My Little Pony: An Epic Adventure

by CJ Esmerio

Beyond Equestria, Part 2

Author's Note:

"My Little Pony: The Movie" is owned by Lionsgate and Hasbro.

After taking a few more steps, Rarity glared at Pinkie, and asked, "Would you care... to ask that question... again?"

"Um… no, not really," replied the pink Earth Pony.

As the blazing sun shined brightly in the sky, not one of them knew how long they had been walking in the desert, or if they were even heading in the right direction.

What they did know is that their hooves were starting to feel sore, their bodies were aching, and their throats were begging for some water.

"Twilight… can you open up… one of your wings, please?" asked Casey, much to Twilight's confusion, so the alicorn did what he asked of her, which created some much-needed shade for the young Earth Pony.

"Aaahhhhh…"

A few seconds later, however, Casey felt the burning rays of the sun across his body, and a frown appeared on his face. "Hey!"

"Saving Equestria! Hahahaha - ooh, look!" cried Pinkie, who was now holding up the skull of an ancient bird to her ear. "Maybe this guy knows where to go!"

A spider crawled out one of the skull's empty eye sockets, and walked across Pinkie's face before jumping off, landing in the sand.

"What's that, friend? We're lost?"

Whoosh!

After tossing the skull behind her, Pinkie began laughing again, which eventually turned into coughing, and it was followed by collapsing into a sandy dune, sounding like a deflated balloon.

"We could be going in… circles!" gasped an exhausted Spike, who was slowly walking with a cactus stuck to his bottom. "Endless sand… nothing for miles but sand… and this rock… and this cactus… and this road!"

He let out several coughs, and another grasp before falling down to the ground, with the dragon's eyes reminding Casey of Spike's other self in a world that had a chainsaw-wielding Fluttershy. "This road…"

"A road?" said Twilight, and she took a few more steps forward. "Where there's a road, there's a - gasp!"

The rest of her friends joined her, and they stopped for a moment to admire what was now in front of them.

"Ooh, a city!" cried Pinkie, now back to her usual energetic self. "We are doing it, you guys!"

As she hurried over to her friends, a relieved Rarity said, "You know what they say - where there's a city, there's a spa!"

"Uh, who says that?" replied Rainbow.

Applejack turned her head to look at the white unicorn, and said, "In case you forgot, we're on a mission to save Equestria."

Rarity scoffed at her friend's response, and she muttered, "Well, I am capable of multi-tasking."

Twilight just shook her head, and was about to ask Casey something when she could have sworn that he was moving a little slower to usual. "Casey? You okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," replied the young Earth Pony, and he went back to walking at his regular speed. "I just hope they have some water for us to drink."

Rainbow let out a sigh, and said, "I hope they have some food for us to enjoy… I'm starving!"

"Of course," muttered Casey, rolling his eyes.

Then, just as they were about to head into the newfound city, he asked, "Uh, what's the name of this place again?"

"Welcome to Klugetown…" replied Pinkie, reading the words off the city's welcome sign, and Fluttershy did a nervous gulp.

"I'm not sure if I do feel welcome here."

The group found themselves sticking close to one another as they made their way into Klugetown, which was definitely not a place where ponies like them would want to be alone in, and tried to ignore the looks that they were receiving from its inhabitants (humanoid warthogs, fish-like creatures, and several horned snapping turtles).

"Hey! You with the horn!" exclaimed a cloaked creature, looking at Twilight from behind his merchandise booth with a sneaky grin. "Are you selling?"

The purple alicorn stood closer to Casey after hearing that, and while the two of them hurried away from his booth as quickly as possible, Fluttershy couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the various birds that were caged up, even though they weren't exactly pleasing to the eye.

"SQUAWK!"

While Fluttershy let out a small squeal of fear, Rainbow said, "Um, Twilight, I don't see... any type of friendly face whatsoever out here."

Twilight found herself agreeing with the pegasus, but then, she noticed that a nearby street vendor was having trouble loading up a pile of barrels into his cart.

"Oh, here, let me help you with that!"

With a smile, the young princess used her magic to help the horned creature out, but instead of thanking her, he yelled, "Hey! No magic around my merchandise!"

"Alright, this is definitely not Ponyville," muttered Casey. "Any suggestions, Twilight?"

She nodded her head, and replied, "All of us just need to stick together. Also, be careful who you talk to, and try to blend in-"

Before she could finish her sentence, a familiar voice was heard, coming from a few feet away, and Twilight groaned while Applejack rolled her eyes.

"CAN I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE?"

Casey placed a hoof against his forehead, and Rainbow muttered, "Why am I not surprised?"

---

Turning her body around in a circle, Pinkie continued to yell as loud as possible. "CAN ANYPONY TAKE US TO THE QUEEN OF THE HIP-POS?"

One of the fish-like creatures walked up towards her, and replied, "Hey, if you want somethin', little pony, ya gotta be willin' to give something!"

BOING!

Pinkie bounced into his arms, with a wide smile on her face. "Well, how about a great and warm hug from a grateful pony friend?"

The creature instantly released her, so she decided to make other offers to more townsfolk.

"A picture of my sister, Maud? How about this comb that I've never used?"

The last one she chose to ask was a hog-like creature, saying, "This breath mint? Seriously, buddy, help me help you!"

BURRRRRPPP!

Pinkie found herself collapsing to the ground after receiving a blast of the creature's horrid breath, and by the time she had stood up, her friends had already caught up to the energetic pony.

"You can't just take off like that, Pinkie," growled an irritated Twilight. "And there's no reason for you to announce to every-"

"Relax, Twilight, I totally got this!" assured Pinkie, even though they were now being surrounded by a crowd of curious townsfolk.

