Chapter 9: The Forest For The Trees - Part 2
Disclaimer:
In the beginning there was Zacherle which brought forth all ponies and all the lands and seas and all the others things besides from formless thought. Upon this creation did Holy Faust come and give new soul and life to the ponies. She who gave birth to Celestia and Luna and many more besides, then wove their fated threads into the great tapestry we know as Equestria. And with her divine labor finished, She allowed countless others to marvel at her work and pay it tribute.
Thus do we, the observers of divinity, respectfully take up the strands of fate which Holy Faust has left unto us and weave our own designs; not to the ends of profit, but so that the great tapestry of Ponydom may be made ever more grand by our efforts. With these words do we pray that our actions not besmirch Her work, nor seek to undermine Her name upon it.
What Might Have Been
Chapter 9: The Forest For The Trees – Part 2
The halls of Canterlot Castle were empty in a way Dusk Shine had never known them to be before. Even on the loneliest night of the slowest business day there had been at least some ponies wandering the corridors of the palace. At such a time servants, maids, and butlers would occasionally pass Dusk by on the way to their own errands. Honor guards could be found at the entrance to each wing and patrols would periodically make their way across the grounds. Even the wayward bureaucrat or official could be seen from time to time during even the most empty of hours.
The home of the princess was after all, more than just a fancy house. It served as the seat of Equestria's national government and as the most important house of justice in the land. It was a fully equipped, staffed, and functional military base that housed no less than two hundred and fifty of the finest earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn troops, in addition to all of the support facilities and personnel those troops required. The castle also served as one of the finest dinning establishments in the city, and boasted a clientele list consisting of VIPs hailing from as far away as the sun baked planes of Zebrica and the ice bound peaks of the Crystal Mountains. The palace and surrounding grounds showcased world renowned zoological gardens and were places for study and great learning, while the dungeons were an infrequently used jailhouse.
In truth, Canterlot Castle was more like a small city unto itself than any single structure, and as such it was filled with ponies that all lived and worked as a part of its day-to-day economy. Like any city, it was never truly still even when it slept, and this reality was hammered home to Dusk Shine by the ringing silence that pressed in on him.
Now, the castle truly was as still as the stone from which it was carved. The purple unicorn colt was aware that this was all part of the plan of course. It was Princess Luna's intention that when Solar Flare made her move on Canterlot, and specifically on Canterlot Castle, that she should encounter no resistance. The mad Mare in the Sun would be allowed to stroll right up to the Lunar Throne. She was even welcome to pop a squat on its black velvet cushions and nopony was to stop her.
In fact, nopony was even supposed to be in the castle at all. If Solar Flare wanted the Throne she could have it, silver trim and everything, but there would be no soldiers for her to fight, no bureaucrats of officials for her to muscle over, no pages to spread her proclamations, nopony at all.
Dusk was at first confused by this strategy, but Princess Luna has explained. “It's all part of the plan, you see. If my mad sister truly wants the crown, I'll be happy to provide her with it. For all I care she can have all the fun she wants with that stupid fancy hat, what I intend to keep from her is the actual rule of Equestria.”
It was rather brilliant really. Vacate the castle and all other large scale government facilitates and let the conquering alicorn be wholly ignored by the population at large. By sending nearly all of Equestria's government into hiding, and having the senators, officials, and bureaucrats blend in with the general population, Princess Luna had deprived Solar Flare of any traction she would otherwise have in her usurpation.
If the Mare in the Sun wanted to conquer Equestria, she would have to build its new government from scratch, while simultaneously fighting to dismantle a hidden system of governance that was already established.
“Perhaps my greatest regret about this whole situation is that I won't be there to see the look on her face when she realizes that there isn't actually an army for her to fight.” Luna had jokingly confided with her loyal student. “I'm sure it'll be quite a sight!”
Dusk couldn't help but smile as he recalled the words of his mentor, and for a short while the cavernous halls felt a little less barren. However the vacant stillness of the vast corridors could not be ignored for long, and soon enough a lonesome melancholy fell over the young stallion.
By the time he reached the imposing doors of the Royal Equestrian Archives, the mood of the purple mage had descended to downright brooding. Enterering the Archives, Dusk paid no heed to the great wooden doors as they swung open and as usual, their momentum carried them into a resounding collision with the wall.
