My Little Pony_The Movie_The Junior Novel Page 2

  “Oopsie! Guess my easy-bake-confetti-cake cannon needs a little more fine-tuning!” Pinkie laughed, popping out of a giant contraption. The ponies who had gathered around gasped in shock.

  But the glances and gasps from the crowd weren’t directed at Twilight at all—they were for somepony even more special. The star of the show!

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Songbird Serenade! She’s here!” the ponies whispered in awe as the crowd parted to make way for the singer. Her two bodyguard stallions, outfitted in dark jackets and sunglasses, trotted ahead to clear the path even more. They puffed up their chests with a sense of pride and stepped aside. There she was!

  The pop diva, a buttercream-colored Earth pony, wore her signature manestyle in black-and-yellow choppy locks that hung directly over her eyes. She had a large pink bow behind her head and a black jacket that was effortlessly cool. Everypony always loved how mysterious her edgy look made her seem.

  “Hiya!” Songbird chirped in a sweet voice. “I’m looking for the pony in charge?” She scanned the crowd aimlessly, looking around at the masses of gawking ponies. “I need to set up for my sound check?”

  “Songbird Serenade?” Twilight stepped forward, feeling a bit starstruck. But clearly she should be the one to handle this. On top of everything else. “Um, I was just going to check on you—I’m Princess Twilight!” A gooey blob of cake slid down her shoulder. Suddenly, Twilight was hyperaware of how odd her current state must look to her guest. “And sorry about the mess! Usually, I’m not so—” Twilight gestured, and a drop of batter managed to fling itself right onto Songbird Serenade.

  “Caked in… cake?” Songbird laughed as her bodyguard wiped it away. Now Twilight was officially embarrassed. What else could go wrong today?

  A low rumble rang out, and a mass of black and gray started to appear in the sky. “Storm clouds?” cried Twilight. All the good feelings from the past hour were dissipating. “But I ordered perfect weather!” She looked to Rainbow Dash in confusion. The Pegasi had supposedly been working nonstop to make sure no weather catastrophes could possibly ruin their day. “Rainbow Dash?”

  “Uh, I…” Rainbow Dash’s voice quavered. “I don’t think those are storm clouds.” The masses of ponies watched in bewilderment as a giant airship burst through the darkened mist. It was shaped like a giant egg but had a wooden undercarriage like the hull of a boat. Sharp, angular propellers jutted out from the back, with a rudder below. It was most unusual.

  “Oooh!” said Pinkie Pie with glee. “I bet those are the clowns I ordered!”

  But as the ship landed on the plaza, it began to crush everything in its path, including several of the strong, tall spires that bore Canterlot’s flags. Ponies galloped out of the way to make room for the monstrosity. And Pinkie Pie came to realize the scary airship was definitely not holding the clowns she had ordered.

  It was something sinister.

  Twilight narrowed her eyes, trying to make sense of what was happening. She had a horrible feeling but felt powerless. She didn’t even know who these visitors were—so how could she stop them?

  Up on the castle balcony, the other princesses experienced the same sinking sensation.

  A door on the hull opened, and a gangway unfurled. Silhouetted in its frame was a small, squat creature. Nopony knew it yet, but his name was Grubber. From his pallid gray skin to his piglike nose, up to his white spiky hair and right to the tips of his pointy claws—he was an unusual sight. Grubber hoisted a large box in front of him and made his way down the gangway toward the ponies, trying to look as intimidating as possible.

  Once he’d arrived at the bottom of the gangway, Grubber made a big show about pushing a button to open the box. Everypony held their breath as the box grew into a giant mechanical megaphone. Grubber held the cone up to his mouth with satisfaction and, pausing for dramatic effect, summoned his scariest voice.

  “Ponies of Equestria… we come on behalf of the fearsome, the powerful, the almighty… Storm King!” Grubber gestured to the ship dramatically, and a giant poster unrolled. On it was a terrifying, horned beast with icy blue eyes. An emblem that looked like two sharp spikes was emblazoned on his chest. Nothing about this intrusion seemed friendly. The ponies erupted into a wave of panicked whispers.

