Turaga Vakama finds out the Toa aren't coming, the Mane 6 fill in for them.
After a 1000 year wait, Turaga Vakama awakes from a vision that tells him Tahu and the five other toa will not be coming to rescue his island after all. As he goes to tell his villagers the terrible news, Vakama's captain of the guard tells him that Rainbow Dash, Toa of Loyalty, is already here, and is 20% cooler than the legends predicted. Vakama is skeptic about the new arrival, a creature the likes of which he's never seen before. Determined to prove Rainbow and her friends as frauds, Vakama pits the Mane 6 against the evil Makuta, master of shadows. Whether the magic of friendship can overcome this dark foe remains to be seen, as the battle for the fates of the Great Spirit and the equestians Princesses begins. (Note: This fic assumes little-to-no prior knowledge of the BIONICLE storyline. Every necessary detail will be explained as it comes up.)
BIONICLE: The Toa of Harmony By ToaofTwilightZ Disclaimer: It has come to my attention by way of the Fighting is Magic cease and desist that these disclaimers are pointless. I’m still doing ‘em. Why? Because pointlessness is fun. So, ponies is a trademark of Hasbro and Bionicle is a trademark of Lego. Chapter 1: The Toa aren’t coming, Toa of Loyalty
*****
Turaga Vakama stared into the sacred fire, as he had every day for a thousand years, his eyes looking elsewhere, to the world of his waking dreams. As the Ta-koro elder looked around, he saw he was floating in a blue sky with wispy white clouds above a glittering blue ocean, the twin suns of his world staring down. As Vakama shielded his eyes from the glare, he noticed six silver cylinders falling toward a small volcanic isle. Vakama smiled as he recognized this particular vision, the tale of the six mighty toa that would come to free his people from the shadows of the Makuta. Vakama pointed to the falling canisters and named each hero inside three seconds before the voices of his mind did. Tahu, Toa of fire. Onua, Toa of earth. Pohatu, Toa of Stone.
At this the vision changed to a pit of sand and rocks ringed with the light of torches. The moon was dark and the six metal containers had shifted to become six yellow stones falling toward two larger stones, one black with menacing grimace painstakingly carved into it, and the other stone yellow a stoic, regal expression. The yellow was lying on its side, and the black was standing over its fallen opponent. Vakama was unfazed, he knew this pit; this was where he told the Legend of Mata Nui to his matoran followers every new moon. Every time his vision of the future was the same, the six toa stones would fall around the black Makuta stone and cast it down, so that the Great Spirit might rise from his slumber and restore the island of Mata Nui to peace. Vakama continued to name each of the stones as they fell. Lewa, Toa of air. Kopaka, Toa of ice. Gali, Toa of water.
Vakama lowered his finger to point to the black stone symbolizing the Makuta, only to be shocked as his vision changed for the first time in centuries. The stone wrapped itself in a dark aura and cast a hand of shadow at the falling stones, so dark that the night sky looked like the brightest day by comparison. The arm reached up to grasp the six stones, suspending them in the air, before casting them back up with such force that they hit the moon, forming three craters on its surface in the shape of two unicorn’s heads and a cruciform toa, though Vakama wouldn’t recognize the unicorns. The world once again shifted as he was back to floating in the sky above his island. Looking down, he saw a shadow creep from the center of the island, slowly spreading to cover the entire land mass in darkness.
Distraught over what this might mean, the leader of the village of fire raised his hands to his face and covered his eyes as he fought to free himself from the vision. As such, he never noticed as six marks popped up in the corners of the island, a rainbow colored lightning bolt, three blue diamonds, a red apple, a flock of balloons, a six sided purple star, and a pink butterfly. Nor did he notice as six streams of rainbow shot through the haze and banished the darkness. As he awoke in his hut, the flickering light of the sacred fire casting strange shadows on the walls, he uttered four words with a tone of dread he had not used since the Visorak.
“The toa aren’t coming.”
*****
Rainbow Dash awoke on a sandy beach looking out over a clear blue ocean. Above, white clouds were drifting through a hazy blue sky, and the light from the two suns warmed her wet and sandy mane. Wait, TWO suns?
Rainbow leapt to her hooves and looked around. She appeared to be in some sort of bay. To her right was a forest that looked like a dragon had sneezed on it. To her left was a winding staircase that led up to a giant telescope on a cliff. At least, Dash thought it might be a telescope. Her friend Twilight Sparkle had showed her a picture of some ancient telescopes she found in a book. Dash, of course, was too cool to be interested in that sort of thing. Twilight was a history geek. An egghead. Twi could name all the stars in her telescope if she wanted to, but history and stargazing were undeniably, unquestionably, uncool.
That being said, it couldn’t hurt to get a closer look at her surroundings. After a few quick looks around to make sure no one would see her, Rainbow climbed the staircase and looked around. Aside from the telescope, the only other thing on the cliff side was a pit of sand with a model of an island and 8 stones. From her high vantage point, Dash could see similarities between the model and the landscape beneath her. An island. She was on an island.
As Rainbow started to panic, she looked around and noticed a bright orange filly with a purple mane lying on the beach in front of a giant stone head. RD went from panic to joy in less than ten seconds flat, flying over to her #1 fan and surrogate sister, relieved that she wasn’t the only pony on the island. Scootaloo was no light sleeper, though, as her only response to Dash’s vigorous shaking was to mumble something about dictionaries and snore louder. Dash giggled lightly as the little pony snuggled a Wonderbolts doll with a rainbow mane, the older pony covering her sleeping friend with a few large leaves as she got back up to assess her situation.
Looking back toward the forest, Dash noticed a small red-armored figure with a red, wedge shaped mask stare back at her before slowly walk back into the misty forest. “Hey!” Dash yelled as she shot over to where the interloper had been, only to find nothing but charred trees and a worn path leading to the volcano. She looked around, scratched her chin, shrugged, and decided to follow the path.
Imagine the pegasus’ surprise as, after just a few minutes of walking, a set of sharp wooden stakes shot up from the ground around her and joined over her head, trapping her in a cage she wasn’t aware had existed moments before. A group of red, armoured bipeds popped up from behind a fallen tree. They looked a lot like the figure she had seen staring at her before, though each wore a masks of different shapes. The creature with a gold, helmet shaped mask (obviously their leader) raised a spear in the air and shouted.
“There, see? I told you that muaka would come back again today, and so we were prepared when it did! I told you: Jala, Captain of the Ta-Koro Guard never steers his soldiers wrong!”
One of the soldiers, an individual with a red Kakama mask whispered to his friend “Yeah, except for last time. And the time before that. And the time before that. An- HEY LOOK, HE’S WRONG AGAIN! HEY JALA, THAT’S NO MUAKA CAT!”
“Shut up Maglya, you don’t know what the Karzahni you’re talkin’ abouhouuu-” Jala trailed off as he looked over to find not a rahi lion in his trap, but a cyan Pegasus mare with a rainbow mane and tail. He walked over to poke her with his spear “What in the name of the Great Spirit has Makuta sent against us now? A creature of pure flesh…”
“I don’t think that’s one of Makuta’s beasts. It’s not wearing a mask.”
“That’s good. Means we can probably just scare it of with a bit of torch and a sharp stick.”
Now Rainbow Dash could handle being poked. She could handle being spied on. She could even handle being on a strange island in the middle of nowhere trapped in a cage in a forest under a volcano with a bunch of masked wierdos with spears mistaking her for some kind of monster. But NOPONY called her a scaredy-cat! “Hey, I’ll have you know I’m one of the bravest, fastest, and coolest ponies in Equestria! I don’t know who Makuta is, or what’s a muaka cat, but my name’s Rainbow Dash, and I five friends, two immortal alicorn princesses, a dragon, a tortoise, and the Wonderbolts who’ll come running and beat the bolts out of you if you touch one feather! Not to mention I’m not too bad with my own four hooves! You got that?!”
“Whoa, it talks!”
“Wouldn’t exactly call that talking. Equestria, alicorn, wanderbelts… WHAT IN MATA NUI’S NAME IS A WANDERBELT?”
“What do you think we should do with it?”
“Same thing we always do.”
“And that is?”
“I don’t remember. Ask Kapura.”
The entire tribe turned to look at their companion slowly walking up toward the group with a torch in hand. Rainbow recognized this being as the figure who had watched her from outside the woods. The matoran opened his mouth and spoke two words in a slow, monotone voice.
“Burn it…?”
As the hunting party cheered and ran to grab more torches, Rainbow Dash started to panic as she frantically paced and hovered in the small, cramped space of the trap. The speed at which she made her revolutions around the center of the pile increased until, without her or the diminutive hunters noticing, a mach cone formed around the pegasi as she paced faster and faster. Jala turned around to see a cyan blur with a rainbow trail stirring up shards of volcanic glass and woodchips in a multi-hued tornado inside his trap. Before he could cry out, and bang rang out across the entire island, sending a rainbow cloud of ash and splinters colliding with the pillars of the pegasus’ prison, ripping them to pieces. Rainbow Dash and the all matoran stopped (except Kapura, who continued on at his steady pace of 7 millimeters per second) and looked at each other in shock.
20 seconds later, a roar split the air, startling the poor Pegasus as her limbs straightened like wood and she landed on her back with a frightened goat noise. “Is that a d-d-d-d-DRAGON?”
Maglya shook his head, his eyes wide behind his mask. “No, but remember how you said you didn’t know what a muaka was?”
“Yeah?”
“You aren’t gonna be able to say that anymore. Or pretty much anything else, after it eats ya’.”
Rainbow flew up into the air and looked around to find a large, mechanical lion sniffing around the edge of the forest as the hunting party zipped behind a nearby tree so they could watch from a safe distance. The beast stopped, ears and nose twitching, and pointed its large head toward a snoring pile of leaves on the beach before heading in that direction, licking its lips. “Oh no you don’t!” Rainbow muttered to herself as she darted in front of the monster’s path and gave it a solid buck.
The Muaka blinked, rubbed its snout with its paw, then snorted and pounced at the cyan Pegasus. “Omygosh omygosh omygosh NOT GOOD!” Rainbow cried as she dodged and shot back up the path to the volcano, the large cat chasing after her swinging its clawed forelegs and snapping its fangs. Dash darted between charred trees with an aptitude reminiscent of her last stunt practice with Fluttershy before the young fliers competition, hoping to lose the beast as it tried to follow in the narrow gaps between trunks. The muaka stopped in front of the trees with a look of puzzlement for a second, causing RD to beam at the thought of how brilliant she was. Her pride turned to dismay, though, as a lightstone appeared above the feline’s head and the beast charged through the brittle, burnt remains of the forest as if they were made of clouds.
“Horseapples!” Rainbow cursed as her rainbow-colored contrail was snapped at by her rapidly closing pursuer. She turned to look forward again as she rocketed off a cliff straight above a lake of lava. The muaka leapt off the cliffafter her, only for its eyes to widen as it flailed its leg through thin air and fell a good 60 hooves to land head-first on a lower tier of cliff side, grey pegasi with yellow manes flying around its dazed head. The beast got up, shook its head, then ran away, deciding to find some easier prey without wings. The cyan Pegasus rode the thermal updrafts from the pool of lava back up to the higher cliff side, where a group of red matoran threw their spear and torches on the ground and bowed to their heroine.
“Only a mighty toa-hero can best a wild muaka beast! Please forgive us, Toa Rainbow Dash, for our earlier treatment!” Jala cried out with his face inches above the dirt. “The Makuta has been relentlessly attacking us with fresh waves of rahi everyday, and has even been known to cloud the mind of a good matoran to attack their friends and fellow villagers. That is why we did not trust you at first! Now that you have proven your courage and strength to us, might we humbly ask you to help us free our island from the shadow of the Makuta?”
Just then, Vakama, the turaga of the village of fire ran up to his Captain of the Guard with flailing arms and a look of terror. “My villagers! I have horrible news! The toa are-“
“We know! The toa are here! And the mighty Toa Rainbow Dash here has come to our village and single-hoofedly defeated the Muaka that has been threatening us for weeks! She’s has to be at least ten times cooler than anything we expected!”
Rainbow drew herself up and with mock humility said “Oh, I don’t know if I’m all that. Maybe about 20% cooler, tops,” she smiled at the villagers, who resumed bowing down to her.
The village elder, on the other hand, did his best to hide his shock, and with barely concealed skepticism, said “Yes, well, that is exactly what I was about to say that I discovered about the ancient prophecy. It said we should not expect our heroes to look like any form of tall matoran or turaga. But tell me, ‘Toa Rainbow Dash’, what is your elemental power? Every Toa has a particular element that they control. What is yours?”
“Oh, that’s easy! I’m the Element of Loyalty! My friends make up the other elements with magic, honesty, laughter, kindness, and generosity. Speaking of which, I should probably start looking for my friends so I can find out why I’m here and what I’m supposed to do…”
“Oh, I can tell you EXACTLY what the Toa are destined to do here…” Vakama smiled as he realized the perfect way to prove this new ‘Toa’ for the fraud she was.
BIONICLE: The Toa of Harmony By ToaofTwilightZ Note: BIONICLE is property of Lego designed by Greg Farshtey, MLPFiM belongs to Hasbro and Lauren Faust, blahblahnosueplease. Chapter 2: The Truth, Toa of Kindness *****
Turaga Nokama, elder of the sea-side village of Ga-Koro, walked the beach alone as she went home from the impromptu meeting that Vakama had called earlier today. Vakama had explained about Ta-Koro’s recent visitor, discussing with the other five turaga what actions should be taken if other “Toa of Harmony” should show up. The council’s decision on what to do with the pony did not rest easily with her.
“Really, Vakama?” the cyan armored turaga muttered to herself as she looked out over the crystal blue ocean. “Keeping the Matoran in the dark again? Lying and giving them false hope? You seem so sure this Rainbow Dash and her friends will fail. Why, then, are we telling our people they will succeed? I agree, these strangers must be tested before we place the fate of our people at their…hooves. But what will the Matoran think of us when they realize we have lied to them? What about these ponies who are lost, with no idea where they are, what is going on, or how they can get home?”
“More importantly,” Nokama shuddered as she picked up a rusted mask of shielding the tide had thrown onto the beach, “how will Makuta retaliate if you try to make him a tool in your plans and send a joke to invade his private sanctuary?”
Looking out at the ocean, Nokama saw as a white, soggy ball of fur about half a foot in diameter swam up to her in a panic, shook itself dry, and started pantomiming and pointing out to sea. Nokama’s mask glowed as she called upon its powers of translation to speak to the long-eared, bucked-toothed creature at her feet. “Your friend is drowning out there? How far out? Sorry, I don’t know how long a ‘hoof’ is…No, ‘rabbit’s feet’ aren’t familiar to me either… I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name… Angel, and your friend’s name is… Hm, I recall hearing that name earlier today, but where-" Nokama’s eyes widened as the memory struck. She dived into the ocean, the spray from her stong kicks once again soaking a worried Angel Bunny.
*****
Fluttershy woke choking on salt-water as a being with a round, metallic blue mask applied cpr to her chest. At her side, Angel Bunny was struggling to hold up a blue fish-bone trident while the tool’s supposed owner worked. The blue being hadn’t seemed to notice Fluttershy was awake, and that was fine with the yellow mare. Fluttershy, slightly intimidated by the stranger, decided to pretend she was still unconscious until the masked being went away. That plan worked fine until said stanger decided to begin mouth-to-mouth.
Fluttershy hopped away with a startled “eek” into the arms of the already-overwhelmed Angel Bunny, who tottered to the right and to the left before finally sinking into the sand with a *puff* from the combined weight of pony and trident. Fluttershy timidly pulled her friend up by the ears, setting him on her back before backing away from the blue armored being with her head low and her face hidden behind her pink mane.
The masked creature spoke in a deep, soothing feminine voice. “Don’t be frightened. I won’t harm you. My name is Turaga Nokama. Your friend Angel told me you were drowning, and I rescued you. Are you alright?”
Fluttershy mumbed something incomprehensible to the turaga.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you would speak the same language as the other pony we’ve seen on the island. She claimed to be a friend of yours. Perhaps Rainbow Dash was talking about a different Flutter-”
Fluttershy perked up at the mention of her oldest friend, interrupting Nokama with vigor, “Rainbow Dash is here? Is she alright? Where is she?" Her voice trailed off for a second as she noticed the blue turaga still had her mouth open in the middle of a word. “Oh my, I interrupted you, didn’t I? I’m really sorry! I didn’t mean to, but I was really excited. You aren’t upset, are you?” Fluttershy hid once again behind her Pink mane.
