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The Third Generation

by Candle Light

Chapter 14: The Third Generation Chapter Fourteen

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The Third Generation

Chapter Fourteen

By Candle Light

“Come one, come all!” The tried and true magically amplified opening phrase carried over the newly arrived Ponyvillians, drawn to Trixie’s self-invented stage just outside of town, three boulders overlooking an open area she had freed by using the rainbow of Unicornia to move the rocks. She gazed down over the crowd from her vantage point; Rarity was clearly visible among them. She had hoped that Twilight Sparkle and her friends would be around to see this too, but that minor set-back was soon forgotten as she noticed that Princess Luna herself was gracing Trixie’s show with her presence. Pushing this momentous fact out of her head, she went on, “I understand that you ponies have been living in a dream, and thus have yet to witness true Unicorn magic. It is thus the duty of the Great and Powerful Trixie, one of the greatest magicians of our time, to welcome you to Equestria with some of the most dazzling tricks your pony eyes will ever see!”

Too boastful? Nah. First rule of performing: make an impression on the audience, make them believe in your abilities. And unlike that other time with the other Ponyville, this time she had a solid game plan. With total confidence in her voice she continued, “The spirit of chaos may have put you to sleep inside a world of illusion, but the illusions I bring to you are ones experienced wide awake, and will pull you from this reality to another one altogether. I will take you to fantastic places, give you the most marvelous sensations. For who else can bend the very fabric of reality itself other than the Great and Powerful Trixie!

An explosion erupted from the mountain behind her with such an impeccable timing and power, it would surely put the ponies at awe… had it actually been planned into her act. In actuality, the fire-works she had planned to set off at that moment was drowned by a blood-curling roar that made Trixie forget about her audience and look around.

A huge chunk of the mountain had been torn right off, sending cascades of stone onto the villages bellow, and from that gaping hole appeared the head of the most frightening creature she had ever laid eyes on. A red glow seemed to emit from its body, its very presence inspiring something that Trixie had not truly felt in years: fear. Fear amplified by Rarity’s shout from the audience, “It’s a Mother Ursa!”

Almost as if the creature had heard her, it rose above the hole in the mountain and climbed on top of it, showing its full length. It was a sight that made Trixie’s blood freeze. It was about as tall as the mountain to begin with, and standing on top of it, it towered higher than Canterlot itself. A Mother Ursa? As in, even bigger than an Ursa Major? The idea was almost too absurd to take in, and she found herself getting caught up in the panic that was starting to ripple throughout the crowd.

“Remain calm, everypony!” called the Princess over the frightened mass of ponies, but the hint of panic in her voice only managed to plant more seeds of fear in Trixie’s heart. But it did calm the crowd down a little. “Run,” she ordered. “Away from here, as fast as you can! Your Princess shall protect the village.”

***

Shining Armor was very proud of the force field spell. It was an advanced piece of magic developed through equal measure of ancient arcane scrolls and intense training, and had been passed on throughout the generations of Captains of the Guards from the beginning of the Princesses’ regime. The protective barrier was said to be able to withhold an assault the Princesses themselves, and it was only through continuously weakening it from the inside that the Changeling army had managed to break through it.

These facts offered little comfort. “Five of them?!” he uttered in sheer disbelief.

“Yes, one that we picked up earlier at the Frozen North, and one that appeared out of nowhere just south of the forest at its base,” Kenbroth briefed, the calmness in his voice not matching the seriousness of the situation. “Another has appeared very close to the other Ponyville, and one is approaching Canterlot as we speak. At least the fifth one is wandering aimlessly just due south of the Everfree Forest, and won’t be causing anyone harm until it reaches someplace populated.”

“By the sun and the moon…!” breathed Celestia, her face plainly distraught. “I never thought in my wildest dreams they would appear this soon.”

“What do we do now?” Shining Armor tried hard not to panic. “Twilie and the gang are far gone by now, and even if we call them back, it’ll take them hours to get here!”

“Then I thank the sun that you both are here,” the Princess addressed Shining Armor and his wife. “Never forget, Shining Armor, that you are the most powerful unicorn in Canterlot; with the force field in place, enhanced by the power of Princess Cadence’s love, we must hold out. Although…” the fear in her voice could not be hidden, “at the rate these monsters keep appearing…”

“You can count on us, Princess!” Cadence acknowledged, stopping her from perusing that line of thought. “Come, Shining, we don’t have much time.”

