Lord of The Ponies: Fellowship of the Helmet

by Laurenfaustsloyalfan

Chapter 3 - Inn of The Dancing Dragon

On the outskirts of Ponyville, the two young ponies still trekked further and further away from home, intent on reaching Dodge Junction. Their walk had brought them to a cornfield full of crops tall and hard to see over. Once inside, they couldn’t even see over the stalks with their highest jump. The sign out in front had said “Keep Out,” but cutting through was the fastest way to get to Dodge.

Applejack was carrying all the pots, food, and heavy equipment on her back, but she didn’t mind at all. She considered it to be a good workout, or at least that’s what she told herself. Twilight had levitated a map in front of her face and a compass to go with it.

“We’re on the right path, Applejack,” Twilight informed her friend. “Once we get out of this field, it should be a straight shot to Dodge Junction.”

“Ya think Celestia is already there waiting for us?” Applejack wondered.

Twilight giggled as she thought of the answer.

“If I know Celestia, she’s probably preparing a big firework show at the town’s gates just to scare us.”

Applejack gave a hearty laugh as she adjusted her saddlebags.

“Yeah that’s Celestia for ya. Serious one minute, hilarious the other.” The farm girl smiled.

“And a great mentor,” Twilight commented.

Applejack knew of Twilight’s close friendship to Celestia, a relationshipbeautiful to witness. It was like Celestia was a second mother to her.

“She’ll be there waiting for us,” Twilight said confidently. “Then we can go home to Ponyville, and leave all this Helmet business behind us.”

“Ah-choo!”

“Bless you, Applejack,” Twilight bid her friend.

“Bless me? But...Ah didn’t sneeze.”

Twilight paused in her steps and turned around to view Applejack with a confused expression very much like the one Twilight herself was wearing.

“But if that wasn’t you…then who was it?”

“Ah-choo!”

The two mares’ heads both jerked in the same direction. The wall of stalks right next to them began to rustle a bit. Applejack neared her head to get a closer look. She saw something close and twitching inside the plants. Slowly, the two mares silently crept closer and readied their hooves. On Twilight’s count of three, the two lunged in and grabbed hold of whatever was in there. It was putting up a fight, shrieking, but the mares had the advantage of surprise. Applejack and Twilight pulled themselves out of the plants along with their prey.

It turned out to be two ponies by the names of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.

“Twilight Sparkle?” Pinkie said excited. “Fluttershy, its Twilight! And Applejack! Hi, Applejack!”

Applejack got right up and stuffed a hoof in Pinkie’s mouth.

“Shut the hay up, Pinkie!” Applejack said in a loud whisper. “We’re not supposed to be here!”

“Sorry if we scared you,” Fluttershy squeaked.

Twilight helped the pegasus stand up and offered her a warm smile.

“It’s okay, Fluttershy,” she assured. “But what are you two doing here?”

Pinkie took Applejack’s hoof out of her mouth and began to explain as quickly as physically possible.

“Well Fluttershy and I were out here just goofing around because it’s what we do and we ended up stumbling into this crop field. Fluttershy and I were nosing around in the corn then we heard you and Applejack walked by, but of course we didn’t know it was you, although now I’m so happy it’s you guys oh my gosh! But anyways, we ducked down and a leaf wouldn’t stop tickling my nose so I sneezed and you found us and that’s it!”

Pinkie had a triumphant smile on her face when she finished that.

“Ooooookay then,” Twilight muttered, somewhat satisfied, and somewhat confused.

“So I guess we should be going then. See ya!” Pinkie began to make her bouncy way out.

Applejack looked down at the saddlebag Pinkie had dropped during her struggle. A stem poked out of the top conspicuously. The orange mare opened up the bag and dumped out the insides, revealing an assortment of vegetables in various states of breakage.

“You’ve been stealin’ food from Cranky Doodle’s fields!” she accused.

Pinkie Pie turned around with guilty grin. “Well….he grows a lot of good stuff.”

“What all have you taken?” Twilight asked, looking down at the stolen goods.

