Chapter 5: It Starts Again
One text by Applejack to her big brother and a hour later the crusaders were all safe at the Sweet Apple Acres Ranch. The Demeaning Duo as Sweetie Belle had termed Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara were in an ambulance on the way to the hospital and a pick up by their parents. All five tweens had promised for all they could muster not to tell a soul about what they had seen. Granted not only did they have two older siblings, a role model bordering on idol, and Fluttershy to convince them, they also had a vice principal and a pair of fire breathing dragons to consider breaking a Pinkie Pie promise too.
Once Luna and the great dragon knew their secret was mildly safe the vice principal had the rainbooms climb onto the gold dragon, Rainbow, Applejack and Rarity riding on its back while the gold drake took Sunset Shimmer and Pinkie Pie in his front legs. Applejack tensed tighter than a rubber band on a plane propellor, but he was very careful about not scratching them with his claws. Luna flew behind them back to the high school, riding the smaller red and blue dragon who had been decidedly quiet after the larger dragon finished their conversation.
While Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but hold her arms out in the wind, Rarity was trying to make sense of the alien sensation of air rushing past her pony ears and her new horn. While it felt just as much a part of her as her hands or feet, it was cold and slick to the touch, not unlike the ice that had appeared and shielded them. It wasn’t long before they returned to the school, the two dragons landing on the soccer field behind the main building to let their passengers dismount. Luna was first, and able to stop Fluttershy before she rushed her unconscious friends.
“Wait,” she said, clutching her shoulder to hold the yellow girl back as the great dragon gently placed Sunset and Pinkie down in the grass of the field. He backed away and lowered his head to look at the injured teens, then muttered something under his breath. His horns and crest once again glowed with the same soft purple light, and before everyone’s eyes the injuries on both girls began to reverse themselves. Skin that had blistered in the searing heat of Sunset’s spell faded back to normal colors, while cuts and shallow scrapes knitted themselves back together. Even Applejack yelped in surprise when the swelling that had started to overtake her ankle shrank and vanished like an untied balloon.
“How da heck?” Applejack hopped on one foot and pulled up her pants leg to confirm her ankle was in fact healed, just as Sunset and Pinkie groaned awake
“Ohh, Celestia,” The former unicorn moaned sitting up only to lean forward and cradle her head in her hands. “Did somepony get a good look at the cart that hit me?” Pinkie Pie’s response was a laugh, a dry laugh but a laugh nonetheless.
“Sorry I missed it,” she said rubbing her stomach. “Oowwie zowie, what happened?”
“Apologies,” The great dragon boomed, trying and failing to speak softly. “I’m afraid I am a tad out of practice when it comes to healing enchantments. The aches should dissipate soon.”
“Oh good,” Pinkie Smiled, finally turning to face her doctor. “Thanks misteerrrrRAAAAAAAAHHHHH!” One flash of pink later and the party girl was gone, reappearing twenty feet up the nearest light post and shaking like a chihuahua.
“Pinkie it’s alright!” Fluttershy shouted, running to the base of the small tower. “He’s a nice dragon!”
“HAH! Easy for you to say,” Pinkie scoffed from her perch. “You weren’t bait for the last one!”
“I’m right here you know,” The red and blue dragon deadpanned, now sitting back on its haunches with its wings folded across its chest. It was also being given a very, very wide berth by everyone except Luna and the great dragon, who sighed as he ran a clawed hand down his scaly face.
“I do apologize for Winglet’s behavior. She can be a tad irritable when someone gets under her scales.”
“Irritable?!” The dragoness shrieked.
“She?!!” Pinkie yelled in disbelief, only for the she-dragon in question to shoot a glare up at her more searing than any flame.
“What’s that supposed to mean you little pink snot?!”
“Hey,” Rainbow Dash yelled, surprising everyone when her wings and pony ears reappeared, allowing her to zip up in front of Winglet’s muzzle. “That’s Pinkamena Diane Pie to you scaly! And you better count yourself lucky my buddy Sunset here didn’t fry your lizard but with one of her spells.” Sunset’s eyes went from the great dragon straight into the ground so fast it was as if she was trying to dig a hole to hide in.
“Tough talk coming from a two leg,” Winglet snarled.
“Well at least I’ve got thumbs, charcoal breath.”
“Feather brain!”
“Fire-spitter!”
“Alright you two,” Luna said calmly stepping between the floating teenager and the she-dragon. “If you’re really going to waste time seeing who has the bigger wingspan, why don’t we take thing inside before someone sees us?”
“A fair point,” The great dragon nodded, casting a critical eye on the smaller dragon, tone shifting back to that of a parent dealing with a rebellious child. “Winglet, you know what to do.”
“Aw come on,” She groaned, looking back at the humans around her, trying her hardest to shrink into her wings. “Do I really have to? In front of them?” The great dragon’s only response was a slow nod.
Winglet sighed, getting down on all fours and letting her body go lax as the great dragon muttered a spell, and his horns glowed once more. Before their eyes the she-dragon began to shrink, blue and red scales replaced by brightly colored feathers and tough skin, reducing in size until a massive fire breathing dragon had been replaced with a tiny red and blue parrot.
“There,” she sighed, glaring up her new beak with all the righteous fury of a fluffy kitten. “Satisfied?” Her answer came in a flash of pink light behind her, followed by being scooped up by the same color hands.
“Eeeeeeee!! You are so cute!” Winglet flinched at Pinkie Pie’s squealing mood shift, desperately trying to breath in the death hug she’d been locked in. The drummer girl’s friends could only laugh and shake their heads, knowing it had only been a matter of time until Pinkie switched back to her “normal” peppy step. Even Fluttershy was no longer intimidated by Winglet.
“Aw you are cute,” She cooed walking over to stroke the red and blue parrot’s head. “Such a pretty bird.” Rainbow stepped closer, making no effort at all to hide the smirk on her face.
“Hehe, looks like you’re the feather brain now scales. Does polly want a.” Winglet wriggled out of Pinkie’s grip and flapped right into Rainbow’s face.
“Say cracker and I swear to the Old Gods, I’ll let ya have it on principle!”
