The Odds Aren't Small Though!

The Odds Aren't Small Though!

By Rhythmic Pata-brony (I only regret what I do not understand.)

All “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” characters and cannon settings do NOT belong to me, this is a fan made story.

Only Nelly and any family belongs to me. (Duh!)

Warning: Merciless beating of an innocent, you have been warned...

Chapter 2: Onwards they go with that pesky rolling snow!

Night had come and gone with yesterdays shifting excitement being left behind for the past to keep hold of as a memento for eternity. Sunrise once again claims the start of the day as sunlight reaches across the land with it's warm light.

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For a certain white bunny, it was an annoying early morning as his caretaker had still not returned from yesterdays shopping trip. While he was worried for her safety, he truly hated waiting for anything for any reason. To keep himself from trashing the cottage to spite the late mare, he had passed the time by tossing logs into the cottages only stone fireplace as he sat on a red wool rug. It was a simple pleasure for him to watch as natures hard work burned for his amused comfort.

After awhile, things began to get dull for frowning bunny so he decided that it was time to seek the missing animal lover out and give her a piece of his mind. Hopping to a couch and diving into it, he retrieved a small yellow feather that he stuck into his tail. Taking one of the many tunnels in the walls of the cottage, he made his way out of the building. From there, the bunny made his way down the snow covered path that lead out to the main road and followed it. It would only take him a few minutes to arrive at the front gate of the famed orchard, Sweet Apple Acres.

He began to mentally prepare himself for something else he also hated doing more than anything. Taking a deep breath, he put his white paws to his mouth and let out a high pitched whistle that echoed across the area. A minute later a howl was heard that caused him to nervously gulp as a violent shiver ran up his small spine. Before he could brace for it, he was knocked onto his back and pinned by a dainty white dog paw. Looking up he was greeted by brown and white collie that was lovingly named Winona.

She was giving him a special kind of puppy smile as she looked at him with lidded dark brown eyes as she slowly rubbed his belly. The blushing bunny gave a sheepish smile and he watched the white tip of her brown tail wag in excitement. This bunny had never felt more uncomfortable in life than near this doggy, and for a good reason too. Why oh why did he have to save this mutt from those timber wolves?

With a silent sigh, he pushed the paw off and stood up as he was watched by the curious farm dog. He began to make odd noises as he waved gestures that very few ponies could even understand. Winona just barked several times in reply before tilting her head expectantly.

With a nod, the bunny took the feather from his ear and held up to her. She carefully sniffed it before she put her nose into the air and smelt for a scent. A few seconds later her ears perked up and she barked. The bunny was quickly whisked on to the collie and they were off on a trip towards Ponyville. On they way the female pooch had taken to rubbing the bunny's back with her tail in the most gentle way possible. He felt that this teasing was going to kill him but he tried to ignore it.

Down the dirt path that passed into the bustling streets of the snow covered town later...

A little more than twelve minutes had passed since they arrived before Sugarcube Corner. It would've taken much longer if the nimble canine had decided to chase a smug cat who like her owner, loved to gossip about things he didn't care for. Luckily for the bunny, Sweetie Belle was currently trying to capture feline for a bath. The look of horror that furball was sporting was absolutely priceless to Winona and him as she was dragged away. The pooch herself liked a bath every once in a while herself but couldn't figure out what the cats problem was. Still though, victory smells like a wet prissy feline.

Once the bunny hopped off his mount, they both made their way into the bakery. Once inside, they both made their way upstairs and even passed by a tired Mrs. Cake as she sipped on a hot cup of coffee. She normally would of stopped them but she felt that it was better to leave it alone. This mother was too tired to deal with this madness right now.

With nothing stopping them, they went down the hallway once they got upstairs and they stopped before a corn blue door that was decorated by party favors. Winona decided to scratch on the door with a paw and it opened up to reveal a happily sleepy looking pink mare wearing baby blue pajamas with a matching sleeping cap. Different colored balloons decorated the sleep wear.

"Angel? Hey, whatcha doing here with Winona?" Pinkie yawned as she stretched her back.

The bunny ignored the party pony and immediately hopped over to the bed containing none other than the mare he was looking for. He jumped on to the bed and moved up to the sleeping face of Fluttershy. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully and it would be a shame to it wake her buuut... he missed dinner and was not going to be pleased if he missed breakfast too. Hopping behind her flank, he lifted a leg back and kicked her off the bed with all his tiny might.

"Eep!" *Ker-thump!*

The shy pony was now wide awake as she slowly picked herself off the floor with a shaky, soft groan. Why must she leave the warm comfy bed? When she looked on the bed she was rudely forced off, she found her scowling pet bunny with a crossed look. Her eyes went wide as she came to a realization.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry that I didn't come home yesterday!" Fluttershy frantically explained with flat ears and teary eyes.

The bunny rubbed his temple as he sighed in annoyance. He began to try and explain something with his gestures and various noises that only a bunny could make. The yellow pegasus calmly listened and watched intently before her expression quickly turned to horror. The last thing Angel gestured was the demand to be fed, or else.

"A-are you sure th-that you heard th-this?" Fluttershy squeaked with pinpricked eyes and a gulp. Angel simply nodded and pointed out that he was still hungry.

"You okay Shy? You look like you've seen a grumpy hydra, on a Monday too!" Pinkie sleepily giggled before yawning dreamily. The yellow winged pony looked at her friend with a quiet whimper and shook her head slowly.

"Angel h-heard something evil and h-he thinks that somepony is planning s-something! Do you think it has something to do with that s-scary dr-dr-dragon?" This shy pony had a very bad feeling and it was quite noticeable too, the poor mare.

Pinkie simply nodded before fell to the floor with a thump and began to snore. When she needs her sleep its best that you let her as she can get really strange.

The bunny was tired of waiting decided to toss a pillow at the side of the shy mares head to get her attention. When she looked at her glaring pet, she gave a sheepish smile.

"Sorry Angel... we should get you some breakfast, you must be starving you poor thing..." Putting her pink friend into bed, she then made her way down stairs and was generously given some breakfast from Mrs. Cake. Much to his delight, Angel was given the deluxe carrot cake and Fluttershy had some oatmeal with hot cocoa. Winona seemed content to lay near a certain bunny as the two ate at a random table in the bakery. The nervous mare still needed to talk to the others soon but felt that it could wait a bit longer, no rush hopefully...

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Meanwhile...

Molten lava flowed through the haven for dragon kind like the uncountable blood vessels through a limb. Hundreds if not thousands of various dragons were casually gathering with one another with tales of their lives, the intent for finding a mate, or to simply lounge on the warmth of the volcanic systems that pulsed with destructive heat. Despite their draconic nature they prefered some peace over the rigors of fighting one another, though few tended to have a scuffle every so often. This was usually due to the more greedier of the dragons who would try to steal the treasures of others. It was a simply yet truly vicious cycle for them.

It was here that a black cloud of smoke quietly swept over the area. It moved towards the largest of dragons as it infused itself into their gems and up the nostrils of the sleeping behemoths with eerie silence. Several of them had sneezed out fountains of blazing infernos into the air that each had their own unique color. Each dragon began to shake as they tossed and turned with rumbling groans.

After a while the black tide had reached a particularly older dragon that looked quite grey. His body looked rather frail compared to other of his kind, but it was misleading. The massive amount of treasure he slept upon was a beacon that showed his prowess and respect among the others. None would dare take their chances with this old coot. It was him that the toxic looking fumes had seeped into as its way into the resting dragons one toothed maw. This soon caused him to quickly shoot up with horrified roar that drew the attention of all others, even those who were sleeping.

The biggest of the fire breathers had taken to the air before they circled around the fossil with unease in their expressions. When no more gathered around the disturbed elder, began to mutter crazed and ancient words as tears escaped his faded blue eyes. All the others had patiently waited for what he had to say. When the wise elder of an almost unchallenged race is in tears you want to know what's wrong.

After a few minutes had passed by with no change in the old lizards mood, a familiar red dragon sporting some golden serpent eyes decided to break his silence.

"What causes you such madness old one?" The tone of the question only showed respect.

"We failed to wipe her kind out young ones!" crackled the ancient dragon.

The red dragon looked to the others for an answer but found only more confusion. "We do not understand what you mean..." He gulped as his eyes darted about.

"Of course you don't, it was before your time! None would remember the horrors of that forsaken brood..." The elder began to shake as he slowly buried his head into his pile of valuables.

"Does this have something to do with my nightmare, elder?" The red dragon noticed the old grey one tense up.

"What was in this nightmare young one?" came a slightly muffled reply, body rigid.

The red dragon took a slow breath. "A shadowy serpent chased me down from within the earth before pulling me into it with no way to escape, tearing off my wings and crushing my neck as I struggled..."

The other dragons began to whisper to one another with worry before a roar silenced them in an instant. "That is disturbingly familiar, it matches with my dream and that truly worries me, it seems that my siblings did not manage to completely destroy the last of those monsters. The terror looms once more..." The fear and hate that the elder displayed seemed to glow from his blind eyes. Sucking in a deep breath he blew a slow bellow of smoke out of his nostrils. "Do you all remember that so called horror story that you were told and hatchlings?"

The audience took a minute to think back and talk it over with each other. The red dragon was beckoned to the group and they whispered the what they remembered to him. With a nod to the group of massive adults, he turned to the elder again. "We went over what we remembered but could only with two stories. The chaos sapiens and the core sleepers..." the red dragon explained as he rubbed his scaly red neck with a foreclaw.

"The second one would be the one, the story about the bipedal apes was just a silly story about the effects of tampering with the natural order..." The old dragon shivered at the thought of such destructive creatures being let loose upon this world.

