8th installment of the "Royal Canterlot Family" series. Based on "Jack and the Beanstalk" and "The Pied Piper". A wedding is underway, but when children get kidnapped and a war threatens to erupt, a giant cloud in the sky may hold some answers.
The 8th installment of the "Royal Canterlot Family" series. Based on “Jack and the Beanstalk” and “The Pied Piper”. Plans for a wedding get interrupted when children across Equestria are being kidnapped and a war threatens to erupt. Does it have something to do with a giant cloud in the sky?
Legend tells of a ginormous and mysterious cloud in the sky. It was so high up that many winged creatures who tried to even touch the cloud fainted from having little air. For the few who succeeded in getting near the cloud, they found that the airy mass had an invisible barrier around it. Why was this so? What could the cloud be protecting? For that matter, what was even in the cloud to begin with?
Ever since its appearance centuries ago, many children disappeared and reappeared in unexplained ways. That is, unexplained in the eyes of mares and stallions. The children who were found in places both familiar and new told stories of a vast and strange world. Some children even said that this world was on a cloud! With stories of this “cloud land” circulating amongst towns far from each other, the adults knew that this was more than mere fantasy.
One mare named Crystal Skies had been to the cloud land as a child. She decided to make it her lifelong mission to track down the cloud and study everything about it. She drew everything she remembered about being in the strange world, which she then named Paraddock. Part of the name was taken from the word “paddock”; as for “para”, it’s widely debated whether it’s from the word “paradise” or the word “paradox”. Perhaps it’s both. After all, Paraddock was said to be a world filled with beauty and strangeness.
Anyway, Crystal tried to find Paraddock for many months, but when she was about to give up, she had an unbelievable stroke of luck. When she stayed at an inn one night, the moonlight suddenly disappeared. She peered out the window and saw a giant cloud covering the moon. She knew that the Pegasi had not scheduled a cloudy night, so her heart leapt when she realized that she found Paraddock again after all those years! She was then astonished to find that while most of the townsponies slept, the cloud shot out blue rays of light into windows. Children then floated out of the windows and up the beams, transfixed on what was pulling them up. Crystal then remembered that there was a bright light beckoning her before she woke up in a field dotted with flowers both beautiful and odd.
After the encounter she had in the village, she continued her research until she could no longer travel. During her travels, she found that Paraddock would usually appear at night and vanish without a trace the next morning. As for the numerous children who were taken up to Paraddock, most of those children were brought back to their parents while others were taken to safer places. As for why children were being taken up to the cloud, Crystal Skies surmised that it was because their lives were in danger, whether at home or not. She remembered the time her family was under threat and Paraddock’s beams brought her to safety until the danger had passed.
She also learned of stories about places in Paraddock she had never seen during her short time there as a child. One story in particular intrigued her for the rest of her days. The colt who told her the story said that he dared to venture perilous forests and bizarre jungles to reach the castle of Paraddock’s creator, rumored to be vile if disturbed. The young pony had dared to step a few feet inside the castle before he saw a very tall and very long shadow. This frightened the poor colt enough to run from the castle and never look back. When Crystal heard his story, however, she became interested about what the creature was like. She knew she would never be able to find out because she couldn’t return to Paraddock. Even though she was eternally grateful for all she learned about the famous cloud land…
“…she regretted not meeting its creator when she had the chance as a filly,” Sunburst finished, closing the Legends of Magic book Star Swirl the Bearded had written when the great wizard was around. He turned to his 8-year-old daughter - who was all snuggled up in her bed - and asked, “Well, would you say that was a good story?”
Nova Rose sat up and smiled, “Definitely! I would love to go to Paraddock someday!”
Sunburst chuckled, “I just hope that it’ll be when you’re not in danger.”
“Oh, Daddy. You know the Crystal Heart protects the Empire from bad stuff and so do Flurry’s mommy and daddy.”
Sunburst asked in a mock whiny voice, “Hey! What about your mommy and daddy? We work very hard to protect the Empire, too!”
When he tickled her, Nova heartily laughed until she said, “Okay, okay! You win! You and Mommy protect the Empire, too.”
He explained in his normal voice, “You know, it’s not easy being the royal wizard. I mean, I got the know-how, but your mom’s got the magic. Together, we’re a powerful team.”
“Is it because Mommy is related to Star Swirl the Bearded?”
“Powerful magic does run in the family. I think you have it, too.”
Nova asked hopefully, “Does that mean I’m stronger than Blaze?”
“Well, Blaze has got pretty powerful magic, too. His mother and grandmother are very gifted, not to mention his aunt Twilight Sparkle.”
She retorted, “Star Swirl was gifted, too!” She then sighed, “I wish he was still here so I could meet him.”
Sunburst said as he tucked his daughter in, “I know, but that’s the way things are. If you ask me, being a relative to Star Swirl is really lucky.” He then kissed her and said, “Goodnight, Rosie.”
After Sunburst left the guest bedroom, Blaze stepped in and teased, “If you ask me, being a relative to Star Swirl is not enough when it comes to magical prowess.”
Nova grumbled, “Leave me alone, Blaze.” She really wished that he hadn’t come to the Empire on the day Flurry Heart and Nova were having a sleepover at the palace.
Blaze slyly smiled, “Come on. You know you love me…”
Nova sat up and grimaced, “Ew! No! You may be a prince, but you’re the meanest colt I’ve ever met in my life!”
Blaze seemed to be undaunted by that remark and simply shrugged, “Oh, well. Guess I’ll have to take your book, then.”
As he inched closer to the bed, Nova warned, “No…No…No…If you touch that…”
He smirked, “I’m not touching it.” Suddenly, the book began to float in a green aura and he raced out shouting, “Try to catch me if you can!”
Nova gawked before she jumped out of bed. She shouted as she raced out of the room, “Prince Blaze Lupinus Spruce, you better give that back right now!”
“Prince Blaze Lupinus Spruce, give me that corsage right now!” 17-year-old Nova Rose shouted as she chased Blaze through the castle halls like they did in their childhood.
“You have to catch me first!” he taunted.
“Oh, that is really mature!” she retorted. “You’re acting like that 8-year-old jerk who stole my book and never gave it back to me!”
“I did so! I dropped it off at your house!”
“I meant that you never gave it back to me personally to make up for your actions!”
“And face your wrath?!” He scoffed in amusement, “I think not!”
She grunted in frustration, “Ugh! You can be such a pain in the-“
He mocked a gasp, “Such language! I’m hurt! Deeply!”
“Very funny!” she yelled back.
He then ran into a room and she followed after him.Once she entered the room, however, he was nowhere in sight.
“Blaze? Blaze?! Blaze, where are you?! There’s no way you could have disappeared like that! Now, come on out!”
Suddenly, she was tackled from behind and ended up tumbling on the floor with Blaze on top of her kissing her passionately on the lips. Between breaths, she uttered, “Blaze, that’s dirty pool…”
“Come on…you know you love me…” he softly said.
She slightly smirked with her hoof touching his cheek, “Do I know that? Yes…Yes, I do…” She leaned in for another kiss, which he happily returned.
Just then, they heard a low whistle. They turned to see Mischief coming up to them.
Mischief joked, “So have you two lovebirds been playing ‘Ring around the Castle’ or ‘Hot Lips’?”
The two of them quickly stood up and Nova took the corsage from Blaze as she explained, “Oh, Blaze thought it would be fun if I gave him chase to fuel up the romance.”
“You know, at this rate, it’s going to be like you’re the ones getting married and not Flurry and me.”
Blaze smiled, “You got a good mare, Mischief. I mean, after 70 years, you’re bound to settle down.”
Mischief retorted, “Hey, I’m 20 now, thanks to Zecora’s spell to make me age the same rate as other ponies.”
Nova chuckled, “We get it, because you can’t live without Flurry.”
Mischief was the draconequus-alicorn hybrid thought to have incited the blizzard that wiped out his parents and their kinds 70 years ago. In truth, it was the hatred both species had for Mischief and his parents’ love for each other that brought the Windigos’ destructive power upon them. When the blizzard had desolated the land and destroyed the alicorns and draconequui, the only ones who managed to escape were Mischief, Celestia, Luna, and Discord. Because Mischief had both of his parents’ slow-aging genes, he didn’t look a day over 16 when Flurry Heart found him in Hollow Shades. After he, Flurry, and five other ponies became the Guardians of Equestria, Mischief was determined not to live alone for centuries after his friends had died. As a result, Zecora cast a spell on him that would make him age the same rate other ponies did, starting with the age he looked and acted.
Mischief said, “Of course I can’t. She’s my true love. That kiss I gave her when she bit a poison apple years ago is proof.”
He could still hardly believe that he was meant to marry a princess, even though he was…undesirable to some ponies. He had deer antlers, sharp teeth, and chaotic powers. Flurry Heart was his opposite in terms of appearance. She was the most beautiful pony he had ever laid eyes on. Although they met when she was a lanky 14-year-old, Mischief thought of her as pretty. In his view, she only became lovelier in the last four years. Now that he was marrying the love of his life, he considered himself to be the luckiest hybrid in the world.
Nova remarked, “You know, I’m amazed that you and Flurry found true love in a matter of days. It took Blaze and me years to figure out we were meant for each other.”
Blaze joked, “Maybe we should have a poison apple test just to make sure.”
Nova playfully tapped Blaze’s arm as she chuckled, “Blaze…”
Mischief asked, “By the way, can I borrow Blaze for a few minutes?”
Blaze nodded, “Sure, bro. After all, I am your best colt for the wedding.”
As the two stallions walked down the hall, Nova reminded them, “Don’t be late for the pre-wedding dinner, you two!”
Blaze joked, “Yes, Mom!” He then said to Mischief, “And the henpecking has officially started. Hey, do you know where Discord is? I thought he’d be telling the whole world about the wedding by now.”
Suddenly, music rang through the air, although nopony could see where it was coming from.
Mischief deadpanned, “He is, in his own special way.”
Meanwhile, Discord was going around the Crystal Empire, singing, “There’s a party in the Empire…There’s excitement in the air…Ponies pouring in from near and far… Flurry and her stallion are gonna have a weddin’…There’s a party in the Empire…Everybody will be there…So if you’re a maid or a sire…do somethin’ with your hair…
“You mustn’t wear an outfit that’s naughty! A turban that’s unraveling just won’t do…No earrings that are tasteless or gaudy…You’re gonna look gorgeous when I get through…There’s a party in the Empire…so I’m going to paint the town…If you want to see what colors are…follow me around…”
As Discord passed out newspapers to many ponies, they sang, “Flurry Heart’s gettin’ married, and it’s gonna be…the wedding of the century…”
Discord sang, “My buddy’s gettin’ married, and you’re gonna see…just how much I can do…You’ve heard of your safari bar mitzvahs…You’ve all been to a luau or a sweet sixteen…Well, none of them compare to what this is…”
The griffon chef Gustave Le Grand then sang to his staff after he sampled some of the dinner, “Ze food’ll be disgusting…by evening, zey’ll be busting…”
A trio of mares sang, “There’s a party in the Empire…and it’s got us all aglow…”
A stallion then sang, “If a hybrid could’ve come so far…maybe I could do it…”
Discord sang, “Sure, there’s nothin’ to it!”
Upper Crust, a haughty unicorn, sang, “There’s a party in the Empire…but we’re not sure that we’ll go…for although the bride is la-dee-da…the groom is awfully low…”
Discord – who had transformed himself into a unicorn – bumped Upper Crust, making her shout, “Oh!”
A guard pony who was showing tourists around the castle grounds sang, “And now we take you down to the palace…where everyone has celebrated all night long…”
A school-age filly sang, “Without villains and all of their malice…everyone’s happy!”
“What could possibly go wrong?”
Near the outskirts of the Crystal Empire, antlered soldiers clad in black armor were hiding behind the houses at the outermost edge of the kingdom.
They sang in hushed voices, “There’s a party in the Empire…and we’re gonna scare them all…”
The leader of the group sang, “While they’re all sipping matcha tea…we’ll leave not a single clue, nothing that’s big or small…”
Near the entrance of the palace, the great-grandkids of Celestia and Sombra watched their parents accept the guests’ gifts and put them on a table.
Turquoise – the daughter of Apple Jewel and Asher – sang, “There’s a party in the Empire…and the loot is pourin’ in…”
Opulence – the daughter of Dignity and Mauve – sang, “I like this wedding stuff so far…”
Oddball – the son of Screwball and Mothball – sang, “Maybe if we’re pleasant, we’ll get to keep a present…”
Fluttershy sang to Cadance and Shining Armor, “We’ve ordered just a few tasteful flowers…”
Sunset Shimmer sang, “And valets who’ll carefully park for you…”
Rainbow Dash flew down the hall and sang in agitation, “The bridesmaids have been dressing for hours!”
Rarity sang to Skater and Apple Butter when they finally found dresses to wear for the wedding, “Girls, you look just lovely, and so grown-up, too…”
Discord entered the dining room in a waiter outfit and sang, “There’s a party in the Empire…Guests are filling up the room…But there’s something missing…Yes, aha!”
Shining Armor looked around and sang in worry, “Where is the groom?”
“So why are we coming up here?”
Mischief answered as he and Blaze neared the room in the highest spire of the castle, “There’s something I want to show you and they only glow when they’re high above the ground.”
When they entered the tower room, the colts could hear the wind whistling in their ears and feel it softly blowing through their manes. They could each remember the first time they had been up here. For Blaze, he was just a child when his aunt and uncle took him up to see the Empire in its entirety. As for Mischief, he and Flurry were in this tower for one of their first dates. For both colts, the view of the Crystal Empire had been astonishing.
Blaze asked in confusion, “Excuse me? What glows this high up?”
Mischief said as he dug his hoof into his mane, “You’re about to find out.” He then pulled a small box from inside his jagged mane and was about to open it when –
“Hello?” a familiar voice rang through the tower.
Blaze and Mischief turned to see Discord floating between the pillars and holding a megaphone in his paw.
The draconequus shouted happily, “Somebody’s going to be late for his own PARTY!”
Mischief chuckled, “Hold on, Discord. I want to show Blaze this, and now that you’re here, you should see this, too.”
He set the box down and opened it with his hooves. The bright light emanating from the box blinded Blaze and Discord for a few moments before their eyes adjusted to see three clear beans that were glowing.
Blaze breathed with his eyes the size of dinner plates, “Dude…I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
Discord grabbed a bean and inspected it, “I have. These beans only grew in my homeland before the blizzard hit.” He eyed Mischief and asked, “Were you clever enough to take some beans with you when you were a baby?”
Mischief shrugged, “I don’t really know. I always thought they came from the pony or creature that found me and brought me to Cauldron Bubbles.”
Cauldron Bubbles was a unicorn mare who had cast the Spell of Eternal Youth on herself so she would stay young and beautiful forever. Because of this, she raised Mischief as her own for decades and never once grew old. The two of them developed a tight bond as adopted mother and son, even after Mischief found out who his parents really were.
Blaze interrupted, “Hold on. You mean Cauldron Bubbles never found you to begin with?”
“Well, she found me on her doorstep, but that’s just about it. I have very blurred memories of what happened between the blizzard and her finding me. All I can remember is a purplish long creature with orange hair.”
Discord stared at him in confused disbelief before he asked, “That’s it? You can’t remember the beans in your baby memories?”
“Look, I only knew about them when Mom told me that they were with me when she found me.”
“Then how come she didn’t use them? They can grow into beanstalks of extraordinary height.”
Mischief smiled, “That’s probably because of the chaos powers the draconequui had.”
Discord chuckled, “Indeed.”
Blaze asked Mischief, “So you can’t remember whether or not you had the beans at all when you escaped the blizzard?”
Discord said, “When I last saw him during the blizzard, he most definitely did not have the beans with him. Then again, I probably didn’t think to look. I was too busy trying to get out of the blizzard myself.”
Mischief suggested, “Maybe the purple creature got the beans from one of the draconequui.”
Discord scoffed, “Nonsense. Nopony, except on special invitation, was allowed to view the glory of the draconequui’s homeland.”
Blaze added, “Or that of the alicorns’?”
“Oh, fine. So the land was shared. Anyway, nobody could’ve gotten the beans without setting even one hoof on the land. The only way the beans could’ve gotten out of the land was if a draconequus had taken them and skedaddled.” He then realized something, “Wait a minute. They were taken by another draconequus!
“Yes, I followed her out of the land before I lost sight of her. I searched for her until I had to go back home.” He sighed in deep regret, “I never saw her again.”
Mischief consoled, “I’m sorry. She must’ve been important to you.”
Discord nodded sadly as he rubbed his arm, “She was.” He then waved his hands and said in a voice devoid of sorrow, “But let’s not dwell on that right now. We’ve got a party to get to!”
Mischief then asked slowly, “Discord? Do you think that Mom and Dad would’ve been happy with me getting married?”
Discord put his paw on his shoulder and smiled, “M.C., if your parents were here right now, they would be as proud of you as I am.”
Mischief said, “Thanks.”
In that moment, he could not have been happier to call Discord his foster father. Ever since he learned of Mischief’s existence, Discord was willing to teach him everything about being a draconequus. A couple of years after Mischief was found, Discord asked to be his foster father. The antlered colt gladly accepted, knowing that this was the first time he ever had a father figure in his life. For Discord, it was like having a son. Despite their hostile past, they got along easily more often than not.
Mischief then gazed out between the pillars and wistfully said, “I just wish they could see this.” He then sang, “There’s a party in the Empire…and the party’s all for me…Just look, you guys, at where we are…and how our dreams have come to be…”
In her bedroom, Flurry Heart was dressed up all nice for the dinner. She then sang contentedly, “There’s a party in the Empire…and I can’t believe it’s true…After all this waiting, here we are…We’ll finally get to say ‘I do’…”
“I’m always going to have a family…”
“I’m always going to have my true love…”
Flurry and Mischief both sang as they imagined their one love right beside them, “Someone who could just understand me…”
Blaze loudly sang to bring Mischief out of his thoughts, “Hey, come on, Mischief, she’s all you keep thinking of!”
Discord sang, “There’s a party in the Empire…and it’s starting right away…Let’s get you dressed ‘cause you’re the star…Hey, come on, it’s your special day…” He then challenged Mischief, “Follow the leader!”
When the draconequus proudly strode to the edge of the tower room, Mischief and Blaze copied his moves with smirks on their faces. As all three of them put their hooves over the ledge, they dropped down and began to fly over the Crystal Empire. Discord had his wings, Mischief floated, and Blaze enveloped himself in his magic.
As the three of them flew over the great kingdom, the crowds below sang, “Mischief is getting married, and it’s gonna be…the wedding of the century…Amazing how Mischief could have come so far…”
Discord sang, “They’re finally gettin’ married!”
Cadance sang, “They’re finally getting married!”
Shining Armor sang in an almost-dazed way, “They’re finally getting married!”
Oddball sang, “Look at all these presents!”
Flurry sang while she leaned out her bedroom window, “We’re finally getting married…”
Blaze sang to Mischief, “You’re finally getting married…”
Mischief sang happily, “I’m finally getting married…”
The crowds and a choir of Discord clones sang, “They’re finally getting married in the kingdom here in the no-o-o-o-o-o-o-orth! To the kingdom here in the north!”
Guests were coming in for the pre-wedding dinner. Among them were the changeling king Thorax, Dragon Lord Ember, Jet Set and Upper Crust - the husband and wife duo of Canterlot’s Elite - and several other members of Equestria’s nobility. There was even a guest from Maretania. Although she had a shimmering silver mane, she was fairly young and beautiful for a middle-aged pony.
Twilight bowed her head in respect and greeted, “Welcome to the Crystal Empire, Princess Glass Slipper.”
The unicorn smiled and replied in a haughty voice, “My pleasure, I’m sure. Your niece has quite a…surprising taste in colts.”
Twilight tried to correct her, “Actually, it’s –“
Glass Slipper interrupted, “I, however, married a prince, and a charming one at that. I’m here representing him, considering he’s no longer allowed to…” Despite her jovial expression, she couldn’t help but let a hint of bitterness slip in her voice. “…attend festivities involving the Canterlot family.”
“Really? I don’t…” Twilight then remembered who was banned from Canterlot activities. Shock surged through her body as she tried to process everything Glass Slipper had just said. She asked with an undertone of surprise in her voice, “Wait. Do you mean Prince Blueblood?”
Glass Slipper nodded, “Yes. He’s everything ponies could want in a prince: regal, diplomatic, and most certainly charismatic.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and thought, That’s for sure.
“I am simply here on his behalf. My son would be here with me too, but he had a…previous engagement.”
Twilight asked in a voice that was a mix of disbelief and surprise, “Your son? With Blueblood?”
Glass Slipper nodded and replied in semi-indignation, “Yes, my son with Blueblood. His name is Silver Tongue. Darling thing, really.”
Twilight put on a phony smile and said, “Oh, it’s a shame he’s not here, then. I would’ve loved to meet him.”
The unicorn nodded, “I’m sure you would’ve.”
After Glass Slipper left Twilight, the alicorn’s smile fell and she thought in disgust, Not.
Just then, a crystal pony servant received a message from a courier of Prance’s royal court. She went over to the head of the table where Their Highnesses were sitting and handed the message to Princess Skyla.
“Oh, dear, Flurry won’t like this.”
Cadance inquired, “What is it, sweetie?”
“It says the King of Prance won’t be able to attend Flurry and Mischief’s wedding and sends his regrets.”
“Make sure you give that to your sister when she gets down here,” said Shining Armor.
Skyla suggested, “Or better yet, I’ll give it to her straightaway.” She stood up as she added, “Besides, it’s getting kind of boring waiting for all of the guests to arrive.”
As Skyla was about to leave, Cadance asked, “Oh, sweetheart? Could you also maybe find your younger cousins?”
She said in confusion, “Yes, but aren’t they all in the playroom?”
Shining Armor and Cadance exchanged cringes as he said, “Well, not all of them…”
“Take that! And that!” Cufflink cried as he tried to “defeat” Ruffle.
Cufflink and Ruffle – or Cuff and Ruff, as they were more commonly called – were Gemstone and Seam’s twin colts. Since they were preschool-age, they always seemed to make so much trouble. They had cream-and-gray manes, blue eyes, and their mother’s coat. Even though they were virtually identical, there was one major difference: Cuff was a unicorn and Ruff was an Earth pony. Nevertheless, the twins were inseparable. They always had many adventures together, whether it was real or not. This time, they were playing “Pony Pan” in the laundry room, with Ruff being Pony Pan and Cuff being Captain Hoof.
Ruff said defiantly, “You never catch me before, and you won’t catch me now!”
Cuff grunted, “I wouldn’t be so sure!”
Just then, Gustave le Grand stepped into the laundry room and asked in surprise, “Your Highnesses! What are you doing in ze laundry room?” However, he didn’t wait for a response and started searching through the nearest bin.
Cuff smiled, “Oh, hello, Goostop.”
Ruff – still playing – growled to his twin, “You old bilge rat.”
Gustave, taken aback by such a comment, uttered, “Wha-wha-what?” He turned to the colts and wagged his finger, “Now, see here, young prince…”
Cuff explained, “Oh, not you, Goostop. You see, he’s Pony Pan.”
Ruff added, “And Cuff’s Captain Hoof.”
Gustave said distractedly as he searched through the rest of the bin, “Oui, oui, of course.” After he closed the bin, he asked the twins, “Have you seen my apron?”
Cuff asked in confusion, “Ay-prone?”
“Oui, it is a…” Gustave thought about how to exactly describe the apron in words the colts would understand. He then continued, “…thin white cloth with strings.”
As Gustave resumed searching for his apron, Cuff whispered to Ruff, “I think he’s talking about the treasure map. Do you know where it is?”
Ruff replied, “It got lost.”
At that moment, Gustave pulled aside a few sheets before his eyes bulged and he cried out, “Zut alors! My apron!”
Ruff cheered as he hopped towards Gustave, “Hooray! You found it! You found it!”
Gustave said as he tied the top straps of the apron around his neck while he hovered above the ground, “Oui, so I have. And hereafter…” When the colts grabbed the loose part of the apron, Gustave chastised, “Do not pull on it! Zis is my last clean –“ He was cut off when he abruptly fell backwards to the floor. When the bottom part of the apron folded onto his face, he was stunned to find drawings on it! He gulped, “No...” After a few more moments of shock, he flattened the apron against his body as he cried out in anguish, “NO!”
Skyla then entered the laundry room and found Gustave lying on the floor with the twins standing over him. She asked, “Chef le Grand? I thought you’d be in the kitchen right now.”
Gustave grasped the bottom part of the apron and pointed to it as he said, “Princess, look!”
When she saw the drawings, she immediately suspected who the culprits were. She turned to the colts and said, “Boys…”
Ruff pointed out, “It’s only chalk, Skyla.”
Gustave scoffed as he hovered in mid-air again, “’Only chalk’. ‘Only chalk’. Feh! Because of these childish drawings, my last clean apron is soiled! SOILED!”
Skyla shook her head in amusement of Gustave’s melodramatic freak-out. She magically took a cloth and said as she wiped his apron clean, “Now, chef, really. It comes right off.”
Gustave humphed, “Hmph! Zat’s no excuse for princes to draw on aprons.”
Just then, Rarity and Fancy Pants walked into the laundry room.
Fancy Pants said, “Cufflink, Ruffle, why are you here instead of the playroom?”
Rarity put her hoof to her heart as she said, “Honestly, you almost gave us a heart attack!”
He said with a smile, “Come along, boys. Come along.”
Cuff and Ruff said simultaneously, “Yes, Grandpa.”
As Rarity led the twins out, Fancy whispered to Skyla, “Bundles of energy, they are.”
Skyla smiled back, “No duh.”
Meanwhile, up in his guest room, Mischief was getting dressed in a dinner jacket and Blaze did the same. As the unicorn was putting on his tie, he grumbled.
“This is definitely one of the things I hate about being a prince…”
Mischief inquired, “Why do you say that?”
“You have to stand around a room in an uncomfortable suit, and events like this always tend to drag on.”
Discord popped up a tuxedo with tails and a top hat to wear as he commented, “I must concur. When I first married Fluttershy, it was nothing but boring parties and delegations. Duty demanded us to participate as we were royalty.”
Mischief started to grow concerned, “Gosh…I didn’t think getting married to a princess would be so much work…I thought it was just us getting married and then living happily-ever-after…”
Discord let out a huge guffaw and wiped away a tear, “Sorry to break the news, kiddo, but ‘happily-ever-after’ is just a term used in storybooks as a way to end the story. You’re living the real world. You have to make commitments and take responsibilities. And as such, your first commitment is to the mare you love.”
Mischief nervously chuckled, “You make it sound like I’m going to be chained down…”
Discord motioned, “Well, you will be!”
Mischief squeaked, “What…?”
But before Discord could say anything else, a knock came at the door and a voice called out, “Sir Mischief! Everyone is waiting in the dining hall and your presence is required!”
He called back, “Yeah! I’ll be there!”
Discord pointed, “See? It’s starting already.”
Mischief muttered, “Oh, joy…”
The dining hall was filled with many nobles and the extended royal family. The children had a separate table to themselves while the grownups sat at the long, large table. Mischief sat next to Flurry at the head of the table. As they were eating, Flurry noticed a strange look on her fiancé’s face and wondered what could be wrong.
Flurry asked in concern, “Hey, Mischief? Are you okay?”
Mischief uttered, “Huh?”
When he turned his head, all fear and worry melted away the moment he gazed into her innocent blue eyes. He couldn’t let her down. Not now.
He tried to summon a confident smile as he said, “Oh, yeah, yeah. I’m fine. I’m just thinking about the big day tomorrow.”
Flurry grinned, “I know. It’s going to be wonderful.” She entwined her arm with his and laid her head against his shoulder. “Our dreams are finally going to come true.”
Mischief nervously chuckled, “Oh, I’m sure they will.” In his mind, he wondered if it was actually true.
Cauldron Bubbles – his adopted mother – smiled, “What are you talking about? Of course they will! You have everything a stallion could wish for: a princess for a wife, adoration from all across Equestria, and being a hero to all ponies and creatures.”
Mischief thought to himself, Yeah, but is it everything I want?
In the middle of the table, Twilight and her sisters were feeling uncomfortable sitting across from Glass Slipper, who seemed unaware of the uneasy expressions they were trying to hide.
Rainbow Dash whispered, “Prince Blueblood? She married Prince Blueblood?”
Twilight whispered back, “Yes. That’s what she told me.”
Rarity said to them in a low voice, “I also can’t believe they have a son together.”
Applejack sneered, “I’ll bet he’s spoiled and self-centered like his pa.”
Pinkie Pie nodded, “Yeah, he and his dad would’ve been real party poopers.”
The six sisters chuckled at that.
Sunset suggested, “But what if he’s nothing like his dad? I mean, maybe we should give him a chance.”
Twilight contemplated on it for a few moments before she said, “All right. If we do meet Silver Tongue, we’ll promise to give him a chance.”
At first, it seemed like the other sisters were going to protest, but then they grumbled in agreement.
Upper Crust, who was sitting a few seats from the engaged couple, asked Mischief with a faux smile, “So, Sir Mischief, just what exactly are you going to do to help make Equestria a better place?”
Mischief choked on his soup for a bit before he replied with a stammer, “Well, um, I haven’t exactly planned that far in advance…”
Jet Set mentioned, “You do realize that you’re going to have to start planning ahead from now on, don’t you?”
Mischief gulped, “And why do you say that?”
Upper Crust pointed, “Well, as a prince of Equestria, you’re going to have to think fast on your hooves should a crisis happen, and it might be up to you to solve the problem.”
Mischief’s head started spinning, and it wasn’t because he was using too much of his powers. He actually felt dizzy from all that he was told about what becoming a prince meant. Discord’s words echoed in his head.
Flurry saw how Mischief turned an actual shade of green and he quickly said, “Excuse me. I suddenly don’t feel so good.” He ran out of the room, causing talk to go around the table.
Flurry wanted to go after him, but protocol demanded for her to stay. She hoped Mischief was all right.
Mischief was on the Crystal Palace’s balcony catching some air. He slowly felt better, but a part of him still felt sick. He had no idea that marrying Flurry would cause quite a commotion in his life. Before he met his true love, he was living a simple and private life. Now that was all going to change at the wedding tomorrow. He could run, but he didn’t want to abandon Flurry at the altar. Still, if he did go through with the wedding, what kind of life would he and Flurry have if he was too much of a coward to perform a prince’s duties?
“Tell the truth, lose the princess…Keep the princess, live a lie…” He sang, “I know that I was a louse and a loafer...You won't get a fight, I agree…I was a goldbrick, a goof-off, no good...So, how did this happen to me?
“Proud of your boy...I hope you're proud of your boy... cause I don't feel any taller or smarter or handsome or wise...And now, I know what I have to do...How can I be a prince when it isn't true? So, I will try to try hard to make you...Proud of your boy...”
He leaned over the railing and felt like he was going to drown in his sorrows. Just then, his ears perked up as they heard a faint sound. He looked all around. Where was it coming from? Who was making it?
Clang! Thump! Crash!
The sort of commotion was coming from all around the kingdom. Mischief couldn’t see who was responsible for the noise until he heard something like trotting from one of the crystalline streets. His eyes turned towards the sound and he saw an antlered figure in dark armor running towards the palace. He heard more trotting and found that more silhouettes with antlers and armor were headed in the same direction. His heart dropped as he realized what it was: an invasion.
He quickly teleported himself to the dining hall and warned, “Antlered soldiers have invaded the Crystal Empire!”
The dreadful news elicited gasps from the crowd.
Just a few seconds later, a Crystal guard burst into the room and proclaimed, “Your Highnesses! Antlered soldiers have invaded the Crystal Empire!”
Apple Butter pointed to Mischief and said, “But that’s what he just said.”
The guard apologized, “Oh, my apologies, Your Highness.”
Suddenly, a thin hind hoof kicked the guard’s cheek and knocked him out. The attendees barely had time to register that before a group of lean soldiers entered and ran all around the room. They were so swift that nopony could tell what the soldiers were. Even if someone could make out the fleeting shapes, they would see that the soldiers’ black armor covered every part of their body. No trace of a mane or tail was even in sight. All that was prominent about the soldiers were the antlers sticking out of their helmets.
Needless to say, the guests were so afraid that they didn’t bother to look closely at the soldiers. While some of them ducked under the table, others screamed and ran for their lives. For the few ponies who trotted out of the dining hall, they encountered a few more of the soldiers running past them, which frightened the ponies some more.
Flurry held close to her beloved as she asked, “What are they even doing?”
Blaze said, “I don’t think they’re trying to harm or rob anypony.”
Roller Blade scowled, “Well, whatever they’re doing, they need to be stopped.”
Just then, Discord came up to them while blowing some of the black-armored soldiers away with a huge leaf blower. He said, “I’m doing everything I can, but some of them are pretty elusive.”
Skater asked, “Can’t you just snap your fingers to make them go away?”
“I would, but there’s too much craziness for me to concentrate.”
Roller remarked, “Well, that’s a first for a creature of chaos.”
Discord scoffed, “Funny. I don’t see you doing anything to help.”
Flurry explained, “We don’t even know what they’re doing. They’re not hurting other ponies or stealing from them.”
Nova nodded, “Yeah. It looks like they may be…looking for something?”
Discord scratched his head, “Then why are they running around in circles instead of searching through every nook and cranny?”
Just then, Mischief’s eyes caught an antlered figure with spiky armor at the entrance of the dining hall. He knew from the unique design of the soldier’s armor that he – or she – was the leader of the group.
Mischief said, “I’ll bet that one knows.”
As soon as the leader leapt down the hall outside the room, Mischief teleported to a corner and waited for the antlered soldier to come close. When Mischief heard the trotting of light hooves, he stepped in front of the leader, causing the armored figure to skid to a stop.
Mischief smirked, “Going somewhere?”
The leader’s masculine voice warned as his visible eyes narrowed through the visor on his helmet, “Stay out of the way, colt, and you won’t get hurt.”
The soldier then lunged at Mischief with his antlers angled towards him. In response, Mischief locked his antlers onto the leader’s.
The armored figure grunted, “Foal! You don’t stand a chance against the Dark Riders!”
Mischief likewise grunted, “Oh, yeah? Well, you’re dealing with the Guardians of Equestria!”
A burst of green magic from Mischief’s antlers sent the leader flying until he hit the floor. When the antlered soldier regained his senses, he glared at Mischief.
He was about to get up to attack again, but suddenly, his comrade shouted through the visor on his own helmet, “Sir! There are small children cowering underneath the table!”
Mischief could see the shock in the leader’s eyes before the armored figure stood up and ordered his subordinate, “Let’s go!” As the leader ran down the hallway, he shouted, “Move out!”
To everypony’s surprise, the antlered soldiers followed their leader and ran out of the palace and the Crystal Empire. They then disappeared in the darkening blanket of night.
The elderly and wise Sombra calmed down the nervous guests, “Now, now, settle down. Settle down, please. The danger has passed and we have nothing to worry about anymore.”
The guests began to ask questions:
“Who were they?”
“What were they here for?”
“Why were they here?”
“Is this an omen?”
“Where did they come from?”
Just then, Blaze came up to them and said, “I believe I can answer that question.” He held out a badge which looked remarkably like…
Cadance breathed, “That’s Prance’s crest.”
Flurry shook her head, “But I don’t understand. We’re allies with Prance.”
Jet Set harrumphed, “Are you? Do you suppose that the reason His Highness didn’t come to the dinner was so he could send his soldiers here to terrorize us all?”
Flurry rebuked, “Impossible! We’re good friends with Feather Bangs. We know he would never do something like this.”
Mischief deduced, “Unless his uncle wants revenge on us.”
On their first Cutie Map mission years ago, the Guardians of Equestria traveled to Prance and learned that then-Prince Feather Bangs was getting married to one of Queen Sassy Saddles’ granddaughters, Velvet Blue. However, Velvet had fallen in love with FB’s foalhood friend Chipcutter, and Feather was happy for the two. His uncle - then-King Dandy Grandeur - insisted that the wedding had to commence and resorted to hypnotizing Velvet so she could marry his nephew. Knowing that the Guardians approved of the princess’s relationship with Chipcutter, Dandy had them and Chip locked in the Pegasus’s warehouse. Thanks to Flurry controlling one of the giant pony-shaped golems Chip had made for the parade, the Guardians and Chipcutter were able to escape and stop the wedding before Feather and Velvet were legally made husband and wife. After Dandy’s plot was exposed to everyone at the palace chapel, the Guardians convinced him to give up the throne to Feather Bangs to avoid any bad publicity.
Blaze remarked, “Well, why wouldn’t Dandy Grandeur want revenge on us for crashing his nephew’s wedding?”
Roller Blade added, “Not to mention blackmailing him into giving the throne to Feather Bangs.”
Apple Butter said, “Now that you put it that way, it does make us out to be the bad guys.”
Skater rebuked, “Hello? He was the one who had us locked in the warehouse while he hypnotized Velvet Blue into marrying his nephew.”
“Oh, yeah.”
Skyla asked, “But why would Dandy Grandeur send soldiers just to scare us?”
Flurry answered, “I don’t know, but we’re going to Maris to find out.”
Nova asked in concern, “But what about the wedding?”
Mischief, trying not to sound too eager, said, “We can postpone it until we know what’s going on.”
Flurry nodded, “He’s right. The sooner we get to the bottom of this, the better.”
Mischief pointed out, “And besides the crest, there’s one other clue. When I confronted the leader, he said that they were the Dark Riders.”
Twilight then came up to them and remarked, “The Dark Riders? I think I remember reading about them in the newspaper once. They were seen last month in –“
A servant then interrupted, “Forgive me, Your Highness, but the last wedding guest has arrived.”
Mischief asked, “The last wedding guest? Who?”
A charismatic voice answered, “Why, that would be me, young colt.”
Everyone turned their attention towards a purple Earth stallion who practically waltzed into the room. Though he had a red velvet cape covering his wide girth, his sleek silver mane made him the envy of many nobles in Equestria. He also had many shiny blings lining his shirt and cape, the most prominent of which was a gold pendant with a large ruby in the middle.
The suave pony then said, “Please, allow me to introduce myself. King Gladmane of Las Pegasus, here to enjoy this wondrous occasion with y’all. Uh-huh-huh.”
Cadance bowed her head in respect and greeted, “It’s very wonderful to meet you.” She gestured to her family and future in-law as she said, “This is my husband Shining Armor, our daughters Skyla and Flurry Heart, and Flurry’s fiancé Mischief.”
Gladmane had a look of surprise for a split-second before a smooth smile spread on his face, “So this is the couple getting married, huh?” He shook their hooves as he said, “My heartiest congratulations to ya both. I’m already lookin’ forward to your weddin’ day. Uh-huh-huh.”
Flurry smiled in politeness, “Thank you, but we’ve decided to hold off the wedding for now.”
The guests gasped at that.
Gladmane said as he put his hoof to his chest, “Oh, that is unfortunate news. May I ask why?”
Mischief answered, “Dark Riders have come here and scared the daylights out of ponies. We found Prance’s crest just after they left, which makes us think that Dandy Grandeur is behind it.”
Gladmane tsked, “Well, can’t trust a former king to give up his power so easily. He let it all go to his head and now he wants his throne and fancy palace back. Shame, really. I hear Prance has been doing so much better with Feather Bangs ruling as king. Guess Dandy just can’t accept the fact that the kingdom’s better off without him ruling over it.”
Discord agreed, “Indeed, considering what he did to the Guardians while they were there.”
This perked Gladmane’s interest and he asked, “Oh? And what exactly did he do to them?”
Skater spoke up, “That’s not important right now.”
Gladmane furrowed his brow, “Well, if he did somethin’ bad to the protectors of Equestria, then Dandy might be a bigger threat than we thought.” His eyes lit up as he suggested, “Say, I’ve got an idea. Why don’t y’all come to Las Pegasus and help me figure out a plan to stop Dandy and his nasty Dark Riders before they strike again?”
Skyla pointed out, “We’ll need proof that Dandy did send the Riders before we think up any plans to stop him.”
Gladmane conceded, “All right, all right. But just in case, we’ll still have a plan in mind. So, anyone wanna go to my beautiful Las Pegasus?”
At that moment, Discord’s eyes caught a split-second glance at a serpentine figure in Gladmane’s amulet. He closed his eyes and shook his head before he peered at the necklace again. Nothing. Either it was his imagination or there was something – or someone – in that amulet.
Shining Armor suggested, “Maybe we should all get some rest now. It’s been a pretty long and exciting day. We’ll make our decision in the morning.”
Gladmane smiled, “Sounds good to me.”
The other guests nodded and muttered in agreement.
Discord peeked around the corner and waited for Gladmane to leave his guest bedroom. If he wasn’t just seeing things and there was something in the necklace, then he was going to go to Las Pegasus to find out. That is, if it wasn’t his imagination. His heart leapt when the purple stallion walked out the door.
He seized the opportunity and called out as he floated towards the king, “Yoo-hoo! Your Highness!”
Gladmane smiled, “Well, greetings, Prince Discord. What brings you here?”
Discord said, “Well, I was just thinking about how fun Las Pegasus might be. I personally have never been there, but I’ve always wanted to visit it. Tell me, are there any activities I might enjoy doing?”
The king said, “I’m glad you asked! We have cloud-skiing, arcades, carnival rides…”
As Gladmane kept jabbering on with his eyes closed, Discord stared at the amulet and waited for any indication that – Wait! There it was! Though it was only for a split-second, Discord now knew that his eyes weren’t fooling him. There was something inside the necklace!
Gladmane then opened his eyes and finished, “Oh, I could just go on and on about the sights and smells of Las Pegasus, but you’d have to be there to experience it all.”
Discord smiled, “And that’s what I’m planning to do. You’ve convinced me, and now I’m going.”
The stallion shook Discord’s hands and said, “Terrific! Welcome to fun and happy days, Your Wonderful-ness!” After he let go, he winked, “Now go get some shuteye. Tomorrow’s a big day.”
Discord turned to leave, “Yes, I’m sure it will. Toodles!” After he disappeared in a flash, he reappeared just around the corner and thought to himself, Whatever’s in that necklace of yours must be a pretty big secret, Gladmane, and I’m going to find out what it is.
Starling asked her husband Pen Pusher, “Okay, is everyone in bed?”
Pen replied, “Well, they would be except Cuff and Ruff began a new round of ‘Pony Pan’, and now everyone’s in on it.
Sky Blitz face-hoofed and groaned, “Oh, great. We just got them in bed.”
Cotton Candy said, “You know, I kinda want to see it before we have to be party poopers.”
Cannon Fire nodded, “I would have to agree with Cotton. This is virtually the only time Jamboree can play as much as he wishes without going to bed on time.”
Whirl Wind smirked, “I see Cotton’s sense of fun got to you.”
Screwball said, “I think I know of a way to see the kids play before we have to come into the room.” The propeller on her beanie spun rapidly before a big screen and many seats appeared in the foyer. She announced, “Fillies and gentlecolts, I present the first Equestrian livestream!”
When she and her cousins sat in the seats, they could see their children playing across the screen.
Gemstone breathed in amazement, “Oh, my! This is simply remarkable!”
Cotton grinned, “Yeah! It’s like watching the kids yet not watching them!”
The cousins had confused looks and uttered, “Huh?”
Apple Jewel said, “Okay, okay, let’s just watch them.”
The adults looked towards the screen and saw their kids playing “Pony Pan” in costumes.
Mothball pointed out, “Looks like Oddball’s getting the hang of his magic.”
Screwball noticed something and said offensively, “Hey, why is he the chubby bear? He should be the rabbit or the fox!”
Cotton said smugly, “At least Jam is the cute little skunk.”
Asher scratched his head and asked, “So why is Turquoise the fox?”
Seam said, “I think she looks adorable. They all do.”
“Cuff and Ruff, especially.” Gem then squealed, “Ooh! They look absolutely dashing in their Pony Pan and Captain Hoof costumes!”
Starling shushed, “Shh! Quiet! I want to hear what they’re saying.”
The cousins and their spouses returned their full attention to the children playing. Cuff and Ruff were “battling” with their wooden swords while the other children pretended to be tied up.
Turquoise, the eldest great-granddaughter of Celestia and Sombra, had a pony shape like her mother, but she also inherited the blue scales, dragon tail, and wings from her father. She had her grandfather’s green eyes and her mother’s blonde mane. Gale Force was Whirl Wind and Sky Blitz’s daughter. She inherited her father’s light cyan coat and her mom’s mane in the style of her grandmother Rainbow Dash’s. In fact, her eyes were even moderate cerise like her grandmother’s.
Opulence had violet eyes and a white coat just like her parents Dignity and Mauve did. Her mane was a combination of pink and purple with a curl in the front and an elegant wave near her chest and legs. Starling and Pen Pusher’s daughter was named Corona Shine. Her coat was light purple, which was reminiscent of her grandmother’s coat, and her wavy mane was a mixture of blue, orange, and white. Like her grandma, her eyes were dark purple.
After the twins, Oddball was born. He was admittedly strange, but what one would expect from a grandson of the spirit of chaos. He had a gray coat, his mother’s curly purple-and-white mane and tail, and magenta irises with slit pupils and light green sclera. Besides his parents’ traits, he also inherited traits from his maternal grandparents, one of them being Discord’s ears. The only thing he got from his grandmother was her yellow Pegasus wing to compliment his left changeling wing. He also inherited a trait from his paternal grandmother Chrysalis, and that was the curved horn she had before she had holes blasted into her. As for Jamboree, he had a yellow coat, a brown mane with a manestyle that was mostly like Cheese Sandwich’s yet had Pinkie’s curl in the front, and blue eyes that were like his grandmother’s.
Cuff grunted, “Insult colt! I’ll sash you to ribbons!”
After the twins bounced onto another bed, Ruff said, “And I’ll cut you to pieces.”
The colts grunted until Cuff fell off the bed with a “Whoa!”
Ruff said confidently, “Ha! I just throw overboard!”
Cuff replied smugly as he levitated himself onto the bed again, “Did not. I never touched the water.”
Ruff cursed, “Rats!”
When the twins leaped back onto the first bed, Cuff pretended to growl, “You’ll never leave this ship alive!”
