Soren the Alicorn Part 1: New Beginnings

by KingNyroc15

Return to Appaloosa

The sun was beginning its descent as the duo made it to their destination. It took Soren an hour and a half of walking with Rainbow, who fell asleep on his back, before reaching a camp site of teepees and tents. Soren started calling out to anyone in the camp, but no one answered or showed their face. It took a minute before a big buffalo finally exited an even bigger teepee. Soren simply stared at the huge animal. The buffalo gave the white alicorn a scan until he laid eyes on Rainbow Dash on Soren's back.

"What happened to her?" he asked Soren in a deep voice. Soren was still a little paralyzed by the size of the buffalo but soon regained composure. He was easily five times Soren's size.

"We were ambushed around the mesas," Soren replied. "Rainbow Dash is fine, but I need to ask: Are you the herd of buffalos that befriended the ponies of Appaloosa?" A collective gasp could be heard not far from where the two were talking. The other buffalos were waiting behind their tents.

"Indeed we are, but after we befriended those ponies, our herds have grown bigger and bigger over the years. So big, in fact, that camps were created to house our kind. Some would stay in these camps while others would follow me as I travel the land. Regardless, I seemed to have forgotten to introduce myself. I am Chief ThunderHooves. And who might you be, young alicorn?"

"My name is Soren. And I'm here on important business, Chief ThunderHooves." The chief raised an eyebrow. "Appaloosa is in danger. Not a massive amount of danger but a great enough danger that should be stopped."

"What is this danger? And why do you need our help?"

"You all are the closest friends to Appaloosa, both emotionally and geographically. Therefore, we came for your help to stop Coyote Colt from raiding the town." ThunderHooves eyes widened.

"The Coyote Colt? The pony who accepted the companionship of two of our traitors? We will help in anyway we can, but I will not risk endangering too many buffalos."

"I wouldn't want you to anyway. It wouldn't be worth it. We are just asking for a little help...and to give Rainbow Dash a chance to rest. I plan on heading back tomorrow morning if that's ok with you, chief." The chief nodded.

"Very well. Take Rainbow Dash to that tent over there and I will go find three volunteers to accompany you back." Soren nodded and took Rainbow Dash to the instructed tent.

Once inside, Soren placed Rainbow on a cloth on the ground. She still had a few cuts and burn marks, as did he, but she was definitely better than before. Soren decided that he should relax as well, so he rested near her. After a few minutes passed, the chief walked in with a little buffalo, who was about the size of a pony.

"This is Little Strongheart; one of the best scouts we have. She will accompany you two back to Appaloosa. I will have to send the other two tomorrow. When do you think this raid will occur?" Soren saw Strongheart walk towards Rainbow Dash and begin to inspect her. He turned back to the chief.

"We believe it will happen near sunset tomorrow during a performance in town. I really don't have the energy to explain every little detail, but that's the most important information." The chief nodded and left the tent. Soren turned his attention to Strongheart again as she just finished looking at Rainbow Dash.

"What happened to you two out there?" she asked.

"Coyote Colt ambushed us with an explosive spell," Soren said evenly. "Being an alicorn, I was able to endure it more than Rainbow could. Luckily, she isn't internally damaged."

"I beg to differ. Her wings are in horrible shape." Her wings? How could I forget her wings?! Soren scolded himself. "She shouldn't fly with these wings for quite awhile. How do you plan on making it back in time?"

"I-I forgot to check her wings..." Soren whispered while his ears drooped. He only slightly regained himself when he looked at Strongheart. "I plan on sleeping for a little and then heading out as soon as possible. It took us awhile just to fly here. I can only imagine walking."

"It doesn't take so long if you run, but with Rainbow Dash on your back, I don't know how that will work out for you." Soren started smiling.

"I thought you knew Rainbow better than I did. You should know that she won't stay down for long." Just as he said that, Rainbow groaned and turned over onto her back. "How ya feeling, Rainbow?"

