//------------------------------// // The Rodeo and Roar of the Apples // Story: An Apple Scratch toward the World. // by Mariacheat-Brony //------------------------------// “Octavia! Vinyl!” Fluttershy called as she entered the ballroom along with Shining and a large platoon of his guards. “I was so worried!” she added before strongly hugging the cellist. “Glad you’re safe, Fluttershy,” Octavia said softly as she patted her friend’s back. “What the hell happened?” a guard asked with puzzlement while checking the unconscious invaders on the ground. “I happened,” Vinyl replied with a chuckle, earning dumbfounded stares from Shining and his men. “Though the one infused in the table is Octavia’s doing!” she added, pointing behind her shoulder at the unconscious man who became one with the destroyed furniture. “Oh, my!” Fluttershy gasped softly as Octavia blushed in embarrassment. “Hang on, you’re telling me that you took care of eight soldiers alone, and that Octavia threw a table on the ninth one?” Shining asked with a cocked eyebrow before Vinyl nodded with an amused smile. “How?” “Manehattan’s Royal University Magic Duel champion three years in a row!” The blue haired musician pointed her thumbs in her direction with pride. “Really?” Shining asked with a piqued interest. “That’s quite a feat!” Before Vinyl could retort, the Royal Guard Captain shook his head firmly. “Sorry, it’s not the time for that!” “What’s going on, Shining?” Octavia asked. “Why isn’t the Princess doing anything?” “I don’t know,” Shining sighed wearily. “Right after the earthquake, a bunch of warriors infiltrated and attacked the Guard post. I sent a squad to Celestia’s quarters, and I’m still waiting for a response from them,” he explained. “I was about to go there myself when Fluttershy found me and told me that they were targeting you and the others,” he added to the cellist who nodded slowly. “Speaking of the others,” Fluttershy said softly. “Do you have any news from them?” “Well, we all heard Pinkie’s warning.” The Captain of the Guard scratched his chin pensively. “But, I’m not too worried about her and Rainbow. They can keep themselves out of trouble, or at least I hope so.” “And for Twilight and Cadence?” Vinyl asked. “Well, since they were with Celestia, I wasn’t too worried about them.” Shining gulped uneasily. “Though that was before we didn’t receive any orders from the Princess.” “What about Rarity?” Fluttershy asked with concern. “Did you send someone to get her?” “I wouldn’t worry about her,” Vinyl said with a shrug. “AJ was with her, I’m sure she’s fine.” “You’re sure?” The animal lover wasn’t reassured enough. “Trust me!” Vinyl nodded. “One thing my sis can do is looking after herself!” she glanced at Shining. “Your guards learned it the hard way after all.” she chuckled. “Look, miss!” a Guard chimed in with clear annoyance on his face. “Not to burst your bubble, but those guys aren’t here to play! They might have killed her if she resisted!” he added, earning shocked gasps from the two Council members and a glare from his superior.         Vinyl glanced above the guard’s shoulder before she started laughing loudly, earning puzzled frowns from the platoon and the two Council members. “What’s so funny?” the guard asked angrily. “Have a gander behind ya, pal!” a woman with a southern accent called from the ballroom front door.         Everyone looked at where the voice came from, only to gasp in shock at what they saw. Applejack and Rarity were casually walking in the ballroom, followed by a dozen of Royal guards that were escorting forty or so Changeling Warriors. The captured invaders were all bearing a defeated and scared expression on their face. With the exception of the ones lying unconscious on makeshift stretchers.         Recovering from her shock, Fluttershy quickly flew over Rarity and Applejack to see if they were hurt or not. The seamstress comforted her friend while the farmer walked straight to her sister. The two Apples glanced at each other’s body count before clapping their right hands together. Then, the tall blonde suddenly pull the blue-haired into a bear hug.         And for the first time on this day which was witness to an enemy invasion, Vinyl was in danger. “...air...AIR!!!!!” She tried to shout with quiet, choked voice, tapping quickly on her sister’s arm. “Wuss.” Applejack snorted playfully before releasing her sister. “How did you manage to capture all those guys?” Shining asked the leader of the patrol with a stunned expression as his platoon were reinforcing the escort of the prisoners. “Hum… We didn’t really capture them, Captain,” the squad leader replied uneasily. “They...hum...they were following Lady Rarity and Miss Apple when we found them,” he explained. “They were already that apathetic and defeated-looking.... They simply surrendered.” Shining blinked with surprise. “...Why would they do that?” “They didn’t take very well what Applejack did to their leader,” Rarity explained slowly. “He’s on that stretcher.” she pointed at the stretcher the closest to the Captain’s right.         