Chapters My Little Hoof-Blood #1: The Shattered Armor
Characters and Descriptions
Half-Bloods
Spectra Shock - sky blue Pegasus with pink, yellow, and blue hair; mare
Trainer: Silver Lane - light gray Alicorn with silvery hair that flows like Luna's; mare
Gods/Goddesses (all Alicorns)
Celestia: Goddess of the sun and heavens. ----------------
Titans (ponies are alicorns):
Chrysalis: Titan of the Changelings, imitation, and changes.
My Little Hoof-Blood #1: The Shattered Armor
I flapped my wings and soared through the sky, then coasted down to my friends Iron Blade and Cupcake Frosting, who were trotting along the streets of Manehattan. The skies were too busy with Pegasus traffic, and flying low to the ground was better if you wanted to get along quickly.
"Hey there, Spectra," Iron Blade said, "What're you planning to do this summer?"
"I don't know, camp, maybe?" I replied.
All of us were almost grown mares and stallions, but we still didn't have their cutie marks. We seemed to have tried every thing possible for our cutie marks, but still nothing on our flanks. And we were too far away from Ponyville to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Yes, we could have just found Babs Seed, but we didn't know where she was.
But summer was approaching, and school was about to be released. Tomorrow was going to be the last day, and our class is going on a field trip to the Crystal Empire. I couldn't wait to see all the cool sights there!
"Well, I'd better get some sleep before the field trip tomorrow," I said to Iron and Cupcake, "I'll see you tomorrow!"
"You too, Spectra!" Cupcake called as I flew away to my cloud house above Manehattan.
I opened the door and stepped inside. I placed my saddle bag on the floor, next to my desk. Then I sat on my cloud bed and thought about my life - and what weird things happened.
My father was a Pegasus pony who lives in Fillydelphia right now. But I never knew my mother. My father only said that she got lost somewhere in the Crystal Mountains, but she wasn't dead. Not yet, at least. My stepmother was kind enough - she was also a Pegasus pony.
I hoped that I wouldn't be kicked out of my school again. But I doubted myself, since I'd mess up all the time, even when I'm not expecting it. Lying on my cloud bed, I fell asleep with these thoughts swirling through my mind.
* * *
I woke up and ate an apple fritter for breakfast, then strapped on my saddle bag and flew to school. I spotted Iron trotting along down below. Cupcake was bouncing along the sidewalk by that intersection.
I coasted down besides Iron and said, "Hi, Iron!"
Iron stopped trotting. "Hi, Spectra," he said, "Are you excited for the field trip today?"
"I'm not excited, I'm nervoucited!" came a shriek from Cupcake. Iron and I turned to look at her. Her fluffy mane was swinging back and forth as she hopped along the sidewalk.
I rolled my eyes. "Cupcake, calm down. We're just going to the Crystal Empire."
Our teacher told the class to meet at the Friendship Express station. Sure enough, when we reached there, the rest of the class was waiting with our teacher, Silver Lane.
"There you are, Spectra, Iron, and Cupcake! Come on, class, we can now go to the Crystal Empire!" Silver Lane said.
The class cheered, and we filed into the Friendship Express. Cupcake, Iron, and I sat next to each other as the train driver called, "All aboard!" and the train took off.
On the way to the Crystal Empire, I thought that something or somepony was watching me. And it wasn't Iron or Cupcake, or anypony that had any crush on me. No, this was somepony or something evil, vicious, and -
Suddenly, the filly on the seat in front of her screamed. "Eeek! Monster! Help!!!"
A hissing noise filled the car of the train, and the rest of the class screamed and backed against one corner of it. The hissing grew louder as I watched in terror as the first row of fillies and colts darkened in color until they were completely black, their manes vanishing. The Pegasi grew webbed wings, the unicorns' horns grew sharp and black, and the earth ponies grew those as well. They turned around and bared their fangs, and with horror, Iron, Cupcake, and I realized that these ponies were Changelings.
My Little Hoof-Blood #1: The Shattered Armor
I was frozen in fear. What were Changelings doing on the Friendship Express train? They were supposed to be in the desert right now, after Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor drove them out. How did they escape and come back?
All of the ponies were scrunched up against one corner of the train car. The Changelings were advancing on them. We were defenseless. I wished that I had a sword with me to fight the Changelings off, but I had none.
Suddenly, there was a clink! I looked down to see a small coin of some sort with a picture of a shield with a six-pointed star on it. I flipped it, and in midair the coin turned into a gleaming iron sword.
Well, I thought, Now I really do have a sword to fight with! I slashed at the Changelings, evaporating them into dust.
