P.O.N.I.E.S.

by Kieva Lynn

Chapter Two

P.O.N.I.E.S.

Chapter Two

Applejack paced back and forth in the in the small pen that contained her, grumbling to herself under her breath. "This is humiliatin.'" she complained. And indeed it was; for one thing, she was hungry and thirsty. But the only 'food' provided was some sort of hard dry pellets, and the water was dispensed via a gravity-fed bottle hanging from the outside of the cage. The farmer refused to reduce herself to the indignity of either.

"At least I don't have t'... ...go... ...yet." She thought, looking down at the open grate flooring.

Perhaps worse than any of these things was the near-constant parade of creatures, 'Humans,' the girl Elyon had called her species, that passed by and stared in at her, talking about her as if she wasn't even there, though in all fairness that did make sense seeing as they didn't know Applejack was intelligent. More than once she was tempted to shock them by introducing herself. But she suspected that Elyon was probably right; the fewer of these human things knew the truth, the better her odds of getting free and maybe finding her friends and family.

So for nearly three hours Applejack stoicly bore the circumstances, hoping that Elyon would keep her promise. It was just past lunch time when it happened. Another pair of humans were busy staring into the cage. Behind them, unnoticed, Elyon gave Applejack an apologetic smile and pulled an object just far enough out of her backpack for the pony to see that it was her hat. Applejack smiled back as Elyon rehid the headwear.

"Did you see that!?" One of the humans asked the other. "Was that a smile?"

"You're off yer' rocker Dan. Horses don't smile."

"Well this one just did." Dan insisted.

"No way... Though I admit she is quite the oddity. Never seen a creature quite like her."

"See? There you go! Normal horses don't smile but this one isn't normal Ted."

"Pony." Elyon said, then realizing what she had done she covered for herself "Horses are big. She's small. So, pony."

Dan said "Or maybe neither... I mean, look at her. Huge eyes positioned for stereoscopic vision, unusual proportions, especially the big head for the size..."

Ted added "And she's in good physical condition. Not wild, clearly taken care of."

"Right," Dan agreed, "Remember the hat she was wearing when she was found? And what do you make of the apples on her flanks?"

"Some kind of dye job clearly. But I've never seen such detail in that kind of thing... It's almost as if-"

Ted was cut off as another human stepped through a door and called out, "Everyone! My office now!"

Dan and Ted shrugged and walked away, Elyon waiting until several other humans had passed by before leaning in close and whispering "I am SO sorry..."

"Ain't you." Applejack whispered back."

"I better go!" Elyon whispered, and ran to catch up with the others.

Alone now, the pony considered trying to break out on her own. After all, while she was getting a generally trustworthy vibe from the girl, she still didn't really know her. Her deliberations were cut short when, less than ten minutes later, a back window opposite the door the humans had all exited through suddenly popped open and Elyon appeared, sliding down through the window and running to Applejack's cage.

"What'n tarnation?"

"Change of plans!" Elyon said, working the lock on the cage. "Something weird is going on, well, something else weird I guess... Point is, the whole neighborhood's getting evacuated, that's what Donald called us all into his office for. So, we've got to move." With a cheer of triumph, she sprung the cage door.

"Evacuation?" Applejack asked as she hopped down to the floor, "Why? What's going on?"

Elyon handed over Applejack's hat, which the mare happily placed properly on her head, as she said "No idea. But Donald seemed really freaked so it must be pretty bad."

"Well then, let's get while the gettin's good..." Applejack fell silent for a moment, both ears swiveling to face towards the north. After a moment she asked "Do you hear that?"

"Yeah, now that you mention it... Some kind of buzzing, getting louder."

"Louder or closer." Applejack said. "I'm thinking we'd better move even faster than we thought, bet anything that sound's whatever y'all are evacuatin' away from."

They rushed together to the window, where Elyon levered herself up and out through the open bottom pane, then turned and reached back in to help the pony. Applejack took the girl's offered hand and in moments both were outside. The day was sunny, without a cloud in the sky, yet due to the evacuation order there was no one in sight.

"My house is this way!" Elyon hissed softly, and led the way south and east to a small grove of trees. She would have continued, but Applejack stopped.

"Buzzin's still comin' closer, but we've got some cover here. Let's see what we're dealing with." the mare said.

Elyon nodded, and they stooped down, watching from concealment. After what felt like forever but was probably only three or four minutes, something came into sight around the far corner of the animal shelter. Tall, vaguely humanoid, with too many limbs and a semi-mechanical appearance, the new arrival stopped and scanned the ground just outside the window they had escaped from.

