Zaps Apple

by Electuroo

Chapter 40: To The City

Zaps Apple

Chapter 40: To the City

Daring Do...

Oapious was huge: he stood about nine feet tall with muscles rippling through his arms, legs and chest. This was one seriously big two-headed mutt we had to deal with, and the way both heads snarled at me and Night Spark was not good for us...

The first head of the two-headed jackal sniffed the air. “I smell Equestrian magic!”

The eyes of the second head of Oapious glowed and stared down upon the two griffons before Oapious. “Ponies I see! Equestrians! The magic between worlds changed them, but I can see it!” he growled, his right paw clenched tightly on the bladed staff.

“She holds the staff!” They said together with a growl under their throats. Now both of their eyes were set upon me, with their snouts raised and teeth bared. They felt threatened.

I held the two-headed jackal staff, ready for them to strike like a villain in any of my stories and adventures. Although this might work for us, I noticed the gem pulsing from the bladed staff. The same gem from the griffon kingdom idol. “You're not only after the idol of Boreas, are you? And it's not the idol, but the gem within that you want.”

Oapious' solid yellow eyes and his narrowing brow showed anger, but a grin came from the two heads. “Adventurer you are sharp, you have discovered what we are after.”

“Two worlds, two gems. You sent that beast for the idol from our Griffonstone didn't you?”

“We do not know what you speak of, Equestrian!” That blade was glowing and I figured it out.

I rose the staff up quickly and it released a blast of reddish waves of energy, causing the energy building up on the blade to fade. “I get it now! You need them to be able to cut your way through one reality to another. And with that power you could conquer not only this and our world, but countless worlds!”

The two heads snarled at me. “Equestrian adventurer, once we have the second jewel we will battle!”

I stood ready. “Not on your life, mutt!”

Night Spark span his spear around and stood ready to fight. “We will make sure you never escape!”

“You may have stopped us from transphasing to the griffon lands of Equis, but you will not stop us from taking this fight to the surface!” He charged up the blade again. I aimed the staff at him, but he blocked the two sets of beams with his own magic staff, deflecting it. “Nice try, pegasus. We're taking this to the surface to make sure-”

“Not on your life jackal!” Night Spark flew right under him and used the spear to knock one of his feet up, causing him to fall flat on his back. the scythe's energy release hit the side of the gorge, causing a huge explosive compression wave through the rock layer, I saw it travelling upwards.

I quickly screamed out the warning to those top side. “Watch out! You got a compression wave coming right for you from below ground!”

“Gallus get the laptop! Get airborne!” Gilda yelled through my headpiece.

“Everyone leave everything else! Take to the skies!” Snowtip shouted afterwards.

I could hear the many sounds of griffons shouting and of wings flapping just before the rumbling and explosive sound of rock and dirt and all sorts of stuff flying around and crashing into each other. I only could imagine what just happened at the top of the gorge, the danger Oapious brought was very real, that scythe needed to go!

Oapious pushed both hands on the ground, leaping back onto his feet and growling. The two heads turned to each of us and what he said gave us pause. “YOU IDIOTS! THIS IS HONOURABLE COMBAT! WE ARE TO TRAVEL TO A ZONE OF COMBAT AWAY FROM ANY INNOCENT LIFE!”

Both I and Night Spark looked at each other without words coming from our mouths. We just heard the two heads speak of honourable combat. “Did I just hear that right?” Snowtip broke the what felt forever silence between us. “Honourable combat?”

“You did...” I lowered the staff.

The two-headed mutt picked up his staff and scythe. “Ask him about it.”

I sighed lowering head slightly. “Fine...” I rose my head, looking up at Oapious' two sets of yellow glowing eyes. “Oapious, I have a simple question: are you here to conquer this land?”

“Not quite. We do conquer each land, then the next, until we conquer the whole world. Once this is complete we adjust the world's ruling body slightly, and allow them to continue under our watch until we gain the power to transphase to another reality and conquer that world. The world we leave, we make sure they can continue on without us.”

I blinked a few times as this jackal answered my question. He conquers the world, brings order to it, rules it and moves on? “What sort of evil being are you!?”

“We're neither evil or good, we are grey. We have done this for millions of years. We are as you creatures would say... An old dog can not learn a new trick.” He stood firm and continued to speak before I or Night could speak up.

“We have been defeated and when we are, we do not conquer the world. Instead, we gather the knowledge to leave,or are forced to leave as the one called Starswirl and his comrades of the pillars did to us. We shall not conquer your world, Equis adventurer.”

Night Spark asked the next question. “What about now? Didn't the mages lock you away?”