“Right behind you.”

The Princess was hovering a piece of parchment and quill, scribbling something down in haste, whereas she rolled it up and magically vanished it. “I have sent a message to Spike. Godspeed, my little ponies…”

***

In any other circumstance, Minty would have been the happiest pony in the world. As far as eyes could see was the most beautiful field of green grass she had ever seen.

Only she was lost, alone, and sore all over. She could stand there looking at the pretty green all day, but it wouldn’t change the fact that she had no idea what she was supposed to do now. Eventually, she would have to start walking in any random direction, but the more the thought sank in, the more she felt unease turn to panic. Walking along, all alone, no idea where to go… it was an idea she had never wanted to entertain again, and the very thought made her dizzy. But there was nothing else for it, unless she wanted some wild animal to find her first. Her head was spinning as she was trying to push back the panic, but failing. Her world began to tilt, her eyes began to swell…

“Heeeey!” a voice broke through the veil of fright. “Anypony there?!”

“I’m here!” Minty wasted not a second replying as loud as she could, the knowledge that someone else was out there with her easing her doubts. “Over here!”

Not half a minute later, a pink pony came running her direction at neck-break speed. It lifted her spirit considerably, and when Pinkie Pie came to a stop before her, she felt her heart flutter… except it wasn’t the Pinkie Pie. Not to her.

“Boy, am I glad I found somepony,” the fluffy-maned version said. “Like, what was that all about? I’ve never seen anything like it! Well, I guess the Mother Ursa was ‘like’ it, but this time it was like ‘bow!’ and we were all sent flying to Celestia knows where. Do you know where we are?” Minty’s heart sank a little. Having company really didn’t change anything, only that they would be lost and helpless together. Better than nothing, she told herself.

Something must have shown on her face, because Pinkie’s expression then turned uncharacteristically serious. “Okay Minty, I know this must be very scary for you, but I want you to listen to me carefully.” The green earth pony nodded meekly. “Okay then, repeat after me.” She cleared her throat. “Pffbwahahahahah!!”

Minty watched incredulously as the pink pony started rolling on the ground, laughing as though someone was tickling the life out of her. For a full minute, she kept doing it; Minty couldn’t understand how she could laugh at a time like this, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but to smirk at the display. A smirk that turned into a giggle, which turned into full-out laughter. A few moments later, they were both rolling on the grass, laughing as though being lost in the wilderness was the funniest thing in the world.

It took them a few minute to calm themselves down, but when they did, Pinkie told her, “See? There’s nothing to be afraid of.” To her amazement, Minty realized that she was right; all the anxiety, all the fear, was completely gone. They had laughed it all away. Though she knew full well that their situation hadn’t changed in the slightest, for whatever reason it didn’t feel so terrifying anymore. “Alrighty then. First we need to figure out which way we’re supposed to go. Too bad my Pinkie Sense isn’t telling me anything. Any bright ideas?”

Now that she had calmed down, Minty felt sense and reason return to her head. Sure, she had wandered off without a plan before, but she had been very disoriented, and this was a different place altogether. The earth was rich – meaning plenty of food – and even from here, she could see animals walking in the distance. On a whim, she put her ears to the ground, and found that she could hear them too. Very faint sounds, accompanied by equally faint vibrations, told her that this was a place full of life. From the way they strutted about, these creatures seemed to her more, well, crude than any she had ever encountered before, as though they lacked the intelligence of ponies, but they still had a certain pattern to them. A certain instinct that kept them alive; some ran in packs, and some hunted alone, each with their own survival strategy. She was amazed how much she could tell from just the vibrations; was this perhaps what earth ponies possessed in place of wings or magic?

She could also tell that in one specific direction, there wasn’t as much activity. Or rather, the activity was different; another sort of rumble, and… a different kind of earth? Minty took a moment to marvel at how close onto she had become to the world. There, far off into the distance, maybe an hour’s trot away, was the forest they had seen from the air, no doubt about it.

“I’m not sure what you’re listening for, I just hear a rumbling,” Pinkie Pie told her, her own ear on the ground. “Oh wait, that’s my stomach.”

“I know where to go!” Minty told her. “Follow me!”

***

Why was he lying on a cliff surrounded by trees? Why was he all alone? Why was there a parchment scroll lying on the ground next to him?

