Shimmer Run 2101

As Derpy landed in the farmland below her parachute fell down and draped over her head. She slumped down with a defeated sigh.

"Now just what in the hay are you doing out here in ma field?" A familiar sounding voice called out to her.

"Lieutenant Derpy of the resistance!" Derpy called out; attempting to salute from underneath her parachute and becoming further entangled in it as a result.

"Propaganda Posters say 'Osees' 'Resistance' 'Civil War'. Ah just wanna buck some apples, for Celestias Sake!" Applejack lamented, revealing herself as she helped untangle Derpy from the parachute.

"Don't you care about the future of Equestria?" Derpy pleaded.

"If there's anypony who would love to see things back the way they oughta be then you could sure bet that pony is me." Applejack snapped back. "But your average pony just doesn't care who's runnin' the place. They just wanna feel safe in their homes, y'know?"

"Well there's no resistance left to fight the war." Derpy explained tearfully as she pointed over to the smoke billowing on the horizon.

"Yeah. Ah saw that. Ah'm real sorry 'bout that sugar cube." Applejack took her hat off and held it near her chest in a gesture of sympathy.

"It can't be over! Why don't you help fight!?" Derpy jumped up and made fighting gestures and stumbled on her parachute; nearly bumping into Applejack- who deftly stepped out of the way.

"Ah'm just tryna' make an honest living to support ma family. Ah ain't no fightin' pony and besides- us and what army?" Applejack shook her head apologetically.

The sound of a throat clearing interrupted the conversation and the two looked to see Big Mac standing and listening in.

"And now ah suppose ya'll'r gonna tell me that once ponies everywhere see us re-forming the resistance they'll be fixin' to join the fight." Applejack rolled her eyes at Big Mac.

"Eeeyup." He replied confidently.

"Tell ya'll what. That ole Discord has gone and stolen a family heirloom of mine. Last ah heard he was hidin' out at the Castle of the Two Sisters with Fluttershy. Ya'll want to prove you're up to the fight help me get it back from them." Applejack offered.

"But to get there we have to go through the Everfree-" Derpy cowered.

"Eeyup." Big Mac nodded.

"Well don't'ya'll suppose if it was gonna be easy ah'd've done it mahself by now." Applejack teased.

"So what is this family heirloom?" Derpy asked as the trio set out for the woods.

"A silver spade." Applejack replied. "It's said that any garden planted with it will have the most bountiful crops." She explained.

"Eeyup." Big Mac added.

"A little help please!" A voice pleaded up from the canopy not far into the woods.

The trio looked up and saw Trixie hanging from a parachute up in the canopy.

"Lieutenant-Commander Trixie! You're alive!" Derpy shouted excitedly with a salute.

"Forget the chain of command for now just get Trixie down from here!" She cried out.

"Why don't ya'll just cut the cord'n'we'll catch ya!" Applejack suggested as her and Big Mac positioned themselves down below. Trixie gnawed at the parachute cords until she fell freely down into their hooves.

"Thank you." Trixie said with a forlorn sigh.

"Did captain Shimmer-" Derpy started. Trixie simply looked back and the two exchanged a solemn stare.

"Trixie tried to drag her onto an escape pod but she insisted on going down with the ship." Trixie said with tears in her eyes.
"Trixie barely managed to escape in time." Trixie said as she fastened her magicians cape around her neck. "Well- most of Trixie at least." She said with a face full of woe as she patted her hoof on her head indicating that her magicians hat had gone down with the ship.

"Well looks we done got ourselves an extra pair of hooves." Applejack boasted as she pointed down the beaten path.

"Where are we going?" Trixie asked.

"Castle of the Two Sisters." Applejack replied.

"Trixie has no time for this!" She snapped.

"Applejack has agreed to help rebuild the resistance if we help get her silver spade back." Derpy pleaded.

"Eeeyup." Big Mac added.

"Fine, lead the way." Trixie rolled her eyes.

The sound of sobbing filled the air as the group entered the clearing where the castle stood. Discord huddled near the path with Angel Bunny- crying.

"Now just what are ya'll crying about and where's ma silver spade!?" Applejack demanded.

"It's my dear, sweet, Fluttershy." Discord sobbed. "She wanted to plant a carrot garden for Angel Bunny so I thought if I borrowed your spade-" Discord sniffled. "The magical essence in the silver spade, combined with all the apple residue on it, must have been what transformed her into Flutterbat and we haven't been able to get through to her." He began sobbing uncontrollably.

"Well why don't you just do your thing and fix her." Trixie suggested sarcastically.

"The Osees make me wear this magic suppressor." Discord said with a sniffle as he pointed to a tight metallic ring around one of his ankles. "I'm useless without my magic."

