69The purple sun was casting its hot rays down on the town of Appleloosa. The inhabitants did not really mind it, though… on the contrary, they thrived in the heat of the day. For them, the hotness of the desert was enjoyable on their scales.
In one of the houses' basements, however, there were two stallions that were glad not to be outside in the sun. With their armor and protective equipment taken from them, who knew what the purple light would turn them into.
Big Macintosh struggled against the ropes that bound his and Shining Armor's bodies together. But whatever material the snake ponies used for them, it was resilient enough to withstand even the big stallion's strength.
"Save your strength, Big Mac," Shining Armor said. "It didn't work the first ten times you tried. We need to think of something else if we want to get away."
"I still can't believe it…" Big Mac sighed. "This was such a peaceful town… and my relatives, all turned into these things… and they caught us like a pair of rookies."
"You certainly put up a good fight, though," Shining smirked. "Those snake ponies flew right out of town when you knocked them away."
"Eeyup… just wish it would've been enough…" Big Mac muttered, downcast. "In the end, there were just too many of them. And that king of 'em… he wasn't a unicorn like y'all, but that magic he used sure was powerful."
"Magic… that must be what makes the ropes unbreakable," Shining said. "Too bad I don't know any counterspells… times like this make me wish Twilight was here. I just know she'd know one or two spells to get us out of this mess. She has learned so many… the little bookworm." He chuckled.
"Well, AJ would sure wanna knock some sense into them snake ponies," Big Mac smiled. "And she's so stubborn, she wouldn't let herself be stopped."
"But our heroic sisters aren't here, so we regular old stallions need to come up with our own way to save our hides." The unicorn turned his head to wink at his earth pony companion. "Would be pretty embarrassing if we always depended on our little sisters to save us. Now, do you think you could…"
Just then, the door opened and a very small snake pony came downstairs, carrying a tray of apples and water. "Here… the king doesn't want you to die yet, so eat up," she muttered after putting the tray down in front of them.
Shining Armor took a closer look at the snake pony. Before the transformation, she must have been a small filly. Just like the rest of them, her body was covered with scales. Also, a cobra-like hood was surrounding her face like a cowl. Her snake tail was very short, and for some reason constantly seemed to cover one side of her rump.
"You even took the kids…" Shining muttered. "What kind of monsters are you?"
The snake filly didn't respond. Unlike the others, she seemed very timid and anxious for some reason. Nervously, she blew part of her cobra hood out of her face. "Y-yeah… we're nothing but monsters," she finally muttered. "I'll just leave you alone then…"
"Hey, wait up!" Big Mac called out for her. "You sure seem familiar… haven't I seen you someplace before?"
"Wh-what?" she stammered. "N-no, you haven't… I'm just a little snake pony… not a member of the Apple family or anything…"
"I didn't even mention the Apple family in the first place… that was you. Hey, now I remember… from that time I visited Aunt and Uncle Orange in Manehattan. You're cousin Babs Seed, aren't ya… well, at least you used to be. Don't know why y'all are trying to impersonate her, she's not even from Appleloosa."
"Sssssssssh," she hissed, sounding almost like a real snake. She twirled around and stared at him in a panic. "Don't tell them! If they find out I'm not really an Appleloosan, who knows what they're gonna to do me…"
"What would they do?" Shining Armor asked in confusion. "You're a snake pony like them, aren't you?"
"Well, I…" She sighed. "I'm not a real snake pony… not one of them, I mean."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Big Mac frowned.
"P-please don't tell them, but… unlike the others, I'm still me. I wasn't changed like them… I was transformed by the sunrays."
"Wait a minute… so you really are my cousin, Babs Seed?"
"Y… yeah…" Babs nodded.
"But… what are you doing here, then? Why aren't you back in Manehattan with Aunt and Uncle Orange?"