The resulting bang shattered the silence of the castle utterly, but it was not the startling sound of wood hitting stone that made Dusk Shine's insides clench tightly down on his adrenal glands. No, the sound that so spooked the violet mage was the first pony voice he had herd since entering abandoned castle, its droning baritone condemnation sending ripples of chill recognetion down his spine.
“How many times must I remind you Mister Shine, that if you continue to abuse the doors to this library, you will soon be barred from passing through them?” There behind the reference desk, statuesque as always, sat the weathered visage of Dusty Stacks, Master Archivist.
For as long as Dusk could remember, Mr. Stacks had been the chief librarian for the entire Royal Equestrian Archive System. This meant that not only did he oversee The Canterlot Archives on the campus of Luna's School for Gifted Unicorns, but also two other collections; the Palace Library, and The Grand Arcanum, the largest repository of magical knowledge in the known world. Though both of the latter two establishments were housed in Canterlot Castle, it was for two very different reasons.
The Palace Library was Princess Luna's own personal collection of books, documents, and music, and its contents literally belonged to her alone. Over the course of a multi-mellina life, one tended to acquire a rather staggering quantity of books, and sometime in the not so distant past the princess had decided to share her horde with the general public. Being Luna's own personal property, the contents of the Palace library were kept in her own home.
The Grand Arcanum however, was another matter entirely. It had been established shortly after the mysterious fall of the Crystal Empire as a place for keeping any and all information about powerful magic spells and artifacts. It was hoped that with such a resource available to the Princess and other highly skilled mages, whatever arcane catastrophe had wiped the lost crystal ponies off the face of Equestria could be prevented from ever happening again.
The sheer quantity and power of the knowledge held within meant that security was a top priority. The wards and shields that protected this most treasured vault were crafted and maintained by some of the most powerful unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies in service to the Princess, and access to the records within was closely monitored and tightly regulated. Very few ponies had unrestricted access to all sections of the Grand Arcanum, but now that Dusk carried Luna's writ, he was finally one of them.
Unless of course Dusty Stacks were to say otherwise.
It was common knowledge amongst the students of Luna's school that the Master Archivist was not a pony to be trifled with. He was stoic, quite often cold, and highly protective of his papery charges. It was all enough to spawn a great many rumors about Stacks' 'supernatural powers'.
“Bad things happen to ponies who displeased him.” A senior had told Dusk Shine during his first week at university. “I once knew a mare who accidentally dropped her book in a mud puddle. When she tried to return it, Stacks just gave her this... this look, and that was it man. She was gone. Like the soul had been sucked right out of her. For weeks she just wondered around campus mumbling to herself, unable to speak or sleep, barely eating.
“And that's not the half of it man, just ask any of the tenured professors. The dude's been around literally forever. Not a single pony here can tell you who the master archivist was before him, and the Library has been around for centuries.
“Every now and then somepony will get the idea to ask the princess about him, but she never responds to any of the letters. If you ever get the chance to see him and Luna together in the same room you'll know why. The princess gets this strange look in her eye when he's around. Its a look you'll never see on her face anywhere else, and it'll take you a while to recognize it, but you wanna' know what that look is man?
“It's fear.”
Despite Dusk Shine's immediate dismissal of the ghost stories that surrounded the master archivist, he had yet to find a single scrap of evidence that would disprove them. Of course, neither had he found evidence to validate the tales, but at least in this instance, the purple mage had resolved he was better safe than sorry. There really is no up side to screwing with things you can't explain, after all.
Now that same eldrich disapproval was leveled squarely at the violet stallion, and Dusk would have been lying if he had said he didn't feel the temperature of the room drop about ten degrees. Hastening to make his apologies for slamming the door open, he approached the reference desk.
“I'm sorry Mr. Stacks. It was an accident. Really. It won't happen again, I promise.”
“See that it does not.”
As was usual when speaking with the master archivist, the conversation descended into uncomfortable silence. Dusk's curiosity got the better of him however, when he realized that the entirety of the castle was supposed to be vacant in anticipation of Solar Flare's return.
“Um, Mr. Stacks?”
“Yes Mr. Shine. Is there something I can help you with?”
“Why um... why are you still here?” His question drew an arch look from the elderly bookkeeper, but he answered all the same with only a hint of pride in his voice.
