Pinkie Paladinby ArtgineerChaptersA Forgotten RealmCompanionsA Shy DragonA Forgotten RealmPrincess Celestia stood alone on one of her palace's many balconies. The capital city of her country, Equestria, stretched out before her to the very edge of even her divine vision. This place, with its spiraling towers, intricate streets, and happy citizens, was something her and her beloved sister could be proud of. This was the city of Canterlot. This was home. This was her home, her paradise, and she ruled it alongside her sister as princesses. Of course, some beings gave her loftier titles such as queen or empress. Some even called her a goddess, but she had no worshipers. She needed no worshipers. She had subjects and, more importantly, she had friends. Suddenly, there was a voice behind her. “Good morning, Princess!” it greeted her, “Um, I hate to be a bother, but, are these two friends of yours? Celestia turned around and saw a pale pony with a red mane flanked on either side by two strange creatures. The first was a towering, humanoid figure in armor so thick and heavy that it was doubtful that there was any living thing actually underneath it all. The second was a shining dragon as large and terrifying as he was glorious, like a living statue of platinum. The stallion spoke again, “They are friends, right? Because, well, they're a tad intimidating.” Celestia nodded and answered, “Yes, Soliloquy, they're friends from afar. Thank you for showing them to me. You may leave us now.” The stallion quickly thanked her and left as the armored figure stepped forward and gave a courteous bow. His voice was a deep bellow that echoed through his helm as he said, “Princess Celestia, it is good to see that you and your realm are both well.” Celestia smiled and bowed back. “It's nice to see you too, Torm. How is my cousin? Is Meilikki well?” The dragon growled, “He favorite follower went mad and is now writing fan fiction about her and a renegade dark elf. I swear, that girl was made to keep others of her gender from being taken seriously. This is why the drow hate us.” “You're as charming as always, Bahamut,” Celestia acknowledged the dragon. She walked between and past her two guests, entering her palace's glorious interior before saying, “I assume that this is not a social call.” Both visitors followed her inside and Torm answered, “I desperately wish it was, but Faerûn is in grave peril and in need of new heroes.” Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle, As you know, our world exists parallel to others. You have been to one of these other worlds and managed to save both it and our own. For this, no one is more deserving of accolades than you. Unfortunately, the time has come again for you to save both another world and our home of Equestria. The Forgotten Realms of Faerûn have come under threat by an ancient creature known as Tiamat. If the Forgotten Realms fall to this force of chaos and evil, I fear that our home may follow. Enclosed, you will find a magic scroll and a map. The map will lead you to the location of a magic mirror much like the one used in the incident with Sunset Shimmer, but it will instead lead you to Faerûn and unlike the other mirror this one can be used at any time so long as it is intact. Keep its location secret to any and all in both that world and ours. Walk through this gateway with your scroll and you will become the hero Faerûn and Equestria so desperately need. The other Elements of Harmony will meet you before you enter the mirror. Do not leave Equestria without them. Agents of my old friends Torm and Bahamut will fill you in on the fine details once you arrive in the Faerûnian town of Greenest. Best regards, Princess Celestia Twilight placed the letter back in her saddle bags again. She stared out the window wondering what kind of world Faerûn was. Was it anything like the school she had found the first time she walked through a magic mirror? Was it ruled by more of those weird Human things? Her wings and horns ached at the thought of their loss and her purple mane frayed slightly with anticipation. Last time, her lavender coat had been taken from her and instead her skin was turned that color. Though the experience wasn't all bad, it was difficult to get used to her strange form in the other world. “Are we almost there, Spike?” She asked the small, purple dragon on her back. She heard him folding the map and then his scratchy voice reassure her, “Yep! It's just at the top of this mountain. The map kind of makes it look like it's in a cave or something.” Twilight peered around at her surroundings. Something about this place seemed familiar, but she couldn't tell what. Just then, the cave came into view and old memories rushed the the front of her mind. “Isn't this where that dragon was before Fluttershy scolded it into leaving?” Spike hopped off her back and nodded. “Yeah, I guess. I wasn't there for that. Sounds awesome, though,” He took a few steps into the cave, “Anyway, it looks like this is where the mirror should be. No wonder the dragon moved in. I bet that mirror is worth a whole pile of bits!” The cave was as dark as Twilight remembered and even though there was no dragon aside from Spike, she could still smell the smoke. Unsure of whether the glistening of the walls was real or just memories of the massive pile of treasure playing tricks on her, she pressed on. Soon, she and Spike could no longer see through the deep darkness around them. Swaying her head in one graceful motion, Twilight lit up her horn like a purple torch and the two continued. As they walked, the cave took on unfamiliar and disturbing features; carvings of dragons eating what Twilight and Spike recognized to be humans lined the walls and some mad language that looked like claw marks made up some kind of captions. Whether these were praising such monsters or warning others about them, Twilight did not know. Just as the two of the considered turning back and waiting for the others, they heard something moving in the darkness behind them. Twilight spun around and shouted, “Who's there? Show yourself!” and Spike ducked behind her. A calm, deep voice answered back, “Relax, it's only another little pony,” just as a hooded stallion stepped into the light of Twilight's horn. She couldn't see much of this stranger, but she could tell he definitely was a pony. His silk robes were a dark purple and though only his muzzle was visible, she could see that his coat was well groomed and shone red in the light of her horn. Both Twilight and Spike calmed down and allowed the newcomer to speak. “My name is Dungeon Master,” he said, “and I am here to show you the rest of the way to Faerûn.” For a moment, Twilight thought she could see a polite smile as he stepped closer and told her, “It's so good of you to come, Princess.” Twilight nodded and said, “Likewise. This place was getting kind of creepy. Sorry for yelling before.” Dungeon Master walked past her, saying, “Think nothing of it. Please, follow me, Princess. Your friends are already waiting for you.” As they moved on the cave began to look less natural. Soon, the rough stone of a natural formation was gone and replaced completely by more horrific carvings lining smooth tunnels that were obviously dug into the very heart of the mountain itself. Torches lined some of the walls, providing just enough light to see the carvings and where they were going. Twilight dimmed her horn as her, Spike, and their new friend entered a large chamber with an arched ceiling. She didn't know how far into the mountain they were or how much the tunnels had slanted down if at all, but the very air in this room felt heavy and thick. In the center was a full length mirror with an intricately carved border displaying black, white, green, blue, and red dragons coiling around one another. Five other ponies stood before this mirror and Twilight recognized them right away. A puffy pink blur was upon her faster than she could react and a pink pony with a puffy mane had her in an embrace. The pink pony cheered, “Hi, Twilight!” and gave her a great squeeze before letting go and allowing her to breathe again. Twilight took a breath before saying, “Hey, Pinkie Pie. So, you guys all have magic scrolls too?” A blue pegasus with a rainbow mane took a tube out of her saddle bag and told her, “Right here! I'm ready to save the world when you guys are. Let's do this!” The other ponies all took out their scroll tubes and Spike let out a heavy sigh. “I'll hold down the fort while you guys are away,” he assured them, “Don't worry about a thing, Twilight. Shining Armor is coming to Ponyville to help out while you're gone.” The six little ponies all turned to the mirror with looks of determination and anticipation plainly on their faces, but stopped before even taking a single step towards it. Between them and the mirror was Dungeon Master, shaking with rhythmic, rattling breaths. He was laughing. The stallion threw off his hood, revealing a pair of terrible, reptilian eyes and long horn. His soft chuckling erupted into maniacal laughter right before he roared, “I can't believe how easy you made this! All standing together like that! Are you all honestly this stupid?” An orange mare among them put down her scroll tube and asked, “Just what in the hay are you talkin' about Dungeon?” The stallion gave a wide, sadistic grin and shouted, “You can ask my master in the next life, heroes,” - he raised on hoof high, - “Praise Tiamat's glory!” With that, Dungeon Master struck his hoof against the floor with a mighty clack! The six ponies and Spike all braced themselves... … and nothing happened. The stallion tried again. Still nothing. He tried again and again. Nothing. Finally, hr looked at his hoof and whispered, “Why isn't this working?” The blue pegasus took to the air and shouted, “Get him!” “Uh-oh,” the stallion muttered as his eyes went wide. This was going to hurt and he knew it. He just didn't know how much or for how long it was going to hurt and at that moment would have given anything to never find out. A multicolored