//------------------------------// // Of Fillydelphia And FUN! // Story: An Earthbound Journey // by ShadeJak //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash grinned as the train pulled into the Fillydelphia station. She’d not been here in awhile and the place was still bustling with plenty of activity. Getting off the train and paying the fare, the pegasus flew about the streets and looked around. Rarity’s message was still on her mind, however. Where was she? She recalled Sweetie Belle and her friends were in town as well, no doubt practicing some new means of earning their cutie marks, so it wouldn’t hurt to go and see. As she flew across the city, the pegasus noticed the park had a lot of open markets in it, and in the middle was an all-too-familiar contraption with a pair of all-too-familiar unicorn twins. Immediately flying down, Rainbow confronted the two. “Film… Flam… what are you losers doing here?” Rainbow asked, glaring at them and causing several ponies that had gathered around them to scatter. “Well, lookey here, brother of mine!” Flim said with a smirk. “It’s one of those ponies who ran us out of Ponyville!” “Now, now, brother of mine!” Flam answered, patting his brother on the back. “Maybe she’s come to apologize for reducing us to city park vending!” “Apologize? Fat chance!” Rainbow said. “You guys tried to scam my friend and her family then you tried to kick them out of Ponyville! Why would I feel sorry for you?” “Business is business, my dear!” Flim explained, his eyes briefly flashing green. “And you can’t make cider without crushing a few apples!” Flam said with a wicked sneer, his eyes also flashing green. “Or a few big-mouthed pegasi!” Their horns glowed and the suction mechanism of their machine rose up, aiming at Rainbow Dash. “Awww no!” Rainbow zipped out of the way as the machine’s suction turned on, nearly swallowing her up. “Hold still, little pony! Rainbow cider is just the thing we need for a little business boost!” Flim insisted, the suction hose then beginning to pursue the pegasus. Rainbow flew through the park, the hose in hot pursuit and knocking several stations over. The thing was strong enough to crush apart entire trees, she needed something… something… anything! Wait! An idea came to her, and she began flying in circles, letting the hose continue to follow as she twisted and turned, spun and swerved. The hose formed a loop and Rainbow flew straight through it, the sucker following and soon, it tied itself into a knot and fell to the ground, scrunching together and causing the machine to shake and belch out steam before breaking down. “Oh my! That’s gonna be a doozy to fix!” Flim said, looking to his brother in concern. “Tell me about it! This is gonna cost us!” Flam said, stroking his mustache. “Not as much as THIS!” Rainbow said, flying right at them and knocking their heads together. The two unicorns collapsed into their seat and the green faded from their eyes. “Ohhh my, what happened back there, Flim?” Flam asked, nursing the bruise he’d gotten. “I’ve no idea, Flam!” Flim said, nursing his bruise as well. “I guess that mind control stuff’s broken now,” Rainbow said, looking at the two. “Doesn’t mean you guys aren’t jerks, though.” “Awww, you again? What do you want? We already gave up the fancy statue, it was lousy as a hood ornament!” Flim protested. “Wait, statue?” Rainbow asked, confused. “What’d it look like?” “Oh come on, like we’d tell you!” Flam said with an eyeroll. “And don’t even think about beating us up or we’ll call the authorities!” Rainbow groaned. With the scene they caused the last thing they needed was the city guard here. “If I buy some cider will you tell me?” she asked. “Why sure, ma’am!” Flim said with a grin. “Two bits for a cup since it’s you though!” “Whatever,” Rainbow tossed a pair of bits to them and downed her drink. Thankfully, it was actually pretty good. “Now what statue and where is it?” “Okay, so somepony came by offered us this black crystal alicorn statue, it was pretty nice-looking so we bought it, stuck it on our machine, but then we realized it didn’t really go with it that well, and we sold it off to some other interested customer!” Flam explained. “Oh, yeah? Who?” Rainbow asked, losing her patience with the two. “Oh, that silly pink pony you hung out with in Ponyville. Said she was killing time by helping make a new town and thought it’d look great for