“Because Mr. Shine, I am the Chief Librarian for the Canterlot Archives, the Personal Bookkeeper for Her Highness Princess Luna, the Master Archivist of the Grand Arcanum, and Director of the Royal Equestrian Archive System.” Stacks leaned in close and looked the young stallion dead in the eyes. “It's my job.”
“I know, but everypony in service to the princess was ordered to evacuate the castle. Why have you stayed?”
Dusty was silent for a moment while he considered Dusk's question, and the violet mage got the distinct impression that Mr. Stacks was not thinking about the answer he would give, but whether or not he should give it. Just before Dusk felt obliged to retract his query, the aged master answered as he would to an apprentice.
“Dusk Shine, I am going to tell you a secret.” The purple unicorn was shocked to hear this, as never before had the master archivist addressed him by anything other than Mr. Shine.
“I do not serve the princess.” Dusty went on. “Though I am employed by Equestria's government and paid from its national funds, I do not serve it, nor its even its' citizens. I serve a higher authority and purpose than all of those things. I serve the books of this great library and most importantly, the knowledge those books contain.
“My purpose is not to please the crown or the ponies of Canterlot, but to maintain and disseminate the knowledge that has been entrusted to me to any and all thinking beings that need it. It is my duty to ensure that the thoughts and ideas of the past and present are never lost to the future.
“When Princess Luna ordered the castle emptied, I asked if she intended to relocate the contents of the Palace Library and the Grand Arcanum. When she said that the books would remain where they were, I told her that I would remain as well.” His words were spoken firmly, and with a strength of resolve that plainly showed he was willing to die to uphold them.
Still Dusk was concerned for the old master. Say what you would about is demeanor, but Dusty Stacks was still the best reference librarian Dusk had ever met. “But Luna, er, the princess told you why the castle is to be evacuated didn't she? About Solar Flare's return?”
“She did.”
“Then what are you going to do when The Mare in The Sun finally comes to Canterlot?”
For the first time in Dusk's memory, perhaps even the first time in living memory, Dusty stacks smiled.
“Dusk Shine, my boy.” He began, in a confident and conspiratorial tone that made the violet mage's skin prickle in the good kind of fear. “Never underestimate a librarian.”
She was gone.
She had come from out of nowhere, screaming and in tears but knowing something about that demon alicorn. The only one who did.
She had begged them for help, claiming she was lost far from home and that they all were in terrible peril. She had promised them hope, believed in them, and lead them into the jaws of danger with the confidence that they all were capable of coming out on the other side. She was smart, brave, and very strange, and now Twilight Sparkle was gone.
For some reason that one little fact struck Rainbow Blitz harder than any collision with the ground ever had. It knocked the breath from his lungs and forced the cold reality of his situation on him.
The were trapped. Trapped like a rabbit in this briar chocked draw with a mad beast quite literally hot on their tails. In all likelihood they were going to die, to be eaten by an otherworldly horror.
Had he known this trip into the forest would end in such disaster before setting out, Rainbow thought he could honestly say that he still would've gone anyway. The world was at stake after all, and if he was destined to be manticore chow he may as well be so as a hero. Not the most positive outlook sure, but Rainbow Blitz was resolved not to go down without a fight.
Now however, none of that seemed to matter. Now he was just abandoned, lied to, and betrayed.
This wasn't a hero's last stand in defense of an imperiled world, it was just him and his friends, mere acquaintances really, and they all were about to get eaten. The finallity of that idea caused the spirit to leak out of him and be replaced by despair. Terror took hold where hope had been, and the morbid pain of doom filled his guts.
Rainbow Blitz stood hollow before the naked threat of the manticore. His impotent wings were spread wide in aggression but trembled with futility, for his heart could not bring to bear his pegasus instincts of fight and flight. His knees were weak and unduly protested his wight, and his vision became clouded with tears. In his mind he knew that he had to fight, that his friends were counting on him to help them through, but nothing he could do would save them.
Elusive was shouting something, pointing to a pair of small, twisted, gray acacia snags that still clung to the walls of the canyon above them. The words didn't register in Blitz's mind. His muscles trembled with nerves but refused to yield to his command.
I have to fight it. He though to himself. If I fight it off, the others might be able to flee to safety. It was an encouraging thought, one that Rainbow desperately wanted to act upon, but his body just would not obey.
