The Seven Tribes

by Scootaloo-009

Arc 7: Undersea Visitor

        “Good morning,” Twilight said, yawning. She flipped the covers off herself then climbed out of bed. She looked over at the spare bed to see Seafoam awkwardly sprawled on top. She stirred.

        “Good morning, Twilight,” Seafoam said. After rubbing her eyes, she reached down and picked up one of her leg braces. One by one she put them on then got up. For good measure, she took a small swig from a bottle she was carrying. She flinched at the taste.

        “Spike?” Twilight asked. The purple dragon was already up, much to her surprise. “He must already be making breakfast.

        “Oh I’ve always wanted to try surface food!” Seafoam said excitedly.

        “Alright, girls, here’s the plan,” Scootaloo said in a hushed town over breakfast. All around unicorns were eating and talking excitedly about the next day of camp. “We wait until the first break, then head over to the mountain to get the star metal.”

        “Why are we doing this again?” Starflare asked.

        “I need it to get a gift for Rainbow Dash for the anniversary of her adopting me,” Scootaloo replied. “And I meant us three, not you.”

        “Why can’t I come?” Starflare whined.

        “Because you can’t walk on clouds,” Scootaloo answered. “Any other questions?”

        “Whah do yah need us?” Apple Bloom asked.

        “Because,” Scootaloo said in an annoyed tone, “I don’t know how big the rock is and I’ll need your help to carry it back.”

        “Can’t we just roll it onto a cloud?” Sweetie Belle asked. Scootaloo shot her a look. “Right, it’s a rock. Rocks fall through clouds.”

        “I figure with the three of us, we can hold it, or maybe tie ropes to it.”

        “Or levitate it,” Apple Bloom suggested.

        “All the way back here? My magic won’t last that long,” Sweetie Belle replied.

        “Anything I can do?” Starflare asked, eager to be involved in any way.

        Scootaloo thought for a moment. “Cover for us?”

        Starflare saluted. “Consider it done!”

        “So I have a list of the most interesting places in Ponyville. We have more than enough time to visit each in the one day you have here,” Twilight said as she and Seafoam walked through town. They were catching plenty of stares, and causing a few ponies to walk into each other while they stared at the sea pony.

        “Excuse me, Twilight, but what is that building?” Seafoam asked. “Is it made of... food?”

        “That is Sugarcube Corner. Its decoration since it is a sweet shop.”

        “What’s a sweet?” Seafoam asked.

        “What’s a sweet?” Pinkie Pie shouted, jumping out of nowhere. “How can you not know what sweet is?”

        “I understand the idea, but there’s nothing sweet in Barrier City,” Seafoam explained.

        PInkie Pie stared at her with a look of horror. “You’re coming with me right now!” She grabbed Seafoam and dragged her into the bakery. She sat her down at a table and ran off.

        “What just happened?” Seafoam asked, looking dazed.

        “Pinkie Pie happened,” Twilight said, finally catching up.

        “Is she always like this?”

        Twilight nodded. “Yes. You just have to learn to just accept all the weird things that she does.”

        “Here!” Pinkie said, popping up between Twilight and Seafoam. She placed a cupcake in front of Seafoam and stood back and waited.

        Seafoam picked it up and looked at it.

        “Here it comes!” Pinkie whispered in Twilight’s ear.

        Seafoam turned the cupcake over in her braced hoof and brought it to her face.

        “This is my favorite part!”

        Seafoam took a bite and her face lit up. She stood there with a huge smile on her face, not blinking for several minutes.

        “I love my job,” Pinkie said, smiling just as wide.

        “This is wonderful! Why do we not have this back home?” Seafoam wondered out loud as she took another bite.

        “Sugar dissolves in water. It just isn’t possible,” Twilight informed her. “You could use waterproofing spells but you’d have to do that for each one and have them imported.”

        “If everything up here is this delicious I might never go home.”

        “Hey!” Pinkie exclaimed. “You’re a sea pony!”

        “Did you seriously just notice that?” Twilight asked.

        “Now I remember, you were our guide!”

        “I can’t tell. Is she serious?” Seafoam whispered to Twilight.