a fountain, even stuck a party hat on the thing before she left town with some noisy blue unicorn who insisted she buy it off us,” Flim said with a hoofwave. “Now shoo, we have a machine to fix and customers to attract!” “Thanks,” Rainbow said, growing a little concerned now, but it meant Pinkie Pie had been here. She’d have to find them and see if they could help her look for Rarity, wherever she was. She then remembered the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who may have been able to tell her which way they went. ~ Flying around, it didn’t take long from asking for directions to get to the motel cottage that Rarity and Pinkie Pie along with the crusaders had supposedly rented. Knocking, Rainbow waited till the door opened, revealing the three fillies. “Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo cried out with joy, rushing forward and giving her hero a hug. “Heya, squirt. How’re you all doing?” Rainbow asked. “Bored-bored-bored!” Sweetie Belle said. “Rarity’s been gone awhile, I'm really starting to worry!” “An’ Pinkie Pie barely said a word to us when we saw her the other day!” Weird, that doesn’t sound like Pinkie Pie at all… Rainbow wondered. “Did she say where she was going?” “Well, she was all ‘life’s a party, everypony’s gonna realize that!’,” Scootaloo said, but oddly using a strange monotone and a weird grin rather then the peppy tone normally associated with the pink earth pony which admittedly creeped the pegasus out a little. “And not to mention there’s some blue unicorn that was hanging out with her when they went into the cave with that statue.” “Cave? Where?” Rainbow asked. “Oh, just east’a here!” Apple Bloom explained. “Cool, I’m gonna find her, and see if maybe she knows where Rarity is,” Rainbow answered. “WAIT!” Sweetie Belle shouted. “Huh, what?” The pegasus asked. “Look, Rainbow Dash… we kinda don’t have any money since Rarity’s missing, so can you… maybe get us some food and maybe a… little on the side so we can do our newest plan for our cutie marks?” Apple Bloom asked sheepishly. Sighing, Rainbow took out one of the large sandwiches she brought from her bag and lay it out for the three fillies to enjoy, which they did in a matter of seconds. “So… uh… what’s your new plan?” “We’re gonna be inventors!” Scootaloo said proudly. “We’ll make cool new inventions that will change Equestria’s way of life as we know it!” “Cutie Mark Crusaders: Inventors! YAY!” the three fillies cheered. “We had one really neat idea in mind, but we don’t have the money for it, think you can loan us some?” Sweetie Belle asked, her eyes somehow becoming much larger then normal as she gave a pleading expression. Rainbow facehoofed and let out a sigh. “Fine, but Rarity owes me for this!” she said, opening her bag again and dropping several bits for them. “Just don’t make me regret this, alright? I’m gonna go look for Rarity and Pinkie Pie.” “Thanks, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo said, giving the pegasus another hug and the three immediately pulled down all their sketches. Shaking her head, Rainbow Dash turned and left, heading eastward down the trail leading towards the cave the fillies had mentioned. ~ “Stupid hippie pony…” Rainbow grumbled to herself having recalled what had to be one of the strangest fights she’d ever been in. Apparently Sombra’s influence was affecting pony citizens as well, if that particularly strange pony that randomly attacked her before she could get to the cave proved anything. The trip through had been rather uneventful, and emerging from the cave, she found herself in a valley where a bridge that connected across to the other side had been destroyed. Scoffing, Rainbow flew right over it and went higher up into the sky, looking for any sign of something unusual. Soon enough, something caught her notice. Flying closer, she found what looked to be a giant shimmering pencil statue that blocked another cave passage. Flying over and looking at it, the pegasus attempted to buck the odd object but it didn’t budge. Striking it a few times, she found it still brought no effect. “Great, now what…” she wondered. Suddenly she heard an odd humming and turned. Behind her were three small floating black crystals. “Can I help you?” she asked, a little annoyed by the obstruction in her path. In response, the crystals fired bolts of magic at her that she barely dodged. “Whoa! Hey! Stop it!” She