> Pony Quest
>  by Ponyzzar
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A Dreadful Return
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Pony Quest



-Castle Stronghoof-

Darkness had fallen all over the castle as Rainbow Dash, a young swordspony in the princess' service, arrived at the gate. Her red cloaked tunic fluttered in the chilly wind that blew through the castle grounds. Clouds that blocked out the sun hung still, filling the sky. Dash lept, abandoning the cart she had arrived on, and proceeded to run through the castle hoping to understand what had transpired.

Her search turned up fruitless.

The castle was empty, nopony was there. None of the guards were at their posts; none of the staff were cleaning. She was overcome with a sense of dread as she approached the door to the throne room. After pushing her tunic into a respectable position, she opened the door and gasped at the sight she beheld.

The entire populace of the castle was standing in there, turned to stone. Each one had a face frozen in terror. Dozens and dozens of them were in groups, appearing to have been clustered together when it happened. She walked past them, not daring to touch any in case the curse afflicted her. She walked until she reached the end of the room. Her heart skipped a beat as she reached the throne.

The princess wasn't there.

The other soldiers that had been travelling with her arrived in the room and each in turned stood still with shock. Two broke out in cries of woe, for they recognized family of theirs.

"Listen up!" Dash bellowed. "Somepony has violated the ancient laws and has made off with the princess. We can't lose hope, but we can't stay here either! We need to find the princess and restore the castle." She looked at the agreeing soldiers. "I'll head to the nearest town and start my search there. All of you begin scouring the rest of the kingdom! Every second counts!" She ran towards a cracked window and leapt through it, causing it to shatter and scatter shards of glass like a blast of hail in a winter storm. As quickly as she had ran into the castle to search for the fate of her princess, she had fled it to do the same thing. She needed to find out what had happened to the castle, and most of all to the princess. She unfolded her wings and began flying on the chilly breeze towards Stalliville.







-Stalliville-

She landed hard in the town square, but nopony took notice. Everypony knew of Captain Dash and her headstrong attitude. She was the youngest captain in the princess' current army. As she landed she folded her wings underneath her cloak and started running with a cause keeping them resolute.

Dash ran through the streets taking note of the infrequency of guards. Where are they all? she thought to herself as she thundered into another pony. There was a brief scramble and then Dash found she was lying on the ground. She shook her head and stood up less than gracefully.

"Owww!" came the response from the pony she had barged into. "Watch where you’re... oh, my, gosh! My apologies Captain Dash," the pony squeaked. "I've never met you before. You’re a pegasus pony, the only one in Bravehoof. I- I- I- I can't believe I'm having the chance to talk to a real life pegasus..." the pony stammered. Dash looked at the pony she had run into. She was a lavender unicorn and quite a well dressed one at that. She wore a suit covered in sequins and embroidered carefully. It looked expensive. Her mane was not comparable to the dress, but she had a sweet face. She stared at the pony for a second before shaking her head, trying to remove a thought. "...And once again I'm sorry about running into you." the pony apologized.

"Err.... excuse me, but could I ask you something?" Dash managed. She might as well ask somepony and this one was better than none.

"Certainly, I'd love to help a member of the princess' army!" she cried. Then her face dropped to one of puzzlement. "Not that you actually see many nowadays," she finished.

"It's about that. I've been off in Zebora waging war with the trolls there, when suddenly most of our force is called back. Then when I finally return, I find the castle is under a spell of darkness and the princess is missing!" she yelled into the ponies face. "What the hoof has happened?" The pony reeled back in shock.

"The princess is GONE!?" the pony screamed. Panic caused her to take in big gasping breaths of air.

"Yeah, I just said that," Dash confirmed. She rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue.

"Then that must... and then it... oh my!" She grabbed Dash's tunic. "Follow me," she ordered before half dragging Dash down the street, much to the amusement of the local villagers. Only two people who had seen the scene were not laughing with amusement. They were laughing like hyenas scouting its prey.







-Stalliville Library-

Dash managed to get herself upright at the very moment when she was roughly pulled through a door to a large library. She was finally let go of by Twilight and due to the momentum she had acquired by the journey, she cannon balled into a nearby bookcase.

"This had better be worth it." she muttered while picking books off of herself. She hadn't had this many books so close to her since she graduated from her military academy.

"Here it is!" said the same cheerful voice that had thrown her into this mess of books. The lavender pony turned and saw the struggling pile of books. "Uhhhh... What are you doing?" the pony asked. She was responded to in grunts and curses. "Here, let me help you."

Dash watched as the books lifted themselves magically off of her and went back into the book case. She huffed and stood up, causing a few joints to click. She stretched her back legs and was responded with a loud crack. Her face twinged for a second before changing to one of pleasure.

"Here read this," the pony who had dragged Dash said. She handed Dash the book. "I'll be back in a second." she said, before turning and leaving through a door leading to another room.

Dash rolled her eyes. Why do I always attract the nutballs? Her eyes flicked to the open book and began to read were the bookmark was. Her jaw dropped as soon as she was halfway through the passage. Her eyes wobbled as she re-read the passage trying to see if she made some sort of mistake. Surely this can't be. She wondered. She re-read the entire passage word for word again; she did it three dozen times more before dropping it.

The book had in it a prophecy about the kidnapping of the eighth princess of Stronghoof, her princess. The passage stated that the lord of the underworld would rise and kidnap her, and that six heroes of three realms would save her.

She sat down trying to digest what she had read. It's impossible! she thought. The lord of the underworld was slain by the Wonderbolts, the heroes who defended Airmane from him over hundred years ago. He was dead, or rather more than dead. They had sealed what remained of his darkness deep in the underworld, his home and now his dungeon.

The unicorn returned as Dash was about to leave. "Hey what are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm leaving to go find the princess. I don't care what happens to me and..." Her voice trailed off, and she began to blush.

"Is something wrong?" the unicorn asked.

"It's just... your clothing... it's a bit..."She hesitated, trying to find the words. A faint snigger was developing behind her lips as she tried to suppress it.

"Oh, this?" she asked. Dash nodded and accidently let out a smirk. The unicorn was wearing a dress that reminded Dash of a combination between a lady mare's evening dress and an escort's dress. It was frilly in places that it needn't be and revealed a bit more than it should. The pony didn't notice her stare and continued. "It's just my family's traditional travelling attire. My mom made it for me. It hasn't changed design for over a hundred years."

Faint puzzlement fell upon Dash. "Uhhhh... where are you going?" Dash asked with true sincerity.

"With you to find the princess," the pony responded. She moved beside Dash and tilted her head. "Are we going?"

"Really?" Dash asked. "The book foretold heroes, not heroes and... oddly dressed bookworms." Dash wasn't the kind of pony to watch her mouth, which frequently got her into trouble. This was one such case.

"Bookworm?!" the unicorn yelled. "I. Am. Not. A. BOOKWORM!" 

Magic raced from her and flung things across the room. Dash flew up and smacked her head on the roof, she suddenly found she also was stuck to it. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry," the unicorn squealed. "That term really gets under my hoof. I'll undo the spell."

"You don't say," Dash managed as she slowly became loose, air rushing back to her lungs. She landed on the floor hard, but was able to keep her balance. She lifted a hoof to her head which she had banged when she hit the roof.

"I beg your pardon, Miss Dash," the pony said, embarrassed at having cast the spell.

"It's Captain Dash to you... uhhhhhh..." Dash strained to think of the unicorn's name. "What is your name?" She raised a brow as she asked.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle, amateur mage," Twilight said. A slow grin replaced her apologetic expression.

"Amateur?" Dash choked. She coughed and cleared her throat. "Now I'm scared to see what a skilled one is like." She grinned with actual enthusiasm.

"Oh, yes, that. I'm gifted. Very gifted," Twilight told Dash. She lifted every book out of their shelf and spun them around the room to make her point. After a few seconds, she returned them into their original positions.

Dash stared. In more ways than one! She caught herself thinking and shook her head. She shook it until the dreaded thought left.

Twilight caught sight of Dash. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

"What! No. Nothing’s wrong. Just had a bad day as you can expect," she lied, but Twilight believed her nonetheless.

"Alright then," she said. She made for the door. "Oh, I almost forgot. Owlowiscious!"

From the rafters came down a large owl which settled on Twilights flank. Lucky guy. Dash shook her head once more to try and expel the thought, but it stood firmly rooted. She smacked her head on the floor before smiling at the confused Twilight.

"Come on then. We should head to the market to collect some provisions for this journey." Twilight said. She made for the door again.

"Alright," Dash responded. She followed Twilight to the door, but it was opened by someone on the outside. Twilight screamed, but after seeing who had come in, felt embarrassed. She smiled as the large gryphon passed through.

"Ah, Captain Gilda! It's good to see you," Dash said. She was an old friend of Gilda's.

"It's actually commander now, Dashie," Gilda responded. Gilda brushed at an imaginary speck of dust on her shoulder. "But you didn't know, so I'll let it slide… this time."

"C-c-c-c-c-commander! Awesome! I knew you would make it someday!" Dash cried with excitement. She was surprised how she hadn't noticed the thick gold armour before. She could tell it was magically imbued because she could see shimmers of light dancing off of it. She held up her hoof for Gilda to smack, but Gilda just stood staring at her claws.

"Yeah… you just have to make friends with the right people," Gilda said with a certain menace before turning her eyes to Dash. A sick smile spread.

"What?" Dash started before noticing the smile. Suddenly it dawned on her. She had remembered Gilda had been in charge of the Castle's defence. Her eyes went wide.

Two armoured ponies had stepped out from behind Gilda and where walking towards them with lances at the ready. "You have to choose the winning side Dashie, but I'm sorry… you choose wrong," Gilda told her before nodding to the soldiers.

"You… you traitor!" Dash yelled before pulling out her sword. "It's on!" She leaped forward and slammed the two ponies away before charging at Gilda. Gilda barely moved an inch, and then suddenly swung forward a sword. Dash had barely any time to dodge, but managed it. She gasped at the sword that was held in front of her.

"Like it?" Gilda turned the sword in her claws, admiring the blade. It was long, red and above all else, sharp. "It's the Red Dragon. My new 'Employer' gave it to me as a reward for helping him take over the kingdom. I know how much you value the way of the sword Dash, so I'm going to give you the honour of dying by it!" Gilda shrieked and swung the sword down hard, splintering the floorboards and nearly decapitating Rainbow Dash. Dash rolled and avoided a second swing by flipping onto her back. More soldiers started spilling through the door, each armed and dangerous. "It was nice of you to return here Dashie, but all in vain. Had you have come to the town instead of taking the detour to the castle I wouldn't have had to kill you like I did your friends."

Dash's eyes went wide open as Gilda opened her claw. Several necklaces with thunderclouds spitting a rainbow lightning bolt fell to the ground. "You're a monster, and I will kill you!" she screamed and leapt. "But not right now!" She kicked Gilda hard in the face, causing something to snap. She could see blood pouring from Gilda's beak as she turned and ran towards Twilight and knocked some soldiers over while she was at it. She grabbed Twilight and burst through the open door to escape the soldiers.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Twilight screamed as she was pulled into the sky. She put her hooves over her mouth to make sure she didn't lsoe her lunch.

