The Resolution
“...and then that should be the end and I’ll get out of this Celestia-forsaken world!” Twilight exclaimed with frustration to Daring. She caught her breath, realizing how angered she was. “Uh, I mean, I know it wasn’t your fault, any of you, but—”
“Don’t worry about it,” Daring replied monotonously. “We’re all ready and watching here, Twilight. Good luck.”
Twilight nodded. At this point it was up to her to make sure her mishmash of plots could be unraveled, somehow. She took a final deep breath. “Daring!”
The adventurer jumped, as if waking from a light slumber. “Whoa, I must have blacked out there for a moment! Hey, Twilight, what do you want?”
“We’re going to need the Lunar Grail.”
Daring jumped back, snarling on all fours. “No way! I stol—er, found it fair and square!”
Twilight calmly approached her. “Don’t worry, I just need it for an extended loan.”
Daring backed up as Twilight neared, her nasals flaring. “You can’t just give away priceless artifacts! And what do you mean, an extended loan?”
“Well, what are the Grimacing Griffons after?”
“Duh, they’re after the Grail!”
“So what if we gave that Grail to somepony else...?”
“They’d go after—ah! I see!” Daring’s face lit up, realizing what Twilight was going on about. “Why didn’t you say so?” She took off her hat and dug a hoof into it. Twilight was curious how much that helmet could hold but before she could peek inside, Daring had extracted a goblet from it. “Here it is!” Daring placed the object in Twilight’s hoof.
Twilight took a quick look at the grail. It was jet black, adorned with faint etching that brought to mind of Princess Luna’s cutie mark. “Excellent.” She tossed it over the side of the train.
“WHAT?!” Daring shouted and attempted to take off to recover the treasure, but her tail was caught in Twilight’s magic. “Why’d you do that?! It took me months to get that!”
Twilight smirked, pointing with a hoof. “See who has it now.”
Daring looked down and found that the Grail had landed in the hooves of the lead bandit. “Whoa!” he hollered back to his gang. “We struck gold, boys!” The gang responded with hoots and cheers. “Let’s get this back to the hideout!”
Daring calmed down, landing back on her hooves as the wagons pulled away from the train. “Well, now how are we going to get it back, Ms. Sparkle?” she asked in a huff.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get to that later.” She looked to the back of the train, watching the Lone Silver keep the Griffons at bay. “Hey Griffons!” she shouted.
As one, the griffon army turned their heads to Twilight.
“The bandits have the Grail!” She pointed in the direction of the dust trails leading away from the trail.
Various griffons looked at each other, some in surprise, some in anger. But soon, they all started to take off from the train, reorganizing themselves as a column and speeding off in flight to catch up with the bandits.
“‘bout time y’all got rid of them!” The Lone Silver said among her heavy breathing. She took a moment to use a bandana to wipe the sweat from her face. “They were gettin’ a mite challengin’ there.” She trotted up to join with the others, carefully stepping around the prone form of Flutterina.
“You know where that bandit hideout is, Silver?” Twilight asked.
“Dart tooin’! Straight over yonder to the east.” The Lone Silver pointed with a hoof. “Can’t miss ‘em, just a cluster of buildings near th’ mountains. Just far too many of ‘em for me to take them all out.”
Twilight smiled. “Well, today just might be your chance.” She turned to Daring. “Now, Daring, I’m going to need your help for this next part. And yours too, Flutterina.”
Flutterina let out an eep. “Me? W-w-what can I do?”
Twilight prodded over to her, and leaned down to poke the basket on her neckchain. “More specifically, I need you to use this.”
“My biscuits? But why?”
Without turning around, Twilight called back behind her. “Daring, you remember where we last saw Pinkzilla?”
“That giant beast? Sure, I bet it hasn’t found a way around that canyon yet.”
“Great. Take Flutterina here, and have her lead Pinkzilla to the bandit camp.”
“What?!” Flutterina shouted. “No, no! Not me!” She tried to hide herself under her teakettle lid.
“Alright! This sounds like a job for Daring Do!” Daring flew up and over to Flutterina. “Let’s go and chase down that giant beast, girl!”
Flutterina tried to back away but her hoof felt only empty air as she neared the edge of the train. “Can’t somepony else do it? What about my animals?”
Twilight walked over to place a comforting hoof around Flutterina. “Don’t worry, they’ll be safe. The Lone Silver and I will watch over them.”