Spectra and Cupcake had coins as well, except that Spectra's coin had a rainbow lightning bolt on it, and Cupcake's had three party balloons on it. But they both turned into swords.
The three of us fought the Changelings with such strength that we didn't know what's going on. My instincts just told me - swing, slash, dodge, jump, deflect, stab.
The Changelings were evaporating into dust very quickly. Soon, there was only a pile of monster dust all over the train car. The other students were still hiding underneath the train seats and crouched in the corners. Silver Lane was standing in the center of the train car. I didn't get why she wasn't cowering like the other students. I pressed the shield logo on my sword and it turned back into a coin.
Cupcake was going crazy. "What was that? By Celestia's mane, what was that? Aaaaaaaah!" Cupcake started to bounce around, scared.
Nopony spoke a word as the train stopped at the station by the Crystal Empire. Silver trotted out, followed by the class. "Come on, class! We're here!" The students seemed to forget about the Changeling attack as they gasped in wonder at the giant crystal tower. Underneath the tower was a glowing heart-shaped crystal that the crystal ponies called "The Crystal Heart".
"Come on in, Princess Cadence is expecting us," Silver said, trotting into the castle.
Spectra's eyes widened. "Omigosh, we're going to see the princess!" she squealed and zipped around. I sighed.
"Calm yourself, Spectra," I said, walking into the castle.
All three of us gasped. We were in a giant dome-roofed room with little crystals sprouting up everywhere. The support pillars were made out of crystals, the furniture... everything.
Silver Lane nodded to all of us. "Up this way, class," she said, trotting up a staircase. We followed her up into the castle until we reached a set of wooden doors with iron handles. A unicorn royal guard walked up to them and used his unicorn magic to pull open the doors.
I didn't know what the throne room looked like, and what I saw was amazing . At the back of the room were a few stairs that led to a giant crystal throne. On the throne was a pink Alicorn with purple wing tips, a purple, yellow, and pink curly mane and tail, purple eyes, a little golden crown, and a cutie mark of the Crystal Heart surrounded by golden vines.
But the weird thing was that Prince Shining Armor wasn't here. He's usually with Princess Cadence, since the two were husband and wife. Where could he be?
Silver Lane bowed. "Princess Cadence," she said. We all followed her example.
Princess Cadence laughed. "There's no need for that," she said, "You may rise." All of us rose.
One of our classmates, Rose Blossom, spoke up. "So you're the crystal princess?" she asked in amazement.
Cadence smiled. "Yes, dear, that's right," she said, "And I've got many tales to tell you about the history of the Crystal Empire."
So all the students gathered around Princess Cadence and listened to her stories. Cupcake, Spectra and I sat at the back, talking about the "incident" at the Friendship Express.
"How did the Changelings end up there?" I whispered, "And where did we get these coin-swords?" I pulled mine out.
Spectra shrugged. "I have no idea," she whispered back, "And did you guys realize that Prince Shining Armor is missing?"
Cupcake nodded. "Yeah, I wonder where he went," she looked around. "Doesn't seem like he's hiding somewhere. Where could he be?"
I shook my head. "How am I supposed to know? All we know that he's not here."
Suddenly, I heard the sound of hoofsteps behind me. We froze. Silver Lane was walking towards us with an expressionless face. I groaned softly. We're caught.
Silver bent her head down towards us and whispered, "You three, come with me." She stood up and walked away, checking over her shoulder every now and then.
My ears drooped. "Oh no. We're in trouble," I muttered to my friends as we followed Silver.
Silver led us out of the throne room and into another room in the hallway. Then she closed the door.
Not facing her, Spectra said sarcastically, "Alright, Mrs. Lane, are we in trouble?"
Silver shook her head. "No, not at all. I just overheard your conversation and thought that you'd be somepony special..." she said. She closed her eyes and stood still.
Suddenly, an unexsisting breeze swept through the room, making Silver's mane flow. Then, from her sides grew feathery wings. On her head sprouted a unicorn's horn. Silver's silvery mane grew brighter and brighter until we had to shield the light from our eyes with our hooves.
When the light died, we moved our hooves from our eyes, and we all gasped. Standing in front of us wasn't the earth pony who was our teacher. There was a tall, light gray pony with a silvery mane and tail that flowed all the way to her knees. And the thing about this pony was that she was...
An Alicorn.
My Little Hoof-Blood #1: The Shattered Armor
"...Mrs. Lane?" I whispered.
The silver Alicorn lay still. Then, her eyes opened, and they were still teal, but now she looked more royal. I didn't think that Silver Lane would be an Alicorn. She was an earth pony for the whole time I knew her. But now... she's an Alicorn - a mix between a Pegasus and a Unicorn.
