For Want of a Quillby bkaneshiro14ChaptersA (heat) Stroke of GeniusBreaking the IceSquirm, Squirm, I'm a WormHeartless KillerOver EnGorging OneselfInfiltrationGetting the Cold ShoulderA Place to call HomeExperimentationsA (heat) Stroke of GeniusIt was a humid summer's day in Ponyville. It was so hot, nopony wanted to do anything more than flop around lazily in their bed. This could not be less true for a young unicorn. He was pacing this way and that, seeming to be deep in thought. "C'mon, Smarts!" an earth pony groaned from her room, "stop all your pacing and use your stupid magic to turn on the AC or something." Book Smarts had just finished his second year in Canterlot University with top marks in Equestrian literature. He was spending the summer with his best childhood friend Sally Mu. "It's hot, and boring, and I wanna take a bath, but they cut off the water, and wanna play P-box but they cut off our power…" "They cut off our power? What about all the food in the fridge?" "Oh, our clumsy old mailmare cleaned it out… Apparently my aunt Carrot is a good friend of hers or something…" "So…" Smarts said, "you're saying that we have no food, no water, and no electricity?" "Duh, Smarts. God, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one…" Sally was the same age as Smarts, but she dropped out of high school. Instead, she worked odd jobs around Ponyville, from maintaining the old dam to nursing in the hospital when they were short on staff. Because of the slightly less than reliable income, her bills sometimes didn't get in on time. As a result, she loses access to power and water often. After living a routine life for the past 19 years, Smarts just didn't know how to cope with Sally's impulsive attitude. "And how, exactly, did you think I could turn on the AC with no power?" "You just use your unicorn magic thingy and make the AC go *vwoooosh…* Isn't it obvious?" "Never mind that, Sally. I'm trying to think." Smarts was thinking for the past week. He wasn't thinking about how to deal with Sally's antics, but he was thinking of what to write for his story. He seemed smart and studious on the outside, but on the inside, he was a colt at heart. He still loved video games and cartoons. Especially a certain TV series called "My Little Human." He wanted to write a story as a tribute to his favorite show, despite the fact that it was aimed towards young fillies. "So, Smarts, I have an idea on what you could write for your story. What if you make up characters and made the story about how he has writer's block and can't think of anything to write?" "Sally, that is, without a doubt, the stupidest idea I've ever heard you say. Only an idiot with absolutely no imagination would even consider writing a story like that." He knew that he could think of something better than that. He decided to delve into the slightly more fantastic part of his mind. "Alright, then. What about you write about the ponies who saved us all from Discord and Nightmare Moon, only as humans from your stupid TV show?" "I've heard about famous stories and legends about some of the ponies town. But, they can't be any more than just that. Legends. Supposedly, Pumpkin Cake's babysitter was a member of a team of six, which saved Equestria three times? And the old librarian and the apple farmer were in it too? No. They couldn't have been." A tedious hour of thinking later, Smarts finally found his inspiration. He would write a story about a sinister evil that captures the main characters, and the princess of the land would save the day. The only problem was that he couldn't find his lucky writing quill. He practically tore the house apart looking for it, until he remembered that he left all of his writing equipment in his dorm in Canterlot. He had to go outside in the sweltering heat to the stationary store and get some more. When Smarts opened the door, he felt a massive wave of heat hit him square in the face. He didn't take three steps out of the door before all of his pores were gushing with sweat. He had to keep going, though. The stationary store was an arduous half-mile away. While he could normally run there in a heartbeat, the utter heat of the day made every step absolute torture. When Smarts got to the store, an equally suffering stallion who, despite his obvious discomfort, greeted him with a smile, "Welcome to Quills and Sofas! How can I help you?" "I'm looking for a quill. What do you have?" "We have this quill that just came in," the shopkeeper replied, "supposedly, the quill is from the tail of Princess Celestia's pet phoenix." Smarts' ears perked up at the mention of the majestic animal. All his life, Smarts had a strong liking of phoenixes, ever since he was rescued at the hands of an evil basilisk because of one of them. "The princess's pet? Philomena?" "Personally, I think it's nothing more than a pile of horse apples, but it looks very impressive. It's a brilliant red orange, and it writes smoother than silk. It's 86 bits if you want it." Smarts happily shoveled over the full contents of his wallet and felt the phoenix's feather. It was a beautiful color, and Smarts could swear that he saw flames and embers dance when he grabbed it. Halfway back to Sally's house, a blue portal appeared in front of him, and out of it ran a battered stallion. He looked as though he was involved in some brawl of some kind; his long black cloak was torn in pieces, and he had an ugly black eye. He looked at the feather in Smarts' hand with great intent. "Young stallion, that feather you have there, it's more powerful than you think. Whatever you do, don't give it up to anyone. I have to go. Perhaps I shall see you soon." And all at once, he vanished through an orange portal that materialized underneath him. Despite the intense heat, Smarts shivered, wondering what the mysterious pony's cryptic message meant. Breaking the Ice"Say, Smarts, have you noticed it getting colder in here, or is it just me?" Sally was right; it was getting colder. The temperature had already dropped by 10 degrees. Suddenly, an ice fiend materialized outside out of dark blue crystals floating in the air. It was a strange creature, skinny as a skeleton, and commonly grew well over 20 feet tall. They were also known to be able to freeze whole cities on a whim. It then raised its terrifying head. "That quill you have is far too powerful for mortal hooves," the ice fiend said, "give it to me, and I shall let Ponyville stand." "Heck, no!" Sally shouted at the 2-story tall abomination. She grabbed the quill out of the air, and started scribbling down something on paper. "Sally! What are you doing?" Sally was drawing a medieval mace on paper, though quite hastily and it came out lumpy and uneven. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm gonna try to save Ponyville!" "Sally! That quill has the power to make animate objects come to life, but that doesn't mean tha-" he stopped short as the medieval mace fell to the floor with a metallic clang. He weighted the weapon with his magic, and, confident in its power, he engaged the ice fiend. Smarts' first strike took the monster took it by surprise. It reeled back in pain as his left hand got shattered. "You shall pay for what you have done to me." The monster growled. It reeled back his head, and breathed an icy gale from its mouth. Smarts quickly leapt to the left, and the rock he was standing in front of froze into a block of ice. It then fired a long string of icicles, sharp as needles, at Smarts, who deftly used his magic to reduce the sharp icicles into a fine powder snow. Smarts leapt up the monster's body, and swung hard at the ice fiend's unprotected skull. The force of the blow shattered the skull of the monster, but Smarts' weapon immediately dissolved into black ink. Smarts made a mental note of how much damage something made of ink could dish out. Without its skull to protect it, the ice fiend's body was quickly riddled with fractures and cracks and broke into small icy shards. "Hooray! We did it! We have slain this beast!" Sally cheered. "No." Smarts replied with a frown, "we've just inconvenienced him. Ice fiends can put themselves back together, even if they're only reduced to ice cubes." "That just means we have to melt him." Sally picked up the quill and scribbled a crude picture of a fire on the paper. "Sally," Smarts retorted, "a physical item I can understand, but there's no way in Equestria that that feather can produce a fireball." And just as he said those words, a searing ball of fire erupted from the paper, in the direction of what it was pointed at: The ice fiend. At this point, Book Smarts throws all of his logic out the window in terms of the phoenix feather. The small shards of ice didn't stand a chance against the intense heat, and they quickly melted into a dark purple puddle. "Well, mortals," they heard the puddle retort, "you have succeeded in defeating me, a foot soldier, nothing more, nothing less. More soldiers shall come, in greater numbers, and in greater ferocity. Ponyville will be razed to the ground. If you truly wish to throw away your lives and try to stop us, come to Razorback Ridge. Our base is set up there." And with those last words, the purple puddle soaked itself into the dry earth. All at once, dark clouds encircled the sky. "Come on, Smarts, we have to find their base." "What?" Smarts replied incredulously, "Are you insane? We're going to get killed! Tortured!" "Smarts, if we don't, they're not gonna stop. Monsters will flood in like a wave that never wanes. Even the heroes are gonna get tired. Ponyville is going to fall, and everyone inside of it as well." "Sally! Open your eyes! This is the real world! There are no more heroes left!" "Oh, yes there are." Smarts and Sally turn around, and see a purple unicorn trot up to them. "You two need to go to Razorback Ridge and try to stop this. Me and the girls are gonna take care of this." "And who are you supposed to be, exactly?" Smarts replied with sharp venom in his voice. "My name is Twilight Sparkle." The unicorn said, "I'm the residential librarian here in Ponyville. You two need to get out of here." "Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Smarts lets out a sarcastic laugh. "You? A hero? Like in the legends? Ha! Like I'll ever believe something so foolhardy." But just as he said that, another three ice fiends materialized to the right of Smarts, only to be instantly shattered and melted by a powerful magical fire with an amethyst hue. He quickly turned back to the librarian, whose eyes had just stopped glowing an ominous white. "… you have my blessings." Smarts said quickly, hoping he didn't offend the powerful unicorn in any way. Squirm, Squirm, I'm a WormThe two young ponies ran as quickly as their hooves could carry them away from the death trap that once was their home, taking with them only the quill, ten rolls of parchment, a pint of ink, 10 feet of wire, and some impressive looking body armor that Smarts intricately drew for them. They left at dusk, and kept running for hours on end. As they grew farther away, a faint reddish-orange glow was growing increasingly stronger from the city. They could even hear faint roars and screams of the