"But, Twilight, you can't leave!" a baby dragon named Spike (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) implored.
Twilight smiled gently at him. They were in the middle of a glen, complete with an open-air library of book shelves, filled with books; surrounded by their animal and forest spirit friends.
"I have to Spike," she told him in a motherly tone. "I have to know what happen to the other ponies. I can't even remember the last time I spoke to another pony or even seen one for that matter."
"Can't I come with you?" Spike asked, his eyes growing bigger.
The alicorn shook her head. She hated the thought of leaving him behind, but she had no choice. "The world's too dangerous for a baby dragon, Spike. And besides, someone has to look after the forest, and I can't think of anyone better than my number one assistant."
"But how can I look after the forest? I don't have any magic."
Twilight placed a medallion around his neck. "I've put a very powerful spell on this medallion. It will help you keep the forest safe from hunters and poachers while I'm gone. But I promise I'll be back as soon as I'm able."
After giving Spike one last hug, Twilight galloped to the edge of her woodland home. She turns around to see Spike and the other animals and spirits of the forest watching her sadly. She smiled to reassure them (and herself) and galloped off, the words of Batty echoing in her mind once more: "You can find the others if you are brave…"
Her journey took her past fields and meadows, deserts and rocky badlands and frozen forests (of course she teleported or flew to most of those places, making her journey much quicker then it looked).
Eventually she found herself in pleasant, green lands. A hobbit named Bilbo Baggins (from the 1977 Rankin/Bass animated Hobbit movie) was smoking his pipe when he saw Twilight.
"Well, bless my buttons, aren't you a pretty little thing?" Bilbo said seeing Twilight. But he didn't see her as an alicorn. Just as a small, ordinary purple horse with no wings, no horn and no cutie mark.
Bilbo walked closer to her slowly, like anyone would do to a domesticated animal. "And just who do you belong to, my dear? A pretty little thing like you? Now come along, girl. Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I'll curry you up, clean you up; you'll be the prettiest mare around."
"Mare? Mare?!" Twilight thought to herself angrily. "I, a horse? Is that what you take me for? Is that what you see?!"
"Good girl," Bilbo said as he edged closer. "What a sight you are. I'll feed you up and take you to the Hobbiton petting zoo. You'll be the prettiest horse in all the Shire!"
"A horse am I?!" Twilight thought, neighing angrily. "A horse indeed!"
She then galloped off in huff.
Bilbo watched her leave. "Now that's a horse! Oh, well, I suppose it's for the best. A beautiful creature like that should be allowed to roam free…"
After calming down, Twilight took some rest under a tree, by the side of the road.
"I had forgotten that mortals cannot always see us," Twilight reflected. A boy named Finn and a dog named Jake walked past her (both form Adventure Time). "If mortals can no longer see us, then there yet be ponies left in the world. Unknown and glad of it."
Further down the road, Finn turned to ask Jake something.
"Hey Jake?"
"Hmm?"
"Did we just see an Alicorn?"
"We sure did, buddy."
"Cool."
Twilight continued her journey alone, looking over a mountain range. She saw an eagle fly in the sky above her. For a second she thought it was the same one from before, but shrugged it off. She continued to walk onwards.
Horizon rising up to meet the purple dawn
Dust demon screaming, bring an eagle to lead me on
For in my heart I carry such a heavy load
Here I am
On Man's road
Walking Man's road
Walking Man's road
She passed through more fields and farmlands, crossing a bridge, but she didn't stop to look at the scenery.
She passed a traveling merchant named Lawrence and his companion Holo (both from Spice and Wolf) and then she passed seven dwarves returning from their mines (from Disney's Snow White). She then passed a wandering wizard named Gandalf the Grey (LOTR/The Hobbit).
But she paid them no heed. She continued forward.
I'm hungry, weary, but I cannot lay me down
The rain comes, dreary, but there's no shelter I have found
The weather changed and it began to rain on her. But she soldiered on regardless.
It will be a long time till I find my abode
Here I am
On Man's road
Walking Man's road
After passing another village, fatigue finally got to Twilight. She curled up by the road and fell into a deep sleep.
Walking Man's road
Walking Man's road
(oooh-oohoooh)
Walking Man's road
(oooh-oohoooh)
Walking Man's road
Walking Man's road
(ooooh-ooohoooh)
Walking Man's road…
Down the road, a travelling caravan of wagons and cages came forward. On the side of one of the wagons was a sign that said "Maleficent's Midnight Carnival: Creatures of the Night, Brought to Light."
The leader of the group, Maleficent (Disney's Sleeping Beauty), stopped her wagon when she saw Twilight.
"Well. Well, bless my old husk of a heart," she said to herself and the raven perched next to her. "And here I thought I'd seen the last of them."
She went to take a closer look at the sleeping pony. She then called to her employees at the wagons. "You three! Get down here now!"
Three individuals got down from their wagons. One was an overweight humanoid cat named Pete (Disney/Kingdom Hearts). Another was a humanoid blue jay, wearing a blue cloak and a wizard's hat, named Mordecai. Finally there was a raccoon named Rigby.
Maleficent ponder to herself as they came closer. "If he knew…but I don't think I'll tell him. He'll think it's a horse for sure. Some wizard I hired."
Her raven cawed, like it was laughing.
"Why the hell did you make us stop, Maleficent?" Pete asked angrily. "We all agreed to go to the bathroom before leaving."
"What do you think that is, Pete?" Maleficent asked. "What do you see?"
The corpulent cat looked at Twilight and shrugged. "Dead horse. Maybe tomorrow's dinner…"
"You're fool! A disgrace to the forces of evil! But I already knew that." Maleficent then turned to look at Mordecai. "Tell me, magician, what do you see with your sorcerous sight?"
Pete and the raven chuckled nastily at the young wizard.
Mordecai took a closer look at Twilight, and saw her for who she really was.
"Answer me, juggler!" Maleficent snapped impatiently. "What do you see?"
"A horse." Mordecai lied. "I just see a horse."
"No it's not!" Rigby said. "That's an alic-"
Mordecai quickly covered his mouth. "It just an ordinary, purple mare. Nothing more."
The blue jay then silently mimed to his best friend stay quite.
Maleficent chuckled. "I thought so. Very well, it's a mare. I want her for the carnival. The last cage is empty."
"I'll go get some rope," Pete said.
"A rope that could hold that mare hasn't been woven yet," Maleficent said. "We'll just have make do with cold, iron bars."
"Hey! She's waking up!" Rigby stated as Twilight began to stir.
"I'll put a sleep spell on her," Maleficent said. She then casted her spell, power emulating from her fingers.
"Skagribbitch! Kastamangya! Nitchai! Nitchaul!"
Twilight fell asleep again. But then a false horn materialized on her forehead, just beneath her real one.
"Now cage her," Maleficent ordered. "She'll sleep until sunrise. The newest star of our show…"
Please read and review. Also, I'd like to thank NobodieZ for his idea of using Predaking for the Red Bull.
And I would like to stress this is just a non-profit fanfic. Please don't sue.