House of Sun

by Riossumari

Ponyville Rush

Twilight stood next to Applejack and Big Mac as they packed up their saddlebags with supplies for the trip. Sweetie Belle and the others were a short distance away talking to Gabby.

“Alright y’all, that should just about do it. You certain ya got everything you’ll need Big Mac?” Applejack said. Big Mac looked back at her and with a nod he answered,

“Eeyup.” The group gathered together as Twilight looked over the atlas they took from the library one last time.

“Okay every creature, if we head out now it should take a little more than a day to reach the valley. Once we’re there we can find the Children of the Night and ask for their help.” Twilight said with a smile, she put the atlas into her saddlebag and the group started to head towards the edge of town.

“What do you think we’ll find when we get to the valley? You think the Children are ponies? Or griffons? Maybe Dragons? What if they’re something new?! Something no one’s ever seen before?!” Gabby gushed.

Fluttershy shirked a bit from Gabby’s words, “I hope its nothing scary...I’m not very good with scary things.” She said. Twilight led the way every pony staying close behind her,

“Luna was the one who told us to go and find them, so I imagine she’s seen them before. If that’s the case we can let them know that she’s the one who sent us, maybe they’ll be eager to help then.” Twilight said. Every pony was smiling and eager to go when suddenly an ominous shadow fell over the town, Twilight came to a stop and looked up and gasped when she saw Tempest’s airship over head.

“Oh no! How’d she find us?” Sweetie Belle asked, Twilight watched as Tempest’s airship made its way to a stop over the town hall. The anchors launching down and locking into the ground below, the Storm King’s soldiers dropping down shortly after. Every pony around them backed away in fear, then one final soldier dropped down from the airship Tempest on his back. He reached up and gently set her down on the ground in front of him. Twilight and the others watched from around the corner of a nearby building as she approached Mayor Mare, the older pony cowering from her presence.

“Where is the princess?” Tempest asked,

Mayor Mare looked at the soldiers behind her then answered. “The princesses...they all live in Canterlot, not here. Not in Ponyville…” Tempest stared back at the Mayor a cold gaze that showed she was angry.

“I’ll ask one more time...where is the Princess? Twilight Sparkle...I know she’s here.” Tempest demanded. Twilight instinctively went to rush out and help, but felt Applejack, Trixie, and Big Mac all grab hold of her and pull her back.

“No Twilight, you can’t! I don’t know who this pony is, but if she gets a hold of ya who’s gonna help every pony back in Canterlot?” Applejack said. Twilight wanted to object but she knew her friend was right. She looked back and saw Tempest slowly look around the town, she then nodded and the soldiers with her began to violently search for the mare. Tempest stood silent for a moment watching the ponies of Ponyville flee and scream from the soldiers searching for Twilight. They purely destructive in their search, kicking in doors, flipping market stalls, smash pots, crates, and barrels alike.

“Grubber! Get over here, we need to find out who’s seen the princess now.” Tempest ordered as she turned around. When she saw Grubber standing behind her though he wasn’t wearing his usual tabbard, instead he had a black t-shirt with a poorly scribbled Storm King insignia on it. Grubber smiled nervously at Tempest who quirked an eyebrow confused by his appearance.

“What are you wearing Grubber?” she asked.

He chuckled and twiddled his fingers before answering, “Well see...before we left I was getting a snack, cake. And I didn’t want to get it messy, so I took it off while I ate, but then when I finished and went to put it back on someone stole it. Heh heh…” Tempest stared back in a blank and almost emotionless gaze, she wondered who was small enough let alone shaped like Grubber that would steal his tabbard. But then she refocused her attention back on looking for Twilight and walked away.

Twilight and the others crept out of sight trying to stay ahead of the Storm King’s forces. They came to a stop and noticed the guards had already reached the ways out of the town.

“What do we do? How are we supposed to get away without being seen?” Trixie asked. Twilight looked around trying to think of a plan, she noticed a wagon not far and got an idea.

“Every pony over here! I’ve got an idea.” Twilight said as she moved to the wagon. Twilight helped Sweetie Belle into the wagon as the others save for Big Mac and Applejack climbed inside. Twilight threw a blanket over the top of the wagon and used her magic to readjust the angle the wagon was facing.

“Whatcha doing Twilight?” Pinkie asked leaning over the edge and looking down at her friends.