  “And now, to deliver his evil, evil message, put your hooves together for Commander Tempest!” A proud Grubber looked ecstatic as he gestured with his stubby arm to the door and stepped aside to make way for his superior.

  A striking pony stepped forward to reveal herself. Tempest Shadow’s dark-purple hide and cropped magenta mane was complemented by her intimidating black armor. The armor was adorned with the same sinister emblem as on the massive poster, right where a pony’s cutie mark should be. A mysterious scar marked her right aqua-colored eye. But the strangest feature of all was her horn.

  It was broken.

  At first, Twilight Sparkle wasn’t even sure Tempest was a Unicorn. She’d never seen anypony’s horn jutting out into shards like that. Something horrible had happened to her, and Twilight found herself wondering what it was.

  “Tempest, is it?” Princess Celestia’s gentle yet commanding voice rang out as the three remaining princesses soared down from the castle balcony to greet the intruders. “How may we help you?”

  “Ah, I’m so glad you asked.” Tempest smirked. Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “How about we start with your complete and total surrender?”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Twilight pushed past the other ponies and stepped forward to line up with Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. There had to be a diplomatic way to solve this little misunderstanding. All it would take was a friendly conversation, and they’d be back to getting ready for the festival.

  “Hi there! Princess of Friendship here.” Twilight tried to catch Tempest’s eyes. When she did, she felt an icy chill go down her spine. “Not exactly sure what’s going on, but I know we can talk things out.” Twilight gave her friendliest smile. It always worked.

  But Tempest Shadow just chuckled. “Oh goodie. All the princesses!” Tempest started down the gangway, her hoofs striking the metal planks with confidence. “Here’s the deal, ladies: I need your magic. Give it up nicely, please, or we will make it difficult.” Tempest shot Twilight a pointed look. “For everyone.”

  “And why exactly should we cower before you?” Princess Luna shot back. “There’s one of you, and hundreds of us!” Luna gestured to the crowd of ponies behind her, who all puffed out their chests and stood a little taller in support.

  Tempest was unfazed. The Unicorn let out a low chuckle. “I was hoping you’d choose… difficult.”

  Out of nowhere, dozens more of the strange airships appeared in the sky! Hordes of enormous, long-tailed, yeti-like creatures wearing the Storm King’s emblem came leaping out of their ships. They grunted and growled as they landed across the Canterlot plaza amid the pastel ponies. The ponies screamed in horror as they ran for cover. Canterlot was under attack!

  Cadance sprang into action, lunging toward Tempest’s ship. But she was too late. Tempest jumped into the air, spun around, and kicked something with her back hoof. The glowing orb shot straight at Cadance. She was able to block it with her magic shield, but the orb was too strong. It lingered, frozen right in front of Princess Cadance’s face as she fought to hold it back.

  “I can’t… stop it!” Cadance cried out. A moment later, the orb worked its evil magic on the princess, turning her completely into stone. Twilight gasped in horror as Celestia cried out for her fallen comrade.

  “Luna! Quick!” Celestia shouted to her sister. “Go south! Beyond the Badlands! Seek help from the Queen of the Hippo—”

  But before Celestia could finish her sentence, Tempest had kicked another orb right at the princesses. “Nooooo!” Twilight shouted helplessly as stone engulfed Celestia’s body. Now she, too, had become a statue, her face contorted in a permanent expression of horror. Luna took off through the air, swerving between the airships to escape
and carry out Celestia’s instructions.

  But it was in vain, because Tempest was a step ahead of Luna. She procured two more glowing green orbs and jumped into the air again, kicking one right at Luna. When it hit her wing, the princess lost control. Luna tumbled back to the ground, and by the time she reached it, she was completely frozen in stone.

  Twilight couldn’t believe her eyes. All three of the other princesses were immobilized. “Nooooo!” She couldn’t help crying out in agony.

  Tempest cackled, zeroing in on Twilight. One more princess to go before she had what she needed to please the Storm King. She watched as the sweet purple princess was caught in her tracks and overcome with emotion. Too simple.

