Chapters The humans hidden among the ponies
By Tokyo Fox
*
It was a very rainy day that caused most ponies to do indoor stuff rather than get out in it and Twilight Sparkle was no different; In fact she enjoyed such days because it allowed her to study without too many interruptions but she did get them and that was how it all started for her.
" Hey Twilight I got you some lunch; I hope you don't mind but you been doing nothing but study since morning and you need to eat." Spike said as he sat a tray full of veggie sandwiches and bowl of hay broth soup.
" Is it lunchtime already? It's been such a quiet day but I am hungery " Twilight said as she picked up a sandwich with her magic and when she took a huge bite when Spike suddenly magically belched out a letter and it fell to the floor they were both so surprised by the letter.
" Oh sorry! I didn't know a letter from Princess Celestia was coming today; Honest. " Spike said as he picked up the letter and held it in his scaly claw to give it to her.
" Relax Spike; I always have time for a letter from Princess Celestia; Now let's see what it says.." But instead of reading it out loud like she normally would her eyes went big as they possibly could.
" NO WAY! Princess Celestia wants us to do what? And she expects Discord to do what?!!!???" Twilight read it again just to be sure she read it right
" Discord? What about Discord?.. Don't tell me he's coming here again!!" Spike said as he made gulp as the thought of Discord being here did not appeal to him one bit.
" It's worse than that! We got to help him on a important task!.. I need to gather the girls quickly at Fluttershy's home before he gets here. Twilight magically lifted Spike as she got ready to leave and she was so upset she hardy noticed that the rain had stopped.
" Tell me you're kidding me! Please! Spike said as Twilight began to fly quickly into the air " Why are you not saying this a joke?.. Oh snap!!" Spike added when Twilight gave him a quick look that told him this was no joke as he took on a face of a doomed baby dragon.
Twilight first told Rarity they had to go to Fluttershy's home because she had something important to all of them followed by Pinkie Pie and a fast flight to Apple Jack's home and finally she went to Rainbow Dash's cloud home and they flew together to Fluttershy's home.
The others were talking and asking questions so fast that Twilight had no choice but to do what she did next.
"BE QUIET!!! This is important and I need to be heard and you not to ask so many questions right now !" Twilight yelled
They quickly said they were sorry.
" It's ok; I know you are upset over this sudden meeting without any real explanation but trust me I needed you all to hear this first because I really didn't want answer the same questions over and over; Now it's like this." twilight took deep breath knowing what she was about to say was going to make the sudden meeting even harder to be heard over the questions that were sure to follow.
" I got a letter from Princess Celestia and we are to help Discord with a important task to prove that he has reformed as well as prove he can be trusted to other similar tasks." Twilight said and got ready for the barrage of questions that she was sure they would ask but instead it was so quiet that Fluttershy had to hush a rather suddenly noisy cricket that was visiting her because the rain had made it seek shelter in her home and had yet to leave.
" Tell us you are joking" Rainbow Dash said first
" No I can't because it's true; I don't know all the details yet because Princess Celestia said that Discord could explain it far better than she could because he knew more about it than she did and I know we don't trust Discord and I'm not asking you to trust him completely and he did pull that stunt with me and Cadence but since Princess Celestia did mention that she had given him this task because of what he did to us as a test to see if he can do the right thing in spite of himself and besides from what I read this task is nothing like any of the others we have done in the past and will go a long way to helping Discord se that there is something to be said for doing the right thing." Twilight said
" I don't mind helping Discord; he is a friend of mine even though I do understand that the rest of you don't trust him." Fluttershy said as she expected Rainbow Dash to be annoyed with her the most... She wasn't disappointed...
" Of course you'd say that! He's you're friend though why I have no idea; I don't like the idea of him running around loose like he has been and all I can say is I hope to never see the place he's now calling home; To say nothing of what happen the last time he was here. "Rainbow Dash said as she looked as annoyed she felt but she couldn't stay annoyed at Fluttershy for long and besides in his own way he was helping Fluttershy stop being such a doormat but not by much.
" I understand how all you feel Rainbow Dash but I'm sure Princess Celestia wouldn't send him if she felt he wasn't ready to at least try and I will need your help with him. " Twilight said as she looked around them and only Fluttershy seem to be willing; this wasn't going to be easy if they were not willing to help her and that made her very nervous.
"Relax Twilight; We will help him and you if only to make sure Discord don't screw it up or make it worse somehow." Rainbow Dash said as the other four reluctant friends agreed with her.
" We do not need not like him or trust him but we do need to stick together so that this task is done properly." Rarity said kindly
" What I want to know is what this task is going to be." Apple Jack
" I don't know; Princess Celestia said is it has something to do with the days before Discord ruled Equestria and that her knowledge of how it happened or came to be that way was very limited because it was before even she was born but she had no doubt that Discord was telling her the truth about it because apparently as part of the deal for his freedom was to have reform meetings with her and he brought up a subject that up to now she had no idea that it had even happened but that it did explain a few things about that time period as well as how so much of pony history was lost before she and Luna became princesses of all of Equestria." Twilight said as she rubbed her hoof on her chin to try to understand the letter a little better.
" in other words; We have to depend on Discord to explain this task; Does anypony besides me think that this is going to be the most annoying explanation ever?" Spike said more than asked
" We are about to find out; He should be here any second. " Twilight said and no sooner she said it than a bunch of fireworks shot off and a huge throne chair of questionable appearance appeared and a swirly mess turned into Discord
"OH HELLO EVERYPONY! IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU ALL AGAIN! WHY RAINBOW DASH HAVE YOU GAINED WEIGHT?" Discord asked as suddenly Rainbow Dash became very chubby looking and she quickly looked at herself in terror as she knew with this much weight would make it harder for her to fly.. Maybe even impossible
" Stop messing around Discord! You promised not to do anything to us to the princess; It says so right in her letter! Twilight said annoyed that he was already misbehaving and hoped the reminder would get him to behave a bit better.. .
Oh fine; Make one little honest comment and everypony thinks you're being mean. Discord said as Rainbow Dash went back to normal but then the cricket suddenly became the size of pony and Angel was on it and it hopped out of the house when the door suddenly disappeared with Angel holding on for his life as it hopped out into the yard and hopped all over the place..
" Oh dear; it's a good thing Angel knows how to ride; Now please stop messing with Angel; I know that he does misbehave when you visit but you should be above it by now. " Fluttershy said kindly but with firm look
" Oh all right but he has to stay outside because he tried to cut off a part of my tail the last time!.. Say you seem different somehow; Why it was if you somehow learned to be more firm since the last time we met and I must say it's an improvement." Discord said as the cricket went back to normal and the door was back in place as a impossibly huge teapot appeared." Only a half a cup please" Discord said as a huge but clearly an actual half of a tea cup appeared and then a sugar bowl appeared and he took out a cube and made huge loud sipping sound and then he added another cube and made the sip again..
" Much better; So now I suppose you are all wondering why I called you all here." Discord said as a top hat appeared on his head.
"You didn't! I did and only because Princess Celestia asked me too! Twilight
" Oh Twilight, Twilight; What's few minor details between friends? And besides if it wasn't for my little comment on that mirror that leads to the human world.. Among other places...I wouldn't be here right now. " Discord said as he stirred his tea with a broom which was odd to Fluttershy as he'd normally used a shark fish...
"you know about the mirror and where it goes?" Twilight asked as she began to wonder what he knew about it.
" Oh I know all about it; In fact I know more about it than Celly. "Discord said giving her a nickname that he might've used a time or two to annoy Celestia.