Daring dropped to grab Flutterina with her hooves. “Let’s go, I’ve got you covered, Flutterina.”
The mare could only shut her eyes and cower as she was lifted off the ground. “Please, just don’t go very high.”
“Anything for you, ma’am,” Daring offered, slowly testing their combined weight on her flight behavior. “Where should we lead it?”
“Right to the bandit’s hideout!” Twilight grinned mischiefly.
Daring laughed. “Twilight, I like the way you think.”
The Lone Silver pointed off towards the mountains far to their right. “There’s a large butte up yonder, ya can’t miss it.”
“Thanks, Silver. Come on, Flutterina, we’ve got a beast to tame!” The pair drifted off back along the tracks, the high-pitched complaints from Flutterina slowly fading in the distance.
Twilight watched them leave for a few moments. “Now, Silver,” she said, turned to the masked hero.
The Lone Silver tipped her hat. “What can I do ya for?”
“We’re going to need some transportation.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Twilight called out loudly. “I could run too, you know.”
“Not one bit, ma’am,” The Lone Silver replied cheerily as she lankily galloped across the arid landscape. Twilight sat on her back, holding on to a makeshift set of reins fashioned around Silver’s neck and barrel and trying to maintain her balance. “Ah do this all the time when rescuin’ wounded ponies. You’d just be slowin’ us down.”
Twilight frowned a bit. “It just feels a bit weird, that’s all.”
Silver laughed heartedly. “Oh, ma’am, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
Twilight looked behind her, where the larger animals from Flutterina’s party were keeping pace with Silver. The larger creatures, like the bear and various rabbits, ferrets, and raccoons, were allowing the smaller ones to ride on their backs, and the various birds flew in formation just behind them. “You guys okay back there?”
Though Twilight couldn’t understand the bear’s roar, she was certain it was a roar of agreement.
“Shouldn’t be much farther, ma’am.” Silver gave a nod of her head towards a large butte that had come into view in the distance. “The bandit’s hideout is at the foot of that there mountain.”
Twilight squinted into the sunlight, trying to see anything in the distance. Though there was no recognizable shapes, she was certain there was movement near their destination. “Well, I think I see the Griffons there, that’s good.”
“What exactly is your plan with them Griffons? Ah was barely able to hold ‘em back on the train.”
“We’re not going to fight them, or the bandits. I’m hoping they’ll keep on fighting each other.” Twilight looked backwards, scanning the horizon. “We just need to make sure they keep fighting until Daring and Flutterina can get back with Pinkzilla.”
“Er, Pinkzilla?” Silver asked incredulously. “That giant monster you told us about? You sure this is a good idea?”
Twilight hesitated, biting her lip. “It’s the best solution I could think of given what my friends gave me to work with.”
The group continued to run towards the butte. Within minutes, Twilight could make out the small encampment of hodge-podge wooden shacks, a water tower, and some outbuildings, all built into a fold of the butte, protecting the camp from three sides. Presently, her attention was drawn by the various pockets of brawling that had broken out around the site. She could tell that the bandits were far outnumbered, with two or three facing against a dozen Griffons, but their strength and wits were able to keep the Griffons at bay. Scattered around the town were comatose bodies of pony and griffon alike, knocked unconscious from the fighting.
Silver brought their convoy to a halt a good distance away from the encampment, behind the cover of some boulders. “Well, we’re here, what’s the plan?”
Twilight gingerly got off Silver, her legs wobbling from the ride. She again peered to the distance horizon. “Well, I still don’t see any sign of them. They better hurry, it doesn’t look like the bandits are going to hold out much longer against the Griffons’ numbers.”
“Well, it ain’t much of a fair battle, with them Griffons being able to fly,” Silver offered.
“Hmm, maybe I can even those odds a bit.” Twilight thought back to her spell repertoire and recalled one of the weather control ones. “This might have gotten me into trouble this morning, but should work just fine without Rainbow Dash around.” She focused her magic through her horn into the air above the town.
A dense fog started to form around the encampment. The space below the fog was entirely clear but several feet above it, the fog obscured all sight through it. As the two watched, various Griffons flew out of the fog bank and tried to reorient themselves. Most took to their feet and raced back into the melee. However, stuck on the ground, the Griffons were much weaker, having to balance on all four limbs compared to the bandit ponies that were used to standing on two hooves for a short time. The bandits were able to buck and punch the vulnerable Griffons with ease, knocking out many of their numbers and shifting the balance.
