Goodlands and Applejack

Upon arriving they headed up directly to the throne room to find Princess Celestia, though she wasn't there, Princess Luna was.
"Greeting every pony. My sister hasn't returned yet. Did you all discover what was caused the massive tidal wave that recently flooded Equestria?"
"Yes we did, and you're not going to believe this but, a hippocampus named Typhoon is trying to flood Equestria so that he can search for his love Monsoon. Apparently when we destroyed that mud mound thing, the power was felt by Typhoon and he believes that it was actually caused by Monsoon."
"Typhoon... Now theirs a name i haven't heard in some time. Hmm... That might explain why I've been seeing several strange dreams as of late. But i believe these are coming from the east." said Luna as she pondered this news.
"So you know of Typhoon?" asked Twilight. "You know what, that's not important at the moment. We need to discover where this Monsoon is located, and bring her safely back to Typhoon, so he doesn't start flooding Equestria again." Luna looked puzzled at this.
"First we need to stop the flooding from destroying more of Equestria.." said Luna who was cut off by Twilight.
"Oh, that's another thing, we agreed to find her and bring her back, and he would remove the water from Equestria, as well as stop flooding it further."
"That's wonderful news. The removal of water, not the fact that this Monsoon is in danger. Or perhaps she's just hiding from him. Still those dreams would have me believe otherwise." she said.
"Where are the dreams coming from?" asked Twilight.
"I'm having trouble discerning where exactly they're coming from. It seems as though theirs something blocking my ability to home in on them. I know they're coming from off the eastern coast, but when i try to find out exactly where they are coming from things become really blurry for me." she said looking disappointingly.
"Leave it to us, we'll find out where she is. Perhaps these hippocampi are magical creatures and thus make it hard to focus on. Seeing as we've had little dealings with them." she said reassuringly.
"Very well. I'll send word to my sister and let her know exactly what you discovered." she said.
"I'll do it." said Spike who pulled out a piece of parchment and began writing a short letter to Celestia.
"Oh, and do be careful.." she said to Twilight, who nodded and turned to the other ponies. Spike blew on the letter as it vanished and turned towards the others as well.
"Well every pony, we've got a mission to take care of, so roll out." said Twilight. They immediately headed out to start the next part of their quest to find Monsoon and dry up not only Ponyville, but all of the other parts of Equestria that were currently flooded.
"When have you all ever rolled anywhere?" asked Spike quietly.
"I roll all of the time silly." said Pinkie Pie as she became a ball and begun rolling towards the front of the castle.
"So how are we getting, wherever it is we're going?" asked Applejack.
"How about a hot air balloon?" suggested Spike. He didn't think he could take another sea voyage.
"That sounds like a great idea Spike." said Twilight. "we'll ride a train to Baltimare and then hitch a ride on one of their hot air balloons towards the eastern sea.. That way we wont have to deal with sea sickness this time around." she said with a wink towards Spike.
"I'd better fly there and let them know we're coming, that way they can have a hot air balloon ready for us, for when we arrive." said Rainbow Dash. They all nodded and headed to the departing train in the station. It took them quite some time to get to Baltimare, Rainbow Dash met the train about half way there, and looked pooped when she came into their compartment.
"It's been set." she said breathing heavily "it will be ready when we arrive." and she collapsed on one of the beds in their room.
Upon arriving at Baltimare they wanted to look around the city a bit, but both Twilight and Fluttershy quelled this idea almost immediately.
"We're supposed to be helping Typhoon remember?" Fluttershy reminded them, to which they all nodded and headed towards where Rainbow Dash had set the hot air balloon up for them.

Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Spike all crammed themselves into the small basket, and it was being guided by Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight, who occasionally rested in the basked as well. They headed out towards the eastern sea in search of the elusive Monsoon. It didn't take nearly as long this time around, as they were airborne they didn't need to go around landmarks or be stopped by water on a track. It was a rather boring ride, but they soon spotted off in the distance an island, and knew immediately that Monsoon was there. There was this giant vortex of water surrounding it, It was sixty or so feet high, and was in perpetual motion. Luckily being inside of a hot air balloon, they didn't have to try and sail through it, so they flew over it. Still the wind from it did throw the balloon off a bit.
"Think of the magic being used to keep this vortex going, it must be very taxing." said Twilight marveling at the vortex wall, as they passed over it.
"It could be Monsoons' doing. If it is, she's probably not even noticing. To us it would be difficult, but to her, who knows if she's even bothered by it." responded Fluttershy also looking at the vortex.
"This serves as a pretty good deterrent if you think about it." said Rainbow Dash, flying next to them. "who'd wanna try and sail through that?" she pointed at the vortex "it probably wouldn't end well." at this they all nodded and continued on.
They landed down on a small open grass plain surrounded by a lot of vegetation. There was a small stream near them heading towards they way they had come, and the land looked to be in good condition.