“Yes, but that was not victory in honourable combat. They just postponed us from acquiring the jewels. Until we are defeated or ejected from this world, we will continue.”

I hovered up to him at the eye level of all four eyes. “So... with what I heard and with the new facts in that: You conquer worlds through honourable combat, and if you are defeated or sent to another world you accept defeat and never try to conquer that world again. But you also only fight those that defend it at zero risk to the innocent lives.”

“Correct.”

I land and rubbed the back of my head. “You are one very weird creature... I never in all my time have I met anything like you or even what you do...”

“It has been a long time since we have talked to those we invaded and conquered. But we also do kill if the beings we fight refuse to surrender.”

I shivered at the thought. “Wow blunt... So to be blunt. We're in a massive gorge about a mile down and above us is a city of millions. So now what?”

Oapious placed the glowing scythe into the ground. “Now we take this battle to another location.” Placing the staff down beside his right foot paw, he raised his hand paws over the scythe. It glowed and a blue orb appeared.

As Oapious touched the scythe and moved his hand paws around, we watched the wind whip around, slicing through the ground in a massive perfect circle. “Is he about to do what I think he's about to do?”

I quickly twisted around, flapping my wings and holding onto the two headed jackal staff, quickly landing. “He is!” I quickly tapped against the side of this earpiece thing. “Gilda, we're coming up, Oapious isn't exactly what we thought he was...”

“We heard and saw everything. If we didn't I would have seriously thought this was some twisted joke...but Snowtip believes he not trying to conquer our world. He needs to win to claim the Boreas Jewels, which means he needs to not only defeat you and Night Spark but one or two of us as well in honourable combat!”

The whole land rumbled and shook as it started to raise up through the gorge, heading to the surface. “So that's his game... Our world's a pass for him to move on and conquer other worlds. Once he's done so and fixed things he moves on, and if he fails he just moves on instantly. Not taking time to build up the power or means to travel over an long length of time... Not only that, the power boost the two jewels will give him will be through the roof.” I whispered, standing close to the wind wall and using it to drown out my voice from his hearing.

“Yep that's Sis's guess too. We need to make sure he doesn't get them, we have to win... I am not letting some lame mutt walk all over this griffon!”

Gilda was very certain and very sure of herself. I looked up as the surface got closer. “Well you got the armour for it. And we'll be surface side in about twenty seconds, so make sure you're trigger-happy general and troops keep their talons off the triggers, okay?”

“Oh don't worry, I got that taken care of already. See you top side!”

Zaps Apple...

“I don't get it! Is Oapious a good guy or bad guy!?” Scootaloo threw her talon hands up in the air in frustration.

Gallus sat on a rock ledge, closing the lid of his laptop as he sighed. “He's one of those more complicated characters like in some comics, neither good or bad. More or less grey. In Oapious' case... Conquering worlds can either be bad or good. One world he could have conquered may have had all sorts of evil beings ruling, and him conquering them would turn the world around for the better. While on the other talon a world at peace could be turned upside down because of him...”

I tilted my head, thinking about what Gallus just said. “We're not stopping him from conquering other worlds but getting hold of the jewels in the idols instead?” I was lost as I asked the question.

Snowtip sighed with her arms crossed as gusts of wind came up from the gorge. They were about to surface by the guess of many glances over to it by her, Gilda, Gallus and Gabby. “From what we recently learnt about how he conquers these worlds, he said he's been doing it for millions of years. He's a rather confusing creature...”

“Ah am really confused, are yer too?” Applebloom looked to each of us we all nodded, muttering to ourselves about it.

“If he's all that powerful how can he not travel to other realities, dimensions or whatever they are?” Scootaloo asked.

Sweetie Belle scratched the top of her head with a talon finger. “Maybe the barriers between worlds are stronger, and what he gathers to travel to each world is only temporary?”

“Maybe...” Scootaloo crossed her arms, huffing a little.

“Could it be like those artefact things? They do seem powerful.” I suggested. “Our box did have very powerful magical traps on it, and it did do that weird fuse thing that you and everyone else told me about.” I recalled the talk about the shadowless orb and the weird fusion that happened to me and my and Applebloom's brothers.

Applebloom turned to the gorge as we felt a strong gust of wind, we dug into the ground with our talons and claws as our wings almost carried us away. “They're surfacin'!” We all watched with amazement as a circular piece of land now emerged from the gorge, with Daring Do and Night Spark standing on it with four griffons out cold. “Okay, that there is impressive!”

Scootaloo pointed her talon at the two-headed jackal. “Whoa, look at the size of that guy!”

