A Gizmonk in Ponyville

by Moheart7

Chapter 37 - The Falls

The Queen must have regained consciousness at some point while the group was escaping through the tunnel, and by the state of her, they had to guess that she had just followed them through it out of desperation. Her man was a mess, her white coat was faded with mud and grime, and her cloak was in tatters, although some if not most of this damaged could have happened during the crash inside the courtroom. Whatever the case, the Queen was here and she was seriously ticked off, but despite that Goggles pushed himself away from the others and stepped in front of the group, if may have taken some time to drum the idea into his thick head but Goggles had come too far to allow his friends to suffer for his sake now, especially after they had just risked their freedom, their health, even their lives just for him. And there was no way that he would allow Icicle to do anything to them now.

“Leave them alone Icicle,” he demanded, staring fiercely back at the Queen. “Your fight is with me!”

“My fight is with everyone who would dare stand in my way!!!” Icicle screamed furiously. “And I’ll not be denied my wish Gizmonk, you and your disgusting friends must die.”

At those words Icicle then began to power up her horn, at that action the rest of the group huddled together for comfort, they could have ran but after seeing that Icicle’s magic is so powerful it could catch up to them in seconds, they saw no other way out of this. Goggles however stood his ground, for some reason he did not look frightened at all, it was as though his own fear had faded away into nothing while the others fears grew. Suddenly, much to everyone’s surprise, including the Queen’s, Icicles magical aura simply snuffed out from her horn for no reason.

“What?” she said, trying to reignite her horn but to no avail. “What’s going on with my magic!?!”

That was a question everyone wanted the answer to, it made no sense that the Queen’s magic would simply just stop just like that, Goggles however merely laughed, much to everyone’s further confusion.

“This whole mess started because you accused me of being a thief,” he stated, taking a few steps closer to the confused Queen. “Now it ends with me being exactly what you said I was.”

But that statement only made everyone even more confused.

“What are you…?” Icicle tried to say, suddenly becoming at a loss for words when she saw Goggles taking something out of his vest pocket.

The object Goggles now held in his paw shocked the very life out of the Jappanese Queen, and needless to say the others were shocked to see this too, however the Cutie Mark Crusaders only seemed to stay confused. There, right in front of everyone, Goggles held none other than the spherical red stone that was the Polaris Star, something he managed to snatch off Icicle’s unconscious body before escaping down the Diamond Dogs’ tunnel. Realising what Goggles was holding, icicle looked down at her own neck, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed it before, in fact Applejack, Pinkie nor the Diamond dogs could believe they hadn’t noticed before, while Goggles held the real Polaris Star in his paw, Icicle was instead wearing the fake Alicorn Amulet that Trixie had brought with her, undoubtedly something that fell out of her saddlebags during the whole fiasco back at the courtroom. Needless to say, Icicle was furious as the realisation finally managed to soak its way into her head.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?!” she screamed.

“Turns out that little crash in the courtroom provided the perfect dust cover for me,” Goggles said with a smirk, “It’s interesting, you didn’t even feel it when your magic began to fade, by my reckoning I’d say you have about a minute of magic left before you’re nothing more than an Earth Pony with a horn!”

And to add insult to injury, much to the sudden surprise to everyone else Goggles then threw the Polaris Star towards the river, before anyone could stop him, the stone splashed into the cold running water and disappeared into the depths. After that Goggles crossed his arms with pride, seeing Icicle in such a state of distress gave him more satisfaction than he could have ever hoped for. However Icicle was more enraged than she had ever been in her entire life, not only had this Gizmonk refused to die, but he had also have taken away the one thing that she had desired the most, and by her blackest part of her soul, she wasn’t going to let him get away with it.

“Then I’ll just have to use that minute to take away what YOU care about most!!!” she screamed as she lunged directly at Applejack, knocking everyone else aside and pinning her to the ground with a deranged look upon her face. “Let’s see how well your friend does with a frozen heart!”

At those words icicle then struggled to use the very last ounce of her magic to form a single long shard of ice directly above Applejack’s chest, however before she could force the piece of ice downward, Icicle found herself being pulled away by the other members of the group.

“APPPLEJACK!!!” they all screamed as they all forced the deranged Unicorn of her.

As Icicle struggled against the might of three Diamond Dogs, an Earth Pony and a Sphinx, she began to lash out at everything and everyone, son such so that she instantly lost her concentration on her final spell and the shard of ice she created simply melted away after flopping to the side of Applejack’s head like a floppy piece of plastic. However while the elder ponies were able to restrain her, she still continued to fight, clearly she was as stubborn as she was soiled even in her obvious defeat.

“You miserable little peasants!!!” she screamed, breaking one of her hind legs free of Fido’s grip.

