My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Of Ponies and Humans

Chapter 14

It just got worse

47 Days after Zero Hour

After receiving the letter from Cadence; Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Halo, Zilver, Shadow, Derpy, Requiem, Aura, Ash, Jax, Bahamut, Spike, and Sora left for the Gryphon Kingdom to find the Reversal Spell for the human-turned Ponies. What they don’t know is that this journey is going to be a lot tougher then it sounds.
They arrived in the kingdom with no trouble but are informed of a curfew in place due to the impending threat of a slave trade going on. They are to meet with the king tonight and find out where the reversal spell to this predicament is.
There, Dash had a very brief reunion with Gilda and met back up with her friends from her foalhood. Also, Twilight finds out she’s gonna be a aunt when Cadence reveals she’s pregnant… and was for 3 months prior to the Changeling’s botched invasion. Guess even Ponies can’t resist the call of the wild when it hits, huh?
Now, after many days of waiting and searching, the location of the Reversal Spell is about to be revealed, and with Trixie, Fluttershy, and Marble on their way, this is gonna get worse before it gets better.

The carriage pulled in front of the biggest tower in all of the city. Everyone departed and strained their necks as they looked up.
“Whoa! That is big!” Spike exclaimed.
“even I must admit, this is pretty big.” Req said in awe. “and I’ve seen some pretty big things.”
“I can bet.” Aura snickered to himself.
A primitive elevator came down from above and stopped in front of them. “shall we?” Jason gestured to the elevator.
“gee. How quaint.” Ash sarcastically said.
They headed on over and crowded in. it was barely big enough to hold them all. Those with wings grabbed the bars surrounding the elevator and unfurled their wings, allowing them to go up with the same speed.
The elevator shuttered a bit before starting for the top.
“So, what will happen when we meet the king?” Req asked, flying alongside the elevator. “will we need to know some cultural rules or something?”
“Ah. Yes. Thank you for bringing that up.” Jason thanked. “there are a few things. 1; Zaltan is a bit… eccentric when it comes to politics.”
“Eccentric?” Derpy asked.
“he’s not like most other rulers. He’s more carefree and doesn’t take it seriously.” Twi explained.
“oh.”
“yes. He is like that. Although he is taking this Slave Trade seriously. He wants it gone as much as the people do.” Jason said. “number 2: don’t mention crickets around him. He doesn’t like ‘em all that much.”
“really?” a disbelieving Applejack asked. “He doesn’t like crickets?”
“no and I‘m not sure why. it’s like a pet peeve of his.” Jason said.
“well, everyone has those.” Zilver said.
“and thirdly, his daughter. Sh--”
“Ah, yes. The one who made us come here. Tell us, what is she like, so we know what to look out for?” Whooves asked.
“I was just getting to that.” Jason angrily said. “*ahem* well, as I was going to say, she’s not exactly the… nicest Gryphon you‘ll ever meet.”
“ho, boy.” Aura said a la Quantum Leap. “so wonderful. Gotta be nicer then the one we met on the beach.”
“Gotta be.” Jax said.
The elevator reached the top of the tower. The door opened up and they all entered. A.J. looked over the side to the ground WAY WAY WAY far below. She shuddered and ran after the group.
The interior was very worn-down but still bright. “why does this place look so run-down? Not what I expected from a king.” Halo said.
“Well, Zaltan is more in touch with the people then previous rulers are. He’s decreased taxes, donated money to orphanages, and even started a charity for the less-fortunate.”
“this guy’s starting to turn into my favorite ruler.” Sora commented as they walked further in.
“in spades.” the rest of her human friends added.

