//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 - Meeting Royalty // Story: Heart Shards: Revolution // by SparkStone //------------------------------// Mystery Track #09 I had a dream last night. I remember them like I always do. But this one was… different. She gave me a strange expression on her face as if I was doing something weird. She killed the mood for a while, just standing there in shock. She looked as if I wasn’t supposed to notice her. Finally managed to say something after a while. “How… are you able to move about in this dream world? How are you even able to see me?” “That’s funny… I don’t usually have dreams of others being able to talk about dreams like that.” We exchanged a long look before she walked up to me and said, “How interesting. I don’t know of any pony else able to do walk in dreams like you do, but your appearance reminds me of this other creature.” “And what is that other creature?” “I heard reports about her. She’s a human from another world. Goes by the name, Emma.” My eyes almost popped out hearing this. “Emma’s here!?” End of Track Emma’s POV – A Book about Emma It’s been a month since the incident at the Everfree Forest. I was a bit shaken up ever since, but fighting has now become a second nature to me… Okay, well, I’m still practicing. Rainbow was so amazed by the scene that she recently started a training routine. She talked about how we should buck up with strength and agility so we can prepare properly for the battles ahead. As ridiculous as it sounded, it wasn’t the worst idea. Revolutionaries showed off their power by summoning a Golem, ancient human technology that made it to where only a handful of earth ponies, a team of special flying creatures, or one well trained unicorn can beat. If anything less, we cannot hope to destroy them. Seeing how my power is equal to that of a unicorn, I have to make sure I stay in top physical shape. But the thing about keeping in top shape is how exhausting it is. A long running routine drives me nuts with how hot the day can be. The pegasus are trying to roast me alive by clearing all of the clouds. “Come on Emma! Just a little more!” Rainbow cheered. “Any more, and I’ll become a hash brown!” I shouted. Sometime later after we finished our run, I dropped to the floor, wanting to take a nap. Surprisingly, Rainbow was more than happy to avoid napping. “You can’t be tired yet! That was just the easy route! Tomorrow, we’re taking a hike!” “Oh for heaven’s sake Rainbow, I don’t know if I can keep up.” I breathed. “Come on! Don’t you have any pep in ya? The humans from your world have to be pretty tough.” “Of course!” I said, getting goosebumps just talking about my world. Seeing how it has been more than a month since I’ve been taken here, I wanted to reevaluate my knowledge of my own culture. “We have serious athletes of all kinds! Running, jumping, hurdling, skating, hand to hand combat, weaponry! We have all kinds of experts in the knowhow of the body! I may not be one of them, but I do know of one person who’s into all kinds of weird and adventurous stuff.” “Really? Who’s that?” Rainbow wondered. “His name is Kasin.” I informed her. “He goes to my school. He’s part of a baseball team, and he’s very popular because of it. He also is in the boy scouts, learning all kinds of things. He’s also into the nick of trouble as well. He’s in a way, like you.” “Whoa, sounds like he’s a dare devil.” “He sure is.” I nodded, grinning at the thought. “I’m sure you’d get along with him.” “By the way, is he like… your boyfriend?” she asked, bouncing her eyebrows with the smile of the devil. “What??” I jumped. “No! Of course not! He’s-” I stopped as I heard Pinkie came screaming my name. “EEEEEEEEEEMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAA!” When she arrived right in front of us, she brought her head close to my nose and said, “EMMA! Why didn’t you tell me there was a book about you!?” “There’s a book about me?” “There’s a book about her?” “YEAH!” Pinkie shouted. “I tried to buy one, but they SOLD OUT!” “Whoa, what’s it about?” Rainbow asked. “I don’t know! No pony will tell me!” Pinkie stated. My curiosity got the better of me, and I found myself with new energy just to investigate. “I gotta see this.” We went to the book store and indeed found it out of stock. Frustrated, we turn to the clerk for more info. “Oh, you mean the hit novel, A Girl like No Other?” “Is that what it’s called?” I wondered. “Yes, and