Nokama, still standing with her mouth open while she recovered her train of thought, took a moment to consider the mare’s questions. Once she had, she pleasantly replied, “Not a problem. It must be very stressful for you to be stranded on an island full of unfamiliar beings. I’m glad I could cheer you up by telling you there’s at least one other pony here.”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened with terror. “S-stranded?” she sputtered. “Island? Are Rainbow and I are the only ponies here?” She hugged Angel Bunny so tight his eyes popped and his fur turned blue. The fluffy companion kicked his caretaker in the chest, startling Fluttershy into dropping the gasping rabbit with a soft yelp.
Nokama, sensing the pony’s distress, took on a soothing voice as she told the cream-colored mare, “Calm down. Just because you’re the only two ponies I know of doesn’t mean you’re alone here. Toa Rainbow Dash just showed up this morning, and I found you floating in the current moments ago. It stands to reason you may not be the only ones here; we just haven’t found any others yet.”
“What, um… I mean, if you don’t mind my asking… and not to sound silly or anything but…” Angel kicked Fluttershy again in the ankle. “Sorry, but what’s a toa?”
Nokama frowned as she hung her head. “So you truly don’t know. I figured as much. Vakama wanted me to keep this secret, but I think you should know what you’ve gotten into.” Nokama raise her head and looked into the sky, as if reading an ancient text inscribed into the cloud. “In a time before time, the Great Spirit descended from the heavens carrying my people, the ones called Matoran, to this paradise. We were separate, and without purpose, so the Great Spirit illuminated us with the three virtues: Unity, Duty, and Destiny. We embraced these honor and, in gratitude, named our island home ‘Mata Nui,’ after the Great Spirit himself.” Nokama’s face darkened as she turned her head to look Fluttershy in the eyes, frowning. “But our happiness was not to last. Mata Nui’s brother, the Makuta, was jealous of the honors we gave his brother. He cast a spell over Mata Nui, causing the Great Spirit to fall into a deep sleep. That was 1000 years ago. Now, without Mata Nui to protect us, Makuta hoped to win our praises through fear, commanding powerful rahi-beasts, great and small, to attack us, and spreading a shroud of darkness over the land.” Nokama once again looked skyward, her voice taking on a hopeful quality. “But, by a stroke of luck, prophecies and legends foretold of six mighty warriors, called 'Toa,' each with control over a different element. Their duty would be to protect the Matoran, and their destiny to defeat Makuta and his minions and awaken the Great Spirit Mata Nui, who would once again rule our island in peace.” The turaga once again looked Fluttershy in the eye, this time more grave-faced than ever. “Turaga Vakama told me today, as well as three of the other four village elders, to tell the Matoran of our respective villages that you are the Toa, you and the other ‘Elements of Harmony.’ But that would be a lie.”
Nokama began pacing back and forth as she continued to speak. “Vakama knows this, as do the other turaga. We’ve seen how a real toa is supposed to look. A toa is a biomechanical being, like myself, who wears a mask of power and stands twice as a Matoran or Turaga. And we know the names of the toa prophesied, as well as what their elemental powers should be. Tahu, the Toa of Fire, Onua, the Toa of Earth, Pohatu, Toa of Stone, Lewa, Toa of Air, Kopaka, Toa of Ice, and Gali, the Toa of my element and guardian of the village of Water. But earlier this morning, Vakama had a vision, a prophetic, waking dream, which told him that our toa wouldn’t be coming, that they had been defeated before they could arrive. But before he could tell anyone, he came out of his home to find the matoran of his village worshiping what they thought had to be the toa of legend - that is, your friend Rainbow Dash.”
“Vakama was angry that this new arrival accepted to the praises given to her, which were supposed to be given to our only hope. With no true toa coming to our rescue, he decided that if your friend truly wanted to be a hero, then we might as well let her try. My brothers agreed to tell your friends, upon their arrival, that they are the legendary toa, and that it is their duty to face vicious monsters, to fight Makuta, and defend the matoran. I don’t think this is fair, not to my villagers, and not to you. So I have told you the secret, but still I must ask something of you. Do you truly control an element?”
Fluttershy, carried away by her new acquaintance’s speech, nodded and absently replied, “Yes, I’m the Spirit of Kindness, but that just means I'm the only one who can use the magic of the necklace if when I wear it, and even then, we can only use the magic when we’re all together.”
“And what do your powers do exactly? United, I mean?”
“Well, it kinda varies from bad guy to bad guy. I mean, first, Twilight activates her magic, then we all kinda focus our powers into hers, and then a giant, glowing rainbow jumps out and wraps around the bad guy. For Nightmare Moon, it just took away her evil and the powers she used to take over Equestria. For Discord, it turned him back into a stone statue. I don’t know, though; Twilight’s a lot better at explaining magic than I am…”
“Well, even without this ‘magic’, your friend Rainbow Dash showed amazing proficiency in besting a Muaka, one of the most fearsome rahi on the island. Which brings me to my main question. A plea, really.” Nokama lifted Fluttershy's head to stare into the mare's eyes, her face radiating hopefulness from behind her mask. “Without the toa, all hope for my people is lost. We need someone to help defend us from the Makuta’s beasts, and possibly stop him from bringing about his reign of shadows over the entire island. Will you, Fluttershy, please help free us from Makuta’s rule, even knowing that your victory isn't as assured as the rest of the turaga make it out to be?”
Fluttershy thought about everything she had heard, while Angel Bunny hopped around in annoyance, alternating between shaking his head while crossing his arms and pointing to Nokama while waving his paw around in a circle next to his head. Fluttershy ignored her friend's protests however, remembering what her friend Rainbow Dash had said after rescuing Fluttershy from the bullies at flight school. Fluttershy had felt helpless at that moment, and while Rainbow hadn’t known her well at the time, the loudmouth flyer had stood up for her anyways. With a look of newfound determination, Fluttershy stomped the ground and declared, “Rainbow would never leave a pony in need hanging, and neither will I. You saved me and trusted me enough to tell me the truth, and I’m gonna return the favor. You have my word that I’ll do my best to help you, cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye! Um, if you don't mind, that is...”
Somewhere on the island, a pink earth pony’s nose got squinchy, causing her to sneeze. Nokama cocked her head, slightly taken aback by the boldness of the shy pony’s answer, but with a smile of gratitude said, “I don’t what a cupcake is, but thank you. I’m glad you agreed to help us. The rest of the turaga decided that if any more Elements of Harmony were discovered on the island, we would direct them to meet at the temple in the center of the island. If your friends are on the island, then that's where you'll find them. One more thing, though. If the other turaga find out I’ve told you all this, I’ll be in big trouble. You can’t tell ANYONE what you know. Not even Rainbow Dash. Can you promise me you’ll keep this secret?”
“I promise. Breaking a promise to keep a secret is the fastest way to lose a friend forever.” Deep in the jungle, the pink pony sneezed again, oblivious to Fluttershy as the pegasus flew off toward the center of the island. A thought struck her, and Fluttershy called back to the turaga. “Oh, and please take care of Angel for me! He can sometimes be a handful, and I can't imagine what might happen to him out there. Um, if you don’t mind…” With that, Fluttershy disappeared over the treetops.
Nokama shouted after her, “Wait, does that mean we’re-” the elder’s voice trailed off as she realized the pegasus was no longer in earshot. She smiled, picked up the indignant bunny, and continued to walk to the village. As the waves washed over her ankles, washing the white sand that caked her feet, Nokama whispered the last word of her exclamation, warmth filling her heart.
“Friends.”
*****
Scootaloo had woken up to the sound of rustling leaves. She groaned as harsh sunlight filtered through her closed eyelids. Once the light had reached a tolerable level, Scoots opened her eyes to one of the most peculiar sights she had ever seen. Two small mechanical crabs were nibbling at the palm fronts that had been sheltering the filly as she napped on the beach. Scoots spotted a third crab, colored blue and yellow, carrying away a very familiar blue scooter, a purple helmet sitting on one eye-stalk.
“Hey!” the filly shouted as the crab sped up and started burrowing. The young pegasus jumped after the crab creature. The animal shot sand straight into Scoots eyes. It burned, but no more than the wind she was used to feeling as she blazed through Ponyville. Besides, the orange filly thought, I can’t let Rainbow Dash think I was beaten by some dumb old crab.
The filly started up her wings, blasting sand back at the crab. The creature chattered and squealed, racing down the beach. Just as Scoots was closing the distance, she tripped over something in the buried. Spitting sand, she found the offending obstacle had been a bamboo disk, dislodged by her tripping over it. Angry at the disk and the crab getting away she threw the wooden thing as hard as she could. A direct hit! The disk knocked Scootaloo’s helmet from its perch on the crab’s eyestalk. The crab stopped, shocked, staring at its lost hat. Looking back, it could see the angry pegasus foal charging. Screeching, the creature discarded the stolen scooter and disappeared into a forest of dead, ash-covered trees and disappeared.
Scootaloo stopped when she got to the vehicle. Now that she wasn’t chasing after annoying crustaceans, she was able to take a look around. To her left, a wide, blue ocean with white-capped waves stretched beyond the horizon. To her right, a lush green jungle echoed with buzzing, bird calls, and other creatures chattering at one another, the sources of the sounds hidden in the shadows of the treetops. Stretching behind Scootaloo was a long, light colored beach, lapped at by waves. Further back the beach ended at a gray sandstone cliff overlooking the sea. Ahead, a dead, burnt forest with – Is that a volcano back behind there?
Scoots sat to think about this. She had already tried for a swimming cutie mark, a sand castle cutie mark, a rock-climbing cutie mark, and had explored the Everfree more times than she cared for the adult ponies to know. Unable to decide what to do, she thought about the one question she always asked herself when faced with an impossible decision. What would Rainbow Dash do? It was then the answer then came to her. Rainbow Dash was awesome. She would obviously choose to explore the most frightening, dangerous, and foolhardy place around.
“That settles it, then!" Scoots said aloud. "Here I come, Rainbow Dash! CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS VOLCANO EXPLORER! YAY!!!!!” Scoots looked around at the empty seascape and sighed. “It’s more fun when we all say it together.”
Chapter 3: Beware the Kapura, Kane-Ra Can't Ice Skate
BIONICLE: The Toa of Harmony By ToaofTwilightZ Note: Please observe the following pecking order: Me < The dirt < The worms inside of the dirt < Celestia’s royal plot < Mata Nui < CelestiaEhrye was hereThe people who own legal rights to Bionicle and MLP:FiM Chapter 3: Beware the MakutaKapura, Kane-Ra Can't Ice Skate *****
“Well, ah’ll be,” said Applejack. “It ain’t ev’ry day ya find out ya’ll ‘n’ yer friends‘re legendary heroes and gotta stop an evil nutcase.”
The farm mare walked between rows of large, ornately carved statues of maskless matoran heads on a rough desert path. Behind her stood a massive wall of stone some five stories high. At the base of the wall was a tunnel carved directly into the natural monument: the gates of Po-Koro village. Atop the wall stood the tan-armored Turaga Onewa, the leader of this village, leaning on his massive stone hammer as he watched Applejack go.
Applejack chuckled to herself. “Heh, fer us it’s usually ev’ry other week. Still,” the earth pony’s voice trailed off as she looked back at Turaga Onewa, who had turned away to return to his adobe hut. “It was mighty nice of that Onewa feller t’ offer ta look after Applebloom while we’re here.” Applejack shifted her gaze down to her saddlebags. “Not to mention give me this fancy mask.”
Applejack started walking again. In the distance, barely visible through the shimmering air rising from the desert floor, loomed a large, snowy mountain. According to Onewa, the temple where the other Toa would meet was just on the other side of Mount Ihu. Still, it would take hours for a pony to cross the vast desert, climb the slopes of the mountain, and scramble down the other side, especially without wings or magic.
Then again, thought Applejack as she once again looked at her saddlebags. The orange mare pulled the Mask of Speed from her bags and put the metal object over her face, its dull-gray surface shifting to a deep brown as an energy to rival Pinkie Pie raced through her entire body. Applejack placed her Stetson back atop her head, her bangs flowing over the top of her new mask, pointed her body straight at the distant Mount Ihu, and started running. As the landscape around her blurred from brown to gray, and from gray to white, and the wind whipping at her blond mane grew ice cold, the farm-pony couldn’t help but cheer with delight.
“YEEe…“
*****
“-HAAAAAWWWW!!!!!!!”
Rarity the unicorn had no time to recognize the voice before the snowy cliff-side above her collapsed, burying her up over her horn in snow with low rumble and a *WHOOMPH!!!!*
Who under Celestia’s sun and Luna’s moon would be foalish enough to yell on a mountain? Rarity thought to herself. She then heard a familiar voice.
“Hoooo-whee! Ah reckon its time ta challenge Rainbow to another race!”
Of course, Rarity thought as she ran a brush through her mane and tail to dislodge the ice crystals. She then popped out of the snow, growling “Appleja-a-a-a…” Her voice trailed off as she saw her friend. Or, rather, an orange mare with a familiar hat who sounded like her friend. But this mare wore a brown mask over her face, and her mane was frozen in icicles shooting straight out from the back of her head. The pattern was repeated upon the mare’s tail, and the fur all over her body was slicked back with frozen sweat, blurring the red apple cutie mark to make it look as if the fruits were flying through the air. A red ring hung from one of the icicles, apparently having fallen out of its owner’s mane only to be flash-frozen in mid-air. Rarity didn’t know whether to faint at the horrible mess, fall over laughing in relief at a friendly face, or try to help fix her friend’s appearance. She chose to do all three, in that order.
“Rarity, that you?” Applejack asked, staring confusedly at the white and purple unicorn splayed out on the ground laughing. “Ah, who am ah kiddin', 'course it’s you! Only ya’ll would have yer mane so neat after getting’ buried in snow. Sorry about that, by the way. Hey, what’re ya’ll laughin’ at?”
Rarity got up from the snow, struggling (and failing miserably) to stifle more laughter and regain her composure. She tossed her mane as she pulled a hair-dryer, a brush, and a mirror out of her saddle-bags. The hair-dryer was designed to run on the magic of the unicorn using it, so it could operate anywhere. Rarity offered the mirror to Applejack as she walked over to where her friend was standing and began melting the icicles. “I’m terribly sorry Applejack, but just look at your mane! You are an absolute mess! Whatever happened to you?”
Applejack struggled against a hard tug from behind as Rarity tried to dislodge a large chunk of ice from her friend’s mane. The result was for the chunk to fly off and shatter over the unicorn’s pointed head. “A funny-lookin’ metal feller named ‘Too-RA-Ga Ah-new-wa,’” here Applejack struggled with the pronunciation, “gave me this here mask o’ speed. I put it on, started runnin’, an’ before ah new it, wound up here. ‘Sides, ya’ll don’t look too ‘fabulous’ yerself, Sugarcube. Least mah mask don’t got a telescope stickin’ outta mah eye.”
Rarity paused from her work on AJ’s tail to reach a hoof up to her mask. Matoro had called it the kanohi Akaku, the mask of X-Ray vision. Turaga Nuju, of course, had called it “chirp-chirp-SHRIEK!-cluck-squawk”, before the eccentric elder punctuated his outburst with a sharp clap. Matoro claimed Nuju was speaking the language of birds and flying rahi, and Rarity chose not to wonder the purpose of talking to birds on a desolate mountain without any flying wildlife, nor why the language would involve hand motions where birds don’t have arms. “Yes, well, my intention was to replace this mask with the one at the top of this mountain before being seen by the others. I was told by an adorable little creature named Matoro that we would each need to collect six different masks anyway, so thought to myself, ‘why not start now?’ Efficiency, yes?”
“Ah gotcha’, Sugarcube. Hay, speakin’ of cute little critters, Applebloom’s here too. The turaga in that desert village back there agreed to look after her.” The earth pony pointed an orange forehoof toward the collection of statues and adobe houses she just came from, now the size of a jagged marble framed by snowy cliffs, the dusty desert, and a sparkling blue sea. “Really? Because before I left, Nuju sent Sweetie Belle and another matoran by cable car down to that beach by the volcano.” Though Sweetie insisted she was fine, Rarity knew the cold slopes of the mountain were no place for a young filly, especially without enough warm clothes for the both of them. “Probably fer the best. So hey, want some help gettin’ that new mask? Ah was gonna hafta’ climb the mountain anyway to get to the temple where the others’re meetin’, so why not go t’gether?”
Rarity stepped back from her finished work with sparkling eyes and an open-mouthed grin. “Why, that’s a wonderful idea, Applejack!”
The unicorn twirled on a hoof and started up the mountain path, flicking her tail as a signal to follow. Applejack frowned in irritation as she walked after her friend. “Ya’ll don’t have to act so surprised.”
Rarity was the first to peak over the ridge at the peak of the mountain. Applejack couldn’t entirely remember how, when, or why she was carrying Rarity’s saddlebags in addition to her own; she was just grateful that at least now gravity could do most of the work on the way back down down.
Rarity stopped ahead of Applejack in a state of shock. She could only utter one word to describe the sight resting on the peak. “No.”