2 grand doors opened up into the throne room. They all walked in to see Armor and Cadence, and for some reason Vinyl and Octavia, talking with the Gryphon King Zaltan.(I really should’ve come up with a better name.) to mostly everyone’s surprise, the King was laid-back and not taking the job all that seriously. They heard the footsteps and saw them walking towards the throne.
“Hey. Vinyl! Tavi! Surprised to see you 2 here.” Pinkie exclaimed in surprise.
“we know. Us too.” Octavia said.
“guess we were helpful with getting you guys here, I guess.” Vinyl added.
Jason flew on ahead and bowed. “my lord, I have brought the traveler’s your daughter requested to come.”
“I can see that, Jason. You did good.” the king replied, sounding a lot like a certain Prothy squad mate from ME3. He got up from his throne and flew on over. “they certainly are affected.”
“yes. WE were, your majesty.” Twi said. She pointed to everyone affected. “me and Spike, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Halo, Zilver, Shadow, Derpy, and Dr. Whooves here, we were all affected.”
The king turned his attention to Req and her friends. “so I take it that these are the otherworlders? The ones with the reputation that presides them?”
“you would be correct, Zaltan. I am R--”
“please, don’t call me by that name. not sure what my parents were thinking. Just call me Z.”
“…Z?” a cautious Bahamut asked. “well, whatever rocks your boat, I guess.”
“Hehehe. I heard you were all er… free when it comes to royalty.”
“yep!” they all said.
Derpy held her head in pain again as the headache came back. She made sure no one saw it until it passed.
“listen, your majesty. If you don’t mind, we should really get to business.” Twi insisted. “we’re all keen on getting this curse taken away.”
“And I would be too. But surely you have time for dinner before you all go.”
Someone’s stomach growling proved to be the answer to that question. “Hehehehe.” Rarity nervously laughed. “guess we have some time for a quick snack.”

They all relocated to a dining room where their eyes were set upon quite a spread, including something the humans had not seen in a long time.
“MEAT!” Bahamut, Aura, Ash, Jax, and Sora happily exclaimed. Their legs revved up like cartoons and they ran towards the food.
“I take it that like meat.” Z chuckled.
“it’s been 2 months since they last saw meat. trust me, they’re happy.” Requiem chuckled.
“and you?”
“Vegetarian, like the ponies back. And I just spotted a spread for us.” she said, spotting tons of plates filled with veggies. Req and the ponies, minus Cadence and Armor, ran on over to that end.