"You're telling me that those demons actually existed?! They who would feed upon the very suffering that enforces Tatarus and they who are the bane of all magical essence..." His pink spines stood on end from the very thought of facing such a terrifying foe. He imagined trying to fight a creature that takes in pain for fun and found that it would most likely be a hard to tell if you're winning or being toyed with. He still wondered something though. "Old one, why haven't we seen any sign of the demons if they did manage to survive?"

"That is hard to discern young one... I suggest that we seek out oddities that would point out the survival of these monsters. Should it be true, we must eradicate them before they cause untold horror to our kind once more! If you feel that you're up  to this task then you all should prepare yourself as tomorrow you will all begin your search!" The elder let loose a primal roar and soon every single dragon present joined in with their very own.

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Far away from the dragons at the very border of volcanic lands, the shadowy form with a glowing red fang for a horn was casually reading out of a tome with casually toothy grin. A long stretch of black smoke was returning to his body at a steady pace as he flipped to another page. A minute later and he let out a chuckling sigh as he snapped the tome shut.

"Why do ye proud and ferocious draga seem so easy to stir? Tis a shame that ye will be naught but pawns for my desires..." He turned willed his magic and a crystal goblet of purple and blue liquid appeared before him in a puff of blackness. Using his dark magic to hold the reflective he took a sip of the mixture and let out a dark reverberating sigh. "Crystal berry juice, ye never displease me with your refreshing taste. Pray tell satisfying liquid, dost that sakura maned beauty taste as sweet as ye?" He began gulping down the rest of the drink before poofing away the goblet with the tome into the unknown.

With a devilish grin, he willed his magic and he teleported from the area in a plume of shadows that crackled with green and purple magics. Where this despicable entity left to now was anyone's guess...

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Elsewhere...

Miles away from the town of Ponyville and into the Everfree forest, a pony capable of destroying a mountain by herself had just finished eating breakfast. It was a simple meal of maple logs and some wild honey tulips she found growing in the grove. Currently she was headed to a massive hot spring she found some time ago. It was located a couple miles away, south-west from the grove she usually slept at. Nelly was happy that it was a short walk to get to her makeshift bath.

When she arrived to her destination she was met by a familiar resident of the forest that also visited the hot bath every so often, an ursa major by the name of Yuma. Nelly had met her the first time she came to the boiling cauldron of the earth. Coincidentally, she had managed to be carrying some extra hydra meat she cooked for breakfast. Since then, she was a tolerated guest around the star bear.

The giant equine was noticed and the celestial bear scooted over to make room. After setting her bandana to the side, she stepped into the scalding water and she let out a content sigh as her mane and coat was cleaned of debris she picked up from traveling about. Wood branches, rocks, dirt, and the occasional clump of spiderweb had been purged from her body. One time she had the misfortune of having a swarm of parasprites nesting in her fetlocks, none survived the ordeal. The tiny shrieks still haunt her dreams among a few other things that met the same fate.

"Morning Yuma, is the cub doing well?" Nelly greeted as began to rub into her coat.

All she got a a series of grunts and funny growling from her bath companion as she gestured with a paw.

"Yeah that was going to happen eventually, you just don't eat Scorpios, they give ya the runs for days. Trust me I know what it's like..." You have to learn what you can or cannot eat somehow, right?

Yuma gave a warm chuckle that made the water heavily ripple from the vibrations. Faust help you all if a certain unicorn gets a hold of this beast for her club.

"This is why a parents love is so endless, the young are silly!" That or the old have a bad sense of humor that involves the suffering of the current generation she felt.

The ursa major nodded as she got out of the hot spring and shook off the water in a dog like motion that soaked the surrounding trees like it was raining. She gave a final growl before leaving to tend to her sick cub with a minor case of food poisoning.

"Take care of yourself!" Nelly chirped before dunking her head into the bubbling water.

Minutes of cleaning later, she finally exited the water and shook herself dry until her mane and fetlocks fluffed out. Quickly she picked up her bandana and dug around the huge pocket for her favorite brush. It was a one ton gift from her dear mother that was meant to last her a lifetime as it was crafted from magical high quality steel that was polished to a shining mirror finish. The object was literally classed as a morning star due to its nature and shape. Only Pinkies mane would be a challenge for this weapon of mane care.

When she put away the knot killing tool away, she put her bandana back on and headed back to the grove. She began to think of what she was going to do today and remembered that she should pay the Apples family a visit. Maybe checking up on miss Fluttershy's condition would be a good idea too. It was possible that the other residents would panic but it would be at the very least would be worth it for once.

Soon she returned to her grove and went over to the river for a drink. After a refreshing gulp of chilled water, she looked skyward and found that it was only a little cloudy. If the chilly breeze affected her, she didn't really show it at all. With one more yawn and another drawn out stretch she took off through the forest at a careful canter.

Through the forest the almost unstoppable pony went as her legs shuffle around the trees in a almost random pattern. Many small animals had quickly moved out the giants path as she rumbled through the obstacles with practiced ease. Creatures that had been affected by the annoying effects of poison joke had taken the chance to intercept her path for the freedom of living normally again. They had long since taken notice of the flowers having no effect on this strange giant and it got them to risk their neck to see why. What they learned was the pesky effects were swept away upon touching her. It was worth a the risk of getting stepped on they felt.

Eventually she arrived at the border of the forest and to the sight of the vast orchard of the Apple family. She took noticed of the increased level of fallen snow as she sent huge shovels of the white powder flying with intentional kicks. It was a rather amusing thing to do but she decided to stop her horse play and continue on her way. She was content with just taking in the cold refreshing air now.

Soon the white fence came into view along the borders of the orchard. Nelly began to wonder if she was capable of growing a decent things herself. Sure it was a known fact that earth ponies could grow just about anything but she couldn't help but wonder if that also counted for something that wasn't straight up pony. Oh well, she can find out later on when spring comes around again.

Minutes pass by for her and soon she came to a stop at the front gate of her destination. With a calming breath, she leapt over the sign and slow followed the logs that marked the path to the Apple family home. As she approached the barn like structure, she found that Big Macintosh was currently on the roof of the building. He seemed to be hammering a new shingles into the building using his mouth. She figured that this farm pony has very strong neck that simply cannot be broken by normal means since he didn't seem to be having trouble driving the nails in. Time to say hello.

"Morning Mac," Nelly greeted as she stopped beside the red stallion.

Putting down a claw type hammer carefully he turned to his new friend with a calm smile and replied "Howdy Nelly, that storm did a number to the roof so ah'm tryin' tuh fix it right now. AJ's out in the eastern orchard with Applebloom to try and clear out all the extra snow that really built up." He pointed out to the two far away sisters as they load snow into a large wooden wagon. Maybe she could give them a hoof?

"Do you need any help with anything? I have a lot of free time today," Nelly asked curiously.

The farm pony took a minute to think before he shaking his head. "Why don't ya see if those two could make use of ya? Ah doubt that ya can help me right now and they could use a helpin' hoof," he suggested stoically before picking the hammer back up. He figured that she was too big to help repair the roof safely.

"Well alright then, I'll see you later then," she chirped with a smile. She turned to the sister and calmly walked towards them as the stallion continued his work in peace. She hoped that they would accept her help.

It was a very short walk to reach the sisters as the younger of the two noticed her arrival. The filly dropped the snow shovel that she held in her mouth. "Howdy miss Nelly!" Applebloom greeted warmly with a cheerful tone. This alerted the older and slightly surprised sister who just dumped a shovel full of snow into their ever trusty wagon.

"Well ah'll be, what brings ya out here today, sugar cube?" Applejack happily asked after setting down her own shovel.

"To see how you're both doing and offer a helping hoof if you'd be willing to accept it," Nelly explained with a tilted head and a hopeful smile.

Applejack didn't even think twice about it as she nodded with a small grin. "That'd be pretty nice if ya did, we gotta get the east and north fields cleared of the extra snow or its gunna be a real mess when winter wrap up starts!" If she didn't get this done, the extra snow would cause havoc with the time schedule. A certain lavender princess with a extreme tendencies of being organized and efficient would not be happy.

Nelly smiled cheerfully with a short hum of personal achievement. "What would you like me to do first?" she asked as she looked around curiously. There was a lot of work to be done and this made her wonder how the siblings would have finished in time for this winter wrap up thing, it was a daunting task with so few ponies.

Applejack took a minute to think as she came up with a plan to deal with ridiculous amount of snow. Then an idea struck her that was sure to work out quite well but she needed to test it out a little bit. "Do ya know how to make a snow pony, sugar cube?" she asked, making everypony else a bit confused.

"Yeah... why do you ask?" Nelly wasn't sure where this was going but it sounded like it was going to be fun.

"We're going to make snow ponies?" Applebloom questioned with a cocked brow.

"Why don't ya start a base an' push it down this row between the trees? Ah only want you to stop when it grows too big to fit between the rows," Applejack instructed with a knowing smirk.

The giant curiously nodded and scooped up enough snow to make a very large base for your normal sized snow pony. Putting it on the ground, she began to slowly roll the white sphere forward and took notice of its quickly growing size. Careful to kept it rolling down the row and not into the valued apple trees, she soon came to a stop. She found that she left a much smaller level of snow in her wake and that she now had a white two ton boulder that she could easily lift. So this was the farm mares plan, clever.

Applebloom finally understood what her sister meant by snow ponies and couldn't help but giggle at the result. "So this is what ya mean!" she chirped excitedly.

"Eeyup, should make things go a lot faster! What do ya think of mah plan, pardner?" Applejack felt that she was truly on a roll right now, no pun intended either.

