• Published 16th Dec 2017
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The Little Pony legend: The Guardians of Harmony - MaggiesHeartLove



Princess Iris and Princess Akari was preparing for the Friendship Festival, which takes an unexpected turn when Tempest Shadow arrives with the Storm King's army! Now, the Guardians will need to travel beyond Equestria in order to save their home

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A second escape

A Second Escape

Akari bursted into the room where the statues of her parents stood before the two thrones of the royal alicorn sisters. Twilight was in front of Celestia's, while Flash was placed in front of Luna's. Akari galloped up the staircase towards them. It felt longer than she remembered.

Once she reached the top, the entire castle rumbled. Bits of the ceiling fell and cracked once they hit the ground. The beautiful stain glassed windows lost their coloring, turning gray and crumbling at the seems. Akari held her stoned parents close and cried out for help.

"Iris! Guys! Anybody!"

But nobody came. None of her friends answered. A wicked laughter echoed through the walls.

Akari didn't recognize that voice. It wasn't Tempest's, or even Discord's, and even reformed he still managed to pull off a chillingly convincing evil laugh. No, it wasn't anyone she knew.

The voice grew louder. Closer. Akari's body trembled in a way she never knew it could. Her horn sparkled with magic, her wings outstretched menacingly, ready to defend her parents. But no magic shot out of her horn. The sparks died down and even her wings felt heavy. What was happening?

A large shadowy figure appeared at the doorway, bigger than Discord, but not as big as Wan Shi Tong, but he was just as menacing. It was the Storm King in all his evil, monstrous glory, showing off his sharp teeth as he smiled. His stormy blue eyes stared down at the princess.

"Aww, The Princess of Friendship… with no friends."

"What did you do to them!?"

The Storm King only waved his staff around. Magic sparks of lightning shot out and the rest of the castle was blasted away. The walls disintegrated, leaving only a small rocky pedestal where Akari currently stood with her petrified parents.

Her heart stopped at seeing Iris… now completely turned to stone! The Avatar's face was frozen in a state of eternal fear. Akari's eyes traveled to see Mai, Hiro, and Chi standing before Iris, all equally frozen in a state of terror, either desperately trying to shield themselves or stuck in a position that looked as if they were ready to run for their lives. Nori had her ears dropped, her hooves cemented to the ground, her mouth opened as if it were trembling. Chrysalis had her front hooves out but her face looked like she was crying out for mercy.

Finally, her eyes fell upon Gallant Steed. He was in a fighting stance, as if he was trying to defend someone, but his expression looked like it had been stoned right in between the exchange from bravery to fear.

"No… No!" Akari felt something cold on her shoulder. She turned around to see her mother, still a black crystal statue, but her stoned hoof managed to move, landing on Akari's shoulders. Her eyes did not blink, but her mouth moved none the less. It was a frightening sight.

"How can you save the realm if you couldn't even save me?" Twilight's voice echoed like a ghost. Right before Akari's eyes, both her parents and the statues of her friends broke apart, forming into a pile of rocks.

"NO!"

The Storm King's laughter boomed and the skies twisted to form clouds that shot lightning in all directions. Akari tried to fight with her magic. Her anger and grief fueling her power.

Just as she was about to blast at the creature who took everything from her… her horn broke off, rolling down to the floor only to be crushed by the Storm King's cloven hooves.

No magic. No friends. No family. No kingdom. Akari had failed. She had failed Equestria. She had failed the mission.

She had failed everybody. Her spirit wasn't enough this time.

……..

Akari woke up in a cold sweat. The hammock in which she slept in was soft enough and the rocking of the ship did help her fall asleep quick. If only she could say the same for the actual sleep. She was restless and she couldn't stop thinking about the Storm King.

This entire journey had been a huge mess. First, they are forced to leave their homeland, then they almost get sold after trusting someone they believed was their friend, then their new friend almost gets them killed. Granted, it was an accident, but so far, everything that should have gone right went wrong. Who knows what the Storm King could be doing to her parents right now, and everybody they knew was powerless to stop them.

