The Truth of Bonds and Friendship

by Gadman85

Music for an Ancient Past

“I know it is a sudden question, but really do you two want to?” Naruko said.

“Huh?!” the two asked again.

Naruko gave a chuckle. “Mind if I come in?” She then turned remarkably serious as she said, “It is very important and I will explain everything to you I can.”

Vinyl gave a sigh. This was going to be one of those days. Octavia gave Naruko a nod and motioned for her to come inside their house. “Sure, come on inside.”

“Thanks,” Naruko said as they made their way to the kitchen.

Once they were all sitting, Naruko spoke again. “I was using a joking tone, but I really am here to recruit you two for a very important mission to an ancient temple for music.”

Vinyl had fully recovered now. It was odd how sometimes it just took a little push in the right direction to recover from a hangover. “It sounds like you should start from the beginning,” she said to Naruko.

Naruko gave a teasing smile as she said, “I’m half tempted to say ‘In the beginning there was only darkness’ and then go on with the tale of our planet’s creation.” Octavia chuckled a little to this as Vinyl sighed again. “I’ll save you the long-winded tale though. You see… there is this cosmic darkness that is going to cause us loads of trouble unless we do something about it. Both Princesses have been working along with Twilight and me to hopefully stop it before it grows to be too much of a problem. To do this, we need several ancient artifacts to help us…” Naruko then told them both everything she could.

{-} {-} {-}

“So, we really are going into some ancient Music Temple?” Vinyl asked. She didn’t really need any clarification, but it was something to swallow finding out that ponies literally worshiped music in the past. Naruko nodded in answer to this.

“It really sounds ever so exciting. I really want to go and help Equestria. I would also like to learn more about the music ancient ponies enjoyed in the times before Celestia and Luna,” Octavia said very excitedly. Naruko was surprised Octavia seemed to be the one more on board with this trip. Vinyl wasn’t opposed to it and she seemed excited about it, but Octavia was really eager for this mission.

“Good to hear. I know I asked first, but really… You two didn’t actually have a choice…” Naruko said with a nervous laugh. “This trip actually comes as an order from both princesses.”

“Wow…” Vinyl said in surprise. That was some heavy stuff to take in. “I still want to go because it sounds awesome, but wow… I never thought my cutie mark would get me sent on a mission from the princesses to help save all of Equestria.”

Octavia nodded in agreement. She never thought Vinyl would be sent on a mission by the princesses to save Equestria.

“So… Do you need help from the princesses to shift around your schedules?” Naruko asked.

“Unless this mission is going to literally take weeks. No. I’m off for a while. I wanted to spend time working on our new project with Octavia, but that’s about it,” Vinyl said.

Octavia was going over her own work schedule in her head. It wasn’t anything she couldn’t fix right now on her own. “I just need to make a few calls. How long do we have to prepare?” she asked.

“We’ve got a couple of days at most, but the sooner the better. I’d like for us to set out tomorrow morning if possible,” Naruko said. She wanted to spend some time with Twilight and set things up with the patrol for the time she was gone on this mission, but she didn't want to wait around afterwards.

“Ahh… I was hoping we could go now. I suppose most ponies like time to prepare for things though,” Vinyl said with a sigh.

Octavia raised an eyebrow at her friend and house mate. “You do realize we are going to be traveling to an ancient temple that probably hasn’t been entered in years? It isn’t the kind of thing you do on a whim…”

“Exactly!" Vinyl interrupted her. "Like there’s much a pony can do to prepare for something like this!” The two then spent a little time arguing back and forth about the importance of or in Vinyl’s case the futility of preparing in advance.

“I’ll leave you two to it then,” Naruko said as she excused herself. She doubted they even heard her.

“Later/Bye, Naruko,” Vinyl and Octavia said while not losing their place in the argument. Naruko was actually a little surprised they even replied as she closed the door behind her.

{-} {-} {-}

Twilight was pacing as she sighed. Naruko was leaving again. This time she was going to be with both Vinyl and Octavia on a mission. “Grrrr… Why can’t I go for once! I do the background work…” she growled and stomped her hoof. Twilight felt like she had to keep giving her best friend to everypony else. She understood the whole thing with the patrol. That was Naruko’s job, but all of these hundreds of missions, which were really just two but that was beside the point in Twilight’s mind, that was something different.

“I told them you wouldn’t be happy. I told them I didn’t really like leaving you out of it, but they said you coming along would be too much. Honestly, they told me I was only going to more or less protect Vinyl and Octavia in case something happens and they need it,” Naruko replied with a frown.

“Why can’t I go anyways?! I mean this is an ancient temple about pony music worship! So much to discover and study. They need a pony like myself for those reasons alone,” Twilight vented to Naruko.

Twilight was actually almost on the verge of tears if Naruko wasn’t mistaken. “Twi… are you okay?” she asked in concern.

Twilight didn’t even try to put up a front this time. “No! I’m not…” she sighed and sniffed a little. “You’re going on another possibly dangerous mission. And again, I have to stay behind.” She then went silent.

Naruko gave a bit of a worried frown. “Is that really it?”

Twilight looked to Naruko and sniffed again. “No… It feels like you’re being taken away from me lately… The patrol keeps you busy and I understand that, but this too… It's like the world wants us separated more and more or something.” She then stood up with a determined look at Naruko and said, “We’re doing something. Anything! With just us once you get back. I’m not losing more time with my best friend.”

Naruko’s heart felt really warm hearing Twilight. She smiled and said, “Sign me up for that!”

“I wish I could already start making plans, but who knows how long this mission will take. I still wish I could go and see the temple,” she said with a frown.

“Maybe we can make arrangements for that sometime if you want,” Naruko said.

Twilight shook her head to that, “By then you would already know everything about it. I want to be there to discover a temple. Not just see it. The only exception is maybe the Temple of Life you and Fluttershy went to, but that trek sounds extra dangerous, even if the place sounds a million times more amazing.”

“It really was. Maybe someday ponies will be able to go to it again in the future for studying and contemplation. That would be cool if I helped clear out and secure a temple for ponies to actually use. Plus, I’m sure lots of ponies would like to meet the bunnicans,” Naruko said. She knew it was just a dream and if it did come true she would probably already be long dead, hopefully from old age.

“Maybe you still will. It seems we will be visiting, or at least you will be visiting several different temples while we gather these artifacts. I’m sorry I couldn’t find out more about this temple or even what the artifact looks like. It sounds like Celestia and Luna couldn’t either though,” Twilight said.

“Don’t worry about it, Twi. We wouldn’t even know this temple existed if it wasn’t for you. For crying out loud, even Celestia and Luna call it an ancient temple,” Naruko said and shared a laugh with Twilight.

“We really should make sure we can get together for real though, once you’re back. I’m going to make room for it in my schedule, even if I have to push around some of my studies,” Twilight said with certainty.