As the colts were jumping up and down and swinging their wooden swords, Ruff responded, “Oh, yes, I will!” He then clashed his sword with Cuff’s as he grunted, “Take that!”
While the twins “fought”, Pen Pusher noted, “We really need to tell them stories that aren’t about Pony Pan.”
On the screen, Cuff pointed his sword at his brother and got ready to charge at him. “Cuddle me bones, colt, I’ll slip your lizard!” When Cuff lunged at Ruff, the latter got out of the way and Cuff’s sword ripped through the sheet that served as the mainsail.
Gemstone sighed, “Oh, dear. Looks like another sheet I’ll have to repair.”
Ruff said to Cuff, “Oh, no, you won’t.” As Cuff stepped backwards through the sheet and onto the toy box at the edge of the bed, his brother said, “Back, back, back, you villain!”
When their swords clashed again, Cuff growled, “Insult pup!”
“Meanie pirate!”
Cuff then magically lunged his sword near Ruff’s side and laughed, “Aha, I got ya!”
Ruff disagreed, “You did not. You never touched me.” He lunged his own sword at Cuff as he grunted, “Take that, and that! And that!”
At that moment, Cuff pretended the sword went through his side and groaned dramatically before falling onto the floor.
The other children cheered, “Hooray! Hooray! Captain Hoof is dead!”
Cuff pointed out, “No. I’m only hurt.”
Ruff smiled, “No, you’re dead.”
Just then, Sunset appeared through the door and chuckled, “I see you defeated Captain Hoof this time, Pony Pan.”
Cuff retorted, “I’m not dead! I’m hurt!”
Ruff argued, “No, you’re dead!”
“Hurt!”
“Dead!”
“Hurt!”
“Dead!”
“HURT!”
“DEAD!”
Sunset asked playfully, “You know what I think?”
Both twins asked, “What?”
She smiled, “I think it’s past somepony’s bedtime.”
Corona said, “But we don’t need to go to bed. Flurry and Mischief are not getting married.”
Sunset corrected, “For now. They’re still getting married, just not right now. Come on. Let’s get you all to bed.”
The screen went blank as the adult cousins groaned.
Sky Blitz said, “You heard her. Let’s get the kids to bed.”
The guys grumbled as they and the mares left the now-empty foyer.
Jamboree whined, “But we don’t wanna go to bed! We wanna stay up and play ‘Pony Pan’!”
Oddball agreed, “Yeah! We were having fun!”
Fluttershy said, “Now, now. Too much ‘Pony Pan’ will wear you out. You need your rest if you want to play tomorrow.”
The kids crossed their arms and grumbled, “Okay.”
Mischief suggested, “You know, since you’ve heard a lot of stories about Pony Pan, how about I tell you a different story? It’s about a mysterious land in the sky.”
Gale Force asked, “Is it just like Cloudsdale?”
Mischief explained in a manner that intrigued the children, “They call it Paraddock, a land of mystery, enchantment, and beauty.” He then sang, “Up where the smoke is all billowed and curled…’Tween the ground and stars…is a wonderful world...When there’s hardly no day…nor hardly no night…there’s things half in shadow…and halfway in light…Way up high in the blue sky…coo, what a sight…”
The kids’ eyes were wide and glimmering with wonder as they uttered, “Wow…”
Opulence said, “I want to go there.”
“It’s not easy. It’s so high up that you’d run out of breath before you’d even get to Paraddock. The only way you can get there is if it beams you up.”
Oddball asked, “Like an alien aduckshin?”
Turquoise put her scaled hooves to her face and fretted, “There are aliens up there?!”
Sunset chuckled, “Look, if there are aliens up there, I’m sure they’ll be friendly ones.”
Ruff said, “They better be. If not, I’ll flat them like pancakes.”
Seam smiled, “Yeah, given your strong hooves, that wouldn’t be too difficult.”
Opulence pulled the blanket close to her as she stated, “I don’t think I want to go up to Paraddock now. I don’t want to get aduckted.”
Starling comforted, “It only happens when you’re in terrible danger.”
Mischief said, “And you’re not in any danger now, are you?” When the kids answered “no”, he continued, “Besides, those who went to Paraddock returned, and they said that it was a really cool place.”
Cuff asked, “Really?”
“Really.”
Everything was still in the Crystal Empire, save for the night guards who usually patrolled the halls of the palace. Every royal and royal guest was all snug in their beds and enjoying sweet dreams. The Empire was calm, still, and softly illuminated by the light of the full moon. Just then, the moon disappeared behind a thick layer of clouds hovering miles above the earth. The houses, the streets, and even the palace became blanketed in the massive shroud of darkness. The giant cloud drifted over the Empire for a minute before it began to shoot down blue beams of light. The lights touched certain windows and the glass panes sublimated into nothingness, leaving only the bare frames and exposing the rooms inside to the elements.
Inside the royal kids’ bedroom, they were in the world of their dreams. Suddenly, they heard a soft and melodic voice sing in the distance, “Come, little children…I’ll take you away…into a land…of enchantment…”
In each child’s dream, they felt drawn to the voice and started walking towards the direction of the song. In reality, the children were climbing out of bed with their eyes closed and sleepwalked to the open space where the window once was. Once they reached the blue light, they began to float upwards through the hole in the wall. It was happening everywhere else in the Empire as well. Every child in the kingdom sleepwalked to the lights flooding their rooms and was lifted up towards the cloud.
The voice continued to sing in their dreams, “Come, little children…The time’s come to play…Here in my garden…of magic…”
Suddenly, a bird flew straight into Gale’s path and knocked into her by mistake. The force of the blow knocked Gale off the beam and made her wake up. When she realized that she was falling, she gasped and flapped her wings as much as she could. Luckily, it was enough to keep her in mid-air. Gale looked down and was shocked to see that she was now much higher than the highest point of the palace’s tallest spire! Though flying never truly terrified her, she was nervous about being farther above the ground than she would normally be. What was she doing so high up in the air? Was this a nightmare?
Gale pressed her hoof to her cheek and remembered being hit in the face before finding herself in the air. The impact felt so real, and so was the soft wind current weaving through her wings at this very moment. She then realized that this was no mere dream, let alone a nightmare. This was very real. Very, very real.
When her eyes looked to the ground, Gale noticed that the Empire and the surrounding fields were enshrouded in one shadowy circle. She wondered why that was until she looked up to see a giant cloud just a few miles above her. Her eyes widened when she recognized what it was.
Paraddock…she thought in revelation.
No wonder she was feeling like she was constantly losing breath! She was so close to Paraddock that the high altitude was slowly robbing her of oxygen! But how was she able to get up so high above the ground if…She then saw the blue beams lifting the children upwards until the colts and fillies disappeared into the cloud.
Despite the thin air, she mustered whatever breath she still had left in her lungs and shouted up to the cloud, “Hey, you! Stop taking the kids!”
As if a reply to her demand, the beams of light suddenly vanished. Gale’s eyes then caught a young Crystal pony her age falling through the air. She took action and flew down towards the pony as fast as she could. About a mile above the kingdom, Gale finally caught the colt in her hooves and fell down onto a store awning. The adrenaline of her flight had further sapped oxygen from her lungs, so she took several deep breaths before she felt weak and tired. She wanted to stay awake, but ultimately she had no choice but to lie down next to the sleeping colt she had saved.
Neither slumbering child noticed a veil of light cascading down the palace and washing onto the street. They were even too asleep to notice that the windows of the houses and palace were restored as if they had not disappeared in the first place. The cloud uncovered the moon as it moved away from the Empire. When the moon was exposed entirely, the cloud seemed to dissolve. After it vanished, the stars shimmered where it had once been.
Panic arose in the Empire that morning. Ponies ran all around their houses and across the streets to search for their missing children. The royals, unaware of their own children’s disappearance, heard the ghastly news and sent out guards to help the citizens search for their little ones. Thanks to the chaos and anxiety surging through the kingdom, the newsponies took the opportunity to print the papers with the headlines of…
“Mystery after party night!” the editor of the newspaper sang, “It says ‘Mystery of the Children’s Flight’! ‘Mystified’, all the papers say…’We are mystified…We suspect foul play’… Goodbye, any wedded bliss…First the soldiers, now there’s this…Still, at least, the news gets sold…Gossip’s worth its weight in gold…”
At the castle, Shining Armor held the newspaper with his magic. He tossed it aside and made his way down the hall as he sang wearily, “What a way to run a kingdom…Spare me these unending trials…The children disappear and the crowd will jeer ‘Where are they?!’ It’s more than I can handle…Have a scandal…And you’re sure to have a blow…”
Suddenly, a group of servants flocked to him and one sang in worry, “Your Highness, will all war break out? This is terrible!”
The butler sang in explanation, “It’s publicity, and the take is vast…It’s publicity…”
“Then we must work fast!”
After Shining Armor left the servants, Skyla came up to him and sang, “Did ponies complain to you?”
Her father sang, “Yes…And your mom’s got some, too…”
In the throne room, Cadance sat on the throne as some of the royal guests surrounded her. Upper Crust sang, “Dear Cadance, what a charming kingdom…This place is, in a word, sublime…although we are bereft that the children left…”
Jet Set sang, “On that note, the guards are a disaster…Were they faster, then they would’ve stopped the crime…”
Glass Slipper raised her hoof and sang, “Oh, Your Grace, just a brief reminder…your handmaidens have made me wait…Give them a talking-to and don’t just drop a hint or clue…No one likes a dragger, so to honor my small request would be great…”
Meanwhile, Twilight and her six biological sisters trotted down the halls as they sang, “Who would have the gall to take them? Someone who had a lot to gain…”
Applejack sang, “Dandy’s no idiot…”
Fluttershy sang, “How would he do it?”
Pinkie Pie chimed, “His Riders!”
Rarity sang with a sneer, “It’s nothing short of shocking…”
Rainbow Dash sang in contempt, “He’s mocking us with his legion…”
Twilight sang, “In addition, he wants his throne…”
Sunset sang sarcastically, “He’s such a grown-up stallion…”
All seven sang, “Who knew Dandy was much vainer? Nothing plainer, he is causing us this strain…”
In another part of the castle, Starling sang to two servants worriedly, “Where is she?”
The female servant sang, “You mean, Flurry Heart?”
“I mean, Corona…Where is she?”
The male servant sang, “Well, how should we know?”
“I want an answer…I take it that you sent me this note…”
The stallion sang, “What’s all this nonsense?”
The mare sang, “Of course not!”
“Don’t look at us!”
Starling sang, “You didn’t send this?”
The male servant replied in indignation, “Of course not!”
The female servant sang, “We’re in the dark…”
The princess sang, “Oh, please, don’t argue, this is a note that Dandy wrote…”
The stallion sang, “And what is it that he meant to have wrote?” He caught himself and corrected, “Written.”
The female servant took the note and read aloud, “’Do not fear for your daughter. She is safe and well-protected from harm. Make no attempt to see her again.’”
Starling asked, “If you didn’t send it, who did?”
Just then, Discord, Screwball, and Mothball barged into the foyer as the draconequus sang angrily, “Where is he?”
The male servant sang in surprise, “Prince Discord!”
“My precious Oddball…”
He, his daughter, and his son-in-law all sang, “Where is he?”
Starling sang as she came up to them, “What is it now?”
Discord sang in fury, “I have a letter….a letter which I rather resent…”
The two servants asked Starling, “And did you know this?”
Starling sang in retaliation, “Of course not!”
The female servant sang, “As if she would…”
The three royals asked Starling, “You didn’t know this?”
Starling repeated, “Of course not!”
The male servant sang, “What’s going on?”
Discord sang as he held out a folded piece of paper, “Starling, my dear niece, this is the letter Dandy sent!”
Starling sang as she magically took the note, “And what is it that he meant to have sent?” When she opened it, she read aloud, “’You won’t be able to rescue little Oddball. I’ve put a spell on him that disables you from coming to his aid. Be prepared for a great misfortune should you attempt to ignore my words.’”
Just then, Whirl Wind and Sky Blitz came into the foyer and sang, “Way too many notes for our taste…”
The Guardians soon entered and sang, “And most of them about Dandy…”
Jet Set and Upper Crust then entered and sang, “All we’ve heard since we came is that tarnished name…”
Just then, the butler pony came in with a guard and sang, “Young Gale Force has been found…”
Starling sang in relief, “I hope no worse for wear…as far as we’re concerned…”
Jet Set asked, “Where precisely is she now?”
The butler sang, “She’s been brought back to her bedroom…”
The guard nodded, “She needed rest…”
Whirl Wind asked, “May we see her?”
The butler replied, “She’s tired, so she’ll see no one…”
Screwball and Mothball sang, “Where’s she been? Where’s she been?”
At that moment, Gladmane entered the foyer and sang, “Friends, I have a thought…”
All of his peers sang in urgency, “Let us hear it!”
Starling blushed and added, “Please.”
Gladmane obliged and said, “Everypony, this is clearly a kidnapping crisis which Dandy Grandeur has perfectly orchestrated. The only one to escape was Gale Force, who may give us our one chance.” He then sang smoothly, “Your children have been taken from you…and you are anxious to have them all return…So with that in mind, my troubled royals…we will therefore create a plan…to save the kids…and give posh Dandy exactly what he’s earned…The former king Dandy is known for charm and appeal…We’ll lure him and catch him in the act…which makes the set-up, in a word, ideal…”
The purple stallion told them, “Whatever details little Gale might give us could help us expose the rotten colt he is. However, if our plan fails, a disaster beyond mere imagination will occur. Don’t say there won’t be risks. I’ll be in my room if you need me.”
After Gladmane left the room, Discord sang in rage, “Dandy!”
The male servant sang, “Whatever next?”
“Now there’s the matter of Dandy!”
Sky Blitz sang, “This is insane!”
Upper Crust sang, “I know who helped him! Feather Bangs, his nephew!”
Flurry rebuked, “Indeed! Can you believe this?”
When the Guardians followed the Canterlot couple, Nova sang, “He’d never!”
Jet Set overlapped, “But he’s Prance king!”
Mischief sang over Jet Set, “He’s not involved!”
Upper Crust sang in retaliation, “That changes nothing!”
Flurry sang over the haughty unicorn, “Feather Bangs would never!”
Skater sang, “Flurry’s right!”
Blaze sang, “He is our friend!”
Apple Butter sang in agreement, “And always will be!”
The butler pony sang in an attempt to stop the arguing, “Your Highness...”
Jet Set sang, “You all are mad!”
Upper Crust sang with her head held high, “We will take our leave!”
When the Canterlot couple left the Guardians, Roller Blade suggested, “We should prove that FB’s innocent.”
Flurry said, “By getting to the source.”
When the Guardians knew what she was getting at, they all sang, “We’re going to see Dandy Grandeur!”
After the Guardians had packed their bags, the others knew what they were up to and tried to deter them from their mission.
Cadance pleaded to them, “It's useless trying to talk to him!”
The Guardians sang in reply, “Oh, we will…”
Shining Armor sang in worry, “Whatever you say will not please him!”
“We’ll please him…”
The servants sang in fear, “Guardians, please don’t go! No, no, no, it’s too dangerous! You’d be needlessly risking your lives! Oh, please, Your Highness! Don’t go!”
Nova sang to her friends, “I must admit…”
Glass Slipper, who was part of the crowd, sang to remind the Guardians, “He has reviled us!”
“It’s a new low...”
Zealot, Apple Butter’s boyfriend, sang, “What does he want?”
Apple Butter sang as she shrugged her shoulders, “We do not know…”
Glass Slipper sang, “He has rebuked us!”
Flurry’s parents sang together, “Dandy will not listen...”
“He has attacked us!”
The servants pleaded, “Please, Guardians…We beseech you...”
Skyla sang in worry, “This hour shall see our darkest fears…”
Whirl Wind overlapped, “We must see her…”
Gemstone sang in worry, “Our children are gone!”
Discord overlapped in anger, “He’s responsible!”
Starling pointed out, “Gale Force escaped…”
Mauve sang, “It’s Dandy’s crime!”
Sky Blitz overlapped, “Where did she go?”
Cannon Fire overlapped, “He must pay for this!”
Flurry Heart sang, “We’re going to Prance…”
The servants sang, “Your Highness, we beg you…don’t be a martyr…”
The alicorns princess overlapped, “And we’ll sort this out…”
Pen Pusher sang, “What new surprises lie in…”
The servants vocalized, “Don’t…”
Nova noticed something and sang, “Our cutie…”
Pen, the servants, and Nova all overlapped, “…store/go/marks!”
Everyone stopped as the Guardians saw their cutie marks shimmering.
Skater groaned, “Oh, no! A Cutie Map mission now?!”
Blaze spoke up, “Right when we’re trying to rescue the kids?!”
Roller Blade said, “Talk about bad timing.”
Flurry suggested, “Wait. Maybe this is a good thing. What if the map is trying to send us to the kids?”
Mischief agreed, “That’s a good point.”
Discord scoffed, “And just why would the map send you somewhere that even I cannot go? I tried to find Oddball, but the note was right. I wasn’t able to.”
Blaze said, “Well, whoever’s got Oddball must also have the other kids. If the map is sending us to find them, then maybe only we can rescue them.”
Zealot came up to them and said, “And it looks like I’ll be coming along, too.”
The Guardians were surprised to find that Zealot’s cutie mark was shimmering and chiming just like theirs were!
Mischief remarked in astonishment, “Wow, Zealot…”
Apple Butter wrapped her arms around him and cried, “This is amazing! You get to come with us!”
Roller gave Zealot’s shoulder a tap as he said, “Hey, congrats, dude!”
Zealot smiled, “Thank you.” His smile then faded as he asked, “But aren’t we supposed to gather around the table to see where our cutie marks will go?”
Flurry assured, “Don’t worry, Zealot. We have a copy of the Cutie Map in case we’re far from the Castle of Friendship.”
Cadance suggested, “Let’s take it up to the throne room, then.”
Flurry, her parents, Zealot, Discord, and the rest of the Guardians stood in the throne room as the alicorn princess dug into her saddlebag. Fluttershy had tried to tell her husband to stay outside the room, but he was so anxious to find their grandson that he went in anyway.
When Flurry pulled out a crystal disk the size of her hoof, Discord scoffed, “That’s your copy of the Cutie Map?”
Mischief told him, “Just wait.”
After his fiancée set the disk on the floor, the seven Guardians touched it with the tips of their hooves. When they retracted their hooves, the disk began to glow and project a holographic map of Equestria and beyond. The map rose and expanded until it reached the level of the Guardians’ chests. Images of their shimmering cutie marks then flew from their flanks and into the air. When six of the cutie marks started spinning around the pink heart with blue wings and the slingshot, they descended onto a picture of a fluffy yet unfamiliar cloud positioned on the left edge of the map.
Nova remarked, “That’s strange. That wasn’t there before.”
Blaze agreed, “Yeah. Every time we got summoned by the Cutie Map, that cloud was never there.”
Mischief asked as he squinted his eyes, “But why would the Map…?” Suddenly, his eyes widened in realization. “Unless…it’s Paraddock!”
The ponies gasped, seeing that he was right.
Discord exclaimed, “Of course! That’s why it was cloudy over that field when I tried to find Oddball!”
Flurry chimed, “Because Oddball must be on Paraddock!”
Roller stated, “And if we find Oddball, chances are we’ll find the other kids, too.”
Discord scowled at the Map and asked, “Then why hasn’t the Map called me there? I’m Oddball’s grandpa!”
As if a response to his question, a cartoon of Discord’s head appeared and jumped over to Las Pegasus.
He exclaimed in angry disbelief, “Las Pegasus?! I mean, sure, I was planning to go to Las Pegasus, but come on! My grandson’s life may be on the line here!”
Skater said, “Okay, A: I don’t think the kids’ lives are in as much danger as you think, and B: it’s obvious the Map is sending you to Las Pegasus for a reason.”
Discord considered the mystery of Gladmane’s amulet and begrudgingly sighed, “Fine. I’ll go to Las Pegasus, but if you find Oddball and he’s okay, keep him out of trouble. He might be in enough trouble already.”
“We Pinkie-Promise,” Apple Butter said as she and her friends did the gesture.
Just then, there was a knock on the double doors.
Shining Armor ordered, “Enter.”
When the doors opened to reveal a Crystal guard, he said, “Your Highnesses, Princess Gale Force has woken up.”
Many ponies and creatures waited outside the bedroom door as Sky Blitz, Whirl Wind, Soarin, Rainbow Dash, Flurry Heart, and her parents stood by Gale’s bedside.
After Gale sipped her cocoa, Cadance asked, “Can you tell us what happened last night?”
Gale elucidated as she recalled the events of the previous night, “I had a dream where I was in Rainbow Falls, and Mommy was racing the other Wonderbolts. Then when she toucheded the finish line, I hearded…singing. Yeah, singing. Someone was singing, but I didn’t know who it was, so I started searching for her. I was hearing the voice, but nopony was there. Then, something hit me in the face and I waked up and fell! Lucky, I flappeded my wings so I wouldn’t hit the ground and hurt myself.
“I lookeded all around and I was up in the air! I mean, way up! I was even higherer than the castle!”
Whirl Wind remarked, “Wow! Just how high up were you?” He received an abrasive tap from his wife for asking such a question.
Gale put her hooves on her hips and said indignantly, “I told you, higherer than the castle!”
Flurry asked, “Did you see Paraddock?”
The filly waved her hoof and pffted, “Yeah, I did! It was huge, and there was beams that was taking kids.”
Shining Armor rubbed his chin and asked, “So you didn’t see the scary figures who were at the dinner last night?”
Gale thought about it and then shook her head, “Nope. Just kids. Oh! But not the one who fell. I had to fly down to save him.”
Sky Blitz surmised, “So that’s how you got on that store awning.”
Her daughter asked, “What’s a store awning?”
Rainbow explained, “Grandpa will tell you after Uncle Shiny, Aunt Cady, Flurry, and I go.”
Flurry smiled to Gale as she left the room with her parents and aunt, “Hope you’ll feel better soon.”
After his wife closed the door behind them, Shining Armor told the others in the hall, “Okay, so we got a situation with Paraddock here.”
Rainbow nodded, “Yeah. I bet my left hoof that the Dark Riders and Dandy are behind it. They must’ve created a cloud so they could beam up the kids while we were all sleeping.”
Twilight shook her head, “No chance. If Dandy had created a cloud, it would’ve been no higher than the tallest tower of the palace.”
Sunset agreed, “No doubt about it. This has to be Paraddock.”
Timber put his hoof to his chin and pondered, “But why would it…?” He then realized, “Oh, wait! That attack by the Dark Riders! Whoever’s on Paraddock must’ve thought the kids were in danger!”
Discord smirked to Rainbow Dash, “Well, there goes your left hoof.”
When her left hoof flashed to Discord’s claw and her arm was left with a smooth blue stump, she cried, “Hey!” She instantly grabbed her hoof and fastened it back onto her arm.
Shining Armor said, “If the Empire is still in danger, a group should stay here to keep a lookout.”
Skyla suggested, “Maybe another group should go to Maris to talk to Dandy Grandeur while another should go to Las Pegasus with Gladmane. If negotiations with Dandy fall through, at least we’ll have a plan to thwart him.”
Starling nodded, “That’s right.”
After meeting with Gladmane again, the members of each group were chosen. Cadance and Shining Armor would stay in the Crystal Empire with Celestia, Sombra, and Luna; six of the biological Canterlot sisters would travel to Prance with five of their husbands; Twilight and Flash would return to Canterlot to resume their duties; and the group that would go to Las Pegasus would consist of Skyla, Discord, Starling, her husband, her cousins, and her cousins-in-law. Naturally, Whirl Wind and Sky Blitz wanted to bring their daughter with them just to keep her out of danger. As for the Guardians and Zealot, they knew where to go, but their dilemma? How to get there. They knew from the legends that Paraddock was protected by an invisible barrier, so they planned to spend the night preparing for their mission and finding something to enable them to get through the barrier.
Mischief sat on his bed and scoured through yet another book that had a Paraddock story or two in it. When he found nothing useful, he groaned and decided to magically flip the pages for the heck of it. Just then, a particular illustration caught his eye and he turned a few pages back to look at it. On the page was a picture of a draconequus standing next to the base of a beanstalk and looking up the tall plant.
He read the section aloud, “’In the land where alicorns and draconequui co-exist (although not peacefully), the draconequui would grow beanstalks of extraordinary height. Possibly grown as attempts to surpass the alicorns, these beanstalks would pierce through the clouds and are said to reach the highest level of the sky, where not even the alicorns can go.’”
This gave Mischief an idea and he dug into his mane until he pulled out his box of beans. He opened the lid and saw the three clear beans just sitting on the comfy cushion within the box. Suddenly, an unfamiliar memory began to play in his head. He closed his eyes and used his mind’s eye to focus on the memory. He saw a blurry outline of a purple creature with orange splotches on what seemed to be the head.
As the creature opened a box of beans and held them to Mischief, the blur said, “See these, Mischief? These are magic beans. You can use them to come back to Paraddock whenever you want to or need to.” The creature sheepishly added as it shrugged, “Whichever comes first.”
Just like that, the memory vanished. Mischief didn’t know what he saw until he realized that it was the same creature he remembered before his time with Cauldron Bubbles. He was right: the beans did come from the creature that brought him to Cauldron, and also brought him to Paraddock! That was how he was saved from the blizzard! Maybe if he used the beans to go back to Paraddock, he could find the creature that had saved him and shed some light on his past.
“Mischief?”
His beloved’s sweet voice broke his reverie and he turned to see her standing by the doorway.
He said with an excited smile, “I think I know how to get up to Paraddock. I was searching through this book and I found out that the beanstalks the draconequui used to grow would reach high altitudes that even the alicorns couldn’t get to.” He grabbed the open box and showed her the beans, “These beans came from their homeland, so we can grow them into a beanstalk to reach Paraddock.”
Flurry looked at the clear beans in amazement and then asked Mischief, “Where did you get them?”
He explained, “When I was a baby, I was beamed up to Paraddock after the blizzard hit. It’s very vague, but I remember a purple creature who gave me the beans before I was brought to Cauldron’s house.” He looked at the beans and continued, “If I can find…the one who rescued me, then maybe I’ll have some answers.”
“What kind of answers?”
“Like how did he – or she – find me? Or why was I dropped off at Cauldron’s house? Why didn’t they keep me?”
Flurry put her hoof on her fiance’s and said, “If you’re trying to find out who you are, I think I may have the answer.”
Mischief looked at her and asked in confusion, “You do?”
She nodded and responded with a smile, “Because I know you.” She then began to sing, “You showed me the truth…when I felt all alone inside…You reached out your hoof…and took me on a magic, wild ride…One look at your smile…and I could see the light…shining everywhere…Ponies like you don’t come out of thin air…”
Mischief sighed as he put his hooves on the floor, “Oh, Flurry…” He then leaned out the window as he sang, “You don’t understand…There is so much that you don’t see…Just think if you can…what growing up had to be like for me…You had your parents…to teach you who you are…Mine were never there…So how can you say…I don’t come out of thin air? There’s so much I want to know…”
Flurry walked up to be at his side as she sang, “You’ve got the chance to learn…”
“If it means we’d have to go…”
“They’ll be right here when we return…Our wedding can wait…”
“I love you…”
“I think it’s worth a small delay…”
“Maybe you’re right…”
“And won’t it be great…to shed some light before our wedding day?”
“I’ve waited so long…”
“It isn’t too late…”
“To learn the truth…”
They both sang as they held hooves, “And now at last we can finally say…”
Flurry sang, “The answer might be out there…”
Mischief sang, “There’s so much that could be shared…”
“And you’ll finally learn…You…”
They both finished, “Don’t come out of thin air…” They then locked lips in a meaningful kiss.
As Shining Armor and Cadance prepared for bed, he told his wife, “You know what, Cady? I’m kind of glad Flurry’s holding off the wedding for a while.”
Cadance asked curiously as she turned from her vanity, “Why do you say that?”
“Well, don’t you think that Flurry might be getting married too soon? She is 18, after all.”
Cadance furrowed one of her brows as she stated, “I think you might be coming down with a case of daddy anxiety.”
He shrugged, “Who knows? Maybe it’s that or maybe I’m right. Maybe while she’s on Paraddock, she’ll reconsider her life-changing decision and decide to just be friends with Mischief -” he then finished with a crazed expression on his face, “- and then she’ll be our little girl FOREVER!” He laughed maniacally before he shook his head to snap out of it.
Cadance said, “Okay, now I know you have a bad case of daddy anxiety.”
He sighed, “I’m sorry, Cady. I just don’t want Flurry to grow up too soon. I mean, look.” He gestured towards a small picture of baby Flurry Heart that was sitting on the dresser. “She was young and innocent and cute…” His eyes grew and shimmered as he gazed at the picture with a smile. He then sighed as he wiped his eyes of unshed tears, “Oh, I wish those days could’ve lasted forever.”
His wife chuckled, “Oh, Shiny. You can’t keep our daughters little fillies forever. At least we’ll still have Skyla when Flurry and Mischief get married.”
Shining Armor said as he wrapped his arm around Cadance, “Yeah. At least we’ll still have her.” He then muttered under his breath, “Thank goodness.”
The next morning, everypony prepared for their missions. After six of the biological Canterlot sisters and most of their husbands left on the train to Maris, three carriages parked just in front of the dais. One was Gladmane’s glittering and extravagant carriage and the other two were crystal carriages Cadance and her husband had in storage.
As the attendants put the royals’ baggage onto the carriages, Gladmane told Starling, “I’m really glad you decided to come to Las Pegasus for your parents.” His smile then drooped into a sad frown as he said, “I am truly sorry about what happened to your sweet daughter. Quite a tragedy, it is.”
She then clarified, “Well, it may not be if the kids can be found, and I sincerely believe that they will all return.”
Gladmane nodded with a suave smile, “Oh, of course, of course. Far be it from me to doubt a lovin’ mama. Her instincts are usually 100% on the mark. Just keep hopin’, princess, and maybe by some miracle, the young ones will pop up soon.”
Starling confidently said, “Oh, I don’t hope they’ll return. I know they will, and it’ll be all thanks to the Guardians of Equestria.”
In a sudden flash, Discord appeared on a grassy field with the Guardians and Zealot, who were all carrying saddlebags on their backs.
He told the ponies, “Well, here we are. The same empty plain where I tried to find Oddball.”
Flurry said, “And if you were trying to take us to him, then that proves he’s on Paraddock with the others.”
Zealot looked up in amazement and breathed, “Wow…It’s so ginormous!”
The others looked up and saw a blanket of clouds hanging over them.
Discord flew up to the clouds and laughed, “This isn’t Paraddock!” When he waved his hands in opposite directions, some of the tightly-spaced clouds parted to create a hole through which the ponies could see a gigantic cloud high in the sky. He pointed to it and said, “That’s Paraddock.”
The ponies gasped in amazement as they stared up at the cloud land they had only dreamed of until now.
Nova then remembered something and mentioned, “Of course! Even if Paraddock could pass for just a big cloud, it still produces a cloud cover close to the ground for protection.”
Blaze pointed up to the cloud cover, “Which is closing up soon.”
Discord said as goggles flashed onto his head, “Then I better make some quick calculations!” Blackboards, whiteboards, calculators, and notepads all appeared in a flash and floated in mid-air. He wrote and typed equations down and conjured up some other tools to help with his calculations. He said as he established a pattern of writing, typing, and examining, “Let’s see…If the square root is…Carry the one…No, no, no…”
Roller said as the cloud cover almost reached its closing point, “Uh, Discord…?”
The draconequus replied in mild annoyance, “Don’t rush me…I’m getting there…” His face then lit up with excitement, “Ah! I’ve got it! Plant the magic beans right here!”
The pencil he tossed to mark the spot pierced the ground just as the opening in the clouds closed completely.
Mischief said, “Then let’s start digging!”
Before anypony could start digging around the pencil, Discord held a stop sign and blew a whistle.
He said, “This may surprise you, but when I was growing up, the draconequui grew beanstalks in a certain way.”
Skater said in confusion, “Wait, I thought the draconequui were all chaotic and such.”
“Oh, they were, but there were certain *ahem* activities that required calculation and forethought. Growing a beanstalk was one of them.”
Roller suggested, “Why not just throw the beans into a hole in the ground and let them grow?”
Discord answered, “Believe me, there were some who thought just like you. They just threw in the beans without thinking it through at all.” He gave a chuckle as he recalled, “Of course, their beanstalks ended up looking like messy balls of yarn.”
Mischief slyly smirked, “Why does something tell me you were one of those draconequui?”
Discord blushed and sheepishly chuckled, “Well, I may have done so when I was a young lad. After my…unfortunate incident, I took to learning about planting beanstalks from a gardener who was famous for his green thumb…a literal green thumb.” He chuckled at that.
Blaze said, “Then tell us, Mr. Apprentice Gardener, how are we supposed to plant the beans?”
His uncle explained, “I’ve already done the calculations for the perfect planting spot. I don’t think I need to bore you with an explanation of how that works. The next step, luckily, is much simpler…” He then gave a devilish grin, “…unless you’re afraid to get your hooves dirty.”
Skater remarked, “Ha! As if!”
“Excellent! Then you need to dig a 2-inch hole no wider than the palm of my paw.”
Mischief conjured up a spade as he said, “On it!”
After he dug the hole where the pencil had been, Discord measured it carefully and then said, “A little crooked, but it’ll do. And now, for the piece de resistance, the beans! If you please, Mischief.”
The antlered colt dug into his mane and pulled out his precious box. He used his magic to levitate the item while opening it at the same time. The beans then floated out of the box in a green aura and settled into the ground close together.
Discord abruptly said, “Ah-ah-ah! They’re too close together!” He separated the beans carefully with his claw as he mentioned, “The magic is very delicate, and having the beans on top of each other can have disastrous effects.” He withdrew his claw and smiled, “There! Now we add a layer of dirt on top of them…” He snapped his fingers and the pile of dirt that sat on the ground now filled the hole with the beans. “…and some water.” He conjured up a watering can and poured the droplets of water onto the dirt patch.
Roller asked, “So how long do we have to wait for the beans to -“
Suddenly, a bean shoot emerged from the dirt as if in reply to his question.
Skater commented, “Guess we won’t have to wait long.”
Two more bean sprouts popped through at that instant, and all three tiny shoots began growing before the group’s eyes.
Nova asked, “So when do we get on?”
Discord answered, “Usually, when beanstalks get thick, they sprout lots of leaves and vines, so I suggest getting on a leaf or vine that’s big enough to carry you when it appears.”
Flurry said, “So we just wait until the beanstalk reaches your height?”
“Preferably a little higher than that, but yes.”
By that time, the three shoots had already thickened like tree trunks and intertwined together into a single stalk. They were not yet Discord’s height, but the first leaf was sprouting from the green trunk.
Mischief bowed and gestured to Flurry, “After you, milady.”
Flurry chuckled as she walked up to the growing beanstalk, “Thank you, kind sir.”
She jumped onto the leaf as soon as it grew big enough to support her. Soon, other leaves sprouted from the beanstalk and vines started to weave around the plant. Whenever a leaf or vine grew large enough to carry a pony to the heavens, each member of the group took the opportunity to jump on. When Nova was the last to jump on, she – like the others – slowly rose into the air and neared the cloud cover.
Discord waved them off and said, “Farewell, brave travelers! Don’t forget to hold your breath!” He then disappeared in a flash.
After a moment’s confusion, the ponies realized he had meant when they would get nearer to Paraddock. When the tip of the beanstalk pierced through the cloud cover, they braced themselves for the moment they would break through as well. Somewhat to their surprise, the clouds felt soft and similar to pillows full of air. After they broke through the cloud cover, they looked up to see Paraddock inching closer towards them as if it was slowly descending towards the earth. The ponies tried not to look down and kept their sights on either each other or Paraddock. Some of the group slipped and slid a short distance down the beanstalk until either a leaf or a curl of a vine caught them.
When the group was almost to Paraddock, Apple Butter remarked, “When the legend said that the draconequui’s beanstalks grew to extraordinary height, they weren’t kidding.”
Zealot pointed out, “The air’s getting a bit thin, so we must be close.”
Mischief told his friends and fiancée, “Hold your breath, everyone!”
Everypony took a big inhale and immediately closed their mouths to keep their precious amounts of oxygen in their bodies. As Paraddock grew larger above the beanstalk, the ponies felt somewhat dizzy and found themselves clinging onto a leaf or vine to keep from falling off. They braced themselves for the moment they would either crash into the barrier or break through. In a few seconds, they would find out…
SPLASH!
They opened their eyes and to their astonishment, they were underwater! Some of their held-in breaths escaped from both the shock of coming into the water and the revelation that they were submerged somewhere. Their lungs felt as if they were caving in from the pressure of the water and having no fresh oxygen. They had to swim up to the surface and fast. They looked up to where the ripples and bits of light danced and quickly paddled upwards. The moment they broke through the surface, they gulped and gasped for much-needed air. Their lungs seemed relieved to have fresh oxygen instead of the stale air that had occupied the vital organs moments before.
Zealot asked once he regained his breath, “Is everypony okay?”
Skater coughed, “Yeah. We’re fine.”
Flurry said as she continued to paddle to keep afloat, “We need to get to shore before we come up with a plan to find the kids.”
Mischief responded, “Way ahead of you!”
When his antlers glowed green, the whole group was teleported to the dry land that surrounded the lake.
Nova said in gratitude, “Thanks, Mischief.”
“No prob,” he replied.
They shook their coats and manes before they looked back out towards the lake – which was dotted with lily pads of various sizes - and saw the tip of the beanstalk standing in the water. They peeked over the edge and saw that the pool had no bottom! There was only water and the middle of the beanstalk below the submerged dirt walls of the lake.
Mischief remarked, “I have a feeling we’re not in Equestria anymore.”
The group then noticed that the mist covering the land was lifting. They turned their attention to their earthy surroundings and were gradually filled with awe as many flowers came into view. They drew in amazed breaths as the mist completely vanished, revealing a wondrous field filled with flowers that were tall, short, beautiful, and exotic.
Blaze agreed, “Yep. Definitely not in Equestria anymore.”
Nova breathed with wide eyes and a smile, “It’s all so magnificent.”
Zealot said, “Well, if the kids were here, they wouldn’t have felt scared at all.”
“Why would they?” a voice asked.
The ponies twisted their heads in all directions and then asked one another if they had spoken. Everyone replied that they didn’t.
Roller began to ask, “Then who -”
Before he could finish his sentence, a flock of strange creatures flittered past them. When the creatures came to rest on a large leaf, the ponies saw that they had buttered slices of bread for butterfly wings.
Skater remarked, “Those are strange butterflies.”
The voice spoke once again, “You mean bread-and-butterflies.”
The ponies returned their attention to finding the source of the voice. All they could see were flowers covering the entire field, save for the patches of grass that made walking easier. At that moment, another strange insect flew towards them. It did not make a buzzing sound as one would expect; rather, it made a whinny that was much like the sound ponies sometimes made.
Flurry exclaimed, “It’s a horsefly!”
Apple Butter inspected it closer and saw that the insect had curved bars of wood attached to its hooves like they were skis.
AB chuckled, “I think it’s a rocking-horsefly!”
The rocking-horsefly flittered away when the voice said, “Naturally.”
Mischief said, “Okay, I think it has to be one of those flowers.” He pointed to a group of tall flowers that slightly towered over the ponies.
Nova smiled, “Oh, Mischief, flowers can’t talk.”
Suddenly, the rose sprung to life and tilted towards the ponies. She gently corrected Nova, “But of course we can talk, my dear.”
Before the ponies could register the surprise, the iris spoke haughtily, “If there’s anyone worth talking to.”
The daisy then chortled, “Or about.”
The pansies all grouped together in a single bed added, “And we sing, too.”
Zealot remarked, “Wow, Paraddock really is a mixture of paradise and…oddness.”
Flurry sweetly said to the flowers, “I’m sure singing is nice, but I’m afraid we can’t stay for long.”
The sweetpeas asked in surprise, “Why not?!”
Blaze answered, “We need to find our cousins’ kids. They were taken up to Paraddock a few nights ago. Have you seen them?”
Abruptly, the flowers burst into laughter.
The calla lily then responded cheerfully, “Have we seen them? Of course we’ve seen them!”
The daisy cooed, “They were the most precious things! They got all so excited about being here. Most of the children who come here are.”
The lilac added, “Not many adults, though.”
The iris harrumphed, “Though they probably want to cause more trouble for the children than it’s worth.”
Flurry explained, “Oh, we’re not here to cause trouble. We’re here to find the kids.”
The iris asked with a sneer, “So you can ruin their fun?”
“No, that’s not it. We were called by the Cutie Map and it led us here. We think they might be in trouble.”
The rose said calmly, “I see. Well, you need not worry about the children. Paraddock is a very safe yet exciting place for them. I doubt they’ll find much trouble here.”
The calla lily pointed to something behind the flowers, “Not if you count that.”
The ponies directed their attention towards a group of flowers that were either closed up or shriveled.
The calla lily continued, “That’s been happening for a while now. And it’s not just right here. It’s all over the field. Thankfully, not too many flowers have been affected, but it’s still worrisome.”
The rose solemnly agreed, “Yes, Calla Lily is right. It has never happened before, not in the long time we’ve existed.”
Nova asked in concern, “What do you think could be causing it?”
“We don’t know. There are times when more children than usual come to Paraddock, but when that happens, the flowers are perfectly fine. For this to happen now, there must be a greater danger at hand here.”
A lily of the valley then gasped, “Oh my! You don’t suppose it could be the Crystal Heart, do you?”
Flurry grew concerned, “The Crystal Heart? I thought it was fine when we left the Empire.”
The rose chuckled, “Oh, no, no, no. This is a different Crystal Heart, one that is guarded by the Crystal Fairies.”
The ponies’ eyes widened and their jaws dropped when they heard this.
Nova exclaimed, “The Crystal Fairies?! But we thought they were extinct for a very long time!”
The rose clarified, “Only one colony of Crystal Fairies still exists, and they live right here on Paraddock. We don’t know much about them, but we have heard that they protect a Crystal Heart that is tied to Paraddock, and some say it’s even tied to the one who created this very land and everything in it.”
The ponies grew excited at the prospect of a lead in their search for either the kids or what’s happening to the flowers.
Blaze asked, “Where can we find the Crystal Fairies or Paraddock’s creator?”
A tulip responded, “Just follow the magenta path and you’ll find your way to…whoever it is you’re trying to find.”
Flurry bowed in respect and said, “Thank you, all of you. You have been of great help to us.”
Mischief added, “And we promise to repay you by solving the mystery of what’s happening to your…kin.”
The ponies and flowers exchanged good-byes and the travelers went on their way. As they passed through more of the field, they saw more flowers that were either closed up or shriveled.
Roller cringed, “Wow, they weren’t kidding when they said it was happening all over the field.”
Zealot nodded, “Yeah, I hope we can help them and find the kids at the same time.”
Apple Butter pointed to something and said, “Look, there it is! The magenta path!”
The ponies looked to where she was facing and saw that she was right. There was the magenta path leading into a jungle!
Skater said with daring in her voice and face, “Well, we didn’t come all this way to chicken out now. Let’s follow that trail!”
As she trotted towards the path and the jungle, Roller told his friends, “Come on, everyone! Adventure is out there!”
Zealot said as the rest started following the twins, “They’re sure eager.”
Apple Butter smirked, “Even when there might be danger afoot.”
He gulped, “Please don’t mention danger.”
As the ponies traveled through the jungle in brave and high spirits, Flurry and Mischief sang, “Look out, new world…Here we come…”
Roller sang, “Brave, intrepid…”
Skater gave a smirk at her brother and sang, “And then some…”
Nova and Blaze both sang, “Pioneers of maximum audacity…whose resumes show that we are just the team…to live where others merely dream…”
Apple Butter and Zealot both sang, “Building up our head of steam…”
All eight sang together, “On the trail we blaze…”
The girls vocalized before they sang, “On the trail we blaze…”
The guys joined the girls and sang, “Changing legend into fact…we shall ride into history…Turning myth into truth…we shall surely gaze…On the sweet unfolding…of an antique mystery…all will be revealed…on the trail we blaze…”
The girls again vocalized, “On the trail…on the trail we blaze…” They vocalized some more before singing, “On the trail we blaze…”
Zealot sang, “Paradise is close at hand…”
Apple Butter sang, “Shangrit-la…”
Skater added, “The promised land…”
Roller Blade sang, “Seventh heaven on demand…”
Nova Rose sang, “Quite unusual nowadays…”
Blaze sang, “Virgin vistas undefiled…”
Mischief sang, “Minds and bodies running wild…”
Flurry Heart sang, “In the colt, behold a child…”
All sang, “On the trail we blaze…”
The girls vocalized again before they sang, “On the trail we blaze…”
Apple Butter and Zealot sang, “The trail we blaze…is road uncharted…”
Blaze and Nova sang, “Through terra incognita...to a golden shrine…”
Roller and Skater both sang, “No place for the traveler…to be fainthearted…”
Flurry and Mischief both sang, “We are part of a sumptuous grand design…”
All eight sang together, “Changing legend into fact…we shall ride into history…Turning myth into truth…we shall surely gaze…On the sweet unfolding…of an antique mystery…all will be revealed…”
They stopped short when they realized that they had walked onto a creaky, rickety log situated over a cliff.
Apple Butter suggested, “Maybe we should try to finish the song while getting off this thing.” She then sang timidly, “On the trail we blaaaaaaaze!”
The log broke when AB sang that last word. The ponies screamed as they fell down the cliff. Some of them tried to flap their wings or use their magic, but it felt as if there was a gravity pulling them down so hard they couldn’t use their magic or their wings. All they could do was fall into the mist below.
The three carriages bounced along the dirt path and Discord’s personal sky chariot hovered just behind them. Gladmane’s carriage held the king himself, Starling, Pen Pusher, Skyla, Cotton Candy, and Cannon Fire.
“Boy, oh, boy, I can’t wait to show you my beautiful Las Pegasus!” Gladmane smiled in anticipation.
Cotton agreed in excitement, “I know! We’re just as excited to get there! All the shows, carnival rides, arcade games…”
As Cotton rambled on and on, Starling nervously smiled, “She gets very excited when we’re going somewhere new.”
