What Does a Hero Truly Need? Vol. 2: A Dire Need of Heroes

What does a Hero Truly Need? Vol. 2

Original Idea and Story By: Zelkova48

Current Story By: Deverer

Chapter 5: The Geomancer

Meepo, One to be precise, was contemplating his current situation. Of all the things that he was prepared for, falling out of the sky thousands of feet in the air was not one of them. This wouldn't be such a problem if it were just him, or even a few of him, but all of him? That was certain doom for him.

He knew very well he was not alone because aside from the air rushing past his ears, he heard the constant and bitter arguing of his other selves around him. He tried to ignore them, and try to find some peace in his anti-climatic death, but he just couldn't. Along with the arguing from his other selves, he got to take a look at new forms that they all took, which they seemed to just ignore.

He crossed his reformed arms, his shovel still being held by him, and just looked to the ground. “This is taking a freakin' long time, did I fall from the dang stratosphere or something?” he thought, as the landscape below seemed to slowly creep up on him. He wasn't a stranger to circumstances beyond his control, it's why he claims to be the most prepared hero among the entire battlegrounds. His years of hardship and toil have strengthen both his mind and body, and that experience has passed on to his other selves.

Meepo has self proclaimed himself to be the hero whose looks deceive his actions. Just a tunnel rat to the rest of the world, but there's more to him than meets the eye; especially when that eye has been buried along with the rest of the body. People take one glance at him and feel that he's not a problem, but then he and his other selves show you strength in numbers, and the strength of those numbers.

He glanced to his shovel, taking a quick chew out of what might be his last stalk. The tool that also doubled as his trusty weapon of choice, one might laugh at a hero using what might be dubbed an oversized spoon. Yet it is actually a feared weapon thanks to the experience Meepo has gone through. The engraving on the head was put their to both have him make caves, and to make it easier to cave in heads of those that oppose him. One strike against the ground, or someone's body; and it begins to crumble away to make it easier to get through. The enchanted nature of it is only exemplified with the subtle cyan glow the head gives off.

He turned his head to look toward the Riftshadow Crystals sticking out of his pack, unmoving from the winds that were assaulting them. The prize that Meepo always seeks to collect during his adventures to those very ruins. Wanted by many, Meepo included for himself, and for good reason. Of all heroes, only Meepo seems to completely understand their nature, if at all. He has shown time and again the volatile nature of the crystal itself, but he didn't earn his namesake for just being a gem seeker. It is not just the dirt of the ground he conquers, but it's how he uses the element of earth itself to accomplish his goals. Mages have always craved these crystals for good reason, and Meepo gladly shows you why.

It is made more apparent by the nets he carries in the opposing side of his pack. Any hero could testify of the bounding nature they possess, forcing any unfortunate victim they touch to temporally become one with the ground. A simple net may not be threatening to a team, but like a rock under pressure, it splits and spreads when it has made proper contact.

All tools aside, his very divided nature has always been what other heroes fear. Imagine: all the experience, power, and resourcefulness of one individual; multiplied and coordinated against you. 'Clones' that they have been dubbed, that can think on their own, and defend themselves nearly as best as the original. Meepo has constructed himself, and his other selves, to be an entire system of production. The production thus far has been whatever is in his interests, and he's had to manage up to five lives at the same time on top of all that.

Sadly, this seemed to be the end of all that: all because he fell. An anti-climatic end to a hero who has literally worked himself over multiple times. Who got problems done by his own strength and cunning, rather than letting some kind of magic do the dirty work for him.

He gave what he thought would be his last sigh of discontent, and closed his eyes. Yet, with his eyes closed, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was a fourth squeaky voice of his in the air. He snapped his eyes open, yet kept them in a squinted state as he looked towards the bottom of a mountain chain that he appeared to be flying toward.

“The heck is that?” he took a glance behind himself, seeing his other selves still continuing to argue, even attempting to pummel each other. “Will you guys, shut up?!” he yelled aloud, all of them ceased their actions and looked to him. “What are you? Grown rats, or human children?”

Two spoke up among them. “But we're not exactly rats at the-”

“Shut up!” One interrupted. “You know what I mean, take a listen now. Do ya hear that?”

“The wind?” Three asked with sarcasm.

“Not that!”

“Our heartbeats since we're about to die the second one of us hits the ground?” Four added.

“Shut. It!” One seethed. All the others rolled their respective eyes and leaned their respective ears toward the ground. “Sounds like I hear... idiots... forgot me... poof to the ground...” One's eyes went wide. “Holy heck, that's Five!”

“Who?” Four asked, which was quickly followed up with Two's shovel being connected to the back of his head. “Ey!” he yelled, along with descending down slightly

“The one you forgot to wake up, you idiot!” Two explained.

“If Five is here, then that means he's our ticket out of this mess!” One declared, reaching back to pull a Riftshadow Crystal from his pack. “If he's yellin' up to us, then that means he's on solid ground!” he began to grind the crystal against the shaft of his shovel, causing it to crack and glow slightly. “So, you know what to do!” he pulled back his shovel, and then swung it forward, hitting the crystal with the head. In a flash, One disappeared from their clustered free fall.

“Ey! Wait for us!” Three called, reaching for a crystal of his own, the other two repeating the motion.

One felt the momentum of his free fall disappear like the flash he himself disappeared into, hearing a familiar voice next to him.

“Do you hear me you dang idiots?! I said: 'poof to me so that-' oh, there you are,” One looked over to the voice, seeing the last of their rat pack standing near them. “Now do you mind explaining why I was woken up with a bright flash of light instead of you guys, and why I'm part horse now?!” One stared at Five, getting a fully detailed look of their new bodies.