Nelly simply hummed in agreement as her tail swayed in excitement. "Just set me up some starting points and this will be a done before we know it." She began to wonder as to how many snow ponies could be made and where they were going to be set up in the first place.

"Alright then, me and Applebloom will start making piles for the start points! Ready?" Applejack happily explained with a hoof in the air and a spirited smile.

"Oh, wait! Can I help make snow ponies too!" came the familiar and bubbly cry of a certain pink pony from afar. A pink blur zoomed in from the distance at an incredible speed before it stopped right in Applejacks personal space with two excited cyan blue orbs.

"Er... howdy, Pinkie?" The hyper pony was slowly pushed away by the farm pony. "If ya want to help then follow Applebloom and set up the starting points while ah go and set the others up the next row over, on the other side," she explained with a slightly forced smile. She really valued their friendship but this mare had a special way of making a pony uncomfortable.

"Okie dokie, you can count on me!" Pinkie acknowledged with a smiling salute.

"C'mon Pinkie, lets get started," Applebloom chuckled before she grabbed a shovel in her mouth and found a new row of trees to set up for.

"Hmm... I wonder what I'll name them..." Pinkie mused as jumped into a random tree and pulled out a pink handled snow shovel. She join joined the young filly and they began to quickly pile up the snow.

"See ya on the other side!" Applejack yelled as she took hold of her own shovel with her tail and galloped to her determined position.

"Here we go..." Nelly whispered to herself as went up to the duo's first pile or powder and scooped it up. Like the first one from earlier, she shaped out the start of the snow pony base and set it on the ground. She began to quickly roll it down the set path until another white boulder that equaled the first in size was created. With that she moved to the next row over and found her next pile. Looking further to the row after the next one, she found that the stetson wearing mare was already working on the next pile. With a smiling giggle she continued her task with a strange sense of growing warmness in her heart as she began to hum...

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After she had given Mrs. Cake her truly sincere thanks and retrieving her scarf, Fluttershy and her animal company had taken to the town streets. She had decided to seek out the aid of the closest friends in the current area. Right now she had a very bad feeling in the back of her mind that she needed to hurry. Much to her relief, the town library was only a few minutes away and was within sight so it only would be a short trip.

So she made her way through the currently snowy road as nimbly galloped around many ponies as she gave hurried apologies to any she barely touched. It would only take her a couple frantic minutes as she arrived before a building that literally a tree house with a balcony to boot. She wasted no time knocking as she pushed the door open and went inside. Scanning the area, she found a familiar little dragon of green and purple as he dusted the wooden shelves filled with books. He was not who she was looking for but maybe he could be of help.

"Spike!" Fluttershy squeaked, getting his attention.

"Oh, hey Shy, is something wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." He wasn't really expecting the shy pony to show up so early and felt that something was amiss.

"S-spike, where's Twilight?!" she asked in a frantic tone and very pleading expression.

"I think she's still in the basement right now and working on some crazy spell for brain growth or something. She's been down there since she woke up..." The dragon really didn't know what was so important about it but that mare really likes to over do things sometimes.

"C-could you please t-tell her that it's ur-urgent?" Fluttershy nervously asked.

Spike gave a concerned nod and went to fetch the requested pony. As he did so, the nervous pegasus began to ponder about the things to come as she looked at the floor. Who was this evil entity and what did it want with that giant mare she saw yesterday? She knew that this spelt only trouble for everypony but what could she do besides warn the others? The sound of a closing door had returned her to reality.

"Fluttershy are you okay?" came the expected voice of her studious friend.

Looking up once again, she was met by the concerned face of a familiar lavender alicorn with a semi-long and extremely dark blue mane that sported a pink stripe. "Y-yes, it's th-that I just came to tell y-you something really im-important..." she replied as she tried to calm her nerves with a drawn out and shaky breath. She needed something to relax her quite badly.

"Spike, could you make some tea?" Twilight asked her number one assistant.

He simply nodded as he waddled towards the kitchen as a certain bunny followed after with hunger on his mind. He was not going to miss his chance at more breakfast, even if Winona was now following his every move still.

"So what's going on exactly and why do you look so terrible?" Twilight inquired as she shut the front door with a cast of magic through her horn. The magic enchantment in the room quickly began to warm the place up again and it was soon a comfy temperature again.

"Angel told me that s-something bad is going to h-happen soon!" Fluttershy explained as she began to mess with the end of her flowing mane.

"What gave him that idea?" The alicorns tone seemed skeptical at the mention of the mischievous bunny. She hadn't forgiven him for messing with her equipment after she was task of watching over him. That ferocious abomination he created still resides in that steel box to this day.

"H-he told me that he heard what sounded like a stallion th-that spoke in an e-evil and outdated way while out in the Everfree foraging..." This peaked the alicorns interest instantly.

"You mean like how Luna did when we first freed her Nightmare Moon, right?" She knew of one past foe that might fit but that seemed unlikely as he said very few words.The thought seemed silly as he was utterly defeated... right?

The shy pegasus could only nod in reply as Spike returned with three white cups and a silver kettle on a white platter. Twilight hummed in thought as her magic picked up a couple cups with the kettle and then proceeded to pour some tea for her present friends. The pegasus took a careful sip of the hot beverage and found that it was a soothing peppermint blend.

Spike retrieved a bowl of water for the collie and a smaller cup of juice for bunny who gave him a thankful nod. As he went to listen to his friends conversation, Winona began to slowly lap at her liquid while giving the now blushing bunny a lidded look as he tried to ignore the suggestive manner she did it.

"Did he by chance see what this entity looked like at all?" One more piece of information would help the princess figure out who they might be dealing with.

"He told me that he couldn't see through all the black smoke..." Fluttershy explained before taking another sip of her tea. After swallowing the brew, she let out a calm breath.

The lavender pony felt something click in her head as she realized what they were dealing with right now. "Sombra..." she muttered as she dropped her tea cup with wide eyes. The sound of her shattering cup brought her attention to her shocked friends.

"S-s-sombra? I-I-I thought that w-we beat him for good!" Spike sputtered as he ate his entire cup out of shock. It's bland taste would do nothing for his fearful state.

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness..." Fluttershy squeaked in terror and as she fell to the floor with her forelegs over her face, shaking in fear. Her tea cup was set to the side on the ground so she didn't break it.

"Spike, prepare to take a letter! We have to warn Princess Celestia about this!" Twilight commanded with a tone of urgency.

The small dragon was quick to retrieve a quill and parchment. "Alright!" Spike announced at the ready with his impeccable writing skill.

"W-wait, there's something else I n-need to tell you about..." Fluttershy quietly said as she drew circles in the floor with a hoof.

"Yeah, Fluttershy?" Twilight curiously inquired.

Before she say anything, Spike spontaneously let out a belch of flame and a all too familiar scroll had materialized out of it before falling to the floor. It was quickly picked up and opened by the known bookworms magic. She began reading  and her eyes widened in disbelief as she finished reading it with a twitching brow.

"What did it say, Twi?" Spike pressed with curious anticipation.

"Princess Celestia had just explained to me of a dragon that had attempted to attack Ponyville yesterday AND that a GIANT pony of all things came out of nowhere to stop it! Did I miss something here, why wasn't I informed of something like this?!" Twilight fumed with forelegs up in the air and rump on the floor. "Oh, I'm also supposed to confirm it's existence..." she added with a defeated groan.

"That's what I was trying to tell you about, her name is Nelly..." Fluttershy explained as she decided to give her friend a calming hug.

"Whoa, you've met her already?" Spike questioned with a look of awe as Twilight groaned with annoyance.

"No, not directly anyways... Pinkie told me a little about her, I was in her room when I saw Nelly walking away..." she admitted as she slowly let her frowning friend go.

Twilight went silent for a moment before she finally spoke up again. "Spike, could you please send the princess a warning about Sombra?" she requested as she summoned forth some rose red ear muffs with a matching wool scarf upon herself.

"You can count on me!" Spike declared as he quickly started scratching words on to the parchment. When he finished, he tied in in a red ribbon and sent the letter off in a gout of magical green flame. "Done."

Winona had finish her water and was now slowly stalking towards Angel as he chose to nervously back away with and audible gulp...

A minute later and a reply was burped out into the awaiting aura of magic. Quickly the princess in the library began reading the new message and she was once again confused by it's contents. "She's going to post some extra guards around town and she also noticed a lot of odd white dots among the Apple family's orchard? Magical properties of her telescope seem to blur when when trying to focus on an unknown creature? I guess we know where to look for this giant mare first..." Oh good, some progress can be made now but what's with that last part about the telescope's magic blurring? Time to find out and hope for the best she hoped.

"Can I come this time, Twi? I don't think it's a good idea for me to be left here alone..." Spike pleaded wearily. He honestly didn't want to be left behind if Sombra was out for revenge as it would most likely end badly.

Sensing her assistants worry, Twilight nodded and the young dragon ran up a nearby set of wooden stairs to retrieve a specially made set of clothing to keep him warm outside. It would only take under three minutes before he returned.  He wore a green pair of insulated pants with a matching coat, some yellow boots, green gloves, and brown fuzzy hat that would remind a certain race of bipedal apes about their vodka drinking brethren on their own planet. If this specially made ensemble didn't keep him nice and toasty, Rarity would quit fashion and burn her home down in a fit of dramatic self loathing. Nope, that's not going to ever happen since magic would ensure that it would do its job quite well. He gave his sister figure a nod and he was levitated on to her back.

"Let's go, we have to warn the others about Sombra and find this strange pony!" Twilight announced with a smiling fervor before leaving out the front door with a nervous pegasus and animal company following in her wake. Their first destination would be their lustrous friend Rarity and then to find a chromatic maned pegasus. Truly a pony on a mission if the determination on her furry face pointed out anything. Speaking of faces, Angel’s was currently a steaming inferno of heat due to the Apple family’s loyal dog swaying her tail and not the one that wags.

