//------------------------------// // Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters Part 2 // Story: Insanity War // by InsaneBatPony //------------------------------// Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters Part 2 “Were ready, Princess” Applejack said when they returned to report to the Princess before leaving. “Good, thou leaveth immediately then. Spike, how long will the enchantments last?” “The enchantment on those is the most powerful to date, so I would guess about two days give or take.” He responded to the Princess’s question. “It’s a half days journey there by hoof. The day’s already half over. Do you think we should wait?” asked Pinkie Pie. “I would normally agree with thou, but not this time. Time is of the essence. If we are to succeed thou needest to go to the Castle today and investigate what you can and return before the enchantments wear off. That’s an order. Go to the castle, find what thou can, return. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done, but good luck to you all.” The three of them along with their few soldiers departed on their journey to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ They had walked for a few hours. Rainbow Dash was using her Pegasus companions to scout short distances ahead in order to avoid any trouble they might run into on the way. They continued to walk, taking the sights of Insanity’s new Equestria. The trees floated or were in different seasons. The buildings were on their sides, upside down or floating. The weather was doing different things, raining popcorn or hailing ice-cream. The occasional hailing animals tended to occur during their travels. The animals were all behaving differently as well. The animals thought that they were of a different species and were acting as such. The roads would be changing their composition from dirt to the occasional metal stalagmite. “Boy, this place has gone to heck. Ah wonder if we’ll ever see the real Equestria again.” Applejack proclaimed in awe and exasperation. “If you ask me this is kind of fun.” Pinkie said to the group. In return she received evil stares from the entire group. “Uhh, hehe, maybe not.” She said clearing her throat. “I can’t wait to buck that Insanity guy right in the teeth.” Rainbow Dash proclaimed with courage. “We all feel the same way RD but we need to find a way to defeat his monsters first. Then, we can kick him in the teeth all we want.” Applejack responded in a logical tone of voice. They were beginning to near the ruins of the castle. “Ok everypony, be ready for anything.” Applejack proclaimed. “You two fly above and keep an eye out for anything. Watch each other’s backs while you’re up there. Understand?” The two Pegasus’ saluted in response and took to the air watching for anything that could mean danger. “We need to keep going were almost there.” Applejack informed the others. They continued walking until they arrived at the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Shortly after arriving orders were given and the investigation began. Two of Applejack’s companions were assigned to guard the door and alert if anything were to happen outside. The other continued inside with them. They walked into the castle and located the passage way down into the basement where the events written in Orion Lunarius’ journal had taken place. They continued down the steps for what seemed to be a very long time. “Ah wish Twilight were here she could of just teleported us down there.” Applejack said with a tone of sadness. “Yeah, no kidding! I wonder what happened to her after that flash.” Rainbow Dash admitted. “Oh, she died, and was reborn.” A voice said in the air. They all jumped and started looking for the source of the voice. They were visibly shaking now. “HEEELP USSS!” voices rang sounding like they were in a panic. “What’s going on? This is scary.” Pinkie Pie whispered to Applejack. “Ah don’t know. This is creeping me out too.” They made their way down the stairs and finally arrived at their destination. They entered the room and lit the torches that they had with them. The torches let out an eerie yellow glow illuminating only small portions of the large room. “So this is where this whole problem started.” Applejack observed. “Everypony look around; holler if you find something of interest.” They all dispersed and began searching the dark room for any clues as to the location of their friend Twilight and also for any methods of fighting Insanity’s creations. They all looked but it did not seem that there was anything of interest in this room. As they moved about they kept stepping on the remains of ponies from long ago. “Who are all of these ponies?” Applejack said under her breath. Applejack heard a noise come from one the ancient cells nearby. She went over to investigate the noise. She looked inside and saw the remains of a bear and a fully grown pony. The bear’s skull was fractured and the pony’s body was mutilated. “What ever happened here must not have been good.” “I found something!” yelled Pinkie Pie from the center of the room. “What did you find Pinkie? Asked Rainbow dash as she walked over to Pinkie. “I don’t know what it is but it looks funny.” “Ugh, come on Pinkie Pie this is serious.” Rainbow Dash said as she slammed her face with her hoof. “No, I think she might be on to something.” What Pinkie Pie had found were the remains of the old well that created Insanity. “It looks like a well. What is with that faint glow coming from it?” AJ asked to herself. She moved a piece of the brick that made up its original structure and found a small amount of red water on it. She took a sample and put into a small container and put it in her bag. They continued to search the room and those adjacent to it. Finding nothing more they moved on to the next few rooms. They made their way down to the lower floor. “This is the bottom most floor.” Applejack told the others. “Let’s check these two rooms and let’s get out of here. This place is freaky.” They dispersed once again and searched the two rooms. Applejacks room contained nothing of value. The other room on the other hand had clues that they needed. Applejack went to check on the others as they searched the other room. When she got there Pinkie and Rainbow only stood there with mouths