“Every pony hang on!” Twilight said as she and the Apple siblings began to push the wagon. The wagon started slow, but began to build momentum as they went, Applejack quickly hopped into the wagon with Twilight’s help, Big Mac then tossing Twilight in after his sister. The wagon was suddenly moving at a faster pace now and Big Mac was sprinting to catch up, Trixie looked towards the direction they were heading and noticed they were on a crash course for the two soldiers.

“This was your plan?!” she shouted to Twilight. The wagon was now moving at a break neck speed as the terrain curved downhill, the two soldiers saw the wagon careening towards them and tried to get out of the way but one was just a minute too slow and was hit by the wagon, getting trampled in the process. Big Mac was running after the wagon and was about to catch up as it reached the edge of the town, but then the remaining soldier grabbed hold of his tail and pulled him back. Applejack gasped in shock seeing her brother get grabbed,

“Big Macintosh!” She called out, Big Mac looked back at his sister and saw the look in her eyes.

“Nope.” is all he said before kicking the soldier in the stomach and sending flying backwards and into a wall. When Big Mac turned to look the wagon was almost on the horizon now, just out of sight. He turned around and saw three more of the soldiers approaching. The stallion stood his ground though and let out an angry snort staring them all down.

“Nope…”

The wagon was racing out of control down the hills, Sweetie Belle and Pinkie excitedly cheering at the rush of the wind as it moved.
“Twilight? What was your plan for making this thing stop once we were out of town?!” Trixie shouted. Twilight looked around frantically,

“I didn’t think that far ahead, I was just trying to get us away!” she replied. Applejack frantically searched around trying to find some way of stopping the wagon, just beneath Pinkie’s hooves she found a length of rope and quickly picked it up and made a lasso. Applejack watched the trees they passed as the wagon rushed by and quickly threw it out catching a sturdy branch. Twilight saw what her friend was doing and put a magic bubble around the top of the wagon. Every creature grabbed hold of the rope Applejack had and when the rope finally went taught the wagon came to a sudden and violent stop causing every pony to bounce into the air but stay into the wagon thanks to Twilight’s magic. The group laid in the wagon in a comedic dogpile, but Applejack hopped out and started to march back towards Ponyville.

“Applejack!” Twilight called out as she climbed out and chased after her.

“I gotta go back, they’ve got Big Mac! He needs help…” Applejack said, Twilight walked over and hugged her friend seeing how upset she was.

“I know...I know...and I’m so sorry, I didn’t want this to happen. But if you go back they’ll just get you too. I can’t let anymore of my friends get caught like that.” Twilight said. Applejack went to object, but then she saw the look in Twilight’s eye, and she knew how much this was hurting her right now. With a smile Applejack hugged Twilight tight to make her feel better.

“Alright sugar cube, I’ll just have to hope Big Mac knows what he’s doing back there.” she replied. Twilight hugged Applejack back, then a second later she felt Pinkie hug the both of them from behind, then Sweetie Belle, and lastly Gabby. The whole group let out a playful giggle before stepping back and looking around, Twilight took out the atlas and tried to figure out where they were and what direction they needed to go.

“Okay every pony, let’s get a move on!” she shouted with a smile.

Back in Ponyville, Tempest approached the soldiers who were holding Big Macintosh, the soldiers armor dented, cracked and damaged. Big Mac had obviously put a hurting on all of them and Tempest was surprised to see it took four of them to restrain him and even then they were struggling to hold him down. Grubber quickly walked up beside Tempest and looked down at Big Mac,

“Alright pony, speak up! Tell us where the Princess went right now!” Grubber shouted. Big Mac showed no fear of Grubber though and simply shook his head no. Tempest took another step forward and looked down at the stallion,

“That’s fine with me...I’ll just make you talk…” she said. Her cracked horn slowly began sparking and crackling with unstable magic.

Author's Note:

New update is finally up, took me a while to brainstorm this one. The last second I decided I didn't want to go straight into Twilight and co. finding the Children of the Night so easily. So I felt a chapter showing that Tempest was hot on their hooves was necessary. Plus it never hurts to have some Big Mac appreciation. I also dropped a small clue regarding Spike's whereabouts in this chapter, I wonder who will be the first to figure it out?

Comments

[Comickook]

Excellent job on this latest chapter. Definitely liked the work that went into the exchanges, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up. Now, Twilight and her team have a bit of a lead concerning the "Children of the Night", but Tempest and HER crew were quick to pick up the trail. And, yeah, LOVED Mac's showing against Tempest and a few of her goons. I also appreciated AJ and Twi each talking sense into the other at the appropriate times. And, sounds like Spike swiped Grubber's attire, which means he's still in Canterlot, but we don't know where exactly YET (though it is somewhere they sell a fair amount of snacks).