Naruko snickered, “Nice to know you are willing to reschedule study time to be with me.” Twilight gave a pout before the two giggled together. “I'll also make sure we can spend time together, I promise you.” Twilight smiled to that and gave her friend a big hug.

{-} {-} {-}

It was finally time for Naruko, Otavia, and Vinyl to leave for their mission. Right as they were outside and a little distance from Octavia’s and Vinyl’s house, Vinyl stopped them. “Just one second,” she said as she pulled something out of somewhere with a button and pressed it. Right as she pressed the button a bright blue wavy energy looking barrier seemed to surround the home and its surrounding property. It looked like the waves of the barrier were beating in time to an unheard tune of some kind. “There. Don’t know how long we will be away on this mission. Got to use the wub barrier.”

Octavia and Naruko both blinked in astonishment at the sight. “When did you have time to make that without telling me?” Octavia asked. She then shook her head and said, “Nevermind, I don’t want to know.” Vinyl gave a chuckle to that.

“What does it do?” Naruko asked.

“Protects the area inside the barrier from any harm. I also improved the design so animals will steer clear of it. The first results were a little too effective… Please don’t tell Fluttershy. That pony may be nice, calm, and quiet, but she can turn fierce when it comes to animals,” Vinyl explained.

“Let’s just get going. You won’t get any good from trying to figure out Vinyl’s ‘Wub-Tech’, Naruko. Trust me. I know. I tried to in the past,” Octavia said leading the way as Vinyl grinned and Naruko nodded dumbly and followed.

They were almost to the train station when they ran into Fluttershy. “Hey Fluttershy. How’s it going?” Naruko asked. Vinyl freaked a moment thinking Naruko would tell, but the blonde unicorn waited for her friend’s reply.

“Oh, I was going to visit some of the others. I found a couple of really cute and fuzzy little critters I’ve never seen here before. I’m trying to learn about them, but they are so adorable and I thought the girls might like to see them too,” Fluttershy answered with a very potent happy Fluttershy smile. “Do you want to come?” she asked.

Naruko gave a frown and shook her head. “Can’t. Got to catch a train. We’re going for another artifact,” Naruko explained while motioning to Vinyl and Octavia. They were surprised Naruko just mentioned their secret mission to Fluttershy so easily.

They were just as surprised when Fluttershy nodded in understanding and gave them each a sincere face as she said, “Be careful. Best of luck.” Fluttershy then continued on her way.

Naruko was a bit puzzled when she saw five little very colorful puffballs with wings pop out of the back of Fluttershy’s mane. “That’s a bit too many for a couple,” Naruko thought to herself. She would admit the things were ridiculously cute and probably would be a big hit, especially when she heard they made some kind of sound that was a mix of a twitter and a purr. “Way too cute for me…” Naruko thought, though she did want to pet one to see if it was as soft and fluffy as it seemed. Maybe a couple of the others just to be sure as well.

“Come on, Naruko!” Octavia called from the station entrance.

“On my way,” Naruko said as she quickly caught up.

“Wait a minute,” Vinyl said as they were in line getting their train tickets. Naruko and Octavia looked to her in question. “Is that what you three were celebrating Victory Ramen for?” she couldn’t help but ask.

Naruko nodded. “Fluttershy helped me with the first one of these.”

“Cool,” Vinyl replied.

The three of them got in a compartment they were sharing on the train. They were on an express train to Baltimare then they were using a mix of hiking and teleports, but mostly teleports, to make there way to the actual temple the quickest they could.

The express train was actually a little shorter than regular trains and it also had a sleeker design. It was enchanted to have minimized friction with the tracks. It wouldn’t derail or anything like that, but it was really fast. The enchantments disengaged when the conductor pulled on the brakes. The pony conducting did of course have to start braking sooner than with regular trains, but there were markers along the tracks to help out newer train ponies. The one in charge on their trip wasn’t new though, he was an expert.

{-} {-} {-}

“Hey Fluttershy,” Twilight said with a smile as her friend walked through the door. “What do you have there?” she asked.

“Ohh! I’m not sure what they are, but they are so cute I just had to share them with all of my friends,” Fluttershy said as a few parasprites appeared from her mane. “I don’t remember meeting this many of them though…”

“They do look cute. I wonder how they reproduce,” Twilight asked just as one hacked and seemed to spit out another one. Twilight grimaced at the sight, but then again birth was pretty much always messy. It was the act of bringing a new life into the world that was beautiful. The ponies sadly had little idea just what it was Fluttershy had accidentally unleashed on Ponyville that day.

{-} {-} {-}

“Wow…” Octavia said as they arrived at their destination. “That was really quick… No wonder this train is smaller than the others. It seems there really is a reason it is called the express train.” She was then thinking back to some of her earlier gigs and really wished she had the chance to take such a train back then. She was very good at what she did and she loved music and performing music for others. However, there were a lot of ponies who had music cutie marks and while there was a high demand for it, things were always tough when you first started out in the industry. Unless you were Vinyl who was kind of a bit of a prodigy and breaking new ground in music.

Vinyl’s form of music had really caught on over the years, but she was one of the ponies to start it. She also made it very popular. In the distant future if the genre was still around, which it probably would be in one form or another, Vinyl’s contributions would probably be taught to ponies or at the least heavily referenced.

Octavia sometimes was a little jealous of the other pony, but they really liked each other. Vinyl got a deeper appreciation for music in general thanks to Octavia and Octavia learned that innovation and changing things up wasn’t really a bad thing. This is why they were on the cusp of possibly introducing something to the music world that could bring about a completely new genre and love for music. The two had looked into such things when they first toyed with the idea of their new project and they couldn’t find anything about it. This was something that worried them a little, but excited them a lot more.

“Blatimare…” Naruko said with a bit of a wistful note in her voice.

“Is this your first time here?” Vinyl asked.

Naruko nodded. “Too bad we don’t have time to actually visit the city. Maybe one day…”

“We could try to after we finish the mission,” Octavia said in the hopes of cheering Naruko up.

Naruko gave a chuckle. “Nope, we won’t. The only thing we will have time to do is go home and then for me to visit the princesses to turn in the artifact as soon as we figure out what it is and retrieve it.” She then turned to Octavia and gave her friend a sincere smile. “I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, but don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”

The three stepped off the train at the station and Naruko took in a deep breath. “Alright. Time to hop on the Naruko express everypony! Our final destination! The Music Temple.”

Octavia gave a smirk as she literally hopped on to Naruko’s back causing the pony to look at her with a raised eyebrow. Octavia just gave an innocent smile as Vinyl laughed and placed a hoof on Naruko’s side. She then said, “Wait! This isn’t going to be like the Twilight express. Is it?”

