Past is Present

Chapter 8

Escape

Twilight Sparkle placed herself between the snarling Timberwolves, still caught up but not for much longer, in the vines and the huddled quivering mass of ponies and behind them the rushing river. The river was swollen almost beyond its banks from a thunderstorm to the West. From her vantage point she could see the massive black thunderheads shadowed in deep red hues. Lightning lit up the West as though it were on fire. Twilight Sparkle had failed to anticipate this turn of events - her heart sank at the sound and then the sight of it. She could certainly wink across with the other unicorns, there were no pegasus ponies in the group to carry the small and elderly across, perhaps a few of the younger, stronger earth ponies could brave the strong currents. But there were easily three dozen earth ponies at her back and many would not be able to make that swim. Twilight Sparkle watched as the vines snapped, one by one, in the ferocious maws of the wooden beasts. "Daddy! What are we going to do?" came a rather shrill, nasal cry from the back.

"Don't worry honey, I'm sure we'll be okay." Twilight Sparkle couldn't help but look back toward the sound of the voice. Somewhat off to the side stood a chocolate brown stallion with his hoof wrapped around his tiny, quivering lilac daughter. His hide was flecked with leaves and mud, his normally well quaffed mane disheveled, so polished in his daily life; Filthy Rich looked almost unrecognizable. Twilight Sparkle wanted to turn her head from the sight but instead, almost independently of her will, her eyes locked with his. She saw the terror in those eyes. Then she saw something immensely worse as he looked briefly down at his daughter, a small tear formed - he tried to blink it away but it rolled down in complete disregard of his efforts. He locked eyes with her again and mouthed the word "Right?" She wanted desperately to reassure him but something made her shake her head and mouth the answer "I don't know." back. His shoulders sagged. He lowered his head to nuzzle his daughter. Twilight Sparkle heard roars of triumph from the vines to her front. The first of the Timberwolves was almost completely through, Twilight Sparkle could see its head followed by half its body clumsily clamoring through a widening hole in the vine net. She readied herself. It was still too early to take a shot, if she missed she would only further widen the hole. She heard a commotion from behind her. From the crowd the screams of a young filly.

"No Daddy don't leave me! Daddy!" Filty Rich pointed at Cheerilee who was doing all she could to restrain the desperately squirming child.

"Cherrilee, don't let her go!" he called out with urgency. All eyes had turned to the hysterical filly.

"Daddy! No! Daddy! Daddy!"

"I love you honey!" He called back to her. His eyes brimmed over with tears. Then he turned and ran to the front - right to Twilight Sparkle's side. The crowd gasped. He looked to the Princess. "I don't have much to offer, but I have to protect my daughter, I'd do anything for her." Twilight Sparkle was genuinely moved beyond words, she tried to respond but choked. "Just tell me what to do." Twilight Sparkle regained her words.

"Alright, when they come through I won't be able to block them for long. When they break through they'll come straight for me..." Twilight Sparkle didn't need to finish for him to understand.

"I'll do what I can to stop them."

"So will I!" A voice on Twilight Sparkle's left piped up. She looked over to see Mayor Mare standing tall beside her, she gave Twilight Sparkle a wry look "I'm not too old to show these brutes a thing or two about decorum."

"And me!" Blue Note came from the crowd.

"And me!

"And me!" A swarm of ponies gathered around Twilight Sparkle. They looked confident and ready to fight. Twilight's heart swelled.

"Thank you, everypony!" She cried out.

A loud snarl broke the amity. The first of the beasts jumped through a hole in the net followed by a second and immediately, a third and a fourth. In no time it became clear the number of these creatures was far greater than Twilight had imagined - it seemed there was at least one for every pony in the band. "Get ready eveypony!" The group crouched slightly and lowered their heads, readied for battle. Twilight Sparkle cast a barrier spell around the band of ponies. The Timberwolves attacked the barrier from all sides. It was not long before she felt the barrier weakening. Electricity crackled around her horn with every hit. It wouldn't be long now. A great dark wind swept up the Timberwolves. There was a loud sound from the breaking of branches and snapping of twigs. In the blink of an eye it seemed twenty Timberwolves had simply vanished. The beasts looked at each other confused before a shrill scream tore through the sky. The head Timberwolf cowered in fear. It was just in time, Twilight Sparkle's barrier fell - she collapsed to her knees, completely exhausted. There was another scream, even louder than the first and the Timberwolves' eyes, suddenly back to their usual green, widened - they whimpered and began to flee through the hole in the vine net, back to the woods. Twilight Sparkle mustered all of her energy to look behind her at the towering snake-like figure rising from the river. She let out an exhausted sigh of relief and allowed a tired smile to cross her mouth.

"THAT!" The voiced boomed then returned to it's normal pitch "Was the bravest thing I ever saw!" the sea serpent, Steven, gushed. "Oh look at you wonderful little ponies!" He wrapped his long arms around a group of stunned ponies and embraced them. They seemed to exhibit various stages of shock upon release. Twilight Sparkle decided perhaps some explanation was needed.

"Everypony," she announced, gesturing to the mustachioed serpent, "this is Steven, he helped us to find Nightmare Moon."

"Ooooh." came the collective acknowledgement.

"Oh it's so wonderfully to meet you all!" Steven exclaimed shaking hooves with many of the ponies near him.

"Steven!" Twilight Sparkle called his attention back to her.

"Yes?" the serpent answered.

"Steven we need to get across the river, I know it's a lot to ask but could you please help us again."

"Oh of course!" Steven replied. "It'll be no trouble at all." And with that he spread himself across the raging river and the ponies began to cross. "Gently, gently." he called out as the young ponies hopped across him.

