Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Nineteen
Ribbon shifted nervously as one of the Equestrians broke from the pack that had gathered and approached her. The…mare…Ribbon hoped it was a mare and not another small male, stopped a few feet from her and ducked her head respectfully. Ribbon’s eyes shot briefly to Majesty, who walked up beside and gave her a gentle nod. Ribbon didn’t consider herself a leader, but then she doubted anyone on the Estate really did. Certain ponies just sort of took up guiding roles when and if they were needed. Ribbon wasn’t sure what Majesty would do after she came back. The younger generation of ponies had grown used to doing things as a community, and the baby ponies didn’t know Majesty at all. Still, Ribbon was glad she was around, even if she wasn’t acting at all like a queen. Perhaps that was the best for now.
Ribbon focused on the Equestrian mare, who began to speak. “As Mayor of Ponyville, I would like to welcome you all to our town and-“
“Mama, Mama, can we go explore!?” Baby Ribbon bumped her head against Ribbon’s back leg. Ribbon smiled apologetically at the Mayor.
“Pardon me.” She looked back at Baby Ribbon. “You and the others can go play, just make sure you don’t stray to far outside the town, and stay in groups of at least two.” She raised her voice to be heard by the other babies. “That goes for all of you.” She smiled as the other babies cheered, then scattered, every one of them going in different directions, but they did go in groups of two or more. Truly snorted and trotted past Ribbon. “I’ll keep my eyes on them.” She huffed at the Mayor, who just looked confused.
“Sorry about that.” Ribbon said, and the Mayor regained her composure. She began her welcoming speech all over again, and around the thirteenth word Ribbon’s eyes started to glaze a bit. Eventually, Twilight Sparkle edged closer.
“Luna and I have to go prepare the guards for the train, is it alright if I leave you here for now?” Twilight Sparkle asked. Ribbon nodded.
“It should be fine.” Ribbon said. The Mayor smiled and finally wrapped up her spiel. Ribbon was grateful for that.
“I’ll make sure the baby Sea Ponies get to water…do you have a lake or something around? Something without any large predators?” Paradise trotted up, looking to the Mayor and Twilight Sparkle.
“Yes, we do have a lake. I don’t think there is anything vicious in it.”
“Make sure someone is close enough to help them in case they have a problem.” Ribbon said and Paradise nodded.
“I’ll take care of it, don’t worry.”
“Hey, guys, ya’ll want us ta show ya ‘round Ponyville?” Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo managed to catch up to Babies Ribbon, Cuddles and Gusty, who had charged off in a group of three to check out Ponyville. They had been the only trio the Cutie Mark Crusaders had been able to catch up with.
“Sure, why not?” Cuddles smiled at them, then eyed the thatched roofs of Ponyville. “It’s kinda big isn’t it?”
“Awww, this ain’t nothin’” Apple Bloom smiled. “Ya should see Canterlot sometime!”
The Crusaders led their Ponyland friends down the street, pointing out several landmarks and waving a few curious ponies, who tried not to stare too much at the young Ponylanders. It would be rude, and most in Ponyville, while easily startled, weren’t rude.
“The others seemed ta be in a hurry…” Apple Bloom looked around for any of the other baby ponies, but couldn’t spot any.
“I guess they’d rather poke around then…think about things.” Cuddles shrugged. “I know that Baby Lofty wanted to talk to a few of the pegasi here. She’s curious about how they fly. You know she sometimes has issues flying…”
“She’s not the only one.” Scootaloo looked at her own tiny wings, trying not to think about it. It was true that she didn’t feel quite as bad about her wings as she had months ago but…it was still a bit of a sore subject. Especially when she thought of a certain two ponies. Baby Ribbon frowned at her briefly, and then trotted ahead.
“Watch this.” Her horn blinked, and she had suddenly winked ahead of them…except that the only part of her that had reemerged was her head and shoulders. Scootaloo skidded to a halt.
“Gah! What the-!” A few of the other ponies started as well, shouting in horror at the sight of a pony without a lower body. Baby Ribbon shrugged sheepishly.
“Sorry…ah…I just…you seemed upset about your wings, and I wanted to show you that you’re not the only one. I still can’t manage to wink fully in in one go…”
“You might wanna contact Ribbon before you give these guys a heart attack.” Baby Gusty looked around. “Hey, hey, everyone, relax! She just needs a push!”
