Chapter Two:
The Siege of Dream Castle
"Run! Run to the castle!" Majesty yelled to everyone, "They cannot enter there."
They did as she told them, ran from the large and evil-looking dark forms. Only Surprise stayed behind.
She tipped the fireworks stand over on its side in the direction of the monsters, and set them off. The creatures cried out in pain as they were injured and/or killed. Then, Surprise threw a bunch of electrified wires in their path, and as they ran over them, she threw as much water at them as she could. Several of them had thousands of bolts running through their bodies. A lot of them keeled over and died.
Just as Surprise was about to make her escape, a pair of strong hands grabbed her and pulled her back. As she struggled, she got her first good look at these creatures. They were hideous. As far as she could tell, they were half-man-half-lizard, for they had the faces of a crocodile, and their bodies were green and covered in slimy-feeling scales, but were mostly build like that of a man's. Their spiked-tails dragged across the ground when they walked. They walked upright, like a human, and they had claws. She looked at their attire, they wore uniforms consisting of crimson tunics, chain-mail, and other sorts of armor.
She was looked at their cruel-looking weapons and was disheartened. Their curved blades looked like pretty deadly, more deadly than any other kind swords she had ever seen.
Surprise also saw that they were not slow and stupid, but their eyes displayed a cunning mind, they were quite light on their feet, and handled their weapons with great skill. Indeed, they were in trouble this time, she perceived.
The creatures had stopped their advancement on the castle to get a look at what had been causing them pain.
"Look at what I got here." The one carrying her said to another, who was obviously an officer of some sort, due to his superior stature and the difference in his uniform as to compared to the others.
"I see," the officer, whose name was Commander Tagard said to the one carrying Surprise, "We have a prisoner already, and it has only been but a mere ten minutes. I am impressed."
"Take this one to the brig." He ordered her captor, "The rest of you, CHARGE!"
They began their charge towards the castle again.
"Has anyone seen Surprise?" Bow Tie asked after the doors to the castle were tightly shut and sealed.
"No, I think she's still out there." Firefly answered, "I'll go take a look."
"No! Its to dangerous." Medley (who else?) said, "Don't do it."
"I have no choice." Firefly called as she flew upwards.
After she flew over the wall, she was greeted with flying arrows.
"Okay, that was not a good idea." Firefly said, after she had landed again.
As the creatures massed in front of the castle, Majesty went up to look over the front balcony of the castle with Fizzy, Gusty, Applejack, Shady, Twilight, Wind Whistler, Galaxy, and Magicstar with her.
"What on earth are those things?" Majesty asked, more to herself than anyone else.
"I have no current theory as to what their identity might be." Wind Whistler answered.
"Well, whatever they are, they surely didn't come here for tea." Fizzy replied.
"Very good, Fizzy, you're right on the ball." Gusty said, sarcastically.
Not catching the sarcasm right away, Fizzy said, "Really! Thanks, Gusty.wait, you don't mean that!"
The creatures lined up in ranks at the front of the castle. It began to rain, deepening the mood of despair in the ponies.
The monsters began to beat their shields with swords, "Bang, bang, bang."
"Archers ready!" the Commander Tagard ordered. The archers got out their arrows and readied their weapons.
"Aim!" Tagard ordered. The archers took their aim.
"Fire!" Tagard yelled. The archers fired.
Posey was in a panic almost as ponies yelped in pain and died right before her eyes. She couldn't fail, Majesty had sent her to the Rainbow of Light.
"We could have put cannons up here, but no," Posey thought, bitterly, "No one ever listens to the gardener."
"Oh, thank God you have!" Majesty said, when Posey appeared with the rainbow, "Open it!"
Posey did as she was told and opened the locket, releasing the rainbow. It flow towards the ranks of the lizard-man.
"Do not retreat!" Tagard ordered his men, "This thing can do us no harm!"
With that, Tagard stepped forward and took a crystal ball out of his pocket, then he chanted: "Udu Yocko, Cumarai Odomu, Mallamue Cranue!"
The crystal ball glowed and a beam of light came shooting out of it. The beam seized the rainbow and attempted to suck it into the crystal ball. The rainbow resisted, but it was all in vain. The beam of light dragged the rainbow closer to crystal ball, and it finally had it.
Tagard grinned in triumph. Now, the ponies were defenseless.
"Engineers, start making bridges and ladders, those ponies are as good as ours!" he yelled, "Prepare to attack, Troops. This battle is almost over!"
"Oh, no!" Majesty cried when the rainbow was sucked into Tagard's crystal ball, "What'll we do now?"
"Surrender sounds good." Shady suggested.
