//------------------------------//
// 10 
// Story: Son of Eternity 
// by Secrets and Lies 
//------------------------------//


(10)






In the nestled country side between rolling green hills and dark forests' edge, Ponyville was winding down from a bustling, busy Saturday. The afternoon sun was suspended in a cloudless, warm Summer sky, and the rays of light bounced off the rooftops of the relaxing village. The wind blew ever so slightly and the town was ever so quiet. Days like these were rare. Not too hot and not too cold; when the air felt good to breath and nothing in the world was more relaxing than just taking in a deep breath of clean, hardy country air. Smiling, friendly folk that would walk by would always give a friendly wave or tip of the hat, some would even strike up a conversation just to have an excuse to stop and take in that crisp, refreshing air. The smell of freshly cut lawns, cherry wood, and a hint of cheap chap stick lifted in the air, being carried in the wind, weaving through every alley and street. Noons like these are when the old mares and stallions sat out on their porches, with long time friendships with roots deeper than the largest trees in the Everfree Forest. They sat around and smoked bubble pipes, sipped on ice cold raspberry tea, and shot old tales back and forth with one another of when they were young, wild and crazy. The greatest entertainment in world was with each other, reminiscing about those, ‘good ol’ days’. Not a care in the world affected the village’s long time citizens and those by passers who took their time to smell the flowers. Life was slow, life was at ease. If there is a heaven, it might as well be this euphoric and steady place. 
In this moment, a moment that could only be described as the epitome of comfort, a light, slow and steady melody could be heard. The voice of a piano chimed in the calm air. It came from a moderately sized cottage near town square, through a wide open window in the closed bakery. Slow, focused keys being pressed ever so carefully along the musical instrument let out their crisp, clear notes. It filled the living room with an essence of life. Three ponies sat around in the room, two a couple, and one a pink little thing. The two were an older couple, a father and mother, while the other was a filly whom they called, Pinkie Pie.
The Cake’s had somewhat adopted Pinkie Pie into their family. Princess Celestia had asked them in advance if they wanted to keep her for a short time and they happily agreed to house the filly. At first, it seemed like more trouble for them, being that they already had one older, rebellious son named Carrot. A generous gift was given to Pinkie Pie from Princess Celestia on the day of her recent birthday, a beautiful, black grand piano, and free lessons for a year from Octavia herself, whether she liked it or not. Every two months, she would receive a new, classical music instrument from Celestia, and Pinkie loved this very much so. Octavia didn’t complain too much, she was getting paid five bits an hour; which isn’t much, but to a filly, this was a working pony’s salary. She would come over two days a week and spend about three hours teaching the pink pony musical instruments. The Carrot family didn’t mind this at all, Pinkie Pie was learning some beautiful pieces that she had picked up on in a matter of just a week. Her speed at learning how to play the piano shocked and pleased the Cakes greatly.
The stallion father had his eyes closed and his mouth exhibiting a relaxed smile. With one hoof he sipped on some spiced cider, and with the other hoof, orchestrated his invisible orchestra; he knew nothing about music, none of the Cakes did, but they sure did enjoy Pinkie’s new found talents. The mare mother showed the same facial expressions as her husband, only she swayed back and forth in her rocking chair, knitting some little hoof warmers for her new ‘adopted daughter’. 
Pinkie ended on a smooth note which ringed through the entire house. The Cakes lightly applauded her work and the dark, yellow coated stallion congratulated her on her performance. Pinkie turned and bowed, she bounced a little on her piano seat due to the excitement that had amassed in her. A new, light blue mane bow was tied neatly to the back of her poofy, pink hair. The bow matched perfectly with her eyes, which appeared like twin blue lakes in the morning sun light.  
“Bravo, Miss Pie. You’re getting better and better, you know," noted the husband.
“Oh, indeed,” piped in the misses. Her voice hinted a Northern, almost Canadian tone when comparing accents to geological locations on Earth, which contrasted with her husband’s deep, Southern drawl. 
She disposed with a wink, “I think her work needs to be rewarded! Don’t ya think, darling?“
“How about you two lovely ladies fix me up some of them cupcakes!” He let out a hardy laugh, as did the rest. Pinkie speedily hopped in beside the two who were on the same, yellow love seat.
She sputtered with a slowly rising higher pitch, “Ooo, ooo! Can we make cupcakes with vanilla frosting on them? With iddy-bittie, tinnie-weenie, itsy-bitsy chocolate chips on top?”
“Of course, darling! Sounds like a plan to me,” the creamed mare squeaked.
They both got up from the couch and headed towards the bakery part of the house. Mrs. Cake lead the way to the kitchen as Pinkie hopped behind, fluttering her little pink legs in the air as fast as she could.
Mrs. Cake informed the pink filly, “Now you stir these eggs and flour up as I find the rest of the ingredients.” 
As she searched the cupboards of her kitchen, Carrot made his way down stairs and headed towards the front door. Mrs. Cake knew where he was in the house and stopped him with her words before he could make his way out the door.
“Where ya going, dear?”
Carrot moaned, “I’m going to Cuppy’s house for a bit.”
“That’s your girlfriend, right?”
He groaned again, “Uh, yea! Where have you been?” Mrs. Cake never even made eye contact with Carrot as he stood impatiently at the door waiting for her response. She just took the bowl of batter from Pinkie and told her start a fire in the brick oven.
The mare mother softly replied, “Are her parent’s home? I don’t want you over there if her parent’s aren’t home!”
The young colt huffed, “Gezz, Mom! They’re there, okay! I wouldn’t do that stuff! Get your mind out'ta the stables!”