Within a few moments the group saw Ribbon turn the corner and approach, looking a might irritated. She approached her daughter and sighed.
“Baby Ribbon, you’re scaring everyone.”
“I’m sorry about that, but…” Baby Ribbon’s horn glowed, and her mother blinked. Ribbon nodded.
“Still, be more careful.” Ribbon touched her horn to Baby’ Ribbon’s, and soon the rest of the baby pony appeared. She turned to the shocked crowd of ponies and smiled gently. “See? She just needs a bit of help coming back.”
“What is that?” One pony from the crowd asked.
“Winking. All our unicorns can do it, but she still has some issues.” Ribbon looked at her daughter. “Behave.”
“I will.” Baby Ribbon trotted back over to the other young ponies.
“You guys still keep shocking us.” Scootaloo breathed, though she was wasn’t dwelling on her wing situation anymore. “Hey, why don’t we show em Sugarcube Corner?”
“What’s that?” Baby Cuddles asked.
“It’s a bakery! Best cupcakes in Equestria! It’s where Pinkie Pie works!” Sweetie Bell smiled and started off. “Wouldn’t mind showing you guys my sister’s shop either. It’s really cool!” the group of young ponies trotted off again, after saying goodbye to Ribbon, who sighed in exasperated affection.
Sugarcube Corner was doing fairly good business that day, though the Cakes were moving a bit slower without Pinkie there to mind the counter. The two of them blinked a tad at the sight of the Ponyland babies.
“Welcome.” Cup Cake recovered quickly. “What would you like?” She smiled at the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “Are these your new friends?”
“Eyup!” Apple Bloom said cheerily. She put her hooves on the glass and scanned the treats. “I’ll have an ice cream sundae.”
The Ponylanders followed Apple Bloom, gazing down at the treats. There was a brief whispered discussion about what they should get, but eventually they settled on some cupcakes. However, just as Sweetie was paying for them, as the Ponylander’s didn’t have bits, a certain rather snobbish voice rang out from the front of the store.
“I can’t believe those freaks are here! Look at them! They don’t need sugar! They’re bigger then balloons!”
The group turned. Diamond Tiara had apparently been told the aliens meant no harm, and had found her friend Silver Spoon somewhere. The two of them were giving the Crusaders and their friends their usual look of contempt. Cuddles blinked at them.
“What are you talking about?” She asked, confused.
Silver Spoon rolled her eyes. “She means you’re fat.”
Baby Ribbon and Cuddles looked at each other and blinked. “No we’re not.” Cuddles said.
“Look at them, I can feel the ground shaking from here!” Diamond Tiara sneered, and Baby Gusty frowned.
“Hey, it’s not our fault your kind of pony is smaller then us!” She said.
“Maybe that monster is fattening them up. They’re just so stupid they don’t realize it.” Silver Spoon said, ignoring Baby Gusty.
“Don’t you say that about Danny!” Baby Gusty was starting to resemble her mother as she stomped a bit. “He was just joking around. And I noticed you ran off like a chicken!”
“Chicken! You’re standing next to the biggest chicken in Ponyville.” Diamond Tiara pointed at Scootaloo.
“Oh go away.” Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “I know what you’re trying to say, and it’s getting old.”
Baby Ribbon looked at Scootaloo, and her horn flashed brieftly. She frowned and looked back at Diamond Tiara. “Let’s go. We can eat outside.” She picked up her cupcake with her mouth, much to the surprise of the Cakes, and attempted to march out past the two bullies, with an air that suggested that both Equestrians were very much beneath her. Diamond Tiara scowled and treied to push her.
“See! She can’t even levitate! What kind of failure of a unicorn can’t levitate!” Diamond’s hoof lashed out and smacked the cupcake out of Baby Ribbon’s mouth. It splatted on the floor, a sad heap of icing and cake. Baby Ribbon stared at the confection, then at Diamond Tiara.
All of a sudden Baby Gusty had winked out, then winked in front of Diamond Tiara’s nose. Diamond Tiara jerked back as Baby Gusty pounced, wrapping a leg around Diamond Tiara’s neck and holding her down. The Baby Ponylander’s greater size and weight pushing Diamond Tiara down and holding her immobile.
“Take that back!” Baby Gusty snarled, and for a second she sounded just like her mother. To Apple Bloom’s relief Baby Gusty didn’t appear to be hurting Diamond Tiara, just pinning her down. Silver Spoon eeked and ran out, and Baby Ribbon shook her head.