“What is it, Rare?” asked Applejack, fear creeping into her voice. “What’s wrong?”
“This is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!!!” The unicorn fell backwards onto Applejack in a melodramatic faint, causing the earth pony mare to collapse under the combined weight of saddle bags and unicorn.
“What’s the matter? Is the mask not here? Is it broken? What?”
Rarity raised her head and pointed a white hoof at a gray object sitting in a mound of snow. The mask was shaped somewhat like a helmet, with the ridge jutting out over the eye-holes and three slashes across each cheek.
“It looks even worse the one I have on right now!” the unicorn whined.
Applejack dead-panned. “Is that all?” she asked flatly.
Rarity stared in shock at her best friend. “IS THAT ALL?! Why, Applejack, this is a nightmare! How is a lady such as myself supposed to save an entire island civilization, wearing something so…so…UUGGH!” Rarity groaned, realizing she was talking to the one mare under Luna’s moon least likely to understand the significance of her problem.
Applejack rolled her eyes as she walked over to the center of the peak and picked up the mask. “Look. From what ya’ll said, we’re all gonna need a mask like this one ta’ do what we gotta do an’ git home. If’n it’ll make ya feel better, ah can take this one, but you’re gonna hafta git over how stuff looks ‘n do what needs ta’ git done. The folks ‘round here call that duty, ‘n ah think they got th’ right ahdea.”
Applejack glanced over the side of the mountain to spot 4 multi-colored dots coming to gather in a stone circle far below. “An’ right now ah think we need ta’ git t’ that temple, if’n we don’t wanna be late fer Pinkie’s ‘Wacky Island Adventure’ party.”
*****
Applejack and Rarity carefully navigated down side of Mount Ihu. The shelf they were on was sloped downward just enough that if they lost their footing, just once, they would be flying right of a cliff in a matter of seconds. Large outcroppings of rock stood up from the thick snow at their hooves. Beneath the snow, it was difficult to tell whether the ponies’ next step would push through to solid rock, or a patch of ice. Rarity was decided to be at the front of this expedition, her close attention to detail (and X-Ray vision) allowing her to determine a safe path free of ice. Applejack had found a rope in her saddlebags and used it to tether Rarity to herself. The idea was that if Rarity slipped, the muscular earth pony would act as an anchor to keep the two from falling.
Rarity was daintily brushing the snow from a rocky patch before them, Applejack maybe two yards away, when a fierce roar split the silence. Both ponies looked behind them to check for an avalanche. To their relief, nothing fell from the cliff above. As another roar echoed off the stone, the two mares looked at each other nervously.
“Rarity, what was that?” Applejack tried in the calmest voice she could muster.
“I’m not sure,” Rarity spoke back, also trying to remain calm, “but if it’s what I think, then we may want to hide.”
As the sound of ice cracking beneath dull, heavy hoof beats became audible, Applejack jumped and slid behind a large boulder, using the stone to stop her momentum. Rarity was checking frantically around her for the best places to step as she climbed up to friend, but it was taking the perfectionist unicorn forever to choose each step. As the hoof beats became louder, Applejack anchored herself against the boulder and pulled the unicorn up. Rarity squealed as she lost her footing and began sliding against her will. As soon as the unicorn came near the hiding spot, Applejack reached out a hoof and covered Rarity’s mouth, motioning for her purple-maned friend to be silent. The two carefully peeked their heads up over the boulder.
At first, they saw nothing but the rock, snow, and icy they had been climbing for hours. Then, with bellow, and grunting, snorting beast exploded through a large drift, ice and snow flying everywhere. The monster was covered in dark gray armor and was about the size of a Manticore. Blood-red horns twisted up from the sides of its head, and ice beneath the creature’s black hooves had a spider-web of cracks. In all, the creature looked to Applejack like a cross between the most ornery bull in the world and the evil robots in those sci-fi books Twilight likes to read. Rarity and Applejack ducked behind their tiny fort and began whispering to each other.
“So, ya’know what it is? ‘Cuz ya’ll said we’d wanna hide if you were right, an’ ah reckon that’s the kinda thing a pony would wanna hide from,” Applejack asked as softly as she could.
“The creature I met earlier wasn’t anything quite like this, but I’d guess this is another of what the Turaga refer to as ‘Rahi,’” Rarity whispered. “Rahi are the nastiest, most unfriendly monsters I’ve ever met. I’m told that sometimes the Makuta may command these creatures about, but many of them are plenty vicious on their own. The one I had the displeasure to meet was a wasp twice as large as I am, and was able to carry one unfortunate villager high into the sky before I was able to get a snowball into one of its eyes.”
“So basically, it was nothing like this ‘un, an’ ya’ll ‘ve got no idea how to deal with this critter.”
Rarity nodded. “That would be correct, yes. Applejack, you’re a rodeo pony; surely you dealt with angry cattle before?” “There’s a difference between Daisy Joe and a giant robot!”
Applejack covered her mouth as the beast turned its head in the direction of the outburst. The monster snorted, hoofed at the ground, then charged straight toward the boulder. Rarity looked on and said, “The thing does realize it’s charging into 2-tons of rock? Most likely cemented to the ground by rock or ice?”
Applejack’s eyes widened. “Don’t matter. Ah’ve seen Big MacIntosh crush rocks twice this big with one kick. Didn’t even get a runnin’ start. Ah’m no Twi when it comes ta’ physics, but a monster that size would prob’ly be able ta send this here rock ta’ Po-Wahi, not even considerin’ the two ponies behind it…”
Rarity’s face paled. She grabbed Applejack with both forehooves and shook the farm mare. “No! What are we going to do, Applejack? I’m too young and beautiful to die! Oh, but how will Equestria survive if I die here? Who will set the standard for all things beautiful if I, Rarity the unicorn, am not there to shine as an example of what true fashion really is? This is absolute, positively, the. WORST. Possible. THING!!!!!”
Applejack panicked, looking around for something, some idea of how to stop a ferocious, rampaging monster. She would have to look with Rarity’s eyes, as the unicorn, it seemed, would be incapable of any form of coherent thought. Around her she saw rock, ice, snow, the cliff. She saw her friend’s horn and mask of x-ray vision. She noted her own rope and mask of speed. She saw Rarity’s saddlebag, full of fabric, outfits, and beauty supplies. She saw her own saddlebags, in which she had found more rope and some apples. She also remembered putting a mask in the bag, the mask at the top of the mountain. While Rarity’s mask looked like a telescope, made to increase vision, and Applejack’s looked like a bullet, made for going fast, the new mask looked like a helmet. If the last two masks were any indication, the look of this new mask probably meant it was for…
Gasping at the realization, Applejack reached into her saddle bags and replaced her mask of speed with this new mask. Just like the Kanohi Kakama had done, this mask filled her with a sense of overwhelming power, but instead of intense, racing energy, the sensation was of a great, protective force. As Rarity continued to whine at her side, lounging on a lavish couch that had spawned from someplace unseen, Applejack turned toward the rock in front of her and focused.
The boulder exploded, fragments bounced off of a green disk of energy covered in runes floating in front of the farm-mare. Rarity yelped and jumped behind Applejack when a dark red horn flashed through the storm of ruined stone and was deflected by a sharp impact with the shield. As the dust cleared, the monster bull bounced backward and slid uncontrollably back down the slope. The beast snorted and scratched frantically at the snow and ice, failing to achieve any traction before flying straight off the cliff and bellowing as it fell to the distant ground below. The mares heard as the roar decreased in volume before ending with a loud crash, followed by weak, angry grunts as the fragments of rock also slid down over the edge.
As the green field faded, Applejack took off the mask and replaced it with her Kakama before setting her trademark cowpony hat back on her head. The two friends looked at each other with wide grins on their faces. “We did it!” Rarity shouted. “We’re alive! And all thanks to that wonderful mask I found!”
Applejack chuckled. “Ah though ya’ll said ya’ hated this mask.”
Applejack’s face fell as she looked up the slope past the cheering unicorn. Her eyes widened as she saw a rather large stone fragment that had been launched over their heads and shield by the Rahi. The stone was sliding down, too large for Rarity at least to jump over, and was picking up speed. “Look out!” AJ cried as she jumped in front of Rarity and held her forehooves up to catch the boulder.
She wasn’t able to stop it, and soon both ponies were being pushed across the ice down toward the cliff. This time Applejack was too preoccupied with the boulder to think of a solution. Rarity’s search instantly lit upon the rope looped around her body, digging into her skin and doing horrors to her coat. She loosened the rope and took it off over her head. Using scissors from her saddlebag, she cut the rope attached to Applejack and retied the end to the cowpony’s tail. Applejack looked back at her, her futile efforts against the rock and ice exhausted. “What’re ya’ll doin’?”
Rarity pointed to an outcropping of rock. “Applejack, you must get your lasso around some solid anchor point! We’ll swing around from behind this boulder and hang while I look for solid ground again!”
Applejack did as she was told, tossing the rope out and snagging particularly large spike that passed them by. Rarity wrapped her legs around Applejack's middle, and they turned away from the sliding boulder, which flew straight past and off the edge of the cliff. A loud thud followed by an angry bellow from came from an unfortunate Rahi below. As Applejack placed her feet back on the smooth spots of granite that Rarity had pointed out, the two were extremely glad that they were up here, far away from a very, very angry Rahi-bull.
*****
As Scootaloo zipped through the twisted black forest, she came to a river of lava. Across the stream was a wall of black stone with a gray brick gate built into it. Through the gate she could see the light of many torches. Instead of slowing down at the sight of the molten obstacle before her, the filly sped up, aiming for an incline section of the cliff. Her scooter launched off the natural ramp, hanging in free fall beneath her as she buzzed her tiny wings as fast as she could. She was almost to the other side of the gap when her wings started to cramp.
She missed the cliff, falling t*ward the boiling rock flowing beneath her. As she fell, Scoots heard a *thunk, followed by the churning of gears and a pillar of stone shooting up out of the lava beneath her. She landed hard, and was surprised to find it wasn’t as hot as she thought it should be. Mostly, though, she was just thankful she wasn’t in the lava.
That was when she heard a voice from behind. The voice was old; it sounded as if the speaker was very sad about something, and had been for a long time. At the same time, though, the voice had a sense of strength and determination, passion that still burned even after years of accumulated wisdom.
“Hello. You must be one of Toa Rainbow Dash’s friends? You are a lot smaller than I expected.”
Scootaloo turned around to look up at an orange mask. The mask was mostly round in shape, but had a long rectangular piece that hung down from the mouth and moved as the wearer spoke, like the goatee of one of those masters in karate movies. The eyes behind the mask glowed red, but not frighteningly so, more like warm embers on a winter day. The wearer’s body was a mixture of flesh and metal armor of red and orange. The figure wore strips of black robe that hung from his shoulders to his waist, and he leaned on a long red staff with a torch on the end. Something about him seemed to demand respect.
“You know Rainbow Dash?” asked Scootaloo, forcing back the urge to raise her hand, as if speaking out of turn would result in a Miss Cheerilee-style punishment.
“I do. My name is Turaga Vakama. Rainbow Dash, the Toa of Loyalty, showed up in the forest outside my village a few hours ago. Gave my guards quite a scare. She said she had friends who might show up, Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic, Applejack, Element of Honesty, Rarity, Element of Generosity, Pinkie Pie, Element of Laughter, and Fluttershy, Element of Kindness. So who are you, small one?”
“I’m Scootaloo! I’m not an Element of Harmony, or a Toa, whatever that is. Rainbow Dash is like a big sister to me! I’m gonna be just like her when I grow up, maybe even better!” Scootaloo gushed, excited at maybe meeting her heroine here, only afterward remembering her manners. “Um, sir.”
Vakama looked puzzled. “Scootaloo, you say? And you don’t control an element? This is unexpected. Please, follow me to my village.”
Scootaloo obeyed as the figure walked through the gate. The guards standing on either side stabbed the ground with the butt of their spears and saluted the pair. “Hail, Turaga! Hail, mighty Toa!”
“Um, hi?” answered Scootaloo, not sure of what to say.
The filly’s jaw dropped as she stepped into the village. The entire structure stood against the opposite inner wall of a massive volcanic crater, and was surrounded on all sides by walls of tall black stone covered in hundreds of blazing torches. Carved into the rock were dwellings of various sizes, their entrances glowing from the fires inside each one. Opposite the gate she had walked through, Scootaloo saw two guards with red masks and spears standing in front of a long, dark tunnel carved through the side of the volcano. Villagers in red and yellow armor were performing a war dance to the left of the cave, and others were running here and there carrying metal surfboards. One villager was standing before a dome with six niches in its side, polishing the newly-carved cutie mark of Toa Rainbow Dash. Vakama was rambling as he walked ahead of Scootaloo, and, had she been listening, she would have heard him call the villagers ‘matoran’ and the structure a Toa shrine.
She immediately forgot these fantastic sights as a familiar sound reached her ears. “-but little did he know, that living in the sea below,
Another volcano was listening to his-"
"Scootaloo!” the singer’s voice cracked as the eponymous pegasus was tackled from behind by a blur of pink and white.
Vakama looked on as the two foals collapsed in a giggling pile, looking back at the gate to see a villager of ice being escorted by Jala. “And this is?” he asked, gesturing to the white foal.
“Sweetie Belle, sister of Rarity, Toa of Generosity,” Ko-matoran replied.
“Apparently small ponies don’t deal with cold as well as the average Ko-matoran,” the guard captain explained, having needed to ask very specific questions to get more than one-word answers from Ko-koro’s favorite ice carver. “Lady Rarity and Turaga Nuju saw fit to send her here, where she’d be warmer and under the protection of the strongest guard on the island.”
While the turaga talked with Jala and the ice guard, who introduced himself as Kopeke, one of the villagers with red armor, yellow feet, and a red streamlined mask came up to Scoots and Sweetie Belle. “Hey, here is the lava surfboard you asked me to hang on to,” he said loudly, eyes darting back and forth as he handed her the metal board, which was surprisingly light for its size and material.
The orange pegasus looked at him funny. “I never asked you to hold on to this. I don’t even know you!”
The matoran looked back and forth, and, when he confirmed no one was listening to their conversation, said, “Look, just play along, all right? Kapura told me I should say that to you and give you the board, and all I know is that when Kapura tells you to do something, you do it! Guy gives me the creeps.”
“I heard that, Maglya.” Both fillies and the matoran jumped back with a yelp as a monotone voice whispered inches from their ears. Standing there was a matoran in all red, with a mask shaped like a diamond with the edges rounded off. “You shouldn’t talk about people behind their back, you know.”
“Kapura, how – no, WHY do you always do that?!” shouted Maglya.
“Where’d he come from?” cried Scootaloo.
“Vakama taught me long ago the art of traveling quickly by moving very slowly.” Kapura spoke in his same light, almost emotionless voice. “I have been practicing in the forest for a while now. It comes in handy when I want to give certain gossips a scare.”
“What do you want, Kapura?” said Maglya, putting a hand to his head.
“To deliver a message to she-who-is-not-toa. Beware the Makuta, for wherever there is destruction, there he is also. The dead trees you saw when you came in? Those were destroyed by the Makuta, but the Makuta never left them. That is how he becomes so strong. That is what the Makuta does. He destroys things.” Kapura let his words sink in before turning and walking slowly away.
Scootaloo shook her head and cast a glance at Vakama, who was beckoning her to his hut. She looked back at the matoran in front of her. “It was nice to meet you, Maglya. I think I’ll keep the board. Hey, you think I can get some wheels and a set of handle-bars on this thing?”
Maglya smiled. “I hear there’s an engineer in Onu-Koro who’s good at that sort of thing, but you can’t get there from here right now. The tunnel is too dark without lightstones. Oh hey, I didn’t catch your name, ‘she-who-is-not-toa’?”
Scootaloo looked back as she and Sweetie Belle ran to catch up with Vakama. “It’s Scootaloo! Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, of the Cutie Mark Crusaders!”
Chapter 4: Kini-Nui, Super Trippy Diver Filly 6000
BIONICLE: The Toa of Harmony By ToaofTwilightZ Note: BIONICLE belongs to LEGO and was (mostly) designed Greg Farshtey. I do not own it, but I own many Bionicles. MLP:FiM belongs Hasbro and is designed by Lauren Faust. I do not own MLP, but if I did I would die from the sheer cuteness. Chapter 4: Kini Nui, Super Trippy Diver Filly 6000 *****
“-so then I pushed the switch and the whole thing flew up the vine like WHOOSH! and then I was on top of a bunch of GIANT bird nests with a completely flat bottom way up in the tree tops and there were all these huts made out of sticks but nopony was in the village and all the huts had their doors shut tight and then I saw this flute and I walked over to grab it because I love musical instruments and what if the parasprites attack y'know? but then I saw this pretty gray mask well okay it wasn’t pretty ‘cause, I mean, it was gray even though my sister is grey and I love her but pink is like waaayy better and I thought may it was lonely ‘cause nopony wanted it ‘cause it grey and there was, like, nothing up there…-“
Twilight Sparkle sighed as Pinkie Pie continued her run-on sentence of a story. She sat on a large, circular platform in front of an old, weathered temple carved from gray stone. Around the platform was a ring of six tall stones, a naked matoran face carved into each one. To Twilight’s right stood Fluttershy, eyes fixed on Pinkie as the pegasus politely listened to her friend’s story. Behind Pinkie, Rainbow Dash was relaxing on a cloud three meters up, paying no attention whatsoever. Atop Twilight’s back sat Spike, half listening to Pinkie and half nibbling on a lightstone he found on the Onu-Koro highway.
