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Avatar: The Last Alicorn. Book 1: Pegasus

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Aerial

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“I-I-It's freezing!” Twilight complained as she curled up in a corner of the balloons carriage, a desperate but futile attempt to keep herself warm. A far more successful method she used from time to time was to form small bursts of flames in her hoofs and allowing the warmth to temporarily coat her body. “W-why are there f-four bags of g-glitter and s-six bags of s-streamers b-but not a single blanket?!” the unicorn asked the pink mare who kept hopping around, apparently unfazed by the low temperature.

“Because who knows when we'll find more glitter or streamers silly? Every pony has blankets, but not every pony has party supplies! What would we do if-” Pinkie was cut off as she shrieked and her right eye twitched, back left hoof shook and tail curled.

“What's wrong? Aye you okay? Are you having a seizure?” the purple mare asked as she jumped to her hooves and moved to help the strange pony.

“Pinkie sense! Water nation ponies are coming, they'll be here soon!” the earth pony said as she reached for the torch and tugged, letting the heat blow out and raise the balloon into the sky. She didn't let it go until they were just above the clouds and hidden from view.

“How could you possibly know that? Look, there's no pony for mi-” Twilight went quiet as a flapping sound could suddenly be heard. Within moments a heavily damaged airship, pulled by four pegasi and with Rarity standing on the deck, flew under them, barely visible through small breaks in the clouds. Large chunks of wood had fallen off or been torn away but there was still barely enough room for the fallen princess and her crew to maintain footing. The balloon had even been patched with thick cloth.

The princess was scanning the horizon heavily, looking in every direction for any sight of the Avatar. At one time her eyes even turned towards their direction, but failed to see them through the cloud cover and distance. As quickly as the air ship had appeared it passed away into the horizon. Twilight slowly let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. “How did you know? They weren't even within sight, did you hear them? If you hadn't gotten the balloon up here, as fast as they were going, we would have been-”

“Pinkie sense,” the mare informed her as she slowly lowered them out from the clouds.

Twilight stared at the earth pony for a few moments, trying to go through her vast book knowledge to discover any previous mentioning of such a thing. Sadly nothing came to mind. “Pinkie sense? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with it?”

“Well, it's my own special sense! Most ponies have six. Well, some have seven. But I have nine or was it eight?” Pinkie seemed to be counting on her hooves and for a moment Twilight would have sworn she saw more than four, but after shaking her head she counted again and only saw the normal amount of hooves.

“Pinkie, focus please. That's- AH!” she quickly turned to look back the way they came. “Wait, if those soldiers are following us they might have seen Fluttershy and Rainbow on the way! What if they were captured? We need to follow them!”

“Oh no, they're fine. They'll catch up to us when we get to the fire lands.”

“How can you possibly know that, Pinkie? No, let me guess. Pinkie sense?” Twilight's voice dripped with sarcasm.

“No, silly billy! I just read ahead. My pinkie sense isn't... do you get the feeling we've had this conversation before?” Pinkie asked as she looked up at the sky and gave a little wink.

“What? That makes even less sense! What is-”

“-your pinkie sense supposed to be, anyway?” Pinkie interrupted, smiling at the confused mare. “Well sometimes I get weird little feelings. Like if my tail gets twitchy somethings about to fall or if my shoulder gets achy there's an alligator in the tub.”

“That... that doesn't make any sense. That's premonition, ponies can't do that. Even unicorns can't do that!”

“Why? You do bending and that's magical.”

“Bending is a genetic predisposition and something you practice and study. It's something you control and perform through force of will and magic. Randomly having aches, pains, and twitches can't predict the future!”

“Why not?”

“Because... because it just doesn't work that way. Magic doesn't work that way. It's common sense.”

“Why?” Pinkie asked again.

Twilight's mind raced for an answer as she mentally went through all her studies during her time with her people. She knew there was plenty she didn't know about magic but she was certain of one thing. “Because in my training that was one of the magics I was told could never be performed by unicorns. Plenty have been trying for centuries with no success, so I seriously doubt you were just born with the ability,” the Avatar said matter of factually. She then pointed a hoof out towards the direction they came from. “See? There's Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. We're not in fire lands yet either, so your little premonition was wrong.”

