> My Little Elysian Tail > by Stoneificaunt > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Dust To Dust > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dust to Dust Dust the Wielder of one of the Swords of Elysium,brother of Ginger,soul of Jin and Cassius combined and the Sen-Mithrarin of the Moonbloods stood across from General Gaius. Surrounded by lava,Dust prepared for his final attack on the crouching General. The General was quicker however as he parried Dust's strike. Causing them both to stagger after the initial impact. General Gaius stood in the middle of the cliff,both sides leading to a ocean of lava. Using his sword as a brace Gaius barely kept himself up. Dust recovered very quickly having had weeks of parrying practice. He jumped into the air his sword in hand and brought it down upon the general. After Dusts attack the General was sent falling down to another cliff below them,unable to stop himself from falling off that cliff as well General Gaius grabbed onto the ledge hoping to not fall into the sea of lava. Dust thinking the battle had been won rested in his stance and stood up straightly. However an explosion came and Dust himself was sent flying into the cliff below,his hat which covered half his face flown into the lava,burning the second it touched the molten sea. Dust was now on the ground lying face forward to the heated ground. General Gaius losing his grip began to yell Cassius over and over again. Having hearing his words Dust began crawling to the edge of the cliff. Lava had begun seconds earlier to consume the cliff in its molten embrace slowly getting closer to Dust,but Dust crawled on to the edge of the cliff grabbing onto General Gaius hands to try and pull him up. General Gaius having gazing into the face of his savior noticed it was not his friend Cassius then said with sorrow. "You... You're not Cassius..." Dust gazed at Gaius then closed his eyes and said," Yes. I am." He then opened his eyes to look at Gaius again. Gaius still looking up to Dust then said,"Yes... You are. But Cassius is gone..." Gaius grabbed Dusts hand with his loosely hanging one and said while pulling himself closer to Dusts face."As is the world we once loved." Now face to face with Dust he muttered two words to him."Cherish it." General Gaius then pushed himself away from Dust,from the cliff and into the molten sea of lava. Dust extended his hand out to try and grab General Gaius,but he was already out of his reach. Dust then closed his eyes and turned to lay on his back when he heard another voice call out to him. "Dust...Dust." Dust opened his eyes to look up to the top of the cavern he was in. There he saw his sister Ginger looking down upon him through a hole saying something to someone else."Fidget! There I see him!" Panting to fly to Dust's side with both sorrow and exhaustion in her voice she called out his name again. "Dust?! Dust!" Bracing himself on a couple of rocks Dust said to Fidget waving his right arm to keep her away. "Fidget,get out. Go." Dusts friend Fidget flew to Dusts side,with desperation in her voice she tugged onto Dusts Teal cloak and said. "Not without you! C'mon,Dust! Get up!" She stopped tugging onto Dusts cloak and flew there in place with it in her hands and said."We did everything right,Dust..." She let go of his cloak and continued."Everything we were supposed to do." Gazing at his friend with a small smile on his face Dust said to her. "And sometimes that's not enough,Fidget." Dust grimaced as Lava began to engulf him starting at his feet,but still spoke out his words despite it."When the Life Thread calls..." Still grimacing in pain he plastered the same small smile on his face and turned to face Fidget once more to say his final words."Fidget... Thank you." Fidget now with tears in her eyes said her final two words to Dust. "Goodbye... Dust." Then Fidget closed her eyes and flew away from her friend Dust. Dust was now slowly being engulfed by lava. He looked up to where his sister was at the hole in the top of the cavern. With the same small smile on his face he gazed at his sister,he then closed his eyes as the wind flowed through his hair. He thought about all the things he did before it led up to this moment. The day he had first met Fidget and Ahrah,the time he saved the town of Aurora from monsters. Defeating Fuse the Moonblood,saving Mudpot village from drought,the funeral for Bopos father. He also remembered the soul that he had freed and reunited with his love-one,the climb up the mountain. And Dust also remembered the army he led into battle that led him to General Gaius. All of it led up to this very moment. Dust was then engulfed by the lava completely,nothing was left of him. Ginger watched her brother Dust be engulfed by the molten sea of lava. With tears in her eyes she put her two hands to cover her face,and said. "Dust... No..." Ahrah the Elysium sword that Dust wielded was already engulfed by lava before Dust,but instead of melting down to become one with the lava the five runes etched into the blade glowed brightly. As it flowed back and forth the lava was like a void,nothing but darkness.The sword however was like a beacon of light in the darkness.The glowing protected the sword from being enveloped by the darkness,but one by one the runes began to fade,and soon they all dissipated. Leaving