“Now that’s smart thinkin’ there, Twilight!”
Twilight took a breath, recovering from the somewhat difficult spell. “It won’t last too long. Weather control spells are really more for pegasi, and I can only do a weak copy of it.” Twilight pointed a hoof to the fading fog bank. “See, it’s already dissipating.”
“It did the job, Twilight,” Silver offered, placing a hoof on her side. “Those bandits are fightin’ back just fine!”
Twilight felt a deep rumble on the ground. A few of the bandits and griffons paused in their attacks, jerking their heads up at the noise. Most of the rest, however, were still ganged together, their fighting masked by large clouds of dust.
“You feel that?” Silver asked her.
“Yes! Pinkzilla’s on the way!” Twilight happily exclaimed, her eyes glancing towards the open expanse.
The rumbling from the ground became heavier, shaking the smaller pebbles near Twilight’s hooves. The various combatants stopped their fighting as the noise grew in volume. Ponies and griffons alike turned to each other, sharing their confused and worried looks, while others turned their heads around, trying to identify the sound.
“There! There it is!” One of the griffons shouted in a guttural voice, pointing its talon in far distance. Hundreds of heads simultaneously turned in that direction.
The heat of the arid land still made the sight somewhat hazy, but it was clear something very large and very pink was moving towards the camp. The ground was now shaking at a regular pace, the sound of the wooden shacks creaking at the stress echoing over the silence that had fallen over the area.
Panic quickly set in. The hostilities between pony and griffon were forgotten as individuals started to look for hiding places or the fastest way out of the camp.
“Perfect!” Twilight cheered for herself.
Silver turned to Twilight, her eyebrow raised. “Er, you sure you know what yer doing?”
Twilight smiled. “Just keep an eye out for any bandits that try to get away, particularly the leader. This’ll be the perfect chance for you to capture them.”
An astonished look crossed Silver’s face. “Hey, yer right!” She looked at the chaos in the camp and cause sight of one pony running in their direction. “Hold tight, ma’am, I’ll get this one.” As the frightened stallion ran out of the opening, Silver grabbed a lasso from her saddlebags with her teeth, and started twirling it over her head. With an expert toss, she nabbed the bandit around his barrel, and yanked back hard. The stallion fell forwards, but before he had a chance to recover, Silver was atop him, tying the rope around his hooves. Soon enough, Silver proudly dragged the bandit back to their hiding space. “This is goin’ ta be easier than dunking for apples in a barrel,” she offered as she proceeded to get another length of rope ready.
Twilight turned to Flutterina’s animals that were watching the activities with bemusement. “Hey, do you think you can make sure these bandits don’t escape?” she asked, pointing a hoof to the tied-up stallion.
The creatures gave various forms of salutes with whatever appendages they had, and proceeded to surround the bandit with menacing stares. The bandit, who had been squirming to try to undo the ropes, took one look at the faces of the creatures around him and quickly stopped. Twilight wondered if they were channeling Fluttershy’s compelling stare to goad the bandit into submission.
Meanwhile, the earth continued to shake as the pink form grew closer. While the bandits attempted to flee right into the waiting hooves of the Long Silver, the Griffon commanders were barking orders to their underlings, attempting to restore some type of order from the pandemonium. Twilight could barely hear what they were saying, but their faces and gesturing made the intentions were clear - to attack the rapidly-approaching Pinkzilla. It took a few minutes for the first of the troops to fly out to intercept the gigantic beast.
Twilight looked back towards Pinkzilla. She could now see a madly-grinning Daring still carrying Flutterina just a few feet ahead and aboard the mouth of the giant lizard. Flutterina had her eyes closed as she shook her basket upside down in front of her, creating a flow of biscuits that continued to fall into Pinkzilla’s mouth as it moved forward. The giant monster had its eyes closed as it raced forward to catch all of the sweet goods. To Twilight, the beast’s expression was one of elation, gnashing down every so often to devour the supply of biscuits.
As soon as they were close enough, Twilight shouted to them. “Daring, that’s good enough! The Griffons are coming!”
