Heralds of Luna

by GaPJaxie

Introductions: Little Seed

Little Seed

Character Name: Little Seed
Player Name: A Dragon Dreaming
Race: Earth Pony
Class: Commoner 5
Role: Unrealized Potential

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Little Seed opens his eyes.

Normally, he's a prompt riser, but today he lingers in bed. Exactly why he does this he couldn’t say, but something about the day feels different. Like there's something he's supposed to be doing—something very important. Nothing comes to mind no matter how much he thinks about it, but the feeling is persistent enough to give him pause, and delay him awhile beneath the sheets. Lying there even feels restful, which is itself strange. Normally, Little Seed avoids bed as much as he can.

It's awkward, being the center of the universe.

Little Seed's bed doesn't hover, or float. It simply is the center of the cosmos, and around it spins all the earth and heavens. Three suns and five moons whirl about him like out of control billiard balls, smacking into each other and launching into new, erratic courses. Between them can be seen the multi-hued sky, a background of blue and red and green and pink, in which float the tiny dots Little Seed knows are mostly land. His mother found it all so breathtaking, but Little Seed just finds it unpleasant. He grew up with it, and tuning it all out is second nature now.

Except today, for some reason. That nagging feeling.

Eventually, it is time to get up. Little Seed swings a hoof out from over the edge of the bed, and when he puts it down, time and space seem to stretch out to the infinite horizon. Suddenly, there's a floor under his hooves. Dusty, dry, dirty wood, part of his little cabin house, on his little plot of dry land. That's good. It's not always his house he ends up inside. That gives him more time to see to his chores. He has to adjust the shades over his plants, and sweep the house, and fetch more water.

He yawns, and shakes himself out, stepping hoof over hoof to the shuttered window. Hopefully the plants were still mostly there, and hadn't gotten up and hidden themselves while he slept.

Little Seed gently nudges the shutter open.

When Little Seed swings a hoof down off the edge of the bed, time and space seem to stretch out to the infinite horizon. Suddenly, there's a floor under his hooves. Dusty, dry, dirty wood, part of his little cabin house, on his little plot of dry land. He's so used to it by now that the thought of stepping out into empty space doesn't frighten him, like it did when he was a foal. The ground will appear. Or it won't. Either way, nudging the shutter open lets the light back in, along with a current of hot, dusty air.

Out to the edge of his floating chunk of earth is his garden, and it seems that none of his plants have run off while he was sleeping. That's good. They've been doing that a lot less, since he made his sun-screens. His mother taught him that plants need periods of darkness as well as water to survive, but both things are hard to come by here. Now that the plans can have regular shade and water, they tend to stick around.

That feeling of having forgotten something very important sticks with him, but there's not much time to ruminate on it. He needs to adjust the shades, sweep up, and fetch more water before the plants get feisty.

He clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth—he could use the water too. But first, the shades. He turns for the door, and, yawning, steps outside.

Outside, the three suns beat down as they always do, their erratic motions making little difference to the amount of light the world receives. In the center of the vast chaos now floats a tiny chunk of land—a flying island of dust and dirt, on which rests the home of a single pony, and his scrubby little garden. Little Seed finds the cloth and scrapwood shades he's made to protect his plants to be in good order, as are the rest of his tools. He fetches water every day from up the road, and adjusts his shades regularly, but still the garden is sickly.

Probably because he doesn't know how long a 'day' is exactly. In his world, a day starts when he wakes up and ends when he sleeps, but he knows that didn't used to be the definition. The plants must still want an old-length day. Whatever that is.

Adjusting the shades takes a little while. Sweeping out the house a little while longer. That strange feeling persists, but at least it doesn't get any worse. Eventually though, all the other chores are done. Now the plants need water.

Time to head into town.

He slips into his simple harness, two hefty, stoppered jugs slung to his sides, and heads up the road.

The road is just two pegs on the edge of his island, marking the start of a dirt trail. His mother told him that once, that was the start of the actual road into town. It seems that the ground remembers that as well, because when Little Seed sets hoof on the path and steps off into space, a chunk of earth rushing out of eternity to appear under his hooves. It's only a few paces across, but the trail runs right down the middle, and as he follows it, more earth appears to create a winding path through the sky.

Clouds filled with rainwater sometimes circle past him, adorned by sleeping grey pegasai—but they never rain. He's only ever heard stories about rain. The pegasai keep all the weather to themselves, and never share. Grey ponies are like that.

He'll have to pass by a few grey ponies to get his water, and that's always unpleasant, but the ground-bound ones can at least be reasoned with.