Shining glanced at the tall man on the stretcher, his eyes widening in surprise when he recognized him. Vigil Locust had been the strongest warrior in the Istaloñan Conflict a few years ago. Had the now top three of the Wonderbolts not been there during Shining’s fight against him, the leader of the Changeling Warriors would have defeated the future Captain at the time.         And now, he was lying unconscious on a stretcher with a deep blue bruise that covered half of his face. Shining blinked before slowly turning his curious gaze in the direction of the blonde with the ponytail. The Princesses would need to know about this.         The entire room was suddenly startled by the cacophony of lightning strikes and explosions coming from the gardens. All the guards looked in the directions of the Labyrinth and noticed the fainting glows of what seemed like a multicolored, explosive chain reaction. All guards turned to their Captain before they all let out calmly: “Pinkie Pie!” “All right, half of you are going to bring all the captured invaders to the dungeons,” Shining ordered calmly to his soldiers. “The rest is going with me to see what Pinkie did!”         The guards nodded before doing as commanded. As soon as the half of the platoon was taking the prisoners away, Shining led the other half in the gardens after he asked the council members and their friends to stay here. After assigning a small squad for the girls’ protection. “Ah need no protection!” Applejack retorted sourly. She wasn’t very keen on any plan that consisted in chaperoning her. “I know that now,” Shining replied. “But it’s not really the case of those three!” he pointed at Fluttershy, Octavia and Rarity. “A tad condescending, Shining dear!” Rarity humphed. “Rarity, now isn’t really the time!” Octavia chastised softly. “I’m not saying he’s wrong,” Rarity argued. “Just that he could be a little bit more diplomatic.” “Hey!” Vinyl interrupted the argument to come between the Guard Captain and the seamstress. “Do you hear that?” “Hear what?” Applejack asked before pricking up her ears. “Some sort of deep stomps….” Vinyl whispered before noticing nearby glass shards slightly shaking. “It’s getting closer.” she added when the stomping sounds and the shakings grew more intense and audible.         Soon after, Pinkie and Rainbow rolled out of one of the labyrinth’s tall hedges, as if they been tossed by something. The pink haired inventor recovered quicker than the athlete pulled her on her back before running to the castle like the wind. “NO! Don’t come closer!” She shouted as many guards were running in her direction to help her. “Don’t!”         With a thunderous roar, the seventeen foot tall minotaur bursted out of the Labyrinth, flattening the hedges that kept it hidden until now. The guards that had come to help Pinkie froze for a few seconds before turning heels when Pinkie dashed right next to them while urging them to run. “Oh, my!” Fluttershy whispered with shock. “SHOOT IT DOWN!” Shining ordered sternly while focusing his deep purple magic into his hands.         He cast a large beam of magic at the large minotaur, nearly instantly imitated by his Titanian guards. Some Jupitarians took off and conjured lightning bolts before throwing them at the beast while the remaining guards fired their crossbows or used their spears as javelins.         The magic missiles and lightning bolts were about to reach their targets when some complex marks on its skin, which hadn’t been visible due to the beast’s dark hide, started to shine a dark green hue. All the magic cast at the minotaur colored itself in the dark green color as the marks before dissipating itself while the spears and arrows simply bounced back on though skin of the beast. “What happened?!” Rarity asked fearfully as Pinkie and Rainbow were lead inside by Fluttershy. “I don’t know!” Pinkie replied frantically. “I emptied a fully charged crystal on that big meanie and it didn’t do a thing!” She pulled a nearby curtain open, revealing a hidden cupboard. “I’m bringing the big guns!” she added while searching through the cupboard for anything useful, emptying it of about everything else. “Shy, can’t you calm it down a notch?” Rainbow asked her friend. “I’m afraid that I can’t,” Fluttershy replied softly. “It’s a Gorghon. One of the most ferocious creatures from the Everfree Forest,” she explained. “He won’t calm down, especially not when he’s nowhere near his natural habitat.” “And, what about your Stare?” Rainbow asked slowly. “Her stare?” Vinyl let out while cocking an eyebrow. “Hummm, well, if he stops moving for a sufficient time, maybe…” Fluttershy admitted uneasily. “That’s going to be hard,” Shining commented sourly while his men were doing their best to dodge the black beast’s rampaging fury while keeping it