Gladmane chuckled, “Trust me: Las Pegasus is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. Uh-huh-huh.”
In the crystal carriage behind Gladmane’s, Whirl Wind and his family were seated with Fire Spark and Dawn Twirl.
Gale groaned out of boredom, “Ugh. Why doesn’t Uncle Discord just snap his fingers and take us to Lost Pegasus?”
Fire replied, “Because Aunt Starling told him not to.”
The other adults chuckled at that.
In the third carriage, Apple Jewel was with her husband Asher, Gemstone, Seam, Dignity, and Mauve.
Asher asked, “So have any of you been to Las Pegasus before?”
Mauve answered, “As much as we would love to spend vacation time there, the paparazzi in Las Pegasus is notorious. Step one hoof in the city, even when you’re in disguise, and the cameras go flashing. I and my parents have experienced it before. No privacy! Can you imagine?”
Dignity said, “I should certainly like to keep our little Opulence out of the eyes of the public as much as possible.”
Seam added sadly, “If our kids are found.”
Apple Jewel corrected, “When our kids are found. When it comes to the royal family of Canterlot, the chances of success are very high.”
Gemstone added, “Speaking from experience.”
On Discord’s sky chariot drifting behind the third carriage, the spirit of chaos lounged on very comfortable pillows with his daughter and son-in-law seated with their own pillows just a few steps below him.
Screwball said to her father, “You know, Dad, I’m surprised you didn’t resist when Starling told you not to teleport everyone to Las Pegasus.”
Discord replied, “Well, she and everyone else may think that I complied just because she thought it would be rude not to let our ‘host’ act out of the goodness of his heart. But frankly, I’m tired of teleporting here and there for the last few days, so why not use this chance to relax for a bit?”
Mothball reluctantly pointed out, “I don’t think the guards can.”
As proof of his point, the Crystal guards pulling the sky chariot panted and wheezed almost every second.
The draconequus waved his paw in dismissal, “Oh, they’ll be fine. Besides, we should be reaching Las Pegasus soon.”
As if on cue, Gladmane leaned out his carriage window and announced, “Fillies and gentlecolts, I give you Laaaaas Pegasus!”
The guests in their rides leaned either forward or out their windows to get a better glimpse of the high-sloping bridge and the cloudy archway that served as the entrance to the city.
The wheels of the carriages clattered over the golden-colored bridge as the coaches made their way up to the archway. To the surprise of the visiting royals, they saw long crowds of ponies and various other creatures cheering and waving their pennants on either side of the street. This was quite an animated welcome for the royals in the carriages and sky chariot.
Gladmane clarified as he waved to the crowd from his carriage, “Oh, I forgot to tell ya! I planned a parade in your honor! Oh, wait! It was a surprise!” He chuckled at his own joke.
Pen Pusher remarked, “We’re surprised, all right.”
In the sky chariot, Mothball breathed, “Wow…I can’t believe all these people turned out for our arrival.”
Screwball was irritated by this and said, “How can they? Almost all our children are missing and the only thing they can think about is our visit to Las Pegasus?!”
Discord humphed, “I agree. The nerve of some ponies.” He then looked at the crowd and waved to them as he said with a smile, “Still, it never hurts to receive a little adulation.”
Screwball rolled her eyes and said to her husband, “Classic Dad.”
In the second carriage, Sky Blitz held her daughter up so she could wave to the parade-goers with her mom.
Gale cheerfully shouted as she waved like a maniac, “Hi! Hi, there! Hi! I’m Gale! Hi, there! My name’s Gale!”
Just then, she noticed a bat pony guard with golden armor standing in front of a section of the crowd. Like many of the other guards on the sides of the street, he had his wings spread out to prevent anyone from walking or even running towards the carriages. However, Gale noticed that he was different from the other guards. His red eyes weren’t the first thing that caught the young filly’s attention. Rather, it was his black coat that was streaked with pale yellowish stripes and a pale yellowish spot that dominated much of his muzzle. To Gale, he looked like a huge bumble bee or a tiger or even a bumble tiger.
She pointed to him as the carriage rode past the guard and said, “Mommy, Daddy, didja see him?!”
Whirl Wind nodded, “We did, sweetheart.”
Sky Blitz said, “I gotta say, he’s quite a looker.”
Whirl joked as he playfully tapped his wife’s shoulder, “Don’t you start.” They both chuckled.
When the carriages passed through the front gates of the palace, the giant doors closed behind them. The carriages then stopped in the inner court and the sky chariot landed gracefully onto the ground alongside the coaches. The Crystal guards attached to the chariot fell to the ground in exhaustion as they sighed in relief that the long and arduous journey was over.
As everyone stepped out of their rides, Gladmane told his guests, “Welcome to my wonderful abode! You’ll find lots of things to see and do while you’re staying here in my luxurious palace. It doesn’t matter what sorts of activities ya do here; mi casa es su casa.”
Apple Jewel whispered to her peers, “He’s sure talking fancy a lot. I don’t think I like it.”
Gale raised her hoof and asked, “Um, Mr. Gladmane? I saw someone in the crowd today.”
Gladmane lowered himself to her level and asked in a cheerful manner, “Oh, and who was that, my little pony?”
“Well, he has bat wings and yellow stripes. I dunno if he’s a bat pony or a tiger or a bumble bee.”
The stout Earth stallion gave a chuckle, “Oh-ho-ho! I assume ya mean that guard pony who was in the crowd, right?”
Sky Blitz nodded, “That’s the one. We saw him, too.”
“Well, lemme tell ya somethin’: I get lots of goodies from all sorts of places. I even get guard ponies, like the striped bat pony I’m loaning from Princess Luna herself.”
Skyla said in confusion, “He was – or is – part of Grandma’s guard? My family and I weren’t aware of that. Then again, he was probably a guard who worked during the late-night shift.”
“Yes, the fella likes to keep to his own routine, but he’ll make adjustments if need be. But to be honest, I got me some guards that will really knock your socks off. Follow me.”
Even as they followed him through a stone hallway, they saw it was as elegant as the palace’s exterior itself. The ceiling and the pillars separating the windows were pure marble and delicate climbing vines of flowers wrapped themselves around the pillars, giving the hall a feeling of enchantment and timelessness.
Gemstone breathed in wonder, “Gladmane, this corridor is so amazing! However did you manage this?”
Gladmane answered, “Well, darlin’, when you’re rich and famous, you can get just about anything you want. And I what I want is luxury, refinement, and naturally the best of everythin’!”
Starling remarked, “Well, your kingdom is certainly as glamorous as your palace and everything in it.”
He smirked in response, “I know.” He then stopped at an opening and said with his hoof gesturing towards an open field, “Well, here we are. The best guards in the entire kingdom.”
Some of the royals gasped, few uttered sounds of surprise, and others just gaped at what they saw. There were stags running across the field laden with a few pieces of training equipment.
Asher gave an amazed chuckle, “Deers?”
Dawn Twirl corrected him, “It’s ‘deer’ even when it’s plural.”
Fire Spark said in equal amazement as Asher displayed, “There haven’t been deer in a very long time! Gladmane, how did you -?”
Gladmane interrupted with a smirk, “I know what you’re gonna ask, and I’m gonna answer. Ya see, these deer had been roamin’ the land for a while, so when I heard tales of their darin’ deeds and their impressive ability to disappear completely outta sight, I thought ‘Hey, why not hire ‘em as my guards?’ And lemme tell ya: that decision was the best I evah made. Because of ‘em, my kingdom’s safe and I, their faithful king, am still grooving it today. Uh-huh-huh.”
Starling pointed out, “You know, I’ve read in some books that deer aren’t exactly sociable with ponies, or any other species for that matter. How did you get these deer to become your guards?”
“Well, it wasn’t easy, I’ll tell ya, but I have a certain magic that made my offer somethin’ they couldn’t refuse.”
Gale began to walk towards the field, “I wanna go meet them!”
Gladmane put his hoof in front of her as he said, “Sorry, lil’ darlin’. These deer are very shy. They get very nervous around guests. Ya wouldn’t want them to run away as soon as they see ya, do ya?”
Gale lowered her head in disappointment and sighed, “No.”
“Tell ya what? I have a fun room in my castle that’ll be sure to cheer you up. It’s got games, carnival rides, arcades…”
Gale’s face lit up with excitement as she said, “Really? Wow! Mommy, Daddy, can we go?”
Whirl Wind chuckled at her cuteness, “How can we say ‘no’? Let’s go!”
His daughter jumped for joy, “Yippee!”
Everything was a blur to Mischief as he regained consciousness from the crash landing he and his friends had at the bottom of the cliff. Within a matter of moments, his vision cleared and the pain in his head ebbed away. With a hoof near his antlers, he saw that they were in a misty patch of the jungle. He could barely make out anything beyond the trees and vines that were like a border guarding its section of the jungle like it was sacred. As he stood upright, the others followed suit, though some of them groaned while doing so.
Mischief turned to his friends, who had some bruises and/or scrapes, and asked, “Is everyone all right?”
Skater shook her head and her legs as she said, “Yeah. More or less.”
Roller grumbled, “If only we’d seen that log sooner.”
His sister snapped, “We’re in a strange new place, so of course we should’ve seen where we were going!”
Suddenly, they heard rustling around them. Mischief shushed them so they could all hear the sound - or maybe sounds – better and try to pinpoint the source.
Apple Butter asked in a nervous whisper, “Do you think there’s - *gulp* - carnivorous animals surrounding us?”
Blaze chastised her in a hiss, “Don’t be silly, AB! The rose said that Paraddock is a safe and happy place for the kids, so no, there wouldn’t be dangerous beasts lurking in the jungle to eat them.”
Zealot nodded, “He’s right. The worse we’ll probably get are monkeys.”
No sooner had he said that than a troop of spider monkeys came bursting forth from the brush, screeching and bent on attacking the strangers. Even in the midst of the chaos, the group noticed that there was something odd about the monkeys: they had four arms, four legs, four eyes, and fangs, just like real spiders! Not only that, but they also had wings of all things!
The ponies screamed, “AAAHHH! FLYING SPIDER MONKEYS!”
Roller shouted, “Now this is something out of a nightmare!”
As the group started using magic or their own devices to ward off the monkey onslaught, Mischief sarcastically remarked, “Oh, sure! Like this is going to be safe and happy for the kids!”
Zealot said as he either punched or kicked the spider monkeys away from him, “I’ve been to many places in the world while I was under Flog’s ownership. I know for a fact that whenever monkeys or other jungle creatures are provoked by something, they attack! Whatever’s going on with Paraddock must be making them aggressive!”
Skater grunted as she used her wings to fan the monkeys away, “Are you sure it’s not us?”
“If it was us, they would’ve attacked us while we were still unconscious! It has to be Paraddock!”
Suddenly, a few monkeys used their tails to grab Apple Butter’s mane and tail.
She grunted, “Hey! Let go! Let go of me, you crazy monkeys!”
A few more of the winged primates used their tails to grab her hooves and the group of spider monkeys started lifting her off the ground.
“Oh, no! Oh, no!” she cried. She then gave a shriek of distress, which caused the other ponies to look up in shock.
Flurry cried, “AB!”
The alicorn created a force field that pushed away the monkeys surrounding her. She flew a few feet above the ground when more monkeys grabbed her and blinded her vision. By the time Apple Butter was carried over the open canopy, her friends were too distracted dealing with the monkey ambush below. Even if her chances of being rescued were starting to become slim, AB continued to call out for help while trying to chase away the monkeys carrying her at the same time.
“HELP ME! SOMEBODY HELP ME, PLEASE! Let go of me, you naughty things! HELP! Ouch! Don’t pull on my mane so hard! Honestly, if you were on ground level in Equestria, you wouldn’t be acting this bad! HEEEELLLLLPPP!!!”
That particular shout reached the ear holes of a young griffon napping on a branch. Her head perked up at the sound and her moderate turquoise eyes flew open. As she began to hear more cries for help, she climbed up the tree and poked through the canopy to get a better view. She gasped when she saw a group of flying monkeys carrying a full-grown pony in the air. She knew this was trouble, so she scurried down the tree as quickly as she could. When she reached the second lowest tree branch just several feet off the ground, she jumped off to spread her wings and fly through the forest floor.
As she flew over a tiny mushroom, she used her tail to press it. Instantly, a piece of bark on the tree opened like a drawbridge to reveal a passage big enough for the griffon. She dove into the passage with no problem and continued to fly through the tunnel. Within a matter of moments, she reached the secret hideout and found her young pony friends still napping. These new pals of hers were none other than the royal kids of Canterlot!
The griffon fretted in her mind, Ooh, this is no time to be napping! I don’t want to wake them up, but this is really important!
She really didn’t want to do it, but she took a deep breath and shouted, “Teeen-hut!
Her screechy call was enough to startle the young ponies into waking up with a jump and a simultaneous shriek. The frightened expression on their faces soon wore off when they saw their fine-feathered friend.
“Gabby!” they all cried happily.
“I’m very sorry to wake you, but we have a mission.”
The kids chattered excitedly amongst themselves before Corona asked Gabby, “What’s the orders, Gabby?”
The griffon explained, “There are flying monkeys heading this way and they’ve got a pony! So it’s up to us to rescue her!” She sheepishly added, “Or him. It might be a ‘him’.”
Turquoise asked, “So what do we do?”
Oddball suggested, “Smash them!”
Jamboree suggested, “Kick them!”
The twins suggested while they stomped, “Stomp them!”
Gabby chuckled, “Wow, you guys are coming up with a lot of ideas, but they’ll be super-high up in the air.” She then gasped, “I know! We should throw rocks and other stuff at the monkeys so they’d drop her.”
The kids cheered, “Yeah!”
They excitedly chattered amongst themselves as they grabbed rocks, sticks, and the hoofmade weaponry they had found when they first discovered the long-abandoned hideout.
Gabby waved her claw as she ordered, “Follow me!”
Some of the ponies followed Gabby out of the hideout while others took different routes connected to the tunnel. Gabby, Turquoise, and Opulence came out of the bark doorway; the twins slid out of two hollow branches pointing downward; Jamboree slid down the branch that hinged down to open the hole the colt came out of; and Corona pushed Oddball out of a hollow knob in a tree after he got stuck momentarily. The ponies followed Gabby to a rocky outcrop as high as the trees in the jungle. From here, they could almost see over the canopy and most of the sky was visible.
When the flying monkeys and their struggling pony captive came into view, Opulence cried as she pointed towards the sky, “I see it!”
The twins said in unison, “Me, too!”
As Gabby and the ponies got ready to give it their all, she said to them, “Ready…aim…”
They then shouted with her, “FIRE!”
The spider monkeys and Apple Butter were suddenly ambushed by flying projectiles. When the monkeys wouldn’t let go of their captive, the rocks, sticks, and strange weaponry kept hitting them. Oh, and Turquoise blew long-range fire at them, which fortunately did not touch them.
Apple Butter remarked, “Either that’s my rescue team or – ow! – some jungle natives trying to get a sacrifice for their god.”
Eventually, the projectile ambush overwhelmed the monkeys and they released AB before flying away. Apple Butter screamed as she fell through the canopy. She gasped when she saw the jagged rocks on the jungle floor below and braced herself for a quick and painless –
SWOOSH!
Death?
Much to her surprise, Apple Butter found herself in the arms of a moderate cerulean Pegasus stallion with a green cap covering much of his sharp and short light sea green mane as well as the very pale highlight it had.
As the stallion set her down on the ground and landed on a flat-topped rock, he laughed in triumph, “Ha-ha! Once again, the day is saved…by Pony Pan!” He struck a heroic pose.
Apple Butter couldn’t believe her eyes. There he was: the real Pony Pan! She thought he looked different in the book illustrations, but the fact that she was seeing him in real life filled her with awe.
She could not contain her excitement as she began jabbering, “Oh-mygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh! You’re him! You’re Pony Pan!”
Pony Pan took off his cap and bowed in respect, “At your service.” He then noticed that since he was on the rock, he was a bit higher than Apple Butter. “Oh, sorry. Let me get down from here first.”
After he did so, a Pegasus mare with a wavy mane streaked with light shades of blue, green, and yellow burst from the brush.
She said as she flew towards him, “Sky – uh – Pony Pan!” She embraced him as she continued, “You saved a pony’s life! You’re so wonderful!”
Pony Pan chuckled, “I do my best.”
The moment he and the mare shared a kiss, Apple Butter knew who she was. After the kiss ended, AB said, “Let me guess: you’re Windy, right?”
Windy batted her eyes at her beloved as she answered, “His one and only.”
Zealot then raced out of the brush as he panted, “Apple Butter! Oh, thank goodness you’re all right! Did the monkeys…?”
He trailed off and his eyes widened when he realized there were two ponies standing behind his marefriend. He recognized the stallion’s cap from the illustrations in the books about Pony Pan. He himself had not read the stories as a young colt, but thanks to the kids, he got introduced to the plucky hero for the first time.
He breathed, “Are you…?”
Pony Pan replied, “Pony Pan’s the name, adventure’s my game.”
He continued with a stunned tone, “You’re really him. You’re really Pony Pan.”
Flurry’s voice cut through the jungle, “AB!”
The other Guardians came rushing out of the brush and embraced Apple Butter.
Flurry exclaimed in relief, “Thank goodness!”
Nova looked at her friend and asked in concern, “Are you hurt, AB?”
AB smiled, “No, Nova, I’m fine.”
Blaze suggested, “I say we get out of this jungle before it kills us all.”
Suddenly, they heard high-pitched shouting coming towards them. They prepared to meet the enemy head-on until they saw that the source was –
“Kids!” the Guardians cried in unison upon seeing the excited tots running towards them.
Turquoise spoke up, “Guess what? I got the monkeys with my fire breath!”
The twins pushed her aside and came forth while claiming, “You did not! We did it!”
Jamboree argued, “Did not! I did!”
The twins shot back, “No way! We did!”
Oddball pushed the three aside and shouted, “Nuh-uh! I did!”
The tiny ponies then began to tussle with each other. The pile of squirming ponies was so chaotic that one could say it was the very definition of the word “brawl”.
Pony Pan interrupted the fracas by shouting, “Attention!”
In an instant, the tots stood in an orderly line and saluted, just as the Lost Colts would do in the Pony Pan stories whenever their leader called for order.
At that moment, Gabby appeared from the brush and gasped, “You’re him!” She then squealed excitedly, “You’re Pony Pan! EEEEE! You’re the real deal! I never thought I’d get to meet you because you were supposed to be imaginary and everything, but here I am!”
Mischief asked, “Um, just how are you here?”
“Okay, long story short.” She took a deep breath and said, “I was living in Griffonstone and I became old enough to live on my own. Everything was great, but then those awful black guys came in the middle of the night and wrecked a lot of stuff. I was afraid to go back to sleep at first, but then I fell asleep at midnight. When I woke up the next morning, I was in this gorgeous field with lots and lots of flowers! I’d never seen anything like it in my whole life, so I played in it all day until I found this jungle.
“It was so exciting to be somewhere I’ve never been to before! I explored the jungle and found all kinds of amazing things! But you know what’s the most amazing thing I found? A secret hideout!”
Jam piped up, “Yeah! When we get here, we see the field and the jungle. Gabby find us and take us to the secret hideout.”
Pony Pan put his hoof to his chin and smirked, “This wouldn’t happen to be the hideout of the Lost Colts, would it? Because if it is…then I got myself some Lost Colts! Wanna join me and have many adventures together?”
Gabby and the tots answered in hearty agreement, “YEAH!”
Roller Blade waved his hooves to quiet down the cheers, “Hey! Hey!”
When the kids became hushed, Flurry said to Pony Pan, “Look, we appreciate your offer of taking the kids on extraordinary adventures with you, but I’m afraid we’re going to have to say ‘no’.”
The kids let out a disappointed “awww” in reply.
Mischief nodded, “Yeah, we have to take them home. Their parents are very worried.”
Apple Butter held up her hoof and said, “But wait! Didn’t we promise the flowers that we’d help them? And what if there are Crystal Fairies on Paraddock and they're in danger?”
The kids’ eyes widened at this and they exclaimed, “Crystal Fairies?!” They then engaged in excited chatter over how they wanted to see a Crystal Fairy in real life. They even pleaded to the adults to take them to the Crystal Fairies.
“Pleeeease?” they asked with puppy eyes.
Skater sighed, “Guess there’s no way out of this.”
Zealot said, “Maybe this is why the map sent us here. Not just to find the kids, but also save the Crystal Fairies and maybe Paraddock, too.”
Mischief held out his hoof and said, “So are we all in?”
The rest of the Guardians and Zealot put their hooves on top of Mischief’s and said in unison, “Guardians of Equestria, now and forever!”
Flurry turned to the kids and said with a smile, “Looks like you’re going to get your wish after all. Next stop: the Crystal Fairies!”
The kids cheered as Gabby hugged the princess and said, “Oh, thank you - thank you - thank you! We’ll be on our best behavior, I promise!”
“I don’t doubt you will.”
Pony Pan suggested, “Say, kids? Since we need food, water, and all that stuff before going on a great big adventure, why don’t we stop by my famous treehouse for a bit?”
Since the train ride to Maris offered breathtaking views on either side of the windows, it helped ease the nervous energy some of the royals had accumulated from sitting in their seats for a long time, particularly Rainbow Dash and the party couple.
Pinkie and Cheese jabbered as they zipped between windows on either side, “Look at that! Oh, look at that! Ooh, pretty! What’s that?! It’s gorgeous!”
Rainbow groaned in aggravation, “It never gets old. At this rate, we’ll get to Maris at nightfall.”
Sunset assured her sister, “Don’t worry. I checked the maps and the travel times. We should get there well before Mother lowers the sun.”
Timber Spruce wrapped his hoof around his wife and said suavely, “Then there’ll be some ooh-la-la for the both of us.”
“You said it,” she said before they locked lips.
Rarity said as she looked through a Maris brochure, “If you ask me, I’m very delighted to visit the palace again. On our earlier visits, Dandy Grandeur was on the throne. But now that his nephew’s ruling the kingdom, they say he’s made all of Prance a better place.”
Sunset asked, “I wonder how Dandy’s taking it?”
Applejack said, “If four years of not bein’ king is makin’ him crazy enough to send them Dark Riders out for who-knows-what, we’ll expose him faster than a rattlesnake with a mouthful of jalapeno peppers.”
Rarity shook her head, “You and your strange countryisms.”
Just then, the conductor stepped into the car and cleared his throat, “Ahem. Your Highnesses-“
He was blown away by Pinkie and Cheese shouting excitedly, “WE’RE HERE!!!”
The conductor got up and brushed himself off before he said in a slightly-perturbed tone, “Yes. Thank you, Your Highnesses.”
The train then pulled up to the train station before it stopped amid steam clouds. The Canterlot royals walked onto the platform before they saw Feather Bangs waiting for them. He was very different from the last time they saw him. He was still the dashing and charming stallion he was as a prince, but now he looked so regal in kingly robes.
He bowed in respect, “Your Highnesses. It’s so wonderful to see you again. How’s the fam?”
Sunset answered, “They’re great. We’re having a bit of a scare, but other than that, they’re okay.”
Feather Bangs sadly mentioned, “Yeah. Sorry about the kids. Hope the Guardians find them soon.”
Spike said, “I’m not surprised you have faith in them.”
“After everything they did four years ago, I wouldn’t ever give them a doubt.”
Rarity asked, “Your Majesty, since you’ve become king, have you been keeping any traditions of Dandy’s?”
He answered, “Honestly, I just dumped a lot of them because they seemed like overkill. But there is one greeting tradition I kept.”
Pinkie and Cheese asked hopefully, “The parade?”
The king chuckled, “The parade.”
The party couple gave a cheer of delight.
Everyone but Pony Pan and Windy was in amazement as they saw the famous treehouse for the first time. It was just like in the books and more! They gazed up at the circular wooden structure with a leaf roof and a curtain of vines hanging under the railing like a skirt.
Flurry breathed, “The Crow’s Nest.”
Blaze said with wide eyes and an awed smile, “I never thought I’d get to see it in real life.”
Skater said, “None of us did.”
Pony Pan said confidently, “Well, lucky for you, I’ll give you a personal tour of the Crow’s Nest so you can get to know the real Pony Pan.” He walked towards a tall bush and pulled it back to reveal a basket large enough to carry ten grown ponies. “Why don’t you kids take a ride in it? After all, it’s for Lost Colts only.”
The kids shouted in glee as they raced towards the basket, “Yeah!”
When the small ponies and Gabby got into the basket, Pony Pan grabbed the rope with his wings and said, “Okay! Here we go!”
As Pony Pan pulled on the rope, the basket rose higher and higher from the ground. Halfway between the jungle floor and the boardwalk sticking out of the hut, the famous legend began to pant in exhaustion.
“Boy, lifting these kids is harder than it looks!”
Windy said as she came up to him, “I’ll help.”
Mischief offered, “Me, too.”
With Windy using her wings and Mischief using his magic, the three of them pulled the rope until the basket almost reached the boardwalk. When the rim nearly kissed the edge of the boardwalk, the kids cheered as they jumped out and raced onto the boardwalk towards the hut.
Skater remarked, “I have to admit, that is pretty clever. But how do we get up to the Crow’s Nest?”
Pony Pan answered, “Well, it’s usually just Windy and me, since we have wings. Plus, having no stairs keeps the Crow’s Nest from being discovered.”
Mischief said, “I can teleport us up there.”
With a flash of green light from his antlers, the group found themselves in the Crow’s Nest. Despite the circular hut being almost bare, it seemed very homey. There were two hammocks arranged like bunk beds on one side, a fire pit with a food pantry on another side, and a telescope and other observational tools near a section of the railing. There was also a slightly-depressed round rug lying in the center of the hut and a map hanging above a wooden chest at a section of the circular wall.
Flurry remarked in an awed tone, “I can’t believe we’re seeing all this for the first time!”
Roller added with a smile, “I can’t believe we’re actually seeing Pony Pan and everything that was in the books!”
Nova Rose nodded, “This is an experience I’ll remember forever.”
Blaze said, “Hey, Pony Pan’s lucky he has forever to live the dream. He’s the colt who never grew up, remember?”
Zealot asked Pony Pan, “By the way, how have you stayed young all this time?”
The famous legend answered, “Well, I would tell you, but you know the saying: heroes never reveal their secrets.”
Nova said in confusion, “Wait, isn’t it supposed to be-?”
She was cut off by a sudden scream. The group turned to see a hole where the rug once was. The ponies looked down the hole to see Jamboree lying on top of the rug, which now covered a pile of papers.
Flurry asked in concern, “Jam, are you okay?”
Suddenly, Pony Pan swooped down towards the colt and said quickly as he grabbed him, “Yep, he’s just fine!” When he came up with Jam again, he told him, “You gotta always watch where you step with that rug.” He gave a nervous chuckle before he continued, “You could fall.”
Blaze said as he peered down into the secret room again, “Where? What is this place?”
Pony Pan said with undertones of anxiety creeping in his face and voice, “Oh, that’s just my…think room! Yeah! Heroes like Pony Pan always have a think room!”
Zealot asked, “But why would you keep a think room under a rug?”
The hero tried to answer, “Well…” He looked to Windy, who shook her head with a nervous expression on her face. He sighed, “Looks like the jig is up.”
Skater asked suspiciously, “What jig?”
“Mischief, can you do your…teleportation thing?”
Mischief complied and in a green flash, everyone was in the secret room, which was admittedly dark save for the light that leaked through the hole. Pony Pan pulled the chain on a metal dragon statuette and flames sprung from its mouth, making their way across the circle of candle holders bolted to the wall around the room. The kids uttered sounds of awe at both this fantastic feat and how large the room seemed now, even though there were papers, books, and trinkets strewn all over the place.
Nova said, “I admire the engineering genius behind the dragon and candles, but shouldn’t we worry about the papers and books accidentally catching fire?”
Pony Pan replied, “Nah. One of the previous Pony Pans made sure no accidents would happen.”
This caught the adults off-guard.
Mischief asked in surprise, “Previous Pony Pans?”
Blaze also asked in a shocked tone, “You mean there was more than one?”
Roller remarked, “Dude. Mind. Blown.”
The kids looked up at Pony Pan and Turquoise asked, “So, you’re not the real Pony Pan?”
Pony Pan waved his hooves and explained, “Oh, no, no, no, no! What I’m saying is that I’m the current Pony Pan, not the first one.”
Oddball said in confusion, “I don’t get it.”
Blaze teased, “Oh, my! The grandson of the lord of chaos is confused? Wow, I did not see that coming!”
Nova harshly tapped his arm as she admonished, “Knock it off.”
Gabby stepped forth and said to Pony Pan, “So you’re telling us that there was a Pony Pan before you, who in turn had a Pony Pan before him, right?”
The Pegasus smiled, “Got it in one, kiddo.” He walked towards a desk and began to dig through the mass of papers and books on it. He explained as he was searching for something, “You see, there were lots of Pony Pans before me, and I mean lots. The legend of Pony Pan has been around for, like, centuries. The original Pony Pan existed about 700 years ago. Before he got too old, he taught one of his Lost Colts to be the next Pony Pan. Since then, each Pony Pan would be taught by a Pony Pan before him and in turn would teach a new Pony Pan to take his place.”
He then groaned in frustration, “Oh, come on! Where is that picture of me with-?”
Windy interrupted him, “It’s over here, under the blue vial.”
Pony Pan went over to her and pulled out a colored photograph of a young version of him with a middle-aged Pegasus.
He turned to the group and pointed to the older stallion, “This is Whip Hornet, the guy who was the Pony Pan before I took his place. He was a great mentor and he actually wanted to keep going, but he had a condition that stopped him. When I came along, he saw this as a chance to hand the torch – or hat - to someone younger. Everything I know came from him as well as the teachings of past Pony Pans.”
Skater asked, “So if you’re not actually Pony Pan, then who are you?”
The stallion answered, “My name is Sky Stinger.” He gestured to Windy, “This is Vapor Trail. We both came from Stratusburg before we came to Paraddock.”
Flurry asked, “Why were you beamed up to Paraddock? Were you in danger?”
Vapor Trail explained, “Oh, we weren’t in any danger, I think. Besides, Sky was the only one who was beamed up. I couldn’t sleep, so I looked out my window and I saw him and Paraddock. I decided to follow him up the beam, but what happened next was really strange. One minute, I was trailing after Sky towards the blue light, but the next, I woke up in a field of flowers in broad daylight like I had just fallen asleep the night before. I searched for a way off Paraddock, but Sky wanted to explore everything.”
Sky Stinger continued, “We went into the jungle and got caught in a net. That’s how we met Whip Hornet. Of course, we thought he was actually Pony Pan then. After he set us free, he told us about how he was trying to capture a flying badger so it could take him to the Crystal Fairies.”
Nova asked, “Why did he want to get to the Crystal Fairies?”
“So he could be healed of his condition. Unfortunately, we were attacked by Captain Hoof and his dirty crew. During the onslaught, the flying badger escaped, never to be seen again. After that, Whip said that he wanted to train me in the ways of Pony Pan. Vapor and I sent messages home to our families, saying we were okay on Paraddock and telling them everything about our adventure with Pony Pan. After some years, Whip told us his real name the night before he left Paraddock for good. The next day, it was just Vapor and me, destined to play the roles many kept alive for centuries.”
Nova opened a few of the books with her magic and pointed out, “That would explain why the Pony Pan stories are slightly different from each other. See? This illustration of Pony Pan has a hat and the other doesn’t. Is having different Pony Pans why sometimes Windy comes from Fillydelphia and sometimes from Baltimare? Why the names and species of the Lost Colts vary? Even why Nicker Bell appears in some stories and not others?”
Sky and Vapor said simultaneously, “Yes, yes, and yes.”
Vapor Trail said, “I can tell you why there are different Windys and why the character doesn’t appear in all of the stories. Sometimes, whoever’s Pony Pan gets interested in a marefriend or a mare pal, so he wants to take her as his Windy. Only a few of those ponies have ever said ‘no’ to Pony Pan.”
Sky chuckled, “Not you, though. You said ‘yes’ right away.”
She shrugged happily, “Well, you were my best friend until you became my coltfriend. Now, you’re my husband.”
The other ponies and Gabby cried, “Husband?!”
Blaze pointed to the couple, “You two are married?!”
Vapor Trail explained, “Only a few Pony Pans and Windys ever get married. Usually, Pony Pan and Windy are either best friends or attracted to each other. Sky and I are lucky to be perfect for each other.”
Her husband smiled, “Who else would I want to share my adventures with?”
They both wrapped their arms around each other and kissed.
Roller said, “Okay, romance aside, we need to find a flying badger that can take us to the Crystal Fairies. They might know what’s happening to Paraddock.”
Sky sighed, “It’s not easy, I’ll tell you. It took Whip a long time to find one…” He continued in a grudged tone, “…before Captain Hoof ruined everything.”
Just then, they heard a skittering sound above. They looked up and to their amazement, they saw a badger with wings peering over the rim of the hole!
Sky’s eyes widened in surprise and he immediately breathed, “A flying badger!”
Before her husband could fully leave the ground to catch the badger, Vapor quickly grabbed him. “Shh! You don’t want to scare it!”
Flurry said, “Vapor’s right. We have to be very careful.”
Blaze suggested, “Maybe Oddball can talk to it. His grandma’s good with animals.”
Oddball lit up, “That’s right!”
He flew up to the creature, who took a few cautious steps away from him. He spoke to it, “Hi there. I’m Oddball. I wanna be friends with you.”
To everyone’s surprise, the winged badger nuzzled against Oddball’s body.
The mix-matched colt giggled, “I think he likes me!”
Nova asked, “Can you ask him if he can lead us to the Crystal Fairies?”
As if he understood her, the creature skittered to the railing and pointed to the jungle.
Oddball shouted down to the group in the secret room, “He knows where the fairies are! And he wants us to follow him!”
Vapor smiled, “That’s wonderful!”
Mischief said, “So as soon as we get the supplies, we can follow the badger!”
Sky Stinger said with a raised brow, “You do realize what you just said is both ridiculous and true at the same time?”
After everyone’s supply bags were packed to the brim, the flying badger led them deeper into the jungle. The group was all lined up in twos, with Sky and Vapor in the front, then Flurry and Gabby, Mischief and Oddball, Skater with Cuff, Roller with Ruff, Apple Butter with Turquoise, Nova and Opulence, Blaze and Corona, and finally Zealot with Jamboree. To pass the time, the group sang a tune.
“Following the badger, the badger, the badger…We're following the badger…wherever he may go…Tee dum, tee dee, a teedleee do tee day…Tee dum, tee dee, it's part of the game we play…Tee dum, tee dee, the words are easy to say…Just a teedleeedum a teedleee do tee day…
“Tee dum, tee dee, a teedleee do tee dum…We're one for all, and all of us out for fun…We march in line and follow the other one…with a teedleee do a teedleee do tee dum…”
They whistled for a while before they resumed singing in the meadow, “Following the badger, the badger, the badger…We're following the badger…wherever he may go…We're out to find the fairies, the fairies, the fairies…We're out to find the fairies…because only he knows…Tee dum, tee dee, a teedleee do tee day…We march along and these are the words we say: Tee dum, tee dee, a teedle de dumdee-day…Oh, a teedleeedum a teedleee do tee day…Oh, a teedleeedum a teedleee-do-tee-day…”
“Duck!” Sky suddenly shouted as he stopped in his tracks.
Following his command, the group scurried to find hiding places amidst the bushes and trees lining the seashore.
Sky slightly poked his head out from behind the tree and whispered, “Do you see that?”
The kids whispered, “The Polly Roger.”
“Yep.” His eyes slit in anger as he continued, “Captain Hoof’s ship.”
The anchored ship bobbed gently amidst the soft waves of the sea. It was actually quite colorful for a pirate ship. There were rainbow-colored wings on the sides of the ship and a parrot figurehead positioned at the front of the vessel.
Vapor Trail remarked, “Wow, it’s so colorful.”
Sky Stinger said uneasily, “Yeah, I always thought that Captain Hoof’s ship would be…scarier than this. Then again, he ambushed us on land, so we didn’t really see the ship. Still, it’s odd that he would decorate his ship like this. He is not a nice parrot.”
Zealot asked, “Sorry, did you say ‘parrot’ or ‘pirate’?”
“He’s both, actually. He’s a parrot who’s a pirate. The same goes for his dastardly crew.”
Roller said as he clashed his hooves together, “I say we get in there and give ‘em what for.”
Sky protested, “I would seriously advise against that. Whip’s mentor, Blue Star, told him that when he was Pony Pan, Captain Hoof got himself a powerful weapon loaded with serious magic. I mean really serious magic. He said that Hoof stole it from one of his friends. Blue’s, not Hoof’s. He told Whip he was never the same after that. The missing page that was ripped out of the journal is proof that he blamed himself for what happened to his friend.”
Skater asked, “Did you, Whip, or Blue ever try to get the magic back from Hoof?”
Sky shook his head, “No. Blue warned Whip that it would be too dangerous to steal the weapon and magic from Captain Hoof. And after the ambush that made Whip lose the badger, I’m not too keen on confronting Hoof face-to-face. Besides, even without using the weapon, Captain Hoof is pretty dangerous and cunning. You do not want to mess with him.”
Blaze asked, “Let me ask you something: was Hoof using the weapon when he ambushed you?”
The Pegasus scoffed, “Like he needed to. It was just a land attack in the middle of the night. Trust me, Captain Hoof is a very good fighter without the weapon. He almost ended Whip’s career for good.”
The unicorn said as he put his hoof to his chin, “So maybe Hoof only uses the weapon for more dire situations.” His eyes then widened with realization before he flashed a smirk, “Guys, I think I have an idea.”
After going over the plan, Sky grumbled as he stepped out of the brush, “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
Vapor pleaded softly, “Just please be okay.”
Just as Sky put his hoof onto the shore, Blaze whispered to the group, “Go, go, go!”
At his behest, the group started to move through the trees alongside the shore. Once they were several feet left of the ship, they followed Mischief onto the shore and into the water, where he created an underwater current to travel to the other side of the sea.
As this happened, Sky grumbled to himself, “Why am I even doing this?” He then said in a falsetto voice, “’Hey, Sky! I have a plan! We’re going to travel underwater while you stay and draw Hoof’s fire.’ Yeah, good idea! Make me bait for that dreaded pirate!”
He then stopped before his hooves could touch the water. He took a deep breath and said, “Okay. Here we go.” He inhaled as deeply as he could before he saw the muzzle of a cannon appear on the side of the ship. He nervously said with fear buzzing in his chest, “Well, seems they dragged out Long Tom. Time to give them a show.”
He spread out his wings and crouched before zipping up into the air. When he reached the heights of the tallest trees, he gave a whistle. He then taunted, “Hoof! Hoof, you codfish! Here!”
Right on cue, the cannon started firing its deadly balls at Sky, who dodged them with flair and confidence. Meanwhile, the rest of the group was traveling quickly underwater via the current as if it was a tube. They held onto each other’s hooves/talons tightly and were wearing bubbles on their heads to keep from breathing in any seawater.
Vapor fretted, “I hope Sky will be all right.”
Roller remarked, “He’s Pony Pan. He can get out of any scrape.”
“Yes, but this is actually the first time he’s had cannonballs fired at him!”
Mischief, who was at the front, reassured her, “Don’t worry. We’ll get to the shoreline in time.”
True to his word, they surfaced near the shoreline within ten seconds. As soon as everyone stepped onto the sand, Mischief concentrated his thoughts on Sky Stinger and his antlers glowed green. At that moment, Sky turned around to see a cannonball headed straight for him. He knew he wouldn’t dodge it in time, but to his surprise, he found himself on a different beach.
Sky said breathlessly, “That was too close a call! Why couldn’t you just teleport us here?!”
He answered with furrowed brows, “I can only teleport somewhere if I can see it. But since I’ve seen you before, that’s how I was able to teleport you even though you were out of sight.”
Skater said, “Save the talk for later! Let’s just go before Captain Hoof uses his telescope to see us!”
As quickly as they had arrived, the group ran from the shore and into the woods. After a minute, they stopped to catch their breath.
Flurry panted, “I think we’re safe.”
Blaze agreed, “Yeah, if Captain Hoof saw us, he would’ve lost us by now.”
Opulence asked, “Where are we?”
Sky said as he saw a piece of wood sticking out from behind a curtain of leaves on a tree, “Hang on, I think I see something.” He pulled back the leaves and read aloud, “’Turkey Wood’.”
Roller snickered, “Turkey Wood? What, are these woods filled with turkeys?”
As if an answer to his rhetorical question, a blue turkey with a few icicles hanging from its body gobbled frantically past the group.
Gabby asked, “Ice turkeys?”
Skater rolled her eyes and corrected, “Cold turkeys.”
The adults responded, “Ah.”
Suddenly, a flock of cold turkeys like the first one sprinted past them while gobbling in panic.
Nova shivered as a cold turkey sped by her, “Brr! They’re ice cold to the touch!”
At that moment, they heard distant shouting and the sound of…spraying water?
The approaching voice growled, “You better run, you filthy beasts! This will teach you to mess up my garden!”
Steam preceded the discolored turkeys rushing out of the brush frantically. The last of the turkeys were being chased by a gush of water battering their brown backsides. The group had to close their eyes to shield them from the stray hot water droplets that were already scalding their coats.
A young unicorn stallion burst from the brush and shouted again as he blasted a hose at the turkeys, “Back! Back, you!” When he noticed other ponies in front of him, he uttered in surprise, “Oh! Forgive me. Let me turn off the water.” His horn glowed silver and the water gushing out of the hose eventually slowed to a stop.
The group opened their eyes to see a stallion with a white coat and a very light yellow mane with a silver streak in it.
Flurry said, “Thank you for turning off your…hose. Just what were you doing?”
The pony sneered, “Those obnoxious turkeys were in my garden and eating my food again. Honestly, this is the third time this week!”
Mischief mentioned, “We might have an explanation for that. Weird things keep happening on Paraddock and we think-“
The stallion frowned, “Of course weird things keep happening on Paraddock. It’s weird. I should know. I’ve been here several times ever since I was a young colt.”
Nova said in surprise, “But how is this possible? Usually, Paraddock beams you up if you’re a kid and you’re in trouble.”
He smirked, “Well, it just so happens that I have the means to travel to Paraddock and back. I even have a chateau to stay in while I’m here. I consider it my summer home. I can show you if you want. You seem like the kind of ponies I can trust.”
As they followed the pony, Zealot said, “We haven’t been properly introduced.”
The stallion stopped and turned to face them as he chuckled, “Oh, how stupid of me! I am Prince Silver Tongue of Maretania.”
The adults froze in surprise. This was Silver Tongue, the son of Prince Blueblood? The son of the stallion the royal sisters so utterly despised because of past misdeeds? When the adults inspected him more closely, they did see a hint of Blueblood in him.
Apple Butter nervously said, “Oh, you’re Blueblood’s kid! Nice to meet you. Yeah, your mom was at the banquet. She happened to mention you there.”
Silver Tongue gave a smile, “I’m sure. I’m Mother’s pride and joy, after all.” When they started walking again, he asked, “You know, I didn’t catch your names.”
Flurry answered, “Oh! Beg pardon. I’m Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire. This is my fiancé Sir Mischief, Lady Nova Rose, Zealot of Marendelle, and my cousins Prince Blaze of Canterlot and Prince Roller Blade, Princess Skater, and Princess Apple Butter of Marendelle.”
“You’re royalty? Very interesting. What brings you to this intriguing yet backwards world so high up in the sky?”
Mischief answered, “We were looking for these kids.” He gestured to the small ponies. “They were taken from their parents and brought here because someone on Paraddock thought they were in danger.”
“I remember the first time I came to Paraddock. Maretania was on the verge of waging war with one of its neighbors. I had a lovely dream when I went to bed that night. I woke up in a field of many flowers, some of which were very odd indeed. I was scared at first, and then I thought I was still dreaming. But it turned out to be more than the most imaginative fantasy I could think of.
“The flowers had lovely voices and they sang to me for hours. When they suggested I explore the jungle, I was a little hesitant to go in, but I’m very glad I went in anyway. It was an experience I would remember forever. Oh, look! We’re already here!”
The group looked upon the elegant chateau in awe and wonder. It was like something out of a fairy tale, what with the flowering vines decorating the exterior and a gazebo amidst fragrant flowers.
Skater breathed, “Silver Tongue, this is so awesome!”
“Isn’t it? I took some inspiration from Dandy Grandeur’s abode. Of course, his chateau in the countryside can’t possibly compare to my second home here on Paraddock.”
Blaze asked, “Wait, you know Dandy Grandeur?”
“Oh, yes. Maretania and Prance always has good relations with each another. My parents are rather fond of Dandy Grandeur, though he’s unfortunately been abdicated for some time now.” He faced the Guardians and asked, “I’m told you played a part in that.”
Flurry explained, “We don’t wish to antagonize you, but here’s the story: when we didn’t support Dandy’s wish to have his nephew marry Velvet Blue, he had us locked in a warehouse and disabled our powers for a while. He also hypnotized Velvet into proceeding with the wedding. When we got to the chapel and broke the hypnosis spell on her, Dandy behaved…badly. There were guests who saw the whole thing, so that forced Dandy to step down and give the throne to Feather Bangs.”
Silver Tongue said, “Well, that explains a lot. Dandy doesn’t talk about what happened, but from what you’ve just told me, he left quite a smudge on his legacy.”
Mischief asked, “So you’re not upset that we played a part in his abdication?”
“Why, of course not! I have no ill will towards you. After all, you were just doing your job. I’m merely saying that it was rather unfortunate that he made poor choices that led to his downfall. He’s not a bad pony, you know. He has charisma, charm, and is certainly the most prim and proper pony you’ll ever meet.”
Opulence spoke up, “Wait a minute! Mommy, Daddy, Grandpa, and Grandma are very prim and proper!”
Ruff asked, “What’s ‘prim and proper’?”
She shrugged, “I dunno. They say it all the time.”
Jam fussed, “Can we have dinner now? I’m hungry.”
Silver Tongue said, “Well, then, perhaps we should get supper started. I’ll have the dining room set up and the food ready for you.”