“I’d heed that warning if I were you,” The great dragon smiled as Luna led them back into the building, his own form now shrinking and changing as well, but if the rainbooms were expecting another animal, they were in for an even bigger shock. Wings retracted into the great dragon’s shoulders as he walked, their lavender webbing spread over his rapidly shrinking body and shifting to an off purple blue. White horns became hair, and as he finally stepped inside the main building,his glittering golden scales separated into white and yellow diamond patterns across his chest, until they became the scratchy fabric of a plaid sweater vest. The great dragon sighed, flexing his shoulders in pure relief.
“Great caesar's ghost, I almost forgot how heavy those wings can be. They do absolutely nothing for my old back either.” He turned around to face the six gobsmacked faces. “What?” No one said anything until Fluttershy of all people regained control of her limp lower jaw, though it was more a squeak than speech.
“M, Mr. Book Worm?!” The dragon turned lit teacher could only smile as Winglet flapped over to sit on his shoulder.
“Well what were you expecting?” she asked rhetorically. “A talking beaver?” The comment knocked Rainbow Dash at least part way out of the shock of seeing an awesome dragon turn into her least favorite teacher.
“No. But something in the small, furry, shouldn’t be talking variety.” The dragon-teacher only shook his head as the dragoness in disguise laughed while they walked through the door to Luna’s office and back into the plush, luxurious, bigger on the inside room behind it.
“Disguises vary among my kind,” Mr. Worm explained as he took a seat by the fireplace, Winglet flying from her perch to one of the railings on the rooms second floor. “Not every dragon who comes through the portal becomes a small furry animal. In fact any being, human, equine, or otherwise can keep their own form from world to world if they know what they’re doing. But perhaps I should introduce myself.” Sunset, Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack all noticed how the disguised dragons posture changed, shifting from the slight but serious teacher they knew to something regal and ancient.
“My true name is Bibliopyphus Wyrm, and I am the seventh king of the united dragon tribes, the Gaonu, the Tapo, and the Lekol, or water, fire, and earth dragons respectively. For the past dozen centuries I have been chief advisor to Luna and her associates in matters of the arcane and the prophecy of Renewed Darkness.” He paused, sitting back in his chair to give the girls time to digest what he was telling them, and found himself slipping back into his teacher role when Applejack raised her hand. “Yes?”
“If ya’ll’re really dragon royalty, why disguise yerself as an english teacher of all thangs?”
“Duh,” Winglet scoffed flapping down to the farm-girl’s chair. “So he could keep a low profile eye on Canterlot. You know incase someone wanted to take advantage of the situation.” The older dragon cast a critical, warning eye on the younger dragoness.
“Winglet.”
“What it’s true isn’t it?” She defended, oblivious to the mute warning signs she was being given. “I mean where else can you find ancient royalty, and the last known bearer of one of the Elements of Uni.”
“WINGLET!”
“What?!” She stared at Book Worm, surprised and startled by his sudden tone change, until she noticed the calm embarrassment written all over a certain vice principals face. “Oooppsie, slip of the beak.” As it turned out, none of the rainbooms would have known who she was referring to until she looked at Luna. Sunset was the first to start piecing the puzzles together.
“Royalty?” She asked as Luna sighed in defeat, slumping beside Book Worm’s chair.
“Yes. Like our dear english teacher there’s more to me than I allow most to see. Once upon a time I was Princess Luna Selena Moon, a member of the royal family of Gallopor, and Bearer of the Element of Water. And to answer the question of ancient yes, as of this past October I am one thousand five hundred and twenty two years old.”
“I KNEW IT!!” Everybody looked back and up at Rainbow Dash, who was just finishing a loopty-loop in mid air and doing a little Go-Rainbow victory dance. Applejack was probably the most confused about the tomboy’s reaction.
“Sugarcube, are ya’ll tell’n us you knew our vice principal’s an immortal magical princess and our Lit teacher’s a dragon king?”
“No, But I knew it had to be something cool!” When her victory dance continued to only earn blank stares Rainbow’s mood visibly deflated. “Aw come on guys. Why in the world would all this magic and evil stuff happen in Canterlot of all places? What are the bad guys gonna fight over, strip malls and parking space? There had to be some kind of hocus-pocus awesomeness already happening.” Rarity, Applejack, Sunset, Pinkie and Fluttershy all looked back and forth at one another, almost as surprised at Rainbow’s theory as they would be if Pinkie Pie was eating brussel sprouts. Book Worm’s expression however was flat, and Luna looked pleasantly impressed.
“Quite the mind hidden under that brash attitude,” she commented, earning a tired grunt from the great dragon.
“Now if I could only get her to use it in class.” He cleared his throat as loudly as a dragon in disguise could without setting fire to something, easily redirecting the rainboom’s attention back to Luna and himself.
“Rainbow Dash is correct. The city you know as Canterlot sits atop the center of a vast nexus of what my people know as Suleyk Rath, rivers of power.” He muttered under his breath, and the carpet under their feet changed. Dark red fibers shifted to tans, greens and blues, snaking and spreading over the carpet's surface until a rug had become a map of the world, familiar landmasses and cities criss crossed with thin sand blue lines of fiber that seemed to glow. And they all intersected in Canterlot.
“In olden days,” Luna explained, “magic would flow across these ley lines like electricity through metal. Canterlot’s location over the epicenter of this natural network once allowed countless magical entities to exist and inhabit the land. And though these lines have been more or less dormant for the last thousand years.” She turned a scathing eye toward Winglet, and the disguised dragoness withered under the ancient princesses glare. “They are clearly becoming more active.”
“Hey don’t look at me,” Winglet hissed flapping down to the floor to glare up at Luna. “I didn’t ask to get woken up from hibernation by some stink’n dig-happy humans. I was just defending myself!” Applejack and Sunset were already thinking something wasn’t completely right with the younger dragon, and Pinkie Pie was the one who starting to figure it out loud.
“What humans?” She asked leaning forward and looking down at Winglet. “Nobody’s done any digging near the park since my great-great-great granddaddy sold the mine to the city. You know he wanted them to turn it into a theme park? He thought he’d convinced the mayor to make the mine tracks and tunnels into roller coasters, but then they got lazy and just filled the whole thing with water.” Book Worm nodded a silent agreement, and had to force away the smile brought on by Pinkie’s choice of words. Winglet’s proud demeanor was cracking with fear.
“Winglet,” he said getting up and kneeling down to the disguised dragonesses level on the floor, her proud demeanor cracking with fear and slow understanding. “There were no diggers.”