Then Spike remembered everything that had happened before the creature came and… he shuddered. The thing had hit them, and next thing he knew, here he was, in the middle of nowhere and nopony in sight. Since he was in a forest, he assumed it must be the same forest they had seen on the horizon on their way here. He was a dragon, so of course he could take such a fall; he just hoped the same could be said for his pony friends.

“Hello?” he tried calling. “Anypony there?”

No response. At least, not right away; he was about to scale down the cliff when he heard a voice behind him. “I’m here!” He didn’t recognize the voice at first, but realized it had to have come from one of the ponies from the other Ponyville. Following the voice, it wasn’t long before he stood face to face to…

“Uh, Pinkie Pie?”

“That’s me. Spike, was it? Twilight Sparkle’s pet?”

“Number One Assistant, thank you very much.”

“Right, sorry. What happened to us back there? I remember we were attacked by that big super-scary thing, but it’s kinda fuzzy…”

“Yeah, didn’t look like an Ursa to me, but it’s gotta be something similar,” Spike guessed. “I wonder what happened to it. Did we beat it?”

“A better question would be: where are we, and what happened to our friends? I hope they’re alright…”

“We came out unscathed, didn’t we? Come on, let’s get down from this cliff and look around.”

Spiked hopped onto Pinkie Pie’s back, to which she winced. “What’re you doing?”

“What? I’ll just slow us down if I walk next to you.”

“Oh… guess that makes sense. It’s just that I’ve never had anyone ride on my back before. Feels kinda weird.”

Spike thought about it for a moment. He thought ponies were always lugging stuff around on their backs… but then, what other ponies did probably wasn’t a good indicator when it came to present company. “I’ll try to stay still. Now let’s go find our friends!”

***

It didn’t take long for the denizens of the village to heed the Princess’ words and flee the opposite direction of their home, eager to put as much distance between them and the enormous magical beast as possible. But not all, Trixie realized; a few ponies were rooted in place, either out of fear or reluctance of leaving the village behind. Among them was Rarity.

“…gotta hurry, before it destroys the castle!” the filly protested to something that her purple unicorn friend had said to her.

“Please, Rarity, you have to let it go! Leave your things behind; your life is more important.”

“This isn’t about my things,” Rarity replied. “Well, there’s that too, but I just don’t want to see the castle destroyed! It’s like something inside me is telling me I have to go to it.”

“I actually agree with Rarity,” another unicorn spoke up next to them. “Don’t you feel it too, Cheerilee? We can’t just leave it behind.”

“Of course I feel it!” snapped the purple unicorn named Cheerilee. “But how do you suggest we protect it from something like that? We can always rebuild a castle, but not if we’re…” her expression turned from desperation to frightful shock, as if she had only just now realized something. She spoke a simple word, one Trixie could hardly hear, and certainly not one she was expecting, “…dead.”

“What was that?” the other unicorn inquired.

She gave her head a shake. “What I’m saying is, if we don’t get away from this thing, we won’t be around to return to anything!”

The sentiment gave the others pause. There was a loud crashing sound behind them, and Trixie turned around to see Luna hovering some giant boulders in mid-air around her, throwing them one by one at the Ursa. It caught its attention, and it swung its giant paw at the Princess, which from the looks of it she barely dodged. The monster was now looking away from the town; Luna’s idea seemed to be to lure it away from Ponyville. Trixie sincerely hoped she had a plan, but was starting to doubt even a Princess wasn’t powerful enough to vanquish a Mother Ursa.

Vanquish an Ursa? Trixie’s eyes shot up wide as a thought struck her. Her gaze shifted to the mountain top where she knew the castle lay, and then down at Rarity and her friends. Her heart started pounding furiously as she realized there was something she could do. Any sane pony, like herself in any other situation, would see it as insanity and possibly suicide, but the thought that it would mean saving something dear to Rarity, as well as actually vanquishing an Ursa, gave her all the courage she needed. “There might be a way,” she told the other unicorns as she stepped forward.

“Trixie!” Rarity shone up, coming to her side and giving her a hug. Though it was hardly time for hugs, she allowed herself to give one in return. “I knew you’d think of something!”

“Why, you didn’t think I would let down my number one assistant, would you?” she replied, Rarity’s enthusiasm feeding into her own.

“So what’s your plan?”

“Rainbows!” she announced, her performer-spirit returning, though mostly by self-preservation instinct to keep her nerves from breaking. “The Great and Powerful Trixie was able to control the rainbow with a mere thought, one powerful enough to move these enormous rocks with ease. Yours is the Rainbow Crystal Castle, is it not? If it truly lives up to its name, we can use all the rainbows in the world and drive the Mother Ursa away from this village!”

