The sun was beginning to sink below the horizon, painting the sky with hues of orange and purple. While many were beginning to settle down to sleep, two little ponies were venturing deep into the Everfree Forest.
"Ugh… remind me, why are we doing this egghead stuff?" A blue pegasus groaned as she flew alongside a purple unicorn
"It's not 'egghead' stuff, Rainbow Dash," The unicorn smiled as she looked up from an old book which was floating in front of her, "This could be an extremely important discovery!"
"I'm always down with a little adventuring. It's my second favorite thing to do after napping. But you never mentioned anything about studying some old ruin until we got out here, Twilight!"
"Look Rainbow Dash, I'm sorry for tricking you into this but I didn't want to go this deep into the Everfree Forest by myself. Not after I bumped into the cockatrice." Twilight Sparkle said as she turned a page in her book
Rainbow Dash rolled on to her back, folding her hooves behind the back of her head. "So, what book is that anyway?"
"It's the Lex Ponica," Twilight said excitedly, "It chronicles the founding of Equestria."
"I thought that was a bunch of myths and stuff." Rainbow Dash scoffed
"It's not all myths," Twilight responded, lowering the book as she nodded down to the ground "Just take a look at this old path we're on."
Rainbow Dash looked down and noticed bits of cobblestone on a mostly mossy ground.
"Whoa, I never even noticed this before. Was this a road or something?"
"That's what I thought," Twilight began to explain, "I noticed some of these stones the last time I went to visit Zecora. So I looked in the Lex Ponica and saw a whole chapter talking about the Royal Equestria Road. In the early days there were only earth ponies and they had an elaborate road system… or so the stories go."
"Where does this road lead to?" Rainbow Dash asked, rolling over in midair before setting down so that she could better inspect one of the cobblestones
"Hm? Why do you care Dash?" Twilight asked with a slight giggle, "I thought you didn't care about this 'egghead stuff'?"
"What? I-I don't care," Rainbow Dash scoffed, turning her head up before slowly looking over to Twilight, "I just like to know where I'm going. That's all."
Twilight continued to giggle before looking to the book, "Well, according to legend western Equestria was often attacked by ogres and…"
"Ogres?" Rainbow Dash asked, lifting her head up "What's an ogre?"
"From best I can tell, ogres were big monsters that ate ponies." Twilight responded absentmindedly as she continued reading the book
"Wait? Ate ponies!"
"Oh, don't worry," Twilight quickly responded, raising a hoof as she smiled "There hasn't been an ogre in Equestria for thousands of years."
"I wasn't scared!" Rainbow Dash huffed, folding her arms across her chest
"I never said you were…" Twilight Sparkle quirked a brow before giggling, "But there's really no need to be anyway."
Rainbow Dash frowned as she flapped her wings and went airborne again. "So, what were you saying before?"
"Oh, right," Twilight nodded before levitating the book up high enough for Rainbow Dash to see. On the page was a crude sketch of a stone keep surrounded by various monsters. Atop the keep was a unicorn whose horn was brightly shining.
"Since western Equestria was always under attack the first Princess Luna established a series of keeps and watchtowers along the border," Twilight continued to explain, "Nopony has ever found one of them before, but I've been doing some research into old myths and I think that one of those keeps is right here in the Everfree Forest near Ponyville."
"Wait, first Princess Luna?" Rainbow Dash asked, "And who's the unicorn in the picture?"
"Hm?" Twilight asked, lowering the book back down so that she could look, "Oh well Equestria has always been ruled under a dual-Princess scheme. Celestia and Luna are just the names Princesses take when they start their reign."
"But I thought Princess Celestia and Luna have been ruling for thousands of years? At least that's what you told us when you first moved here."
"Well, not thousands," Twilight responded, "At least, not the current Celestia and Luna. But they have ruled for a very, very long time."
Rainbow Dash nodded, "Alright… but that doesn't answer who the unicorn in the picture is."
"Oh, right," Twilight grinned, "That's supposed to be Carmina; she was the first unicorn and a great warrior!"
"And lemmie guess, you're her biggest fan?" Rainbow Dash teased
"No," Twilight said, blushing a bit, "I always liked all the stories and songs about her. How she fended off entire armies and even held the watchtower of ThunderHoof by herself for five days."
"No kidding? Five days? She sounds like one tough pony!" Dash smiled
"Come on Rainbow Dash," Twilight said, levitating the book back into her saddlebag, "Those are just stories for fillies and colts."
"Then why are we out here?"
