Chapter 6
The rain hit the outside of the window hard, making tiny little rivers on it as it rolled down the window and onto the sill all the while the wind blew the trees hard. Inside the little house, Scootaloo grabbed some of her blanket and pulled it close to her body for comfort alongside a small Rainbow Dash plush that was made for her. She made a tiny little shriek at the sound of thunder and a bright lightning flash that had lit up the whole sky. Taking a look out at the pouring rain, her thoughts turned to her sister and began to worry for her safety. The storm was one of the rare uncontrolled ones that would spring up in Ponyville once in a blue moon, and this one promised to be one of the worst that the town had ever seen.
Scootaloo’s violet eyes watched in awe and fear as the mighty trees bent and swayed in the wind like they were straw. Another loud crack made her cuddle the plush in fear, “Come on Scoot, it’s going to be all right. It’s Rainbow Dash, she won't end up like Firefly, no… not at all,” the thought of her hero’s mentor and friend made her think about a story that Rainbow shared with her mom yesterday before she fell asleep.
“Its funny that you would put a pony named, ‘Firefly’, in your story Dash. I was just thinking about a young Pegasus with that very name. I always wonder what happened to her, she was so talented,” Sunny said as she began to clean up around the house.
The cyan Pegasus flew next to Sunny and helped to pick up a plate and put it on a shelf, “She kind of had to put her talents to something else,” she then closed her eyes and smiled.
“Like what?” Sunny asked as she swept up dirt with her broom.
“Raising me,” Dash said as she land back onto the ground.
Sunny’s green eyes opened in shock, “She is your mother? What happened? Why isn’t she flying anymore? I can remember some of her shows in the past and she seemed like such a natural.”
“There was this real bad storm years back. I was just a filly at the time, didn’t even have my cutie mark, but I can remember so much of that day. The storm was encircling and blowing through Cloudsdale like it was some hungry monster trying to kill us all. I could remember being so afraid of it and wanting nothing more than just to hide under my bed and wait it out. I would’ve too, if it weren’t for my mother.” Dash chuckle a little at the memory, “ MY mother, the fastest, bravest, and strongest Pegasus I had ever known was right there with me to comfort me and protect me. She told me not to worry about the storm because she was about to handle it, that she would not lose because she had the other greatest Pegasus in the world at her side, my dad Spectrum. I could remember being less afraid when I saw them fly into that black monster without a moment of fear or doubt in their eyes.”
Sunny noticed some tears came to pegasus’s eyes, “What happened after the storm.”
“What do you think? Dad helped to save the day, few ponies died but most lived and the two heroes made it out mostly unharmed,” Dash then sniffled, “mostly. My mom got hit with a giant lightning bolt in the middle of that storm, trying to protect dad. It hit her right in the wings and fried them, making sure that she could never fly again. She would spend the rest of her days watching over me in a chair because of it.”
Sunny looked at the rainbow maned Pegasus and leaned in to hug her, “Oh Rainbow, I’m so sorry to hear that,” the orange pony tightened her embrace of Dash, running her hooves along her back.”
“Hey, it turned out alright in the end,” Dash said, breaking away from the hug, “Even when she was in that chair, she still found a way to be the most awesome mother out there.”
Scootaloo shook her head at the memory, not wanting to even approach the idea that something bad could happen to Rainbow Dash, “She isn’t going to lose to that storm. She is Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in all of Equestria. At 12 she made a legend come true, at 15 she created her own tornado, at 20 she saved all of Equestria, at 21 she became… my sister,” Scootaloo smiled at the last one, cherishing that memory forever. Turning her head, she looked out at the window to watch the storm increase in its fierceness, threatening to break the trees.
Within minutes, however, the storm seemed to suddenly stop and Celestia’s bright sun broke through the dark cloud barrier. Scootaloo watched with happiness as the sun seemed to quickly dry up the pools of water left behind by the storm while the ponies outside quickly began to assess the damage. Turning her head, she looked to the clock in the hope that, now with the storm done, her sister should be back in a flash to see her. At any moment now.
30 minutes pass by and no sign of the rainbow mane or a blue feather. At an hour, Scootaloo began to fidget in fear and worry as she began to cough hard. Thoughts began to run through her mind of several different bad scenarios that could've happened to her that would make her late to see her. Images of Rainbow Dash getting hit by a stray lightning bolt, being torn apart by harsh winds, or impaled by a thrown branch all rushed through her mind in an instant. She let out a sneeze and sniffled at the thought that her mentor-no, sister- would never be able to fly again. Her mind thought back to the story Rainbow said about Firefly and wondered if Dash could ever handle that, or could she handle losing somepony so important to her.
Then, four little words made her heart jump for joy, “Sorry I’m late!” a cyan Pegasus said as she walked into the room, wiping some leftover rain off of her.
Leaping out of the bed, almost forgetting the need to rest, Scootaloo leapt into Rainbow and gave her a big hug, “Rainbow, you’re all right.”
“Of course I am, kid,” Dash said as she let the small filly down and walked back to the bed, “The mayor was just asking me for an explanation on the storm and how it got out of control. Apparently some idiot thought he could handle any storm alive and wanted to show his rotten flank.”
As Scootaloo watched Dash pull out the book she smiled and wiped her nose with her foreleg, “I just thought that with the storm and with that story you told mom.”
Dash then put a reassuring hoof onto Scootaloo’s shoulder, “Kid, no storm will ever stop me from doing what I do best: Being there for ponies like you, got it? Even if a mad god came out of nowhere and told me to stay away and broke every bone in my body, I won’t stay away.” Dash then smiled as she opened the book and began to read.
Rainbow dash laid with her back on the cloud, her wings extended out as she began to think back on what happened to her earlier. A small grunt of disgust left her as she thought of the fear and horror that the monsters had brought upon her. Of how the creatures made her relive all of her fears and regrets in an instant, turning her into a whimpering filly in front of all of them. Running her hoof into the wet cloud, she picked up a tuft of cloud and threw it up into the air before letting it fall back down and hitting her in the face, “I’m not afraid of her, I’m not,” Dash said as the wet cloud broke into many little water droplets upon impact, sliding off her face.
