The SOAP

by kippermydog

Rating: everyone
Tags: Original Character, Spike, Queen Chrysalis, Adventure, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 6982

When the prince of the Crystal Empire goes missing, only one group can save him.

35 years after the events of Friendship is Magic, the Royal Sisters have retired to live in peace. They left in their place, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Foals have been born, and ponies have grown. One foal in particular, is in trouble. And he needs saving. This is the story of a princess, a dragon, a soldier, and a sculptor, and their quest to be The Saviors Of A Prince.

Published 2014-04-12 04:00:03 UTC
Last updated 2015-06-10 02:16:46 UTC

Prologue

“Iron, dinner is ready!” called a pink crystal princess. She walked closer to her son’s room, “Iron, it’s time to eat.” Silence came in response. “Iron?” Cadence leaned her head into the room. “Iron Heart, stop hiding.” She spoke to the room, but it fell on nonexistent ears. Puzzled, she walked back to the dining room. Rose petal sandwiches had been laid out on the table by the castle’s wait staff. Her husband was already seat, and eagerly waited for her return, clearly ready to begin his meal. “Shiny, have you seen Iron Heart?”

Shining Armor’s look of eager anticipation of the meal ahead quickly changed to that of concern. “He was in his room last I checked.”

“Well, I didn’t see him in there. Maybe he went out for a walk?”

“That’s probably it. Guard?” The prince called to the crystal pony standing nearby.

“Yes, sir?” The guard responded.

“Can you search the grounds for Iron Heart? His dinner is ready.” Shining requested.

“Right away, sir.”

Cadence believed it was impolite to begin a meal until all the people eating had been seated. This, however, did not stop her husband from immediately digging into his sandwich as soon as the guard had closed the door. After the first, he began to shovel down another. Cadence loved how, even after all this time, Shining Armor still ate like he was in the military. So they sat, the princess patiently waiting for the return of her son, the prince filling his seemingly insatiable stomach. Eventually, Cadence gave into temptation and ate her sandwich as well, knowing that if she didn’t, Shining Armor might try to. The fact that the long wait, along with the delicious smell of the flower petals, was making her stomach rumble also helped.

After a good portion of the sandwiches had been eaten, the two parents began to get worried. The staff had returned no sign of the missing prince. It seemed that he was nowhere on the castle grounds. They spread out, looking through the city. No one knew where Iron Heart was, and the news of his absence was enough to send the Crystal Empire into a panic. The entire day was spent searching for the colt, without a single trace being found. Iron Heart, son of Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor, and heir to the Crystal Empire, was gone.

Cadence had never been very good at keeping herself calm in a crisis. The fact that this was her own son missing made it even more upsetting. She began to bawl as they came to the conclusion that her son had disappeared, and that she may never see him again. Her sadness was only steadied by the hoof that fell around her neck. Looking up, she found her husband, Shining Armor, telling her that it would be alright, and that they would find Iron Heart no matter how long it took. It would be alright, she had Shining Armor with her. He was still with her, and they would get through it together. Everything would be fine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was late at night. Cadence was still filled with nervous terror at the thought of her missing son, but had been advised by her staff that it was for the best that she and her husband get some rest. She lay in bed, comforted somewhat by the warm body of Shining Armor lying next to her. Her silent sorrow was interrupted by a loud banging on the bedroom door. She quickly rushed to the door, swinging it open, only to see one of her guards run behind a corner, followed by a green flash. She looked at the door itself, finding a piece of paper nailed to it. It read:

“Dear Princess Cadence,

It really has been quite a while since we have talked, hasn’t it? You are probably wondering where your son, Iron Heart is. You will be glad to know that he is currently safe with me. You may be less pleased to learn that his safety is only a temporary situation. It seems that I cannot guarantee his wellbeing until I have been brought the Crystal Heart. Once the Crystal Heart has been given to me, I may consider returning Iron Heart to you. Make your decision quickly, you only have one month before your child is in jeopardy. Personally, I would much rather know that my offspring is safe than to know that he may very well be dead, all because I was unwilling to give up some silly artifact. I hope you will see it my way.

