A Royal Insanity: Act II - The Six Trials of Friendship Disaster

Chapters

Chapter 1 - Stupid Crates, Bad Dreams, and Major Headaches
Chapter 2 - Where The Buck Are You Going?
Chapter 3 - Go To Bobebzjha or Go Get Feathers?
Chapter 4 - Sweetie Belle's Quest for the Fates of Equestria and Ninsoare

Chapter 1 - Stupid Crates, Bad Dreams, and Major Headaches

Chapter 1 – Stupid Crates, Bad Dreams, and Major Headaches

“Sweetie Belle, what are we gonna’ try to do today?” A yellow filly asked.

“Well, I thought we could see if we can write and perform a play! We haven’t done that yet.” Sweetie Belle said.

“Uhhh… Aren’t we going to be in a play next month? The one Cheerilee wanted the whole class to be in? And why don’t you come up with something today Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle makes all the ideas nowadays...” The orange Pegasus filly said.

“Well, ever since we met that Solid Snake guy, we kinda deemed her the boss of our little group here.” Apple Bloom said.

“Oh please, I don’t want that brought up again…” Sweetie Belle’s mood had now quickly sunk at the mention of Snake. Solid Snake had been the person to turn their little trio into a cool club with secret missions. Although Snake was the only one to actually do anything on the missions, the three fillies enjoyed helping him try to figure out what was going on with Princess Celestia and the Mane Six when they were having a secret meeting. When he first arrived in Ponyville, Sweetie Belle found him asleep in her closet while he was attempting to hide from the local guards. She claimed him as her ‘pet’ and soon after formed the CMC’s, their little club (which had already existed, but now served a different purpose). Snake agreed to do some spying to find out what a secret meeting between the Mane 6 and Celestia was about. After learning more serious things than he expected, he relayed the information back to the CMC’s. There was a distant planet being torn apart by Nightmare Moon, the tormented soul of Princess Luna. In an attempt to learn more information, Snake went deeper into Luna and Celestia’s castle to find a way to build a headquarters on this new planet for the CMC’s. In the process, he saw the last remaining Metal Gear from his world covered in ice. He returned to the machine after finding and relaying good coordinates on the other planet for the HQ. Princess Celestia had snuck up behind him and explained that the machine was stolen by Luna and was shrouding this new planet in everlasting winter. However, Celestia believed that Snake was an agent of Luna’s checking up on the machine, which only could be turned off by Luna herself. She killed Snake and sent his body to the new planet via a portal-making machine. A week went by and Sweetie Belle had began to worry and searched the castle herself (under Twilight Sparkle’s supervision) and found nothing. She deemed him either escaped or locked in the dungeons, where she wasn’t allowed to look. The reason she had become upset is that she had a small crush on him (or so she would admit, but she actually liked him a lot more than that, as she trapped him into doing explicit things the first time they met).

“Oh yeah, sorry ‘bout that Sweetie Belle, I forgot… By the way Scootaloo, how’s that portal you’re makin’ coming?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I don’t know! You’re the one who should be working on it. You’re better at making things than me.”

Apple Bloom replied, annoyed, “Well if ya’ didn’t worry so much about it bein’ painted like Rainbow Dash, we’d have the technical stuff done by now!”

“Quit that hollerin’ in there Apple Bloom! And dinner’s done, so ya’ll better get on out here real soon or Granny Smith’ll be asleep!” Applejack yelled loudly while knocking at the door. It seemed like she was really tired today, but to Apple Bloom, she’s been like that ever since she came back from some task Celestia had the Mane 6 do. It seemed as if she has gotten grouchier since she returned. They’ve only been gone for about three months, but even Sweetie Belle noticed the changes. In Sweetie Belle’s own family life, the moment Rarity got home she had to leave again. Celestia made Rarity a magic sewing machine to increase her profits, but Rarity had to move to Fillydelphia to use it. Rarity, eager to become well known in the sewing world, left the Carousel Boutique all to Sweetie Belle. She usually has Scootaloo spend the night for company so that she doesn’t get too lonely. Not only has Rarity left, but Scootaloo’s flying mentor Rainbow Dash, who is almost an older sister to Scootaloo, has been put on duty to oversee the next month’s weather configurations go as planned. The only ponies part of the Mane 6 left in Ponyville are Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy (who technically lives outside of Ponyville).

Apple Bloom and the other fillies left their tree house and made their way back to the house to eat a nice, big meal. They sat down at the table where Granny Smith and Big Macintosh were sitting.

“Granny, where’d Applejack run off ta’?” Apple Bloom asked. The other fillies were also curious as to where the mare was.

“Oh, she’s just a’ finishin’ ‘er work for the day; she’ll be done in a jiffy.”

The ponies in the dining room helped set up the table and sat down to wait for Applejack. After a few moments of awkward silence, there was a loud crash outside. The sound was loud enough that even if the dining room was full of jabbering ponies, it still would’ve been clearly audible over the voices. Immediately Big Mac and Apple Bloom ran out to find out what happened followed by Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Granny Smith. When they got outside, they saw a bunch of broken crates in the barn and somewhere in the mess of random junk was Applejack, laying motionless under a ladder. Big Mac rushed in and moved all the shattered crates out of the way and lifted the ladder off of Applejack. She was unconscious and luckily there was very little blood, just little dribbles down her cheek and mane. Big Mac lifted her with ease over his shoulder and ran her to the wagon. He suggested that the fillies should stay here and help clean the mess and took off with the wagon. The fillies and Granny Smith were so shocked that they were frozen still during the whole affair staring after the wagon.

“Granny? W..what h…happened?”

Granny Smith replied, “Now don’t you fret Apple Bloom, your sister will be fine. It looks like she gone an’ fell off the ladder. Big Mac took her to the hospital just in case and they’ll be back soon. Now I gotta’ go get mah sleep, wake me when she comes around.” She went back inside as the fillies slowly started to clean up the mess of random trinkets and shattered crates. To Apple Bloom, it looked like she was storing the last of the random junk crates that they were going to take to an antique fair a few weeks ago but didn’t end up going as Applejack only just returned the day after it ended.

