The Legend of Brave Rick

by Exelion

Completing Missions

Burning buildings erupted smoke that reached the sky. Using that as a screen, the Princess of the Night soared full speed ahead to cross the city without being recognized, she dropped down slowly in a dark alley near the castle where she used to reside. The humans were still looking for any survivor or treasure left that could be of some use to them.

Remembering her old times as Nightmare Moon, she turned her body into a shadow that traversed the streets of Canterlot. Several pony knights’ bodies were on the floor, they were abundant compared to the human bodies. On her way she noticed several buildings that were being examined. Arrows, swords, and other weapons were littered around, memories of a siege, but Luna didn’t have time to stop to meditate about a battle that she didn’t take part in, and kept going on her way.

She entered the building where the Elements were stored. A few soldiers were trying to break the door that contained them. Luna quietly chuckled to herself, there was no way to enter the chamber without magic. But to avoid detection, she’d have to wait in a corner until they’d given up.

“Place the bombs, quick. Surely what lies on the other side will make us incredibly rich. Hop to it!”

“Understood.”

“They’re dumber than I thought” Luna mused while they were preparing the last bomb, which had a timer to allow them time to find shelter.

One of them activated the countdown sequence. “Get to cover!”

Luna threw up a shield as the bombs detonated, filling the room with dust and smoke, along an incredible noise. Luna hadn’t taken the sound into account and was deafened, her ears ringing. As she scratched her ears, the soldiers examined the door.

“Shit! It didn’t work. Let’s get back to the base and inform the general, get him to authorize something stronger next time.”

“Alright, let’s get outta here,” said another soldier as they all filed out of the room.

Luna materialized in front of the door, her ears still buzzing. She inserted her horn into the slot and made it glow. The image in the center lit up dark blue, as did the lines that separated it. Luna’s power flowed through every crack of the door, a sound of whirring gears was heard, and the vault opened, revealing a small chest, adorned with jewels. Luna opened it to make sure the Elements were still there. With a smile of a job well done, she unfolded her wings and took flight through a broken window, heading back to the underground hideout.

While her friends were on their quest to find reinforcements, Twilight sketched some calculations on the floor with a stick. Her mind was working at a mile per minute, analyzing every possible situation that they might find themselves in.

“Let’s see, if I take into account that Pinkie won’t bring the Fillydelphia army, we’ll have to move a number of soldiers to even it out, but what if…”

“What’s going on with her?” Richard asked Celestia.

“She’s can be a bit obsessive with organization, and that’s not even taking into account how stressed out she is about the whole conflict” she answered seriously.

“Don’t you think she needs help?”

“No, I don’t. In this case, it’s showing the effort she’s putting on her part,” she said as she saw how Twilight left the stick on the floor. Celestia and Richard approached Twilight, and they looked at the calculations she’d performed.

“So, my loyal student, what did you find out thanks to all these scribbles?” Celestia asked.

“Listen princess, even with the additional troops, I don’t think we’ll manage to defeat the humans,” Twilight said.

“If you’re so sure of that, what do you suggest we do?” she asked without losing her temper.

“We’ll need to form an alliance with those that were our enemies, princess.”

“Which enemies?” Richard asked.

“Discord and Chrysalis. With them fighting alongside us, we’ll definitely win.”

Celestia thought about the proposition for a couple seconds.

“Alright, Twilight, we’ll search for aid in Discord and Chrysalis.”

“But how are we supposed to find them?” Richard asked.

“Finding Chrysalis won’t be a problem, Discord though… we haven’t heard from him since he reformed. How are we going to find him?”

While they sought an answer, Twilight noticed that Fluttershy was eavesdropping the conversation. The Pegasus looked away quickly, hoping she hadn’t been caught. She seemed to be hiding something.

“Princess… I think Fluttershy knows something about Discord’s whereabouts,” Twilight whispered to the princess’ ear.

“Hmm… let me talk in private with her, Twilight.

“Okay.”

Celestia approached, and sat next to her yellow subject. The latter didn’t look at her and they stayed still, looking at the wall for quite some time, until the princess broke the silence.

“Listen, Fluttershy, if you know something about Discord’s location, then you must tell us. I won’t make you do it, but bear in mind that you’d be helping us a lot if you gave us that information,” the princess said in a kind tone.