“Not much.” Pinkie defended herself. “Just a couple carrots, a few cabbages, some tomatoes, three sacks of potatoes, a couple dozen corn cobs, a barrel of onions, a cartful of pumpkins, and…..a piece of cherry pie he left out on the windowsill the other day.”

Applejack and Twilight stared at the pink mare dumbfounded.

“Wha…what do you need that many vegetables for?” Twilight begged to know.

“Oh, you know, veggies are good for you, silly!” Pinkie chirped in response.

“Hey!”

That voice did not belong to any of them. It was a male’s voice. Looking in the direction in came, the four mares saw a scythe popping up from the crops and moving towards them.

“It’s Cranky! Run!” Pinkie cried, rearing up.

The pink mare picked up her saddle bag and tried to stuff as much food in it as she could before she and the others began to hightail it out of there. They didn’t care which direction they were going. When Applejack reached the outside of the crop first, she skidded to a halt upon realizing that she was in front of a ledge. Twilight and Pinkie stopped too, just in the nick of time. Fluttershy, blind in her panic, ran smack into the back of Pinkie, knocking all four of the ponies over the ledge.

They tumbled and rolled down a steep hill for quite some time before they suddenly slowed down and ceased moving on the road below. Applejack spat out some dirt and pushed Pinkie Pie off her. Fluttershy stood up on her own and shook all the twigs, leaves, and dirt off her body.

When Twilight stood back up, she used her magic to levitate the bags she was carrying onto her back once more. She shivered slightly, shaking the debris off. But it wasn’t the urge to get clean that had caused her to shiver.

“Girls…do you feel cold?” she asked, trying to make sure it wasn’t just her.

Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy all paused and took notice of the nip in the air as well.

“Yeah Ah wonder what brought this on,” Applejack muttered.

“There’s not a single cloud in the sky,” Fluttershy observed as she looked up and past the trees.

Twilight kept looking around, search for any kind of sign of the source of the sudden change, but found nothing. After turning back around, she sighed, and was surprised when she saw her breath coming from her mouth in a fog. She turned again and stared down the road the group had landed on, and saw the ground begin to freeze over.

“All of you off the road! Hide!” Twilight cried.

The four mares gathered their things and ran off the road as quick as they could. They took shelter underneath the outgrown roots of a big tree. Their breathing slowed and almost silenced as it got colder and colder with each passing second. Fluttershy began to shiver. Applejack pulled out a blanket from her bag and wrapped it tight around the pegasus’ body to keep her warm and quiet.

Up above them, the being responsible for the cold crept up the road and stopped right beside the tree the four mares were hiding under. The windigo could sense the presence of the Helmet. It knew the object was near.

Twilight and the others kept as silent as they possibly could. The lavender mare however heard something in her ears. It was the same Derpish language that had emanated from the Helmet, and the words started to cloud her judgment. Slowly, the Helmet slipped out of her saddlebag and rolled down her back towards her head.

Luckily Applejack took notice in time and pushed the Helmet away, causing Twilight to snap out of her trance. Pinkie fished out a cabbage she took from the crop field and threw it over the side of the tree the windigo couldn’t see. When it hit the ground, the windigo heard it and let out a roar before following the sound.

The coast was clear for now. The four mares ran for it down the hill. A few minutes later, they stopped again and Applejack took back her blanket from Fluttershy, who was now warmed up again.

“What was that thing?” Fluttershy squeaked.

“I have no idea, Fluttershy,” Twilight answered. The unicorn’s eyes flickered back to bag the Helmet was concealed in.“But I think I know what it wants.”

Slowly, they advanced deeper into the woods. For hours they walked, being careful to avoid the windigo. They hid behind every tree they could kept an eye out for their foe. Finally, Pinkie started asking questions.

“Twilight, what is going on?” she asked. “That freaky thing back there…it was looking for you. Wasn’t it?”

Twilight sighed and nodded her head in answer.

“Yes, Pinkie. It was. Applejack and I need to get to Dodge Junction fast.”

