Chapter six
Twilight walked along the red carpet in the hallway with a hesitant pace. She noticed a mirror on the wall and stopped to look at her reflection. In her reflection she saw that her fur had been brushed so neatly that not a hair stood out of place, thanks to Rarity, her mane had been brushed and attended so that it glistened, thanks to Starlight, and Pinkie acted as her cheerleader to give her confidence. Twilight smiled when she remembered Pinkie chanting her name. Then gave a light giggle when Blueblood starting chanting with her.
Yet, with all that support she felt nervous. Or was it anxiety that Twilight was feeling? She couldn’t tell, but she wanted to the date to go off without a hitch. It had to because her whole kingdom’s survival depended on it.
”I forbid either of my daughters and son to attend your ball!”
The words of her mother, Queen Celestia, echoes in her mind the day Discord arrived.
THE PAST
In the Kingdom of Equestria, during the Great War, Princess Twilight Sparkle and Prince Blueblood approached the door to the throne room in Canterlot Castle. Twilight reached for the handle but halted when she heard the roaring voice of her mother.
“You dare show your face here?!” The voice of Queen Celestia screamed.
A blast of golden magic followed suit, shaking the whole castle. Dust shook from the ceiling and the walls trembled. Twilight looked frightened but Blueblood seemed unfazed.
“Celestia,” another voice, this one unfamiliar to Twilight, spoke, trying to calm Celestia down, “please reconsider.”
“You listen to me, Discord.” Celestia threatened. “I forbid either of my daughters and son to attend your ball! Now begone!”
The doors flew open, causing Twilight to jump in surprise, and Discord, in his deer form, exited the throne room with the doors slamming behind him. He paused when he noticed Twilight and Blueblood, he let out a sigh before walking past them.
“Please wait!” Blueblood requested of Discord, and Discord stopped in his tracks. “I can only assume you are King Discord, if I may be so bold, what were you and my mother discussing?”
Twilight was also interested in what the Lord of Chaos was doing in Equestria.
Discord turned to face Blueblood and answered, “I am hosting a ball for my children to find a significant other, should my children chose to wed someone from a kingdom I will use everything in my power and all of the power of my Kingdom to help repair any damages done due to the Great War. I made an offer to your mother to allow you two and your sister Fleur to attend but she has declined my offer.” Discord turned to walk away but was stopped once more, not by Blueblood but by Twilight.
“When will this ball occur?” Twilight asked.
Discord faced Twilight to answer, “one year from now, but your mother-“
“Our mother is not well,” Blueblood interjected. “The war has taken a toll on her and she is not thinking clearly. Also, we may be her children but that does not mean she has control over our lives, I will attend this ball of yours one year from now.”
A grin flashed on Discord’s face for a brief moment before returning to normal, he looked back to Twilight and asked, “what say you, Princess Twilight Sparkle?
Of course Twilight agreed, she had no choice as she wanted to help her kingdom. As for love, Twilight did not believe in such a thing. She looked at her reflection and reminded herself of her principle.
“The brain is a combination of nervous tissue, behaviors, and attitudes can be measured, predicted, and manipulated. I am a scientist, an explorer of knowledge and truth, I cannot waste time on such things like love.” Twilight said, and what she spoke she believed to be the honest truth. Twilight felt no love towards Flash, she saw him as nothing more than a means to achieve her goal to restore her kingdom. Nothing more and nothing less.
“For emotions are inferior to logic.” A voice spoke, making Twilight freeze in surprise and she turned to face the source of the new voice. A unicorn stallion with pale yellow fur, navy blue mane with the front pointed up, blue eyes, and a shooting star as his cutie mark approached Twilight. “It’s the quote of the apprentice of Star Swirl the Bearded, Ammonius. He believed that magic and knowledge was everything, and he would sacrifice anything and anyone to achieve his goals.” The unicorn stated, raising a brow at Twilight. “Should I find it concerning that you are quoting such a dangerous principle to live by?”
Twilight blinked in confusion before regaining her composure. “It...has to do with a test.” Twilight lied, her eyes looking away from the Unicorn’s, an obvious ‘tell’ that she was lying.
A lie which the unicorn did pick up on but chose to ignore. “Anyways, I’m here to guide you to the library, follow me.” The unicorn walked away and Twilight followed. After a while, the two came to the large wooden double doors of the library. The unicorn opened the door to allow Twilight to enter. She took one step in and the unicorn stopped her. “The library has a special enchantment, in order for one to acquire knowledge, you must provide knowledge that is unknown for the library. Just thought you should know.” The unicorn said, before letting Twilight enter.