        “Yeah, Pinkie, you can tell a terra pony from an earth pony at a glance but you didn’t notice she’s a sea pony?”

        “Well if I was a sea pony I probably would,” Pinkie replied.

        “Pinkie, that’s not a valid point and it really doesn’t make any sense,” Twilight said, stonefaced.

        “Did you just imply what I think you did?” Seafoam asked.

        “Oh yeah, you missed that. I’m the good terra pony!” Pinkie explained.

        Seafoam blinked and looked at Twilight. “Does-”

        “I’m not sure,” Twilight replied. “Princess Luna does.”

        “Hey, Seafoam!” Rainbow Dash called, entering the building. “I see you’ve had a Pinkie Pie cupcake.”

        “I’ve never had anything most delicious.”

        “100 percent rainbow free!” Pinkie added.

        “Pinkie, you are so random,” Rainbow Dash said.

        Scootaloo glared at the rock in front of her with a burning hatred. They were learning transformation and were supposed to be turning the rocks they were given into soap. They were all terrible at it, but most of them were making progress.

        Scootaloo glanced over at her friends to see how they were doing. Sweetie Belle’s rock had gained the texture and shape of a bar of soap, but still looked like a rock and didn’t foam right. Apple Bloom, on her other side, had somehow managed to break the rock in half but it was still a rock. She was busy trying to put it back together.

        Scootaloo then stared at her own that had at least changed shape so that it was in the shape of a bar, but it was still utterly a rock. Scootaloo rolled it over and gave it another burst of magic. The rock’s surface rippled but remained stone. She gave a sigh and slumped down.

        At least the first spell that day had been useful and something she had been good at. It was a force field spell, not unlike one she had seen before around Canterlot. The spell was easy, but the real test came when Velvet Sparkle launched pillows at the barriers to test their strength.

        Most gave out after a few hits though Apple Bloom had lasted the longest. Scootaloo’s bubble had been significantly more flexible than the others so it had lasted longer but the pillows had really dented it before it finally broke.

        “Okay, campers, time for a magic recovery break,” Velvet Sparkle announced.

        Finally. Scootaloo rushed her friends out the door. Let’s get this done.

        “This is Sweet Apple Acres, one of the major apple suppliers for Equestria,” Twilight explained.

        “What’s an ‘apple’?” Seafoam asked.

        “You’ll see. Hi, Applejack, Big Macintosh,” Twilight greeted.

        “Howdy, Twilight,” Applejack replied, bucking at a tree. She glanced over, then did a double take. “Whah if it ain’t our guide from Barrier City.”

        “Howdy,” Big Macintosh said simply.

        “Hello,” Seafoam returned.

        “Seafoam’s spending the day in Ponyville, then heading back to Canterlot,” Twilight explained. “She’s basically doing what we were doing over the summer.”

        “Welcome tah Sweet Apple Acres. Here, have an apple,” Applejack said, picking up an apple and hoofing it over.

        “Oh, so an apple is food. Thank you,” Seafoam said. She took a bite and her face lit up. “Oh, this is better than the finest lobster.”

        “What?” Applejack asked, furrowing her brow.

        “It’s really good seafood,” Seafoam answered.

        “Well, help yerself,” Applejack said. “Just buck the trees.”

        “Uh, ‘buck’?” Seafoam asked.

        “Like this,” Applejack said. She walked over to a tree and kicked it with both her hind legs.

        “I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Seafoam said glumly. “If it weren’t for these braces, I wouldn’t even be walking.”

        “Right, fins...” Applejack said.

“How is your sister doing?” Seafoam asked.

        “Thanks tah that siren magic, she’s doin’ great,” Applejack replied. “She’s actually at some camp in Canterlot right now.”

        “I’m glad she has recovered. It was just awful, what happened.”

        “There it is!” Sweetie Belle declared, pointing. Scootaloo maneuvered the cloud closer to where she was pointing and saw a large rock sitting in a crater. It was bizarre looking, dark red and covered in craters, nothing like the rocks around it.

        “Great!” Scootaloo said leaping down. “Help me get the rope on it.”