"Because I'm looking for the truth," Twilight said as she slowed her pace, "I want to know if there ever was a ThunderHoof… if Equestria's history really is as old as some of these books talk about. With so many strange creatures still living in the Everfree Forest, I was hoping maybe some of these old stories my mom used to read to me could be true."
"You just want to know if your idol was real or not," Rainbow Dash teased, lightly tapping her friend on the top of her head
"Okay, maybe…" Twilight giggled a bit as the path they were following came to an end in thick underbrush
"Just remember," Rainbow Dash said as she began to fly over the underbrush "You owe me one for coming out here with you."
"I'll keep that in mind next time Pinkie Pie is looking for you." Twilight said as she carefully made her way through the ticket
Rainbow Dash was just about to retort but once she got to the other side of the brush, her mouth hung open. Standing before the pegasus was a massive stone watchtower, or what was left of it. It looked as if the top portion of the keep had fallen and the ground next to it was strewn with hundreds of stones. What foundation of the watchtower which remained standing was well eroded and overgrown with moss and vines. There were a few stone steps which led up to the front entrance of the keep and on either side of the entrace were life-sized statues of a beautiful unicorn mare posing with one hoof raised high in the air. Even more impressive was the fact that the horns on both statues were gilded in gold.
"What? No comeback? I thought you were the fastest…" Twilight paused midsentence as she got through the thicket and stared at the watchtower. Her eyes went wide and she even became a little teary eyed at the sight.
"This is amazing!" Rainbow Dash grinned as she flew up to one of the statues and breathed heavily on its golden horn. She then rubbed it with one of her hooves until it shone brightly and she could see her reflection in it
"It's… it's beautiful…" Twilight stammered before her horn lit up. Her saddlebag then opened up as a small camera levitated in front of her. She proceeded to take a few snap shots of the keep before looking over to Rainbow Dash, "Pose next to the statue so that I have a size reference for later!"
"Sure thing!" Rainbow Dash grinned as she hovered next to the statue before making the same regal pose as it
"Perfect!" Twilight giggled as she snapped two more pictures, "Now, would you mind taking the camera and flying above the keep? I want a few aerial pictures too."
"So that's the real reason why you brought me here." Rainbow Dash smirked as she flew over to Twilight and fumbled the camera a bit in her hooves before flying up high
"Partially." Twilight admitted sheepishly as she produced a notepad, quill pen and inkwell from her saddlebag
Rainbow Dash looked down at the watchtower which seemed to only have one large room on the ground floor. There looked like there used to be a spiral staircase leading up but only a few steps remained. On the far wall, opposite the entrance was another archway and what looked like stairs leading down. The pegasus raised the camera up and began snapping a few pictures.
"Hey Twilight!" Rainbow Dash yelled down, "If there's still gold on the statues, think there's treasure inside of the keep itself?"
"Maybe!" Twilight yelled back as she began jotting down various notes while attempting to draw a rough sketch of the keep itself
"Wow, we're going to be rich!" Rainbow Dash grinned
"Now, now," Twilight said, looking up at her friend "We can't take any of this stuff for ourselves. This all belongs in a museum."
"What? A museum!" Rainbow Dash complained, swooping down to get into her friend's face, "You've got to be kidding me!"
"Dash…" Twilight sighed with some annoyance, "The other reason I brought you here was because I thought you'd be easier to convince not to take anything. Or should I just call you Rarity?" Twilight added with a playful smirk
"Pfft," Rainbow Dash responded, folding her hooves across her chest as she held on to the camera, "I'm nothing like Little Miss Pretty."
"Which is why I can trust you not to take any gems," Twilight said as she levitated the camera back into her saddlebag, "Or eat them like Spike."
Both ponies giggled as they began to head into the keep itself. However, Twilight tripped over something and smacked her chin into the steps. This broke her concentration and caused the notepad and pen to land on top of her head.
"Haha, smooth move there, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash laughed before the inkwell landed on her face, giving her a "black eye"
"Looks like it was," Twilight giggled as she used her magic to levitate everything back into her saddlebag, "But what did I trip over…?"
Twilight took a few steps back before looking at a sign that looked like it had fallen over. Rainbow Dash rubbed at her eye a few times, wiping away the ink as she landed on the steps and looked down at the sign too. It looked like it had gibberish painted on it but at the bottom was a crude skull and crossbones etched into the wood itself.
"What does that say?" The pegasus asked, tilting her head some
"I have no idea," Twilight said slowly before looking back to her friend, "But maybe we ought to be careful?"
"Good idea." Rainbow Dash said as she nodded her head in agreement
The two then carefully walked into the watchtower and looked around. Hanging off one of the walls was the remnants of an old tapestry which depicted a unicorn mare leading dozens of earth ponies in a charge across a river but whatever they were charging had long since been ripped off; either by force or by time.