“Who are you?” Twilight asked, “you can’t be a guard, you lack the build and armor, you can’t be a servant, you lack the respect and discipline of one, so who are you?”
The unicorn gave Twilight a smile that sent a shiver down her spine, “I’ll tell you my name, but if I do you must promise not to tell Flash.”
“I promise.” Twilight agreed, upon saying that a symbol flashed on her throat for a brief moment before disappearing.
“My name is *Malt Cetio*, and I am a close friend of Prince Flash Sentry.” The unicorn, now known as *Malt Cetio* answered before taking his leave.
Twilight waited until the doors shut and Totam Cile was no longer in sight before continuing into the library. Shelves as tall as a three-story building decorated the library, each filled to the brim with books. Twilight walked along in awe at the amount of knowledge that was held within each book.
“I feel like I could read these books for an eternity,” Twilight said to herself.
“Funny,” a deep voice bellowed behind Twilight, “you're not the first to say that.”
Twilight spun around and gasped as a massive owl with black feathers swooped down to Twilight. The smooth feathers on its face were as white as snow, and its eyes were black under eyelids like spits.
“I am Wan Shi Tong, keeper of the library.” The Owl stated. “I trust you are the one known as Princess Twilight Sparkle?”
Twilight nodded, “my knowledge to you is-“ Twilight tried to say her piece of knowledge for entre but the Owl stopped her.
Won Shi Tong extended a wing to make Twilight stop. “Your companion, Prince Flash Sentry has already paid the price for you. He is waiting for you in the History section down there,” Won Shi Tong pointed,” I trust that you will be respectful of the rules. Farewell.”
With that, Won Shi Tong unfolded his wings and took off. Twilight watched in awe as the massive owl flew away before heading off to where he had pointed to what was known as the nonfiction section. Upon entering the nonfiction section, Twilight saw Flash reading a book in a red cushioned sofa, the nightstand beside him had a lamp on it which illuminated his surroundings and allowed him to read. As Twilight approached Flash, she noticed the book Flash was reading when she saw the title ”History of Cantium”.
"You're reading about the history of the city of Cantium?" Twilight asked, gaining Flash's attention.
"Well," Flash began, "the history of the city before it became a part of the Equestrian Empire." Flash smiled, and Twilight smiled back.
"So, what did you have in mind for our da-," Twilight almost gagged upon saying the word 'date', but was able to keep her composure. "I mean...engagement."
Flash's grin grew, as he had made sure that the date had been thoroughly planned out. "Hmmm, why don't you give me a guess."
Twilight raised a brow in curiosity, she always enjoyed a good puzzle. She glanced around the room, taking in all of her surroundings. Then she glanced at a Flash, analyzing him with keen eyes she thought of everything that made Flash Sentry be Flash Sentry. He corrected her on a date for a book which meant he has an interest in history, he enjoys writing books of his own, he had a strong build but not too muscular which meant he exercised regularly, and he has a nice firm jaw and attractive face.
Twilight shook that last thought away, "Focus, Twilight." "I'm going to guess that you and I will be writing a story of our own."
Flash shook his head. "Sorry, but you're wrong."
Twilight was a tad bit disappointed because writing a story seemed rather interesting to her. "Then I guess you'll be giving me a tour of the history of Chaosville?" Twilight guessed but Flash shook his head once more.
"Nope, give up?" Flash asked, with a grin that looked like he had already won.
Twilight tapped her chin in thought before letting out a sigh of defeat, nonetheless, she kept her smile up. "I give up, what's the surprise?" She asked.
"Follow me," Flash said, walking off towards another room.
Flash Sentry was no fool, while he is oblivious to certain things, Twilight Sparkle wasn't one of them. In fact, Twilight was one of Flash's idols who he respected and admired very much. The reason was because of the similarities the two shared. Both Flash and Twilight had a knack for making friends out of enemies, both had a love for literature and acquiring knowledge, and both were ponies that didn't submit/back down so easily. However, while Flash wouldn't exactly call his feelings towards Twilight 'love' so much as...stirrings in his heart. Nonetheless, Flash would certainly make sure that this date went off without a cinch. He knew that Twilight was a fan of history and literature, so when planning the date he knew exactly what to do. There was a project that had captivated Flash's interests for a long time but he could never solve due to his lack of mastery over magic, something that Twilight, without a doubt, possessed.
