Happy Thanksgiving Every pony!
Chapter 15:Feeling Pinkie Keen
"Are you certain that you're ready for this new spell? This could end horribly."Orion was being safe, rather than sorry as he watched Twilight performing a new spell.
Spike was her willing test subject that was wearing a rock on his head. He posed like a member of royalty while wearing a grass ring around his neck and balancing on a stick like a cane. Slowly the grass ring suddenly changed into a fancy little tuxedo, just the right size. His stick became a fancy little cane while the rock began to gloat above his head, slowly turning to a top hat. It was then that a sudden high pitch twitch call out distracted Spike and Twilight, but Orion could see everything.
"Heads up…!"Orion warned before the rock came down and smacked Spike on the noggin.
"Spike! This magic needs our full attention to make it happen. There's no other way!"Twilight blamed Spike for the mishap that she agreed to do.
"I can't help it. Look!"Spike pointed out to Pinkie Pie hiding behind a tree with an umbrella hat as she moved to other hiding spots.
"Ugh, never mind her, she's just being Pinkie Pie…!"Twilight assumed that this was normally how Pinkie tended to be.
"Perhaps that's true, but I can't help but notice that twitching in her tail…"Orion took sharp notice of her twitching tail, for he saw an action like that one before.
"Hmm… Twithy twitcha twitcha twitch…!"Pinkie spoke as she looked around to the sky out of worry.
"Pinkie? What in the wide wide world of Equestria are you doing?"Twilight asked the pink earth pony before she was suddenly to their side.
"Oh, it's my tail, my tail's a twitcha twitching…! You know what that means?"Pinkie asked as she hugged Orion with bubbly unpredictable fear.
"Actually, I haven't the slightest clue what that means…"Twilight admitted in confusion while Orion took a shot.
"It means something may be falling from above right?"Orion pointed out with great curiosity before a thought was striking him.
"Well… Yeah…! You three better duck for cover!"Pinkie worried as she kept a watchful eye to the sky.
"Why? There's not even a cloud in the-"Twilight was silenced by a croaking frog landed on Twilight's nose from the sky.
"He said nice catch…!"Pinkie Pie complimented Twilight's good catch with the frog.
"Uh yeah… Uh…Pinkie? I'm just gonna high tail it back to the library since this spell casting was a fail,"Orion swept the dust off his sparkly red and new garments he wore proudly,"But if it's not too much trouble… Mind visiting for tea and some chatting?"
"Sure! About time we starting hanging out! I was starting to think you didn't like me!"Pinkie giggled as Orion chuckled and did his best to escape politely.
"It just took me a while to get use to you is all… Any who… See you around…"Orion already felt awkward silence and Pinkie's bubbly happy personality, he finally managed to escape.
He got out of the conversation nice and clean, and was going back to the library. He shook his head to shake off the craziness and super positive nature that is Pinkie Pie. He did feel a bit guilty leaving as fast as he could, but such a positive and naive out look on life was unheard of to him. He never met such a fun loving pony with such a happy nature in his life. In reality, there was one that was certainly on par that he had almost forgot about, a long long time ago.
Perhaps tea time was the best way to appeal and get on more comfortable ground with Pinkie. Twilight most likely wanted him to give her a chance, and did not approve of him leaving. So suppose he did owe her that much for always avoiding the pink and bubbly Pinkie. He sighed, before he felt the mare of his thoughts come to mind, the only one that tamed the stone heart of a friend. He would never forget her for what she did for his friend, Precambria Pie.
He sighed, before he was finally back to the library safe and sound. He entered and closed the door before taking a seat in the rocking chair, and immediately felt like granny Smith. Then again he was almost two thousand years old, maybe it's natural to feel old. He took up the first book he found and started to read, the book was titled The Last Days Of Clover The Clever. He shrugged his shoulders and decided to go down memory lane a bit, even if this one was a bit sad.
"With her last project done, Clover passed on to the world among the stars. Holding her gems of harmony within her cold hooves,"He read upon the book after opening to a book marked part,"She was discovered an hour after her official passing by friends who preserved her body and cremated her… Her ashes were spread upon the mountainous soil of her home village…"
He closed the book since it appeared to simply end abruptly after the last sentence. He dropped the book onto the table with less to no amusement for the lack of detail and misunderstood story. He laid back and now felt his thoughts drifting to the moment he went to Clover's room in the tower. She was old and needed assistance in case her mind wandered too much. However on that one day, he would come, only to find that his friend had finally passed away peacefully.
