Chapter Three:
To the Moochik
"Keep moving, you little vermin, before I have to send a few heads rolling!" the Amormeth troops yelled to the ponies they had captured.
They were being taken to a prison camp.
The small group that had escaped through the passage the night before watched from the safety of some nearby bushes.
"Where do you suppose they're taking them?" Fizzy asked.
"To a prison camp, most likely." Denik answered, "Don't go think that we can rescue them, you would only be captured to."
They went deeper into the woods and discussed what to do next.
"I suppose that we could try to get the rainbow back from that meany who took it in the first place." Fizzy suggested.
"How do you suppose we should do that? Walk up to him and demand it?" Gusty replied.
"You're right, bad plan." Fizzy said, "We could go find Megan and see if she can come up with a plan."
"We can't." Paradise replied, "They have every rainbow under guard, any other ideas?"
"I say we go see what the Moochik has to say about this." Galaxy said.
"Yeah, we might as well." Gusty replied, "Although I doubt we would make it, those creatures are everywhere."
"We should at least make an effort." Wind Whistler, "Unless someone else has a better strategy."
No one answered.
"So, does that settle it? Are we going to see the Moochik?" Galaxy asked.
The others nodded. Then, they went started off on their way.
"I just hope they don't have the bridge under guard, too." Twilight said.
"If it is, I can take care of the guards." Denik replied.
"How can you do that? We lost your weapon last night." Ember said.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot. Never mind." Denik said.
"Its your fault he's here, Fizzy." Gusty said to her, "And he's dumber than mud."
Denik heard this, but he just chose not to show it.
"Get down!" Wind Whistler hissed.
"What's going on?" Shady asked.
"Look." Galaxy said, gesturing upward.
A large, red dragon flew overhead. The ponies whinnied in panic and hid. The dragon heard them and began circling around the place where they were.
"Ah-ha!" he thought, when he spotted two of the ponies.
He swooped down, tore through the trees, and grabbed them. It was Paradise and Sweet Stuff that he had in one clawed hand-like talon. He, then, flew upwards with them.
"You thought you could hide from Exor, the powerful?" he gloated, then drew them close to his face, "Are there any others like you?"
The two ponies were by far, too terrified to answer.
"Very well, you two are going to my prison camp with the rest of your kind!" he said, then swooped low to get a good look at the woods again.
He had circled several times before he finally flew off the way he came, with Paradise and Sweet Stuff in talon.
It was several minutes before the other ponies dared to come out of their hiding places.
"This is going from bad to worse." Shady whined, "Oh, this is going to turn out bad, I just know it."
"Shut up, Shady." Gusty said, harshly, "The only thing that can make this any worse is a bad attitude."
"Like yours, Gusty?" Applejack cut in.
"You're asking for it, Applesause." Gusty retorted.
"That's 'Applejack'!"
"Not when I get through with you." Gusty threatened.
"Stop it, both of you!" Wind Whistler commanded, "You are acting like adolescence with your complaining."
"More big words, figures." Gusty replied.
"Um, are we going to Mr. Moochik to fix the big problem or not?" Ember asked, shyly.
"Yes, Ember, we're going RIGHT NOW!" Twilight said, though it was more to get others going than to answer Ember.
They got the message and followed her.
It was a long trek, but before too long, they found them selves nearing the Moochik's home. As Twilight had feared, there were guards posted on their side of the bridge.
"Now, what we need is distraction." Galaxy surmised.
"I'll handle that." Denik responded, and walked out of the bushes in which they had been hiding.
"Hello, guys." Denik, said to the guards posted at the bridge," I'm here to relieve you of duty."
"Ha!" one of them said, "You don't even have a weapon, how could you keep ponies out of here?"
"Like this." Denik answered, then he grabbed the guards weapon away before he could react. In one deadly swing of the axe, he lopped both of their heads off.
Ember squealed in fright when she saw what Denik had done.
"Come ponies, the path is clear now." Denik called to them.
One by one, they crossed the bridge, Denik stayed behind to make sure they all made it.
"Okay, that's seven." He counted to himself, he turned to see who was lagging behind.
It was Ember, she stared at the decapitated guards in sheer horror.
"Come along, little Ember." He said, "They can't hurt you now."
She didn't respond.
"Let me handle this." Twilight said, as she walked back across the bridge.
"Come on, little one." Twilight said to Ember, when she reached her.
Ember obeyed and rushed by the headless guards as fast as her little legs would carry her.
Denik couldn't comprehend what was wrong with Ember, death was something he and his kind saw everyday.