streak tore through the air and threw Dungeon Master from his hooves followed by a pair of orange hooves pinning him to the ground. He struggled for a moment, but was then met with the two most intimidating blue eyes on the cutest yellow face he had ever seen. His mind went numb with shock, though his body practically screamed in pain. For a brief moment, he reviewed the decisions he had made throughout his life that had led him to this moment and deeply regretted every single one. He recalled taking to a life of crime after his village had burned down. He recalled getting involved in a the nearby cult of some vile cause or deity. He even recalled leading the princess to this room, guided by the light of her magical, purple horn. He stopped and whispered, “Wait, is that how it works?” before turning his head and lighting his own horn with a blaring, red color. The scroll tubes took on the same light and flew high into the air, one even cracking against the ceiling. Before they could hit the ground, Twilight's horn glowed again and the tubes gently floated to her side where they simply hung in the air, orbiting her. A sickening thud followed by a cracking noise filled the chamber as the orange pony used her back hooves to kick Dungeon Master up and over the mirror and against a wall. He was now writhing on the ground, moaning something about how he should have simply learned a trade as the other ponies looked to the scrolls. Twilight furrowed her brow and asked, “So, which pony had which scroll? All of the tubes look the same!” The white unicorn standing before her said, “I'm not sure, dear, but that one is cracked. See?” Pinkie gasped and exclaimed, “Rarity is right! What's gonna happen when we go through the mirror with it?” The yellow pegasus who had paralyzed Dungeon Master with only a stare suggested hopefully, “Maybe it's not that bad. I'm sure that we could just go to Canterlot and get another one anyway.” Spike pointed to their foe and told them, “There's no time! He's getting back up!” Dungeon Master was indeed getting back to his feet. His horn glowed again and a square chunk of the floor raised high over his head. Angrily and maniacally, he cried out, “You will not stop the Age of Dragons! Even if I'm stuck here for now, she will reward me in the hereafter! PRAISE TIAMAT'S GLORY!” The orange pony shouted, “It's now or never, girls!” grabbed the nearest scroll and ran for the mirror at full tilt. The others followed closely after with whatever scroll they could reach first. Just as the last of them made it through the portal, there was the tremendous crash of stone against stone and breaking glass. The mirror was in pieces and only Spike and Dungeon Master remained in the room. Only the sound of the unicorn's panting was left hanging in the thick, heavy air. Perhaps for the first time in his young life, Spike felt a sort of quiet fury overtake him. Dungeon Master growled at the little dragon who was staring him down. “And what can you do?” he challenged, “What could a pathetic excuse for a reptile who only serves to ruin the image of his glorious mother possible do to a true servant of Tiamat, the Queen of Dragons?” Spike only answered, “This,” before letting loose a wave of green flame from his mouth. In Celestia's throne room, there was suddenly a plume of green flame and a wicked looking pony in a purple hooded cloak appeared before the princess. He and her locked eyes for a moment and time seemed to stand still. The awkward silence seemed almost deafening. Then, Celestia's eyes narrowed and she called out, “Guards!” The room was immediately filled with armored ponies wielding spears that were all leveled at the intruder's throat. He struggled to find his voice or an excuse, but was quick to give up. Looking at the princess, the only thing Dungeon Master could say was, “That's not fair,” before he was dragged away in chains. Author's Note Readers, The first chapter in a new story! Few feelings like it in the world, right? It's such a strange mix of unstoppable excitement and paralyzing dread. Anyway, you guys can call me Artgineer or just Arty if you want. I'll try to update about once a week and tell you guys if I have to skip an update for some reason. Please leave feedback of some form or another either positive or negative, I only ask that you not be a jerk about it (a request that I'm sure people will pay due heed on the internet [/sarcasm]). Thank you for your time, Arty CompanionsTwilight Sparkle heard the sound of breaking glass and then felt the impact of her body hitting new ground. A dull pain shot through her new form, but was quickly gone as she got to her feet. She shook the dizziness from her head and instinctively rubbed her eyes as she tried to get used to this form again. She looked down at the body that the this world had given her and immediately noticed that she was a bit taller than she remembered. She had two legs built for bipedal, plantigrade movement like she recalled from her days in the human school. She had two higher limbs on her long torso that she remembered were arms and, yes, they ended in groups of intricate joints made for manipulating the world around her that were known as fingers. Her snout, no, her nose was smaller and her mouth didn't protruded from her face at all. Twilight took a deep breath and tried to remember how to walk in this strange form. Her first steps were as awkward as she feared; first she put her left foot forward, then flailed for balance, then her right foot went forward, and then muscle memory kicked in. She got used to not having two of her legs a bit faster than before. Twilight wasn't sure whether or not to be proud of this. Her clothing felt heavy and almost stifling. Looking at her body she saw it was covered by not only plain fabrics, but some sort of hard, skin-like material that encased her torso and partly covered the upper part of her legs with a skirt. Her feet were encased in boots made of the same material. She frowned at how heavy and hot it was, but the thought of having to see her toes (a sort of useless set of fingers on her new feet) and her relatively hairless body (how did humans manage to stay warm?) kept her from taking off this strange outfit. Twilight turned her head and started looking for her friends. New forms or not, she should have been able to recognize them, right? The mirror couldn't have sent her into this world alone, could it? A high, haughty voice assured her this fear was misplaced. “Twilight, what is all this?” it asked from just outside Twilight's peripheral. The source of the voice came into Twilight's vision and caused her to reel back for a moment. The voice was that of Rarity, a beautiful and talented white unicorn she was proud to call her friend, but the form it came out of was monstrous! A hulking frame with bulging muscles that stretched its sickly and scarred skin tight looked at her with violet eyes that held nothing but fear and horrible tusks that promised violence. Her hair was no longer the perfectly styled purple mane she knew, but a sort of strip of coarse, black hair on the very top of her head. What clothing she had clearly had once been a military uniform, but had been torn and left much of her arms and midriff exposed while lacking any sort of armor. Twilight held up a hand and spoke slowly and calmly, “Rarity, you're fine. I think something may have gone wrong with the mirror's magic, but everything is going to be fine.” Rarity felt her new face with both hands before pulling them away from her features and gawking at them in horror and disgust. These were not her perfectly manicured hooves, but the terrible claws of some hideous ape thing! Some sickening mix of outrage and dread filled her stomach as she half growled and half pleaded Twilight, “A mirror! Bring me a mirror!” Twilight replied in terror, “I don't think that's a very good idea. Honestly, it's not that bad! Who knows? Maybe you're normal in this world? I mean, who doesn't like a strong mare?” “Mirror!” Rarity roared, “Now!” Another familiar voice sounded from behind Rarity, “Found one! Look how small my nose is! How do ponies here smell anything? Do they even smell anything? OOOH! I have spider thingies on my front hooves! Can I – YES! I CAN CONTROL THEM! THEY'RE SO COOL!” Rarity twisted around to look at whoever answered her question. This creature was knelt over a shard of a broken mirror looking at the fine, delicate features of her own face. Her curly, red hair had incredible volume and sharp contrast with her big, blue eyes and fair skin. She wore shiny, metal armor and a dark blue cape. The armored girl looked up at Rarity and Twilight with a great smile on her face. “Isn't this so cool?” she asked as she lifted some of her hair to one side, “Look! I still have pointy ears, but my hooves are now these weird... hand... thingies!” Twilight sighed and covered her eyes with one hand. This was Pinkie Pie. It had to be Pinkie Pie. Who else could it be but Pinkie Pie? As sure as the sky was blue, this was Pinkie Pie. Right after that thought crossed her mind, Twilight looked up and took in her surroundings. Yes, the sky was blue in this world and the grass she was standing on was green. Oddly enough, she only counted two of her friends among her and not the five she expected. Worse yet, scattered around the grass were small, reptilian creatures that Twilight didn't recognize. These creatures all had red or orange scales and long tails relative to their height. If they were standing, Twilight expected that none of them would even come up to her waist. One of them had wings, but the other five did not. None of them were moving or even making noise. She was shaken from her thoughts by a terrible scream. Before she even looked to the source of the sound, Twilight knew what it was. Clearly, Rarity had looked at her reflection. “Oh no no no!” Rarity cried, “This can't be me! There must have been some kind of mistake!” She sobbed and then took a deep breath and declared, “Of all the things that could have happened this is the