Of Pyreflies, Sky-Pirates and Ponies
Fortune Favours the Bold **
Yu Yevon Strikes Back
Fortune Favours the Bold **
Author: Draconis187
Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn resident of Ponyville was running through Canterlot Castle in an attempt to reach her mentor, Princess Celestia as quickly as possible. Her hoofsteps echoed loudly through the halls.
Outside the doors to the Throne Room stood two white unicorns, clad in the golden armour of the Solar Guard. They noticed Twilight’s hurry and opened the doors for her. As Twilight was about to enter through the door, she came face to face with Princess Celestia’s younger sister: Princess Luna. The dark blue Alicorn smiled at Twilight and they both entered the audience chamber.
Sat on her golden yellow throne was the white Alicorn known as Princess Celestia. Upon seeing her favourite student enter she began to walk down the steps and dismiss her guard with a mere gesture of her forehoof. At the foot of the throne, the three ponies met. It was then that Twilight Sparkle decided to voice her concerns.
“Princess, what is happening to Equestria?! There are reports of some form of creatures, terrorising the countryside! The train I came on got attacked by some bat like creatures with one huge eye!! I was lucky your guard intervened! What are these things and where did they come from?!” Twilight said fearfully, she failed to notice her body still shook.
Celestia hung her head and walked over to the balcony outside, gazing at a vast area of Equestria as she spoke.
“It pains me to admit… but I do not know. These creatures are unlike anything I’ve seen in all my years. One may assume they are from another world entirely. I am running out of options quickly as each nation believes it to be an attack by the other,” She said sadly.
“Whatever means they used to reach our world has since closed and our guards are barely keeping them in check. According to reports, every time they are defeated they fade away and are replaced by wisps that resemble the auroras. We need assistance from wherever they came from but we no not of any spell that allows such travel,” Luna said.
Twilight thought for a moment before an idea sparked in her head, making her grin broadly and giving her a sense of hope.
“There’s an odd rumour concerning the local clock maker: Time Turner. It’s a long shot but it’s all we got,” she said.
“We wish you good luck Twilight. Be safe,” Celestia said with that loving smile she has always been known to have. Twilight nodded her head and ran out of the Castle.
Rainbow Dash was waiting by Canterlot Station for Twilight to get back. The light blue Pegasus had already gotten impatient five minutes ago and she was hovering around the platform with a scowl on her face. She was about to ignore Twilight’s request that she waited for her when Rainbow noticed a lavender coloured dot coming up the street.
The two friends exchanged a quick greeting as they boarded the train. Rainbow wasted no time in coaxing Twilight to ‘spill the beans’ as she put it.
“So you think that Time Turner will be able to help?” Rainbow asked. Twilight nodded her head, “jeez, Twilight that pony is crazier than you are! I heard that when he first got here he said he- oh. I see your point, but what if your hunch is wrong and he is just a crazy pony?”
“Well, we’re doomed if I’m wrong. Do you know where Ditzy would be?” Twilight replied. Rainbow shook her head.
“Sorry, but I don’t do the mail route. I do the weather remember? Let’s ask Pinkie Pie when we get back. She knows everypony in Ponyville after all,” Twilight nodded in agreement as the train lurched out of the station.
There were more and more of these strange wisps appearing throughout the world. Every so often they would congregate and somehow transform into a creature, hell-bent on attacking everything on sight. Even Fluttershy was unable to tame them despite her affinity with animals of all shapes and sizes.
Once Twilight and Rainbow got off the train in Ponyville they headed straight for Sugarcube Corner. When they got there they found all their friends and the rest of Ponyville were sat at the tables, waiting outside and inside the shop. The pair found Pinkie inside, baking a cake, three trays of muffins and a single batch of assorted biscuits. Pinkie saw her friends enter and bolted to greet them.
Pinkie Pie was a pink Earth pony with cotton candy styled mane and tail which was slightly darker shade of pink. Pinkie couldn’t keep still she always seemed to be on a permanent sugar high.
“Hey Pinkie, have you seen Time Turner?” Twilight asked her hyperactive friend.
“Noperooni! I've been too busy baking to know where anypony is right now. But I guess he might be around here somewhere since Ditzy came in 5 minutes ago asking for a couple of English muffins,” Pinkie said sadly. Twilight smiled at her friend.
“Thanks, Pinkie I’ll look outside to see if I can find either of them,” As the two turned around, Pinkie called out to them.