“Ummmm... Twilight?” Pinkie said as she motioned in the opposite direction.

“What?” the mare asked as she turned around and let out a strangled yelp. The peaks of the mountains were peaking through the clouds and as the balloon floated over them one scraped along the bottom of the basket. As they moved towards the dark swirling clouds, she could see the white clouds dispersing and feel the temperature rising.

“My tails twitching!” Pinkie shrieked. White light temporarily blinded them and a massive boom deafened them as a lightning bolt arched out and struck the balloon, setting it aflame. The two ponies screamed as they grabbed each other, their balloon plummeting to the ground. As the ground came up at them like a vast and impenetrable wall Twilight closed her eyes, unwilling to watch the inevitable stop.

The stop was far gentler than she expected. Instead of immovable dirt slamming into them and the sounds of things shattering and breaking she instead felt powerful hooves wrap around her and the rest of the balloon slip by. She squeaked as she slowly opened her eyes and looked below to see the balloon hit the ground and crumble to pieces from the force. A bit off to her right she could see Fluttershy holding the pink mare aloft and glanced down at the blue hooves holding her tightly.

“Oh no!” Pinkie wailed in horror as she looked at the destruction below. “The party supplies are ruined! What are we going to do if we meet a new pony?!” She flailed her hooves around in worry, almost making Fluttershy drop her. They all just stared at her in silence for a few moments before slowly, and far more gently, making their way to the ground.

With solid ground beneath her Twilight took a breath and looked around. The dark clouds were gone as fast as they appeared, taking their deadly lightning with them. Unfortunately they also seemed to take the warmth with them as the icy wind enveloped the four travelers in its embrace. The ground was cold and hard and far off in the distance she could see the valley they were in was surrounded by ice covered trees and mountains with only one opening through the peaks, miles away. Fortunately some of the ice seemed to be melting from the newly risen sun's heat.

The unicorn let out an annoyed sigh before turning to the others. “I guess from here out we're hoofing it. Let's salvage what we can and head out.” The others nodded and one by one they began gathering everything that still functioned. Fortunately most of the food was fine. Unfortunately, which was the cause of much wailing from their pink friend, the majority of the party supplies had been torn, scattered, or outright destroyed so only one bag remained of the initial abundance.

With heavier hearts the four ponies began their travel across the icy valley, the frozen grass crunching under their hooves.

------

“Faster! Flap faster you lazy pegasi!” Rarity shrieked at the four fliers pulling her ship. The battered vessel soared just outside the mountains that surrounded the valley, creaking and groaning in protest at the strain forced on its battered hull. “Auntie, we're wasting time! We should go straight through Lightning Valley and come around back to capture her! We'll never catch up to her at this rate!”

“It'll be fine dear niece. None would dare to enter Lightning Valley, going around is the only way. Unless you'd prefer we track them on foot once our ship is destroyed,” Celestia said with a grin as her niece turned away with a huff. Once her back was turned the larger unicorn gave a wink to the nearby guards and slowly pulled out her kazoo. She took a deep breath before giving it one loud toot and then quickly hiding it as the fallen princess's head whipped around.

“What was that?!” Rarity snapped as her eyes shifted around the others angrily.

“What was what?” Celestia asked, her face the picture of innocence.

“I thought I heard a... Nevermind. It's not important,” the mare said as she shook her head and walked towards the door. “I'm heading back to my room. What's left of it. Call me the moment the Avatar's balloon is spotted!” With those final words she opened the door to the lower decks and stormed inside. She slammed the door behind her, making it rattle in place for a few moments before finally falling off its hinges and clattering to the deck. She turned to glare at it for a few more moments before storming off.

“What a brat,” one of the guards mumbled. He then turned to Celestia with a nervous look. “My apologies. But, with all due respect, why do you allow her to speak to you in such a manner? She's no longer the princess and her foolish chase of the Avatar is doing nothing but risking our lives.” A number of other ponies mumbled their agreements as they kept from looking the white unicorn in the eyes.

