My Little Fortress : Losing is Fun

**My Little Fortress : Losing is Fun* - Chapter 2 : Arrival*

By: TwiliteSpunklez (Now goes by Pnoy)

Note: Following '***,' will be links to optional music to help set the mood for the following passages. One's without a link signify the end of previously playing music. (Be sure to open them in a new tab!)

Don't rush, it's best enjoyed slowly.

***

Within the same ruins where Twilight Sparkle and the other Elements of Harmony had united to defeat Nightmare Moon, stood Luna in secrecy.

She gazed out the decayed window that overlooked her once glorious kingdom. She looked back to the days when Celestia, her sister, had banished her from Equestria. Not many are alive from that time, non-alicorns were typically not immortal like alicorns were. However few powerful unicorns posses the ability to cast "Vita aeternum," granting them immortality. Whenever this was cast, it transformed the target into an alicorn as well. Although there were no known records of it ever being successfully cast, there was one pony which possessed the capacity for such magic.

"Twilight Sparkle." she whispered to herself, glancing down to see a glistening piece of armor that laid broken before her. It was from her helmet she wore as Nightmare Moon, she sighed. "Forgive me."

Many more minutes had passed as she continued to appreciate the beauty of the night she had brought forth. The land, encased in a blue shroud, the clear starry sky and distant blue mountains complemented the rural earth below, dotted with farms and towns which shone with lights. But where things were at peace, not to far, roared a fierce winter storm, concentrated on the immediate region's biggest town, Ponyville.

Eventually, Luna could hear steps approaching her as they echoed through the ruined castle. Somepony was coming from the staircase that was at the other end of the once grand throne room. She turned her head to confirm the arrival's identity. "You're finally here." she spoke.

"Sorry princess, I was almost seen on my way here but I managed to slip by." Replied a dark grey unicorn wearing Luna's night guard armor. "They have departed Ponyville your majesty."

"Good." Luna commented, as she turned her attention back to the night baring landscape before her. "The mayor did well then, she follows orders nicely." Luna turned back to face the guard that stood near entrance of the staircase. "Is the storm still in effect?"

"The pegasus have tried to break it up but your magic is powerful."

Luna smirked. "Keeping Celestia oblivious isn't going to be easy."

"Won't she write, or try to reach her student, Twilight?" Asked the guard.

"She will try, and she will reach her. But by then it will be too late, the Signa will be breached."

"Are you sure this is for the best?"

"It's the only way." Responded Luna grimly.

***

"Spike!" She paused expecting an answer, but none came... "SPIIIKEE!!!" yelled Twilight Sparkle about to throw a fit. She had meant to get Spike's attention for some time now. She stood outside the kitchen impatiently tapping her hoof on the hard wood floor, looking up the staircase for a small purple dragon descending its steps. When he didn't come down, she decided to see what the delay was.

Twilight trotted over to the stair case and swiftly trotted up each step diligently, careful not to stumble. When she neared the top of the stair case she peeked her head over the wall looking into the bedroom. She saw Spike laying in his basket covered by his blanket. Confused as to why he didn't get up when she called him, she trotted over to him.

'That's odd usually he is always so punctual, maybe he isn't feeling good.' she thought to herself as she looked down over him. He wasn't moving much but she could tell he was breathing, barley. she gently poked Spike in the side and whispered, "Spike? Are you ok?" She didn't get much of a response other than a sigh, but he didn't show any signs of waking up.

She started to panic as realization hit her. 'Oh no, he couldn't be! Not now!' she thought. She began to pace the room in her worry. 'How long has it been Twilight? It hasn't been that long has it? He couldn't be.... I-' she stopped pacing and hung her head low.

"S...Spike..." She said without moving her head and opening her eyes as she felt tears welling up in them. "Spike..." She said desperately. "Please get up..." she asked one last time. But there was still only silence to answer her.

She stood there for a moment, her back facing her beloved assistant, hoping, that for any reason, he would wake back up. But she knew he wasn't, he was a dragon and this was inevitable, he was hibernating.

A dragon's childhood is short, and concludes when the dragon enters a near stasis state like hibernation. Although it is not entirely like hibernation, many refer to it as such, because it is similar to a long sleeping period that many mammals share during winter. But the body of the dragon didn't rest, and for 100 years he would stay in that state until he was fully grown. His body would continue to grow until reaching its fullest maturity.

