1. Warrior Women

QUIRKISTAN, THE SEVEN DESERTS

One of the pegasi descended, and a tall, statuesque woman with a brunette coif and several deep wrinkles that betrayed her age dismounted. Fluttershy could only stare at the pegasus, transfixed by the non-talking animal that she was used to seeing in droves at the marketplace back home, gossiping and bartering.

"So you are the ones," the tall woman said, looking directly at the area where the six Equestrians had gathered.

"What ones would that be?" Applejack asked with suspicion, raising her eyebrow.

"The ones who can help us reclaim our kingdom," the woman said, deadpan. "The arrows did choose you, did they not?"

"They're on Galifem," Jasmine realized.

"If the 'they' to whom you refer includes an arrogant youth dressed in blue, his heartless advisor in red, and a particularly curious sort of flying sea creature, then yes, 'they' are on Galifem," the woman said. By now, the other pegasi had landed, and the other four women dismounted as well. One of them, a short, plump woman sporting a metal breastplate and a shock of red hair, rushed to her taller counterpart's side.

"You can't take our friends into your army!" Jasmine barked, causing confusion amongst the six Equestrians.

"Whether they shall remain permanent fixtures in our army is yet to be seen," the tall woman informed Jasmine. "I would like to remain in the present moment."

She turned to the six Equestrians. "I am Queen Hippsodeth of Galifem," she introduced.

Twilight rolled her eyes and gave a slight snort.

"What was that?" Hippsodeth raised a brow, staring down Twilight.

"Nothing," Twilight muttered. "Just that the hurricane of puns never stops blowing…"

"Show some respect!" Applejack hissed, elbowing Twilight in the stomach so she was forced to bow; Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash bowed as well.

"When the usurpers overtook our land," Hippsodeth explained, "we found ourselves outmatched. After all, the advisor is a powerful genie, and the young one has access to all of the defense mechanisms we once put in place to defend ourselves from outsiders. Our military has long been determined by the golden arrows; they seek capable female warriors, and from their decision, we have added to our ranks. With no other choice, we fired a volley of arrows into the air in hopes that they would lead us to aid. All but six returned to us."

"Well, you look like new faces around here!" the redhead said excitedly in a high-pitched tone. "We've certainly never seen you before! Oh, I'm Scara, Queen Hippsodeth's lieutenant, and I'm hoping we'll get along just fine!"

"So…you just drafted us into your army," Rainbow Dash clarified. Then she shrugged. "Cool."

"Not 'cool,' Rainbow Dash," Aladdin corrected. "Once the Galifems pick a warrior, they keep her forever and never let her go home unless she fights her way out."

"It's a little bit of a shock at first," Scara added, "but soon you find you fit right in!"

"Actually," Hippsodeth clarified, "in light of recent events pertaining to your princess, we are considering abandoning that practice in favor of letting those chosen by the golden arrow decide whether to stay with us or remain in their homelands. It is, however, only a consideration. Many of us will soon be leaving Galifem, and we must have warriors to take our places."

"But why only women?" Applejack inquired.

At this question, Hippsodeth's eyes seemed to be focusing on something only she could see rather than where her face was pointed. A slight melancholy overtook her voice; "Galifem was created as a sacred space. A land where women could have strength rather than be relegated to the handmaidens of our brothers. To think that our land has been taken over by these…these men…"

"Oh, I thought the younger one was quite handsome," Scara interrupted.

Hippsodeth glared daggers at Scara before continuing. "It is unforgivable."

"What's with the man-hating?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Isn't that kinda unfair to lock out all men?"

"No, Rainbow Dash…" Twilight responded. "I…I think I kind of understand. You see, not everywhere is like our Equestria. In lots of places, men hold a lot of power that women don't get. Think about it. Except for the rainforest, everywhere we liberated had a king in charge. I think these women needed a place where they wouldn't have to worry about that."

"I still think it's unfair," Rainbow Dash insisted.

"You may think that," Hippsodeth told her. "I will not fault you. I will, however, say that we Galifems do not hate men. Quite the contrary. If any of us should fall in love with a man, which has often happened, we have the right to leave Galifem, authority such as myself permitting, and join the kingdom of our lover. It is something I myself have considered…though, again, it is only a consideration. Time will tell whether or not a marriage with the one I desire would indeed prove fruitful."

