Enchantment Passing Through
A Canterlot museum is displaying ancient relics of a lost kingdom in Equestria; in the center of the relics, a unicorn mare mannequin that was a ruler of this kingdom stood in a glass case. As ponies looked around the exhibit, three fillies without cutie marks looked at the mannequin and admire the fashion she was wearing. The filly named Sweetie Belle read the plaque, "Queen Rarity… Ruler of Aswan."
"Where's that?" asks Scootaloo.
"I'm not sure," said Apple Bloom, "But here's more about Queen Rarity, she was a princess during the war between Aswan and Hausa Baraba. She was set to marry the captain of the royal guard, but things went awry…"
"What kind of things?" asks Sweetie Belle.
"It doesn't say."
Scootaloo pointed, "Wonder what it was like back then."
A speaker said, "The museum will be closing in ten minutes; please leave."
"I guess we'll never know…" Apple Bloom said as they were leaving.
All of the lights turned off but a single light on the case. The mannequin's eyes twinkled and the body began to move and became real. Rarity moved out of the case and slowly things around the museum faded away. Turning back the clock, she sang.
"Every story, tale or memoir… Every saga or romance… Whether true or fabricated… Whether planned or happenstance… Whether sweeping through the ages… Casting the centuries aside or a hurried brief recital… Just a thirty minute ride… Whether bright or melancholy, rough and ready, finely spun, whether with a thousand players or a lonely cast of one… Every story, new or ancient… Bagatelle or work of art… All are tales of pony failing… All are tales of love at heart…" she stopped moving, then lifted her head in determination, "This is the story of a love that flourished in a time of hate! Of lovers no tyranny could separate! Love set into motion on the Nile's shore! Destiny ignited by an act of war! Aswan saw the mighty river as its very heart and soul source of life for all her people that only Aswan could control! Destruction of her southern neighbor justified! Hausa exploited, left with little more than pride! Ooh…"
The focus is now on a boat in ancient times with a crew going by the names of Shining Armor, Soarin', Flash Sentry, and Cheese Sandwich singing.
"Oh, oh… Fortune favors the brave! Oh, oh… Fortune favors the brave!"
Spike jumps down showing to be leading them, "We have swept to glory, Aswan's mastery expands from the Nile's northern most delta, to the dry, dry southern sands! The more we find, the more we see, the more we come to learn! The more that we explore, the more we shall return!
Crew kept singing, "Oh, oh… Fortune favors the brave!"
Spike overlooked the ship, "It's all worked out, my life is clear… The lines of latitude extend way beyond my wildest dreams… Toward some great triumphant end… We seize the day, we turned the tide, we touched the stars, we mocked the grave, we moved into uncharted lands!"
Joining in the crew, "Fortune favors the brave!"
"The more we find, the more we see, the more we come to learn, the more that we explore, the more we shall return! Nothing is an accident… We are free to have it all… We are what we want to be… It's in ourselves to rise or fall… This is easy to believe when distant places call to me, it's harder from the palace yard… Fortune favors the free!"
"Oh, oh…"
"Fortune favors the young!"
"Oh, oh…"
"Fortune favors the brave!"
He stops and looks at the crew, "All right, troops, what treasures have we got today?" seeing each solider has a pile of jewels in front of them, "That's it?"
Shining Armor saluted, "No sir, we just received word that we have captives at the end of the river."
"By all means, let's get them!"
The boat rowed into a dock with guards keeping track of a group of earth ponies.
"Well done!" said Spike, "Soarin', get these mares on board."
Soarin' moved to a blonde orange mare with apples for a cutie mark, but as he did, the mare pounced on him demanding, "Release us!"
Spike and the rest of the crew were shocked; never a mare was so strong as to overpower any stallion. Spike shook his head and snapped his fingers, signaling two guards towards her with spears, forcing her to back off. Soarin' sighed in relief and ran back to the ship slightly cowering behind Cheese.
Spike pointed, "A noble effort to be sure. I can tell you're going to cause trouble for us. What shall we do with you?"
"Throw her in the brig!" yelled Soarin'.
"Nah… I got a better idea."
Having the two guards escorting the mare aside with Spike to a dock away from the rest of the ponies. He dismissed the guards, facing the willful mare.
"You're not like the rest of the captives. For that, you get the special treatment of sharpening my back scales for my triumphant return." handing her a file.
With no expression, she takes the file and begins to sharpen.
"Where did you learn to move like that?"
"My brother."
"He figured mares couldn't fight, so he taught you."
"Mares can do anything stallions can do, and that includes dragons."
"What's your name?"
"Should it matter? We are your slaves now, we have no names."
"Still, I would like to know yours at least."