If Fido had been able to keep his hold on Icicle’s leg at that point then maybe things wouldn’t have taken a turn for the worse, however since he couldn’t hold on Icicle’s leg was free to deliver one final buck in no intended direction, and unfortunately for a certain young Earth Pony filly, whose curiosity had driven her to wander a little too close to the action, that buck collided with the side of her body, sending her flying directly into the nearby river.

“APPLE BLOOM!!!” The other Crusaders screamed in panic.

Needless to say everyone else shared in the Crusader’s terror as they realised what had just occurred, taking their attention off Icicle for a moment they all stared in distress upon seeing Apple Bloom trying desperately to keep her head above the water as the current of the icy cold river carried her closer to the rapids.

“BY CELESTIA!!!” Goggles screamed taking off after the filly with no hesitation.

“HANG ON APPLE BLOOM!!!” Applejack yelled, following suit.

Seeing the Gizmonk run across the bank of the river, trying to keep up with the filly she had just kicked into the water, Icicle tried her best to take advantage of the situation and go after him, however that what was when Jinx and the three Diamond Dogs shifted their weight and made sure that she was pinned to the ground.

“I would keep very still if I were you!!!” Sphinx snarled, her teeth bared in Icicle’s face.

Meanwhile, while Icicle was trapped with Jinx and the Diamond Dogs and an unconscious Trixie, Pinkie Pie, the remaining Cutie Mark Crusaders and Applejack struggled to keep up with the speeding current of the river that was dragging Apple Bloom further and further away from them, only Goggles seem to be able to get any closer with the help of his Gizmonk speed.

“HELP!!!” Apple Bloom wailed out, as she continued to struggle to keep her head above the water.

Seeing her little sister in danger and getting further and further away from her, Applejack tried desperately to keep up but to no avail, finally she saw that she had no other choice but to trust in someone else until she could.

“Goggles!!!” she screamed, grabbing something out of her saddlebag and throwing it towards the Gizmonk in front of her. “Catch!”

Instantly reacting, Goggles turned for a moment, just long enough for him to catch the rope that Applejack had thrown to him. Knowing full-well what Applejack had required of him, Goggles continued running as he began to tie one end of the rope around his waist, picking up speed as he tried to run ahead of Apple Bloom. Finally after reaching a few yards ahead of the filly, the Gizmonk managed to find a small stump with a small, but strong lower branch still attached to it, to which he then tied the other end of the rope.

“Hang on kiddo, I’m coming!” he called out, making sure that both ends we knotted up good and tight.

As Apple Bloom was carried ever closer and closer towards where he was, goggles couldn’t help but gulp, this time there were no tail lighting up, no gadgets, no gizmos, just him and a rope. And frankly that’s all he really needed with what he was about to do next, once Apple Bloom was finally within reach, the Gizmonk took a deep breath and jumped from the bank and into the icy cold water, catching Apple Bloom just as she was about to pass by.

“Gotcha!” he yelled, wrapping his tail around her waist for extra support.

“G… Goggles?” Apple Bloom coughed, finally able to breathe as the rope kept her and Goggles above the water.

“Who did you expect?” Goggles chuckled. “Mare-do-well?”

With the situation they were in, Apple Bloom wouldn’t have been surprised if Goggles was some kind of a superhero like that, given the small size of the Gizmonk compared to her he shouldn’t have been able to catch Apple Bloom like that, and yet he found a way to do so by wrapping his tail around her while using all four of his other limbs like arms to support her weight in the water as the stump and rope he was attached to kept them in place like an anchor against the rushing current of the water.

“Applejack!!!” Goggles screamed. “I got her! Pull us in!”

Hearing this Applejack couldn’t help but sigh with relief as she and the other continued to run towards the two individuals on the river. However her relief was short lived once she caught wind of what was happening now, as it turned out the rush of the current was stronger than either she or Goggles had anticipated, within moments the rope Goggles and Apple Bloom were attached began to break apart.

“Oh Scrap-bunnies,” Goggles gulped, seeing that the rope was now only hanging by a thread.

At those words, the rope snapped in two and both Goggles AND Apple Bloom were carried off by the strengthening current.

“NO!!!” Applejack screamed, witnessing the events.

As they now both were swept amongst the foaming rush of the rapids, the Gizmonk held Apple Bloom even tighter to him so that she could at least provide some sort of protecting for the little filly, however the worst was yet to come. As the rapids began to level out, the water’s current became faster than ever before, realising what this meant Goggles took the opertunity to get a look ahead when he and Apple Bloom managed to get their heads out of the water, as he had feared there was no more river a few yards ahead, instead was nothing more than a complete sheer drop.

“SCRAP!!!” Goggles squealed as he tried desperately to figure a way out of the situation.