Flurry smiled courteously, “Thank you very much for your hospitality, Silver Tongue. We really appreciate it.”
He chuckled, “My pleasure, Your Highness.”
When Silver kissed her hoof, Mischief felt a slight twinge of jealousy and distrust towards the prince.
When Gale had seen the large fun room for the first time, she and the others were in complete awe. It had everything a kid could want: crazy tube slides, trampolines, even jungle gyms galore. With her parents with her while the others toured the palace with Gladmane, she spent hours in the fun room before she wore herself out from both hunger and exhaustion.
She fussed to her parents, “Mommy, Daddy, I’m done playing. When do we eat?”
Sky Blitz assured her, “Soon. Gladmane said he’ll send a guard to take us to the dinner theater. He should be here any minute now.”
Whirl Wind whispered to his wife, “If you ask me, he should’ve been here sooner. I’m starving here.”
As if on cue, the striped bat pony guard entered the room.
Whirl smirked and whispered to Sky, “Hey, Sky. It’s Hot Stuff again.”
She chuckled as she tapped his arm playfully, “Stop that!”
Gale smiled and greeted him, “Hi, Mr. Bumble Tiger!”
Whirl and Sky’s eyes widened in mortification and they worried the guard would react badly. To their great surprise, he began to laugh heartily.
After a good laugh, the guard wiped a few tears from his eyes and said as he caught his breath, “Nopony ever gave me a nickname like that. Must be my eyes that scare them. But thanks, I needed that laugh. You are now officially my favorite princess.”
Gale cheered as she clapped, “Yay!”
He then smiled, “Now, may I escort Your Highnesses to dinner?”
Sky smiled, “You may.”
Whirl picked up his daughter as he said, “Come on, Gale.” After he placed her on his back, he said, “Let’s follow Mr. Bumble Tiger.”
The adults laughed as they began to walk out of the room.
The guard gently said, “My name is Foxhelm, by the way. Just thought you should know. I’ll come whenever you need me.”
Whirl asked, “Does every guard give a guest their special treatment here?”
“Well, considering your daughter lightened up my spirits, I hereby give you permission to call for me anytime you need help.”
“So I’m to assume that you two are engaged, is that correct?” Silver Tongue asked as he and some of the other adults were eating their supper in the dining room. Skater and Roller were in the kitchen managing the children because Silver had insisted the kids had to eat their dinner in a separate room.
Mischief nodded as he and Flurry held hooves, “That’s right. We’re going to get married as soon as we leave Paraddock.”
“That soon? How long have you been engaged?”
Flurry replied, “Months now, but we’ve known each other for four years.”
Silver leaned forward and said, “You don’t say? My parents were engaged for a few months before they got married. What a coincidence!”
Mischief, wanting to change the subject, mentioned, “You said you’ve been to Paraddock more than once and you have the means to do so. What kind of means?”
The prince answered, “I’ve never told anypony this except for my parents, but since most of you are royalty and you’ve found this place, I’m willing to let you in on my little secret. There’s a grove filled with special trees not far from here. They grow magical stars that can grant three wishes apiece. I use those stars to create my chateau and travel to Paraddock and back. I even have some stars stored in my chateau for emergencies. But I must confess: I need your help, Guardians.”
Apple Butter asked, “What is it?”
“I usually harvest more wishing stars when my supply runs low, but lately, there have been fewer stars to harvest. It’s as if the trees are dying somehow. There’s only a small amount of stars left now.”
Blaze suggested, “Maybe you’re harvesting too many stars.”
Nova shook her head, “No. I think this has to do with what’s happening to Paraddock. If we can find the Crystal Fairies or maybe even the one who created this world, then perhaps we can restore Paraddock to its former glory and get the trees growing wishing stars again.”
Silver smiled broadly, “Excellent! Then I shall accompany you on your quest. I happen to be highly-skilled when it comes to words. That’s how I got my cutie mark.”
At that moment, Roller stepped inside the room and said, “Hey, Silver? Looks like some more cold turkeys got into your garden.”
Silver said, “What?! Not again!” He jumped out of his seat and raced past Roller. After a few moments, the guests saw the unicorn chasing the turkeys with a broom just outside the dining room windows. They heard him shouting in a muffled voice, “Oy! Get out of my garden, you freaks of nature! I said, get! Don’t make me break out the hose again!”
Blaze smirked, “Would you look at that? Dinner and a show.”
“Ah, here they are! The last of my honored guests!” Gladmane said cheerfully as Whirl, his family, and Foxhelm approached the crowded table at the dinner theater. “So glad you made it here in time! The show’s about to start.” He faced Foxhelm and said with a smile, “You’re dismissed.”
The guard nodded and left the dinner theater.
As the Pegasi got seated, Gladmane said, “You are in for a real treat, my friends! I have some of the best acts in Equestria right here in Las Pegasus, not to mention the finest foods made by the best chefs in the world! Uh-huh-huh!”
As the royal guests dined on their supper, the curtains rose and Iron Will stepped into the spotlight. His loud, confident voice resonated throughout the theater via his microphone, “Filliiies and gentlecolts! Are you ready to have. The best. Night. Of. Your. Life?!”
The audience shouted as they raised their hooves, “Yeah!”
“I can’t hear you!”
“YEAH!!!”
“NO!!! You ain’t! None of you are prepared for the dazzling and spectacular show we have planned for tonight! This is a very special night, ‘cuz if you look in the king’s box behind you, you’ll see the special guests sitting with him! Why, they’re none other than members of Canterlot’s own royal familyyy!”
As the crowd cheered in excitement, Gale whined while covering her ears, “He’s too loud, Mommy.”
Whirl remarked, “If you ask me, he should be a ring announcer for professional boxing or wrestling tournaments.”
The other royals chuckled at this.
Gladmane praised, “That’s a good joke, Whirl. I like it.”
Iron Will continued, “And to make it special, this one-night-only performance will be just for them and you! So get ready for the most amazing, astounding, never-before-seen stunts by the awe-inspiring ponies of Poneeet Fantastiiique!”
As he stepped off the stage, multicolored rays of lights flickered to the synthesized music playing. After a few moments, a group of trapeze artists and acrobats either walked onto the stage or were lifted down via trapeze bars. The audience gasped and uttered sounds of awe as the performers did their impressive stunts and moves. Even the royal guests clapped and cheered at this.
Discord, on the other hand, couldn’t focus entirely on the act. His eyes flickered from the show to his plate to the amulet and back again, sometimes in mixed order. Admittedly, he spent more time fixed on Gladmane’s necklace than on the show or his food. He knew there was something there, but what?
When the draconequus’s eyes flickered to the stage and performers again, Gladmane asked, “Is something troublin’ you, Your Wonderful-ness?”
Discord answered, eyes on Gladmane as he spoke, “Oh, I was just thinking about my poor dear grandson.” He fanned his claw near his face to make it seem like he was trying not to cry. “He’s so far away from his family and I miss him ever so much.” He pressed his paw to his chest and gave a sniffle to sound convincing. He then said in his normal inquisitive voice, “By the way, where did you get that lovely necklace? I’d like to get one for my dear sweet Fluttershy when she returns from Maris.”
Gladmane put a hoof to his amulet and chuckled, “Oh, this baby? Well, it has a long and interestin’ story, but I don’t wanna distract you from watchin’ the show, so just sit back and relax. I promise you, Ponet Fantastique does not disappoint.”
Though he tried not to show it, Discord was irritated that Gladmane deflected his question like that, whether deliberately or not. He knew he couldn’t ask again lest the king should suspect his interest in the amulet. The lord of chaos had to keep his intentions a secret so Gladmane would be none the wiser. When he tried to focus on the show to avoid raising suspicion, the brief silhouette in the amulet appeared again, catching his eye for about two seconds. It was as if it was trying to tell him not to give up so soon. At that moment, Discord knew he had to solve the mystery before the visit was over, no matter what it took.
After the Amazing Roar Horn and Sprigfield finished their animal act, the audience clapped as the lights brightened the theater. Iron Will stepped onto the stage again and announced to everyone, “Did I say it would be an unforgettable night or did I say it would be an unforgettable night? Hold on to your hats and horseshoes, because I have one last announcement from King Gladmane himself!”
Gladmane whispered with a grin, “Here it comes…”
“Two nights from now, the king of Las Pegasus will host a ball in honor of the visiting royals and you’re all invited!”
Confetti suddenly shot into the air from all directions and many fancy tickets floated down with the colored bits of paper. The audience cheered in ecstasy and immediately reached out for a ticket.
“There’s no need for a quarrel when there are tickets for all! The king and his important guests look forward to seeing every one of you at the ball, so look your best and don’t skip the party!”
Skyla asked as she and the others walked down the glamorous hallways, “A ball? You never told us about a ball held in our honor.”
Gladmane suavely admitted, “It was my best-kept secret, Princess. I mean, you can’t honestly expect that I wouldn’t throw a party just for you. Y’all are too famous not to be treated well by your host and the people of this fair kingdom.”
Asher mentioned, “You know, you’ve been doing all this just for us. I mean, the parade, the dinner theater, and now the ball. Not to sound ungrateful, but what gives?”
The king answered, “Well, young prince, everyone knows that when a royal or even a whole family of ‘em visits a neighboring kingdom, the host has gotta do everything to make sure the visit goes well. Hay, even a good impression would do the hosting kingdom some good. It could lead to a boost in reputation, connections, and maybe even an alliance. But that’s just my opinion. I wanna make sure y’all enjoy your stay here until ya hafta leave again.”
Starling said, “We’ll stay only as long as we need to create a plan to stop Dandy.”
Gladmane nodded, “Why, of course, of course, Crown Princess! I wouldn’t shirk from my duties as king, now would I? Y’all get some rest now. Tomorrow’s a big day. Lots of plannin’ and brainstormin’ to do. Well, g’night.”
As Discord went to his guest room, he grumbled about missing another opportunity to ask about the necklace.
After they had supper with Feather Bangs and his young family, the girls and their husbands walked behind an escort down the lavish hallways of the Palace of Versaddles.
Rarity smiled, “Oh, the dinner was simply divine!”
Fancy agreed, “Quite!”
Pinkie chattered, “I can’t remember eating that much good food in so long! Oh, wait. We had the pre-wedding dinner a few nights ago!”
The adults giggled at Pinkie’s silliness.
Spike smiled in amusement, “Yes, Pinkie. We did.”
Applejack asked, “Don’t ya think we should turn in now so we can leave for Dandy’s chateau first thing in the morning?”
Rarity nodded, “We must. It is of absolute importance that we speak to him about the Dark Rider matter.”
Sunset put her hoof to her chin as she said, “Especially if Feather Bangs mentioned an attack that happened in Maris a few months ago. It’s really strange considering-“
The escort interrupted as he stopped, “We’re here, Your Highnesses. Ring the bells on your walls if you need anything. Good night.”
When the pony left, Sunset continued, “Considering the Riders left Prance’s crest at the Crystal Empire. As far as Feather’s concerned, he’s not aware of any wrongful activities his uncle might be up to.”
Timber said, “Well, there’s only one way to find out: talk to the stallion himself.”
Fancy nodded, “Indeed. And if he’s still touchy about his abdication, Rarity and I will be the most suitable ponies for the job. We know how to strike up a conversation without provocation.”
Rainbow said, “Yeah, it’s definitely a good thing you two will be talking to Dandy. With your fancy words, you’ll be chumming up to him in no time.”
In one of the guest rooms Silver Tongue offered his guests, Flurry brushed her mane as Mischief sat on his bed with his head down in contemplation.
He looked up at his beloved and asked, “Flurry, what do you think of Silver Tongue?”
The alicorn answered, “I think he’s courteous and hospitable…Okay, forcing the kids to eat in the kitchen and leaving the badger outside wasn’t exactly hospitable. But other than that…”
“He’s princely material?”
“Well, if by ‘princely’ you mean having good etiquette and being well-groomed, then yes.”
“But?”
“His behavior could be better. From what I can tell, some of what he said indicates he probably has the same attitude his dad does.”
Her fiancé said with an undertone of disdain in his voice, “If what I’ve heard about Blueblood is true, then Silver Tongue must take some traits from him.”
“Let’s not assume too much about him right now. We should just give him a benefit of a doubt unless we’re wrong and he is like his dad. Right now, we should rest up. It’s been a long day.” She gave him a kiss on the lips and said, “Good night, honey.”
Mischief said with a playful smile, “Isn’t it a bit early to call me ‘honey’? We’re not married yet.”
Flurry shrugged as she got onto her bed, “Hey, it’s never too early when you’re engaged.”
He said as he lied down on his bed, “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
With a green aura enveloping his antlers, Mischief turned off the lights.
It didn’t matter if the bed was comfy or the room was comfortably airy. As always, Gale Force woke up before her parents did. She found the way the sunlight flooded into the room and gave it a natural glow to be pleasant. She walked up to the slightly-ajar balcony doors and pushed them open to the best of her ability. The young Pegasus then stepped out onto the balcony and looked between the bars of the railing. At that moment, she heard voices and looked down to see deer marching around the castle in well-timed steps.
They sang in a chant-like manner, “Hup, two, three, four! Keep it up! Two, three, four! Hup, two, three, four! Keep it up! Two, three, four! Hup, two, three, four!”
In a burst of excitement, Gale raced back into the room and jumped on her parents’ bed. “Mommy, Daddy, get up! It’s the deer! It’s the deer! Come on and see!”
Sky Blitz, still asleep, drowsily said, “That’s nice, honey.”
Whirl added in the same sleepy manner, “Why don’t you run along and make friends with them?”
Gale said, “Okay.” She ran out onto the balcony and flew over the railing before flapping her wings towards the deer patrol.
The leader with red armor shouted out, “Company…sound off!”
The deer sang, “Oh, the aim of our patrol…”
One deer sang, “Is a question rather droll…”
“For to march and drill over field and hill…”
After he blew his woody horn, the leader sang, “Is a military goal…”
“Is a military goal…Hup, two, three, four! Dress it up! Two, three, four! By the ranks or single file…over every country mile…Oh, we stamp and crush through the underbrush…”
After blowing his horn a second time, the leader sang, “In the military style…”
“In the military style…”
Gale flew right up to the last deer in the line and asked, “Hi there! Whatcha doing?”
The deer gently shushed her, “Shh! Drilling.”
She whispered to emulate the deer, “Can I do it, too?”
“Sure. Just do what I do. But don’t talk in ranks. It’s against regulations.”
Gale landed on the ground and marched behind him while copying the rhythmic hoofsteps he did.
The leader called out, “To the rear…march!”
When the deer in front of Gale turned around, he saw that the filly was still going forward. He nudged her gently, “Oh, the other way. Turn around.”
After Gale changed direction and now marched in front of her deer friend, the leader sang, “Hup, two, three, four! Keep it up! Two, three, four!” He called out again, “To the rear…ho!”
When the deer changed direction again, Gale didn’t seem to notice until a few moments later.
She ran the opposite direction to keep up with the deer when the leader commanded, “Company…halt!”
All of a sudden, she hit the deer’s leg and fell to the ground.
The deer asked in concern, “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, but why did you stop?”
“Because ‘halt’ means ‘stop’.”
The leader then ordered, “Company…left face!”
On cue, the deer and Gale (with a little direction) turned to their left.
“Inspection…heads!”
On the leader’s command, the deer bowed their heads. Gale was uncertain what to do for this.
Her deer friend clarified, “This is when we let the captain see our antlers. But since you don’t have antlers, maybe you can show him your wings instead.”
The filly spread her wings and asked, “Like this?”
He nodded, “That’s right.”
The captain said as he passed by each of his comrades, “Good…Good…Not bad…Could be better…Ugh! Rootstock, what did I say about banging your head against the wall?”
Rootstock answered, “I can’t help it! Being here is so frustrating! I mean, why do we have to listen to that fat cat of a king? He’s -“
“Shh! You can’t say that while we’re here! Look, I know serving Gladmane isn’t easy, but we have nowhere else to go. We can’t afford to be out in the world right now. You understand, don’t you?”
Rootstock sighed in defeat, “Yes, Captain.”
“We’ll discuss this later.”
The captain continued his inspection until he reached the last deer in the brigade. After he inspected his antlers, he heard a small voice say, “Hi!” He looked down to see a small Pegasus filly with her wings and smile widely spread out.
The leader bent down to her level and asked playfully, “And who is this? A new recruit?”
She cheerfully told him, “I’m Gale Force!”
He chuckled, “I’m Captain Blackthorn.” He shook her hoof as he said, “Pleased to meet you.”
“You like my wings?”
“I think they’re very nice. What brings you out here?”
“I saw the parade and wanteded to join.”
Suddenly, Skyla’s voice echoed through the arched walkway serving as an entrance to the palace, “Gale!”
The filly turned around to see Skyla trotting up to her.
“There you are! What are you doing out here?”
“Like I said, I saw the parade and wanteded to join.”
Skyla looked up to see Blackthorn all stiff with his wide eyes denoting…fear? Then again, it could’ve been the shyness Gladmane had mentioned.
The unicorn nervously apologized, “I’m so sorry she interrupted…whatever it was you were doing. Come on, Gale. We’re going to have breakfast now.”
As the ponies entered the arched walkway, Gale waved to the deer, “Bye, Captain Blackthorn!”
Skyla hardly touched her food at all. She kept thinking about Blackthorn and how some part of her was strangely attracted to him. Could it have been his lean frame? The red armor on his body? Or was it perhaps his brilliant gamboge eyes, regardless of how shrunken they were the moment he saw her?
Seam asked in concern, “Hey, Skyla? Are you okay? You hardly touched your breakfast.”
Skyla nodded, “Oh, yeah. I’m fine. I was just thinking about -“
Gladmane interrupted, “The kids again? Y’all must be worried sick over them.”
Starling assured him, “We really have nothing to fear. As long as the Guardians are up on Paraddock, I’m sure the kids will be all right.”
The king nodded, “Of course, of course! When the Guardians are on the job, you can guarantee they’ll have Grade-A success.”
Discord spoke up, “I’m sure they will. Oh, by the way, you never told me where you got your necklace.”
Gemstone said, “Now that I think about it, I would like to know who made your beautiful necklace. Perhaps I can wear a piece like it for a ball. Oh! Maybe even the one you’re hosting tomorrow night!”
The Earth stallion smiled, “All right. Since there’s no way outta this, I’ll tell ya. Besides, this baby’s how I got my kingdom in the first place. This gem right here was the key to my success.” He cleared his throat and began to relate the story, “Ya see, a long, long time ago, Las Pegasus was just your ordinary little village. It wasn’t all big and fancy and there were no amusement parks in sight. It was a lowly old town, really quiet, and it relied on trade for business.
“I came from a long line of tradesponies and was training to be one myself. But I wasn’t like my family, no. I had dreams. Big dreams. I wanted to become rich and famous and in charge of my own business.
“One day, I went to the flea market to barter some items. And that’s when I saw it: a golden necklace with a large ruby. I knew that it was perfect for my mama, so I traded my bottle of Appleloosan apple cider for it. Of course, Mama wasn’t pleased with it so much because it was huge. But luckily for me, I kept the necklace just in case.
“Just a day or two after I got the necklace, this kingdom appeared out of nowhere. When we explored the city, we found it was empty. No king, no ponies, nothin’! So, the town decided to have a contest: whoever had the shiniest and most priceless object would be ruler of the kingdom. Of course, I won by a landslide with this baby. I was declared king and the rest is history. So, whaddya think?”
Everyone was silent until Fire Spark spoke up, “Well, that’s really something.”
“I know. That’s why I keep my necklace with me at all times. A) it’s a reminder of my life-changing decision, and B) it’s something of a good-luck charm to me. I doubt you’d ever find a piece of jewelry like this.”
Discord couldn’t help but feel that there was something more going on here. Did Gladmane know that something was living in his amulet or not? The spirit of chaos was tempted to ask about the silhouette in the necklace, but decided against it in case the king knew more than he was letting on. Besides, if Discord was going to solve this mystery, then he needed to do the drastic: steal it.
The Guardians, children, and Silver Tongue left the chateau after breakfast and followed the badger until they reached a grove of trees that were either sickly or barely growing wishing stars.
Nova asked, “Is this the grove you were talking about last night?”
Silver nodded, “Yep. This is the one.”
Cuff pointed to one of the few wishing stars that reached maturity, “That one’s pretty! Can I have it?”
Silver looked unsure, but then Mischief used his magic to pluck the star off the tree. The antlered colt said, “Here you go.”
Cuff cheered, “Yay!”
Turquoise fussed, “That’s not fair! How come he gets to have one?”
Gabby explained, “Because he asked nicely.”
Roller added, “We would pluck more off for you all, but there’s not that many left.”
Silver huffed, “Indeed. The faster we can restore Paraddock, the sooner the wishing stars will grow back on the trees.”
Flurry said to the kids, “And that means you all get to have one.”
In an instant, the kids zipped off as they cried, “Let’s go!”
The adults raced behind them as they called out, “Hold on!”
Silver panted, “My, are these children lightning fast when they’re determined?”
Skater answered, “Crazy, I know, but it happens.”
Meanwhile, the children were racing each other through the woods.
Oddball said, “Betcha can’t catch me!”
Ruff said as he trotted faster to keep up, “I can so!”
The mix-matched colt scoffed, “Ha! I have wings! I can fly!” He then took to the air.
Turquoise said, “Hey! I can fly, too!” She also took to the air and flew hard to keep up with Oddball. “Not so fast, Oddball! I can’t keep up!”
Oddball taunted, “You hafta go faster, then!”
“Well, I don’t have crazy magic to help me out!”
She then heard voices behind her telling her to slow down. She glanced behind her to see the other kids disappearing behind the trees. When she turned her head to the front again, she gasped as she realized she was going to hit a tree! She took a sharp turn to the right to dodge it and yelped as she dodged branch after branch until she abruptly splashed into a river hovering above the dirt bed. She gasped for air as she frantically bobbed up and down the moving water.
She called out at the top of her lungs, “HELP ME! HELP!”
A few moments later, Flurry cried, “Turquoise!”
Roller said as he trotted towards the flying river, “Keep your head up, Turquoise! Here I come!”
Skater shouted, “Wait, Roller -!”
Splash!
Roller was now gasping for air while trying to swim to the hybrid filly.
Skater muttered, “Idiot’s gonna get himself killed!”
As Roller navigated the tumultuous liquid loops and bends to get to Turquoise, Silver asked in irritation, “Can’t any of you use your magic to teleport them out of the river?”
Blaze answered, “FYI, the river is making it hard for us to focus on them since they’re moving in and out of sight!”
Suddenly, a huge swell of water took Roller and Turquoise further up the river.
Nova Rose cried, “Hurry! We can’t lose them!”
As the group began running alongside the crazy river, Apple Butter asked, “Wait, where’s Zealot?”
In a mere second, her question was answered by his voice shouting, “Mischief!”
The group looked up to see Zealot standing on top of a rock formation slightly higher than the trees in the forest.
Again, he shouted, “Mischief, up here!”
Mischief immediately teleported to where Zealot was. He looked down to see the floating river halfway between them and the ground.
Zealot said, “I think from this angle, you can use your magic to levitate Turquoise and Roller up here.”
Mischief asked, “But what if the river decides to act crazy again?” Suddenly, an idea came into his head. “So why not fight crazy with crazy? Thanks, Zealot!”
When Roller and Turquoise were coming up to the rock formation, Mischief concentrated very hard on materializing a boxing glove. To his delight, a super-sized version of the item appeared out of thin air and Mischief used it to punch the river. The water carrying the two in distress suddenly spurt them into the air. Almost immediately, Mischief enveloped them in a green aura and grunted as he set them beside Zealot and him. As Turquoise and Roller coughed up the water from their lungs, the others raced up the rock to join the four of them.
Ruff said, “Gee, Turquoise. Why’ja hafta fall in the river?”
Flurry said in a firm tone, “It’s lucky she didn’t get really hurt. Now, no more races in a place you’ve never been in before. We don’t want any more accidents like this.”
The kids nodded solemnly, “Yes, Flurry Heart.”
Silver said, “Now that the matter is settled, let’s resume our journey. We’re wasting valuable time here.”
As the prim and proper pony began to make his way down the rock formation, Blaze muttered under his breath, “Eesh! In a hurry, aren’t we?”
Gale pranced merrily through the vast and majestic garden of the palace while one of the servants was desperately trying to keep up with the young princess.
The mare panted, “Wait, Your Highness! *pant pant* Don’t run off…so fast! I’m supposed…to watch you…while your parents…are at…their meeting!”
Gale was so distracted by her surroundings that she didn’t listen to anything the servant said. Everything was just so beautiful and eye-catching that it was hard not to resist looking at the many flowers and marble statues in the garden. Just then, she saw something on a high hill in the distance. She raced towards the fleeting figure before it vanished just behind the crest of the hill. To her great delight, when she reached the top, she found the deer doing warm-up stretches.
She waved cheerfully to them, “Hi!”
The deer looked at her and greeted, “Hello, there. Hi! Salutations.”
Blackthorn came up to her and said with a smile, “I see you found us again.”
Gale nodded proudly, “Yep. I saw you on the hill and comed over here.”
The captain’s smile dropped a bit as he told her, “You know, you shouldn’t be here talking to us.”
Gale asked, “Why not?”
“Because…guards aren’t supposed to talk to royalty.”
“But Mr. Bumble Tiger talked to me and Mommy and Daddy, and he’s a guard.”
“It’s okay if other guards talk to you, but the deer guards can’t. You understand, don’t you?”
Gale lowered her head in sadness and said, “Yes.”
Just then, the servant’s voice called out, “Princess, where are you?!”
“I hafta go. Bye, Captain Blackthorn.”
Seeing the young princess walk away in sorrow to the garden broke Blackthorn’s heart a bit, but he knew that if she knew what most ponies knew about the deer, she would have every right to avoid them.
As Gladmane and Starling strolled in the veranda, the king said, “Whoo! That took a whole lotta planning in that room!”
Starling nodded, “Yes, but now we have a plan.”
“Exactly! Since I invited Dandy to the ball, he’ll be coming tomorrow night.”
“That way, we can trick him into giving a public confession.”
Gladmane chuckled, “I am so glad you Canterlot royals are smart cookies. Ya know, I’d really love to have you as an ally in both good times and bad times.”
Starling raised a brow, “How so?”
“I think having a rich kingdom like mine is gonna really benefit ya in case a war breaks out. There have been stirrings and rumors of tensions between countries just because their children have been taken.”
“But that’s because the Dark Riders are prompting Paraddock to take the children to safety.”
Gladmane chuckled, “Honey, not a lotta ponies or creatures out there are gonna believe in some giant cloud if they can’t see it for themselves! Let’s face it: war is coming, and the best thing we can do at the moment is form an alliance.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way. We can find a way to prove to the other countries that Paraddock is real and the reason children are disappearing.”
“Let me break it to ya: you’ve grown up in a palace all your life. Me? I lived the life of a simple tradespony for a long time, so I know how the world works, and it ain’t as pretty as ya think. That’s why we royals gotta stick together through thick and thin. If we build an alliance, then it won’t matter where we live. We’re all royals, and that’s what important.”
He began to sing, “There is no greater power than to rule over the land…We both have it inside us…It's here where we stand…My friend, you know it's true…Look close and you will find…Ruling every citizen is destiny for our kind…So if we’re joined together…we will never fall…Royals must rule forever…Royals over all…”
As they walked through the palace, he continued to sing, “Royals over all…No citizen is more grand…Royals over all…It's why we rule the land…We crush any resistance…so enemies keep their distance…Royals, royals over all…”
Starling protested in song, “If we do what you suggest…we'd be evil and cruel…Using force and threat…That is no way to rule…”
Gladmane sang suavely, “But if we're joined together…we will never fall…Yes, royals must rule forever…Royals over all…Royals over all…No citizen is more grand…”
“Stay noble and grand…”
“Royals over all…It's why we rule the land…”
“We must protect the land…”
“We crush any resistance…”
“Friendship and kindness…”
“So enemies keep their distance…”
“Will always find us…”
“Royals, royals over all…”
After he finished singing, he said to Starling smoothly, “Seems like we have different ideas about rulin’ a kingdom and helpin’ others. Maybe after having some lunch, you’ll change your mind. After all, one doesn’t think straight on an empty stomach.”
Even though she wasn’t hungry and knew she was in her right mind, she complied and followed him to the dining room.
Rainbow Dash groaned, “How far does this guy live? I’m getting hungry and I need some food. Right. Now.” She pounded her hoof on her seat to emphasize her point.
Fluttershy soothed her, “Be patient, Dashie. We know how much you hate long carriage rides, but we should be there –“
They heard Pinkie’s voice shout/singsong from the carriage in front of them, “WE’RE HEERRE!”
Rainbow lied against her seat and sighed, “Finally!”
The two carriages rolled onto the circular dirt path in front of the large chateau and stopped before the staircase leading to the entrance. Just as the royals stepped out of the carriages, the door opened to reveal a cheerful and elegant Dandy Grandeur.
He greeted as he descended the staircase, “Ah, my esteemed guests. It has been far too long since I’ve last seen you.”
Timber whispered to Sunset, “Not long enough.”
“Please, please come inside. We have much to talk about.”
As the royals followed Dandy up the staircase, Rainbow pleaded under her breath, “Please let it be a trap. Please let it be a trap.”
Spike asked, “Why do you want it to be a trap?”
“Because just plain talking with Dandy is way worse than a trap.”
In Las Pegasus, the royals dined on their lunch with Gladmane. This time, Gale hardly touched her food.
Gladmane noticed this and said, “Another one without an appetite? Is this an epidemic or what?”
Sky asked her daughter, “What’s wrong, sweetie?”
Gale asked, “Why can’t the deer guards talk to royalty?”
Whirl inquired, “Who told you that?”
“Captain Blackthorn. He says deer guards can’t talk to royalty.”
Gladmane gave a small chuckle that almost sounded uneasy, “Oh, I see you’ve met Blackthorn. Yeah, he said that because deer don’t wanna be friends with ponies. He thinks they ain’t good enough for the deer.”
Gale’s heart dropped as she uttered in growing despair, “What?”
“Darlin’, when he told ya he couldn’t talk to ya, he was really saying he didn’t wanna be friends with ya. Ever.”
The filly leaned over the table and wept with her face partially covered by her arms.
Skyla offered, “Maybe I should take Gale outside to calm her down for a bit.”
Gale sobbed, “He doesn’t like me! He never likeded me!” She pressed her face against Skyla’s body as a crying jag shook her own.
Skyla stroked her back, “Shhh. It’s going to be okay, Gale. You can make new friends while you’re here.”
The filly gasped between sobs, “But…h-he was so…nice to me.”
“And I believe you. It’s Gladmane I don’t trust. I think he’s wrong about Blackthorn. I don’t think he would say he doesn’t want to be your friend. Tell you what? We’ll find him and ask him if he wants to be friends with you.”
Suddenly, a voice answered, “You don’t need to look far.”
To the girls’ surprise, Blackthorn stepped out from behind the rosebush. For some reason, Skyla thought it was like a romantic fairy tale that he appeared from the rosebush on a sunny day. Why on Earth was she thinking this? As he walked up to the ponies, Blackthorn could’ve sworn sunbeams veiled the older mare’s face like a delicate gossamer curtain. The smell of the roses nearby increased this new, unknown sensation he was feeling.
Gale smiled and ran to the deer, “Blackthorn!”
When she hugged his foreleg, he chuckled as he patted her back, “It’s good to see you again.” He then looked up at Skyla as he added, “And you, too.”
Skyla felt a tingling in her body when she heard his silky yet strong voice.
Gale asked Blackthorn, “Do you wanna be friends with me?”
The deer smiled, “Such a straightforward little pony. Well, if you want me to be your friend, I can’t say ‘no’. So yes, I will.”
“Yaaay! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She then let go of Blackthorn’s foreleg and walked up to Skyla, saying, “I wanna eat again.”
The princess smiled, “All right. I’ll take you back to the dining room.”
Blackthorn’s heart pounded when he heard her beautiful voice. When they had first met this morning, he was so frightened that he barely noticed her finer features. After their awkward meeting, he spent several hours thinking about her and Gale and realized just how beautiful the older princess was. This sparked in him a strange desire to be with her.
Just as the girls started to head back to the kitchen, Blackthorn held up his hoof and said, “One more thing.” When the ponies turned to face him, he said, “I know Gale’s name, but what’s yours?”
“Skyla,” the unicorn answered. “I’m Princess Skyla.”
After a short lunch break, the group continued to make their way through Turkey Wood and encountered still more strange animals and phenomenon.
Blaze remarked, “If Uncle Discord was here, he would love this place.”
Mischief agreed, “Yeah, it’s like Paraddock’s just teeming with chaos magic…” His eyes then widened in revelation. “Wait a minute. Blaze, do you remember what Discord said when I showed you two the beans?”
He tapped his chin in contemplation, “Something about a female draconequus leaving the land with…” His eyes also widened as he reached the same conclusion as Mischief did. “You don’t think…?”
The antlered colt nodded, “It might be.”
Vapor Trail asked, “Might be who? What’s going on?”
Sky Stinger also asked, “Yeah, what are you guys talking about?”
Mischief explained, “Okay, long story short, there was a female draconequus who Discord said took some beans out of their homeland and never returned. Blaze and I think she may have created Paraddock. Think about it. It’s existed for centuries, it’s known for its beauty and weirdness, and it’s at an altitude that no one can reach. I think she may also be the same one who saved me from the blizzard when I was a baby.”
Flurry shared his growing excitement as she said, “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go find her!”
Gabby asked, “But what about the Crystal Fairies?”
Zealot suggested, “Maybe if we find them, we can ask them where the creator is.”
Corona pointed to something as she asked, “Look! What’s that?”
From several feet away, the group saw a pile of sand just behind a thin wooden border.
Roller said in uncertainty, “I think it’s a desert?”
However, when they reached the wooden border, they saw that the pile of sand was actually an expanse of it. The sand almost reached the horizon on either side of the group and the same went for the one-plank border that surrounded it.
Apple Butter said in amazement, “It’s more like a giant sandbox.”
The kids suddenly jumped onto the wide sandbox as they cried, “SANDBOX!”
Silver grimaced, “Believe me, this is as far as I go when I’m on Paraddock.”
Sky rolled his eyes, “No duh.”
The kids took great delight in creating sand sculptures with the buckets and shovels strewn all over the sandbox.
When Ruff kept making lumps of sand in contrast to the others’ sand sculptures, he threw his shovel in frustration and complained, “I can’t do it!” He crossed his arms and grumbled, “I wish I can have a sand castle like them.”
To his surprise, a bunch of sand rose to his height and shaped itself into a well-built sand castle.
Ruff uttered in amazement, “Whoa…” He then wished, “I wish the sand makes a better sand castle like them!”
The sand granted his wish and it reshaped itself into a higher, more exquisite, and more detailed sand castle.
Ruff jumped for joy as he cried, “Awesome!”
The others noticed this and uttered sounds of amazement.
Gabby asked with gleaming eyes, “How did you do that? It’s amazing!”
Ruff answered with a smile, “I just maked a wish and it happeneded.”
Some of the kids then shouted, “I wanna try! Me, too!”
Corona slowly requested, “Um…I wish…for a star!”
As the sand shaped itself into a five-pointed star, the kids breathed an amazed “Ah…”
Oddball cried, “I wanna go next! I wish for a huge bugbear with candy cane claws, a tutu, and – Oh! – a police hat!”
Sky whispered, “Is that even a thing?”
At Oddball’s request, the sand formed itself into the exact thing he wished for, albeit in a ballerina pose.
Skater said, “It is now.”
Gabby said, “I wish it could dance!”
To everyone’s surprise, the sand bugbear began to dance and bounce around gracefully like a ballerina. The children laughed at this and started to wish for various creations that could move.
Zealot asked his friends, “So, how long do you think we’re gonna be here?”
Blaze answered, “I’d give it a half-hour or maybe an hour.”
After a minute of playing, the adults saw a tube-like sand figure rising from the sand. It towered seven feet over the tops of the kids’ heads before it shaped itself into a giant sand snake. It crouched down as if it prepared to strike the children.
Mischief saw this and cried out, “Whoa!”
He shot out a blast of his green magic just as the snake was about to strike. The blast reduced the serpent’s head to a stump and its giant long body crumbled until it was sand again. However, with the fall of one sand creature, more malicious ones rose in its place. Each different creature looked just as menacing as the last one and poised to attack the children.
The kids huddled together in fear and Cuff trembled, “I don’t like this sandbox anymore.”
Before the sand creatures could attack, Mischief used his magic to teleport the children safely to the group.
Roller cried as he and the others ran back into the forest behind them, “Let’s get out of here!”
However, when they were just a few feet into the woods, sandy tendrils wrapped around them and pulled them onto the sandbox before anyone could think.
Opulence shrieked, “Aah! The sandbox is alive!”
The sandy tendrils formed themselves into various dangerous animals and prepared to lunge at the group. The adults began to attack the sand creatures with their magic, wings, or just plain punches.
After a minute or two of fighting, Zealot panted, “I’m not sure how much longer we can keep this up.”
Roller griped as he fought while flying, “I think it would be easier to defeat them if a certain somepony is helping us!”
Silver Tongue humphed, “You’re the heroes. Why do you need me?”
Oddball asked in a panic, “Where’s Wacky?!”
Gabby asked, “Wacky who?”
“My badger! The one we follow to the fairies!”
Silver Tongue said in disbelief, “You named it?”
Skater – who was in the sky – pointed to something a few yards in the distance and cried, “Wait! I think I see him!”
Sure enough, the badger was digging a hole in the sand yards away from the battle.
Oddball, overwhelmed with joy, teleported to his side and cried, “Wacky!”
The creature gave a yelp of surprise as he jumped in the air and landed on his paws.
“Whatcha doing over here?”
As if a reply to the young colt’s question, Wacky began to dig again and squeezed into the hole.
“Wait! I’m coming, too!”
When Oddball dipped into the hole, it gave Mischief an idea.
The antlered colt told the rest of the adults, “Guys! Distract the sand monsters! I got an idea!”
Without hesitation, his fiancée and friends attacked the creatures while Mischief teleported the young ones to where Wacky had dug his way down. One by one, he used his magic to levitate the children into the hole. After the last kid was down the hole, Mischief turned his attention back to the sand creatures and the ponies fighting them. He then cast a spell to freeze the gigantic monsters in their place.
He grunted as he struggled to hold the spell, “Get to the hole! Go!”
Once the adults galloped to the hole, Flurry used her magic to enlarge it enough to fit a grown pony. After everyone jumped down the hole, Mischief lifted the freeze spell on the sand monsters. In a split-second, he teleported himself above the hole and fell into the downwards tunnel. He slid roughly but gently down the long passage before he landed on solid ground.
As he shook his head to regain his senses, he heard his beloved’s voice ask in concern, “Are you okay, Mischief?”
He coughed as her gentle hoof grabbed his arm and helped him stand up, “Ye-ah. I’m fine.”
Silver Tongue clapped his hooves together, “I commend you for your brave deed, Sir Mischief. I’m sure you’ll make a fitting husband for the fair princess.”
Cuff asked in concern as he looked up the tail end of the tunnel, “Did the sand monsters follow us?”
Mischief answered, “No, and I don’t think they will.”
He then levitated a cluster of rocks and pushed them into the tunnel to plug the exit. As he did so, the cavern became darker until it became as black as pitch.
When the adults with horns lit them up, Silver said with a quasi-sneer, “Well, I suppose ‘up’ is no longer an option. We’re going to have to find some other way out of here.”
To everyone’s surprise, they saw a bioluminescent bunny hop by them.
Some of the kids cried in delight, “Bunny!”
A few moments later, the group heard a dull stamping before a whole pack of glow-in-the-dark bunnies raced past them.
Sky chuckled in amazement, “They’re glow-in-the-dark!”
When the children started chasing the bunnies, Nova cried as she and the others ran after them, “Wait! Slow down! Please!”
Blaze remarked, “I wonder if this is what it was like for Pony in Wonderland when she chased that rabbit!”
When they reached a curtain of flowers and vines, a tiny but harsh voice called out, “HALT!”
The adults and children immediately stopped at that moment. They then gasped when they saw five small shimmering figures with sparkling wings float towards them. They looked just like the Breezies, but their coats were crystallized, their eyes were like precious jewels, and no pair of wings was identical.
Some of the group awed, “Aww, they’re so cute! They’re shiny! They look like crystal Breezies! So adorable!”
One of the fairies inquired as he and his comrades held their spears out, “Who are you and what are you doing in these caverns?”
Before anypony could answer, Sky Stinger stepped forth and told him, “I am Pony Pan! I am here with Windy and our friends to…” He faltered for a bit before Vapor whispered in his ear. He resumed, “…to request an audience with your ruler, so please grant us permission.”
The fairy guards looked skeptical, so one of them requested, “If you truly are Pony Pan, give your crow.”
Sky smiled because he had practiced this particular crow so many times he lost count. Aside from clearing his throat, he only needed to put little effort into giving Pony Pan’s signature call. After the cavern echoed with Sky’s hearty crow, the fairies looked at him in amazement.
One of the guards chortled, “Ho-ho-ho! ‘Tis truly you, Pony Pan! Come! You and your honored guests are welcome in our Haven of Wonders! We shall take you to the rulers themselves!”
After the fairy guards slipped between the vines and flowers, Flurry used her magic to part the curtain so everyone could pass without difficulty. Everyone in the group either gasped or widened their eyes in awe when they saw the haven around them. The haven was not a small cavern like they expected; rather, it was giant and expansive enough to fit a thousand ponies. Multicolored crystals dotted almost every inch of the cavern along with flowers and grass of different colors. The massive woody yet crystal tree in the center of the cavern had exquisite stained glass windows dotting the trunk and crystalline lights hanging from the leaves and small twigs of the branches. The branches extended yards from the tree and many small orbed houses hung from the long and mighty limbs like fruit. However, along with the beauty and wonder of the haven, there was also some disrepair in the cavern. Many of the crystals had either turned black or broken off from their clusters; many plants and bits of grass had died, leaving only patches of dirt or rock; and the tree itself along with some of the branches were becoming discolored and rotten. Even the cavern itself was admittedly a bit dimmer than anypony thought it would be.
When the group walked up towards the gates jutting from the trunk, which was at the adults’ eye level, one of the guards told them, “Wait here. We will announce your arrival to the king and queen.”
Nova Rose suggested, “Wait. I’ve got a better idea. I know a spell that can turn us into Crystal Fairies.”
Another guard scoffed, “Preposterous! Such a spell would make you –“
The lead guard quickly covered his comrade’s mouth and explained, “What my friend is trying to say is that even with the form of Crystal Fairies, you wouldn’t be considered actual members of the race. You’d be – How to put this gently? – misfits.”
Nova clarified, “Oh, we’re not trying to move here. I just thought it’d be easier to talk with the rulers if we were your size.”
There was silence as the guards looked at each other before giving collective nods. The head guard agreed, “So be it.”
Nova closed her eyes and concentrated on her magic. First, she levitated her group with a little strain and then shot beams at her friends and the children. She turned her head and shot a beam of magic at the tiny guards. When the fairies were enveloped in her aura and surrounded by two rotating circles of letters, she shot her magic at her group once more. In a flash, the travelers became Crystal Fairies. The children chattered about how awesome this was.
“Wow!”
“Look at me!”
“I’m so pretty!”
“I wanna be a Crystal Fairy forever!”
The guards, while amazed by this change in form, kept a straight face as the leader said, “Follow us.”
The group floated behind the guards as they entered the gates. Their eyes darted around the interior of the palace with awe and wonder. It was so beautiful it was like it was out of a fairy tale.
Silver Tongue almost drooled, “Beautiful. Simply beautiful.”
The guard then requested the group to wait outside the throne room as he went through the double doors. After almost a minute, the guard came back and said, “The Monarchs will see you now.”
When the double doors opened, the travelers saw the king and queen sitting on their thrones in majestic glory. The size and design of their wings as well as the rulers’ height immediately distinguished them from the rest of the Crystal Fairies.
The blue queen, who was as gentle as she was regal, stood up and said, “Greetings, fair travelers. I am Queen Selene Monarch of the Crystal Fairies.”
Her yellow husband soon followed and said, “And I am King Brook Monarch of the Crystal Fairies. Welcome to our Haven of Wonders. As you can see, it’s not much, but-“
Selene lightly jabbed his arm and shushed, “Shh! Our guests do not need to be concerned with the state of the kingdom.”
He apologized, “Right. Sorry, love.”
Flurry floated a few inches forward and curtsied as she said, “Your Majesties, we are most grateful by your warm welcome. We know what’s been happening to Paraddock and we would like to help.”
Selene nodded, “As kind as your offer is, I’m afraid there is nothing you can do to help. The magic that controls this world and keeps our kingdom thriving is very ancient. We have no control over such sorcery.”
Mischief suggested, “But if it’s chaos magic, then maybe I can help. I happen to be gifted in it.” He then added under his breath, “Somewhat.”
Brook said in confusion, “Chaos magic? We know not of chaos magic.”
Roller piped up, “But your Crystal Heart -“ His mouth was immediately covered by Skater’s hoof.
Where there was once gentle sadness in Selene’s face was now replaced by an intimidating glare. She asked in a soft but stone-cold tone, “Who told you about our sacred Heart?”
Blaze clarified, “The flowers in the field did. They were worried about their kin dying and even closing up. We think it might have something to do with whatever’s happening to the Crystal Heart.”
The Monarchs’ eyes were wide with shock and they stood silent for a few moments before Selene whispered, “It’s everywhere…” She then addressed the group, “Come with us.”
The sentry at the locked doors protested, “But, Your Grace, no one but the royal family can enter the chamber!”
Selene stood tall as she again ordered, “I am the queen, and I say these visitors are allowed to see the Crystal Heart.”
The sentry sighed, “Very well, Your Highness.”
He took his bejeweled pendant and placed it in a relief before turning it a quarter to the right. The massive doors opened slowly and the group, including the rulers, gasped at the sight before them. The Crystal Heart, which was about the same size at the one in the Crystal Empire, was surrounded by vines and its other side dug deep into the wood of the tree. While some of the vines pulsated color, others were black and most certainly dead. However, the most shocking sight of all was that the Crystal Heart now pulsated three colors: blue at its very edges, violet on most of its face, and a small rose-colored dot barely visible in the very center. It also emitted a weak and somewhat distorted hum in contrast to the strong hum the Heart in the Crystal Empire would make.
