Night Heart wasn't sure when he fell asleep, just that Eve was awake before him. It really was a beautiful day--the sky was blue, the wind felt good, the ominous hive of enemies was...
Oh right. That.
"Good morning, Night Heart!" Eve welcomed him back to the land of the living, "Did you sleep well?"
"I'm fine," he replied with a yawn, "What time is it?"
"I don't know... noon-ish?"
"What?!" Night Heart jumped up. "Eve, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sleep so late! I shouldn't have fallen asleep at all--"
"It's okay, Night!" Eve said with a smile, "I've been keeping a close eye on the Changelings, and I don't think they know where we are. They've just been flying around doing... whatever it is Changelings do. Oh! And look, I think I've got this posting thing down!" She demonstrated with a glow of her horn how she could see the other's posts and contact them. "I think their close to Ponyville, so if we could somehow figure out where we are, we could tell them to--"
"Eve, stop!" Night Heart pulled her back down behind the bushes. "If you use too much magic, the Changelings might be able to sense us," the earth pony explained.
"But you were posting earlier," Eve pointed out, "I just wanted to make sure everyone else was okay."
"But you're an alicorn, which means your magic is stronger and more easily detected. For now, let's just use magic when we need to, okay?"
Eve frowned. "Okay..." Night Heart knew what he was talking about, and she knew he was just trying to protect her. She could do this for him if it made him feel safer.
"Good. So... how is everyone?"
"I'm not sure everyone made it. Most of them are battling some creature in front of Ponyville..."
~~~
"Hey! Blazer, stop posting in the middle of the battle!"
Blazer opened his eyes and saw the beast running for him. He lifted himself off the ground and slid under the beast's legs to end up behind it. "Sorry, Swiftbullet, how else will they know what's happening?" He went back to his post."-sorry just dodged something, what was I saying-oh yeah um so he probably is asleep but I think he'll wake up soon..."
Swiftbullet sighed at his soldier. With Night Heart off somewhere else, he had taken responsibility to lead in the fight. "TC, I need you up close and ready! I'm going to go grab those vines over there, and we're going to trip him!" He pointed at some vines near the forest. After he saw the pegasus nod, Swiftbullet put his plan into action.
TC Dubstep had found himself to be a pegasus in this land. In fact, when he was leaving the earth, three things had been going through his head:
1) It's Luna! She's real!
2) My knife! I can't leave without it.
3) Whatever pony I look like, I hope I'm a pegasus. This could be my chance to fly for real!
His heart had leaped when he found himself with his friends and he could stretch his wings. Of course, there was a giant monster threatening each of them, but--hey!--he could fly!
TC jumped to the skies in hopes of grabbing the creature's attention. He flapped his wings as hard as he could and tried pushing himself forward with his legs, but his pony self wobbled and wouldn't go straight. After a few feet, he crashed into the ground and slid along the earth.
"Oof!" Okay... maybe he couldn't fly very well.
"Wait! I can just warp you there!" Blazer called to Swiftbullet. He concentrated and tried to focus his magic on the two of them. This was perfect! He'd just warp them to the vines, then Swiftbullet could grab them before the giant even knew what happened!
Swiftbullet felt himself surrounded by magic and was teleported along with the caster. Instead of going to the vines, however, they appeared much higher up.
"Blazer, you warped us on top of the--!" The beast threw its head back, and the two ponies held on for dear life. They were thrown left and right but managed to grip a grip on it despite having no fingers.
"Swiftbullet, two things: 1) I have an idea on how to beat this thing!"
"Great, what's th-the second?"
"Stagequill says she's on her way. Anything you want me to tell her?"
Swiftbullet let go and allowed himself to be thrown off.
"Don't worry, Swiftbullet, I've got things under control! I won't let anypony get hur--AH!" he was thrown off and landed near TC Dubstep. When he opened his eyes and saw the pegasus standing there, he got an idea.
~~~
There was nothing. He could neither see anything, nor hear anything. It was complete darkness.
