Equestria Bound

Since Fluttershy had gotten abducted, the city had been a tad more quiet, especially the mane 6. However, that didn't stop them from building the city. They would build it in the honor of Fluttershy. That meant they were going to work the hardest they had ever done. Through the weeks and months, no work was let up, and nopony complained. They worked until at every corner, there was a building ridiculously big standing before them. The opening ceremony of Maneside was taken place in front of the new and improved Punch Cavern.

At the ceremony, Ruby Black stood on a podium, announcing the opening of Maneside City.

“As we all know, a main contributor of the building of this city was abducted by Porky's army not but a week or two ago. That pony was Fluttershy, a pony so innocent she couldn't cause harm if she tried. Who knows what they've done to her? I shudder to think about it, and here we are, opening this city to the world. We've persevered through the toughest of times to achieve our goal, and we've finally done it. Let us use this spirit that we have to persevere through this war! We will find Fluttershy, and put an end to Porky and his minions once and for all!”

The crowd of ponies cheered and raised their hooves in the air with spirit and attitude.

“Then let it be so! Let the city of Maneside be OPEN!”

The crowd cheered and started clapping, but the clap rather sounded like a clop. Ruby smiled and stepped down to greet her friend.

“You're quite the public speaker, Rubes.” Berry said as she nudged Ruby.

“Heh, thanks, Berr. Nothing left to do now but win a war. That pork-copter that abducted poor Fluttershy... it headed north. I've informed our Princess of this and she has already sent her best spies north to see if anything resides there.”

“Hopefully so, 'cause I wanna kick their flanks!” Berry said enthusiastically, punching the air with her hooves.

“Yeah, me too, Berr, me too.” Ruby said while looking up at the building. She saw Fluttershy in her thoughts.

Please be okay, Fluttershy.

“... Oh hey, Rubes”

Ruby's thoughts were popped as she heard Berry call her name.

“Wha? Oh, yes, Berr?”

“Sorry to break your thoughts, but because you are the designer of most of this town, does this mean you're gonna be the mayor?”

Ruby was shocked, she didn't think of that.

“Oh, uhhh... I honestly don't know. Never crossed my mind.” Ruby began thinking of her being a mayor of a huge city. What an adventure that would be.

“Well, I think you should! You're very protective, loyal and trustworthy! I'd think you'd make a great mayor! I'ma tell the people that we need a mayor, and that destined pony is you!”

“Well, Berry, wait a minute...”

Too late, Berry was already up on the podium, and everypony grew silent and stared at her. Berry grabbed the microphone confidently.

“Y'know, it crossed ol' Berry's mind here that we forgot to cover something. Can anypony guess what that is?”

All the ponies looked at each others, unable to figure it out.

“A mayor! We need somepony to run a huge city!”

The ponies' eyes opened wide, as a bunch of “oh yeah”s and “forgot about that”s were heard through the crowd.

“Ain't it obvious who we need for our mayor? Nopony else can do it but the designer herself, Ruby Black!”

Now a lot of “yeah”s and “Go Ruby!”s were in the crowd as cheering got louder gradually.

“Ruby's gonna make this city the real deal. She hasn't had a job since she entered Ponyville, and she had the potential to order the making of a city bigger than Manehatten. She's also our key for winning this war. A pony with as much knowledge as her is more than qualified for mayor!”

Now it was decided, Ruby wouldn't just be the lead planner for the war, she would be the mayor of Maneside City. Now it was time for the ceremony to be over. Ruby and Berry headed straight for the place that made them the most happy, Punch Cavern.

______________________________________________________________________

“You really changed this place up, Rubes. I gotta hand it to ya.” Berry Said as she took a sip of blueberry punch.

“Hey, thanks, Berr. Ever since PK Starstorm Omega, everything's been going wacko for the better, excluding the kidnapping of Fluttershy.”

“Don't blame yourself for anything bad that has happened. It's all Porky. Honestly, I've had nightmares about him. I even saw him once I think. It's like he controls my dreams.” Berry shivered.

“Saw him? What did he look like?” This peaked Ruby's curiousity.

“He... was in a spider like robot with scythes. I couldn't see his eyes, his ugly, long mane covered them. He looked quite chubby, as well.” Berry was trying to remember the faint memory as well as she could.

“How old did he look?”

“Old. Very, very old. Like, 80 years old. Old fart.” Berry's eyes squinted as she took another sip of punch.

“That's because he's... immortal.”

Berry put her punch down and looked at Ruby with an agitated face.

“...You're shitting me. How are we suppose to kill somepony who CAN'T DIE?” Berry slammed her punch on the table.

“We imprison him. We imprison him to a place where he can't get out.”

“And where might that be?”

“The Lost Underworld, where he tried to control me. I can banish him there if I use all of my strength.”

“If it means risking losing you in the process, I'm not letting you do it.”

“I shouldn't be lost, PK Starstorm Omega is my true power, and banishing a fat man to a realm really shouldn't take much more than that.”

