Chronicles of Hope: Book 1: A Guardian’s Rising

Chapter 5: Aether Rising, Part 1 - It’s Time to Begin, Isn’t It?

The next day…

Location: Friendship Castle, Ponyville

POV: Sam (3rd Person)

The game had been all but changed after the revelation of the Rogues’ intentions, but Sam has little to no doubt that things will still go according to plan, meaning until then, he’ll be taking his sweet time stalling until he has to execute his plan. Seeker apparently returned to the room in his sleep and apparently slipped him a note saying to meet him at the café near the castle in the afternoon to discuss more.

Strangest thing, though, was he could have sworn he had the scent of said thestral on his body. He definitely didn’t have contact long enough to get her scent on him while he was comforting her. It definitely chalked up to two possibilities, but he didn’t like one of them.

Donning his disguise, getting dressed in the clothes he wore when he came to Ponyville (now minus the detachable hood) and grabbing his satchel, he moves on, heading out back to the main hall, finally getting used to the layout of the castle. Suddenly, the scent of waffles and hotcakes suddenly hits his nostrils as he finds himself unconsciously walking towards it, until he stumbles upon the dining room, where Twilight was eating a stack of hotcakes alongside Spike, eating a stack of his own, only topped off with sapphires sprinkled on whip cream. Easily standing out, however, was the lone stack next to Twilight, still fresh from the pan.

When Sam shut the door behind him, only then did the two turn their heads to see their visitor walking in.

“Oh! Morning, Cree! Had a good rest?”

“Yup, slept like a baby, too!”

“Well, come on over while your stack’s still hot!”

Eager, ‘Cree’ jogs over and takes the seat next to Twilight, grabbing a fork and digging right in. In the middle of his new journey of flavor, Twilight and Spike heard Cree’s muffled speech, somehow sounding out the words “Hot sugar honey iced tea, this is amazing!” as his way of expressing his gratitude with shining eyes as both chuckled at his childishness. After finishing up their breakfast, a debate of why a guest and friend don’t need to do the cleaning up for their host, finally winning the opposite side of the argument saying this is his way of contributing while he stays over, and finally doing said chore, Cree breaks off from the duo to see the other Elements in their day-to-day lives before he has to meet with Seeker.

Location Change: Ponyville Streets

As he steps out of the castle, he’s greeted by the sun gracing the town of Ponyville, along with the smiling faces of its denizens. Walking around, he was then met with many ‘hello’s and ‘hiya’s from those he realized were present at the party – some of them getting brave to offer high-fives and fistbumps, all which he returned with delight. He eventually reaches Sugarcube Corner, peering into a window to see Pinkie right at work, dashing from table to table serving customers, taking a second to send a good morning his way for him to return. He then moves on to see more of the town.

Sam kept moving along in the town, only stopping at the music store & the sweet shop, in order to thank Vinyl for last night’s help, and to grab some candy, respectively. Moving further on, he finds the Carousel Boutique, and inside is Rarity working on a dress that looks to have more gems on it than a whole mineshaft. On the far side is Spike (who somehow got there faster than he did) bringing boxes and fabrics around with a dopey look on his face when he’s called to attention by Rarity. Although more surprising is the marshmallow white teenage filly with a two-tone colored mane of pink & purple and green eyes was sitting at a table in the store, following the unknowing dragon’s presence in the boutique with dreamy eyes. Looking at this, Sam smiles knowingly and looks to the audience.

“Hey, I ship it too, you know. Just a matter of time before the long awaited confession.”

He stops for a while to take in the rustic views and scents of the marketplace, only to catch the familiar scent of apples, following it to a stand manned by Applejack and a dark red stallion with a deep blonde mane and whose eyes practically showed almost zero emotion, but otherwise projected the aura of a wise big brother. After saying his ‘hello’s and buying a bottle of cider for later, he goes near the outskirts of town, in an effort to find Fluttershy’s cottage.

However, just as he was doing so, he felt a presence behind him and turned around to find who was tailing him, only to find absolutely no-one… until he looked up to see a rainbow mane sticking out of a cloud. He rolled his eyes with a smile and “blinked” (an easier way to explain how to get from one place to another in a ‘blink’, hence the name, using natural speed) his way behind Rainbow hoping to catch her by surprise.

Rainbow had been following Cree around town since he got out of the castle, still too shy to say hello after what she did before she left last night – it still confused her on what came over her to do that - only to no longer see the griffon on the ground (the only reason why Sam hadn’t sensed her earlier was only because he was busy), only to nearly get a heart attack when a talon taps her on the shoulder, causing her to yelp loudly and quickly turn herself around, spotting the griffon… suddenly a few inches away from her. Upon realizing this, she blushes furiously at being caught, but downright turns crimson at how close he was right now. Then again, she’s also put into a very compromising position, with Cree planting his hands on the cloud behind her to trap her with his body, and her being huddled up close under him, causing her to blush even more than before. And not to mention it’s also it’s a good thing that no-one’s around to see that, otherwise it would’ve raised some very… risqué ideas about the situation, especially how creative ponies can be in terms of speculation.

