> Curse of the three monkey's > by Aether Spark > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > See evil > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A tour guide led a group of ponies through a forest. “Stay close everypony, there are dangerous things ahoof here,” The tour guide said as the thirteen ponies followed behind him. “When do we get there?” A filly whined. “Don’t worry, the temple is over there,” The tour guide pointed his hoof at the large temple, it was big and like a pyramid but it had some old decor. “What is it?” A stallion asked. “The temple of the three monkeys said to be cursed by the souls of three monkey spirits, BOO!” The stallion leered at the tour group scaring all but one of them, a red and yellow mare who simply glowered. “Why are we heading into a cursed temple?!” A colt cried. “Easy now, the curse is mainly just a superstition, but we can still make our way through and admire the scenery, we’ve done this many times and no curse has descended on us,” The unicorn stallion tour guide said before resuming his trot towards the temple. As they entered and looked around they saw the multiple statues and wall hangings of three monkeys. “Wow,” The ponies said as they trotted around and looked at the museum-like area. “Here there were many a ceremony held, including sacrificial, but since there are children here I’ll avoid that topic for now,” The tour guide said. “Is it true that they were worshipped in ancient times?” The red and yellow mare asked casually approaching him. “Ah, somepony who knows their stuff, yes as a matter of fact they were, they were known as Ek, Ak and Uk, and the ponies of old thought they brought good harvest and-” "Thanks,” The mare trotted away. “...Ooook,” The tour guide said as he saw her approach three big statues, even going past the barricades. “Um, mam, we’re not allowed to go over there!” The tour guide said trotting after her but she ignored him and trotted up to the statues and reached into her saddlebag. “Mam, there’s a barricade for a reason, please come back over here!” The tour guide went over to her. “I’ve searched long and hard for them, now my revenge can begin…” The mare cackled. “Um… mam?” The tour guide asked nervously before she spun and blasted him away, startling the other ponies in the area. “I will not be interfered with!” The mare said before she was consumed in green flames and she emerged as Chrysalis. “Changeling!” The other ponies panicked as she turned and chanted “Ek, Ak, Uk, answer this call, I've come to speak with you!” Chrysalis held up a stone that had pictures of three monkeys and it glowed and so did the eyes of the three statues and a purple beam shot from their eyes into the stone and Chrysalis gasped as she felt the power surround her. And then… everything froze. “Hmm?” Chrysalis looked around and saw the other ponies frozen mid-panic. “Ah ah ah! Finally, after so many years, somepony… or I suppose some ling, finally came to talk with us,” A deep voice chittered and Chrysalis turned and was face to face with a purple glowing astral monkey covering his ears. “Tch,” Chrysalis hissed as she stepped back a little. “Jumpy aren’t you? Hello, my name is Ek,” The monkey covering his ears introduced himself as two more joined him. “I’m Ak,” The second said, this one covering his eyes. “And I’m Uk, and who are you pretty?” The monkey covering his mouth said before hooting loudly with laughter. “My name is-” ‘Chrysalis, yeah I knew, just thought I’d be polite, ah ah ah!” The monkey chittered mockingly and Chrysalis sighed. “Forgive my annoying brother, he hasn’t had anypony to tease for centuries besides us,” The monkey covering his eyes said.  “Ironic that he’s supposed to represent lack of voice, and he talks non-stop, am I right?” Ak said. “ENOUGH!” Chrysalis said catching their attention “I have come to make an offer,” Chrysalis said. ‘Such disrespect, we were gods back in the day to the ponies…” Ak said. “What is your offer?” Ek asked. “I stole this stone from a museum and trekked all the way over here so that I may have aid in my revenge, I wish to have your powers and in return, I will help you escape this place,” Chrysalis said. “Ok,” The three said. “...That easily?... No, consequences to talk of?” Chrysalis asked. “Oh there are consequences, but we’d hate to dissuade you, let’s just say our help comes at a price, are you willing to-” Ek said before Chrysalis interrupted. “To see Equestria burn, yes,” Chrysalis said. “You didn’t even hear the-” “Let us get on with it,” Uk said with a nudge. “...Very well, your funeral, this pact is set, our power is yours, feel free to test it on the ponies in here,” Ak, said. “Yeah, I’m sure it’ll, BUG them, ahahahahahahaha!” Uk chittered. “I’m not going to like him…” Chrysalis said. “We don’t either…” Ek said. “Oh deep down you all love me,” Uk mocked before the three vanished into the stone and Chrysalis felt herself being filled with their power. With a shout of triumph time resumed and she turned now glowing purple. “Let’s get out of-’ A pony cried before Chrysalis pointed at him. “Silence!” Chrysalis ordered. “Ack!....” The pony tried to continue shouting but it was as though his voice disappeared. “Heheheh… I cannot hear you,” Chrysalis said and several ponies suddenly paused. “Huh? What did you say?.... I can’t hear anything?!” The pony panicked. “See what I mean?” Chrysalis said and the tour guide who tried to crawl away suddenly was struck with an invisible magic and his eyes lost color. “Huh?! What the?! I-I can’t see! Where did everypony go?!” The tour guide shouted. “Ah yes… the power to rob ponies of their senses, now… I have what I need… I’m coming for you Starlight! You and all your friends too! AHAHAHAHA!” Chrysalis laughed as she left the disoriented ponies behind. “Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred!” RD said as she was playing with a paddle ball. “Rainbow! Focus!” Starlight called as she trotted past Rainbow who was distracted. “On what? What does magic theory have to do with me, I’m a pegasus,” Rainbow said casually. “Ah don’t see why ah’m here either, ah don’t exactly have a horn,” AJ said, and the other girls were present as well, minus Twilight. “Because all kinds of ponies have magic, not just unicorns, and I feel you could benefit from a little education on pegasus and earth pony magic,” Starlight said. “Why isn’t egghead here then?” Rainbow asked. “She’s gone over this multiple times, she’s done her work,” Starlight said. “Yeah right, I’ll be she had a hall pass to this,” Rainbow sighed. “Now now Rainbow, we should listen to Starlight,” Fluttershy said. “Fine,” Rainbow sighed. “Pegasi can sense weather magic and attune it to their senses, so say your vision is impaired or something, you can use the wind to track your position,” Starlight said. “Oh yeah, like that’ll happen,” Rainbow said. “And Earth Ponies can sense things through the earth, that’s what sets them apart from unicorns who rely on their magical connection,” Starlight said. “Neato!” Pinkie said writing this down. “Glad somepony here is enthusiastic about studying,” Starlight said as she trotted over… and saw Pinkie was drawing a bunny… “Never mind…” Starlight said trotting back over to the board. “Ok, can anypony tell me what the third law of magic is?” Starlight