First up along the road is the old Turnip farm. There's no water here either, but old lady Turnip Stew never misses a chance to pelt him with her rock-hard produce whenever he passes, pretending that she's trying to feed him.

He actually could use the food, so it's something he's put up with prior to now, the farm rising up out of the depths along his little stone trail.

No mocking greeting or barrage of turnips greets him this time though. Instead, when the floating island that holds most of her front yard and her white-picket fence rises into view, Turnip Stew is leaning on the fence with a confused look about her.

Her coat, normally grey, is now a soft pinkish white, and her mane is a light green. "Oh... hello there, Little Seed," she calls to him. Waving a hoof at him uncertainly.

Little Seed blinks, then blinks, then blinks again. She was not grey. The last time he had met a pony who was not grey...when had that been? His mother. But he hasn't seen her in a long time. She just wasn't there one day.

He swiftly gave up trying to reckon that. Impossible when there was no firm "day," in any case. "Ma'am," he says, dipping his head. "You're looking colorful!"

"Am I?" she asks, pausing to examine herself. "It's the oddest thing. Do you ever wake up and feel like things are different, but you can't say why?"

"I...well, yes,” he says. “Just now, actually. I think it's the first time."

"Me as well," she says, reaching up to tilt her old straw hat back on her head. "I had the strangest dreams. There was this blue mare. Or maybe she was black. And she needed me to do something very important. And when I woke up, gosh-darn it if everything didn't seem all strange. These are my proper colors, but I do feel like I'm all colorful all of a sudden."

She frowns, her expression confused.

Ah...hm. Little Seed takes a moment to look at himself. He's the same colors he's always been. Right? Tan coat, brown mane and tail. A seedling bursting from a rock on his flanks.

His head does feel particularly fuzzy today though. And he does recall... something about a mare. Something very urgent. But it's just outside his grasp.

"That is very strange," he muses. "I seem to recall...something about a mare, but beyond that ..."

"Yeah," Turnip Stew agrees. "One of those days." A frown crosses her features again, and she shakes her head. "Well, mind if I join you if'n yer headed to the well? It's the strangest thing, but my garden's dry as a bone this morning."

She slides her own pair of water jugs over her back, made from an old set of saddlebags and two buckets.

"Not at all, ma'am," he says with a smile. "A little company will be a pleasant change of pace."

She trots out her front gate to the road, and the two of them end up side by side walking into town. The next stop along the way is Snare Trap. He was the game warden back when there was a forest to... ward? But now he just sets traps on the road for random ponies. Little Seed isn't sure how he even feeds himself, but it never seems to be an issue. Just another unpleasant encounter he has to face every day.

Today though, there are no traps, and just like Turnip Stew, Little Seed finds him sitting on his porch, many disassembled traps in front of him. "Careful there!" he calls, a brown earth pony with a lighter green mane. "There's a snare in that bush by the road."

"Thanks fer the warning," Turnip Stew answers. "How've you been, Snare?"

"Odd," he answers, looking between the two. "Is anything off today with you two?"

"Do you happen to be feeling particularly colorful today?" Little Seed asks.

"Now that you mention it, I do," Snare says, looking back at his cutie mark. A snare and a flowering tree. He soon looks back at the others, squinting at them through the heat and the dust.

"It's been a strange couple of..." He pauses. "It's been a strange while. Can't quite account for what I've been up too lately. It's all a haze," he continues, frowning. "And there was this mare. I think she was a pegasus. There was something she needed me to do."

"That sounds like the dream you had, Turnip,” says Little Seed.

"It does," Turnip Stew says, thoughtfully. "I thought she was an earth pony though."

“No, she was definitely a pegasus,” Snare Trap affirms.

Little Seed vaguely recalls something about a horn. And sparkles in her mane? Like glitter? “Well, now that's odd,” he says, “because now that I think about it, I think she had a horn."

"You had the same dream?" Snare Trap asks. "Well, that isn't exactly normal now is it? Anypony else have the same dream?"

"Couldn't say for certain,” Little Seed replies. “You're the first two I've met since I woke up this...er...earlier."

"Funny that." Snare Trap takes a breath, and then shakes himself off. "Well, you two mind if I follow you? Not like I've got much else to do."

"More the merrier," Turnip Stew answers.

Little Seed nods his head in assent. "Took the words from my own mouth, Turnip."

That earns a smile. Not an expression he's seen on her face before.

The next several stops into town go the same way. A formerly grey pony has their colors, and is in some state of confusion, recalling only that they have to do something very important, and that it somehow relates to a mare. Who was blue! Or maybe black. And a pegasus. Or a unicorn. Or an earth pony. And she was definitely very tall. Or short. Or a giant. With sparkles in her mane. Unless that was her jewelry.