        Apple Bloom joined her and soon they had the star metal tied to themselves. They climbed back on and Scootaloo summoned a gust of air to get them moving. She crossed her hooves as the rope got taunter and taunter. She breathed a sigh of relief as it came free of the ground, immediately causing discomfort as the rope around her waist dug into her.

        “Hurry! This really hurts!” Sweetie Belle cried.

        Scootaloo nodded and got the wind blowing right away.

        “This is Fluttershy’s cottage. She takes care of all the local animals,” Twilight explained as she and Seafoam walked down the path.

        “Take care... like farming them?” Seafoam asked.

        “N- no, like feeding them and healing them when they get hurt or sick.”

        “I forgot you don’t eat meat up here.”

        “Fluttershy? Are you in?” Twilight called when they were close enough. After a minute the yellow pegasus came trotting around the tree house.

        “Hello, Twilight,” she said when she got close. “Hello, Seafoam. I didn’t expect to see you here. How are you?”

        “Dry,” Seafoam said, eliciting a laugh from Fluttershy.

        “I’m showing her around Ponyville,” Twilight explained.

        “I was about to feed the ducks. Would you like to join me?”

        “Sure,” Seafoam said, smiling.

        “Mission accomplished!” Scootaloo cheered as they left the smithy. The rock had indeed been over ten pounds and the deal was closed. She’d be able to pick up the blades just before camp was over. Together the trio flew back to the castle grounds, hoping they weren’t too late and wouldn’t get in too much trouble for being gone so long.

        As they neared, they realized they had little to worry about. The rest of the foals were there, but Velvet was still away, so they landed nearby. Starflare ran over, a concerned look on her face.

        “What?” Scootaloo asked.

        “It’s Blue Heart, she didn’t come back from break!” Starflare said rapidly. “The teachers all went out to look for her, but they’ve been gone awhile.”

        Sweetie Belle looked at Quickquib. “What, no ideas on who took her?”

        He shook his head. “If changeling’s had taken her, they would have replaced her. No sense in blaming them.”

        “We’ve got to go find her,” Scootaloo said urgently.

        “She’s probably lost somewhere,” Apple Bloom suggested. “This is a big city afterall.”

        Scootaloo looked grim. “I’ve spent far too long on the streets to know better. If she didn’t come back, she’s in some sort of trouble.”

        “So what do we do?” Frostfire asked.

        “Who saw her last?” Sweetie Belle asked.

        “I think I did. She said something about going to try cloudwalking,” Silver Star said.

        “Okay, that means she’s probably in one of two places, either the weather center or the airship docks,” Scootaloo reasoned.

        “How do you know that and who put you in charge?” Iggy demanded.

        Scootaloo glared at him. “She’d need a pegasus to get a cloud for her, and those are the most likely places to find them. If she was at the pegasus guard barracks, she’d be back by now. And as I just explained, I spent almost half a year on my own in cities like this one, so I’m in charge unless you have a better idea.” Iggy went quiet and backed off. “I say we split up and look there. Sugar, Spice, can you do that mind thing with other ponies?”

        “Sort of, but it’s-” Spice began.

        not very good. Sugar’s voice rang in their heads. It was grainy, like it was coming through an old radio, and distant, like the radio was on the other side of the house.

        “Good enough. Apple Bloom, you, Spice , Starflare, and Iggy, go to the weather center Sweetie Belle, Quickquib, Silver Star, and Sketch, you go to the docks. Sugar, you and Frostfire are with me.”

        “Where are we going?” Sugar asked.

        “To get information,” Scootaloo said cryptically. “Be careful, do not go off alone. Sugar, Spice, make sure you keep in contact with Sweetie Belle at all times. If anypony finds anything, let me know. Go!”

        “So where are we going?” Frostfire asked as they trudged through yet another dark alley way.

        “Every city is the same. there are ponies who know what is going on. Nothing is totally secret here. If something is happening, somepony will know what it is.”

        The three rounded a bend and Scootaloo’s eyes went wide. “Cloud?”

        Several yards down the alley a dirty yellow pegasus colt turned and looked at her with equal surprise. “March?”

        “Cloudiseum, it is you!” Scootaloo cheered, rushing over.

        “You know him?” Sugar asked.

        “We were at the same orphanage until I ran away,” Scootaloo replied.