it does indeed have a human in it. I believe the name of the character was… Emma? Yes, that’s your name, isn’t it?” “Yeah, my name is Emma.” “Oh… That must be something special, having your name in a book~.” The clerk giggled. “I guess so.” I shrugged, still unsure how to feel about this. “I wonder what it’s about.” “Maybe Twilight got it!” Pinkie thought. “It’s worth looking into.” Once more, we head out to see Twilight. As we enter the library, we find her with the named book in hoof. Happy to find it, we walk up to her and give our greetings. “Hey Twilight!” The violet mare jumped and turned to us. “AH! I-I didn’t see you there! Woo! You scared me! Haha…” She had on a red face and widened eyes, as if that was her expression for the past couple of minutes. A bit strange, but I paid it no mind. I looked to the book and said, “Say, Twilight! Is that the book that’s about me?” “What!?” She said turning back and forth to the book and to us. “W-What makes you say that?” “Pinkie here told me there’s a book about me, and the store clerk said the name of the book is A Girl like No Other.” “Ooh, I see.” Twilight nodded before closing the book. “W-Well, I’ll just tell you this. DO NOT read it. It’s awful. Zero stars.” “Whoa, that’s low grade.” Rainbow commented. “Heck, you give enough mercy for at least one star. Must be terrible.” “Absolutely awful.” Twilight nodded. “Then why are you still reading it?” Pinkie asked. Twilight darted her eyes from side to side before saying, “T-That’s because I didn’t finish it.” “Why would you want to finish a book you don’t even like?” I questioned. “Y-You don’t just stop doing something just because you don’t like it!” Twilight stated. “Hold on, hold on.” I spoke, realizing something. “That book is a hit right now. I definitely need to see it.” “B-but… you s-shouldn’t…” I quickly swiped the book from her hooves and said, “Don’t worry, I just want to at least see where you are.” Thus, I began reading. Emma was wonderful to be with. She made what seemed like an awful day turn into a wonderful sensation of thrills and smiles. So far so good. But when we started going out as a couple, it was even better. It was shocking to see how much I didn’t embrace this beautiful girl. She may not be a mare, but she was striking. … Okay, now it’s getting strange… Not only did she look beautiful, but in bed, she was amazing. No mare, no minotaur, no creature can have a slender body like hers, and those brea- “OH MY GOD!!!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. I shut the book closed and turned to the violet unicorn. “WHAT THE HECK TWILIGHT!?” “IT HAS AN INTERESTING STORY!!” Twilight screamed. “IT’S PORN!!!” I shouted as I threw it on the floor. “If you don’t like that subject, that’s fine. Just don’t shame on others for it.” Twilight stated. “IT’S PORN ABOUT ME!!!” I stated, stomping the ground. “WHO THE HECK WROTE THIS!?!” “I don’t know! All I know is that it was inspired here in Ponyville.” “… SPIKE!!!” Just as I said that, Spike came running down with a scroll in claw. “Hey! I got a letter from the-” I grabbed the little lizard and showed him the book. “Who did you tell about what you saw in the spa!?” “EEP!” Spike yelped. Twilight casually levitated the scroll to herself and read it. As I was slowly strangling the little snitch, Twilight turned to us and said, “The Princess asked for our audience!” “All of us?” Rainbow asked. “Yes, including you too Emma.” Twilight added. I raised an eyebrow at this. “Me…?” Twilight’s POV – Unity “YOU ALL BOUGHT THEM!?!?” Emma cried. We just exited the train and got off to Canterlot. Heading to the castle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Emma, Spike, and I are heading to the castle as we speak. The human with us was complaining about a recent book that came out popular. It also damaged her image in the process. “Why, yes darling.” Rarity confirmed. “It is a hit novel after all. A must read at a low price at the book store! Why, who in the world would pass up such an expensive product? And I am one for romance~!” “It has VILE scenes about ME!!” “I didn’t like it one bit. So I had it hidden away so that I won’t ever have to look at it.” Applejack stated. “I was a bit curious. When I found out it was about you, I thought that you wrote a book about yourself. I’m… very glad I was wrong…” Fluttershy stated. “I didn’t get to read it!” Pinkie complained. “Is it really that good?” “I’ll admit, the