Down below some of the villagers looked up. One even said: "Does she ever do anything apart from fight and run off with other girls?"







-Forest near Stalliville-

Dash had finally slowed down after they were well away from Stalliville. She flung Twilight into a bush near the forest before diving in herself. "Okay, I think we lost them," Dash said after a while, making sure nothing moved on the horizon.

"They didn't bother chasing us. I don't think they could have even if they wanted to," Twilight responded. She shifted position as she looked towards her clothes.

"Still, even if they did, they wouldn't be able to find us," Dash replied before turning towards Twilight. She had to turn away. She had almost burst into laughter just by looking at Twilight.

"Uhhh.... my clothes are a mess, could you help me?" Twilight asked.

"Sure, what do you need?" Dash answered trying to hold a straight face. She bit her lip trying to hold the laughter back.

"Several brushes if you have them." she replied before hearing Dash snigger. "Is something funny?"

"Bwahahahahaaaaahaha! You look... hahaaaahaha! You look absolutely ridiculous!" Dash wheezed, trying not to look at Twilight's clothes and hair, which were tangled and had leaves and twigs littered in them. She fell into the bush and rolled about, holding herself.

"Well it is your fault, what with that sudden take off and then throwing me into bush," Twilight responded. "Why are you laughing at me like that?" she asked.

"Okay I'm sorry for laughing like that, let me laugh harder. Hahahaha!" Dash choked on the laughs and fought for breath.

There was a loud smack as Twilight slapped Dash across the face. "This isn't funny! We need to clean ourselves up and hurry to the next town!" she reminded Dash, her voice fraught with frustration.

"Next town? The only nearest town that isn't Stalliville is either on the other side of the castle, or in Charmtail. And I for one am not wasting time going to Charmtail!" Dash sternly told her.

"Don't be such a scaredy cat. Sure Charmtail and Bravehoof have never seen eye to eye, but I'm pretty sure they will let people come and go as they please between the borders of each kingdom," Twilight reasoned. "It's unlikely they will stop two ponies."

"The last time I was there I hoofed the prince in the jaw. I'm pretty sure if I'm seen by any guards there or at the border, I'll be thrown in the castle dungeons," Dash told Twilight. She winced at the response.

"YOU DID WHAT?!”

Dash sighed. "He was being rude and pinched my cutie mark, so I did what I usually do when ponies do that." She kicked as an example. "Old habits are hard to break."

"B- B- BUT HE'S A PRINCE!!!" Twilight screamed.

"Who cares? Just because you're a prince, doesn't mean they can do whatever they want," Dash interjected.

"BUT.....BUT...... Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!" Twilight yelled at the sky. She started thumping on her head. "We have to go to a town with a market of some kind and due to recent events here in Bravehoof, it looks like Charmtail is the only option, so you had better come up with something!"

"I stop by at the border and we're both toast," Dash explained. She lay back in the bush and stared at the sky, trying to think.

"I doubt every guard has seen you," Twilight speculated. She gave Dash's face a careful look. "You aren't the most memorable face I've ever seen, so you could easily be mistaken in a crowd.

Rainbow Dash gave her a look and then flapped her wings. She placed them under her cloak, but they were still slightly visible.

"Oh. Right," she said embarrassed at not having thought of that. "There must be a way. Wait, why don't we just fly over?"

"Fly over? I'll be sticking out like a sore hoof." Dash explained "It's not easy flying and not being noticed. A bird would be hard to spot, but a pony is quite visible."

"Ughhhh! This is going to drive me nuts. Let me think, let me think." She stopped before a sudden idea sprung. "Nigma's Cove!" she cried.

"Nigmo's what?"

"Nigma's Cove. It's a dangerous underground passage that links the two kingdoms. There aren’t many ponies that are willing to go there, so we should expect a clean travel through…" Twilight explained, stopping to think. "…except for traps and other dangers."

"No way!" Dash cried.

"What, it's just a cave. We could easily get through it, I mean I can use magic to detect the traps and you can fly us over dangerous sections."

"Well I..." Dash began, before something touched her shoulder. She threw open her wings, dislodging the creature, and pulled out her sword.

"Aww, how cute! I've never seen a slime before," Twilight cheerfully said. She nudged Dash aside and observed the small blue blob.

"Cute? It's a monster! You don't call them cute," Dash retorted.

Twilight walked over and knelt in front of the slime "I don't think it's dangerous Dash. I mean look at it. It's smiling. Who's a cutie? You’re a cutie!" Twilight started before there was a loud smack and a crack. "Aggghhh! Kiww ib! Kiww ib!" Twilight screamed through a bleeding snout.

"Aaahaha! What did I tell you? Hahaha! Oh, that’s classic!" Dash laughed as she walked over to the slime, turned around, and hoofed it into the forest. "You really should listen to me about monsters. Even the cutest ones can be harmful."

"Stubid swime…" Twilight muttered as her horn flared into life, causing the blood to retract and her snout to crack back into place. Dash cringed at the sight. "There that's better. Come on, let's not waste time. We've got a princess to save!"

I have a princess to save, you're just tagging along. Dash thought to herself, before catching up to Twilight and telling her the correct direction towards the mountainscape.

"Wait a minute!" Twilight blurted. "OWLOWISCIOUS!" she called. Suddenly the owl descended from out of nowhere and landed on her back. "Great, you got away as well… I'm glad you’re okay. Now you can make a proper introduction to Rainbow Dash," Twilight said cheerfully.

"Who," the owl replied.

"You know Rainbow Dash, the pegasus of Bravehoof. One of the captains of the princess," Twilight told him.

"Who," the owl repeated. Twilight gave him a stare. "Alright, alright. Don't flip out on me, it's just a joke," the owl replied, before turning to Rainbow Dash. "I'm Owlowiscious, but my pals call me Owl."

"Uhhhh... hi?" Rainbow managed to force the response from her brain, still dumbfounded.

"If it's alright with you, I'm going to go fly for a while, I heard you talking about the Cove and I'm afraid to go there, so I’ll see you around!" he said before taking off. 

"What a weird guy," Dash observed.

"You should see him when he's drunk," Twilight replied. The image passed through Rainbow's head, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't picture it properly.







-Nigma's Cove-

Twilight hummed as she walked past the old mine carts that littered the entrance to Nigma's Cove. Dash tried to keep up with her, but was constantly walking into things because she was constantly turning her head to observe her surroundings. Shadows seemed to move when she wasn't looking and fear caught in her lungs, causing her to breathe fast. "Twilight, could you slow down?" Dash panted after a time.

"I'm surprised you’re not leaving me behind. You usually have to stop for me to catch up. Is everything alright?" Twilight asked.

"Everything's fine, it's just a little dark and hard for me to see," Dash lied. She nearly tripped over a piece a track.

"Dark? It's barely even shady," Twilight raised an eyebrow as she spoke. "Dash, is there something you should be telling me?"

"N-n-n-no there isn't," Dash stammered.

"It's alright to tell me. Do you have a stomach ache or something?" Twilight asked. 

"I'M SCARED OF CAVES!" Dash screamed into Twilight's face. "I always have been, ever since I was small," Dash said as she sat down. "I fell down a broken well which led to a den of slimes. I was curious so I explored until I found them. When they saw me they started attacking me. It took them three hours to get me out. The whole time the slimes were jumping on me. The event left me traumatised of dark tight spaces."

"Why didn't you fly out?" Twilight said, shocked.

"I hadn't figured it out yet and there was nopony to teach me."

"What about your parents, surely they could have taught you?"

"I never met them. I was found in a basket in the mountains near the castle by a couple of earth ponies. I never met my parents. I thought they were for the longest time until they explained it to me," Dash told her.

"Wow, I never knew. I'm sorry I asked," Twilight said, blushing. "Here, let me help you." Her horn glowed as she cast a spell. Suddenly the room lit up as two spheres of fire flew into the air. Each flame settled near one of the ponies. "It's only a small spell, but I hope it will help you feel better as we go deeper."

"Thanks Twilight, I feel better already, I just hope we can get through this without much trouble," Dash said as they started walking.

They went further into the cave. They walked through the flame lit passages until they came to a river leading to a waterfall. "Phew!" Twilight whistled as she peered over the edge of the waterfall. "That's a steep drop. I'd hate to go down that. I don't even think I can see the bottom!"

Dash pushed and then pulled Twilight back, causing her to scream. "Gotcha!" she shouted, falling over in hysterics. Her shout echoed through the cave.

"That's not funny!" Twilight huffed. "Well at least you've gotten over your fear for now."

Dash looked at her before realizing herself. "Yeah, odd that. Guess I just needed a friend to talk to." She tapped at her head to see if something odd was going on.

Twilight looked back towards the river. "That bridge looks used. I think it will hold, but what's been going over it?"

"I don't know, but let's get going," Dash said before setting foot on the bridge. "Yeah, it's stable."

"I wish I had brought my book on the history of this place. I can remember most of it, but some things are really bugging me," Twilight said as she crossed the bridge with Rainbow. "There was something about the river's that is important, but I can't put my hoof on it."

They finished crossing and went further into to the cave leaving the river and bridge lit by the crystals that had illuminated it for years. The river kept churning before it started to rise. Something snaked up out of the middle of the river and stared at the disappearing light before returning to the water. Within seconds, all proof that it had been there was washed away by the river.
> Adventure Ahoy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Nigma's Cove-


Dash and Twilight walked in silence as the balls of flame floated beside them, illuminating the passage. The cave had gotten quite tight in this section and Twilight was ushering along a nervous Rainbow Dash. Eventually the passage came out into a much wider domed area.

"Look at those stalagtites! this section must be very old," Twilight said, awed by the size. Dash turned her head to look up at them. After a moment she noticed something. She then looked down at the ground they were walking along.

"Twilight... in one sense your correct, but I think their formation was caused a little differently than normal," Dash told the excited Twilight.

"Come on Dash. Stalagtites are caused by sediment made from water drips, there isn't another way they are made," Twilight explained to Dash, giving he ra smug smile.

"It's not what made them is different, it's how. Twilight, look at the roof," Dash ordered.

Twilight looked up again. "What am I looking..." she began. Water was in a giant pool on the roof. "I don't believe it... Of course! They're stalagmites, but upside down! This must be one of the mystery pools Stone Chip talked about in his book," Twilight explained. Dash threw Twilight a confused look. "The History and Majesty of the Caves of Equestria. That's the book I was talking about. Stone Chip was the author of it."

"Alright Twilight, but what does that have to do with our situation, and this pool?" Rainbow asked, confused.

"I remember now. 'There are 3 pools in Nigma's cove. Each has a mysterious power dwelling inside of it. The first I encountered defied all logic, the second warped my sense of direction, and the third was the most dangerous of all.'" Twilight stated, word for word as she had read.