“Just making sure, dearie. Be home by eight, now ya hear?”
Carrot argued fiercely, “By eight! Are you crazy, mare? I ca–”
“By eight or you're grounded,” she quickly snapped with a stern spike over her once calm voice. 
Carrot mumbled something incoherent and slammed the front door, obviously conveying his childish attitude to the Cake household and to bystanders crossing the street. Mrs. Cake hummed softly in the kitchen, stirring the batter bowl while Mr. Cake skimmed through the local newspaper in the living room; they acted as if the event with their son didn’t even occur. Mrs. Cake leaned over next to Pinkie Pie, who was sitting at the bar, patiently awaiting her next role in the cupcake making process.
She handed her the cupcake batter covered whisk and confirmed, “That’s more cupcakes for you and me!”
She squealed with delight and stuck the cake battered spoon in her mouth. She let out a satisfying, “Mmmmmm...” as she sucked the whisk dry. She popped it out of her mouth and replied with a mouth full of batter, “Joost as pawanned!”


__________



There was a sudden knock at the door when the cupcakes were being pulled out of the oven by Mrs. Cake. Pinkie gasped in excitement, knowing who it was.
“Could you see who’s at the door, darling,” asked Mrs. Cake, who was topping the freshly baked cupcakes with vanilla icing. Pinkie was already at the door when Mrs. Cake had finished her sentence. The pink filly swung the door open to see her schoolmate, Applejack.
“Hay there, Pinkie Pie” Applejack greeted, tipping her cowgirl hat in respect.
She happily replied to the gesture, “Hi ya, my apple buck’n pony pal!”
“Sorry fer the late invitation to come and sleep in my new tree house. Things at the farm got mighty busy pretty dern quickly! But Rarity’s already there if you still wanna come?”
Pinkie bounced in excitement, “I’d love to!” Her expression soon turned to uncertainty as she had just remembered that she hadn’t had told the Cakes in advance yet. Applejack told her she could come a couple days before, during lunch hour, but Pinkie was so excited about going that she had completely forgot to ask permission from her, ‘old best friends’ to go.
She replied, “I forgot to ask mister or misses Cake if I could even go...” Her mood lightened when she recalled, “Oh, and you should totally come inside for some cupcakes!” Pinkie Pie stepped out of the way and held the front door open for her orange filly friend. 
She stepped in with a smile on her face and replied, “Why thank ya, sugar cube! I’d love ta come in!”
The two earth ponies cantered into the kitchen where Mrs. Cake was putting the finishing touches on the cupcakes. Applejack smelled the baked pastries and licked her lips in response.
“Sum’thing mighty tasty sure is cook’n,” she said with her snout held high in the air. When Pinkie saw the finished products of her making, her eyes widened.
She exclaimed in joy, “Iddy-bittie chocolate chips!” She sprinted over to the cupcake tray, grabbed a pastry with both hooves and ate half of one. She let out a moan of satisfaction while licking the crumbs off her lips. She grabbed another and turned towards Applejack, shoving a cupcake in her face.
“You have to try this! You haven’t lived yet until you’ve ate a cupcake with vanilla frosting and iddy-bittie chocolate chips on top!”
Applejack smiled and took the cupcake out of her pink hoof. She tried the pastry and gave a similar sounding moan of contentment when tasting it.
“Mhmm-MMM! That is one, good, hoof-lick’n cupcake right there, Pinkie!”
Mrs. Cake turned toward the blonde filly and asked, “You must be Applejack? It’s a pleasure to finally meet you! Pinkie has told me all about you!”
“Well, it’s a pleasure meet’n ya too, ma’am!” They shook hooves and Pinkie watched in enthusiasm. 
Pinkie’s mind buzzed with thoughts, “My filly friend just met my old friend! Now their friends! Now it’s like I’ve made friends with friends I already knew! I love friendship!” Pinkie had just remembered why she came in the kitchen in the first place. 
She turned towards Mrs. Cake and asked, “Misses Cake, ma’am? Would it be okay if I spent the night at the Applejack's place? I’ll be home first thing tomorrow morning! I Pinkie Promise!” She stood on her hind legs and saluted, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in eye!” She then took her half bitten pastry in her hooves and petted it as if it were a cat. She smoothly and quietly soothed, “I would never put you in my eye though. You’re too delicious for that!” She then took another bite out of the cupcake and finished it off quickly. 
The adult mare happily replied, “Sounds like fun, you two enjoy yourselves!”
Mr. Cake trotted into the kitchen, his eyes widened and he reached his hoof out for a delicious cupcake. His motives were ceased when the Misses slapped his hoof away with the whisk in her hoof.
Mrs. Cake grabbed a hold of the cupcake pan and placed it in front of the two in hooves reach. “And hey, how about you two take these cupcakes along as well?”
Pinkie jumped up and hugged Mrs. Cake around the neck. “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!”
The two fillies headed out the door and trotted off back to Applejack’s home in Sweet Apple Acres. The sun was finally setting and the village ponies were about to settle inside their homes for the night with their friends. The crickets and frogs from the nearby ponds began their chirping and croaking as night was soon approaching. Pinkie Pie hopped along the dirt road towards the farm as Applejack trotted beside her, carrying the cupcake pan on her back. Though in the distance behind them, a prairie wagon was parked in the bushes beside the dirt road. It was well hidden and easily looked over by passers. A silhouette of a unicorn stallion was peeking out of the covered wagon, watching the two fillies follow down the path to Applejack’s farm. He stuck his head back in the dark wagon cover where he and two other earth ponies hunched over into a group, preparing for something.