For her, it was true, she wasn’t afraid of her mother. In fact, Dash knew for a fact that in a fair race she could take down her mother without difficulty. The problem was, her mother was a hunter and hunters don’t play fair. Dash turned and rolled onto her belly, taking a look down at the city with the ponies walking about in their normal lives, “It would be easier if I was traveling alone,” she thought to herself as she placed her head on her hooves. “When mom comes after us, there’s nothing stopping her from using her men to attack and hurt the others. Then what am I supposed to do, just focus on taking her down while the others handle the goon squad? Sure the egghead, AJ, and Pinkie could handle themselves in a fight. I haven’t seen Miss Prissy fight yet so I don’t know but she lived this long, so she must have something up her sleeve. That leaves Sweetie and… Fluttershy,” she let out a sigh as she thought of her dear friend, a pony she cared deeply for.
“How can I keep her safe while I fight mom?” Dash asked herself as she felt her cloud drift a little in the wind, “ She could barely put up a fight back in training. How could she handle herself now, and what if the emper-” She shuddered and shook the thought out of her head. The emperor had a hatred for four legged creatures as it was; who knows what his feelings towards beings who could use nature as a tool was. After all it was- “No, don’t think about those morons. They are long since dead, the queens stopped them.”
A shout of success knocked Dash out of her thoughts as she watched the cloud take her to the inn where they were staying in. In the room was Twilight with her hooves in the air as the scroll she was translating hovered before her, “Is she still studying that? I would’ve taken a break by now,” Dash said as she watched the scene from her perch.
“Of course, it was so obvious, why didn’t I see it when I first read it,” Twilight said as she took a small sip of tea that was on her bed, “This scroll is translated into old Satyr from another language that was in Equestrian! He made it so that even when you translate it the first time you might lose something from the first translation. Clever, but I am even more clever,” Twilight said with a smirk as she began to look over her passage and tried to find how it was originally written.
Floating around her in the room were many other scrolls, enwrapped in a violet aura of magic. As she began to retranslate the tracking spell to its original language, she would take the occasional moment to look over some of the spells that she picked up from the library, “Hmmm, Chain Lightning. That might come useful later in case we might need a charge,” Twilight said as she rolled up the scroll and put it into a pile in front of her bag, “Now, what other spell should I learn?” Floating up a scroll that was behind her, she smiled as she read it, “Ah, how about” her eyes opened in fear as she read the top of the scroll.
Fire Orb.
Twilight gulped and shuddered as she read the spell’s title once again, “It’s ok Twilight, you can do this. Its only fire magic after all, red mana, the element of power and destruction. You can do this, its just like any- “ closing her eyes tightly, she turned her head away from the scroll and tried to focus herself, “other spell you learned. You can do it, you can learn a simple fire spell. Just tap into that pool and read.”
Fire Orb.
A basic fire spell that requires time and effort to manipulate the generating and pulsating flames that come from the orb one creates. By tapping into the air and binding it into the ignition source, one can create this moving orb of fire and manipulate it to where one wants it to go. Be warned, since it is a moving ball of fire, it will require a lot of concentr-
Twilight turned away from the scroll as her mind began to get swarmed with memories of back when she was a filly. She could hear the screams of pain and horror as her parents were burned alive by her misaimed spell. In her head, she could see the pair of strong white hooves pulling her away from the fire as it consumed her home and beloved parents. The one thing that continued to go through her mind was, “it was all my fault.” The very memory caused her to lower her head onto the mattress and cry for a few moments, “I’m sorry, so sorry.”
Dash watched from her perch at Twilight’s quick break breakdown. Wanting to be there for her friend, she stood up to fly in and hug her; however, her services were not needed as Twilight raised her head and wiped her tears away, “No, I shouldn’t let that get to me. I’ll just try and read that spell later. Just focus on the tracking spell for now Twilight,” she then narrowed her eyes in determination.
Seeing that her friend had recovered, Dash sat back down on her haunches and let the wind carry the cloud elsewhere. She sighed to herself as she began to think about what Twilight said, if she could tell her the truth about that day. That her mother had suspicions that it wasn’t an accident but something somepony did on purpose. Again, she shook her head, she couldn’t raise Twilight’s hopes only to dash them if they were lies instead. As she floated on the cloud, she could hear talking from down below, looking down from her cloud, she saw Rarity and Fluttershy walking down the street with Sweetie Belle skipping in between them. Fluttering a little closer, Dash tried her best to overhear what they were talking about.
“Lets see, we have 3 loafs of journey bread, a few bushels of assorted fruits and veggies, some cupcakes and muffins, and a very fancy bedroll for us to sleep in. All in all we came out of this pretty well, with about 3,547 gold left over. A good trip if I say so myself,” Rarity said as turned to look back at Fluttershy,” Darling, are you sure you are all right with those bags?”
Fluttershy, who was carrying bulging bags, gave a little nod as she followed behind, “Rarity, are you sure we need all of the beauty supplies that you bought?” She asked with a little bit of a grunt as she followed Rarity down the street.
“Fluttershy, dear,” Rarity began to state as she placed a hoof on her friend’s shoulder, “This city is the first time I have been able to beautify myself in almost a year. I finally have a chance to do something with Sweetie’s mane,” as for emphasis, she rubbed her little sister’s mane, which caused the little filly to smile in response, “and to make myself look simply dazzling again. I refuse to go off into the emperor’s castle not looking my best, NOR will I have my dear friends suffer a similar indignity of looking anything less than fabulous!” To prove her point, she gave a small twirl on her hind hooves and landed to face forward.
“Oh, I see,” Fluttershy stated as she walked behind Rarity, making sure to keep the bags stable, “but you don’t have to go that far for me, I probably wouldn’t look that good anyway.”