She stood up. "Yes, Cupcake. I am still Silver Lane, your teacher," she said, "But I am something else as well. I'll tell you something..."
I sat up straight. Iron and Spectra sat by me and listened contently.
"There are gods and goddesses of Equestria. They control different things in the world, whether it's concrete things like the sun or the moon, or abstract things like different emotions. Sometimes, these gods and goddesses will have children with mortal ponies, and these ponies will be demigods - which means they're half god, half mortal. And guess what?" She looked at us, and our eyes widened in suspense.
"You are demigods."
Our reactions were quite similar. Spectra, who was flying while listening to Silver, almost forgot to flap her wings. Iron Blade completely forgot that he was holding his notebook with his magic and dropped it. I think I just felt my jaw drop, and I started to feel dizzy.
Silver Lane laughed. "Now, now. Snap out of it, you three!" she said. I blinked and sat up. Spectra stumbled and flapped her wings again. Iron's eyes widened and he picked up his notebook again.
"Wait a minute - so you're saying that we're demigods???" I asked.
Silver's eyes twinkled in amusement. "Didn't I tell you that already?" she asked me.
I was going to throw an epic party, but all I did was say "Awesome!" very quietly, like how Fluttershy would've said it.
I felt Iron's gaze on me, and I felt my cheeks grow hot. I turned away and faced Silver.
Silver was pacing back and forth. "Well, there is a camp where we train these demigods, or hoof-bloods. I am their trainer," she said, "Celestia granted me immortality so I can train hoof-bloods for many years to come. Now you three will be my new students. Well, not really new... but new as in new hoof-blood students.
"But there's one more thing. You fought those six Changelings on the train, right? Well, that doesn't happen all the time. Since camp's in the Everfree Forest, we get a lot of monsters, but not Changelings. They live in the desert, right? So I have no idea how they managed to come back here." She sighed and looked at us. "But I can't give up yet. In fact, we need you right away. Cupcake and Spectra, your fathers know that you're daughters of goddesses. And same with your mother, Iron. But don't worry - you're not getting in trouble for that."
I nodded. Suddenly, I felt a pinch on my knee. "Ow!"
Everypony was looking at me strangely. Nopony touched my knee at all. Then I took it all in and realized what might happen next.
"Mrs. Lane?" I asked.
"Please call me Silver if you're not in public; I can handle it," Silver said, "And yes, what is it?"
I started out the door. "We need to head to that camp you speak about, right now," I said, just before running out the door.
I galloped as fast as my legs could carry me until I burst into the open air and towards a hot air balloon. How it got there, I don't know. I never remembered it being there. Anyways, I climbed into it just in time to see Iron galloping towards me with Spectra and Silver flying close behind.
"Come on!" I called. Iron climbed into the balloon while Silver and Spectra flew beside us. The hot air balloon rose into the air and we started to fly towards camp.
Silver looked at me. "Why are you going off in such a hurry?" she asked with a suspicious look.
I rubbed my knee, which had pinched again. "Something wrong with my knee?" I said, "Something scary's going to happen! I don't know how I know, but I just do!"
Silver said nothing as we flew towards the Everfree Forest. Soon, Canterlot came into view a good ways away, Ponyville somewhere below. We landed at the edge of the Everfree Forest, which was at the border of Ponyville.
We all left the hot air balloon and started to fly and run as fast as we could through the forest. Soon, the path that went through the Everfree Forest split into a fork, and Silver flew through the left fork. Soon I could see the dim light of distant torches illuminating the dark. A sign that was hanging in the branches of one of the trees had a bunch of hoof prints on it, but I deciphered it immediately. We have reached Camp Hoof-Blood.
Suddenly, a hoarse growl sounded through the trees. I tensed as my knee pinched again. My hoof went to my saddle bag which had my coin in it, and I pulled it out. Iron saw my move and used his unicorn magic to pull his coin out. Spectra did the same with her wings. Silver's horn glowed and a sword materialized in front of her.
Then, the branches exploded as a pack of three timberwolves burst out of the forest. Letting out a battle cry, I jumped at one of the wolves and chopped up the wood it was made out of. Spectra was dive-bombing the wolves by flying up into the air and slamming on the wolves. Iron slashed his blade at the wolves, and I heard the splintering of bark. Silver didn't fight - instead she grabbed a torch that lit up the path and was getting ready to burn the remains.
When the last timberwolf was down, Silver flew over to the remains and put the fire up to it. Careful not to burn any of the surrounding trees, she burned away what was left of the timberwolves.
I was dizzy with exhaustion. But when I saw Spectra on the ground, I forgot about the nausea and screamed, "SPECTRA! NOOOO!!!"