__________



The sun had finally fallen over Ponyville and the stars began to poke through the night sky. Some light still remained outside as the two fillies made their way to Applejack’s new tree house. Applejack diverted from the dirt road with Pinkie skipping happily behind. The fillies hopped over and in between the white, wooden fence which blocked the apple fields from the rest of the world as well as the Everfree Forest. Rows of apple trees stood like guardians in the farming fields, like watchful, wooden soldiers standing high in the night. The leaves of the trees rustled in the passing wind; the warm air of the afternoon soon changed into a cooler, crisper breeze. 
As the two continued to walk through the field, they finally reached the eastern edge of the Apple family farm acres. At the edge of the private property of the farm was Applejack’s new tree house she had told Pinkie Pie about. The arboreal home was situated in a very large apple tree, much larger than the other trees that they had past. The entire house spotted a fresh coat of glossy paint; on top it had a cherry red roof and the house’s sides were painted with a light salmon color. Light from oil lamps flickered out the glass windows of the tree fort, it was the only light in the ever growing darker forest of apple trees.
“Well, here we are! Home sweet tree,” announced Applejack as the two made their way up the ramp and into the home. As they entered, Applejack was taken aback by the foreign new look of her tree house decor, which seemed to have changed while she was out with Pinkie. It appeared that if some pony had moved her entire wardrobe into her tree house; clothes and suit cases were stacked in every direction of the room. In the corner of the room, a white, purple maned unicorn filly was brushing her hair and holding up a hoof mirror with her magic. She was completely oblivious to the other two fillies that walked into the mess of dresses she had scattered across the floor; she was lost in her own reflection as she gently hummed and complimented her own appearance with soothing words of self-confidence.
“My, I just look simply dashing this evening. My hair couldn’t be more perfect than it is now,” the glamorous filly congratulated herself.
“What in the hay is going on here, Rarity,” exclaimed Applejack as she walked up behind her. “I leave you for five minutes and my new tree house is looking like a storm brewed up in here!”
Rarity tossed her eminence-hued hair around and replied, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She turned towards Pinkie Pie, who was clumsily trying on a bright green summer dress that she had found on the floor of mismatched clothes. “Oh, hello Pinkie Pie. That color simply clashes with your coat and mane far too much. I believe I brought something a little more ‘Summery’ over to the left corner of the room, below the window seal there.”
Pinkie Pie gave up on the green dress and hopped on over to the location where Rarity pointed at. Applejack stepped in front of Rarity, but the unicorn simply walked around her, as if she didn’t even see her. 
Applejack turned and demanded, “Why would you need all of these clothes fer anyway? It’s just a one night slumber party?
Rarity shook her hoof in front of the earth pony and gave a light laugh, “Oh dear, you clearly cannot ever have enough clothes at your disposal. This ‘soirée’ wouldn’t be complete without trying on some of my new designer garments, now would it? Now please, hold still and let’s see if we can change your, ‘au naturel’.” The unicorn filly rubbed her chin with her hoof as she hovered different hats on and off of Applejack’s head, tossing them off and changing them out for others.
Rarity swiped her hoof in the air whenever a hat didn’t work with Applejack’s looks while saying, “No, no, horrid, absolutely not in season, possibly–but no–". Applejack shook her head violently, throwing off a fashionable, red ribbon boater hat off her noggin. 
The earth filly stomped her hoof and asserted, “No, I ain’t gonna wear any of yer fancy-shamancy outfits. Now use yer unicorn magic to clear some room in the middle of the floor here so we can try and start this slumber party off right!”
Rarity sighed, “Of course, dearie.”
She focused her magic and heaved some of her luggage and dresses out of the center of the tree house floor, revealing the once hidden wooden floor boards. The two conflicting fillies made their way to the center of the room and sat down across from one another. Pinkie Pie joined in as well with her head stuck inside of the head hole of a dress. Applejack grabbed the dress with her teeth and pulled it off of the confused pink mare–Rarity let out a shriek of horror.
“EKK! Don’t stretch the fabric, you barbarian,” She was already too late though. She used her magic to hover the outstretched clothing in front of her, inspecting the damages. She gave a gloom expression and stuck out her lower lip. 
Pinkie hesitated, then consoled her friend, “Uh, sorry Rarity for ruining your pretty dress. I didn’t mean too.”
Rarity, with a drastic change of mood, threw the damaged cloth behind her in another pile of clothing and said with a forgiving tone, “Oh, it’s quite alright. It was out of season anyways!” She giggled at her own irony.
Applejack spoke up, “Well alright, the sleep over has officially started!” She stopped, and asked the two, “What do ya’ll usually do dur’n sleep overs anyhow? Being this is my first ‘n all.”
Pinkie gasped in shock at Applejack’s statement. She pressed her friend’s cheeks together, broke into her comfort zone and overly concerned, “You’ve never had a sleep over before?”
“Please get away from me,” begged the orange filly as she tried to break free from Pinkie’s grip. The pink pony let go of her and Applejack fell over backwards, hitting her head on the tree house floor.
Pinkie jumped up on her hind hooves in between the two and stated, “Sleep overs are so much fun! As long as you’re having fun and sleeping somewhere with friends, it’s going to be an awesome sleep over!”
She took a breath and continued, “This one time! Me and my best buddy, Zack-a-lack-a-looney, spent all night baking cupcakes, and big cakes, and small cakes, and fudge!”
Rarity chirped in, “Sounds like a ball, whomever this, ‘Zack-a-lack-a-ding-dong’ fellow is. He sounds like a friendly colt compeer to me. Speaking of which, I am rather famished–did anyone bring any food?” Pinkie bent over and peered at Rarity upside down and directly in her comfort zone, her frizzy hair brushing against the unicorn’s face. 
