//------------------------------// // While We Think // Story: Ponyblade Chronicles // by ZeroChill //------------------------------// The sun set below the horizon, allowing the moon to have dominion over the sky. Though it was dark out, the patches of grass retained a darker shade of green. The waters that fell roared and the plains were filled with bright lights illuminated from giant insects. Shulk, Reyn, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Sharla and Rainbow Dash walked down the path towards the mountain pass beyond the crossing rivers. Ultimately, Shulk let out an exhausted sigh and sat on the ground with his hands anchoring his body. “As much as I don’t want to say it, we need to set up camp for the night here.” He stated. “Is there a particular reason why, Shulk? We’ve traveled at night before.” Cocking her head slightly, Twilight Sparkle asked. “It was one time, but we shouldn’t get used to doing that. We need to conserve our energy for fighting the Mechon tomorrow. It’ll give us time to think about how we can beat the Bronze Face.” Shulk reasoned, letting out a yawn. “You have a point.” Sharla responded in agreement, stretching her arms upwards and bending her hand over to her mouth as she yawned. “We know that the Bronze Mechon is at the colony guarding Juju. If we just rush in right now without a strategy, then we will lose and we will be dead.” A spell of exhaustion overcame the group; everyone started yawning. Their eyes began to fall. “Sleeping does sound good right about now.” Rainbow Dash admitted, lowering herself onto the stone ground underneath. “Plus, I want to know more about how you four were doing before we met.” “Stories of our pasts seem like a good way to get to know each other better.” Applejack said, sitting down on the ground. “Agreed, Applejack. I want to hear more about this Equestria you three lived in.” Reyn stated, rotating his shoulders. Upon a rocky platform two rivers, a bright fire stood in the center surrounded by the ponies and Homs sitting down. Reyn looked towards his diagonal right to Applejack. “Applejack, what’s it like being an apple farmer?” Reyn asked. Applejack sighed contently at the thoughts of the question. “There’s nothing more like getting up at the crack of dawn to see your family all ready to start their days. My brother gets his plow ready to begin sowing seeds for the new season, Applebloom heads off to school, Granny Smith makes some pancakes with kick for everypony and Winona to eat and I go out into the fields to buck apples.” She stated. “Wait, Winona? I’ve never heard of you talk about any Winona.” Reyn commented. “Winona’s my family’s dog. She’s faithful to the family and herds the critters around home. I wonder where she’s at right now.” Applejack said. Reyn chuckled a bit, hearing Applejack’s words. “Even the dog helps to farm. What’s next, the cows can milk themselves and the sheep shear themselves?” He asked with a bombastic tone. “Actually, the cows and sheep pay rent on the farm.” With her eyes closed, Applejack proudly said. “Oy, that’s a bit weird.” Scratching the back of his head, Reyn responded. “But, that’s enough from me right now, Reyn. I want to hear more about how life was like for you growing up.” Applejack asked. “Many people say that I make a good guardian for stuff. When we were kids, Shulk used to be picked on all the time because of his robot-like interests. Of course, Fiora and I stepped up and protected him. It was from that point where we became the closest friends.” Reyn told. Hearing these words, Shulk stared deeply into the fire, breathing calmly. “Just the three of us… I remember the times when you and I would get into trouble, and then Fiora would bail us out but scold us for our actions. Those were very good times.” Twilight Sparkle looked across towards Sharla, who eyed the sky with a glimmer in her eyes. “Sharla, would you mind telling me just how you and a handful of people survived against the Mechon? Those are some fearsome enemies.” She asked. Sharla snapped back into existence and glanced towards her left. “I have Gadolt and Otharon to thank for personally allowing Juju and me to leave safely. I just really hope that they are okay…” She explained. “Otharon is like a father to me. He taught me everything I know about giving medical attention. Gadolt is my fiancée, a wonderful friend and a great father figure for Juju. We were engaged to marry each other before the Mechon attacked our colony.” Twilight Sparkle’s lips curled down into a slight frown. “So that’s why Juju was very intent on going back to Colony 6, and why you hate the Mechon. They took away your home and your family. But, don’t give up hope, Sharla. I know they are still alive.” She said. “Those words mean a lot to me, Twilight. Thank you.” Sharla softly said. She looked towards Reyn. “Though, when I look at Reyn, I can’t help but see a bit of Gadolt in him. He definitely has his stubbornness.” Twilight Sparkle and Sharla both exchanged smiles with each other. Reyn huffed a bit in response to her words. “At least she’s telling the truth on how she feels about you, Reyn.” Applejack said. “I know, but I feel like a replacement goldfish for someone, now.” Reyn responded. Shulk glanced over towards Rainbow Dash, who occasionally tapped her right front hoof on the ground. Her eyes and mouth were dropped into a bored expression. “Rainbow Dash, I couldn’t help but notice those lightning bolts you shot out of clouds while we were hunting Leg Piranhaxes. It looked a bit unusual.” Shulk said. Rainbow Dash’s head jetted up and looked towards him. She smiled confidently. “I’m a pegasus. I’m pretty sure Twi already told you what pegasi are capable of, right?” She asked. “Now that you mention it, I do recall that she said something about pegasi being able to manipulate weather conditions back in your world. If I remember correctly, pegasi are responsible for rain, wind, lightning and other conditions.” Shulk responded. “We do this by manipulating