Twilight had been told when she first hatched Spike that she would have him as an assistant. But she always knew when it came time, they would be separated and Spike would go to live independently as a fully grown dragon. Usually when a dragon goes into hibernation, after 100 years they tend to suffer from amnesia, remembering little to nothing from their childhood. If Spike was hibernating, when he wakes back up, he most likely won't recognize Twilight.

Typically fully grown dragons were aggressive and greedy by nature, far different from their childhood. They become almost non-sentient as instincts take over for a majority of their actions. So for Twilight's safety, Celestia would take Spike back, and let him grow in peace with in Canterlot castle and release him once he was awake. Once he was released he was free to live as he willed, and like most would probably fly to the colder, more mountainous northern region where many of the dragons lived in Equestria.'I--- I wish I could have said goodbye...'

Suddenly Spike jumped up from his bed and ran to the window. Twilight heard the commotion and eagerly turned around to see him.

"Oh Spike! I thought you w-" she started before being cut off by the purple dragon.

"SHUT UP!" He screeched back at her, while still looking out the window intently.

She was withdrawn by his sudden outburst and instantly her feelings felt hurt. She approached Spike unsure of what he was doing, "Spike.. what has gotten into you?" She asked firmly.

"Shhh! Can't you tell I'm busy?" Spike replied impatiently.

Twilight continued to stare at him from his side while he looked out the window. She wasn't sure what was going on with him but she didn't like it, he wasn't acting normal.

After several long moments he began talking.

"I just- I hear them, it's maddening. I don't know what they are! Auuuuuuugh!" He roared, "GET THEM OUT OF MY HEAD!" he whirled around, holding his hands over his ears. "The taunting! Make it stop!"

"What? Spike? Spike!" Twilight put her hooves out to hold on to the dragon, but almost as if made of air, her hooves went directly through him. Twilight fell forward as the rest of her went through Spike and fell on to the floor next to the window.

Just as the purple unicorn made her way back to her hooves, she turned to see a large rush of water flood into her bedroom and smack her against the opposing wall. She felt as if she was drowning and struggled to swim as the currents carried her around her room. Spike remained unaffected by the sudden appearance of the water and continued to flail around complaining about the voices in his head. But just as she had focused in on her situation the world started shaking violently and replaced by a blinding light.

***

She awoke with a start, "Bw-ahhhh!" She gasped as she panted heavily for air. After taking a moment to collect herself she glanced at her surroundings. Applejack was standing over her with a bucket upside down and water dripping out of it. She looked down at herself and felt water dripping from her mane, and her coat was soaked from her head to her neck. They were in the middle of a forest when she had remembered what they were doing.

"Ahm sorry sugar cube for the start, but I just couldn't wake y'all up fer nuthin'." Stated Applejack apologetically.

"Oh, uh, it's fine, don't worry about it..." responded Twilight sounding drowsy.

"It's nice and early so ah figured we could get goin' soon, once we had ourselves some breakfast n' all" replied Applejack merrily. "Don't worry bout' a thing Twi, Pinkies been makin' us a big breakfast." she said, pointing her hoof at the pink party pony slaving over a fire with smores.

Twilight looked around to see Big Mac still asleep next to the caravan and Rainbow Dash coming back with Rarity and Fluttershy baring fruits.

Twilight sighed as she stood up. "I had another dream about Spike."

Applejack paused for a moment, she knew Spike was a touchy topic for her, they were really close. "Oh..." she paused, "Ahm sorry Twi, but you knew he had to leave eventually."

"I know, I just can't get over it... but it was weird this time." Twilight stated. "The dream I mean, he woke up this time, and started yelling at me."

"He was yellin' at you? What do ya mean?" Responded Applejack concerned.

"I don't know he just kept yelling about voices he was hearing." Answered Twilight.

"Listen Twi, it was just a bad dream, he's fine and he'll be all happy n' healthy when he gets back up. That's all that matters, ya want him to be happy don't-chya?" Applejack added.

"Yeah.... I know..." Twilight sighed again.