"Marriage…to my father?" Jasmine broke in, which caused the Equestrians to do a double-take.

"You're in love with the SULTAN?" Pinkie asked incredulously.

"His playful demeanor hides an inner strength I admire," Hippsodeth replied. "As for his outward cheerfulness, it is refreshing to me. He is the only one who has ever defeated me in combat, and from the looks of his daughter, he would not stifle the strength of a woman."

"I had to do a little convincing to teach him that I could do just fine on my own," Jasmine admitted, "but he knows that I can take care of myself…and the same for Hippsodeth."

"When I leave my post," Hippsodeth stated, "I was to pass the throne on to my lieutenant, Scara. However, it seems that she too has fallen in love with King Pector…who SHOULD be the one on her mind instead of certain vain intruders…"

"Oh, no, no, no, I LOVE Pector!" Scara insisted. "I'm just saying that the usurper is…pretty! From an, um, objective point of view?"

"Been there," Twilight huffed.

"No one could replace Pector for me!" Scara insisted with such force that those around her knew she spoke the truth.

"It shall fall to Scara to select an heir," Hippsodeth concluded. "However, all that is lost if I do not have our throne to begin with, and if the usurpers continue to use our defenses to torment us. Will you warriors join us in the reclamation of Galifem?"

"I'm there!" Rainbow Dash volunteered.

"Count me in," Rarity agreed.

"Same here," Applejack said with a nod.

"Um…I'll try my best," Fluttershy said timidly, ducking behind Pinkie Pie.

"I'll do it! I'll do it!" Pinkie cried as she hopped up and down.

"Of course we'll help you get your kingdom back," Twilight promised.

"And we'll help, too," Aladdin added.

"I don't know," Twilight told him. "I kind of think…this is something just the women should do."

"But I can help!" Aladdin insisted.

"It's important that they have their place back," Twilight insisted. "We can handle it on our own."

"I still don't get why it's just gotta be women," Rainbow Dash admitted, "but you guys could use a break anyway."

"At the very least, I can go," Jasmine spoke up. "But I'm not staying in your army forever."

"That we understand well, Princess," Hippsodeth replied. "In that case, shall we be off?"

"Let's all go together at least to the edge of Galifem!" Scara suggested. "Then we can split up from there after we give the new girls their training!"

"Training?" Fluttershy squeaked.

"You will need to be armed for this battle," Hippsodeth informed her.

Fluttershy didn't respond; instead, she trembled and let out a small squeal of trepidation.

"Charting coordinates for Galifem!" the Genie announced, transforming into the jet. Hippsodeth, Scara, and the other three warriors remounted the pegasi, causing Rainbow Dash to cringe, and the rest of the group took their places on either the Carpet or the seats of the Genie-jet. The pegasi lifted off first, and the others followed.

---

GALIFEM, THE SEVEN DESERTS

"Now this is an example," Mozenrath said with satisfaction, "of what I call satisfactory power without magic."

He stood before an array of ropes and levers situated around a stone counter in the palace of Galifem, a white, pillared building that resembled a temple. The throne at the atrium's center was ignored, some feet away. Mozenrath flipped a few switches at random and pulled several ropes, smirking as he imagined which booby traps he'd activated across Galifem and who had fallen prey to them.

"I've been thinking," he continued; Jafar watched him from a few paces back. "Given the track record, we can pretty much guarantee that Aladdin and his little Elements of Harmony are going to show up. When, not if, that happens, I'm going to pull out all the stops on the defenses to keep them from getting here. Of course, there's a large chance that won't work, and they'll march in and we'll have to run. I could track them down and separate them again, but we all saw how well that worked last time…and this time, I have a much better idea."

"And that idea is?" Jafar asked out of curiosity.

"First, we wait to see if we can stop them on our own," Mozenrath replied. "Then, if we fail, which I'll admit is likely, I'm going to take us back to the Black Sands. We'll leave a trail for them to follow, and they'll come running…right where I want them." He clenched his right fist. "Into the palm of my hand." He smirked. "I think I know what I want my second wish to be."

"And what would that be?" Jafar inquired.

"You'll see," Mozenrath answered cryptically. "After all…you'll be granting it."

