The Stare Master/Show Stoppers
Trixie squinted as Gabranth grunted and reattached his twin blades and stood it up long ways and a gold aura covered him. He remained in that stance and Trixie didn’t move and continued to stare him down for about six seconds.
"Now’s the time!" Gabranth said. He separated his blades and his aura exploded and he himself was glowing brightly. "Hatred’s what drives me! Prepare to meet the very thing that gives me strength!" Trixie flinched and turned around and began to gallop away from him. "You can’t run from me! Destruction!" He swung his blades and they created slashes of air that chased after Trixie. She galloped away as the slashes dissipated after they traveled several feet. Trixie charged up her horn and once the slashes stopped, she turned around and galloped back towards Gabranth.
"Fire!" Trixie called and she launched her dark beam at Gabranth and he leaped to the side and dodged. Trixie began to feel shocked that Gabranth dodged as she felt that she should have hit him.
"Repent now!" Gabranth shouted. Gabranth slashed at Trixie, she vanished to dodge the slash. The slash left a streak of yellow light where he slashed, once Trixie reappeared. "Sword of Judgment!" The slash exploded and hurt Trixie, she was sent flying several feet away screaming, however her pain ended quickly. Trixie herself was shocked that she was still alive. Guess her new powers have done more for her than she thought. She got back up and charged her horn again.
"Eat this!" She fired a large black sphere at Gabranth, it traveled to him fast. Gabranth put up his guard and deflected the sphere away. Trixie gasped again, for she began to worry about whether or not she could really do harm to Gabranth. The glow surrounding Gabranth faded away. Trixie didn’t really understand what the glow was really all about, but she thought it was her opportunity. So she charged up her horn again and galloped towards Gabranth.
Gabranth reconnected his blades and grunted as he dashed towards Trixie. But the magic on Trixie’s horn popped and she vanished. Gabranth looked around trying to find her.
"Fire!" Trixie reappeared behind Gabranth and fired a beam at him. Gabranth screamed in pain as a black beam struck him in the back. Gabranth placed his blade in front of him and pointed it upwards and he grunted as the small glow reappeared. Trixie peeped for she figured out what he was trying to do. The small glow was Gabranth charging his powers and when they reach the maximum, he would unleash his fury. Trixie had to act fast. "Fire!" She shouted, she fired another black beam at the Judge. He jumped up and avoided the beam and moved towards Trixie and began spinning around very fast while sticking his blade.
"You have no hope!" Gabranth shouted. Trixie tried to gallop away from Gabranth, but the spinning was pulling her in. "Away you go!" Once she was close enough he swung his blade and struck Trixie in the side and sent her flying away. She screamed again as she landed on the ground several feet away from him. That attack didn’t hurt as much as the last one she suffered but it still hurt. She struggled but she managed to get back up on her hooves. Trixie started to encourage herself. "Come on! If you fail you’ll be stuck in Hell forever!" She thought she would try something new with her powers. She concentrated hard and her powers began to make herself glow with a grey light just like with Gabranth. Gabranth began to charge up his powers again as well. The powers completely enveloped her body until her body couldn’t be seen anymore.
"I’ll show you why I’m Great and Powerful!" Trixie shouted. She neighed and launched herself at Gabranth like a comet. Gabranth finished charging his powers and began to unleash his hatred again. "Hatred’s what drives me!" He charged at Trixie and when they both collided with each other and once they clashed there was a large explosion. They were both sent flying as they both skidded across the ground and stopped. They both stood up, but Trixie struggled more to do so than Gabranth did. She moved towards him and she began to worry because Gabranth didn’t look very tired. He looked like he could strike her down immediately, but instead Gabranth laughed, which shocked Trixie. He lowered his blade and towards his helmet which was lying on the ground, and put it back on.
"Very well. You pass." Gabranth said. Trixie wondered why he was yielding while he could snap her in two easily.
"Why are you…"
"Because You managed to unleash your inner strength and combine it with your powers."
Trixie looked at her chest and stared in awe. "Inner strength?"
"It’s built up upon your experiences in life which helps you learn and get stronger. This was the power I was unleashing upon you. Since you managed to unleash this great power, you’ve shown me that you have what it takes to be a soldier of Chaos." Trixie smiled for she felt proud of herself, guess she really was able to conquer Hell. Gabranth waved his hand and a yellow portal opened up behind Trixie.
"Go. Straight ahead is the exit…or rather, the entrance to the battlefield. You know this and still you leave?" Trixie nodded and gave the judge a determined look. "Then allow me to give you one last word. What must be defended is inevitably lost. You will know despair and emptiness. But remember, surrender to despair, and you will be no more than a pathetic dog. Never cast away hope, and live on with pride. Don’t ever become like me."
Trixie lowered her head as she began to think more about what Gabranth meant when he told her to cast away her feelings of revenge against Trixie and Warrior of Light. She would never forget what happened that day. Her feelings instantly vanished for she was happier to have finally passed the test and to finally get out of Hell. She walked into the portal and exited back to World B.