"Mom and Dad sent me here to visit Uncle Strudel… they didn't say it, but I'm pretty sure they didn't want me around after I changed. But when I got off the train… the whole town was already transformed. I somehow managed to convince them that I was one of them… but now I'm stuck here. If I run away, they are gonna find out I lied to them. And who knows what they will do to me…" She shivered.
"But that doesn't make any sense," Shining interrupted. "Back in Ponyville and Canterlot, none of the young colts and fillies were transformed. So why were you?"
"I don't know… but you have to believe me when I say I'm not one of them! Please, cousin Big Mac!" Babs pleaded.
Big Mac looked at her for a while and then nodded with a smile. "Eeyup. I recognize an Apple family member when I look at her, and you are one."
The snake filly let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you."
"Now Babs… can you tell us what's going on here? You've been here longer than the two of us. Who are those snake ponies anyways and where did they come from?"
"W-well, I don't know everything… but from what I heard I can tell they are evil spirits or something like that. They took over the bodies of Uncle Strudel, Fritter and the rest of the Appleloosans, turning them into what they are now."
"That means they are alive, good," Shining smiled.
"Alive and possessed, you mean," Big Mac frowned. "And what about Braeburn, Babs? I didn't see him anywhere… d'ya know what happened to him?"
"Y-yes, I heard Fritter… Snake Face say something about how he couldn't be possessed, since he was already transformed by the sunlight and stuff. So they locked him away."
"Like he did with us?"
"Not quite… you see… Snake Face… she's very scary," Babs whimpered. "She can turn ponies into stone with that snake gaze of hers. King Hiss already has a 'gallery' where he puts those victims they were unable to convert into snake ponies. That's what they are going to do to you after they finished interrogating you."
"They can forget about that," Shining said. "Who do they think we are, Discord?"
"D'ya think ya can take us there?" Big Mac asked.
"COBRAT!" a shrill voice suddenly screeched from upstairs. "What's taking you so long down there? Are you fluffing the furskins' pillows? HA HA HA!"
Startled, Babs jumped a bit when a red snake pony with the tail of a rattlesnake peered down into the basement. But then, her whole demeanor seemed to change. She glared defiantly up at the other snakepony. "What's it to you, Rattlor? You think I enjoy bringing those furskins their lunch? Unlike others I know, I always do my job. Aren't you supposed to stand guard outside?"
"None of your business, pipsqueak," the bigger snake pony hissed, thrusting his head in her direction.
"Oh yeah?" Babs sneered, apparently not impressed by his display. "Then I guess King Hiss will be happy to hear that you're doing your job."
Rattlor gave off an angry snarl, his tail rattling in irritation. "Just give them their food and get out of here, shorty…" he grumbled. He then pulled back his head and went back outside.
"Was that a good idea?" Shining whispered. "Doesn't that get you in trouble?"
"No way," Babs chuckled. "Those snake ponies are always squabbling among each other. Trying to impress the king must constantly put them in a competitive mood. Fitting in wasn't as difficult as you might think." She glanced back upstairs before continuing: "King Hiss and Snake Face will be here tomorrow morning to interrogate you. So I have to sneak you out of here tonight… that's the only chance you have."
"Be careful, Babs," Big Mac said as the little snake filly turned to leave.
"Hey, I'm an Apple," she winked back at him. "I won't let some big old reptiles stand in the way of helping my family."
When she was gone, Big Mac chuckled. "Eeyup… definitely an Apple. Reminds me of AJ when she was a filly."
In the dark of the night, an elderly snake pony with wrinkly, dried up scales stood guard in front of the house. His name was Tung Lashor and he was not too happy.
"Why did Rattlor make me guard this place?" he complained to nopony but himself. "Those prisoners aren't going anywhere. I could be at the Salt Block, enjoying a nice lick of salt…"
"Hey, Lashor!"
The snake pony flicked out his unusually long tongue, tasting the air. "Who's there? Oh… it's just you, Cobrat…"
The filly approached him with a smirk. "Rattlor made you jump in for him, didn't he? A shame… now he gets to relax in the Salt Block while you have to stay in the cold of night."