Queen of the Changelings,

Chrysalis”

Everything would not be fine. Cadence visibly shook as she read the letter over again, making sure that it was even real, that something so terrible could even take place. There was no way that… that monster could have taken her son. She remembered back to her time in the caves below Canterlot Castle. She fought so hard to forget it, but the mental torture had left an implant on her brain. She knew one thing for certain, There was no way she was letting her son go through what she did in those caves. No child- No, no pony should ever have to experience that.

With this anger and ambition in her heart, she woke up Shining in order to show him the horrifying news.He quickly read over it, his expression becoming dreadful. Cadence’s anger faded as she watched fear cover her husband. It appeared that Shining also remembered things about the Changeling Queen that he would rather wish he could forget. After reading it, the prince began to cry. He didn’t sob. No sound came out. But, he cried, and that was enough for Cadence to know just how awful his experience with Chrysalis was. Shining Armor, Prince of the Crystal Empire and Ex-Captain of the Royal Equestrian Guard, almost never cried.

“So what should we do?” Shining Armor asked his wife, slowly regaining his composure.

The Crystal Princess looked up from the awful sheet of parchment. “We should ask Twilight.”

Chapter I: The Ambassador

I was playing catch outside of my mom’s house, with my best friend. It was a warm, sunny day in Canterlot, perfect for staying outside. My friend threw a ball over my head, and I flew up to catch it. My mom said it might take a while for me to fully grasp the basics of flying, but I felt that I was already doing pretty well at it. I grabbed the ball and threw it back to my friend. Unlike me, there was no way of throwing the ball over my friend, no matter how high I flew.

“Spike!” I could hear my mom call. My friend and I answered the beckoning of the Princess Twilight Sparkle. Spike had to duck to fit into the castle, even though the door was already pretty big.

“Did you see me fly up and catch that ball?” I asked the Princess of Equestria.

“Yes I did, Moon Glow. You’re really improving,” She didn’t respond in her calm, educated voice, that she usually kept. Her voice was rushed, and I could tell something was wrong. She held up a roll of paper with her magic, “Spike, I need you to send something for me.”

“Sure thing.” Spike took the paper and set it ablaze. After Princesses Celestia and Luna retired, leaving the kingdom to Twilight Sparkle, she had changed Spike’s mail spell, so that the mail arrived directly where Pinkie Pie was standing. Twilight had chosen Pinkie Pie because she seemed to be the least likely of her friends to be doing something of significant importance at any given moment, and she also had the strange ability to be able to find the rest of their friends quickly, making gathering them up in case of an emergency that much easier.

Sure enough, within the hour the remaining five Elements of Harmony had arrived at Canterlot Castle. Rarity was the first to speak, “We left as soon as we got the news, darling.”

“Ah thought your brother and Princess Cadance had taken care of that no-good varmint of a Changeling Queen last time.” Applejack added. Changeling Queen? As in the Changeling Queen? The same one who had enslaved my uncle and locked my aunt in a cavern? If she was back, that couldn’t be good.

My mother’s face showed definite signs of worry, adding to my suspicion that something most definitely was wrong. “I thought so too, but it seems not. Come into the conference hall, we have a lot to discuss.” The six ponies headed off to a room separated from the one we were currently in by a flight of stairs going up. I followed, but received a stiff refusal from the princess, “I’m sorry, Moon, but I don’t think this will be the kind of discussion you should take part in.”

Spike looked at me as though he was just as curious as to what was going on as I was. I guess he regretted not reading that letter before burning it. “Come on, kid, why don’t we head back outside.”

Spike may have been content to simply let them go about their business, but I was curious. I had to know what was going on, because I knew it was something big. “Just a second, I have to use the bathroom.” I lied. I knew lying was wrong, but it was for a good cause, right? It’s all for the sake of knowledge, my mom would say, and that would make it all right. I wondered off in the direction of the lavatories and the hid around a corner. I waited for Spike to duck under the doorframe back outside, and for the six mares to go into their conference room.

