Chapter 1

The two-ton bolder stood triumphant looking over its conquered land. That ancient land of the ponies.

The overseer of the valley glistened by the sun's rays cast a great shadow over the town. It was so enormous that no pony had dared to move it for thousands of years. Until one decided to kick its back.

"You know Apple Jack, it's impossible to move this dang rock." Rainbow Dash grinned at her friend after another failure.

"Well we're gonna just have to try a little harder now aren't we" Apple Jack snorted kicking the rock with more force. The rock ever unimpressed with her strength continued its stagnation.

"You want to give me a turn? My wings are the strongest in all of Equestria!" Rainbow Dash stood majestically like she were Celestia herself. "Give me some rope and I'll have this baby in Ponyville by sundown!"

"Dash please you might be the strongest flyer but this thing here ways four-thousand pounds. I doubt you could make more progress than I could."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "I could just have Twilight give me another one of those talent enhancer thingies. If I can preform a double rainboom I can move some stupid rock a few feet."

Apple Jack ignored her friend and continued with her quest. She had been at it all morning and was not about to let some pegasus deny her goal, even if it was her best friend.

"So why have y9u been toiling away at this thing all morning anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Twilight wanted me to bring this rock down for some investigating. She said that she wanted to investigate the thing as it has magical properties she wanted to explore."

"And you didn't question why she couldn't just drag her butt up here herself?"

Apple Jack sighed, "I asked her about that and she said she's booked for the entire day. Besides, this here rock hasn't been moved in thousands of years. Not even Star Swirl himself could move it. Dash, if I can budge it ever so slightly I'll have just created history" she beamed. Apple Jack further explained that Twilight had given her a book about the magical rock that prompted the challenge.

"So if the rock is two-tons then why haven't we gotten some leavers to lift that thing off the ground? Get Big Mack and some of his buddies to help and we make history no problem!" Rainbow Dash smacked her hoofs together.

"Well accordin to legend the rock does not allow for outside involvement. Any wood plank instantly dissolves. Who ever enchanted this thing obviously wanted the pony to earn it the hard way."

"Well isn't that just convenient" Rainbow Dash folded her arms. "If that's the case then shouldn't the Princesses combine their magic in order to crack this damn rock?"

"I wish that were the case. Legend has it that the One Who Knows has the keys to unlock the rocks potential. Turns out the Princesses tried years ago to no avail."

"The One Who Knows?" Rainbow Dash threw her hands in the air. "What in the hell does that mean? Like some sort of prophecy?"

"You got it" Apple Jack nodded. "Although I didn't read far enough to see what it actually said. I'll ask Twilight once she got done runnin some errands. She was gonna meet me here afterward."

"Well she'd better hurry since I'm getting hungry" Dash rubbed her stomach.

"You didn't happen to oversleep again now did you" Apple Jack glared at her.

"Yeah, well..." Rainbow Dashes voice trailed off as she dug her hoof in the dirt. "I still got the sky cleared!"

"Well I hope that you'll wake up on time tomorrow. You know how important that's going to be for Twi." Apple Jack said giving the rock another shove.

"Wait you mean that silly old rock festival? Isn't that suited for Maud than our little bookworm?"

Apple Jack shot her a scowling glare. "Celestia has tasked Twi to organize the festival. It is imperative that we all pitch in to help."

"Oh..." Dashes voice trialed off again. "I gotcha. I'll make sure to set off an alarm that'll wake me up before sunrise to get some extra time in."

"I'm sure Twi'll appreciate that!" Apple Jack gave a warm smile, patting her friend on the head.

"Hey you want to go get some grub? I imagine you're pretty hungry after all this progress you haven't made."

Apple Jack couldn't help but laugh. "Now that you mention it I am pretty parched. Do you mind running ahead to get a seat at Munchies before the lunch rush?"

Rainbow Dash nodded and scurried off.

Apple Jack returned her attention to her arch nemesis. She looked behind at her back hooves. Hitting that rock for hours on end had made them more chiseled than the bolder. She switched to her front hooves to try and finish the job.

"Man they know how to make some good pies!" Rainbow Dash howled. Apple Jack laughed along with her as they finished their meals.

"This was a great idea you had Dash!" Apple Jack wiped her face. "Now I have enough strength to-"

Apple Jack was interrupted by Twilight slamming into her back.

"Hey guys I need you both to come with me right away!" Her eyes strayed over to the table. Twilight sheepishly apologized and quickly cleaned up her mess.

"Woh slow down there Twilight. What's the problem?" Apple Jack asked putting her hoof on Twilight's.

"You know how that rock hasn't been moved in its thousands of years of existence?" Twilight's gaze moved downward towards her twiddling hooves. "It isn't there anymore."

Rainbow Dash gasped. "What do you mean it's not there anymore!?" She slammed her hooves on the table. "Don't you know how long AJ has been working on that damn thing? AJ, show Twi your back hooves."

Apple Jack laughed. "It's okay Dash. I was getting pretty exhausted because of that thing anyhow."

"Whatever! When we get back there I'm giving that pony a piece of my mind!" Rainbow Dash stormed off leaving her friends.

As the trio climbed closer towards the rock, Twilight noticed a slight shift in the wind. "Did any of you two feel that?" Her friends shook their heads. Twilight scratched her mane, which was getting more tangled as the day went on.

When they got to the summit Twilight heard a soft, but audible laughter. "Discord, what in Celestia's name are you doing here?"

Rainbow Dash and Apple Jack turned their heads in unison. The draconequus slyly veered out of Twilight's eyesight.

"Oh you know." He appeared in front of them. "Just hanging around." He popped his head off and slid it beside Twilight. The Alicorn screeched much to Discord's pleasure.

"Where did you put the rock?" Rainbow Dash growled.

"Oh, what makes you think that I was the one that moved it?" Discord mocked her pushing the air as if he were standing next to the rock.

"I know your dirty tricks. So what endless demotion did you send this one to?"

Discord flew next to Dash and whispered in her ear. "Believe it or not, I wasn't the one who moved the rock."

"Unlikely story, I know you have magic powerful enough to shift the entire universe. What makes me think that you didnt move it?"

"Because Dashie, there is only one who can move the rock. That pony is not me."

"Well if it isn't you than who is it?" Twilight piped up.

"See for yourself." A portal appeared and showed that soon after Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash left, a pony managed to quickly move the rock out of sight down the other side of the hill. The pony in question wore a hood as to not be discovered, but Twilight saw a streak of grey hair on their mane.

"Discord, if a pony with that kind of magical prowess exists then why didn't the map pick it up?" Twilight asked.

"Because my dear they probably have some sort of cloaking spell that's made them impossible to track."

"Then in that case would that mean that they've been preparing for this moment their entire life?" Apple Jack asked.

"I doubt it." Twilight waved her off. "That prophecy has been the hands of the Princesses and their students since time immortal. I wouldn't imagine that secret unless..." Twilight paused. "Unless that pony was a former student."

"Ding ding ding we have a winner!" Discord created a stage with the word applause in neon lighting overhead.

"Since it's a former student, Twi would you know who it is?" Rainbow Dash turned to her friend.

"I have no idea. I didn't even know about Sunset Shimmer until I went into the human world. Celestia is very sensitive about failed students."

"Well would you be able to ask her during the festival tomorrow?"

"I don't know if I would even be able to." Twilight gingerly rubbed her hooves. "While I'm sure she'd be willing to answer the question, I would not want to dampen her mood during one of the most important festivals of the year."

280 views