The ponies eventually gathered around Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie flipped the smores in a pan as if they were pancakes, but some how it worked and the smores, cooked perfectly. Don't question Pinkie physics. Once the smores appeared done she started handing one out to everypony.

"Y'know Pinkie, these are really good! Why didn't I try smores for breakfast before!?" Rainbow Dash commented, contently munching on her smore.

"I know right!? I was like, hmm, I don't have flour or milk or cheese or frosting or sugar or peanut butter or jam or jelly or bread or grapes or apples or muffins or cupcakes ORRRRRRRR cherries, so I thought that smores was the next best thing!" Shouted the pink pony merrily. Even in the rather unfortunate situation the ponies found themselves in, the party pony always managed to keep a smile on.

The group chuckled at Pinkie's randomness and continued to snack on their freshly prepared smores. Big Mac woken up by the smell of smores and sounds of laughter, slowly got up and stretched. He gingerly made his way over to the little camp fire and was offered a generously sized smore.

"Since you're so BIG, BIG mac, I thought I would make you a BIG breakfast!" Said the pink pony while holding out a tray with a triple sized smore resting on top, with extra chocolate goodness oozing out the sides.

Although not a stallion for sweets, Big Mac decided to make an exception for the pink pony's treat. "Thank you." he said, taking the over burdened tray.

The ponies continued to enjoy their time together, sitting around the campfire feasting on their smores, partaking in conversation and having a good time. After a while the camp fire died and they finished their meals. They packed up whatever items they needed, and continued to their destination.

***

Big Mac was in the back of the group guiding the large oxen that pulled the caravan. Originally Rainbow Dash was tasked with this job before Big Mac joined the group. But when he joined, the job more suited Big Mac, and instead Rainbow Dash acted as a scout over head, flying above the thick Everfree forest canopy to get a good look of the terrain ahead. Fluttershy and Rarity were in the middle of the group behind Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy carried some of Big Mac's saddle bag and split the rest with Rarity to carry. Beside them walked and or hopped, Angel the bunny, and opalescence the cat.

Pinkie Pie was bouncing happily along, singing various tunes to keep the group's spirits up and to help the time pass. Applejack was in front of Pinkie with Winona sleeping on her flank, she also carried her saddle bags she had earlier. In front of the group, usually assuming the leadership role was Twilight, she knew the directions to the site they were looking for and with her organizational skills they'd be prepared for anything.

The group walking below could hear Rainbow Dash shouting from above.

"Hey guys! There's something wrong ahead! There's a bunch of birds flying around something!" The cyan pegasus shouted.

"Really? What kinda birds are they?" Twilight shouted back.

"One sec. Imma go check it out!" responded Rainbow as she was heard flying away. Twilight would have told her to wait but she was already gone before she could say anything.

"She shouldn't really go off by herself like that!" Mentioned Rarity.

"You're right but now we gotta wait here for her, we don't know where she flew off too." answered Twilight.

"Ah don't like this." mumbled Applejack.

"Wh-what if they're vultures? You know vultures only fly around something if..." Fluttershy gulped, "... Y-you know."

The group stopped to look at Fluttershy then looked back at each other and shared her concern.

"Lets just hope for the best darling." comforted Rarity, patting Fluttershy's back with her hoof.

The group waited there for a minute when they heard what sounded like Rainbow Dash whistling through the air. The whistling got louder and they even heard it go passed them, but when they shouted for her, she came back.

She came through the canopy rather hard and smashed through several branches before landing on the ground kind of hard. She was out of breath and panting heavily. After she caught her breath she looked around frantically and hovered over too Big Mac and whispered into his ear. As she finished whatever she whispered to Big Mac, the rest of the group just watched as he nodded his head slowly and gave the reigns of the oxen to Rainbow Dash and headed off ahead of the group.

"Rainbow Dash what exactly is goin' on here?" Questioned Applejack looking back at Rainbow Dash as Big Mac passed her, heading off to the direction Rainbow Dash flew from.

"I agree, What is all the commotion over Rainbow?" joined Rarity.

"Rainbow, what did you see?" Demanded Twilight.

Rainbow continued to stare back at the group for a moment before landing back on the ground, and tugging the oxen forward with her. She approached her concerned friends who simply stood there and stared at her, waiting for her response. "I-" she began before dropping her head down and looking at the ground, fighting sobs.