“I know what I saw!” She shrieked more to herself than anyone. “They had these big machine shovels, and explosives, and, and the landslide it.”
“Dang,” Rainbow gasped leaning toward Sunset. “Sounds like she had one heck of a nightmare.” The former unicorn said nothing, still shaken by her own experiences from the failed spell.
“What happened after the landslide?” Book Worm watched the red and blue parrot carefully, ready to return her to hibernation if things turned violent.
“I, I dug myself out,” she croaked, throat dry from her own inner heat as she struggled to find the words. “Then I, I heard, everything just turned into a blur. I remember flying blind, burning and stinging in my eyes.” Pinkie Pie not so subtly scooted her chair back a foot or so, when Winglets eyes shot open. “Wait! There was a voice, this voice in my ear telling me where to look. Telling me where to find the diggers.”
“This voice,” Luna said stepping forward and kneeling next to Winglet, though her tone was anything but friendly. “Was it male? Did it rasp like a cold northern wind?”
“Ye-yes your majesty,” she whimpered, now fully reduced from a proud dragoness to a scared little bird. The vice-principals brow furrowed as she hissed through clenched teeth.
“Shadowfright that hades spawned shade.”
“Who an what?” Applejack asked as Book worm got to his feet and started pacing.
“Shadowfright: A nightmare shade who feeds on fear the way a siren feeds on anger and malice. He was once an avatar of dreams, until Grogar corrupted him into a creature that subsisted solely on those that inspire terror.” he gently scooped up Winglet from the ground, cradling her in the crook of his arm. “He must have taken advantage of Winglets hibernation, and turned her slumbering mind against her.”
“H-how bad was it?” She asked, not daring to look at any eyes except Book Worm’s. Her tone was one Rainbow, Applejack and Rarity all recognized; the same one the crusaders used when they realized one of their schemes could have caused some serious collateral damage. “How many people did I hurt?”
“Winglet please.” But before he could say anything else the she dragon is disguise had flapped out of his arms and up to his face and finally snapped.
“How many did I hurt this time?!” She screeched. Book worm’s mouth opened a closed, looking at Luna for help, but she had always seen honesty as the best policy
“...One. A little girl.” Winglet slowly stopped flapping her wings, falling to the floor as she stared at the blue woman. “She will live, but her injuries were great.” The tiny she-dragon said nothing, just scratched at the floor with her talons and stared at the carpet. Applejack couldn’t help but think of the terrified look on Diamond Tiara’s face when she saw the dragon perched over them, matched only by the fear in her eyes when she saw the sullen looks worn by the EMT’s helping her into the ambulance.
“No one saw you,” Luna said, attempting to show the young she-dragon a silver lining. “The concealment spell placed on your den was still working when you were woken, and only those already touched by magic could see you.”
“What does it matter who saw me?” She sighed dejectedly. “I hurt a girl who didn’t deserve it, and probably scared the other four halfway to the river styx.”
“Now you stop that this instant.” None of the other Rainbooms said anything when Rarity got out of her seat and walked up behind Winglet, but no one, Winglet especially, had been expecting her to pick up the red and blue parrot. She held Winglet’s wings against her body, turning her so they were face to face. “Not one bit of what happened today was your fault. Sweetie Belle might not be the bravest girl, and while I know quite a few people who would say what happened to Diamond was the work of karma, you are not responsible for one bit of it. You were tricked darling, plain and simple.” Winglet did her best to look anywhere but at the fashionista.
“Easy for you to say,” she huffed. “You weren’t the one being used as an attack dog.” She opened her wings and Rarity, not wanting to hurt her, let her go. She flew off into the labyrinth of book shelves, leaving Rarity to watch her feathers vanish among the aisles as Book Worm walked up beside her.
“That was a very kind thing for you to do Ms. Belle.” He was smiling even as he cast a questioning eye on the young woman. “But I was under the impression you no longer wanted anything to do with magic.”
“I’m dreadfully sorry for the way I acted,” she said softly, apologizing as much to her friends as Luna and her teacher. “After we beat the Sirens, I suppose I thought we wouldn’t have to deal with magic anymore.”
“Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing,” The great dragon nodded, smile sage like and kind as any grandfather. “But if there is one thing I know absolutely, it’s that the Element of Ice would never choose its bearer lightly.” Book Worm laughed despite his best efforts when Rarity’s expression shifted from ashamed to confused. “Of come now my dear, where did you think that frozen barrier was conjured from? In the world Sunset Shimmer and Princess Twilight Sparkle hail from you are a unicorn, endowed with a magical power all your own. Power the element now sitting on your forehead allowed you to access once it deemed you worthy.”
“Mr. Worm, er, Wyrm?” Rainbow Dash asked with anxious anticipation, trying and failing to pronounce the Great Dragon’s read name. “How exactly does one of these elements “deem you worthy”?”
“It depends on the Element,” He said with an enigmatic smirk. “Some value the ability to inspire joy, while others value wisdom, and courage.” The soccer stars pony ears perked up a mile high at the latter as Book worm turned back to Rarity. “The Element of Ice treasures charity above all other qualities, for it is on the coldest nights that generosity and selflessness are needed most.” Rarity knew he was trying to praise her, but she could only bring herself to look at the floor.
“I wasn’t being very generous when I stormed out of here earlier today. The only person I was thinking of then was myself.”
“Within every little flurry there is the potential for a blizzard,” he remarked wisely. “The Element of Ice only accepts those willing to commit the ultimate sacrifice.”
“HOLD IT!!” Pinkie Pie shouted, teleporting up right between Rarity and Book Worm, holding up a black box with white lettering that read TV-Y. She looked around for a minute before sticking the box just to the left and above their heads, then pulled out a magic marker and wrote a 7 next to the Y. “There we go,” She smiled before teleporting right back into her seat beside Rainbow and Fluttershy. The two fliers could only shake their heads.
“Sometimes Pinkie you really do scare me,” Rainbow sighed, as Fluttershy nodded, while Pinkie just kept smiling.
“All antics aside,” Book Worm began again, more than a little confused by the pink girl’s actions. “The Element of Ice chose you Rarity because it saw you were willing to do anything to protect those around you. Even if it meant putting yourself between them and a bewitched she-dragon.”