"Clover? It's Orion…! We've missed you at breakfast. Are you alright?"Orion opened the door to his old home's castle tower where the old friend stayed in her late years.
Slowly he entered the room, books were plentiful all around her room. Book shelves everywhere one would look, all made by Clover that spoke of the spells she created and the adventures she shared with friends. He wore a small smile as he looked to see she was not in bed, that only meant she was working. She was writing another book, or maybe working on her "special" project she had dreamed of making to help the world experience friendship. And once Clover dreamed it, she would try to make it into a reality.
"Where are you? Are you making another book? You said you were taking a break from those,"Orion called and finally saw some pony sitting at a desk, appearing to be napping,"There you are…. Over worked yourself again? You really don't know when to relax huh?"
He approached her, but she did not move an inch from the chair. He started thinking she was focusing completely on a book, but that's when he saw sparkling objects on the desk. He approached, and looked overhead before seeing six beautiful gems laid neatly on the desk. His own eyes glittered from the gems sparkling magic his eyes could see from within. It was a light magic, it felt warm and welcoming, gentle and harmonic.
He realized it after a moment of thought and was full of excitement. For this was the project she had spoken of, and from the looks of it, she had completed it. The six keys to true harmony, and the magic that would spread that harmony and friendship across the room.
"Clover…! you've done it…! You have created the elements of harmony! I can't believe it! You've created the answer to spreading harmony across Equestria,"Orion was excited as his hand gripped her right shoulder to shake her awake, but she only shook very limply, and remained silent,"Clover come on…! You gotta see what you've made! Clover?"
His excitement was slowly ceasing as he saw her body move with his shaking. Her body moved very stiff like before her head lifted up and nearly rested on her shoulder. He could barely see her mint green face appearing to be sleeping with a strain of gray mane in front of her face. She seemed unmoved, silent, peaceful, and within a very deep slumber. His mood changed, and his hand moved from her shoulder and to her neck that felt ice cold to the touch.
"Clover...? Are you,"He cut himself off and felt for a pulse in her neck, but there was no pulse what so ever, just the cold skin of a lifeless friend,"Oh… Clover…"
His hand shook against her neck before he let her go and remained frozen in place. There was no mistaking it now, the inevitable loss of a friend had finally come to him. His friend now sat on the chair, still, cold, and no longer among the living. His face went emotionless as he stood there, letting the cold and empty breeze of death blow right pass him, ruffling his hair. Her mane moved as well, but there was no waking her from this eternal slumber as a tear slowly began to run down Orion's cheek.
He looked down for a moment to mourn, but that was when he just barely saw it. A crumbled note was right under her right arm that held half of the gems in her cold embrace. He wiped the tear from his face and reached slowly for the note under her arm. He lifted her arm up, and slipped the note out from under her arm while keeping his head to the ground. Letting another tear slowly rolled down his left cheek before he uncrumbled the note, and began to read it.
Dear friends
I know you'll be pained to see me finally passing on to be with my friends once more. But know that I'll always value the friendship I shared with you. Orion, Celestia, Luna, and even Discord. I'll remember you all for eternity, and I hope you will always remember me for all the feats we fought through together. I'll never forget that moment I spent with you and Discord that day on the molten mountain… Vanquishing Necrid Ghoul's existence forever… Orion… As for my final creations, the elements of harmony. The world is not ready for them yet, but they will be soon enough, but until then… Take them to the heart of the Ever Free forest and place them within an ancient tree under the heart. The forest itself will then be under full harmonic control, and your home will be safe for eternities to come… Thank you… All of you… My truest friends.
Sincerely, Clover
He looked away from the not and let the tears drop from his face to the note. He then looked to the gems in her grasp before he levitated all six from Clover and into a brown satchel. With that done, he silently picked Clover up into his arms and let her head rest on his chest. With a sigh, Orion kept his head low and took the old mare over to her bed to be laid to rest. Her front hooves were put across her chest and she was laid flat on the back as if she was now sleeping.
With her rested in her bed for the final time, now came the hard part. Telling both his sister's that one of their oldest friends has now passed away, Celestia would not take it well. Luna may just manage to handle it a bit, but the loss of a friend is never easy, and Orion knew it all too well. For Clover was one of many friend, guards, and even warriors that had died before his eyes. Yet it always made him shed tears each time their death occurred before him, for his heart always connected with the one's he cared for..
"Good bye Clover… My friend…"Orion took one more look to the eternal slumbering mare before he left the room.
"Hey you still all there O…!"Suddenly a small voice shook Orion from his morbid day dreaming.