worst... possible... thing!” Pinkie patted her on the shoulder and said, “Oh, come on Rarity, cheer up! It's not that bad. I mean, my hair looks pretty silly and Twilight looks like she's made out of chocolate. I think you look really cool!” Twilight took a look into the broken piece of mirror and saw a woman with raven hair and brown eyes looking back at her. Her smooth skin was dark compared to Pinkie's and she had some particularly dark spots, she assumed they were freckles, going across the bridge of her nose, which she noticed wasn't as pointy as Pinkie's. Her ears were still as round as she remembered them being in her previous human form. Twilight gave an annoyed look to her energetic friend and told her, “Pinkie, I'm not chocolate. I think that some humans just look like this. I mean, you're kind of light, but do you think that means you're made of vanilla?” Pinkie gasped and took off one of her gauntlets to see the light flesh underneath. Slowly, she brought her own hand closer to her mouth and parted her lips. Before she could maim herself out of curiosity and gluttony though, Twilight grabbed her exposed hand and lowered it slowly to Pinkie's lap. “The answer is no,” Twilight assured her. Rarity stopped sobbing just long enough to notice the motionless creatures around her. She asked, “What are these? They almost look like dragons.” Pinkie hopped to her feet and saw another one several paces away from the ones that surrounded them. It seemed trapped under the intricately carved frame of a full length mirror, but there was no mirror inside. She took a few clumsy steps towards it on her new legs and asked, “Hey, does this thing look familiar to anypony else?” Twilight and Rarity walked across the soft grass, careful not to step on the strange reptiles and gasped. It was almost an exact replica of the mirror they had run though, but instead of dragons it featured great unicorn wizards of the past. Twilight recognized one of them as Starswirl the Bearded and the thought of such a powerful magic-user crafting such a gateway flooded her mind with a thousand questions, the most prevalent of which being, “Why?” Rarity lifted the mirror frame and looked disgusted at the sight of the poor creature underneath. It had clearly been crushed by some great force and was no longer among the living. She turned the frame over a few times and could not find even a single speck of glass left on it. Pinkie tried not to look horrified by such an image and tried not to think about whether the other little creatures had met the same fate as she looked to something else, anything else, and saw a treasure chest another few paces away. She approached it and called the others over. Twilight grabbed the broken piece of mirror before joining her two friends around the chest. Upon opening it, they found a large assortment of equipment and a note that Rarity read aloud. Equestrian heroes, Thank you all for heeding the call to action. Within this chest should be enough equipment for the six of you. Meet me in the town of Greenest to the north, just along the road. Tell no one of your mission or homeland. Beware the Cult of the Dragon. Signed, Leosin Erlanthar Pinkie tilted her head and arched an eyebrow. “Who's Leosin?” She asked as she drew a shining sword and metal shield from the chest. Twilight answered, “He must be one of our contacts. The letter said we would find friends in Greenest. We should take what we need from the chest and get there as soon as we can,” she took a deep breath before concluding, “I think that something has gone wrong.” Rarity spoke up through her sorrow, “It seems like what's in the chest was meant for all of us. We should take it with us for when we meet the others.” Twilight pulled a bow and quiver from the chest and used an arrow to point at the unfortunate creature that was under the mirror's frame. “If we meet the others,” she said with a heavy heart. Fluttershy couldn't take her eyes off her new reflection. The shard of glass she had woken up next to was clearly from a mirror and it clearly showed what her new body looked like (how could a mirror lie?), but it was too frightening to be real. She gazed at the shard, terrified of the golden dragon-like monster that stared back. Despite her monstrous new body, Fluttershy's clothes were actually quite nice; a white cassock with a long shirt of painted blue scale mail over it covered much of her new form. The cassock even had a hood that she pulled up in order to hide her terrifying, scaly face from any onlookers. A voice with a heavy but familiar accent shook her from the waking nightmare as it asked, “Sugar cube, are you alright? You've been looking at that mirror shard for a long time now.” Fluttershy didn't answer, she didn't know how. She only looked down at the little figure leading their march. She knew this must be Applejack, but somehow she always though of that mare as bigger and stronger than her. Now Applejack barely passed her knees and her flaxen hair was much shorter. Not much else could be told through the former farm mare's elaborate costume and make up. Another small creature dashed past Fluttershy and started walking alongside Applejack. “She's fine,” this robed creature answered, “Now let's hurry up and find the others. I think that Rarity's screaming came from this way.” As much as Fluttershy wanted to think that this other human or humanoid or human-like thing was her friend Rainbow Dash, she almost couldn't. How could this small, scrawny thing clad in lavender silk, this thing that looked it had never even seen the sun possibly be the pegasus she once knew? How could it be the mare who taught her so much about courage and flew so close to Celestia's precious sun? The thought occurred to Fluttershy as she passes some particularly tall grass that perhaps she was simply larger than before. She looked at her new claws and hoped in secret that was not the case. Big ponies have to take care of those weaker than they are, and she could barely lift a bunny back home. What did she know about strength? What could she know? Applejack continued, “I'm just worried is all. I mean, she hasn't said a thing since she got a look at herself. Who knows what could be going through her head? It's a lot to take in.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and said, “Not sure if you noticed, AJ, but we're not exactly in much better shape. Last time I checked, I could fly. How are we supposed to get anywhere with only two le-!” She was cut short by a sudden trip to the ground. Her face met the soft earth and in almost no time, she looked up with a mouthful grass. As she spit it out and complained that even the plants in this world tasted wrong, Applejack looked at what tripped her. Before the three of them was the motionless body of some kind of reptilian monster. If it were standing, it would have been even shorter than her two friends, but something told her it would not be getting up in a hurry. She pulled her friends away from the creature as she realized what it was. “It's a kobold,” Fluttershy told them, “They're very rare in Equestria, but sometimes they fight with diamond dogs for control of their mines. Nopony knows much about them,” a thought suddenly crossed her mind, “could this be where they come from?” Rainbow Dash and AJ looked up at their large friend and then looked at the kobold. Both swallowed hard as they surveyed the area and saw several more bodies similar to the one that they just found. AJ tugged on Fluttershy's arm and said, “I reckon we oughta skedaddle. Wouldn't wanna spend more time here than we have to.” Rainbow Dash tiled her head and asked, “Do you mean around the kobolds or in this world?” “Yes,” AJ answered. Author's Note I'm iffy about some of the dialog in this chapter. What do you guys think? Another chapter should be up next week. A Shy DragonThe road to Greenest was easy enough to find and follow, but something about it gave Twilight an uneasy feeling. Deep marks from some wheeled vehicle ran through the middle of the road along with fresh prints from what must have been hundreds of pairs of feet (many of them clawed). The top of each new hill showed only more road surrounded by a vast expanse of wilderness. Who built these roads? Who maintained them? Who kept them safe for travelers? All three of these questions were answered as she, Pinkie, and Rarity reached the top of the next hill. The roads were likely built and maintained by whoever built the town just on the horizon. Unfortunately, they apparently did a poor job of keeping them safe as Twilight could see pillars of black smoke rising up from the town and a great, winged creature flying in circles over it. Pinkie said what the others were both thinking, "Whoa! That dragon is attacking that town! Does that happen a lot here?" Twilight strung her bow and answered, "I don't know, but some one has to help those people. Rarity, carry the chest. Pinkie, let's see what we can do." The three rushed off towards the town, passing a sign that read, "Welcome to Greenest," as they did. The sun was just setting, but its dim light was well compensated on the main streets by the roaring flames that had enveloped many of the town's buildings, though they cast malevolent, twisting shadows down the town's alleys. Even from far off, all three travelers could hear the sounds of metal hitting metal and people screaming in fear, anger, sorrow, and pain. Without warning, five humans dashed out from between two buildings on the party's left. A limping man with three young children raced across the street into more shadows and a woman carrying a round shield and a broken spear turned to face back in the direction from which they came. Before Twilight could ask what was wrong, eight small, reptilian creatures nearly identical to the ones she saw motionless on the grass before streamed out of the alley on the humans' heels and fanned out around the woman. They all held crude, hide shields and short spears. The spearwoman looked ragged, wounded, ill-equipped, and absolutely determined to