Stability of the Past: The Beginning

by GoodieTwo-Shoes

Chapter 5: The Trade

Being the generous and kind spirit she was, Harmony had decided to rest that night so the exhausted and cranky Chaos could as well. By the time the sun had been low in the sky, he could barely float upright. His head had been bobbing. His eyes had been constantly fluttering closed. She had been frequently pushing him off of her when his exhaustion would overtake him. The times he had been more awake, he was more annoying than usual. It had been nonstop complaining, whining, and even crying. He could be so dramatic sometimes. She had attributed the crying to his tired state. She couldn’t even enjoy watching the harmony that she had the rare opportunity to watch all she wanted. He would switch between almost drooling on her as he leaned on her for support to begging her to change the Viewer to something else. He had claimed that he would stay awake if he could just watch some chaos.

By the time she had lowered the sun and coaxed him into raising the moon, which had only exhausted him more, she could only stand him for about another hour. She had wanted to stay up, so she could watch some of her own night creatures. But even the spirit of harmony with her almost limitless patience could not take his theatrical mood swings and disgusting drool any longer. However, nothing was easy with Chaos.

Although he had been completely beat, when Harmony had told him she was ready to rest, Chaos had refused to go with her. He had suddenly found interest in the Viewer and had been keen on staying awake once it had gotten dark. She had insisted that he was too tired. He had argued that he had enough colors now to stay awake. She had said that that was true, but his body was still too exhausted from lack of rest. He had tried to argue that he wasn’t that tired, but his slumped posture and mid-sentence yawn gave him away, as if she hadn’t already known. She had put on her best Control impression and had demanded that he rest. Of course, he had just laughed at her. Finally, she had convinced him to rest once she had said that if he did, his punishment would be a lot shorter and that they could stay up tomorrow night. After some thought, he had agreed, playing it off as his idea. It had been nice to have a break, and resting would bring Chaos’s power to half capacity and Harmony’s to full. This would speed up his punishment time and thus relieve her of the duty sooner.

Said punishment had only lasted about a week, which was surprisingly fast even with Chaos conserving his energy. His energy had been full again, and, even though he had been complaining non-stop, he still would eventually do as Harmony asked. Control had decided to release him from Harmony’s charge, which had pleased both of them. Chaos had been ecstatic to be free from Harmony. He could finally enjoy some chaos again. Although she had been uncomfortable about the chaos watching, she was very relieved by her duty being lifted from her. Even after he had rested that night, he had still been getting on her nerves more than he usually did. It was as if he had been trying to annoy her. She had reasoned that he was just upset about having to listen to her and maybe being around him so much made him feel more irritating to her. After the punishment had been lifted, they had still stayed together in the Viewer room most of the time like they usually would, but at least now they had freedom to be alone. They had gone back to taking turns with the Viewer, sort of, and they had been staying up at night as well.

The two spirits had still mostly watched the ponies. Most of the other creatures were not as intelligent as the ponies. They just lived their lives day by day, feeding off whatever nature provided them. Harmony and Chaos had observed more closely some of the other more sapient creatures as well though. The bison had decided to just live off the land. Although intelligent enough, they did not build homes. They had chosen to just roam the desert land. The lion-eagle hybrids, who called themselves griffons, had discovered a large tree on the top of a high mountain. They had chosen to make that their new home.

The ponies had begun settling down as well. And most of the adults and some younger ponies had received their now-called cutie marks, which had ended the belief that only leaders or special ponies got them. Everypony had agreed that these marks were symbols of what they were meant to do and that each pony would receive his or her mark when he or she came of age and discovered his or her special talent, life’s purpose, or destiny. However, the ponies still hadn’t been as harmonious as Harmony would have liked, which had seemed to be enough to get Chaos to agree to watch them. Plus he had enjoyed watching Harmony’s distress as her most prized creations practically spat on harmony. Although the tribe members had gotten along pretty well, aside from some disagreements, the tribes had still seemed to hate each other, especially the leaders.

The unicorns had settled on the mountain where they would later learn to control and perfect their magic; some, like Clover, had exceled quickly. Towards the top, the mountain had had another cave. It had been very tall but not very deep. Silver Sapphire, now king, had ordered that his castle be built there. The unicorns had used the divot of the cave as part of the inside of the castle. The rock of the mountain, with some help from some practiced magic, had provided the stone to build the rest of the castle. Although the mountain had provided a good location for the unicorns’ castle, it didn’t offer much food. The river that ran down its side gave them ample water. In order to get food however, the unicorn king and his royal family would frequently send some of his ponies back down the mountain and to the woods they had walked through on their first journey. This had been where the problem had lied.

The woods where the unicorns had collected food had formed a barrier to the field in which the Earth ponies lived. The Earth ponies had also been collecting food from those woods. They had even gotten a few trees to use as lumber for their homes. Once King Silver Sapphire had heard about this, he had ordered a force field to be put up to prevent the Earth ponies from having access to the woods. He had claimed they did not have food or trees to spare for the grubby, beneath-them Earth ponies. This had enraged Grand Chief Pink Fudge. No matter how many unorthodox methods she had used, she could not get passed the force field. She had tried digging, climbing, jumping, stacking ponies, and even running into the darn force field. She had only succeeded in injuring a few of her ponies and getting more than a few laughs out of the unicorns. She had finally given up when her Chief Purple Caramel, had remembered, with the help of Cookie and her parents, that there was a forest not too far away in the other direction. After bragging about her discovery to the stuck-up unicorns, she had triumphantly led the Earth ponies to the forest. The ponies had reluctantly followed with many sighs, grunts, and mumbles. They still had been too frightened by her aggressive psychotic behavior to argue with their self-proclaimed grand chief.

The forest had only led to more trouble, however. Driven back by the dangerous creatures of Chaos’s forest, the Pegasi had been collecting their own food from the forest adjacent to the field. When the Earth ponies had arrived, the Pegasi would not let them into the forest. This had been partly due to the fact that some of them did not want to share with those who claimed they were weird because of their wings, and the Pegasi also needed plenty of food to strengthen their training soldiers. General Thunder Cloud also hadn’t wanted the Earth ponies to endanger themselves by going too far into the forest and running into any creatures like the mud treader they had fought. He did not particularly care for the Earth ponies, but he would not allow any “civilians” to jeopardize their lives. However, he certainly would not go soft on them. The Earth ponies could find their own food in a safer place. He would not just give them his food.

Insinuating that the Earth ponies could not protect themselves had only angered the grand chief. She had claimed that her kind were strong and brave and could handle anything the Pegasi could. The general was not moved, nor were his soldiers. His soldiers had stood guard at the forest edge. Once again Pink Fudge could not get passed. She had tried jumping, fighting, and distractions. The Pegasi had held their ground. Huffing angrily, Pink Fudge had finally given up. She had said they did not need the odd ponies’ food; they could find their own.

