The Seven Tribes

by Scootaloo-009

Arc 3: Death of a Crusader

"So that was the first day. Did anything important happen after you and Rainbow Dash went into your room?" Twilight asked.

"No," Scootaloo said quickly.

"Please continue," Twilight said.

        An urgent knocking awoke Fluttershy to pink. All she could see was pink. It had happened before, so she reached up to brush her mane out of her face, but found the pink obstruction was solid. She moved it forcefully and looked around. The pink obstruction was one of Pinkie’s hind legs. Now that she was awake, she could see Pinkie was half laying on top of her.

        “Um...” Fluttershy said, turning red with embarrassment. Somepony knocked on the door again, waking Pinkie up.

        “Oh,” Pinkie uttered, noticing the situation. “Huh, more fuel for the Flutterpie fire,” Pinkie said cheerfully, getting off of her. “Sorry about that, I’m not used to sharing a bed except with Gummy.”

        “It’s okay,” Fluttershy said. Another knock came, more urgently now.

        “We’re coming!” Pinkie shouted. She swam over to the door to find Applejack waiting.

        “Good, yer up,” Applejack said.

        “What’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked.

        “Dunno, Seafoam and some other pony said we need tah get up now,” Applejack replied. “Get yer stuff, we gotta go.”

        Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie grabbed their bags and followed right away. Down the hall, Seafoam waited, along with a sea pony guard in full armor. The rest of their friends were slowly getting up.

        “I’m sorry I had to wake you up in the middle of the night, but it’s very important,” Seafoam said. “This is Captain Sandbar, he’ll explain more.”

        “Your warnings were just in time, Ambassador,” the other sea pony said. “Just two hours ago we discovered that there are assassins within this very city targeting you. The King has ordered you be moved to a safehouse for your own protection.”

        “Oh my,” Rarity exclaimed.

        “Wouldn’t we be safer in the palace?” Twilight asked.

        “Normally, yes, but we fear they might be in the royal guard. Where you are going, only the most trusted fish are stationed,” Captain Sandbar replied.

        “Let’s get goin’ then,” Applejack said.

        The group swam through the palace to the front where they met with several more fishfolk.

        “Our escort,” Captain Sandbar explained. “I trust each of them with my life.”

        Twilight nodded in approvement. The group then swam out, flanked by the guards. Rainbow Dash was uneasy, but she didn't express it. There was exactly one guard for each of them, including Seafoam.

Two quadrupedal figures galloped across the open plain. Far in the distance behind them, several figures flew roughly in their direction. They needed a place to hide, and they needed it now. Their cloaks were pulled back in the wind, exposing equine heads, but they had no manes to speak of. Their tails too were cut off. They would be too much of a give away.

"Tia, can't we just cloak ourselves with magic?" one figured asked between labored breaths.

"Possibly, but they might sense us, Luna. One can never tell with griffons," the other figure, Tia, replied.

"But where can we hide? There is nothing for miles!" the first figure, Luna, argued.

"Maybe we caaaaaaaa!" Tia shrieked, vanishing from sight.

Luna turned and looked to see where her companion had gone. In the flat land, a hole in the ground stuck out, and Luna ran to it and jumped down to follow. The fall was several yards, but nothing to one of her size. With a thump, she landed beside Tia.

"Luna, is that you?" Tia asked in the dim light. Luna held a hoof to Tia's muzzle. She fell silent, and the two looked up to see if their pursuers had seen where they had gone. The two breathed a sigh of relief as the flying figures passed over the hole they were in.

"It must have just been a patrol. They didn’t see us,” Luna said. “Are you alright sister?”

"Yes," Tia replied. At once the horn upon her head began glowing, illuminating their surroundings.