citizens of Ponyville, even from a whole ten miles away. Smarts noticed a single tear run down the cheek of Sally's face. He couldn't even imagine the thought of having the town he lived in for all of his life being burned to the ground in an unceremonious flame of war. Suddenly, the ground began to have violent tremors, which made the earth flow in large waves. "We just can't catch a break, can we, Smarts?" Sally complained. A large worm then unburrowed itself from the ground, and looked at Smarts and Sally, or more specifically in the saddlebag with the quill in it. It was at least the length of the Ponyville Express, and was a sickly pulsating brown color. Preparing for battle, Smarts quickly drew dozens of shuriken and kunai which all clattered on the ground in a pile. Picking them up, and trusting their power, he hurled a kunai at the worm with the velocity of a cannon. The kunai bounced harmlessly off of the worm's thick, rubbery hide. Turning to the side, the worm shot a lightning bolt tremor at Smarts. He couldn't react in time, so he braced for impact. The shock coursed through his entire body, and he felt his muscles tense up. He couldn't budge or use his magic at all. For the first time in his life, he felt completely useless. He wanted to close his eyes tight and let sweet merciful death swallow him up, but not even his eyelids wanted to respond. All he could do was watch the giant worm stare, (well he thought it was staring, as worms don't have eyes) at Sally, with bioluminescent drool pooling in its mouth. Sally was stunned. Not in the sense of being paralyzed like Smarts was, but just from seeing Smarts in such a compromising position almost made her cry. "So, this is how it's all going to end," she told herself, "we're going to die, the monsters are going to go on, and they're gonna destroy Equestria. All because Smarts had to pick up that stupid quill from the stationary shop." A light went off in her head. In her state of panic, she forgot the quill entirely. She looked at Smarts for the quill, but noticed that it was lodged forcefully between the ground and his right hoof. She then looked at the small pile of ninja weapons. She never told anypony else this, but she actually was very skilled in ninjutsu. She knew how to throw shuriken and to fight with kunai. She scooped up the shuriken and used some of her wire to make a chain of them. She strapped the shuriken chain to her body, grabbed the kunai in her mouth, and dashed to the worm, which was chasing after her slowly the entire time. It seemed like he was merely toying with them before he went in for the final blow. Sally made a quick hop and landed on top of the worm's head. She then jumped out, in front of it and threw half of the chain of shuriken at the worm. Every single one of them hit their mark perfectly, and sunk deep into the skin. The worm was sent into spasms, flinging the shuriken out of his face, and dived for the earth to retreat. As Sally saw the monster's face that was falling towards her, she quickly hopped to the side, and concentrated hard on the worm. In Smarts' eyes, it looked like Sally was glowing an electric green. She then opened her eyes, turned her head, and flung the kunai with all of her strength. It flew to the worm's midsection as straight as an arrow would, and coursed through it as though it were a hot rapier through a slab of butter. When it exited from the other side, it had torn the monster's heart cleanly out. By then, Smarts had regained movement of most of his muscles. "How did you do that? And how did you know where to throw that kunai?" he babbled incoherently. "Smarts, I thought you were the tsukkomi of our duo. I knew he had a heart because he somehow was able to use electricity to stun your whole body. He converted the electromagnetic pulses of his heart into actual electrical energy and projected the energy outwards, providing a powerful electric shock for anything that it touches, and anything that touches that." This was the second time that day that Smarts was left stunned. He didn't know that Sally knew so much. He thought that she was nothing more than a high school dropout up until that point. Heartless Killer"Sally," Smarts finally managed to spurt out, "I'm just wondering, why did you drop out of school? It's obvious that you know stuff, more than some graduates, even." "You know," Sally said with a stern look on her face, "for my friend, you really don't know the first thing about me, do you?" "You mean, you didn't drop out?" "Not of my own free will. You know just as well as I do that I loved Ponyville High." "Then, why did you leave?" "I didn't have a choice." Sally replied sadly. "It all started around halfway through my sophomore year. I was by myself practicing my ninjutsu, when I saw Pumpkin getting harassed by a group of older stallions." "Pumpkin? As in, the bakers' daughter?" "Yeah. I didn't know her very well, and she didn't know me. I think she had a cold at that time, so she couldn't use her magic very well, if at all. Then, one of the stallions pulled out a knife and demanded for Pumpkin's handbag. She refused. They went after her with knives. At that point, I only did what I thought was right. I threw my kunai and shuriken and killed all of them. She saw me running to her with my knives, and she got scared and fled. It wasn't even three minutes until the police arrived. The evidence was that I, a teenage school filly, killed, in cold blood, no less, three fully grown stallions." "But that's not fair!" Smarts blurted out, "You know you didn't mean to kill them, right?" but all Sally did was shook her head. "Those three stallions had given me and my family so much grief. They robbed us twice, they kidnapped my little sister Sandra," "I didn't know you had a sister." "Neither did anyone else. We never saw her after she went for a stroll in the park ten years ago. They also mugged my mom on multiple occasions, and it was them that messed up Mrs. Derpy's eyes in the first place. I knew fully who they were, what they did, and what they were going to do to Pumpkin. The police were right. I killed those stallions in cold blood." "Then you should've told the police that!" "You think they would've believed me? I already had multiple run-ins with the law, none of which were my fault. They, on the other had, had connections with the police in a more positive note. In the police's eyes, the stallions I killed were model citizens." "That seems like it must have been a total hell for you." "It was. I was to be monitored by a policepony at all times. At school, I was an outcast; I was always 'Miss Murder' in their eyes. Even Pumpkin turned away from me. I think it was that the event was so traumatic for her, her memory rewrote itself, and thought that I killed those men for just being there. I was depressed, and my grades slipped as a result. Eventually, the emotional pain was just too much for me, and I dropped out right after sophomore year. I was placed under house arrest until I was eighteen, and even then I was on their watch list. I can't leave Ponyville without the written consent of the mayor or Princess Celestia herself. That's why I couldn't visit you in your dorm, Smarts. I missed you so much." "Then you shouldn't be here! I should be the one risking my life out here! Not you!" "I don't think the police are gonna mind if I leave when the equivalent of an apocalypse is happening in Ponyville." Smarts noticed her eyes start to well up with tears, "Besides, you'd be long dead if it wasn't for me." "Sally, I don't want you to be in any more danger. I think I-" "Hold it right there, buster." Sally snapped back, "If what you were going to finish that sentence with something like 'love,' 'like,' or 'is enamored to' me, you can take those words and shove it right up your flank." Smarts felt something in his heart darken and break, and he felt a short wave of melancholy rush over him. "I'm sorry if I seem huffy, but it's been a long day, and I want to get to sleep. Now draw us some beds and a tent, pronto." He couldn't do anything but that. He drew a large tent, and two beds for each of them. They went in their beds and dozed off without another word. Over EnGorging OneselfWhen Smarts woke up and stumbled out of the tent, he saw Sally training with a drawn clone of herself. He watched in amazement how the clone mimicked the moves Sally used. After five minutes of bewildered staring, Smarts finally spoke up. "Hey. You're up early." Sally didn't respond. He didn't know if it was because she was so focused in her training, or if she was still sore over their argument the previous night. She finally stopped and looked at Smarts with a dark glare over her eyes. "Hey yourself," she replied, voice full of venom. "I'm sorry," Smarts said, "if what I said made you upset last night. You just didn't give me a chance to finish what I said." "Oh? Is that so?" Sally replied sarcastically, "Then what were you going to say?" "I was going to say..." stammered Smarts. In all of his years, nothing had prepared him for this kind of thing. He had to choose his words carefully, because it would be a big white lie, "I was going to say that 'I think I can't forgive myself if something happens to you.' I promised my mother that I wouldn't let you get yourself in danger, and look what we've gotten ourselves into. Squaring off with ice fiends, and giant worms, and Celestia knows what else is gonna be coming for us." "Oh." Sally said sheepishly, "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. It's just you weren't there for me when I needed you back then, and-" She stopped abruptly when she noticed a scroll levitating behind Smarts' head. "Hey, open that scroll up! Read it!" Smarts broke the seal and read the letter aloud. "Dear young heroes, Ponyville is standing, but it's an absolute battlefield. Everypony is already in the disaster shelter. The girls and I are doing the best we can to push back the enemies, but like a hydra, every time we kill one, it seems that there's just two more to take its place. Please hurry and stop this. Your faithful librarian, Twilight Sparkle." "You heard her," Smarts said, "let's keep moving. We can get there fastest if we cut through Ghastly Gorge." "Okay." Sally grumbled, upset that she was interrupted when she was putting her two cents in. "Let's move." Smarts quickly uncast the tent and everything inside of it and collected the ink that fell down into a bottle. They travelled quickly and silently. They covered around four miles in the course of another hour. Sally decided to break the ice by asking with a smile, "So, what have you been doing these past five years?" "Well, there's really not that much to talk about." Smarts admitted. "After we parted ways, I moved to Manehatten and graduated from their high school. Then I moved to Canterlot to further improve my studies. There's nothing else to it." "You have a 'special somepony?'" Sally asked with a cheeky grin. Smarts gulped, he felt that this was her stinging revenge for last night. "No," he replied. He could feel a bright red blush coming onto his face. "Manehatten High was a colt-exclusive school, and Canterlot University only has classes of five