Driven back by two uncooperative groups of ponies, hunger, and need for lumber, the Earth ponies had been forced to travel further north to the not too far away forest. Unbeknownst to them however, this forest was not a peaceful one. It was like the forest where the Pegasi had met the large creature of terror. It was part of Chaos’s forest, which had surrounded the ponies in a very large circle. Luckily for the unicorns, this forest was behind their new mountain home. Unluckily for the Earth ponies, this forest had been the one in which they had been heading.

Being ponies of the Earth, the Earth ponies had immediately felt that this forest was different. It had been darker and eerie. The plants had given off a strange vibe. Some of the ponies could almost hear the trees telling them they could not be tamed or harvested. Pink Fudge would not be intimidated however, even if she had been a little creeped out. She had commanded her ponies to collect what they could and to keep their eyes opened for anything weird.

Before long, they had started to knock down the trees and had continued building. Collecting food from the forest had made the ponies feel a little more comfortable. Some ponies had even caught glimpses of creatures hiding back in the trees. Seeing these creatures run away when they knocked down trees, had made the Earth ponies feel even stronger. They had even begun to understand Pink Fudge better. They had become more accepting of her as their grand chief. She had led them to this forest where they could gather their own food. She had showed them how strong and brave they could be. They did not need the other ponies.

While they had been using the forest to settle their home land, the Earth ponies had discovered something about the plants. Even after they had ripped some of them out of the ground to get to the trees, they had grown back. Some of the ponies had observed the plants’ behavior. Eventually they had figured out the cycle of the plants. When the forest had still been providing food, this was nothing more than just an interesting discovery. However, once they had stopped knocking down trees after they were done building what they needed and had been forced to travel deeper into the woods to collect food, they had complications. Pushed back too far, the creatures that once solely owned the forest had started to fight back. The ponies could no longer collect any food from the forest without being chased or attacked by chaos creatures. After many ponies had been injured, the grand chief had been forced to use brain over brawns. This is where the cycle of the plants had come into use. With this knowledge, the Earth ponies had begun to grow their own food and no longer had to search the treacherous forest.

No longer worried about the Earth ponies going into their forest, the Pegasi had been free to focus on other things as well. Realizing they could manipulate the clouds, they had used the fog from their flattop mountain and nearby clouds to construct their living area. Intrigued by General Thunder Cloud’s massive lightening attack and by the cloud that had produced its own water, the Pegasi had investigated the clouds further. Not only had they made good construction material, the clouds had also provided water once the ponies had figured out how to make them rain. Along with their soldier and flying training, the Pegasi had been training in weather control and safety. After all, as General Thunder Cloud had often put it, the weather was nature’s toughest warrior. If they could learn to control it, they would be well on their way to becoming the best soldiers.

Not everypony had been successful in their training however. Pansy had been improving in her flying ability, but she had not been learning fast enough for her father. He had feared for her own safety and that of others if she could not learn to protect herself. She had still been the weakest flyer, and she had been terrified by the weather and soldier training. While her cousin, Honey, had been becoming a decent flyer for her age and a quick learner with the weather, she had been very reluctant to train in combat. Her father, Cirro, had blamed Pansy for this. He had believed she had been softening his daughter, turning her into a weakling. He had frequently and harshly expressed his believes to his younger brother. In turn, Nimbus had become harder on Pansy. He had felt inferior to his big brother for both his and his daughter’s weaknesses.

Eventually, Nimbus had turned to the general for help. He had explained that his daughter was still having trouble and was falling far behind the others. Thunder Cloud had not wanted any slackers in his rank, but he hadn’t had time to give her special treatment. Therefore, he had given this responsibility to his own daughter. After all, they had been about the same age, both had been female, and had had previous encounters with each other. Hurricane had not been happy about this. She had not wanted to train the pathetic scaredy-cat. Her behavior had insulted the entire Pegasus race. Thunder Cloud had told her it was an order and she should be honored to get this responsibility. Being loyal and respectful to her father, she had agreed.

The settling had gone on for a few months without much trouble. The unicorns had finished their castle and were becoming very good at their magic. The Earth ponies had finished their homes and were beginning to plant more crops. The Pegasi had completed their mountain top cloud fortress and were becoming excellent flyers, soldiers, and weather ponies.

Now that the ponies were settled, they all slipped in to their own routines. Harmony was content with this. Their lives were in decent harmony and peace. She still wished they would all come together, but this would do for now. However, Chaos was getting bored with the ponies’ daily customs. He had gotten angry when the Earth ponies had cut into his forest. He had been disappointed in his creatures for not fighting back at first. Once they had, he was satisfied, until the ponies had wised up and learned to grow their own food.

Whenever Harmony would watch the ponies, Chaos would half watch and half occupy himself however he could. He would pester Harmony as much as he could before she would threaten to tell Control or give in and let him have a turn at the Viewer, again. He tried bugging Control, but he was hard to find. When he would find him, Control would tell him to go help Harmony. Chaos did occasionally get a chance to annoy him, but that only ended up with a punishment or, when he really got under his skin, with Chaos’s face slamming into some hard surface. He would have pestered Destiny, but she could only be found if she wanted to be. Plus, he had a little sliver of respect for her.

Chaos found another way to occupy himself. He went back to doing what he and Harmony used to do before they had given life to the planet: make practice creatures. While the planet had been being ruled by dinosaurs, Control had taught Harmony and Chaos how to make creatures. Then once the planet had been deemed too chaotic, Control had intensified the practice until they had been ready to make creatures for the planet. There was one important difference between the creatures they made on the planet and the ones they had made for practice: the ones on the planet had souls provided by Control. Now, Chaos and Harmony were no longer allowed to make creatures, even for practice. Their current job was to observe the planet and keep an eye on the chaos and harmony only. That was about the only thing they were allowed to do, except take breaks. But of course, Chaos was never one to follow rules. Chaos wasn’t dumb, however. He still tried to do it in secret.

~

On one particularly boring day while Harmony was watching the ponies live their boring lives, Chaos snuck off to “take a break.” Once he was alone, he stuck out his stubs. He carefully eyed the room to make sure no one was there. He smiled wide and mischievously as he made his stubs glow. A small ball of black formed in front of him. It expanded a bit; then it burst. He put his stubs down and waited for the sparkles to settle. Sitting lifelessly on the floor was what resembled a green three-legged puppy. Its ears were pointed, and its eyes were big and red. It had three yellow paws with sharp claws. Its nose was orange, as well as its three stripes that ran down its back. It had a puffy short purple tail. A blue tongue hung from its fanged mouth. If it could stand on its hind leg, it would be at about eye level to Chaos.

Chaos cooed at it. It was the perfect combination of cuteness, chaos, and ferociousness. He floated it around as if it were alive for a while. He made it run around the room and bark. Then he drifted it into his stubs and squeezed it tight. This one was too good to just hide it away with the others he had made. He had to show Harmony! He dematerialized with the puppy wrapped in his stubs. Then he reappeared in the Viewer room.

“There you are,” Harmony said, not looking at him. “I’m worried about the ponies,” she said with concern, looking anxiously at the Viewer.