What he saw was what could be best described as a cross between a rat such as himself, and a horse five sizes too small. All over he held gray fur, with the exception his ears and his newly developed snout which were tinted red. The area around his eyes especially held a great deal of red. His new hooves were as darkened as the claws he once had, and his tail appeared to be elongated.

His clothes all appeared to be in tact, his blue hood and gray gauntlets that were on his 'arms' still present. Yet his equipment, while in tact, seemed to be shift around. On each side of his, a pouch that held his vital equipment was in place; the crystals still on his left and the nets on his right. There was also another pouch right behind those that had nothing sticking out of them, and the rolled up sleeping equipment strapped over his new flanks.

Both One and Five turned their gaze away from each other as three small eruptions of dirt exploded next to them, the rest of themselves appearing in there place. The new arrivals all looked to each other, before setting their gaze on Five.

“Do we know you?” Four asked, pointing his shovel toward him. Three rolled his eyes and brought his shovel down on Four's head. “Ow! What was that for?”

“For being an idiot!” Three yelled.

“You're all idiots!” Five yelled, his voice the highest pitched out of all of them. “How can you forget to wake me up, again?! It's not like I'm literally a part of all of you!” he growled.

“All of you be quiet!” One yelled, stomping the handle of his own shovel on the ground. “Line up, emergency meeting! Ten hut!” His other selves all snapped their legs straight and held their necks high. All of them except Five stood up onto their back legs. One flinched as they all fell backward, their limbs splayed out at different angles. “And this is why I'm the original,” he rolled his eyes and smacked his hoof against his face. “Five, can you tell us anything about this place while they all pick themselves and their brains back up?” he asked, glancing around the rocky area.

“Well, a few things,” the newest Meepo said, as he relaxed his form. “We're not on any battlegrounds, 'cause I can hold pieces of gold,” he reached into his rear right side pouch, and pulled out some gold coins. “Found 'em half buried in the ground. Oh, and this is probably obvious at this point; but we can somehow pick stuff up like we still got claws and paws. You can even twirl around your shovel there if ya think hard enough. Also, the sun is somehow even brighter than before. ”Oh! I almost forgot!” He turned back to a row of rocks near them, and then he jumped away from all of them, hoisting himself over the rocks. One and the rest of the pack all followed Five's lead, landing on the other side where he held a bag. “This place is loaded with gems!” he said with a smile, throwing the bag to the ground and gems splashing outward.

“Money!” all of the other Meepos except One yelled.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hang on a second!” Five yelled, hitting his shovel near the bag onto a rock, which disintegrated to dirt in a few seconds. “Keep your crystals away from them, they turn these gems into crystals themselves,”

“What? Then why wouldn't we turn em all into crystals and make a killing?” Two asked.

“He's got a point, you know,” Three added.

“I don't know the exact value of these things yet, I haven't had time to inspect them yet,” Five explained.

“And why's that?” One asked. As he finished asking, the ground below them began to shake, and various yells could be heard.

“That's why,” Five said. “Who wants to go first while we make a killing in the money department?”

Rarity, with Spike on her back, trotted out of her boutique. She grasped the door with her magic and closed it behind her. She gave a slight nod and began to stroll down the streets toward Sweet Apple Acres. Spike meanwhile had significantly calmed down from the shock of Rarity's actions before. He was darting his head back and forth, surveying the area like a guardian on the lookout for threats.

“So... Rarity?” Spike asked, the unicorn turning her head slightly to look at him at the corner of her eye.

“Yes?”

“Out of complete and utter curiosity, if these are new heroes arriving here; do you have any ones you want to meet?”

“Heroes I would want to... that actually hasn't crossed my mind. I'm still wondering if it will be our friends from before.” Her ears dropped against her head. “Wherever they are, I hope they're okay. It would be nice to converse with them again, after all they've done.” A smile formed on her face, and her ears perked back up. “Do you, by chance?” she asked, turning her head back forward.

“Oh, do I ever! Twilight managed to jot down a complete list of all of them, and I've been reading up on it whenever I get the chance! I even have a copy of it in my pack here!” He thumped his chest with one of his claws, a proud smile on his face. “Though...” his smile turned sheepish. “I can't always remember them exactly, if at all. There's so many,” he scratched the back of his head, chuckling a bit. “I do know that I would want to meet Davion or Jakiro.” Rarity giggled slightly. “What?”

“I do remember that those are the dragon related heroes,” she turned her head, flashing a smile to him. Spike blushed slightly in response.

“Well... er... not if you don't count Dragonus, though that's only by his name. Still though; I want to see the actual dragon heroes themselves!”

“If I do recall correctly, Spike dear; one of them is a twin headed dragon, and the other is technically half a dragon.”

“And you would remember correctly. I've listened to the rumors about Jakiro... he's considered a freak even by magical standards, or is it they?” he placed a claw on his chin, looking up to the sky. “Also, you weren't there when Rubick actually turned-”

“Spikey? If I may?” Rarity interrupted, Spike looking back down to her. “Pardon me for ruining your fantasy, but lately, things are... rarely as they seem,” Spike sighed slightly, lowering his arms.

“So it goes,” he replied, with a small shrug. Spike leaned his arms down onto Rarity's upper back, and began to scan Ponyville once more.

