*yaawwwn*
Oh, what a long night. At least for poor Luna. With a stretch of her sore wings, and flickering her eyes in the morning light, tired Luna had finished up yet another long night of dream-casting, and dream-settling. A princess of the night would be responsible for such things, but even if she technically didn't move an inch throughout the night, that didn't mean she wasn't feeling tired. She gave a few stretches like that of a cat, getting a few muscles cracked on the process, before the alicorn started to move off from the balcony she spent all night on, and into the castle. A tired Alicorn was not something to provoke, no matter who or what was doing so. As she walked along quietly through the halls, many of the guards made sure to keep out of her way, seeing less of an alicorn princess and more of some dangerous creature that got up on the wrong side of the bed.
"Are we supposed to say something?" whispered one of the guards.
"I don't think so," whispered another.
The disgruntle princess didn't even acknowledged them much, too tired to actually focus on much. She would go through rough nights fairly well, but the last night was especially hard on her to deal with, leaving her with one of those morning headaches one would get from a rough night's sleep. If you could call her job in the dreamscape sleeping, that is.
Eventually, the princess reached the dining room for breakfast, finding that not only was her sister already up and present, but breakfast was sitting there waiting for dear Luna on arrival.
Pancakes. Stylized with pineapples this morning in smiles. Too bad Luna was too tired to bring her own smile to the table.
"Good morning, dear sister," Celestia said.
"... hey," Luna groaned, as her magic was just enough to bring some of the meal to her muzzle. Not changing expression even once. Celestia sat down next to her younger sister, enjoying her breakfast as well.
"Rough night, huh?"
"Yeah," Luna simply said, rubbing her eye with her hoof. The two sat in silence for a bit, eating their meal, but for Luna, she couldn't pay too much attention: her fork eventually just poking the table, and she ended up biting into the fork. Biting into metal never was good for the teeth, be it on a horse or no. She tossed the fork aside, but didn't figure on where the fork would -
*bonk*
"Ow!"
… end up.
"My apologies," Luna said in a yawn. "Oh sweet Luna … wait, I'm Luna."
Luna couldn't get a grip resting her chin on the table, just after Celestia moved the plate out of the way. Not as cushiony of spot to rest her head, but it still saved her breakfast. Celestia had some of the staff leave so they would have some time for themselves.
"Luna, I haven't seen you this exhausted since Lucid D. Limbo's incident with Steven. Is the dream realm acting up again?" Celestia asked in concern. Luna groaned.
"If you're referring to something like that, no. … but if you're referring to nightmares in general, then yes," Luna explained, tired and slow in her voice, almost ready to sleep right then and there if not for the tapping of Celestia's hoof to keep her up. If she was to fall asleep, it needed to be her own bed.
"I know you get tired every morning, but this is a bit much, even for you," Celestia pointed out, levitating Luna off of the table and by the door, Luna just sitting there, barely able to keep her eyes open.
"Oh, tell me something I don't know. *yawn* the dream realm has been a bit more active than usual. And not exactly in the best way."
"More nightmares?" Celestia presumed. Luna just nodded before yawning, and slowly laying down on the floor.
"And here I thought going into dreams outside of this universe as well with some "extra magic" would be a good idea. It's FAR more complicated dealing with Human and Gem dreams than it is with Pony dreams."
"Wait. You've been visiting the human and Gem dreams too? Um, sorry, when did this happen?"
"Ever since the Tantabus attack, I've been thinking on how much I can better contribute. They all trusted me, as they said, and I've been wanting to give something back, so I enhanced by magic to a higher level so I could visit dreams to all those in either Equestria or Earth. *yawn* it's exhausting sometimes. But it's helpful … I think."
It wasn't. not on Luna, anyway.
"Luna, I know you're not the one to leave problems alone until they're solved … but, this is over-doing it. Even somepony like you needs her rest," Celestia advised.
"B-But, no. What about the … the Fillydelphia …" Luna would at least try to give a counter-argument, but she just felt too tired to come up with anything, as she began to go off towards the door after a long yawn.