Before long, everyone was digging into the feast laid out before them. Even Z was enjoying the food.
Twilight swallowed what was in her mouth and asked… “Excuse me, your majesty, but I think we’re short one person.”
“how so?” he replied.
“well, your daughter doesn’t seem to be here. And last I checked, it was her insistence that we come here. I mean, it’s only fair that we meet the one who summoned us, right?”
Z chuckled as he placed a bone on his plate. “you are right but I’m afraid she‘s leading a raid on a supposed site of the Trade. I’m afraid she won’t be back for…”
“I’m back, Dad.” the princess called out from another room.
“Well, that was fast.” Z said, looked at a imaginary wrist watch.
She flew on in from above. “turns out it was a bust. Guy gave us the wrong info.”
“well, we always get a bad one every know and then. You know that.”
The VERY familiar gryphon landed beside him. “yeah. Last time I trust a Crystal Pony.” Gilda said.
The humans nearly choked on her drink as the Mane6, plus Derpy and Whooves, spit up their food. “GILDA!?!” they all exclaimed in shock.
“oh, great. It’s you guys.” she said with the least interest.
“you know these people, Lady Gilda?” Jason asked.
“you… could say that.” Gilda muttered.
“what did you do, Gilda?” Z asked.
“Nothing.” Z gave her a mean glance. “*groaning sigh* fine. I may or may not have, as the humans would put it, acted like a bitch.”
“What does that even mean?” Spike asked Cadence. She just shrugged, not knowing as well.
Z sighed as he pinched his beak. “I realize it may be too late but I apologize for my daughter’s behavior. She’s been… moody for the past few years.”
“Can’t help but wonder why.” Sora sarcastically said to her left. Her left turned out to be Gilda. She chuckled nervously smiled a big fake smile before picking up her chair and backing up.
“so… Z… how about we get to what we came here to do?” Halo insisted.
“ah. Yes. The Reversal Spell for your… predicament. Well, I’m not sure if it is located there but it may prove fruitful.”
“how so?” Cadence asked.
“there’s a mountain to the north of this city, close enough for you to get in a day. At the top rests a fortress. That fortress belonged to Nightmare Moon.”
“NIGHTMARE MOON!?!” the Ponies exclaimed in complete and utter surprise. The humans were confused by their sudden reaction.
“un… who-mare what now?” Jax asked.
“Nightmare Moon, who was a corrupted Princess Luna, was a powerful sorceress from 1000 years ago who wanted to bring about Eternal Night as she grew jealous of Celestia’s sun and the ponies who relished in it‘s light but fell asleep when darkness fell. it was thanks to her that we got together.” Twi explained.
The humans didn’t know what to make of it. “wait wait wait. Luna tried to destroy the world? That cute black pony from the summer party?” Bahamut asked.
“well, everyone has off days.” Dash said. Z cleared his throat, getting their attention again. “sorry, Kingie.” she chuckled nervously.
“as I was saying, the fortress belonged to Nightmare Moon during her glory days, before Celestia banished her to the moon. It’s said that everything her forces gathered during her war with her sister was put in there; every book, every treasure, every spell...”
Jax’s eyes lit up with dollar signs when she heard the word ‘treasure’.
“…odds are there may be a Reversal Spell that could change you back into Ponies yourselves.”
“well, we could ask Luna.” Req asked.
“she’s been trapped on the Moon for 1000 years. Doubt she even remembers the place.” A.J. retorted.
“did you try to enter the fortress yourself?” Armor asked.
“me personally, no. but I have heard of people who tried to enter, only none have returned. Guess some of Nightmare’s traps and spells are still working.”
“well, we ain’t worried.” Aura said, sitting back, picking his teeth with his lance, which had shrinked down considerably. “we defeated God’s and Goddess’s and saved the universe on more then one occasion. I’m sure we can handle a few booby traps.”
“they defeated God’s and Goddess’s?” a worried Twi whispered to Zilver. He just shrugged.
“so… when should we go?” Shadow asked.
“well, anytime is good.” Twi said. “I think we should plan an--”
“anytime?” Z interrupted. “you mean you don’t know about the side-effect?”
“Side-side-side effect?” a nervous A.J. asked.
Jason winced as he bit his claw. “uh-oh. They don’t know. This could be problematic.”
“the spell you used, it was over 30000 years old, right?” Z asked.
“yeah? What of it?” a very nervous Rarity asked.
“well, 30000 years ago, life wasn’t exactly good. Every spell made back then had a deadly side-effect. Any transformation spell would kill the effected in 50 days with a tumor in their brain.”
That hit the ponies like a bag of bricks.
“f-f-f-fifty days?” Whooves nervously asked. “we’ve been human for 47.”
“so this spell is gonna kill every pony in Equestria?” Armor exclaimed.
“and anyone outside of the country would be unaffected.” Req muttered. “we better go now.” they all got up and bowed to the king. “Thanks you explaining this to us, your majesty.”
Z bowed back. They all bolted for the exit when… “wait.” Z called out. Everyone screeched to a halt. Bahamut wasn’t so fortunate as he rammed into a unfortunate waiter. “do you even know how to get to the mountain?” Nobody responded. This was their first time in the Gryphon Kingdom. “I see. Gilda. Go with them. Show them the way.”
“ME!?! Why me?” Gilda retorted.
“Cause you know the way to the mountain. You’ve been there.”
“yeah. Once. And I only got to the base of the mountain.” Gilda argued.
“HEY!” Aura yelled out. “the longer we stay here, the shorter time the ponies have till D-Day!”
Z nodded. “Jason. Go with them. I see my daughter is going to be troublesome. Again.” Gilda looked away from her father in a huff.
“whatever! We just need to get going!” Spike exclaimed.
“Guys…” Derpy said. Everyone looked towards her and were shocked to see blood coming out of her eyes. She adopted a worried expression before collapsing.
“Derpy!” her cousin yelled out as he ran over. Everyone soon gathered around her.
“What’s wrong with her?” Pinkie asked.
“I don’t know. Breathing’s shallow, she’s bleeding. Could be that tumor thing Zaltan mentioned.
“I said call me Z.” he groaned. “and it’s not supposed to do that, least according to the stories.”

Begin Song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdrTqz8pSyQ

Strange Whispers - Birth by Sleep version

The same mystery man from before hovered outside the window to the dining room, far from view from their prying eyes.
His right hand glowed and flexed as he aimed it right at a certain human-turned grey Pegasus.

Derpy started shivering as pain now racked her body.
“This isn’t good.” Ash said.
“We gotta go. Now.” Requiem said as she and her human friends, plus Jason, bolted for the exit.
Dash turned in their direction and called out to them “but what about…”
“Don’t worry. We’ll take care of Derpy.” Armor said.
“you just worry on turning us back before we end up like this.” Octavia exclaimed.
The ponies, though not liking the idea, looked at each other and nodded. They ran after Req and her friends as Z called for medics.

The groups met up and ran outside of the city, heading for the mountain.
The mystery man, still high in the air, saw them scurry like ants.
“Run, run, run as fast as you can. But it’ll be for naught.” he snapped his fingers, causing dark figures to appear behind him. “I’ll make sure of it.

End Song.