The Aftermath
"No no stop please I'm begging you!" Starlight pleaded down in the dark barely lit cave whilst being suspended up in the air by Chrysalis's magic. Oh it was glorious Chrysalis watched Starlight's eyes as they darted everywhere as she looked for a means of escape or even better for somepony to come save her, Ha her face was so delicious. After so long and so much planning she could finally unleash her wrath on this pathetic pony.
"Oh but Starlight it won't hurt for much longer... well at least not physically." Chrysalis boasted as she lowered her latest device, a bonesaw suspended in the air above Starlight's head right down to the base of the Unicorn's horn.
"WAIT WAIT You don't ha- Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Starlight screamed with her eyes going wide with shocked horror as the saw sliced through the top part of her horn with a sickening screech as it cut away at an excruciatingly slow speed for maximum effect. Chrysalis desperately wanted to take her time, after all why make the pain quick this was way more exciting to watch. Oh what a pastime, Chrysalis thought as she enjoyed every second of the former unicorn's torture.
While cutting away Starlight began kicking her legs feebly in the air in a last ditch attempt to stop the horrendous dismemberment. Oh watching your prey squeal is so delightful the perfect reward for conquering this insidious race, Chrysalis thought as she let a gleeful smile spread across her face, heck Chrysalis bet she was smiling wider than that pony brat Cozy Glow, oh yes she intended to destroy that little monster later too once she's sated her thirst for vengeance.
"Ahhhhhhhh sob* uh uh sob*..." Starlight whimpered with glimmering tears streaming out of her black eyes as her light purple horn clattered to the stone floor of the cave in front of Chrysalis.
"Oh thank you. What a pleasant memento of our time together." Chrysalis said as she picked the broken horn up in her hoof and turned it about as she tried to decide what to do with it. Hmmm... I could mount it somewhere too high for her to reach, Chrysalis thought as she watched Starlight lift her damaged head up to look at her lost body part in Chrysalis's grasp with a sad look of defeat etched into her features. Finally broken are we?
Chrysalis dropped the new earth pony to the ground with a hard thud and watched her curl up into a fetal position while she continued sobbing. Not such a bad job, Chrysalis concluded after all with this single removal she had stripped every last bit of specialty from the mare who'd stolen everything from her, the very mare Chrysalis had been beating for quite some time now. Eternity really is a long time isn't it...
Chrysalis started trotting over to her quarry only for Starlight to catch the sound of her approach and picked herself up, not far though Chrysalis had made sure to make short work of Starlight's four hooves by beating them senseless until walking became almost impossible for her little pet at this point.
As Chrysalis came to within a hoof step from Starlight the trembling mess at her hooves recognized the danger she was in and locked her hooves around herself in a vain attempt at protection, much to Chrysalis's amusement. Oh this is the best part where I break her completely.
"Here." Chrysalis said hiding her malice to make the ruse all the more splendid.
Chrysalis held the broken horn down to Starlight who gazed up at her with what seemed like a small hope that she had finally stopped and it was all over before reaching out a trembling hoof for her most prized possession. At that exact moment Chrysalis enveloped the broken horn in her magic and promptly crumbled it into a thousand pieces in front of her with it's ashes slowly falling to the cave floor. That was it the last straw as Starlight's black eyes began a whole new fountain of tears as she finally lost all hope and slumped to the floor with Chrysalis putting her hoof on her back and shoving her all the way down on her belly.
"Good girl." Chrysalis gloated above her prey as the cave around her grew immensely darker despite her night vision until her dream completely faded into nothingness and she awoke groggily to stir in her unpleasant but soft pink bed.
"Hello.... Hello.... Chrysalis can you hear me?" Chrysalis heard somepony sweetly as she raised her good hoof to her face and rubbed her eyes. which ever moron it is has bad timing... yawn* I was having a good dream, Chrysalis thought as she cracked her tired eyes open to see a young looking white unicorn in a maid outfit with light blue hair and baby blue eyes on the other side of the bars to her cell. Oh no another one...
"Ugh... What!?" Chrysalis asked causing the frightened looking mare to jump slightly in surprise, much to her immediate enjoyment. There all so jumpy, clearly they weren't built for the real world...
"Oh well you see gulp* Princess Twilight ordered me to fetch you these." The mare explained as she pulled a metal food cart into view with an array of multicolored and sprinkled cup cakes resting on top of it's metal pristine surface. Chrysalis eyed the food beyond her cell, with their sweet aroma pouring in to greet her.
"Can I come in please?" The mare asked while putting on a welcoming smile, Chrysalis wasn't fooled though as her nostrils flared as she detected the slight smell of fear seeping into her cell with the cup cakes. Apparently Twilight hadn't chosen this mare for her courage, this was probably a quick decision. A mistake... Hmm well lets see if this girls house broken yet...
"Yes and be quick about it I'm hungry." Chrysalis demanded and waited to see what kind of reaction the pony would have to being bossed around. To her surprise all the mare did was politely nod without a single comment and start to push her cart past the stone faced guard who had been watching Chrysalis sleep all day.
"Did the Princess tell you too?" the guard inquired as he placed a hoof on the maid's shoulder, all the while never taking his eyes off of Chrysalis. He must have a death wish if he actually stops me from getting something to eat, I've killed for less...
Chrysalis watched the mare glance over in her direction nervously before leaning up to the guard and whispering in his ear, "Yes she did but she ordered a group of guards to wait outside in the hall in case she does something." Smart but they must not have enough experience with Changelings otherwise they'd know just how much better our hearing is...
After explaining to the guard the mare's horn came to life with a gust of blue magic as she shot a quick spell at the food cart, engulfing it in a blue arura. Afterwards she slowly pushed the glowing cart as it fazing right through the bars of Chrysalis's cell. Okay so why does Twilight need a key? Chrysalis wondered, if a servant like this could just faze right through objects then what was the point of even having doors?
Without warning and with a quick hop the maid also slid herself through the bars after her food cart with her eyes locking on to Chrysalis. Got to give the insolent little creature credit, Chrysalis thought as she slid her long snake like tongue out and tasted the fear emanating from the petite mare.
Noticing this the guard outside the cell decided to be a nuisance as usual, "Just remember if you try to do anything to her bug I'll be the first one volunteering to move your stone statued butt back into the royal gardens." the guard threatened as Chrysalis rolled her eyes at him from her bed. Okay so before I leave I need to neuter that one for good measure, Chrysalis thought as she averted her eyes to the mare who was pulling napkins and other utensils aside to get ready to feed her.
Hmm... what to do, Chrysalis debated as she envisioned herself sucking the mare dry of all of her love and promptly destroying anypony in her way until she was free. As fun as that daydream was Chrysalis was betting Twilight had even more contingencies, she's always overthinking everything. Even with the maids magic Chrysalis still wouldn't have enough power to blow the cell apart and escape, that wasn't even taking into account that Chrysalis would still definitely need more magic to compensate for the hurt hoof she'd suffered from the riot. Not yet...
"So um how do you want to do this... Queen Chrysalis." the mare asked while using her title in the middle of the cell much to Chrysalis and even the guard's surprise. Hmm... manners too somepony's had good remodels, Chrysalis thought but suspected the recognition of her title was probably just another ploy to try and get on her good side, unfortunately for the maid Chrysalis didn't really have one anymore. Nevertheless She was still quit pleased to hear the words come from a servant even if that servant was a pony.
"Tear off the wrapper." Chrysalis demanded with a stern voice which caused the Unicorn maid to smile as she did what she was told like a good girl and picked up a purple coated cup cake in her magic before removing the bottom for Chrysalis. Then with reserve the maid held the cup cake out in the air towards her at a safe distance away causing Chrysalis to get a playfully awful idea. Might as well have some fun while I eat...
"You shouldn't get magic to close to me I might just take a little." Chrysalis explained as the mare adopted a tiny frown and lowered the cup cake into her hoof instead of using her magic like she wanted and preceded to hold it out for Chrysalis at a still fair distance away.
"Closer." Chrysalis said in a fake weak voice while retrieving her hoof just barely out of the infuriating pink blanket she was under and holding it close to her as if she couldn't do much more than that.
Looking at her apparent helplessness the mare's ears dropped back suddenly with realization before she inched her way closer with baby steps until she was leaning over Chrysalis to hoof the Cup cake over to her. Taking the opportunity as the maid was leaning over her to reach her hoof Chrysalis pulled her head up from her pillow and took a long sniff of the mare right beside the frightened creatures ear, causing the girl to freeze solid in terror as Chrysalis smirked and took the cup cake out of the mare's frozen hoof. Oh fear is such a good seasoning, She thought as she let the pleasing smell fill her nostrils.
After a second of realizing that Chrysalis hadn't harmed her in any way the mare shot herself away with her eyes closed shut in terror as she took a deep breath to compose herself. She's not going to last long, Chrysalis guessed with a smirk as she enjoyed the sweet tasting Cup cake she was now crushing in her fangs anlong with the stolen aroma she'd gotten from the maid. Sooo pleasing...
