The sun was shining brightly over Ponyville as its resident ponies went about their daily routines. They smiled and greeted one another while setting up merchant stalls or delivering the mail. Everything seemed rather peaceful. However, in the nearby Everfree Forest a serpentine cockatrice was squawking loudly at a merle blue furred canine who was wearing a blindfold.
"Yes, yes I know that you're within your rights to establish a nest so long as it's not inside of a pony settlement or along a major roadway." Scipio said in a slightly exasperated tone
The cockatrice squawked again, fluttering its leathery wings.
"Yes, I am familiar with the text of the Poneva Convention and I am quite aware that all magical creatures are not subject to Equestrian law so long as they remain within designated zones." Scipio sighed
The cockatrice hissed loudly.
"Yes, Ma'am, I know that the Everfree Forest is one of those designated zones under Article 2. But you can't build your nest here."
The cockatrice jumped up and down, crowing loudly at Scipio.
"Because there's a schoolyard right over there!" Scipio snapped, awkwardly gesturing his paw in the general direction of Ponyville's school where several colts and fillies were playing outside
In response, the cockatrice clucked a couple of times.
"Oh? I'm just supposed to take your word that you won't turn anypony into stone?" Scipio asked, quirking an eyebrow above the blindfold
The cockatrice nodded while clucking.
"Then I suppose that the squirrels over there are just lawn decorations?" Scipio asked, nodding his head over to two squirrel statues
The cockatrice clucked innocently.
"Look, the Poneva Convention's third article gives Rangers the right to resolve any dispute between ponies and magical creatures or act preemptively and reasonably to prevent any such issue from arising in the first place. And having a cockatrice nest within twenty yards of a school is an issue." Scipio explained
The cockatrice began hissing and crowing angrily at him.
"Ma'am! Ma'am!" Scipio said calmly, raising one of his paws, "Ma'am… there really isn't any need for that sort of language. Please, let's be civil about all of this."
The cockatrice continued hissing before narrowing her eyes which turned bright red.
"Ma'am, need I remind you that I'm wearing this blindfold for a reason? And that petrifying a Ranger is considered a class-B offense under the Poneva Convetion?" Scipio frowned
The cockatrice clucked with frustration before kicking at the ground a few times.
"Now I'm not telling you that you can't have a nest on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. Or that it has to be hundreds of miles away from Ponyville. I'm just asking you not to build a nest right next to the school, okay?" Scipio asked
The cockatrice turned her head up and sighed before nodding and clucking softly.
"Thank you. Now unpetrify these squirrels so that we can both be on our way." Scipio said
The cockatrice flapped its leathery wings, flying over to the squirrels and gave them a piercing gaze until they returned to their normal forms. The squirrels then both squealed in fear and darted off for the nearest tree.
"Thank you again for your patience and understanding Ma'am," Scipio smiled, his tail wagging behind him, "And I do hope you have a healthy clutch of cockatrices."
The cockatrice clucked a few times as she flew over to him and stared intently at his face. Scipio sat there for a few moments before pinning his ears back, "I'm not taking this blindfold off because I know you're still there."
The cockatrice hissed some before clucking loudly while jumping from one foot to the next. She got progressively quieter while remaining in place before going completely silently. She then stared intently at the blindfolded warg.
"I'm not falling for that." Scipio said dryly
The cockatrice hissed again before fluttering her wings and flying deeper into the Everfree Forest. Scipio remained blindfolded though, his ears perking up "And I know you're still right in front of me. I can wait all day if I have to."
He waited a few more moments before carefully pulling the blindfold off and looking around. He sighed some before craning his head around to pull out a clipboard and an ink pen from a bag tied around his waist. He dropped the clipboard on the ground and checked off a couple of written items while holding the pen with his mouth.
"Let's see," Scipio said to himself as he dropped the pen and reviewed the clipboard, "I just took care of the cockatrice… I talked to that sea serpent yesterday and got him to agree to keep the river rapid free. Jax cleared out the den of salamanders which was near the apple orchard. I guess that takes care of the most pressing issues Uldrich wanted us to look into. Well, everything except for the roc that's been snatching cattle but Paris said he was taking care of that today so…"
The cry of an eagle could be heard overhead, causing Scipio to look upwards. A massive shadow went by while the sound of yelling could be heard. It started in soft but gradually grew louder and louder until a reddish brown canine slammed into the ground next to Scipio. Paris slowly got to his feet, stumbling around some before falling over again.
"So, how'd it go?" Scipio asked jokingly
"He said 'No'…" Paris slowly responded, "… with his talons."
Elsewhere in Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle was sitting on a park bench, reading over the old book Scipio had given her the other night. Standing next to her was a wide eye, pink earth pony listening intently to everything a flying Rainbow Dash was saying.
"And then what happened?" Pinkie Pie asked
"So I get right in the gremlin's face," Rainbow Dash said, flying to get into Pinkie Pie's face, "And I say 'You hear that, tiny?' and that gremlin was all like 'You evil pegasus pony! I gets you!'" She said, complete with an impersonation of the gremlin
"Then what happened?" Pinkie Pie asked again
"So then this gremlin starts pounding on the wall and before we know it," Rainbow Dash said before looking all around her, "We were surrounded by hundreds of gremlins!"
Pinkie Pie gasped, lifting a hoof to her mouth, "No way!"
"It wasn't hundreds," Twilight rolled her eyes as she turned the page to the book she was reading, "More like a dozen, maybe two dozen."
"Hey," Rainbow Dash snorted, "It's my story Twi!"
"You're right Dash," She said, looking over at her friend, "It is your story but not what happened."
"Who cares?" Pinkie Pie exclaimed while jumping up and down, "It was finally getting to the good part! What happened next?"
"Glad you asked," Rainbow Dash smiled, "So I tell Twilight to get behind me and then I give 'em my patented, Rainbow Tornado!"
With that Dash flew up to the sky and began flying in circles. Pinkie Pie watched intently until becoming dizzy and falling over just as a spinning, tornadic rainbow began to form in the sky. Nearby trees began to sway from the wind and Twilight was forced to grab the book with her hooves to prevent it from flying off.
"Dash!" Twilight yelled
Rainbow Dash slowed herself down before landing gently on the ground. She then looked down at Pinkie Pie, who was on her back.
"And that's exactly how all the gremlins looked!" Rainbow Dash laughed
"Really?" Pinkie Pie asked, slowly getting to her feet as she looked over at Twilight for confirmation
"Well, yes," Twilight admitted, "Rainbow Dash did take out a lot them with the help of…"
"Well, Twi had some good moves of her own," The pegasus pony interrupted, not wanting to give any credit to the wargs, "But I definitely got the majority of them. And just when we thought it was over there was this loud, roaring noise. We looked up and you'll never guess what was charging us!"
"Um," Pinkie Pie thought aloud before grinning as she started speaking quickly "Oh! Was it a giant boulder rolling down the hallway because you stole the helm but didn't properly counterbalance the trap with a bag of dirt? And then you had to like run really fast while poison darts shot out at you from the walls but you managed to dodge all of them? And then when you two finally got out, René Bellpony was standing there and was like 'I'm always one step ahead of you, Doctor Sparkle!' and then took the helm and had other gremlins chase you away?" Pinkie Pie then took a deep breath, having said all of that in one breath, before grinning broadly
Twilight Sparkle sat silently on the bench with a confused expression on her face as she looked at Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash shared the confused look before falling on her back as she laughed so hard that she started crying.
"Pinkie Pie, you are sooooo random!" Dash laughed
"That's not what happened?" Pinkie Pie blinked before smiling, "Well, I do have a few other guesses…"
"It was a bugbear!" Twilight said quickly, not wanting to hear another crazy theory
"Aw." Pinkie Pie pouted
"Right, a bugbear," Rainbow Dash nodded as she wiped a few tears away with her hoof, "It was huge! With these big claws and weird looking bug jaws!" She explained while raising her hooves up to her mouth, clapping them as she tried to imitate the bugbear
"They're called mandibles." Twilight said as her focused shifted back to the book
"Whatever, they were still weird and gross." Dash responded
"What happened? Did it eat you?" Pinkie Pie asked with wide eyes
"No…" Rainbow Dash said slowly "But Twilight Sparkle managed to levitate it off the ground and then I flew up and gave it this little number!"
With that Rainbow Dash flew high into the sky before swooping down to the ground and slamming her hooves in the dirt right in front of Pinkie Pie before smirking, "And boom! Out cold in one hit! Not even those wargs could do that."
