//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Riding on Balloons and Trains // Story: Stopping the Future That the past Creates // by Yoshi1990 //------------------------------// Lightwing awoke. “That’s a great idea. Thank you, dream, but is it really the best Element name for me? I like it and that is what counts.” Lightwing got out of her bed. She grabbed her cloak and saddlebag and left her room to go to the kitchen. She could smell something yummy. Twilight could hear her new friend approaching. “Sounds like we are going to get another breakfast member.” Applejack smiled. “Good. Ah needed a new face to talk to anyway. This here princess was makin' problems.” “What? You don’t like talking to royalty? I will have you banished for such words.” Twilight started laughing. Lightwing could not hold back a laugh after hearing the small conversation. “You girls are funny. I’m happy I got the chance to meet you. So what’s breakfast?” Twilight answered, “Just simple chocolate pancakes and apple juice made by a princess.” Lightwing walked over to the table and sat down, ready to eat. “Where is Spike?” Twilight looked over towards the Lightwing. “He is sleeping. I told Spike he could take today off because we will be gone. Are you going to use magic to eat your breakfast?” Applejack turned towards Twilight with a confused look on her face. “How can she use magic? “Watch and find out,” Twilight said as she pointed a hoof at Lightwing. Lightwing gave Twilight a quick glare. “Please don’t advertise to everypony that I can use magic. I don’t want to be swarmed with questions or have ponies be jealous.” Lightwing opened her saddlebag and grabbed a potion labeled Levitation and she drank some of it. A green aura began to surround her apple juice and it moved to her and she drank some. Applejack looked amazed but at the same time annoyed. “That’s some fancy trick ya got there. What would happen if somepony else drank that potion?” Lightwing swallowed a bite of pancakes. “They would be able to use magic too. The whole potion only lasts for about half an hour, and it does not taste too good. It also makes you age faster because our bodies are not used to the strain of using magic. I’m pretty use to it but that’s only from years of using magic potions. What time is it?” “A little past eight,” replied Twilight. “Can ya give me some of that potion?” asked Applejack. “Sure. You just have to drink a little, but don’t blame me for the not-so-great taste.” Lightwing rolled the potion towards Applejack. Applejack quickly drank a small bit of the potion. Twilight could tell that it tasted bad from the look on Applejack’s face. “I am so happy that I don’t need a potion to use magic,” she said. Lightwing pointed at a cup. “Now focus on something like this cup and tell it to move with your thoughts. It’s all a matter of how much you want it and can focus.” Silence fell across the room as Applejack focused on the cup. A yellow aura started appearing around the cup, and it slowly started to move towards Applejack. Once the cup reached Applejack, the yellow aura disappeared as Applejack let out a gasp of air. “That ain’t as easy as ya all make it look.” “Good job,” replied Lightwing. “Don’t feel bad. It takes a lot of practice to be as good as me or Twilight. I will never be as good as Twilight because she is a unicorn and is naturally good with magic. I’m just a pegasus that found a nice little trick.” Applejack looked over at Lightwing with a confused look on her face. “Now ya told me this thing makes ponies age faster, but ya don’t look as old as ya should with years of using this stuff.” Lightwing smiled. “I have an anti-aging potion too. So I look young.” Applejack leaned forward. “So how old are ya really?” Twilight answered before Lightwing. “She is six hundred and fifty six. I remember that because it has two sixes and one five in the middle.” Applejack’s jaw dropped at the answer she was given. Lightwing smiled and nodded in agreement. “The big sixes are guarding princess five.” “Thats a good way to think of it,” said Twilight with a laugh. Applejack was still speechless, but at least she was smiling now. A knock was heard from the front door. Lightwing put the potion away as Twilight teleported to the door and opened it using her magic. To her surprise, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were at the door. “Doesn’t Spike answer your door? asked Rainbow Dash. “He’s asleep. I gave him the day off. Come in and join us for breakfast if you are hungry.” “That’s an awesome idea. I’m starved.” “Me too,” replied Fluttershy as she entered the home. All three ponies went to the kitchen and sat at the table. Rainbow Dash wasted no time and started eating some breakfast. Fluttershy started eating too but slower. Lightwing had finished her breakfast. “I’m going to go outside to be alone for a little bit.” “Is something wrong?” asked Twilight. Lightwing shook her head. “No. I just want to be alone to think about stuff.” Twilight did not believe her but said, “OK.” “Did we do something wrong?” asked Fluttershy with concern. Twilight replied, “No, she just has a lot to think about with all she has been through and all she plans on doing.” The ponies finished their breakfast in ten minutes. Twilight thought about going outside to see if Lightwing was alright but she chose not to. The four ponies went to the main hall of Twilight’s home and sat