After about an hour, the three fillies managed to finish cleaning up the mess of junk and broken bits of wood from the crates. Applejack still hasn’t returned from the hospital yet, so Apple Bloom decided that they would go and check on her. With Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom riding in a wagon pulled by Scootaloo’s scooter, they manage to make it to the hospital fairly quickly. When they get to the hospital they are greeted by a mare running the front desk and they were asked to wait in the waiting room. The mare explains that Applejack has been unconscious ever since she got there but is doing fine. While waiting, the fillies see a familiar pink pony come out of the psychological health wing of the hospital.

“Hey, Sweetie Belle, isn’t that Pinkie Pie over there? What’s she doing here?” Scootaloo asks.

“I don’t know, why don’t you ask her yourself Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle replies.

Pinkie’s mane was flat and she bore a sad, but hopeful expression on her face. It looked almost as if she hadn’t slept in a week. Even though her mane was straight, it was still somewhat messy and her eyes looked like she just got done crying.

“Oh, hey girls… I just needed to see if one of the therapists here could help me out with something that has been bothering me… Nothing fun today...” Pinkie said after Scootaloo asked why she was here.

Sweetie Belle was somewhat upset not seeing Pinkie in her usual happy, bouncy moods. “What’s going on Pinkie? You look like you’ve been through a rough time.”

“Well, Sweetie Belle, I’ve been having bad nightmares recently… I had them before and Twilight helped me with them, but she’s locked herself in her library for some reason and won’t talk to anypony. I haven’t seen Spike ever since we got back from a task Celestia had us do, so I can’t ask him anything… I’ve been staying awake for the last week so I don’t have any of the nightmares but that’s really affecting my performance at Sugarcube Corner. I talked to a therapist today and there really isn’t anything he can do, so I’m going to go visit my sister for a while. I think that will help me a lot.”

“Wait just a’ sec, you got a sister?” Apple Bloom wasn’t paying attention too much as she was worried about Applejack, but the mention of Pinkie Pie’s sister was news to her and caught her attention.

“Yes, but I don’t think I will tell you fillies about it… I’ll talk more about it when your older maybe. But spread the news around if you can. Oh, and Apple Bloom, do you think you could help out at Sugarcube Corner while I’m gone? Do you remember what I taught you about making cupcakes? And I know that your sister can help around too. I’d really appreciate it if you could help them.” Pinkie now was smiling slightly, thinking about still having help for Mr. and Mrs. Cake even though she’s going to be gone for a few weeks.

“Um, sure, ‘ah guess… I’ll try to remember.” Apple Bloom replied, unsure of her memory with making cupcakes. She wasn’t very good at it if she remembers, but she does know the song Pinkie sang so she might be able to remember some basics of it.

“Oh, thank you Apple Bloom, and don’t forget to smile while I’m gone. See ya’ in a few weeks or so.” And with that, Pinkie left the hospital. There was some more hope in her eyes as the fillies watched her leave, but as soon as Pinkie left the fillies’ sight, the sadness returned as she went to make her plans.

“Ahem, you can visit your sister now…” The mare at the desk stated somewhat firmly. She said it once already, but nopony was really paying attention to her, as what usually tends to happen at her job. The fillies thanked her and hurried to the room, remembering the reason they were there to begin with. When they entered the little room, they saw Big Macintosh standing at Applejack’s side. He didn’t look worried, but Apple Bloom could see past the façade and knew that Big Mac was very worried about his sister. He tended to be good at hiding his feelings; he was somewhat shy but mainly just didn’t talk to very many ponies unless being talked to. The doctor told them that Applejack had suffered a powerful blow to her head, but that she will recover within the next month, but there was a small chance that she might have lost a large portion of her memories in the process. It would take at least a year without magical influence for her to naturally regain her memories and maybe a month with a talented unicorn’s help. She was currently asleep and would be allowed to go home in about half an hour, after some extra tests and paperwork were filled out.

When it was time to leave, the fillies, Big Mac, and Applejack, who was still sleeping, got a ride back to Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack was laid down onto her bed to sleep until she woke up. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had to leave to get enough sleep for school in the morning and Apple Bloom went off to bed soon after their departure.

Chapter 2 - Where The Buck Are You Going?

Chapter 2 – Where The Buck Are You Going?

Orange…. No…… Grape? No, not grape….. What in tarnation is it? Oh, right, apple! Now, uhh what was the other half? James? Jill? Jurgen? Uhh! Think, pony, think! What’s the rest of mah’ name!? ‘Ah don’ even know where ‘ah am… An orange pony with a blonde mane thought while she laid on her bed.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaappplllllleeeeejaaaaaaack, waaaaake uuuuuuuuuup!” It sounded like a fillies’ voice. Of course! It’s Applejack! And who’s callin’ mah’ name? “I’m comin’!” Applejack yelled back. She went downstairs into the dining room to see the ponies she assumed was her family, she doesn’t really know for sure. She sat down silently at the table and ate the breakfast that sat in front of her. She’s been awake for only a few minutes but she knows that she lost her memory somehow. Her head hurt pretty bad, but she’ll recover. After eating she agreed to go outside and wander around the farm to see if she remembers anything. It was Apple Bloom’s idea, and it didn’t help anything at all anyways. According to these ponies, Apple Bloom and Big Mac were her siblings and Granny Smith was, well her grandmother. Applejack had a gut feeling they were telling the truth and believed them. About halfway through a long, boring day consisting of Applejack either roaming around the farm or napping, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy stopped to visit. Pinkie explained to Applejack about her temporary departure and gave her a CD containing various Pinkie songs to help jog her memory a bit. Fluttershy tried giving her a head massage to help with the pain. They all had dinner together which turned out to be really awkward for Pinkie and Fluttershy, as nopony had much of anything to talk about. After some silence, Fluttershy just rambled on about animal types to Apple Bloom until they needed to leave.