"Wow! That's amaz-" Pinkie Pie began before frowning, "Wait, wargs? You never mentioned anything about wargs."
"Oh well…" Rainbow Dash began to fumble her words
"Yeah Dash," Twilight smiled, "Why don't you tell Pinkie Pie about the wargs?"
"Fine," Rainbow Dash snorted, "There may have been a couple of wargs that showed up and helped…"
"You got to meet wargs?" Pinkie asked before grinning as she ran to get in Rainbow Dash's face, "How were they? Were they nice? Were they mean? Were they cute? Were they ugly? Did they smell? Did they talk? Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!"
"Whoa!" Rainbow Dash said, sticking out a hoof to shove Pinkie Pie back some, "They were jerks."
"They were not jerks," Twilight said, snapping the book closed, "They helped us when we were surrounded by the gremlins and I wouldn't have been able to levitate the bugbear if they weren't distracting it."
"The one was a jerk! Sax or whatever his name was." Rainbow Dash complained
"Well, maybe if you weren't trying to antagonize him he'd be nicer." Twilight said as she got off of the bench
"He started it!" Rainbow Dash frowned, folding her hooves across her chest as she hovered off the ground some
"Where are they now?" Pinkie Pie asked curiously
"Somewhere in the Everfree Forest," Rainbow Dash said before mockingly adding, "They're Rangers so they have to live out there in order to protect us poor, pathetic ponies."
"So they're nearby? And they haven't met anyone in Ponyville yet?" Pinkie Pie asked, her eyes growing wide with excitement
"No…" Twilight said nervously
"PERFECT!" Pinkie Pie grinned, "I'll go get everyone together and we'll throw a party for them!"
"You're going to do what?" Rainbow Dash asked, "They're wargs, Pinkie Pie! Wargs! They hang out with goblins and eat foals!"
"Wargs don't eat foals," Twilight said, "At least not anymore."
"See!" Rainbow Dash said, jabbing Twilight in the chest with a hoof
"But I doubt Scipio eats foals."
"You remember his name?"
"Of course I do," Twilight said before bashfully digging a hoof at the dirt, "He dropped by the other night and gave me this book he found in a ruin."
"He came to your house?" Rainbow Dash yelled
"Just to drop off the book." Twilight responded
"How did he even know where you lived?" Rainbow Dash asked
"I uh… I didn't really ask." Twilight admitted
"Awesome, so one's a jerk, the other is a stalker and the third one is… well I'm not sure what his problem is, but it must be something!" Rainbow Dash said
"He is not a stalker! He was just trying to be nice." Twilight said, stomping her hoof
"Pfft," Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, "You're too trusting. He's just tricking you. All three of them are."
"What is your problem?" Twilight demanded, "You're basing all of this on nothing."
"I'm basing 'all this' on the fact that they're wargs! You know? The kind that work with goblins and attack ponies!" Rainbow Dash snapped, "Besides, I'm a great judge of personalities."
"Oh yeah," Twilight rolled her eyes, "You were absolutely right on with your judgments of Gilda and Zecora."
"I… uh…" Rainbow Dash stammered "Look Pinkie Pie convinced me that Zecora was bad when she wasn't. And the Gilda I knew when I was a filly was different than the Gilda who came to Ponyville. But I know about wargs."
"Oh? And do enlighten me." Twilight narrowed her eyes
"Wargs are evil," Dash finally stated, "I don't know as much about history or that kind of egg head stuff as you do, but I know enough. Wargs hunted down ponies and worked alongside goblins to try and kill us off until Celestia and Luna put an end to it with the help of griffons and hippogriffs."
"That was thousands of years ago," Twilight snapped, "You can't judge these three off of that!"
"Can and did." Rainbow Dash snorted, folding her arms across her chest
"YOU GUYS!" Pinkie Pie yelled as she stood in between them, separating the two by shoving their chests with her hooves, "You're missing the point here!"
"And what's the point?" Twilight asked, "Rainbow Dash refuses to give anyone a chance?"
"No!" Rainbow Dash said, "The point is that Twilight Sparkle is too naïve to realize when someone is tricking her."
"No, no, no!" Pinkie yelled, shaking her head, "The point is that there's a potential party in the works and you two are trying to ruin it!"
"You can't be serious," Rainbow Dash protested, "They're wargs!"
"You know what Pinkie?" Twilight asked with a smile, "I agree with you. We really should have a party for the wargs. You know? Introduce all of Ponyville to the Rangers Princess Celestia herself picked out."
"Exactly!" Pinkie Pie nodded before bouncing up and down, "I'll get the party set up, one of you invite the wargs!"
"Will do." Twilight said with a nod
"You do whatever you want," Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, "Just don't go crying to me when they suddenly don't end up being as nice as you thought they would be and/or try to eat you."
"Alright, Twilight you go get the wargs. Rainbow Dash, you can come with me and help get everything set up for the party! This is going to be sooo much fun!" Pinkie Pie said blissfully before trotting off
"Yeah, fun…" Rainbow Dash said flatly as she flew after Pinkie Pie
Twilight merely shook her head before picking up the book in her mouth and trotted off.
Back in the Everfree Forest, Scipio was applying a Band-Aid to Paris who flinched in response.
"There we go," Scipio nodded, "Feel better?"
"A little bit." Paris, who was covered in various Band-Aids, said
"Maybe you should've started him off with something easier?" Jax said, doing his best to hold back laughter
"It was a roc!" Paris snapped, "And I was trying to be polite and ask him to go someplace else."
"And what did we learn?" Jax asked, "Maybe you should give up on Scipio's 'let's just talk things through' nonsense and go straight for their throats. Do you think I asked a den full of fire breathing lizards to relocate?"
"Violence isn't the only answer, Jax." Scipio frowned
The wargs had established a small camp in a clearing. There were three large tents positioned around a fire pit which had a small, smoldering fire going. Scipio and Paris were sitting near one tent while Jax was lying by the fire.
"It is when you're dealing with monsters, boss." Jax retorted
"These aren't monsters," Scipio said, "They're just animals trying to eke out a living. Our job is to keep the peace, not go running through the forests beating up everything we come across."
"But I like running." Paris admitted, lowering his head
"Yes, we know Paris." Scipio smiled, patting the top of his brother's head
"Scipio?" A voice called out, "Paris? Scipio?"
Jax craned his head around, perking his ears up "Who's that?"
"It sounds like that unicorn from the other night." Paris said, wagging his tail
"Twilight?" Scipio called back, starting to walk towards the edge of the clearing just as Twilight Sparkle was stepping out of the woods
"There you guys are. I was worried you were going to set up your camp deeper in the Everfree Forest." Twilight said
"We thought it about it," Scipio explained, "But we decided it would be best to be nearby, in case something was to happen in Ponyville."
"Ah," Twilight nodded before looking past Scipio, "Hi Jax… Paris, did something happen to you? Are you okay?"
"Hm?" Paris asked before smiling broadly "Oh, no I'm okay. Just had a run in with a roc."
"A roc? Really?" Twilight asked as she walked past Scipio, "I've never seen a roc before."
"It's a big eagle," Jax said flatly, "Now why are you out here?"
"Jax, come on. Be nice." Scipio said
"Oh, right," Twilight said before giving a half smile at Scipio, "I was telling one of my friends about you three and she insisted that we have a party to welcome you. You know, give you a chance to meet everypony in Ponyville."
"A party?" Paris asked, his tail wagging faster, "Like with cake? And cupcakes? And streamers? And cake? And balloons? And cake? And party games? And punch? And cake? And…"
"Yes Paris, I'm sure those things will be there, considering it's a party and everything," Jax growled, cutting him off, before turning to Twilight "And thanks, but we have more important things to do."
"Oh… I understand," Twilight said, slightly disappointed, "I guess patrolling the Everfree Forest must be a big responsibility. Well let me just return this book to you, Scipio. It was a very interesting read, and I was actually impressed by your translation work."
"Now just wait a minute," Scipio said, raising a paw, "We've made some serious headway today. I think it would be a good idea to go meet some of Ponyville's residents."
"And have cake!" Paris grinned
"Oh yeah," Jax rolled his eyes, "I'm sure everyone is going to be real happy to meet us and know that we'd rather sit around and have tea instead of doing our jobs."