"Cool, now you can help us avoid the dangers. All you have to do is follow it to the word," Dash said, but then she caught the look on Twilight's face.

"I wish I could, but the book wasn't specific about many things in Nigma's Cove. He explored it as a boy and was an adult when he wrote the book. He'd forgotten the specifics," Twilight explained.

"Grahhhh... Is there anything you remember that could help us?" Rainbow asked in her anger.

"When it comes to it I will," Twilight huffed as she began moving. She stopped moments after. Realising there was no way out other than the way they came in. She flinched. "Wait! 'A drink from each pool will help you navigate the cove, but beware, some things are still dangerous even with the pools' waters.' Dash we need some of the water!"

They both looked up: Twilight at the water; Dash at the stalagmites. "Well, flyings out of the options, what next?" Dash asked.

"Dash, do you have any bottles?" Twilight responded.

"Yeah, in my satchel. Why?" Dash answered.

Twilights horn flared up and Dash's satchel opened. Two bottles came floating out. "Both empty?" Twilight wondered out loud.

"Those bottles had some uhhhh... apple juice..." She caught Twilights eye "... apple cider in them, which I drank with my squad the night before we arrived at the castle," Dash winced at the thought. "My squad..." she started before tears formed in her eyes.

"It's not your fault Dash," Twilight tried to comfort her.

"But I wasn't following orders. We left a week before we were supposed to on my insistance," Dash said through the tears.

"Dash, I know your upset, but think of it this way," Twilight said as Dash turned to face her, "If you hadn't ignored your orders, you would never have dicovered what happened at the castle, and we wouldn't be on this quest."

Dasd looked at her "I'm sorry your right. It's just..."

"They would want you to find the princess," Twilight encouraged.

Dash's face lightened at the thought. "They would. Hay, they would probably smack me around if I decided to turn back for them. Let's get that water." Twilight giggled and raised the bottles. They sank into the dark water. Twilight blinked as she flipped them causing air bubbles to rise from the water. The bottles then came down and gently landed on her hooves. "Twilight, aren't you going to put them down?"

"Ummmm...... odd thing. They are trying to float back up," Twilight responded, uncertain as to how they were doing it.

Dash ran this thought through her head. "You mean... the water is strong enough to lift bottles?" she asked.

Twilight nodded. "Yeah, that's why I'm holding them upside down, so that they don't spill."

"Well, bottom's down I guess," Dash said as she snatched and drank one, placing the bottle before her lips and tipping it upwards.

"DASH!" Twilight yelled.

"It's alright Twilight," Dash told her. "Wow, now I feel dizzy..." she said as she began to shake.

"Dash! Tell me your alright!" Twilight cried, worried for her friend.

"I'm fine, just light headed," she said. A few seconds after the words left her mouth. her front hooveslifted off the ground.

Twilight gave her a look. "Dash, this isn't the time for games."

"Games?"

Twilight gave her another look. "Would you stop flying for a second."

"Flying?" Dash looked down. "Holy hoof! I am flying! What! When! Hhhuuuuuuuhhh... The water!" Dash said as she slowly floated up, flipped upside down, and softly landed in the pool.

"Of course! The pool must connect to somewhere else in the cave," Twilight said gleefully. "Dash, see if you can find a tunnel, I'll join you in a second." She put the bottle to her lips and drank it's contents as Dash dove into the pool. Twilight was halfway to the pool and had stowwed the bottles in her bag when Dash resurfaced.

"There is, just over there," she said as she pointed her hoof. "Man this water messes with your sense of up and down."

When Twilight reached the water they both took deep breaths and dove. They swam through the small hole and Twilight summoned new flames to light up the path. The flames were in a small bubble of air and no bigger than her eyes. When they broke through the surface of the water at the other end they both let out a gasp and a belch. They stared at each other before being drawn to the ground.

"Owwww," Dash announced after a few seconds.

"I guess the water doesn't last long," Twilight observed. "Maybe we should take some with us."

"No, I'm pretty sure that is as far as we need to go using that water," Dash said, rubbing her jaw with a hoof.

"But it could come in useful later on," Twilight argued.

"Why not store it in some magical vessel which can dissapear and reappear when you need it," Dash responded sarcasticly and was rewarded with Twilight pulling a gleeful face.

"Great idea! Omager's Vase! Who new you new so much about magic!" Twilight almost cheered.

"You do realise I was being sarcastic?" Dash asked.

"Yep, same as I was when I complimented you," Twilight retorted.

Dash was taken aback. She turned and looked at the area they had been dumped. They were each lying in a small depression in the sand. There were several others around them. She took a look back at the pool and the towards a roaring sound she heard. "Hey Twilight, we're near another river." Dash said. She turned to see Twilight pulling an strange thing out of the water. Dash stood baffled for a second before realising this was the vase Twilight was talking about. After Twilight inspected the contents, the vase dissapeared in a puff of magical smoke.

"Another river? There's only one in the Nigma's Cove. Chip said it runs all the way through the cave and at some sections, due to the presence of magic stones, creates a reverse waterfall," Twilight stood back a second. "That was weird."

"So you remembered about the river, huh?" Dash asked.

"Yeah, I guess, but there's something I've yet to put my hoof on," Twilight said as she tapped her jaw. "Something important."

"Who cares, let's go," she stated as she turned to look at the river. "There's another bridge, as worn as the first one." She started trotting along it leaving Twilight in thought.

"Dash I just remembered-" Twilight started, just as the center of the bridge burst open. "THE RIVER CONTAINS A SEA-SERPEANT!"

Dash stared at it. The Sea-serpeant was massive, much bigger than any of the trolls she had fought with. It had long sharp claws and razor teeth. She stood there unable to even draw her sword in terror. "Who dares enter my kingdom!" the serpeant asked. Both ponies could only open there mouths in response and meep. "If you pathetic things wish to live, turn back now or forfeit your lives to me." it bellowed.

Dash was the first to regain her courage. "Pathetic. PATHETIC! I'll show you pathetic!" she yelled as she pulled out her sword, flared open her wings and flew into action. The serpeant swung his claws at her, but was left gripping air. She danced back and forth between his flaying arms attempting to peirce his hide, but it was no good. The scales were as tough as stone.

"I am of Dragon blood, no sword will slay me!"

"Bite my rear, Hay for brains!" she cried as she shot towards his head. His claw came down with massive force and hit her a she sliced at his face. "AGHHH!" She screamed as she was thrown into the river.

"DASH!" Twilight cried before sending a couple of fireballs toward the serpeant.

The serpeant threw up it's hand towards them and they barely made a mark as they impacted. The serpeant then brought his hand towards Twilight, who was preparing a shield spell. "Hasn't your mother ever taught that fire was dangerous, you could have hurt yourself." Said a strange voice. Twilight opened her eyes to see the hand in front of her pointing a claw and shaking it. "This is what the girls of today do? Shoot fireballs at strangers?"

"But you... you attacked us," Twilight said in amazement.

"I wasn't trying to hurt you. I was trying to scare you, but I do admit I got carried away when that rainbow one cut up my mustache."

"OHMYGOSH! RAINBOW DASH!" Twilight yelled, looking from side to side.

There was a splosh as something clampered at the side of the river. "Over here." Dash cried, gasping for air "I'm fine by the way, I just lost my sword is all." Twilight ran over to her, and pulled her up.

"I'm sorry if I injured you. I am really sorry," the serpeant explained. They all stared at each other.

"Why exactly are you here?" Twilight asked.

"Well, because my old friend Nigma asked me to keep treasure hunters away from his horde, and partly because I looooooove the scenery here, did you know this is the only river with upwards travelling waterfalls," it said with a smile.

"We aren't looking for Nigma's horde," Twilight responded. "We're trying to get through the caves to the other side."

"Really? Well that's a first. Usually it's soldiers or adventurers after his gold. But if you're not after his gold, why come through here?" the serpeant asked.

"We can't pass into Charmtail through conventional methods, so we are using the cave," Dash told him.

The serpeant considered this and after a moment slid into the water. "Alright, but don't be lieing to me," he said just before he sank through the surface.

"Weird guy." Dash said after a short period of time. "Great. Now we know for a fact that there is some stuff that is incredibly dangerous, and I've lost my sword," she said before she fummed for a bit. "It wasn't cheap either," she said after a while. They crossed what remained of the bridge and continued on their journey. Not long after they came to a spherical chamber with a single pool in the center.

"The second pool!" Twilight exclaimed. "Care for a sip?" she asked Dash, who shook her head.

"You go first, I drank the last one first," Dash told her. Twilight nodded in agreement, Rainbow had been the first to try the previous pond's water. She took a few step forwards before rainbow dash called out to her.

"Uhh... Twilight? Your going the wrong way," Dash told her. Twilight looked up, she was still staring at the pond, although now it seemed wider. What was Dash talking about? She wondered and took a few more steps. The pond seemed to twist and turn with every step she took. Then suddenly there was a thunk. Her vision was dark and her head hurt. "Twilight, are you trying to be funny," Dash called to her "or did you do that on purpose?"

Twilight stood up and turned around. The whole room was distorted. Rainbow Dash was the only thing in it the seemed to keep it's shape. She took a few steps back towards the entrance and realised something. "Dash, this room is playing tricks on me, I can't see straight. You're going to have to guide me to the pond."

Dash almost laughed in response. After settling herself down she yelled out: "Trying taking a step to your left!" Twilight did as Rainbow said and was suprised by the splash and dampness of her hoof. "One more step and you'll be completely soaked Twilight." Twilight held her breath and closed her eyes as she took the final step. With a resounding splosh she was in the pond. Not waiting ten seconds she took a sip of it's cool waters and opened her eyes. At first all she could see was a pink haze which dominated her sight. It then cleared to reveal the room. She almost gasped at it's true shape. The whole room was like a puzzle. What had appeared to be floor was walls. Stones twisted in almost agonizing shapes. She risked a look towards Dash and was greated with a nice visage. Rainbow Dash was normal. Nothing about her was twisted like the room.

"Dash, here drink this, but close your eyes first," Twilight told her as she chucked a bottle she had recently filled. Dash caught and drank it, but didn't close her eyes. In an instant she winced in what appeared to be pain and fell to the floor.

"DASH!" Twilight screamed.

"I'm okay, that just really weirded me out, and gave me a headache. I could have sworn a lot of those rocks just passed through each other," Dash moaned as she climbed to her feet and opened her eyes. Twilight noticed a pink haze over Dash's eyes and reasoned that the water was the cause.

"Alright, the water has allowed our eyes to see this room properly, so where is the exit?" Twilight asked, turning her head around the room. Dash followed her gaze and both stared around the place before Dash made a dash back to the entrance. 

"Twilight, you had better see this," she explained.

Twilight walked back to the entrance and stared in amazement. The whole cave had changed shape. It was different apart from the pond they had just drunk from. Dash walked out of the cave and tested to see if it was safe to walk out. Hardly a had she taken a foot when she winced again.

