Truth or Forgiveness

Twilight just couldn’t understand where everything went wrong. Their mission had started off easy enough: take the explosive Element to the bottom of a chasm, leave it there, and then return home. That was how everything was supposed to go; she even made a check list for the mission! But running for her life with her friends from a bloodthirsty drakon was not on that list!

After walking down the path that their new friend Naruko had indicated, the girls had marveled at the massive iron bars that spanned the darkness. What amazed them was that once they were past the cloud of darkness, everything was bright and sunny again. Well, as much sun as the bottom of a massive chasm could have. A little while later, all six of them found a good enough spot to discard the seventh Element of Harmony.

“Right here should be good enough, girls,” Twilight said to them indicating a small rock pile. Applejack was the one holding in the artifact in her saddle bags, took it out and let Twilight take it in her magic. “Now let’s get rid of this thing and get back to Naruko before Igneel shows up.”

“Looks like we are running out of time, Twi,” said Applejack, indicating the pulsing container that held the Element. “That thing is glowin’ and shakin’ more than Vinyl at one a those raves!” Twilight took a moment to look over the unknown Element. The light was so intense, she could no longer even see the stone within the glass. It was true; they were running out of time. They needed to get rid of this thing and get out of here.

“WAIT A SECOND!!” screamed Pinkie, who was immediately shushed by the group.

“Pinkie!” Twilight growled. “We are trying to not draw attention to ourselves! Igneel could be close by for all we know!”

“He he. Sorry. But I just thought of something!”

“What’s that, darling?” asked Rarity.

“If we leave this Element thingy here, then when it goes kablooey, won’t it destroy the Grand Chasm?” Pinkie asked turning her head to the side.

“That’s what will most likely happen, especially with how much energy it is outputting,” Twilight explained. “Why?”

“Then what will happen to Naruko?” Pinkie asked with sadness in her voice. The girls took a moment to think on that, their faces contorting in horror at the realization.

“Oh no!” said Fluttershy. “If we leave the Element here, Naruko and her home will be… destroyed!” she said beginning to shake in fear.

“I can’t believe I never thought of that,” Twilight replied hanging her head. Then a thought came to her, “I guess then we need to take Naruko with us back to Ponyville.” The others raised their heads when she spoke those words, surprise present on their faces.

“Hey, yeah! Since we can’t leave her here to die, we just need to convince out mountain mare to come with us. Shouldn’t be too hard,” said Applejack. They all nodded, agreeing to the plan almost immediately. Twilight began to shift the Element into the small rock pile, trying to hide it, but that is when everything went wrong. What none of them realized is that they were right outside a large cave, the low light obscuring it from sight. That was until a low, but loud growl came from deep within.

The girls froze in fear and slowly turned their muzzles toward the sound, already knowing that there was only one creature that could make that sound. Slowly, a large hulking beast emerged from the darkness of its cave. Its massive body was covered in sharp spikes, razor sharp teeth obviously visible. The fire-orange eyes practically screaming ‘fear me’ into the minds of the six young mares. This was the great and terrifying creature that Naruko had warned them so dreadfully about; this was the last drakon, Igneel.

It was Rainbow Dash who broke them all from their trance by screaming, “RUUUUUUUN!!!!!!” As one, the girls took off into the chasm, Igneel chasing after them, relishing in the chase of his prey. Twilight turned her head around to see him gaining on them, as well as to see the still pulsing Element in her magical grip. So not only was the most dreadful and terrifying monster in existence chasing after them, but they also had an artifact that was about to explode with them. Perfect. Just perfect, Twilight thought to herself as she and her friends ran for their lives.

Suddenly, Igneel lunged over them and landed right in their path. The girls screamed louder than they ever had, no doubt alerting every other creature in the chasm that Igneel was about to feast. The drakon let out a thunderous roar in return and began to corner the girls into another cave, only this one was blocked by a cave-in. The girls began to cower together and said their goodbyes.

“I am so sorry, girls,” Twilight said to them. “I never meant to get you all killed.”

“It’s not your fault, Twi,” said Applejack.

“That’s right; we all agreed to this,” exclaimed Rainbow. “This was supposed to be an easy adventure, but I guess we don’t get the happy end.”

“WAAA! NO MORE PARTIES!!” cried Pinkie Pie.

“Oh no. What will my animals do without me?” Fluttershy asked before beginning to cry herself.

“At least I went out looking my best,” Rarity said to herself.

The six of them then braced themselves as Igneel began to lower his head in for the kill. Seconds ticked by to what felt like hours. All of their eyes were closed waiting for the inevitable, but it never came. Instead the sound of a crashing rock rang out in front of them. They opened their eyes to see Igneel shaking off pieces of rock. Then another voice rang out in the chasm,

“HEY UGLY!!” The ponies and drakon turned towards the sound and were met by the sight of a very angry tan-colored unicorn. “NO ONE HURTS MY FRIENDS!! YOU GOT ME?” As Naruko said this, she lifted another massive boulder with her forelegs and chucked it right at Igneel’s face colliding with a smash. Faster than anypony could tell, Naruko raced forward and put herself between her friends and the drakon.