agape. Applejack wondering what they had found made her way up to their positions to see what they staring at. Upon the ground was the same type of circle that they had seen when twilight had disappeared, except this one was faded but still just visible under the torch light. Standing in the center of this circle was the General. “You made it far into this castle. I’m surprised you had the nerve to come down this far. Truly impressive.” She said with a sinister tone while chuckling softly. She motioned with her hoove and two creations came in behind the ponies. “Where did they come from?” Rainbow yelled in anger. “They were hiding in the shadows of this castle, you’ll find that a lot of creations are hiding just about everywhere in this new Equestria.” “Who are you? Tell me now!” Rainbow Dash demanded. “Oh, where are my manners, forgive me.” The General bowed and introduced herself. “My name is Mania. I am the loyal servant and general for the armies of Lord Insanity. I am also the one that ordered your little flyer friends death.” At the last sentence Rainbow Dash lunged at Mania in a rage. Mania side stepped and hit Rainbow Dash square in the back of the head almost making her lose consciousness. “Now that is not the way to treat an old friend Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty.” “How do you know who she is?” Applejack demanded to know. “Oh, I know all of you. We used to play together, go on adventures and write letters to the Princess about our discoveries about friendship, remember.” “No, Ah don’t remember because I don’t know who you are.” “Honest Applejack, you haven’t changed at all have you? Well I have and I have never felt better.” “Tell us who you are miss meanie pants.” Pinkie Pie said shaking visibly. “In time you will know. But I will give you a clue.” With her sentence finished, she teleported out and in her place stood a box. Then the General’s voice came in a wind. “Oh yeah, I forgot something. Only one of you can leave alive!” The creations in the doorway began to move even closer making the three commanders and the one ground soldier back up toward the wall on the opposite end of the room. As the creations neared the four of them the creations let out a roar and lunged at the four. “Look out!” yelled the soldier as he bucked at the creature to protect his commander. He missed his mark and only clipped the creature. It did however slow it down enough for Applejack to side step and jump on top of it. She rode the creature as though she were at a rodeo. The beast was trying to get Applejack off of its back and eventually succeeded by smashing Applejack against a wall. She fell off of the creature in a heap. “Applejack!” Rainbow yelled as she ran toward the monster. She jumped up and reeled back one her hooves and punched the monster square in the nose. “CRAACK” the sound of the monsters nose breaking echoed throughout the room, its blood spraying Rainbow in the face. She continued to her friends side who now recovering from the unexpected blow. The monster fell to the ground writhing in pain. The other monster was upon Pinkie. Using her Pinkie Sense she dodged the beast as it lunged at her. She bounced upon its back and stamped on its head until it was unconscious, a method that took a little bit to complete. The monster with the broken nose got up again clearly angry and hungry for revenge. It charged at Rainbow and Applejack roaring louder than previously. The guardpony for Applejack jumped in front of them as the beast swiped a claw at the two of them. SCREECH! The claw had impacted the armor. It did not penetrate the chest pierce the armor the guardpony wore but the brute force had broken a couple of his ribs. The two of them looked on in shock. As Applejack stood up she no longer restrained herself. “NO PONY, Hurts my friends!” She roared at the monster while charging it head on. The beast followed suite and charged at Applejack. Applejack crossed her legs and slid toward the creature while spinning herself around. As she slid she delivered one last blow as the beast delivered his as well. The claw slid on Applejack’s side and her two back hooves met the beasts face dead center, thanks to all the years of apple bucking, and the beats fell onto the ground lo longer breathing or moving. “Wowie, are you okay Applejack? Said Pinkie Pie while trotting over to them. “Ahm fine Pinkie. It’s only a scrape.” “He’s not, two of his ribs are broken. I can tell by the labored breath.” Rainbow said observing the injured guardspony. “Can you get up?” “Yeah, I’m good.” The guardspony slowly stood back up grunting. “All right let’s go while the other one still out.” “Agreed. Let me just pick this thing up.” Applejack went over and picked up the box that the general had left behind. “Alright let’s go.” They made their way back outside the castle where to their surprise they found that another battle had taken place while they were inside. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Insanity was awaiting his general’s return when he noticed a creature outside his Castle in the volcanic wastes where his castle was located. It was a dragon with an orange and red hue. Its body was large enough to rival the size of Canterlot castle, its wings the size of large mansions. It resided in the largest volcano in the region. “A Lava Dragon. Amazing, and it is resisting me very easily even though I send my aura to its mind directly. Incredible. This is a monster I must possess. He made his way out of the castle and walked across the scorched earth. He approached the volcano where the dragon resided. As he approached the dragon took notice and flew down to where Insanity stood. “You are the creature Insanity, correct?” The dragon asked, his voice making the earth shake. “Yes, I am Insanity, The ruler of Equestria, and what are you called? “I have no need of a name as I have lived for centuries with none to disturb me until you came here. I have lived through enough to know that a name is not necessary for me.” “I see, tell me lord dragon, how many battles have you lived through?” “I have lived through countless and I hunger for the chance to sink my claws into flesh again.” “Gooood. This might be easier than I thought.” Insanity thought to himself. “I can give you that chance; all you