They continued on their way. Soon, the mushrump was in clear view.
"So, this is where the legendary Moochik lives." Denik mused as the Moochik's house came into view.
Wind Whistler went up and knocked on the Moochik's door.
"Who is it?" the Moochik called from the other side.
"The ponies." Gusty answered.
"Oh, no! Things are that bad, eh?" the Moochik said, opening the door, "Well, if your looking to find the great power that can stop Exor, you're in the wrong place. You will have to ask the Stone-Cold ponies who live on the other side of the Blue Mountains. I'll give you a map, if I can find it. Come on in, this may take awhile."
Twilight and Applejack looked each other and grimaced, they remembered the hunt for the Rainbow-of-Light when they journeyed to stop Tirak. As they entered, various things flew through the air. They heard the Moochik murmur things such as: "I know it was here just last week." And "At least, I think it was here."
"What about your rabbit, can't he find it?" Fizzy asked.
"He has the day off." Moochik replied as he dug through another pile off stuff.
"Oh, no. This is going to be a long day." Gusty moaned.
"What about checking over there." Galaxy suggested, pointing to pile of scrolls.
"Oh, of course, of course! I'm glad I thought of it." The Moochik said as he dove at the tile.
The ponies all rolled their eyes, they knew it was pointless to correct him.
"Ah-ha, here it is, I think." The Moochik said, and presented the scroll to them.
It was a picture of him at the beach, wearing small swimming trunks.
They whinnied and ran away from the terrifying picture.
"Oops! How embarrassing! Don't worry, I'll find it!" He said, putting the scroll away.
The ponies were still shuddering at the image in their heads.
"That's more of him than I ever wanted to see!" Applejack stuttered.
"You said it." Shady added.
"Would this be the map you wanted us to have, Mr. Moochik?" Twilight asked, as she looked at an opened scroll.
"Why, yes. It is." The Moochik replied, "That's precisely what I was looking for, now you better get going. Off with you, shoo, shoo!"
He swiftly ushered them out the door.
"Remember, you may running low on time. Your friends are in great peril." The Moochik said to them when they were all outside, then he promptly shut the door.
"Well, we had better be on our way then." Denik said.
"Right. Which way does the map say we should go now, Twilight?" Galaxy asked.
"That way." Twilight pointed North.
"Keep moving, you little vermin, before I have to send a few heads rolling!" the Amormeth troops yelled to the ponies they had captured.
They were being taken to a prison camp.
The small group that had escaped through the passage the night before watched from the safety of some nearby bushes.
"Where do you suppose they're taking them?" Fizzy asked.
"To a prison camp, most likely." Denik answered, "Don't go think that we can rescue them, you would only be captured to."
They went deeper into the woods and discussed what to do next.
"I suppose that we could try to get the rainbow back from that meany who took it in the first place." Fizzy suggested.
"How do you suppose we should do that? Walk up to him and demand it?" Gusty replied.
"You're right, bad plan." Fizzy said, "We could go find Megan and see if she can come up with a plan."
"We can't." Paradise replied, "They have every rainbow under guard, any other ideas?"
"I say we go see what the Moochik has to say about this." Galaxy said.
"Yeah, we might as well." Gusty replied, "Although I doubt we would make it, those creatures are everywhere."
"We should at least make an effort." Wind Whistler, "Unless someone else has a better strategy."
No one answered.
"So, does that settle it? Are we going to see the Moochik?" Galaxy asked.
The others nodded. Then, they went started off on their way.
"I just hope they don't have the bridge under guard, too." Twilight said.
"If it is, I can take care of the guards." Denik replied.
"How can you do that? We lost your weapon last night." Ember said.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot. Never mind." Denik said.
"Its your fault he's here, Fizzy." Gusty said to her, "And he's dumber than mud."
Denik heard this, but he just chose not to show it.
"Get down!" Wind Whistler hissed.
"What's going on?" Shady asked.
"Look." Galaxy said, gesturing upward.
A large, red dragon flew overhead. The ponies whinnied in panic and hid. The dragon heard them and began circling around the place where they were.
"Ah-ha!" he thought, when he spotted two of the ponies.
He swooped down, tore through the trees, and grabbed them. It was Paradise and Sweet Stuff that he had in one clawed hand-like talon. He, then, flew upwards with them.
"You thought you could hide from Exor, the powerful?" he gloated, then drew them close to his face, "Are there any others like you?"
The two ponies were by far, too terrified to answer.
"Very well, you two are going to my prison camp with the rest of your kind!" he said, then swooped low to get a good look at the woods again.