Ponies everywhere were running to and fro. Some were stockpiling broken furniture outside their homes while others pulled carts or other containers full of the debris. He glanced over Rarity's head and toward the city hall in the distance, where the density of ponies was greatest. The river of them flooded out half the radius of the center area of Ponyville. Rarity herself turned her head to the spectacle, watching with concern as the mob had ponies both entering and leaving the building.

As they looked at the sight, both of them failed to notice the dark blue spark of magic and the sound it produced from in front of them immediately. Both of them turned their heads back forward seconds later, just as Rarity collided with a dark blue shield. Spike jerked forward at change of momentum, nearly falling off of her.

“Hey what's- wait, is that princess Luna?” Spike asked, pointing inside and seeing the aforementioned princess inside the shield. The princess glanced around inside, her horn glowing bright. She gave a nod to herself, and then disappeared in a flash. Rarity stepped back from the shield, observing how its size on the ground was about the same as a small house.

“That was odd,” Rarity spoke up. “She places this shield, which no one can seem to pass through,” she pointed her hoof out, seeing other ponies prod at the shield. “Then she leaves? Doesn't seem to be something that-” she stopped as another intense light appeared, both of them bringing their respective limbs up to their eyes. As they lowered those limbs, they saw princess Luna inside with dozens of royal guards. Luna pointed her hoof up into the air, and then her magic shot up toward the shield, which vanished as it made contact. A second later, Luna vanished once again, and the guards all began to disperse.

The sound of multiple flapping wings at once caught the duo's attention; which when they looked upward to see what it was- a group of pegasi guards. Some guards began to trot around random directions from where they appeared. However, quite a few earth and unicorn guards turned and ran a full on sprint into the direction of the newly arrived pegasi guards.

As they both looked to the sky, Spike glanced his eye off to the side and to a light in the sky. He tapped Rarity's neck slightly, who looked back to him, and then to where he was looking. Both of them watched as  like a meteor all alone in a shower, it swam downward slowly as if to take in as much attention as it could. The duos' mouths began to slide open at the sight, drowning out the commotion around them. Then their mouths snapped open fully as the light flashed in air and still continued its course. They shook their heads when it repeated the action, then looked to each other when it did it again, and took up a look of bewilderment when it flashed again and disappeared from the sky.

“Did you see that, Rarity?” Spike asked, pointing a claw of his up to the sky.

“The light... it... did that, and disappeared,” the white unicorn responded, turning her head toward the ground. “If I had to take a guess... I would say that it was going to land at our gem digging grounds. It seemed to be heading that way, we were looking East towards it, right?” she asked, turning her head to look to the baby dragon. “Oh if I'm right, then it would seem history is repeating itself,” she added. “It's where I found... well...” she shuddered slightly.

“I couldn't tell ya, but if you think that... that...” his eyes opened wide, and he gagged along with them doing so. “Oh, hang on there!” he turned his head away from Rarity, who ducked her head down at what was about to happen. Spike turned his head upward, and released a fiery belch, the resulting flames and smoke materializing into a scroll. Spike groaned slightly, clutching his stomach. Rarity summoned her magic and grasped the scroll with it, bring it toward him. “Thanks,” he muttered, rubbing his stomach with one claw while taking the scroll with the other.

“It is my pleasure, Spikey, but may I ask what's on this scroll here?” he turned back to Rarity, and moved his arm to put himself between the scroll and her.

“Sorry, Rarity, I promised Twilight that any letters I get would be read when we're all together. The 'all' being every one of us, with the obvious exception of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash since they're heading off to the Everfree.”

“Oh!” she quickly responded, a small blush appearing. “Pardon my curiosity then.”

“Excuse me?” a voice called, the duo turned their heads to see a group guards approaching them, a lone guard in front of them. “We're here on orders from the princesses, they've requested that the element bearers help guide us in intercepting the crash sites of the lights in the sky,” the guard said to them.

“Oh, she did now?” Rarity asked. “Well, Spike and I were on our way to our friends just now, or the 'element bearers' as you just said,” The guard gave a nod, looking back to the group behind him.

“Did you all hear that? Everypony fall in behind the Element of Generosity!” he called back, the rest of the guards snapping up at attention. Rarity's ears fell backward upon the not so small revelation that she was now their leader.

“Oh dear... um... perhaps maybe-”

“Rarity?” Spike whispered, the fashionista turning her head back slightly to look at him. “Look, you may not like it, but if you want I could-”

“It's quite alright, Spike,” she let out a small huff. “But being that they are of the royal guards, I can't slow them down. I just ask that you be gentle with those claws of yours,” she turned back forward, crouching down slightly.

“What do you mean- whoa!” he yelled throwing an arm around Rarity's neck as she began to sprint off, guards in tow.

“Knock-out spree!” Three yelled out loud, as he stood triumphant over a Diamond Dog whose eyes were currently spinning. One rolled his eyes and ripped the jewel encrusted collar off of the dog's neck, tossing it into one his rear packs.

“How long were you digging before these guys showed up?”

“Less than a minute,” Five replied nonchalantly.

“Is that an under exaggeration or something?”

“Nah, I literally found these gems when I ripped my shovel out of the ground after I woke up; then I had to run from them to secure the loot,” Five brought his shovel forward slightly, holding it in front of him as they all trotted forward. “Why couldn't we turn into one of those things?”

“Not everything can go in our favor, least these damn hooves of ours can grip things,” One glanced forward, seeing Two and Four standing still up ahead. “You guys find something?” he called forward.