After they left, Applejack went back to her room to rest some more. No memories came back to her. Not a single one. Applejack was disappointed. At this rate it would take forever for her to remember anything. She popped in Pinkie’s CD in an old CD player to try to bring back something, anything. Giggle at the Ghostie didn’t do anything. She went through six tracks and no hint of memory came to her. But then the seventh track came up and something clicked in her mind. The piano intro reminded her of a tree that was dear to her for some reason or another. When the lyrics began, she remembered pieces of buffalo and ponies arguing over something. After You’ve Gotta Share ended, Applejack turned off the CD player and was going to go find out what the issue was with that argument, and what it had to do with her tree.

She walked out of her room and left the house after telling Granny Smith she had to go do something and will be back with hopefully, more memories.

“Where ya goin’ sis?” Apple Bloom asked as Applejack was about to leave the farm.

“I had a memory an’ I gotta go figure it out, an’ ah’m goin’ alone, so don’t follow me ya’hear?”

Apple Bloom protested, “But, but, Applejack, ya’ jus’ got back from a trip not too long ago, an’ now yer’ leavin’ again?”

“I haveta’ get mah’ memories back somehow! Now get back t’ work before Big Mac calls for ya’!” And with that Apple Bloom gave up arguing. Applejack left and Apple Bloom was now getting back to work.

Later that day, when Apple Bloom’s work was done, she called forth a meeting at the CMC’s clubhouse. It was decided that the three fillies would go after Applejack to help get her memories back. Because they couldn’t afford a train ticket, however, they had to ride in their little wagon being pulled by Scootaloo.

“Where are we? This looks a lot like the Forest…. Do you know where Appleloosa is Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle asked. They have been going at a good pace and it’s been an hour and a half since they left Ponyville. They’ve been in a forest ever since they were fifteen minutes outside of Ponyville.

“I know exactly where we are! I think… Didn’t you guys say you would bring a map?” Scootaloo replied, stopping the wagon.

“I believe ya’ told us not to cause’ ya’ already knew how to get there.” Apple Bloom said.

“Oh…. Yeah… Well, did I tell you I’m not that great at telling direction?” Scootaloo replied, knowing she should’ve thought ahead better.

“Well at least we know who ain’t getting’ a compass for a cutie mark!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.

Sweetie Belle checked her bag just in case she had one but there wasn’t one, however she noticed the snacks they brought were almost gone. “Where did all the snacks go? I packed enough for a whole day and there are barely any left!”

Scootaloo continued pulling them forward and replied, “Well, I’ve been up here so it wasn’t me.”

Apple Bloom considered blaming Scootaloo but now realizing she was pulling them the entire time, her lie wouldn’t have worked, and seeing as the last time she lied didn’t work out when she got the cutie pox, she just decided to be honest. “Oops… Sorry Sweetie Belle, I thought you packed three of those boxes…”

Sighing, Sweetie Belle just replied, annoyed. “It’s ok I guess… and we might as well turn around anyways. It’s getting dark soon and we can always look for her tomorrow.”

Scootaloo stopped the wagon again, “Yeah, but we have two problems… One, we have school and play practice tomorrow… And…. I don’t know where we are or how to get back….”

At this the other two fillies got angry. They all started to argue for a while until it was getting dark and they stopped to look for firewood. After setting up a fire they calmed down and forgot about arguing.

“Well, what are we gonna’ do now? I mean, what if we’re in the Everfree Forest? Somepony’s gotta’ keep watch.” Apple Bloom considered.

“I’ll keep guard first! I know how to save ponies from danger ‘cause Rainbow Dash taught me.” Scootaloo offered.
Nopony disagreed.

After about twenty long minutes of guarding the other fillies while they slept, Scootaloo saw something interesting in the distance. It was a light that seemed to fade in and out, no, it was multiple little lights. The little lights had a red hue to them and faded in and out but were seemingly getting closer. Whenever Scootaloo was about to try to wake up one of the others, the lights would fade for a few minutes, and would come back when she stopped thinking about waking them. Scootaloo grabbed a large stick she found earlier just in case. The lights looked like they might be eyes of some sort. Scootaloo knew that they wouldn’t be friendly if they got up close. She quietly woke up Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom and explained the situation.

“Scootaloo, Ah’ don’ see any eyes out there… I think you’re just bein’ a scaredy-pony.” Apple Bloom said sleepily.

“Just wait and look Apple Bloom! They would shut their eyes whenever I tried to wake you earlier, they’ll open them soon, but we gotta get outta here!” Scootaloo whispered fiercely.

Still in disbelief, Apple Bloom decided to play along anyways watching out in the direction Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were looking. Sweetie Belle was too tired to really agree with Scootaloo or not, but looked on anyways. Nothing happened for a few minutes. It was a longer wait than usual…

“Ummm… Maybe they went away? It didn’t take them this long to reopen their eyes the other times…” Scootaloo was really scared now.

“Umm, I think you’re tired Scootaloo, why don’t you get some sleep and I’ll watch for a while?” Sweetie Belle offered. Apple Bloom just went back to sleep.

Scootaloo agreed to sleep a bit. Maybe she was just seeing things because she was tired? She laid down where Sweetie Belle had been sleeping and passed out. Sweetie Belle was struggling to stay awake and it was only a few minutes since Scootaloo fell asleep. As Sweetie Belle was just about to fall asleep again, she saw the lights. She jumped awake now and fear struck through her. She could just barely make out the shape of a black skeleton of a pony with red eyes being followed by dozens of other ones.