stop them. Rarity dropped the chest and grabbed the first thing she could out of it, reaching past the mirror frame and wrapping both hands around the handle of a large axe. The sudden noise drew the attention of one of the reptiles and it leveled a short spear at the Equestrians. Two more followed the creature's lead. The first reptile snickered and asked, "What do we have here? More mammals to put in the ground with their stupid, milk-drinking gods? What do we do with mammals, boys?" The other reptiles started chanting, "Smash 'em! Crush 'em! Skin 'em alive!" before half of them broke formation and moved toward their new prey. Pinkie rose up her shield with one hand and gripped her sword with the other. "Can't we all just get along?" she asked, "I mean, we could just throw a really big party." One of the little monsters charged Pinkie with its spear held out in front. She drew her sword, but realized it was too late to counter and ducked behind her shield instead. Suddenly, a great wind moved past her from the other direction and a thunderous crash sounded. Rarity held her pose with her axe like a golfer with his club. That was a good swing that any sportsman would be proud of and both she and the reptile that had met the flat of her blade knew it. Well, she did anyway. The reptile was clearly too busy screaming as it flew over the town and disappeared from sight in the clouds of smoke overhead. Pinkie squeaked out a nervous, "Thank you," as she got in a proper stance with her shield held in front of her and her sword held over one shoulder. Two more reptiles charged and lunged, but Pinkie was too quick this time. She used her shield to deflect one of their spears to the side and her sword to do the same to the other's. Suddenly, a third foe came rushing towards her. Her stance was too open and both her hands were already occupied. She closed her eyes tight and braced herself for a sharp blow. Just as the little monster was about to lunge though, an arrow flew in from the side, pierced its tail and pinned it to the ground. The monster howled, hissed, and screamed, drawing the attention of the four that were still in formation around the spearwoman. It dropped its weapons and pulled at its tail trying to free itself, but to no avail. Twilight notched another arrow and took aim at another monster. Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash moved as fast as they could, Rainbow Dash cursing her short legs the entire way. Where there was smoke, their was fire. Where there was a lot of smoke, there was clearly a lot of fire and they were fairly certain that wasn't good for the town of Greenest. As they approached they could hear screaming and crashing. All around were the signs of a great battle as buildings burned and bodies littered the streets. As they passed a dark alley, they saw a kobold fly overhead and vanish into the cloud of smoke above. Applejack stopped to catch her breath. After a few gulps for air she asked, "Just what in the hay happened here?" A distant roar answered her question. The other two clearly didn't know or didn't want to say it allowed, but Fluttershy had heard that noise in more than one nightmare and identified its origin aloud, "A dragon!" Rainbow Dash took off through a dim alley while calling to the others, "this way! Something launched that kobold and whatever it is might help us take that big lizard down. You guys coming?" The other two nodded and ran after her with Fluttershy muttering, "Just stay positive. Everything is going to be fine. It's not like this is the first time you've seen a dragon. Just... picture it in its underwear!" Rarity spun around and swung her axe down hard. The reptile dove out of the way just before it could be split in two, but dropped its spear in the process. Unarmed and facing over six feet of muscle, fury, and style, the little monster ran away as fast as it could. Pinkie smirked as she threw all of her weight behind her shield and knocked the other nearby foe off its taloned feet. As it lay stunned and confused on the ground, she drove her sword deep into the earth right next to her enemy's head. "Play nice!" she demanded, "or else you shouldn't play at all!" The other four reptiles rushed at the three Equestrian heroes, but one of the was immediately stopped by an arrow to the knee. As it clutched its leg and lamented the end of its adventuring career, another took a broken spear to the back and fell motionless on the spot. The spearwoman prepared another strike, but wasn't fast enough to get either of the two remaining enemies. Rarity shouted, "You are being very rude!" before sending another charging foe into the air with the flat of her axe. This one crashed through a window into a burning house and screamed for a short time before the roof collapsed and caused Rarity to wince. "Well," she muttered as the other monster dashed past her, "that was, um, not my intention." The monster lunged at Pinkie who quickly pulled her sword from the ground and parried its spear. She then whirled – nearly danced – around her attacker and put the pommel of her weapon hard against the top of its head. The monster staggered for a moment before falling to the ground muttering something about not wanting to eat his brussels sprouts. The creature that Pinkie had knocked to the ground and nearly skewered slowly tried to crawl away, but stopped as it came across a pair of large, clawed feet. It slowly looked up at the form of a dragon-like humanoid with golden scales and some sort of armored clerical vestments. Both of them looked at each other for a moment before the crawling kobold slowly lowered its face to the ground, saying, "Nope. Just ignore me. I'm dead. See? Look at how dead I am! No need to kill me!" Fluttershy raised an eyebrow, but decided it was probably best to ignore the creature. She, AJ, and Rainbow Dash approached the three figures standing amidst clearly beaten kobolds. These figures against the flames made Fluttershy's heart race, but she knew that this was no time for her usual social anxiety. She just kept muttering to herself, "Underwear. Underwear. Underwear..." Twilight saw the massive reptillian approaching and immediately leveled an arrow at it. She pulled back and was about to let go when a blur of colors rushed towards her and, before she could tell what was going on, had snatched the arrow from her grip and pointed it right at her throat. A small humanoid with a painted face and brightly colored outfit threatened her, "Drop the bow, stranger, 'fore somethin' bad happens to you." Twilight did as she was told and silently cursed her fortune. Just then, a massive shadow overtook her view of this small foe. She could almost hear the sharpness of Rarity's axe as she said in a low growl, "it's a bit late for that, my dear. Let. Twilight. Go." Fluttershy's eyes were opened wide and her new claws were shaking, but then something occurred to her. She took a deep breath and in a shaky, quiet voice asked, "T-Twilight?" Applejack looked up at the monster looming over her and echoed the question, "Twi?!" Rarity lowered her axe slowly and asked, "Applejack?" Rainbow Dash butted in, "Twilight?!" Twilight responded with a question of her own, "Rainbow Dash?" Rarity put down her axe and embrace the small humanoid, nearly crying, "Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow Dash pointed to the large, scaly creature behind her and choked out, "Fluttershy." Fluttershy nodded and greeted her old friend, "Rarity." "Fluttershy!" Rarity exclaimed, embracing her. Applejack raised an eyebrow at this and was about to ask, but Twilight prematurely answered, "Rarity." Applejack nodded and confirmed, "Rarity." "Pinkie Pie!" cheered the hero of the same name. "Linan," the spearwoman said just loud enough for all of them to hear, "and the man leading my children is my husband, Cuth. Thank you all for your aid." Twilight recovered her bow and answered, "No problem. We're looking for someone named Leosin. Have you seen him?" Linan took a breath as if to speak again, but suddenly fell and clutched her side. Cuth knelt down next to her and embraced her and their children did the same. "I'm fine," Linan assured them, "As for Leosin, I don't know him, but if he's in Greenest then he's probably at the keep in the middle of town." Fluttershy was digging through the chest that the others had brought with them and pulled an amulet shaped like a shield emblazoned with the image of a dragon's head in profile out of it. She could feel something like a soft voice guiding her hands as she reached out and touched the top of Linan's head. A soft, distant echo in her mind led her in a strange chorus in a language that she had never heard before, yet she understood all of what she chanted, "May the one who blessed our ancestors bless this one as well. May the Platinum Dragon be filled with compassion for their health and their strength be restored. May Bahamut send them renewal of body and spirit. Amen." A warm glow wrapped around Linan's body and in a moment she exclaimed, "The bleeding stopped! The pain is gone!" she looked up at Fluttershy and got to her feet before concluding, "Thank you. If you'll follow me, I can lead you and your friends to the keep." Twilight thanked her, "We'd really appreciate it. Just give us a minute to-" She was cut off by the sound of Rarity grunting as she lifted the chest over her head and started walking towards their new ally. Applejack twirled a short sword in each hand before gracefully placing them in a set of sheathes hidden in her baggy clothes and Ranbow Dash now held a wooden staff topped with a purple stone and had a thick book in a sling hanging from her shoulder. Pinkie handed Fluttershy a mace and metal shield, telling her, "You might need this." Twilight looked back to Linan and corrected herself, "Never mind. We're ready when you are." Author's Note There may be a delay on the next chapter. It's not likely, but it may happen. Still getting used to Fimfiction and now my spell checker is on the fritz. It is nice to hear from you guys, so please leave some feedback.
