Avatar: The Last Alicorn. Book 1: Pegasus

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 6: Clouds

The mighty dragon soared through the air with the ease of a bird as the ponies held on with all their might. Once the Water Nation camp was far away and lost in the distance the dragon's flight slowed considerably, allowing Twilight to move to his shoulder and speak with him. She told him all she knew about her pursuers and what the previous avatar had said, while he in turn gave her advice and guidance.

After many hours her destination was decided. “Cloudsdale,” she said with awe. Even the name sent a shiver down her spine and felt as if it held a great part in her coming destiny. With her goal in mind, and small directions given by the mighty dragon, the unicorn glanced off to the world below and let out a gasp of surprise.

The world was still coated in ice, white as far as they eye could see. But slowly, as if awakening from a long slumber, green was beginning to poke out from the cold blanket and show its life. Trees, bushes, even a small field of daisies were slowly returning to life and filling the world once again with their beauty. Even Rainbow Dash couldn't help but admire the return of color to the world, even if she refused to admit it.

“Yeah. It's kinda cool. I guess,” the pegasus muttered haughtily.

All too soon the dragon began its descent and the scenic trip was brought to an end. The dragon landed on the opposite end of a canyon and allowed them to slowly disembark. “This is the edge of the Fire Country, I will go no further,” he said firmly as he dropped Spike from his grip. The little purple dragon let out a startled yelp as he had his short, if uncomfortable, nap ruined.

Twilight moved to stand in front of the dragon, gazing up at him. “Thank you, but where are we?”

“This is Earth Country. Head north and you will find those who will help you, young avatar.” the dragon said as it gazed down at her.

“Wait! But what about-” her words were cut out as the dragon lifted into the air, his powerful wings nearly sending them flying backwards from the wind. Within moments the powerful beast was high above them and leaving quickly. “What if the capital isn't there!” she yelled, “What about Cloudsdale?!”

“Hmph. He's probably just lazy and doesn't want to fly us to the Wind Country,” Rainbow grumbled with a snort of annoyance. “Come on and let's get this show on the road. The sooner we get to the capital the sooner we can get too Cloudsdale and start wind bending! We might even meet some of the really awesome ones! I hear the Wonderbolts make their base there! They would be soooo cool to meet!” the pegasus said with a happy sigh as they started walking.

“Huh? Who are the...” Twilight stopped mid sentence as she glanced back. Spike was following them, albeit keeping as much distance between them as he could while keeping them in sight. “Do you think we should invite him up with us?”

“Huh? Who?” Rainbow glanced back and shook her head. “Nah. If he wants to join us he'll catch up, otherwise he'll probably just hang out back there and watch us like some kind of creep.”

“Rainbow!” the unicorn snapped.

“What? It's true. He's the one being all stalker like. If he doesn't wanna be called a creeper he should come up with us,” the pegasus said with a snort.

“Oh dear... He's probably just shy... We should invite him-” Fluttershy started but was cut off by the blue mare shaking her head.

“No. If you just baby him he'll get all needy and whiny. He's supposed to be a dragon, let him at least try and act like it. You don't want him to grow up into some kinda wuss that bakes cakes and gets picked on by other dragons, do yah?”

“What's wrong with baking cakes?!” Pinkie asked defensively.

“Nothing, for a pony. But a dragon's supposed to be big, tough and mean. You don't wanna end up ruining his heritage, do you?”

“... Well... I guess not...” Fluttershy said softly.

“Good, it's settled. We'll just let him follow us and-” the quick pegasus started before she was suddenly interrupted by the earth pony darting past them and turning around.

“Wait! Twilight!” Pinkie shrieked, “I just realized something!”

“What?” the unicorn asked in confusion.

“What are we going to do if we meet new ponies?! We aren't prepared!”

“... We'll say hi?”

“I mean we don't have any party supplies! No confetti, no streamers, not even a kazoo! We left everything back with the balloon!”