Akari had seen many things over the years, but seeing her mother turned stone, now powerless back in Equestria with everyone else being unable to defend themselves was more troubling than anything she had ever encountered.

She was supposed to be the brave one. The one who always had a plan, who was always ready to jump into action and face any threat. She loved adventures, she loved taking on bad guys, and she loved doing it with her friends. But all it took was for one Friendship Festival gone wrong for Akari to fully come to grips with the fact that this role she and her friends had been given was so much more than just friends going on adventures and taking names.

The sound Captain Celaeno's voice was what shook Akari from her thought process.

"All right! That's breakfast!"

(~)

That morning, Chi decided to challenge Celaeno to a sword fight. The pirate bird laughed the entire time, she was having a blast dueling the feisty wisp, who morphed her arm into a sword.

The pirate birds made them a delicious meal (no slop this time), and they watched as the two new friends sword dueled. Iris had taken the time to explain to everyone how Hozu was able to do the things he did before.

Hiro was especially impressed. "So, let me see if I got this. Your mom was a spirit, and your dad was human. So, you're an authentic, human-spirit hybrid? And you can make weather tricks with your mind?"

Hozu scratched the back of his neck bashfully. "Y-Yeah, pretty much." Ever since the cat got out of the bag, he found no need to try the whole 'cool-street-charming-guy' act anymore, or even to hide what he really was.

Hiro blinked a couple times. "That… is…so cool! We've never had another hybrid on our team before!"

Hozu was still getting used to the fact that they were wiling to welcome him into their group, especially after what happened. "I'm really sorry about, you know, almost killing you."

Hiro scoffed, "Water under the bridge! Once you've had your life flash before your eyes like twelve hundred times, it becomes kind of second nature."

"And we all forgive you, Hozu." Nori said, sitting on a crate, her new pearl necklace Celaeno had given her sparkled in the morning sunlight. "We know you were only trying to help."

"If it weren't for you, we would have probably been road kill by now." said Gallant Steed.

Hozu didn't know if to smile or give them a hand shake or what. To his surprise, Chrysalis made the first move and hugged him. She knew better than anyone how hard it was to move on from past mistakes, but if there was any group of friends who would be willing to give someone a second chance, it was this one.

Mai, on the other hand, wasn't entirely sure. Seeing her brother get almost killed because Hozu couldn't control his powers didn't exactly place her mind at ease.

"See? We're all friends now." Hiro nudged his sister's elbow. "Right, sis?" he said through gritted teeth. While Mai was the more cautious sibling, Hiro always had an easier time to forgive and forget.

Mai sighed in defeat. "Yeah sure, whatever."

Hozu had a feeling that Mai's trust would be a bit harder to gain. He did, unintentionally, almost killed her older brother so he understood her hesitation. He didn't blame her at all for it.

Mai knew Hozu's intentions were genuine, she didn't doubt that. But, his powers were still a mystery to them, so she was going to, at the very least, keep a close eye on them. Hopefully, Iris and Akari's magic would be enough to help out with that.

Speaking of Iris and Akari, the two were on the other side of the ship, seeing the exchange between Hozu and the others. Akari sat on a crate as well, leveled to Iris.

"Soooo…" Akari began, "You and Hozu didn't fight once during breakfast."

Iris could already feel her face redden. "Yeah, well you know, turns out he's not what I expected."

"He's not what any of us expected." Akari said, mixed with a chuckle. She looked over her shoulder at the vast, cloudy skies. She could barely see any trace of the earth and the clouds prevented her from getting a clear view on Mount Aris. They still had ways to go, but she couldn't control the nervous twists and knots in her stomach.

Iris playfully ruffled her friend's mane. "We're almost there. We're going to save our parents."

Akari managed to smile a bit, but her mind still lingered on the Storm King. She couldn't stop thinking about her nightmare. "What do you think the Storm King is doing to them?" Akari asked, her ears dropping.

"I don't know." Iris replied with uncertainty as she looked at the loads above.

"And the others… they can't even use their powers to defend themselves. What if he…" Akari sucked in her lips, unable to continue.