Over in Ponyville, Warrior went back through Ponyville after patrolling the area around the Everfree Forest. Once there he encountered Twilight.
"Hello Warrior!" He walked over to her. "How’s it going?"
"I’m still searching for the Chao’s spy." Warrior responded.
"Any luck?"
"Afraid not, the forest around here has a shady reputation and I thought that maybe I could find the spy, or any clues to it there but have been unsuccessful." Just then the Cutie Mark Crusaders galloped by with Fluttershy not far hovering behind them. Unfortunately they were galloping recklessly to the fact that they almost knocked them over. Fluttershy stopped over at them and the three stared at the three fillies as they played around a well.
"Hello Fluttershy." Twilight smiled.
"Good day." Warrior added.
"Hello Twilight, and Warrior." Fluttershy smiled. "Where are you two off to?"
"My patrols are done for the day. I’m returning to the Sanctuary." Warrior replied.
"I'm heading to the Everfree Forest to Zecora's to get some of my favorite tea." Twilight replied. Fluttershy began to feel nervous.
"Th-the Everfree Forest? Ah, you'll be careful, won't you?" Fluttershy stammered rubbing her front hooves together.
Warrior felt certain she would be fine. "I’m certain she will be fine, after all, she’s armed with strong magicks." Warrior assured Fluttershy. Twilight smiled at Warrior for acknowledging her magical talents.
"Of course! How about you? What are you doing with the girls?" Twilight asked eying the Cutie Mark Crusades.
Flutterhsy touched down on the ground. "Rarity has a big order to fill tonight, so I volunteered to take the girls over to my cottage for a sleepover." Flutterhsy explained.
Twilight sighed at the responsibility she was taking. "Wow. Sounds like everypony has their hooves full today. Taking care of those three fillies all by yourself? You sure you can handle it?"
"This is not the same as watching a small woodland creature." Warrior warned.
"What? These sweet little angels? They'll be no problem at all." The three fillies all stood next to Fluttershy and shot Twilight and Warrior with a big smile, they were trying to look innocent.
"If you say so." Warrior said, He turned around and left.
"Good luck Fluttershy." Twilight said as she walked to the Everfree Forest.
"Thanks Twilight, be careful!" She took the Cutie Mark Crusaders they all went to her cottage.
Back over at the Edge of Madness, Trixie exited the portal and stood proudly before Chaos and Garland. Garland wasn’t happy to see her still alive.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie fulfilled her part and conquered Hell! Now I’m worthy of being a Warrior of Chaos!" The two stood silent as Trixie gave them a triumphant smile.
"Huhuhuhuhuh." Chaos laughed. "Very well Equestrian. You’ve proven that disharmony will serve you well. One last task before you go and cause destruction. Swear your allegiance to me. Swear to use your powers in the name of discord. Do your best to defeat those who oppress your goal to gain the worship of thousands!"
Trixie walked up to Chaos and bowed. "I will do as you will, I’m yours to command, Master."
Over at Kefka’s Tower. The other Warrior’s of Cosmos were wandering around aimlessly and Laguna was trying to guide them to the entrance to the Rift.
"Hmmm…Guess we go this way?" Laguna said putting his hand to his head to scan the area.
"No I don’t think so." Yuna sighed annoyed. "We came from over there, so we should be headed this way."
"Ahh, right." Laguna said trying to sound innocent. "That’s what I meant to say."
"We better not be lost this time!" Lightning snapped.
"You really are hopeless aren’t you?" Vaan laughed.
Laguna laughed back. "I’ve been called worse. Well then, shall we?" He looked at Lightning and she looked angry. "Light-hm? What’s wrong?"
Vaan walked over to her. "Come on, we’ll keep going in circles listening to Laguna."
"You’re thinking about the Equestrians aren’t you?" Tifa asked.
Lightning decided not to hide it. "Yes."
"Guess they all left an impression on us." Laguna sighed. The others nodded.
"Let us go." Kain said. "If we fail now, then their world will be destroyed." The team moved forward, and moved towards the exit Gateway and returned to World B.
Back at the Everfree Forest the Cutie Mark Crusaders were walking around and unbeknownst to them, Warrior was close by. The three fillies were wearing red scarves with a blue patch with their insignia on it. The insignia was a pony wearing a cape made of a gold fleece.
Applebloom was calling for an animal. "Here, chick-chick-chick-chick-chick! Brawck, bawk-bawk-bawk, brawck!"
'What are you doing?" Scootaloo asked annoyed.
"Callin' for the chicken!"
"That is not how you call a chicken."
"Oh, and you know how to call a chicken?" Applebloom scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"I know that's not the way." Scootaloo said.
Applebloom took that as a challenge. "Then show me."
"I don't have to show you!" Scootaloo countered.
"You're just chicken!" Applebloom mocked.
"Am not!" Scootaloo argued.
Applebloom decided to mock her further. "Oh, wait, now I know how to call a chicken! Scootaloo! Scoot-scootalooooo!"
"That's so funny I forgot to laugh." Scootaloo scoffed.