The two looked around in awe. This was no mere hole. They seemed to be in a structure of some kind, made of stone bricks. The walls were fairly smooth, and the floor was slightly damp. It was narrow and long, rectangular in shape, possibly a hallway of some kind. The walls had metal rings in it. Far above them was a stone ceiling. The tunnel was huge, large enough for a teenage dragon to walk through upright. The spot they had fallen through seemed to be unintentional. It was a jagged hole, like something heavy had fallen through the masonry.

"Where are we?" Luna whispered loudly.

"I do not know, but I think we have found a place to hide for a while," Tia replied.

"Shall we look around?" Luna prompted. Without waiting for a response, she began walking off in one direction. Eagerly Tia followed. The hallway was several dozen yards long, but when they reached the end, they were forced to stop. What seemed to have been a doorway at one time was filled with dirt, with roots invading the open space. Disappointed, they turned and walked to the other end of the hallway. This time they found results. The stone corridor began sloping downward. There were even stairs, worn nearly smooth by rain water.

As they walked on, the air grew stagnant, the floor wet and slippery, and the darkness imposing. Stone bricks gave way to solid rock. Tia's horn was a pathetic source of illumination in this lightless world. They could barely see. Still they pressed on, curious to the origin of such a place. They must have been nearly a mile underground before the passage way leveled off and they continued on. Their hooves made loud splashes as they stepped in shallow, ancient puddles. The corridor had still kept its initial size or had even gotten bigger; it was hard to make out the top in the dim glow.

Finally the stone tunnel opened up into a chamber so large, Tia's light could not reach the top. It was circular but they could not see the far side in the dim light. In the center stood a pedestal with six stone spheres resting on it.

"This may be a temple or treasure room of some kind," Luna suggested. She got her own horn to give off light, and began examining the walls.

"Yes, but for what nation?" Tia wondered, examining the opposite wall from Luna. They were covered in archaic symbols and carved figures. The figures were not ponies or anything she could identify.

"I do not recognize this language," Luna said, "but look, it changes!" she declared.

Tia trotted over to see the other wall had strange symbols as well, but distinctly different. And the figures were not ponies here either, but very different from the others. As they walked along the walls, they saw that every few yards the symbols and figures changed and each set of similar symbols and figures were spaced apart from the others. When the writing wrapped around the entire room, it simply continued above. The two had to fly to continue follow the spiraling sequence of runes and pictures. The last few sets of figures were definitely Equestrian, and the final set seems familiar.

"Can you read it?" Tia asked. Luna had spent much more time than she had reading old texts.

"I know this language," Luna replied. "It hasn't been used in over four thousand years. It will take some time, but I think I can translate it."

"See if it can explain this place," Tia urged.

"I will," Luna replied.

"I'll go gather some food for us. I think we should stay here for a while."

“Agreed. I’ll get to work right now.”

The group of ponies and fishfolk made their way slowly through the city, moving from alley to alley to avoid detection. The palace disappeared into the distance as they started entering the outskirts of the city.

        “I thought you said this place was close,” Rainbow Dash said.

        “We’re almost there,” Captain Sandbar said. “One more block.”

        Sure enough, they changed direction for a square building. It wasn’t very large, but had only one way in or out: a single doorway. Very secure.

The building, despite having the impression of many stories from the outside, was hollow and seemed to be a single main room with a few side rooms. On one side was a balcony with glass separating it from the ocean. Behind them, the fishfolk closed the door.

"Welcome," a voice drawled. All pony eyes turned to the balcony. There, behind the glass stood a dull orange mare. “To your doom. Wow, that sounded less cliche in my head.”

“A terra pony? Down here?” Pinkie said, surprised.

“How can you tell?” Twilight asked.

“What, are you the only one allowed to be smart?” Pinkie chided.

“But they look like us earth ponies,” Applejack said.

“And name one earth pony that would want us dead,” Pinkie asked. Nopony spoke up. “Exactly.”

"Scoots, get off me," Rainbow Dash whispered. The filly let go quickly, not sure what her guardian meant to do.

“Captain, what is the meaning of this?” Seafoam demanded.

“Shells and lots of them,” Captain Sandbar said, smirking.