"Omigosh!" Twilight nearly jumped for joy as she trotted over to the tapestry and produced the camera, making sure the flash was off before taking several pictures
"What's so special about that?" Rainbow Dash asked, "It's not like it's gold plated or something."
"Don't you know what this is supposed to be though?" Twilight asked
"Nooo…" Rainbow Dash slowly responded, her ears tucking back as she awaited what was sure to be a long and boring explanation
"This is from the story where Carmina led the charge of the Light Brigade against the goblin chieftain! It's one of my personal favorite stories and there's a really pretty stained glass portrayal of it in Princess Celestia's castle, but to think that the story was this old… it's amazing!" Twilight almost gushed as she stared up at the tapestry
"Right…" Rainbow Dash said as she slowly flew backwards before glancing down the stairwell, "So, we going down, right?"
"Imagine this in the Pony Museum in Canterlot! Oh… they might even open up a whole wing for this. Maybe even name it after me… the Twilight Sparkle Wing…" Twilight mused to herself as she began jotting down notes again
"Ugh," Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, "Come on Twi! I need you to use that little horn of yours so that I can see what's down here!"
"Oh, coming!" Twilight said, levitating the notepad and pen back into her saddlebag before trotting next to her friend
The two ponies peered down into the dark stairwell before Twilight's horn lit up. The steps spiraled downward so only a small amount of the passage was illuminated.
"Alright, watch your…" Twilight began but paused midsentence as she looked over her shoulder at a smirking Rainbow Dash who was hovering off the ground, "Ugh, never mind. Just stay close."
The two ventured down the stairs with Twilight cautiously testing the strength of each step with a tentative hoof before bringing down her full weight. More than once part of a step collapsed and caused her to quickly adjust herself to make sure she didn't fall. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, casually flapped her wings as she folded her hooves behind her head and glided down behind her friend.
Once they reached the bottom of the steps, Twilight increased the amount of light from her horn, illuminating a long stone hallway with several rotten, wooden doors.
"So, what's down here?" Rainbow Dash asked, landing on the ground again
"Well I believe that the storeroom and armory should be down here." Twilight said, levitating the book out again as she flipped through a few pages
"Twilight, focus!" Rainbow Dash said, snatching the book away from her, "Is this where any treasure would be?"
"I dunno, maybe?" Twilight said, using her magic to tug the book back before guiding it into her saddlebag
"Well let's get to it then!" Rainbow Dash grinned as she flew to the nearest door and turned around, preparing to slam her rear hooves into it
"Wait!" Twilight yelled running to get in between Rainbow Dash and the door, "These doors are just as important as the keep itself, you can't just start tearing things apart!"
Rainbow Dash sighed with some annoyance, folding her hooves across her chest as she flew backwards "Then by all means…"
"Thank you." Twilight smiled before tentatively raising one hoof up. She pressed it against the door and gently shoved it forward. The door opened with a shrieking noise from ancient, rusty hinges. Both ponies gritted their teeth in response to the noise, Rainbow Dash even trying to cover her ears. After what seemed like a lifetime, the door was finally opened wide.
"See? And absolutely no damage to the histor—" Twilight was saying proudly before the door shrieked again before falling off of its hinges. The bottom of the door slammed into the ground before crashing to the ground, several pieces of rotten doors shattering off. Twilight's expression went from pride to horror to embarrassment as she planted her face in one of her hooves.
"Wow, good job." Rainbow Dash sarcastically rolled her eyes as she flew into the now open room
Twilight just gave an exasperated groan in response before stepping into the room as well. The room was indeed an armory; the back wall had several weapons racks, though what few weapons remained looked horrendously worn but not as a result of time. Twilight approached them and carefully inspected them.
"These really don't look that old…" She whispered to herself before producing her camera again
"Hey Twilight! Check this out!"
Twilight looked over her shoulder and gasped as the pegasus was reaching a hoof out towards a series pony mannequins, all of which were clad in ancient, heavy armor.
"Rainbow Dash! Don't touch those!" Twilight scolded her
"Aw come on Twilight, this helm looks awesome! I'd love to wear it during the next Best Young Flyer competition!" Rainbow Dash complained
"I said 'No'." Twilight snapped, "Those really shouldn't be handled more than they have to."
"Fine…" Rainbow Dash sighed, folding her hooves across her chest as she hovered in midair, "Just so that you know, this is probably the lamest adventure we've ever been on."
