//------------------------------// // Honest Loyalty // Story: Dimension Jumper // by redtau //------------------------------// Princess Luna walked around the ancient Night Court room, making mental notes of both the room and her, for lack of a better word, host. The room itself was impressive, and she had not seen it in over a thousand years. Long gone were the glorious dark tapestries that once lined the walls. A few rough torches in crude stands had replaced the dozens of silver candle holders, whose varying heights had mimicked the star filled sky. The splendor of the room was long gone. That noted, the room was still not as she had imagined it might be. When she had sensed the Nightmare active within the castle she had imagined many things, but never renovation. The broken glass was gone from the ancient windows, but the frames had been repaired and restored. The dark tile had been patched back together, large sections replaced with matching color, and the whole floor buffed to a shine. Even the stone throne had been cleaned and repaired, and the ceiling mural partially restored. The princess turned towards her odd host. The creature had deep black hair that floated in an ethereal wind. It wore Nightmare's Helm, which looked odd next to the dark grey long sleeve jacket, fatigues and boots. She sat on the floor, smoothing out another of the dozens of sheets she had painted with scrying circles. Her actions made no sense to the princess. Why, when she obviously had control over such creatures as the Fauna, did she not attack? What did she need the Elements for? What was she planning? "Ah HA!" the creature exclaimed as an image began to form over the circle. In it, Luna could see Rainbow Dash and Applejack moving swiftly through the woods. "I found you!" the creature sang. She looked closely at the circle, muttering and waving her claws. It shifted focus for a bit, and the monster seemed lost in thought. After a moment, she flicked her left had up sharply. In the circle, Luna saw a tree branch whip down and smack Rainbow on her back. The blow deflected the pegasus downward, and she collided with the running Applejack. The two element bearers went tumbling through a thick puddle of muck and into a large bush. They both emerged coated in mud, sap, twigs and leaves. The creature nearly fell over laughing. "CREATURE!" Princess Luna called, lowering her horn and summoning her power. The strange thing reached out and leaned on the end of the princesses horn with her left hand, and Luna gasped as her spell faded away. "Relax, Princess. They weren't hurt, and they will need their," she paused for a moment, "disguises for this next section." The door opened, and a small Fauna trotted in with a plate of fruit, cheese, and crackers. The creature let go of Luna's horn and went over to accept the tray. "I know what will happen if they get hurt badly on the way here, and I'm doing my best to hold to that deal of ours." She crunched down on a cracker while the Fauna trotted out. "Had they gone much further, they would have passed close to an Ursa's cave." Luna was having difficulty following all of this. "An Ursa?" "It would be easier if they had not decided to all split up. I didn't want to have to fight one off just to save your friends, so I'm redirecting them. And it's not CREATURE. It's Sarah." She held the plate out to the stunned princess. "Hors d'oeuvre?" Applejack plodded along the ground, picking at the twigs and muck that poked her when she moved. Rainbow Dash walked next to her giggling at the sight. "We look like walking bushes." The prismatic mare chortled. "Shut it Dash." "We do! We are going to have to wash this off before we get to the castle, or Fluttershy will be upset." Applejack paused. "Why would she be upset at us covered in sticks and leaves?" "Cuz we got to be trees before she did!" Before Applejack could respond to that, something lept on her from the bushes, pushing her to the ground. She tried to rise, only to have somethings hooves push back at her. "Stay down, stay quiet." something hissed in her ear. Applejack swung her head to the right and saw Rainbow Dash similarly pinned by a topiary deer. It reminded her, briefly, of when Rarity had tried to help clean up before a storm by making topiary ponies out of branches. Pressed to the ground like that, Applejack heard a soft thump. A moment later another followed. Footsetps. she realized, and they had to be something