"Wait wha…? Who's there,"Orion looked to the door and saw Spike carrying a muddy and dirty Twilight in a red wagon,"Oh…! Yah I'm fine… Just took a small nap is all…! What happened to you two?"
"Twilight ignored the pinkie sense and fell into a mud puddle…!"Spike chuckled while Orion wiped up a tear that was on his cheek quickly with his sleeve.
"I see… Never a good idea to say neigh to the pie sense Twilight."He played it off cool and collective as Spike pulled Twilight upstairs to get her in the bath.
"You too…! How are you buying all this talk of pinkie sense?"Twilight asked while Orion decided to follow from behind and chat.
"Because her pinkie sense didn't come just from her. This sense originated from a friend of mine,"Orion explained as they all went into the bathroom, and Spike kindly started up the bath,"Her name was Precambria Pie. She was a brave mare that got together with a comrade of mine…!"
"And she had the pinkie sense too?"Spike put in the bubble bath just in time for Twilight to jump into the tub and start cleaning off.
"Yeah… We called it Pie sense back then, she was the only Pie to survive the changeling genocide fifteen hundred and twenty years ago,"He explained and got two dropped jaws of shock in return,"What? Changeling were ravenous and feral half the time. They drained innocent ponies till they looked like dried out grapes…!"
"Are you talking about my ancestor Precambria Pie?!"Orion almost jumped to the ceiling as Pinkie suddenly bounced to his side from nowhere.
"Uh…yes… In fact I was just explaining a bit about her and a comrade of mine, Tremoring Quake."Orion replied as Spike offered more bubble bath for Twilight.
"Tremoring Quake…? Ooh! You must be talking about pops!"Pinkie suddenly exclaimed quite bubbly upon knowing the name.
"Pops?!"Spike,Orion and Twilight yelled in confusion.
"Yeah! We call him pop or pops! But he's really my great great great great great great great,"It was at least fifty more greats before Pinkie was finally done,"great great…! Grandpa!"
"Translation… Another warrior from O's time apparently…"Spike whispered while getting out the exfoliating loofah.
"Really? How is that silent stallion been? I have not seen him since Precambria's passing."He was now curious about his old friend, now knowing Pinkie was in fact an old warrior's descendant.
"He's been ok. He practically runs the family business and keeps spirits high,"Pinkie felt a sudden ache in her shoulders, and it meant one thing,"Ooh! There's a alligator in the tub! I got it!"
"Aaaaaahh! How did that not trigger a pinkie sense? That's not just scary. That's down right dangerous…!"Twilight hugged Spike as Pinkie pulled the purple eyed and toothless alligator from her bath tub.
"No it's not, silly! This is my pet alligator gummy, he has no teeth, see?"Pinkie giggled and hugged her seemingly emotionless alligator with no teeth.
"Okay…ok, I get it…"Twilight mused while a thought struck Orion.
"I'll get us some tea. I promises a chat over some tea, nothing beats tea time,"Orion clapped his hands together and decided to rush out of the bathroom to make tea,"And Twilight…! Try to keep an open mind. In Equestria… Not everything is certain about the world and it's people."
He could tell that Twilight was less than amused by getting another words of wisdom flash by Orion. He heard her groan in irritation while he went downstairs to make tea. Though he had to admit it was good to finally breath again after that bit of excitement. At first, Pinkie made him uncomfortable do to her bubbly nature, but that he knew who she truly was. He was starting to feel more comfortable around her, knowing that such a friendly nature had come from another old friend.
He went to the kitchen they had, and filled a pot with water to boil it. For this tea time, he chose vanilla chai tea, a sort of new type of tea recommended by Rarity for calming tea times. The sweet aroma of vanilla was already making him feel better from his memory lane trip. He sighed and shrugged his troubles off before five minutes had passed and the water was ready. He then put in the herbal tea ingredients and brought the tea on a tray to the living room with sugar cubes and cups.
However, upon entering the living room, it appeared that the ladies weren't there. He looked around, and with a bit of crystal insight, he saw them in the basement. Doing what could only be seen as a scientific experiment to disprove Pinkie's pinkie sense. He shook his head and shuddered at Twilight's skepticism that surpassed anything he had seen before in a pony. He swore that unicorn mus have head a bit of an Apple in her with such stubbornness.
He used his magic to open up the secret entrance under the living room rug. It dropped and formed into a stair case that lead to the basement, he was cautious while descending with a tea set in his hands. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, it was there that he found Twilight hooking Pinkie up to a machine for study, and calibrating the machine to keep track of her friend.
"Ok, now when you get another twitch. We'll have all kinds of scientific information."Twilight explained her strange and sort of mean experiment to disprove Pinkie's family gift.