or fewer, and there aren't any other fillies in my classes." "Heehee," Sally giggles, "you're just making this worse for yourself. Now someone could assume you to be gay." "Say, lovely weather we're having." Smarts said hastily, trying to quickly change the subject. "How about those quarry eels?" He said as he quickly jumped out of the way of a massive purple eel the length of a cruise ship and with teeth longer than a cat. "Sure keeps you on your toes." "Definitely." Sally said as she kicked the eel as it was slithering back into its den, effectively shattering its jaw. The eel then flailed back and forth in pain, with great intention of crushing those who have wounded it. "Oh, my." Smarts sighed calmly, "It appears that we have made him irritated." "Indeed. Shall we hastily leave this chasm?" "We shall indeed, Sally." And with that, they ran as quickly as their hooves could carry them, with a dozen or so eels slithering at them wishing to separate their heads from their bodies. They ran far and fast; they hopped up a rock fall that occurred twelve years prior, and leapt out of the Gorge, knowing full well that the eels couldn't follow them out. Infiltration"Okay," Smarts panted, "We made it out. Razorback Ridge is just another three miles away. We can make it before the day's over if we hurry." They cantered quickly to Razorback Ridge and were shocked with what they saw. The rock formations jutting sharply from the earth were coated with a crystal blue ice. The birds that sang their ominous songs were silent, giving the ridge an even more foreboding atmosphere. In front of them stood a fortress made entirely of ice standing over one hundred feet tall. After taking a deep breath, they stepped onto the thin ice bridge separating the fortress from the rest of the ridge. The bridge creaked and cracked loudly, and it felt like it wasn't going to hold them up for much longer. Step after step, they finally made it to the other side, just as the bridge collapsed upon itself and fell into a ravine which didn't show any signs of having a bottom. There was no turning back now. The icy doors to the fortress were locked shut. Grabbing the quill, Smarts drew a picture of a fire and the fire bolted out of the paper and blew the door open inwards. They were then set upon by thirty guards who heard the explosion. "We don't know how you got in here," they said in perfect unison, "but you're not going to get out." "We'll see." Smarts said with a smirk. He then whipped the quill this way and that, and drew a fully-grown lion. "Attack!" Smarts shouted to the lion. The lion showed absolute loyalty in that it was willing to fight the guards to the potential death. The lion mauled two guards with his paws and slashed at a third with his claws, effectively killing him. His frenzy was stopped by a spear thrust into his midsection, which turned the lion into an inky black sludge. Meanwhile, Smarts was drawing icy spear after icy spear, each of them flinging themselves from the page and skewered multiple guards. At the same time, Sally was engaging the guards directly with a ninjato, deftly dodging the attacks of her allies and slashing mortally deep wounds into the guards. Of the thirty guards that attacked, only ten survived the initial onslaught. "So, I hear your boss likes it cold." Smarts said slyly. "Let this be a monument to his sins." He drew a picture of an intricate snowflake on the paper. However, it shrunk in size to a normal snowflake and floated gently over the heads of the guards. The guards laughed, and Smarts was worried that the ploy had failed and he made himself look foolish in front of Sally. His prayers were answered when the snowflake cast a hurricane-force gale down at the guards. The icy wind froze them instantaneously, and their laughing expression was frozen permanently in eerie ice sculptures. The two ponies rushed up the ice staircase, crushing ice demons with magic and cutting through guards with swords and knives. It took half an hour to scout the entire fortress before they finally reached the door to the boss's quarters. "Smarts," Sally inquired, "how do you know that this is the door to the boss's quarters?" "I don't know." He replied sarcastically, while gesturing obviously at a plaque on the door that read: Boss's quarters! Do not enter! "It must've been a lucky guess." He drew another fireball on the paper with intent of melting the door down, but when the fire struck the ice, the fire dissipated with a loud hiss. The door came out without so much as a mark on it. Confounded by this, Smarts drew more fireballs and arcs of lightning as well, only to have the same effect. Just as he was about to finish drawing a volcano, Sally pointed out, "Wait, wait, wait. There's something written here. It says 'whosoever has reached this door may only open it by speaking the answer to this riddle.' Uggh. I hate thinking. The riddle says…" She pauses and puts a hoof to her face. "I don't believe this. 'If a train leaves Fillydelphia heading southward at fifty miles per hour and a train leaves Manehatten heading northward at thirty miles per hour, how long will it take for the two trains to meet each other?' Damn it, Smarts, I can't do math!" "You don't need it." He replied. "You need to know about geography. It's a trick question. Manehatten is southward to Fillydelphia, so the trains could never meet." And after those words left his lips, the doors to the boss's quarters creaked open. Getting the Cold ShoulderThey tried to tiptoe in quietly, which was hard for ponies as their hooves clopped loudly on the floor. They found a large bed and a figure stirring inside of it. They quickly rushed to the bed and prepared to apprehend the leader for what he did. "Hey!" Smarts shouted "Wake up!" The figure in the bed stirred, and Sally raised her sword in defense. They expected the figure to be some cold-blooded killer with a wild look in his eyes that could make seas boil just by looking at them. What they found was a young female unicorn, coat green as grass, no older than the age of ten, looking at the two of them with wide, excited eyes. "Ooh, ooh! Are you guys here to play with me?" "Umm… No." Sally replied. "Actually, we were-" "HEY!" The unicorn interrupted. "That's rude. I don't even know your names yet!" "I'm Book Smarts, and that's Sally Mu." "Heehee. Those are weird names!" Smarts felt a wave of irritation rush over him. "My name is Comet!" "Well, nice to meet you… Comet…" Sally replied hesitantly, "We were wondering, do you happen to know a pony who has control over ice?" "Yes, yes, yes!" The unicorn replied excitedly. "I know her! I know her real well!" "You do? Where is she?" "She is here." Comet gestured to herself. "She is… here?" Smarts was confused, "But she's not you." "Oh, no." Comet replied with a smile. "She is me!" There was a brief moment of silence that fell, but Sally's laughter broke it like china falling to the floor. "You?" She asked incredulously, "You have control over ice that apparently set ice demons over to Ponyville?" "Yes. That's what I'm saying." Her grin was starting to widen, and they saw her teeth were unnaturally white. "Okay then. Well, we're going to have to take you away from here." "Oh," Comet responded, smile starting to fade, "I'm sorry, but that can't happen. In fact, you two can't leave either." "What?" Sally shouted, "Why the hell not?" "I'm just so lonely here. Everypony who comes here is always so mean. They always run away. But don't worry. They are still with me." She opens a door to a walk-in closet and hundreds of ice statues of ponies stood there, with their terrified expressions stuck on their faces for the entire world to see. "See? It's no big deal. I don't want to leave. And I don't want you two to leave either." She started to use her magic. A bone-chilling wind whipped up and they felt the temperature plummet into sub-zero temperatures. "No." Smarts replied, "We're getting out of here, and you're going to stop this. Whether that means you stop on your own accord, or…" Smarts draws a flaming sword, which fell to the ground, scattering sparks into the air, "if you stop because you can't move." "Oh," Comet used her magic to create a flail made out of ice, "looks like you guys want to play after all!" She hits the ball on the ground, making a loud clanging noise. The two unicorns rush at each other with their weapons, sending chips of ice and sparks flying with every hit. They both destroy each other's weapons within the first minute. Smarts grabs his quill and draws fireball after fireball, but Comet artfully dodges every one of them, as though she were a cheerleader. "That's a cool move you did just there, guy! But it's my turn now." She sent a massive hail of icicles, each one the length of a baseball bat and razor sharp, cascading down on Smarts. Smarts dodges each one, but only barely. They stick into the ground hard, and Smarts gets an idea. He draws a smaller fireball and launches it at Comet. She dodges it by quickly sidestepping to the right, and all of the icicles start to melt. He then quickly draws a lightning bolt on the paper. It leaps from the page and strikes the ice pillars, coursing through the water until it reaches Comet. She didn't expect the attack, and was caught off guard. Experiencing the powerful electric shock, she drops to the ground, unable to move. "Wow…" she said quietly, "you guys are the most fun I've had in years…" "Oh, we're just getting started." Smarts replied with a sadistic grin. He readied his quill and began drawing a guillotine. "Wait!" Sally exclaimed "Oh, come on, what now?" "We can't kill her." "We ca- Sally! Are you insane? She almost killed us, not to mention everything that we've been through was because of her! And Celestia knows how many other hapless ponies she killed too." He turns back to Comet. "All because you were lonely and bored." "Smarts, stop it. You don't know what it's like, killing somepony. You don't want that kind of blood on your hooves." "Well fine! What do you think we should do with her? Huh? If she lives, she's gonna continue! If she dies, you're gonna feel guilty! So, Comet," he spat, "what do you want?" Comet was at the point of tears; she hadn't been so close to death before. "I don't know anymore!" She wailed, "I just… just wanted somepony to play with me! I didn't want them to go! I didn't mean to kill them! Honest! I just lost control of my powers!" "Oh, so you 'lost control of your powers.' Is that it?" Smarts replied with distasteful sarcasm, "Oh, then everything is fantastic! Gee, I'm sure those ponies you froze into ice cubes would agree, isn't that right guys?" He asks the closet of statues, "Yes indeed! Everything is hunky-dory!" "Smarts, just… stop. You're taking this too far. What we should do is take her to Princess Celestia. She'll know what to do." "Fine." Smarts replied with a scowl on his face, "Let's take her to the princess. But don't think for one second that you'll get any special treatment because you're only a foal." "Thank you," Comet replied, tears streaming down her face, "thank you both for giving me a chance to live." A Place to call HomeThe trip to Canterlot palace was a quick one, partly due to the