---

The land of Galifem was gorgeous from above; even those who knew of the dangers that lay within it had to admit that. The sight of the neon-green gardens dotted with gleaming white marble buildings and statues pierced through the cloud cover as the fleet of pegasi plus one Carpet and one Genie-jet descended to a small white building on the very edge of the realm.

The building looked like a warehouse of some sort—blocky, made of smooth marble walls and sealed with great double doors adorned with carvings of gorgons, chimaeras, and a host of other magical creatures. Once the traveling heroes were on foot, Hippsodeth gestured to the building. "The only place we never outfitted with defenses," she said before hauling one of the great doors open and leading the others inside.

An entire army of women, clad in the same short white dresses and black sandals, looked toward the door at Hippsodeth's approach. "We have found the new warriors," she announced, and a murmur of excitement rippled through the crowd gathered in the empty storeroom. "With the right training, they should be able to determine our success when we relaunch the attack upon the palace. I will need six targets set up, and six warriors to donate their spare bows and quivers. No arguments."

Hippsodeth led Scara, the other three Galifems from the Quirkistan expedition, Aladdin, Jasmine, the Genie, the Carpet, Abu, Iago, and the six Equestrians inside the warehouse. "This was where we kept our practice targets," she said offhandedly. "We did not feel the need to worry about anyone stealing them. After all, we are more used to practicing on…moving targets."

"Please tell me she means bullseyes on pulleys," Applejack whispered.

"Nope," Aladdin whispered right back.

"Ah, here we are!" Hippsodeth exclaimed as her soldiers retrieved six bullseyes from the back of the storeroom and set them up in a line, backing off. Six soldiers reluctantly handed over golden bows and quivers filled with golden arrows; Hippsodeth placed a bow and quiver before each target. "Take your places. Jasmine, I see no need to train you, as you have already undergone our regiment."

"I don't know about this," Fluttershy protested softly. "I'm just not very good with weapons…at least, I don't think I am. I've never tried to fight anyone."

"Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash said sternly. "You are one of the best fighters I know. You beat up and flipped a bear!"

"Oh, but that was only a misunderstanding," Fluttershy retorted. "He had an awful cramp in his neck, and I had to use some of my more extreme massage techniques."

"You can do this," Rainbow Dash insisted. "Just…just watch me, okay?" She walked over to one of the bows, picking it up as well as an arrow. "You just put the arrow in the bow like this—"

"Not so fast," Hippsodeth interrupted. "These are no ordinary arrows. With concentration, you should be able to bend them to your will."

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash was confused.

"You mean she can use them like magic?" Twilight asked.

"They are a sort of magic," Hippsodeth confirmed. "A sort that even the nonmagical can use."

Rainbow Dash fitted the arrow to the bow, drew back the string, and let it fly. The arrow hit just off center of the bullseye. "Well, that didn't seem very magical."

"You're not doing it right," Twilight chided. "You have to find this…place in your mind. A special place where you channel what you want to do, and then you let it…come out. Watch this." She took her position before another target, picking up the bow and an arrow. She clumsily set the arrow in position in the bow before drawing the string back and letting it snap forward. The arrow missed the target, eventually plunging into the wall behind it, but in the middle of its flight, it blazed with a glowing light, and it sunk far deeper into the wall than an ordinary arrow would have been able to do. The Galifems applauded.

"Not bad, for a first try," Hippsodeth congratulated. "Though your aim needs work."

Twilight grinned sheepishly.

Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack took up posts at the targets, hoisting up bows and arrows. Applejack was the next to let an arrow fly; midway through flight, the shaft turned green and sprouted tendrils. The arrowhead pierced just outside the middle of the target, and the tendrils grew on, clutching at the edges of the bullseye until they were choking it. This drew more applause from the Galifems. "So that's what usin' magic's like," Applejack remarked.

"I'll get it eventually!" Rainbow Dash grumbled, loosing two more arrows. They hit the bullseye, but neither changed form.

"WHEEEEEEE!" Pinkie loosed arrow after arrow, watching each of them burst into flame before hitting the bullseye. "This is fun!"

"Careful, Pinkie Pie!" Twilight gasped. "You'll set the whole place on fire!" She aimed her next arrow at Pinkie's target, willing it to become a spray of water that doused the flames.

