//------------------------------// // A New Land // Story: One Last Mission // by Show Stopper //------------------------------// Chapter 9: A New Land The sun had just reached its zenith when a lone pony burst out of the Everfree in a panic, stumbling forward for a few yards before tripping on his own hooves. He looked behind him as he got up, eyes wide with terror. There they were, right at the edge of the forest. Drool dripped from their mouths as they gnashed their wooden teeth. The timberwolves growled and barked as they glared at the unicorn. As the pony stood, his breathing started to calm. "Heh... hehe..." He started chuckling. It grew slowly into a chortle and from there quickly escalated into howls of laughter. "HAHA! Ha ha ha HA! It's true! It's true, you mangy mutts! You can't leave the forest! Not on the Equestrian side, and not here! Take that! Ha ha HA!" With a final glare at the wooden monsters, he turned away and fell flat on his face. He groaned as he struggled to rise. His trip through the Everfree Forest hadn't been an easy one, and after two weeks of avoiding and running from predators he was running on fumes. He pulled himself shakily to his hooves and forced himself onward, stumbling of into the tall golden grass that stretched as far as the eye could see. ###### The Everfree Forest was unusually quiet. The predators that normally stalked these woods cowered in fear while less hostile animals gave reverence. A great force was moving through their home, the likes of which had not been known for a decade. A group of seven ponies walked almost casually along a long abandoned path, barely even a game trail now. While the earth ponies seemed strong, and unicorns were always a concern because of their magic, it was one of the pegasi who drew the attention of every creature in the area. They didn't even need to see her; her force of presence was enough for them to know exactly who she was, and what great power she could unleash if she so desired. "It shouldn't be much further now," said Fluttershy to the rest of the group. "The trees are starting to thin out a little, and I've been seeing fewer tracks from large animals. They usually try to stay further from the edge of their habitats." Fluttershy had surprised everypony during this past week. Almost as soon as they'd entered the forest she had taken the lead. Her confidence had grown with every step she'd taken into the ominous woods, and she'd spent much of the trip commenting on the surrounding flora and local fauna with an excited energy that could rival Pinkie's. Show looked up to confirm that yes, the canopy was thinning out and letting in a lot more light than it had since they'd started their journey. "Figures," he muttered to himself. "What's wrong?" asked Twilight, who was walking beside him. "I've been through the Everfree a couple of times myself," said Show, "and each time I was attacked time and time again by predators. I thought that that was the norm, but apparently I was just horribly unlucky. Twice." Twilight chuckled. "You had it right the first time," she said. "If it weren't for Fluttershy, we'd probably be doing the same." Show just shook his head incredulously. "I'm sorry, but I still refuse to believe that nothing that the Crusaders told me was an exaggeration. Nopony is so good with animals that they know instinctively not to mess with her. After an encounter, maybe, but we haven't seen hide nor hair of a hostile creature this entire week." "You're really complainin' that we ain't been attacked?" asked Applejack from behind. Show sighed. "I guess not. Just lamenting how harrowing my journeys were. The wounds of the flesh have long since healed, but the mind is not so easily recovered." Seeing Twilight's deadpan expression he rolled his eyes. "I'm doing it again, aren't I?" Twilight nodded, chuckling again. It was something that all of the girls had noticed as soon as they'd entered the Everfree. Show had proclaimed their first time outside of HQ that he was his "true self" outside of the wall, and all of them had been looking forward to seeing what he was really like. Dramatic was a good word for it. Not overly dramatic like Rarity was with her fainting couch, but rather constantly throwing out dramatic and theatrical phrases to say what was on his mind. It had first come out when he'd noticed Fluttershy taking the lead. He had expressed his surprise to Rarity at the time, referring to her as, "the warrior of the wilds, hidden within her own insecurity when away from her natural battlefield," and again to Twilight as having, "removed her mask of demure to reveal the proud lioness who sleeps below." This had caused a few blushes from Fluttershy and a number of suspicious glances from her friends. The perception of wooing lasted only a short time, however, as they all soon realized