"Okie dokey loklie!"Pinkie was kind enough to comply with her friend's instructions.
"What the hay Twilight?!Can't you just accept things for what they are,"Orion raised his voice slightly and almost made Twilight drop her quill pen and paper,"Honestly, you have my sister's old skepticism I swear!"
"Well there has to be some sort of science or anomaly in her metabolism triggering these senses,"Twilight picked her things up and continued reading a sort of scanner,"And I'm going to find out what it is…! Any twitches yet?"
"Nopey dopey!"Pinkie replied happily and bubbly.
"Now? Anything?"Twilight asked only thirty seconds later.
"Wait, hold on! Uh…no…!"Pinkie replied again.
"Are you kidding me?! After a whole day of non stop twitching, now that I have you all hooked up. You're not getting a single one?"Twilight was now even more skeptic of Pinkie's odd ability than she was before.
"I don't control it. They just come and go."Pinkie tried to give Twilight the plain and simple answer to her sense.
"That makes no sense!"Twilight ranted and appeared to be oddly getting more and more irritated.
"Not everything in this world is meant to make sense! That is simply impossible,"Orion turned off the machine with his magic and walked down the stairs and sat the tray down for Pinkie,"Even after almost two thousand years. There are still thousands of things I have yet to understand about certain people and the world itself…! You can't explain or know EVERYTHING in life!"
"I will NOT believe in anything that cannot be explained!"Twilight denied the words of wisdom and was suddenly picked by her flank in Orion's red aura.
"Well while you think that over, you can go in time out for locking your friend up like mad science experiment,"He suddenly made her fly up the stairs in a burst of speed towards the nearest corner like a trouble making colt,"Sorry about that Pinkie. I don't understand Twilight some times. I swear she behaves just like Celestia in her young days…!"
"Princess Celestia in her young days?! You were around for those?!"Pinkie questioned as her spine had a warm tingle that told her that she was going to learn something.
"Yes, in fact I'm older than even Celestia herself. By about six years,"He answered while pouring in the tea for the both of them and offering sugar,"She always tried to be a little know it all. Always thought she could know everything, and control everything in the world…!"
"Oh… Didn't like the way she was running the kingdom back then huh?"Pinkie asked as she took her cup of tea and put four sugar cubes in it to make it extra sugary sweet.
"Yes, but I had my orders and my duty, and so did your pops. We were meant to protect her and princess Luna,"He took his own cup and dropped only one cube in his tea cup,"No matter the disagreements or the cost… At the very least, Celestia understood that all too well before."
"What was pops like when he was fighting in the old days?"Pinkie asked more curiously about her pops now that Orion had the answers to her family's past.
"Tremoring? He was the strong and silent type. Always a bit uptight about his… Condition,"Orion sipped his tea and set it down to collect his thoughts together,"It was only thanks to Precambria that he started to open up a bit, he even once disregarded his true face being seen to save her."
"You saw his face too…? He always thought his face was ugly. Like no pony was ever going to like him."Pinkie explained her pop's thoughts toward the world of today and it's people.
"Pinkie after meeting you, and knowing this many friendly ponies. I think Tremoring will be fine,"Orion ensured before presenting his tea cup to give cheers with the pink earth pony,"To new found respect, and a blossoming new sense of friendship miss Pie…!"
"Cheers!"Pinkie tipped her tea cup with Orion's and stretched a nice big smile for their friendship finally blossoming.
Several hours later, the door to the library swung open and Orion was called upon for help. Fluttershy and Typhoon had messaged him, asking for help in Froggy Bottom Bog. Regarding a relocation of frogs they had been doing for a week now to get the frogs situated for spring. He cracked his neck and sighed before he was on his way through town to the east of the forest. For the rest of the day he decided to get some space from Twilight until she came to terms with Pinkie's gift.
He already caught her spying on Pinkie from a thick bush right under a moving chariot. He rolled his eyes and smirked from karma paying it's toll to Twilight in the form of a piano. He shook his head and moved on as he waved to the children playing by Sugar Cube Corner. His hands went into his pockets as he calmly strolled by and made his way to the exit to the town. Slowly, he walked out of the town and took in some more fresh air and went towards the eastern edge of the forest.
"I'm glad we could finally find some common ground after all that happiness the mare scared me with,"He spoke to himself quietly as he followed the trail to the swamp,"Looks like Twilight will learn her lesson sooner or later from the looks of her stalking Pinkie Pie around."