"And have cake!" Paris chimed in again, his tone slightly more forceful this time
"It doesn't hurt to be nice, Jax." Scipio said
"And. Have. Cake." Paris snarled as he got in Jax's face and narrowed his eyes
"Fine, let's go have some freaking cake. And like boss says, let's all be 'nice.'" Jax sighed
"Hooray! Cake!" Paris grinned as he walked out of the clearing
"I seriously hope Pinkie Pie has a cake at this party. For everyone's sake." Twilight said
"Eh, he'll probably end up forgetting what he was so excited about half way there," Scipio chuckled, "Oh, and keep the book."
"You sure?" Twilight asked
"Yeah, I've read it a dozen times." Scipio smiled
"Well thank you." Twilight smiled back as they followed Paris while Jax lagged behind
Back in Ponyville, Pinkie Pie was double checking all the preparations being made inside of Ponyville's town hall before the guests arrived. Pinkie Pie trotted along a table as she carefully examined everything that had been laid out.
"Cupcakes, punch bowl, two kinds of cake… oh, where's Applejack? She's supposed to be bringing apple pie," Pinkie Pie clapped her hooves together, "Spike? Spike where are you?"
"I'm over here!" The purple dragon yelled from the top of a ladder as he hung streamers from the ceiling while trying to maintain his balance "I really don't know why Rainbow Dash can't do this."
"Rainbow Dash is on a very important mission to hand out invitations." Pinkie Pie replied
"Couldn't I do that? Or anything else that doesn't involve being up so high?" Spike complained as he got on his tippy toes to hang the last streamer. Just as he hung it, he began wobbling while flailing his arms to try and keep his balance. However the ladder gave out underneath him, causing the baby dragon to land on his back on the ground.
"Spike this is no time to be just lying around," Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes, "The guests should be arriving soon!"
"I don't see why we have to do all of this for those wargs," Spike complained, rubbing his head some as he got off the ground, "We really don't know anything about them."
"Which is why we're having this party, Spike. Jeez how many times do I have to explain this," Pinkie Pie sighed, "When you have new people move into town, you throw them a party so that everyone can get to know them. That way, once everpony knows each other we can have another party to celebrate! You and Rainbow Dash do not seem to get this concept."
"You just like throwing parties too much." Spike responded
"Well duh!" Pinkie Pie said before the first of the ponies began arriving. Pinkie Pie bounded over to greet them while Rainbow Dash flew past her and landed next to Spike
"This is going to be a disaster." She huffed
"Tell me about it," Spike said before motioning over to the ladder, "She's not even giving me a chance to put up the ladder. That's a serious safety issue."
"Not the ladder," Rainbow Dash said, lightly smacking the top of Spike's head, "Having these wargs in Ponyville."
"Oh yeah," Spike nodded as he rubbed the back of his head, "I haven't really met them yet but wargs are bad news."
"Exactly!" Dash snorted, "I'm glad somepony… err, somebody has their head screwed on straight."
"But Twilight thinks they're okay and Pinkie Pie is too gung-ho about this party to care." Spike pointed out
"True," Rainbow Dash said, tapping her chin a few times before smirking, "But there's still three other ponies that we could get on our side."
"Yeah, but I think Apple Bloom and her friends are a bit too young to really be of any help."
"Not Apple Bloom!" Dash sighed exasperatedly, "Applejack! And Rarity and Fluttershy too!"
"I'm not sure how well we could convince Fluttershy, I mean she'd probably be too shy to even look at them."
"We don't need to 'convince' any of them," Rainbow Dash said with a sly smile, "We only need to give the wargs a chance to 'be themselves,' you know?"
"Well I'm pretty sure they're going to be on the hairy side… maybe smell like wet dogs too if it rains." Spike said slowly, not exactly following her
"Ugh, remember Gilda and how she lost her cool?" Rainbow Dash asked
"Of course I do," Spike nodded, "I was there."
"Well that's what we're going to do to these wargs. Just give them a gentle nudge and watch their true nature come out," Rainbow Dash said almost sinisterly before smiling innocently, "You know, for Twi's own good. I don't want her to get tricked or hurt by them. You know how wargs are!"
"I hear that," Spike nodded, folding his arms across his chest, "And I'm in. My uncle always said never trust a warg. He also said a princess in a keep is worth two in a field. And a sleeping dragon is soon parted from his gold. And beware of wyverns bearing gifts," He opened his mouth to continue on but noticed the slightly confused look from Rainbow Dash. The baby dragon chuckled some, "Sorry, my uncle's a drake so he likes to talk a lot and say all sorts of things."
"Oookay," Rainbow Dash said before turning her head as more ponies began arriving, "So we'll keep this just between the two of us for now. I've been talking to some of the other ponies here about the wargs, but you keep quiet about it. Just keep an eye on the wargs."
"Gotcha," Spike whispered, "They won't even know that I'm watching them."
"I like to whisper too!" Pinkie Pie whispered as she slowly stuck her head in between her two friends before giggling loudly, "Actually I prefer talking loudly. That way no one is left out of the conversation! So whaca guys talking about?"
"N-nothing." Rainbow Dash said quickly
"Oh, I love talking about nothing!" Pinkie Pie grinned, "In fact, this one time I was talking about nothing to Big Macintosh for like an hour. He just kept nodding and going 'Eeyup,'" She slowed her tone and did her best Big Macintosh impersonation before continuing, "And I kept talking and talking but then Applejack told me I was bothering the customers. And so I said that I could be a hawker for her and then I started trying to explain to the customers why apple fritters were nowhere near as good as apple turnovers. But then Applejack got mad at me because they were only selling apple fritters that day and I told her that was silly because apple fritters weren't as good as apple turnovers and so she really should be selling apple turnovers. You know? Because apple turnovers are sooo much better than apple fritters. And even her customers were agreeing with me! And so Applejack said…"
"PINKIE PIE!" Both Rainbow Dash and Spike yell, trying to bring her back to reality
"Exactly!" Pinkie Pie smiled before continuing on with her story, "And I said 'What?' and then Applejack gave me some money to go buy a cupcake so long as I promised not to come back to her stall for the rest of the day. And that's how I got a free cupcake. Oh my, cupcakes! We need to get some more!"
"You already have a tray full of them." Spike said, pointing over to the refreshments table
"But what if the wargs really like them and want more? Or what if I eat all of them before the wargs come? Those are chances that I don't want to risk," Pinkie Pie said in as serious of a tone as she could muster. She then trotted over to the table, grabbing a small pouch with her mouth before returning and passing it on to Spike, "Now go to the Sugarcube Corner and get another dozen."
"Why do I have to go?" Spike complained
"Because, silly, you're the only one with opposable thumbs in all of Ponyville!" Pinkie Pie smiled
"I uh… um…" Spike looked down to his hands, making two fists before wiggling his thumbs, "That's actually a really good point, Pinkie."
"Of course it is," Pinkie Pie grinned, patting him on the top of his head, "Now run along and be quick about it!"
Spike nodded and quickly hurried out of building as more and more guests arrived. Pinkie Pie quickly bounced over to the latest group of ponies and began speaking to them while Rainbow Dash frowned.
"Here they come!" Pinkie Pie yelled as she peeked out the window. She then turned to everyone who was currently in attendance, "Hide!"
"Wait, this is supposed to be a surprise party…?" One pony asked to another who simply shrugged
"…so yeah, that's how I ended up in Ponyville." Twilight finished explaining as she opened the door and entered followed by Scipio, Paris and Jax
"SURPRISE!" Pinkie Pie yelled as she jumped out from the periphery, blowing a party horn loudly smacking Twilight Sparkle's cheek with the paper tube which shot out from it
Twilight jumped with surprise before smiling, "Pinkie Pie, when did this become a surprise party?"
"When I found my surplus supply of party horns." She smiled before blowing the horn several more times
"Guys, this… is Pinkie Pie," Twilight said, figuring this was as good of a way to introduce them to her as any, "Pinkie, this is Scipio, Paris and Jax."
As Twilight stepped aside and revealed the three wargs, there were numerous loud gasps of surprise. Twilight felt a little awkward as she heard various ponies speaking amongst themselves.
"What does she think she's doing?" A yellow furred earth pony said with a snarky voice
"Who brings wargs to a civilized place?" A blue furred unicorn chimed in
"I'm just glad my little brother is in school, I hear they eat foals." An orange furred earth pony sneered
"Why aren't there any muffins here?" A gray furred pegasus asked as she looked at the refreshments table
Rainbow Dash couldn't help but smirk before flying forward, "Guys! Glad you could make it!" To her, all of this talk of disdain was like music to her ears. With a little luck, this would be the last time she'd have to deal with the wargs.
