United Nations of Pegasi

by Scourgeous

All For One

Crouched in a small rezervoir, the ponies that had gathered earlier for the days events were tirelessly twisting and turning in the discomfort of the dry, rough terrain. Derpy halted when Celestia did, her eye wandering over her distressed friends, all missing wings or horns. All seemed hopeless, for what could Derpy do? Discord was in bliss on the other side of Equestria, which was separated from them by a gouge right through the centre of the earth.

A blue pony came galloping towards Derpy, tail trailing out behind her. She skid to a halt, dipping her head briefly to the Princess, then looking hopefully into Derpy's eyes. Trixie. "He's taken Dinky! The mongrel! She was with me, but he took her away."

The desperation in the unicorn's voice- now without her horn- was enough to make Derpy sigh and nuzzle her gently. "I will get her back. We will do this, together." The words Luna had promised to her the day they had become elements of their own echoed in her head. Everything seemed so far away now, so impossible, with Luna on the moon, as well as the necklace that bore her element.

"How exactly do we do this though?" Trixie breathed, sitting down in a huff.

With a glance at Celestia, who was staring at both of the mares, eyes slanted, Derpy raised her head, pulling her helmet off and placing it beneath one hoof to push herself up a little. "There will be a way, we cannot assume this is the end. Dinky and Luna need us. Not just me, us."

There was silence from all around, and everypony looked rather wary. Some were unsure, others scared and unwilling to leave where they were until the chaos was over. But chaos was all that was going to be created until Discord was stopped. Derpy sighed and looked down at the ground, hot tears welling in her eyes. She needed a sign. She pleaded for something, but it never came. Her hope for a rainbow to show her the way was chased away by the world of doom they were now in. This was not the same Equestria, where miracles were easily part of life.

A warm muzzle pressed against her, and Derpy glanced sideways to see Celestia leaning against her, face full of warmth. "Your words are courageous, but your heart is scared."

The gray mare nodded solemnly, eyes grave. She looked up into Celestia's alabaster face, summoning her deepest courage to meet the tall Princess eye for eye, even if the patch covered one of her own. They nodded to each other, the tiniest ember of hope showing through the wet ashes.

"Ponies," Celestia called to the nervous crowd. "Do not fear. While Discord has resorted to a chaos unlike his first attempt, one that makes life unbearable, you must hold in. I will be travelling with Derpy Hooves to find out where exactly Discord is hiding himself. We will restore harmony to Equestria."

The spread of pride and hopefulness that ignited over the faces of the ponies filled Derpy with joy. She glanced at Celestia, constantly shifting her weight from hoof to hoof. "What if we go to Canterlot, get the Elements of Harmony from the vault? All we have to do is find the ponies, right?"

Celestia quickly looked down at her, and hushed her with a big shhh! "All of the Elements are gone, remember? Not just yours. I have no idea where they are, just that Discord is behind it."

"Hey, I'm coming with you!" Trixie suddenly snapped Derpy's gaze away from the Princess. "I'm not going to sit around listening to these ponies complain while you are doing something to help."

"I'm not sure if that is a good idea..." The Princess mumbled, glancing at Derpy.

The gray mare shook her head, standing beside Trixie. "No, Trixie is coming. If I've learnt anything about friendship, it's to stick together. If Luna hadn't been alone this morning, things could of turned out better. From now on, we have to remember that safety is in numbers."

Celestia smiled softly and nodded, glancing at Trixie. "I guess we could do with the extra assistance."

Derpy could sense that her voice was laced with uncertainty, but she had no doubts herself about where Trixie's loyalties lay. If they were going to rescue Luna and Dinky, Trixie would make sure they did it from start to finish, no questions asked.

"Come on, there is no time to waste."

***

The air was brisk and dry. Derpy shivered and kicked a pebble along the path with every few strides she took, trailing along behind Celestia who had a much bigger gape that she did, taking long steps and hurriedly walking towards the crack. Trixie kept the slow pace with Derpy, snug under her cape. Though Equestria looked rather like a barren desert at the moment, it was deadly cold.

Teeth chattering, Derpy, looked up and squinted, spotting the jagged line of the abyss not far in front. Celestia quickened her pace, cantering forward and halting beside the edge, dangerously close, hooves skidding and sending gravel hissing over the edge. Derpy and Trixie stood beside her, staring down into the darkness. From close up, the descending crack looked darker and wider than from a few steps back. To cross, Derpy would have to jump a dozen meters or so.

"How do you suppose we're going to cross?" Trixie said slowly, taking a step backwards, feeling heavy and nauseous from the height.

"There is no safe way to cross without wings or magic," Celestia conceded, turning and trotting along the edge as if there wasn't the danger of her slipping and falling a certainly fatal plunge down.

Derpy sighed and rubbed her eyes, pushing her eyepatch to the side of her head and blinking, her other eye adjusting to the light. She bounded forward to catch up with Celestia, glancing up at the Princess, who said no more. Trixie kept flicking her ears, as if she was trying to use her horn, but was only moving the other things on her head.

"Wait here," Derpy said, skidding to the edge of the crack, staring down into the pitch black nervously.

"What are you doing?" Celestia said, trotting towards her and following her gaze into what seemed like a never-ending fall. "Be careful."

Derpy closed her eyes and held out one hoof. "All for one."

The two mares blinked at her, glanced at each other, then back at Derpy. "Huh?"

She hissed and waved her leg about. "All for one!"

Celestia tipped her head on one side, eyes brim with confusion. Beside her, the blue mare pushed past, lifting up a hoof and reaching over to touch it to Derpy's. "And one for all!"

"All for one!" Derpy cried again.

"And one for all!" Trixie repeated.

Celestia reached out one gentle hoof and touch it to each of her companions, glancing between them anxiously. All of them were silent, hooves touching very slightly.

"All for one." Derpy whispered.

Trixie and Celestia shared a glance, then they nodded togethered. "And all for one."

You trust each other. You're in synch. Derpy thought to herself, smiling. Without opening her eyes she took a wonky step forward, then threw herself off the edge, hoping the deep willing of her friends calling within her, along with the call that pulled her into the darkness, was true, and that this leap wouldn't lead her to her ultimate doom.

Comments

[Loeden]

Good chapter!

I'm definitely still keeping an eye on this, can't wait to see where it goes. Trixie, Derpy, and Celestia make for an eccentric team.