Episode 3: A Long Way From Home
So... yesterday was very interesting.
Let me give you the short rundown of it... I went with my friends to Princess Twilight's reunion with her friends. But then I, Luster Dawn, and her friend Magma Burn, were all taken by Grogar and his goons. But apparently, not only was King Sombra and the Storm King working with him, but an evil clone of me as well. Believe it or not, we won... only to find ourselves completely in the middle of nowhere. We knew we needed sleep, so we set up a small (but safe) fort out of the rubble behind us. It was very cold, so we had to find ways to stay warm and sleep. I did fall asleep at some point, and when I woke up, it quickly got hot. When everyone was awake, we were on our way. We would take breaks to calm down our aches, but those would last for a few minutes before we continued onward.
"Dear Celestia... Twilight... whatever... it's hot out here..." I mutter.
"I wish we had a map..." Luster groaned. "I don't know if we're in old territory, or something new. If we had a map, we'd know how close we are to some form of civilization..."
"Magma, how good are you with directions?"
"I've had some work in a form of finding directions, which would prove useful..." replied Magma. "... if I could get a sense of North, West, South, or East. Now, let's see here..."
Magma squinted while looking at the sun. He mumbled to himself.
"That's North..." he pointed in a direction. "Then West, South, and East."
"Which one would lead us to where?" Luster asked.
"That's the best I can gather... I have no clue which direction will take us to a place like Kludgetown, or some sort of better-conditioned place to allow us to survive, or anything."
"Well that's just great!" I exclaim. "We have no sense of direction, it's boiling out here, and did I mention we have no sense of direction?! I think I did!"
"Just get ahold of yourself!" Magma Burn hissed. "We'll get home... somehow... and then I'll go back to trying to protect Equestria from your so-called friends. And maybe even you."
"Oh, here we go again! You and your grudge against my friends! What's your justified reason, huh?!"
"That's none of your business!"
"Hey, hey!" Luster cut in. "Stop! Both of you! If we're going to get home, you two are going to have to stop arguing."
"Fine..." I mutter.
"Very well," said Magma.
"Good..." Luster smirked. "Now... let's head... um... this way!"
"Are you sure?" I ask.
"Um... heh... no. Just a feeling..."
Magma and I exchanged glances before we set off.
...
Intro
...
It felt like hours.
My whole body was sticky with sweat, and all of my legs were sore. My moist mane started to undo itself, and started to cover my face. Luster was also hot, her wheezing feeling more and more strained as time passed. Magma Burn was the least affected. He didn't appear to be in the same condition we were, but he was sweaty as well.
"Legs... aching..." I groan. "Heat... intensifying..."
"Hey," Luster slowly lifted a hoof. "I think I see something..."
"That's probably a mirage..." said Magma.
"No!" Luster lifted a hoof. "Look!"
We both looked ahead. Indeed, there was something over there that I couldn't make out. It did look rippled, but if Luster was hallucinating, we wouldn't see it... unless she put the image of it in our heads.
However, it was Magma Burn who convinced me, mainly because of how resistant he seemed to this heat.
"Well I'll be..." he said. "There is something over there! Let's head over."
And we continued onward.
***
When we got there, we entered more steppe-like territory. Because it had to lead somewhere, we continued along the way. Soon, we started to see trees. They were small, frail, and nimble, but as we continued, the vegetation got bigger. And soon, we saw what looked like a forest, or jungle, in the distance.
I kept mentally praying that this was real. I wouldn't want this to be some mirage fake-out that our weakened minds wouldn't realize until we started drinking sand, thinking it was water.
"You'd think the area separating the forest from the desert would be bigger..." I mumbled.
"But on the bright side, we're near vegetation... and maybe water," Luster said.
"There may only be ponds there, and I don't think it's a good idea to drink pond water..." said Magma. "Eating, we'll do fine without, but we'll eat vegetation in emergencies."