“SCOOTALOO WAS RIGHT WE GOTTA’ RUN!!!!!!” She screamed out as loud as she could. The other fillies got up immediately and the three started to gallop the opposite way the skeletons were coming. Apple Bloom believed this time. As they galloped, they noticed that the skeleton ponies were not only coming from one direction. They were almost surrounded, having to turn another direction, dodging scarce ones until they would see another wall of them. They ran north and were turned east. They were turned back south, then west then back north, and the circle was getting smaller until it came to a point they were only fifty yards from any side of the poorly shaped circle surrounding them. They were losing hope fast. They were so distracted by the skeletons that they didn’t notice a single bright light moving quickly towards the center of the circle. The skeletons were right on top of the fillies now. Scootaloo was swinging her large stick around frantically while Apple Bloom tried to buck all the nearing skeletons, with Sweetie Belle hiding in between the two fighting fillies. They were now running out of energy to fight but right when the three were sure they would lose, all they could see was a bright light in front of them. The skeletons had just disappeared. The fillies all fainted at the same time, not knowing what was going on.

Chapter 3 - Go To Bobebzjha or Go Get Feathers?

Chapter 3 – Go to Bobebzjha or Go Get Feathers?

When the fillies came to, they noticed they were all lying in a bed. The weird decorations and random bric-a-brac all over the place was all too familiar. They were in Zecora’s hut. The three climbed out of bed and came into Zecora’s main brewing room. The fillies quickly thanked and apologized to Zecora about getting lost in the Everfree Forest.

“Be careful you must, or in the forest you all will become dust.” Zecora simply replied in her usual manner of speaking.

“We were lookin’ for mah’ sister, Applejack, we must’ve went the wrong way. D’ya think you can help us maybe? And also help us get Pinkie and Rarity back too?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Such a task is dangerous for fillies you, but dangerous for I, it is too. ‘Tis a journey much full of woe, and in the end there will be a terrible foe. I foresee only one way to play, with all this evil and dismay. This way requires a little task, of you fillies I must ask.” Zecora replied.

“I’ll do anything to bring my sister back!” Sweetie Belle spoke aloud, followed by Apple Bloom’s agreement.

“Feathers of a fast Pegasus I need, Feathers of a past Pegasus will certainly agree, and all this we will make, with the body of a snake.”

Scootaloo replied, “So I can get feathers from Rainbow Dash, but… Um…. What exactly do you mean by a ‘past Pegasus’?”

“Uhhh… I think like, one that passed away…. Ya’ know…. Like, dead.” Apple Bloom answered.

“Eeeeew! That’s gross! But if we have to… I guess I’ll get one too…” Scootaloo said, disgusted by her task.

“Well, if Apple Bloom can finish that portal, I bet we can make it teleport us to wherever Snake is? I mean, I don’t know what his kind eat, but I doubt he’s still alive after this long, so we can use his body… Or something… But what are you going to do with all this stuff Zecora?” Sweetie Belle asked. Scootaloo thought to herself while Sweetie Belle asked her question, I don’t think she meant that pet of Sweetie Belle’s… I think she meant an actual snake… But whatever...

Zecora replied, “My potion’s uses are many, and other ponies’ help would be plenty, but of the danger that is there, we must create a custom mare. To fix the problems the Mane 6 have at stake, it would be wise to use the body of Solid Snake.”

“But, Snake isn’t a mare, let alone a pony, it wouldn’t make any sense if your potion made him into a pony! And I thought we only needed to get Pinkie, Applejack, and my sister.” Sweetie Belle argued.

“You all must hurry to save the six, or else Equestria will be in a bad fix. And about my ways, you little strays, don’t question the power of the Zebra, or I’ll send you all to Bobebzjha!” Zecora was getting a little impatient, as she knew that time was of the essence.

“Where in tarnation is ‘Bobebzjha’? Is it even a real place?” Apple Bloom questioned.

Zecora replied, “No…………………………… NOW GO!!!!!!” And with that, the three fillies ran out of the hut and back to Ponyville to begin their small quest.

When they returned to Ponyville, Scootaloo immediately went to find Rainbow Dash while the others finished the portal, which hadn’t been worked on in a long time anyways. She went over to Twilight Sparkle’s house, the library, to get a map of Cloudsdale, but the whole library was locked up as if Ponyville was about to explode. There was a note on the main entrance which was now behind heavy metal bars, which was hoof-written by Twilight.

Dear Anypony Who Wishes to Speak With Me,

I am working on an important project that could one day save all of Equestria, so if you desperately need to see me, my assistant Spike is staying at Lyra’s until I am finished. He will be available to send messages to me at the low price of only two bits. Wielders of an Element of Harmony get a 50% discount, and Princess Celestia gets to send messages for free. See table below for more details.

Casual- 6am-6pm, 2 Bits

Element of Harmony Wielder- 2am-9pm, 1 Bit

Celestia-any, free

Looking for a date with Twilight Sparkle- any, free

Wow Twilight… You must be really desperate for money or a boyfriend… I don’t know what happened on the quest they were sent on, but those three must’ve changed a lot… Scootaloo continued on to catch a ride up to Cloudsdale using the local chariot cab service, which was free to anypony currently attending school with the earth ponies, flight school, magic school, or any combination of the three. As she arrived, Cloudsdale was busy as various weather tasks were being performed and other flight classes were in session. Scootaloo was going to Rainbow Dash’s place first, to try to get a feather from her somehow. Luckily for Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash had off of weather duty today and would be home sleeping in.

Scootaloo had never been to Rainbow’s house before, so she had to ask directions from somepony. It took her about twenty minutes to find the place but was very unsure she found the right place. She knew from rumors that Rainbow Dash had a nice house, but what was sitting in front of her was a beautiful mansion. She hesitatingly went up to the door and knocked, but there was no answer. After a few moments of knocking and ringing the doorbell, a sleepy looking Rainbow Dash answered the door.

“Who is it?” Rainbow asked, eyes half closed and heavily leaning against the inside of the doorframe.

“It’s me, Scootaloo! I wanted to get some last minute practice with you before my flight test in a few days, since you have today off.”