“Get off, Baby Gusty, she’s just a coward.”
“Yeah, you could get in trouble for…oh never mind to late.” Cuddles sat down and sighed as not only Ribbon showed up this time, but also a brown…stallion? Maybe. It was hard to tell. The brown Equestrian stomped over.
“Let go of my daughter!” To his credit he showed little fear of the alien ponies, unlike the other skittish residents of the town thus far. Baby Gusty looked at him and snorted, again rather like her mother.
“She hit my friend! She started it!”
“Baby Gusty, let go now!” Ribbon wasn’t…quite shouting, but she did seem upset.
“But Ribbon!”
“Now!”
“Awww!” Baby Gusty let go, letting Diamond Tiara race over to Filthy Rich with a loud, rather overblown sob. “I didn’t hurt her, and she HIT Baby Ribbon! You told us hitting other ponies was bad! Even Baby Lickety-Split doesn’t hit!”
“That doesn’t give you call to hit back.” Ribbon said, and Baby Gusty snorted.
“I didn’t hit her! I –pinned- her.” Baby Gusty said.
“It’s still wrong, Baby Gusty. We’re guests here. Now apologize.” Ribbon said.
“Pfft. Fine, sorry.” Baby Gusty glared at Diamond Tiara, who continued to cry as if she had been tortured. Baby Ribbon rolled her eyes at Diamond Tiara.
“Oh stop faking it.” Baby Ribbon said. Filthy Rich glared at her.
“Now hold o-“ But before Rich could continue Baby Ribbon’s horn light up and glowed. Diamond Tiara’s voice emerged from the horn. ‘Ugly freaks I’ll show you. I’ll make you pay. Just cry and Daddy will do anything and WHAT IS THAT MONSTER DOING!’ Baby Ribbon’s horn cut off as Diamond looked at her in shock.
“You…you…freak!” Diamond Tiara shouted. “Did you see what she did?!” Diamond shouted up at Rich, who stared at his daughter, then at Baby Ribbon. Ribbon herself was shaking her head at her daughter.
“You shouldn’t do that to ponies you don’t know.” Ribbon said. Baby Ribbon looked up at her.
“But she’s been thinking bad things about my friends all day!”
“What are you, the thought police?! I can think whatever I want without you pawing through my head!” Diamond Tiara shouted.
“Yeah, but after those thoughts you start hitting other ponies.” Cuddles pointed out mildly.
“Look, I agree she shouldn’t have hit your filly…if she did.” Rich said, and for the first time Mrs. Cake spoke up.
“She did. She also started the fight.” Mrs. Cake said. “I’m sorry, Mr. Rich, but your daughter did hit first.”
“And we are going to talk about hitting other ponies, no matter what they look like, I assure you.” Rich turned back to Ribbon. “But I don’t appreiacte having my daughter’s thoughts violated. She’s just a foal.”
Ribbon nodded. “My daughter and I both are telekinetic, but I don’t encourage her to use it unless she’s around an enemy, or she needs to talk to someone from far off, or if she needs to clear up a misunderstanding.”
“I’m still not comfortable with it. How can I even tell if you are doing it or not?”
“Their horns glow.” Cuddles said. “Every Ponyland unicorn has one special magic skill, and they all know how to wink in and out. Whenever they use their skill, or wink, they’re horns will glow. If they aren’t glowing they aren’t using magic, so if their horns aren’t glowing, they probably aren’t reading a mind.”
Filthy Rich still stared at Ribbon with no small amount of fear, and even the Cakes were looking at her with scared expressions. To Apple Bloom’s dismay Mr. Cake slide behind the counter to pick up Pumpkin and Pound, who had been playing behind the counter out of sight, and carried them to the back, as if concerned that the Ponylanders might do something awful to them. Filthy Rich, meanwhile, herded his daughter out the door, leaving Ribbon standing awkwardly with the little ponies and a very nervous looking Mrs. Cake.
Baby Ribbon hung her head. “…I’m sorry, Mama…” She looked so dejected that Mrs. Cake suddenly realized that this creature may have the horrible ability to read minds, but she was still a filly. Taking another cupcake from the display case she trotted it over to Baby Ribbon.