"Awwww, my fire…" Pinkie mourned before picking up another arrow. This one burst into flame even as she set it on the bow.

"No more fire!" Twilight snapped.

Pinkie reluctantly willed the flames away. However, when the next arrow hit the target, the entire target exploded, and Pinkie clapped victoriously. "WOOHOO!" Twilight couldn't help but grin at her happiness.

"I've…almost…got it!" Rainbow Dash growled, loosing another arrow with no results. She sighed and turned to face Fluttershy. "Well, at least I can show you how to set it. Just put it in the bow like this." She nocked another arrow.

Fluttershy copied her movements with shaking hands, her arrow trembling upon the bow.

"Hold it as steady as possible," Rainbow Dash said, "and then…let it fly." She let go of the string. The arrow once again thudded directly into the bullseye with no extra magic about it.

"Okay…" Fluttershy said weakly.

"And don't forget to put your will into it as you're letting it off the bow!" Twilight reminded; her own shots were getting closer and closer to the middle of the target.

Fluttershy gulped, then closed her eyes as she let go of the bowstring. The arrow zipped through the air, transforming into a small cyclone during its path; the circular winds hit the target, spinning it round and round before collapsing it.

"Did I do okay?" Fluttershy asked without opening her eyes.

"Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash said incredulously. "You just caused a mini-tornado!"

"I did?" Fluttershy looked at the fallen target. "Did I really do that?"

Meanwhile, Applejack glared at Rarity, who was constantly readjusting her arrow's position on the bow. "You gonna actually shoot," she snapped, "or you just gonna fix your aim all day?"

"Patience, Applejack." Rarity raised her arrow by a hair, then lowered it by a smidgen. "Perfect." She let it fly; it transformed into a jet of water that hit the target dead center.

"A little water?" Applejack teased. "That all you got?"

"It's clean," Rarity defended proudly.

"I wanna try something," Twilight suggested. "Rarity, can you fire another one of those?"

"Surely," said Rarity. She nocked another arrow, adjusting its aim up, down, left, and right. When she had a perfect lineup, she let the arrow fire.

At the same time, Twilight sent an arrow flying toward Rarity's target. It turned into a streak of snowflakes that intercepted Rarity's arrow just as the latter became water. As a result, a spear of ice penetrated the bullseye.

"Wonderful!" Rarity cried.

"Mind if I borrow your eye?" Twilight asked embarrassedly. "I'm…not doing so well." None of her arrows had hit the center yet, and a few more had planted in the wall.

"Of course not, dear," Rarity said. "Shall we practice that again?"

"AAAAUUUUUUGH!" Rainbow Dash was close to snapping her bow in frustration. "Why isn't this WORKING?"

"Oh, it's difficult at first," Scara assured her, "but you'll be shooting like a pro in no time!"

"But I don't get it!" Rainbow Dash complained. "What are you even saying? Magic? Will? I know how to fire an arrow, and that's it!"

"Try thinking of it like a Sonic Rainboom," Twilight suggested. "You know how you have to focus completely on where you're going? You put that kind of focus into…whatever you want to happen. Whatever you think you're good at."

"Like I haven't been trying that!"

"Giving up is only a sign that you do in fact lack the proper focus," Hippsodeth chided.

"I know you can do it, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said. "You can do anything! I believe in you."

Rainbow Dash sighed. "All right…I'll give it ONE MORE go. For you, Fluttershy." She nocked another arrow, but this time gave it some thought before simply loosing it. Twilight had said she needed to find a place in her mind, a special focus. Simply looking at the arrow wasn't going to do it. She visualized the arrow becoming more than a simple arrow. She made it the sole focus of her thoughts.

Then she found it. Aided by the arrow's ability, she stumbled upon the place in every magic worker's mind from which the will comes and is made real.

"So that's what it's like," she muttered before loosing the arrow.

The arrow still remained a golden arrow, but it zipped toward the target at double speed, leaving a rainbow trail in its wake. It not only hit the bullseye dead center, but pierced through it and kept going until it stuck in the wall.

"And that's how it's done," Rainbow Dash boasted as she slung the bow over her shoulder and folded her arms.