After shaking her head clear the mare forced her smile to returned as she picked up another cup cake in her magic and stripped the wrapper off just like the first one.
"Okay, so how many of these do you want?" the maid asked and nodded towards the full tray of at least twenty cup cakes or more.
"Hmm... All of them." Chrysalis stated with joy as the mare gulped hard and leaned back over Chrysalis to give her another one of the sweet pastries. Chrysalis again took a sniff of the fear coming off of the tiny mare as she placed another Cup Cake in her hoof, much to the mare's disdain. You know I could get used to breakfast in bed, Chrysalis thought gleefully as she tossed the cup cake into her mouth and eyed the frightened mare who was staring at her sharp fangs. Like a mouse looking at a cat...
"Delicious." Chrysalis said to the slightly trembling maid which somehow got her to brighten up a little by the compliment.
"I made them myself actually, the cook was well kind of busy." the mare explained while glancing down and rubbing her hoof humbly.
"Oh I wasn't talking about the cup cakes." Chrysalis said, causing the mare's eyes to shrink to pin pricks as her smile immediately vanished before she hesitantly prepared another cupcake.
How did it come to this... Twilight thought as she trotted down the rainbow glittering streets of Ponyville with Spike and Flash magnus at her side as they all walked down the upended town in silence. It hadn't taken long after she had put her plan into motion that things had taken a turn for the worst, with most ponies wising up and locked themselves away to wait out the ensuing chaos covering the streets. How did a glorious day like today turn into a living nightmare so fast, Twilight thought as two young fillies bounded past her to find shelter before another wave of glittering magical dust enveloped the street they were on, submerging the fillies in a blanket of rainbow colors.
It really didn't matter much to Twilight though, because of her height she stood well above the blanket of rainbow snow and with this being well past her twentieth time being covered she was beginning to get used to the mess. The fillies on the other hoof let out a yelp and tried to pull the glittering mess off of them much to Twilight's dismay. She really hadn't intended to cause such a commotion over finding the Mimic but never the less watching her plan drive the ponies of Ponyville into locking themselves away in fear was still making her feel awful. Sighing Twilight trained her eyes on the two fillies in the middle of the road as she watched for any signs of them glowing green but after a moment the dust faded with the girls scampering off to find shelter. If I didn't know I brought this all here I'd have already stoned Discord...
"You're grace!" Twilight heard from behind her and turned swiftly around to find a panting guard still trying to catch his breath.
"Yes what is it?" she asked, hoping that the Mimic had finally been found and all of this was finally over.
"It's pant* the citizens your highness they've started demanding their fillies back from the center of town and the guards there don't know what to do." The guard explained. Oh no, Twilight thought as she hung her head and shook it in dismay, of course they were angry their children were basically being held captive with no reason as to why, but if she told them the situation it would only cause more of a panic. There's just no right answer here...
"Come on." Twilight told the trio as they all turned around and started making the nervous journey all the way back into the center of town to face the angry mob.
"Don't worry your highness we'll find the creature and be back in Canterlot before dinner." Flash stated with Twilight giving him a slight smile.
"Thank you captain... all I want is for this day to just end." Twilight lamented with Spike putting a comforting claw on her shoulder as they began to hear the loud shouting of angry parents off in the distance ahead of them. Then for the twelfth time today they saw Pinkie Pie bouncing by with her unusually large magnifying glass.
"Find anything yet?" Twilight asked her bouncing friend.
"Nope sorry, just some more bad tasting snow." Pinkie Pie shouted as she flew by them down the street they had come from in search of the Cozy Clone. Twilight allowed herself a quick smirk, only Pinkie Pie would try to eat some of that rainbow stuff.
Actually I should get a sample of it... wait what am I doing I have to stay focused, She thought as she made her way through the empty market place and into the town square in front of Mayor Mare's office. There she saw a gathered hoard of ponies surrounding the building in a semicircle as they yelled and shouted at the hopelessly lost guards trying to usher them back. Just my day, Twilight thought as she trotted into the crowd of ponies gathered there as more and more of Ponyville's citizens locked their angry eyes on her instead of at the concerned looking group of guards who were positioned around Scootaloo and the rest of the little Pegasie.
Much to her surprise however the ponies let her pass by them without a word as she came to the top of the stairs to Mayor Mares office so she could address all of them at once from above the crowd. Upon reaching the top she surveyed the frightened fillies they'd collected but found no sign of any of them looking suspicious or with curly hair. Well there goes that, Twilight thought as she scanned all of the unhappy faces and cleared her throat.
"I know this is unexpected and you'r-" Twilight tried to say.
"Unexpected!? Give me back my filly this instant!" an upset mother in the crowd shouted with other ponies nodding in agreement.
"Why are you even doing this? You're literally raining down a sparkling mess everywhere!" another stallion voiced.
"I-" Twilight stammered.
"What about Discord huh!? What's that hooligan doing circling Ponyville!?" Another shouted as Twilight was rendered speechless as the crowd's shouting intensified all around her. Then to Twilight's surprise Celestia came soaring out from above the tops of Ponyville's houses and landed down beside her at the top of the stairs with the crowd still raging at them.
"Have you had any luck?" Twilight asked just loud enough to be heard over the angry mobs shouting.
"No I haven't but Luna is well... out of commission." Celestia stated with Twilight's wings flaring up at the thought of Luna getting hurt by the creature.
"What do you mean? Did something happen to her?" Twilight asked frantically.
"Sigh* she passed out on a rooftop two streets down. She hasn't exactly gotten that much sleep since she found out about the creature." Celestia explained. Oh wow, Twilight hadn't even considered the fact that Luna had been up for so long, earlier she had been so ready to begin the search without even a hint of sleepiness. I guess she was pushing herself the whole time...
"I think it's about time we considered other options." Twilight said to her former mentor as she scanned the angry crowd and glanced at all the upset faces.
"I agree, this isn't working as well as I'd hoped." Celestia stated with her serine voice which was just barley being heard over the angry mob's shouting. Seriously didn't they have to breath?
After a moment of watching the citizens jabber on Twilight decided to lighten the mood a little since they weren't apparently getting very far with anything else, "Soooo... what do you think about making this an annual holiday?" she asked with a smile.
It only took a moment for Celestia to shot her a confused look and then burst out laughing, "Hahahahahaha, Twilight No! I don't think I can handle doing this every year."
"Oh come on it could be fun, we could find a way to make the Sparkling dust stuff last longer, then we could build like little sparkling snow ponies and make snow angles." Twilight suggested with her, Spike, Flash, and Celestia all laughing together much to the crowds confusion. After a while Celestia whipped her eyes and glanced away somberly.
"You know I should really be appologizing." Celestia said out of the blue which startled her, Spike, and Flash.
"Apologize for what? This?" Twilight asked pointing a hoof towards the angry mob.
Celestia slumped slightly, "No Twilight it's just that you should have had an easy transition into ruling Equestria not all of this. Perhaps me and Luna should have handled this matter on our own." Twilight could see the pain in Celestia's eyes as they looked over the crowd, she's probably feeling bad for leaving me to deal with this mess instead of coronating me afterwards.
"You couldn't have foreseen something like this." Twilight said trying to comfort her which earned a thankful smile and glance from Celestia, before Twilight spotted the flash of a camera taking pictures of the angry mob in the background. Oh no not that, Twilight thought, the last thing she needed was bad press to swarm her tomorrow morning.
"You two." Twilight addressed the closest of her Pegasus guards who turned to her for instruction.
"Get that camera." Twilight commanded before Celestia put a hoof on her shoulder and said, "Wait."
"I don't think that's wise." Celestia stated down to her.
"But it'll be all over the newspaper-" Twilight defended as she envisioned all the ponies in Canterlot wanting conformation about what happened on her trip to Ponyville by tomorrow morning. And that's not including the ponies I sent home today...
"In the past I've found that trying to suppress public information tends to make the situation get worse instead of better." Celestia explained.
Twilight hesitated she hadn't really thought of it like that but of course it would be bad if she tried to suppress public information, they'd see her as a shady ruler from here on out. Not exactly a good first impression to ruling the country.
"Sigh* okay leave the newsponies alone." Twilight said with the guards reasserting themselves at the stairs between them and the crowd.
I need to end this, Twilight thought and started to gather her resolve to address the crowd again but before she could she heard a strange crunching sound from above her as a golden piece of buttered popcorn fell down from the sky and bounced off of her nose before hitting the ground. What in the, Twilight whirled her head up to the sky and spotted Discord eyeing the crowd from above them as he lay on the overhang of Mayor Mare's office. Not you too...
"Discord what are you doing?" Twilight asked as another stray piece of popcorn sailed from above and landed in her hair.
Discord nonchalantly looked down at them from his vantage point, "Oh you know just taking in all the delicious chaos. I have to say I actually like how you handled the situation so far princess."