"Well I'm sorry," Twilight said, taking more pictures of the room before levitating the camera back to her saddlebag, "But you know how delicate everything here is."
"Yeah, I know, I know," Rainbow Dash sighed as she watched Twilight walk back into the hallway before looking to the armor again enviously, "You're just lucky that you're my friend. Otherwise I'd totally be wearing that armor."
Twilight giggled some and just as she was craning her head back to respond, there was a rough jab to her chest. The unicorn jumped back a little bit and looked around, trying to figure out what touched her but nothing was in view.
"You! What do you thinks you is doing?" An angry voice demanded
"Excuse me?" Twilight asked, looking around even more
"You, you just think every place is pony place? You very wrong! This Gremlin place! Gremlin only!" The voice hissed
Twilight finally looked down to see a diminutive figure glaring up at her with bright yellow eyes. He was covered in leathery, dark green skin and had a tall pair of ears. He was wearing a pair of tattered, black slacks and a poorly made, well worn, tiny leather armor breast plate. He pointed a boney, wiry finger at Twilight's face, shaking it violently.
"You are a thief! You comes to steal our shinies, don't you?" The gremlin demanded
"Me? Oh no I'm no thief," Twilight Sparkle said quickly before attempting to diplomatically calm the creature in front of her, "I'm Twilight Sparkle and I'm just here to marvel at your fascinating tower. That's all, really. I wouldn't dream of trying to take anything."
"Marvel? What do you mean?" The gremlin demanded
"Oh, I'm just here taking notes, see?" Twilight said, levitating her notepad out of her saddlebag before opening it up for him to see
"No!" The gremlin yelled, snatching the notepad out of the air. He promptly began ripping it apart before throwing it to the ground and stomping on it, "No! No! No! You cannot tell other ponies about Gremlin home! If you do, then we no have home!"
"Wait! Stop!" Twilight pleaded as she backed up against the wall, unable to do anything but watch as all of her research notes were shredded before her eyes "That's not my intention at all. It's just that… Well this is a really important monument for us um, ponies."
"It's more important to us Gremlins! It is our home! It is where our shinies are! I no let you tell other ponies about it!" He yelled, producing a small dagger from his belt
"Oh my, look at the time," Twilight began speaking faster as she turned her head to the side some "I really must DASH! You know? So I'll just leave you to your… lovely home and your um… 'shinies' and because I REALLY NEED to DASH!"
"What are you yelling about out here?" Rainbow Dash asked, poking her head out from the door. Perched on the top of her head was an ancient bronze helm complete with a red plume along the top
"DASH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Twilight yelled in both anger and fear as she watched the gremlin shaking with rage at the sight of Rainbow Dash
"Hm? Oh sorry Twilight," Rainbow Dash said sheepishly as she raised a hoof to lower the helmet's visor, "But this helm was just too cool. Don't you agree?"
"You… you bring pegasus pony here too?" The gremlin yelled, clenching his fists as he began jumping up and down in rage, "And she steals one of our shinies? You are thieves! Both of you, dirty, dirty evil pony thieves!"
"Hey, who are you calling a thief, squirt?" Rainbow Dash demanded as she swooped down and got in the gremlins face, "And is that Twilight's notepad you shredded? Just who do you think you are, bullying her around like that!" The pegasus then shoved the gremlin backwards roughly with one hoof
"Rainbow Dash, please! Let's just get out of here." Twilight pleaded, grabbing the pegasus pony by her rainbow colored tail as she tried to drag her to the stairs
"No way, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash responded, pulling her tail back, "I don't think I've ever seen you so happy before and there is no way I'm going to let some little bully keep you from this," She then turned back to the gremlin and snorted loudly, "You hear me, Tiny?"
The gremlin scooted backwards on his hands, looking up at her with a terrified look in his eyes as he left his knife.
"You… you call me the bully? You are the bully! Both of you… nothing but, but… but bully pony thieves!" The gremlin yelled before jumping to his feet. He then ran over to the wall and started pounding on one particular stone that made a loud, echoing noise throughout the corridor, "Wake up! Wake up! We have bullying, lying, evil pony thieves!"
"Ha, go ahead and call all your little friends. I can take them." Rainbow Dash brashly responded, flying up in the air again
"Let's just go before things get even more out of hand!" Twilight pleaded
"Do you see how tiny this thing is?" Rainbow Dash laughed, "I could kick him across Sweet Apple Acres without even trying. Let him bring up a few of his friends. This is your big discovery and I'm not going to let some little pipsqueaks ruin it for you!"