scenes were a bit on the stallion’s side of tastes, but the romance, the drama, the kissing~! Why, it’s all just so…” Rarity pauses as she sees the eyes of doom pasted onto Emma. “Horrible. Grotesque. Simply awful. You shouldn’t read it.” “Oh my goodness, I’m dying of embarrassment here…” She sighed. “I know you’re hurt about the book Emma.” I stated. “But we have to focus! The Princess called for us. Probably to discuss about questions we want answered ever since the whole fiasco a while back. We have to keep our heads focused on the bigger picture.” With that said, Emma’s expression braced onto a more determined expression. She was confident. “You think I should take a read too?” Rainbow asked, making Emma collapse in depression. A while later after carrying a tired Emma to the castle, we were escorted by some guards to the doors of the throne room. Given some time before Princess Celestia was ready to see us, Emma pulled out some interesting questions. “You told me about all the times you practically saved Equestria, and so on and forth.” Emma noted. “So I understand why she would call you. But I’m still wondering why she would call me in the first place.” “I’m a bit mystified on that too.” I admitted. “But she knows you well enough after I sent letters about you.” “Oh, you send mail to your teacher?” She placed her hand on her chin and smiled. “That’s so nice of you! I don’t even think about writing to my old teachers.” “Well, she is the princess after all.” Rainbow pointed out, killing my mood. “Oh yeah, that is true.” Emma nodded. The doors open, and the guards let us in. As we entered the gigantic room, we walked on the fine red carpet. Passing the pillars and the stained glass that shines the bright lights in. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna await at the thrones, looking at Emma from head to toe. As we stand before them, we politely bow to the rulers of Equestria. “There’s no need for that, my faithful student.” Princess Celestia tells me. We rise and look up to the princess. “We have much to tell all of you. So let us not dally.” “Does this have anything to do with the revolutionary guys we had clobbered?” Rainbow asked. “Exactly so Rainbow Dash.” The Princess confirmed. Princess Luna came in and explained the situation. “We have multiple reports of revolutions being made from town to city. We sent Royal soldiers to calm the situation, and force them to retreat. A being known as Shale is commanding the whole uproar and is currently in Unity. We however are unable to get close to that city anymore due to the situation in the nearby settlements. Simply put, the whole war has been keeping our hooves busy.” “WAR!?” We all couldn’t help but scream. Emma however seemed to sigh out of pity. “I’m not too surprised. Even when one side of the world has it easy, another will be wanting a fight. With their attempt of leverage by kidnapping Twilight who was deep in your territory means that they’re serious.” “Exactly.” Princess Celestia agreed. “I was hoping to avoid this. However, my sins too will crawl beneath the surface, finding one way or another to sprout.” “Dear sister, it is not your fault.” Princess Luna assured her. “It is mine.” “What exactly made this whole thing blow out of proportion?” Emma asked. The two princesses looked at each other for a moment. Princess Luna held her sister’s shoulder and said, “I’m going to check on something. You tell them the history of Unity.” Princess Celestia nodded and the ruler of the night leaves. She turns to us and begins the story. “Back when Unity was established, it was a place for all creatures. Ponies, minotaurs, Griffons, Humans, and even Changelings were able to live together in harmony. Our ruling was very limited there to show that they could be free to express their cultures so long as they didn’t harm others doing so. It was a wonderful place.” “Wow! How could a place like that go bad?” Pinkie wondered. “At one point, during the time when Luna and I commanded the elements, we found an enemy like no other. A single unicorn and his many followers had with them a power that matched mine and Luna’s. The process of this was gruesome, for the power to obtain this was to extract it from a human.” Emma grasped her chest and started to bite her lip. Fluttershy comforted the shivering Emma while the princess continued. “This power of greatness was interesting as well. For magic usually has an attribute of