Of course, the immortal idiot on top of her was grinning like a madman at how successful his ambush was, until he saw her face a bright red, and suddenly joined her in blushing after realizing where his plan lead him as an unforeseen fuck-up, which alone took a full fucking minute in total with the ambush. Jolting off of her right after, he sheepishly scratches the back of his head, Rainbow mirroring him in a bout of awkwardness.

Ironic how Rainbow was trying to avoid this kind of confrontation, only to get dragged into a moment worse than what she assumed by one of Sam’s shitty on-the-spot ideas.

…

…

…yeah, let the awkward sink in…

…

…

OkborednowtimetoFUCKSHITUP!

“Oh m-my…”

The minute they heard the new voice, their faces paled, slowly turning to the side… to see a blushing Fluttershy carrying a basket of groceries staring back at them. Somehow, in the full minute after Dash’s loud yelp, she had gotten there in time to be fully present in front of the cloud long enough to see… yeah…

This causes them to both exclaim, in perfect sync, “THIS ISN’T WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!”

“I JUST CAUGHT HER FOLLOWING ME AROUND TOWN!”

“I WAS JUST FOLLOWING HIM AROUND TOWN AND GOT CAUGHT!”

At the moment, it took a while to realize what the cyan mare had just blurted out, causing her to slap her hands around her mouth in a vain attempt of hoping those words didn’t already get out. But apparently they did, so the griffon and the yellow pegasus turned their attention to the athlete in front of them, causing the mare in question to shrink in on herself and into the cloud she used as a hiding spot, using her wings to hide her blushing face.

Sam couldn’t help but “d’aww” internally at the cute sight before him, but he still had to address the elephant in the room.

“Rainbow… why were you following me? You could’ve just talked to me instead, you know.”

“I know that, Cree. But… I’m still a bit shaky over… what happened last night…”

The last part was murmured, but Sam still heard it, and the blushing from earlier had just returned when he interpreted what she said. “Oh…” he said, “Right… last night! I was… erm… actually going to find you later to ask about… uh… the kiss.”

Just at the mere mention of the kiss caused the rainbow mare to sink her face even further into the confines of her wings, indicating to Sam how discomforting the topic was to her. This in turn prompts the griffon to move closer to the mare, draping his own wing over her back in an attempt to comfort her, causing Rainbow to raise her head from her wings, to see Cree timidly scratch the back of his head as he rested his wing over her back.

“Hey… sorry if that’s such a sensitive topic. I’ll just shut up about it if you want.”

At least he’s thinking about my feelings, other than trying to tease me about it, she thought, her mind drifting back to her first crush…

… If only that guy wasn’t such an asshole, maybe it could’ve been better.

Little did she know, her body ached for the comfort after the memory, and unbeknownst to her current mental state, she began to close the distance between him and her, and then nuzzle Cree, whose response is a reddening face, and a hand petting her mane.

Fluttershy, on the other hand, was feeling her heart melt at the scene playing out in front of her, and silently flew away back to her cottage as to not disturb the two of them.

If only I had someone to hold me and love me like that one day….

Time flew faster than they thought, as Rainbow and Cree spent an hour or two on the cloud, just staring out at the horizon as the summer wind blew by them, eventually getting restless with the quiet and sparking a conversation regarding the things that Cree saw on his travels, and even the adventures that Rainbow and her friends had gone on (although some of the tales she told were clearly over-exaggerations, Sam couldn’t help but smile at the creativity in how each story was weaved, almost having a similarity to his own brand of creativity and enthusiasm), but he eventually had to leave, much to the prismatic mare’s disappointment, which was remedied by the promise of meeting again tomorrow. Rainbow then left another kiss for Cree – this time longer than last night – and flew off to leave.

Right now, it was the time of the day that Shadow said she would be at the café she was talking about on the note. As thus, he heads off.

When he arrived, he found the thestral in disguise, due to her slightly flaring out her magic, allowing him to single her out from the other ponies in the area.

Settling down at her table and ordering a strawberry cheesecake, she sets up an Ignorance Field and gets to the point to explain a recent decision that she forgot to relay to Sam – since his endeavors as Cree ended up with a few of her own in prison, she opted that they try and convince other inmates to help orchestrate a mass jailbreak. This in turn would give them more firepower against the Princess on the final assault. But due to recent developments regarding Sam’s presence, she thought it over and needed it to be relayed to him personally.

This definitely was troublesome, since while Shadow could definitely reason with those on her own rule to let Sam do his work, there is no way she’ll be able to reason with the inmates being “recruited” seeing as they’re no doubt gonna have a massive grudge against both Princesses for having them locked up - one they’ll act upon the moment they get out and fulfill at any cost.