"What do you know about it and what does it have to do with your task?" Twilight was now very curious about the mirror's past and what Discord may know.
"Now, now; One thing at a time" He said as he made a huge cookie appear and took a bite and made another loud sip.
"As to what I know about the mirror I suppose I could start by saying that thanks to it I was able to come to your delightful land that really could use a few of my personal touches. " Discord said as he took two sips and then poured another half cup and added three sugar cubes and this time as he now stirred with a tree...
" Don't even think about it! But what's this about the mirror allowing you to come here?" Twilight asked as she was now confused.
" Oh come now; Surely you of all ponies here considered the possibility that I'm not from this world or even this universe; I mean it should've been so obvious seeing how I'm the only one of my kind here." Discord said as all the tea stuff disappeared and a huge book appeared and when he showed that it was a huge dot to dot book that Pinkie Pie quickly took from him with a squeal of joy and he looked a little grumpy as a odd looking pillow appeared behind his neck and his top hat became a fez on his head and he sat back more into his seat.
" Nope; I never even considered where you came from." Twilight said with shake of her head.
Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Apple Jack agreed with her.
" I already knew that; I mean it's sooo obvious you come from somewhere; I mean I didn't know how or where exactly and I thought it had to be someplace in our world but now that I think about it..mmmmffth! Pinkie Pie said until Twilight closed her mouth with her hoof.
" We get the idea Pinkie Pie" Twilight said with a sigh.
" Oh dear; then I guess I should've said something after all; I thought about it and somehow I knew he came from someplace where other discords live" Fluttershy said
Discord caused Fluttershy to appear in his arms as he hugged her; " I knew if any pony would understand first it would be you but my race are called draconequus.. Anyways it was the mirror allowed me to come here. "He said as Fluttershy appeared back where she was.
" Wait a sec... How could the mirror allow you to come here? " Twilight asked as she was now completely confused.
Discord picked her up and somehow pinched her suddenly chubby cheeks at the same time.. " Oh Twilight; If you knew how it was possible then I wouldn't have anything to teach you and we wouldn't need to talk here; It really quite simple really.. You know that Starswirl unicorn stallion fellow right? Well he caused the mirror to become even weaker than it was when he found it and he limited it's power to boot; In fact as it is I'm surprised it can pick up anything after he was done with it and it is a very old mirror and has lost some of it's alicorn based power since Celly's grandfather's day who was by the way was the Alicorn who made the mirror and that little trinket Trixie had found."
"Celly's...I mean Princess Celestia grandfather made the mirror? " Twilight asked as she rubbed her now normal cheeks when Discord sat her back down.
" Please do not make me repeat myself more than I have too but yes old gramps was what ponies of those bygone days called the sun keeper and yes he made the mirror... You see Celly's one of many alicorns who's cutiemark allows him or her to raise and set the sun as is Luna is one of many alicorns able to raise and set the moon. It's one of those cutiemark gifts that WILL appear when it is time for the last sun keeper to retire or die; Whichever comes first. I know Me and Celly has lived for a long time and will do so for a very long time to come but we are not immortal in the way that means we will live forever though in my case I will outlive Celly." Discord said as the fez became a graduation hat.
" I see...So Celestia's grandfather was this sun keeper as you called him but then who..NO WAY!! Was.. Was.. One of Princess Celestia's and Luna's parents.... The moon keeper?!?!! " Twilight asked as the thought of it made her feel strangely giggle happy about the idea.
The graduation hat appeared on her head and a rolled up diploma appeared in her hoof.
" YES! SHE CAN BE TAUGHT!!! However in those days the mirror was a lot more powerful and it could do things back then that it couldn't do today and since I happen to know what it could do in those days... I was given this task..Is that a hangnail? " Discord said more than asked as one of his claws became a hangman's noose as he looked at his scaly hand
" And you lost me again; What does the mirror have to do with your task? " Twilight was beginning to really wish he would stop dragging this on..
Discord sighed as the hat and diploma disappeared and a dunce cap replaced the hat " It has everything to do with the mirror.. For you see besides allowing me to come to your world forever changing it for the better... It was used for a rather evil purpose because quite frankly Celly's grandfather.... Sunburn was a evil tyrant that misused his power for his own gain even if one of those gains was to bring humans from their world to be slaves in this world; Human slaves that were used to build his castle and other things and somewhere hidden in one of Equestria's forests their desentants still live and it's my task to convince them to stop hiding and to become part of everyday life in Equestria as they cannot be returned to their world without killing them. "
Twilight's eyes went wide as now she was beginning to understand what Discord was saying.
" Are you saying there are humans living in Equestria? " Twilight asked as the shock began to take hold
"Now you are beginning to learn here! And since you managed to learn this lesson maybe one day I'll tell you the story of how Celly's and Luna's mother Artimari; The moon keeper of that time saved the humans that resulted in her meeting their father and how I came to rule Equestria while her children who were put into a very deep and very magical sleep by their grandfather and they didn't wake up for more than 1000 years and who really built that old castle of theirs before they even woke up and I'll tell you how living here in Equestria has caused the humans to be born with their own kinds of magic and why they can never leave because of that fact." Discord said as he said as the chair turned into a tree and then into a panda and then into a turtle and finally a long legged couch.
.
" You already did that just now. " Twilight said with a smirk because he had been annoying her with his story buy making it longer than it needed to be just so he could annoy her.
Discord took on a deer in headlights look as he saw that Twilight was right.. "Oh pooh!" He said with grumpy look.
End of chapter 1.
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The humans hidden among the ponies
Chapter 2; Ursa Majors, Zebras and Terrormites...Oh my..
Chapter 2; Ursa Majors, Zebras and Terrormites...Oh my..
By Tokyo Fox
*
"Let's stop here for the night" Twilight and the other ponies sighed in relief as they had been traveling for two weeks now and they were no closer to finding the humans and having Discord with them was getting on the ponies nerves with his antics and Fluttershy was getting tired of putting the end to the many fights and what was worse they were lost..AGAIN!!!.
"You do that; I have to figure this out" Discord said as a upside down tent appeared and he sat down in it as he looked at a map that was clearly sideways in his hands.
"Twilight I know you want to help the Princess and all but are you sure that Discord has been telling us the truth about any of this?" Apple Jack asked as soon as Discord was busy.
"Trust me; I'm not saying how much I think is true but we do have to check it out and besides it was long time ago so to think we would find them so easy would be silly " Twilight
"Hey! I found something!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she had been doing a recon in the hopes of finding something.
The others came and they saw what looked like a statue of something big, ugly and mean looking bug like creatures that looked like it had the worst traits of a termite, cockroach and a pill bug but was ten times the size of the ponies and it's huge pumpkin shaped head had a huge mouth full of deadly looking teeth that looked like it could eat a pony in two bites.
"That is one UGLY looking bug thingie but what is it?" Rainbow Dash.
"Something I wouldn't want to run into that is for sure." Rarity
" There's something written on the base; Beware of the Terrormites! They will eat you if they can!..." Twilight said
"What is a Terrormite?" Apple Jack
...Umm I think they are Terrormites!! Rainbow Dash said as she pointed to things that looked like the statue but for their ugly brown, white and green colors as the terromites began to drool and lick their mouths with a hunger look in their eyes..
" Umm; Fluttershy, You're good with animals try talking to them!" Twilight said as she backed away from the terrormites along with the others.
But before Fluttershy could respond they made some grunting sounds..
" Oh dear that's not good.. It's sounds like bear a little and II think they are saying we look quite tasty.,,. Now they saying they want to eat us!!" Fluttershy said
"DISCORD DO SOMETHING NOW THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR QUEST!!!" Twilight yelled when she saw Discord was now flying above them still looking at the map.
