The Three's Redemptionby Melody SongChaptersThe Mares are Gone!What Do We Do?Time to TrainWho to FindWith the MaresTensions and TerrorsArrivalThe Way InWith The VillainsRevealing the PastFinding the MaresThe Deal and EscapeThe Mares are Gone!Soarin yawned and stretched, looking around as he sat up in bed. He was in the Co-Captain's private room, and glanced around. Rainbow had been asleep beside him the night before. The mare had dozed off while they had been having one of their usual long talks. Soarin smiled as he recalled the way she'd snuggled against him in her sleep. Soarin loved her so much. Rainbow felt the same way, and they'd been dating since they'd confessed to each other. Now, as Soarin looked around the room, he didn't see her. "Hmm, maybe she got up early and went to go hang out with the other mares." Soarin thought, then got up and began to get ready. "Wait." He froze as he realized something. "Rainbow hates waking up early, where is she?" He then left the room, walking down the hall to the Captain's private room. Soarin peeked in, expecting to see Spitfire and Fleetfoot cuddling in bed, or maybe even making out. But the bed was empty, the blankets neatly made. The mares had fallen in love a week or so after Soarin and Rainbow had confessed. This was due to a trick Fleetfoot had pulled, getting Spitfire to kiss her, and the fiery mare had realized she was bisexual. The two were now dating and sleeping together every night, but if they weren't in their room, then where were they? Soarin looked in the mess hall and locker rooms, finding both empty. Then, he checked the sleeping quarters. The only occupied beds were the stallions' beds. Soarin knew he had to tell them. "Guys?" he called softly. Rapidfire rolled over in his sleep, and Sky Stinger let out a loud snore. "GUYS." He called again, a little louder, but still nothing. Soarin rolled his eyes. Both he and Spitfire had been taught by the old captain and co-captain before assuming the roles themselves. Both knew how to be loud enough to demand attention, Spitfire was just the only one who put it into practice. Now, he needed to do the same. "Attention! I want to see a straight line and I want to see it now!" Soarin yelled at the top of his lungs, startling the stallions so much they sat straight up. Thunderlane and Wave Chill even fell out of their beds. "What's going on?" Fire Streak asked, while his twin, Lightning Streak, seemed in awe. "Whoa, Clipper, I didn't know you could yell like that, for a second I thought that Spitfire had just shouted in a deep voice." Lightning Streak gasped, and Rapidfire nodded. "Why did you do that?" Silver Zoom asked "The girls are missing." Soarin said "What?!" the others shouted "Are you sure they're gone? Surprise, Spitfire, and Rainbow are big pranksters, maybe they got the others in on something, and they're all hiding?" Wave Chill suggested, but Soarin shook his head. "Those three wouldn't do something like this without showing themselves by now. They're not ruthless. Besides, if they were hiding and saw us going into a panic, they'd reveal themselves so we don't worry." Soarin objected "Yeah, I think you're on to something." Fire Streak said slowly, and Soarin nodded. "We could to go down to Ponyville, it's possible the mares went down there, and just forgot to leave a note." Silver Zoom suggested "And if they didn't?" Thunderlane asked, he had been very silent this whole time, but was worried now, after listening to Soarin's explanation. "Then Princess Twilight may know where Rainbow Dash is." Soarin replied, and the others nodded. "I don't know Soarin, this seems weird. Maybe we should wait for a little while." Thunderlane said "Why?" Soarin asked "Well, maybe they're just trying to mess around with us, they probably think they're being funny." Thunderlane said "Or you're just scared." Lightning Streak teased "Thunderlane, the mares could be in danger, we need to check Ponyville and see if they're there." Soarin told him "I'm still not buying it." Thunderlane insisted. Soarin turned away, heading for the door. "I don't care if you want to join me or not, but I'm going down to Ponyville. Come with me if you like, but I'm not waiting and hoping they're just being funny. I'm telling you, they'd never do this, they wouldn't scare us on purpose." Soarin said over his shoulder, then trotted out of the room. Soarin knew he was being harsher with them than usual. He wasn't hearing out their opinions and trying to come to a more reasonable solution. But Rainbow was missing, and she could be in danger. As much as she bragged about being so tough that nothing scared her, he knew she was just pretending. Soarin had seen her cower at thunder. She'd cuddle against him after nightmares and hug him tight when Spitfire told scary stories in the rec room. Right now, she could be scared or in danger, and Soarin had to make sure she was okay. Even if it meant upsetting the others. "Wait!" Somepony called. Soarin had made it to the door, and was about to push it open, when he heard hooves pounding on the cloud floor. He turned to see the other stallions running up to him. "We're coming with you." Rapidfire panted "Yeah. I'm sorry I said trying to find them was silly, I just didn't want to get wrapped up in one of those crazy adventures Rainbow and her friends always go on." Thunderlane said "But we're ready to help. we care about those girls, and we need them back, even if some of them drive us crazy sometimes." Lightning Streak said, and Soarin nodded "Thanks guys, I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have been so harsh with you. I'm just worried about Rainbow." Soarin sighed, then realized what he was saying. "U-uh, I mean, all the girls, n-not just Rainbow." Soarin stammered "Ooh, Soarin and Rainbow sittin' in a tree." Rapidfire said, smirking "Shut up Rapid, what about you and Misty Fly?" Soarin snapped "W-we're just friends Clipper!" Rapidfire exclaimed, but he was blushing. "Stop it guys, that's not important right now." Silver Zoom said "Yeah, we need to find the girls." Fire Streak added "Right. come on guys, let's head down to Ponyville." Soarin said, and they took off, heading down to the town below that bordered the Everfree Forest. Author's Note I am revising this story now that I have some experience on the site. Just so you know if you added this to your reading list. Again, this takes place after the episode Frenemies ~Melody Song What Do We Do?Soarin led the stallions down to Ponyville, where it was oddly quiet. They landed in town and headed towards the Friendship Castle. Ever since Rainbow had introduced the Wonderbolts to her other friends, they'd mostly hung out at the Castle with Applejack, Spike, Rarity, Fluttershy, Discord, Pinkie Pie, and Starlight Glimmer. If Fashion Plate and Cheese Sandwich happened to be in town, they would also join the group. Princess Twilight had used to hang out with them too, but as the time of her becoming the leader of Equestria grew closer, she spent more time in her office at the school, getting ready for the power transition. Soarin knocked on the great doors to the castle. They heard footsteps, then Spike opened the door. "Oh, hey guys." Spike greeted, he was taller now, and was almost the same height as the stallions. "Spike, have you seen the mares? They weren't at HQ." Soarin asked, an Spike scratched his head. "That's funny, because I haven't seen Twilight or Starlight since last night. But they sometimes get up before me and leave quietly so I don't wake up." Spike replied as Big Macintosh raced up. He leaned down and whispered something to the purple dragon. "What? Apple Bloom and AJ are missing and you haven't seen them all day?" Spike repeated what the large stallion had murmured. "So the girls aren't the only missing ponies." Sky Stinger said "I'm going to try to contact Princess Celestia." Spike said, pulling out a scroll and quill, then began to write something. "What if she and Princess Luna are gone too?" Fire Streak asked "They can't be." Came a voice. The group turned to see Prince Shining Armor. His best knight, Flash Sentry, and his Royal Crystaller, Sunburst, were with him. They trotted up to the stallions. "Why can't they be gone?" Sky Stinger asked "Their castle is surrounded with pieces of Ex-Queen Chrysalis' throne, it will detect and stop all attempts at teleportation in and out of the castle. I just wish I'd thought to put similar security measures on my sister and I's castles. Cadence and Flurry Heart are missing, I was coming here to tell Twilight." Shining explained "Strange, I was going to have tea with Fluttershy today, but she's not at her cottage or her sanctuary." Came another, slightly haughty voice from above them. When they looked up they saw Discord had appeared there. "Alright, let's do a head count, who's missing? I want to make sure I have a full list before I alert Celestia." Spike said, as Fashion Plate and Cheese Sandwich ran up. "Oh, hey guys, what are you doing here?" Spike greeted "We were both in Canterlot when we decided to come down here and surprise our girls. We thought they might be here because they aren't home." Cheese replied "Okay, so Rarity and Pinkie have also disappeared." Spike made note of it, as the CMC's friends-Button Mash, Rumble, and Tender Taps-trotted up. "Hey." Rumble said, looking worried. "What's up little bro?" Thunderlane asked "Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are gone!" Button Mash exclaimed, and Tender Taps nodded. Spike muttered something, then wrote Sweetie and Scootaloo's names. He rolled up the scroll, breathing fire on it. They hung around for less than ten minutes before Spike belched, making a scroll appear in a burst of flames. "What's it say? What's it say?" Cheese asked eagerly, pushing past Fashion Plate and scanning the letter. "Celestia said she has gotten word from Starswirl the Bearded that Somnambula, Mage Meadowbrook, and Mistmane have also gone missing. She wants us all in Canterlot right away." Spike read "Even us?" Fashion Plate asked, and Spike looked at the bottom of the scroll. "Even you guys." Spike answered. "Well I can't come." It was the first time Big Macintosh had spoken more then a few words in such a big group. But since Discord and Spike, his Ogres and Oubliettes buddies, were there, he was more at ease. "Why not?" Discord asked "Not that disobeying Celestia's orders doesn't sound fun." "I hafta do ma sis's chores on top of my own. It's gonna take all day, Granny Smith's real particular 'bout how the chores are s'posed to be done." Big Mac said "Oh, and because he's got a date with Sugar Belle this afternoon." Discord added, oblivious at the embarrassment he was causing his friend. Though Big Macintosh had a red coat, the red fur around his cheeks turned darker as he blushed. "Discord! what have we told you about secrets?" Spike asked "Only tell them when the pony says you can tell others. What kind of stupid rule is that, it takes the fun out of knowing someone else's secret." Discord sighed "Can you teleport us to the castle? You won't be able to send us straight in, but the guards will let us in if you get us to the bridge." Shining Armor asked Discord, who sighed and held up his hands. "Whatever you say my Prince." he answered sarcastically, snapping his fingers. Everyone but Big Macintosh disappeared in a flash of light. They appeared at the palace gates, where Shining Armor trotted forward and said something to the guards. A stallion that the Wonderbolts all recognized trotted up, wearing the armor of Luna's guards. He was a purple coated stallion with a white mane-though they could only see his tail. His eyes were a familiar almond shape with fuchsia pupils. Shining Armor trotted over to the gates with the guard, beckoning for them to follow. The stallions followed as directed, and the Wonderbolts all waved their wings at Luna's guard. "Hey Dark Shooter." Rapidfire greeted casually. "You know him?" Flash Sentry asked "Yeah, he's Fleetfoot's older brother. He stops by HQ every now and then, usually once a month." Silver Zoom replied "But it's been a while, we haven't seen him in five months." Soarin added, as the stallion removed his helmet to reveal his white mane, matted against his head with sweat. "That's because after I reinforced the castle, I told Celestia that I wanted to head the guard in the Crystal Empire. I asked her to appoint another pony to take my place when I can't come to lead the Canterlot guard myself. She asked Luna for a recommendation, and she recommended Dark Shooter, he's her top guard. He's still her guard, but he does my duties as Captain of the Canterlot Guard when I'm gone." Shining Armor explained, leading them inside. Dark Shooter nodded. "I meant to come visit and tell you, but the new duties on top of my usual ones are a lot of pressure." Dark Shooter explained, they were now walking down the hallway. Suddenly, Flash Magnus, who Rainbow had told them was the new Drill Sargent for the Royal Guard, trotted up to them. "Captain Shooter, Princesses Celestia and Luna are waiting for you in the throne room. I must go escort in Starswirl and Rockhoof, but I will join you alongside them." Flash Magnus said, saluting Dark Shooter. "Good, at ease Sargent Magnus." Dark Shooter responded, and Flash Magnus left. "Time to enter, and see what Princess Celestia knows about this." Soarin whispered to the others, as Dark Shooter pushed open the door. Author's Note if you're wondering why it's Fashion Plate instead of Fancy Pants, I just think Fashion Plate works better with Rarity, and I'm pretty sure Fancy Pants is married to Fluer De Lis. Dark Shooter's my own character, by the way. Also, in this story, I'm including Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail, as well as that pegasus from Starlight's village, Night Glider. All three are trainee Wonderbolts, but were staying at HQ as reserves. ~Melody Song Time to TrainPrincess Celestia waited for Flash Magnus to return with Starswirl the Bearded and Rockhoof, then explained the situation. "I believe that the mares are being held captive by an enemy, but I am unsure about who it is. I have no doubts that Starswirl and Sunburst will be able to find out. I wish for all of you to go to retrieve the mares. Dark Shooter, Shining Armor, Flash Magnus, you must prepare them." Celestia instructed "Princess, are you sure it's wise to allow foals to join us?" Silver Zoom asked tentatively, and Celestia looked down at Rumble, Button Mash, and Tender Taps. "I'm sure everyone here will be beneficial to your success." Celestia replied "Always with the vagueness. You haven't changed a bit ever since we first met, Tia." Discord commented "I am aware of your opinions Discord. But I'm afraid time is of the essence, you must hurry and get in some training. You won't be able to save the girls otherwise." Celestia said. They all headed out into what Dark Shooter, Flash Magnus, and Shining Armor called the training arena. They used it for the guards apparently. However, Starswirl and Sunburst went into the library to find out who could have the mares. "Alright, Princess Celestia said we need to get you some training, so let's start with a lap around the arena, to test your endurance and speed." Shining Armor said, then glanced at Discord. "Do you mind keeping score? I want myself, Flash Magnus, and Dark Shooter to participate as well." "Well, alright. But, if I get to keep score, then I get to be in charge!" Discord exclaimed, snapping his fingers. A coach uniform appeared on him. With another snap of his fingers, the stallions, dragon, and colts were automatically positioned on the starting line. "Ready. Set. Go!" Discord called, conjuring a giant hourglass and flipping it over as the guys took off. Soarin and the Wonderbolts easily won, the four Royal Guards coming in second, their armor seemed to be weighing them down. Next came Rockhoof, after him Spike and the three colts, then the rest. The guys were breathing heavily, all except the Wonderbolts, who were used to this sort of rigorous training. "Well, that was terrible." Discord stated bluntly. Princess Luna alighted on a balcony overlooking the arena. She wanted to see if her top guard was shaping the stallions up. Luna was not surprised to see Discord bossing them around. Both she and Celestia had expected it. Discord set them some exercises. He was not a bad teacher, just a little short with them. Discord soon got even Cheese Sandwich more or less focused on the task and ready to fight. Luna could just see one flaw in Discord's method. "Are we done?" Button Mash asked, wheezing a little. Before Discord could answer, a voice rang out. "Not quite yet." It was Luna, landing on the grass in front of them. They all bowed, and Luna beckoned them to rise. "Discord's methods are all very well, but you are missing something." Luna reached out and tapped Spike on the shoulder. Spike gave a groan as he face-planted onto the ground. "Why'd you do that Princess?" Spike asked, as Tender Taps helped him up. "To prove that though you have fighting skills, you are still unbalanced. You need to learn to be at one with your instincts." Luna said "What do you mean your highness?" Flash Sentry asked "Allow me to explain." Luna said, and began to recite a poem. Starswirl had told it to her and Celestia countless times while they were growing up. "Earth, sky, day, night. Sound and silence, dark and light. You see, one alone is not enough, you need both together. Winter, summer, moon and sun. This is lesson number one." Luna had their interest now, and the ponies got closer to hear more. "Like a rock, you must be hard. Like an oak, you must stand firm. Cut quick, like a blade. Think fast, unafraid." "Yes, yes, we get it Lulu, you can stop now. I heard this senseless rhyme enough times when you and Tia recited it while we played." Discord interrupted. Luna ignored him. "Like a cloud, you should be soft. Like a willow, you bend in the wind. Creeping slow, be at peace because you know, it's alright to be afraid." Luna recited "Oh, you're saying we need to be like two sides of the same coin." Shining Armor said, and Luna nodded "So:" Dark Shooter started them off "One alone is not enough, you need both together. Winter, summer, moon and sun. Lesson number one." they all said, and repeated the verses. This time, they ran through the exercises Discord had set them, using both raw skill and their brains to get through it. "Like a cloud, we are soft. Like a rock, we are hard. Like willows, we bend in the wind. Like an oak, we stand firm. Creeping slow, at peace because we know we can be afraid. Cut quick, like a blade. Thinking fast, unafraid." they all cried, and Luna nodded in satisfaction. "You have now begun lesson number one." she told the stallions as they finished the exercises and stood in front of her. Discord was slumped in a chair he had made appear. He knew the lesson was good advice, but did not appreciate Luna jumping in. Fluttershy could be in trouble. Discord got up when Luna left, and continued his version of training, using Luna's 'balance' method as he did. By the time Starswirl and Sunburst exited the library three hours later, the other stallions were going through a course Discord had snapped into reality with the ease of ponies-and dragon-who did this every single day. "Guys, we think we've figured it out! we know who took the girls!" Sunburst called The stallions froze in place, Sky Stinger and Fashion Plate falling into a river they'd been about to jump. They all ran towards Starswirl and Sunburst in eagerness, confident they could defeat whoever they needed to face. Author's Note so, that was a rewrite of Lesson Number One from Mulan 2, but I thought it would work better if it was a poem. This works because in the chapter, Luna and Discord both hinted at Starswirl using it to encourage the two sisters to work together when they were his students. The idea of day and night really emphasizes that. ~Melody Song Who to Find"We have suspicions that the villain who took the girls was..." Sunburst trailed off as Starswirl held up a book with a picture of a terrifying creature, snarling at a group of cowering ponies. "Grogar." Starswirl finished "Grogar? Who's he?" Flash Sentry asked "I heard about him when I was young. Tia and Lulu always told me what their other friends had heard about the guy." Discord replied, and Sky Stinger looked confused. "Mind explaining?" Sky Stinger asked "Alright then," Discord snapped his fingers, and the image became real, snarling at them, and the stallions