"You also forgot how to call a chicken!" Applebloom mocked, she stuck her tongue out at her.
"Why, you..." Scootaloo grumbled.
Sweetie Belle decided to intervene. "Come on, guys, we're not gonna find the chicken or our cutie marks by arguing."
Applebloom got hit with an idea. "Maybe that's our special talent. Arguin'!" She continued to argue with Scootaloo but they didn’t really mean it.
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Is too! Anything yet?" They checked their flanks but found nothing.
"Nope."
"Darn." The two giggled then Applebloom went back to calling a chicken. "Heeeere, chick-chick-chick-chick, baaawk, bawk-bawk-bawk-bawk-bawk-bawk-bawk, b-baaaaawk!"
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. That’s not how you call a chicken!" Scootaloo argued then she and Applebloom went right back to arguing.
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Girls!" Sweetie Belle shouted, ending the argument. "Our special talent is not arguing. Besides, what would the cutie mark of somepony whose talent is arguing even look like?" Warrior heard them and was shocked to see the fillies in such a place, he might as well go and protect them if they’re there. He approached them.
"What are you three doing out here?" Warrior said, in a slightly scolding tone. The fillies were unaffected by it.
"Fluttershy lost one of her chickens, it ran in here!" Sweetie Belle said.
"And we’re here to rescue it!" Scootaloo said happily.
Applebloom smiled "When we do, we will get our cutie marks, because we’ll become…"
The three slapped one of their front hooves together and cheered. "Cutie Mark Crusader chicken rescuers!" Warrior paused for a moment; he was still taking it all in.
"So just where is Fluttershy?" Warrior asked.
"Uhhhh." Scootaloo said trying to think of a good lie, or excuse.
Sweetie Belle decided to tell the truth. Rarity told her that Warrior wasn’t easy to lie to. "We kind of let her tuck us in, and we pretended to be asleep. When she left…we kind of snuck out through the window." The three tried to look innocent.
"You What!?" Warrior shouted.
"We were just gonna find the chicken and bring it back." Applebloom said sounding innocent.
"Little angles indeed." Warrior scoffed.
"Hey wait!" Scootaloo said, she put on a tough face and walked up to Warrior. "What are you doing out here?" She threw an accusing hoof at him.
"I’m looking for Twilight." Cosmos told me that she encountered trouble in these woods so I’m here to get her out.
"Twilight’s in trouble?" Applebloom asked with the fillies faces lighting up happily.
"We’ll join you!" Scootaloo said happily.
"When we save her we’ll become heroes like you!" Sweetie Belle said happily. "Then we’ll become…"
They slapped their front hooves together again and shouted. "Cutie Mark Crusader Pony Savers!"
"Right." Warrior said rolling his eyes. "For now you’ll stay with me until I find Twilight."
"Girls?" The voice of Fluttershy called, she was flying overhead looking for the three fillies. "Girls?" She spotted them and was relieved to see them with Warrior. She dropped down to speak with them. "Girls! Thank goodness I found you. Especially you Warrior!"
Applebloom was kind of surprised to see her in the forest. "Fluttershy, what—"
Fluttershy cut her off. "Girls, we have to leave the forest at once!"
"But... we haven't found the chicken yet!" Sweetie Belle whined.
"There's no time for that. There's a cockatrice on the loose!" Fluttershy began backing the fillies towards the exit. Warrior’s eyes bugged out for he knew exactly what a Cockatrice was.
"A cocka what now?" Applebloom asked confused, they stopped moving backwards so Fluttershy could explain it to them.
"A cockatrice! It's a frightening creature with the head of a chicken and the body of a snake. Now, come on!"
"Listen to her!" Warrior ordered. "Those creatures are not ones you take lightly."
"You know what they are?" Fluttershy asked Warrior, he nodded.
"I’m looking for Twilight, Cosmos said she encountered trouble in here."
"She has!" Fluttershy squeaked. "She’s been petrified!"
"No!" Warrior shouted. "Oh Twilight."
"Oh Warrior can you help her?" Fluttershy asked.
"Cosmos gave me an item that can reverse it." Warrior said he reached into his pocket and took out the gold needles.
"Gold needles?"
"Yes, you see it’s made from…………special magical components." Warrior decided to not tell Fluttershy about how the gold needles were made from the essence of a cockatrice’s tail.
"That’s nice, let’s get out of here, and save Twilight!" Fluttershy smiled.
"The head of a chicken and the body of a snake? That doesn't sound scary, that sounds silly!" Scootaloo laughed as the Cutie Mark Crusaders walked right around Fluttershy and Warrior.
"Why, if I ever saw one of them cockathingies face-to-face, I'd laugh at how silly it was." Applebloom laughed. Fluttershy and Warrior’s eyes bugged out at the horrible idea. They ran around and cut them off.
"NO! Never look one in the eye!" Fluttershy warned.
"And never let it Peck You With Its Beak!" Warrior warned in a loud voice. Just then the chicken that Fluttershy lost came out of a nearby bush and ran past the group but only the Cutie Mark Crusaders seemed to notice.