"What do you think you're doing, attacking us?" Spike growled. There was a deep rumbling in his throat when he spoke the words. He tried making himself seem bigger, but it didn't work. Plus he couldn't breathe fire underwater, so he posed little threat to anypony.

"I'm succeeding where my companion failed. Seize them," the mare ordered. At once, the guards sprung on the unsuspecting ponies. Unable to maneuver underwater, tired, and hungry, they were subdued without much of a fight and held down, that is, all but one. The poor crab tasked with grabbing Rainbow Dash found his shell cracked open in several places before he could even blink.

        “Wrong move!” Twilight shouted, readying her magic. However, before she could cast a single spell, a metal collar was clamped around her neck. She stopped breathing for a moment. All at once her magic was gone. The shock stopped every thought, and her mind went blank.

"You're next!" Rainbow Dash shouted at the mare on the balcony.

"Ripper, Thrasher, get her," the mare said calmly. At once, two shark fishfolk raced into the room and at Rainbow Dash. She dodged their charge and began fighting back. Their hides were tough, but she was tougher.

"Let me go!" Apple Bloom cried, suspended in a lobster guard's claw. The guard was holding Scootaloo next to her, but the pegasus filly was too busy watching her mentor in action to fight back. Flailing about, Apple Bloom tried hitting the claw to no avail. Determined to free herself, she charged her tiny hoof with magic, and punched again. The chitin around the entire claw shattered, exposing the soft flesh underneath. In surprise and pain, the guard dropped both fillies.

"Don't let her get away," the mare commanded.

Defiantly Apple Bloom stood her ground, both front hooves aglow with power. Thrasher swam over quickly. She tried to throw a punch, but couldn't get it going in time. She closed her eyes as the shark bit down, but it didn't hurt. She opened her eyes, her pupils pinpoints, and saw the teeth unable to pierce her flesh. Then her magic gave out. The blood curdling scream echoed through the room.

"Apple Bloom!" Applejack cried, struggling as hard as she could to get free, but couldn't escape her squid captor. Thrasher swam around the group, taunting them with the helpless screaming foal in his jaws. A cloud of red water trailed behind him.

"Let go!" Rainbow Dash commanded, abandoning her fight with Ripper to assault Thrasher, but Ripper caught her first.

"AAAAAARRRRRGGGGG!" she grunted as the razor sharp teeth pierced her abdomen and leg, effectively pinning her in the jaws.

Laughing through their victims, the sharks circled the group filling the water with choking red blood. The noise snapped Twilight out of her stupor, but without magic, she could do little to help.

"Stop playing around and kill them!" the mare ordered.

"Shut it, air breeder. Wheel kill dem," Ripper growled through the pony in his mouth.

Forgotten, Scootaloo watched in horror as her friends slowly died before her eyes. Rainbow Dash tried putting on a brave face for the filly, but she didn't see it. She couldn't see it. Even in the ocean, her tears blocked her vision. Apple Bloom had stopped crying. Her body was completely limp. She was already gone as far as Scootaloo knew.

Who were they to take away the only pony to ever care for her? Take away her friend? No. They wouldn't take away this happiness. These fish wouldn't ruin this. She rubbed the tears from her eyes. Scootaloo stepped forward, a wilting anger in her eyes.

“Let them go," she snarled. The incapacitated ponies looked toward the filly. Even the sharks stopped their taunting to look at her. "I said let them go." Her eyes narrowed. She reached deep inside herself to that pool of energy and forced out every last drop, but it wasn't enough. She strained and pulled, trying to get more, but it was like squeezing a dry sponge. Finally more power came out slowly, but it felt different from her normal magic. Drawing it out made her feel sick to her stomach. The more she pulled, the more she began feeling sick and tired. And weak. She didn't care. She just needed one shot.

"Oh my! Scootaloo, never do that again!" Twilight shouted.

"What?" Scootaloo asked.