"Never, never!" Majesty retorted, sharply, "The day the Pastel Ponies give up without a struggle is the day hell freezes over!"
"Point taken, your highness." Shady relied, in a quiet voice.
"Your highness." Wind Whistler said, "I have been studying the structure of this castle for a while now, and I think I know where to find a secret passage that will lead us out of here."
"Take us there, and in a hurry." Majesty replied.
"Yes, your highness." Wind Whistler replied.
"Aren't those confounded bridges down yet?" Tagrard asked the engineers.
"Just about." One of them relied, "There, finished."
"Then move it!" Tagard roared.
"Here it is." Wind Whistler said when she pulled on wall-torch and the wall opened up.
"Good." Majesty said, then pointed to Galaxy and Magicstar, "Round everyone up. We're getting out of here."
The engineers put the bridges into position, then crossed them, and set up the ladders.
"Their ready for use, commander." The engineers said, proudly.
"Good. Okay, men. Its time to storm the castle." Tagard ordered his man. But then something caught his eye.
He had a few of his troops stay with him to check it out. Meanwhile, the rest of the climbed the ladders and entered the castle.
Hey half-expected to be met with a last line of defense, but instead, all they saw were locked doors and a few guards. But, remembering their commander orders, they pushed and easily took out the guards at the doors.
"Do you know where we're going, Wind Whistler?" Sweet Stuff asked.
"No, I have never entered this passageway before." Wind Whistler answered.
"I guess that would explain why you have Galaxy leading the way." Sweet Stuff said.
"Quite correct." Wind Whistler replied.
"I don't like the feel of this place." Galaxy said, as she ran along in front of the others."
"Why is that?" Gusty asked.
"It feels like something is in here with us." Galaxy replied.
They came to a large cavern that had many passages in it.
"WhichwaywhickwayGalaxywhichwayisit?" Whizzer asked.
"There they are!" a voice from one of the passages yelled, then Tagard a whole bunch of his troops came running into the cavern.
"Scatter and run down different passages!" Magicstar yelled.
The ponies followed her suggestion and ran in all directions.
In all the confusion, Wind Whistler, Galaxy, Gusty, Shady, Fizzy, Applejack, Ember, Twilight, Sweet Stuff, and Paradise ran past Tagard and his troops and made an escape. They did not stop running until they were safely out of the passageway and out of the castle.
"Do you think we're being followed?" Paradise asked, breathlessly.
"I think so." Galaxy replied, "Look!"
A shadow emerged from the well-hidden hole they had just run through. It was one of the lizard-men.
"Let's get him." Gusty said.
Before the creature knew what happened, a strong wind had blown him over and two ponies (Applejack and Shady) were sitting on him.
He tried to struggle, but Applejack told him: "If I was in your position, buster. I'd just stay still."
The creature regarded her for a moment, then stopped struggling. Before he could say anything, a gag was shoved into his mouth by a pony that had just appeared. Applejack and Shady got off of him. Instantly, he shot up with more speed than they had anticipated.
He took the gag out of his mouth.
"I am Denik." He explained, "I have not come to harm you, like the others have."
"What, so you intend to hurt us in another way?" Gusty spat at him.
"No, no. I have seen the error of my people's ways a long time ago." He replied.
"How do we know this isn't a trick?" Applejack asked.
"My people were created by an evil dragon named Exor. He has mistreated us and filled our heads with lies. Over the years I have seen my people (the Amormeth) destroy and/or pillage many cities, and I have felt bad for it, always. Now, I have my chance to make it right." Denik said, solemnly.
"I say that we let him have a chance." Ember said.
"I don't think that would such a great idea." Twilight answered.
"Why not?" Fizzy asked, "He seemed honest enough in his words."
"To dummies, yeah." Gusty replied.
Fizzy just scoffed that remark off.
"Let's take a vote." Fizzy said, "Everyone who thinks we should give Denik a chance, raise a hoof."
Fizzy, Ember, Galaxy, Sweet Stuff, and Paradise raised their hooves.
"Against." Fizzy then said.
Wind Whistler, Gusty, Twilight, and Applejack raised their hooves.
"Shady, you didn't take a vote." Gusty said.
"I wasn't sure if we should give him a chance or not." She replied, shyly.
"So, I suppose you don't take a vote, then?" Twilight asked.
"No, I suppose not." Shady answered.
"Woo Hoo! Denik gets a chance, five against four." Fizzy said, excitedly.
"Traiter." Gusty said to Galaxy.
Denik looked relieved, he was hoping that he wouldn't have to go feeling around for his weapon in the dark to defend himself.
"Come on then, already." Gusty said, we can't sit here all night. With that, the ponies and their new 'friend', slipped off into the night.