Rainbow Dash perked up at the sound of Scootaloo’s voice, “Oh hey! I almost forgot you wanted some practice sometime, yeah just, uh, let me get ready a bit. You can come in and wait.”

Scootaloo followed Dash into the building and waited near the door as Rainbow Dash flew up to her room. The large room Scootaloo was in had two floors and reminded her of a more “pegasusy” version of Princess Celestia’s castle, but significantly smaller. Rainbow Dash came back down when she was finished grooming herself and looked much better than she did when she answered the door.

“You ready for practicing? I’ll make you do the same things they have you do in the test, so you should be perfectly prepared, but it might have changed a bit since I took it… But anyways, ya’ ready?”
Scootaloo replied, “Of course I am! But how did you get the money for a place like this? I knew it was a nice place, but, this is like, the nicest place in all of Cloudsdale!”

Rainbow Dash got an idea, “Haha, how about I tell you, if you pass my test. I’ll make it harder than the normal test, and it will only be passable by my best, and I mean my best and most awesome pupil ever!”

“Challenge accepted! But how many pupils have you had before?” Scootaloo asked.

“That’s a mystery my dear Scootaloo, now let’s hurry and go!”

The test Rainbow Dash constructed was tougher than any flying maneuvers Scootaloo had done before, but somehow, Scootaloo had passed, but barely. A portion of it was emptying and clearing rainclouds in a specific amount of time, chasing and catching Derpy Hooves in a little race, facing Fluttershy in an epic game of chess (the pieces were animals that had to be lifted by Scootaloo to place on the squares laid out in a field and some of them didn’t comply or agree with Scootaloo’s moves), and lastly traversing an obstacle course while blindfolded. Scootaloo did very well in all tasks except the obstacle course, where she kept running into things due to her seemingly unnatural lack of a sense of direction. She passed because it took her only less than fifteen seconds to catch Derpy, who dropped the piece of paper laying out the general route Rainbow Dash wanted her to fly, and ended up flying in a large circle over the area she dropped it trying to find it before being caught by Scootaloo. That task was meant to take at least five minutes so Scootaloo was given bonus points for it.

“Well, looks like I have to tell you how I got my house… Well, it was my parents' house at one time, but when they passed away, they left me this house. I don’t really want to get into the details about it though… It’s a… Touchy subject…” Rainbow Dash said as they returned to the house.

“Oh… I understand… You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I was just curious how you got something so awesome.” Scootaloo replied.

“Well, I could tell you a little about it… I mean, you are almost like a sister to me… Really…” Scootaloo could tell that there was a lot of things deep in Rainbow Dash’s conscious at her statement. Scootaloo always had felt like Rainbow Dash was like an older sister to her, but hearing it come out of Rainbow’s own words warmed Scootaloo’s heart. The two shared a bonding moment as Rainbow Dash explained to Scootaloo about a freak accident that had killed her parents and elder brother of her best friend, Fluttershy. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash visited the three graves together as they shared silence and a few tears.

“You know Scootaloo, you’re the only pupil I’ve had… The only one I ever decided to train for flying. I know that you will pass that test with flying colors, heck, I even knew that you would even before I woke up this morning… I know you can do this.” Rainbow Dash said, as she and Scootaloo were lying together outside in the little garden behind her house.

“Thank you Rainbow Dash, and I won’t fail that test, I can’t fail you. You’re the closest thing to a sister I’ve ever had, you’re my idol… I was you for Nightmare Night twice when I was younger… Too bad I won’t get to hang out again until after my test though…” Scootaloo said.

“Hey, how about I get Pinkie Pie to set up a party for you the day after? That would be great wouldn’t it?” Dash offered.

Scootaloo suddenly remembered why she came to Cloudsdale in the first place. “Oh yeah that would! But I have a question; can I borrow one of your feathers for good luck?”

Rainbow Dash was slightly puzzled at the request at first but then shrugged it off and smiled, “Haha, sure, anything for my little sis’.”

Scootaloo’s eyes filled up with tears of happiness, “Oh, you called me sister! Oh thank you! I promise I won’t fail you!” The two hugged for a while then went back inside Rainbow’s house. Rainbow told Scootaloo to wait because there was something she needed Scootaloo to do for her and went to get something. When she came back, she was holding a jar with a pieced together model wing with four yellow Pegasus feathers on it.

“I need you to take this to Fluttershy… Unfortunately, she never got to see her brother after his death, and when I was little, I tried to find as many feathers I could find of his… I was afraid Fluttershy would think I was insane or something if I tried to give this to her, so I kept putting it off, but I think she needs to see at least this… I hope she doesn’t get mad at me or anything…” Rainbow Dash said.

Scootaloo took the jar and separate feather rainbow dash gave her and went back to Ponyville. It was getting late so she had to hustle if she wanted to make it to Fluttershy’s and back before dark. She made it quickly to Fluttershy’s Cottage and knocked on the door. When Fluttershy answered Scootaloo explained to Fluttershy what happened today at Rainbow Dash’s and gave the jar to Fluttershy, who was crying heavily at the first mention of her brother. After a long time of trying to calm Fluttershy down to a manageable point of quiet sobs, Scootaloo explained about needing a feather of a Pegasus who has passed away and according to Zecora, the fate of Equestria could possibly be in danger if they don’t get one. After more crying, Fluttershy agreed to give Zecora a feather, but would do it herself the next day. After staying with Fluttershy until she cried herself to sleep, Scootaloo finally went to go home until tomorrow, where she would need to be ready to help Zecora.

Chapter 4 - Sweetie Belle's Quest for the Fates of Equestria and Ninsoare

Chapter 4 – Sweetie Belle’s Quest for the Fates of Equestria and Ninsoare

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle worked laboriously to finish the portal they began to build back when Solid Snake was helping them. They managed to get it done fairly quickly, the only reason it wasn’t already finished was because they lost interest in the project. Then they put in the coordinates Snake gave them before his disappearance. That part gave them the most trouble, as they were slightly unsure themselves what the place was supposed to look like. Once the coordinates were finally punched in and the machine was fully functional, Sweetie Belle prepared to enter. Apple Bloom was to stay behind and open up the portal every five minutes to give Sweetie Belle a way back.