took to the air, trying to avoid the blasts of magic “You’re gonna pay for that!” she protested as a magic blast hit her in the chest, sending her spinning backwards into a cloud. Looking down, she saw it was a storm cloud and smirked. “Come on, come on you stupid crystal-thingies!” she said. When they got close enough, she slammed her hoof on the cloud and bolts of lightning shot out, zapping the crystals and sending them plummeting into the ground, both exploding on impact. Hopping off the cloud, Rainbow tossed back her mane and posed proudly. “Serves you right for messing with the awesome Rainbow Dash!” She said proudly, but her smirk slowly fell into a frown at the realization she still needed to do something about that statue in her way. As if on command, she saw a pony flying in an erratic pattern towards her. “Hey! Rainbow Dash!” a familiar, slightly slurred voice called out before its owner crashed in front of her. A gray pegasus mare with a blonde mane, bubbles for a cutie mark and a satchel around her neck smiled at Rainbow Dash. The most notable feature about her, however, was her strange eyes, one pointing upward, the other downward. “So I was coverin’ in Fillydelphia and wouldn’cha know it! Messages! Gotcha a message!” she said proudly, reaching for something in her satchel and revealing a scroll. Rainbow approached and opened it. Rainbow Dash! We finished our invention! Come quick! ~CMC “Just two hours… this had better be good…” Rainbow said. Time had a way of flying by when one was having fun. “Thanks, Derpy.” “Noooo problem, Rainbow Dash!” the mailpony said with a clumsy salute as she took to the sky, colliding with the storm cloud and causing a stray lightning bolt to nearly zap the blue pegasus. “Sorry!” Derpy called out as she flew away. Shaking her head at the oddball pegasus’ behavior and deciding to let it slide, Rainbow flew back towards Fillydelphia. ~ “Check it out, Rainbow! Isn’t it awesome???” Scootaloo asked with a big grin. “Ta-DA!” Sweetie Bell said, gesturing as Apple Bloom opened the bag and revealed what seemed to be half a pencil with a giant crystal eraser. “…What is it?” the pegasus asked. “It’s a magic eraser! It’ll erase pencil-related mistakes ya make!” Apple Bloom said proudly. “Sweetie Belle found the spell for it, ah helped build it, Scootaloo got the parts with the money ya lent us, an’ now it’s all set ta go!” “Uhh… can it get rid of giant pencil statues?” Rainbow asked sarcastically. “Because I got a bit of a problem with—“ “Of course it can! It’s magic after all!” Scootaloo said. “All yours, take it!” she said, picking it up in her teeth and passing it to her idol, and the three looked at their flanks eagerly. Nothing appeared. “Awww, ponyfeathers!” Sweetie Belle said. “Guess we’ll have to make a cooler invention!” Scootaloo said. “It’ll be a lot more useful then this ‘un was!” Apple Bloom said, sticking out her hoof for a group hoofbump, which the other two joined in on. “Cutie Mark Crusaders: Inventors take TWO!” the fillies cheered, galloping back into town, leaving behind the pegasus mare. “Well, little buddy, let’s see how well you work,” Rainbow said, staring at the weird device as she dropped it into her bag before turning and re-entering the cave. ~ “Celestia’s mane… it actually worked…” Rainbow said in utter disbelief as the device made the statue vanish on contact. She normally would have doubted any chance of something those three invented could work, then again she couldn’t imagine this thing being useful in any other way right now, and they were just fillies so they may have overestimated any other purpose for it. Her pathway cleared, Rainbow entered the cave and after flying through the long, winding and dimly-lit tunnel she found herself gawking at a rather strange sight. Pink. Pink everywhere. An entire town of pink. Balloons were everywhere, and the ponies wandering about all had huge smiles on their faces; not the friendly kind more the creepy variety. There was a fountain, but the statue that was supposedly going to be used for decorating it was nowhere to be found. “Fun… fun… fun…” a pink-painted stallion muttered as he walked past her, flashing a huge grin her way and causing the pegasus to cringe. Noticing a pink pegasus mare minding a shop, Rainbow trotted over to her. “Hey, have you seen a white unicorn with a purple mane… real uptight and all, and a pink earth pony who loves