//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Savage Trials // Story: Avatar: The Last Alicorn. Book 2: Earth Pony // by Jeweled Pen //------------------------------// Twilight struggled to keep from groaning as the cart bounced around under her. It was Rainbow's job to pull the cart safely, but every so often she would begin pulling at such a quick rate that the cart jostled and shook wildly, even when they told her to slow it down the pegasus would start speeding up after a few minutes. They had finally just given in, but the wild ride made the alicorn's broken hoof throb considerably. She was laying in the back, on top of a small 'bed' that Fluttershy had made by stacking all the supplies around her, to give her a bit of shade, then putting a small blanket in the space. It had proved comfortable enough to allow a few hours of sleep, but the moment the sun was directly over them it became impossible for her to sleep with all the jostling. The only upside was that, for the first time in a while, they had plenty to eat on the trip. As a matter of fact, she quite believed they would make it to the next town without running out. Assuming they didn't crash, explode, burn up or get ambushed on the way. She almost expected they would. She let out a shriek as a sudden bump tossed her a foot in the air. “RAINBOW SLOW DOWN!” “Fiiiiine,” the pony said with a grumble. The cart suddenly slammed to a halt, sending the alicorn into the cart's wall. “RAINBOW! What was that for?!” the avatar growled as she sat up. “I had to. Just, look...” the pegasus grumbled as she pointed ahead. The road was covered in... baby bouncing bunnies, charging out from the tall grass towards the opposite side of the road. “Heh, why did the bunnies cross the road?” “Oh dear,” Fluttershy squeaked as she flew down towards the baby bunnies. “N-now bunnies, calm down. It's going to be okay... bunnies?” she squeaked as suddenly one of them ran up and kicked her hoof. She pulled it back and shook her head. “I-I'm sorry. I was just trying to help...” she said with a little whimper as she laid down on her stomach and trembled. The bunny stared up at her in confusion before slowly leaning up and patting her on the head. “Y-you're not mad?” The little bundle of white fluff shook his head. “O-oh, okay. What scared you, little dears?” The yellow pegasus slowly got back to her hooves and began walking around, gently humming as she went. After a few moments the small herd began to gather around her, led by the small one that had kicked her a little bit ago. “Now, you poor dears, where did you come from?” Dozens of little tiny black eyes stared at her as whiskers lightly wiggled about. “Now come on, show me. Don't worry, I won't let anything harm you, I promise.” Finally the little bunnies turned back the way they came, hopping into the grass. Fluttershy followed after them as her friends exchanged glances, before following as well. After a few moments they came to a small rabbit hole. Or rather, the remains of one. The ground behind it had caved in, slowly leading outwards to where the entrance had caved as well. “Oh dear,” she said softly. “Did... did something step on your home? Why wou- ahhh!” her eyes went wide as she flew towards the hole. “Oh no oh no!” “Fluttershy, what is it?” Twilight asked as she looked around, a small flame beginning on the tip of her horn. “The mommy!” she squeaked as she dug her hooves into the ground and began digging out the back end of the bunnies home. Within a few moments she let out a pained yelp as she pulled back her hoof, a small trickle of blood going down. From the hole popped a large, fat brown bunny that quickly charged at her. The pegasus let out an eek as she flew up into the treeline and trembled. “S-sorry...” “Hey, you!” Rainbow yelled as she flew down and towered over the momma bunny. She glared down angrily. “Fluttershy just unburied your fluffy bum and helped gather all your little babies up. Then you go and bite her? You owe her your life!” the pegasus snapped. “R-rainbow, it's okay,” Fluttershy squeaked. “She was just frightened... I don't mind, really.” “No!” the blue pegasus snapped as she shoved a hoof into the vicious rabbit’s chest. “Now apologize.” “Rainbow,” Twilight mumbled. “She's a little rabbit. I don't think she understands you...” “Oh. Right. Ummm, then... right,” the pegasus glanced down at the now frightened bunny. “Well... don't do it again,” she said before flying back off towards the cart. “Come on, Fluttershy. We're leaving.” “R-right, sorry, coming...” the pegasus mumbled as she slowly glided back towards the wagon. “S-sorry...” “Complete waste of time,” Rainbow grumbled as she started again. “I think that was wonderful,” Twilight said as she patted