Naruko gave a smirk as she said, “Similar, but I’m not drunk and high on salt.” She then disappeared in a flash.

Naruko reappeared a good distance away. She smiled and said, “I also know my teleportation distance including friends coming along on for the ride.”

Vinyl blinked a little as she said, “You mean to tell me Twilight teleported you three all the way from Canterlot to Ponyville?” Naruko nodded. “In one go?!” Naruko nodded again with a smile. Vinyl shook her head. “Celestia, that girl is scary powerful at times…” Narko chuckled and nodded. Octavia was just silent as she kept up her proper mare appearance while containing her excitement to be on a genuine adventure with her friends. Naruko disappeared once more.

{-} {-} {-}

Rarity’s eye was twitching as she watched several of these things Pinkie called Parasprites reproduce. Pinkie had said, “Yuck!! Why would I want to touch a Parasprite?!” The pink party pony then said something about needing a trumpet and disappearing again. Rarity wasn’t sure what her friend was going on about, but she had to agree the Parasprite’s means of reproduction was very disgusting.

However, she still found the critter rather cute and adorable in a way. It didn’t matter that she disapproved of their reproduction methods, or their eating habits... or their poor taste in manners even for beasts… “Why am I putting up with them?” she wondered as she couldn’t help, but pet a few with her hoof and listen to their twitterpurr sound. “How can they be so darling?!” she thought even if her eye twitched as another few spat out more. Things might get out of hoof here soon if they didn’t stop, but she still kept petting them.

{-} {-} {-}

“This is wicked!” Vinyl said out loud as she looked at the music mural on the wall to examine it. They hadn’t had too much trouble in the temple yet from enemies. Some popped out but Naruko was able to quickly dispatch them while the music ponies figured out their next move.

This temple was indeed ancient. Rooms were falling apart, but that in a way added a certain beauty to the ruins. They were also lucky the damage and weathering from the ages wasn’t too bad considering everything. They could still make out what puzzle they needed to solve in each area.

Every room or collection of rooms had a musical puzzle of some kind. It was really cool for the music loving ponies. Vinyl was glad she could help out as well. She feared this would mostly be Octavia’s show here and she would be useless, but the two of them worked together on each puzzle pulling from both of their expertise. This temple was also an inspirational gold mine for them.

“What are you two doing?” Naruko asked as she dodged four stone guardian ponies before using a combination of hoof to hoof and magic usage to defeat them. She noticed both Vinyl and Octavia were scribbling away in notebooks of some kind.

Both ponies gave guilty whinnies as they put their notebooks up. “Heh heh…” Vinyl said with a nervous scratch of her mane. “Sorry about that Naru. We got a little carried away there.”

“Really?” Naruko asked dryly with a raised eyebrow.

“Well it looked like you were having fun with the stone guardians and we simply didn’t want to interfere,” Octavia said as she cleared her throat and didn’t fully meet Naruko’s eyes. There was a part of her that kind of wanted a little in on the action Naruko was getting.

Naruko wanted to deny what Octavia said, but it was true. She had in a way taken this mission as an opportunity to train a little. She needed to improve her base skills and not rely on Kyuubi too much. She treated these stone guardians like they were more solid and better performing training dummies. Naruko blushed a little as she said, “Okay you got me this time… Let’s all get more serious from here on out though. Okay?” Octavia and Vinyl both nodded in agreement. “Now can you two please figure out what the solution to the puzzle is here now?” she asked.

Octavia gave a nervous chuckle. “We kind of did that a while ago… Vinyl. If you would be so kind…” she started. Naruko shook her head and sighed in disbelief.

Vinyl shot different concentrations of magic at a total of 10 magic stones. The magic stones started to thrum in a pattern that was bass music of some kind. Several sections of walls broke away as water started to pour in from different sections of the wall. Naruko was worried something had gone horribly wrong, but Vinyl used magic to redirect the water flows in a certain way. The hall they were sitting in started to sing a wonderfully ancient and majestic song thanks to the bass stones and the water flows.

{-} {-} {-}

Appointed Commander in charge Derpy Hooves wasn’t sure how to handle the Parasprite menace once the area was soon overrun by the adorable little monsters. The Ever-Free Patrol didn’t have any ideas on what to do regarding these threats. However, the walled eyes pegasus soon came up with a plan of action. The beasties weren’t coming after HQ. She then helped the others as they evacuated all of Ponyville to the HQ where they could take shelter until this crisis was solved or over.

Derpy was in the air with several other pegasus ponies as they helped younger ponies get to the base. She also noticed Lyra and Bon-Bon leading a large group of ponies to the base on the ground under a shield charm. Derpy was really happy the mint green unicorn was a graduate from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns and knew how to cast and maintain a decent sized shield for extended periods of time.

Twilight and her friends were doing what they could, but there wasn’t really any communication between the Element Bearers and the Ever-Free. Twilight had cast a spell under haste to try and stop the Parasprites’ hunger. Sadly, because of the short notice and lack of parasprite DNA understanding, the spell caused the monsters to eat non-organics instead. Ponies weren’t about to be eaten, but the beasts were very messy and sent debris all over that would travel for good distances and some of it was large enough to cause harm to ponies.

Trixie was outside HQ when she noticed Derpy and the others return with a lot of ponies. The ponies were shaken but partly relieved as they entered the HQ and followed orders to go into the sheltered bunker inside. Trixie stopped working with some of the wood she was using to remake the very base of her new and would be much improved trailer. She looked up and watched as Derpy landed to collect her thoughts.

“Are you okay?” Trixie asked with concern.

Derpy nodded and sighed. “This whole thing is a mess. I think the evacuation is going to work out fine, but it isn’t easy…”

Trixie looked to the wall-eyed commander in charge and saluted as she asked, “How can I help?”

Derpy looked her over and thought for a moment. She nodded and said, “Can you go inside and help get everypony sorted? There are a lot of ponies out of town fortunately, but there are still a lot here.”

“Trixie is more than capable of providing such assistance to her friends,” the show pony said with her particular brand of flare as she went inside HQ. Derpy was relieved. Trixie wasn’t Ever-Free, but she knew her way around HQ well enough by this point and would be able to help out a tremendous amount with the other ponies hopefully.

{-} {-} {-}

Naruko gave an exasperated laugh. She, Vinyl and Octavia were surrounded by several stone guardians and these guys looked really tough. Vinyl winced yet again. She had messed up a little bit on this puzzle and it brought this mess upon them. It wasn’t entirely her fault. She supposed it was only a matter of time until they came to a room where the puzzle key was also a crumbling ruin like the rest of the temple.