Clever Build had found himself in Equestria as an earth pony. He was strong with a brown mane and hazel eyes. Basically, he was one good looking pony! But what excited--and scared--him the most was his ability to use magic despite having no horn.
It had to be magic! Pretty soon after arriving... wherever he was, he found he could reach out with his mind and "see" things. Although his vision was limited to nothing at the moment and he couldn't really move around, he could travel great distances with his mind, sensing objects as he went. And there was one object that caught his interest the most...
I hope I'm not too late! Clever Build thought as he experimentally tried posting a comment into the "story". I've got to warn them! That beast's power was off the charts! It had the energy to last for another week at least! How he knew this, he wasn't sure. It just came naturally, like back on earth when he could read people's emotions. The worst part was that the "giant" was only a baby. And the parents were coming. The parents were three times that size and had arms, so they needed to do something FAST!
After the post, he tried searching for Night Heart and Eve. He could pick up Eve pretty well--her being an alicorn and all that--but Night Heart somehow evaded his sight. It was strange... but he knew they were together by their comments, so he didn't worry about it. If only he knew his way around Equestria, he might have been able to tell where they were...
Maybe I should be more worried about where I am, he wondered. He had been so worried about his friends, he hadn't thought about himself and his own circumstances. Let's see... are these rocks? It felt like he was both standing on stones and yet floating all at once. "They'll find me," he told himself, "And we'll all group and save Ponyville!"
It was strange... he finally got to Equestria, and he could even see it. Yet he was totally at peace with that. Because even though I can't see it, I can FEEL it, and that's maybe even better! After all, the thing that makes Equestria so great is the love, friendship, and innocent joy of the ponies. And those are all feelings, so I can feel them even more than the others.
Though, if I find a way to get rid of this blindness... I'm doing it.
Suddenly, he felt a darker presence on the move. I think it's... Queen Chrysalis!
~~~
"Get down!" Night Heart pulled Eve down from her low hover. She had been eager to try flying but knew she couldn't go too high and attract attention. "Somepony's coming."
Eve landed and hid behind the bushes. She watched as nearly all the Changelings flew above the hive and greeted their queen. Chrysalis walked right passed the bush that concealed the ponies--thankfully too occupied to notice them--smiling and raising her head proudly. "Is that--?"
"Yes... that's the Changeling Queen," Night Heart answered her. Eve made a tiny squeek, and Night Heart pulled her to him. "Don't worry, she didn't see us."
"I know, she's just so... evil looking."
"Well, we don't know that she's evil. Remember, she may be different than the one in the show. I'll bet if I could talk to her, I could convince her to help."
"What? You're not going in there!" Eve exclaimed. "It's crawling with Changelings!"
Night Heart just looked at the hive as all the Changelings went back into it with their queen.
~~~
Hey, that's my knife! TC left Blazer lying on his back in the grass and ran to the shiny object. He thought for sure it hadn't gone through with him! Reaching down with his hoof, he tried picking it up just to realize he couldn't. Oh yea... Gently, he grabbed the handle with his mouth, picking it up and watching it gleam in the sunshine.
"Did you just grab that knife with your MOUTH?! Are you crazy?" Blazer asked as he ran up to him.
"Professionally Trained," was his reply. "Listen, he has scales everywhere--"
"--Except his eyes," Swiftbullet finished.
"Right! So if you guys can get me up there, I'll use this knife to blind him, allowing us to get in that well-placed shot." TC explained.
"But you're a pegasus; can't you just fly up there?" Swift brought up.
"Well, I'm not quite used to flying yet..."
"All right, and Blazer seems to have a little trouble aiming that warping spell," The commander looked at his comrad.
"Hey! That's a high-class spell. The fact that I can do it at all is a good sign," he replied.
"That is a good sign," Swiftbullet agreed, "Which is why you're going to be dealing our well-placed shot. Listen, everypony, here's the plan--"
"Wait! Where's James?"