“Quite a bit! Say hello to our dig site!” Two called back, Four turning to face them as well. As they did, two Diamond Dogs erupted from the ground and began to lunge at them. As quickly as they appeared, Three appeared at the same speed in a flash of dirt and light, one hind leg standing on Two and Four. The two dogs shielded their eyes as they went flying backward, sliding along the ground.

“I've got a double KO! La la-la, la!” Three sang aloud, hoisting his shovel skyward in triumph. The rest of the rat pack blankly stared at him as he held his pose, and Three himself slowly looked back down to the rest of them. “Screw you, that was funny!”

“For the position you're in currently,” Four deadpanned.

“Speaking of 'position,' get off!” Two added, jumping up and causing Three to fall off next to Four.

“Ow,” the fallen Meepo blurted out. One and Five trotted up to the rest of them, surveying the area in front of them. In the distance, there was what appeared to be a mining cart, as well as a few small craters that have been filled.

“Away we go!” Two yelled, running off from the group, dragging his shovel along the ground.

“Ey!” One called out. “We to organize and-” he stopped, as the path that the shovel was creating began to show gems at differing points. “Whoa... that was too easy,” he commented.

“I'll start rounding them up,” Five said, walking to the path.

“I wanna see the value of these things,” Four added, also going to the path. As he passed by, he grabbed a single gem and sat himself down on a clear patch of the area.

“Well,” One started, looking over to Three. “I guess that leaves you and-” he flinched as Three's shovel smacked against another Diamond Dog, this one wearing armor of sorts.

“Meepwnage!” Three yelled aloud, running toward the center of the clearing, his shovel at the ready. One stood there staring off into space, seeing his other selves already in full force. He sighed and waddled himself toward a jagged rock that could oversee everything. He hoisted himself onto the rock, letting his legs hang with his shovel draped over them. He glanced over his other selves once again, and turned to look out toward the horizon.

“What the heck is going on here?” he asked himself.

“Don't worry about us! Worry about your own hide!” Spike called over to Twilight and the others.

“Spike!” Rarity whispered aloud, a small spark being sent from her horn to his tail.

“Ow! What was that for?” he threw a claw of his mouth, as he realized he said that out loud. “Great... Twilight is going to chew me out on that later,” he groaned, sitting himself back forward.

“I'm sorry, Spike, but I think Twilight is under enough pressure as is.” She began to quicken her pace. “If I'm nervous enough as is leading actual people of the royal guard; imagine how she must feel.” The baby dragon's temperature dropped at her words, and clutched his arm with one of his claws.

“Yeah... forgot about that, kinda got lost in the excitement,” he blushed slightly.

“Well, how about this then?” she turned her head forward, reaching a full sprint. “I've been thinking about what I remember; let's talk about the heroes some more,” Spike's eyes widened.

“Oh, who do you have on your mind?” he asked.

“Well... skipping over the more... barbarous ones, how about their Luna?”

“Wait, was she the...” he trailed off. “You know, how come I'm around the list everyday; but you seem to remember more than I?”

“You need a good memory like mine to keep track of all your supplies. Of course, as stated earlier, my memory is not perfect.” She gave a quick breath, a bead of sweat dropping off her.

“Do you want me to get off? I've been working on my running you know,” he proposed.

“It's... it's quite alright, darling,” she flashed a nervous smile back to him, her eyes somewhat closed. “I'm the one who could use the exercise anyway.” She turned back forward. “Anyway, their Luna is most similar by name; because she serves another moon princess: Mirana.” Spike snapped his claws.

“That's it! The Moon Rider, and the Princess of the Moon!”

“Precisely. Yet both of them serve Selemene, I wonder what would happen if they met our Luna? Do you think they would label our Luna as Selemene given the influence she's had here?”

“One thing's for sure, the names would get confusing really fast,” he deadpanned. “Anyway, who else did you have on your mind?”

“A few, like maybe the Omniknight or maybe the Stormcrafter. Perhaps even the Crystal Maiden, but not her sister, oh no.”

“The Slayer?”

“Just her name sends shivers down my spine, but that's complete irony right there,” she shook her head. “Yet, there is one I had especially in mind, even since I heard of him. He may not sound like the best person, but it's his trade I'm most interested in,” her eyes lulled slightly.

“Who? Cmon! Don't leave me in suspense!” Spike prodded.

“Sorry, Spike dear. Think of it like making a wish at a birthday party; it won't come true if you tell everyone else,” she turned and winked back to him.

Spike grunted in frustration, crossing his arms over his chest. “I guess it's fair since you didn't keep asking about the scroll.”

“At any rate, Spike,” she added. “We have to focus on the task at hand... claw? Er, we need to be ready for what's coming. I do hope we don't have to travel far.”

“I wonder what's going on over there, if anything? What if that was a illusion in the sky and not a hero?”

“Better safe than sorry,” she glanced back to the group of guards following. “I hope the hero, or even heroes, are safe. I certainly hope that anyone who meets them is safe as well, whether or not they mean well.”

One sighed as he looked at a ruby he found in the rock he was sitting on. He brought it to his mouth and bit into it.

“Huh.” He glanced at it for another second and tossed it behind him where most of the activity in the area was currently. He grasped his shovel, and held it out with one hoof. “Let's try this,” he squinted his eyes and pointed his hoof upward, the shovel laying flat on it. He gritted his teeth, and the shovel began to turn in his hoof. “There we go, there's the frequency,” he threw the shovel upward, turning his upper body back to catch it behind him. “Still got it,” he turned back forward, looking out into the landscape. In the distance, he could make out houses that seemed to have straw roofs and wooden foundations.