nothing but darkness. On the surface the leader of the Moonbloods Elder Gray was standing before all of the soldiers that were not injured in battle. Elder Gray then proceeded to say these words to his troops. On a hill Ginger and Fidget listened to what Elder Gray had to say. "Through the actions of our Sen-Mithrarin... Dust... The Moonblood race is finally free. We will never forget his sacrifice,or the deeds that saved our very world. We shall always remember what happened here." Ginger Still cried for Dust while Elder Gray continued his speech. "Dust's Sacrifice will allow the Moonblood race to rise again to rebuild our glorious civilization and live peacefully among the races of this world." Ginger turned around ready to head home when she saw a teal spirit rise from the earth. Fidget also noticed this and floated to Gingers side to look at the spirit,Elder Gray still continued his speech. "Though it may appear that Dust has fallen here today,a force of good is not so easily extinguished. Sen-Mithrarin was born of dust..." The teal spirit floated there for awhile,then Ahrah the Elysium sword rose from the ground next to the spirit. They both floated there for a single second then started to fly off in a unknown direction. Fidget then spoke out to them, "Hey?! HEEY!" She then flew after them. Ginger looked back at Elder Gray while he still spoke on. "A current in the winds of change,a harbinger of storms yet to come..." He finished looking at Ginger,she turned back around in the direction they were once in. Now happy she muttered only one word. "Dust?" Ahrah the sword along with the spirit Dust flew to an unknown heading. Fidget who was also flying was trying to keep up with them,but she could never quite keep up with them both. After hours of flying through the air and over the changing landscapes they began to fly down to a familiar forest down below. The forest was the Glade where Dust had begun his adventure,where he met with Ahrah and Fidget and learned how to use the Dust Storm his signature move. The spirit Dust and sword Ahrah still floated above the ground through the forest. Monsters used to roam the forest but Dust cleared them out while learning how to fight. They all reached a clearing in the forest,the spirit Dust began to form an ethereal body of him self. Ahrah floated next to him. Fidget floated across from them both, tears began to form in her eyes as she floated in place. She then cried out "Dust, Ahrah, is that you?" Dust smiled at Fidget,he then extended his hand to Ahrah's hilt and grabbed it in his hand. The sword faded to an ethereal form the same as Dust. He smiled then started to say. "Fidget its good to see you again. I hope you can have a good life without us,it has been fun just the three of us." "Dust... I hope you can come back to us one day." Tears started to form in her eyes. "When the world has need of us again Fidget,we will come back." He replied. "Well here's hoping I make it to that time,it was nice to know you Dust the real you." She then turned away from Dust and flew away. Dust stood there with his sword in hand,he then let it go and the sword was no longer Ethereal. "Well Ahrah I guess you better go back to the Nimbat village." He said somberly. "Actually Dust I am now bound to you forever,but that is not important... What is important is that our task has yet to be done." The sword said while his runes glowed bright and dark while he spoke. "What do you mean our task is not done?" Dust began to clench his hand into a fist. "There is another world that requires our aid Dust. Though you do have a choice on whether or not to go." "What are my choices Ahrah?" He released his clenched fist. "You have two choices Dust,the first is to become one with the life thread and be reborn as a new person. The Second is to go to the other world and continue your mission as yourself. But I must warn you Dust once you arrive in this new world you might not have any recollection of who you once were... You will still remember your name and mine,but you might lose all the memory's you have over again." "Will I even forget Fidget? He asked. "I will try to keep as much of your memory as possible,but even I might forget once we arrive in the new world. Choose wisely Dust for if you do not aid this other world you might damn it to destruction." Dust stood there in deep thought,the two choices brought before him were both a heavy choice. After a considerable amount of time Dust had come to a decision. "I have decided to go Ahrah,it is my duty to help those who need it and I wont stand by while a world could be destroyed." He said. "Well then Dust grasp my hilt and I shall be the Conduit to take you into the new world." Dust complied with Ahrah's command like before the sword became ethereal like Dust. The minute he grabbed Ahrah a pillar of light shined upon them both from the sky. After the light hit them and disappeared Dust and Ahrah were nowhere to be seen. It was night time and Zecora was out picking ingredients in the Everfree forest,she had just about collected all the things she needed for her new concoctions. After calling it a day Zecora began to head home until she saw a bright light shine down from the sky. Zecora headed to the area where the light had impacted with the earth. Once she arrived she saw a creature unlike anything