My Little Pony: Stone and Metal

   The train carriage wasn't quite full, but the engine itself was quite functional enough to get them to where the six friends needed to go. Twilight Sparkle couldn't help but feel depressed over these events, as if SHE was the cause of all of it. "What's wrong?" Asked Rainbow Dash. "I feel like this was all my fault," confessed Twilight, "As if I was responsible for this whole thing." "Father Darkness is responsible for Pygon," said Gourd. "I knew those books were trouble," Twilight whimpered. Gourd talked gently to her as if a little bit of sympathy came from whatever form he once was. "I think I get it," he said, "You feel regret due to a transgression that had supposedly led to a present upshot that is causing you guilt." "To tell you the truth," Twilight explained, "Princess Celestia is like a mother to me, and I feel honored to be her most gifted student, but sometimes what I do doesn't feel like it's enough. I felt like there may be more out there." "If I didn't know you any better," Gourd told Twilight, "I'd say you were curious about mysterious spells." Twilight nodded, a single tear sliding down her cheek. "Curiosity killed the cat, Twilight," said Pinkie Pie, trying to comfort her, "Trust me. I tried sour cream once, and it tasted good, but it wasn't like sweet cream. I know now." Everyone just stood silent. "Well," Gourd said, "If you actually managed to lift the curse of flesh from Pygon everywhere, then you have my thanks. You are of no consequence to me if you didn't." "Thank you," said Twilight, "I guess you really do care for our kind." "I don't, really," admitted Gourd, "But I do whatever I can."

   Later, the train reached its destination, and everyone got out to find the Pygon gate. It was a red gate that had a ring of sharp teeth growing inward. "Why don't we try the seeds?" Twilight said, presenting them to the gate. The seeds slipped into the holes and the gate disappeared. Now, they can get into the city. "I just hope," said Gourd, "that you don't plan on being sadistic and slaughter every single Pygon you come across." "These are innocent ponies trapped inside demonic forms," said Twilight, "These Pygon are ungodly monsters!" "What?" smirked Gourd, pretending to be insulted, "You call my best friends ungodly? Oh that's REAL polite of you." "You don't HAVE any friends," retorted Rainbow Dash. "Well now, aren't WE sassy?" chuckled Gourd, "Actually, I am blessed with a bountiful, social life of which you all know nothing." Like Ponyville, the Crystal Empire is somewhat clean. Twilight found an translucent instrument on the ground. It had one mouthpiece and lead pipe, and is then split revealing two bells. "Looks like someone dropped their flugelhorn here," Twilight pondered, "Pinkie, can you hold onto this?" "Oh, absolutely," Pinkie Pie said, ecstatically, "I so wanted a flugelhorn every since we first came here." "You ponies defile that instrument by putting your germ-infested lips upon it," said Gourd. "And YOU," Twilight wisecracked, "defile our patience by talking too much."

   They kept walking, studying the palace that was a glorious as the tales spoke now empty of living creatures. The six managed to quickly duck to a safe hiding place at the site of two Pygon. One resembling a gorilla, the other a four legged fire-breather. "Keep your eyes open," The first Pygon told the second, "If we catch the ponies who bring forth the curse of flesh, the High Pygon Emperor will reward us greatly." They snuck past the two golems without making a sound. Later, They were on the way towards the Crystal Castle. In the distance, Twilight could see what looked like a serpentine beast that had wings; a wyrm Pygon. "Hey," Twilight called out, "If you can hear me, we came here to help you!" The wyrm looked down, eyes targeted at the six ponies, and it swooped quickly towards them as they duck down. Twilight realized that negotiations were pointless here, so she opened her wings ready to fly up and do she DARE not know what. "Have you gone utterly MAD?" Gourd gasped.

