~~~
By Rainbow Dreams, Baby Jedi and Queen Maple
~*~
Part One
~*~The kidnapping~*~
~~~~
Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens. -- Carl Jung
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was, like usual, a sunny day outside in Ponyland. But this time, It was baking!
Crumpet, who had been baking cookies, took them out of the oven and placed them on a rack to cool. She hummed a little as she worked and smiled as Baby Crumpet hopped onto a bench and eyed the cookies.
"You have to let them cool, Baby Crumpet" said Crumpet. "Or else, you will burn your tongue. Why don't you go play outside? There's some pink lemonade on the patio table."
Baby Crumpet yelled her thanks and was soon gone from the kitchen to drink her glass of lemonade.
When she arrived outside, she saw Glory running into her yard, ashen faced. "Where is Crumpet?" she asked Baby Crumpet.
Baby Crumpet was scared at the usually calm unicorn's panic.
"She's inside!" said Baby Crumpet.
Glory ran into the house and Baby Crumpet heard frantic chatter.
Inside Glory had just told Crumpet something very grave and frightening. " Oh my...."said Crumpet when Glory had finished.
"Baby Crumpet! Come in! I need to tell you something..."
There was no answer.
Crumpet went over to the window and looked out.
Baby Crumpet was gone and the gate was swinging creakily in the wind. The glass of lemonade had shattered, spilling over the table like blood.
Crumpet screamed and swayed on the spot, then, she started falling.
Then nothing.
~~~
Meanwhile, Miles away....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rainbow Dreams woke with a start to a large pain in her forehead. It was as though millions of icicles were prickling her skin, and invading her every thought with cries of indignance. She swayed a little as she got up, but managed to lean over and stare into the rippling pond beside her.
Rainbow Dreams was a thin pony. Not skinny, but more trim. She was covered completely in rainbow colored patches. Her hair was also rainbow, and longer than normal hair. In fact, it reached the ground, and then some, but she usually braided it to keep it out of her face.
Wings that were almost flutter-like sprouted from her back and arched gracefully. Her eyes were large and shimmered with an almost unnatural light. Yet they were dark, dark blue, and flecked with gold. Still they shone with a golden light that captured your gaze and held it there. Strange enough, when you looked in her eyes, there was no reflection.
She was more horse-like than most ponies, with muscles showing all over her body, instead of being hidden by more skin and hair like most ponies. Her hooves were also shaped like a horses, but were cloven, and small wisps of hair grew around them, like a unicorn. Her chest was powerful, legs long and built for running. She held her head up proudly. She was quite a sight for one to see.
But that wasn't all. Now there was a new addition to her allready wonderful beauty--
She had a horn.
Rainbow Dreams was surprised, but not too much. She had been expecting it to come soon. She had been feeling small twinge's there, and had soon figured out that her horn would burst forth in a couple of days. She was right.
The horn was about two feet and a half long. It was golden and slender. The tip was as sharp as a needle. Rainbow Dreams snorted in fright and backed away. "I am a unicorn" she whispered.
"No, you are half a unicorn."
Rainbow Dreams whirled around and reared as a young women in white robes walked into the clearing. Her bright blue eyes made her long, white-silver hair look pale. Her skin was milk white. She seemed almost ...familiar.
"Sorry to have startled you," said the women. "I am Lady Alberen, and I have come to give you what is rightfully yours, Rainbow Dreams."
Rainbow Dreams blinked and shook her slender head before lowering it and eyeing the women. "What would that be? And how do you know my name?"
Lady Alberen smiled and closed her eyes without answering.
A blinding flash of white erupted but was over before Rainbow Dreams could even blink. The women was holding a small, purple star in the palm.
She threw it, and in another blinding flash, it was suddenly in a crystal ball!
Lady Alberen smiled, placed the crystal ball at Rainbow Dreams feet and left swiftly into the forest.
"That was... odd." muttered Rainbow Dreams. She stared into the crystal ball and saw--
A baby pony. It was Baby Crumpet, and she was lying, cold and dirty, on the floor of a cave.
Rainbow Dreams reared back and neighed loudly. "That baby pony is in trouble... We have to save her! I'll need help. I can go and get Queen Maple, since Purple Flower Bluffs is very near."
And with that, Rainbow Dreams put the crystal ball in a large leather bag around her neck, and ran into the forest towards Purple Flower Bluffs.
~~~
Queen Maple saw a faint figure coming towards Purple Flower Bluffs. She wondered who it was.
"Sky Rocket..." she called to her sister.
The blue-green sparkle pony walked over to Maple.
"Yes? what?" she anwsered.
"What's that, over there?" Maple asked faintly, looking off into the the Sunset mountains.
"Looks like a pony, Queen."
"Yes, but who and why?" Maple had a strange feeling that the pony was coming for an important reason.
"Who? What? Where?" Baby Cuddles asked as she ran up to Maple and Sky Rocket.
"Over there," said Sky Rocket. "A pony, coming here, it looks like."
"Hmmm..." Cuddles pondered a while. "I wonder who."
"Well, just wait...we will be able to tell once they come closer."
The three ponies stood at the top of the outcropping of the Bluffs, waiting to see who was coming and why...
~~~
Rainbow Dreams flew towards the light violet bluffs in the distance, her wings beating in wide arcs, her horn flashing in the sun. She felt as though she was...lighter. The horn did not seem to weigh a thing. On the contrary, it seemed to make her feel lighter.
Probably magic... she thought as she flapped her wings.
Then an idea so obvious made her almost fall from the air.
"Of course! I am a unicorn now, I can wink!" She said, laughing at her own ignorance.
She landed on a cloud and said in her mind...
I wish...I wish...
Suddenly, she felt herself swirling in a circle, and she screamed slightly as planets flew by her. Now she seemed to be on a path...a path of silver stars, leading to a large, brilliant portal. Inside it, she could see Purple Flower Bluffs. The ponies seemed to be moving slower than ever...they were barely moving at all, in fact.