From a large pot brewing a strange deep red liquid, something watched as Twilight Sparkle thanked Steven and Diamond Tiara, herself, ran up to the monster and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He blushed.

"Howdy Rainbow Dash!" A familiar voice called out from Rainbow Dash's left.

"Hey!" Replied Rainbow Dash shaking off the last of the rock dust from her mane.

"What brings you all the way out here?"

"Oh, we just had to take care of a little overgrown shrub problem." She nodded towards the Rambling Rock Ridge where the yelps from the Timberwolves could be heard echoing from the bottom of the pit.

"Oh yeah, we had to do a little tree trimming of our own." Somewhere in the forest a ball of Timberwolves whimpered from within a tightly bound rope net which hung just above their reach from the ground. Apple Jack joined Rainbow Dash looking out at the river. "I reckon that river's going to be might hard for us to cross."

"It'll be a piece of cake. I'll just - " Rainbow Dash looked at the fast flowing river and then at the two large groups of mostly Earth ponies. "Well maybe I'll... hmm" She sat down to think for a moment. "Gahh!" she exclaimed. "How are we supposed to get this many ponies across?!" Rainbow Dash kicked the ground in frustration causing a shower of small pebbles and dirt to fall into the water.

"I don't rightly know." Apple Jack confessed and kicked a small seashell into the rapids. "I suppose we'd best follow the river and see if-" Her thought was interrupted by the sound of harmonious music that seemed to be coming from the spot where the shell had plopped into the water "What the hay?!" From out of the waves popped three equine heads. They must have been swept away from further upstream!

"Hurry up! We've got to help them!" Rainbow Dash cried out instantly taking to the air.

"I'm way aheada ya!" Apple Jack replied getting her lasso out. Something about the ponies stalled her movements though, they didn't seem to be struggling against the force of the river but were easily bobbing up and down. Rainbow Dash approached the nearest pony and reached down to pull her from the water but it slipped from her grasp and flipped back into the water. The two ponies stared in shock and horror at the long snake-like appendage that existed in place of the pony's back legs and tail and the flippers which attached where forelegs should have been. "I-I don't have words for what I'm seein'!" Applejack stuttered.

"What... what are they?" stammered a confused Rainbow Dash.

"Silly, we're the seaponies." The second seapony called out, raising her body from the water enough so the two could see her waving fins. She noted the perplexed look the two ponies gave her. "Applejack, surely you remember us?"

"How- how do you know my name?" Applejack stuttered. The three seaponies gathered in and seemed to confer for a moment.

"You don't remember us?" the light blue seapony inquired. "But you haven't aged a day, we couldn't have been asleep for that long."

"I reckon I would remember anypony that looked like ya'll."

"What about Megan? She would recall us. Where is she?" the pink seapony suggested. Rainbow Dash looked at Applejack.

"Who's Megan?" She whispered.

"How should I know?" Applejack whispered back. The seaponies seemed at a loss.

"How about Firefly? Or Northstar? Or Medley? Or Windwhistler?" The yellow seapony begged.

"Well I don't -" Applejack began but Rainbow Dash pushed her aside and exclaimed excitedly.

"Wait - I know those names! You mean General Firefly and the first Wonderbolts?" The seaponies looked at each other, perplexed. Rainbow Dash continued, flying up in her excitement "General Firefly - purple pony, blue mane, awesome blue lightening bolts cutie mark?!"

"Yes! Is she with you?" the yellow seapony asked.

"Ummm... no." Rainbow Dash slowly returned to a sitting position on the ground.

"I don't know how to tell ya'll this, but it's been 1000 years since General Firefly led the Wonderbolts." Applejack's tone was somber. The seaponies gasped and looked at each other. The blue one spoke,

"You mean we've been under that Draconquus's spell for 1000 years? This can't be! Then you're not Applejack?"

"I am Applejack, but I reckon I'm not the one you know. I was named for the founder of the Apple family - I don't know anything else about her though. Ya'll say she looked like me?" Somehow this struck a chord with the seaponies.

"Yes, we knew her! You are her very image!" The pink one replied.

"It was she who first discovered the world of the seaponies." The yellow one added.

"So there are, like, more of you?" Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof at the seapony.

"Oh yes! Girls!" The blue seapony indicated to the other two who dove back into the water. "My name is Seawinkle, and those are my friends Wavedancer and Seaspray. And these -" she indicated to the roiling water that had appeared around her, "are the seaponies!" A rainbow of colors and melodic sounds burst out from all around her.

"Sha, sha la la sha la la la

Call on us! Call on us! When you're in a jam no need to fuss, call on us!

we were trapped underwater and frozen from view

you delivered us now we'll deliver you

Sha, sha la la sha la la la"

The seapony group pulled a massive clam shell from beneath the surface of the water and opened it revealing a large space easily big enough to ferry the large group of ponies across. Applejack and Rainbow Dash stared with mouths agape then looked to each other and back at the shell. The seaponies motioned for them to step onto the clam.

"Come along, climb aboard! On the seaponies you can depend,

We're always happy to help our friends.

Call on us! Call on us! When you're in a jam no need to fuss, call on us!

Sha, sha la la sha la la la"

"Oh-kay" Rainbow Dash said, sitting, staring stunned at the completely unexpected and well choreographed musical number.

"Come on Rainbow Dash!" Applejack called out from the clam, where all the other ponies waited "Time's a-wastin'!".

"Right!" Rainbow Dash sprung up and flew over to the clam, landing next to her compatriot. The Seaponies surrounded the shell and easily pushed it across to the other side.