Iris hugged her friend but before she could say words of comfort, Squabble started squawking frantically, causing the two to gasp and turn their heads around to see him pointing towards a thick storm cloud. A familiarly looking sinister airship pierced through.

"Storm guards! Looks like they found you!" said Captain Celaeno.

Akari gasped, "Tempest!"

"Secure the rigging! Lock down the cargo! Everyone, prepare to be boarded!"

Boyle led the kids back to the cargo hold where they first found them, only instead of hiding from the birds, they were now hiding from the evil unicorn. Chrysalis protectively held Nori close, and Gallant Steed did the same for Akari. Chi had her hands on both Hiro and Mai's shoulders while Hozu, by complete instinct, had his hand on Iris's arm.

"How did she find us?" Gallant asked in a harsh whisper.

Hozu's eyes widened in anguish. "Uh, oh."

"Uh, oh?" Akari repeated, "What, 'Uh, oh'? There shouldn't be any 'Uh, oh's! Why is he saying 'Uh, oh'?!"

"I… think it was the clouds."

"What clouds?" Chi asked.

"The clouds… I made last night." Hozu said, completely dodging the fact that Iris had joined in him doing so. "They must have lingered long enough for her to spot them."

"Are you kidding me?!" Mai retorted, only to be held back by her brother and Chi.

"It wasn't his fault." Iris confessed. "I was trying to help him with his powers. This is my fault too."

"No, Iris." Hozu said. "Believe me, my clouds tend to linger for a while, yours disappeared not too long afterwards and they stayed in the same place. Mine were the ones that went off. This is all on me."

Akari, rather than feel sorry for Hozu, hoof palmed herself, "Great! Just perfect!"

From outside, a harpoon shoot from Tempest's airship onto the lower deck of the pirate's ship and reeled them to the skiff. The kids tumbled over and fell into a pile, shipments of cargo fell off and rolled onto the floorboards. Tempest, Grubber and the storm guards boarded the pirate ship. Grubber took a bite out of his sponge cake and chewed on it, trying to look menacing but it only made him look like the glutinous furry creature that he was.

The pirates knew of the Storm King's Commander, as well as her reputation for being as explosive and deadly as her master. Celaeno's eyes widened, her knees buckling as she and her crew stood in line, trying to act as casual as possible.

Tempest rose an eyebrow. "Where are your standardized Storm King uniforms?" she asked.

"It's… it was pirate night." Celaeno said. "And, we accidentally spilled some rum onto our uniforms, so they're hanging out to dry out now. It was either these costumes or walk around in our birthday suits and, something tells me you wouldn't gave found that pleasant."

Celaeno managed to keep her calm while lying, though judging by Tempest's scowl she wasn't entirely convinced. She trotted stoically across the deck, eyeing the birds suspiciously.

"Where is the Princess Avatar?"

"Uh, the what now?"

"A human girl with wings. No doubt accompanied by a little pink pony."

"Uh, pony? Hang on." Celaeno pulled out a clipboard and traced her clawed finger over the list. "Pony… pony… "Avatar", was it? Ava-Tar... Nope. All we're hauling is Storm King merchandise."

Squabble squawked while playing with a Storm King bobble head.

"You do realize that if you were to shelter fugitives, the Storm King would be quite... explosive."

Captain Celaeno was well known far and wide for her fearlessness, but in the presence of the unicorn, she gulped. Tempest was not someone who was easily fooled, and as the children listened in on the conversation from bellow, they knew it just as well as Celaeno did.

"We have to get off this ship before they tell Tempest we're here!" Akari whispered loudly.

"We helped them get their mojo back." Chi whispered back, "They're not gonna give us up!"

As much as Akari wanted to believe that, Tempest was not going to give them up without a fight. Once again, what should have gone right went wrong fast. As if things couldn't get any worse…

"Now, I'm gonna count to three, and if you don't tell me where they are, your ship is going down." Tempest said from above.

