AlwaysDressesInStyle's Ponyville CiderFest '23 Interactive App Stories

by AlwaysDressesInStyle

Taste The Rainbow

Hook: Absolute power can't corrupt someone who's already been corrupted.

Story #205
Title: Taste The Rainbow
Keyword: Polaris
Character: North Star, Lavan, Princess Tiffany, Sludge
Hero/Chaos/Villain

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With magic going crazy throughout Dream Valley, North Star took it upon herself to investigate. Many moons ago, Paradise had told a tale of princess ponies living in the Jeweled Desert that control all of Ponyland’s magic with their wands. It’s the first thing to jump to her mind, so she takes off flying in that direction. The others would no doubt waste their time going to the Moochick, but North Star demands action.

As she flies over the Jeweled Desert, it’s very apparent that the desert is spreading. She watches as it swallows trees and bushes, crystalizing them right before her eyes… along with any unfortunate animals unable to get out of the way in time. At its present rate of expansion, it’ll reach Paradise Estate in under a day. She sighs. Another day, another crisis. It’s times like this she wishes she could live somewhere so safe that she could develop a crippling fear of clouds because there’s nothing scary trying to get her every other week.

She spots a dot on the horizon and changes directions, angling her wings to intercept. The dot continues getting larger and she discovers a white pegasus flying toward her. They intercept one another over the desert, hovering in place to make introductions. It’s Princess Tiffany, one of the very ponies North Star has set out to see, making things convenient. Her impulsive guess turns out to be right – the princesses are aware of the magical disturbance and know the cause. She fills North Star in about Lavan, a lava demon, as they fly towards Royal Paradise.

Listening to Princess Tiffany is disheartening. Neither pegasus has a plan to defeat Lavan as the oasis home of the Princess Ponies, Royal Paradise, appears on the horizon in front of them. Princess Tiffany points to a giant fissure in the ground and explains that’s how the lava demons attacked them. There’s no sign of demons or lava now, not even a cooled, hardened lava flow.

They fly together into the crack in the earth, descending into Lavan’s underground lair. Like most pegasi, they find being underground uncomfortable, yet they fly on regardless. They find the captured prisoners following a lava demon – stealth goes out the window as the two groups are heading right for one another. The lava demon spots them, and worse, the other princesses are so inept as to start waving and shouting at us.

“Wait! Don’t attack! I’m Sludge, and I’m helping your friends escape.”

That takes the pair of pegasi by surprise, but Lavan’s domain seems to be deserted, so it appears to be true. “Where is everybody?”

“They went conquering. I’m not sure where they went, I was assigned prisoner detail before they decided.” Sludge shrugs. “Lavan wanted me to shove your friends into the lava pits, and when I refused he hit me. I’m tired of all his abuse. He can’t be allowed to succeed. We have to stop him, or he’ll eventually destroy everyone, everywhere.

It’s a lucky break that he isn’t in. Sludge knows the lair like the back of his hand and leads the ponies into the throne room where the magic wands lay discarded, completely drained of their magic. They’re dull and gray, but North Star grabs them anyway, hoping they might come in handy later.

‘Later’ comes sooner than she would’ve liked. Lavan sneaks up on North Star and the princesses while they’re still in his throne room, their hopes at ambushing him thwarted by his sharpened senses. Lavan’s crystal form is more powerful than anything North Star’s seen before, even Grogar pales in comparison. He drives the ponies back, barely tapping into his newfound strength.

With the pressure mounting North Star holds one of the wands up, hoping a blast of his magic will recharge it. It doesn’t, but it does repel the magic… right back at him. He’s down for the count and North Star gallops over to him, putting the wands against his prone form. It’s enough to drain the crystalline energy from him, restoring both the wands and Lavan’s original lava demon form.

Sludge convinces the rest of the lava demons to revolt against their abusive ‘master’, and soon the entire group is back on the surface. North Star proposes that the lava demons become Royal Paradise’s security, and Sludge agrees. They waste no time starting construction on a barracks and an observation tower.

There’s one last order of business to take care of.

“Can we have our wands back now?”

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[CHOICE]

>Give the wands back to the Princess Ponies. (hero)

>Give the wands back, with a caveat (chaos)

>Keep the wands. (villain)