She couldn’t hear if Daring responded, but the pegasus quickly broke out of Pinkzilla's path and flew herself and Flutterina to the rock Twilight hid behind. Pinkzilla stopped in its tracks, and opened its eyes, surprised. It looked around for its source of food until its gaze happened onto the troops of Griffons approaching it. It gave out a giant roar and races forward to attack at its foes.
Daring had gently set down the cowering Flutterina, and took a moment to dust off her wings and jacket. “That was exciting!” she exclaimed with a giant grin. “It took a while to find it, but once we did, it was a non-stop roller coaster to get it here, I’ll tell you!” She nudged Twilight in the side. “You’re going to have to write this one down, sidekick.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and sighed. She looked to Flutterina, who still had not opened her eyes and was continuing to empty her basket, creating a small pile of biscuits on the ground. Twilight laid a hoof on the basket to stop the motion. “Flutterina, you can stop now, you did it!”
It took a moment for Flutterina to realize she was spoken to. “It-it-it is?” She peaked an eye open to see her safely on the ground. “Oh!” she said in surprise, and her body suddenly went limp, flattening herself to the ground. “Thank goodness!”
“We still need your help, Flutterina,” Twilight said, pointing to where the animals were guarding the captured bandits. “We’ve got your critters on guard duty, and we just need to make sure they keep at it, okay?”
Flutterina looked over to see where Twilight was pointing. “Oh, okay. I’ll go give them some tea, that will help,” she said as she trotted over to the group.
“Hey, assistant, any sign of the Lunar Grail yet?” Daring asked.
“No, Daring, but The Lone Silver’s still working at capturing any escaping bandit.” Just as Twilight finished speaking, Silver came by, dragging at two ropes that were connected to a pair of bounded bandits.
“Only a few more left by mah count. Still haven’t seen the leader yet though, ah bet he’s hidin’ in the camp somewhere.”
“Keep watching for any that escape, Silver. Once we’ve got the Griffons out of the way, we’ll go searching for him.” Twilight turned to look to see that the various Griffon commanders had most of the avian forces under control, and were giving rapid-fire orders to them, all directing the attacks towards Pinkzilla, despite their ineffectiveness. The creature’s short arms were surprisingly effective in swatting away the oncoming attacks and keeping the Griffons at bay.
“Why are the Griffons so set against Pinkzilla?” Twilight asked aloud. “It never did anything to them.”
“Oh, that’s easy,” Daring offered. “They just have an intense dislike for the color pink, and immediately attack anything that color. I found that out when I was trying to st— er, recover the headdress of Huitziloponi. Great way to lure the Griffons away from a lost tomb.”
“Oh, I guess that makes sense.” Twilight recalled she hadn’t had a chance to read that adventure, as Rainbow had grabbed the book immediately after it had come in to the library.
“What the hey are they doin’ now?” Silver asked. The Griffons attacks against Pinkzilla had thinned out. Turning back towards town, Twilight could see the various officers organizing the troops into a single collective attack.
“They’re going to rush Pinkzilla!” Daring yelled out.
“It can’t keep that many Griffons at bay!” Twilight concentrated for a moment, focusing her attention on Pinkzilla who continued to swat away at the few Griffons that flew around her. “Stay here, I’m going to try to warn it!”
“What?!” Daring and Silver called out simultaneously.
“We need Pinkzilla to deal with the Griffons,” Twilight exclaimed. “It’s not going to be able to handle that many at one time unless it knows they’re coming. Just stay here and keep watching out for bandits.”
Twilight didn’t wait for the two to respond, but instead willed her magic to teleport her to near Pinkzilla’s feet. She looked up at the creature that towered over her, and gulped instinctively.
“Hey, Pinkzilla!” she called out. It took her a few more shouts before the giant lizard turned its head towards the ground to look at her. It swiped away a few more Griffons before letting out a brief, questioning roar towards Twilight. Once again, Twilight through it sounded like the word “licorice”, but put the thought to the back of her mind.
“Hey, you’re about to be attacked by the Griffons!” Twilight called out, pointing to the camp where the Griffons were amassing for a coordinated attack.
Pinkzilla slowly turned its head to look. It looked confused, and scratched at its pink curls.
“Oh, for Pete’s sake...” Twilight moaned. She paused to think for a moment, and was struck by inspiration, trying to recall what Pinkie might do in this situation. “Pinkzilla! You like playing with balls, right?”
A glint of understanding flashed in the creature’s eyes. It roared again, but Twilight was sure it was asking “Ball?”
