Swapped
Ch.1 - Strained Relations

“Are we there yet?” Rainbow whined as the group made their trek up the steep slope. The pegasus floated just above her friends, lying casually on her back with her wings keeping her afloat. Her hooves propped her head up, making it look more like she was relaxing rather than climbing a mountain. Twilight groaned at her friend’s lack of sympathy for her struggling comrades. The four earthbound ponies were stuck walking while Rainbow and Fluttershy could gently flap their wings, and easily keep up with the group. The two made it look effortless, and it was really drawing the envy of their friends.

“For the last time Rainbow Dash, no, we’re not there yet!” Twilight exclaimed as the carefree pegasus breezed on by her. Her friend’s nonchalant attitude was really wearing on the unicorn’s nerves. They had been tasked with an important mission by the princess, and Rainbow Dash treating it like a leisurely fly through the mountains was getting to Twilight. Aside from that, there was the mid-summer heat draining everyone‘s energy too. The sky-high temperature was utterly unforgiving with it’s intensity; nor was it helping their quest in any way. This season had been particularly sweltering, even in Ponyville, but on the mountain it was a whole other animal.

The path they were walking on sat in a dried riverbed, though it was converted into a hoofpath for climbing the mountain a long time ago. Along the sides were natural walls that trapped the warm air, making the trail a veritable oven. In the confines sat the kind of roasting, muggy heat that could sap even the most resilient pony’s energy. Twilight felt like she might just keel over from exhaustion or heat stroke, and she wasn’t the only one either. Everyone was tired, hot, and with still a long way to go, the group’s morale was sinking quickly.

“This heat is just dreadful,” Rarity said, pulling a fan from her saddlebag with her magic. “And this humidity is a disaster for my mane!”

“Rarity, a bit’a sun’ll do ya some good.” Applejack rolled her eyes at her prissy friend as she fanned herself. The designer turned her nose up at the cowpony’s remark in an offended sort of way. She trotted past her as she did so, causing Applejack to shake her head at the finicky pony.

“So what’re we doin’ out here again, Twi? If ya don’t mind me askin’ that is.” Applejack wiped the sweat from her forehead, taking her hat off to do so. She was used to working in the heat, but even this was a bit much for the farmer. Unlucky for the travelers, today was the hottest day of the season thus far. Even unluckier, they were climbing a steep mountain on such a day, getting closer to the fiery sun. Even further misfortune was their trip up the mountain was without a breeze, or even so much as a tree for shade.

Twilight had her face buried in a map, plotting their course. “We’re her looking for Heavenly Shimmer’s Magic Mirror, an artifact that was stolen while it was being transported from the Canterlot Museum to Manehattan for an exhibit.” Twilight sighed a bit, feeling like this was the hundredth time she had explained this to her friends.

“And why are we the ponies getting it back? Can’t the royal guard handle this?” Rainbow asked, still relaxing as her friends hiked.

“We’re getting it back because a...d-dragon stole it, right, Twilight?” Fluttershy answered. Twilight nodded to her friend, happy that one of them had been listening.

“Oh! And dragons are nasty critters, and we have the most experience in dealing with them!” Pinkie’s bubbly attitude didn’t seem to wither with the heat, much to her friend’s dismay. Usually Pinkie’s enthusiasm would be welcomed, but with everyone so exhausted from the heat, and mountain climbing, it was more of an annoyance. They were in no mood to laugh, or joke around. Everyone just wanted to get to the top, get the mirror back, and call it a day. Even worse for the group was that she had been talking almost nonstop since they left Ponyville, and one can only handle so much unadulterated Pinkie Pie randomness before losing their cool.

“I wonder if the dragon will be a nice dragon like Spike. Maybe he’ll want to be friends, and we can throw a party, and invite him for a sleepover, and get some cake, and introduce him to all of Ponyville, and then maybe we can all go have a picnic—”

“Pinkie...please stop talking for a few minutes,” Twilight pleaded with her friend, as sweat was pouring down her face. She had an utter look of exhaustion from dealing with the questions and her overly excited friend. After a small second, Pinkie nodded happily, obliging her request. That small gesture let the group enjoy a small bit of silence for a few moments before it was broken once again.

“Umm, Twilight?” Fluttershy’s soft voice came floating up from the rear of the group. “What exactly makes this mirror so special?” asked the timid pony.