" Oh very well if I must" Discord snapped his fingers.. Nothing happened..
" Oh dear; It seems these fellows are immune to my power but how? the only things that are immune to my power is if they came from the badlands because the badlands is full of all kinds of chaotic magic...Oh right we are very near the badlands.. Here's my advice.. RUN FOR IT!!" Discord yelled as he fled quickly followed by screaming ponies as the terrormites were right behind them with snapping jaws.
Lucky for them the Terromites seem slow for their size and bug-like appearance and suddenly Twilight stopped and in front of them.
"Ursa Majors!! Three of them" Twilight screamed.
But instead of attacking the ponies the Ursas seem more interested in the terrormites and soon they were attacking each other!
"This way is the way you must come if you wish to live!" Said a male sounding voice said and when they all turned to look they saw a zebra looking at them and they quickly ran to him.
" We must go for even though the bears have their favorite food we are still not out of the woods" The zebra said as he pointed towards a sturdy looking very big house made out of stone.
" Lead the way!" Twilight said as they fled the carnage of the fight as sounds of loud crunching as the Ursa majors began to rip into the terrormites with their claws and jaws and the sight of terrormite flesh being ripped from their living bodies as incest guts, goo, blood and strange body fluids could be seen covering the area and they soon heard loud crunching as the terromites were being eaten...
They paled on how close they came to being lunch instead but soon they were safe in the house as he closed the door..
" Now we must wait until they have ate and had their fill and to be on their way... It's most lucky for you for the bears to be chasing me and lucky for me the bugs to be chasing you" The Zebra said
'umm thank you; Whoever you are. Twilight
" Forgive me..I am Melora. now you must stay for the night as such a fight is sure to bring far worse things out at night but do not worry for this place was made for those in no hurry" Melcora
" Wow;Your name sounds a lot like our zebra friend Zacora." Twilight said
"Pardon me but did you say that you know a zebra like me and her name was Zacora? " Malcora
" Yes I did but I didn't say anything about her being a girl." Twilight said in a wary tone.
" Yes; I know of the zebra of who you speak for a sister of me is what she happens to be" Malcora
" You mean" Twilght started to say
" YOU ARE HER BROTHER?" All the ponies said in shock
" Oh my;. Now this is interesting.. Do tell us more. Discord said as he appeared on top of Malcora's nose in his mini him form and then vanished only to appear again in air with popcorn in one hand and before he could eat even a bite Pinkie Pie grabbed it and thanked him as she began to eat it as Discord looked a little miffed and made another bag of popcorn appear.
Malcora looked at her oddly it was as if he were trying to measure their friendship with Zacora with a look. ' Of that is no doubt as she cut her ties to live her life away from us.. So tell me true for what reason brought you here so far? " He asked.
" We were following a trail of clues that a race of bipedal beings called humans left behind and it lead us here before we got lost and we wish to find them for Princess Celestia." Twilight said
" Find humans you say? I thought they were only of Zebra legend." Malcora
" What? Humans are here? Where? When? How long? " Twilight quickly asked
" if I thought the humans were near I would say but the ones you speak of have faded to legend but of them I will tell of what I know even though they are considered a fairy tale." Malcora
YES! Please do go on1 We been looking so hard! You have no idea how hard it has been on a pony as refined as me! Rarity said
Malcora went to a small bookshelf with some books in it and got one.
" This book is what you'd call a book of short tales but in it lays the tale of the humans so long ago and this is what it says; During the time before Discord ruled a race a beings that walked on two legs were being led by the one who raised the moon and after pleading with Hascora the ruler of the zebra of that time so long ago they got on his finest ships and sailed for the other side of the world and of them he never saw them again." Malcora said as the ponies looked at the book.
" The other side of Equestria? That means we need to talk to some Griffins since noponies live there. " Twilight
" To do that you must go to the city of Hascora where many other zebra dwell and there many a griffin goes to make a trip home they wish to make. " Malcora said
" We will go as soon as it's safe; We really wish to find them as soon as possible." Twilight said
" Of that it should be now because of eating I do not hear." Malcora said and sure enough it sounded like the worst was over..
" Then we should go.. We need to get to the other side of our world." Twilight
" On that I wish you luck. You will find a place to get a boat if you go that away." Malcora said as they left his house and he pointed with his hoof.
They were soon on their way.
" Was it just me or was there something about all that that seem a little odd? I mean there was something about Malcora I did not like and it seem strange that he happen to be there." Rainbow Dash
" It doesn't matter. We've got enough problems right now. " Twilight
Two days later Twilight had found a boat they could use but they did get a bit of a surprise and Rainbow Dash was the most surprised of all..
" GLIDA?" Rainbow Dash said as soon as they were on the boat..
" Well look who decided to visit us griffins; So what is taking you to my homeland? " Glida asked...
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The humans hidden among the ponies
The land of forgotten nightmares or something like that
" Oh man; This boat trip just got a whole lot harder and we have not even left the dock" Rainbow Dash muttered
" Relax I'm not going to cause trouble as long as you don't get in my way. So why are you guys heading for my homeland Griffa and with him no less? Have you gone nuts or something?" Gilda asked as she pointed to Discord with her wing
" I don't have to put up with this.. If anypony wants me just ring this bell. " Discord said as he made a bell shaped like his head appear in Twilight's mouth who spat it out and looked like it had tasted bad to her and then he hopped onto a stuffed toy teddy bear shaped like a trike that appeared out of nowhere and it walked t though the door that appeared and then Discord disappeared .
" Hey! Get back here! you're the one who's supposed to be doing this! " Rainbow Dash said loudly.
" No! Let him go for now! We will get more done without him around to drive us crazy and between you and me I'm not even sure why Celestia wanted him to go along with this but I'm sure she has her reasons." Twilight said as she looked a little more than happy to let Discord leave..
" I suppose you are right; we will get more done without him hanging around so much and he was driving me crazy with all that crazy stuff he was doing." Rainbow Dash
" You certainly will not hear me complain about him leaving.. He may be our.. Err... Friend.... But his personality still leaves a lot to be desired" Rarity said
" .. Well in any case We're not heading for your homeland Gilda.. We are looking for humans. " Twilight said to change the subject.
" You're kidding... WHAHAHAAHA!!!! You're not kidding!!! WHAHAHA! You're looking for some mythical beings made up by griffins? That is rich! WHAHAHA! " Gilda said with very amused look.
' WHAT!? You heard about humans and you never told me?!? " Rainbow Dash almost exploded.
" Well I didn't think I needed too; They are only some Griffin myth. " Gilda
" Too bad you didn't say something before because you could've saved us a lot of time on the road with Discord because as it turns out they are real. " Twilight said as she wondered if perhaps this sudden rush of clues after such a long time of no clues was fate playing a role that would change Equestria again. She certainly could believe it.
" Well I never seen one.. No griffin that I know of has.." Gilda said as she wondered if they were pulling some kind of prank on her but it didn't feel like one..
" Maybe that's because they live in some remote place or in a place that No griffin has gone too.. I mean have ever heard of anything or anyplace they might be? Please this is important! Twilight said with her best pleading face.
"....... Follow me." Gilda said and looked back still wary of this turn of events. It was if someone or something had guided them to her and they did know of something that she always assumed was only a griffin myth told to young griffins as a joke.
They were soon in Gilda's cabin room as she began to search though a large looking saddle made for griffins..