She stood up, and was about to walk away before the gentle touch of a hoof caught her attention.

“Will you help us?”

Fluttershy nodded.

“So you do know where he is?”

Fluttershy started making circles on the ground with her hoof. She seemed to feel sorry talking about the topic. From her bag she took out an open envelope.

“Were you in contact with him via letters?”

Not stopping with playing with the ground, she nodded with a slight blush.

And so Celestia read the letter slowly to find out the location of the possible ally, while Fluttershy kept with her timid demeanor, like the princess was reading something private and embarrassing for her.

“This letter… is he on his way?”

Fluttershy nodded again, blushing more. The princess thought about the situation for a moment.

“Fluttershy, would you like to see Discord again?”

The pink maned pony eyes brightened in a way they hadn’t before. She nodded energetically.

“Then I have a proposal for you” Celestia said.

On the other side of the cave, Richard was talking with Twilight.

“And that is how Equestria was made,” Twilight concluded.

“Wow, excellent summary,” Richard praised.

“Thank you. If you’re going to be on our side, you might as well know a bit of our history. Now, tell me some of your world’s history.”

“I thought you found out about it already, you know, when you visited my world.”

“No, I didn’t find out all that I wanted. In the library they gave me certain carefully selected books. I couldn’t delve into your history…” she said while looking at Richard. When he noticed he was being watched, he turned around and Twilight quickly looked somewhere else “so… will you tell me something, anything?”

“I’m not a history teacher but, I think I can tell you something.” He thought of the right words to begin. “Let’s see, it all started with…”

“Twilight!” Princess Celestia yelled, galloping with Fluttershy beside her. “I think we’ve pinned down Discord’s location, Fluttershy offered to go to look for him.”

“Really? Fluttershy?”

She just nodded.

“Oh, Fluttershy, it makes me so happy to hear that!” she exclaimed, hugging her. Surprised, Fluttershy returned the embrace.

“Good, it’s time to get going, I’ll go look for Chrysalis, and Fluttershy will go look for Discord. Twilight, plan the rest of the strategy with Richard” the princess ordered.

“Princess, isn’t it dangerous for you to go by yourself to changeling territory?”

“Have no fear my loyal student. Surely in times like these, they don’t have enough love to face me down, and I don’t think they’d be too proud to do it either,” Celestia said.

“If you say so. Take care, both of you,” Twilight said, worried.

Celestia made her horn glow again, and opened two new portals. She and Fluttershy each assumed their positions and stepped through.

“Good luck,” Twilight thought. She returned to keep Richard company.

He noticed her worried look. “What’s wrong, Twilight? Don’t you think your friend and the princess can do it?”

“It’s not that, it’s just… even with Discord and Chrysalis, I’m not sure we’ll be able to defeat them. That’s all,” she said reluctantly.

“What do you mean? I thought you had everything planned, right?” Richard insisted.

“I learned the hard way that things don’t always go the way they’re planned. Why would this be any different?”

“Yes, but even when things don’t go the way you planned them, it doesn’t mean they end up wrong. Most of the time they turn out better than you expected.”

Twilight was surprised at the human’s words, and thought about the situation. “You know, you might be right,” she said as she opened a portal with her magic.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“Don’t worry, I know exactly what to do. If the princess gets home before I do, tell her I went looking for help!” she said as she stepped through the portal, which sealed up behind her.

“Thanks for the encouragement, Richard,” she thought and gazed up at the entrance of the Crystal Empire.

A troubled Braeburn and Applejack were waiting for the sheriff’s answer after telling him about the situation.

“I know you’re going through a difficult situation, but there’s not many ponies in this town, and I wouldn’t like to risk the life of my citizens and friends.”

“How can you…?”

“Leave it, Braeburn, he’s right. His responsibility is to the ponies of Appleloosa.”

“My deepest condolences to all the dead, especially your brother dear Applejack, but if it means anything, when the conflict with the buffalo ended, we built a road to their lands. Take it, and it will take you to them. They may be able to help.”

“Thank you, Sheriff.” said Applejack heading to the door.

“I hope you come out victorious. We’re counting on you,” the sheriff said before Applejack closed the door to his office.

“Are you mad at the sheriff’s decision, cousin?” Braeburn asked due to the sudden silence.