Chaos smiled at her dismay, but quickly shook his head to stay focused. He pulled the odd puppy out from behind his back and looked at it. Then he looked at Harmony and smiled. He allowed it to float to the ground and walked it with his black aura behind her. He crouched it down, its behind wiggling in the air. He grinned. He made it pounce at her, barking with fangs bared. She screamed as it went through her. It landed on the floor and slid to a stop. She had shot into the air and was breathing rapidly and looking wide eyed at the creature. Chaos was laughing his head off on the floor. She shot him a look. He quickly floated the puppy up towards her. She shrieked. He chased her around the room with it as it barked playfully at her. He could barely control it as he hysterically laughed. Harmony suddenly stopped when she finally realized that not only could the creature not actually touch her, but Chaos was the one controlling it.

“Chaos! Stop that right now!” she demanded as she floated angrily in front of him. The puppy kept relentlessly barking and jumping back and forth through her. Her lower half kept breaking up and reforming like a disturbed cloud. “Where did that thing come from? Creatures of the planet are not allowed here,” she reminded him harshly, trying to keep her glare on him. He just continued laughing on the floor. Harmony suddenly cracked a smile. Try as she might, she could not hold back her giggle. “Chaos, stop!” she giggled, “It’s starting to tickle!” Soon they were both laughing uncontrollably. But she had had enough of this. She abruptly grabbed his glowing stubs and pulled him up. Losing his focus, the puppy fell lifelessly to the floor.

“Hay! What did you do that for?” Chaos hollered, pulling his stubs free.

“Where did you get that?” she asked, ignoring his question.

“You sound mad. I thought we were having fun,” he said innocently.

“No, you were having fun,” she corrected.

“You were laughing your head off a second ago,” he pointed out.

“Because that thing was tickling me,” she said angrily.

“But tickling’s fun,” he said. “Don’t even think about it,” he quickly added, floating back and eyeing her.

“Chaos,” she sighed with exasperation, “Just please explain that creature.”

“Do you like him?” he asked excitedly. “He’s so chaotic and fierce. I thought you would think he’s cute. I mean who doesn’t love a puppy?!” he babbled happily.

“Chaos,” she said, trying to refocus him.

“Calm down, you worrywart. I didn’t get him from the planet,” he sighed. “I made him here,” he cheered.

“Chaos! You can’t do that,” she said in a frantic hushed tone, as if Control could hear her.

“We used to do it all the time,” he argued.

“That was before and in front of Control’s watchful eye,” she said, trying to stay calm. “We aren’t allowed to do that anymore. You know that!”

“Oh, come on. It’s just one itty bitty adorable wittle puppy,” he cooed, floating said creature between them. He made it whine and wag its tail, giving her big eyes with its head turned to one side. She held her stare for a few seconds. Then she melted with a smile. She scooped the puppy up into a tight squeeze. She giggled as it licked her all over. Chaos smiled at the pair. Even after he made it stop licking her, she kept hugging it. Chaos frowned. He jerked it out of her stubs. “That’s enough affection,” he said, floating it down to sit beside him, “You’re getting your harmony germs all over him.” She pouted slightly.

“Ahem,” she said, trying to compose herself, “I’ll admit, he is adorable, but you have to get rid of him.” Chaos frowned.

“Creatures like this don’t belong here. If Control found out, you would be in so much trouble,” she said, sympathetically.

“Plaeeeese, let me keep him,” he begged with his wide green eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“But-but he’s so perfect, and I already named him and everything,” he almost cried.

“Chaos, please,” she said, trying to not get upset. She couldn’t stand seeing others get upset, even if it was Chaos and even if he was probably exaggerating.

“I don’t want to get rid of him. I love him,” he said, tears welling up in his eyes.

“He’s not even alive. He doesn’t have a soul,” she reminded him.

“Could I keep him as a toy?” he asked, hopefully.

“Chaos…” she began. He begged with big wet eyes. She sighed. “As long as he remains soulless and if Control says it’s okay…”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” he cheered before she even finished. He hugged her tight.

“But you have to ask Control yourself,” she managed to say.

He let her go with a frown. He picked the puppy up. Then he smiled sadly. “Okay,” he said quietly with a pout. He disappeared, puppy held tight against his chest.

“Why do I let him do this to me?” she sighed.

~

Chaos reappeared back in his room. He set the puppy down with a frown. Then he smiled.

He chuckled, “That was too easy.” “Like I’m really going to ask that high and mighty overgrown bouncy ball,” he scoffed to the puppy. He hummed thoughtfully at the creature as it fell on its face. “You are going to get boring fast,” he said to the body lying on the floor. “Unless…” he mused out loud with a grin, “I am already going against one of the conditions. Why not break the other one?” He set the puppy up straight in front of him. He held out his stubs as they glowed intensely and rolled up his nonexistent sleeves. He wasn’t sure how to do this, but it probably took a lot of power. He wrinkled his face and focused, trying to picture how Control had done it.

After a lot of struggling and glowing, he finally produced a tiny grey ball of light. He opened his eyes and looked at it with a pleased smile. Sticking out his tongue, he carefully moved the ball of light above the puppy. He gently lowered it and then abruptly shoved it into the puppy. He relaxed his body and gave himself a quick glance. His colors had no noticeable changes. If he looked very closely, he could see a tiny sliver of grey on the top of his head. His black glow had decreased in size and intensity just a bit. But the others wouldn’t notice. Control might, but he hadn’t planned on seeing him anytime soon. He had created a soul, something he should not have been able to do, and had not even lowered his energy storage much. He grinned at his feat. His secret doings were working well.

He focused back on the puppy and slowly floated over to it. He poked it, but nothing happened. He pouted. He picked it up and shook it hard, still nothing. He sighed and sat it down. He lied down in front of it and looked it straight in its closed eyes.

“Wake up,” he demanded.

He stared at it for a while until he felt something wet rub him above his mouth. He looked down as a blue tongue licked him again. He looked back up and was met by two big red eyes. He gasped quietly. He sat up. The puppy struggled to its feet. It wagged its tail and looked at Chaos. Then it fell back down with a surprised yelp. Chaos grinned. He got up and helped it stand back up. It panted happily at him. It licked him again. He petted its head.

“You are much less boring now. My very own pet,” he said with a smile. He held out his stub. A black ball formed in his palm. Once it burst, it left behind a black collar with a tag. It read, “Scruff.” “Now it’s official,” he said, putting on the collar with a hug. Then he sighed, “I have to go before Miss. Goodie-Goodie comes looking for me.” He picked Scruff up and floated over to a transparent wall. He put his stub on it. A door appeared. He opened it. A flood of odd, lifeless creatures poured out as the door opened. He quickly stopped it with his aura and pushed them to the sides. He sat the puppy inside and said goodbye. After closing the door, he heard a loud crashing sound and a yelp. “Oops,” he said with a cringe. “I’m sure he’s fine.” He made the door disappear before he did so himself.

~

Chaos reappeared back to Harmony. She was worriedly watching the ponies again, until she heard Chaos.

“What did he say?” she asked, turning to face him.

