly, putting a hoof on his shoulder, "I forgive you for yelling at me." Ash blushed and looked up at the white unicorn without raising his head. Again as he tried to speak an interruption showed up. "Make room," Rainbow Dash's voice came from just over the edge of the rocks. Everypony backed away a few steps as Rainbow and Heart flew into sight, carrying something between them. "We found Spike," the blue Pegasus said, "At least… I think so." She and Heart lowered their cargo onto the ground and landed on either side of it. Twilight took one look and gasped. Sitting between the pegasi was a stone statue of a baby dragon with a look of surprise on his face and an emerald with a large bite missing in its claws. "What happened to him?" Twilight asked. "Petrified, obviously," Ash said, moving in for a closer look, "Quite in line with the earth element, but surprisingly sophisticated for a raw elemental explosion." He walked round it a few times, giving it very close scrutiny, "Superficial scratches, no evidence of cracks, no chips or dings…" he looked up at Twilight and asked, "anything seem to be missing? Wings or teeth or something?" "He hasn't grown his wings in yet," Twilight said, looking closely at the statue, "No, he seems to have everything." "A wounded cat and an intact petrified dragon," Ash said in a conclusive voice, "you girls have no idea how lucky we are." "It's only lucky if we can fix Spike," AJ said, "So tell me Ashen Blaze, can we?" "Excellent question," Ash said, not meeting the earth pony's hard look. He took another look at the statue, muttering, "This would be much easier if I could- aha!" "What?" everypony asked. "I think my…" Ash started to exclaim, looking up. His voice trailed off as a confused look crossed his face. He looked down at Spike, then back up at the ponies, and then all around him. "Oh, that's either annoying or good," he said, "and my money's on annoying." "What's wrong?" Heart asked. "I can clearly see the magic threads swirling around this," Ash said, tapping Spike with a hoof, "Green as moss and fern, but beyond that I've got nothing." "What are you talking about?" Dash asked, "Can you fix Spike nor not?" "Not without the Emerald," Ash said, "The Topaz might make a decent substitute, but I'd rather not risk that if I don't have to." He sighed. "It would seem I'm without magic in this world." "Well, I doubt that," Twilight said. Her horn lit up as she lifted the Spike statue off the ground. "That horn on your forehead isn't just there for looks." Ash's eyes crossed as he looked up at his horn. "Come on," Twilight continued, "Let's go see if any of my books have a spell to undo petrification, and while we're at it I can teach you how unicorn magic works." "Sounds good to me," Soul said. Ash simply nodded.