"Tracking program active. Possible magical trail detected, re: Element of Honesty; Tome of Honesty. Threat level: Moderate. Resume tracking." It then turned and began to slowly but steadily move towards where girl and mare were hiding.

"Oh that ain't good."

"Let's get outta here!"

Applejack nodded. "Ain't gotta tell me twice!"

Together, they turned and fled...

XXXXX

"What do you mean you 'Know kung-fu?'" Taranee demanded of the Rainbow colored pegasus now hovering before her dressed in a karate gi.

Rainbow Dash laughed. "Sorry. Old movie reference, from a pony film called 'The Maretrix.' But yeah, remember I told you I have a black belt in Broken Wing?"

"Broken Wing?" Will asked.

"It's a pegasus martial art form." Twilight offered, "Built around the advantages of being flight capable and having two extra limbs to land blows with. And yes, Rainbow Dash is a master of the art."

"But you tried that before!" Will exclaimed, "And that thing kicked your butt!"

"That was before. But Will, I feel it now! My moves are back! I can fight now, thanks to whatever that book did!" Rainbow argued.

"Well, okay maybe... But fight that thing!?" Will insisted.

"Watch me." Rainbow grinned. Before anyone could stop her, the pegasus was off, flying directly towards the approaching giant.

"Threat detected." It said. "Initiate defensive protocols." Beams of energy lanced out from the giant, trying in vain to lock onto the agile pegasus as she zipped left and right, up and down, twirling head over tail, laughing as she went.

In only seconds she was there, launching into an all-out attack on the giant. The creature tried to fight back, but as anyone who has ever been on the receiving end of an assault by a martial arts master can attest, the rapid impacts from even four limbs can be overwhelming. Counting Rainbow's wings and tail, the giant was up against seven.

Rainbow struck to the left side, battering the giant's shoulder with a flurry of strikes that left both arms on that side limp and useless. The giant swung around with it's right arms, but by the time it did so the pegasus was already gone, flying in a wide arc that bought her up between it's legs, where she struck with a powerful blow.

Watching the battle, Twilight and the human girls winced. But the giant didn't seem bothered by that particular hit. "Huh. Guess it's not a guy." Will said.

Twilight said "I don't think it's either. It looks more artificial than natural."

"Agreed." Taranee said.

As Rainbow recovered from the failed attack and lined up to go again, Twilight said "If only I had all of my magic I could help her! Isn't there anything we can do?"

"Okay, let's think: Rainbow Dash got her fighting skills back when Will read from the book with her flank-symbol thing on it..." Taranee said. "So, it stands to reason that the book with your symbol has your power locked up..."

"Cutie marks." Twilight said. "That's what they're called. But I agree with your analysis... The question is, what did Rainbow or Will do to unlock that part of the book?"

As Taranee and Twilight tried to figure out the answer, Rainbow continued to fight. The giant, having figured out that Rainbow was too fast to nail with physical blows, changed it's tactics, switching over completely to energy weapons which now lanced out in all directions. The beams were of course faster, and could probably have connected with Rainbow were it not for the totally unpredictable nature of her movements; each time the giant thought it had a lock, she would vanish and come in from another unexpected vector. She slammed it's side with a karate chop, bonked it over the head with both forehooves, and in one memorable attack came in from behind, spinning like a saw blade, striking with all four hooves, both wings, and tail over and over.

Good as Rainbow was though, her cocky overconfidence eventually gave the giant an opening. As it fell to it's knees from a blow to the joints from behind, she zipped around to the front. "Booyaa!! Who's the mare?" Who's-" She gasped as the giant suddenly moved quickly and grabbed her.

"Dash!" Twilight screamed. "Advanced magic or not, I'm going in!" She ignored Taranee's shouts for her to stop and galloped forward, her horn flaring to life as she called up the only magic she still had access to: levitation. Grabbing up a large rock, Twilight threw it as hard as she could at the hand holding Rainbow. The impact got the giant's attention, though it still held tight to Rainbow.

"Threat detected: Element of Magic. Engage." Rising back to it's feet, the giant stalked towards Twilight as she stared it down defiantly, throwing more rocks that dinged off it's body, seeming to do little more than annoy it.

"Twilight! What are you doing!?" Taranee demanded as she caught up.

"Saving my friend!" Twilight insisted, and lobbed the largest rock yet.

The giant fired an energy beam, which barely missed as Twilight dodged to the left, the beam blasting into the rock wall behind where she had been standing. And then...

As the smoke cleared, everyone could see that the blast had uncovered something hidden beneath the stone. It was a large crystal, clear as glass and faintly radiant. "What is that!?" Will wondered.

