Twilight let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the town in the distance. Civilization. Finally. “Come on girls, just a little more.”
“Hold it!” Sweetie said, pulling the alicorn back by her tail.
Twilight sighed and glared at her. “What? I don't see any problem.”
“You don't?” the unicorn asked before motioning to her wings. “How about the fact we're still on the run and we don't want Trixie to know where we are?”
There was a momentary pause, before the alicorn nodded. “Right. I guess... yeah.” She glanced back towards the small town mournfully. “But... but civilization.”
“Don't worry, I've got an idea,” Sweetie said before grinning. “Just trust me.”
------
Twilight glared at the three ponies who were struggling, in vain, to suppress their laughter. “Really? This is the best you could come up with?”
“Well, y-your wings are hidden a-at least,” Scootaloo said as she held a hoof over her mouth.
“I look like an idiot!” Twilight snapped. “And I'm all... sticky! It's gross!” She was covered in one of the cotton candy clouds, which was wrapped around her torso. A smaller one was now resting on her head. Every step made chocolate milk splash down.
“Yah know, considering some of the things we've s-seen the last few days, y-yah don't look h-half bad,” Flowerbloom managed to say, her hoof barely managing to suppress her giggles.
“I look like a giant pink marshmallow,” she said with a growl.
“But you know what you don't look like?” Scootaloo asked with a grin.
“What?”
“An alicorn.”
Twilight blinked a few times before letting out a sigh. “Fine. Just... just fine. Come on, let's go.” She started walking towards the town. After a few seconds she realized the others weren't following her. She glanced back. “What's wrong?”
“Well, errr, Twilight,” Sweetie said with a nervous grin. “You know we respect you a lot, right?”
“Yes,” she said suspiciously.
“And we think you're really amazing and awesome, right?”
“Well, I didn't but I do appreciate the sentiment.”
The princess nodded. “Knowing that, please don't get mad. We just think, well... you should be following us.”
“What?” Twilight asked, taken aback. But she was the leader, how could she be following them?
“It's just, well... you're wearing a cotton candy cloud and covered in chocolate rain. I think it might be best if you just kind of... seem like our strange friend who follows us around. If we look like we're taking orders from you, well, ponies might get suspicious.”
Twilight opened her mouth to object, but slowly let out a sigh. “No. No no. You're right. It makes... complete sense.” She gritted her teeth and glared. “But I do want you three to know. As of this moment, I swear. I will get you back for this. Mark my words.”
The three chuckled nervously before walking forward.
Twilight started to follow before pausing. “Spike?” She glanced back. The dragon was sitting by a candycorn tree. “Aren't you coming?”
“Dragon. If you think an alicorn will draw notice, a dragon is almost as bad.”
She paused for a few seconds before giving a nod. “Fine. We'll be back soon. Don't go anywhere, okay?”
He rolled his eyes. “Where would I go?”
She nodded before turning after the others and galloping after them.
The town was small and, unfortunately, quite damaged. There were ruins from where some homes had been burned or torn apart. Almost all of the standing buildings seemed to be new or, if not, had plenty of new parts attached to them. It was very confusing to the alicorn.
Then she saw a deep hole in the ground, shaped like a mighty paw. It was filled in with water now and starting to grow over with grass. She shivered and looked to the right, towards the mountains. A little over a year ago, Trixie had led her army through this small town. With her great ursa minor leading the charge. The ponies here couldn't have stood a chance. How many died? How many were imprisoned? How many lost everything? How ma--
Her trail of thought was blown off course as a little cinnamon tornado suddenly sprang to life besides them and started swirling against them. The ponies shrieked and tried covering their faces, but it was too late. The smell and taste of cinnamon was all around them, making them hack and cough, shaking their manes. At least the cotton candy now had an extra seasoning.
“You'd best be careful,” a voice called out. “Those things like to spring up around here all the time. Makes repairs a mighty big problem.”
Twilight finally cleared her vision and looked up, seeing the source of the sound. A stallion was standing outside one of the houses, holding a spear. He didn't look pleased to see them at all.
“Err, hello,” Sweetie said quickly, bowing her head politely. “We're travelers looking for--”
“If you're looking for food or shelter, you won't find any here,” the stallion interrupted. “We don't have much, but we aren't about to lose what we have.”