“Well… It’s a good thing you two know how to fight. Princess Celestia told me it was part of the reason you two were selected for this mission,” Naruko said with a resigned sigh. She was tempted to call Kyuubi, but she wasn’t sure it would work in this place and she didn’t know if he would fit in here all that well. The chamber they were in wasn’t the most spacious with all of the stone guardians. “That’s it… From now on I bring Kyuubi on these things no matter what… It was stupid of me to dare and tempt fate like this for training,” she thought to herself.

“Alright! Let’s show these Stone heads a lesson of three. I’ve been itching for some real action for a while now!” Octavia said in a rather brash manner as she punched her hooves together and grinned wildly.

Naruko watched with her mouth open as the earth pony dashed into the fray and started throwing punches and kicks in every which way. Octavia’s Fair Pony Mare demeanor was all but gone at that moment. It was a good thing the pony seemed to have very good instincts even if she was fighting in a very unladylike and brawling manner.

Vinyl gave a chuckle as she assumed a martial arts fighting position that had little to no openings. “I know exactly what you're thinking, Naruko. Octavia is a very refined mare in many ways. She is very respectable with a calm temperament. However, when it comes to fighting… She doesn’t really give a damn about such things as grace and refinement.”

Vinyl dove into the fight as well and threw some very well measured and obviously practiced strikes. Naruko couldn’t help but watch in awe for a moment. When Octavia sent three of the heavy and tough stone guardians right at her, Naruko snapped to it and dodged. She too joined the fight and even used a few support spells on her comrades.

Seeing Octavia tossing around stone guardians with relative ease, Naruko fully realized that while Octavia was a very refined pony, who even Rarity would compliment on her manners, she was still an Earth pony. This meant that while she didn’t have wings or a horn, she still had that tremendous Earth pony strength and stamina. Naruko gave a smile as she fought along side the others. She remembered even Earth ponies without farming cutie marks were still able to coax the very earth itself to grow and help them to an extent.

“This should be fun,” Naruko said with a grin. She looked forward to fighting with both Octavia and Vinyl on her side.

{-} {-} {-}

As she helped another group of ponies, Trixie realized just how important the Ever-Free really was. Sure, the ponies weren’t being attacked by these parasprites, but it would have been very scary, dangerous and stressful for all of these ponies to still be out in Ponyville while this all happened. She didn’t even need to see the two ponies wearing hazmat suits as they entered the shelter to realize just how hopeless ponies would have felt up there.

The show pony looked over the crowd of gathered ponies with a sense of sadness. They had what they needed and once this was over with they would all rebuild Ponyville as needed, but still the sense of hopelessness and worry was so thick she could taste it as she breathed. Trixie looked to see two fillies holding each other crying while their parents didn’t really know what to do because of how worried they were about everything else. She was glad the HQ had plenty of supplies and there were ponies working on meals upstairs, but that was still a way off.

Trixie’s eyes seemed to shine in comprehension as her mind flooded her with old memories of when she first got her cutie mark and started being a show pony. She had started off performing for foals, colts, and fillies at parties. Her act wasn’t as big back then, but it was still fun and the ponies loved it. Trixie remembered the whole reason she wanted to become a show pony in the first place was to bring happiness to other ponies while also enjoying the thrill performing on a stage gave her.

She sighed as she realized how far she had strayed from that path over the years. She had made a name for herself and was invited to bigger gigs. She might have at times lied to herself and claimed she was doing what she was doing for the sake of others, but the truth was for many years she had been more focused on her reputation and the fame she gained, even if it was small.

Trixie shook her head. She wanted to do more. She wanted to show the Patrol it wasn’t wrong for Naruko to have taken her in like she did, even if they didn't seem to think that way. She wanted to not only get these children smiling again, but also find a way to help protect those smiles. She made up her mind. Some in the biz might laugh at her for what she was about to do and carry on about how far she had fallen, but that didn’t matter right now.

The brilliant blue show pony walked over to a box she had used to store some of her old items she managed to find over the past weeks she had been here. Her horn glowed pink as she pulled out several puppets. She had the puppets move through the ponies.

One puppet, which was a pony obsessed with standing on two legs, marched right up to a scared filly who was crying. “What are you crying for? Little Pony?” the puppet asked.

The filly was purple in color with an orange red striped mane. “Pa-pa-pa… Parasprites…”

“What is a Pa-pa-pa…parasprite?” the puppet asked in a squeaky voice.

“They're these mean and nasty things that try to look cute and eat everything… I hate them!” she cried.

The puppet frowned here. “Oh… You mean parasprites…” it said. The filly nodded as she frowned still angry at them. The puppet then stage whispered to her, “You want to know what a parasprite’s worst enemy is?” The filly nodded a little. “A stomach ache!” the puppet said as its forehooves spread outwards.

The filly couldn’t help but laugh. A few others nearby laughed as well. It was a laugh of both relief and humor. The puppet then made a forehoof motion as if it was playing an instrument and started to sing.

“The parasprites march one by one hurrah, hurrah.

The parasprites march one by one Hurrah!Hurrah!

The parasprites march one by one, they’re march far away from here.

And that’s why we're singing this song…”

The other puppets joined in as well.

“The parasprites march two by two hurrah, hurrah.

The parasprites march two by two…”

“… Hurrah! Hurrah!” several other fillies and colts joined in on the song and followed the puppets.

Trixie led the marching children to where she had made a small makeshift stage towards the back of the barracks. Some other ponies followed as well even if they were mostly the children’s parents. They were really relieved that it seemed somepony or ponies had found a way to calm and distract their children while they were here in the shelter.

Once all of the ponies coming to the show were in front of the small stage, the puppets came together and shouted, “And now it’s time for the Great and Puppety show!!!” Trixie was off to the side using her magic to bring the show to life as several ponies cheered in excitement. Trixie was also surprised at how excited she was to put on this show, even with the short notice.

{-} {-} {-}

“Haaaa!” Octavia shouted as she sent two stone guardians flying up into the sky with a solid buck.

Vinyl used a combination of her well-practiced and disciplined fighting style with some magic and sent two more guardians up as well.

Naruko used magic and her abilities to launch herself up high into the air. She was shooting up faster than the enemies and her horn glowed before she showered the four stone guardians with harsh and strong cutting winds that had enough force and power behind them to cut through the enemies causing them to collapse and crumble away.

The blonde unicorn controlled her descent as she landed next to her two friends. Both Octavia and Vinyl were out of breath, but had pleased smiles on their faces. “Ha ha! That’s how you do it,” Naruko said in excitement as she took in a couple of deep breaths. They had just destroyed a massive army of stone guardians which attacked them in waves.

The Ever-Free Captain was happy they won, but she feared what would happen if they had a boss fight like she and Fluttershy did in the Temple of Life. She was also wondering, “How do we get into the next area?”

Vinyl and Octavia were still a little tired, but they were examining the room again. Octavia shook her head, “There really isn’t any way we can do this the proper way…” She frowned at the remains of the once great wall which had the music puzzle to solve.