“NARUKO!!??” they exclaimed as one.

“Hey girls,” she said conversationally. “Stay behind me. I won’t let him hurt you.” The girls were aghast at her proclamation. How could she take on that hulking monster? they all thought.

“Naruko, you have to get out of here,” Twilight said. “You can’t fight that…that…that thing!”

“Doesn’t mean I won’t try. We friends, aren’t we?” Naruko turned her head to meet her new friends’ eyes. “Trust me, we will get out of this.”

“But—“ they all said until Naruko interrupted.

“TRUST me,” she pushed. For some reason, all of them did. The determination in her voice and in her eyes made of all them feel calmer, more at peace. They nodded their heads and Naruko smiled, but it soon disappeared as she turned back to the now recovered drakon. Igneel looked furious.

“Now you listen here, you stupid handbag! No one, and I mean no one, hurts my friends. So just go back to your cave and leave us alone!” Igneel only growled and let out a massive roar right in her face. She only scowled and glared right back. “So it’s gonna be like that? FINE! I’ll show you how to really roar!”

Naruko took in a big breath and caused something to appear in front of her that had Twilight staring, bug-eyed. What appeared in front of Naruko was as glowing, spinning, magic rune circle! Twilight couldn’t believe the magic she was sensing from it…no, not from the circle, the magic was pouring from Naruko! Her attention was drawn away from the new magic, however, as the seventh Element began to shake uncontrollably in her magical grip and the pulsing light was much more erratic.

“Oh no!” Twilight let out in a scared whisper. “We’re too late! The Seventh Element! It’s going critical!” The others turned towards the artifact as its magic began to shake the very earth around them, its power was going out of control, but Naruko paid no attention to it. She was focused on defending her friends, even if it meant revealing her unique magic. With her cheeks practically inflated with air, she spoke aloud,

“EARTH DRAGON ROAR!!!!" Then with a deafening sound, Naruko let out a massive roar that put Igneel to shame, but that was not the only result. As her voice hit the magic circle, the sound wave turned into a massive sand twister that was spiraling into Ingeel’s very being. The drakon roared in pain, but Naruko knew that this attack would not be enough to kill him. It wasn’t strong enough. Then a miracle happened, she felt a sudden jolt of magical power burst into her being as her sight was blinded by a bright light. The same was said by the mane six who could no longer see anything as the Element burst forth with massive magical energy.

As Naruko let the power flow into her roar, its power doubled, tripled, and kept increasing! She could feel every ounce of energy empower her…no she could feel her friends giving her power! It was their friendship that gave her the power to protect them. So Naruko let the power loose, the roar growing in ferocity and sound. The massive sand twister then engulfed the drakon, pouring over him and flying past him as well, down into a cave that was right behind him.

If anypony could see the Grand Chasm from above, right about now, they would see the caves with in suddenly spewing out massive columns of sand stretching from cave to cave. That was a defect of the chasm, as each cave was directly opposite another, and with each linked in a set fashion… Well, right now the Grand Chasm was in the middle of a massive sandstorm, the likes of which had never been seen.

Slowly but surely, Naruko’s attack began to lose its viciousness and ended soon after that. The blinding light was gone, the sandstorm was over, and Naruko felt exhausted. “Nighty night,” she said as she collapsed in front of her friends, who were still cowering from the explosive Element. After Naruko spoke, though, they began to slowly open their eyes and stand up. Of course, it was Rainbow Dash, who was the first to speak.

“Uh, what the hay just happened? Aren’t we supposed to be blown to bits?”

Twilight had no explanation for it, especially when she looked back to the container. “THE SEVENTH ELEMENT! IT’S GONE!!”

The girls looked over to see the container was completely empty! No light, no shaking, no stone. “Where could it have gone?” asked Fluttershy.

“Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! Pick me!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie.

“Yes, Pinke?” Twilight asked like a teacher.

“Naruko has it!” This caused all of them to turn to the unconscious mare in front of them. Applejack approached her slowly and cautiously rolled her over. They gasped at what they saw. Around Naruko’s neck, just above her orange scarf, was a gold banded necklace with a red-orange, muti-pointed star in the center; a complete rendition of Naruko’s cutie mark.

“Wait, wha?” said Rainbow. “Naruko is the bearer of the seventh Element of Harmony?! How does that work?”

“I don’t know Rainbow,” said Twilight. “But we can figure it out later, she needs help!” True to her words, Naruko looked pretty worse for wear. The magic of her spell put a lot of strain on her body and it definitely could use a once over from a doctor.

“EEP!!” exclaimed Fluttershy. The others looked at her like she was crazy.

“What’s wrong dear Fluttershy?” Rarity asked out of concern.

Fluttershy pointed a hoof outside of their cave. “Ig-ig-IGNEEL!!” All of their muzzles turned to look at what she was pointing at and gasped in fright. Before them, was the massive dragon, still leering at them. They hugged together out of fright and waited for him to strike. After a few moments of silence, Applejack opened her left eye. Then she noticed that something seemed off about their predator.