The room both Flash and Twilight entered in was covered in grey marble from the walls to the ceiling and the floor. In the center of the room was an object that was concealed by a white blanket, with multiple candles the circled the object. Flash walked up to the object and, once he was beside it, faced Twilight, "Twilight, do you know of the city of Pronestian?" Flash asked and Twilight nodded her head as her answer. "What do you know about it?"
"The history of Pronestian is bit murky, it was a city that belonged to the kingdom of Chaosville that was the most culturally diverse city ever known. Races from all over would come and stay, but then one day the whole city was in ruin and its inhabitants were nowhere to be found. Many archeologists theorize that the cause may be connected to Starswirl the Bearded as that was his home city. As well as his two apprentices, Clover the Clever and Amontius, but neither of the two could ever be found."
"Until now," Flash stated, removing the blanket in a dramatic fashion to reveal a statue of a pegasus mare.
Twilight gasped in awe the moment she laid eyes on the statue, then she burst out laughing. The reason was that the statue depicted the mare tripping over something and landing of her face. The sight was quite humorous. Flash joined in with the laughter as well, once the two stopped laughing Flash started to explain, "This statue isn't actually a statue but it's actually a mare that has been imprisoned due to a stone imprisonment spell. After I did some research I discovered that this mare was, in fact, the assistant to Star Swirl the Bearded and his two apprentices." Flash said before revealing his true intentions of there date. "Twilight, many of the most powerful and wise magic users have both tried and failed to remove the spell, however, none of them could hold a candle to your genius and magical power, so what say you and I try to remove the spell?"
Twilight beamed with glee and excitement, this was better than anything she could've hoped for, and she was ready to enjoy every second of it. In a flash of lavender light, Twilight was adorned in a white lab coat, black gloves, and a pair of round goggles sat on her forehead. A bunch of chemical and scientific lab equipment the teleported into the room thanks to Twilight's magic. Just to show off, she also used her magic to dress Flash in the same apparel that she was wearing. She lowered the goggles over her eyes and smirked at the challenge before her. "Challenge accepted."
Meanwhile, Fancy Pants had exited the hot springs, hot steam escaping the room as he left. Just as his brother Johnny had suggested he chose Ember and took Spike along with him. While Ember was uncomfortable during the first part of the date, she became more affable when she and Spike began chatting. Fancy decided that it would be best to leave the two of them alone so he gave them some space. He removed his towel and hung it to dry before using his magic to make his clothes appear on him. He then began his way towards Johnny's room in order to thank him for the advice his brother had given him.
While on his way he paused upon catching a glimpse of something very eye-catching. It was the unicorn mare with white fur and a deep purple mane in an adjacent hallway, she was carrying a pair of folded clothing which was what caught Fancy's attention. "Excuse me, miss...!" Fancy trailed off, kicking himself for not knowing the name of the mare, especially someone who appeared to be so extravagant.
The mare stopped and turned around to face Fancy, she gasped when she realized that it was the prince of all ponies that spoke to her. "Oh, um..." Rarity stumbled on her words before regaining her composure. "How may I assist you, your majesty?"
"There's no need for pleasantries," Fancy waived, "however, I do believe that I am amiss to your name."
"My name is Rarity." The mare answered. "I am Fleur De Lis' maid, she talks very highly of you Prince Fancy Pants."
Fancy rubbed his neck awkwardly at the mention of Fleur. "Tell me," Fancy indicated to the clothing Rarity was holding, "do you mind if I have a look at that?"
"Not at all." Rarity said, levitating the clothing over to Fancy.
Fancy took hold of the clothing with his magic and unfolded it for him to see it fully. It was a purple dress that had been sown with soft fabric on the top and the bottom of the dress sparkled in the light. When Fancy was holding the dress with his magic, he held it in front of Rarity making it appear, to Fancy, that she was wearing the dress herself. That being said, it definitely looked very good on her.
"This is an amazing design." Fancy stated, receiving a bashful look from Rarity. "It's simply genius, the fabric is simple and cheap yet the design is exquisite. Miss Rarity, I simply must know who made this dress."
Rarity opened her mouth to answer, "It was-"
KA-BOOOOOOM!!!!
A massive explosion shook the foundation of the castle, the walls wobbled and furniture was rocked as the castle lightly bounced from the vibrations of the explosion. The shockwave was so startling that both Fancy and Rarity jumped and crashed into each other. Startled, the two groaned as they regained their senses and once they realized how close the other was their cheeks took on a soft red hue to show their embarrassment.
"Ahem."