love, friendship, darkness, and chaos. But this magic has now master, except the one who casts it. This power brought a painful war, in which we as the rulers of Equestria and Unity have stood by together to combat their tyranny. In the end, we gained little, and lost a lot. The only thing we had to call victory was the end of the wretched wizard. But more things needed tending. Unity needed to be rebuilt, but the other rulers were appalled by such a disaster, and have left it to rot. The humans were unable to get rid of the truth, and slowly became extinct over time. For every human that was killed, the only thing Luna and I can do was to separate the Heart Shard and the murderer. We did our best to save the humans, but they were gone. The only thing that we gained at all was the reputation of saviors and protectors of Equestria.” “Well, at least you became popular.” Rainbow shrugged. “I thought so too. The fame can bring up morale and help the community to trust us more. However, for some reason, my name was called out far more than Luna’s. She was already distant from our little ponies as is. The fact that she fought so hard to protect every pony was the final straw. And so, she became Nightmare Moon from then on.” Princess Celestia stated, feeling a cold chill around her. Emma looked down and sympathized with the princess. “I read the story, and I heard what you had to go through. I’m sorry you had to do that.” “Thank you.” Princess Celestia said with her warm smile returning. “I did my best to get ponies to feel comfortable with Nightmare Moon, but I can only do so much to change the minds of ponies. As I tried to ease my citizens to warming up to Nightmare Moon, my sheer incompetence has too ignored Unity as it decayed. Days became months and months became years until I received word that Unity was no more but a place for creatures to go so that they can be forgotten. I soon found myself struggling to move the ideals my sister and I have attempted to spread, and that simply ruling the kingdom is all I can do.” “In the end, we cannot correct the past by simply discussing how we could have done something to make it better.” Emma lectured. “We can only move forward. I expect you have a reason why you called us here?” “You are a very observant and intelligent being, much like the humans that were here before you.” Princess Celestia spoke with such sureness. “And you are right. But there a different things I need to tell you.” “Well, what’s so important then?” Applejack asked as we all came a little closer to listen. “First, the revolutionaries have gained the ability to make Golems. I don’t know how, but they are extremely dangerous, unless we have a powerful user in combat magic or innate strength. The numbers of the revolutionaries are phenomenal, ranging from griffons to minotaurs. At the moment, they are already a force to be reckoned with. Until then, we are in danger.” “What should we do then Princess?” I questioned, ready to take any necessary action. “Yeah! Just tell us where to go and who to stomp out!” Rainbow said, hitting her hooves together. “You will take no part of this.” The princess told us. We all were shocked by this order. Fluttershy was a bit relieved however. “What? But why??” Pinkie remarked. “This is a different force we are fighting. It is not evil, it is a feud between rightful rulers. It already pains me to have to fight at all. Having you girls enter would add on to the stress.” “With all due respect princess, we’ve all gotten our hooves dirty once before. It shouldn’t be all too different if we were to help out.” Rainbow pointed out. “This isn’t a fight for you girls. You’ve already been involved enough. That last skirmish last time in Ponyville frightened me. I rather not have to go through that again.” “I think we should listen to the princess…” Fluttershy suggested, hiding behind her mane. “It… might be better if we do…” “Fluttershy has a point.” Rarity thought, swirling her mane with her hoof. “We aren’t soldiers. And this isn’t something we should just jump into. If the princess does call for our help, then that’s when we should act. But for now, things seem to be stable enough.” “There aren’t enough attacks around town or any other place close by to brag about.” Emma stated, her arms crossed and all. “Thank you for understanding.” Princess Celestia said, bowing a bit in the grace of their empathy. “That is not all I wish to tell you.” She turns to our