"NICE!" Twilight congratulated.

"I knew you could do it!" Fluttershy squealed before turning her attention back toward making a lightning bolt out of her next arrow.

"You are doing well," Hippsodeth said. "Soon you will be ready. Normally, the next steps in your training would be the obstacle course and, in the more old-fashioned days, the living targets, but our obstacles are currently in possession of the one we intend to become our living target."

"Bring it on," Rainbow Dash said. "We'll be ready!"

"I think I can finally do it!" Fluttershy said happily.

Twilight let off her last arrow of the day with a special vision in mind. It transformed into a bolt of pure blue that made her target explode the way Pinkie's had. "Let's see how he handles this," she muttered.

---

"Are we clear upon which route we will take?" Hippsodeth asked.

Twenty-some of her warriors, now with Jasmine, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy among them, nodded, bows slung over their shoulders. A seventh spare had been rustled up for Jasmine, but she found no need to practice, as Hippsodeth had thought.

"Then we shall go forth," Hippsodeth said, pushing open the doors. "NOW!"

The warriors rushed to their pegasi, mounting the beasts that could only whinny. The seven newcomers doubled up on other warriors' saddles, and the fleet lifted off.

"It's okay," Twilight muttered from the back of the saddle of Scara's steed. "They're non-talking horses. Lowercase-H horses, if you want to get technical. It's fine…"

"What are you talking about?" Scara asked.

"Horses?" Twilight replied with a sheepish grin.

The pegasi made a beeline for the high ground upon which the palace rested. "Prepare for evasive maneuvers!" Hippsodeth called out.

"Evasive maneuvers?" Fluttershy didn't like the sound of that.

From below, several marble statues of archers with their arrows pointed heavenward turned on their bases so the arrows aimed at the flying horses. The arrows then launched into the air.

"WHAT IS THAT?" Rainbow Dash screamed; the warrior flying her steed only reined the horse in to a sharp turn to avoid the onslaught of giant stone arrows.

"That," she answered sharply, "was something we installed to keep the likes of him OUT."

The Galifems were soon overloaded with the bitter taste of their own medicine; whenever an arrow was launched, another one would spring from the base of its statue and launch from the stone bow. Steering the winged lowercase-H horses became increasingly more difficult. Hippsodeth sensed that with the quantity of stone arrows in the air, it was not safe to continue on the first path the group had agreed upon. However, they had come up with an alternate route.

"TAKE THE LANDING!" she ordered, steering her pegasus directly downward. The other Galifems did the same, and all dismounted on the green grass at the nadir of the palatial mountain. The statues stopped firing arrows, as they could only point upward and there was no one in the sky to shoot at.

"They're watching us," Jasmine deduced.

"Then let's give 'em a show!" Pinkie cried gladly.

"ONWARD!" Hippsodeth ordered, beginning to run up a path built into the side of the cliff. "Do not forget!"

As the others followed, the path became progressively steeper until it was clear that this was not the natural formation; the ground was shifting so as to cause the ascending warriors to slide down. At the base, where they had begun, several spinning blades shot up out of the ground to await any who slid to the bottom.

Scara, Jasmine, Applejack, and Rarity were quick to fire their arrows behind them, willing the arrows to become ropes and forming a net that shot diagonally from the edge of the path that ran off the cliff to a point up the rock wall to the side. This caught most who slid down, but one had been unlucky. Jasmine gasped in horror as she saw that Pinkie Pie had fallen behind the net and was sliding quickly down to her doom.

At first, Pinkie screamed, seeing only the spinning silver blades that awaited her. Then, coming to terms with the fact that her end was near, she decided to make the most out of the ride. As she slid down ever faster, she closed her eyes and earnestly screamed "WHEEEEEEEE!"

Rainbow Dash swooped in just before Pinkie's feet could touch the blades, hoisting her into the air and carrying her back to the point above the net. "You know, you oughta be more careful," she teased. "Were you really yelling 'whee' on the slide of death?"

"It was a fun slide!" Pinkie answered. "Except for, you know, what was at the end."

They touched down where the army was struggling to not slip on the steep path. Twilight closed her eyes and breathed deeply, concentrating on what she knew she needed to do. "I can only hold it for a little while," she said, finishing a speech Pinkie and Rainbow Dash had missed, "so you're all going to have to go fast."

