NO. Redpine opened his eyes, smiling to himself, when a thought came to him'How could it have come to this? Is this is really the story of how we all got here?'
36hrs earlier
Redpine woke up with a jerk, drenched in a sweat, his eyes red, and visions of what was happening to his home still plain as day in his mind.
“Red, what’s happening?” asked Amethyst Shards
“I had a vision.” He said as he grabbed his phone and texted the others. He quickly typed out the words, ‘MEET ME AT THE CABIN IN ONE HOUR.’ All the others complied and in one hour they were all together in the cabin apart from three people.
It hasn’t changed much since the day I woke up here, Red thought: small, a couple of rooms and some high tech equipment (mostly stolen from the military) and a target range. Other than that it was quite bare.
“So Red, why are we all here?” Shadow Derivara asked.
“Equestria is in trouble, BIG trouble. Something made of candy has killed four of the elements of harmony, or it’s going to,” Red said with a grim expression on his face.
“Wait, WHAT!!!” exclaimed Lighting Streak and his brother, Razor Storm. Sure enough, Red pulled up his sleeve and showed the others his arm. The light red Element of Magic, the blue Element of Laughter, and the purple Element of Generosity were gray and the orange Element of honesty was as black as coal.
“This is not good,” said Graymane, “this is not good at all. You said something made of candy killed them in your vision?”
“Yeah, I did.” Red replied. “Shit!”
shouted Shadow, Graymane, and Amethyst in unison.“I thought Princess Luna had her trapped and locked away forever?” said Shadow.
“She did, I was there when it happened.” said Graymane.
“But the how did she get free?” asked Amethyst, “Wouldn't someone have to help her from the outside?”
“I’m not sure.” said Red, “It just all went by so fast. We have to get back there, now."
“But how?” they all asked Red. Just then, they heard a throat being cleared from the doorway. With this they all looked towards the door at the three late arrivals.
Closest to the door stood Vinyl, she dressed like she always did, a hoodie, jeans, and a pair of sneakers. She had an electric blue hair style that started out spikey towards the top and smoothed out as her hair went down her back. Her sunglasses were a shade of dark pink and covered have of her face, they were so big. She had headphones hanging around her neck in a way that would seem carefree. On her back was hanging one of the strangest types of rifles anyone has ever laid their eyes on.
Standing next to her with light purple eyes, slicked back jet black hair that flowed like water whenever she moved, and a British accent, stood Octavia. She however, had on a knee length dress that appeared to be made of silk. What stood out about her was the katana that was
strapped to her side, never taking a hand off it.
Hovering behind those stood Ryan, typing away at his tablet. He had a winter’s hat on, long sleeve shirt, and jeans with holes in the knee. He had on a blue and red backpack that was filled to the brim with all sorts of gadgets and gizmos, as if he had a piece of hardware for any
occasion. He even had a gadget or two hanging from his belt.
“Ah Vinyl, Octavia, Ryan glad you could make it,” said Red, “Is the portal ready?”
“Yeah, it will be ready in 273 seconds Red,” said Ryan without even looking up from the laptop.
“Good, here’s the plan. Vinyl and Octavia will stay here and guard the portal with Ryan. There is no telling who might try to come thro…” suddenly Red tensed and seized up, eyes changing color to red, it was too quick and blurry to remember but he saw someone fighting Tirek and losing. Red said,
“Shit! How am I going to help my body’s buried somewhere in Equestria and I can’t take this one?”
“Simple,” said Shadow, “Take this mask and put it on.” Red took the mask from Shadow and put it on. Suddenly he was seeing himself through
Shadow’s eyes. Shadow told Red, “Now, keep that on until we find your body.”
“OK”
“Ok portals open,” Ryan said, “Now go quick and take these.” he handed each member of the team going to Equstria a pair of sunglasses. When they put them on they gasped at what they saw. They saw the view points of the others in miniature screens on a huds display.
“Wow! Where did you get these?” They all asked Ryan.
“I built them from blueprints I stole from the military” Ryan relied,
“Ok, each set links to your teammates and has a mini map as well, Shadow you have the master, set it has a feed to the others and you can all contact me and the others if you need a evac, let me know.
“Wait, we need light- lots of it,” said Amethyst.
“Why?” Questioned Razor.
“This creature is weakened by light,” said Amethyst
“Take these.” interjected Graymane, he handed everyone a pouch full of crystals.
“Ok. Red are explosive ,white create shields, green heals- you can eat them or crush them and mix with water, blue are flash bangs and the yellow temporarily give others a anthro form but you only have 3.”