Vinyl was examining the door into the next area. It was closed and sealed, but it was obvious it proceeded further into the temple. It was also a rather ornate stone door, even if it was severally weathered and probably weakened. Vinyl’s shades dropped in surprise as her eyes widened in comprehension. She just had an idea. She tapped the stone doors to get a feel for their acoustic properties in several spots.

“Alright! I got an idea,” she said out loud as she moved to a certain spot in the center of the room. “You two should stand behind me,” she said. Octavia was already making her way over there having an idea what her friend and housemate was about to try. Naruko followed as well, even if she was confused what was going on here.

Naruko’s jaw dropped again in surprise as Vinyl pulled a cubic object from her saddle bags. The DJ unicorn then hit it with a spell and the thing seemed to unfold and grow in size. “Wha?!” was all she could say.

Octavia rolled her eyes and answered, “More Wub-Tech.” Naruko nodded absentmindedly in reply.

Vinyl’s horn glowed and soon the thing that looked like a special speaker started to play a tune with a lot of bass to it. The object even shot out sonic waves the other two ponies could make out as ripples in the air. The tune was kind of cool, but it was obvious the effects of the tune were deadly.

As the sonic waves hit the door, it started to shake and vibrate. It took a couple of moments, but eventually the stone door started to crack. Soon after it started cracking the stone began to crumble away. Naruko couldn’t help but whistle at the effects of the speaker after Vinyl put it away.

Vinyl smiled in triumph. “I didn’t expect it to be that effective!”

“Well I’m glad it was. Now we can continue forward,” Naruko said as she led the way. Vinyl and Octavia high hoofed each other at the success of their mission so far. It hadn’t been easy the whole time, but it had been interesting.

As the trio entered the next chamber, they were surprised by how massive it was. The room had very highly vaulted ceilings. In fact, Naruko wouldn’t be surprised if they reached the top of a mountain or something since they couldn't even see the top. The lighting of the room was dim but evenly distributed. There was a stage in the center of the room with several stone benches around it on all sides. Some of the benches were broken, but most of them were surprisingly well maintained.

The group carefully approached the stage in the center. They weren’t sure what to expect, but Naruko was again cursing herself for leaving Kyuubi behind for this mission. She remembered last time she entered a temple’s large massive chamber. Vinyl and Octavia could fight, but she wasn’t sure if they would be as ready as Fluttershy was. There was also the fact that while she was friends with them both, the three of them didn’t have the synergy she had with Fluttershy which really helped them in the first temple.

They were right in front of the stage. Magical light turned on from somewhere and focused on the stage. Epic and enchanting music started to play from up above. There was a flash and smoke as a tall figure stood in the middle of the stage. He was wearing ancient robes of fine quality and a gold leaf crown on his head. The biggest surprise was the figure’s shape. It was very alien to Vinyl and Octavia. Naruko on the other hoof recognized it. The figure had a humanoid body and was much taller than they were as he stood confidently on two feet and gave them a bow with a flourish.

“So, three ponies come before me, in seek of the treasure I guard, the Entertainer’s Jewel,” the man said as he looked them in the eyes. “The esteemed ponies who created me believed entertainment was greatest of gifts and so I am well versed in them all. However, these masters of emotion deemed music stood apart far above the rest, and I agree with them.”

He then sat on the stage with a confident smile. “You three have done well to have passed the trials before coming to me. You showed a great appreciation and understanding for the musical arts and remarkable creativity with how you got through that last door. It is no small feat to use sound waves as means to shatter stone.”

He stood up again and looked them once more in the eyes. “However, that does not mean you are yet proved worthy of the precious item I guard. I have three more tests for you before I decide if you have earned the right to the Entertainer’s Jewel.”

Naruko decided to try and bypass this test and spoke. “We only wish to use the jewel to protect all of Equestria and the planet as a whole. That is why we were sent here by the princesses to retrieve it.”

The figure nodded in understanding. “The power of words is often underestimated and speechcraft is a tool of remarkable importance and strength. However, I am not capable of giving the jewel until you prove you are worthy. Nor am I allowed to make the tests easy on you as a way of circumnavigating the requirements.” He looked to Naruko and there was sorrow in his eyes, though the blonde pony wasn’t sure how sincere it was. “I am sorry about this… But I believe if your hearts are as true as your claims on intention, then you will pass the tests I must give.”

He then gave a stretch and waved a hand as several ancient instruments and more recent ones, meaning they were just considered old by the time Celestia was born, appeared around him. “Now then… Are all three of you going to test, or do you plan on using representatives, even if there are only three of you ponies.”

Octavia stepped forward. “Vinyl and I, Octavia Melody, will be the ones testing. Our friend Naruko is here to help us as she can.”

The man on the stage gave a sniff and flicked away a tear. “Friendship is truly wonderful and is often such a great inspiration for music.” He then gave a smile that was more wicked than it appeared so far. “Especially when it comes to betrayal. The shear volume and intensity of emotion such a foul action brings about is so palpable the gods of entertainment bless those who can express such things effectively. It is always real-life experience that makes for the greatest dramas and stories.”

He then took in a deep breath before speaking again. “Regardless of my feelings on such things the truth is I have three tests for you two to perform. May the gods and ancestors of music guide your hoof.” He then gave another bow before he took up a position in the middle of the stage.

“The first test is rather simple. You two need only repeat the notes I use. Though you can’t really pick your instruments for this test. Fate and fortune will decide for you,” he said with a smile.

He then played a beautiful tune that started out slow before suddenly speeding up and ending in a wonderful flourish of notes blending into each other. Naruko had to admit it was some beautiful music this man was creating even if she wasn’t so sure about him.

Once the song was over, two instruments appeared before Vinyl and Octavia. Vinyl had a harp and Octavia had a complex series of wind pipes. The two looked to each other concerned. They were about to try and trade, but the entertainer didn’t let them. “You two are not allowed to exchange instruments with each other,” he said with a bit of a condescending smile.

The two music ponies sighed to this. “However, you are allowed five minutes to test the instrument. Good luck. I get the feeling you two will need it,” he said.

Octavia and Vinyl wasted no time in testing their instruments. They didn’t have enough time and they had to repeat the tune he just played. This was not fair at all! “Then again… This is a test for an ancient and powerful artifact,” Octavia thought to herself.

“Begin!” the man roared to them after their time was up. Octavia and Vinyl each took in a deep breath to focus. They started playing and cringed at how terrible it was, but the protector of this temple didn’t stop them and let them continue.

It took a little extra time, but eventually the music ponies were able to match the notes he played. When they finished, they were relieved to have completed the first test. They didn’t know how well they did, but they were relieved never the less.