human friend and gets her attention. “Emma, is it?” “Yes?” She replied, tilting her head in a curious fashion. “The fact that in all convenience, a human falls to Equestria, makes me believe that there is a way to repent my inability to save the humans of our world. I have enforced a small team to ensure your safety. I know this may seem a bit strange to have a little extra security, but since you are friend with my student, and the only known living human in Equestria, I feel that we should guarantee your survival.” “Oh! Um… Thank you Princess.” Emma gratefully spoke, bowing to her. “It is my pleasure.” Princess Celestia replied. “Why, I even supported your popularity!” “Oh?” The Princess levitated a book, which made our eyes widen. “Yes, I recently bought this book about a return of a human, inspired by you, the one who lives in Ponyville! I haven’t read it yet, but I heard it was a hit novel-” “RAAAAAAAAAAH!” Emma grabbed the floating book and threw it out the window in a fit of rage. The book falls to wherever, and all we can hear is the heavy breathing of Emma’s leftover fury. The Princess bewilderedly look at the enraged human and inquired, “I assume the book was really bad?” Emma’s POV – The Society under Society We were staying at the castle for the night before we head out. There was still some sunlight, so the girls, Spike, and I head out to see the city. Twilight and Spike were giving me a tour of the place. The ponies here gave me a funny look though. The kind of look you’d see when you’re in a bar of rowdy rough men, except the ponies here have the faces so plastered in makeup that they make it look somewhat elegant. Okay, I really like how this place is spruced up actually, but the fact that they don’t like me bums me out that I’m probably not going to live here, like, ever. My stomach growls in the middle of my inner thought rambling, and I find my craving crawling on me again. “Oh… I need some protein…” “I’m kinda hungry too.” Applejack added. “Let’s get some grub!” Pinkie shouted. “Yeah! Food! Food! Food!” Rainbow chanted, getting Pinkie to join in. “I know of a lot of great places to eat!” Spike said with pride. “But no meat. Sorry Emma.” “Aw, come on.” I cried. “Are you saying NO griffon or other meat needy animal is here?” “Nope.” Twilight answered. “Now that I say it aloud, it does seem strange. I guess most griffons never fancied the idea of living here.” “There has to be something with meat here.” I stated. “Oh dear, is your craving acting up?” Fluttershy asked. “Yes, and it’s killing me.” “You’re just gonna have to suck it up.” Rainbow told me. “Or maybe Twilight can turn you into a pony so that you’ll never have to eat meat again!” Hearing that reminded me of Lyra’s dilemma, making me sweat a bit. “N-No thanks…” My stomach growled some more, making the others get a tad starving as well. “Alright, we’re heading to Donut Joes.” Spike told us. “I’m still in the mood for some shopping.” Rarity stated. “I’ll do a little browsing and buying before I head back to the castle.” “Um, I’ll come with you.” Fluttershy joined our fashionable friend. “Your loss. More donuts for us.” Rainbow told them. “My loss too.” I sneered. “I’ve been battling this craving for more than a month already ever since my party, and I can’t hold it off any longer. There HAS to be a shop for that somewhere!” “Okay then. Just don’t wander too far.” Twilight told me. “And if you get lost, just head to the castle.” “Got it.” I replied. I gave a quick wave before heading out to look for a butcher shop. Of course, as I do, I find nothing but clothing stores, restaurants with no meat at all, and other convenient stores. I get a bit tired of the culture of ponies cancelling my desires so easily. It’s bad enough there’s no internet, but once you cancel meat, you kinda lose it. “Psst, hey!” Some pony whispered. I turned to the source of the noise, leading me to a tall, slender, and pretty mare with a long, flowing mane of gold. Her coat was an aqua green, similar to Lyra’s, and her flank was covered by a red skirt with a pink bow. Her red eyes directed to mine before she says, “Follow me, human.” “Um… Why would I do that?” I questioned. “I have bacon cooking at home.” She muttered. “Lead the way!” I said, walking close by her. As this mystery mare takes me to a big gate blocked by a fence of gold, she looks around to make sure no one was following us. A couple of stallions had this giddy look at