"Oh Alright. Goodnight, Celestia," Luna yawned, and she reached for the door -
*BAM* "Princess! Message!"
Just in time for one of the messenger ponies to rush in. It just wasn't her morning. Well, suppose it was a while for at least one surprise message to come about to them, one way or another, but all the same Celestia didn't approve of the pony hitting her sister like that, accidental or otherwise.
"... what?" all Celestia needed to do was point to Luna to get that across. "O-Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I uh, I -"
*SNOOOOORE*
Celestia just sighed, and gently levitated sleepy Luna off the floor. Again, this was better off for bed than on flooring.
"I'll let this mistake slide for the time being. Thank you for the message," Celestia said, levitating the letter from the pony. He bowed to her, and trotted on his way, and as Celestia brought Luna off towards bed. It took little time for her to put Luna off back to bed, and once she tucked her sister in, she then looked to what the letter had to say.
Dear Princess Celestia:
Sorry to bother you this way, but I just wanted to ask if you've seen any of the Crystal Gems lately, or if they had been seen around Canterlot lately. I've been a bit busy lately to look around, and things had been a bit rough to the point when they all split up. I'd rather not give too much detail, but the highlight is that their leader had been keeping something to herself, and they're all torn up over it. I don't know when any of them would come back, if they are planning to do that. If you've seen them, Please let us know.
Yours faithful; Twilight Sparkle
She looked to her sister sleeping in bed, but then came to the conclusion herself, shaking her head and keeping the letter to herself. Luna was always the type to dwell on problems, and she didn't want her to worry further than she already had been.
Time to go it alone. Again.
.......
"The Crystal Gems. Gone? Whatever secret Rose kept from them must've been quite a large one, and personal as well. Oh, times like this I wish I had enough time to visit them more often."
Thoughts like this went through Celestia's mind as she flew on around Canterlot, and off towards the lands nearby. The least she could do was check the area for the Gems if they were to come on by (some of them do have portal keys, after all). Though, despite her efforts, and a sky-high view of the city, she wasn't having much luck in that regard. Gems would be something that would easily be seen in a city of ponies, but looking around, ponies was all Celestia could see: a few workers on some Dragon Sneeze Trees, plenty of aristocrats, even a mime pony performing, but none of them came close to the target. Lucky for her though, many of them didn't really notice Celestia flying around in the sky, otherwise it might complicate things for her.
But as she was flying along, just before she could make it fully out of Canterlot, she was met with a bit of a surprise message: given to her ala Dragonbreath mail. She stopped and read it over before her eyes moved off towards Twilight's Tower, which at this point was just a few wingbeats away. Celestia flew down to the frontal window, it being opened by Pink Diamond and Spike, the Gem helping Spike get to the windows.
"Greetings Pink Diamond, Spike. I got your message," Celestia said.
"We saw," Pink said, before setting Spike down.
"So, what seems to be the issue?" Celestia asked. All Spike and Pink had to do was point off towards Twilight Sparkle off nearby. The Alicorn, much like Luna apparently, had seen some better days as she looked EXHAUSTED. Her mane unkept, wings spread and touching the floor, and about as worn out as Princess Luna was earlier. Peculiar. Twilight had just enough energy to get the first message out to Celestia before passing out, and seeing this too, Celestia could tell the problem.
"Twilight?"
"H-Huh? Scheduling? K, put the hay in the apple, and eat the candle," Twilight moaned, almost drunkenly in tone, waving her hoof tiredly before drifting off back to sleep. Celestia didn't find that too much sense.
"It's been like this all morning," confided Pink Diamond to Celestia, "She's been working on the Cutie Map for days straight, and suddenly she just … well, stopped."
"I told you, she needs sleep," Spike reminded, sounding a little bit bugged himself.
"I'm a Gem, how am I supposed to know that?"
*AHEM*
Before a tiff could start up, Celestia went over to her tired student. As with Luna at the breakfast table, Celestia gently lifted Twilight off of the table, and began to get her off to bed. Before she could get her there though, Twilight started to wake up, and half-awake, started to panic in the air before Celestia dropped her, snapping her back to her senses somewhat.