“Speaking thusly,” Luna spoke up, looking into the rows of books and shelves. “I think it’s time someone went in after our little dragoness.”
“Oh I wouldn’t worry about her,” Book Worm smiled, glancing back at the empty seat between where Applejack and Pinkie Pie had sat down. “Something tells me Winglet is in most capable hands.”
Sunset shimmer wasn’t exactly sure what she had been thinking when she snuck off into the library, just that she couldn’t stay with her friends. She kept telling herself it was to find Winglet, but deep down she knew that was a thin lie at best.
“Winglet?” She called out, peeking around yet another row of shelves stocked to bursting. Everywhere she looked there were books of all sizes and colors. Some shone like freshly minted coins, looking like new editions while others appeared weathered and older than time itself. There was even the odd scroll or two mixed in with the endless collection, and Sunset was fighting a very real urge to take one out and start exploring. She knew her thirst for knowledge was one of the reasons Princess Celestia took her on as a personal student, but somewhere along the line that thirst had turned into a lust for power that cost her everything.
‘One door closes, another creaks open,’ she told herself half heartedly. Since her attempted conquest of Canterlot High, Sunset knew she had probably learned more about the magic of friendship than she ever had with the Sun Princess back in Equestria. Here she had friends she could depend on, and be her normal brainy, if a little condescending, self around. Even Twilight Sparkle had been willing to give her a second chance. Of course she was the Princess of Friendship so optimism came with the job, but still.
Sunset thought back to the bag she had left behind with her friends in the main part of the library, archives or whatever this place really was. She knew it would take time for Twilight to sort out all the information she’d jotted down earlier, and even longer to authenticate it with Equestrian records, but right now it felt as if the whole thing was bearing down on her like a Canterlot Express train. Twilight was the one supposed to be fighting monsters and saving people with the power of harmony, unity or whatever they were asking her to do, not Sunset Shimmer.
But her train of thought jolted to a halt when she spotted a tuft of blue and red feathers on the floor, then heard the tell tale sniffle of tears above her head. She looked up, and there on one of the bookcases highest shelves was Winglet, head resting on her folded wings where she lay between two thick heavy almanacs.
“Winglet,” She called up as softly as she could.
“Go away,” she sniffled. “Just leave me alone. Read a book or something I don’t care.” Sunset was about to take her advice until she noticed a wheeled ladder further down the aisle. She rolled it over and climbed up to where Winglet had hidden herself, desperately trying to ignore how high up the shelf was.
“Why read a dusty book when you can talk to a friend?” Winglet only looked up a Sunset for a second before she turned around, leaving the yellow-orange girl looking at her red and blue tail feathers.
“How can we be friends?” She asked with sarcasm wet from tears. “You didn’t even know my name until fifteen minutes ago.”
“Well then lets start.” Sunset did her best to keep some kind of balance even as she shifted the books to get a better view of the parrot’s face. “My name’s Sunset Shimmer.”
“...Winglet,” she replied after a pause. Sunset suppressed the urge to sigh, knowing from experience making friends was rarely easy, especially after they’d been through something as traumatic as what Winglet had.
“It’s nice to meet you Wingl,” But before she could finish the tiny parrot whirled around to face her.
“Okay what is it with you? One minute I’m burning down your homes, putting people in danger, the next you want to be friends?!”
“...Yeah?” Sunset answered lamely, earning a tired groan from Winglet.
“Just what kind of messed up world did I wake up to anyway?”
“I’d tell you but I’m not exactly from around here.” Winglet seemed just as confused by Sunset’s words as the smirk that had crept onto her face, but she quickly stopped trying to figure it out and went back to sulking.
“Just leave me alone. Besides, who wants to be friends with a monster? Or a punah who goes on a rampage because of a bad dream?”
“Probably the same people willing to befriend a raging she-demon after she tried to enslave their classmates and turn them into an army.” It wasn’t until Winglet looked at Sunset with her expression of pure confusion that the former equestrian realized how cute a tiny multicolored bird could really be. “It’s a long story,” she laughed as Winglet turned back toward her, eyes now both confused and curious. When she saw the dragoness in disguise was all ears, Sunset told her story, from the first time she looked through the mirror that acted as the door between the human world and Equestria, all the way through to her attempted takeover of Canterlot High and transformation into the infamous raging she-demon.
“Wait,” Winglet perked up. “They just blasted you with the rainbow cannon and poof? No more evil powers? Kinda anticlimactic if you ask me.” Sunset couldn’t but laugh, though it was a dry one.
“Believe me, it felt anticlimactic too. But the blast really did more to clear my head than anything. It let me see how twisted I let myself become just because I couldn’t get my way.”
“So what, now you’re on inter-dimensional parole here?”
“Kind of,” Sunset supplied, not having really thought about her situation as far as Equestrian law was concerned until now. “Twilight says I can come back any time I want even if it’s only a visit but …” She trailed off as she struggled to find the words to explain something she’d been wrestling with since the battle of the bands. “It just doesn’t feel like the right time yet. I did a lot of bad things before Twilight and the girls showed me the light.”
“Literally,” Winglet snerked, causing Sunset to laugh in spite of her own anxiety.
“Yeah, literally. They showed me the rainbow light right in the face.” She tossed her hair back and tried to make the “Firing ma lazer face” Pinkie was always pulling at the worst times, but ended up looking scared stiff, and sent Winglet laughing right onto her feathery back. That sent Sunset laughing too, but they stopped when Sunset’s unsteady perch nearly toppled the book case over.
“That was a close one,” Winglet said between tear filled gasps, tears of sadness replaced with joy.
“Too close,” Sunset agreed, trying get her own train of thought back on the rails. “But yeah, I guess you could say I’m on parole here.”
“For how long?” Sunset could only shrug.
“I’m not really sure. It just feels like it wouldn’t be right to go back yet. Like I need to make up for what I did here you know?”
“Yeah, like a penance flight,” Winglet suggested, and for the first time in the conversation made Sunset the confused one. “It’s a dragon thing. Whenever one of us harms an innocent creature or anything less powerful than us, we have to go on a solo flight across the mountains in Prance and Germaneigh. Its supposed to help us see the error of our ways,” she said with dry sarcasm. “But I don’t know how you can see anything in a mountain blizzard.”