"Dash, is everything alright?" Twilight asked, almost rushing out.

"Yeah. My eyes just hurt for a sec," Dash said, turning around revealing that her eyes were back to normal.

Twilight was confused, but reluctantly followed Dash before her eyes stung and she winced. When she opened them everything was the same, nothing had changed. "Odd," she said, turning around and looking at the pool room. It had returned to it's circular shape. She huffed not being able to understand it, but reasoned it was best not to ask and followed Dash.







Further into the cave Twilight and Dash came upon a chamber filled with ponies. That is to say, dead ponies. The room was filled with many skeletons holding weapons and wearing armour. They lay in odd formations, standing in what appeared to be the way they died.

"Wow! Look at this place. There must be a hundred of these guys. Look! Some are Pirates!" Dash hollered in excitement.

"Yeaaah... Cool," Twilight said unconvincingly, but Dash took no notice. She was too busy examing the skeletons.

"Hey, that one's a knight, and that one's a wizard!" Dash cried as she ran near a pair. "Wait... that's not how you spell wizard," she said as stared at the skeletons hat. She shrugged and moved on. Dash ran through more, but stopped at a royaly dressed one. It held a long sharp blade with a decorated handle. "Awesome! This sword is brutal!" she half screamed pulling it out of the dead pony's hoof. "It's longer than my old one. Hey, it even has an engravement. Equa node dorma. What the heck does that mean?"

"That's old Equestrian. It mean: Equestria, my home. Very noble if you ask... D-d-d-d-d-dash... turn around," Twilight stammered. Dash did, and stood horrified. The skeletal ponies were all beginning to move.

"RUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNN!" Dash screamed and tore off as they began moving quicker.

"Dash, wait!" Twilight said grabbing her tail. "Watch!" she said while pointing a hoof.

Dash turned around. It was still creepy, but the ponies weren't chasing them. They were acting out a battle. Several of the skeletons were missing limbs, but moved without them. Swords swang from empty jaws and hooves while axes clashed on missing shields. The one Dash had taken the sword from swung its hoof around sending other ponies flying with an invisible force. Then as quickly is the battle had begun, it ended. With each pony returning to their original position.

"A memory monument! Powerful magic," Twilight said, once again in awe. "Even I couldn't pull off a small one."

"But what the heck was all that about?"

Twilight stood for a second. "The final battle of Nigma. The battle of the E.s.s Red Horn. He died fighting captain Blood Hoof, a bloodthirsty pirate." She caught Dash's look. "Oh, right! Nigma was a pirate, but he never slew those who surrendered or couldn't fight. He always made a small journey to a church at the north of Redvail and gave some of the treasure he stole. Nigma was kind hearted, which was his downfall. Blood Hoof had attacked three ships full of innocent ponies and Nigma tried to save them. He died in the end, but killed Blood Hoof and his followers. A very noble death if you ask me."

"Wow, so much history I never knew," Dash responded, embarrased at her lack of knowledge.

"It's interesting what people don't know. Let's move on and... You know what, I think it would be alright for you to keep that sword. You will be using it to stop the Lord of the Underworld."

They both agreed on this and left the room. After they had left, a soft sound could be heard followed by a voice. "I hope they have the strength to pass the final pond. I must remain hidden and silent and cannot assist them this time," it said. There was another soft sound followed by a shadow and then the room returned to it's age old state. Minus the sword, of course.
> Out Of The Cave
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-An Old Library- 

The young filly was trotting through the hall of the old library looking for one of her favourite books, “The Wonderbolts, Heroes of Equestria”. She squealed with glee every time she read the book, and hopefully this time she would be able to make it to the end without being terrified by the great monster. She jumped between bookshelves allowing her rainbow coloured mane to flop back and forth. 

She found it lying on the table where it always was. Her wings flapped in excitement, but she didn't know how to properly use them yet. She jumped onto the stool and opened the book. The first page had an expertly drawn portrait of the Wonderbolts. She rubbed her face on the page imagining she was one of them. She raised her head and turned the page. 

Instead of the usual picture was a picture of the monster. She screamed and jumped off the stool. The book floated into the air and the monster started moving. It reached out from the page and grabbed the edge of the book, pulling itself from it. It grew as it left filling every crack and space until it dominated the library. It turned its head down at the frightened filly and opened its mouth, revealing rows of jagged teeth against its flame red tongue. It reached for her and scooped her up, bringing her towards its mouth. With nothing else to do the filly screamed. 







-Nigma's Cove, Charmtail Side- 

Dash's mind faded back into reality as she got up. The board trap in the wall had knocked her senseless. She looked up at it. Painted on the board's surface was a grinning face. She pushed it aside with a huff and let Twilight help her up. This is going to be a long day, she thought to herself. 

"Sorry about that! It wasn't too dangerous so it didn't set off my trap detecting spell. I'll have to adjust the search parameters," Twilight said. She tried to help Dash, who was unwilling to let her after the last time she tried to assist her. Her teeth still chattered. 

"Yeah, you do that," Dash said, rubbing her aching face. 

Twilight and Dash made steady progress as they continued their journey through Nigma's cove. They both had to help each other escape danger from traps, which were increasing in number. 

Dash jumped and grabbed Twilight just before a bear trap slammed on her hoof. 

"Bear traps now? Ugh...” Twilight muttered. “And I thought that pitfall was going to be painful. That would just be messy." 

"Great! Now you have to add metal to your list of things to detect. I swear that was trap number twenty in this hall." Dash replied. 

"What would you prefer? Rows of dead ponies locked in battle?" 

"Yeah! That would be at least twenty percent cooler!" Dash looked at Twilight, who frowned at her. "Oh. You were joking."

Twilight sat down after carefully making sure there was a surprise copper spring trap like in the last room. Her thigh and head still ached from being hit by that and being sent into the roof, as Dash started floating around her practicing her swing with her new sword. 

"Is it really necessary to do that?" Twilight asked. The sight of the blade unnerved her slightly.

Dash seemed almost insulted. "Is it necessary?" She turned to Twilight. "Is gravity necessary? Is water necessary? For your information Miss Sparkle, IT IS! Whenever a skilled swordspony, such as me, gets a new sword, we have to become used to it.” 

“Which means plenty of practice swings?” Twilight asked.

“Of course! Otherwise in the heat of battle we might cut out own ears off, due to the unfamiliarity of the sword we're holding," Dash explained. She waggled hers to support her argument. 

"I suppose you’re right. It's the same for magicians as well. I mean, if I didn't practice every time when I learned a new spell it would be catastrophic. I might blow my own head off rather than send a fireball flying towards the enemy." Twilight stood up, shook her mane and patted the side of her head. Both actions caused a thick deluge of dirt to fall away from her hair. "This is the third time and there is still dust!" she finished with the shaking and started walking forward. "Come on we're getting closer to the exit, it shouldn't be far now." 

They continued through to the end of the passage. This room was filled with another array of skeletal ponies, but these ones were suspended by nooses. This was an execution room. 

Twilight closed her eyes and made up a list. "Great... Creepy room? Check. Two passages? Check. Rainbow Dash excited by the dead ponies?" she said, turning towards the ponies and catching Dash playing with them. "Definite check," she finished. She started walking towards Dash when a thought struck her mind. "HHUUHH..." She let out. 

Dash froze and fell to the ground. "What is it?!" She yelled. 

"We need to make you look different," Twilight said. "If you walk into a town looking like you always do we'll be in trouble, and you'll be locked in a jail, which means we'll have failed our quest, so to stop that from happening-" Dash had stuck her hoof in Twilight's mouth. 

"Take a breath, I already thought about that," Rainbow told Twilight. She walked over to the hanging pirates and finally selected one. She floated up and removed its bandana and wrapped it around her head, hiding most of her mane. She then folded up her wings and pulled them into her cloak. Her tail still stood out, but now she was less recognizable. 

"It works, but did you really have to use clothing from a dead pony?" Twilight asked, but got no response, save for a shrug. Dash looked walked to one of the new tunnels. 

"I can see structures this way. It must lead to Nigma's hideout. Let's take a look," Dash said. Twilight's response couldn't be further from agreement. 

"No," she stated.

"What? Just no? What about all the history and other booky stuff there that you could find," Dash remarked. 

"No, we promised the serpent." 

"Oh, yeah. Fine then," Dash sighed and huffed. They trotted up the other tunnel, surprised by the lack of traps present. After reaching the end they found the final pond. The pond's waters moved around and was even acting like a fountain due to the crystal that grew in the middle. "Alright, let's drink and get out," Dash said as she jumped towards the fountain. 

"Wait! Chip wrote that this fountain was the most dangerous. There is probably some hidden danger," Twilight warned. Dash nodded and soon both ponies slowly moved towards the center with Twilight's horn flaring from the spells she was using to detect danger. They made it to the pond and were about to drink the water, when a voice called out. 

"Ours. Forever. You." 

Both ponies turned around and were confronted by nothing. They looked around. Nothing was in this room. Twitching their heads this way and that, they came up empty. All that was there was stones, sand and shadows. "Okay... I'm hearing things," Dash finally said. Then her eye was drawn to a part of the room. Wait, she thought, I'm sure there wasn't that much sand in this room to begin with... and what is causing those shadows? After thinking a few second she grabbed her new sword. Twilight stared at her. Then, Rainbow Dash in a firm and authoritive voice, said: "Twilight... Don't die!" Then she charged. 

Instantly hands of mud shot out of the sand and the shadows whisked into shape, their covers blown. Dash swung her sword and jumped from spot to spot avoiding the monsters' attacks. Twilight whisked up spells in response and started firing of jets of flame and ice at any nearby monsters. The monsters seemed unfazed by the attacks and continued increasing in numbers. Suddenly dash was whipped into a whirlwind of darkness. At least a hundred shadow creatures had converged on her. Twilight screamed out to her friend as was thankful at the response. Dash leapt out causing many of the shadows to disappear, but there numbers were quickly rejuvenated. 

"Twilight, drink the waters like Chip said! It's the only way!" Dash screamed out as she eliminated another group of monsters. Her clothes were soaked in mud and her face was already cut. Twilight didn't need telling twice. She lowered her head and took a mouthful. She almost vomited as she spat it out. 

"Dash, the water's foul!" she shrieked. 

A laughing started out amongst the monsters. They seemed to be chanting the same thing over and over again, together in unison. "Ours. Forever. Ours. Forever."  They pushed the ponies back towards the pond, converging into a massive group of brown and black. 

"Not like this... Foul water our undoing!” Dash whined. She lowered her head submitting to the ultimate outcome, tears forming in her eyes.

"Un... doing..." Twilight said, almost in a trance. She caused her horn to flare up and at first nothing happened. Dash then noticed that the water by her feet was starting to ripple worse and worse. It drew back and exploded outward, magic glowing through it as Twilight lifted every drop of it and whisked it at the monsters. The creatures screamed as it hit them, dissolving in its clearness. The shadows shimmered and faded while the hands simply melted. The waters raced around the room, reaching every nook and cranny, until all that was left standing was a wet Twilight and Rainbow Dash. The waters calmly subsided back into the pool they had once been. 