Twilight ruffled her mane until the popcorn came out, "You're supposed to be searching the exits to Ponyville!"
"Oh funny you should mention that." Discord said as he retrieved something hairy and green from behind him where Twilight couldn't see and dropped it down on top of her. Twilight pulled the green mess clinging to her crown before she realized what it was.
"A wig?" Twilight stated aloud as everypony in her small group gathering around to survey the item. Twilight also pulled a tail attachment from the disguise before she realized some of the wig had a slight green glow on it.
"That's good right..." Spike stated right next to Twilight as they eyed the glowing disguise.
"Is this-" Twilight asked holding the green fluffy wig up to Celestia who narrowed her eyes.
"Yes that's the glow were looking for, the creature must have been wearing it recently." Celestia confirmed with Twilight hoofing the wig to Spike for him to hold before returning her undivided attention back to The Lord of Chaos.
"Discord where did you find this?" Twilight asked wanting to locate it's last position so they could find it.
Discord just closed his eyes and shrugged, "Oh it was around a small lake outside of Ponyville."
Outside of Ponyville!? They were to late then there was no way the creature would leave a disguise behind unless it didn't need it anymore. "That means it's already left..." Twilight whispered as she tried to wrap her head around the worsening situation. Darn what were they going to do now wait until it actually did hurt somepony, she couldn't let that happen.
"Discord did you see anything else?" Celestia asked getting Twilight's attention.
"Oh funny you should ask, you see while I was looking for your dangerous fugitive I saw this outrageous looking pair of birds perched way to close to each other, one was-" Discord said.
"Discord now is not the time for this!" Spike shouted as he flew into the air to get face to face with the Draconiques and giving him an angry glare.
"Ugh you know you're way more fun at O&O sessions." Discord said while pushing Spike away with a claw and stuffed some more popcorn into his mouth with a crunch* as he chewed away.
Twilight shook her head, It's no use anymore if it's not in Ponyville. Twilight felt lost as she drew a deep breath and shouted at the crowd with her Canterlot Voice, "ALL OF THE FILLIES CAN GO HOME! EVERPONY REMAIN CALM THERE WON'T BE ANY MORE SPARKLING DUST!"
After her announcement Discord let out a long sigh and the crowd's angry shouting died instantly with most of them looking relieved. One by one the gold armored guards stepped out of the way as the fillies trotted past them in various directions, some of which were immediately reunited with their loved ones. Well at least that problems over, Twilight thought with most ponies in the crowd shooting her one more dirty look before they dispersed with their fillies and drew away from the town square on the way home.
Twilight waited in silence until the last of the crowd disappeared from sight before addressing her commander, "Flash I want you to stay here until I can send another battalion Ponyville's way." Twilight instructed with the war veteran giving her a firm nod.
"I'm on it." Flash said before turning his attention to the guards surrounding them, "You all heard the princess split up and keep searching until we find something!" With that Twilight watched Flash and the other guards disperse to patrol the streets.
"Ugh, did you have to stop the riot before they got out their torches?" Discord asked with Twilight turning to stare her own daggers at him. Oh course he was finding all this funny, he's been nothing but a pain in the flank every time they've needed him since he was first reformed despite all the chances they'd given him. How does Fluttershy put up with him?
"Ignore him." Celestia advised as Twilight continued to glare up at the Draconiques's unamused face.
It wasn't all his fault Twilight supposed after all they'd had no luck locating the Mimic either and to make matters worse they had all upended Ponyville with nothing to show for it. If they had captured the fake filly then it would've been worth the mob and the bad press but now it was all just a pointless crusade to nowhere. Twilight's anger slowly melted away as she lowered her head away from discord in defeat and started trotted down the wooden steps with Celestia and Spike close behind her.
"Don't give up Twilight, when Luna's awake later she may be able to interrogate the creature in the dream realm." Celestia suggested. That was true the creature had dreams so maybe they could always try and find it that way but still she had her doubts, after all the Mimic had gotten away despite a full battalion being in Ponyville looking for it. Whatever this Mimic was it was probably just as smart as the original Cozy Glow so finding it was going to prove difficult.
"I wonder where it would go? I mean if it looks like Cozy Glow then wouldn't it be useless to run anywhere?" Spike asked much to her immediate realization. That was true too, the creature looked like Cozy Glow that meant anypony who recognized her would probably turn her in.
"You wouldn't have any idea where it could be going do you?" Twilight asked as she looked up towards the much larger towering white Alicorn to find Celestia shaking her head.
"Unfortunately the creature could be heading anywhere. For all we know it's on it's way to Canterlot right now." Celestia answered.
Ponyfeathers, That was right it wasn't just Ponyville they had to search now, it was the entirety of Equestria. There's no way, Twilight lamented. She had to face the facts the clone was smart, it had avoided capture despite glowing for them like a neon sign. Wait... and no pony was harmed? Twilight stopped in her tracks much to the surprise of Celestia and Spike who stopped in the middle of the road beside her as they all came to a screeching halt in the middle of the marketplace.
"Wait it just left... and it didn't do anything." Twilight stated as she glanced up at Celestia. That meant at the very least the creature wasn't some rampaging killing machine, for all they knew it might have just been trying to run away.
"Maybe it was to worried about being captured." Celestia suggested.
Twilight wanted to know more though, this was probably the first Mimic in well over a thousand years and the prospect of learning more intrigued her. Like what were they like without food? Did they get hungry? Did they write backwards? Well they weren't getting very far with the search so she might as well try her luck by learning everthing she could from Celestia. With any luck she could find some writings on the creatures maybe even an independent study.
"Celestia... I was wondering if you could explain more about the Mimics for me?" Twilight asked as a long pause followed with Celestia glancing away from her as she pretended to be a customer instead as she looked over all of the items for sale in the marketplace.
"What would you like to know?" Celestia asked coldly clearly unamused about the subject at hoof. Twilight should have been paying more attention it seemed as if Celestia was dead set on destroying the thing without even trying to learn more about it. It didn't matter right now though since this was her only chance to learn more and by Pinkie Pie's cupcakes she was taking it.
"Have you ever run into a Mimic that could think?" Twilight asked wanting to know the full extent on Celestia's history with the creature they were hunting.
"No but when I was really little I heard stories about some that could. Mimics that used to be ponies..." Celestia explained as she levitated a penguin plushie in the air to get a closer view.
"Wait there were other Pony Mimics before?" Twilight asked. How could there have been Pony monsters like that and no mention of them in any of her books? I mean surely Star Swirl would have seen one by now right?
"It was a long time ago, Grogar was always looking for new creatures he could make besides Stone Golems and Beholders, it appears he found some willing ponies who would join him among the Equestrians." Celestia stated much to Twilight's shock. Ponies willingly turning into Mimics? The mere thought of that was haunting, how could a pony go from being normal to being a creature that would hunt and kill other ponies by choice?
"Why? I mean what would a pony gain from turning themselves into a monster?" Twilight asked.
"Mostly power, you see Mimics have the ability to accumulate power over time by absorbing it from others." Celestia explained as she began picking up straw pieces of merchandise that had been knocked to the ground and placing them back in their respective places to be sold later.
"Wait how do they just gain power?" Twilight asked, wondering how anything could gradually become more dangerous by default.
"I'm not sure but they seem to have the ability to drain magic out of anything alive that's near them. However I've found that a pony being drained could go weeks without realizing what was happening to them since Mimics drain the magic so slowly... animals on the other hoof are far more attuned to the danger. They can sense the slight drop in temperature a Mimic creates and their years of natural instincts for survival help them identify the Mimic quickly." Celestia explained.
Just the idea of being preyed upon slowly over time sent a chill down Twilight's spine, as she imagined her magic slowly withering away without even realizing it. But the thing about animals was interesting, Maybe Fluttershy's animals could help me find it... wait no that would put them in harms way...
"But I mean that doesn't seem too monstrous right. Isn't there any other way they can gain power?" Twilight asked hoping to find another weakness they could exploit. Hopefully once captured she'd be able to study the Mimic Cozy more and find out what made them tick just in case they ever encountered another one.
"Actually yes there is... you see a Mimic can gain all the magic from their prey immediately if they decided to eat the magical creature." Celestia stated with Twilight ceasing to breath at the revelation. Wait... that meant if the Cozy Mimic wanted more power then all she would have to do is go on a killing spree.
"We have to find it." Twilight reaffirmed with Celestia giving her an approving nod like the one she'd normally give her for a good grade on a history test. Those were the good old days, Twilight thought before out of nowhere Derpy fluttered down from the sky in front of them much to both her surprise and her amusement. All this havoc and the Ponyville mail service is still at it.
Derpy huffed and took a breath before she cheerily said, "Twilight it's been so hard finding you, heh I bet I would've still been searching your castle if it wasn't for Cozy pointing me in-"
"What!?" Twilight and Spike shouted with Derpy's eyes going wide at the sudden outburst.