"Oh, hi Rainbow Dash," Scipio nodded, before turning to Pinkie Pie, "And Pinkie Pie? Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too!" She grinned before blowing her party horn again
"You said you had a surplus of those, right?" Paris asked eagerly
"Oh please, tell me you don't." Jax muttered
"Of course I do, silly." Pinkie Pie said, passing the one she had over to Paris before dipping her head into a nearby box and pulling out a second one
"Awesome!" Paris said before blowing his horn, smacking Jax in his left cheek with the paper tube
"They are awesome, aren't they?" Pinkie Pie asked before blowing her horn, smacking Jax in his right cheek with the paper tube
"They are! I used to have one just like this!" Paris grinned, blowing his horn and smacking Jax again
"What happened to it?" Pinkie Pie asked, blowing her horn and smacking Jax
"Well," Paris began, pausing to blow the horn and smack Jax, "We were passing through this swamp one time. And I thought it would be a good idea to bring a horn along so that way we could attract the Ogbog we were tracking."
"What's an Ogbog?" Pinkie Pie inquired, blowing her horn to smack and increasingly annoyed Jax
"Oh, it's like a big fish that lives in swamps and eats all kinds of thing," Paris said, blowing his horn again and smacking Jax, "And so I thought the horn could attract it. But Jax said…"
"STOP IT!" Jax growled, using his paws to swat the horns out of both of their mouths. The ponies all gasped and backed away some in fear while Rainbow Dash couldn't help but smirk.
"Jax…" Scipio said wearily
"Sorry," Jax said, taking a deep breath before forcing a smile, "It's just, well I've heard this one before. I'm going to go get some punch."
"I don't think he likes party horns very much." Pinkie Pie whispered to Twilight as Jax walked away with Scipio and Paris in tow
"Sure, Pinkie Pie. That's what his problem was." Twilight giggled as she started to follow them
Jax carefully grabbed the ladle for the punch and began to pour himself a cup of punch. While doing so, he noticed a blue furred earth pony looking nervously at him. He quirked a brow and set the ladle down
"I'm sorry, did you want some punch?" He asked
The earth pony quickly shook her head 'No' and backed away. Jax shrugged and lowered his muzzle into the cup, drinking the punch while Scipio grabbed the ladle and poured several more cups.
"Is that… cake?" Paris asked, wagging his tail excitedly
"Yup!" Pinkie Pie grinned as she walked over to the table with Twilight and Dash
"Can I have a piece?" Paris asked, almost whimpering
"Sure, silly, it's for you guys anyway." Pinkie Pie smiled as she got him a piece
"So," Scipio began, sliding a cup over to Twilight Sparkle with his muzzle, "Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash are your two main friends?"
"Thank you," Twilight said as she carefully grasped the cup with her mouth and tilted her head back to drink some before setting the cup down to speak, "And they're two of my friends. I'm not sure where Applejack, Rarity or Fluttershy are."
"Did someone call?" A voice asked from behind them
Stepping through the doors was a beautiful, white furred unicorn with a long, purple mane and tail. She smiled as she trotted to her friends.
"Pinkie Pie, darling, my apologies on the late appearance," Rarity said, "But I had to finish up a last minute order Hoity Toity dropped on me."
She then smiled over at her other two friends, "Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, I am glad to see you two. I had heard stories about your little misadventure in the Everfree Forest. Why the two of you insist on venturing into there on such a regular basis is beyond me. Personally I…" She paused when she suddenly noticed Jax, "D-d-diamond Dogs!"
"Wait, what?" Jax asked, quirking his brow, "Oh no I'm not a Diamond Dog, I'm…"
Before he could finish, Rarity turned and delivered a powerful kick with her hooves right into his chin. Unprepared, Jax took the blow and slammed into a nearby wall before falling limply to the ground. He was just raising his head to try and explain but got a muzzle full of hoof as Rarity kicked him again before leaping on top of him to repeatedly stomp and jump on him.
"You awful brute! How dare you come here! If you think I'm going to go to work in those dirty mines again you are horribly mistaken!" Rarity yelled as she pummeled him
"Wait, Rarity!" Twilight said, running over to try and break up the fight
"He's not a Diamond Dog!" Pinkie Pie added
"We're just wargs!" Scipio said as he too hurried over
Rainbow Dash was flying on her back, laughing loudly as she watched one of the 'girliest' of ponies in Ponyville ruthlessly pummel Jax. However, before anyone could intervene, Paris was on top of Jax, jumping up and down with Rarity while grinning widely. His muzzle was coated in cake and frosting as he spoke to Rarity only while in mid-air.
"Awesome! I love warg piles! I'm Paris by the way! That's my older brother, Scipio! And we're jumping on Jax! We're wargs! We were sent here by Princess Celestia! We're also Rangers!" Paris said exuberantly
"Hm?" Rarity asked, also only speaking while in mid-air, "Oh, quite nice to meet you. Take that you brute! I've never actually met a warg before. You beast! But I would quite like to get to know you. After I've dealt with this…"
Rarity suddenly paused, ceasing in her jumping when she realized that the 'Diamond Dog' she was beating bared an awful resemblance to the warg she was talking to. Paris continued jumping before slowly coming to a stop too.
"Oh…" Rarity gasped before slowly getting off of Jax, "You um… you must be Jax? Terribly sorry about that, I'm Rarity."
"A pleasure…" Jax muttered
"Are we not playing anymore?" Paris asked as he got off of Jax
"You thought that was a game?" Jax grumbled as he very slowly sat upright
"No, not at all," Paris admitted with a goofy grin, "I was just taking advantage of the situation because you stole my party horn earlier!"
"Guys, guys," Scipio said, quickly stepping in between them as Jax pinned his ears angrily back, "It's alright. Just a simple mistake."
"Right," Twilight said, eager to keep the peace, "Guys, this is Rarity."
"My apologies again," Rarity said, slowly moving behind Twilight Sparkle, "It's just that… well, you sort of look like Diamond Dogs. What with the canine features and all."
"Yeah, we all look exactly the same." Jax said dryly as he took a step towards her
"YOU LEAVE RARITY ALONE!" A voice yelled
Everyone turned to see Spike entering with a box full of cupcakes. The baby dragon reached into the box, producing a cupcake which he hurled through the air, nailing Jax in the face.
"Spike! Stop it!" Twilight yelled, "You're only making it worse!"
"But… but he was going to attack Rarity!" Spike said defensively as the assembled ponies nodded and added in various murmurs of agreements
"Oh, Spike," Rarity said, quickly moving away from the wargs, "While I do appreciate the bravado, it was just a simple misunderstanding. Right?"
"Yup!" Paris grinned before slowly licking the cupcake off of Jax's face. He then remained uncomfortably close to Jax while chewing the cupcake. After a few moments he swallowed it and smiled "It's chocolate flavored."
"I DON'T CARE, PARIS!" Jax snarled, at the edge of his tolerance for all of this
Paris folded his ears back and tucked his tail underneath him as he scooted to get behind Scipio quickly.
"Jax, deep breath," Scipio said, raising a paw to place it on his shoulder, "It was an accident, just a simple misunderstanding."
"Pummeling someone is not a misunderstanding!" Jax growled but as he noticed all the worried looks he was getting took a deep breath, "Sorry… look, I'm going to go back to the Everfree Forest. I uh… I need to do some patrolling."
Scipio nodded, figuring it was best to let Jax vent elsewhere. He stood aside while Paris continued to hide behind him. Jax did his best not to storm out of the party, but he did make sure to give Spike a rough bump on the way out, knocking the baby dragon aside.
"Hey!" Spike yelled as he got up but was silenced by one glare from Jax
"Well I daresay that was uncalled for." Rarity huffed
"You did kinda attack him." Twilight pointed out, not wanting Scipio and Paris to feel completely alienated
"And I apologized." Rarity said defensively
"Yeah, Twi!" Rainbow Dash said, "She apologized! Or is that not good enough for the wargs?"
"Dash!" Twilight said before looking over to Scipio, "Don't mind her."
"No, it's okay," Scipio said, patting the top of Paris' head to get him to relax, "Jax isn't exactly a 'friendly' warg or the most understanding warg ever. But he's still a good friend of mine and he's come through for me numerous times. Just give him some time to cool off and he'll be fine."