Water dripped from them for a few moments before anything happened. "Would you care to explain to me what the hay just happened there?" a thoroughly soaked Rainbow Dash spluttered as she spat water.

"I simply did what Chip said. It wasn't us that were meant to drink this pond's water. It was them," Twilight said smugly beneath her own soaked mane. Suddenly an ear splintering cry ran through the room, causing Dash's and Twilight's bones to grind. 

"YOU! HURT! WE! HATE! LEAVE! GO!"

An opening appeared in the wall and they ran through it without a moments thought. They raced down the corridors that followed and leapt over the river and continuing on, ignoring the passing serpeant's: "I can't believe you did it!... Oh. How rude." They raced and raced, out of both fear and excitement. The passed a mine and nearly collided with several carts. They kept running until they saw daylight. 

"Twilight... It's beautiful!" Dash could hardly keep back as she ran into the light. 

"I know," Twilight replied allowing herself to be taken in by what they both had taken for granted. 







-Charmtail Field- 

Twilight and Dash were busying themselves with one task they hadn't since they started on the journey- eating. They had run through a small wood and found some apple trees. They had collected enough to fill their bags and were currently lying in the middle of a field munching on them. "Man that hits the spot." Dash burped after finishing her tenth apple. 

"I couldn't agree more." Twilight agreed placing her sixteenth core in the pile. Dash stood up and stretched. She yearned to fly and move, but refrained from giving in as she knew it would cost her dearly. In the distance, she spotted a small collection of buildings, smoke rising from some of the chimneys.

"Hey Twi, what say we head over to that village over there?" Dash asked, pointing a hoof. 

"Why not? That is the reason we went through that cave in the first place," Twilight responded and marched with her friend. The journey wasn't as eventful as their cave adventure, but at least they got to see a few bunnies on the way. Dash had enjoyed chasing after them until she was chased by an angry bunnicorn. She did manage to scare it off with a wave of her sword, but had received a painful left cheek for chasing its friends. 







-Saddleton- 

The pair finally entered the town as a display started up. It was a celebration of some kind. The guards let the in without a question or a suspicious glance. "Cool! Fireworks! Confetti! This is off the hoof! I wonder what's going down?" Dash exclaimed as they entered the main square. 

"Don't attract attention. I'll go find some stores and see what I can get for our journey. Do you happen to have any gold bits?" Twilight asked, regarding her rather pathetic horde, which consisted of a few gold bits and some lint. Rainbow barely turned around when she handed Twilight a moderate size bagged filled with bits. 

"Where!? How!? Why so much!?" Twilight asked, her mouth agape. She had never seen such a stash in her lifetime.

She was met with laughter. "Monsters always carry some gold on them. They pick it up from the ground or get it from strangers they scare into dropping their stuff. You'd be amazed how many treasure hordes are looted from monsters," Dash replied. 

Twilight couldn't have realized how much she didn't know about monsters and how much Dash knew. Then she recalled back to the incident involving the slime. She remembered its smiling face suddenly turning sour as it smashed into her muzzle. She left with a quick goodbye and went to get provisions and some treats she thought she deserved. 

Meanwhile, Dash was busy enjoying the show and watching all the jesters and clown perform, followed by a display of feeble party magic from a stammering and stumbling unicorn. Everyone laughed at her, but she continued to perform. Dash almost felt sorry for her when she saw what the festival was all about. Sitting in the center of a raised platform on a gold encrusted cushion was Prince Blueblood, the Prince of Charmtail. Dash watched as the prince stood up from the cushion and order some guards follow him as he walked through the festivities and headed off towards the tables laden with food. Forget him, Dash. Just find Twilight. She walked on trying to stay out of his line of sight, but during her attempt at sneaking around she accidentally bumped into the performing unicorn by accident. 

"Ohhh!" the unicorn cried as she fell, accidentally sending confetti flying into a group of ponies. 

"I'm sorry," Dash apologized, "I didn't look where I was going." 

The unicorn got up and shot her a look which was trying to be intimidating but failed with the costume. "Do you know who I am?!" she huffed, but quickly subsided. "Of course not, because I'm... I’m just a nobody. A pathetic loser. A shame to my name and a shame to all unicorns!" She burst into tears and ran off into the crowd and out of sight. Dash just stared as the unicorn ran. 

"And I thought I was harsh," said a familiar, silky voice. Dash froze on the spot. The entire time she'd been trying to avoid this voice was for naught. She slowly turned around and was granted the visage of Prince Blueblood. 

“Oh, I... erm... I actually didn't mean..." she said as she tried to break away. 

"No, no! No apology necessary. She is a sad little creature anyway. Now you, my lady... Let's consider this. Bandana, cloak, tunic, and a sword. You must be an adventurer. And for such a good looking mare like yourself." Dash felt nauseated at the compliment, knowing what was coming next. "I can hardly believe we haven't met." Dash almost fainted with relief. He didn't recognize her. 

"Wait a minute. I know I've seen that tunic before," he said questioningly. Dash froze again. "Where was it? Aha! I remember now. You must be one of my dear neighbouring nation's soldiers. The tunic is a dead give away. It has Princess Rarity's seal on it." Dash's body melted again. 

He started walking off when he suddenly froze. "Guards. Tell me. Her tail... It wasn't rainbow coloured, was it?" he said very slowly. 

"Yes it is my lord," one responded. 

The prince turned around and smiled deeply. "Such a clever disguise, I was almost fooled, but the tail gave you away. Didn't it, Captain Rainbow Dash?" he finished in an almost menacing voice. "Guards. If you would kindly give Miss Rainbow Dash an escort to the palace, I would be most appreciative." 







Twilight returned to the square and began searching for Rainbow Dash. The supplies she was carrying fitted neatly into her bags, but she knew that she had to give Dash some otherwise she would be the pack mule for the journey. She searched around looking for the tell tale tunic, but didn't find hind nor hair of her. She began asking people if they had seen her. 

She trotted around asking many people before someone approached her. "Listen, listen to what I have to say. Dear Twilight, Unicorn of the May," the thing told her. 

Twilight could hardly move, even speaking seemed impossible. All she could manage was: "Wah?"

"Six heroes rise to return from hell. With many princesses, lost to spells. Each hero lies in wait. All you have to do is use the right bait. The first to be recruited lies in tears. Talent wasted, her powers lost to the years. The second is harder, a heart made of stone. Bring back his passion, and stop his dreadful moan. The third you met a week ago, or was it tomorrow? Whichever the case, you must return what you borrow. The final is lost in a daze, the second who has little fear. To find her you must breach through the tear. Remember the words I told you dear Twilight. Forget them and the world will lose its Sparkle." With its final sentence, the old creature walked off leaving Twilight dumbfounded. Remembering what she was told, she wrote it all down on a scroll and placed it in her bag. She walked on trying to decipher the words she had heard, when she bumped into somepony. 

"Pardon me, please. I'm looking for my friend," Twilight explained. 

"Did this one have a Rainbow tail?" he asked. 

"Yes," Twilight couldn't hold back the relief. 

"Then you might want to head to the palace. The last I saw of her, she was taken away by guards. The prince was with them too." Twilight's jaw dropped. "The prince was here! And he has Rainbow! Unbelievable! How! Why! When!" Thoughts raced through her head, but she came to one conclusion. 

"I must save my friend!"
> One Of Many
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Charmtail Road- 

Twilight had hitched a ride with a group of traveling performers. They laughed and joked during the journey, but she had refused any amount of their games to enter her mind. She was far off, thinking about Rainbow. She had left her in the middle of the celebration to purchase supplies. She had spent most of the time gathering them, but had taken extra time to buy some things for herself. If I hadn't have been so greedy. she thought. She allowed herself to drift off further. 

She brought into her mind a picture of Rainbow in her tunic. The Dash in her mind was walking over a field leading a troupe of soldiers. Each soldier bore a suit of armor and a variety of weapons, but she paid them little attention. Her fixation was captain Dash. She stopped and stood to attention. Then, with a wave of her hoof, she dismissed the soldiers. She stood for a while before looking Twilight's way and smiling. 

Twilight couldn't help but blush as she sat on the field. Dash approached her and bent down. She nuzzled up to Twilight and laid her head on Twilight's mane. Twilight only had one wish in the world. She had long ago dreamed of being with a mare as strong and brave as Dash, but the only mares she knew had all been bashful and fragile. She had fallen in love with the captain that was laying her head on her from the moment she crashed into her. 

She remembered the day she found out her attraction to other mares. It had been with her friend Violet. Her and Violet had often practiced magic and played in the backyard of Twilight's home. They had both been building a sand castle when Violet took the role of a knight and made Twilight the princess. They had pretended Twilight was captured by a great vicious dragon. Violet pretended to slay the dragon and then rescued Twilight. Twilight had in the heat of the moment kissed Violet as a way of thanks for being rescued. Violet was shocked, but assumed it was part of the game. Twilight never got over that fact. 

Dash had raised her head and turned to look at Twilight. Twilight stared back into the deep dark pink eyes. She felt herself quiver as she slowly inched forward. She could almost smell Dash's breathe. Suddenly a pole smacked Twilight on her flank, causing her to snap from her dream and jump. 

She turned around to see one of the jester's holding the stick. He laughed as he jumped and landed next to her. "Tis odd, you," he jested. "You lack the tools of a traveling player, yet you have with you clothes meant for a great many travels. What be your business?" 

"I'm going to see the prince about a friend then get one with my journey," Twilight responded in a semi-sharp tone. She was still bitter about being woken from her daydream. 

"Oh... Tis a pity," he said as he walked round her and looked at her face. "Going to talk to the prince about a friend you need. No, a friend you love." He couldn't have hit the nail any further on the head. 

"Mind your own business," Twilight said as she pushed him away. 

"Tis also I traveling to the castle to talk to a friend. Her name be Trimina. She be the prince's personal court magician," he said, as his voice dropped from humor to something a little less merry. "She incurred his wrath many years ago and was locked in a cell. She performs for her freedom, but time has robbed her of her skill." 

"A traveling magician angered a prince? What did she do, make a joke that wasn't funny?" Twilight asked with a grin.

"She did stage shows, that is a fact, but Trimina is not just a performer. She was once a great magician. She could invoke storms and cure many ailments. She even traveled to Airmane and greeted the pegasi there." Twilight turned her head to the jester's words and looked at him with a stare sharp enough to pierce steel.

"Nopony's been to Airmane for over several hundred years." Twilight responded in disbelief. 

"But she did. Ohh... How I fear for her powers and for her skill. From what I hear, all she does is lay in tears." He told Twilight sparking a thought. 

He just said she lies in tears and that here powers have weakened over the years! She must be the first hero me and Dash have to recruit! We would have missed her if Dash didn't get caught. Maybe it's destiny drawing us. The thoughts just stormed through her head. She jumped and hugged the jester. "Oh... Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she cried, almost in a state of euphoria.