have to do is follow my orders.” “Why should I follow your orders? Give me a good reason. I don’t want just any flesh I want the flesh of another dragon.” Insanity pondered this information and remembered that there was a dragon sided with the Princess. “I can give you what you seek. There is a dragon sided with my enemy. If you join me and do what I say then I can guarantee you the chance to fight with him.” “Truly? You do not lie to me?” “No. Why would I lie to a dragon of your caliber?” “I suppose it could be a good alliance as long as I get to fight another of my kind like the old days.” “Do we have a deal, sir dragon?” “Hmmmm. Yess, we have a deal. I will do what you say when you need of my assistance so long as you hold up your end of the bargain.” “Good. I very much look forward to your service. I will hold up my end don’t worry. I have a plan to get you what you crave so much.” _________________________________________________________________________________________________ As the four ponies emerged from the ruins of the castle a battlefield lay before them. Some of Insanity’s creation lay on the ground. Some of their men also lay on the ground or were barely standing. “What happened up here?!” Rainbow said loudly. One of the earth ponies looked around to answer her question. “We were ambushed by a unicorn calling herself ‘Mania’. She used these freaks to attack us but they were relatively weak compared to some of the others we have faced in the past. We unfortunately got hammered around though, as you can see. But were all fit to go.” “We encountered her inside the Castle. She’s a bad pony. Ah’ve never seen anything like her before. But let’s go before we get into any more trouble than we were already in.” The group started the long walk back to Canterlot. With the injured they had, it would take longer to get there. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ “Generaal, good of you to return. Tell me, how did things go at the castle?” “Sire. Things went as planned for the most part.” “For the most part? What do you mean?” “Well sire, we had casualties this time not the resistance.” The General winced as she awaited the impending punishment that never came. Insanity only stood there and looked away. He walked over to his window looking at the volcanoes outside. “I expected this actually. So I made an arrangement while you were out.” “An arrangement sir?” “Yes, but one you need not concern yourself with. I have put a plan into motion that will demolish the resistance in Canterlot. But there is just one thing in the way. This is where you come in.” _________________________________________________________________________________________________ The group that had gone to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters finally arrived at Canterlot at about sunset when their armor enchantments were wearing off. “We made it back.” AJ said with relief as they entered the castle. Celestia met them at the large doors to welcome them back personally as she has not seen them for quite some time. “How did the investigation go, my little ponies?” The Princess asked the group. “It could have gone better, but we did run into somepony you and Princess Luna might want to hear about.” Applejack told the Princess. “Oh? who could that be?” “Insanity’s General.” Celestia’s face went nearly pale and she could only stand there as this was the first any of them had heard of Insanity having a general to lead his forces. Up until now they thought he was the one leading them but from afar when there was a pony leading them on the front lines. “His General? I have never heard of him having a general before.” “Neither had we, but we met her today in the castle. She knew us somehow. She kept mentioning how we used to play together and go on adventures with one another.” Rainbow Dash said amongst the questioning. “We should not speak of this here. Get your injured to the medics and we’ll talk in the war room. I will go get my sister.” The group left the Princess at the door to get their wounded to the medics inside the castle. Celestia could only stand there trying to take in what they had told her. She stood there thinking. “A General? And it’s a mare? Could it be? It’s possible that. But we need more evidence to be sure.” She made her way back to the throne room to retrieve Luna and begin their meeting on the findings in the castle. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ “Do you understand your part in the plan?” Insanity asked his General with a very serious tone. “Y..Yes Sire. I understand.” “Good. And I will only give you Agrarious for this mission. He is the best suited and you need to keep your battle skills sharp or you’ll go soft and I can’t have that now can I?” “No, sir. I will do as you command.” “Leave then! And see that it’s done.” The General left her masters throne room and left him alone. Insanity sat on his throne wondering if this was the right thing to do in order to take the rest of Equestria. “She may not return from this mission. It is very likely. But I have a backup plan just in case. It is not yet time for the endgame but it is nearing. I must be ready and I will let them be ready as well. It’s not a victory if I don’t beat them on equal terms. That will be the ultimate defeat for them and the ultimate showing of my power. If I give them my General then they will be at full power and so will I be at that time. But I cannot release her yet. I still have use of her. When I am done with her however another will take her place, one more powerful than even she is. I will have Celestia. And with her out of the way and leading my forces nothing will stand in my way not even if they return the General to her original state. I will own Equestria and I will rule unrivaled. I will eat the sanity of every creature in Equestria and be the ultimate power of the world!” He laughed in a more sinister manner than ever before and reveled in the thought of having one of the Princesses by his side leading his forces against her own subjects. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ At the Castle in Canterlot the five Elements, Spike and the Princesses would learn the truth behind Twilight’s disappearance and find the answers they have been seeking. NEXT CHAPTER REVELATIONS