"Are we really hungry?"
"Surprisingly, not too much for a guy that's just been in a desert for a long time," I reply.
"I can wait another few hours."
"See?" Luster smiled. "We'll be fine... sort of... we just need to find water."
"Well, hopefully this forest is small..." I said. "We don't know where we are..."
"Actually..." Luster lifted a hoof. "Look around... see those sand mountains?"
I looked. There were some sand mountains, some big, some small.
"If this is what I think it is..." said Luster. "We were in the Bone Dry Desert. And if my assumptions are correct... this could be the Forbidden Jungle."
"Is it safe to go in there?" I ask.
"We just defeated all-powerful beings..." Luster pointed out. "If we stay alert, we'll be fine."
"Then let's go..." said Magma, already on the move. Luster and I followed.
We pressed on. The vegetation close ahead was a refreshing sight, but I really wanted some food and water, and I could tell Luster felt the same. And Magma Burn? Either he's very strong when it comes to these situations, or he's just a professional at hiding his feelings of discomfort. It was still very hot, but it wasn't as bad as the desert.
If only he could hide his feelings when he's around my friends...
"I really hope there's a lake, and not just ponds and swamps..." Luster whimpered.
"I know," I reply. "So... how's it been with... you know... learning friendship and all?"
"She's been doing fine," said Magma.
"Heh... yeah... what he said..." Luster put on a fake smile. "And... how have you been with friendship?"
"Well, I've already known some stuff, but the School of Friendship is a great way to refresh my mind, or encourage me to keep up with what I've been learning."
"Interesting..."
"Yeah..." I then sighed. "Luster... what do you think is going on?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you think... do you think things are alright back home?"
Luster didn't say anything for a moment. She looked up ahead.
"I don't know," she finally answered. "But I think your friends, the Princess, and many others wouldn't go down too easily."
I didn't smile. But I did agree with that.
"Maybe you're right."
Magma Burn, didn't say anything the whole time. He just continued leading the way.
...
...
Time felt like it was going slower and slower, the more we moved. We were finally deep in the belly of the forest, allowing us to get some shade. I really wanted to stop and eat some grass and leaves, but that would be weird. Again, Magma said we should do that in emergencies when things really get desperate.
We sat down, catching our few-minute break.
My stomach felt like it was in knots. It was not a fun feeling, and it's worse when I think of the fact that nothing in a pony's diet is here.
"Why..." I whined. "Why are we in a jungle close to a desert? I'm so hungry and thirsty... I'll do anything! I'll drink pond water and eat leaves! Anything!"
Magma slapped my face.
"Pull yourself together!" he snapped, while I rubbed my cheek. "I'll admit it! I'm hungry too! Let's just..."
He pulled some leaf-filled branches off of a few trees.
"Dig in."
"Wait, are you sure this is even safe?" said Luster. "These could get us sick!"
"I mean, some of these leaves should be edible... maybe?" I shrug.
"We either starve, or we risk it," Magma determined. "Which one is it gonna be? These trees looks safe. It's not like it's poison joke or anything. It looks fine!"
I plucked a leaf off of a branch.
"Well..." I groan. "You heard him..."
I took a bite. Luster and Magma followed.
***
Well, my stomach wasn't 100% better, but I wasn't as hungry as I was earlier, so that's a plus.
The remaining heat in the shade of the forest slowly started to die down, much to our relief.
"I'm not gonna lie," I said. "I thought it would take much longer for us to get to somewhere like this. We must have been closer to this forest than we thought."
"I think so too," Luster agreed.
Magma Burn stopped. We both stopped too. He turned to the left.
"What is it?" Luster asked.
Magma Burn lifted a hoof and said only one thing: "Water."
Luster and I looked to where he was pointing. From behind some bushes and trees, we saw a small glistening light. The three of us ran through the bushes, and saw a large stream of water.
"How strong is that?" Luster asked.