Fluttershy tried to warn them what happens when a cockatrice does those things to you. "Because if you do—"
"The chicken!" Applebloom called. Then the fillies chased after it.
"Girls! Wait!" Fluttershy called. "But they didn’t listen."
"Here, chick-chick-chick-chick-chick!" They all called to the chicken, they chased it into a bush and lost it for little while when all of a sudden, the chicken’s head popped out of the bush. The fillies were hesitant to go near it when they heard the roar from something nearby.
"There he is!" Sweetie Belle called throwing a hoof in the direction towards the chicken. Then to their surprise a second chicken head popped out from the bush.
"Two chickens?" Scootaloo wondered.
"I thought only one escaped." Applebloom wondered.
"Grab them both!" Sweetie Belle ordered. They tried to grab one of them, but the chicken leaped back into the bush, they tried to grab the other one when it ducked back into the bush. The second chicken rose out of the bush and the body was long and scaly. This creature was truly the cockatrice. It roared at the three fillies and stared at them with its glowing red eyes. Luckily the fillies didn’t meet its gaze. The missing chicken leaped out of the bush and ran around. The cockatrice flew over to the chicken and the eyes met. The cockatrice’s eyes glowed brightly then the chicken’s body turned to stone. The three fillies shrieked and ran for it. They tripped over a rock and landed in front of another rock. Unfortunately this was no ordinary rock, this was Twilight who was affected by the cockatrice’s power.
"Twilight!" Warrior shouted, he rushed over to the stone pony with Fluttershy right next to him. He knelt down and stroked her rock hard mane. He knew she couldn’t feel anything or even hear him but he felt like he had to comfort Twilight, or maybe comfort himself for letting this happen to her.
Fluttershy turned her attention to the three fillies. "See? Now we have to–" The fillies just ran around screaming. Warrior looked at the beast and grunted. He stood up and grabbed the hilt of his sword and got ready to fight the cockatrice. But he released the hilt, as he remembered that Fluttershy wouldn’t want Warrior to hurt it. "Girls, please. Girls-- now listen to me, girls, I-- please!" The cockatrice flew out of the bushes and roared at the group. "GIRLS! Behind me, NOW!" The fillies ran behind Fluttershy and coward. Fluttershy shielded her eyes as the beast flew up and continued to roar. Warrior gripped his blade again. If the cockatrice pecks Fluttershy, or any of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. He would have no choice but to kill it. Fluttershy lowered her guard and kept her eyes closed tightly.
"YOU! "Fluttershy opened her eyes and gave a heated stare at the cockatrice. "Just who do you think you are, going around turning others into stone?" The cockatrice roared and stared back. Fluttershy’s body began to gradually turn to stone.
"Fluttershy step get away from the cockatrice!" Warrior shouted. He was getting ready to charge and take the beast's head off. But Fluttershy continued to stare at it and scold the beast and seeing her determination was enough to hold Warrior back.
"You should be ashamed of yourself. I have a mind to find your mother and tell her what you've been up to, young man. The beast lowered itself and began to look ashamed at what it’s been doing. Now you go for away and leave me and my friends alone, and don't ever let me catch you doing this again. Do you understand me?" The cockatrice squawked and lowered its vision and stormed away. Warrior approached Fluttershy’s behind, which was encased completely in stone, and took out a gold needle. He pointed it at a cracked section of her leg. "What are you doing!?" She squeaked.
"Don’t worry, I’m going to cure the stone. You’ll be fine." Warrior assured. Fluttershy gulped but she knew that Warrior would never hurt her. So she turned away and let Warrior fix her. He inserted the needle into the crack and next thing she knew, he stony behind was soft and furry again.
"That didn’t hurt at all!" Fluttershy smiled. Warrior took out another needle and used it on her chicken and it became normal. She turned to the three fillies who were looking shocked at her in amazement. "Are you girls all right? I was so worried!" Warrior walked over to Twilight and took out another gold needle.
"Yeah, fine!" Scootaloo sighed in relief.
Sweetie Belle smiled at her. "Thanks to that stare of yours."
Scootaloo smiled also. "You're like the queen of stares. You're the—"
The Cutie Mark Crusaders said in unison. "Stare Master!"
"We're sorry we snuck out of the house and into the forest." Sweetie Belle said in a regretful tone.
Applebloom agreed. "Yeah. We'll listen to you from now on."
"We promise." Scootaloo swore.
"Oh, you DO, do you?" Fluttershy teased. "Well, you better, or I'll give you... the Stare!" She stared at them with one eye. Then the four ponies shared a laugh. Warrior shoved the needle into a crack on Twilight’s body then the stone broke and fell off her body. She shook her head and looked around.
"Warrior?" She said weakly.
"Are you all right?" He asked.
"All I know was, meeting a cockatrice then the rest is blank."
"You were petrified. Cosmos saw it with her goddess’s vision and gave me gold needles to save you." Twilight smiled at the knight.
"Thank you so much Warrior."
"You give me too much credit." He pointed to Fluttershy and the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
Back over at the Dream’s End Kain approached Lightning as she just stared into the distance. She stood a few feet behind her not meeting her gaze.