down on a couch. Twilight began to read a book while the other ponies talked for about fifteen minutes, and then they saw the door open. Lightwing came in with Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Lightwing spoke up. “We are ready to leave now. I think we should take an air-balloon to Canterlot.” “That’s a good idea,” replied Twilight as she grabbed the Elements of Harmony and gave them to her friends. “But first I need to make a quick stop at Ponyville Hospital to see how Derpy is doing.” “She’s ok,” replied Rainbow Dash. “I was just there before I went by Fluttershy’s home. Dinky is still there to make sure everything is ok. She has not left for a whole week. Luna says that Derpy is still having nightmares. I hope Derpy recovers and wakes up soon.” Twilight vanished in a flash of purple light. The ponies inside Twilight’s home got up off the couch and went outside, and they began walking to the air-balloon station. Lightwing was humming the tune to the song she sang on the train as she walked. After about a five minute walk, they reached the balloon station. To everypony’s surprise, Twilight was already at the air-balloon station. “I’ll pay for the ride,” said Twilight. The pony in charge of the station looked surprised and asked, “Don’t you usually ride the train?” “Yes I do, but my friends want to ride the balloon,” Twilight said as she gave the money to pay for the ride. “The balloon is all yours,” replied the pony. Rainbow Dash jumped into the air balloon first. “I’ll take the sky any day.” The other ponies got into the air-balloon one by one and they took off. Lightwing looked towards the Crystal Mountains “Look at those amazing mountains. We will be going there soon. The fate of this world is over there.” Rainbow Dash looked at Lightwing with a confused face “Is that where the dragon is? Seems like a weird place for a dragon.” “It’s an ice dragon,” replied Twilight. Rarity quickly looked over towards Lightwing. “Why was I not informed? I could have packed scarves and winter clothes.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “We have that stuff at the castle. You can pack there.” Lightwing looked down at Ponyville as the balloon took off. “The view is amazing from up here. I never knew it could be so beautiful from the sky. In a world of darkness it is hard to see the ground from in the sky.” “My hooves like ta be on the ground,” replied Applejack. “Rainbow gave Applejack a quick glare. “Oh don’t be such a boring pony.” “Well as long as no tornadoes hit us we should be fine,” Rarity said with sarcasm. Rainbow Dash raised a hoof in defence. “Hey now! That was not my fault.” Everypony except Lightwing laughed. “When did you get hit by a tornado?” asked Lightwing. Pinkie Pie answered, “When we were delivering a care package to Rainbow Dash to help her remember us.” “And R.D. here saved all of us,” replied Applejack. Over the next ten minutes, Lightwing was watching the scenery go by as the air-balloon floated towards Canterlot. She was looking in many directions when she saw something in the distance. She jumped in excitement and pointed toward some mountains. “Oh! Look over there at that small valley in between those mountains. That is my future home!” All the ponies looked over in that direction. “There is no town there now, but it’s nice to know one will be there in the future,” replied Twilight. Lightwing smiled as she watched the valley go by their air-balloon “That is such a great valley. It brings me such happiness. It’s almost as if I’m home. This is just like when I was a kid and rode air-balloons to Canterlot. Hey Twilight, this is where I made up that song we were singing earlier, but I was eight at the time.” Everypony looked curious and Fluttershy asked “What song is that?” Lightwing and Twilight sang the song for their friends. Everypony clapped her forehooves in excitement when the song was over. “What a lovely song,” replied Rarity. Lightwing smiled. “Thanks, but I can’t take all the credit for the song. I only came up with the first part. Everything after sunsets and rises was Twilight’s creation. It went so good with my song that I chose to keep it.” Pinkie Pie was the last pony to stop clapping her hooves. “I loved that song.” “Thanks,” replied Lightwing. “I wish I had gone to the Canterlot Library. Maybe I’ll go there later. What are we going to do when we get to Canterlot?” Twilight nodded her head in agreement. “When we get there I’ll see if Princess Celestia has any free time. We will talk to her and make a plan to save Equestria.” “Can’t you just go and talk to her?” asked Rainbow Dash. “I mean you’re a princess, and as such you have like the right to talk to her more than any boring nobles.” Twilight smiled “I wish I could do that, but that is rude and I need to be kind. I won't do it even though it is very tempting sometimes. Only for emergencies like when a pegasus comes through a portal and crashes through a castle window.” Lightwing glanced over towards Twilight. “You interrupted a meeting because of me?” “Yes, yes I did.” Lightwing went back to watching the scenery go by as the other ponies talked about their lives and some other stuff. Lightwing could see that they were almost at Canterlot Castle. Canterlot Castle looked amazing from the sky. This light world kept on amazing her time and time again. Twilight noticed that Lightwing was mesmerized again and giggled. Then