Iron trotted over to her and we picked her up. Silver helped as well. Great. This is so going to be a long day.
My Little Hoof-Blood #1: The Shattered Armor
All I remembered before I woke up was - a hoarse howling, a flash of wooden teeth-like things, a painful snap! on my left wing, and Iron and Cupcake hovering above me.
I woke up in a bed which was in a room that looked similar to the hospital, but a little more... camp-like. I sat up and winced. I looked at my left side. My wing was broken. I wouldn't be able to fly for weeks.
I looked around. Other ponies - from earth ponies to unicorns to Pegasi like me - slept in beds. These ponies must be either hurt or sick.
Then I saw Cupcake and Iron walk into the room. "You're awake!" Cupcake squealed, and held out a cupcake. "Have a cupcake!"
I took it and bit in. "Thanks, Cupcake. You're the best," I replied through a mouthful of frosting and cupcake. I got up, wincing when I felt the pain from my wing.
"Iron and I have already explored camp! It's awesome! We'll give you a tour!" Cupcake said, bouncing up and down. Iron rolled his eyes but said nothing.
I nodded. "Sure, Cupcake, I'd love a tour," I said.
"Great! Follow me!" Cupcake said, trotting out of the medical room. I followed her and gasped.
I never thought I'd like any part of the Everfree Forest. There were ponies everywhere, some wearing leather armor and fighting each other with swords, or some holding bows and arrows and firing them at targets. Some were just sitting around, chatting with each other and waving to the colts.
"The daughters of Rarity, goddess of love and beauty," Cupcake explained, "Always going for the boys." Cupcake shook her head. "Can't they focus on the battles first?"
I laughed quietly. Then we made it to a clearing with groups of cabins everywhere, making a rectangle-shaped area. In the center of the group of cabins was a campfire.
"These are the cabins, where the different hoof-bloods stay. Cabin One is for Celestia, goddess of the sun. Cabin Two is for Luna, goddess of the moon and the night," Iron explained, "Cabin Three is for Cadence, goddess of crystals and faith."
My eyes widened. "C-Cadence is a g-goddess?" I stammered. Cupcake nodded excitedly.
"And Cabin Four is for Shining Armor, god of battles and defenses; Cabin Five for Spike, the messenger of the gods; Cabin Six for Twilight Sparkle, goddess of wisdom and magic; Cabin Seven for Rainbow Dash, goddess of loyalty and victory; Cabin Eight for Fluttershy, goddess of nature; Cabin Nine for Rarity, you know her already; Cabin Ten for Pinkie Pie, goddess of PARTIES!!! Cabin Eleven for Applejack, goddess of agriculture, blah blah blah..."
I listened to her blabber on as I looked at the cabins. Rainbow Dash's cabin looked really inviting...
"...and Cabin Eighteen for Zecora, goddess of medicine and prophecies!" Cupcake finished.
"So who's your godly parent?" I asked Cupcake. She bounced around excitedly.
"Pinkie Pie, of course! That explained my Pinkie Sense and my excitement for parties and acting unpredictable!" Cupcake squealed, pointing at her cutie mark, which was three balloons.
"I don't know mine yet," Iron said, "But I hope it's not somepony like Rarity... or Pinkie Pie..." He didn't say anything after that.
Then, I heard the sound of a horn - Silver Lane's horn, as I'm told. "What are we doing?" I asked Iron.
Iron grabbed his coin with his unicorn magic and it turned into a sword. "We're playing capture the flag," he said, trotting towards where we were playing it. Cupcake followed. I followed as well, sword in my teeth.
A lot of Hoof-Bloods were already gathered by Silver. There were three different groups - one consisting of Earth Ponies, one of Pegasi, and one of Unicorns. I trotted towards the Pegasi group while Iron went to the unicorn group and Cupcake to the Earth Ponies.
Silver waited for silence, then spoke, "Everypony, we have three new hoof-bloods with us today - the Pegasus Spectra Shock, the unicorn Iron Blade, and the Earth Pony Cupcake Frosting." The crowd cheered.
"Cupcake has already been claimed by the goddess Pinkie Pie, but Iron and Spectra aren't claimed yet. But, not to worry, we will begin the Capture the Flag match in just a bit. Head over to your stations and listen for my horn." Silver nodded and teleported somewhere. The three groups scattered into their corresponding teams.
I didn't know what to do at first until a light brown Pegasus pony with darker hair flew up to me. "Hello there, Spectra!" He said, then looked at my wing and shook his head sympathetically. "Unable to fly? Heard you slaughtered a timberwolf pack today! I'm Time Traveller, by the way."
I nodded. "So what do we do?" I asked Time.