The entire group stopped then as the realization dawned on the other three.

“We... left everything back there. Our food. Our water. Our supplies. We don't even have anything to cover up with,” Twilight said in shock as she began to notice just how icy cold it was. “Even our disguises.”

“Uh huh! I was going to say something but we were having so much fun riding the dragon that I completely forgot all our party supplies! If we meet a new pony how are we going to have a nice to meet you party now? Well, I guess we could use your fire bending to make fireworks and-” a blue hoof clamped over her mouth to try and stifle her words, though she kept mumbling through it unabated.

“We left everything. Everything... back at the volcano. The volcano that is... now who knows how far from us?! Even if we could get the direction it might take us days! Weeks to get back there!” Twilight said as her voice got higher and higher pitched. She took a few deep, calming breaths before turning to Rainbow. “Okay! New plan! Rainbow, let Pinkie go and fly up as high as you can and check if you can see anything, towns or other ponies, nearby. We'll try to stop there and restock.”

“On it!” the pegasus said with a smirk as she jumped into the air. The pony shot straight up, soon little more than a speck, before beginning to circle out a few times. Finally after a few more moments she shot straight down at them and landing with an over dramatic flair of her wings. “I saw some farm lands a bit east of here, but they're kinda weird. There's a huge dark cloud hovering over it and there seem to be ponies but also a bunch of really big brown things, not sure what they are,” she reported.

“Well, big things or not it's our best bet. We'll head there first and see if we can get some supplies without drawing too much attention,” she said as her gaze turned east. The others nodded and soon they were off, their hooves gently bending the grass as they went. Twilight could barely believe how quickly the world was defrosting around her, the beautiful sights and scents of revived grass filling her senses as they slowly broke through their icy cloaks. Sadly, her enjoyment didn't last long as the town came into view and a yellow earth pony stallion wearing a large brown hat galloped up and blocked their way.

“Who are you? Are you with the Water Nation?!” he asked angrily as he glared at them and made himself as large and imposing as possible. Though Twilight could see a soft tremble in his hooves and nervous sweat forming on his brow.

“No. There is no need to worry. We have nothing to do with Water Nation as we-” Twilight began but was quickly interrupted.

“Well howdy then!” the stallion said with a happy gusto. “So glad to meet some fine ponies such as yourselves who are not from Water Nation!” The pony suddenly reared up on his back legs and kicked the air! “My name's Braeburn Apple and I'm happy you'll be able to thrive in the delights of Aaaaaaaappleoosa!” Within seconds the four ponies found themselves pushed through the town! “Boggles the mind that us settler ponies built this town in the last fifty years, don't it? As you can see we have all the finest comforts.” He motioned to some carriages. “Like horse drawn carriages. And horse drawn horse drawn carriages,” he added as he motioned to some ponies drawing the previous carriages and their pullers.

“That's great and all but- Eek!” Twilight shrieked as once again they were pushed through the town before being brought to a building with a picture of a salt shaker hanging over the door.

“This is our local watering hall, The Salt Block!” the excited pony said as he continued their tour. Twilight's mind was soon struggling to wrap around the details as he rambled on about the sheriff, wild west dances, mild west dances and finally the apple orchards. “One of Earth Kingdom's finest apple orchards! Through years of hard work and dedication we've managed to grow some of the greatest apples around, second only to the Apple family home orchard. Even without the sun we've still managed to make this place a right nice place to live even in the coldest of weather,” he said proudly as he wiped some moisture from his eyes. “Now what brings you ponies to Aaaaaaaappleoosa!” he yelled as he reared up once again.

“Well, as I was saying before you...” Twilight trailed off as she looked to her left and right. “Where'd Pinkie go?”

“Your little pink friend? Wild west dances. Ain't none quite like the ones in Aaaaaaaappleoosa!” Again he reared up and kicked the air.