"Why do you think Monsoon would be here. Wouldn't it make more sense to be out in the ocean like Typhoon was?" asked Twilight to the others as they tied the hot air balloon down "it doesn't add up."
They pondered this for a moment until Applejack spoke up "perhaps we should just go and see her." they nodded and headed off towards the center of the island.
As they walked they noticed that the shadows of this forest reminded them of the Everfree forest, they walked for a brief time then came to a large cliff side, with a small crevice in it. They all looked at one another, then headed inside.
Upon entering the cave proper, they noticed a large cavern with several stalactites and stalagmites scattered around to which Rainbow Dash pointed at and said with a chuckle "it looks like this cave has teeth."
"Those are stalactites and stalagmites." Said Twilight pointing in turn.
"Whats that?" asked Spike.
"Well." said Twilight going into an explanation as though she were in class and answering a teacher " these are speleothem's, which are mineral deposits that takes ages to form what we see here. They are called stalactites and stalagmites."
"How do you tell the difference between the two?" asked Applejack.
"Well the way i tell them apart, is stalagmites have an M in them, those are the ones that form on the ground and look like M's. The stalactites have a T in them, and form on the top of the room. At least that's always worked for me." she said as she pointed to both of them in turn. They all made an "AH.." sound as she explained the difference to them, then headed on their ways.
"Um, not to complain or anything, but is it rather bright in here? I mean theirs no lights anywhere around, yet we can see as though its perfect day." pointed out Rarity.
"Now that you mention it, it is bright in here.. Weird." said Twilight.
"Maybe another spell from this Monsoon." said Pinkie Pie, shrugging, to which they all shrugged in turn and continued on. Along the way Twilight kept telling them interesting things she'd read about some of the flora growing inside of the cavern. Until she came to a strange neon glowing mushroom, which stumped her. They left it behind and soon came to a large open area that contained salt water and a large creature with green hair, and white eyes. This they presumed had to be Monsoon. Twilight flew up to the the creature and spoke to it as calmly as she could.
"Um, hello.. I'm Twilight Sparkle, and I'm assuming you're Monsoon?" she couldn't hide the nervousness of her voice, but she did her best. Sadly the creature didn't respond at all. Her eyes held the look of one who was staring off into the distance, or looking into their past. "Um, hello.." she said waving her hoof in front of the creatures face. Still no response. "Fluttershy, care to give it a whirl?" she asked looking over her shoulder.
"Um okay.." she said and timidly flew up to the creature. "Hello." she said, also waving her hoof in front of the creature, no answer again. They both flew down to join the others.
"What do you thinks wrong with her?" asked Applejack "she looks dazed." she said.
"WHO PRAY TELL ARE YOU?!" they all jumped as a loud booming voice echoed through the cavern. They turned to look at the creature, the voice didn't come from her, but instead from a Dog? He was bipedal and built like a Minotaur, but with a dogs head, and he was slowly descending from the top of the creatures head towards them.
"You were asked a question.. It is rude not to answer.." he said as he made his way towards them, landing only feet from them. He was a very built creature, with well defined muscles and a large loincloth around his waist. His coat was that of gold and black fur weaved in and out of one another, his nose was sharp as were his ears, small and pointed, gold fur started from his nose and worked its way towards his eyes, and even from this distance they could see the solid black sclera, with what looked like lightning moving out from the center, almost as though it were moving.
"I am Twilight Sparkle and these are my friends, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Spike. Who are you?" she said pointing a hoof in turn to each pony, and Spike.
"The Jackal wondered when someone would show up looking for this creature." he said as he moved his arm towards the creature behind him. His voice was calm and smooth but arrogant, as though he didn't have a care in the world.
"The Jackal?" they asked together, to which he swung his arm back towards his abdomen and gave a small bow. This time they noticed several rings adorning his left hand. As he bowed he kept his eyes on them, which made them feel uneasy. It looked as though they did have lightening in them, and it was moving as he moved.
"The Jackal admits, he was expecting a much larger creature to come looking for her. The Jackal presumes he sent you in his stead, correct?" he held his hands out towards them.
"We offered to help him. This would in fact be Monsoon then?" asked Rarity.
"Rrarrity corrrect?" he said rolling his R's and standing back up, she all but shivered at this. "Yes this is Monsoon." He then turned to Twilight. "The Jackal wonders.." he put a finger to his pointed chin, "will Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity..." he pointed as he came across each one of them, and paused when pointing at Spike " and Spike be taking Monsoon from this cavern on this day?" his words were as smooth as silk. Every word he spoke seem to flow into the next word.
"Yes we will." said Fluttershy, as he looked at her she shrank back "if that's okay with you." she gave a weak smile.
"We gave our word that we would help return Monsoon to Typhoon if we could, and that's exactly what we're doing." said Twilight taking a small step forward. A small smirk crept its way onto the Jackals face. Twilight took a small step back.