“Oapious' eyes are kind of creepy...” Sweetie Belle gulped at the sight of the four sets of semi-glowing eyes. They all were locked on me...

He walked right over to me, the land still hovering as Daring Do and Night Spark talked to Gilda, I guess for getting treatment for those four griffons in robes. The large muscular two-headed jackal now stood only a few feet from us, both heads' eyes on me still. “We meet for the first time time again, Zaps Apple.”

“Y-you know me?” I was surprised, stuttering in response and stepping back a little.

“How the heck do you know Zaps!?” Scootaloo demanded answers from Oapious.

Oapious' two tails moved around with his gaze now on Scootaloo. “Time will tell Scootaloo, but the road to your answers will be on that landmass from below.” He turned around and walked back to the floating land held by the wind. “It would be best for you Crusaders to join.”

“Ah'm confused... He knows us...”

“He does...” Sweetie Belle was equally confused by the brief talk between us and Oapious.

Snowtip walked up beside us, watching him walk back as we were. “Have you not forgot what I said about the past, fletchlings? We go, same with Gallus and Gabby. Something about that brief talk shows this to be strange. He seems very interested in all of you for some reason and it may have to do with what lays ahead.” Snowtip gazed upon him as he continued to walk. “Upon his steps the wind shall raise, once time flows from one to another and what begins the journey for us brings us full circle...”

“Cryptic talk again Snowtip?” Gallus placed his laptop under his right foreleg, holding it with his talon hand and resting it against part of his chest. “Guess we're going for a ride on a floating platform held by wind...”

“Is it weird to be excited about this? Cause I am!” Gabby flew around a few times, doing a few loop-the-loops. “I mean he wants to fight not only Daring Do and Night Spark, so I bet Gilda will get involved too now!”

“Increasing the chance of beating him in honourable combat? Sure, I can see that.” Gallus walked with us to the floating platform. “With the pride of the griffons on the line, there's no way she will back down from this challenge.”

Gabby landed and walked right next to me. “Still weird that he knows you! It's like a line from one of the time travelling comics I read a few months back, where a griffon knew a griffon before he knew her!”

“You think that he met us, but our future selves?” Scootaloo dared to ask.

“Maybe,” the two siblings replied together.

“Ah don't like that. After what happened to Twilight with her time travel it's not somethin' ah like to be involved in...” Applebloom shuddered at the thought of time travel.

I thought about what they were saying but it was something I never knew was possible. “So this time travel is something we can use go back to before something happens?”

“In a way, but it also can work the other way too: you could see what will happen later before it happens.” Sweetie Belle explained as we all looked at her. “I read it in one of Spike's comic books once,” she sheepishly responded with her reason of knowing this.

Snowtip flapped her wings, jumping onto the floating land mass and turning around to us. “Leap over, it's safe.” We did one by one with her catching us, and as she did her words came with much confusion. “Time can flow both directions. With the right push the flow can change.”

We now were able to hear Gilda speaking to the general. “Get those four griffon mages to a hospital and keep tracking us. Wherever we're going, we might need backup.”

He saluted to her. “We won't let you down, Madam President!”

“Good. Take care of them, okay?”

“We will, ma'am.” He turned and left the floating land on the wind, joining the others in carrying the four griffon mages away.

Oapious stood at the staff and scythe in the ground, hands over the glowing orb. “Where exactly are we going for this honourable match?” Gilda demanded, flying up to his two heads, looking at one head to the other.

Both heads turned to her directly. “An arena that stands the test of time, a place we can go all out and no damage to any creature or land can happen. A place of our defeat over 4000 years ago.”

Snowtip gasped. “We'll all return to where it begun...”

Gilda turned to Snowtip. “Snowy, are we about to go where I think he's suggesting...”

“I think so G...”

“And where would that be?” Scootaloo frowned.

Snowtip looked to the two-headed jackal when she replied. “The Celestial Mountains...”

“Celestial Mountains?” Me, the crusaders, Daring Do and Night Spark said at once with questionable looks from each of us.

Gallus on the other talon, spoke with shock. “B-But that's a no fly zone, period! There's not even anyone stupid enough to climb up that mountain! It's got static fog and lightning storm clouds all year around! It's all the way in the middle of the peaks! No one has ever even seen what the peaks look like!”

Oapious's heads just smirked. “It's simple for us. Just watch.” With a pulse of light from the glowing orb above the scythe, the wind grew and closed in around the landmass we stood on to form a big ball of air. I looked over the edge, seeing the ball of air was under the land too. “The wind sphere will shield us from extreme acceleration and also the lightning storms from the mountains.”