“Here, dear. Free of charge.” Mrs. Cake looked at Ribbon. “I…”
“You don’t have to say anything, I understand.” Ribbon frowned at Mrs. Cake’s gasp. “I’m not reading your mind. I just…I realize it can be a frightening power. Most of our ponies are used to it. I’ve known all of them all my life, and everyone in my family line can do it. It’s something we have lived with for a while, and so for them it’s not scary, and my daughter grew up with it being normal.”
Baby Ribbon looked from her mother to Mrs. Cake in sheer utter confusion. Ribbon leaned her head down to the three baby ponies and nudged them towards the door.
“We decided to camp near the lake. Come one, little ones.” She said gently.
“Wait! Ya don’t have to go right now, do ya?” Apple Bloom said in surprise.
Ribbon shook her head at Apple Bloom. “You three should go back to your families.”
“But-” Sweetie Bell lifted a hoof, but Ribbon had already ushered their friends out the door. She sighed.
“Somehow I thought things would get better when we got home.” Scootaloo sighed.
It wasn’t just the baby ponies that were causing shock and confusion around Ponyville, for things that the Ponylanders frankly couldn’t comprehend.
Posey, not to fond of large groups of ponies in general, and not a big fan of large cities at all (at least to her Ponyville was large), had eventually wandered completely away from the group and was currently wandering towards the entrance to the Everfree Forest. She looked at the forest and smiled. Finally, someplace nice and quiet and natural! She could relax here for a while before going back to the other ponies. She trotted forwards, eager to take a look at the strange Equestrian flora.
“Wait! Don’t go there!”
Posey sighed and turned her head. One of the Equestrians, a dark pinkish purple one, galloped towards her, a concerned look on her face. Posey turned the rest of her to face the other pony. “What is it?”
“That’s the Everfree Forest! Don’t go in there! It’s very dangerous!”
“Dangerous? Why?” Posey eyed it. It didn’t give off the same feeling of dread the forests around the Estate sometimes did. While the forests nearest the Estate were fine for picnics and such, and Posey wandered through them all the time, once you crossed the river or cliffs it got dangerous. But this place didn’t smell like it would be bad. “It looks like a perfectly ordinary forest. And who are you?”
“My name’s Cheerilee, I’m the schoolteacher in Ponyville, and it’s not a normal forest at all!” The weather changes! All on its own!”
“…wait…what?” Posey frowned in confusion.
“The clouds move by themselves! Rain comes without warning, and the leaves change on their own when the seasons change.”
Posey leaned forwards and examined Cheerilee. “…are you mad?”
“I know it’s unbelievable, but it’s true!” Cheerilee explained.
Posey rolled her eyes and started towards the forest.
“Wait! Aren’t you listening!?”
“Oh go away. I’m not scared of a few stray rainclouds!” Posey shook her head and galloped towards the forest. And she thought her family was strange!
Cheerilee gasped and shouted again, but Posey ignored her, trotting boldly into the forest. The schoolteacher stopped at the forest’s edge, pawing at the ground. She didn’t know what to do. She was scared of the forest, like most of the ponies in Ponyville who didn’t happen to have an Element of Harmony with them. While the younger ponies had shed a bit of their fear of the forest, older ponies like Cheerilee still found the place to strange and alien to be fully comfortable around, and she hadn’t even gotten to tell the alien pony about the dangerous creatures in the forest. She wanted to go after Posey, but she didn’t want to go alone.
She looked around and spotted two more of the aliens wandering around near the lake, talking to a few of the strange mutant water pony things. Cheerilee reared and galloped over to the two aliens, ignoring the water ponies, she skidded to a halt, kicking up a bit of dust. One of the aliens, a white earth pony, lifted her hoof.
“Hey, watch it!” The pony sounded a bit like Applejack, but Cheerilee didn’t let this distract her.
“You have to come with me! One of your friends just ran into the Everfree Forest!”
“The what? You mean that forest over there?” The other alien, a pink pegasus, pointed a hoof. “It doesn’t look that dangerous.”
Cheerilee sighed in frustration. What was with them! “It’s horrible, it’s weather and animals take care of themselves and-“
“What are you babbling about? What’s strange about weather?” The earth pony snorted, but her friend put a hoof on her shoulder.
“Relax, Truly, let her talk.” The pegasus looked at Cheerilee. “If it’s really as dangerous as you say then we should just get moving and find her. Who was it?”