--------------------------

The bookworm, her assistant, and their shy friend arrived to the front of door of the building that truly lived up to its well known name, the Carousel Boutique. Twilight was the one to knock on the door with her painfully even amount of hoof taps before taking a comfortable step back. She was rewarded by a very cheerful reply that made Spike smile and swoon smittenly.

"I'll be there in a moment, just trying to finish with a slight medical emergency!" Rarity sang from behind the slightly muffling door.

"Ouch! Be careful sis, that stings!" Sweetie Belle yelped quite loudly.

"Oh hush Sweetie, I warned you about trying to bathe Opal alone." The older sisters had a hint of amusement in her tone.

Everypony save the baby dragon and the distracted pets, gave each other confused looks as a glow opened the front door. They calmly entered the building and find the young unicorn getting wrapped in bandages. Twilight gave an amused smile at the sight while Spike had his loving focus on the older sibling who was sporting a pair of red framed glasses. Meanwhile, Fluttershy resisted the urge to make sure that the filly was completely checked over. Her nature made sure that she was always ready to spring to the medical aid of a hurt friend, animal or otherwise.

"Hello girls, what brings you here so early on this oh so lovely day?" Rarity asked with a very uplifted tone.

"We've just found out some very bad news..." Fluttershy whimpered as she looked at the carpet with interest. She noticed that an extra fluffy white feline wearing expensive looking accessories had approached the bunny and collie in with a devious grin. It must of been a usual greeting so she turned her attention back to her friends.

"I haven't confirmed it but it's possible that Sombra has returned," Twilight explained with a serious demeanor.

Rarity's mood took a dive. "Oh my, that is quite dreadful isn't it... Do you think it has something to do with the dreadful blizzard yesterday? It was very short yet it really had me worried with how strong it was before its rather sudden end."

Twilight cocked a brow and nudged her currently smitten assistant. "Spike, why didn't you tell me that there was a blizzard? I wasn't told that we were due for one..." The alicorn was a bit annoyed again.

"Wha- oh, I was taking a nap for most of the day so I didn't really notice anything," Spike sheepishly explained as he rubbed the back of his head.

The grape eyed pony let out a frustrated sigh as she looked towards the fashionista. "I'll keep note of the blizzard... Oh, before I forget. Have you had a run in with a gigantic mare named Nelly by chance? I've been asked to find this pony to confirm her existence."

"Miss Nelly? We met her over at Applejacks!" Sweetie chirped with a giggle. She hopped to her hooves and moved before her sister before sitting down again. Her sister took her in a one legged hug as she gave a warm smile.

Angel went wide eyed as he leapt over the lidded eye collie and excited faced cat as they tried to corner corner him. Once he landed behind them, he scurried off into another room with the two hot on his fluffy little tail.

"It was quite the strange meeting but she really has a somewhat open personality and quite the observant eye," Rarity explained with amusement in her tone.

"Yup, she pointed out her fa-" was all Sweetie could get out before her sisters hoof put a stop to it.

"Let's not go into that, Sweetie dear..." Rarity whispered with and aggressively cheerful tone.

The filly only nodded with a gulp as the hoof was removed slowly.

"Rrright then… Why don’t we need to go find Rainbow Dash?" Twilight awkwardly questioned before walking over to the exit before stopping.

"Do you know where she might be Rarity?" Fluttershy quietly asked with a tilted head.

"I haven’t the foggiest idea, Shy darling, I haven't seen her flying around today. Maybe she decided to stay home for some reason?" The lovely unicorn wondered if something was wrong with the chromatic pegasus. She willed her magic and her scarf and ear muffs appeared on her form with a flash of white light. She then did the same for her little sister. "Let's go Sweetie dear, I don't feel that it's safe to leave you alone with that villain running about." The younger sister nodded with a hum and joined everypony as they left the building together.

--------------------------

Angel watched with horror as the others left him to his fate as he ran away from Winona and her cheshire partner in crime. As the door shut with a click, he let out a shrill bunny scream as the polar opposites of nature descended upon him…

--------------------------

Once on the snow covered roads, they all made their way towards the west as everypony except Spike and Sweetie Belle kept looking skyward for any stray clouds. Minutes pass by for the group yet there was no sign of the fast pegasus.

Rarity decided to ask around for any sight of her friend but she was unable to find any clues from the equally unknowing towns ponies. "It seems that that she's not in town, to her home it is..." she sighed with a slow shake of her head. So with that they decided to head to the open fields where they could find the sky bound home of their absent friend.

Sometime later the girls and dragon had found themselves under the shadow of a very large cloud home. The group noticed a muffled battle sound of an angry cry before a loud thump followed after. Several more quickly followed after before one final roar was heard before a wall of the cloud home was smashed open as a large object flew off into the distance. A low thump was heard when it hit the ground with a splashing scatter of snow.

When everypony thought it was over, an line of blur of chromatic rainbow burst out from destroyed wall and into the sky with gaining altitude until it was a barely visible dot to the group. A few seconds later and that dot shot towards the ground in a burst of missile like speed with the intent of smashing into the large object in the distance.

"Uh oh..." Twilight muttered with wide eyes as she hastily lit up her horn and erected a rose colored shield that covered the group.

*THUMP-BOOOOOM*

An explosive ring of colors erupted before impact with a pressure wave that blasted snow, dirt, and pieces of the unknown object in all directions as a colorful cloud of debris blasted skyward. The surprised alicorns shield held steady against the blast for about seven seconds as it rode out the sudden ordeal. Spike and Sweetie Belle couldn't help but feel at awe at the rare spectacle that they just witnessed. Fluttershy had a very worried expression that was focused on the impact site.

When the dust began to clear as a quiet breeze blew through field, Twilight dispelled her shield and it faded away from view. What the group found was a red quivering faced Rainbow Dash sitting inside a rainbow stained crater as she heavily panted with eyes looking down in an blank-eyed  trance. She looked like she didn't sleep at all last night, if the bags under her eyes and her really messy mane were any indication.

Fluttershy was the first to react when she took off towards her foal hood friend in a gallop. The others quickly followed after her with questions buzzing in their minds. What has their usually confident friend in such a strange rut?

"Rainbow Dash, are you okay?" Fluttershy called out as she stopped outside the crater in a small skid.

Dash shook her head when she heard her shy friend and looked at her with confusion written on her face. "Oh uh, hey... what's up Shy?" she asked sheepishly as she sat on top of the utterly annihilated remains of her heavy weight punching bag. To her surprise, the others arrived to the scene with mixed looks of worry and awe.

"Rainbow darling, what's happened to you? You look absolutely terrible!" Rarity gasped, with a hoof to her mouth.

"I had a really bad night of sleep..." Dash grumbled with a dizzy sway. She was in a crabby mood due to how tired she was right now, among the other things that plagued her mind.

"Do you want to talk about it Rainbow?" Twilight inquired, her expression was innocently curious.

"Naw, I'll get over it... What brings you all around anyways?" she replied as she let out a yawn with a tinge of pink on her cheeks.

"It seems that Sombra has returned and he's out for revenge no less," Rarity explained seriously with a frown.

Dash went wide eyed at that. "Whoa, you're pulling my wing right? There's no way anypony could survive a full on blast like that!" she complained loudly with a stomp of her hoof.

"That's what I thought too but I was recently found out that a dragon tried to attack Ponyville and that a freak storm passed through town. Also, Angel had truthfully warned us an evil cloud of smoke that announced some dark scheme. My guess points towards that evil tyrant." Twilight wondered if she should've rounded up her friends to save time but she just wasn't on the ball today.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I saw that freak blizzard but a dragon, how'd I miss that?!" Dash complained, taking to the air and hovering in front of her studious friend as she shook her by her shoulders. It didn't take long for the alicorn to become dizzy and hastily push her friend away.

"I was told in a letter from Princess Celestia..." Twilight groaned in a daze before shaking her head clear. "Fluttershy told me that a giant pony named Nelly had defeated it, have you had a run in with her?"

Dash's wings went limp as her face paled with her wide eyes glazing over. She stared off into space as she realized that she tried to tango with the wrong pony. She began to laugh hollowly as she fell on her rear, shaking.

"R-rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy was now worried for her friends sanity, as were the others.

Rarity wasted no time as she decided to blast the cyan pegasus with a sleep spell that knock her into blissful unconsciousness. She fell to the snow face first and began to snore. "I assume that Rainbow Dash had probably attacked Nelly..." the fashionista sighed and she picked up her friend in her magical grasp and willed a pair of dark blue ear muffs with a matching scarf onto her. She then set her down into the grasp of Fluttershy.

"Wasn't... that a bit much to do though, Rarity?" Twilight asked with a cocked brow.

"Oh pish posh Twilight, the poor mare desperately needed some beauty sleep, not to mention some time to come to terms with her probably brash actions," the fashionista pointed out as she shut her eyes. Her closed eyelids quivered with a tolerating frown upon her face as she thought of all the worst case scenarios to come. They only upside right now was that she could at least dress her ideas up to look very stunning and yet still horrible within her imagination.

The purple alicorn could only nod in sighing agreement as she decided on their next course of action. "I guess that we should go and warn Applejack now... Maybe Pinkie decided to drop there since she wasn't at anypony elses place?" she suggested in an unsure tone. Why did the spectacular pink party animal have to be so very unpredictable?

"What are we going to do about Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy curiously asked.

"I'll take her back home, Rarity is right about her needing some rest." Twilight took the snoring tomcolt in magic and she carefully flew off towards the cloud mansion to drop off its owner. While she was there, the hole in wall was patched up with her magic. Once everything was done, she returned to the awaiting group in a quick teleport. "Let's get going, we shouldn't waste anymore time."