“-so I put the mask on” Pinkie continued “and it was so happy that it turned green which is weird ‘cause even I know green doesn’t look that much better with pink than gray does even though I love green 'cuz it's my favorite color right up there with purple a magenta and orange and yellow and PINK!! and where was I oh yeah but at least it wasn’t sad anymore and then I saw Fluttershy fly over the trees and I yelled ‘FLUTTERSHY!’ but she couldn’t hear me ‘cause she was flying faster than I’d ever seen her and I bounced after her but didn’t realize until like 30 seconds later that I had bounced right off the edge of the nest and all the readers are probably just skipping over this monologue and zoning out by now so hi readers that aren't paying attention! but I wasn’t falling ‘cause this pretty fiery stuff was flying off of my hooves but it wasn’t hot so I thought maybe it was magic but now Twilight says it’s not magic and maybe it the mask of levitation so then I floated and had to use my party cannon to for propulsion and I flew all the way here and it was so much fun and…and… I think that’s it.”
Rainbow Dash, having heard the story draw to a close, rolled off the cloud and flew down to hover next to Twilight’s ear. “And that, Twilight, is why you never ask Pinkie ‘What's up?’”
“Noted,” Twilight said with a nod. Twilight looked around. “So, after all that, where are Applejack and Rarity? We each woke up near a different village, so it stands to reason that at least one of them was in the ice village on that mountain there. You would think the proximity of this temple to the mountain would make that pony one of the first ones here.”
“Yeah, unless Rarity couldn’t decide what to wear,” Rainbow Dash joked.
Fluttershy looked worried. “You don’t think anything has happened to them, do you?”
Pinkie cocked her head. “I have been getting a couple twitchy-tails pointing at the mountain. Maybe they did-”
Just then a familiar drawl was heard from beyond a ledge in that direction. “No way. Ya’ll said ya didn’t want it, an’ ah went up an’ took it. Ya’ll weren’t complainin’ then!”
“Ah ah,” a prissy voice interjected. “You said right then that you’d take the mask ‘as long as it made me feel better’. And it did, right up until after that monster fell off that cliff. But what would make me feel better now is having that mask, which I told you was on that mountain, near my village, to put in MY collection.”
Two familiar ponies came into view above the temple. “It’s too late now, Rare. Ah cain’t help feelin’ the mask is bonded with me. Lookit’ it here. It’s still brown! Ah think that means it likes me.”
“SURPRISE!!!” Pinkie cheered as she hovered up to float directly in front of Applejack and Rarity. Both ponies' jaws dropped in unison as they looked at their friend’s familiar, poofy mane, then down to the pink hooves that floated high above the ground, then back to the smiling face behind a green mask.
“Pinkie!” gasped Applejack. “Are you…flying?”
“Yep-a-roonie! And it’s SOO much fun! You girls should try!”
“Applejack! Rarity!” Twilight’s voice called from below. “Pinkie! Come down here! We’re having a meeting!”
Applejack slid down to the platform Twilight was sitting on, surrounded by jungle and rock. “Well ah hope ya don’t mind if ah brought snacks,” she said, ducking into her saddle backs and pulling out three apples. Twilight smiled, gripping the fruits in her magic and splitting each one in half. She offered pieces to Fluttershy and Rainbow as Pinkie lowered Rarity to the ground.
Once Rarity was on the ground, the white unicorn smiled as she looked to each of her friends, noticing some of them were also wearing masks. “So, I take it we’ve all introduced ourselves to the villagers?”
Fluttershy spoke up. “Oh, well, I did get to meet Turaga Nokama. She was very nice, and told me what was going on. But, um, I didn’t get to see her village, so I don’t really have a mask yet…” Twilight nodded. “Pinkie says couldn’t find anypony in the jungle village, so she just took the mask they had lying around. Anyway, this seems like a good time to compare notes. Spike?”
“Already on it,” Spike replies, grasping a quill and a scroll. “So, what do we know?”
“We’re on an island,” Rainbow started. “It’s called Mata Nui, and it’s in the middle of nowhere.”
“We’re not the only ones,” offered Fluttershy. “There are six villages of creatures called Matoran on the island, and each of them is led by a turaga.”
“We ain’t the only Equestrians, neither,” said Applejack. “Sweetie and Applebloom are here, too, in Po-Koro.”
“And Scoots, on the beach,” added Rainbow.
“And Angel,” muttered Fluttershy, thinking of her animal friend.
“This island is wild,” added Rarity. “And dangerous. There are monstrous creatures here called Rahi. Earlier I came across a villager being attacked by a giant armored wasp, and Applejack and I barely managed to escape from a humongous bull monster…”
Pinkie jumped three hooves in the air. “And the wicked Makuta lurks here in the shadows doing his evil…stuff! He’s so evil, I even wrote a song about him!”
“Here we go,” groaned Rainbow Dash. “He’s an evil enchanter, who hates happy campers, And if you ask who he is, People won’t give straight answers! And what does he do? He tries to scare you, And infects Mata Nui, With the sleepytime flu, Sooooooooo… WATCH OUT!!!” Pinkie jumped up on her hind legs and held her fore hooves over her head for emphasis, breathing heavily as her friends rolled their eyes. Rarity put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “Darling, I do believe you’ve used that tune before…”
Now Pinkie rolled her eyes as she settled back on all fours. “Well, DUH! Just ‘cuz I can’t sing it about Zecora anymore doesn’t mean a catchy tune should go to waste. It’s so much fun! The choreography’s still needs work, though…”
Twilight rolled her eyes again. “Aaanyway…wait, Pinkie, how did you know about Makuta? I thought you hadn’t talked to anyone from your village yet!”
“I told you! There was a bunch of letters carved under the pedestal where I found the mask! They were written real tricky, a bunch of lines and littles circles inside bigger circles, but my handy-dandy decoder ring-" a plastic ring, looking like it came from the bottom of a cereal box, materialized out of Pinkie's mane, to the surprise of no one, "-translated ‘em lickity split, and they said,” here Pinkie’s voice deepened. “’THE LEGEND OF MATA NUI. IN A TIME, BEFORE TIME…-’”
Here Spike interrupted. “Yeah, yeah, we all heard that exact spiel from the turaga, Pinkie. You don’t need to tell it again. Honestly, Twilight, if you’re gonna’ start Pinkie Pie on one of her rants, you should at least be listening.”
Twilight rolls her eyes, then returned to the task at hand. “So, we’re all aware that we’re the legendary heroes called Toa? And that we need to find six masks so we can fulfill the prophecy and defeat Makuta?” A murmur of “yup,” “right,” and “uh huh” followed, with Fluttershy being not unusually quiet. “Good,” Twilight responded. “So, I propose that we split up into groups of two or three to find the masks.”
“Say what?” Rainbow Dash interjected, jumping into the air. “But…but…but another pony will just slow me down! I’m the fastest in Equestria!” Rainbow ignored Applejack, who failed to hide a smirk at the last statement. “And Fluttershy still needs to visit her village, and Pinkie probably needs to visit hers again too! I volunteer to fly solo and collect their masks while they’re busy doing that stuff!”
“Rainbow!” Twilight leveled her friend with a glare.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that…” Fluttershy tried to comment, sensing that this would lead to a fight. Fortunately, Applejack, with a cooler head, stepped between Twilight and Rainbow.
“If it were just a regular scavenger hunt in Whitetail, Dash, that’d be fine. But this place is dangerous. Ah’m already worried about the three fillies we brought, even with AB behind stone walls.”
Rarity stepped beside Rainbow Dash. “Applejack is right, this place is dangerous, but I also agree with Rainbow Dash, that splitting up would wrap this mess up much sooner. I’m already beginning to miss the comforts of home.”
Twilight stamped her hoof. “I realize the benefits of splitting up, but I also think we need to be careful. This island is dangerous, and none of us should wander it alone without the help of at least one other pony.”
“Come on, do we really need careful?” asked Rainbow. “We’re heroes of legend! The chosen ones! Since when do the chosen ones ever lose?”
“Ummm…about tha- Eep!” Fluttershy covered her mouth before she broke her promise to Turaga Nokama, but no one heard her.
“Well,” said Pinkie, “Ponikin Skytrotter lost to Count Doo in Star Horse Episode II. Ooh! And that one pony in Chronicles of Marenia! The little colt that got beaten up by the Fright Witch?”
“Tell you what, sugarcube,” AJ addresses Rainbow Dash, "why don’t you go with ‘Shy to the water village. From the mountain, it looked like the fire village was closeby, so while ‘Shy is visitin’, you could run and check on Scootaloo.”
“And Sweetie Belle,” Rarity adds.
“There was a port near Po-koro, so once you’ve rounded up the fillies, you can send ‘em there from the water village by boat. Applebloom’s already there, and that puts ‘em all safe behind stonewalls.”
“Both to protect them AND contain them,” Rarity agrees, imagining what kind of trouble her sister and her friends could get into on an island of dangerous mechanoids.
Rainbow Dash wasn’t so thrilled at the idea. “I don’t want to go with Fluttershy, I want to start looking for masks already, and I need someone who can keep up.”
“I’ll go with Fluttershy!” Pinkie volunteers.
“I’m guessing Applejack is the only pony who can keep up with Rainbow when she’s like this,” Rarity laments.
“Hah, in her dreams!” Rainbow scoffs. “AJ, if you beat me to the next mask location, I’ll paint your barn.”
Applejack grinned cockily as she spat on a hoof and held it up to her friend. “You’re on!” The two rivals bumped hoofs in their customary shake, Rarity completing the tradition by groaning with revulsion.
Suddenly, Pinkie Pie jumped in the air and shouted “TWITCHY TAIL! PINCHY KNEE! PINCHY KNEE! PINCHY KNEE! TWITCHY TAIL!”
Twilight cocked her head. “Sounds like a combo. What’s it mean, Pinkie?”
“Well,” said Pinkie, “Twitchy tail means something’s gonna fall. A twitchy tail followed by two pinchy knees usually means lightning close by. Followed by another knee pinch probably means something even scarier.”
“TAKE COVER!!!” Rainbow Dash screamed, ducking under the overhang of the temple, followed closely by the other ponies. The sky darkened, and a huge bolt of lightning struck the nearest tree in the jungle, starting a small forest fire. The earth near the fire ripped open, and a sudden onslaught of rain drove everypony under the overhang. The rain froze, hurling massive chunks of hail into the burning trees and throwing some into the newly created chasm before the earth’s gaping maw clamped shut with enough force to set up large fragments of stone. The earth shook with what must have been a pretty loud crash, but nopony could hear over the howling winds. As suddenly as it had begun, the crazy storm ended, clouds dissipating and the sun drying the puddles of water and ice. The only evidence that the event had happened at all were the charred remains of a half dozen trees and large chunks rock and dirt scattered haphazardly. For a while all that was heard were the screaming of birds as they fled the area.
Applejack’s voice finally broke the quiet, “What in the name of apple fritters was THAT?”
“I think,” whispered Twilight, “that was the Makuta. He knows we’re here, and wanted us to know that he’s not going to make this easy for us…”
“A challenge?!” roared Rainbow Dash. “I say ‘Bring it on!’ Rainbow Dash isn’t afraid of a little storm! Heck, I’ve built scarier storms than that! Ready or not, here I come!” she shouted as she flew away over the tree-tops.
“Dang it, Dash!” shouted Applejack, chasing after the cyan pegasus. “Ya’ll may have a head start, but ah’ve got the Mask of Speed!” A blur of orange and brown shot from where the farm pony had been standing, and Applejack was gone.
Pinkie Pie gasped. “A race? I love racing! Okreadysetgo!” The pink pony started to hop in the direction her friends had gone.
“Pinkie,” Twilight groaned, “weren’t you and Fluttershy going to her village first?”
“Oh, yeah!” Without even using the mask of levitation, the party mare turned around in midair and landed back in front of Twilight. “Where was that again?” Twilight conjures a map of the island and consults it before pointing east. “Okie dokey loki! Come on Fluttershy!” Pinkie says, grabbing the surprised mare and hopping away at top speed.
Rarity flicked her mane “Well, Twilight, I suppose that leaves you and me as travel companions? Oh, and Spikey Wikey, of course.”
Spike jumps of Twilight’s back and bows low to the ground. “It’d be an honor to have you walk with us, milady.”
Twilight frowned. “Why did I hear that in my brother’s voice...? Whatever. Rarity, let me show you this underground highway I used to get here. It’s supposed to connect to every major location on the island, and it’ll be much easier than going through thick jungle.”
“Not to mention there’s a TON of cool stones and precious metal in the walls,” Spike adds, standing up. “Come on, you’ll love it!” With that, the dragon boy hurries off, leading the way for two bemused mares to follow him.
*****
White sand kicked up behind Scootaloo as she raced north along the eastern shores of Mata Nui. Despite not being one of the ‘legendary Toa,’ Scoots and Sweetie had bugged Vakama to tell them some way they could help. Eventually Jala had entered the Turaga’s stone hut and informed Vakama that communications with Ga-Koro, the water village, had been lost several hours ago. Seeing her chance, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had volunteered to travel to Ga-Koro and investigate, running out of Ta-Koro before Vakama could even come up with a response. Now Scootaloo buzzed her wings furiously as she propelled her trademark scooter along the beach, her old friend packed into a little red wagon alongside her new lava surfboard.
It was no trouble: the board was light, lighter than a certain earth filly (and Pinkie Pie once) that Scootaloo was used to pulling. What was causing her problems was the sand itself. She groaned as she heard and felt the now familiar grinding of wheels on gritty axles. For the fourth time today, Scootaloo got down from her scooter and inspected the grains of sand that kept her wheels from spinning. Once again, she looked around for a suitable stick with which to dislodge the grains. Sweetie Belle would have helped, but the last thing Rarity had told her before heading of into the drifting snow was not to get too much sand in her mane. Still, she gazed out at the sand all the same, searching for something Scoots could use as a tool. What she noticed was not a stick, but a blue matoran waving at her from a small boat. Scootaloo turned to look as Sweetie hopped out of the wagon trotted up to the panicked-looking villager, who wore a blue mask in the same shape as Vakama’s.
“Help me!” said the matoran. The voice was female. “My village has been attacked!”
“Really?” Sweetie asked. “Are you from Ga-Koro? Who are you?”
“My name is Maku! Please help! The rahi that attacked my village imprisoned everyone else in a hut and sank it beneath the waves, but I escaped!”
“Wait a minute,” interrupted Scootaloo. “What are rahi?”
“Monsters!”
“Okay. And what makes you think we can help you?”
“Aren’t you one of the new toa? I mean, you walk on four legs, and don’t have any armor, and one of you has wings. That’s what Nokama said Toa Fluttershy looks like.”
“My name is Scootaloo, and this is Sweetie Belle. I’m not - what did you call it, a toa? - But we can still try to help you! It’s just…”the filly looked back at her malfunctioning mode of transport. “Can I bring my scooter with? I don’t want to leave it behind.”
Maku nodded. “If it will fit in my boat, sure. We must hurry, though. I don’t know when the rahi might come back to attack again, and I have to find the toa to stop it.”
The matoran and pegasus climbed in the boat, Maku lifting the scooter to put it in while Scoots and Sweetie struggled with the wagon. Neither noticed a pair of eye-stalks sticking up from the sand, watching them. Once the boat was far enough from shore, a blue crab popped halfway out of the sand, watching as the boat sailed in the direction of Ga-Wahi. The crab leapt up and hurried after them toward the bay.
*****
“So after I drop you off at Ga-Koro, you need to find Turaga Nokama. She is very wise and should have a plan on how to escape.”
“Yuh-huh,” muttered Scootaloo as the two sailed into Naho Bay. The light sandstone cliffs that surrounded the bay on all sides were capped by all sorts of green. A large waterfall flowed down from the mouth of a giant kanohi mask carved in the cliff side. Floating in the bay was a collection of humongous lily pads, each holding up multiple seaweed huts and connected by long bridges of similar material. The entire structure was currently surrounded by pointed rods of bamboo. These defenses had apparently proved ineffective, as a large hole had been punched through the fencing and a fair portion of the huts were collapsing or damaged, leaving the bridges that once connected them to float aimlessly in the bay. As one of these bridges floated by the boat, Sweetie noticed two sets of four strange, circular symbols, separated by a “+” sign and all inside a giant heart. “Maku, what do those symbols mean?”