lack of conversation between the three ponies, and partly due to the lack of ice fiends materializing out of nowhere. They reached Canterlot in the time of a day, and they requested an immediate audience with the princess. "Heh." The guards chuckled, "Like you're the only one with problems here. We've got requests coming in from everywhere. We've got one about some bloke in Manehatten whose house was broken into by an ice imp, we've got one about a family in Ponyville who lost their home to a glacier. What makes you think she's going to make an audience with you?" "My word," They heard a voice coming from the room, "what is all the commotion out here?" Smarts and Sally stood gawk-eyed at the figure that walked out. Princess Celestia was looking in their direction. "Princess!" The guards saluted, "These idiots want to request an audience with you." "Well," she mused, "maybe that won't be necessary." "But princess!" Smarts interjected, "Pardon my language, but this is a matter of life-and-death!" "I am quite aware of this." The Princess replied, "I have actually been monitoring you two for quite some time now." "But princess," Sally asked, "how did you know?" "My student Twilight Sparkle wrote me a letter concerning two ponies out to save Equestria." Smarts' face paled at the mention of that name. All this time, the librarian in Ponyville was the princess's star pupil? "I found you two and was monitoring you closely until now. I just need to talk with the young one privately." She gestured to Comet who was cowering behind Sally. "By all means, your majesty." Smarts humbly replied. The guards escort Sally and Smarts out of the main hall, and are pushed out the doors. "So," the princess said, "tell me about yourself." Comet didn't make a peep. She was just looking down at the ground while muttering things to herself. "Come on, now. There is a memory spell that I know of, so I'm going to get your memories one way or another." "I'm so sorry!" Comet blurted out. Appalled at her own language, she quickly retracted with a whimper, "Sorry. It's just… I was so lonely…" "It's okay. Why were you lonely? What ever happened to your parents?" Comet took a deep breath, "My parents died." Celestia's eyes widened at this knowledge. "My parents died when I was just born. I don't even remember them." "Didn't your parents have any relatives? Friends?" "My parents lived in a small cave on Razorback Ridge. That's why I made my new house over there. In memory of parents I don't remember." "What about orphanages?" "I didn't want to leave." Comet started trembling, "Every time someone came to pick me up, I froze them where they stood. I was just so scared. I don't like new places." "I see." Celestia replied, "What are your plans now? Do you have anywhere to go where you can be monitored by a responsible adult?" "No. My only home is on the ridge. I don't want to go to an orphanage. Please, Princess! Don't make me go!" "It is quite alright. In fact, I have an idea that could help both of us." "An idea that could help you?" Comet asked. She wondered what could possibly happen that could help Celestia, who has the power to raise the sun every morning. "What is it?" "How would you like to live in the castle with me and my sister?" Comet couldn't believe her ears. The princess accepted her, when she should have rightfully been executed. "Do you mean it, princess?" "I mean it. While you live here, we can hone your powers and use them for good." "Like what?" "You obviously are aware that the weather changes around here with the help of ponies. Why not use your power and control winter for us?" "You're trusting me with controlling the seasons?" "Indeed we are, my young Comet. Now, how about talking with your friends about the idea?" "Oh." Comet's face darkened. "Those guys aren't my friends. They almost killed me. On purpose." "Well, look at it this way. They didn't kill you. They might have wanted to, but they didn't." Comet's face brightened up slightly when she thought of it this way. "Sure thing, princess." Comet trotted out of the doors and was met by Smarts and Sally, the first two living ponies to have met her. "So," Sally asked excitedly, "how did it go?" "It's great! I get to stay with the princess!" "No way! We're so happy for you! Isn't that right, Smarts?" She gives Smarts a painful elbow to the gut. "Yup. We're really happy for you." He said quickly. "Thank you both so much. Really. I mean it. If it weren't for you two, I think that I would have died all alone." "And if it makes you feel better," Smarts added, "I'm attending school here, so I can visit you when I have breaks." "Really?" Comet's face lit up so much, her happiness was practically radiating out of her skin. "But, I have just one question to ask you." "Okay, anything." "Back in Ponyville, we were attacked by an ice fiend, and in the mountain we were attacked by a giant worm. Now, I'm going to assume that the ice fiend and worm were yours. I'm not holding it against you. What's in the past is in the past. What bothered me was knowledge knowledge of the quill I have. How did they know about it?" "That's my lucky quill!" She shouted. "I lost it one day, and now you have it! That quill made everything I had! The house, the guards, the… ice fiends… No matter! I lost it when I was playing with it. I think it blew out of a window, and it must've drifted into Ponyville because you found it! But… well, you did find it fair and square. It's yours now." Smarts was starting to feel guilty, mostly because he was holding the quill that was her closest friend. "Oops." He said as he dropped it on the floor. "I think I lost it. I can't find it." Comet picked up the quill. "It's right here, silly!" "Oh, you found it. Well, looks like you can have it. Fair and square." He replied with a smile. He could practically feel Comet's elation at this point. It was hard to look directly at her, she was so happy. "Now, you gotta promise me. When you use it, make sure you tell the princess first. Okay?" Comet nodded her head furiously, tears of joy streaming from her eyes. "Well, it's been fun, kid." Sally said. "Definitely life-threatening and terrifying at times too, but it's been real fun." "Thanks for everything you guys." Comet replied. "Don't mention it." Smarts said, with tears welling up in his eyes. "Say, Smarts…" Sally smirked, "Are you… crying?" "No!" Smarts replied quickly, "Absolutely not! I just got a piece of sand stuck in my eye. From doing manly things at the beach. Like playing football and playing paintball." "You guys are gonna visit me, right?" "Of course we are, kid." Smarts smiled. "Of course we are." Two months passed in a blink of the eye. Smarts went back to his dorm in Canterlot and Sally got written permission from the princess to be able to leave the borders of Ponyville. Smarts was deep in his studies, when there was a knock at his door. "The door's open, Clyde." Smarts called, thinking it was his roommate. When the door opened, he saw Sally and Comet stride in. "Wha- how did you get in? This is a male-only dorm!" "I learned a new trick from the princess!" Comet replied happily, "It's called… umm… sigh-toe-jen-is-is or something." "The princess taught you cytogenesis?" Smarts shouted, "Then… wait…" he put two and two together, "Does that mean…" "Of course not, Smarts!" Sally replied with a laugh. "We asked nicely. They let us walk up here no problem!" "Well, that and they have to monitor us at all times," she gestured to a security guard watching them intently "so that we don't have… what was the word again? Secks? What does that mean, anyway?" Sally pulled Comet close and whispered something in her ear. Comet's face became distorted in terror and became a bright shade of red. "Oh, gosh! Was that how I was made?" "Hey," the security guard said, "hurry up. You're on a time limit here. You got one minute." "So, when's your next break gonna be, Smarts?" Comet asked with a big smile on her face. "Probably in December. When you have to start your duties for controlling the weather." "Aww! That's too long!" Comet complained. "Yeah." Sally agreed. "Way too long. We're just gonna have to visit you in between then. So, Comet, when do you wanna see Smarts next?" "I wanna see him tomorrow!" "Well, it's settled then." Smarts and the security guard shared a look of shock, "We're going to come every day!" Smarts thumped his head on his desk. It was gonna be a long way until winter. ExperimentationsHe returned to Sally's house and put the feather on the writing desk. He didn't want to start writing yet. He needed a drink. Fortunately for him, Sally managed to convince the water plant to give them access to water for another week. How she managed to do that was beyond his knowledge. He grabbed a tall glass and filled it with crisp, cool water. It was the best water he ever tasted, despite being from a tap. Suddenly, he heard a shriek come from the writing room. "Sally?" he called, worrying that she might have broke the quill that cost all of his money. "You better not have touched my quill!" "I'm so sorry, Smarts! I just wanted to draw for a while, but when I used that fancy quill on the desk, the dog on the page peeled itself off and grew to full size!" as if on cue, a short brown dog bounded into the room. It looked lumpy, as though it were from a drawing of some kind. "This doesn't make any sense..." Smarts quivered, "there's nothing that science or even magic can explain how that dog came into existence…" The dog barked with short yaps. The dog was starting to get annoying. "Come on, you! Shoo!" Smarts batted the drawing dog out of the house with a broom. The dog felt surprisingly solid, as if it were an actual dog. He looked at the quill that had fallen on the floor. He saw the similar flash of embers course through the length of it. He picked it up with his magic and went to the paper on the table. He started to draw a butterfly. The shopkeeper was right about one thing; this quill was the smoothest thing that he ever wrote or drew with. The second he drew the last antennae, the outlined drawing colored itself in. It was a soft yellow color with slate blue spots on it. It then lifted from the page and flitted around Smarts and Sally. "Sally, do you know what this means?" "Yup." Sally replied, "It means your art can never hang in a museum." "Not that, you idiot. It means we have just found a magic quill. I mean, most quills are imbued with some sort of magic already to make it smoother or write in different fonts, but this quill is really magic. It can make anything we draw come to life." "Try draw a block of gold" Sally commanded. The consequences of this quill were unknown. From destroying the worth of the Equestrian bit, to bringing forth cosmic horrors in Ponyville, this quill could have that power. "Okay, Sally." Smarts agreed, against his better judgment. "I'm not sure if I can, though. It should have some kind of block to prevent the ability to summon up blocks of gold, but here goes nothing." Smarts drew a bar of metal with the intention of it turning into gold, but the block materialized into a common steel alloy, which was close to worthless in Equestria. "Well, we tried, Sally." Smarts said solemnly.