"Miss, mary, please release mine neck. Thine can hardly breathe," the Jester pleaded. Twilight let go, embarrassed. "To be hugged with such force. Be you interested in what I said?" he asked raising a brow to the now blushing unicorn.

"More than you could know," Twilight replied. She pulled out a journal and quickly wrote down the events that had transpired over the day, as the jester got up a walked into the front, still smiling as he had grabbed Twilight's rump during the talk without her noticing. 







-Castle Charmton- 

Twilight was amazed. She had never seen a castle this close up before. All she had known was her family's manor, but even that could not compare to this. She and the cart of performers were ushered through the gate by the guards. She joined them as they went inside. The inside was a stunning as the outside. Golden chandeliers decorated with rubies and sapphires hung from the ceiling. Thick tapestries, rich with colour, hung from almost every wall. Prince Blueblood sure did enjoy the riches he controlled. She thought to herself. 

She slipped past some guards having a quick drink of some cider and traveled down one of the passages leading towards, she wished, the dungeons. The halls got gloomy and lost all the rich color. She continued further and found several rows of jail cells. Inspecting each one, she failed to find Dash. She's not here, she thought and turned around. She bashed into something. After taking a few steps back, she saw the biggest pony she had ever seen. She could barely squeak before a group of guards descended upon her.

Try as she might, it was all she could do to slow them. They simply were too much. After a few scrapes she had been grabbed by both her front hooves and had two spears pointed at the soft of her neck. She shivered as the metal poked her when they began to drag her. They dragged her through the halls, back the way she came and into the main hall. The doors burst open with a bang and the guard in front stepped forward.

"My lord. A trespasser we found in the dungeon," the lead guard called out. 

Twilight saw the Prince. He was handsome, she had to admit, but he didn't tickle her fancy. He walked forward with a very angry look on his face. "Well, I for one can hardly believe that a mare as vibrant as you would ever dare set foot in that dank place. Why?" the Prince asked.

Twilight wasn't able to answer before a familiar voice chimed out. "Twi?" it asked. Out from a group of people strode Dash, still intact and chain free. 

The Prince looked from Dash to Twilight. "You two know each other," the Prince asked. 

"Yeah, it's a long story, but currently we're traveling together," Dash told him as she rubbed a hoof through her mane. 

The shock of the situation finally abated enough for Twilight to talk. "Hold on a second. The prince didn't throw you in jail?" Twilight asked, her face a mixture of puzzlement. Both the Prince and Rainbow Dash looked at each other before breaking into fits of laughter. 

"Ahh... She must have told you about when she committed that act that sent her fearing for her life. It's true that I was angry for a while, but I see that I deserved it. It was rude of me to have done what I did," the Prince explained, sheepishly. He pulled on the collar of his suit to ease his embarrassment.

"Yeah, I also apologized for hoofing him in the face," Dash added. She turned her head towards the Prince. "He's allowing me to roam free without fear of arrest. Now uh... prince. Could you see fit to have your guards let go of my friend?" The Prince nodded and Twilight was released. 

"So much for a heroic rescue," Twilight thought to herself, "looks like it's Dash saving me again." She sighed as she lifted herself up from the ground. Dash nodded for her to follow and Twilight followed Dash into the crowd. Just then performers filtered into the hall. Along with a unicorn dressed in a wizard style robe. Twilight realized this was the unicorn she was looking for. "Dash!" she exclaimed. "She's the third hero!" 

Dash gave her a funny look. "Her? She's a crybaby. I bumped into her by accident and before I could apologize she ran away in tears. I mean look at her. She looks like she couldn't usher anything more than sparkling dust," Dash huffed.

"I know, but she's the third hero. She matches the words said to me by that strange woman."

"Strange woman?" Dash eyed Twilight suspiciously.

"Yes. She looked similar to a pony, but I could tell she wasn't. She told me a list of things. Each relating to one of the four heroes we have yet to meet," she said as she produced the papers to show them to Rainbow.

After reading the words, Rainbow Dash cocked an eye."How the hoof did she know who you are?" Dash asked. "And how did she know about the princess and the other heroes?" Dash asked while her eyes flicked back and forth from the paper to Twilight.

"You got me on that one," Twilight replied. "I have no idea" she finished ending with them staring at each other. Dash stared hard at Twilight, then pulled a face Twilight had seen before, then she shook her head. "Dash, is there something you need to tell me?" Twilight heart was beggining to flutter. Maybe Dash was attracted to her. She quickly thought. Maybe she likes me too.

"Could you follow me for a quick sec?" Dash asked, but Twilight was already bounding behind her. They both left the room and entered the courtyard. It was lively and filled with flowers. A perfectly romantic spot. Twilight could almost scream. "Okay... I've needed to do this for a while." Dash began. Twilight braced herself for the words. Then suddenly Dash turned around and heavily pushed Twilight through the hedge. Twilight landed with a thunk. What was Rainbow doing! She thought to herself.

"I've had enough!" Dash thundered. "I can't stand prissy girls like you. Ever since I saw you I wanted to take you away and beat some sense into you. Heck, I got jealous when the owl landed on you and dug his claws in making you wince. I know, I saw." Twilight was almost crying. "You and every other mare I've told this too. What is with you? Too afraid to be strong? Too scared to be brave?" She thumped the ground as she walked.

"Dash... I-I-I..." Tears were forming in Twilight's eyes. "You don't like me."

"I've grown used to you. I apologize if I'm being to rough, but it's the only way to get through to girls like you. The clothes that you're wearing. I mean, when I saw them I had a quick flash of myself wearing them and felt utterly ridiculous." Twilight's heart was slowly breaking in half.

"Dash..." Twilight's head drooped.

"I know it's hard for you to hear, but that's my opinion." She walked forward. "I felt like if I didn't say that I would explode and do something stupid. You're my friend. Go on, give me a sock for being rude." She held out her face and closed her eyes. What happened next suprised them both. Twilight couldn't control herself. In a spur of emotion she grabbed Dash's head and kissed her on the mouth.

"Bleeehhhhh......." Dash took a few steps back. "Twilight..... WHAT THE HOOF!" She could hardly look at her.

"Now you know how I feel."Twilight said.

Dash looked at her and blushed. Oh... crap... She's like that.  Great, now I've upset her and I find out she swings that way. What a way to finish a day, she yelled at herself in her head for being so rude.

"Hello. It's a good evening despite the magician setting the carpet on fire," said the prince as he walked out and joined them.

Twilight looked at him as he came round the corner. He hadn't seen or heard anything. She could tell by his airheadedness. "Prince. About your magician. I was wondering if you could allow her to travel with us," Twilight asked in a calm tone, masking her pain.

"You want her?" The prince's face went priceless for a moment. "Well, you two could use the entertainment," there was a smash inside followed by crying, "and I could use a reprieve. Go on, inform her she's to go with you. She's totally helpless, so you'll have to look after her. It's what I've been doing for this past year," the prince said before turning to the garden. "Very lovely night."

Twilight's mood made a 180 degree shift. She grabbed Dash by the wing and half dragged her into the castle. They found the magician laying a circle of crystals crying. She had caused a chandalier to fall.

"Hey... ummmmmm...Trimina..." She tried.

The blue unicorn jolted at the sound of her name. "Who are you?" she asked, tears still falling to the carpet as she continued to sob.

"We're your new friends." Twilight told her, with Rainbow half trying to pull away from Twilight's steel grip. Twilight held on fast as the pegasus dug her hooves into the ground, trying to pull free.

"Friends? What is going on?" she asked, confused. Her eyes drying for a second before seeing the mess of crystal and glass again.

"Come with us and we'll explain," Twilight said as she held out a hoof.

"But the prince," the unicorn sobbed and returned to crying.

"The prince said it was okay," Twilight almost screamed, but the unicorn wasn't listening. with a sigh, Twilight grabbed the unicorn by her horn, and dragged both Dash and her out of the hall. Many of the guests watched and then resumed their conversations.







-Charmtail Road-

"I don't see why we had to leave there so fast, Twilight," Dash told her, rubbing her sore wing, "with all that food." She looked at the unicorn they had brought with them. She was bouncing with glee.

"I never want to go back there!" she screamed, "Outside is much more fun and beautiful." She stopped hoping and walked over to Twilight. "How can I ever thank you enough?" she asked, showing as much joy in her speech as in her bounce.

"You can thank us by helping us rescue princess Rarity of Bravehoof," Twilight told her. Rainbow smacked her hoof against her face at her partner's straightforwardness.

"I CAN WHAT!" The blue unicorn yelled in response, almost fainting in shock.

"Read this," Twilight said, pulling a copy of the prophecy and the pages of words that the wise woman had said. The unicorn read these while she walked around, using magic to levitate them.

"Well I never. The lord of the underworld? Six heroes." She stopped for a second. "A hero, not just a powerful magician. Can Trimina be that again."

"Did her voice just change?" Dash asked to nopony in particular, having noticed the change in tone and pronunciation. "I swear she just switched her speech style."

"Can Trimina be the Great and Powerful Trixie again..." She thought for a second. "YES!" She screamed with a long and loud bellow, causing Twilight and Dash to cover the ears. They both watched as the unicorn's appearance changed, but yet didn't. She seemed stronger than before. Her cape and her hat she pushed into a position that to her seemed perfect. "I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, shall aid you on your quest." She turned and opened her eyes. "Please tell me your names, new friends."

"I'm Twilight Sparkle and this is Rainbow Dash," Twilight explained before Rainbow could open her mouth.

"Please familiarize yourselves with me," Trixie said with a wave.

"Dash was a captain in princess Rarity's army, and I'm a training magician," Twilight responded. Somewhere inside Twilight a certain thought started ticking and went on it's way, causing a smile to tick into the corner of her mouth.

"Great to meet you Twilight Sparkle. I shall teach you some of my magic on our journey," Trixie responded. A wave of her cape followed and she took a bow.

"That would be great," Twilight said with enthusiasm and Rainbow made a gagging expression, but stopped when Twilight looked. They both walked for a bit chatting about magic before Twilight was pulled to the side by Rainbow Dash. Dash's face was a mix of emotion, but Twilight wasn't interested. "Dash please, if this is about earlier, I apologize for kissing you. Now I know you hate 'prissy' girls, but you're going to have to live with me on this journey. I don't care what you have to say, but please, don't try to make me feel any worse than you did back there," Twilight told her giving her the worst look Dash had ever seen.

"Is something bothering the prestigious Twilight?" Trixie asked, turning to her new companions.

"No everything's fine," Twilight told her and resumed walking.

"Twilight I..." Dash said to empty air. Inside her head to voices were fighting. They clashed around smashing this each other from one end to the other. "Did you hear what she said to you? You should go and give her a smack for that. 'You're' the leader of the expedition." 

"We deserved it. We insulted her and hurt her feelings. Can't you understand others' feelings?"

"She was beyond rude and she dresses funny."

"I think she was right."