"Lightning." Kain asked.
"What?" She snapped.
"I will not ask your forgiveness but I apologize."
"When you turn your weapon on someone, apologies don’t cut it." Lightning growled.
"Your right." Kain said in a shamed tone.
"The others, they’re really all right?"
"Yes. Of that you can be sure."
"Right. If you hadn’t started tracking down the truth, I don’t think any of us would have ever made it out of here." Lightning began to feel slightly better about what Kain was doing. "You got my thanks for that much." She turned to Kain and stared him down. "That’s it. Don’t expect me to forgive you for dragging other people down with you."
Kain looked at Lightning’s stare and nodded, he looked away from her and crossed his arms. "Understood."
Lightning walked past Kain and stared onwards, then gave Kain a more serious stare. "We’ve got a long hard fight ahead of us. If you’re coming, I wanna see you fight harder than you ever have."
Kain smiled. "Then you have nothing to fear."
The group went back to Fluttershy’s cottage and rested for the night. The next morning Fluttershy, Twilight, and Warrior sat at one of her tables outside and explained to Twilight what happened over a cup of tea. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were running around nearby playing. Twilight was writing all about it in a letter to Princess Celestia.
"And that's when Warrior brought you back from stone." Fluttershy said.
"This is gonna make quite a letter to the princess." Twilight said happily.
"I may have to try harder to make sure that this doesn’t happen again." Warrior said.
"It’s ok." Twilight smiled. "I know you’re strong and brave, but even you can’t be everywhere at once."
Twilight smiled at Fluttershy. "I was wrong about you. You certainly do know how to handle those girls."
"You definatly have skills with little ones." Warrior complimented.
Fluttershy smiled and blushed, she sank in her chair. "Oh, I wouldn't go that far."
"Hmm? How so?" Twilight questioned.
Fluttershy spoke in a manner that sounded just like a letter to the princess. "I assumed that I'd be just as good with kids as I am with animals. Boy, was I wrong. I really learned the hard way not to bite off more than I could chew."
Twilight smiled at her. "You and Rarity both." Rarity arrived at the Cottage to pick up the three fillies. "Good morning, Rarity."
"Did you finish all those capes?" Fluttershy asked.
Rarity sighed in relief. "Just delivered them. I have to admit, if you hadn't come along, I might not have." She brushed up against Fluttershy as a grateful gesture. "Thanks again."
"Won't you stay for some tea?' Fluttershy offered.
"I really must get back to the shop and clean up. Girls! Get your things. Time to go." Unfortunatly the Cutie Mark Crusaders weren’t listening. "Girls!" They were just galloping around in the open range outside the cottage. "Girls!" Rarity started getting very frustrated. "Time to-- Girls! Your things! Girls! It's time to-- GIRLS!"
Fluttershy stepped over to her in order to give her some help. "Allow me." She cleared her throat. "Girls?" The three fillies stopped and all stood in front of her.
"Yes Fluttershy?" Applebloom asked.
"You called?" Scootaloo asked.
"Go and get your things. Rarity is here to see you home." Fluttershy instructed.
"Of course, Fluttershy, right away!" Sweetie Belle smiled. The three darted away to gather their things.
Rarity was shocked at how easily Fluttershy did that. "Ah, huh, ah, how did you... how did you do that?"
Fluttershy winked at Twilight and Warrior who nodded to her. "I guess I'm just as good with kids as I am with animals." The Cutie Mark Crusaders all charged pass Rarity and Fluttershy as they shouted their farewells to the yellow pegasus.
Rarity smiled at Fluttershy and then remembered another request she wanted. "Ah, uh, speaking of which, I could use your help with Opal."
"Of course." Fluttershy nodded. "How about later today?"
Opal Yowled as Rarity turned to Fluttershy with the cat angrily digging her claws into her side as she winced in pain. "How about now?" Then Fluttershy and Twilight both giggled. Fluttershy walked over to Opal and she leaped off Rarity and snuggled against Fluttershy’s leg. Fluttershy guided the cat into her Cottage and walked back out alone.
"Thank you so much!" Rarity smiled and she left to guide the Cutie Mark Crusaders back home. Fluttershy sat back down and rejoined Twilight and Warrior.
"I’m really happy with you Warrior." Fluttershy smiled.
Warrior’s head perked up when she said that. "Happy? For what?"
"You didn’t hurt the Cockatrice. Even though it almost petrified me."
Warrior looked down at his tea and sipped it. "Yes, I did it for you." Fluttershy put on a shocked look, she also looked down at her tea and blushed. "You see, I felt bad about upsetting you about what I did with the Hydra. I also noticed how good you were at handling the cockatrice so I decided to not pull my sword."
"Looks like he was right about how you showed him to be more patient with creatures." Twilight smiled at her. Fluttershy sighed happily at the feeling of someone as strong as Warrior was helped by a docile pony like Fluttershy.
Back in World B the team just exited another Gateway.
Lightning took time to think about something. "There’s an evil presence to the south- The manikins must be gathering there."