before she then said. "Oh me oh my what is this before my eyes?" On the ground lied Dust in his black sleeved shirt with his teal cloak and on his head was his black Conical hat that covered half of his face. And next to Dust Ahrah the Elysium sword lied next to him. > Dust to Dust A New World > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dust to Dust A New World Dust was in a dream like trance, his dreams were of himself in Aurora village. He walked closer to the center of the village he could see no one for miles. As he wandered about the village he called out. "HELLO! Is anyone here?" No one had answered him. He did a quick trek around the village several times still calling out to no one. "HELLO! IS ANYONE HERE AT ALL?" Still no one answered his call. He went to the shop that sold items and ingredients along with food. It too was empty like the rest of the village. There was no shop-clerk at all to tend to the shop for it seemed bowls of food were laid out, but no one to eat them. He called out one more time to see again if anyone would hear him. "HELLO! IS ANYONE STILL HERE?" And like the times before no one answered. Dust was about to exit the shop to keep looking for someone, before he left he saw a doll on a table. It was a strange doll it looked like a orange weasel with bat wings and black button eyes. He proceeded over to it thinking. "Maybe when I find someone they will know who this doll belongs to. The minute he grabbed the doll he felt a quick pang of nausea flow through him. After it subsided he began to see flashbacks of the shop-clerk that owned the shop making the very doll he held in his hands. The shop-clerk then turned to him and said. "Here I had enough Materials to make a second one." Dust Took the other doll into his hand, after what seemed like a life time of staring at the doll that was given to him by the shop-clerk he uttered one single word. "Fidget?" Dust awoke from his dream like trance, he awoke to a strange room that he did not recognize. He was in a bed that was too short for his size for his feet hung on the edge of the bed. By him he saw Ahrah resting on a table beside the bed. There was an archway door that led to a bigger room. Inside the other room were various potions on shelves and mask's that would put fear in anyone. In the middle of the room was a black cauldron with a fire warming it underneath filled with a green bubbly sludge. Dust got out of bed and grabbed Ahrah from the shelf, after inspecting the room he walked up to the cauldron. By the cauldron was a ladle that had been inside the green sludge recently. Their were trace residue of the sludge on the ladle, he carefully picked up the ladle and put it up to his nose to smell it. The odor was a mixture of perfume and wet dog, the odor lingered in his nose for a bit while he put the ladle back by the cauldron. After viewing more of the room the only door in the room opened revealing a four legged black and white creature he had never seen before. Dust didn't know what the thing was, he had seen only deer and some monsters walk on four legs. The thing before him was like a deer only it had a Mohawk and gold earrings with a gold bangle down one of her front legs and another one around her neck. Dust wasn't sure of the strange deer's intention and he wasn't going to stay to find out. He raised his sword ready to perform his signature move the Dust storm to escape. Zecora was now unsure of whether taking the strange bipedal creature into her home was a good idea. When she found the strange bipedal creature the night before she planned to leave him there for the forest to take care of. Now it stood before her ready to attack her in her own home. It stood twice the size of Zecora on two legs, the sword in hand was like a key with three rungs at the end of the blade. It wore a black coat with a red edging down the front and around the bottom. A cyan cloak, cyan pants, black Ugg boots, and a black Conical hat with a cyan hat cover that makes it looks like a hood.(overall just look at this for what he looks like.Image) Zecora then tried to speak to Dust, but all Dust could understand was that Zecora was talking to him in a language he did not understand. So Dust eased his intentions of fighting and thought maybe they can talk things out once he understood what she said. Zecora saw that Dust was easing in his intentions of fighting and begun to trust her, though she thought maybe the creature didn't understand her. Once Zecora was done talking Dust began to talk to her to see if she understood him. Sadly she just shrugged to indicate she couldn't understand him either. Dust began to think how could he get the Deer creature before him to understand what he was saying. Then it occurred to him, why not write out words for her to read. He pointed his sword to the ground ready to draw words but Ahrah the Elysium sword floated out of Dust's hand. Ahrah floated to the middle of the room above the cauldron. He lingered there for a moment, the room was in udder silence. Dust was about to say something to Ahrah but the five runes on the sword began to glow one by one. After the final and fifth one began to glow a bright light then filled the room soon it did a shock-wave that passed right through them both and even outside. In Ponyville pony's were doing what they usually do