“Nonsense, Fluttershy my dear, you deserve to look your best. Why, by the time I am done with you, your inner beauty will outshine all at Capital City and dazzle crowds for miles,” Rarity said as she began to look at the various stores.
At the words, ‘inner beauty’, Rainbow Dash began to see a model of Fluttershy in her head, apologizing to all of the mares for stealing the attention of their stallions because she was too sexy. This thought made Dash chuckle a bit before seeing the image of the sexy Fluttershy turn to her and wink cutely. Blushing a little, Dash shook the thought out of her head and went back to watching the scene.
Down below, Fluttershy and Rarity continued to walk through the streets of the shopping district. All around them, they could hear the noises of the ponies hawking their wares and yelling about who had the best prices over the competition. In certain stalls, some of the ponies even gave small demonstrations of how their blades cut or their jewels dazzled in the bright sunlight. This, accompanied by the smells of the flowers, fruits, and other vegetables gave the area a bright feel of life that one could barely see in the other parts of the city. The three ponies walked by the stalls slowly, Rarity taking the time to examine the different ones before seeing a building marked, “Hard Slice weapon’s and bakery, cut your own cake,” which caused her to arch an eyebrow at the weird description. Shrugging her shoulders with a sigh, she got Fluttershy’s and Sweetie Belle’s attention to get them to follow her. Moving past some of the stalls, the three multi colored mares walked in the building. Taking the time to look around the shop, they saw the walls covered in various swords and axes of different sizes. Sitting in the center of the shop in a round desk was the shop owner, a brown stallion with only one eye and three legs,” Aye, welcome to Hard Slice’s weapon’s and bakery. I be Hard Slice and what can I do ya for today me lassies?”
“Oh, we are just in need of some weapons for ourselves and our friends. Don’t mind us,” Rarity said as she walked to the back of the shop while Fluttershy began to look over some of Slice’s homemade cakes and pies.
Slice looked over his shoulder, past his cutie mark of a cake being cut by a katana and noticed Sweetie Belle looking at his missing foreleg, “Ah, bet you are wondering about this? Well, you see I got my cutie mark when I was trying to be a baker like me momma. The sad thing was, I was only really good at making blades, not using them. So, when I tried to cut the cake for my momma that I had made, I accidentally cut off me own leg. That was when I realized me special talent in baking cakes and making knives. So, at the cost me right leg, I had obtained me cutie mark.” Slice then saw Sweetie point to his eye patch, “This? Well lassie, when they say don’t run with scissors, they mean it.”
Rarity, meanwhile, began to look at some of the equipment before her. She admired some of the artistry and craft of some of the blades, the curves of some of the handles. It wasn’t until she got to the end of the shop that she found some special that caught her eye. With a gasp of awe she walked to the pedestal and stared at the crossbow that laid upon it, “Amazing!”
“Like it, do ya lassie?” Slice said as he turned to look at Rarity, “ That there be one of the finest crossbows to ever come from Capital City. It is made from mahogany wood and is a automatic cocking system while it is still able to slip easily onto the hoof of the user.”
As she looked over the crossbow, Rarity listened to slice describe the weapon, “And the string, is that... ?”
“Yep, the craftsponies found a way to make the string mithril so it will be harder to wear down and break. There even be a side compartment for little ‘surprises’ that ye can add to the arrows if you wish,” Slice said with a smile.
Rarity silently analyzed and studied the crossbow before slowly turning to the stallion, “How much?”
“Fer ya? 2,100 gd,” Slice said.
“Oh I can buy a cheaper crossbow for less than that…but that one is so lovely!” Rarity thought to herself as she looked back at the crossbow before looking back at her ‘opponent’, “My dear sir, you can see that me and my friend are poor ponies from far away. My sister can barely even talk she is so poor, so I can imagine that you would be able to part with such a magnificent bow for… 1,500?”
Slice let out a grunt of disbelief, “Really? A unicorn and a Pegasus poor? BAH! You mares probably have more than I can dream of, but lets say I believe you. I think it won’t bleed ya out too badly if I let you have it for 1,800.”
“Oh, he’s good,” Rarity thought to herself as she looked to her bag of generosity, “I would be using the money on myself, so there is no way I can make more coins. So, I just have to barter HARDER!” She said aloud,” Oh heavens no, sir, it wouldn’t bleed myself too much at all. The problem is,” she nodded her head to Sweetie Belle who was listening to Fluttershy talk about the different animals outside, “I need to save whatever I can to help fix my sister’s mute voice and her friend’s... Defenestraphobia”
Slice looked at the white unicorn with an arched eyebrow, “You kiddin’ right? Fine, lets go with that, I guess I could lower the price to about…1,500.”
Rarity let out a small squeal of glee of victory and a clap of her hooves as she levitated the crossbow to the table along with some chain claws and assorted small bombs, “I will also be taking these, thank you,” she said as she laid the gold in front of Slice and walked out the building. A smile came to her as she examined her weapon while they walked to a nearby clothes and armor shop, “Sun’s glint.”
“What was that, Rarity?” Fluttershy asked.
“Oh, the name of my crossbow dear, all ponies should name their weapons after all. It gives them a ‘distinct’ feel to it. So, when the ponies look at you walking with your weapon at your side, they can say, ‘There goes lady Rarity, with her trusted weapon!’ see?”
“I didn’t know you were so into crossbows, Rarity,” Fluttershy said as they walked into the shop.
“Well, not for shooting of course. But there is a certain art to them, the way that you pull the string back, the wisp of air as the string fires the bolt, and the click of the trigger all add to a certain feel that you can’t get with a sword,” Rarity said as she went to the various garments and armor, “Hmmm, now which one of these best says, ‘I will destroy you, but I will look fantastic doing it’?”
“Well, I think maybe,” Fluttershy was about to respond but was silenced when she heard the purple maned unicorn let out a gasp of inspiration and began to grab some of the items off the shelf.