She looked back up at her friends with her watery eyes, "I-I saw Zecora..." she started, her voice sounded weak and still out of breath. "... A-and... She was dead."

Fluttershy put her hoof over her mouth and gasped in shock. "Oh my..." she muttered.

"W-What!?" Applejack's jaw dropped, "What in tarnation happened?!" she finished while grabbing her hat off her head and putting it to her chest.

Twilight sat down in disbelief.

"This is horrible! Oh sweet Celestia!" Rarity wailed as she started frantically pacing around the group.

"I-I-I don't know, I-I just saw her body... I couldn't stay." Rainbow Dash mumbled shaking her head, trying to fight what she saw out of  her head.

Fluttershy who already had tears running down her face, approached and comforted the distressed cyan mare. She rested her head on her shoulder with her leg over Rainbow's back. "I'm so sorry you had seen something so..." she paused, "horrible." she said as easily as she could, pulling Rainbow in tight.

"Thanks Fluttershy..." Rainbow Dash returned. "But... I just- I just don't know.."

"Rainbow Dash, you have always been there for me, let me be here for you." Fluttershy started. " I've seen a lot of horrible things. I've cared for a lot of animals around here, and I've seen a lot of animals that have been hurt really bad. Some times it is even easier, and better to just put them to sleep, forever. But, nothing ever just dies, their souls leave to go somewhere else, they go to a place called 'Ulterius.'"

Rainbow Dash looked up at Fluttershy slowly, her sobs giving way. "What's, that?" she asked, sniffling.

"My parents told me when I was a little filly that it's a place all ponies and animals go when they die," Fluttershy responded, "I was told that it was a good place, where we can do anything we want, and live happily, forever, without anything to worry about. One day we would all have to go there, and when we do we could see our old friends who passed away, family and even old pets."

"Wow Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash looked up to her, "Really, that makes me feel a lot better... But, what I saw..."

Fluttershy put her hoof to Rainbow Dash's mouth, and hugged her tightly.

Rainbow Dash surprised by her gesture, accepted it, and closed her eyes, leaning into her friend's caring arms. They sat there for a while without moving, almost as if meditating.

Rainbow Dash hadn't really ever thought about death and the afterlife. She never really wanted too, she was scared of it more than anything else. She never had much of a family either, so no one really talked to her about that kind of thing so intimately. In a way, the only family she ever had were her closest friends, and before she met Rarity, Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie, her only closest friend was Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash was grateful for her friends she had, and she never wanted anything to happen to them. When she saw Zecora, more than anything else, the fear of her friends running into the same fate overwhelmed her. But somehow despite the circumstances, Fluttershy managed to calm her down ever so gracefully.

'Ulterius huh, if that place is real, then, I will never have to worry about losing my friends, we can live their together, forever.' she thought to herself. The idea of a place to be with the ponies she cared about the most, comforted her, and the more she thought about it, the less she grew weary of death.

***

Big Mac made his way through the thick vegetation, following Rainbow Dash's directions. When he reached a river that Rainbow Dash had told him to look for, Zecora would be just on the other side, he waded through it only to find a horrid aroma to greet him. He gulped. 'Well, let's see what we got...' he thought, trying to break the uneasiness in his head.

As he headed the direction where the smell seemed to becoming from he could only feel as if he wasn't alone. He continued towards the smell until he ran into a squabble of vultures fighting over a bone that still had flesh stuck to it. He knew what it was from and smacked the birds away with his hoof. Although vultures were rather big for birds, they weren't a match for the big and strong stallion.