“Dashie, would you mind helping me out please? The Cakes and I are up to our stockings with orders so I need somepony to take the orders to the customers outside while we bake and handle the ones inside, pleeeeeaaase? Pleasepleasepleaseplease?” Pinkie pleaded as she gave Rainbow the ‘puppy dog’ treatment.
“I dunno,” Rainbow replied, reluctantly.
“Help her Rainbow. I’ll be fine,” Twilight coaxed, “she obviously needs your help more than I do.”
Rainbow sighed, “fine.”
With Rainbow helping Pinkie out, Twilight was on her own. She didn’t mind since Pinkie looked like she really needed the help and hardly ever asked for it. The area outside Sugarcube Corner was bustling with ponies, all with worried expressions on their faces and it wasn’t about the time it was taking for their orders. An attack of such a broad scope in Equestria has not happened ever since the non aggression pact with the Griffon Empire was signed centuries ago. Twilight scanned the area up and down, looking for Ditzy Do or Turner.
Looking up she saw a grey Pegasus with several bubbles on her flank carrying a small brown bag with a muffin drawn on it. Twilight beamed, it was Ditzy Do. Twilight chased after her, shouting her name as loudly as possible.
Ditzy’s ears perked up as she recognised her name and turned around to see Twilight below her or it looked like she was. It was always hard to tell where Ditzy was looking since her eyes looked in two directions at once. She flew down and landed on the ground in front of Twilight.
“Thank goodness I found you Ditzy. Please tell me you’ve Time Turner,” Ditzy looked away and rubbed her head with her hoof, trying to remember, “Please try and remember Ditzy. For all I know he might help save Equestria.”
Ditzy then raised her hoof with a bright smile on her face. “Yes I remember, he went… um he went… darn I forgot, sorry Twilight.”
Twilight sighed and hung her head. Her one good lead and she forgot where she saw him. Twilight decided to change to a different question in an attempt to joggle her memory.
“Ditzy. Where were you going with the muffins?” Ditzy rubbed her head again, trying to think.
She then smiled at Twilight and nodded her head. “That I do remember. We usually meet by the bridge by town hall, the one leading to Carousel Boutique. He should be there now… waiting for the muffins I went to get! Oh no! I completely forgot, thanks Twilight! I needed to get some butter as well. See you Twilight!” With that outburst Ditzy flew off franticly to get some butter.
Twilight chuckled to herself as she walked towards the bridge Ditzy mentioned. Ditzy may be one of the best Mailponies in Equestria, but she was hopeless with everyday life. As she neared the bridge, she noticed her target. She saw a chestnut brown stallion with a darker brown mane that had a slight wild style to it, standing by the bridge. He looked towards the clock tower that stood in the distance, with a small frown on his face. On his flank was an hourglass, it was him: Time Turner. Seeing it was the pony she was looking for, she broke into a gallop and almost crashed into him.
“Time Turner, please tell me those rumours about you are true!” Twilight said quickly, with a look of desperation on her face. Turner rubbed his chin with his hoof.
“What rumours are you talking about, my dear?” Turner replied.
“The one about you coming from another world!” Twilight shouted, making Turner reel back in fright.
“Ok, ok. Was it really necessary to shout? My ears are quite sensitive I’ll have you know,” Turner complained as he rubbed his ears, “yes.”
“Yes?” Twilight started to smile slightly.
“Yes, I’m from another world. Happy now?” Turner said rather grumpily.
“How did you get here then?” Twilight inquired as she began to get excited.
Turner sighed, “in my TARDIS. Now why do you want to know so much about me? We hardly ever talk you know. Other than when you come into my shop to repair one of you clocks. Seriously, you should teach that dragon some etiquette with clocks. They are not toys.”
“Please, Turner. I need you to help me find out where these monsters are coming from,” Twilight asked.
“So, we need to triangulate the signal for whatever trans-dimensional portal these creatures used? I guess my breakfast would have to wait then, oh well. Although, we might meet Ditzy before we get to the TARDIS,” Turner’s expression changed drastically from a sombre mood to a more elated one at the mere prospect of chasing down the creatures’ point of origin.
They met Ditzy after going over the bridge leading to the farm and Turner got his breakfast: English muffins and butter. Turner then led Twilight to one of the apple orchards at Sweet Apple Acres. Ditzy left since she still had to finish her mail rounds for the day. Amongst the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres was a blue police telephone box which was rather strange since Equestria doesn’t have telephones in any form. Twilight was a bit apprehensive about this contraption but Turner just opened the door and walked in. After a few minutes he came back out.