backed away in fear. Grogar is the cruelest of the cruel he once ruled the land with fear he made beasts that roamed the land as ghouls and still exist to this very year alas his reign came to an end when Gusty the Great's crew took his power which the fear would send and off his throne Gusty threw Grogar was gone erased from history thanks to Gusty, Equestria had won and Grogar's whereabouts remain a mystery" Discord finished, and Cheese looked at him strangely. "That was a pretty bad song." Cheese said "They can't all be winners." Discord shrugged. Spike laughed "Yeah, Pinkie's 'Evil Enchantress' song was pretty weird too." Spike added, smiling as he remembered the accident that had resulted in meeting Zecora. "Actually, I meant why you keep saying you knew the Princesses when they were kids. Weren't you evil then?" Sky Stinger asked "I am the same age as Celestia. Do you really think a ten-year-old can take over the world?" Discord asked "Well..." The others shifted uncomfortably. Discord was a being of chaos. He could probably overthrow Celestia and Luna even if he was a child. "I'm offended." Discord huffed, then proceeded to explain. "Celestia, Luna, and I grew up together after we found Equestria. Though I always hid from anyone other than them. I didn't get along well with the other ponies who worked/lived in the Castle of the Two Sisters." Discord explained "Now is not the time to discuss the secret friendship you had with my students that I knew nothing about until now. The song, bad as it was, nevertheless served its purpose. Grogar was indeed defeated by Gusty the Great in the height of his power. However, rather than destroying him, Gusty simply stole a powerful artifact that gave him his powers. Her failure to completely incapacitate him means that he must still be alive somewhere in Equestria. We believe he took the girls." Starswirl explained "But why the girls?" Spike asked "Wait...Grogar was defeated by Gusty the Great, a mare..." Dark Shooter said he and Shining thinking about something. The others followed their train of thought. "If Grogar was captured by a mare, then he might think that mares are the competition, so he captured all the most powerful ones!" Soarin exclaimed "Precisely. Now, according to legend, Gusty hid Grogar's artifact somewhere very discreet. Since he was not able to break my enchantment on the Ex-Queen's throne, he has clearly not found it." Starswirl said, rather proudly. "So, we need to find and fight a giant goat to get the girls back? No problem." Flash Magnus boasted "Aye, Flash, don't go countin' yer wins before they happen, mebbie Grogar hasn't his artifact now, but it don't stop him from gettin it back." Rockhoof warned "Rockhoof is correct Flash, Grogar is smarter than to do this alone, he must have a reason for acting now." Sunburst said "We need to get going, the mares need us." Fire Streak added, and Discord shuddered "Discord, something wrong?" Fashion Plate asked "No. At least, I don't believe so." Discord said, and they all stared at him. "You see, I can sense magical imbalances. But it's very strange, the last time I felt one that strong was when..." Discord trailed off and gasped. "What?" they all demanded "When Tirek was stealing magic." Discord finished. They all gasped, Sunburst so hard that his glasses slipped to the edge of his muzzle. "B-but that means..." Thunderlane began "The girls are in trouble! We've got to go, now!" Shining Armor cried, thinking of his wife and daughter. While the boys were doing this, Grogar was stomping around in the room, watching the prisoners. They were very weak, having been taken in the middle of the night. Some were pacing around. The youngest ones whimpered and hugging the older ones. Tirek was standing guard over them, and had accidentally drained one's magic. The white unicorn with the purple mane had fallen over due to it, though she seemed to be acting. Cozy Glow was eating a sandwich in a corner of the room, watching the show. "You won't get away with this!" Princess Cadence shouted, trying to break the strange lock on her horn. "You're sure those things will hold, Cozy Glow?" Tirek muttered "Of course, this key's the only way out of that lock." Cozy replied, swinging a key in her hooves. "Same goes for Princess Twilight's and her dumb pupil's." she added, holding up another two keys. "Tirek, if you take another's magic without my permission, I will punish you most severely." Grogar threatened, and Tirek nodded, leaving the room with Cozy Glow, Grogar going out another way. The second they had left, Rarity sat up, perfectly fine, but trembling slightly on her hooves. Twilight and Starlight ran to Cadence and struggled with the locks. "Why won't it break?" Cadence asked in terror "Because it's a Horavian Unichain." Came a familiar voice. A mare had been staying in the corner, away from the others, and not speaking. Now that she had, Rainbow gasped. "I know that voice!" she said, running to the mare and pulling back the hood on her cloak. "Daring Do!" Twilight, Rainbow, AJ, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Fleetfoot said, then gasped along with the others as they saw the state Daring was in. Her pith helmet had a tear in it, she was sporting a black eye, and one of her legs was bent at an odd angle. Daring winced as she pulled herself up to their eye level. "Daring, what happened to you?" Twilight asked "I was fighting Ahuizotl and his henchponies when Grogar zapped me down here. I was about to use my whip when it happened, those Henchponies had me in a ditch. Actually, I probably would have been knocked out if he hadn't teleported me when he did." Daring explained "You okay sis?" Rainbow asked "I'll live." Daring replied, pulling off her cloak with her good hoof, making a saddlebag slide off her back and onto the ground. Daring flapped her wings a few times, then winced. Apparently one of her wings was injured. "Sis?" the others echoed, just now registering Rainbow's choice of words. "Oh, um, yeah, did I forget to mention Daring found some old Birth Certificates that said we were twins?" Rainbow asked sheepishly "Doesn't matter right now." Applejack said, shaking her head. Rainbow nodded. "Well, about what you said they put on our horns?" Cadence asked, as Fluttershy and Mage Meadowbrook stepped forward to try and heal Daring's injuries. "Oh, right. It's called the Horavian Unichain, an awful way of subduing unicorns, and apparently alicorns. The lock is specially designed so that you can't use magic once it's put on your horn. The only way to remove it is with the key." Daring explained "How do you know this?" Mistmane asked, sitting down "We have an uncle who's a unicorn." Daring replied. Rainbow lay down beside the mare, brushing her muzzle against Daring's. "What's going to happen to us?" Surprise had been repeating this question every five minutes until the villains had come in. She resumed it now. The others groaned "We don't know Surprise, but just calm down, I'm sure by now the guys have noticed we're gone and are looking for us." Spitfire assured her friend, but was having doubts about this herself. Author's Note To all the people who speak with accents like Rockhoof's, I sincerely apologize if I am unable to match it in this story, I just have no idea how to write it. I am not trying to be disrespectful to your way of speech. I made up that song, I was kind of going for explaining more than making it a good song. Also, I do support the theory that Daring Do and Rainbow Dash are long-lost faternal twins, so that's why this is in there. Let's say Daring found the Birth Certificates sometime after the episode "Common Ground" takes place. ~Melody Song With the MaresTwilight was starving. And so were the other ponies in the cage. The bars were close enough together that even the Cutie Mark Crusaders couldn't slip through. Twilight and Starlight, despite Daring's warnings, were still trying to get their magic past the Horavian Unichain, while Cadence had given up, and was pacing around with worry. They had taken Flurry Heart away, to another room, and Cadence was worried about what they could be doing to her child. Fluttershy and Mage Meadowbrook sighed and stepped away from Daring, shaking their heads. "I'm sorry Daring, but without any supplies, we can't fix your wing and foreleg." Mage Meadowbrook said apologetically. Daring winced in pain, though she tried to seem like it was okay. "That's alright, you did your best." Daring said, then reached out with her uninjured foreleg and grabbed her saddlebag. "I don't normally have medical supplies, since I can make a splint out of a branch and some vines if needed, but I do have something else." Daring pulled a bottle out of the saddlebag. "Is it alcohol?" Spitfire asked pleadingly, rubbing her temple. Surprise had begun asking Spitfire how she was so sure about them being rescued, making her want some whisky. Spitfire had a high tolerance for alcohol, so just a few sips wouldn't hurt. If that was what Daring was holding, anyway. Daring rolled her eyes. "No. It's the nectar of the Eternal Flower, diluted and mixed with dust from the Crystal Sphere of Khumn. Instead of granting immortality, it provides you with pain relief." Daring said, uncorking the vial and taking a small sip. "Where did you find that?!" Twilight asked, as Daring visibly relaxed, breathing a sigh of relief. "It was a gift from Duchess Precepita in thanks for reuniting her and her lover. I didn't add it to the book because Duchess Precepita didn't want me to tell any pony where she got it." Daring explained, putting it back into her saddlebag. "When did that reunited love happen? You never do that sort of thing." Twilight asked "It wath in Daring Do and the Forbidden City of Cloudth. It wath the whole reathon Brumby Cloverpatch agreed to take Daring up to the Hidden City." Fleetfoot reminded Twilight, her lisp coming as a slight surprise to Daring, but she didn't care. "I thought you read my books." Daring accused, seeming a little hurt that Twilight didn't remember. "W-well, it's been a while. I haven't had much time to read them lately." Twilight said hastily, and Daring rolled her eyes "Sure. Anyway, does anyone have a plan to get us out of here?" Daring asked "I wish. I want out of this horrid dungeon, it's wrecking my mane." Rarity said Rainbow had stood up and backed towards the wall. Rainbow launched herself forward and rammed into the bars headfirst, shoulders knocking against the bars. Rainbow stepped back, dazed, stumbling backwards. "That didn't work." She said faintly, before collapsing beside Spitfire and Fleetfoot. "Why ya thought it would is ridiculous." Applejack muttered. As Daring opened her mouth to defend her sister, Spitfire beat her to it. "Hey, at least Rainbow's trying, I don't see you offering any suggestions for how to get out of here." Spitfire snapped, and Daring smiled, glad her sister had good friends who were ready to defend her, even if it was from her other friends. "That's 'cause I know it's pointless. Those bars ain't gonna break." Applejack shot back, and Spitfire stood, growling "Both of you, calm down. We may not be able to get out, but Spitfire was right before. Shining Armor will have noticed Cadence and Flurry are gone, the same goes for Spike. And the stallions on your team, Spitfire. They'll come, we just need to wait and be patient. However long it may take." Twilight reasoned. The two mares sat back down, Fleetfoot leaning into Spitfire, whispering something that calmed her down. The mares in the cage gazed around at the room they were locked in. At one point, Queen Chrysalis entered, and Twilight gasped. "All this time, you three were here? That's why you haven't been seen?" Twilight asked, and Queen Chrysalis laughed "Oh, we've been seen. Ever wonder why your friends acted so weird on that little 'camping trip' you took?" Chrysalis asked "Wait, the whole reason we were fightin' over not doin' stuff the others said we did was you?" Applejack asked "Yes, of course it was me!" Chrysalis cried, shoving her face at the bars, then retracting it, pacing. "I used the hairs I plucked from your manes-disguised as that silly photographer, of course-and then cast a spell to make duplicates of you. However, it seemed they were the opposites of you, and my plan to have the Elements of Harmony under my control failed. The duplicates were destroyed by the tree. If that fool Sombra hadn't destroyed the Elements, I could have gotten another chance." Chrysalis snarled, and Starlight gasped "Sombra? He was Grogar's doing too?!" she asked "He summoned us all here, did you think we simply stumbled upon him?" Chrysalis asked, then stalked out of the room. Tirek and Cozy Glow were pacing around in a room, waiting for Chrysalis. "There you are, finally, let's get this meeting started." Cozy Glow said as Chrysalis entered the room. "Sorry, I was taunting the hostages." Chrysalis hissed "Whatever. Here, I brought you some food." Cozy Glow slid a platter of cupcakes to her, and Chrysalis gobbled one down. "Thanks." she said begrudgingly, and Cozy nodded "Anyway, we've got to figure out how to hide Grogar's Bewitching Bell better. Every time Grogar gets near our hiding place for it, his necklace thing glows. He's going to figure it out eventually." Cozy said, and Tirek sighed "We might as well just hand it over and say we went back to Mount Everhoof to retrieve it after we failed the first time." Tirek grumbled "No! We said we'd backstab him together, so that's what we'll do. Besides, we all agreed that he'll be too powerful to overthrow with that thing." Cozy Glow objected, and Chrysalis nodded in agreement. "I propose we keep it moving in our different rooms, that way Grogar won't be able to pinpoint it's location." Chrysalis suggested, and Tirek and Cozy Glow murmured agreement. "Very well, now that that has been settled, on to the next reason for our meeting." Cozy Glow said, then jumped forward "Do it again!" she cried to Chrysalis, who smiled and transformed. "Ooh, I'm Princess Twilight. Friendship is Magic! I'm so dumb I was outsmarted by a foal and didn't know it until a centaur told me!" Chrysalis mocked in a voice similar to Twilight's. Tirek and Cozy Glow burst out laughing, the tiny filly falling onto her back and rolling around on the table. "Gets me every time!" Cozy giggled, as Chrysalis transformed back. "Yes, it's very entertaining." Tirek added "Glad I bring such joy." Chrysalis said, she had transformed into Pinkie Pie. Author's Note So, yeah, that's how the mares are doing. Some are driving each other up the wall, others are tired and hungry, and one is injured. But never fear, their Knights in Shining Armor are on the way! (no pun intended) ~Melody Song Tensions and Terrors"We're lost, aren't we?" Flash Magnus asked "For the hundreth time, stop asking that!" Shining Armor snapped, lifting up the map. "I'm hungry, where's the food?" Tender Taps asked, and Thunderlane looked around "Hey, yeah, I'm sure I packed some of the stuff I made earlier." Thunderlane said, and Rockhoof looked sheepish. "Was that fer all of us?" he asked "You ate all of it?" Shining Armor asked in exasperation "I figured I needed to keep me strength up." Rockhoof replied "But now we don't have anything to keep us from starving!" Lightning Streak exclaimed "I must say Prince, for a pony who works in the army, you are quite bad at keeping your knights' moral up." Discord said slyly "Only three of them are knights and moral won't matter if we can't find Grogar's lair." Shining replied "Just because we're not knights, doesn't mean we don't want to save the girls." Spike said. "I would do anything to get Applejack back, and I don't have to have some fancy uniform to do that." his outburst encouraged the others. "You also seem to have forgotten that the Wonderbolts are a form of military." Soarin began, but was cut off. "Yeah, we save the day more often than the Royal Guard does, but they always give us a bad reputation. So maybe you should be the one taking lessons from us." Rapidfire said "Never mind that, Pinkie Pie's in trouble, and we need to save her!" Cheese declared "And Apple Bloom!" "And Sweetie Belle!" "Yeah, Scootaloo needs us!" Shining was now getting very, very frustrated. Twilight wasn't the only one in the family who could have outbursts. "ENOUGH!" he bellowed, making all the stallions freeze in their tracks. "You think I don't feel the exact same way?! My wife, my sister, and my daughter are at the hooves of a tyrant who will stop at nothing to rule the world! If you think about, I actually have it worse than all of you! So I should be the one complaining! But no, I'm standing here, trying to figure out where to go, and listening to you all yell in my ear about what you think! Yes, we are lost! Are you happy Flash Magnus?! And Discord, how am I supposed to keep moral up if I can't even keep myself from falling apart?!" Shining Armor screamed, then took a deep breathe, trying to calm down. "Easy Shining, just calm down." Soarin said, resting a hoof gently on Shining Armor's shoulder. "We didn't mean to put so much pressure on you." Button Mash said "Alright, I think we've all had enough travel for now. Let's take a rest while Sunburst and I help Shining Armor figure out where to go." Starswirl decided, his calm voice and soothing manner keeping the Prince from lashing out about not needing help. "Sorry guys, I'm just a little frustrated. While we do this, could the rest of you look for food?" Shining Armor asked, and they nodded, their hunger stopping them from fighting his sudden leadership. The group headed out into the woods, and began to search. After a while, they heard a shout of exclamation. "Everyone, come look what I've found!" Fashion Plate cried. Almost all of them raced over-Discord couldn't be bothered to-and gasped. They were standing in front of an apple tree. But the apples were striped in all the colors of the rainbow, square, and had strange looking stems. "What be these colorful fruits?" Rockhoof asked "Oh, right, you haven't seen them yet Rockhoof, they're not in season back in Ponyville. These are Zap Apples, special apples that only come out once a year. They only stick around for a day back on the Apple's farm, but these guys look like they've been here a while." Spike said, taking off and flying up to one. Spike plucked it off the branch and took a big bite, smiling and giving them a thumbs up. "They're plenty ripe guys, these'll be perfect for us to eat!" he called down The pegasi all took off and began to pick them, while Fashion Plate used his magic and Rockhoof his shovel. Cheese Sandwhich, Button Mash, and Tender Taps climbed up the tree and picked from there. After a few minutes they had a lot of apples and dropped them down on the ground to count them. "58, 59, and 60." Button called out, and Spike nodded. "That should be more than enough." Soarin commented. Suddenly, Rumble covered his nose. "Anyone else smell that?" he asked, and they all realized they smelled it too. "Pretty sure that's Thunderlane, he hasn't showered for a week." Sky Stinger said "Just because you want to smell nice for your girlfriend doesn't mean we all have to shower, and that's not me." Thunderlane retorted "Wait a minute, I recognize that smell." Spike said, stepping forward. "It's a-Timberwolf!" He yelled, as the creature came bounding out of the undergrowth. The stallions grabbed up the apples-which were their only source of food-and ran. Rockhoof tossed a rock back at the Timberwolf with his shovel, and it bust into pieces. The others stopped, thinking they were safe. But the twigs and branches glowed with an eerie green light, and began to rebuild the Timberwolf. The stallions tore through the woods again, running as fast as they could-flying for the pegasi. Soarin saw that the Timberwolf was going to catch the earth ponies and unicorn if they kept running, and knew he couldn't let them get hurt. "Wonderbolts! Attack plan Spiral Escape!" Soarin yelled, and they nodded. The stallions split into two groups. One group flew down to the non-flying ponies and picked them up. They let Rockhoof keep running, since he was clearly too big to be carried, and the Timberwolf wouldn't try to pick a fight with him anyway. The second group flew at the Timberwolf and created a distraction. Soarin led that one. He flew low and drew the wolf's attention, then swung around and let Rapidfire pass him, so the Timberwolf followed him instead. From Rapidfire it went to Wave Chill, who yelled at it to get it to follow him, then Silver Zoom-who