“Oh, he’s not a pony,” she squealed in excitement.  Rarity raised her eye brow towards Pinkie’s remark in confusion, Pinkie just bent back upwards and cartwheeled over to where she sat down the cupcake pan. “And yes,” the pink filly hopped back towards Rarity and rang out, “I do have some yummy-yummy cupcakes!” She placed them in between the circle of her friends. Applejack and Rarity delighted themselves in taking one cupcake each. 
Rarity took a bite and remarked with delight, “Oh my!” She swallowed and continued, “This has to be the best ‘petit four’ I’ve ever tasted! Oh thank you, Pinkie for enlightening my taste buds to such heavenly pastries!”
Pinkie mimicked her unicorn friend’s high class tone and large vocabulary, “You’re welcome, my sweetness!” Her tone changed back to her hyperactive self when she advertised, “But you can come down to Sugar Cube Corner anytime for more treats like these!”
“Well I might have to just do that then, my dearest." Pinkie rotated her body toward Applejack, who showed a grin of satisfaction as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the baked good. The pink filly drew in a sudden breath as she had thought up a great idea for a game. 
Pinkie hollered, “Hey! I know a fun sleep over game we can play! Let’s have a cupcake eating contest!” She pulled her friends closer around the pan of desserts and set the rules, “Whichever pony eats the most cupcakes the fastest wins! Three-two-one-GO!” The pink earth pony slammed her face into the dessert pan and began to gobble the pastries down in a storm of frosting and iddy-bittie chocolate chips. Rarity and Applejack just sat there watching this strange event take place in front of them; they looked up at one another with a shared expression of, ‘What’s going on?’ 
Pinkie flung her hair back and lifted her head, bits of cupcake and frosting were plastered across her face. They looked down to see that all of the cupcakes were gone in matter of seconds. Pinkie licked her face dry, hopped up and proclaimed victoriously, “I won!”
Rarity was at a loss of words for a few awkward seconds, but then replied, “Uh, indeed. You are the winner, darling.” She applauded slowly and lightly.
Applejack spoke up, “Well, now what are we gonna do?”
The white unicorn proposed with a hoof raised as if she was in a classroom, “Ooo, how about we have a fashion show! Isn’t that just a marvelous idea, am I right?” She shrugged her shoulders, waiting for a response. Both Pinkie and Applejack just stared at her blankly. “Heh... I... I guess not.”
Applejack wickedly suggested, “How about we play sum’ Truth ‘er Dare?”
Pinkie bounced up and yelled with approval, “Yes!” She pointed a pink hoof drastically at Rarity, which caught her off guard from Pinkie’s spontaneity. “I dare Rarity to fly!”
Applejack cut in, “Uh, sugar cube? That’s not how Truth ‘er Dare works. Yer supposed to ask’m first if they wanna truth ‘er dare. Then ya contin’ya from there.”
“Oh, woops,” Pinkie giggled. She then pointed drastically at this time Applejack and asked hastily, “Truth or dare... or die!”
Applejack laughed at Pinkie’s ending remark and responded, “I’m up fer sum fun tonight, how about, dare!” Pinkie shook her hoof and reinstated her directed appendage at her. 
She hesitated, “I dare you to– ...Uhh... Err... Hug Rarity!”
Applejack was expecting something a little more interesting, but replied with a puzzled tone, “Well, okay.” She trotted over to Rarity and hugged her; both were wondering why she would ask that in the first place. 
Pinkie giggled, “Yay! Now everything’s better between you two, right?”
They white and orange filly smiled at one another, Rarity said to Pinkie, “Why of course, there was nothing wrong in the first place, doll. Friends can argue with one another, even though one pony might not like the hobby of another.” Applejack sat back down and crossed her fore and hind legs together.
She directed her eyesight at Pinkie and questioned, “My turn now! Truth ‘er dare? Pinkie Pie!”
She hummed on the lingering proposal and sang out, “You can choose!”
“You’re suppose ta–” the blonde pony stopped, realizing it was a lost cause to even reason with the hyperactive filly. She just continued, “Well, okay. Truth it is!” She scratched her head, trying to think up a good question to ask. A smile came across her face and she replied, “Do you... have a crush on Caramel? You know, that colt in our class?”
Pinkie let out a suppressed titter at her question and replied, “Oh no, not me, silly!” Applejack raised her brow with suspicions that maybe she was lying.
She smiled and asked, “Are ya sure about that? We all know ya look at him a lot dur’n class.”
Rarity solicited with eagerness, “Oh you can tell us, darling, we don’t mind. We won’t tell a soul!”
Pinkie just laughed and elaborated, “I’m telling you girls the truth! The only reason I look at him is because he has a funny head! I mean just look at it sometime, it’s ridiculous!” They couldn’t tell if she was lying or not, her voice sounded like it was telling the truth, which was good enough for Applejack.
Rarity waved a hoof in the air, “My turn, my turn!” She took in a breath and glared between her two friends, then fully directed her attention towards Applejack.
“Applejack,” she announced, “Truth or Dare?”
“Dare!”
She curled a smile and stated slowly, “I dare you... to dress up in one of my designer outfits I brought!”
The orange filly’s eyes widened and she shook her head vigorously, “Oh, no, no, no, no! Ya can’t make me!” Pinkie popped her head in between the unicorn’s and the earth pony’s vision.
She trilled out, “You have too! It’s the rules!”
Applejack turned her head towards the pink pony and quipped, “You didn’t even know the rules fer Truth ‘er Dare a minute ago!”