“IDEA!” Rarity sang as she grabbed a simple light purple wizard robe, some pieces of random cloth, with some string of various colors, and one set of light armor. Buying the material quickly she walked out of the shop with Fluttershy in tow and towards a small secluded place, “Sweetie, bring me my ‘equipment’.” With a glow of her horn, she laid out a long mat before her.
“Rarity, what are you going to do?” Fluttershy asked as she watched Rarity lay down all of the clothing and armor that she had just bought in order by size and color.
While Sweetie Belle went into the bags to grab some of the stuff her sister needed, Rarity turned Fluttershy and said with a wink, “Why, I am about to make these clothes shine with beauty my dear.” She then watched as Sweetie Belle brought out a small collection of gems of various colors. Turning to her sister, she smiled down at her, “Thank you, Sweetie Belle. Hmmm, might have to find some more rubies,” Rarity said as she lifted a red gem to her face and looked at the faint glow. Sighing at the lack of gems that she had with her, she floated the ruby along with two sapphires and placed them onto the robe along with several strands of silver silk. Taking a deep breath, she lifted the robe, silk, and gems with her magic
As she controlled the thread and gems, the needle seemed to make an accurate dance with the gems, making sure that they fit perfectly along the sides of the robe. Concentrating, she made sure to keep the gems secure while not ruining the robe or breaking the silk that was made to hold the gems down tightly. As if she was handling a piece of fragile glass, she made small and intricate cuts to the light purple robe while tightening other areas with the thread to make small pockets. With a final glow of her horn, she focused her magic onto the 3 gems that were on the robe and made them glow with a bright color. As they glowed, they begin to sink into the robe itself, disappearing one by one. As the red ruby melted into the robe, it made a bright light purple star burst onto the sides of the robe where Twilight’s mark would be. Focusing on the other two gems, Rarity began to make the sapphires bleed into the robe, turning the remnants into lovely sparkling stars that littered the robe, giving it an elegance that would show off the user’s magical prowess.
As Fluttershy watched the entire scene take place before her mesmerized blue eyes, she began to realize just what Rarity was, “Are you an enchanter?”
“Of a sort, it’s my talent after all,” Rarity said with a smile as she looked to the three gems that adorned her flank, “You probably have heard the story I told Sweetie Belle in the bathroom, the one about how our parents met and fell in love?” Rarity watched as Fluttershy nodded, “ Well, its all true there’s just more to it. My father, well, he was able to take those gems and imbue them with so many magical properties and my mother? Well, she would be able to make dresses that seemed to glow with magic and when I had gotten my cutie mark they decided to pass on those gifts to me. Of course I took to it like a natural, but I could do more than what they did. I could make dresses that were as strong as steel, capes that burned like fire yet cool to the wearer, hats that would protect against cold, and so many more. I was more than enchanter, I was an artist that could make the world shine with my clothes!”She then lowered her arms and sighed sadly, “ It… was for those gifts that the emperor wanted me.” A frown came to her as she began to work on some of the other clothes that she had bought, “About three years ago, when Sweetie was about seven, a few of the emperor’s thugs came to my house and demanded of my father to let me be brought to the castle. He told them that he would not let his daughter be used as a tool by the emperor and if he wanted me to work for him that he would have to pay for my work like everypony else.” Slowly she wiped a white hoof along her face to remove a tear, “ That, was his last stand he would ever make. Me and Sweetie Belle were busy at the time, getting gems so I could make another masterpiece, but I had forgotten something important. So I had sent Sweetie to the house to get it for me, and she had gotten there right when the thugs began to kill our parents ruthlessly. She watched everything that day and to worsen the blow, they came to kill her next when they saw her. Seeing that she was late, I followed her back home right when they were going to cut her legs off.” Rarity took a glance back at her sister, and then lowered her head, “I don’t think I will give you a description of what happened to them next. Needless to say, with the exception of their leader, they will never bother anypony again. I took Sweetie Belle and we have been on the run ever since.”
“Oh, I am so sorry,” Fluttershy said as she gave Rarity a soft embrace.
“Oh, it’s no big deal anymore. I can still use my talents for my own and I know things will pick up when we take the emperor down and reinstate the Queens,” she then took a longing look to Sweetie Belle, a look of sadness in her eyes, “Oh look, I have talking about myself for a while. What about you darling? Just what does a druid do, I have never seen one.”
“Well, nothing much really. We just have the ability to talk to animals and… this,” upon saying this, the yellow mare closed her eyes and held out her left hoof to a plant. Letting out a slow breath, she began to concentrate on the plant. For a few moments, the plant did nothing but sit there on the sill, but soon it began to extend and grow. It’s stem began to extend from its place and grow towards Fluttershy, wrapping itself around her leg.
Rarity watched in amazement as Fluttershy made the plant let go of her hoof and return to normal, “You can control plants too?”
“Oh not control, we never try to control anything. I just ask nature if it would like to help me out with something or if I can borrow some of it’s power. I never like the idea of forcing my will on anything,” Fluttershy said, looking down at the ground beneath her hooves.
“I see, but that doesn’t seem to be a reason for why any group of ponies would want to hunt you down,” Rarity said, remembering what Twilight had mentioned about druids a few days ago.
“It wasn’t the way we interacted with nature, it was just how we did it. Nopony knows how it got started, most hate groups rarely need a good reason to start mindless killing,” Fluttershy said, “ but one day some ponies with a grudge against druids and the way we lived began to hunt and kill us. It wasn’t until somepony was able to tell the queens that all of the killing stopped, but it was too late.” The pink mane Pegasus sniffled a little, “ The ponies who still practiced the art went into hiding and tried to hide their talents from the world. When my dad married mom, he just thought that he was a good caretaker… until he found the truth. He called me and her freaks and left her when she was sick.”
Rarity watched as the memories came to her Pegasus friend and offered a hug to her, rubbing a hoof along her back, whispering how it would be ok.Rarity smiled as she hugged the pegasus, glad to have a pony she could talk to about her problems, and a good friend that she felt would know how to lift her up. Letting go of her friend, she turned back to her clothes and went to work.