"I certainly hope so," Rarity said as she walked over to the punch bowl, "I'd hate having something like a warg angry at me."
"No one is angry at anyone," Pinkie Pie chimed in, "Let's just have an awesome party! Who wants to play pin the tail on the pony?"
"I do!" Paris grinned, wagging his tail happily
Rainbow Dash frowned as she flew over to the refreshments table and got herself a piece of cake. It looked like the situation had temporarily defused with only one warg acting out of place. The pegasus pony chewed on a piece of cake as she tried to figure out how to get the other two blow their top.
"What a jerk." Spike huffed as he walked over to Rainbow Dash
"Yeah, but that's only one of them. We still need to get the other two." Rainbow Dash whispered
"Hey ya'll, sorry I'm late." A yellow furred earth pony with a cowboy hat said as she approached them
"Oh, hey Applejack." Rainbow Dash said
"So, what's this here party for?" Applejack asked as she carefully moved a pie she had balanced on her back to the table next to the cake, "And why is everypony so dang quiet? I always though Pinkie Pie parties were more lively than this."
"That's because she's holding this for a pack of wargs." Rainbow Dash said, nearly sneering
"Oh is that all?" Applejack asked before her eyes went wide, "Wait, what now?"
"Wargs," Rarity chimed in, gesturing over to Twilight and Pinkie Pie who were laughing along with Scipio while a blindfolded Paris with a pony tail in his mouth was slowly walking towards a picture of a pony, "Oh and don't confuse them with Diamond Dogs, they apparently take great offense to that. Though I for the life of me still can't see the difference."
"You're joking, right?" Applejack asked, raising a brow, "They don't look a thang like Diamond Dogs."
Rainbow Dash almost thought Applejack would be on their side but frowned when she disagreed with Rarity. "Come on AJ," Rainbow Dash said, "They do look similar. Besides, you missed the one that flipped out on Rarity for making the mistake."
"To be fair," Rarity said, looking embarrassingly to her hooves, "I may have… initiated the, as you put it, 'flipping out' by kicking first and asking questions later."
"Wait, you telling me that you actually attacked one of them?" Applejack asked in disbelief
"Sorry Paris, not even close." Pinkie Pie giggled as a blindfolded Paris failed to even get the tail on the poster
"Aw," Paris frowned, pulling his blindfold up, "I thought I was so…" He trailed off as he looked over to the refreshments table
"What's wrong Paris?" Twilight asked after the warg went silent for a few moments. She hadn't known the warg for long, but she couldn't think of a time when he went this silent.
"Who's that really pretty pony over there?" Paris asked with a soft whisper as he moved to stand next to Twilight while Pinkie Pie began to tie a blindfold on Scipio
"Who? Rarity? You already met her." Twilight said as she tried to figure out who he was talking about
"No, not her," Paris shook his head, "The pretty one in the hat."
"The pretty one in the hat…" Twilight repeated slowly before she nearly choked with laughter, "Applejack? Applejack is the pretty one?"
Paris just looked shyly at his paws making Twilight feel a little bad for laughing, "Sorry… it's just not something I hear a lot. Come on, let's go meet her."
"Oh, I uh…" Paris stammered
Twilight lowered his head, shoving Paris all the way to where her friends had gathered.
"Hey Applejack." Twilight smiled as she stepped around Paris
"Oh, hi Twi," Applejack said while smiling nervously at the warg, "Uh, who's yer friend here?"
"Applejack, this is Paris. He's one of the wargs that saved me and Rainbow Dash." Twilight said
"We didn't need saving." Rainbow Dash grumbled
"Over there is Scipio," Twilight gestured over to Scipio who was laughing with Pinkie Pie after successfully pinning the tail on the pony. Twilight chose to ignore Rainbow Dash, having grown tired of arguing with her, "He's Paris' older brother. And you missed Jax."
"Oh, is that the one little miss Rarity beat up?" Applejack laughed before extending her hoof to Paris, "Well, I'll admit I ain't never met a warg before. But if Twi says your good people, then your good people in my book."
The usually talkative Paris shyly looked down to his paws, not saying anything.
"Um…" Applejack looked over to Twilight who shrugged some. Applejack then looked to Rarity who gave an awkward half smile.
"Paris…?" Twilight asked slowly
"Why don't you tell us about being a Ranger? I do believe you mentioned that when we were talking." Rarity tried to suggest a possible topic
"Oh well… um… the thing is… uh…" Paris stuttered, still looking at his paws
"Well go on, fella," Applejack smiled, lightly touching his shoulder with her hoof, "No need to be shy. Why I swear you remind me of another pony I know."
"Heh well um… uh…" Paris continued stuttering
"Oh, he is no Fluttershy, if that is what you are trying to imply." Rarity said
"Yeah, he's definitely more of a Pinkie Pie," Twilight added, hoping that Paris will relax some
"So um… I uh… I'm Paris…" Paris finally managed to force a squeaky sentence out
"I already got that, sugar cube." Applejack chuckled
"Oh…" Paris said before going silent again
"Jeez just say something!" Rainbow Dash snapped, flying into Paris' face
Paris yelped loudly in response, backing up into the refreshment table before sending everything flying. Several nearby ponies were covered in punch and cake.
"What are you doing?" A blue furred unicorn demanded
"Ugh, just like an animal." A purple furred earth pony sneered
"I'm… I'm so sorry!" Paris said, quickly looking around "Let me just find something to clean you up."
"Please! You've made enough of a mess as is!" Rainbow Dash said, raising a hoof to her mouth in order to throw her voice
"Whoever thought it was a good idea to bring wargs here anywhere?" Another pony chimed in
"I'm… I'm…" Paris was becoming even more flustered as he tugged his tail in between his legs
"Hey, what's going on here?" Scipio said, quickly running over to stand next to Paris while pinning his ears back
"He's going to attack!" A yellow furred pegasus yelled, rearing up in fear
"Wait, no I'm…" Scipio quickly said
Even Rarity was scooting away as Scipio looked over to Twilight and her friends for support
"Come on ponies," Twilight spoke up, "It was an accident."
"Seems like there's been a lot of 'accidents' and 'misunderstandings' since they showed up." Another pony sneered
Scipio looked to Paris who was hiding behind him and whimpering before looking to Twilight.
"Miss Twilight," Scipio began rather curtly, "It's been… fun. But I think we should probably get going. It was nice meeting you all."
Scipio gently nudged Paris along, heading for the door while most of the gathered ponies glared.
"Scipio, you really don't have to go." Twilight plead
"Yeah, we were having fun. Weren't we?" Pinkie Pie asked as she bounced over
"Sure. Maybe we can do this again sometime." Scipio said without looking over his shoulder. His biggest concern was just getting a very upset looking Paris out
"Well shucks," Applejack frowned as the two wargs, "I didn't even get the chance to really meet 'em."
"Yes, well even I feel a bit bad about all this." Rarity sheepishly admitted
"Why?" A cream furred unicorn asked, "Rainbow Dash was right about them. Those wargs are nothing but trouble."
"Dash…" Twilight said slowly, narrowing her eyes as she turned to look at Rainbow Dash
"I uh… well the thing is… Spike helped too!" Rainbow Dash said, pointing a hoof at Spike
"Whoa, whoa, don't drag me into this!" Spike said, waving his arms
"Spike? How could you?" Rarity demanded
"Hey, it's not like he hauled off and beat one of them senseless for no reason!" Rainbow Dash said defensively
"Yes, well that was a mistake and I apologized. I hardly see how it is the same as spreading lies." Rarity quickly said
"Both of you stop it!" Twilight snapped, "I can't believe any of you. I… I… Oh I've never been this mad or embarrassed before!"
"Embarrassed?" Rainbow Dash asked
"Yes! Embarrassed to know you. Honestly, what did anyone of them do? Hm? You all passed judgment on them without even giving them a chance! Didn't you learn your lesson with Zecora?" Twilight said angrily to not only Rainbow Dash but the assembled ponies who all grew silent
"This is different! We didn't know anything about Zecora, but we all know stories about wargs!" Rainbow Dash said defensively
"That's just as bad! I… ugh, forget," Twilight grumbled, planting her face in her hoof, "Applejack, Pinkie Pie… sorry. I don't mean to yell at you."
"You don't need to apologize. I'm just as mad as you are! This is the first party I've ever held which has been sooo utterly ruined by…" Pinkie Pie began before her entire body began shaking, "Uh oh!"
