Saturday came, and our twelve antiheroes met at the Canterlot train station as planned, all of them packed with saddlebags and luggage filled with what each of them thought they would need, and took the train to Ponyville. Upon arrival, they all took care to avoid attracting attention from the locals, six mares in particular.
Soon the twelve team members were standing in a field outside of Ponyville.
“According to the map, the starting point is right here in this field,” said Blueblood, levitating the map out in front of him with his magic. “And we have to head into that forest over there.” He pointed to a dark and dense forest that was not to far away.
“The Everfree forest,” said Iron Will. “I’ve herd stories about that place. It’s supposed to be one of the most dangerous and unnatural places in all of Equestria.”
“Dangerous?!” said Jet Set and Upper Crust, becoming worried.
“Oh, please,” said Gilda. “I hear those six lame-o “Element Bearers” have gone in there loads of times. If those losers can do it, it can’t be that dangerous.”
“Gilda’s right!” said Trixie, holding up her head. “Besides, there’s nothing the great and powerful Trixie can’t handle.”
“Or me!” said Lightning Dust.
“Right,” said Blueblood. “Now, ponies, griffons, and minotaur, we are on the verge of a great adventure. If we pull this off, we will all become rich beyond our wildest dreams, and all our dreams will come true-”
“SURPRISE!”
Blueblood let out a terrified scream and fell onto his back as a familiar white Pegasus mare popped up out of nowhere in front of him.
“Surprise? What are you doing here?” Blueblood asked in annoyance once he saw who it was.
Surprise hovered over him with her wings and looked down at him. “I thought I could be of some help, so I followed you guys out here!”
Blueblood sighed and got to his hooves. “Surprise, it’s not that we don’t want you traveling with us because we think you’re totally and completely useless,” he said.
“It’s not?” asked Hoops, to which Gilda elbowed him hard in his side.
Blueblood continued. “Its just… there’s so much more you could do here.”
“Like what?” asked Surprise, batting her eyelashes adorably.
Blueblood thought for a moment. “Um… ah…”
Just then Upper Crust shouted, “Oh no! My wedding ring! I’ve lost my wedding ring! I must have dropped it somewhere!”
“Oh, no!” cried Jet Set, though he saw his wife wink at him, signaling that she was only lying.
Blueblood turned back to Surprise. “Her wedding ring, Surprise! She lost her wedding ring!”
“Oh no, that’s terrible!” Surprise said with concern.
“Yes, and we need somepony to stay behind and look for it, so why don’t you get on that.” Blueblood placed his hoof on Surprise’s back and then knocked her to the ground so she could search for the missing ring.
“You are a true friend,” said Surprise.
“No talking while you’re searching.” Blueblood then turned back to the others. “Now, for the rest of you, it’s time for us to set out on our quest.”
“First things first,” said Gilda. “There is no way we are taking all that luggage with us.” She pointed over at three carts piled with luggage belonging to Blueblood, and Jet Set and Upper Crust.
“Why not?!” demanded Upper Crust. “It’s just a few necessities.”
“A few!?” said Dumbbell. “Look at the rest of us. We’re each carrying only one set of saddlebags.”
“We should only take what we will absolutely need,” said Lightning Dust. She then flew over to the carts and opened one of the suitcases without asking, pulling out a hairdryer. “I mean, why the heck would we need this out in the wilderness?”
“HEY! PUT THAT BACK!” yelled Upper Crust trotting over to where Lightning Dust was hovering in the air. “That’s my industrial strength mane dryer. I NEED IT!”
“No you don’t!” said Lightning Dust as Upper Crust yanked the electronic device out of her hooves with her magic. “And Blueblood, what the heck is this?” she opened up a large case and was surprised to find an entire set of pony armor inside.
“I need that to protect myself in case we run into danger!” said Blueblood.
“Where did you even get that armor?” asked Flam.
Blueblood grinned. “Shining Armor’s armory password isn’t hard to figure out once you realize your dealing with somepony who’s password for everything is his sister’s name,” he said.
Trixie’s eyes widened. “Wait a minute! Twilight Sparkle’s brother’s password for everything is her name?”
“Indeed,” said Blueblood.
“Dude, that is seriously messed up,” said Dumbbell.
“Tell me about it,” said Blueblood. “That weirdo is married to my sister. I told Cadence she shouldn’t marry that guy, but she never listens to me.”
“I am so telling everypony about this,” said Trixie, grinning evilly.
“Oooo, I just love juicy gossip,” said Upper Crust.
Lightning Dust raised her voice. “Hey, could we get back on topic here? We can’t take all that luggage with us, so you guys have to narrow your stuff down to only what you can carry with you, and leave everything else behind.”
“But we need that stuff.”
“Alright. Fine,” said Gilda. “Then YOU’LL just have to carry it.”
The three snobby ponies’ eyes widened.
“But… but we can’t possibly carry all that!” said Jet Set.
“My point exactly,” said Gilda with a grin.
Blueblood, Jet Set, and Upper Crust glowered at the griffon. “Fine,” they all reluctantly agreed at once.
Blueblood looked over at Surprise, who was still on the ground, looking through the grass. “Hey, Surprise!” he called. She turned her head and looked at him. “When your done looking for the ring, would you mind taking mine, Jet Set’s, and Upper Crust’s belongings back to out homes in Canterlot? Kay, thanks.”
Surprise let out a sigh. “Um… okay.”
Blueblood, Jet Set, and Upper Crust quickly went through their luggage and picked out only what they would really absolutely need. When they were finished, the three upper class unicorns each had two saddlebags and a knapsack on them.
Blueblood turned back to the team. “Alright, now that we’re all set, it’s time to begin our quest for riches and power! But first, I think we should go over that hill, to show the unity of our fellowship.” Blueblood pointed to a nearby small grassy hill.
“Why?” asked Lightning Dust.
“Because it will symbolize our unity as a team,” said Blueblood.
“What’s the point of that?” asked Dumbbell.
“Well… It will strengthen our bonds as we-”
“What bonds? Most of us only just met yesterday. We hardly know each other,” said Jet Set.
“Um… In our darkest hour, we will always-”
“Darkest hour? It’s the middle of the day,” said Trixie.
Blueblood was becoming angry. “…But when something really really bad is going down-”
“What’s going down that’s bad?” asked Hoops.
“THE COVER IMAGE!” shouted Blueblood. “WERE DOING IT FOR THE COVER IMAGE!”
“Ooooohhhhhhh,” they all said.
Blueblood sighed. “Okay. Everypony line up!”
They all got into single file, Blueblood placing himself in front.
Blueblood held his head up high. “Now begin epic pose!”
As epically as they could, the group headed off over the small hill and into the Everfree forest.
..............................
Meanwhile, in a dark room somewhere, nine shadowy figures stood looking over a crystal ball, which was showing them Prince Blueblood and the others heading off into the Everfree forest.
“So it looks like somepony is going after the goblet,” said one of them.
“The fools don’t know what they are getting themselves into,” said another.
“Never the less, they must be stopped,” said the first voice again.
“Should we kill them?” asked another one of them.
“Hopefully it will not come to that,” said the first voice again. “We will try to reason with them. But if they still persist, then deadly force may be necessary. The Goblet of Life must not fall into the wrong hooves. Everypony to your places!”