76 - Meanwhile
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Spike as they flew through the air away from the castle. Spike was holding Pinkie aloft while Rainbow Dash flapped alongside him. "I'm pretty sure Twilight's going to get angry."
Rainbow rolled her eyes with a snort, "She can be angry all she wants. We're going to get things done while they party. I can take on a bunch of angry clouds, what's a few rocks? We'll have Ponyville clear in no time."
Pinkie wriggled her hooves with a giggle, enjoying the scenery as it flew past below. "Don't worry, Spike, we're here to help Rainbow out. With the three of us, we'll be dandy."
Spike shook his head as he looked down at his passenger, "I don't get it. It's a party, don't you want to be there?"
"Yupper," said Pinkie, "But thinking about Sugarcube Corner having no Cakes in it? Even I can't party to that. Don't worry! I left them everything they need to have a good time. I'm an expert you know." She stuck out her tongue a little and focused her attention as they rapidly approached Ponyville. She thrust a hoof ahead, making poor Spike wobble, "Ahead, full speed!" Her magic washed over them, making their already fast approach hasten.
"Aw yea," complimented Rainbow, "When did you learn to do this? I didn't think I could get any faster! So what are we looking for? It's like a rock collection down there."
Below them, it was like some giant had come along and dropped piles of rocks everywhere through the town. They didn't appear to react to the flying ponies or the dragon, just laying there, looking harmless. Fortunately they knew better.
Spike nodded as he pulled into a slow circle around the town, "We're looking for the biggest pile in there. If it's this huge, the pile's gotta be... ginormous. Just remember it'll try to clobber you if you get close."
Pinkie Pie pointed, "Found it!" Where she indicated was Twilight's crystal castle, which appeared to be buried partially under a massive pile of boulders.
Rainbow stopped in place instantly and peered at it, "So we just have to bust that up? That doesn't look too bad. I bet Applejack could smash them with one good buck."
Spike looked doubtful, "Yea... I've fought these things, they're a lot harder than you think. Let me get its attention, then back me up." He pointed down, "There, a spot where there aren't other piles too close to it. We don't want to fight the whole town of these things at once."
Pinkie nodded quickly at Spike's plans. "Don't worry, guys, we can do this!" Her magic radiated out with her words, filling them with a sense of hope. Her usual subtle encouragements seem to have been made much more plain for her trip to Everglow. She was suddenly holding a trombone and began playing a piece clearly meant for battle on it.
Rainbow did a hoof-pump, "I'm feeling way psyched. Let's show that rock what it means to mess with Ponyville!" She zipped ahead, with Spike following behind. As they approached, the pile began to quiver, then rapidly assembled into a huge mound, the rocks fusing together to make a pony of earth that stood easily sixteen feet in height. A stone hoof raised to crush Rainbow but she zipped out of the way in a hard left, losing a few feathers but keeping her hide.
Spike dropped off Pinkie close to the ground before rushing at the stone pony. With a powerful exhale, he entered the battle with lightning washing out across the beast. Its roar was like an angry avalanche of grinding stone. Spike caught a flail of a kicking hoof, knocking him back with the solid blow, but he had suffered worse at the hands of Fast Shadow and quickly returned to the fray with stone rending sweeps of claws and teeth.
"Wicked," said Rainbow as she saw Spike going to town on the angry stone pony. She flew around its head, landing a quick punch and kick along the way. As Spike had promised, these were very tough rocks. Even with Pinkie's inspiring presence she was barely making marks on it with each impact of her hooves against the creature. "Aw come on, fall over already! We don't have all day."
Pinkie suddenly vanished from sight as Spike partially deflected the stone creature's attempts to crush the life from him. Dancing between the two incoming hooves, Spike moved with a blur of Pinkie-given speed, leaving fresh cracks in the stone as he hammered at it like any well trained smith would a bent sword. The earth creature staggered back when Spike ran into it with his head and tore a chunk of it free. Mmm, this one tasted like cherry. Best elemental ever. Spike felt a soft tapping on his shoulder, "Keep it up, Spike, you're doing great!" came the enthusiastic voice of Pinkie as some of the worst of the hurt faded away.
The stone horse faced the direction of Spike, no, behind Spike. With a sudden lunge, Pinkie's squeak was heard and her music stopped as something hit the ground with a thump just beside its pillar of a leg. Pinkie's conjured trombone appeared, rolling to a stop close by. "Pinkie!" shouted Rainbow as she landed on its head, flailing at it with her hooves, "You big dumb jerk! You hurt Pinkie!"
Spike was filled an equal fury, burrowing into the creature's chest mercilessly. It couldn't reach him very well as he began to vanish into its tough hide, so it turned its attentions to Rainbow, swatting her free of its head. She pulled up before hitting the ground and came back for a fresh attack. Though the blow had brought stars to her vision, all she could think about was Pinkie Pie, hurt somewhere below. She ducked and bobbed around its hooves to land her hits. She brought a buck to its face and its head suddenly popped free. "Huh?" The beast collapsed in front of her, with Spike left to float in the air from where he had apparently cut his way to its center. "Dude, Spike. That was way awesome! Where's Pinkie? Is she OK?"