However time was ticking fast, Applejack and the others were nowhere near them, and Apple Bloom and Goggles were now only seconds away from falling to their deaths. Closing their eyes, the two waited for the end, suddenly just after Goggles and Apple Bloom went over the edge, they stopped falling. Opening his eyes for a moment, Goggles looked up and saw that the rope he and Apple Bloom were attached to had managed to get tangled up in a small shrub of a tree branch that hung just below the top of the waterfall, however judging from the way it was holding, it looked as though Apple Bloom and Goggles weren’t going to stay in this situation for long.

“Apple Bloom keep your eyes closed,” Goggles instructed fearfully. “You’re just gonna have to trust me, okay?”

Apple Bloom didn’t even dare to argue, she was so scared that she would have kept her eyes shut either way, seeing her nod in agreement Goggle then began to climb up the rope. It wasn’t easy, in fact some would even say that this task was impossible, but Goggles knew that he had to do what he could to save the life of his very first friend. Using his legs and tail to keep hold of the young filly, Goggles used his arms to pull himself and Apple Bloom up the rope in hopes of finding something sturdier to hold on to, however this proved to be a challenge since Apple Bloom was at least 3 times bigger than he was, and there was only so much weight the little Gizmonk could handle. Finally, after what felt like ages, the two finally managed to get high enough for Goggles to reach the branch holding the rope, however just as Goggles was about to reach for the thicker part of branch, the skinner end finally gave out under the weight of the two and the rope was released, luckily Goggles had managed to grab hold of it before the two once again began falling.

“What just happened!?!” Apple Bloom asked fearfully, still keeping her eyes closed.

Goggles could bear to tell her, how could he? Right now he was holding onto a twig that was literally hanging by a thread and Apple Bloom was just below him crying her eyes out in fear, all seemed lost. However in a fortunate turn of events, Goggles observational skills once again turned to his benefit, looking from the twig, to the branch, to the trunk of the tree itself, Goggles saw that the base of the tree was rooted directly into one of the lower ledges next to the waterfall, a ledge that would serve perfectly as a means of reaching dry land with one short climb up the 3 foot rock face next to it. However there was a downside, the ledge was at least a few feet away which meant that the only means of getting there would be to jump, but in their situation he couldn’t jump off the branch they were hanging onto, they couldn’t even move without risking the branch from snapping any more than it already did. As such, goggles was left with only one choice, a choice which he was gladly willing to make.

“The branch won’t hold us both kiddo!” he called down to Apple Bloom, much to the Earth Pony’s confusion.

“Huh?” she exclaimed, bewilderingly.

However instead of a verbal response Goggles then proceeded to swing his lower body bank and forth like a swing, as the momentum began to build up, the branch above him became weaker and weaker,

“Goggles, what are you doing!?!” Apple Bloom screamed, not knowing what was going on in the slightest.

This was it, this was the once chance Goggles had of saving Apple Bloom’s life… but little did the filly know that this task would come at a cost.

“Don’t forget me,” the Gizmonk whispered.

At those words, Goggles swung his body one final time and let go, throwing Apple Bloom from his grip and causing her to land just on the edge of the ledge. Finally able to open her eyes, Apple Bloom turned her head just long enough to see the branch finally snap sending the Gizmonk who saved her life directly downward.

“GOGGLES!!!” she screamed tearfully, launching herself to try to least grab the robe that he was still attached to, only to narrowly miss as the end passed her face.

As Goggles continued to fall, he was able to get one last look at Apple Bloom looking down at him from the ledge, see her, he couldn’t help but smile, if by saving the life of this little filly was going to meet his end then he was glad to do so, and that he had managed to live at least a fraction of a good life before then. As he fell flashes of the memories he had in Ponyville began flood into his mind, the Gizmonk’s fear faded and was replaced with joy, he remembered when he first began setting up a business with Silver Lining, becoming Trixie’s first real friend, dancing with Princess Luna during Nightmare Night, giving Spike and Applejack the chance to share each other’s feelings, even his first birthday party. But none of those memories even compared to the first one he ever truly had in Ponyville, the day when he first met the filly who saved his life in Fluttershy’s cottage, a filly which he had finally returned the favour to at last, a filly who became the first member of his beloved family. With those memories in his mind, Goggles finally began to feel at peace as his tears fell from his eyes and joined the flow of the waterfall as his body disappeared into the misty bottom.

Comments

[Tatsurou]

...I know you aren't going to kill off Goggles. You wouldn't do that after all this.

Let's see what the Dues ex Machina proves to be. I bet Trixie.

...or the Gem Foxes who were in the river to retrieve the Polaris Star.

[Twisted-Mind]

Don't worry, karma will fix this...

Googles will live because he did a selfless thing...

But the stupid, selfish, inbred, foal-kicking 'queen'... WILL HAVE HER MOTHERBUCKING BONES BROKEN!

And that will be a happy ending...