With all in agreement, they left off towards their next destination, the apple family home.

--------------------------

Back at the northernmost part of the Apple family orchard, the final snow boulder had been crafted for the section. The group that consisted of the two farm sisters, the party bringer with a spring in her step, and the gigantic mare felt absolutely ecstatic about finishing up such a staggering chore. It felt almost mind boggling at the short amount of time it took to finish, a mere three and a half hours. It was amazing what team work could accomplish.

"Whew-wee, that's the last one everypony! Let's drop this one off with the others and get us some chow!" Applejack announced cheerfully with a grin, a foreleg waving her stetson in the air.

"Some lunch sounds really good right now!" Applebloom tiredly chirped as she approached her older sister. She had drained a lot of energy trying to keep up with her very energetic shoveling partner.

"Hey, has anypony seen Pinkie?" Nelly asked in confusion, looking around the area. She lost sight of the ever grinning pony when she came to a stop with the final snow boulder.

"I'm right under your nose silly!" Pinkie explained with amusement.

When the giant looked down at the massive sphere of snow, she found grinning head of her missing friend sticking out.

"What in the name of apple nuggets are ya doin' Pinkie?" This honest pony was unable to comprehend the odd action.

Pinkie gave them a funny look. "We don't have enough to make a whole-nother snow pony so I decided to use my head!" she proclaimed with an determined grin.

Nelly burst into a laughter when the image and terrible pun sunk in. A pink dot on two massive white globes. It reminded her of cone of vanilla scooped ice-cream with a single pink sprinkle among the many other colors that would decorate the treat. It reminded her of all the delicious experiments she tested for her mother's parlor, with all the belly aches a filly could ask for. How many years has it been since she had last seen her...

"Helloooo, Equestria to Nelly!" Pinkie's piecing voice called, snapping the giant out of a heavy trance.

"Huh..." Nelly replied as she blinked and shook her head furiously as she wondered why she remembered the past. Maybe making progress had finally allowed a feeling of homesickness to enter her mind since her life had shifted in her favor for once. Perhaps she should try to send her folks a letter later on...

"You alright there, sugar cube? Ya kinda spaced out there when ya stopped laughin' all of a sudden..." Applejack's eyes seemed somewhat worried.

"Er... just thinking about ice cream..." She honestly wanted to tell them everything but now might be a bad time.

"Oh-oh! What flavor is it?!" Pinkie gushed as she pulled herself from grip of the giant snowball.

"Solar Storm Deluxe..." It was her favorite out of all the experiments she ever tasted. Imagine a creamy orange and peach sherbet that was dotted with chunks of blueberries, black cherries, and thunder berries imported from Cloudsdale. It was a smoothly flavorful treat that really gave her a pleasant buzz in her belly with one very frizzy mane to boot.

"Solar Storm Deluxe, where have I heard of that before?" Pinkie pondered as she tapped her chin with a hoof.

"As dandy as ice cream is, ah prefer some nice and warm pie instead... Let's go before Mac get impatient and starts eatin' without us!" Applejack pointed out with a chuckle.

Everypony present happily agreed and the odd group made their way down the long row of apple trees that they currently trotted through. Their first stop was to drop off this final boulder with the others and make the final snow pony from the northern orchard.

A few minutes pass as they exit the front gate of the property. What awaited them was the fifty seven massive snow ponies that were lined up in an army like formation of ten soldiers a row. Pinkie had happily given each of the snow ponies a different kind of detail that ranged from colors to physical quirks, not to mention names. The group wasn't sure if she was kidding but she was planning them a funeral, come winter wrap up.

Following the final row at the front of the formation, they come across a single giant snow ball. Nelly decided to put the one she was carrying on top of the other and proceed to make the head that she suggested. The bouncing pink mare was ecstatic as the giant began to roll the white ball and followed along as it grew bigger and bigger.

When it finally reached the desired size, it was quickly picked up and hauled off to the awaiting body. Once it was placed on top of the others, Pinkie decided to do her thing and began the task of decorating it with an viscous cheshire grin of party hats, a bushy unibrow of party streamers, and eyes made of many, many colorful balloons. The last things she put on him was some burly sideburns that was also made of party streamers and some pony ears made of snow. Only one thing left to do.

"I'll name him Jeffery!" Pinkie announced with excitement in her everlasting bounce.

"Uh Pinkie, why would you name this here fella that? He look more like a Johneigh tuh me..." Applejack nervously commented as she stared at the demented snow monster.

"I don't think it really matters what his name is, as long as he's done..." Nelly sighed with a smiling shake of her head.

"Ah'm with miss Nelly," Applebloom giggled in amusement.

Everypony just silently nodded and they continued on their way.

Minutes later they arrive before the family home and find that Macintosh had been patiently waiting with a dozen pies bundled wrapped in a white cloth that sat next to him on a small wooden sled to his left. He himself was currently drinking a warm mug of cocoa with unicorn shaped marshmallows. Applebloom decided to run up to him and give a hug, one that he returned in kind.

"What are ya waiting out here for, big brother?" The farm filly's tone was more cheerful than curious.

"Ah asked Mac to bring out the finished pies ah set to slow bake 'fore we got started with the shovelin'," Applejack explained with a wave of her hoof.

"Eeyup," Mac confirmed before taking another sip of his warm drink. Everypony else nodded or hummed with understanding.

"Ah can't believe we already got the northern field done! It woulda taken all day to finish even half of what we did if we didn't get any help from Pinkie and miss Nelly!" Applebloom cheered, hoping around her brother with a triumphant smile.

The credited duo happily nodded to each other on their job well done.

"I wonder, how many snow ponies we've made so far?" Nelly mused to herself as she rubbed her chin in thought. She lost track as repetition and friendly chat with the others kept her distracted.

"I counted fifty seven really big snow ponies for the northern clan, Frosty Naught!" Pinkie answered with a giggle-snort, pulling out a small white flag with a blue snow pony embroidered into it. She stood proudly with the symbol of the snow giants as she held her right pink hoof in a determined salute.

Applejack shook her head in chuckling amusement. "Just like bein' a filly again but stuff's much bigger than usual. Oh yeah, ah reckon that ah might need tuh warn Shy before she freaks out from some of the spooky lookin' creations of yours, Pinkie..." They put her at unease already so she could only imagine how the shy mare would react. She turned to her home and looked to her massive helper out of the side of her eye. "We'll be back sugar cube, we're gonna rustle up some grub so we'll be back in a lil' bit. C'mon girls, ah'm uh starvin'!"

With a nod from both of them they followed the hat wearing pony inside, leaving the larger two ponies to wait. Things were quiet for a very short time before Macintosh decided to speak up after taking another sip of his steaming cocoa.

"AJ said that these pies were for you," Mac pointed out, putting a free hoof on the cloth wrapped treats. "That sister of mine figured that ya really liked her last batch so yesterday she prepared a few extra for today."

Nelly gave a delighted hum and carefully picked the bundle up with her right foreleg. Opening up the cloth, she took four pies with a free hoof and tossed them into her mouth in a manner that was similar to eating popcorn. Big Mac watched her in amusement as she happily melted into bliss when she began savoring the fresh out of the oven treats. She honestly didn't care how silly she looked right now as the decadent pies were a pleasure to her taste buds. A couple more mouthfuls of delicious heaven later and she can't help but let out a content and dreamy sigh. "Hwuaaaah... tasty..."

"Glad ya think so, sugar cube!" Applejack happily chuckled as she returned with her sister and her oh so bubbly friend. She was seemed to be rolling a steaming wooden barrel but it was unclear as to it contained. When she came to a stop before her, she stood the barrel up and popped a large wooden cork from it with a plume of steam. "This here is for you, Nelly."

"Thanks!" Nelly chirped as she took hold of the barrel. She lifted it up to her mouth and took a careful sip. From the cinnamon and sweet apples she could taste, she figured that it was in fact hot apple cider. Deciding to quickly finish, she chugged the warm beverage down with a strange heat that quickly made its way to her core. It wasn't nearly as good as the pies in terms of taste but it was still quite pleasant to drink. "Oh, this is some very good cider!"

"Eeyup," Mac drawled with a small grin.

"Mac does a dang good job when makin' his special batch of hard cider!" Applejack complimented with a swing of a foreleg.

The giants ears perked up and she went wide eyed as she began to feel the extremely dizzy, her thoughts getting cloudy. "Hardsh schider? Oh... thish ish... not goodsh... heh heh heh..." she slurred as a drunken blush consumed her face. She began to slowly teeter as tried and failed to keep focus, to no avail.

"Uh... Mac, how strong did ya make this batch?" The farm mare watched as the possibly dangerously drunk pony had begun to stand shakily.

"Ah... uh... well, ya see..." Mac nervously stammered as he backed away from his shocked sister.

"Hmmm... this little barrel says... one-hundred proof! Oooooh, she's gonna have one doozy of a hangover!" Pinkie pointed out as she read the black printed information.

"Fweeeeh? Buh umsh uh realsh lightsh weightch!" In a moment of drunken panic, she looked around in a dizzy haze as she tried to find a safer area to be. It was obvious to her that she was a danger to anything that she could step on. Her addled mind slowly remembered about the open fields and she unsteadily turned to the orchards front gate before slowly walking to it.

Applebloom went up to her older sister with worry on her face. "Is she going to okay?" she questioned as she watched the poor pony stumble her way towards the orchards exit.

Applejack blinked and shook her head. "Better make sure she's gonna be alright or somepony might get stepped on, c'mon Pinkie!" she announced with a frown.