"I'm fine!" came Pinkie's voice before she appeared, a bit roughed up but in one piece. "Note that being in the way of a rushing wall? Not fun!"
Spike looked around, "Uh, it didn't collapse..." It was true, there were still rock piles everywhere, and the buildings looked like they were half formed of rocks instead of the wood and thatch they had been.
Rainbow Dash crossed her arms, "Uncool. I thought you said we just had to smash the biggest rock pile."
A new voice spoke, "That was not the largest, though you are brave to fight it." Emerging from between rows of buildings was a dragon of glittering crystals. "You search for me."
Spike spun to face the larger dragon and swallowed nervously. "Uh, hi there."
Pinkie Pie joined in the greetings, waving a hoof at the large dragon, "Hey, uh, are you holding this here?"
"I am," it said, watching them while sitting on its haunches.
"Could you stop it?" asked Pinkie.
"I cannot. So long as I am in this realm, it remains tied to me," he replied.
Rainbow flew up to the dragon, "Well cut it out! This is our home, not yours."
"Be that as it may," spoke the dragon, "it is not my choice. I find your world unappealing."
"It's not so bad," said Pinkie, "But if you don't want to be here, why can't you go home?"
The dragon made an idle effort at swatting Rainbow out of his face, "Would that it were an option. Do you know a powerful wizard that can send me home? I will not resist them."
Spike tapped his chin, "Hey, so, can you leave this spot? I mean." He pointed up at Canterlot, visible in the distance, "If you can come with us to there, we can get you help."
"I will do this, fellow dragon. If you speak falsely, I will be most displeased." It spread its crystal wings, rainbows refracting wildly in the light, "Lead on."
Spike quickly gathered up Pinkie and was off back to Canterlot. Rainbow Dash flew at his side, "Why don't we just, you know, rough him up. He doesn't look as tough as those rock things."
Spike raised a brow at her, "Dash, come on. He's a dragon, and he's being friendly even. He just wants to go home, so let's help him, and then maybe it'll all close up like it's supposed to." He glanced behind himself to see the massive shape of the crystal dragon taking up the rear in an effortless flight. "Besides, I think he's a lot tougher than the stone dudes, just not as... rocky. Trust me on this. You think I'm cool, you haven't seen a grown up dragon."
"Besides!" exclaimed Pinkie, "Making friends is way better than fighting ponies. I bet he's a super nice dragon."
"I can hear you all," pointed out the dragon with a faint smirk on his reptilian face. "I see you are uneducated in the matter of elements, but I am not here to be your teacher today. I am Light Stone." He repeated the name in the language of dragons, though none of them understood it. "A pleasure to meet you, even if it is to be briefly."
They arrived in Canterlot shortly, sending ponies into a wild panic as a true dragon of immense size flew overhead. When the party landed before the castle, the guards raised their spears at the great beast even as they shook a little. "It's cool guys, he's with me," said Spike, hiking a thumb at himself. "Tell Celestia we need her."
One of the guards spoke, "She has to set the sun in a moment. We'll send her out after that." He then retreated into the castle, 'bravely' volunteering to tell her instead of remaining in the presence of Light Stone.
They waited there as the sun sank beneath the horizon and the moon came up to take its place. A minute later, Celestia appeared, walking out alongside the guard that had called for her. She looked up at the dragon with some surprise in her eyes, "I have not seen a dragon of your sort before. What brings you to Equestria?"
"I am Light Stone," said Light, "And I am told you can send me home, to Everglow."
Rainbow flew beside the princess, "If we can get him home, Ponyville should clear up."
The princess nods, "I can do this, but it will take a moment of preparation." She raised a wing to point to a clear spot in the garden, "Wait there."
Minutes later, Celestia had a book beside her with the needed magic, "Your timing is impeccable. I only learned the needed part of this earlier today."
"Truly," said Light, "The fates work in strange ways. I do not mean to be rude, but I hunger to be in my own nest again. My mate must be sick with worry, and he is clueless with the whelps."
Celestia gave a gentle smile, then began the spell. With a rush of golden energy and the soft hum of Everglow's harmony, Light began to fade away. As she faded away entirely, a soft rumble was felt under hooves. Rainbow Dash, already flying high in the air, shouted down, "Looks clear!" She zipped down to stand in front of the slightly winded Celestia, "That did it! Ponyville looks good as new."
Pinkie was nowhere to be seen, but Spike stood nearby, "One down, uh, how many more to go?"
Celestia replied, "There were four significant events and a dozen smaller ones."
With a sigh, Spike nodded, "Plenty more to go."
Pinkie nudged Spike softly, "I thought you said the dragon was a boy?"
Spike flushed lightly, "I, uh, thought so?"