Not every grey pony Little Seed knew is changed—Tell Apple is still grey, and still shouts at them to get off her apple farm, shooting arrows at their ankles to hurry them along. But, with every encounter, his little herd grows, and when they finally reach the well in the center of town, he sees there's a large mob of colorful ponies gathered there. All babbling to each other at once.

"The town certainly is lively, for once," Little Seed asides to Turnip. "A bit chaotic."

"A... bit," she agrees, looking over to Little Seed as their group starts to spread out into the crowd. "Come on, I want to hear what ponies are saying,” she says, dragging him to the middle.

The main subject of discussion around the well is the dream everypony had, trying to hash out the details. The mare was blue -and- black. Her mane was blue with sparkles, and something else. She was a pegasus and a unicorn. She was giant, but seemed to be able to look you in the eye.

As Little Seed hears more, more starts to come back to him. Vague memories of... light. And a forest. A great, dark forest. Where he needed to do... something. And that mare! She needed help. With something very important.

Little Seed frowns, furrowing his brow, which has the side effect of a scrunchy muzzle.

As more and more comes back to him, Turnip Stew, and everypony else in the crowd, the pace of conversation quickly increases. Until, through the din, a clear voice shouts: "Hold it!"

Silence spreads through the crowd, with ponies’ attention gradually coming to rest on the speaker. Book Mark, the town recordkeeper, and the closest thing they have to a librarian. Little Seed doesn't know her well. When she was grey, she'd take every chance she had to categorize just how much of a failure he was as a farmer, and since he didn't have to see her, he avoided her.

She's holding a well worn book with one leg, standing next to the well and signaling for other attention. "Was this," she asks, opening the book and presenting it to the crowd at random, her motions bringing it near Little Seed. "The mare you saw?"

On the page she opens is a long-faded illustration, showing a pony with the horn of a unicorn and the wings of a pegasus, her mane a starry, ethereal, mist. She wears a crown, and hooves, and armor across the chest, decorated with a crescent moon.

He narrows his eyes, looking closer...and in a flash, he sees her - horn and wings, statuesque stature, her mane a flowing, sparkling mist, saying...something. Pleading, almost. "That's her!"

A few other voices quickly join in with Little Seed, nodding or adding affirmative sounds.

Book Mark nods and lays the book out by the well, leaving it where everypony can see it. "That's a book of Myths and Legends my aunt gave me. I didn't think any of the creatures in it were real, so it took me a bit to place it, but then I remembered. It says her name is Luna." At once, that name clicks in Little Seed's head, and snippets of conversation float to mind. Something about a forest. And a castle? And a battle! "She's the shapeshifting Princess of the Moon who sometimes travels to Equestria to do battle with evil creatures or overthrow wicked tyrants."

Little Seed 's brow furrows again. "Which moon?"

"I don't know," Book Mark admits. "It doesn't say."

"There used to just be the one!" Turnip Stew pipes up, a few other old-timers nodding along with her.

"Back in the old days, before the world went all funny."

"It seems forever ago now."

Just one moon? Little Seed looks up at the sky.

Above him, one of the suns hits a wandering moon, sending them both careening through the sky with a spray of sparks and lightning. Two suns and three moons remain in sight, now.

"That sounds like the mare I saw," Snare Trap admits. "She seemed like a serious sort. Very regal. And I do remember something about a tyrant. And a battle."

"She wasn't fighting the tyrant though," Turnip Stew continues. "Just something about him. And there was a battle. In a... forest?"

"Also a castle,” Little Seed adds. "...I think she wanted help."

Gradually, a few more ponies nod along with Little Seed. "Yeah. She did," somepony else adds.

"Like it wasn't going all that well."

"I don't remember the castle," Snare Trap shakes his head. "But now that I think about it, there's only one big forest around here. That'd be the Everfree. Back when I was a game warden, anyway."

That name triggers a memory for at least a few ponies. Comprehension dawning on their faces. “Right! Her castle in the Everfree Forest.”

"No castles in the Everfree," Snare Trap insists, but he's clearly outvoted as more and more ponies start to recall.

"There also used to be only one moon," Little Seed points out. "And everypony was grey."

Book Mark nods, taking her book back under a leg. "That does sound a lot like the stories about her in the book. They say that in the days before Equestria, she'd descend from the moon on a beam of light with her army of shapeshifters to do battle with evil. A lot of those myths focus around pony heroes she asks for help. So I guess she's asking us."