every day, an occasional foal playing with her friends or with her parents on an errand. Soon the same shock-wave that started in the forest soon passed through the whole entire town. On a balcony in Canterlot castle Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were having there scheduled tea party having small talk and discussing future plans for foreign affairs with the zebra kingdom. Princess Celestia then saw the shock-wave that started in the Everfree forest,it soon passed through Ponyville and was headed to Canterlot. Before they knew it the shock-wave came like a force that could push anyone down to the ground. For the Princess's it merely blew their hair backwards and returned back to normal. After it had subsided the Princess's saw the shock-wave keep on going,soon it was out of their field of vision but they both knew that it was still going. Back in the hut that was in the Everfree forest Dust's sword Ahrah floated back to Dust and he held it firm in his hand once again. Dust then held Ahrah out in front of him and said. "Ahrah what did you just do?" At the sound of his words Zecora's eyes brightened up for she understood what he had said. Zecora then stated. "Oh dear me! I can now understand thee!" After her words Ahrah's runes began to glow again then he said. "I have made it so you can speak to them now Dust. Now the whole world can understand you." After a brief silence Zecora walked up to them both with a new found interest in her eyes, then she asked. "How can this be, truly my ears don't deceive?" Dust then said. "I don't know how Ahrah can make us understand each other, but I don't really care as long were able to understand each-others words." Dust then extended his hand out to Zecora and said."Hi my name is Dust, and this is Ahrah Its a pleasure to meet you." Zecora extended her hoof out and introduced her self as well. "Zecora is my name and the pleasure is the same!" After their brief hand-hoof shake Dust was beginning to wonder what Zecora was, he then just went forward and asked her. "So Zecora might I ask what are you?" She did a small chuckle then said. "I will tell you the nature of me as soon as I learn about you and he." Dust began to scratch the back of his head with his hand then he just shrugged and told her what he was. "I am a Sen-Mithrarin and Ahrah is an Elysium Sword, now what are you?" "I am a Zebrican, also known as a Zebra." She said plainly. "Well Zecora can I ask you one more thing. Where am I?" "You are in the Everfree, Cursed forest near Ponyville as you can see." She then was walking away to a table where a map had been laid. She picked up the map with her mouth and held it in front of Dust to see. It was a very detailed map, on it had places of towns he never heard of. Once he found the Everfree forest it was by the town of Ponyville, then he saw in big cursive bold letters at the top of the map said Equestria. Dust then held Ahrah out in front of him so he can see the map as well, but Ahrah could already see the map cause he had like a overhead view of the world but Dust didn't know that. "Well Ahrah I guess we are in a new world after all." > Mobilization > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mobilization It had well been half an hour since the initial shock wave that engulfed all of Equestria then the whole of the world itself. In that time Princess Celestia and Luna had Mobilized their forces. For the neighboring kingdoms began a inevitable mobilization of their own forces. They didn't know what was going on and received reports from the outlying Equestrian borders of forces outside their own borders. In that time the Princesses were worrying about the town of Ponyville for it was close to the source of where the Shock wave had began. Within the barracks of the royal Equestrian Guard, Captain Shining Armor had mobilized a platoon to receive orders from one of the monarchs themselves. Then came in Princess Luna herself with their orders along with Spitfire, Captain of the Wonderbolts slightly behind the Royal Alicorn. When she came in, the whole battalion stood at attention. Then Shining Armor addressed The Princess. "Princess, We are ready to receive your orders!" Luna nodded and Spitfire moved right next to Captain Shining Armor. Then Princess Luna began her Speech. "Royal Guards, you have all been assigned for this mission. As of thirty minutes ago a shock wave has engulfed the whole world. We do not know thy purpose it has or whether it is the start of an invasion. We only know that it has originated from the Everfree Forest near the town of Ponyville." Some of the guards gulped at the mention of the Everfree Forest. "Now we know the forest itself is magical but I fear somepony or something is using their own magic to tamper with the forest itself. You all are to go to Ponyville and protect it from whatever may be in the forest, NOW AT EASE." After her speech she went to go address Shining Armor and Spitfire. "Now I hope thee can figure out what caused thy shock wave and protect the Elements of Harmony Prince." Luna turned around and proceeded outside of the Barracks. Spitfire then made wise cracks to Shining Armor when Luna left the room completely. "So what do you think it is that made these shock waves, Evil mages, Aliens, Ancient Artifacts, a God of Destruction maybe?" Shining Armor just