Rainbow Dreams finally burst through the portal and found herself right beside Queen Maple!
"Rainbow dreams?! is that you?!" Said Maple, amazed. "Y-you have a horn?! you winked here?! Whoa!"
"Who?" Asked Cuddles, confused. "Who's Rainbow Dreams?"
"A friend of mine. And she has a HORN!" Replied Queen Maple.
Queen Maple was a white unicorn, with a sleek, healthy looking coat that shined silvery-blue. Though her green and red mane was not as long as Rainbow Dreams, it was just as silky. And in fact, it was more of an advantage, as she did not need to braid it or keep it up in a bun. Her symbol was metalic looking, berghandy maple leaves.
Her hooves were tough and hard and wide. Her chest was also wide, and very muscled. Her neck was thick, but not ugly. In fact it was very graceful and powerful. Queen Maple was not built for running, but was powerful, and strong, yet graceful. Her eyes were a green/yellow color that twinkled with laughter and sparkled with light.
She watched Rainbow Dreams with bright curiosity.
"Hmm, why are you here?" Asked Sky Rocket. She looked at the flutter-type pony's golden horn.
"Nice horn." she said with a smug look on her face.
Rainbow Dreams smiled. "Thank you, I guess..." She looked at Queen Maple. "Can I have a word with you, Maple?" she asked.
"Yes, of course," replied Maple to the rainbow patched flutter. "What is it?"
Rainbow Dreams led Queen Maple over to a boulder and told all that had happened with the crystal ball.
"...And Lady Alberen seemed...familiar, though I cannot explain why! She seemed almost like--Oh my-- no! It...it can't be! Its...Albie is Alberen!"
She saw the confused look on QM's face.
"Well, when me and my two sisters were babies, we were kidnapped by a grumpy man who owned a traveling show.I forgot his name.On purpose. Anyway, he had a servent gypsy named Albie who was kind to us and finally helped us escape from the traveling show...
Peppermint, one of my sisters, was caught again... so anyway... the gypsy was named Albie! like..Alberen. That is why she was so familiar..anyway, who do you think the baby pony is?"
"Hmmmm..." Queen Maple thought for a moment..."Baby Crumpet," she said at last. "I went to a herd once where there was a little baby named Baby Crumpet and her mother was there too. That is her exact symbol." she said looking at the yellow baby in the crystal ball.
Baby Cuddles ran from nehind the rock where she had been eavesdropping on Queen Maple and Rainbow Dreams and poked her nose in the conversation.
"I wonder why Alberen gave you crystal ball...probably so you could rescue Baby Crumpet," said Baby Cuddles.
"Oh, go away, Cuddles!" said Maple, annoyed that she had been listening in on them.
"Mrmph, fine," said Baby Cuddles, grumpily. Baby Cuddles walked away to play with Baby Rainribbon.
"Should we go and save her?" asked Maple.
Rainbow Dreams bit her lip. "Yes." she answered. "We have to...if not she might...die.Or--or get badly hurt."
Rainbow Dreams thought for a moment."She looks pretty beat up"she added as an afterthought. Then she swiftly put her crystal ball in the bag and stood up.
"We'll need supplies. Isn't there a supply store nearby? Wasn't it something like..Steamer's Supply Store or something? I'm not sure...I haven't been here for a while...."
"Okay," said Queen Maple. "Well, there isn't Steamer's Supply Store, but we can go to the Moss Mountain Trading Post. Do you want to go there? And should we bring anyone else with us?"
Rainbow Dreams thought hard for a moment "Well...I really don't think it would be neccesary to have anyone else. I don't know why, but I have this feeling that we shouldn't...Well, not here anyway. Maybe...Oh nevermind. Anyway, how far is the Moss Mountain Trading Post?" asked Rainbow Dreams
"Well, it's not so far, about 25 pony miles." Maple replied. "We can trade some purple mist gems."
Queen Maple wen't and got a bag out of the Show Stable. It was bursting with beautiful purple, pink, blue and black gems!
"Well, come on, we better hurry if we're gonna get to the trading post before it closes," said Maple.
Rainbow Dreams smiled. "I also have some..err...other things to trade, if we need them." she said, looking at the leather bag that hung from her neck.
"What other things do you have to trade?" asked Queen Maple.
Rainbow Dreams just smiled. "I might not have much."she said apologetically. "And you'll have to see it when we arrive."
"Oh that's fine," said Maple. "Oh, well, I guess I'll have to wait to see what other treasures you've brought to trade!" She smiled.
~~~
Meanwhile, somewhere near the Moss Mountain Trading Post, large black clouds were gathering, and lighting zigzagged along the sky...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Baby Crumpet whimpered as she stared through the bars of the cell. An old man paced along the floor, his silver beard draping down to his waist. "Who are you?" asked Baby Crumpet, trying to sound brave.
The man smiled wickedly. "I am simply an old man trying to make a living." he said lightly. Baby Crumpet shivered.
The man suddenly stopped and glared at her. Then, in one movement he had yanked what looked like a gem from his pocket. "Chain this pony!" he yelled. Baby Crumpet stared at the floor, which had began to tremble.
She screamed as glowing green chains burst through the floor and wrapped around her legs, and her neck.
She tried yanking away and felt a zap! She squealed amnd struggled harder, getting more zaps of pain. "The more you struggle, the more the chains will hurt you." snapped the man. Then he strode from the room and slammed a door.
Baby Crumpet suddenly felt extremely weak. She started to tremble so hard that she collapsed. Tears ran down her face, making trails of dirt and grime. "Somebody help me." she whispered.
Nobody answered.