The unicorn gulped and shook her head. “N-no, not at all.” She was all too aware that other ponies were staring at them from the few windows in the town. He was the only one openly armed, but who knew how many arrows or spears were aimed at them now? She didn't want to find out. “We're merely looking for directions. We don't mean you any harm.”
“Directions? Follow the road. Leads straight out of town. Best directions you'll be getting for a while.”
Sweetie nodded. “Please, we're merely looking for a town. It's called Ponyville. We've lost our map.”
The stallion paused and rubbed his chin. “Ponyville?” It took a few moments before his eyes went wide and he took a step back. “Y-you mean that blasted place?” His gaze turned to Twilight. “D-do you work for Discord? For the Water Nation?” The terror was heavy in his voice and he quickly tossed down his spear. “L-listen, we don't want any trouble. We're just trying to make ends meet, you know? Lots of ponies trying to steal these days, we're looking out for ourselves. Didn't mean to threaten you or anything.”
The ponies shared looks, before Sweetie nodded. “All we want is directions to Ponyville. That's it.”
“That way!” he said, pointing east, towards the mountains. “There's an old road. It's faded a lot, but it has been used a few times in the last year. If you keep an eye out for it, you'll find it easily.”
Sweetie nodded before turning back the way they came. “Thank you. That's all we need. Come along,” she said quickly before they started quickly trotting. The group felt the eyes on them the entire way.
“That was... strange,” Scootaloo said softly once they were out of the town.
“They were terrified,” Twilight mumbled. “Did you see the look he made when he saw me?”
Scootaloo nodded. “Yeah. You look like... well, you look really silly. I've seen more intimidating baby bunnies. But he looked as if he was staring at a manticore.”
Twilight took a slow, deep breath before walking faster. “Let's go. Things are... things are a lot worse than I'd feared.” She looked ahead and stumbled, her eyes widening. “Spike? SPIKE! Where are you!” She galloped forward, panic rising within her. They were only gone a few minutes, where was he, they couldn't lose him already! She'd only--
“I'm right here,” the dragon said from behind a tree, glancing up. He let out a yelp as he was pulled into the air and brought to the avatar's waiting hooves.
“Don't do that! I was worried sick, I thought you'd... well...”
“I didn't do anything,” the dragon objected.
“Just don't do it again,” Twilight said firmly before letting the confused dragon down. “And ummm, stay hidden by me. We'll be heading east towards the road and I don't want anypony seeing you. As terrified as they are of Discord, there's no telling what they'll do if they think we're... his enemies.” She glanced back sadly. “Look at how small it is, they must have suffered greatly in the last few years.”
“I think everypony has,” Scootaloo mumbled softly.
“I suppose that's true,” Twilight said softly. “But there is no way a town of that size could have supported them for the last hundred years during the cold. How many more of them must there have been before my return? Before... everything that happened?”
There was a moment of silence as the ponies looked over at the town. A few miniature cinnamon tornadoes gently moved across the road.
“Come on, let's go. Next stop, Ponyville,” Twilight mumbled before they started walking yet again.
------
Discord frowned as he looked over the field of--
“Oh no you don't. No hints.” Snap.
------
Twilight gaped, staring at the... well... she was just in awe.
“That's a LOT of cotton candy,” Spike muttered. “I mean, wow. I don't even think Pinkie could eat that.”
“I think that could EAT Pinkie,” Scootaloo mumbled as she stared at it.
Finding the road to Ponyville hadn't been difficult. In fact, finding the mountain holding it had been almost as easy, as it was one of the few that didn't appear to be made of ice cream. It stood beside one made of nougat. What they didn't expect, however, was the giant mass of cotton candy clouds that they assumed was keeping it safe.
“I mean, they had one during the eternal night,” Twilight said softly. “Well, not quite one like this. But they had a lot of cloud cover. Maybe it's something similar?” Her eyes widened. “W-what if they... what if they're trapped inside it?” She started to charge forward.
“Wait, your disguise!” Sweetie yelled.
The alicorn paused, before shaking her head. “No. I won't need it here. I know these ponies, trust these ponies. They were there when I first arrived and...” She paused. “Well... I guess they aren't the best. But my friends grew up here. They'll help us.”