The mare let out a soft sigh as she turned back ahead. “My niece is... a complex pony. It may not always seem like it but her heart is in the right place. Unfortunately, fate has worked against her in the past and now she's working her hardest to try and get back what she lost and what she believes she needs.”

“What could possibly have happened to warrant this behavior? She's your niece and she treats you like-” the guard went silent as the unicorn held her hoof up.

A look of sadness and pain formed on Celestia's face as she began, “If you really wish to learn what has caused this, I will tell you.” She let out a pained sigh before continuing. “It happened long ago, soon after my sister was chosen to become the new Nightmare Moon,” she shook her head in disappointment, “and I was summoned to a war room meeting. Young Rarity begged me to allow her to come, as she wished to see a piece of what her future would one day bring should she become the new Nightmare Moon. I was skeptical and unwilling at first but I eventually relented... If I had just held firm and said no none of this may have happened,” a single tear went down her face as she remembered the events.

“It was going smoothly at first, but then they began talking about new designs for the armor of our soldiers. Well... while I admit the designs were extremely tacky and disjointed, not to mention the colors. Orange, green and yellow? Oh, and the complete over use of the crescent moon. Fortunately, I knew well enough to keep my mouth shut.

Rarity, on the other hoof, did not. She began to speak out about the atrocious designs and colors. That the soldiers of our nation deserve to wear armor that fit our countries glory, not ones that made them look like rejects from a clown school.” The mare took another deep breath. “It, unsurprisingly, did not go over well. The designer was furious, screaming about how she couldn't see her vision and a water duel was called forth for the young princess which she instantly accepted. To be honest, I imagine a scolding and slight tap on the wrist would have been enough, it was just an outfit after all and that designer was quite up tight.

What the young princess failed to realize, however, was that by speaking out against Nightmare Moon's designer in such a manner was to speak out against Nightmare Moon herself. She refused to fight her mother and... she was punished. Severely. Banished from the nation on a what was believed to be a futile quest to find the avatar, her horn forced to bear the mark of a traitor.”

Silence reigned on the deck as the ponies stared at her. After a few moments the nearest guard spoke up, “I... I had no idea. No wonder the princess searches so hard for the avatar. It's the only way to return everything to normal.”

“Things will never return to normal. But the Avatar gives Rarity hope that they will. It's for that reason she will never give up and why I will stand by her side to help her at all times. That is why I allow her to speak to me in such a way and never abandon her. It is also why I wish the same for you and your men,” she said slowly as she cast her eyes towards the unicorn. He slowly bowed his horn.

“Of course. We will do as you wish, captain,” the guard said as he turned and walked away, intending to perform his duties. Though once he was out of sight he took a moment to look over his uniform. It didn't look silly or stupid, in fact the dark blue and black looked quite refined. He'd never really noticed before, or the way the single moon seemed to be hoof sewn into every uniform...

------

“Look! Look look look!” Pinkie said excitedly as she hopped around, her tail forming a strange arrow to point forward. The small group had been walking for hours through and out of the valley and, despite the antics and joy the pink mare tried to spread, their spirits were getting low. They had been fortunate enough to find a road that they hoped would lead them to a settlement.

“Finally! A town, let's go!” Rainbow yelled as she charged forward. However, before she could make it more than a couple feet her tail was grabbed in a purple aura.

“Hold on. Look!” Twilight said as she motioned towards the entrance.

The town was far larger than Ponyville, housing at least thirty buildings, but Water Nation flags billowed with the wind as soldiers marched through the occupied streets. A large wall surrounded the town with two Water Nation unicorns guarding the entrance. A pegasus and earth pony were speaking with the guards in question, but it seemed it was about to take a turn for the worse.

“We told you already. No foreign goods! No ifs, ands, or buts! Hiya!” the guard yelled up as he whipped his head about and blades of water formed in the air. Within moments a large wagon that had been behind the two travelers was torn to pieces, sending pieces of woods and muffins to the ground.

“My muffins!” the pegasus shrieked as her eyes went all derpy. She frantically ran about trying to pick up any bits or pieces she could, eventually putting together a full muffin from the rubble. It crumbled to soggy mush in seconds, bringing a few tears to her eyes. She had a gray coat with a yellow tail and mane. She also had a strange bubble cutie mark.