He stared down at the bone and sighed. 'Ah never seen't anything quite like this before...' he thought as he dug at the ground for a hole to rest the remains.

~~~

(Denotes a narrative from an omniscient figure)

Violence wasn't common in Equestria, or at least in the area's where the ponies lived, under the umbrella of Celestia's protection. The heaviest of violence known to ponykind, being minor physical encounters to resolve a given argument.

Few ponies ever saw any need to leave Celestia's protection since her rise to power, as she enhanced much of the land and fulfilled many of their needs. They always found the world outside Celestia's dominion, almost barren and withered compared to the region they lived. For the most part they were right, Celestia had enriched the environment so much, that many animals and other organisms in the surrounding area migrated into the flourishing region.

However, despite the much more hospitable environment there were other regions of Equestria that maintained fruitful land. The Zebra nation rested in a desert region, though the majority of the land desolate, hosted large amounts of valuable resources and precious materials. The Griffin nation which sat in the more temperate, sub-arctic region, was home to more mountainous terrain where the griffins prospered and were better suited to live in.

Celestia noticed the appearance of many more creatures, especially hostile ones. In response, she exiled the more aggressive-natured creatures from the areas with in her reach, in hopes of protecting her beloved subjects. Celestia's magic is powerful, and is the main component behind the prosperity of the thriving pony civilization. But the immortal goddess, is not without limitation.

Though the spell appeared to play a passive role, it required much of Celestia's attention and magic. While the spell did not end, it capped her ability to use other magics. She was limited to basic magic while the spell was cast because it took such a large amount of magic to support, and what ever magic was left, which was little, she used for other spells.

The protective and vitalizing barrier was known to the few that knew of its existence, as the Signa.

~~~

(Denotes the end of an omniscient monologue)

Big Mac hardly knew Zecora but still felt a great deal of shock that something so horrible had happened to her. He didn't understand what killed her, and though a part of him didn't even have the desire to know, he had to make sure the others would be safe.

'CRACK' Big Mac spun around quickly ready to strike.

"O- uh- I'm sorry!" Pinkie squealed as she winced at Big Mac's rather intimidating glare.

Relieved to see it was just Pinkie Pie, Big Mac lightened up and stood straight from a battle ready pose he had taken. "Why Ah don't think you should be here right now..." he stated rather firmly.

"Look, I might be a crazy pony and all, but I want to know what happened to Zecora if I'm going to be out here!" rebutted the pink pony.

Somewhat surprised at the usually sporadic pony's more realistic approach to the situation, Big Mac hesitated in his response, "Well, ah just don't know if yer gonna like what you see."

"This isn't about what I like or think, this is about our safety and if we are going to be out here we need to know what dangers are involved." replied Pinkie Pie.

Big Mac was astonished at amount of uncharacteristic logic the pony had used, he submitted and nodded his head simply and gestured the pony to follow him and started down the path he was headed.

The pink pony quickly caught up and they continued in the direction of the stench, but not for long as they rounded a large thicket of thorns to find the body amongst a patch of various herbs and wild flowers.

Many of the plants were splattered with blood and the ground fared no better. Bits of flesh and hair lay strewn about, bones and many of the entrails appeared scattered. Many insects festered on the body but despite it all, the face remained almost entirely untouched, with the same limp, lifeless stare greeting the ponies.

Pinkie Pie fell down on to her flank, gasped and covered her mouth with her hooves.

Big Mac stared, though he had never seen anything so gruesome in his life he could tell from the scene that Zecora hadn't just died, instead she had been attacked, confirming his worst fears. He had hoped that she might have died of poisoning or maybe of an illness, but if she was attacked, the danger could still be near. "Pinkie Pie, come here."

He wasn't given a response. "Pinkie?" he looked behind him where she was but she was gone.

***

As Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash continued their time together, Twilight could only stare pointlessly ahead of her self. 'What in Celestia's name is going on!?' she thought to herself. 'How could she let something so horrible happen? Is something wrong with her? Is she getting weaker? Does this have something to do with the blizzard?' she continued in deep thought sitting helplessly on her flank.

Rarity was anxiously pacing and speculated what could have caused such a horrible thing. 'M-m-maybe it was something she ate? How could she have eaten something poisonous, she was so good with herbs! Perhaps it was just of age getting the best of her, but she seemed so young!' she anxiously speculated. She took a break in her pacing to look at her friends when she noticed Pinkie Pie had went missing. She saw Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash sitting together and Twilight sitting by herself with an empty stare in her eyes as she looked blankly at Fluttershy and Rainbow who had their backs facing her. "T-Twilight?"

Her name rang through her ears, as if some distant voice was shouting her name. Her head slowly turned towards Rarity who stared back at her with watery eyes which were wide with concern. "Huh?" she let out.