One of them pointed at Spike, and asked, "How much for the giant gecko?"

"Who are you callin' a gecko?" exclaimed the small dragon.

Twilight stood in front of him, and replied, "Spike isn't for sale! But maybe somepony here could help-"

"Oh, I want that fancy purple hair!" exclaimed a female creature, who was referring to Rarity's mane. "I'll give ya two Storm Bucks for it!"

Rarity scoffed, in frustration, and cried, "Two Storm Bucks? It's worth more than that!"

"How about three?"

The white unicorn's eyes went wide, and she looked at her with disbelief. "That's not even close!"

"Well, that lil' beauty right there looks mighty fine to me," said a rhino-like creature, whose eyes were locked on Twilight's turtledove necklace, but Casey quickly stood in front of his special somepony, and he glared at the sneaky vendor.

"Don't you even think about taking that, pal!"

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like they would be going away anytime soon.

"I want the two orange ones!" yelled a turtle-like creature, pointing at Casey and Applejack.

"Ooh! I call the one that looks like a fluffy marshmallow!" shouted another vendor, pointing one of his claws at Rarity, who now looked annoyed and offended after hearing that.

"I beg your pardon?!"

Then, all of a sudden, an unfamiliar fellow leaped in between the crowd of venders and the group of friends, warning the townsfolk to back away.

"Whoa, ho! Y'all need to back it up, okay? Every single one of you is in serious danger!"

This newcomer was a green-eyed, golden-colored cat named Capper, who wore a shabby deep-red duster coat, and had a curl of purple hair on top of his head, in between his ears.

"None of you touched any of them, right? I mean, just look at those colors! You think that's natural?"

Before anyone could ask what he was talking about, Capper put on a horrified expression as he said, "They've been infected with Pastelus Colouritis!"

GASP!

The mob of hooligans immediately became shocked and worried after hearing that, but a frowning Applejack said, "Now, wait an apple-pickin' minute, fella! All of us here are-"

She was suddenly cut off by Capper's tail, which he used to silence her, and the cat gave her a look before he continued speaking to the crowd.

"Now, don't worry, as long as no one here is covered in purple slotches, y'all are gonna be fine… uh-oh!"

Capper pointed at the fish-like creature Pinkie had earlier given a hug to, and everyone saw that his arms were covered with several purple slotches.

"W-what do I do?" cried the worried vendor, who was unaware of the fact that Capper had actually placed those splotches there via tail and a puddle of purple liquid, and the cat began to smirk.

"Enjoy your last moments, and don't touch anyone… because parts will fall off."

Whoosh!

It took only a matter of seconds for the crowd to disperse, leaving only Capper and the group of friends.

"Well, all right…" said the gold cat, now pleased with himself.

As for the others, Rainbow Dash was the first to speak. "You. Are. Awesome!"

"Ooh, and quite charming!" added a giggling and blushing Rarity, unaware of the fact that Spike was now starting to get jealous, and the little dragon grunted while crossing his arms.

The lanky feline delivered a gentleman-like bow, and said, "Capper's the name… charming's my game… so, to the hippos, then?"

Pinkie started to follow after him, but Twilight stood in front of her, placing a wing by their faces, and whispered, "I don't know if we should trust him."

"Well, we could definitely use a friend out here!" replied Pinkie.

Before Twilight could respond to her, Capper used one of his claws to lower the alicorn's wing, saying, "You know what? Little Cotton Candy Hair is right, and if I do say so myself…"

This town is not a nice place
For little fillies all alone
There are lots of twists and corners
That could lead to the unknown

Let me guide your way
And I'll be sure to help you through
You could really use a friend out here
And luckily for you…

I'm the friend that you need
When you're lost and don't know what to do
I'm your pal, your amigo
Useful and resourceful, too

And my help, you'll concede
Is a plus guaranteed
You can call and I'll come running
Just follow my lead
'Cause I'm the friend you need!

[Earnest Klugetowner]
He's a friend

[Scaly Klugetowner] Quite a friend!

[Klugetowners]
He's a friend indeed!

So, the group started following Capper, who made sure that neither of them got hurt in any way, as well as protecting Fluttershy from a swarm of bats.

[Capper]
You need a bud to spot the danger
A pal to stop the creep
A chum and not a stranger to assist

You need a bro who is cunning
That can help you take the leap
A friend who knows what's lying in the mist

Don't fear these darkened alleys
They're scary, yes, I know
Why, you could use a friend
To protect you wherever you go

(to Rarity)
And such a dazzling beauty
Covered in dirt and muck

But now your fate is changing
Now you are in luck

Then, Capper rolled out a red carpet that led to a very tall water mill, and as he sang, the Mane 6 (except for Twilight) found themselves moving along to the tango-like beat.

Even Casey found himself doing it, but a look from Twilight caused him to stop, and he whispered, "Sorry…"

'Cause I'm the friend that you need
When you're lost and don't know what to do

I'm your pal, your amigo
Lookin' out for friends like you

And my help, you'll concede
Is a plus guaranteed

Just call and I'll come running
We'll say it's agreed...

After watching the group of friends go through the gates, Capper walked over to a small, cloaked creature that was nearby, and handed him a piece of paper. "Here, tell Verko, 'my place, twenty minutes.' I've got something that will magically erase all my debt."

Then, he went back to join the others, and concluded his song as they all went up to the top of the wooden building.

'Cause I'm the friend you need!

[Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash]
He's a friend

Rarity: Quite a friend!

[Ponies except Twilight and Casey]
He's a friend indeed!

Comments

[Golden Fang Ryu Shenron]

Oh boy...this scene again.