“Have you ever been on a penance flight?” Sunset’s mouth asked before her brain could stop her. Winglet’s mood deflated faster than a popped bouncy house.
“Once,” she said sadly. “It was after my first hibernation. I’d dug my den in a forest, but when I woke up the humans had built a town on top of it. When I woke up I panicked, then they panicked, and before I knew it they were coming at me with swords and spears. I was just,” Sunset put a hand on Winglet’s feathered head before the she-dragon in disguise could go any further, instead opting to fall silent as the girl stroked her feathers.
“Whatever you did you only did in self defense right?” Winglet nodded, and Sunset began to feel a warmth inside her just different enough from those she remembered to be strange. “Then it wasn’t your fault. Just like what happened today wasn’t your fault either. Winglet looked away from Sunset again, and for a moment it seemed she would go back to sulking, but the smile creeping across her beak said otherwise.
“Thanks Sunset,” she sighed leaning into the girls petting just a little more. “I guess it’s not so bad when you really think about it.” Her expression turned sour as a thought crossed her mind like a rain cloud in front of the sun. “Still probably gonna have to go on another penance flight though.” Her head dropped back into her wings with a sigh. Sunset didn’t know very much about Dragons, not the ones in this world at least, but it was hard to imagine anything resembling a lizard liking the cold.
‘Horsefeathers,’ she cursed silently, wracking her brain to try and figure out a way to cheer Winglet up again. ‘Come on what would Twilight or Spike,’ Her thought stopped as a new idea sprouted in her mind, one she just might be able to get the dragon king to agree to.
“Hey Winglet?” The red and blue parrot looked at her with one eye. “How about you tag along with my friends and I?”
“What do you mean?” she asked making a disgusted face. “Be like your pet or something?”
“No,” Sunset giggled as she imagine Winglet at Fluttershy’s place in a bird cage. “Just come with us. I’m already on my own kind of parole from Equestria. What if instead of going on your penance flight, you stayed with us? Twilight asked the girls to help me learn the magic of friendship, and if they can teach me how important friends are, they can help you too.” Sunset held out a hand to Winglet, the other holding her to the ladder. The she-dragon in disguise looked at it like it could easily pet her or bite her.
“I don’t know about this magic of friendship stuff,” she huffed, before standing up and waddling over to Sunset, taking her hand gently in her talons and letting her lift her to her jacket’s left shoulder. “But if it means not getting ice in my scales, count me in.”
“I should warn you though,” Sunset smiled leaning back from the ladder, her arms starting to cramp slightly from holding her in place so long. “Between Rainbow Dash’s pranks and Pinkies, well, Pinkie-ness, things can be a little crazy around us.”
“Hah, you want crazy? I knew this drake once who tried to do a WOAH!” Both girl and bird yelped as Sunset’s weight pulled the ladder up and away from the book case, leaving them balancing it like a pair of stilts.
“It’s okay,” Sunset gulped. “Just don’t panic.”
“See, why does that always end up sounding like an invitation to panic?” Sunset tried to think of something to fire back with, but then her balance deserted her and the ladder tipped back forward, carrying its passengers head long into countless books. Sunset felt their landing cushioned by worn leather and fabric for only a second before she realized the shelf was now tipping with them. The entire book case leaned over, sending its contents showering onto the floor as it crashed into the book case across the opposite aisle. Sunset and Winglet could only watch as the falling book case set off a chain reaction, entire rows of shelves falling like dominoes, making them winch with each new crash.
Meanwhile back near the main door, Luna and Book Worm were still answering questions.
“What is this place exactly?” Fluttershy asked hovering a few feet in the air so she could better see just how far the rows upon rows of book shelves extended.
“Legends has more than a few names for this place,” Luna smiled. “We call it the Archives. It’s a collection of knowledge of all kinds from across the centuries.” Book Worm couldn’t help but smirk as he spotted Rainbow Dash pluck a book from the shelves, it’s title hinting at the adventure described within.
“I was once it’s keeper you know,” he said proudly. “I learned many valuable lessons in my time as archivist, though I never quite expected them to pay off in a classroom.” Applejack pulled out a book with a cornucopia filled to bursting with fruit on the cover and skimmed the pages, only to find they were written in a text of circles and dots.
“Just how many books do ya’ll got here?”
“All of them,” The great dragon smiled, chest puffing out a little. “We make a point of having at least one copy of every book ever written, and an account of every story ever told. But books are not all we have within these halls.”
“Ooh! Do you have a zoo too?” Book Worm had to back pedal when Pinkie suddenly appeared right in front of him, hopping up and down like a bunny on expresso.
“...Yes actually, we do, though I don’t think zoo is a very accurate term. More of a, “collection.” Our natural history section contains two living specimens of all living animals, safely,” he added when Fluttershy turned her shocked gaze on him. “Kept in suspended animation. There are even pairs of creatures mankind's actions have rendered extinct, the thylacine and the dodo to name a few.” At that moment Rainbow decided her new book’s story was moving too slowly, leaving her to close it and turn her attention to the room’s color shifting carpet.
“So what’s up with the rug?” he asked as the carpet’s fibers continued to pulse in vibrant shades. Luna chuckled as she knelt down and placed a hand on the rug, then with a quick flick of her wrist sent the entire image spinning like a globe.
“A little gift The Doctor picked up in Saddle Arabia. All you must do is think of a place, anywhere at all, and the carpet.” She put her hand back on the rug, stopping the rolling image so it displayed a road map of downtown Manehattan. “Will show it to you.”
“So it’s like google earth only its runs on static electricity?” Rainbow surmised hovering high above the rug-map for the best overall view.
“It’s much more than that my little student.” Luna moved the carpet’s image again, the fibers changing color faster than any of their eyes could blink before it settled back on Canterlot, specifically the area around the school, where a white bot of fiber was shining brightly. It didn’t take Rarity long at all to realize what the light was.
“That’s me?” she asked if only to confirm her own theory, earning a nod from their english teacher.
“Your element to be exact. The map is displaying your magical aura, which the element of Ice has enhanced by a considerable amount. Each of the Elements of Unity you see, appear on this map as beacons of light. When one awakes, this will show you where to find it.”
“Hold it one apple-pick’n minute.” Both Luna and Book Worm turned as Applejack stepped up alongside them. “Ya’ll mean they ain’t here?”