I put my talon hand against it, feeling a strange vibration from it. “It feels like a solid wall, but it's vibrating!” I hovered by it, feeling each part of it with curiosity.

“So we're in a ball of wind. Good for us.” Gilda looked to her talons and to Oapious. “You're vulnerable to attacks, aren't you?”

His gaze turned to Gilda. “Yes we are. But we believe your pride and the chance of honourable combat will not do such a thing.”

“You're right, so let's get going wherever you want us to go, dweep.”

“Very well...”

On the ground...

The general turned to the sky as the platform of land raising up high above them was encased in an orb of wind. “Are they going to fight all the way up there?” he asked himself. Suddenly, the orb shot off at neck-breaking speeds.

“Holy feathers and lion tails!” He gasped and his troops all stared with bewilderment at what just happened. “Radio now!”

“Yes sir!” One of the griffons gave him a radio.

Holding it up to the side of his head and pressing the button down, he spoke into it. “This is General Coalif to Flight Command. I need radio and satellite east of Griffonstone yesterday!”

“General, this is Flight Command. We got a tracking of an undentified object flying towards the Celestial Mountains. Satellite imaging showing a land mass moving at speeds close to 1992mph.”

General Coalif lowered the radio for a second, staring off in the direction the orb left. He raised the radio up to the side of his face and replied, “Are you certain it's heading for Celestial Mountains?”

“Confirmed sir, it's slowing as it approaches the static cloud. We will lose contact with it in the next few minutes.”

“Hmm...” He placed his other talon hand on his waist, standing on his paws while thinking of a way to follow them. “Is the prototype Celestial One ready?”

“Sir, the prototype has only recently been built. Only simulations and test drones have been used in controlled environments. We haven't tested it in the static cloud yet. Also you need approval from Empress Ember and Lord Rutherford first.”

“Yes, the joint program between all three nations since the Celestial Mountains sit across all three borders...” Coalif turned to one of the griffon soldiers, removing his finger off the trigger on the radio for a second. “Get me a phone to contact the other leaders at once: we need their go-ahead to get Celestial One airborne.”

“Yes sir!” The griffon saluted and flew off quickly to the command unit not to far from them.

Pressing the button down, he spoke into the radio once more. “Keep tracking it and the President as much as you can control.”

“We will sir, over and out!”

“Sir, I have the phone.”

Coalif took the phone off the young griffon. “Thank you.” The griffon saluted in reply.

Coalif looked at the screen, pressing his talon fingertip on it to dial the number to Empress Ember. It rang and rang till an answer came. “General, this better be important.” He could also hear fireworks going off.

Coalif turned to the fair. “Are you at the festival?”

“Yes, you really think Gilda was going to have all the fun? So I managed to get our Yak friend Rutherford to join, that being that. Where the heck is your awesome leader? I doubt she'd miss a festival like this!”

Coalif adjusted his uniform, fiddling with the collar slightly. “About that...”

Zaps Apple...

“Whoa we moving so fast!” Scootaloo and us all saw the city of Griffonstone shrink till it disappeared behind the horizon.

Gallus turned to the direction we was going. “And we're heading right for the Static Clouds of Celestial Mountains, the natural barrier between all three nations of Griffinar, Yakertrem and Dragitanira.”

“Zaps, what's bothering you?” Gabby came over to me as I sat on a slab of marble as they called it, looking out at the fast-approaching mountains. She sat with me. “Is it to do with Oapious?”

I was wondering about him. He said something about meeting me, yet I never have. “Yeah...” I looked down at my talon hands, fiddling with my fingers against each other. “I want us to get home. Our and the others' families must be worried about us...” I raise my right talon hand out to the Static Clouds surrounding the massive mountain range. “Now we're going to some place within the clouds of this mountain to watch a fight over some magical jewels...”

Gabby put her wing over me. “I know Zaps. I was all excited, happy and bouncy seeing you and the others for real, but I think I would feel the same as you if it were me on the other paw.”

“I wonder if Big Mac, Armour and the others discovered those changeling things that looked and acted like us.” I was thinking about it throughout the day since we had been here. The night sky above, as I quickly saw, was so much the same. But sitting here now and going to some place that involved three adults fighting Oapious was strange.

“Big Mac I think would catch on quick; he's gotten to be a big brother to you since the day you two first met at that bale of hay.” Gabby giggled and I couldn't help but laugh too, thinking about that first moment looking up at him and falling from the hay bale. “Zaps, things will work out.”

Resting my head against her side, she pulled her wing hug closer to me. “You really think so?”

“I know so,” she whispered to me.

Scootaloo stepped up to us. “You really can do anything, can't ya?”