“Um…who?” he asked.

“Control. Did he say you could keep the puppy?” she questioned. He wouldn’t make eye contact. She just looked at him, waiting for an answer. Then she glared at him. “You didn’t even ask him, did you?” she sighed.

“I wiiiill,” he squeaked.

“Chaoooos,” she whined, dropping her head back.

“Harmonyyyyyy,” he mocked.

She sighed and slid her stub down her face. “You know I can’t hide anything from Control, and I don’t want to,” she moaned. “I respect him, and you should too. I will not lie to him,” she said with determination.

“You don’t have to lie,” he informed her, “It’s not like he’s going to just ask you if I have made any green puppies lately that I’m hiding in my room.” He quickly looked around the room. Harmony raised an eye ridge at him. “I thought Control might be here because that would have been a really bad time for him to appear,” he said with relief. Then he checked the room one last time. “Anyway, it’s just one little soulless puppy. It’s not like I have a whole closet full of creatures or anything,” he continued. She gave him a look. “Besides,” he quickly said, “It’s only until I figure out how to ask him.”

She squeezed her eyes shut tight. Then she inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, relaxing her face. She looked at him with one eye open. She wrinkled her face and managed to say, “Just until you ask him.” His face lit up with a grin and her’s returned to normal. “Only because Control doesn’t want me telling him things for you. You have to be the one to tell him,” she said firmly. “And because I can tell how much you really care for the puppy,” she said softly. He raised an eye ridge at her. “I know you were overreacting, almost crying and such, but I also know some of that was real,” she said with a kind smile.

Chaos’s mouth was opened, but nothing comprehendible was coming out. He didn’t want her to think he was soft and that he loved that puppy so much that he couldn’t live without it. But, if he told her any different, she might tell Control and he would have to get rid of it. He did really like the puppy, especially since he now had given it a soul. But it wasn’t like he really loved it. It was just something to do other than watch the Viewer all day. Plus, he liked the feeling of breaking so many rules by having it there.

When he finally found his words, he said, “Let’s get something straight. I do not love that creature. As you said, I was just overreacting so you wouldn’t tell Control. I just like having something other than work to do. Just watching our creatures gets very boring, especially when you make me watch those dumb ponies’ routine lives every day. Don’t you ever get bored of just working all the time?”

“Keeping an eye on our creations is our job,” she simply said. “And I’m serious about that puppy. You better ask him and soon. I won’t tell him, but, if he asks, I won’t lie,” she firmly informed him.

He rolled his eyes and said, “Fine, fine. But it’s not like it would be the end of the world if I had to get rid of him. I would have to go back to just mindlessly having my eyes glued to this thing all day.” He gestured to the Viewer.

“Whatever you say,” she said with a sideways grin.

He eyed her, but let it go. He looked back at the screen and remembered what Harmony had said earlier. “You said you were worried about the ponies?” he asked with a smile. Her grin dropped. He chuckled a bit. Maybe he could still get some enjoyment out of these ponies after all.

~

Back down on the planet, the weather had gotten colder. Shielded from the sun and warmth by the tree limbs, the food in the forest and woods wasn’t growing fast enough to keep up with the hungry ponies. The Pegasi had collected everything they could from the good part of the forest, and the unicorns had cleaned out the relatively small woods below the mountain. The unicorns had even tried to get food from the other side of the mountain, but the forest there was filled with terrifying, dangerous creatures. The Earth ponies weren’t doing too well with their food either. After harvesting their last crops, they planted more, but they weren’t growing. It wasn’t that it was so cold that the plants couldn’t grow, but with the frequent cloudy days, increased wind, and snowy rain the plants were reluctant to come out of the ground. Grand Chief Pink Fudge had not planned ahead for this, but she had an idea. She led her ponies back to the forest in the north. With their new-found faith in their leader and in their own strength, the brave Earth ponies willingly followed her.

Since the forest was so thick, it was used to having little sunlight and warmth. The cloudy days did not affect it much. The thick trees also protected it from most of the cold rain and slowed down the wind. On top of this, the forest itself seemed to be alive. So not surprisingly, the strange forest still had enough food to feed its dwellers, but they were not willing to share. Regardless, the grand chief adjusted her new cutie-mark-matching, grand chief hat and pushed forward into the trees. With her strong and brave ponies behind her, she would not let the forest or its creatures win. Her ponies needed food, and nothing was going to stop her this time.

~

“What are they doing now, your highness?” a white unicorn guard asked his king.

Removing his eyes from the telescope, King Silver Sapphire stepped forward to the edge of his balcony to peer at the forest in the distance. “They are going back into the forest of the north,” the king simply stated to the lone guard.

“I thought they were chased out of that forest,” the black and yellow maned stallion stated.

“It appears desperate times, call for desperate measures,” Silver Sapphire said, turning to eye his right-hoof guard.

“Indeed, your highness,” he said with a head bow. “I will prepare the guards,’” he added as he galloped into the castle. The unicorn king turned and grinned darkly down at the Earth ponies as they ventured into the shadowy forest.

~

“Where are we going again?” Shear asked as he continued flying behind his twin.

“Pay attention, numbskull!” Virga insulted, slowing down to bop his helmet-covered head. “We are going to look for food, duh.”

He fixed his helmet and said with a frown, “I know that. I meant where?”

“If you’d pay more attention, you would know that General Thunder Cloud said he spotted a forest in the north,” she answered.

“You could have just said so. You don’t have to be so mean,” he said.

“Well without those two wimpy fillies here, I have to pick on somepony,” she said with a sideways grin.

He glared at the back of her helmet as she quickened her speed to fly back to her place in front of him in the line of airborne soldiers. Then he grinned mischievously. He carefully flew closer, his hoof outstretched. Sticking out his tongue, he quickly pushed up the back of her helmet. It flipped forward, covering her eyes.

“Hay!” she yelped. Shear snickered. She threw her hooves to her head, trying to push her helmet back up. He swiftly flew above her and held the metal hat down. She grunted and continued struggling with the stupid thing. Keeping his mouth covered, he kept laughing quietly. “Shear, is that you?” she asked angrily as she stopped struggling.

“Nooo…” he said innocently, “Do you have a problem with your helmet?”

“Yeah, there’s a bird-brain holding it down,” she quipped with a grin.

His smile dropped, but quickly returned as he pressed down harder. She began struggling again, but this time she was trying to hit her pesky brother. Having the advantage of sight, he easily avoided her swinging hooves as she frantically spun around. He laughed, which angered her more. Seeing something green through his peripheral view, he looked up.

“Uh oh,” he quietly said, quickly releasing his sister and flying down behind her.

Before she could lift the helmet, Virga roughly crashed into something. Wincing, Shear watched as the Pegasi soldiers all stumbled forward in the air like dominos. The last pony fell into an unfazed General Thunder Cloud. He stopped and turned his head to see his ponies composing themselves, their faces full of confusion and anger.