Berry Bubble was making strange gestures and frantically conversing with Applejack. Elusive was preparing a spell with Butterscotch standing near, his head held high and firm, his expression stoney.
Why won't I move?!?! I have to save my friends! He ground his teeth together while tears streamed down his cheeks in frustration, but he already knew the answer. Because if I try and save them, I won't be coming back, and there's no grantee they'll get away. It could all be for naught. It really is hopeless. We're all going to die.
Something was pulling on Rainbow's tail, trying to drag him back. The chromatic colt turned to see Butterscotch pleading with him to stand back. But he knew it didn't matter. The only thing a few meters would buy them was a few more seconds as manticore bore down on them.
With surreal detachment Blitz allowed himself to be moved further up the draw. Turning his head he briefly entertained the curiosity of why Berry Bubble looked like he was getting a boost up the cliff face from Applejack. The canyon walls were far to tall for even five ponies to scale in such a way, what hope did those two have? Why was Elusive's horn glowing so brightly?
The world exploded into sound, light, and color.
With a tremendous effort, the alabaster unicorn used all his talent for presentation magic and turned it into what amounted to an arcane flashbang.
In an instant, all of Blitz's senses came tumbling down. His eyes were bleached of light and his ears rang with the sound of thunder as he staggered to regain his balance. Why hadn't any pony warned him Elusive was going to do that?
“Rainbow! Rainbow, you weren't supposed to look. Are you alright?” Butterscotch's voice swam up through the bedlam still raging in his head. Blitz shook his head to clear it, squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed them, then he came back to the world.
The flaming manticore was still headed up their little draw, but Elusive's magic had a definite effect on the creature. It was shielding its eyes with its front paws and whipping its head back and forth to clear it.
Berry and Applejack were using this distraction to try and block its passage up the valley. The pink party colt had used the boost he got from the farmer in conjunction with his uncanny agility to scurry up to the two dead acacia trees on the cliff side, and now he was putting all of his considerable earth pony strength to use trying to knock them over into the gully.
As the beast at last found its bearings, the sound of deadwood snapping and earth giving way filled the air. With a mighty push from Berry Bubble, first one, then the other of the thorny snags came crashing down to the bottom of the gully between the stranded ponies and the fiery monster.
“Alright Berry! Wooh!” cheered Blitz, finally catching on to the scheme that his friends had been hatching. The dryed, acacia trees were a nightmare of thorns and stickers, and the little canyon was just too small for the creature to maneuver effectively in the air. Though they were still stuck, they were now safely out of reach of the predator.
In the slide of rubble that accompanied the the falling trees, Berry surfed down to be caught by the orange farm colt. Together the five ponies then turned their attention toward the manticore.
The presence of the nasty thorn bushes left the creature with two options; leave, or have its skin torn from its bones by the dagger like thorns of the acacia. With winning slimes all around, Rainbow blitz and his four friends beamed their triumph through the brambles at the predator.
They did not however, receive any outward indications of their victory. The flaming manticore did not growl or roar in frustration, nor take wing in search of easier pray. Instead it glared at the five tired ponies through the bush, determination etched on it's features.
Inhaling a deep breath, the manticore blew a steady stream of flames into the newly relocated thicket. The dried twigs and leaves caught easily, and soon the whole barricade was alight.
Hope turned to despair for the five ponies trapped in the gully, as they saw the future outcome just as clearly as did their foe. Soon the acacia would burn away and once it was gone, they would be defenseless before the great hulking predator. The manticore didn't need to tear through thorns to get to them. All it had to do was wait.
SHA-ZAP
Twilight found herself standing atop the cliffs overlooking her friends. From her elevated vantage, she could clearly see the danger her friends were in. The gully couldn’t have been more than three meters wide up by the other five ponies, and the flaming manticore was rapidly bearing down on them. She had to hurry.
SHA-ZAP
The violet mage snapped back into existence further back up the trail, near where the cliff had just collapsed. With her injured leg she was unable to move at anything other than a brisk walk, and she still had a few hundred meters to cover.
SHA-ZAP
Now she was at the fork in the road. The one where she had thought to avoid the death trap of a ravine where her friends were now stranded. Instead, she had just found a meadow of poisonous and highly obnoxious weeds that had barred her passage as surly as any wall.