"I appreciate what you're trying to do here, but I really think we should just leave." Twilight continued to plead with her friend
Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to respond, but was silence by the dozens of shrill cries and footsteps running towards them. The pegasus pony raised the visor of her helm and peered down the dark hallway until she saw a plethora of beady yellow eyes running towards them.
"Alright, have it your way Twilight!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she grabbed Twilight and flew up the steps as fast as she could
"Don't let them escape!" The lead gremlin yelled behind them, "Someone get Bugsby!"
"What's a Bugsby?" Rainbow Dash asked as they reached the top of the steps before setting Twilight down
"I don't know, and I don't want to know! Let's just go!" Twilight yelled as she ran for the exit with Rainbow Dash following behind
Just as they reached the entrance, a wrought iron gate dropped from the top of the entrance, cutting off their escape. Twilight looked around before nodding to what was left of the steps "Quick!" She yelled before running for the steps
Just as she reached the bottom step, several crude javelins landed in front of her, causing the unicorn to leap backwards in shock. Twilight looked to the other staircase as the first of the gremlins began to flood the main room of the watchtower.
"Rainbow Dash! Fly back to Ponyville and get help!" Twilight yelled as she backed away from the gremlins while sizing up how best to fend them off
"And what? Leave you here alone? No way," Rainbow Dash said, landing on the ground next to the unicorn as she flipped down the visor by shaking her head, "I'm not leaving one of my friends behind."
"Dash…" Twilight said before closing her eyes and nodding. She then watched as dozens of gremlins surrounded them while the head one stepped forward
"Now we have you ponies. And thieving, tricksy ponies will pay!" He said, pointing to several spear armed gremlins, signaling them to attack. They began to approach the ponies, jabbing their spears at them as they quibbled amongst themselves in their own language, almost waiting to see which one of them would charge first
Twilight was looking from side to side, trying to figure out how many gremlins there were exactly. Rainbow Dash was grinding her hoof into the ground as she prepared to charge into the gremlin horde. It was during all of this concentrate that Twilight would feel a light nuzzle to her side.
"Pardon me, Miss," A surprisingly friendly voice spoke up, "But you two lovely ponies seem to have your hooves a bit full here. Would you like a little assistance?"
"Yikes!" Twilight jumped before looking over her shoulder. Much to her surprise the speaker wasn't a gremlin or even another pony. Instead it was a large canine; in fact the canine was about the same size as her if not a little bit taller. His entire body was covered in merle blue fur with brown and black specks mixed in. His muzzle protruded from the front of his face about as much as her own maw protruded from hers. He wagged his tail gently before locking eyes with a spear wielding gremlin that was just beginning its charge.
The canine leapt forward and ducked underneath the spear thrust, dodging the attack. He then grasped the spear with his muzzle and swung it like a baseball bat, knocking several other gremlins aside (while the one gremlin who was wielding the spear still clung to it while screaming).
"Whoa, who's that?" Rainbow Dash asked, perking her head up as she had been too busy focusing on getting ready to attack to notice the canine
"Who cares? He's saving our lives!" Twilight yelled before levitating a nearby stone which she hurled at two gremlins, knocking them out cold
"Yeah, but I was just fixing to do that!" Rainbow Dash responded a bit angrily, "It's not like we needed the help!"
While she was busying arguing with Twilight, a gremlin had flanked her and was leaping into the air, brandishing a knife. Dash turned her head in time to see another canine leaping down from the steps and dropping his shoulder, tackling the gremlin. He stood up and looked over his shoulder with a broad smirk. He was covered in mostly gray fur with a black stripe along his back and running down his sides.
"You better stop fixing to do and start doing, Pony." He smirked before turning around, kicking his hind legs backwards, leveling another two gremlins
"Who asked you for your opinion?" Rainbow Dash grumbled, hating being showed up by these creatures. She scrapped her hoof against the ground a few times before launching into a low altitude flight, leaving behind a rainbow in her wake. She quickly circled around a group of gremlins, creating a rainbow tornado which sent the gremlins flying through the air.
"Tricksy ponies! They led us into a trap!" The lead gremlin stumbled backwards in fear before looking over his shoulder "Bring up Bugsby! Now! We'll get those tricksy ponies and their friends!"
"Yeah! We'll get those tricksy ponies!" A canine with reddish brown fur grinned wide as he sat next to the head gremlin, "Come on guys!"
The merle blue canine rolled his eyes as he fended off a few more gremlins with his makeshift bat. He then spat the spear out and looked over at the reddish brown canine, "Paris! We're on the ponies' side! Not the gremlins!"