"That wasn't magic! That was your own life force you were using!" Twilight said, horrified.

“Oh. I didn't know you could do that," Scootaloo said stupidly.

"There are so many other options for getting more magic, like converting matter into it, like I did with our manes."

"Yeah, because I totally went to unicorn school and learned how to do that," Scootaloo retorted.

"I told you to not go past your limit!" Twilight reprimanded. "You could have lost months, or even years off your lifespan!"

"And it would have been a sucky year without Apple Bloom," Scootaloo replied.

"Just don't do it again."

"I don't plan on it."

"What, diss?" Ripper asked, biting down harder. Thrasher followed his namesake, shaking Apple Bloom like a rag doll.

"LET. THEM. GO," Scootaloo demanded, shaking with rage. Had the water not hidden it, they would have noticed her wings were solid blue with the magic she had summoned up. The very water around her began boiling from the built up energy. She didn’t know what spell to cast, she just knew she wanted them gone. "NOW."

"You puny air breathers have a lot to learn if you think you can tell us what to do," Thrasher said, spitting Apple Bloom out. The filly just floated limply in the water. Ripper let Rainbow Dash go as well. The pair laughed at the audacity of this foal ordering them around.

Scootaloo's eyes narrowed to slits. Then she let the magic out. Instantly the two sharks stopped laughing. They were utterly silent. White lines had appeared in a flash all over their bodies. Then they turned red. Deep red lines spider-webbing across their bodies, down to the bone in some areas, the edges of their fins completely chopped off.

The sharks roared in pain, the water around them reddening. Scootaloo kept staring them down. Terrified of the filly now, they fled. Scootaloo turned towards the remaining guards holding her friends down.

"Let them go or your insides will look like their outsides," she threatened. It was an empty threat. She had spent all her magic, but they had no way of knowing. With several panicked shrieks, they fled the room as well. Not stopping to rest, she swam over to Rainbow Dash.

"Heh, I'm out of shape," Rainbow Dash said through gritted teeth, pulling herself together. She was still alive, for now.

"Are you okay?" Scootaloo asked. She knew it was a stupid question.

"I'm sure I'll live," Rainbow Dash said, wincing. "I've had worse than this."

Her stomach and leg were bleeding profusely, but Scootaloo nodded and moved to check her friend.

The rest were crowded around the young filly. It was bad. Most of her abdomen was in tattered pieces. The shark hadn't bitten anything substantial off but it was a stomach churning sight all the same. Fluttershy had her ear to the earth pony's torn up chest.

"Her heart stopped beating," Fluttershy announced, sobbing. "There's nothing I can do."

"Apple Bloom!" Applejack wailed, pounding the floor.

“Twilight, do something!” Pinkie shouted.

“I don't know what to do!” Twilight cried. “Bringing ponies back from the dead is impossible! There’s nothing I can do at this point!”

"You win this round!" the mare shouted at them. "Mark my words, you will not interfere with the terra ponies' plans again!" She shrieked before fleeing. Nopony was paying attention.

Scootaloo settled next to Sweetie Belle. The three were now two. She looked at her yellow flank. Apple Bloom would never be gone. Not as long as this reminder stayed. She wasn't sure why, but she tried sensing out Apple Bloom. She couldn't. She could sense Sweetie Belle with her mind, but their friend was definitely gone. Forever.

She put a hoof around her friend's shoulder, but Sweetie Belle didn't respond to it. The young unicorn tilted her head back and closed her eyes.

Shells are sea pony currency. 2 shells = 1 bit at current exchange rates.

        If you like this story, you should check out some of my other works:

        My tumblr, an alternate universe mixing MLP and Cyborg 009.
        Forever a Changeling, my new story starring Rainbow Dash as a changeling.
        Samurai Applejack, a drastically different kind of story. It’s rated mature for violence and some suggestive lines.
        Night of the Werepony, what I consider to be my worst story, but it’s my most popular. It’s just one chapter long.

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