The giant suddenly focused on the crystal. "Omega Directive Online. World Shard Detected. Override all other directives and acquire at any cost." It dropped Rainbow, seeming to forget about everyone and everything except the crystal which it slowly moved towards.

"Dash!" Twilight shouted.

From behind the giant came a wobbly voice. "I'm fine. Ow..."

Twilight was surprised when Will, who had been looking back and forth between the giant and the mysterious crystal suddenly knelt down next to the crystal and picked it up. "What are you doing!?"

Will shrugged. "I have no idea what this thing is," she said, "but if tall dark and evil wants it then it stands to reason we probably want to keep it away from him."

"Sound." Taranee agreed.

"Halt!" The giant announced. "Relinquish the World Shard. Comply or be eliminated."

"This is probably the part where we should start running for it again." Twilight said. "Rainbow Dash! Are you okay to come with us?"

Rainbow rose into the air on uncertain wings and flew the long way around the giant, rejoining the others. "Gimme a minute and I'll pulverize him good!"

"Maybe later. Right now let's just get outta here..." Taranee insisted. They ran, and the giant slowly followed...

XXXXX

After running through her uncle's corn fields for what felt like eternity, Cornelia Hale emerged alongside the narrow gravel road that fronted the property. Falling to her knees in exhaustion, she looked around and was surprised to see how close she had been to the farm's main driveway; it met the road less than twenty feet from where she was.

"Go to the farm!" The girl complained, "It'll be good for you! There'll be fresh air and corn and ponies and alien death machines! I swear if I survive this Mom and Dad are never hearing the end of it!"

Cornelia quickly swiveled around, back to her feet, as she heard rustling in the corn. She expected the giant monster, and was surprised when instead the two ponies tumbled out of the field. "Yay! We found you!" The pink one exclaimed. "I'm Pinkie Pie and this is Rarity!"

"And you are...?" Rarity asked.

"Um, Cornelia."

"Lovely name. But perhaps we should play 'getting to know you' somewhere else?" Rarity glanced back over her shoulder. "Our unpleasant nemesis may be slow, but it's almost certainly still coming this way."

"Probably." Cornelia agreed, "But my legs are done... I can't run any further... Maybe you two should save yourselves."

"And leave you behind!? No way." Pinkie said.

"Indeed. Most unacceptable." Rarity looked around. "Maybe we can hide somewhere and let it pass us by."

"Hide? This is farm country, besides the farmhouse and barn back the way we came there's nothing for miles but corn."

The question of what to do was answered from a surprising source. A battered pick up truck swerved out of the driveway and squealed to a stop before the trio. Inside were Cornelia's little sister, aunt, and uncle. "Seein' as how that monster's after the two of you, I'll give you a chance." John said to the surprised ponies. "All of you get in the back!" They rushed to climb into the truck bed, and John mashed down on the accelerator as soon as Cornelia had the tailgate latched.

No one said anything else during the ride. They sped down the narrow gravel lane at speeds far too fast to be safe, luckily not encountering law enforcement or any other drivers, until John finally pulled over at a lay-by perhaps ten miles down the road.

"Okay." The man said, getting out of the cab and standing next to the bed, "I said I'd give you a chance and I meant it... So: What the hell is going on here!?"

"I'm afraid that I honestly don't know." Rarity answered. "We didn't come here on purpose. Or, at least not our purpose. All I remember is being in my boutique, working on a rush order, there was some yelling outside, then I woke up in your barn with a splitting headache."

"I was outside when it happened." Pinkie said. "Canterlot was on fire, the whole city!"

"What!?" Rarity exclaimed.

"Canter...lot?"

"Our capitol city. Pinkie are you sure? The whole city?"

"Yeah. The castle too. You could see it really well from Ponyville. Then it was like the whole world started falling apart into little pieces and everypony was shouting about it being the end of the world or something! And that's all I remember." Pinkie hung her head low.

"Horrible." Rarity sighed.

"What about the monster?" Cornelia asked.

"I've never seen anything remotely like it." Rarity answered. "Although... It clearly knew not just what but who Pinkie and I are. It correctly identified us as the element bearers for Generosity and Laughter."

"Elements?" Lillian wondered.

"The Elements of Harmony!" Pinkie said. "Equestria's greatest defensive weapon."

"Yes, there are six of them in total: Honesty, Kindness, Loyalty, Generosity, Laughter, and Magic."

Aunt Beth asked "Well, if you have two of these weapons does that mean you can do something about our monster problem?"