A Forgotten RealmPrincess Celestia stood alone on one of her palace's many balconies. The capital city of her country, Equestria, stretched out before her to the very edge of even her divine vision. This place, with its spiraling towers, intricate streets, and happy citizens, was something her and her beloved sister could be proud of. This was the city of Canterlot. This was home. This was her home, her paradise, and she ruled it alongside her sister as princesses. Of course, some beings gave her loftier titles such as queen or empress. Some even called her a goddess, but she had no worshipers. She needed no worshipers. She had subjects and, more importantly, she had friends. Suddenly, there was a voice behind her. “Good morning, Princess!” it greeted her, “Um, I hate to be a bother, but, are these two friends of yours? Celestia turned around and saw a pale pony with a red mane flanked on either side by two strange creatures. The first was a towering, humanoid figure in armor so thick and heavy that it was doubtful that there was any living thing actually underneath it all. The second was a shining dragon as large and terrifying as he was glorious, like a living statue of platinum. The stallion spoke again, “They are friends, right? Because, well, they're a tad intimidating.” Celestia nodded and answered, “Yes, Soliloquy, they're friends from afar. Thank you for showing them to me. You may leave us now.” The stallion quickly thanked her and left as the armored figure stepped forward and gave a courteous bow. His voice was a deep bellow that echoed through his helm as he said, “Princess Celestia, it is good to see that you and your realm are both well.” Celestia smiled and bowed back. “It's nice to see you too, Torm. How is my cousin? Is Meilikki well?” The dragon growled, “He favorite follower went mad and is now writing fan fiction about her and a renegade dark elf. I swear, that girl was made to keep others of her gender from being taken seriously. This is why the drow hate us.” “You're as charming as always, Bahamut,” Celestia acknowledged the dragon. She walked between and past her two guests, entering her palace's glorious interior before saying, “I assume that this is not a social call.” Both visitors followed her inside and Torm answered, “I desperately wish it was, but Faerûn is in grave peril and in need of new heroes.” Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle, As you know, our world exists parallel to others. You have been to one of these other worlds and managed to save both it and our own. For this, no one is more deserving of accolades than you. Unfortunately, the time has come again for you to save both another world and our home of Equestria. The Forgotten Realms of Faerûn have come under threat by an ancient creature known as Tiamat. If the Forgotten Realms fall to this force of chaos and evil, I fear that our home may follow. Enclosed, you will find a magic scroll and a map. The map will lead you to the location of a magic mirror much like the one used in the incident with Sunset Shimmer, but it will instead lead you to Faerûn and unlike the other mirror this one can be used at any time so long as it is intact. Keep its location secret to any and all in both that world and ours. Walk through this gateway with your scroll and you will become the hero Faerûn and Equestria so desperately need. The other Elements of Harmony will meet you before you enter the mirror. Do not leave Equestria without them. Agents of my old friends Torm and Bahamut will fill you in on the fine details once you arrive in the Faerûnian town of Greenest. Best regards, Princess Celestia Twilight placed the letter back in her saddle bags again. She stared out the window wondering what kind of world Faerûn was. Was it anything like the school she had found the first time she walked through a magic mirror? Was it ruled by more of those weird Human things? Her wings and horns ached at the thought of their loss and her purple mane frayed slightly with anticipation. Last time, her lavender coat had been taken from her and instead her skin was turned that color. Though the experience wasn't all bad, it was difficult to get used to her strange form in the other world. “Are we almost there, Spike?” She asked the small, purple dragon on her back. She heard him folding the map and then his scratchy voice reassure her, “Yep! It's just at the top of this mountain. The map kind of makes it look like it's in a cave or something.” Twilight peered around at her surroundings. Something about this place seemed familiar, but she couldn't tell what. Just then, the cave came into view and old memories rushed the the front of her mind. “Isn't this where that dragon was before Fluttershy scolded it into leaving?” Spike hopped off her back and nodded. “Yeah, I guess. I wasn't there for that. Sounds awesome, though,” He took a few steps into the cave, “Anyway, it looks like this is where the mirror should be. No wonder the dragon moved in. I bet that mirror is worth a whole pile of bits!” The cave was as dark as Twilight remembered and even though there was no dragon aside from Spike, she could still smell the smoke. Unsure of whether the glistening of the walls was real or just memories of the massive pile of treasure playing tricks on her, she pressed on. Soon, she and Spike could no longer see through the deep darkness around them. Swaying her head in one graceful motion, Twilight lit up her horn like a purple torch and the two continued. As they walked, the cave took on unfamiliar and disturbing features; carvings of dragons eating what Twilight and Spike recognized to be humans lined the walls and some mad language that looked like claw marks made up some kind of captions. Whether these were praising such monsters or warning others about them, Twilight did not know. Just as the two of the considered turning back and waiting for the others, they heard something moving in the darkness behind them. Twilight spun around and shouted, “Who's there? Show yourself!” and Spike ducked behind her. A calm, deep voice answered back, “Relax, it's only another little pony,” just as a hooded stallion stepped into the light of Twilight's horn. She couldn't see much of this stranger, but she could tell he definitely was a pony. His silk robes were a dark purple and though only his muzzle was visible, she could see that his coat was well groomed and shone red in the light of her horn. Both Twilight and Spike calmed down and allowed the newcomer to speak. “My name is Dungeon Master,” he said, “and I am here to show you the rest of the way to Faerûn.” For a moment, Twilight thought she could see a polite smile as he stepped closer and told her, “It's so good of you to come, Princess.” Twilight nodded and said, “Likewise. This place was getting kind of creepy. Sorry for yelling before.” Dungeon Master walked past her, saying, “Think nothing of it. Please, follow me, Princess. Your friends are already waiting for you.” As they moved on the cave began to look less natural. Soon, the rough stone of a natural formation was gone and replaced completely by more horrific carvings lining smooth tunnels that were obviously dug into the very heart of the mountain itself. Torches lined some of the walls, providing just enough light to see the carvings and where they were going. Twilight dimmed her horn as her, Spike, and their new friend entered a large chamber with an arched ceiling. She didn't know how far into the mountain they were or how much the tunnels had slanted down if at all, but the very air in this room felt heavy and thick. In the center was a full length mirror with an intricately carved border displaying black, white, green, blue, and red dragons coiling around one another. Five other ponies stood before this mirror and Twilight recognized them right away. A puffy pink blur was upon her faster than she could react and a pink pony with a puffy mane had her in an embrace. The pink pony cheered, “Hi, Twilight!” and gave her a great squeeze before letting go and allowing her to breathe again. Twilight took a breath before saying, “Hey, Pinkie Pie. So, you guys all have magic scrolls too?” A blue pegasus with a rainbow mane took a tube out of her saddle bag and told her, “Right here! I'm ready to save the world when you guys are. Let's do this!” The other ponies all took out their scroll tubes and Spike let out a heavy sigh. “I'll hold down the fort while you guys are away,” he assured them, “Don't worry about a thing, Twilight. Shining Armor is coming to Ponyville to help out while you're gone.” The six little ponies all turned to the mirror with looks of determination and anticipation plainly on their faces, but stopped before even taking a single step towards it. Between them and the mirror was Dungeon Master, shaking with rhythmic, rattling breaths. He was laughing. The stallion threw off his hood, revealing a pair of terrible, reptilian eyes and long horn. His soft chuckling erupted into maniacal laughter right before he roared, “I can't believe how easy you made this! All standing together like that! Are you all honestly this stupid?” An orange mare among them put down her scroll tube and asked, “Just what in the hay are you talkin' about Dungeon?” The stallion gave a wide, sadistic grin and shouted, “You can ask my master in the next life, heroes,” - he raised on hoof high, - “Praise Tiamat's glory!” With that, Dungeon Master struck his hoof against the floor with a mighty clack! The six ponies and Spike all braced themselves... … and nothing happened. The stallion tried again. Still nothing. He tried again and again. Nothing. Finally, hr looked at his hoof and whispered, “Why isn't this working?” The blue pegasus took to the air and shouted, “Get him!” “Uh-oh,” the stallion muttered as his eyes went wide. This was going to hurt and he knew it. He just didn't know how much or for how long it was going to hurt and at that moment would have given anything to never find out. A multicolored streak tore through the air and