"That's just what we all need now," Applejack frowned, "A Pinkie twitch."
In the Everfree Forest, Jax fumed as he walked into the woods. He still felt utterly embarrassed by the events at the party. He snarled and reared up on his hind legs, digging his claws into a tree as he vented his anger before taking a deep breath. He then sat upright and scratched his ear with a paw.
"That's better…" Jax slowly admitted, closing his eyes as he took another deep breath
What the warg didn't know was that hiding among the bushes nearby was a yellow furred pegasus with a bright pink mane and tail, surrounded by several rabbits with a white one sitting atop her head.
"Oh dear," The pegasus said softly before looking up at the rabbit on her head, "Oh dear… he looks angry. What do you think we should do Angel? Maybe we ought to stay quiet and wait for him to leave?"
The white rabbit, Angel, folded his arms and shook his head.
"Well…" The pegasus said slowly, "Maybe one of us ought to talk to him? We really need to show these bunnies to their new home."
Angel frowned down at her. Moments later the pegasus was thrown out of the bushes and into Jax, making both of them jump with surprise. Angel, sat in the bushes while dusting his hands off.
"Oh my, I-I'm so very, very sorry about that." The pegasus whispered, quickly backing away before she curled up in a defensive ball and whimpered to herself
"Jeez," Jax responded, backing away from her some, "Where do you ponies keep coming from?"
"Hm?" The pegasus asked before shaking her head so that her long, pink mane could move out of her eye, "Well I was just over there."
She nodded to the bush where Angel was watching. The rabbit shook his head quickly, trying to tell the pegasus not to point him and the other rabbits out. Once he realized that the warg was looking at him, Angel quickly dove into the bush to get out of sight.
"I see," Jax said before taking a deep breath. He remembered what Scipio had told him before leaving the camp; be nice. He sighed slowly before offering her a friendly paw, "I'm Jax."
The pegasus looked to the paw before looking up at him. She then shyly looked down to her hooves and softly muttered something to herself.
"Excuse me?" Jax asked, perking his ears up
"I'm…" The pegasus spoke softly still, only the first part of her statement audible
"You're…?" Jax asked, leaning his head in closer as he tried listening
"I'm Flu…" She repeated
"Flu…?" Jax asked before trying to guess at what her name was, "Flusher? Flutter? Flux? Fluid? Fluke? Fluoride?"
She raised a hoof to her mouth, trying to cover her giggling "Sorry… I'm Fluttershy."
"Huh," Jax said with a chuckle, "And here I was thinking Fluoride was a good guess."
"So… um, you're a warg?" Fluttershy asked
"Yes," Jax sighed, getting a little bit tired of having that pointed out to him, "I'm a warg."
"Wow," Fluttershy said, "I've never met a warg before. I thought the most interesting thing I could ever meet was a baby dragon. But here I am talking to a warg. And you can talk back."
"Yes…?" Jax responded, tilting his head some
Fluttershy giggled some, "Sorry, I'm used to dealing with animals, but usually the kind that don't talk." With that she turned her head and whistled until Angel and the other rabbits slowly came out from the bushes
"Ah, so you're in charge of the local wildlife?" Jax asked, "I just arrived in town recently with two other wargs. I'm a Ranger and…"
"You're a Ranger?" Fluttershy asked, her eyes going wide, "Oh my, I've never met a Ranger before. I have heard a lot about your group though. It must be very, very dangerous; venturing into all of those dark places and fighting dangerous animals."
"All in a day's work." Jax smirked, glad to see a pony who was actually trying to be friendly towards him
"I remember when I encountered a manticore one time in the Everfree Forest, that was scary," Fluttershy said before thinking to herself aloud, "Then again; I also encountered a cockatrice before… and a dragon. Oh the dragon was the scariest."
Jax quirked an eyebrow before speaking, "You fought a manticore, a dragon and a cockatrice?"
"Well, not really fought," Fluttershy slowly said, "But I did save my friends every time."
"And you swear you're not a Ranger?" Jax asked with smile, the first one since arriving in Ponyville
"Oh no, that job would be far too frightening for a pony like me." Fluttershy slowly admitted as she looked away
"So, any particular reason why you're not at the party?" Jax asked, perking his ears up
"Party?" Fluttershy asked before her eyes went wide, "Oh my, I completely forgot! I was so busy showing these bunnies to their new home that I forgot about Pinkie Pie's party," Her eyes went ever wider, "Oh, you're the reason why she was holding the party! Why aren't you there?"
"Eh," Jax shrugged as he quickly came up with a lie, "I, um, decided to get back to my job instead of messing around at a party. But my two friends are there…"
"Is Scipio one of them?" Fluttershy asked before blushing, "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, but Twilight did mention meeting you guys and talked about him."
"Yeah, Scipio is our leader. I've known him for a few years," Jax said before chuckling, "And he's talked quite a bit about Twilight too."
Jax and Fluttershy laughed together until Angel poked Fluttershy's leg several times to get her attention. Once she looked down, Angel pointed to the scratched up tree and the pointed to Jax before folding his arms across his chest, as if awaiting a response.
"Oh, right. Sorry," Fluttershy said slowly before looking over to Jax, "Angel was wondering…" She was interrupted as the rabbit backhanded her leg, making her jump with surprise before coughing and starting her sentence over, "Err, sorry… I was wondering, why were you attacking that tree? You're not, um… a mean warg, are you?"
"The tree…?" Jax repeated before looking over to the tree which he took his frustration out on, "Oh um… I was just, um… just making sure it wasn't an ent. It's hard to tell sometimes, you know?"
"I see," Fluttershy smiled before looking over to Angel, "See, he's not a mean warg at all."
Angel frowned, far less convinced than she was.
"Anyway, I really should go stop by the party," Fluttershy said before looking over to Jax, "Are you very familiar with the Everfree Forest yet?"
"I'm starting to learn the lay of the land, why?" Jax asked
"Oh, well I was hoping maybe you'd be willing to help Angel lead these bunnies to their new home. That is… unless you're too busy checking the forest for ents." Fluttershy smiled, believing his story
"Well normally my duties come first," Jax began, "But I think I can make an exception, just this once."
"Really?" Fluttershy asked, her tone just barely raising a decibel, "Thank you so very much! I really should meet your other two friends. And I don't think Pinkie Pie would forgive me for missing one of her parties."
"Pinkie Pie… she's the overly excited, hyperactive one, right?" Jax asked
"Yes. That about sums her up." Fluttershy nodded
"Yeah, I wouldn't risk having her angry at me either. I'll lead the bunnies the rest of the way, but where exactly am I going?" Jax responded
"Oh, just keep following the path and you'll reach a small clearing next to a stream. Angel knows the way. And thank you so very much Jax. It was very nice meeting you." Fluttershy smiled before flying away
"No problem," Jax grinned before titling his head to the side as he watched Fluttershy fly away with a smile on his face, "Maybe all of these ponies aren't so bad… OUCH!"
Jax was cut off midsentence by a sharp punch to his arm. When he looked down he saw the small, white rabbit glaring at him. Before Jax could say anything, Angel jabbed a finger at him before pointing at Fluttershy with his thumb. He then wagged his finger at Jax while shaking his head 'No.' Jax quirked an eyebrow but before he could say anything else Angel made a fist, popping his knuckles in the process. The rabbit then nodded at Jax to which the warg responded with a slow, confused nod. The white rabbit smirked and whistled for the other bunnies before hopping off, leaving Jax alone and confused.
"I'm sorry for causing all of that and making us leave early." Paris apologized
"You have nothing to apologize for Paris," Scipio tried to reassure his brother before grumbling, "As much as I hate it, I think Jax was right. We really ought to just focus on our duties and not try to make friends."
Jax perked his ears up and looked over his shoulder as Paris and Scipio approached.
"What was that?" Jax asked with a smirk, "Did you just admit I was right?"
"Maybe," Scipio said defensively, "And what are you doing out here? I thought you were going back to the camp."
"Oh, well I was trying to be nice to a pony and I think I might have made an enemy of a rabbit. I'm not entirely sure on that second one though." Jax admitted
"Yeah? Well good luck trying to be nice to any of the ponies. They all seem to think that just because we're wargs we must be evil." Scipio growled
"Not all of them were like that." Paris said
"Yeah," Scipio sighed, "But it's probably best we just stay away from Ponyville. No sense in turning Twilight or Pinkie Pie into pariahs on our behalf."