her, hiding behind corners and bushes. The mare had the gate of gold open, and close after we went inside. From there, I saw a road of even tiles, bushes trimmed as ponies, and a fountain of fish spitting water. Being amazed by the sight, I was a bit distracted before she started tapping her hoof on the floor to remind me why I was here. Walking by her side once more, she opens the door, and I see the mansion’s marble floor and white pillars. The ceiling is so high, it needs to be arrested. The chandelier hangs high, and the windows are framed with gold and silver. My mysterious friend takes me to the kitchen, where indeed, bacon is cooking. As thrilled as I was, I couldn’t help but look at the pony weirdly. “This is great and all, but why the heck do you have meat cooking?” “Well…” She said looking away for a moment. “When you turn into a pony, some… organs and such don’t change all the way. So protein is hard to come by for a human.” “Oh… OH!” I jumped, realizing what she meant. “You! You used to be…!” “Sh.” She shushed sternly. Looking around, she turns back to me and says, “Correct. I must say, you are brave to be wandering without the disguise of any kind as well.” “Well, it’s not like I can find any machine to change my form.” I stated. “You don’t know of Uma?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. “No, I don’t know what Uma is.” I replied, tilting my head. “Why? What is that place?” “An abandoned city built by us humans.” She stated. “It’s now filled to the brim with traps and blockades only those with the technical ingenuity of humans.” “So, there’s a bunch of tech over there!?” I questioned. “Of course.” She said as she brought out the slices of bacon along with an egg salad, and a plate of lasagna. I took a seat as she passed me a plate with some of each, and another for an empty seat. She looked up and said, “Sweetie, time to eat.” “Okay mom!” The colt responded. He raced down and took a seat, totally not noticing me. By the time he did, he smiled and said, “Hey lady!” “Um… Hey…” I replied. Looking down on my plate of bacon, lasagna and egg salad, I asked her, “You always eat bacon with lasagna?” “It’s for little Popper.” She told me. “He likes to have some once in a while.” “So… you two used to be…” “Yes, and it’s a big secret.” She stated. “But I’m willing to entrust you with that secret since your reputation has been quite… fascinating.” “How so?” I responded in curiosity. “Brave young girl of the human race, shows no fear of today. I can use someone like you to do some… tasks I need handled.” “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I said, waving my hands in denial. “I’m no mercenary or anything like that. I don’t do killing, looting, or anything of the sort.” “No, no, I’m not that kind of person.” She declined. “Something tells me you’re not from around here. And I’m not talking about just Canterlot.” “I’m from another world.” “Ah… Well, that clears it up.” She nodded. “Then allow me to introduce myself. I’m Persona, and I write stories.” “Persona… wait…” I slammed on the table and pointed at her. “DID YOU WRITE THAT STORY ABOUT ME!?!?” “No, but I do have a copy.” She told me. “Very accurate on the human anatomy I may add.” “UGH!” I sneered. “Oh, don’t give me that.” She retorted. “I just gave you bacon. That’s like the diamond of food for humans.” “So, what were we talking about?” I asked. “Yes, yes.” She said, returning to the topic. “That’s just the face of my business. The real trade in my market is the Human intelligence organization. There, I’ve been manipulating the trade of certain products, such as meat supplies, metal, maps, and of course, our most proud invention: Computers.” “No freaking way.” I responded in shock. “Yes, very secretive about it. And I’ll be happy to give you more than a simple discount if you can do me a few menial tasks.” “Like…?” “Well, my latest project is a small satellite. It has some enchantments, really expensive materials, and the signal distance of several towns’ worth, depending on how high up it is. The problem however is that I cannot simply start placing them in towns and cities without looking… suspicious. But you are already holding the eyes of the creatures everywhere! If you were to do the task for me, then I’ll be able to connect to you through wireless connection, and for your reward, I’ll give you our latest computer invention yet! It’s a portable computer called a Laptop.” Oh yeah, I never heard