   Twilight flew into the air flapping her wings and followed the beast to the high chamber in the Crystal Castle. This was the chamber that held the Crystal Heart, but it seemed like the Pygon was trying to destroy it! Twilight wasn't going to stand for that, no, she had to do something. She was quick enough to climb onto the beast's back, clamber up, and found a turquoise marking on his head. "That must be his weak spot," Twilight thought. Judging her aim, she quickly jabbed the crystal straight into the marking. The beast then wriggled on the floor in agonizing pain. Soon, a blast of white light enveloped the room! The blurred vision began to clear, and Twilight could then see another serpentine creature. It had the head of a horse, the body of a snake, and the limbs of many other creatures. It was too obvious who it was. "Discord," Twilight said, "Is that you?" "I'm the only draconequus in this room now," Discord smiled. Once one of Twilight's greatest enemies, Discord has been reformed by Fluttershy, and is now a close friend. Still, being a creature of chaos, he can still cause mischief. "The curse I saved you from," Said Twilight, "It must be lifted from Equestria permanently." "Yes," said Discord, "I know of the Pygon curse." At a split-second, the draconequus flashed out in a bright light then quickly teleported closer to Twilight. "This may come as a surprise to you," He told her, "But it's been a hundred years since we got the Pygon shells. Pygon do not age, you see. They are immortal." "A... hundred years? Impossible!" Twilight squeaked. "I told you it would shock you," Discord joked. "What exactly have the Pygon been doing for so long?" Twilight asked, regaining her sanity. "I have a good feeling that lies are what this thing likes to speak in," Gourd said. "I could lie if I wanted to," Discord told Gourd, "But this is important news." Twilight listened closely. "Pygon," Discord told them, "are here to build something. It is what they do." A look of amusement crossed Twilight's face as Discord turned into a construction worker. "Their purpose in life is to build whatever it is they need to build," Discord ended. That's when Gourd interjected his particular kind of stupidity into the conversation. "I suggest you help us build it," he told Discord, "We WILL build it anyways; The least you could do is earn a bit of credit after it's done." "After what's done?" Twilight asked, "What are you building?" "Isn't it obvious?" answered Gourd, "We're building the door to..." he then paused. Discord couldn't help but find this extremely comical. "It's as they all say," he laughed, "the smartest Pygon of all is still as stupid as the very stone that he was created from."

   Twilight felt a little scared of the thought of the Pygon building a door. What would lay behind such a construct? "If they're building a door," said Twilight, "then we need to stop them from building it." "What door?" Gourd said, anxious, "I didn't say anything about any door of the sort! We are NOT building a door at all!" Discord just chuckled. "Whatever the case may be," Gourd said, "odds are the door's almost done at this point." "Oh yes," Said Discord, "Of course the Pygon are almost finished building the door that you just said that they aren't building. That makes plenty of sense, it's TOTALLY not a paradox at all." They all paused. Gourd was so furious that after a minute of silence, all he could say was, "...I like you even LESS than I like the Alicorn I have the displeasure of accompanying!" Twilight still felt confident in her adventure. The Pygon curse should not be permitted to poison Equestria. "You know," Discord advised, "I have a feeling there might be a way to fix all this. How did you lift the curse from Ponyville?" "Well," answered Twilight, "I freed Princess Cadance and Sunset Shimmer." "And as it appears," said Discord, "you saved me from the pygon form I had. This means..." "If I want to free Equestria from the Pygon Curse..." Twilight joined in, "...It stands to reason..." Discord continued, "...That I have to save the two sister Princesses and destroy their Pygon forms!" Twilight finished. "And now, your next stop," beamed Discord, "is the Capital of Equestria." "Onward, then," smiled Twilight, "To Canterlot!" "Hope you're ready to die," Gourd muttered, with a sly evil grin. So far, Twilight Sparkle and her friends have bravely face down nightmares not even the youngest of foals should have ever bare witness to. And yet, THEY were the only ones who would save everypony from this plague. But Twilight was still concerned about Gourd's words; he might be right and her task was primarily in vain. She still kept going to Canterlot. She knew there was no one else there to battle the curse should she or her friends fail.