“Are yah sure?” Flowerbloom asked. “Ah mean, Discord has been runnin' amok.”
Twilight nodded slowly, before sighing. “Well, I can't hide forever. I... don't want these ponies to be afraid too. So this time, I'm going to show myself.”
They slowly nodded before walking forward. She used her air bending to push the candy aside and it quickly spread out. They trotted through a wide, dark tunnel of pink. It began to harden soon enough, but still gave way to her air bending.
Then they were through. Behind the shell of cotton candy was darkness, the sun unable to penetrate through the thick barrier of sugary treat. The air was stuffy and the shell was hard. However, there were torches lit all around. More importantly, the buildings were still there. But, most important of all, were the ponies. There were a few dozen of them. She didn't know many of their names, but they were there. Turning to her and looking shocked. A wide grin formed on her face.
“Citizens of Ponyville, I--” Her words were cut off as a stone smacked into her face. “Ow! Hey, who threw that!”
“Get out of here, stranger! We don't want your kind near us! This is our city, ours! Find your own!”
Twilight took a step back, her mouth falling open. “But, I, I'm not a stranger. It's... it's me! Twilight! The Avatar! I'm here for--”
More stones started raining on them, though Flowerbloom waved her hoof and they started flying to the side. “Get out of here!”
“We don't want no stinkin' Avatar here!”
“Leave us alone!”
Twilight's mouth fell open. “But I, I didn't—” Then her eyes fell on it. Near the center of the courtyard. Fluttershy. Her statue was resting on its side. But it was covered in filth. Trash, paint, rotten vegetables. It was filthy. Abused. “What... what have you done to Fluttershy's statue?” Her friend was here. These... these ponies had defaced it.
“GO AWAY!” The ponies had gotten smarter and started throwing sticks and a few had gotten clubs from their homes. Twilight shrieked and motioned back the way they came.
“Go go go!” she yelled. The others took one look at the mob before turning and running out. The mob stopped before the cloud cover, closing the cotton candy behind.
The ponies and dragon ran through the tunnel, skidding to a stop once outside the mass. Gasping for air, they dropped to the ground and looked between each other. “T-that was, they were NOT friendly!” Scootaloo said quickly.
“I-I noticed,” Twilight said gently. “They were just, they... did you see what they did to Fluttershy's statue? She was born there and they just defaced her. How could those ponies do that? She was one of them!”
“I don't know, Discord must have... done something,” Sweetie said softly, before looking back. “What do we do? How do we get to her if those ponies just attack us the moment we get near?” She gave a nervous smile. “We... could try fighting them off? I mean, they—”
“No,” Twilight said with a shake of her head. “Bending might work, but we could hurt them. Those ponies, well, Discord is controlling them, they've suffered enough. I don't want to have to hurt them.”
“So what do yah wanna do?” Flowerbloom asked.
“I'll have to... lure them off somehow, I guess. Maybe? I could try... do you think you'd be able to get the statue if I drew their attention?”
Sweetie rolled her eyes. “We'll draw their attention, yah can get the statue.”
“But it could be dangerous! If they attack--”
“There's three of us,” Flowerbloom interrupted. “An' we all know how tah take care of ourselves. Yah get the statue an' we'll lead 'em on a wild goose chase. Easy as pie.”
Twilight shuffled from hoof to hoof. “But I don't--”
“We're here to help you,” Scootaloo said firmly. “You need to work on rescuing your friend anyway. Just leave the distraction to us. A couple of civilians with stones and sticks aren't going to do any real damage to us.”
The alicorn let out a slow sigh, before nodding. “Very well. I... trust you. Thank you.”
The ponies nodded before turning to the mass of cotton candy. “Well then, girls, got any plans?” Sweetie asked.
“Well, ah've got one idea on how tah get their attention,” Flowerbloom said with a grin. “Ah think we'd better get ready tah run though, if we do.”
Sweetie nodded and pulled out her small canteen of water. “Then I suppose we'd best get to work.” She glanced to Twilight. “Make a cave or something you can hide in, where they won't see you.”
------
The cocoon of cotton candy stood thick and strong, towering over the small town and keeping it very warm thanks to the torches and the very low amount of air circulation. It had been standing strong for months, every since the new clouds had appeared.