" Now where did I?.. Oh here it is! This is a map of the other side of Equestria.. " Gilda said as she spread it out onto the nearby table
Twilight who had seen such maps before was surprised how much more detailed it was but then again those few maps were made by ponies and ponies were not that welcomed on the other side by griffins as they felt the ponies had enough of their own lands to the point that the griffins felt that ponies didn't need to know anything about their side of the world; In other words they considered the other half of the world to be theirs and theirs alone which was a bit of a sore point that Twilight hoped that as princess of friendship to smooth out at some point in the future. Who knew? Maybe this would be that much needed change.
Twilight saw a land labeled as unexplored on the map; So she wasn't surprised when Gilda pointed to it.
" There; if there's anyplace on Equestria or anywhere on this world where humans could go unnoticed it would have to be this land... The land of forgotten nightmares." Gilda said with a shudder
" The land of forgotten nightmares? Seriously? It's name is forgotten nightmares?" Rainbow Dash asked in a dubious but nervous voice
" Yes; But some call it the land of broken dreams; Others call it the land of the forgotten moon; A few call it the forbidden mountains because it's believed there is nothing but mountains and more mountains and even if there is more to the land than the mountains that surrounds it... There are strange currents of water that become very stormy on their own and the wind on the mountains is so brutal that it's impossible for even a strong flyer to get near it but I do know this.. No one and I do mean no one has ever found a way to get though those mountains or at least no one who ever found a way has return alive and trust me a lot have gone in but none has ever returned. " Gilda said flatly.
" That's because we didn't go there yet and as soon as we get what we need this land is where we start" Twilight
" Then I'm going with you because there's no way you ponies can do this on your own because you're all too soft and wishy washy!" Gilda said with a look that dared them to contest what she said
" Are you worried about us Gilda? I thought you said we were lame." Rainbow Dash said with a teasing smirk on her face.
WHAT? No! I mean you are lame but if I let you go without some serious help I'd never hear the end of it from mom because she like you ponies though for the life of me I don't know why." Gilda said as she somehow managed to turn a little red in her face.
" Uh huh. Sounds to me like you could learn a thing or two from your mom but in any case we accept but remember this is serious and there isn't going to time or room for jokes. " Twilight said with a smile
" Yeah, Yeah I know what to expect and what to do; But I got to warn you this place has taken it's share of lives and most of them have been pony ones.. There's a good reason it's labeled as unexplored. Because no one has ever returned once they have landed on it's shores.. What you see is what we could learn from the air before the currents got the best of any flyer. " Gilda said as she looked to see their reactions and had to admit they didn't look like they were going to back down.
Who would've guessed that these ponies had a real backbone when it came to dealing with danger she thought to herself.
They then all looked at the map each lost in their thoughts. Fluttershy was scared but wanted to show the others she could handle this and took on a brave face; Rarity wondered what one wore for exploring something unexplored; Rainbow Dash was feeling both eager and a little worried.. But only a bit..Or at least that is what she would say the rest of her life; Pinkie Pie wondered if there were any parties though she did have one of her rare moments that told her she may need to serious sooner or later and Apple Jack looked unsettled but strangely thoughtful as if she were thinking of something she had not thought of for a long time..
Finally Twilight broke the silent moment
" You know what? I think the name of forgotten moon is really a ref to Artimare herself. Yes I'm sure of it now! It's even possible she may still be alive." Twilight said
" What?!? No way! Discord said that that Alicorn could die" Rainbow Dash said
" Yes and I don't think he was lying about that but we also know a lot of history was lost when he took over and maybe even before he took over; So what if she's was the one that led them there because she wanted them to be safe from her father and Alicorns do live a very long time and it's also possible she couldn't preform her duty as the Moon keeper for some reason or it could be she knew that if she did use her powers that her father might find her and the humans that he bought from their world and what if she's still living in fear of her father all this time?!?.. We could reunite Celestia and Luna with their mother!! " Twilight said with gleam of hope and happiness in her eyes
" Um Darling as wonderful as that sounds that is a lot of if's and we certainly can't expect it to be true" Rarity said as she looked at Twilight's suddenly grumpy face and she was now wishing she had said it.
" I hate to say it but I gotta agree on this with Rarity that is a lot of if's." Rainbow Dash said with a hard look as Twilight looked sad but then she smiled. It wasn't a happy smile but more of a thoughtful smile.
" I know; I guess I did get carried away for bit there but I do think that Artimare was here and that the name of forgotten moon is a ref to her and even if she is dead I think we should find out what happen to her and see if she left anything behind for the princesses as we look for the humans. " Twilight said as she picked up the map with her magic to look at it closer.
" Now that sounds like something we can do! I'm in! " Rainbow Dash said as her held out her hoof. Twilight covered it with hers and was soon followed by Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Apple Jack and then they looked at Gilda..
" Oh fine but I think you're nuts but hey some griffin should be there seeing how it's our side of the world." Gilda said as she laid her paw on their hooves.
" And I think I spotted a possible place to land.. It's small so we will need two rowboats so we will have the supply we need for what might take a couple of weeks.. this is a pretty big land and no telling how much of it don't have anything we can use on this quest." Twilight said as she rolled up the map and tucked into one of her wings and Gilda looked like she was going to say something about the map being hers but then changed her mind and decided it wasn't important right now.
They were soon loaded up and on their way and were almost there when the sea got all wavy and just when it looked like the sudden storm was going to make them crash it suddenly stopped for unknown reasons and everyone looked relived..
" I dunno what that was all about but for a sec there I could swear I saw a bunch of seaponies both churning up and calming the water" Rainbow Dash said
Everybody else looked at each other and rolled their eyes to avoid laughing at Rainbow Dash.
" Oh Rainbow Dash; You know they are a myth. " Twilight said with a giggle
They soon landed and twilight ordered them to look for a path
" Hey everypony! I found something! " Pinkie Pie soon said loudly as they were pretty far apart,
They went and saw a bunch of stones that were laid out in arrow point.
" Looks like somepony did make it here after all.. Follow that arrow! " Twilight said
They were soon following a bunch of arrows of one kind or another
" So Twilight; Do you think this place really does have something besides a bunch of mountains? " Rainbow Dash asked as she caught up to her.
But before Twilight could answer they saw a strange beautiful but very wild looking land laying before them.
" Does that answer your question? She asked
" Um yeah but I'm I the only pony with the anime song of Tarizee The monkey pony king in their heads right now?" Rainbow Dash asked but didn't get her answer as the they looked at the many strange plants and animals.
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The humans hidden among the ponies
They thought it was too easy to get in and they were right pt 1
Twilight and the others began to walk and they were all looking at the many plants and animals and Fluttershy tried to talk to the animals but she got nowhere with them when Twilight stopped and spoke up.
" This isn't right. Something is wrong." Twilight she said as she looked around to look for trouble..
" Well it is strange that I can't talk to most of the animals here.. In fact it's like they have no real intelligence and are nothing more than beasts here which is silly because there hasn't been such animals like that since the dawn of ponykind " Fluttershy said
" That's because they are beasts Fluttershy; See that animal over there? It's a giant rockadillo that's been extinct for nearly a million years and that flower there; It's a sparkling sunset daisy; They been extinct for over 3000 years; This area is a paradise of plants and animals that ponies have never set eyes on or have not seen in ages.. Why there could be things here that are not even in the books. A pony could spend their whole life studying this land but that's not what's bothering me; It was far too easy to get into this place.. So why has nopony ever returned?" Twilight asked
" Now that I think about it; You're right! Something stinks here and where is everypony? You'd at least think they'd build a town here or something." Rainbow Dash said suddenly alert
" Oh dear I hope we... AHHHHIIEIEEE!!! Fluttershy screamed when a net suddenly came out the tall plants to cover her and the rest and even Gilda soon found themselves all tied up and they soon saw their attackers and Fluttershy was the first to react.