"Run! Run to the castle!" Majesty yelled to everyone, "They cannot enter there."
They did as she told them, ran from the large and evil-looking dark forms. Only Surprise stayed behind.
She tipped the fireworks stand over on its side in the direction of the monsters, and set them off. The creatures cried out in pain as they were injured and/or killed. Then, Surprise threw a bunch of electrified wires in their path, and as they ran over them, she threw as much water at them as she could. Several of them had thousands of bolts running through their bodies. A lot of them keeled over and died.
Just as Surprise was about to make her escape, a pair of strong hands grabbed her and pulled her back. As she struggled, she got her first good look at these creatures. They were hideous. As far as she could tell, they were half-man-half-lizard, for they had the faces of a crocodile, and their bodies were green and covered in slimy-feeling scales, but were mostly build like that of a man's. Their spiked-tails dragged across the ground when they walked. They walked upright, like a human, and they had claws. She looked at their attire, they wore uniforms consisting of crimson tunics, chain-mail, and other sorts of armor.
She was looked at their cruel-looking weapons and was disheartened. Their curved blades looked like pretty deadly, more deadly than any other kind swords she had ever seen.
Surprise also saw that they were not slow and stupid, but their eyes displayed a cunning mind, they were quite light on their feet, and handled their weapons with great skill. Indeed, they were in trouble this time, she perceived.
The creatures had stopped their advancement on the castle to get a look at what had been causing them pain.
"Look at what I got here." The one carrying her said to another, who was obviously an officer of some sort, due to his superior stature and the difference in his uniform as to compared to the others.
"I see," the officer, whose name was Commander Tagard said to the one carrying Surprise, "We have a prisoner already, and it has only been but a mere ten minutes. I am impressed."
"Take this one to the brig." He ordered her captor, "The rest of you, CHARGE!"
They began their charge towards the castle again.
"Has anyone seen Surprise?" Bow Tie asked after the doors to the castle were tightly shut and sealed.
"No, I think she's still out there." Firefly answered, "I'll go take a look."
"No! Its to dangerous." Medley (who else?) said, "Don't do it."
"I have no choice." Firefly called as she flew upwards.
After she flew over the wall, she was greeted with flying arrows.
"Okay, that was not a good idea." Firefly said, after she had landed again.
As the creatures massed in front of the castle, Majesty went up to look over the front balcony of the castle with Fizzy, Gusty, Applejack, Shady, Twilight, Wind Whistler, Galaxy, and Magicstar with her.
"What on earth are those things?" Majesty asked, more to herself than anyone else.
"I have no current theory as to what their identity might be." Wind Whistler answered.
"Well, whatever they are, they surely didn't come here for tea." Fizzy replied.
"Very good, Fizzy, you're right on the ball." Gusty said, sarcastically.
Not catching the sarcasm right away, Fizzy said, "Really! Thanks, Gusty.wait, you don't mean that!"
The creatures lined up in ranks at the front of the castle. It began to rain, deepening the mood of despair in the ponies.
The monsters began to beat their shields with swords, "Bang, bang, bang."
"Archers ready!" the Commander Tagard ordered. The archers got out their arrows and readied their weapons.
"Aim!" Tagard ordered. The archers took their aim.
"Fire!" Tagard yelled. The archers fired.
Posey was in a panic almost as ponies yelped in pain and died right before her eyes. She couldn't fail, Majesty had sent her to the Rainbow of Light.
"We could have put cannons up here, but no," Posey thought, bitterly, "No one ever listens to the gardener."
"Oh, thank God you have!" Majesty said, when Posey appeared with the rainbow, "Open it!"
Posey did as she was told and opened the locket, releasing the rainbow. It flow towards the ranks of the lizard-man.
"Do not retreat!" Tagard ordered his men, "This thing can do us no harm!"
With that, Tagard stepped forward and took a crystal ball out of his pocket, then he chanted: "Udu Yocko, Cumarai Odomu, Mallamue Cranue!"
The crystal ball glowed and a beam of light came shooting out of it. The beam seized the rainbow and attempted to suck it into the crystal ball. The rainbow resisted, but it was all in vain. The beam of light dragged the rainbow closer to crystal ball, and it finally had it.
Tagard grinned in triumph. Now, the ponies were defenseless.
"Engineers, start making bridges and ladders, those ponies are as good as ours!" he yelled, "Prepare to attack, Troops. This battle is almost over!"
"Oh, no!" Majesty cried when the rainbow was sucked into Tagard's crystal ball, "What'll we do now?"
"Surrender sounds good." Shady suggested.