To her relief, the other ponies actually seemed to buy the idea. “Of course! The rainbows! I’ve yet to see any creature stand against those!”

“I dunno, I’ve never seen any creature tear a hole in a mountain before,” Cheerilee responded doubtfully.

“But what if we were to summon a really big one!” suggested a third unicorn. “All four of us who participated in the Rainbow Celebration are here, after all! What do you say!”

The purple unicorn still looked troubled. Trixie did her best to meet it with confidence, to make it seem that she had everything under control and that she understood the bit about the Rainbow Celebration. Eventually, Cheerilee sighed. “Alright then. Let’s hurry; it looks the Ursa is moving away from the castle. We might not get another chance.”

***

Fluttershy was a little amazed how well she was handling the situation. Maybe it was the tranquility of the forest and all the familiar wild animals around her that eased her heart. It was a forest consisting solely of pine trees, with almost no undergrowth, making the landscape stretching on for infinity between the tree trunks. The ground was mostly flat, but as she walked, it would occasionally slope, and she even came across a small patch of rocky cliffs.

She was about to climb it when the sight of another pony made her jump back. The initial surprise was immediately replaced by relief as she saw who it was. “Pinkie Pie!” she recognized the other-village variant of the pink pony. “And Spike! Oh, thank Celestia you’re okay!”

“No kidding,” replied the baby dragon. “If you’re okay, the other’s gotta be.”

Not sure how to take that remark, she instead asked, “What happened to us back there? All I remember is that we were about to vanquish the Mother Ursa, but then…”

“Yeah, it hit us pretty hard, I think,” Spike told her. The returning fragments of the memory sent shivers down Fluttershy’s spine. “Dunno what happened to it, but I don’t hear it or anything. Maybe the elements hit it as hard as it hit us.”

“If only we knew what happened to the others,” Fluttershy offered. “How are we gonna find them?”

“Guess we could try calling for them,” Pinkie Pie suggested. She raised her voice, “Heeey! Is there anypony out there?!

They waited for a couple of moments, but no answer came. Fluttershy whimpered. Spike, on the other hoof, seemed undeterred. “Guess not, huh. Okay then: Fluttershy, you’re up.”

“I’m what?”

“Up! As in, you can fly up above the trees. Y’know, search from the sky?”

The idea was so simple and obvious, she could not hold back a blush. “Oh… of course.” The tree crowns weren’t that close together to begin with, so if anyone was in the immediate area, she could probably spot them easily. She started flapping her wings, rising from the ground; once she rose above the tree tops, a seemingly endless sprawl of forest spread out before her eyes, dotted here and there by cliffs and treeless patches. They were in deeper than she thought. She swallowed her fear – reminding herself that Spike and Pinkie Pie were right there on the ground – and dared fly a bit higher. There, away in the distance, were the plains of the northern flatland. The opposite horizon was lined with towering mountains, adorned with monstrous clouds.

She lowered herself to a more comfortable altitude, and started looking around the area. She tried calling their names – she had gotten considerably better at raising her voice as of late – but she still doubted her voice would carry very far. After about ten minutes of searching, she touched down on the ground, a disappointed look on her face.

“Guess there’s nothing to it but to hoof it,” Spike surmised. “Question is, which way do we go?” Whilst he contemplated this, his eyes caught something he was holding in his claws: a scroll. His eyes widened. “That’s right, I almost forgot about this.”

“Is it from Princess Celestia?” asked Fluttershy, as Spike unrolled the parchment.

“Seems like it. Let’s see, ‘This is an emergency! Please return to Canterlot as fast as you are able. The Ursa are attacking!’”

***

Shining Armor felt the power flowing from her wife’s horn into his own, filling his body and soul with the purest of bliss. As wonderful of a sensation as it was, he didn’t let it distract him from using that power to construct the magic barrier. Unleashing such powers and banishing an evil Queen had been one thing, but maintaining it, shaping it into a shield powerful enough to withstand the assault of Equestria’s most powerful magical being was another altogether.