away from the Castle. “Those runes seem to block any attacking magic. There’s nothing we can do other than hoping it tires itself out.” “How much time do ya need, Sugar?” Applejack’s voice said slowly. All heads turned to the farmer who was testing the toughness of a few sets of ropes Pinkie had thrown out of her secret cupboard along with many other weird things like a complete set of rubber ducks or an inflatable whale. “Got anythin’ stronger than that, Pinkie?” Applejack asked to the inventor after snapping a rope in two. “I think so,” Pinkie said from within the cupboard. “THERE!” She extended a furled, pink rope to the farmer. “That’s a mighty good rope,” Applejack commented after testing its solidity. “Too bad it’s pink,” she added in whisper.         Vinyl’s eyes went from her sister to the rope, then to the rampaging minotaur, and back to her sister again a few times while the others were asking themselves why did Applejack need a rope. “AJ, you’re not thinking what I’m thinking you’re thinking, are you?” she asked angrily. “Since ya think of many things everyday, Ah think Ah’m gonna reply no!” Applejack chuckled. “I’ll not allow it, AJ!” Vinyl shouted. “Vi, Ah’m the big sister,” Applejack replied slowly. “Ah’m the one who allows things or not.” She flicked her sister’s nose before walking past her, the rope passed around her arm. “Tell yer men to move around. Ah’ll need some space.” “Some space for what?” Rarity asked, voicing everyone’s interrogation. “For me to capture this here bully!” Applejack replied with a smirk before taking her hat off Rarity’s head to put it on her own. “Now, Ah’m ready!” she added before jumping out of the ballroom into the gardens. “WHAT?!” ~~~~~ “My stars!” Rarity let out in awe. “That’s quite a sight,” Octavia commented slowly. “Tiff iff greafft!” Pinkie tried to speak with her mouth full of pop corn. “Sufff an amaffing fffow!” “Manners, Pinkie,” Octavia and Rarity let out calmly, not turning their eyes from what was happening in the gardens. “Dash?” Fluttershy called softly, poking her friend’s shoulder, earning no reaction other than the gaping mouth Rainbow had on her face for the last ten minutes. “I think that was too much for her to handle.” “Vinyl, there’s something I don’t understand,” Octavia called the blue haired woman at the other side of the spectating line as Pinkie called it. “You were visibly upset with what Jacquelyn is doing right now… How come you didn’t try to actually stop her.” “Hmmmm,” Vinyl scratched her chin pensively. “Probably because she would have tossed my ass out of the way if I had tried.” “Still, what if she hurts herself?” Fluttershy asked with worry. “My sis is tougher than she looks, Fluttershy.” Vinyl smiled softly at her. “She looks pretty tough to me,” Pinkie commented between two mouthfuls. “I know!” Vinyl chuckled before turning her attention to the gardens along with the others.         From the looks of it, Applejack was having a blast. She had successfully caught the Gorghon’s attention by throwing one of the small white statues of the gardens. While it hadn’t done much damage, the fact it landed right above the beast’s left eye was more than enough to make it ignore the retreating guards in favor of the hat wearing blonde with a long, pink rope.         Applejack had attracted the beast away from the Castle into the small patch of trees that reminded her of her farm. The Minotaur had let out a loud moo before charging in her direction. The blonde had just smirked before climbing onto the closest tree with great ease. Before the beast could make contact with its target, Applejack had leaned on a sturdy branch to jump above its head and to land on its back. During her short time in the air, the blonde had thrown her lasso which encircled the large snout before she pulled it shut, muffling the beast’s roars. The Gorghon had tried to buck her from its back ever since. It was needless to say that it was furious for being mounted. As a male, it wasn’t in its nature to do so. Applejack had used the rope to remain on top of the largest rodeo bull she had ever encountered, shouting her traditional yeehaw every now and then. “Boy, that sure was something!” Applejack let out as the beast stopped bucking and stood on all fours, large puffs of steam coming out of its nostrils. “Ah hope ya ain’t done already. Ah just warmed up!”         The Gorghon growled before suddenly standing on its rear, hoofed legs while one of its massive hands grabbed rope. It pulled strongly on the rope, feeling the light weight on its back disappear abruptly. It brought the rope in front of its furious eyes, finding nothing to see other than the pink color of the rope. “Hehehe! Down here!”         It looked down, noticing that the rest of the rope was passed loosely around its two legs and the blonde woman was standing between them. Growling furiously, the minotaur brought one of his giant fists straight to Applejack who jumped back to avoid the hit. “Time to end this!” Applejack whispered during her jump as she made the rope twirl around the minotaur’s punch with smooth moves from her wrist.         