got it to chase him by hitting it. Then it went back to Soarin. "Are they crazy?!" Button Mash yelled "No, they're drawing it's attention, quick, before it loses interest!" Dark Shooter said, he and the two Flashes grabbing Rockhoof. However, before they could keep going, they came face to face with a huge rock wall, which was the side of a cliff. It was blocking their way out. The Timberwolf grew confused as to who it was chasing and just swatted at the pegasi, knocking them to the ground. They scrambled backwards, hitting the rocks. The pegasi above landed and prepared to fight, but before they could, they heard a voice that, although annoying, was a relief. "Now now little wolfie, you can't have these guys for lunch, they're my friends, and they're currently on a mission to save Equestria, so if you don't mind." Discord appeared in front of the stallions and made a shooing motion with his hand. "Go on, go." He said, but the Timberwolf only growled. "Well alright, I tried to be nice, but since you insist..." Discord snapped his fingers and the Timberwolf shrank to the size of a chihuahua. "Have fun running around through the forest as a puppy." he said, and the Timberwolf ran away, yapping. Discord turned to glare at them. "I leave you alone for twenty minutes and you get yourselves attacked by a Timberwolf. Well, what do you have to say for yourselves?" Discord asked "Thank you Discord, you saved us." Spike said "Yeah, we would have been goners if it wasn't for you." Cheese said, the others all murmuring agreement. As they walked back, it turned out that sharing a near-death experience brings ponies together. They began to talk among each other. "That attack strategy was pretty impressive, how'd you come up with that?" Flash Magnus asked Soarin. "Oh, that was Captain Spitfire Flare's idea. Spitfire, Rainbow, and Fleetfoot are always coming up with new moves for formation flying or attacking and evasion strategies." Soarin explained "Soarin's being modest, he helps too, he invented a defense tactic named the Storm Shocker. He can make lightning bolts with his bare hooves if he can channel enough energy, so he made this great move where he shocks our enemy while we sneak up from behind. It's really cool." Fire Streak said "It used to be that pegasi were able to do that, in the time I came from. We could surprise our enemy with shocks that had enough voltage to knock them out for hours." Flash Magnus commented "I can only make shocks big enough to temporarily stun some pony, and the affect only lasts about a second, but I'm the best one in my team at doing it." Soarin explained bashfully, as they reached the place where they'd left the three unicorns. "There you are. What did you do that took you so long?" Starswirl asked Rumble, Button Mash, and Tender Taps immediately began telling Starswirl, Sunburst, and Shining Armor all about the Timberwolf attack. The three ponies listened in rapt attention, and when the foals were finished, Starswirl sat back on his haunches. "It seems that you are now better at working together, correct?" he asked, and they nodded. "That's good, because we think we know where Grogar's fortress is." Sunburst said ArrivalShining Armor led them deeper into the forest, he, Sunburst, and Starswirl glancing down at the map every now and then. The forest became darker the longer they walked, and the trees grew barren, the ground rocky. They stepped carefully around the sharp rocks, trying to avoid poking themselves. Shining Armor took the map from Starswirl and Sunburst, looked at it to check their location, then rolled up the map, tucking it into his saddle bag. "Dark Shooter, Flash Magnus, Flash Sentry, scout out this area for anything suspicious, this is the area where Grogar's lair is rumored to be." Shining Armor said, and the three stallions saluted him before heading off in different directions. Dark Shooter went left, Flash Sentry right, and Flash Magnus directly ahead of them. "What rumors?" Rapidfire asked "By rumors, he means the old legends in this book." Sunburst explained, lifting a book out of his bag and showing it to the group. "Gusty the Great's accomplishments." Rumble read "It's actually quite informational." Sunburst said, flipping it open and skimming a few pages while they waited for the three pegasi to return. Dark Shooter came back to them, followed by Flash Sentry. "Nothing." Flash Sentry said "Same here." Dark Shooter added, but Flash Magnus suddenly flew up to them, eyes wide. "You've got to see this." he said, leading them in the direction he'd come from. The place was very strange. The ground was rocky, the few trees there were gnarled and barren, the only vegetation being the moss and vines growing over the rocks. In the center of the wasteland was the thing that made the area the most strange. A rock formation that looked like a goat's head, except there were stones extending like ramps on either side of where the nose of the animal would be. The rocks beneath them seemed to make a mouth, where a weird glowing red light was shining in between the gaps. "That suspicious enough for you?" Flash Magnus asked Shining Armor, who nodded, about to step forward when Soarin blocked him with his wing. "What's wrong Soarin?" Shining Armor asked, and Soarin moved his wing to point at the stone ramps. They could see something flitting around inside them. "Those must be the entrances, but there's something on the other side, we can't get in that way." Soarin muttered "We'll just have to wait then." Fashion Plate replied, and Cheese Sandwich sat down, pulling an accordion out and beginning to play it. "Fine, but I hope they move soon." Shining Armor muttered. Thunderlane snatched the accordion away from Cheese, tossing it so it smashed against a tree. Before Cheese could say anything, Soarin responded to Shining Armor's muttered annoyance. "Agreed, we need to rescue Rainbow...I mean the girls." Soarin said, blushing "Ah, so that's who you have a crush on. Obviously you had a crush one of the girls on your team, or you wouldn't have been so eager to come along. I had thought it might have been Spitfire, but I suppose since she's into mares that was out. Well, I'll add it to the list." Discord said, snapping his fingers and making a paper appear. It had two lists on each end of the paper, the names of the stallions on one end and the names of the mares that were gone on the other end. Discord had drawn lines between the boys who had already stated their crushes and their crush. He now drew a line connecting Soarin's name to Rainbow's. "Anyone else want to fess up while I have this out?" Discord asked, as Soarin covered his face with his wing in embarrassment. Cheese, meanwhile, was glaring at Thunderlane, who was smirking and hoof-bumping Rapidfire and Sky Stinger, who also thought the accordion was annoying. "Discord, put that away, you can humiliate your friends later, look." Spike said, pointing. A tall, bug-like, black creature with holes in it's body had emerged from the ramps, stretching out transparent wings and taking off, circling the fortress. She seemed to be on guard. "Chrysalis! She ruined my Wedding, held us captive, and now she's taken my wife!" Shining Armor hissed, starting forward, but Dark Shooter, Flash Sentry, and Flash Magnus held him back. "Calm down Prince, we'll find a way into the fortress, but we must remain calm. If we charge in now, our cover will be blown." Sunburst said, and Shining Armor relaxed, stepping back. "Alright, we'll find another way in." Shining Armor decided, but what Chrysalis did next made that unnecessary. She flew back inside and they couldn't see her in the entrance. She must have gone further into the lair. "What now?" Tender Taps asked "We send somepony over to peek in and see if there's any villain lurking in the room those ramps lead to." Shining Armor replied "Who'd be dumb enough to do something like that." Discord scoffed "Funny you should ask." Shining Armor replied, smirking, and they all looked to Discord. "Why did I even ask?" Discord muttered "I dunno, why did you ask?" Cheese asked "No time for punchlines, we need to move, now." Flash Sentry said, pushing Discord out into the open. Discord glared back at them before teleporting himself to the ramps, and peeking in. He disappeared and reappeared in front of them. "They're all in there, talking about something. Grogar, Chrysalis, Tirek, and that little brat Cozy Glow." Discord reported "Cozy Glow too? Oh boy, we've gotta save them!" Spike cried "Discord, tell us when they leave the room." Shining Armor said. Discord mock-saluted him, then disappeared. The group of stallions waited what seemed like an eternity, until finally, Discord came back. "Grogar left and the other three went down another hallway. Grogar ordered them to 'check on the first phase of my plan, and then guard the prisoners'. That's what he said, word for word." Discord reported. Shining gasped. Ignoring the others warning him, he ran for the ramps, the others running after him. The Way InThe others followed Shining Armor up the ramp, all easily jumping a gap in the ramp thanks to Discord's training. They then slowed down and crept carefully into the lair, finding a large table and different hallways leading off to unknown rooms. "So, who has guard duty today?" came a bored, deep voice. "Chrissy." a higher voice replied. The stallions ducked out of the way, hiding on the ramp as the three villains entered the room again. "Alright, but I get the cupcakes tonight." Chrysalis said "Like we'd want your sugar, I'm trying to build my physique, not add more fattening things to my body." Tirek grumbled, he was a lot larger then he should have been after being locked up for so long. "If Grogar had let me pull more magic from the captives..." He muttered "Grogar says we have to keep them alive to use as bargaining, or else I would have already destroyed Starlight Glimmer." Chrysalis said "How would you destroy her? Drain all her love so she shrivels up?" Cozy Glow asked "No you fool, I'd take the love and leave her to die, what else?" Chrysalis replied "Go on, get on with guard duty before Grogar gets madder at us." Triek snapped "Who's us? You're the one who drained the prissy unicorn's magic." Chrysalis retorted, before taking off, heading for where the stallions were hiding. "Discord, make us invisible, quick!" Shining whispered, and Discord snapped his fingers. Chrysalis flew right past them, Discord's cloaking magic rendering them completely invisible. "I'll be in my area of the lair." Tirek said to Cozy Glow, leaving down a tunnel. "Okay, I'll be setting up another meeting!" Cozy Glow called, zipping off. Once she was out of sight, Discord lifted his spell and they walked into the room. "Discord, which way did Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis go the first time you saw them leave?" Starswirl asked "This way, follow me." Discord replied, leading them down a tunnel. They took many countless turns, until they came to a place where it split into different tunnels. "Which way now?" Rumble asked "They probably took the girls down into the deeper parts of the lair, so even if they were able to escape, they wouldn't be able to find a way out." Sunburst commented "In The Ponies' Guide to Mazes and Madness, it says to find your way through a tunnel maze, you have to keep turning right, and you'll reach the exit." Shining Armor said, and they all stared at him. "What? When you've got Twilight for a sister, you have to read a lot of random books to keep up with her." Shining Armor said "He's right, now I remember, I read that book too, it did say always turn right." Sunburst said. Shining nodded, leading them to the right. They kept going right for a while, then the tunnel seemed to get wider, as if it was opening up. They sat down and began to make camp, seeing as how they couldn't keep going forever. "We should work out an escape strategy for when we find the girls." Flash Sentry advised "Hmm, maybe if we break the lock and distract the villains so we can get them out?" Cheese said "Or we could create a diversion, then sneak around the back way." Sunburst said "What back way?" Shining asked The stallions didn't know it, but Chrysalis had scented their love for the girls when she'd passed them. After gathering Cozy Glow and Tirek, she followed the scent until she found them. "This is wonderful, if we let them destroy Grogar's plan, he'll fail, and it'll give us an advantage." Cozy whispered excitedly "Is anyone else beginning to feel some strange thing?" Tirek asked "What do you mean?" Cozy Glow asked "You know, I feel it too. Gross, what is that?" Chrysalis asked "I don't know, but maybe we'd better look into it." Tirek said, as the three made their way back. "There you are. Tirek, you now have my permission to drain the ponies of their magic. I have decided that they pose more of a threat to us with magic than without." Grogar said as they emerged. "I swear Slowpoke, if you don't shut up right now..." Spitfire threatened "Oh, look, how original, the mare named after a hot temper is swearin'." AJ mocked "So, what's the rest of the threat Spitfire? What is it, huh, huh, huh?" Surprise asked "Yeah, I wanna know too!" Pinkie added "Shut up, both of you! Where's a shot of whiskey when you need it." Spitfire muttered, rubbing her temple with her hoof. Just then, Tirek entered the room, smirking at them through the bars of the cage. "What do you want Tirek?" Twilight growled "This." he replied, opening his mouth. He first took all the Unicorn's magic, then the Earth Pony's. "You won't get away with this!" Applejack said, before collapsing onto the floor of the cage. "Won't I?" He asked unconcernedly, then started on the Pegasi. They collapsed, one by one. Rainbow fell and pulled her little sister closer to her body. Scootaloo hugged her as Daring dragged herself over to lie beside them. Spitfire caught Fleetfoot as he drained her magic, and glared at him. "You monster." She hissed "I believe great minds think alike, your magic seems much more powerful than normal. Almost...evil-worthy. I suppose the magic is a family trait? Ah, yes, you're a Flare. The family famous for having Fire Magic in their veins. The evilness must be from a family member. Perhaps a parent?" Tirek suggested, and Spitfire growled. "Shut up." She muttered "You know, I expected your friend to have some magic too. The Frost family's daughter, unable to use and access her ice powers? Well, then someone's been naughty, or her parents wouldn't have stolen it away." Tirek sneered at Fleetfoot. "But I digress..." Tirek trailed off and sucked up Spitfire's magic next, then moved on to the Alicorns. After he left, the ponies all struggled to sit up. "What do we do?" Fluttershy asked "I wish I knew Fluttershy." Twilight sighed "I wish I knew." Author's Note Those powers Tirek was saying Fleet and Spit had? I won't touch on them much here, but I have another fanfiction called Fleetfire that I will explain it in. I also have a fanfic called Winter Fires on Wattpad under the profile Itsawsometime where I mention their powers. ~Melody Song With The VillainsTirek was sitting in the meeting room, twirling a ball of magic in his hand. "Whose is that?" Cozy Glow asked from beside him as Chrysalis came in. "The firehead's." Tirek replied "It was a treat, the Flare family has powers. Fire magic, to be precise. Fire magic is delicious on it's own, but this one had a touch of evil too. One of her parents must be evil." Tirek explained "I wonder which one." Chrysalis muttered "So do I. But she's holding it back, forcing it not to control her. It's a shame really, with her abilities we could overpower Grogar even faster." Tirek said, eating the ball of magic in one bite. "It would be nice to have another pony on the team." Cozy commented, and Chrysalis made a face. "Ugh, there's that feeling again, and I think I know what it is." Chrysalis said "What is it?" Cozy and Tirek asked "Guilt." Chrysalis spat "Eww, how come you feel guilty for those sentimental saps?" Cozy asked "Well...I...I think it's that I don't want Grogar attacking them. Why am I feeling this gross thing? Changelings don't normally feel anything" Chrysalis said "I know, so weird." Tirek agreed "Yeah, I think I feel it too. It's gross." Cozy said, then sighed. "But why do I feel like I should be listening to it?" "Listen to us! Having those ponies here is making us soft!" Chrysalis hissed, stomping her hoof on the floor. "We should avoid them." Cozy said, then heard voices. "This way? Are you sure?" came a pony's voice, and the villains backed away, so they wouldn't be seen and scare off the ponies. "Yes, trust me." a second pony replied. "Whenever you say trust me I get a chill down my spine." a third one said. "Oh shut it Rapid, at least we're going somewhere." said the first pony. "But it's Blunderlane, and it's not like he has a map glued to his face." the third one retorted. "That would be funny-looking!" another piped up, snickering. "Not now Cheese; Wave, Rapid, cool it. Thunderlane, are you sure you heard voices?" a stallion's voice said in an authoritative tone. "Yes, and I hope we get there soon." the pony, Thunderlane said. "Me too, I want to have Cadence and Flurry back." the authoritative pony was Shining Armor, apparently. "And I want Fluttershy back in my arms." came the unmistakable voice of Discord. "You gave us all that grief about liking some of the mares who were taken, but when you're talking about your crush it's okay?" a pony said "Clipper, it's not like it isn't obvious you like Rainbow, you can't get enough of her. And where exactly did she sleep the night before she disappeared? She never came into the sleeping quarters." a pony said slyly. "That's none of your business Fire Streak. And it's not like we do anything. For the record, she fell asleep in the rec room last night, I didn't want to wake her up by moving her." the pony responded. "If Applejack were here she would say this, so I'll go ahead and say it: you're lying." they recognized it as Spike. "No I'm not!" the pony said "Really?" another said "Don't you get started Fashion." he cried "Come on, where was she, really?" the pony named Rapidfire asked. "Okay fine, we were talking in my private room after dinner and she fell asleep. I may have...fallen asleep too." he said "Soarin and Rainbow..." the pony's voice-Fire Streak's-began. "Say it and you'll get chore duty for a week, and I'm not kidding." the pony named Soarin threatened. "Ooh, feisty." Discord said "All of you quit it." that was Shining Armor again. He seemed to be leading them. "Indeed, this isn't helping us find the girls." another pony added, and the stallions' voices faded as they went down another tunnel. "What's wrong with us? Why didn't we capture them? With the most powerful stallions and mares locked up we could take over Grogar twice as fast!" Chrysalis spat "I think...we should let them go." Cozy Glow said, lowering herself down onto her seat. "What?!" Chrysalis and Tirek cried. "I mean...would holding them captive really help our chances? It would only mean we'd have to obey Grogar and watch them in case they try to escape. And besides...they all care so much about each other. Unlike us." Cozy sighed "What do you mean? Those stupid stallions can barely last two seconds without fighting, you just saw it. How could they possibly care about each other?" Chrysalis asked "But...but that's what a family does. They get on each other's nerves, want to kill each other for poking fun at things like who they have a crush on, and at the end of the day, they still love each other. That's what a family is. Or at least, how my family used to be." Cozy replied softly "Used to be?" Tirek asked "Yeah, until my mom and dad started lying and cheating, got rich, and started ignoring me and my siblings. That's when my sister Black Queen started smoking and my brother ran away one day. His name's Checkmate Glow, he said he'd come back for me, but he never did. Then; Pawn Glow, my other sister, and my other brother, Bishop King; started bullying me. Our parents, White Queen and Black Knight Glow, didn't even care, they just cared about staying rich. Actually, that's why I started to manipulate, it's the only way I know how to act." Cozy said "You've never told us that before." Chrysalis voiced what the two were both thinking. "Oh, sorry." Cozy said "No, it's fine." Tirek grumbled, and Cozy shook herself. "It's not important, what I mean is that they're a family too. And they need to be reunited. Because mine never was." Cozy explained "Okay, but how do we do that without reforming like Discord and without Grogar finding out?" Tirek asked "Let's block off a few tunnels so that they're forced to take the ones that lead to the mares." Cozy suggested "But Tirek needs to keep the magic, or else Grogar will be suspicious. And we still have the Bewitching Bell to hide." Chrysalis objected. "How about we make a deal." Tirek suggested, and the other villains leaned in to hear his plan. Author's Note So I made up that backstory for Cozy. I modeled those names of her family after chess pieces, because I figured that her cutie mark of a chess piece could run in the family, even if her name doesn't match it. Also it would fit their own backstory of getting rich by cheating their way to it. ~Melody Song Revealing the Past"I can't believe it, this is the third blocked tunnel that we've come across. We'll have to take another way." Shining muttered "Why are there so many tunnels down here anyway?" Cheese asked "No idea. But I'm more worried that all these blocked tunnels will get us lost." Shining said "Remind me again, why can't Discord just teleport us to the mares?" Flash Sentry asked "Tirek will definitely be able to sense that much power being used." Sunburst replied "Besides, in order to teleport us I need to know exactly where the girls are. Even my magic needs specific directions." Discord added snarkily "So...while we're walking, any chance you'd tell us how you managed to become friends with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?" Spike asked "Fine. But I don't appreciate that tone." Discord said. "Well, we're waiting." Flash Sentry said, and Discord rolled his eyes, but began the story. "You see, a long time ago, I lived with my family in a land outside Equestria. I had no friends, as my parents were the leaders. One day my parents made a threat against another land. The land consisted of many kingdoms, most all of which were comprised solely of Alicorns." Discord said "So, this was before Equestria?" Fashion Plate asked "No, Equestria was around, it was just simply a few minor farms and stables at the time. Besides, it was far away from the land of Alicorns. My parents were preparing for war with the Alicorn land, and ordered me to stay in our castle, as the war would take place in a field in the middle of both Kingdoms. I was only seven at the time, and didn't have as much of a disobeying personality. I waited patiently enough until all I heard was silence. I then left the safety of the castle and found the field." Discord continued "Where were your parents?" Cheese asked "I had no idea. The field had been turned from a beautiful place into a barren area of dust. Blood was spattered everywhere and bodies of Alicorns and Draconeqiusses littered the ground. Some were breathing, but most had been struck down by each other. I found my parents beside the bodies of two alicorns. I would later learn they were Celestia and Luna's parents. My parents were dead. Their parents were breathing, alive, but only just." Discord said "Let me guess, you took their lives out of hatred that they had survived and probably killed your parents." Shining assumed "Of course not. Back then I wasn't evil, and it wasn't that that made me evil." Discord replied, affronted. "Sorry. So what did you do?" Shining asked "I used some of my magic to heal them." Discord replied "Really?" Spike asked "Yes, and I barely managed it. I didn't have complete control of my chaos powers yet. The attempt left me weak, and I fainted. I know the Alicorns were sitting up when I blacked out, but before I fainted there was a flash of light. Suddenly, I was in a forest. My magic had been unbalanced by the sheer amount of energy I'd exerted, and acted of it's own accord. It sent me into a strange forest. When I woke, I heard voices in the trees. Two foals had stumbled upon me and were deciding whether or not I was dead. The elder one was being referred to as Tia, and the younger as Lulu. Thus I determined those were their names. They were Alicorns, but I didn't fear them, they were trying to help me." Discord said "You called Luna 'Lulu' earlier, was 'Tia' Celestia?" Tender Taps questioned "Yes, she was. They too, had lost their parents, the leaders of the entire Alicorn Kingdom. I still didn't know the Alicorns I had healed were their parents, so I didn't mention it. Together we journeyed for a while, until we found Equestria. The unicorns were trying to raise the sun on their own when we found them." Discord said "As I recall, a short while after I had assigned some unicorns to the task, they came barging into my study with two little Alicorn fillies, one with a cutie mark of a sun on her flank." Starswirl agreed "Yes. Celestia didn't want to see the unicorns get hurt. She raced out and used her Alicorn magic to raise the sun. Then her mark appeared. Luna went to join her, but I was more wary, and stayed behind as they were taken to a nearby castle. Later they found me in the woods and told me they'd been accepted into Equestria. They said they would be tutored by Starswirl the Bearded. I was happy for them, of course. I took up residence in the woods surrounding the castle, and the two would visit every day. That's how I met them." Discord said "But wait, some things don't add up. For one, if you healed their parents, then where are they now?" Dark Shooter asked "That, I don't know. It took days for Celestia, Luna, and I to reach Equestria. I'm not even sure if my magic was able to heal them completely. They might have succumbed to their injuries after all. Perhaps that is why they never looked for their daughters. Or maybe they thought they were killed by my kind. Celestia explained to me that Luna led them out of their castle when they too, heard only silence after weeks of battle sounds. They found the battlefield, but not their parent's bodies. Then they went into the woods, thinking their parents might have gone there. If they left without permission, then their parents might have assumed them to be killed." Discord replied "No disrespect to your story Discord, but please lower your voice." Flash Magnus interrupted. "And why is that?" Discord asked "I hear something." Flash explained The stallions all pricked their ears, listening closely. "...no possible way out...have to accept the inevitable." a mare's voice said. "You're kidding. We can't just give up." another replied. "Yes, we must maintain hope that we will get out of here." a mare said "That's Somnambula!" Rockhoof exclaimed "The first mare's voice was Twilight!" Flash Sentry added "And the other mare was Rainbow!" Soarin cried The stallions raced forward, shocked by the sight that greeted them. Author's Note Sorry I ended on a cliffhanger, I'll tell you what happens in the next chapter. Also, that backstory was inspired by Ink Rose's theory of how Celestia and Luna came to Equestria. it's on YouTube, so thank you, Ink Rose! I added a few bits here and there, and changed some things, but I was inspired by Ink Rose's fanfic. ~Melody Song Finding the MaresThere was a hollowed out area of the cave, with bars to make it a cage. It was full of the mares. Cadence, Twilight, and Starlight had something on their horns. The others were pacing around while they talked to each other. "Cadence!" Shining called, running to her. "Shining!" Cadence shrieked, holding out her hoof to him. "It's alright Cadence, we're going to get you out of here." Shining said, looking around. "Where's Flurry?" he asked "They took her away, to another room. We don't know where she is." Twilight replied "Say no more Princess, we'll find her." Dark Shooter assured them, beckoning for the two Flashes to follow him. They split up, going down different tunnels. "Took you long enough." Spitfire said, coming up with the other Wonderbolt mares behind her. "Captain, your eyes." Wave Chill gasped. "I know." The usual fierceness of Spitfire's eyes had faded, as had the color itself. "Tirek took our magic. We have to get it back before we leave." Rainbow said "So what if you can't? It's not going to do anything." Rapidfire scoffed "Don't you remember what happened the last time Tirek stole magic?" Rainbow shot back, spreading her wings and flapping them. She didn't move. "No magic means no flight. If we can't fly, then there won't be any more Wonderbolt performances." Spitfire told them "Oh, right. Sorry." Rapidfire said "First, let's get you out of there." Shining Armor said, grabbing the lock in his magic, trying to unlock it. "It won't work Shiny, Rarity tried before our magic was taken. She can't pull it off." Twilight warned "Oh for Celestia's sake." A golden coated pegasus mare with a gray and black mane and an olive green adventurer shirt pushed past the others. "You unicorns and your magical solutions. You don't need magic to do this." She reached into a utility pocket on her shirt and pulled out a sharp tool. "What are you going to do?" Fashion Plate asked "Just turn the lock so I can see it better." She demanded, reaching through the bars as Shining Armor levitated the lock to her. she stuck the tool in and twisted it around in the lock. It opened with a soft click. "There. No magic required. You unicorns rely on it too much. You wouldn't last a day in the jungle." she commented, stowing the tool safely away. "Nice job Daring. Now, how do we unlock these?" Twilight asked, tapping the strange lock on her horn. "I told you already, the Hooravian Unichain can only be unlocked by the key." Daring replied "Good thing I've got it." A sweet voice said behind them. They all turned to see Cozy Glow hovering in the doorway, swinging a set of keys in her hooves. She flew over to the now open cage and put a key in the lock on Starlight's horn. "What are you doing?" Twilight asked "Just hold still, I need to do this carefully." Cozy Glow said, as the lock clicked. Cozy easily lifted the contraption off of Starlight's horn. "Why are you helping us?" Starlight asked, rubbing her horn. Cozy sighed as she moved over to Twilight. "Honestly, I don't know. Tirek, Chrissy, and I are gonna get you out of here. Just stay quiet." Cozy Glow said, taking off Twilight's lock next. "Cozy, why are ya'll doin' this?" Apple Bloom asked "Because...I made them." Cozy Glow said "I got them to help me." "In exchange, we're going to make a deal." Tirek came through the door, Chrysalis behind him, carrying Flurry Heart in her foreleg. "What sort of deal?" Shining Armor asked, the two Flashes and Dark Shooter running in. "Shining! The villians, they're-!" Flash Sentry broke of as he saw the three in the room. "Oh, so you're already aware." "They're going to help us." Twilight told them "Why?" Dark Shooter asked, his sister coming over to give him a hug. "I will return your magic, and we'll lead you out. In exchange, you need take something with you and hide it for us." Tirek explained "First return our magic, then we'll see about hiding something." Twilight said "Very well." Tirek opened his mouth and let magic flow into each mare. "Our magic, it's back!" Meadowbrook exclaimed "You were telling the truth." Mistmane whispered "Of course he was, duh." Cozy said, rolling her eyes. Chrysalis stepped forward and held Flurry Heart out to Shining and Cadence. "Mama. Dada!" Flurry said, and the parents took their daughter gratefully from the Changeling. "Now, what's this thing you need us to hide?" Twilight asked "We'll tell you on the way to the back exit. It's the only way you can get out of here safely." Cozy Glow replied "First, can you explain why you're even making a deal with us?" Spitfire asked, stretching her wings out to regain her reflexes. "Very well." Tirek sighed "We heard the stallions coming to rescue you. They...sort of reminded me of what my family used to be like." Cozy began "She spilled her sob story to us, and we agreed to make a deal with you all." Chrysalis cut in "Wait, you have a family? You told me you were an orphan." Twilight said "That technically wasn't a lie. My family doesn't have much interest in what I do. My parents are more concerned with lying and cheating their way to riches, while my siblings barely care about anyone except themselves. I only have one brother that cares about others, Checkmate, but he ran away. We lived in Manehatten, and at first we were a happy family. But after my parents realized they could get more money by lying and hustling other ponies, they started neglecting us. They hired a nanny to watch those of us who were still really young, then kept going away to hustle other towns or go on vacations. Checkmate ran away a few years ago, and then one of my sisters started doing drugs, and they all bullied me. That's when I made contact with Tirek. I was ready to put our plan into action. So, I ran away too. I was tired of waiting for Checkmate to come back for me like he promised. So I went to your school, told you I was an orphan, and started my scheme." Cozy Glow explained "That makes a surprising amount of sense." Starlight said, tilting her head. "That's why you resorted to being evil. It was the only way you knew how to act." Spitfire murmured "Yeah. Unlike you, I wanted attention." Cozy said "What do you mean?" Soarin asked sharply "That fireball has evil in her magic, unlike the rest of you. I'd watch your back if I were you." Cozy said "It's true. I ate her magic, I could sense the cruelty inside it. Evil is in her blood." Tirek said "Don't listen to him, I'm not evil." Spitfire objected "Even if you are mean like he said, we don't care! We know you well enough to know better than to think you're evil!" Pinkie exclaimed, and Spitfire smiled slightly. "Trutht me, I know what it'th like to have parentth that don't really care about you. But becoming a villian ithn't the way to get attention." Fleetfoot said "Then how?" Cozy asked "Tell them you're gay." Fleetfoot replied. Spitfire snorted in amusment. "Whatever. The point is, we have a job for you. In exchange for your freedom." Cozy Glow said Author's Note Okay, so Fleet now is obviously hiding something to do with her parents, as is Spitfire. That will be discussed further in Fleetfire, my other fanfic. This story is almost over, just one more chapter. Sorry to end on another Cliffhanger, but you'll see what happens soon ~Melody Song The Deal and Escape"You see, a while back, we were sent by Grogar to retrieve his Bewitching Bell." Tirek started to explain. "His what?!" Shining Armor asked, remembering Starswirl mentioning something like that. "The Bewitching Bell is an ancient talisman of great power. Legends say it fueled Grogar's most powerful-and evil-magic. It was supposedly stolen from him by Gusty the Great and her Unicorn Warriors, then concealed by magic. I've always wanted to find out where it was. If a powerful artifact like that was out in the open where anyone could reach it, then it's trouble. It wouldn't be good if ponies like Caballeron or monsters like Ahuizotl were able to access it." Daring spoke up, she was limping along behind the others. "Are you okay? You're limping." Spike said "Thanks, I hadn't noticed." Daring said sarcastically. "I'll be fine. I was injured by Caballeron's goons before I was taken down here." "Like I was saying, Grogar sent us to retrieve his Bewitching Bell from where Gusty had hidden it, Mount Everhoof." Tirek was inturrupted yet again. "Mount Everhoof?!" Spitfire, Soarin, and Rainbow exclaimed. "Now what?" Tirek asked impatiently "The three of us have been up there before, and never seen it. There's even a whole outpost that harvests Everplant. How can it have been hidden up there and nopony has ever found it?" Spitfire asked "You've gone up there before? How?" Cozy asked "The weather is rough, but if you're a good enough flier, you can make it to the outpost. They even run deliveries across Equestria, so it's not impossible to reach." Soarin replied "Well we had enough trouble getting up there, and worse, Grogar sent us to retrieve it so we could learn to work together." Cozy said, gagging "We were forced to, in the end. The bell was at the very peak of the mountain. Unless you have been to the top, you would not have seen the cave in which it was hidden, or the magic barrier surrounding it. We had to work together to get to the top, by using all of our skills and not fighting. Chrysalis agreed to relinquish her magic so I could break the magic barrier. Then Cozy flew in and got the bell, I returned the magic to Chrysalis, and we left the mountain." Tirek said "A cave? Soar, we sheltered in a cave during that big storm on the mountain, remember?" Rainbow asked him "Yeah, but it wasn't at the peak, and we didn't go far enough in to see if there was anything there." Soarin responded "It wasn't at the peak Tirek, there is no peak on that mountain, just random ledges and caves in each one." Chrysalis argued "Alright, enough. The point is, we retrieved the bell." Tirek finished "Then where is it? Grogar wouldn't need you anymore if he had it, and he wouldn't need to bring the mares down here." Discord said "Well..." Cozy zipped away and returned holding an ancient, teal colored bell with strange markings. "This is our deal." Tirek said, gesturing with his hand to the bell. "We let you go, you take the bell and hide it, far away from Grogar." he explained "May I?" Daring flew up to Cozy and took it from her, landing. She winced a little as she shifted it in her hooves, examining the markings and cracks. "It's genuine. This is the real Bewitching Bell." Daring reported "What would we do with it?" Twilight asked "If you let me take it, I can put it in a museum. I'll even guard it personally until Grogar is defeated, no pony will be able to get their hooves on it." Daring suggested "Or maybe I should take it. I can put it in the Canterlot vault, with official guards to insure it's safety." Shining Armor objected "We could hide it in the private Wonderbolt Museum. Since all the 'bolts know it's there, we'd be able to guard it from the air and the ground, maybe post guards that rotate out." Spitfire said "The Crystal Empire's light and love might be able to stop Grogar from attacking and finding it." Cadence added "My chaos realm could easily disguise the bell's presence." Discord said "Why are you even friends, you can't even agree where to hide this." Chrysalis spat "We aren't friends because we never fight, we're friends because we care about each other." Twilight said. "So, what do we do with this thing?" Spitfire asked, gesturing to the bell with her wing. "I think...that Daring should take it. She has the most experience with ancient artifacts, and I suppose her knowledge of its power will help her hide it more securely among museums." Twilight said "A museum, now that I think about it, is not the best place for this yet. I can hide it in my home, though. There are plenty of other artifacts I've been deciphering to conceal it." Daring said "Now that you've all finally agreed, can you go?" Chrysalis hissed "Why do you care?" Scootaloo asked "In case you haven't noticed, I feed on love, and even with all your bickering there is plenty of that here for my taking. Unless you would like for me to go into a feeding frenzy, you should leave." Chrysalis spat Chrysalis' horn lit up with her sickly green magic. She tugged on a rock jutting out of the wall. A trapdoor opened above them. "This trapdoor will take you above, then this foul beast can teleport you away." Tirek said, pointing to Discord "Just because you haven't considered reforming doesn't mean it's a bad thing." Discord retorted "But you know, you acted like friends to retrieve the bell, you said so. You worked together." Twilight said "That's why we want it out of here!" Cozy exclaimed "We almost became friends with each other over that bell. We're villains, we can't be friends." Twilight sighed in exasperation. "Now leave. Never speak of this allegiance again." Tirek said. They headed up. Author's Note I would like to apologize for originally releasing the final chapters all at once, I have regretted it for a while. But I'm keeping the speech I wrote on the last chapter. Here it is: I am so sad that MLP is going away, but I know it will live on in our hearts, and in the stories we write. Don't give up on websites like this one, because even though the End tied up a lot of things like ships, the next generations, and more, it doesn't matter, because we can change that in our stories. Stories are not set in stone, as Legend of Everfree's end song proved, we can change them if we want. So please, keep writing your stories, keep imagining events beyond the end. Don't give up on your fanfictions They are still part of the MLP Universe Okay, once again, sorry. ~Melody Song