Hearing the commotion, Virga didn’t remove her helmet. She didn’t want to see the damage she knew she must have caused. It was lifted for her, however. Her guilty green eyes met angry blue ones. “Uh, sorry, mom,” she sheepishly said.

“Forward!” a booming voice ordered. Fujita quickly turned around. Virga stiffed her body, head held high with her helmet down over her face. Once the general had everypony facing him again, he flew onward, expecting the others to follow. Trying to fly in a dignified manner, Virga quickly pulled back her helmet. Hearing snickering from behind her, she whipped her head around and glared at her brother.

“You two cut it out!” Cirro quietly demanded, looking back at them while still flying. They both dropped their expressions immediately. “If you two can’t behave, then you can fly right back to your aunt, and she can watch you with the rest of the foals.”

“Yes, sir,” the twins said in unison, dropping their heads.

“This is serious,” their mother added, “We are not here to horseplay.” Shear bit his lip, but he couldn’t help but laugh.

“Shut up! What are you laughing at? You got us in trouble,” Virga yelled in a hushed tone as she gently whipped his face with her tail.

“Heh heh! Mom-mom…he…sa-said horseplay!” he laughed. She rolled her eyes and sighed, shaking her head at his immaturity.

“AAAAAAAAAAAH!” a loud shriek suddenly rang through the sky, halting them all.

“To the forest, quick!” Thunder Cloud ordered. All humor and anger forgotten, the army of Pegasi raced towards the scream and to the north forest as fast as their wings would carry them. It was time for action; somepony was in danger!

~

“AAAAH!” the pink Earth filly screamed again as she raced through the trees. She quickly reached the others. Everypony immediately gathered around her trying to figure out what was wrong with the frantic filly. Grand Chief Pink Fudge swiftly pushed through the crowd of Earth ponies. The young pony rapidly explained, “Mom! Ifoundthisreallybig…”

“Slow down,” she gently commanded.

“I found this reeeeally-” she spread her forelegs out as far as she could “-big flower! It was so pretty, and it was pink! So, I obviously had to sniff it! If it was that pretty, it must have smelt good! But when I tried to sniff it, the mean ol’ flower took my hat! It took my favorite new pudding hat, mom!” Puddinghead exclaimed. Her face was a mixture of frieght, sorrow, and anger.

“Are you hurt?” Chief Purple Caramel worriedly asked after he made his way next to his wife.

“No, I don’t think so,” Pudding responded as she gave herself a quick inspection. He pulled her into a big hug. Squeezing him back, she assured him, “I’m okay, daddy.” “See?” she asked, pushing him back so he could see her big happy smile. He grinned at her large, comical smile before sitting her down.

Her mother sighed, “I am sorry about your hat, Puddinghead, but we are here to get food, not look for lost h…” She was interrupted by a quick, loud rustle followed immediately by a surprised yelp. The crowd of ponies quickly turned around. Their eyes landed on a struggling pony stuck in a large flower.

The big plant had its two long pink petals wrapped around the stallion. A short petal with two pale yellow spikes stuck up right above the pony. It had a long white stem that had five more pink petals surrounding it in a star shape. The back petal was erected into the air, while the other four laid on the ground. It stood about twice as tall as the average sized mare.

“That’s the flower! But where’s my hat?” Pudding asked, as some of the ponies tried to free the stallion. Another rustle revealed a second matching pink and white flower. Resting on its short, spiked petal was a hat that resembled a silver bowl of chocolate pudding sitting on a yellow plate. “Mom, there it is!” the pink filly shouted, pointing her hoof at the thieving plant.

“I’m a little busy, Puddinghead,” her mother said, trying to stay patient with her daughter. She was pulling on the tail of a mare who had tried to help the stallion and had gotten herself captured by the flower as well.

“Daddy, get my hat,” she whined. Chief Purple Caramel raced towards the hat wearing flower. Before he could reach it, a third flower came out of the trees and grabbed him. Its movements were almost too quick to see.

“A little help,” he said, hanging upside down from the large petals.

“Daddy!” Pudding gasped. With a look of determination, she ran towards the plant to help her father.

“Pudding, look out!” a young voice shouted, quickly knocking the pink filly to the ground. Pushing herself off the dirt, Pudding saw a brown filly struggling in the grasp of yet another flower that had almost gotten her.

“Cookie!” Pudding screamed, rushing to help her friend. The pink filly grabbed one of its four ground petals, trying to free Cookie. The plant suddenly fell to the ground beside her with Cookie following after in front of her. “I did it!” Pudding cheered. Looking up and seeing a brown stallion putting his back hooves down, she realized it was Cookie’s dad who had saved Cookie with a powerful buck to the plant. “Aww!” she sighed.

“You okay, Cookie?” Citrus asked, helping her daughter to her hooves.

“Ah’m fine, ma,” Cookie assured.

“Ahhhhh!” Pudding screamed, captured by the hat wearing plant. Everypony looked at her. She struggled for a moment. Then she reached her hoof up and snatched her hat. Putting it back in its rightful place on her head, she said, “Never mind. I’m good.” All stared at her. “What? It’s actually kind of cozy up here,” she explained, snuggling into the arm-like petals. The plant’s petals quickly shifted her flank near its small top petal and towards the tiny moving parts on the tip of said petal. “Owww! It bit me!” she yelled, “Get me down!” The flower had those moving parts dug into the pudding dollop marks on her flank.

“Flowers don’t bite,” Cookie informed, struggling with her own flower.

“They don’t move either,” Cinnamon Straw added, bucking at the plant that was trying to grab him.

Observing the flower that was attacking her husband, Citrus said, “Maybe they’re not flowers. Look closer.”

The bottom four petals moved like legs, and the back petal looked sort of like a tail. The two top petals grabbed like arms. The small petal with the spikes could be a head. Looking closer, the two yellow spikes each had small glowing red dots.

“Ah’ve seen these before,” Cinnamon said, finally bucking the quick moving flower, “In our crop fields.”

“Are you insane?! I think I would know if my fields were infested with giant attacking flowers,” the Grand Chief scoffed, looking very unconvincing hanging upside down from a flower with her hat over her face.

“Yeah!” Chief Purple Caramel agreed, wrapped up in his purple cape in the petals of his attacker.

“Not these exactly,” Cinnamon clarified, a little insulted, “Ah meant somethin’ like ’em. The one’s Ah’ve seen are a lot smaller and green. They’re bugs. Praying Mantises.”

“Ah’ve seen ‘em too,” Citrus backed him up, bucking the creature that bit Pudding and freeing her. The filly rubbed her sore flank but was otherwise unharmed.

“I don’t care what they are; just get them!” Fudge demanded, hat falling to the ground.

Whoosh! Something flew beside the grand chief, blowing her hat further away.

“Got it!” an orange mare with a shortish yellow tail cheered, standing over the giant mantis she had just tackled. A darker stallion with a creamish-colored tail swooped in beside her.

“Aww!” he whined, “I was gonna get that one.” All the Earth ponies stopped their fight with the creatures and just stared at the two winged intruders.