parties?” she asked. “Life’s a party...” the mare said, her eyes wide and a huge grin on her face. “Especially in Fun-Fun Town! The FUN never ends here!” “Oookay, creepy pony. I’ll… ask somepony else.” “Perhaps you’d like to join our way of life?” the mare asked in an unnervingly soft tone. “You should speak to our leader, Miss Pinkamena… she LOVES making new friends! LOVES it.” Miss Pinkamena…. Wait, that was Pinkie’s real name wasn’t it? Rainbow turned immediately. “Where? Where is she? I’d love to join and have lots and lots of fun and stuff!” the said with a big smile. “Oh, she’s in the mansion at the southern point of town. New members of the Fun-Fun Movement have lots of FUN there!” the shopkeeper said, cocking her head while smiling and sending a shiver down Rainbow’s back. “Th-thanks...” Rainbow said, heading back outside. The moment she did, she saw a few ponies wearing hooded pink cloaks huddled nearby. “The whiny unicorn does not wish to convert,” one said softly. “She has no love for FUN,” another said. “Miss Pinkamena brought her here, said she needs to have her frowns turned upside-down,” a third one said. “So she remains in the Party Pooper Prison just north of town?” the first one asked. “Yes, her whining is unbearable. We choose to leave her by herself,” the second one said. Quietly, Rainbow slipped past them and flew towards a tunnel that lead north. Emerging from the other side, she found herself face to face with a shack of some kind, and she could hear familiar wails within. Had they been talking about… “This place is FILLLLTHYYYY!” the voice within whined. “Somepony let me ouuuuuut before I run out of tears to cryyyyyy!” "Yup. Rarity." Galloping to the door and pushing it open, Rainbow smiled at the sight of a familiar face within the barred cell. “Rarity! Hey!” The unicorn immediately stopped her noisemaking and stared wide-eyed at Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow? Oh you made it, darling! I was honestly unsure if that spell was even going to work! Guess I was lucky after all, wasn’t I?” she asked. “Yeah, definitely. Now stand back, I’m gonna buck these bars down!” Rainbow said, getting into position then swinging out her back legs. The bright pink bars didn’t budge, and Rainbow grunted from the pain brought by the impact. “That’s the thing, Rainbow. These bars are lined with diamond gem. You won’t be able to break them. Pinkie’s got the key…” Rarity came over and stuck her hoof through the bars, a look of horror in her eyes. “Rainbow, Pinkie has gone crazy! Ever since she brought the statue in, she’s gotten so weird, then all these ponies started chanting about fun, and they began wearing those horrid pink cloaks, and painted everything pink! What manner of pony does something like that, I mean honesty, it doesn’t even go with the color of the town’s surroundings and it’s quite an eyesore if I may say so.” So that was it… Pinkie was acting strangely, and it seemed the statue had something to do with it. Back when she first saw it, it had given off a weird vibe. “Okay, Rarity, you wait here, I’ll go deal with Pinkie Pie and see if I can get some kinda sense into her!” “You do that… oh, and take this!” Rarity said, trotting over to her saddlebag and taking out some kind of necklace. “I suggest you wear this. Pinkie Pie’s renovated her party cannon and the last pony that didn’t comply to this ‘Fun-Fun’ thing got blown away by a huge blast of pink lightning! How she managed to make something like that is beyond me.” “It’s Pinkie Pie… what more reason do you need…” Rainbow muttered as Rarity floated the necklace onto her. “So what’ll this do?” “It’s a rare gem I found, some research told me that it absorbs certain magic attacks . I admit I was going to use it for accessories and turn a few bits for it, but after seeing what Pinkie did I’m hoping it’ll give you some protection against whatever kind of magic that was. A lady can never be too careful, can she?” she asked with a smirk. “Just hurry along, okay? I really, really don’t like it in this dingy place!” “Sure thing, Rarity! I’ll be back before ya know it!” Rainbow said proudly, turning around and leaving the shed. Emerging outside, Rainbow found herself face-to-face with four ponies in hooded pink cloaks. Standing in front of them was a familiar blue unicorn in a wizard cape and hat. “Going somewhere, Rainbow Dash?” Trixie asked with a dangerous smile.