He was almost finished. And just in time too, as the grotesque form of a Mother Ursa was starting to appear by one of the mountains. Shining Armor and Cadence were standing on the same balcony where his sister and her friends had defeated the first Mother Ursa with the Elements of Harmony; in one direction was the sprawling yet somewhat wounded landscape of Equestria, and in the other was the entirety of Canterlot City, as well as Ponyville off in the distance. He wondered if the townspeople had noticed the Ursa yet, and what would go through their heads when it was upon them.

The beam of magic vanished from Shining Armor’s horn, proud of his work. The force field had a much deeper shade of purple than the one he had conjured a month ago, and thick enough to actually block some sunlight, casting a dark purple shadow all across Canterlot.

In the very few times when he had actually had to prepare for battle, all of Canterlot’s sizable force had been at his beck and call, but this was a battle only he and Cadence could fight. There was nothing his ponies could do other than maybe distract it, and it was too much risk for too little gain. Still, as the figured loomed ever closer, he started to feel his resolve wane; the company of his Princess was all that gave him the courage to stand firm.

The very moment it was upon them, the behemoth bear raised its paw – in a motioned that seemed strangely intelligent to Shining Armor – and brought it down on the barrier. The impact caused a loud bang, as though a giant hammer had hit the world’s largest bell, and the ringing almost broke his ears. He quickly conjured up a simple ear plug spell, watching the barrier anxiously as it shock and wavered.

It was enough to hold it together, but there were cracks forming where the paw had hit.

Shining Armor’s mind raced as he saw the Ursa recover from the impact, and readying for another blow. It came way too swiftly, and it was only by instincts honed by many years of royal service that jolted him into action, sending a stream of energy at the force field right as the paw hit again. The impact wasn’t felt on the barrier this time, but in Shining Armor’s body. It felt like being hit by an anvil dropped from the sky.

His wife was quick to fill his senses with a healing spell. The sensation was eerily similar to the one he had had to endure when the Changeling Queen had posed as Cadence, but it did make the pain go away… just in time to intersect a third blow with a well-timed, well-placed ray of magical fortification. The blow to his head didn’t get any easier to endure; in fact, it seemed to hurt more the second time.

At least he knew now that with timing and precision, he could deflect the Ursa. The only question was: how long could he hold out?

***

“It’s at times like these that Ah actually envy Rainbow and her wings,” Applejack told Twilight as the two of them made their way south, pointed by the unicorn’s compass spell. “Would’ve made things much easier.”

“Well, I could try lifting you up with magic,” Twilight offered. “Though I’ve never actually tried it o a pony before; supposedly it takes a lot more energy than levitating an inanimate object.”

“Uh, no thanks, sugarcube,” Applejack said apprehensively. “Let’s save that energy for walkin’. Ah just hope the rest of the ponies have sense enough to head back to the field so we can get regroup.”

“And that they’re all okay,” Twilight added in agreement. “We were lucky the tiara and necklace are still on us. I just wish I knew what happened to the Cancer.”

“Cancer?”

“That thing back there wasn’t an Ursa,” Twilight explained. “Though it was definitely made up from the same type of magic, so I think it’s safe to say it’s of the same race. Anyway, I don’t know how far away we got thrown, but if I’d have to guess, I think we would hear it if it was still alive. At least, I hope we would hear it…”

“You and me both.” No sooner had the words left her mouth did she have an idea. “Speaking of hearing, isn’t there a spell or something that can amplify your voice? Y’know, so we can call out to our friends?”

Twilight seemed to follow the idea. “You know what, I think I have just such a spell! I’ve never used it before, but I’ve read about it enough. Let’s see if I can pull it off… you might want to stand back.”

The farm pony heeded her advice and stepped back about ten paces, letting the unicorn do her magic. Her horn sparked up, and a beam of purple light started pouring down her head, gathering by her throat. She coughed, its amplified noise telling her that the spell was working, before she shouted. “Hello? Is there anypony out there?! Rainbow Dash? Rarity?” But before she could finish, the magic glow disappeared. She walked up to Applejack, speaking very hoarsely, “I forgot you’re not supposed to use this spell when shouting; it’s murder on the throat. I’ll have to let my voice rest a bit before I try it again.”

“You did fine, sugarcube,” complimented Applejack. “The whole forest must’ve heard that; ‘least they know we’re okay. Come on, let’s keep walking.”

***

“Well,” the cerulean pegasus reported to her companions as she touched down on the rocky ground, “I can’t see them anywhere around here. There was a forest over that way, but it looked pretty big. They could be anywhere.”