Gabby shrugged. “Anyone can if they put their minds to it and practice.” Good advice that Gabby gave to Scootaloo and me.

“We're slowin' down and that massive cloud doesn't look all too friendly...” Applebloom was right: we all looked at it, and the massive clouds all around the mountains were now right on top of us. All that lightning bouncing around within and lighting up the clouds was something we've never seen.

Gallus' eyes shifted from right to left and up. “So beautiful yet so deadly... I've seen this on school trips from a distance, but now seeing it so close up... I can see why griffons or dragons must be crazy to fly into that!”

“We're not really going into that, are we?” I asked, turning to the adults. This was one of the craziest things we were going to do!

Gallus darted his eyes to them too, turning around. “Like Zaps said! We're not really going in are we!?” He put both talon hands out to it as we inched closer to it.

Oapious was calm throughout our freakout as the floating land in the bubble of air was about to enter the clouds. “We are. Remain calm, no harm shall come to us within the wind shield. It will keep us safe.” The two heads reassured us about the safety of all of us.

Upon entering it we all stood silently, looking around as flashes of lightning with rumbles of thunder came, with some lightning streaking around and across the air shield. “If we weren't going to this city to fight against you, this journey alone would be impressive and worthwhile,” Daring Do spoke as her eyes followed each bolt of lightning. She sounded impressed, but also a bit disappointed.

“We do not apologize for what we are; this has to be,” Oapious calmly replied. “It will not be much longer till we pass through the static clouds.” He adjusted his hand paws around the sphere before him. We felt the land mass move sidewards a little before straightening out.

Scootaloo turned to me. “Zaps, you think there'e something on the other side of the clouds?”

I nodded. “I think so Scootaloo. But I wonder what it could be.” One thing I did notice was Snowtip and Gilda had silently glanced at each other. This look I saw from Big Mac when he knew something but didn't say. “Snowtip...” I walked up to her.

Snowtip turned to me, lowering her head to my eye level. “You're about to ask me about what's beyond the static clouds, right?”

“Yes Snowtip. Do you know?”

“I believe I do, but can't be very certain due to the fact that we were only at that city for a few short moments, and also the fact me and Gilda was only fletchlings at the time.”

Gilda sat down on a rock with her forelegs crossed. “Not our proudest moment Snowy. We were a good pair of dweeps that argued with each other a bit too much before we accidentally set off that thing in the ruins Dad was studying.”

Snowtip sat on her hunches with her talon hands in front of her on the marble ground. “G, I highly doubt it was accidental. After all these years, don't you think it's a little strange that they knew exactly of our arrival?”

“Well you knew of fictional characters from a comic coming, so it seems they rubbed off ya Snowy.”

“Hmm...” Snowtip put her talon hand into the bag she carried, pulling out a little six-sided blue box that looked like it was made of stone or something. “Only time will tell; when it's time to open. Shining the way upon six young stars...” Snowtip chanted.

Gilda rolled her eyes, crossing one hind leg over the other. “Seriously Snowtip, that old hippogriff had a few screws loose. She helped us get home, but giving you that stupid little thing and saying something that had no meaning isn't going to help now.”

“Six young stars?” I asked.

“It's something the elderly hippogriff told us when we were sent back from the Celestial City to the ruins of Beak Peak Bay when we was about your age, Zaps.” Snowtip explained to me. “We only saw the outside through one of the windows, and I can barely remember what it looks like after all these years.”

I heard the word hippogriff many times now and was curious about it. “We're griffons so... What's a hippogriff?”

“Yeah, I am wondering about that too,” Sweetie Belle added.

Gilda answered this for us, pulling out of her own bag one of those devices Gallus had. She pressed her talon fingers on it a few times and then turned it to us. “That's a hippogriff. This is General Seaspray from Aries Harbour of the Grif Isles southeast, off the mainland of our lands. They fuel most fish trade too.”

“Wow he's half pony, half bird!” Scootaloo took the device, taking a good look at it. We gathered around looking too.

Gallus and Gabby smiled. “Best holiday ever!” she said with excitement. “We travelled to Aries Harbour a few months ago and had a lot of fun at the sea, the resort, and even watching how they fish! They hold these amazing nets and dive in pairs right into the water, surfacing and boom! They caught a dozen fishes just like that!” She clicked her talon finger and thumb tips together.

“I have to admit it was pretty awesome. We even got to try it on a smaller safer scale, but in a pool of fresh water, not salt.” He shivered, ruffling his feathers and opening his wings a little. “I learned the hard way that it's so hard to fly with salt water on your wings, and that salty smell on your fur and feathers...” He pinched his beak with his talon hand.