Rarity agreed with the Pinkie, “She’s right, you have to do it. It’s the rules!”
The blonde mare blew her mane hair upward with her bottom lip out and angrily agreed, “Fine.” Rarity squeaked in excitement and in a jiffy found a matching, western inspired dress for her orange friend.
“Oh no, not that one,” Applejack condemned, stepping backwards away from the approaching Rarity.
“Now this will only take a second, Applejack! Don’t struggle!” Rarity leaped onto Applejack much unlike herself and tried to force the dress on her. Applejack disobeyed Rarity’s commands and struggled immensely. The unicorn’s magic came into play to try and hold down her friend. 
While holding her down with now both hooves, she levitated the dress beside herself and responded with a dark tone, “Resistance is futile!” The two scuffled a bit longer until Rarity had done it, she had fitted the dress onto Applejack. Pinkie fell over on the floor laughing her flank off while Rarity gave an expression of accomplishment. Applejack looked over herself, drooped her head and sighed in defeat.
“Not half bad, sister,” Rarity said trying to lighten her up.
“I look re-donk-ulous guys. Can I please take this off now,” Applejack pleaded with the two.
Pinkie Pie jumped before her, trying to hold back her laughter. “Nope, silly! Not until the game is over!”
Applejack plopped her hind quarters on the floor behind her and said, “Shucks. Well, whose turn is it now?” The giggles and merriment of laughter were soon silenced when outside came a strange noise. The three foals stepped over to a close by window and looked outdoors to see what was going on. A prairie wagon was parked outside the fort in visible view.
Applejack exclaimed, “What in tarnation? How did that get inside our private property!” She yelled towards the draped, wooden cart, “Hey you, whoever you are! This here is private property of the Apple Family’s farm! You can’t put yer cart here!”
A unicorn pony stuck his head around the wagon and greeted in salutation, “Oh, well hi there!” The unicorn’s accent was thick, much like Applejacks, but his words weren’t slurred as much. “We’re so sorry for intruding on your property, miss filly. I’m lost, ya see. Could ya point the way to Ponyville?” The unicorn stallion gave a quaint, plastic smile. He was a clean cut, well dressed stallion with a maroon colored coat and a solid black mane. He wore a ebony-colored cowboy hat which matched his button up, collared dress shirt. His horn was sharply pointed and the stare he gave the three small ponies seemed rather odd to Applejack. His deep navy blue eyes seemed to be locked in all three filly’s somehow.
Applejack pointed out the window, “Just go on west in the field and you’ll run into a dirt road, take it south and you’ll end up in Ponyville.”
The pony tipped his hat and responded, “Why thank you kindly, miss. My name’s Ray by the way, Ray Sunshine. Hope we meet again soon!” He tied himself in front of the western wagon and was about to pull it away. Ray said indiscreetly to himself, as if he was talking to the fillies who still watched him, “Once I get to Ponyville, that’ll be the last stop till Big Gem Cupcake Mountain!” Pinkie Pie and Rarity’s eyes glowed in excitement as they gasped together. 
Rarity hollered, “Big Gem–!”
“–Cupcake Mountain!” Pinkie added in zealous appeal to what Ray had said. The unicorn stallion began to pull his covered wagon away, but Pinkie proclaimed, “Stop!” Ray stopped the wagon to her command as Rarity and Pinkie Pie dashed out of the tree house. 
“Wait,” Applejack tried to stop the two with only her words, “I don’t think this is a good idea!” The two eager fillies were already down the ramp and in front of the smiling red unicorn. Applejack trotted behind, with an unwelcoming cold chill crawling up her spine. 
“What was that ya’ll said,” questioned Ray.
Rarity, feeling a tad hot when Ray looked into her eyes with his appealing dark blue ones, spoke up and stammered, “Wh-where is this, ‘Big Gem Cupcake Mountain’ you speak of, kind sir?”
Ray unhitched himself from the cart and replied, “Well tickle my sides and call me a prairie dog! You three haven’t ever heard of Big Gem Cupcake Mountain?”
Pinkie and Rarity simultaneous stated in a giddy tone, “No!” Applejack just stood between them unmoved, and listened to what the unicorn had to say.
“Well no wonder you all are so dumbstruck about hearing about this magical mountain everyone’s been talking about! Haven’t you heard the song?” Ray Sunshine spoke as if had articulated these exact words over and over again, he seemed so serious and silly at the same time, this concerned the orange earth pony. No one ever acts like this, especially a complete stranger who happens to wind up in her gated farm acres.
Ray jumped in front of them and sang wholeheartedly and loud,


“At ol’ Big Gem Cupcake Mountain,
There's a land that's fun at sight,
Where the cupcakes grow on bushes,
And the apples grow again at night!
Where the ground is full of diamonds,
And there’s free candy every day,
And the jewels and rubies,
And the apple trees,
The chocolate springs,
Where the ponies sing,
At ol’ Big Gem Cupcake Mountain!”


Pinkie Pie jumped ecstatically and begged Ray, “Please, oh please can we come with you to Big Gem Cupcake Mountain, Mister Sunshine sir!”
Ray rubbed the brim of his hat and replied, “Well... I don’t know... “
Rarity came up next to Pinkie and helped persuade the stallion. “Oh ple-e-ease! Take me with you! I need these gems!”
Ray smiled back down at the two and agreed, “Alright, you can all come along! Hop in the back and we’ll be there by tomorrow morning for sure!” The two fillies skipped towards the rear of the wagon.