Rainbow sniggered softly, "Better have Twilight go over the birds and the bees again."
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FIRST NEW CHAPTER
5595124 Welcome to the herd.
5595127 Nah been here for a while actually been assimilated got the T-shirt too
ummm who the fuck is trilight
5595147 Dang bright wings. Fixed.
5595127 need more
Insufficient coolness on the 'd'.
Nice to see that the elementals aren't just mindlessly invading. But now the question is, who pushed the dragon through to Ponyville?
5595240 You'll be pleased and/or horrified to know that for a moment she was Rainbow Sash. That is an excellent question.
...
Oh. I guess they deserve the Ponyville imbalance getting corrected.
In any case, Pinkie really needs to learn a new song.
5595475 Fortune favors the bold! Of course, they didn't take care of another problem that was in the Ponyville area. Hmm... Some sense may have been knocked into Pinkie, but I find this very unlikely.
Everglow normally takes care of their unbalances long before they can reach this stage, but Equestria's not as used to combatting sudden waves of elementals.
Great story so far I just caught up.
Guess its time to put character sheets for the mane six now, including the revised Twilight with all her powers unlocked. Keep up the good work
5595634 Heh, that gets harder to do. At least while in Equestria, they largely abide its rules. Not to say they can't/won't visit Everglow again in the future! None of the others have had the benefit of actual combat training, making whatever sheet I made for them kind of off kilter.
5595643
Ouch the mane six with true Everglow training. They already got a team name: The Elements of Harmony.
Seven level sevens (Long haul), and a level 2 or 3 (soft mane has earned a level or two by now. The sirens I count as a boss fight plus bonus EXP for converting Sonata) together they could handle quite a bit.
Sorry I failed my will save to not geek out (but made my second one)
5595662 Soft Mane's sheet should be updated and ready. If she shows up as still level 1, give a poke and I'll re-upload.
We're all geeks around here, my friend, you won't be judged on it.
5595643
Well why not get proper training via Spike, Long and Twi?
5595693 That is a distinct possibility. Taking a time out for weeks of physical and mental training would be an interesting decision mid siege however, so they'll have to make do with what they have.
5595700
Then again, going out with undertrained combatants is just asking for trouble.
With Ponyville freed, they have more housing and food supply, which will stabilize their defenses for a short time, enabling them to get at least basic training completed.
That is, if they make their Knowledge: Tactics check.
5598968 There's a difference? It's a bunch of friends getting together to have a good time right?
I notice Spike and Twilight keep blasting earth elementals with electricity. Aren't they resistant to that? (Or am I getting it mixed up with Pokemon?)
5609074 Don't get your pokemans all up in my Pathfinders! My geek is better than your geek!!
You establish that the dragon is male several other times, but then:
The dragon apparently swaps gender (can dragons do that?)
5661719 Is this my mistake, or Spike's?
5661726 You refer to him narratively as a male also.
5661748 I could have used 'it' until it was confirmed, but Spike thought it was a guy. Spike, you fail at dragon.
5661757 I wasn't objecting to Spike, since he turned out to be correct, I was pointing out that in that last paragraph the dragon suddenly changes to "she" (and his mate swaps to "he," unless you made him gay on purpose)
5661774 Spike assumed he, I used he. It was a 'surprise' twist only a few paragraphs later when she made it obvious that she was a she, and poof, gone.
5661789 Unless you disclaim it later, any narrative statements are taken as absolute truth. Perhaps you should have somepony mention it afterwards so it looks deliberate. Maybe have Rainbow or Pinkie make fun of Spike's knowledge of dragon anatomy.
5661799 Let it be so!
5661824
Hah! Perfect.
5663628 I feel Twilight is glaring at me slightly less angrily, and this makes me happy.
its roar
I don't think I've ever seen a dragon quite that sparkly before. Is it part elemental?
5869136 It is a gem dragon, perfect for earth elemental type disturbance. Fixed! Thanks!
Hmm, will they get bonus xp for enduring Twilight's lecture when she finds out about this?
5886442 Bonus xp, or lost xp?
Pinkie Pie, you split the party. Did you learn nothing in your time in Everglow?
5595475 This version's more thematically appropriate:
5886461 too bad thy can't level up and everyone in book form can't lvl up, or it would be OP for long road to strike down an adult dragon or spike taking down a giant iron golem, sorry but book logic is diffrent from game logic an an attack from a sword, unless it be a holy sword or a sword with a greater demon in it, he would surly be destroyed in one hit from this thingencrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQCg5v8BESXyAEt5qE8zWGiImShoHlvJ4_d1g5QGPvnLfHaPIiI
7035946 Several levels were gained during the story.
Prismatic dragon? Everypony is really lucky it was from Everglow and not Norrath. Prismatic Norrathian dragons are Extinction Level Events.
I don't think that Light Stone came to Equestria truly by accident. Someone must have sent her there.
Now that's what I call an earth pony!