"H-Huh? Celestia? You find anypony - er anybody?" Twilight asked in a yawn.
"No. But Spike told me you were exhausting yourself."
"WHAAAT? Me? No. I just … need a little nap. Napkin, tool-in, aaahhh …" and with that, she fell back asleep again, as much as she didn't want to. Whatever was going on lately sure was draining everyone pout by the looks of it. Celestia took a moment to think, but then she got an idea before turning to Spike and Pink.
"Spike, Pink Diamond? I'm needed for an appearance in Fillydelphia in short time, but it seems that both my sister, and Twilight are in no condition to go. They need their rest, same as anybody else. So, would you two care to come with me in their place?"
An interesting proposition.
~~~~~~
*RAAAWWWRRR*
What a thing to think. With much of the group still gone in one way or another, those that remained had to take some time to handle more of the missions Sapphire had to give them. In this case, the main ones doing so here were Rainbow Dash, Amethyst, Connie, Pinkie Pie, and Steven. The missing Gems were still a bother, but some things still had to be done in their absence, which included getting Corrupted Gems. In this case, the threat wasn't anything too crazy: a large brute of a Gem, looking like a purple Jasper corruption, which had gone a bit close to Beach City. Nonetheless, it held up a good fight to the group it was facing.
"Incoming!" Rainbow cried, flying down from the sky, back hoof ready to kick the beast down hard, but the corrupted Jasper nearly slashed her hooves. It would've got her too if Steven didn't went ahead and used his shield to block the claws. The beast snarled and kept trying to get at them, but Pinkie Pie popped up right on the beast's head, and it quickly turned from a fight into a rodeo, as the beast tried to buck Pinkie Pie off of her back. Connie and Amethyst stood nearby, Connie ready with her new sword, which shined in the sun. Connie also had her waist tied to Amethyst's whip, both having an idea in mind.
"Alright, Amethyst, make me fly!" Connie ordered.
"Up you go!" Amethyst replied, bringing her whip skyward, and as such, Connie too. She used the momentum of the whip to launch herself upward in a sort of enhanced jump, bringing herself above the monster. Pinkie kept it distracted just long enough so it stayed underneath the oncoming sword, and she jumped off just as Connie slammed the sword through the beast's head, poofing her immediately. It was one of the easier missions they had to go on out to do, and Steven had the honors of bubbling it, and sending it off on its way before they began to walk on back to Beach City, which now had a more notable winter coat to it.
"Okay, that's another one. Phew, I didn't realize how much work was backed up," Steven said.
"I know: twenty monsters in one week? I know you guys do a whole lot when not at the Temple, but this is a bit excessive," Connie replied, feeling a bit tired. Grant it, it had been a while since they last fought any gem monsters, but this was a lot for one time.
"Come on, slowpokes!" Pinkie beamed, "We can keep on the fight! We are the Crystal Gems/Elements of Harmony team up, and we can keep on keepin on! WOOO!"
… Followed by Pinkie falling into the sand and snow. Sleeping. Even the pink mare had her limits.
"Am I not the only one who saw that coming?" Rainbow said, going over and getting Pinkie Pie up off the ground. Admittedly they all could've seen that coming, no time at all. Pinkie was lifted up by Amethyst, the pink mare being held in a manor much like a backpack.
It was at this point they got closer to the Beach City Boardwalk. The residents were going about their day, bundled up thanks to the winter weather much like they were.
"Well, here's some good news: Tiger's Eye told me after a race she got word from Fluorite, and she's saying the others might be coming back soon," Rainbow said.
"That's good," Connie said, "At least they're over this stump in the road. I hope so, at least."
"They'll be fine," Rainbow reassured, nudging Connie, "This is the Crystal Gems we're talking about. You have any idea how much emotional beatings they've gone through already?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right. What I'm still confused on, is how did they find out. I didn't tell them, I know that."
"Steven and I didn't tell em' until after our trip to the Kindergarten, and most of them were already gone," Amethyst pointed out. The most they told were the Mane Six, the Off-Colors, Jade, and Flint, but that was about it before the search even started.