“Dodge Junction? Well why didn’t you say so?” Pinkie asked. “I know a shortcut across the river. It’s nearby. Follow me.”

The pink mare went off in another direction and her three friends followed her, trusting she knew where she was going. As they reached the path, the windigo sprang out of the bushes with a mighty roar and blast of cold air. The mares shrieked and began to run as fast as they could, Pinkie still leading them through her shortcut. Twilight tripped over a root sticking out of the ground causing her to fall behind. She looked behind her desperately as the windigo closed in, then ran even faster, spurred by fear.

Finally out of the woods, the river came into view of the ponies. On the edge of the river was a short dock with a small raft big enough for the four ponies to fit on. Pinkie hopped on it while Applejack and Fluttershy went to work untying the ropes holding the raft in place.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry!” Pinkie cried, looking back at the menacing windigo chasing their friend.

Panicking, Applejack’s and Fluttershy’s hooves started to move as fast as they possibly could. Twilight finally came into view, the windigo right on her tail. The knots came undone and Fluttershy pushed it off as Twilight neared them.

“C’mon Twilight! Run!” Applejack shouted.

The cold intensified on her back as the windigo neared her and her heart raced as fast as her hooves. Twilight put every ounce of strength she had into her legs and ran like all hell was breaking loose. The gap between her and the windigo began to increase ever so slightly. When she neared the end of the dock, the raft was a few meters out. She took a single leap and was able to reach the raft.

The windigo, unfazed by the river, turned the water to ice and continued to gallop towards them. Twilight found her balance on the raft, turned around, and shot a blast of magical energy from her horn, hitting the underside of the icy creature’s chin. In pain, the windigo turned around and flew back to the land. It was joined by a number of other windigos, who screeched at the group angrily, then turned and galloped away. At their departure, Twilight just couldn’t take any more. She collapsed on her belly, exhausted. Applejack rushed to her friend and made sure she was okay.

“How far…down this river…do we go...Pinkie?” Twilight asked through her heavy breaths

“Ten miles. After that it’s just a short walk to Dodge.” Pinkie answered.

“Let’s just hope that thing is done followin’ us.” Applejack added.

Ten miles down the river and a short walk later, Twilight and her companions found themselves across the road from the doorway into Dodge Junction. All four of them had put on their cloaks and raised their hoods against the sudden onslaught of rain.

Twilight peeked her head out of the tree line and looked around for any signs of anything unusual, namely the creature that was chasing them. She breathed as sigh of relief.

“It’s clear. Let’s go.”

The four of them crossed the road, and Twilight knocked on the door. From the center of the door, a small peeper window opened up and the face of a grey unicorn stallion with freckles looked at the lead pony.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“We’ve come all the way from Ponyville. We need to get to the Dancing Dragon.” Twilight answered.

“Ponyville?” The unicorn opened up the door all the way. “It’s not every night I see travelers come all the way from there. Especially on a night as wet as this one. What bring you four here to Dodge Junction?”

“Like we said, we need to get the Dancing Dragon. We need to meet someone who’s there waiting for us.” Twilight again answered.

The grey unicorn nodded, and stood aside to let all four of them in. A single road ran through the town. It was small and simple, not unlike Ponyville. Only real difference was the building layout and architectural style. A little ways down that one road, the sign hung above the door of a building with the words “The Dancing Dragon” carved into it.

“There you go. Enjoy.” The grey unicorn walked back to the gate.

The door of the pub opened up with Twilight’s magic and immediately the sound of chattering was heard from the inside. Ponies everywhere downing drinks and talking amongst each other whether they be friends or not. But there was no sign of Celestia. At the front desk of the tavern was a purple earth pony, Berry Punch, as it said on her desk. She drank heavily from a large wine bottle, oblivious to all else.

“Um…hello?” Applejack waved a hoof at the mare.

After taking another swig from the bottle, the mare finally took notice of the four ponies.

“Oh well hello *hic!* there.” She hiccupped. “What can *hic!* I do for ya?”

“We’re looking for Celestia the Pink.” Twilight told her.

