Chapter 9:

Dealing With Sky Pirates

Black.

That was all that Twilight could see, a big black haze.

But then she felt herself waking up again after suddenly passing out again and started hearing the muffled voices of her friends. Opening her eyes a little, Twilight saw the blurry forms of her friends talking to each other, waiting for her to wake up, before closing them again.

"Do you think she's alright?" Fluttershy asked, turning to the others becoming concerned about her friend's well-being.

"She's been out for a few hours. Maybe we should put some water on her. That should wake her up in no time," Rainbow Dash suggested, getting a little impatient with Twilight sleeping for a while.

"Wait, hold on. I think I just saw her move," Sunset said, noticing Twilight starting to open her eyes and about to wake up from her slumber.

Opening her eyes completely, Twilight could see her friends, Sunset, Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy looking at her with smiles and sighs of relief, seeing their friend had finally awakened from her sleep.

Twilight saw that they are in what looked like a cavern of some sort.

"Are you alright, Sugarcube?" Applejack asked with a little concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Applejack. Just had another vision," Twilight said, raising up her head and shaking it before getting back up on her hooves, feeling the powers of Water and Air in her now.

"Another vision? About what, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked, approaching her fellow Alicorn while wanting to know what was the vision that Twilight had.

"In my vision, I saw the mountain again, and it still frightens me…," Twilight said, explaining to her friends about the vision of the Mountain Of Dreadmane again.

"Was it the Mountain Of Dreadmane?" Applejack asked, having the feeling that Twilight saw the Mountain of Dreadmane again in her vision.

"Yes, but it also goes by another name from the spirits and the black-hearted creatures. They called it…The Well Of Souls," Twilight replied, sharing more of her knowledge to her friends about the mountain going by another name.

"I don't think I like the sound of that name," Fluttershy nervously gulped, shivering in fear a little bit as she hid behind Rainbow Dash.

"Neither do I. Twilight who told you about those things?" Sunset asked, wanting to know more about how Twilight knew about the mountain and who told her about it.

"Mistmane and Flash Magnus told me. They were in my dream, and they showed me the vision. That's when I saw the Mountain again. But I also saw the Dark Army, and they were led by a tall lanky commander holding a staff," Twilight said, explaining more to her friends about what else she saw in her vision.

Applejack, Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy were quite surprised by what they had just learned. But what really got them surprised was that Twilight had encountered Flash Magnus and Mistmane in her dream, which surprised Rainbow Dash and Rarity the most.

"Well, I'll be," Applejack said, feeling quite shocked to hear and learned about the information Twilight shared with them.

"Mistmane?" Rarity asked, hoping she misunderstood after hearing her friend has met her idol in the Dream Realms.

"And Flash Magnus?" Rainbow Dash asked in the same tone.

"I'm a little surprised myself. I can't believe you were able to meet Flash Magnus and Mistmane in your dreams, Twilight," Fluttershy said, astonished by how Twilight was able to meet two more members of The Pillars and has regained two of her powers.

"But there's still something I don't understand. The Mountain Of Dreadmane? The Well Of Souls? The Dark Army? Twilight, do you think your visions could mean something?" Sunset asked, turning to Twilight for some answers to see if her visions could be trying to tell them something.

"I don't know, Sunset, I still can't explain it. But if my theory is correct, I have a feeling that a great evil is awakening that might involve that mountain," Twilight said with a hint of worry in her voice, sensing that the Well Of Souls must be playing a role in the Eclipse Of Infinite Darkness.

"Well, then. We best get moving and find that tree from your dreams and find the Oracle, Twilight. Maybe he might have the answers to what is happening," Applejack suggested.

"I guess so…wait, where's Spike and Pinkie? Spike? Pinkie? Guys, where are you?" Twilight asked as she looked around, realizing the two members of their team were missing as she looked around to see where they'd gone.

Appearing from behind the bend, Spike and Pinkie were still screaming and running with the Sky Pirates chasing right behind them.

"Oh, Twilight. Thank goodness you're awake. Pinkie and I are out of shape," Spike said as he and Pinkie panted from running away from the Pirates too long.

And said Pirates approached the Mane 7 and Spike and stopped, seeing they have finally found something that was worth double the bounty.

"What do we have here? Arrr first catch of the day!" The big Pirate said, pointing his sword at their targets.

"We're nobody's catch for the day," Twilight argued in disagreement as she and her friends looked at each other before facing the Pirates with determined looks. Ready to fight them.

And fighting them they did, Sunset, Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie handled the small flunkies by using their elemental powers while Twilight took care of the leader by using her aerial combat skills and magic to toss him off the ledge.

After they defeated the pirates, the Mane 7 blew away the smoke of their horns.

"I have to admit, those pirates were pretty easy to defeat without a sweat," Rainbow Dash admitted, stretching her wings and legs.

"Yeah, but those are just some of the pirates. While Pinkie and I were running away from those guys, we saw a few of their ships on the shores," Spike said, informing them that their troubles with the pirates weren't quite done yet.

"Well, at least we now know what we'll be expecting on our search for the tree," Twilight said as they began to move out to continue their task to find the tree from Twilight's dream.