“A yellow earth pony with the pink flowers Cutie Mark.” Cheerilee started towards the Everfree, leading the other two. The pegasus came readily enough, but Truly grumbled. Still, she followed, and that was all Cheerilee cared about at this point.
“That would be Posey. Not surprised she wanted a walk in the forest…it doesn’t feel dark…” The pegasus eyed the Everfree. “I’m Heart Throb, by the way. That’s Truly.”
Cheerilee nodded and led them into the forest. She shuddered again at the feeling of wild clouds above her, the other two didn’t seem bothered by it. In fact, Truly kept grumbling loudly that there was nothing at all scary about the Everfree, and that Equestrians were clearly cowards. It was starting to set Cheerilee’s teeth on edge.
Suddenly Heart Throb’s ears shot up and she lifted of. Cheerilee looked ahead and saw the yellow earth pony they had been looking for, talking to a certain zebra. She sighed in relief and sped up as well, then gasped when Heart Throb aggressively landed next to Posey.
“You! Stay back!” Heart Throb glowered at Zecora, who sputtered something her native tongue. The zebra’s eyes were narrowed in irritation and Cheerilee noticed that she was blocking Posey’s path straight into a field of Poison Joke.
Zecora spotted Cheerilee and flicked her ears. “Do explain to them about this flower. I cannot make them understand its power.”
“I don’t trust zebra.” Heart Throb glowered, and Zecora snorted at her.
“I had thought this nonsense was done.” Cheerilee blinked. She had never heard Zecora not ryme before. She wondered if it was because Zecora was mad. Not that Cheerilee blamed her.
“A zebra kidnapped my daughter once.” Heart Throb said. Zecora whipped her head around and sneered.
“Fool. I am not that zebra.” She looked at Cheerilee. “I will come back to Ponyville when they are not around.”
“I’m sorry Zecora, I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding I-“
“I am tired of being blamed for what I cannot control!” Zecora snapped back and turned towards the path, muttering again in her native tongue. Cheerilee sighed.
“…she’s a very nice zebra. You didn’t have to be rude to her.” Cheerilee looked back. “That flower there is called Poison Joke and it’s dangerous...but you know what? You might not believe me, hell you ponies don’t’ want to listen to anything anypony says, but it’s true. But if you want to learn by experiencing it yourselves, that’s fine. But don’t say nopony warned you.” Cheerilee turned back to Ponyville. “And you know what? I teach my students to not judge others by appearance when they’re five. I can’t imagine you never learned that.”
“Wait-“ Heart Throb started, but Cheerilee had already left. She sighed. “…I messed that up, didn’t I?”
“…I would have said worse.” Truly said. “But she does kinda have a point.”
“It’s just when I think of what happened to Baby Heart Throb and the others…” Heart Throb shuddered.
“I know, but she did have a point.” Truly said, then looked at Posey. “Look, I don’t like or trust any of them, but right now we need them. We really shouldn’t panic them all. So lets just go back and try not to cause anymore uproar.”
“And I should go apologize to the zebra.” Heart Throb flapped her wings and lifted upwards, flying to avoid the Poison Joke. “I’ll be back at the lake, don’t wait up for me.”
“Right.” Truly stood as well. “And I suppose I should try and apologize to that other earth pony.” She snorted, clearly not liking the idea. Still, despite her other flaws, Truly was a pony of her word.
“I…should as well. I’ll go with you, Truly.” Posey said, eyeing the flowers. “I didn’t think…this is an alien world after all. Just because it doesn’t feel dark like our forests do, doesn’t mean there aren’t alien dangers. I should have thought of that, but I didn’t. I just…it’s so stressful here! All those buildings collapsing in on us! It’s unnerving!” Posey sighed as she followed Truly out of the forest.
“Oh I feel the same way! It’s simple cramped in there!” Truly flicked her tail. “I don’t know how they can even hear themselves think!”
The two laughed at each other as they walked, happy to have someone to vent their frustrations to.
“So, in twenty minutes we have managed to scare, insult, and horrify…how many of the natives again?” Majesty sighed at the gathered group of Ponylanders. They had camped out near the lake, keeping an eye on the frolicking baby Sea Ponies, who had decided that even though their parents were not around, they could still play in this fun new environment. Used to crisis of various degrees, and confidant their mothers could fight their way out of danger, they had started up a few games with the baby Ponylanders. The entire group was outside Ponyville proper, between the town and Sweet Apple Acres. In fact, the Apple siblings had carted out some lunch for them, mostly apple products. The Ponylanders treated this pretty much as another picnic. Though they invited them, the Apples didn’t’ stick around, as Applejack wanted to head to Canterlot to meet Twilight and Rarity, who were waiting for the train to arrive so they could go back and fight in Ponyland.