“Hold on a second,” she said as she approached the monster. Her friends were watching her with fear as she neared the creature that tried to eat them only moments before. Applejack cautiously brought her hoof up and touched the tip of his snout…and it disintegrated. All of the mares’ eyes bulged at this development and Twilight approached the drakon.

“Incredible,” she said analytically. “It seems that Igneel has been fossilized! He’s completely turned to dust. How is that even possible?” As she spoke, a pile of sand suddenly landed with a thud in front of Fluttershy who freaked at the surprise. The girls looked up and saw even more sand falling from the sky. As one neared them, Twilight grabbed it with her levitation spell and brought it close to her for examination. What she was incredible. It looked like a piranha that had large batwings where its gills should be. “A piranha bat!” she let out in a surprised whisper. Twilight began to examine her surroundings and noticed the cave behind Igneel.

“I don’t believe it,” she said as she got near the cave. As she took in the sight of the cave entrance, which the edges looked run down by a sander of the highest quality. “I-I think Naruko’s attack went through this cave!”

“Yeah, so?” asked Rainbow not understanding what was going on as she prodded the sand statue, causing more of it to fall to dust.

“Don’t you remember what Naruko said; all of the caves in the Grand Chasm are magically linked. Which means that… whatever that was, went through this cave and came out another somewhere in the chasm! Which means, that if that attack was enough to destroy Igneel, I think Naruko just killed every monster in the entire Chasm! Incredible!”

The others just gaped at Twilight and then turned their attention to the still unconscious form of the aforementioned mare. Then, she began to stir, groaning all the way. “Unhh.” The six of them rushed to her side; even if she did have super powers, they were still friends.

“What happened?” Naruko groaned out.

“You saved us silly!” Pinkie said while bouncing.

“Oh? Really? Cool.” Naruko could barely move, she was so exhausted. “I’m gonna take a nap. See you girls in the morning.” She began to rest again, but Twilight interrupted her sleep.

“Wait Naruko. We need to get out of here, is it alright if we take you back to Canterlot with us?”

“Sure, why not?” said Naruko, not really caring. She just wanted to sleep. Then a thought occurred to her. “Wait, if we’re leaving, then please, someone grab my guardian. He is all I have. He should still be in my house wearing my favorite hat like I left him.” With that Naruko once again fell unconscious. Her steady breathing calmed her friends’ fears that she was worse than they thought.

“Should we?” asked Fluttershy. Twilight nodded in response.

“If it means so much as to ask in this state, then I think we should grab this guardian of hers. Rainbow,” she pointed directly to the cyan pegasus. “You and Fluttershy should be able to lift all five of us out of this chasm if you flew, so let’s get to it.”

“Wait, I thought we decided we shouldn’t fly in the chasm? Why the change of heart? I really don’t want to get stripped to the bone, ya know.”

“Naruko destroyed all of the piranha bats. They were those sand piles that fell from the sky. You’ll be fine. I think.”

“Fine,” Rainbow huffed. It took some time, but eventually the two pegasi were able to lift their friends out of the once deadly chasm. After dropping them all off at the top of the Grand Chasm, Rainbow turned back into it. “I’ll go and grab this ‘guardian’ of hers. It’ll be much faster if I go alone. See ya in bit!” She sped off back to Naruko’s abode.

While she was gone, Twilight sent off a magic bolt into the sky that exploded like a firework. “What was that?” asked Fluttershy.

“Magic flare,” Twilight explained. “Princess Celestia told me to let one off into the sky when we were ready to be picked up. She wanted us to come straight to Canterlot when we finished.” Several minutes passed before a golden chariot pulled into the air above them and then landed nearby. As the girls approached, the two pegasi pulling the chariot regarded them.

“Miss Twilight Sparkle and friends?” he asked in a deep voice. Twilight nodded. “Good, the Princesses are expecting you. Come.”

“Hold on, we are still waiting for another friend. She’ll be back soon.” True to her word, Rainbow Dash flew in not even a minute later.

“Sorry I took so long, girls,” Rainbow explained. “Naruko’s house was completely wrecked by that sandstorm of hers. Everything was destroyed; well almost everything.” Rainbow then lifted up a stuffed animal. It was white in color with a green markings on it and had ears that were longer than it was tall that ended in three points. It also had beady black eyes, but a comforting smile was on its face. Kind of looked like a mutated bunny rabbit. What they also noticed was that it was wearing the adventurer’s hat that Naruko had said was her favorite. “I think this stuffed thing is Naruko’s guardian. Kind of foalish if you ask me.”

“It probably has sentimental value to her, Rainbow,” explained Fluttershy.

“I guess. Here you go, Naruko.” Rainbow placed it near Naruko, who the girls had lifted into the chariot. As soon as she did so, it was if Naruko could sense the stuffed animal’s presence as she immediately threw her hooves forward and pulled the toy in close. She even nuzzled it affectionately.

“Aww,” said Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight. Applejack only smiled at her warmly, while Rainbow snickered.

The six of them then piled into the chariot with her and they sped off to Canterlot Castle. They all watched Naruko like comforting hawks. Each one of them knew that this mare was their friend, but another nagging thought kept running through their minds. Just who are you, Naruko?