"Ohhh... Boo!"

A third voice almost invisible said.

"Why doesn't she want to listen? We should tell her..." It railed off and was sent deep into Rainbow's mind. Rainbow could hardly get up and follow after them. Her head hung low and her wings dragged on the ground as she plodded forward sadly to the group.

They stopped for the night with Dash hardly saying a word all evening. She just mooped and hung her head low. She didn't eat any of the soup that Twilight had prepared and was cleaning her sword for the 237th time. She looked at it's blade and at the words. She stabbed it into the ground and hung the bandana she took from the pirate on it and walked off into the night, leaving Trixie and Twilight chatting. She walked to a tree and fell to the ground in front of it. "Why do I have to be so different from every other mare?" She asked herself. She then began to remember her childhood.







-??????-


The young filly was running through the house, wings spread wide open. She ran into her adopted sister's room and jumped on her bed. There was a doll laying there. She looked around at all the dolls and stuffed animals her sister kept there. She walked over to one and prodded it. She smiled. She was suddenly hit over the head with a pillow. 

"Leave. Go. I don't want you in here." She turned and saw her sister who was as old as she was. "But I wanted to pway with a doww and you have so many." She said. "Go play with a stick or a rock or something else. These are mine!" Her sister told her.

She ran out of the room. "I don't want your stinking dowws," she called back. She ran into the kitchen and smacked into the cuboard, causing a pot to fall out.She looked at it for a second and then with a spark of inspiration, she put it on her head. She ran through the kitchen picking up utensils and other things and ran back to her sister's room. "Wook, I'm a knight!" she called out.

"You look stupid." Her sister called out.

The filly raised her spoon. "I'm at weast twenty perkent coower than those dolls." She swung the spoon around. "I'm a brave knight and your the smewwy princess," she said with a rasp.

Her sister yelled out at the top of her voice, "MOM!"






Dash smiled at the memory and dozed off to sleep. She felt a bit better now that she remembered why she hated prissy girls. They reminded her of her sister. Her stupid, dim witted, self absorbed sister. She didn't feel all well inside and a painful dream filled her sleep. She woke up to the night still wide and open, and the two unicorns asleep. With a huff she made a decision, and took off into the night.
> Lost Pride
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-???-

She was in a library, like her own back home. She wandered through the shelves when she saw a shadowed pony crying. She went over to try and comfort the poor thing the foal turned to nothing, but the crying remained. Slightly startled, she tried to search for the source and found nothing but a book. Something deep inside her told her that this was important. She began reading and halfway through the book noticed a missing page. Examining the ripped piece of paper attached to the spine she noticed a wet mark. Stepped back from the book in shock, she noticed that the room started to disappear and suddenly she felt herself being dragged into a vortex. Losing herself to the event horizon, she landed on a floor as hard as stone. She looked around with a grimace as she saw four dead ponies laying around her, recognizing Trixie among them. Something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She looked up to the source and saw a strange creature.

"You have lost your way young one," the creature said, moving closer. "Five is not enough, but six almost cannot happen." It opened its hand and sitting inside was the shadow covered foal. "A bridge cannot stand without all the pieces and this piece is almost lost to you," it said as it closed its hand.

"What do you mean? Who is that? What are you?" she asked the monstrous creature. It moved around, considering answering, but shook its head.

"There is still hope. Recover the piece before the moon is gone or your quest will come to no good end," it said with a quick gesture. It stopped itself when it remembered something. "Beware the liar. It will send you from your course and slow you down, maybe even kill you." It threw up its cloak and whisked itself away into the blackness.

Suddenly a great shadow rose up and stared down at Twilight. She knew what she was looking at and she could only shake in fear. There in front of her was the dark lord of the underworld. It raised its hand and threw down another corpse. This one Twilight could identify as well. It was Rainbow Dash. The dark lord started laughing as it begun to speak. "You crippled her spirit and sent her tumbling into chaos. She will be gone before long. Sweet dreams little creature," it taunted at her before rushing forward. Twilight screamed as it bore down upon her.







-Charmtail Road-

Twilight awoke with a gasp, shaking from top to tail. A gut instinct told that the nightmare she just had been real to a degree. Her horn was ached, a very bad omen among unicorns. She got out of her sleeping bag and stretched, not wanting to be caught off guard and stiff. She turned her head looking at Trixie and saw her sleeping soundly. No sense in disturbing her, she thought, I'll check on Dash.

She briskly walked over to where Dash's bag was and gasped when she found it empty. looking around she noticed Dash's sword was stabbed into the ground and that occupying its handle was her satchel, her bandanna and her cloak. Twilight took a few cautious steps forward and stepped on something. Gulping, she slowly turned her head down to see what she had stepped on. It was Dash's tunic. She held her breath as a sense of dread enveloped her. Dash is gone! There is no way she would leave this stuff behind! Twilight screamed in her head, What do I do? What do I do? She turned her head furiously when a voice caught her ears.

"I finally found you guys last night," came a voice belonging to fluttery wings, "I just got here when the pegasus, what's her name, was leaving," he said, landing softly on the ground with a hoot, "I tried to talk to her, but it was as if she was in a trance." He shook his feathers and raised a wing. "I saw her flying in that direction. One question I have though. Why was she wearing only undergarments?"

Twilight said nothing, but gave a short huff. That was what the dream was about, Twilight grumbled in her mind. Her face gravely fell as she remembered the nightmare and the soreness of her horn. Dash's emotions must have been pretty powerful to cause such a reaction to my horn. I need to find her.

"Trixie is wondering what you are doing."

Twilight turned around to see Trixie still in her sleeping gear looking at her. "Dash is gone," Twilight told her.

"Gone? Well it's to be expected with pegasi. They are cowards." Trixie said as she raised her head "Good riddance. I don't even know why you bothered to bring her on this quest. You had to choose one of the worst species of pony."

"What!" Twilight said, staring in disbelief. How can Trixie be so rude? Whatever affection for the unicorn that fluttered around inside Twilight's heart instantly vanished as anger took hold. Nearby birds took off as the echoing smack issued forth from the contact Twilight's hoof made to Trixie's face. "She's not a coward! She's one of the bravest ponies I've ever met."

"A pegasus brave? No pegasus raised in Airmane could possibly be brave," Trixie returned. She raised her hoof to her face and touched the rapidly swelling bruise.

"She wasn't! She was abandoned as a child into the mountains of Bravehoof!" Twilight yelled, bonking Trixie on the head to emphasize her point. "I don't know much, but a family of earth ponies took her in and raised her."

"That explains the bravery." Trixie responded, once again returning to the now red spot where Twilight had hit her.

"May I interrupt this display of rather funny antics. What about the rainbow maned one?" Owlowiscious asked with a quick hoot.

Twilight took out a map and used magic to figure out where exactly they were. "Okay. We're here. You said Dash went off in that direction, correct?" The owl nodded with a hoot. "That means the next town in that direction is a good place to start," she said, drawing on the map with some magic to create a line from their position, "it leads to... Port Makaraba."

"Port Makaraba?" Trixie repeated. "Isn't that in Bravehoof?"

"Yes, but it's in eastern Bravehoof," she said, showing Trixie the map. "There is eastern and western Bravehoof, but it's divided by mountains. Here's Charmtail which we are in. The three areas form a horseshoe like shape," Twilight explained. "Travel between east and west Bravehoof usually causes people to either take the Roborn path or travel through Charmtail."

"Simple, but Trixie just teleported to places when Trixie used to move about," Trixie told her, brushing her mane in an egocentric manner.

"Then teleport us to that port," Twilight told her, quickly becoming annoyed by the unicorns shift towards snobbery.

"Trixie can't"

"Why not? Surely you can manage a teleportation spell as the 'Great and Powerful' Trixie!" Twilight yelled at the blue unicorn, stepping forward and pushing Trixie into a submissive stance.

"T-t-trixie l-lost her powers," she said as she began to realize the predicament she was in.

"Uhhh!" Twilight growled, "You really are useless, you know that. Wait... how did you lose your powers?" she asked, becoming slightly concerned.

"Trixie cast a seal spell to prevent anypony from stealing her powers," Trixie replied, now almost quivering before Twilight's piercing gaze.

"A seal spell!" Twilight exclaimed. "But that means you..." she trailed off. Why would Trixie fear a pony stealing her powers? Twilight thought as she stared at the pony She could teleport, so why did she fear someone enough to lock them away.

"Trixie can still be of help. Trixie has a few spells she can cast." She moved to Twilight's side. "Watch," she said, flaring her horn and causing a puff of smoke. "Wait... AHHA!" The smoke blew into a giant cloud almost knocking Twilight over.. "There, perfect escape cover."

"That's-huff-nice," Twilight coughed, spitting the putrid stuff out as the air cleared around Twilight, leaving only a large sphere of smoke where Trixie was standing. "But what about something useful in a fight?" she asked, wiping some soot from her face.

"Trixie doesn't know. Hold on," Trixie called out. There was motioning from inside the cloud, then, with a golden flash illuminating the black dust, a fireball flew over Twilight's head, singing quite a few hairs. Twilight stood stock still as the cloud faded. Her jaw dropped as she saw Trixie emerge breathing heavily and looking exhausted. "How...huh... was... hah... that?" Trixie asked, wheezing from exertion.

"Trixie...I um... I think you need practice," Twilight told the unicorn. She plucked the ruined hairs from her mane as the blue Unicorn recovered. She fumed when she realized that most of the front was ruined.

Trixie, hearing her curses had a spark of inspiration. "Oh... wait, Trixie knows a spell that is easy for Trixie to do," she said, flaring her horn again. She pointed the long shaft at Twilight mane, causing Twilight's hairs to sprout from her head and burnt ones to regain their glory. "Trixie never sealed away her healing magic. Nopony interested in power wants to heal others," she stated firmly, walking over to where she had been sleeping and beginning to pack things up.

Twilight felt a mix of anger and pity for Trixie, who was obviously somewhat wrecked in the head, but she did nothing but give a sigh. Turning her head back to the abandoned gear, she began to worry about Rainbow. She trotted over and packed her things, putting on her day wear as well. After her stuff was packed and placed in a saddle bag she walked over and started to gather Rainbow's stuff, loading it into another bag and carefully stowing it.

"So, where is our destination?" Trixie asked, already packed and ready to travel.

"Isn't it obvious? We're heading to Makaraba," Twilight told her. Trixie grinned at the news

"Ahhh... To hire a ship and set out for adventure!" Trixie practically threw the words. Twilight resisted the temptation to backhoof her.

"Possibly, but after we find Dash," Twilight informed her in a stern voice. Trixie brushed off the words and once again entered her own little world.

"Uuhhh.... Fine." Trixie replied, her voice layered with lack of interest. She started to hum and sing, and Twilight grew furious with her. Twilight raised her hoof, ready to strike, but decided against it as it just wasn't worth it. She turned to the road and started walking. They walked for three days. During the first two Trixie told Twilight of her adventures and many of her stories. She joked and teased about pegasi and Dash and one time was ultimatly rewarded with a smack round the head.