“No pony really knows, it hasn’t been active in centuries. Though I’m sure one of the princesses know since it used to be in their care before Celestia turned it over to the museum a few hundred years ago,” Twilight answered, just happy it wasn’t Pinkie’s randomness, Rarity’s whining, or Rainbow Dash asking if they were there yet.

“Why the hay would a dragon even want some old, useless mirror anyway?” Rainbow asked, rolling over in the sky so she was back facing the ground.

“It’s not useless Rainbow Dash. Dragons have an innate sense for magic, which means the item is still very powerful or else the dragon wouldn’t have stolen it.” She rolled her eyes at her friend.

“I’m still not too sure about facing a dragon to get it back...” Fluttershy said meekly. With how terrified Fluttershy was of dragons, it was a miracle they got her this far without dragging her. Her friends were actually really proud of the shy pony for facing her fears.

“Don’t worry about it, Fluttershy!” Pinkie said with an upbeat tone. "Think of it like a surprise party, only instead of presents, the surprise is a big fire-breathing dragon!” She giggled, as she skipping along. It made everyone there wonder where she got the energy in this heat to be so giddy.

“I don’t like those kind of surprises...” she replied softly.

“Anyway the sooner we get that mirror back to the museum, the better. I can’t wait to get out of this heat, all this sweat it’s ruining my fur!” Rarity whined, still fanning herself.

“Now, ya were just tellin’ me the other day that sweat was good fer yer skin.” Applejack gave a skeptical look to her friend.

“In a sauna yes, but not in this kind of heat. This is just disgusting.”

“She has a point. Rainbow Dash, could you find us a cloud or something to help block the sun? We’re baking down here.” Twilight looked to the laid-back pegasus.

“No can do, Twi. I don’t know what the weather schedule is for this area; I’m not in charge here. If it’s scheduled to be hot, then it has to be hot,” she said dismissively.

“We’re not asking for a downpour, just a bit of shade.” A growing aggravation spilled over into the bookish unicorn’s voice.

“Look Twilight, if I give you guys some shade, then every other pony will want some shade.”

“What other ponies!” Twilight stopped, bringing the whole group to a standstill. She held out a foreleg as she questioned Rainbow Dash, showing her that they were the only ponies stupid enough to be on the mountain on such a miserably hot day. The pegasus looked around, seeing there wasn’t another soul around except her group of friends. “There are no other ponies, Rainbow Dash! So please just stop being so stubborn and fetch us some shade!” Twilight demanded.

Twilight’s bossy tone finally struck a chord with Rainbow Dash. Suddenly she dropped down to the ground, poking a hoof into her friend’s chest. “Listen here Miss Bossy, even if I could get you guys a cloud for some shade, where would I get one? In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s a clear day. Not a cloud in the sky!” Dash pressed her nose to her friend’s.

“Please stop fighting...” Fluttershy jumped in putting her hooves between the two arguing ponies. Their eyes were fuming at one another. When the two turned an angered glare at her, she jumped back. “I-If that’s okay with you...” she added in a muttered tone.

“She’s right, stop fighting you two, it’s really not helping this heat,” Rarity added.

“Yeah, well, maybe if’n ya shared some of yer fan, we might not be so hot-headed!” Applejack retorted, pointing at her friend’s fan.

“Please, surely you’re joking. I can’t fan all of us, the fan is far too small.”

“You could at least try, Rarity!”

“Why would I waste my time trying something that would clearly not work?”

“Would you all calm down!” Fluttershy exploded in a rare burst of boldness, snapping her friends away from their arguments. When they all turned their attention to the shy pegasus, she shrunk down smaller than any of them had ever seen her, quickly trying to hide behind her flowing pink mane. “If...that’s okay with you...” she added, returning to her normal quiet voice.

“Hold on!” Pinkie yelled out, pointing a hoof to her curly tail. Everyone’s attention fell to the twitching pink mess, causing a few cautious looks around the group. A sudden deep rumble caught their attention, shortly followed by the ground shaking. When the group of ponies looked up they saw a flow of rocks and dirt tumbling down the mountainside towards them. Twilight quickly looked forward, to see if they could make it before the rocks blocked the only road up the mountain. It didn’t take long for her to realize they wouldn’t, so she started pushing her friend’s back.