The Entertainer clapped his hands politely to their performance. “I must say that you two did manage to do as I requested. It wasn’t awful and it wasn’t great either. It was passable though,” he said with a faint smile as Vinyl and Octavia congratulated each other.

“Yes. Well done indeed… However, you still have two tests left and that was the easiest one,” he said with a slightly dark smile. “For the next test, you two have to accompany me in the song I play. I will continue playing until you either give up or have properly accompanied me for a total of 10 minutes in a row. You also have to use the instruments you were given. It is a good thing you had that first test to get used to them.” He gave them a Cheshire cat grin as Octavia and Vinyl scowled at him.

Naruko was really worried here. She didn’t like that there wasn’t anything she could do for them. She could only watch and hope for the best. If she had known about this music temple in the first place, she might have taken up an instrument or two while abusing shadow clones to advance her skills with it.

The Entertainer started out again with a slow tempo tune. It was filled with deep emotion which he slowly transitioned into happiness. Vinyl and Octavia tried to match him, but they weren’t really doing too good at that. It was even annoying him a little bit how poorly they were accompanying him, but he had his rules and they couldn’t be changed.

The musical test went on for several minutes before Vinyl and Octavia were able to accompany him. It was really impressive given he wasn’t using a known song or anything. They were simply doing what they could. There was some leeway, but not enough they could slack off.

It felt like it was way later, when he finally stopped playing. He stood up and gave a bow to a non-existent crowd. He then motioned towards Octavia and Vinyl. The two ponies caught off guard by this bowed as well. They then looked to him and frowned as he gave a chuckle. “I am sorry. It is just too much fun doing that. Congratulations you two passed the second test. It wasn’t the fastest attempt ever, but it too was fairly decent.”

They breathed in relief as Naruko made a clone of herself and handed it a bottle of water to take to Octavia. The Entertainer’s eyes actually widened when Naruko did this. He had seen ponies, especially his creators, do amazing things, but he had never seen a pony make an actual clone of their self. He let the ponies rest a little bit before he started the last test.

It was a few minutes later the Entertainer once again stood up and got their attention. “Well done. You two have really proven yourselves. However, many before you have done much better on the first two tests and still failed the last test. I wonder if your luck will be any better.”

He then took in a breath and let it out. He had enjoyed their company even if he didn’t show it, but the last test was pretty much impossible to pass. He snapped his fingers and the lights changed. They were focused on Vinyl and Octavia now.

“For the final test. You are allowed to use any instrument or equipment of your choice,” he said. Vinyl and Octavia smiled at this. They were thinking they had a real chance now. “In this test. The last trial for earning the right to the Entertainer’s Jewel. You two have to do something simple yet, more difficult than the previous ones.”

He started to use his hands as he spoke with passion. “You have to perform something for me and impress me. It has to be something I have yet to hear or experience!”

Vinyl and Octavia were in shock at those words. They tried not to let it show, but they were very certain they had this in the bag now.

“I know what you’re thinking. Oh. This will be easy. This guardian is ancient and stuck inside a ruin of a temple that hasn’t been visited in years if not eons!” he said. Both Octavia and Vinyl despite their better judgement couldn’t help but nod to this in agreement.

“However, when I was created. When I was blessed! When I was gifted with the privilege! Of guarding this treasure. My creators did something else. They designed me in a way that I knew of music trends happening across the land even while I was in here. Pop music?! I heard it when it first started. Rock and Roll? My ear was with the Gods of Rock from the start!” he added a flourish to his mannerisms.

Octavia and Vinyl were still confident they had this in the bag.

“Techno! Dubstep! EDM! All forms of Electronic music. I’ve heard and experienced it all,” he said looking right into the eyes of his audience.

Vinyl looked to Octavia. She nodded and smiled. Vinyl looked to Naruko who was momentarily worried, but when she saw Vinyl’s face more or less saying, “We got this”. She knew what they were going to do and smiled at their approaching victory.

Vinyl got her compacted and packed away gear out and expanded it with her magic. The entertainer looked to them curiously. He was glad they would at least be trying to impress him. He was a little surprised the blue maned unicorn managed to bring so much with her.

He looked over to the other pony. She pulled out a violin. He was actually a little curious now. He couldn’t help but shift his position to the edge of the seat he conjured up on the stage.

Vinyl and Octavia bowed and got to work. Vinyl started her equipment and used it to create a base tune she looped. She was adding in a little extra here and there. It was a rather beautiful and gentle tune with a sense of wonderment.

The entertainer had to admit he liked how it sounded, but he had heard many use this form of music. This song was still ranking up on the top. It still wasn’t enough to pass this test. To be fair, it was a rather impossible test to pass.

Shortly after Vinyl started her thing, the entertainer’s eyes widened and he sat up at attention. He clasped his hands together as Octavia started playing the melody to the song using her violin. The melody had wonderful rises and falls and the tempo picked up a little more.

Then the violin faded as Vinyl used her equipment to take over the melody. The feel of the song changed a slight bit but was still impressive. It grew a little more complex. Next the melody dropped and the bass played for just a little bit before the melody picked back up and the violin joined in once more. The two melodies complimented each other and he could feel the emotion that went into the song. Neither was overpowering the other. Neither felt forced or out of place. It was as close to musical perfection as he had experienced in a while.

He was standing by the time the song started to come to an end with the equipment and violin fading out together equally. When the song was over, he couldn’t help but clap in appreciation. He sniffed a little as he wiped a tear of happiness from his left eye. “Bravo! Bravo!” he cheered and whistled to them.

“That was amazing! What is this music?!” he asked.

Octavia smiled as she said, “Something unique and impressive that you never heard before.”

The Entertainer gave a good-hearted chuckle. “You got me there. It has been a long time since I was that into a song. I’ve never heard of this kind of combination before. Especially with how well it works with you two! I look forward to hearing more as you two continue with your new music. I look forward to how it will change the music landscape.”

He then gave another chuckle as he hopped off the stage and waved his right hand. The instruments he conjured earlier disappeared. He walked forward until he was standing in front of the ponies. He gave them a friendly smile as he turned around and said, “I suppose you want the Entertainer’s Jewel now.”

Naruko and the others nodded. He reached out with both hands and rose them to the sky. “I, Guardian of sound and music, have deemed these ponies gathered here worthy of the temple’s treasure. They have passed all trials and shown creativity beyond measure. They have earned the right to the Entertainer’s Jewel. May it serve them well,” he said in a booming voice.

The temple shook a little and the stage glowed brightly. Then the whole chamber lit up brightly as if the show in a dark theater had come to an end and the audience was preparing to leave. As the stone in the chamber shifted, it almost sounded like applause for the performers who had amazed and wowed the crowd. Then it went quiet.

Once there was silence in the theater chamber, a sparkling bright jewel descended from above slowly as it twirled in the air.