rolled his eyes and answered. "Don't you have some stunt show that you need to prepare the BlunderBolts for." Spitfire laughed and hit him in the shoulder. "Good one but seriously though any idea's." "Your guess is as good as mine, whatever it is though better not hurt my little sister Twily though." With that he trotted off to some guards that were talking. Spitfire just smirked and happily trotted after him. When they both reached the group of guards they overheard their conversation. "I'm telling you forest is alive and it's going to try and destroy Equestria."Some of the guards nodded with agreement then another guard would say his hypothesis. "I hear a zebra from Zebrica might be using their magic to control the forest." "ALIENS MAN ALIENS!" one said while having his two hooves in front of him. "NO its the legend of the singing Devil!"A lot of the fellow guards looked at him like he was crazy. After a moments silence they began again talking about whatever might be in the forest. Shining Armor had just about enough of their Babbling of what might be and what might not be, then he yelled! "ATTENTION!" After his shout all the guard quickly went into formation and paid all of their attention to their Captain of their unit. "That's better, now we all don't know what will be facing but as the royal guard we must heed the call when a threat rises. Now I kn." Spitfire quickly shoved Shining Armor to the side to say something. "Shining Shining Shining, now i'ma let you finish but I have something to say." With that she cleared her throat and continued the speech. "Now we all don't know what we might face but you all have your hunches." Most of the guards simply nodded their heads in agreement."So we are going to have a bet, grab a piece of paper and write down one of your hunches on it. The bet will be one thousand bits to the winner, DISMISSED!" with that the guards began to flock to a table where a Piece of paper and a quill were. Shining wasn't very pleased with Spitfire's outburst and the bet she had made with the guards. "You know you are just encouraging them to go even crazier don't you." "Yea but I could win an easy Thousand Bits. And what about you are you not going to participate in this game of chance?" "um, NO I wont be dragged into this bet." With that he left the room. Spitfire just nodded her head with annoyance, Then went to go collect the paper with names of whatever they might encounter. The list was a lot of things unethical, she began to mentally read each one. Evil Deity, ALIENS, Singing Devil, Knight, Evil Mask, Werepony, Vampony, DISCORDS RETURN, A new Alicorn, Changlings, Dragonborn, HUMANS, Necromancer's, Space Marines, Experiment gone horribly wrong, The Crow, Wraiths. Spitfire just sighed and folded the piece of paper and put it into her pocket. \ /\ / < O > / \/ \ (A/n new scene change thing a majigy.) In Ponyville Twilight Sparkle and her friends had all gathered in the library, they had sent a letter to Princess Celestia asking if they knew what the shock wave was. And were now waiting for her reply and instruction on what to do. "Sugahcube I dont think yah panikin will help us in the long run, calm down already!" Twilight just turned to her friend Applejack with even more worry. "How can I calm down when a magic crisis is on our hands." She then started hyperventilating. Fluttershy floated over and started patting Twilight on the back. "It's OK Twi just breath." She started breathing."Now was that hard your just overreacting, everything will be just fi." She was interrupted by Spike burping out green fire that formed into a scroll. "The letter is here." He said with enthusiasm. "Quick Spike give me the letter." He held out his hand that had the letter for Twilight to take. She used her magic to levitate the scroll over and began to read out loud. Dear Twilight Sparkle. As you may have seen a shock wave has engulfed all of Equestria and even farther. It's origin came from the Everfree Forest. I have sent Captain Shining Armor, your brother along with Captain Spitfire to investigate the situation. I want you all to wait for them to arrive. You and your friends can join them but I wish for you all to be careful. We do not know what has caused this phenomenon, but we hope to find out. I must end this letter now for I must consult with my generals about the other Kingdoms Mobilization of forces From Princess Celestia. "My brother is coming?" Twilight questioned to no one in particular. "See Twi everything is gonna be hunky dory." Piped Pinkie Pie. "Ah don't recall I reckon we should take care though." Warned Applejack. "Wait I just realized something girls." Twilight Turned to face them all."Zecora lives in the Everfree Forest where the shock wave originated from." "WE got to go see if she is OK." Rainbow Dash said quickly and was prepared to fly on over to Zecora's hut, But Applejack stopped her by grabbing her tail with her teeth. Rainbow Dash quickly hit the ground as Applejack pulled her back down. "WOhoho there Dash I agree we should check on Zecora, but ah reckon she can take care of herself. Now I reckon we should do as the Princess sais and wait for Twi's brother."They all pondered on her words and reluctantly agreed that they should all wait for Shining Armor and Spitfire to arrive. \ /\ / < O > / \/ \ End of Chapter > Dust to Dust