Paris cocked his head to the side "Hm? Oh right. Let's get those tricksy gremlins then!" He then reached one of his paws out, casually swatting the head gremlin aside
"I really worry about that warg sometimes." The gray furred wolf growled as he tackled another gremlin to the ground before roughly head butting him
Twilight Sparkle gritted her teeth as she focused one on of the last standing gremlins. Her horn glowed brightly as she managed to levitate it before flinging it into a wall, knocking it out cold. She then glanced from side to side, making sure that not only were the gremlins all unconscious but also that her friend was okay.
"Heh, they weren't so tough." Rainbow Dash smirked, nodding her head up hard enough so that the visor of her helm snapped up
"Oh yeah," The gray furred canine smirked, sitting upright as he scratched his chin coyly, "It's not like you needed our help at all."
"Jax…" The merle blue canine said wearily while at the same time Twilight Sparkle stepped next to the pegasus and attempted to calm her "Now Dash, they did help."
"Well I didn't ask for any help and I didn't need it." Rainbow Dash scoffed
Jax folded his ears back and opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by the merle blue canine, "Yes, you didn't ask for any help. However, we could hardly pass by while you were surrounded by gremlins."
"And we're very appreciative for the help," Twilight said, frowning at her friend before looking back to the merle blue canine, offering him a friendly hoof, "I'm Twilight Sparkle."
"Scipio," The canine smiled, awkwardly shaking her hoof with his paw, "A pleasure."
"Um… Scipio?" Paris spoke up, looking down the stairs "What's big, kinda gross looking, and charging up the stairs?"
"I'd call it round two." Jax grinned, lowering his head and pinning his ears back as he snarled in anticipation
"Oh yeah!" Rainbow Dash smirked as she flipped the visor down again and flew up again
Paris trotted next to Scipio quickly as a large creature emerged from the darkness and hissed violently at all of them. It had the body of a large grizzly bear but it had two sets of front legs which were segmented like an ants with the front set ending in powerful, scorpion like pinchers. Instead of having a bear head, the beast had a head like a rhinoceros beetle, complete with thick, drooling mandibles.
"Oh, it's a bugbear!" Paris smiled, wagging his tail, "That's what was coming up the steps."
"Thank you Paris…" Scipio said, backing up a bit as he sized up his opponent. He then looked over to Twilight Sparkle, "You're a unicorn, right? How's your magic?"
"Twi?" Rainbow Dash smirked as she hovered just above Scipio, "She's one of the best!"
"I'm not that good…" Twilight slowly responded
"This isn't the time of modesty!" Jax growled as he barked at the bugbear a few times, drawing its attention
"We'll distract it, just do your best." Scipio gave Twilight a quick wink before charging the bugbear
Twilight nodded and braced herself as she closed her eyes and began to focus. Her entire body was bathed in light while a large ball of magic began to form at the tip of her horn. Scipio and Paris threw themselves at the bugbear's back, biting down on it while it was busy hissing at Jax. It threw his head back, roaring loudly as it bucked hard, throwing the two canines off of it. While the bugbear was spinning around to attack, Rainbow Dash dove for its head, spinning in midair to deliver a powerful kick with her hind hooves.
The bugbear stumbled backwards before snapping its two pinchers up at her. The pegasus flew backwards, avoiding the attack while Jax leapt up, attacking the bugbear's neck. The creature roared out again, stumbling before throwing the canine off. It spun around quickly and reared up on its hind legs, preparing to bring its full weight crashing down upon Jax. However the attack has left the bugbear open as Scipio and Paris tackle it, knocking it on its back. The bugbear roars again, kicking the two canines off before struggling to get up again.
Twilight continued to focus her magic until the bugbear slowly levitated off the ground. The beast snarled loudly, flailing its legs wildly while the unicorn's hooves dug into the stone floor. Once it was fully off the ground, Rainbow Dash landed next to Jax and gave him a smug look.
"Now allow me to show you just what I can do." She said before leaping off the ground and flying high into the sky, leaving behind a rainbow in her wake. Once high enough she did a full loop and swooped towards the ground. At the last second, she stuck out all four of her hooves, slamming them into the bugbear's back as it roared out in pain before collapsing to the ground in a cold, unconscious heap.
Twilight was breathing heavily, her legs shaking some as she glanced up and smiled. Rainbow Dash coolly trotted over to her, lifting up the visor to her helm as she smirked.
"See? I told you this helm would make me awesome!" The pegasus beamed
"You do realize you're going to put that back now… right?" Twilight smiled back
"Aw Twi…" Dash pouted, folding her hooves across her chest as she fluttered off the ground some
"That… was definitely impressive," Scipio said, his tail swaying as he approached the two, "I figured you were just going to hit it with a rock or something."