“Well, come along then. It’s more interesting when you’re travelling with someone, sorry ‘somepony’ else, besides I'm not so good with getting people, ‘ponies’ - my apologies - to do as I ask. It’s usually once their lives are threatened that they start to listen to reason.” Thinking that she has probably gone insane, Twilight walked into the door and was inside a huge room.
“It’s bigger on the inside!” Twilight exclaimed, inadvertently making Turner laugh.
“I never get tired of hearing that!” Turner was laughing so hard he was holding his sides.
There was a huge pillar in the centre of the room, reaching the ceiling. At its base was a large circular panel that went around the pillar. It possessed a variety of knobs, levers and buttons of various sizes and colours. Turner went up to the panel and just started to pull levers, press various buttons seemingly at random.
The room started to shake violently and casing Twilight to fall down onto her flank. She heard a loud grinding and whirring sound that made her ears hurt. She turned to Turner who had an expression that said: ‘We’re off!’
“Turner, do you know where we are going?” Turner didn’t reply. He was too busy looking at one of the panels and uttering to himself.
“I need to find the portal’s signal and get the TARDIS to lock on to it but there are so many frequencies around Equestria, it is hard to find which coordinates are the ones we’re looking for! Oh well, I’ll pick… this one!” Turner said gleefully as he pressed a button.
The TARDIS gave a violent lurch and stabilized after a minute. Twilight was scared out of her mind and wondered what she had gotten herself into while Turner still had a big grin on his face. The TARDIS soon stopped making a noise and Turner walked up to the door and went out.
Twilight reluctantly followed Turner outside and found herself outside a Mayan styled temple.
Turner gave Twilight a curious look, “so… are we there yet?” Twilight looked around and ignored Turner’s lame joke.
“I don’t know, we may need to look around a bit,” Twilight responded as she walked up the temple steps.
As they got to the top of the temple, they looked out into the horizon: the land surrounding them was a vast, dense jungle that stretched for miles. There were some birds flying in the distance and a small mountain range to the north while a long, winding river ran to the south. The sound of a nearby waterfall accompanied by the sounds of the local wildlife gave the savage jungle an air of tranquillity.
“This doesn’t seem like the place Turner; we may need to try again.” Twilight said to Turner… who had vanished.
She could hear the sound of somepony walking inside the temple. Groaning she reluctantly went in after him. There was a large, square staircase leading into the depths of the temple.
Twilight groaned again and shouted loudly down the stairway, “I’ve only been back from the Crystal Empire for a week, do you know how many steps I had to go up and down when I was there?!”
She walked down the winding steps, complaining even more as she went. Once she reached the bottom there were four identical, torch lit hallways in four different directions.
She gave a heavy sigh, ‘Nothing is ever easy, is it?’ she thought.
She chose the one going east, making sure to mark the entrance with her magic in an attempt to avoid getting lost. The hallway seemed to wind on almost seemingly forever…
Meanwhile deep inside the temple…
Daring Do was neck-deep in trouble again: her foe Ahuizotl had put her in another death-trap. He was a grotesque creature: he had ape-like forearms and dog-like hind legs. He had a long thin tail that had a working hand on its end. His face had dog-like features and his eyes were positioned over his nose above his nose. Atop his head were long, thin and pointed ears.
Daring Do was strapped to a stone table in the centre of the room. The mustard coloured Pegasus looked around the room in disgust and turned to Ahuizotl.
“You do know you trapped in this room before Ahuizotl? What makes you think I won’t escape this time?” She said with a confident smile.
Ahuizotl laughed, “Because the one slight difference of this room Miss Do… the lever is outside the room.”
The last time she was trapped she deactivated it by bouncing the hat off the walls and hitting the lever. If the lever was outside, she was really in for it. Ahuizotl kept laughing maniacally as he left the room and pulled the lever. The stone door slammed shut; spikes came out of the walls and started to get closer; sand started to fill the room and an axe pendulum was swinging above her head, slowly getting closer to her with each swing. Her only hope was somepony helping her but it was unlikely as she worked alone. Was this the end of Daring Do?
Inside the twisting hallways…
Twilight could not make heads or tails of where she was going as every corridor looked completely identical to the next. She narrowly escaped death several times: she had axes thrown at her, the floor caved in under her but she saved herself by levitating parts of the floor so she could cross and used the same pieces to stop a door from closing in on her by wedging them in the frame. Whatever was inside this temple clearly did not want to found.