The queen, with her hooves to her mouth and her crystalline eyes brimming with tears, said with a deep sadness in her voice, “I haven’t been in here for so long. I was…too afraid to see how worse it would get every day.”
Nova asked, “When did it first start?”
Selene answered, “Over six moons ago. The Crystal Heart is usually radiant with a rainbow of colors when all is well. When there is danger afoot, it becomes red and transmits that color to all of the other crystals. When the Heart started to lose some of its color, we knew something was very wrong. We tried channeling our love and happiness into it, but it didn’t work as much as we thought it would. We tried using different spells, different kinds of magic, and even dark magic to bring the Heart back to its former glory. Alas, none of it has worked. I suspect it might have something to do with the chaos magic you spoke of earlier.”
Mischief held his hoof out to feel the invisible aura surrounding the Heart. After a few moments, he withdrew it and said, “There is definitely chaos magic in it, but it feels like it was used to revive the Crystal magic within.”
Brook suggested, “My love, do you suppose the legend was real after all?”
Selene nodded, “I’m beginning to suspect it might be.”
Opulence asked, “What legend?”
Selene gently said, “I think it’s time we told you a little story. You see, there is an old legend that traces back to the revival of our colony.”
Brook continued for her, “Back when the first king and queen of the Monarch line ruled over the colony, it was on the brink of ruin. All other colonies were gone because of greedy ponies and creatures who admired the fairies’ beauty. The lands that had once belonged to the fairies were destroyed.”
His queen said, “A secret haven was the fairies’ last hope for survival, but even the resources there were limited. All seemed bleak for the colony and the fairies went to bed full of despair one night. The next morning, they were stunned to discover that they had been moved while they were asleep!”
“They were in a land they had never seen before. It was all strange and wild, but it was also peaceful. They also discovered that the Crystal Heart had been revived! No one could explain it, the move or the Heart. Or even the note, for that matter.”
“Even though it was of regular size to normal ponies, it was huge to the fairies and the writing could be seen by all. It read: ‘I have brought you all to safety in a new land high above the clouds. No pony or creature will ever harm you here. I have also given your Crystal Heart new energy so your colony can thrive on Paraddock. Be safe and live well, Crystal Fairies.’”
“Oh, the colony lived happily on the surface above for centuries right up until that scurrilous Captain Hoof threatened the fairies and forced them to move underground. Since then, we have prospered and thrived in the Haven of Wonders. Until now, that is.”
Nova said, “Wow. And all this time, we thought the fairies went extinct by breeding with ponies and creating the Crystal ponies, the Crystal-Eyed ponies, and even the Breezies.”
Blaze added, “Or even that the fairies went extinct at all.”
Silver Tongue suggested, “If I may, Your Highnesses. We believe that your ancestors’ mysterious benefactor is a draconequus. If you can tell us where she is, then perhaps we can set everything right.”
Brook answered, “If we knew where she is, we would’ve gladly went to her ourselves. But unfortunately, we do not.”
Mischief floated forward and offered, “Maybe I can revitalize the Heart as much as I can so you can have more time.”
The Monarchs looked at each other and then nodded.
Selene told him, “Do it.”
Mischief took a deep breath, focused on the Heart, and aimed his magic at the crystal relic. After about a minute, the green aura enveloping Mischief’s antlers died and he gasped for breath as he fell down to the ground.
As his fiancée helped him float up again, he breathlessly explained, “The Heart is very huge when I’m this size. The magic within is very powerful and not very easy to revive, so I think I only bought you a few months maybe.”
Brook consoled him, “You did all you could. The best thing you can do now is to go to the draconequus and restore everything to the way it was.”
Selene then said to the group, “Go forth, brave heroes, and save Paraddock and everything in it.”
“This is your way out. When you come to the two tunnels, don’t take the one on the right. It’s filled with dangerous gas,” the captain instructed the group when they reached the mouth of a tunnel.
Skater nodded in understanding, “Dangerous gas. Got it.”
The captain said, “Good. I now bid you farewell and may you have a safe journey.”
After he left the group, Nova lit her horn and changed everyone back into their true forms. When they walked into the dark tunnel, the adults with horns lit them up to light their way. After walking for a few minutes, they still weren’t close to the exit.
Jam groaned, “Are we there yet? My feet are tired.”
Gabby agreed, “You said it. We’ve been walking for miles. Are we ever going to get there?”
Vapor pointed out, “We have to reach the two tunnels first.”
Sky Stinger then gestured, “And here they are.”
As the group stood before the two tunnels, Turquoise asked, “Which way do we go again?”
Skater and Roller said as they pointed their hooves in opposite directions, “Left/right.”
She told her brother, “The guard told us not to take the tunnel on the right.”
The male twin argued, “No, he said we should.”
Apple Butter said, “I’m gonna have to side with Skater on this one.”
Mischief nodded, “It’s definitely the left.”
Silver took a whiff of the right tunnel and grimaced, “You can certainly tell by the smell of this tunnel which way to go.”
Roller groaned in defeat as the group headed up the left tunnel. After some more walking, Oddball decided to turn a stone into a basketball.
He bounced it as the other kids noticed and said, “Hey, we want a turn! Yeah, we wanna play with the ball!”
Silver reprimanded, “We have no time to be playing games in a tunnel. We need to get to the exit as soon as possible.”
Oddball agitatedly reverted the basketball back into a stone and threw it at a wall. The impact of his throw created a crack in the wall that hissed green gas.
When everyone noticed the increasing cloud of gas in the tunnel, the kids pointed their hooves at Oddball and accused, “He did it!”
Silver angrily said, “I see. Well, young colt, you’ve done a fine job endangering us all.” His eyes widened when he realized that his voice had become higher-pitched with those last three words.
The others were surprised as well before some of them giggled.
Cuff giggled with a high voice, “You got a squeaky voice! And I do, too!”
Ruff piped up, “Me, too!”
Jam smiled, “Hey, I sound like Grandma!”
The kids laughed and repeatedly said with high-pitched voices, “Squeaky voice! Squeaky voice! Squeaky voice!”
The adults couldn’t help but chuckle at the situation. Silver, however, didn’t find this funny at all.
Begrudgingly, he spoke to admonish the children, “Stop laughing, all of you!”
The guys chuckled and Roller mocked Silver, “Stop laughing, all of you!”
Mischief shushed his friends in playful glee before he imitated Silver, “Get away from me, you freaks of nature! Don’t make me break out the hose again!”
The guys erupted in high-pitched laughter while Silver frowned at them.
Apple Butter said to the mares, “I don’t get what’s so dangerous about the gas.”
Skater answered, “You could die from laughing.”
Flurry giggled a bit from hearing her cousin’s voice being so high-pitched, “Sorry. Your voice.”
Apple Butter also giggled, “Heh-heh-heh-heh. Your voice.”
Skater waved her hooves as she said, “All right, all right, all right. We get it. It’s funny. Let’s just get out of here before it gets out of hoof.”
Barely containing her giggles in, Flurry mustered her seriousness and nodded, “Agreed.”
She concentrated on her magic and levitated every laughing child and stallion in her aura. The girls then raced up the tunnel’s slope before they ran into…clouds? Before they knew, the girls’ heads surfaced amidst fluffy clouds. They could see nothing but the reddening sky and clouds shaped like trees and bushes for miles.
Skater said in her normal voice, “Don’t tell me we’ve died and went to heaven.”
Apple Butter felt the side of her neck and then answered, “Nope. Still got a pulse.”
Suddenly, the kids and stallions emerged through the clouds.
Sky Stinger asked, “Where are we?”
Jam pointed his hoof at something as he cried, “Look! Words!”
The group turned their heads to see a cloudy signpost with one sign: CLOUD PATCH. Before anyone could say, the kids began to jump up and bounce on the cloudy surface. They chortled and laughed as they had fun.
“Look at me!”
“Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy!”
“I can bounce higher!”
“Can not! I can!”
“Fluffy clouds! Fluffy, fluffy!”
Flurry said as she lifted herself onto the cloudy surface, “Well, I suppose this means we can walk on them.”
Sky Stinger – who was lying on his back with some small clouds covering his body – said serenely, “What’s the rush? This is nice. Really nice.” The kids then jumped on the clouds surrounding him, making bits of cloudy aerosol get in his face. He said as he got up, “On second thought, it was nice.”
Gabby cried to some of the other kids, “Race you to the top of the hill!”
The gleeful children raced up the cloudy hill and looked in awe when they reached the peak.
Gabby called with a wide and delighted smile on her face, “Guys! Come up here! You gotta see this!”
The adults and the rest of the kids climbed up the hill and they too were filled with wonder.
Zealot, whose own eyes were filling with tears, remarked, “Well, what do you know? There’s the whole world at our feet. And who gets to see it but the birds, stars, and the winged creatures?”
The view was astounding to behold. The whole horizon and even the earth seemed to curve before the expansive sky. Even the tallest buildings on the ground seemed as small as dolls. The amazed group watched as the golden sun dipped and eventually disappeared below the horizon while the gentle moon ascended from the ground to usher in the night and its stars.
After the spectacular show, the group made dinner from whatever was left in their bags. It was nothing much – just a bundle of carrots, some apples, and a couple of tea cakes from Silver Tongue’s manor.
Cuff was displeased with his choices for dinner, so he grabbed his wishing star and said, “I wish for apple pie.”
When the apple pie appeared before him, Skater admonished, “You know, you had dessert for lunch.”
Silver frowned, “Yes, you’ve wasted two wishes on dessert now.”
Apple Butter defended, “He’s a young colt. I mean, if you had a wishing star that can grant three wishes, wouldn’t you want to wish for anything you desire?”
Vapor said in a nauseous voice as she put her hoof over her mouth, “Right now, some seltzer water wouldn’t hurt.”
Sky asked in concern, “Are you okay, honey?”
“I’m fine. I’m just feeling a little sick to my stomach.”
Blaze said, “Maybe the gas was dangerous after all.”
Nova asked, “But wouldn’t we all be sick, too?”
The others nodded in agreement. They sure didn’t seem to be as ill as Vapor was.
Cuff looked at his wishing star and held it out to Vapor, “Here. You can use it to get well.”
The Pegasus asked, “Are you sure, Cuff? It’s your wishing star.”
“You can have it. Mommy and Grandma tell me to always give to others when they need it. I can get more wishing stars when we save Pair-a-duck.”
Vapor grabbed the wishing star and smiled, “Thank you very much. It’s very nice of you.”
As the kids were tucked into soft cloud blankets, Gabby asked, “Flurry, can you sing us a bedtime song? My parents used to do it for me.”
Flurry’s heart cracked from realizing that Gabby was an orphan, but she smiled and complied, “Sure. I know just the one.” She sat down and began to sing softly, “She’s resplendent, so confident…La Rein, La Rein, La Rein…I realize, I’m hypnotized…La Rein, La Rein, La Rein…
“I hear the moon singing a tune…La Rein, La Rein, La Rein…Is she divine? Is it the wine? La Rein, La Rein, La Rein…I don’t know, don’t know, so don’t ask me why…That’s how we are, La Rein and I…
“I don’t know, don’t know, so don’t ask me why…That’s how we are, La Rein and I…I don’t know, don’t know, so don’t ask me why…That’s how we are, La Rein and I…That’s how we are, La Rein and I…”
Mischief melted at the sweetness of his beloved’s voice and started to walk towards her to comment on her beautiful singing.
However, Silver managed to reach her first and he said, “My dear, what an astounding voice you have. It could make the heavens move at your command.”
Flurry smiled and said, “Thank you, Silver.”
Silver then walked towards Mischief with a smug look on his face and told him, “First lesson of courtship: be swift or someone else will grab your mare.”
Mischief felt threatened by this and retorted, “Why would they? We’re engaged.”
Silver answered, “Oh, things change, my good stallion. Oh, wait. Or is it pony/beast hybrid?” Anger started to rise in Mischief’s chest, but even as he kept it at bay, Silver taunted when he saw the agitated look on his face, “Careful, now. You don’t want to go animal on me and prove to the princess just what kind of a monster you are, do you?”
As much as Silver’s words infuriated him, two other emotions rose to meet Mischief’s boiling anger: shame and fear. Shame of having a more animal side to him, and fear of what Flurry and his friends would think of him if they saw it.
As soon as Silver saw Mischief’s angered face melt into defeat, the unicorn smirked, “I thought so. But know this: even if you don’t go animal, you still lose your princess because – to put it plainly - you’re just not princely material.”
Those words both stung Mischief and irked him.
“Oh, one more thing: let’s keep our little chat between us, shall we? Let it not be known that the Guardian of Empathy accused a prince of hurting his feelings.” He walked away to turn in for the night.
Mischief was at a loss. He wanted to tell Flurry and the others about what Silver was really like, but what if Silver was right and he was just overreacting? He kicked some cloud in agitation before lying down on his stomach. He crossed his arms and laid his head on them. With so many things bouncing around in his head, Mischief looked up at the starry night sky to try to calm the storm in his mind. Then, a heartfelt wish that was silent for the last four years resurfaced again.
Mom, Dad, I need you. I feel so alone and I don’t know what to do. Please guide me.
Skyla had just finished supper with the king and her family and was now at her vanity getting ready for bed. As she was using her magic to brush her soft mane, her eyes fell on the balcony doors. She put the brush down and walked out into the night air to gaze at the gardens the balcony overlooked.
She thought to herself, Well, I suppose a little walk in the gardens would be pleasant. I wonder if Blackthorn – No! Stop, stop! There will be nothing more between us and that’s that.
She left her guest room and asked a guard stationed at the end of the hall, “Excuse me. Can you direct me to the gardens? I’d like to look at the flowers and some fresh air would be nice.”
The guard asked in confusion, “At night?”
Skyla nodded, “Certainly. My grandmother is the Princess of the Night, and her nights are usually exquisite. I’d hate to disregard her.”
“Follow me, then.”
He escorted Skyla down the stairs and halls before going outside and stopping at the ornate entrance arch of the gardens.
He asked, “Do you need assistance with finding your way around the gardens?”
Skyla shook her head politely, “That won’t be necessary, thank you. I can find my way from here.”
“As you wish, Your Highness.” Without another word, he went back into the palace.
Skyla strolled through the garden and marveled at how amazing and beautiful it was at night. It was times like this that she was thankful for being Luna’s granddaughter. It wasn’t long before her eyes darted left and right as if looking for – No, stop. Stop. She wouldn’t think anything of Blackthorn. He was just a friend and nothing more. Although her heart ached a bit, she convinced herself to be strictly formal if she ever met Blackthorn again.
By sheer coincidence, Blackthorn appeared on the high hill overlooking the gardens. Whenever he was able to, he made a nightly pilgrimage to the outskirts of the kingdom. Often, he would look back towards the castle to see if anyone was following him. This time was different yet the same. No one was following him, but his eyes fell on the princess strolling amidst the exotic plants and flowers.
There she was! Oh, how he wanted to make himself known to her, but he couldn’t. His head and heart waged war with each other, with the head wanting to leave for the outskirts and the heart longing for Princess Skyla. When he realized that this was probably the only chance he’d get without being noticed, he decided to take a risk and began leaping down towards the garden. The only thing was…he didn’t practice leaping downhill. With a cry of surprise, he lost his footing and tumbled the rest of the way until he stopped within a foot of the rose bushes. He prayed that he hadn’t attracted attention with his fumble.
When she had heard that abrupt shout, Skyla had turned to see a blur tumbling down behind the rose bushes. Her heart quickened in hopes that it was Blackthorn, but she had to go about this carefully. Then, she got an idea.
She sat down on the stone bench beside the bushes and playfully said, “Oh, I wish these roses could talk. I bet they would have lots to say.” From saying this, she hoped that she would get a response from Blackthorn.
The deer smiled and played along, speaking for the roses, “Indeed we do, Your Highness.”
Skyla gave a fake squeak of surprise as she turned towards the roses. “You do speak! And here I was, afraid that the wonders here simply ceased.”
“Well, don’t assume much about what you see, for there is far more than meets the eye.”
“So does that mean there is more to Blackthorn as well? What is he really like?”
Blackthorn got an inkling that she was playing with him, but if this was a way to communicate with her without being caught, he would gladly take this chance. “Well, he’s compassionate, faithful, funny, always ready to take action whenever the situation calls for it. Oh! And he’s a real sweetheart despite the fact that…” He was hesitant to mention it. “…he’s done horrible deeds.”
Skyla was surprised to hear this. “Horrible deeds? Surely a deer with a good heart wouldn’t do such a thing.”
“He would if he was blackmailed into doing them.”
“Blackmailed? I thought he was just naturally shy, but I never thought he’d be blackmailed. Who is blackmailing him?”
Blackthorn was uncomfortable with revealing this information in case she would think wrongly of him, so he diplomatically said, “Someone who gives him shelter from the angry crowds who would surely come after him if he was found out.”
“But if this person is blackmailing him into doing evil deeds, then why would he stay with him? Or her?”
“He has no choice. When he first came here, he thought he was doing something for the greater good, but he was wrong. Now, he is no longer safe outside of Las Pegasus and I have no home left to go back to.” He covered his mouth as he realized that he said “I” for the last part. He corrected, “He. I meant ‘he’.”
Skyla had caught the “I” the first time, but she pretended she didn’t hear it and asked, “No home? What happened?”
Blackthorn remembered it like it was yesterday. “The deer guards once lived in a secret city in a forest. You have to understand, it was kept especially hidden. But one day, the guards went out on patrol after sightings of timberwolves around the area were reported. When they returned that evening, the city was gone. It had vanished into thin air. After the guards were granted agelessness by Gaea Everfree until their beloved home returns, they roamed around Equestria in secret and helped many in need.
“They never wanted to attract attention, but after many years, King Gladmane heard about them and hired them to be his special guards. We flowers in the garden don’t know much about what goes on in the palace, but we have heard the lamentations of the deer enough to assume that they’re not happy here in Las Pegasus. More than anything, they just want to go home.”
Skyla felt sorry for Blackthorn and the plight of the deer. Until now, she didn’t know that he was suffering under the cruelty of the blackmailer and the demands of Gladmane. She vowed, “I promise to find the secret city and bring you – er, Blackthorn and the deer back home so they don’t have to worry about the blackmailer or Gladmane again.”
Blackthorn’s heart warmed at the kindness of her promise. Even though it was nigh impossible, he felt that she would go to great lengths to make sure he and his comrades were free to live their lives again.
He smiled, “I – We - applaud your big heart, princess. Er, we would if we had hooves or hands.”
He and Skyla chuckled at that. Blackthorn had never felt this happy or relaxed since before he and his soldiers were hired by Gladmane. For that, he was glad Gale and Skyla came into his life, even if it would be for a short time.
He then said, “You haven’t told me – us - about yourself.”
Skyla took a deep breath and said, “Oh, where do I start? Well, I’m the Crown Princess of the Crystal Empire. I have a younger sister who’s off saving the world…again. If you ask me, there’s not much to do when you’re not saving children or traveling to new places.”
Blackthorn reassured her, “I’m sure that you have an important role as Crown Princess. Though I may not have experienced it, I know how important it is to be royalty. It helps in many situations, like when you need to settle disagreements and feuds or even serving as an example for all people to follow.”
Skyla felt comforted and amazed by what he said. “Huh. I guess I forgot about all the things royals can do. When I was younger, I thought grown-up royals got to do whatever they wanted.” She chuckled, “How wrong I was.”
“We all desire the days of our youth. It makes us feel safer and happier.”
“I bet.” She gave a yawn. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I suppose I better turn in now.”
“No worries, Your Highness. You should get your rest for the big ball tomorrow night.”
“I really hope Blackthorn will be there so I can see him again.”
He sighed sadly, “I don’t think that’s possible.”
“I know, but we can all dream.”
As she got up from the bench, Blackthorn said, “Good night, sweet princess.”
“Please, call me Skyla.”
“And I’m sure Blackthorn would like to be called by his name, too.”
She gave a smile to the roses before leaving the gardens. Even though they didn’t actually see each other, they both knew that they were falling in love.
I’m a stealthy little fly just roaming around the halls. Nothing suspicious here. Nope. I’m just an ordinary fly. A fly who’s making his way to Gladmane’s chambers, where I’ll find secrets galore – Oof!
Discord bumped against the large breastplate of a passing guard and fell to the ground, unconsciously changing back to his normal form.
The guard asked, “Prince Discord?”
The draconequus looked up to see the striped bat pony he had met only once or twice. He smirked, “Well, if it isn’t Gale’s favorite bumble tiger. How are things between you and His Majesty?”
“One – I have a name: Foxhelm. And two – I’m not in cahoots with the king.”
“But you are his guard, are you not?”
“No, not entirely. I’m on loan from Princess Luna for a reason.”
“A reason? Oh, do tell.”
“We can’t discuss it here. It’s not safe.”
“I know the perfect place where we can chat.” He snapped his fingers.
In a flash of light, Foxhelm found himself hanging upside down with Discord from the rafters of a turret roof! He yelped as he got onto the conical roof.
With fear still coursing through his body, he said, “I may be part bat, but I’m part pony, too!”
Discord asked with a sly smile as he floated onto the roof with ease, “Where’s the tiger part?”
Foxhelm waved his hooves and said in agitation, “That’s not important right now. Do you want me to tell you why I’m here or not?”
“Go ahead. I’m not stopping you.”
The guard then said, “A few months ago –“
Crunch!
To Foxhelm’s annoyance, Discord was munching on a bucket of popcorn.
He asked in irritation, “Are you going to eat popcorn while I’m talking?”
Discord said playfully as he dug into the bucket, “Oh, I’m sorry.” He held out a handful of popcorn as he said, “Did you want some?”
Foxhelm shook his head, “No, thank you.”
He shrugged, “Suit yourself.” He then tossed the popcorn into his mouth.
The guard groaned in anger and said while keeping his emotions in check, “A few months ago, Princess Luna began to detect a pattern with the Dark Riders. She noticed that the directions in which the soldiers left places all seemed to point to the west of Equestria. Since the crisis began, all kingdoms and cities have checked and re-checked, but Princess Luna wanted to try something. She sent several of her royal guards to do undercover work as guards loaned to different rulers. I am one of those guards and I was sent here to uncover any vital information about the Dark Riders that King Gladmane might’ve –“
“Bored. I’m bored,” Discord said dispassionately while swinging his legs back and forth.
Foxhelm grumbled, “I can’t believe this is happening.” He then asked Discord, “All right, then. May I ask what you were doing skulking towards King Gladmane’s chambers? I mean, surely the king would be of no concern to the Lord of Chaos unless there was something of great importance to him. Something like, say, the amulet?”
Discord threw his arms up before crossing them, “Well, looks like the jig is up.” He then glared at the guard and said in a low, serious voice, “Now tell me what you know.”
“In the time I’ve been here, I’ve learned that the amulet is Gladmane’s most prized possession. He even has a protection spell around it to keep anyone from stealing it.”
“Well, that explains why I haven’t been able to summon it. Why, may I ask, does Gladmane value the trinket so much?”
“It can grant his every wish, whether it’s treasure or more servants. Just about anything. It’s very powerful. He always keeps it on his person until he goes to bed. Then he puts it behind the portrait above the fireplace. I’ve seen him do it during one of my fly-bys on patrol.”
Discord rubbed his hands together and said, “Wonderful! All I have to do is sneak in and grab it.”
“Hold it. There’s one more thing you should know about. There’s also a protection spell around his bedroom. It’s only active at night so no one can enter unannounced. If you try to go in there while he’s sleeping, you’ll be caught. He made it so that the spell would lift for no one but the king.”
“Hmm. It seems he’s closed all of the loopholes.” Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. He said as a sneaky smile literally curved on his face, “Well, almost all of the loopholes.” He then told Foxhelm, “Thank you for sharing this vital piece of information, Bumble Tiger. You have done a great service for your country. I shall now return you to your post while I concoct my plan.”
In a sudden flash of light, Foxhelm found himself alone in the hall again. He said in confusion, “Oh-kay…”
In their large guest room at Dandy’s chateau, the sisters and most of the husbands got ready for bed.
Spike asked, “Should we be concerned that Dandy denies any knowledge of the Dark Riders? Well, except for that scare in Maris.”
Rarity stated, “Trust us. Fancy and I can tell whenever a noble is lying.”
Fancy nodded, “And he most certainly wasn’t.”
Sunset put her hoof to her chin, “So the most likely suspect at this point is Gladmane.”
Applejack agreed, “I knew somethin’ wasn’t right the moment I met him.”
Pinkie slit her eyes, “Yeah. He was a bit too cheerful for my tastes.”
Cheese said, “And Pinkie and I can tell when someone’s putting on a show.”
Sunset said, “Well, let’s see what happens when we go to Las Pegasus with Dandy.”
Timber spoke up, “Thank goodness for the invite.”
Rainbow Dash said, “Uh, is that really a good thing?”
Spike agreed, “I’m with Rainbow Dash on this one. We don’t know if it’s a trap for Dandy or for Gladmane.”
Though they woke up to a pleasant morning in Cloud Patch, the group found that they had no food for breakfast. Luckily, Silver Tongue had a few extra wishing stars on him, so he made a wish for food. After everyone ate their meals, they resumed traveling. Unfortunately, the kids were so distracted by the fluffy clouds that they kept bouncing on them.
Silver Tongue eventually got tired of it and angrily scolded, “Children, stop playing around! We have important business to attend to and you’re slowing us down!”
The children stopped bouncing and hung their heads in shame as they replied sadly, “Okay.”
Seeing the downtrodden look on Oddball’s face, Wacky nuzzled the colt to comfort him.
As the kids walked with the group, Skater whispered to Silver Tongue, “Don’t you think that was a bit harsh?”
Silver responded, “If you want to save Paraddock from certain doom, then we best move as quickly as possible.”
Skater couldn’t argue with that, but she still felt that his behavior was uncalled for. Against his better nature, Mischief hoped that Silver would show more of his ugly side so the others could see him for what he truly was. Until then, he could not say anything against the prince.
Soon, they reached the border where the clouds ended and a savannah began. As the group stepped off the fluffy clouds and onto the firm ground of the savannah, they looked in wonder of the docile animals going about their lives. There were elephants bathing in watering holes, lions napping in the sun, and even giraffes munching on the leaves decorating the trees’ high branches.
Vapor breathed in amazement, “Everything’s so peaceful and yet so majestic.”
Turquoise asked in worry as she huddled close to Apple Butter, “Are the lions going to hurt us?”
Suddenly, a twig snapped and a lion shot its head up through the tall yellow grass. The group gasped as they waited for him to attack.
To their surprise, however, he spoke in a low grumble, “Be quiet over there. We’re trying to sleep.”
When the lion’s head dipped behind the tall grass, Skater whispered, “Oh-kay. I guess we’ll have to be quiet, then.”
The group moved slowly past the lions until they were a safe distance away from them.
Blaze said, “Now we know for sure who created Paraddock. I mean, why else would animals and plants talk here?”
“Don’t forget giant sandboxes trying to kill us,” Roller added.
Apple Butter corrected, “I don’t think that was the creator’s intent.”
Mischief said, “That’s not important right now. We need to find her and find out what’s going on.”
Nova asked, “But the question is which way do we go?”
A soft, whispery voice responded, “I think I might know.”
The group was surprised again when a reddish cobra slithered onto a flat rock beside them.
He hissed in a sleazy manner, “That isss, if you’re up to the challenge.”
Sky Stinger proudly stated, “We can take on anything! We’ve battled sand monsters, crazy rivers, you name it!”
“I’m sure, but I’ve heard that the creator is extremely powerful and can do anything she pleasesss.”
Blaze said, “Yep. Sounds like our draconequus.”
Flurry asked the snake, “Do you know where we can find her?”
The cobra answered, “I might, if you can prove you have what it takesss.”
Mischief asked, “So what do we have to do?”
The snake seemed taken aback by that question as he said, “What do you have to do?” His eyes darted around, searching for any ideas. “Well, see, you have to…” When his eyes fell on Flurry’s mane, he continued, “…get a hair.”
Roller asked with a raised brow, “A hair? That’s it?”
“Yesss, a hair.” He then heard an elephant trumpet in the distance. He clarified with a sneaky smile, “An elephant hair.”
Turquoise said in confusion, “But lellafans don’t have hair.”
Zealot stated, “I think they have hair on their tails.”
The cobra nodded, “Yesss, yesss! Bring me the hair of an elephant’s tail and I’ll tell you where your missing…person isss. Do we have a deal?”
Sky Stinger then came to the front and said confidently, “Deal! I’ll get your hair. After all, I’m the one and only Pony Pan.”
As he walked towards one of the watering holes, Vapor fretted, “I really hope you’ll be careful.”
“Ah, don’t worry, honey. I’ll be back with the hair before you can say ‘Bob’s your uncle.’”
Luckily, the herd of elephants was positioned on the far side of the watering hole. This meant that Sky could just dive underwater, sneak up to them, and pluck a hair before they would catch on. He took a deep breath and dived softly into the water without making a disturbance. He almost lost his contained air when he discovered that the pool was practically bottomless beneath the submerged dirt walls of the hole. He was further amazed when he saw that the elephants’ feet seemed to be floating yet standing still in the water at the same time.
He thought in amazement, Wow, crazy! He then shook his head and refocused on the task at hand. He swam up to one of the elephants at the edge of the herd and saw its tail swinging side to side. He smiled devilishly as he thought, Bingo.
He jumped out of the water and tried to reach for the tail, but he fell back in the water without success. He tried jumping again, but this time using his mouth to get a hair. That attempt, too, failed.
Meanwhile, the elephants chattered amongst themselves. One of the young elephant calves noticed Sky jumping up and down the water.
He squeaked in fear, “Aah! It’s a piranha! Run!”
His mother told him, “Sweetheart, we’re safe here. There are no piranhas and never will be piranhas in –“
Suddenly, one of the adult males shouted, “My butt!”
As the elephants trumpeted, shouted, and moved in frenzy, Sky held onto the elephant’s tail with his teeth as tightly as he could. Eventually, the tail whipped up and flung Sky into the air. As the Pegasus screamed in mid-air before coming down, the elephants frantically asked each other what the mysterious creature was.
The calf shouted, “It’s a piranha!”
When Sky disappeared into the water, the elephants looked at the spot with intense anxiety. Sky then splashed into view and bared his teeth as he gasped for air.
The elephants screamed as they started to stampede in fear, “PIRANHA!!!”
There were feet scurrying and stamping everywhere, splashing water where they landed. Sky thought for sure he was done for this time. Meanwhile on the plains, the group watched in fear and worry as the chaos unfolded. Vapor’s eyes were wide from the scene and she covered her mouth with her hooves.
Roller whispered, “He’s dead.”
Suddenly, the elephants started to stampede out of the watering hole and run towards the group in blind fear.
The Pegasi twins then shouted, “We’re dead!”
The screaming group of travelers ran towards the trees for shelter from the stampede.
When Flurry counted everyone, she gasped, “Where’s Opulence?!”
Nova looked towards the stampede and saw the young filly frantically avoiding the large feet of the fearful elephants. She shouted, “I see her!”
Zealot ran out into the open, lunged through the stampeding herd, and grabbed Opulence before a huge foot could crush her. With the frightened filly in his arms, he rolled out of harm’s way and waited until the stampede was far away from them. Once the danger had passed, Opulence began to cry uncontrollably in Zealot’s arms.
He heard his beloved Apple Butter’s voice shout, “Zealot!” The group ran towards Zealot and AB asked in concern, “Zealot, are you okay?”
Zealot looked at her calmly, “We’re fine. We’re fine.”
Vapor then let loose a near-animalistic cry, “SKY!!!”
She ran towards the watering hole where Sky’s front half was limp on the earthy edge. Luckily, he hadn’t been trampled on, but he looked so…still.
Vapor frantically blubbered as she pulled Sky onto the ground and flipped him on his back, “Sky, honey! Sky, come on! You can’t do this to me! Don’t die on me, Sky! Don’t die on me! Don’t you dare die on me!”
Silver Tongue walked up and said, “Step aside. I know CPR.”
He leaned over Sky’s body and pressed his hooves against the stallion’s chest. With one push, however, a gush of water spurted out of Sky’s mouth and onto Silver’s face.
As her husband coughed jaggedly, Vapor smiled widely, “He’s alive! He’s alive!”
While the rest of the group cheered for Sky’s safety, Mischief couldn’t help but feel low about himself.
He thought, Silver’s a hero and I did nothing. This proves it now. He’s the prince Flurry deserves, not me.
Abruptly, Vapor’s mood changed from joyful to furious. She shouted at Sky, “You idiot! You could’ve made me a widow! Are you happy?!”
Sky nodded, “Mm-hmm.” When he stuck his tongue out, there it was: an elephant hair.
The cobra, who had slithered up to the group when Sky was unconscious, said in surprise, “I don’t believe it. You got the hair.”
Sky wiped the hair off his tongue and said in displeasure, “Blech! You can keep it.” He wiped his hoof against the ground to get the hair off.
The snake said, “You know, to be honest, I thought you wouldn’t be able to do it, but you sssurprised me.”
Blaze said impatiently, “Okay, okay. Now tell us where to find the creator.”
“Since you are ssso eager to know, I’ll humor you. For generations, the egrets fly over this land and even away from it. Those who have traveled far from the sssavannah have told tales of a ssstrange creature who lives in a large and fantastic termite mound made of ssstone.”
The ponies and young griffon were confused for a moment until Nova realized, “Oh, wait. That must be the castle.”
“I believe it isss. Now, the egrets who have ssseen this magnificent castle flew over the dark forest, a wide sssea, and a jungle filled with strange plantsss.”
Blaze asked, “Well, which way do we go?”
“I’ll take you to the forest, sssince you impressed me ssso much.”
When they reached the trees bordering the grassy plains of the savannah, the cobra stopped and said, “Thisss is where I leave you. From this point on, you’re on your own.”
Flurry nodded in gratitude, “Thank you for your help, kind cobra.”
As the snake turned to leave, Sky Stinger asked, “So what are you going to do with the elephant hair?”
The cobra answered amusedly, “Nothing. I only told you to get one because I thought it was an impossible task and ssseeing you fail would amuse me. But sssince you succeeded, I kept my end of the bargain. Farewell, travelersss, and I hope you can handle whatever she throwsss at you.” He then disappeared into the tall grass.
Zealot said in uncertainty, “Are you sure we should trust a snake? I’ve read that they are associated with deceit and trickery.”
Blaze joked with a hiss-like lisp, “Sssure, why not? Let’sss go in the deep, dark foressst and find out!”
As her coltfriend entered the forest, Nova shook her head in annoyance, “Classic Blaze.”
Soon, the others followed the prince into the dark woods. It wasn’t pitch black nor was it as dark as the tunnels they traversed yesterday. Still, it was spooky enough to creep the adults out and frighten the children so they could huddle close for protection.
Gabby said nervously, “How much farther do we have to go? I don’t like it here.”
Jamboree agreed in near tears, “I wanna get out.”
Flurry comforted them, “I’m sure we’ll be out of here soon.”
Vapor pointed to something, “Look! A sign!”
The group drew close to the sign to read it.
Silver Tongue read aloud, “’Those who enter with doubt in the heart will also question who they are.’”
Sky said uneasily, “I’m not sure I like that mist close to the ground.”
Apple Butter suggested, “Well, since the sign is meant for those with doubt, maybe we should think about how we definitely want to get out of the forest.”
Zealot nodded, “Good idea, honey.”
After a few moments of getting their thoughts focused on leaving the forest, Mischief asked, “Is everyone ready?” When everyone nodded, he took a deep breath and said, “Okay…Here we go.”
They all entered the grove and felt the mist touching their hooves.
Some of the children giggled and Oddball said, “Hey, it tickles.”
Flurry asked, “Is everyone doing okay?”
Sky Stinger replied, “That depends. I’m not sure I’m feeling like myself.”
Vapor Trail nodded, “Yeah. I remember you, but I don’t remember who I am.”
Mischief agreed, “Neither do I.”
Those unaffected by the mist gasped in horror.
Nova fretted, “Oh, no! The mist is having an effect on them! Let’s get out of here quickly before it affects us all!”
The group then ran as fast as they could for almost a minute before they saw some light at the end of the grove. They practically jumped out of the mist when they reached the lighter part of the woods. Although no sun peered through the branches of the trees, it was light enough to ease everyone’s worries.
Skater asked, “Did everyone make it out okay?”
Mischief touched his head as he answered, “Yeah, I think so. I remember who I am now.”
She then asked the rest of the group, “Did anyone else forget who they were?”
All but Sky, Vapor, and Mischief shook their heads.
Sky said in confusion, “I don’t get it. We were all thinking about how much we wanted to leave the forest. Why did we still forget who we were?”
Nova suggested, “Maybe it’s doubt that’s deep down. Way deep, like in your innermost heart.”
Roller asked with a raised brow, “Why would anyone doubt they want to leave a dark and scary forest?”
Skater interjected, “Now, hold on. I think Nova’s onto something. What if it’s something that’s been bothering someone for a while, maybe even a long time? It could be something like their self-esteem, their confidence, or even –“
Flurry suggested, realizing something, “Who they are?”
She remembered how Mischief acted uneasy during the pre-wedding dinner, how he seemed to be putting himself down the night before they left for Paraddock, and even how he recently mentioned how princely Silver Tongue seemed to be. She wondered if…
Flurry said to her fiancé, “Mischief?”
Mischief, worried that she would catch on, tried to put on a calm front and asked, “Yeah?”
“How do you see yourself?”
Not wanting to displease Flurry, he lied nervously, “I see myself having a beautiful future with the most wonderful pony in the world.” In truth, he didn’t see himself having any kind of future with her.
Skater whispered to her twin brother, “He’s deflecting the question.”
Flurry said with furrowed brows, “I don’t think you’re being honest with me, Mischief.”
He defensively said, “Why wouldn’t I be honest with you? I’m your true love, am I not?” He wasn’t even sure he was that anymore.
Silver Tongue scoffed, “Some true love you are if you can’t even tell your beloved how you feel about her.”
Flurry glared at the unicorn and said sternly, “This isn’t about how he feels about me. It’s about how he feels about himself.”
Apple Butter asked, “What’s gotten into you, Mischief? Just say what you need to say.”
That did it for Mischief. His innermost feelings came out in an anguished shout of four words. “I’m not good enough!”
His sadness radiated as a blue light from his body and affected everyone it touched. While some blinked back their tears, others let their tears flow freely.
As the wave of sorrow began to die down, Mischief continued in a broken voice, “I’m…not the colt…you want me to be. I’m sorry, Flurry. I’m sorry I’m such a freak.”
He sat down and wept with his head hanging down and his hoof over his teary eyes. Flurry went to him and put her hooves over his shoulders to comfort him.
Skater suggested calmly, “I think we should take a lunch break here and rest for a while.”
To respect Mischief’s space, Flurry ate her meal apart from him while keeping him in her sight. How could she not have seen the signs? How could she not have seen that he was doubting himself and whether he was good enough for her? She thought that they were content as a couple, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that it was what she thought of the whole thing. She didn’t even think of asking Mischief about how he felt about the wedding and their future. He seemed so sure when he had proposed to her that enchanted evening…
They had just completed another mission provided by the Cutie Map. This time, it was just the two of them in Mischief’s hometown of Hollow Shades. They had to defeat miners who wanted to mine a vein of rare crystals on behalf of their evil sorceress boss. All through the mission, Mischief had seemed fidgety, like he wanted to say or do something. They had exhausted all possible options until Mischief finally lost patience and went wolf on the miners. Thankfully, he didn’t attack them; he only scared them and their sorceress friend enough to surrender.
When they went to a restaurant that night, Mischief didn’t seem to be happy. If anything, he looked…ashamed.
Flurry asked calmly, “Mischief, what’s wrong?”
Mischief sighed in both shame and defeat, “I really wish you didn’t see what happened this afternoon.”
“With you turning into a wolf?”
He nodded sadly, “Yeah. I get like that sometimes, whenever I get really angry or someone I care about gets threatened. It’s like pure animal instinct takes over. I wanted to tell you first, but I was afraid you…”
“Wouldn’t like it?”
He nodded again.
She touched his hooves in comfort, “Mischief, what matters is that we’re honest with each other. We need to say these things so they don’t come out so…unexpectedly.”
“So, how did you react when I turned into a wolf?”
“Truthfully, I was surprised to see you so angry and aggressive.” When she saw him hang his head in shame, she lifted his chin so she could see his eyes, “But that doesn’t mean I love you any less. I want to be with you through thick and thin, through rough times and smooth times. I want to be with you no matter what you transform into. I don’t care if you turn into a wolf or a bear or even a frog. I love you, Mischief, and that’s all that matters.”
She gave him a kiss to reassure him. His smile returned to his face and the sparkle came back into his green eyes.
He then softly said, “You know, there was a very good reason why I acted the way I did. Not just when I transformed into a wolf, but my agitation and impatience before it happened.” He stood up as he dug into his jagged mane. He chuckled, “I actually had a whole speech prepped, but I think you already said what I wanted to say, so now I just need to do this.”
Her heart fluttered as he got down on one knee and pulled out a ring box from inside his mane. When he opened it to reveal a diamond ring inside, she almost covered her wide smile with her hooves.
He said with hope in his warm eyes, “Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire, will you marry me?”
She wrapped her arms tightly around her beloved as she ecstatically answered, “Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!”
They embraced and shared a passionate kiss before they heard clapping and cheering around them. They looked to see the gleeful crowd offering their hearty congratulations.
Mischief chuckled, “Right. I forgot we were in a restaurant.”
A teary-eyed Cauldron Bubbles then said happily as she held a camera, “Not to mention your ever-loving mother captured the perfect moment.”
Mischief playfully rolled his eyes as he pretended to whine, “Mo-om!”
Flurry giggled softly at the happy memory. When she opened her eyes again, she saw that Mischief was heading deeper into the woods. She got up from the ground and quietly followed him until he reached a waterfall surrounded by small pools of water. She kept a short distance between her and Mischief and watched for anything he might do.
Mischief didn’t know what to do now. He made such a mess of things that he wasn’t even sure Flurry still wanted to marry him. Everything had been so right when he had proposed to her that night and then planned their wedding during the months that followed. Where did everything go so wrong? He looked at his reflection in the pool closest to him and remembered what Silver Tongue said to him last night.
“Even if you don’t go animal, you still lose your princess because – to put it plainly - you’re just not princely material…”
The prince was right. All Mischief could see was a beastly pony who was not fit for the royal life, would never be fit for the royal life. He scowled at his own face before stomping his hooves into the pool. He continued smashing his reflection for a few moments before mud splattered onto his face. He looked at his reflection again to see the glop of mud on his muzzle.
Fine! Let them see a monster, then! I don’t care!
He grabbed more mud from the bottom of the shallow pool and smeared it all over his face and much of his chest. As quickly as he had started, he stopped what he was doing, feeling dissatisfied with his actions.
“Mischief?”
His breath caught when he heard his fiancée’s voice and turned to see her standing behind him.
“What are you doing?”
He thought he knew the answer to her question, but so many responses bounced in his head. “I don’t know.”
Flurry quipped to lighten the mood, “Well, do you know you’re dirty?” In a flash of yellow light, a handkerchief enveloped in her magic aura appeared. “Let’s clean you off.”
As she started to wipe the mud off his face, Mischief scoffed, “What does it matter? It doesn’t change who I am. Nothing will. Not a royal title, not a knighthood. I’m always going to be me: a pony/beast hybrid.”
Flurry was surprised to hear him say that. “Who said you were a pony/beast hybrid?”
“Who do you think?”
When she thought of Silver Tongue, she understood. “Oh. Well, never mind what he says.”
Mischief suddenly drew back from her and raised his voice, “But look at me!”
Though she was taken aback by his abrupt behavior, she said calmly, “I am, Mischief. And do you know what I see?” She wiped her handkerchief on his face again and removed the mud as she said, “I see…two eyes, like mine. And a nose somewhere. Ah! Here.” After the mud was gone from her beloved’s face, she made the handkerchief disappear and playfully said, “Two ears.”
They both chuckled when she touched his ears.
“And let’s see…what else?”
Mischief smiled, “Four hooves?”
She chuckled, “That’s right.”
When they touched hooves, Mischief took joy in her soft touch. She was right: they were similar. When he looked up at her horn, however, he was reminded of how different they were. Unconsciously, he withdrew his hooves and touched his antlers.
Flurry knew that he was worrying again, so she told him, “Okay, let’s try something different. Close your eyes.” After Mischief closed his eyes, Flurry took his hoof as she said, “Now forget what you see.” When she put his hoof on his chest, she asked, “What do you feel?”
He answered in confusion as he opened his eyes with a raised brow, “My heart?”
“Mm-hmm. Now come here.”
She gently pulled his head close to her chest and his ear caught the thrilling sound of her precious heartbeat. He could feel one of his hind legs slightly lift in ecstasy.
He said, “Your heart.”
When he drew his head back and their eyes met again, she smiled, “See? We’re exactly the same. Silver Tongue just can’t see that.”
With confidence slowly returning, he said, “I’ll make him see there’s more to me than just my heritage. I’ll show him that I’ll be the best prince I can be.”
“And do it all just by being you, no matter what anyone says.”
He took her hooves in his and said, “Thank you for reminding me, Flurry. I’m so sorry about how I acted the last few days. I was just so nervous about how you’d feel towards me if I wasn’t who you want me to be.”
She answered, “Like a prince? You’re already a prince in my eyes. You’re strong, compassionate, brave, and honest. I want the you I see, the real you.”
He smiled widely in gratitude and said softly, “I love you so much.”
“I do, too.”
They embraced and locked lips in a romantic kiss.
Sky Stinger hardly touched his food since he was so preoccupied with his own thoughts. Why did he forget who he was back in the grove? He thought he was certain of everything. Well, everything except…His eyes widened as he realized that this particular doubt was the reason he forgot his identity, because he wasn’t sure who he wanted to be anymore.
Vapor came up to him and asked, “Hey, honey? Can we talk for a bit?”