Suddenly Shadow shuddered and spoke in Red’s voice “We have to hurry.” He shuddered again
“Ok.” Shadow started “Amethyst and Graymane go to Canterlot and try to warn Princess Luna. Razor Light you are to go and find my body- talk to Rainbow Dash and keep your weapons hidden, nopony is to be harmed unless it’s absolutely necessary.” he shuddered again, “And Lighting, you behave yourself with my sister” Red said “We’ll go to Sweet Apple Acres.” With that they all went into the portal.
The second the last person stepped through the portal Octavia said, “I hope they know what the fuck there doing on the other side once they all split up for their destinations”
Ryan looked up from his computer for a second and said,
"Well, it helps that I programmed each of their destinations into their shades so the portal will drop them off at the right places, near enough at least."
Once through the portal, Red noticed that he had appeared at the start of a dirt road and the others were missing. He checked the feeds in on the shades and saw the others in Canterlot and Clouldsdale. He shook his head and chuckled. "Ryan, you clever bastard" He started to walk down the road to Sweet Apple Acres. Meanwhile at Cloudsdale, Light and Razor found Rainbow Dash and followed her, while unknown to them they were being watched.
Redpine slowly approached the barn at Sweet Apple Acres. When he
arrived, he found the doors have been completely decimated. Shrapnel
from the doors could be found scattered all across the outside of the
barn. Whatever had destroyed the doors must have been powerful. He
cautiously entered the dimly lit barn, using his triple colored
(red/green/blue) eyes to take in the horror of what he saw. Laying there were the bodies of a mare and a filly. The mare’s body lay
on the ground, torn to shreds by some sort of beast. The filly
however, suffered a fate much worse. She had been solidified in
what appeared to be caramel. She had suffocated to death. Red
shuddered and shed a tear, utterly disgusted at the thought of any
pony doing this to another pony. He started to feel the change happening,
and there was no stopping it. His hair changed from green and blue to
solid black, his coat turned crimson red to dark grey, his tail from
dark and light red to pure white. A small scar appeared on his muzzle,
and his horn glowed pure white at the tip and black at the base. The
biggest change, however, were his eyes. One went black, while the
other went white, both with grey pupils.
As his magic began to encase the mare, Red closed his eyes and let the magic
build up. While the magic flowed through his horn he began to whisper
an ancient spell, a spell that had been hidden away for thousands of
years. A spell that not even the Great Star Swirl the Bearded would
have dared to use. As he spoke the mares body began to repair itself,
the bones, the sinew, then on to the muscle tissue and inner organs.
Once her lungs and heart were finished, she gasped and started
screaming in pain. This lasted for several minutes. The magic started
fading as her face was finally repaired. Once fully healed she stopped
screaming, but her breathing was still heavy.
The Mare heard somepony speak. “It’s okay, you’re safe now. Do you know your name? Do you know who you are? ” The voice said.
“A... Apple...Applejack.” She stammered out. Suddenly she gasped as
she realized that she was still alive. She looked all around her body,
wondering how she could still be there. Worst of all, she remembered
her death. “How... how ahm I... how is this...” Applejack started,
but didn't get a chance to finish. She got up to run to the filly, and
fell down immediately. “What... Whats goin on? Why can’t ah stand up?
What have ya done ta me?” Applejack said, still confused and
disoriented.
“The reason why you can’t stand or move is because your body has just
been repaired. The muscle tissue and will take a few minutes to
regenerate to their previous strength.” said Applejack’s saviour, going
to her and helping her stand.
“Please, take me to mah little sister. We have to get her outta
there.” Applejack said, starting to cry. She was quickly walked to the
body of her little sister, Applebloom. Applejack couldn't bear to
look at her little sister, but when she did, she broke down in tears.
Applejack said, “Please, please ahm begging ya, do something. She was
so young, she didn't deserve ta die. Ya have ta do something.” She felt
a wing fall over her, comforting her. She looked up and realized he
was an Alicorn. When he went to touch Applebloom, Applejack asked,
“Wait, before ya do anything, I want ta know who ya are.”
He sighed and said “My name is Shadow Derivara. Now quickly we need to
get this rid of this caramel so I can get here lungs and heart
regenerated.” He and Applejack got to work chiselling the caramel
away, first from Applebloom’s head and muzzle. “Once we get her mouth
clear I can use my magic to remove whatever caramel chunks are in her
lungs. Then once she is revived it will be easier to get the rest of
her free.” All Applejack could do was nod and keep working away the
the caramel. It took almost a half an hour to get her head free, and
by that time Apple Jack’s muscular system was back to its full
potential. Shadowderivara brushed the last few crumbs away from
Applebloom’s snout as his horn began to glow. He muttered the same
spell he used before. Unlike with Applejack, Applebloom’s heart and
lungs were the only things that he needed to repair. It only took
moments for small chunks of caramel to fly out of her mouth.