Gabby giggled. “I think you looked funny! I even got a photo!”

“Don't you dare show them! You promised!”

Gabby waved her talon hand dismissively. “Don't worry, I won't. Bro, you have so little faith in your sister's promise.”

Gallus was relieved. “Thanks Sis...”

“Sorry to interrupt this moment of enjoyable talk; we're in a bit of trouble.” Oapious spoke up, his dual voices sounding concerned.

One head only spoke next. “I cannot see the way. The path which we took before isn't here, the pattern is changing too fast for my eyes to follow...”

Daring Do spoke to that one head we all now gave our attention to. “You invaded the city to fight their strongest. So they must have found the weakness in the cloud and shifted its pattern to confuse any that dare to enter.”

“I didn't take that into account... I mis-counteracted...”

The second head turned to glance back to the way we came from. “The path back also is lost. I can not smell the path we took.”

“How the heck do you smell a path in the sky!?” Night Spark was very suspicious and didn't seem to believe the second head.

“I have a higher sense of smell, bat! So don't give me that look. Your ears are far more sensitive to sound than your eyes to light! My nose works on senses you will never understand,” the second head countered.

Night Spark snarled. “Oh, I am a two headed mutt that lived for millions of years! I can do impossible things!”

“Impossible is being single-minded, bat!”

“Single-minded!? You conquer worlds whether they are peaceful or the darkest pits of Tartarus!”

Gilda landed between them with her talon hands out to each, showing her talon hand palms to them. “Stop your senseless argument, dweeps! And use your heads on the problem we are facing right now!”

“H-” They were about to speak, but were cut short by Gilda.

“I said stop it you idiots!”

“Are we lost in the storm?” Applebloom asked.

“Yes...” the two heads replied and suddenly flinched.

Daring Do noticed it. “Oapious...”

“We're in trouble...” He rose both heads looking up at the wind shield. We all followed his gaze to see lightning hitting it more intensely. But what caught all of our eyes was the cracks forming. “Our wind shield is failing... The storm is starting to counter our magic...”

Gilda rose her right foreleg, looking to the shield she held tight in her talon hand. “Let's see if the legends are true about the Aerois Shield.” Gilda aimed it up above her head, closing her eyes.

The golden shield before our eyes started to glow, with all the markings pulsing and building up at the centre around a blue orb. The lightning blasted through the wind shield, coming down at us fast. But it never hit us. It hit a golden force-shield that appeared instead. “Gilda, tell me you can hold the storm till we figure a way out of it!”

“Maybe five minutes, ten tops, Snowy!” She was trying to keep her right foreleg up with the shield aimed above her head, each lightning strike causing her to bend her foreleg and grunt in pain. “This storm has got quite the punch!”

Daring Do realised from the lightning what it reminded her of. “Thor's Light...”

“What?” Night Spark questioned and we all turned to her apart from Oapious.

The solid yellow eyes were now looking at the lightning strikes shifting the two heads in different directions. “That would explain why our wind shield was breached...”

“It seems you two know something not even I know...” Snowtip didn't like the concerned looks either of them were giving. “And from those looks I say we're in serious trouble...”

“Far worse... There's a temple in Equestria protected by an endless lightning storm. It gets stronger specially around high-tier magic usage...” Daring Do stated. “Which means-”

Gilda quickly turned her head to all of us. “We got far less time than I said! You dweep, why didn't you tell us!?”

“I didn't know it was that till Oapious' shield was shattered!”

“Erm... Scootaloo...”

“Yeah Zaps?” Her head turns to me.

I looked at the ground. “Isn't the wind shield supposed to hold up the land and make us fly through the air?”

Colour drained from Scootaloo's face as she gulped. “Oh no...”

Lightning was now striking hard with multiple hits against the force shield created by Gilda's shield she held up, but she heard us and dread appeared upon her face as we all saw a blast of lightning came from the bottom left. “Take cover!” she squawked loudly.

Snowtip and Night Spark quickly moved in front of all of us, opening their wings up to cover us and lowering their heads as the lightning smashed through the wind shield below and through the ground. It ripped a part of the land and it fell into the clouds below, only for it to end up crashing down onto the force shield, marble and rock smashing to pieces on impact.

Oapious turned his paws to shift the land as it started to tilt. He growled as the land straightened, while we dug our claws into the marble ground to hold firm from falling off. Loose rocks and marble came crashing down again on the floating land. “In 30 seconds we will fall! We can not maintain the hold much longer!”