"Derpy you've seen Cozy Glow!?" Twilight asked frantically as she got in Derpy's face and grabbed the mare by her uniform.
"Um yes..." Derpy whispered.
"Where? When?" Twilight asked desperately, causing a worried bead of sweet to run down Derpy's head.
"Well she was just laying under a tree... I thought she was sleeping at first but when I got closer I could tell she was just relaxing what with the cute little smile she had and everthing." Derpy answered sweetly. There was still a chance then, Twilight took her hooves of off Derpy with Celestia coming to stand right beside them.
"Can you take us to where she is?" Twilight asked as her and Celestia loomed over the worried mail pony.
"I mean I can but... don't you want your mail?" Derpy asked nervously as she reached into her traveling mail bag for a letter.
"There's no time Derpy. I need you to lead us to Cozy right now." Twilight urged with Derpy pouting and backing up before doing what she was told by lifting into the air with a beat of her wings.
Finally some good news, Twilight had to get there fast, hopefully with a little luck she could convince the Mimic to surrender peacefully and come back to Canterlot with them. As soon as Derpy was airborne Twilight, Spike, and Celestia all followed as they flapped their wings and quickly took off above the buildings of Ponyville. While flying Twilight made sure to watch the ground below her carefully as the made their way over the green fields to the place Derpy was leading them.
As she flew Twilight caught a glimpse of a small tree and assumed that's where the creature was hiding since it was in their direct path. Wanting to be sure to get the first word in Twilight increased her speed as she broke away from the others and landed beneath the shade of the tree before quickly circling it, only to find no sight of the Mimic. No!
"Hey Twilight," Spike called out as he landed with Twilight scurrying back around the tree to find him putting an open claw to the ground. Twilight was confused but came to stand over Spike anyway as Celestia and Derpy touched down a few feet away from them.
"What is it Spike?" Twilight asked wondering why the ground was so important.
"The grass is flat here." Spike pointed out as Twilight focused on the green blades of grass to see a tiny portion of it had been smothered. It must have been resting here, Twilight thought and glanced over to see Celestia surveying the fields while Derpy was sitting down a few feet away with an unamused frown on her face.
"Twilight." Celestia addressed while never taking her eyes of off the fields.
"Yes?" Twilight asked despite not wanting to hear the apparent bad news.
"I hate to say it but by now it's probably gone, I doubt it would still be in the area after it saw us searching Ponyville." Celestia stated and somberly sat down facing the town off in the distance.
Twilight sighed, of course the creature would be gone by the time they got here and with the search they'd made in town it was unlikely it had stayed in the area for very long. Why did things happen like? Twilight wondered as she put a hoof to her temple as she felt a headache start to creep into the back of her head, again she had failed and now both Ponyville and Canterlot's citizens were outraged at her without any explanation given to them as to why. Twilight felt sick deep down in her stomach as she looked around before her eyes locked onto Derpy who was looking just as depressed as she was beneath the tree they were all huddled under. Well at least I can make somepony's day...
"Sigh* Derpy you said something about a letter." Twilight asked with Derpy brightening up immediately as she searched through her mail bag and withdrew a red letter with gold printing around the edges. Twilight trotted over and took the letter in her wings before offering a polite thank, "Thank you." With Derpy nodding and taking flight as she started the quick flight back towards Ponyville.
She's probably been looking all morning, Twilight thought as she watched her go and then slowly trotted over to Celestia with the letter securely in her wing before plopping down beside the much larger Alicorn. To her surprise Celestia slowly wrapped a big fluffy white wing around her and drew her in closer.
"I hate days like today." Celestia stated as they watched the serine town off in the distance.
"I know what you mean... I feel like I'm drowning." Twilight whispered as Spike came into her view in her peripheral vision and Celestia opened up her wing with him sliding in right beside her before the wing surrounded both of them like a blanket.
"Is there anything else bothering you?" Celestia asked without any anger or joy... Celestia sounded just as tired as Twilight felt.
"Well I freed Chrysalis this morning." Twilight answered with Celestia taking a moment to let her words sink in.
"Oh... how is she? The wound I mean." Celestia asked.
Twilight hesitated not because she didn't know what to say but more for the posibility that it might make Celestia feel worse then she already did. After all she had been one of the three who had sealed Chrysalis in stone to begin with...
"I... Well she had six fractures in her shoulder." Twilight said and suddenly felt Celestia tense up at the revelation.
"Is she going to be okay?" Celestia asked with Twilight detecting a slight bit of sadness entering her voice.
"Dr. Graymare said she'd make a full recovery in about two months but he said turning her back to stone was well... problematic for her safety." Twilight explained as a soft breeze blew some of their hair in the wind with the leaves from the tree above them swaying and creating a dance of sunlight all around them.
"I suppose the other two aren't safe in stone either." Celestia stated.
"With so many ponies mad at them I'd say no." Twilight said.
"We made a mistake then. What are you going to do with them?" Celestia asked.
"I planned on reading Cozy the Friendship Journal before bedtime and when we'd gotten through the entire book I was going to release her to see if she had learned anything... If I thought she was genuinely sorry for what she did I planned on giving her a second chance." Twilight explained. What followed was a long pause with Twilight spotting Rainbow Dash scouring the rooftops and guards trotting through the town in pairs.
"Planned? Have you changed your mind?" Celestia asked.
"No it's just... what Luna said earlier about Cozy getting rid of a part of her self. I mean she was acting completely heartless when the villains were trying to take over... I'm not sure what happened but what if she got rid of something good?" Twilight asked. Now that she thought about it the possibility seemed more likely, for all she knows they could be hunting the only good part of Cozy left...
"Sigh* If she did Twilight then she just condemned it. Mimics aren't like us they don't need to eat, they don't need to sleep, they don't even need to breath and as far as I know there's never been a good Mimic before." Celestia stated with absolute surety. Twilight wanted to ask her more but by the way Celestia was talking it was probably best to continue the conversation later, maybe even with Luna when Celestia was gone.
"What about Tirek?" Celestia asked.
"Sigh* I plan on returning him to Tarturus." Twilight said, It wasn't that she wanted to throw any creature in Tartarus but Tirek was his own special case. He'd probably had the most time out of all the villains to change his ways but he still came back for another attack. Apparently ruling the world wasn't good enough for him, he'd even blown up her house... and nearly killed her... Twice.
Ugh, all this planning was giving her a headache and she couldn't keep watching Rainbow Dash zip back and forth over Ponyville anymore, not after they had learned that the Mimic was probably gone. Twilight needed to send word to her friends to tell them the bad news, so she turned to her snuggled up dragon beside her, "Spike could you do me a favor and get the girls for me?"
"Sure thing." Spike answered before getting up from the ground and stretching out his wings. After a satisfying crack* Twilight watched him take off over the rolling hills towards Ponyville.
Twilight felt tired, now that she had a moment to rest she was beginning to realize just how long she had been walking through town and slumped over with her eyes halfway closing before Celestia's wing drew her closer until she was leaning on Celestia like a big soft pillow.
"Do you want me to help you?" Celestia whispered, with Twilight's eyes shooting open.
"What do you mean help me?" she asked confused.
"Me and Luna could come stay in Canterlot for a while to help you find the creature, I doubt most of the ponies there would mess with you if we were around." Celestia suggested.
Twilight actually considered it the past couple of days had been a nightmare, what with her coronation, the riots, and the Mimic, ugh it's been such a mess. Then again she didn't want to look weak in front of her subjects, she had just recently come into the throne, having Celestia watch over her might send the common ponies a bad message. But I could use the help...
"Do you think you'd be alright hanging out in the castle with Queen Chrysalis?" Twilight asked.
Celestia just snorted, "Sure if she gives you any trouble I could always break her other shoulder for you."
"Giggle* Please don't do that it was hard enough to watch the first surgery." Twilight stated enjoying the mood change.
"Hahaha, Okay fine but the offers still open." Celestia jested as they enjoyed the calm scenery together. Despite all the problems this felt nice, like she was still staying in Ponyville...
"Um Twilight I don't mean to spoil the moment but do you know what's stabbing my wing under there?" Celestia asked.
"Oh." Twilight said glancing behind her and noticing the letter she'd received earlier and pulled it out from in between two of Celestia's large white feathers.
"Well, I know who that's from." Celestia stated as her eyes found their way to the red envelope that had been responsible for her discomfort.
"Who?" Twilight asked before turning the letter over to see the initials SS written on the front.
"Just a Canterlot noble named Lord Spector, He was actually decent company when he wasn't stealing my best guards away." Celestia explained.
"Wait what? How did he steal your best guards?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow, unsure what Celestia even meant by stealing guards, what was it like kidnapping or something?
"Sigh* I still don't know how he does it but every year when a new batch of guards would graduate from their training the best recruit would mysteriously wind up quitting and later I'd see them working as one of Lord Spector's personal body guards." Celestia explained.
"Wait he bribed them?" Twilight asked astonished that a guard who was going to serve the Princess of Equestria would sell out for some Canterlot noble.