“If by not here you mean we didn’t keep six of the most powerful magical items this side of Eternia all in one place, then no, they’re not here.” Everyone heard Rainbow groan, the soccer star realizing what this meant for their first days as heroes.
“Great. So our first heroic quest is gonna be a glorified scavenger hunt. That’s just perfect.” Luna was about to lecture the girl on just what bearing the elements meant, when Pinkie Pie sat up in her seat, eyes locked on the bookshelves to their left. Her friends and their teachers confusion only grew when she began sniffing the air. Applejack, feeling just a bit braver than everyone else, slowly approached Pinkie Pie, eyes following hers.
“Pinkie, what is it?”
“I smell,” She paused, inhaling deep through her nose as her eyes narrowed. “Comedy.”
“Comedy?” Book Worm’s question left his lips just as the sound of crashing bookcases reached his ears. He turned around just in time to see the book cases around them begin to topple into each other. “NO! Not good! This is not funny, not funny at all!”
Contrary to this Rainbow Dash was laughing her head off, while Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were barely managing to suppress their own sputtering laughter, leaving Rarity and Fluttershy to gape at the sheer scale of the destruction.
It wasn’t until the bookcases dominoed into the stone column attached to the fireplace that the rain of book stopped, revealing a swath of fallen shelves, jumbled and tumbled tomes and texts, at the very back of which stood a red and yellow haired girl with a red and blue parrot on her shoulder.
“Umm, oops?” Sunset smiled weakly as Winglet tried to make herself as small as possible on her perch. Even from almost 50 feet away, they could still see the smoke starting to billow out of Book Worm’s nose.
“So much for getting off on parole,” Winglet remarked grimly while Sunset started back toward the others. Unfortunately, Luna had heard the she-dragon’s comment, and it gave her an idea that brought a dangerous smirk with it.
“I think that’s an excellent idea,” she said slowly, waiting until the troublemakers had reached earshot. “You know Book Worm, it has been awhile since the archives were last inventoried. This could be a blessing in disguise.”
“A blessing?!” The great dragon shrieked, still in dismay at the mess, but he stopped when he realized what Luna was hinting at. “Yes you’re right. The literary sections have been in need of a good dusting, and it’s been a dreadfully long time since this place had a proper caretaker.” All six rainbooms recognized their lit teacher’s tone now, the same one he had turned on them earlier before he rewarded Rainbow’s slacking off in class with a group project.
“Then it’s settled,” Luna smiled, cheerfully turning to Sunset. “Congratulations my dear, you’ve got the job.”
“Job?” She wondered out loud, though Book Worm's smile made her wish she’d stayed quiet.
“Of course. Seeing as you were gracious enough to remind us how long it’s been since this place had a proper archivist, it’s only fitting that archivist be you.”
“What?!”
“And Winglet shall be your first assistant.”
“Say WHAT?!”
“Now for some ground rules,” he smiled, seeming to not have heard either of them. “First of all no parties. Though you will all be spending a great deal of time here, this place is a library and museum, not a playground.”
“Awww,” Pinkie sighed.
“Second, all items must be sorted thoroughly by category, then alphabetically. Except in the extinct species annex where subjects should be sorted by the date they disappeared.”
“Last and most importantly,” Luna said, pulling out of her pocket six small key shaped charms not unlike the one hanging from her necklace. “No one enters the Archives without one of these.” She went around and handed all six rainbooms their own charm, each with a different shape for the teeth. Fluttershy’s was shaped like a butterfly, Rainbow dash’s like a lightning bolt, and Rarity’s like a simple diamond. Applejack wasn’t exactly surprised when her key bore the shape of her namesake fruit, nor was Pinkie when hers came shaped like a party balloon. The only one who was surprised was Sunset when she saw her sun shaped key. She knew it probably resembled her cutiemark more than anything else, but it could just have easily belonged to Princess Celestia as well.
“These keys,” she explained, “will allow you access to the archives no matter where you are. All you need is a door with a lock and keyhole, and the keys will make that door a portal back to the Archives.” She was about to ask if there were any question, when Fluttershy raised her hand. “Yes dear?”
“What if we say no?” She asked softly, but just loud enough that everyone heard. “What if we decide we don’t want to save the world?” Rarity looked away from her friends and the teachers, waiting with her fellow Rainbooms for an answer to the question that had been floating at the back of all their minds.
“Then that is your decision,” Book Worm said, sounding like both a teacher and the ruler they now knew him as. “Our destinies are not written in stone young one. We must find them for ourselves, both through our successes and mistakes. Life is like a journey with no destination; It only ends when you stop walking forward. No one can make your decisions for you if you don’t let them.”
“Fluttershy.” The yellow girl jumped a little when Luna stepped toward her, but her timid nature slackened at the vice-principals warm smile. “We can’t make any of you choose to carry this burden, but you, all of you, are the best chance the world has right now. Grogar is coming, and his servants won’t stop until they see him returned. They’ll do anything, hurt anyone to get what they want.
Remember, no one can make you accept this burden, but it is a burden you will be sparing another from. I only ask you keep that in mind when making a decision.”
Sunset, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash all looked at one another as the enormity of what they were getting into settled in. This wouldn’t be like fighting the Sirens, or helping Princess Twilight bring Sunset back to her senses. This was going to be a long knock down drag out fight, but were they really ready for it? Could six teenage girls really keep the world safe from an evil older than anything they had ever encountered?
“Well,” Rainbow finally said. “I don’t know about you guys, but monsters and magic definitely beats my spring break plans. Count me in.” Applejack took one last look at her cyan friend before speaking up.
“Same here. Not quite sure how this’ll affect Bloom and Big Mac back on the farm, but if it means keeping them safe then sure I’ll throw my hat in the ring.”
“Yeah,” Pinkie Pie yelled just a little louder than everyone else was ready for. “Everyone deserves to be happy, no matter what color, size, shape, or how many limbs they have. If this Crowbar guy wants to say other wise, he’s got another thing coming! Someone better warn Bilbo, cause I’m going on this adventure too!”
“Quite right darling,” Rarity smiled, her pony ears and tail finally fading into sparkling shimmers, as her horn became a glittering diamond necklace. “While I understand now it is our choice of what to give back to the world, we cannot always control what the world needs from us. I will help you anyway I can,” she said casting a critical eye around the Archives. “Starting of course with a little interior design. Good heavens when was the last time you redecorated this place?”