Gathering > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dust to Dust Gathering Dust, now acquainted with Zecora, asked her if she could tell him about the world he was in. She was happy to comply, but could only tell him about her own country that she came from; although she did tell Dust a little about Equestria: about Ponies and other indigenous creatures native to this world. So far, he gathered that he was in the country of Equestria and the two monarchs control the sun and the moon, the land was relatively at peace with it self, Ahrah made a point out about how the world very well could be at it's destruction. Zecora questioned the sword's judgement immediately after his statement. "How can the world go to rubble if the world isn't in trouble?" "The "Trouble" that you so put it might not come at this time, but it doesn't mean it still wont come in the future." Dust listened to the conversation with disinterest, after a couple minutes though, he began to have flashbacks of when he first came to this world. He interrupted them by talking to Ahrah that his memory is coming back. Zecora inquired on what they were talking about, Ahrah simply told her that Dust had lost his memory and certain things bring them back. After a rather uneventful lapse of time, Dust was ready to leave her host and get back to his main goal. Before he could, Zecora pressed him for a favor. "Before you go, may I ask for a favor?" "Depends on what the favor is." He grabbed Ahrah in his usual fashion of holding him backwards. Now ready for anything, he stood before Zecora ready for her request. "So what is it you want?" "After I found thee, I had to use some of my herbs. As you can see, I am quite depleted and need new resources to replace the ones that are empty." She then walked to some saddlebags and put them on, opening the bags, she brought out a list and gave it to Dust. Taking the list, he mentally read all the things on the list. Evertree Moss Timber Spit Manticore Fur Hydra scale Poison Joke Flour Lilac Baking Powder Olive Oil Magic Crystal "Now I need you to get the first five things while I go to Ponyville and get the other five." Dust looked at the list again, wondering what these ingredients look like. Sensing his confusion, she brought out a journal that had some wear and tear and gave it to him. "Turn to page Five." He did as she said, and on page five were drawn pictures of the first five things on the list. After glancing over the pictures and info, Dust closed the book and gave it back to the zebra. "Ok, Zecora I'll go get these ingredients for you then meet you back here." She nodded, and they both went off to go collect the Ingredients. \ /\ / < O > / \/ \ At Canterlot, Shining Armor was waiting for the carriages to be ready. He was getting anxious to get to Ponyville and be there for his sister Twilight. They hadn't really got to see eachother ever since the Changeling disaster at his wedding. It had been about two months ago and he still attended to his duties as captain of the guard. Relatively, the only things that were strange around in Ponyville that he heard of since his wedding was a talking cat that had a pair of boots.(GO READ PUSS IN BOOTS GOES TO EQUESTRIA NOW Link.)In hindsight, he hasn't really at all kept much contact with his little sister, which probaly lead to the reason of her hating him a bit at the wedding. Spitfire came over to comfort the captain prince of Equestria and to know whats wrong. "Hey Shine, what's wrong?" He looked at her and sighed; he really hated it when people call him Shine. "Nothing that should concern your nosy flank in, that's for sure." He continued looking into space with his thoughts to himself, but Spitfire would have none of that. "Hey is this about the bet, cause you can still join in if you want."Sighing, Shining took the hint that Spitfire wont give up on her quest to know whats wrong. "It's nothing... Just family matters that's all." Smirking Spitfire began her comment. "Not getting enough playtime with your wife huh." Now blushing Shining tried to regain the situation as fast as he could. "What!? NO IT'S nothing like... That at all. *sigh*It's about my sister."still smirking she Interrupted him with another witty comment. "Oh Shining, you sick unicorn, don't tell me you fantasize about your sister." Now flushed with anger, he was about to go at her with everything he had. Knowing that things were about to get out of hand, Spitfire quickly apologized for what she said."OK, dude, I'm sorry for what I said, I was just trying to give you a hard time. Whats really going on?" Trying to stay calm now Shining was mentally holding himself back to not wail on her all of his force and fury. After several seconds he then went back to his routine of staring into space. He then tried to continue their conversation. "Like I said it is about my sister and the case that I haven't really kept in contact with her in a while." Raising an eyebrow she began to speak. "So you haven't spoke to your sis in awhile no biggie." He glared at her making Spitfire wince back then continued. "It is a big deal cause I haven't so much as talked to her in two months. And before that I haven't even spoke to her till I was getting married." "Well that's why your on this mission right, to be there for your sister and maybe protect her like a knight