"You don't think … Pearl just told them without us. Do you?" Connie asked, feeling some mixed emotions about it.
"Um … maybe? She wouldn't want to share it with them, but she did keep this hidden for thousands of years -"
*MAYOR DEWEY! MAYOR DEWEY!*
The conversation was severely cut short as they were passing the Citywalk Fries, hearing a LOT of racket coming from the tater tot truck Peedee was running, namely the "mayor Dewey" horn accidentally going off as he was working. Peedee must've hit a button on this, and he quickly managed to get the talking potato to shut up. This left ehm a little frazzled, but otherwise okay (it didn't wake Pinkie up for whatever reason).
"I'm never gonna get used to that thing," Rainbow commented.
"Sorry!" Peedee called. One would think that the speaker would be removed, but just painting over the head was all Peedee really did on the truck itself. Guess he had something else to look into, though seeing the tater tot truck did give Amethyst an idea on what they can do.
"Hey, we've been working all week, why don't we celebrate and get ourselves some Donuts?" Amethyst encouraged. Been a while since they've been to the Big Donut. The very mention of these donuts was what spurred Pinkie Pie back in action, her suddenly awake and springing to her hooves.
"I heard an offer referring to a reward treat?" Pinkie asked. Well, guess THAT worked.
"Yeah, Big Donut. Interested?" Amethyst asked, nudging the pony, though they probably knew what answer that would come around to be. Pinkie Pie looked smugly to Amethyst.
"You kidding?"
With that answer, Pinkie Pie got a headstart to the Big donut. As they were going off towards the direction in question, they began to notice a very slight snowfall start to come down around them, the first few snowflakes landing off in Steven's own hand. A nice little gesture to any winter day, him looking up to the soft and gentle -
The future of your worlds shall be wiped away in a blanket of eternal snow!
"Steven, come on! Those donuts aren't gonna eat themselves!" Amethyst called.
"Yeah, that'd be weird!" added Pinkie.
"Sorry, coming!" Called back Steven, catching up to them.
…….
"The Big Donut … is now CLOSED?!"
Winter just got a little bit colder. Their plans to get a donut from their favorite eatery for such things was now closed for the day, and they were just short of getting their fix. Time had been a little too long, and seeing the Big Donut now closed up, the sign in front of the building saying it all. It was a bittersweet moment, Pinkie Pie and Steven looking into the shop.
"Well, so much for that idea," Connie sighed.
"Whoa, whoa, I'm not giving up our donut fix. I got this," Amethyst decided, her finger turning into the shape of a key for the door. A rather weird idea, but Amethyst wasn't gonna be denied to allow some reward for their work. She got her finger into the keyhole, but it was a lot harder than it looked. she grunted and griped a little as she tried to work out the lock, but after a few minutes, this sort of work was eventually starting to catch on to one of the workers inside … as it turned out, there was people in there.
"Hey Amethyst?" Rainbow said.
"Hang on, think I almost got it," Amethyst said, not noticing anything happening. The door was suddenly moved open by Sadie, who was looking a bit confused herself. Awkward.
"What're you doing?" Sadie asked. Amethyst pulled her finger out (which was looking sore anyway), and acted like she wasn't doing anything stupid.
"Uh, nothing. What're you doing here?"
"Working? You come for your donuts? We got a fresh batch," Sadie offered.
"Wait, but you're closed aren't you?" asked Connie, pointing to the sign. Sadie took one look before she realized the mistake, blushing a little bit.
"Huh? OH! Oh boy, no wonder it's slow today," Sadie said. She went in and flipped the sign from closed to open, before adding "Sorry, I forgot to switch the sign. Here, you can come in."
That was all the incentive they needed, and Pinkie was the first inside (naturally). Been a while since they've been in here, and with how much going on over the week, not much time to check in on them either. At the front counter was Lars, though while past Lars would be checking a magazine or something, Lars now was wiping down the counter as they came in.
"Hey Lars," Steven said.