After I was sure the coast was clear, I quietly snuck up the stairs and placed my ear against the closed door to the conference room. I couldn’t hear all of the conversation very clearly, but what I could was enough to understand. My cousin, Iron Heart, was missing. The Changeling Queen had taken him, and demanded the Crystal Heart as ransom. Rainbow Dash suggested simply storming the gates, but Applejack reminded her of just how many of those Changelings there actually were. Twilight added that leading an army into the enemy territory would pretty quickly send the signal that we were not going to pay the ransom, and we might lose our only chance at getting Iron Heart back.

“We can’t just give them the Crystal Heart.” Rarity reminded the group, “The Crystal Ponies would be devastated, and go back into that depressed, non-crystal state. Not to mention, who knows what the Changelings would do with an artifact that allowed them to spread ponies’ emotions?”

Pinkie immediately chimed in with something to the effect of, “Well, they would probably use it to spread love for the Changelings throughout Equestria!”

Rarity then informed Pinkie of the fact that her question was rhetorical. It was uncertain what the plan would be. On one hoof, they couldn’t let the Changelings have the Crystal heart, and on another, they couldn’t let them keep Iron Heart either. Something had to be done.

Fluttershy eventually suggested just asking them nicely. Rainbow Dash immediately rejected this idea, saying that it would never work. However, Twilight Sparkle agreed with the yellow pegasus, wondering why she couldn’t have thought of doing that before. She explained how they would send a small group of ponies to make the journey to the Changeling Hive in order to try talking the Queen in to freeing their hostage. Yet, there was one problem in the plan. None of them could make it. Twilight had to stay to tend to the kingdom, and the rest of the Elements were now too elderly to go on such adventures. I knew what had to be done.

I opened the door slightly before slamming it open the rest of the way. I had to make a dramatic entrance, after all, and I wasn’t going to actually kick down the door. I triumphantly walked into the room, examining all of the surprised looks on the ponies’ faces, and declared, “I will be the ambassador for Equestria to the Changelings.”

Author's Note

So, my first fanfic. I'd love any advice on how to improve future chapters. Thanks for reading!

Chapter II: The Plan

“No.” I heard, as the six ponies sitting around the conference table recovered from the shock of having a teenage pony volunteer herself to go on an epic quest. My mom’s voice reaffirmed what I had feared as I had walked in. “I cannot allow you to take this journey. It’s much too dangerous.”

Applejack apologetically added, “Sorry, Sugar Cube, but I’ve got to agree with your ma. You’re just too young to be doing this kind of thing.”

“And not to mention we couldn’t possibly risk losing another member of royalty to the Changelings.” Rarity added, getting up from her seat to face me.

Clearly, this situation would require me to use my honed reasoning skills and logic in order to convince the council. “So?” I retorted. Clearly my position as ambassador with the Changelings was off to a smashing start. “So?” was clearly not the answer they were expecting, judging by the half confused, half intrigued looks on their faces. Realizing that my defense lacked some explanation, I decided to fill in the gap.

“You’ve got to let me do this. You can’t send over a group of guards because the Changelings might see it more as a threat than a negotiation attempt. You won’t be getting any volunteers from Canterlot. They’re still terrified, and rightly so, of them after the last attack. Sending a member of the royal family, rather than just random nobody from Ponyville,” This raised a few angered looks from the mares whose hometown I had accidentally insulted. “Er, no offense. Anyways, that will show that we mean business.”

“Well, I’m sold.” Commented Pinkie Pie, “That sounds like a great idea, where do I sign?”

My mom gave her the disapproving look she often gave the pink mare, as if saying, “What the hay are you talking about?”
What she actually said, however, was, “Now, now, Pinkie, we haven’t agreed to anything yet. I still think this is a very risky idea.”

“This is a very risky situation.” I countered.

“Ooh, I like the way she thinks.” Pinkie added. The look seemed to find itself on my mom’s face again.

“I admit, she does make a good argument, darling.” Rarity tacked on to the testimony. It seemed I might win this one yet.

Sighing, my mother admitted defeat. “Fine, you can be the ambassador. But, I still think that you need some sort of protection.”

At that moment, my favorite dragon stuck his head into the room after realizing that I was taking a strangely long amount of time in the restroom. “I can go with Spike! He’ll protect me, isn’t that right, buddy?” I asked the confused reptile while I climbed up onto his back and hugged the barrel of his neck.

“Uh, sure, I’d always be there for you.” Spike replied, unsure of what he was getting himself into.