“…five?” Truly shrugged. “I did apologize.”
“And I talked to the zebra…she’s a bit…strange, but I don’t think she’s like Zeb.” Heart Throb pawed the ground. “I do feel awful for what I said. I just…”
“We’ll just have to prove to her that it was just a misunderstanding.” Said Majesty. “But I’m not sure about your problem, Ribbon.” Majesty looked at Ribbon. “Now that Mayor is terrified you’re going to expose secrets.”
“I suppose I just didn’t think of it.” Ribbon sighed. “Maybe you need to be our spokesman from now on.”
“I think that’s a good idea…she is the queen after all.” Truly smiled at Majesty, without a hint of her normal complaining.
“If you want me to, I’d be honored.” Majesty smiled, glad that she was getting an opportunity to contribute again.
“I’ll try and help smooth things over. Hopefully we won’t be here for very long. We just have to wait for the others defeat Tirac, and then we can go home. In the meantime lets just relax and wait for the others to get here.”
The other ponies agreed and began to enjoy their lunch, trying to, at least for the moment, forget about what was happing at home.
Megan grunted in pain as she and Rover emerged from the mirror. She shook her head and touched the rather large lump that even now was starting to grow.
“Megan, what happened?” Galaxy leaned down and nudged her. “Where are the others?”
Megan got up, still rubbing her head. Her eyes widned and she turned to the mirror, intending on jumping through. Her hand touched dark firm glass and she struggled to not let out a sob. “…Draggle.”
“What? What did that creature do?” Queen Rosedust asked, stamping.
“Don’t call her that! She…I…” Megan shook her head. “I was going to stay behind and close the mirror behind you but…she did it instead.”
Queen Rosedust’s jaw dropped. “She…but why?”
“Oh don’t you get it?” Gusty snorted. “She’s one of us now. Has been for a while. Even I’ll admit it. Even Truly would…when no one’s listening. I know you guys don’t have much exposure to her, but you’d think you’d trust Morning Glory when it comes to this kinda thing.”
“I…suppose you are right. It’s just hard for me to trust her…but if you’re telling the truth…Megan she just saved you. I’ll…have to apologize to her.”
Megan studied the mirror, then turned around. “Who do we have?”
“Hmmm.” Galaxy looked around. “It seems only myself, Gusty, Surprise and Spike and the Bushwoolies for us…”
“He didn’t get anymore Flutter Ponies…” Rosedust looked over her remaining force of a few Flutter Ponies, including Lily and Honeysuckle. “And Morning Glory should still be with the ones we sent ahead.”
“I don’t see any of the Equestrians.” Megan said. “…what are we going to tell Princess Twilight…we just lost her brother and her two friends!”
Indeed, it was true.
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were gone.
Reeka didn’t like the new Midnight Castle.
The place was well on its way to being rebuilt, using the power of both the Princess ponies and the other Estate Ponies, and the Equestrian Crystal guards. With their efforts Tirac didn’t even need to relay on slave labor, which sort of pleased Reeka. She had a feeling that the dark lord would have used her sister for that, and that made Reeka strangely uncomfortable. In fact the entire thing with Draggle made Reeka feel strangely uncomfortable. You would think that with Wind Whistler, the bitch, on their side Draggle would stop with her silly resistance and fall back in line where she belonged. But the idiot still insisted on continuing her little rebellion, a fact that annoyed Reeka greatly. They had just taken away Draggle’s entire reason to betray them, and yet the betrayal continued! It was infuriating! Right now her idiot sister was being held by that irritating Changeling Queen being used a glorified food source, and Reeka couldn’t do a damn thing about it until she figured out how to bring Draggle around!
As if her thought had summoned the irritating blue pony, who apparently was wandering the halls just like Reeka was, Wind Whistler turned the corner and nearly rammed into Reeka. Wind Whistler stared impassively at Reeka, who scowled at her. Corrupted or no, Reeka still wanted to ram that ponie’s head in a swamp and leave her there. Under the influence of the corruption, the blue pony’s coat had darkened to a midnight blue color, almost black. Her mane had turned blood red, a color combination that Reeka could, on the surface, appreciate. She still hated Wind Whistler herself though.