“Yes, yes! Ball!” Twilight dug her hooves into the ground, bringing up a pile of dirt that she shaped into a rough sphere. “You can play with a ball!”
The creature gave a toothy grin, but then looked around in confusion, trying to find something. It shrugged it shoulders at Twilight.
“Yes, you can use them for your ball!” Twilight pointed back towards the Griffons. The large force had started moving at high speed towards Pinkzilla, having formed a tight column directly aimed at the creature’s torso.
Pinkzilla watched the approaching Griffons, and then broke out into a smile. With a roar, it brought up her forelimbs to catch the Griffons just before they reached her. Their momentum caused most of them to pile up into the monster’s open claws, their screams and shouts of pain echoing across the land. It took only moments for most of Griffons to be absorbed into the single mass of bodies, with a few loose stragglers having escaped and trying to regain their sense of flight.
Pinkzilla clamped her claws around the Griffons, eliciting more cries of pain from the mass. The creature held the mass towards Twilight, giving out a short, pleased roar.
“Now, throw it!” Twilight demonstrated by throwing the small lump of dirt away as far as she could.
Pinkzilla’s eyes gleamed, and looked off to the distance. With amazing force, it launched the squirming mass of Griffons away from the butte, a few loose Griffons falling off it as the “ball” flew away. It landed at least a mile distance and continued to bounce and roll before disappearing out of sight. Pinkzilla clapped its claws together, grinning madly.
One of the Griffon commanders shouted “Retreat!”. The few stragglers helped to collect their injured and made a quick beeline to follow the bulk of their comrades across the arid landscape.
“Great job, Pinkzilla,” Twilight complimented the creature. “Now, just stay here for a few minutes, okay?”
Pinkzilla gave a brief roar and scratched at its head again.
“Ugh, just sit down, like this!” Twilight demonstrated by falling to her haunches.
The creature watched, and then followed suit, its landing shaking the ground once again.
Twilight was jostled around for a few moments before the land stopped moving. “Er, right. Okay, just wait here, we’ll be right back.”
Twilight trotted back over to the rock where the others were waiting, looking back to make sure Pinkzilla stayed where it was. Surprisingly, the creature just sat there, watching Twilight walk away.
“Wow, how did you do that?” Daring asked when Twilight was in earshot.
“Let’s just say I know a bit behind Pinkzilla’s motivations,” Twilight said. “But now that the Griffon problem is solved, have you found the lead bandit yet? He’s got to have the Lunar Grail.”
“Not yet. We captured a few more trying to escape,” Daring offered, keeping a close lookup on the encampment.
The Lone Silver shook her head, looking towards where Flutterina and her animals were having a cup of tea while sitting around the tied-up ponies. “Ah think we’ve got all the bandits captured but him.”
“Any ideas where he might be hiding?” Twilight asked.
“He’s rather cunning.” Silver thought for a moment. “He may be waiting for the right mo—there he is!” She pointed her hoof to the far side of the fold in the butte, where the orange-coated stallion was trying to sneak away with a loaded saddlebag. His escape path was partially hidden behind Pinkzilla’s giant body.
“Come on, Silver! Let’s go get him!” Daring was already off and flying towards the fleeing stallion. The Lone Silver was close to follow the pegasus.
The bandit, overhearing Daring’s call, broke into a gallop away from the butte. Twilight watched as Daring tried to catch up to the bandit but only only match his speed a few lengths behind her target.
“Darin’! Herd him this way!” Silver called out in pursuit, turning to pull another length of rope out of her saddlebags.
“Got it, Silver!” Daring flew to the side. The bandit, looking back in a panic, started to veer away from Daring, making a wide curve.
Silver had gotten close enough herself and planted herself near the path that Daring was luring the stallion onto. With expert ropemanship, she lassoed the front hooves of the bandit, tripping him into a cloud of dust. Daring was on the stallion in moments, holding him down by his hooves. “We got him!”
Minutes later the pair had dragged the bandit to the others.
“Woo-hee, we got them all!” The Lone Silver reared up and wheeled her hooves. “Thanks a bunch, ladies. Couldn’t have done it without you!”
“Oh, don’t mention it,” Twilight said. “And now, Daring, you probably want to check his saddlebags...”