“So you’ll help me travel across the world to the Changeling Hive in search of Auntie Cadence’s son?”

Spike’s confusion soon turned to shock at the news I had just informed him of. “What?”

“Oh, right, you weren’t here when this was being explained. Mo- er, Princess Twilight, would you mind catching Spike up to speed?” I asked of my mother.

“Of course. As Moon Glow already told you, the son of Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor, Iron Heart has been kidnapped…” Twilight went through the whole story up to that point, informing him of their previous ideas, and now the current one to send me as an ambassador. After Spike had been made informed of the happenings of the Crystal Empire he had a question.

“It doesn’t sound like the safest plan, but I don’t think we have a better one. However, what will happen if the Changeling Queen doesn’t want to talk, and just asks for the Crystal Heart. Do we bring it along and just give it to her?” The ponies in the council looked at each other, considering the point brought up by the dragon.

After a good minute or two of discussion, Twilight decided to speak for the council, “We’ll leave that decision to Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor. It’s their kingdom, and it’s their decision to make on whether or not giving up the Crystal Heart to the Changelings is worth it. I will contact them when this council is over for their decision.”

Spike nodded. “That sounds fair. So, after we get a response from the Crystal Empire, my and Moon Glow will fly to the Changeling Hive, try to talk them into giving back Iron Heart, and if all else fails, give them the Crystal Heart or give up and let them keep the prince.”

The last clause of the sentence seemed to depress the entire room. Nopony was quite ready to accept that we may have to admit defeat, Rainbow Dash especially. In fact, she bolted up out of her chair and into the air in frustration. “No! There is no way that we are letting get away with this. This… It’s wrong. They need to face some sort of repercussions. We need to save Iron Heart somehow.”

“How?” Twilight answered. “If they see an army coming, they’ll just shoot the hostage.” The gruesome figure of speech caused Fluttershy to faint on the spot.

Rainbow was not giving up that easily. “So don’t send an army. We could dispatch a task force large enough to retrieve the prince and get him out safely while being small enough to sneak in under the radar.”

My mom countered saying that that tactic “would require a great amount of espionage and spying”. She stated, “We don’t know how to get into the Hive. We don’t know where they are keeping Iron Heart, or how well he is being guarded. Almost everything about this place is a complete mystery to us, except for its general location.”

Defeated, the pegasus slowly hovered herself down into her seat. The princess continued, “As much as it pains me to say it, yes, we may have to surrender Iron Heart. This is our only chance to save him.”

This sentence hit me incredibly hard. So hard in fact that I lost my balance and fell off Spike. I was the only chance that this colt had at surviving, assuming the prince and princess decided to protect the artifact that their empire was built around. I only had one shot at convincing the Changelings to free Iron Heart, to let him return to his kingdom and his family. If I screwed this up, if I wasn’t able to complete the task that was given to me, we were done. Finished. Mission Failed. Game Over.

Chapter III: New Friends

“I still think we should send someone from the guard.” Twilight said.

Spike looked somewhat offended. “Aren’t I protection enough?” He paused to flex his near inexistent muscles. “Who in Equestria is gonna mess with these bad boys?”

“Spike, please be serious.” Spike lowered his arms. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, I just want to make sure my little filly is safe.”

Little filly? I’m an ambassador now! A hero! A grown mare if ever there was! I am not a little filly I thought this to myself, my face turning from deep purple to a bright, embarrassed red.

Twilight sent a member of the guard to get somepony named “Blade Edge”. The golden-brown unicorn guard appeared soon after, donned in the traditional royal guard’s armor. After the retirement of the royal pony sisters, the armor was recolored from gold to a light purple, matching that of my mother’s cutie mark. Needless to say, some of the guards were less than pleased at the not-so-manly color change. Nevertheless, Blade Edge stood stalwart, dressed in his almost pink attire, carrying a steel sword at his waist. His white mane was styled in a way that it seemed to be flowing in the absent wind. He kind of looked like a stallion from one of mom’s romance novels.

“You called, Princess?” He asked of his summons. His voice was as deep and crisp as you would have imagined, looking at him.