“Of all the worst luck,” Rarity cursed the fates. “Still, we can’t just sit here and twiddle our hooves.”

“If only I had wings like you, darling,” Rainbow Dash’s earth pony double told her sympathetically.

The three of them had found themselves in the midst of a barren mountain landscape, not too far from one another, nor very far from the snowy peaks that loomed over them only about twenty minutes of flight at Rainbow Dash’s speed. “Don’t worry about it,” the pegasus replied bitterly. “Rarity, you’re a unicorn; don’t you have some sort of pony-finding spell?”

“No, my forte is finding gems, not ponies,” she replied matter-of-factly. “Twilight would be the one with the spells for this sort of thing.”

“Nothing else to it then,” Rainbow Dash resigned to her fate. “Guess I just have to wing it. I might be a while, so don’t move from this spot until I get back.”

***

Twilight!” called the baby dragon. “Applejack! Rarity! Anypony?!

As Spike and Pinkie was shouting their lungs out while they ran through the forest, Fluttershy only followed in silence. Canterlot was under attack. And there wasn’t a thing they could do to stop it, unless they could somehow miraculously find their missing friend – not to mention the pony who flew them here in the first place – and fly them the way back before all was lost. What if the carriage had been destroyed? If the Princess herself couldn’t keep one of those monsters away, what chance did they have?

“Come on, Fluttershy, pick up the pace!” Spike ordered; she realized she had been slowing down. She tried pushing those depressing thoughts out of her brain, but they were persistent. She kept thinking about what the Princess had said about the worst case scenario, how all life in Equestria would be no more…

“I know things doesn’t look good,” the other-village Pinkie Pie spoke up. “But we can’t give up yet! The others gotta be somewhere around here. Why don’t you fly up and have another look around?”

Fluttershy really didn’t want to. In this state, she wasn’t even sure her wings would carry her. This wasn’t an immediate emergency like the time when she saved that poor squirrel, or stood up to that dragon; this was a looming, intangible danger that didn’t have an obvious solution. Still, she knew she had to do something. She came to a stop, and took a deep breath. “All right, I’ll try…”

***

“So basically, every year, four unicorns are selected to summon the first rainbow of the season,” one of the unicorns, introduced as Brights Brightly, explained to Trixie as they ran up the slope. “We all come together with our respective colors under the castle’s crystal dome to make the rainbow appear. We were thinking that maybe it’ll work for us again, if we put our hearts into it.”

“Sounds reasonable enough,” Trixie went with it. At least they had a plan, whereas she did not. It wouldn’t be the glorious vanquishing that she could rub in Twilight Sparkle’s face that she had hoped for, but that was the least of her worries. “And this is the most powerful rainbow in all of Unicornia?”

“If the Rainbow Princess herself is making it, how can it not be?” Whistle Wishes joined in. “Not that we’ve actually tried to vanquish anything with it, but if there’s anything that can get rid of a monster of darkness, it’s a rainbow from Crystal Rainbow Castle!” Trixie didn’t even try to seem like she understood the concept of rainbows as they saw it, but she nonetheless hoped that whatever magic had once existed inside their dream world had carried over to reality, and seeing what she had witnessed with the rainbow from before, she remained hopeful. At least a little.

They were about to approach the castle, when the air itself seemed to turn to needles, pricking their skin and making all of her companions gasp. “What’s happening?” Cheerilee said with a strain in her voice.

“It must be the Ursa’s aura,” said Trixie. There really was no other way to explain it; even the Ursa Minor she had faced in Ponyville made her skin tingle – frightening at the time, but nothing harmful – but this was actually painful, even potentially deadly if the Ursa decided to come any closer. But none of that mattered; they only had this one plan to go on, so Trixie gritted her teeth and tried her hardest to remember how to conjure a basic barrier spell. “Just give me a moment…!”

It was hard to remember things with the pricking in her skin nagged on her concentration, but eventually, after what must have been more than a minute, she managed to put up a light blue protection bubble. It was rather small, but it did the job well enough, reducing the painful pricking to a mere tickle.

“Everyony in here,” she ordered. “Huddle together!” All four of them pressed against Trixie’s body, making sure they were all within the barrier. Slowly, and very uncomfortably, the group started moving toward the castle. Along the way, the Ursa let out of deafening roar that almost toppled the ponies over, but Trixie used her tail and teeth to keep them all together.

The moment they stepped inside the castle, the tingling sensation stopped completely, and Trixie dared disperse the barrier.