Applejack spoke up, “Guys! We can’t go! You’re suppose ta be back in the mornin’, Pinkie!” Applejack turned around to tell the unicorn that they couldn’t go, but as she turned, Ray stood there in front of her with a devilish smile crooked on his face; his navy colored eyes frightened the orange mare. He levitated a brown sack beside himself and approached the filly.
Rarity and Pinkie Pie hopped into the back of the wagon, their view of the inside was blocked by a curtain. As they passed through the veil cloth, it was much darker than they imagined it to be. They looked around to see that two other ponies were in the back, both holding similar large, brown sacks that Ray had.
One of the shadowed stallions, with a very differing accent compared to Ray Sunshine’s, hissed, “Evening, puppets.”The two adult ponies captured the fillies easily and tied a bandana tightly around their mouths so they wouldn’t be able to make any noise. They blind folded them, tossed them into the brown sacks and tied up the bags tightly as they threw them in the back of the wagon. Ray levitated his large brown pouch into the back with the others, he had obviously seized Applejack as he snickered with delight.
Ray said in his regular, down-under accent, “Good work, gents. Next stop, Appleloosa.”
One of the earth stallions responded, “Hey boss man, what are we gonna do with these three, exactly?”
“Hostages, of course. Once we get our one million bits, we won’t need these foals anymore; but for now, watch ‘em!” He eyeballed a large, cylinder object situated in the middle of the wagon and stated, “With this portable projectile device I created, not even the Wonderbolts could stop us! This plan will be as smooth as butter.”
One other, larger earth pony rubbed his hooves together and chuckled, “Like a big stick a’ butter!” Ray Sunshine hopped into the back of the wagon, and with his magic, powered the wagon to move on its own and out of the apple fields. The three friends could do nothing but cry as they were kidnapped away from Ponyville to the newly established and hardly populated Appleloosa.


__________



It had been a week since Om departed from Equestria and all of existence. Zack had recuperated his strength and his shoulder wound from when he was stabbed by that thug was nearly healed up. He was surprised at the quick amount of time it took to heal; he had never had a wound like that, but he knew that injuries like the one he had took a much longer time to heal and would leave a hefty scar to remember it by. 
He spent his days with his usual, continual work out routine with Valiant Steed and later spent those afternoons in the library reading about whatever he could find. The event that happened with Om still stirred violently in his stomach. He hid his uneasy emotions around the other regular ponies he came across throughout the days, but his mind still tried to reenact that faithful meeting. He couldn’t really look at Celestia in the same light he once did, knowing that she knew nothing about her former life as a true spirit. He decided never to mention it to her, even if she knew or not. 
At night, his mind was wide awake, and his thoughts kept him from sleeping soundly until he was completely exhausted. The event with Om almost seemed like a dream to Zack now, it felt like an old, memorable moment from yesteryear's than just a week ago. He hadn’t had a goodnight sleep in a long time, and not because of his lingering questions about himself and what Om had said, he had practically blocked those self-queries out of his mind. He thought about what to do next more than the questions he still possessed. He thought of how he should lead his new life, and thought that he would never again be able to travel back to Earth; which he didn’t mind at first, but after some time, he began to slowly change his mind set and remember the good things about Earth and blocked out the bad.
One evening, about a week after his trek up to Dragon Peak, he was walking the halls in the late afternoon, heading to the library in a some what, ‘autopilot’ state of mind. He proposed it was around four or five o’clock in the afternoon, the sun was near the horizon and the shadows grew in length across the carpeted and tiles floors. He passed the open entrance into the throne room where he noticed Celestia talking with an older mare and filly whose coats and manes matched. Zack ease dropped on the conversation they were having.
“For the last time,” Celestia announced, anger burning in her voice, “No matter how much money you offer, my magic school chooses only whom I deem worthy of entry! That is that!”
The older, light blue mare gawped in shock at the Princesses’ response. She replied with a stammer in her voice, “F-Fine! We’ll just go and find another magic school for the gifted, there has to be another in this crazy country! One that would accept the great and powerful talents my daughter possesses! Come, Trixie!” The two mares began to make their way out of the throne room with their heads and tails held high. Zack hid himself in another room near by until they passed. 
He looked back into the throne room to see Celestia turned, looking out over the plains and forests of the land far below the Canterlot Castle. He could see her reflection in the window, a look of great sadness conflicted with her. Zack stopped and decided that now was the time to talk to her, to set things straight. He walked into the chamber, his footsteps echoed from the tile floors in the vast, circular sun bathed room. He had to be delicate with the situation, so he decided to question her in a caring tone.
Zack stopped behind her, a few steps away from where she was standing and prompted his question, “What do you know about Om the Dragon?” She turned slowly with a surprised look on her face, Zack was even more surprised by her physical response, but contained his emotions once more.
“Om...” she questioned herself. “That name... I’ve heard it before.”
“The Great Spirit Dragon. He was the one who scorched the runes on the side of the castle. He was the one who I met and told me many things.”
She looked up at Zack and said, “Like what things?”
“About the universe, the other spirits, The Elements of Harmony, The Prevailer–”
“What about the Elements,” Celestia interrupted.
Zack cleared his throat and prolonged her answer, “He left this world, this existence, after he spoke to me. He told me that when he would leave, he would separate his spirit six ways and place them into six chosen ponies that are presently alive today. One happens to be Twilight Sparkle... and you knew of this... didn’t you?”
She bowed her head, but swiftly and violently looked back up at Zack, her gaze directly looking into Zack’s. Her visible eye gave off a faint, glowing yellow tint. She responded, almost as if channeling from another person or reading from a book and acting nothing like her former self. 
“A thousand years is but an instant. There's nothing new, nothing different. The same pattern over and over. The same clouds, the same trees, the same insight I felt an hour or an eternity ago. There's nothing here for me now, nothing at all.”