asked. “....” Everypony looked confused. “Ugh, it’s about staying attuned to your magic to increase efficiency,” Starlight said getting tired of this, before she could voice it however Twilight came downstairs with Spike on her back. “Girls drop everything, we have a mission,” Twilight said. “Thank Celestia!” Rainbow cheered and she flew over to Twilight. “What’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked as she approached as well. “The Cutie Map is broadcasting something, we need to investigate,” Twilight said leading them upstairs to the Cutie Map. “This is a little sudden right? Ah have work to do after this,” Applejack said. “And I have dresses to make, can we do this another day?” Rarity asked. “No girls, we have a problem we fix it,” Twilight said as they entered the map room and Twilight activated it and it showed the map of Equestria, and the map suddenly shifted to the outside of Canterlot bounds, in a place called Equidor. “Hey, I was planning on visiting Equidor this year! Yay!” Pinkie cheered, now wearing camping gear. “We’re not going for a vacation Pinkie, we need to find out the problem,” Starlight said. “Aww,” Pinkie said. “Now let’s get moving, Celestia already suggested a helper, and I think she’ll be perfect for the job,” Twilight said. The door opened after the fifth knock and Zecora walked out. “Ah. hello my friends, what brings you around these ends?” Zecora asked. “Hello Zecora, I’m certain you got the note Spike sent to you?” Twilight asked. “Ah yes, your message was received, this adventure to Equidor will be more fun than I first perceived,”  “Indeed, let us hurry, and just to be on the safe side I brought bug repellent, and sunhats,” Rarity said showing off her sunhats. “And I brought picnic supplies!” Pinkie said. “Again not a vacation Pinkie,” Twilight said. “I know, but maybe we can still do some river rafting afterward!” Pinkie said. “We’ll see,” Starlight said  “Let’s get moving,” Twilight said. “Very well my friends, follow me, it begins!” Zecora cheered and she trotted away with Twi and the gang in tow. “I better not have to fight giant mosquitos like in Daring Do edition eighty nine, or I’m done,” Rainbow said. “I’m fairly certain mosquitos don’t get that big,” Twilight said. “You never know,” Rainbow said. As the girls were on the train heading to Equidor, Twilight scooted closer to Zecora. “Pardon me Zecora?” Twilight asked. “Yes?” Zecora said. “Is it true you lived in Equidor for a little bit before coming here?” Twilight asked. “Yes indeed, the ponies there housed me when I was in need,” Zecora said. “Then you’ll know the lay of the land,” Twilight nodded. “Indeed,” Zecora said. Are there any pools there? Or bakeries? Or bakeries stationed at a pool?!” Pinkie chirped. “She perpetually thinks this is a vacation,” Twilight sighed. “Nono pink one, but I assure you there are other ways to have fun,” Zecora said. “Yay!” Pinkie said looking forward to this. The train stopped at the station and the group got off and headed into town. “Ok, we need to locate a local so we can find out if anything-” Twilight suddenly bumped into somepony and she glanced forward to see it was pegasus who turned towards her. “Um, sorry, I didn’t see you-” Twilight began to say but the local cut her off. “What?!” The local said. “I said sorry, I didn’t-” “What did you say?!” The local said rather loudly. “I said-” “I seriously can’t hear you, in fact I can’t hear at all lately,” The pegasus said still loudly. “For pete’s sake, SHE SAID SHE-” Rainbow was about to snap at the pony but Rarity held a hoof in front of her. “I do believe he is deaf,” Rarity said curtly. “What? How can ya tell?” AJ asked. Suddenly Rarity clapped loudly next to him and he didn’t respond. “That’s how,” Rarity said. “Oook, let’s find somepony else then,” Rainbow turned and trotted over to a mare who was setting up a basket of fruit. “Excuse me!” Rainbow called. “?” The mare turned and looked at her. “We need you to tell us if anything happened here lately,” Rainbow said. The mare shook her head. “Why not?” Rainbow asked. She pointed at her mouth and then shook her hoof. “Oh… Oooooh, sorry, I didn’t know,” Rainbow said before trotting over to a stallion sitting on a bench. “Excuse me-” Rainbow poked his shoulder and he jumped. “AH! Who’s there!?” The stallion turned and looked around, his eyes were pale in color. “Uhm, sorry?” Rainbow backed up to the group “A deaf guy a mute mare and a blind dude, What are the odds?” Rainbow said. “Actually… it seems the odds are pretty good…” Twilight pointed further in town and saw multiple ponies stumbling around and making hoof gestures without speaking and even ignoring others. “What the?” Starlight said as she saw a couple of blind ponies run into eachother and fall down. “Either Discord is doing this or something else weird happened here,” Rainbow said. “Everypony is missing their sight, hearing, or voice… what happened I am sure it wasn’t their choice,” Zecora said with determination before heading off. The rest of the group followed her. > Hear evil > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The group made their way through the town and saw many ponies struggling to continue life despite their new blindness, deafness, or muteness. “What happened here?” Spike asked. “I don’t know, but to somepony with knowledge we must go,” Zecora said as she made her way over to a pony who was sitting on a bench and she looked up at her. After asking something the mare silently pointed her towards a house. “Despite what happened to her, she mentions somewhere we can refer,” Zecora said pointing where the mute mare pointed them to. “Alright, let’s go,” Rainbow said as they headed off toward the local market. As they got there they saw an earth pony colt helping his grandmother who seemed to be blind. “It’s okay grandma, our radishes will still sell,” The colt said worriedly. “Hmm…” Starlight trotted over there and the others saw her approach the colt. “Starlight?” Twilight asked. “Excuse me?” Starlight asked and the colt responded. “Huh? Oh hey, mam, want to buy some radishes?... can you hear me or talk?” The colt asked. “You're not affected… How?” Starlight asked confusedly. “You mean this strange plague that swept our village?” The mare asked facing the wrong way. “Yes, I suppose it got to her too,” Starlight said with pity. “No she’s always been blind as a bat, thankfully nothing else happened to her,” The colt said. “Excuse me, you're not affected? How is that?” Twilight asked as she and the others approached. “I don’t know,” The colt said with a shrug. “What is your name?” Fluttershy asked. “Copper,” Copper said. “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to the village?” Starlight asked. “A scary mare came in and started flashing some kind of stone and ponies were affected left and right by some kind of magic,” Copper said. “Oh no dear… I get the feeling I know what happened, are you all here to help?” The older mare asked. “Yes, we are,” Starlight said. “Copper, close the stand for now, you and whoever else is here, follow me,” The mare said as she hobbled away, tapping a cane around. “We got ourselves a lead,” Spike said as they followed. When the mare led them to her house they saw it was made of a strange white bamboo. “What kind of bamboo is this?” Pinkie asked. “It’s