The clearing of someone's throat broke their daze as they both looked over to see none other than Fleur standing away from them. Fancy quickly stood up and helped Rarity up as well, Rarity then took back her dress before she tried to explain herself to her Princess. "Your Highness, I-"
Rarity was silenced by Fleur raising her hoof. "Come along, Rarity, we have work to do," Fleur said as she began to walk off.
Rarity took a couple of steps to follow her princess, but stopped for a moment and turned back to Fancy. "Thank you, your High- I mean Fancy Pants." Rarity thanked.
"What for?" Fancy asked, a bit perplexed as to why Rarity had thanked him.
Rarity opened her mouth to answer but was prevented by the calling of her princess. "Now, Rarity!" Fleur ordered. With that, Rarity took off.
Fancy wondered what Rarity was referring to when she had said 'thank you' to him, Fancy then concluded that it must've been an appreciation for him helping her up. Fancy's mind then wondered what was the cause of the explosion that shook the castle, since the castle was supported by powerful bracers that wouldn't break or falter in a million years.
As for Rarity, she couldn't take her eyes off of the dress she was carrying, having received praise for it from none other than a prince himself. For it was Rarity that had made the dress, and that was why she had thanked Fancy for giving it his praise.
Both Spitfire and Soarin were spending their date in the arena of Chaosville, the arena was shaped like a Colosseum; a large circular building with each row that was behind another row escalating up. There was no roof over the arena, so the sun shined down brightly onto the battlefield. It was here that both Soarin, Flash, and Johnny would come to exercise not only themselves but the creatures as well. Chaosville was home to many lifeforms both intelligent and not, and it was the role of the kingdom to preserve the wellbeing of all creatures within and outside of its borders. Of course, this meant that all creatures had to keep their natural instincts and genetics in tack, which meant that the stimulation of predator and prey had to be enacted. Soarin, Flash, and Johnny never protested since it was important to not alter the creatures in any way so they were more than happy to assist with their exercise. Now, a newcomer graced the battlefield of the arena, her name was Spitfire and she was a force to be reckoned with.
Currently, both Soarin and Spitfire were in combat with an Acklay; a large creature that looked like the child of a crab, a reptile, and an insect. It stood at a towering fifteen feet with a long neck, the back of its head was long and its mouth was full of sharp teeth. The outer parts of the Acklay's limbs were pale green, the color you would see on rusted copper, along with some of the inner parts of its limbs being a pale tan. Its main body was long with the top half of it being covered by chitin and the underbelly being exposed. It had six deadly claws like the limbs of a crab with sharp ends that stabbed at the sanded ground of the arena.
The Acklay gave a high pitched, rolling roar as it charged at Spitfire. Spitfire easily dodged the attack of the sharp claw by flying high into the air. Before the Acklay could have time to respond, Spitfire dove down onto the Acklay, and struck it in the head, causing the Acklay to let out a painful yelp. It stumbled back a bit in a daze before regaining its balance and shaking its head to shake off its daze.
Spitfire landed next to Soarin, "That wasn't too hard, was it?" Spitfire asked Soarin, concerned for the Acklay's wellbeing.
"Nah," Soarin answered, "Gregory is one of the toughest creatures we got, a hit like that will only knock him off balance," Soarin said, indicating that the Acklay's name was Gregory.
Spitfire knew that the creature was an endangered species so she wanted to be sure that she didn't go all out. The Acklay gave another roar before charging again, and once more, both Soarin and Spitfire flew into the air to dodge the attack. While the Acklay definitely appeared to be a deadly predator and was most certainly was one before the creation of Chaosville, now the Acklay's were...sort of harmless. They no longer had any need to kill anymore since they were well fed, however, the biological trait of hunting and attacking was still needed since it was the nature of a true Acklay. As a result, the Acklay's evolved to no longer kill but to instead catch and then release. So there was no actual danger to the lives of Soarin and Spitfire unless an accident occurred.
"Hey Spitfire," Soarin called out to his friend as both he and she flew circles around the Acklay.
"What's up?" Spitfire replied.
Both Spitfire and Soarin landed, "You wouldn't, by any chance, know when Rainbow's gonna get here, do you?" Soarin asked.
Spitfire gave Soarin a cheeky smirk and a raised eyebrow, she knew all too well of Soarin's...interest in the rainbow-maned pegasus known as Rainbow Dash. "You really haven't given up her, huh?" Spitfire assumed, bracing herself for the next attack from the Acklay.
"Yeah, I'm never giving up on my best friend." Soarin grinned back.