As she continued through the hallway she came at another crossroads. “Ugh, I swear that Turner is going to need a doctor when I'm through with him.” She said with an exasperated sigh.
She heard the sound of somepony getting closer to her location and she turned around to see where it was coming from. The sound echoed through every - otherwise silent - hallway, making it difficult to determine which direction it was coming from. Twilight felt a rush of wind behind her and jumped, turning around as she did so in an attempt to see what or whom it was. There was nothing there and the sound was fading away, indicating whatever it was well on its way. Twilight determined it did not sound like any pony, since it was not a clopping sound she heard.
With a sigh of relief Twilight continued on through the temple’s labyrinth. There were more traps but they had already activated, meaning somepony came through earlier. Twilight thought it may have been Turner who came through, although the mental picture of him dodging these traps did not seem right.
Twilight eventually reached the end of the hallway to find it shut. She looked around to see if there was a way to open it. She found a lone lever on the wall to her right. Using her magic to pull it, the door opened and she was greeted by a tidal wave of sand. After regaining her hoofing she saw somepony strapped to a stone table. The pony’s coat colour and greyscale rainbow mane seemed familiar. As she got close enough to get a look she recognized the pony’s face, but she was from a book!
“Quick, untie me! We don’t have much time!” Shouted Daring Do. After Twilight untied her, Daring led them both out the temple with surprising ease. After they reached the top they were greeted by Turner.
“Why hello Twilight, I wondered where you vanished. I see you’ve met Daring Do,” He said with a smile. Twilight walked up to him and bucked him in the side. “OW! What the hell was that for?”
“That was for leaving me in alone in a world that comes from a book!” She shouted, seething with rage. Daring Do rubbed her head, confused by these strange ponies. She shook her head, she had to focus on the task at hand (or hoof depending from which perspective you're looking at this).
“Thanks for getting me out of that tight situation, Twilight but this is where we part. I need to stop Ahuizotl as quickly as possible. Nice seeing you again Doctor,” As she was about to leave Turner grabbed her by her tail. She swung around quickly and looked ready to buck the offender.
“Do you even know where he went? If you are referring to that hideous dark purple creature it went in the direction of the mountain over there,” He pointed to the three mountain peaks, “I believe you may require some assistance in this matter, after all a lady should not brave such evils alone.”
“Listen here buster: I've beaten Ahuizotl several times. I've escaped death by the skin of my hooves more times than I care to count. So if you think I can't handle myself in a situation, you are sadly mistaken. I am the greatest treasure hunter to have ever lived! I am Daring Do!” She shouted and she flew off, heading for the mountains Turner pointed out. Turner just smiled and looked at Twilight.
“So we are back here of all places? That is fascinating. The TARDIS must think that something here will be of use to us. Otherwise it would’ve never come here. Come along, Twilight. Daring Do needs assistance,” Twilight looked at him, confused.
“Why? She obviously doesn’t want our help. I suggest we head back to your box and try again,” As she made for the steps, Turner stopped in front of her with a stern look on his face.
“I know when someone – sorry, somepony – needs help, they may say one thing but their actions say another. She seemed unsure of herself after she came out the temple. She must have almost lost her life. I know when someone has lost their will to go on, but they carry on anyway because they know no-one else will take their place.” He said calmly yet with a serious tone to his voice. Twilight nodded and together once again, they set off for the mountains.
The sun had already set by the time they reached the mountain range. They managed to find an entrance leading into one of the smaller mountains. Knowing they had to be careful they slowly walked inside. As they ventured further and higher inside the mountain they soon met up with Daring Do again. She seemed hurt as she rubbed her wing. She turned around and saw the ponies. She smiled slightly but that quickly turned to anger.
“Why did you come? I told you, I've got this.” She said.
“We are coming Daring, whether you like it or not. Besides, you’re hurt, you are going to need help,” Twilight said.
Daring sighed and the trio made their way up more stairs. ‘If I never see another staircase again it will be too soon’ Twilight thought with disdain. They eventually came to a circular chamber supported by three stone pillars; there were markings etched into the stone floor in a circular pattern and there was a circular opening in the ceiling of the dome, giving a clear view of the sky above. They hid behind a rock formation near the entrance.