A (heat) Stroke of GeniusIt was a humid summer's day in Ponyville. It was so hot, nopony wanted to do anything more than flop around lazily in their bed. This could not be less true for a young unicorn. He was pacing this way and that, seeming to be deep in thought. "C'mon, Smarts!" an earth pony groaned from her room, "stop all your pacing and use your stupid magic to turn on the AC or something." Book Smarts had just finished his second year in Canterlot University with top marks in Equestrian literature. He was spending the summer with his best childhood friend Sally Mu. "It's hot, and boring, and I wanna take a bath, but they cut off the water, and wanna play P-box but they cut off our power…" "They cut off our power? What about all the food in the fridge?" "Oh, our clumsy old mailmare cleaned it out… Apparently my aunt Carrot is a good friend of hers or something…" "So…" Smarts said, "you're saying that we have no food, no water, and no electricity?" "Duh, Smarts. God, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one…" Sally was the same age as Smarts, but she dropped out of high school. Instead, she worked odd jobs around Ponyville, from maintaining the old dam to nursing in the hospital when they were short on staff. Because of the slightly less than reliable income, her bills sometimes didn't get in on time. As a result, she loses access to power and water often. After living a routine life for the past 19 years, Smarts just didn't know how to cope with Sally's impulsive attitude. "And how, exactly, did you think I could turn on the AC with no power?" "You just use your unicorn magic thingy and make the AC go *vwoooosh…* Isn't it obvious?" "Never mind that, Sally. I'm trying to think." Smarts was thinking for the past week. He wasn't thinking about how to deal with Sally's antics, but he was thinking of what to write for his story. He seemed smart and studious on the outside, but on the inside, he was a colt at heart. He still loved video games and cartoons. Especially a certain TV series called "My Little Human." He wanted to write a story as a tribute to his favorite show, despite the fact that it was aimed towards young fillies. "So, Smarts, I have an idea on what you could write for your story. What if you make up characters and made the story about how he has writer's block and can't think of anything to write?" "Sally, that is, without a doubt, the stupidest idea I've ever heard you say. Only an idiot with absolutely no imagination would even consider writing a story like that." He knew that he could think of something better than that. He decided to delve into the slightly more fantastic part of his mind. "Alright, then. What about you write about the ponies who saved us all from Discord and Nightmare Moon, only as humans from your stupid TV show?" "I've heard about famous stories and legends about some of the ponies town. But, they can't be any more than just that. Legends. Supposedly, Pumpkin Cake's babysitter was a member of a team of six, which saved Equestria three times? And the old librarian and the apple farmer were in it too? No. They couldn't have been." A tedious hour of thinking later, Smarts finally found his inspiration. He would write a story about a sinister evil that captures the main characters, and the princess of the land would save the day. The only problem was that he couldn't find his lucky writing quill. He practically tore the house apart looking for it, until he remembered that he left all of his writing equipment in his dorm in Canterlot. He had to go outside in the sweltering heat to the stationary store and get some more. When Smarts opened the door, he felt a massive wave of heat hit him square in the face. He didn't take three steps out of the door before all of his pores were gushing with sweat. He had to keep going, though. The stationary store was an arduous half-mile away. While he could normally run there in a heartbeat, the utter heat of the day made every step absolute torture. When Smarts got to the store, an equally suffering stallion who, despite his obvious discomfort, greeted him with a smile, "Welcome to Quills and Sofas! How can I help you?" "I'm looking for a quill. What do you have?" "We have this quill that just came in," the shopkeeper replied, "supposedly, the quill is from the tail of Princess Celestia's pet phoenix." Smarts' ears perked up at the mention of the majestic animal. All his life, Smarts had a strong liking of phoenixes, ever since he was rescued at the hands of an evil basilisk because of one of them. "The princess's pet? Philomena?" "Personally, I think it's nothing more than a pile of horse apples, but it looks very impressive. It's a brilliant red orange, and it writes smoother than silk. It's 86 bits if you want it." Smarts happily shoveled over the full contents of his wallet and felt the phoenix's feather. It was a beautiful color, and Smarts could swear that he saw flames and embers dance when he grabbed it. Halfway back to Sally's house, a blue portal appeared in front of him, and out of it ran a battered stallion. He looked as though he was involved in some brawl of some kind; his long black cloak was torn in pieces, and he had an ugly black eye. He looked at the feather in Smarts' hand with great intent. "Young stallion, that feather you have there, it's more powerful than you think. Whatever you do, don't give it up to anyone. I have to go. Perhaps I shall see you soon." And all at once, he vanished through an orange portal that materialized underneath him. Despite the intense heat, Smarts shivered, wondering what the mysterious pony's cryptic message meant.
Breaking the Ice"Say, Smarts, have you noticed it getting colder in here, or is it just me?" Sally was right; it was getting colder. The temperature had already dropped by 10 degrees. Suddenly, an ice fiend materialized outside out of dark blue crystals floating in the air. It was a strange creature, skinny as a skeleton, and commonly grew well over 20 feet tall. They were also known to be able to freeze whole cities on a whim. It then raised its terrifying head. "That quill you have is far too powerful for mortal hooves," the ice fiend said, "give it to me, and I shall let Ponyville stand." "Heck, no!" Sally shouted at the 2-story tall abomination. She grabbed the quill out of the air, and started scribbling down something on paper. "Sally! What are you doing?" Sally was drawing a medieval mace on paper, though quite hastily and it came out lumpy and uneven. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm gonna try to save Ponyville!" "Sally! That quill has the power to make animate objects come to life, but that doesn't mean tha-" he stopped short as the medieval mace fell to the floor with a metallic clang. He weighted the weapon with his magic, and, confident in its power, he engaged the ice fiend. Smarts' first strike took the monster took it by surprise. It reeled back in pain as his left hand got shattered. "You shall pay for what you have done to me." The monster growled. It reeled back his head, and breathed an icy gale from its mouth. Smarts quickly leapt to the left, and the rock he was standing in front of froze into a block of ice. It then fired a long string of icicles, sharp as needles, at Smarts, who deftly used his magic to reduce the sharp icicles into a fine powder snow. Smarts leapt up the monster's body, and swung hard at the ice fiend's unprotected skull. The force of the blow shattered the skull of the monster, but Smarts' weapon immediately dissolved into black ink. Smarts made a mental note of how much damage something made of ink could dish out. Without its skull to protect it, the ice fiend's body was quickly riddled with fractures and cracks and broke into small icy shards. "Hooray! We did it! We have slain this beast!" Sally cheered. "No." Smarts replied with a frown, "we've just inconvenienced him. Ice fiends can put themselves back together, even if they're only reduced to ice cubes." "That just means we have to melt him." Sally picked up the quill and scribbled a crude picture of a fire on the paper. "Sally," Smarts retorted, "a physical item I can understand, but there's no way in Equestria that that feather can produce a fireball." And just as he said those words, a searing ball of fire erupted from the paper, in the direction of what it was pointed at: The ice fiend. At this point, Book Smarts throws all of his logic out the window in terms of the phoenix feather. The small shards of ice didn't stand a chance against the intense heat, and they quickly melted into a dark purple puddle. "Well, mortals," they heard the puddle retort, "you have succeeded in defeating me, a foot soldier, nothing more, nothing less. More soldiers shall come, in greater numbers, and in greater ferocity. Ponyville will be razed to the ground. If you truly wish to throw away your lives and try to stop us, come to Razorback Ridge. Our base is set up there." And with those last words, the purple puddle soaked itself into the dry earth. All at once, dark clouds encircled the sky. "Come on, Smarts, we have to find their base." "What?" Smarts replied incredulously, "Are you insane? We're going to get killed! Tortured!" "Smarts, if we don't, they're not gonna stop. Monsters will flood in like a wave that never wanes. Even the heroes are gonna get tired. Ponyville is going to fall, and everyone inside of it as well." "Sally! Open your eyes! This is the real world! There are no more heroes left!" "Oh, yes there are." Smarts and Sally turn around, and see a purple unicorn trot up to them. "You two need to go to Razorback Ridge and try to stop this. Me and the girls are gonna take care of this." "And who are you supposed to be, exactly?" Smarts replied with sharp venom in his voice. "My name is Twilight Sparkle." The unicorn said, "I'm the residential librarian here in Ponyville. You two need to get out of here." "Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Smarts lets out a sarcastic laugh. "You? A hero? Like in the legends? Ha! Like I'll ever believe something so foolhardy." But just as he said that, another three ice fiends materialized to the right of Smarts, only to be instantly shattered and melted by a powerful magical fire with an amethyst hue. He quickly turned back to the librarian, whose eyes had just stopped glowing an ominous white. "… you have my blessings." Smarts said quickly, hoping he didn't offend the powerful unicorn in any way.