His thoughts were interrupted at another metallic clang of Three's shovel.

“Hey, One, how many is that now?” Three called, another Diamond Dog falling over with its head clutched. One turned his head to him, the same constant disinterest on his face still present despite the situation they were all in.

“Look, I said I lost count!” he called over. He gazed over to Two and his small work area. He had gems of every color lined up next to one of the Riftshadow Crystals. One watched as his other self picked up the Riftshadow Crystal and began to tap each color gem with it, all of them turning the same cerulean color as the crystal. He turned around further to look at Four, who was throwing dirt and gems out of a hole like there was no tomorrow. Five meanwhile was tossing those gems into the conveniently placed cart which would be hauled over to Two.

He gave another sigh, and began to tap his hoof against his head, trying to make sense of the situation. He should be happy, getting so many gems that he could and would be set for life at this rate. Yet a disturbing feeling still lingered in his head, and many strange questions he was still trying to make sense over. How did he get here, and why hasn't this happened before in battle with all the Fundamentals? Why is his body changed and yet not changed at the same time? Aside from having to walk on all fours, but he could easily carry his shovel while walking on three; and its not like he couldn't walk on four paws before.

One flinched as another Diamond Dog decided to face check Three's shovel, the ringing interrupting his thought process again.

“Uh... how many is that-”

“Seriously, I lost count!” he interrupted. One slid off the rock he was sitting on, and turned back to the others. “Look, I'm gonna find out where the heck we are, maybe catch us all some dinner,” he called over to all of them.

“Aw, we can't eat one of these guys?” Three called, while holding back an armored Diamond Dog with one fore-leg.

“They can speak, we don't eat things that can speak unless we're desperate. I heard 'em yapping before when I met 'em,” Five called. One placed his shovel over his shoulder, and began to walk down the path that they traveled up before.

“We can't even take one them home as a trophy? Fill 'em up with fluff 'n stuff?” he brought his other fore-hoof forward, sending the Diamond Dog flying back into a few other.

“You guys are doing just fine,” One mumbled to himself. “Maybe I'll see where we can finally settle down at the rate we're raking in gems,” he muttered, as he left his other selves to their own antics

Four poked his head out of the hole he was digging. “It's like this isn't a mountain holding gems, it's like a pile of gems with dirt on top of it. Seriously, we're freaking rich already! I bet we can pay a mage twenty times over to give us bodies back with one haul alone!” Four glanced over to the one sided brawl that Three was taking place in. “Maybe we can find their home and their stockpile of gems, we saw the collars they've made!”

“Just keep your crystals away from the gems, I dunno if the locals here know the actual value of them,” Two commented over his shoulder. “Speakin' of which, think I should start separating them all for when we start sellin' em?”

“Couldn't hurt, it'd be easier if we had more of these carts here. Or we just wait for One to find a place to stay then we can bucket brigade them over,” Five added.

“You all just take your time,” Three called, holding a hoof over his eyes as he started to punch a dog with the other. “I'm having fun here! Getting used to standing on two legs with this body!”

One grumbled slightly as the noise from his other selves died down slowly. He glanced down to the ground, and stabbed his shovel into a random spot on it. Scooping it up, he tossed the dirt upward toward his front and caught it in the shovel's head. He shifted the shovel slightly, sifting the dirt through the triangular hole and revealing two gems in the head.

“This is just too easy, that means something ain't right. There's gotta be a catch for all of this.” He flipped his shovel upward, and watched as the gems flew upward and landed in his left rear pouch. He glanced up the mountain next to him, and looked forward seeing more mountains that made up a chain. As he neared the end of the chain, his eyes widened as he found a true mountain; complete with an ice cap and a castle embedded into the side. “That's something you don't see everyday. Wonder if they were lazy and used magic to keep it stable.”

Meanwhile, not so far down the path, Rarity, Spike, and the guards continued their trek. All of them had their gaze forward, and soon found Meepo One's silhouette in the distance.

“Wait, stop!” Rarity called, slowing down her sprint. The guards did so as well, some of them stepping up to meet her lead.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Meepo called out. Rarity and Spike glanced at each other, Spike pointing a claw to him with a questioning look. “I've seem some strange things in my days, but you gaggle of horses take the cake! Hnya!” He smiled wide, trotting up toward them.

“Yep, he's our guy,” Spike commented. “Do you know which one, Rarity?”

“I... I'm not sure yet. All I know is that those gems look... so alluring.”

“They're crystals for the record!” One yelled over to them, causing Rarity to double take.

“W-what? He heard that? He must have amazing hearing.”

“Ya need to have awareness where I grew up, sister.”

Spike leaned in close to Rarity's ear, speaking a soft whisper. “What do we do? Do we talk to him? What are the guards gonna do?”

“Not quite sure, Spike. I didn't think this far ahead unfortunately. We didn't have to go nearly as far as to where I found Gondar,” she shivered slightly. “Still don't want to remember those... details.” They both looked back to Meepo, who had closed the distance between all of them. All the ponies looked to the Geomancer, seeing him in full detail. When Rarity and Spike looked at his face, both of them struggled to hold back a gag at the composition he possessed.

“We went from a cat... to a mouse?” Spike asked.