Spitfire rolled her eyes at Soarin's failure of an attempt to be inconspicuous. As Spitfire flew, she recalled her memories of how Lightning Dust had ordered Rainbow Dash to go on a mission to recover some troops that were left on the battlefield. Spitfire didn't believe that Rainbow would blindly follow an order form Lightning Dust, however, she later learned that the order had come from Princess Luna herself, and Rainbow was faithful to the crown so she took off post haste.
"Rainbow left on a mission to recover some pegasi troops, I don't know when she'll be back," Spitfire answered. "It could be days, weeks, or maybe even months-"
KA-BOOOOOOM!!!!
Everyone's gaze was directed to upwards and what they saw made their eyes shrink due to the intensity of the brightness. A flaming rainbow in the shape of a circle was rippling across the sky, and a few moments later a rainbow blur shot down and crashed into the Acklay, forcefully shoving it into the ground. The impact of the object caused the whole Colosseum to shake and rumble, the sand in the area rose like a massive wave as it was carried by the impact of the shockwave.
Both Spitfire and Soarin coughed put some of the pieces of dust they had breathed in, once the dust had settled both Soarin and Spitfire gasped in awe at what, or rather, who, they saw. Before the two pegasi, on top of the now crippled Acklay, was a pegasus mare with cyan fur, a rainbow mane, and violet eyes. That's right ladies, gentlemen, and those of unspecified gender, the bad@ss has arrived, the one, the only, Rainbow Dash.
"Sup, Soarin," Rainbow waved to a slackjawed Soarin, "How's it going, Spits?" Rainbow greeted a facepalming Spitfire.
"Rainbow...you...you..." Soarin was at a loss for words, unable to utter a comprehensible sentence.
"I know, I know." Rainbow rolled her eyes. "I'm a tad bit late, and I know that's a first for the fastest pony."
"Rainbow," Spitfire sighed, "do you have any idea who your standing on?"
"Yeah," Rainbow answered with confidence, "the love child of a crab, reptile, and insect."
"No, you...ugh." Spitfire rubbed her temples to calm her soon-to-be headache.
"What?" Rainbow cocked her head in confusion.
"Rainbow...you just crippled an endangered creature," Soarin stated in a shocked manner.
Rainbow looked down then looked back to Soarin and Spitfire, she gave a nervous laugh while rubbing the back of her neck. "Hehe...whoops." Rainbow said before countering, "well...it's not like I did anything bad-"
"Rainbow Dash, of the Lunum Empire."
Rainbow's attention was drawn to the hundreds of hollow armored suits, that were the guards of Chaosville, that now had her completely surrounded. One of the hollow suits of armor slapped a pair of hoof-cuffs on Rainbow's forelegs.
"You are under arrest for injuring an endangered creature, for causing damage to private property, and for trespassing."
All may seem bad for our Rainbow-maned hero, but not too there is no need to fear for a new hero will appear! To be continued in the next chapter.
For those of you Star Wars fans that know what an Acklay is, have a thumbs up from yours truly.
As for those of you that don't know what an Acklay is, here's what it looks like
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Uh-oh, not a good time for Rainbow.
Nice to see this again. I am a bit surprised to see Acklay here, they actually scared me a bit when I was a kid playing Star Wars Battlefront II.
I know Rainbow is in trouble right now, but that line is hilarious.
Why does this whole set up remind me of Game of Thrones but less violent and dark?
9516402
They are indeed very scary.
Off to jail Rainbowcrash.
NO! We are not having this argument again!
Oh, don't you play that card!
I feel like I should know this guy...
Ayyyyyy, from Avatar! Nice touch.
Top ten famous last words before a tragedy
i.ytimg.com/vi/WENEQJDLjBg/hqdefault.jpg
Aww Twilight come on 😢
Oh no that's not good I'm sure it was an accident
Ok so it looks like everybody are basically just hanging out with each other Twilight hanging out with flash even though she's only doing it for her kingdom she was actually enjoying the time with flash even though he also has the same thought but maybe once they get to know each other better they don't have to think like that meanwhile fancy pants left Spike and ember to talk with each other and then he saw Rarity carrying a blue dress and he was very impressed of her design which it turns out to be fleur de lis dress and outside Spitfire and Soarin fighting a bug creature supposedly a endangered species so they're not to do anything harm to it just practicing and speaking of the devil it looks like Rainbow dash finally showed up but unfortunately she's also in trouble for almost killing the creature oh boy what is she going to do now