That sends a ripple through the crowd. Ponies set to babbling all over again. "So you're going then?" somepony asks Book Mark, only for her to quickly backtrack.

"I didn't say that! Ponies don't always survive those old stories," she insists. "Besides, have you been outside the town lately? It's not safe. Sometimes the land doesn't appear, and if you fall off the edge, who knows where you'll land?"

Little Seed slips his jugs off, and starts working the well. "Not that the town was all that safe,” he points out. “Well, until recently."

"Yeah!" Turnip Stew agrees, with a sudden burst of energy. She needs a moment to catch her breath after that, like she was as surprised as everypony else. "Can't be worse out there than it is in here. Besides! Seems to me this Luna mare set the town straight, least we can do in return is help her.

"And she's a pegasus," she adds. "Would be real nice if somepony could bring the rain back."

"She's royalty, Stew. I don't think she pushes clouds around," somepony replies, dry.

"Like you've ever met royalty," Turnip Stew insists.

"Well, something ungreyed us all,” Little Seed says. “And if we got ungreyed, why not the pegasai?"

"Yeah." Turnip Stew agrees. "We can't just sit here and pretend nothin' happened."

"Stew, you're..." Snare Trap starts, pausing to speak delicately, "not exactly in your prime."

"Good enough to whup your butt if you say that again," she replies, tartly. "Besides! I won't be alone, will I?

Little Seed has, by now, filled one jug, and starts working on the other. "Of course not,” he says. “I'll be going, one way or the other."

"Me too!" a second pony chimes in.

"And me!" adds a third.

"I'll do anything to get the rain back!"

There are a few doubters, but they're soon in the minority as the bold sentiment sweeps through the herd. Ponies eager to meet this mysterious mare who saved them, and come to her aid. None of them are exactly warriors, and they don't exactly know what constitutes a "great battle," but there are stories of earth pony heroes fighting with their farming tools, and the town has plenty of those. Some of them are even sharp!

Little Seed has his own eye on a little hoof-scythe (perfectly wieldable in the mouth, as well), but he's a farmer, right, and somebody needs to see to provisions. Along with a few other like-minded ponies and Snare Trap's hopefully-still-accurate memory of how long the trek might take, Little Seed gets a sort of caravan cobbled together. Enough food and packed water to get them along the way. There'd be no guarantees of grazing land, even with things changing. Not that anyone particularly wanted to graze, either.

There are still carts and wagons to be had, and they're quickly loaded with the rest of Little Seed's produce along with his water jugs. Many others likewise contribute, and soon there's a little caravan waiting, with three wagons and a dozen ponies to its name. Snare Trap remains skeptical, but comes along as a guide, while the others are all gung-ho, hitching themselves up to the wagons or practicing with their farming tools turned spears and polearms.

The expedition sets out soon, with those who remained behind wishing them well and hoping for their swift return. The road out of town is marked just the way the road from Little Seed's house was, and the ground springs up the same way. Little Seed has never been down that trail before.

At first, the air is jovial. With Snare Trap guiding the way, they walk and chat and speculate, until everypony is starting to get hungry and exhausted, and the caravan declares that a day has passed and it's time to eat and rest. There are minor encounters, such as a little group of grey unicorns shooting sparks, and even a wolf who has to be poked away with the group’s collection of tools.

All of them are dealt with fine though, and overall, they do a great deal to persuade the ponies involved that the outside is not as dangerous as they thought. It's not until the second day that things start to go wrong. It's then that the pony pulling the lead cart—a mare by the name of Sun Shine—sets her foot out into empty space. There's the usual blur of motion, and the ground appears.

But it appears a good thirty feet below the rest of the trail.

Sun rears and tries to back up, but it's too late. Her forehooves go over the edge, and the weight of the cart comes with her. Twisting as the falls, she passes out of sight, and a loud crash of splintering wood is audible below.

Little Seed rushes forward, to try and pull her back. But too late. He peers over the edge of the ground.

Looking down below, he can see that the cart didn't land on her—thank the earth. Her twisting ensured that it landed beside her, and both are now sprawled out on the next section of earth, a jagged and rocky island. The cart is splinters, but Sun seems to be intact.

"You okay there!?" Turnip Stew calls.

Sun lifts her head, but when she puts a leg on the ground to push herself up, cries out in pain and falls back down. "...no!" she answers after a moment, strain audible in her tone. "I think my leg is broken."

"Right.” Little Seed says. “Rope!"

There's a pause. Coughing. A few ponies quickly looking through the provisions. "I have my snare cords," Snare Trap finally offers. "Those should hold a pony alright."

"Right...but do you have enough to reach down there?" Little Seed asks.