called pale river bamboo, it’s quite rare outside of Equidor… I read some plantlife magazines,” Fluttershy said. “Cool!” Pinkie said as she bounced into the house. “Yes yes come in but don’t disturb any of the windchimes, it’s a sensory thing,” The mare said. “Ok-” AJ accidentally ran into some and it rang. “I said not to touch them,” The mare patiently said. “Sorry, there’s alot of ‘em,” AJ said looking at the many scattered throughout the cottage. “So what did you bring us here for Mrs…” Starlight trailed off. “Bramble, just call me Bramble,” The old mare said sitting down after finding her chair. “Alright, so do you know what’s going on, why has everything here gone wrong?” Zecora asked. “I do, I feared this day would come, here, take a look at this,” The mare said reaching over and grabbing a book on the ground and hoofing it to Twilight. “How to cook clover soup without pots,” Twilight said confusedly. “Dang it, Copper, can you grab the correct book please,” Bramble asked. “Ok,” Copper went over, picked up a bigger book, and gave it to Twilight. “The legend of the three monkeys?” Twilight said. “I have heard of this tale, please for everypony else regale,” Zecora said. “Yes, long ago in times when monsters roamed and the princesses weren’t even on the throne yet, the ponies of the time worshipped the three monkey gods, Ek, Ak, and Uk, astral beings who represented the ancient principle of sense, sight, sound, and hearing, they were given tribute and offered sacrifices in their names, and in return, they protected the ponies from dangerous creatures, but as time went on, customs were forgotten and when the princesses took the throne and helped banish the evils of the land, ponies stopped worshipping them, enraged they became a blight on the land, until Celestia and Luna stopped them and sealed them within the statues that they lived in, this is a story that’s been passed down through the generations, my mother always told me to have my white bamboo near if the monkeys ever came for me, I cannot for the life of me remember why though…” The mare finished. “Amazing, and you suspect that somepony released them?” Twilight asked. “Yes, and this being, whoever they are, aren’t prepared to face the consequences of invoking their powers,” Bramble said. “Who did it?” Rarity asked. “I don’t know,” Bramble said. “Wait… you mentioned you saw a scary looking mare… what did she look like?” Starlight asked Copper. “Tall, insect-like, green mane, big jagged horn, and she had holes in her hooves,” Copper said. “Chrysalis…” Starlight said getting serious. “Who?” Bramble asked. “She is a criminal that Equestria has been trying to apprehend for a while now, she must have done this,” Starlight said. “Then we have to stop her,” Twilight said with determination. “Yeah! We got this,” Rainbow said itching for some adventure. “Wait, we still need to find out why they weren’t affected,” Starlight said. “You best hurry, for if this is true, then this Chrysalis cannot reach the second statue,” Bramble said. “Second statues?” Twilight asked. “The first statues were to imprison their spirits, the second sealed their full powers, if she makes it to the statues on the other side of the valley, she could unleash a catastrophe,” Bramble said seriously. “Then time is of the essence,” Twilight said and she hurried out. “Take this, It was given to me by my mother, it will lead you to the second statue,” Bramble said holding out a blank piece of paper. “Umm…” AJ was about to say something but Copper hoofed the real on to her. “Here” Copper said. “Thanks,” Starlight said before they took their leave. “Be careful!” Copper called after them. “We will!” Starlight called back and they left. The group hurried through the village, as they made their way through, having to pass by ponies who have lost their hearing, sight or even their voice they eventually found their way out of the village. “Alright, let’s make like Daring Do and find the treasure,” Rainbow said. “We’re trying to prevent Chrysalis from finding the treasure, remember?” Starlight said.  “I know,” Rainbow said. “Rainbow Dash, we’ll need eyes in the sky, do you think you can fly ahead and scope out the area?” Twilight asked. “On it!” Rainbow took off. “Alright, the map here says we head due north, and stick to the leftmost pathways,” Starlight said. “Got it,” Twilight said and the group moved on through the brush. “Ugh! Stupid mosquitos!” AJ swished her hat at the annoying bugs. “Dearie me I stepped in mud!” Rarity cried. “I-I hope we can get out of here soon,” Fluttershy shivered as various noises surrounded her. “Ugh, I see they aren’t used to places like this, for there are so many complaints about what is amiss,” Zecora said. “I know, but we’ll have to deal with it,” Starlight said as they took another left. “Is anypony hungry? I brought sandwiches!” Pinkie said. “No thanks,” Starlight said. The group trekked on for what felt like an hour, fighting off mosquitos and Rarity’s occasional complaint about what got on her coat. Eventually, they would enter a clearing that would give them insight into another nearby town. “Finally,” AJ said. “Good, we can ask for directions because this map is hard to follow,” Starlight said before Rainbow flew down to them. “Guys! We’ve got a problem!” Rainbow said urgently. “Hahahaha!” Chrysalis laughed as she trotted through a disoriented crowd of ponies “With this power I can render any foe helpless before me!” Chrysalis said. “Just don’t forget our deal Chrissy, oook!” Uk said. “I know, once my enemies are all dead then I will turn my attention to the princesses, but for now, THIS!” Chrysalis said firing a shadow monkey at a fleeing pony and it flew through him. When he got up he tried to run but he wound up running into a wall due to being blinded. “I do wonder what the princesses will say when we blind, deafen and mute them,” Ak wondered out loud. “Perhaps we should throw them into their own dungeons and let them rot,” Ek suggested. “I second that!” Uk cheered. “Shut up! I need to focus!” Chrysalis sneered before moving on. “Oh she didn’t just talk to me like-” Uk was ready to go after her but Ak stopped him. “Later, when her use has run out,” Ek said with a mischievous grin. “Gotcha,” Uk grinned as well. Chrysalis continued using the magic on the ponies and draining them at the same time to strengthen herself when Suddenly several ponies arrived. “CHRYSALIS!” Twilight shouted. “Hmm?” Chrysalis looked towards the group and grinned “Well well, I was wondering when Celestia’s attack dogs would come, and I see you brought some more. “Hey! We’re not dogs!” Spike said indignantly.  “Leave this peaceful nation alone, or I shall buck you off your throne!” Zecora threatened. “Get lost zebra, I have more than enough power to take even you,” Chrysalis said. “Chrysalis, why are you attacking innocent ponies? What’s your endgame this time?” Starlight demanded. “The same as always, the demise of you and your nation! And revenge for costing me my hive!” Chrysalis growled before saying shut up to the air next to her. “Has she lost it?” Rainbow asked. “Hmmph, if you must know the spirits of the monkey idols are now with me, and I have their sigil,” Chrysalis said gesturing to the monkey stone she’s wearing. “No…” Zecora said before getting ready. “We have to stop her!” Twilight said as they ran forward. “Monkey spirits! Protect me!” Chrysalis commanded and suddenly the stone glowed and three giant transparent monkey-like golems emerged from it. “Whoa…” Rainbow slowed as she saw that as did everypony else. Screeching like an actual monkey the front golem lunged forward and punched at them and they dodged. Spike breathed fire at the one approaching him but his flames seemed to dissipate as they got too close and the giant tried to step on him but Starlight pulled him away with her magic. “We gotta get to Chrysalis!” Twilight before focusing magic and blasting the golem in front of her, but it simply walked through. “Fun fact, apparently astral golems cannot be harmed by physical world things, including magic, but they can harm you!” Chrysalis laughed as the golem swatted Twilight aside. “AH!” Twilight landed. “Twi!” Pinkie said before pulling out her party cannon and aiming before blasting the golem in the face and Applejack bucked the golem in the leg and it fell over but another one grabbed Pinkie by her tail and threw her at AJ and hit her. “Ooof!” AJ and Pinkie grunted. Zecora did a flip over a swing from one of the golems and ran past another, ducking a swing, as she made her way over to Chrysalis she formed a barrier made of monkey spirits and Zecora jumps onto and off of it landing in front of it. “Alright, you have some skill, but I have back-up,” Chrysalis said before she formed several wraiths that looked like monkeys that shot forward and struck Zecora sending her flying and hitting Spike and Starlight and sending them flying into a bamboo house. “Aaah!” The two shouted. “Enough playing around, it is time to show you my true new power!” Chrysalis said before unleashing a series of monkey spirits and they shot at the group. “Girls!” Twilight shouted before she was blindsided by a monkey and knocked out. As the group lay there Chrysalis chuckled “Now to end their pathetic lives,” She said before she suddenly felt a headache. “Ugh!” Chrysalis grunted “What is this?” She demanded. “We were going to warn you at first but you wanted the power soooo badly,” Uk snarked. “Tell me!” Chrysalis snapped. “The magic is killing you,” Ak said. “...What?” Chrysalis said in shock. “Our power was never meant to be wielded by a mortal, the incomplete magic is affecting your soul and unless our full power is obtained to balance out what is weighing on your soul you’ll keel over,” Ak said. “...WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME EARLIER?!” Chrysalis demanded. “I remember a curtain ling telling us ‘Let us get on with it,’ didn’t give us a chance,” Uk said. “You must hurry and obtain the full power before your soul collapses,” Ek said. “Hnngh… very well, leaving them to wander blind deaf and mute for the rest of their lives is just as good,” Chrysalis said before leaving. “...How was that?” Ak asked. “She bought it,” Ek smiled. “Ah ah ah! Let’s get moving! The sooner we’re free of her the better!” Uk said a little too loudly. “What?” Chrysalis asked. “Nothing,” Ak said slapping his loudmouth brother over the head. “Hmmph…” Chrysalis said before moving on. > Speak evil > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Uuuugh…” Pinkie said getting up “My head hurts….wait…. Why can’t I hear what I’m saying?” Pinkie asked getting up, all she could hear was… nothing… “H-hey, who turned off the lights?” Rainbow got up and looked around but her pupils were discolored. “Ugh… what happened?...” is what Twilight wanted to say but it came out as nothing, her voice was gone “?!” Twilight got up and tried to yell but her voice wouldn’t come. “Guys seriously if you locked me in a dark room or something as a prank I am NOT amused!” Rainbow shouted as she stumbled around trying to feel for anything and she wound up tripping on Applejack. “Ow! Watch it!” AJ said getting up. “Sorry! Can’t see where I’m going in this darkness,” Rainbow said. “What?” AJ asked. “I said, I can’t see where I’m going in this darkness!” Rainbow said louder. “What?!” AJ asked again. “Ugh! I said… I CAN’T SEE!” Rainbow shouted back. “Ah can’t hear ya!” AJ said back. Meanwhile Fluttershy and Rarity got up and Fluttershy looked around panicked. “Where did everypony go?! I-I can’t see!” Fluttershy cried. “It’s ok darling, I’m here,” Rarity would have said if she could speak, upon realizing she’s mute now she began to scream in fright silently. Zecora got up and saw them all panicking, instead of freaking out like them she simply listened, she could hear, and she could clearly see, so she tried her voice… and it didn’t come… She sighed and trotted over to Twilight who was still trying to make some sort of noise out of her mouth, and failing, she patted her on the shoulder, pointed at the other ponies, and gestured that they needed to calm down. Twilight nodded and tried to call to them, only to sigh when she remembered she was mute now. Zecora spotted some rocks and clapped them together repeatedly getting all but the deaf one's attention. “What was that?!” Fluttershy said fearfully. Rarity saw Twilight was trying to get their attention and she put her hoof around Fluttershy’s back. “Eeep!” Fluttershy jumped. Rarity wondered how to help the blind ones and saw Applejack, she trotted over and poked her and AJ looked at her. “Ya need somethin?!” AJ said loudly as she was deaf. Rarity pointed at her mouth and then at AJ’s mouth. “Ah, ah get it,” AJ having done charades with Rarity before and knew she wanted her to be her mouth. Rarity seeing that Rainbow and Fluttershy were blind now, she gestured to both of them and then to Twilight. “Rainbow, Shy, Rares is sayin ya need to let her guide you to Twilight,” AJ said. “O-ok,” Fluttershy said. “Why doesn’t she tell me then?” Rainbow asked. “Ah assume ya said something snarky Rainbow, ah think ah’ve gone more deaf than Granny Smith and Rares might be mute, either that or ah’m not hearin her talk,” AJ said. “Gotcha… so, little help here?” Rainbow got up and held out her hoof. “Ah’ll help ya,” AJ said as she grabbed their hooves and led them to Twilight. “You got us here Twi, can ya help us out?” AJ asked. Twilight kept trying to communicate but she was mute now, before she could lose her mind about how she was now unable to communicate a proper strategy she heard some noises and turned to see Spike and Starlight exiting a bamboo hut. “Ow…” Spike said before seeing the others and going over to them with Starlight. “Girls? Are you okay?” Starlight asked. Twilight was about to say something but couldn’t and Zecora just shook her head no. “Why aren’t you guys talking?” Spike asked. “What?!” Pinkie called. “Agh! Not so loud Pinkie you startled me,” Spike said. Twilight’s eyes widened and she went up to Spike and Starlight and pointed at her ears, mouth, and eyes. “What?” Spike asked. “I think she’s asking us something,” Starlight said. Twilight nodded and pointed at her throat and mouthed some words and then shook her hooves. “Uhm… your bad at singing? No you got a frog in your throat! Ooor… telling a joke?” Spike said trying to guess it. “Spike, I think she can’t speak at all,” Starlight said worriedly. “What?” Spike said. Twilight nodded and pointed at Rarity and shook her head again. “And Rarity can’t either,” Starlight said. “Oh no,” Spike said looking worried. Twilight then