Maku glanced briefly at the markings before violently flipping the reeds over and looking away. “Nothing! I mean, it’s written in the language of my people, but it doesn’t say anything important. Certainly nothing about me and Huki, heh-heh-heh…” Scootaloo thought she saw Maku’s mask turn dark reddish-purple for a brief moment, though how that worked, she had no idea. Maku shook the color away, at once remembering the task at hand. “I can’t sail into Ga-Koro because of all the debris floating round. While you’re trying to rescue Nokama, I’ll look for Fluttershy or one of the other toa on foot. If I find them, I’ll get them here so they can chase away the rahi. It doesn’t look like the monsters are here right now, but they could come back at any moment. They always do…”
The boat struck a sand bar, and Scootaloo tossed her scooter onto the beach before helping Sweetie with the wagon and climbing out. “Good luck!” she called as Maku walked through a gap in the cliff side.
“The same to you,” Maku responded before disappearing among the lush jungle.
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle walked up the beach to where a long, leafy green bridge connected the floating dwellings to the mainland. A stone gateway stood between the beach and the bridge, sticks of pointed bamboo barring passage through. The mechanism that opened the gate was a balance made of chain and pulleys. On one left end of the chain sat a large rock with a face carved in design on it. At the right end, a large, cup-like scallop shell hung suspended in the air. Scattered on the ground was a number of small gray stones with matoran writing on them. Numbers, probably. Two blue gems sat at the top of the gate, one in the center of the gate, and one on the chain. Sweetie Bellle suggested that the gate might open when the two blue gems met in the middle.
Three minutes and one very irritated pegasus later, the Crusaders were still placing pebbles into the bowl, then taking them out again when the gem moved too far right of its counterpart. “Forget it,” said Scootaloo. “This is impossible!”
She turned and bucked the shell, causing the rocks inside to fall out into the sand. She then rolled the largest rock as far from the gate as she could, found a plank of driftwood, and placed it upon the stone to make a ramp. As the filly walked back down the beach, a blue crab scurried away from the boat.
A orange-and-purple blur buzzed past and raced off the ramp, landing in the center of the largest lily pad on the other side of the gate. The white filly on the back of the scooter was still screaming after the floating platform stopped rocking “Yes! That’s how it’s done!” cried Scootaloo. “I wish Rainbow Dash had been around to see that!”
Unfortunately, no cheers greeted the daredevil. In the ruined village, the only sounds were those of dripping water and the lapping of the waves as various buildings bobbed up and down with each step she took. If the damage looked bad from the boat, it was even worse on the inside. The plaza floor was riddled with puddles of water. Small, glowing creatures floated in glass tubes that hung from the ceiling of some huts, but many of these lanterns were cracked or shattered, pouring their contents out into the huts. Scootaloo made a note to check every puddle for these creatures before stepping in them; she didn’t like the look of those tiny tentacles, nor did she want to step on any glass, hooves or not.
As the fillies made their way through the village, Scootaloo began to hear another noise: a low whistling sound, like someone breathing through a long straw. Curious, she walked across a bridge to a platform with a large metal device on it. At one end, a welcome mat stood in front of a large expanse of empty water. The pegasus’ ears zeroed in on the source of the sound she was hearing: a hollow reed that extended far below the surface of the water. On a whim, the filly walked up to the reed and called into it, anxious to hear it echo. “RAINBOW IS BEST PONY!!!” she shouted.
To her surprise, a very different voice came back out of the tube. “Hello? Who is there? This is Turaga Nokama speaking!”
Scootaloo started at the name. “My name’s Scootaloo! Maku told me to find you because you could help…umm…yourself escape. Come to think of it, this plan probably wasn’t the best idea, was it?”
“Listen, friend, there's not much time. Even now we run low on air. Do you see that pump next to you?”
“What about it?”
“How many gears are on it?”
“Two.”
“There are supposed to be three. The rahi must have knocked one into the water. I need you to take the bridge to your right and go into the first hut you come to. There is an opening in the floor with a ladder that will take you to our garden below the village.”
“You have a garden underwater?” Sweetie asked.
Another voice spoke up from the reed. “What do you think?!”
“So let me get this straight,” said Scootaloo, ignoring the very rude Ga-Matoran who had just spoken. “I have to use a hut to go underwater, even though it would be easier to just jump in right here, and the piece that’s missing is probably in this general area? And the only piece of this thing that the monster broke just happens to be the most vital part of the whole thing? And it’s so easy to repair that a filly like me can do it?”
“I don’t know what a filly is, but yes, that’s exactly what the Great Spirit demands.”
“Out of curiosity, would anyone know if I were to jump in right here instead of at the hut?”
“Probably not.”
“Good to know.”
The Ga-Koro civilians on the other end of the pipe heard a loud splash.
*****
Scootaloo sputtered and rubbed her eyes. She hadn’t expected the salt water to hurt this much. Last time she had gone diving, she and the other crusaders had worn goggles and snorkel masks. She briefly considered going back up and finding someone else to do this.
No, she thought. I told Nokama and Maku that I would help them. They’re counting on me. If a pony asked Rainbow Dash for help, she wouldn't leave 'em hangin’, and neither will I!
Scootaloo slowly opened her eyes. They continued to burn, but after short while, Scootaloo began to see clearly around her. The rippling waves and lily pads cast strange shadows over the brightly colored coral and various plants growing out of the ground. Schools of mechanical fish swam about, eyeing the filly cautiously. To her right, Scootaloo could see light filtering through a hole in one of the lily pads on an algae-covered rope ladder. Though she would never admit it, the entire scene was beautiful.
Glancing around, she noticed what looked like another spiked sea urchin. Upon closer inspection, the object, not animal, was smooth and flat on two sides, and had a cross-shaped hole through it. It was the gear she was looking for! When she opened her mouth to grab it, but as soon as she did, water flowed into the filly’s lungs. She panicked, dropping the gear and kicking desperately for the surface. A piece of kelp wrapped itself around her leg, and no matter how hard she kicked, Scootaloo could not free herself. As her mind itself began swimming where her legs slowed she slowly … drifted to the … florghpbth…
*****
Scootaloo opened her eyes. Or she thought she did? She felt…almost like a dream. No, not like a dream. In a dream? Her mind was still swimming, floating in the currents of pink, green, and blue. Wait, what?
“Welcome, She-who-is-not-Toa,” declared a voice. What voice? We are not, but we will be. The voice was comforting like Celestia’s, but it was deeper, rougher, and there was no denying themassive power it held. It sounded…like a shield.
“Fear not, for your body is safe in the ocean’s embrace.” Another voice, this one like the flow of wind and of water, mixed with the melody of grass flutes and the singing of crickets, played in her ear. Or in her mind? “We are what comes of three when the powers of Harmony are no more good separate.”
“And we again,” spoke the first voice. “Are each what shall come of three. One of Power and Valor, and One of Grace and Wisdom. The Two from the three and the three.”
“Remember, and until we meet again, child of Harmony,” spoke both voices in chorus.
*****
Scootaloo coughed, starting on a floor of reeds. She was alive, breathing air, in a hut of seaweed. The same sunlight streamed through the open door. In the center of the room was a hole with a rope ladder leading down into the crystal blue ocean.
“What?!” exclaimed Scootaloo. She immediately regretted it, coughing up seawater. Celestia, her throat burned. Her lungs burned. Her eyes burned. "And that's why I don't have a diving cutie mark..."
“Scootaloo! You’re okay!” Sweetie stepped inside and hugged her friend. “I was so worried when I found you floating in that pool! At least you got the gear, though.”
I what? Sitting up, Scoots found the gear she had seen underwater sitting next to her. How it got here, when she remembered dropping it, she didn’t know. But she was alive, and she had what she came for. She wasn’t sure how or why. Maybe it didn’t matter. She picked up the gear and walked out of the hut, down to the pump. She placed the gear between two others like it and pushed an orange button. The gears began to spin, and the water began to churn. Soon, a large hut broke the water and bobbed on the surface. A door opened, and a large group of blue villagers poured out, led by a light blue figure with a black robe and a large trident. The figure pointed at Scootaloo. “Our savior!” The matoran assembled cheered.
The villager’s celebration was cut short as a shrieking roar bubbled up from the water, followed by a large blue beast with long, powerful arms, a fish-like tail, and a beaten, rusty mask on its face…
To be continued…[/i}
Chapter 5: Stare Master, Attention Deficit Ooh, Lava!
BIONICLE: The Toa of Harmony By ToaofTwilightZ Disclaimer: I own no ponies, save for 2 plushies and a Pinkie Pie figure. Bionicle belongs to Lego. Chapter 5: Stare Master, Attention Defici-Ooh, Lava! *****
The little blue ones were screaming. Many had turned to run away. The Tarakava of Ga-Wahi couldn’t remember why that was bad. The beast only heard the deep voice in its head again, telling it not to let any escape.
The Tarakava couldn’t remember how long ago it had begun hearing the voices. Rahi don’t count years, or minutes, or much else for that matter. If the beast was given a tablet asking for two-plus-two, the answer would be 'smash'. The creature had a vague memory of going to sleep in its den many moons ago. When it woke up, a small trail of slime was seen leading from the mouth of the cave to a blackened scrap of metal stuck on the creature’s nose. It was then that the voices started, telling the Rahi to attack a small boat travelling just outside the bay.
The Rahi roared before the assembled matoran as a bolt of pain shot through its thoughts. The voice was reminding its tiny, waterlogged brain of the task at hand. The creature turned to pursue the escaping villagers before a spot of orange caught its eye.
“What it this?” the voice rumbled from his lair, viewing the ‘pony’ through the eyes of his pet. “You were not in Kini-Nui when I showed the rest of your kind my power. Do not worry, brother; these, like the others, will learn to fear the shadows.”
Scootaloo stood petrified, staring as the gigantic beast, twice as tall as a pony, reared to face her. When the monster’s red eyes met her purple ones, she saw they held violence and insanity of a predator. Her own eyes reflected in those savage orbs with all the fear and helplessness of cornered prey as the wall of the hut she had just liberated held her prisoner before the mighty beast.
Scootaloo squeezed her eyes shut and screamed as the creature lunged at her, extending its powerful forelimbs in preparation for a brutal punch. As the filly waited in the dark, she felt the sensation of being grabbed as she was lifted off her feet. She felt herself flying through the air, skimming over water. The light pressure under her barrel hadn’t lessened, and she risked letting her eyes open a little. She was initially greeted by a mess of long, pink mane hanging before her face. Below, her hooves hung suspended above the bluish waters. Raising her head, she met the aquamarine eyes of a light yellow mare. “Fluttershy!” the filly exclaimed with relief. Her hero smiled before wheeling in mid-air and flying back to land atop the hut in Ga-Koro. Setting down the rescued filly, Fluttershy turned to look directly into the eyes of the aquamarine monster before her.
“You!” she shouted (for Fluttershy, shouting was just a little louder than Dash’s ‘inside’ voice.) The villagers stopped panicking to see who had spoken. Nokama had to do a double take to make sure that this angry mare was indeed the same pony from before: the gentle Pegasus’ face had hardened into that scowl which haunts the dreams of cockatrice and dragons alike. Scootaloo grinned as she recognized that legendary look of the one and only ‘Stare Master’. Somewhere in the shadowy depths of Mata Nui, a dark being recoiled in shock.
“How dare you attack a peaceful village like this!” Fluttershy continued, her aquamarine eyes set in the look of maternal disdain that the most unruly of critters spoke of in whispers. “What did they ever do to you, huh?! And what could possibly make you think that it was OK to attack helpless fillies? You should be ashamed!” The creature cowered as the pegasus flew straight up to look the creature in the eye. The shadows in the rahi’s mind recoiled, speechless. “Now you take off that ugly mask, and don’t you EVER let me catch you being a bully in these waters again!” The rahi nodded obediently before removing the mask and diving into the ocean.
Fluttershy hovered in the air, smiling confidently for all of three seconds. It was then she noticed the assembled villagers staring at her, jaws hanging open. The mare landed on the leafy platform below her and backed away, blushing furiously behind her pink mane. “Oh, um, hello…m-m-my name is-”
Suddenly, Scootaloo zipped down to appear next to the shy mare, holding Fluttershy's hoof in the air in victory. “All hail, Fluttershy," the filly yelled, "the Stare Master!” The crowd mumbled in astonishment.
“Fluttershy?”
“The Toa of Kindness!”
“Her?”
“Stare Master…”
“…who's the orange one?”
The chatter died down as the village elder raised her hand for silence. “We thank you, Toa Fluttershy, for the service you have done us in driving away the Tarakava. I see my faith in you was not misplaced. And who is your young herald?”
“Oh, yes! I mean, I don't actually know what Scootaloo is doing here,” Fluttershy sputtered. “She’s a filly from my town that I foalsat for once. I heard Rainbow mention she was here, and Applejack said Applebloom is in a place called Po-Koro, and – wait…” Fluttershy looked at Scootaloo. “Pinkie Pie was supposed to pick you and Sweetie Belle up from Ta-Koro!”
“Did you say Applebloom is here too?” Sweetie asked, coming out from the hut Scoots had left her in, the one that she had fled back into when the monster showed up.
“You know what this means, right?” Scoots grins conspiratorially, getting close to whisper so the adults wouldn’t hear. “This’ll be awesome! We can go on adventures, and help more villages, and fight evil monsters like that Terra-… Terrakion-… Tamaranean-“
“Tarakava,” finished one matoran.
“Right, that! And we can get our cutie marks in vine-swinging, or lava-surfing, or - wait, where is Applebloom again?”
Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak before being interrupted by another matoran, this one with a blue Akaku. “Po-Koro is the village of Stone, located approximately 160 Kio to the north the crater of Mangai, in the Motara Desert. Po-Koro is the northern-most village, known for its spectacular stone-crafting and for being the birthplace of the popular matoran sport known as ‘kohlii’, as well as the home of some of the sport’s greatest players, the greatest of which Maku made me swear not to mention she has a giant crush on.”
“Hey!” shouted Maku, just running up from the beach.
“For four widgets,” continued the matoran, “One can have an employee of Pelagia’s Ferry Service (owned by yours truly) take tourists directly from Ga-Koro to Po-Wahi in a matter of minutes. Heroes of Mata Nui, as well as their companions, ride for free.” Pelagia winked to Scootaloo and Fluttershy as her tourist speech drew to a close. “That is, if someone hadn’t stolen my boat.”
“Borrowed!” exclaimed Maku. “And only to find Toa Fluttershy!”
“It’s true,” confirmed Sweetie. “When I met her around Ta-Wahi, she said right away she was looking for help.”
“I’m sure,” Pelagia answered. “It’s just that every other time she’s ‘borrowed’ my boats, I’ve found them around Po-Wahi the day after a big kohlii match.”
“It seems her sneaking out worked as a blessing in this case-” Nokama argued, giving Pelagia a glare telling her to zip it. Nokama’s gaze softened as it drifted to Maku. “-in spite of how she makes us worry.” Nokama turned back to Fluttershy. “Sorry about that. So I take it you and your friends were able to plan something while you were at the Great Temple?”
“Oh, don’t apologize. I’m used to having to break up arguments among some of the animals back home. Sometimes my friends need a little help with that too. We split into groups of two to look for more masks before confronting that 'Makuta' person you told me about.” Fluttershy’s gaze dropped as she scraped at the ground. “I, um, I did hear that you might have a mask that would help me? I mean, that’s why I was on my way here before, but if you don’t want me to have it…”
Nokama's face brightened as she realized what Fluttershy was talking about. “That’s right, I didn’t have the mask with me on the beach!” The village elder turned to one of the matoran standing next to her. “Kotu, run to my hut and get Toa Fluttershy the Mask of Water Breathing.”
“It’s done, Turaga,” the matoran name Kotu said, bowing before hurrying back through the village. Scootaloo facehoofed. A mask that lets you breath water? I could have used that when I was looking for that missing gear earlier!
Nokama turned to talk to Fluttershy again. “So your friends have split up to look for the masks? That is distressing. There is a reason our people place value in the virtue of Unity. This island holds many dangers, some of which even a Toa with the power to move oceans should not face alone.”
Fluttershy started at the last part. Move oceans? the mare thought. Was Toa Gali really that powerful? And Nokama thinks I can to do Gali’s duty? Duty… The mare pondered that last word. And Unity? Fluttershy let her eyes drift over the matoran, resting on Maku before coming back to meet Nokama’s own yellow orbs.