He chuckled to himself, especially while seeing Twilight get another greeting from bees. The warm chuckles masked his uneasiness once he had arrived to the forest's edge. His eyes glittered and made a quick scan to track down Fluttershy and Typhoon, as well as any dangers. He had a bad feeling, but he went with his sight's initial scan of the swamp and went in. He casually walked through the thick and more dry brush of the forest, looking diligently for any dangers.
He stepped into a soft mud puddle, and was now mused that his flashy red shoes were covered in mud. He shook his head at the sky, but at least it was a sign that he was nearing the swamp. Wet and mugginess in the forest meant the swamp was close by, possibly just a couple paces away. After pushing pass a large mass of bushes, he froze before he went any further. Hovering a foot right over a ledge where a large muddy pond laid in wait and almost claimed more of his outfit's cleanliness.
"That was close… Now where's Fluttershy and dear old Typhoon,"He looked around the area, knowing this was where they would be dropping off the frogs,"Got em… Just up the north edge of the pond."
He looked to his muddy shoes and sighed, before deciding to take them off. Last thing he wanted was to ruin Rarity's gifts and be back to being bare footed and exposed to the elements. He left them against a tree, and started running through the mud up north to meet his friends. Quickly he made his approach, but then quickly came to a stop and hid behind a rotting tree. Typhoon was five feet away and busy sitting frogs on their lily pads, his back completely open to Orion while he watched Fluttershy do the same in front of him.
He smirked, and stood up to start walking quietly before he would start to sink in the mud. The opportunity was his, Typhoon completely oblivious to Orion's stealthy approach. He reached out with his arms in a zombie like manner and dangled his fingers in anticipation. He took a breath in to go even more quietly, and lifted his arms up before bringing them down. His fingers jabbed into Typhoon's shoulders as he yelled out loud, making Fluttershy scream and fall to her back.
"HEY TYPHOON, DID YOU MISS ME?!"Orion's shout spooked Typhoon, and narrowly dodged a round house by Typhoon before the green stallion fell to his back and clutched his chest.
The frogs jumped for the hills and scattered as Typhoon laid covered in mud. His heart was pounding hard and fast, his breath quick and rapid as he looked up to see Orion chuckling. He swallowed, and then growled while slowly standing back up and wiping off the mud.
"The…BUCK is wrong with you?! I thought you were a cragodile,"Typhoon growled and panted trying to calm down as he went to help a trembling Fluttershy,"You scared me and Fluttershy to pieces! Next time I ought to give it more thought before asking you for help!"
"Relax, I wasn't going to bite much! I'm not too keen on green meat."Orion joked while Typhoon tapped some spots in Fluttershy and loosened her up before lifting her back up to her hooves.
"Just…do me a favor and go collect the frogs you scared off…! Make something useful of yourself,"Typhoon pointed in a direction away from them before helping Fluttershy get her wits back,"Ok, come on Flutters. Everything is ok, it was just O being a giant donkey…"
Orion chuckled and walked off to find some of the frogs that took off from his scare. It was all too worth it to see Typhoon get uptight and flustered like a chicken ruffling it's feathers in frustration. He used his crystal eyes and started gathering frogs he could find near the muddy edges. The frogs were a bit jumpy, but he was quick enough to collect the frogs and pack them into his arm. He then found a sly and lucky area where lily pads were in nice clusters, perfect for the frogs.
He whispered to them, and got them to get situated at home with the lily pads. Once he had emptied himself out of frogs, he decided to go looking for Fluttershy and Typhoon. He turned away, feeling proud of the little shortcut that worked out rather well for him and the frogs. He only had the muddy waters to annoy him as it felt like it tried to swallow his feet whole. He had to pick his feet up all the way out of the water to move without getting stuck in the mud.
He nearly fell forward into the mud, and thankfully caught himself before he could face plant/ He sighed, and decided to take his time through this little struggle regardless of time. With patience as a virtue to his way of the warrior, he took almost half an hour to maneuver through the mud. He was now wishing he had wore his light weight shorts to this outing to the bog. He was almost in a sweat before he got to the edge of the pond, but strangely enough, no pony was there.
"Really? Now they ditch me? All over a little jump scare…?"He mused, but knew this was just Typhoon's nature and common attitude at times.
He groaned and decided to simply just get out of the pond and sit in the grass. Wiping his feet off while starting up his crystal eyes to go on the search for the nature loving ponies. A roar had then shook the ground under him and nearly made him tremble before his eyes found them. Not only did he discover Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, and Spike were with them. It also appeared that they had attracted some unwanted attention by a brown swamp hydra, the alpha predator of water.