"Now you're rubbing salt into my wounds," Tung Lashor groaned. "What I wouldn't give for a big, tasty block of salt right now…" He licked his lips… an irritating sight for somepony with no lips and such a long tongue.
"Saayyy… I happen to have a small stash of salt in that back alley I don't need anymore. You wanna take a lick?"
"Really? You wouldn't mind?"
"Go right ahead, I had plenty today," the filly nodded.
"Oh boy! I'll be right back… watch the door for me while I'm gone, will ya?" And with these words, Tung Lashor ran into the alley, out of sight.
Babs smirked. "Too easy." She opened the door and went downstairs.
"Glad you made it, cousin," Big Mac smiled while she untied him and Shining Armor.
"But what about the guard?" Shining asked.
"Heh. He won't be a problem," Babs chuckled. "He'll be licking salt for the next hour… by possessing that miner's body, Lashor gained the same salt obsession the old stallion had. Your stuff is upstairs… You'll need it, right?"
"Eeyup," Big Mac nodded. "Without it, we wouldn't last long in the desert. And without Derpy's technical thingamajig, who knows what the sun would do to us."
The two stallions equipped themselves with their royal armor and the force field generators as quickly and quietly as they could. "Now then Babs… where's Braeburn?"
"It's this way." The snake filly motioned the other two to follow her. They followed her through the nightly streets of Appleloosa. Every now and then, they had to duck behind some barrels to avoid getting seen by a snake pony.
"There's a cave at the edge of town, near the apple orchard," Babs whispered. "The Appleloosans used it as a storage room for harvesting tools. But King Hiss converted it into his personal gallery. Braeburn is in there, along with the buffaloes."
"The buffaloes are here, too?" Big Mac asked in surprise.
"Yeah, at least those he managed to capture. Turns out buffaloes are immune against the sunlight… but not against Snake Face's stone glare."
"But how are we gonna turn them back to normal? We really can't carry a bunch of statues along…"
"Don't worry about that, Mac," Shining Armor smiled. "I know this nifty little 'stone to flesh' spell that might come in handy."
"How d'you know a spell like that?" Big Mac wondered.
"Are you forgetting who my sister is?" Shining Armor chuckled. "You can't grow up with Twily and not remember a couple of her spells."
Finally, they reached the cave.
Shining Armor took a careful look around. "This is strange… there are no guards here, no locked door to keep us out… we can just walk in."
"But that's good, isn't it? Just makes it easier for us," Babs said as she walked towards the entrance.
"I don't like this," Shining muttered. "This is way too easy… you agree Big Mac, don't you?"
"Eeyup," the burly stallion nodded. "But my cousin's in there… so ah'm goin' in. He'd do the same for me."
The unicorn sighed. "I really can't change your mind, can I?"
Big Mac smiled. "Nnnope. Gues ah'm just as stubborn as my sis."
"All right… then let's hurry inside and help your cousin. We want to be out of here when they notice we're gone."
Big Macintosh gave his companion a thankful nod, then he followed Babs inside. The little snake filly was already standing in front of King Hiss' collection: A huge assortment of statues, buffaloes and ponies, young and old, normal and sun-changed. There were even a couple of snake ponies in there.
"Those are the snake ponies didn't agree with the king's ideas. Disobedience is one of the things Hiss doesn't like, so Snake Face took care of them for him."
"And where's Braeburn?" Big Mac asked.
Babs pointed to the right. There he was, standing right next to a young female buffalo, petrified like the rest of them. Unmistakable were his trademark hat and his apple cutie mark. Unusual were the guns attached to his shoulders.
Big Mac turned to Shining Armor. "Guess that means it's your turn. You can turn him back, right?"