“Of course!” Daring jumped at the opportunity, tearing the bags off the bound stallion. Ripping the strip open, she dug in and extracted the Grail. “Yes!” she shouted, hugging the treasure to
herself. “Once again, the great Daring Do has recovered another priceless artifact!”
Twilight looked around at the small group as Daring dropped the Grail back into her pith helmet. “I think we’re almost there, guys.” She pointed at Daring. “You’ve got the Grail back, and the Griffons have retreated to go lick their wounds. Silver, you’ve got your bandit gang all under wraps, ready to take in for justice. That just leaves Flutterina and Pinkzilla.”
“Wait, Pinkzilla?!” Daring demanded, pointing to the giant lizard who looked down at the group, curiously. “That creature has a happy ending?!”
Twilight nodded. “Yup. But it’s actually rather simple.” She looked back into the encampment, spotting the water tower she had seen earlier. She called up to Pinkzilla, “Hey, big guy, can you get that water tower for us?” she pointed with a hoof.
Pinkzilla stared for a moment, before pointing a claw at itself. It roared questionably.
“Yes, you! Don’t worry, we want you to do it!”
The creature shrugged and took a few steps over the other shacks. With no effort, it ripped the water tower from the wooden base it was on, the gallons of water the container had held sloshing over the town. Pinkzilla offered the tower to Twilight, still looking confused.
“Now turn it over,” Twilight offered, twirling her hoof to demonstrate. The creature followed suit.
“Great!” Twilight turned to Flutterina. “Now, Flutterina, you’ve given Pinkzilla a lot of biscuits, but it is really missing something for a tea party, right?”
Flutterina shivered behind Daring. “Um, maybe? I don’t know...”
Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes, gently tapping her hoof against the kettle on Flutterina’s chain.
“Oh!” Flutterina gasped with realization. “Tea! Right!” She started to get up to her legs. “Um, a little help please?”
“No worries, ma’am,” Daring offered, taking another bow before flying up over Flutterina and taking her up in her hooves. She lifted her companion up to the level of the upturned water tower held by Pinkzilla.
“Um, just say when, okay?” Flutterina said as she fumbled with the kettle on her chain. Eventually she got it under control and started pouring tea into the makeshift cup. Twilight was surprised that the rate of flow was much faster than she expected, not the gentle stream she had served earlier back at the restaurant, but more like a garden hose, easily filling the large vessel within minutes.
Pinkzilla stared dumbfounded at the liquid as Flutterina finished up. “There you go, big guy,” she said. “It’s a nice sweet tea, and will make you all warm and happy inside!” The creature took the container to its nose and gave a deep inhale of its aroma.
“Come up, just take a sip,” Flutterina offered, using one of her cups to mimic the action of sipping.
With a shrug, Pinkzilla followed Flutterina’s suit, tipping the tower to its mouth. It rolled the liquid in its mouth for a moment before gulping it down. Instantly, it broke out into a giant, toothy grin, and took a larger gulp of the tasty beverage.
“Well, I think Pinkzilla likes it,” Twilight offered as Daring brought Flutterina back to the ground. “I think we all should have some tea as well, everypony agreed?”
“Ah certainly could go for somethin’ ta drink. Mah mouth’s drier than a desert!”
Flutterina quickly distributed cups from another basket that hung from her chain, apparently another bottomless vessel like her biscuit one, Twilight surmised. Soon, Twilight and her newfound friends, as well as Flutterina’s animals, had all been served, and the mare had a warm grin on her face. “Oh, this is a wonderful tea party!”
Daring pointed to Pinkzilla. “It may be the biggest tea party ever, considering our pink friend over there.”
Twilight nodded, taking a sip of tea. “And Pinkzilla looks like it just ate an entire sweet shop.” She nodded towards the creature, who continued to slurp down the tea from the upturned tower. “I believe that should tie up all the loose ends, right?”
Daring, the Lone Silver, and Flutterina looked back at her, with a confused looked. “Er, loose ends?” Daring asked.
“Sorry, it’s a long story. And one that is finally over!” She turned her head to the sky. “Now, Spike! End it!”
Twilight’s friends had been all staring at Spike’s writing in a hushed silence, each thinking hard about their story’s intended ending as Twilight had instructed. As the story took its heroic turns, the group had let out brief cheers and shouts, but quickly hushed up as Spike’s arm continued to scribble on the page.
“Now Spike! End it!”
Spike held the quill at the end of that line, staring at the page. The noise of quill on paper was suddenly absent in the room.