"Yes ma'am!" Pinkie declared with a salute. With a smiling giggle they went after their massive friend in a hurry.

"Next time ah'm gonna make sure to keep the hard stuff from gettin' to certain ponies, if AJ don't kill me first..." Mac muttered as he watched them go with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

The sound of an aged yet spirited laugh caught the remaining siblings attention. Turning towards the source, they find none other than Granny Smith with a amused smile on her wrinkled face. From her sitting position, she seemed to have been quietly watching things play out from the front door. Her red eyes had a cheeky glint that made Macintosh a bit nervous.

"Heeheeee... she's gone an' gave a lightweight some real heavy stuff there soneigh! Ah remember when Braeburn did the same with one of them batpony mares, poor colt still has nightmares after leavin' the hospital!" Her teasing tone was making the red stallion feel really uncomfortable so she decided to not keep up her teasing."Don't you be hard on yourself, Mac. This one ain't your fault, your sister just didn't pay attention this time!"

"What did the batpony do to cousin Braeburn?" Applebloom curiously asked with an innocent tilt of her head.

Big Macintosh looked to his sister with a straight face. "Ah don't think ya want to know, ah know that ah sure don't..." He turned to the farm homes front door and decided to go inside, he wanted more cocoa right now.

Granny Smith chuckled and she followed after him at a slow pace.

"Ah don't get it... Why is everypony actin' so weird?" Applebloom sighed as she followed after them with only confusion. The door slammed shut behind her as she went inside and causing some snow to fall off the roof.

--------------------------

Twilight and her company were currently located on the road outside town. They were only a couple minutes away from their destination when a certain assistant had spotted some huge moving to their right, the young alicorn had taken notice of him freezing up and stopped with the group.

"Is something wrong, Spike?" Twilight curiously inquired after slightly turning her head to look at him.

The baby dragon blinked. "Uh Twi, is that what I think that is?" he muttered, pointing a shaky claw towards the moving object.

"I do believe that we've found our pony, though she does look a bit off..." Rarity commented as she watch the massive equine sway in her step.

"A-are y-y-you okay, Twilight?" Fluttershy whimpered as her friends expression turned into a frantic hysteria. She decided to hide behind the comfort of Rarity should things get out of hoof.

"H-how? It doesn't a-add up... That can't b-be a pony... can it?" Twilight felt like several magical laws had been broken that would prevent such a thing from existing. She had to meet this mare and get some answers so she can set up a hypotheses. She took off galloping towards her target as her assistant held on for dear life.

"Woah, what's going on!" Spike yelped as he clung to his determined mount. Before he could regain his senses, her horn built up magic and they disappeared in a flash of magic and then reappeared behind the moving giant.

"Hehehe... shfeel fuzzy... show hotsh..." Nelly giggled as she kept on her unsteady course.

"Oh horse apples, ah think she's startin' tuh go loo- Twilight!?" Applejack called as she spotted her friend tailing the moving mass of mare.

"Ooh, Twilight came to play too?!" Pinkie chirped as she followed the farm pony's pace.

"Uh oh, Twi has that look again..." AJ muttered with wide eyes. "Pinkie, ah need ya to stop Twi while ah make sure that Nelly stays on course!" she commanded before speeding up to her drunk companions side.

"Okie dokie!" Pinkie giggled as she speed up to blur status, then launching into the air like a cannonball. When she reach the peak of her jump, she came down upon her unsuspecting prey with a maniacal cackle. "PONY PILE!"

"Oh no!" Spike yelled before leaping off the librarian princess in a hurry. He hit the snow rolling and ended up in a snow ball. He watched as the pink menace hit the book worm like a sack of potatoes, causing them both to also roll into large snowball.

"Good goin' Pinkie!" Applejack cheered as she kept up with her drunken friend.

All of a sudden Nelly decided to finally come to a stop, forcing the apple pony to skid to a halt. This was because she finally arrived to the open snow fields where nopony could get hurt and there was nothing to step on and not a single building get destroyed by accident. She decided to fall to her rump and lay down on her side so she could wait off the alcohol, she was not looking forward to the hangover that past experience taught her. What kind of father willingly gives his filly some Trottingham Onslaught?

"You doin' alright, sugar cube? Ah'm really sorry about givin' ya the hard stuff, ah shoulda read the darn label..." AJ sadly spoke up as she walk around to be face to face with the very unsober mare.

"Ish okays, nots the firsht times shtoo haffens, jush needsh tuhsh shtay ins splaysh..." Nelly slurred with a odd giggling smile. Everything was wobbling when she looked at the concerned cowpony out of the corner of her lidded big eyes.

"Abort mission, abort mission! Twilights cheating with her magic!" Pinkie cried out as she was suspended in the air in a magenta colored glow. It seemed that the miffed princess was carrying her with her magic.

"Applejack, why did Pinkie attack me!?" Twi yelled with splayed wings as they approached. She was not happy at all, that's for sure.

"Shpinkie Shpie?" Nelly dizzily raised her head and tried to look at the incoming ponies. "Greetingsh mish unicorsh, nysh tuh meets'chu..." she greeted before letting her head fall back to the ground with a loud thump.

The alicorn stopped in place with a gasp when the greeting hit her. "Unicorn?"

"Yesh... whatsh elsh coulds yoush beesh, mish?" The giant gave another odd giggle.

"What do you mean a unicorn, I thought she was an alicorn silly!" Pinkie pointed out as she floated against her will. She had a strange idea and tried to lick the magical glow. This caused the owner of said magic to shiver in shock and drop the pink pony like a stone with a blush. "Taste like grape wine!" Pinkie announced with a thoughtful hum.

Trying to keep her composure she walked over to the magic tasting offender and bopped her on the head with a scowl. Turning back to the giant, she cleared her throat and smiled. "Hello, my name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, its nice to meet you... Nelly?"

"Nysh shtoo meets yoush Shtwilightch..." She let out a happy sigh.

"HEEHEEYEAHAHA! You sure are one wasted pony!" The bubbly mare couldn't herself anymore so she rolled over laughing as she began kicking her legs into the air. "Shtwilightch! HEEHAHAHA!"

"Your... inebriated?" Twilight asked with a cocked brow but then she shook her head. "No, what I want to know is why you called me a unicorn. I know that I used to be but I became an alicorn a long while ago." To demonstrate, she took to the air and hovered over the massive equine.

"Ooooh howsh oddsh, yoush cans floasht wish no wingsh!" It sure got this happy drunk real wide eyed.

"Ya don't see her wings do you?" Applejack asked with a curious expression.

"Eenopes..." She shook her head with a world shifting result and let out a blinking snort that blasted away some snow.

Twilight landed on the ground again with disappointment as she began to think but was quickly interrupted by the call of her other friends arriving to the scene. Among them was a panting assistant who wanted some answers, and maybe some air.

"What happened, Twilight? You just ran after the big pony when I pointed her out!" Spike gasped before taking in a deep breath.

Applejack decided to answer and began to explain. "Twi got a bit too excited and got a bit too carried away, again. Why don't ya calmly explain to us what's got your tail in a bunch, sugar cube."

"I-if thats okay..." Fluttershy meekly piped up from behind Rarity who was currently analyzing the drunken mare. A deranged alicorn is quite the horror to the butter yellow animal lover, especially one she knows quite well.

"Eheheheh.... well, not to be insulting to Nelly but I can't understand how an earth pony could possibly grow to such a ridiculously gargantuan size! Of all the books that I've ever gone through, not a single one mentions anything about this happening! How in the wide, wide land of Equestria does somepony like you exist?! An earth pony for crying out loud!" Twilight was barely teetering with her sanity so she turned to the breathing exercise that her sister in law taught her. Breath in with some air and exhale her worries with a foreleg to push it all out, just rinse and repeat.

"Not that I want to rudely pry dear but I am also quite curious about how you got so... empowered?" Rarity really hoped that she wasn't coming off rude.

There was only silence for a long minute as Nelly pulled together her muddled thoughts but couldn't pull her it together. She decided to go with the short version she was told the first time she learned about her family history. She sat up on her rump and took a good look at her present company. She found that she had a couple new faces among the group. One gaping little dragon that she guessed was still a baby and Fluttershy who looked right as rain, if a little shy at the moment. "Shragon ins mysh, shamily treesh..."

Everypony slowly took in the slurred sentence save for the confused young dragon who couldn't even understand what was being said in the first place. When the words finally sunk in, every mare save the ever grinning Pinkie had gone completely slack jawed from shock.

"Uh guys, why is everyone acting so strange?" Spike asked with a cocked brow.

The winged librarian was the first to recover. "Spike, do you think that you could please do me a tiny favor and retrieve some fresh quills and parchment from the library?" Twilight pleaded in a hurry.

"Well... alright, do you need it right away?" He was getting suspicious but decided not to ask anything for the moment.

"No, just take your time for now and I'll see you soon! Oh, could you also find Sweetie Belle, she kinda took off for some emergency before we got here..." She nudged her assistant towards town and he was now on his way.

"Right... why is everypony acting weird?" Spike mumbled as he waddled through the snow at a slow pace. With a shrug, he began to whistle a casual winter song as he went on with his sudden task.

Once she was sure that he was out of hearing range, Twilight turned to Nelly with a determined expression as she summoned forth a quill and parchment with her magic. "So let me get this straight, you said that you have a dragon in your family tree? At what point does this dragon come into your family?" she questioned as she scribbled something down with a few scratch noises.

"She ish mysh clansh broods shmother," she explained with difficulty.

"Clans brood mother... the origin of your family?" Twilight stopped scratching.

"Shyup..." A yawn escaped Nelly, this was starting to become a boring interview or maybe it was the alcohol.