Dash watched the scene from up above and turned her head away, “How could I tell her,” she thought to herself as she began to remember her mother. Her thoughts drifted along with the cloud she was on as she remember how her mother told her about the druid killings. She made a small growl of disgust as she could hear her mother tell her, “Look, I know you care for her a lot. I do too, she’s like another daughter to me, but there is something you need to know. Our family… your great-grandmother, was the one who started the killings. It was all her fault that there are so few druids left out there.”
Those words had hit her hard when she had heard them, that it was her family that was responsible for ruining Fluttershy’s life. It was because of what they did that Fluttershy’s father called her and her mother a ‘dirty unclean freak of the world’ and walked out on them. It was because of her that the yellow pegasus’s mother was so sickly and died. Dash had never found out about this until she had started protecting Fluttershy and they had became friends. Dash had formed a very deep and strong bond with the yellow Pegasus, caring for her as if she was family and in turn she treated her like her personal guardian, a hero. Dash let out a deep breath as she ran her hoof along the cloud deep in thought, a bit of fear in the back of her head. Deep inside, she was worried that the strong bond that she had formed with her would be broken into pieces if she ever found out about the past, “Just another reason to be her guardian. Somepony needs to make up for what those jerks did to those druids,” Dash said with a growl, “She deserves it, after all.” Taking one last look back at the place where her friends were, she smiled and thought back to her promise when they had first escaped from the emperor, “ I promise you, Fluttershy, no matter how hard things get or how bad things become, I will always protect you. Always.”
Dash laid back onto her back as the cloud drifted away in the wind, a smile on her face as she began to back in the sun. Her ears began to twitch at the sound of a pony talking very quickly and actively. Chuckling to herself, she turned onto her stomach to look down at the orange and pink dot as they walked through the streets of Miasma. Taking a hold of her little cloud, she moved it just above street level to watch and listen in on the conversation that the two were having.
“And that is why I was no longer allowed in the castle’s mess hall. Though Queen Celestia thought it to be hilarious,” Pinkie said as she skipped alongside AJ who was taking all of this in stride.
“Ah have to say Pinkie, you have got some of the weirdest stories that Ah have ever heard,” AJ said as she shook her head in disbelief.
“You think that’s something, I had an uncle who thought he was actually part fish,” Pinkie said with a big smile, “Of course he then found out that he was actually part bull.”
AJ opened her eyes at this in utter shock before shaking her head to snap out of it, wanting to put that bit of info under the ‘don’t ask’ file and instead chose to look around the city. She was impressed by the way things seemed to have changed in the few days that they had come there, especially after her win at the tournament. When they had first arrived in the city, the unicorns and pegasi who used to keep to the inner city where the library and some of the more expensive shops were, are now in the outer city mingling with the earth ponies and treating them like equals. A smile came to her face as she watched the upper class ponies finding things within the shops that they had never seen before, or talking to friends that they had not seen in awhile. It was if a new world had been opened to them, “Ya know Pinkie, Ah think our little plan worked. Look at all of them,” AJ said as she looked over the streets.
Pinkie watched as some of the unicorns were talking with one another, “Well duh! Of course it did, the only reason why everypony was being a huge grump to the Earth ponies was because the emperor is a big meanie!” The pink mare then skipped along with AJ to look at some of the shops before running ahead of her, “They would never really think any other pony was less than a great pony unless some grump told them so. Look over there,” With a twirl and a grab of a nearby cake, the pink pony pointed to two ponies at a café, “just yesterday those guys were thinking that they hated each other, now they’re best friends again!”
As Pinkie continued to talk at length to her friend, the unicorn was talking to his friend, “You know,” he said as he took a huge bite of his potato chip, “I remember us being good friends, but it seems like 5 years ago I just felt like you were scum. I don’t know why I ever did that.”
“You know, it’s faint, but I can almost remember a time when you unicorns didn’t hate us Earth ponies because you had magic and we didn’t,” the stallion said as he placed a hoof to his chin, “As a matter of fact, we used to get along great. You know, I think its because of the emperor that the other ponies are like this.”
At that moment, Pinkie Pie popped up in between the two stallions, “Of course it was all his fault. That guy is just a big stupid dork who likes to trash ponies weaker than him. He also likes to force everypony else to bow down to him, and guess what? He’s planning on treating unicorns and pegasususus the same way after he is done with making every earth pony miserable.”
“He is?” The unicorn stallion asked, a look of shock in his face, “It does make sense, why would he stop with one race when he could make us all lower class citizens?”
“Worse than that, look at all of the families he ruins with this, look at how many relationships he destroys with his STUPID ideas,” the earth pony added, “When an earth pony tries to move up in the business world, a unicorn buys him out and puts him back into the poor part of town. When an earth pony so much as tries to form a relationship with anypony else, the ponies just shun him… or worse. Even the kids can’t go to school without being abused. If this keeps up, the only guy who will have any life to live in this world will be him and we will be forever subservient to him.”
“Hey! You know what you should do?” Pinkie Pie asked, her blue eyes darting back and forth between the two stallions, “You should gather every pony who thinks like you guys and meet up somewhere so you can form a huge, ‘NO Thank you!’ party and throw it for the emperor to show him a thing or two.”
The two stallions looked back at the pink pony, and then each other in confusion before a smile of realization came to both of their lips. The unicorn was the first to speak, “You’re right, but where can we have meetings for this little, ‘surprise party’, that can be secret from the rest of the world so the emperor doesn’t spoil the surprise.”
At this, Pinkie Pie brought out a library card, “ Well, I know of this fantastic library that is in the city that has a wonderful librarian. It’s protected by a spell that will only let you in If you have this and the librarian is nice enough that she won’t do and blab to anypony to spoil the surprise!”