her shy friend on the back. “You were absolutely amazing at calming the little bunnies down! I've never seen- eek!” The cart suddenly stopped as the alicorn was thrown forward into one of the walls. “RAINBOW!” “Sorry! It's not my fault, we got another blockage!” the blue pegasus yelled. The three ponies and dragon peered over the edge and stared. Blocking the way was a small bunny, staring up at her with its little arms crossed while tapping its foot. Fluttershy eeked and hopped down to move to the rabbit. “Oh dear, it must have gotten lost. I'll take it back and... huh?” the little creature shook its head as the pegasus just stared. “You don't wanna go back? What about your momma and brothers and sisters?” The little bunny thumped the ground and shook its head. “Then what do you... did you want to come with us?” It nodded its head rapidly. “What? You gotta be kidding me,” Rainbow said with a roll of her eyes. “It's bad enough we have Spike-” “Hey!” the dragon objected. “But we can't have another little tiny thing running around and getting into trouble,” the pegasus poked a hoof at the bunny. “He'll just get in the way. Look, he's smaller than my YOWWWWW!” she shrieked as the rabbit lunged forward and sank its little fangs into her hoof. She shook her hoof as hard as she could. “Gedditoff! Gedditoff!” Fluttershy quickly darted in and took the bunny off her friend, holding it close in a hug. “Now now, that wasn't a very nice thing to do.” The little rabbit stuck its tongue out at the angry speedster. “Rotten little demon spawn,” Rainbow growled as she rubbed her hoof. “Oh, no,” the shy pegasus squeaked as she gently pet the bunnies head. “He was just scared. I'm sure he's just a darling little angel, right? You won't do it again, will you?” The little bunny smiled innocently up at his keeper. Rainbow let out a little snort as she quickly got hooked back up to the cart. “Fine, whatever,” she grumbled. “Giant waste of time. Shoulda let whatever collapsed those tunnels just devour the little monsters...” ------ Hours passed and eventually the sun set, though Rainbow continued her trotting forward. Even with the cart pulled behind her, she was finding it easy to continue down the road. It still annoyed her, she liked being fast, agile and lithe. The extra weight made her feel bulky and slow, so she would occasionally put on a burst of speed to feel the wind blowing through her ears. Pinkie even occasionally hopped down to chat with her, even offered to pull the cart, but she wasn't having any of that. The pegasus wanted this trip to be done as quickly as possible, and she was the best mare for the job. She stopped for a moment as they came to a sign and a small fork in the road. “Well, gee. I wonder which way we go,” the pegasus mumbled as she looked it over. The road split off either north or a quick U-turn to head south-east. Since they came from the south-west, she just kept trotting north up the road. “Niece, look at that,” Celestia said as she motioned ahead towards the cart being pulled in the darkness. “We should stop them and ask for directions.” “No point,” Rarity muttered. “It's not like they'd know where the avatar is...” After a few more minutes of trotting they came to the same fork in the road. She glanced after the cart and then towards the road they had come from. “We should camp and rest here for the night.” “Why not try to catch up with them?” the elder unicorn asked as she motioned towards the cart in the distance. “It wouldn't take long. We-” “NO!” the fallen princess snapped. “Let's just... let's just camp here for the night. Please.” She stepped off the road and moved into the tall grass, dropping down. After a few moments her aunt joined her. “Niece, if you are still upset about what-” “It doesn't matter!” Rarity snapped quickly. “The pony is dead, I killed him, it's too late now. Just... I don't want to talk about it.” Celestia gazed at her niece, illuminated by the moonlight. With a heavy sigh she moved to lay down besides the young mare. “As you wish...” “Don't. I just... it's hot. I want to sleep alone,” Rarity whispered as she crawled away from the elder unicorn. Her aunt let out another sigh, but didn't move closer. The princess laid there in silence, eyes closed. She waited, and listened. After what felt like hours she heard the steady sound of her aunt's breathing and she opened her eyes. Celestia was unmoving, curled into a large ball on the ground. “I'm sorry, auntie,” the young unicorn whispered as she slowly backed away. “My mother may be beyond help, but my sister is not. I will find her and I will save her.” She then turned and walked away from the elder unicorn. ------ “Twilight! Wake up!” Rainbow yelled as she shook the alicorn. “Look!” “Wha? Who? I'm