Sky nodded, “Oh, yeah, yeah, sure! In fact, I’ve got something to tell you.”
“Oh, then why don’t you go first?”
“Okay.” He took a deep breath to prepare himself for what he was going to say. “I could’ve died in the elephant stampede this morning. I thought since I was Pony Pan, I could take on anything and I wouldn’t be in any danger. Stupid me, I was so cocky that I didn’t think of what I could lose if anything happened. I mean, is charging headfirst into danger really worth being Pony Pan? Especially if I could lose someone I love or even my own life? Vapor…I don’t think I want to be Pony Pan anymore.”
Vapor was surprised by the development. She breathed, “Sky…I thought this was everything you ever wanted.”
“It was, but I’m not so sure now. Ever since that stampede, I started to question if I could truly be Pony Pan, all carefree and reckless. It’s because of that doubt that I forgot who I was in the mist.”
“Well, if it’s all the same to you, I’ve been having a doubt that made me forget, too.”
“Really? What’s that?”
She was hesitant to say it. “I’m…worried I won’t be a good mother.”
Sky scoffed with a smile, “What? Of course you’re going to be a great mom! You’re going to be the best mom there is! We may not have kids now, but when we do have a family someday, I promise you’re going to be great at…mom stuff.”
She looked to the side as she slowly said, “Well…someday is going to come sooner than you think.”
Sky’s eyes widened as he looked at his wife in surprise. He stammered, “You mean…? You’re…I’m….”
As her husband continued to babble in shock, Vapor was worried that it would all end badly. To her great surprise, he started to laugh ecstatically.
He hugged his beloved as he said in glee, “Oh, my gosh! Vapor! We’re going to be parents!” He pulled back and said confidently, “That settles it! I’ve made my final decision! I’m officially resigning as Pony Pan! We’ve got a family to raise!”
Vapor embraced him gladly as she said, “Oh, Sky, I’m so happy!” She then realized something and asked in concern, “But what about Captain Hoof?”
He shrugged nonchalantly, “What about him? As soon as Lady Draconequus gets us off Paraddock, we can live our lives while Captain Hoof wanders aimlessly here without any Pony Pan to fight.”
Just then, a gruff voice said, “I wouldn’t count on it.”
The couple gasped as they saw parrot pirates holding their swords out.
The group had been ambushed by Captain Hoof’s motley crew and the captives were now being taken back to the Polly Roger.
Ruff protested loudly, “You’ll never get away with this, you curvy pirates!”
The pirates laughed at the cuteness of Ruff’s words.
Boyle, the bulky parrot with a hook joked, “I do have some curves around me frame, don’t I?”
He and his crewmates laughed at this.
Blaze scowled, “You won’t be laughing when we give Hoof a piece of his mind!”
Mullet, the parrot with red feathers on his head and an eye patch, gave a sinister chuckle, “Heh-heh. I’d like to see you try.”
The boats stopped at the ship’s side and ropes were lowered to raise them up. When the pirates and their captives got onto the deck, the cook Lix Spittle bounced and clapped in glee.
She cackled excitedly, “Ooh-hoo-hoo-hoo! You got them! I’ll tell the captain the good news!” After she went into the captain’s cabin for almost a minute, she walked back out with a malicious grin. She then said softly, “This is going to be good.”
Sky had always imagined what his inevitable meeting with Captain Hoof would be like, the banters they’d exchange, and the eventual duel they would have. But every possibility he thought of soon went down the drain, for as soon as the captain walked out the door, he was shocked to discover that Captain Hoof – scourge of Paraddock and Pony Pan’s eternal nemesis – was a female! She had a crystal peg leg where her right leg would’ve been; her yellow outfit tightly fit her lean frame; and her sharp green feathers spilled out from her large captain’s hat.
She walked slowly towards the group as she said with a menacing grin, “Pony Pan…the colt who never grew up. I finally have you in my grasp after so many years. Anything you wish to say before I end your career for good?”
Sky was still gawking from the revelation that Captain Hoof was a female. All he could sputter out was, “You’re a girl?!”
Hoof held her sword close to Sky’s neck and growled, “I warn you, Pony Pan. I am no mere girl. My skills and ruthlessness rival that of even the greatest warriors and make me feared by all but you. You, the one who has given me grief since the beginning.” She then gave a wicked chuckle, “But now that I have you, I will finally end this feud once and for all.”
Mischief retorted, “That’s what you think!”
In a blast of magic, he repelled the dastardly crew and freed everyone of their bonds.
Roller chortled, “Now we’re cooking!”
Before his friends could start fighting the pirates, Sky cried, “Wait, stop!” He turned towards Captain Hoof and said, “I’m the one you want. I surrender.”
Everyone gasped at this stunning turn of events. Even Captain Hoof was in disbelief.
She spoke in surprise, “Wait, what? Oh, I see. This is a ploy! You must have something big planned! That’s why you want to misdirect me!”
Sky shook his head, “Nope. I surrender. Take me as your captive. Feed me to the sharks. Tie me to the mast as your trophy. Do anything you want with me.”
Captain Hoof was more bewildered than ever. She then said in confused agitation, “Wha- ? No! No! You’re Pony Pan! Pony Pan never gives up without a fight!”
“Well, too bad, because I’m not Pony Pan.”
The pirates gasped. One of them cried, “Say what?!”
The Pegasus continued, “I’m Sky Stinger of Stratusburg. I’m part of a long line of Pony Pans who roamed Paraddock and defeated you and your pirates time and again.”
Everyone stood in stunned silence until Hoof suddenly burst into laughter.
Mullet asked in confusion, “Captain?”
Blaze said, “This just got a lot weirder.”
Sky asked, “What’s so funny?”
Hoof answered as she caught her breath, “It’s funny because we aren’t so different.”
The group of travelers uttered, “Huh?”
She explained, “You see, I’m not really Captain Hoof. My name’s Celaeno, and I’m part of a long line, too. There were lots of Captain Hoofs before me and I mean lots. Every time a Captain Hoof died or retired, a new Captain Hoof would take his place. I just happen to be the first Captain Hoof to be female. I took over from my father, who took over from his father.”
Gabby added, “Who took over from his father, right?”
She smiled as she shook her head, “No. I’m the third in my family line. Sometimes a past Captain Hoof was part of a family line, but other times he simply chose his first mate, his cabin boy, or even an orphan he found to succeed him upon his death or retirement. Most of the Captain Hoofs were parrots like me, but there were some who were different, like a griffon, a hippogriff, and even a Storm Creature!”
Vapor asked, “So what was the original Captain Hoof like?”
“Why tell you when I can show you?”
Nova remarked as Celaeno pulled a book from a bookshelf of nearly identical books, “It’s amazing you have a recorded history of past Captain Hoofs!”
Blaze smirked, “I know Aunt Twilight would go bonkers over this.”
Celaeno said as she set the book down on the table in her cabin, “Well, we pirates make it a point to record our deeds and lives so we can be remembered…” She then said uneasily, “…even if some of us are more bad at our job than others.” She opened the book and pointed to an illustration of a fearless and ragged parrot captain. “There’s the original Captain Hoof, so named because of the shape of the peg leg he had. He lost his real leg to a duel with Pony Pan. Er, the original one, it would seem.”
She turned the page to reveal a drawing of the original Pony Pan, who was flying while holding a dagger between the teeth of his confident grin. “And that’s him right here.” She then asked, “Hey, Sky, do you know what his real name was? You should know your history of Pony Pans since you are one.”
Sky answered, “He never really said his real name in the journals he left. He just called himself ‘Pony Pan’.”
“Huh. Same thing with the original Captain Hoof. Never gave his real name, either.”
Skater asked, “So did you guys know that there were different Pony Pans or Captain Hoofs or did you assume the other was immortal?”
Celaeno responded as she flipped the pages, “I was always taught that Pony Pan would don different disguises to misdirect the pirates. After all, he’s supposed to be the colt who never grew up.”
Sky said, “And I thought Captain Hoof found some way to be immortal and disguise himself, too.”
Everyone uttered in understanding, “Ohhh.”
Zealot said, “Well, that explains a lot.”
Roller asked Celaeno, “So what about the weapon Captain Hoof was said to have?”
The captain asked in confusion, “Weapon?”
“Yeah, the one with really serious magic.”
Celaeno’s eyes widened as she realized what he meant, “Oh, wait! I think there’s something in one of the books about it!” She rushed to her nightstand and grabbed a book similar to the first one. She said as she flipped the pages, “It might be the treasure my grandfather Redfeather had once.”
When she stopped at a certain section, she set it down on the table and said, “There’s a story that goes with it. When my grandfather became Captain Hoof, he had a wife and baby son with him. He was unlike most of the captains who came before him because he valued treasure more than his inherited enmity with Pony Pan. If anything, he would use Pony Pan and his Lost Colts to find the various treasures on Paraddock. One day, a spy returned with word of a powerful prize…”
Many years ago, Redfeather played jacks with his son to bide the time. Suddenly, he heard his beloved seagull Scout calling in the distance. He stood up to see the bird land on the railing of the deck.
He asked, “What have you learned?”
Scout smiled wickedly, “It’s real juicy this time, boss. Pony Pan and the Lost Colts have cotton candy and toy necklaces and lots of toys and –“
Redfeather glared at the seagull, “How is that juicy?”
“Because, get this, they got them from someone named Capri!”
The captain repeated in disinterest, “Capri? Is that all?”
“But wait, there’s more! They said she can do all sorts of things, like summon a waterslide or make things float! Or even create priceless jewels out of thin air!”
Redfeather’s eyes widened at the tidbit before his mouth curled into a sneaky grin, “Now that sounds promising. If we capture Pony Pan and his annoying little crew, they can lead us right to Capri. We will capture her and force her to –“ He stopped as another malicious idea entered his head. “No. I’ve got a better idea…”
When his pirates came back with Pony Pan and the Lost Colts in chains, the boys protested, “Let us go! You mean old pirates! I’ll knock your lights out!”
Pony Pan, who was actually Blue Star, scowled, “Whatever plans you have, Captain Hoof, we’ll thwart them before you can blink!”
Redfeather answered slyly, “Curiously enough, those plans don’t involve you. Well, they do to a degree, but for the most part, I’m willing to set you and your Lost Colts free…if you do something for me first.”
Blue Star rebuked, “Never! We won’t help you even if you give us everything we want!”
“I thought you might say that. I have a special song prepared to warm you up to the idea. Maestro!” After he snapped his fingers, a parrot began to play the piano.
The captain then sang, “Well, your good luck has departed…and your Lost Colts soon will die…Au revoir to happy times and hello, blues…But because I’m so good-hearted…I’ll let you go free to fly…I like our games, so how could I refuse? But to give me some incentive…there’s just one thing I require…and it’s something very easy to produce…
“And it’s nothing that inventive…Just the one thing I desire…Where Capri is, yes…How could I refuse? Oh, don’t let your spirits falter…These two choices I’ve prepared…Either fight me and their measly lives they’ll lose…Or tell us where to find her…and all of you will be spared…Yes, tell me now…for how could you refuse? How…can…you…refuse?”
Suddenly, a bright light filled the scene as a commanding voice shouted, “STOP!”
Celaeno read her grandfather’s words, “’Though she was very intimidating and hideous, the creature named Capri was quite a sight to behold. She radiated powerful magic that was beyond my wildest dreams. I could feel it in her bright glow, in her breath, and even in her strong voice. If she had the chance, she would’ve inflicted grievous damage with her wrath. Thankfully, the stars were with me that night and I...’” She then said, “That’s where the words end before the rest of the page got torn out.”
Sky said, “Just like how Blue Star tore out that missing page in the journal.”
The captain asked to clarify, “He was the Pony Pan my grandfather faced, right?”
He nodded, “Yes, if the dates are any indication.”
Vapor surmised, “So that means Capri was the friend Blue Star had mentioned.”
Mischief added, “And if that’s the case…Uh-oh.”
Flurry asked in concern, “What is it, Mischief?”
“Celaeno, you wouldn’t still have the weapon, would you?”
The captain answered, “No. My grandfather wrote that one of his crewmates betrayed him and stole the weapon before losing it. Why do you ask?”
“That’s what I was afraid of. What if someone found the weapon and could be using her magic to destroy Paraddock?”
Skater said, “Then we need to find her, and quick!”
Suddenly, the ship rocked as if hit by a cannonball.
After the rocking calmed, Mullet opened the door and announced with worry, “Captain, there are swells battering the starboard bow and I think they’re getting bigger!”
The group rushed out onto the deck and leaned over the starboard railing in time to see a medium-sized wave crash into the side of the ship. The force of the hit caused the ship to tip a little and its passengers to lose their balance.
When all seemed calm for the moment, Celaeno barked as she raced up to the steering wheel, “Secure the rigging! Tie down every barrel and cannon! Hoist the mainsails!”
Silver Tongue groaned, “Here we go again. Another weird-out courtesy of Paraddock.”
Skater admonished, “Now’s not the time for sarcasm, Silver!”
At the steering wheel, Celaeno gasped when she saw a wave slightly larger than the last one moving towards the ship. She shouted to Mischief and Flurry Heart, “Can you two help me steer the ship before the wave hits us?!”
The couple saluted, “Yes, Captain!”
As Celaeno spun the steering wheel, Mischief and Flurry concentrated their magic on either side of the hull. The ship quickly turned away from the wave and started to sail away. However, the wave gave them chase and crashed against the stern, pushing the ship forward while tipping it a little. The Pegasi twins flew up and used their wings to give wind to the sails, making the ship move faster. As a minute or two passed, the waves continued to grow larger and beat against the stern.
Roller asked, “How much farther till we reach land?”
Celaeno answered, “It’s a sea, not a lake! We’ve got lots of water left to cover!”
Zealot’s eyes widened in fear and his ears flattened as he looked back towards the stern. “And there’s lots of water behind us!”
Everyone looked back and gasped at the giant wave rising and racing towards them.
The adults cried, “Tidal wave!”
Celaeno shouted, “We can’t outrun it!”
Flurry got an idea and said, “Everyone, hold on!”
She cast a bubble force field around the ship and Mischief used his magic to freeze everyone – including himself and Flurry – in place. They braced themselves as the tidal wave crashed onto the protected ship and propelled them amidst the blinding sea spray. Before anyone knew it, the bubbled ship crashed onto land and bulldozed through trees until it slowed to a stop. Flurry lifted her spell and the ship dropped unceremoniously onto the devastated ground. Mischief also lifted his freeze spell and everyone groaned as they wobbled around, trying to recover from the adrenaline of the last few minutes.
Oddball breathlessly smiled, “That…was…awesome.” He then dropped to the floor in dizzy ecstasy.
Silver jumped off the grounded ship and met the ground with pure joy. “Land! Sweet, sweet land! I thought I’d never see you again!”
Flurry apologized as she and the others got down from the vessel, “I’m sorry about your ship, Captain Celaeno.”
The captain responded, “It’s okay. None of us would’ve thought a killer tidal wave would come after us. Besides, if Capri knows where the weapon is, we can restore her powers and she can restore everything on Paraddock to the way it was.”
Mullet then asked, “Just one question: which way do we go?”
Everyone stood in silence until Apple Butter suggested, “Let’s go forward.”
As they walked deeper and deeper into the jungle, they were stunned yet saddened that everything was either brown, sickly green, yellow, or shriveled up.
Skater remarked, “Everything’s so…dead here.”
Her twin agreed, “Yeah. Not much of a jungle, is it?”
Nova said, “If what the snake said was true, then I wonder what kinds of strange plants grew here.”
Blaze answered, “Could’ve been cuddly cactus, roses that smelled bad…Oh! Maybe even –“
“Candy!” Corona interrupted in enthusiasm.
He said while unaware of the kids zipping past him, “Well, I wouldn’t say that, but…” When he looked towards where the kids were, his eyes bulged in surprise. “What the -?!”
The adults were surprised to see the kids wolfing down chocolate truffles that dotted a bush!
Silver Tongue sputtered, “But candy doesn’t grow from bushes! How is this possible?!”
The other adults deadpanned, “Paraddock.”
He said in annoyance, “Right.”
Jam said to the other kids, “Hey, maybe there’s more candy here!”
The kids cheered, “Yeah!”
As the kids ran further into the jungle, the adults ran to catch up with them. As it turned out, the children were right and found a grove filled with all kinds of candy plants! There were candy cane trees, pumpkins that had hard shells and gooey insides, and lollipop flowers. To top it off, there was even a chocolate waterfall, although it seemed thinner than a normal waterfall would be.
While the kids ate every candy within their grasp, the adults uttered in wonder, “Wow.”
Celaeno mentioned, “I think I remember reading about this place in the journals. Some of the Captain Hoofs said something about a jungle filled with candy and confectionary treats. They tried to explore it, but they always ran into quicksand that was mousse instead of…well, you know, quicksand.”
Zealot suggested, “Probably put there by Capri to protect the young children who came here.”
Apple Butter built on the idea, “Or maybe to protect her castle, too!”
Mischief asked, “If that’s the case, then why haven’t we run into mousse quicksand yet?”
Roller answered, “It’s probably gone dry like everything else in this jungle.”
Vapor put her hoof to her chin as she looked at the chocolate waterfall, “Except this grove and the waterfall…” She then gasped in realization, “What if the waterfall starts at the castle? If we go up the waterfall and follow the chocolate river, then maybe it can lead us right to Capri!”
In a flash of green light, he teleported everyone to the top of the waterfall. The kids, realizing their candy was gone, groaned in disappointment.
Flurry said, “I think you’ve had enough candy for now.” She then smiled, “But maybe Capri has some cool toys for you.”
The kids cheered, “Yay!”
Blaze whispered, “They are so getting spoiled.”
For several minutes, they walked through the nearly-dead jungle with the chocolate river – which was now a steady stream in a bed of fudge chunks – as their guide.
Gabby asked in exhaustion, “Are we there yet?”
Skater answered, “I’ll fly above the trees to see if there’s anything.” The Pegasus flew through the withering branches and vines before emerging through the canopy. Her eyes widened as she excitedly called to the group below, “I see the castle! We’re getting close!”
Sky Stinger asked through the trees, “How close?”
“Um…maybe just a mile or two and we’re there!”
Blaze cried, “Great! Then let’s get going!”
Before he could rush ahead, Nova stopped him, “Blaze, wait! We don’t know what we might run into before we get to the castle. There could be mousse quicksand, dangerous animals, or who-knows-what.”
Skater said as she hovered over the trees, “Maybe if someone parts the canopy all the way to the castle, then maybe I can scout ahead from the air.”
Mischief said, “On it!”
He used his magic on the nearest tree before his green aura jumped from tree to tree in a straight line. As this was happening, each tree that had been enchanted lifted their branches until they touched the sky. Soon, every tree alongside the left of the river held their branches high as if saluting the group. Skater then flew over the opened canopy and disappeared into the horizon. The group waited for a minute or two until Skater flew back over them.
She said, “Okay! It’s all clear!”
The group then ran as fast as they could while Skater flew through the air a few feet in front of them. Just as they were beginning to tire out, they saw more light past the trees several feet in front of them - a sure sign that they were reaching their destination. When they emerged from the jungle, their eyes widened at the spectacles in front of them. Everything about the majestic castle and its grounds made it feel like they were truly in a wonderland. There were multicolored bubbles floating around, northern lights dancing above the castle, and fountains that had fish swimming in circles that defied gravity. Every tree, bush, flower, and stream on the grounds was wild as it was beautiful.
But yet, despite its beauty and untamed nature, there was disrepair that threatened to destroy the wonder of it all. The chocolate river that once surrounded the castle like a moat no longer flowed; the fountains produced less water than usual; many of the plants were dead; and some parts of the castle looked as if they had crumbled, not to mention some of the intact parts looked grayer than others.
Nova uttered in awe, “It’s all so magical.”
Blaze said, “Then we’ve got to save it and everything else in Paraddock.”
Mischief nodded, “Let’s go.”
But before he could take a step forward, a swell in one of the streams traveled from the castle to the group. The adults prepared themselves for a potential fight before the swell burst and water splashed onto them.
A cheerful voice greeted, “Hello, dear visitors!”
They opened their eyes in surprise and saw a purple sea serpent with orange hair and a mustache. To further add to their astonishment, he was smiling!
“I am Steven Magnet! Welcome to the heart of all Paraddock! Please come inside for –“ He trailed off as soon as he saw Mischief. He squealed as he grabbed the colt for a tight hug, “Ooh! Mischief! I’m so happy to see you again!” He looked at Mischief as he continued, “Look how you’ve grown! You’ve become such a strong stallion!” He sniffled in joy as he hugged Mischief again, “My little baby’s all grown up!”
Mischief, who was choking from the suffocating hug, gasped, “No offense, but…how do I know you?”
Steven said in realization as he set Mischief on the ground, “Oh! Forgive me! I forgot that you were just a tiny little baby when I met you. Or rescued you, as the case may be.”
Blaze interjected, “Wait a minute. You rescued Mischief from the blizzard?”
“Yes, I did! He was in trouble and I came to beam him up here.”
Mischief was amazed yet confused at the same time. “So did you create Paraddock, then?”
Steven chuckled, “Oh, no, no, no, no, no. That was my dear friend Capricia. She made Paraddock and all the wonderful things in it.”
Skater asked, “Can you tell us where she is?”
He sighed sadly, “If only I could. You see, she…vanished.”
The group was surprised to learn this.
Roller asked, “Vanished? How?”
Steven answered, “A long time ago, the Eye alerted us to…” He then chortled when he realized something, “Oh-ho-ho, wait. You don’t even know what the Eye is. Well, it’s a mirror that can show you anything anywhere in the entire world. I can show it to you. I want to give you a tour of the castle, anyway. It’s so lovely and exquisite! You’ll love it!”
The group followed him as he swam to the castle doors and then disappeared into the hole in the wall submerged in the moat. Before the travelers could touch the doors, they opened for the ponies, pirates, and griffon. They gasped in wonder of the intricate and colorful designs of the castle interior. Though it had nonsensical features like an upside-down stairway and moving paintings, it was very beautiful to the eye.
Steven then emerged from a waterway beneath the walkway and said, “See this waterway? Capricia created many more like this so I can easily access every part of the castle. Come on. I’ll show you where the Eye is.”
As the sea serpent led them to what he said was Capri’s room of operations, he and the group exchanged stories and many a laugh.
Vapor asked, “So, Steven, how did you end up on Paraddock?”
He smiled, “Oh, that is quite a story. You see, right before she vanished, she saved me from Flash Freeze Lake and nursed me back to health. We became the best of buddies during that short time. She was truly amazing, I can tell you. She could do all sorts of things, like make things appear out of thin air and then disappear into thin air.” He then sighed sadly as tears welled up in his eyes, “What I wouldn’t give to see her one last time.” He whimpered, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! It’s just that the very thought of it distresses me.”
Flurry materialized her handkerchief and gave it to Steven. He blew into it and took a few moments to compose himself.
He said as he gave the hankie back to the alicorn, “Thank you.”
Roller whispered slyly to his friends, “I think someone’s got a crush on Capri.”
Skater jabbed him with her elbow and chastised, “Knock it off. He’s just concerned about her as a friend.”
Nova theorized, “You know, Steven, ‘vanished’ doesn’t always mean…well, ‘gone’. There could be a chance she’s still out there.”
Steven threw his arms up, “I’ve tried to look for her with the mirror, but she’s nowhere to be found! She just completely disappeared!”
Blaze put his hoof to his chin as he said, “Hmm. That’s certainly interesting.”
Steven gestured the group to follow him, “Come on. The room is just ahead. I’ll show you what I mean.”
When the group walked up to a large ornate door, Mischief used his magic to turn the doorknob. The door then opened to reveal a large room with all sorts of knick-knacks, including maps, another moving painting, a large globe, books, and even potions. What intrigued the group most of all was a giant wall mirror with a bejeweled ornament in the shape of an eye perched on its very top.
Gabby asked as she pointed to the mirror, “Whoa. Is that the Eye?”
Steven chortled as he emerged from the waterway in the room, “Oh, of course it is! Capri called it ‘The Roaming Eye’. This baby can tell you whenever and wherever someone is in danger or distress. Capri developed a very complex spell for moving Paraddock anywhere in a matter of minutes. That’s how Paraddock can appear and disappear without anyone knowing.” He then added sheepishly, “Er, that is, because they’re asleep.”
Mischief knew he had to ask his question now rather than later, “Hey, Steven? What happened when you rescued me from the blizzard?”
Steven answered, “I would be glad to tell you this story. After all, I’ve waited years for your return. Back when Capri had mysteriously vanished, the Eye alerted me and showed me a tiny see-through ball with a tiny baby inside. I activated Capri’s moving spell and her beam spell and rescued you before you froze to death.” He then cooed, “You were just so cute and adorable that I wanted to keep you as my own son.” His smile then disappeared, “But…it was a lot of work. I was barely keeping up with raising you and rescuing kids at the same time, so…I made a very hard decision.”
The serpent sighed, “I had to give you your best chance by sending you to be raised by someone on the ground below. When I was finding the right parent for you, the Eye chose a mare who lived in a cottage at the edge of a forest. The day I had to give you up soon came, but just before I sent you off, I gave you Capri’s special box of magic beans so you could come visit me when the time came. And now, here you are at last!”
Blaze said dubiously, “Wait a minute. You gave Mischief a special box of beans that belonged to Capri? Would she have approved of you giving away her possessions?”
Steven’s eyes widened, “Oh, I never thought of that!” He then lamented, “What would she think of me if she came back here and knew?!”
Mischief calmed him, “Steven, Steven, it’s okay, it’s okay! If anything, I’m glad you gave me the beans. They’re how we got up to Paraddock in the first place.”
Flurry nodded, “He’s right. We wouldn’t have gotten up to Paraddock any other way.”
Steven clasped his hands together and smiled, “Oh, I’m so glad to hear that! I have to ask, though: why are all of you here? I thought it would be just Mischief who would use the beans.”
Skater answered, “Well, here’s the thing: you’ve been taking children from their homes every time the Dark Riders come. I mean, they don’t hurt anyone. They just scare the living daylights out of everyone. They haven’t attacked anyone…yet.”
“But they might! Those mean and scary Dark Riders will surely hurt the little children if they stay in their homes! I take them to keep them safe from the Riders. Once I’m sure they won’t come again, I give the kids back to their parents.”
Flurry said, “Our families are getting to the bottom of the Dark Rider situation, so I think the mean and scary soldiers won’t attack again anytime soon.”
Steven asked, “You sure?”
She nodded, “Yes.”
He sighed as he put his hand over his heart, “Oh, what a relief!”
Skater spoke up, “Now that that issue’s settled, it’s time to move on with our other mission. If we can find Capri and restore her powers to her, then she’ll be able to save Paraddock. When was the last time you saw her?”
Steven answered, “Well, I remember the Eye alerting us to Pony Pan being in danger. She told me to stay put and keep an eye on things while she rescued the poor colt. She was then gone in a flash…literally.”
Nova asked, “Do you know which Pony Pan it was?”
“How should I know? I don’t keep track of which Pony Pan it was! Until just now, I didn’t even know there was more than one Pony Pan!”
Celaeno added, “Or more than one Captain Hoof.”
Flurry asked, “Okay, okay, umm…How many years ago did Capri vanish?”
Steven moaned, “Oh, it was so long ago that I don’t remember!” His eyes then flickered with a memory, “Wait. There was something different about the night she left. I think it was something Capri was excited for. Something she called the Double C?”
Boyle asked in confusion, “The Double C?”
Nova gasped as she realized, “The Cosmic Convergence! It happened 70 years ago, right around the time the blizzard wiped out the alicorns and draconequui and Redfeather got his weapon!”
Blaze exclaimed, “Of course! Astrological events such as the Cosmic Convergence are one way to strip a draconequus of their powers! That must be how Redfeather got Capri’s magic!”
Mischief’s eyes then widened with a terrible revelation, “And maybe…the rest of her, too.”
Tonight was going to be a very special night. Gladmane could feel it. Now that Dandy Grandeur was in Las Pegasus with the sisters and their princes, everything was going to fall neatly into place. All he had to do now was look his best and act his best.
Gladmane said to a servant as he sat at his large multi-mirror vanity, “I’m ready for my grand debut. Bring the gang in here.”
The mare nodded, “Yes, Your Highness.”
Before she could leave the room, he added, “Oh, and tell ‘em to sing this time.”
“Will do.”
Several moments later, Jack Pot, Big Bucks, and an entourage of seamstresses entered the room with many lavish fabrics and accessories in hoof.
The stage magicians – who were also Gladmane’s personal attendants - began to sing, “Your Majesty, King Gladmane of this land…Your devotees are on their knees to implore you…”
Big Bucks sang, “Can you bow out when they’re shouting your name?”
Jack Pot sang, “Think of how they all adore you…”
They both sang, “Your Majesty, enchant us once again…”
The purple Earth stallion sang, “Think of your muse…”
His partner sang, “And of the queues ‘round the castle…”
The magicians then sang together, “Can you deny us the triumph in store? Shine, Your Majesty, once more…”
In the quarters he shared with his comrades, Blackthorn sang in worry, “I fear this night won’t end well…”
Gladmane sang as seamstresses put various pieces of clothing on him, “Your Majesty, your shine shall live again…”
The magicians sang, “Think of your public…”
Gladmane overlapped, “You won’t be snubbed…’cause there’s a public who needs you…”
In his guest room, Discord sang, “What do you know about the amulet, Gladmane?”
The magicians sang, “Those who’ve seen your face liken you to an angel…”
Gladmane sang, “Think of their cry of undying support…”
Big Bucks sang, “We get our gala…”
Jack Pot whispered in song, “He gets his limelight…”
Their king sang, “Follow where the limelight leads you…”
The magicians sang together, “Wealthy monarchs are a trial…”
As Gladmane was being carried across the palace in a large and fancy sedan chair, he sang proudly, “Your Majesty, your shine shall never die…You’ll shine again and to unending ovation…”
Pen Pusher sang to Starling in the room they shared, “Appeals, requests, lunatic demands…”
Jack Pot and Big Bucks sang, “Lunatic demands are regular occurrences…”
Gladmane sang, “Think how I’ll shine on the large ballroom floor…”
“Surely there’ll be incidents worse than this…”
“Beeeeecause I will shine once more!”
Starling then sang, “I must see his requests are rejected…”
The magicians sang, “Who’d believe that Gladmane, who was merely a tradespony’s son, would become a rich stallion? Through his amulet, his kingdom he did get…Though he may seem kingly, he’ll look at you kindly…He always gets his way…The hardest hearts, he’d sway…He will calm the high-strung with just his silver tongue…It’s just the sort of story everypony adores…It’d be a perfect opera…”
The king sang, “They will all love me at the gala…”
Everyone in the palace sang, “Your Majesty, the world is at your feet…A nation waits and how it hates to be cheated…Light up the halls with that age-old rapport…Shine, Your Majesty…Once more…”
The gala was going splendidly. Guests who were royal, noble, or famous came from all over to Las Pegasus for another one of Gladmane’s fabulous parties. The extravagant ballroom was alive with bright lights, festive decorations, and lively talk among the guests. The only things that were missing were Gladmane, the Canterlot royals, and Dandy Grandeur. Just then, the lights dimmed and a single spotlight shone on Iron Will as he walked up to the platform.
He bombastically spoke into the microphone in his hand, “Fillies and gentlecolts! When everything’s going right, it’s sure to be the best night! Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for is finally here!”
As Iron Will spoke to the crowd, Gladmane and the Canterlot royals waited behind the curtains of the right side entrance of the ballroom.
The fancy king said confidently to Discord, “As soon as he says my name, that’ll be your cue.”
The draconequus smiled deviously as he rubbed his hands together, “Oh, I’m counting on it.” He chuckled sneakily, which thankfully didn’t draw Gladmane’s attention.
The minotaur announced, “Give it up for the one, the only…Kiiing Gladmaaane!”
Discord then teleported Gladmane onto a platform within the platform and the smaller platform magically lifted the king upwards towards the dancing spotlights.
Gladmane greeted with a friendly smile, “My honored guests, I welcome you to this here…” When he noticed he was going too high, he said, “Uh, a bit lower.”
The platform suddenly dropped from under his hooves, causing him to fall with it.
He cried as he fell a few feet onto the lowered platform, “No! No! No! No! Up a bit! Up a bit!”
When the platform rose to its intended height, Gladmane looked towards the side entrance and said, “Perfect! Don’t change it! Don’t change it!” He stood up and congeniality returned to his face as he looked upon the crowd. He started to address everyone, “My honored -“
The platform shifted a bit, interrupting him again.
After the trace of bother on his face disappeared, he resumed, “My –“
When the platform shifted again, Gladmane shot a perturbed glare towards the side entrance.
He slowly said as the platform shifted once more, “Honored…guests.”
He was about to address the crowd again, but the platform shifted for the last time, causing him to give an annoyed glare towards the side entrance. Discord chuckled in glee of messing with Gladmane like that. At first, he had caused the platform to drop drastically to try to get the amulet off the king’s neck. Even though that hadn’t worked, Discord had decided to have a little fun with the platform.
When he was sure the platform stopped moving, Gladmane cheerfully addressed the crowd, “Welcome! Thank y’all for comin’ to this here ball, which I’ve prepared in honor of my regal guests, the Canterlot family!”
On cue, the Canterlot guests flashed onstage and waved to the cheering crowd.
Gladmane, who was now on the stage with them, continued, “It’s been a real treat having them here in Las Pegasus, though not for the reasons I expect. Ya see, their youngins are missin’ and these frazzled and worried parents are tryin’ to get ‘em home.” His face then switched from sadness to joy, “But don’t y’all worry! They’re the cleverest royals Equestria has ever seen, and there ain’t no plan of theirs that’s failed yet! Give it up for the Canterlot royals! Uh-huh-huh!” As the crowd cheered wildly, he finished, “Let’s celebrate their soon-to-be success!”
The Canterlot royals then dispersed into the crowd and mingled with the other guests. After a while, Starling met with Discord at a corner of the vast ballroom and whispered between themselves.
Starling asked, “You spiked Dandy’s drink with Veritaserum?”
Discord asked in return, “You sent your letter to good Queen Mother, telling her all about the wonderful machinations dear King Gladmane possibly has?”
His niece nodded with a semi-annoyed look on her face, “Yes.”
“Then yes, I did. You know, if anyone can smell a rat, it’s your mother.”
“Hey, there are other members of the family who can do it, too. The moment Gladmane started mentioning alliances and threats of war, I knew there was something going on.”
“Indeed. One doesn’t throw celebration after celebration just for honoring one’s royal guests.”
“Still, we had to give Dandy truth serum just to see whether or not he is responsible for the Dark Rider attacks.”
“Are you sure we couldn’t give the serum to Gladmane instead? He knows more than he’s letting on.”
“I agree, but we have to play it safe until we have proof he’s up to no good.”
He scoffed impatiently, “As you wish.”
After a few minutes of lively chatter and laughter, the time was drawing near for Dandy to make his public appearance.
Behind the curtains of the side entrance, Dandy chortled, “Oh-ho-ho…My public awaits.”
Gladmane walked up to him and suavely said, “They’ve been waitin’ a long time to see your handsome face again. Now is the night to show your true colors to the adoring crowds. Make them forget about the past and move on to a better future. Let’s make your debut one they’ll never forget.”
As Dandy walked past him, Gladmane turned to follow him before bumping into his side.
When Dandy’s speech cards fell from his vest pocket and onto the floor, Gladmane quickly apologized, “Oh, I am so sorry, Your Wonderfulness! Here, let me pick those up for you.”
When Gladmane handed him his speech cards, Dandy magically took the cards as he grunted with a cross look on his face, “Hmph!”
As the kings walked up onto the side of the stage, Iron Will announced, “Now, fillies and gentlecolts, we would like to present the poshest of posh ponies, the toast of Marisian nobility, the crème de la crème of Prance’s elite! Give it up for Dandyyy Grandeuuur!”
Dandy walked up to the microphone and smiled and waved to the small applause in the ballroom. He knew the crowd’s reaction was to be expected given his past…errors, but he spoke with confidence and flair, “Thank you for your presence tonight, everypony. It has been years since my unfortunate abdication from the throne. I am regretful of the poor choices that led to my downfall. But now, I am here in hopes of restoring everyone’s faith in me and rebuilding my reputation from the ground up. I know how difficult that will be, but I promise you that you will look upon me with amity and good grace from now on. I want to thank King Gladmane and the Canterlot royals for giving me this chance to make my good-hearted intentions known.
“So with that, I say…” He slid his front speech card to the back and continued, “…Dark Riders, attack!” When he realized what he said, his eyes shrunk and he looked at his cards. He uttered in bewilderment, “What?”
Before anyone could react, small metal balls crashed through the windows and burst into smoke between the high ceiling and the crowd. Panicked murmurs and shrieks of fear filled the ballroom as the guests’ eyesight was obscured by smoke and darkness.
“Aaaaahhh!”
“What’s going on?!”
“We’re under attack!”
“What should we do?!”
“We’re gonna die!”
“Someone, please help us!”
On the platform, Starling tried to use her horn, but nothing happened. “My magic is gone!”
Discord repeatedly snapped his fingers, which had no effect. “Mine, too!”
Rainbow Dash tried to fly into the air, but she fell back down when she was a foot above the platform. “I can’t use my wings, either!”
Spike gulped, “Smoke that disables magic, flight, and chaos magic?! Wait!” He tried to summon his fire breath as an experiment, but even that failed. He let out a wheezy cough before fretting, “Okay, fire breath, too. This is really bad.”
WHUD!
Everyone gasped as they heard the double doors on either side of the ballroom slam open and saw silhouettes of lean soldiers pour in. The terrified guests screamed and cowered on the large floor as the mysterious figures swiftly weaved through the crowd. Yes, it was the Dark Riders, now wearing green strips that filled their visors. No doubt it was to provide night vision to guide their way through the darkened and misty ballroom.
Discord grumbled, “And just when things couldn’t get any worse.”
Sky Blitz suggested, “You don’t think they’re after Gale, do you?”
Whirl scowled as he crouched down, “If they are, we have to stop them before they do.”
He tried to lunge off the platform, but Applejack held his tail back with her mouth. She said after his tail fell from her mouth, “Now hold on. We don’t know what they’re here for. It could be another one of them scare-and-run sort of attacks. They ain’t targeted a single soul yet.”
Just then on the ballroom floor, the leader ordered two of his comrades, “Take the Crystal princess!”
Like her relatives, Skyla couldn’t see past the smoke and had no choice but to wait till the Dark Riders left. Suddenly, a burlap bag enclosed her and trapped her inside its cloth. The royals saw two armored silhouettes capture one of their own with a bag and tried to run towards the Riders. However, one of them took out a shofar and blew very heartily into it. The deafening sound stopped the royals in their tracks, but to the Dark Riders, it served as the signal for retreat. The leader gestured towards the double doors leading to the gardens and he and his comrades rushed out of the ballroom, taking Princess Skyla with them as their captive.
When the smoke cleared just a minute later, the Dark Riders had already vanished and the guests were slowly and shakily getting up from the floor. Panicked murmurs flew around as the dark ballroom gradually became lighter again. The royals themselves were just as shaken from Skyla’s sudden kidnapping and didn’t know what to do.
Gladmane then came up to the microphone and said, “Friends, friends! Settle down, please!” When the ballroom became quiet again, he continued in an angered tone, “What just happened here moments ago was no mere scare-and-run like those cursed Dark Riders are known for. No, this was an attack! An attack that endangered the safety of this beloved kingdom and now every royal in Equestria! Before tonight, the Dark Riders just scared the livin’ daylights out of many, but now, they have kidnapped Princess Skyla!
“And you know who is to blame?” He pointed his hoof at Dandy and shouted, “Dandy! He ordered those Dark Riders to attack and they did! You saw his heinous act right before your eyes, you heard his grievous act with your own ears! Yes, my friends! He’s the one behind those attacks on our innocent kingdoms, for he is the leader of the Dark Riders!”
The crowd erupted into angry jeers and shouts. Dandy froze where he stood, shocked and dumbfounded by what was happening.
Gladmane ordered, “Guards, arrest the devilish fiend!”
As the guards apprehended Dandy and began taking him away, the Marisian noble loudly protested, “No! I am innocent! I had nothing to do with this! The words were on a card that was planted with my other cards!”
One of the guards took the speech cards from Dandy’s vest and looked at each of them. He replied, “Nope. I see nothing in here about the Dark Riders.”
Gladmane added, “Which means you were planning to unleash the Dark Riders all along.”
Dandy took the cards and frantically searched through them as he said, “No! It was in here! I swear!”
Gladmane told the guards, “Take him away before he loses it.”
The guards once again seized Dandy and took him away while the noble continued protesting.
Gladmane walked up to the other royals and sadly consoled them, “I am deeply sorry that young Princess Skyla has been taken by the dastardly Dark Riders.” His face then hardened into a soft form of anger as he continued, “Rest assured, Dandy Grandeur will be dealt with most severely for his crimes against you and every royal in Equestria.” He then added, “And, uh, maybe…” A small smile crept on his face, “…we can work on that alliance when Princess Skyla is found. War is coming, friends. Make no mistake about that.”
After Gladmane left the group, Applejack scowled, “I don’t trust him one bit.”
Starling nodded, “And you have every reason to. We slipped Veritaserum into Dandy’s drink before the gala. We had planned to question Dandy about his motives after his speech. He would’ve had to tell the truth regardless because the serum prevents anyone who drinks it from lying.”
Fire Spark surmised, “Which means the serum would’ve still been in effect when he was arrested.”
Sunset added, “And Dandy wasn’t lying when he said he was innocent.”
Mothball concluded, “That means our one guilty party is none other than Gladmane.”
At the castle on Paraddock, the travelers were eating an excellent supper with Steven Magnet.
The sea serpent asked, “How are you enjoying your food?”
Skater gulped her food and praised, “This is really great!”
Sky Stinger nodded, “Uh-huh! You’re a really good cook, Steven!”
Steven smiled bashfully, “Thank you. I’ve been cooking for myself for a very long time. It’s nice to hear others compliment my cooking.” He then sighed, “I only wish I had more food to give you, but a lot of the food trees are dying and –“
Suddenly, an alarm started blaring throughout the castle and red lights were flashing. The kids covered their ears to drown out the deafening noise.
Oddball asked, “What is that?!”
Steven’s eyes shrunk and he cried, “The Eye! Someone’s in danger!”
Apple Butter said, “Let’s go!”
Before anyone could leave the dining room, Mischief cried, “Wait! I’ll teleport us there. It’ll be faster."
In a flash of green magic, the group teleported from the dining room to the room where the Eye was kept. Mischief felt slightly dizzy and exhausted from using his spell on a large number of people, but when Flurry touched his hoof and smiled at him, he felt better in an instant. The bejeweled eye on the mirror flashed red before Steven pressed the flashing jewel. When the eye stopped flashing red, a swirl of light appeared in the center of the mirror and quickly blew into a scene of a ballroom. There were the Canterlot royals, Dandy Grandeur, and Gladmane on the stage with a crowd of guests on the floor below. Suddenly, small metal balls crashed through the windows and exploded into clouds of white smoke. A few moments after the whole ballroom plunged into darkness, the doors on either side of the room burst open and Dark Riders poured in.
Steven shrieked, “Oh, no! It’s them!”
Blaze asked in concern, “What are they doing in Las Pegasus?”
Nova suggested, “I don’t know, but it may be the same thing that happened in the Crystal Empire.”
However, to everyone’s shock, two of the Dark Riders jumped onto the platform and stuffed Skyla into a burlap bag.
Flurry cried, “Skyla!”
Skater pointed out, “Except for that.”
The group watched as one of the Dark Riders sounded the shofar that caused the others to retreat while he and his comrade followed behind. As soon as the last Dark Rider rushed out the double doors, the image of the scene faded, leaving only the group’s reflections in the mirror.
Flurry, now filled with anxiety, said, “We have to save Skyla!”
Steven said, “On it!”
He went to the table and grabbed a large compass. He pressed his finger into the ring of the arrow and turned the arrow in three directions. They waited a few moments for something to happen until Steven began to frantically repeat the same movements.
Roller was afraid to ask him in case the situation was what he thought it was, but he dared to. “Steven, what’s wrong?”
The sea serpent exclaimed, “IT’S NOT WORKING!!!”
Mischief asked, “What do you mean it’s not working?”
Steven explained in a panicked tone, “Capri put her spell to move Paraddock in this compass. You turn the arrow so the little circle can record the first three letters of where you want to go. But it’s not working right now!”
Zealot said, “So that’s it? We’re just sitting ducks?”
Skater said, “Maybe, but I think we can still use the Eye to see what’s happening.”
Blaze asked, “With who? The Dark Riders or our family?”
Flurry spoke up, “Skyla’s in the most danger, so we need to find her first.”
Apple Butter then said, “While you’re using the Eye to look into Skyla’s situation, we’ll put the kids in bed so they won’t be scared by the Dark Riders.”
The kids protested, saying they wanted to see if Skyla was okay, but the adults won the argument and ushered them to their guest room with Steven as their guide. Celaeno and the pirates also left, knowing it was a personal matter.
As soon as most everyone left the room, Flurry spoke to the mirror, “Roaming Eye…I wish to see Princess Skyla.”
In response to her request, the mirror conjured up an image of two Dark Riders running along a field with a heavy burlap bag enveloped with magical auras emanating from their antlers.
Skyla had no magic to simply teleport herself out of the bag, so she waited to see where the Dark Riders would take her.
After several minutes of waiting as the soldiers ran, a voice outside the bag ordered, “Follow me.”
Skyla felt her captors turn slightly to the left before they ran for another minute.
The voice then commanded, “Stop!”
The bag shifted as the Riders stopped.
“Leave her here. I wish to speak to her alone.”
Skyla felt the ground press against the bottom of the bag and saw the fuzzy magic auras outside the bag disappear. After she heard the hoofsteps of the two Riders fade away, the tied-up part of the bag began to fidget. Now was her chance to get even with her captor and prove she was more than just a pretty princess. As soon as the bag opened to reveal the helmeted figure, she punched him. Admittedly, it hurt when she did that, but she felt it was worth it.