“The Renaissance,” Book Worm scoffed, looking at Fluttershy, who was once again trying to hide behind her long hair.
“I really don’t know how I could help,” she said meekly, before confidence started welling in her eyes like a thawed fountain. “But if this Grogar and whoever’s working for him are putting innocent people in danger, I’ll be there to help however I can.” Rainbow cracked a smile that nearly split her face apart, leaning over and clapping an arm around Fluttershy’s shoulders, startling the poor girl nearly a foot off the ground. Then everyone’s eyes went to Sunset Shimmer, who looked awfully nervous for a girl who just over a year ago, had entertained fantasies of power. But for as afraid as she looked, there was something in her voice that gave Luna hope for something greater.
“Even after all I did to you, trying to destroy your friendship, stealing Twilight’s crown, you girls stuck by me when everyone else shunned me.” She looked at each of her friends and bandmates, and saw the same reassuring looks that had helped her realize the true meaning of friendship. “You showed me the way back to the light and out of my own darkness. Now it’s my turn to do the same for others.” She looked sideways at Winglet, where the she dragon is disguise was still perched on her shoulder.
“Meh, I don’t know about fighting evil and saving the world,” she shrugged. “But you helped me stop moping in my own self pity. Not to mention I’m your assistant now so you’re kinda stuck with me anyway. Lead the way boss.”
There were nods of agreement all around, except for Book Worm who yelled at Pinkie Pie when the girl set off a confetti bomb, showing them all in metallic gold and blue paper. Winglet had to take off when a certain blue flier who flapped over and pulled Sunset and Fluttershy into a double neck hug.
“Ah lighten up Sunny. Like I said earlier: So long as we stick together, there's nothing we can’t do!”
“Then it’s settled,” Book Worm beamed, even as he brushed confetti out of his hair. “Tomorrow you’ll begin your training in magic and combat. With a little help and luck, you’ll soon be ready for anything Grogar throws your way. Well, I really must be off. See you all tomorrow morning.” Book Worm turned and left through the door, leaving behind five teenagers suddenly dreading their next questions.
“Morning?” Rainbow asked Luna with eyes pleading she had heard wrong.
“Why of course,” the ancient princess smiled. “It’s going to be a long day tomorrow what with it being your first day of training and learning about magic, well, for five of you anyway.” Rainbow’s wings collapsed into light as she realized her sleeping in plans for spring break had just been torpedoed to davy jones locker. The most annoying thing was Luna seemed none the wiser to the soccer star’s sudden mood shift.
“If it was up to me we’d be training through the night.” And it was at that moment all six rainbooms and their new she-dragon assistant realized the hero thing they’d signed up for wasn’t sounding so attractive anymore.
Later that same night half a state away, a small army of trucks was making its way across the flat plains at the center of Amareica. As the stars filled a moonless sky, one of the vehicles in the convoy, a large black and gold charter bus turned off the interstate and into a small town for gas. Trouble with small towns is most businesses close not long after the bartender shouts last call. The only building with any lights on was a dilapidated gas station, and it was here the bus pulled in to fill its tanks. Right after the driver out the door was Heavy Base, a tall young man with electric yellow green hair and skin the color of swamp water.
“Come on Heavy,” his bandmate Black Noise called from inside the nice air conditioned bus. “Driver said to wait inside.”
“The driver can shove it in the fuel pump,” Base spat, fishing a tiny plastic bag out of his pocket, drawing out a thin homemade cigarette and heading toward the dumpsters beside the run down store. Heavy had endured mild claustrophobia since he was a kid, and after six straight hours on the road with three immature bandmates and a well-used onboard toilet he needed to calm his nerves.
He struck a match and lit his smoke, leaning against the gas station’s crumbling wood walls as he breathed deep the soothing aroma and let his senses blur.
“Well hello there,” a sultry voice purred from his left. Heavy jumped forward a little, forcing his eyes to focus just enough to see the outline of a very attractive woman slink out of the night. Her skin was deep pink, and her long straight dark blue hair fell like water over her face and shoulders, all the way down her back. Her violet tank-top and miniskirt left very little for his imagination, and the black hole riddled stockings stretched over her long legs left even less.
“Helloo,” Heavy Base smiled, eyes drinking up the sight before them.
“Come here often?” she asked walking closer, high heels clicking on the pavement. Her eyes were the most beautiful shade of green he had ever seen, and everything about her face seemed perfect.
“Just passing through,” He leaned further back into the wall, his cigarette relaxing him to calm coolness. “My band’s got a gig in Cloudsdale tomorrow morning. Kicking off a new tour you know?” Her eyes went adorably wide, amazed at the prospect of talking to a real rock star. At least that was Heavy’s smoke addled reasoning.
“Oh wow,” she gasped, skipping closer to him, so close he could look down her top without seeming to look away from her face. “Can I have your autograph?”
“Sure,” he smiled, wiggling his eyebrows and taking his cigarette from his mouth. “Where would you like it?”
“Hmm, how about.” She cooed in a backroom voice, snaking her arms up around his shoulders and neck. “Here.” Next thing Heavy Base knew the woman had pulled him down into a tongue filled lip lock, and his senses exploded. His cries of victory were muffled by her lips, just like his screams of panic when her tongue slithered down his throat and turned prickly. Her eyes went from green to blue and she held him to the wall with inhuman strength as he squirmed and writhed until he finally went limp, and her tongue slurped back out.
“Now,” Chrysalis sneered, mandibles flicking over her fangs as her disguise melted. “What else can you do for me?” Heavy Base’s eyes were now covered in a glassy green, wide and as dead as his voice.
“Your will is my command my Queen.” The Changeling Queen twisted her face up into a smile as several Changeling drones emerged from the dilapidated gas station, the largest one skittering to her side.
“You know what to do,” she smiled, and the drone nodded obediently, then locked its compound eyes on the mind addled rock star.
“Hey Heavy come on man!” Black Noise called from the now fueled and ready to go Bus. “Come on, where is he?”
“Right here bro,” Heavy’s voice said as he fast walked out from behind the gas station building. “Just had to stretch my legs.”