that he spoke that way about almost everything. A troublesome thorn bush became "that tangle of vines having grown the teeth of imps." An impressively large oak was dubbed, "surely, the king of this wood, and the father of the forest." Even the background sound of insects at night was noted as, "the natural symphony of the eventide." Amazingly, he didn't even seem to realize that he was doing it. It didn't sound forced or awkward, just overly poetic. When asked about it, he'd just shrugged and attributed it to years in the theatre. "Oh, look!" called Fluttershy from the front. "There's the edge of the forest." "Finally!" shouted Rainbow. She immediately leapt into the air, speeding ahead of the group and out into the open sky. The others were right behind her, eager to be out of the confining forest. They stood just beyond the treeline for a while, gazing at the sight before them. Grasslands spread out as far as the eye could see in every direction. No trees or cities could be seen to break up the endless expanse of gold. Rainbow glid down, grinning from ear to ear at the chance to fly again. "See anythin' but grass from up there, RD?" asked Applejack. "Um, yeah," said Rainbow, tapping her chin. "It looked like there was a city or a town or something a few hours from here." "That would be Equestria Minor," said Show. "We should be able to reach it before dark. But first, some lunch." He bent down and started grazing. Most everypony groaned as they joined him. They'd been grazing every meal since they entered the Everfree, and while this prairie grass offered a new taste, it was still bitter. Rarity had been the most vocal in complaining against it, but Show had shut her down quickly, reminding them all that they would need their scant supplies in the winter and on then mountains ahead. Once they finished their lunch, they started off again, heading north-west with Rainbow flying up several times to make sure that they were still on course. And if she spent a little longer in the air then was strictly necessary, hey, she hadn't been in the open sky once in the last week. Even Fluttershy decided to take a few short flights to stretch her wings. As the sun began to set, the ponies finally saw something silhouetted against the red and orange sky. By the time the sun had fully fallen behind the horizon, they found themselves on the outskirts of a large town. Getting into "tour guide mode", Show gestured widely as he led them into town. "Ladies, welcome to Equestria Minor, the easternmost changeling city, and primary trading point between changelings and Equestrians!" It looked just like he remembered it: comfy looking houses with thatched roofs, flower gardens everywhere, and a huge central market. in fact, it look almost like... "It looks just like Ponyville," said Twilight before wincing. "Or at least, like Ponyville used to look." "Well what were you expecting?" asked Show. "A giant beehive?" He chuckled as the girls suddenly found the sky, ground, and surrounding buildings to be very interesting. "Bigger market, though," Applejack noted as they reached the center of town. She looked around at all of the ponies finishing up business for the night. "An' I don't see any changelin's around." "Well of course the market's bigger," replied Show. "The changeling nation is a nation of commerce and trade. Even the small towns have impressive markets. Just wait until we reach The Hub. Then you'll see what a real market looks like!" "The Hub?" asked Pinkie, quirking an eyebrow. "Isn't that trademarked? Are you allowed to say that?" Show's face went blank as he stared at her. He finally turned to Rainbow. "Translation?" Rainbow smirked. "Don't worry about it," she said. "That's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie." Not sure whether that was good or bad, Show shrugged and continued explaining. "The Hub is what they call the changeling capitol. It has an actual name, but if I ever knew it, then I forgot it. Any questions?" "Yeah," said Applejack. "I already mentioned it, but why ain't there any changelin's around? All I see are ponies." "And it looks like there's and even ration of unicorns to pegasi to earth ponies here," added Twilight. "Were the unicorns not affected by Discord's influence?" "Not at all," said Show. "See, the unicorns here have a couple of tricks to keep his influence away. First of all, Discord's control only goes as far as the Equestrian border. Some sort of energy field is keeping it contained." "So that's what I sensed a few days ago," muttered Twilight. "It was so feint, I thought I'd imagined it. So what's the other trick?" "Well that's the clever one," said Show. "You see, Discord's control only extends to unicorns, right?" The girls nodded, and Show pointed to a unicorn mare who was hitching herself up to a cart of oranges. In a flash of