"Yes he's very persuasive and probably the only noble I know that has his own militia." Celestia explained and grabbed Twilight's letter in her gold magic before tearing the red envelope open and unfolding the letter inside. Twilight just watched as Celestia skimmed through the letter above her before her face adopted a scowl as she lowered the letter down to rest on the grass in front of them.
"What's it say?" Twilight asked curious as to why Celestia hadn't immediately shared what it was about.
"Maybe you should wait until later after things cool down some more." Celestia suggested as Twilight gingerly took the letter off the ground with her own magic before reading it.
Twilight put her hooves over her eyes in despair, "A meeting about my decisions as ruler! tomorrow!? Ugh..." Twilight fell back on Celestia's side. What could go wrong huh another riot, well come on I can take it!
"It'll be alright Twilight." Celestia said trying to comfort her.
"How is any of this going to be alright." Twilight asked while throwing her hooves up and sliding down to lay on the grass in front of Celestia in total defeat.
"He's requesting a meeting in court Twilight, you could always say no." Celestia explained with a smirk as she loomed over Twilight.
"...Okay that makes me feel better." Twilight said before Rainbow Dash descended beside them and landed only a few hoof steps away.
"What's wrong aren't we still searching?" Rainbow asked.
"Unfortunately no, I think the clone's already left Ponyville." Twilight answered somberly from her position on the ground much to the surprise of Rainbow Dash who's face turned into one of anger as she narrowed her eyes.
"Well aren't we going after it?" Rainbow asked still unamused at the prospect of giving up.
"Sigh* we don't know where it is, it could be heading anywhere by now." Twilight explained with Dash groaning and lowering her head unsure what she should do. Suddenly Twilight started hearing rustling heading their way and detected a slight humming heading their way. Then to her surprise Pinkie appeared over her with a big grin on her face.
"Soooo... find the baddie yet?" Pinkie asked.
"Forget it Pinkie it got away." Rainbow Dash answered for her in an upset tone.
Pinkie swiveled her head toward dash as her smile vanished, "Really you mean we've been looking for nothing."
"I'm afraid so Pinkie." Twilight said as Pinkie sat down in the field next to where she was laying.
"Oh... well at least we had an awesome snow day am I right?" Pinkie asked trying to lighten the mood as she usually did in these kind of situations.
"Actually that was kind'a fun to see." Rainbow Dash concluded with a grin as her friends settled down in the grass around her.
After another few minutes of silence passed as the waited without knowing what to do Twilight heard Spike say, "Hey we're here." as he touched down.
Twilight gathered her strength and sat up as she spotted Fluttershy and Spike joining them.
"So how'd it go?" Fluttershy asked.
"Not good." Twilight answered.
"It appears we were too late, the clone's moved on." Twilight explained with all of her friends looking around at each other.
"Oh my... well what are we going to do now?" Fluttershy asked.
Twilight was unsure it wasn't like they could keep searching well into the night. Twilight looked back behind her towards Celestia to see if she knew what to do. Apparently Celestia caught Twilight's plea as she stated, "Sigh* The best we can do is wait until the creature makes a mistake, until then you should all keep an eye open and... don't go to sleep alone."
"Wait what do-do you mean don't sleep alone?" Fluttershy fearfully asked bringing a hoof up to her mouth in dread by the mere implication of danger at night.
"Yeah I mean why not?" Pinkie asked cocking an eyebrow.
"It's just safer for everypony." Celestia stated with a wave of her hoof, although Twilight was sure Celestia was holding something back if she went out of her way to mention bedtime like that.
"Alright girls I guess that's that, we can discus all of this together at the friendship meeting. Until then I'll send out more guards and wait until something else happens," Twilight explained as everypony around her nodded in agreement.
Tender hummed to herself while Victor pulled the wagon down along the road as they passed the forest that seemed to slowly disappear into a more open countryside as their journey progressed. It had been some time now since the three of them had departed the havoc of Ponyville and she was already sooo bored just sitting around as her mind wandered to the big city with all it's sweet cafe's full of warm hot coffee. No stay on target first the Cowboy city, then the beach, and then the Crystal Empire... Well besides dropping off their little guest...
Glancing over she found the Pink filly leaning over the edge of the wagon with the sunlight outlining her small body with a wholesome smile plastered on her face as she watched the trees go by. Wow I don't even look that happy after my weekly massage, Tender thought as she wondered how a filly like that could go this far without somepony wanting to keep her. I mean She doesn't snore, she doesn't fuss or get annoying, and she has manners only a princess would have, Tender thought as she tried to think about somepony who'd probably want the nine year old. Let's see there was her sister in law she was nice, at least from what Tender had seen so far. But then again Dizy said she didn't like the big city...
Not coming up with an answer she decided to let her mind wander a bit as she remembered Ponyville and all the craziness happening back there. What were those idiotic guards doing and what in the hay was rainbow snow? Ugh, the thoughts were giving her a headache so instead she decided to make herself useful by sorting their supplies around. First she started moving the food to the right side of the wagon and the other supplies to the left side to sort the two out. While moving bags around though she came to the tiny red tent she'd noticed earlier.
"Hey Dizy." Tender asked getting their small companion's attention as Dizy turned away from the road back to Ponyville and locked her soft ruby eyes on her.
"Hmm..." Dizy asked with a hum.
"What's this?" Tender asked as she held the tiny tent for Dizy to see.
"Oh I bought that so I wouldn't bother you anymore when we sleep." Dizy explained.
Didn't bother me!? what kind of kid thought that way? Wow that was actually pretty sad she'd seen all matter of spoiled snots running around and here was a girl who was more concerned with how a couple of strangers felt at night than with herself.
"Well you didn't bother me... maybe Victor." Tender said loud enough for her husband to hear.
"Hey if a mare sleeps next to a filly it doesn't look bad alright, Stallions on the other hoof that's a different story." Victor stated as they passed over a bump in the road that jolted her and Dizy.
"Okay point taken, not that it's going to matter much since nopony's going to be judging you from out in the middle of nowhere." Tender shot back as she imagined Victor rolling his eyes from the front of the wagon.
"Oh... I didn't mean to be any trouble." Dizy said as her smile vanished and she rubbed her hoof nervously. Great now he made her feel bad.
"It's alright he's just being a Dum-Dum." Tender said with a playful pout as she set the small tent down with the rest of the supplies. Then something clicked for her when she caught sight of Dizy's bare head at the back of the wagon and wondered what happened to the filly's cute bows from earlier.
"Hey Dizy where'd your ribbons go anyway?" Tender asked with Dizy turning towards her again completely surprised.
"Oh... I put them away while I was in Ponyville..." Dizy said as she ran a hoof though her mane to the back of her scalp. Then to Tender's curiosity Dizy shuffled some bags around her and picked up a small jingling pouch before pulling it open to withdraw her three missing ribbons.
"Here." Dizy said removing the ribbons from the pouch as she stood up from her seat and wobbled her way over to Tender before holding the bag of bits out in her mouth for her to take. She hesitated at first but pulled the bag out of Dizy's mouth and immediately realized there were bits inside just by how they jingled.
"I know it's not much but I hope it make up for taking me to... wherever it is I'm going." Dizy explained.
Usually Tender would take the bits no question, life as a city pony had taught her that any advantage was to be taken immediately without any regrets but this just felt... wrong. She almost felt like taking the bits would leave a nasty taste in her mouth after all Dizy probably didn't have money that often.
"You keep it." Tender said dropping the pouch in Dizy's hooves as the filly glanced up at her in shock.
"But why?" Dizy asked flaring her wings up in the air in surprise.
"Meh, we have enough." Tender said with a shrug before she notice Dizy stunned as she just sat still in front of her perplexed and confused. Wow did I just break her...
"But what do you get out of it..." Dizy whispered unsure of what was happening.
Tender's stomach fell as she realized Dizy probably wasn't used to simple good will from others. I wonder what kind of life she's lived alone on the road...
"Well... I learned that helping other's helps you too somehow. Ya'know it kind of makes you feel all good and warm inside to know you helped somepony else." Tender explained as Dizy's eyes widened slightly by her advice as she looked deep in thought by the concept of simple goodwill. Still stunned huh? Okay well that didn't work...
Tender didn't like seeing Dizy like this, all confused and lost like the filly didn't know what to do, she had to do something to break this spell or whatever it was. Glancing down she found her answer as she realized the untied ribbons in the wagon at Dizy's hoof.
"Hey do you want help putting these back in?" Tender asked the stunned child as she snatched the ribbons up while Dizy moved her eyes slowly to the ribbon's she was now holding before reality hit and the filly shook her head back and forth to clear her confusion.
"Um... okay." Dizy answered as she swiveling around until her back was facing her. Deciding to go one step further she slid her hooves under Dizy's and pulled the filly up to sit firmly in her lap so she could braid her hair easier. Years of Babysitting had taught her that It wasn't everyday you could find a filly who'd actually cooperate with you no matter what you did to them. It felt nice... strange but nice to have Dizy sit against her without question, why couldn't this have been all the other fillies I've foalsat?