“Yes, I would like you to accompany Princess Moon Glow on her journey to the Changeling Hive.” My mother answered, matter-of-factly.

“Excuse me, Princess, but are you sure this is a journey safe for the young mare?” The guard said, concerned. At least he didn’t call me a little filly.

Twilight Sparkle continued in her official-sounding tone. “Yes. After some discussion, we ruled that this was the best option. She will be escorted by you and Spike the Dragon. She will act as Ambassador to the Changelings. She will attempt to convince them to return Prince Iron Heart to the Crystal Empire. I want you to do everything in your power to protect her.”

Blade Edge seemed as though he had further argument, but didn’t want to disobey an order. “Of course, Princess. I will do everything I can to keep Princess Moon Glow out of harm’s way.”

Twilight Sparkle seemed pleased, and so sent us off to pack our things for the journey. Provisions were packed, enough to last us a few weeks. Without a house big enough for Spike to sleep in, we decided that a few large tarps would have to be enough to protect him from the weather. Twilight said that she’d send word to the pegasi along our route and have them clear up the weather for our passing. Camping supplies were brought in case shelter couldn’t be found. It was tough finding a saddle big enough to allow both Blade and I to ride on Spike’s back, but one was quickly enough put together by the royal leatherworkers (Faux leather, of course. That would just be cruel).

After making our final preparations, and some heartfelt goodbyes, we took flight. Once we had flown a good distance, Spike turned back to us. “Hey, is it okay if I make a quick stop for food?”

“We already have enough food.” I informed him, pointing to the saddlebags used to carry our supplies.

“I know.” He assured, “This is just a very special type of food. It will only take a few minutes.”

Still curious as to what Spike was trying to do, a looked to Blade Edge. “What do you think?”

“As much as I would like to proceed with the mission as quickly as possible, I see no problem with us taking a short break.” The unicorn agreed.

“Alright!” Spike said, making a pumping motion with his arm. He veered swiftly to the left, towards what appeared to be a field of trees. As he landed, a young mare hid in fear of the colossal reptilian beast that stood before her. Spike walked past her towards a house on one end of the field. As he knocked on the door, I looked over his shoulder to see an old mare with yellow fur, a red mane, and a pink bow answer.

“Ah, good afternoon, Spike.” The mare smiled.

“Good afternoon, Apple Bloom.” Spike smiled in return. I could tell that these two had known each other for a while know. Wait, Apple Bloom… I had heard that name before. I think Applejack mentioned her once or twice when she was visiting. She said she was her little sister.

“Is this the little princess I’ve heard so much about? To what do I owe the pleasure?” Apple Bloom chuckled a little at the fake formality. She reminded me of an aunt seeing her niece at a family reunion. I was pretty sure she wanted to pinch my cheeks.

Spike continued, “I’m escorting the Princess on a journey to save the missing prince. I was wondering if we could borrow a few apples for the road.”

Apple Bloom looked at him with sarcastic confusion, “Now how the hay do you borrow an apple? I’m pretty sure you’re gonna eat them, and I certainly don’t want them back after that.” At that, a colt, looking a bit older than I was, walked into the room.

“Hey, Ma, who’s at the AH!” He was interrupted by fear as he saw just who was paying a visit. I began to realize that most ponies are pretty intimidated by dragons. Either that or I was a terribly frightening filly. “Ma, i-is th-th-that a d-d-dragon?” Well, there goes the latter idea.

“Seedling, meet Spike. Spike, this is my boy, Seedling. I think you met his cousin, Daisy, out in the yard over there.” Apple Bloom introduced, nonchalantly.

“Charmed.” Spike replied, a smug sarcastic look on his face.

“N-nice meeting you, m-mister.” Seedling stuttered.

Apple Bloom welcomed us into her home, “Well, what kind of pony would I be if I made you stand on my porch the whole time? Come on in.”

Spike stuck his head and neck into the doorway, emphasizing the fact that the house wouldn’t fit him, “I think I’ll stay out here, thanks.”

Apple Bloom laughed at the joke. Seedling even gave a few nervous ‘heh’s. “You might as well have your pony friends come in.”