" Oh how cute I never seen anything like this before and it's sooo cute!!!" Fluttershy said when she saw what looked like a dirty walking ball of badly matted fur.
" We not cute! We Bushwoolies! You prisoners of master!" the bluish thing said
" Oh and it can talk too! Oh how wonderful! HEY! What are you!?? OOOFFF! OWIE! Fluttershy said as the bushwoolies roughly threw her into a very low cage with lots of little wheels on it and the others soon followed and soon they were all pulling the cart with a little more ease than one might expect out of such small creatures though it was clear they were struggling to pull it.
" Wow they are pretty strong for a bunch of talking and walking furballs.. Hey you furballs! Let us out or you're going to pay Rainbow Dash style! " She said
" We only obey master!. The blue one said
The bushwoolies ignored all the complaints,pleading and even the attempted bribe or two though where Pinkie Pie got those muffins was anybody's guess.
They were soon dragged into what had to be the one the most gaudy and tasteless building they ever saw.
" Whoh and I thought Twilight's castle was a bit of an eyesore before we fixed it up..No offense Twilight! " Rainbow Dash said
" None taken trust me.. I still miss my old home but you got to admit the new one does have it's perks... But this place sure could use less light if you know what I'm saying here." Twilight said as they were taken though a horrifying hallway filled with all kinds of gaudy and it full of tastelessly colored statues of what looked like cats and the size went from small to down right gigantic..
" Oh my! This place is in serious need of new décor! And all these dreadful statues seem to be the same cat! " Rarity said as she felt sick looking at a very pea green flag with a cat's face on it..
Then a cat about the size of a pony came up to them and except for it's sheer size it almost looked and walked like a normal everyday housecat. The oversized housecat kept walking around a bit as if trying to decide something and then sat in front of the cage..
" Well it looks like you useless furballs managed to get me some new ponies to add to my slave collection but they will need to be properly train like the other ponies and we will start by showing them what their fate will be if they do not behave themselves! Open the pit! The cat said and for some reason none of the ponies were surprised she could talk or at least not for long.
Yes; Catrina! Said the blue bushwoolie
A trap door opened as the bushwoolies tied a ropes to the cage and using pullys they lifted the thing into the air.
" What is that stuff?" Twilight said as she found herself looking at what looked like rotted green jelly but the jelly would look and smell better than this stuff.
" I dunno but it sure does reek badly! " Rainbow Dash
" I'm getting a mighty bad feeling about whatever that stuff is." Apple jack said with a shiver
" I'm not liking whatever that is and if I'm not liking it you know it's bad!" Pinkie Pie
" Oh dear.. Is that stuff moving around? Fluttershy
" This is hardly the way to treat a proper lady like myself and I certainly don't want anywhere near the stuff! " Rarity
" Silent! This stuff as you call it is perhaps the very last Smooze pit left in existence.. Legend has it that there used to be more pits all around the world and it created many a horror story and legends about it but I wouldn't know for sure as I never felt the need to leave my people's land and why should I when I am queen here?.. Of course I did have to get rid what few of my race were left alive but as my people used to say.. The only way to rule is out of fear and if they don't fear you then you must get rid of them... So I did by feeding them to the smooze! " Catrina
The ponies and even Gilda gulped.
" W-what is that stuff and what do you mean you fed your people to it?" Twilight asked even though part of her really,really didn't want to know.
" Oh not much; It's just a carnivorous form of algae-like life form that can eat a whole pony in an hour.... I don't do it unless I have too but sometimes I have to teach them not to escape and as for you miss griffin... Behave or you'll be in there like all the other griffins that came before you as I've learned how difficult your race can be and have fed the Smooze many a griffin if you know what I'm saying here.. Watch what happens to this beast meat.." Catrina said as she tossed what looked like the hind end of some unlucky animal....
" Don't watch Fluttershy! " Rainbow Dash as she watched the meat dissolve into a bone that Catrina removed and tossed it into a black hole
" Umm I do have animals that like to eat meat you know.. Remember? " Fluttershy said calmly
" Oh yeah.. I forget but don't you just normally feed them fish or worms ? " Rainbow Dash questioned her
' Yes but that don't mean I don't understand it but I will admit it's not easy knowing they have those needs " Fluttershy
" Enough girls.. Now is not the time to be discussing how Fluttershy feeds her animals when she has to feed them meat.. We agree to your terms seeing we have no other choice right now. " Twilight said to them but muttered under her breath about it only being for now...
" An excellent choice! Seeing how my magic prevents anyone from ever leaving once they are in my domain which is all of Catrinaland! Pony 132!" Catrina yelled loudly and they soon saw a much older pony with a very odd shaped raspberry for a cutiemark...
" You called my queen? " he asked in the most scared voice they ever heard..
" See to my new slaves and give them their numbers and put them on smooze cleanup detail for now! Now be gone all of you! I have better things to do!' Catrina said
She watched them leave and soon was rubbing her paws together with a very greedy look on her face..
" I do believe that the purple one may be a Alicorn... if so I may be able to add her power to the old magics I've been using to keep anything from leaving this land or finding the truth about this part of the land.. Why I even may be able to expand my power to include all of this land...Maybe even the world.. But the question is are there more like her besides the one that was supposed to have come here a long time ago.. In any case I can't force her to show her hoof... At least not without me using the magical artifacts but maybe a little time here will loosen her tongue.. " The look on Catrina was that of someone up to no good..
Meanwhile the ponies were being led by pony 132 to what looked like an ill kept barn and what they saw there made them blanch in horror...
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The humans hidden among the ponies
They thought it was too easy to get in and they were right pt2
Twilight and the others blanched at the dirty and run down shape everything was in but the worst part was everyone in this mess was some kind of pony and many looked like they had not bathed in weeks and the looks of hopelessness and despair on their faces seem to cut though the air like a knife.
As they followed him though the mess Twilight couldn't help but wonder why they didn't at least try to clean up a little
" Finally it's safe to talk now; My name is Nowberry. " Nowberry said as he continued walking.
" Oh good! So I take it Catrina is forcing you to live this way using some means to control all of you" Twilight said as they walked towards the back as Rarity did her best to walk in the cleanest parts..
But before Nowberry could answer another voice spoke up.
" She's doing that and more. " Said a female voice
They looked to see who was talking and there was a black long haired human girl who had been chained up to a rather large rock that looked worse for wear and tear..
" Oh my gosh~ OH MY GOSH! YOU'RE A HUMAN !!! " Twilight
" Judging by you're reaction; I'd say You are Alicorn from the outside which means that the one way magical path has opened and no doubt has closed again and the fact that one of you is Alicorn from the outside means you could be the ponies of promise I've been waiting for the last 2 years; I'll have many questions for you.." The girl said in a flat no nonsense voice
" So this is what a human looks like... You did a pretty good job of describing them Twilight though this one has a rather dull light peach color skin and what's with the black gem that looks like black version of your element? " Rainbow Dash asked
Suddenly the black gem crackled with a dark sinister black energy when the girl gave them a sharp look causing all of them to back off in fear..
" So then you are the ponies of promise.. Now maybe Queen Artimoon can finally be saved from her prison. " The girl stated in a matter of fact voice as the gem glowed and crackled with a fearful dark energy that reminded Twilight of the spell Princess Celestia once used... No it was more like Sombra's power but it lacked the feel of heartless malice and felt more... Un-natural and a sadness clung to it like a blanket...