During the third day of their solitary journey to Makaraba. Twilight explained to Trixie the cave adventure her and Dash went through, trying to get Trixie to find some familiarity with Dash and maybe even some appreciation for the pegasus. "But wasn't it you at each of the ponds that was the first to get the water?" Trixie told Twilight, trying to pick at a hole in her story.

"What does that have to do with anything? Dash saved my rear plenty of times in that cave," Twilight said through grinding teeth, but her words fell on deaf ears. Trixie had stopped listening and was approaching the city gates, which had come into view a few minutes ago. Twilight followed, a small cloud of anger formed above he head and showered evil thoughts into her head.


-------


-Port Makaraba-

They entered with Trixie remarking how much the city had changed since she had visited it. She dashed up and down streets trying to find familiar things and always becoming amazed by the new things. "Trixie used to have the most wonderful friend here. We would laugh and be amazed as Trixie told her my stories and showed off my skills," the blue unicorn said with a squeal. Trixie tried to make Twilight smile. "Trixie thinks it's high time Trixie paid her a visit, but after we find a ship willing to set off in a few days."

"TRIXIE!" Twilight screamed at her. "I'm not leaving Dash here. The moon will be completely eclipsed by tomorrow night. We need to hurry and find Dash," she explained, anger seething her voice.

"Honestly, why do you want to find her?" Trixie asked. "She abandoned us," she stated, matter-of-factually.

Twilight couldn't have been more furious if she had tried. Anger filled her body, her mind was fury, her heart was liquid fire. "We both said things we regret, but for some reason what I said to Dash really hurt her," explained slowly and carefully. Rubbing her mane, she tried to calm herself down and ease into a more natural calm "I need to apologize. I hurt her bad. We need her," she stated, looking at Trixie, "and the prophecy said six heroes will rescue the princess, not five." She stood up and shook her body. "We're finding her, or I'm leaving to find her. Only two choices Trixie."

"Really? You would ditch your new teacher for some crummy friend that insulted and deserted you," she stated lifting a hoof and inspecting it, her face showing only concern that Twilight was threatening to leave. This set off a fuse that exploded the rage built up inside Twilight.

"TEACHER!" she yelled. "CRUMMY FRIEND!" Twilight jumped, her mane almost ablaze by her anger. "I am not your student! You're here on this journey to save the world, not for some massive ego boost you seem to be giving yourself! I would never be a student to someone who acts the way you do!" she screamed into the unicorn's face. "Not in a million years would I be a student to a stuck up, egotistical, self centered, self worshiping... BITCH!" she finished with a full head on scream, causing animals nearby to flee in terror.

"And about the crummy friend. She's not one. If anyone's a crummy friend it's you," Twilight said, jabbing a hoof into Trixie's chest. "She was uncertain if you should have been a part of the team, and I see now she was right. You went from a soppy crybaby to a snobby narcissist. Rainbow Dash may anger me sometimes, but she also makes me smile and laugh." Twilight stopped talking for a second to let it sink in, and she could tell it was sinking deeply in by the look of horror and pain on Trixie's face. "Friends argue, it's what we do, but we forgive each other after. She did, but I didn't and now I feel guilty. She was pointing out a problem she had with me in the way I acted. It was something she had always hated, so I can't hold it against her. What I did was yell at her for no good reason. The one who has been a crummy friend out of the two of us has been me," Twilight finished, her face flushed with anger and sadness, tears burned her eyes as they rolled onto her cheeks.

Trixie was lying on the ground in front of Twilight as the words finished being processed by her mind. She let her face sag a bit and grabbed her hat as she began to realize the gravity of the situation. "Tr.... I mean, I'm sorry. T... I guess I let this go to my head. I don't deserve this chance. I should still be sitting in that jail cell I used to be in," Trixie said as she got up slowly, her own face beginning to fall back to sadness. "It's just that for years I was mocked and I felt useless. When I was given a chance to shine again I guess I let my old ego rise up, but much bigger than before," she said bending her head down. "Can you forgive Tr... I mean… me?"

Twilight smiled as she realized it had finally gotten through. "Of course I can forgive you. You’re my friend," Twilight said, tilting Trixie's head up. "Now let's go find Dash."

They began to walk when Trixie had a thought.  She quickly got Twilight's attention with a quick tap. "Wait, we should visit my friend. She should know most of what goes on in this city. She could help us locate Dash," Trixie explained with certainty.

Twilight was puzzled, so she pursued the thought. "How can one person know so much about what happens in a city?" Twilight asked.

"Isn't it obvious? Who would a powerful ego charged pony make friends with in a city like this?" Trixie asked Twilight. Twilight stopped to think about it. She wandered back and forth pondering the choices, but kept running up dry trying to make matches. She added more candidatial positions to the mix, but there were none like them to be found in the port. She ran through powerful and famous magicians who came from the area, but Port Makaraba was barren of any them.

"Alright, I give up. Who's your friend?" Twilight asked with curiosity.

"Who's the daughter of the man who owns most of this port?" Trixie cooly replied. With a brush of her mane she made a bit of showing off of this fact.

Twilight smacked her hoof over her face. It was obvious, wasn't it. Trixie had befriended the daughter of Lord Fullbuster. The Fullbuster family extended back generations and were remarkable business experts. It was obvious for Trixie to be friends with the one who would inherit the title, as Lord White Water Fullbuster only had two daughters. One of which she had only heard about as being adopted and a very uncouth. So the obvious candidate was...

"Lady Fullbuster is her current title. Her mother passed a several years ago and gave it to her," Trixie said, confirming Twilight's guess. She perked up her mane, adjusting it so that she looked fit for royalty.

"Then let's go see her," Twilight said, "I'm sure she'd be overjoyed to see you," she quipped with a smile, "best friends usually are."

"I'm sure she would too, it's been a long time since she saw the Great and Powerful Trixie," Trixie boasted, but failed to notice a flying hoof.

"Enough of the title calling!" Twilight yelled as she gave Trixie a beating.


-------


-Fullbuster Mansion-

Trixie and Twilight walked easily into the mansion. The guards knew the name Trixie and told Lady Fullbuster that she had arrived and let her in to the waiting room. They sat down on the chairs that had been left for them and began to discuss where Dash could possibly be.

"She's very masculine and hates frilly stuff so I don't think she would be in any of the girly places. What would make her easy to spot is the fact that she has wings. She is the only pony in Bravehoof that has them, plus her name is easily recognized as her mane is," Twilight told Trixie. They had been discussing how they could locate her.

"Well if I'm any guess my friend might be able to find her for us. All we have to do is explain to her that our Dash is a pegasus and we're bound to find out where she is before the day is out," Trixie said with a certain air of pleasure, "she hears about the whole city, always has done."

"I certainly hope so," Twilight responded just before a set of silver doors opened, letting in a heavily dressed pony. "Oh... Trixie! It's so good to see you!" the lady said as she passed through the frame, "and this must be a friend of yours... oh... she's a commoner?" the lady half asked, half accused.

"I may not have a title milady, but my family is well known. I'm Twilight Sparkle, heir to the Sparkle family estate," she explained with a bow, trying to put on a bit of a show to impress the lady.

"Well that's good, I'd hate to know that Trixie sunk to dealing with commoners," lady Fullbuster explained, turning to Trixie she gave her a wink. "So what have you been up to all these years?"

"If you would like to know I've been employed by the prince of Charmtail for the past few years," Trixie explained, leaving out the details of her 'employment' as she wished her friend to not know of her imprisonment and her terrible disasters at performing as a jester.

"Really. Working for royalty Trixie, oh... you sure have moved up in the world," she said with a slight hint of mischief, which Twilight caught but Trixie missed. She stopped for a second. "But what about your adventuring and exploring?" she asked, poking the question.

"Everyone has to slow down every now and then.]," Trixie explained. "Can't explore everything and leave nothing for your later life," she finished, letting the thought lay in the lady's mind.

"Too right you are Trixie," lady Fullbuster replied, turning to wander through the room, she set a a path that walked her beside Trixie and pulled her into a conversation. The two chatted while Twilight examined the lady. She was pretty, Twilight had to admit, but way to snobby. It was all she could do to stay smiling and keep herself from pulling a Dash.

"Ummmm. excuse me Lady Fullbuster, but I was wondering if you could help us," Twilight said at last. Not wanting to waist any more time standing around.

"Ohhhhh... please, call me Petalia, and I would be glad to help a friend of Trixie's," Maria replied. Her smile shining like the crystals adorning her ears.

"We're looking for a friend. She's very distinct. She was a captain of princess Rarity's and went in this direction the last time we saw her," Twilight began when suddenly a maid came into the room. She walked over to Maria and whispered into her ear something. Maria started to smile. She whispered back to the maid, who quickly after being talked to left the room. She flashed a smile back at the two before resuming talking to them.

"I'm sure I could help you find your friend," she said through the smile, Twilight catching a bit of a twitch in her cheek. Trixie opened her mouth to thank her friend, but Twilight cut in.

"Ummm... I know it's not for me to ask, but why did the maid talk to you?" she asked, the thoughts pilling together as she began to see something was off.

"Ohh... nothing serious, just my sister who's been in a mood for the past month. She had a break up with a boyfriend or something and only just has finally come round, but let's leave that topic." She whisked them out of the room. "Your friend, this captain, what does she look like?" Petalia asked, trying to pull attention away from her household affairs.

"She's a pegasus. She's got a rainbow colored mane and her name is Rainbow Dash. She's very easy to spot and has a very headstrong attitude," Twilight explained, knowing almost certain that she would be well known enough to be recognized instantly.

The lady considered this. "Never heard of her," she stated, Twilight gawping at the words, "but I'm sure I can find her if she's in the city. Worry not, your friend will be found."

"Thank you milady," Twilight curtsied as she spoke.

"But know this, this service does not come free," the lady's tone shifted as she spoke, catching Twilight off guard.

"What?!?" Trixie and Twilight said in unison. Looking at each other then at lady Fullbuster.

"I know we are old friends, but I haven't seen you for years and you suddenly you ask a very big favor of me," she told them, or rather Trixie. "So I propose a deal. You get me a certain item from Juggernaut Cave and I'll find your friend," she explained grinning all the while.

"Juggernaut Cave! But it has dragons living in it!" Twilight responded, gasping at the outrageous deal.

"And the treasure there is valuable. It's the only deal I'm offering," the lady continued, "nothing in this world is free dears and business is business."

"Fine, what is it you want from the cave?" Trixie asked, disenchanted about her friend.

"The Black Diamonds of Tumor Whitechalk," Petalia informed them and grinned at the response.

"The Black Diamonds! You want them, but then this deal is extremely unfair. I mean, those... they're beyond value!" Twilight said as she remembered all she knew on those specific jewels.

"It's the only deal," Petalia said, wagging her finger.

"Fine. We'll get you your diamonds," Twilight said, She then turned to Trixie and whispered, "some good friend she is."