“Yeah whatevs man,” His bandmate slapped his across the back as he climbed up the bus’s stairs and the door closed behind them. Chrysalis hung back in the shadows of the old gas station, turning Heavy Base’s discarded cigarette over in her hands before taking a quick puff.
“Hmm, not bad.” She took another draw, simultaneously breathing in the fumes and drinking in the screams that came pouring from the bands charter bus. “Careful not to break anything boys,” she warned even as something large clanked up behind her. “We can’t be late for our own party now can we?” She turned around, not knowing if it was the aroma of the cigarette that kept her from flinching at the sight of Tirek, or if she was actually getting used to his near constant presence. If she was honest the latter scared her much more.
“Excellent work,” he rumbled from somewhere deep inside his armor, red and black plating gleaming in the pale starlight like a phantoms reflection. “But are you certain this is the best transportation for our purposes? I fail to see how kidnapping a few troubadours and bards will help your changelings collect love.” Chrysalis had quickly realized Tirek’s speech and ideas of social norms were more than a little out of date, but she couldn’t bring herself to correct him. One it was just annoying, two if his armor was any indication the last time he saw the light of day or night before now was the Middle Ages.
“There’s an old Amareican proverb,” She started with a fang filled smirk as the commotion inside the tour bus died down to a few agonized moans. “It says; Ask not what you can get for you captives, but what you can do in their place. There isn’t a teenager in Amareica that hasn’t heard of Stasis Lock. This new tour they’re starting tomorrow,” she said with no small amount of mirth. “Has been sold out for four months. They’re not just loved, they are adored and obsessed over by their fans.” Tirek’s horned helm slowly nodded as understanding crept into the dark titans head.
“And we shall harvest this adoration from them like ripe wheat. Once again milady you have earned my admiration.” It sounded as if the dark knight was actually smiling behind his expressionless helmet, and he graciously stepped to one side as a pair of changelings skittered past to help their hive mates load the cocooned band members into the buses luggage storage. “It should be a small task to conceal the bards. Soon we shall have the nectar needed to fuel your changelings. It seems everything you have planned thus far is going very.”
“WE GOT TROUBLE!!” Tirek growled, a sound more like rusted metal engine parts grinding together than any animal noise, as a cloud of smoke condensed behind him.
“Shadowfright,” Chrysalis scowled, “How nice of you to join us.”
“Spare me the welcome wagon queeny,” The nightmare shade spat, visibly shaken. “We got trouble. Big, huge, ice cold trouble!”
“Cease your yammering!” Tirek shouted, any semblance of a good mood gone. “Now tell us; what has transpired to instill terror in the avatar of fear?”
“The Elements,” Shadowfright hissed, leaning in close. “The first element has revealed itself. The element of Ice has chosen a bearer!” And just like that, Tirek’s mood swung back to calm.
“So, it has begun then,” He remarked grimly even as the tone flew right over Chrysalis’s head.
“I’m not sure I follow,” She said slowly, trying her best ot sound less ignorant than she was.
“The Elements of Unity,” Shadowfright spat as if the name was a curse. “Six gems of concentrated elemental magic, the same ones used to imprison Lord Grogar fifteen hundred years ago! With magic flowing back through the portal, they’ve woken up and if we don’t do something they’re going to choose a whole new team of brats to get in our way again!”
“Shadowfright,” Tirek boomed to get the nightmare shades attention off his own panicked rambling, though his accusing tone was hardly more appealing. “Why have you not informed our Lord Emperor of this yet?” Before Shadowfright looked something like a child who realized the parents were coming home to a party trashed house, now his terror was full on brown pants.
“I was uh, well I was kind of, actually hoping you could tell him?”
“No.” Shadowfright meeped and dove behind Chrysalis while Tirek’s words turned distant. “There is but one element to contend with now, and it is in the hands of an adolescent. A child playing hero. Hardly a threat to a force such as ours.”
“Yeah, that’s what we said last time too!” Shadowfright reminded his armored companion. “And how did that turn out? You buried alive and bound to that blasted armor, and Me stuck on the other side of the veil playing dream jester!”
“Our only true mistake was not seeing the runts destroyed when they were still inexperienced and learning. This is not a blunder I will make again. Besides,” he smiled beneath his helmet’s faceplate. “What praise would our master shower on you if he was to learn the first element was snuffed out before it’s companions could show themselves?”
“Oooh. Oooooooooohhhhhh!” Understanding struck him like a lightning bolt, one that sent a sly, slime drenched smirk curling up both sides of his smokey grey face. “I like that idea.” Chrysalis smiled too, even though inside she was a little nervous about having her changelings face an enemy so soon after waking up, but Lord Tirek’s confidence was contagious.
“Tomorrow we hit Cloudsdale,” She smiled, leading her fellow generals back to the kidnapped band's tour bus. “And the night after, Canterlot.”
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- spotty8ee · 93k words · 722 13 · 16k views
- Zillafire101 · 135k words · 52 5 · 3.1k views
- PhantomBulwark · 27k words · 61 4 · 1.1k views
- Ponyrocks99 · 5.1k words · 274 8 · 5.4k views
- Shimmeringsun · 146k words · 203 20 · 7.7k views
- The Crazed Werewolf · 19k words · 76 3 · 4k views
- JWolfSilver · 30k words · 194 9 · 4.6k views
- Sollys · 14k words · 61 3 · 2.5k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.112 seconds
Total duration
1,025 users online
12,710 hits today, 2,782,760 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I died,
i3.cpcache.com/product_zoom/1542204646/get_in_the_damn_robot_shinji_tshirt.jpg?height=250&width=250&padToSquare=true
Okay, now that that's out of my system... you are doing a good job; there's some minor spelling mistakes here and there but nothing that a good editing pass couldn't fix, and in terms of characterization I think you're hitting pretty close to the mark.
I think the plot is moving at just the pace it needed to thus far; just don't spend too much time detailing the girls' training before getting to the good stuff. There was another story that was in a similar vein to this one (though it was more 'Men in Black' than 'You're a Wizard, Harry') that had a lot of really great stuff going for it, but then seemed to kind of fall dead before the real story began.
Also I think the author decided he wanted to make videos more than write horsewords, but whatever,
Keep going!
6246403 Thank you!
Love the story and pace. I hope you will continue the story soon.
Will this story have any Take Thats to The Ending of the End Part 1 and 2?