“There’s plenty more, Shear,” she told him, glaring around at all the tall creatures and ignoring the confused civilians.

“Good point, Virga. Dibs!” he shouted. He flew after one of the praying mantises that had captured an Earth pony. He swiftly spun in the air in front of the creature and precisely bucked it in the head without hitting the struggling mare. The giant bug and the surprised pony fell to the ground. “Perfect hit!” he bragged.

A series of flapping filled the forest as more Pegasi flew in one by one. In the front was a great black stallion wearing silver and gold armor, his helmet fashioned with a tall, blue crest that matched his short tail. He threw his large hoof forward, commanding his soldiers to attack. The army of Pegasi charged forward and took down the giant insects with tackles, bucks, and headbutts.

The disgruntled grand chief fell to the ground, freed by an orange mare with a light green tail. As the armored mare flew off to help the chief, she stood herself up, picked up her hat, and placed it on her messy head. Then she stormed over to the black stallion, who bucked a pink mantis off his wife.

“Hay, weirdo with the wings!” Pink Fudge shouted at the husky pony. General Thunder Cloud turned to look at her, his expression hard, but not angry. “We didn’t ask for your help, and we don’t need it!” she told him, poking his shielded chest.

“Uh…yeah!” her chief backed her up, despite his uncertainty of her statement. He stood behind her, hat on backwards.

The general looked down at the disorderly pair and said, “We heard a cry for help and responded. And I would say you do need our help.”

Before she could argue, he soared over her head and knocked down the creature that had almost snatched up her husband. Purple Caramel gasped; he had been unaware of the insect that had almost grabbed him. Thunder Cloud climbed off the pink bug and walked passed the pair.

“That doesn’t prove anything,” the mad, pink mare argued. “I don’t want your help. I command you and your weird ponies to leave!” she demanded, stomping her hoof.

The large Pegasus turned around and bent down his neck to stare in the angry mare’s eyes. “I will not stand by and let ponies get hurt, winged or not. And no psychotic Earth mare whose head is too big for her ridiculous hat is going to stop me,” he growled.

He spread his large wings and shot up into the air. She snorted and growled up at him as he flew above her and swooped down to take out another large mantis.

“We don’t need him,” she grumbled. “Come on. FIGHT!” she commanded her ponies. The Earth ponies immediately obeyed and continued to fight off the large, pink and white insects.

Both tribes of ponies fought the creatures off, although it was unmistakable that they weren’t working together. The Pegasi stuck to their orders and tried to free the civilians, but they were pushed away by the obedient Earth ponies who were following their own commands to help their fellow ponies themselves. The Pegasi began to get annoyed, but their general ordered them to keep it up. Even the Earth ponies began to question their orders, wondering what was so bad about accepting the help of the winged ponies. Sure, the wings where weird, but the Pegasi were a big help. Just because they accepted their help this one time, didn’t mean they had to be friends or anything. Despite the uncooperative civilians, the two groups of ponies managed to take down all of the giant pray mantises without any real injuries.

“Thanks,” Citrus said with uncertainty as a yellow Pegasus stallion with a short light blue tail helped her to her hooves.

“You’re welcome,” he mumbled.

“Nimbus, being sociable wasn’t part of our orders. Come on,” Cirro told him, motioning for his younger brother to follow him. Nimbus nodded to his sibling and then glanced back at the unsure Earth mare. Then he hurried after his brother joining the rest of his group that were patiently waiting behind the group of Earth ponies.

“Well, at least they aren’t as stuck up as those unicorns,” Cinnamon said, approaching his wife.

“Yeah,” she agreed, watching the stallion forming a line with the other armored Pegasi.

“Ma, Pa, look,” Cookie said, pointing to the bugs’ red eyes. The giant insects were knocked out, yet their blank staring eyes were still opened and gleaming.

Pudding popped her head into the family group and said, “Watchcha’ lookin’ at?” The freckled filly pointed down at the glowing red eyes. “Oooow! Pretty!” she cheered with a wide smile.

“That doesn’t look normal,” Cinnamon commented.

“Maybe we should tell the Grand Chief,” his wife said.

“Oh! I’ll tell her,” Pudding said happily. She pulled out of the small huddle and bounced over to her mom. The pink mare was in a heated discussion with the Pegasus general. “Hay, mom,” the filly interrupted. She was ignored, so she tried again, “Mommy! I need to tell you something about those meanie bugs.”

Pink Fudge stopped her arguing and gave her daughter a strained smile. “Pudding, I’m talking,” she said before turning back to the black stallion.

“But, moooom. It’s important,” she whined, throwing her head back and almost losing her precious hat again.

“Puddinghead…” she almost growled. “Ahem,” she smiled and continued more calmly, “Pudding, sweetie. We’ve talked about not interrupting when the adults are talking.” The pink filly happily nodded, remembering all the many times her mom had reminded her that interrupting adults was rude. “Now, be quiet until I’m done,” she instructed. Her daughter closed her mouth tight, grinned, and nodded. “Good.” As Pudding struggled to hold her tongue, her mother resumed her loud discussion with Thunder Cloud.

“Your daughter could use some discipline, just like her mother,” the large stallion remarked.

“My daughter is fine!” Pink Fudge defended. “Just because we don’t have dumb wings or fancy armor, doesn’t mean we can’t fight our own battles,” she told him, standing on the tip of her hooves so she was almost eye-level with the offensive stallion.

“Civilians don’t fight. That’s why we didn’t allow you in our forest. You could have led your ponies too far and into the dark forest, like this one,” he said, eyeing the eerie forest around him. “Did you know this forest was dark when you brought your ponies here?” he asked her, looking into the brown eyes that refused to stop staring into his dark blue ones.

“Yes,” she replied. “We all knew the danger, but we need food,” she told him, finally flattening her hooves to the ground.

“That’s why we were coming here, before we heard your daughter screaming,” he admitted. She opened her smirking mouth to remark, but he spoke again, “I did not know this was a dark forest when I brought my soldiers here. I never would have led them here if I had known.” Her smirk dropped as he stared down at her with serious eyes. “Leaders don’t put their ponies in unnecessary danger,” he told her.

“I told you, it was necessary. We need food,” she defended. He narrowed his eyes at her.

“I thought you Earth ponies were making your own food,” he said.

“We were growing our own crops,” she said, emphasizing the correct farm terms. She sighed, feeling a bit defeated, “But, it stopped working. Nothing will grow.”

He gave her a questioning face. “Why?” he asked, loosening up a tiny bit.

“You don’t know anything about plants, do you?” she asked.

“No, we spend most of our time in the clouds,” he confessed.

“Well, General Dunce, I’m sure you’ve noticed the change in weather then,” she said, receiving a frown and a nod. “Plants need sunlight, water, and warmth to grow. With all those clouds above our homeland, the snowy rain, and the cold days, the crops just don’t stand a chance,” she told him, dropping her head. Some of the other ponies had taken notice of their leaders’ conversation and had tuned in their ears. Pink Fudge noticed the attention and quickly raised her head. “But, it doesn’t matter. I have found a solution for my ponies,” she said triumphantly. “So, get your weird ponies out of our manes and let us gather our food,” she ordered, pushing passed the stallion. “Come on, every…normal pony,” she said, motioning for her Earth ponies to follow her deeper into the forest.