With a happy smile she started by casually running her hoof through Dizy's mane as she started separating the soft baby blue hair into three different sections, all the while being cautious not to pull a knot and hurt the little one. Content with her work so far she gradually started braiding the three sections to match how Dizy had her hair earlier instead of just draping at her shoulders like Tender's was. While she worked she continued humming since most fillies liked music and within moments she felt Dizy relax even further as her shoulders slumped. There you go...
Moving the hair together until it was completely braided with a considerable amount of slack for comfort, she picked up a ribbon and tied the tannish gold material in place before grabbing another one for the much larger toping. Okay soooo how do I do this... Tender thought since she wasn't used to tying bows on an already braided set of hair. Shrugging she started pulling the ribbon under part of the braid before stopping for some advice.
"Like this?" Tender asked as she pulled a part of the silk ribbon through a loop only for it to to tie prematurely in Dizy's artic blue mane. No that's not right...
"Wait first you loop it then you do another loop before pulling it all the way through." Dizy instructed as she tried to hold a hoof on a part of the ribbon to help Tender.
Ah, now she had it as she followed Dizy's instructions and tied the ribbon into a bow just like the filly had it from earlier. Being quite proud after her success with the top ribbon she admired her handiwork and gave the large bow a slight tug on both ends to make sure it wouldn't come out accidentally. Wow dad was right every day really is a school day...
Guessing that she was done Dizy made to get up from her warm lap only for Tender put a hoof on her head and inch her back down. "Not quite done yet." She said with a smirk as her attention turned to the last ribbon yet untied in her hoof, can't forget this one. Without warning she leaned the girl down and pulled the girls pink flank up in the air on her yellow chest causing the filly to let out a gasp* of surprise as Tender tied the other bow around her soft swirly tail. There, once she was done she released her captive only to notice Dizy backing away with her mouth hanging open by the sudden handling of her posterior as her face flushed and turned a bright red with her freckles making her cheeks look like cute little strawberries.
"Giggle* sorry I just wanted to get the other one." Tender said drawing her hoof over her mouth to stop herself from laughing at Dizy's red and stunned face. Guess she's not used to being handled...
"Well um... thanks I guess." Dizy said taking a deep breath and put on a smile despite just being treated like a Tender's personal Babydoll. Whew, good she's not mad at me... she thought as she tried to think of a way to make it up for embarassing the filly. I know, Tender thought as she searched through the bags they'd bought from Knickle Knacks before fishing out the bag of suckers. Hiding it out of Dizy's line of sight she quickly tore the top off and pulled a lollipop behind her back as she inched her way back over to the filly.
"What are you doing?" Dizy asked curiously while bobbing her head to the left to try to glance behind Tender's back to see what she had.
"Oh nothing..." Tender said and waited for the perfect time to strike.
"Are you su- Pop*" Dizy never got to finish what she wanted to say as Tender quickly popped the sucker into the girls mouth. Oh wow, she thought as Dizy's ruby eyes immediately crossed as she gazed at the white Lollipop stick protruding out of her mouth. There, She thought after all to her Lollipops worked a lot like a pacifier all you had to do was pop one into a little girl's mouth and they'd instantly quiet down and become quite the happy filly.
"Consider it a prize for being such a good filly." She explained and gave the stunned girl a few head pats between her ears for good measure. Turning around she grabbed the bag of sweets from behind her and squaring them away in a duffel bag for later.
I know I'm awesome, she thought to herself with a grin before turning around and stopping dead in her tracks as she saw Dizy unmoving as she glanced between her and the sucker. Tender was at a loss, didn't she know what a sucker was...
Coming over to the filly and putting her hoof around Dizy she decided to elaborate, "It's a sucker... you know... you're supposed to suck on it."
To her relief she noticed the sucker start to bob in the girls mouth even though her face never changed that much in the slightest. She shrugged,okay better than nothing...
Sighing she sat down next to the filly before noticing Dizy still standing for no reason and slowly put her hoof on the filly's head before inching the girl down into a sitting position. What am I going to do with you...
Just enjoy the ride Tender, She thought as she took a look over at the scenery and noticed the vast open canyon they were now traveling beside instead of the forest far behind them. What the...
"Victor what are you doing!?" Tender shouted getting both Dizy's and Victors attention as she moved to the wagon's edge and gazed over to see the dirt road disappear only a few feet away from them, going far down into a deep gorge stretching far off into the distance. This road's right next to a cliff!?
"What this is the only way to Applelosa without taking a three day trek through the woods." Victor explained without a hint of fear. Oh Buck this, she wasn't going to have them all fall to their deaths to shave a few hours off their trip.
"Victor just stop for a minute." Tender demanded as Victor sighed and ground the wagons momentum down to a halt in the middle of the dirt road.
"What?" Victor asked unlatching himself from the wagon's harness so he could chat with her face to face. Sighing she quickly pulled their map out from one of their bags and opened it up to see if she couldn't find a safer route. Then out of nowhere she heard a gasp* and pulled the map down in time to see Dizy leaning over the edge of the wagon before she scurried to the other side closest to the forest.
"See." Tender said indicating the frightened filly.
Victor stopped his march to the back of the wagon and eyed Dizy with a raised eyebrow, "Don't tell me you're a Pegasus that's afraid of heights?"
To answered Dizy just closed her eyes and shook her head, "I'm not afraid of heights... but I am afraid of falling."
Tender paused for a moment then shrugged at the logic and gave her head a nod in agreement, that seemed reasonable enough for her as she pulled the map back up to scan with Victor coming around the safe side of the wagon to help her sort out their dilemma. Although as she gazed at the unfolded map it soon became clear to her that this was indeed the only route to Applelosa for miles on end.
"See told you so." Victor gloated from the road causing Tender to slump her shoulders in defeat.
"Sigh* Alright so this is the only way." Tender conceded with a pout.
"Soooo since I'm right here..." Victor said with a grin as he leaned up on the wagon.
She didn't need to be a court wizard to know what he wanted. Leaning down on her belly she pressed her lips into his and closed her eyes as she felt the warm kiss melt away her anger over being wrong.
"There you win alright now lets get out of here." Tender said after she broke away from him and reasserted herself back in the safety of the wagon as she watched Victor grin and trot back around to the front of the wagon so they could continue their journey.
As she heard him strap himself back in Tender took one final look at their location on the map before asking, "What's the Ghastly Gorge anyway?"
"It's a bad place." Dizy answered while never taking her lollipop out of her mouth as she moved a bag out of the way and sat on the opposite end of the wagon farthest away from the canyon.
"What make you say that?" She asked wondering why Dizy seemed so afraid the badly named canyon. I mean it's probably just a big hole in the ground... right?
"Well I heard there are these big eels down there that like to... eat ponies." Dizy answered fearfully with Tender freezing at the mere thought of being eaten as a tingle of fear ran down her spine. By Celestia's nonexistent beard...
Just then Victor decided to chime in. "Wow really? Hey honey why don't we go visit down there, you know since it's on the way?" Victor asked sarcastically as they started moving down the road again.
"Don't you dare..." She whispered threateningly before tucking the map away back in it's bag and crawling over their stuff until she was right in front of Dizy.
"Mind if I sit with you?" Tender asked as Dizy lightly pushed a bag out of the way for her as she join the smaller pony. Plopping down between two bags of supplies with Dizy she nonchalantly put a comforting hoof around her much smaller companion and tried to think of something to say so she wouldn't have to think about all the pony eating eels probably dwelling in the canyon just below them.
"Sooo anything you want to talk about since we're here?" Tender asked with Dizy pulling the lollipop out of her mouth to answer.
"Actually I was wondering if either of you had any trouble leaving Ponyville." Dizy asked out of the blue.
"Well it wasn't that bad... I mean besides that moment when we thought the guards had caught you." She explained, as she remembered the trip out of town and all the fillies they had seen being placed in the town square by the guards. Then to her surprise she felt Dizy immediately tense up right next to her.
"What makes you think that?" Dizy asked defensively. Yeah the idea of being caged doesn't suit me either, She thought as she detected the fear Dizy was trying to suppress in her voice.
"Didn't you see? They were gathering fillies for some reason. I didn't even know royal guards patrolled like that outside of Canterlot. For a second there I thought we were going to have to drag you out of there so we could get back out on the road." Tender explained with Dizy slowly untensing and melting under her hoof.
"Oh... " Dizy whispered as Tender tried to find a way to steer the conversation in a more positive way.
"Sooo... Did you see any rainbow snow?" She asked as the image of the rainbow snow flashed in her mind.
"Uh-huh." Dizy confirmed and let out a relaxed sigh as she leaned her bowed head back against Tender's hoof on the wagon's railing. See this is a normal reaction for a filly not all that still as a statue nonsense...
"Make any snow angels?" Tender asked.