~~~
Rainbow Dreams and Queen Maple appeared suddenly in front of a large building. "Is this the Moss Mountain Trading Post?" asked Rainbow Dreams
"Yes, this is it," said Maple, rather content at the speed in which they had arrived. "Now we have to sign in."
She walked over to the door and slipped a small card in a slot. A yellow pony opened the door and saw Maple and Rainbow Dreams. She got Maple's card out of a small box and looked at it.
"Queen Maple of Purple Flower Bluffs?" she said.
"Yes," said Maple.
"And, who is this?" said the pony at the door, looking at Rainbow Dreams.
"This is my good friend, Rainbow Dreams," Said Maple.
"Oh, alright then, come in," replied the pony, and opened the door.
Inside was a huge system of ponies and other creatures and people trading, selling and buying everything you could think of.
"Well, what do you think we'll need?" Maple asked Rainbow Dreams.
Rainbow Dreams gaped at the scene (while ponies gaped at her) but soon recovered.
"Well, we'll be needing probably a couple of things. First, we will need a map to Ponyland, so that we may find where baby Crumpet is." She took out a small pouch from the one around her neck. It seemed to sparkle.
"Fairy dust." Rainbow Dreams explained. "Now, how do you trade things?" asked Rainbow Dreams, looking around.
"You just put what you have to trade on one of these tables," said Maple, pointing to a large brown table.
She took out her gems and put them on the table.
"Then you wait for someone to come along and if they see something they want, they'll ask you what you want, and if they have it, you both swap items and the trade is complete." Maple finished.
Rainbow Dreams nodded and put the bag on the table, then, she took out three, rounded stones. One was green, one was blue, and one was red. "They're amulets." Rainbow Dreams explained.
Before long, a light blue pony wandered over to the table, and pointed to the three jems. "I will take those." she said.
"What will you trade for them?" asked Rainbow Dreams. "I have some fairy dust." said the pony, looking hopefull. Rainbow Dreams smiled a little.
"We already have fairy dust. All we really need is a map for Ponyland."
This time, the other pony smiled. "Well, originally, it wasn't for trade, but I do have a map here somewhere.." she rummaged around in a bag at her feet and pulled out a map!
She gave it to Rainbow Dreams and Queen Maple, then took three gems and stuck them in a pouch. Then she walked away, looking none too pleased with herself.
Soon they had traded all their things and had everything they needed for the journey.
"Shall we set off, then?" asked Rainbow Dreams. "We will have to walk for quite a while before we are in winking distance of Flutter Valley."
Just then a large KA-BOOM! made the walls of the Trading Post tremble. A baby pony began to cry somewhere in the room.
"Oh my," said Rainbow Dreams. "I guess we will have to wait for the storm to stop." she looked at a clock on the wall. "But if we wait too long it may be too late." she looked out at the flashing lighting storm. The rain was pouring like buckets.
"Oh dear, look at the size of that storm," said Maple, a little worried.
She gathered up all the things they had traded for and put them in a bag and set the bag on the floor by the table.
Rainbow Dreams sighed and stared out at the storm through an open window.She wondered if Queen Maple had noticed how depressed she felt. Rainbow Dreams felt like crying. It was a night like this one when she had found out about...her parents... not just what they were, but where they were... NO! I will not cry! she thought fiercly. She blinked fast and pretended to rummage through her bag.
When she felt a bit better, she got up and had an idea:
Utter flutter!
She was part flutter pony...maybe she could magic the storm away...
Ka-Boom!
The room shook and lighting flashed in jagged ligns across the dark sky. Rainbow Dreams galloped to the door before anyone around her could even react. As soon as she opened the door, she felt a strong gust of wind blow her a few feet away...
She gritted her teeth and pushed forwards, digging her feet into the carpet. She finally made it out and slammed the door behind her. She then flew into the sky, being tossed violently in the wind.
I wish...I wish....
The storm began to move away from her. It went slow, but soon picked up speed until it blew away. Rainbow Dreams panted and flew back in, grumpy and soaking wet.
"Rainbow Dreams! You utter fluttered it away!" said Queen Maple, her voice filled with joy. "We can go now!"
She picked up a bag and walked towards the door. "Come on," she called to the rainbow flutter.
Suddenly applause broke out from the ponies in the post. They too could now leave and go home.
Rainbow Dreams beamed and grabbed one of the bags, then she followed Maple out the door where the sun was shining and only a few wisps of cloud remained.
"Where to?" she asked, more to herself than to Maple. She took out her own compass and the map they had gotten. Rainbow Dreams suddenly turned and faced north, where blue gray mountains towered above them, piercing the clouds.
"First" She said to her friend, "We must go past the Mountains bordering Flutter Valley. Then, we will have to cross Flutter Valley, more mountains, and then on to Ponyland! We could wink small distances, but if we did it wrong, we might get separated. We will probably have to cross on foot.
Rainbow Dreams had a sudden thought.
"Maybe when we arrive in Flutter Valley they will have some sort of transportation for us to get to Ponyland." she said hopefully.
She whirled her horn and the compass and map dissappeared, reappearing in her sac.
"If not, we can always get more supplies to get to Ponyland anyway." she added. "right?"
"Right." agreed Maple, nodding. "Now we have to go to the Mountains..." She took the map out of the bag and looked at it. "It will be a hard climb over them...the easiest way would be over Mount Sunlight... Do you want to go there?"
"What do you want to climb over them for?" A voice said behind them.
Rainbow Dreams and Queen Maple whirled around to see a tall cloaked pony.
"Who are you?!" Rainbow Dreams asked, a bit frightened.
The pony gave a half-hearted laugh. "Well, RD," She said. "QM,"
Queen Maple stepped up to the pony. "Do we know you from somewhere?"
"Of course!" The pony said, throwing off her hood. "I'm Baby Jedi!"