“Now now gentlecolts, I don't think all that's necessary. Maybe we can talk about this?” the earth pony offered as he took a step back. He had a light amber coat and a dark amber tail and mane. He bore an hourglass as his cutie mark.

The guards didn't seem to care to chat as they advanced aggressively. “All prisoners are to be detained! You're both coming with us now!” Blobs of water formed over their heads as their horns glowed.

The pegasus took a step back as she looked to her companion. “D-doctor what do we do?” she shrieked as she ducked under a razor edged blade of water.

“In times like this the answer is simple, Ditzy,” the earth pony said as he stood straight and stared stoically at the unicorns. They stared back in worried confusion, not sure what he had planned. “We run!” with those words he grabbed the pegasus's hoof and ran, pulling her along.

“What? HEY! Get back here!” the guards yelled as they chased after the two.

The moment the two guards were far enough from the gate Twilight raised her hoof, “Come on, now's our chance!” The others nodded before darting into the now unguarded town. They quickly moved behind a nearby building and waited to see if anyone had spotted them, but nothing happened.

“So, what's this place called?” Rainbow asked as she looked around. “This is your country, right Twi?”

“I'm not sure. Geography was never my strong point and I don't even know if this town existed when I was last here. Maybe we should ask some pony?” she offered as she looked around and then pointed towards a nearby earth pony mare. “Let's ask her!” Before the others could object she pranced over and waved to the mare. “Hello, may I ask you a... quest...ion...” she trailed off as the pony looked up at her horn and then backed away and cowered, her body almost flat to the ground.

“P-please don't hurt me! I-I don't have anything! Just some apples, p-please! I don't know anything about t-the sun rising oh please d-don't hurt me!” the mare whimpered as she continued to back away, finally bumping into a stall and sending apples rolling to the ground. The owner of the stall didn't even offer any objections, in fact he spent his time trying to look busy while looking anywhere but at the unicorn.

“W-what? No, relax. I'm not going to hurt you. I just need to ask you some questions. There is no need for you to be so freaked out,” the unicorn comforted as she held out her hoof.

“F-freaked out? I-I'm not freaked out! I-I have n-no desire to oppose anything you n-need done Ms. water bender ma'am,” the mare said with another whimper.

“What? No, I'm not a water be-”she was cut off as Rainbow darted in and covered her mouth with a hoof.

“Yes. Water bender. Water Nation business going on here, ummm, that's all. You can go now. Bye!” the pegasus said as the earth pony turned and galloped away. Rainbow pulled the Avatar away, ignoring her yells into the hoof. “Twilight, shush! You're going to get us in trouble. Care to look around, you see anything special?” she asked as she moved her hoof and pointed down the streets.

“No, just a bunch of ponies. Why, what's so special about that?”

“Tell me, how many unicorns do you see?”

“I see...” the mare paused as her eyes swept over the ponies. “All of them are Water Nation...”

“Exactly. Now, do you notice all those earth ponies with bandages on their foreheads? I've heard stories about this. When the Water Nation took over fire country the first thing they did was round up every single unicorn and removed their horns. If they find out you're a unicorn and NOT a Water Nation soldier, you're going to be in big trouble.”

“B-but I need my horn!” Twilight said as she gulped nervously. A small bit of worried sweat began to form on her brow. “W-what did you have in mind?”

“Heh heh. Pinkie's already on it so just watch and learn,” Rainbow said as she pointed down the street to where the pink earth pony was talking to a poor unicorn.

“-But then all the water would freeze and you'd have no more water to drink but could make popsicles if you had juice and could fixed your armor so it wouldn't rust and put a cape on so it would always flap in the wind even if there wasn't any wind did you ever notice how many things rhyme with flap, clap, sap, bap, lap, cap, speaking of caps do all your helmets have those horns or do only the-” the defenseless unicorn was banging his head against the wall in a hopeless attempt to drive away his suffering. He struggled to get a word in, but every time he opened his mouth the pink pony would instantly cut him off with another comment.

“How is that going to help? Do you plan to make all the guards here suffer until they give up and let the town go?” Twilight asked as she watched the pony with a small bit of pity.