"Well why not just go in and get it back!" Derpy said bravely as she stumbled forward toward the castle doors.

"See for yourself." Discord stepped ahead and pulled the castle door open and pointed around at ornate rectangular platforms floating all around the inside of the castle. "Flutterbat has filled the castle with these oddly stylish floating platforms that make absolutely no sense in a 3 dimensional space."

Discord walked inside and the other four followed.

"Well ain't that just dandy." Applejack raised her hoof to her chin in confusion.

"She even trapped Pinkie Pies soul inside the castle organ so that she will fill it with spooky but upbeat-and-heroic music at all times." Discord sobbed. The others listened carefully and noticed. Derpy started nodding her head to the beat of the music.

Big Mac looked around and then back at Discord.

"She's in the upper floor. You'll need to use this whip to swing across the platforms to get there." Discord pulled Big Mac aside and placed a kangaroo whip around his hoof.

"Why don't I just fly?" Derpy suggested.

"Well that just takes all the fun out of it." Discord sneered.

Angel Bunny climbed up onto Derpys back.

"We'll be right back. Maybe if we just talk to her." Derpy spread her wings, preparing to take flight.

"Wait. One more thing." Discord said as he pulled a candle stick off the wall and smashed it on the floor. A small red valentines heart floated down to the floor like a leaf. Derpy paused for a moment and then picked it up. "The sisters hid these all around the castle when they built the place." Discord explained.

"Will they heal me?" Derpy asked.

"No, they just give you these little things to throw around." Discord said as he threw a small knife which landed uncomfortably close to Big Macs hoof.

"Now hold on here. None of this makes a lick of sense." Applejack complained.

"Well don't get mad at me. I didn't build the place." Discord huffed.

"We'll be right back. We're going to go try talking to Flutterbat." Derpy took off with Angel Bunny and the two flew gracefully up to a balcony at the edge of the top floor.

"Um. Miss Flutterbat." Derpy trembled as she made her way down the dark hallway, lit dimly by flickering candles, that lay before her. At the end of the hall Flutterbat huddled near a throne with the silver spade mounted on a hook above it.

"Angel Bunny is very worried about you and so is Discord." Derpy said as she reluctantly paced toward the throne.

As Derpy closed in; Flutterbat pulled a hidden lever near the throne, wrapped her jaws around the silver spade and took off with it into a passageway that opened behind the throne. Derpy jumped into action and flew after her. The two found themselves flying spirals up around the winding gears of a great clock tower as action-packed organ music echoed through the whole castle.

"Wait!" Derpy pleaded as they narrowly avoided the bowels of the great mechanical construct. "She knows this place way better than me, this isn't going to work." Derpy sighed.

Remembering his past visits to the castle; Angel Bunny climbed up to Derpys neck and grabbed onto her mane and started steering for her. The two came flying out of the clock tower and were now soaring along the castle walls.

Flutterbat let out a hiss and bats started flying at Derpy from the opposite direction- forcing her to slalom around them. Angel Bunny urged Derpy to fly in closer and as the gap closed he jumped over to Flutterbats back. Angel Bunny hastily grabbed the spade from her mouth and went tumbling down below; as he did Flutterbat quickly transformed back into Fluttershy.

"Angel Bunny, No!" Fluttershy cried out, she tried to transition into a dive but she was too slow to catch up.

"Trixie can't look!" Trixie covered her eyes and cowered as everypony else looked on from below.

Derpy transitioned into an aggressive dive and over-took Fluttershy- eventually catching Angel Bunny in her hooves shortly before he would have hit the ground. After a round of cheers everypony found themselves gathered in front of the castle.

"I feel terrible about everything I've put you all through." Fluttershy said as she hung her head. "Especially Pinkie Pie."

"It's okay I forgive you!" Pinkie Pies voice screeched excitedly from the distance as a salvo of organ notes sounded.

"Ya'll wasn't yourself. It's no big worry." Applejack assured. "We jus' hav'ta make sure we keep you away from this here spade." Applejack said as she tucked the silver spade into a saddlebag.

"It's getting late and now you're all stuck out here in these spooky woods because of me." Fluttershy said with a sigh.

"Trixie knows a place we can camp for the night." Trixie offered as she pointed into the woods.

"Out here!?" Discord asked.

"Mmmhmm." Trixie lead the group a short way down the path and pulled some conspicuous, loose, vegetation away from a rock- revealing her caravan parked near a small clearing. The wheels were broken and the paint was beginning to peel but compared to the castle or the woods it looked safe and comfortable. "Trixie hid it out here before the war started. Never thought I'd see it again so soon." She explained out a woeful sigh.