Time flew slowly as I trotted along. "Normally, capture the flag will have two teams. But with three teams, we can choose which team's flag to raid. We can choose between the Earth Ponies or the unicorns. If we get both flags, we win. If we only get one flag, we still need to get the other one before we can win. But at the same time, if, for example, we steal the unicorns' flag, the Earth Ponies still have a chance to steal the flag back," he explained.
"And we fight away the other teams using our weapons?" I asked, flipping my coin. It landed tails up and turned into a bow and arrows. Neat, I thought, I have a weapon that can transform into a short and long ranged weapon.
Time nodded. "That's right," he said as we approached the rest of our team. We were assigned to try and get the unicorns' flag. Some ponies were assigned to get the Earth Ponies' flag, while the rest of us guarded the flag and borders.
Then, Silver's horn blew, and our team cheered, although the Fluttershy campers just said "Yay!" very softly. Time and I charged. I couldn't fly, yes, but I galloped along about as fast as when I fly, just a tiny bit slower.
Some unicorns had crossed our borders and our teammates were fighting them off. We ran past them and crossed into the unicorns' territory.
"Watch out for the traps that the unicorns' laid," Time warned me, "Most of them aren't strong fighters - some are Rarity children. But some are Shining Armor children, and they are great fighters. So watch out for them."
I nodded and checked to see if we were being followed. Nothing. But then, I heard the galloping of hooves as a light purple unicorn with darker hair and a pink streak jumped at us from behind the bushes. She landed on Time, and they tumbled over, head over hooves. They were a flurry of purple and brown, and soon Time was on top, pinning the purple unicorn down.
But she was too quick and clever. Her horn glowed with unicorn magic and she vanished in a poof of glittery smoke, then reappeared behind and later on top of Time.
"Dawn Glimmer, you can't hurt anypony! Only stunning them, at the most!" Time said, waving his wing. Suddenly, Dawn froze in time. He gestured me to follow him, then when we were out of sight, he flicked his wing again, and I heard a thump! of somepony falling.
"Nice one, Time," I said.
"Thanks," he said, panting, "Let's rest a bit?"
I nodded and we sat down by a stream with a little waterfall. I cooled off my good wing with the running water, sprayed some on my face and shook my mane dry. That feels better, I thought.
Then came a shriek from Dawn, who was closing in, this time with a midnight-blue stallion and somepony who seemed like Iron. They galloped towards us, swords drawn.
"Run!" I cried, alerting Time. He got to his wings and flew away, with me galloping along. Soon we reached a small clearing with a few fluffy clouds in the sky.
Frustrated that I couldn't fly, I decided to summon one of those clouds and ride on it. Sure enough, when I willed a cloud to float down and help me, I saw a little cloud do just that. Surprised, I jumped on it and zoomed off after Time.
Suddenly, I ran into Time, who was hiding in one of the trees. At this hit my cloud broke apart, and I crashed next to Time. He was peering through the branches at a group of unicorns who were guarding the flag - a lavender banner with a white unicorn head that looked like the chess piece.
"How are we going to get it?" I whispered, "Could you use your time freezing powers?"
Time thought for a moment. "No, I can't, or else I'd be too tired to fly or even run back with you to help with the flag. Only my father, Dr. Whooves, can do that. So here's the plan: I'll distract them, and you grab the flag. I'll join you later."
"Sounds good to me," I said, getting ready. Then, Time jumped out of the tree and landed on one of the unicorns, startling him. He jumped off and ran away from the flag, causing a few of the unicorns to leave their guarding post. However, there was one unicorn guarding the flag still.
I hesitated before jumping into the clearing. I flapped my wings, even though one was broken, to soften the fall. I couldn't fly, but I could still do that.
I crouched down low, making sure nopony was around me except for maybe that one unicorn. Then, I tiptoed towards the flag.
Crunch.
I looked down and noticed that I had trodden on a stick and broke it. The unicorn looked at me and charged.
I was trapped. Nowhere to run or fly. I looked at the sky and brought down a dark cloud. I jumped on it and a bolt of lightning shot from it. Stunned, the unicorn staggered. I jumped up and down on the cloud and more lightning burst from it.
Then I saw my chance to get the flag. Jumping down from the thunder cloud, I galloped to the flag and picked it up with my teeth. Then I turned around to Time and he nodded, letting go of one of the Vinyl-Scratch Campers and flew away. When I caught up with him, he helped me carry the flag. I heard more unicorns trying to catch up to us, screaming, "They've got the flag!" or "Don't let them get away!"
Too late. We just crossed into our territory, where more Pegasi were helping us out. The unicorns barged on, but there were too many more available Pegasi than there were unicorns. Watching us hopelessly, the unicorns retreated.