The Jewel was a beautiful sapphire blue with silver on the edges. Inside of the jewel, there were two gold colored masks. One was of a frowning pony. The other was of a smiling pony. There also seemed to be a red stone beneath the masks with silver music notes as if it was connecting the two masks.

“This is the treasure of this temple,” the entertainer said in a sad voice as Naruko took it and secured it for transport. “It is priceless, but you have earned it. You can use it as you see fit, but I do hope you won’t take it for granted. That is my final wish…”

“But… you said you looked forward to hearing more of our music and how it would change the music landscape…” Octavia said with some sadness in her Mulberry eyes. He was a bit of a jerk to them, but he was doing what he was supposed to do and he was a wonderful musician.

He gave her a weary smile. “I’m old… I’m ancient. I’ve fulfilled my purpose as my creators designed me to do. I will stay around for a time, but I will not be able to leave this temple and I know not for how long I have left. The only regret I have is that my creators didn’t also design me to teach others the craft of true entertainment. Too many get wrapped up in things like money or sending out heavy handed political messages and they lose track of the art to the craft. You can have politics in your entertainment, but it should not be so brazen that it is the only thing others remember of it.”

Vinyl nodded as she decided something. “We’ll just have to find a way to tell your story and wisely use the inspiration this temple and you gave us,” she said. Octavia nodded in agreement. Perhaps they could make a musical about the trails or something.

Naruko was in thought as well. “If you two ever come up with something. I can talk to the princesses and see if they will help with it. I really wish there was something more I could have done.”

Vinyl chuckled. “You did teleport us here even if we made stops on the way. I know that isn’t easy magic.”

Naruko nodded and sighed. “I’ll get ready to do it again once we get out of here.”

The entertainer smiled to them. “I can help you with that. I want to apologize for seeming harsh during the tests, and to thank you ponies for the lovely music.” The trio of ponies were surprised by this. “Where do you wish to go?” he asked.

“Ponyville!” the three shouted together.

“Ponyville it is,” he simply said before making a hand movement and snapping his fingers. The ponies then disappeared from the temple with the Jewel in tow. He gave a smile. “Now I just hope to hear Vinyl and Octavia perform at least one more time before my end comes.”

{-} {-} {-}

Twilight wasn’t very happy at the moment. Fluttershy was making this whole mess even more of a problem than it already was. “Why in Celestia’s name did she think it a good idea to hold on to even more of these things?!” she wanted to shout. She, Rainbow, AJ, Fluttershy and Rarity had just rounded up the annoying pests, and then they all find out Fluttershy had just as many tucked away inside her home once they opened the door.

It also didn’t help that Pinkie Pie was constantly going on and on about needing the most random assortment of instruments. Not only was it completely unrelated to helping them out, but it also kept reminding Twilight that Naruko was off on an adventure going through and ancient music temple. She was here stuck trying to clean up the mess of parasprites. She hated how they reproduced by making a giant disgusting spit wads.

“What do we do now, Twilight?” Rarity asked.

“I really don’t know,” She replied. They were trying to get back to Ponyville to regroup and try to hunt down the nasty beasties again. “I’m just glad Naruko came back with a message saying Princess Celestia had to cancel her visit here. I don’t even what to think about how stressful I would have been if that was still going on…”

“You’d probably come up with some idea like building an exact duplicate of Ponyville or something,” Rainbow said.

Twilight was about to argue, but she could actually she herself trying something like that so she remained silent. Rainbow Dash was many times brutally honest. Twilight had a couple of times wondered if maybe she got Rainbow’s and Applejack’s elements mixed up. Then again, the two ponies were a little similar at times. Both were loyal to their friends and both could be very honest, Applejack had more tact between the two of them though.

The group of friends heard what sounded like a marching band or something in the distance making its way towards them. Twilight wondered if Pinkie finally got her instruments and might bother actually helping them finally. When they were close to the sound of the music, the five ponies paused and their mouths hung open...

{-} {-} {-}

Lyra was relieved they had enough food in storage at HQ to help the ponies taking shelter here. Several other ponies also brought what food they could salvage from their homes during the evacuation, since the Parasprites only ate non-organics now. She was helping with the kitchen and serving ponies after Trixie’s impromptu show managed to calm most of the ponies down and came to an end.

The puppet show was actually pretty funny. The puppets argued with each other in joking fashions over the most absurd things while seeming extra serious on the matters. “Who knew where you placed lint piles had such a huge impact on the house foundation,” Lyra thought and chuckled while serving a couple of ponies who thanked her. There was also a little slapstick in the show as well which the young ponies really enjoyed.

Lyra was in mid serving for a pony when I pink blur snatched her away and replaced her with another pony without causing a mess. The new pony and the ones nearby blinked a little in confusion before she shrugged her shoulders and continued serving the other ponies. She had already finished her meal and decided this was the best way she could return the favor for now.

“Pinkie Pie?” Lyra asked once she gained her bearings. Pinkie was in front of her with a rather ridiculous music pony outfit and she didn’t look her usual cheerful self.

“Hey, Lyra…” she started. “Can you play an instrument loud enough to be heard over an area? I would do it myself, but this Music Pony outfit isn’t exactly in the best of shape.”

“What am I doing this for?” Lyra asked.

“To help get rid of these disgusting parasprites! I hate them! They caused us a lot of trouble in the town near my family’s Rock Farm. You play music and they will follow you in a trance. Then you just take them somewhere so nature can take its course. Lots of animals love eating the things for some reason,” Pinkie Pie said.

Lyra nodded. “I’ll help! I can cast a spell on my harp so the sound is amplified. Anything to get rid of those things.”

“Great! I tried to get Twilight and the others to help, but they kept calling me crazy,” Pinkie Pie said with a frown.

“Did you tell them you were getting rid of the parasprites exactly?” Lyra asked. She doubted any of the ponies here in Ponyville would have refused to help get rid of them.

Pinkie paused for a split second and didn’t answer the question. “Come on let’s go! Do you know of two other ponies who can help? With this many Parasprites four us would be the best.”

Lyra would have sighed at the fact Pinkie didn’t answer the question, but they had more important matters to attend to at the moment. “I do actually. I’ll go and get them. They’re both here and should be finished eating by now.”

“Great! Can you lead us to the Ever-Free Forest with them once we’re there? I can guarantee none of the beasties with sharp teeth will go for us if they notice the parasprites,” Pinkie said.

Lyra was a little uncomfortable with this idea, but she saw the reasoning. “Okay… But we get out of there, even with parasprties in tow if I say so.”

Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Well duh… You're the Ever-Free Patrol member here, not me.”