“Okay, that's fascinating and stuff but... but...” once again her voice trailed off. “Wait, are those buffalo? I never knew buffalo settled, I thought they were roamers...” she asked as she motioned to massive brown creatures, thick fur covering their bodies and small horns on their heads.

“Those must have been the things I saw! They're huge...” Rainbow mumbled with awe.

“Buffalo? Yup. Years ago when Aaaaaaaappleoosa!” he reared, “Began we had some trouble with them. Turns out we put our trees smack dab in the middle of their roaming grounds. Right careless of us, almost erupted in a full out war! Fortunately after tryin' some of our famous hot apple pie we all formed a delicious and long friendship and have been workin' together ever since. Which is good since come harvest time we have more apples than you can shake a hoof at, let alone buck! So where yah all from?”

The unicorn stared at the stallion, waiting for him to erupt into another long winded rant. After a few moments the coast seemed to be clear and she took a deep breath before beginning her own speech. “This is Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and the pink mare was Pinkie Pie. The dragon hiding outside is Spike. They are from the Wind Country. I am Twilight Sparkle, from the Fire Tribes.”

“You're from the Fire Tribes? But yah still have your horn? Ah, no offense,” the pony looked worried now.

“Yes. I do. Because you see... I'm the avatar,” she couldn't help it, she posed dramatically when she said it.

“Y-you're... You're the avatar?” the stallions mouth fell open and, for the first time, he seemed at a loss for words.

“Yes. I know it might be hard for you to believe bu-” she let out a startled cry as she found herself once again being moved by the pushy stallion.

“Get outa here. Now. You and all your friends just go!” the stallion said as he got Pinkie on the way, soon pushing them completely out of the town in a startled heap. “I'm sure yah all are nice folks and all, but the Avatar ain't welcome here. Nor is anyone who claims to be affiliated with her.”

“What? Why? We came here for supplies, we're on the way to the capital! We need-”

“I'm sorry, but yah all gotta go! Now! I don't know if you're the avatar and frankly I don't care. What I do know is-oof!” the earth pony found himself interrupted as Rainbow Dash resorted to her favorite method of diplomacy, aggressive.

“Listen here, Braeburn,” the pegasus snapped as she stood on his chest and glared down. “You can't just shove us around town and then kick us out the moment you find out who Twilight is. She IS the avatar and you owe her your help! She's got the best chance of any pony of taking down the Water Nation and they're every ponies enemy. So spill it, what's with the attitude?” she growled as she raised a hoof threateningly.

Braeburn stared up at the mare for a few moments before letting out a defeated sigh. “Well don't let any pony ever say I wasn't friendly tah strangers. Get off me and I'll explain everything.” Rainbow jumped off with a smirk as the stallion slowly got to his hooves with a grunt. “For fifty years we've been harvesting these fields and, even without the sun, doing a darn good job of it. Then about twenty years ago a squad of Water Nation soldiers attacked. Wasn't a thing we could do about it. They threatened to destroy our flames and we were to far from the capital to get any help, so we had no choice but to submit to their demands. Fortunately all they wanted was some food and a base of operations, at first.” He motioned to the large black clouds above Appleoosa. “Then the sun rose. We rebelled. Without the ability to steal our heat and freeze us, we woulda won! Except those dirty, no good, mulch licking Water Nation ponies did something utterly despicable,” he growled as he ground his hoof into the ground.

“What did they do?” Twilight asked nervously.

“In the middle of the battle those monsters snuck into town and kidnapped our children and wounded their caretakers. My niece, the sheriff's daughter, the buffalo chief's daughter and a few others. Before we managed to completely push them out they showed us our children. Threatened to drop them from the fortress if we didn't surrender to 'em. Our children are now trapped in that cloud fortress. If we show any sign of rebellion they threaten to toss down the lot of them. Took all our pegasi too, not that we had many, so we can't even mount a rescue.”