The Mares are Gone!Soarin yawned and stretched, looking around as he sat up in bed. He was in the Co-Captain's private room, and glanced around. Rainbow had been asleep beside him the night before. The mare had dozed off while they had been having one of their usual long talks. Soarin smiled as he recalled the way she'd snuggled against him in her sleep. Soarin loved her so much. Rainbow felt the same way, and they'd been dating since they'd confessed to each other. Now, as Soarin looked around the room, he didn't see her. "Hmm, maybe she got up early and went to go hang out with the other mares." Soarin thought, then got up and began to get ready. "Wait." He froze as he realized something. "Rainbow hates waking up early, where is she?" He then left the room, walking down the hall to the Captain's private room. Soarin peeked in, expecting to see Spitfire and Fleetfoot cuddling in bed, or maybe even making out. But the bed was empty, the blankets neatly made. The mares had fallen in love a week or so after Soarin and Rainbow had confessed. This was due to a trick Fleetfoot had pulled, getting Spitfire to kiss her, and the fiery mare had realized she was bisexual. The two were now dating and sleeping together every night, but if they weren't in their room, then where were they? Soarin looked in the mess hall and locker rooms, finding both empty. Then, he checked the sleeping quarters. The only occupied beds were the stallions' beds. Soarin knew he had to tell them. "Guys?" he called softly. Rapidfire rolled over in his sleep, and Sky Stinger let out a loud snore. "GUYS." He called again, a little louder, but still nothing. Soarin rolled his eyes. Both he and Spitfire had been taught by the old captain and co-captain before assuming the roles themselves. Both knew how to be loud enough to demand attention, Spitfire was just the only one who put it into practice. Now, he needed to do the same. "Attention! I want to see a straight line and I want to see it now!" Soarin yelled at the top of his lungs, startling the stallions so much they sat straight up. Thunderlane and Wave Chill even fell out of their beds. "What's going on?" Fire Streak asked, while his twin, Lightning Streak, seemed in awe. "Whoa, Clipper, I didn't know you could yell like that, for a second I thought that Spitfire had just shouted in a deep voice." Lightning Streak gasped, and Rapidfire nodded. "Why did you do that?" Silver Zoom asked "The girls are missing." Soarin said "What?!" the others shouted "Are you sure they're gone? Surprise, Spitfire, and Rainbow are big pranksters, maybe they got the others in on something, and they're all hiding?" Wave Chill suggested, but Soarin shook his head. "Those three wouldn't do something like this without showing themselves by now. They're not ruthless. Besides, if they were hiding and saw us going into a panic, they'd reveal themselves so we don't worry." Soarin objected "Yeah, I think you're on to something." Fire Streak said slowly, and Soarin nodded. "We could to go down to Ponyville, it's possible the mares went down there, and just forgot to leave a note." Silver Zoom suggested "And if they didn't?" Thunderlane asked, he had been very silent this whole time, but was worried now, after listening to Soarin's explanation. "Then Princess Twilight may know where Rainbow Dash is." Soarin replied, and the others nodded. "I don't know Soarin, this seems weird. Maybe we should wait for a little while." Thunderlane said "Why?" Soarin asked "Well, maybe they're just trying to mess around with us, they probably think they're being funny." Thunderlane said "Or you're just scared." Lightning Streak teased "Thunderlane, the mares could be in danger, we need to check Ponyville and see if they're there." Soarin told him "I'm still not buying it." Thunderlane insisted. Soarin turned away, heading for the door. "I don't care if you want to join me or not, but I'm going down to Ponyville. Come with me if you like, but I'm not waiting and hoping they're just being funny. I'm telling you, they'd never do this, they wouldn't scare us on purpose." Soarin said over his shoulder, then trotted out of the room. Soarin knew he was being harsher with them than usual. He wasn't hearing out their opinions and trying to come to a more reasonable solution. But Rainbow was missing, and she could be in danger. As much as she bragged about being so tough that nothing scared her, he knew she was just pretending. Soarin had seen her cower at thunder. She'd cuddle against him after nightmares and hug him tight when Spitfire told scary stories in the rec room. Right now, she could be scared or in danger, and Soarin had to make sure she was okay. Even if it meant upsetting the others. "Wait!" Somepony called. Soarin had made it to the door, and was about to push it open, when he heard hooves pounding on the cloud floor. He turned to see the other stallions running up to him. "We're coming with you." Rapidfire panted "Yeah. I'm sorry I said trying to find them was silly, I just didn't want to get wrapped up in one of those crazy adventures Rainbow and her friends always go on." Thunderlane said "But we're ready to help. we care about those girls, and we need them back, even if some of them drive us crazy sometimes." Lightning Streak said, and Soarin nodded "Thanks guys, I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have been so harsh with you. I'm just worried about Rainbow." Soarin sighed, then realized what he was saying. "U-uh, I mean, all the girls, n-not just Rainbow." Soarin stammered "Ooh, Soarin and Rainbow sittin' in a tree." Rapidfire said, smirking "Shut up Rapid, what about you and Misty Fly?" Soarin snapped "W-we're just friends Clipper!" Rapidfire exclaimed, but he was blushing. "Stop it guys, that's not important right now." Silver Zoom said "Yeah, we need to find the girls." Fire Streak added "Right. come on guys, let's head down to Ponyville." Soarin said, and they took off, heading down to the town below that bordered the Everfree Forest. Author's Note I am revising this story now that I have some experience on the site. Just so you know if you added this to your reading list. Again, this takes place after the episode Frenemies ~Melody Song
What Do We Do?Soarin led the stallions down to Ponyville, where it was oddly quiet. They landed in town and headed towards the Friendship Castle. Ever since Rainbow had introduced the Wonderbolts to her other friends, they'd mostly hung out at the Castle with Applejack, Spike, Rarity, Fluttershy, Discord, Pinkie Pie, and Starlight Glimmer. If Fashion Plate and Cheese Sandwich happened to be in town, they would also join the group. Princess Twilight had used to hang out with them too, but as the time of her becoming the leader of Equestria grew closer, she spent more time in her office at the school, getting ready for the power transition. Soarin knocked on the great doors to the castle. They heard footsteps, then Spike opened the door. "Oh, hey guys." Spike greeted, he was taller now, and was almost the same height as the stallions. "Spike, have you seen the mares? They weren't at HQ." Soarin asked, an Spike scratched his head. "That's funny, because I haven't seen Twilight or Starlight since last night. But they sometimes get up before me and leave quietly so I don't wake up." Spike replied as Big Macintosh raced up. He leaned down and whispered something to the purple dragon. "What? Apple Bloom and AJ are missing and you haven't seen them all day?" Spike repeated what the large stallion had murmured. "So the girls aren't the only missing ponies." Sky Stinger said "I'm going to try to contact Princess Celestia." Spike said, pulling out a scroll and quill, then began to write something. "What if she and Princess Luna are gone too?" Fire Streak asked "They can't be." Came a voice. The group turned to see Prince Shining Armor. His best knight, Flash Sentry, and his Royal Crystaller, Sunburst, were with him. They trotted up to the stallions. "Why can't they be gone?" Sky Stinger asked "Their castle is surrounded with pieces of Ex-Queen Chrysalis' throne, it will detect and stop all attempts at teleportation in and out of the castle. I just wish I'd thought to put similar security measures on my sister and I's castles. Cadence and Flurry Heart are missing, I was coming here to tell Twilight." Shining explained "Strange, I was going to have tea with Fluttershy today, but she's not at her cottage or her sanctuary." Came another, slightly haughty voice from above them. When they looked up they saw Discord had appeared there. "Alright, let's do a head count, who's missing? I want to make sure I have a full list before I alert Celestia." Spike said, as Fashion Plate and Cheese Sandwich ran up. "Oh, hey guys, what are you doing here?" Spike greeted "We were both in Canterlot when we decided to come down here and surprise our girls. We thought they might be here because they aren't home." Cheese replied "Okay, so Rarity and Pinkie have also disappeared." Spike made note of it, as the CMC's friends-Button Mash, Rumble, and Tender Taps-trotted up. "Hey." Rumble said, looking worried. "What's up little bro?" Thunderlane asked "Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are gone!" Button Mash exclaimed, and Tender Taps nodded. Spike muttered something, then wrote Sweetie and Scootaloo's names. He rolled up the scroll, breathing fire on it. They hung around for less than ten minutes before Spike belched, making a scroll appear in a burst of flames. "What's it say? What's it say?" Cheese asked eagerly, pushing past Fashion Plate and scanning the letter. "Celestia said she has gotten word from Starswirl the Bearded that Somnambula, Mage Meadowbrook, and Mistmane have also gone missing. She wants us all in Canterlot right away." Spike read "Even us?" Fashion Plate asked, and Spike looked at the bottom of the scroll. "Even you guys." Spike answered. "Well I can't come." It was the first time Big Macintosh had spoken more then a few words in such a big group. But since Discord and Spike, his Ogres and Oubliettes buddies, were there, he was more at ease. "Why not?" Discord asked "Not that disobeying Celestia's orders doesn't sound fun." "I hafta do ma sis's chores on top of my own. It's gonna take all day, Granny Smith's real particular 'bout how the chores are s'posed to be done." Big Mac said "Oh, and because he's got a date with Sugar Belle this afternoon." Discord added, oblivious at the embarrassment he was causing his friend. Though Big Macintosh had a red coat, the red fur around his cheeks turned darker as he blushed. "Discord! what have we told you about secrets?" Spike asked "Only tell them when the pony says you can tell others. What kind of stupid rule is that, it takes the fun out of knowing someone else's secret." Discord sighed "Can you teleport us to the castle? You won't be able to send us straight in, but the guards will let us in if you get us to the bridge." Shining Armor asked Discord, who sighed and held up his hands. "Whatever you say my Prince." he answered sarcastically, snapping his fingers. Everyone but Big Macintosh disappeared in a flash of light. They appeared at the palace gates, where Shining Armor trotted forward and said something to the guards. A stallion that the Wonderbolts all recognized trotted up, wearing the armor of Luna's guards. He was a purple coated stallion with a white mane-though they could only see his tail. His eyes were a familiar almond shape with fuchsia pupils. Shining Armor trotted over to the gates with the guard, beckoning for them to follow. The stallions followed as directed, and the Wonderbolts all waved their wings at Luna's guard. "Hey Dark Shooter." Rapidfire greeted casually. "You know him?" Flash Sentry asked "Yeah, he's Fleetfoot's older brother. He stops by HQ every now and then, usually once a month." Silver Zoom replied "But it's been a while, we haven't seen him in five months." Soarin added, as the stallion removed his helmet to reveal his white mane, matted against his head with sweat. "That's because after I reinforced the castle, I told Celestia that I wanted to head the guard in the Crystal Empire. I asked her to appoint another pony to take my place when I can't come to lead the Canterlot guard myself. She asked Luna for a recommendation, and she recommended Dark Shooter, he's her top guard. He's still her guard, but he does my duties as Captain of the Canterlot Guard when I'm gone." Shining Armor explained, leading them inside. Dark Shooter nodded. "I meant to come visit and tell you, but the new duties on top of my usual ones are a lot of pressure." Dark Shooter explained, they were now walking down the hallway. Suddenly, Flash Magnus, who Rainbow had told them was the new Drill Sargent for the Royal Guard, trotted up to them. "Captain Shooter, Princesses Celestia and Luna are waiting for you in the throne room. I must go escort in Starswirl and Rockhoof, but I will join you alongside them." Flash Magnus said, saluting Dark Shooter. "Good, at ease Sargent Magnus." Dark Shooter responded, and Flash Magnus left. "Time to enter, and see what Princess Celestia knows about this." Soarin whispered to the others, as Dark Shooter pushed open the door. Author's Note if you're wondering why it's Fashion Plate instead of Fancy Pants, I just think Fashion Plate works better with Rarity, and I'm pretty sure Fancy Pants is married to Fluer De Lis. Dark Shooter's my own character, by the way. Also, in this story, I'm including Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail, as well as that pegasus from Starlight's village, Night Glider. All three are trainee Wonderbolts, but were staying at HQ as reserves. ~Melody Song
Time to TrainPrincess Celestia waited for Flash Magnus to return with Starswirl the Bearded and Rockhoof, then explained the situation. "I believe that the mares are being held captive by an enemy, but I am unsure about who it is. I have no doubts that Starswirl and Sunburst will be able to find out. I wish for all of you to go to retrieve the mares. Dark Shooter, Shining Armor, Flash Magnus, you must prepare them." Celestia instructed "Princess, are you sure it's wise to allow foals to join us?" Silver Zoom asked tentatively, and Celestia looked down at Rumble, Button Mash, and Tender Taps. "I'm sure everyone here will be beneficial to your success." Celestia replied "Always with the vagueness. You haven't changed a bit ever since we first met, Tia." Discord commented "I am aware of your opinions Discord. But I'm afraid time is of the essence, you must hurry and get in some training. You won't be able to save the girls otherwise." Celestia said. They all headed out into what Dark Shooter, Flash Magnus, and Shining Armor called the training arena. They used it for the guards apparently. However, Starswirl and Sunburst went into the library to find out who could have the mares. "Alright, Princess Celestia said we need to get you some training, so let's start with a lap around the arena, to test your endurance and speed." Shining Armor said, then glanced at Discord. "Do you mind keeping score? I want myself, Flash Magnus, and Dark Shooter to participate as well." "Well, alright. But, if I get to keep score, then I get to be in charge!" Discord exclaimed, snapping his fingers. A coach uniform appeared on him. With another snap of his fingers, the stallions, dragon, and colts were automatically positioned on the starting line. "Ready. Set. Go!" Discord called, conjuring a giant hourglass and flipping it over as the guys took off. Soarin and the Wonderbolts easily won, the four Royal Guards coming in second, their armor seemed to be weighing them down. Next came Rockhoof, after him Spike and the three colts, then the rest. The guys were breathing heavily, all except the Wonderbolts, who were used to this sort of rigorous training. "Well, that was terrible." Discord stated bluntly. Princess Luna alighted on a balcony overlooking the arena. She wanted to see if her top guard was shaping the stallions up. Luna was not surprised to see Discord bossing them around. Both she and Celestia had expected it. Discord set them some exercises. He was not a bad teacher, just a little short with them. Discord soon got even Cheese Sandwich more or less focused on the task and ready to fight. Luna could just see one flaw in Discord's method. "Are we done?" Button Mash asked, wheezing a little. Before Discord could answer, a voice rang out. "Not quite yet." It was Luna, landing on the grass in front of them. They all bowed, and Luna beckoned them to rise. "Discord's methods are all very well, but you are missing something." Luna reached out and tapped Spike on the shoulder. Spike gave a groan as he face-planted onto the ground. "Why'd you do that Princess?" Spike asked, as Tender Taps helped him up. "To prove that though you have fighting skills, you are still unbalanced. You need to learn to be at one with your instincts." Luna said "What do you mean your highness?" Flash Sentry asked "Allow me to explain." Luna said, and began to recite a poem. Starswirl had told it to her and Celestia countless times while they were growing up. "Earth, sky, day, night. Sound and silence, dark and light. You see, one alone is not enough, you need both together. Winter, summer, moon and sun. This is lesson number one." Luna had their interest now, and the ponies got closer to hear more. "Like a rock, you must be hard. Like an oak, you must stand firm. Cut quick, like a blade. Think fast, unafraid." "Yes, yes, we get it Lulu, you can stop now. I heard this senseless rhyme enough times when you and Tia recited it while we played." Discord interrupted. Luna ignored him. "Like a cloud, you should be soft. Like a willow, you bend in the wind. Creeping slow, be at peace because you know, it's alright to be afraid." Luna recited "Oh, you're saying we need to be like two sides of the same coin." Shining Armor said, and Luna nodded "So:" Dark Shooter started them off "One alone is not enough, you need both together. Winter, summer, moon and sun. Lesson number one." they all said, and repeated the verses. This time, they ran through the exercises Discord had set them, using both raw skill and their brains to get through it. "Like a cloud, we are soft. Like a rock, we are hard. Like willows, we bend in the wind. Like an oak, we stand firm. Creeping slow, at peace because we know we can be afraid. Cut quick, like a blade. Thinking fast, unafraid." they all cried, and Luna nodded in satisfaction. "You have now begun lesson number one." she told the stallions as they finished the exercises and stood in front of her. Discord was slumped in a chair he had made appear. He knew the lesson was good advice, but did not appreciate Luna jumping in. Fluttershy could be in trouble. Discord got up when Luna left, and continued his version of training, using Luna's 'balance' method as he did. By the time Starswirl and Sunburst exited the library three hours later, the other stallions were going through a course Discord had snapped into reality with the ease of ponies-and dragon-who did this every single day. "Guys, we think we've figured it out! we know who took the girls!" Sunburst called The stallions froze in place, Sky Stinger and Fashion Plate falling into a river they'd been about to jump. They all ran towards Starswirl and Sunburst in eagerness, confident they could defeat whoever they needed to face. Author's Note so, that was a rewrite of Lesson Number One from Mulan 2, but I thought it would work better if it was a poem. This works because in the chapter, Luna and Discord both hinted at Starswirl using it to encourage the two sisters to work together when they were his students. The idea of day and night really emphasizes that. ~Melody Song