“Ey! I'm a rat!” he snapped, pointing his shovel toward them. “Get your names right, and tell your boys in the gold metal there to stay back!” Rarity looked over her sides, seeing the guards all tensed up as if ready to pounce onto Meepo. Spike looked up for a split second and saw some pegasi guards already in the air. “For the record, I was a rat; now I'm some kinda cross between me and you guys!” He stepped closer to Rarity, and swiveled his wheat stalk to the other side of his mouth. “So who wants to tell me what's going on here?” Both of them looked at his figure, Rarity struggling to maintain her composure. He was shorter than all of them except for Spike; the top of his head coming up to the bottom of Rarity's eyes. Proportionally to the guards, his physique was noticeably thinner than them.

Rarity felt sweat trickle down her forehead as she observed the situation. “Erm... uh-”

“Who are you? I'm Spike, dragon. This is Rarity, unicorn and Fashionista,” Spike said aloud. Meepo looked up to the dragon, staring at him for a moment, his face unchanging in emotion.

“Name's Meepo, Geomancer,” he answered back. Rarity's jaw fell open, and her eyes snapped open fully.

“Oh... dear me...” she whispered.

“What? What's wrong?” Spike whispered to her. He looked back to Meepo, and then back to Rarity. “Wait... you mean that... oh, I get it,” he let out a small chuckle. “We did mention things not being what they seem.”

“Ey! You still haven't told me anything!” Meepo yelled to them. “What the heck is going on here? Why are these other horse fellows looking at me like they think they can take me?” All the scowls of the guards tightened. “Listen, I'm on a busy agenda. So why don't you just step outta the way then if you're not gonna do anything productive?” Rarity and Spike felt their whole world begin to freeze over as the guards began to step past them. Rarity began to back herself up, flinching slightly as the earth pony guards began to draw spears.

“Oh, so we gotta do it the hard way, eh?”

“Spike? Have you ever gotten the feeling that you're forgetting something that's so important and obvious at the same time?” she asked, backing away to the mountain wall as the guards continued to converge on Meepo.

“I'm actually more worried that we've lost control of the situation,” he said, leaning up to watch the situation itself unfold.

“Doesn't seem like a fair fight here, maybe I should fight with my eyes closed,” Meepo commented, while scraping the ground with a back hoof. “Tell you what, I'll let you guys make the first move,” he lifted his fore-leg that held his shovel, holding it out to his side. One of the pegasi guards threw a cable out toward Meepo, who merely stepped to the side. The cable sailed past his head, but then wrapped around and secured itself to his shovel. “Ey! That's mine!” Meepo yelled, yanking it backward. The guard screamed and dropped the cable as he came flying toward Meepo, who stood up onto his back legs and grasped his shovel with both hooves. “Batter up!” He swung the shovel, connecting squarely with the side of the guard's helmet. Everyone in the area watched as the unfortunate guard sailed straight into the mountain side, a small avalanche of dust and rocks following him down. “Oh... foul ball. Looks like you gotta serve me another one,” he looked to the cable on his shovel, bringing it closer to his eyes. “Wow, this has got to be the worse anti-magic metal I have ever seen,” he commented. “I'll give ya credit for make it somehow sturdy enough, but you ain't gonna do much with this.” He unwound the cable around his shovel, and dropped it onto the ground. He took the cable into both hooves, and pulled it slightly with both hooves. “Seriously, it would take like fifty of these things to stop someone like Invoker, or even Rubick from casting spells. Unless you maybe somehow conked them out first. For me...” he pulled both hooves apart, the cable promptly snapping in two. “Maybe a hundred just to keep me bounded,” he dropped the cable pieces to the ground, and picked his shovel back up.

“Did he just- is he stronger than Sven?” Spike asked, both he and Rarity looking on dumbfounded.

“Heck no I ain't as strong as Sve- wait, how do you know about him?” Meepo asked. The earth pony and unicorn guards all snapped out of their reverie and began to charge forward. “Oh, hold on a second,” he reached into his right front pouch, turning the upper half of his body to do so. As he turned it back, he threw one of his signature golden Earthbind nets toward the charging guards. The earth ponies turned their attention to the net, and some swung at it as it came down onto them. As the net made contact with a spear, it flashed a white light, and all of the ground guards found themselves in a golden net. “Hnya! You guys are more gullible than Aggron chasing after Nyx!” He watched them all struggle against the ropes, some of the earth pony guards trying to cut the ropes, while all the unicorn guards kept flashing with their own magic. He looked to the sky, seeing the Pegasi guard swarming around him, some of them holding more cables in their hooves.

They all began to dive downward toward Meepo. He stared up back them for a moment before he hit the bottom of his left front pouch, a single Riftshadow Crystal flying out which he caught on his shovel head. He dropped the crystal onto the ground, and began to grind into the dirt with his other fore-hoof. As a few cables were wrapped around him, with the guards who did so landing near him, he stomped onto the crystal. Rarity and Spike cringed backward at the resulting bright light that came about, as well as a small shower of dirt. Rarity shuddered for a moment, shaking off some of the dirt before looking back. The guards that were flying in the air were spiraling out of control, most of them with their eyes covered, but all of them heading to the ground. The guards on the ground were a few feet from where they were, the ground torn up leading up to where they were.

“That was too easy,” Meepo commented, throwing his shovel over his shoulder. He walked over to Rarity and Spike, ignoring the guards still covered by the nets and their grunts and yells of frustration. The duo looked to Meepo in both fear and awe as he just walked up to them with the same expression he held this whole time. “So now do either of you want to tell me what's going on?” his eyes darted back and forth between Rarity and Spike.

“Um... oh!” Rarity's eyes snapped with excitement. “Well... if you truly want to know,” she placed a hoof on her chest. “Well, if you weren't so snippy before, we could have escorted you without worry to our princesses.”