"Uh... if we knot them all together?" Snare suggests, nosing through his saddlebags. "That should reach."

"Good enough.” Seed replies. “You'll have to lower me down."

The group seems reassured by Little Seed taking charge, and soon all the cords are knotted together. There isn't enough to put together a proper harness, but it can loop around his barrel, and with six sets of earth-pony teeth clamping down on the other cords, there's strength aplenty to lower him down.

The cord cuts into his midsection, and his balance is unsteady, but the group lowers him down at a smooth rate, and he soon touches down next to Sun Shine.

"Hey," she calls up to him. A sunflower-yellow mare with even paler hair. She's still hooked up the wagon and hasn't moved, though there's no blood or anything. That's good.

"Hey. Anything else hurt?" he says, as he touches down and moves to unhook her from the wagon.

"Uh, well. I'm a little bruised up," she says, though her voice sounds weak. The restraints on her come off easily enough, and when he lifts her, she lets out only a faint squeak of pain, insisting that she's fine. "I'm good. Let's get out of here."

When he gets back in the harness though, and the cord goes taut, it quickly becomes clear that they have a problem. There's no way for Little Seed to stay balanced on a single loop of cord while carrying another pony. And not enough spare cord to create a proper harness. After a few attempts where he sways dangerously within the first few feet of his ascent, they rapidly lower him back down.

"Getting kind of dizzy here!" Sun Shine says, trying to keep her tone up as she rests over Little Seed's back.

"Well, that didn't work," Snare Trap calls from above. "I guess we'll have to... haul her up first, maybe?"

"Probably best,” Seed says. “I don't have the tools to rig something out of the bags down here."

"Sure let's do it," Sun Shine agrees, But when Little Seed lowers her to the ground so he can get the harness on her, she's clearly having trouble keeping her balance even on her three good legs. Her expression dazed and unsteady. "C'mon. Let's do this," she urges again.

Little Seed secures her as best he can, then waves up to Snare and the rest.

The rest of the team starts to pull, and Sun Shine rises—but as she does, she starts to sway. Her sense of balance is evidently off, and she has only one foreleg with which to support herself. Suddenly, halfway up, she slips backwards in the loop, her rear sliding out from the cord. "Help!" she shouts, trying to hook her legs around the rope

Little Seed has been watching. But, from where he is, there's not much he can do but move to catch her if she falls.

Soon, she slides the rest of the way back, slipping out of the loop completely. Little Seed jumps, but her fall isn't taking her to him. It's taking her off the edge of the island. And this time, no ground appears under her.

Her shout carries up to him, but soon grows fainter and fainter, as she fades into the infinite distance.

Little Seed stares after her.

Above Little Seed, the rest of the little expedition rushes to the edge of their own island, peering out for any sign of her. But nothing appears.

"She landed... somewhere. Right?" Turnip Stew asks.

"I don't know,” Little Seed replies.

Things only get worse from there. Snare Trap's memory of this place is from when you could see landmarks in the distance. Now he can only navigate by a few dozen paces around the road, and he admits that some of the road sections are jumbled up, or in the wrong order.

First comes the admission that they're lost. Then the realization that turning around doesn't take them to the same places they were before. Then worse things than stray greycoats and wolves. Plants that carry supplies off and under the islands. Patches of earth with reversed gravity. Sudden cliffs. Storms of chocolate. Bunnies that swarm over a pony and chew on hair. Dead ends, where no islands rise up around them, forcing them to backtrack under the hot suns. Finally, after four periods of rest—four days—the water is gone and the food is running low. Ponies strained as the caravan comes to a halt.

"We're near the forest. I know we are," Snare Trap insists. "The terrain is right for it, I just can't get us there."

“Maybe we should split up,” one pony suggests. “See who can find it first.”

"That's a terrible plan," Turnip Stew scoffs. "We should see if we can wave down a pegasus. Grey or not, maybe they can help."

Little Seed has been watching the sky. He has seen a few pegasai up there. Lazing around on their clouds. Weaving among the cotton candy storms. None are close at hoof right now, but there are a few in the distance he could try calling to.

He cocks his head, thinking back. Was there a proper way to address a pegasus? Ah well. Best to make it up. "AHOY THE CLOUDS! CAN YOU HEAR ME UP THERE?"!

That appears to be wrong. Or maybe they don't hear him. The others follow Little Seed's cue though, shouting up into the clouds: "Hey there!" one calls. Nothing. "Hello!" shouts another. Nothing. "Hey featherbrain!" tries a third. Definitely not. Finally, one draws a deep breath. "Hey! We need help down here! Help!"