The Gorghon lifted its right leg to face the blonde, and she had chosen that moment to act. Applejack strongly pulled on her end of the rope, closing the trap she had prepared, thus tying the two legs and the one arm of the minotaur together, and making it fall on the ground.         Roaring as loudly as it could with his snout tied shut, the beast used its last free limb to try to crush Applejack. The blonde waited for the last second to step aside. The large, black furred hand landed right in front of her before she stepped on it to run/climb along the minotaur’s arm. When she reached of its shoulder, Applejack jumped in the air above the head of the beast, passing the rope around its neck as her momentum made her loop around it. “YIELD!” Applejack ordered as she pulled the rope tight.         The monster let out a muffled choke as the pink rope crushed its throat. It tried to get it with its free hand, but its fingers were too big for that enterprise. It then tried to grab Applejack but she stopped him by pulling the rope even tighter. Soon enough the Gorghon’s breath and movements slowed before it fell unconscious with a loud thud. Applejack loosened the rope after the beast stopped struggling, letting it catch its breath. She jumped off the monster’s back and made a very tight knot to keep the three restricted limbs tied together. “And that’s how we do things down at the farm!” Applejack let out before glancing around her. Even from where she stood, she could see clearly the gaping mouth on the Royal Guard soldiers, and the waving flag amongst the cloud of confetti, which she assumed were Pinkie’s work. She gave the tied up beast one last gaze before turning around to go back to the Castle, seeing the shocked faces of a large group of soldiers in black armor who had just come out of the Labyrinth situated closely. “Howdy, Ah’m Applejack!” Applejack called with a small grin as they all stared at her. “...Basically…. Run!” she added in a slow, threatening half-whisper.         The invaders immediately turned their heels and went deep into the labyrinth as if the devil was after them. Applejack chuckled before casually walking to Castle while the Royal Guard, led by their  Captain chased after the runaways. When she reached for the ballroom, a cyan blur stopped right in front of her. “YOU….ARE…. SO AAAAWWWESOME!” Rainbow Dash squealed with excitement, puffing her cheeks together while the other Council members rushed to the farmer to congratulate her. ~~~~~ “Are you sure it’s a good idea?” Fluttershy asked shakingly as the girls were climbing up the stairs to Celestia’s quarters on the seventh floor of the East wing of the Castle. “Maybe we should have waited for Shining to come back. “Considerin’ how fast they ran away, I’d say he’s still only seein’ them as black dots on the horizon.” Applejack chuckled playfully, earning a few giggles from the other girls. “Still, I think we should have waited.” Fluttershy shook her head. “Don’t worry, Fluttershy,” Vinyl said softly. “AJ and I will protect you all!” “Hey, I don’t need protection!” Rainbow swelled out her chest with pride, flexing her arm to show her muscle. “You always need protection!” Pinkie chimed in sternly. “Otherwise you’ll get pregnant!” The six other women stopped right in their tracks at the inventor’s remark before slowly turning their heads to Pinkie with a cocked eyebrow. “Hmmm, why are you bringing that up, Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked with a mad blush. “That’s what Mama Pie told me! Well, not really to me… I heard her say that to my big sister  a while back when I walked in front Blinkie’s room. She said: “Blinkie, I just want you to be careful! I’ll not say you’re too young to..do that, but please, you better use .hum.. protection!”” Pinkie explained. “And Blinkie was like : “MOM!” And Mama replied: “What? I don’t want you to get pregnant! You and I are too young to be respectively mother and grandmother!” Pinkie patted the side of her blue culverin which was strapped on her shoulder. “That’s why I always have this bad boy close! For protection!” “Yeah, that’s not the kind of protection your mom was…” Rainbow was abruptly interrupted by three hands covering her mouth. “Silence!” Rarity, Octavia and Fluttershy ordered sternly, all three of them keen on protecting the young girl’s obliviousness on that subject, and avoiding a rather stressful talk with her. “I know it still lacks firepower for now, but I’m working on a third version!” Pinkie added. “That’s nice and all but how about we move on?” Applejack asked sternly, her cheeks slightly rosy due to the topic of conversation while Vinyl was doing her best to contain her laughter.         