First off, she was NOT a baby. She was also a white unicorn, but had jet black hair with a shock of ruby red running through it. She had an almost intriguing look of slyness and intelligence in her dark eyes. Her symbols were a single blue light saber that seemed to actually glow on her hips. Her legs were trim and her chest muscled, but not as wide as the other two. She was built for agility.
Baby Jedi smiled.
"It's you!" cried Rainbow Dreams, running up to her. She smiled too. "Long time no see, eh?" Rainbow Dreams nuzzled the pony."I've missed you. Where have you been?"
"Baby Jedi! I havn't seen you in so long!" Queen Maple smiled. "Good to see you!"
"Good to see you, too, QM!" The white unicorn smiled wider. "You too, RD. Where are you two headed off to?"
Rainbow Dreams sighed. Then she told BJ everything that had happened.
"So you see, were trying to figure out which mountain we should cross first." she finished.
Baby Jedi sat in thought.
"The quickest way would be over the one you chose," She finally said. "I think I can sense where Baby Crumpet is being held."
Rainbow Dreams nodded. "I can too. I think it is somewhere in a cave near..." she squinted as though invisioning something. "Near Dragonfly Mountain, on the other side of Ponyland."
She shook her head as if she was shaking herself free of her thoughts.
Then she smiled.
"Baby Jedi..." she said slowly. "How would you like to come with us? We could use some company, and when we find Baby Crumpet, we'll probably need help as well."
She looked at BJ straight in the eye. "So, what about it?" she asked.
For a minute the unicorn stood silent. "You can sense her, RD?" She stammered. "But- but how?!" Then she saw the horn on Rainbow Dreams' forehead.
Rainbow Dreams smiled a little. "Oh yes, I forgot to tell you about my horn...sorry." she giggled.
"Wow!" Baby Jedi smiled. "And about that question... I'll come along with you!"
Rainbow Dreams and Queen Maple both cheered!
"That's great BJ!" Said Rainbow Dreams. "I'm so glad! You know...I'm thinking maybe I should try and find out a bit more about why Baby Crumpet is in that cave. I can use my crystal ball."
She took it out and set it on a rock. Then she stared deep into it and tried to figure out how to work it.
It stayed blank.
"C'mon...Work!" she muttered.
She suddenly tuned everything else out and invisioned baby Crumpet.
The star in the crystal ball began to swirl until there was a big white circle, framed with purple mist. Inside, she saw baby Crumpet lying on the floor. But now she was chained!
She turned her head, and the vision turned too. She saw a man sitting in a chair. He had a long silver beard that he kept twisting with his finger. His sinister grin made Rainbow Dreams feel sick.
"Monster!" she said.
Just then, the man started speaking. She leaned closer and heard;
"..Because you ponies have something I don't. I'm a wizard, but I have no magic. I would have gotten a unicorn, but the last one slashed me with her horn." he chuckled, which sounded sinister to Rainbow Dreams. "Feisty--"
Suddenly the vision ended.
"Oh Rainbow Dreams! We have to save her from that--that monster!" Maple said with a look of disgust on her face. "Come on, Baby Jedi, Rainbow Dreams, we have to hurry. But-- RD you are a unicorn and-- Oh my gosh, so am I and so is Baby Jedi!" she said, horrified.
"He will capture us too! Oh, what do we do?!" She paced back and forth on the grass... "Oh what do we do?!" she repeated.
"We are all unicorns," Baby Jedi said... "I think we should wink. Baby Crumpet is in danger. In fact, I think we should multiple wink, so we don't get mixed up. I'll control it."
The other two ponies gave her a weird look...
"Um, okay sure," Maple said. "Should we wink right to where Baby Crumpet is or what? Where?"
"Well," the unicorn thought. "Do you want me to control the multiple wink? Do you know what multiple winking is?"
Rainbow Dreams cleared her throat. "Umm..remember me anyone?" she grinned. "I also have an idea...why don't we just worry about getting there first. Then we can worry about saving her. And, what's multiple winking?"
"Yes, okay," said Maple. "Hmmm, I don't know what multiple winking is either..."
"Multiple winking," Baby Jedi explained. "Is when a unicorn winks more than just themselves. Does that make sense? So instead of just winking myself, I would have to, say, grab your mane- well not grab grab, but hold onto it, then wink. You just need to concentrate more. Did I lose you guys? Or do you understand?"
Rainbow Dreams face contorted into understanding.
"Oh yes!" she said "I remember multiple winking! except the unicorns in Moonlight Valley used to call it double-winking, triple-winking, etc, depending on the amount of unicorns who are doing it. I heard that one day while two of the adult unicorns were talking to a teen-unicorn so that they could teach her how to do it. Anyway, I also heard them tell her that it didn't make them go any farther, and also drained energy of a unicorn faster."
She took a breath and then sighed.
"So basically we could do it up the mountain in really tricky parts to make it go a bit faster, but we couldn't use it to get directly to Flutter Valley or Ponyland!"
Baby Jedi opened her mouth, then shut it. "Yeah..." She managed. "We could use it in the tough parts..." She shook her head. "Well, let's be off! Come on, let's go!"
Rainbow Dreams smiled. "Sorry, BJ. It's a great suggestion though! And it'll work great when we have to cross Wind River... The rapids there are so rough, we'd be dashed to pieces! Never even remembered multiple winking. It's a good thing someone did."
"Yes, Wind River is bad and then comes Sunburst River, but that one isn't as bad..." QM said.
"Well!" BJ said. "Gues we oughtta start walking! But-" she lowered her voice. "I've heard weird stories about the mountains at night... I don't know if they're true, but we should be careful, just in case."
Rainbow Dreams nodded as she too remembered the old stories. "I once heard," she said "that there is a phantom pony in the forest. I've heard she is evil. I have forgotten her appearance but, that isn't important since that is just an old tale and most likely not true."
The three unicorns hoisted their packs on their backs and set off towards the purple-gray mountains.