As he recovered from the punch, Skyla slipped out of the bag as she rebuked, “First you scare innocent citizens and now you kidnap me?! Why are you doing this?!”
The leader grunted and shook his head before he said, “Believe me, there’s more to the story than you know.”
“All right. If there is, then answer me this: why did you kidnap me when you’ve never kidnapped anyone before?”
He hung his helmeted head, “We were ordered to kidnap someone at the party. I chose you because…you know me.”
Magic engulfed his antlers and then his helmet. The headpiece unhinged itself from the head of its wearer and settled on the ground where the magic enveloping it died. Skyla’s heart skipped a beat when the leader revealed himself to be a deer. When he opened his eyes, that’s when she knew. She recognized those brilliant gamboge eyes anywhere.
“Blackthorn?” she asked in astonishment. “You’re a Dark Rider?”
He nodded ashamedly, “Yes. And so are my deer brethren. We never wanted to be a part of this, but we’re forced to.”
“By who?”
He waved his hoof, “Their name isn’t important right now. The point is I chose to kidnap you because of all the ponies in the world, you were the only one I could trust. Well, I could count Gale Force, but she’s too young to understand.”
Skyla furrowed her brow, “Why can’t other ponies be trusted? If you’re forced to do this, then they should know.”
“They won’t understand. They know what we’ve done. They know who we are. They won’t forgive us even if we ask for it.”
Skyla realized something. “Wait. Did you say ponies know who you are?”
Blackthorn nodded, “Yes. Frankly, I was surprised to learn that you and Gale Force wanted to be my friends.”
“But, Blackthorn, nopony knows who the Dark Riders are. They’ve been trying to figure that out ever since the scares began.”
His eyes widened in surprise, “What? But Gladmane told us…” He then came to a revelation and his eyes slit in anger. “He’s deceived us. All of us!”
“Is Gladmane the one who’s making you moonlight as Dark Riders?”
He answered, “Yes! He was the one who gave us this armor and told us to scare whichever kingdom he sends us. He’s never told us why.”
Skyla proposed, “I think I might know. Ever since we arrived in Las Pegasus, Gladmane’s been talking about alliances and war. I wonder if he’s sending you and your comrades to neighboring kingdoms just to create tensions between them when their children go missing.”
“Of course! That’s why he always had us leave the crests of other kingdoms! It was so they could be framed! Wait a minute. There’s something else, too. A while ago, one of my comrades overheard Gladmane’s most trusted attendants saying something about the king forging an alliance with Prance.”
“But if that’s true, then why did he send you to scare Prance? Unless the negotiations fell through.”
“That would explain why he only targeted certain kingdoms. If he couldn’t have them, then…”
“They would destroy each other!”
“But what about the alliances he does make?”
“If anything, they would cushion him from the effects of war if conflict breaks out, and he would have connections with powerful rulers.”
He scowled, “I never did trust Gladmane the moment he wished us into his kingdom. We wanted to leave, but he then placed a powerful curse on us: we have to do whatever he orders of us, no matter what.”
“That’s terrible.”
“It is. But you know? He may tell us what to do, but not what to think.” He then proceeded to take off his black armor. “And I think a little retaliation seems like a fine idea right now.”
“Now, hold on. Even if you and your brethren do retaliate against Gladmane, he’ll still have control over you. Also, it will be his word against yours to the rest of the kingdom. I suggest you wait for the time being until we can get the curse off you and we have proof Gladmane’s up to no good.”
He then smiled and took her hoof, “As you wish, Your Highness.” When he kissed it, Skyla felt her heart quicken and her face blush. “There’s something else I want to tell you.”
The princess asked, “Yes?”
“Thank you for coming into my life.”
After the party, the guests left and the royals waited in the foyer for word on Skyla. Gladmane, on the other hand, went to his throne room with his two attendants.
The king smiled wickedly, “Yes! Everything is going according to my plan! Once my remaining deer guards ‘rescue’ the princess, the Canterlot royals will be so grateful that they’ll immediately forge an alliance with me! Soon, I’ll have Equestria’s most powerful family by my side as the other kingdoms who denied me will bring themselves to ruin! And once the war is over, I’ll swoop right in and help them regain their prosperity…under my control! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Why, I’m so giddy, I could sing about it! Jack Pot?”
On cue, Jack Pot conjured up a piano and began to play an ominous sort of tune.
Gladmane sang, “I’ve been kindly, I’ve been kingly…I’ve used all my tricks and charms…After many years, I’m not prepared to lose…But tonight, I claim victory…Their reluctance I’ve disarmed…It had to happen, so how could I refuse?
“They will see me as a ‘hero’ who has such a mighty wealth…and what better ally could a ruler choose? I’m the helper who will help them…bring the kingdoms back to health…and I’ll wear the crown…for how could I refuse? Raise every glass and rouse every cheer…Praise that the reign of King Gladmane is here! Master in charge of all that I see…All…hail…me!
“And by allying with the queen, I get all that I desire…like trademarks, wide connections, and mountain views…Even though she treats me coldly, it’s a sign of inner fire…for inside, she’s thinking ‘How can I refuse?’”
Jack Pot stopped playing and sheepishly mentioned, “Yes, except for this one little problem, boss.”
“King boss to you.”
“Yes, well. It seems that the queen has chosen not to forge an alliance…with you.”
This shocked and angered Gladmane. “What?! After everything I’ve done for her family?! Who does she think she is?!”
Big Bucks asked, “Uh, the queen?”
“You simpering simpleton!”
“But she is the queen. She’s got a crown and scepter and sits in every fancy chair –“
“Silencio!” Gladmane resumed singing, “No! I won’t let go! This peasant’s son won’t turn and run because some reckless royal thinks that I’m a foe!”
At that moment, a horrid idea came into his head. “Ah…It’s…a…temporary setback…It’s a momentary loss…but conveniently, my ego doesn’t bruise…And the moment they turn their backs, I will show them who’s the boss…You can bet your bullion they will stand to lose…
“Yes, suppose Canterlot ‘gets robbed’, so the nobles go to war…Then the royals cave in at the dreadful news…Then the queen will be so desperate that she’ll give the throne and more…and I’ll humbly tell her ‘How can I refuse?’”
Big Bucks chimed, “Yeah!”
“When the war’s finally over, I will rise and take the throne…and that queen Twilight Sparkle can kiss my shoes! For all of those mighty kingdoms will be mine and mine alone…If the crown should fit, then how can I refuse?”
Gladmane and his two attendants sang as they danced, “So get ready with the Riders and stand by with the armor…When you’ve got a brilliant plan, you never lose…Yes, before this chapter closes, I’ll be bigger than they were…It’s a thankless job, but how can I refuse? How…can…I…refuse?”
The king then gave an evil laugh.
The adults on Paraddock watched through the Eye as Skyla and Blackthorn – who was unarmored like the rest of the deer who had been Dark Riders – were escorted by the remaining deer guard back to the palace.
While Skyla and Blackthorn walked to the foyer, Roller shook his head, “I can’t believe it. All this time. Gladmane was the mastermind all this time.”
Skater scowled, “I knew he couldn’t be trusted. There was something fishy about him.”
Blaze then said, “And we got it straight from the horse’s - er, I mean, deer’s mouth.”
Flurry teased, “Somehow, he wouldn’t have spilled his secrets if it weren’t for a special somepony…”
Mischief asked, “Wait, are you suggesting he’s in love with Skyla?”
“And maybe vice versa. I saw that look on her face when he kissed her hoof. It’s love.”
Blaze said, “Yeah, too bad we had to miss the romance-building…again.”
Nova told him, “It’s just as well that we missed Skyla’s first steps into romance like we missed Flurry Heart’s.”
Apple Butter joked, “After all, a watched flower bud never blooms.”
She and her friends chuckled at that. Their attention was then caught by the sound of shouts coming from the Eye. They turned to see Skyla reuniting with the other family members. The group in the mirror asked the princess many questions before she held her hoof up to quiet them.
Skyla then said with a smile, “I know, I know. I’m glad to see you, too. I’ve discovered something you all should know, but first, I’d like you to meet someone.” She gestured towards Blackthorn, “Everyone, this is Blackthorn, captain of the deer guard. Blackthorn, this is part of my extended family.”
Blackthorn then approached the family members and bowed, “It’s an honor to meet you all…”
Suddenly, the image on the mirror contorted and stretched until it vanished.
Steven fretted as he grasped his head in panic, “Oh, no! The Eye has gone out! The crisis is getting worse! Soon, there will be nothing left of Paraddock but a small patch of cloud in the sky!”
As the sea serpent wailed, Skater told the others, “We need to find Capricia now!”
Blaze gestured to the mirror, “But the Eye was our only hope of finding her at this point!”
Steven continued to bawl, “Oh, don’t bother using the Eye! I’ve tried and tried and tried! It couldn’t find her or her chaos magic anywhere!”
This gave Mischief an idea. “Guys, remember when I revived the fairies’ Crystal Heart to a small degree?”
Sky Stinger asked with a raised brow, “What are you getting at?”
“If Paraddock runs on chaos magic, maybe I can use my chaos magic on the Eye to find Capri.”
Steven gasped in delight, “Oh, Mischief, that is brilliant!”
Flurry held his hoof as she said, “And I’ll use my magic to help increase our chances.”
Mischief tightened her hoof as he asked, “Okay, ready?”
She nodded in response.
The couple aimed their magic at the bejeweled eye as they chanted, “Find Capricia! Find Capricia! Find Capricia!”
To everyone’s surprise, the mirror flashed brightly, blinding everyone for a short moment. When they regained their sight, an almost-still image played on the surface. There, against a deep red background, was a transparent figure of a female draconequus!
Steven squealed, “CAPRI! It’s really Capri! We found her!”
She was in a pose akin to being suspended in mid-air. Although it was difficult to see her features clearly, they were still somewhat visible to make out. She had what seemed to be a shorter muzzle and dark maroon hair in a bob, although one side was shorter than the other. She also had a cream head with a brown body and various limbs and appendages from different animals.
Flurry said cautiously, “Yes, but we don’t know exactly where she is.”
Blaze added, “Or how long she’s going to hold out.”
They saw that along with being limp, her fur-covered chest was heaving and her eyes were closed, all of which indicated she was not doing well.
Skater realized, “This must be why the chaos magic is fading. She’s fading!”
Steven fussed, “NO! Not Capri! Not my best friend Capri! We’ve got to find her!”
Nova asked, “But where?! Even if we had the compass working, where on Earth could we possibly find one fading chaos spirit?”
As Nova was talking to Steven, Flurry studied Capri’s surroundings and noticed a small detail. “I think I found something.” She gestured to the shimmering edges of the redness. “See that? I recognize this from the crystals in the Empire.”
Nova facehoofed in realization, “Of course! They’re facets! Which means Capricia must be in a gemstone!”
Roller said, “But which gemstone? There must be millions of them!”
Mischief said as he remembered something, “Wait a minute. I think I remember something the night the Dark Riders – er, deer were sent to scare us. When Gladmane arrived, I could’ve sworn I saw something in his amulet. I think it was Capricia!”
Blaze surmised, “Then that would explain why the Cutie Map sent Discord to Las Pegasus: to free Capri!”
Another flash of light from the mirror followed and only the adults’ reflections remained on the glass now. The jewel in the eye ornament was now a faded version of itself.
Roller said, “Well, the Eye is now totally busted.”
Steven fretted, “What do we do now?”
Flurry calmly answered, “We wait. There’s nothing we can do at this point. We have to trust that Discord will free Capri and help her restore Paraddock.”
Mischief added worriedly, “I hope he gets to her in time.”
Steven then fainted into the water, causing a wave to splash on the adults, much to their chagrin.
Discord was very thankful the effects of the smoke wore off now. With his powers back, he could initiate his plan to steal the amulet. He flattened his camouflaged self against the ceiling and waited until Gladmane arrived in the hallway. It took several tedious minutes, but it was worth it, for he soon caught sight of the portly king. As soon as Gladmane was within range, Discord blew invisible dust on him.
The stallion suddenly became very tired and he yawned, “Oh, my…This eventful night has really taken a lot outta me. I’m gonna turn in sooner than I thought.”
The bedroom door then closed and Discord waited some more until there was a sign the protection spell was in effect. When an orange wave of light washed over the door, that was his cue. He made himself visible again as he dropped to the floor on all four legs.
He smirked, “Operation Get-the-Amulet is a go.”
In a flash of white light, he shapeshifted himself into the very image of Gladmane, save for the red and yellow eyes.
He walked towards the door and thought, Now, the moment of truth.
He slowly reached towards the door as he waited for anything to happen. To his surprise and relief, the spell didn’t repel him nor set off an alarm when he touched the door. With cautious glee, he slowly opened the door and entered the dim foyer. Only the tame fire in the hearth lit the foyer with a warm glow, although it was quite ominous in Discord’s view. He heard the king snore loudly behind the closed bedroom door, which meant his powder had put him in a deep sleep.
Discord smiled slyly as he thought, Yes! My powder worked perfectly! Gladmane won’t be able to hear me if he’s in deep sleep. And now, the object of my mission.
He looked all around for the portrait that guard said Gladmane would store his amulet whenever he’d go to sleep. Unfortunately, there were several portraits of Gladmane decorating the vast chamber.
Eesh! Being egotistical, aren’t we? He also probably planted them here to throw thieves off-track. How am I supposed to find the one with the amulet inside?
As soon as he finished that thought, his roaming eyes fell on the portrait above the fireplace. He felt magic emanating from the painting, so he knew it was the one.
Bingo.
The Gladmane imposter floated up towards the high-hanging portrait and thought for a moment.
Let’s see…Does Gladmane pull on the left side of the portrait or the right? Left or right…Oh, forget it!
He held his hoof out towards the portrait and used his magic to open it. The portrait’s left side then swung towards the disguised Discord to reveal the ruby amulet inside a small compartment.
His mouth curled into a sneaky grin as he thought, There’s my prize.
He simply plucked the amulet from the compartment before he realized that Gladmane would wake up in the morning to discover it was missing.
You know, I should plant a decoy so Gladmane doesn’t get suspicious.
He used his magic to plant a decoy amulet in the compartment and swung the portrait back into place. He floated back onto the ground and looked out the door to see if the coast was clear. When there wasn’t a sign of anyone, he closed the door behind him and chucked mischievously before disappearing. He then reappeared in his guest room as his normal self with the amulet in his hands.
He smirked, “’The spell will lift for no one but the king.’ Well, he never said it had to be the real king.” He chuckled some more about how clever his loophole was. He then sat on the bed and peered into the amulet, hoping to see the serpentine figure again. “All right, where are you? I know you’re in there. Give me a sign, a hint, anything that tells me you’re in there.”
He waited for a minute or two and there was still nothing. He was growing agitated when he got an idea.
“I’ve got it! How about you repeat everything I say until we establish a connection? Okay?”
To his surprise, light began to ripple on the ruby’s face until an image of Discord appeared. It said, “Okay?”
Discord smiled widely, “Wow! I didn’t know you could that!”
An image of Gladmane then played on the gem’s face. “Clever, ain’t it?”
“It is. Now you can answer my burning questions: who you are and what you’re doing in the amulet?”
Two different images played on the ruby, “It’s – me!”
Discord raised his brow almost suspiciously, “Me who?”
The same images played along with two others, “It’s – me! Your – sister…”
Discord was in shocked disbelief at that moment. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that? The images kind of distracted me.” In actuality, he was hoping to hear the same answer again in case it was his sister.
Various images played, “I’m – your – sister…It’s – me – Discord. It – really – is…”
He almost dropped the amulet from his hands at the revelation that his sister, the one he thought he had lost on their adventure, was in fact in his hands! A thousand or so years ago, he followed Capricia out of their homeland because she was looking for adventure and freedom. In truth, he was just a tagalong to Capri and he knew it, but she eventually saw him as a companion. They were careful to watch the pony villages from a safe distance because of how the denizens would treat creatures different from themselves. Capri found the ponies to be fascinating in the way they lived and acted. Discord, however, only saw them as snobbish as the alicorns back in the homeland.
One day, he decided to play a prank on the ponies who lived in the next village the siblings came across. They were discovered and were chased out of town...and got separated. That stupid curse! Why did they have to fall prey to that stupid curse?! Before the siblings were even born, the alicorns and draconequui both cast a curse on each other. The terms of the curse were that if two or more of either species left the land in which they resided, they would never find each other if they got separated. This meant that neither race could just teleport to their companion’s side if they were out of sight. Hence, it was why almost no one left the homeland until the blizzard hit.
But now that his sister was right in the amulet, Discord was sure the curse was no longer in effect after the blizzard. But how could he be sure it was Capri? How could he know if whoever was in the amulet wasn’t tricking him? Then, he got another idea.
“If you truly are my sister, tell me what nickname I gave you in our youth.”
He knew that if it was Capri, she would be annoyed with that request. She never did like his nickname for her, but he knew that if she wanted to prove it was her, she had to say it.
An image played on the ruby, repeating itself to answer, “Cap-Cap…”
Discord’s heart quickened with excitement and glee. He found her! He found her at last!
He began to chatter and move in delight, “Oh, Cap-Cap, it is you! I thought I’d never see you again, but here you are! We finally found each other after all these years! Yahoo! Ha-ha-ha!” He landed on the bed again and asked, “Isn’t it wonderful, Cap-Cap? Brother and sister, lost and then found again!”
An image on the ruby responded, “It is.”
“There’s so much I want to tell you! Oh! But before I do, I have to ask: how did you get yourself in the amulet in the first place?”
Images played on the ruby to answer him, “I would – tell you – but – I’m afraid – it’s too – late – for me…”
Discord grew concerned, “Too late? What do you mean ‘it’s too late’?”
“I’m – done – for – Discord – All these – years – inside – the amulet – have – made me – weak – I’m – fading – I’ll be – gone – soon…”
His eyes shrunk in worry and panic filled his voice. “Oh, no-no-no-no-no, you can’t be fading! I just found you! There’s gotta be a way to free you! There has to! I’ll get you out before you know it!”
“I’m sorry.” The image then played again more slowly as if the ruby was running out of power, “I-i-I’m…so-o-o-o-o-o-r-r-r-r-r-y-y-y-y-y…”
When the image faded, Discord shook the amulet as he whimpered, “Capri? Capri?!”
To his shock, the red ruby turned brown and a depowering hum could be heard. Before, his heart had been overflowing with joy, but now, it broke into millions of pieces. He found his sister, only to lose her again. He was devastated beyond belief.
He shook the amulet as he said desperately, “No! Cap-Cap! Don’t go! Don’t go! Stay with me! Stay with me!” His eyes were now furiously filling with tears and his lumpy throat tried to choke his voice. “I just found you and you decide to leave me again? That’s low, Capri. That’s low!”
The paw holding the amulet dropped onto his lap while his talon found itself on his tear-stained face as he wept for a short while.
He looked at the amulet again with teary eyes as he sobbed, “Why did you leave in the first place, Capri? We were happy there! Sure, it got boring at times, but we were all together!” Tears splashed onto the brown ruby as he continued, “And now…our parents are gone…and now *sob* you’re gone *sob sob*. You know…*sniffle* when I lost you the first time…I – I knew you were out there somewhere…but now…YOU JUST DECIDED TO GO AND DIE ON ME?!! WHAT KIND OF SISTER ARE YOU?!!”
He clutched the amulet to his chest as he sobbed deeply for a few minutes. He couldn’t believe he lost his sister again, and for the final time. No! He just refused to believe that! Once, he thought he’d never find his sister again after they were separated, but tonight had proved him wrong. And what about the Cutie Map? It had sent him to Las Pegasus for a reason, and that reason was finding his sister. No, not just finding his sister, but maybe freeing her, too!
He snapped his fingers, but nothing happened. He was discouraged for a bit, but then an idea came to his head.
With his heart slowly filling with hope, he looked at the amulet and said, “Capri…if you’re still there – and I really hope you are – I wish that you are free from this amulet!”
His eyes widened when the brown ruby began to glow bright fuchsia and the sparkling amulet sprung out of his hands. When it landed on the floor, it spun around and produced fuchsia-colored smoke that rose until it almost reached the ceiling. The smoke then dissipated to reveal a glowing outline of a draconequus.
Discord slowly rose from the bed and breathed as he approached her, “Capri?”
As the glow faded, Capri’s body was restored along with her powers. There she was, fully grown from when he last saw her as a teen. The reindeer antler and gazelle horn on her head had grown longer, she now wore her hair differently from the ponytail she used to have, fur from her cream head now covered her chest in shaggy clumps, and she was definitely taller as well as longer. But despite these small changes, some things still remained the same, like her tiger and lizard arms, her roc and sheep legs, her fox tail, and especially the large dragon and Pegasus wings on her back. Discord had always teased Capri for her red Pegasus wing, which looked very similar to an alicorn wing. However, it was the one trait the siblings shared despite the different coloring.
When she opened her eyes – which had blue pupils and pink sclera – she stood silent for a few moments as she took in her new surroundings. Before long, she smiled widely and looked at Discord, who was also smiling widely.
“Discord!”
He squealed happily, “Capriii!”
He lunged at her and wrapped her in a tight mid-air hug. The siblings laughed in joyous elation at seeing each other again.
Discord said in a voice overwhelmed with emotion, “Oh, Cap-Cap, I thought I lost you!”
“I thought I was a goner, too, but you never gave up hope. Thank you, Discord! Thank you so much!”
He smirked, “So, does this mean you’re indebted to me?”
She pulled back from the hug and scowled at him, “No, because you got us separated in the first place. Speaking of which…” She conjured up a roll of newspaper and swatted her brother’s head.
“Ow!”
“What were you thinking, pulling a prank like that?! You should’ve known better!”
Discord rubbed his head as he said, “You’ve been waiting over a millennium to do that, haven’t you?”
“Oh, yeah.” The newspaper disappeared as she smiled, “But I’m just glad to have my baby brother back.” She hugged him as she ruffled his head. “When I was stuck in the amulet, I heard about the blizzard and I thought…it took you as well as our parents.”
“Pshaw! You can’t get rid of me that easily!”
He playfully growled as he began to tickle his sister. Capri laughed and protested before she tickled Discord back. The two siblings laughed as they engaged in a tickle war that took them to the floor. After the two chuckled and caught their breaths, Discord remembered something.
His head shot up and he gasped happily, “You need to meet the family! I completely forgot about them!”
Capri asked in amazement, “You have a family?”
He lifted her up by the hands and said, “Of course!” He started counting with his fingers, “I have a wife, a daughter, a son-in-law (unfortunately), a grandson who’s not here at the moment, nine sisters-in-law and nine brothers-in-law, two cousins-in-law, fifteen nieces and nephews, seven great-nieces and nephews…” He caught his breath before he continued, “And a stuffy mother-in-law and a cranky grandpa - I mean father-in-law! My goodness, I never realized how many of us there were!”
Capri sarcastically said, “Gee, and here I thought a guy with your personality wouldn’t be interested in having a family.”
Discord raised an irritated brow at her, “Excuse me?”
“So, when can I meet your family circus?”
“How about right now?” He snapped his talon.
In a flash, they left the guest room. To everyone’s surprise in the foyer, two draconequui appeared.
Discord cheerfully said, “Good evening, everypony! I want you to meet my sister!”
Everypony looked at them with wide eyes and were silent until Rainbow Dash said, “Whoa, whoa, whoa! She’s your sister?!”
Fluttershy breathed, “You never told us you had a sister!”
Capri asked, “You never told them about me?” She crossed her arms and said, “Hmph! I’m quite offended by that.”
Discord explained, “There’s a good reason why I never mentioned you.” He then sighed, “You see, losing you was a painful memory for me, so I didn’t bring it up because I didn’t want to.”
Capri smiled at him and put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him. “Well, I’m here now, so let’s catch up on what we’ve missed.”
Blackthorn stepped forward and said, “I’m afraid it’ll have to wait. There are more pressing matters we need to discuss.”
“About Gladmane? I should know. I came from his amulet.”
This surprised everyone again.
Screwball said, “Okay! Spill the details, now!”
Discord then exclaimed, “Oh, wait! There’s someone else who needs to hear this!” He snapped his fingers and a bewildered Foxhelm appeared. “You want to learn everything about Gladmane so you can report it to Princess Luna, correct?”
Foxhelm slowly nodded, “Yes?”
“Then take good notes, Foxy…” A notepad and a pencil appeared in the guard’s hooves. “…because we’ve got something extra juicy to share with you.”
On Paraddock, the adults and the pirates were in the castle foyer, waiting for something to happen, whether it’d be good or bad.
Steven swam back and forth in his waterway in worry until he moaned, “Ohh, what is taking so long? From what you’ve told me about Discord, he should’ve been able to free her by now!”
Flurry soothed the sea serpent, “I know, I know. But we must be patient.”
“I am patient!” He covered his mouth and then apologized, “I’m sorry. My nerves are getting the better of me. It’s just been so long since I last saw Capri. I want to see her be free of the amulet more than anything.” He sighed, “I want my bestest friend back.” His head fell to the floor in despair.
Blaze said, “Well, don’t you worry. Discord can do anything, even free another draconequus from an amulet. That is, assuming no disasters happen.”
Just then, they heard and felt a faint rumbling. Distant panicked screams followed.
Nova scolded Blaze, “You and your big mouth!”
Before anyone could leave the foyer, Sky Stinger, Vapor Trail, Silver Tongue, and the kids all rushed in.
Vapor cried, “The castle is collapsing!”
Sky also cried, “We need to get out now!”
The others followed the second group down the hallway until Steven started sinking in the waterway. The ponies and various creatures looked over to see him at the bottom of the now-dry waterway!
“Help!” he cried. “I’m stuck! I can’t move when there’s no water!”
Mischief called to him, “Don’t worry! I’ll carry you to the entrance!”
Skater cried, “What entrance?!”
They all watched as the paraphernalia floating on the ceiling vanished, the colors turned gray, and the stone structure of the hall in front of them collapsed. The same happened to the hallway behind them. Mischief’s antlers began to glow green as he closed his eyes to concentrate on teleporting his friends and himself to safety. Before he could perform the spell, however –
Vapor shrieked, “Eek! Look out!”
The group looked up to see the arcading above them collapsing. Mischief, Flurry, Blaze, and Nova combined their magic to make a powerful force field that surrounded the entire group, including Steven. They all closed their eyes and waited until the crisis was over.
Corona Shine opened her eyes and looked up, only to gasp at the amazing view. “Look, you guys! Look!”
The group obeyed her and also looked up. They, too, gasped at what was happening: the stones that were about to fall on them were floating! They watched in astonishment as the large stones rose back up towards the sky and repaired themselves as part of the arcading. The hallways in turn were also being restored to their former chaotic glory. After the force field disappeared, the water returned to the waterway and Steven rose up to meet the group again.
Steven chortled, “Oh-ho! She’s free! He did it! She’s free!”
Roller remarked as he wiped his brow, “Thank goodness for that! Phew! Talk about a near-death experience!”
Turquoise chuckled, “Yeah. And I think Paraddock had one, too.”
Jamboree then got an idea. He gasped happily, “Hey, why don’t we see Pairaduck come back to life?”
The sea serpent agreed, “An excellent idea!”
On cue, Flurry and Mischief combined their magic to teleport everyone to the observation deck surrounding the room of the highest tower. Though only the stairs were what remained of the deck, the tower room and outside balcony magically pieced themselves back together. When the balcony that encircled the tower wall was restored, the group raced out of the three doorways and leaned over the railing to admire the view. The castle walls and towers surrounding them rebuilt themselves underneath the nearly-dark sky. After the castle was finally restored, a wave of color raced up the walls and shot up to the sky above through the flagpoles on the tower roofs. The colors exploded into vibrant waves of aurora borealis and swept through the sky above.
Everything that was dead on the ground below suddenly sprung back to life when the lights of the aurora washed over the land. The fountains once again flowed with water filled with shimmering fish, the plants sprouted back up and revealed their wild colors, and the candy jungle that had been so barren moments before was now thriving with all sorts of greenery and sweets. The northern lights raced into the distance, restoring everything to the way it was. Paraddock was now alive and teeming with chaos once more! The kids cheered and the adults were filled with amazement at the beauty of it all.
Zealot breathed, “We did it. We saved Paraddock.”
Nova corrected with a smile, “No. Discord did. We just saved the kids and our friends from a crazy river, sand monsters, an elephant stampede, a tidal wave…”
Blaze playfully rolled his eyes, “Okay, Nova. We get it.”
Apple Butter pondered, “I wonder what it’s like for Discord to meet another draconequus after so long.”
Mischief suggested, “Let’s go to Las Pegasus and find out.” He pointed to Steven and said, “Steven, take us there.”
The sea serpent saluted, “Aye, aye, captain.”
Foxhelm scribbled down the last of his rather extensive notes as he summarized, “Okay, I think I’ve got everything. So Gladmane is behind the Dark Riders…” Blackthorn nodded. “…and he sends them to terrorize neighboring kingdoms so war erupts between them…” Skyla nodded. “…only he terrorized the Crystal Empire so Canterlot and its allies have reason to ally themselves with him. Right?”
Sunset nodded, “That should be it.”
“But there’s one thing I don’t quite understand. If Capricia was on the brink of extinction, then how could she have the strength to fulfill Discord’s wish to free her?”
The female draconequus answered, “Well, here’s the thing. When I first felt my essence fading, I created a failsafe. If I wouldn’t be able to grant the wish to set me free, the failsafe would automatically do it for me.”
Discord remarked, “I have to admit, that’s pretty clever.”
“Not as much as your protection spell loophole. Now that was clever.”
Her brother smirked, “Are you saying I’m smarter than you?”
She playfully tapped his arm, “Shut up.”
Foxhelm stood up as he said, “Okay, now that I’ve got enough evidence, can either of you teleport me to Princess Luna?”
Pinkie Pie suddenly shouted, “WAAAIIT! We forgot to mention Paraddock!”
Capri grew confused and concerned, “Paraddock? What does Paraddock have to do with this?”
Screwball tapped her head, “Oh, right! You don’t know how the kids are taken! Okay, quick recap: the Dark Riders come into a kingdom and scare the living daylights out of everyone. Then, in the dark of night, Paraddock comes in and takes the kids before vanishing without a trace. That’s how the kingdom thinks the other kingdom took their kids.”
Capri face-palmed and groaned, “Ugh, Steven…”
Soarin asked, “You know who’s running Paraddock?”
“You’re looking at her.”
Discord gaped, “Say what?! You mean to say you created an entire cloud land way up in the sky?!”
“Yep. I left Steven in charge when Captain Hoof threatened Pony Pan’s life, only I got stuck in the amulet as a result.”
“So that’s how you got there in the first place. I thought it was Gladmane.”
Spike asked, “So, wait. Captain Hoof and Pony Pan are actually real? They’re not made-up?”
She shook her head, “Nope.”
Everyone stood in silence until they let out an excited “WHOA!”
Discord chortled, “Ha-ha-ha! Capri, your cloud wonderland truly is amazing! I wonder how many more secrets you’ve got up there.”
Capri suddenly shook like a noodle before abruptly stopping. “You won’t have to wonder long. It’s here. I can feel it. Come on, everyone.”
She snapped her fingers and everyone was on an open field of grass with a giant cloud hanging over a gingko tree sitting on a gentle hill. A jolt of pain ran through Capri’s body and she hunched over until the pain faded.
Discord grasped her arms as he asked in worry, “Are you all right, Cap-Cap?”
She nodded as she slowly regained her straight posture, “I’m fine. I was stuck inside the amulet for so long. My powers need to recover from my 70-year adventure. I’m afraid I won’t be able to teleport you all up there. I don’t think I can teleport at all for a good while.”
Whirl Wind pointed upwards and said, “I don’t think you need to.”
Everyone looked up to see a beam of blue light shining down from the cloud and landing in front of the group. There was a large figure with several small ones descending the beam.
Discord conjured up binoculars and said, “Okay, okay, I think I’m getting visual contact.” He then gasped happily, “It’s Flurry! And she’s got the kids!”
The group cheered in celebration of the news.
“Our baby’s coming home!”
“Yay!”
“Our baby!”
“I knew she could do it! Along with the others.”
Suddenly, everyone realized that the other Guardians weren’t with Flurry.
Skyla asked, “Say, where are Mischief and the others?”
Cotton put her hooves to her face in panic and gasped, “What if something awful happened to them?! Maybe they got captured by a giant! Maybe the giant ate them!”
By now, Flurry and the children were only three yards from the ground. The alicorn chuckled, “Don’t worry, they’re fine.”
When she and the kids landed softly on the grass, the beam disappeared. The younglings raced towards their parents and they all embraced in joyous hugs.
Flurry smiled, “We figured you wanted the kids back as soon as possible.”
Skyla inquired, “So, sis, how was the trip up there?”
The kids chattered in reply to her question.
Applejack smiled, “Well, aren’t we excited to share our adventures?”
The alicorn chuckled, “They sure are. We should sit down, though. It’s going to be a long story.”
Discord spoke up, “I’ll do the teleporting this time.”
Before the draconequus could snap his fingers, Blackthorn asked, “When we get back to the castle, could I ask something of either of you?”
After much discussion and catching-up, the group formulated a plan to arrest Gladmane. First, Foxhelm would wait until morning when his shift was over to deliver the word to Princess Luna. The royals would then confront the portly king in the throne room and apprehend him. In the meantime, Blackthorn and his comrades would wait for their signal. Once it was given, the deer would run around the crowded plaza in their Dark Rider armor. The plaza was where Gladmane had planned to make an announcement that morning. After the crowds were startled, the deer would reveal their identity and Gladmane’s evil machinations to the public.
Outside the nature-themed quarters of the deer guard, Skyla said to Blackthorn, “I hope your comrades will agree to the plan.”
He smiled, “If anything, they’d want to be free from Gladmane’s control. Thankfully, Capri was kind enough to undo the curse.”
“Since she was forced to do it under Gladmane’s will.”
He took her hoof and said, “I am eternally grateful for your strong determination and extraordinary understanding. Without you, we would’ve been stuck as Gladmane’s slaves.”
“Well, if it hadn’t been for you, we never would’ve known what Gladmane was up to. Okay, sure, we would’ve suspected something, but if we had found out on our own, I’m sure Gladmane would’ve done something terrible to us to keep the truth from getting out. At least with this way, we have an advantage over him.”
“Which I’m very glad for. Once this is over, no more being a Dark Rider. My comrades and I will be free to roam the land again, helping those in need.”
Skyla’s heart dropped a bit in disappointment, but she knew she wanted him to be happy, even if it meant losing him. “Oh. I hope you come by the Crystal Empire sometime.”
“I promise. And when our home returns, you can come visit me in Thicket. I’m sure the deer will love you once they get used to you. Here’s to a bright future, my princess.” He kissed her hoof.
“To a bright future…” She gave him a quick kiss on the lips, leaving him dazed and blushing. “…and good luck.”
She then left for the castle and Blackthorn felt his heart beat furiously with ecstasy as he saw her go.
Dawn came. Now was the time to initiate the plan. Foxhelm showed the guards a sealed scroll and told them it was the official pact of alliance with Canterlot that needed the queen’s signature. Luckily, he got away with his ruse and was given permission to head for Canterlot. In truth, Foxhelm flew towards the Crystal Empire with his report for Princess Luna. When he was a good distance from Las Pegasus, he touched the amulet Discord gave him and disappeared in a flash. Meanwhile, the Canterlot royals sent a notice to Gladmane, which said that they would take breakfast in their guest rooms and meet him in the throne room to discuss arrangements for their alliance. After all, they were “worn out from the excitement of last night”.
When the time soon came, the children were sent off to play while the adults headed for the throne room. The guards opened the doors and let the royals in. When Discord saw Gladmane wearing the decoy amulet, he summoned the strength to keep from chuckling. He fell for it! He absolutely fell for it!
Gladmane rose from his extravagant throne as he suavely welcomed his guests, “Why, there y’all are! Shame I had to miss y’all for breakfast. Didja get enough rest after that whole fiasco last night?”
Skyla answered as she and her sister stepped forth, “As a matter of fact, we did. It was quite refreshing.”
“Princess Skyla! And Princess Flurry Heart! I’m mighty glad you’re both all right, Your Highnesses! Was your mission a success? Did the deer guard bring ya back to the castle alright?”
Skyla nodded, “Yes, they did. They were very brave to come after me and take on the Dark Riders.”
Flurry then said, “Our mission was a Grade-A success. I brought the kids back to their parents while the other Guardians dealt with their kidnapper. We came back while you were sleeping. We didn’t want to disturb you.”
“Aww, that’s mighty sweet of ya.” He sat down on his throne again as he said, “Now, let’s get on with the business of forging our alliance.”
Starling said as she magically unfurled a medium-sized scroll, “Actually, we came to expose your crimes of malfeasance in office, blackmail, terrorism, miscarriage of justice, bribery, fraud, and misuse of a magical object.”
Gladmane put his hoof to the decoy amulet as he chuckled nervously, “Magical object? Whatever are ya talkin’ about?”
A voice then spoke up, “Don’t play dumb with us. I’m an eyewitness.”
The bird perched on Fluttershy’s hoof flew up to Gladmane before she flashed back to her normal self. Gladmane yelped and pushed back against his throne in fear of the terrifying close-up of her powerful glare.
Capri taunted, “What? Don’t recognize your own genie when you see her?”
“G-genie?!” he exclaimed.
She turned towards Starling, “I think we can add ‘extortion’ to his list of crimes…” She peered down at Gladmane again, “…isn’t that right, Gladmane?”
He uneasily smiled as he stuttered, “Now, now, hold on there. See, I didn’t know you were in there and I –“ He spoke into a hand mirror he had pulled out from behind his cushions, “ – wish the doors are locked!”
A click was heard and a green wave of light washed over the throne room.
He smirked as he rose from his throne again and walked towards the group, “See, that light show ya just saw was a depowering spell that activated when the doors became locked. Go ahead. Try to use your powers. It won’t do ya any good.”
Discord sputtered, “But how?! You don’t have the amulet! Capri is free!”
“True, but I also wished for a magic mirror as a backup in case I couldn’t use my little amulet.”
“Capri!”
She said embarrassedly, “Oops. It must’ve been so long ago I forgot about it.”
Gladmane nodded suavely, “Indeed it was. And to answer your question, yes. I did know something was in my amulet, but as long as it – meaning you – granted my every wish, well, I wasn’t gonna give it up for the world. I mean, when you have nigh-unlimited power in your hooves, you’re willing to do everything to keep it, including some misconduct here and there. I take it you blabbed about my plans, then.”
Sky Blitz crouched down and scowled, “We’re going to stop you before your plans see the light of day.”
He looked into his mirror and slid a hoof along its rim, “Oh, I don’t think you will.” He held the mirror towards the group and commanded, “I wish y’all are trapped in this mirror!”
A large blue-green beam of light shot out of the mirror and enveloped the group. Before anyone could react, they were lifted off the ground and sucked into the mirror. As the green rim of magic disappeared from the mirror’s surface, a streak of blue light weaved up Gladmane’s arm and into his eyes, which flashed green for a moment.
He gave a wicked chuckle, “You see? You can’t defeat me so easily. I’m always one step ahead. After I grab your little ones, I’m gonna pay a visit to some dear friends of mine.”
The deer were in position to race for the doors as soon as Calvin came back with the go-ahead. They were clad in their black armor as planned, though there was some resistance at first. As the minutes dragged on, some of the deer got antsy.
Rootstock asked with impatience, “Where is the signal? Have they apprehended Gladmane or not?”
Blackthorn calmed him, “Patience, Rootstock. When they arrest Gladmane, they’ll give us the word.”
Redwood pointed to the window, “Look! There’s Calvin now!”
The small orange bird landed on the windowsill and chirped frantically as it hopped in a panic.
Conifer said in confusion, “That doesn’t sound like a signal.”
Blackthorn’s eyes shrunk as he realized, “No. It’s trouble. We have to go now!”
The doors of the stable-like quarters burst open before the deer guard skidded to a stop. To their shock, Gladmane and his guards were in front of them…with the children in the guards’ grasp.
The king mockingly sulked, “Aww, leaving so soon? I thought y’all liked it here.”
Blackthorn scowled, “We’re no longer under your control, Gladmane. Our curse has been lifted.”
“By that goody-two-shoes genie, no doubt. See, I know everything. I know you’re part of their plot to catch me red-hoofed, I know you blabbed about your little jobs as Dark Riders, and I also know about that precious gingko tree of yours. The one you planted on a nearby hill and go to see every night because it reminds ya of home sweet home.”
Admittedly, the fact that Gladmane knew about his nightly pilgrimage got to Blackthorn. However, the deer remained ever calm with tranquil fury.
“I also happen to know that if you break this itty-bitty little mirror, everyone trapped inside will never get out.”
Blackthorn demanded, “Who’s in there?!”
“Why, only the royals, of course, and soon the children you see before you.”
Blackthorn drew in a breath of surprise at the revelation that Skyla was in the mirror. Although he couldn’t let on that he was sweet on Skyla, he wanted to prevent the same fate from happening to Gale Force and the other children.
His eyes slit as he angrily said, “You dare not put innocent ponies in danger!”
Gladmane responded, “Oh, can’t I? Mirror, I wish to trap the kids with their family.”
Obeying his command, the mirror sucked the screaming children into its depths.
Blackthorn shouted, “No!” He then glared at Gladmane, “Release them all at once!”
“Oh, of course, but I’d like something from you first. Mirror, I wish for an anvil.” The mirror glowed and an anvil appeared next to him. He held the mirror over it and said to Blackthorn, “I need that magic potion from you, all of you. The one that makes plants grow and such. Do that and I’ll free everyone. If ya say ‘no’, no one ever gets out. Going once –“ he raised the mirror a bit “ – going twice…” He raised the mirror again as if preparing to strike it against the anvil.
Blackthorn suddenly conceded, “All right! We’ll do it. Just don’t break the mirror.”
The king smirked evilly, “That’s what I thought.” He then ordered his guards, “Grab the barrel collars!”
The guards went into the quarters and retrieved the tiny barrel collars. Some of the deer frowned at having their precious possessions taken forcibly.
Gladmane said, “Now that I got what I wanted…” He held the mirror out and commanded, “I wish y’all unconscious!”
In an instant, the deer guard fell to the ground.
One of Gladmane’s guards dared to ask him, “Are you sure you should’ve done that? You promised to –“
The king waved his hoof, “Ah-deh-deh! In due time, my trusty friend. But first, I gotta get ready for a public announcement…”
The citizens of the kingdom waited in the plaza for Gladmane’s public announcement. Was it something exciting? Something awful? Something unexpected? And why was there a huge cloud near Las Pegasus? The various ponies and creatures in the crowd talked amongst themselves until a fanfare sounded.
The herald announced, “His Royal Majesty, King Gladmane!”
The crowd remained silent as the king - all dressed in French general attire complete with a fancy cocked hat with a large plume - walked up onto the platform and towards the podium.
He then spoke seriously into the microphone, “My friends, a terrible tragedy has befallen us all. Last night, I have learned that the Canterlot family is behind the Dark Rider attacks, including the one from last night!”
The crowd gasped.
“They are in cahoots with a horrendous beast to snatch innocent children in the middle of the night and frame other kingdoms for it!” He then pointed to the cloud looming behind the palace, “That cloud there is Paraddock, where the beast resides. Make no mistake, my friends. It will wipe us out! First Las Pegasus, and then the world!”
Murmurs stirred in the air.
“I was gravely mistaken in sending Dandy Grandeur to the dungeon for the crimes of that terrible creature and the Canterlot family, but now they must pay! We’ll go up to Paraddock and snuff out the monster and its cohorts before they annihilate us all! Are ya with me?!”
The crowd then burst into angry shouts of agreement.
Roar Horn sang, “We're not safe until he's dead…”
Sprigfield sang, “He'll come stalking us at night…”
Reingling, the director, sang, “Set to sacrifice our children to his monstrous appetite…”
Sorreil, the acrobat, sang, “He'll wreak havoc on our kingdom if we let him wander free…”
Gladmane sang, “So it's time to take some action, friends…It's time to follow me! Through the mist, through the wood…Through the darkness and the shadows…It's a nightmare, but it's one exciting ride…Say a prayer, then we're there…at the drawbridge of a castle…and there's something truly terrible inside…
“It's a beast! He's got fangs, razor-sharp ones! Massive jaws, killer claws for the feast…Hear him roar! See him foam! But we're not coming home 'til he's dead!”
The crowd cheered, “Yeah!”
“Good and dead!”
“Yeah!”
All of them sang, “Kill the beast!”
As the crowd prepared to march to Paraddock with pitchforks and torches, they sang, “Light your torch, move, you horse…”
Gladmane sang, “Screw your courage to the sticking place…”
“We're counting on Gladmane to lead the way…”
As the angry mob marched out of Las Pegasus, the king sang proudly, “Call it war, call it threat...You can bet they all will follow…For in times like this, they'll do just as I say…”
Big Bucks sang, “There's a beast running wild, there's no question…”
Jack Pot sang in worry, “But I fear the wrong monster's released…”
The mob sang, “Sally forth! Tally ho! Grab your sword! Grab your bow! Praise good Faust and here we go!”
Meanwhile, on Paraddock, Steven and the others rendezvoused back in the spell room after searching the entire castle for Mischief. When they had woken up this morning, he was not in his bed. He had mysteriously vanished.
Steven fretted, “Oh, where could he have gone?! He has to be around here somewhere!”
Silver Tongue sadly said, “I’m afraid I have some bad news.” He magically held out a note as he explained, “I found this at the castle entrance.” He opened it and read aloud, “My friends, I regret to inform you that I will not return with you to Earth. My heart lies with Paraddock, where all things chaotic run wild and free. I wish you the best, Mischief.”
Skater grabbed the note as she said, “Let me see it.” She looked at it and her eyes slit in suspicion, “Wait. This doesn’t look like –“
The alarm sounded again and the bejeweled eye on the mirror flashed red.
Celaeno exclaimed, “Trouble!”
Blaze used his magic to press the jewel on the eye. The light on the surface of the mirror swirled before revealing a large mob marching towards the shadow of Paraddock.
They could hear the mob sing, “We don't like what we don't understand…In fact, it scares us…And this monster is mysterious at least…Bring your spears, bring your knives…Save your children and your wives…We'll save our kingdom and our lives…We'll kill the beast!”