"Oh no… You gotta be kidding me, a freaking hydra?!"He growled and jumped to his feet to race near the drier area of the bog where the hydra appeared to be.
He was racing to the scene as fast as he could and followed the hydra's pursuit of his friends. Typhoon of course was behind the ladies, but decided to do nothing since the hydra was an animal. This was Typhoon's greatest weakness, he would never harm an animal no matter the hostility. He always assumed the creature behaved as nature intended it to behave, and he never questioned it. Orion shook his head at Typhoon's inaction as he drew closer, coming from behind the beast.
It snapped at Typhoon as they went up a hill near a steep cliff that dropped straight down. They were nearing the cliff, screaming all the way before the hydra was turning it's attention to Twilight. It's right head reared back, and prepared to lunge for Twilight and fetch itself a meal. Thankfully, the head was then punished with a sharp sliced through it's cheek and jaw. The beast froze and let the right head try and shake off the newly acquired wound, allowing them to escape it's hunt.
The other two heads slowly turned to see Orion standing before the giant multi headed beast. The two heads roared while the injured third head was groaning and shaking to shrug off the pain. Orion studied the creature, his experience followed and pointed out the weak spot in the creature. He looked to make sure Twilight and the others were at least out of the way. Right in time for the hydra to strike with it's left head, barely missing Orion, who thankfully jumped into the air.
He slashed the top of the left had twice into an x shape before landing on it. The creature lifted up, and Orion held on for dear life to it's eye lid before he was swaying five stories above his friends. He held on tight to the left head, while the hydra head tried to shake him off. The right head was more than willing to help, but Orion simply jumped in time to watch the right head bite into the left. He then held on tight as the right head pulled away, leaving teeth broken off in the left head's face and forehead.
Finally, he went on the attack and lifted his blade up for a stab straight in the head. He drove it in deep and hard, the right hydra head immediately went limp and slumped over the back of it's body. He managed to jump onto the hydra's back, the center head continued to stay out of the fight. For the center hydra head was the head that required to be destroyed before the beast would die. So this required an easy lunge right to the center head without being chewed to pieces.
"Typhoon! If you're not going to hurt this thing, at least get every pony to safety!"Orion gave his friend the heads up to get the ladies out of the fight zone since he couldn't hurt an animal.
"I suppose that's all I can do… Come now, we have to jump for the cliffs over there,"Typhoon pushed the group closer towards the ledge and pointed out the cliff on the other side,"Remember, just a hop, a skip, and a jump! Just focus, and don't panic…!"
"Oh no…! Ugh… Come on Fluttershy… You can do this…! You can. Aaaaaagghh…!"Fluttershy screamed and jumped for it, barely making the jump to the other cliff.
"Weeeeeee!"Pinkie managed to stay positive and jump across the large gap with little effort.
"Twilight, you and Spike are next. Hurry,"Typhoon looked to Twilight and Spike while they watched Orion gripping at the left head and tossing it away,"Twilight, don't worry about him…! We've done this kind of thing many times before…! He's got this."
He gave Twilight a nudge towards the cliff while Spike held on tight. Typhoon jumped to lead, and landed at Fluttershy's side before turning back to Twilight. The hydra had stumbled closer to the cliff after Orion slashed at the center head's cheek, making her legs shake. It proved detrimental, and through off Twilight's jump as she lunged for the cliff. Unfortunately, her shaken legs were not able to summon the strength to jump far enough, and instead, she lunged straight into the drop.
They both screamed, and closed their eyes for the worse that could come. Thankfully Orion heard their screams and looked to see Twilight and Spike falling into the abyss below. He jumped, just in time for the left hydra head to chimp directly into it's back rather than the prince himself. He slammed both feet down and flashed with red before swinging his leg forward and summoning a crystal pillar. It blasted out one cliff, and pierced the side of the other cliff to catch the falling unicorn and baby dragon.
He stood at the cliff edge, and looked over the ledge to see Twilight and Spike safe. Standing up on a giant pillar of crystal that formed a bridge up to the other side of the cliff. He sighed in relief, and smiled partially to see his friends safe, but Twilight was not mutual to the feeling. She gasped with wide eyes as she looked up to Orion, and she felt her heart drop as a shadow cloaked him in darkness. He sighed, and turned around to look to the hydra, just in time for it to go all dark around him.
His strong phoenix feathered garments blocked the teeth that dared to pierce into his flesh. Just as he was lifted it and slowly forced into the mouth of the center hydra head that savored him. Twilight looked on in horror as she watched her friend get scarfed up and swallowed in silence. Once the dreaded sound of swallowing was heard, the worse appeared to have happened. Twilight just watched her friend get devoured by a beast thanks to her need to disprove a friend's gift, her own desire had costed her a friend's life.
