A Few Good Ponies

Approx 5 Miles South of Ponyville

1200hrs

Lightning felt the wind rush through her feathers as she soared through the air, far above the forested hills below. Her altitude giving her an incredible bird's (or in this case pegasus's) eye view of the sprawling landscape. Squinting and holding up a hoof to shield her eyes from the sun, she was able to make out a good sized town off in the distance. In the middle of the town was a tall round building, and on the far side she could make out the silhouette of a large tree shaped fortress, the sun gleaming off of a brilliant star shaped crystal at its precipice. On the edge of town the colorfully painted wooden buildings gave way to a sprawling orchard and lush farmland.

Letting the wind carry her, she glided slowly down to the train before alighting on the coal car.

“How's it looking up there?” Greeted Sunrise.

“We're coming up on Ponyville. If I had to guess I'd say we're about 5 minutes out.” She replied.

“That's good, we'll be able to stop there for fuel. There's no way we'll make it all the way to Canterlot with what we have left. Might even be able to get help for Firefly. I heard that the element of magic lives there. If she can't find a cure, I doubt there's anypony that can.

Minutes later the town came into view as the train rounded a bend. Not far ahead Sunrise could see a train station. Reaching over, he pulled the brake lever. With a hiss the train shuddered, sparks flying off of the wheels as they locked up. Sunrises's eyes widened as the platform continued rapidly toward them.

“Huh. Probably should have pulled that earlier.” He muttered as the train flew past the station, before finally coming to a stop several feet beyond it.

“Well, second time's the charm.” He said, releasing the brake and pulling back on the throttle. As they approached the station once again he applied the brake, bringing the train to a stop well before they reached it.

“Buck.” He grunted, looking around. Several ponies looked on in bewilderment as the train backed up once again before coming to a stop at the station.

The three ponies disembarked, stepping onto the wooden platform of the station. Walking down a small set of stairs, they left the station behind as they headed into town. Several ponies stopped what they were doing to watch the group as they passed. Their stares falling on the strange pony with the lizard-like tail and bulging stomach. A small filly cowered behind her mother as the tatzlpony passed by, shaking with fear.

Suddenly the group was approached by a pink earth pony with a fluffy mane.

“Ooh you guys must be new in town I'm Pinkie Pie and this is Ponyville but you probably already knew that since you're here after all.” Exclaimed the pink pony, speaking so fast that she was barely comprehensible.

“Um yes-” Sunrise started to say.

Pinkie Pie's eyes snapped to Screech before she interrupted. “Hey, I've never seen a pony like that before you guys must be from from far away or on some important mission or something.” She replied, taking a breath before she continued. “Is there anything I can do to help? Helping ponies is kind of my specialty after all.”

“Yes, we heard the element of magic lives around here, do you know where she lives?” Sunrise replied.

“Oh, you must mean Twilight. She's a friend of mine. I can take you to her right now if you want.” Pinkie replied before dashing off.

As the group ran in the direction Pinkie had disappeared, she poked her head around the corner of a building.

“Aren't you coming?” She asked before disappearing again.

The group followed the pink pony, barely keeping up with her as she bounced along excitedly before she eventually brought them to the steps of the crystalline fortress Lightning had spotted from the air. The three of them stood there, breathing heavily with sweat pouring down their faces. Pinkie Pie casually walked up to a set of double doors and knocked, apparently not winded at all from the race through town.

After a few moments one of the doors opened, revealing a lavender allicorn with a navy blue mane highlighted with pink and purple stripes.

“Hi Pinkie.” She greeted before spotting the trio of ponies waiting below. “Oh, you brought guests. Please come in.”

As the doors closed behind them, the allicorn introduced herself. “I'm Twilight Sparkle, the princess of friendship, but you can just call me Twilight. Who are you?”

Sunrise quickly bowed before replying. “I'm Sergeant Sunrise of the Royal Guard.” Gesturing with a hoof toward the others, he continued. “That is Private Lightning Strike, and Screech. Myself and Lightning were part of a mission to deal with a threat in the Badlands, but it went badly. The rest of our unit had some kind of magic cast on them by an evil unicorn that turned them against us. We were the only ones who escaped as far as we know.”

“It sounds like there's a lot to discuss. Come, let us sit and you can tell me your story. I'll have my assistant make us some tea.” She said before leading them into a large room. In the center of the room was a round crystalline table surrounded by several chairs made from a similar material. Each one was adorned with a pony's cutie mark.

Soon they were all seated, a steaming cup of tea in front of each of them. Sunrise began to recount their journey, with Lightning chiming in every so often. Twilight took particular interest when they described the tatzlponies' unique magic, and how they hoped it would be the key to undoing Multis's work. After well over an hour of talking, Twilight occasionally asking them to emphasize certain details, or repeat segments, they reached the part about capturing Firefly.

Twilight's eyes lit up at the prospect of conducting tests and performing experiments.

“So you'll help us?” Asked Sunrise.

Twilight nodded. “Yes, but I'm going to need to take magic samples from both Screech and from Firefly.”

At that moment Screech, who had been perched on a chair the whole time listening intently to the conversation, got down and walked over to an open section of the floor. Twilight watched with keen interest as he made a series of wet gagging noises, a large lump moving up the tan tatzlpony's throat before he opened his mouth wide, regurgitating  a still unconscious Firefly onto the floor in a puddle of saliva.

Twilight quickly ran over. She leaned over Firefly, touching her horn to his cutie mark and withdrawing it with a small orb of yellow magic stuck to the end. She quickly levitated the orb off of her horn and into a small glass jar, before repeating the process with Screech. When she had both samples she levitated the jars to the ground. Concentrating she lit her horn, delving into each sample with a magical diagnosis. Smiling, she levitated both of the spheres from the jars, holding them in the air in front of her. Sweat began to bead on her face as she wove a complex spell. Tendrils of magic began to flow from the brown sphere of Screech's magic, snaking through the air before disappearing into the yellow orb. When she was done the brown orb was slightly smaller, and they yellow orb was slightly darker in color. Releasing the orbs, they quickly flew back to their respective hosts, disappearing as soon as they made contact with their cutie marks.

“There..” Panted Twilight. “I was able to extract the part of Screech's magic that makes his species resistant to the spell and apply it to Firefly. It should purge the spell from his mind.”

Slowly Firefly opened his eyes. Getting shakily to his hooves, he looked around in confusion. “What happened?...Where am I?.....and why am I soaking wet?”

Letting out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding, Sunrise walked over to the confused unicorn. “Welcome back sir.”