That last word seems to echo.

"Help, help, help."

And before them, there's a magnificent thundercrash. Ponies leaping back in surprise as three mares appear out of the thin air.

"Don't worry, little ponies, there's no need to fear," the first one says. A pink pegasus mare with a blue mane. She flaps up to the group, reaching out to hold a startled ponies cheek. She's doing something funny with her voice. It sounds... nice.

"You may be in danger, but help is here!

When ponies on the ground, stand lost and afraid,

In a flash comes the Pegasus Rescue Brigade!"

Little Seed blinks. This is...extremely new.

The other two—off-purple, one with a yellow mane and one with a bright blue one—slide up to the group and start handing out water from their saddlepouches, tending to a few of the ponies who have received bumps and scrapes.

"Gonna stand there with your mouth hanging open all day?" the pink one asks him, grinning as she hovers in front of him.

"I hadn't planned on it,” he replies. His eyes move to her wings. "Do you know what happens to ponies who fall off?"

"Oh, they all land somewhere," she answers, with a shrug. "Why, did you lose somepony?"

He grimaces. "Yes."

"Don't worry," the pink one assures. "In our sky, the further you fall, the softer you land. Makes no sense, but it's true! She touched down light as a feather. I can even show you the way to her."

"Wait,” he says, “how do you know who she is?"

"Why, because she cried out for help as she fell, of course," the pink one says, with a smile. "You see...

"To bring order to Equestria and tend to her new peace," she does that thing again, the one that makes her voice sound sweet.

"Our Hurricane knew that ponies fear of the sky must cease,

And so she called forth her lightning and imbued our merry band,

And now we answer ponies cries for help across the land!

It's our secret bit of magic, the spell that's of our breed,

To dash across the sky like lightning, when ponies are in need,

No matter how lost you are or how far you may roam,

Just cry out to the bright blue sky and we will guide you home!"

It ends on a bit celebratory tone, the pink one grinning as her friends do the work of tending to those who have been knocked around. "Get it?" she asks Little Seed.

"I think so,” he replies. "Do you know how to get to Luna?"

"As it happens, I do," the pink one says, rolling over so she's looking at Little Seed upside down, evidently having no problem hovering in the air that way. "Your little yellow friend made the same request, and I was happy to oblige."

"Well, good then!” he says. “Because that's where we were all headed, but with all this ..." and he waves at the surrounding lack of land or landmarks, "we haven't been able to find our way to the Everfree."

"I can see how that would be tricky. But don't worry. We'll have you where you belong very soon," the pink one assures. The other members of Little Seed's party are starting to look up, a few of them chatting with the pair of mares helping them. "Would you all like to go now? I'm sure you're eager to be on your way."

"Is it really that easy?" Turnip Stew asks. "You just zap us all there?"

"Oh! No," the pink one laughs and waves her off. "That magic only works for us, to rush us to poor ponies in need of assistance. But, we do have another bit of magic that will speed you on your way. Just like our Pegasus Rescue song brings us to you, we've got another little chant that puts poor lost earth ponies where they belong. Sing along with us, and you'll be with your friend in a jiffy.

"Ready?" the pink one asks.

Sing. It had been a long, long time since Little Seed had sung anything. He gets to his feet, and nods.

He'd forgotten the word. That's what they were all doing earlier.

"Great! Now sing a-long with our chant," she begins, slow so that the group can join in, their voices gradually catching up. "And we will begin.

"The magic that carries ponies off to where they find their kin," she continues, as the group joins in properly.

"Wings whisk up to the sky, and horns to halls of stone,

But this is the Earth Pony chant, so where do hooves make their home?"

There's a pause.

"Dirt."

The two mares lift out of the crowd. One of them makes a disgusted expression, wiping at her face where one of Little Seed's band touched her. The soft purple color in her coat wipes away like grime, revealing grey beneath.

"Dirt is where hooves make their home, and it's of dirt that they're made,

Dirt and pain's your birthright, and dirt's your only trade,

Dirt is what we'll help you too, and dirt's what we're here to save,"

Little Seed frowns. The ponies in the group are slowly dropping out of the song, as their expressions turn confused. Then the final note comes.

"So it's time for you to join your friend when we help you to your grave!" Then a rock hits Turnip Stew where she stands.

Right. So this was like when the rocks had their little revolt. Little Seed has a simple solution to this. He wheels, and bucks, aiming both hooves at the pink one's face.

His sudden attack catches the pink one by surprise. She was evidently expecting the group to panic, and he hits her clear in the face and shoulders, sending her flying backwards from the little island. The other two back off as well, and the herd—which probably was about to panic—takes sudden vigor from Little Seed's strike. Shouting and booing the mares away as they recover their tools.