that before. “I didn’t think Equestria had this kind of technology.” “You’d be surprised. Now, are you willing to do it?” “How am I supposed to figure out how to place it?” “I’ll give you the tools and instructions you need. Do this for as many town as you can cross, then I’ll help with whatever problem I can get my hands… hooves on.” Holding my chin, I thought about the possibilities I’d have if I were to do this. The power of wireless connection is something I shouldn’t pass up either. This opportunity isn’t something to pass up. So… “Get me a laptop with lots of memory and a cellphone, then I’ll start helping with the satellites.” “Deal.” Persona and I shook on it before we continued our meal. After we ate, she gave me a backpack with the small, but heavy satellite. Another bag containing a laptop and a phone. “Just so you know, to use the phone, you have to connect them like this.” She placed her phone and my phone together, and the two exchanged information with each other. “There, just pick my signal, and we can talk, so long as a satellite is put up.” “Do you have one here in Canterlot?” She gave me a deadpan look as she pointed up on her roof, and there and behold, was a satellite. “Huh, I don’t know how I missed that.” Twilight’s POV – Discussions over Donuts Spike, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and I were at Donut Joe’s for a quick meal. During our time there, Rainbow was the first to bring the topic to the table. Bringing up the debate about Unity from earlier, and she seemed to be quite frustrated over the order that was given. “I still can’t believe the Princess won’t let us lend a hoof.” Rainbow groaned. “We all know how they’re nothing but bad news, but telling us to let it slide is ridiculous!” “We already talked about how this is for the better of Equestria.” I reminded her. “If even one of us were unable to perform the task of stopping evil using the Elements of Harmony, then it will be even more catastrophic!” “And besides, revolutionaries aren’t our only problem.” Applejack added. “I know Princess Celestia said she’ll help protect Emma, but I don’t think that’ll stop some ponies of taking advantage of her. If they manage to take her, then…” “I don’t even want to think about that!” Pinkie retorted. “Not only would Emma go away… but the pony that takes her Heart Shard thingy will have a ton of power!” Spike finished. “We have a lot of problems, I know.” I told them. “Our safety is now on the line, but I know if we can just stick together and try our hardest, we can make it through thick and thin.” “I guess you’re right there sugar cube.” Applejack nodded, relaxing a bit. “But facing the fact of us against an army of revolutionaries, and random varmints trying to hurt Emma is difficult to handle. I hope we can find a way to calm these problems for sure.” “Well, I know what I would do about the problems with the revolutionaries.” Rainbow stated, hitting her hooves together. “And as for Emma’s enemies? No worries! I got that handled too!” Applejack rolled her eyes and said, “Now you’re pushing it.” Rainbow and Applejack bickered a bit before Rarity and Fluttershy returned, both with bags of clothing and clothing materials. She swings her mane a bit and enters with grace. “Hello every pony~! I just found some wonderful things on sale! You will not believe the ideas I have for Emma when I saw these pearls!” Fluttershy looked at the group, noticing Emma’s absence. “Oh, is Emma not back yet?” Applejack placed her hoof on her chin for a moment. “She sure has been gone for a long time.” Every time we talk about her, we seem to be in some sort of distress. We haven’t fully healed mentally from our encounter against her enemies. She has so many problems, from unable to go back home to possible attackers right from the corner. We didn’t let the fact that Emma was a capable fighter hide however, and we believed she was fine. But just to be sure… “Do you… want to pack up the donuts and head to the castle to see if she’s there?” We all agreed unanimously, and made our way back with the box of donuts. As we reached the castle, we saw Emma right outside of the castle doors. She was dragging a heavy looking bag and struggling to pull it through the gates. When we caught up with her, she greeted us. “Oh, hey guys. Can you uh… give me a hoof?” “What’s… in the bag?” I questioned. “Another project of mine. I’m gonna put it on the top of the library.” “… What…?”