green flame, the mare lost her horn and grew wings, taking flight with her cart. "As you can see," continued Show, "they aren't unicorns. You, me, and Rarity are the only unicorns in this city." The girls all tensed up and Fluttershy began shaking. "Y-you mean, we're s-surrounded b-by ch-changelings?" she stammered. Show rolled his eyes. "Yes, and they're probably more afraid of us than we are of them," he said. "Really?" asked Rarity. "Why-ever would they be afraid of us?" "Let's see," said Show, looking up contemplatively. "Seven year civil war, three unicorns who may or may not be under Discord's control, six mares who look very familiar to anyling who was part of the Canterlot invasion..." he trailed off and shrugged. "Nope, can't see a single reason for them to be afraid." The girls took another look around and were surprised to see that Show was right. Everypony, or everyling, was staring wide-eyed at them, looking quickly away when their eyes met. Everyling seemed to be in a hurry to finish their business and be on their way. Show and the girls eventually reached a small inn on the western side of the city. Walking in, they found a brown "earth pony" with a dark red mane and tail reading a newspaper behind the check-in desk. "Good evening sir," said Show. "Three rooms for one night, please. Put it on my tab." The pony lowered his paper and was surprised to see seven ponies in his inn. "You're joking," he said, "right? I can't remember the last time an Equestrian had a tab here." "Really?" asked Show. "Because I can. Seven years ago there was a unicorn with tabs ranging from here to Dragon's Crossing. I believe his name was Show Stopper?" It took a moment, but recognition finally dawned. "Show Stopper?" he exclaimed. "The famous actor who disappeared all those years ago? It's been so long I didn't recognize you!" Show sighed theatrically, putting his hoof to his forehead. "Alas! Fame is fleeting, it seems. Wait," he put his hoof down, "what do you mean, 'disappeared'? I told everyling that I was going back to Equestria." "Maybe," grunted the pony, smirking, "but 'disappeared mysteriously' sounds a heck of a lot better than 'marched off to die in a civil war'." Show laughed. "Good point," he admitted. "Just as well. That'll make my come-back all the more dramatic." "Comeback?" asked the pony. "You're back to stay, then?" Show shook his head. "Only for a while, I'm afraid. I'm just taking these six up to see the queen." The pony looked over the six and nodded. "Well, I wish you luck with that. Three rooms it is, on the house." Show grinned and bowed deeply. "Good sir, I thank thee" he said, voice wavering, "you do us a great kindness. Your generosity is unmatched save by that of her bearer alone." Six sets of eyes rolled as the pony laughed, tossing the keys across the counter. "Go on then!" he said. "Straight upstairs and first four doors on the left." They all thanked him once more before splitting off, Applejack with Rainbow Dash, Rarity with Fluttershy, and Twilight with Pinkie Pie. Show sighed happily as he lay down alone in his room. His journal could wait for the morning. Right now, he was just happy to be back amongst the changelings. "There's no place like home," he murmured before drifting off into peaceful sleep. ###### A group of black figures flew through the early night, the sun having just set. They moved east, determined to reach the forest that marked their border that evening. "Hey, Twitch!" one of them yelled over the wind. "You see that down there?" Twitch, the changeling in charge of this expedition, looked down to where his flight-mate was pointing. In the tall grass below them, he saw a brown light flickering on and off. "Is that what I think it is?" he asked incredulously. "Looks like it, sir," the other changeling replied. "But what's a unicorn doing out on this side of the Everfree?" Twitch continued to watch the light as it blinked on and off erratically. Finally flickered off and didn't come back on. After a minute of waiting, Twitch turned to the rest of the group. "Slight detour!" he shouted. "Looks like there's a unicorn down there who needs help. Let's find him and get him back to Eqestria Minor!" The other changelings nodded and dove towards the tall grass below, lighting their horns to aid in their search. Soon enough, Twitch heard one of them calling out that she'd found him. He zipped over to see several of his changelings surrounding an unconsious brown unicorn, his black mane and tail long and tangled. Twitch grabbed the unicorn in his forelegs, pulling him into the air. "Let's go, everyling," he called. "This pony needs medical attention." Everyling nodded and they took again to the sky, altering their course towards Equestria Minor. "Hang in there, kid," muttered Twitch. "We'll take care of you. Welcome to changeling territory."