The portal opened up to a snowy, cold field in front of a small fort. To Sweetie Belle, the place looked abandoned. Sweetie Belle had brought some emergency supplies in her saddlebag just in case something went awry. She looked back towards where the portal would appear and waited the ten minutes for Apple Bloom to open the portal. Ten minutes went by and still no signs of Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle looked at the clock she carried in her bag and it read normal time, and it had been eleven minutes since she got here. Instead of panicking, she just decided maybe time worked differently here and would talk to anypony she sees about the time. She decided to head over to the fort. She went up to the door and noticed it was locked, but she could hear faint voices from inside, so she decided to knock.

“Um… Hello? Who are you? Do you have the password?” A young girl with messy brown hair answered, much to Sweetie Belle’s surprise, as it wasn’t a pony and that there was someone here.

“I’m Sweetie Belle and I’m looking for somepony important, do you think you can help me?”

The girl had her head towards the ground but now looked up into Sweetie Belle’s eyes, then continued to examine the rest of her. “Leader had a prophecy saying someone like you would come here, come meet Leader.”

Sweetie Belle was intrigued. Nopony should know me here, unless Solid Snake was here. Or maybe Solid Snake is from here? Although, I don’t really believe that… These ‘people’ things are somewhat different than him in some way. Sweetie Belle followed the little girl inside the fort. The fort on the inside looked like a tiny town almost, although all under a roof. This is some interesting place, they must be here to avoid the cold outside or something. She was led into a littler room which looked like if the place was still here for military forces, it would be some sort of planning room. There was an older girl in there. Oddly enough, she seemed to look similar to Fluttershy in some ways, with pink hair and a yellow dress, she even had wings, however they were white ones. From what Sweetie Belle could perceive, she definitely wasn’t shy like the Fluttershy she knows, but still just as kind.

“Leader, we’ve had this um…. Pony.. Visit us saying she’s looking for someone. I think this might have something to do with the vision you had.” The young girl spoke calmly and bowed her head a little, looking somewhat nervous as if the older girl was an equivalent to Princess Celestia.

“Thank you for bringing her, your duties for today are finished, you may go play with your friends.” The ‘Leader’ as she has been called had a soft voice that to Sweetie Bell, reminded her of Fluttershy and Cheerilee acting like Princess Celestia in one voice.

“Oh thank you Leader, I hope I did well.” The nervous girl said as she began to leave but was stopped by the Leader.

“Silly child, you don’t have to call me leader all the time, just call me Willow.”

“Ok, Leader Willow!” The girl happily replied before leaving.

“I’m sorry about all that... Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Willow and I’m one of the last few faeries left on the planet of Ninsoare. The reason I’m here, is that a year ago, the Tungl Queen returned, but I think that she has turned evil and caused this long lasting winter. The Tungl Queen is this planet’s goddess and she helped form this world and the great republic we had, however one day she left us knowing we could take care of ourselves. Everything was fine until she returned however. Things started to freeze and grow cold, many have died, monsters that lived in peace now roam freely, and everything is falling apart. I have built a resistance here to stand up against this new Tungl Queen. However, you’re part in this worlds fate is small, but I had a vision that will give my world hope, and in turn help protect yours too.”

“So that must be why the Mane 6 were here! To defeat Nightmare Moon! Am I in the past?” Sweetie Belle was starting to understand a little more of what the Mane 6 were sent to do, and was more curious now as to what happened.

“I don’t know anything about these ‘Mane 6’ you speak of, but let me tell you of my vision which will answer your other questions. I had a vision of a tall blue unicorn, like yourself, who told me that the Tungl Queen that returned is a fake and that in a ditch effort has sent a warrior to take down the evil Tungl Queen to save Ninsoare and in turn, your homeworld. The thing that confuses me however is that there are rumors of four warriors here trying to defeat the evil Tungl Queen… Maybe they are the Mane 6 you speak of… But that’s not the point, the unicorn also told me that as a backup plan, she will guide another unicorn, a very young one, named Sweetie Belle, here in some way. When that happens, I need to take her, which is you, outside to the back door of this fort and wait. At that point, the unicorn will know what she needs to do to save her homeworld.”

“That’s weird… And I don’t know any tall blue unicorns… Oh well, I guess that all makes sense… But it still doesn’t answer if I’m in the past or not.”

Willow went over to a desk and grabbed a clock and brought it over along with a calendar.

“Compare to these? Do you have any time telling device with you?”

Sweetie Belle pulled out her clock. It didn’t help at all, but the date on the calendar is what shocked her. It was two weeks prior to the day she went through the portal, It was the day Snake disappeared. Sweetie Belle was now slightly upset at Apple Bloom, she had to wait about two weeks and ten minutes until she can go home. Apple Bloom must’ve changed the clock as soon as Sweetie Belle left or it just reset to the current time after the portal being opened once… Grrr… After the initial shock and explaining to Willow the situation, Willow offered Sweetie Belle some food before going out the back door to find out what the vision is talking about. After eating, they went out to the freezing cold to wait for whatever was supposed to happen. They stood there for fifteen minutes, with nothing happening.

“Do you think that something went wrong? Maybe it’s supposed to happen like, right before I need to go? I mean we can’t wait outside for two weeks, we’ll die.” Sweetie Belle noted.

“*sigh* I guess you’re right, I’ll have some sentries keep watch for anything unusual. They are usually more weather ready than us anyways.” Willow replied.
They went back inside for a while, with some people outside in the back keeping watch. Sweetie Belle talked with a bunch of the people there, asking if any of them knew Snake, all of them with the disappointing answer of never hearing his name before. An hour passed of boredom when one of the sentries ran inside to Willow and Sweetie Belle.