pointed at Starlight and then made a drawing motion. “Got it,” Starlight said before fetching a stick and giving it to Twilight. Twilight began drawing a message in the dirt. “I can’t speak, Chrysalis took our senses, but not yours, how? Why?” Twilight asked through the message. “I think we somehow evaded the spell… but I have no idea how,” Starlight said. “Yeah,” Spike said. “Alright, first we need to find out who has what,” Starlight said before shouting at them “Who can hear this?!” Starlight tested. Everypony but AJ and Pinkie raised their hoof. “Alright, Pinkie and AJ are deaf, and I can tell Rainbow and Fluttershy are blind now… this could be worse…” Starlight said nervously. “And Rarity, Twilight, and Zecora are mute now, ok….” Spike said “So who’s what exactly?!” AJ asked. “What?!” Pinkie asked. “This’ll be hard,” Spike said. After becoming acquainted with their new states of being the group tried to proceed, when Rainbow and Shy kept wandering off the group decided to tie strings around their hooves and Applejack. “Well… this is great… How the hay am I going to be in the Wonderbolts if I can’t see where I’m flying?!” Rainbow said sounding upset. “How am I going to care for my animals without my eyesight?” Fluttershy said. “This isn’t permanent, you’ll see,” Starlight said. “Ah hope me an Pinkie can get our hearing back, otherwise our jobs back home’ll get alot more complicated,” AJ said. “What?!” Pinkie asked. “Pinkie!” Rainbow sighed. “What?! I can’t hear for some reason!” Pinkie said. “What conversation are we havin right now?!” AJ asked. “Talk about deaf leading the blind…” Rainbow sighed. “What!?” Pinkie asked. “Ugh…” Rainbow said. “Everypony quiet! I need to focus!” Starlight said before focusing on the map. “Be real, we couldn’t beat Chrysalis and her new powers with our senses, how are we going to do it like this?” Rainbow asked. “We’ll find a way,” Starlight said. Zecora put a hoof on Starlight’s shoulder comfortingly. “I just don’t know what to do… What are we going to do against Chrysalis?” Starlight asked. Zecora nodded and made a gesture with her mouth and writing something. “Got it,” Starlight nodded and she floated a stick over and Zecora began writing in the dirt like Twilight did. “Hold up! Zecora’s writin somethin!” AJ said loudly. “Ease up on the volume, I’m blind not deaf!” Rainbow said. “Can’t hear ya,” AJ reminded RD. “Dangit…” Rainbow sighed. “We should listen to what she has to say,” Fluttershy waved her hoof around until she found Rainbow’s shoulder. “Gotcha,” Rainbow said. “Zecora says that we need to stop focusing on the senses that we lack, and instead on the senses we still have,” Starlight said. “Sounds like a good speech, wish ah could hear it!” AJ said. “What did AJ say?!” Pinkie asked. Starlight sighed and pointed at the message Zecora was writing and the deaf ones turned their eyes to it. “Ah, good point!” AJ said. “How do we do that?” Rainbow asked and Rarity gave a look that asked the same thing. Zecora continued writing “She says, wow that’s pretty good mud writing, um, she says that we need to stop and acclimate to our other senses, ah I see, she means we need to stop trying to push through the senses we lack, like Fluttershy, your blind now, but what about your hearing?” Starlight asked. “Hmm…” Fluttershy quieted. “What? What’s going on?” Rainbow asked. “Shh!” Starlight hushed her. “....” Fluttershy listened and… heard a birdcall, it was distant… she turned to where the noise came from “There’s a bird nearby,” Fluttershy said. “What bird? I didn’t hear one,” Spike said. “Wow, if I quiet my mind I can hear things more clearly than before,” Fluttershy said in awe. “Really? Let me try…” Rainbow tried to focus on her other senses, but nothing happened “I dunno, it doesn’t seem to be working,” Rainbow said. “It may take some work, what about the rest of you?” Starlight asked. Twilight looked speculative and thought to herself. ‘If this is true then If I focus my eyes…” Twilight tuned out the others, focused on the distance, and noticed her vision improved somewhat. She saw birds in the distance, the very far distance. She nodded at Starlight, and after AJ and Pinkie read the message they decided to focus themselves. “Ah, smell somethin… Rarity’s cherry scented mane conditioner,” AJ said with surprise. Rarity nodded. “This could work, girls, we need to walk and talk, but I think we still have a chance,” Starlight said as she led the group along with Spike. “I sure hope so,” Rainbow said. “Starlight, I don’t know about this…” Rainbow said, she couldn’t see but she could tell she was standing at the edge of a cliff alongside Fluttershy. “We need air support in this, you both need to fly efficiently again,” Starlight said. “Hard to be an efficient flyer when I’m freaking blind, what if I hit something?!” Rainbow said. “I’m scared,” Fluttershy said. “But, suggesting you guys paid attention, remember what I told you during the study lesson, Pegasi can sense weather magic and attune it to their senses, so if your vision is impaired, you can use the wind to track your position,” Starlight said. “I didn’t think it’d actually happen,” Rainbow said nervously. “You just have to trust me Rainbow,” Starlight said. “Ok ok! Here goes nothing!” Rainbow held Fluttershy’s hoof and jumped off and took to the air with her, they immediately started panicking  “I can’t see!” Rainbow said flying in circles. “Aaaah!” Fluttershy screamed. “Calm yourselves! Remember, sense your weather magic! And attune it to your senses!” Starlight called out. “I-i’ll try!” Rainbow said and she and Shy went on to slow and flew straight. Twilight wanted to warn them that they were headed right for a tree, but Starlight shook her head no. “They gotta do this,” Starlight said. “Ok… listen and feel…” Rainbow said…  “Sense your magic…” Fluttershy said. They quieted their minds, and they found that without visual distractions they could hear the wind more clearly, sense the magic around themselves easier… they could sense the wind flowing around something… something ahead of them! The two managed to swoop around the tree before they hit it. “Wow!” Spike said. “Great!” Starlight said. “We-... we did it!” Fluttershy exclaimed with a breath of relief. “Thank Celestia…” Rainbow said. “You both cannot hear so you’ll have to rely on your other senses,” Starlight wrote down in the dirt. “How’s that?” AJ asked. “Simply shut your eyes and wait, you’ll see,” Starlight said. “I dunno,” Pinkie said. “Trust me,” Starlight wrote. “K!” Pinkie said. “Ah trust ya,” AJ said shutting her eyes along with Pinkie they waited… and waited… and waited… until AJ felt a brush against her side. “Huh?!” AJ spun to see it was a leaf. “Sense of touch has improved,” Starlight said to herself as she had levitated the leaf. “Hah!” Pinkie caught a tiny rock that was going to be dropped on her using her Pinkie sense. “My Pinkie sense is a sixth sense, I almost forgot about that!” Pinkie said. “Then we have what we need,” Starlight said. The group hurried through the forest. “Aren’t we gonna do Twilight and Rarity?” Pinkie asked. Starlight shook her head “No time! We need to hurry, Chrysalis has a big headstart on us!” “How can we be lost?!” Chrysalis shouted as she trotted through the woods. “Well forgive us if the last time we were at the second statues