  It was the perfect time to strike. Tempest kicked the last orb at the pony with unbridled glee. An explosion of green smoke and rainbows burst forth, obstructing the view as it hit the sad little pony.

  “Easy as pie,” Tempest mumbled to herself with certain smugness.

  “Oh, I love pie,” added Grubber, licking his lips.

  The smoke cleared, and Tempest trotted up to the pony frozen in place. Grubber scrambled over and leaned in close to look at her horn. It wasn’t a horn at all—it was a party hat! This pony was a cross-eyed Pegasus with a cutie mark of bubbles.

  “That’s not the princess!” Tempest growled. Her broken horn sputtered and sparked with magical rage. “Grubber… Get. Her. NOW!” Grubber panicked and took off toward the edge of the courtyard where Storm Creatures were lunging after a group of ponies.

  “Over here, y’all!” Applejack shouted, leading the way.

  Rainbow Dash darted ahead—she knew a shortcut out of Canterlot. “Come on!” Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Twilight galloped after them, Spike in tow, darting out of the path of the terrifying Storm Creatures every few seconds until they found themselves cornered on a bridge. A creature was blocking their way out!

  In a moment of quick thinking, Twilight pointed her horn and fired a magic beam directly at him. He lifted his shield. The magic bounced back and shot directly at the ground. The ponies gasped as a crack began to form in the stone bridge. It was crumbling right beneath their hooves!

  The bridge gave way, taking all six ponies and Spike down with it. They screamed as they plunged into the rushing water below. The ponies bobbed to the surface, paddling their hooves and gasping for air, but the current was too strong.

  They were headed right for a steep waterfall, and there was no way to stop or avoid it. “Ahhhhh!” the friends screamed in unison as they plummeted over the precipice to certain doom.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The ponies had taken shelter in a tiny cave next to the river below Canterlot. Everypony was wet and bedraggled but seemed to be all right. “Everypony okay?” Applejack asked as she fished her soaking cowpony hat out of the water. The limp brown brim dripped onto her mane.

  “We just got our cupcakes handed to us by the worst party crasher ever!” Pinkie Pie marveled. She wrung her curly mane, and a bucket’s worth of water came pouring out.

  Everypony agreed on that point, but nopony could decide what the best next course of action would be. Rainbow Dash wanted to go back and fight, but Spike insisted that the sheer size and number of the Storm Creatures would make it impossible. Always the practical one, Applejack pointed out that they had to decide quickly—they couldn’t just stay in the cave forever. And they couldn’t let Tempest Shadow find Twilight. As discussion turned to theories about what might have happened to the evil Unicorn’s broken horn, Twilight trotted to the water’s edge to think.

  Everything had come crashing down so fast. What was she supposed to do now? The kingdom was under occupation, and she was the only princess who’d escaped. It was up to her to rescue everypony! Suddenly, Twilight’s mind replayed the events for her, and she remembered a clue.

  Celestia had been telling Luna to seek help from somepony. “The queen…” Twilight mumbled to herself.

  “Yeah, the queen!” chirped Pinkie Pie, then her face fell. “Uh… what queen?”

  “The Queen of the… Hippos?” Twilight replied. When she said it out loud, it sounded ridiculous even to her.

  “Hippos?” Rainbow Dash scoffed. “Seriously?”

  Twilight nodded. “They’re somewhere south, past the Badlands.”

  Fluttershy cowered. “That means we’ll have to… leave Equestria!” Her voice was so tiny it was practically a squeak.

  “I’m not even packed!” Rarity whimpered, thinking of all the situations she might find herself in without the proper outfit. She shuddered.

  “I understand you’re scared. And nopony else has to go.…” Twilight replied. She glanced up to the sky, where the airships were still hovering. Thinking of the citizens left in Canterlot made her stomach lurch. “But I have to find this queen. She might be our only hope to save Equestria.” Twilight took a deep breath and turned on her hooves to leave. She had no choice. If her friends didn’t come, she would just have to go it alone.

  “Well, you’re not getting all the glory!” Rainbow Dash chimed in. “We’re in this together!” The rainbow Pegasus flew over to Twilight and gave her an encouraging smile. The others gathered around and nodded in agreement.