Blade Edge and I dismounted from Spike and entered the doorway. Getting a better look at Seedling, I noticed he had his mother’s red hair. His fur was a light orange, reminding me of his aunt. “Hi, I’m Moon Glow.” I introduced myself.

He looked up at me with awe. “Moon Glow? As in Princess Moon Glow? It’s an honor!” He said as he bowed to me. I can see why my mom didn’t enjoy it when other ponies bowed to her, it was embarrassing being treated so differently. “So, Princess, why are you here?”

“Um, please, just call me Moon Glow. And we’re here… Why are we here again, Spike?” I answered the colt.

Spike reached his head in. “I wanted to get some of my favorite apples to eat along the way.”

Apple Bloom looked surprised and then embarrassed. “Oh right, I was going to get those for you. Still young, but my memory’s already trying to escape.” The farmpony left with Spike to gather some apples, leaving me with Blade Edge and Seedling.

“Hey, aren’t you one of them guards that aren’t supposed to move? I’ll bet I can get you to react.” Seedling then proceeded to go through the routine of ‘silly’ faces everypony seems to go through when they see a royal guard. Of course, it doesn’t work. Edge was as still as a rock. “Darn, you’re good.”

“You know, we don’t actually do that anymore.” Seedling jumped back in surprise of hearing the guard speak. “But it sure is funny watching ponies try to make us laugh.”

Seedling, realizing the fool he’d made of himself, started laughing. “You’re funny. So, where are you fellas going?”

I replied by triumphantly posing and stating that “I am going to the Changeling Hive to try to convince the Queen to release Prince Iron Heart.”

“The Changeling Hive?” The pony rhetorically asked. “That sure sounds awful adventurous. I wish I could come, I never get to go on any adventures.”

Spike and Apple Bloom came back carrying an empty apple bushel, the contents of which could be seen in the open saddle bag.

“I hope y’all got along fine while we were gone.” Said Apple Bloom.

“We sure did.” Answered her son, “Ma, can I go on an adventure?”

“Now I don’t know about this…” Edge Blade started before I interrupted him.

“We’d love to have you!”

At this, Edge pulled me aside and whispered. “Are you just going to invite everypony we meet to join us? We only have a limited amount of food and tents. How do we even know we can trust him? How do we know he’s not a changeling?”

“Well, we seem to trust him enough to get food from his family.” I whispered back. “As for food, we just got a big bunch of apples, and him and I can share a tent if need be.”

“I still don’t trust him.”

“You don’t need to.” I retorted.

Edge Blade sighed. “Alright, kid, if your mom approves, you can come with us.”

“So, Ma, what do you say?”

Apple Bloom looked concerned for her child. “You know, you might not come back.”

Seedling’s attitude seemed to drop a notch or two and he hung his head low, “I know.”

“Well, if you’re okay with risking your life to be a hero, the go ahead.” Apple Bloom approved.

Chapter IV: A Talk Among Friends

After Seedling said goodbye to his mother and cousin, we climbed back on top of Spike and once again set off on our mission. We pulled a few apples out of the saddlebags and began eating them while we talked.

“So, what exactly are we doing?” Seedling asked.

Edge responded in between bites of apple, “As you may have heard, a few days ago, the son of Prince Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was taken hostage by the Changelings. For his release, they demand the Crystal Heart. Spike the Dragon, myself, and now I suppose, you, are here to accompany the princess so that she may act as a diplomat with the Changelings.”

Seedling looked confused, “Why go to all this hassle, can’t we just send them the Heart and be done with it. It’s just a gem.”

“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” Edge countered, “The Crystal Heart has the power to project emotions onto ponies. If the Changelings got a hold of it, they could force everypony in Equestria to love them.”

The earth pony’s confused look turned to one of fear at the prospect of the Changeling’s victory. Changing the subject, he turned to me, “So, you’re a princess, right?”

“Yeah," I responded. Of course I was, what kind of question was that?

“Don’t princesses have wings and a horn? Why are you just a pegasus?” Seedling questioned.

I thought for a moment, “Well, my father is a pegasus, and my mother, being an alicorn, is part pegasus, so it was pretty likely I would turn out to be a pegasus as well.”

“Ah suppose that makes sense," He concluded.