He had circled several times before he finally flew off the way he came, with Paradise and Sweet Stuff in talon.
It was several minutes before the other ponies dared to come out of their hiding places.
"This is going from bad to worse." Shady whined, "Oh, this is going to turn out bad, I just know it."
"Shut up, Shady." Gusty said, harshly, "The only thing that can make this any worse is a bad attitude."
"Like yours, Gusty?" Applejack cut in.
"You're asking for it, Applesause." Gusty retorted.
"That's 'Applejack'!"
"Not when I get through with you." Gusty threatened.
"Stop it, both of you!" Wind Whistler commanded, "You are acting like adolescence with your complaining."
"More big words, figures." Gusty replied.
"Um, are we going to Mr. Moochik to fix the big problem or not?" Ember asked, shyly.
"Yes, Ember, we're going RIGHT NOW!" Twilight said, though it was more to get others going than to answer Ember.
They got the message and followed her.
It was a long trek, but before too long, they found them selves nearing the Moochik's home. As Twilight had feared, there were guards posted on their side of the bridge.
"Now, what we need is distraction." Galaxy surmised.
"I'll handle that." Denik responded, and walked out of the bushes in which they had been hiding.
"Hello, guys." Denik, said to the guards posted at the bridge," I'm here to relieve you of duty."
"Ha!" one of them said, "You don't even have a weapon, how could you keep ponies out of here?"
"Like this." Denik answered, then he grabbed the guards weapon away before he could react. In one deadly swing of the axe, he lopped both of their heads off.
Ember squealed in fright when she saw what Denik had done.
"Come ponies, the path is clear now." Denik called to them.
One by one, they crossed the bridge, Denik stayed behind to make sure they all made it.
"Okay, that's seven." He counted to himself, he turned to see who was lagging behind.
It was Ember, she stared at the decapitated guards in sheer horror.
"Come along, little Ember." He said, "They can't hurt you now."
She didn't respond.
"Let me handle this." Twilight said, as she walked back across the bridge.
"Come on, little one." Twilight said to Ember, when she reached her.
Ember obeyed and rushed by the headless guards as fast as her little legs would carry her.
Denik couldn't comprehend what was wrong with Ember, death was something he and his kind saw everyday.
They continued on their way. Soon, the mushrump was in clear view.
"So, this is where the legendary Moochik lives." Denik mused as the Moochik's house came into view.
Wind Whistler went up and knocked on the Moochik's door.
"Who is it?" the Moochik called from the other side.
"The ponies." Gusty answered.
"Oh, no! Things are that bad, eh?" the Moochik said, opening the door, "Well, if your looking to find the great power that can stop Exor, you're in the wrong place. You will have to ask the Stone-Cold ponies who live on the other side of the Blue Mountains. I'll give you a map, if I can find it. Come on in, this may take awhile."
Twilight and Applejack looked each other and grimaced, they remembered the hunt for the Rainbow-of-Light when they journeyed to stop Tirak. As they entered, various things flew through the air. They heard the Moochik murmur things such as: "I know it was here just last week." And "At least, I think it was here."
"What about your rabbit, can't he find it?" Fizzy asked.
"He has the day off." Moochik replied as he dug through another pile off stuff.
"Oh, no. This is going to be a long day." Gusty moaned.
"What about checking over there." Galaxy suggested, pointing to pile of scrolls.
"Oh, of course, of course! I'm glad I thought of it." The Moochik said as he dove at the tile.
The ponies all rolled their eyes, they knew it was pointless to correct him.
"Ah-ha, here it is, I think." The Moochik said, and presented the scroll to them.
It was a picture of him at the beach, wearing small swimming trunks.
They whinnied and ran away from the terrifying picture.
"Oops! How embarrassing! Don't worry, I'll find it!" He said, putting the scroll away.
The ponies were still shuddering at the image in their heads.
"That's more of him than I ever wanted to see!" Applejack stuttered.
"You said it." Shady added.
"Would this be the map you wanted us to have, Mr. Moochik?" Twilight asked, as she looked at an opened scroll.
"Why, yes. It is." The Moochik replied, "That's precisely what I was looking for, now you better get going. Off with you, shoo, shoo!"
He swiftly ushered them out the door.
"Remember, you may running low on time. Your friends are in great peril." The Moochik said to them when they were all outside, then he promptly shut the door.
"Well, we had better be on our way then." Denik said.
"Right. Which way does the map say we should go now, Twilight?" Galaxy asked.
"That way." Twilight pointed North.