Anyway, definitely looking forward to more of this.

[Melody Song]

Great chapter! I like how you switched Capper for Big Mac, though it's a shame we won't be seeing the cat, I enjoyed his character in the movie. I'd assume that Spike was the one who stole Grubber's stuff? They're about the same size so if he were looking to blend in with the soldiers to avoid getting caught...

[SpikeSmolder fan]

Awesome chapter & quite the brawl by Big Mac against the Storm King's soldiers, even caught he gave Twilight & Co a very much needed headstart!

Also seems Spike took the sneaky approch by swiping Grubber's armor (makes sense since he's about the same size) looking forward to see him help out behind enemy lines!

[Twilight_Shimmer]

I rather wonder how tempest would react if despite the pain he might be feeling Big Mac does not utter a peep.

[SuperSonicHeroes]

Credit where it is due, Big Mac might have gotten captured but he sure put up a fight against those soldiers, like a badass. He might be harder to break than Tempest thinks.

[Riossumari]

11162718
Took four of them just to hold him down, and I made pretty clear he didn't go down without a fight. Also glad that everyone figured what Spike did in Canterlot.

[DavisSentoV5]

What a noble sacrifice big Mac did to make sure twilight and everyone else got away safely. Great chapter, worth the wait

[Twilight Is Cool]

Poor Big Mac. It was totally cool of him buying his sister and the others time to get away(he's always been an awesome big brother just like Shining Armor), but I do wish he could've gone with them... Oh well, I know he and the rest will be fine! Twilight and the others will save them, I just know it!

I really hope they also finally save Rarity during this! I know I keep bringing this up, but she's been gone for awhile... she should be brought back soon, right?

Keep up the great work!!

[Riossumari]

11165021
I actually was brainstorming the Rarity rescue the other day, let's just say Nightmare is not as patient as Grogar. But first I have to finish up this arc before I can get into that. In meanwhile I hope your enjoying the Storm King arc.

[Twilight Is Cool]

11165054
Glad to know you're figuring it out! I know whatever u come up with will be awesome!

Btw, how long HAS Rarity been gone if I may ask? A month?

[Riossumari]

11166004
Its been a good while, if I had to put a number to it I'd say 5-6 months since she went missing. So you can imagine Twilight and her family/friends need to get her back.

[Twilight Is Cool]

11166008
oh gosh! I can't imagine what poor Rarity has been through while being prisoner of that horrible monster! And poor Sweetie Belle and the rest of her family.... wait, does the rest of Rarity's family even KNOW what's happened to their eldest daughter? If i may ask

Either way, I bet once they get her back, they let Sweetie continue living with them in the palace along with her sister! Just to make sure they're both safe!

[Riossumari]

11166868
Celestia wrote a letter to Sweetie's parents explaining what happened. And while it has been bad for Rarity, she is driving Nightmare crazy the same way she drove the Diamond Dogs nuts. So it hasn't exactly been a good time for him either.

[redandready45]

Back in Ponyville, Tempest approached the soldiers who were holding Big Macintosh, the soldiers armor dented, cracked and damaged. Big Mac had obviously put a hurting on all of them and Tempest was surprised to see it took four of them to restrain him and even then they were struggling to hold him down. Grubber quickly walked up beside Tempest and looked down at Big Mac,

“Alright pony, speak up! Tell us where the Princess went right now!” Grubber shouted. Big Mac showed no fear of Grubber though and simply shook his head no. Tempest took another step forward and looked down at the stallion,

“That’s fine with me...I’ll just make you talk…” she said. Her cracked horn slowly began sparking and crackling with unstable magic.

This is the fight we never asked for but should've gotten: a fight between a vicious commander and a simple farmer.

I can imagine Tempest is actually impressed seeing Big Mac not only stand up to her but be capable of giving her a good fight.

[Bookwurm666]

He chuckled and twiddled his fingers before answering, “Well see...before we left I was getting a snack, cake. And I didn’t want to get it messy, so I took it off while I ate, but then when I finished and went to put it back on someone stole it. Heh heh…” Tempest stared back in a blank and almost emotionless gaze, she wondered who was small enough let alone shaped like Grubber that would steal his tabbard. But then she refocused her attention back on looking for Twilight and walked away.

Spike