up! What?” The confused avatar found her head gripped and then pointed towards a building. In fact, a number of buildings. A whole town of buildings! They'd made it to the town of Sweet Apple Acres! But, that wasn't the thing she was supposed to be focused on. That was taped to the side of a building. A poster with an image of rocks, ponies bending and, most importantly, a red and silver amulet shaped like a unicorn head with wings on the side. The words 'Alicorn Amulet' were written under it in big, red letters. Her mouth fell open as she jumped from the cart. Once she managed to stop hyperventilating from the extreme pain in her damaged hoof, she was slowly helped up by her friends and brought to the poster. Her eyes scanned it quickly. “Earth bending tournament, alicorn amulet prize... I can't believe it. It's here! No wonder we couldn't find it, somepony must have stolen it ages ago and now... we can get it! All we need to do is win this tournament!” Rainbow coughed. “Errr, Twilight? Aren't you forgetting something?” “What? No. This is perfect, we-” “Can't earth bend. Not to mention, you have a broken hoof,” the pegasus reminded her. “I... well... oh. Huh... right. I didn't... yeah,” she lowered her gaze before quickly perking up again. “Of course! Rainbow, you need to take me to the tournament organizer. We'll just explain the situation to him, or her, and surely they'll give us the amulet. “Uh huh,” Spike grumbled as he rolled over in the cart. “Wake me up once that plan fails.” “It'll work just fine. I'm the avatar, how could they possibly tell me no?” ------ “Not a chance in Tartarus,” the gray earth pony snapped as he peered through the open doorway of his home. He was dressed in an unflattering blue nightgown, complete with nightcap. “I don't care if you're the queen of the avatars, if you want the alicorn amulet, you're going to have to pay the entree fee and compete, just like everypony else.” He tried slamming the door shut, but Rainbow quickly blocked the door. “Hold on!” the pegasus growled. “This is the avatar, just look at her. Alicorn and everything. She needs the amulet to save the world, which includes your sorry butt.” “I! Don't! Care!” he growled as he tried forcing it shut. “If you want it, take it up with the other competitors. If you want to compete, bug me in the morning! NOT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!” The door slammed shut, toppling the pegasus back. “Eesh, what a grouch,” Rainbow hmphed. “It's thanks to you there even is a day and night now, he should be thankful.” “It's fine,” Twilight said with a sigh. “We'll just have to find a list of the competitors and-” The blue pegasus began pounding on the door. “Hey! Can you at least give us a list of the competitors then? You owe her at least that much!” There was an annoyed growl as the door opened again. “Fine! If I tell you where to go, will you leave me the buck alone?!” “Of course!” Twilight said quickly as she smiled. Progress! “Go to the farm outside of town. Look for the Apple family, if any pony is going to win, it'll probably be them. Now git!” The door slammed so hard the frame rattled. Spike stuck his head up, over the edge of the cart. “Told ya. So, can we go and get some real sleep now or...” Twilight and Rainbow turned and glared at him, their eyes narrowed to murderous slits. “N-nevermind,” the little dragon squeaked as he hid. “I couldn't possibly sleep now,” the alicorn said as she looked around. “We have to find this farm! Once we find these earth benders we-” “Can find a nice, proper bed to lay on,” Rainbow said with a yawn. “I've been hauling you lot all day, so I'm gonna catch some proper sleep, after a nice relaxing bath. Come on, let's go find this farm,” the pegasus grumbled as she locked herself back up to the cart. ------ The night air was cool against Rarity's coat as she slowly trotted down the road. Her head hung low as she constantly struggled desperately to keep her eyes open. At least the road kept going straight and didn't veer off at any point. Well, until her vision started getting blurry and she wobbled slightly from side to side. She closed her eyes, just for a moment, and barely registered as she fell to the ground in an exhausted heap. A few seconds later, at least it felt like it to her, she felt something nudging her side. “Ngrll... go way... sleepy...” she grumbled. “Wakey wakey princess,” the shaking continued. Then something slammed into her side so hard it nearly caved in her ribs. Her eyes shot open as she looked up. Three stallions stood over her, unicorns. A crude spear was dangling over her head. “I said wake up,” the nearest one said as his hoof came down on her side again. She let out a cry of pain before slowly