"Giggle* No." Dizy answered as she flashed a smile up at her.
"Well me and Victor almost threw a tantrum when it covered the wagon." Tender explained putting a hoof to her chest with Victor snorting at her description of events.
"Honey You almost threw a tantrum I just wanted to know how sparkling snow was even possible." Victor interjected as he shot her a grin from the front of the wagon.
"Yeah-Yeah. Tell me when we get away from the Gorge and I'll take over okay." Tender said wanting to give Victor a break from pulling the wagon for so long.
"Are you sure?" Victor asked.
"What you don't think I can haul this thing or something." Tender defended. He better not be calling me weak...
"Fine, fine." Victor said waving his hoof defensively.
"Take over?" Dizy whispered to her causing Tender to glance down at her confused face.
"What? Oh me and Victor alternate every so often to pull the wagon... kind've like taking turns." Tender explained as she took the lollipop out of Dizy's hoof and popped it back into the girl's open mouth with a satisfying Pop*. Actually she was looking forward to stretching her hooves a bit honestly, but until then I might as well relax. Yawning she closed her eyes and pulled the sucker sucking filly in closer as she waited until they passed by the death canyon.
Whew, Starlight thought as they exited the road trailing the side of the Ghastly Gorge. At least we didn't need the raft this time, she concluded as she glanced over on top of the wagon to see Applejack laying next to her with her hooves crossed behind her head and her hat tilted down to cover her eyes. She slept all the way past the Gorge... How is that even Ponyly possible? Starlight wondered as her orange friend let out a snore.
Glancing back ahead she took in the view as the last patches of grass in the area disappeared into the vast dessert with it's rolling dunes and hot sand. Over in the distance she could just about make out the railroad tracks to Appelosa. Yeah no... I'm here for the ride, Starlight thought to herself before her eyes shot open as she spotted a light tan bunny scurrying ahead of them in the sand.
Oh thank Celestia, Starlight thought as she envisioned Trixie pulling the bunny out of her big pink magicians hat. They hadn't gotten one of Fluttershy's bunnies but by Twilight they were going to get that bunny.
"Hold up Trixie!" Starlight shouted down to the magician as Trixie stopped them in their tracks.
"Starlight you better not be thinking what I think you're thinking..." Trixie said as she unlatched herself from the wagons harness.
"Come on Trixie she'd be perfect for the show." Starlight stated as she floated herself down to land on a cushion of soft sand with her magic. Over the years she had learned If there was one sure fire way to get Trixie to do what she wanted it was by trying to make her show better.
Trixie sighed with an eyeroll and preceded to head to the back of the wagon, "Fine keep an eye on it."
"Wait what?" Starlight asked in confusion, making Trixie stop and look back at her.
"Don't you want a net?" Trixie asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Pffft* Watch this." Starlight said as she teleported in front of the wandering bunny who immediately jumped and tried to run only for starlight to snatch her up in a burst of magic.
"See." She gloated with a proud smile as she turned to see Trixie give her a few claps to congratulate her and spotted Applejack whirl around and rub her eyes from the top of the wagon.
"What in Tarnation is all the fuss about?" Applejack asked as she let out a yawn with her mouth opening wide.
Starlight immediately teleported to the top of the wagon next to Applejack with a smile to show off her prize. Applejack jumped when Starlight fazed right next to her but couldn't react further as Starlight put the bunny face to face with the apple farmer.
"Wha..." Applejack stammered before sitting up and eyeing the trembling ball of fluff at her hooves.
"Isn't she cute?" Starlight asked.
"What in the hay do you need a varmint for anyhow?" Applejack asked with an unamused face. Oh well, Starlight thought as she teleported in front of Trixie instead, hoping to get a better reaction out of her best friend.
"Well...." Starlight asked as she held the bunny up and waited for hopefully a smile or something. Instead to her surprise Trixie grasped the bunny under it's forelegs and took the bunny out of her magic.
"Hmm... you aren't going to give Trixie trouble are you?" Trixie asked as the bunny slowly shook it's head no. Then Trixie held the bunny in the air and studied it's special area before hoofing the bunny back with Starlight taking the bunny in her hooves to hold.
"Just so you know that She is a He." Trixie stated and unclipped her wagon's window before climbing halfway in to look for something. A He? Starlight thought as she held the bunny up and took a look herself before spotting his you know what.
"Okay that levels out the names a bit." Starlight said as she put the bunny face to face with her and gazed into it's black pupils.
"Here." Trixie said getting her attention as she turned to find her magician friend pulling a small silver cage out of her window with a few carrots inside for the little guy.
Wasting no time Starlight opened the latch and tossed the bunny inside before it had time to react and watched him scurry around his new surroundings before he noticed the orange carrots and preceded to nibble on them.
"So what are you thinking? Ralf no... um Fredrick, wait no that's too close to Fillis..." Starlight asked deep in thought as Trixie closed her eyes and tilted her head up in the air.
"His name will be Starzie." Trixie stated as she hoofed the cage back through her window and pulled it down shut with a click*.
"Starzie? Actually that sounds pretty magicainy." Starlight said agreeing with a nod as Trixie smiled and trotted past her.
"I know." Trixie said as she returned to the front of their caravan with Starlight following her and strapping her in so they could continue on down the road.
"You two lovebirds about done?" Applejack asked with her hoof holding up her head as she gazed down at them. Lovebirds!? Starlight felt her cheeks warm as the mere thought of her and Trixie entered her mind. I hope Applejack doesn't seriously think that...
"One no, Two quiet down farm pony before Trixie puts you in that cage with our new bunny." Trixie exclaimed coldly as she huffed and started pulling the wagon down the sandy oasis. Starlight reacted immediately to being left by instantly teleporting back up by Applejack on the wagon's roof.
"Gaaaw.... You mind warnin me before you do that?" Applejack asked after she jolted in place when Starlight teleported.
"I'll think about it." Starlight answered as she and Applejack shared a smirk before she resumed her spot down by the earth pony and stretched her hooves out blissfully as they continued on down the road.
Alright just one witness, I've had worse odds, Rarity thought as she bound into the Canterlot Boutique with all it's arrays of fashion lines on display for the citizens of Canterlot. She just barely swerved out of the way of her flabbergasted associate Sassy Saddles and stopped only to lay her luggage softly down on the tile floor before resuming her marathon.
"Rarity my word!" Sassy exclaimed with her orange eyes going wide with shock as she whirled to follow Rarity moving through the store.
"No time Darling there's another villain on the lose!" Rarity shouted as she threw open her private outfit chest and began shuffling through it to find the right apparel for her mission. Okay all I have to do is chat with a broken hearted pony, Rarity thought as she wondered why a maid from Canterlot of all ponies had any information on Cozy Glow. Maybe she's a relative of some sorts... no definitely not, she would have said something about Cozy Glow earlier if that were the case...
"Good heavens what should I do, should we close down?" Sassy asked frantically as she came up right behind her. There's no time for this, the last thing I need is Sassy losing her marbles...
She immediately turned around and grasped the much larger Unicorn by her shoulders before shaking her, "Get a hold of yourself darling of course I don't want you to close down."
"B-But Rarity-" Sassy stammered while Rarity thrashed her in place.
"But nothing darling, I know this isn't what we planned but I need you to run the store without me until I get back." Rarity reaffirmed before turning her back on the shaken Sassy and shuffled through her outfits until she finally found it... the outfit of the Detective Rarity.
With vigor Rarity ran to her changing station near the back of the Boutique and quickly hoped into her red detectives outfit she always wore while being under cover and adding more mascara to her eyes before trotting out to Sassy with her hat firmly on her blue-purple mane.
"Here darling." Rarity said placing her pamphlet of Dress ideas on the table with Sassy curiously coming over and eyeing them.
"Ooooooo.... my Rarity these colors are so perfect melded together... and the patterns." Sassy exclaimed with Rarity grinning and taking personal comfort in her friends appreciation of her latest ideas.
"Oh I know I really like page thirty-two." Rarity chanted getting all giddy. Despite her bad morning she was oh so happy to indulge-
"Wait what am I doing? Sorry Sassy I have to go." Rarity said giving her friend a quick hug before racing out the door.
"Stupid bug." Ocean breeze said with disgust as she exited the front of the royal palace after clocking out and walked down the steeps leading into the rest of Canterlot with her maid outfit securely tucked away in her magic while floating next to her.
She didn't ever want to see that, what was she now... The Broken Queen whatever she never wanted to see her again, that was probably the worst thing she's ever had to do in her life so far and she'd seen all manner of dusty cobwebs in dark unforbidden places. Well at least it was over she'd probably have to beg Princess Twilight but it was worth it to keep her distance from that dark dungen Chrysalis was stuck in. Why didn't she just turn her to back to stone? I mean what was the point in trying to keep her un solidified?
