//------------------------------// // Prologue: Catrina the Wicked // Story: Heads in the Cloud // by PresentPerfect //------------------------------// Heads in the Cloud by Present Perfect Prologue: Catrina the Wicked It was no secret Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, would call down thunder, break any barrier, and cross any distance to save any of her friends. If there was anyone to whom this was most applicable, it would be the dragon whom she called her number one assistant, adoptive sibling, and best and oldest friend. Her five pony friends had thus followed her without reservation to the cave carved into the Macintosh Hills, past Equestria's southernmost reaches. Celestia hadn't hesitated to lend the requested Royal Guardsponies to assist them. The Guards themselves had not questioned her order to wait outside for their capture of the rogue sorceress who had deceived them all. They all understood. So it was that, one by one, Twilight and her friends had braved the dangers of the cave, both natural and magical. Bit by bit, the power of their friendship helped them persevere through frightening monsters, trapped pitfalls, and mysterious Guardians who sought to bring forth their deepest fears. "It can't be much farther now," Twilight grunted, holding Applejack's hind leg straight with magic while hauling on her. "I sure hope not," Rainbow Dash groaned from Applejack's other side. "You gotta lay off the fritters, AJ." "Very funny, RD." Applejack snorted. She winced, and her expression softened. "I wish y'all'd just leave me behind like I asked." "We're hardly about to do that, Applejack," Rarity said, horn light casting weird shadows over them as she turned her head. "What do you take us for? Honestly!" "Yeah!" Pinkie chimed in. "Friends never leave friends behind!" Fluttershy nodded, sticking close to Rarity. Applejack chuckled low in her throat. "Honestly, I take y'all for sensible ponies. Thank Celestia I'm wrong." As the rough-hewn walls expanded away from them, opening into a veritable sea of stalagmites, something dark and enormous roared, shaking the cavern. Rainbow Dash shrugged off Applejack, who hissed and squeezed her eyes shut. "Stay here!" Rainbow shouted. "I'm gonna go check it out!" "Consarnit, Rainbow Dash, wouldja--" A second roar cut off any further complaint. Rainbow Dash swooped forward as a shape the size of an Ursa Minor loomed up from the darkness, roaring pealing off the walls around it. Rainbow froze, her legs and wings stiff. The shadow grew and grew, filling the front half of the cavern before its trailing edge appeared. It washed up and over the walls, vanishing after a few brief moments. Rainbow Dash fell to the floor, stock-still. "Rainbow!" The cry came from many mouths. Pinkie and Fluttershy made it to her side first. "Oh my goodness," Fluttershy gasped, breathless. "Twilight, something's wrong!" "C'mon, Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie shouted, lifting her friend and shaking her. Rainbow was stiff as a board. "C'mon, wake up, be okay!" She batted at Rainbow's face. Applejack nodded to Twilight, who eased her down and moved to join the others. Rarity hung back, still providing light, watching the scene while chewing her lower lip. "Pinkie, stop, that's enough." Twilight took Rainbow from Pinkie. Twilight's blood ran cold as she looked over the still features. Rainbow's eyes were completely white, rolled back in her head, her every muscle locked rigid. Fluttershy, eyes filling with tears, ran her hooves all over Rainbow. "Rainbow Dash, this really isn't the time to be doing funny impressions of me!" Her hooves and voice trembled. "Oh Twilight, she's still breathing, and I can feel her heartbeat, but..." "Oh dear, whatever has happened to your friend?" The mellifluous voice oozed through the cave like an eel through water. Down steps hewn from the rock came a lithe creature, standing upright like a Diamond Dog but feline, feminine, and three times the height of a pony. Her furred robe, a patchwork made from the coats of numerous creatures, dragged over the stone behind her, its edges frayed and ratty. The claws of her toes clicked against the floor. A mosaic of ribbons and mismatched shreds of cloth shot through her wild hair. Eyes with vertical pupils narrowed, and she grinned, showing her fangs. "Catrina." The name fell like glass shards from Rarity's mouth. "How dreadful," Catrina purred, dumping Spike unceremoniously to the ground. He didn't move. "Spike!" Twilight cried, rushing to him. She picked him up, cradling him, and he groaned as she moved him. Whatever had happened to Rainbow Dash, it hadn't affected Spike. "What'd you do to Rainbow Dash, ya skunk?" Applejack shouted. "Language, Applejack," Catrina hissed, lightning flashing in her eyes. "Know your place. Don't go taking it out on me if your friend had one shock too many." She stepped past the comatose Rainbow Dash and into the center of the cavern. "Rainbow Dash isn't the type of pony to scare easily," Twilight said, blinking away tears as she glared at the sorceress. "What did you do to her?" "Oh, what does it matter, you stupid ponies?" Catrina shrugged, extending her arms gracefully. She nodded at Spike and flicked a small metal item onto the ground, where it clinked against the rock before Twilight scooped it up in her magic. She spared it a glance and gasped. "But this is..." "You got what you came for," Catrina said, licking her lips as she looked them over. "And I surrender." Pinkie's eyes bugged out of her head. "Wait, you what?" She turned to look at Fluttershy. "Can she really do that?" Fluttershy only shrugged. Catrina, smile never leaving her lips, crossed her hands at the wrist. "Arrest me."