"No… Noooooo! What did I do…? What did I just DO,"Twilight began to hyperventilate as Typhoon reached and grabbed her by her horn to pull the unicorn and dragon to safety,"O…! NOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOO!"
"Come on…! There's nothing you can do…!"Applejack assisted Typhoon in pulling the two to safety before Spike jumped off and rushed to try and go after the hydra.
"Spike NO…! You can't fight that thing…!"Typhoon manage to wrap up Spike in his right arm to hold the baby dragon back.
"But we need to help him! He's trapped in there!"Spike was pulled away and shielded away from the beast that roared.
"That… Might have been the doozy… Quite the doozy,"Pinkie's mane and tail deflated as her smile faded to a frown with watering eyes,"And we were just starting to become friends…"
"No…! We shouldn't have asked him to help us… We should have left him alone…!"Fluttershy looked away and shuttered while Typhoon simply kept watching the beast roar in victory.
"I should have listened, I wanted to prove everything with science, Pinkie sense, wonders of the world,"Twilight dropped to her belly and her shoulders began to twitch and shudder,"He tried to tell me to just accept things, but I didn't listen… Because of that… I got him killed…!"
"You accept my pinkie sense…? Oh Twilight…"Pinkie got down on her front knees and hugged Twilight before she began to quietly weep for O.
Typhoon sighed and looked down to see Spike crying against his arm. His wing gently patted the baby dragon's back while turning to Fluttershy and wrapping a free arm around her. He let her cry into his shoulder, while Applejack simply bowed her head and put her hat to her chest in respect. Typhoon shook his head and kept Fluttershy's head buried in his shoulder. He retained a moment of silence, his face was emotionless for a moment, and then he turned back to the hydra.
"Alright, you made your point to Twilight and you got a moment to yourself, now stop scaring every pony,"The mare's lifted their heads to Typhoon's sudden tone that added to a smirk,"And hurry up, you're just looking like a flank hole at this point…!"
The girls wanted to object to this attitude, but sudden surges of red drew their attention. They glimmered from the belly of the best, while the beast itself looked to be getting a tummy ache. It groaned and gripped it's belly before a red slash split the top of the left hydra head open. It fell forward and crashed before it's body, and teetered on the edge of the cliff. The moment it crashed to the ground, a barrage of magical slices suddenly tore pieces of the hydra open.
Holes in it's chest opened up as well as giant slices in it's belly. Magical slashes spread through it's legs and even down it's tail before they crawled slowly up it's neck. It gurgled and released death rattles as blood seeped through the wounds in it's neck. The final blow came in the mark of an explosion in the center of it's forehead, making a nearly clean hole in it's head. It went stiff and growled one last time before it fell forward right towards the group, slamming it's center head right in front of Typhoon and the group.
It's body made a perfect bridge from end to end of the gap before thumping noises were heard. They all held their breath and were greeted by the most joyful of sights in the form of Orion. He tumbled out of the hydra's head and fell in front of Twilight before he coughed and tried to wipe the mud and blood from his face. He panted, and did his best to catch his breath before slowly getting to his feet once more. Smiling and chuckling as he wiped his sleeves off.
"Ok… Sorry about that, did not expect that thing to eat me and take me on a journey down it's gullet,"He spit a bit and opened his arms up to show that he was ok while Twilight bit her lower lip,"But I'm ok. Did any of you miss me?"
Suddenly, he felt the strong and warm embrace of Twilight, wrapping her hooves around him. It was accompanied by Spike wrapping his little claws around his right leg. Pinkie even jumped to Twilight's side and hugged Orion as well, The prince was greatly confused but flattered. He hugged the crying unicorn as she buried her head into his stomach for a moment. While Spike was trembling against his leg, trying not to cry any more now that the man was safe.
"Uh… Did I miss something here? I'm ok every pony, really I am."He patted Twilight's back while bringing it in to hug them all.
"I thought I got you killed…! I thought I just lost a friend…because I couldn't accept things for what they are…!"Twilight whimpered as her head got petted and made Orion feel a bit heart heavy.
"Don't forget my friend. We don't live in our old world any more… Death and tragedy are rare in this day and age,"Typhoon explained to Orion before the prince nodded and looked down to every pony holding him,"And when it happens, it hurts so much more for them than it ever did for us…"
He looked down and sighed as he petted her mane while patting Spike's little head. He looked to Typhoon as he finally got Fluttershy to calm down and dry her eyes. Every pony looked like a complete hot mess, and they appeared to be exhausted from the scary encounter.