At that exact moment, they heard a cough, then a scream.
Applebloom jerked her head around and shouted, “Sta... stay back,
ple... ple... please, leave me alone!" Apple Jack grabbed her little
sisters chin, and said, “Applebloom... Sugarcube, calm down. Everything's
alright now. Aint nothing here that's gonna hurt ya now, ya hear me?.”
said Applejack.
When Applebloom heard her sisters voice, she turned to her
and started to cry. “Oh, Applejack, it was horrible I... I... I
had a nightmare that I was put into a pot of caramel, and you were being torn to pieces!
“That was no dream little filly. You were put in a pot of caramel.”
said Shadow.
The filly turned towards Shadow. “Who...who are you?” said
Applebloom, but gasped when she saw his horn and wings. ‘This pony is
an alicorn.’ she thought to herself.
“Shadow Derivara,” he replied, “But you can call me Shadow for short.
Now this isn't going to hurt, you will feel pressure.” Shadow used his
magic and surrounded Applebloom with it. He shut his eyes to
concentrate, as not to cause any harm to her. The rest of the caramel
that surrounded Applebloom slowly started to dissipate and fall apart,
all the chunks falling to the ground as he also healed the burns that she sustained when she was in the boiling caramel.
The process only took a couple
of minutes, and Applebloom surprisingly sat relatively still, except
for the occasional stretching of a hoof as it was freed. When Shadow
was finished he ,created an exact copy of Applebloom out of the caramel, he stood up and nodded at his success,
“That should fool the thing that did this to you both” he said.
Applejack ran over to the now freed filly and scooped her up.
“Ahm so glad your alright, I thought ah lost ya there for a minute. If
it wasn't for Shadow, ah think we’d both be goners.” Suddenly, without
warning, Shadow’s body was thrown into spasms. He was changing back,
his coat changed back to it’s crimson red, his tail and mane turned
back to their normal colors, his scar vanished and his eyes went back
to being tri-colored. As this was happening, Applejack backed away
and set Applebloom behind her. She had no idea what was going on.
And she didn't want to lose Applebloom again. “What the hay is going
on? Just who the buck are you?” Applejack said, moving towards the
back barn doors ever so slowly.
The pony shook its head as the transformation completed. “That, my
dear Applejack, is a long story, but my names Redpine.” He said.
When he said his name, Applejack froze dead in her tracks. A dark and
grim expression appeared on her face.
“Liar. That name belonged to the brother of my best and closest
friend Rainbow Dash, and he died two years ago.” Applejack said
dead-locking a penetrating stare into Red’s eyes.
Red chuckled a little, “Well I did die,” he positioned his body
towards Apple Jack so she could see three scares on his chest and
says, “I still remember the look on her face that day, but I owe my
life to Shadow for saving me.” He said seriously.
“Look we don't have much time Applejack, the creature that did this will be back soon.”
He paused then suddenly he shuddered but this time his
body glowed, he eyes glowed pure green with a wisp of purple smoke and
he quickly made some clothes and a hat out of thin air and grunted as
if he was in pain.
“Would you mind covering the little ones eyes for a
minute?” Redpine asked
“Why?” replied Applejack
“Just do it please” Red replied.
She did and his form changed, his hind legs
got bigger and skinnier his for hooves changed completely into
something she had never seen before and his fur shrank to about
halfway its normal length and he was bucking naked. Applejack blushed,
Red quickly pulled some clothing onto his lower half and a top with
holes in the back on his upper body and he put a hat onto his head,
(which annoyed Applejack because it looked exactly like her hat) and a
red scarf with a triple colored lightning bolt. She hadn’t seen them before but there were two swords.
“What are ya?” She asked. Suddenly they heard
singing.
“Nightmare night such a fright give us something sweet to bite.”
Standing in the doorway of the barn was a filly covered in candy and
gore.
“Redpine take Mah sister and get her out of here! Ah’ll hold her off! Growled Applejack.
Redpine placed his hat on Applebloom’s head and grabbed her
“No! Let me go, I’m not leaving my sister!” shouted Applebloom as he
took off, blasting a hole with his magic and fled from
the creature.