"It would seem, that there is a dissension between us. The Jackal believes you to be" he rubbed his chin, "misguided." he paused, "Perhaps you should leave now Twilight Sparkle, for The Jackal has much work to be getting on with." he said taking a step towards them.
"Ugh, enough chit chat, i say we go full butt kick mode, and take this corrupt canine down." said Rainbow Dash flying up into the air and flying towards the Jackal.
"Rainbow Dash NO!" yelled Twilight, but it was too late, she was gaining on the Jackal, who seemed not to even care. He wasn't even moving to get out of the way. WHAM! She collided with Monsoon at full force, and fell dazed into the water with a small splash. "Rainbow Dash!" Twilight yelled again.
"Well that hurt?!" she said as she emerged from the water, she looked over at Twilight, "i didn't know you had a twin." she shook her head and slowly flew back over to the gang.
"Are you alright darling?" asked Rarity putting a hoof on her shoulder.
"I'm fine, sadly i don't think that's going to work though, he didnt even flinch." she scowled looking at him.
"That was folly Rainbow Dash, you should spend your energy convincing your friends here to go home." he turned to walk away, "come beast, you have work to do." he said to Monsoon.
"TAKE THIS!" Yelled Twilight as she created a ball of energy using her horn, she sent it towards him and he turned to toss the energy away as if it were a pebble. She gasped as her magic flew away and dissipated. "How?" she asked "that should have stopped him in his tracks."
"I didn't know you could do that." said Fluttershy.
"I came across it just recently, right after that mud monster thing attacked Ponyville." she responded.
The Jackal raised his left hand slowly towards them and all of them were pushed back towards the wall opposite. Dust and dirt were slung around them, but they were relatively unhurt.
"You bore The Jackal. Begone from this place before you anger The Jackal." he said as his eyes began to change color.
"NOW!" yelled Spike as he bit The Jackal ankle.
"Agh!" exclaimed the Jackal, as he flung Spike away from him. "Loathsome little nuisance." while he was distracted Twilight hit him with another ball of energy, he turned at the last second and took the blast directly in the chest. He flew back onto the ground at Monsoons' stomach.
"SPIKE!" they all yelled at once, running over to him.
"I'm fine." he said standing up, "what about him?" he asked pointing at Jackal.
"I think he's just unconscious." said Applejack walking over to him, she nudged him with her hoof "he's still breathing, so my guess is he'll be alright."
"Well that didn't do what I'd hoped for.. I thought he'd be stuck in place, and we could simply take Monsoon back home." said Twilight looking perplexed. They all walked over to look at him lying on the ground.
"Oh, who are you?" asked an angelic voice from above. They all jumped and looked up.
"Well..." said Twilight "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends. We've come looking for you." she said flying up to eye level with Monsoon.
"Me, how did you know i was here?" she asked looking confused.
"It's a long story, one we can tell you on the way." said Rainbow Dash also flying up to where Twilight was.
"We've come to take you back to Typhoon, who's looking for you. I would assume that you are Monsoon correct?" asked Twilight.
"Yes i am. Nice to meet you Twilight, Is Typhoon alright? Has something happened to him?" she asked in that same angelic voice. It was uncanny how such a soft voice could come from such a large creature.
"Well he's been slowly flooding all of Equestria trying to reach you. So we offered to come find you if he'd remove all the water and sea creatures.." Twilight started to explain, but was interrupted.
"Oh that foolish Typhoon, he's always being brash, never thinking with his head." she responded looking annoyed.
"Well i don't mean to be pushy, but we need to get you back and soon. I'm not sure how Ponyville has fared, and I'm pretty sure my farm has become a swamp by this point." said Applejack.
"Ah, and i was going to enjoy my new swimming pool." said Pinkie Pie with a small smile.
"Right you are. Do you know the way? I'm not sure where we are to be exact." said Monsoon looking around inside the cavern.
"Well how did you get here?" asked Twilight.
"I'm not sure. I have no knowledge of this place." she responded, a sad look crossed her face.
"Well whats the last thing you do remember?" asked Twilight.
"I recall an argument with Typhoon, going off on my own, going to sleep, and then waking up here with you all."
"Well we'll help you find your way back, how's that?" said Twilight, to which she nodded.
"If you all would like, you can ride on my back. I know most of the ocean currents pretty well, it shouldn't take me long to discover where we are and how to get back." she said pointing to what looked like a small pebble size light in the distance. After they climbed onto her back the cavern started to become dim. They all looked around and Rarity spoke the thought that had crossed several of their minds.
"What should we do with him?" she asked pointing to the Jackals' body, who was still lying there unconscious.
"Leave him. By the time he wakes back up, we'll be long gone. He'll have no idea where we are and we wont have to worry about him any more." said Rainbow Dash, to which they all nodded.