"Hey there Gems, ponies. Connie. Haven't heard from you in a while," Lars replied. He was feeling a bit better himself about things, at least when it came to work and how things had died down enough for him to work casually.
"Yep. So, care to hook us up?" Amethyst asked, leaning on the counter.
"Sure, what would you like?" Sadie asked, ready to give them their fix. Pinkie was ready to give her order, but Rainbow got her wing out to stop her. Best to not overwhelm them both from the get-go. Much of the group got it down a bit easy so far: Connie had plain, Rainbow Dash had almond, Amethyst went with at least three types of glazed jelly donuts, Pinkie got a full box of all sorts of types (go figure), and for Steven … well, it had been a while, so he was a little unsure at first.
"AH, my donut muse is too weak to help me decide!" Steven realized in defeat. Donut muse may be a new thing, but, luckily for him, Lars and Sadie had their own little idea that they figured Steven would try.
"Indecisive, huh? Well, you could try our new flavor, if you want," Sadie offered. THIS got Steven's attention.
"There's a new flavor?" he gasped. Then it was Lars who presented Steven Diamond Universe with a brand new donut on their retainer. It looked like some sort of simple jelly donut deal, but this one had a different taste and coloration to it. If it did remind him of anything, it was familiar to an eggplant, which included shape. Though, one bite of the donut and it was a big shift from eggplant to something more like a mango or peach. This took Steven completely by surprise, and his eyes starred up.
"This … is … AMAZING! Who do I thank for this incredible creation?!" Steven gasped.
"You can call it a Collaboration," Sadie said, glancing over to Lars. Lars just chuckled a little bit, a slight blush on his face. Clear where the main inspiration came from.
"I got the idea after those fruits on the Jungle Moon," Lars replied, rubbing the back of his head. He wasn't denying it, and was glad that Steven enjoyed the creation. It was clear what donut Steven was getting for his trip. He went on and joined the others by the nearest table, and enjoyed the donuts with them as they continued their chat, now with Lars and Sadie joining in.
"Haven't seen you guys in a while, what have you been up to?" Sadie asked.
"A lot of things: we put humans on Mask Island, learned who Steven's mom really is, getting fancy items called by a Cutie Map, tending a new garden at the Barn, fighting Gem monsters since over half the group's ran off. You know, the usual," Pinkie replied, before gobbling up another donut.
"... WOW. Ok then," Lars said after a pause. They really had been a bit busy lately.
"What do you mean "ran off"? Where'd they go?"
"We're trying to work that out," Connie explained, "It's been a … stressful week."
"So, what's the big news this time?" Lars asked.
"It's my mom: it turns out she's not Rose Quartz, but Pink Diamond. Which kinda changes everything we knew about history as we know it, but more importantly, everyone ran away over it. No one else knew except for Pearl, and now we're trying to see if they're okay … by the way, you haven't seen any of them, have you?"
Lars and Sadie found this a bit much for them to hear, though since they weren't as involved about all the Gem stuff as they were, it was a softer response than what could be. Thinking over it, there wasn't that much to go on.
"Well, who exactly ran off on you?" Sadie asked. Pinkie gobbled up a few more of her donuts before answering.
"Let's see … Lapis, Jasper, Pearl, Emerald, Star Quartz, Fulgurite, Diopside, and Ruby. Jasper, Lapis, and Diopside are going to come back soon, Bismuth never really "left" but will come back around, and Flint decided to quit the team from what Sapphire said, so it's just Pearl, Emerald, Star Quartz, Fulgurite, and Ruby," Pinkie explained, thinking about it the best she could.
"Sapphire? You mean Garnet's split up now?" Lars asked, a bit surprised.
"It was a lot to take in," Rainbow replied.
"I KNOW! Everybody's all "Everything is a LIE" right now," Pinkie added in.
"Well, we'll keep you all posted if it helps," Sadie promised.
"Thanks. So, what's with you two? did the crowds chill out about you being pink yet?" Amethyst asked, referring to Lars specifically.
"Yeah, thank goodness. I'm just known as the cool pink kid now," Lars replied.
