//------------------------------// // Part 2 // Story: Pony POV: Friendship is Oppression // by Jawmax //------------------------------// Part 2: Journeys beginning Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all shared the same bedroom in the Grand Castle of Eternal Harmony (formerly Canterlot). Sweetie Belle's corner of the room had a mountain of dolls and stuffed animals, most of them taken from Diamond Tiara by Rarity. Sweetie Belle shuddered. Thinking of the filly now one of the castle's lowly maids. Sweetie Belle didn't know how much of the filly's behavior was her being terrified of punishment if she upset Sweetie Belle even in the slightest. And how much was her having been hollowed out on the inside. In the end, a sobbing Silver Spoon (after running away screaming two weeks earlier), asked to join her best friend. After all, her parents had already been stripped of everything they were already. Sweetie Belle was applying Scootaloo's daily first aid. "Scootaloo, she doesn't care about you," Sweetie said. "Who?" "Rainbow Dash!" "That's a lie! She cares about me a lot!" "Then why did she slam your face into a tray so hard it left an impression?" "That was my fault, I didn't do the frosting on the Rainbow Dash cookies right." "You smudged one cookie's rear hoof less than an inch." Applebloom said. "Exactly," Scootaloo sighed, "That's why I deserved it. Dash is the greatest, I'm not so great." Sweetie and Applebloom looked at each other. *Don't lose hope. All will be well.* *Princess Cadence sacrificed herself to become Nightmare Polyphony, but she can saved, so can your sisters and their friends.* Applebloom and Sweetie Belle startled, yes, they had both heard that. *The Elements of Chaos: Courage. Deceit. Empathy. Desire. Free-Will. And the sixth. Find them in the hearts of six ponies. Despite what the Harmony Queens believe, chaos is not the opposite of Harmony, it is a vital part of it, a needed part. And with it you can save the souls of those you love.* Applebloom and Sweetie Belle couldn't have been less hesitant to start this quest. ~~~ The big question was how do they start? Applebloom and Sweetie Belle stayed up half the night trying to think of any plans to find these elements of chaos. They knew Scootaloo didn’t hear the voice so they whispered under Applebloom’s covers while she slept. The pair wished that they could have their friends help but she was blindly loyal to Rainbow Dash and might have told her what they were trying to do. Until they could figure out how to find these elements of chaos Applebloom and Sweetie Belle would have to pretend everything was normal. And this morning that meant going to school. For the past two years since the harmony queens took power the girls once called the cutie mark crusaders attended Twilight Sparkle’s School for Wonderful Ponies, which was once the school for gifted unicorns until Queen Twilight merged it with the schools for gifted pegasi and earth ponies. After classes the three would spend a few hours as assistants to the queens once their homework was finished. “Ah miss going Ms. Cheerilee’s class.” Applebloom said slipping on her school uniform. It was a blue vest with a red scarf and skirt that covered the flank; boys in the school would wear matching blue pants instead. As the skirt went over her cutie mark, an apple with a hammer and nails, she couldn’t help but look at Scootaloo who was the only one of the trio who did not have a cutie mark yet. “Once she’s out of the happy house I’m sure the queens will have her teaching us at our school again in no time.” Scootaloo said. From what Applebloom could gather the big thing that was keeping her friend from her cutie mark was her consuming devotion to Rainbow Dash; Scootaloo was so wrapped up in trying to make her happy that she hardly did anything else. If Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon didn’t clean their room everyday then Scootaloo’s scooter would have a thick layer of dust. Applebloom knew that as the principal of their school Twilight made sure that both she and Sweetie Belle were placed into positions to get their marks, a school play with Sweetie Belle singing the lead role and Applebloom making the sets. Knowing this there were times when Applebloom could barely look at her mark. Sweetie Belle’s mark; three gold bells each with a pink heart; was plainly visible as she placed her books in her saddle bag. “We will have probably graduated by the time that happens.” Sweetie Belle sighed. There was a knock at the door. “Sorry to disturb you but we must have your rooms clean and beds made before we all go to school and we mustn’t be late.” It was Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon in their maid uniforms. Sweetie Belle shivered. “Oh, yeah; come on girls let’s get to breakfast, wouldn’t want to disappoint Rarity and the others.” ~~~ Breakfast with the Queens was always a time to go over the day's itinerary. “Now Rarity how is this month’s redistribution of wealth going?” Queen Twilight asked. Queen Rarity smiled. “Oh just wonderful darling, each time it gets easier to track down all the buying and selling and make sure every pony in Equestria has the exact same amount of bits again.” Queen Applejack had something to say. “Twilight, I would like to ask you about my proposal to burn all books that are not truthful like fairy tales, comic books, and other works of fiction. There are romance novel writers that’ve never even been on a single date!” Queen Fluttershy looked up as she was eating with Flutternice who was now a precocious two year old. “But um…Flutternice won’t go to bed unless I read her favorite bedtime story ‘Mr. Frog visits Puppy Manor.’ And it has such a nice lesson.” Queen Twilight thought for a moment and said. “Applejack while it is true that the stories may not be true what we can learn from them is very real. How about we just make a law requiring all books to be clearly labeled fiction or nonfiction so to avoid confusion? It would be no different than using a hypothetical situation to explain how something should work. ” “Well, it should be enough that everypony would know what is true about the story and what isn’t.” Queen Applejack agreed. It was then that a guard burst into the dining room. “Excuse me your highnesses but we just received reports that Nightmare Polyphony was seen approaching Baltimare!” The Queens rose up from their seats. “I was wondering when she’d show her face again!” Queen Rainbow Dash flapped her wings in anticipation. Queen Twilight Sparkle immediately took charge. “Right, Fluttershy you get Flutternice to Daycare; Spike will you please inform the Cakes that they may have to look after Flutternice for a couple of days.” “Right away Twilight!” Spike zipped out of the room. “You hear that Flutternice? You get to sleep over with Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake for a few days. Now be a good girl for the Cakes and I will be back as soon as I can.” “Yay” Flutternice gave a tiny cheer. “You girls best head off to school and don’t you fret none, we’ve faced off against her before.” Queen Applejack commanded. Queen Twilight then spoke. “This is it girls we are going to save Cadence from herself!” As the Queens left Applebloom muttered. “Not if we can save all of you first.” ~~~ Despite the name the School for Gifted Ponies had teachers and students of many different species; case in point was the new magic teacher Zecora. The only reason the Queens never changed the name for the sake of political correctness was because there already was a school for gifted creatures in Equestria." The reharmonized zebra had the same big smile pasted on her face as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. “Now come, gather around my dears, time for the truths of magic for you to hear.” Sweetie Bell and Applebloom could not help but think back to the day when their old friend was changed; of how she abandoned her old magic except her potions. Zecora was giving the usual lecture on what kinds of magic were true and what were not. The same one she gave every week. The two fillies along with other bored classmates had tuned it out. Applebloom tried to think of where the best place to look for the Elements of Chaos would be. “They’re probably folks who are standing against the Queens but since they are almost caught immediately or like the rebels are secretive they are hard to find. Come on think Applebloom! You have been helping your sister keep track of crime reports for two years! If only I could figure it out then you can go back HOME! To Ponyville and Sweet Apple Acres … wait! That’s it! Reports keep coming from Ponyville about someone stealing food and leaving graffiti insulting the Queens. It’s not much of a start but it is a start. Now I just need to wait for Sweetie Bell to be alone to talk about it." ~~~ The last class of the day was shop; a class Applebloom was very good at. The teacher was a tan earth pony stallion wearing a neck tie and suspenders with a slightly curly mane named Mr. Tool Time, his cutie mark was a hammer crossed with a saw. “Okay class, today I’m going to show how to replace the stud behind the wall. The first step is of course is to remove the section of wall to get to the stud you can do this with a saber saw, a claw hammer or my favorite a twenty pound sledge hammer. Oh ho ho…ow!” Tool Time grunted a laugh before he got a headache. “Are you okay Mr. Tool Time?” Sweetie Bell asked. Tool Time seemed to be getting better. “I’m okay, Sweetie Bell; I just remembered the time before I started teaching here. I had an assistant named Flannel Shirt, I used to always crack jokes about the shirts he wore, his beard, his mom's weight. But that was before Queen Fluttershy had a Geass’ on me that give me headaches if I think about mean jokes. Alright, as you should all know once you measure and draw your guide then it should take you about five to ten minutes to cut depending on the size of the cut. However how you kids like to see it done in five to ten seconds?” There was and air excitement in the room. “I can do this because I gave the saw what?” “More Power!” Every boy in the class and Scootaloo cheered. “You’re darn