SHA-ZAP
Down the path she blinked, with each flash and pop coming closer to her goal. What and moments ago been an obstacle would now be made to pay penance for its stubbornness by serving as her salvation. She was almost there, through the thinner trees and branches she could make out tiny glimpses of blue.
SHA-ZAP
Now Twilight Sparkle stood back on the edge of the field of poison joke that had impeded her progress earlier. She was breathing deeply, the frantic rush of one teleportation after another having challenged but not strained her. No, the real strain was about to begin.
Taking a deep breath and centering herself, the young mage conjured a field of telekinesis, and shaped in into a long thin blade. She lowered it parallel to the ground then with a flourish of her horn whipped it low across the meadow just below the level of the poison joke.
A tumble of flower heads was left in the wake of her ethereal scythe, but not nearly enough. Again the unicorn mare swung her glowing purple blade and again the blossoms fell like late summer wheat.
Sweat began to trickle down Twilight’s forehead as the demands of her spells began to show. Creating any shape out of pure force was no mean feat, and slinging it back and forth with precision took lots of concentration.
When nearly half the field had been sufficiently mowed, the purple pony moved on to the next step of her plan. Sparks began to slip from the tip of her horn as Twilight cast a great wave of telekinesis out across the field. In response, all the freshly cut poison joke flowers leap into the air and rushed into a floating sphere in front of her. Now came the hard part.
Turning from the field and levitating her great blue ball of plant matter with her, Twilight began to limp back to the ravine as fast has her wounded leg would allow her. Though she had teleported here, she couldn't risk dropping her giant wad of poison joke by trying to maintain levitation during a teleport. Skilled though she was, without it her friends were doomed.
What had since been rendered a dull ache by butterscotch's skilled healing now flared into a biting lance of pain as the purple mare made her way back up the trail. To help keep the agony from the forefront of her mind, Twilight began to run calculations of body mass and dosage through her head.
OK, if I weigh 88.5 kilos, and if we assume that roughly 25% of my body's surface area was exposed to the poison joke last time, and assuming that the amount of joke toxin absorbed through the skin was proportional to surface area, AND if the metabolism of such a toxin is a relevant factor in the latency time of for the appearance of symptoms, then given that my horn didn't go all floppy for anywhere between eight and sixteen hours means I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA IF THIS WILL EVEN WORK!!!
It wasn't working very well.
As she hurried back towards her stranded friends, the violet mage began to massage her floating mass of noxious plant-matter. Pulling it and compressing it and grinding the flowers down into a sticky wet paste that hung in the air before her.
In short order the poison joke flowers were little more than a think pulpy sludge and their innate magical properties started to make themselves apparent. The more she worked the flowers down the more Twilight began to notice a tingling numbness in her horn. She took it as a good sign that the power of the weeds was beginning to interfere with her telekinesis, however it was making maintaining her spell all the more difficult. It was starting to make her horn feel like the magical appendage was falling asleep, and it was causing her grip to slowly fail.
Little drips of blue began to slip from her ethereal grasp and the violet mage knew she had to hurry. She was only just now rounding the fork in the trail when a resounding boom echoed through the Everfree. The noise had come from the direction of the canyon. The same canyon were her friends were now trapped.
Twilight's insides clenched down in fear for her friends and she quickened her pace. Limping as fast as she could and using all of her concentration to keep her wad of poison joke aloft, the violet mare prayed to Faust she would not be too late.
Fire burned before them, and backed up as they were against the cliff walls they could still feel its heat. The flames licked at the bone dry acacia trees that were their only protection and were being rapidly reduced to cinders. It would not be long now.
Huddled together with these few fleeting moments left to contemplate the grim nature of the situation they found themselves in, the morale of the five colts had depended to outright despair. Butterscotch was curled tight into himself weeping quietly while being held by Elusive. The white unicorn was doing little better at holding back tears and could best be described as pale, rather than pristine alabaster.
For his own part, Berry bubble was taking his immanent demise rather well. This was due mostly to his own efforts to comfort Butterscotch and Elusive distracting him thinking too long on it. However, it was plainly apparent that even the bubbly colt was afflicted, as his usually bouncy boyish curls hung limp from his mane and the usual spark in his eyes was gone.
Rainbow Blitz was aware of the desperate straights he and his friends found themselves in, but it was not despair that occupied his mind, at least not entirely. A few moments ago he had allowed himself to become paralyzed by his fear and as a result his friends had been forced to try and fight off the beast themselves. That wasn’t' right.