Rarity shook her head. "The Elements only work when all six are gathered together. Of course, this isn't to say that either of us are defenseless ordinarily... But since we've arrived here our magic seems severely limited."

"You can do magic!?" Lillian asked wide-eyed.

Rarity smiled at the girl and levitated a small wrench in the truckbed. "Somewhat. As I said, we seem limited here. Levitation is all I can do, and Pinkie's... ...um... ...unique... talents seem utterly inaccessible."

"Okay well I have another question then." John asked, "Why did the thing go after Cornelia? What does she have to do with this!?"

"I... May have some of the answer..." Cornelia admitted. She looked at Rarity. "You called yourself the Element of Generosity right?" The unicorn nodded. "It said it was after me because I had the Tome of Generosity. I'm guessing that means this book that appeared out of nowhere in my room this morning." She pulled the book out of her pack and showed it to them.

"Rarity!" Pinkie gasped, "That book has your cutie mark!"

"Indeed." Rarity said, turning slightly to show the others her flank. "There must be a connection between the two of us."

"Connection?" Cornelia asked.

Rarity simply shrugged. Before she could say anything more Pinkie pointed with a hoof back the way they had came from. Smoke was rising into the sky from several places, in a line getting closer to where they were. "It's coming." Beth said.

"Then let's keep running!" Cornelia said.

"I suspect that's no good." Rarity sighed. "It'll just keep coming until it catches us. And in the meantime, anyone unfortunate enough to get in it's way will suffer."

"She's right." John agreed. "There has to be a way to put a stop to this!"

"It wants us." Cornelia said. "Maybe that means we're a threat somehow. Maybe there's something we can do."

"It did call Pinkie an extreme threat." Beth mused.

"Ordinarily, yes." Rarity said. "But right now..." She looked at the book Cornelia held. "That has to be the answer."

"Maybe if I could read it." Cornelia answered. "But it's just unreadable gobbledygook. I mean, look at this!"

Rarity took the book in her magic aura, leafing through the pages. "Interesting... I don't recognize the language, but these illustrations, they resemble my own short hoof style for quickly plotting measurements for cutting fabrics..."

Surprised, Cornelia asked "Fabrics? Like for clothing? But you don't wear anything!"

"Not normally darling. Ponies don't consider it to be naked since our coats and tails cover everything. But we do dress up for special events, or when the weather turns too cold for our own coats to keep us warm."

"You're a clothing designer..." Cornelia grinned. "That's so cool! I love fashion and high style!"

"Yes, what you're wearing is quite stylish... Though a few gemstones around the collar would offset your eyes beautifully."

Girl and Unicorn smiled at each other, and the book flared with a brilliant white light.

"Whoa!" Cornelia exclaimed, jumping in surprise. The book floated in front of her and opened itself to a particular page. "Um, you guys? Part of this is readable now." She said.

At the same time, the line of smoke trails marking the approaching giant's position began to move faster than before, homing in on their position. "Let's make up our minds here folks!" John shouted, "Stay and fight or run for it?"

"Stay." Rarity said defiantly. "I might not be the magical prodigy that my dear friend Twilight is, but even I can now see the connection between myself and this book... Cornelia darling? Read what's been translated."

"What?"

"Read it dear. Out loud, forcefully."

"All right... 'Fashion Fabulous! Glittering Gemstrike!"

The book flared with light again, as did Rarity. "Rares!? You okay!?" Pinkie asked.

"More than okay Pinkie dear... It's as I thought, my missing magic is locked away in the book. By reading those words, Cornelia restored a small part of it. I can sense the presence of hidden gems again."

"Um, that's cool and all, but it doesn't sound like something you could fight a battle with."

"On the contrary..." Rarity grinned, eyes narrowed, "it's exactly what I need..."

XXXXX

Hay Lin had watched a lot of cartoons in her life. Still watched them, in point of fact. And so when the book with Fluttershy's cutie mark on it suddenly flared with light and translated a portion of itself, she knew exactly what she had to do.

After agreeing with Irma that they would try to meet up at the front gates of the Heatherfield Zoo, Hay had found a large backpack and emptied it out, leaving just enough room for Fluttershy to hide inside, out of sight of people on the street. They then sneaked out the back, and headed north towards their destination.

For the first few blocks nothing had seemed out the ordinary. But around the halfway point things changed. The rattle of gunfire announced that city police had arrived and were trying to combat the threat, but all too soon the sounds tapered off and stopped. Groups of terrified citizens rushed by, all going the other way, all too focused on escape to pay the young girl any heed as she continued along.