“If all that happened why were you just leading us around town? Heck, you ponies were dancing!” Rainbow snapped angrily.

“Ah, well...” he coughed nervously as he looked away. “I couldn't help but notice you had two pegasi in your group. I was tryin' tah butter yah up and the others caught on. Once yah all had a generous dosage of Appleoosa hospitality we were gonna ask yah for some help. Unfortunately, yah bein' the avatar and all... We just can't rightly ask yah to risk yourself for our sakes.”

Twilight shook her head before speaking up, “What? No. I am the avatar! It's my job to help ponies who are in need, and-”

“NO!” Braeburn snapped with a stomp of his hoof. “Please just go. We don't need any more trouble than we already got. Listen, if yah need supplies I'll see what I can do. But if the Water Nation thought we had the avatar here there is no telling what they might do to our kids. Frankly, if you're the avatar you're the best bet any of us has of one day being free of them. Understand?”

“But we-” Rainbow started but was cut off.

“Understand?!” the stallion said with a firm stomp of his hoof. Grudgingly the four nodded their heads in acceptance. Within an hour they had packs of supplies and they slowly walked away from the city, their heads hanging.

“There has to be something we can do,” Twilight mumbled once they were out of ear shot.

“Like what? It's not like you can shoot a fireball up that high,” Rainbow grumbled. “Not like the Great dragon will be coming around any time soon to give you a lift either.”

“Wait, that's it!” the unicorn said as she turned towards the pegasus. “You know wind bending, right? Maybe you could teach me how to do it!”

“Whoa there sister. I could teach you but you're missing a vital component,” the pegasus said with a flap of her wings.

“What? Magic? Skill? Talent?”

“... Wings,” the mare said flatly.

“Oh! Well, those. I can make them. I think. Maybe. Sorta. I've never actually tried it but I'm sure it would be easy. Ish,” Twilight said, though her voice betrayed her worry.

“You mean like how when your eyes went all glowy and stuff? I don't think that's going to work,” Rainbow muttered.

“Well we have to try!” Twilight snapped with a stomp of her hooves. “Those ponies need us! We can't just turn our backs on them. I know you want to help them just as badly as I do.”

“Fine fine, I'll see what I can do. But without wings I doubt you'll be able to do much. Maybe-” Rainbow was suddenly cut off as Pinkie jumped up.

“What we need is a montage!” the mare said excitedly.

“Excuse me?” the avatar asked as she stared at the earth pony as if she finally snapped.

“A montage! Okay, Rainbow and Twilight, you two go over there in the clearing to practice. Fluttershy, I'll need you for special effects. Spikey!” The dragon eeped as he tried to hide in some nearby foliage. “You I'll need for a very special task!” Fearing the coming danger, he attempted to climb into a tree as the mare advanced on him.

------

Soon Fluttershy and Spike were sitting in front of a wide assortment of instruments, neither sure of what was going on but fearing it was easier to just go along with Pinkie than to argue. They gingerly poked at the instruments a few times before trying to play them.

A bit off behind them Rainbow and Twilight began to work with a small tuft of cloud as the music filled the air, the pony and dragon unsure of how they were doing so well. Pinkie jumped to the front, wearing a pair of fake blue wings, and began her singing!

“All you need to do is take a touch of power, swirl it in a mix!

Now just take a little breath, no bigger, a bit of uni magic, just a pinch!

Bending the air is such a cinch, make a tiny tuft of cloud!

Make a little more and jump on all fours and you'll never fall on your flanka!

Wind – so fast and whippy!

Wind – don't be too jumpy!

Wind bending – wind, wind WIND!”

“I did it!” Twilight squealed with excitement as she hopped up and down on the cloud.

“See? What did I tell you. All you needed was a montage!” Pinkie said as she smiled up knowingly.

“I... wait, what? No it didn't. Rainbow just showed me and we... what? The music didn't have anything to do with it,” the unicorn said in bewilderment.