"Um, boss?" Jax said as he looked skywards
"Yeah Jax?" Scipio asked
"I think we may have to put that 'stay away from Ponyville' concept on the back burning for awhile." Jax said, pointing a paw up
Scipio and Paris both looked up, their eyes going wide.
Back in Ponyville, Twilight was storming out of the party while Rainbow Dash flew after her.
"Twi! Come back! I'm sorry, okay?" Rainbow Dash said, flying in front of her to cut her off
"I'm not the one you need to be apologizing to." Twilight said, stepping around her
"Come on! I… well… they… you're right." Rainbow Dash finally admitted
"Hm?" Twilight asked, almost coyly
"You're right, I… I… I shouldn't have judged them like that. Just because they're wargs doesn't mean that they're bad." Rainbow Dash struggled as she spoke
"Who are 'they'?" Twilight asked
"Ugh…" Rainbow Dash grunted before rolling her eyes, "Scipio, Paris and Jax. There, I said their names."
"Now let's go apologize to their faces," Twilight said, "But first you need to go tell everypony that you were wrong. The wargs shouldn't feel like they can never come back to Ponyville because of what happened today."
"I guess." Rainbow Dash said slowly
Suddenly there was a scream and a stampede of ponies running past them.
"What's going on?" Twilight asked
"It's horrible!" Applejack said as she ran over to them, "Someone saw a wyvern flying towards the school house!"
"A wyvern? In Ponyville?" Twilight gasped
"Oh, I need to go get Sweetie Belle!" Rarity yelled as she ran past them
"And I need to get Apple Bloom!" Applejack added as she ran after Rarity
"I told you guys something big was coming!" Pinkie Pie said as she shivered her way past Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash
"Come on!" Twilight said as she ran after everyone else
"Right!" Rainbow Dash nodded as she flew fast enough to get to the front the stampede of ponies, leaving a rainbow in her wake
Rainbow Dash arrived to the school just as a massive wyvern landed and roared. The wyvern was covered in purple scales and was easily the size of the entire school house. As it landed, it tucked its wings in such a way that it could stand on the 'elbows' of its wings as it lacked any kind of arms or front legs. Its hind legs were surprisingly thick and muscular considering that the rest of its body was rather thin and serpent like. It had two long horns protruding from the back of its skull and its mouth was shaped like a buzzard's beak. Its long tail ended with a three sharp horns that were shaped like a trident.
The wyvern roared out again just as the foals inside of the school were trying to escape, being led by their teacher. However not all of the foals were able to escape. Three fillies were cut off from the rest of the group as the wyvern slammed its left wing into the ground. Rainbow Dash immediately recognized the three as Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.
"Omigosh!" Rainbow Dash yelled, "Hold on girls! I'm coming!"
She dug her hooves into the ground before launching herself forward, flying as fast as she could. However when she got close, the wyvern snarled and swung its tail, swatting Rainbow Dash out of the sky and into the ground. She dug her hooves in again and snorted before charging.
"Rainbow Dash, help us!" Apple Bloom pleaded as Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo huddled behind her
"Just run while I distract it!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she flew at the wyvern, only to get swatted again, this time crashing into a nearby roof
"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy gasped as she landed next to her, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine…" Rainbow Dash "It's the girls you need to worry about!"
"Oh no!" Fluttershy said
The wyvern was looking at the two older pegasi and while it was distracted the three fillies made a run for it. However, the sudden movement caught its attention and the beast roared again. It slammed its right wing into the ground, cutting off Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle from escaping while the force of the slam sent Apple Bloom flying backwards towards the school. She landed on her side just beside the school's entrance. Before she could get up, the wyvern hissed loudly and raised its tail, aiming it at her.
"Apple Bloom!" Applejack yelled as her and the other ponies of Ponyville arrived
"Applejack! Help!" Apple Bloom yelled as the tail came crashing down. She closed her eyes tightly, expecting the worst. However when she didn't feel the tail slamming down on her, she slowly opened her eyes.
Standing over the young filly was a reddish brown furred canine who arched his back in such a way as to absorb the blow from the tail. Paris shuddered hard and looked down to her, doing his best to smile and wink.
The wyvern roared as it raised its tail before turning its head to the other two fillies it had caught off. Just as it opened its jaws to attack, Jax ran underneath its body and snatched both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo in his maw, whisking them away before it could attack. The wyvern kept its head low as it chased after them with its neck. Before it could get close enough to bite, Scipio launched himself head first into the wyvern, delivering an unexpected head butt to the beast.
The wyvern reared its entire body up, roaring loudly while Scipio was sent flying from the impact, landing hard on his side. With the wyvern rearing up, Paris grabbed Apple Bloom with his muzzle and ran as fast as he could to catch up with Jax. The two dropped the fillies off where the other ponies had gathered. Without speaking a word, both wargs turned to rush to Scipio's side, helping him get to his paws.
"Come on boss, time to go." Jax growled as he was the first to bolt past the wyvern, barely ducking its snapping beak
Scipio and Paris followed, running on either side of the wyvern's still lowered beak as it was just pulling its neck back from the attack. It then turned around, its attention fixated on the wargs as it roared again.
"Wait, are they just going to run away?" Rainbow Dash said in shock
"No, look!" Fluttershy said as the wyvern began flapping its leathery wings before getting airborne and chasing after the wargs, "They're leading it away."
"Oh Apple Bloom, thank goodness you're alright!" Applejack said, wrapping a hoof around her to hug her tightly
"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity was nearly crying as she nuzzled the side of her younger sister's body, "Don't you ever scare me like that again!"
Other ponies were hugging and holding their foals with relief as Rainbow Dash swooped down.
"Come on guys! We can't just stand around here!" Rainbow Dash yelled
"What do you mean?" A pony asked as she held on to her foal, "Let those filthy beasts deal with each other."
"You can't be serious!" Rainbow Dash snapped, "Those wargs just risked their lives to lead that monster out of Ponyville and save everypony! If we don't get in there and help them then they could get seriously hurt or worse!"
"But they're wargs!" Another pony protested
"So what?" Rainbow Dash yelled, "Just because some wargs are bad doesn't mean that they're bad! Besides, do you really think if they were bad they'd even bother trying to save the foals? You all need to judge the wargs off their actions, not judge them solely because they're wargs!"
"But you said…" One pony began
"I was wrong! Okay? I. Was. Wrong. Now we're wasting time!" Rainbow Dash snapped again before turning around to fly off
All the ponies grew silent as Twilight couldn't help but smile while Pinkie Pie stopped shivering.
"And there it was." Pinkie Pie smiled
"Yeah, the wyvern is gone so you stopped shivering." Twilight said
"Nope," Pinkie Pie shook her head, "Rainbow Dash just admitted that she was wrong to everypony. That's what the big thing was."
"Come on," Rarity said as she stepped forward, "Rainbow Dash is right. They're going to need our help."
"Well wait are we waiting for? Let's giddy yap!" Applejack said, "You stay here Apple Bloom."
With that Twilight, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie ran towards the forest while Fluttershy lagged behind.
"Wait for me!" Fluttershy yelled as loud as she could, which was barely a few decibels louder than her normal speech
"How much further are we going to run?" Paris asked as he veered to the left, avoiding the wyvern's claws as it tried to swoop down on them
"Just a bit further." Scipio said as they ran through the Everfree Forest with the wyvern still pursuing them
"I hope you've got a plan." Jax growled as he veered right to avoid another swoop from the wyvern
"You kidding?" Scipio asked, laughing some, "My plan was just to lead it away from Ponyville. I'm improvising now."
"Awesome. Best plan ever." Jax said sarcastically
The three reached the clearing where they had set up camp. The wyvern flew ahead of them and landed at the far side of the clearing, spreading its wings as far as it could in order to cut off any possible escape for them.
"Alright," Scipio panted as he slowed up, "We do things your way, Jax."
"My way?" Jax asked, also a bit winded from running
"Yeah," Scipio said with a smirk, "Unless you want to try reasoning with a wyvern."
"I don't think he wants to talk." Paris observed
"That's the joke," Jax rolled his eyes before quickly digging through a nearby bag until he pulled out an old, ratty black bandanna that he deftly tied around his neck using his mouth, "Alright, your lead boss."
"With pleasure," Scipio nodded, "Paris, you hold back and wait for an opening."