threw Dungeon Master from his hooves followed by a pair of orange hooves pinning him to the ground. He struggled for a moment, but was then met with the two most intimidating blue eyes on the cutest yellow face he had ever seen. His mind went numb with shock, though his body practically screamed in pain. For a brief moment, he reviewed the decisions he had made throughout his life that had led him to this moment and deeply regretted every single one. He recalled taking to a life of crime after his village had burned down. He recalled getting involved in a the nearby cult of some vile cause or deity. He even recalled leading the princess to this room, guided by the light of her magical, purple horn. He stopped and whispered, “Wait, is that how it works?” before turning his head and lighting his own horn with a blaring, red color. The scroll tubes took on the same light and flew high into the air, one even cracking against the ceiling. Before they could hit the ground, Twilight's horn glowed again and the tubes gently floated to her side where they simply hung in the air, orbiting her. A sickening thud followed by a cracking noise filled the chamber as the orange pony used her back hooves to kick Dungeon Master up and over the mirror and against a wall. He was now writhing on the ground, moaning something about how he should have simply learned a trade as the other ponies looked to the scrolls. Twilight furrowed her brow and asked, “So, which pony had which scroll? All of the tubes look the same!” The white unicorn standing before her said, “I'm not sure, dear, but that one is cracked. See?” Pinkie gasped and exclaimed, “Rarity is right! What's gonna happen when we go through the mirror with it?” The yellow pegasus who had paralyzed Dungeon Master with only a stare suggested hopefully, “Maybe it's not that bad. I'm sure that we could just go to Canterlot and get another one anyway.” Spike pointed to their foe and told them, “There's no time! He's getting back up!” Dungeon Master was indeed getting back to his feet. His horn glowed again and a square chunk of the floor raised high over his head. Angrily and maniacally, he cried out, “You will not stop the Age of Dragons! Even if I'm stuck here for now, she will reward me in the hereafter! PRAISE TIAMAT'S GLORY!” The orange pony shouted, “It's now or never, girls!” grabbed the nearest scroll and ran for the mirror at full tilt. The others followed closely after with whatever scroll they could reach first. Just as the last of them made it through the portal, there was the tremendous crash of stone against stone and breaking glass. The mirror was in pieces and only Spike and Dungeon Master remained in the room. Only the sound of the unicorn's panting was left hanging in the thick, heavy air. Perhaps for the first time in his young life, Spike felt a sort of quiet fury overtake him. Dungeon Master growled at the little dragon who was staring him down. “And what can you do?” he challenged, “What could a pathetic excuse for a reptile who only serves to ruin the image of his glorious mother possible do to a true servant of Tiamat, the Queen of Dragons?” Spike only answered, “This,” before letting loose a wave of green flame from his mouth. In Celestia's throne room, there was suddenly a plume of green flame and a wicked looking pony in a purple hooded cloak appeared before the princess. He and her locked eyes for a moment and time seemed to stand still. The awkward silence seemed almost deafening. Then, Celestia's eyes narrowed and she called out, “Guards!” The room was immediately filled with armored ponies wielding spears that were all leveled at the intruder's throat. He struggled to find his voice or an excuse, but was quick to give up. Looking at the princess, the only thing Dungeon Master could say was, “That's not fair,” before he was dragged away in chains. Author's Note Readers, The first chapter in a new story! Few feelings like it in the world, right? It's such a strange mix of unstoppable excitement and paralyzing dread. Anyway, you guys can call me Artgineer or just Arty if you want. I'll try to update about once a week and tell you guys if I have to skip an update for some reason. Please leave feedback of some form or another either positive or negative, I only ask that you not be a jerk about it (a request that I'm sure people will pay due heed on the internet [/sarcasm]). Thank you for your time, Arty
CompanionsTwilight Sparkle heard the sound of breaking glass and then felt the impact of her body hitting new ground. A dull pain shot through her new form, but was quickly gone as she got to her feet. She shook the dizziness from her head and instinctively rubbed her eyes as she tried to get used to this form again. She looked down at the body that the this world had given her and immediately noticed that she was a bit taller than she remembered. She had two legs built for bipedal, plantigrade movement like she recalled from her days in the human school. She had two higher limbs on her long torso that she remembered were arms and, yes, they ended in groups of intricate joints made for manipulating the world around her that were known as fingers. Her snout, no, her nose was smaller and her mouth didn't protruded from her face at all. Twilight took a deep breath and tried to remember how to walk in this strange form. Her first steps were as awkward as she feared; first she put her left foot forward, then flailed for balance, then her right foot went forward, and then muscle memory kicked in. She got used to not having two of her legs a bit faster than before. Twilight wasn't sure whether or not to be proud of this. Her clothing felt heavy and almost stifling. Looking at her body she saw it was covered by not only plain fabrics, but some sort of hard, skin-like material that encased her torso and partly covered the upper part of her legs with a skirt. Her feet were encased in boots made of the same material. She frowned at how heavy and hot it was, but the thought of having to see her toes (a sort of useless set of fingers on her new feet) and her relatively hairless body (how did humans manage to stay warm?) kept her from taking off this strange outfit. Twilight turned her head and started looking for her friends. New forms or not, she should have been able to recognize them, right? The mirror couldn't have sent her into this world alone, could it? A high, haughty voice assured her this fear was misplaced. “Twilight, what is all this?” it asked from just outside Twilight's peripheral. The source of the voice came into Twilight's vision and caused her to reel back for a moment. The voice was that of Rarity, a beautiful and talented white unicorn she was proud to call her friend, but the form it came out of was monstrous! A hulking frame with bulging muscles that stretched its sickly and scarred skin tight looked at her with violet eyes that held nothing but fear and horrible tusks that promised violence. Her hair was no longer the perfectly styled purple mane she knew, but a sort of strip of coarse, black hair on the very top of her head. What clothing she had clearly had once been a military uniform, but had been torn and left much of her arms and midriff exposed while lacking any sort of armor. Twilight held up a hand and spoke slowly and calmly, “Rarity, you're fine. I think something may have gone wrong with the mirror's magic, but everything is going to be fine.” Rarity felt her new face with both hands before pulling them away from her features and gawking at them in horror and disgust. These were not her perfectly manicured hooves, but the terrible claws of some hideous ape thing! Some sickening mix of outrage and dread filled her stomach as she half growled and half pleaded Twilight, “A mirror! Bring me a mirror!” Twilight replied in terror, “I don't think that's a very good idea. Honestly, it's not that bad! Who knows? Maybe you're normal in this world? I mean, who doesn't like a strong mare?” “Mirror!” Rarity roared, “Now!” Another familiar voice sounded from behind Rarity, “Found one! Look how small my nose is! How do ponies here smell anything? Do they even smell anything? OOOH! I have spider thingies on my front hooves! Can I – YES! I CAN CONTROL THEM! THEY'RE SO COOL!” Rarity twisted around to look at whoever answered her question. This creature was knelt over a shard of a broken mirror looking at the fine, delicate features of her own face. Her curly, red hair had incredible volume and sharp contrast with her big, blue eyes and fair skin. She wore shiny, metal armor and a dark blue cape. The armored girl looked up at Rarity and Twilight with a great smile on her face. “Isn't this so cool?” she asked as she lifted some of her hair to one side, “Look! I still have pointy ears, but my hooves are now these weird... hand... thingies!” Twilight sighed and covered her eyes with one hand. This was Pinkie Pie. It had to be Pinkie Pie. Who else could it be but Pinkie Pie? As sure as the sky was blue, this was Pinkie Pie. Right after that thought crossed her mind, Twilight looked up and took in her surroundings. Yes, the sky was blue in this world and the grass she was standing on was green. Oddly enough, she only counted two of her friends among her and not the five she expected. Worse yet, scattered around the grass were small, reptilian creatures that Twilight didn't recognize. These creatures all had red or orange scales and long tails relative to their height. If they were standing, Twilight expected that none of them would even come up to her waist. One of them had wings, but the other five did not. None of them were moving or even making noise. She was shaken from her thoughts by a terrible scream. Before she even looked to the source of the sound, Twilight knew what it was. Clearly, Rarity had looked at her reflection. “Oh no no no!” Rarity cried, “This can't be me! There must have been some kind of mistake!” She sobbed and then took a deep breath and declared, “Of all the things that could have happened this is the worst... possible... thing!” Pinkie