"How old is your clan and why hasn't it been noticed by anypony before?"

"Threesh thousandsh yearsh olds. Itsh ish hards shtoo findsh ush 'cause I hash noes cousinsh..." She let out a depressed sigh at this. Everypony in her family took the notion of keeping track of their family quite seriously due to this.

"Sweet Celestia, that's before even Discords reign!" Twilight squeaked with wide eyes as she wrote that down.

"Woah, hang on there for a second! What did ya mean by no cousins?" Applejack spoke with a hint of concern.

Nelly didn't answer this time and just looked away with flat ears.

"I think that she meant that every generation is always a single child, that would explain quite a lot..." Twilight pointed out with realization.

"Wowee... talk about a teeny tiny family reunion," Pinkie sadly commented with a forced smile.

The sound of sniffling had gotten everyone's attention. When they turned to the source, they found Fluttershy shedding tears as she gave a sympathetic look.

Rarity decided to comfort her friend with a warm hug. "What's wrong, Fluttershy dear?" she cooed softly.

"Sh-she just w-wanted some fr-friends... so sh-she wouldn't b-be lonely..." She gently push away the white unicorn and she flew up to Nelly who was listening with a sad expression on her face. She then gave the poor mare a hug on her cheek and gently stroked it. "You poor thing, I'll be your friend..."

Applejack took her shy friends words to heart and walked up to her before hugging a foreleg. "Ah finally get why you were shedin' tears yesterday, sugar cube..."

Nelly felt gallons of tears pour from her shimmering eyes as a realization hit her like a megaton of bricks. They understand her pain and what she truly desires in her life, the joy of friendship. It felt almost unreal to her yet here it was in all its warm glory. Even though she didn't know how long it would last, she would treasure it as long as possible.

"Oooh? Tis such a sweet sight, showing thy sympathy for such a forsaken monster?" came a dark and shadowy echo.

Everypony gasped in shock and then looked around for the source of the very familiar, very unwelcome voice.

"Show yourself Sombra!" Twilight demanded with authority.

"Ye honor me young alicorn, ye actually remember thy old foe! Very well then you pesky whelp..." Sombra vilely muttered from a unknown location.

All of a sudden he appeared in a massive explosion of shadowy smoke erupted before them but it seemed that he wasn't alone.

"Rainbow Dash! Spike!" Rarity shrieked in wide eyed shock.

"Oh my goodness!" Fluttershy whimpered, taking refuge behind the wall that was a massive fuzzy brown ear of Nelly.

They were both bound in restraining shackles of the blackest crystal imaginable with muzzles bound shut by black cloth. Their eyes were full of shock as they struggled to get free. A heavy feeling of seriousness filled everypony but gigantic equine who was just confused and somewhat depressed from the direct insult.

"Let them go Sombra!" Twilight demanded with a stomp of her hoof and a scowl on her face.

The dark king only laughed as he walked up to Spike and picked him up in his aura of magical levitation. The baby dragon gulped as he came faced to face with the evil stallion. "Tell me you foals, do thou know what disturbs a dragoness to her very core? What she would fear more than anything?" he asked as his gaze turned skyward for a moment. He looked back at group of mares with a psychotic expression as he took cloth from the baby dragons mouth.

"H-help!" Spike yelled out with a desperate expression.

*Smack*

"Ack!" The assistant cried out in pain.

“Oh, did that hurt?” Sombra casually teased with a smug look.

*Thump-thump thump-thump thump-thump*

Nelly felt something straining to break free from her her mind as she felt the hackles on her neck raise up...

"Cry for thy precious ponies weakling..." Sombra whispered viciously, with a tone of hate that he aimed at the helpless dragon.

*Twack*

"Spike!" the girls all screamed in shock before they all charged at the dark tyrant in a fit of desperate rage. She leapt at him with her horn and eyes aglow with magic and shot a beam of energy. Much to their complete frustration, he had disappeared in a plume of smoke with his captives and reappeared with a taunting chuckle. He quickly turned to his desperately struggling victim with a sick grin and swung at him with a steel shod hoof.

*Crack*

"P-please, stop hurting me!" Tears began to pour from his eyes as he felt his scaly right cheek pulse with pain, his mind filled with fear.

"Let him go you horrible brute!" Rarity cried with tears in her eyes. She fired a blast of magic at her foe.

He laughed at her futile attempts and decided to tossed Rainbow Dash at her. The two mares let out a grunt as they impacted one another and they rolled across the snow before stopping with a limp slide.

The giant subconsciously stood up shakily as her mind raced to figure out a way to help the poor little dragon. She didn't understand why this stallion was being so cruel to a baby of all things.

"Oh wonderful, I finally have that monsters attention." Sombra slammed the baby dragon into the ground and stomped onto his tail with a sickening crunch.

"GRAAAAAAAHHHH!" Spike sobbed loudly as he tried to wriggle from the violent creature with all he had.

"Silence you brat!" Sombra cackled madly as he raised both his forelegs into the air, preparing to crush his head.

*THUMP-BOOM!*

The area shook as Nelly jumped high into the air with a mighty heave of her leg strength, causing a pressure wave to follow in her wake and then came down upon the evil tyrant with a molten glow and tearful green serpent eyes that demanded retribution upon him. Sombra went wide eyed and quickly teleported in a veil of smoke that instantaneously vanished the moment a massive molten foreleg smashed the very ground in an explosion that shook the very land with everypony who walked on it. When the dark stallion reappeared at a much safer distance, he looked skyward for a moment and grinned ferociously.

Spike noticed this odd act and tearfully followed where he was looking until he found something that made no sense to him.

"Dra-dragon..." he whimpered in pain.

"You've served your purpose, runt..." Sombra muttered as he looked back at his victim with a piercing glare.

Before the baby dragon knew what was happening, he was tossed away like a rag doll with a force of black and green magic. As he braced for the inevitable impact with the ground, he felt something warm and soft catch him before a loud thump made him bounce onto his face. Luckily for him it was still a pleasant landing, though he was still in a lot of pain.

He tried to fall into unconsciousness to escape his suffering but a something odd sensation began to caress his tail gently. Opening his eye he found the entranced expression a tearful eyed giant licking his tail with a glowing tongue that radiated a strange warmth. Despite how odd and disturbing the act was to him, he found that his pain was slowly dissipating as she went on. He felt that it was easier to go with it and wait till it was all over. Besides, it felt oddly natural if he ignored the fact that a giant pony was doing this to him. Not that it would be that easy to do.

As Nelly licked his wounds on unknown instinct, the others were currently freeing Rainbow Dash from her shackles. They were met by only failure until Rarity decided to magically project a wave of sound resonation that shattered the crystal in an instant freeing the sporty pegasus. To their shock they found her in tears and found that she kept blaming herself about Spike getting hurt like that when she could've done something. Fluttershy tried her best to comfort her friend and quickly found that she desperately needed a hug, and a good cry.

Twilight and Pinkie were currently running towards the radiating warmth that seemed to radiate from the bright orange and red light, Rarity shakily walked after them. The bookworm was trying to piece together every bit of dragon lore she ever learned as she prayed to her mentor for her assistants safety and well being. It was hard to restrain her urge to slap her somehow peppy and grinning friend as they galloped to the giant, this was not a good time to smile!

It didn't take them long to reach Nelly. The librarian slowed her pace at the very strange scene before her. What in Equestria was she doing to her assistant, was the first thing she thought. The next thing that went through her head was why he was letting her do it, until she saw what was being licked by a glowing tongue. She wasted no time  pulling out a quill and parchment to scribble down a quick note to look into later.

Pinkie decided to put on a pair of black sun glasses before she hopped up in front of the busy giant pony with a teasing smirk. She noticed that Spike had a frowning yet rather relaxed expression that stared off into the sky and came to the realization that something seemed to be on his mind. "Are you okay Spikey? The mega-jerky the jerkison really laid out the owies on you..." she spoke up with concern.

"Wha- oh hey Pinkie..." He then realized about his current situation. "Oh uh- th-this isn't w-what it looks like!" he stuttered as he tried to get up. When he stood up, he found that his tail wasn't in pain anymore but before he could say anything he found himself  getting the same treatment on his swollen cheeks. His face lit up in an embarrassed glow of red as Pinkie flopped over laughing like a- well herself.

"Calm down Casanova, I think you're getting your wounds licked and I do mean in the literal sense. I think she's doing this by instinct..." Twilight spoke up as she sat next to her hysterical friend.

"I thought she was giving Spike a bath like what Opal does to herself!" Pinkie pointed out with a giggle.

"Do ponies... usually do this... out of instinct?" Spike asked in between the licks he endured.

"Only to newborns but I don't thi-" Twilight stopped talking when she noticed that the glowing had begun to fade. Looking up, she found that the giant mare seemed a bit confused and a bit out of it.

"Ohhhhhhh.... what, just happend? My heads pounding..." Nelly groaned with a quick shake of her head. She looked down when she felt something tug on a fetlock and found a baby dragon looking up at her. She then felt another tug and found that Pinkie was looking up at her with a cheerful grin on her face. "I didn't eat something strange again, did I?"

"Nopey dopey! You kinda freaked out and tried to destroy an evil pony who hates us just so you could save Spike who you also gave a toun-" Pinkie was cut off by Twilight's hoof before she caused some damage to her assistants reputation and scare the giant herself away.

"You saved my assistant Spike so thank you very, very much!" Twilight sheepishly blurted out with a half forced grin. She honestly was relieved that he was okay and out of harms way but she mow had a bubbling rage in her heart that wanted Sombra's blood.

Nelly felt another tug and her attention turned back to the baby dragon.