When Sam reveals this new problem, needless to say, Shadow realizes once again how far her previous determination led her to a nigh inescapable obstacle. Regardless, he still assures her that things will still go according to his plan – just that this new predicament has to be prolonged for a few days or so until he can tell her otherwise.

Until that time comes, he’s going to have to spend time on incognito as Cree, at least either when he says go or at least when the inmates begin to get too restless for crowd control. Giving him her phone number, she says she’ll keep in contact ‘til further notice.

What she didn’t know is that he can actually pull off what he needs to do already; it’s just that his time incognito is actually a thinly veiled excuse just to be able to spend more time with the Mane 6 before he actually has to execute his plan. He’s just lazy that way.

Or maybe there’s a bigger picture he’s seeing that we don’t.

Over the next five days, Sam had been bonding with each of the Mane 6, getting to know them all around as he spent his time with them in Ponyville.

With Twilight, he had been discussing with her the properties and formulae of the spells and enchantments, occasionally nerding out over the most simplest of spells and its applications. And yes, Rainbow was there as well, only she preferred to be involved in the practical part of the study… which mainly involved using Ripple in various pranks across Ponyville. But outside of these study sessions, they genuinely spend time with each other’s company, be it reading or going out to either eat or hang out. With Fluttershy, the first day he spent time with her, it was very quiet between the two of them, although when Cree demonstrates his ways with animals, they both bond well, and especially when he regales her with tales of the animals he met on his journey. Needless to say, the goal of fist-bumping a civilized bear has finally been checked off on his lifelong to-do list.

With Pinkie, he had been helping her gain a new spectrum of parties to enjoy, from raves (with assistance from Vinyl and fresh new DJs looking to introduce themselves) and even masquerades and debut balls (yes, he can make even fancy parties fun), which Rarity came in to help design new dresses and décor with him for the latter, and create new types of liquor and apple products with AJ for both – even going so far as to help harvest the apples for the products he makes and then some for the Acres overall.

Things have pretty much been looking up for the Six and Sam, seeing as he seems to have finally gained the trust of all of them… and maybe a bit more than that from Twilight and Rainbow.

However, the girls had been slowly noticing how… dampening his mood had been becoming when they were done with their activities, slowly turning to slightly more depressed as time went on. But they never questioned it, as he always went back to being his cheery self before any of them could bring it up enough to make a point.

And on one of the days, they all truly did decide to confront him on this… but it didn’t go according to plan…

Location: Friendship Castle

*KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK*

“Cree? You in there?”

“Yeah, we need to talk.”

The Mane 6 were all standing at the door to Cree’s room, all rounded up by Twilight after she brought up how Cree has been changing in behavior over his time here, and came with the intentions of finding the cause before it could become any worse for their new friend.

After hearing no answer in a whole minute, they assumed that he must have been asleep or something and decided to come back later. Until, they heard something crash inside his room, causing them to jump in shock, and Rainbow responds all too quickly by bum rushing into the door, breaking it down, her eyes filled with intent to kill whoever just tried to hurt Cree.

…Only to find that Cree was just fine, and that he just came out of the shower (judging by the wet trail from the bathroom trailing to him) and slipped and fell, explaining the crash they heard, as a table tumbled as well…

…but it took a while for it to occur to them that he just came out the shower…

…And the towel had slipped off when he fell, leaving him stark naked, all their eyes wandering down his still-soaked chest, down to his abs, and trailing off…“Below the Belt”, to put it to lighter terms.

*POMF*

*POMF*

Four of the Elements looked to the side to see Twilight and Rainbow popping a wingboner as various thoughts, be it provocative, scandalized or otherwise, flew across their heads and those of the Six (sans Pinkie, who’s already in a relationship, and thus is currently exerting all sheer willpower not to stare), but suddenly, Cree stirs, his vision slowly re-focusing, the first thing he sees being the girls in his room with red faces…

…Then the broken down door…

… then, feeling a cold breeze rise up his spine, looks down, then up to the girls, snapping sight back and forth.

He then deadpans, saying, “So… do you want me to stand up to give y’all a better view, or are you gonna leave and let me put on some clothes?”

Let’s just say after a solitary second, everyone ran out with embarrassed expressions and a red face, Pinkie bouncing out to the pace of everyone running, and leaving Twilight and Rainbow’s minds being currently… occupied, as they moved out.

‘By Faust, what was Selene thinking when she left him?!’

‘Looks like I won’t have problems with shlick material for a while…’

Suffice it to say, it was a bit embarrassing for all involved, sans Cree, who seemed forgiving with the whole endeavor, so long as everyone agreed to never bring it up ever again.