The Pegasi team was crowding around me and Time now. Grinning in victory, I held up the flag and reared up. Cheers roared from the Pegasi as we celebrated our victory.
Suddenly, the cheering quieted as soon as it had come. I felt burning gazes from everypony - on my flank. I slowly looked down at my flank, which was glowing with light. Then, my once blank flank had a picture of a cloud with a pink, yellow, and light blue lightning bolt bursting from it.
Silver emerged from the crowd and bowed. Everypony followed her example. Even Cupcake and Iron bowed. Then, Silver rose and walked up to me and said in her royal voice:
"Goddess of lightning, weather, speed, loyalty, and victory. Pegasus pony of dares. All hail, Spectra Shock, daughter of Rainbow Dash."
My Little Hoof-Blood #1: The Shattered Armor
So... Spectra's mom is Rainbow Dash, goddess of victory, rainbows, weather, and whatnot. But who's my father?
Well, it was time for dinner, so we went to the dining pavilion to eat. Grabbing my plate, I got some food and sat down on one of the stone chairs next to Cupcake, Spectra, and Starry Night, one of the unicorns that I teamed up with in Capture the Flag.
"Congrats, Spectra!" I said to Spectra, who gave me thanks.
I decided to talk to Starry about hoof-blood lives. "So, what are battles like?"
"Well, you've experienced battling the Changelings and those timberwolves," Starry said, "so you know what battle is like. But those are monsters - they're different from hoof-bloods and other ponies. They aren't as dumb as the monsters. They know a few moves that we do. So it will be harder for you to win, but you can still win, of course. Unless he or she is a god or goddess, which is a completely different story."
I nodded. "What about quests?"
Starry's gaze darkened, like a thick cloud covering the moon. "That's a whole different story. Yes, there are battles along the way - whether you fight monsters, hoof-bloods, gods or goddesses, whatnot. But the thing about them is that they can change you completely - if you're not careful enough and if you can't control your feelings. Not that you can't, but anypony can, and it's really hard to not do that."
I thought about it. What could possibly go wrong? But I kept quiet and decided not to ask any questions as we headed under a tree to have a little conversation.
Suddenly, I heard the galloping of hooves running towards us. A white mare with gray stripes was running towards us - a daughter of Zecora, goddess of medicine and prophecies, if I'm correct. She was panting and seemed to have urgent news.
"Iron Blade! Starry Night! You have to come, right now!" She said, panting. "The Cabin Eighteen ponies have received a message from Zecora, our mother, herself. It might mean a new Great Prophecy. Come on!"
I looked at Starry for a moment before we both galloped after the zebra-pony.
When we reached camp, a bunch of the Zecora ponies were at the porch of the Big House with everypony else gathered beneath them. The half-zebras looked worried.
Suddenly, the chattering died as Silver walked up to the porch. "The ponies of Cabin Eighteen have received a prophecy from their mother, the goddess Zecora," she said, "I let them speak now, to tell you this prophecy." Silver stepped back and the Zecora children started to recite the prophecy.
"Changes will come to everpony around, Disguising as others with a hissing sound. But six will rise - the star, the dawn, and the minute, The sword, the sweets, and the shock will cut
The Queen will rise, the evils shall sing. Even the Crystal's powers cannot ring. But these young six, of earth, magic, and sky Will bring Changes to the desert, where they fly.
But not before the armor is rust, And not before the twilight is dusk."
Everypony was gazing at them in awe, taking in the prophecy. What in all of Equestria could that mean?
Suddenly I was aware of ponies staring at me, especially Cupcake, Dawn, Starry, Time, and Spectra. They were looking at each other, too. What, are we the subjects of the prophecy?
But I realized that they were looking at my flank. Looking down, I realized that I had gotten my cutie mark - a blue shield with a purple six-pointed star and two crossed swords behind the shield. I've been claimed!
Silver bowed. "God of defenses and battles. All hail to Iron Blade, son of Shining Armor.
* * *
I found myself facing a giant army of Changelings - I couldn't see how far they went. Around me were hoof-bloods, gods, goddesses, and Silver, prepared for battle. Shining Armor was there as well, but he looked like he'd just run through a forest, off the pathways and through the branches.
Then I woke up back in Cabin Four with the other Shining Armor ponies. They were still sleeping, but some were twitching with dreams. I shuddered. I just had a dream that might be showing me the future.
Father, Shining Armor, I thought, If you can hear me, please, tell me what's going on!
I usually don't do Pinkie Promises, but I cross my heart and hope to fly that I heard Shining Armor's voice in my head. Help me, son. If you must, you and your two friends must consult Zecora. Do not trust imposters, and you will find one soon.