“A little, but I don’t blame ‘im. Nobody is forcing him to help us.”

“Listen, forget about him. It’s time to go to the buffalo.”

“Do you seriously think they will help us?”

“If it’s about defending their land, the buffalo will be willing, I assure you. Remember when we first came here, and we had to fight them with pies?”

“Yeah, I remember, but these ain’t pies, they’re weapons of mass destruction made to kill,” she said as she galloped along the road. “I don’t know why anypony would really want to fight for us…”

“Applejack, most ponies are not selfish. They wouldn’t turn their back on a world that needs them, ‘specially when it’s the Elements that are asking for help. You must have a little more faith cousin,” Braeburn said.

“Let’s see if what you said is true.” Applejack skidded to a halt as she reached the buffalo’s land.

The buffalo were getting ready for their weekly run through the desert; Little Strongheart noticed the arrival of some old friends. “Braeburn! Applejack!” she cheered energetically as she hugged them. “It’s always a pleasure to have you here, but we’re about to go on our weekly run, it’d be nice if you stopped by another day.”

“You don’t understand, we have to talk to the chief as soon as possible,” Braeburn begged.

“I’m sorry, but the chief has to be at the head of the herd.”

“It’s urgent!” Applejack insisted. “We can’t afford to keep wasting time!”

“I’m telling you that…”

The voice of Chief Thunderhooves interrupted her. “Little Strongheart, you’re in charge of guiding the herd now.”

Her eyes opened up like plates. “Do you mean it?!” she asked excitedly.

“I mean it. Now go and guide them; I’ll take care of this business.”

“I won’t disappoint you, I promise,” Little Strongheart said as she hugged the chief.

“I know you won’t,” he said as they broke the embrace.

She ran to where the buffalo were gathering and shouted, “the chief delegated to me the task of leading the herd. Follow me, my brethren. Sunset awaits us!” At that instant, and without thinking twice, they started to run through the desert land to a destination unknown to the ponies.

In a tent adorned with feathers and other hoof-made objects crafted by first level artisans, Chief Thunderhooves lit up a small bonfire, even though it was broad daylight. He looked at Applejack while Braeburn waited outside.

“Listen chief, I need to ask you a favour. An other-worldly threat has conquered Canterlot, the capital of Equestria, and Ponyville. Our last hope is to search for allies to avoid everything we love being erased,” Applejack said. She waited for the chief’s response.

“So that weird feeling I had some time ago was that,” he said gazing into the fire.

“You mean, you already knew?”

“No, no, it was just a hunch. You see, we have a special connection to the land that we inhabit. That’s why we respect her by running on inhospitable places. That’s what she wants, for us to admire her, and tour her without fear. She’ll bless not only us, but all that inhabit her,” he said as he moved the sticks on the fire causing it to blaze up.

Applejack was nervous. A chill crawled through every part of her body. Her heart was beating rapidly as time went by without a clear answer. “So, what do you say?” she asked impatiently.

His expressionless face did not calm the pony, as she awaited the answer.

“Oh Pinkie, we didn’t know the situation you were going through. We’re so sorry, dear,” Cup Cake said as she picked up her daughter.

“We’ve been lucky to come on this little ‘business trip’ right, my cupcake?” Mr Cake said, somewhat nervously.

“Pinkie, Pinkie, Pinkie!” said the babies in unison, inviting her to play.

“Sorry, babies, but I’m not really in the mood for playing games now,” Pinkie said to the insistence of the babies, which she considered like her own little siblings.

Both parents looked surprised at Pinkie’s attitude.

“So you say you’ve come to see the governor? We can take you to the Town Hall, I’m sure he’ll be delighted to receive one of the Elements of Harmony.”

“Well let’s go, let me just get the babies ready.”

“Alright,” Pinkie replied, and then her stomach growled, asking for food.

“Are you hungry? Here, it’s the last one left from yesterday’s batch” Mrs Cake said, giving her a vanilla cupcake with strawberry frosting.

Pinkie took it with her hoof, and remembered the good old times.

“Wait!” the pink pony exclaimed. “Could I stay with you, until this all ends?” she asked with a broken voice, almost in tears.

The Cakes looked at her with worry and sorrow, but it soon turned into understanding.