P.S, did you know that Sam’s body is actually as toned as described? It’s just that his actual body’s a little less… “panty-dropping” and is much more embedded muscle and little to no fat, and especially –

HEY! FUCK OFF, YIN! TMI INBOUND, HERE! The Readers don’t need to know any more about how I look normally, they can just assume on their own!

Dude, there’s nothing embarrassing about your body, last I checked; you said you were proud of it!

I STILL HAVE INSECURITIES!

LIKE WHAT?!

WHY SHOULD I SAY ANYTHING?! YOU’LL PROBABLY BLURT THEM OUT ON YOUR OWN!

Please, what could I say to the Readers that’s so bad about your body?

Oh please like you don’t know – you could probably end up telling them about how my being short gets me mistaken for a child as a human, or maybe that I’m easily mistaken for a girl if I tie my hair down – let alone not at all! Or maybe even-

Wait…

YIN YOU SONOFA-

We seem to be experiencing some technical difficulties, give us a sec around here to clean up everything after Sam’s tantrum…

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OK, everything’s good here, but for the sake of the story’s pace, let’s skip forward to the fifth day of Sam’s temporary stay in Ponyville, which is conveniently the day after the...erm… incident.

Location: Map Room – Friendship Castle

Ever since that whole “breaking-in” scenario yesterday, the girls had avoided any more attempts of anything like that again, hoping instead that Cree can come out about the problem… well, aside from Rainbow, who’s most likely still wishing to see more than the preview.

However, as everyone was present in the Map Room, doing their own daily thing, Cree enters the room, carrying the Journal under his arm. Turning to him, they were all only able to last a second and a half looking him in the eyes before turning away with a blush, minus Spike, who, like Cree, looks to the others instead in confusion.

Shrugging all of those aside, Cree simply moves towards a big table, placing his book down on it and opening it to a specific page.

With Pinkie being one of the only ones able to regain their composure from embarrassment, she walked over to him, asking, “Hey Cree, whatcha doin’?”

“Gimme a sec, Pinks – I gotta focus on this,” he says, still focused on the page he opened as he pulled out an updated map of Equis. Pinkie, obviously confused, turns to the others present in the room, seeing them looking for an explanation, only for them to get a shrugging Pinkie, obviously signing, ‘I got nothing.’

Looking back at Cree, she turned just in time to see his face slowly turn to a seemingly mad grin, slightly frightening her, shocking her even further when he screams “YES!” as he jumped up, causing her to jump as well, along with the other 6 in the room with her.

Grabbing his Journal and the map, he sets it on the Map Table, and then runs out of the room.

Everyone, still trying to figure out what the fuck just happened, looked over to the Journal to see what the source of Cree’s new excitement was.

Looking over the still-opened page of the book alongside the map, they saw what seemed to be another map of Equis, only they noticed a couple major differences between the two maps:

For one, the map in the book looked older and more worn, seeing as though it had been through plenty of practical use in its time as it aged, showing off places that weren’t present in their current map. It also seemed to have been currently restored, as upon closer inspection, the map used to be in outright pieces.

And another, there was a distinct, yet massive factor that made the map in the Journal stand out – on the location that now rested the Whitetail Woods, a castle, or fortress, stood out in all its glory, resting on the underside of what seemed to be an inverted mountain, atop the forest.

And that particular part of the map was circled out in red ink and surrounded by arrows pointing towards it.

As they tried to comprehend the nature of what this all meant, Cree bursts into the room, jolting everyone out of their stupors, looking to him and seeing him decked out in the clothes he wore when he arrived, and packing his satchel.

Snapping back to attention, Twilight went up to Cree, asking, “Cree, what’s this entire ruckus about? One minute you came into the room all quiet-like, then suddenly jump up and shout, and then come back dressed up. What’s going on?”

The griffon seemed to be looking for an excuse to evade this, but then failed, as he exhales, sheepishly scratching the back of his head as he walked over to where he left the book.

“Alright, alright, I’ll talk. It’s just that… I’ve been studying and researching my whole life compiling this journal, and I’d finally collected all the pieces of this very map just the day before yesterday. This map right here, is going to help make sure my life amounted to a great price.”

“Pretty interesting, big guy, but what’s the fuss about the castle over here?”

“I’m getting to that, don’t worry. You see girls, I’m not just a wanderer, but I’m… sort of an archaeologist, but more discreet.”

Rainbow’s eyes began to sparkle as she heard him being an archaeologist and asked, “You mean… like Daring Do?!”, causing Cree to sweatdrop.

“Um… I guess so?”

And thus, Rainbow gains a newfound – albeit childish – respect for our friend, and seeing her look up to him like that made the immortal’s heart drop knowing that while every lie he tells helps him get closer to them, he must tell the truth sooner or later. And they may see him much more differently after doing so.

“Anyway, what I’ve come across might be a find that will no doubt shake the very foundations of everything you know. This can be classified as the biggest find of my life.”