the moisture that comes to Cloudsdale and turn them into clouds by weather factories. On a smaller-scale, pegasi can generate clouds by pooling together moisture. But, it will never be on the same level as how weather factories can produce clouds.” Rainbow Dash continued. “If I can go into your world, Rainbow Dash, I would love to explore how these machines of yours work in Cloudsdale.” Shulk stated, smiling lowly. “That’s another thing in my thoughts that will keep me up in the night.” Rainbow Dash cackled a bit under her breath, her funny bone being struck by the nature of Shulk’s words. “Yeah… good luck with that, Shulk. Unless if you are a pegasus or know a unicorn with a cloud-walking spell, you can’t even go into Cloudsdale. Well, you can, but not without falling through the clouds.” “I’m sure Twilight would be able to provide me with such a spell. She does know it, right?” Shulk reasoned. Twilight Sparkle turned her head to the beck and call of her name. “It’s one of the spells I used to allow my friends to enter Cloudsdale to watch the Young Flier’s Competition in Cloudsdale about a year ago. If you do somehow go there, I will be more than happy to provide you with a cloud-walking spell, Shulk.” She said. “You heard her, Rainbow Dash. It looks like I would be capable of exploring through the machinery to see what makes them able to produce clouds and see how they differ from each other in performance.” Shulk happily responded. Rainbow Dash let out a pained groan. “Not even Twilight was this interested in learning about how the machines work in Cloudsdale, since everypony knows how they work. You are such an egghead, Shulk.” She remarked. “You’re saying it as if your machines are not foreign to my eyes. I could say the same thing about some of the lasers back in Colony 9 and you would wonder how they would do them without the use of the unicorn’s horn.” Shulk retorted. Rainbow Dash opened her mouth for a second until a random thought entered within her head, causing her to close her mouth, cross her front legs and looked at him with annoyed eyes. “Touché, Shulk. Touché.” She said. Shulk eyed Rainbow Dash with a soft smile on his face. When looking at her, a drop of realization came upon him. “That’s it!” He shouted, prompting the attention of everyone around the fire. “Did something come to you, Shulk?” Reyn asked. “Though the faced Mechon are impervious to the effects of the Monado, they aren’t impervious to the effects of our attacks. They aren’t invincible, which means we can still damage them through the strategies we would normally use against big Mechon. I know we can fight Bronze Face if we can topple it.” Shulk explained. “Bronze Face?” Twilight Sparkle asked. “We have encountered two faced Mechon, so I think that they should have different names to tell them apart. The black one will be known as ‘Metal Face’ and this one will be known as ‘Bronze Face’.” Shulk answered. “Ah, I see. And, yeah, it does make more sense to give them different identifications. After all, Bronze Face does act a bit different from Metal Face.” Twilight Sparkle said. From Reyn and Rainbow Dash, a powerful yawn emerged from both of their mouths. “I don’t know about you all, but I think I’m ready to go to sleep now.” Reyn stated. “I’m with you there, Reyn. We have to rest up for tomorrow, because that’s when we take Colony 6 from the Mechon by storm and save Juju and Applebloom.” Rainbow Dash added. “The moon is high up in the sky now. It would be a good time to sleep.” Twilight Sparkle stated. Everyone began lying down on the ground on their sides, looking up into the sky. A spell of exhaustion overcame each and every one of them. “Good night, everyone. May the Bionis be on our side tomorrow.” Shulk said before shutting his eyes. Juju slowly opened his eyes and saw the cavernous walls of a blue cave surrounding him. Directly below him was a pool of green liquid that flowed freely. His eyes jolted open from his hazy state. “Gah! Ether river!” He shouted, squirming fiercely. “Huh?” He found himself to not be falling down into the ether below. He also felt his arms stretched far and his legs bound together on a purple forcefield. “You woke up too, Juju?” Juju turned around to the source of the voice, where he saw Applebloom hoisted upon a purple barrier in a crucifix position like he was. He curled his eyebrows into an angry stare directed towards her. “I thought you would have stayed at the Refugee Camp! It is too dangerous for you to go out alone!” He shouted. “You should listen to your own advice! You’re the one that snuck out of the camp to come here. I just did what you did so that I can find my cutie mark in something I’m good at!” Applebloom retorted angrily. Then, she shied her head away from Juju and looked dejectedly below. “That mean machine caught me as I was following behind you and put me in this weird cell.” Juju looked into Applebloom’s face and heard a slight whimper coming from her. “Is… is everything alright, Applebloom?” He asked softly. A teardrop descended down Applebloom’s bottom eyelid and fell into the ether river. “Being held like this means that we are going to die, are we?” She asked in a dejected voice. “I don’t want to die. I don’t know where my friends are, and I don’t even have my cutie mark yet.” Looking downwards, Juju remained silent. His insides churned from hearing her fate, and his heart ripped in half when the moment he heard her regrets. He looked back towards Applebloom and smiled. “We won’t die, Applebloom. I know that Sharla’s going to rescue us.” He said. “I hope so. I hope that my sis and her friends rescue us.” Applebloom despondently said. “I hope they can free us from these cells, and I hope they save your colony. I hope that these Mechon are beaten as well, so that no one has to worry about them anymore.” “At this point, we still have hope and each other. Let us hold onto those for as long as possible.” Juju stated, looking up towards the giant drill hovering above them.