“Get back, everypony!” she yelled, grabbing a frozen Fluttershy by the tail with her magic as she did so. Rocks came tumbling down on them as they ran. The fleeing ponies dodged between falling boulders narrowly avoiding them. Fluttershy yelped as one was about to land on her, until Twilight swung her to safety using her magic. Rainbow Dash dove right into Rarity and Applejack pushing them out of the way of another large rock about to crush the two ponies. While Pinkie on the other hoof, hopped carelessly in between the falling chunks of rubble, dodging them effortlessly, and leaving her friends dumbfounded. With one final hop Pinkie dodged the last large boulder to fall. The group of friends managed to barely get out from under the landslide safely, save for maybe a bump or bruise from smaller rocks. After a few more rocks tumbled, they knew it was over. A massive cloud of dust and dirt was kicked up from the rockslide, coating the ponies. When everything was finally settled, Rarity let out a dramatic groan.

“Now I’m covered in sweat and dirt. Could today get any worse?” the designer asked sarcastically.

“Ya coulda lost yer head, that’a been worse,” Applejack retorted.

“Everypony alright?” Twilight looked around at her friends, checking to see if they were all okay. After seeing they were fine, her eyes fell onto the rock pile barring their path. Twilight let out a small annoyed sigh, feeling like today couldn’t get any worse. “Rainbow, could you carry Rarity and I over those rocks, and Fluttershy would you carry Applejack and Pinkie?” she asked looking at the two pegasi.

“Umm, no...I don’t think I can...I‘m...a little too scared to fly...” the shy pony said, looking back at her shivering wings. Twilight sighed again after seeing her plan hit snag.

“Rainbow Dash?” She looked to her friend, expecting her to pick up the slack.

“I can’t carry everypony!” she protested.

“Well, how are we going to get everypony over the rockslide?”

“Since you think one pony can do it, why don’t you just teleport everypony over?” she replied sarcastically, sticking out her tongue.

“Can’t you take this seriously?”

“Do you always have be so bossy? This wouldn‘t have happened if you had just dropped the whole cloud thing instead of telling me what to do!”

“Alright, y’all just cool down for a minute. I think the sun’s gettin’ ta y’all n’ yer liable ta say somethin’ ya might regret.” Applejack tried to calm her friends down, but they didn’t even acknowledge her.

“I swear, pegasi are just so stubborn!” Twilight stomped her hoof. She glared her eyes at Rainbow Dash.

“Stubborn? Well, every unicorn I ever met has been a stuck-up snob!”

“Excuse me?” Rarity gasped at the accusation.

“Oh come on now Sugarcube, y’all can be pretty stuck-up.” Applejack laughed a bit.

“Well, excuse me for not being some...earth pony...yokel!”

“Ya wanna run that one by me again?” the farmer said, glaring at Rarity. The offender simply turned her nose up at Applejack.

“Hey now, this isn’t how friends should act!” Pinkie interrupted, snapping her friends back to reality. Twilight, and Rainbow Dash, took a step back from one another. taking a moment to clear their heads. The two still had lingering remnants of a glare, still not quite ready to look past the mean things the other said. Rarity and Applejack did much the same with Rarity's nose still tilted up in a condescending manner. Each pony’s eyes still burned with anger, but they had stopped verbalizing it at least.

“You can take two ponies, I’ll teleport the two, okay?” Twilight offered after a few moments of tense silence. Rainbow looked at the pile of rocks again. She really didn‘t want to admit Twilight was right, but there really wasn’t any other way around this mess. And she did have to admit her studious friend’s solution wasn’t exactly unfair either. Reluctantly, she nodded, accepting the proposal. The pegasus extended a hoof as a sign of a truce, which Twilight accepted in return.

“I don’t see why anypony has ta carry Rarity, she’s a unicorn, why don’t she just teleport herself.” Applejack motioned to the unicorn beside her.

“I’ll have you know teleportation is no small feat, Applejack. While a baby unicorn might do it on accident, it takes years of practice to hone, and...umm...I...haven’t practiced...” Her cheeks flushed red for a brief moment with embarrassment.

“Sounds ta me like ya just don’t wanna tucker yerself out.”

“Tucker myself out? Well, if you’re so concerned, why don’t you just buck the rocks out of the way? You’re a big strong earth pony after all.”

“An’ whassat suppose ta mean?” Her eyes narrowed at the comment.