The earth pony stallion looked down at the card and back to the pony, “Thanks!” With a smirk he turned to his unicorn friend, “Look, you gather any unicorns or pegasi that want to fight and I’ll get the earth ponies together and we can talk more about our little… party.” The stallion said as he watched his friend nod and get up to run off.
As the two stallions ran off to get some recruits, AJ walked up next to Pinkie with a shocked look in her eyes, “Pinkie Pie, Ah think ya just started a revolution.”
“Well, DUH! That was part of the plan right? To make everypony see that the emperor is being a big racist dunderhead and then get them to see that ponies are better when we all are one big happy family and then get them together to help us take down the big meanie.” Pinkie Pie said this with a big smile on her face as she looked off in the distance, then she turned to AJ and flipped back her mane in a confident manner, “I am not just a pretty face you know, I has brains.”
“Yah, you do have that Pinkie,” Aj said chuckling as she put a hoof to her hat and rubbed it. Then she remembered about what Pinkie had said back at the library, “Hey, Pinkie, about what you said back at the library, when those wraiths got ya.”
Pinkie looked at AJ, putting a hoof to her chin in trying to remember. After a few seconds, her eyes widen in memory, “Oh yeah, that! It was nothing, just a bad memory from a long time ago about my granny.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it,” AJ asked as they headed towards the inn while the sun began to set in the distance.
Pinkie quickly nodded, “Yep! I made my peace about it a loooooooooooong time ago. Those ponies just didn’t get me and never realized that I could be serious at times and reasonable, even when I am at my happiest and jokeist. I know that my real friends,” at this she draped a leg onto AJ’s shoulder and pulled her into a small hug, “will know when I am joking most of the time or trust me enough to look into something I say. Even when they don’t, I know they’ll apologize later or at least,” Pinkie then looked at AJ with a smile, “can have a big joke about it all later.”
AJ looked back at Pinkie with a smile, “Yeah, we would Pinkie. We would,” and then she returned the hug.
Rainbow Dash watched this scene from above on her perch, smiling. Turning her head up to where the cloud was drifting, she decided to take off from her perch and fly back to the inn. As she flew, she began to think about the armies at the emperor’s disposal and her mother. Her mind drifted to what type of horrors and pain that the emperor’s elite could bring upon those six ponies that she had decided to befriend and protect. Could she actually do it? Could she keep them safe? It was something that was burning her, and would continue to nag her for the rest of the flight. Quickly, she shook her head to try and get the thought of her mother and the challenges up ahead out of her mind. She looked up to the window of the inn and focused on the flight as she flew through the window and landed on the bed.
Outside of the inn, AJ and Pinkie Pie met up with Rarity’s group. After conversing and exchanging greetings, the five mares walked inside and bought some drinks to bring up to their room. Walking up the stairs and nearing their room, they could hear Twilight muttering to herself over the scroll. Putting her hoof to open the door, AJ was almost knocked back by the exclamation from within the room, “I GOT IT!!” Twilight yelled.
Their eyes opened wide in anticipation as they opened the door and went inside to see a Twilight hopping for joy, while Rainbow Dash put a pillow over her head to hold back the noise. Pinkie Pie quickly walked in and took her seat, “You figured out that scroll? AWESOME,” she said as Rarity handed out the drinks to everypony in the room.
“Yes, though I have to admit that it wasn’t easy at first,” Twilight said as she took the offered drink in her magic, “You see, at first there were certain words and phrases that didn’t make any sense given the context of the sentence. So I began to break down why it didn’t make any sense and why were certain words were organized the way they were, well it took me about an hour to figure it out, but then it hit me,” Twilight said, putting her hoof to her forehead, “It was so obvious that I should have seen it before.”
“What was?” Asked AJ as she drank her cider.
“The scroll had been translated earlier from a completely different language, so of course the words and sentences would make zero sense! Once I had a handle on that, the translation became easy for me,” Twilight said, a smirk on her face.
“What did the scroll say,” Fluttershy asked, drinking from a small juice glass.
“Basically, it translated into, “To ye who wishes to travel to the Castle of Pan, travel ye to the mountain of Shadowfax. Take a truth lens to the top of the mountain and wait for the light of the holy sun to hit the lens, then ye must read the enclosed scrying spell. Once this is done, the spell will light the way to the castle and will guide your way. Be warned, if you do not reach the castle’s location within two weeks, the castle will vanish and you will have to cast the spell once more’,” Twilight read.
“Oh perfect, the idiot made up a time limit,” Dash said, hitting the mattress of her bed and taking a drink of her cider.
“Well, depending on how we travel and if we run into any ‘detours’ then the limit shouldn’t be that much of a problem,” Twilight said as she rolled up the scroll and put it into her bag, “So, did everypony enjoy their day.”
“Oh, I most certainly did, I even bought everypony gifts,” Rarity said as she turned to her bags and used her magic to pull out the items. The first she pulled out was a light purple wizard’s robe with light blue stars aligning the sides, “For Twilight, I made a brand new wizard’s robe. Here, put it on,” Rarity said as she handed Twilight the robe, “ I used some magic to make it carry more things in its pockets, while at the same time making sure that you don’t feel any weight from the materials you carry. Oh and there is something more, Pinkie?”
“YES,” Pinkie asked as she stood next to Rarity.
“Mind putting this match to her robe?” Rarity requested as she stuck a match and handed it to Pinkie.
“Are you nuts, Rarity? It’ll burn it,” Twilight said.
“Trust me, darling,” Rarity said with a smirk as Pinkie put the match to the robe. Like magic, when the match touched the robe, it immediately went out, “I also enchanted it to be fire resistant. It won’t stop a fireball completely in its tracks, but it will make sure that you won’t get burned too badly.”
“As for the others,” Rarity smiled as she brought out some of the items she had bought, “I got Pinkie some smoke bombs, darts, and some chains. AJ, for you I made some enchanted leather garments that don’t only shine, but add some protection against ice and make you a little stronger then you already are. Fluttershy and Dash, sadly they shops didn’t cater too much to pegasi; however, a true artist never lets that get her down,” she then brought out some light wool vests, “I used the last of my gems and the wool but I think it looks lovely.”