She cares for them like they were her own children. I should know, I’m the same way about animals. And she trusts me to defend them, to take care of them. Just like I trusted her with Angel Bunny… she thought as the white rabbit, thouroughly soaked, hopped up to rub against her leg affectionately. In that moment, Fluttershy thought she understood this strange being, one who walked on two legs and carried a spear made of bone. The moment after that, she realized that she’d been staring into a virtual stranger’s eyes for 5 seconds longer than she was comfortable with. Fluttershy’s resolve hardened even as she retreated behind her mane once more, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. I will protect them! But I can’t do it alone…
A groan from below caught their attention. The two looked down to see Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle dragging on the floor in agony. “This is soooooo BORING!”
“More boring than when Rarity is ‘in the zone’!”
Fluttershy smirked as Nokama let out a light chuckle. “Scootaloo, was it?" the turaga asked. "Do you and your friend still wish to travel to Po-Koro?” the elder said.
The filly jumped up with an excited grin. “Do we?!!”
Nokama called to Pelagia, who had just finished retrieving her boat in from the beach. The matoran tied her vessel to the dock before coming over to address Nokama. “Yes, Turaga?”
“I assume your offer for a free ride still stands for our young guests?”
Pelagia smiled at the fillies in question. “Where is it you’d like to go?”
Sweetie jumped into the boat and pointed a hoof. “To Po-Koro!” she said, before remembering something. She hopped out of the boat, blushing. “Just…let us get a few things first.”
The two fillies raced to the town square and returned with the scooter, helmet, wagon, and lava-board in tow. Following closely behind her was Kotu, carrying a gray mask with a clear visor above what looked like the mouthpiece of a scuba apparatus. Fluttershy recognized it as the same mask carved from the waterfall outside the village. “Your Kanohi Kaukau,” the matoran said, bowing as the Toa of Kindness took the mask and put it on. The mask changed from the color of clay to a bright metallic blue.
Scootaloo tossed her gear into the boat as Sweetie once again pointed a hoof toward the horizon. “To Po-Koro!”
“Um, miss?” said Kotu. “North is the other way.”
“Oh. I knew that.”
“Thank you, Kotu, Pelagia, and thank you, Nokama,” said Fluttershy. “I won’t let Ga-Koro down.” Fluttershy seemed to think for a moment, before adding, “Scootaloo? If you see Applejack, would you please tell her to meet me and Pinkie in Ta-Koro? I’d like to have another meeting. I think Nokama is right. Nopony should be exploring this place alone. Be careful, girls.”
“We will, Fluttershy,” Scootaloo replied before hopping in the boat herself. As Pelagia shoved off, Scoots called back, “And don’t worry! I won’t do anything that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t do!”
“Oh, dear.”
*****
Deep beneath the surface of Mata Nui, a pair of glowing red eyes watched as the pegasus mare said her goodbyes to her new friends in Ga-Koro.
"So, there is more to these ponies than meets the eye. Fear not, my brother, they will not disturb your slumber. For where there is power hidden, so too is there darkness to be had."
*****
Pinkie Pie skipped down the beach toward the charred forest in the distance. “A long, long time ago, there was a volcano...living all alone in the middle of the Omygosh what is THAT!?” The pink mare stopped singing as she spotted something in the shadows of the jungle. Resting in the shadow of the foliage, a mask sat upon a rock. She trotted up to get a closer look. “Hi, there, Mr Mask! My name’s Pinkie Pie, and I’m your knew friend. I bet you thought that nobody would ever pick you up because you’re all dull and rusty, but I know that with a little love and care, we can make you nice and shiny and green again,” she assured the poor object before popping it on her face.
“Eeewww,” she shuddered as her head started to feel funny. “Maybe I should have washed you off in the ocean first, you’re really slimy. Come on, let’s get you clean, then we can go visit the volcano and I can introduce you to my friends!”
“You don’t want to do that,” she heard a voice in her mind tell her. Pinkie stopped in her tracks.
“I don’t?” she asked as the funny feeling spread to other parts of her body
“You will exactly what I want you to do.”
“Okie Doki Loki,” Pinkie replied, removing the mask as she trotted off into the jungle.
*****
Twilight watched as Spike pulled himself out from a pool of molten rock. “Any luck?”
“Nope,” the dragon replied. “Swimming across a tunnel flooded with lava? No sweat. But on the other side, there’s this machine with all these buttons, and I don’t know what I’m doing.” Spike turned to the black armored matoran at her side, holding a golden key. “Sorry, dude.”
The Onu-matoran rubbed the chin of his purple mask. “That’s alright. I wish I didn’t have to bother a toa and her scribe with our troubles. The lava pump is a handful; some of our best engineers need to bring written instructions with ‘em cuz they’re such a pain to try and memorize. Problem is, even if you could swim back and forth here while we tell you each step, the thing resets after so long. And anything we could write it on would either melt or burn in the flow.”
Twilight shook her head. “Turaga Whenua told you need the stash of light stones at the end of this tunnel. He’s been a big help to us so far, answering all our questions, and we’d be more than happy to help if we only knew a way how. If it weren’t for the glare from the lava, I could just teleport over there with a set of instructions, but without being able to see where I’m jumping, I could end the jump too short, leaving me to fall in lava, or worse, I could reappear inside a wall.”
“Really? A dirt wall is scarier than 2000 degrees of pain?” the matoran asked.
“It is when the dirt is where your lungs used to be,” Twilight answered. “Statistically speaking, 2000 degrees will end a pony’s life in a matter of seconds. Suffocation can last for minutes on end, and you’re awake for most of it.”
Spike looked like he was gonna be sick. “Twi, you know how I felt after helping you research those statistics. It took a week before I got the image of that pony’s guts out of my head. Every time I thought about it felt like the time the princess was sending you those letters nonstop.”
“Sorry Spike, I forget my big, tough, fireproof dragon can get a little squeamish,” Twilight apologized. rubbing the top of head as if messing up his mane. “I just wonder what the princess will say when I send her letters about...this… letters… Spike, you’re a genius!”
“Well, yeah, don’t forget brave, and manly, and good-looking, and…” Spike listed out his positive qualities on his fingers. After a bit, he turned back to ask Twilight “what did I say that was great again?”
“Letters, Spike!” Twilight grinned. “Princess Celestia taught me the spell a while ago that she uses to send you letters! All we need is for you to swim back across the lava to the shore with the machine, and I can send you the instructions through your firebreath.”
“Oh yeah! That was a pretty good idea. Glad I thought of it!” Spike said, striking a pose.
Fifteen minutes later, at the end of a tunnel of freshly-cooled stone, Twilight, Spike, and the newly returned Rarity and Turaga Whenua stood in awe of a massive chamber riddled with glowing crystals. “Oh my, I must apologize, Turaga Whenua. When Spikey-Wikey told me of your realm, I was expecting the dingy tunnels of the diamond dogs back home. But I just returned from a beautiful shrine in the middle of the subterranean lake where I found my latest mask, and then this! I only wish whatever brought us here had brought my fabrics with me! Twilight, can you imagine what the Canterlot elite would say if I studded my gowns with gems that could actually SHINE?”
“I’m impressed how many miners are already at work here again, considering the passage has barely been safe for one or two minutes,” Twilight remarked, observing the scores of miners loading fresh lightstone into carts being drawn by ussal crabs.
“The matoran of earth are nothing if not diligent!” Whenua chuckled. “You should meet Taipu, one of the diggers for our new tunnel to Le-Wahi. We have to limit the use of torches that close to the swamps, but even when the others gave up digging as our lightstones ran low, Taipu simply stuck a small wax candle to his mask and kept right on going! Not that one matoran was going to make much progress, but now…!” Whenua shook his head. “I can’t thank you enough. I’ve been worried about Le-Wahi lately. No one has seen or heard from Turaga Matau, the leader Le-Koro, the jungle village. I fear the worst, that perhaps the Makuta has destroyed our brothers to the south, or worse! Added them to his ranks…” the short elder leaned heavily on his staff as he finished, looking centuries older as he worried about his old friend.
Rarity caught on to something else. “Twilight, weren’t Pinkie and Fluttershy talking about returning to that jungle village? You don’t think they’re in trouble, do you?”
“I don’t know, Rarity, but so long as they stayed together, I wouldn’t worry too much.”
BIONICLE: The Toa of Harmony By ToaofTwilightZ Note: Why are you still reading this? I already told you: I don't own the rights MLP or Bionicle. Now get off my lawn! Damn kids... Chapter 6: The Infection, Crusade Begins *****
Piatra stood atop the walls of Po-Koro, looking out over the desert. Below, a winding path curved through the dust and sculptures. Normally, there were three more matoran up here keeping guard alongside Piatra, but all had succumbed to the plague. So here he was, alone, watching the path in case any rahi tried to get through the main gate. Looking toward the horizon, he noticed a cloud of dust coming fast from the direction of the sea. So fast, in fact, that he doubted he’d be able to hit it with a disk should it come in range.
So instead, he decided to get down and block the entrance himself. As it came closer, he spotted an orange and purple blur at the head of the sandstorm. Closer, and he heard loud and excited woops of joy. Piatra lowered his chisel in a defensive position. Whatever this was wasn’t getting into his village without permission. As the cloud got even closer, the orange blur coalesced into a small pony on a board with handles that rolled on wheels, and another pony foal being pulled in a red wagon behind her. The orange filly’s tiny wings buzzed loudly, and she wore a Ta-Koro lava board on its back. Upon seeing the matoran blocking her path, the pony didn’t stop, or even slow down. Instead, she whipped to the right and grinded past Piatra along the edge of a statue. “’Scuse me!” she yelled in an adorably tomboyish voice as she flew through the Po-Koro gate.
Piatra must have stood there for 30 seconds, simply staring at the gate the small pony disappeared through. The matoran shrugged. “Oh well, next time.” With that the matoran turned to begin the climb back up to the top of the gate… only to be hit in the face by a charging ussal crab.
*****
Applebloom breathed heavily as her hooves pounded against sand and rock again and again. She knew if a certain pink foal saw her now, the bully would take no time in pointing out how awful the young earth foal looked. Her mane hung messily over one shoulder, her trademark bow lying discarded in the dirt. She could hear Diamond Tiara making a crack at how Applebloom’s coat, now slick with sweat and stained bronze by dust, was fitting for a foal whose family made a living beating dirt and wood. And, of course, how stupid she must be to be running into the path of a flying boulder.
Seriously, what’s wrong with these Po-Matoran fellers that they think kickin’ rocks at each other is fun? Applebloom thought to herself as, grunting from effort, the filly channeled all her fledgling earth magic and the power of countless generations of Apples into a single buck. The impact sent a shock through the filly’s entire body, and the Kohlii ball was sent straight toward the head of the opposing goalie. But instead of dodging the massive projectile, the matoran goalie rose to deliver a massive head-butt, launching the rock back towards his ally. Oh… ah guess brain damage’ll do it…
As the goalie popped his neck, his partner did a backflip to catch the Kohlii ball in mid-air between his feet. He then used his momentum to launch the stone ball at high speed towards the opposite goal. More specifically, the same earth pony filly whose legs were too sore from that last buck to dodge in time. Applebloom’s eyes widened as she began to realize what she’d gotten herself into. Her thoughts (and screams) were cut short as a buzzing noise and a yell preceded a sharp impact not her skull, but to her side. She rolled in sparse dirt of the Po-Koro Kohlii arena as the stone landed loudly off to her left. When the dust settled, Applebloom opened her eyes to find herself at the bottom of a pile of saddlebags, sports equipment, and a two familiar fillies with their eyes spinning in their sockets.
“Scootaloo!” shouted Applebloom with equal parts relief and excitement.
“Uh, hey Applebloom,” Scootaloo replied as she dizzily got back to her hooves. Once the orange chickens stopped flying around her head, Scootaloo remembered where she was. “So what in the hay was that?!” she exclaimed, stomping a hoof. “Why were you screaming, and why was that boulder flying straight at you?”
Applebloom struggled out from Sweetie Belle before helping the unicorn to her feet, hugging her friend before explaining. “The matoran here like to play a game called Kohlii. It’s kinda like soccer, but they don’t have the materials to make regular balls, so they use rocks.”
One of the villagers on the field spoke up. “Your friend said she wanted to try, something about getting a ‘cutie mark’ or something like that. So we let her join our game. In hindsight, we probably should have gone a little easier on her, seeing as she’s a beginners and don’t have the advantage of having a skull made of metal.”
At the mention of cutie marks, all three crusaders looked at Applebloom’s flank expectantly, only to be disappointed yet again. Applebloom looked back at the matoran. “The head-butt might ’a been a lil’ overkill,” she admitted, straightening her bow in her still-messy mane.
“Wait,” Scootaloo said. “You mean you’ve been crusading without me?”
“What’s all this yelling about?” said a tan being limping onto the field. Scootaloo noticed he was similar in shape and dress to Vakama and Nokama, though quite a bit taller, and carrying a large hammer in place of a torch or trident. “I just got finished saving Piatra from being mauled at the gate by an ussal, of all things. Next I hear there’s been an accident at the Kohlii field. Mata Nui knows we have enough problems with the sickness going around the village; I don’t need this kind of stress at my age…”
“Piatra needed the village elder to stop an ussal crab?” the matoran goalie cocked his head, smirking. “Remind me again why he’s in the guard?”
“Sorry, Onewa,” said Applebloom. “Ah thought ah could get my Cutie Marks playin’ Kohlii, but ah guess I was wrong.”
Onewa’s mouth hung agape. He gestured to the two matoran. “You mean you…?” he turned to look at Applebloom, “with the Toa’s sister?!” the turaga hissed. He facepalmed. “Of course you did. If they can kick a ball, then they’re good enough to hurl 40 kio-an-hour rocks at. Never mind that if anything were to happen to her under our watch, Toa Applejack might not help be so willing to help us.”
“Um, sir? Are you related to Turaga Vakama and Nokama and Nuju?” asked Sweetie Belle asked.
Onewa turned to the other two crusaders, having not yet noticed their presence. “You might say that. There was a time when we, the turaga, called each other ‘brother’ and ‘sister’, but we are the only ones who remember that time in the before-time. And you are one of the toa?”
“Why does everypony keep asking us that?” thought Scootaloo aloud, shaking her head in answer.
“Scootaloo Sweetie are my friends!” exclaimed Applebloom, draping her forelegs over her friends’ withers. “We’re all part of the-“
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” cheered all three fillies at once, with Scootaloo adding a final “Yay!” Everyone in the village stopped what they were doing to stare at the young ponies, all of Po-koro going awkwardly silent save for shouting coming from the gate as a crab pounced on the distracted guard. The Crusaders simply stood there, smiling obliviously at the Turaga.
“We’re a secret club!” said Applebloom.
“Mm-hm…” replied Onewa. “And what exactly is a Cutie Mark?”
Now it was the girls’ turn to be shocked. “You don’t know what a Cutie Mark is?” Applebloom asked, shocked.
“I’m afraid not. Why don’t you follow me to my home so you can introduce me to your friends, and I can tell you about our village? Maybe you can tell under what circumstances you met the other turaga.” As Onewa and the crusaders walked away, both matoran started to cough violently.
*****
“You come at a dark time, I’m afraid,” said the Turaga once they were inside his home. “While we are joyful at the arrival of the toa, a dark plague has corrupted my people and my village. Though many still stay at work, and visit the bazaar, and play Kohlii, they have blinded themselves to the truth. Huki, our greatest Kohlii champion, was one of the first to fall ill. He has become weakened, and cannot move from his bed. I fear that soon we will see in him the beginnings of the Madness, the same diabolical force that grips the wild Rahi when their masks become infected.”
“Wait, did you say Huki?” interrupted Scootaloo. “I think I heard that name somewhere… Oh yeah! I think Maku from that floating water village is friends with him!”
“An entire village floating on water?!” Applebloom responded incredulously. “And you’re complainin’ about ME havin’ fun without YOU? What’ve ya’ll been doin’ while ah been here?”
Scootaloo chuckled, rubbing the back of her head as she and Sweetie recounted their adventures on Mata Nui, starting with waking up on the beach and finally the Fluttershy’s battle with the sea monster. Onewa and Applebloom listened intently, the earth pony gasping where appropriate and laughing at some of the more embarrassing parts. Once the tale was finished, Applebloom stared at her fellow crusaders, eyes wide with awe and perhaps a little fear at what her friends had gone through. The turaga seemed to be looking all three travelers over, as if now viewing them in a completely different light.
“That’s one heckuva story, girls,” said Applebloom. “Way better than what ah’ve been doin’. Ah I just woke up in the desert Applejack yellin’ to me about somethin’, an’ then I got to watch my sister hogtie a giant bug thing ‘fore droppin’ me off at this here village. Ah was so bored after a while that ah decided to try this Kohlii thing that everyone in the village wouldn’t stop talking about it. Then… I guess that’s where you showed up. And we still don’t have our cutie marks!” the filly whined.