“It means you’re no stranger to physical labor, so just do what earth ponies do best and use your muscle.” Applejack’s jaw hit the ground. To make matters worse, a condescending smile spread across Rarity’s face, her eyes took on an aura of superiority, and her nose continued pressing upward slightly. Everything about her at that moment screamed “I’m better than you” and Applejack never took kindly to such attitudes. She narrowed her eyes harder, so much so that Rarity could actually feel Applejack's gaze burning into her skin. Yet, she didn’t seem to care much, she continued with her condescending attitude.

“Seriously girls! This heat is really putting everypony on-edge, so let’s hurry up and just get this over with.” Twilight interrupted their spat. The two simply looked away from one another, giving a loud humph in unison. In that moment, they both decided that looking at one another was just going to fuel their anger more.

“I-I think I might be able to fly...If you really need me to...” Fluttershy smiled weakly. Her soft-spoken voice barely managed to nab Twilight’s and Rainbow Dash’s attention.

“Don’t worry about it Fluttershy,” Twilight said placing a hoof on Rarity and Applejack. She closed her eyes for a second, concentrating deeply. A soft hum filled the air, and her horn began to glow. Twilight's face strained a bit as she focused harder. After a second of building her magic, there was a bright flash, and Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack were gone.

“Well, since you’re carrying ponies, can you carry me Fluttershy? I’ve always wanted to fly!” The energetic whirlwind that was Pinkie Pie was jumping circles around the shy pegasus. Her face was absolutely beaming with excitement.

“I don’t know...I suppose I could...” she muttered meekly. Before Pinkie could respond a blue streak swooped in and snatched her up.

“Come on Fluttershy, let’s get a move on!” Rainbow said before rushing off with a giddy pink pony in her hooves. The timid pegasus nodded her head slowly, before tentatively taking to the sky.

Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity appeared on the other side of the rockslide in a purple burst of light. As the light faded, and her magic died down, Twilight immediately fell back on her hind legs. She panted heavily, and sweat streamed down her forehead in a steady trickle. The bookish pony was struggling just to keep her eyes opened after exerting so much magical power. That little stunt, combined with the hike and the heat had completely exhausted her.

“Twilight, dear, are you alright?” Rarity asked.

Rainbow Dash landed next to them, dropping off Pinkie Pie just before she did. “Now she knows how I would’ve felt carrying everypony over that rockslide,” the athletic mare said spitefully. Her remark only drew the scorn of Rarity, causing her to glare at the pegasus.

“Rainbow Dash, could you drop it already?” the unicorn snapped at her friend.

Rainbow Dash only shrugged her shoulders. “She’s the one who started it.”

“Actually I think it was both of you who started it. You know what they say, it takes two to tango, right? Which I never understood what tangoing had to do with—”

“Pinkie, dear, could you stop for a moment, you’re not helping...” Rarity rummaged through her saddlebag, pulling out a water bottle. “Here Twilight, have a drink of this,” she said levitating the bottle to her panting friend. “Everypony be sure to get a drink,” she added, seeing her friends practically drooling with envy over the water. Everyone nodded happily, gathering around to take a sip. Twilight passed the bottle to Rainbow Dash who took a quick swig before tossing it to Fluttershy. The shy pony nearly dropped the container, but luckily she caught it just before it hit the ground.

“Careful Rainbow Dash, what would we do if she had spilled it?” Twilight's nagging only caused the pegasus to roll her eyes. The bottle was passed from pony to pony, giving some much needed hydration. But by the time it reached Applejack, it was bone dry. The cowpony gave a small frown when no water flowed into her mouth when she tipped the bottle back.

“Consarnit,” she cursed, giving the bottle back to Rarity.

“Hold on, I have another,” she said, pulling a second bottle from her saddlebag.

Applejack readily took the bottle, drinking in the delicious liquid eagerly. The water was warm, but it didn’t matter to her. She was so thirsty she would have drank anything Rarity passed to her, even one of those fancy teas she was always making. Finally she forced the bottle from her still wanting lips, not wanting to hog all the water. She gave it back to Rarity, who took a quick sip, after wiping off the lid. “Gotta say there Rarity, yer persnickety nature sure saved us,” Applejack said with a smile.

“Persnickety? Please, it’s called being prepared.”

“I meant it as a compliment,” she defended.