The zoo was deserted. Kneeling inside one of the turnstile entryways, Hay Lin opened the bag and let Fluttershy out. "Is this really a good idea?" The pegasus whispered. "All these poor animals could be endangered!"

"I know, but this was the best place for Irma to try to meet up with us."

"If you say so." Fluttershy said. She cast a gaze all around the area. "Do you know which way she should be coming from?"

"Not really... I mean, she's coming from the west but with having to do whatever it takes to not get caught... Hey wait! You're a pegasus! You can fly up and get a better look!"

"Oh-okay." Fluttershy spread her wings and ascended straight up, looking all around as she went. At a height of three hundred feet, she caught sight of Irma, easily identified by both the fact that she was the only human in sight, and also the giant monster following close behind. "She's almost here!" Fluttershy said as she landed, "But the monster isn't far behind!"

"Banzai!!" Irma whooped as she rounded the corner and skidded to a halt. "I hope one of you two has a plan!"

"Not as such." Hay Lin answered.

"Well it's about three minutes behind me... Into the zoo!"

"But... the animals..." Fluttershy argued.

"Discuss it later!" Irma countered. "In!!"

Racing through the zoo, between containment areas for giraffes, baboons, and elephants, they came to a dead-end where the paths converged on the entrance to a massive aquarium building. "It's locked!" Hay Lin shouted. "Now what!?"

"No idea." Irma said. "You're the one whose pony is here, shouldn't you be figuring something out? I mean, all I've got is this stupid book I can't even read!"

"Calm down Irma..."

"Oh, I know!" Irma continued, clearly not calming down, "Maybe it's like Beetlejuice! Maybe I just need to say this Binki Bli-"

"Pinkie Pie." Fluttershy corrected.

"-Right that. Maybe I just need to say her name three times in a row and she'll appear at my side! Let's try it! Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pie-"

"Hi!!"

"Gaah!!" Irma screamed as she jumped away from the pony that had appeared beside her.

"Pinkie!" Fluttershy squealed happily, hugging her friend tightly.

"I can't believe that worked. Where did you come from!?"

"The cornfield." Pinkie answered honestly, "Though I'm not sure how with my pinkiness on the fritz. So, what's going on here?" Even as she asked, the giant arrived, blasting through the outer wall of the zoo. "Oh. Another one of these meanies."

"Another one!? There are more!?"

"We should run." Pinkie sagely observed.

"Can't! Door's locked!"

"I got it!" Pinkie said, pulling a pin from her mane and going to work on the lock.

While Pinkie fiddled with the lock, the giant drew closer. It tore through the walls of the elephant enclosure, drawing the ire of a large bull elephant that charged trumpeting at the intruder. All the pachyderm got for its trouble was a blast of energy that shocked it backwards where it slumped against the far wall, injured but alive. And that was when Hay Lin and Fluttershy got mad...

"You big meanie!"

"You jerk!"

"How dare you hurt that poor elephant?"

"Pick on something your own size!"

And that, of course, was when the book had lit up. "What the hell!?" Irma had exclaimed.

"I got the lock!" Pinkie announced unfazed by the new development as she swung the door open.

"Oh yeah..." Hay Lin smiled. "Just like in all those anime... You ready Fluttershy?"

"Um, ready for what?"

"This!" Hay Lin held the book out, trying to strike a 'cool' pose as she read "Fluttering Wing! Pony Dolittle!"

"Oh my!" Fluttershy squeaked as she rose glowing into the air. But as the lightshow ended she was beaming with delight. "I can feel it! I can feel it! I've got my ability to talk to animals back!"

"Great, that's a big help." Irma snarked.

"Actually it is! Follow me everyone!" Uncharacteristically bold, the pegasus flew into the aquarium building through the door Pinkie held open. Inside, she flew first to a semi-aquatic enclosure occupied by beavers. "Excuse me?" All of the rodents looked towards Fluttershy as she continued "Could a couple of you maybe give me a hoof with something? It's very important!"

"Erm, Hay Hay?" Irma said, "I'm thinking maybe your pegasus is a bit cracked in the head."

Hay Lin slapped Irma across the cheek. "That's mean!"

"Well... but... She's talking to rodents!"

"Well of course she is!" Pinkie said, "Animal communication is her special magical talent!"

"Wait really? And they understand her?" Irma asked.

Pinkie pointed. "See for yourself!" Fluttershy had carefully lifted a pair of volunteers out of the exhibit, and they were now following along behind her.