I went over and dipped my hoof in. "I think we'll be fine! Hop in!"
I leapt into the water. I heard Luster run over and then I was sprayed with water as Luster jumped in.
"We may not be able to drink this, but at least it's refreshing," I smile.
"Actually..."
I didn't know what Luster was getting at. She grabbed a stick, and lit her horn. The stick wobbled and shook... before it changed into the form of a cup.
That's right! Transfiguration spell!
Luster then used the cup to scoop up some water. She then kept her focus on the cup, the water inside starting to shake.
And then, Luster handed me the cup.
"Drink it."
"Wait, why?" I ask, reluctantly taking the cup. "This is stream water. It's dirty."
"It was dirty," Luster smirked. "But with this water filtration spell, I beg to differ."
"Water... filtration?" I took a sip, and my dry throat suddenly felt full of life. "Wow! It's so... refreshing! And... clean! I don't think I've ever been able to tell the difference that much... even though I didn't try it while it was dirty. But... wow! A water filtration spell? Is there a spell for everything here?"
"Well, we do have a princess that raises the sun and moon."
I took an even bigger gulp of water, and then gave her the cup.
"Your turn," I said.
Luster scooped up some more water, and repeated the process, before gulping down the cup.
She did it again, gave me the cup, and I dumped the water on myself. The only liquid on my body for the past few hours was sweat, so this was the perfect way to rinse off, and cool down even faster.
"Come on in, Magma!" Luster shouted.
"Um, you two... go on ahead," Magma turned. "I'll just... stand guard."
He left, going past the bushes.
Luster and I exchanged looks.
"I'll... go talk to him," I volunteered. "But after one more drink."
After Luster scooped and filtered the water, I gulped it all down and left the stream.
"Don't go anywhere!" I order.
"Where am I gonna go?" asked Luster.
"... good point."
I then went past the bushes, and saw Magma Burn sitting nearby.
"Hey," I said before sitting next to him. "What's going on?"
"It's nothing..." Magma growled. "Go back to what you're doing."
I didn't move. Magma Burn and I both shared our silence. He didn't shoo me away, which was fine.
Finally, I spoke.
"Do you hate me?"
"It depends..." Magma replied, picking up a pebble and tossing it at a tree. "Are you one of them? A villain?"
"No."
"Then why do you live with them?..."
"Because... they're my friends!" I proclaimed.
"That's a lie... you're being controlled, or you're with them and lying. I don't really know... you're lucky that I'm not going to exterminate you, and that I'm trusting you with Luster."
"Alright that's it!" I get up and stomp a hoof. "Why, huh?! Why are you always so bitter, distrusting, and delusional? Why is it your mission to protect Luster? Tell me!"
Magma Burn blinked. And then he sighed.
"Sit down..." he told me. "I have a story to tell you..."
...
...
As a child, I was skilled in heat magic and martial arts. It was a struggle at first, but... I was a fast learner. I was a fan of comics, believe it or not... the Power Ponies were really fun. It was always so exciting when the main bad guy would be defeated, and the world was saved. And Princess Twilight... she was my idol. It was a dream of mine to meet her. In fact, I was excited when I was going to go to Twilight's School for Gifted Unicorns... named after her when Former Princess Celestia and Former Princess Luna passed her the throne, and ownership of the school. There, I met... her. Luster Dawn. She was the only one who made me feel like I existed. She asked me for directions... and that's when our friendship began. We'd always play games like superheroes and all that. I considered her a friend, but she was always skeptical when calling me that same name. Because she didn't really see friendship the way others do until only months ago. She just considered herself a partner, or one who just hangs out. But either way, I cared about her.
But one night... on my way home... there were some ponies surrounding Luster... teasing her. This may come as a surprise to you, but she struggled a bit with spells, in spite of being accepted to the school. I tried to stop them, but they didn't listen. They just wanted to pick a fight. And when I saw the fear in Luster's eyes... I took action. I tried to fight... and I stunned them all. When I took the last one down, they saw the rage in my eyes, and ran off.