“Enjoying being evil, pony?” Reeka snarled. Wind Whistler blinked.
“Evil? Interesting. Is that what you really think?”
Reeka blinked, thrown for a loop. “What?”
“It’s…interesting. Relative morality has become quite clear. I had previously read of it, but to feel it is different. It is strangely freeing, but empty, but in the end that feeling doesn’t matter in any case.”
Reeka blinked. “Relative what?”
“Unlike my previous view, which asserted that love and friendship were worth holding onto, I can now see the pointlessness of it. Mere electrical pulses in the brain, dictating what is good and what is not. The truth is that nothing is good or evil, only what is pleasing to our senses. Why do you ask?”
Reeka wasn’t sure she followed what the wacked out pony was babbling about, but she decided to ignore it.
“I don’t understand why she doesn’t come along with you.” Reeka said, studying the pony. What was so special about her anyway? What the hell did Wind Whistler have that Reeka didn’t?
“At this point neither do I. It doesn’t make sense. The master’s offer was very good, and she has very little chance at this point. My only conclusion is that you were correct. She is in fact, very stupid.” Wind Whistler shrugged. “And the weak or stupid die. It’s part of nature.”
Reeka stared at Wind Whistler. “And you don’t’ care anymore, do you?”
“No in the least.”
Reeka resisted the urge to punch Wind Whistler. To be honest Wind Whistler’s ice cold voice and blank soulless stare was starting to get under Reeka’s skin. Sure she had been cold before, but now it was worse. There was a harsher tone to it, that even Reeka could detect.
The two’s odd staring contest was broken when a door to Reeka’s right flung open to reveal a troggle, who tripped between them, covered in a dripping red substance. Reeka sneered and jerked away.
“Pony! Pink! Insane!” The troggle leaped to his feet and pushed past them, waving his arms and screaming.
“What’s up with him?” Reeka walked through the door, curious. She wasn’t sure, but it was either that or listen to Wind Whistler to yark about moral relatives or whatever. How could Draggle stand it? Damn pony was so wordy!
Reeka ducked as red liquid flew from the door and struck the wall behind her. She could hear something, or someone, laughing in the room, and it sounded slightly manic. Reeka steeped inside and blinked.
It was one of the Equestrians, Reeka wasn’t’ sure which one. She was bright hot pink, with that jumpy white pegasus’ symbol on her flank. Her mane was poofy, with long strands hanging out everywhere, making her mane look unkempt and wild. The pony was laughing madly, high pitched and shrieking. The pink one raised a huge hammer, splattered with red liquid, and thunked it down, splattering red everywhere. Some of it splattered on Reeka’s face, and she spat in disgust.
“Yuck!”
“Blood?” Wind Whistler asked. Apparently she had followed.
“No. Cherries.” Reeka spat. “Disgusting.”
“Hi!” The pink pony dropped her mallet and bounced in front of Reeka and Wind Whistler, smiling broadly. Reeka sneered again and jerked back. There was something very very off about this pink abomination, even worse then Wind Whistler. “I was going to make a biiiiig victory meal for the Master! I wasn’t sure if he eats normal things or things like you witches, so I was going to make both! Then we can have a Equestria Bashing Party! Isn’t that going to be fun! I can’t waaait to crash Ponyville and take it out! It’s going to be the best!”
“Er…great.” Reeka said. “Which one are you?”
“Pinkie Pie…or maybe I should call myself Pinkamina again? I don’t feel that much different, except I really want to serve the Master and defeat the Princesses! I wanna see Celestia burn! Hey, you think that will cause our world to become a hellhole of some kind? I mean the unicorns could make the sun and moon come up again instead of the sisters…”
“I assume that the Master shall simply let the night reign, as was his goal.” Wind Whistler said calmly.
“Whooopeee! NIGHT PARTY!” Pinkie hopped back over to the table she had been mashing the cherries one and continued to work. “Unless you wanna help me make my Blood Red Cupcakes please go…we don’t wanna have any accidents…do we?” Pinkie laughed at the look on Reeka’s face. “Oh don’t worry! I’m just joking! I may be evil but I’m still a grass eater!” Pinky laughed again, and Reeka found herself backing away. The laughing was making her skin crawl and the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She backed away, and then turned, getting the hell out of there.