right, more power!” As he began to cut he lost control of the saw as it went from the mock wall to the floor and kept cutting dragging the shop teacher through the wall. “Whoa!” “I guess class is dismissed?” one of the girl's classmates asked. ~~~ The Crusaders along with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon left out of the hole Tool time made. “So what do you guys want to do now?” Scootaloo asked. Sweetie Bell sighed. “We got a few things to do for the Queens before we head back to the castle. You go on ahead.” “Hey, Scootaloo. You know that we’ll always be best friends, no matter what happens right?” Applebloom asked. “Of course!” “Good, good… you know Scoot you could try to earn your Cutie Mark while Rainbow Dash is away.” “Oh, yeah! She’d be so proud! Okay Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara let’s get back to the castle I’m going to get a Cutie Mark in Ice sculpting by making a statue of Rainbow Dash and you can help me get started!” “Yes, miss Scootaloo, right after we finish our homework.” They both said in unison with those big smiles. Applebloom checked to make sure they were alone before she spoke again; making extra sure to look for observation crystals; the magical devices used as the Harmony Queens’ all seeing eyes which there seemed to be more of every day. “Ah wish we could bring her with us.” “It, would be like old times but we just have to remember we’re not just doing this for Equestria, our sister, or their friends, we’re doing this for Scootaloo too!” Sweetie Bell got a serious look on her face. “Now in the school library I read about a way we can sneak out of the city. Back when the Grand Castle of Eternal Harmony was a small town called Bahamut’s Rest; I think that’s the neighborhood where Twilight grew up; and the long winding trail that they used to use to come here.” As they talked they made their way through the streets. “No pony is guarding it?” “Well a rockslide blocked off part of the path. The miner that lived here at the time cut open a series of tunnels that the trains run through today. It might be rough but it will be our best way out of the city once we figure out where we’re going.” “Ah got that all figured out!” Applebloom checked again to make sure they weren’t being watched. “Since these Elements of Chaos will probably be rebels and law breakers I found the that the longest run of crime is in Ponyville, graffiti against the queens and theft of food. The perpetrator always evades capture and is believed to hide somewhere out of town. Maybe we can visit Granny Smith, and Big Macintosh!” Sweetie Bell had a doubtful look on her face. “I don’t know Applebloom …” “Come on Sweetie! Except for Hearth's Warming or my birthday I hardly get to see them!” “Well, if we have time.” Sweetie Bell stopped at an a vine covered area. “We’re here.” “Great! Did you remember to pack extra food in your lunch for the trip?” “Yes, now all we have to do is follow that trail!” Sweetie Bell shouted. “Sweetie I don’t see the trail.” Sweetie Bell pulled on the vines with her magic. “Here is the trail that we blaze!” The vines fell only to show an old stone wall. Applebloom face hoofed and then notice the small rocky path right next to the walland pointed. Sweetie then pointed the same way. “That trail which we blaze!” As they started down the long forgotten trail the couldn’t help but think that while the fate of Equsetria and their sisters and friends were on their shoulders they were now living the dream that everybody who ever heard an adventure story had at least once, to go on a journey to save the world. So they giggled and began to sing. Look out lost world, here we come Brave, determined, and then some Seekers of salvation Going to say salutations To hope that can end this bad dream Fightin’ our way up the stream On the trail we blaze! ”They came upon a broken stair way and hopped from section to section the last step cracked and Sweetie Bell nearly fell if Applebloom hadn’t caught her and pulled her up to see a spectacular view. Heading on no turning back We’ll change the path of this story Show them all the proof They’re living in a haze. And watch hope unfolding Alongside mystery. We will never yield On the trail we blaze! The pair trotted to a long forgotten building, they both entered and ran right out followed by a colony of bats! Tragedy has made us strong For free will is what we long Anger burns that is not wrong Even if cruel we have to be Or with deceit must beguile We desire hope go wild Even hope held by a child Crossing a wooden bridge Applebloom and Sweetie Bell were shocked when it gave way and they rode the piece of the bridge they were on down a twisting and rapid river down to the base of the Canterhorn. On the trail we blaze! After shaking themselves dry they walked a short ways until they found train tracks. Applebloom looked down the track confirming that they went to Ponyville then stared in the other direction “Well all we have’ta do now is wait for the train to pass and jump on, then it’s off to Ponyville!” In the distance they heard the whistle of a train.