“Easy. Come on, hide,” Rainbow said as they hid behind a nearby crate. They waited and watched as the pony, slowly being driven mad, walked in their direction to escape the verbal maelstrom.

“Wata nota, nota wata, wata nota...” finally as he passed the crate a blue hoof came out and, despite his shrieks of protest, ended his misery. A few moments later, the Avatar stepped out, having donned the armor.

“I'm not sure this is a good idea. It's kinda itchy, and loose, and the hooves are wet, and it smells funny. Not to mention you hit that guard really hard. Are you sure he'll be okay?”

“Yeah, he's fine. He'll wake up in a while with a killer head ache but not much else. Which is worse, smelly armor or losing your horn?”

“... Losing my horn...”

“Good then. Just keep that on and what's the worse that could happen?” Rainbow said as the four began walking down the streets again. Many of the ponies gave them frightened looks but caused no problems. “We'll see if we can find a blimp or something. If this place is occupied they are bound to have a landing point set up somewhere. But before that we'll need some more disguises... There!” she said as she pointed towards three earth ponies wearing Water Nation armor. They were standing near a small back alley and chatting with each other, ignoring the other ponies on the road.

“Pinkie, I need you to...” but Rainbow's words failed her as she saw the hyperactive bundle of energy already chatting with the three ponies. Within a matter of moments, and three headaches, all four of the ponies were wearing armor. The blue pegasus fidgeted in hers as she struggled to push her wings out, eventually sliding them out by bending two metal plates and tearing some holes through the fabric. “Okay, let's go.”

The four ponies traveled in silence, occasionally getting stared at by the residents but no pony dared to question them. Twilight struggled to avoid causing a scene as she awkwardly walked. Her armor was at least a size to big and it kept shifting around on her body. Even worse, its previous wearer seemed to have issues keeping his mane properly cleaned and groomed. It took all her will power to avoid grabbing something long and sharp to scratch her back.

Despite the discomfort the group slowly made their way to a large fenced off area on the opposite side of the town, a large black hot air balloon set up on a landing pad with a few guards protecting the gate. “Jackpot!” Rainbow said enthusiastically as she gently nudged Twilight forward. “Now get out there and put on that Water Nation charm. Get us a balloon!”

The Avatar eeked a little as she slowly stumbled forward. “W-why me?”

“You're a water bender, or so they think, so they'll listen to you! Probably.”

“... Fine,” the purple mare took a deep breath before walking forward. “Uhhh, hello! Fellow guard ponies-eek!” she cried out as her helmet decided to shift awkwardly and cover her eyes. “Wonderful weather we are having, eh heh. I'm here to relieve you, because the balloon is-”

“You're being sent to Dragon Valley?” the closer guard asked as he stared at the awkward mare, his eyes wandering to her horn.

“Huh? Oh! Yes, ofcourse! That's why I need the balloon, and ummm-”

“We know the deal, you're the third to head out just today. Where's the rest of your squad soldier?” the guard asked as his eyes narrowed.

“There!” she said as she motioned towards her friends. They slowly began to walk towards her, nerves tensed.

“Well, hurry up soldier!” the guard said as he moved aside and pulled the gate open, motioning inside. As the three moved past he suddenly reached out and grabbed Twilight by the shoulder.

She tensed up and prepared for a fight, at this range she knew she could blast him but she hoped they could get to the balloon in time and escape before reinforcements arrived.

“Hey, I get it. You're nervous about the sun rising and stuff, but relax. The dragon hasn't moved in over a century so nothing's going to happen. Just think of it as a routine patrol and you newbies will be fine,” the guard then let her go with a comforting smile.

The Avatar's horn began to glow as she prepared the first assault! Then the soldier's words penetrated her head. “W-what? Oh, yes, I- wait, dragon? The...” her mouth fell open as it all came back to her in an avalanche. The dream, the dragon, the words, the stars. Everything. A sudden pinch to her flank made her shriek loudly, jump a few feet in the air, and darted forward, breaking away from the startled guard. She shook her head before turning to glare at Rainbow. “What was th...” she trailed off as her cheeks turned bright red. Every pony was staring at her with confused looks.