Fluttershy looked down at the light yellow vest on her, “It’s lovely Rarity.”
“A little itchy, though,” Dash said as she scratched the neckline of the vest.
“Wool does that when it first comes on, Darling. Give it time and it will be comfortable. Not only that, but the magic in those vest will help protect your wings from incoming projectiles. Just be careful, too many hits or too strong of an attack will break the enchantment and will leave your wings vulnerable.”
The girls all offered the signs of gratitude and began to talk about the rest of their day and offered some interesting stories from their past. As the talk went through the night and the fires burned down to a cinder, AJ noticed that Rainbow Dash would sometimes look out the window sadly. In her mind, she began to remember that she seemed to avoid talking about her mom or anything about her life outside of the air force, “Something on your mind, sugarcube?” AJ asked.
Rainbow Dash finished the last of her cider and looked at the empty cup, mourning its loss, “Huh? Oh, nothing, just thinking to myself.”
“ That’s a great pastime, Dashie! I love to have long thoughts to myself, helps me to think of some great ideas for jokes and ways to make others happy,” Pinkie said as she bounced on the bed, “Like this one time, I thought of this great pie gag that involves 15 catapults.”
AJ shook her head in an attempt to forget what she had just heard, “Thinking about what?”
Dash took a look at the six ponies in front of her, she knew that she couldn’t tell them that she was afraid of fighting her mother and her hunters, “I was just thinking, this is it. We are actually going to go out and find this jerk. We are actually going to go and kick this guy’s flank from here to whatever hole he crawled out of,” she said, chuckling and putting her hoof behind her head. She was hoping that, by putting all of her fears and worries behind a mask of courage and confidence, she would be able to fool them into not seeing her worried, “You know, once he finds out that we have this scroll, he is going to send everything after us. His best soldiers, hunters, rangers, and anything else he has at us. I hope you all are ready for this, it won't be easy.” She finished with a smirk.
The others looked at Dash as she said this and then back to each other. Pinkie Pie was the first to speak, “Well, I’m ready,” the pink mare smiled as she watched the others look at her, “Let him throw his best at us, because he doesn’t reall have the best with him…I DO! I have the best farmer, magician, flier, dressmaker, animal caretaker, and singer in the whole of Equestria. I also have the best friends out there,” Pinkie said as she smiled wide, “and, as long as I am with you guys there is nothing that I will fear ever!”
Twilight looked at Pinkie and began to smile, “I wonder, will we free them together and can I conquer that fear of mine?”
AJ looked down at her leather covered hooves and thought of her family trapped in the castle, “Don’t worry y’all, Ah am coming to save ya. You can count on it!”
Rarity looked back at Sweetie Belle, and then back at the others, “I don’t know if you forgive me for ruining your life, but I promise you, I will give everything to make your life better. Everything, and they will be there for you.”
“I may not be as strong as them,” Fluttershy thought to herself, “ but I will do whatever I can to be their support. Even if I am a freak.”
Rainbow Dash looked back at all of them, a cunning smile on her face, “Don’t worry, I’ll give everything to protect you guys. No matter what the emperor throws, I’ll take it.”
Pinkie Pie looked back and forth between her friends and smiled, “Face forward, have a big smile in your heart, and live a life without any regrets. That’s what my granny always said to me. I have already moved on, and now its time to see the future with my new friends.” Pinkie then began to tap her foot to start a beat, Sweetie Belle took the cue and began to play a music on her flute. Moving her head and tapping her hoof, Pinkie Pie began to whistle a slow tune to match the tune of the flute before beginning to sing.
Pinkie Pie
When the night has come
And the land is dark
The girls began to smile and move their heads along with the music, feeling the urge to sleep coming over them.
As the music began to fade, the girls began to fall asleep quietly in their beds. Luna’s moon hung high over head as if to be a guardian to watch over them and to protect them in their adventure to come.
_________________________________________________________________
Iron Hand sat in his throne looking at the group of ponies from the various cities and towns awaiting an audience with him to discuss the various problems that they had. He looked down at his wine glass and rubbed his temple as he did so, wanting so much for this session to be over. This was what they never tell you when you take over the kingdom, all of the chores and duties that you must supervise over. The raising and lowering of taxes, the laws one must make or revoke, the treaties, the trade agreements, and all others just seemed to mix together in his head in a swirl of utter boredom. He let out a sigh of exasperation as the next pony came in to talk about water rights or something else that seemed rather small compared to the grander plans, “On the other hand,” he thought to himself with a smile, “I do enjoy enlightening the pathetic beasts of burden to my improved way of thinking. I have already subjugated the worthless earth ponies and turned them into proper second class citizens. Soon, the pegasi will fall to the same fate and then the unicorns. Then they will realize how worthless the four legged creatures are, and will relish being under the thumb of their proper two legged masters.” Chuckling to himself, he drank a little of his wine when the next petitioner came to him, “Then I will put in a proper ruler in my place, someone who is more fit than I am to rule in my stead and will keep my ideals in place; all the while, I will go forth and spread my teachings to the rest of the world.”
Suddenly, the emperor’s thoughts were interrupted by the slamming open of the doors and the rushing in of the messenger, “Sire, sire! I bring news,” panted the young green unicorn as she reached the throne, “I have some important intel from Miasma involving subject TS.”
Iron hand’s brow furrowed at this news as he stood up from his throne, “Leave us, I wish to speak with the messenger in private.” As the crowd of ponies left the throne room, the satyr looked down at his servant, “Speak.”
Greenhorn nodded as she pulled out a scroll and began to look over it, “It seems that the 7 ponies that you had sent the scout team to search for were seen entering and leaving a royal library in the town of Miasma yesterday. We have reason to believe that they have found the tracking spell to find the castle.”