The seven girls walked to Celestia’s quarters in silence for the following ten minutes. When they reached the right corridor, Applejack and Vinyl, followed by Rainbow discretely went to the large, golden framed, double door of the Sun Princess’ room. Applejack tried to softly push the door open but it was locked. “That’s odd,” Vinyl commented slowly. “What?” Octavia asked with curiosity. “It’s too quiet,” Vinyl explained. “There’s virtually not a single sound from the other side of the door.” “Ya think there’s a soundproofing spell?” Applejack asked. “I’m pretty sure of it.” the blue haired Apple nodded. “Tell me, does the Princess care for her door?” “Darling, it’s just a door,” Rarity replied, tilting her head in confusion. “Good!” Vinyl’s right arm was now encircled with strings of her magic. “You might want to take a few steps back.” she advised the Council members with a wave. “So…” she glanced at door. “... Everfree oak…. Metallic reinforcements… AJ, what’s the thickness of the doors?” Applejack gave a small knock on the door. “Ah’ll say about six inches.” “Let’s try with five then.” Vinyl focused her strings in five brightly glowing rings as chirping sounds resonated through the corridor. “Be careful of what you see inside, it might not be what it really is from what Pinkie and Rainbow told us about the caves.”         All girls nodded before covering their ears when Vinyl punched the air in front of the door, sending successively her glowing rings to the door’s lock. One by one, the rings exploded, blasting the lock and a good portion of the center of the double doors into dust.         When they pushed the doors open, Applejack and Vinyl’s gazes were first attracted to the black, crystal statue in a javelin-throwing stance at the end of the completely empty room. Not counting the apparently unconscious bodies of Twilight and Cadence. The two sisters felt a small breeze before a yellow and pink blur flew past them to her friends. “Fluttershy!” Applejack called, but the concerned party ignored her and checked her friends’ wounds.         As nothing seemed to happen, the rest of the group walked slowly to get to Fluttershy’s side. Cadence and Twilight were both gagged and handcuffed and Cadence’s face was showing the mark of being hit by an armored fist. “You think they ran away because their minotaur was beaten?” Rainbow asked slowly after gazing around the room. “Leaving their hostages here?” Vinyl retorted. “Vi…” Applejack whispered to her sister’s ear. “Ah think we should leave this room!” she added slowly. “What is it?” “Ah don’ know… Something’s nasty happened here…” Applejack glanced at the black statue. “Somethin’ unnatural…” “Cadence, can you hear me?” Fluttershy called softly as she took the gag out of the princess’ mouth. “Hurrgh aaaa,” Cadence groaned while fluttering her eyes open. “Girls...” she asked softly. “We’re right here, Cadence!” Rainbow said with conviction. “...They heard you!” Cadence whispered. “It’s a trap!”         Before the seven not chained women could blink, the room went suddenly dark as the night. A cacophony of feminine screams and groans as well the sounds of metallic boots filled the room before the darkness dissipated itself.         Queen Chrysalis was now standing in front of Cadence and Twilight while her soldiers were holding all the other five Council Members and the Apples captive. Each girl was restricted by two Changelings Warriors. Chrysalis blinked in surprise when the sounds of crashing windows came from behind her. Apparently, two wasn’t enough to restrain the tall blonde. “Now, now!” Chrysalis snapped her fingers when Applejack moved toward her, making dark green chains snake around the farmer. “I should have realised that two men wouldn’t be enough for you!” she glanced at the broken windows, through which her men had been sent flying. “Oh well, it happens!” she shrugged. “Let me go!” Applejack growled as she tried to push the chains off of her. “Maybe…” Chrysalis stated softly. “But, first you’re going answer a few questions for me.” “Because ya think Ah’m going to answer ya?” “Well, if you don’t..” Chrysalis walked up to Vinyl before grabbing her chin. “I’ll ask this one… as you two seem to have come here together from what I heard!” she pinched Vinyl’s cheeks with her claw-like gauntlet, making the blue-haired’s blood pearl. “DON’TCHA TOUCH HER, BITCH!” Applejack bellowed furiously, nearly freeing herself from the chains before another, more heavy set appeared with a snap of fingers from Chrysalis. “Now, let’s us remain civil!” The queen let out playfully. “Otherwise, I’ll have to be extremely uneasy with your friend here!” she tapped softly the whip that was hanging at her belt.         