"It's gotta be close! Let's go!" Fluttershy said and flew off, Pinkie, girls, and rodents behind. They made their way down a wide winding hallway, past numerous exhibits, until they found what the pegasus was hoping to find: An enormous, open-topped dolphin tank. The booming rumble of the giant smashing its way into the building came just as she landed next to the top of the tank and began speaking with a trio of dolphins that were waiting with their heads out of the water. "Okay, Irma, Hay Lin, Pinkie, to the other side of the tank! Beavers, you know what to do, find what you need and get ready! Now, dolphins? I have a big favor to ask if it's okay with you..." The dolphins chattered loudly and bobbed their heads up and down, leading Fluttershy to smile. "Thank you, okay, here's the deal..."

When Hay Lin and Irma reached the far side of the tank, they watched with curiosity as Fluttershy conversed with the dolphins and behind her the beavers pulled something off of a cart, and began to stretch it out across the floor near the tank until they were hidden at either end of the room. The resounding boot clomps of the giant drew nearer and nearer, and just before it arrived the dolphins dived out of sight and Fluttershy turned to face the giant as it strode into the chamber.

"Target identified: Element of Kindness. Threat Level: Not-Applicable."

"We'll see about that." Fluttershy whispered and turned, taking wing and flying across the tank to join her friends. Even as she was landing and turning to look, the giant approached the edge of the tank... ...and the rope the beavers had laid across the floor. "Now my friends! Now!" Fluttershy exclaimed, and the beavers yanked back on the ropes, pulling it taut and tripping the giant which fell head first into the water.

Girls and ponies both rushed to the edge and looked down to see the giant, out of it's element, being mercilessly pummeled by dolphins in much the same way the creatures would assault a shark in the wild. On dry land, upright, such an attack would have barely fazed the entity. In these circumstances though, it was too much to handle. The giant sank until it reached the bottom of the tank, and it didn't get back up...

XXXXX

"Hoo-buddy! This thing just doesn't know when 't quit!" Applejack said as she galloped alongside Elyon through the evacuated streets of Heatherfield, giant in hot pursuit.

"No kidding!" Elyon agreed. As they ran, she occasionally caught sight of people who had failed to heed the evacuation order and were now watching out their windows. In each case, she tried to wave them away into hiding, just in case, but few responded other than to stare in surprise. "Why don't people hide!?"

"Curiosity." Applejack answered. "Or bull-headedness... Or just dumb."

Elyon chuckled. "My money's on the latter, honestly."

"Yeah mine too prolly. Look don't worry, so far all it seems t' want is us. It'll just pass them by."

"Right."

"So, how far to the beach?" Applejack asked, for their plan was to get in a boat and hope the giant couldn't swim.

"Block and a half." Elyon pointed ahead. "See, where that... Oh no!"

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"Where that smoke's coming from. Something's wrong up there too." Elyon sighed, "Now what do we do?"

Applejack didn't answer at first. She just stared at the rising smoke, and then something caught her eye. It appeared little bigger than a speck in the sky. But a fast-moving rainbow colored speck. "Well I'll be..."

"A.J.?"

"I know that speck! Come on!"

They reached the beach five minutes later, to quite the sight. Two girls Elyon recognized from school were running southwards, accompanied by a pair of mares Applejack recognized. They were tossing something shiny back and forth, as if playing a game of 'keep away' with another giant like the one pursuing Elyon and A.J. Oddly, this new giant seemed to have no interest in anything but collecting whatever the others had; it was so focused on the object that it wasn't even using it's weapons.

"Twi! Dash!" Applejack shouted as she raced towards them.

"Applejack!" Twilight and Rainbow exclaimed together, as Will and Taranee did the same for Elyon.

"Am I glad to see you two!" Applejack said.

"Likewise." Twilight said, "As you can see we've got a bit of a problem! But with you here maybe we can figure something out!"

"Yeah, about that... We've got a similar problem..."

It was just then that the giant pursuing Elyon and Applejack appeared over a rise, and caught sight of the crystal as it was being tossed from Dash to Taranee. "World Shard detected. Omega Directive Active. Acquire at all costs." It said, and forgetting about it's former targets joined the first in chasing after Taranee who screamed and ran, throwing the crystal to Will.

"Another one!?" Rainbow complained. "Without all of my speed there's no way I'm fast enough to tackle two of them!"

As Will ran in a loop around the giants, Taranee said "We've got to figure out these books! If we do, the others can help Rainbow out."

"Books?" Elyon asked, "Like this?" She held up a tome with Applejack's cutie mark on it.

"Yes! Did- Hold on a second..." Twilight turned her attention to catching the crystal as Will passed it to her, then threw it on to Rainbow. "Sorry."