huge. From the look of worry that passed over Dash's face, she heard it too, and froze in place. Seconds stretched on, and the thuds became distant as whatever it was moved away. The weight and pressure abated, and a wooden hoof helped Applejack to her feet. "Whew, that was close." The plant creature said, handing Applejack her hat. Upon closer inspection, it looked less like a pony and more like a deer. "Can't be too careful out here in the Everfree." "What was that?!" Rainbow Dash asked, her voice a mix of awe and excitement. "Taurus. Nasty piece of work." the deer next to her said. "Like an Ursa Minor, but worse. It’s a giant bull with a bad temper, and its fast and always hungry. I'm Willow by the way, and that's my partner Oak." "Howdy, Ah'm Applejack." Applejack offered a hoof to Oak. She could now see subtle differences between the two Fauna. Oak was slightly larger and more barrel chested, while Willow had longer, sleeker lines. "Rainbow Dash," the colorful pegasus said. Her wings were still stuck to her sides with sap, and she worked absentmindedly at them. "Perhaps you've heard of me?" "Sorry, no." Willow said. Applejack smirked as Dash wilted a little, her ego slightly deflated. "Is thar anything else we ought to be wary of in the woods?" Applejack asked Oak. "Oh sure," He said, "There are a number of small creatures like rabbits and parasprites that can swarm if we aren't careful. And I heard a rumor there were ponies in the forest." Rainbow Dash stopped picking at the sap and looked up. "Ponies?" "Oh yes," Willow said with a shiver, "I'd almost rather face a stampede of Taurus." "Speaking of which, we should get back to the rest of the herd." Oak turned and started walking through the woods, leading the way. "We heard you crash nearby and came to make sure you weren't some monster." "Like a pony?" Applejack asked. "Those things are scary." Willow commented, walking alongside Dash. "I heard there are ones who can fly through the air. You don't hear them coming, they just swoop down and," She chomped her teeth together, "your gone." "Heh, not as bad as their magical unicorns." Oak turned down a narrow path, glancing back as he led the group. "They have dozens of spells to attack us with. Course that's still nothing compared to their earth ponies." "Earth ponies worry you more than pegasi?" Rainbow Dash was skeptical. "What are they going to do? Run after you?" "Rainbow." Applejack growled at her friend. She had proved herself as much an athlete during the running of the leaves. "He's right you know," Willow said, they were talking lower now. "Pegasi have flight and speed, and unicorns have magic, but you never know what to expect with earth ponies. I heard there's one in the town nearby that ran down a pegasus." "I heard one could play ten instruments at once." Oak said. The group had come to a small stream, and Oak waded through, the water sloshing up to her neck. Willow followed, with Applejack and Rainbow Dash trailing behind. "Well I heard,” Willow said as she shook herself dry, “They sometimes bake…plants…like.” Her eyes were wide as she looked at the element bearers. “Whut?” Applejack asked “PONIES!!” The two fauna cried, running full tilt into the underbrush and disappearing. Applejack looked back at Rainbow Dash and realized the stream had washed most of the leaves and sap away. “Wait!” Rainbow Dash called out “We aren’t monsters! We won’t hurt you!” “Thars nawt much we ken do about it Rainbow Dash.” Applejack said sadly, trotting back over to the stream and washing the last of the leaves from her mane. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!" The cry had come from up ahead, and not in the direction the Fauna had run. Rainbow Dash looked at Applejack, but the farm pony had already grabbed her hat and was running towards the cry. A minute later they ran into a clearing, and saw both monster and prey. The creature was a semi-transparent dark blue bull, the stars of it’s constellation floating inside it’s translucent body. It was in a half run, head lowered and large sharp horns gleaming in the sun, as it charged its prey. That prey was four of those small topiary deer, no bigger than an filly, who were doing their best to get out of its way. “OH NO YA DON’T!” Rainbow dash cried as she delivered a powerful buck to the thing's shoulder as it ran by, shoving the thing sideways. The monster staggered and whipped it’s head around, trying to gore the blue