“Oh? Didn't it Twilight? Didn't it?” the earth pony said with a smirk.

“No it... Where did you get those fake wings from? Those instruments too? Wait, the song wasn't even that long. How did it last the entire time she was showing me? The lesson took a few hours! How did...” she put a hoof to her head and shook herself. “Nevermind. I just... I'm just going to accept it and move on.”

“Probably for the best,” Rainbow said with a snicker.

“Of course. Now, while wings are a bit out of my league for now, Rainbow did manage to show me a few tricks. Walking on clouds, molding them and making wind gusts!”

“To be honest I'm not sure how you got some of those from what I showed you, but hey, if it works, who cares? Now let's go save some foals!” the pegasus said as she pointed high above at the black cloud.

“Hold on Rainbow! Before anything else we need to make sure we have a plan. Luckily, I think I have just the one,” Twilight said as she motioned them close.

------

“Are you sure this will work?” Rainbow asked as she slowly pushed a big white cloud, housing Twilight, towards the clouds above.

“I'm sure Pinkie and Fluttershy will handle their part fine. Besides if everything goes smoothly we won't even need to use them,” Twilight responded, ignoring the pegasus's disbelieving snort.

“I don't even know how I'm supposed to pass as an earth pegasus,” the pegasus grumbled. “Those guys are huge! All muscle and no wing. I saw a picture of one once, you know. His legs were thicker than my body and his wings were smaller than my hoof. It was a miracle he could even fly, let alone make it up this high.”

“Don't worry so much. With you on the inside and me on the outside, what's the worst that could possibly happen?” Twilight's muffled voice comforted.

“Everything,” Rainbow grumbled as she pushed the smaller cloud into the larger one. The other cloud absorbed it quickly as she pulled up and looked around. The entire thing was massive, easily wide enough to house a small village and at least ten feet thick on the bottom. The top was crafted into one large building with rows of wooden flooring melded to the clouds to allow non pegasi to travel across.

Surprisingly, the place seemed deserted. The pegasus could hear ponies talking inside but no pony seemed to be interested on the going on outside the cloud, apparently feeling quite content and safe in their home. A smirk spread on her face as she trotted towards the nearest doorway. Well, if they felt safe and secure she was going to have to change that. She turned and gave it one mighty buck, the clouds forming it slamming back and shattering into little tufts of air.

Within moments the alarms were going off and a dozen of the Water Nation pegasi, in full armor, surrounded the mare. She charged into them, her hooves blazing as she bucked and clobbered as many as she could before finally being overwhelmed. Struggling, biting and bucking the mare was dragged off into the building.

Once the commotion settled down Twilight slowly popped her head out of the clouds and looked around. “I think she enjoyed that far more than she was supposed too...” she grumbled as she slowly climbed out. Taking a quick look around the mare then charged forward, hiding against the side of the building before scanning the surroundings again.

Her nerves rattled as she struggled to keep herself calm. Rainbow and the others were depending on her and she knew she had to do her part wonderfully if they were to have any chance of escape and success. She slowly inched towards a doorway and put her ear to it. Not hearing any pony inside she slowly inched it open before disappearing inside.

Despite her worry she failed to notice the pair of orange eyes that watched her from one of the cloud crafted windows. They belonged to a unicorn wearing Water Nation armor who smiled wickedly before turning to walk through the cloud structures halls.

Comments

[Carbide Diamond]

As I've been reading this, I've enjoyed it quite a bit. One thing that's been bothering me, and I know this is horribly unhelpful but I can't explain it better, is it seems like the story is rushed. Kinda like everything is happening in fast forward. I know that's unhelpful, but maybe you can see what I mean.

[Obsoletion]

1251178 yes

[Mocha Star]

This story is much better than I thought it'd be. I'm really enjoying it so far.

[Mocha Star]

I've never thought a montage would happen or work, but you did it and even they don't know how it happened! 😝