"Like I fell off of a cloud," she replied. She opened her eyes and looked at her surroundings. Then she saw... "Strongheart! Great to see you again. How have you been?"

"I've been great, Rainbow Dash. Recently, we-" Soren coughed. The two friends looked at him.

"Although I don't mind you two catching up, can we wait until the walk back? I'd like to get as much rest as possible."

"Good idea," Strongheart said. "I'll ask the chief to wake you up after one hour."

"Thank you, Strongheart." Strongheart left the tent, leaving Rainbow Dash and Soren to sleep and heal.

---------------

The Next Day

Twilight, Applejack, Braeburn, and SilverStar just finished explaining the upcoming raid to the townsfolk. At first, they were all scared, of course, but when the plan was mentioned, most of everypony calmed down. After the announcement, Braeburn and SilverStar went to talk to the Pega-Singers about their part of the plan, while Twilight and Applejack searched for good spots to look out for Coyote Colt and his gang.

"We could always try the third floor of the inn," Twilight told Applejack as they stood at the edge of town. AJ shook her head.

"Ah think we shouldn't be in the center o' town. Or we could be in a building closer to the edge."

"You're right. We still have an hour or two to decide so let's keep looking." Twilight and Applejack started walking back into town but were stopped when they noticed a nearby barrel moving.

Upon a closer look, the mares saw that it was being moved with magic. Twilight recognized the light green aura and turned around. She gasped. Twilight tapped on Applejack's shoulder, pointed to the horizon, and started running in that direction. Applejack didn't see what Twilight was running at, but after a few more seconds passed, she saw it. Soren, horn aglow, was walking towards Appaloosa. To his left was Rainbow Dash and to his right was Strongheart. Twilight caught up to them but stopped when she saw all the marks on their their bodies.

"What happened to you two?!" she exclaimed.

"Long story, Twilight," Soren panted. "Let's just get somewhere comfortable, please. We had a long walk."

All of them went to the town hall and stopped on the hospital floor. While there, Soren and Rainbow Dash explained what happened to them out there and what Chief ThunderHooves promised.

"Well at least he's sending help," Twilight said after the explanation was over. "The raid isn't far off. I hope they arrive in time."

"C'mon, Twilight. We can handle this ourselves," Rainbow boasted. "We've been through worse, right?"

"You have a point, but still...this is a group of ponies invading a town."

"How long until the Pega-Singers perform?" Soren asked.

"Maybe two hours," Applejack replied. "Ah say you two deserve a break 'til that happens." Soren and Rainbow Dash nodded. Everyone else left the two to sleep for the remaining two hours until things got serious.

------------

Soren stood in a crowd in front of a stage. The Pega-Singers were told to perform on their regularly scheduled time since Soren and Rainbow Dash returned. The crowd was excited yet terrified. From what Soren and his friends could gather, the town already became fans of the performers. When the music started and the two pegasi began their performance, it didn't take long for the crowd to be captivated by their voices. Not the kind of music I would sing, Soren thought to himself, but it's still very entertaining. Especially since they're acting like robots.

After three songs, Applejack gave word that the raiders were already heading this way. Soren and Twilight quickly started to calm everypony down and instructed them to enter somewhere safe. When most ponies were safe, the two ran to meet Applejack, Rainbow, and Strongheart at the edge of town. As they ran, Soren noticed something strange: Twilight wasn't with him. He looked back to see her still running, except in a slow-motion-like state. He looked around town and saw that everything else was moving in slow motion as well. This is almost like a... Soren's eyes widened.

He sat up immediately on the couch he was resting on. He looked around and found himself in the doctor's office. The doctor frowned when he saw Soren wake up.

"They told me not to wake you," the doctor explained. "They said you needed your rest, but I..." Soren waved a hoof in the air.

"Doesn't matter," Soren assured. "What's going on outside?"

"The raid."