“You okay?” the guard pony said as he took a step towards her, but she quickly waved him off.

“Yes! I'm fine, completely fine! Nothing wrong at all, nope! Not a thing! We should go now, yep! We should, bye, thanks for everything!” Twilight shrieked as she ran forward and dived head first into the balloon's basket.

“Your friends a bit... off. You sure she'll be okay in such high altitudes? She seems like a jumper,” the guard said to Fluttershy. Who promptly let out her own little shriek and ran away, diving in besides Twilight. “Okay then... Supplies are in the basket, good luck,” he said as he gave the last two a pitying look as they climbed in after their friends.

“What a buncha nut jobs...” the guard whispered to his comrade. “Cute though. Did you see the blue one? She better get that fixed before her superior sees. New or not something like that is bound to get her flank kicked. Super cautious too, did you see all those extra supplies they brought with them?”

------

“Does any pony else think that was too easy?” Twilight asked as she shifted through their supplies. Yes! There were actual supplies like blankets and NOT confetti!

“Easy peasy beasly!” Pinkie said as she began stacking their original supplies into a small fort and snuggling up with one of the bags of confetti.

“No, I'm serious! It's like they couldn't get rid of us fast enough. They practically shoved us into the balloon and told us to get going. Why would they want us to leave so bad? Why... oh... oh dear. I ummm, found a map. But errr, maybe just skull and crossbones are an over reaction?” she said with a soft, nervous chuckle.

“What?” Rainbow asked as she swiped the map back and looked at it. “Wow. Seems Dragon Valley's a volcano. Doesn't matter though, not like we're headed there.”

“Actually,” Twilight started with a soft sigh, “I need to head there.” The others turned to her with looks of confusion, except Pinkie who softly tooted on her kazoo. “I had a dream recently, well more of a vision. I need to find the dragon or a dragon. I know it's some kind of dragon. I didn't even remember until he mentioned a dragon was sleeping there, and well... if there is a dragon there I need to see it. I know it sounds crazy but I have too.”

“But-” Pinkie started and, for the first time, found herself interrupted.

“I know it might sound dangerous, but back in my time dragons were our guardians and friends. Not to mention they were master fire benders. If there is one around it could help me to find my people as well as help with, well, that,” she said as she pointed up at the sun. Since she had initially raised the burning orb it hadn't moved an inch.

“We-” the pink mare tried again.

“I know for now it's not a problem, since it's still so cold. But eventually if nothing is done it'll get to hot. I'm nowhere near capable of moving it on my own, the power needed for that is huge. Well, except when I'm in that state. But I don't know how to do what I did before! If somethings not done about it then eventually the world will begin to burn.”

“How-” the mare tried one more time! This was so strange, usually she did the interrupting. She wasn't sure she liked having it on the other hoof.

“I know you've never seen how hot it can get, but trust me. To much heat is just as bad, if not worse, than to much cold. So please, can you come with me to Dragon Valley? If not I understand, just drop me off when we get close enough.” She stopped for a moment as she glanced to the side, but spoke up again before Pinkie could start. “I'm not even sure if the dragon is there, but if it is I have to speak with it.”

“Ofco-” Pinkie tried as she was once again interrupted. Oh that was IT!

“But if-”

“Of course we'll go with you Twilight you're our friend and now we're not going to just leave you alone to figure this out on your own instead we're going to be by your side all the time to help you do everything gaaaaaasp!” the pink pony stopped for just a moment to take a deep breath. “Even if we have to go and fight a dragon we'll be by your side besides if we were going to leave you we wouldn't have come at all and never even got in the balloon with you so stop being such a silly billy and let's go to Dragon Valley!” she said dramatically as she pointed north.

A grin crept along Twilight's face as the two pegasi nodded in response to their excited friends words. “Thank you all. But, Pinkie Pie? You're pointing the wrong way. It's that way,” the unicorn said as she pointed farther to the east.

The mare just smiled as a little red flooded her cheeks. “Oh, well, I'm on a roll sister!” as she pointed once more, in the right direction this time.

Next Chapter: Chapter 4: Running Estimated time remaining: 6 Hours, 48 Minutes
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