Onewa interrupted here. “Now I know I asked this at the Kohlii field, but what is this ‘cutie mark’?”
“It’s like a sign,” said Applebloom. “It’s appears on grown-up ponies’ flank to show what they’re good at.”
“My sister has three diamonds to represent how good she is at finding gems, Applejack has apples because she works at Sweetie Apple Acres, Rainbow Dash has a lightning bolt because she can fly faster than anypony…” Sweetie Belle explained, pointing to her blank white flank, “Younger ponies don’t get their cutie marks until they discover their own special talent.”
“So that’s why we founded the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” gushed Scootaloo. “We try all kinds of stuff until we find something we’re good at, and then we’ll have our cutie marks! I want mine to be awesome, just like Rainbow Dash!”
“We even have our capes!” said Sweetie Belle, whipping one of her gold and red creations from her saddlebags and draping it across her withers to proudly display the blue and yellow pony crest patch.
“You think we could find a new clubhouse on the island here?” asked Scoots as she and Applebloom put on their own capes.
“That would be AMAZING!” both Sweetie and Applebloom agreed.
“Excuse me,” said Onewa, trying to get a word in. All three fillies looked at him, just now remembering that the tan turaga was, in fact, present in his own home. “That’s all well and good, but I’d rather you try things that aren’t so dangerous while you are here? I’m supposed to be looking after you for Toa Applejack, and I’ve already got my hands full trying to find the source of this plague…”
“Hey! That’s it!” Applebloom exclaimed, realization striking her. “We can investigate around here, interviewin’ the locals an’ seein’ if we can find the source of that ‘Madness’ stuff! We’ll be the-“
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS OUTBREAK INVESTIGATORS! Yay!” all three shouted as they bolted out the door, capes flapping. Scootaloo poked her head back in. “Oh, can you hang onto this lava surfboard?” she asked, tossing the board on top of the turaga’s worktable, knocking several half-finished sculptures and tablets to the floor.
“I wouldn’t…” The turaga tried to finish, but the fillies were already gone. He drop his head into his hands. “Mata Nui, what have I gotten into?”
*****
The crusaders had hardly gotten out the door before they heard someone yelling at them from across the bazaar. “Hello, strangers! I saw your yellow friend’s remarkable performance on the Kohlii field earlier!”
The three fillies walked over to a stall where a beige matoran with a round, black mask sat atop what looked like a metal ostrich. “Let me recommend the Comet, our most popular model of Kohlii ball. It’s the fasted, most well balanced ball on the market…” The salesman enthusiastically gestured to a market stall behind him, covered in identical stone balls. One of the circular letters on the sign had flames drawn around it to look like a comet tail. Applebloom looked deadpan at the trader.
“Ah ain’t payin’ money for no rock.”
“Ah, but of course not. Here in the bazaar we use the barter system. One of your opponents from the Kohlii match just traded me this Husi Pecking Bird for one.” The trader gestured to his peculiar mount. Sweetie Belle mentally catalogued to the creature under the name ‘Husi’ before remembering that they were supposed to be interviewing the matoran.
“So if we had a Husi, you would give us a ball?” she asked.
“Probably not,” the trader said. “After your friend insulted my ‘rocks’, I might just ask for more. Besides, I already have a Husi, so I’d probably be more willing to trade for, maybe, half a dozen Mahi?”
“What’s a Mahi?” asked Scootaloo.
“It’s one of those goat things,” Sweetie Belle pointed across the bazaar to an armored goat with two massive horns.
“What, now you’re the encyclopedia on alien creatures, too?” Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Belle skeptically.
“A half-DOZEN a’ them fellers?!” shouted Applebloom, outraged.
The matoran crossed his arms. “Take or leave it.”
“Fine!” yelled Applebloom as she stomped off, fuming. “Ah’m leavin’ it!”
Sweetie Belle pulled Scootaloo off to the side. “You better go after her, Scoots. Make sure she doesn’t get us in trouble.”
“What about you?”
“I still wanna interview this salesman guy, see if I can find I can learn more.”
“Cool. Once I have Applebloom, I’ll look into that Huki guy. Maku says he’s the best Kohlii champion on the island, but the old guy-“
“Turaga Onewa.”
“Right, him. He said that Huki was also the first to get sick. Something doesn’t add up. Even Rainbow Dash didn’t get to be an awesome athlete by ignoring her health.”
“You might be on to something, Scoots. We’ll meet back at the Kohlii field when we’re done.”
“Right. Good luck, Sweetie Belle!”
With that, the caped filly drove off after Applebloom. Once the buzzing wings had faded from hearing, Sweetie Belle turned back to the matoran trader. “Sorry about Applebloom. My sister Rarity says that being stubborn kind of runs in her family. Between you and me,” Sweetie Belle said, smiling at the trader as she tried to bat her eyelashes like she had seen Rarity do to countless uncooperative salesponies, “I just don’t think she can appreciate such fine stonework like I can.”
The trader cocked his head skeptically. “Is that so?”
“Oh, absolutely!” the filly gushed in her best imitation of the Toa of Generosity. “My sister just so happens to collect gems in our home town, and uses them in her FABULOUS outfits. But one simply cannot, I repeat, CANNOT use just any old gem one finds on the ground. One has to be able to be able to recognize certain qualities in the gem such as, um, hardness, and, and, denseness! Yes, and, um, uuuuuuh... shininess!”
“Shininess,” repeated the matoran flatly.
“Well, yes,” replied Sweetie Belle, still in her fake ‘frou frou’ voice, “I do suppose that shininess is not an overall important quality for the stones to have as you're using. But even so, after finding the right stones, you still must have to polish them, yes? One simply does not find boulders in such perfectly aerodynamic shapes like these here, just as Rarity has to buff and polish her gems to reveal their full beauty. Oh, and the craftsmanship on your creations is just, um," let me see, Rarity would say... "DIVINE!!”
The matoran blushed as he rubbed the back of his head. He didn’t get much praise for his carving skill; he usually ended up being overshadowed by some other carver. “Well, I – EH-hrrm, yes, ah-” the matoran started over, trying in vain to hide how much the flattery had affected him with his usual wall of salesman indifference. “While I appreciate the praise, I’m afraid I can’t lower the price.”
“Oh, but I wouldn’t ask you to, darling,” continued Sweetie Belle - she was really starting to get the hang of talking like her sister. Rarity is right: flattery is fun! “After all, why shouldn't something you’ve put so much hard work into be worth every penny, bit, or even bird, for that matter. All I ask, from stone-crafter to stone enthusiast, where do you get such quality boulders?”
“Oh, well, it’s not easy, let me tell you! You see first I have to-,” the carver began, more than happy to boast about himself and his accomplishments, only to realize what he was about to tell the crafty young unicorn. Darn, he’s on to me, thought the caped crusader. But instead of becoming angry at the possible prospect of telling the competition what made his product superior, the matoran looked terrified, as if revealing his secret would be under penalty of death. “Well… I… um…,” the trader stammered. “N-now, that’s pr-r-rivilaged information, my young friend, ehe-he…” As the matoran looked around, it seemed as if every shadow held a pair of frightening red eyes that wanted nothing more than to consume his mind. “I need to go!”
The panicked matoran ran out of the village into the sea of sand, leaving a very confused unicorn in his wake.
*****
Scootaloo ran after her enraged friend. “Applebloom, wait up!”
Applebloom turned to look as her friend caught up. “Can you believe that feller? Of all the side-windin’ snake-in-the-grass salesponies... Granny Smith told us all ‘xactly what kinda crooks them ponies are. Do ya’ll remember last cider season?”
“How could I forget? That was the best cider I ever had! Those guys might have been crooks, but Celestia, was that a musical number I could dance to! Er, sorry.”
“Hmph. Don’t mention it,” Applebloom huffed, sitting down and crossing her forelegs across her chest.
“C’mon, Applebloom. We still have a mystery to solve. Sweetie’s buttering the guy up so he’ll spill. Meanwhile, I wanna check out a lead on that Huki guy. Like I told Sweetie Belle, he was the first to get sick, so maybe we can find something out by talking to him.”
Scootaloo stopped the first matoran she saw to ask for directions to Huki’s place. The matoran coughed up some mirky green fluid and pointed to a hut with an ‘X’ marked across the door. “But I wouldn't go in there if I were you. *cough cough* Huki isn’t much for visitors these days. When the guy isn’t yelling dilerious, he’s complainin’ about the smell; he’s been bedridden and hasn’t gotten to clean for a week.*cough cough* I hope I’m not comin’ down with what he’s got…” the matoran muttered as he walked away.
The orange filly said goodbye to the sickly villager before turning back to Applebloom. “I just hope ponies can’t catch whatever it is that makes robots sick.”
“Sweetie would tell ya they’re cyborgs,” corrected Applebloom.
"What's the difference?"
"Robots don't have souls." Applebloom looked at the inky sludge that had gotten on her friend’s forehoof when she touched the sick matoran. “Here, let me see that.”
The filly took a glass jar and a hoofkerchief out of her saddlebags, releasing the lightning bugs she had been keeping inside jar and wiping the liquid from Scootaloo’s hoof with the rag before placing said rag in the jar.
“What are you doing there, ‘Bloom?” Scootaloo asked.
“Ah’m takin’ a sample. At the doctor’s, somepony always rubs the back a’ your throat, see if there’re critters in it. You cain’t see ‘em, but maybe if we had a magnifyin’ glass or somethin'…”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Yeah, whatever. We can do that sciency stuff later. Let’s go see if we can get in an’ see the kohlii champion!”
Applebloom smiled as she replaced the lid on the jar and put it in her bag. “The way you keep talkin’ bout him, seems RD might have some competition.”
“What? No way,” Scootaloo said as she and Applebloom were walking to the hut. “Rainbow Dash is way cooler than some robot that kicks rock for a living.”
Applebloom stopped in front of the stone door of the home, trying to get it to budge. “Cyborg,” she corrected her friend. No dice. The door was locked tight. “’Sides, what’s so bad about kickin’ rocks?” Applebloom smiled as she reared back and bucked the door as hard as she could.
The stone wasn’t too thick, and after a few solid kicks the door cracked and fell to the ground. Immediately, the fillies covered their nostrils; that matoran they talked to wasn’t kidding about the smell. The stench was like the breath of a timber wolf that had eaten a rusty can of tuna. Looking inside, the fillies saw several trophies along the walls and on the shelves, guarding a small blue matoran doll. There were statues on the floor, just like the statues they had seen in homes all over Mata Nui, tall rocks with a face drawn on them. A kohlii ball sat next to the bed. And on the bed sat a matoran, with flies buzzing around his head. “W-who are you?” the matoran wheezed. “*Cough* Stay away from me!”
“I’m Scootaloo, and this is Applebloom. We just wanted to talk to you. We’re trying to help Turaga Onewa investigate the disease in your village. Do you remember when you first got sick?”
“It was right after *cough* I won the last kohlii match. I think I was using a new kind of ball…it was well balanced, and flew really fast…I can’t remember. How long have I been here, anyway? *cough* How many days? I used…I used to know…I’m not sure anymore.”
Applebloom looked around the hut as the two talked, searching for clues. Nothing seemed out of order among the matoran’s belongings (blue matoran-shaped plush doll aside). She gave the matoran a critical eye. While most matoran she had met had eyes that glowed in bright yellows and reds, Huki’s were a dull faded pink. His mask looked like it had seen better days; it looked rusted, and she thought she noticed the same inky green liquid from in the street covering spots of the mask.
“I met Maku in Ga-Koro. She mentioned you were friends…kinda,” Scootaloo continued.
“You know Maku? Listen, she must not know *cough*… she must not know that I am ill. If you tell her, she will come here, and she mustn’t see me like this…she must not…” The matoran’s speech deteriorated into a fit of coughing. Applebloom tried to remain patient, looking away and pretending to study some of the trophies on the wall. Scootaloo wasn’t so subtle, diving to the ground and putting her cape over her head to keep from being coughed on. Applebloom rolled her eyes, lightly kicking her friend for her rude behavior (Scootaloo would later argue they had different definitions of 'lightly'). Applebloom turned back to look at Huki, who had stopped coughing. She found him looking directly at her, bright red eyes piercing her very soul. “You shouldn’t be here,” Huki said in a voice far deeper than his own. Just then he started to cough again, his eyes fading to their light pink hue as he cradled his head. “Oh,” he moaned, his voice returned, “What…What were we talking about?”
Applebloom just stood there a moment, wondering if what just happened was real. After a few seconds, she tentatively found her voice. “Ya’ll…ya’ll were just sayin’ how we shouldn’t be here…”
“I was? *cough cough* Mm, no one should be here. I just want to be left alone. I feel... strange…you must go.”
“What?” Scootaloo exclaimed, getting up. “But we still have questions we wanted-“
The matoran reached both arms to his head again, groans becoming a savage growl. “Get out!” he roared. The frightened fillies obediently ran out the door, not daring to look back in case the crazed invalid was somehow coming after them.
*****
It was high noon when three disturbed fillies met at the kohlii field to discuss their findings over lunch.
“So why’d that Huki guy snap at you?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Ah don’t know!” answered Applebloom. “But ya know how his eyes were dull red earlier? Well, whenever he got nasty and scary, his eyes got bright and spooky.”
Scootaloo swallowed a bit of apple Applebloom had provided. “I saw something like that in Ga-Koro, with the Terkara…Tarkavana…the fish monster! When it showed up, its eyes were red, but after Fluttershy removed its mask, it’s eyes were yellow, and it just ran away.”
“Come to think of it,” said Sweetie Belle, “Onewa did say something about the epidemic here being similar to how Makuta controls Rahi.”
On a hunch, Applebloom asked Scootaloo “What did the mask of the Fish Monster look like?”
Scootaloo thought for a moment. “Well, it was blue while it was on the thing’s face, but I think all masks change colors when they’re being worn. Aside from that, it looked rusty, and not natural rusty. More like something got splattered on it to make it rust in certain spots.”
Applebloom gasped. “You mean something like -” Applebloom dug in her saddlebags, pulling out the glass jar and the hoofkerchief in it. “-this?” she finished, pointing to the fluid that had condensated off the hoofkerchief and was sloshing at the bottom of the jar.
“Lemme see that,” said Sweetie Belle, throwing the hoofkerchief on the ground before looking at the stuff at the bottom of the jar. The substance swirled as if on its own, like a swarm of bees in a hive. Looking at it too long made one nauseous. “Interesting…”
“C’mon Sweetie! You gotta know something!” urged Scootaloo.
“I don’t know. Maybe…” the Sweetie pondered.
“What is it?”
“What’re ya thinkin’?”
“Tell us! Tell us!”
“It’s…” Sweetie Belle started, still staring at fluid the jar. Her friends leaned in, anxious to hear her answer.
“Weird.”
The orange and yellow foals landed face-first in the dirt. Scootaloo shot back up, glaring. “Just ‘weird’?! That’s it? Isn’t there some kind of egghead rule where unicorns are supposed know tons of stuff?”
Sweetie looked up and whined indignantly. “Sorry, that’s all I got! This is my first time seeing anything like this! It sounds like you and Applebloom have more experience with this stuff than I do.”
“Come to think of it, ah noticed some stuff like that splattered on Huki’s mask earlier,” said Applebloom, getting up and going to retrieve her hoofkerchief from where Sweetie had discarded it. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle both jumped as they heard the farm-filly scream. They turned to look at her as she pointed a shaking hoof at the cloth on the ground, her eyes wide as dinner plates. The sheet was splayed flat on the ground, and on it, the murky fluid had formed a jagged, scowling face.
“Kill it with fire!” Scootaloo shouted, ducking behind a rock. Sweetie Belle screamed, unthinkingly trying to summon her magic. After several second of struggling, though, the cloth was still sitting there with its static, menacing frown. Sweetie yelped as a sudden spark flashed from her horn, and the hoofkerchief burst into flames. Scootaloo peeked out from her hiding place. “Is it gone?” The orange filly cautiously walked over to kick at the ashes. “Whoa. You know Sweetie, I didn’t mean for you to actually light it on fire.”
“Um, oops,” said Sweetie, blushing as she rubbed the back of her head. “I didn’t mean to do it, either. I was just trying to use telekinesis to throw it away.”
“It’s ok, Sweetie Belle,” said Applebloom. “Just remind me not ta ask ya ta pass the dynamite when we try for our minin’ cutie marks.”
"Hey!"
“Gosh, I hope nopony heard us screaming like that,” said Scootaloo, looking around. The others searched the field and the surrounding area. It was then that they realized they hadn’t seen anyone there since they met for lunch.