***

For all the training Shining Armor had to go through to become a royal guard, and all the hardship he had endure to rise through the ranks, this trial was perhaps the most taxing he had ever had to live through, and he knew it in him that had there been any less at stake, and anypony else at his side, he would probably have fainted a while ago.

Blow after blow, his magical reinforcement hit straight and true, at the cost of severe pain to his body. Magical mending was admittedly not his forte. His magic was powerful, but he wasn’t Twilight; this clunky method was the best he could do. The fact that his wife was healing him after each blow – and by this point, pouring healing magic over him non-stop – was the one life-line that kept him fighting. But he was at his wits end. For all his efforts, the cracks in the barrier were spreading slowly but surely.

But just as his body was ready to quit, the entire mountain to his right crumbled before his eyes. He thought for a moment that fatigue had made him delirious, but Cadence seemed just as surprised as he was. No sooner had his brain started to process that it was actually happening, did the broken pieces of the mountain catch itself in a sort of magical whirlwind, swirling the rock and gravel around in a shape that looked eerily like a creature. A creature with an arm that shot towards the Ursa.

The impact made a crushing sound, but did nothing more than making the Ursa turn its head. It did, however, give Shining Armor a second to breath, and let his wife’s healing spell repair his tired body and mind. The rock-tornado creature then enveloped the monster, which made it really angry. It roared to the sky, flailing its arms at it randomly, effectively turning the rock and gravel to dust that blow away in all directions.

The Captain of the Guards, giving up on trying to figure out the cause of the welcome distraction, readied himself for another onslaught, his body and soul filled with renewed energy.

***

Rarity of Unicornia knew very well this wasn’t the time for celebration, but she couldn’t help but feeling happy to be home. She hadn’t been herself last time she came here, and now she would even get to summon a rainbow! She remembered how good it had felt the last time, when the four of them had summoned one for the Rainbow Celebration. Her wand may not work anymore, but she hoped that the magic of Unicornia still did.

The four unicorns got into position under the crystal dome’s center, pointing their horns at one another. The key to the spell was positivity. She filled her head with all the happy feelings she could muster; she thought of her friends, with whom she had finally been reunited, and she thought of Trixie, who had become nothing short of a big sister to her. She thought of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and all their fun adventures in Canterlot.

All the happiness combined made it very easy to ignite the spark in her horn. The energy gathered inside her head, and she could see the most magnificent rainbow in her mind’s eye. The other four looked on with smiles on their faces as she unleashed the it, sending it out the window and off towards the Mother Ursa. Far away, it let out a loud roar as the rainbow engulfed it, forcing it on its knees with a loud bang.

The rainbow then disintegrated, and the Ursa made its way back to its feet.

The happiness was sucked out of Rarity faster than her mouth could drop in disbelief, replaced instead by dread. Despair, even. They had earned the attention of the monster, and it wasted no time starting to make its way towards them. The castle walls rattled harder the closer it got, as if its very presence was threatening to tear them apart. She shook her head, taking a few steps back, bumping into Cheerilee as she did. It was over. All over. Trixie had warned her about these kind of situations, where it would feel like the world was crashing down on you, and there was nothing you could do about it.

But when she looked upon Trixie’s terrified face, she felt some of the fear wash away. There had to be something she could do, right? Anything at all! That’s when her eyes landed on the magic wand on the floor; it must have fallen out of her mane as she bumped into Cheerilee. In one last desperate attempt, she bent down and grabbed the wand in her mouth, and swung is as hard as she could, hoping beyond hope that its magical powers had somehow returned and would save them all.

What she didn’t expect was all of her negative emotion to explode within her. All the anxiety, stress and fear seemed to amplify tenfold, adding to it the feeling of sorrow, bordering on anger. But the wand did expel something. A beam of some sort, colored only in shades of grey, extended from the tip of the wand, expanding into a bubble that engulfed first the ponies, then the castle, and then all of Unicornia. It eventually reached the Mother Ursa, which reacted as though it was hit by a solid wall, and was unceremoniously pushed back.

Rarity had no idea what she had done, but as the Mother Ursa pounded the bubble with no result, letting out a muffled roar, she knew at least one thing. Unicornia was safe.



Special thanks to Tess Tesseract for helping out with the editing.

Next Chapter: The Third Generation Chapter Fifteen Estimated time remaining: 6 Hours, 54 Minutes
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