“There’s a guy out there! He just randomly appeared out of nowhere! He’s seriously injured and needs immediate medical attention!” The guard said, panicked slightly as if he never seen an injury that bad in his life.
Sweetie Belle and Willow rushed outside. When they got out there, they could hear a man’s loud cries of pain. Willow yelled out some commands and some people ran out and picked up the body and brought him inside, rushing him to a doctor’s room to be worked on. Sweetie Belle hardly knew what was going on. She recognized the man that was pulled past her on a stretcher. It was Snake, but he looked different, older, by at least twenty or thirty years. When she collected her thoughts, she ran to the room he was taken into. There were two doctors in there working furiously. They had Snake strapped down so he couldn’t hurt himself. Sweetie Belle saw the injury, a large hole in his chest, where his heart would be. The hole had some kind of electricity jumping around it. The little strands of electricity coursing through the wound were mainly colors of purple, green, but occasionally some tiny bits of pink, teal, and light blue.

Sweetie Belle knew that there wasn’t enough doctors or equipment to save Snake and yelled at them to stop and went up and hugged Snake.

“Sweetie Belle…. Thanks for stopping them; I need to tell you some…Thing…”

“What is it?” Tears were coming to Sweetie Belle’s eyes.

“You…Need... To be careful…. Don’t go to the castle… I have some notes in my pocket, they explain…. How to destroy…. Metal Gear...”

“Who did this to you!? Please don’t die on me Snake!” Sweetie Belle was crying hard now.

“Watch… Out… For Princess….Celestia…” Snake then was still. Sweetie Belle was extremely confused about all that Snake had said in his last words but didn’t worry about that now. She was a tiny bit happy she got to see him one last time, but overwhelmingly sad it was in this way. After a long amount of time crying and sobbing, she went to the room she was allowed to stay in until she could leave. Willow stopped by to give her the little notebook that Snake had on him. Sweetie Belle thanked her and Willow left, knowing Sweetie Belle wanted to be alone. Sweetie Belle looked through the notebook. It was a little journal of Snake’s life after his fight with Liquid Ocelot. She spent the rest of the two weeks learning about Snake and his friend Hal Emmerich and the little girl Sunny. On the last day, she got to the pages about the Metal Gear in Castle Celest. She read about how it was covered in ice and was firing beams of pure cold into a portal, which according to Snake, was a waste of what the machine was capable of, but unfortunately was being run by magic. It explained all the other ways Snake took down various other Metal Gears and that this was the last one in existence and needed to be destroyed.
When it was time to leave, Sweetie Belle said goodbye to Willow and her little resistance, which she still didn’t really understand what it was all about. She waited at the point she entered this planet waiting for Apple Bloom, carrying Snake’s body in a large bag. Don’t worry Snake, once we make you into a pony, we can destroy that Metal Gear and fix all this crazy stuff! And find out what you meant by ‘beware Celestia’. Right on time Apple Bloom opened up the portal, exactly ten minutes past the time Sweetie Belle left.

“Well that was quick, how’d ya’ find Snake so fast?” Apple Bloom asked.

“It turns out that you sent me there two weeks in the past! And did you reset the time after you sent me in!?” Sweetie Belle replied, acting angrier than she was.

“Oh, yeah… Oops, I shoulda’ known that changin’ the time to normal would alter when the portal would be open over there. Sorry ‘bout that Sweetie Belle.”

“It’s ok… Well let's hurry to Zecora’s with this thing. And I have a lot to tell you about what I heard there.”

The two fillies went to Zecora’s and stayed the night. In the morning, Fluttershy arrived with a jar of a pieced together wing. After she spoke with Zecora about the wing feathers being her late brother’s, Zecora empathized with Fluttershy and explained what she and the fillies needed to do. Fluttershy decided to donate all the feathers to help their cause. Scootaloo arrived around lunch time, much to everyone’s annoyance as they all needed the last feather that Scootaloo had. The fillies and Fluttershy all had to wait outside while Zecora worked, so that none would get in the way of this mysterious dark magic.

After about an hour, Zecora came outside and requested that Sweetie Belle come inside the hut. Sweetie Belle was told to pour some magic energy into the potion, because without some magic energy, it would only remain a potion. Sweetie Belle focused long and hard, after a few tries of no success, Zecora suggested that Sweetie Belle sing. Sweetie Belle was confused but decided to give it a shot, who knows, she might get a cutie mark in ponymaking (Zecora was hoping this would be the moment she realized her talent was singing). Sweetie Belle sang a song that featured Zecora about making a pony to help save Equestria (Sweetie Belle was happy that Zecora didn’t mes up the choreography). The song gave her the focus she needed to pour just enough magic energy into the potion to make it work. There was an intense long lasting flash of light that could be seen even from Ponyville. Zecora and Sweetie Belle ran out of the hut from the brightness. It shown brilliant colors of yellow, pink, rainbow (in Equestria, or at least Cloudsdale, this is counted as a color), blue, and green.

After a few minutes, the colors meshed and turned into purple, blue, and a light blue. When the light finally died down, the five ponies outside went over to the hut curiously. There was a thud on the door

“Ouch! Stupid… What is this? Feels like a door? Stupid door!” Is anyone here? Or anypony? Hello? I can’t see.” The voice inside the hut said.

“Don’t worry you soon will be able to see, just close your eyes and count two times to three.” Zecora said.

“Huh? Rhyming? Well, I guess I can try.” The pony closed her eyes and counted to three twice and opened them. She now could see, but it was still a little hazy and would be fine in a few minutes. She managed to come outside where everypony else was waiting to meet the new pony. She was purple with two shades of blue for her mane and tail. Her mane was blue and flat Pinkie’s when it was straight, but shorter and messier with a light blue stripe. Her tail was also blue but was similar to Fluttershy’s with a stripe of light blue in it. The one thing none of them expected however, was a cutie mark.