“Princesses? Of what? Wait, do you guys follow Mirana? Then who's the other princess?” he asked.

“Well... one of them is a moon princess...” Rarity started, a nervous smile on her face. “The other is commands the sun; but they both rule over Equestria, this land, together!”

“Wait...” his face scrunched up slightly. “'Commands the sun?' Oh great, did I end up in one of Rizzrack's fantasies?”

“Huh?”

“Uh... keep going,” he brought a fore-hoof up, waving it around for Rarity to continue.

“O...kay then. A-anyway, princess Celestia and Luna can tell you all you want to know. I... just don't think they'll take kindly to what you did to the guards here...” she leaned over slightly, looking past Meepo.

“Ey, they attacked me, self defense,” he replied quickly. “That was some order of theirs. Hey... do you think I could ask your sun princess turn down the brightness maybe? Since she wants to meet me apparently?”

“Wait, what?” Spike asked. “'Brightness?'”

“Yeah, the sun is too dang bright here.” Rarity looked back to Spike, he shrugged his shoulders, and she did as well. “Also, since she does wanna see me; how the heck can I get pardoned for this if she doesn't like this?” he pointed his shovel back to the guards. “Pretty sure she wouldn't take kindly to this no matter what.”

“Celestia and Luna are really understanding!”

“Right, have they had to deal with a guy like me walking all over their guards?” he asked, rolling his eyes.

“They have, actually,” Rarity answered, causing Meepo to snap his eyes back to her. “Gondar did the very same thing,” she smiled slightly.

“Gondar? How do you- oh, wait you mentioned Sven, so I guess he was here then too somehow,” he placed a fore-hoof on his chain. “How fast was I compared to him?”

“I don't think this is the time for that...” Rarity gestured her fore-hoof out. “Look, if you give me a moment to explain the situation to the guards, I'm sure we can reach a truce.”

“Ey, if I'm going anywhere, I wanna grab my loot,” he reached to grab another Riftshadow Crystal. “Wait here while I grab it, then we talk some more.” Spike stared at the crystal, his tongue licking his lips.

“Hey... can I... try one of those as a snack? I- I got quite a few gems I could trade you for it, if that's alright,” he asked, pointing a claw forward.

“You want your head to explode?” Meepo stepped backward from the duo. “Listen, why don't one of you calm them down, and the other of you meet me up ahead to deal with a little canine trouble?” Rarity and Spike's eyes widened.

“'Canine?!'” Rarity yelled. “Spike dear, talk to the guards, I'll go with Meepo here!” Spike gave a nod, then hopped off of Rarity's back.

“When I get back, if they promise to comply, I'll get them nets off of them.” He raised the crystal up. “Also, this why you don't wanna eat these. I'm doing this 'cause I know these things inside and out,” he tossed the crystal up, catching it between his teeth. Rarity and Spike both backed away as the crystal began to glow. Meepo opened his mouth for a split second, and brought his teeth down onto the crystal. In a familiar flash, Meepo disappeared, leaving them both awestruck.

“I sincerely hope the shower I take after this will help relieve this stress,” Rarity said. She flared her magic and opened up one of her saddlebags. A cloth was pulled out and began to wipe her face of dirt. “Wait, how can he be dealing with the Diamond Dogs now, if he's- oh I'm a foal,” she groaned, as she slid the cloth down to reveal her frustrated gaze.

“What?” Spike asked.

“He has four clones of himself, that are all exactly like him. That's the important and obvious detail I forgot,” she deadpanned, shaking her head. Spike's jaw snapped open. “Let's... worry about that later. I need to get up there.”

“Good luck... I think you'll need it,” Spike said. Rarity nodded, placing the cloth back into her bags. She began to continue up the path, running past the guards.

Spike sighed, walking up to the guards. “So... I'm not sure if any of you heard that at all...” he started, a blush on his face.

Rarity huffed and panted as she forced herself up the path. Her heart pounded as she began to hear yells of differing kinds, ones of the Diamond Dogs, and the others of Meepo's frequency. She gulped as she came to the apex of the path, and looked on in horror at the situation. She counted all fives Meepos, all spread out over the area. One was next to an extremely high and wide pile of gems, another two sitting next to a collection of holes, the other two near a horde of Diamond Dogs. She flared her magic, disappearing and reappearing next to the Diamond Dogs.

“Ey, there you are,” One said to Rarity.

“This the unicorn you talked about?” Three asked, looking her over. She shuddered slightly, seeing Meepo's other selves up close.

“Look, can you reason with them? Like your guards, they attacked first,” One asked Rarity. She sighed slightly, looking over the dogs. Many of them were on the ground, some clutching their heads, others their stomachs. Some others were standing up at the ready. She gulped and began to step forward toward the pack.

“You!” a sleazy voice called out. Rarity flinched as three familiar looking Diamond Dogs stepped their way past the others. “Did you bring these beasts here?! I thought we reached agreement!” he pointed a claw to Rarity.

“Rover... Fido... Spot..." she spoke with hesitation, turning her head to each of them.

"Real classy names there," Three commented. Rarity glanced over to him, swiping a fore-hoof across her throat rapidly.

She turned back to the primary trio. "Look, I had nothing to do with this!” she yelled outward. “Just... please tell me what is going on so we can stop this chaos?”

“One of them... things, take gems without permission! I thought we reached compromise long ago! It came from stories of that legendary dog! He was with you, no?” Rover spoke, pointing one of his claws to Rarity.