Everyone in the room was now riveted at they are hearing – such a big and admirable ambition radiated from their friend as he eagerly told them his tale, and they felt compelled to aid him in the way.

“But first, a small history lesson – you all know what I’ve told you about Samuel Newman, right?”

Everyone in the room, even Spike, nodded their confirmations. Over the time he spent with them, they have heard a good deal about Sam, his exploits, and his eventual imprisonment well enough that they all had a personal view of the guy. And a lot of them were conflicted at how he can be told as someone fighting for what was right, but get treated as a criminal in the end.

Then again, Sam was technically pretty much a criminal, but for the right reasons.

“Well, I’ve already explained his power, legacy, and a few other things among others, but I forgot to tell you all one other thing about him. A long time ago, his political power had gotten too high due to having so many kingdoms under his unwitting command, and much to his chagrin, he had to establish a kingdom of his own.”

“Waitwaitwait. Ya mean to say that Sam – the same Sam that you said hates authority all around – made a kingdom of his own?”

“Apparently, according to accounts, it was either he did so, or have a merge in kingdoms with olden Canterlot, and no way in Tartarus was he gonna let all that power go to any power-hungry nobles’ hands, and you know a majority of them only run on greed and stupidity, even as of today.”

All heads definitely confirmed this statement, Rarity seeming to be the most agreeable, seeing she had her fair share of experiences with “nobility” of the sort.

“And thus, he had established his own new kingdom; one that he realized would fortify and protect his ideals of equality and peace amongst everyone – not just ponies, but everyone in general.”

They remembered what Cree had said about Sam’s ideals – his ambition was to build bridges between all species, seeing as low equality and high racism between species seemed to be the biggest firestarter for wars amongst them. And what Cree had said before… apparently Sam had succeeded in bringing them together under his name.

“The castle in the map was considered to be the go-to hub for all cross-species relations, whether it be national summits or even interspecies marriages, it all started there.”

“Ladies… and Gentledrake, I present to you all… the legendary Aether Castle, the pivoting point of all of the Aether Kingdom.”

At this point, the way Sam was talking up about the castle, it was just warranting a lot of attention. And looking to almost everyone’s faces, it was obvious to what they wanted to ask.

“You know, you guys could come with, if you’d like.”

And at those few words, Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, AJ and Spike were just about eager to come along, Twilight mainly jumping in for the opportunity to unearth a long-forgotten history, and the duo were in for the promise of adventure and AJ acting as a chaperone to make sure they didn’t do too much damage, and Spike was in for the same reason as the duo, but mostly for the chance to be able to join in a big adventure. However, Rarity and Fluttershy weren’t too eager to come along. And Sam saw this with much confusion.

“What’s wrong? You guys don’t want to come?”

“Well, Cree, as much as this sounds all too exciting, you know that I’m not too eager to get my hands dirty, so…”

It took a good chunk of willpower for Sam to not groan at her reasoning. However, he already had a counter-reason set up in advance…

“Understandable, but ‘tis a real shame, you know… since from what I was able to gather about Aether Castle, the architecture and design of the whole building altogether was once said to have inspired many great minds to create so many beautiful things. Maybe just visiting the castle and its interior could… bring a spark of creativity to your mind.”

And seeing how Sam had been careful to weave his words correctly, it seemed that Rarity’s attention had been brought into consideration.

“Well… since you bring up such a thing… maybe it would be a good idea to tag along, I suppose.”

“Great. And, erm, what about you, Fluttershy?”

“Oh! Um… it might be… too dangerous, you know? Adventuring has too much excitement for me already, and I don’t think I could handle something this… big.”

“You know, now that I think about it, that reminds me – I’ve also heard stories from zoologists in my travels who’ve heard of Aether Castle, and their biggest interest in it involved a part of the castle known only as “Little Garden”.”

“Little… Garden?”

“According to them, don’t let the name fool you – it isn’t as little as the name itself suggests, but it’s more of a massive animal habitat once said to contain the many animals found on Sam’s journeys – some are bought there to protect them from outright extinction, others were to be rehabilitated from any destruction of their old homes. A massive sanctuary, with… no way to tell if… they’re still alive in there… Oh no.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widen at the sudden realization bought upon by Cree – all those poor animals once tended to by someone who saved them, only for him to be gone, and it had possibly been over a thousand years since anyone ever heard of them…

The yellow pegasus’ eyes suddenly shine with determination.

“When do we leave?”

While Sam showed genuine concern for the animals in Little Garden, he was glad Fluttershy came along – having someone with equal zoology knowledge was helpful. Nodding, Cree draws all attention back to the map.

“I’m thinking about leaving tomorrow, at sunrise. But since I’m bringing ten others as company, let’s settle for the morning around eight. Looking back to the distance from this castle to the woods, and comparing it to the map on the book… I’d count a day and a half for the trip and the expedition, tops. Maybe less, if we’re lucky.”