"I think so," Shining nodded. "Let me just remember how that spell goes… ah yes, I know… here goes…"
The unicorn stallion lowered his head and concentrated. His pure white horn began to shine, casting a soft glow over the assembled statues. Big Mac and Babs watched with awe when a beam of magic shot out of Shining Armor's horn, hitting Braeburn straight in the chest. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. But then, the statue began to crack in certain places. All over Braeburn's body, the stone coating started flaking off, until finally, his whole body was back to normal. With a tired groan, Braeburn stumbled forward, only to be caught by his older cousin.
"Easy, cuz. I gotcha." With his powerful body, Big Mac helped Braeburn to stand straight.
"Huh, wha…? What happened? Izzat you, Big Mac? The last thing I remember is staring into a nest of rattlesnakes…"
"The snake ponies turned you to stone. But my friend Shining Armor here turned you back to normal."
"Ah, that's… mighty kind of you, partner…" Braeburn shook his head. "Man, my head hurts. I'm telling ya, if that's what being petrified feels like, I recommend you don't try it. Cheap, cheating bastards… they never would have caught me in a fair fight."
"Ah'm sure they wouldn't," Big Mac smirked. "Can you walk? Here, lemme take off those guns for you…"
Braeburn chuckled. "I'm afraid that won't work, big guy. Those guns you're seeing? They're attached to my body. Pretty cheap trick the sunlight played on me, huh?"
Big Mac took a closer look. And indeed, there was no strap or harness holding the guns in place. They looked like they were growing right out of his body.
"Never mind that now, we need to get out of here," Babs urged her cousins.
Braeburn looked down at her and gave her an angry frown. "There's one of them scalies now. Hold me still, Mac, so I can blast this little cheater right out of our town!"
"Hold it, Braeburn. Babs isn't one of them. She's on our side."
"It's true, cousin Braeburn," Babs nodded. "I just wanna help. But we have to leave, now."
"We can't leave now!" Braeburn protested. "Not without Little Strongheart…" On wobbly legs, he walked over to the little buffalo statue. "Hey, unicorn dude… can you turn her and the others back to normal, like you did with me?"
"Well, I think so…"
"But there's no time!" Babs shouted. "We have to get out of here…"
"I'm not leaving without her!" Braeburn insisted. He looked at Shining Armor. "Do it now!"
"I guess I can try…"
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," a calm voice spoke up. "I am much too fond of my little collection. In fact, I'd like to add you all to it."
They all turned their heads to the cave entrance… and saw King Hiss standing there, accompanied by Snake Face and at least twenty other snake ponies.
"They are blocking the only exit," Shining Armor realized. "We're trapped."
"Indeed you are, " King Hiss smiled. "I know you wouldn't be able to resist the chance to free your friends. Well done, Cobrat! You spared me the trouble of forcing them to come here."
"What?" Bic Mac gasped.
"I knew we couldn't trust her!" Braeburn spat. "Traitor!"
"But I didn't… I…" Babs stuttered.
"I hope you all realize how useless any sort of resistance would be. You are clearly outnumbered. And if you make any wrong move, I'll have Snake Face turn you into the newest additions for my collection."
"Isn't that what you're planning anyways?" Shining Armor grumbled.
"Well, I'm a generous reptile," King Hiss chuckled. "I'll allow you to live if you swear total allegiance to me."
"Live as the slaves of you snake ponies?" Big Mac frowned. "Ah'm afraid that's a big NOPE!"
King Hiss shrugged. "Your choice… Snake Face, if you would…"
"With pleasure, my king," the snake-maned mare hissed. With glowing red eyes, she approached the small group. "Don't resist…" she hissed. "Look deep into my eyes and it will be over soon."
"Heck no!" Braeburn shouted. "You're not turning me back into stone, you creep!" The Appleloosan took aim, but Big Mac stood in front of him. "You can't do that. You'll kill Fritter if you shoot her."
"Darn it… what else can we do?"
It didn't take Big Macintosh long to find an answer. Back on the farm, he had always been a practical thinker. And he knew right away what needed to be done to solve the problem.
He stood in front of his friends. "All right, y'all close your eyes and stay behind me."
"Are you crazy?" Braeburn gasped.