Berry’s eyes seemed to do continuous loops as she thought.

“Big white pony *hic!* with both a horn and *hic!* wings?”

All four of them nodded.

“Sorry. *Hic!* She hasn’t been around here *hic!* for a few months. *Hic!* Wanna drink?”

Twilight furrowed her brow, worried. It wasn’t like Celestia to not show up, especially in times so dire. Twilight could only think of two reasons as to how this was possible. Either Celestia had a more important matter to attend to and didn’t have time to explain it, or something had happened to her making her unable to make it.

Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy shared Twilight’s feelings just not as high a level. They could tell by the look on her face she was scared for the older alicorn.

“What did you say *hic!* your name was?” Berry Punch asked Twilight.

“I didn’t.” Twilight replied.

“Oh. Okay.” Berry walked off to get some more alcohol in her system.

“What do we do now, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked.

The unicorn took a minute to think about that question. Celestia wasn’t there at the Dancing Dragon even though she said she would meet up with them there. The alicorn was never one to break her word.

“We’ll wait here for as long as we need to,” she replied. “She’ll show up. I know she will.”

Three hours had passed by and there was still no sign of her. In the middle of the second hour, the four of them had finally decided to order some drinks. Even though she was plastered off her flank, Berry Punch was able to bring them mugs of cider without spilling a single drop.

Applejack had taken notice of something else though. It started when they first took their seats and it hadn’t yet stopped.

“Alright. None of y’all make any sudden movements. Especially you, Pinkie. But there’s somepony over there watching us.”

The orange pony gestured her head to the right and slowly, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie moved their eyes in the same direction. Applejack was right. There was a pony over in the corner that seemed to have her own eyes looking at them. They couldn’t tell what she looked liked through her cloak and hood. Only small things were noticeable like her blue muzzle and long horn glowing a lighter blue sticking out of the hood. In her mouth she had a small pipe also enveloped in the magical glow.

“Um…excuse me.” Fluttershy stopped Berry Punch as she passed by. “Sorry but…do you know who that pony over there is?”

Berry took a gander over in the direction Fluttershy showed her.

“Oh yeah.” She replied. “She’s *hic!* not from around here. Kinda like you four. I think you would get *hic!* along just fine. Everypony calls her *hic!* Moontrot.”

Moontrot. An odd name for an odd pony, and all four ponies gazed at her warily. A cloud of smoke left her mouth as she puffed on her pipe again. Then Twilight’s eyes moved away from her and down to the bag that held the Helmet of Nightmare Moon. It was starting to speak to her again; the Derpish language egged her on and on to use its power. Applejack nudged her friend when she saw her eyes roll back into her head.

“You okay there, Twi?” she asked.

“Uh…yeah. I’m alright, AJ.” The unicorn assured her.

Wanting to move away from Moontrot’s gaze, Twilight quickly gulped down her mug of cider.

“I’m gonna go get a refill.” She quickly got up and took her mug and the helmet’s bag with her.

When she got to the bar, another bartender refilled the drink and Twilight started to ke her way back to the table. Along the way she was stopped by a red pegasus mare.

“Hey. Aren’t you one of them Sparkle’s from Ponyville?”

Twilight backed up. Her name was known because of her mother, but not necessarily in the best way. Celestia’s warning against revealing her name echoed in her head.

“Um..no. I’m not, WHOA!”

While she was backing up, Twilight tripped over another pony’s back hoof that was sticking out. Both her mug of cider and the bag with the helmet slipped from her and were tossed into the air. The Helmet made its way out of the bag, rotating slightly. Twilight tried to steady herself, oblivious to the escaped object.

From a distance, Moontrot saw the object and leaned forward to get a closer look. When Twilight stood back up, she looked up and saw the helmet about to fall on her head. Before she could use her magic to catch it, the hunk of metal switched its angle and slipped itself snug on Twilight’s head.

Then she disappeared from sight.

Comments

[Seanchow806Napoleonic]

Mind if I asked what are you stopping for? I would like to see more if you had not delayed even more.

[Lucasnike123]

Next chapter?