Everyone nodded as they understood the plan. But reeling back to what Cree just said, there was something wrong with what he just said. And Twilight easily noticed.

“Um… Cree? We’re only seven in the room, not counting you – did you just count wrong?”

“Oh, I’m not wrong – there’s definitely you seven, and also counting the three behind the door over there, that’s ten. Unless of course, you all say otherwise, but no doubt they’ll try and follow us anyway.”

As Cree spoke, he motioned over to the door leading to the room they’re in, Twilight using her magic to crack it open… only for three familiar young mares to tumble through the door, to be put out in plain sight for everyone present to see.

Each of the newly introduced three were one of the three species of pony – one was an orange pegasus with a purple mane, another was a yellow earth pony with a red mane and a pink bow holding it in a ponytail, and the last was the marshmallow white unicorn with the two-color mane from earlier in the story. These three were the Cutie Mark Crusaders, a motley group of girls that originally banded together with the full purpose of helping each other earn their cutie marks, eventually reaching that goal and re-purposing themselves towards helping others find the true meaning or significance of their cutie mark.

The pegasus wore a dark orange shirt with a white long-sleeved undershirt, accompanied by denim jeans with a pair of skate shoes. Her cutie mark, the CMC shield (with purple, orange and red lines going downwards) with a lightning bolt in a wing, was solidified into a badge that hung from a chain by her side. Her wings were noticeably smaller than average pegasi, but she never let it bring her down. This was Scootaloo, resident junior daredevil of the CMC, responsible for handling more of the seemingly crazy parts of their plans and pulling it off splendidly.

The earth pony wore a yellow work shirt with denim overalls, with her cutie mark – the CMC shield with an apple in the middle, with a heart outlining in the apple – rested on her left forearm, and work boots. While she may look slender, she actually has enough muscle to hold her own and partially manage in strength. This was Apple Bloom, the main engineer / handymare of the group responsible for bringing their creations – bound to fail or otherwise – to life.

The unicorn wore a silk-white dress that hung from her shoulders and went down just below her knees, the light pink of ribbons giving detail to the dress, and also wearing a small pair of shorts underneath to conserve modesty should a wind (or a perv) come by. Her horn, white like the rest of her body, was visibly smaller for a unicorn her age, showing the possibility of her magic being weak, but she can actually manage a spell well enough thanks to Cree’s help. Her cutie mark, the shield with a musical note in the star, rested as a brooch on her left breast. This was Sweetie Belle, the voice of reason and planner within all of the CMC’s past and present endeavors.

(Appearance is different, but these are the clothes I’m talking about. Did I get Sweetie’s right?)

Oh, and believe me, these three aren’t the young little fillies from the show – they are growing up to be young, beautiful mares, as indicated by the swelling of what could be a ‘bountiful harvest’ within all three, hence why they’re all in high school. But to put it through to your imagination, here’s the lowdown – Scootaloo, being a pegasus, has a sleek and slim body, but her curves are quite exclaimed from her clothes. Apple Bloom, being a rural worker, clearly has gained muscle over her time, but is hidden under the skin so it doesn’t stick out too much, especially when she’s also growing a supple amount of ‘T&A’ under the cloth. Sweetie Belle, on the other hand, is actually growing up to be a prim mare like her sister – sophisticated, sexy, but still subtle enough to make any growing stallion crack a neck to get a good look.

And don’t grill me on this - this is all for the sake of originality, so to give my headcanon universe a chance, and I don’t write foalcon, dammit.

But moving on…

As the trio are about to be scolded for eavesdropping, Sam reminisces about the time that he and the three first met...

Flashback – two days ago…

As Cree had finally wrapped up with helping Fluttershy transport a huge lizard back to its owner, he felt the need to unwind in the park, snagging a newspaper and settle down at a bench, getting a big piece of taffy he bought earlier, popping it into his mouth to slowly chew as he read.

Apparently, his actions – not him specifically – at the bar had hit front page news, although the reporters had never been able to identify who he was, as they never got any good-enough sources to establish who he really was. What they did have, though, was a tip that the one who was behind beating up the Rogues wasn’t a pony, hence why there was a big bustle in reporters from various news companies trying to nail where he was over the past couple of days. In basic, they had the deeds in detail; they just needed to pin it on him.

And speak of the devil – wannabe reporters inbound. Complete with cartoonish cloud rising up behind them as they stampede through the town. Acting on impulse, Cree simply raises his newspaper up to cover his face, obscuring his presence as they passed by him. As stupid as that plan was, you gotta admit:

Cartoon Logic.

Not. Even. Once.

But using crazy logic aside, Cree simply laid back and read, not giving too much of a care of anything in the world. Although he isn’t really giving any relevance to any of the stuff in the print, he actually skips those tabloids and onto the crosswords or any other news that might interest him, namely the report on him.