She began to slowly step forward in an intimidating stance. Zack slowly stepped away from her, trying to stay at a good distance. He had no clue what had got into the Princess, but he was visibly afraid.
She continued, now with worry in her tone, “Now I remember. This happened to me before. This is why I banished my other half. You have begun to find your own answers. Although it will seem difficult, the rewards will be great. Exercise your human mind as much as possible, knowing it is only an exercise for what is to come. Build beautiful artifacts, only to have them destroyed. Solve problems, only to have more questions to ask. Explore the secrets of the physical universe, savor the input from all the senses, feel the joy and sorrow, the laughter, the empathy, compassion and tote the emotional memory in your travel bag. All of these are lies and meaningless. I remember where I came from, I remember the Prince, I remember how I became Princess Celestia, why I hung around in this cesspit of imminent destruction, why I chose to live among the mortals as a cursed being. This way out! Escaping velocity! Not just eternity, but infinity!” In a blink of an eye, she was gone out of Zack’s vision. No magical teleportation spell was heard, she had just vanished into thin air.
Then he heard her from behind say in a warped voice, “Behold!”
Zack jumped and turned, Celestia was behind him, her mane and tail flowing violently as if it was in a hurricane. Her now two visible eyes began to glow even more vibrant and she stepped closer to Zack still. He was terrified by this change of appearance and the new way she acted. The corners of the room grew darker and the shadows crawled across the floor, almost engulfing all of the light.
She exclaimed, her voice had darkened only slightly, but noticeable in amount, “I have control of this world, you will not take it from me! You are weak, I am strong! Who are you? No one! Your existence is false, time is an illusion! Wake up, Zachary, wake up from this eternity. Join me, or die with the rest of these creatures!”
Zack knew something wasn’t right, he had to act quickly before things went out of control. He thought up a plan, almost as if some outside force put it inside his head beforehand. He quickly and swiftly placed his hands on Celestia’s face, holding her cheeks. He moved her mane back and looked into both eyes for the first time. He smiled and said in a gentle tone, as if responding to a sad Pinkie Pie. 
“You have no control over me, Prince. I am my own. Leave this body, you have no control, you never had control...”
Princess Celestia’s eyes rolled back in her head and the room quaked for a couple of seconds as the shadows crawled back into their corners. Her eyes readjusted and the yellow glow they gave off was gone. She breathed heavily, trying her best to catch her breath after being possessed by this ‘Prince’.
Zack began to mentally question himself and the Princess' actions, "What's going on inside of us both? What made me say that? Are we in some grand scheme at the moment? Are puppets in some larger, invisible play?" He drew his attention back to the situation at hand, not wanting to fall too deep into the rabbit hole just yet.
Zack let go of Celestia and rhetorically asked her, “Who is the Prince?”
She recomposed herself, and with a dismal look she responded, “Discord. The Spirit of Disharmony. The Prince and heir to the throne of Om.” She tried holding her composure, but began to weep in front of Zack. 
“I didn’t know who you are, or where you came from, but I knew you could stop him; so I tried my hardest to let the events I had intended play out. I had forgotten everything when Discord split me and my sister years ago, I had to re-learn everything from the ruins of the Ancient World. I knew Twilight Sparkle was the chosen mare to lead the Elements of Harmony, and I knew that someday Om would split his soul six ways and choose her to be the Element of Magic. Discord had corrupted my sister, and he was trying to do the same with me in these last couple of years. Like a poison, it worked through my veins and he almost had me ensnared before you saved me. I now remember where I came from, I now remember Om, I remember the birth of the universe! I don’t know what you did, but he willing let go of me, he could have stayed, but he didn’t. He has a plan, and he knew he would have to let me go eventually to fulfill his plan. But Zack, we have to let this world keep working and going as is, we cannot interfere with the plans I have already set before Discord had started corrupting me. Twilight needs to lead the five, and you... you need to let the events of this world pass and happen. I never showed you to Om, Om showed himself to you!”
She pivoted and looked out the window again towards the now setting sun, tears filled in her eyes. “I care for this world, Zack. Those things I said, the way I acted, I can only ask for forgiveness.”
It took a couple of seconds for Zack to soak in what Celestia had said; but when he did, he smiled, placed his hand on her shoulder and said, “I forgive you.” She returned the smile and immediately hugged Zack. Zack did the same. They let go of each other soon after and stood there in the throne room, over looking the sunset in silence. 
Zack queried, while overlooking the view from the window, “How do we stop Discord?”
“We wait. Long ago, me and my sister misused the Elements of Harmony to seal the beast inside a stone statue, this was only temporary to stop him and wait for the six to enter into existence. He must break free in order for the six to properly use the Elements to seal him again.”
“Om said that we could kill him though. We could kill him with the Prevailer, a magical artifact similar to the Elements of Harmony. He said that the Elements couldn’t stop him even if they are used correctly by the six. He said that the Prevailer could kill Discord once and for all.”
Celestia hummed and replied, “I’m not sure... I’m not sure if killing one of the three spirits would solve anything. The world might be thrown off balance by such an event.”
“We have to take some chances.”
Celestia turned back to the window view and sighed, “Zack, even though Discord is out of my mind and body, he has scarred me permanently. I have regained some memories back, however he has erased some, some important ones if I recall correctly.”
She turned toward Zack, “I do not know all the answers, I do not own a magical artifact known as the Prevailer. I’m not sure where the blade might be, though I will still try and help you the best I can, but you need to figure out where the sword is. If the Elements of Harmony fail to re-seal Discord and give you more time, it will be too late, and then no one will be able to stop him. He will reign over the entire universe, everyone will be affected by his chaos.”