gathering herself. “W-what is the meaning of this? What do you think you're doing? Who do you think you-” another blow to the side of her head brought her down with a sob. “I said wake up, not give us lip.” She whimpered and slowly got up, the blade a constant threat against the back of her skull. “Why are you doing this? Who are you?” “Doesn't matter who we are. What matters is who you are,” the stallion said as he moved in to stroke her cheek. “A pretty little thing. You'd-” his hoof was knocked away as she slammed her hoof into his face. He toppled backwards as the spear was pressed against the back of her head. “Hey! What do you think you're doing? Try something like that again and you're dead,” the now closest stallion snapped. He looked to his partner. “Check him out, he okay?” “Holy buck wheat. She knocked him out cold. That's a mean right hook.” “Toss him off to the side of the road. He can find his way back,” the spear holder growled as he pressed the weapon in slightly harder, threatening to break the skin. “I hope you realize you're going to pay for that. Severely.” Rarity growled. “I don't have time for this,” the fallen princess snapped. “Do you have any idea who I am? You're wasting my time!” “Shut up unless you want this spear to go through your head!” the stallion snapped. He gave her a shove, off the road. “Keep walking. If you try anything, I'll kill you. Understand?” The mare grit her teeth as she walked ahead of them. Despite how tired she had been, she was now completely alert. Her eyes scanned the area, but in the darkness she could see no signs of a significant source of water. For now, she'd have to go along with them. ------ “We're supposed to get help... here?” Rainbow asked as she cocked an eyebrow. Fields of apple trees, as far as the eye could see, stood in front of them. Within the middle of this great forest of red and green fruits was a large red barn and a number of smaller buildings. “What would farmers know about earth bending?” “Probably about as much as weather ponies would air bending,” Spike grumbled. “Just go knock on the door and see if any ponies home...” Pinkie suddenly darted out of the cart and ran to the house, soon pounding on the door. After a few minutes the door opened and a very large, very tired and very red stallion opened the door. He never stood a chance. Instantly the pink pony of pure playfulness tackled him in a tight hug, so fast he actually toppled over. “Big Mac!” “Eeyup...” the stallion said as he looked down in confusion at the mare. “What in tarnation is going on down here?” a young orange coated earth pony mare grumbled as she walked into the room. She took one look around the kitchen before glancing down at the two ponies on the ground. The mare blinked a few times before adjusting her cowpony hat and brushing her yellow mane back behind her ears. “Big Mac? Who's this mare? Yah gone and got yourself a mare friend?” “Nnnope,” the stallion said, letting out a gasp as Pinkie launched herself off him, and onto the new mare. The orange earth pony let out a shriek. “What in tarnation?!” the mare shrieked. “Get off me yah varmint! What's the big idea, hoppin' around like some kinda jumpin' bean?! Giddoff!” “Yayyy! We're going to be the bestest buddies ever!” Pinkie said as she hugged the confused mare tightly. The stallion slowly got up and watched the two. “Big Mac, get her off meh!” the orange earth pony hollered. He looked them over for a moment before shaking his head. “Nnnnope.” “Ponies are weird,” Spike mumbled as he tossed a sapphire in his mouth. “Do yah mind? Why yah all come and buggin' me for? Giddof!” the pony shrieked again. “Oh, it's really simple. You see we, by that I mean me, Rainbow and Fluttershy, were climbing up this biiiiig mountain when all of a sudden BAM! The entire thing comes down and we find this giant egg! Except, it's not an egg, it has Twilight! Then...” Twilight face hoofed as the pink pony began describing their entire adventure up to this point. The big red stallion merely shrugged and walked towards the stove and lit a fire, soon brewing up a big batch of tea. He motioned for the other ponies to sit down while the story continued. Fluttershy came in last, closing the door behind them before moving to sit down, her little baby bunny held gently in her lap. Before long the group were all watching the display while happily sipping their tea. “-Then we got here and saw that the alicorn amulet had actually been moved to this tournament, which was kinda weird since we were supposed to find it at the temple but I guess he just wanted an excuse for us to get you in the party. So we woke up the tournament runner guy, but he didn't want anything to do with us unless we could win it, so he suggested