Saga of the Great Kingdom

Chapter 3: The Perfect Apple Storm?

Apple Storm raced back to the farm complex, skidding to a stop with a spin that left the apple cart next to the loaded cart that she left before.

Big Macintosh just stared as the pony unhooked herself from the apple cart and then skipped over to him. "Y'all workin way too hard," he said.

"No I ain't Cousin Macintosh," she replied, "'n why are y'all still up? Y'all needs lots a rest if y'all's gonna git yerself betterz."

"I's jus fine, I's worried 'bout y'all."

"'N where's Applejack? Ain't she s'posed t' look after y'all?"

"She went to town..."

"Back t' work! I'll check on y'all laters!" =ZIP!=

"But... gone already..."

...

Applejack and the girls were still making their way to where the unpicked apples were when Apple Storm raced by on another track of trees towing an empty apple cart. Her passage was marked by the small dust cloud trail that extended a few hundred feet behind her.

"When I say she's fast, I mean SHE IS FAST," said Rainbow Dash, "I just HAVE to race her sometime!"

"The number of apples Apple Storm has picked borders on the incredible!" said Twilight.

"But people who party too hard can't make it to the next party!" shouted Pinkie Pie.

"Why are we talking about parties?"

"What other kind of analogy would you expect her to use?" asked Rarity.

"Good point," said Twilight.

"It would be like me saying, 'You can't make two dresses if you put all of your materials in one'. It's not really good for this situation, but it's an analogy I understand well."

"Oh, I see."

"Hey Dash," said Twilight, "maybe you should fly higher and see if you can see where Apple Storm is?"

"Good idea, Twilight!"

She zips up, and then comes back down a minute later.

"That's weird," she said as she hovered close to the ground.

"What?" asked Applejack.

"Apple Storm's not too far ahead now. She's putting baskets under a whole lot of trees, but she isn't kicking any of them."

Suddenly, a rumbling sound split the air, causing Fluttershy to squeak, "Eek! Thunder!" The next second, she's wrapped around Applejack's neck like a really thick scarf. A trembling scarf.

"You're a mite heavy there, sugar-cube," said Applejack softly.

"We'll help, right girls?" asked Twilight.

...

"Spike?" said Apple Tricks, "Spike! I need the history of Equestria parts 11 through 20!" She got up and walked around until she found Spike asleep on the floor using a book as a pillow.

"Have a blanket," she said, her eyes glowing. A blue blanket appears, settling down over him. "You will sleep soundly while I use my full magical powers unseen by prying eyes. All of this accumulated knowledge will belong to me!"

Her eyes began to glow as books from every shelf began flying around the room as if sucked into some magical tornado.

...

"Apple Storm!" shouted Rainbow Dash, "Everyone out of the way quick!"

Fluttershy and Dash flew up higher as the others jumped behind apple trees. The blur that is Apple Storm raced by pulling a loaded apple cart.

"Did she even see us?" asked Twilight poking her head from behind the tree.

"She must be really focused," said Fluttershy quietly as she hovered lower.

"I wanna party with her!" shouted Pinkie Pie.

"C'mon girls," said Applejack, "Them thar apples waits for no one."

"They don't?"

The pony party continues down the path through the trees.

...

Apple Tricks stood at the front door to Twilight's place. Glancing back at the still sleeping Spike, she said "I thought that the land of Equestria would have more to offer. Such a disappointment. I suppose I should be heading back to the Sweet Apple Acres to see if my half-witted half-sister has blown our cover yet. Of course, that Applejack isn't that hard to fool. 6th Cousins? That's one of my best stories yet." She starts to laugh, then cuts herself off quickly by slapping a hoof over her own mouth.

The door opens and she lets herself out.

…

Once more, Apple Storm raced by on a different track than she took back to the farm, towing the empty apple cart with great speed.

"I don't believe it," said Rainbow Dash, "I don't think she's slowed down one little bit since we've been here."

"My cousins from way way way way up north must be real tough," said Applejack, "Why don't you fly up thar Dash and see what Apple Storm's exactly doin, cuz I really wantz to know."

She comes back down a minute later, and Applejack asks, "So what's she doin? How's she pickin all those apples?"

"Oh, she's not doing anything with the apples or the trees right now."

"Well what in tarnation is she doin?"

"She's just fighting a big old ice dragon."

"Oh, iz tha all?"

Awkward pause.

"ICE DRAGON?" they all ask together. They all take off in the direction Dash saw them.

...

Apple Storm was holding her hammer in her mouth by the strap, and she was spinning it at crazy speeds. The Ice Dragon breathed it's blizzard breath at her, but the freezing gale winds parted around the spinning hammer as if it were a shield. Some of the nearby apple trees were frozen solid, and the ground around them was sheathed in snow and ice.