Who to Find"We have suspicions that the villain who took the girls was..." Sunburst trailed off as Starswirl held up a book with a picture of a terrifying creature, snarling at a group of cowering ponies. "Grogar." Starswirl finished "Grogar? Who's he?" Flash Sentry asked "I heard about him when I was young. Tia and Lulu always told me what their other friends had heard about the guy." Discord replied, and Sky Stinger looked confused. "Mind explaining?" Sky Stinger asked "Alright then," Discord snapped his fingers, and the image became real, snarling at them, and the stallions backed away in fear. Grogar is the cruelest of the cruel he once ruled the land with fear he made beasts that roamed the land as ghouls and still exist to this very year alas his reign came to an end when Gusty the Great's crew took his power which the fear would send and off his throne Gusty threw Grogar was gone erased from history thanks to Gusty, Equestria had won and Grogar's whereabouts remain a mystery" Discord finished, and Cheese looked at him strangely. "That was a pretty bad song." Cheese said "They can't all be winners." Discord shrugged. Spike laughed "Yeah, Pinkie's 'Evil Enchantress' song was pretty weird too." Spike added, smiling as he remembered the accident that had resulted in meeting Zecora. "Actually, I meant why you keep saying you knew the Princesses when they were kids. Weren't you evil then?" Sky Stinger asked "I am the same age as Celestia. Do you really think a ten-year-old can take over the world?" Discord asked "Well..." The others shifted uncomfortably. Discord was a being of chaos. He could probably overthrow Celestia and Luna even if he was a child. "I'm offended." Discord huffed, then proceeded to explain. "Celestia, Luna, and I grew up together after we found Equestria. Though I always hid from anyone other than them. I didn't get along well with the other ponies who worked/lived in the Castle of the Two Sisters." Discord explained "Now is not the time to discuss the secret friendship you had with my students that I knew nothing about until now. The song, bad as it was, nevertheless served its purpose. Grogar was indeed defeated by Gusty the Great in the height of his power. However, rather than destroying him, Gusty simply stole a powerful artifact that gave him his powers. Her failure to completely incapacitate him means that he must still be alive somewhere in Equestria. We believe he took the girls." Starswirl explained "But why the girls?" Spike asked "Wait...Grogar was defeated by Gusty the Great, a mare..." Dark Shooter said he and Shining thinking about something. The others followed their train of thought. "If Grogar was captured by a mare, then he might think that mares are the competition, so he captured all the most powerful ones!" Soarin exclaimed "Precisely. Now, according to legend, Gusty hid Grogar's artifact somewhere very discreet. Since he was not able to break my enchantment on the Ex-Queen's throne, he has clearly not found it." Starswirl said, rather proudly. "So, we need to find and fight a giant goat to get the girls back? No problem." Flash Magnus boasted "Aye, Flash, don't go countin' yer wins before they happen, mebbie Grogar hasn't his artifact now, but it don't stop him from gettin it back." Rockhoof warned "Rockhoof is correct Flash, Grogar is smarter than to do this alone, he must have a reason for acting now." Sunburst said "We need to get going, the mares need us." Fire Streak added, and Discord shuddered "Discord, something wrong?" Fashion Plate asked "No. At least, I don't believe so." Discord said, and they all stared at him. "You see, I can sense magical imbalances. But it's very strange, the last time I felt one that strong was when..." Discord trailed off and gasped. "What?" they all demanded "When Tirek was stealing magic." Discord finished. They all gasped, Sunburst so hard that his glasses slipped to the edge of his muzzle. "B-but that means..." Thunderlane began "The girls are in trouble! We've got to go, now!" Shining Armor cried, thinking of his wife and daughter. While the boys were doing this, Grogar was stomping around in the room, watching the prisoners. They were very weak, having been taken in the middle of the night. Some were pacing around. The youngest ones whimpered and hugging the older ones. Tirek was standing guard over them, and had accidentally drained one's magic. The white unicorn with the purple mane had fallen over due to it, though she seemed to be acting. Cozy Glow was eating a sandwich in a corner of the room, watching the show. "You won't get away with this!" Princess Cadence shouted, trying to break the strange lock on her horn. "You're sure those things will hold, Cozy Glow?" Tirek muttered "Of course, this key's the only way out of that lock." Cozy replied, swinging a key in her hooves. "Same goes for Princess Twilight's and her dumb pupil's." she added, holding up another two keys. "Tirek, if you take another's magic without my permission, I will punish you most severely." Grogar threatened, and Tirek nodded, leaving the room with Cozy Glow, Grogar going out another way. The second they had left, Rarity sat up, perfectly fine, but trembling slightly on her hooves. Twilight and Starlight ran to Cadence and struggled with the locks. "Why won't it break?" Cadence asked in terror "Because it's a Horavian Unichain." Came a familiar voice. A mare had been staying in the corner, away from the others, and not speaking. Now that she had, Rainbow gasped. "I know that voice!" she said, running to the mare and pulling back the hood on her cloak. "Daring Do!" Twilight, Rainbow, AJ, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Fleetfoot said, then gasped along with the others as they saw the state Daring was in. Her pith helmet had a tear in it, she was sporting a black eye, and one of her legs was bent at an odd angle. Daring winced as she pulled herself up to their eye level. "Daring, what happened to you?" Twilight asked "I was fighting Ahuizotl and his henchponies when Grogar zapped me down here. I was about to use my whip when it happened, those Henchponies had me in a ditch. Actually, I probably would have been knocked out if he hadn't teleported me when he did." Daring explained "You okay sis?" Rainbow asked "I'll live." Daring replied, pulling off her cloak with her good hoof, making a saddlebag slide off her back and onto the ground. Daring flapped her wings a few times, then winced. Apparently one of her wings was injured. "Sis?" the others echoed, just now registering Rainbow's choice of words. "Oh, um, yeah, did I forget to mention Daring found some old Birth Certificates that said we were twins?" Rainbow asked sheepishly "Doesn't matter right now." Applejack said, shaking her head. Rainbow nodded. "Well, about what you said they put on our horns?" Cadence asked, as Fluttershy and Mage Meadowbrook stepped forward to try and heal Daring's injuries. "Oh, right. It's called the Horavian Unichain, an awful way of subduing unicorns, and apparently alicorns. The lock is specially designed so that you can't use magic once it's put on your horn. The only way to remove it is with the key." Daring explained "How do you know this?" Mistmane asked, sitting down "We have an uncle who's a unicorn." Daring replied. Rainbow lay down beside the mare, brushing her muzzle against Daring's. "What's going to happen to us?" Surprise had been repeating this question every five minutes until the villains had come in. She resumed it now. The others groaned "We don't know Surprise, but just calm down, I'm sure by now the guys have noticed we're gone and are looking for us." Spitfire assured her friend, but was having doubts about this herself. Author's Note To all the people who speak with accents like Rockhoof's, I sincerely apologize if I am unable to match it in this story, I just have no idea how to write it. I am not trying to be disrespectful to your way of speech. I made up that song, I was kind of going for explaining more than making it a good song. Also, I do support the theory that Daring Do and Rainbow Dash are long-lost faternal twins, so that's why this is in there. Let's say Daring found the Birth Certificates sometime after the episode "Common Ground" takes place. ~Melody Song
With the MaresTwilight was starving. And so were the other ponies in the cage. The bars were close enough together that even the Cutie Mark Crusaders couldn't slip through. Twilight and Starlight, despite Daring's warnings, were still trying to get their magic past the Horavian Unichain, while Cadence had given up, and was pacing around with worry. They had taken Flurry Heart away, to another room, and Cadence was worried about what they could be doing to her child. Fluttershy and Mage Meadowbrook sighed and stepped away from Daring, shaking their heads. "I'm sorry Daring, but without any supplies, we can't fix your wing and foreleg." Mage Meadowbrook said apologetically. Daring winced in pain, though she tried to seem like it was okay. "That's alright, you did your best." Daring said, then reached out with her uninjured foreleg and grabbed her saddlebag. "I don't normally have medical supplies, since I can make a splint out of a branch and some vines if needed, but I do have something else." Daring pulled a bottle out of the saddlebag. "Is it alcohol?" Spitfire asked pleadingly, rubbing her temple. Surprise had begun asking Spitfire how she was so sure about them being rescued, making her want some whisky. Spitfire had a high tolerance for alcohol, so just a few sips wouldn't hurt. If that was what Daring was holding, anyway. Daring rolled her eyes. "No. It's the nectar of the Eternal Flower, diluted and mixed with dust from the Crystal Sphere of Khumn. Instead of granting immortality, it provides you with pain relief." Daring said, uncorking the vial and taking a small sip. "Where did you find that?!" Twilight asked, as Daring visibly relaxed, breathing a sigh of relief. "It was a gift from Duchess Precepita in thanks for reuniting her and her lover. I didn't add it to the book because Duchess Precepita didn't want me to tell any pony where she got it." Daring explained, putting it back into her saddlebag. "When did that reunited love happen? You never do that sort of thing." Twilight asked "It wath in Daring Do and the Forbidden City of Cloudth. It wath the whole reathon Brumby Cloverpatch agreed to take Daring up to the Hidden City." Fleetfoot reminded Twilight, her lisp coming as a slight surprise to Daring, but she didn't care. "I thought you read my books." Daring accused, seeming a little hurt that Twilight didn't remember. "W-well, it's been a while. I haven't had much time to read them lately." Twilight said hastily, and Daring rolled her eyes "Sure. Anyway, does anyone have a plan to get us out of here?" Daring asked "I wish. I want out of this horrid dungeon, it's wrecking my mane." Rarity said Rainbow had stood up and backed towards the wall. Rainbow launched herself forward and rammed into the bars headfirst, shoulders knocking against the bars. Rainbow stepped back, dazed, stumbling backwards. "That didn't work." She said faintly, before collapsing beside Spitfire and Fleetfoot. "Why ya thought it would is ridiculous." Applejack muttered. As Daring opened her mouth to defend her sister, Spitfire beat her to it. "Hey, at least Rainbow's trying, I don't see you offering any suggestions for how to get out of here." Spitfire snapped, and Daring smiled, glad her sister had good friends who were ready to defend her, even if it was from her other friends. "That's 'cause I know it's pointless. Those bars ain't gonna break." Applejack shot back, and Spitfire stood, growling "Both of you, calm down. We may not be able to get out, but Spitfire was right before. Shining Armor will have noticed Cadence and Flurry are gone, the same goes for Spike. And the stallions on your team, Spitfire. They'll come, we just need to wait and be patient. However long it may take." Twilight reasoned. The two mares sat back down, Fleetfoot leaning into Spitfire, whispering something that calmed her down. The mares in the cage gazed around at the room they were locked in. At one point, Queen Chrysalis entered, and Twilight gasped. "All this time, you three were here? That's why you haven't been seen?" Twilight asked, and Queen Chrysalis laughed "Oh, we've been seen. Ever wonder why your friends acted so weird on that little 'camping trip' you took?" Chrysalis asked "Wait, the whole reason we were fightin' over not doin' stuff the others said we did was you?" Applejack asked "Yes, of course it was me!" Chrysalis cried, shoving her face at the bars, then retracting it, pacing. "I used the hairs I plucked from your manes-disguised as that silly photographer, of course-and then cast a spell to make duplicates of you. However, it seemed they were the opposites of you, and my plan to have the Elements of Harmony under my control failed. The duplicates were destroyed by the tree. If that fool Sombra hadn't destroyed the Elements, I could have gotten another chance." Chrysalis snarled, and Starlight gasped "Sombra? He was Grogar's doing too?!" she asked "He summoned us all here, did you think we simply stumbled upon him?" Chrysalis asked, then stalked out of the room. Tirek and Cozy Glow were pacing around in a room, waiting for Chrysalis. "There you are, finally, let's get this meeting started." Cozy Glow said as Chrysalis entered the room. "Sorry, I was taunting the hostages." Chrysalis hissed "Whatever. Here, I brought you some food." Cozy Glow slid a platter of cupcakes to her, and Chrysalis gobbled one down. "Thanks." she said begrudgingly, and Cozy nodded "Anyway, we've got to figure out how to hide Grogar's Bewitching Bell better. Every time Grogar gets near our hiding place for it, his necklace thing glows. He's going to figure it out eventually." Cozy said, and Tirek sighed "We might as well just hand it over and say we went back to Mount Everhoof to retrieve it after we failed the first time." Tirek grumbled "No! We said we'd backstab him together, so that's what we'll do. Besides, we all agreed that he'll be too powerful to overthrow with that thing." Cozy Glow objected, and Chrysalis nodded in agreement. "I propose we keep it moving in our different rooms, that way Grogar won't be able to pinpoint it's location." Chrysalis suggested, and Tirek and Cozy Glow murmured agreement. "Very well, now that that has been settled, on to the next reason for our meeting." Cozy Glow said, then jumped forward "Do it again!" she cried to Chrysalis, who smiled and transformed. "Ooh, I'm Princess Twilight. Friendship is Magic! I'm so dumb I was outsmarted by a foal and didn't know it until a centaur told me!" Chrysalis mocked in a voice similar to Twilight's. Tirek and Cozy Glow burst out laughing, the tiny filly falling onto her back and rolling around on the table. "Gets me every time!" Cozy giggled, as Chrysalis transformed back. "Yes, it's very entertaining." Tirek added "Glad I bring such joy." Chrysalis said, she had transformed into Pinkie Pie. Author's Note So, yeah, that's how the mares are doing. Some are driving each other up the wall, others are tired and hungry, and one is injured. But never fear, their Knights in Shining Armor are on the way! (no pun intended) ~Melody Song
Tensions and Terrors"We're lost, aren't we?" Flash Magnus asked "For the hundreth time, stop asking that!" Shining Armor snapped, lifting up the map. "I'm hungry, where's the food?" Tender Taps asked, and Thunderlane looked around "Hey, yeah, I'm sure I packed some of the stuff I made earlier." Thunderlane said, and Rockhoof looked sheepish. "Was that fer all of us?" he asked "You ate all of it?" Shining Armor asked in exasperation "I figured I needed to keep me strength up." Rockhoof replied "But now we don't have anything to keep us from starving!" Lightning Streak exclaimed "I must say Prince, for a pony who works in the army, you are quite bad at keeping your knights' moral up." Discord said slyly "Only three of them are knights and moral won't matter if we can't find Grogar's lair." Shining replied "Just because we're not knights, doesn't mean we don't want to save the girls." Spike said. "I would do anything to get Applejack back, and I don't have to have some fancy uniform to do that." his outburst encouraged the others. "You also seem to have forgotten that the Wonderbolts are a form of military." Soarin began, but was cut off. "Yeah, we save the day more often than the Royal Guard does, but they always give us a bad reputation. So maybe you should be the one taking lessons from us." Rapidfire said "Never mind that, Pinkie Pie's in trouble, and we need to save her!" Cheese declared "And Apple Bloom!" "And Sweetie Belle!" "Yeah, Scootaloo needs us!" Shining was now getting very, very frustrated. Twilight wasn't the only one in the family who could have outbursts. "ENOUGH!" he bellowed, making all the stallions freeze in their tracks. "You think I don't feel the exact same way?! My wife, my sister, and my daughter are at the hooves of a tyrant who will stop at nothing to rule the world! If you think about, I actually have it worse than all of you! So I should be the one complaining! But no, I'm standing here, trying to figure out where to go, and listening to you all yell in my ear about what you think! Yes, we are lost! Are you happy Flash Magnus?! And Discord, how am I supposed to keep moral up if I can't even keep myself from falling apart?!" Shining Armor screamed, then took a deep breathe, trying to calm down. "Easy Shining, just calm down." Soarin said, resting a hoof gently on Shining Armor's shoulder. "We didn't mean to put so much pressure on you." Button Mash said "Alright, I think we've all had enough travel for now. Let's take a rest while Sunburst and I help Shining Armor figure out where to go." Starswirl decided, his calm voice and soothing manner keeping the Prince from lashing out about not needing help. "Sorry guys, I'm just a little frustrated. While we do this, could the rest of you look for food?" Shining Armor asked, and they nodded, their hunger stopping them from fighting his sudden leadership. The group headed out into the woods, and began to search. After a while, they heard a shout of exclamation. "Everyone, come look what I've found!" Fashion Plate cried. Almost all of them raced over-Discord couldn't be bothered to-and gasped. They were standing in front of an apple tree. But the apples were striped in all the colors of the rainbow, square, and had strange looking stems. "What be these colorful fruits?" Rockhoof asked "Oh, right, you haven't seen them yet Rockhoof, they're not in season back in Ponyville. These are Zap Apples, special apples that only come out once a year. They only stick around for a day back on the Apple's farm, but these guys look like they've been here a while." Spike said, taking off and flying up to one. Spike plucked it off the branch and took a big bite, smiling and giving them a thumbs up. "They're plenty ripe guys, these'll be perfect for us to eat!" he called down The pegasi all took off and began to pick them, while Fashion Plate used his magic and Rockhoof his shovel. Cheese Sandwhich, Button Mash, and Tender Taps climbed up the tree and picked from there. After a few minutes they had a lot of apples and dropped them down on the ground to count them. "58, 59, and 60." Button called out, and Spike nodded. "That should be more than enough." Soarin commented. Suddenly, Rumble covered his nose. "Anyone else smell that?" he asked, and they all realized they smelled it too. "Pretty sure that's Thunderlane, he hasn't showered for a week." Sky Stinger said "Just because you want to smell nice for your girlfriend doesn't mean we all have to shower, and that's not me." Thunderlane retorted "Wait a minute, I recognize that smell." Spike said, stepping forward. "It's a-Timberwolf!" He yelled, as the creature came bounding out of the undergrowth. The stallions grabbed up the apples-which were their only source of food-and ran. Rockhoof tossed a rock back at the Timberwolf with his shovel, and it bust into pieces. The others stopped, thinking they were safe. But the twigs and branches glowed with an eerie green light, and began to rebuild the Timberwolf. The stallions tore through the woods again, running as fast as they could-flying for the pegasi. Soarin saw that the Timberwolf was going to catch the earth ponies and unicorn if they kept running, and knew he couldn't let them get hurt. "Wonderbolts! Attack plan Spiral Escape!" Soarin yelled, and they nodded. The stallions split into two groups. One group flew down to the non-flying ponies and picked them up. They let Rockhoof keep running, since he was clearly too big to be carried, and the Timberwolf wouldn't try to pick a fight with him anyway. The second group flew at the Timberwolf and created a distraction. Soarin led that one. He flew low and drew the wolf's attention, then swung around and let Rapidfire pass him, so the Timberwolf followed him instead. From Rapidfire it went to Wave Chill, who yelled at it to get it to follow him, then Silver Zoom-who got it to chase him by hitting it. Then it went back to Soarin. "Are they crazy?!" Button Mash yelled "No, they're drawing it's attention, quick, before it loses interest!" Dark Shooter said, he and the two Flashes grabbing Rockhoof. However, before they could keep going, they came face to face with a huge rock wall, which was the side of a cliff. It was blocking their way out. The Timberwolf grew confused as to who it was chasing and just swatted at the pegasi, knocking them to the ground. They scrambled backwards, hitting the rocks. The pegasi above landed and prepared to fight, but before they could, they heard a voice that, although annoying, was a relief. "Now now little wolfie, you can't have these guys for lunch, they're my friends, and they're currently on a mission to save Equestria, so if you don't mind." Discord appeared in front of the stallions and made a shooing motion with his hand. "Go on, go." He said, but the Timberwolf only growled. "Well alright, I tried to be nice, but since you insist..." Discord snapped his fingers and the Timberwolf shrank to the size of a chihuahua. "Have fun running around through the forest as a puppy." he said, and the Timberwolf ran away, yapping. Discord turned to glare at them. "I leave you alone for twenty minutes and you get yourselves attacked by a Timberwolf. Well, what do you have to say for yourselves?" Discord asked "Thank you Discord, you saved us." Spike said "Yeah, we would have been goners if it wasn't for you." Cheese said, the others all murmuring agreement. As they walked back, it turned out that sharing a near-death experience brings ponies together. They began to talk among each other. "That attack strategy was pretty impressive, how'd you come up with that?" Flash Magnus asked Soarin. "Oh, that was Captain Spitfire Flare's idea. Spitfire, Rainbow, and Fleetfoot are always coming up with new moves for formation flying or attacking and evasion strategies." Soarin explained "Soarin's being modest, he helps too, he invented a defense tactic named the Storm Shocker. He can make lightning bolts with his bare hooves if he can channel enough energy, so he made this great move where he shocks our enemy while we sneak up from behind. It's really cool." Fire Streak said "It used to be that pegasi were able to do that, in the time I came from. We could surprise our enemy with shocks that had enough voltage to knock them out for hours." Flash Magnus commented "I can only make shocks big enough to temporarily stun some pony, and the affect only lasts about a second, but I'm the best one in my team at doing it." Soarin explained bashfully, as they reached the place where they'd left the three unicorns. "There you are. What did you do that took you so long?" Starswirl asked Rumble, Button Mash, and Tender Taps immediately began telling Starswirl, Sunburst, and Shining Armor all about the Timberwolf attack. The three ponies listened in rapt attention, and when the foals were finished, Starswirl sat back on his haunches. "It seems that you are now better at working together, correct?" he asked, and they nodded. "That's good, because we think we know where Grogar's fortress is." Sunburst said