"Well, guess we’ve finally made it this close." Laguna shrugged.
"Looks like we’re at the point of no return." Tifa said.
"Let’s go and fulfill our mission!" Yuna cheered. The group moved forward into the Land of Discord.
Back in Ponyville the next day, Warrior was patrolling the town when he heard a cry in outrage from the Library. Warrior entered the Library and noticed the Cutie Mark Crusaders made a mess by taking every book off the shelves and attempted to rearrange them. But it was clear that they weren’t doing a great job. Spike stood by watching them. Twilight gave Spike and the three fillies an angry look. Standing next to her was a violet red colored mare with a pink mane with green eyes and flowers for her Cutie Mark. This was Ponyville’s beloved school teacher, Cheerilee. Who was carrying a small saddlebag with her.
"Hmm... Well, we sure aren't gettin' our cutie marks for bein' librarians." Applebloom said. Warrior sighed, for he figured out what they were doing. He approached them.
Spike scoffed. "Huh. I should think not." Twilight glared at him. "What?"
He approached them. "Still not getting any luck with getting your Cutie Marks?" He asked.
"Hello Warrior. "Twilight sighed. Warrior nodded to her. "What brings you here?"
"I heard you yelling, I thought I would see why. However I do see why."
Twilight decided to speak with them about what they’re doing, and try to help them. "Girls, I think you're going about this the wrong way. Instead of trying to do things in areas you're not familiar with, why not try doing things in areas that you already like."
Hearing Twilight mention unfamiliar areas reminded Warrior of something that happened earlier. "I’ve noticed that many things have been damaged or many ponies have been outraged with things while I was patrolling today. None of those things would have anything to do with you three now would it?"
The Cutie Mark Crusaders paused and put on three innocent faces. "Well…" then they listed allthe things they’ve done so far. "We tried mountain climin’. Taffy making. Hair dressing. Pig raisin’. Sea faring. We even tried seeing if we’re physics."
"But no luck." Sweetie Belle sighed.
"Now we tried our skills at being librarians, but that’s not looking too well." Scootaloo said.
Warrior sighed and took his helmet off. "Little ones, Twilight speaks wisdom, the best path to take is one that is familiar." Twilight blushed at Warrior’s comment, she knew she was smart but she never thought wise.
Cheerilee approached the three fillies and opened up her bag and took out a small poster. "And I have the perfect place to start." She placed the poster on the floor it had two happy and sad pony shaped stage mask and had rys of light shining on them and were surrounded by stars with several miniature icons along the bottom. The Cutie Mark Crusaders all approached the poster and read it aloud.
"Showcase your talents..." Applebloom said.
“...for all to see." Scootaloo said
"Perform in the Ponyville school talent show!" Sweetie Belle said happily.
Cheerilee smiled. "There'll be all sorts of awards. Best dramatic performance, best comedy act, best magic act... Surely you can find your talent."
"This would be the perfect place to discover our talents." Applebloom cheered. "Jugglin'!"
"Acting!" Scootaloo cheered.
"Magic tricks!" Sweetie Belle cheered.
"Square dancin" Applebloom cheered again.
"Tightrope walking!" Scootaloo also cheered again.
"Tiger taming!" Sweetie Belle cheered again. Warrior’s face was surprised at how random the skills they
were attempting were.
"My little ponies!" Twilight called, she got their attention. "You're missing the point. Think about the things
you already enjoy doing. Think about what you're already good at."
"Sure!" Scootaloo said. "We can do that." The three fillies all looked to each other.
"Yeah! Sure we can." Sweetie Belle said.
Applebloom smiled. "Well, whatever we do, we'll do it as..."
The three all cheered together. "...The Cutie Mark Crusaders!" They bumped hooves and ran out of the library.
Warrior looked out the door as they left. "I must admit, I admire their spirit." Warrior complimented.
"Warrior, I’m glad I caught you!" Cheerilee smiled.
Warrior was a little puzzled as to why the teacher would be looking for him. "Yes?"
"You see, my students are curious about you. They’ve been asking me a lot of questions about humans, I was wondering if you would pay us a visit and speak with the fillies and colts." Warrior was amazed at her request, Twilight just giggled at the request and at Warrior’s noticeable reaction. Warrior didn’t have much experience with children. He would have to do his best, they may bombard him with questions he can’t answer, even ones he wouldn't want to answer.
"Very well, to help educate your students I will come and answer their questions."
"Thank you very much Warrior! My students will be so happy." Cheerilee smiled and also left. The look didn’t leave Warrior’s face.
Twilight gave Warrior a concerned look. "You ok?"
"I’m fine, now I get ready for the show tonight. I must go and support them. Even though I should continue to seek the spy. However I can’t find it, I looked in the forest, all over this town, but no clues."
"Don’t worry I’m sure we’ll find the spy soon enough." Twilight assured.
Back over in the Lands of Discord, Trixie was being guided through her duties by The Emperor. Trxie was excited to be in the presence of the man who conquered Canterlot.
"Now, since you are now one of us. You will be granted more special powers and special knowledge." The Emperor explained.