"You can't seriously consider sacrificing yourself," Shining Armor shouted. "What am I supposed to tell your sisters when I return home?"
Big Mac looked back at him and winked. "Trust me… I have a plan."
"It's no use!" Snake Face shouted. "Surrender!" Her red, glowing eyes were aimed right at Big Macintosh. All around her, the snake ponies were watching intently.
The brave earth pony – soldier, friend and brother – turned to face her. But instead of looking into her eyes, he lowered his head and let her gaze upon the smooth, polished surface of his royal armor helmet.
Snake Face gasped when she realized she was looking at her own reflection. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" she screamed, but it was no use. Her own eyes were turning her to stone. Slowly, the snake pony's bright scales turned into the dull grey of a stone statue. And it was not just her… all around her, the watching snake ponies had also looked into her reflection and were turning into statues, too.
King Hiss snarled with anger. "Get them!" he ordered the remaining, unchanged snake ponies. "Don't let them escape!"
"Everypony after me!" Big Mac shouted as he charged the snake ponies that stood in his way, still keeping his head lowered. The reptiles hit by the sudden ram of his helmeted head were scattered in all directions by the sheer force of his attack.
"That's our chance. Let's go!" Shining Armor shouted.
"But… but Little Strongheart…" Braeburn said. Hesitantly, he looked back at the stone body of the little buffalo.
"Listen… if we don't leave now, we can never help her. We'll come back someday and save all of them. I promise!"
Braeburn looked into Shining's eyes, then he nodded. "All right… but I'll hold you on that promise."
Taking a last glance at Little Strongheart, he followed Big Mac and Shining Armor as they ran out of the cave, out of town, to safety.
After running for a long time, they finally allowed themselves to slow down. Each of them took deep breaths and Big Mac looked back. "I don't think they are following us. We are safe now."
"I suppose they have bigger problems now, with Snake Face and so many others out of the picture," Shining said. "That was a bold move, Big Mac. You ran them over like the Ram-Pony you are. Also, nice idea to use their own powers against them."
"I know I had to do somethin'," Big Mac smiled. "I couldn't stay here, neither as a statue or a slave. I have family to return back to."
"So do I," Shining nodded. They both noticed how downcast Braeburn looked. "Hey… you alright?"
"Y-yeah… I think so. I just… " He angrily kicked out with his hindquarters. "I feel so bad for leaving everypony behind. Little Strongheart… Apple Fritter… Uncle Strudel…"
"As I promised… we'll come back and save them all," Shining Armor said.
"Eeyup," Big Mac nodded. "We've got a lot of friends in Canterlot and Ponyville who are ready to help, ah'm sure of it. They will all help our family."
Shining Armor then looked around. "Speaking of family, where's Babs?"
Angrily, King Hiss swept his cold gaze over the petrified snake ponies in front of him.
"It's going to take me a few hours to turn them all back to normal," King Hiss grumbled. "My magic is strong, but it would be stronger if I wasn't forced to possess this old geezer's body…"
He glared down at the small snake filly next to him. She shivered under the coldness of his slitted eyes.
He then smiled. "You know, you showed a lot of cunning for someone of your age. Tricking Rattlor and Tung Lashor… bringing the prisoners to me so you can earn my gratitude instead of the others… you are a young hoodlum after my fancy. I'll allow you to be my personal assistant, young Cobrat."
Her eyes widened in surprise, but she quickly bowed her head and responded: "O-of course, your Highness… y-you have my gratitude."
"Very well… now leave me be. Make sure I am not disturbed. I need to concentrate…"
"As you wish, my king." She ran outside, away from his frightening presence.
Outside, Babs crouched down and allowed a few tears to run down her scaly face. "Cousin Mac… Cousin Braeburn… I'm so sorry. I wish I could have come with you. I'm just not as brave as you. Just please… please come back. I don't know for how long I can keep this up."
She sniffled. Unconsciously, her tiny tail covered her scaly flank. "I can't play the part of a bad seed forever."