"It's okay... But listen, what's up with these books? Something really weird happened earlier."

"Wait... Weird like it suddenly lighting up like a bulb?" Taranee asked.

"Yeah!" Applejack exclaimed. "We were tryin' t' hide see, talkin' about stuff... Figured out we're both orphans... Then all the sudden bam! Glowin' book."

"This is wonderful!" Twilight said, "You two can help Rainbow now!"

"But how...?"

"Our inherent magic and magic based skill are somehow locked up in the books." Twilight explained, "But when they light up-"

Still carrying the crystal, Rainbow Dash flew by, interrupting Twilight, "Explain later! Elyon, just read whatever part you can understand now!"

"Right, that." Twilight agreed, slightly miffed.

Rainbow flew on, throwing the crystal to Will again, while Elyon paged through her book until she found it. "This doesn't make any sense."

"Just read it out loud please." Taranee said. "And hurry!"

"Okay then... 'Green Hoof Magic! Verdant Snare!"

"Hey! What the!? Whoa!" Applejack shouted as she glowed brightly for several seconds.

"Okay, what did that do!?" Elyon asked as her partner settled back to the ground.

Applejack smiled. "Hey Dash! You said they moved too fast for you? Let's fix that!" And with that said the farmer slammed a forehoof down into the ground, using her natural Earth Pony magic to make the local plants grow, and grow, new vines and roots erupting out of the ground beneath the giants, wrapping around and entangling them so thoroughly that neither could move.

"'Verdant Snare' eh?" Taranee said, "Nice...."

"Oh yeah! Keep 'em right there A.J.!" Rainbow cheered, "It's Hammer Time!"

As was noted earlier, going up against a true master of martial arts is no picnic under the best of circumstances. When the circumstances include having both (or in this case, all four) arms tied behind your back, well, yeah. Unable to defend themselves, even their energy weapons disabled by clogging plant growth, the giants fell in mere moments to the pegasus' determined assault.

As Rainbow returned to the others, landing between Twilight and Applejack, both she and the Earth Pony momentarily shimmered, Rainbow's karate gi and headband vanishing. "Huh? What gives!? It's gone again!"

"Mine too." Applejack said. "Guess the books only give magic back for a little while."

"Well that stinks... Hey Will? Can you still read it?"

Will opened the book, and nodded. "Yeah, that part's still in English."

"Well that's something anyway." Twilight said. "What's important now is figuring out how to access the magic in the books. And also what this thing is." She held the crystal in her magic aura.

Hearing distant but nearing police sirens, Will said "Actually, the first important thing is getting out of here before anyone else sees you three. Come on, my place isn't far..."

XXXXX

"Pinkie!?" Rarity exclaimed when her friend suddenly vanished.

"What the... Where'd she go!?" John shouted.

"I'm sure I don't know... Ordinarily I'd just chalk it up to her being Pinkie; She does impossible things on a daily basis, but with her magic blocked she shouldn't have..." Rarity shook her head. "No matter. Priorities. We'll find her once the immediate threat is out of the way."

"Speaking of which, it's getting close!" Cornelia said. "Uncle John, Aunt Beth, take Lillian and get out of here! Get to safety!"

"But you-"

"I need to stay. I don't like it any more than you do, but I can't leave Rarity to face this alone."

Though hesitant to go, the safety of young Lillian won out over John's reservations. Hustling the girl and his wife into the truck, he drove off, going another mile down the road.

Turning back to Rarity as the truck drove out of sight, Cornelia asked "So, what exactly are you going to do?"

"A part of my magical talent," Rarity explained, "Is the ability to sense the presence of hidden gemstones under the ground and draw them up to the surface. As I'm sure you know diamonds are among the hardest of natural objects, stronger even than many metals. The plan is to gather up those laying fallow hereabouts, and use levitation to send them rocketing at, and I hope through, the giant's body."

"Not bad, but I don't think there's supposed to be any diamonds in the ground around here."

"No? Because I'm quite certain I sense them... Let's see..." Rarity's horn glowed, the ground rattled lightly, and bright diamonds began to rise up encased in magical auras.

"Whoa..." Cornelia whispered, eyes wide and darting from one diamond to another. "Holy cow look at this one! It's gotta be at least two hundred carats!"

Rarity sighed wistfully. "Yes. 'Tis too bad we may have to spend it as ammunition. Maybe we'll sit this little beauty aside eh? Save it for last? And if we do have to use it, oh well, easy come easy go, and speaking of go..."