When I took Luster to Donut Joe's, I was conflicted. Do I forgive or forget? Or do I continue wishing the worst for what they did, and have the desire to send them to the aether, or put them in stone?
Anger made my choice for me.
After I went home and had dinner, I read the latest edition of Equestrian history. As I kept digging, I learned of it all. One villain after another, and yet half of them got away with no comeuppance. Discord... Starlight... Trixie... I felt betrayed by the Princess, and saw her for being weak.
That's when I decided to take matters into my own hooves.
I took a book on Elemental Magic, in order to learn how to wield a type of elemental magic. Considering my family, I knew mine was fire. This magic was so powerful, that not even Starswirl himself perfected it yet. I kept learning... and then, one day, it happened. When I demonstrated my newfound power in front of my class, my cutie mark appeared, right on my flank.
Time passed, and when I finally graduated, I went out into self isolation to train myself. When I knew about Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow, I became suspect as to the fact that they'd return. I went into training... increasing my power, day by day.
"Luster would always visit me, telling me that this was crazy... trying to reason with me," Magma Burn concluded. "And one day, when she started caring about friendship, she finally called me a friend. It increased my determination to protect her. You can only imagine how I felt when learning that she was the one sent to reform the villains... I put on an act in case she was controlled, before concluding that she was simply manipulated. I vow to save her, because I... I..."
"Love her?" I ask.
Magma nodded.
"Well... this was a lot to take in..." I begin. "But let me tell you something... it's always your goal to keep Equestria safe, keep Luster safe, and spread the message of justice. But all of these former villains that now live peaceful lives... they want that too. And if you can't see that, and forgive them... than that makes you a villain yourself."
Magma Burn had no words.
Luster then appeared from behind the bushes surrounding the lake, soaking wet.
"You... won't believe... what I just saw..." Luster panted.
"What?" I got up.
"A hot-air balloon... I checked it... it may be usable." Luster cleared her throat. "If it works, we can finally get home."
"Well what are we waiting for? Come on, Magma! Let's get this thing to work."
***
"There it is..." Luster presented the balloon, covered in vines and moss.
"Why is it... here?" Magma wondered.
"Probably something that happened a while back..." I say before pulling off the vegetation. "Help me set this up."
And that is what we did. We cleaned up the balloon, and double-checked for damage. Surprisingly, there wasn't much damage done to the balloon... it was perfectly preserved in all the moss and vines.
We got in. Luckily, Luster and Magma knew how to use the thing, because I didn't. At first, it was a struggle in getting it to lift.
But then it started to lift off the ground.
"It's working!" I beam, before crouching down. "Now, if you'll excuse me... let me know when we land again..."
I hated heights. Fight me.
I felt the balloon carry off the ground and soar up.
"Wow, we actually did it..." said Magma.
"The view's nice too," Luster admired. "Leo, you need to see it."
"No!" I whined. "I hate heights..."
We continued going through the sky.
"Wow..." I heard Luster say. "Who knew this view would be so beautiful..."
Time continued to pass. My heart kept thumping as I quietly prayed that things would go well.
And then, it happened.
"What's that?" I heard Luster say.
"Huh?..." I squeak.
Just then, a loud buzzing sound flew past us, and I heard a loud POP!!!!
And I felt the balloon start to go down.
"We're gonna crash!!!" Luster shrieked.
"Brace yourself," Magma warned. "This is gonna get bumpy!"
I felt myself slide around the balloon basket as I tried my best to keep a good grip. But then, I felt myself get pulled close to Magma, and right when the area around me went red, we crashed into the trees. I felt myself bounce around, and hit my head on the shield, before everything went still.
"Is everypony ok?" asked Luster.
"Yep..." I groaned.
We all lifted our heads. The basked dangled from a branch on a tree.