Rogues Finally Caught! Who Is This Mystery Brawler?

As known across the media, a small group of the infamous Rogues has finally been caught just a few days prior, and a video – posted by the bartender of the Bucking Bronco Bar – caught the whole incident, which is spreading like wildfire on the net. Many still aren’t able to get a reliable source as to who this mysterious “Storm Hunter”, as the masses call him, is, and a hunt is on to get the lowdown on this stranger. While those in Ponyville claim to know him, as he has fought against the Element of Loyalty and won, and even performed in the party held for him, it is still a strong enough lead to bring the very hunt to Ponyville. More information to come when the mystery brawler is interviewed.

Storm Hunter? Well, it’s cheesy, but it’s better than anything else.

*rustle* *rustle*

Bringing his head up from the paper, he hears rustling from the bushes over yonder, just in time to see three figures dart towards a large tree nearby. Apparently they thought they could pull off a Metal Gear and slip from cover to cover. Didn’t work.

“You know, you three don’t need to hide to get a look at me.”

And at that, the trio popped their heads out of their cover to look at him sheepishly.

After clearing up their motives, they apparently wanted to have a talk with him in hopes of getting to know him, Scootaloo especially, as he helped save her idol. Sweetie was interested about the places he went to, Apple Bloom was attentive towards the cultures he encountered, and Scootaloo was interested overall about his feats other than a few days back.

As it turned out, they needed info like this for their special group project involving the very things they asked for. They would have brought along their other friends, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon (much to Sam’s surprise), but they were too busy with other things to come along. Since they weren’t able to find a good enough source in Twilight’s library due to how large it was, and how they didn’t know where to properly look, even with the alicorn’s help, so when Cree appeared and revealed himself as a wanderer, they hoped to ask him for help.

Regardless, Cree was able to indulge them and gave them various tales regarding the ‘many lands’ he passed along, the ‘cultures he was exposed to’, and along the way, told them of his fights.

But let’s be honest, he’s mostly conducting all of this from his own memory in the past, not all to current, so it’s more of a history lesson than an actual current lesson.

But nevertheless, they got what they needed, and promptly left to their own devices, but not before making him promise to spend some time later on to tell more of his stories, as they might consider writing his biography for him sometime.

Back to present…

The trio were currently being rounded on by their three respective parent figures, the former giving reasons to why they can join the trip, based on ‘they’re old enough and can take care of themselves’, while the latter were vetoing their statements, all on the idea of ‘it will be too dangerous’, although it seems the girls aren’t able to sway the CMC either way, they still stand firm to saying no. This debate pretty much went back and forth, until eventually the mares tell them off regardless of the many valid reasons the crusaders bring up.

However, they only smirked as they bought up their trump card.

“I guess you’re right, Rarity. We might as well just leave.”

“Although we might turn out bored…”

“And eventually spread that little secret we know about y’all.”

That statement made heads turn towards them, as their interests were peaked by what they were implying.

“Wait, what are you three getting at?”

“You all know… the one involving what happened before?”

The girls’ eyes widened at a provoked realization. Although the trio were just bluffing their way in, it was clear that just remembering what incident they thought the trio were suggesting was enough to push them to the edge.

“Y-y-you girls wouldn’t, would you?”

“Maybe we will, maybe we won’t. Depends if-”

“Alright, alright! You lot can come with, just keep the trouble to yourselves, or else!”

The trio were inwardly snickering at how lucky they were able to goad all the six, and even get through Applejack’s lie detecting ability to be able to join Cree.

Sam, on the other hand, was completely onto them, but didn’t say shit, as this was too funny to pass up. Besides…

Times are fun with more friends joining the party.

“OK then, now that that’s settled, remember everyone: 8 AM or a little after that – at best 10-15 minutes after, so that we won’t lose too much time waiting for anyone. If you’re late, then sorry, but we’ll leave without you. Harsh rule, yes, but it’s good to keep a time constraint to not admit indolence.

Alright, I’ll leave you all to pack; I gotta go organize my stuff. See ya.”

The next morning…

Sam had already finished packing his things, complete with a provisional supply pack for the girls and Spike, and was now just waiting in the main hall for them to come by, the katana he brought along resting by his side.

A few minutes before eight, Twilight was the first to come, her bags packed with writing implements, maps, and her own supplies, with Spike in tow, his pack stuffed the same way, except the contents seemed to be filled with exploration gear – rope, flasks, a compass, a tent, the works. When he checked the contents of both bags, he looked to Spike and had to ask.

“Um… you do know that I’ve got most of these in bulk, right?”

“Yeah, but Twilight insisted ‘just in case’, seeing as you could never have too many of these.”

Shrugging his shoulders, he gives the OK to both of them; the only thing left to do is still waiting for the others.