patted her on the shoulder and said, “Oh, come on Rarity, cheer up! It's not that bad. I mean, my hair looks pretty silly and Twilight looks like she's made out of chocolate. I think you look really cool!” Twilight took a look into the broken piece of mirror and saw a woman with raven hair and brown eyes looking back at her. Her smooth skin was dark compared to Pinkie's and she had some particularly dark spots, she assumed they were freckles, going across the bridge of her nose, which she noticed wasn't as pointy as Pinkie's. Her ears were still as round as she remembered them being in her previous human form. Twilight gave an annoyed look to her energetic friend and told her, “Pinkie, I'm not chocolate. I think that some humans just look like this. I mean, you're kind of light, but do you think that means you're made of vanilla?” Pinkie gasped and took off one of her gauntlets to see the light flesh underneath. Slowly, she brought her own hand closer to her mouth and parted her lips. Before she could maim herself out of curiosity and gluttony though, Twilight grabbed her exposed hand and lowered it slowly to Pinkie's lap. “The answer is no,” Twilight assured her. Rarity stopped sobbing just long enough to notice the motionless creatures around her. She asked, “What are these? They almost look like dragons.” Pinkie hopped to her feet and saw another one several paces away from the ones that surrounded them. It seemed trapped under the intricately carved frame of a full length mirror, but there was no mirror inside. She took a few clumsy steps towards it on her new legs and asked, “Hey, does this thing look familiar to anypony else?” Twilight and Rarity walked across the soft grass, careful not to step on the strange reptiles and gasped. It was almost an exact replica of the mirror they had run though, but instead of dragons it featured great unicorn wizards of the past. Twilight recognized one of them as Starswirl the Bearded and the thought of such a powerful magic-user crafting such a gateway flooded her mind with a thousand questions, the most prevalent of which being, “Why?” Rarity lifted the mirror frame and looked disgusted at the sight of the poor creature underneath. It had clearly been crushed by some great force and was no longer among the living. She turned the frame over a few times and could not find even a single speck of glass left on it. Pinkie tried not to look horrified by such an image and tried not to think about whether the other little creatures had met the same fate as she looked to something else, anything else, and saw a treasure chest another few paces away. She approached it and called the others over. Twilight grabbed the broken piece of mirror before joining her two friends around the chest. Upon opening it, they found a large assortment of equipment and a note that Rarity read aloud. Equestrian heroes, Thank you all for heeding the call to action. Within this chest should be enough equipment for the six of you. Meet me in the town of Greenest to the north, just along the road. Tell no one of your mission or homeland. Beware the Cult of the Dragon. Signed, Leosin Erlanthar Pinkie tilted her head and arched an eyebrow. “Who's Leosin?” She asked as she drew a shining sword and metal shield from the chest. Twilight answered, “He must be one of our contacts. The letter said we would find friends in Greenest. We should take what we need from the chest and get there as soon as we can,” she took a deep breath before concluding, “I think that something has gone wrong.” Rarity spoke up through her sorrow, “It seems like what's in the chest was meant for all of us. We should take it with us for when we meet the others.” Twilight pulled a bow and quiver from the chest and used an arrow to point at the unfortunate creature that was under the mirror's frame. “If we meet the others,” she said with a heavy heart. Fluttershy couldn't take her eyes off her new reflection. The shard of glass she had woken up next to was clearly from a mirror and it clearly showed what her new body looked like (how could a mirror lie?), but it was too frightening to be real. She gazed at the shard, terrified of the golden dragon-like monster that stared back. Despite her monstrous new body, Fluttershy's clothes were actually quite nice; a white cassock with a long shirt of painted blue scale mail over it covered much of her new form. The cassock even had a hood that she pulled up in order to hide her terrifying, scaly face from any onlookers. A voice with a heavy but familiar accent shook her from the waking nightmare as it asked, “Sugar cube, are you alright? You've been looking at that mirror shard for a long time now.” Fluttershy didn't answer, she didn't know how. She only looked down at the little figure leading their march. She knew this must be Applejack, but somehow she always though of that mare as bigger and stronger than her. Now Applejack barely passed her knees and her flaxen hair was much shorter. Not much else could be told through the former farm mare's elaborate costume and make up. Another small creature dashed past Fluttershy and started walking alongside Applejack. “She's fine,” this robed creature answered, “Now let's hurry up and find the others. I think that Rarity's screaming came from this way.” As much as Fluttershy wanted to think that this other human or humanoid or human-like thing was her friend Rainbow Dash, she almost couldn't. How could this small, scrawny thing clad in lavender silk, this thing that looked it had never even seen the sun possibly be the pegasus she once knew? How could it be the mare who taught her so much about courage and flew so close to Celestia's precious sun? The thought occurred to Fluttershy as she passes some particularly tall grass that perhaps she was simply larger than before. She looked at her new claws and hoped in secret that was not the case. Big ponies have to take care of those weaker than they are, and she could barely lift a bunny back home. What did she know about strength? What could she know? Applejack continued, “I'm just worried is all. I mean, she hasn't said a thing since she got a look at herself. Who knows what could be going through her head? It's a lot to take in.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and said, “Not sure if you noticed, AJ, but we're not exactly in much better shape. Last time I checked, I could fly. How are we supposed to get anywhere with only two le-!” She was cut short by a sudden trip to the ground. Her face met the soft earth and in almost no time, she looked up with a mouthful grass. As she spit it out and complained that even the plants in this world tasted wrong, Applejack looked at what tripped her. Before the three of them was the motionless body of some kind of reptilian monster. If it were standing, it would have been even shorter than her two friends, but something told her it would not be getting up in a hurry. She pulled her friends away from the creature as she realized what it was. “It's a kobold,” Fluttershy told them, “They're very rare in Equestria, but sometimes they fight with diamond dogs for control of their mines. Nopony knows much about them,” a thought suddenly crossed her mind, “could this be where they come from?” Rainbow Dash and AJ looked up at their large friend and then looked at the kobold. Both swallowed hard as they surveyed the area and saw several more bodies similar to the one that they just found. AJ tugged on Fluttershy's arm and said, “I reckon we oughta skedaddle. Wouldn't wanna spend more time here than we have to.” Rainbow Dash tiled her head and asked, “Do you mean around the kobolds or in this world?” “Yes,” AJ answered. Author's Note I'm iffy about some of the dialog in this chapter. What do you guys think? Another chapter should be up next week.
A Shy DragonThe road to Greenest was easy enough to find and follow, but something about it gave Twilight an uneasy feeling. Deep marks from some wheeled vehicle ran through the middle of the road along with fresh prints from what must have been hundreds of pairs of feet (many of them clawed). The top of each new hill showed only more road surrounded by a vast expanse of wilderness. Who built these roads? Who maintained them? Who kept them safe for travelers? All three of these questions were answered as she, Pinkie, and Rarity reached the top of the next hill. The roads were likely built and maintained by whoever built the town just on the horizon. Unfortunately, they apparently did a poor job of keeping them safe as Twilight could see pillars of black smoke rising up from the town and a great, winged creature flying in circles over it. Pinkie said what the others were both thinking, "Whoa! That dragon is attacking that town! Does that happen a lot here?" Twilight strung her bow and answered, "I don't know, but some one has to help those people. Rarity, carry the chest. Pinkie, let's see what we can do." The three rushed off towards the town, passing a sign that read, "Welcome to Greenest," as they did. The sun was just setting, but its dim light was well compensated on the main streets by the roaring flames that had enveloped many of the town's buildings, though they cast malevolent, twisting shadows down the town's alleys. Even from far off, all three travelers could hear the sounds of metal hitting metal and people screaming in fear, anger, sorrow, and pain. Without warning, five humans dashed out from between two buildings on the party's left. A limping man with three young children raced across the street into more shadows and a woman carrying a round shield and a broken spear turned to face back in the direction from which they came. Before Twilight could ask what was wrong, eight small, reptilian creatures nearly identical to the ones she saw motionless on the grass before streamed out of the alley on the humans' heels and fanned out around the woman. They all held crude, hide shields and short spears. The spearwoman looked ragged, wounded, ill-equipped, and absolutely determined to stop them. Rarity dropped the chest