"Pinkie approves!" Pinkie said.
"I thought people were teasing you over it," Steven said, thinking back to the vacation they took to the Crystal Empire.
"Yeah, I still have some comments about it, but things are better now since those wolves came into town. Guess I better shown myself while going through Beach City," Lars figured. Fair enough: he was, after all, one of the few who went back to rescue some of them whereas everyone else stayed well away from all the danger. Anyone willing to do that would at least get some respect, and heck, some small comments beats getting clown shoes inside his locker any day.
As they were enjoying their donuts, observant Connie took a look along the wall nearby the coffee machine. In particular, what looked to be some form of advertisement. The thing that caught Connie's attention about it was the "Equestrian" concept on it (a pony wearing a chef hat, and holding a spatula, was a pretty good clue). Just enough to get Connie up, and going over to check it out.
"What do we have here?" Connie asked.
"Oh, that? We just got some posters for it this morning," Sadie explained, "The story is that Fillydelphia is going to be setting up for a national Cook-Off soon, and that since they've been hearing a lot about, well, you guys -" she said this while referring to Connie, Amethyst, and Steven, "They wanted to get some competition from Earth to join in. They got some of these into Ponyville, which Applejack came here to show us."
"Fillydelphia … nope, never heard of it," Amethyst concluded. Looking at this though, Steven and Pinkie Pie had a similar idea come to them.
"Lars, Sadie, you two should enter!"
"W-What? Us?" Lars asked, taken off guard.
"Yeah! Your collaboration is already amazing, who knows what other creations you two can make?" Steven encouraged. Course it was just one donut, and it was by chance it would turn out pretty good to eat.
"Oh, I don't know. We got this place to look after. I-I mean, donuts don't sell themselves," Lars admitted, rubbing his arm. He may be braver than before, but that didn't mean he was completely cured of his short-comings. He never entered a food contest before, after all. Suddenly, Pinkie hopped over behind the front counter, and once she was in sight, she suddenly had a ponyfied Big Donut employee shirt on.
"Big Donut Pie reporting for duty!" Pinkie said, giving a salute to them.
"Well, guess that's fixed," Sadie said. "She can watch over the place while we're at Fillydelphia. What do you say?"
Lars took a moment to think, and in the end, there really wasn't any reason to not go. That, and he hadn't seen the big city much since Homeworld, so it could be a better change of pace.
"Well, I don't have any other plans, so guess we can make something for the Cook-Off."
"YES!"
~~~~~~
Fillydelphia.
Well, it may not be the most well-known city in Equestria, but that didn't make Fillydelphia any less impressive. And with the warping of the Portal Key doors, the latest contestants went right off to Fillydelphia town square. A pretty nice day all and all, and much of the city itself looked pretty good for what it was: nothing outside from places such as Manehatten, or Empire City: the standard tall buildings with pony residence going about their day. Even if it was winter, snow wasn't all too abundant on the streets, with the exception of a few street signs. Sadie, Steven, Lars, Amethyst, and Connie stood out like a sore thumb on arrival, but none of them really bothered them too much.
What did bug Lars though was what he had to present: A case of similar donuts from earlier. The difference here though was they were pumpkin-themed instead of "Jungle Moon" theme. It was a slight switch, but something still fairly decent all things considered. Pinkie Pie also had an entry to represent Sugarcube Corner - it was a bunch of cupcakes - which she balanced on her head as they went along. A food contest without her entry just felt wrong.
"Wow, look at this place," Connie said as they looked around, "Fillydelphia is sure looking lively today."
"It's kinda hard not to be when you're in the city, but yeah. Nice to be in a city without sneaking around everywhere," Sadie replied. It wasn't anything like Homeworld's Diamond Cities, but this did come up pretty close in its own way.
"I dunno about you, but first thing I'm gonna do is handle some sampling. This is grade-A food being given away here," Amethyst said, licking her lips. It's a contest giving away free food for a determined winner, why waste the chance?
"Well, I'm glad we can take some time to relax after everything," Connie admitted, "The others will be back in no time."