" Beg pardon? But who are you and what's this about Queen Artimare and what was that about a magic path?" Twilight asked a little more than confused
" Don't they teach you ponies anything on the outside? Queen Artimare is the rightful Alicorn ruler of this land and perhaps this world if it is not her daughters who are raising the sun and moon for the last thousand years or more.. As for who I am; My name is Darkdawn and I serve Queen Artimare or at least I did before I found out about the ponies of promise and came here to the magical path hoping to meet you here and help you save Queen Artimare and now that you are here I must now take you to the city of the Alicorn and humans .... The city of Alicornia." Darkdawn said as the gem crackled with more power as she stared at them..
" That's silly; Alicronia is a mythical city in the mythical land of; NO WAY! Are you saying this land is... Ponyland?" Twilight asked with a gulp as certain very, very old legends about ponies and where they originally came from came to her mind...
" Yes; This is Ponyland or rather what is left of it after King Sunburn starting using it both as a prison and for his many experiments; .Some for the good of ponykind but there were also much darker experiments like myself.. I was his attempt to make a human be as powerful and immortal as Alicorn... Unlucky for me... I was his successful experiment but in spite of all my power this lousy magical seal of a rock and chains that Catrina somehow found and dug up out of one of his magical lab hellholes keeps even me chained up and unable to leave... For now. .. Catrina is very foolish if she thinks she can take my power away from me so easily." Darkdawn said as the dark power blasted away at the dark rock and small bits of it flew off...
Twilight and the other ponies gulped and began to wonder if letting this girl escape was a good idea but it was clear that rock couldn't survive those dark magic blasts much longer..
" Twilight; Any idea what this crazy human girl is talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked as she tried to look at Twilight but kept nervously looking back at this strange girl
" I am not crazy; I am Darkdawn; the bearer of the one and only element of DARKNESS!!! If you wish to escape and survive this land you will need me.!" Darkdawn said with firmness that spoke of truth as more bits of the rock went flying off as she blasted it again..
" Element of darkness? That doesn't sound very good or very healthy! I say we leave this horrid girl here and try to escape on our own! " Rarity said
" No Rarity; That would not be the right thing to do; We must help these ponies and we must help this girl because it's the right thing to do because it's not our place to judge someone because they have scary powers and besides she knows more about this land than we do and I think this Queen Artimare is the mother of Princess Celestia and Luna but what I don't understand is why Discord made it sound like she couldn't be alive or what this element of darkness is because all six elements are back with the tree of harmony. " Twilight
Suddenly Darkdawn burst out laughing casing the dark energy to hit the floor, the rock and the chains but for some unknown reason the blasts that hit the chains went to the rock causing it to grow a bit suggesting that the chains were more magical than the rock or at least they had some kind of magic keeping her locked up but the display of power did more to cause the ponies to panic and move from possibly being hit than watching the magic that imprisoned her..
" Sorry about that but you totally deserved that one for thinking that Discord would tell the total truth about anything.. It sounds like King Sunburn's ex-pet is still up to some of his old silly tricks after all this time. It's not that easy to kill a Alicorn or cause them to die; Queen Artimare is very much alive and is well enough for a prisoner of this land. " Darkdawn said in a voice that spoke of truth..
Twilight had to sigh even if she didn't fully know what this girl was talking about; But all she could think of was the fact that she should've known better. She should've known Discord wouldn't tell the exact truth. He may be reformed but he was still a pain in the flank and worse yet ; HE enjoyed being a pain in the flank..
" I should've known he wasn't telling the whole story or exact truth about it but I still don't understand how this element of darkness of yours can even exist... I mean if you want us to help you're going have to explain that one seeing there are only six elements. Twilight
" Hmmm.. I see... Sounds like much of the old history of ponies during King Sunburn's rule has been lost or destroyed... First tell me your story and of these princesses of which you spoke of.. You don't need to tell me everything but just enough so I can fill in a few gaps here as it's clear some history is unknown to me and that you lost some history. " Darkdawn said as the element of darkness seem to calm down much to the relief of everyone...
Twilight told her of the princesses, the elements, nightmare moon, Luna and even the changeling attack and she kept on until she reached the part about herself becoming a princess and what led them to look for the humans that were brought to their world using the mirror.
" So that's pretty much the cheat sheet about what happen to us and to Equestria but there are a lot more details but I think it's enough for now.. it's your turn.. " Twilight
" So much has been lost... More than should've been perhaps.. How sad but a deal is a deal and I'll tell you of the element of darkness which is nothing like the elements you know of . " Darkdawn said with a sad face.
" I thought so but how is it different? Twilight asked because she wanted to know more before she did anything..
" My element is not from a tree of harmony as you called it; It was artificially created by King Sunburn using a small part of the heart of Equestria and a large part of the heart of darkness but the bottom line is I became the bearer of the element of darkness... Forever torn between the power of darkness and of light..." Darkdawn
" I see.. But what is this about the heart of Equestria and this heart of darkness ? " Twilight as she grew even more puzzled.
" To understand that you must go back to the very creation of Equestria...Once long ago before the universes came to be there were two beings who's power was greater than a billion Alicorns. One was good, honest and loving but the other was more selfish, heartless and worst of all very petty. They each created their own worlds and universes.
The good one created Equestria and all those who inhibit it and the human world that is connected to as well and at the same time she transformed herself and buried herself into Equestria becoming it's very center and she quickly became known as the heart of Equestria.
The other being also created her own world and universe but her creation lacked any heart and soon crumbled apart as her demands from her own creations grew worse and worse and then when she saw how badly it had decayed she decided what she wanted was a new world; One that wasn't decayed and dying and she quickly set her eyes on Equestria but when she was how much better and happier everyone and everything was... She went from planning to wanting to taking over to wanting to destroy it out of pure hate and spite and to do that she transformed her own body to be like the heart of Equestria but howeverr she made her own body as small as she could and she made it in the shape of a stake and then she drove her new body into Ponyland and plowed deep enough to where the tip just touches the heart of Equestria..
It was not long before she started causing trouble for this world... I think that Luna's change, the changelings and others are a but a few results of that trouble.. In fact I doubt it was real hunger that drove the changelings... It sounds more like love energy gives them a bit of power which they crave like a drug they are hooked on which far better explains the fact they were so easily repelled by love energy which was supposed to feed them but that is aside the point...
While she created much trouble over time; The real troubles for Ponyland began when King Sunburn had learned to tap into both of their power with which I was one such result of this tapping as was Queen Artimare's imprisonment here when she deified her father and dared to free the human race from their bondage... " Darkdawn
" .... I see.... I guess somehow the real story of how Queen Artimare got badly mixed up over time" Twilight asked as she tapped her jaw thoughtfully
" Yes it would seem a lot was lost.. No telling how much forgotten history has become mear legends ." Darkdawn
" Ok I understand as well as I'm going too for now... Now how does this imprisonment spell work? " Twilight
" There are 8 layers in all; the first is the one you went though or what we call the magic path; It lets others in but never out so that this land would get a bad rep.. Catrina is tapping into a small bit of it to keep these ponies and others here; The rest is mostly her cold hearted brutality.. I'm sure she showed you the Smooze.. " Darkdawn
" Yeah; She showed us but are you not afraid of it? " Rainbow Dash
" Not really the element of darkness is quite the weapon and it protects me and she does fear and longs for my power in spite of what she might say and even she can see it cannot be separated from me so easily as to try to dump me into the smooze and besides she'd have to free me to do that one which she knows what would happen to her if I got free...