and grabbed the first thing she could out of it, reaching past the mirror frame and wrapping both hands around the handle of a large axe. The sudden noise drew the attention of one of the reptiles and it leveled a short spear at the Equestrians. Two more followed the creature's lead. The first reptile snickered and asked, "What do we have here? More mammals to put in the ground with their stupid, milk-drinking gods? What do we do with mammals, boys?" The other reptiles started chanting, "Smash 'em! Crush 'em! Skin 'em alive!" before half of them broke formation and moved toward their new prey. Pinkie rose up her shield with one hand and gripped her sword with the other. "Can't we all just get along?" she asked, "I mean, we could just throw a really big party." One of the little monsters charged Pinkie with its spear held out in front. She drew her sword, but realized it was too late to counter and ducked behind her shield instead. Suddenly, a great wind moved past her from the other direction and a thunderous crash sounded. Rarity held her pose with her axe like a golfer with his club. That was a good swing that any sportsman would be proud of and both she and the reptile that had met the flat of her blade knew it. Well, she did anyway. The reptile was clearly too busy screaming as it flew over the town and disappeared from sight in the clouds of smoke overhead. Pinkie squeaked out a nervous, "Thank you," as she got in a proper stance with her shield held in front of her and her sword held over one shoulder. Two more reptiles charged and lunged, but Pinkie was too quick this time. She used her shield to deflect one of their spears to the side and her sword to do the same to the other's. Suddenly, a third foe came rushing towards her. Her stance was too open and both her hands were already occupied. She closed her eyes tight and braced herself for a sharp blow. Just as the little monster was about to lunge though, an arrow flew in from the side, pierced its tail and pinned it to the ground. The monster howled, hissed, and screamed, drawing the attention of the four that were still in formation around the spearwoman. It dropped its weapons and pulled at its tail trying to free itself, but to no avail. Twilight notched another arrow and took aim at another monster. Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash moved as fast as they could, Rainbow Dash cursing her short legs the entire way. Where there was smoke, their was fire. Where there was a lot of smoke, there was clearly a lot of fire and they were fairly certain that wasn't good for the town of Greenest. As they approached they could hear screaming and crashing. All around were the signs of a great battle as buildings burned and bodies littered the streets. As they passed a dark alley, they saw a kobold fly overhead and vanish into the cloud of smoke above. Applejack stopped to catch her breath. After a few gulps for air she asked, "Just what in the hay happened here?" A distant roar answered her question. The other two clearly didn't know or didn't want to say it allowed, but Fluttershy had heard that noise in more than one nightmare and identified its origin aloud, "A dragon!" Rainbow Dash took off through a dim alley while calling to the others, "this way! Something launched that kobold and whatever it is might help us take that big lizard down. You guys coming?" The other two nodded and ran after her with Fluttershy muttering, "Just stay positive. Everything is going to be fine. It's not like this is the first time you've seen a dragon. Just... picture it in its underwear!" Rarity spun around and swung her axe down hard. The reptile dove out of the way just before it could be split in two, but dropped its spear in the process. Unarmed and facing over six feet of muscle, fury, and style, the little monster ran away as fast as it could. Pinkie smirked as she threw all of her weight behind her shield and knocked the other nearby foe off its taloned feet. As it lay stunned and confused on the ground, she drove her sword deep into the earth right next to her enemy's head. "Play nice!" she demanded, "or else you shouldn't play at all!" The other four reptiles rushed at the three Equestrian heroes, but one of the was immediately stopped by an arrow to the knee. As it clutched its leg and lamented the end of its adventuring career, another took a broken spear to the back and fell motionless on the spot. The spearwoman prepared another strike, but wasn't fast enough to get either of the two remaining enemies. Rarity shouted, "You are being very rude!" before sending another charging foe into the air with the flat of her axe. This one crashed through a window into a burning house and screamed for a short time before the roof collapsed and caused Rarity to wince. "Well," she muttered as the other monster dashed past her, "that was, um, not my intention." The monster lunged at Pinkie who quickly pulled her sword from the ground and parried its spear. She then whirled – nearly danced – around her attacker and put the pommel of her weapon hard against the top of its head. The monster staggered for a moment before falling to the ground muttering something about not wanting to eat his brussels sprouts. The creature that Pinkie had knocked to the ground and nearly skewered slowly tried to crawl away, but stopped as it came across a pair of large, clawed feet. It slowly looked up at the form of a dragon-like humanoid with golden scales and some sort of armored clerical vestments. Both of them looked at each other for a moment before the crawling kobold slowly lowered its face to the ground, saying, "Nope. Just ignore me. I'm dead. See? Look at how dead I am! No need to kill me!" Fluttershy raised an eyebrow, but decided it was probably best to ignore the creature. She, AJ, and Rainbow Dash approached the three figures standing amidst clearly beaten kobolds. These figures against the flames made Fluttershy's heart race, but she knew that this was no time for her usual social anxiety. She just kept muttering to herself, "Underwear. Underwear. Underwear..." Twilight saw the massive reptillian approaching and immediately leveled an arrow at it. She pulled back and was about to let go when a blur of colors rushed towards her and, before she could tell what was going on, had snatched the arrow from her grip and pointed it right at her throat. A small humanoid with a painted face and brightly colored outfit threatened her, "Drop the bow, stranger, 'fore somethin' bad happens to you." Twilight did as she was told and silently cursed her fortune. Just then, a massive shadow overtook her view of this small foe. She could almost hear the sharpness of Rarity's axe as she said in a low growl, "it's a bit late for that, my dear. Let. Twilight. Go." Fluttershy's eyes were opened wide and her new claws were shaking, but then something occurred to her. She took a deep breath and in a shaky, quiet voice asked, "T-Twilight?" Applejack looked up at the monster looming over her and echoed the question, "Twi?!" Rarity lowered her axe slowly and asked, "Applejack?" Rainbow Dash butted in, "Twilight?!" Twilight responded with a question of her own, "Rainbow Dash?" Rarity put down her axe and embrace the small humanoid, nearly crying, "Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow Dash pointed to the large, scaly creature behind her and choked out, "Fluttershy." Fluttershy nodded and greeted her old friend, "Rarity." "Fluttershy!" Rarity exclaimed, embracing her. Applejack raised an eyebrow at this and was about to ask, but Twilight prematurely answered, "Rarity." Applejack nodded and confirmed, "Rarity." "Pinkie Pie!" cheered the hero of the same name. "Linan," the spearwoman said just loud enough for all of them to hear, "and the man leading my children is my husband, Cuth. Thank you all for your aid." Twilight recovered her bow and answered, "No problem. We're looking for someone named Leosin. Have you seen him?" Linan took a breath as if to speak again, but suddenly fell and clutched her side. Cuth knelt down next to her and embraced her and their children did the same. "I'm fine," Linan assured them, "As for Leosin, I don't know him, but if he's in Greenest then he's probably at the keep in the middle of town." Fluttershy was digging through the chest that the others had brought with them and pulled an amulet shaped like a shield emblazoned with the image of a dragon's head in profile out of it. She could feel something like a soft voice guiding her hands as she reached out and touched the top of Linan's head. A soft, distant echo in her mind led her in a strange chorus in a language that she had never heard before, yet she understood all of what she chanted, "May the one who blessed our ancestors bless this one as well. May the Platinum Dragon be filled with compassion for their health and their strength be restored. May Bahamut send them renewal of body and spirit. Amen." A warm glow wrapped around Linan's body and in a moment she exclaimed, "The bleeding stopped! The pain is gone!" she looked up at Fluttershy and got to her feet before concluding, "Thank you. If you'll follow me, I can lead you and your friends to the keep." Twilight thanked her, "We'd really appreciate it. Just give us a minute to-" She was cut off by the sound of Rarity grunting as she lifted the chest over her head and started walking towards their new ally. Applejack twirled a short sword in each hand before gracefully placing them in a set of sheathes hidden in her baggy clothes and Ranbow Dash now held a wooden staff topped with a purple stone and had a thick book in a sling hanging from her shoulder. Pinkie handed Fluttershy a mace and metal shield, telling her, "You might need this." Twilight looked back to Linan and corrected herself, "Never mind. We're ready when you are." Author's Note There may be a delay on the next chapter. It's not likely, but it may happen. Still getting used to Fimfiction and now my spell checker is on the fritz. It is nice to hear from you guys, so please leave some feedback.