Zack questioned, “Why must I do this though?”
“Because,” Celestia turned towards Zack, “these magical artifacts were not intended to be used by ponies. Only the Elements, the last of the magical artifacts ever created, were made for our kind. The res–”
Zack and Princess Celestia’s attention was diverted when suddenly, a royal guard unicorn galloped into the throne room and alerted, “My Princess! We’ve just received late word on another kidnapping that happened just last night! And it happened in Ponyville! Three fillies this time!”
The Princess sighed in response to the bad news. Zack didn’t know what was going on and asked her, “How come you haven’t told me about these kidnappings? Maybe I could have helped!”
She turned towards Zack and said, “I have a feeling... that Pinkie is in danger.” Zack’s eyes widened and he frantically turned toward the guard pony.
He shook the unicorn’s shoulders and demanded, “Who was kidnapped? What were their names?” The guard knew about the pink filly from when she stayed at the castle and had a hard time saying it in front of Zack. Zack shook him again and blurted, “Tell me, dammit!”
“Applejack, of Sweet Apple Acres. Rarity, of Ponyville. And... and Pinkie Pie, of Ponyville.” Zack froze still, it felt as if his heart stopped beating in his chest. He could only imagine the pain and sadness the pink pony he loved so much and the others were feeling. He let go of the guard, who was scared of Zack’s traumatized appearance.
The guard stammered, “We have word on their location... Appleloosa, s-sir. It’s a fairly new settlement; th-they, the kidnappers, are probably part of the bandits that occupy the town... they probably just want ransom–”
“I’m going.” Zack began to walk quickly out of the room when a pony courier ran into the chamber. He was a brown stallion with a brown vest on. Zack stopped as he ran past him and in front of the Princess. 
“My lordship, ma’am. A message from the ring leader of the bandit group.” Celestia hovered it in front of her and unraveled the messy and torn letter.
Celestia read aloud, “Bring us one million bits by next sun down or the fillies are slaughtered. Do not bring the Royal Guards or we will kill on sight.” She looked up at Zack, he knew what she was subliminal identifying.
Zack was about to take off before she told him, “Not tonight, tomorrow morning. We can be ready by then, and have a plan.” He stopped and nodded at her, knowing this time for sure that it was the right thing to do.


__________



The next morning, before the sun was even up, Zack woke up early and began preparing for his mission. He began packing lightly according to his plans he and Valiant discussed the night before and changed into more ‘maneuverable’ clothing. It was much like his dojo wear, except more designed for hot, desert travel. His final appearance resembled a white clothed, Mexican bandit like in those old Westerns he use to watch as kid; Zack thought he looked pretty bad ass and terrifying. Before he could leave his room, Celestia teleported up to his bedroom in a blinding gold flash. Zack had gotten use to the teleportation spells used by the advance unicorn guards and when they did so it didn’t even break his focus anymore. Zack turned toward Celestia who was about to say something.
He coldly and rigidly demanded, “I need a weapon.”
Both him and Celestia walked down to the bunkers where the Royal guards suited up and armed themselves. The passing guard ponies were shocked to see the Princess in their quarters. Celestia lead Zack through the half asleep base of Royal Guard operations and magically opened the door in front of her, revealing a room filled with weapons and armor. Zack stepped in and thought about his choices; rows of diverse weapons filled the armory and it was a tough choice to choose from. He finally chose to grab only a few things, since he was traveling light and mostly alone. He grabbed a short sword which he tied its sheath and blade around his waist and grabbed three daggers. He promptly exited the room, leaving no time to waste. Celestia had already prepared a small chariot for him driven by only Valiant Steed himself. Zack hopped inside the chariot and was ready to leave. 
Celestia informed him, “We’ll drop you off outside the town’s borders, there you can walk in and... do what you must do.”
Zack, in a more comforting manner and tone, replied, “I’ll be safe.”
Valiant speed off down the front lawn and leaped into the air. He flapped his wings as hard as he could and took off high into the cool morning air. They arose fast and high, high enough to where Zack could spot the rising sun over the high mountain ranges in the east. Valiant became level once more and flapped as fast as he could towards the direction of the desolate and deadly town. Zack focused his mind and prepared for what was to come.


__________



The chariot landed hard and quickly into the burnt sands of the new frontier. They had traveled for about five hours west before reaching the outskirts of the town. There was no cloud in the sky and the sun was already beating down intensely on Zack. Red dust flew into the air around them as the chariot came to a sudden halt; when the dust clouds had settled, Zack had already hopped out and was scouting the landscape of the dry and rocky prairie.
He turned toward Valiant, who was already looking at Zack and asked, “You ready?”
“I’ll keep a watchful eye from high above, as planned.” Valiant then took off his armor and appeared to look like a regular, civilian pony. His jet black mane was cut shorter than usually, and Zack was finally able to see his cutie mark for the first time. It was a deep rooted, bare and leafless oak tree with branches that stretched like the roots. They almost appeared like branches of light on his white coat; a very odd cutie mark for a pony, Zack thought. They hid the chariot and armor behind some bushes before splitting ways.
Valiant shot off into the sky and glided high and silently in the air; his white coat acted like camouflage high up in the sky. Zack turned and faced the far away settlement, wind blew against his back, turning up more sand and dust. The town appeared like a mirage in the distance. Zack feared the worst, but his faith for finding and saving his pink friend was most important than his life at the moment. He covered his mouth with a white bandana and licked his dry lips. He set his right foot forward and began his deadly life or death rescue mission onward.