“Listen, Pinkie, I know you want everything to be like it was before. Believe me when I say you’re not the only one that wishes that,” said Mr Cake.

“That’s why the princesses, your friends, and the rest of the ponies depend on you. They trusted you on this mission because they knew you’d manage it. Imagine what they would think if you gave up. Do you think they’ll win this war if you decide to run away?” Mrs Cake asked.

Pinkie just shook her head and looked guilty for having even suggested it.

“Remember, we’ll always be with you, whatever happens. Now eat, dear, we can tell you’re hungry.”

She took a bite. A tear rolled down her face and a wide smile spread across it. She looked at the Cakes for a moment as she held back her tears and her smile started to falter.

“What’s wrong Pinkie?”

Without anticipating it, Pinkie hugged both of them and burst into tears. They returned the hug and consoled her. She let go the bitterness of her heart on the shoulders of those she considered family.

“I promise, I’ll finish all this, and we will, no, everypony will get back to their normal lives. That’s a Pinkie Promise. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” she promised, as she smeared the rest of the cupcake across her face.

Even with her mane cut and straight, an important part of that pink pony had returned, desperate to fulfill that promise.

“Well, Pinkie, clean your face. You have to look nice for the governor,” said Mr. Cake.

“Oki doki loki,” she said as she stuck out her tongue, wiped her face with it, and swallowed the rest of the cupcake.

“Alright, let’s go. The Town Hall is a few blocks away.”

Without noticing it, the baby pegasus broke free from his bounds and and flew across the hallway. The Cakes were about to catch him but Pinkie stopped them. “Leave it to me. Wait for us in the lobby. I’ll go get him.” Pinkie chased him, leaving a trail of smoke behind her.

“Now that’s the mare we know,” they both said.

Pinkie stood outside the Town Hall doors, and prepared herself for a difficult meeting.

“Listen, wait here while I talk to the governor,” she said while delivering Carrot Cake, wrapped in several hotel towels, to prevent him from escaping again.

“Good luck, Pinkie,” the Cakes said.

Once inside, Pinkie walked to the receptionist.

“May I help you, miss?” asked the receptionist.

“I want to speak to the governor about a situation of utmost importance. It’s extremely urgent,” Pinkie said. She was wearing pink formal wear, a medium skirt, a buttoned up coat, shirt and white earrings, and thick-framed glasses with no lenses.

“I’m sorry, but the governor is dealing with other business with more important ponies than you. You’ll have to request an appointment and wait your turn to discuss your complaint or whatever problem you came for. Next!” the receptionist concluded.

Pinkie was about to leave, but then she had an idea.

“Yes? How can I help you?”

“I’m the minister for the economy. I have an appointment with the governor at 2:30,” said a moustachioed pony in a severe business suit to the receptionist.

The latter looked at the minister suspiciously. His straight pink hair seemed strange. It didn’t fit his brown fur, and his voice was too high-pitched for a stallion. After examining him for a second, the receptionist figured out the ploy.

“I know what you’re trying, kid, now do us the favor of taking off that ridiculous disguise and leaving before I call security,” the receptionist warned.

“What are you talking about? I want to talk to the governor about a situation of utmost importance,” he said, offended.

“That’s it!” she yelled, slamming the pen she’d been using down onto her desk, and grabbing the minister’s face in an attempt to rip off the mask.

“Stop it, you mad mare! The bloody hay are you doing?” the minister screamed.

“Quit your acting, crazy mare!” she yelled, trying to unmask Pinkie.

After a struggle, the enraged minister stormed out of the lobby, shouting, “now you listen, psycho… you’ve earned a very powerful enemy! Once I’m done with you, you won’t work again as a secretary, not even cleaning floors, for the rest of your existence!”

The receptionist adjusted her mane and glasses and got back to work, muttering, “that mare thinks she can outsmart me.”

A pony with extravagant glasses, dressed in a gift box, balloons and swimming fins, firing confetti from hidden cannons walked towards her and coughed a couple of times to announce her presence.

“Wasn’t disguising yourself as a minister enough? Now you’ve come in that stupid party costume?” she said angrily.

“Minister? But I was in the bathroom putting on this disguise, silly. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Pinkie replied.

“Then, the one that came was… it actually was,” she said desperately as she brought out a notebook and checked it.