Akari looked around. There was no other trap door for them to escape through. But there was one thing Akari did learn over the years. If there was no way out, you don't wait for it… you make it.

"I've got this!"

Using a minimum amount of her firebending, Akari burned through the wooden floor of the ship. She cut through two lines on the floor and then vertically, creating a square as Tempest counted down the seconds.

"One…"

The wood was thick and Akari had to keep her fire low enough so Tempest wouldn't smell the burning wood. She was halfway there. Droplets of sweat dripped from her brown, her heart pounding but her eyes remained focused.

"…Two…"

From above, Celaeno gripped her sword, ready to fight the unicorn if necessary. Grubber watched the scene with anticipation. "Oh, this is intense!"

"Three!"

A distant, muffled word that sounded almost like "Dive!" was heard from bellow the ship. Tempest opened the trapdoor as to where they had come from but she saw nothing. The entire cargo hold was empty. Upon seeing that the kids managed to escape without getting caught. Celaeno breathed a sigh of relief. They were tough kids, so she was confident they would be alright.

Tempest angrily closed the door with her hoof, and the opening Akari had made slid open from the forceful slam. The self made hangar door flapped open and the cool winds blew in through.

(~)

"I did not sign up for this!!!"

Nori screamed as she and the others fell from the sky at rapid speed. They were already far enough away so Tempest couldn't hear their screams.

"My life is flashing before my eyes again!" Hiro shouted in terror. Then, his attitude quickly changed as he casually talked to Gallant Steed while free falling. "Hey, remember when we shaved our heads?"

"Yeah, that was pretty funny!" Gallant laughed… then he and Hiro held onto each other, screaming like little girls, their hair flapping in the wind.

"It'd be really great not to crash right now, you guys!" Mai shouted.

Chi fearlessly dove downwards faster than the others. At the right moment, her body changed into a dragon bird yet again, catching Nori, Gallant, Hiro, Mai and Hozu, while Chrysalis, Akari and Iris flew beside her.

Hozu was literally trembling as he inspected his body. Everything was still in place and everyone was alive. "Way to wait until the last minute, Chi!"

"Couldn't risk Tempest spotting us from the air." The Chi replied, flapping her now large wings.

"Quick thinking, Sweetie!" Gallant said to Akari, who did a coupled of happy air flips.

"Yahoo! Ha ha!"

"That was fun! Can we do it again?" Hiro asked.

"NO!" Mai, Hozu, Gallant and Nori all shouted at him.

Chi changed course towards a tall mountaintop, glistening in the sunlight. "Next stop, Mount Aris!"

"We're home free!" Akari cheered as she flew alongside Chi. The rest of her fellow guardians celebrated as they flew towards their destination.

(~)

The storm creatures grunted as they trashed the pirate ship. Tempest cornered the pirates and Capper to the back of the ship, her eyes narrowed menacingly. She knew the Guardians were here and they managed to escape her clutches. Again!

The cat and bird pirates walked backwards away from the unicorn, already seeing the sparks of magic taking form.

Grubber walked out of the cargo hold, "There're no Guardians. But I found this." he showed her a strawberry cupcake, "It's a... kind of a cupcake... with sprinkles… Oh, yeah, and I found this, too."

Tempest took the map Grubber had found and just like that her attitude morphed from anger to a sinister form of delight. "Looks like they're heading to Mount Aris." she said to Capper.

"Really? Mou- Mount Aris?" The poor cat was a stammering mess, laughing nervously. There was no covering his tracks this time. And Tempest's nasty look wasn't helping either. "I… Well, that's my mis— I didn't know that... Mount Ari... My bad, I didn't... That's my... I'm sorry, I'm very very sorry."

Tempest's horn charged up, stronger than before. "Now, about your betrayal…"

Blasts of magic shot like torpedoes all across the airship, striking every box, every board, every pole and every sail. The colorful wings had gone up in flames and bits of the ship splashed into the waters bellow, followed by the entire ship. Tempest and her followers were already safely on board their own ship, watching pleasantly as the remains sunk into the cold waters.

A torn up pirate flag floated on the surface.

(~)