Squirm, Squirm, I'm a WormThe two young ponies ran as quickly as their hooves could carry them away from the death trap that once was their home, taking with them only the quill, ten rolls of parchment, a pint of ink, 10 feet of wire, and some impressive looking body armor that Smarts intricately drew for them. They left at dusk, and kept running for hours on end. As they grew farther away, a faint reddish-orange glow was growing increasingly stronger from the city. They could even hear faint roars and screams of the citizens of Ponyville, even from a whole ten miles away. Smarts noticed a single tear run down the cheek of Sally's face. He couldn't even imagine the thought of having the town he lived in for all of his life being burned to the ground in an unceremonious flame of war. Suddenly, the ground began to have violent tremors, which made the earth flow in large waves. "We just can't catch a break, can we, Smarts?" Sally complained. A large worm then unburrowed itself from the ground, and looked at Smarts and Sally, or more specifically in the saddlebag with the quill in it. It was at least the length of the Ponyville Express, and was a sickly pulsating brown color. Preparing for battle, Smarts quickly drew dozens of shuriken and kunai which all clattered on the ground in a pile. Picking them up, and trusting their power, he hurled a kunai at the worm with the velocity of a cannon. The kunai bounced harmlessly off of the worm's thick, rubbery hide. Turning to the side, the worm shot a lightning bolt tremor at Smarts. He couldn't react in time, so he braced for impact. The shock coursed through his entire body, and he felt his muscles tense up. He couldn't budge or use his magic at all. For the first time in his life, he felt completely useless. He wanted to close his eyes tight and let sweet merciful death swallow him up, but not even his eyelids wanted to respond. All he could do was watch the giant worm stare, (well he thought it was staring, as worms don't have eyes) at Sally, with bioluminescent drool pooling in its mouth. Sally was stunned. Not in the sense of being paralyzed like Smarts was, but just from seeing Smarts in such a compromising position almost made her cry. "So, this is how it's all going to end," she told herself, "we're going to die, the monsters are going to go on, and they're gonna destroy Equestria. All because Smarts had to pick up that stupid quill from the stationary shop." A light went off in her head. In her state of panic, she forgot the quill entirely. She looked at Smarts for the quill, but noticed that it was lodged forcefully between the ground and his right hoof. She then looked at the small pile of ninja weapons. She never told anypony else this, but she actually was very skilled in ninjutsu. She knew how to throw shuriken and to fight with kunai. She scooped up the shuriken and used some of her wire to make a chain of them. She strapped the shuriken chain to her body, grabbed the kunai in her mouth, and dashed to the worm, which was chasing after her slowly the entire time. It seemed like he was merely toying with them before he went in for the final blow. Sally made a quick hop and landed on top of the worm's head. She then jumped out, in front of it and threw half of the chain of shuriken at the worm. Every single one of them hit their mark perfectly, and sunk deep into the skin. The worm was sent into spasms, flinging the shuriken out of his face, and dived for the earth to retreat. As Sally saw the monster's face that was falling towards her, she quickly hopped to the side, and concentrated hard on the worm. In Smarts' eyes, it looked like Sally was glowing an electric green. She then opened her eyes, turned her head, and flung the kunai with all of her strength. It flew to the worm's midsection as straight as an arrow would, and coursed through it as though it were a hot rapier through a slab of butter. When it exited from the other side, it had torn the monster's heart cleanly out. By then, Smarts had regained movement of most of his muscles. "How did you do that? And how did you know where to throw that kunai?" he babbled incoherently. "Smarts, I thought you were the tsukkomi of our duo. I knew he had a heart because he somehow was able to use electricity to stun your whole body. He converted the electromagnetic pulses of his heart into actual electrical energy and projected the energy outwards, providing a powerful electric shock for anything that it touches, and anything that touches that." This was the second time that day that Smarts was left stunned. He didn't know that Sally knew so much. He thought that she was nothing more than a high school dropout up until that point.
Heartless Killer"Sally," Smarts finally managed to spurt out, "I'm just wondering, why did you drop out of school? It's obvious that you know stuff, more than some graduates, even." "You know," Sally said with a stern look on her face, "for my friend, you really don't know the first thing about me, do you?" "You mean, you didn't drop out?" "Not of my own free will. You know just as well as I do that I loved Ponyville High." "Then, why did you leave?" "I didn't have a choice." Sally replied sadly. "It all started around halfway through my sophomore year. I was by myself practicing my ninjutsu, when I saw Pumpkin getting harassed by a group of older stallions." "Pumpkin? As in, the bakers' daughter?" "Yeah. I didn't know her very well, and she didn't know me. I think she had a cold at that time, so she couldn't use her magic very well, if at all. Then, one of the stallions pulled out a knife and demanded for Pumpkin's handbag. She refused. They went after her with knives. At that point, I only did what I thought was right. I threw my kunai and shuriken and killed all of them. She saw me running to her with my knives, and she got scared and fled. It wasn't even three minutes until the police arrived. The evidence was that I, a teenage school filly, killed, in cold blood, no less, three fully grown stallions." "But that's not fair!" Smarts blurted out, "You know you didn't mean to kill them, right?" but all Sally did was shook her head. "Those three stallions had given me and my family so much grief. They robbed us twice, they kidnapped my little sister Sandra," "I didn't know you had a sister." "Neither did anyone else. We never saw her after she went for a stroll in the park ten years ago. They also mugged my mom on multiple occasions, and it was them that messed up Mrs. Derpy's eyes in the first place. I knew fully who they were, what they did, and what they were going to do to Pumpkin. The police were right. I killed those stallions in cold blood." "Then you should've told the police that!" "You think they would've believed me? I already had multiple run-ins with the law, none of which were my fault. They, on the other had, had connections with the police in a more positive note. In the police's eyes, the stallions I killed were model citizens." "That seems like it must have been a total hell for you." "It was. I was to be monitored by a policepony at all times. At school, I was an outcast; I was always 'Miss Murder' in their eyes. Even Pumpkin turned away from me. I think it was that the event was so traumatic for her, her memory rewrote itself, and thought that I killed those men for just being there. I was depressed, and my grades slipped as a result. Eventually, the emotional pain was just too much for me, and I dropped out right after sophomore year. I was placed under house arrest until I was eighteen, and even then I was on their watch list. I can't leave Ponyville without the written consent of the mayor or Princess Celestia herself. That's why I couldn't visit you in your dorm, Smarts. I missed you so much." "Then you shouldn't be here! I should be the one risking my life out here! Not you!" "I don't think the police are gonna mind if I leave when the equivalent of an apocalypse is happening in Ponyville." Smarts noticed her eyes start to well up with tears, "Besides, you'd be long dead if it wasn't for me." "Sally, I don't want you to be in any more danger. I think I-" "Hold it right there, buster." Sally snapped back, "If what you were going to finish that sentence with something like 'love,' 'like,' or 'is enamored to' me, you can take those words and shove it right up your flank." Smarts felt something in his heart darken and break, and he felt a short wave of melancholy rush over him. "I'm sorry if I seem huffy, but it's been a long day, and I want to get to sleep. Now draw us some beds and a tent, pronto." He couldn't do anything but that. He drew a large tent, and two beds for each of them. They went in their beds and dozed off without another word.
Over EnGorging OneselfWhen Smarts woke up and stumbled out of the tent, he saw Sally training with a drawn clone of herself. He watched in amazement how the clone mimicked the moves Sally used. After five minutes of bewildered staring, Smarts finally spoke up. "Hey. You're up early." Sally didn't respond. He didn't know if it was because she was so focused in her training, or if she was still sore over their argument the previous night. She finally stopped and looked at Smarts with a dark glare over her eyes. "Hey yourself," she replied, voice full of venom. "I'm sorry," Smarts said, "if what I said made you upset last night. You just didn't give me a chance to finish what I said." "Oh? Is that so?" Sally replied sarcastically, "Then what were you going to say?" "I was going to say..." stammered Smarts. In all of his years, nothing had prepared him for this kind of thing. He had to choose his words carefully, because it would be a big white lie, "I was going to say that 'I think I can't forgive myself if something happens to you.' I promised my mother that I wouldn't let you get yourself in danger, and look what we've gotten ourselves into. Squaring off with ice fiends, and giant worms, and Celestia knows what else is gonna be coming for us." "Oh." Sally said sheepishly, "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. It's just you weren't there for me when I needed you back then, and-" She stopped abruptly when she noticed a scroll levitating behind Smarts' head. "Hey, open that scroll up! Read it!" Smarts broke the seal and read the letter aloud. "Dear young heroes, Ponyville is standing, but it's an absolute battlefield. Everypony is already in the disaster shelter. The girls and I are doing the best we can to push back the enemies, but like a hydra, every time we kill one, it seems that there's just two more to take its place. Please hurry and stop this. Your faithful librarian, Twilight Sparkle." "You heard her," Smarts said, "let's keep moving. We can get there fastest if we cut through Ghastly Gorge." "Okay." Sally grumbled, upset that she was interrupted when she was putting her two cents in. "Let's move." Smarts quickly uncast the tent and everything inside of it and collected the ink that fell down into a bottle. They travelled quickly and silently. They covered around four miles in the course of another hour. Sally decided to break the ice by asking with a smile, "So, what have you been doing these past five years?" "Well, there's really not that much to talk about." Smarts admitted. "After we parted ways, I moved to Manehatten and graduated from their high school. Then I moved to Canterlot to further improve my studies. There's nothing else to it." "You have a 'special somepony?'" Sally asked with a cheeky grin. Smarts gulped, he felt that this was her stinging revenge for last night. "No," he replied. He could feel a bright red blush coming onto his face. "Manehatten High was a colt-exclusive school, and Canterlot University only has classes of five or fewer, and there aren't any other fillies in my classes." "Heehee," Sally giggles, "you're just making this worse for yourself. Now someone could assume you to be gay." "Say, lovely weather we're having." Smarts said hastily, trying to quickly change the subject. "How about those quarry eels?" He said as he quickly jumped out of the way of a massive purple eel the length of a cruise ship and with teeth longer than a cat. "Sure keeps you on your toes." "Definitely." Sally said as she kicked the eel as it was slithering back into its den, effectively shattering its jaw. The eel then flailed back and forth in pain, with great intention of crushing those who have wounded it. "Oh, my." Smarts sighed calmly, "It appears that we have made him irritated." "Indeed. Shall we hastily leave this chasm?" "We shall indeed, Sally." And with that, they ran as quickly as their hooves could carry them, with a dozen or so eels slithering at them wishing to separate their heads from their bodies. They ran far and fast; they hopped up a rock fall that occurred twelve years prior, and leapt out of the Gorge, knowing full well that the eels couldn't follow them out.