He should be the one to defend his friends. He was the fastest, the most capable and it... It just wasn't right to leave your friends stranded!!!
Anger began to boil up in the chromatic pegasus as he thought of Twilight's abandonment, of her betrayal. Leading them all into danger then just blinking away when things got to tough, how could could she do something so wrong? He though she was a good pony, that she had their best interests at heart, but it had all been a lie.
Rainbow Blitz had even let it get to him and missed what may have been his one and only chance to get them all to safety. Well, none of that mattered now. He would make his own opportunity to save his friends, regardless of the cost. Squaring his shoulders to the creature on the other side of the bonfire and digging in his rear hooves, Blitz made himself ready.
The orange apple farmer standing by his side seemed to pick up on his thoughts. “Rainbow, what are you doin'?” Applejack asked hesitantly.
Without breaking eye contact with his soon to be opponent, the brash colt replied. “As soon as the way is clear, lead Butterscotch and the others out of here. Run straight for Ponyville and don't stop till you get there.”
“You can't take that thing by your self. We're not going to leave you.”
“Damit AJ, I'm not asking I'm telling! First chance you get, run!”
“Rainbow Blitz you idiot, you'll be killed!”
With a snarl of rage the blue stallion finally looked over to his companion. “YOUR POINT!?!”
Applejack recoiled from the pain and fury in his friends voice while hurt and confusion filled his own. “Rainbow, I...”
The chromatic pegasus huffed and swallowed his anger for a moment. “I'm sorry AJ. I didn't mean to yell at you, but look around. We're trapped and we're alone out here. The only way any of us are ever going to see Ponyville again is if somepony tries to hold that monster off long enough for the rest to escape. And that's exactly what I intend to do.”
Applejack was taken aback by the blue colt's macabre assessment of their current situation. In a desperate attempt to sway his friend from this suicidal course of action, he spoke. “Please Blitz, you don't have to do this. We can find another way. Twilight said-”
“Twilight's gone, Applejack.” Blitz interrupted. “She got out while she still could and left us to fend for ourselves. The only ponies who can get us out now are us. And while I'd love for there to be a better solution, I haven't found one yet and we're running out of time.”
Looking back to their quickly evaporating blockade, the orange farm colt could tell that there really wasn’t much time left. The thorns and brambles were nearly all gone by this point. It was only the manticore's patience that now gave them any grace.
“You and Berry help Elusive. Make a break for it the first chance you get.” Rainbow Blitz commanded as he returned his focus to his glaring match with the monster. The grim determination in his voice left no room for further debate. Applejack didn't like much the idea of his new friend sacrificing himself like that, but it was apparent there was nothing he could say to change it.
Before he turned back to Berry and Elusive, he gave the blue pegasus what might very well be the last words Applejack would ever say to him. “We'll come back for you.” The farmer then turned and made his way back toward the others. He didn't hear Blitz mutter under his breath.
“Why bother?”
Cold sweat poured from Twilight's brow from both exaustion and worry. Every second that ticked past slammed down on her heart, reminding her that each and every one could be the last second she would have to save her friends.
On she pressed and slowly, the recently ruined cliff face came into view. She was getting closer when another pall of worry decended, she didn't know exactly how to get to the particular spur-canyon were her friends were. She hadn't really been paying attention when they had all run in, and in her mad-dash teleportation she hadn't had an opportunity to memorize the surroundings.
“Come on... please” she begged of everything and nothing all at once, taking it on faith that she would find her friends, for faith was all she had left.
Then up ahead, close but not yet close enough, Twilight spotted wispy blue smoke rising out of a steep gully. With her goal finally in view, the purple mare redoubled her efforts and powered through her pain.
She was almost there. She could nearly see over the lip. Just a few more meters.
Ten more.
Five more.
Three...
Little was left of the acacia snags by now, and Blitz decided to make the first move. Boldly he ground some of the ashes underhoof and rubbed war stripes across his cheeks. The fire possessed manticore took to its feet, and spread its front legs in a fighting stance.
The monster roared in challenge.
The colt screamed out a blattle cry, and bolted forward. Swiftly he lept up onto what remained of the chard trunks of the acacia trees. His hooves barely touched the still smoldering wood as he launched himself at his foe. The beast was ready for him. It reared up on its hind legs and hurled itself forward into the midair collision.