        “Orphanage?” Frostfire said questioningly.

        “And they shut it down, now I’m stuck here in this dump,” Cloud grumbled.

        “And is it any worse?” Scootaloo asked jokingly.

        “Point. What happened? I thought for sure you were dead!”

        “I nearly did die a few times,” Scootaloo replied. “Like I said, I ran away and snuck out of Cloudsdale on a chariot. I was on the run until they caught me last month.”

        “Ouch. I hope they were nicer to you than Twenty Third Street,” Cloud said.

        “Just the cops got me. I got off easy though. Even got adopted too.”

“Nice. So what are you doing here?”

        “A pony went missing and we’re trying to find her. A unicorn called Blue Heart. She’s blue colored. Pretty obvious, really. Have you heard anything? Any whispers from the street rats?”

        Cloud looked thoughtful for a moment. “Maybe I have, maybe I haven’t, it’s hard to remember everythin’ they say,” he said, holding a hoof out.

        Scootaloo growled and slammed him into a wall. She held him there with a foreleg. “I don’t have time to waste bribing you. Tell me what you know! You know full well what can happen to a lone filly in a city like this, especially one who isn’t street smart!”

        “Alright, alright!” Cloud spat. “I haven’t heard anythin’ about your missing friend.”

        Sugar and Frostfire whined, but Scootaloo held him firm.

        “Heard anything else?” she prompted.

        “Yeah. A couple other ponies when missing earlier today, just no unicorns that I know of.”

        “Any names or descriptions?” Scootaloo asked.
        
        “Umm.. one was an earth pony called Sing Song, and the other was a pegasus called Trips. I don’t know what they looked like. All the street rats are on alert though.”

        Scootaloo let him go. Her mind was already buzzing with wild thoughts. No, it can’t be. He’s dead. “Um... one last thing. Has there been any word about magic suddenly vanishing?”

        “You know somethin’ I don’t?” Cloud asked. “A bunch of ponies were freakin’ out a while ago, sayin’ their magic was gone.”

        “No, no no!” Scootaloo moaned. She ran over and grabbed Sugar. “Tell Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom exactly what I say: There’s another alicorn machine. And it’s here.”

        Sugar looked at her, confused.

        “Do it!”

        Sugar nodded and went quiet for a moment.

        “Cloud, do you know of any loud noises that happened at the same time everypony’s magic went away?”

        Cloud shook his head. “Nothing.”
        
        Scootaloo thought for a moment. “Then it has to be somewhere where the noise wouldn’t be out of the ordinary. Some place always loud...”

        “The airship docks?” Cloud suggested.

        Scootaloo grabbed him and hugged him. “That’s gotta be it! Thanks, I owe you one!” She turned to her fellow campers. “Sugar, tell everypony to meet there. Let’s go.”

        “No problem, March. Just not so rough next time.”

        “Name’s Scootaloo now,” she called as the three galloped off.

        Sweetie Belle stood stock still, her mind racing.

        “What is it?” Sketch asked.

        “This just got very, very bad,” Sweetie Belle said. “It might already be too late.”

        “She’s...” Silver Star gulped. “Dead?”

        Sweetie Belle shook her head. “I don’t know. It could either be really, really bad or really, really good for Blue Heart.”

        “Where do we start looking?” Frostfire asked as they reached the innumerable warehouses that made up the airship docks.

        “I don’t know, anything. It’s a big, big machine. Really loud. If you feel your magic being sucked out, it’s too late,” Scootaloo replied. “I’ll probably feel it now that I have magic. You’d think it would stop cloudwalking...”

        Sugar grabbed her by the tail and pulled Scootaloo back.

        “Hey!” Scootaloo shouted.

        “I’m not going another step until you explain exactly what is going on,” Sugar demanded.

        Scootaloo took a deep breath. “Look, about a year -” she stopped.

        “What?” Sugar asked.

        Three foals cried as Spice collapsed.

        “What’s wrong?” Iggy asked.

        “Quiet!” Spice cried. Tears were streaming down her face and she rolled about wildly, clutching her head. “Sugar! Hurt!”