"Uh... thanks for helping me from that guy, I thought I was gonna kick the bucket there..." Spike was still embarrassed from earlier and couldn't look her in the her over sized eyes.

"Well... no problem I guess, I just hope that everypony else is okay..." She decided to set Spike down on the ground near Twilight who then took her assistant in a tearful hug.

"Oh Spike, why did he do that to you?" Twilight sobbed as she held onto him protectively.

"Wait Twi, I remember something important from earlier..." Spike announced with an awkward tone.

"Oh no, did I forget to have my afternoon cupcake?!" Pinkie gasped with hooves on her cheeks and pin pricked eyes.

"Uh... nevermind that Pinkie, I think that he's up to something!" Spike explained, scratching his scaly chin in thought.

"What do you mean, Spike?" He now had Twilights full attention.

"He kept looking up at the sky at something and it turned out to be a dragon!" He pointed skyward and a small dot could be seen flying off into the distance.

"What would a dragon be doing out here, didn't they all leave during the great dragon migration? Hmmm... I think you're on to something Spike but we don't know why Sombra would risk a direct attack so close to Canterlot..." Twilight wracked her brain for ideas.

"Spike, girls!" Fluttershy cried out as she and the others arrived to the scene in a frantic skid through the snow that turned the party mare into a giggling snow pony.

A white and dark lavender blur flew at the unsuspecting young dragon and knocked him over to the ground. When he opened his dizzy eyes, he found Rarity hugging him tightly as she bawled her eyes out with so many apologies that his head began to spin. He tried to calm her down with a hug but it only made it worse as she just got louder.

Rainbow Dash stepped in and had to slap some sense into the fashionista before she realized that he was fine now. The chromatic pegasus herself was extremely relieved that he was okay now, though she didn't want to show it for the sake of her awesome image. Sadly she couldn't take back her earlier emotional outburst.

Fluttershy gave Spike sever check overs but found that he seemed to be in one solid piece and so she let out a relieved sigh.

Applejack decided that she needed some answers so she walked up to her massive friend and sat next to Twilight. "Somepony wanna explain how Spike went from beaten like a apple tree to fine an' dandy?" she demanded with a cocked brow.

"I'll tell you later, for now I have to figure out what Sombra's trying to pull," Twilight explained as she closed her eyes to think.

The farm mare looked to the giant. "Ya doin' alright, sugar cube? I'm surprised at how sober ya got after what just happened, must be a perk with bein' part dragon an' all," she whispered so a certain baby dragon didn't hear.

"Wait, that's it! I think I know what he's planning and I believe that it involves Nelly!" Twilight loudly announced with a determined smile.

"Me, why me? I didn't step on his puppy did I?!" Nelly squeaked in horror, eyes really wide.

"Nopey dope, just his ice-dragon thingy!" Pinkie chirped with a giggle.

"Right, that thing..." Nelly muttered with a face hoof.

"Okay so he wants to use you to do us in, how's he gonna do that?" Applejack questioned, scratching the side of her noggin with a hoof.

"I think it has something to do with that dragon Spike saw earlier... I suggest that we get to Canterlot to find out if the princesses know any dragon lore." A thought popped into the book smart princess. "Nelly, do you by chance know what kind of dragon your ancestor was? It may make things easier to figure out," she whispered with hopes that her assistant wouldn't hear.

Nelly shook her head. "All that I know is her name, it's Vurashna..." she explained with a scratch to her cheek and a furrowed brow. She tried to remember what the skeleton looked like but it was too dark to tell at the time.

"Guess that's all we got tuh go on for now..." Applejack sighed as she adjusted her hat.

Twilight hummed and summoned a quill with some parchment to scribble down a quick letter before tying it with a red stamp. "Spike, if you please?"

He nodded and took the note in a claw. Taking a quick breath, he exhaled a gout of magical green flame and the letter was off to its destination in Canterlot. "Alright, should we start pac- URRP!" A letter of reply was burped out and was immediately taken by the alicorn librarian.

"Yes, we should start packing, Spike." Twilight sheepishly looked to the massive oddity and asked "Not to be rude, buuuut...  do you have anything that you want to take along to Canterlot?"

Pinkie nudged Dash and whispered something with a cheeky smirk. Dash turned a new shade of red before groaning and walking somewhere else.

Nelly looked at the princess with only confusion that made her feel very awkward.

"I do believe that you have been invited to go with us, seeing as you're involved in this fiasco. Do you have a home in the forest, Twilight might be over thinking about her manners and is trying to not offend you," Rarity explained with Fluttershy quietly nodding in agreement.

Nelly smiled with a giggle. "I live in a grove and sleep under the stars, they shine their brightest during winter by the way. Oh, I only own what I carry on me since trying to keep normal sized things would be a massive hassle, frankly speaking."

"Hehehe... right then..." Twilight tittered in embarrassment. Her expression turned serious once more as she said "Let's meet at the train station in twenty minutes and stay in groups of two alright. We don't know what Sombra might pull next..."

Dash grabbed Fluttershy and took off towards the cottage in a squealing blur of various colors while Twilight, Spike, and Rarity took off towards town at a gallop. For some reason Pinkie decided to stay and look at Nelly with a pleading smile.

"Uh Pinkie, aren't you gonna go get packin'?" Applejack asked with a confused expression.

"Pony ride?" Nelly asked in eye rolling amusement.

"Woohoo!" Pinkie took off in an explosion of confetti and towards town in a hurry.

"Uhhh..." Applejack was plain out unsure how to take those words and it showed.

"She wants to ride on my noggin, again..." Nelly explained with a deadpan.

"Alright, makes as much sense as anything ah guess," AJ agreed with a shrug. "Let's get goin' then, time's a wastin'!" The farm mare let out a well known cry of the cow pony and took off towards her home with a determined smirk.

--------------------------

The twenty minutes came and passed. Twilight was becoming very nervous that her other friends were a few minutes late. Rarity who arrived on time was patting her friends back while Spike was holding her hoof. They also did this so the nervous wreck wouldn't dig a trench with her pacing. The ticket master made it clear that she would be paying for vandalism, princess or not.

The first to show up was none other than the two pegasi of their group, Dash and Fluttershy. They both had a suitcase in their mouths of simple blue and orange. Fluttershy seemed to a rather determined expression on her face, it was unusual by normal standards.

Next up was the giant and cow pony. Their arrival caused ponies to gape up in shock or run into their homes to watch from their windows. Nelly tried to smile nicely but it only made them hide when they saw her canines. Fluttershy didn't like where this was going so she decided to do something unexpected. She flew up to the surprised giant and hugged her right cheek.

The towns ponies were taken aback by the kind action and many began to look at the situation at hoof. Yes, they had a possibly dangerous... mare standing in plain sight but she wasn't doing anything wrong. It also helped that the Elements of Harmony seemed to unfazed. Well, except the crazed looking alicorn who was more an everyday danger.

With a decision made, many smiled or gave a hoof wave before continuing with their days.

"Hey, anypony seen Pinkie? I figure that she'd be here already," Rainbow Dash pointed out after spitting out her suit case.

"I saw her in the mirror this morning and she looked like she needed coffee!" Pinkie chirped as she arrived with three familiar fillies, all with a suitcase.

"Oh horse apple, we forgot about the crusaders!" Applejack yelped with a painful sounding facehoof.

"Were so sorry girls, with all thats been happening lately we completely forgot about you! With that monster running loose, I couldn't imagine what tragedy we would suffer..." Rarity expressed with a shaky tone.

"Thanks Pinkie, we really owe you one sugar cube..." AJ sighed before walking over to hug her pink ally.

"What's goin' on sis?" Applebloom curiously asked with tilt of her head.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Scootaloo piped up with a cocked brow.

"I'm just confused as them..." Sweetie pointed out with shrug.

"Sombra came back for revenge and beat me up. We're going to Canterlot to find out how he's going to use a dragon and Nelly to possibly kill us all," Spike explained with a cross armed scowl as he looked skyward.

The crusaders looked at him for a minute with squints before turning to confusion.

"You don't look hurt, is that a dragon thing?" Scootaloo was just stumped.

"You don't want to know..." Twilight pointed out as she rubbed her temple.

The sound of the trains whistle went off with a bellow to announce that it was ready to depart to the capital city.

"Princess Celestia had paid for our tickets already so let's get going everypony," Twilight cheerfully announced with a grin.

With the preparations set, everypony save Nelly and Pinkie boarded the train and it pulled away from the station at a building speed.  The giant quickly picked up the giggling mare with three balloon on her flank and set her on her head.

"To Canterlot my trusty steed, there are donuts to be slain and many parties to be had!" Pinkie boldly declared with a hoof pointing forward.

"Don't make me drop you, general!" Nelly chuckled with a roll of her eyes and legs being stretched.

"Aww... can we just go with it, please?" Pinkie begged with puppy dog whines.

"Onwards!" The massive mare took off at a gallop that quickly caught up to caught up to the train. She slowed her speed to a canter when she was right next to the train.

The giggling mare waved to her watching friends that had their heads poking out of the windows in curiosity.

"Pony ride... definitely Pinkie being Pinkie," AJ chuckled before popping her head inside and closing her eyes with her stetson on her face. A little shuteye never hurt anypony and it helped with the stress of dealing with these crazy ponies. Simple is always a great option when adventure is ahoof.

--------------------------

Meanwhile...

Inside the supply closet of Golden Oaks, Angel bunny had just squeezed his way out of a pile of cat and dog who each had a strange smile on their sleeping faces. He could only shiver as the memories of what they put him through. His only solace was that it was all over with and that he was still alive. Giving a sigh, he pushed opened the closets door and limped away with what little dignity he had left in him. As he closed the door, Winona peeked open an eye and smirked at her victory…