“I know exactly who you are talking about. Look, please understand: all of these... people, had no possible way of knowing. It is his... in their interest to find gems, like I do. It's part of our businesses.” One and Three's eyes livened up at the remark.

“Did you have any interest in causing pain?! There was one who found joy in hurting us!”

“Like I said, they had no way of knowing. Did you at least try to reason with them?" The trio of dogs looked to each other, and then to the other dogs around them. "Actually, hold that thought,” she turned to Meepo. “You are on their property, and these gems do belong to them. Unless they give you permission, you can't dig here,” One's jaw fell open, and turned to look at the pile of gems.

“Our money... is... is...”

“But,” Rarity spoke up. “I'm sure maybe we can reach a compromise. You both are at fault; assault and theft. Perhaps we can stop the fighting if maybe... cut the gem pile up?” she asked, a sheepish smile on her face.

“I'll do it,”  One answered quickly. “There's no way I'm leaving empty handed after all of this. Seventy/thirty to them, that's fair, right?” Rarity's eyes widened, and looked to the dogs, who held a similar face.

“Uh... er...” Rover shook his head. “We'll take! Just keep them away from us!” Rarity looked between the two, dumbfounded at the speed of agreement.

“That was... easy,” she commented.

“Again with the 'too easy!'” One yelled aloud. “Seriously, when we get to your princesses, I want some answers! Three, go tell the others what's going on, I gotta secure our ride outta here,” Three looked to the dogs, and then over to the gems. He sighed and gave a silent nod to One, trotting over to the others afterward. “Let's just go, before they want more,” he whispered to Rarity. The unicorn watched as he began to trot away, she looked back to dogs, seeing them all backing away. She sighed slightly, and turned to follow One.

“Why are you so willing to give up so much of that pile?” she asked.

“Caution and fear of karma. I figured if we give back a lot of what we got too easily, we won't have another unexpected circumstance happen to us. 'Sides, if it's against the law here apparently, that'll be another strike against me for your princesses,” he looked back to her. “There's no law against tomb raiding the RiftShadow Ruins, that's why I do it there. I only be shady when I have to, and I don't have to here. I have a knack for finding gems anyway, I'll find plenty more later; it's like a seventh sense for me.”

“Seventh? What's the sixth?” she asked.

“My other selves,” he answered.

“I honestly don't know why I didn't guess that,” she said. “I myself integrate gems very often into my fashion designs,” One's ears perked up.

“That so? So that's your particular business? Think we can talk joint business 'bout them gems then?” he asked, a wide smile on his face.

“Later... much, much later,” she answered. Both of them walked in silence, Rarity taking the occasional glance towards him. Some time later, they spotted Spike in the distance, along with pegasi guards trying to free their grounded comrades.

“Hey... you're back,” Spike said, twiddling his claws.

“Well? What's it gonna be?” Meepo asked.

“Well... they've agreed to... a ceasefire,” he started. “So long as you agree to come straight to the princesses,” he smiled nervously.

“Seeing these two princesses is exactly what I want, I don't like not knowing the full situation. As long they stay away from me.” He walked pass Spike and over to the guards. All them looked to Meepo as he trotted to the center of the pile of nets. He stuck his shovel into the ground and pulled up a small clump of dirt. Rarity and Spike looked to each other questioningly as he began to sniff the clump of uprooted ground. “Oh... that feels weird,” he commented. Meepo overturned his shovel, and then struck the ground with the back of the head. Immediately after, all the nets around the guards disappeared, except for one at Meepo's feet. He reached down and picked up the net, stuffing it into the pouch it belonged to. All the guards groaned as they stood upward, stretching their limbs. Meepo observed all the earth pony guards retract and sheath their spears. They all began to walk down the path, while Rarity and Spike began to walk up to Meepo, who held up a fore-hoof to them. “Hang on,” he said. He brought his fore-hoof to his mouth, and let quick two quick whistles. The duo looked to each other, and flinched as another Meepo appeared next to the one they were with.

“Ey! What's up?” the new Meepo asked.

“Two, tell the others we're meeting royalty. Also, make sure you get our pack of gems ready to move after you're done cutting them up,” One said to his other self.

“Why do that? We could have been set for life!”

“I'm being smart, we don't want unnecessary trouble.” He pointed his shovel to his other self. “Also, take it easy with the crystals. Just do enough to zap to each other, let's not cause collateral damage here,” he tiled his head toward Rarity and Spike. Two looked over to them, Rarity smiling nervously, Spike with his jaw wide open.

“Ey there,” Two said to them. “Alright, I'll go be the messenger boy,” he grabbed a crystal from his own pack. “Think we'll be done in about fifteen minutes,” he leaned his head back, and brought it down onto the crystal. As it connected, Two disappeared in a flash of light, no explosion of dirt. The remaining Meepo turned his head back to Rarity and Spike.

“Well, that's that,” he said to them.

“Whoa...” Spike let out. “What's it like... having-”

“Spike?” Rarity interrupted. “There will be plenty of time for questions later. Let's focus on keeping the situation contained,” the dragon looked to her, seeing a concerned frown on her face.

“Oh... alright,” he conceded.

“If you two are ready, let's get a move on,” he turned and began to walk to the guards. Rarity and Spike looked back to each other. The former gave a small smile and held a fore-hoof outward. The latter returned the smile and wrapped his arms around her neck, her fore-hoof wrapping around him. They both pulled away, giving each other a nod. Rarity leaned her front down slightly, and Spike climbed onto her back. She began to walk forward, seeing Meepo paused and looking back to them. As they passed by him, he began to follow right behind them.