So it was cause of great alarm when the cocoon suddenly had a long, narrow slit cross across it from one end to the other. A moment later the ground began to rumble and then shot up around them. When it lowered again, the great cocoon of cotton candy was sailing through the air, breaking apart and billowing lightly in the wind, while some of the harder parts rained down and mildly bruised the occasional ponies. The sudden rush of fresh air surged through the town, extinguishing the torches.
The citizens of Ponyville stood in horror, looking around at the strange world. Once again they were vulnerable and exposed. Their eyes fell on the three mares who stood down the road, grins on their face.
“Hey! You Ponyville losers! Ummm... your teams suck!” Scootaloo yelled.
“Teams?” Sweetie asked, cocking an eye.
“I don't know. Armies? Fighters? Do they even have anything here? It's not really big.”
“Well, maybe they have some kind of... mining thing? There has to be some reason for a town to be up in these mountains. It wouldn't just appear here for the sake of being here.”
“It's in the mountains, so they probably have a lot of fliers,” Scootaloo offered. “That probably means they have a team of them or something.”
“I don't think competitive flying has been done here in years,” Sweetie said with a shake of her head. “The weather hasn't exactly good for it. Some of the larger cities--”
“Girls, not to interrupt, but it might be time tah run,” Flowerbloom said as she furiously motioned forward. The ponies were getting over their surprise and were now gathering whatever they had available. Sticks, stones, pitchforks(because all small towns have them) and extinguished torches.
The three stared for a moment as the herd of gathered ponies grabbed whatever they could, before surging forward. “AHHHHHH!” they screamed as they ran from the angry rioting crowd.
Twilight stared for a moment, her mouth falling open. She was in a small cave she'd bent into the mountain, standing besides Spike. The crowd soon disappeared down the path and she rolled her eyes. “They said they had it under control.”
“They do,” Spike said with a shrug. “Come on, let's go.”
She nodded and they trotted towards the abandoned town. The sound of hooves suddenly made her eyes widen and she grabbed Spike, dragging him back behind the cover of one of the houses. She peered around the corner and soon saw another pony, standing with her back to them.
“It's only one pony,” Spike mumbled. “Just grab the statue and go.”
“But, they'll chase and...” Twilight trailed off and looked back. She then shook her head. She waved a hoof and the pony was suddenly trapped in a small done of earth, complete with a few air holes. “Sorry!” It wouldn't last long, but it would last long enough. She galloped to the statue and looked down at it. She wiped a bit of the mess off, but there was just so much of it.
“Come on, let's go,” Spike whispered. “They can't keep them distracted forever.”
“Right, hold on,” she said before leaning forward. She was tugged back.
“What are you doing?”
“I'm trying to form a bond with her. If I can talk with her, I can--”
“What if they come back while you're still doing that?” Spike asked, glaring at her.
She paused and slowly nodded. “Oh. Right.”
“Yes, right. Let's grab it and go.”
Twilight nodded. She could hear the imprisoned pony trying to break free. She pushed a hoof forward and the ground under the statue began to roll forward. She paused for a second. “Wait, where's Angel?”
“Who?”
“Her baby bunny. Shouldn't it be with her?” But there were no other statues. Just Fluttershy's.
“Maybe? I don't know! Let's go!” Spike said quickly.
Twilight nodded and pushed the statue. The ground rolled with it and, quickly, they drew the statue away from the town. She pulled it into the cave she'd made and set it upright, staring at her friend.
The statue still had her element around her neck, though it was stone as well as cracked. They truly had lost. But fortunately, they had a do over. She pushed a hoof and the cave's entrance closed behind them. Her horn lit up, giving them light. “Are you going to be okay?” she asked, glancing to the dragon.
“I'll be fine. Just try to make it quick.”
Twilight nodded and looked at her friend. She'd managed to break free of Discord's control, but only thanks to the previous avatars. Without them, she'd have been stuck, possibly forever. Such powerful magic wasn't something that could be easily repelled alone. But, they were friends. That meant they never had to be alone.
She put her horn against her friend's forehead and closed her eyes. There was a gentle glow of magic before she felt herself be pulled slowly in.
She had only a second before the darkness devoured her, muffling her screams of fright.