An awkward silence hung in the air, as the conversation was drawn to a halt. We sat there as the sun slowly moved towards the horizon, each of us finishing off our apples. In an attempt to break the silence, Edge Blade asked, “So, kid, what’s that cutie mark for? Sure doesn’t look like one for farm work.”

Seedling glanced down at his flank. Like most of his family members, Seedling’s cutie mark was an apple, but the apple on his flank was made of stone, with a chisel sticking out of one side.

“Well, Ah’m a sculptor, I guess I inherited mah mama’s artistic side. I still help out with the farm work, though, gotta keep the farm going and all that.”

“Really?” I responded, “I suppose I’ll have to check out some of your works after we come back.”

The earth pony blushed, “They’re really not that great. How about you, Princess, what’s your talent?”

My cutie mark was a simply white glowing ball. “It’s a bit complicated. You see, despite being a pegasus, my mom’s unicorn magic is so powerful that I actually have a bit of it in me. In fact, Spike also has some of her magic in him. That’s how he can send letters with his fire breath.”

Both Edge and Seedling looked at me, confused, “How does that work?” the farm pony asked.

“I can do this, for instance,” I closed my eyes and concentrated on a sort of magic I felt in my body. After a second of two, my entire body began to glow as I opened my eyes.

“Wow,” Seedling remarked in awe, “got any more tricks?”

“Well, my mom’s been trying to teach me to teleport using it, but it hasn’t been going well. I can only teleport a few feet and I always come out a little singed,” I said as my glowing began to dim.

Seedling couldn’t help but laugh a little at the thought of a slightly charred princess. The earth pony then asked the same question towards Edge Blade, “So, sir, what’s your talent?”

Edge took off a bit of armor to reveal his flank. His cutie mark was a sword similar to the one he had strapped to his body, being swung through the air. “My cutie mark represents my skill with a sword. My father was also in the royal guard, back when the sisters were in charge. He was actually very good friends with Shining Armor. He was the one who taught me how to fight, and that was when I discovered my talent.”

Seedling chuckled, “Ah probably could’ve guessed it would be something combat related. How about Spike, does he have a talent?”

Spike spoke up for the first time tonight, “No, dragons don’t have cutie marks. Although, if you asked Twilight, she probably would say my talent was delivering mail.”

I reached over to his neck, doing my best to hug the dragon. “Aw, Spike, you’re good at a lot of things. You’re a great friend, and you know my mom always appreciates having you around.”

Edge Blade remarked, “I was wondering when he would talk.”

“Yeah, sorry about that, I just need to focus on flying," Spike replied.

With that, we fell into silence as the sun finally touched the horizon. The approaching night caused the air to become cold, especially all the way up here. We grabbed a few blankets out of the saddle bags and huddled together for warmth. After a while, I began to grow homesick, realizing that my mom was many miles away. I began to think about how I might never see her again if something goes wrong. I looked towards the others, who were calmly staring out towards the sunset, and I wondered if they were thinking similar thought. Did Spike miss Twilight? Did Seedling long for his mother? However, as I looked out at the sunset, I realized that while we may be in for some tough times ahead, we’d always be in the company of friends.

After about another half-hour of flying, the sun was barely visible, and we decided to get some rest. It had been a hectic day, and we were all pretty tired. Spike flew on until we were over the nearest town. We landed there and found a couple ponies who were willing to let us rest in their house for the night. As I lay in the bed, I thought of what could happen tomorrow.

Chapter V: A Troubled Night's Rest

After thanking the nice ponies for giving us shelter for the night, we were given rooms to sleep in: one for the boys, Edge and Seedling, and one for the girls, me. Spike slept outside, as he was a bit too big to fit inside the small village house. I had an uneasy night for multiple reasons. The first was nightmares. As I slept, I dreamt of my cousin. He was locked up in a cell, in an unlit room, sitting there, completely helpless. He was given very little food and water. He was abused by his cruel captors; they whipped him and laughed at the poor pony. They told him that if his parents really loved him, they would have sent the Heart already. After, he would cry himself into an uneasy sleep, without a bed to sleep on and with very little hope in ever being rescued. I tried as hard as I could to send him a message, tell him that we were on our way to save him. I’m not sure if the message got to him, but I like to think Luna got it across.