"Oh, well I guess that would've worked too." Twilight said, bashfully digging one hoof into the ground
"Alright, fight's over so now I want some answers!" Rainbow Dash said, getting in between the two as she eyed Scipio, "Just who are you three… actually, scratch that. What are you three?"
"Sorry, I don't think I heard a 'thank you.' Did you hear one Paris?" Jax asked as he turned his back to the ponies while glancing over at Paris
"You just said thank you," Paris smiled innocently, his tail wagging, "Does that count?"
"Excuse me… but are you trying to be sarcastic?" Rainbow Dash asked, flying over to get in Jax's face, "Because if you are, you probably need to make sure your little sidekick actually gets your jokes!"
"Dash, please!" Twilight pleaded
"She's alright," Scipio said before narrowing his eyes at Jax, "Ajax, get the gate open for us."
"Sure thing boss." Jax said dryly as he trotted away
"Oh and I'm not his sidekick," Paris said, offering the pegasus his paw, "I'm Paris! Scipio is my older brother. And the warg you were arguing with is Ajax, but we all call him Jax for short."
Rainbow Dash quirked an eyebrow, slowly taking the offered paw before looking over to Twilight "Wargs?"
"I… I don't think I've ever met a warg before," Twilight said slowly, "But I have heard stories."
"Good and ill, I'd probably imagine," Scipio said as he raised a paw up to rub the top of Paris' head playfully, "But rest assured, we fall on the good side of the stories. We're Rangers, assigned by Princess Celestia herself to patrol the Everfree Forest near Ponyville. We were en route when we heard all of this commotion."
"You know Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked eagerly
"Vaguely," Scipio admitted, "Usually we deal with one of her ministers whenever getting new patrol routes. But this time she spoke to us directly."
"And what exactly do Rangers do?" Rainbow Dash asked suspiciously, "And how come I've never heard of them before?"
"For the same reasons you've never heard of bugbears or gremlins," Jax commented as he tugged on a rusty metal chain, raising the wrought iron gate until it locked into position, "Or a lot of things in the world. Put it simply, we Rangers are the ones who keep Equestria nice and safe for whatever it is you ponies do."
"Pfft," Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as she headed for the gate, "Sounds like someone has a high opinion of themselves."
"Dash!" Twilight snapped before using her magic to levitate the helm off of her head and guided it to the top of the steps
"Aw Twi… I was going to put it back." The pegasus said innocently
"Uh huh, I'm sure." Twilight said before sighing some as she left the watchtower
"Something wrong?" Scipio asked as he followed suit along with Paris and Jax while Rainbow Dash flew overhead
"Oh, it's just that I was really excited to find this place," Twilight admitted, "But those gremlins tore up my notes and will probably never let me back again. I was really hoping to make this a major archaeological find."
"Don't worry about that!" Paris grinned as he moved to get in front of Twilight. He walked backwards with his face in hers, "Gremlins usually aren't that hostile. And next time you show up they'll be like 'Oh noes! It's the tricksy warrior pony! Please, please don't hurts us! Take whatevers you want!'" Paris then coughed, clearing his throat after doing his impersonation
"That's not half bad." Twilight giggled
"And he's not entirely wrong," Scipio added, "Gremlins don't get wound up very often."
"So what was all that talk earlier? And what do Rangers do exactly?" Rainbow Dash asked, swooping down to fly alongside Scipio
"I told you…" Jax began but was quickly cut off by Scipio's glare
"We're tasked with patrolling the wild borders of Equestria," Scipio began to explain, "We try to mediate any potential disputes and keep the more wild creatures from getting into confrontations with ponies. Usually by peaceful means."
"But, as you saw back there, we're pretty good in a fight." Jax boasted
"Yeah yeah," Rainbow Dash stuck out her tongue, "But you didn't one hit K.O. the bugbear."
Everyone but Jax chuckled in response. After a bit of a walk, the group reached the edge of the Everfree Forest just as the moon was beginning to rise in the night sky.
"Well I'm off to bed, g'night Twi!" Rainbow Dash said before giving a cautious look to the wargs, "You too… I guess."
With that she flew off towards her large cloud home. Twilight Sparkle sighed some before looking over to the wargs, "Don't mind her… Thanks again. In all sincerity, I'm glad you came along when you did."
"It's what we do best," Scipio smiled before extending his paw to the unicorn, "And it was nice meeting you."