Infiltration"Okay," Smarts panted, "We made it out. Razorback Ridge is just another three miles away. We can make it before the day's over if we hurry." They cantered quickly to Razorback Ridge and were shocked with what they saw. The rock formations jutting sharply from the earth were coated with a crystal blue ice. The birds that sang their ominous songs were silent, giving the ridge an even more foreboding atmosphere. In front of them stood a fortress made entirely of ice standing over one hundred feet tall. After taking a deep breath, they stepped onto the thin ice bridge separating the fortress from the rest of the ridge. The bridge creaked and cracked loudly, and it felt like it wasn't going to hold them up for much longer. Step after step, they finally made it to the other side, just as the bridge collapsed upon itself and fell into a ravine which didn't show any signs of having a bottom. There was no turning back now. The icy doors to the fortress were locked shut. Grabbing the quill, Smarts drew a picture of a fire and the fire bolted out of the paper and blew the door open inwards. They were then set upon by thirty guards who heard the explosion. "We don't know how you got in here," they said in perfect unison, "but you're not going to get out." "We'll see." Smarts said with a smirk. He then whipped the quill this way and that, and drew a fully-grown lion. "Attack!" Smarts shouted to the lion. The lion showed absolute loyalty in that it was willing to fight the guards to the potential death. The lion mauled two guards with his paws and slashed at a third with his claws, effectively killing him. His frenzy was stopped by a spear thrust into his midsection, which turned the lion into an inky black sludge. Meanwhile, Smarts was drawing icy spear after icy spear, each of them flinging themselves from the page and skewered multiple guards. At the same time, Sally was engaging the guards directly with a ninjato, deftly dodging the attacks of her allies and slashing mortally deep wounds into the guards. Of the thirty guards that attacked, only ten survived the initial onslaught. "So, I hear your boss likes it cold." Smarts said slyly. "Let this be a monument to his sins." He drew a picture of an intricate snowflake on the paper. However, it shrunk in size to a normal snowflake and floated gently over the heads of the guards. The guards laughed, and Smarts was worried that the ploy had failed and he made himself look foolish in front of Sally. His prayers were answered when the snowflake cast a hurricane-force gale down at the guards. The icy wind froze them instantaneously, and their laughing expression was frozen permanently in eerie ice sculptures. The two ponies rushed up the ice staircase, crushing ice demons with magic and cutting through guards with swords and knives. It took half an hour to scout the entire fortress before they finally reached the door to the boss's quarters. "Smarts," Sally inquired, "how do you know that this is the door to the boss's quarters?" "I don't know." He replied sarcastically, while gesturing obviously at a plaque on the door that read: Boss's quarters! Do not enter! "It must've been a lucky guess." He drew another fireball on the paper with intent of melting the door down, but when the fire struck the ice, the fire dissipated with a loud hiss. The door came out without so much as a mark on it. Confounded by this, Smarts drew more fireballs and arcs of lightning as well, only to have the same effect. Just as he was about to finish drawing a volcano, Sally pointed out, "Wait, wait, wait. There's something written here. It says 'whosoever has reached this door may only open it by speaking the answer to this riddle.' Uggh. I hate thinking. The riddle says…" She pauses and puts a hoof to her face. "I don't believe this. 'If a train leaves Fillydelphia heading southward at fifty miles per hour and a train leaves Manehatten heading northward at thirty miles per hour, how long will it take for the two trains to meet each other?' Damn it, Smarts, I can't do math!" "You don't need it." He replied. "You need to know about geography. It's a trick question. Manehatten is southward to Fillydelphia, so the trains could never meet." And after those words left his lips, the doors to the boss's quarters creaked open.
Getting the Cold ShoulderThey tried to tiptoe in quietly, which was hard for ponies as their hooves clopped loudly on the floor. They found a large bed and a figure stirring inside of it. They quickly rushed to the bed and prepared to apprehend the leader for what he did. "Hey!" Smarts shouted "Wake up!" The figure in the bed stirred, and Sally raised her sword in defense. They expected the figure to be some cold-blooded killer with a wild look in his eyes that could make seas boil just by looking at them. What they found was a young female unicorn, coat green as grass, no older than the age of ten, looking at the two of them with wide, excited eyes. "Ooh, ooh! Are you guys here to play with me?" "Umm… No." Sally replied. "Actually, we were-" "HEY!" The unicorn interrupted. "That's rude. I don't even know your names yet!" "I'm Book Smarts, and that's Sally Mu." "Heehee. Those are weird names!" Smarts felt a wave of irritation rush over him. "My name is Comet!" "Well, nice to meet you… Comet…" Sally replied hesitantly, "We were wondering, do you happen to know a pony who has control over ice?" "Yes, yes, yes!" The unicorn replied excitedly. "I know her! I know her real well!" "You do? Where is she?" "She is here." Comet gestured to herself. "She is… here?" Smarts was confused, "But she's not you." "Oh, no." Comet replied with a smile. "She is me!" There was a brief moment of silence that fell, but Sally's laughter broke it like china falling to the floor. "You?" She asked incredulously, "You have control over ice that apparently set ice demons over to Ponyville?" "Yes. That's what I'm saying." Her grin was starting to widen, and they saw her teeth were unnaturally white. "Okay then. Well, we're going to have to take you away from here." "Oh," Comet responded, smile starting to fade, "I'm sorry, but that can't happen. In fact, you two can't leave either." "What?" Sally shouted, "Why the hell not?" "I'm just so lonely here. Everypony who comes here is always so mean. They always run away. But don't worry. They are still with me." She opens a door to a walk-in closet and hundreds of ice statues of ponies stood there, with their terrified expressions stuck on their faces for the entire world to see. "See? It's no big deal. I don't want to leave. And I don't want you two to leave either." She started to use her magic. A bone-chilling wind whipped up and they felt the temperature plummet into sub-zero temperatures. "No." Smarts replied, "We're getting out of here, and you're going to stop this. Whether that means you stop on your own accord, or…" Smarts draws a flaming sword, which fell to the ground, scattering sparks into the air, "if you stop because you can't move." "Oh," Comet used her magic to create a flail made out of ice, "looks like you guys want to play after all!" She hits the ball on the ground, making a loud clanging noise. The two unicorns rush at each other with their weapons, sending chips of ice and sparks flying with every hit. They both destroy each other's weapons within the first minute. Smarts grabs his quill and draws fireball after fireball, but Comet artfully dodges every one of them, as though she were a cheerleader. "That's a cool move you did just there, guy! But it's my turn now." She sent a massive hail of icicles, each one the length of a baseball bat and razor sharp, cascading down on Smarts. Smarts dodges each one, but only barely. They stick into the ground hard, and Smarts gets an idea. He draws a smaller fireball and launches it at Comet. She dodges it by quickly sidestepping to the right, and all of the icicles start to melt. He then quickly draws a lightning bolt on the paper. It leaps from the page and strikes the ice pillars, coursing through the water until it reaches Comet. She didn't expect the attack, and was caught off guard. Experiencing the powerful electric shock, she drops to the ground, unable to move. "Wow…" she said quietly, "you guys are the most fun I've had in years…" "Oh, we're just getting started." Smarts replied with a sadistic grin. He readied his quill and began drawing a guillotine. "Wait!" Sally exclaimed "Oh, come on, what now?" "We can't kill her." "We ca- Sally! Are you insane? She almost killed us, not to mention everything that we've been through was because of her! And Celestia knows how many other hapless ponies she killed too." He turns back to Comet. "All because you were lonely and bored." "Smarts, stop it. You don't know what it's like, killing somepony. You don't want that kind of blood on your hooves." "Well fine! What do you think we should do with her? Huh? If she lives, she's gonna continue! If she dies, you're gonna feel guilty! So, Comet," he spat, "what do you want?" Comet was at the point of tears; she hadn't been so close to death before. "I don't know anymore!" She wailed, "I just… just wanted somepony to play with me! I didn't want them to go! I didn't mean to kill them! Honest! I just lost control of my powers!" "Oh, so you 'lost control of your powers.' Is that it?" Smarts replied with distasteful sarcasm, "Oh, then everything is fantastic! Gee, I'm sure those ponies you froze into ice cubes would agree, isn't that right guys?" He asks the closet of statues, "Yes indeed! Everything is hunky-dory!" "Smarts, just… stop. You're taking this too far. What we should do is take her to Princess Celestia. She'll know what to do." "Fine." Smarts replied with a scowl on his face, "Let's take her to the princess. But don't think for one second that you'll get any special treatment because you're only a foal." "Thank you," Comet replied, tears streaming down her face, "thank you both for giving me a chance to live."