But despite the moral victory, it doesn't look like Little Seed actually did very much damage. And when the mare recovers, she and her two friend's expressions are fixed right on Little Seed.

"I've got a rock!" chimes one of the two tag-alongs.

"I've got another rock," chimes the other.

"I've got a special rock," chimes the pink one, pulling a little round object out of her bag. With a fuse. "Throw at will, girls! These poor ponies aren't going to help themselves."

The last rock that sparked like that left a hole in the ground. There's not much time to think. Just to act. Little Seed charges, leaping straight for the pony with the special rock, legs wide to grab and hold.

The mare just has the fuse lit when he leaps. She shrieks with surprise, and the grenade tumbles out of her grasp, falling away into the infinite sky. He hits her head on, and all four legs wrap around her. Tongues of fire and bits of shrapnel tear at his coat as the grenade explodes somewhere below them, and suddenly he's in a mid-air grapple for his life, with the pink pegasus whirling and diving and headbutting him to try and dislodge him.

"Get off get off get off!"

"I'd rather not fall, thank you!" he shouts.

Her response is to snarl and bite his shoulder, the two of them reduced to headbutting to fight as they careen unsteadily across the sky. Dives, spins, and loops threaten to throw him from her grasp, but he manages to stay on! Until her two friends catch up anyway, and then the grapple turns against Little Seed.

Her pink makeup is smudged all over him now, revealing the grey beneath as her two friends rip him off her. She looks left and right, but the island where Little Seed's party once stood is empty. Seems they ran off while the mares were distracted.

"You don't wanna fall!?" she snarls at him. "Well that's too bad. You're going to fall, little dirt pony! And you're gonna land right where your friend did. Buh-bye now!"

Little Seed kicks, and struggles, but then two mares overpower him and let him go. And he tumbles through the sky.

True to the mare’s word, though he falls for what seems forever, he lands as gentle as a feather, touching down in a grove of strange plants, on top of damp soil, looking up at a canopy of trees.

He checks himself over, but yes, everything seems to be in place. "Well. At least she didn't lie about that," he mutters, and looks around him. Plants he hasn't seen before, trees overhead. Big trees. Very big trees. Healthy trees. This must be what they call a forest. And if this was a forest, then maybe it was actually...where he needed to be.

The air is full of odd smells. Wet soil. Animals. Something... leafy he can't quite place. And it's dark! There's light. Light enough to see by. But it's actually dark. And the light had an odd character too. Silvery. Paler than he remembers.

He shakes himself off, and...shivers. Huh. It was actually a little cold. Chillier than the cellar, even on the days when the suns weren't quite so bright. It felt...kind of good actually.

But! Distractions! He is in a forest. It is...probably the Everfree, because if it isn't it meant he is completely hopelessly lost and he doesn't much care for that. And if it is the Everfree, then Luna's castle is here somewhere. Not that he knows where. A moment more, and he shrugs, rises, and steps out, heading off to explore.

It's not hard to pick a direction. He's on a slope, making his options up or down, and when he goes up, the trees seem to thin out, giving him a better view.At the top of the ridge, he can see something in the distance, and a little more quick scrambling for higher ground clears his sight the rest of the way.

Above him, the sky is dark. No suns or strange clouds marr it—just a collection of odd, sparkling white dots, surrounding a single bright moon whose silvery light illuminates the landscape. In the distance, he can see a building larger than any he's ever seen before. A towering edifice of imposing stone and shadowed walkways, its towers grim and dark, built to withstand any assault. Strange stone monsters are perched atop its battlements, giving it all an intimidating air. It is undoubtedly what he seeks.

But a moment later, the sees why the three cruel mares abandoned him here. Surrounding the castle is a vast horde of creatures, the likes of which he has never seen before. Dogs that walk on two legs. Wolves made of timber and branches. Things that are like ponies, but too tall, and too long in the face, and impossibly slender. Great hulking shaggy beasts, next to catapults and rams on wheels. Reaching the tower on hoof seems impossible, with hundreds in his way.

And down in the camp, near a patch of firelight, he can see Sun Shine. Tied up and afraid, left alone by the fire. The only ponies he sees in the camp are grey—and their behavior is as monstrous as the rest.

Castle on the other side of an army, with a mare to rescue on the way. He looks down at his hooves. He'd lost the little scythe somewhere along the way. This won't cut it. He could fight rocks and wrangle unruly plants, but this is...different. It will require a different approach!