When Twilight opened her eyes, they had again become two orbs of pure light with no iris or pupil. Flat squares of pink energy appeared up the path, forming stairs on the previously non-navigable surface. One by one, the Galifems, Jasmine, and the other Equestrians ran up the stairs. Twilight was the last to run up, able to hold them just long enough to reach the top of the cliff; the steps faded once she stepped off.

Now the army stood upon another grassy plain, this one unadorned by statues. The palace was in sight across a river that poured down the cliff in a great waterfall.

"So, water," Applejack murmured, "we meet again. Only this time, I got the upper hand."

"Allow me," Rarity said, pushing past her. She knelt and set up her bow, looking past it to the exact point she wanted to shoot. "Twilight, won't you?"

Twilight knelt beside Rarity, inquiring, "On three?"

"Only if you count me off."

"One…two…THREE!"

Water and snow collided again, forming a bridge of ice across the river. "This one should hold longer," Twilight assured, and the army rushed across.

"Only the main road remains!" Hippsodeth called out. "You know what to do!"

The army turned onto the path, rushing between double rows of nearly sky-high columns. As Hippsodeth warned, the columns began to rumble and tip over to crush whomever was in their path; the determined women steeled themselves and outran every pillar, though the BOOM of each column that hit the ground sounded just behind Pinkie's heels.

At the end of this run, Pinkie suddenly cried, "WHERE'S FLUTTERSHY?" The entire company stopped, looking around for their smallest.

Fluttershy was spotted behind them, hopping over the tops of the fallen pillars; she'd waited for them all to collapse. "I knew I wouldn't be able to make it," she admitted when she joined the rest.

"This is as far as we have been able to come without assistance," Hippsodeth announced. "Inside the palace, the genie has thwarted us. Admittedly, however, this time we endured far fewer injuries on the way up the cliffs. I shall take this as a good sign."

The palace, stunningly shining white beneath the golden sun, loomed overhead. Without a second thought, the army charged forth toward the throne chamber.

Immediately, the great red genie that was Jafar appeared in his usual cloud of red smoke to greet them. "I see you have attempted to thwart us yet again," he boomed. "We've been keeping a little magical eye on you, and you've done rather impressively this time around."

"The Galifems have us this time!" Applejack cried.

"Really?" Mozenrath stepped into view. "I don't think so." He pointed at Rarity, and blue light shot from his finger toward her, surrounding her. Rarity screamed as Mozenrath lifted her into the air and spun her round and round. "Try using your little elements now," he challenged.

"FIRE!" Hippsodeth ordered, and the Galifem warriors, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash raised their bows, firing a volley of golden arrows. With a sweep of his muscled arm, Jafar brushed away most of the arrows, be they fire, vegetation, or ice, but Rainbow's arrow of super-speed pierced his flesh and caused him to flinch, while Pinkie's also stuck in his arm; Jafar thought nothing of the latter until it exploded.

"Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "WE COULD USE SOME HELP!"

"I…" Fluttershy quivered, the bow and arrow in her hands shaking. "I can't…"

"NOW YOU WILL BOW TO ME!" Jafar bellowed, casting a wave of red light over those who threatened him. The Galifems, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were forced into kneeling positions. Fluttershy ran away in terror, dropping her bow and missing the attack. Twilight, however, quickly fired a magically charged arrow into the path of Rainbow Dash's arrow; the resulting combination shot through the wave of red at top speed, negating it in one area.

Mozenrath laughed gleefully as he spun Rarity round and round. Her screams entertained him until the flying kick to his waist knocked him over. His assailant pinned him to the ground, planting his face into the marble floor. "You want to try and attack another one of my friends?" Jasmine hissed. In the meantime, Rarity, dropped to the ground, scrambled to her feet to join the frontlines against Jafar.

"No," Mozenrath grunted. "I want to try to attack YOU!" He rolled over, throwing her off him, and fired a blast of blue that she immediately dodged; he charged to try and pin her, but she pushed him away by kicking him square in the chest.

His next shot didn't miss. Jasmine, enveloped in blue, rose into the air and flipped upside down. "LET ME GO!" she insisted.

"Not on your life, Princess," Mozenrath taunted.