we all come here and talk to you!” Pinkie continued with a happy grin. “Then we knocked and I knocked over Big Mac and then you came down and I hugged you and it's so good to see you Ap... errrr. I mean, what's your name?” she asked with shifty eyes. A moment later the gathered ponies clapped their hooves together. “She did it without even taking a breath, amazing,” Rainbow said with a low whistle. “This is pretty good tea. Do you make it yourself?” “Eeyup,” the stallion said with a nod. “Mah name is Applejack. Now would yah kindly get off me!” the orange mare hollered. “Oh, right, sorry!” Pinkie hopped off and moved to sit at the counter with the others. “Ugh,” Applejack grumbled as she got up, dusting herself off. “Now, if ah heard all that correctly, yah said you're here tah take on the tournament?” Her eyes glanced over to the avatar as she smiled. “Or rather, looking for somepony tah fight in it for yah?” “Eeyup!” the pink pony said with a grin. She squeaked at the glare from Big Mac. “Err, I mean, yup. Hee hee.” “Well, yah came to the right place. But at the wrong time. Yah see, it's way past midnight. Yah all couldn't wait until mornin'?” Twilight coughed. “I ummm, I'm sorry. It was my idea to come here. We just got into town so we wanted to get all this settled immediately and... sorry...” Applejack hummed and moved over, nudging the alicorn's wings. After a few seconds a grin formed on her lips. “Well, butter me up and call me a caramel apple. Yah really are the avatar, ain'tcha?” “Err, yes,” the alicorn said with a nervous gulp. “That's not a problem, is it?” “Not at all! As a matter ah fact, ah think we can work something out to get this fancy trinket ah yours. But first things first. It's late and don't let anypony eva say the Apples ain't kind tah travelers. Me an' Big Mac will go ahead an' set up some sleepin' arrangements for yah lot. Won't be much, but it'll be better than sleepin' out under the stars. Come on,” Applejack motioned towards the stallion as the two trotted off into the other room. “Hey!” Rainbow called after them. “Don't suppose you have a bath I could use?” The earth pony let out a sigh from the other room. “Yeah, jus' hold yet wings on.” The ponie's hoofsteps disappeared into the distance. “Well, that went well. Ish,” Spike said as he sipped his tea. “This is actually really good. Kinda sweet and tangy.” “Yeah,” Twilight mumbled as she looked down at her wings. “I hope she meant what she said. It would make things a lot easier.” “Oh, don't worry your pretty little wings,” Pinkie said as she sipped her tea. “Applejack would never, ever lie to us! If she said we can work something out, we'll work something out.” “Maybe,” the alicorn mumbled. After a few minutes the five were called into the other room, where a number of blankets and pillows had been set up on the carpeted ground. “Sorry it ain't much,” Applejack said with a nervous grin. “Didn't expect the avatar an' her friends tah be stoppin' by though. If you're plannin' tah stick around a while we can drag out the ol'-” “No, nonsense,” Twilight said with a shake of her head. “You're letting us stay under your roof, that's plenty enough as it is. Thank you for your hospitality.” “Ahem?” Rainbow mumbled, cocking an eyebrow. “Well, ahright then,” the earth pony said as she started trotting away. “Come along yah blueberry of a pegasus. We'll see about gettin' yah spick an' span. Rest of yah, have a nice night. If yah need anything, jus' give a holler. Not too loud though, Granny Smith is sleepin' like a log an' it's a right challenge getting her back in bed once she gets up.” “Understood,” the avatar said as she started crawling into the temporary sleeping arrangements, between Spike and Pinkie. “Thank you again for your hospitality.” “Ain't nothin' we can't handle,” and with those final words the three ponies trotted away. ------ Rarity let out a squeak as she was tossed, head first, into a small, wooden cage. She quickly got up and shook her head, trying to clear her vision as she peered around in the darkness. She looked back and growled at the ponies outside the cage. “You'll regret this!” “Sure we will princess,” the spear wielding stallion mumbled as he trotted off. A low sob brought Rarity's attention back around. Curled up in the corner farthest from her, she could make out a small pony. She slowly trotted towards it. “Hello?” “H-hi...” the curled bundle mumbled softly. “Are... are you a prisoner as well? Or are you... with them?” “No. I'm not with them. My name is Ra... Diamondeye. Yours?” The curled bundle slowly got up, revealing a blue unicorn with a striped white and blue mane. “My name is Colgate. A pleasure to meet you. I hope together we can make the... best of this situation.”