was centuries ago,” Uk chittered. “It has been awhile, we must get our bearings,” Ak clarified. “Well hurry it up!” Chrysalis snapped. “I am starting to hate her more than Uk…” Ek said with a sigh. “Wait! Pause here!” Ak said and Chrysalis did. “What? Why?” Chrysalis asked. “I recognize this rock,” Ak said pointing to a boulder. “...Seriously?...” Chrysalis sighed. “Now now, you’d be surprised how often a found rock is the clue to your location, get up high,” Ek said. “Ok,” Chrysalis said flying up and skimming around. “Ah, if the rock faces east, and we are facing west then we must head, that way!” Ek said pointing in the direction of a mountain. “Very well, you’d better be right about this,” Chrysalis said before getting ready to fly off before hearing noises and she turned to see in the distance the six and friends were seen running towards their location. “What?! How did they find me?! I robbed them of their senses!” Chrysalis demanded. “Do you have to shout everything you say?” Uk sighed. “Hmm, perhaps it is because some of them don’t have any affliction,” Ak said and he gestured to the pink unicorn and the dragon. “How?” Chrysalis demanded. “Worry not, we have assistance, remember?” Ek said. “Right,” Chrysalis said before summoning the three monkey golems and some wraiths. “Capture the purple unicorn and dragon, and bring them to me, they should get to witness the end of pony kind,” Chrysalis said. “Oook!” The three golems grunted and ran off. “Now, let us move on,” Chrysalis said as she flew off. The group got over the hillside and made their way to the next part of the forest. “Are we there yet?” RD demanded. “No!” Spike said. “Well let me know when!” Rainbow said as she tried to keep up with the others. “According to the map we’re almost there… give or take a few hills,” Starlight said. “Hmm?” AJ saw something ahead “Heads up! We got company!” Applejack called. “Huh?” Starlight skidded to a pause when she saw the golems exiting the forest. “Oh great,” Starlight said. Twilight lit her horn and fired magic blasts at the three golems but the magic blasts dissipated and the golems charged. “Magic doesn’t work on them, remember?” Starlight said as she dodged. ‘Sorry’ Twilight mouthed before avoiding the golems as well and the group scattered. “Fighting time? Bring it!” Rainbow used her weather senses to locate her foe and she lunged and bucked them. “OW!” AJ grunted as she tumbled. “Oops! Sorry AJ,” Rainbow said. Fluttershy flew up higher and used the stare… on Pinkie. “Aaah! Scary eyes!” Pinkie jumped. “Oops!” Fluttershy turned off the stare. Rarity ran over to a golem and fired a magic shot but the golem swatted it away at Rainbow. “Rainbow! Look out!” Rarity would have cried if she could talk and the blast hit the brash pegasus and sent her tumbling. “Ow! Who shot that?!” Rainbow demanded. The three golems looked at eachother and shrugged before walking past them and toward Starlight and Spike. “They're after us?!” Spike asked. “I get the feeling why,” Starlight said as she grabbed Spike in her magic and took to the air with her levitation magic and got out of their reach. At least until a monkey wraith blindsided her and sent her to the ground. “Aaah!” Starlight cried as she and Spike fell into the arms of the golems. Twilight yelled for them but she had no voice, so she teleported up to them with Zecora at her side and they tried to get them out but the Golem with free hands swatted them away. “TWILIGHT!” Spike cried as the golems vanished in a puff of smoke with their prisoners in tow. “NO!” Pinkie cried as she saw them disappear as she leaped for them and she hit the ground “GUYS! They kidnapped Spike and Starlight!” Pinkie shouted to her friends. “Oh no…” Fluttershy said fearfully. “As in our friends who weren’t afflicted?.... Not good…” Applejack said getting up and the group gathered. “Well… this went from bad to worse, without Starlight and Spike… we’re lost in the forest…” Rainbow said fearfully. “Nopony give up hope, we can still do this,” AJ said. Twilight nodded and gestured Applejack to read aloud what she was writing in the dirt. ‘We may be deaf, blind, and mute, but we’re not without hope, remember what Starlight said,’ Twilight wrote and Applejack relayed it. “What do you mean? Starlight and Spike were our other senses for this, without them we’ll be lost for sure,” Fluttershy said. “Not if we remember what she taught us, we have to use our other senses,” Applejack read. Zecora nodded and pointed at Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Twilight nodded “Rainbow, Fluttershy, your up,” AJ said. “Ok!” Rainbow said and she grabbed Fluttershy’s hoof and led her into the air as far as the ropes would allow and she tapped into her weather sense using her pegasus magic. “Sense anything?” Rainbow asked. “No…. wait…” Fluttershy could feel the air currents… and smell something… something… non pony… “It’s coming downwind from us!” Fluttershy pointed. Twilight nodded to the others and when they got back down they hurried off. Except Rainbow who ran in a different direction and tripped. “Uh wait… which way again?” Rainbow sheepishly asked and Twilight facehoofed. Starlight and Spike were tied to a pair of rocks and were being carried by the golems. “Chrysalis you fiend! Let us go!” Starlight demanded. “Hahaha! When you're about to witness my triumph? Not a chance, I will let you keep your sense simply so you’ll be able to see, hear, and scream at the end of Ponykind,” Chrysalis said. “Twilight and the others will stop you!” Spike said. “As if I have anything to worry about from seven mares who have been robbed of their senses,” Chrysalis said. “You think their disabilities make them weak, but they have ways of making themselves stronger!” Starlight said. “Either way it is too late, we have arrived,” Chrysalis said as they found themselves at the second statues, three giant monkey statues covering their mouth, ears, and eyes. “No…” Starlight said. “Yes,” Chrysalis said. “Now speak the rhyme to the statues, and end this!” Ek cheered. “Yeah yeah, end it!” Uk hopped around. “Don’t!” Starlight cried. “Ek, the one who listens, Ak the one who watches, Uk, the one who speaks, I summon thee to this shrine of darkness to do as I seek, ARISE ARISE ARISE!” Chrysalis cheered and the statues moved their hands from their mouths, ears, and eyes and a loud rumble filled the area. “What’s happening!?” Spike asked. “Something bad!” Starlight said and then the entire shrine suddenly lifted off of the ground and floated into the air. “I’ve done it! Now the monkey’s power is mine!” Chrysalis said. “AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Uk, Ak and Ek chittered as the statue began floating away. “Now… to Canterlot, and then Equestria!” Ek said. “Can we do it now?” Uk asked. “Not yet, we need to take care of the Princesses first,” Ek said. “Aww,” Uk said. As the group made their way over a hill crest they paused as they saw the flying statue. “WHOA! Flying monkeys DO exist!” Pinkie said. “What? Where?!” Rainbow looked around. Twilight pointed at the statues and nodded to the others. “Twi sayin this is it, let’s go!” AJ said and the others nodded before they ran off towards the statue. > Do no evil > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The giant monkey statue floated over a town of