Terrified, she confirmed that the stallion she kicked out was, in fact, the minister of economy, and had an appointment at 2:30.

“Wow, that pony has funny hair, it looks familiar” said Pinkie after seeing the straight and pink mane of the minister.

That only helped raise the fear and anxiety of the receptionist, she pissed off an active member of society, the warning rushed through her head, sweat and nervousness flowed through every part of her body.

“If you excuse me, I have to go speak to the governor,” Pinkie said as she waddled along in her costume.

“Oh, no, you’re not getting through! If I’m getting fired, at least I’ll prevent you from seeing the governor as my last duty. Security!” she shouted, attracting the guards’ attention. “Get her outta here!”

They approached the pink pony menacingly. Without hesitating, she drew out her party cannon from nowhere.

“Don’t move!” she exclaimed, “I’ve got a cannon full of confetti and I’m not afraid to use it!”

The security agents, the secretary, and the other ponies present in the lobby laughed at such a threat.

“Young lady, you need to come with us,” said one of the guards about to surround her completely.

“It’s time for you to witness the power of my… PARTY CANNON!” she yelled, firing it, but she was more surprised than the others when the cannon shot flour instead of confetti. “Whoops, wrong one.”

The room was completely white, the guard ponies blinking and coughing. Pinkie saw this as an opportunity and traveled further into the Town Hall in search of the governor, her crazy outfit still on.

“Miss Lovejoy, contact minister Golden Coin to verify his assistance with the meeting. If it is impossible, check what comes next in the agenda,” said the governor, waiting for a response from the receptionist through the communicator. “Miss Lovejoy, are you there?”

Without warning, Pinkie burst into the office, slamming the door shut behind her to prevent the guards from seeing her. Her costume was ripped in several parts and she was missing a swimming fin.

“Mister governor, I finally found you! I need to speak with you urgently,” the pink pony said, a little out of breath.

“I’m sorry, but you are…?”

“I am…”

At that moment, the guards entered and tackled the pink pony. They struggled but manage to grab hold of her. Just as they were about to take her away, Pinkie screamed, “Hey, let me go! What are you doing? I may be the Element of Laughter but this is nothing to laugh at!”

“Let her go,” the governor ordered.

“But mister governor…” one of the guards tried to explain.

“I said, let her go,” he repeated.

The guards put her down. Pinkie got rid of the costume, and tossed it aside.

“I am Pinkie Pie. I am one of the Elements of Harmony,”

“Oh dear, Pinkie, if you’d just started with that, you’d have saved yourself the whole turmoil. An Element of Harmony is always welcome here. I’m Silver Boss, by the way, governor of Fillydelphia. Now, how can I help you, dear?”

Pinkie blushed a bit.

“I need… no, all Equestria needs your help.”

Rainbow was tied to a chair and gagged, her mouth and eyes covered completely. She was asking herself a lot of things as she tried to break loose from the knots. Had humans colonized Cloudsdale finally? Had the pegasi gone mad? She really didn’t have the time to be dealing with this.

Suddenly the bandage on her eyes and the gag were removed, allowing her to see a faintly lit room. A pegasus appeared in front of her.

“What do you think you’re doing?! I need to speak with the mayor now! It’s something of utmost importance!” Rainbow Dash screamed.

“Talk all that you want. You’re just a traitor to us,” the mysterious mare said.

“Traitor?! I’ve been busting my back fighting in the battlefield, risking my life, just so that you could cower here, you selfish cowards!” Rainbow exclaimed, earning a slap from the mysterious pony.

“Shut up, tramp! We’re not stupid! We know the humans are searching for us pegasi, and our forces have been overpowered almost immediately. Canterlot has fallen and our hopes gone with it, so tell me, what opportunity do we have against them?”

“If you’d let me talk to the mayor, I’d tell you everything I know, about the last great plan to finish the humans. Please, let me free,” Rainbow begged.

The hooded pony pondered for a moment. “It won’t be of any use to talk to the mayor. You’ll have to let the pegasi hear the message and accept it. Only then will you be able to take them to battle.”

“So, what do I have to do?”

“Come with me,” said the pegasus, untying Rainbow from the chair.

They left the room and traveled down a long hall until they reached a different room. There, the pegasi were in refugee condition, sad, heartbroken, and long faces filled the place.