"Um…excuse me?"

Mozenrath looked over his shoulder to see who had spoken, still keeping his hold on Jasmine. Upon seeing Fluttershy, he flinched. He already knew what was coming.

"I think what you're doing is really mean," Fluttershy stated assertively. "So stop it!"

Mozenrath decided to be daring. "And if I don't?"

She rushed toward him with a speed he didn't know she possessed, the heel of her hand hitting the back of his neck. Her toe dug swiftly into his Achilles tendon, and Mozenrath fell to the ground, letting Jasmine drop.

"Don't hurt my friends," Fluttershy insisted before she and Jasmine rushed to the frontlines.

Twilight willed the next arrow to become rope again, but she remembered the magic-resistance she had helped cast upon the bolas she'd crafted in Odiferous. She added two more arrows, then fired the triad over the Galifems to her left; a magic-resistant net fell over them, and the red light disappeared, allowing them to stand once the rope disappeared. Twilight did the same for her friends and the Galifems to her right, then turned to fire a magic-resistant net at Jafar. He stopped it with his open palm, balling it up. "A fine parlor trick," he taunted, "but not enough to stop me!"

Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were now at Twilight's side, and all six were shooting arrow after arrow in succession. "Should we use the Elements now?" Pinkie asked, and Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash looked eagerly to Twilight for the answer.

"We need to time it!" Twilight replied. "Stop firing arrows! Hopefully everypony else can give us enough cover to start it up!"

Twilight knew it wasn't a good sign that Jafar had, for whatever reason, begun to laugh almost uncontrollably. "Now!" she yelled, and the six stood together, ready to summon up the rainbow once more.

"NO!" Mozenrath stumbled between the army and Jafar. "You may have won this time, but after we've put together what I have in store in the Black Sands, we'll have taken back Galifem…and everything else you stole from me!" He slashed at the air with the gauntlet, ripping a great seam in space; he quickly ducked through it, and Jafar followed, with Xerxes slipping in just before the seam closed.

"YES!" Twilight cried, raising her bow in victory.

"What just happened?" Scara asked confusedly.

"They knew they couldn't beat our powers put together," Applejack explained, "so we won!"

"Except for whatever it is they're planning back at the Black Sands!" Rarity worried.

"At least we know where they are now!" Pinkie pointed out.

"You all have done incredibly," Hippsodeth congratulated. "Are you six sure you would not like a permanent position in our army? Especially you…Fluttershy, was it?"

"Oh, we couldn't," Fluttershy said softly.

"But when it came time to protect your friends," Hippsodeth reminded her, "your strength showed. You could definitely keep up."

"It isn't that," Fluttershy told her. "We have a lot of friends to protect, and we can't do that if we stay in Galifem. But we'd be awfully glad if you agreed to be our friends."

Hippsodeth smiled. "What a strange request. This friendship does not come with extraneous terms, does it?"

"No," Fluttershy replied. "It's just friendship."

"Then we are friends," Hippsodeth confirmed. She turned to Jasmine. "You and I especially. I shall not press you about service in our army. It has occurred to you that with you, I need to get off on the right foot more than ever. After all, there is a very small chance that I could become your mother."

"Well…you're strong, you're confident, and you know how to protect the ones you love," Jasmine replied. "I'd say you're a pretty good fit to be my mother."

"Perhaps I will pay the Sultan of Agrabah a visit, if that is the case," Hippsodeth suggested.

"But he isn't the Sultan!" Pinkie wailed. "Not anymore!"

"Mozenrath's wish did the same thing to him that it did to you," Jasmine told Hippsodeth. "My father is now a commoner fighting for his life on the streets. Evil beings are running rampant in Agrabah!"

"And you're not back home defending it?" Scara asked in awe.

"Our friends are buildin' up a resistance," Applejack answered. "We need to get a lot of people together to fight the fire-cats that showed up. Nasty little critters feed on fear, and there's way too many scared people in Agrabah to drive 'em out. So we're gettin' an army that won't be scared of 'em!"

"I do wonder how the effort is coming along," Rarity pondered. She then shook her head. "They will be able to handle themselves, of course. They have Cassim and Sadira. On the other hand, we don't know what's going on in the Black Sands!"