“And why is not one of my hunters here to deliver this message?” Iron asked, the vocal tone in his voice not showing a sign of annoyance or anger.
“Well, according to Windshear, they were distracted by the subjugation of a small mushroom village of little blue men called Smurfs. They are currently leading these people into a cauldron to make gold coins to add to the treasury,” Greenhorn said as she read another scroll.
Iron chuckled as he poured another cup of wine, “Well, I guess that is a good use of their time. More cash in the treasury is always a good benefit to the economy and will lessen tax burden on the populace.” He then turned to his messenger and placed a hand onto the arm of the throne, “Now, to the rest of the message, are you sure it was the unicorn Twilight Sparkle?”
“Yes sir, a purple unicorn with a starburst cutie mark. She was being followed by Air commander Dash, Lt. Fluttershy, Jester Pinkie, the madame Rarity and her sister, and finally the farmer who we have identified as AJ. Since this was a royal library we connected the dots on their purpose.”
“I see,” the emperor said as he took his seat, “Bring out my generals, it is time for a conference.” He said with a smile.
It took only an hour for his elite generals to arrive within his throne room. He couldn’t help but smile at their efficiency and perfect timing. Arising slowly, he walked to the first one, a pink Pegasus with a blue mane, “Leader of the Hunter Squadron, Firefly,” She said, saluting and throwing her chest out.
He walked to the next pony, a tall blue Pegasus stallion with one wing and a long scar across both eyes, “ Commander of the Rangers, Lighting Arc!” He yelled, giving a salute.
He looked down at a smaller orange unicorn with a yellow mane; her face was hidden beneath her white cloak, “Head of the mage strike team, Flower Petal.” She said as she bowed respectfully.
With a commanding voice, the three generals yelled out in unison, “Reporting for duty, sire!”
“Ah, welcome my beloved generals,” Iron said as he looked at the three before him.
“Beloved, ha! We’re just your own tools aren’t we?” Firefly said to herself as she looked at Iron with a bit of disgust.
“The reason why I have called you three here today, is that apparently Twilight Sparkle has made herself known to the world in the first time in the 5 years since I have been in control,” Iron stated as he sat in his throne and rubbed the arm of his chair, “That is not all, apparently she has been seen with the traitor Rainbow Dash. Much to my surprise as you have reported to me that you encased her in a stone prison, Flower.”
“I did sir,” Flower said, her voice shaking in disbelief, “I had her cornered and she stood defiantly against me as I fired the stone spell on her. I made sure that the enchantment was something that no po-“ she stopped herself before saying pony, “no one could ever break. It was supposed to be a permanent solution sire.”
Firefly held back every urge to leap at Flower and kill her on the spot, instead choosing to grind her hooves into the marble floor, “So it was you that stoned my daughter. You are so lucky that she is ok again or else I would have killed you when this meeting is over. I am glad that Fluttershy was able to find a way to keep her safe, the mare is something else for being so fragile.” Firefly thought to herself as she smirked.
“Firefly!” Iron bellowed out, “I understand that you were seen leaving Miasma two days ago when Twilight Sparkle and her team were seen in town. Why did you not report to me the existence of your daughter alive and unstoned when you saw her?”
“Because sire, I was off duty for one,” Firefly said, a confident smirk on her face, “And two she was not an obvious threat to me at the time. I thought that, with her three year ‘grounding’, that she would learn better than find a way to oppose your rule. I was wrong,” Firefly said as she then crossed her hooves, “Now before you reprimand me or punish me, may I remind you that me and my hunters are the only ones that have a chance of taking out Rainbow Dash and I am the only one with the speed to outpace her.”
Iron rolled his eyes in anger, he hated to agree with her and he hated her cockiness even more, “ Be that as it may, we apparently have a small rebellion starting up thanks to those 7. Lightning,” he said as he pointed a finger to the one winged Pegasus, “I want you to gather your rangers and await in the fields 10 miles south of the city. You will then ambush the 7 and attack. Then you are to bring Rarity, Twilight, and Sweetie Belle to me, alive and pure. You are not to, ‘indulge’ in any of your recreations with those three. However, can do whatever it is you like to the other four as you and your men wish.”
Firefly watched as Lightning licked his lips slowly, “Sire, I must object! Me and my hunters are swifter and far more cunning than his rangers, it should be us that take on these rebels.”
“No, we have tried cunning and magic on some of these rebels before. IT is time, for brute power, intelligence, and ability,” Iron said as he drummed his fingers along each other.
“But if you kill them, that’ll make them martyrs,” Firefly said.
“What is the matter, Fire? Afraid I’ll break your friend,” Lightning asked.
“No, but I know how the people think. We kill a team like that, we will give them a cause to rally behind. Better to let them live,” Firefly said, glaring daggers at Lightning, “and break the people’s spirits rather than to give them a symbol.”
“This is why I am going to let three of them live, so I can so how easy it is for us to break a pony’s spirit by taking away the Queen’s student. I’ll also give the championship belt back to Mirror to remind the ponies how the Earth ponies are nothing more than worthless dreck that should never be allowed on the same planet as the rest of us,” Iron said.
“Says you, Posey had more balls and raw strength than you ever had,” Firefly said to herself.
“Now, go and follow my orders,” Iron said as he sat back down.
“Yes sir!” The three said as they walked away from the throne
As the three left the throne room, a female unicorn with an electric blue mane watched as they exited. A look of horror came to her as she put a hoof to her mouth, “Oh, Twily,” Gleaming Shield said as she looked back in the throne room, “Watch out. They’re coming for you, please be careful.
As Sunny listened to the story coming from upstairs, she smiled to herself as she cleaned up around the house. Dash had seemed to brightened up the house and her little girl’s life whenever she was around. She was thinking about everything that had been happening since Dash entered her life when she heard a knock at the door. Turning around, she walked to the door and opened it. Seeing a grey Pegasus holding a letter, she took the letter in her mouth and opened it. Upon reading the letter, she dropped it in shock, letting it fall to the ground.