ponies and ponies everywhere were panicking. “What is that?!” A mare cried. “Run!” A stallion cried. “Now to render Equestria senseless!” starting with this little town!” Chrysalis said as she activated the statues and they unleashed beams from their eyes, mouth, and ears, the ponies hit were rendered without said sense As the ponies below panicked from the sensory loss Starlight struggled against the bindings but she couldn’t break them. “Stop it! These are innocent ponies!” Starlight yelled. “As if that matters, and who will stop me? Your deaf, blind and mute friends?” Chrysalis said mockingly. “You’ll see,” Spike said. “I can’t see!” Rainbow said as she followed the others. “Calm down Rainbow,” Fluttershy said as they made their way through the forest and into the village that was being attacked. “There! Alright, how do we do this, it’s flyin,” AJ asked. “Leave it to me,” Rainbow said as she turned to her friends. “Can you get us all up there?” Pinkie asked. “Psh, I’ll do it in ten seconds I bet!” Rainbow said as she grabbed Pinkie and shot into the air… dragging Fluttershy and AJ with her as they were still tied to her. “Rainbow!” AJ cried. “Look out!” Pinkie cried. “Relax, I got this sense thing down pa-” Rainbow collided with the bottom of the statue and the group fell down in a heap. “Ooogh… ok maybe not,” Rainbow groaned and Twilight sighed. “Ok! Ready?” AJ asked. “Yeah!” Rainbow said, now untied from the others. “....Ready?” AJ asked. “I said… oh yeah,” Rainbow looked over her shoulder and nodded and Applejack bucked her into the air, and… she hit the exact same spot as before and fell down. “I got you!” Fluttershy tried to catch Rainbow… who landed behind her. “Oook… not working…” Rainbow groaned. “Oops, sorry,” Fluttershy said. “Zecora’s writing again, she suggests letting Twilight help you do it since she can see,” Pinkie said. “Darn it,” Rainbow said. With Twilight’s help, the group got up to the statue quicker. “Whatever, I could’ve done it myself,” Rainbow said. “Zecora’s pointing up a slope! Come on!” Pinkie called and the group moved on. “Hahahaha!” Chrysalis laughed as the statue proceeded forward once more. “Hm? Oh hey, bug lady,” Uk said. “What is it?!” Chrysalis demanded. “The deaf, blind, mute group is back, and they're climbing up the statue,” Uk said. “WHAT?! How?! I removed the ones guiding them!” Chrysalis said in disbelief. “Told ya,” Spike said. “Grrr! You three, don’t just stand there! Go!” Chrysalis ordered and the golems dropped the rocks and ran to go take care of the intruders. “I can see the summit from here!” Pinkie said. “Hurry up!” Rainbow said as she climbed above them. As the group climbed up the statue they heard a noise and when they turned they saw the three golems running down the path at the next ledge at them.  “Oh great, the welcoming committee,” AJ said as she got over the ledge first and ran to the side to draw them away. “We got them! Keep going!” Rainbow said as she did the same. Zecora and Twilight nodded and led the others onto the ledge and down the path. One of the golems saw this and ran after them. “I got this! Go!” Pinkie spun and dodged a slam from the golem “I can’t hear, but I’m fluent in Pinkie Sense!” Pinkie said as she dodged a few more swings. Rainbow kept running away from the golem and didn’t see she was heading for a ledge. “Look out Rainbow!” AJ called. “I got it!” Rainbow said getting an idea and she took to the air as she ran off the ledge and swooped through the air as the monkey golem swung at her “Take this!” Rainbow said as she sensed the airflow around the golem and she landed behind him and bucked him in the back and the golem fell off the ledge and screeched as it fell to the ground. “Good work!” AJ said as she bucked the golem in front of her but her blows glanced off of it. “AJ shout or something!” Rainbow called and AJ gave one as the golem swatted her aside. “That’ll do,” Rainbow followed to where she heard the noise and landed on the ground. The group made their way towards the path that leads to the shoulder of the statue, but suddenly they were cut off by wraiths. Twilight paused and flared her horn and fired a few shots to scatter the wraiths. “Go! W-we can handle this,” Fluttershy said as she and Rarity stayed behind to distract the wraiths. Twilight nodded and ran along with Zecora. As they made their way to the head they saw on the platform on the heads was Chrysalis, Spike, and Starlight. Twilight and Zecora made their way over to them. “Hmm? Oh you have to be kidding me,” Chrysalis sighed as she turned towards them. “Twilight!” Starlight called. Twilight nodded at her before focusing on the changeling. “How often do I have to trouble you before you get the message, you cannot win!” Chrysalis said. Twilight looked at Zecora and gestured at Spike and Starlight. Zecora nodded and ran to the left as Twilight flew forward and fired her magic beam at Chrysalis who put up a monkey barrier. “With my new power you have no chance!” Chrysalis said before forming the barrier into a fist and firing it at Twilight who dodged and dove at her. Chrysalis resummoned a golem at her side and it swatted Twilight aside. “Twilight!” Spike cried as Twilight got up. “I have an army of monkey spirits to call upon, you’re one mute alicorn!” Chrysalis laughed. “Make that a mute alicorn and friends!” Starlight said and she immediately jumped forward when Zecroa freed her and fired a beam at Chrysalis. Chrysalis took to the air to avoid. “Tch, I got distracted,” Chrysalis said before she unleashed wraiths upon the three. Starlight put up a barrier that protected them from the wraiths and Zecora freed Spike. “What do we do?!” Spike asked. “You and Zecora take cover, me and Twilight have this,” Starlight said. “Oh no, I can help!” Spike said. Chrysalis prepared a sphere of purple magic and she launched it, it made the barrier break and the group scattered as an explosion occurred. “You cannot win!” Chrysalis said. Spike ran closer to her and breathed fire at her but she summoned a giant transparent hand from her horn and it stopped the fire and Spike had to jump out of the way of the hand trying to flatten him. Meanwhile Twilight flew around the golem's swings and she fired several bolts that hit the golem, but the magic blasts did nothing. As the golem closed in to grab her Zecora galloped up to the golem and bucked it in the leg. The golem screeched as it fell down and Twilight fired a beam that took a chunk out of the ground making it fall off the statue. “Grrr! DIE!” Chrysalis formed many hands out of her magic and sent them to grab them and the group dodged around the grab attempts. “We need to find a way to cut her off from her power!” Starlight shouted. Twilight looked carefully at Chrysalis and remembered what she said… “If you must know the spirits of the monkey idols are now with me, and I have their sigil!” A look of understanding crossed Twilight’s face when she saw the glowing necklace on Chrysalis. She pointed at it and Starlight got it. “The necklace… of course!” Starlight said as she dodged another astral monkey's hand. “Let’s go!” Spike said as he ran off. “Aim for the necklace!” Starlight shouted. “Oooh, this isn’t looking good for us,” Uk said. “Silence! I have this!” Chrysalis said before firing more magic shots at them. Twilight and Starlight