ArrivalShining Armor led them deeper into the forest, he, Sunburst, and Starswirl glancing down at the map every now and then. The forest became darker the longer they walked, and the trees grew barren, the ground rocky. They stepped carefully around the sharp rocks, trying to avoid poking themselves. Shining Armor took the map from Starswirl and Sunburst, looked at it to check their location, then rolled up the map, tucking it into his saddle bag. "Dark Shooter, Flash Magnus, Flash Sentry, scout out this area for anything suspicious, this is the area where Grogar's lair is rumored to be." Shining Armor said, and the three stallions saluted him before heading off in different directions. Dark Shooter went left, Flash Sentry right, and Flash Magnus directly ahead of them. "What rumors?" Rapidfire asked "By rumors, he means the old legends in this book." Sunburst explained, lifting a book out of his bag and showing it to the group. "Gusty the Great's accomplishments." Rumble read "It's actually quite informational." Sunburst said, flipping it open and skimming a few pages while they waited for the three pegasi to return. Dark Shooter came back to them, followed by Flash Sentry. "Nothing." Flash Sentry said "Same here." Dark Shooter added, but Flash Magnus suddenly flew up to them, eyes wide. "You've got to see this." he said, leading them in the direction he'd come from. The place was very strange. The ground was rocky, the few trees there were gnarled and barren, the only vegetation being the moss and vines growing over the rocks. In the center of the wasteland was the thing that made the area the most strange. A rock formation that looked like a goat's head, except there were stones extending like ramps on either side of where the nose of the animal would be. The rocks beneath them seemed to make a mouth, where a weird glowing red light was shining in between the gaps. "That suspicious enough for you?" Flash Magnus asked Shining Armor, who nodded, about to step forward when Soarin blocked him with his wing. "What's wrong Soarin?" Shining Armor asked, and Soarin moved his wing to point at the stone ramps. They could see something flitting around inside them. "Those must be the entrances, but there's something on the other side, we can't get in that way." Soarin muttered "We'll just have to wait then." Fashion Plate replied, and Cheese Sandwich sat down, pulling an accordion out and beginning to play it. "Fine, but I hope they move soon." Shining Armor muttered. Thunderlane snatched the accordion away from Cheese, tossing it so it smashed against a tree. Before Cheese could say anything, Soarin responded to Shining Armor's muttered annoyance. "Agreed, we need to rescue Rainbow...I mean the girls." Soarin said, blushing "Ah, so that's who you have a crush on. Obviously you had a crush one of the girls on your team, or you wouldn't have been so eager to come along. I had thought it might have been Spitfire, but I suppose since she's into mares that was out. Well, I'll add it to the list." Discord said, snapping his fingers and making a paper appear. It had two lists on each end of the paper, the names of the stallions on one end and the names of the mares that were gone on the other end. Discord had drawn lines between the boys who had already stated their crushes and their crush. He now drew a line connecting Soarin's name to Rainbow's. "Anyone else want to fess up while I have this out?" Discord asked, as Soarin covered his face with his wing in embarrassment. Cheese, meanwhile, was glaring at Thunderlane, who was smirking and hoof-bumping Rapidfire and Sky Stinger, who also thought the accordion was annoying. "Discord, put that away, you can humiliate your friends later, look." Spike said, pointing. A tall, bug-like, black creature with holes in it's body had emerged from the ramps, stretching out transparent wings and taking off, circling the fortress. She seemed to be on guard. "Chrysalis! She ruined my Wedding, held us captive, and now she's taken my wife!" Shining Armor hissed, starting forward, but Dark Shooter, Flash Sentry, and Flash Magnus held him back. "Calm down Prince, we'll find a way into the fortress, but we must remain calm. If we charge in now, our cover will be blown." Sunburst said, and Shining Armor relaxed, stepping back. "Alright, we'll find another way in." Shining Armor decided, but what Chrysalis did next made that unnecessary. She flew back inside and they couldn't see her in the entrance. She must have gone further into the lair. "What now?" Tender Taps asked "We send somepony over to peek in and see if there's any villain lurking in the room those ramps lead to." Shining Armor replied "Who'd be dumb enough to do something like that." Discord scoffed "Funny you should ask." Shining Armor replied, smirking, and they all looked to Discord. "Why did I even ask?" Discord muttered "I dunno, why did you ask?" Cheese asked "No time for punchlines, we need to move, now." Flash Sentry said, pushing Discord out into the open. Discord glared back at them before teleporting himself to the ramps, and peeking in. He disappeared and reappeared in front of them. "They're all in there, talking about something. Grogar, Chrysalis, Tirek, and that little brat Cozy Glow." Discord reported "Cozy Glow too? Oh boy, we've gotta save them!" Spike cried "Discord, tell us when they leave the room." Shining Armor said. Discord mock-saluted him, then disappeared. The group of stallions waited what seemed like an eternity, until finally, Discord came back. "Grogar left and the other three went down another hallway. Grogar ordered them to 'check on the first phase of my plan, and then guard the prisoners'. That's what he said, word for word." Discord reported. Shining gasped. Ignoring the others warning him, he ran for the ramps, the others running after him.
The Way InThe others followed Shining Armor up the ramp, all easily jumping a gap in the ramp thanks to Discord's training. They then slowed down and crept carefully into the lair, finding a large table and different hallways leading off to unknown rooms. "So, who has guard duty today?" came a bored, deep voice. "Chrissy." a higher voice replied. The stallions ducked out of the way, hiding on the ramp as the three villains entered the room again. "Alright, but I get the cupcakes tonight." Chrysalis said "Like we'd want your sugar, I'm trying to build my physique, not add more fattening things to my body." Tirek grumbled, he was a lot larger then he should have been after being locked up for so long. "If Grogar had let me pull more magic from the captives..." He muttered "Grogar says we have to keep them alive to use as bargaining, or else I would have already destroyed Starlight Glimmer." Chrysalis said "How would you destroy her? Drain all her love so she shrivels up?" Cozy Glow asked "No you fool, I'd take the love and leave her to die, what else?" Chrysalis replied "Go on, get on with guard duty before Grogar gets madder at us." Triek snapped "Who's us? You're the one who drained the prissy unicorn's magic." Chrysalis retorted, before taking off, heading for where the stallions were hiding. "Discord, make us invisible, quick!" Shining whispered, and Discord snapped his fingers. Chrysalis flew right past them, Discord's cloaking magic rendering them completely invisible. "I'll be in my area of the lair." Tirek said to Cozy Glow, leaving down a tunnel. "Okay, I'll be setting up another meeting!" Cozy Glow called, zipping off. Once she was out of sight, Discord lifted his spell and they walked into the room. "Discord, which way did Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis go the first time you saw them leave?" Starswirl asked "This way, follow me." Discord replied, leading them down a tunnel. They took many countless turns, until they came to a place where it split into different tunnels. "Which way now?" Rumble asked "They probably took the girls down into the deeper parts of the lair, so even if they were able to escape, they wouldn't be able to find a way out." Sunburst commented "In The Ponies' Guide to Mazes and Madness, it says to find your way through a tunnel maze, you have to keep turning right, and you'll reach the exit." Shining Armor said, and they all stared at him. "What? When you've got Twilight for a sister, you have to read a lot of random books to keep up with her." Shining Armor said "He's right, now I remember, I read that book too, it did say always turn right." Sunburst said. Shining nodded, leading them to the right. They kept going right for a while, then the tunnel seemed to get wider, as if it was opening up. They sat down and began to make camp, seeing as how they couldn't keep going forever. "We should work out an escape strategy for when we find the girls." Flash Sentry advised "Hmm, maybe if we break the lock and distract the villains so we can get them out?" Cheese said "Or we could create a diversion, then sneak around the back way." Sunburst said "What back way?" Shining asked The stallions didn't know it, but Chrysalis had scented their love for the girls when she'd passed them. After gathering Cozy Glow and Tirek, she followed the scent until she found them. "This is wonderful, if we let them destroy Grogar's plan, he'll fail, and it'll give us an advantage." Cozy whispered excitedly "Is anyone else beginning to feel some strange thing?" Tirek asked "What do you mean?" Cozy Glow asked "You know, I feel it too. Gross, what is that?" Chrysalis asked "I don't know, but maybe we'd better look into it." Tirek said, as the three made their way back. "There you are. Tirek, you now have my permission to drain the ponies of their magic. I have decided that they pose more of a threat to us with magic than without." Grogar said as they emerged. "I swear Slowpoke, if you don't shut up right now..." Spitfire threatened "Oh, look, how original, the mare named after a hot temper is swearin'." AJ mocked "So, what's the rest of the threat Spitfire? What is it, huh, huh, huh?" Surprise asked "Yeah, I wanna know too!" Pinkie added "Shut up, both of you! Where's a shot of whiskey when you need it." Spitfire muttered, rubbing her temple with her hoof. Just then, Tirek entered the room, smirking at them through the bars of the cage. "What do you want Tirek?" Twilight growled "This." he replied, opening his mouth. He first took all the Unicorn's magic, then the Earth Pony's. "You won't get away with this!" Applejack said, before collapsing onto the floor of the cage. "Won't I?" He asked unconcernedly, then started on the Pegasi. They collapsed, one by one. Rainbow fell and pulled her little sister closer to her body. Scootaloo hugged her as Daring dragged herself over to lie beside them. Spitfire caught Fleetfoot as he drained her magic, and glared at him. "You monster." She hissed "I believe great minds think alike, your magic seems much more powerful than normal. Almost...evil-worthy. I suppose the magic is a family trait? Ah, yes, you're a Flare. The family famous for having Fire Magic in their veins. The evilness must be from a family member. Perhaps a parent?" Tirek suggested, and Spitfire growled. "Shut up." She muttered "You know, I expected your friend to have some magic too. The Frost family's daughter, unable to use and access her ice powers? Well, then someone's been naughty, or her parents wouldn't have stolen it away." Tirek sneered at Fleetfoot. "But I digress..." Tirek trailed off and sucked up Spitfire's magic next, then moved on to the Alicorns. After he left, the ponies all struggled to sit up. "What do we do?" Fluttershy asked "I wish I knew Fluttershy." Twilight sighed "I wish I knew." Author's Note Those powers Tirek was saying Fleet and Spit had? I won't touch on them much here, but I have another fanfiction called Fleetfire that I will explain it in. I also have a fanfic called Winter Fires on Wattpad under the profile Itsawsometime where I mention their powers. ~Melody Song
With The VillainsTirek was sitting in the meeting room, twirling a ball of magic in his hand. "Whose is that?" Cozy Glow asked from beside him as Chrysalis came in. "The firehead's." Tirek replied "It was a treat, the Flare family has powers. Fire magic, to be precise. Fire magic is delicious on it's own, but this one had a touch of evil too. One of her parents must be evil." Tirek explained "I wonder which one." Chrysalis muttered "So do I. But she's holding it back, forcing it not to control her. It's a shame really, with her abilities we could overpower Grogar even faster." Tirek said, eating the ball of magic in one bite. "It would be nice to have another pony on the team." Cozy commented, and Chrysalis made a face. "Ugh, there's that feeling again, and I think I know what it is." Chrysalis said "What is it?" Cozy and Tirek asked "Guilt." Chrysalis spat "Eww, how come you feel guilty for those sentimental saps?" Cozy asked "Well...I...I think it's that I don't want Grogar attacking them. Why am I feeling this gross thing? Changelings don't normally feel anything" Chrysalis said "I know, so weird." Tirek agreed "Yeah, I think I feel it too. It's gross." Cozy said, then sighed. "But why do I feel like I should be listening to it?" "Listen to us! Having those ponies here is making us soft!" Chrysalis hissed, stomping her hoof on the floor. "We should avoid them." Cozy said, then heard voices. "This way? Are you sure?" came a pony's voice, and the villains backed away, so they wouldn't be seen and scare off the ponies. "Yes, trust me." a second pony replied. "Whenever you say trust me I get a chill down my spine." a third one said. "Oh shut it Rapid, at least we're going somewhere." said the first pony. "But it's Blunderlane, and it's not like he has a map glued to his face." the third one retorted. "That would be funny-looking!" another piped up, snickering. "Not now Cheese; Wave, Rapid, cool it. Thunderlane, are you sure you heard voices?" a stallion's voice said in an authoritative tone. "Yes, and I hope we get there soon." the pony, Thunderlane said. "Me too, I want to have Cadence and Flurry back." the authoritative pony was Shining Armor, apparently. "And I want Fluttershy back in my arms." came the unmistakable voice of Discord. "You gave us all that grief about liking some of the mares who were taken, but when you're talking about your crush it's okay?" a pony said "Clipper, it's not like it isn't obvious you like Rainbow, you can't get enough of her. And where exactly did she sleep the night before she disappeared? She never came into the sleeping quarters." a pony said slyly. "That's none of your business Fire Streak. And it's not like we do anything. For the record, she fell asleep in the rec room last night, I didn't want to wake her up by moving her." the pony responded. "If Applejack were here she would say this, so I'll go ahead and say it: you're lying." they recognized it as Spike. "No I'm not!" the pony said "Really?" another said "Don't you get started Fashion." he cried "Come on, where was she, really?" the pony named Rapidfire asked. "Okay fine, we were talking in my private room after dinner and she fell asleep. I may have...fallen asleep too." he said "Soarin and Rainbow..." the pony's voice-Fire Streak's-began. "Say it and you'll get chore duty for a week, and I'm not kidding." the pony named Soarin threatened. "Ooh, feisty." Discord said "All of you quit it." that was Shining Armor again. He seemed to be leading them. "Indeed, this isn't helping us find the girls." another pony added, and the stallions' voices faded as they went down another tunnel. "What's wrong with us? Why didn't we capture them? With the most powerful stallions and mares locked up we could take over Grogar twice as fast!" Chrysalis spat "I think...we should let them go." Cozy Glow said, lowering herself down onto her seat. "What?!" Chrysalis and Tirek cried. "I mean...would holding them captive really help our chances? It would only mean we'd have to obey Grogar and watch them in case they try to escape. And besides...they all care so much about each other. Unlike us." Cozy sighed "What do you mean? Those stupid stallions can barely last two seconds without fighting, you just saw it. How could they possibly care about each other?" Chrysalis asked "But...but that's what a family does. They get on each other's nerves, want to kill each other for poking fun at things like who they have a crush on, and at the end of the day, they still love each other. That's what a family is. Or at least, how my family used to be." Cozy replied softly "Used to be?" Tirek asked "Yeah, until my mom and dad started lying and cheating, got rich, and started ignoring me and my siblings. That's when my sister Black Queen started smoking and my brother ran away one day. His name's Checkmate Glow, he said he'd come back for me, but he never did. Then; Pawn Glow, my other sister, and my other brother, Bishop King; started bullying me. Our parents, White Queen and Black Knight Glow, didn't even care, they just cared about staying rich. Actually, that's why I started to manipulate, it's the only way I know how to act." Cozy said "You've never told us that before." Chrysalis voiced what the two were both thinking. "Oh, sorry." Cozy said "No, it's fine." Tirek grumbled, and Cozy shook herself. "It's not important, what I mean is that they're a family too. And they need to be reunited. Because mine never was." Cozy explained "Okay, but how do we do that without reforming like Discord and without Grogar finding out?" Tirek asked "Let's block off a few tunnels so that they're forced to take the ones that lead to the mares." Cozy suggested "But Tirek needs to keep the magic, or else Grogar will be suspicious. And we still have the Bewitching Bell to hide." Chrysalis objected. "How about we make a deal." Tirek suggested, and the other villains leaned in to hear his plan. Author's Note So I made up that backstory for Cozy. I modeled those names of her family after chess pieces, because I figured that her cutie mark of a chess piece could run in the family, even if her name doesn't match it. Also it would fit their own backstory of getting rich by cheating their way to it. ~Melody Song