she pointed it out to her friends. Lightwing noticed that they were now over a landing spot for air-balloons and that they were landing. Lightwing was the first to get out of the balloon followed by Twilight and then Rainbow Dash. Rarity and Applejack both came out next as Fluttershy just flew out. Twilight opened her wings and started to fly instead of walking. “It has been a while since I flew around.” She did some somersaults around her friends. “It feels so nice to fly again after two weeks of no flying, but I should not push my wings to hard. We princesses are supposed to walk with our guards...” Twilight gasped as she realized something, and she giggled. “I forgot to tell my guards that I took a ride here. They are probably still waiting at my home. Well...they are used to it. I tend to sneak away a lot.” All seven ponies laughed. Her five friends from this time all knew it was true because they helped her sneak away half the time. “I don't need guards anyway, but they are required. I won't be taking any guards to the Crystal Mountains. It’s too dangerous for them.” Lightwing thought about flying with the others, but she chose not to. “Twilight, why have you not used your wings in two weeks?” “Two weeks ago, I was at a picnic with Derpy and I injured my wing in an accident. It would have been a lot worse if Derpy had not been there. She saved me by taking most of the damage from our fall.” “Sounds painful,” replied Lightwing. Twilight smiled. “The fall did not hurt as bad as the manticore scratching my wing. That is what really hurt me. The fall is what hurt Derpy the most. She broke her left wing and both her left legs. Her wing is better, but her legs need about another week.” “Sounds like she took a pretty bad fall trying to save you. I hope she gets better soon. I was thinking I could be the Element of courage. All the element names except magic have something to do with the way ponies act. And I wanted an element name to go with my new necklace.” “You have my approval,” replied Rarity. Fluttershy landed next to Lightwing. “I think it is a nice idea.” All the other ponies nodded their heads in agreement as they reached the castle doors. The doors opened as some other ponies came out. Twilight and her friends went straight to the main hall of the castle and saw Princess Celestia talking to some ponies who did not look familiar at all to Twilight. Twilight raised a hoof signaling her friends to stop, and they stopped. “I’ll go talk to her and you stay here.” Twilight walked over to the group of ponies that were talking to Celestia. “Who are these guests?” Princess Celestia answered, “They are delegates from an island in the far east known as Mare Lind. The delegates from Saddle Arabia told them of us.” Twilight smiled at the guests. “Is is alright if we cut into your meeting with Celestia? I only need two minutes.” One pony in the group nodded his head signaling that it was alright. So Twilight signaled her friends to come over and they did. Lightwing began talking. “We are ready to start prepping for our journey to the Crystal Mountains. As you know, the Elements of Harmony are coming. So try not to have any major disasters take place. This might be the last time I see you. So I’m going to say bye. Celestia nodded. “Good luck on your mission. I hope for the best.” The group of friends left as Twilight led them down some halls to her bed chambers. Lightwing was admiring the castle again, because it might be the last time she saw it in one piece. Once they reached the bed chamber the ponies went to Twilight’s closet to get some warm clothes for the trip to the Crystal Mountains and to pack their saddlebags that Twilight had given them. Twilight had to make sure Rarity did not over pack. This stuff was Twilight’s. So she could say not to bring stuff. Lightwing was sitting at the door waiting for the other ponies to get their stuff. “Can you girls hurry up? You're killing me from boredom.” Rarity commented from the other side of the room. “You can not tell us to hurry up just because all you grabbed was a scarf.” “Sorry, but I’m just eager to get going.” After a few minutes, all the ponies were ready to leave. Twilight led them out of the castle and to the train station. She paid for the tickets and they all got onto the train and it left the station. Lightwing was sitting next to Twilight, and Applejack was sitting behind them. The rest of the ponies were sitting on the opposite side of the train car. “Hey, Twilight, how often do you wear those fancy princess shoes?” asked Lightwing. “Every day but I take them off when I’m sleeping. They are quite comfy. The insides are padded so that the shoes don’t irritate my hooves. All the princesses' shoes are made this way. Now, time for my question. Do you always bring that saddlebag and cloak everywhere?” “Yes, Yes I do. Are we really going to be on this train till tomorrow morning?” asked Lightwing.” Twilight nodded her head. “Do you not want to be on here for that long?” “I don’t have a problem with it. I was just not expecting such a long train ride. I did not realise how far away the Crystal Mountains are.” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What happened to you having explored a lot because you're so rich?” “I usually just teleport to my destination. The first time I travel by balloon and then I set up a teleportation point for easy access later. It saves a lot of time. That makes sense, but I never knew you could teleport. Is there any magic you can’t do?” Lightwing put a hoof on her chin in a thinking pose. “Hmm...I don't think so. I have a potion that makes me able to do any magic that a unicorn can do, and I have special potions that I have refined to make it easier to use specific magic. Like the levitation potion Applejack and me had earlier. Obviously I can't use the Elements of Harmony.” “I think you probably could use the Elements of Harmony, specifically mine. I mean, you have been practicing magic for over six hundred years. I think It would be easy for you to master using the Element of Magic, but I ultimately have control over it. So I could stop you if you tried something evil.” Lightwing turned her head to face Applejack. “Is Twilight messing with me or being honest?” “She’s being honest.” “Why would I lie to you?” asked Twilight. What makes you think that six hundred years of using a temporary magic makes me able to learn one of the most powerful magics in Equestria?” Twilight smiled. “After the incident with the Elements being stolen, I think any pony with enough magic skill could use this Element.” Lightwings eyes widened. “The Element were stolen!?” Twilight nodded her head. “And they were used for evil, but I ultimately have control over them. So I could stop the evil coming from them and turned them back to good.” Lightwing stared blankly at Twilight for about thirty seconds. Twilight waved a hoof in front of Lightwings face. Lightwing pushed Twilight’s hoof away. “I’m still trying to figure out how such a thing could happen. How can the Elements of Harmony be used for evil?” Twilight answered, “It’s only an item. It can not tell the difference from good or evil.” “I guess that makes sense, but I’m still amazed at that fact.” “There are a lot of things that don't make sense. You just have to accept that there are some things you can not understand.” Twilight giggled as she said, “Like Pinkie Pie.” “Hey Twilight, what are your thoughts on this whole situation that I have put you and your friends into?” “Hmm, I would have to say I have conflicting feelings towards it. On one hoof it’s very brave and kind of you to come to the past to try to save the future. On the other hoof messing with time is very dangerous. It can have so many unseen consequences. The Elements of Harmony will always help when needed. So I’m here for you.” “Twilight, have you ever killed a creature using the Elements of Harmony?” “No...are you saying I’ll have to kill this dragon?” “Yes,” replied Lightwing. “It’s the only way to really stop this horrible future from happening. I don’t want any problems when we are fighting the dragon. Are you sure you can kill a creature?” “Don’t worry about me. I can take it. Protecting Equestria is the main goal. I can kill a creature even if I do not approve of the idea. You know this dragon better than I do. So I will do what you say, but you might want to tell Fluttershy about this. So that she is mentally ready.” “That’s good to hear.” Applejack put her head between Twilight and Lightwing. “Don’t we all get a say in this?” Twilight turned towards Applejack. “I would think you agree with what I am saying. I know you well enough to assume that.” Applejack nodded. “That's true. So I’ll just be quiet now.” Twilight turned back toward Lightwing. “You should probably tell the other ponies that story you told me and the other princesses.” “Good idea. Lets go sit over there.” Applejack and Lightwing got up and began walking over to the other side. “Do you mind if I come sit over there too? I don't want to be here all alone,” asked Twilight. Lightwing turned her head towards Twilight. “I think you can do whatever you want. You’re a princess.” Twilight opened her wings and flew over to one of the seats and sat down as Lightwing and Applejack walked over and took a seat. Twilight raised a hoof to signal the ponies to be quiet. “Our new friend has a story she would like to tell us.” Lightwing smiled. “But before I tell the story, I must tell you our plan to stop the dragon. First, I will use the magic of the pendant I’m wearing to connect and absorb the dragon’s life energy into the it. Second, Twilight and all of you will use the Elements of Harmony to destroy the pendant. It’s a short and simple plan but probably won't be as easy. You can ask question after I finish my story.” Lightwing began telling her story again. That took a few hours of the train ride. The scenery outside had changed from the green grass to a light snow and the sun was beginning to go down in the sky. Lightwing, Twilight and Applejack had moved back to the other side of the train car. The rest of the train ride was pretty uneventful because Lightwing was the only pony awake in the night. Lightwing was enjoying the view of the mountains in the distance. She enjoyed watching the Crystal Empire slowly come into view as the train got closer. Lightwing was in awe of the green grass of the Empire that was surrounded by harsh snow. The crystals were not as amazing since she had already seen them but they were a lighter color from what she normally saw. She noticed that there were small strange black structures around the Empire. Roads connected to them. So they had to be meant for something. She also liked watching all of it fade back into the distance as the train continued past it towards the mountains.