"There’s more powers than just the ones I’ve been given?" She asked.
"The only power there’s left, is the power to control the manikins." Trixie felt really excited to command an army. Especially the one that caused great devastation to Equestria. "Now since you are one of use, this power is now yours. However…..you could be of more use to use to use than just that."
"How?" Trixie asked. The Emperor put on an evil smile and held a small crystal in his hand. "What’s that?"
"The beginning portion of what the manikins start out as." The Emperor explained. "Just stand still and let this crystal do the rest. You’ll be surprised at what this little ore can do." The Emperor dropped the crystal and when it hit the ground, the two stared at it intently.
In Ponyville two days later at night, the talent show began with Warrior sitting in the front row. Twilight went backstage where performing ponies were waiting to go on stage.
Cheerilee walked on stage, she was the M.C. of the show. "Hello everypony! Welcome to tonight’s show were we will seek the most talented ponies here." The ponies in the audience all stomped their hooves on the ground, this was how they would applaud. Warrior was clapping his hands but when he saw the ponies stomping their hooves.
He didn’t understand why so he shrugged. "Ok." Then he stomped his right leg along with them.
Cheerilee bowed. "Thank you very much now let us welcome our first act Snip’s and Snail’s magic show!" The crowd applauded as Cheerilee left and the two young colts rolled a table onto the stage they wore tops hats and capes to appear as magicians.
"Hello there! You’re a wonderful crowd!" Snips announced. "For our trick we will be transforming a rabbit into a tasty snack!" Snails used his unicorn powers to take a small grey rabbit from backstage and placed it on the table. Snips placed a carrot on the table and the rabbit began to eat it to keep it from running away. Snips covered the rabbit in his top hat. "...And on the count of three, this rabbit will disappear, and something tasty will reappear in its place. A one, a two, and a three! He lifted the hat but there was nothing underneath it. Hey! Where are they? Snails, where are the... carrots." He was looking to turn the rabbit into carrots, unfortunately Snails was eating the carrots. "SNAILS!" The crowd roared in laughter as Warrior sighed and rolled his eyes. They had no choice but to leave the stage.
Cheerliee took the spotlight. "Uh, how about a round of applause for the S&S magic act?" The crowd applauded. "Now for our next act, we have Sunny Daze and Peachy Pie reciting their favorite poem... on roller skates!" The crowd applauded again as two small fillies, both yellow with one having a blonde mane with blue eyes and the sun for her cutie mark. The other with an orange mane, yellow eyes and peaches for a cutie mark rolled onto the stage both wearing purple roller skates. They skated around elegantly as they both recited a poem, they were both switching between who said which verses.
"There is always sleep, between part and meet
with our usual words on the usual street."
"So let us part like we always do…
And in a world without you
I’ll dream of you."
"When I come to, let us meet
with our usual words on the usual street."
"They stopped skating and stood side by side and took a bow. The crowd applauded."
"Such beauty, they are very talented." Warrior commented. Cheerilee took the stage as Sunny Daze and Peachy Pie left the stage.
"That was good, now for our next act, the Cutie Mark Crusaders singing their theme song!" The crowd applauded as the stage lights went out blackening the stage.
"I do hope they got what they needed from this." Warrior thought. A soft rock and roll rhythm started to play as three lights shined onto the stage and revealed the Cutie mark Crusaders. Warrior’s jaw dropped in shock. They were dressed in punk rock leather clothes. Applebloom’s were black, Scootaloo’s purple with blue and red streaks, and Sweetie Belle’s were red and white stripped. Their hairstyles were standing up tall and puffy with a bandana around Applebloom’s head. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle’s eyes were covered in purple eyeliner. The song began to pick up as they all began to sing.
"Look, here, are three little ponies,
Ready to sing for this crowd,
Listen up, 'cause here's our story
I'm gonna sing it
Very loud!!!!!!!"
The light spread out and revealed a poorly made stage that looked like Ponyville, they continued to sing as they danced around sluggishly and unbalanced. The crowd looked at them with confused looks.
"When you're a younger pony
And your flank is very bare
Feels like the sun will never come
When your cutie mark's not there
So the three of us will fight the fight
There is nothing that we fear
We'll have to figure out what we'll do next"
They danced around with odd maneuvers that resemble martial arts. They accidentally kicked and bumped into the stage damaging it several times.
"Till our cutie marks are here!
We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders
On a quest to find out who we are
And we will never stop the journey
Not until we have our cutie marks."
As they sang several stage props dropped from the roof like the sun, bats and ghost, they moved around but it only made their performance worse. The light moved around unevenly and in random directions. The fillies had no idea what to do when the light was on them so they improvised.
"They all say that you'll get your mark
When the time is really right
And you know just what you're supposed to do
And your talent comes to light
But it's not as easy as it sounds
And that waiting's hard to do
So we test our talents everywhere"
Sweetie Belle accidentally bumped into a fan and it began to blow at full power causing a wind to blow the stage props around. Some even began to fall over, the fillies did their best to continue singing while keeping the stage up.