"Okay." Paris said
With that Scipio rushed forward at the wyvern. It roared out again before whipping its tail out from behind it. Scipio managed to slide underneath the tail before snapping out his jaws while leaping upwards, attacking the wyvern's neck. The wyvern began shaking its head from side to side, trying to fling Scipio off.
While it was distracted, Jax charged and used the wyvern's left leg as a jumping point in order to attack its left wing. The wyvern roared out as it tried to fly into the air but could only get the full flying motion with its right wing. It swung its tail hard, knocking Jax off of its wing first before battering Scipio off next. The two wargs landed on top of each other nearby. The wyvern turned to face them, roaring again before snapping its beak out to attack them.
However, before it could attack Paris lunged at the side of its head. The wyvern reared its neck back as Paris did his best to clamp on to one of its horns and hang on. The wyvern shook its head from side to side before nodding its head upwards, sending Paris skyward. Scipio and Jax were too slow getting to their feet and could only watch in horror as the wyvern opened its beak while Paris fell helplessly downward.
When the wyvern clamped its beak shut, it had a confused look on its face. Instead of getting a beakful of warg it had a beakful of nothing. It looked around before spotting a rainbow trail zipping by its head and curving around before landing on the ground nearby. Rainbow Dash gave a smirk as she knelt down, allowing Paris to climb off of her back.
"Nice try," Rainbow Dash smiled, "But how about you leave the flying to those who have wings?"
"Sounds good." Paris slowly nodded, his entire body shaking from being nearly eaten
"Rainbow Dash?" Scipio asked in disbelief
"You sound surprised," Rainbow Dash smiled as she flew over to Scipio and Jax, "You think I'm going to let you wargs get all the credit for beating off a wyvern?"
"What is your problem?" Jax growled, "Does our existence really bother you that much?"
"Hold on, that was a joke," Rainbow Dash said quickly, "Look I'm here to help you and I'm sor–"
Rainbow Dash was cut off as the wyvern swung its tail, forcing the three to scatter in order to avoid the attack. Jax rushed forward and attempted the same attack again; jumping off of the wyvern's leg in order to bite its left wing. The wyvern roared before snapping its beak at Jax. However, Rainbow Dash flew as fast as she could, slamming her shoulder into the wyvern' beak. The wyvern was sent stumbling backwards, reeling his head back from the blow.
"Gotcha!" Scipio yelled as he was able to leap from the ground to the wyvern's left leg, then to its right wing before biting its neck. With the wyvern already off balance, Scipio's attack was enough to slam its back into the ground
Jax snarled as he tightened his muzzle around the wyvern's left wing while Paris quickly moved in to pin its right wing to the ground. The wyvern kicked its legs out, thrashing its body as well as it could.
"Hold it still!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she flew high into the sky. She then flew as fast as she could, planning on slamming her hooves into its chest. A rainbow appeared behind the pegasus as she picked up more and more speed from her descent.
"WAIT!" Fluttershy yelled as she managed to get in between Rainbow Dash and the wyvern
"Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash yelled in surprise as she was able to just barely dodge to the side at the last second, missing her friend and slamming her hooves into the ground
"Let him go." Fluttershy said as she looked over to the wargs
"Are you crazy?" Scipio growled, keeping his jaws around the wyvern's neck
"Just trust me." Fluttershy said, flying just above the wyvern
"You heard her, boss, let it go." Jax said as he released the wyvern and stepped back
"Jax?" Scipio asked, slowly releasing the wyvern's neck
"What?" Jax asked, "I met her earlier, she takes care of the local wildlife. If she says let the wyvern go… well, I believe her."
Paris quickly released the wyvern before running to get behind Rainbow Dash for protection, tucking his tail in between his hind legs as he feared the worst.
The wyvern slowly got to its feet and roared loudly at Fluttershy who seemed unafraid. In fact, she even flew close enough to get right in the wyvern's face
"There, there," Fluttershy said, patting the wyvern's beak, "It's okay. They didn't mean to hurt you."
"What is she doing? She's going to get attacked!" Scipio exclaimed
"Don't worry about her," Rainbow Dash said, "If Fluttershy says an animal is okay, then it's okay. Even if that animal is a wyvern."
The wyvern seemed receptive to Fluttershy's petting as it growled in a low tone.
"Oh, I see," Fluttershy nodded, "Well you do know that they're Rangers."
The wyvern nodded and growled again as it appeared to be talking to her.
"What is it saying?" Jax asked
"Oh, sorry," Fluttershy said as she looked over at them, "He says that he didn't want to attack the school."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Paris asked
"Well, apparently a very angry cockatrice told him that if he didn't destroy the school, she would turn his baby into stone," Fluttershy explained, "And when he realized that you three were Rangers, he wanted to explain his problem to you, but you kept running away. When he finally managed to get in front of you, well, you attacked him."
"What did he expect?" Jax scoffed, "He's a wyvern that just attacked a town in Equestria!"
The wyvern grunted a few times before growling.
"He says that he didn't have a choice," Fluttershy translated, "But he is awfully sorry about it." Fluttershy then looked to him and shook her hoof at him, "And you should be! Even if a cockatrice threatened your baby, that doesn't give you the right to just attack someone. Shame on you."
The wyvern lowered his head, grunting almost shamefully.
"Wait," Scipio said as he stepped closer to the wyvern, "This is all because of a cockatrice?"
The wyvern nodded.
"I think I know what you're talking about," Scipio frowned, "I had to deal with a cockatrice that wanted to build her nest next to the school earlier today."
The wyvern seemed to perk up as he lowered his head to look at Scipio before grunting a few times.
"He says that must be the same one." Fluttershy said as she landed next to Scipio
"Where is the cockatrice now?" Scipio asked
The wyvern gestured its head and growled.
"He says that the cockatrice was hiding somewhere near is den, deeper in the Everfree Forest." Fluttershy translated
"Well if he'll give us better directions, we'll go deal with the cockatrice. It's probably best that he doesn't go back yet though. It may tip off the cockatrice." Scipio said
The wyvern didn't look exactly comfortable with the idea as he growled softly. Fluttershy flew over to him, patting him on the top of his head.
"It's okay, they're good wargs," Fluttershy cooed as she tried to reassure the wyvern, "They'll take care of the problem."
The wyvern nodded and growled some more before slowly turning away. He spread his wings wide, flapping until he generated enough lift to get off the ground before flying off.
"That was incredible!" A voice exclaimed
Scipio, Jax, Paris, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy all turned to see Twilight entering the clearing followed by Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie.
"Ya'll certainly took care of that wyvern." Applejack said
"What are all of you doing out here?" Scipio asked
"Well, I think Rainbow Dash has something she wants to say." Twilight said, looking to the pegasus
"I uh… I wanted to…" Rainbow Dash
"There they are!" Another voice called out as most of the residents of Ponyville slowly stepped into the clearing
"Now what?" Jax asked exasperatedly
"We just wanted to thank you." A purple furred earth pony said
"And apologize for earlier," A blue furred unicorn added, "If it wasn't for you three well… who knows what that thing would've done to our foals."
"Oh, well it's just our job," Scipio smiled, "But you all are very welcome."
"Mhm!" Paris nodded, grinning as he wagged his tail
"And I wanted to apologize too!" Rainbow Dash finally blurted out. She nervously smiled when she realized that all eyes were on her, "For um… well for everything."
"Indeed," A brown furred earth pony with glasses spoke up, "As Mayor of Ponyville, I'd like to extend to you and your friends a formal apology. Further, thanks to your efforts in driving off the wyvern, I want you to know that all three of you are welcomed in Ponyville."
"Oh, well thanks." Scipio said, slowly a bit surprised by the turnaround
"Really though," Rarity said as she stepped forward, "I need to properly apologize. My actions were… well, quite uncalled for. And you did save my little sister."
"Not to mention ya'll saved Apple Bloom!" Applejack added
"Oh, well it's um…" Paris stuttered, blushing as he tried to speak
"I think what Paris is trying to say is that we're all flattered, and we'd like to continue this friendly relationship. Right boss?" Jax asked, looking to Scipio
"Right," Scipio said slowly, surprised by Jax's statement before giving a half smile, "But first this is first. We promised a wyvern we'd take care of a little cockatrice problem. Come on guys!"
With that, Scipio led Jax and Paris out of the clearing. Rainbow Dash looked over to Twilight with a half-smile.
"So, you're writing a letter to Celestia about this, aren't you?" Dash asked
"Of course I am. How often can I get you to admit that you were wrong?" Twilight smiled