Twilight watched it happen in slow motion and acted on instinct.
With a heave, she threw her vile wad of posion joke high into the air. She then charged a teleport spell into her horn and leapt through the tear in space it rent. In a flash she was no longer on the gully rim but sailing out of the aether and slamming into Rainbow Blitz.
The two ponies tumbled down and to the side, landing in a heap in the dirt while the monstrous manticore overshot its mark and crashed into the heap of smoldering acacia trees.
In a blink it was back up. It whipped around in furry and took aim for another pounce. Utter disbelief colored the chromatic colt's face as he tried to recover form the crash. “Twilight?!?”
The violet mage rapidly regained her senses and quickly searched the sky. Finding her weapon careening through the open air, she lit off a blast of telekinesis and brought the blue ball crashing down on the fiery monstrosity.
There was a great flash of light, a violent hiss of fire being extinguished, the pungent stink of burning greenery. Then stillness. Five pairs of eyes could only look on the violet mage with utter bewilderment, and for a long moment Twilight's heavy breathing was the only accompaniment to the stunned silence.
For her own part, Twilight simply stared at the the oozing mound of blue plant-matter where the manticore had stood, daring it with her eyes to get back up and challenge her again. When there was no immediate indication that would happen, she turned her attention to Rainbow Blitz. “Are you alright?” she said, concern lacing her voice.
“I... Yeah I'm...” The blue colt trailed off as a shudder rippled through him. Now that the intensity of the situation was over, the reality of what he had almost done began to sink in. “I was... I almost...” He gulped back a terrified sob. “You saved me.” He whispered.
Twilight quickly wrapped the rainbow pegasus in a tight hug. “It's ok.” she cooed. “You're ok now.” For a moment they just lay there, Blitz quietly sobbing through the worst of his fear on her shoulder.
“You came back for us.” He softly said. “You could have left us and saved yourself, but you came back.” He pulled away to look the purple mare in the eyes. “Why?”
A keen look came over the purple mage. “Because I'd never leave my friends hanging.” she said with a soft smile.
Rainbow chuckled weakly at that. “Yeah....” He looked away then with a faint blush of shame. “I'm sorry I doubted you.”
She wrapped the blue colt in a tight hug. “It's alright Dash-er-Blitz...” Twilight sputtered through her slip up, pressing on to cover for it. “I forgive you, so uh... don't worry about it.” She pulled back and put on her best cheesy grin, hoping the colt wouldn’t notice.
Rainbow Blitz gave the mare an odd look for a moment before chuckling. “You're alright Twilight Sparkle. I can't wait to get back to Ponyville to hang out some more.” With that he got to his hooves and started helping the injured mare to her own.
“I really hate to interrupt the adorable little heart to heart between you two,” Elusive called form across the gully, “But I don't think it's time for celebration just yet. Look!” The alabaster colt pointed with his hoof at the dirty mass of acacia cinders and poison joke. To everypony's horror there was movement coming from under the ruined plant-matter, and by the looks of it, something was struggling to get out.
As it struggled through the mess, pieces of the creature began to emerge: a clawed leg here, a leathery wing there, a segmented tail behind that. Slowly the fragmented sections of animal blended together until what finally stepped free was revealed. A bushy orange mane and coat, catlike claws and fangs, a scorpions tail and bat wings; a Mantacore of Everfree, no longer fire-possessed but resplendent in all it's natural grace. The top tier predator of the forest.
This one stood a little less than knee high.
“Ohhh! It's so cute!” Butterscotch enthused, quickly overcoming his usual shyness and flitting over to the now cat sized creature.
Immediately all the tension in the air deflated and Berry Bubble lost it, falling to the ground and clutching his sides as gales of laughter tore through him. He tried to speak and only barely managed it. “Its a...” *gasp* “A... ha ha” *snort* “A minicore! Ha ha ha!”
“Butterscotch, are you sure you should be getting so close to it? That beast did just try to kill us.” Elusive called in concern, but the butter yellow colt would have none of it.
“Oh, he was just a little confused is all.” said the yellow colt as he wrapped the creature in a tight hug. “You're not really dangerous at all, are are you?”