A Place to call HomeThe trip to Canterlot palace was a quick one, partly due to the lack of conversation between the three ponies, and partly due to the lack of ice fiends materializing out of nowhere. They reached Canterlot in the time of a day, and they requested an immediate audience with the princess. "Heh." The guards chuckled, "Like you're the only one with problems here. We've got requests coming in from everywhere. We've got one about some bloke in Manehatten whose house was broken into by an ice imp, we've got one about a family in Ponyville who lost their home to a glacier. What makes you think she's going to make an audience with you?" "My word," They heard a voice coming from the room, "what is all the commotion out here?" Smarts and Sally stood gawk-eyed at the figure that walked out. Princess Celestia was looking in their direction. "Princess!" The guards saluted, "These idiots want to request an audience with you." "Well," she mused, "maybe that won't be necessary." "But princess!" Smarts interjected, "Pardon my language, but this is a matter of life-and-death!" "I am quite aware of this." The Princess replied, "I have actually been monitoring you two for quite some time now." "But princess," Sally asked, "how did you know?" "My student Twilight Sparkle wrote me a letter concerning two ponies out to save Equestria." Smarts' face paled at the mention of that name. All this time, the librarian in Ponyville was the princess's star pupil? "I found you two and was monitoring you closely until now. I just need to talk with the young one privately." She gestured to Comet who was cowering behind Sally. "By all means, your majesty." Smarts humbly replied. The guards escort Sally and Smarts out of the main hall, and are pushed out the doors. "So," the princess said, "tell me about yourself." Comet didn't make a peep. She was just looking down at the ground while muttering things to herself. "Come on, now. There is a memory spell that I know of, so I'm going to get your memories one way or another." "I'm so sorry!" Comet blurted out. Appalled at her own language, she quickly retracted with a whimper, "Sorry. It's just… I was so lonely…" "It's okay. Why were you lonely? What ever happened to your parents?" Comet took a deep breath, "My parents died." Celestia's eyes widened at this knowledge. "My parents died when I was just born. I don't even remember them." "Didn't your parents have any relatives? Friends?" "My parents lived in a small cave on Razorback Ridge. That's why I made my new house over there. In memory of parents I don't remember." "What about orphanages?" "I didn't want to leave." Comet started trembling, "Every time someone came to pick me up, I froze them where they stood. I was just so scared. I don't like new places." "I see." Celestia replied, "What are your plans now? Do you have anywhere to go where you can be monitored by a responsible adult?" "No. My only home is on the ridge. I don't want to go to an orphanage. Please, Princess! Don't make me go!" "It is quite alright. In fact, I have an idea that could help both of us." "An idea that could help you?" Comet asked. She wondered what could possibly happen that could help Celestia, who has the power to raise the sun every morning. "What is it?" "How would you like to live in the castle with me and my sister?" Comet couldn't believe her ears. The princess accepted her, when she should have rightfully been executed. "Do you mean it, princess?" "I mean it. While you live here, we can hone your powers and use them for good." "Like what?" "You obviously are aware that the weather changes around here with the help of ponies. Why not use your power and control winter for us?" "You're trusting me with controlling the seasons?" "Indeed we are, my young Comet. Now, how about talking with your friends about the idea?" "Oh." Comet's face darkened. "Those guys aren't my friends. They almost killed me. On purpose." "Well, look at it this way. They didn't kill you. They might have wanted to, but they didn't." Comet's face brightened up slightly when she thought of it this way. "Sure thing, princess." Comet trotted out of the doors and was met by Smarts and Sally, the first two living ponies to have met her. "So," Sally asked excitedly, "how did it go?" "It's great! I get to stay with the princess!" "No way! We're so happy for you! Isn't that right, Smarts?" She gives Smarts a painful elbow to the gut. "Yup. We're really happy for you." He said quickly. "Thank you both so much. Really. I mean it. If it weren't for you two, I think that I would have died all alone." "And if it makes you feel better," Smarts added, "I'm attending school here, so I can visit you when I have breaks." "Really?" Comet's face lit up so much, her happiness was practically radiating out of her skin. "But, I have just one question to ask you." "Okay, anything." "Back in Ponyville, we were attacked by an ice fiend, and in the mountain we were attacked by a giant worm. Now, I'm going to assume that the ice fiend and worm were yours. I'm not holding it against you. What's in the past is in the past. What bothered me was knowledge knowledge of the quill I have. How did they know about it?" "That's my lucky quill!" She shouted. "I lost it one day, and now you have it! That quill made everything I had! The house, the guards, the… ice fiends… No matter! I lost it when I was playing with it. I think it blew out of a window, and it must've drifted into Ponyville because you found it! But… well, you did find it fair and square. It's yours now." Smarts was starting to feel guilty, mostly because he was holding the quill that was her closest friend. "Oops." He said as he dropped it on the floor. "I think I lost it. I can't find it." Comet picked up the quill. "It's right here, silly!" "Oh, you found it. Well, looks like you can have it. Fair and square." He replied with a smile. He could practically feel Comet's elation at this point. It was hard to look directly at her, she was so happy. "Now, you gotta promise me. When you use it, make sure you tell the princess first. Okay?" Comet nodded her head furiously, tears of joy streaming from her eyes. "Well, it's been fun, kid." Sally said. "Definitely life-threatening and terrifying at times too, but it's been real fun." "Thanks for everything you guys." Comet replied. "Don't mention it." Smarts said, with tears welling up in his eyes. "Say, Smarts…" Sally smirked, "Are you… crying?" "No!" Smarts replied quickly, "Absolutely not! I just got a piece of sand stuck in my eye. From doing manly things at the beach. Like playing football and playing paintball." "You guys are gonna visit me, right?" "Of course we are, kid." Smarts smiled. "Of course we are." Two months passed in a blink of the eye. Smarts went back to his dorm in Canterlot and Sally got written permission from the princess to be able to leave the borders of Ponyville. Smarts was deep in his studies, when there was a knock at his door. "The door's open, Clyde." Smarts called, thinking it was his roommate. When the door opened, he saw Sally and Comet stride in. "Wha- how did you get in? This is a male-only dorm!" "I learned a new trick from the princess!" Comet replied happily, "It's called… umm… sigh-toe-jen-is-is or something." "The princess taught you cytogenesis?" Smarts shouted, "Then… wait…" he put two and two together, "Does that mean…" "Of course not, Smarts!" Sally replied with a laugh. "We asked nicely. They let us walk up here no problem!" "Well, that and they have to monitor us at all times," she gestured to a security guard watching them intently "so that we don't have… what was the word again? Secks? What does that mean, anyway?" Sally pulled Comet close and whispered something in her ear. Comet's face became distorted in terror and became a bright shade of red. "Oh, gosh! Was that how I was made?" "Hey," the security guard said, "hurry up. You're on a time limit here. You got one minute." "So, when's your next break gonna be, Smarts?" Comet asked with a big smile on her face. "Probably in December. When you have to start your duties for controlling the weather." "Aww! That's too long!" Comet complained. "Yeah." Sally agreed. "Way too long. We're just gonna have to visit you in between then. So, Comet, when do you wanna see Smarts next?" "I wanna see him tomorrow!" "Well, it's settled then." Smarts and the security guard shared a look of shock, "We're going to come every day!" Smarts thumped his head on his desk. It was gonna be a long way until winter.
ExperimentationsHe returned to Sally's house and put the feather on the writing desk. He didn't want to start writing yet. He needed a drink. Fortunately for him, Sally managed to convince the water plant to give them access to water for another week. How she managed to do that was beyond his knowledge. He grabbed a tall glass and filled it with crisp, cool water. It was the best water he ever tasted, despite being from a tap. Suddenly, he heard a shriek come from the writing room. "Sally?" he called, worrying that she might have broke the quill that cost all of his money. "You better not have touched my quill!" "I'm so sorry, Smarts! I just wanted to draw for a while, but when I used that fancy quill on the desk, the dog on the page peeled itself off and grew to full size!" as if on cue, a short brown dog bounded into the room. It looked lumpy, as though it were from a drawing of some kind. "This doesn't make any sense..." Smarts quivered, "there's nothing that science or even magic can explain how that dog came into existence…" The dog barked with short yaps. The dog was starting to get annoying. "Come on, you! Shoo!" Smarts batted the drawing dog out of the house with a broom. The dog felt surprisingly solid, as if it were an actual dog. He looked at the quill that had fallen on the floor. He saw the similar flash of embers course through the length of it. He picked it up with his magic and went to the paper on the table. He started to draw a butterfly. The shopkeeper was right about one thing; this quill was the smoothest thing that he ever wrote or drew with. The second he drew the last antennae, the outlined drawing colored itself in. It was a soft yellow color with slate blue spots on it. It then lifted from the page and flitted around Smarts and Sally. "Sally, do you know what this means?" "Yup." Sally replied, "It means your art can never hang in a museum." "Not that, you idiot. It means we have just found a magic quill. I mean, most quills are imbued with some sort of magic already to make it smoother or write in different fonts, but this quill is really magic. It can make anything we draw come to life." "Try draw a block of gold" Sally commanded. The consequences of this quill were unknown. From destroying the worth of the Equestrian bit, to bringing forth cosmic horrors in Ponyville, this quill could have that power. "Okay, Sally." Smarts agreed, against his better judgment. "I'm not sure if I can, though. It should have some kind of block to prevent the ability to summon up blocks of gold, but here goes nothing." Smarts drew a bar of metal with the intention of it turning into gold, but the block materialized into a common steel alloy, which was close to worthless in Equestria. "Well, we tried, Sally." Smarts said solemnly.