Paris slipped in between the two of them and grinned widely, "Same here! It's going to be a lot of fun living next to Ponyville!" He then wrapped his arms tightly around both of their necks
"Can we go yet?" Jax asked
"As soon… as… Paris… lets go…" Scipio said under strained breath as he managed to wedge Paris off of them
"Let's go!" Paris grinned, bounding off towards Jax
"Sorry about that," Scipio chuckled, rubbing the back of his head, "Paris can get a little bit… excited some times."
"Oh, don't worry about it," Twilight said, waving a hoof dismissively, "He actually reminds me of one of my friends, Pinkie Pie. Maybe I ought to introduce her to him next time…" Twilight paused and carefully considered her statement, "In second thought it may be better that they never meet."
Both Twilight and Scipio laugh some before the warg turned and left with his friends. Twilight Sparkle smiled and turned to trot towards her tree house. She gently nudged the door open and spoke up "Spike? Spiiike?"
"There you are!" Spike responded as he began to walk down the stairs from the bedroom to the main library, "So how often are you just going to run off and not tell me anything?"
"Oh, I'm sorry about that Spike," Twilight said as she took off her saddlebag and gently pulled her camera out, setting it on her table, "But you're never going to believe what happened to me today!"
"Well considering the 'usual' things that happen to you, I'm afraid that to even take a guess." Spike said
"Come on Spike, plenty of mundane things happen to me," Twilight giggled before using her magic to carefully open up the camera and taking out the film, "But really though! Dash and I found an ancient watchtower from early in Equestria's history!"
"Oh that sounds… fascinating?" Spike asked, not entirely sure what his response should be
"It was fascinating, Spike," Twilight insisted as she carefully guided the film towards her basement, intending on developing it, "And it turned out that the watchtower was inhabited by gremlins and there had a bugbear!"
"Now that sounds like your usual adventure." Spike chuckled
"But that's not all," Twilight said as she looked over her shoulder, setting the film down on a shelf next to the basement door, "A group of Rangers showed up, and they were wargs."
"W-wargs?" Spike yelled before running to the window and peering out, "They didn't follow you back, did they?"
"To what? Ponyville? They're setting up camp at the edge of the Everfree Forest." Twilight explained
"And you're okay with this?" Spike asked, "You know that wargs are a goblin's best friend!"
"Spike, these wargs weren't with goblins," Twilight smiled "They're Rangers, sent by Princess Celestia."
"I'll believe it when I see it." Spike said, folding his arms across his chest
Almost on cue there was a soft scratching at the door. Twilight trotted over and opened it partially, looking a bit surprised when Scipio was sitting there with a bag wrapped around his waist.
"Scipio…?" Twilight asked
"Hey, I hope you don't mind me dropping by but well…" Scipio began sheepishly, "When I was unpacking I came across this and I thought you might like it. Since you mentioned being a fan of history earlier and all."
Scipio stuck his muzzle into his bag and produced a rather old, dusty tome which Twilight pulled away using her levitate ability.
"Oh… uh thanks?" She said putting on a smile
"I came across it about a year ago in the mountains near Trottingham. It's an account of the foundation of Equsteria's oldest knights and the first of the pegasus ponies. Most of it is in goblin but I uh… well I spent a few months translating it." Scipio said
Twilight nodded, as she opened the book and began thumbing through it, "Wow… I don't think I've even heard of most of these stories before. Thanks Scipio."
"No problem." Scipio said
After a few awkward moments of the two standing there, shyly looking away from each other Scipio coughed a few times, "Well I'm just going to get going. See you later?"
"Oh yeah," Twilight smiled, "And Scipio… you mentioned that you received this assignment from Princess Celestia herself? Did she… did she say anything about me?"
Scipio looked over his shoulder as he was walking away "Yeah, she wanted us to keep an eye out for you and your friends. Something about you ponies getting into trouble fairly often." He winked before walking away
"Oh…" Twilight said, feeling a bit embarrassed at the thought that Princess Celestia thought that she needed some form of being watched, like she was a filly. She closed the door gently and turned around to set the book on the table.
"Was that the warg?" Spike asked with a smirk
"Yeah, that was Scipio," Twilight smiled, "He's pretty nice… and his younger brother is a goofball. I'm not too sure about the third one though, he was a little bit abrasive. But all three of them did help Rainbow Dash and me so I can't be too judgmental. In fact, Spike, take a letter."
"Sure thing…" Spike sighed as he grabbed some parchment and a pen
"Dear Princess Celestia," Twilight began, gently flipping through the book Scipio gave her
"I think the warg Scipio you sent to Ponyville is totally cute and sweet!" Spike said in a mocking tone
"Spike!" Twilight blushed before sending a book flying from one of the shelves, smacking hard on the back of his head, "I'll just write my own report after I read through this."