mare with her horns. From the ground there was a disturbing wet crunch and a scream. “AAARGH! MY LEG!” Rainbow looked down and gasped. One of the fillies had tried to run past the bull as it charged past. The stagger had brought one of the monsters giant hooves down on the young mare’s hind leg, breaking and smashing it badly. The large bull turned towards the noise and, spotting a tasty prize, opened its mouth to swallow the wounded young Faun. “Lilly! Run!” one of the other young ones called from the edge of the clearing. “HELP!” another called, pitifully. As the bull bent to scoop up its meal, a long hoop of vines flew out and wrapped around the creatures horns. “YA’ll AIN’T GONNA EAT ANYPONY T’DAY!” Applejack yelled and pulled hard on the makeshift lasso. The bull reared and fought, but the cowpony held tight and dug her hooves in, holding it in place. Still, she could feel her grip slipping. The bull was more than three times her size, and she was lucky to be having any effect on it at all. The bull seemed to realize this as well, and began to alternate slackening and tugging on the rope. It couldn’t get free, but every tug was dragging the orange mare a little closer. Soon, she would be near enough to stomp. With every inch, the bull was more overhead, and Applejack had less and less leverage. The bull swung it’s head in a massive tug, and the cowpony let the rope go. No longer restrained, the bull’s head swung upward, just as Rainbow Dash was coming down. She wasn’t quite going Sonic Rainboom speed, but her hoof hit the monsters jaw with a sound like thunder. The bull’s eyes boggled, it wobbled, then crashed to the ground unconscious. “That…was…AWESOME!!!!” she cried out. Applejack ran towards where the young deer had fallen. The other three young ones were long gone, and this one had passed out from the pain. “Can you help her?” Rainbow asked, landing nearby. Applejack looked at the broken leg. It looked more like a snapped branch than anything else. “Ah might be able ta mend her up.” Something bounced off her shoulder with a sting. “Ow!” She and Rainbow looked up to see Oak and Willow at the edge of the clearing, bucking rocks at them. “Leave her alone!” Willow cried. “She’s just a sapling!” “We aren’t afraid of you, or your hunting beast!” Oak called out, bucking another rock at them. “Hunting beast?” Rainbow asked. Applejack looked back, and saw how the lasso looked more like a leash. More of the deer were coming, and the rocks were getting more accurate, another thwacking against her hoof. “We were only tryin ta help.” The element of honesty called to the fauns. She got her hat knocked off. As she bent to pick it up, there was a blur of motion. Two very swift fauns had run up from behind them, grabbing the downed faun as they passed. “Hey!” Rainbow Dash said, caught off guard. “We just saved you!” She flared her wings in frustration. “PEGASUS! RUN!” one of the deer cried. A moment later they had all vanished into the underbrush. “But, but we helped them.” Rainbow protested sadly. “C’mon sugar cube,” Applejack said, “We need ta git headed to the castle. Twi‘ll be expecting us.” As one, they turned and walked towards the distant fortress. As they left, the fake Taurus faded away. Watching from the scrying circle, Sarah and Luna both visibly relaxed. "Whew," Sarah sat down and relaxed for a moment. "I was worried they were going to pursue those Fauna." "We still do not understand thy actions." The princess said, looking over the various items Sarah had been toying with. The metal arm had produced screwdrivers, snips, pliers, wrenches, and even a small drill as Sarah worked on a confusing tangle of steel plates and rope. "I told you already, your highness," Sarah tied off a patch of rope to another plate. "I'm protecting them from the dangerous creatures of the forest." "And these plays? You put on such a show, for what purpose?" "I am a threat, princess Luna. I have allies coming to the castle. When the elements arrive, they will find a small army of well armed but easily fooled Fauna with me as their general." Sarah stood, wrapping the mess of plates and pans around herself in makeshift armor. There was a surge of energy and the armor shifted. The ancient rusted steel plates turned gleaming black and stretched, interlocking into vicious looking armor. "There," she said with a satisfied tone, "A villain needs to look the part!" Luna furrowed her brow and refilled her tea cup.