"Dang," she said with clenched teeth, "Y'all keepin me from doin my chores, Dragon. I don't really has the time to mess with the likes of you."

The Dragon moved a little closer and released more of it's blizzard breath, and again the freezing gale winds parted around the spinning hammer as if it were a shield.

"Apple Storm!" cried Applejack, "We here to save you!"

"Stay back," she replied, "I cannot bear to see y'all endangered for lil' ole me."

"No way, you're kinfolk and we fight for kinfolk!"

Rainbow Dash flew in and buzzed the Dragon's head, saying "Hey scaly, bet you're too slow to get me!"

"Why must it be dragons?" cried Fluttershy quietly.

"Don't you worry, Fluttershy," said Twilight, "I think we can handle this one."

"I'll distract it with a song," offered Pinkie Pie.

"NO!" said the others in unison, except for Apple Storm who was otherwise occupied and otherwise did not know Pinkie Pie that well.

"Party tricks?"

"NO!"

"Knock-knock jokes?"

"NO!"

Applejack was twirling a lasso with her tail, and threw it towards the Dragon's head. It closed around the Dragon's muzzle, closing it shut. The Dragon turned its head to look at Applejack and the others.

Apple Storm hurled the hammer, trailing a lightning bolt behind as it struck the Dragon squarely in the chest, making a large thunderclap as well. The Dragon staggered under the force of the blow, and fell onto its side.

"The thunder!" squeaked Fluttershy, "The thunder!"

"Great horny toads!" shouted Applejack, "That's the thunder we been hearing!"

The Dragon got onto its feet, shook it's head, and then flew away.

"What kind of fancy trick is that?"

"Well..." said Apple Storm, "It's... uhm... y'all see..."

Just then, a Sleipnir appeared in among them, it's horns glowing brightly.

"Forget!" it commanded, and small red clouds shot from its mouth. Each cloud sought out the head of one of the ponies all save for Apple Storm. As each of the heads were engulfed in the red cloud, they coughed once or twice and fell to the ground.

"Lokidota," said Apple Storm, "I can explain."

"Be more cautious, half-sister," said Lokidota, "I can not cover for your mistakes indefinitely. Do not become friends with them, for we shall return to Asgard soon and never see the likes of the people living here again."

Apple Storm looked truly saddened at those words.

Chapter 4: Messages

Spike awoke in the morning. He sat up as the blanket rolled off him. With a yawn and a stretch, he gathered up the blanket. He smiled as he said to no one in particular, "A blanket? Twilight must have tucked me in when she got home from Sweet Apple Acres."

He looked around, and said "I guess Apple Tricks let herself out."

"Twilight?" he called aloud, "Twilight?"

There was no answer.

"Apple Tricks? Apple Tricks?"

Again, no answer.

He looked around and scratched his head. Then something struck him like a brick in the side of the head.

"OH NO! Every book is the library is NOT IN THE RIGHT PLACE! It's like the books are sorted by someone who doesn't have the right grasp of the alphabet, or is using a different alphabet entirely."

Just then, he coughed up a message from the palace.

"Hmm," he mused, "Twilight isn't here, so I better read this message as her number one assistant." He unrolled the scroll and read it aloud more out of habit than anything else.

"Dear Twilight Sparkle,"

"The scroll you sent me, and the circumstances it appeared under are most disturbing indeed."

"The only way I could see how the scroll could have appeared as described would be that the scroll was left there by someone from the Kingdom of Asgard itself."

"Look out for unnatural rainbows, as that is the mark of the Rainbow Bridge, the means Asgardians use to traverse various dimensions. If such an event is seen by anyone, report this to me at once."

"As the illustrations depict, the Sleipnir are the major race of Asgard, and are eight-legged ponies with cow horns. However, they have magical powers of unknown scope and breadth, so beware of anything out of the ordinary should such a Rainbow Bridge be seen."

"Yours truly, Princess Celestia."

"Rainbow Bridge?"

Chin scratch. Deep thinking. Smoke from the ears.

"OH NO! Rainbow Dash saw the Rainbow Bridge! There must be Sleipnir in Ponyville!"

Spike panicked and ran around in circles at a loss of what to do. He suddenly stopped and took a deep breath.

"I can't wait for Twilight's return! I better write a message to the Princess myself at once!"

Spike raced off for a scroll and quill.

...

Pinkie Pie awoke with a strange fog in her mind. She had the strangest dream about telling knock-knock jokes to a Dragon of all things. Opening her eyes, she wondered why she was sleeping on the couch instead of her own bed.

Scattered on the floor was blankets and pillows, and a bunch of familiar faces: Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle. They were all sound asleep.