        Apple Bloom snapped into action. “Iggy, Starflare, get to the docks and find Sweetie Belle. Ah’m gonna go tah bring Spice to the palace and tell the Princess what’s goin’ on.”

        “Right. Good luck,” Starflare said, saluting.

        “Pretty good plan, I have to say,” Scootaloo commented as she was dragged along the ground. “Knock out the unicorns then bind the pegasus so she can’t fly,” she elaborated, trying to flex her wings under the black strap holding them to her sides. “I can’t fly anyway, but a good plan.”

        “Shut it or I’ll knock you out too!” the light blue earth pony dragging her and the other fillies growled.

        Scootaloo scowled, but obeyed. She was certain she could break free with a bit of magic, but this was their only lead on finding Blue Heart. If she concentrated she could sense her friends moving. She couldn’t tell how far away they were, but from their movements she guessed Sweetie Belle was somewhere in the docks as well, and Apple Bloom seemed to be moving toward the castle. Probably t o get Celestia. Good call.

        She just let the pony drag them through the docks until they got to one warehouse that they were dragged into. There she saw what she knew must be there: another Pony Blender. And with it, another pale pony, this one a dull red, at the controls. It was set up differently, with more care taken to hide it, and everything was in one room, but it was recognizable at a glance.

        Scootaloo, Frostfire, and Sugar were thrown unceremoniously into a cell and the door was locked. Scootaloo immediately took control and examined the room as best she could. She couldn’t see much, there were a couple rows of cells with seven of the eight sides being solid. They were in an outer row, and all were very low to the ground, meaning she couldn’t see most of the room from where she was. She hadn’t seen any sign of Blue Heart, but hoped she was somewhere and separate.

Besides the earth pony who brought them in, and the pony at the controls, the only other guard was a griffon. The griffon seemed interested in them and casually walked past the cage, eyeing them. Scootaloo glared back, remembering what Rainbow Dash had told her, but stole a quick glance at the griffon’s clan mark. At once an escape plan began to form in her mind.

 
        Apple Bloom galloped into Canterlot Castle with Spice trailing behind. The filly seemed out of it without her sister, like she was half asleep. As they rounded a bend, they bumped into a grey pony with a crescent moon medallion around his neck, causing him to drop the notebook he was carrying.

        “Sorry,” Apple Bloom said, getting up quickly.

        “Do be careful,” he said, picking the book back up.

        “Come on, get up, Spice, we gotta get the Princess,” Apple Bloom urged, trying to force Spice back onto all fours. She just stared vacantly.

        “If you need to speak with her quickly, I can help. I can get you past the security,” the stallion said to her. “What is the matter?”

        “There’s a terra pony in Canterlot and he foalnapped our friend!” Apple Bloom cried.

        The gray pony blinked. “Are you sure?”

        “Yeah, at least Scootaloo is. He’s got this machine that mixes ponies together and turns them into alicorns.”

        “And you know this, how?”

        “Cause Ah was in one!” Apple Bloom shouted. “Now will yah help me? She won’t budge!”

        “Do you know where he is?”

        “Scootaloo said the docks,” Apple Bloom replied.

        “Stay here. I’ll inform the Princess of everything you just told me.” The pony then turned and galloped off.

        “Okay, she’s over this way,” Sweetie Belle said, leading her group through the maze of identical warehouses. They’d run into Iggy and Starflare, who explained about Spice. Together the remaining foals went out in search of the now four missing foals.

        “How exactly do you know this?” Starflare asked.

        “We... can just sort of tell where each of us are. It’s something we’ve had since we were mixed together.”
        
        “And that means?” Wind Dreamer asked.

        “Sweet Celestia, what is that?” Silver Star cried, pointing. Sweetie Belle followed her hoof and saw a misshapen figure crawling through the docks.

        “Oh no, we’re too late!” Sweetie Belle cried, sprinting over.

        “Help me” it groaned. The creature was definitely an alicorn. However its wings were bigger than the rest of its body while its horn might as well have been a large pimple. Its coat was a blotchy green and white with some hints of blue.

        “What is that?” Sketch asked, trying not to gag.

        Sweetie Belle cringed. “We’re too late. This was Blue Heart.”

        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.