Eventually, minutes pass and the girls start to slowly file in:

Fluttershy, who apparently bought her own supplies, and a massive bag of animal care equipment – food (meat and vegetable), first aid packs, medicine; it looked as though she was packing for a relief effort. When asked, she replied that she was going to do her best to help save any of the animals left in Little Garden, but when asked how she was able to afford all the equipment, she claimed that being a horror writer on the side helps fund these kinds of endeavors, much to the group’s surprise.

Pinkie Pie, who walks into the room empty-handed, claiming she bought in a load of supplies from her Magic Satchel, which, much to the group’s confusion, was in her mane, which she demonstrated by reaching into her mane and pulled out a cupcake – no hair in it or anything – and ate it. Sam was ultimately bewildered, as using space distortion techniques was his specialty, but seeing her pull it off was slowly, but surely accepted. She even bought along a recorder camera to get footage of their journey.

Rarity, who bought along her sketchpad, for on-the-spot inspiration, and a good supply pack with her tent. She even decked herself in an explorer’s outfit, khaki and all, so to fit in with the occasion. Sam inwardly facepalms at this, but nonetheless keeps his composure about it. Sweetie Belle follows in, her pack’s content’s actually looking more ready for the trip, as it was similar to Spike’s.

Rainbow Dash, accompanied by Scootaloo, brought along her stock of supplies as well, seeing to it that they also bought along a couple of special gear in case – lights, utility knives, and even a blank book. When asked why she bought that, Rainbow claimed she wanted to sketch any armor or weaponry that Sam might have in display in the castle – it was a hobby of hers to collate weaponry or battle-ready armor, and document it for her collection. When asked how they’re going to sleep, the two of them said they’ll sleep in some clouds.

Applejack, along with Apple Bloom, had bought in sleeping bags, some food for the trip, and Granny Smith’s homemade insect repellant, made so that it keeps bugs away from the crops, and functions normally when used on somepony. And they all managed to bring all this in one bag, possibly an unintentional show of strength, as the contents of the bag were almost bigger than AJ, and the sleeping bags – carried by Apple Bloom, were as big as the teen in question.

After everyone had assessed what they were all bringing, Cree brings all attention to him to finalize an announcement.

“OK everypony – and dragon, we’re gathered today to go on what could be the ultimate expedition! I expect that everyone be safe – while this find is of great importance… I don’t want to see any of you get hurt ‘cause of my foolishness. To me, friends always come first – anything that I came for will have to take last priority.”

They all smiled at his caring declaration. To think they’d all just wanted to join the bandwagon with him, they didn’t want to be a burden, but he didn’t care about that – just the thought of his friends being there was enough to alleviate any burden that they think they’re bringing to him.

“Alright, now is everyone ready?”

“YEAH!”

“Then we’re off!”

And, finally going through the gates, they made their way to the outskirts of the town, the group behind Cree thinking that deep down, there will be something of great impact to the world that’s going to happen – one that, hopefully, will bring good.

They have no idea how right they are.

Meanwhile…

Location: Canterlot Prison (A few days prior to the expedition)

As Dead Ringer and his group lie in their cells, they go over what has been and shall be done in this week:

First, they were able to rally a lot of inmates towards their cause, seeing as they all hate the princess; they decided to spread the word around to the others in solitary confinement – the more dangerous of the inmates.

Second, the maximum security inmates claimed that an outlaw dragon was being kept inside as well, so freeing him will gain them a massive turning point in their fight against Celestia, and thus getting him out of confinement will be a big priority in the jailbreak.

And lastly, they had the location of where the guards established their armory, and were to go en route there upon their chance.

However, they still had a big factor to deal with.

Him.

As their boss had detailed, it was imperative that they try to keep these inmates under control until told otherwise, as he was in on the plan, but that he wasn’t bothered to make sure they stopped, but rather that they prolong it until it could get out of control or otherwise.

There was something new in play, but the small-time leader could no nothing, but push things to fruition.

When he gained the courage to ask why this was needed, their boss gave off the very words that bought hope back into her (but not to their knowledge) and into them.

They all must succeed.

For when Aether returns, it will bring the long-awaited judgment that the sun had long coming.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Author's Note

Yup.

BTW, the whole thing with the girls and Sam... I actually intended to have them really confront him on that, but shit pretty much snowballed from there. I'll see to it that it'll be bought to light in the next chapter or the one after.

And just to let you know, Sam is... kinda emotionally unstable, hence why he just spouted that crap real easily arguing with Yin.

There's always a big cost for great power, and a fragile psyche is the change.

Oh yeah - he's pretty built similar to Nagisa (a boy, but looks like a girl, from Assassination Classroom) combined with Pidge Gunderson (actually a girl, but styled as a boy in the beginning from Voltron: Legendary Defender... the new one on Netflix, not the old one.)

But with that cleared up... I'm out, beeyotch. -☯