"Never, never!" Majesty retorted, sharply, "The day the Pastel Ponies give up without a struggle is the day hell freezes over!"
"Point taken, your highness." Shady relied, in a quiet voice.
"Your highness." Wind Whistler said, "I have been studying the structure of this castle for a while now, and I think I know where to find a secret passage that will lead us out of here."
"Take us there, and in a hurry." Majesty replied.
"Yes, your highness." Wind Whistler replied.
"Aren't those confounded bridges down yet?" Tagrard asked the engineers.
"Just about." One of them relied, "There, finished."
"Then move it!" Tagard roared.
"Here it is." Wind Whistler said when she pulled on wall-torch and the wall opened up.
"Good." Majesty said, then pointed to Galaxy and Magicstar, "Round everyone up. We're getting out of here."
The engineers put the bridges into position, then crossed them, and set up the ladders.
"Their ready for use, commander." The engineers said, proudly.
"Good. Okay, men. Its time to storm the castle." Tagard ordered his man. But then something caught his eye.
He had a few of his troops stay with him to check it out. Meanwhile, the rest of the climbed the ladders and entered the castle.
Hey half-expected to be met with a last line of defense, but instead, all they saw were locked doors and a few guards. But, remembering their commander orders, they pushed and easily took out the guards at the doors.
"Do you know where we're going, Wind Whistler?" Sweet Stuff asked.
"No, I have never entered this passageway before." Wind Whistler answered.
"I guess that would explain why you have Galaxy leading the way." Sweet Stuff said.
"Quite correct." Wind Whistler replied.
"I don't like the feel of this place." Galaxy said, as she ran along in front of the others."
"Why is that?" Gusty asked.
"It feels like something is in here with us." Galaxy replied.
They came to a large cavern that had many passages in it.
"WhichwaywhickwayGalaxywhichwayisit?" Whizzer asked.
"There they are!" a voice from one of the passages yelled, then Tagard a whole bunch of his troops came running into the cavern.
"Scatter and run down different passages!" Magicstar yelled.
The ponies followed her suggestion and ran in all directions.
In all the confusion, Wind Whistler, Galaxy, Gusty, Shady, Fizzy, Applejack, Ember, Twilight, Sweet Stuff, and Paradise ran past Tagard and his troops and made an escape. They did not stop running until they were safely out of the passageway and out of the castle.
"Do you think we're being followed?" Paradise asked, breathlessly.
"I think so." Galaxy replied, "Look!"
A shadow emerged from the well-hidden hole they had just run through. It was one of the lizard-men.
"Let's get him." Gusty said.
Before the creature knew what happened, a strong wind had blown him over and two ponies (Applejack and Shady) were sitting on him.
He tried to struggle, but Applejack told him: "If I was in your position, buster. I'd just stay still."
The creature regarded her for a moment, then stopped struggling. Before he could say anything, a gag was shoved into his mouth by a pony that had just appeared. Applejack and Shady got off of him. Instantly, he shot up with more speed than they had anticipated.
He took the gag out of his mouth.
"I am Denik." He explained, "I have not come to harm you, like the others have."
"What, so you intend to hurt us in another way?" Gusty spat at him.
"No, no. I have seen the error of my people's ways a long time ago." He replied.
"How do we know this isn't a trick?" Applejack asked.
"My people were created by an evil dragon named Exor. He has mistreated us and filled our heads with lies. Over the years I have seen my people (the Amormeth) destroy and/or pillage many cities, and I have felt bad for it, always. Now, I have my chance to make it right." Denik said, solemnly.
"I say that we let him have a chance." Ember said.
"I don't think that would such a great idea." Twilight answered.
"Why not?" Fizzy asked, "He seemed honest enough in his words."
"To dummies, yeah." Gusty replied.
Fizzy just scoffed that remark off.
"Let's take a vote." Fizzy said, "Everyone who thinks we should give Denik a chance, raise a hoof."
Fizzy, Ember, Galaxy, Sweet Stuff, and Paradise raised their hooves.
"Against." Fizzy then said.
Wind Whistler, Gusty, Twilight, and Applejack raised their hooves.
"Shady, you didn't take a vote." Gusty said.
"I wasn't sure if we should give him a chance or not." She replied, shyly.
"So, I suppose you don't take a vote, then?" Twilight asked.
"No, I suppose not." Shady answered.
"Woo Hoo! Denik gets a chance, five against four." Fizzy said, excitedly.
"Traiter." Gusty said to Galaxy.
Denik looked relieved, he was hoping that he wouldn't have to go feeling around for his weapon in the dark to defend himself.
"Come on then, already." Gusty said, we can't sit here all night. With that, the ponies and their new 'friend', slipped off into the night.