in Shining Armor." She said while smirking and still cracking jokes at him. He just didn't pay any heed to it and just threatened her. "Yeah, laugh all you want, but just know I could strip you of your rank at any time, Spitty." Her face went serious after his statement and insult. "Hmph! Whatever, dude, your just sore that you can't think of a good insult to counter anything I throw at ya, so you result to the Oh I'll strip your rank cause I'M A BABY. I swear your like that pompous Blueblood." He looked down to the ground. He was acting a little bit like Prince Blueblood telling everyone that he will either strip them of their rank or title and throw in a dungeon. "I'm sorry Spitfire I just have been worried about my sister to take any jokes right now, can you forgive me?" She looked at him and thought about accepting his apology but had a better idea. "I'll only accept your apology if you partake in the bet the guards have." He smiled and said Sign me up. \ /\ / < O > / \/ \ It had been 15 minutes since Dust left Zecora's hut to look for the ingredients she requested of him. The first ingredient was easy to find as he was surrounded by Everfree trees and he just needed to collect what he thought was enough. The second one was unexpected for he fought wolves made of bark and twigs, he managed to hold one down and collect the spit in a bottle Zecora gave him before he left. Now he was going for the final three things and head back to Zecora's hut. "Dust, I must speak to you." Ahrah said out of the blue. "What is it you want to speak about, Ahrah?" he asked, stopping himself from proceeding any further. "I have been going over some of my memory and I feel you should at least know some stuff that will help you in the future." "Like what?" "Like to remember the Dust Storm and other moves to benefit your journey." "I still remember the Dust Storm, Ahrah, what other moves do I need to learn?" "Up ahead are some trees with vines. I want you to jump up and grab them." He looked and grudgingly did as Ahrah said. Once he jumped up and grabbed the vines, flashbacks occurred and he remembered how to vine jump. Now Vine jumping up to the top of the tree he could see the vastness of the whole Everfree forest and a town he assumed to be Ponyville then he saw a mountain with a castle hanging on the side of it. It was all beautiful to say the least the wind blowing through his clothes the birds that would occasionally fly in a v shape and the beauty of the world showing itself to him for the first time. "Hard to believe this world could be at it's destruction huh, Ahrah?" "That's why we are here, Dust, to save this world if it need our help... Now we must proceed with our objective wouldn't want Zecora waiting." Dust nodded and jumped down from the tree, like it was instinct he landed on his feet without so much as a scratch on him. After a brisk run, he came upon a field of Blue flowers that looked like the flower described in the journal. Using a small Dust storm he floated a bouquet of Poison joke together and wrapped it in some cloth and put it in his bag. Now he just had two things left on the list. Walking out of the forested area to a swamp he had read that hydras live in swampy areas. After wandering around the swamp, he was ready to call it quits and look for the Manticore Fur. Before he and Ahrah could leave, three heads spurted out of the swamp and two more joined its brothers out of the swamp as well. He was ready to perform the Dust Storm, but Ahrah ceased his swinging; he had another idea. "Dust, when the time is right, Counter their head when they strike." After he told Dust what to do, the five hydra heads lunged at him, and at the last moment he countered their attack at the last moment. Sending their heads flying and blinded by the power of Ahrah's blade whenever a counter occurs, Dust used an aerial Dust Storm to get in close to the Hydra's body and scraped off 5 hydra scales. Of course the hydra had winced in pain and reared its heads back up to strike Dust. Like it was instinct, he back flipped out of the reach of the hydra's heads. Once he was a good distance away from the beast, Ahrah suggested to flee and let the beast live for another day. Reluctantly complying Dust ran away with scales in tow. After running away, Dust was know ready to just go back Zecora's hut and call it a day. Though he knew Zecora would have to go and get the fur on her own. So he went to go and look for the so-called Manticore. Another several minutes went by, and he and Ahrah came to a gorge. The gorge itself led down to a spiky swamp below, it appeared to once be crossable but some of the stone pillars had collapsed. Ready to traverse back, a loud roar could be heard in the distance. He had no way to go but to jump the gap. Hopping from pillar to pillar, they closed the gap and jumped as far as he could. With even more flashbacks, white wings formed from his back, flapping once and gaining enough lift to clear the gap and reach the other side. Relieved to clear the gap he proceeded to find the Manticore. \ /\ / < O > / \/ \ End of Chapter 4 Chapter revisioned by Star Plasma > A Whole New World for a Nimbat > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Whole New World for a Nimbat Fidget a orange weasel with bat like wings was headed back to the location where she had left