Steven shrieked, “Aah! They’re after me! I know they are!”
Roller waved his hoof in dismissal, “Relax. Without a beanstalk, they can’t get up to Paraddock.”
Skater pointed to the mirror, “Not unless they can make that tree magically grow high enough to reach it.”
As if on cue, the guards poured something at the base of the tree and it magically began to grow and grow.
Blaze exclaimed, “Oh, come on!”
Steven bawled, “That’s it! We’re doomed! Positively doomed!”
Roller punched his hooves together, “Yeah! We can take anything they can throw at us!”
Vapor Trail asked in concern, “But what about Mischief?”
Nova asked as well, “And the others?”
Zealot said, “We’ll have to worry about them later. Right now, we need to protect Paraddock.”
Celaeno nodded, “Right.” She then drew her sword and shouted, “Let’s show them what we’re made of!”
The pirates and ponies shouted in agreement before racing out the room.
They sang as they ran down the chaotic halls, “Hearts ablaze, banners high…We go marching into battle…Unafraid although the danger's just increased…”
Meanwhile, Gladmane and his guards sang as the treetop took them near Paraddock, “Raise the flag, sing the song…Here we come, we're fifty strong…And fifty ponies can't be wrong…Let's kill the beast! Kill the beast! Kill the beast!”
They then gasped from the lack of air in the rising atmosphere.
Gladmane rasped, “We really shouldn’t sing when there’s hardly any air up here.”
On the castle grounds, the group searched for any sign of the mob. The pirates readied their swords and the ponies crouched down to strike at any moment.
Mullet whispered, “Yer sure they be comin’?”
Zealot answered, “We have to wait till the moment they arrive…whenever that may be.”
Nova noticed something and asked, “Wait. Where’s Silver Tongue?”
Before her question could be answered, a soft rumbling shook the ground and the leaves of the gingko tree began sprouting from the large cloud patch alongside a stream of water. The treetop rose until it revealed Gladmane and his guards sitting on its branches.
When the treetop stopped growing, Gladmane rasped, “Well, well - *wheeze* Geez, this place is high up. *cough cough* Gimme a moment to - *cough* - catch my breath here.” He wheezed and coughed. “Oh, man! How high did we go?!”
As the other guards caught their breath, one of them gave a raspy answer, “I think we traveled about –“
Gladmane scolded with his breath getting slightly stronger, “Did I ask for your opinion?” He breathed heavily for a few moments, “Okay…Okay…I think…it’s comin’ back to me…Just…give me a few more moments.”
Boyle asked his comrades in a whisper, “Should we strike him while he’s down?”
His captain scowled, “Of course not. That’d be very unsporting of us.”
As soon as Gladmane caught his breath, he said, “There. Much better.” He straightened up again and said, “Now, as I was saying…Well, well, well. If it ain’t the Guardians of Equestria. Looks like you’re one short. No, wait! Two short! Where is Flurry’s little fiancé, the Guardian of Empathy?”
Roller spoke up, “We can defeat you just the same as if they were here.”
Gladmane took out his mirror, “Oh, we’ll see about that. Mirror, trap the Guardians and their friends!”
As like before, a large blue-green beam shot towards the group. However, Blaze and Nova combined their magic to produce a shield to deflect the beam. It took a few moments before the beam disappeared entirely, leaving the group untouched.
Gladmane said, “Huh. Seems your magic is strong, but as long as I have the power of almost every member of the Canterlot family in my hooves, I’ll have already beaten you.”
Skater gasped, “You trapped our family in there?!”
Blaze shouted angrily, “Let them go!”
The king slyly said, “Oh, I’ll let ‘em go…if you can get past my guards first.” He then ordered, “A Squad, take them! B Squad, take the monster!”
As B Squad charged towards the castle, Apple Butter cried, “No!”
Suddenly, A Squad started to attack the group. They had no choice but to fight back.
Mischief awoke to dark surroundings. Where was he? How long did he sleep? And why did his head ache like someone knocked him out? He heard a clinking sound and looked to see chains attached to his cuffed hooves. He then realized where he was: a dungeon!
But who would…It had to be Silver. He was the only one Mischief and the others distrusted. It made sense he would want him out of the way. The antlered colt aimed his magic at his cuffs and they came off. He then stood up and bore his magic into the lock.
When the cell door opened, he walked out and remarked, “Try harder next time, Silver.”
Suddenly, he heard a low sound like many colts shouting and countless hoofsteps rushing above.
He thought, Uh-oh. That’s not good.
In a green flash, he disappeared.
Steven, Gabby, and Vapor Trail anxiously waited in the spell room for something to happen.
Steven wondered in concern, “Do you think they’re all right?”
Vapor answered, “I hope so. If I know Sky Stinger, he’ll win the day.”
Gabby added, “And so will the Guardians.”
Steven asked, “What will happen if they don’t?”
Vapor wilted at the thought. “Let’s not think about that right now.”
Just then, they heard hoofsteps outside.
Steven squeaked, “Eek! Hide!”
When he dove into the water, Gabby and Vapor inhaled deeply before joining him. The door burst open and several guards slowly flooded into the room.
They looked all around before one of them remarked, “I’m getting weird vibes from this place.”
Another agreed, “Yeah. I don’t like it. Let’s burn everything down.”
Steven gasped underwater when he heard that. He had to do something. This was his friend’s legacy that was on the line. Just then, he knew what he had to do, although it scared him to heck.
He bubbled out, “Girls…”
He then pointed upwards before he counted down with his three fingers. He shot towards the surface and water splashed onto the guards. When they rubbed their eyes of the water, they saw a sea serpent roaring before them.
Steven bravely stated, “Rooaar! I’m the fearsome monster of this castle! Fear me!”
Instead of running away like he hoped, one of the guards told his comrades, “Get him!”
The guards threw their spears at Steven, but before they could touch him, the sea serpent dove into the water again. The guards outside the room saw a mysterious figure race by in the waterway.
The other guards coming out of the room shouted, “Don’t let him escape!”
Meanwhile, Steven swam down the labyrinthine waterways with his head above the water and Gabby and Vapor clinging to his wet neck.
Vapor asked, “Are you sure that was smart?! Making them come after you like that?!”
He answered, “One, I couldn’t let them burn Capri’s valuables, and two…” he tittered nervously, “…I was kind of hoping they would be frightened instead of me.”
Gabby said optimistically, “Well, I think we got them away from her stuff.”
Vapor added, “Now there’s the matter of getting them away from us!”
Steven said calmly, “I think we’re in the clear, girls. After all, I am a pretty speedy swimmer.”
As they entered another hallway via the waterway, the trio suddenly saw two guards closing the watery tunnel in front of them.
Steven yelped, “Yipes!”
He tried to swim back the other way, but two more guards dropped the gate on the other tunnel as well. They were trapped. They saw no other way out but through the sets of double doors. However, they too were clogged by the mass of guards charging and pointing their spears at them.
The captain ordered, “Surrender now, horrendous beast!”
Having only one option and hoping for the best, Steven cried out, “Help us!”
At that moment, Mischief appeared in an adjacent hallway. He heard Steven cry, “Please help us!”
Adrenaline rushed through his veins as he charged towards the source of the cry. As he got nearer, he saw many guards with their backsides towards the doorway. He readied his magic and shot a non-lethal beam that pushed a line of guards aside. Mischief turned back around to face the guards, who were now charging at him. With a mixture of both his martial skills and his magic, he took on every guard that charged at him. He knew he couldn’t keep this up forever, so he had to think of something and quick.
Steven cried, “Be careful, Mischief!”
For one quick moment, Mischief looked back to see Steven, Vapor, and Gabby. He needed a second hand, so he picked the perfect candidate.
He conjured up an aluminum baseball bat and threw it via levitation. “Gabby, I need your help!”
After she grabbed the bat, she saluted, “Yes, sir!”
Mischief resumed fighting the guards with Gabby swatting them with her bat. After a while, he told her, “I need you to distract them for a bit. Can you handle it?” He really hated asking this of her for fear of putting her in further danger, but he had to trust that she could hold on her own.
Gabby nodded, “No problem!”
Mischief turned his attention to the closed gate on Steven’s right side. He was about to raise it when a guard lunged behind him. Luckily, Gabby hit the guard with her bat, knocking him unconscious.
The antlered colt smiled, “Thanks, Gabs.”
She answered, “Anytime!”
He returned his focus to the gate and raised it up with his magic.
He turned to Steven and Vapor and ordered, “Get out of here, you two! Now!”
Steven fretted, “But what about you?!”
“I’ll be fine! You need to get to safety before anything else happens! Now go!”
Steven reluctantly dived into the open tunnel with Vapor, leaving Mischief and Gabby behind to fend the guards off themselves. There were fewer numbers now due to several of them being unconscious, but the guards left standing still outnumbered the two.
Gabby asked Mischief in worry, “What are we going to do, Mischief?”
While trying to think up a plan, Mischief’s eyes fell on a light switch.
“Stay close to me. I’ve got an idea.”
Before the guards could charge at them, Mischief used his magic to flip the switch. The hallway suddenly went dark. The guards were disoriented with their pitch-black surroundings and tried to make sense of the new environment their eyes now perceived.
Mischief took Gabby’s claw and whispered, “Going up.”
They flew up to the vaulted ceiling and Mischief quickly conjured up a blanket. When one of the guards saw the green flash, he alerted his comrades and the Pegasi guards flew up towards the ceiling.
Mischief commanded Gabby, “Pull the blanket back!”
Quickly, the two flew towards opposite ends of the hall. The blanket they held stretched with the growing distance between them. It caught the Pegasi guards off-guard as they crashed into the blanket.
Mischief then told the young griffon, “Now drop it!”
The blanket fell down and landed on the guards, trapping them under its magic-proof and spear-proof cloth. Mischief opened a set of double doors and he and Gabby raced out the dark hallway.
Gabby gushed as they flew through the long hallways, “That was super amazing! It was just like the adventures Pony Pan had in the books!”
Mischief smiled, “Welcome to a life of daring do.”
They flew out the castle entrance and found a battle raging on the wild grounds. Before they could act, Gabby shrieked as she was magically pulled back. Mischief turned to see Silver Tongue grab hold of the young griffon on the edge of the roof.
A haze of colors and sounds soon sharpened into the inside of the quarters and low groaning. Blackthorn shook his head to regain his senses and turned to see his comrades just waking up. What happened? Then, he remembered – Gladmane, the mirror, and lastly, being suddenly overwhelmed by darkness. He realized that Gladmane’s last words were that he wished them unconscious.
He thought, Pretty powerful magic, that mirror.
He walked towards the wide double doors and tried to open them. They wouldn’t budge, as he suspected.
He told his comrades, “Bad news, friends. Gladmane has locked us in. No doubt it was to keep us from spoiling whatever evil plan he has. That leaves us with only one option: the secret passageway.”
Rootstock asked, “But if Gladmane knows of your nightly pilgrimage to the gingko tree, then surely he’ll have the passage blocked.”
“We’ll know for sure in a moment.”
When Blackthorn pulled the blanket in his stable aside, he and everyone else were surprised to see that Blackthorn’s magic could move the large stone covering the entrance.
He gave a small smile of amazement, “Well, I’ll be…He knew I had made pilgrimages, but he didn’t know how I got in and out. Come on, boys.”
In a straight line, the deer crouched into the underground passage and crawled a good mile or so until Blackthorn lifted the stone on top of the exit. Lifting the stone also parted the bramble bush growing on top of it. One-by-one, the deer lifted themselves onto the ground until the bramble bush rejoined, covering the exit stone in the process. This elaborate route had been perfected years ago so no one would suspect that a bramble bush growing in a tiny corner of the otherwise-glamorous palace would hide a secret passageway known only to the deer. It only took a moment before they looked towards the hills and saw a giant gingko tree touching a giant cloud.
Blackthorn ordered his comrades, “You’ll carry out the plan to go into the castle town and reveal yourself as Dark Riders. I will confront Gladmane myself.”
The rest of the deer guard nodded and rushed towards the castle town. Blackthorn, on the other hand, raced towards the gingko tree.
Mischief landed on the roof and said, “Let her go, Silver. She has nothing to do with this.”
Silver – who had his right hoof covering Gabby’s beak and his left pinning her arms against her torso – chuckled menacingly, “I don’t plan to harm her. How else was I going to get you to duel me?”
Mischief sputtered in disbelief, “Duel you? You’re crazy! There’s a battle going on right now!”
“What’s more important – the battle or this little girl’s life?” With that, he squeezed Gabby a bit.
He held his hooves out as he said, “Okay, okay!” He then scowled, “I’ll play your sick game. But only if you let Gabby go.”
“Fair enough.”
Once Gabby was released from the unicorn’s grip, she pleaded, “Mischief, whatever he wants, don’t do it!”
Mischief calmly said to her, “Gabby, this is just between Silver and me. I’ll be fine. Go find Steven and Vapor and make sure they’re all right.”
After Gabby flew over the rooftops of the castle in defeat, Silver drew his sword and smirked, “Now…shall we begin?”
Mischief conjured up a sword and held it with brave readiness. “Let’s.”
The two stallions clashed swords and stepped up, down, and around the roof as they did so.
Mischief grunted, “Did you lock me in the dungeon when I went to sleep last night?”
Silver mockingly praised, “Excellent deduction, my good friend! Yes, ‘twas I who put you into deep slumber and carried you all the way to the dungeon. You were quite a heavy load, I must say. I had it all planned out: your supposed disappearance, the search, and the note at the entrance saying you wanted to stay on Paraddock. Of course, the note didn’t quite take with your friends.”
“Of course it wouldn’t take! They’re my friends! They know me better than anyone else!” He then added, “Except for my adopted mother, of course.”
Silver then lauded, “You are quite skilled in swordsmanship. Who taught you?”
“Only the best: Roller, Skater, and Flurry!”
A look of surprise etched Silver’s face. “You don’t say? Flurry trained you?” He then smiled wickedly, “Well, that makes it one more reason to take her as my wife.”
Mischief growled as he began to fight more aggressively, “She’s not yours! She never will be yours! She’s mine!”
While the antlered stallion continued dealing harsh blows with his sword now completely enveloped in green magic, Silver expertly deflected them all while mocking, “Careful, Mischief. Your anger makes your fighting sloppy.”
With one swift move, his silvery sword flung its rival out of Mischief’s aura. His silver aura then enveloped the stray sword and rammed the pommel of the hilt against Mischief’s right temple, knocking his opponent down. Mischief looked up to see Silver holding the swords in a scissors formation near his throat.
Silver bellowed out with such bravado, “It’s over, freak! Flurry’s mine!”
That did it. Just like that, something awoke deep inside Mischief. It was primal fury so animal-like it would strike fear into the hearts of many. His pupils slit as his brows knitted in anger. At only a moment’s notice, a red wolf with antlers and blue and white hair jumped at Silver and pinned him against the tiles of the roof.
Silver pleaded in crippling fear, “Let me go! Please, don’t hurt me! I’ll do anything! Anything!”
The wolf didn’t listen and it continued to growl and lower its head towards Silver. But then, his eyes caught a glint of something. He looked up to see his reflection in the sword lying near Silver’s head. Realizing what he had become and what he was about to do, his pupils rounded back to their original shape and the wolf stepped away from Silver. The unicorn didn’t have a moment to take a breath of relief before he was lifted in a green aura.
Mischief, back to his normal self, glared at Silver and growled, “Stay away from Flurry.”
Silver then disappeared in a green flash.
Blackthorn could see a huge mob jeering and shouting at the base of the humongous gingko tree. There were some who tried climbing up the branch-riddled tree without much success. He knew he couldn’t get past the crowd without resistance, so he decided to make his own resistance. With a touch of his magic, he parted the grass in front of him so the two earthen carpets would roll up on either side and reveal the dirt underneath.
Unfortunately, this extended to the ponies who were standing on the mats of grass. The mob parted as they fell from the rolling grass carpets. Blackthorn just made his way through the crowd via the untouched dirt path that followed the parting grass. When he reached the tree, he quickly used his magic to arrange the first two sets of branches into an impromptu spiral staircase. Before anyone could protest, he leaped onto the tree and ran upwards towards the cloud.
Roar Horn fretted, “The Dark Rider is going after the king!”
Sorreil scowled, “Not if I can help it!”
Though the impromptu staircase had virtually disappeared, the acrobat swiftly and expertly jumped and leaped on every branch going upwards. As for Blackthorn, he continued to use his magic to make the impromptu staircase in front of him as he ran upwards. Despite the air getting ever thinner, he knew he had to keep going. He just had to keep going! Finally, just as he was running low on energy, he saw that he was just a few yards from where the treetop disappeared into the cloud. In a sudden burst, he ran up the branches and leapt through the cloudy barrier. He soon found himself standing on a fluffy cloud patch amidst a wide field of flowers, trees, and…a raging battle!
He soon turned his focus to the king and shouted, “Gladmane!”
The stallion turned around to face him and suavely said, “Well, if it ain’t the rogue Dark Rider. So glad you could join us. But I’m afraid your time here will be brief.” He spoke to his mirror, “Mirror, I wish –“ He was caught by surprise when he felt the mirror being pulled from his grasp by a green aura. “Hey!” He quickly grabbed it again and commanded, “Freeze!”
Blackthorn was immediately rendered motionless in a block of ice.
“Huh. Not what I was expectin’, but…” He returned his attention to the deer as he said, “So you thought you could just pull the mirror from my hooves? Ha! Buddy, you were tryin’ to mess with the soon-to-be-most-powerful stallion in the entire world.” Suddenly, he got an idea. An awful idea. Gladmane had a wonderful, awful idea.
“Or better yet,” he smiled wickedly, “I could be the most powerful stallion in the entire world right now! Mirror, I wish to have the powers of everyone trapped inside!”
Blackthorn gave a shout from inside the block of ice, but his cry fell on deaf ears. The mirror’s rim lit up with rainbow light before the colored stream of magic weaved up Gladmane’s arm. White light then obscured him as it grew bigger and Gladmane’s evil laugh could be heard. When the light faded, Gladmane was now over 25 feet tall with wings, a long horn, two fangs, and a mad left eye. His coat color was now a dark purple and his silvery mane was jagged, long, and flowing. His general outfit had also changed, for it was now black armor.
“Thank ya very much for the inspiration, but now it’s time for you to leave the buildin’.”
Sorreil, who had just reached the place where the tree met the cloud and was admittedly running low on breath, saw a green flash of light through the clouds. She was caught by surprise when the Dark Rider fell from the cloud layer. She was further surprised when he hit his head and the helmet unhinged, revealing his identity as one of the deer guard. As he disappeared into the leaves and branches below, she wondered what she just saw. What did this mean?
Before she could wonder any longer, Gladmane’s voice spoke, “Hasta la vista, my dear friend.” He gave a wicked chuckle before he continued, “Now, to make sure no other meddlers can ruin my plans.”
She almost gave a gasp of shock before she remembered where she was. She then heard a crackling sound and tried to discern it before she smelled…smoke! She knew she couldn’t climb down the tree without losing whatever breath she had left, so she had only one option. She ran to the end of the branch she was on and jumped off. As she dove downwards through the air, she realized just how high up she was. Her heart thundered in her ears as she tried to stay focused on making a safe landing.
When the mob glimpsed up to see Sorreil falling down, Reingling screamed, “Aaah! My star!”
Just before she could hit the ground, Sorreil grabbed two individual branches and swung herself onto a third branch close to the ground. As she was catching her breath, the crowd cheered for her amazing landing.
Sprigfield clapped, “That was spectacular!”
Roar Horn praised, “So outstanding!”
Sorreil said between inhales, “Please…listen…”
Reingling spoke loudly to the crowd, “Quiet, everypony! My diva wishes to speak.” He then said to her softly, “Now, what is it, my dear?”
Sorreil, having caught her breath, said, “Gladmane has tricked us all!”
Murmurs and small gasps rang through the crowd.
She continued, “He claimed that the Dark Riders were in league with the Canterlot royals, but the Dark Rider you saw going up this tree was one of the deer guards!”
More gasps sounded.
“He tried to stop Gladmane, but Gladmane stopped him first. And now he’s burning down the tree so no one else can get up there!”
Murmurs both skeptic and confused alike bounced through the crowd until a stallion shouted, “Look! Up there!”
The mob looked up and saw a trail of black smoke tainting the giant cloud where the tree met the airy pillows of white. It was at that moment they knew Sorreil was right. Shouts of “Water!” ricocheted in the air as several ponies ran to get water from Las Pegasus and enlist more help.
Just moments after Gladmane began burning the treetop with his newly-acquired magic, Mischief – who had just sent Silver to the dungeon – caught a whiff of something and sniffed the air. It was smoke! He looked behind him and was surprised to see a giant alicorn version of Gladmane burning a tree on a cloud patch.
He thought to himself, Whoa! Okay, one: how did Gladmane become a giant alicorn? And two: if he’s burning something, chances are it’s not good.
He teleported right in front of Gladmane’s face and said, “Hey, Your Highness! Looks like you’re not on our side after all!”
Gladmane smirked, “You’re right. I ain’t. I’m on my own side. Love my new look? It was courtesy of the powers I got from everyone I trapped in this itty-bitty mirror, including your precious Flurry Heart.”
Mischief gasped before he snarled, “Release them!”
The giant alicorn pretended to contemplate, “Hmm…No.”
He aimed his mirror at Mischief and the beam shot out again. However, Mischief teleported out of the way, appearing behind Gladmane’s head. Just as the giant turned his head, Mischief flew up above his head and aimed a beam of magic at the mirror. Gladmane saw this just in time to pull the floating mirror out of the way.
“Whoops! I’d be careful if I were you, lil’ fella. This mirror breaks, and no one’s ever gettin’ out…including you!”
The mirror shot out the beam again and again, but each time, Mischief managed to dodge it.
After almost a minute of this, Gladmane said, “Know what? I’m getting a little tired of playin’ this game.”
He then heard Mischief’s voice behind him, “Then let’s play a different one.” He turned to see Mischief floating in the air while holding a giant frying pan. “Tag!” With one swift blow, Mischief swung the pan into Gladmane’s face, giving him a dazed look. The antlered stallion smirked, “You’re it.”
Mischief then blew on Gladmane, who fell to the ground out cold. The mirror – no longer supported by Gladmane’s levitation spell – dropped towards the ground.
Mischief quickly teleported it into his hooves and spoke into it, “Don’t worry, guys. I’ll get you out.”
Suddenly, he heard someone call out, “Mischief!”
He turned his head to see the rest of his friends fighting the guards below. He dove downwards before pulling up near the rear of the unit like an airplane. His antlers glowed and released a green burst of magic that froze everyone where they stood. When he flew near his friends, he saw that he accidentally froze them too!
Roller chastised, “You were supposed to freeze them, not us!”
Mischief sheepishly grinned, “Oops. Sorry.”
He lifted the stasis spell on his friends and they breathed a sigh of relief.
Apple Butter smiled, “I’m so glad you’re okay, Mischief.”
Skater asked, “Yeah, where we you?”
Mischief asked as he lowered himself onto the ground, “Do you want the long version or the short?”
Before anyone could answer, more guards came pouring out the castle entrance.
Blaze said as he raised a green force field around the heroes, “We’ll have to hear the short version now!”
After Nova and Mischief added their magic to the field, the antlered stallion quickly explained, “Silver locked me in the dungeon. I got out, saved Steven from certain doom, and dueled Silver on the roof.”
Skater asked in disbelief, “What were you doing dueling Silver on the roof?! There was a battle going on!”
“That’s what I told him! So after that, I sent Silver to the dungeon and knocked Gladmane unconscious. Now all I have to do is free everyone he trapped in the mirror.”
Celaeno pointed to the candy jungle, “Head in there. We’ll hold off the guards for you.”
Mischief asked, “Will you all be okay?”
Nova said, “After what we’ve been through on Paraddock, there’s nothing we can’t handle. Now, when we raise the shield, that’s your cue to teleport into the jungle.”
“Got it.” He then remembered something and asked, “By the way, why was Gladmane burning that tree?”
Skater answered, “So no one else can get up to Paraddock.”
A few minutes earlier, Foxhelm and his bat pony guards appeared in the inner court of the palace via Foxhelm’s magic amulet. They were surprised to see that the rest of the courtyard was empty.
One of the guards said, “You said they would be here with Gladmane in their custody.”
The giant double doors of the front gate suddenly burst open to reveal a deer in Dark Rider armor, save for the helmet.
Arbor said in surprise, “Foxhelm? Where are the other royals?”
Foxhelm said, “I might ask you the same thing.”
The deer face-hoofed, “No, I mean Celestia, Luna, Sombra, and the rest.”
Foxhelm’s ears flattened in unease as he said, “Oh, them.” He then smiled sheepishly as he pulled out a recorder, “They left a message.”
He played the recorder and Sombra’s voice spoke, “Hello. This is the King Father Sombra. I regret to inform you that my family and I won’t be able to come to Las Pegasus. There has been a crisis involving an army of abominable snowcreatures. *CRASH!* That was them just now, trying to get into the castle. We are very sorry for the inconvenience and we hope Captain Foxhelm and the rest of Princess Luna’s guards will be of valuable aid to you. We will be with you as soon as possible. Thank you.”
The second bat pony guard asked Arbor, “Now, we want to ask you something: where are the Canterlot royals who are supposed to be here?”
Arbor explained, “Gladmane has trapped them in a magic mirror and blackmailed us into giving our plant growth potion to get up to Paraddock.”
Foxhelm said, “That can’t be good.”
“Thankfully, Blackthorn is going to confront him while the rest of us rally the rest of the citizens to our side.”
“Well, hopefully he’s stopped the king by now.”
Suddenly, a stallion ran up to Arbor and shouted, “Fire! Fire!”
The deer asked, “Where?”
“On the tree! It’s burning down!”
Foxhelm cried, “What?!”
He and three of his comrades flew up to see a tall gingko tree touching the cloud with smoke billowing from the topmost visible part of the giant.
He barked out orders, “You three, with me! The rest of you get water for the fire!”
While Arbor and the other bat pony guards raced out of the inner court, Foxhelm flew with his three comrades towards the rapidly burning gingko tree.
Nocturn remarked, “That is one strong incendiary spell.”
Just then, Echo pointed towards the tree and cried, “Sir, I see something!”
Foxhelm scanned the tree until he saw an unconscious Blackthorn limp against the boughs that had caught him. He ordered, “Let’s go!”
The bat pony guards flew up to Blackthorn just as the latter was waking up.
The deer muttered in a dazed manner, “Huh? Wha -?”
Foxhelm reassured him, “Don’t worry. We’ll get you down.”
The guards loosened the branches’ grip on Blackthorn before lifting him and taking him to the ground before the fire could consume the boughs.
As several Pegasi and bat pony guards flew towards the tree with buckets of water, Steelheart asked Blackthorn, “Are you all right?”
The deer nodded, “Yes, I’m fine…” He then rubbed his head, “…though I think I hit my head on something after Gladmane blasted me.”
A mare then screamed, “Look out!”
Everyone looked up to see fiery debris falling down towards Earth.
Foxhelm shouted, “Get out of the way!”
The crowd scattered just in time to avoid the flaming bits of wood and branches hitting the ground. More fireball-like debris fell to the ground and narrowly missed some ponies and creatures. The flying ponies and guards with the water could barely douse some of the flames before the fire snaked ever downwards. It wasn’t long before the fiery debris got larger. Everyone practically had to get a mile or two away from the tree. Then, just when things couldn’t get bad enough, a huge portion of the tree’s trunk fell from the sky. Foxhelm and Blackthorn saw that they were in its path of destruction, so they swiftly got out of harm’s way as the giant piece of trunk crashed into the ground.
Foxhelm breathlessly remarked, “I sure hope the others on Paraddock are having better luck than we are.”
Up on Paraddock, the Guardians and their friends were faring no better than everycreature on the ground. They could barely hold off Gladmane’s guards while Mischief tried in vain to free the mirror’s captives.
Celaeno grunted, “How do you think Mischief is doing?”
Sky Stinger panted agitatedly as he fought each guard he came into contact with, “What do you think?! If he set everyone free, we’d have some backup right about now!”
Lix Spittle pointed to Gladmane as she nervously said, “And we better have it soon! The giant’s waking up!”
Meanwhile, Mischief shook the mirror in frustration as he said, “Come on! Come on! There’s gotta be a way to free you guys! I have to think!” He then got an idea. “Wait a minute! Mirror, I wish -”
Suddenly, the trees were pulled apart by green magic and Gladmane towered over him. Mischief’s heart dropped when he saw his friends bound in chains like a living hay bale.
Gladmane smirked, “Found ya. Now why dontcha hoof over the mirror and I promise your friends won’t get hurt.”
Mischief pointed the mirror towards Gladmane and commanded, “Mirror, I wish for everyone trapped within to be free!”
Nothing.
Gladmane laughed as his green magic grabbed hold of Mischief and took the small mirror from him. “You fool! You think you can wish them outta here? Ha! Only I can free them from their prison, and there ain’t no way in heck I’m gonna –“
Suddenly, images of Gladmane played on the mirror’s surface, “I wish to – free everyone – trapped in this mirror!”
Greatly confused and stupefied, the once-proud alicorn uttered, “Huh?”
The mirror glowed very brightly before the blinding white light died down to reveal the freed royals and a depowered Gladmane.
The astonished king shakily asked, “How? Howja do that? Only I could free y’all!”
Capri slyly explained, “And you did, through my memories of you while we were trapped in the mirror. I had some inspiration from a certain brother of mine.”
Discord smirked, “Now does this mean you’re indebted to me?”
Capri playfully tapped his arm as she said, “Don’t push it.”
The draconequui siblings soon put an end to the disorienting chaos of it all. Discord turned Gladmane’s guards into plushies, the siblings put out the fire, and Capri went to retrieve Vapor, Gabby, and Steven – who was very elated to see her again. After everything was said and done, Capri and Discord brought the castle and its grounds down to Earth, with only the now-thin cloud layer separating the piece of Paraddock from the ground. Twilight, Flash, her parents, and the rest of the Canterlot family swiftly came to Las Pegasus to deal with Gladmane’s misdeeds.
On the Paraddock castle grounds, Twilight said, “Well, Gladmane, it seems I had valid reason not to forge an alliance with you.”
Gladmane pleaded desperately, “Oh, please, Your Highness! I can change! I’ll become a better king! A-a-a nicer king! Just please gimme another chance! I’ll be good!”
Luna said, “The citizens of Las Pegasus and the Canterlot family are in consensus. Gladmane, you are hereby abdicated from the throne and shall be incarcerated indefinitely.”
Gladmane nervously smiled, though he knew it couldn’t be good, “I’m sorry, what does that mean?”
Discord groaned and agitatedly explained, “It means you’re not king anymore and you’re going to jail for your crimes.”
Gladmane protested frantically as the guards led him away, “No! No, please! Please reconsider! You’ll regret havin’ me off the throne! There’ll be chaos, anarchy! My beautiful kingdom will be destroyed! You’ll be sorry!”
Capri scoffed, “His kingdom? Ha! I practically created Las Pegasus on his wishes.”
Roller asked, “So, what are we going to do with Silver Tongue?” He gestured to the unicorn bound in magical rope, the same that had bound Gladmane.
Twilight stated, “He will be punished for his crime of attempted murder. We’ll send him back to Maretania and remove him from his place as heir.”
Silver entreated, “With all due respect, Your Majesty, if word gets out that I almost…murdered the Guardian of Empathy, it would not just ruin my family, but all of Maretania. My crime will cause the other nations to cut off trade with us and bring about my country’s demise. I’m willing to accept any other punishment you might have in mind for me. Just don’t hurt my country.”
The Guardians – especially Mischief – were greatly confused and stunned by this side of Silver’s personality. Just hours ago, the prince tried to kill Flurry’s fiancé via a duel. Now he wanted to save his country from his mistakes? Was he trying to look noble or was he actually being noble?
Capri and Twilight exchanged nods and the draconequus said, “All right. We’ll grant your request, but this shall be your punishment in return: Silver Tongue, I hereby banish you from Paraddock forever.”
Silver sadly hung his head and said, “I shall live with that.”
Mischief couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. Though Silver had tried to eliminate him to gain Flurry’s heart, Mischief remembered what the unicorn had said the night they had dinner at the chateau. Before Silver asked the couple about their relationship, he told everyone present how he loved being on his own and away from his boring lifestyle. Mischief took a closer look at Silver’s downtrodden expression and found no trace of malice or irritation. There was only regret.
He couldn’t believe he was about to do this, but he spoke up, “Wait. It doesn’t have to be forever. Maybe it can be until he can learn good behavior.”
Everyone – including Silver Tongue – was surprised to hear this. Why would the Guardian of Empathy stand up for the one who tried to kill him?
After some thought, Twilight agreed, “It’s settled, then. Silver Tongue, if you can improve your behavior within the next five years, we’ll allow you to return to Paraddock whenever you like.”
As the ropes binding him were magically loosened, Silver smiled, “Thank you, Your Majesty. I shall not forget your kindness.”
Just then, they heard a loud “ahem”. Everyone turned to see Dandy Grandeur standing on a small box next to the cloud layer below.
He said, “Now that the rightful culprit has been apprehended, I believe I am owed an apology.”
Rainbow Dash asked in bewilderment, “For what?”
“For suspecting me as the mastermind behind the Dark Rider attacks. It’s one thing to call me out for trying to do terrible things on my nephew’s wedding day, but it’s another thing entirely to subtly accuse me of crimes that were not mine!”
Everyone was speechless until Fancy Pants said, “You’re certainly right, old chap!”
Dandy was surprised to hear this and he uttered out, “I am?”
Rarity nodded, “Indeed! And we were wrong to let Gladmane arrest you. So, as our apology, we want to turn management of Las Pegasus over to you! The city’s going to need a new leader since Gladmane’s no longer fit for the job.”
After several moments of stunned silence, Dandy spoke, “A-are you sure? I’m not quite certain I should be king again. My horrible record and all, you know.”
Fancy Pants said, “That’s why you’ll be chancellor of this fine city. I think your credentials are enough to overshadow your…faults in this case.”
After the other royals nodded their heads, Celestia’s horn glowed as she declared, “Dandy Grandeur, we hereby name you Chancellor of Las Pegasus.”
In an instant, Dandy’s attire changed into a more formal chancellor’s outfit.
He squealed, “Thank you, Your Highnesses! Thank you!” He then trotted happily towards Las Pegasus as he rambled, “Now, where to start? Now, where to start? Oh, I know! I’ll create a council of seven! No, wait, eight! Oh, how about nine?”
Sunset asked Rarity with uncertainty, “Are you sure it was a good idea to name Dandy Grandeur as chancellor?”
Her sister answered, “Of course! The poor thing seemed to be so restless and downtrodden at the chateau.”
Fancy Pants continued for his wife, “If he couldn’t be king, just who would he be? Naming him chancellor gives him a new purpose in life and it’ll help him make amends for his past mistakes.”
Just then, Dandy came back and exclaimed, “Oh, I forgot something!” He pointed to the draconequui siblings as he asked, “Could either one of you two…creatures put Las Pegasus on a cloud like Paraddock? It’ll really add to the wonder, you know?”
Sombra spoke up, “You would need the consent of the people first before you raise the kingdom on a cloud.”
Capri raised her tiger paw, “I’ll go. If they say ‘yes’, I’ll raise Las Pegasus just like that.”
Luna said, “I shall accompany you all in case there’s…trouble.”
While they waited for an answer from the foursome in Las Pegasus, Discord decided to explore the rest of Paraddock in the sky while the others talked amongst themselves near the Paraddock castle on the ground.
Vapor Trail asked the pirates, “So now that we both know we come from long lines of Pony Pan and Captain Hoofs, should we keep playing those roles to keep the tradition alive?”
Celaeno answered, “We’re not going to stay on Paraddock, that’s for sure.”
Mullet said, “We’ll convert the Polly Roger into an airship and travel the skies.”
Boyle spoke up, “While being swashbuckling treasure hunters!”
Lix Spittle added, “Gems, gold coins, daring sword fights, you name it!”
Squabble, the parrot who couldn’t speak, squawked in agreement.
Zealot said, “Well then, we wish you the best of luck.”
Celaeno then asked while pointing to Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail, “Say, what about you two? Are you still going to be Pony Pan and Windy?”
Sky shrugged, “Well, why not? Now that there’s no more Captain Hoof chasing our tails, maybe Paraddock will be a good place to raise the baby and introduce him to a lot of adventures.”
Vapor smirked, “Um, don’t you mean he or she?”
Sky wrapped his arms around his wife, “Well, whichever it is, I’ll be happy.” When he hugged Vapor, he whispered, “Though I hope it’s a boy.”
Vapor surprised him by saying, “I heard that.”
The group chuckled before Silver offered, “If you wish to stay on Paraddock, then I will gladly offer you my home…just as long as nothing valuable gets broken.”
The others were surprised by this and some got a little suspicious.
Skater remarked, “Wow, Silver. You would do that? Why?”
He explained, “Well, before you all came along, I knew nothing about friendship. The only thing I did know was how to be a prince. When I would give something, it was usually just out of courtesy or obligation. But this time, I give my chateau out of goodwill.”
Flurry asked in confusion, “But Mischief said you tried to break his self-esteem and later challenged him to a duel on the castle roof.”
He shamefully admitted, “Yes, I did that…because it was how I was raised. My parents taught me to take every opportunity and to always put yourself above the rest. The only reason why I wanted you as my wife was because I thought you deserved better than Mischief. I thought you deserved a prince instead of…someone with mixed heritage. I tried to erode his confidence at first, hoping it would drive him away from you. When that didn’t work, I simply waited until the right time to challenge him to a duel. But…something happened while I waited.
“We got to the castle and it was just so magical. I learned then that chaos could be more than…well, havoc-wreaking. It could create many incredible things and make possible what would normally be impossible. I knew the same could apply to Mischief because he was born of a creature of chaos. I was going to let him have you until you took the children back to their parents. With you away, my old lessons overtook me and I couldn’t resist the chance to dispose of Mischief once and for all.”
Silver then sighed, “I went too far that time and I cannot ask for your forgiveness. But yet…” He pointed to Mischief, “…you of all ponies wanted to spare me of harsher punishment. Why? After all I did to you, why?”
Mischief answered, “It wasn’t easy to trust you. After all, you did try to steal my fiancée. But when I saw how unhappy you were with being banished from Paraddock, I remembered what you said about being on your own and being independent of your parents. I didn’t want you to be robbed of your freedom. Plus, you were friendly to everyone but the kids and me. If you can be that…courteous to them, then maybe you can be like that with everypony else.”
Silver said, “But how? I don’t know the first thing about friendship.”
Flurry said, “We’ll teach you.”
Silver smiled and nodded, “Thank you, Princess…and Sir Mischief. I shall accept the offer.”
Applejack remarked, “Wow. You really are different from your father.”
“I think I inherited half of my grandfather’s heart. Mother always said he was wise and compassionate.”
Gale Force suddenly cried, “Look!”
Everyone turned to see Las Pegasus slowly rising towards the sky on a layer of cloud. When it was halfway towards Paraddock, the glamorous city stopped and rested in mid-air. Distant cheers could be heard as Capri teleported back to the Paraddock castle with Luna and Sombra.
Capri boasted, “Well, what do you think of that? My magic is back in full swing, baby!” She then realized something and asked, “Say, where’s Discord?”
The group pointed up towards the giant cloud. Capri teleported over the luscious candy jungle and soon saw Discord howling with joy as he surfed on a tidal wave. She flashed onto the shore just as Discord rode on the wave’s crest to meet her. Just before the water could crash onto her, Capri conjured up an umbrella for cover.
When his sister lowered and closed the umbrella, Discord exclaimed, “Capri, this place is awesome! I’ve never seen anything like it! I might never want to leave Paraddock!”
Capri grabbed his eagle arm and said, “Come on, 4-year-old. Let’s get going.”
He pulled his arm from her and pleaded, “Oh, please, Capri? Just five more minutes, I promise!”
She couldn’t resist the puppy eyes he was giving her, so she sighed, “All right. Five more minutes on the playground, but then we have to get going.”
Discord jumped for joy as he shouted, “Yahoo!” He dove back into the water and got Capri wet in the process.
She had an irritated look on her face before it melted into a content expression. “Some things never change.”
When everyone came back to the Crystal Empire, the preparations for the wedding continued as planned. The night after they came back from their wild adventures, the wedding was held on the very stage that was used for Skyla and Flurry’s Crystallings. The crowd of guests and family members watched as Flurry and Mischief exchanged vows.
Princess Luna, the officiant, proclaimed, “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”
The couple was about to kiss until they heard loud sobbing coming from the audience. They turned to see Shining Armor bawling in his seat with Cadance comforting him.
Skyla facehoofed and muttered, “Oh, Dad…”
Flurry gave a chuckle before she locked lips with Mischief. The crowd cheered for the consolidation of the marriage. After the ceremony was over, everyone went to the gardens and partied to their heart’s content.
Discord - who was with his wife, daughter, and sister - commented in an annoyed tone, “I mean, really! Shining Armor made such a big deal over his daughter getting married! I never made such a fuss when Screwball got married.”
Screwball smirked, “Oh, I seem to recall that you did cry at my wedding.”
Capri perked up, “Ooh! I would’ve loved to see that!”
“I have flashbacks of the whole thing.”
Discord quickly protested, “Don’t you dare!”
Meanwhile, Skyla stood near the rosebushes and admired the beautiful flowers growing there.
She gasped when a voice spoke to her, “Well, this certainly brings back memories.”
She turned to see her beloved Blackthorn in formal attire. She was glad he agreed to be her date for the wedding despite being unused to pony customs. She wanted to cherish every moment he was here before he and his comrades would leave the Crystal Empire to embark on many adventures.
Skyla smiled, “Oh, yes. The day you appeared from behind a rosebush…”
“The night we talked to each other…Those were wonderful times.”
She sighed, “Shame it has to end all too soon.”
Blackthorn playfully told her, “I wouldn’t know about that.”
In surprise, she asked, “What do you mean?”
“My comrades and I have heard many amazing tales about the Guardians of Equestria, going where they need to be and always saving the day. Before Gladmane summoned us, we were the ones saving the innocent from harm. But with the Guardians fulfilling that role, I think the deer need to have something new to do before Thicket returns. Something like, I don’t know, staying in the Crystal Empire as royal guards?”
Skyla’s eyes lit up with joy. “Oh, Blackthorn! You really mean it?”
He took her hoof as he answered, “I could not be more serious.”
In a quick second, Skyla locked lips with him. He soon returned the passionate kiss and their hearts synchronized in ecstatic harmony. Needless to say, Cadance and Shining Armor were stunned to discover this latest development.
The prince shook his head in amazement. “First Flurry, now Skyla. I swear, what is it with our daughters and antlers?”
Cadance shrugged happily, “C’est l’amour?”
Shining Armor playfully smirked, “I’ll show you c’est l’amour.”
His wife giggled as he took her in his arms and spun her to the left before exchanging an intoxicating kiss with him.
A few minutes later, Songbird Serenade spoke into the microphone on the stage, “Thank you, fillies and gentlecolts. It’s an honor being here tonight to sing at Flurry and Mischief’s reception. But for the next song, I would like to give the newlyweds a chance to sing their duet for all of you. Please give a warm round of applause to Princess Flurry Heart and Prince Mischief.”
The crowd clapped and some cheered as the now-married couple got on the stage.
A sweet melody began to play and Flurry started to sing, “We were strangers, starting out on a journey…Never dreaming what we'd have to go through…Now here we are, and I'm suddenly standing…at the beginning with you…”
Mischief sang, “No one told me I was going to find you…Unexpected, what you did to my heart…”
They both sang, “When I lost hope…you were there to remind me…This is the start…And life is a road and I wanna keep going…Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing…Life is a road…Now and forever…Wonderful journey…
“I'll be there when the world stops turning…I'll be there when the storm is through…In the end, I wanna be standing at the beginning with you…”
The princess sang, “We were strangers…on a crazy adventure…”
Her prince sang, “Never dreaming…how our dreams would come true…”
The couple sang together, “Now here we stand, unafraid of the future…At the beginning with you… And life is a road and I wanna keep going…Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing…Life is a road…Now and forever…Wonderful journey…
“I'll be there when the world stops turning…I'll be there when the storm is through…In the end, I wanna be standing at the beginning with you…
“I knew there was somebody somewhere…like me alone in the dark…Now I know my dream will live on…I've been waiting so long…Nothing’s gonna tear us apart...”
Flurry sang, “And…”
As his wife vocalized, Mischief sang, “Life is a road and I wanna keep going…Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing…”
The newlyweds sang together, “Life is a road…Now and forever…Wonderful journey…I'll be there when the world stops turning…I'll be there when the storm is through…In the end, I wanna be standing at the beginning with you…”
During the instrumental break, many of the couples present teared up at the beautiful song. To them, it was reminiscent of their journey to blissful happiness with their loved ones.
“Life is a road and I wanna keep going…Love is a river I wanna keep going…”
Mischief vocalized, “On…”
Flurry sang, “Starting out on a journey…”
The couple resumed singing, “Life is a road and I wanna keep going…Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing…In the end, I wanna be standing at the beginning…with you…”
The crowd erupted into huge cheers and applause when the prince and princess finished their song with a kiss. Shortly afterwards, the couple walked out of the gardens and towards the large mass of cheering citizens.
Steven, who was hovering above the Empire via a cloud he was sitting on, sang, “So it goes, short and sweet…They were wed down the street…May their marriage be truly blessed…Happy end to the tale, and tomorrow I sail…so I better go home and rest...” When the couple flew up to Steven, he continued, “Here’s a kiss and a hug…Sure you don’t need a rug? I assure you the fabric’s light…”
After the couple shook their heads as if to say “no thanks”, they flew off towards the horizon.
Steven waved them off as he sang, “Well, goodbye, worthy friends…Come back soon, that’s the end…till another…Equestrian ni-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-ight!”
As he sang the last two words, the Crystal Heart spun and bright rays of light shot into the air, decorating the starry night with its colorful wonder. After a few moments of gazing at the aurora borealis, Mischief grabbed Flurry and the two shared a kiss.