The mysterious pony put her on a stage, but nobody noticed.

“Good luck,” she wished Rainbow.

Rainbow looked at her compatriots, took a deep breath, put her thoughts in place, and said, “uhm, excuse… excuse me… listen to me!”

The ponies looked up to the rainbow-maned pegasus.

“Some of you know me. I’m Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty in the Elements of Harmony. Alongside my other friends we’ve saved Equestria countless times. No threat seemed too big, or that’s what we thought… until the humans came.” Only a few pegasi seemed to be paying attention. “Our dear princess Celestia did not want to make you get involved in something you didn’t want, so she did everything within her power to dispense with you. But the truth is, it wasn’t enough, and that’s why we need you.”

The pegasi looked at each other, doubtful. “Tell us the truth. Is there a chance to win this war if we take part in it?” one in the crowd asked.

“I’m not gonna lie to you, the humans are smarter that we hoped, and we don’t know if they’re capable of doing even more. But we’re sure about something, with your help, the odds are in our favour. It’s time to show those bipeds who is the superior species! Who’s with me?!” Rainbow exclaimed.

The pegasi looked at each other, each waiting for somepony else to say the first word. Incredibly, the mysterious mare under the hood walks to the stage, surprising everybody.

“What do you say my brothers? She has my full support!”

“And who do you think you are exactly?!”

The pegasus smiled confident and took her hood off, revealing her identity, the pegasi were astonished and little by little they were standing up and approaching the stage.

On the top of a mountain, the baby dragon was being beaten by the bullies who had tormented him in the past. Hanging from a rope and in the form of a punch bag for boxers, Spike thought about the situation.

“So, not only did I not talk to the dragons, I’m also being beaten without the possibility of escape. There might be a chance if I…”

“What are you thinking about, lil’ dragon? Are you waiting for your pony mommy to come?” said the red teen dragon.

“Yeah, lil’ dragon, are you waiting for your mommy?” another one repeated.

“Listen to me!” Spike screamed.

The bullies stopped.

“I’ve come here to give you an important message. You can keep treating me as a punch bag after I’ve told you, please. It will only take a second.”

The bullies thought about the proposal, but with sly faces they gave away the fact that they were not interested. To their surprise, the dragon took out from his pocket a strange white pearl. When they tried to take it away from him, he bit it and a blinding light left the bullies dazed and on the ground.

Spike untied himself and scrambled to the top of a nearby hill. The other dragons just looked at the scene, some of them laughing, others eating diamonds, most were indifferent.

“Come here, little dragon, I’m not done with you yet!”

“If you don’t listen to me, all of Equestria will be in danger, even our mighty race. Celestia herself sent me on this mission to ask you for help,” said Spike as he avoided his pursuers.

One of the dragons listened to the purple scaled dragon’s petition. A little groggy from getting his nap interrupted, he raised his tail, and hit the earth, calling the attention of all present, before grabbing Spike with his tail.

“Don’t eat me, oldster, please!” the little dragon wept.

“I’m not gonna eat you, boy,” the elder dragon said, “I’m going to help you tell your message.”

“Oh, thanks, oldster!” Spike said, being lifted to a high place.

One of the other dragons jeered. “What are you doing, grandpa? Get him down and stop meddling where you’re not wanted!”

The elder only roared at those words, shutting everyone up. Spike took this chance to speak up.

“Listen, you’re not aware of this, but for some time the ponies have been battling against beings not from this world, and things did not go out as we expected. But now my friends are willing to take the risk after an unknown subject…” Spike said, as a memory formed in his mind.

“Twilight, what is that scum doing in our hideout?” he whispered as he chewed on some wild berries.

“Spike! Don’t be rude! This ‘scum’ as you call him will be part of an important plan I have to get rid of the humans,” she whispered back, more aggressively.

“I don’t trust him, Twilight. I just can’t. I can’t forget the damage he caused to ponies and especially…” he said as he looked at Rarity chewing her food.

“I know how you feel, but if you don’t trust Richard, trust me, ok?”

“I don’t know…”

“Please, for me?”

“Alright fine, for you, Twilight. Wait, since when do you call a human by its name?”

“Since he told us his name. Besides I’m the first one to trust him, if it weren’t for me, Rainbow would have turned him into her personal boxing bag.”