Applejack and Vinyl’s skin lost all their color when their eyes fell on the whip, a detail that didn’t go unnoticed by the other in the room. The queen smirked before unstrapping her whip before unfurling it, revealing the small silver blade at the end. “First of all,” Chrysalis said under the shocked gazes from the Council members. “People capable of handling an adult Gorghon aren’t at two bits the dozen. I’d like to know who you are.” “...” Applejack licked her lips uneasily. Chrysalis raised her arm when she didn’t reply. “Wait! Ah’ll tell ya…” “DON’T SAY ANYTHING!” Vinyl shouted, earning a surprised expression from the queen. “Curious… Maybe she likes being whipped,” Chrysalis voiced her thoughts out loud, earning laughs from her men. “Why don’t you want her to answer my question?” “If you don’t know who we are, you can’t really find us to get your revenge after leaving this Castle with your tail between your legs!” Vinyl replied defiantly.         The laughter died down as the queen titled her head pensively. “You’re quite the clever one, aren’t you?” Chrysalis smirked. “I try,” Vinyl replied slowly. “Though, why do you think I’ll be leaving this place with my tail between my legs as you say?” “With the shit I’m going to give you, I don’t see why you wouldn’t,” Vinyl chuckled before looking at ground.         The smirk on Chrysalis’ face turned into an angry snarl, while everyone else had their gaze on the captured musician. Applejack shouted in desperation when the queen lifted her whip, making it crack behind her before beginning the movement to hit Vinyl with it. Vinyl took a deep breath and lifted her face, showing to all that her throat was shining in an electric blue hue before opening her mouth.         All the birds and critters  in the vicinity of the Castle fled the area or went into hiding at the thunderous roar coming from the seventh floor. All the invaders let go of what they were holding, whip and prisoners alike, to cover their ears in obvious pain. All windows exploded while the Changelings fell down, screaming like they were tortured.         Vinyl closed her mouth, thus ending the incredibly loud, feral roar she had cried out, before bringing her hand to her throat with a wince. The Council members, Cadence and the two Apples seemed unaffected by the roar, much to their own incomprehension. “WAAAAHAAA! I can’t hear a thing!” Pinkie shouted dramatically. “How can I party if I can’t hear anymore?”         All brought their hands to tap next to their ears when they saw Pinkie moving her lips without hearing the sound of their voice. Vinyl snapped her fingers after massaging her throat. “WAAAhaaaaaaa….. I can hear again!” Pinkie yelled cheerfully. “WOOOOHOOO!” “What happened?” Fluttershy asked. “Just ...a few muffl...ing spells on ...your ears,” Vinyl explained in a rocky, hoarse voice, wincing every two words. “Gonna...shut up...now!”         Applejack quickly went to her sister’s side while Rainbow helped Twilight and Cadence up, but before she could reach her, Vinyl’s neck shone in a dark green aura. They all looked back and saw the now limping Chrysalis leaning against the crystal statue, one hand pressed on her left ear while the other was extended towards Vinyl. “You’ll pay for that, girl!” Chrysalis growled as she closed her fist, choking the blue-haired Titanian. “I don’t think so!” a stern, angry woman’s voice came from the statue before anyone could react.         Chrysalis blinked before the crystal arm she was leaning on shattered to make way for a tanned one to hit the queen with the back of its fist. The rest of the statue broke into tiny shards as Princess Celestia extricated herself from the remains of her temporary prison. “Princess Celestia!” the girls called with joy and relief. “H..How?” Chrysalis stammered in disbelief. “There’s no way to escape one of Sombra’s prisons!” “It should be that way,” Celestia admitted slowly, rolling her shoulders. “Looks like it wasn’t designed to imprison me or Luna,” she supposed before turning her gaze to the green haired woman, then to the other girls in the room. “Are you all okay?”           The girls all nodded slowly, earning a relieved sigh from the monarch. The Sun Princess cast a quick healing spell on Cadence’s bruises, and Vinyl’s throat before she destroyed the cuffs on her student and niece’s wrists with a snap of her fingers. During that short time, Chrysalis pulled another black shard from her satchel. She was about to throw it at Celestia when the monarch snapped her fingers again. After a bright flash of light, Chrysalis threw the shard at the raging sea. She blinked before she looked around. She was standing at the center of a tiny, desert, rocky island lost in the middle of the ocean. She tried to teleport away but her magic was somehow blocked. Another flash of light appeared behind her as she tried to see anything other than water at the horizon. It was a rolled parchment. Chrysalis unfurled it, gulping nervously before reading it. The message was really short:          Welcome to the Moon! Luna comes here very often to think about the things she did. Why don’t you get inspired by that? Celestia of Equestria. Ps: Don’t mind the name. It’s one of Luna’s idea!