The house was a complete disaster, with party favors scattered everywhere. The tables were littered with half-eaten cupcakes, and half-drunk glasses of punch.

Pinky Pie suddenly gasp, and screamed aloud. The other ponies awoke with a terrible start.

"What?" they all asked in a groggy voice, "Pinkie Pie?"

"It's horrible, it's horrible!"

"What in tarnation are y'all goin on about?" asked Applejack.

"I THREW a PARTY, and I don't REMEMBER IT!"

"I don't remember it either," said Rainbow Dash as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

There was a knock at the door, and Pinkie Pie bounded over to get it. Standing outside the door was Apple Tricks.

"Are you going to open your shop or what?" she said with quiet disdain.

"What?" she asked, "What time is it?"

"Almost noon. Are you just getting up? That must have been some party you had last night."

"I wish I could remember how great it was."

"I'm sure you do."

"Were you there?"

"No. I do NOT party. I'm here to STUDY."

"Why am I here?" screamed Applejack, "There's still them thar apples to buck!"

"I was wondering that myself. Your workaholic 6th Cousin came home at sundown, and she's went out applebucking hours ago. She also fed Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom, and did all of the other chores that I find so detestable."

"Oh," moaned Applejack, "Big Macintosh's gonna be so pissed. I gotta gets home NOW!" She bolted for the door, barely giving time for Pinkie Pie and Apple Tricks to get out of her way.

"Oh no!" yelled Rainbow Dash, "I'm behind on tending the weather! The clouds are probably out of control by now! I must get to work!" She flapped her wings and streaked out the door right after Applejack.

"The animals!" squeaked Fluttershy, "They must think I've abandoned them!" She flapped her wings and flew out the door right after Rainbow Dash.

"Okay," said Twilight, "No one else is leaving until we help Pinkie Pie clean up."

...

"It ain't like Applejack t'be so late," said Big Macintosh as he stood in the barn, "I should go looking fer her."

"Ya can't go!" said Apple Storm, "Y'all not nearly fixed up 'nough yet."

"I can go," said Apple Bloom.

"No ya can't do tha neither. I'm'a trustin you to lookin afters you big brother til Applejack gets back. Y'all is a big'nough to do tha fer me, right?"

"Yes," yipped Apple Bloom, "You can count on me!"

"I knew it. Well, backs ta'work." =ZIP!=

Big Macintosh looked out from the barn as Apple Storm disappeared towing an empty apple cart. There was a row of loaded apple carts surrounded by bushels and bushels of apples sitting on the ground. He looked behind himself to see even more bushels of apples lining the sides and back of the barn.

"I ain't never seen nothin like it," he said slowly.

"Like what?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Oh," he sighed, "It ain't nothin to worry y'all pretty head abouts."

"Okay."

"But I am gonna hav'ta have a word with Applejack as soon as she gets home."

"Okay."

...

Twilight finally made it home. When she entered, she suddenly found Spike wrapped around her forelegs.

"YOU"RE FINALLY HOME!" he cried.

"What happened?"

Spike dragged Twilight over to the desk as he said, "There's a message from the Princess. Just read it for yourself."

She read the message, and gasped aloud.

"I've got to get a message to the Princess right away!"

"Way ahead of you on that one, Twilight."

"Oh Spike, I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I hope to never find out, either."

"Right."

Spike paused and coughed up another scroll.

"Quick, Spike," she said urgently, "It must be the reply to your reply. Open it."

Spike opened the scroll and rolled it out on the desk.

"Dear Spike," said Twilight as she smiled at Spike.

"Thank you for your prompt report. I hope that Twilight Sparkle is doing alright. The unnatural storm and the appearance of the Rainbow Bridge are close to confirming my worst fears."

Gasp.

"At one time, there was once a Great Kingdom. Asgard and Equestria were part of this. There are very few if any traces left of this information anywhere in Equestria concerning the Great Kingdom because it was though that it would be better to let this knowledge pass away rather than pass it on."

Gasp.

"The Great Kingdom was ruled overall by the Celestial Jade Dragon Emperor, who ruled for uncounted thousands of years. Over time, he grew paranoid that his loyal subjects were plotting against him. He slowly went insane, and then finally snapped. He cast a spell beyond comprehension that tore the Great Kingdom to pieces, scattered them among several dimensions, and created barriers to keep the pieces separate."

Gasp.

"In casting the spell and separating his Kingdom into pieces, his vast power was destroyed and he forever became a prisoner in his own Jade Castle."

"Any guess at the purposes of Asgard and the Sleipnir would be virtually impossible to make. Report any sightings to me right away. We can neither assume their aims are war-like nor peaceful, so be very very careful."

"Yours truly, Princess Celestia."