Zecora was the most surprised as her potion book had said that a cutie mark already being on a pony formed this way was extremely rare and the book wasn’t even sure if it was really possible. The unexpected thing for everpony else was what the cutie mark looked like. It was a lavender heart with a single closed eyelid on it, with teardrops under the eyelid. They’ve never seen such a depressing looking cutie mark ever.

“What are you all starin’ at? Is it my awesomeness?” The pony asked. She had a very Rainbow Dash aura around her as she spoke that everypony could sense.

“It’s just… Your cutie mark, it’s so….. Sad…..” Fluttershy said.

“Well, I don’t know how I got it, or how I got here, but it probably means something important.” It seemed as if the whole air around them just switched as soon as this pony replied to Fluttershy’s statement, the whole Rainbow Dash feeling completely gone, replaced by something new.

“So does this mean you’re my new pet? Since Snake was kind of my pet?” Sweetie Belle asked, but the question seemed more for Zecora to answer rather than the new pony.

“I am no ponies’ pet! And anyways, who’s this Snake you’re talking about?”

“That doesn’t matter, what matters is that Equestria is in danger and you’re here to help us.” Scootaloo said, changing the topic.

Fluttershy, ignoring what Scootaloo said, went up to the new pony to ask a question of her own, “Do…. Do you remember me at all? Zecora said you might have memories from your other lives…”

“Um…. Maybe? I don’t really know… My mind is hazy enough as it is, I might remember something in a few hours-“

Fluttershy started to cry and dashed off as the mare tried to finish her sentence. Zecora ran after her but Fluttershy just yelled that she needs time away from everypony and ran off. Zecora came back and explained, in rhymes, the whole situation that the new mare needs to reunite the Mane 6. She explains of how: Applejack lost her memory and went to Appleloosa to try to gain a fraction of it back; Pinkie Pie left to visit her sister because of some bad nightmares; Rarity has a new job in Fillydelphia; Rainbow Dash is busy in Cloudsdale and hardly ever sees anypony at all except Scootaloo occasionally; Twilight has locked herself in her library, making it basically an impenetrable fortress for reasons nopony knows; and that Fluttershy just ran off.

“So I’m supposed to find and convince like, six ponies to come back here ‘cause Equestria is in danger? That’s going to take forever! And I have no idea where they are anyways!” The pony pleaded.

“But ya’ gotta’ at least get mah’ sister and Sweetie Belle’s sister back, at least! Please? We can’t go out there on our own, we’re just fillies and we got school! Please, ah’ need Applejack back at the farm, even if she ain’t got her memory, ah’ still miss her!” Apple Bloom pleaded.

“Yeah, I miss Rarity… She doesn’t even write to me or anything and I bet Celestia won’t be too mad if Rarity turns down the job to come back here. The Princess will understand.” Sweetie Belle chimed in.

“Alright, I’ll at least help you with your sisters, I mean, it’s not like I have anything better to do. Who knows... Maybe I’ll remember some stuff about my past and figure out who I really am?” The purple mare replied.

Scootaloo spoke now, “Um… About your past, well you kinda don’t-“

“Don’t say a word little Scootaloo, about the conditions she came to us. If you do she’ll hate you, and all the evils will become victorious.” Zecora interrupted.

“Meaning, don’t tell me anything, I want to learn on my own. It could make my cutie mark make sense. I mean, I don’t know how I got here, or where I’m from, but all I want is to understand why my mind is so… Hazy... And confused… Like I don’t really know what my purpose is. I feel like I shouldn’t exist… But enough of that, I need to find your sisters, so I should get going.” The deep words confused the fillies a little, but understood that she’s really confused and will be fine once she got used to things. Zecora slightly pitied this pony; she was made using magic instead of natural ways. Zecora knew that there is a three way battle in this pony’s heart between the fractions of souls mixed together in one body, and it could even make the quest for her harder, but Zecora had faith that things would turn out fine, and didn’t show her pity and sorrow for this pony, to make sure the fillies have faith too.

“Well, I guess you’re right, you should get going, but we need to give you a name so we can contact you with my magic radio thing.” Sweetie Belle pulls out a modified version of the radio she used to contact Snake. She had the normal radio and a special headset for herself. “Here, take this radio, we can use it to keep in contact if you get lost or anything.”

“Oh, thanks, that may come in handy.” The pony took it along with an extra saddle bag Scootaloo gave to her.

“And before you are on your way, I have something that’ll make Applejack’s day.” Zecora adds as she went to grab a small vial. “When the time is right, and you see it is night, give this to Applejack, and she will get her memory back.”

“I think her name should be Fluttery Dash, you know, ‘cause of the feathers?” Scootaloo said to Sweetie Belle.

“No, that’s a ridiculous name, how ‘bout Thunderrunner? That one sounds kinda’ cool” Apple Bloom added.

“That has nothing to do with anything! And it might even be considered a colt’s name. I like Solid Dash.” Sweetie Belle said.

“Hey, I already have a name… It’s Rainchaser, Rain for short…. And I need to go save your sisters, so I don’t have time for all this. I promise you’re sisters will come back and be back to normal.” Rainchaser then grabbed her things and left in the direction of Appleloosa using a map she found in Zecora’s hut.

“Well, she’s quite interesting...” Sweetie Belle commented.

“Is it just me, or is she kinda' like a more serious version of Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo asked.

“Maybe at first, but she seems to have slight mood swings if you ask me. Did you see how her stance completely changed after the whole ‘I’m awesome’ thing, right when she responded to Fluttershy?” Sweetie Bell noted.

“Yeah, now that you mention it, she had the exact same Awesome pose as Rainbow Dash, and then it disappeared and was normal, as if nothing happened…” Scootaloo replied.

“Well, ah’ think we should get home an’ get ready for school tomorrow. We just gotta’ hope she can get AJ and Rarity back soon.” Apple Bloom added.

The three fillies left Zecora’s and headed home. All three were hopeful for Rainchaser, but were also confused about her weird nature. Only time would tell if their decision was a good one.