dodged around the magic shots and hands and fired magic blasts of their own at Chrysalis who raised more monkey barriers. Zecora jumped onto a rock and leapt at Chrysalis but she smacked her away. “Zecora!” Starlight called before she was snatched by a hand. “Pay attention to your own problems!” Chrysalis said before firing a wraith through Starlight and she screamed before being dropped down. Twilight ran over to her but was grabbed as well. “Got you!” Chrysalis laughed. Starlight got up but when she opened her eyes she couldn’t see. “Not good…” Starlight used her magic to create a cursory scan of her environment and she turned to Chrysalis. “Impressive, you’ve already figured out how to work with your new blindness like it’ll help,” Chrysalis laughed as she fused the many hands together to create a pair of giant hands “I will flatten you!” Chrysalis shouted. ‘Not so fast!” Spike yelled and Chrysalis turned to see Spike atop a tall rock and he leaped at her and onto her back. “HEY! GET OFF!” Chrysalis shouted. “We got this!” Ak said and suddenly the three manifested as wraiths and they lunged at Spike but he jumped. “YIKES!” Spike yelped as he managed to grab onto the necklace around Chrysalis’s neck as she gagged as he tugged it down. “GET OFF OF ME YOU FILTHY LITTLE-” Chrysalis grabbed at Spike. “One chance…” Starlight said with a tinge of nervousness, she centered her focus, used her magic cursory scan to locate Chrysalis, aimed her horn and she fired a narrow magic beam at Chrysalis. It flew past the various wraiths and towards the struggling Chrysalis and- It blasted her right in the chest and snapped her necklace. “NO!” Chrysalis said as she saw Spike falling onto the ground and she was cut off from her power. “Give it back!” Chrysalis dove at Spike. “Not a chance,” Spike said before he put it in his mouth… and bit down. “NOOOO!” Chrysalis screamed as he broke the rock to pieces in his jaws. An explosion of magic sent everypony flying and Chrysalis tumbling, as she got up she saw the pieces and frantically crawled over to them. “Nonononoo!” Chrysalis tried to put it back together when suddenly Uk, Ak, and Ek emerged from it. “Well… this is unfortunate, guess you failed,” Ek said. “Predictable, ah ah!” Uk chittered. “Now you have to face the music,” Ak said. “N-no! I can still-” Chrysalis stuttered before the three cut her off. “Goodbye!” Ek, Ak, and Uk said as they flew through her and she screamed. The statue stopped flying towards Canterlot and it fell to ground level. Rainbow and AJ were standing off against the golem and it lunged at them before vanishing. “What happened?” Rainbow asked. “It vanished,” AJ said. “Then they did it,” Rainbow sighed in relief. Pinkie was backed against the edge of the statue as the golem approached, it raised its fists and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. “Whew…” Pinkie sighed. Fluttershy and Rarity were backed up against the wall as the wraiths closed in on them. Before they could lunge they vanished. “A-are they gone?” Fluttershy shivered out. Rarity patted her on the back in confirmation. Everypony on the statue staggered when the statue began shaking and vanishing into the ground. “What’s happening!?” Spike asked. “I think the statue must be returning to its original spot! We need to get off!” Starlight said. “Ok!” Spike said. A great flash overtook the area as the statue vanished. The group found themselves lying on the ground. “Ugh… can someone turn off that light…. Wait a minute…” Rainbow sat up and held her hooves in front of her “I CAN SEE!” Rainbow said excitedly. “Stop shoutin…” Applejack groaned before sitting up “I-I can hear again, finally!” AJ cheered. “Owww…” Twilight groaned before getting up “Oh thank goodness, I thought it was permanent for awhile there…” Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. Everypony celebrated as they woke up, having their sense returned to them. “Oh thank the heavens,” Fluttershy said happy she can see again. “Yay! I can hear myself speak again!” Pinkie cheered. “And my refined tone never sounded better,” Rarity said happily. “Indeed,” Zecora said before they heard rustling and they turned to see a familiar face approaching. Chrysalis had her head bowed as she stalked towards them. “Guys, I think we still have a fight ahead of us,” Spike said. “Get ready then!” Rainbow said. “You just don’t know when to quit do you Chrysalis?” Starlight said. Chrysalis approached gradually and then looked up at them and then she…. Didn’t yell? “Huh?” The group looked surprised, her eyes were blank too. She stumbled towards them Starlight voiced her concerns. “Chrysalis? What happened to you?” Starlight asked. No response, Chrysalis didn’t even acknowledge her and instead bumped into a tree and gave a silent shriek. “Girls… I think she’s got all three,” Rarity pointed out. “Ooh… wouldn’t wish that on even her,” Rainbow said as Chrysalis continued to stumble around blind, deaf and muted. A chariot from Canterlot came to collect Chrysalis and as she was being carted away the group returned to the village they first entered. “How can we ever thank you lot?” Bramble asked… facing the wrong way. “Kid wasn’t kidding,” Rainbow whispered to Pinkie. “Thanks to you all, the ponies of Equidor are saved,” Copper said. “It was no problem, although something still puzzles me,” Twilight said. “What?” Copper asked. “Why weren’t you two affected? And how did Starlight and Spike evade being robbed of their senses?” Twilight asked. “Ah, I did remember after you left, apparently pale river bamboo has purifying abilities that protect against evil spirits,” Bramble said. “....” The group looked stunned. “Hmm?” Copper said confusedly. ‘We could have avoided it all together if we brought bamboo….?” Rainbow sighed. “This whole thing could have been a lot easier…” Starlight said. “I wish to go home now,” Rarity said. “H-hey, at least you found out for next time,” Copper laughed nervously. “Nevertheless, this town, as well as all of Equidor, owes you all a debt of gratitude, thanks again,” Bramble said. “It’s no problem, come on girls, let’s go home, I will record this fun day in my ancient tome,” Zecora said as they trotted away. “Bye!” Copper waved. “Bye!” Pinkie waved back. As the group got back to Equestria Twilight thought about her next friendship report. “Dear Celestia,  Today I learned how just because you have disabilities, doesn’t mean you can’t be a problem solver, we went on an adventure that tested our senses as well as our sanity, and in the end, we pulled through. This is proof that disabilities don’t make you different, they make you unique, and how you use them makes all the difference. Love Twilight and Friends.” Twilight thought as the train vanished over the horizon. Chrysalis sat in her cell, several guards chatted nearby, thinking she didn’t require as much observation due to her being rendered basically senseless. Chrysalis sat there…. Waiting… she was good at waiting… and in the end, it’ll pay off… A fly flew around her face, she couldn’t see it. It buzzed by her ear, she couldn’t hear it. She couldn’t tell it to buzz off. It landed on her arm….. SWAT! And it died instantly by hoof…  ‘Heh….HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!” Chrysalis laughed in her head as she was slowly… but surely learning.