Twilight and Spike laughed. The rest of them looked at them doubtfully. Richard, on the other hand, just laughed as he took the stem from a cherry.

“Now I have to trust him,” he said as he returned to real world. “That’s why I come before you, to help us save Equestria from a threat like we’ve never seen before. What do you say? Are you with me?!”

Every dragon looked at him seriously. Nobody gave a sign of caring about the speech of their smallest of brethren.

Spike finally decided to try something that would most definitely guarantee their help. “I understand. Don’t help me if you don’t want to. I’ll leave and bother you no more. But remember, the humans will come here in the search of your treasures, and I’m aware that they are even more greedy than all of you together, even with their small bodies.”

Spike climbed down from his makeshift podium and acted like he was going to leave, waiting for the greedy instincts of his brothers to kick in.

Suddenly, the bully trio stood in his way. “Where do you think you’re going little dragon?!”

A field full of dandelions stretched into the distance. Rarity walked some paces through the magical scene, trying to find something, or somepony. A breeze started to guide her to nowhere specific. They were just dandelions, could it really mean something?

The dandelions rose and danced in the air. One of them turned into a hundred, like snowflakes they we falling down to the ground, starting to form a known figure for the white unicorn, small stature, same white fur, no cutie mark, and eyes that melted her more than once.

“Sweetie Belle?”

Her little sister had a smile so cheerful, warm, and beaming, that it lifted the weight in Rarity’s heart.

“Sweetie Belle!” she cried as she ran to her and hugged her like she’d never done before.

Words were not needed at that magical moment. Hugging each other, with the slight breeze playing in their manes, Rarity wanted the moment to never end, even if it was just a dream.

“And what will you do now?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Rarity ignored the question, still in her embrace.

“What will you do now?” her sister asked again.

Rarity was still not done with the moment, but fed up of being ignored, Sweetie pushed Rarity away to break the hug forcefully.

“What are you doing Sweetie Belle?”

“I asked you: what will you do now?”

“I just want to stay embraced by your side, little sister. Is that so much to ask?” she said as she closed in for another hug.

Sweetie Belle stopped her sister with her hoof.

“But what’s wrong with you? I thought you loved me,” said Rarity between tears.

“Of course I love you big sister, it’s just that… you know this is just a dream, to clear your heart.”

“But… but… if this is a dream, I don’t want to ever wake up! I want to stay by your side, Sweetie,” she said as her voice faltered.

“Listen, Rarity, I felt your hoof caress my mane. I felt your other hoof touch mine. I even heard you when you regretted your actions…”

“Did you? All of it?” she asked intrigued.

“Every bit, and I just have to say… I forgive you for everything. It was not your intention to mortally wound me, and I know you’re sorry for the deed.”

“Sweetie Belle, I…”

“I know what you’re going to say. I don’t want you to waste your life regretting this incident. Instead of crying for the time that we didn’t spend together, I want you to remember with joy the time that we did spend together. I will, and I want you to do that too,” said Sweetie Belle wiping her sister’s tears.

“But… Sweetie… you’re saying it like we won’t see each other again.”

“Don’t worry, we will meet again, I’m sure. But look, Equestria needs you. You have to keep going with your mission. You can’t quit when your friends need you the most.”

Rarity analyzed the proposal. “I promise… that when this all ends, I’ll come back and stay by your side until you’ve recovered.”

“Thanks. Now wake up and fulfill your mission, dear sister.”

“I will, for you dear,” Rarity replied.

Once she’d turned around to leave, Sweetie Belle suddenly hugged Rarity from behind. “Good luck.” she whispered.

And so, a dandelion tornado surrounded Rarity, lifting her from the floor, and flying towards the blue sky.

With a messy mane, Rarity woke up from her dream. She was still in the hospital with her little sister. She glanced at the clock, and realized she’d lost a whole hour in there. She entered the bathroom and washed her mane, combed it and styled it the way it always used to be. She left her sister’s room, but not without looking at her one last time, remembering the promise, and with a quick gallop headed for the exit.

Luckily for her, the officer who had accompanied her was still in the place.

“Excuse me, I need you to tell me where the Town Hall is. It is of utmost importance to talk with the governor as soon as possible.”

“Follow me, ma’am, we’ve got a long way to go.”