“That’s weird,” Applebloom thought aloud. “This place hasn’t been empty since ah first set hoof in this village. These matoran love kohlii more’n anything. There’s always somebody at least kickin’ a boulder around.”
“Hey, isn’t that a kohlii ball over there?” said Scoots, pointing to a boulder in the center of the court. The three fillies went over to investigate.
“Not just any kohlii ball,” said Sweetie, examining the stone closely. “This looks a lot like the balls that carver was selling in the bazaar. I remember him saying that after we went into Onewa’s place, our friends from the kohlii field bought one of his works and came back here. So where did those matoran g-AH!” She jumped back as the same green fluid they had found in Huki’s hut and Applebloom’s jar began trickling along the grooves and edges of the stone.
“Gah! Kill it with-“ Scootaloo started to yell, only for Applebloom to stop her by shoving a yellow hoof in her mouth. “Wait,” the farm filly said. “This could be another clue!”
“Hmm…” Sweetie Belle tapped her chin with her hoof, deep in thought.
Scootaloo shoved the yellow hoof away from her muzzled, gagging at the taste before stating “This had better not be another one of your ‘It’s weird’ observations, Sweetie Belle.”
“I think I get it…” Sweetie said to herself more than anyone. “This fluid stuff must be what makes masks get all rusty. I think that whoever wears these masks get infected by them and can be controlled by Makuta. The matoran and other intelligent species must have something that lets them resist the effects to a certain extent. That’s why the infection starts like a regular disease. But as the body and mind get weaker, the mask starts having greater power. Creatures like rahi don’t have this resistance, they aren’t as smart so they won’t always realize that they’re being controlled and how.”
“Um, I lost you at intelligent,” said Scootaloo, before smacking herself in the forehead. “That came out wrong. But how is Makuta getting this stuff into Po-Koro? I mean, so far the guard hasn’t been all that great at stopping fillies and crabs, but I think someone would have to have noticed if evil slime was crawling across the desert.”
“I’m not sure. I also don’t know why this comet ball was slick with the stuff. There’s gotta be a connection.” Sweetie Belle pondered.
Just then, Applebloom remembered something. “Hey, didn’t Huki say he won a kohlii match usin’ some kinda new ball that flew really fast? Ah’ll bet he was usin’ a Comet! Ah thought that trader was shifty! Ah bet all his rocks are covered in this stuff.”
“But then how does it get on the masks?” asked Sweetie.
Applebloom thought back to the kohlii match. She had been doing so well up until her opponent had blocked her shot with his- “That’s it! Po-Matoran sometimes hit kohlii balls with their heads!”
“Why would you hit a rock with your head?” Scootaloo asked.
“Because they already have rocks where their brains should be?” Sweetie suggested. The fillies giggled. “Hey, let’s take our clues to Turaga Onewa! Maybe he’ll know what to do next!”
*****
Onewa concentrated on the chiseled letters on the stone in front of him. He was almost finished with the sign cancel to cancel the match tomorrow; all he had to do was add one dot to the ‘L’ in ‘KOHLII’. He lined up his chisel and raised his hammer. The stone was soft, so he would have to be gentle. He swung –
Just then, three cheering fillies burst through his door. The startled elder sent the chisel straight through the sign, smashing it to pieces and leaving a crack in the stone table below. Sighing at the rubble, Onewa turned to face the assembled Crusaders, each interrupting and trying to talk over one another as they told what Onewa could only hope was the same story.
“We found it!”
“Weird trader-“
“-creepy gunk, and then we-“
“Girls…”
“-screaming like crazy.”
“Huki was-“
“-more apples-“
“Girls…”
“Headshot!”
“Girls!” Onewa shouted, banging his hammer on the table. The three fillies stopped and looked at him, but someone was still talking.
“-and then I said, ‘oatmeal!? Are you cra…“ Pinkie Pie’s voice trailed off as she realized the room had gone quiet. Pinkie looked around. “This isn’t Le-Koro, is it?”
“Le-Koro is at the southern end of the island,” Onewa stated, still unsure what was going on.
“Oh!” Pinkie Pie laughed, bringing a hoof to her head. “And I went north! Oops! Thanks, bye girls!”
“Bye Pinkie!” the Crusaders sang as Pinkie skipped away, as if the pink pony appearing from out of nowhere was the most normal thing in the world to the fillies.
“What was-? I don’t even…” Onewa groaned. “Listen, I’m not even going to ask about the Toa of Laughter, but could you try telling me your story one at a time?”
Onewa listened patiently as the Crusaders told him about the shifty trader, occasionally having to coax the fillies back on track whenever they started arguing about the details. It’s no wonder they need heroes to help them live in harmony, Onewa thought, frowning. Are all ponies like this when Applejack and her allies aren’t around? A better question yet, how much power will even the heroes have if something splinters their Unity?
“An’ that’s when he ran outta the village like Tartarus was on his heels?” asked Applebloom.
“Yeah,” Sweetie nodded. “It was weird.”
“Suspicious, more like it!” added Scootaloo, shifting her eyes left and right.
“Exactly!” agreed Applebloom.
“I see. I believe I know the trader you are referring to. Ahkmou has been known for his…dishonest business practices in the past. And what happened next?”
Scootaloo and Applebloom told Onewa what they had found in Huki’s hut and showed him the green substance in the jar (minus one charred hoofkerchief.)
“I’m aware of how the Makuta infects masks, now do you know how the infection is getting into my village, and how I can stop it?”
The fillies looked at each other and grinned, then removed the last piece of evidence from their saddlebag and gave it to Onewa. The turaga frowned. “But this is just a kohlii ball…”
“Not just any kohlii ball,” said Applebloom.
“A Comet!” Sweetie squealed excitedly, her voice cracking.
“But I still don’t see…” Onewa inhaled sharply as he beheld the green sludge trickling down the stone. He looked back to the Crusaders. “Thank you for showing this to me. If these are indeed the cause of the illness, then the best thing to do is to throw them into the sea. But they are also very popular. My people will need proof before they will give up their new favorite kohlii balls. I need to know from where the balls originate. It is unfortunate that you scared Ahkmou off; I would have liked to asked him myself where he got his stone. I have already sent Vakama a request for some of his guard. As soon as they arrive, and then I can send them into the desert to search for Ahkmou.”
“But-“ Scootaloo tried to protest.
“Thank you for providing this lead,” said Onewa, cutting her off. “I did not expect you to accomplish even this much where I had failed. However, I don’t think your sisters would like it very much if I let you run off into the desert searching for clues. This is work for experienced guardsmen. Now go on,” Onewa made a shooing motion with his hands. “I have business to discuss with the guard. Go play ko-…that is, whatever it is you play. Maybe you can see if stone carving is your super power.”
“’Special talent,’” muttered Applebloom to correct him as she and the others walked out the door.
*****
“It’s not fair,” Scootaloo said, kicking at one of the boulders in the market. Despite how easily the Po-Matoran had been sending them flying, all Scootaloo got for trying to move the thing was a sore hoof. “I mean, Onewa said himself he wasn’t expecting us to find anything. You’d think with what we showed him, he’d start trusting us just a little.”
“Besides, we already tried for a rock-carving cutie mark,” Sweetie said. “Between that and kohlii, there’s not much around here in the way of Cutie Marks. What are we going to do?”
“Ah’ll tell ya what we ain’t gonna do, an’ that’s give up!” Apple Bloom declared, jumping on top of a market stall counter. “Maybe the reason we still don’t have our investigatin’ cutie marks is that the case ain’t completely solved!”
“But what are we supposed to do?” whined Sweetie Belle. “It’s not like we have any other leads. The guard might find Ahkmou’s hideout or they might not, but we don’t have the slightest clue where to begin looking!”
Applebloom raise her head and thought for a moment before glancing over at Ahkmou’s market stall, where a wooden sign that probably said something along the lines of ‘closed’ sat on the counter. From her high vantage point, Applebloom could see something hidden behind the stall. “Hold on, we just might…” she said, jumping from stall to stall, her friends exchanging a look as they followed. Once she had reached the Comet stall, Applebloom jumped down behind the counter top. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle sat in front of the stall, listening to the racket of various objects being sifted through. Every so often Applebloom would toss a random object over the counter: a rock, a hammer, a sandwich (upon this discovery, Applebloom sat up behind the counter and took a huge bite, only to grimace. “Too much mustard.”) Finally, she emerged holding a peculiar object. It was a stone about the size of an apple, with one end rounded engraved with a crude picture of a boulder, and the rest carved into a short X-shaped rod.
“What is it?” asked Scootaloo.
“It looks almost like some kind of key,” observed Sweetie Belle. “I noticed most of the doors around here have keyholes shaped like X’s.”
“Then if this belongs to Ahkmou, ah bet we can use it to get into his house!” exclaimed Applebloom. “C’mon, lets ask around an’ see where Ahkmou lives!”
The crusaders looked around for the nearest matoran. They soon found him: the guard at the Po-Koro gate. Upon being asked, the guard took a look at the key and responded “This does appear to be a key, but I don’t think this is to Ahkmou’s house, or any house in this village for that matter. The keyholes on our houses are all a bit smaller than this; I don’t think your key would fit in any door you’d find around here.”
“So what will it fit into?”
“Well, let’s see. I do recall seeing a larger hole that this might fit into, but I can’t quite place where. It might have been around the quarry.”
“Then let’s go to the quarry!” cheered Scootaloo to a chorus of “yay!” The three fillies rushed for the village exit.
“Now wait just a moment,” the guard said, spreading his arms wide to block the door and bringing the crusaders to a stop. “The quarry is outside of Po-Koro walls, and I, Piatra, Interim Guard Captain, am under strict orders from Turaga Onewa not to let you leave the village.”
Just then a speck of motion behind the matoran caught Scootaloo’s attention. “Uh, mister?”
The matoran continued to rant. “And nothing you do or say is going to make me change my mind! I am the sole remaining guard of Po-koro! My will is as strong and unyielding as the stone!”
The speck in the distance continued to get rapidly bigger. “Uh, there’s something behind you.”
“Something behind me you say? Hah! As if I’d be foolish enough to fall for that old trick! The moment I turn around, you were going to run off to who-knows-where and find a different way out of the village, huh?”
Now Sweetie Belle and Applebloom saw what Scootaloo was talking about. Sweetie pointed. “No, seriously, there really is something-“
“Well it won’t work!” Piatra cut her off, raising his voice. “I’m keeping my eye on you, and you’re not going anywhere anytime…what’s that noise?” The matoran stopped speaking to listen to the sound of insectoid legs scuttling on sandstone. It was coming from behind him, and it was getting rapidly louder. Hesitantly, the guard turned around…
…And screamed as he got a face-full of yellow-blue ussal crab. The ussal then walked past the (now unconscious) body of the guard, straight up to Scootaloo, and stopped. The beady orbs at the end of the crabs eyestalks stared at Scootaloo. Scootaloo recognized the crab, staring right back, a look of challenge on her face. Then, the crab did the most hideous, disgustingly horrifying thing Scootaloo could imagine: it started licking her like a puppy.
“Ew, gross, stop it!” Scootaloo sputtered as she tried to push the crab away. “Girls, little help?” she asked, only to face-hoof as she saw their faces.
“Awww, it’s so cute!” Sweetie squealed.
“Cute?! This thing is the same crab that stole my scooter back on the beach!”
“An’ it followed ya all the way here?” Applebloom asked with the same doe-eyed expression as Sweetie Belle. “That’s one devoted pet ya got there, Scootaloo. What’s its name?”
“It doesn’t have a name! And I don’t want it as a pet! The only pet for me is a turtle like Rainbow Dash.”
“Aw, Scoots, you’re going to make it cry! Come on, maybe it know the way to the quarry,” Sweetie said. Hearing this, the crab excitedly tossed the Crusaders onto its back and dashed off into the sands, three screaming fillies hanging on for the ride.
*****
One wild ride later, the crab stopped in a large canyon, tossing all three fillies unceremoniously into the dust. With that finished, it quickly scurried back the way it came.
“Ugh, anyone get the number on that cart?” Scootaloo asked, groaning as she stood up.
“Ah think ya’ll were right, Scoots,” Applebloom said, also getting up. “That crab ain’t nothing but trouble.”
“Maybe not,” Sweetie said, eyes wide. “Look where we are!”
The fillies looked around. Upon the canyon walls were scores of caves, both nature-made as well as recently dug out by prospective carvers. Six rocky outcroppings were shaped like matoran heads, all but one of them wearing the masks of the Toa of Harmony. The bare one, Applebloom noticed, would have probably born Applejack’s mask of Speed. Walking up to get a closer look, she noticed that the mouth of the face had an X-shaped indentation. “Hmmm,” she pondered as she reached into her bag, pulling out the strange key she had found in the market. Slowly, carefully, she placed the key into the hole.
The ground started to rumble. Stepping back, Applebloom shook as the solid rock she had been standing on sunk into the ground, splitting apart at regular intervals to form a series of steps. And at the bottom of the stairs, the smell of must and rust wafted out from a dark, newly opened cave.
“That…was really cool,” Scootaloo said. “Anypony got a flashlight?”
“Better!” Sweetie said, pulling a lightstone out of her saddlebags.
Descending into the cave revealed a medium-sized chamber, with a ring of pillars giving the ceiling support. Against the back wall, a kanohi Mask of Shielding had been carved out of dark, rough stone, one with a much more menacing expression than the proud carvings in the quarry up above. The mask appeared to be leaking the same infectious green fluid the foals had found in Po-Koro, and as they watched, the fluid trickled across the floor to a group of Kohlii balls resting in the center of the chamber.
“Wellwefoundthesourcetimetogobye!” Sweetie said, intent on leaving the scary chamber to go stand in the sunniest part of the island she could find. As she turned around, however, a large shadow broke off from one of the pillars closest to the stairway back up. Now in the light stood a gigantic rahi scorpion, its claws, one infected mask on each of them, were spread wide to block the exit, and its massive stinger tail swinging back and forth menacingly. The girls screamed as it started to walk closer, closer, herding the fillies toward the back wall and the toxic, evil mask that hung there. The rahi raised its stinger in preparation to silence its prey.
Suddenly, a rainbow blur flew down into the cave and grasped the rahi’s tail, swinging the entire creature over the girl’s heads and throwing it straight through one of the stone pillars.
“Aw, yeah! This new Mask of Strength I beat AJ to is awesome!” said a voice that Scootaloo recognized. Even with her face hidden behind a red, wedge-shaped mask, there was no mistaking this mare as the coolest pony in Equestria. “Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo cheered.
“Hey, Squirt,” Rainbow said, winking. “What are you all doing down here?”
“Getting’ inta trouble, seems like,” Applejack replied, bounding down the stairs in order to buck the Nui-Jaga scorpion as it tried to attack Rainbow again. “Ah thought I told ya’ll ta stay in the village!”
“Hey,” Scootaloo snarked. “It’s not our fault Sweetie can’t go five minutes without being abducted by a giant crab.”
Rainbow stopped in midair, looking bewildered. “What was that?”
“Rainbow, dodge!” AJ yelled as Rainbow narrowly avoided the charging rahi. As it passed, Rainbow gave it a kanohi-charged buck, sending the Nui-Jaga straight into another pillar, which collapsed.
Dust began trickling onto Applebloom’s head. Applebloom looked up to see a massive crack lancing across the cave ceiling. “AJ, the pillars!”
Applejack looked up, making the same observations her sister made. “Great job lil sis! Ya’ll get the hay outta here! Rainbow, get ready to bring down the house!”
Rainbow shot her friend with a deadpan. “Really, AJ?”
“Just do it, sugarcube, and be ready to run!” AJ said, wrapping a lasso around the rahi and running around a pillar. As the creature got up, it saw AJ with the rope in its mouth and charged at her, only to be stopped short by the rope as Rainbow plowed through three more pillars. The rahi’s eyes glowed raged red as it growled, snipping the rope with its claws and charging at AJ. Calling upon her Mask of Speed, AJ disappeared, the Nui-Jaga’s momentum carrying it straight through the place she had been standing and into the last remaining pillar. As cracks began to snake their way up the last load-bearing column in the room, the rahi turned around at the sound of a whistle. The orange mare stood halfway up the steps, waving her trademark Stetson with a cocky smile on her face. “Better luck next time, partner!” she said, walking back up the stairs as the entire chamber collapsed under its own weight upon her opponent.
*****
Deep beneath the island, the Makuta raged as he embedded his fist into the walls of his lair, his connection to the Nui-Jaga having cut out. “That mare! So smug, and at besting a mere one of my minions. Curse these ponies, they drive me to…Anger…”
Pulling his arm out of the wall, the Makuta opened his fist, revealing a mall stone resting on his palm. “Worry not my brother, they are not invincible,” he said, using his powers to manipulate the stone’s shape into a caricature of three balloons. “One already is under my power, it is only a matter of time before none shall stand who can disturb you…”