By Rainbow Dreams, Baby Jedi and Queen Maple
~*~
Part One
~*~The kidnapping~*~
~~~~
Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens. -- Carl Jung
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was, like usual, a sunny day outside in Ponyland. But this time, It was baking!
Crumpet, who had been baking cookies, took them out of the oven and placed them on a rack to cool. She hummed a little as she worked and smiled as Baby Crumpet hopped onto a bench and eyed the cookies.
"You have to let them cool, Baby Crumpet" said Crumpet. "Or else, you will burn your tongue. Why don't you go play outside? There's some pink lemonade on the patio table."
Baby Crumpet yelled her thanks and was soon gone from the kitchen to drink her glass of lemonade.
When she arrived outside, she saw Glory running into her yard, ashen faced. "Where is Crumpet?" she asked Baby Crumpet.
Baby Crumpet was scared at the usually calm unicorn's panic.
"She's inside!" said Baby Crumpet.
Glory ran into the house and Baby Crumpet heard frantic chatter.
Inside Glory had just told Crumpet something very grave and frightening. " Oh my...."said Crumpet when Glory had finished.
"Baby Crumpet! Come in! I need to tell you something..."
There was no answer.
Crumpet went over to the window and looked out.
Baby Crumpet was gone and the gate was swinging creakily in the wind. The glass of lemonade had shattered, spilling over the table like blood.
Crumpet screamed and swayed on the spot, then, she started falling.
Then nothing.
~~~
Meanwhile, Miles away....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rainbow Dreams woke with a start to a large pain in her forehead. It was as though millions of icicles were prickling her skin, and invading her every thought with cries of indignance. She swayed a little as she got up, but managed to lean over and stare into the rippling pond beside her.
Rainbow Dreams was a thin pony. Not skinny, but more trim. She was covered completely in rainbow colored patches. Her hair was also rainbow, and longer than normal hair. In fact, it reached the ground, and then some, but she usually braided it to keep it out of her face.
Wings that were almost flutter-like sprouted from her back and arched gracefully. Her eyes were large and shimmered with an almost unnatural light. Yet they were dark, dark blue, and flecked with gold. Still they shone with a golden light that captured your gaze and held it there. Strange enough, when you looked in her eyes, there was no reflection.
She was more horse-like than most ponies, with muscles showing all over her body, instead of being hidden by more skin and hair like most ponies. Her hooves were also shaped like a horses, but were cloven, and small wisps of hair grew around them, like a unicorn. Her chest was powerful, legs long and built for running. She held her head up proudly. She was quite a sight for one to see.
But that wasn't all. Now there was a new addition to her allready wonderful beauty--
She had a horn.
Rainbow Dreams was surprised, but not too much. She had been expecting it to come soon. She had been feeling small twinge's there, and had soon figured out that her horn would burst forth in a couple of days. She was right.
The horn was about two feet and a half long. It was golden and slender. The tip was as sharp as a needle. Rainbow Dreams snorted in fright and backed away. "I am a unicorn" she whispered.
"No, you are half a unicorn."
Rainbow Dreams whirled around and reared as a young women in white robes walked into the clearing. Her bright blue eyes made her long, white-silver hair look pale. Her skin was milk white. She seemed almost ...familiar.
"Sorry to have startled you," said the women. "I am Lady Alberen, and I have come to give you what is rightfully yours, Rainbow Dreams."
Rainbow Dreams blinked and shook her slender head before lowering it and eyeing the women. "What would that be? And how do you know my name?"
Lady Alberen smiled and closed her eyes without answering.
A blinding flash of white erupted but was over before Rainbow Dreams could even blink. The women was holding a small, purple star in the palm.
She threw it, and in another blinding flash, it was suddenly in a crystal ball!
Lady Alberen smiled, placed the crystal ball at Rainbow Dreams feet and left swiftly into the forest.
"That was... odd." muttered Rainbow Dreams. She stared into the crystal ball and saw--
A baby pony. It was Baby Crumpet, and she was lying, cold and dirty, on the floor of a cave.
Rainbow Dreams reared back and neighed loudly. "That baby pony is in trouble... We have to save her! I'll need help. I can go and get Queen Maple, since Purple Flower Bluffs is very near."
And with that, Rainbow Dreams put the crystal ball in a large leather bag around her neck, and ran into the forest towards Purple Flower Bluffs.
~~~
Queen Maple saw a faint figure coming towards Purple Flower Bluffs. She wondered who it was.
"Sky Rocket..." she called to her sister.
The blue-green sparkle pony walked over to Maple.
"Yes? what?" she anwsered.
"What's that, over there?" Maple asked faintly, looking off into the the Sunset mountains.
"Looks like a pony, Queen."
"Yes, but who and why?" Maple had a strange feeling that the pony was coming for an important reason.
"Who? What? Where?" Baby Cuddles asked as she ran up to Maple and Sky Rocket.
"Over there," said Sky Rocket. "A pony, coming here, it looks like."
"Hmmm..." Cuddles pondered a while. "I wonder who."
"Well, just wait...we will be able to tell once they come closer."
The three ponies stood at the top of the outcropping of the Bluffs, waiting to see who was coming and why...
~~~
Rainbow Dreams flew towards the light violet bluffs in the distance, her wings beating in wide arcs, her horn flashing in the sun. She felt as though she was...lighter. The horn did not seem to weigh a thing. On the contrary, it seemed to make her feel lighter.
Probably magic... she thought as she flapped her wings.
Then an idea so obvious made her almost fall from the air.
"Of course! I am a unicorn now, I can wink!" She said, laughing at her own ignorance.
She landed on a cloud and said in her mind...
I wish...I wish...
Suddenly, she felt herself swirling in a circle, and she screamed slightly as planets flew by her. Now she seemed to be on a path...a path of silver stars, leading to a large, brilliant portal. Inside it, she could see Purple Flower Bluffs. The ponies seemed to be moving slower than ever...they were barely moving at all, in fact.