"It's alright… I'm still very much alive. Everything is going to be ok,"He did his best to reassure the mares and the little dragon before an idea struck him,"Hey… I know exactly what will make everything better…!"
"Vanilla chai tea!"He said out loud in the library kitchen while every pony gathered around in the living room in chairs.
Typhoon and Fluttershy were petting and comforting their pet bunnies Angel and Stormy. Spike was still clinging onto Orion while he cooked up some nice hot tea for any pony. Twilight and Pinkie were finally smiling a bit and even wearing little umbrella hats for safe keeping. He brought the tea over, bringing a napping Spike clinging on his leg along for the ride. He groaned, and then began to laugh of the incident as he laid the pot of tea down and began pouring drinks.
"Thank you O, this is very sweet of you…"Fluttershy took up her tea with no sugar cubes to enjoy it naturally.
"Indeed, some hot tea always gives more positive feelings after a rough day."Typhoon agreed and took his tea in the same fashion.
"We're just happy every pony's safe and sound, and that doozy was solved too,"Pinkie took her cup and dropped five sugar cubes into her cup for super sweet tea with her mane and tail poofy and bubbly once more,"All it needed was for Twilight to believe in my pinkie sense!"
"I knew it was only a matter of time before you believed, Twilight. It's just an anomaly that was passed down through the Pie family,"Orion took his tea up while struggling to get the sleepy baby dragon off him,"Boy oh boy what a day… You doing better Twilight…?"
"Yeah… I'll be ok. As long as my friends are ok, I'll be fine,"She levitated Spike off Orion and sat him with her before getting out the quill pen and paper,"I think this definitely earns itself a friendship lesson…!"
Dear Princess Celestia
I am happy to report that I now realize there are wonderful things in this world that you just can't be explain, but that doesn't necessarily make them any less true. It just means you have to choose to believe in them, and sometimes it takes a friend to show you the way.
"Always your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."She finished her letter to the princess and began to gently shake Spike awake to deliver the letter.
"Nice… Wake up Spike! You got a letter to send,"Orion hollered and woke the baby dragon up before he fell off Twilight and to the floor,"I'll get him annoyed with me again fast enough…"
Spike took the letter and grumbled as he yawned with weariness, but then smiled a bit. No matter the issues he and Orion had, he now had a lot more appreciation for the mysterious being. It was almost like he had a stern, but fair father leading him down a path of respect and responsibility. He disappeared up the stairs, just in time for Pinkie to get another twitch in her tail. He smirked and allowed his crystal armor to coat his whole body for extra protection for whatever came.
"There it goes again!"Pinkie pointed out her twitchy tail while Twilight giggled.
"I wonder what it will be this time?"Twilight wondered before suddenly picking up the book on Clover The Clever.
"We'll never know…!"Pinkie hinted at the mystery as they all enjoyed some tea.
"So… Care to explain a bit about Clover The Clever?"Twilight asked and gave him a sly look, letting him know that she knew that this was the book he read upon their return before.
"She was… A good friend, and the creator of the elements of harmony,"Orion explained with a sigh and a struggle to keep a smile going as she gave him the book,"The elements were her final creation before she passed away… They always reminded me that she's always with me… Though… I may have said this before… But you remind me a bit of her Twilight…"
"Thanks… Care to tell us your version of the story?"Twilight asked while the others awed at his kind words.
"Well… As long as you're ok with it getting a bit sad."He warned before sitting the book on his lap, and didn't even notice a strong thud from the roof.
"Are you kidding?! We just watched our friend get eaten by a hydra. I think we can handle it,"Pinkie said in a tough girl tone before slowly bringing up tissues from absolutely nowhere,"These are just for safe keeping. My pinkie sense gave me a warm but heavy heart. It means I'm in for a very moving story."
"You guys won't believe who just dropped in and-"Spike rushed downstairs and was shushed before he could announce a bizarre encounter.
"It's story time you… Let's just relax and enjoy the rest of the day…"Typhoon carried Spike upon a ball of wind and sat him with Twilight before they all listened to Orion's story of Clover The Clever.
Yeah… There's way more to this story than just the series, the adventure, and friendship. There is a lot more to it, there's going to be feels. There's going to be some deep story moments, and touches on real things that both humans and ponies would do. I hope you're all paying attention, because this journey may change your morals and your thoughts when it comes to friends, family, and even just that stranger you saw that struggled in life. Stay pony my friends.