"Then we have to go there," Twilight resolved. "We have to stop whatever Mozenrath's building up for us!"

"I must thank you for helping us reclaim Galifem first," Hippsodeth said calmly. "I do hope your further endeavors are as successful."

"No problem!" Pinkie replied, beaming. "And I hope you and the Sultan eventually get married and live happily ever after!"

"And that's enough of Pinkie Pie talking about others' love lives for one day," Rainbow Dash quickly broke in.

As the six Equestrians and Jasmine rushed back to the warehouse to find their male companions, Hippsodeth muttered to herself, "Agrabah in trouble? Building an army? That is indeed interesting…"

---

THE LAND OF THE BLACK SANDS, THE SEVEN DESERTS

Back in his laboratory, Mozenrath couldn't understand why Jafar was laughing with such abandon. "And…all this humor is coming from where exactly?"

Jafar eventually was able to speak relatively calmly. "They still think they've won," he told Mozenrath, grinning meaningfully. "How wrong I was…how wrong indeed!"

"What happened back there, exactly?"

"Nothing you need concern yourself with," Jafar declared. "You have plans of your own for them. What exactly do you have in mind?"

Mozenrath gave Jafar his trademark smirk before replying. "Just to make sure I have this right…you don't have to be dead to go to the Netherworld, am I right?"

"Of course not," Jafar answered. "Many mortals have found themselves in the Netherworld…with simply tragic results."

"Good." Mozenrath's smirk grew wider. "Simply tragic is what I was going for."

---

Chapter 12:

· The Galifems are also antagonists that became heroic later. I only just now realized how often that happens in this canon. I guess friendship really is magic! Anyway, they're basically a parody of the Amazons.

· The first ep with the Galifems involves them choosing Jasmine for their military via the golden arrow. They want to keep her for life, but while Jasmine is acing training, she's plotting escape, and Al and the rest eventually show up to help her break out.

· I knew I wanted to go deeper into why they're all women. I worry that they're sort of straw feminists (characters that hate men to the point of getting the audience to resist feminism as a movement), but they never actually state that they HATE men—they use male prisoners for live target practice (although in that incident, they SPECIFICALLY ordered Aladdin and his group killed, and they were technically invading in order to get Jasmine back), but they never say they hate men. And, in fact, the pairings of Hippsodeth/Sultan and Scara/Pector (puns…and no, these still aren't the worst puns in this canon) are eventually canon, so they're open to having relationships with men and even inviting male suitors to their door. So I don't know. I gave them that backstory about creating a female space all on my own. There isn't actually a rule saying Galifems have to leave if they marry. That's my headcanon, and it makes sense, since you don't see any men around. This also gave me a chance to give Jasmine some limelight by having only the women go. Anyway, I had RD hate the idea and think of them as man-hating and Twi understand the need for feminine space because I wanted both points to stand out as possibly valid, as I know readers of this are probably divided in similar ways on the issue.

· I COULDN'T HELP DOING JUST ONE LITTLE BIT OF IMPLICATION OF SCARA/MOZENRATH. I SHIP THAT TOO. It's easier to list the characters I DON'T ship with Mozenrath, actually.

· The Galifems' arrows work pretty much exactly as I said in canon. Some of the powers I gave them are new, like the plants and the rainbow, but they really are arrows that can take on the magical qualities you will them. In canon, they've been turned into ropes, flames, and water jets midflight.

· Now, pay attention. Pinkie likes to set them on fire. AJ's arrows sprout roots in a very EARTHlike way. Rarity shoots water. Fluttershy makes cyclones. Am I foreshadowing something?

· Do you know what I love about Galifem? It's rigged with booby traps all over. And the best part? I didn't add any. All the traps I put in have been featured in one or more episodes.

· I really just wanted Jasmine to have at least one solo paragraph of fighting. Because she is a ninja.

· In my ideal headcanon, Hippsodeth would marry the Sultan and become Jasmine's stepmom. I really want to believe that eventually happens. I originally wanted to do a "what happened to Jasmine's mom" thing here, because that would be foreshadowing for something else, but I didn't have room.

· And more importantly, no, you're NOT supposed to know what Jafar found hilarious. You will find out LATER. On the other hand, what Moz is planning to do, I just plain spelled out.