“Well, alright, if you say so. I'm getting really worried 'bout Flutty. I hope she's alright...” Berry looked down with a stressed face. Ruby reached over to give her a comforting hug.

“It'll be alright, we'll find Flutty.”

“That's what I'm concerned about. We will find her... I'm just worried we'll find her as a lifeless body...”

“To be honest, I can't make any promises there, but one way or another, we'll find her.”

“What an innocent pony. Porky really is a dick.”

Ruby finally let go of the hug, but kept a hoof on Berry's shoulder.

“Kill him or not, we're gonna beat his ass. I assure you that.” Ruby had a big smile on her face. A smile of reassurance.

“Thanks, Rubes. Hey... uhh... do you mind if you... stay with me tonight?” Berry was very shy saying that, as if the words hurt coming out.

“Huh? Why do you ask? Your voice, it isn't like you to ask a question like that.”

Berry slowly whimpered her answer. “...I'm scared... of Porky...”

“We all are, and that's why this war is being fought.”

Ruby would have responded with a yes naturally. However, this wasn't like Berry, and Ruby suddenly thought she didn't know her friend as much as she thought she did.

“I... I don't wanna be alone knowing that I could become Fluttershy... I... I need somepony with me, to remind me I'm safe. I'm not as confident as you may think I am...”

“Berr, why would you act so confident then? Why didn't you tell me long ago you needed somepony?”

“I only wanted you to think that I was strong enough to protect myself, so you didn't have to waste your time to make sure I'm okay... I'm sorry... I only wanted to impress you...” Berry looked down, ashamed of herself. Ruby took one hoof and lifted her face back up.

“But you have impressed me! You've learned up to PK Beta casts! No normal pony can do that.”

“No, I mean a pony that can stand up for herself. That's all I wanted anypony to think of me as.”

“Berry Punch, you've been the most amazing friend anypony could ask for, and for that, I am in your debt. Who cares if you're shy? Be yourself. That's more brave than a lot of ponies are. Being brave is not about protecting yourself, it's about being yourself. Get a hold of yourself and let's head back to your place for the night. I'll be there if anything happens.”

“I... uhh... thanks. Thanks a lot, Ruby.” Berry grew a huge, happy smile and hugged Ruby. Berry had called her “Ruby”. It was never Ruby. It was either Rubes or Rube or something like that. This was the real her.

“Anything for you, Berr, anything for you.” Ruby gladly accepted the hug and smiled. A tear ran down Berry's cheek. A tear composed of absolute joy.

Later that night, back at Berry's cozy little home, around 2:30 AM, the two ponies were ready to head off to bed, but they were too tired to even leave the couch they were sitting on. So Berry reached over and grabbed some covers that were hanging over the couch and a pillow that was on the couch for comfort, and the two ponies leaned against each other, cuddling.

“Y'know, Rubes, it's been the adventure of a life-time with you. I'm so happy that I met you, even if Porky wins, I'd die happy knowing I met you.”

The 2 ponies weren't even looking at each other, they were looking out the window, at the beautiful night sky, smiling.

“I could say the same about you. You made my life a masterpiece, and it's not even over. There will be sad moments and heartbreaking scenes ahead of us, I can tell. For me, though, all that matters is that I had the best adventure anypony could dream of with the friendliest pony I've ever met.”

“Win or lose, this is one adventure that will go in the books, with our names in them. I look forward to reading those books and reliving this amazing adventure.”

“It isn't over yet, Berr. Not by a long shot. Yaaaawn. I'm sticking... with you... to the... very... end.”

Ruby slowly closed her eyes.

“No, it ain't ruby. It ain't over 'til the... fat pony's... banished.”

With that, the two ponies had fallen asleep on each other, wrapped in each others' arms, blankets covering them, waiting for the beautiful sunshine to wake them up in the morning. There was no greater bond in the universe at that moment than the two ponies, cuddling up together in a house, in the middle of a huge city. There were no couples that shared the same bond. There were no other living beings with the same feelings. The two ponies, fighting an evil man set on world destruction, and hunting a lost girl, were the happiest they could ever be. The friendship of these two couldn't be matched. Their friendship was indeed Magic.

Tomorrow would be the turning point of the war, Ruby and Berry knew it. Their knowledge of that point spread across town. The city ponies knew it, somehow, and prepared for tomorrow. It was time to win a war, and everypony was more confident than ever, especially Berry and Ruby. With the power of trust, anything is possible, and it's one thing Porky and his minions lacked. The bond between them was not strong enough. Either way, Porky was to lose the war, and the evil being knew it, it was just a matter of how much he could make them suffer. He probably felt like a mischievous, successfully evil man by kidnapping Fluttershy, but that ended up making Maneside stronger than anything in the world. Ruby's side of the war was unbeatable. All she had to fulfill now was her inevitable victory, which meant finding Fluttershy.