Breeze shook her head as she trotted down the stone sidewalk past all the nobles of Canterlot as she made her way up to the upper district near the base of the mountain where... he was. It wasn't that Breeze felt good about doing it but eveypony gossiped right? She just had an ear that would pay her...
As she trotted her destination slowly came into view... the Manor, though it was more palace like than anything else what with it's three stories and the two large white towers at either side of it. Breeze had to admit it was quite intimidating, she doubted any bugler would dare try his luck with such a large abode.
Coming up to the front gate Breeze was met by the two front guards each wore a matching armor similar to that of the Royal Guard only their armor was a chrome silver to differentiate them from their golden counterparts.
"I'm here for a visit." Breeze said rotinly after all these guards had seen her come by several times before. With a quick side step they let her pass as she trotted up to the Manor's gate and pressed the button on the voice panel on the colom suspending the gate in her way.
"Bzzzt* yes do you have an appointment?" the Maid pony of the Manor asked sweetly. Never did get her name...
"It's Ocean Breeze I'm here to shall we say have a chat." Breeze answered with the right phrase she'd been instructed to use for enterance and waited for the usual minute to pass as the maid conferred with her Lord.
"Bzzzt* welcome in Miss Breeze." she heard the house maid say on the other line as the large gate screeched and slowly opened up in front of her to allow her to pass into the beautiful coutyard.
Finally, Breeze didn't want to waste too much time here as she descended the walkway with shrubs on both sides and recently cut grass. It always bothered her just how much better some ponies could make their own yard compared to the Royal Garden itself. Ascending the front steps with the towering three story manner looming over her Breeze went up to the door and waited as the usual light tan maid with silver hair slid the door open for her. Although grateful Breeze was immediately hit with the delightful smell of lavender from the Manors many flower sconces near the roof of each of it's hallways.
"Do come in." the maid said with a bow as Breeze mentally scoffed at all the times she'd had to do that exact thing for each and every noble pony who came into the palace.
Entering the Manor Breeze caught sight of more guards down the hallway and decided to wait at the doorway as the maid shut the large marble door. "This way please," the maid said and started leading Breeze up a large stainless spiraling staircase to the top floor. Once two stories above the ground they trotted down the crystalline hallways with windows showing the beautiful city of Canterlot in the background.
From here you'd never think Canterlot was pulling it's hair out, Breeze thought as she continued trotting all the way to where her associate usually preferred to meet with her... that was until the Manors mistress Curly Spector came trotting out of one of the side rooms and gave her a warm inviting smile that would melt any colts heart in an instant. It almost fooled Breeze even, but she'd seen too many noble ponies play nice not to be cautious of falling into another ponies open hooves.
"How are you dear?" Curly asked locking her soft gold eyes onto her as Breeze closed the distance between them and took in the smell of strawberries coming off of Curly. Between that and the lavender I think I'm going to need a new pair of nostrils...
"I'm well my lady." Breeze answered adopting her kind routine of bowing politely to the light blue Unicorn with pink swirly curls poofing out of the top of her head.
"That's splendid to hear, don't keep my husband waiting too long alright." Curly said before taking her leave down the hallway past them.
"Of course not." Breeze affirmed as Curly turned her head briefly and kindly gave her a friendly wave before departing down the halls.
Believe me I want to get home and relax, Breeze thought as she and the maid continued down the hallway until they came to the topmost door to the manner and stepped out onto the patio.
The patio itself was more like it's own dinner than anything with it's large over hanging roof to keep the rain out and the multiple glass tables set up with their own assortment of fancy chairs. But most impressive of all was a large round swimming pool placed in the center of the fancy setup, although despite coming to the Manor on multiple occasions Breeze had never once seen anypony actually swim in it and she had the sneaky impression that the large pool was more for show than anything else.
"Go on I'll see you out when you're done." the maid said before closing the door to the patio shut behind her.
Breeze returned her attention to the set up and more importantly the tall and lean light tan Stallion in his fancy black suit at the patio's balcony with a small glass of red wine suspended in the air by his red magic. Gathering her courage Breeze trotted up to him only for a chair to slide out for her by his red magic.
"Oh thank you." Breeze said politely and slid into the eloquent seat before explaining what she'd learned from the palace.
"You wanted to tell me something?" Lord Spector asked coldly never turning away from the Capital of Canterlot.
"Yes my lord, I was recently ordered by our new Princess herself to feed the... former Queen Chrysalis." Breeze explained as Lord specter took it all in unmoving.
"How is her condition?" Lord Spector asked as he brought the floating glass up to his lips and took a small sip of the tantalizing beverage.
"Well I know she can't defend herself right now, she has a full cast over her left hoof so I doubt she can even walk. It also appears that the wound she suffered from the riot was quite damaging, from what I've heard so far she's suffered at least six fractures." Breeze explained as Lord Spector finally glanced behind him at her with his ruby eyes and a grin only a fox could ever have.
"Thank you dear your bits will be waiting for you on your way out. Do keep me informed won't you." Lord Spector stated before turning back away from her.
"Of course my lord." Breeze confirmed and quickly got up to leave.
Okay sorry for the wait guys it's been spooky this Hallow's Eve, I hope you all had a fun time.
As always credit for the bases goes to Yaribases, Ziggrrauglurr, and of course all the other pictures are owned by Hasbro.
Fell free to chat if you have any questions.
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I didn't even have to get to the end to get a "Main Antagonist" vibe. Good job, because if I get that vibe your doing good.
10516800
Thank you so much, I really appreciate the high praise.
Another fantastic chapter, and it looks like some new players and machinations are entering the mixture, and look forward to seeing how this will play out.
10517106
Aww thanks I hope you enjoy what's coming.
Oasis, not OwOasis
Unless I’m missing the joke
10517682
Oh my gosh you're not! Thank you for pointing it out.
10517686
Haha, I encounter a few more errors that chapter, but don’t remember exactly where they were. I knew it wasn’t intentional.
10518190
Thanks for helping out. I really appreciate it.
I adore this story. The premise is really fascinating, and the characterization for the characters is pretty good. However, I the structure of dialogue could use some work; you should be using a lot more punctuation than you are right now. I'll show you an example.
The problem with this paragraph is that the diolaige isn't readable. There should be more commas, such that the commas put the natural space between the words. Like this:
A few word changes, and, more importantly, better comma placement makes the story much more readable. Beyond that, make sure you always have the right punctuation, as far as period, question, and exclamation mark go. Good luck with your writing
Edit: The sum of this information is that you can use commas to drastically improve your writing. Use them to make diolaige on paper read like when you'd say it. It will take your writing up a notch.
10520698
Wow.... I know this is going to sound so cheezie but I think you just opened my eyes. I'm seriously going to start doing this thank you so much.
P. S. In case you'd want too. I was wondering what you'd think would happen next in the story. You know just to gage what readers might be thinking about what might happen next.
10520926
You're welcome, I love to help people as much as possible; and I saw this story being taken away from by grammar, so I had to do something.
As for the next event in the story, I'm guessing that Cozy G's party will pass Trixie's party, and something will happen bc of that. Maybe Trixie's group decides to take a break from walking, and Cozy's group passes them, then Starlight notices Cozy, and something happens because of that? Idk, something like that.
10521114
Thank you for your comment it's always nice to hear a good theory on where this is all going. As for the two groups running into each other, it is funny how they're both headed there same way Isn't it?
And thanks again, because everything I learn about writing stories will definitely help with future Fan Fics.
Sorry for not posting a comment, working hard to pay rent and bills. Man... the Mimic fear is causing Twilight to make some poor decisions that is costing her trust in kingdom, a Canterlot Noble is questioning Twilight as ruler and has some of his flunkies are spying from the inside. Wicked and this Lord Spector who has red eyes... could he be...
I won’t spoil unless you want to know on PM.
10537279
I'm really grateful that you're finding this story an interesting read. If you want to put a theory on the fan fic out there I won't mind, but maybe it would be better if you cover it as a spoiler when you do.
10538688
Here’s my theory but I say no one should reply it to spoil everything or you check unless you want to wait for in time. I think Lord Spector could be Cozy Glow’s bastard father. Uh Bastard as in a dick, not a bastard that screwed Cozy’s mother for a quick trill. The only proof is Lord Spector’s red eyes but there are many stallions with red-like color eyes that are lighter and darker so its just my guess.
Okay just to let you guys know I plan on getting the next chapter out soon. Life is currently having me deal with the police... Wait I know what you're thinking but I'm not in trouble I swear.
Anywho I'm tweaking the next chapter for you guys now, sorry it's taken so long.
10555012
Oof, real life matters. Ew.
10576173
Yeah but don't worry the next chapter has over two thousand words so far so they'll be a lot to read when it's done.
What a cute and wholesome way to start the chapter. Also, it may be that Chrysalis has someone going out for revenge against her...
Discord had a similar amount of time to change his ways on his own.
What a Dick!!
Ugh, is there no-one loyal to the crown?
10722465
Sadly the ponies of Ponyville have shown how unreasonable they can be so I'm going off of that.