“I hate ponies, so much.” Reeka muttered as she stomped away. She wanted to find Hydia and get out of here. She shuddered again as Pinkie’s mad laughter echoed through the halls.
“Hey, boss man!”
Tirac, who had been studying the work two Crystal Ponies had been doing on his new throne, turned and eyed the hovering pegasus before him. Rainbow Dash. The Element of Loyalty. He could think back on Nightmare Moon’s memories of this creature. It seemed that corruption didn’t totally take away the now night blue pegasus’ eagerness, or her arrogance. The rainbow on her mane had been utterly taken away though, replaced by a pure black mane. While her fellow Element, Pinkie Pie, had simply gained added frazzledness to her mane, keeping her bright pink tone, Rainbow’s body had changed like the rest of them. Tirac liked the new look, although he wondered if they really should call this one Rainbow Dash anymore.
“I had a great idea, boss!” Dash grinned. “I was thinking we need a real Shadowbolt team, not just an illusion like before, you know?” She darted around him, rubbing her hooves together. “I could lead them against the Equestrian Wonderbolts! Show those lousy fakes what a real pony can do! What do ya think!?”
“…You sound as if you have a grudge against the Wonderbolts now.” Tirac said.
“Well, a lot things happened since Nightmare Moon was around. The Wonderbolts…well I found out they were lame! And I mean reeeally lame. For one thing they’re cheats! That stupid Spitfire abandoned her own teammate! I mean, you’re the boss now, but I won’t turn my back on you now! I’m your pony for life, but that Spitfire…she needs to pay! And they couldn’t even beat a damn dragon! Lame!” Rainbow snorted. “Come on! Give me a chance to show my stuff!”
Tirac smiled. The Nightmare infection worked so well. In many ways the pony’s natures were intact, just twisted in such a way so that they served evil now. Rainbow would be loyal, yes, but loyal to Tirac instead of the Princesses…still…
“And how will you prove yourself, Loyalty?” Tirac asked. Dash frowned.
“Just point me at an enemy! Any enemy, and I’ll take em down!”
Tirac’s eyes lingered on Rainbow’s distorted Cutie Mark, and he smiled. “Firefly.”
“Huh? The Wonderbolt’s founder?”
“No, the Dream Valley Firefly. The one that brought Megan here in the first place. I remember her, and her little wingmate, Medley. They were not in the Estate, and so far have escaped my grasp. Once they find out what has happened they will no doubt come. To prove yourself, you may chose any two of the other corrupted pegasi and lead them against Firefly and Medley. Bring those two to me, and you may create your Shadowbolts.”
Dash thought for a few moments. “Whizzer, she’s fast, and she's tough…and Wind Whistler. If she’s retained any of her previous skills from when she was uncorrupted she’ll be a good fighter.”
Tirac nodded. “Very well. Now go.”
Rainbow nodded and flapped off to find Whizzer and Wind Whistler. Tirac smiled.
“I can’t wait until you get here, and see your precious best friends on my side, Megan…perhaps that traitor did me a favor after all.”
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Yeah, I agree he screwed Wind Whistler up big. Interesting the clashes between the Ponylanders and the Ponyvillians. Diamond Tiara... *Cracks knuckles* You little *TOS* violation!
4622613 Yeah, anytime I feel pity for DT I remember that she once teased Scootaloo for not being able to fly, and frankly that is something I can relate to, having a disability myself. Usually I try to keep characters true to themselves even if I don't like em, but it's hard not to project on DT.
And I did think up a better ending for Mighty Demon Slayer. Have the force behind Nightmare Moon be behind Wind Whistler's corruption. This clears up the character mishandling, and it adds extra angst for Megan when she realizes she could have saved Wind Whistler instead of killing her. Have Tirac somehow be behind the Nightmare as well, so it still connects Ponyland events with modern day Equestria through Luna, but keep Luna and Celestia themselves. But that is just what I would do.
And I do love writing the differences between Ponyland and Equestria. It's very very fun.
*repeatedly bashes head into computer screen*
Alright...my favorite pony fron the mane 6, another member of the mane 6, and almost ALL of those who stayed behind to fight are now on the side of evil...How can things get any worse?
...Well, author. I hope you don't have fully upgraded sentry guns and several stale breadsticks at the ready in the next chapter, because I don't think I have enough steel to protect my mind from how bad the situation is getting for our heroes.
This is crazy. What hope is there now?