Revealing the Past"I can't believe it, this is the third blocked tunnel that we've come across. We'll have to take another way." Shining muttered "Why are there so many tunnels down here anyway?" Cheese asked "No idea. But I'm more worried that all these blocked tunnels will get us lost." Shining said "Remind me again, why can't Discord just teleport us to the mares?" Flash Sentry asked "Tirek will definitely be able to sense that much power being used." Sunburst replied "Besides, in order to teleport us I need to know exactly where the girls are. Even my magic needs specific directions." Discord added snarkily "So...while we're walking, any chance you'd tell us how you managed to become friends with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?" Spike asked "Fine. But I don't appreciate that tone." Discord said. "Well, we're waiting." Flash Sentry said, and Discord rolled his eyes, but began the story. "You see, a long time ago, I lived with my family in a land outside Equestria. I had no friends, as my parents were the leaders. One day my parents made a threat against another land. The land consisted of many kingdoms, most all of which were comprised solely of Alicorns." Discord said "So, this was before Equestria?" Fashion Plate asked "No, Equestria was around, it was just simply a few minor farms and stables at the time. Besides, it was far away from the land of Alicorns. My parents were preparing for war with the Alicorn land, and ordered me to stay in our castle, as the war would take place in a field in the middle of both Kingdoms. I was only seven at the time, and didn't have as much of a disobeying personality. I waited patiently enough until all I heard was silence. I then left the safety of the castle and found the field." Discord continued "Where were your parents?" Cheese asked "I had no idea. The field had been turned from a beautiful place into a barren area of dust. Blood was spattered everywhere and bodies of Alicorns and Draconeqiusses littered the ground. Some were breathing, but most had been struck down by each other. I found my parents beside the bodies of two alicorns. I would later learn they were Celestia and Luna's parents. My parents were dead. Their parents were breathing, alive, but only just." Discord said "Let me guess, you took their lives out of hatred that they had survived and probably killed your parents." Shining assumed "Of course not. Back then I wasn't evil, and it wasn't that that made me evil." Discord replied, affronted. "Sorry. So what did you do?" Shining asked "I used some of my magic to heal them." Discord replied "Really?" Spike asked "Yes, and I barely managed it. I didn't have complete control of my chaos powers yet. The attempt left me weak, and I fainted. I know the Alicorns were sitting up when I blacked out, but before I fainted there was a flash of light. Suddenly, I was in a forest. My magic had been unbalanced by the sheer amount of energy I'd exerted, and acted of it's own accord. It sent me into a strange forest. When I woke, I heard voices in the trees. Two foals had stumbled upon me and were deciding whether or not I was dead. The elder one was being referred to as Tia, and the younger as Lulu. Thus I determined those were their names. They were Alicorns, but I didn't fear them, they were trying to help me." Discord said "You called Luna 'Lulu' earlier, was 'Tia' Celestia?" Tender Taps questioned "Yes, she was. They too, had lost their parents, the leaders of the entire Alicorn Kingdom. I still didn't know the Alicorns I had healed were their parents, so I didn't mention it. Together we journeyed for a while, until we found Equestria. The unicorns were trying to raise the sun on their own when we found them." Discord said "As I recall, a short while after I had assigned some unicorns to the task, they came barging into my study with two little Alicorn fillies, one with a cutie mark of a sun on her flank." Starswirl agreed "Yes. Celestia didn't want to see the unicorns get hurt. She raced out and used her Alicorn magic to raise the sun. Then her mark appeared. Luna went to join her, but I was more wary, and stayed behind as they were taken to a nearby castle. Later they found me in the woods and told me they'd been accepted into Equestria. They said they would be tutored by Starswirl the Bearded. I was happy for them, of course. I took up residence in the woods surrounding the castle, and the two would visit every day. That's how I met them." Discord said "But wait, some things don't add up. For one, if you healed their parents, then where are they now?" Dark Shooter asked "That, I don't know. It took days for Celestia, Luna, and I to reach Equestria. I'm not even sure if my magic was able to heal them completely. They might have succumbed to their injuries after all. Perhaps that is why they never looked for their daughters. Or maybe they thought they were killed by my kind. Celestia explained to me that Luna led them out of their castle when they too, heard only silence after weeks of battle sounds. They found the battlefield, but not their parent's bodies. Then they went into the woods, thinking their parents might have gone there. If they left without permission, then their parents might have assumed them to be killed." Discord replied "No disrespect to your story Discord, but please lower your voice." Flash Magnus interrupted. "And why is that?" Discord asked "I hear something." Flash explained The stallions all pricked their ears, listening closely. "...no possible way out...have to accept the inevitable." a mare's voice said. "You're kidding. We can't just give up." another replied. "Yes, we must maintain hope that we will get out of here." a mare said "That's Somnambula!" Rockhoof exclaimed "The first mare's voice was Twilight!" Flash Sentry added "And the other mare was Rainbow!" Soarin cried The stallions raced forward, shocked by the sight that greeted them. Author's Note Sorry I ended on a cliffhanger, I'll tell you what happens in the next chapter. Also, that backstory was inspired by Ink Rose's theory of how Celestia and Luna came to Equestria. it's on YouTube, so thank you, Ink Rose! I added a few bits here and there, and changed some things, but I was inspired by Ink Rose's fanfic. ~Melody Song
Finding the MaresThere was a hollowed out area of the cave, with bars to make it a cage. It was full of the mares. Cadence, Twilight, and Starlight had something on their horns. The others were pacing around while they talked to each other. "Cadence!" Shining called, running to her. "Shining!" Cadence shrieked, holding out her hoof to him. "It's alright Cadence, we're going to get you out of here." Shining said, looking around. "Where's Flurry?" he asked "They took her away, to another room. We don't know where she is." Twilight replied "Say no more Princess, we'll find her." Dark Shooter assured them, beckoning for the two Flashes to follow him. They split up, going down different tunnels. "Took you long enough." Spitfire said, coming up with the other Wonderbolt mares behind her. "Captain, your eyes." Wave Chill gasped. "I know." The usual fierceness of Spitfire's eyes had faded, as had the color itself. "Tirek took our magic. We have to get it back before we leave." Rainbow said "So what if you can't? It's not going to do anything." Rapidfire scoffed "Don't you remember what happened the last time Tirek stole magic?" Rainbow shot back, spreading her wings and flapping them. She didn't move. "No magic means no flight. If we can't fly, then there won't be any more Wonderbolt performances." Spitfire told them "Oh, right. Sorry." Rapidfire said "First, let's get you out of there." Shining Armor said, grabbing the lock in his magic, trying to unlock it. "It won't work Shiny, Rarity tried before our magic was taken. She can't pull it off." Twilight warned "Oh for Celestia's sake." A golden coated pegasus mare with a gray and black mane and an olive green adventurer shirt pushed past the others. "You unicorns and your magical solutions. You don't need magic to do this." She reached into a utility pocket on her shirt and pulled out a sharp tool. "What are you going to do?" Fashion Plate asked "Just turn the lock so I can see it better." She demanded, reaching through the bars as Shining Armor levitated the lock to her. she stuck the tool in and twisted it around in the lock. It opened with a soft click. "There. No magic required. You unicorns rely on it too much. You wouldn't last a day in the jungle." she commented, stowing the tool safely away. "Nice job Daring. Now, how do we unlock these?" Twilight asked, tapping the strange lock on her horn. "I told you already, the Hooravian Unichain can only be unlocked by the key." Daring replied "Good thing I've got it." A sweet voice said behind them. They all turned to see Cozy Glow hovering in the doorway, swinging a set of keys in her hooves. She flew over to the now open cage and put a key in the lock on Starlight's horn. "What are you doing?" Twilight asked "Just hold still, I need to do this carefully." Cozy Glow said, as the lock clicked. Cozy easily lifted the contraption off of Starlight's horn. "Why are you helping us?" Starlight asked, rubbing her horn. Cozy sighed as she moved over to Twilight. "Honestly, I don't know. Tirek, Chrissy, and I are gonna get you out of here. Just stay quiet." Cozy Glow said, taking off Twilight's lock next. "Cozy, why are ya'll doin' this?" Apple Bloom asked "Because...I made them." Cozy Glow said "I got them to help me." "In exchange, we're going to make a deal." Tirek came through the door, Chrysalis behind him, carrying Flurry Heart in her foreleg. "What sort of deal?" Shining Armor asked, the two Flashes and Dark Shooter running in. "Shining! The villians, they're-!" Flash Sentry broke of as he saw the three in the room. "Oh, so you're already aware." "They're going to help us." Twilight told them "Why?" Dark Shooter asked, his sister coming over to give him a hug. "I will return your magic, and we'll lead you out. In exchange, you need take something with you and hide it for us." Tirek explained "First return our magic, then we'll see about hiding something." Twilight said "Very well." Tirek opened his mouth and let magic flow into each mare. "Our magic, it's back!" Meadowbrook exclaimed "You were telling the truth." Mistmane whispered "Of course he was, duh." Cozy said, rolling her eyes. Chrysalis stepped forward and held Flurry Heart out to Shining and Cadence. "Mama. Dada!" Flurry said, and the parents took their daughter gratefully from the Changeling. "Now, what's this thing you need us to hide?" Twilight asked "We'll tell you on the way to the back exit. It's the only way you can get out of here safely." Cozy Glow replied "First, can you explain why you're even making a deal with us?" Spitfire asked, stretching her wings out to regain her reflexes. "Very well." Tirek sighed "We heard the stallions coming to rescue you. They...sort of reminded me of what my family used to be like." Cozy began "She spilled her sob story to us, and we agreed to make a deal with you all." Chrysalis cut in "Wait, you have a family? You told me you were an orphan." Twilight said "That technically wasn't a lie. My family doesn't have much interest in what I do. My parents are more concerned with lying and cheating their way to riches, while my siblings barely care about anyone except themselves. I only have one brother that cares about others, Checkmate, but he ran away. We lived in Manehatten, and at first we were a happy family. But after my parents realized they could get more money by lying and hustling other ponies, they started neglecting us. They hired a nanny to watch those of us who were still really young, then kept going away to hustle other towns or go on vacations. Checkmate ran away a few years ago, and then one of my sisters started doing drugs, and they all bullied me. That's when I made contact with Tirek. I was ready to put our plan into action. So, I ran away too. I was tired of waiting for Checkmate to come back for me like he promised. So I went to your school, told you I was an orphan, and started my scheme." Cozy Glow explained "That makes a surprising amount of sense." Starlight said, tilting her head. "That's why you resorted to being evil. It was the only way you knew how to act." Spitfire murmured "Yeah. Unlike you, I wanted attention." Cozy said "What do you mean?" Soarin asked sharply "That fireball has evil in her magic, unlike the rest of you. I'd watch your back if I were you." Cozy said "It's true. I ate her magic, I could sense the cruelty inside it. Evil is in her blood." Tirek said "Don't listen to him, I'm not evil." Spitfire objected "Even if you are mean like he said, we don't care! We know you well enough to know better than to think you're evil!" Pinkie exclaimed, and Spitfire smiled slightly. "Trutht me, I know what it'th like to have parentth that don't really care about you. But becoming a villian ithn't the way to get attention." Fleetfoot said "Then how?" Cozy asked "Tell them you're gay." Fleetfoot replied. Spitfire snorted in amusment. "Whatever. The point is, we have a job for you. In exchange for your freedom." Cozy Glow said Author's Note Okay, so Fleet now is obviously hiding something to do with her parents, as is Spitfire. That will be discussed further in Fleetfire, my other fanfic. This story is almost over, just one more chapter. Sorry to end on another Cliffhanger, but you'll see what happens soon ~Melody Song
The Deal and Escape"You see, a while back, we were sent by Grogar to retrieve his Bewitching Bell." Tirek started to explain. "His what?!" Shining Armor asked, remembering Starswirl mentioning something like that. "The Bewitching Bell is an ancient talisman of great power. Legends say it fueled Grogar's most powerful-and evil-magic. It was supposedly stolen from him by Gusty the Great and her Unicorn Warriors, then concealed by magic. I've always wanted to find out where it was. If a powerful artifact like that was out in the open where anyone could reach it, then it's trouble. It wouldn't be good if ponies like Caballeron or monsters like Ahuizotl were able to access it." Daring spoke up, she was limping along behind the others. "Are you okay? You're limping." Spike said "Thanks, I hadn't noticed." Daring said sarcastically. "I'll be fine. I was injured by Caballeron's goons before I was taken down here." "Like I was saying, Grogar sent us to retrieve his Bewitching Bell from where Gusty had hidden it, Mount Everhoof." Tirek was inturrupted yet again. "Mount Everhoof?!" Spitfire, Soarin, and Rainbow exclaimed. "Now what?" Tirek asked impatiently "The three of us have been up there before, and never seen it. There's even a whole outpost that harvests Everplant. How can it have been hidden up there and nopony has ever found it?" Spitfire asked "You've gone up there before? How?" Cozy asked "The weather is rough, but if you're a good enough flier, you can make it to the outpost. They even run deliveries across Equestria, so it's not impossible to reach." Soarin replied "Well we had enough trouble getting up there, and worse, Grogar sent us to retrieve it so we could learn to work together." Cozy said, gagging "We were forced to, in the end. The bell was at the very peak of the mountain. Unless you have been to the top, you would not have seen the cave in which it was hidden, or the magic barrier surrounding it. We had to work together to get to the top, by using all of our skills and not fighting. Chrysalis agreed to relinquish her magic so I could break the magic barrier. Then Cozy flew in and got the bell, I returned the magic to Chrysalis, and we left the mountain." Tirek said "A cave? Soar, we sheltered in a cave during that big storm on the mountain, remember?" Rainbow asked him "Yeah, but it wasn't at the peak, and we didn't go far enough in to see if there was anything there." Soarin responded "It wasn't at the peak Tirek, there is no peak on that mountain, just random ledges and caves in each one." Chrysalis argued "Alright, enough. The point is, we retrieved the bell." Tirek finished "Then where is it? Grogar wouldn't need you anymore if he had it, and he wouldn't need to bring the mares down here." Discord said "Well..." Cozy zipped away and returned holding an ancient, teal colored bell with strange markings. "This is our deal." Tirek said, gesturing with his hand to the bell. "We let you go, you take the bell and hide it, far away from Grogar." he explained "May I?" Daring flew up to Cozy and took it from her, landing. She winced a little as she shifted it in her hooves, examining the markings and cracks. "It's genuine. This is the real Bewitching Bell." Daring reported "What would we do with it?" Twilight asked "If you let me take it, I can put it in a museum. I'll even guard it personally until Grogar is defeated, no pony will be able to get their hooves on it." Daring suggested "Or maybe I should take it. I can put it in the Canterlot vault, with official guards to insure it's safety." Shining Armor objected "We could hide it in the private Wonderbolt Museum. Since all the 'bolts know it's there, we'd be able to guard it from the air and the ground, maybe post guards that rotate out." Spitfire said "The Crystal Empire's light and love might be able to stop Grogar from attacking and finding it." Cadence added "My chaos realm could easily disguise the bell's presence." Discord said "Why are you even friends, you can't even agree where to hide this." Chrysalis spat "We aren't friends because we never fight, we're friends because we care about each other." Twilight said. "So, what do we do with this thing?" Spitfire asked, gesturing to the bell with her wing. "I think...that Daring should take it. She has the most experience with ancient artifacts, and I suppose her knowledge of its power will help her hide it more securely among museums." Twilight said "A museum, now that I think about it, is not the best place for this yet. I can hide it in my home, though. There are plenty of other artifacts I've been deciphering to conceal it." Daring said "Now that you've all finally agreed, can you go?" Chrysalis hissed "Why do you care?" Scootaloo asked "In case you haven't noticed, I feed on love, and even with all your bickering there is plenty of that here for my taking. Unless you would like for me to go into a feeding frenzy, you should leave." Chrysalis spat Chrysalis' horn lit up with her sickly green magic. She tugged on a rock jutting out of the wall. A trapdoor opened above them. "This trapdoor will take you above, then this foul beast can teleport you away." Tirek said, pointing to Discord "Just because you haven't considered reforming doesn't mean it's a bad thing." Discord retorted "But you know, you acted like friends to retrieve the bell, you said so. You worked together." Twilight said "That's why we want it out of here!" Cozy exclaimed "We almost became friends with each other over that bell. We're villains, we can't be friends." Twilight sighed in exasperation. "Now leave. Never speak of this allegiance again." Tirek said. They headed up. Author's Note I would like to apologize for originally releasing the final chapters all at once, I have regretted it for a while. But I'm keeping the speech I wrote on the last chapter. Here it is: I am so sad that MLP is going away, but I know it will live on in our hearts, and in the stories we write. Don't give up on websites like this one, because even though the End tied up a lot of things like ships, the next generations, and more, it doesn't matter, because we can change that in our stories. Stories are not set in stone, as Legend of Everfree's end song proved, we can change them if we want. So please, keep writing your stories, keep imagining events beyond the end. Don't give up on your fanfictions They are still part of the MLP Universe Okay, once again, sorry. ~Melody Song