“Er, Spike,” Pinkie spoke, prodding Spike gently. The dragon didn’t respond, beads of sweat on his brow while he stared at his claw.
“SPIKE!” Rainbow yelled in Spike’s ears.
“Agggh! What?!” Spike nearly jumped up halfway to ceiling.
“Um, Twilight says you can end the story now,” Fluttershy offered, pointing out the last bit of text on the scroll.
“Oh, oh! Right!” Spike dipped the quill into the ink jar one last time, and, in big broad letters, quickly scribbled “THE END” on the scroll.
There was a sudden whooshing noise in the room, like several hundred ponies had taken a deep inhale. The pages with the transcribed story started to glow a brilliant light. As soon as it started, the light faded away instantly. The pages remained still on the floor of Pinkie’s bedroom.
“What just happened?” Applejack asked.
Rarity stepped over, and carefully reached her hoof to the stack of sheets, biting her lip in anticipation. She made contact with the paper without incident, the spark that occurring the first time not appearing now. “Whatever that magic was, it’s changed now.”
“Wait, so is Twilight free? Where’d she go?” Rainbow Dash begged. “Spike, see if you can communicate with her!”
Spike attempted to put quill to parchment but couldn’t get anything to happen. He shook his head. “I’ve tried, but the paper’s just not taking the ink at all.”
“That would make sense,” Rarity offered. “If it is parchment used for magic spells, you’d certainly not want the language changed after you finished it. I’d assume that’s another property of the paper.”
“But Twilight’s still missing!” Pinkie grabbed at Rarity in a panic, shaking her. “What if she’s still stuck in the story?!”
“Hold on there, sugercube,” Applejack laid a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder. “If we accidentally drew her into the story when we created it, she’s bound to be back in Ponyville with it over.”
“And probably near the spa, since that was the last place I saw her,” Rarity offered.
“Well, what are we waiting for?!” Rainbow has flown over to the window, slamming it open. “Let’s go look for her!”
The others didn’t have to be told twice, and raced down the stairs.
Twilight squinted, the flash of light still blinding her vision. She could see vague shapes around her, and could see the light-blue of sky beyond them, but even blinking as fast as she could, the shapes refused to unblur themselves.
“Hello, anypony there?” Twilight shouted, but got no response. If Daring, Flutterina, or the Lone Silver were nearby, they ought to have heard her. But this didn’t feel like the arid desert. Faint green shapes were on the horizon, which Twilight would have guessed were trees.
“Twilight!” a distant voice called out from behind her. She turned, but her eyes were still watering and trying to readjust, but the voice definitely sounded familiar.
“Pinkie? Is that you?!”
“It’s all of us, Twi!” Applejack’s twang came from much closer.
“Girls!” Twilight was able to see multicolored blobs moving closer to her, but even as indistinct as they were, could recognize them as her friends. She raced towards them.
The group fell into a close hug. Twilight cried with tears of job, relieved to be out of that nightmare. “Oh, we did it!”
“You did it, Twilight, even without your books,” Rainbow offered, giving her a rub on the head.
Twilight smiled, relieved to be back in the normal world. She opened her eyes, finding her vision was slowly coming back. She could tell she was near the spa, where she had started this entire strange journey. Given it was still light out, it must have been only hours even though to her it felt like days had passed. “Oh, girls—”
There was a cough below here. “Don’t forget about me,” Spike retorted.
“Oh, and Spike too,” Twilight grinned. “I probably should have had some of Flutterina’s biscuits because I’m starving. Can we go get something to eat?”
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That made me laugh, the image of the whole group turning to look. Made me think of Sarge calling to the Blue Team in Red vs. Blue.
My typo sense is tingling.
"Grimacing" is not an adjective. Perhaps "grim" or "menacing" would work better.
"the pegasus quickly broke out of Pinkzilla's path and flew herself and Flutterina"
Itty bitty typo causes tense shift.
sense
The climax is always the best part of stories like this. Twilight had to gather up all the different storylines and either consolidate them or play them against one another. Pretty exciting. Pinkzilla was such a hilarious concept, so I was glad to see her return.
2328093 Thanks for the typo-spotting!
And the hard part of this story was trying to work out how to resolve all 4 stories in a way that would intersect them rather well, while keeping the fact that the four friends are all mary-sue-ing themselves in the work.
Great ending.