With a mighty thud of marching feet, the giant arrived. Rarity reacted swiftly, hurling diamonds as fast as her magic could make them go. The first volley hit the giant's body squarely, puncturing holes that began to leak blood or coolant or whatever a half-robotic extradimensional giant has.

"Nice shot!" Cornelia cheered.

Rarity nodded and launched the second wave. Unfortunately, the giant was ready this time and fired it's energy weapons in self defense. This led to two consequences. First, the diamonds were vaporized before they reached their target. More importantly though, in the split second before they evaporated, the diamonds refracted the energy striking them, sending beams of deadly energy flashing about in random directions which included towards Cornelia and Rarity who both came away unharmed but with singed hair and mane from near-misses.

"That ruined my hair!" Cornelia screeched.

"Oh, it is ON now." Rarity agreed, eyes narrowed.

"On how? That'll just happen again if you throw more diamonds at it!"

Rarity hugged the enormous diamond she had hoped to save goodbye. "I guess we'll need to use it after all... Now let's see..."

To Cornelia's enormous disbelief, Rarity sat down and began to calmly examine the diamond even as the giant moved slowly closer. "What are you doing!? It's coming!"

"Of course dear, but these things can't be rushed..."

"Rarity..."

"I'm almost done, just need to locate just the right facet... ...There! Perfect!" Rarity jumped to her hooves and lifted the diamond, rotating it to a precise angle, and send it on it's way. The giant fired, Cornelia flinched... And the energy beam struck home, reflecting through the diamonds facets and emerging back in the exact direction it came from. The giant didn't even have time to realize what was happening before it fell to the ground, save for it's head which didn't exist anymore.

"You just..." Cornelia looked rapidly back and forth between the giant body and Rarity. "That was incredible!"

"We were incredible darling. Now let's see if there's anything left of our poor diamond..."

They needed only a few moments to find what was left of the diamond, laying smoking on the ground, reduced to tiny fragments. "Well damn." Cornelia said. "Being rich would've been nice."

"Perhaps... Though, in my experience the wealthy are generally uncouth and unlikable."

"Yeah, but still-" Cornelia was interrupted as her cell phone began to ring. "Uncle John, probably." she said and took the call. "Hello? What!? Where are you- Really!? Okay hang on... It's for you." She held the phone out, turning on the speaker.

"Hiya Rares!" Pinkie exclaimed over the line.

"Pinkie! What...?"

"Loooooong story." The pink mare replied. "Listen, if you're done with your first boss fight we should meet up. I'm at the city zoo with Fluttershy."

"Hold on Pinkie!" A voice Rarity didn't recognize said.

Cornelia looked shocked at the voice. "Irma!? Is that you!?"

"Heya Corny!"

"Don't call me- Hold on lemme guess, you've got Pinkie's book."

"Yeah, and Hay Lin has Fluttershy's."

"Hay Hay's there!?"

"Hi Cornelia!"

"Um, it's a pleasure to speak with a friend of Hay Lin's." Fluttershy said softly.

Irma said "Yeah yeah, introductions. Look, in spite of what Pinkie asked, I'm not sure you should try to get here. There's an evacuation and police everywhere and National Guard guys starting to show up."

"The Zoo's downtown." Cornelia said. "We'd never get that far through all of that."

"Exactly. You're at your uncle's farm right? Getting out of town should be easier than getting in. We'll meet you there."

"That sounds good." Cornelia said.

"Okay, I'm gonna hang up now, if there's nothing else."

"Just one thought..." Fluttershy said, "If the three of you who got our three books already know each other and are already friends, then maybe our other friends and their books are with other humans you know..."

"That's brilliant darling!" Rarity enthused. She looked at Cornelia. "Have you any other friends you could contact and ask?"

"Yeah. Okay Irma, you guys get out of town. I'll make some calls, see what I can find out."

With everyone in agreement, Cornelia hung up and started walking towards where her Uncle should be waiting, selecting 'Will Vandom' from her contacts list as she went...

Comments

[Nightmare mare]

This is getting really interesting

[badninja]

Well that was an interesting way to summon Pinkie. I would try it in real life, but if it works I do not want to deal with the after effects.

[Seeking Dusk]

"Target identified: Element of Kindness. Threat Level: Not-Applicable."

I believe the word you want is 'circumstantial'

Rarity using the gem to reflect the energy attack was brilliant. Way to go Fashion Mare! And of course Pinkie would turn up by invoking her name

[Greatazuredragon]

Oh yeah! Keep 'em right there A.J.!" Rainbow cheered, "It's Hammer Time!"

Sorry, couldn't resist.
Very nice work, well done.