In fact if she had not caught me asleep when she caught me I'd blasted this place until I found the spell stones that make the first seal work but perhaps it was for the best she did catch me since I'd have to wait for the six ponies of promise to destroy the spell stones since my power cannot do it because it's mainly a power fueled by my darker feelings and it can only be unlocked by the power of the promised six which would make that you.. Besides the stuff may be dangerous but it's weakness is simple enough; All you need is enough plain old salt and it'll die faster than a over salted slug... " Darkdawn
" Huh! That is easy! Rainbow Dash said though she found it hard to believe it was so simple but she had seen enough things in her life to know that sometimes it was the most simple things that worked the best.
"Yes it is... I guess I can make the bell appear now that we know more about what's going on here. " Twilight said with a smile
" You mean you could've called Discord this whole time? Why didn't you do that sooner? Rainbow Dash
" I told you I wanted to know more and besides we learned what happen to all the ponies that came here and now it's time we did something about it. " Twilight
" You mean some of them.. The rest managed to slip though and a few ponies even got as far as Alicornia without even once seeing Catrina or the other dangers between here and Alicornia..." Darkdawn said flatly
" I stand corrected.. Some of them. " Twilight said with a smile.
" Yes let's save them and then we can have a get out jail free party when we are done!" Pinkie Pie said happily
" Eh works for me and I say we do it!. Rainbow Dash said eager to get out of this mess.
" You'll get no complaint out me leaving this horrid place! " Rarity said
" But let's be careful not to hurt any ponies or those cute little Bushwoolies because I'm sure once they know they can be free of Catrina they'll be good." Fluttershy said with a smile..
" Ah Sure wouldn't mind getting out of here!" Apple Jack
Twilight caused the bell to ring and Discord appeared and seem to be on what looked like he was painting of all things.
" Do you mind I was.... EEEEEEEEAAAAKKKKKK!!!! Discord screamed when he saw Darkdawn and somehow he jumped into Twilight's front legs who looked very annoyed by Discord and dropped him on the floor.
" What is she doing here? I thought she'd be killed by now! " Discord asked as he got up off the floor and then floated to her and pointed to her with a magically made foam thumb hand that read.. I'm with stupid here...
" Nice to see you again too Discord.. Never thought I'd see Old Sunburn's pet again! " Darkdawn said with a smirk
" That's slander! You know full well I was just amusing him because it amused me! " Discord said as he stuck out his tongue...
" Yeah right; Like the fact he was 100 times more skilled at magic than you were at the time had nothing to do with it! Darkdawn said still smirking.
Discord happen to look at the ponies and most of them were looking at him with the same smirk..
" What? It was a long time ago! And don't even think of spreading it out because friends do not blab about other friends secrets even I know that one! Discord said as he tried to look hurt..
" Fine, fine but if you think we will not talk about it every time you misbehave too much... " Rainbow Dash said in a threating voice
" That's blackmail! " Discord complained
" Yeah I know... That's kind-of why I said it. " Rainbow Dash with a huge blackmail of a grin on her face.
" Fine be that way! But I give no promise to not misuse one of your dark secrets to my advantage one day! " Discord said as one of his shoulder magically iced over as he turned his back towards Rainbow Dash
" Enough Discord! I didn't call you so you can have a fight with some pony... I need you to free Darkdawn. " Twilight
" WHAT? Are you crazy? There's no way I'm helping that girl! Discord said as he stretched his neck around Darkdawn until he had gone around her a few times and then stopped his head very near Darkdawn's head and stuck out his tongue at her again...
Darkdawn stood up and everyone could now see how dirty her clothes were from her imprisonment...
Come here a sec.. I got something to say to you Discord! " Darkdawn said she quickly grabbed his nearby head and then whispered something into his ear
" YOU WOULDN'T DARE!" Discord looked at her with a very shocked face as he backed away from her a bit.
" This is me you're talking too and you know if you don't behave on your own free will around me; I can and will use every dirty trick I know to get you to behave by force since you pulled so many dirty tricks on me back in the days when we were in old Sunburn's castle together. Darkdawn said flatly
" I guess this what they call karma... Fine.. I'll do it but I still hate you! : Discord said in a snippy voice
" Oh please you never really hated anyone and we both know it.. Also while you're freeing me I could use clean clothes and you know the kind I like so don't even think of putting me into clown clothes again or something else outlandish or else. " Darkdawn said with a smirk
Discord grumbled and said something about her still being a pain in the rear as the chains vanished and her clothes took on a green fantasy cloth armored look to them.
" OH! How nice! You seem to have some taste in clothes.. " Rarity said because she just wasn't sure what to make of humans or their clothes just yet...
Darkdawn didn't reply as she stretched a bit..
" You can take care of the other 11 stalls that the ponies are in.. I'll deal with Katrina because she might not go to prison willingly..." Darkdawn said and then black lighting bolts hit the massive doors and it almost sounded like it was screaming in pain as sounds of wood cracking , bending and even warping of wood, stone and metal could be heard until..
KAAWWWWHOOOMMM!! Pieces went flying all over the place but every time one piece got too close to a pony it got blasted away so in spite of the terrible damage done to the door.. No one was hurt.
Twilight and the others looked very pale as black smoke and fire burned a bit before Darkdawn snuffed it out with a swirling mass of dark magical energy that also shoved the larger pieces aside like they were toothpicks..
" She has not changed much.. I'd be careful around her.. She always was a loose cannon because of what King Sunburn did to her to make her this way and part of her hates ponies because of him but at the same time she loves them because of what of Queen Artimare did for her.." Discord said as some old bad memories that he had made himself try to forget came back to haunt him.
" I plan to have her watched every second.. Rainbow Dash; think you can outrun that power of hers in time to warn us if she's going too far if we are not close enough to watch her? " Twilight asked
" In my sleep! ! " Rainbow Dash said with a snort..
" Good! You and Discord will be watching and following her and before you even think of protesting Discord; it's that or listen to me lecture you about all those little half-fibs you told us about Alicorns and about what we learned from Darkdawn. " Twilight said as Discord started to look ready to say something.
" Oh poo! I hate it when she ruins my fun with the truth like that!" Discord said with a grumpy face..
Darkdawn didn't say much as she went out the door as she was quickly followed by Rainbow Dash and Discord.
" The rest of us will deal with the ponies; Fluttershy; Do you think you can talk the Bushwoolies into helping us? " Twilight asked
" I can try but it may not be easy as you make it sound." Fluttershy
" I'm pretty sure once they see we escaped and that there are enough of us to fight back they may think about it and besides I'm pretty sure they are only doing what Catrina said out of fear of her and if we promise to help them be free of her they will help but we will need your ability to reason with small animals; The rest of us will see about freeing the ponies and getting them out of here. " Twilight said
" Well then what are we waiting for? Am a hankering to get outta this place! " Apple Jack; With that said they went to work on freeing everyone..
Meanwhile Darkdawn, Discord and Rainbow Dash were now entering the throne room.
" ACK! I thought I destroyed the last of that horrid Smooze ages ago! " Discord said as he looked in horror at a sight that he had hoped to never see again.
" As did I but we both somehow managed to miss this Smooze pit but that mistake will soon be fixed; I'll need about 5 tons of salt for this batch. " Darkdawn said as she looked at it..
" I can't let you do that! " Catrina said as she came out of a rather shadowy area..
" Oh please like you can stop me! I may not have been the nicest creature of chaos you ever meant back in the good old days when I ruled Equestria but even I drew the line at using the Smooze pits being used to kill ponies! " Discord said as a giant glass salt shaker appeared over the Smooze pit.