The second reason for my uneasy sleep was probably the tight bindings I had been placed in. I awoke with a start to find that my hooves and wings were tied tightly behind myself, almost to the point of being numb. A gag was placed in my mouth, just a simple dish cloth. From the taste, I could tell that my kidnappers hadn’t bothered washing it first. My first thought was wondering how they bound me up this tightly without waking me up. Okay, that’s a lie, my first thought was, “What’s this disgusting taste in my mouth?”. However, back on topic, it was most likely a sleep spell performed by the tall unicorn who had eagerly welcomed us.

Fortunately, my captors seemed to be out of the room, making my escape all the easier. I wriggled in my bondings, attempting to break free, but to no avail. Second, I tried using my inner magic to teleport free. Again, no such luck. My mother did say I never was great at performing under pressure. I needed help. And to get help, I needed the boys to wake up. In a bit of brilliant thinking, if I do say so myself, I wriggled off the bed and rolled myself over to a nearby bookshelf. The bookshelf was just far enough from the wall that I was able to squeeze behind it and knock it over. This, however, had the unintended consequence of alerting my imprisoners that I had woken up, and was trying to escape. As they rushed into the room, the unicorn fired another sleeping spell, causing me to feel drowsy. As I fell into unconsciousness, I heard a pounding on a nearby door. Knowing that Edge Blade was awake allowed me to black out knowing that I was safe.

When I awoke several hours later, I had the events that followed retold to me by Seedling. He told me that after hearing the bookcase fall, Edge shot awake. He tried to get the door open, but it had been magically sealed. He then woke up Seedling, alerting him that I needed help and that they needed a way out of the room. After a bit of thinking, Seedling had an idea. The doors and windows may be magically reinforced, but the wall probably weren’t. To do so for an entire room would have taken some serious magic power. So, Edge Blade then used his sword to slice through a section of wall and kick it open. Seedling added a sound effect and gesture of the wall falling over here, but I’m not sure how to express that in writing.

With that, Edge and Seedling burst into my room, which did not have a magically sealed door. It would seem that my kidnappers were not as worried about me escaping my room. Edge held the two ponies at sword point, forcing them outside the room while Seedling undid my bindings. Seedling then carried me outside the house where Edge Blade reported the two to the local authorities. They woke up Spike and we took off into the night.

“Do you know what I think I learned tonight?” Seedling asked me, “Some ponies are willing to do some really bad stuff to get what they want.”

I looked at the colt strangely, “Well, yeah, of course. We’re on this quest because the changelings are holding an innocent pony hostage to get the Crystal Heart.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I guess that it’s not that ponies do bad things, it’s that the ponies that do bad things don’t necessarily have to look bad.”

“What do you mean?” I questioned.

“When I was younger, my mama and my auntie used to tell me stories of dark things that would try to gain power through evil means. Things like Discord and King Sombra and Nightmare Moon and Tirek. Classic stories of good against evil, chaos against harmony. I guess I began to associate those bad things with those bad people, that only these obviously, obnoxiously evil people could do such bad things. But tonight, I think I realized that even ponies who don’t look bad can be bad. Sometimes ponies don’t even think what they’re doing is bad. Sometimes they think that what they’re doing is good, and that they’re the only ones that can see it. Sometimes they realize that they’re doing bad things but see it as a necessary evil, that the ends justify the means.” Seedling explained.

“Wow,” I responded. I couldn’t help but feel that after a deep and complicated speech like that, my response was lacking, dwarfed by the gravity of it.

That night, we slept outside in some nearby hills. As we set up tents, I thought about how we were probably going to be using these tents more often than we originally thought, as asking for shelter now seemed less likely. That night, I had similar nightmares, but I was in my cousin’s place. The changelings loomed over me, mocking me, and both I and they knew I was powerless to stop them. I woke with a start, and went outside my tent. I walked over to Spike and asked if I could sleep with him for the night. He uncurled his tail, signaling me to lay down beside him. As I cuddled deeply against the side of my friend, I thought about what Seedling had said. Warmed by the dragon’s fiery gut, I thought ‘We can take on any kind of evil, big and small, obvious or hidden.’