{-} {-} {-}

There was a loud zapping sound as a dome of blue light appeared near an entrance to Ponyville. Two unicorns and an earth pony stepped out of the light and gasped in shock. “What happened here?!” Octavia couldn’t help but ask. It looked like the town had been attacked by chewing missiles or something. There were teeth marks on signs and buildings and chunks missing from seemingly everything. One or two buildings seemed to be little more than their metal frames, by this point.

They heard music in the distance leading away from Ponyville. Naruko, Octavia and Vinyl ran over to see what it was. They were surprised to see not only Twilight and the others nearby staring in shock, but also a four pony marching band. Lyra was playing her harp, Pinkie was playing a tuba, there was a pegasus hoovering just above the ground beating on a drum and another unicorn was playing a trombone with their magic. The ponies were marching parallel to each other and all four had a line of bouncing, jumping, and dancing puffballs following them as they left Ponyville.

Vinyl and Octavia shook their heads. Octavia asked, “Do you got it from here, Naruko? We kind of want to go and check our house.” Naruko nodded and so they left.

Naruko made her way over to her still in shock friends. “What happened while I was gone?” she asked breaking Twilight from her shock. She blinked her purple eyes and then hugged Naruko tight.

“It was horrible… Those things are evil! Pure evil! They’re called parasprites. We tried to get rid of them, but that didn’t work out so well. I thought Pinkie really was just being random at such a critical time,” she said as she watched the procession leave Ponyville. “It turns out she knew what was going on this whole time.”

Twilight then turned to Naruko and hugged her again. “I’m glad it’s over for now. I was really close to losing it a few times. In case you’re wondering, I saw Derpy and the other patrollers evacuating ponies to the HQ. Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and I spent most of our time trying to fix this. How did you get back so soon?”

Naruko nodded in thought before she answered. “Once we finished the temple, the three of us were given a teleport back here. I’ll tell you more details later. Right now, I need to go and check in with the rest of the patrol."

When she reached HQ, Derpy was happy to see her. “I heard you did really good in my absence, Derpy,” Naruko said.

Derpy blushed a little and said, “I didn’t get rid of the parasprites though…”

“Doesn’t matter. You made the best choice. You had the others help you gather up ponies and evacuate them here to safety. The town can be rebuilt, but ponies can’t really be replaced. You did well, Derpy,” Naruko said giving the pegasus a salute which she happily returned. Naruko had made her decision regarding the patrol. She would see if there was any official ranking system, but even if there wasn’t Derpy was going to be her second in command.

{-} {-} {-}

The parasprite infestation had taken a toll on Ponyville. Naruko and the rest of the patrol did a final scan of the town to make sure Pinkie and her marching band cleared out all of the pests. Fortunately, they did it turned out. It was still difficult seeing how much damage the pests did on the town. Ponies were wondering how this happened, but Naruko and the others remained silent on the matter. They didn’t want the ponies being upset with Fluttershy over this. It was terrible, but it was still an accident.

“Alright everypony. We will be working together to rebuild Ponyville. In the mean time, I got permission from Princess Luna to allow the use of the Ever-Free’s HQ as a long term shelter until all of the buildings are rebuilt,” Naruko shouted to all of the gathered ponies. The ponies cheered in relief and immediately started working on clearing out debris and inspecting homes.

One good thing about Ponyville is they had a lot of construction ponies to help arrange everything and Twilight helped organize the work teams to help with efficiency. The Ever-Free Patrol increased patrols temporarily to make sure animals didn’t stray into Ponyville by accident looking for more parasprite snacks. Lyra took them to the forest as Pinkie requested, but they didn’t go into deep and still the things were quickly munched up just like the pink pony said would happen.

When the patrol members weren’t out on patrol, they were doing their best to help out around town. They surprisingly didn’t have to worry about the HQ much, Trixie was handling that and doing fairly well at it. She was occasionally calling herself the Great and Helpful Trixie. She also helped with morale usually at the end of each day with a show of some kind. There weren’t any ponies trying to heckle her here and her shows couldn’t be interrupted as bragging.

Twilight and Naruko were both relieved the damage done to their home’s structure was minimal, but the books were a different matter. Twilight sighed as she tossed another partially chewed book into the pile with the rest. She was keeping the ones where the pests somehow managed to eats the words but not the books thanks to her spell in a different pile.

“At least Naruko’s here now,” she thought to herself as Naruko brought in some more damaged books from a different part of the library/their home. While they were cleaning up Naruko told her all about the trip.

“That sounds really interesting that this guardian didn’t fight, but tested you all instead. I’ll keep that in mind for future research in case there is mention of something along those lines. I still wish I could have gone,” she said with a frown.

“Well the mission was short this time and I really hope you can come along as well next time. We still have our day with just the two of us to look forward to at least,” Naruko said.

Twilight smiled to that. “So, you remembered. I was scared you understandably wouldn’t, given everything that happened.”

Naruko shook her head. “I wouldn’t forget. I made you a promise and I don’t go back on my word.”

“I know,” Twilight said with a warm smile as Spike came in with some refreshments for them and they got back to work. They talked a little more about how recovery was coming along. They were both relieved there was at least one pony home that made it through this mess without any problems.

{-} {-} {-}

Vinyl and Octavia were standing in front of their home as soon as they left Naruko and the Pinkie Marching Band. The area around it had been hit really hard by the Fuzzy terrors, but the shield was still up. Vinyl was a little worried as she deactivated it. When the shield disappeared, the two ponies eyes were wide in amazement as they both let out sighs of relief. “See aren’t you glad I put the Wub shield in the first place now, Octavia?” Vinyl asked with a knowing grin.

Octavia shook her head but smiled. “I am. I swear if an inventor pony ever learns of your Wub-Tech, Equestria will see an unprecedented level of technological advancement.”

Vinyl shook her head to this. “Can’t. They would have to specifically have my understanding of music and such. I tried to teach a couple of ponies in the past. The results weren’t pretty,” Vinyl said with a frown.

“Really?” Octavia asked.

Vinyl nodded. “Remember how I told I was kicked out of my old Canterlot apartment?” Octavia nodded. “My roommate Muse Tech tried to use it after I explained it to her and we ended up blowing up the apartment. Luckily no ponies were hurt.”

Octavia winced at the image in her head, “Maybe it’s better nopony else learns of it.” Vinyl just nodded in agreement as the two walked inside their home feeling exhausted from their adventure. The two didn't even bother to eat anything before they fell asleep in their beds.

Author's Note:

I know that was a long chapter. I didn't want to break it up though because of the way I chose to write it. I wanted to have a temple that was "easier" while there was chaos (Discord excluded) going on in Ponyville at the same time and show both sides. I hoped everyone enjoyed it.

Comments

[Gadman85]

8817621
You were right... To my credit I decided that the moment I wrote the part about Celestia laughing.

[Mourningmist]

Twi and naruko love interest? Certainly seems that way.