• Published 12th Oct 2015
  • 12,030 Views, 1,069 Comments

A Pony Displaced: Another Path - NoLongerSober



Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape. There once was a stallion who faced Nightmare Moon and was sealed away with her. Now he returns in the modern age, hoping to find a new path.

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Chapter 42

“Hatty, you okay?” Pinkie asked with her usual cheer as she shoved the boxes together with a frightening amount of ease given their weight.

“…I guess.” Hat Trick removed his shoulder from the box he’d been moving to the makeshift stage. “I mean, I lost some of my fellow soldiers, but I didn’t know any of them all that well.” Hat Trick moved to another box that the pair had gathered in front of the Crystal Heart. “The ones I did know were hurt, but at least the gh… Dr. Harvest, was able to save them.” Hat Trick began to shove another crate along. “I didn’t really have anypony back home to come back to, so the one-thousand years doesn’t really bother me so far. The only thing I’m really worried about are Winter Gem and the others. I love Winter Gem.” Hat Trick took a deep breath as the crate lined up with the others composing the small stage before hopping onto the crate to rest. “My squad’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to brothers and sisters. I don’t want anything bad to happen to them. I’ll be fine so long as I have Winter Gem…I assume Lady Applejack is a member of the Apple clan?”

“Yeppers!” Pinkie confirmed as she hopped onto the crate alongside Hat Trick.

“That is good to hear. Applejack will no doubt be able to liven her spirits by showing her she still has family.” Hat Trick scratched the back of his head with a hoof. “I find it interesting the Captain assigned us all to you and thy fellow element bearers though rather than pairing us amongst each other.”

Pinkie hummed slightly and drummed her forelegs on the side of the crate. “Well, it’s obvious why he did, isn’t it? He did it so all of you would be able to chat with someone who’s used to the world the way it is and could lend a sympathetic ear!” Pinkie stated it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Hat Trick didn’t reply immediately, instead seeming to sit in his thoughts. It wasn’t until he felt the pink mare poking him in the side that he seemed to leave his thoughts and gaze down at her.

Pinkie stopped jabbing him and grinned. “You alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” Hat Trick couldn’t help but smile in return, the mare’s happiness almost contagious. “Come,” Hatty hopped off of the crate. “The sooner we get this stage built, the sooner we can make everypony smile.”

Hat Trick drifted into silence as Pinkie continued to ramble on about anything and everything, only vaguely paying attention to the over-energetic mare as he found himself falling back into his thoughts. Swiftsword…no doubt she’ll want to see how her family hast done over the millennium. Another crate found itself neatly lined up with the rest. Verdant Range…sweet Faust, he had a half-dozen sisters and both of his parents, along with his herd aunts…no doubt that is tearing him apart inside. The stallion began to shove another crate forward, vaguely making a note about this ‘Sugarcube Corner’ as Pinkie continued to talk…without stopping for breath. Winter Gem…she’ll handle it better than the others, and I’ll do whatever I can to make sure she continues to smile… The crate slid home as Hat Trick’s thoughts fell to the last of the group, his breath hitching in his throat almost immediately. Iron Forge lost all of his family to the griffins, save his mother who is now lost to time…his biggest reason for staying in the military was his hatred for them… Hat Trick turned and pressed a hoof to Pinkie’s muzzle, silencing the mare who tilted her head curiously in response. “Lady Pinkie Pie, what dost thou know of Equestria’s relationship with the griffins?”

“Oh, they’re our friends! I think…I’ve only met one griffin so far and…okay, she was kind of a meanie-pants, but things got way better after I helped bail her out of jail.” Pinkie continued to shove the crates along. “Twilight actually said something about it months and months ago, now that I think about it! She said that we’d been friends with the griffins ever since the Pony-Griffin Concordat! Why do ya ask?”

Hat Trick frowned and realized that they had finished building their makeshift stage. Assembled in front of the Crystal Heart were dozens of thick wooden crates stacked two-high and four wide. The chore had taken much of the morning and drawn a lot of attention. “Iron Forge.” He finally stated. “He has a deep-seated hatred of griffins. They took his father’s life and conquered his hometown. His mother managed to escape due in part to Captain Barrier, but now…she’s gone before he really had a chance to spend much time with her. I would worry to even have him in the same room as a griffin. They were known to slaughter foals to feast upon their bodies. The Captain said that when he had asked a griffin why, they stated it was because of how tender the meat was…how they found living as a pony was a fate worse than death, and that becoming fat on their disgusting forms should be something we should be honored about.”

Pinkie’s mane drooped just slightly before she set about digging a hoof through her mane.

“My squad and I were trained for years to kill them, and all of a sudden we’re at peace with them... I worry about how Iron Forge will handle this knowledge.”

“Here we are!” Pinkie tugged a book free from her mane and began to flip through it before stopping on a dog-earred page. “Right here it says that the treaty was signed by Princess Celestia and Queen Farica. Much of it was drafted by…Word Worthy and Varia LeGrande.” Pinkie stuffed the book back into her mane. “LeGrande…that sounds kinda familiar.”

Hat Trick actually hissed upon hearing the name. “Grimhilde LeGrande was the Butcher of Gallopfrey. She was the monster who lead the invasion and occupation. She was also the most notorious for eating foals.” Hat Trick took a deep breath to calm himself. “Honestly, I think all of the ponies from my era hate the griffins for what they’ve done, the foal eating abominations. I do not know how the Crystal Empire will react to this news any more than Iron Forge.” Hat Trick jumped onto stage in a single leap and offered a hoof to help Pinkie Pie up. “In any case,” he flicked his wrist, a top hat with a red-and-white checkered rim and a yellow question-mark on it appeared in the hoof, before doing the same with the other, a thin green cape billowing into existence in that hoof. “Shall we get started?”

“Wow!” Pinkie snagged one of Hat Tricks arms and briefly inspected it as if it held the secrets to his trade. “That was a pretty neat-o trick, but…”

Hat Trick tilted his head in confusion as the mare grinned at him. “But?”

Pinkie Pie giggle-snorted. “You said butt. Anyways, I think I can top it.”

“Oh?” Hat Trick returned her wide grin with a smile of his own. “That, I would most like to see.”

“Well alrighty, but you asked for it.” Pinkie reared back onto her hind-legs and dug both of her forehooves into her mane, whipping out a magician’s-box used for sawing ponies in half, a pony-sized saw, a trio of party cannons, a deck of cards, and a red bunny-outfit…all at once.

Hat Trick’s mouth opened and closed slowly several times before he finally found his speech. “Sweet Faust’s flank, art thou certain I should be the lead performer for this act?”

“Hmm…” Pinkie put a hoof to her chin and appeared to genuinely contemplate it for all of a half-second. “Probably. After all, magician’s are supposed to have a lovely” She spun around in a circle so fast that her outline actually blurred, before stopping almost immediately, now donning the bunny-outfit. “Assistant.”

Hat Trick’s eyes narrowed as absolute confusion overtook him.

“Hatty?” Pinkie tapped the purple pegasus on the side of the head. “Hatty, you in there?”

The stallion sighed and shook his head. “I shall enjoy sawing thou in half.”

“That’s the spirit! Let’s get this party started!”