"Until our face is blue
We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders
On a quest to find out who we are
And we will never stop the journey
Not until we have our cutie marks
We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders
On a quest to find out who we are
And we will never stop the journey
Not until we have our cutie marks!!"
Once they finished they posed for the crowd then the whole stage collapsed on them. Luckily they weren’t hurt. The crowd exploded in laughter while Warrior felt the tickling sensation again but he didn’t laugh. The fillies lowered their heads in shame and walked off stage. Warrior stood up and went around to enter the backstage area. Warrior made it to the back as all the performers went back on stage as Cheerilee also walked out with Spike at her side.
"Let's hear it for all our talented fillies and colts." Cheerilee announced. The crowd applauded. "Our first award goes to... Snips and Snails for best magic act." The two colts marched over to Cheerilee and she gave them a gold medal made up of three stars.
The two colts began to argue with each other. "Hey! Mine's at least shinier." Snips laughed
"Well, mine’s bigger." Snails argued.
"Oh yeah, well... Well, mine is, um... heavier?" The two walked off stage.
"The next award goes to... Sunny Daze and Peachy Pie for best dramatic performance." The two Fillies gasped and galloped over to Spike and he placed a gold stage mask medal on their necks. "And finally, the last award of the night goes to..." The crowd and Warrior leaned in intently to hear the winner. Cheerilee announced the winner in a loud voice. "The Cutie Mark Crusaders! For best comedy act." The crowd roared, whistled, and cheered, as Warrior went back to clapping with his hands. Spike placed a gold medal that resembled jester hats around their necks. The fillies smiled and bowed to the crowd then galloped off the stage towards Warrior who was feeling proud of them.
"Can you believe it? We won!" Applebloom cheered.
"I knew our act was awesome." Scootaloo smiled.
Warrior finished applauding. "Congratulations."
Sweetie Belle got an idea. "You know what would be the best? If we won and we got our cutie marks." The fillies took off their outfits to check their flanks but they were still bare. They sighed sadly.
Twilight approached them. "Congratulations, ponies! Job well done." She smiled.
"Thanks Twilight." The Fillies sighed sadly in unison.
"Hey, you don't sound too excited." Twilight said in a concerned tone.
Scootaloo sighed. "We worked really hard and won a prize, but we still don't have our cutie marks."
"Which is the prize we really wanted." Sweetie Belle also sighed.
"Oh, girls..." Twilight smiled.
Applebloom’s mood quickly perked up. "But we think we know why."
"Yes. We know why." Sweetie Belle added.
"Oh? Tell me. I'd love to make a special report to the Princess."
"Well, maybe we were trying too hard." Sweetie Belle said.
"Yes? And?"
"And instead of forcing ourselves to do something that's not meant for us..." Scootaloo added.
"Yes? Yes?"
"We each should be embracing our true talent!" Applebloom said.
"And that is...?"
"Comedy!" The three fillies said in unison. Twilight lowered her ears and put on a surprised face at their answer, Warrior just face palmed.
"Oh Warrior! We’ve been wanting to ask you something." Scootaloo said. The three fillies approached Warrior and he looked down at them.
"Yes?"
"You don’t have a cutie mark." Sweetie Belle said.
"Yes."
"We understand that you can’t have a cutie mark." Applebloom said.
"Yes."
"Would you like to be a crusader anyways?" They asked in unison. Warrior stood shocked as the three fillies gave him a big smile. Twilight giggled.
"Maybe we should discuss this at a later time." Warrior suggested. Then Twilight started laughing at the idea of Warrior becoming a Cutie Mark Crusader.
Later that evening, the group gathered around the table to hear another Cosmos report. Twilight took it out as she began to read it aloud.
"We were surprised to see that these Equines were almost advance as we were. They built an entire community, and society all on their own. They could speak, they were not much different than us.
They welcomed us like celebrities we never felt so welcomed in our lives. They’ve never seen a human before but heard about them; to them we were just mythical creatures. They wanted to be our friends, even though we’ve done absolutely nothing to impress them or had anything special to offer them. Gee, they are so much better than us.
The population was strange though, the majority appeared to be mare. There were three different types of the Equines, (or should I say ponies) ordinary ones, unicorns, and pegasi. They all seemed to depend on each other as part of a delicate balance in order to live. Their world was much different than ours, it takes work to bring about the weather and the seasonal changes, least they’ll never be bored.
They took us to meet the royal family where we met two princesses who rule the land together. They had the powers to control the flow of time and bring about the day and the night. They had the powers of both unicorns and pegasi, which showed that they were indeed powerful, maybe even gods in this world.
That world was defiantly a paradise. We hated to leave, but thanks to our device we would defiantly be able to return sometime. Unfortunately when we returned home things weren’t ok. War was about to break out and next thing we knew, we would become parents, to a child that was a complete enigma."
"A child?" Fluttershy wondered.
"That’s great that these two would start a family." Rainbow Dash suggested.
"I don’t think so, from the way things are sounding, it seems like the child might be a curse." Twilight suggested.