She stood in silence then said, "Apple Jack."
"What? Okay, very funny, now what's your real name?"
"My name is Apple Jack."
He faced her in doubt, "Look me straight in the eye and tell me that again."
Their emerald eyes locked as AJ repeated, "My name is Apple Jack. And that is the honest truth."
Spike softened to her tone, feeling as if he could trust her, "Uh… Alright, I believe you."
She scoffs, "That figures… You know nothing about me! And care even less, how could you understand our emptiness, you've plundered our wisdom, our knowledge, our wealth in bleeding us dry, you long for our spirit, but that you will never possess…"
Flash Sentry came to them, "Sir, we must go."
"Are the rest of the captives on board?"
"Yes."
"Then take this one on board, too." he looked at her as she was taken away, feeling a twinge of amazement.
As she was escorted to the ship, she kept singing to herself, "The past is now another land… Far beyond my reach, invaded by insidious foreign ponies, foreign speech, where timeless joys of childhood lie broken on the beach…"
She boarded the ship joining the rest of mares in captivity, "The present is an empty space… Between the good and bad, a moment leading nowhere, too pointless to be sad, but time enough to lay to waste, every certainty I had…"
The ship headed up the river and she saw the land ahead, "The future is a barren world, from which I can't return both heartless and material, its wretched spoils not my concern, shining like an evil sun as my childhood treasures burn, shining like an evil sun as childhood treasures burn…"
Moments later, the boat docked into Aswan port, where a strange creature with parts of different animals was waiting with other guards. Spike came down first greeting him.
"Ah, nephew!" said the creature named Discord, "You have returned with even more than we could hope for!"
"Hello, Uncle. Did much happen while we were gone?"
"Alas, it has… Our king is quite ill."
"Oh, no!"
"Oh, yes," the crew unloaded the mares on dock and as he saw this, he exclaimed, "and oh, I see you have new slaves for us?"
"Uh-huh."
"Excellent! Send them to the gem mines."
"Nah, that won't work for them. They'd be of better use in the fields."
"Suit yourself; they're your slaves."
"All except this one." he singled out Apple Jack, "She's going to the palace. Gotta have a gift for the princess, right?"
"You're so right!"
"Flash, see to it she gets there."
"Right, captain." Flash took off with Apple Jack, while the rest of the crew took the captives to the fields.
Spike started heading towards the palace, "I better check in on the king."
"You do that, but think about this… While you've been away cavorting, matters here have moved apace, now I need you home supporting all the plans I've put in place… First of all, this means your wedding, you'll recall your future bride, for the way that the king's heading, time's no longer on our side… According to the princess, Celestia, our most regal invalid is not that much longer for us, build another pyramid!"
"Yeah… I like to help with that, but the problem isn't with me, but with Rarity…"
"Oh? How so?"
"She doesn't return my affections. I've given all the jewels I have found to her for her to make new dresses. She gives me gratitude, but not love."
"I see…" he stroked his beard.
"You know that fire jewel pendent she wears sometimes?"
"Yes?"
"I gave her that jewel, but she shows no romantic feelings."
"Well, then, you just worry about earning those feelings in the meantime while I work on our ailing king to get better."
"Fine, then. See you at dinner." he left.
Discord waved him off, and then resumed singing, "There are many who'll be tearful as our leader fades away, but our architects are cheerful and each pony must have its day… If our country is to flourish, then my nephew must take the lead, be our inspiration, nourish all our hopes, our dreams, our creed, soonm our monarch will have filled a tomb just like his fathers did, summon Aswan's greatest builder, re: another pyramid…"
His guards sung, "Build it, build it, another pyramid."
"There will be a time for mourning, but for now put plans on hold for l give the nation warning, that before the corpse is cold, we'll extend fair Aswan's power, Aswan's glory strength and style, we shall have our finest hour, far beyond the mighty Nile… He must have a vault that's grand by any standards, floor to lid put five thousands slaves on stand by, build another pyramid!"
"Build it, build it, build it, build it, build it, build it, build it- build it, build it, build it-"
"He must have a vault that's grand by any standards, floor to lid, put five thousands slaves on stand by, build another pyramid!" he left into the palace.
AN: And so we start with what is to come, I won't do all the songs, just the ones that will match characters and go with the story. Just so nothing's confusing, Aswan is a horse living in Egypt, and Hausa Baraba is the closest I could find to a Nubian word meaning horse. It means 'swift horse', which is pretty appropriate for Apple Jack and where she came from. I know technically it was Amneris who wanted Radames' affections, but at least this way, it's true to the show and for Spike to fall in love with AJ instead. Next, we'll know who Mereb is.