“Let’s get moving guys,” Rainbow said, reeling in another argument before it erupted into another group wide quarrel. The ponies slowly got onto their hooves, and dusted themselves off from the rockslide before resuming their hike. The water they drank was reinvigorating, but that feeling didn’t last long in this heat. Soon they were all sweating, panting, and feeling like they were being cooked alive in the mid-summer sun. Twilight was in the worst shape, she had slowed down dramatically since she expelled so much magic.

“Twilight, are you sure you’re alright?” Fluttershy asked, walking next to her friend. Twilight nodded weakly with heavy eyes.

“I’m fine, Fluttershy.” She forced a smile to reassure her friend. “Just need to rest a bit and I’ll be alright.”

“That’s not such a good idea. If ya take a seat on the ground, you’ll cook like an egg!” Pinkie said with a giggle.

“Why did the princess have to send us out on today of all days?” Rarity said in a high-pitched, grating voice that sounded like hooves on a chalkboard. The designer’s whining was wearing on everyone’s nerves. Sure, what she was asking was a valid question, but they didn’t need it vocalized every few seconds, especially in such an obnoxious voice.

“Because, that mirror is a powerful magical artifact, and we need to get it back from the dragon before he decides to move.” Twilight sounded very unenthused. They never asked the same question, but her friends were always asked the same thing. Honestly, she had lost track of how many times now she told her friends the reason for their journey.

“I meant why today of all days. It’s too hot to be outside...” The group groaned in unison.

“Yes, Rarity, it’s hot. We get it...” Rainbow Dash muttered in growing aggravation.

“Also, why do weather ponies even make it this hot? This kind of heat just shouldn’t be allowed.”

“Weather is complicated Rarity. That’s why there’s classes about it in Cloudsdale. There’s a reason we have droughts and high heat. Cloudsdale gets water once a year, and we have to make that water last. Sometimes we don’t get too much so we have to ration it, and that can lead to droughts.”

“Maybe they should manage it better. Pegasi aren’t that great at planning ahead...” the fashionista said with a condescending tone.

“What’s with you two unicorns bein’ down on pegasi all of a sudden?” Applejack shook her head at Rarity‘s attitude.

“I didn’t say anything...” Twilight muttered sluggishly.

“Ya did earlier...” the cowpony pointed out, causing Twilight to hang her head a bit. Nothing more was said, leaving an uncomfortable silence hanging in the air with the heat. Everyone was too hot, and too tired to argue anymore. Everything said since they got on that mountain seemed to be getting misconstrued, or annoyed someone, or was just a bad attempt at humor. Realizing that, they thought it best to just be quiet, and give everyone a chance to calm down.

Further up the mountain, after the riverbed had ended, they found themselves on a narrow ledge. It was a dangerous, winding path that one could easily slip from if not too careful. The group of friends stayed close to the mountain beside them, keeping as far from the ledge as possible. This was the only way up to the dragon’s lair that lie at the summit. As they crawled along the hazardous trail, they came to a dead end. A long dried stream had carved a sizable split through the cliff side, preventing them from moving forward.

“How are we going to get past this one.” Twilight sighed. She really didn’t want to ask Rainbow and Fluttershy to carry the group across, not after her last spat she had with the stubborn pegasus. However, she was still too worn out from her last stunt to try teleporting everyone across, which didn’t leave them with a whole lot of options. She had to reconsider asking Rainbow Dash, and she would also have to be mindful of how she posed the request. She froze for a moment running how the conversation would go, that was until she felt a hoof on her shoulder.

It was plain as day that Twilight was in no shape to use magic. Rarity could see the exhaustion in bookish unicorn’s eyes. Moving three ponies wasn‘t easy, even if it was only a few hundred hooves. Her eyes fell upon Rainbow Dash next, seeing she was already getting an attitude. If Twilight were to ask her to help out, Rainbow would probably just start another argument. She continued to glance around her for a solution that kept everyone happy. Finally she saw it, a simple, practical solution right in front of her nose. “There’s a dead tree over there.” Rarity pointed at a dried husk of a log sticking out of the ground. Her friends looked at the ancient tree, not quite sure where Rarty was going with this.

Applejack on the other hoof caught on pretty quickly. She approached the old tree, poking it to see if it was solid. After a few test pokes, she slammed her hoof into it hard, finding that it didn’t even buckle. As luck would have it, the tree looked just long enough for the travelers to turn into a makeshift bridge. “I think this ought to do nicely.” Applejack rubbed her hoof along the dried bark.