I scratched my head. What did that mean?
My Little Hoof-Blood #1: The Shattered Armor
Oh my gods, Iron is Shining Armor's son! That's so cool! Before Shining Armor became a god, he was Captain of the Royal Guard. Is he still, today? I have no idea! But still, that's so cool!
Well, now all of us - Spectra, Iron, and me - have our cutie marks and know who our parents are. Okay, let's recap - I'm daughter of Pinkie Pie, goddess of parties and sweets. Spectra is daughter of Rainbow Dash, goddess of rainbows, lightning, and victory. Iron is son of Shining Armor, god of battle and defense.
Oh, and let me introduce our new friends - Time Traveller, son of Dr. Whooves, god of time; Starry Night, son of Luna, goddess of the night, moon, and stars; and Dawn Glimmer, daughter of Twilight Sparkle, goddess of wisdom, strategy, magic, and friendship.
After the campfire activities were done, I trotted over to the Pinkie Pie Cabin and climbed into one of the bunks. And not to mention that my dreams are usually about cupcakes and sweet stuff and sometimes monsters, but after I realized who I was, I've been getting so many monster dreams... it's not funny.
I was standing in a forest - not the Everfree Forest - and heard the clip-clop of hooves. Turning, I saw a lavender earth pony with a purple mane gallop towards me, but it didn't seem like he saw me.
Dad!
"Come back here, you fools!" hissed a voice that sounded tripled. "Do you want us to attack your city, or would you sacrifice yourselves for mercy on it?"
My dad kept running, so I followed him. Behind him were two other ponies - one a light gray pegasus with a light blue mane, and the other a light orange mare with a black mane. Spectra and Iron's parents, I thought.
My dad whinnied. "Come on! They're closing on us!"
I could tell that Spectra's dad was trying to close in on a sonic rainboom and sweep my dad and Iron's mom into the air, but his wings kept slapping into branches and slowing him down.
Soon I saw the danger. Hissing came from all around me - Changeling hissing. My ears drooped in horror as I realized what they were about to do.
Three of the Changelings turned into Spectra, Iron, and me. They walked up to our parents and said, "It's alright, we're here. You'll be safe now."
Suddenly my nose started to feel itchy. Oh no! I tried to scream to my dad and my friends' parents. My pinkie sense is telling me that you have to - watch out!
I watched in horror as the shadows behind them erupted into a swarm of Changelings. The Changelings that disguised as me and Iron sprouted webbed wings, and the feathers popped off Spectra's. A little pointy horn replaced Iron's white one, and one grew up from Spectra's Changeling's head as well as the one disguised as me.
Spectra's dad shouted something at the others and broke into an even faster gallop, but the Changelings were closing in. Then, an even bigger shape flew into the forest after them, and I heard Iron's mom scream. My knee pinched.
I woke up back in my cabin, on my bunk, gasping. I've never been scared like this before in my life. I don't know if my mother has ever been scared like this in her life. Well, maybe, if I remember correctly, before she and the other Mane Six met Zecora, they were scared out of their horsefeathers.
But she never was a demigod. She never had horrible nightmares like I do - ones that come true eventually.
I stretched and climbed out of bed to see the rising sun just over the tops of the trees in the Everfree Forest. As the sun got higher in the sky, I thought I saw a little orange silhouette of an alicorn carrying the sun through the sky. On the other side, where the moon was setting, I could bet that I saw a small light blue silhouette of another alicorn, lowering the moon. Celestia and Luna are doing their jobs, but do they know anything of the Changelings?
I heard the faint crowing of the rooster from Sweet Apple Acres, alerting ponies of the morning. I heard the slow clopping of hoofsteps from behind me, and I turned to see Iron trotting out.
"Hi there, Cupcake," he said, coming up to me.
"Hi, Iron," I said back.
I decided to tell him about my dream. "Hey, have you had any dreams lately?" I asked.
Iron nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think I remembered seeing a battlefield with Changelings and the gods and goddesses, along with other hoof-bloods," he said, "Did you get any dreams?"
"Yeah. I saw our mortal parents running away from a swarm of Changelings. I hope they're alright," I said, looking back at the setting moon.
The flapping of wings told me that Spectra was coming up behind us. "Hey guys," she said, taking a stand next to me.
"Hi Spectra," I said.
Then, Iron turned to both of us. "In my dream, I spoke to my father. He said that if we must, we must consult Zecora for something. And you know what? I think we need to ask Silver if we can go on a quest."