"Have you seen Pinkie Pie?" she added.

Suddenly snapped out of her haze, Twilight looked around her, unable to find her. "No I haven't where could she have gone?" There was a short pause as Twilight collaborated thoughts with Rarity, "Wait did she go with Big Mac?"

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash heard the commotion and got up to face Twilight and glanced back at each other "We didn't see her." They answered turning back to Twilight and Rarity.

Suddenly they heard rustling in bushes near them. The group got up and faced the source of the disturbance.

"Pinkie?" called out Rarity, peering into the vegetation.

From the bushes emerged Big Mac, winded and panting heavily. He looked around at the friends and saw Pinkie wasn't there. "Ah lost her, she disappeared." Big Mac managed in between his breathing.

Applejack put her hat back on that she had held against her. She ran over to the reigns of the Oxen and grabbed them from Dash and insisted, "C'mon guys we better go find her before somethin' horrible happens."

The rest of the group quickly agreed and followed after Big Mac who ran back in the direction he came from. They eventually made their way past Zecora's remains but paid little attention to it except for Fluttershy who glanced at the body. She slowed down and frowned at the site but quickly brought her attention back to her friends that were speeding  off ahead of her. She looked back at Zecora and said, "I'm so sorry, I hope you're in a better place." she managed before running after her friends.

They ran through what seemed to be a recently trampled path through the foliage. After a while Rainbow Dash decided to take flight in order to look for her even though she had a hard time seeing through the canopy. Once she had flown above the canopy she immediately found that the forest ended only just up ahead and Pinkie Pie was sitting in the middle of a large field. "GUYS! I SEE HER!" She shouted.

"Where is she!?" Shouted Twilight.

"Shes straight ahead just keep going! The forest ends, she just sitting there!" She shouted back. Rainbow Dash bolted ahead and quickly caught up to Pinkie Pie and landed next to her. "Pinkie! Pinkie! Are you alright?" Rainbow Dash demanded.

"I'm fine..." She returned solemnly.

"Are you sure? You're not hurt or anything?"

"I'm fine... Look, we're here..." She answered numbly.

Rainbow Dash looked up and around, she was right, they had arrived at the spot the Mayor had described to them. But she still felt concerned for her friend. "Pinkie, look if you wanna talk about it-"

"Thanks, really, but I'm fine, it's just a lot to take in." Pinkie Pie added.

Rainbow Dash stared back at her friend confused, she knew something was up but she couldn't really figure it out. But she decided she would talk to her later about it.

"Rainbow!"

Rainbow Dash turned around and saw Twilight running at them as she came out of the tree line followed by Applejack, Big Mac, Fluttershy, and Rarity. "Guys, stop... we're fine."

"What do you mean?" Twilight replied slowing to a stop a couple of feet behind Pinkie Pie.

"We're here." she said, motioning to their surrounding.

--.*=Strike the Earth=*.--

***

End of Chapter.

I hope you enjoyed!

Author Notes:

A special thanks to my good friend:

Prince Luminarium

for being my ever so highly critical pre-reader and giving me great suggestions throughout my chapters so far, and for the many more to come!

This was the last of the back story I should be doing and in the next chapter I'll start playing DF and start using DF to map out the story. I'd like to remind everyone AGAIN of the opportunity to get your oc ponies (self inserts are ok, as long as they have acceptable pony names) queued for inclusion in the game. I cannot tell you when/if your pony will be added in but I'll make a list below of people's oc ponies that are queued to be introduced into the game. Since your pony may be included in the game, he becomes one of the characters of the story! I can't promise you a major role in the story, but there defiantly is the chance that your character might become the hero that saves the day, gets into a serious relationship with the mane six (good or bad relationship,) or might just be mentioned on the side for being a good chef, or not mentioned at all, but you never know the amount of exposure you could get.

As of now the que list is first come first serve and I don't have any requests so the list is empty, PM to get put on the list.

Also I'd like to add that this story wont be so depressing all the time, I plan on covering all sorts of emotions and such, but the background story just happens to be this sad.

look at me I'm rambling.

See you guys in the next chapter!

Current OC Que:

(None)

Edit: The list of queued ocs to be added will be updated per chapter.