Rainbow Dreams finally burst through the portal and found herself right beside Queen Maple!
"Rainbow dreams?! is that you?!" Said Maple, amazed. "Y-you have a horn?! you winked here?! Whoa!"
"Who?" Asked Cuddles, confused. "Who's Rainbow Dreams?"
"A friend of mine. And she has a HORN!" Replied Queen Maple.
Queen Maple was a white unicorn, with a sleek, healthy looking coat that shined silvery-blue. Though her green and red mane was not as long as Rainbow Dreams, it was just as silky. And in fact, it was more of an advantage, as she did not need to braid it or keep it up in a bun. Her symbol was metalic looking, berghandy maple leaves.
Her hooves were tough and hard and wide. Her chest was also wide, and very muscled. Her neck was thick, but not ugly. In fact it was very graceful and powerful. Queen Maple was not built for running, but was powerful, and strong, yet graceful. Her eyes were a green/yellow color that twinkled with laughter and sparkled with light.
She watched Rainbow Dreams with bright curiosity.
"Hmm, why are you here?" Asked Sky Rocket. She looked at the flutter-type pony's golden horn.
"Nice horn." she said with a smug look on her face.
Rainbow Dreams smiled. "Thank you, I guess..." She looked at Queen Maple. "Can I have a word with you, Maple?" she asked.
"Yes, of course," replied Maple to the rainbow patched flutter. "What is it?"
Rainbow Dreams led Queen Maple over to a boulder and told all that had happened with the crystal ball.
"...And Lady Alberen seemed...familiar, though I cannot explain why! She seemed almost like--Oh my-- no! It...it can't be! Its...Albie is Alberen!"
She saw the confused look on QM's face.
"Well, when me and my two sisters were babies, we were kidnapped by a grumpy man who owned a traveling show.I forgot his name.On purpose. Anyway, he had a servent gypsy named Albie who was kind to us and finally helped us escape from the traveling show...
Peppermint, one of my sisters, was caught again... so anyway... the gypsy was named Albie! like..Alberen. That is why she was so familiar..anyway, who do you think the baby pony is?"
"Hmmmm..." Queen Maple thought for a moment..."Baby Crumpet," she said at last. "I went to a herd once where there was a little baby named Baby Crumpet and her mother was there too. That is her exact symbol." she said looking at the yellow baby in the crystal ball.
Baby Cuddles ran from nehind the rock where she had been eavesdropping on Queen Maple and Rainbow Dreams and poked her nose in the conversation.
"I wonder why Alberen gave you crystal ball...probably so you could rescue Baby Crumpet," said Baby Cuddles.
"Oh, go away, Cuddles!" said Maple, annoyed that she had been listening in on them.
"Mrmph, fine," said Baby Cuddles, grumpily. Baby Cuddles walked away to play with Baby Rainribbon.
"Should we go and save her?" asked Maple.
Rainbow Dreams bit her lip. "Yes." she answered. "We have to...if not she might...die.Or--or get badly hurt."
Rainbow Dreams thought for a moment."She looks pretty beat up"she added as an afterthought. Then she swiftly put her crystal ball in the bag and stood up.
"We'll need supplies. Isn't there a supply store nearby? Wasn't it something like..Steamer's Supply Store or something? I'm not sure...I haven't been here for a while...."
"Okay," said Queen Maple. "Well, there isn't Steamer's Supply Store, but we can go to the Moss Mountain Trading Post. Do you want to go there? And should we bring anyone else with us?"
Rainbow Dreams thought hard for a moment "Well...I really don't think it would be neccesary to have anyone else. I don't know why, but I have this feeling that we shouldn't...Well, not here anyway. Maybe...Oh nevermind. Anyway, how far is the Moss Mountain Trading Post?" asked Rainbow Dreams
"Well, it's not so far, about 25 pony miles." Maple replied. "We can trade some purple mist gems."
Queen Maple wen't and got a bag out of the Show Stable. It was bursting with beautiful purple, pink, blue and black gems!
"Well, come on, we better hurry if we're gonna get to the trading post before it closes," said Maple.
Rainbow Dreams smiled. "I also have some..err...other things to trade, if we need them." she said, looking at the leather bag that hung from her neck.
"What other things do you have to trade?" asked Queen Maple.
Rainbow Dreams just smiled. "I might not have much."she said apologetically. "And you'll have to see it when we arrive."
"Oh that's fine," said Maple. "Oh, well, I guess I'll have to wait to see what other treasures you've brought to trade!" She smiled.
~~~
Meanwhile, somewhere near the Moss Mountain Trading Post, large black clouds were gathering, and lighting zigzagged along the sky...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Baby Crumpet whimpered as she stared through the bars of the cell. An old man paced along the floor, his silver beard draping down to his waist. "Who are you?" asked Baby Crumpet, trying to sound brave.
The man smiled wickedly. "I am simply an old man trying to make a living." he said lightly. Baby Crumpet shivered.
The man suddenly stopped and glared at her. Then, in one movement he had yanked what looked like a gem from his pocket. "Chain this pony!" he yelled. Baby Crumpet stared at the floor, which had began to tremble.
She screamed as glowing green chains burst through the floor and wrapped around her legs, and her neck.
She tried yanking away and felt a zap! She squealed amnd struggled harder, getting more zaps of pain. "The more you struggle, the more the chains will hurt you." snapped the man. Then he strode from the room and slammed a door.
Baby Crumpet suddenly felt extremely weak. She started to tremble so hard that she collapsed. Tears ran down her face, making trails of dirt and grime. "Somebody help me." she whispered.
Nobody answered.