"I'm over here!" James called from their left. In flew the Princess Celestia with James on her back. The sun princess warned them to close their eyes before letting out a bright ray of light right at the monster. It shuddered and raored as it tried to look away. Unable to escape the light, the giant jumped and bit at Tia.
Celestia, however, executed a dodge with grace and speed, setting herself up for another blast at blinding it.
"Yea! Go Princess!" TC shouted as he flapped his wings just for fun.
"Okay, team, as SOON as there's an opening, we're moving in!" Swiftbullet took charge once more. "TC! I'm not sure if it was a good idea to bring a knife into Equestria, but it's about to come in handy!"
TC Dubstep gripped the weapon harder and got into a battle stance. His wings flew out on their own, and he prepared himself for battle. No more dodging! No more buying time! He was taking this sucker down!
~~~
What was that? "Night Heart, did you see that?" Eve stood and faced away from the hive.
"Hmm? Do you need something? You're probably thirsty by now; I'll find us some water, okay?"
"No! That flash of light," Eve pointed at the horizon.
"Where?" Night Heart lifted a hood to his brow and looked harder. There it was again! It WAS a flash of light--a bright one, too! In the middle of the day... Princess Celestia...
Night Heart smiled at Eve. "Eve, I think you just saved our lives!" If that really was the princess, then that was Ponyville. It was far, but at least they knew how to get there.
"What would you do without me?" Eve laughed. It was amazing how she could stay happy during such a time. Even though it was obvious she was scared, she didn't let it get the best of her.
Now he just had to decide whether to go to Ponyville... or try talking to Chrysalis... he had to get Eve to safety, but Ponyville wasn't exactly safe right now. Chrysalis might be able to help in the battle... however, last time she had agreed to help, they hadn't held their end of the bargain, so she might be hesitant to help again.
[PM me, Night Heart, with your response.]
~~~
How could blinding light have possibly made it faster?!
The beast seemed to get faster the madder it got, and boy was that light making it boil! It had turned away from the princess and was stepping wildly trying to hit the others. Every time Celestia moved in front of it, it went after someone else. Everypony was panting and resting every small moment he got, and they didn't seem to have much left in them. Their reaction time was slow, and there had been several close calls.
Celestia realized it couldn't be blinded and simply tried to distract it for a few moments to give the team a chance to rest.
Swiftbullet analyzed its every move--it had a pattern it seemed, but not many openings. At least not one that wasn't risky in their condition. Swiftbullet! The pony jumped at the voice. Oh, it was just Clever Build! "Yea, what... what's up?" he panted out.
I found out something else about that creature. Something very strange--it can only feel one emotion at a time. I don't know why, but it's been like that since I studied it. It goes from all scared to all angry and no in between. I don't think it's evil--it just only has one feeling at a time.
"Really? Then what's its emotion right now?"
...It wants to kill you.
"Ah... gotcha," Swiftbullet said before watching it lift a foot to crush him. He jumped out of the way and kicked the giant's leg just for good measure. "That doesn't help much."
I'm just saying, don't kill it. It's just confused, that's all.
"...Right... don;t kill it..." Swiftbullet summoned his last reserve of strength to keep standing. He wasn't going down without a fight. None of them were. All he had to do was defeat the giant beast that wanted to kill them and wouldn't tire out for another week, without ACTUALLY killing it. Piece of cake! ...heh...
Another flash of light appeared, but this one didn't come from Celestia. This on hit the ground and left a unicorn in its place. The pony was blue with amazing hair that defied gravity. "Hey, guys, am I late?" Stagequill saw the monster they were fighting. "Holy Tia..."
The flash had drawn the beast's attention, and it went to attack the new enemy. Just as it reached her, though, TC flew in and knocked her aside.
"Gotcha!" he called as he pulled her to safety. "See? I'm getting used to these wings already!"
"Stagequill!" Blazer called over, "Glad you made it. Think you could help us take out this beasty?"
Stagequill stood up and thanked her rescuer. Then she turned and saw the giant roar.
"Out of the frying pan..."