My Little Hoof-Blood #1: The Shattered Armor
Silver waited a moment, then nodded. "Alright, but be careful when you start the quest. Changelings can trick you into being other ponies. Remember what happened to the Mane Six before they became goddesses?"
I nodded. They were fooled by Changelings and got confused on who was the real pony, so they nearly killed each other doing so. We walked through the Everfree Forest until we came to a tree. A zebra was inside, stirring up some brew.
We knocked on the door and the zebra looked up. Smiling, she came over and opened the door.
"Hello, my little hoof-blood friends!" Zecora said. "What help do you want me to lend?"
Iron cleared his throat. "How do we help my father?"
When Iron said that last word, Zecora's eyes glowed yellow. Yellowish smoke billowed around us and formed images.
"You shall travel west and seek the one in the cage. You shall find the armor and help slow the change. You will be stuck for some time in the queen's resent, But you will fight your way out with the elements."
Zecora's eyes turned back to normal, and the yellow smoke vanished.
"You must get going, Spectra, Iron, and Cupcake," Zecora warned, "It won't be soon before our enemy will awake."
I nodded. "Thank you, lady Zecora," I said, bowing a little bit. Then we galloped back to camp.
Silver was waiting for us. "Well?" she asked us when we arrived.
"Zecora gave us the prophecy. It goes like this," I said the prophecy, and Silver nodded thoughtfully.
"Be on a lookout. Decipher the prophecy, and keep your senses sharp," she said. And with that, she disappeared in a poof of silver smoke.
I looked at Iron and Cupcake. "Well, I guess we can go," I said, "after I get some things from Cabin Eighteen to help my broken wing, and of course some other necessary things from Cabin Seven. You two need anything from Cabin Four and Cabin Ten?"
Iron nodded. "Yeah, hold on a bit. Just a couple of things... maybe some shields or something," he said, trotting off to his cabin.
"Oh, and we can't leave without..." Cupcake began, rushing to her cabin. She reappeared in a few seconds holding a box of cupcakes. "CUPCAKES!!!"
I sighed, but I let her keep the cupcakes. "Alright, alright. Just put them in your saddle bag. We'll eat them if we're hungry."
Iron came out of Cabin Four with three shields in his saddle bag. He pulled them out and gave one to each of us. We were about to set off when somepony from Cabin Five ran up to us and yelled, "Wait!"
Well, not really somepony . More like somedragon . He was a light purplish dragon-pony with a green mane. His eyes were the color of his mane, and his cutie mark is a scroll. He was holding something in his mouth. "Here, before you start your quest, take this," he handed us the thing, which was a rolled up map. "It will guide you to important places in Equestria." He paused. "Oh, and you will have a problem somewhere at the end of your journey, if I know where you're going. Almost all quests end with some sort of tight situation. To escape, you'll need to find three items scattered around Equestria. Each one can help one. I forgot what they were, but they'll save you, alright."
"Thanks, Dragon Scroll," I said before he turned around back to his cabin.
Iron took the scroll using his unicorn magic and unrolled it. On it showed a map of Equestria, but there were no words on it. Then, as we looked closer, I realized that there were some Ancient Greek words on it. I didn't get that at first, but I realized that Equestria has some Greek bases.
I deciphered the words almost immediately. There was one group of words by Ponyville which read: η Βιβλιοθήκη - The Library.
"So... one of these things is in the Golden Oak library, where the goddess Twilight Sparkle used to live?" I asked Iron, who nodded.
"Yeah. I wonder what the things are...?" he said.
When we reached Ponyville, I looked at our map, and we trotted towards the Golden Oak library. It was basically a giant oak tree that was hollowed out for a library. Books filled the bookshelves and stacks of two or three lay on the table in the center. A flight of stairs led to three bedrooms which were currently vacant.
I peeked into one of the rooms and decided to stay there for the night. I dropped by saddlebag by the door of the room and walked back down to join my friends, who were studying the map.
"So," I asked, "What do you think we have to find?"
Cupcake looked up - for once she was serious like the rest of us are. "Well, have you heard of how Equestria came to be?" she asked me.
I shook my head. "No," I said, "How?"
She was pointing at an open book. "It says here that there were three tribes - earth ponies, unicorns, and Pegasi. Each searched for new land for them to live. But they apparently found the same land, so they argued over it. But their hatred caused the Windigos to make it colder than ever, and the tribes learned to be kind to one another, thus sharing the land and calling it Equestria."
Iron and I listened to the story, and soon I realized what these items might be. "Cupcake, you said that the originating tribes were the earth ponies, unicorns, and Pegasi, right?"
Cupcake nodded. "Absolutely!"
"Well, I think that these elements are one of earth ponies, unicorns, and Pegasi." I concluded.