The minicore looked like it wanted to strongly disagree with Butterscotch's assessment, but it was quickly becoming apparent that any resistance to the butter pegasus's attentions would be futile. Still resist it did by struggling and squirming, trying to break away from the cuddles it was receiving to reclaim any remaining shreds of its savage dignity. The effort was of course a failure, and in the end the once proud predator was forced to content itself with being fawned over like a house cat.
“Holy hay Twilight, what did you do to that thing?” Applejack asked in shock.
A crooked smile split the purple mare's face when she explained. “I told you poison joke was a nasty plant.”
“Woh, no kidding!” Rainbow Blitz marveled as well.
Once again back on her hooves and moving down the gully, Twilight rallied her little band of friends. “Now come on, we're not out of the woods yet.” To which Berry devolved into snorting giggles yet again. The violet mare rolled her eyes with a smile. “We've still got a long ways to go before we reach the Elements.”
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just found this story and sad there is not more. hopefully more comes soon.
I can't stand watching people, fictional or not, embarass themselves, which is why I find myself hiding throughout quite a bit of "Happy Feet". I'm impressed that you've managed to keep me reading despite Twilight messing up their names and creating potentially awkward situations every chance she gets. Maybe fix the situation up a bit faster?
2002105
Well depending when you tried to access the chapter you might have been in it while I was actively editing. I'm not sure what else could cause that kind of problem though. I'll re-save the chapter and refresh it and everything to see if that helps. Maybe try it again in a few hours and see if it's better.
2002618
Yeah, I feel the same way with the movie Zoolander, however all Twi's slip ups will have a purpose very soon, I promise. I just hope I'm not putting it on too thick, but there is a reason for it. Thanks for sticking with it though!
2002441
Take heart, I have not abandoned this story and more will come!
Finally a new chapter !
And now I am waiting for the next one
For once, Twilight, you get to overthink things and make it all work out. While being a badass. That takes some skill, man.
On a side note, you may want to go over any time you mention one of their names. Sometimes they're not capitalized, sometimes they're spelled wrong. For instance, you called the dude "Ranibow" about three times. Watch out for that.
2003622
I'll get right on it but don't hold your breath, working full time has really cut into my writing time. Hopefully though, it wont be a mater of months till I get the next chapter out.
2004884
Yeah, I always like it when a character that's known for his or her brains is able to rock out because of said brains. Like i said earlier, I really tried to stay away from Twilight bautching a spell as a plot device, because lets face it, when one is the Element of Magic one does not simply bautch spells.
Also thanks for pointing out the spelling errors, I'm trying to find some time to edit some more before the weekend, so it should be mostly fixed by then.
2006927
Very true. And how many times has she even botched a spell, anyway? In Lesson Zero, yes, her Want It Need It spell, and you might count the Apples to Oranges one from Too Many Pinkie Pies. That's it.
I suppose it's like a leftover plot device from Jimmy Neutron and Fairly Oddparents: 90% of their plotlines revolve around the main character being absent-minded and using pseudoscience/magic to do something huge, which ends up causing a horrible outcome, and forces them to fix it. Conflict!
2006927 when you're in interrupted by friends who want to say high randomly. i'm surprised pinki pie hasn't died yet from all the times she's interrupted Twilight's spell casting.
Oh and please update soon.
2296929
Its a wonder that 'apples to oranges' spell is even legal in Equestria!
And though I cant promise any updates soon, I can tell you I'm working on the next chapter as best I can. Working full time sucks, but that you take the time to comment is really the best motivation. So thank you!
2314006 Well it probably exists to help ponies practice their alteration magic better, also it is expected that the unicorn casting the spell to be in a safe and silent environment, which Twilight was until pinkie arrived.
As for other spells It depends on the spell and the time to cast, not to mention how concentrated you need to be to cast it. It'll be interesting to see what your next chapter will bring.
If you want unique and real ways for spells to get screwed up Just send a pm my way and we'll see what comes from there.
thought
With the phrasing of the first part of the sentence, this should be *had.
*sheer. Shear quantity would be a measure of cutting amount.
Missing punctuation at the end.
And again.
"See, I've got all kinds of wonderous books down in the restricted section - the Krivbekneh, Necronomicon, even the Twilight boxed set."
OK, seriously, this is the third time and no one's caught you up on the correct homophone yet?
Pretty sure you meant *senses.
*dried, and no comma after it. Also, throwing dry timber in front of a flaming creature. You ponies are morons.
Do you have a beta reader?
Honor