  The princess felt a wave of relief wash over her as she realized her friends were all going to be behind her on the journey. She hadn’t let herself admit that she had been scared to be alone. Now all they had to do was find out which direction was south.

  “Uh… that way?” Spike pointed his claw toward the edge of a forest, thick with wide-trunked trees.

  “Let’s go find this Hippo. Boingy! Boingy! Boingy!” Pinkie Pie bounced over in her signature style and took the lead. “Hey—anypony up for a game of I Spy?” The others groaned and trotted after her, bracing themselves for the potentially long journey ahead. At least they had one another.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Back in Canterlot, things had gotten worse than Twilight could even imagine. The Storm Creature warriors had rounded up everypony in the whole capital into groups, and then they’d shackled their hooves together. As the Storm King’s prisoners, the little ponies were forced to march back and forth endlessly. It was miserable.

  Tempest Shadow had taken up residence in the castle. She watched the activity from a balcony, thinking of all the changes that would have to be made to the city once the Storm King finally arrived to take power. Remnants of the Friendship Festival that had never been still littered the sparkly cobblestoned streets, and colorful balloons floated into the air.

  “All this power,” Tempest mumbled in disgust as a bunch of rainbow-colored balloons floated past her perch, “wasted on parties, when there are far greater uses.” Tempest could feel the anger rising inside her as she caught her reflection in a pane of glass. Her broken horn stared back at her, ugly and diminished. Tempest pushed her feelings down, rolled her eyes, and trotted back inside the castle. There was work to do.

  One of the Storm Creatures stationed as a castle guard approached Tempest. He reached out his claws to her and presented a round glass bottle filled with a glowing liquid. It pulsated with light and emitted a watery, high-pitched sound that echoed through the cavernous hall.

  “Well, answer it!” Tempest barked. Sometimes she couldn’t help feeling as though she was surrounded by incompetent oafs. They couldn’t even accomplish the simplest tasks, like answering a potion call. The Storm Creature fumbled to uncork the bottle and poured it into a large basin. Instantly, the liquid shot up into a vapory cylinder. In the mist, the image of the Storm King appeared.

  The frightening beast spun around in confusion. “Where am I supposed to be looking? I never understand how this spell works. Tempest!” the Storm King growled.

  “Over here, Your Excellency,” Tempest said patiently. She was used to her boss relying on her to accomplish even the smallest things. The Storm King was still spinning around, unable to locate her. “Over here, look to your right. Yep.”

  “Oh, there you are. Her
e’s the deal…” The Storm King waved his gnarled wooden staff at her. The crystal embedded at the top glinted in the projection’s light. “Going by the name ‘Storm King’ is intensely intimidating and everything, but you know what? I need to back it up!” He sneered.

  “You know what I need to back it up with? A storm!” His icy blue eyes bore into Tempest’s. “You promised me magic that could control the elements, and right now I’m holding a what?” The Storm King held up his staff. “A branch, a twig! Blehhh!”

  For the hundredth time, Tempest explained to her superior that he was not, in fact, holding a twig, but the Staff of Sacanas. The ancient relic would serve as a conduit to channel the magic of the four rulers of Equestria. “You’ll soon have the power of a hundred armies.”

  The Storm King smirked. “So that would be a yes on your locking down the four Pegacornicuses, or whatever you call them?”

  Tempest braced herself to tell him the bad news—she was still missing one princess. They needed all four of the royals for the staff to work, but that sneaky little purple one had gotten away. Grubber had really messed that one up.

  “Give me three days,” Tempest decided to say instead of telling the truth. “I’ll have everything ready for your arrival.” She bowed to the Storm King, and he disappeared into the mist.

  Tempest Shadow took a deep breath as she realized the challenge ahead of her. She had better find that pony and fast. Nothing was as important as that. Finding that princess was Tempest’s only chance of getting back the thing she desired most from the only creature who could give it to her. Because once he had the power of Equestria in his control, the Storm King was going to restore Tempest’s broken horn, and her magic would return with it. Finally.