“Good, now just buck it out of the ground for us, Applejack,” Rarity ordered.

“Beg yer pardon?”

“Just buck it out, and move it into place for a bridge.”

“I ain’t yer workhorse! I’ll buck it, but you can move it yerself.” She narrowed her eyes at the bossy unicorn. With Applejack being difficult, she wasn’t left with many options. Rarity reluctantly agreed to the cowpony’s terms with a nod. Applejack reared her back legs up, holding them in close to her body. In an instant she released all the power she was storing, kicking back as hard as she could. The tree tilted back slightly, but still remained firmly planted in the ground.

“Come on now, show us some of that earth pony strength, Applejack.” She rolled her eyes at the cheering from Rainbow Dash. Her being an earth pony had nothing to do with her strength, that all came from years of working on her family’s farm. Furthermore she wanted to know why Rainbow Dash was bring that up at all.

“Why don’t ya give’er a kick RD, yer a mighty strong pegasus, it shouldn’t break yer bones’er nothin’,” she called back returning a cocky attitude back to the pegasus.

“Oh! I can help!” Pinkie yelled excitedly, jumping next to Applejack. Both ponies reared their hind legs up, storing the energy as they did so. With a good hard kick, both ponies released, giving the dead tree a strong shove. With the two earth ponies’ buck, the tree toppled over. Rarity caught the old stump in her magic. Carefully, she levitated the ancient log over the gap blocking their way. As she released her magic, she let out a long drawn out sigh.

“That should do,” she said whipping her forehead of sweat.

“A bit a hard work’ll do that to ya, Sugarcube,” Applejack muttered in passing. Rarity chose to try and ignore the comment, by grinding her teeth together rather than respond.

“The dragon’s lair should be just up ahead now. Let’s get that mirror and get home...” Twilight said, cautiously climbing onto the makeshift bridge. After she felt it was safe, she finally crept across. The rest of the earthbound ponies followed after her, with the two pegasi staying back; just in case they needed to catch any of their friends if they slipped.

True to Twilight’s word, the dragon’s lair was only a relatively short walk from their minor impasse. The moment they saw that cave a sense of relief filled the group because their exhausting trial was nearly over. However, the fact that inside that cave was a giant flying fire-breathing dragon sitting on a pile of treasure and magical artifacts quickly brought them back from their short-lived respite.

“We just need to get in there and get the artifact.” Twilight sighed when she turned to see a shivering Fluttershy behind her. The rest of her friends didn’t look too confident either, mostly because they were too tired from the hike and heat to be in a fighting mood. Rainbow looked irritable to say the least, Rarity and Applejack still weren’t talking to one another, and Pinkie, though smiling, was far from the usual bubbly pony they had come to know and love. Twilight herself wasn’t in the greatest shape either, though she felt worlds better than she did after that rockslide.

Her eyes turned to the dark cavern ahead. One thing stood out and that was a distinct lack of black smoke wafting from the entrance. That meant one of two things, the dragon was away terrorizing more ponies, or he was awake in there. The latter made Twilight shiver just thinking about it.

“There is a very good possibility that there is a dragon inside that cave, who probably won’t hoof over that mirror willingly. So does anypony have any ideas?” Twilight asked her friends.

“Charge in!” Rainbow Dash said, puffing her chest out a bit.

“Sweet talk him,” Rarity offered.

“Make him laugh!” Pinkie yelled with a hop.

“Rope ‘em an’ drag ‘em on out here!” Applejack said pulling a rope out of her saddlebag.

“Pass,” Fluttershy muttered hiding behind her mane.

“Good ideas everypony, but I just want to let you girls know, we’ve tried all of those before on a dragon and they didn’t work.”

“Well, how about we have RD zip on in there ‘n snatch that mirror up before that dragon even knows what happened to ‘em.” The cowpony put her rope away. Giving the pegasus a sly smile.

“That’s not really fair to Rainbow Dash,” Rarity replied.

“Oh! We could all go in there dressed as ninjas!” Pinkie hugged Fluttershy’s head close to her chest, waving her hoof across the sky like she was revealing a hidden truth to the confused pegasus. “Think about it Fluttershy, we could all be ninjas!”

“W-Why are you telling me...” she asked her pink assailant that was squeezing her head.