NOOOOOO!!!! I'll not let you! Catrina said in a panicked voice and she made a huge jump onto the salt shaker but since it was made of glass she slid strait into the Smooze pit before anyone could react.
NO! I gotta save her! Rainbow Dash said she started to fly towards her only to be quickly stopped by both Discord and Darkdawn.
" No Rainbow Dash! It's too late already! The Smooze is very poisonous as well as being quick to eat any victim that so much as touches it! She wrote her own death warrant the second she was foolish enough to even be this close to the Smooze. Discord said with a sad look.
" He's right; There is nothing we can do for her now but let the Smooze have it's one last victim. " Darkdawn said sadly..
Rainbow Dash watched in horror as Catrina's remains were dissolved into bones and her blood stained part of the Smooze in a crimson red and she silently made a vow to be faster and more alert from that day on...
" What a lousy way to go! Well no sense crying over it but I think I better speed this up before anyone else ends up in the Smooze! Discord said as he made the salt shaker turn into lots and lots of salt and then he lowered it gently into the Smooze .
" Good riddance to bad garbage! " Darkdawn said as the Smooze began to boil and quickly turned a rancid brown and it soon smelled like a sewer and finally it stopped moving and then it turned into what looked very much like normal soil dirt to Rainbow Dash..
" I never did understand how that nasty stuff turns into plain old soil dirt so quickly after it dies. " Discord commented as he looked at it closely to make sure all the Smooze was very,very dead which it was...
" You and me both! Well I guess Catrina will not be going to court in Alicornia after all.. Maybe it's for the best since things will only get harder from here on out because we got work to do." Darkdawn said as she looked around
"WORK?!? Like more of that horrid awful actual work like the kind they expected me to do back in Ponyville? That's my cue to leave!" Discord said and he vanished into a puff of pink smoke.
" Hey get back here you.." Rainbow Dash started to say.
" No! We will get more done without him hanging around so much and besides he always was the very lazy type using his power to do almost everything for him. " Darkdawn said
" Yeah; You got a point there but from the sound of it the two of you had quite the history together. " Rainbow Dash
" We butted heads more than a few hundred times and tell the truth it was kind of fun to do it again.. I guess you could say we are friends that like butting heads with each other too much to ever say we were or are friends to each other,; Not that Discord would ever admit he feels the same way but I always did but enough of that.. What say we all get out of this place? " Darkdawn said as she pointed to the exit.
" Sounds good to me! " Rainbow Dash said as the others rejoined them and soon they were outside where Rainbow Dash told the others what happened to Catrina and even the Bushwoolies who had been convinced by Fluttershy to help them looked a little sad about it but not for long as soon everyone was celebrating their new found freedom all the way to the next day .
On the next day as the sun was just above the mountains in the distance they were ready to deal with the spell stones..
" Ok Darkdawn ; Any idea where these spell stones are? " Twilight
Darkdawn looked around a bit.. Odd; I'm sure they should be close by because I can feel their presence ... In fact.. Of course! They'd be in Catrina's castle. " She said as she looked at the castle.
" Oh great! It'll take forever to find them in all that mess! " Rainbow Dash said as the others nodded in agreement
" Not if I blast it apart; the spell stones are too strong for me to destroy them but Catrina's castle is another story now that I'm free and I think this land will look much better without her ugly castle and with everyone safe and the Smooze dead I can now do this ." She said
Darkdawn's element glowed once more with her dark magic energy and with a few mighty blasts Catrina's castle ceased to exist leaving little more than a bunch of pebble sized rocks and debris that were quickly sent into a pile with her power causing everyone to look nervously at her and wondering just how powerful her element really was.
Darkdawn soon had cleared the debris aside to revel six spell stones made of a crystal that reminded Twilight of the crystal that she saw when the changeling queen had trapped her underneath Celestia's castle and hen she took a closer look at one and she was surprised to see that Pinkie Pie's cutiemark was on one and then she saw that the next one to it had her own cutiemark.
But how? Then she remembered that Darkdawn did say something about them being the promised six but it raised a lot of questions like how it got on it and who could've known beforehand or if other unknown forces were at hand but she now had a hunch on what to do.
" Girls look for the crystal with your cutiemark on it! " Twilight said as she went to the crystal with her cutiemark on it.
" Now let's touch it together!" Twilight said and the next thing everyone knew they had to shelter their eyes from the huge blast of red magic energy was released and when they could see again.
" NO WAY! The mountains! T-they're GONE! " Rainbow Dash said as she looked at where the mountains were to be seen in the distance as all the other ponies gasped in surprise.
" No not all of them; Just the ones that were part of the spell that made everyone think there were there; It was also meant to discourage from anyone from entering as well keep them from leaving. I dare say now that it is gone we will be getting some visitors and maybe even a few settlers moving in but I do hope they soon see that ponyland is nothing like any other land because thanks to the heart of darkness crashing into this land millions of years ago; The heart of Equestria and the heart of darkness effects it like no other land they ever seen before or will ever see again. " Darkdawn said
" That must've been some spell to make us think there were mountains there! " Rarity said as she though about how real they looked and even felt.
" You have no idea how powerful it was but it was plenty powerful. " Darkdawn said honestly.
" Yes that's obvious now but you know what? I like the way it looks like much better now with just it's lovely grasslands to see in that direction! " Fluttershy said happily
" And now all these folks can go home iffen they want too." Apple Jack said as she pointed at the now clean and happy ponies they had freed.
" I was born here as Catrina's slave so I think I'll stay here and help start a town to greet those ponies that will come but I'll need a name for it. How about Freepony? " Nowberry asked
" I think I'll stay too" Said one female pony as most of the others agreed with her but a few said they wanted to go home more.
" I think it's a perfect name for a town here!" Rarity said as the others nodded
" Just watch yourselves about getting too close to that nearby sabertooth forest; It's got lots of sabertooth tigers in it that would be more than happy to make lunch of any ponies that get too near it. A lot of ponies that got though Catrina or escaped from here were eaten before they could get very far. " Darkdawn said helpfully as she pointed towards a distant forest that could be seen towards where she was pointing.
Several ponies gulped at the thought of it.
" Maybe we should build a nice tall and thick stone wall with gates to match to surround the town first! " Nowberry said as the other ponies all quickly nodded in agreement
" I think I've seen enough of this place myself; So I'm out of here as soon as I find the boat." Gilda said
" In that case could you do us a favor and deliver a letter to Princess Celestia? I think I can trust you more than Discord and seeing how Spike is not here I really need somepony willing to take it too her and I hope you'll do it and maybe Celestia will be happy enough to reward you. Twilight said
Gilda seemed to be thinking about it and finally said " I guess you did set me free so I'll do it and maybe Celestia will give me my own party or something. " She said trying to look cool about it but was clearly happy about the idea of having a party thrown just for her in Canterlot.
" Thank you! Lucky for me I wrote it last night" Twilight said as she gave her the letter and soon Gilda was on her way back.
" We still got seven more spell stone sites to take care of so we better get going as soon as we pack enough food but right now I sure do wish we had a human or even Alicorn skyship right about now; It's going to be a long walk there as it is; I'll see if I can build a makeshift cart for the food. Darkdawn said as she began to look for stuff they could use on the trip.
" I'll help her. " Apple Jack said and soon joined her.
" Anypony have any idea what a skyship is? " Rainbow Dash asked but nopony responded and then everypony looked at Twilight.
" I have no idea but something tells me we will be wishing for one too before we get to Alicornia. " Twilight said with a worried grin.
To be cont.