Gallus looked up, seeing six blinks of light for a second. I noticed it too. “Six stars...” Gallus took the box out of Snowtip's bag, placing it down before us. “I think I got it! We're the six young stars! Quick, touch a finger on each piece!”

“We agree, do it!” Oapious shouted.

“At this time we got nothing to lose. The lightning is intensifying!” Night Spark shouted. Gilda was starting to lose to the lightning, which was creating cracks in her defence.

Me, Gallus, Scootaloo, Gabby, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom stood around the box that Gallus placed down. We all looked to each other, and with a nod we placed a finger on each of the six plates on the top of it.

“What happens now?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Ah don't know...” Applebloom stared down at the part she was touching.

We got our answer with each of the plates lighting up at the same time, with the glow getting brighter and brighter, till a blast of energy caused us all to slide back from it. Shielding our faces from the wind, I noticed as the lightning suddenly spread out and turned into sparkling starlight as the wave passed through it. The lightning and rumble of thunder were now gone.

“Whoa, it worked!” Scootaloo cheered, grabbing me by my talon hands with hers and swinging me around a few times before letting me land on my paws. “Isn't that awesome Zaps?!”

I laughed. “It sure was! I saw the lightning just turn to dust!”

“Six young stars, well done.” We all turned to see a floating see-through version of Seaspray. “Whoa, it's Seaspray from Gilda's picture!” Gallus points to him.

He saluted and stood firm, removing his helmet. “That I am, young Gallus. We've been expecting you and the others...” He slowly turned to Gilda. “I'll see you on the other side.” With a wink he faded away.

Gilda rolled her eyes. “Feather brain dweep. But he sure looked hot in that ceremonial armour.”

“G, fletchlings...” Snowtip hints to us crusaders all staring at her.

“Hehe... Erm...” Gilda's face turned slightly red, her eyes darting left and right and not making eye contact with us.

I turned to Scootaloo. “What does Gilda mean by hot in ceremonial armour? Is he very warm wearing it? Is that why Gilda looked hot too?”

Gilda squawked instantly after I said that, putting her shield-holding talon hand over her face, only to get hit by the shield, yelp in pain, and get laughter from the others in response to her actions. “Erm... I can't think of anything to say about that...” Scootaloo rubbed the back of her neck.

“Why?” I tilted my head.

“B-GAH!” Suddenly Scootaloo fell flat on her stomach, and I noticed almost everyone apart from Applebloom was also lying on the ground trying to get up, but couldn't even move. “W-Wh-What on Celestia!?”

“I c-ca-can't move!” Sweetie Belle struggled to say in alarm.

Daring Do tried but she was almost pinned. “It f-feels like we're b-being pulled against the ground by something!”

“What exac-exactly!?” Night Spark shouted as the force of wind blow into us now.

“Ah'm strugglin' but ah can stand...” Applebloom walked up to me with each heavy step going against the force pulling her down.

Oapious growled and snarled, trying to lift himself up. “These are gravimetric forces! They can stand because of the Earth Pony nature of their magic! There are only two factors that can account to this! One is that the wind shield is out of control and we're being pulled by it!”

“What is two?” I asked.

“We're falling upside down...”

Both I and Applebloom gulped and slowly turned our heads to above us. Squinting at the wind blowing against us, we screamed at what we saw. “SWEET CELESTIA!!! WE'RE FALLING TOWARDS THE CITY!!!” Applebloom cried out.

We hugged each other screaming in fear till Gilda shouted out, pulling the shield off her right talon hand with her left. “Stop screaming you dweeps! Get my shield and aim it above your heads! If it works for you as it works for me, it might save all our hinds!”

“O-okay...” I moved as quick as I could against the forces acting on me and Applebloom beside me.

Oapious didn't seem convinced. “I highly doubt a shield's magic will save you all...”

Daring Do glared at him as we walked by, getting closer to Gilda with each talon and paw step. “Because you're immortal!?”

“Correct. It sounds cold to you, but it's the truth...”

“I think they can do it!” Scootaloo countered.

“I do too! Go Apples!” Sweetie Belle cheered us on, watching as we got to Gilda.

“I believe in them...” Night Spark also backed us up.

Gallus grinned. “You got my vote, no way we're going to go splat!”

“Yeah! Go Apples go!” Gabby tried to move her talon hand in an closed fist but failed to move it.

Snowtip smiled warmly at us. “I believe in you young fletchlings. You have the strength and the hearts within.”

Gilda turn her head best she could to us, pushing the shield with all the strength she could muster. “Raise the shield and focus on protecting those you hold true to your heart...”

“Ready Zaps?”

