My Little Pony: Stone and Metal

   The ponies of Equestria had survived many years of fear, war and superstition, and they learned much on both magic and science. It was in those times when Earth Ponies shared their lives with Unicorns, Pegasi and Alicorns. Inside the lands of Equestria, in a town named Ponyville, there stood a castle that seemed to resemble a crystal tree. This was the home of the legendary princess of friendship, Twilight Sparkle. There isn't much to be said about her, or her five best friends;  while she has earned her place in royalty, she's still like any normal pony who lived in Ponyville. Everyone who knew Twilight knows she was once a unicorn before she gained wings, and even then, she loved reading. Her castle had an entire library, almost twice as big as the Golden Oaks library that was destroyed by Lord Tirek. Now, Twilight and her friends were in some pretty unique adventures, their most amazing adventure yet began inside a dark cave where they awoke one day and had absolutely no clue as to how they got there in the first place. They were yet to learn what nightmares they are soon to face.

   Twilight Sparkle was the first to wake up, but it didn't take long before the others followed. "Is everypony okay?" She asked. They all nodded as to say "yes". "So, where do you think we are?" asked Rainbow Dash, as her wing bones popped while she stretched. "I don't know," Twilight replied, "but there should be no harm in finding out." She took a step forward, but then felt something poke her hoof. "Oh!" she gasped, "What have we got here?" The six ponies had just now noticed what looked like 6 crystals. Each having a specific color; magenta, red, sky blue, indigo, green, and yellow. "You know," Twilight decided, "these look really pretty. I'm sure everyone at home will want to see these crystals... if we ever get home." Using telekinesis, Twilight held onto the 6 crystals and led everyone out of the cave.

   Outside, they noticed what looked like a golem. It carried an axe where its right hand should be, and on its left hand, a gauntlet that fires arcane bolts. "My word," said Rarity, "What kind of creature is that?" "How am I supposed to know?" answered Twilight, "We just woke up, remember?"

   They decided to follow the beast, taking care not to get to close. At the moment it stopped, Twilight was starting to wonder if it knew who was behind it. "Maybe he can help us...?" Twilight pondered, "Fluttershy, could you ask him?" "I can," the shy yellow Pegasus answered. She flew towards the creature and tapped on its shoulder. "Pardon us, sir," Fluttershy told it, "but we're kinda lost, and We were just wondering if you could tell us where we are now, if it's not too much trouble." "This can't end nicely," Applejack said, worried. Looking a bit confused, the creature replied to them, "So it was you who were following me." Twilight felt a little dumbfounded that this beast could speak, let alone notice them. "I seem to have misplaced the High Pygon Emperor's elite soldiers. You look so strange. What are you?" None of the six ponies replied. "Perhaps you broke the Pygon Emperor's military elite? This all seems peculiar." "WHAT?" Twilight yelped, "No, we couldn't have broken anyone, I swear!" "Panicky, Thy name is Twilight," Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Oh! She got you, Twilight," Pinkie Pie laughed. "Maybe the Pygon High Council can help sort this out," said the Pygon, "They can fix you if you are broken." "I don't feel broken," said Fluttershy. "You might be inside out," said the Pygon, "That's easy to fix." "Uh, do we seriously look inside out?" asked Applejack, looking at her hide, "You still look like a cowgirl to me," said Pinkie. "It would be best," the Pygon decided, "if I took you to see the Pygon High Council so they can examine you six. You will come with me." "Stay away from her!" Rainbow Dash yelled, quickly kicking the Pygon's head so hard it flew straight from it's body, which in turn, followed said head. All of that lead to a long hour of silence.

   "...Holy crud," Twilight said, surprised, "That was just brutal." "What the hay did you expect me to do, Twilight," Rainbow Dash asked, "just let that guy take our friend away and let these 'Pygon' things do Celestia knows what to her?" Twilight just giggled. "Well," she said, "at least we're safe now. Let's keep going." Later on, they found a tree that had windows and a door like a house would have. From it's branches hung bottles and vials, and above the door was a mask. "Say, isn't that Zecora's house?" asked Pinkie Pie. Twilight examined the treehouse, and quickly realized where they were. "This place must be the Everfree Forest," she decided, "It looks the same, and yet it feels different." Soon, they heard a noise. It sounded like a giant was walking towards them. They decided to keep moving, hoping they wouldn't come across whatever it was who was making those large sounds.