“Or we could just go in, the caves empty!” A scratchy voice rang out from the direction of the cave. Floating just in front of the cavern was Rainbow Dash, who took it upon herself to scout the dragon’s lair. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off everyone’s shoulder when the heard her say the dragon was gone. Quickly the group of friends darted into the cave to grab snatch their objective before the monster came back from wherever he was.

“Rainbow that was incredibly reckless, what if the dragon was in there and he saw you! We wouldn’t have been ready to fight him!” Twilight scolded her friend as they approached the dark cave. She only rolled her eyes at the nagging unicorn.

“My word, look at all this gold, and all these gems!” Rarity gasped as her eyes mirrored the gold from the almost glowing treasure that laid before them. In the center of the dank, poorly lit cave was a huge mound of gold, gems, and a few other items that seemed out of place. Twilight inspected a certain quill that caught her attention. As her hoof brushed against the feather it sprang to life. It stood up on its own, waiting for an Twilight to issue an order. She chuckled to herself, tapping the quill again. At her touch it fell dead onto the ground.

“It seems this guy will take anything with magic in it. You can buy these self writing quills in Canterlot,” she mused, looking around in awe at the glimmering metals and stones around her.

“Enough fooling around, lets just get the mirror and go!” Rainbow Dash called out, causing Twilight to groan a bit. After that long trek up the mountain, she deserved to at least look at some of the items the dragon had acquired. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized she was right. They didn’t know when the dragon would come back, and they wanted to be long gone before that happened.

“So what’s this mirror look like?” Fluttershy’s quiet voice barely caught anyone’s attention.

“Umm, a mirror, duh!” Rainbow rolled her eyes again.

“If I recall, Celestia’s letter told me it was silver, a little bigger than hoof sized-”

“And...umm...has a very mean looking unicorn on it?” Fluttershy finished Twilight’s sentence.

“Yes, how did you know?”

“I think I found it...” she said meekly, staring into the polished surface. It was almost eerie how realistic the reflection looked, almost like she could reach out and touch the pony on the other side. Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel scared of this small mirror. Something wasn’t right about it. The more she looked into the smooth surface the more she noticed how strange it was. It was like the mirror itself was giving off an aura that warded ponies away from it.

“That’s it! good job, Fluttershy!” Twilight patted the pegasus on the back. She reached for the artifact, but right as she was about to touch it, she heard a sudden clang behind her. Her heart almost stopped as she snapped around. She had her horn ready to unleash a spell, but instead of a towering dragon like she expected, there stood Rarity covered from head to hoof in jewels, gold, and clothes fit for royalty. Seeing the fashionista dressed so ridiculously caused Twilight to sigh. She took the mirror, passing it off to her hoof with her magic, before rolling her eyes at how silly the designer looked.

“Rarity, what the hay do ya think yer doin‘?”

“Just helping myself to some wrongfully taken treasure, that’s all,” she said with a snooty inflection that drove Applejack insane every time she heard it.

“Ya can’t just take that stuff, it don’t belong ta ya!” the cowpony grabbed at the gaudy accessories, pulling them off Rarity.

“Hey now!” she protested, but Applejack didn’t stop.

“Rarity, Applejack stop fighting,” Twilight pleaded, but it only fell on deaf ears.

“Who cares, take as much as you want, Rarity. Not like this dragon’ll even notice with all this stuff here.” Rainbow Dash egged the unicorn on.

“Rainbow Dash! You’re not helping!” Twilight yelled.

“Why are you so up tight?” Rainbow Dash questioned.

“Why are you so stubborn? You could‘ve gotten us killed when you came at this cave earlier!”

“Yeah! Let me go for a ride Fluttershy!” Everyone’s attention turned to Pinkie who was yelling at Fluttershy. The shy pegasus looked at her friend completely confused, and in utter shock.

“W-What?” She was so unprepared for the demand, she almost shut down entirely.

“Rarity, why ya gotta be so dang difficult? Jus' leave that stuff here!” Applejack resumed her berating of her unicorn friend.

“Why are you so unsophisticated?” she retorted.

Suddenly a bright flash erupted from the mirror in Twilight’s hoof. The light filled the room, blinding everyone in it. In that instant everything came to a stop, and only silence remained.

Author's Note

I'm sure this idea has been done before, but I still wanted to tell the story. Hopefully you all will enjoy it as much as I have writing it.