~~~
Rainbow Dreams and Queen Maple appeared suddenly in front of a large building. "Is this the Moss Mountain Trading Post?" asked Rainbow Dreams
"Yes, this is it," said Maple, rather content at the speed in which they had arrived. "Now we have to sign in."
She walked over to the door and slipped a small card in a slot. A yellow pony opened the door and saw Maple and Rainbow Dreams. She got Maple's card out of a small box and looked at it.
"Queen Maple of Purple Flower Bluffs?" she said.
"Yes," said Maple.
"And, who is this?" said the pony at the door, looking at Rainbow Dreams.
"This is my good friend, Rainbow Dreams," Said Maple.
"Oh, alright then, come in," replied the pony, and opened the door.
Inside was a huge system of ponies and other creatures and people trading, selling and buying everything you could think of.
"Well, what do you think we'll need?" Maple asked Rainbow Dreams.
Rainbow Dreams gaped at the scene (while ponies gaped at her) but soon recovered.
"Well, we'll be needing probably a couple of things. First, we will need a map to Ponyland, so that we may find where baby Crumpet is." She took out a small pouch from the one around her neck. It seemed to sparkle.
"Fairy dust." Rainbow Dreams explained. "Now, how do you trade things?" asked Rainbow Dreams, looking around.
"You just put what you have to trade on one of these tables," said Maple, pointing to a large brown table.
She took out her gems and put them on the table.
"Then you wait for someone to come along and if they see something they want, they'll ask you what you want, and if they have it, you both swap items and the trade is complete." Maple finished.
Rainbow Dreams nodded and put the bag on the table, then, she took out three, rounded stones. One was green, one was blue, and one was red. "They're amulets." Rainbow Dreams explained.
Before long, a light blue pony wandered over to the table, and pointed to the three jems. "I will take those." she said.
"What will you trade for them?" asked Rainbow Dreams. "I have some fairy dust." said the pony, looking hopefull. Rainbow Dreams smiled a little.
"We already have fairy dust. All we really need is a map for Ponyland."
This time, the other pony smiled. "Well, originally, it wasn't for trade, but I do have a map here somewhere.." she rummaged around in a bag at her feet and pulled out a map!
She gave it to Rainbow Dreams and Queen Maple, then took three gems and stuck them in a pouch. Then she walked away, looking none too pleased with herself.
Soon they had traded all their things and had everything they needed for the journey.
"Shall we set off, then?" asked Rainbow Dreams. "We will have to walk for quite a while before we are in winking distance of Flutter Valley."
Just then a large KA-BOOM! made the walls of the Trading Post tremble. A baby pony began to cry somewhere in the room.
"Oh my," said Rainbow Dreams. "I guess we will have to wait for the storm to stop." she looked at a clock on the wall. "But if we wait too long it may be too late." she looked out at the flashing lighting storm. The rain was pouring like buckets.
"Oh dear, look at the size of that storm," said Maple, a little worried.
She gathered up all the things they had traded for and put them in a bag and set the bag on the floor by the table.
Rainbow Dreams sighed and stared out at the storm through an open window.She wondered if Queen Maple had noticed how depressed she felt. Rainbow Dreams felt like crying. It was a night like this one when she had found out about...her parents... not just what they were, but where they were... NO! I will not cry! she thought fiercly. She blinked fast and pretended to rummage through her bag.
When she felt a bit better, she got up and had an idea:
Utter flutter!
She was part flutter pony...maybe she could magic the storm away...
Ka-Boom!
The room shook and lighting flashed in jagged ligns across the dark sky. Rainbow Dreams galloped to the door before anyone around her could even react. As soon as she opened the door, she felt a strong gust of wind blow her a few feet away...
She gritted her teeth and pushed forwards, digging her feet into the carpet. She finally made it out and slammed the door behind her. She then flew into the sky, being tossed violently in the wind.
I wish...I wish....
The storm began to move away from her. It went slow, but soon picked up speed until it blew away. Rainbow Dreams panted and flew back in, grumpy and soaking wet.
"Rainbow Dreams! You utter fluttered it away!" said Queen Maple, her voice filled with joy. "We can go now!"
She picked up a bag and walked towards the door. "Come on," she called to the rainbow flutter.
Suddenly applause broke out from the ponies in the post. They too could now leave and go home.
Rainbow Dreams beamed and grabbed one of the bags, then she followed Maple out the door where the sun was shining and only a few wisps of cloud remained.
"Where to?" she asked, more to herself than to Maple. She took out her own compass and the map they had gotten. Rainbow Dreams suddenly turned and faced north, where blue gray mountains towered above them, piercing the clouds.
"First" She said to her friend, "We must go past the Mountains bordering Flutter Valley. Then, we will have to cross Flutter Valley, more mountains, and then on to Ponyland! We could wink small distances, but if we did it wrong, we might get separated. We will probably have to cross on foot.
Rainbow Dreams had a sudden thought.
"Maybe when we arrive in Flutter Valley they will have some sort of transportation for us to get to Ponyland." she said hopefully.
She whirled her horn and the compass and map dissappeared, reappearing in her sac.
"If not, we can always get more supplies to get to Ponyland anyway." she added. "right?"
"Right." agreed Maple, nodding. "Now we have to go to the Mountains..." She took the map out of the bag and looked at it. "It will be a hard climb over them...the easiest way would be over Mount Sunlight... Do you want to go there?"
"What do you want to climb over them for?" A voice said behind them.
Rainbow Dreams and Queen Maple whirled around to see a tall cloaked pony.
"Who are you?!" Rainbow Dreams asked, a bit frightened.
The pony gave a half-hearted laugh. "Well, RD," She said. "QM,"
Queen Maple stepped up to the pony. "Do we know you from somewhere?"
"Of course!" The pony said, throwing off her hood. "I'm Baby Jedi!"