her good friends Dust and Ahrah. This Nimbat had returned to her village moments ago only to be sent back out by the village elders to go and retrieve the Elysian Blade known as Ahrah. She had expected that they would send her back to retrieve the sword now that Dust was dead and no longer had a use for it. However she still couldn't muster up the courage to go and take the sword away from it's new owner. She was tormented between choosing her friend and the village and she thought very hard on which to choose. Though her thinking would be cut short for she was not paying attention to where she was going and headed straight towards a tree. *Thump* "Owwww!" Fidget wined. "That Hurt." She then looked around to see where she was, and she was in the exact clearing when she last left her friends. "Oh I'm already here. Well guess I might as well just take the blade back." She turned her head from side to side but saw no trace of Dust or Ahrah. "I wonder where they are though?" She hovered from tree to tree looking this way and that, but she still didn't find her friends. "Oh man please don't tell me they moved on now how am i gonna find them." It was now all completely hopeless for her, her two friends had moved on and she had no clue where they went. She went to the ground and sat at the base of a tree trying to think what to do next. While she thought a shady character was walking by that she also knew. He wore a purple with yellow circled edge robe that concealed his face. His eyes glowed a bright white and gold earrings could be seen in it.(Image of what he looks like.) He saw Fidget in a thinking pose and tilted his head at this. He turned his head from side to side and expected to see one of his favorite customers. But he saw nothing but forest and a lone Nimbat sitting by a tree. Deciding to get her attention he said. "Well if it isn't little Fidget what brings you to this neck of the woods?" Caught by surprise She looked left to right until she looked up to see the Moonblood merchant that kept an eye on them throughout her journey with Dust and Ahrah. "Oh Sereth I didn't see you there." She flew up beside him to be at eye level with him. "What are you doing here?" Sereth just smirked and retorted. "I believe I asked a question first." Fidget's ears went down for she knew she was accidentally being rude. "Well I am here to look for Dust and Ahrah and..." She looked to the ground like it was suddenly interesting. Sereth knew where this was going for he had been at the battle for the Moonbloods. Where their Sen-Mithrarin had died killing General Gaius. He decided to change the subject. "Well I'm here to travel the world, see the finer places in life." She seemed to brighten up a bit but still a tiny bit sad inside. "Well I don't suppose you've seen Dust have you?" Sereth merely shook his head at her question. She breathed a saddened sigh and said. "Well I guess I have to continue looking for them. See ya later I guess." She turned around and almost flew away but Sereth stopped her by saying. "Wait!" She flew in place before she turned around to face him. "I think I may have something to help you search for them a lot quicker." He opened his robe and brought out a Necklace with a purple and gold interlocking metal yin and yang style. "This necklace is like the teleport stone only you can use it to teleport to certain individuals. I don't know If it will work though cause it only teleports to those of the flesh." He stepped closer to Fidget and put the necklace on her. She looked at it and well the string attaching it to her was a little bit big for her. Sereth smiled and took the string and tightened so it was smaller for her. "So all you have to do to make it work is think of the individual that you want to teleport to and it should take you there." She nodded and said. "Thank you." Sereth patted her head and said. "Don't worry about it you just find him now." He turned around but then remembered one last thing. However before he could turn back the sound of static rung out through the woods and in a flash of light Fidget was gone. He had neglected to tell her that first time users will often get a random location and teleport someplace else within the vicinity of fifty or so miles of the target. Well he couldn't really tell her now since she was gone. So Sereth continued on his way. \ /\ / < O > / \/ \ Princess Luna was headed towards her room. It had been Several minutes since she gave her speech to the guards and Shining Armor. And even though she can stand the test of time, she needed her sleep. As she reached the doors to her room where two of her Royal Night guard stood, she wondered whether or not this was all kinda being blown out of proportion. As she trotted closer to her room one of her two guards opened the door to let her in. Once in they closed the door behind her. She wanted with every fiber of her being to just plop down on her bed and fall right to sleep. Before she could however White electricity was forming into a sphere just above her bed. She posed to ready for any form of attack, however when the sphere of white lightning suddenly disappeared and a orange weasel with bat like wings fell from the air onto her bed unconscious. Princess Luna warily looked at the creature that lied motionless on her bed. It was the cutest thing she had ever seen.