Ahuizotl sat on a stone throne surrounded by a jaguar, a panther, a lynx and… a white house cat? Daring saw the confused look on Twilight’s face and chuckled a little. As Ahuizotl’s voice boomed through chamber there was another deeper, more demonic sounding voice. It sounded like the voice was coming from him but they were slightly out of sync, with Ahuizotl’s first and the other one just behind it. He got up and walked into the centre of the pillars’ stone circle.
“Is that you Daring Do?” He sniffed the air, “I can smell you and your friends, I thought you worked alone since that ‘accident’ you had with that friend of yours?” Daring hung her head.
The three came out of hiding and came to a stop outside the stone circle. Ahuizotl’s claws and teeth had become longer. His eyes had turned almost completely black while his coat turned a midnight black. He had a horn protruding from the centre of his head and he… had bat wings? Everypony looked afraid, except Turner. He looked as though he sees this sort of thing everyday. Ahuizotl’s cats were cowering behind him. He looked at the trio and laughed maniacally.
“So Daring how do I look? In just a few minutes I will have the full power of Nightmare Moon herself! The world will be mine and there is nothing you can do to stop me!” He said, with that demonic voice starting to pick up its pace with his original one.
Daring looked to the others and whispered, “If we had that Unity Dagger we may be able to reverse the ritual by stabbing it into his heart. You stall him while I look for it.” The others nodded and Turner walked closer too Ahuizotl.
“So how is this new world order going to come about, eh? A huge display of power, or are you going to kill off ponies until they submit? There are so many ways of subjecting a population, but the real question is why should you stop here? I'm not from here, I came from another world,” That part got Ahuizotl’s complete attention. Twilight was shocked that Turner would use their means of getting help and home as leverage against a near all-powerful monster.
Daring Do was circling around the chamber searching for the Dagger. When she came up to Ahuizotl’s cats, they were still too scared to stop her. They just watched her go past them. “Wimps” she muttered under her breath as went by.
On the floor at the base of one of the pillars covered in blue-red blood was the Dagger. Picking it up with her hoof she snuck back around. Turner was keeping Ahuizotl occupied by recounting some of his adventures and the worlds he has been to in the TARDIS. Tugging on Twilight’s tail Daring showed her the Dagger.
It was simple in design: the blade was about 15cm long and it was slightly curved while the edge was not serrated. The handle wrought from silver with a ruby inset as a pommel. Ahuizotl saw them and by using the magic in the horn on his head, wrenched the blade from Daring and brought it to him. He twirled it between his claws with a big grin on his face.
“Very smart, Daring but sadly it will do you no go-” Ahuizotl was cut off as the blade was forced into his chest by Turner’s hoof.
While Turner was talking, he was slowly edging himself closer to Ahuizotl so he could react quickly enough. Ahuizotl was distracted long enough by his own over-confidence which gave Turner his opportunity. At first nothing happened and as Ahuizotl removed the blade from his chest, the cut it made started to glow a bright white colour.
Turner retreated back to the two mares as the light started to intensify until it engulfed the room. There was a huge crashing noise and once the light faded they saw Ahuizotl on top of the remains of the throne out cold. In the stone circle was a black gas.
As the trio looked on, electricity arced and crackled between the pillars. An unearthly wind kicked up and then the lightning coming from the pillars struck at the gas.
With each strike the gas was diminishing in size, the wind blowing around the outside of the circle prevented anypony from getting close. Once the gas became the size of a cannonball, a white light shone through the opening in the ceiling and the gas shot up out of the chamber at high speed. Leaving Ahuizotl to his cats the trio left the chamber with a smile on their faces.
The three eventually left to Turner’s TARDIS and Daring felt an odd feeling she hadn’t in a long time. This was the first time in a while that Daring had made any friends and she was going to lose them just as quickly. As Turner unlocked the TARDIS and went in, Daring shot inside after him. Twilight went in after them.
“What are you doing, Daring?” Twilight asked.
“You helped me so I'm going to help you. It has been some time since I've journeyed alongside anypony other than me. The prospect of seeing another world is too tempting to pass up. I want to know what The Doctor has gotten himself into this time,” Daring said with an arrogant smile on her face that Twilight was all too familiar with. ‘I know only one other pony who has that expression.’
Turner seemed apprehensive at first but gave in. He knew Daring is not a mare that will take no for an answer. Twilight closed the door and the TARDIS fired up its dematerialization circuitry. ‘Dash is going to flip when she sees this’ thought Twilight as they continued on their journey to find the world the monsters came from.
“Turner, what does Daring mean by The Doctor?” Twilight asked.