First off, she was NOT a baby. She was also a white unicorn, but had jet black hair with a shock of ruby red running through it. She had an almost intriguing look of slyness and intelligence in her dark eyes. Her symbols were a single blue light saber that seemed to actually glow on her hips. Her legs were trim and her chest muscled, but not as wide as the other two. She was built for agility.
Baby Jedi smiled.
"It's you!" cried Rainbow Dreams, running up to her. She smiled too. "Long time no see, eh?" Rainbow Dreams nuzzled the pony."I've missed you. Where have you been?"
"Baby Jedi! I havn't seen you in so long!" Queen Maple smiled. "Good to see you!"
"Good to see you, too, QM!" The white unicorn smiled wider. "You too, RD. Where are you two headed off to?"
Rainbow Dreams sighed. Then she told BJ everything that had happened.
"So you see, were trying to figure out which mountain we should cross first." she finished.
Baby Jedi sat in thought.
"The quickest way would be over the one you chose," She finally said. "I think I can sense where Baby Crumpet is being held."
Rainbow Dreams nodded. "I can too. I think it is somewhere in a cave near..." she squinted as though invisioning something. "Near Dragonfly Mountain, on the other side of Ponyland."
She shook her head as if she was shaking herself free of her thoughts.
Then she smiled.
"Baby Jedi..." she said slowly. "How would you like to come with us? We could use some company, and when we find Baby Crumpet, we'll probably need help as well."
She looked at BJ straight in the eye. "So, what about it?" she asked.
For a minute the unicorn stood silent. "You can sense her, RD?" She stammered. "But- but how?!" Then she saw the horn on Rainbow Dreams' forehead.
Rainbow Dreams smiled a little. "Oh yes, I forgot to tell you about my horn...sorry." she giggled.
"Wow!" Baby Jedi smiled. "And about that question... I'll come along with you!"
Rainbow Dreams and Queen Maple both cheered!
"That's great BJ!" Said Rainbow Dreams. "I'm so glad! You know...I'm thinking maybe I should try and find out a bit more about why Baby Crumpet is in that cave. I can use my crystal ball."
She took it out and set it on a rock. Then she stared deep into it and tried to figure out how to work it.
It stayed blank.
"C'mon...Work!" she muttered.
She suddenly tuned everything else out and invisioned baby Crumpet.
The star in the crystal ball began to swirl until there was a big white circle, framed with purple mist. Inside, she saw baby Crumpet lying on the floor. But now she was chained!
She turned her head, and the vision turned too. She saw a man sitting in a chair. He had a long silver beard that he kept twisting with his finger. His sinister grin made Rainbow Dreams feel sick.
"Monster!" she said.
Just then, the man started speaking. She leaned closer and heard;
"..Because you ponies have something I don't. I'm a wizard, but I have no magic. I would have gotten a unicorn, but the last one slashed me with her horn." he chuckled, which sounded sinister to Rainbow Dreams. "Feisty--"
Suddenly the vision ended.
"Oh Rainbow Dreams! We have to save her from that--that monster!" Maple said with a look of disgust on her face. "Come on, Baby Jedi, Rainbow Dreams, we have to hurry. But-- RD you are a unicorn and-- Oh my gosh, so am I and so is Baby Jedi!" she said, horrified.
"He will capture us too! Oh, what do we do?!" She paced back and forth on the grass... "Oh what do we do?!" she repeated.
"We are all unicorns," Baby Jedi said... "I think we should wink. Baby Crumpet is in danger. In fact, I think we should multiple wink, so we don't get mixed up. I'll control it."
The other two ponies gave her a weird look...
"Um, okay sure," Maple said. "Should we wink right to where Baby Crumpet is or what? Where?"
"Well," the unicorn thought. "Do you want me to control the multiple wink? Do you know what multiple winking is?"
Rainbow Dreams cleared her throat. "Umm..remember me anyone?" she grinned. "I also have an idea...why don't we just worry about getting there first. Then we can worry about saving her. And, what's multiple winking?"
"Yes, okay," said Maple. "Hmmm, I don't know what multiple winking is either..."
"Multiple winking," Baby Jedi explained. "Is when a unicorn winks more than just themselves. Does that make sense? So instead of just winking myself, I would have to, say, grab your mane- well not grab grab, but hold onto it, then wink. You just need to concentrate more. Did I lose you guys? Or do you understand?"
Rainbow Dreams face contorted into understanding.
"Oh yes!" she said "I remember multiple winking! except the unicorns in Moonlight Valley used to call it double-winking, triple-winking, etc, depending on the amount of unicorns who are doing it. I heard that one day while two of the adult unicorns were talking to a teen-unicorn so that they could teach her how to do it. Anyway, I also heard them tell her that it didn't make them go any farther, and also drained energy of a unicorn faster."
She took a breath and then sighed.
"So basically we could do it up the mountain in really tricky parts to make it go a bit faster, but we couldn't use it to get directly to Flutter Valley or Ponyland!"
Baby Jedi opened her mouth, then shut it. "Yeah..." She managed. "We could use it in the tough parts..." She shook her head. "Well, let's be off! Come on, let's go!"
Rainbow Dreams smiled. "Sorry, BJ. It's a great suggestion though! And it'll work great when we have to cross Wind River... The rapids there are so rough, we'd be dashed to pieces! Never even remembered multiple winking. It's a good thing someone did."
"Yes, Wind River is bad and then comes Sunburst River, but that one isn't as bad..." QM said.
"Well!" BJ said. "Gues we oughtta start walking! But-" she lowered her voice. "I've heard weird stories about the mountains at night... I don't know if they're true, but we should be careful, just in case."
Rainbow Dreams nodded as she too remembered the old stories. "I once heard," she said "that there is a phantom pony in the forest. I've heard she is evil. I have forgotten her appearance but, that isn't important since that is just an old tale and most likely not true."
The three unicorns hoisted their packs on their backs and set off towards the purple-gray mountains.