Fortunately, there is mud in abundance, and he wastes no time in rolling in it. Soon he's covered in mud head to hoof. The damp soil of the forest seeping into his coat. For a little something extra, he sticks his head in a bush and shakes it around. And thus, looking very strange indeed, he makes his way for the army of creatures.

A mud-creature with leaves for ears and twigs for a jaw is hardly the strangest thing in this camp. And when he trots in like he owns the place, without the slightest fear of the guards or sentries. They pay him no mind.

Sun Shine is neglected it seems. They evidently think she's in no danger of escaping—and given that one of her legs is turning an odd color, and she's bound head to hoof in rope, the guards’ presumption seems to be correct. In the darkness, she doesn't recognize Little Seed any more than the guards do, cringing away from this leaf-monster that nears her fire.

He's walking a little oddly. It's partly the mud, which is not exactly comfortable, but also, he's not supposed to be a pony right now. As Sun Shine cringes away from him, he forces out a chuckle. "No love for your Seedy friend?" he says, keeping his voice low.

She freezes. Gradually, her ears perk up. She looks left. Then right. "Little Seed?" she whispers, so quiet even he can barely hear her.

He winks. "Shhhhh."

She looks like she might break down for sheer joy on the spot, starting to tear up as she sees him. "Oh, Little Seed. Thank goodness, I—" then she catches herself, and falls silent at once. Making herself squeeze away the tears.

"I thought I was alone," she finally whispers.

“Well, you aren't,” he murmurs. “But talk later, yeah? Also, sorry in advance, this is probably going to hurt," he says, as he grabs the ropes that bind her, and starts to drag her forward.

"Nnngh!" she squeaks, but manages not to cry out. "Oh, no. Yeah. That's just a little tickle," she manages, her eyes and jaw clamped shut.

Ponies rescuing damsels rarely haul them around like a sack of flour. But ponies rescuing damsels aren't usually pretending to be monsters, either. And much as Sun Shine isn't enjoying it at the moment, Little Seed's disregard for the pain she's in probably does a good bit to help him blend in in this camp.

Walking towards the opposite end of the camp, Little Seed is largely ignored. Most of the guards seem heavily distracted by something. The camp is a buzz with activity. Preparing to attack, he would guess, from how ammunition is being rolled up to the catapults and how every monster there is awake. A few guards do look his way, but they pay him little mind.

Until he's at the extreme edge of the camp on the castle's side, and a rough voice calls out: "Hold it!" There he sees a strange, ugly little dog thing that walks on two legs. Shackles made from bits of crystals and gems bind it at the ankles and wrists ,though oddly, the shackles aren't actually connected to anything.

"Where are you... eeehh," it inhales roughly. "Taking that, eh. Poh-nee?"

Little Seed lets go the rope, and steps forward, showing teeth. "What, you like Poh-nees? Want to take the Poh-nee yourself?"

"What? No!" The chattering little dog-creature steps back.

He takes another step forward. "Want to brush the pre-tty poh-nee's mane, and brush the pre-tty poh-nee's tail? Pet the pre-tty poh-nee's coat? Scratch the pre-tty poh-nee's ears?"

"No! Why would I want to do that? Poh-nees aren't adorable like that at all!" It insists, defensively. "They are ugly. And stupid! I don't want the stupid ugly pony. No matter how brushable it is. You can have it!"

The guard, looking about nervously, beats a quick retreat. Little Seed turns, chuckling to himself, and resumes what he was doing.

"Yay I'm adorable," Sun Shine manages, as Little Seed drags her through the wood. Out of the camp. And finally, up to the grand castle gates. By which time he's not dragging her, but carrying her on his back properly. Now that there's no more need for trickery.

One, two, and then three loud knocks from his hoof echo off the huge wooden gates. Seeming booming and thunderous in the strange... night. And after a moment, the gates swing open of their own accord.

Inside is a long, grand, quiet hall, where a tall pony waits. She has a blue coat, spotted with black, the wings of a pegasus and the horn of a unicorn. Her mane is like nothing Little Seed has ever seen before, save perhaps the sky above this castle. Blue, and sparkling, and silvery and... calm.

Her horn glows, and the ropes around Sun Shine release themselves. Before she can fall, she too is lifted. Abruptly, she squeaks in fright, and something in her leg makes a loud snap—but when she looks down, the purple is rapidly fading. A moment later, she stands on all four hooves, unbroken and unharmed.

"You two have come a very long way to see me," says the Princess of the Moon. "I have watched you and your journey." She tilts her head up, as though hearing something in the distance, though to Little Seed, the hall is quiet. "Come, we should not be near this gate. They will attack soon."

And turning, she leads them inside.