"Where are we?" I pondered.
"Looks like a swamp..." Luster said.
We all hopped off the basket. When we were all on the ground, Luster's ear twitched.
"Shhh..." she lifted a hoof. "Listen..."
We did as we were told, not making a sound. I started to hear it... talking, yelling, whatever.
"Someone's nearby!" I hiss. "Let's head over!"
And we did. Walking at a fast-pace, we all went past some trees.
All of a sudden, I heard Luster scream, "Princess!"
What we saw made me feel a mix of happiness and confusion. Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow were all there, along with Princess Twilight and Spike. A bunch of royal guards, including Gallus, surrounded what appeared to be an evil Chrysalis clone.
"Luster!" Spike shouted, flying over.
Cozy, Chrysalis, and Tirek said nothing, but I could see the relief they had to see me again.
Magma Burn just watched. No one approached him.
"So..." Luster began when she and Twilight released their embrace. "What did we miss?"
"It's a long story..." Tirek chuckled.
"Who is..." Magma Burn raised a hoof at the evil Chrysalis. "...that?"
"That's... my evil clone..." Chrysalis sheepishly said.
"Very... interesting..." Magma Burn slowly proceeded to stomp forward.
"Should someone... stop him?" Cozy asked.
As Magma Burn got closer, his hooves started to leave charred prints in the ground.
The evil Chrysalis showed no fear.
"Allow me to take care of her..." Magma Burn growled. "I can take it from-"
He was interrupted when Luster tackled him, and they rolled on the ground.
"Not today, Magma!" Luster shouted. "She's evil, but don't do this now!"
"Fine..." Magma mumbled under his breath (I could tell), and both ponies got up on their hooves.
Chrysalis put a hoof on my unkempt mane.
"We're glad you're okay..." she said.
"And I'm glad to be back..." I smile.
Cast:
Leo...................................................Himself
Luster Dawn............................Sabrina Pitre
Magma Burn..................................Bill Nighy
Chrysalis..........................................Kathleen Barr
Cozy Glow........................................Sunni Westbrook
Tirek..............................................Mark Acheson
Spike.......................................Cathy Weseluck
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Well done
When reading Magma Burn's lines, Remember that he sounds like Davy Jones from Pirates of the Carribean, If someone is going to make a fanfic reading of this
While we see his thoughts on those, what about Princess Luna?
Given how she was basically the first villain in the show pretty much.
10775383
Good point. Speaking of which, be on the lookout for the next episode reveals ;)
10775383
Magma Burn is a big fan and avid follower of the Princesses, wishing to serve them with all loyalty and wholeheartedly that is why he gave Princess Luna a pass. If Magma Burn had been born years and years earlier, He and Shining Armor would have gotten along and be sparring partners.
10777346
After he found out Twilight was giving "free passes" to former villains such as Discord, Starlight, etc, he begins to lose faith in her.
So pretty sure that will affect his views on Luna.
The fact that his goal is to turn everyone against them doesn’t help either.
10778310
He's basically a follower of Starswirl the Bearded's old views from the episode "Shadow Play" when Starswirl says to Starlight "Once a villain, Always a villain." He's a fan of big battles, legend, lore and heroism. Starswirl the Bearded is one of the ponies that Magma Burn looks up too. That is one of the reason.
static.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/7/76/Star_Swirl_the_Bearded_ID_S7E26.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/200?cb=20171012212227
10777564
derpicdn.net/img/2017/10/8/1555176/medium.png
Yeah. Just like Starswirl the Bearded in the episode "Shadow Play". Which reveals that that are ponies or a pony out there that follow Starswirl's old views.
This is the big revelation.
10778429
A huge wasted opportunity for Shadow Play is Luna not seeing her old mentor' attitude there with "once a villain, always a villain" thing.
Imagine how hurt she would have felt or anger towards him. Its really a missed opportunity there.
Me likey!