   Later on, they found the beheaded Pygon again trying to get its head back. "I'm over here," the head told the body, "Oh, be careful, there's some mud there." Grabbing the branch with the axe hand, the Pygon body pulled it down in an attempt to seise the head. "That's it," the head encouraged the body, "Slowly, and carefully..." Then, before anyone could speak, the Pygon body slipped letting go of the branch. In retaliation, the branch quickly swung upwards catapulting the head into the sky. The body just laid there motionless after. Twilight examined the gauntlet that fell off the body's wrist. She picked it up and slid it on her arm. "Strange little gizmo, isn't it?" Twilight thought to herself. She touched it a bit, playing around with it like a little toy. And then, when she rubbed down the top of the gauntlet, it shot an arcane bolt, making Twilight jump. "I didn't see that coming," Twilight said, blushing. "I'm guessing THAT'S how the thing fires," Rainbow Dash snickered. Then, suddenly, they caught sight of a Pygon that seemed to resemble a tarantula. It looked at them, and quickly came after them as if it had a grudge on them! Twilight ducked down and evaded the Pygon's first attack, and the beast came around for a second bash. "Leave us alone!" Twilight screamed. Then, the Pygon got pricked by the crystal Twilight was carrying, and felt pain. It shrunk down and then fell apart. From the broken remains, there was a body of a pink alicorn. It seemed lifeless at first, but then it snorted. "Stay close to me," Twilight told the others, "If it's alive, then let's hope it's not hostile." Upon getting a closer look, Twilight could see that it was someone she's quite familiar with. "Well, I'll be," Twilight said, utterly amazed, "Princess Cadance, is that you?" Cadance just slowly raised her head as if she was groggy. "Twilight," she said, "Where am I?"

  Now, Twilight knew Cadance all too well; She was once her foal-sitter. A caring, gentle pony like Cadance would've have Twilight give her the title of "Greatest foal-sitter in all the history of foal-sitters". Plus, it was pretty rare to see a unicorn simply spread love wherever she goes. And now that she's married to Shining Armor, Twilight's brother, they are sisters-in-law. "So," Cadance asked Twilight, "what happened to all of you?" "We woke up in a cave of some kind," Answered Twilight. "Do you remember anything?" "Well," Cadance admitted, "I think I was just about to nibble on a cookie, that's all I could remember." "You..." Twilight said before losing track of her sentence, "...It's kinda hard to explain this, but you became some sort of monster. You were attacking us, and somehow we freed you. Must be because of these crystals we found." Cadance just smiled and said, "I gotta say, that's very brave of you." "You just pricked yourself on that thing and then you became you again," added Pinkie. "Dark magic isn't my specialty," said Cadance, "but I AM curious; Let's pretend it's true that you freed me from the form of a tartarus-spawn. If you'd same form, how were you able to reach your own freedom?" Twilight thought about it for a minute, and flashbacks began to flood her head. According to these flashbacks, she and her friends were giant creatures entering the cave. Almost like they too were in the form of demons. The sting each of them got during that time was excruciating. Maybe it was the crystal that struck them. Was its magic the very key to setting things right?

   After a while, they found the gateway between the forest and Ponyville. But after only 6 steps, Twilight tripped on something and fell down. "Owie..." Twilight moaned. shaking off her pain, she looked back to see what tripped her. It looked like a stone head. "Sorry," Twilight blushed. "Oh, nevermind it," the head said, "But watch where you're going next time." Twilight then looked a bit confused. "How exactly can you live like that? You're a head." "Such is the power of Pygon," the head chuckled, "Life and death are plagues created by the sisters. Pygon can neither live nor die." "You okay, Twi?" Rainbow Dash said. "Of course I am," answered Twilight, as she quickly hid the head away. "Look," said Fluttershy, "There's Ponyville!" "At least it's not completely destroyed," said Twilight. Everypony soon came to glimpse with facts; it turned out that they were awakened from the Pygon curse. The only thing that concerned Twilight, however, was the crystals she and her friends were holding. What enchantments did they possess? And what about the Pygon head? It too had secrets, but what was it hiding?