“Ready.” I nod with both of us taking hold of the shield and trying to lift it over our heads, aiming towards the increasingly close city.

I couldn't think of what I saw of the city, but it looked like a circle with three arms of buildings, trees, and stuff sticking out of it on top of the mountain, with parts of the mountain on either sides of the arms of buildings, and streets that became more clearer by the second.

But we closed our eyes and aimed as high we could, hoping in all our hearts for some sort of miracle...

On the Otherside...

“What!?” Rairty, Applejack and Rainbow Dash screamed at once standing in the library of Golden Oaks with their friends, Spike, Big McIntosh, Armour McApple, Celestia and Luna around a comic on a stand.

Applejack picked it up with her front hooves, flipping through the pages. “They're fallin' to a mountaintop city upside down, and it decided to end with their raisin' some magic shield at it!?”

“It's a cliffhanger. Stories, comics and movies do it time and again.” Pinkie Pie said, taking the comic from Applejack and turning the page to the large land mass falling upside down towards Celestial City.

Celestia stared at the page intently. “They're in real danger, and all we can do is watch this unfold in images and texts in this magically-refreshing comic book...”

“And we can not use magic to try and help because Shadowless could have easily done something to it...” Twilight sighed heavily, lowering her head. “We found out changelings were being used for her own purposes thanks to her flawed mistake with the voices.”

Armour glanced over to Big Mac, who glanced back before speaking. “Ah and Armour believe it was all part of the ploy.”

“Also don't forget the poor souls didn't even know they were changelings...” Fluttershy sadly looked down. “Poor things only remembered what Shadowless did to them in pieces.”

Celestia glanced over to her. “Indeed, but at least we can help those six souls have a productive life in Canterlot. They are not at fault and I will do whatever I can in my power to help them.” Celestia solemnly declared, with a hoof to her chest pledging to aid them.

“We focus on this and she could completely escape, without us knowing where she went or when.” Armour put his hoof against the page before moving it away. “We have to have faith in them...”

“Faith!? Our family in danger!” Applejack snapped, poking her hoof against Armour's chest.

“Because that's all we can do.”

Big Mac spoke. “Applejack...”

“All we can do!? We've been doin' nothin' but watchin'! We should find a way in!”

Big Mac spoke again. “Applejack Apple...” His voice showed anger in the second attempt.

“Ah wi-”

“Applejack Butter Apple...” Big Mac spoke sharply.

Applejack flinched and her ears peered back as she now turned to her big brother, looking up into his green eyes. “Bi-Big Mac...”

“Go get some rest.” He pointed upstairs.

“B-”

“Applejack, ya've been awake longer than any of us. We're all worried, but not sleepin' will end up with us makin' mistakes like Apple Bucking Season when ah got hurt. Now go up and get some sleep. We'll come get yer with news.” Big Mac said in a stern but calm and gentle voice to his younger sister.

Rarity yawned. “I believe it is best for us to rest too...”

Rainbow Dash shook her head a little. “I can't sleep knowing Scoots-”

“Do not worry, we have the night shift. Go rest.” Luna stated. She turned to Celestia. “That includes you, sister.”

Celestia looked to Armour, Big Mac, Twilight, Spike, Luna, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. “Very well. I will return to Canterlot and sleep. Luna; please send a letter via Spike imminently when the comic refreshes itself.”

“I will, sister.” Celestia hugged Luna and then teleported away.

Twilight looked to the stairs. “There are a few beds up in my room. I set them up recently, so you will have somewhere to sleep.”

“Thanks Twilight.” Rainbow Dash yawned with a wing over her mouth and trotted off with Rarity and Applejack up the stairs.

Spike twiddled his fingers against his each other. “So... Shall I make us all some hot chocolate?”

Armour tilted his head. “Hot chocolate?”

“You've never had hot chocolate!?” Pinkie gasped.

“Never.”

“Ooooh, come on mister!” She pushed him into the kitchen with Spike following them.

“Do I have a say in this?”

“Nope!”

Luna shook her head with a smile before turning to the comic book. “Big McIntosh, do you believe they will be fine? The truth...”

The red farm pony turned to the window, looking at the sight of the evening view of Ponyville. The towering tree in the distance at Sweet Apple Acres shimmered with a faded magical rainbow aura around its branches. “Big Mac...” Fluttershy whispered, now staring out the window too.

“Fluttershy, Luna and Twilight, ah believe like with any story that we just have to wait and see.” He turned to them with a confidant smile. “But the truth is... They're goin' to be fine.”

“You seem very certain of it.” Twilight said.

Big Mac put his hoof to his chest. “Cause, ah believe it in all mah heart.”