Puddinghead gasped for air before hurrying beside her mom. “Can I tell you the important thing now?” she asked.

“Yes, Pudding. But keep moving,” she said, eyeing the stallion as he rejoined his troops.

As general Thunder Cloud discussed the new issue with his wife, the excited filly explained to her mom about the weird, red eyes on the knocked-out insects. The grand chief agreed that the glowing eyes were odd, but it did not concern them because they were leaving. Cookie and her parents were still curious and a little uneased by the blank stares of the bugs but followed their leader nonetheless. Before the Earth ponies journeyed too far, they were called back by the Pegasus general.

“Pink Earth mare!” Thunder Cloud bellowed, flying passed the group and landing in front of the lead mare.

“What do you want, a thank you? You’re not getting one because your interruption was not welcomed,” the pink mare said, trying to walk passed him.

“Hault!” he ordered, holding his hoof up.

“I’m not one of your brainwashed soldiers, now move!” she yelled.

“We just want to talk,” Navy Rain said, landing next to her husband.

“We’ve talked enough. It’s time for us to find some food,” the pink mare said, pushing passed the Pegasi pair.

“That’s what I want to discuss,” the general said, finally winning the stubborn mare’s attention.

“You gonna let us have some of your food now?” the Earth pony chief asked, walking up next to his wife.

“We don’t take hoof-outs,” she huffed, glaring at Purple Caramel.

“I wouldn’t give you any,” Navy Rain defended, glaring at the pink mare.

“No, we don’t mean to give you anything for free,” the black stallion explained, “We want to trade.”

“Trade what?” the Earth mare asked, raising an eye ridge. “We don’t even have food for ourselves. What could you possibly want from us? And what would you give us? You came here for food too,” she asked, getting aggravated.

“Food is what we want,” he told her. “It’s the only thing we can’t provide ourselves with and the only thing you and your ponies can make that we would want,” he explained.

“I told you, that doesn’t work anymore,” she argued.

“But we can make it work,” he told her, pointing up.

Nimbus was above them pushing a small cloud over to his leader. He pushed the grey cloud to the ground and then flew back to the Pegasi group.

“One cloud isn’t gonna make the crops grow,” the grand chief sneered.

“Just watch,” the general instructed hopping onto the cloud.

He flew the cloud a few inches high and then stomped his hooves into the grey cloud. This seemed to anger the cloud as it grew darker. With a little more persuasion from the black stallion, the cloud turned black and coursed with light. The Earth ponies in front of him gasped and whispered in awe.

“How did you do that?” Pink Fudge asked, narrowing her eyes up at him.

“Training,” he replied, moving the cloud down and trading places with his wife.

Navy Rain floated the cloud back up a foot off the ground and began roughly massaging it with her hooves. The cloud seemed to calm down as the internal lightening stopped and the cloud faded back to a light gray. Then tiny drops of water began dripping underneath it.

“Wow!” Purple Caramel said, gawking.

“Hush!” the pink mare demanded, growling at her husband. “What is this?!” she shouted at the winged pair. “You’re doing magic!” the frantic mare accused with an outstretched hoof.

“It’s not magic, not like the unicorns,” the black stallion told her, offended by the accusation. His kind were nothing like those freaks.

“No! You are just like the horned freaks!” she said, taking a step back. “You winged weirdos are controlling the clouds with some kind of…feather magic!” she shouted, pointing at their feathered wings.

The blue Pegasus stomped the cloud to make it stop raining before gliding back down to the ground. “It’s not magic. We’ve learned from observation and practice,” Navy Rain explained, “Just like you and your ponies did with the plants.”

“We don’t control the crops like you control those clouds,” she said, shaking her head. “Only magic could do something like that!” she yelled, backing up. She bumped into her husband, who looked at her strangely. She twisted around to the Earth ponies and declared in a frantic tone, “They are in cahoots with the unicorns!”

“No, we are not,” the winged general assured the ponies. His commanding, but steady tone was a sharp contrast to her loud, hysterical one. “We have learned to control the clouds and the weather through study and practice, just how you all have learned to grow crops,” he explained calmly.

“NO!” the panic-stricken grand chief screamed. “Don’t listen to him! He can’t be trusted!” she exclaimed, causing all her ponies to back away from her. Even her husband pulled their confused daughter securely underneath him. The pair of Pegasi just watched; it wasn’t their place to step in. “I told him about how we grow our food, and now he’s using that against us!” she yelled, stepping closer to the frightened Earth ponies. She noticed her ponies backing away again. “I shouldn’t have told him,” she admitted regrettably, ears down, “I just…I was at a loss…I was confused…weak and delusional with hunger. I didn’t know what to do. They helped us with those bugs, so I thought maybe they could…” She stopped, dropping her head. Then she raised it, her expression hard and angry. “That doesn’t matter now. We must get away from these winged weirdos before they get to us!” she ordered, trying to coax the wide-eyed ponies to follow her. “They want to make us grow food for them with the empty promise of using their magic to control the clouds!” she yelled at them, making them flinch back. “What’s wrong with you?!” she shouted.

“Y-You’re k-kinda’ s-s-scary right now,” her husband told her, keeping the filly protected underneath him.

“Mommy’s not scary,” Pudding said quietly, peeking out from behind the purple legs. Seeing the rage in her mom’s brown eyes, she shrank back and whispered, “Okay, maybe just a teanie bit.”

“Puddinghead, come out of there and come with me so we can get away from all these brainwashed ponies,” the psychotic pink mare ordered, holding out her hoof.

“Umm…I think I’m good with daddy,” she mumbled, staying hidden.

“Puddinghead! I’m not gonna let these winged weirdos or my own ponies hurt you. Come on!” she told her.

“Uuuh, no thanks,” she told her, peeking out from behind her hiding place.

“Don’t listen to daddy. I’m not scary. I’m right! All these other ponies have already been brainwashed by the weird ones and their cloud magic,” she explained, bending down to reach for the frightened filly.

“That’s not true. I-It can’t be,” Pudding said, feeling truly scared for her dad and friends.

“That’s enough!” the chief commanded, stomping his hoof down and making Pink Fudge fall back. “I’m not gonna let you scare anypony anymore, especially my daughter,” Purple Caramel said, staring down at the wide-eyed mare.

“Our daughter!” she corrected, standing up and getting in his face. He growled, pushing her back onto her rear with his head. Shocked, she stayed seated.

“I’m the chief, and that means I’m in charge too,” he told her, “You are not fit to lead anypony…not right now, at least.”

“What are you saying?” she asked. She attempted to stand, but he stared her back down.

“I’m sayin’ that as of now, I’m in charge!” he declared.

“You can’t do that!” she said, jumping up.

“I’m sorry, Fudge. I don’t know if it’s from hunger or stress or what, but you have lost it. You ain’t thinkin’ straight,” he said apologetically. “For now, I think it’s best if I lead our ponies,” he said, staring back at her.

“I won’t stand for this!” the crazy mare shouted.

She lunged at her betraying husband, eyes wide, teeth bared, and hooves outstretched. The chief shielded his daughter from the crazy mare and closed his eyes. But, the attack never came. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes to see his angry wife floating in the air stuck in her attack position. His gasp joined all the others as all eyes were on the frozen, mid-air mare. A pale blue light glowed around her.

“It is okay now ponies. Your king has arrived to save you all!” a deep voice bellowed through the trees. Everyponies’ eyes moved to the trees as a large, robed silver unicorn with a well-kept light blue mane and tail stepped into view followed by a group of serious-looking unicorns. His horn glowed against his crown with the same light as the frozen mare. “I heard the scream of frieght, and I have come to your…aid…” the unicorn king stopped in his tracks upon seeing the two Pegasi. His blue eyes took notice of the large group of Pegasi behind the Earth ponies. Stunned, he lost his focus and dropped the ex-grand chief. “I…I was not expecting…”

“SEE!” Pink Fudge screamed, pointing a trembling hoof at the unicorns. “I told you! CAHOOTS!” she yelled. The Earth ponies stared suspiciously between the two odd groups of ponies.

“As I was saying,” Silver Sapphire continued, not liking being interrupted. “I was not expecting the winged ones to be here, but no matter. My ponies and I will still save you from the…uh…” he stopped again, looking around at the absence of anything but ponies and harmless trees. “Um…” Everypony stared at him, even his own caped guards.

Suddenly, a small unicorn ran through the trees coming from the direction where the Earth ponies and Pegasi had previously been. He made his way passed the two groups of ponies and stumbled up to his king. Out of breath, he whispered something to the large unicorn. The king’s expression transformed from unamused, to confusion, and finally to surprise.

“What do you mean they are already taken out?” Silver harshly whispered to the unicorn. He looked back at his guards and glared at his right-hoof guard. Having heard the quiet message, the white pony shrugged in response. “Fine, just undo it, and I’ll fix this,” the king told the messenger. The small stallion bowed and quickly scurried back from where he came.

“We were in the middle of something. Take your ponies elsewhere,” Thunder Cloud told the unicorn king.

“No, we have come to speak with the Earth ponies. I command that you leave,” Silver Sapphire ordered the Pegasus general.

“You are not my king! I will not listen to you,” the black stallion said.

“Okay. I have decided to trust the big winged pony here,” Chief Purple Caramel said, interrupting the brief argument.

“What?!” Pink Fudge exclaimed.

“As my first demand as the new head chief, I order her to be restrained,” the chief said, pointing to his wife. She glared at him but was quickly tackled down by about ten Earth ponies. “Now, I think we were talkin’ about a deal,” he said to the large Pegasus.

“So, you agree to listen to my offer?” Thunder Cloud questioned, peering down at the smaller stallion.

“Yes,” he agreed, watching his wife struggle under the hooves of the ponies she once called her own. He kept his daughter securely underneath him.

“Hold on! I have come to make an offer,” the unicorn king stated, storming up to the other two leaders. His caped guards followed close behind, although they felt a little unprotected without armor after seeing the Pegasi.

“What can you give us?” the Earth pony chief asked, warily eyeing the unicorn.

“Um…protection,” the silver stallion said.

“We already gave them that, and they are welcome to have more,” the Pegasus general said.

“We don’t need protection. We are strong and brave enough to defend ourselves,” the purple pony defended to both of them. “You got anything else to offer?” he asked.

“Um…uh…” he looked back to his guards. His right-hoof guard lit his horn. “Oh!” the king understood. “Magic, we have magic to offer,” he said proudly.

“I don’t want anything to do with your weird magic!” the chief stated, narrowing his eyes at him.

“Well, what do you want? We need you to grow food for us,” the king asked.

“They are going to grow food for us,” the general corrected.

“First day as leader, and I’m already popular,” Caramel said to himself.

“They can’t grow any food without our help with the weather,” Thunder Cloud argued to the unicorn.

“Weather problems? That’s why you stopped growing food?” the king asked the chief.

“Yeah. The crops won’t grow in this chilly, cloudy weather,” the Earth pony explained.

“Well, my magic can fix that,” he declared. “If it’s too cold…” he said, lighting his horn.

He shot a beam of blue magic on the empty ground behind him. The grass glowed and immediately caught fire. The flames quickly spread and grew taller. Before the fire reached the branches, Navy Rain flew in with the tiny cloud and made it rain over the fire. Once the flames were gone, she glared at the wide-eyed unicorn.

“You don’t know nothin’ about plants, do you, horn head? Plants don’t like to be caught on fire!” the chief yelled at the unicorn. “As I already told you, no magic. We don’t want nothin’ you got, so go back to your mountain castle and leave us alone. We are trying to make a deal,” he demanded. He turned his back to the angry unicorn and resumed his conversation with the winged pony leader.

“Let’s discuss this along the way. I think we’ve spent enough time in this dark forest,” the general said.

He nodded for his soldiers to follow as he led the chief through the other ponies. Caramel waved for his ponies to follow as well. As the ex-leader of the Earth ponies was restrained in vines and carried by her own ponies, the new leader and winged leader discussed their deal while leading their followers back to safety. The livid king turned on his hooves and angrily led his guards back to his castle.

By the time everypony was back into the Earth ponies’ territory, the arrangement was final. The Pegasi would provide good weather for the Earth ponies to grow their crops, and, in exchange, the Earth ponies would give a portion of their food to the Pegasi. Neither tribe was happy to be working with the stubborn grounded ponies or the winged weirdos, but lack of enough food had driven them to cooperation.

Author's Note:

Finally, some collaboration! After months of living separate lives, two of the pony tribes have finally come together…well, to share food at least.

(Sorry if the long dialogue-less beginning sort-of history summary bored anyone. I wanted to show what happened with Chaos’s punishment and summarize what the creatures of the planet were doing over the past few months, but still focus on moving the story along in time.) As always, feel free to review! (Bonus notes below.)

Wow! I just looked at the date I submitted the last chapter. It’s been over two years! I am so sorry. Time has really gotten away from me with life getting in the way of all my fun writing time. So, as a gesture to show everyone how truly sorry I am, I am posting two chapters back to back!

(It was supposed to be one chapter, but it got too long, so I split it up into two parts. This means that Chapter 6 will be like a part two for Chapter 5, so the new Chapter 7 will be what the old Chapter 6 was going to be. I talked a bit about the chapters in my Blog posts on FimFiction, so read through those if you want to know more.)

Also, I have posted a fairly extensive artwork for Chapter 4 on Devianart. And, to those of you on FanFiction, you may have seen my other story, “Unnatural” a “Supernatural” fanfiction. This has taken up some of my writing time as well, and everyone is welcomed to read it!

Thanks for the reviews bluecatcinema! Thanks for following me Lunastar2099!