A true fact indeed. As enthused as they were, Lars was noticing that there didn't seem to be anything going on where they came in.
"Anyone know where the contest even is?" Lars asked, looking back to the others. It was kinda difficult to say on what was where, mostly from the bustling ponies walking around the area.
"No, but I bet it's nothing to do with all those ponies and tables over there," Pinkie said, suddenly in front of the group while holding onto a streetlight broadway-style, and pointing off round the corner.
"Whelp, we found it," said Steven.
And indeed they did: part of the busy street was cut off for taxi drivers for the said Fillydelphia Food Contest, and it already was looking quite chipper about it. It wasn't exactly set up yet, but contestants were already around the place with critics, cooks, and company gathered. Good line of tables were around the sidewalks, with the main street being used as casual walk-arounds. If there was anywhere for the contest to start, this would be it.
It didn't take them too much time either to get themselves in entry, finding an official amongst the crowd.
"Excuse me," said Steven, "But we have two entries we'd like to put in for the contest -"
"AH, AH, AH, no can do," said the official.
Well, so much for that.
"What? Why not? Can't you squeeze us in?" Connie asked.
"No, no, I'm sorry, but the rules state that there can't be any new entries after the appointed -" the official pointed to a nearby clock. The main time for entries to stop coming through would be at least at ten thirty. And the time said ten twenty nine, so …
"Oh, look at that just in time … Lucky for you, I like punctuality!" said the official, as he floated two different number tags for each of the dishes, one for Lars and Sadie, and one for Pinkie and Rainbow. "Here's your number tags, go and set up wherever available. Good luck."
"Thanks," said Sadie.
"Talk about a last-minute entry," Rainbow remarked. But, they were glad to get themselves into the contest regardless.
With themselves now officially entered, they got themselves busy setting up their respected booths. Apparently luck got hold of the contest for them, because the main two tables left were right next to eachother. So, Sadie and Lars took one of the booths, setting up plates and napkins, whereas Pinkie and Rainbow took the one next to them. Pinkie Pie of course added some flair to her booth by adding a few balloons (best not to ask), and Steven made sure to let the judges know where the donuts and cupcakes came from by making some small signs for them: Beach City for one, and Ponyville for the other. It matched the other entries, which had a similar idea to it.
"So this is your first food contest, Connie?" Rainbow Dash asked, to break the ice once they were done.
"Eh, in a way. My parents wouldn't usually attend these contests with me, thinking I'd gain weight from eating some of the entries," Connie admitted. A feeble argument, but to each its own supposedly. But one can't argue that the temptation was pretty high up there for what the contestants had to bring to the table.
"Well, there's nothing stopping you from trying some now," Amethyst encouraged, giving Connie a playful nudge.
"Wait, you sure?"
"Uh, yeah, why wouldn't it be? I've seen these before: all you have to do is sample some of the food, and you vote on which one's the best by the end. One with the most votes wins," Amethyst explained. A Gem that enjoyed the culinary works and culinary treats would have picked up some knowledge about it.
"Oh. That's it?"
"That's it. Take it from me, I've been to quite my share of food contests."
"And getting kicked out from eating all the food, right?" Lars joked. Amethyst blushed a little bit, but knew a joke when she heard it.
"Eh, you're supposed to have samples, it's kind of the point. Speaking of which, I'm gonna check out what we got here - check out the competition. See ya later," Amethyst said, taking it in stride as she went off to see the other stuff. Some reason, they all felt that they might have to help Amethyst out once she was done with her "sampling", but it was just a hunch. Connie actually was getting a bit interested herself in the idea.
"Eh, maybe I should go with her. Just in case," Connie suggested.
"Okay, Connie have fun," Steven said, and Connie went off into the crowds to catch up to Amethyst.
With Connie and Amethyst doing their own thing, the others off at the stands got themselves cleaned up and ready for the judges to come on by. The first few minutes didn't give them too much specialty. But while two left, Pinkie Pie tended to her cupcakes, when she started to feel … something. Something peculiar. Something that made her ears flop, her knees twitch, and her eyes flutter.
"WOOOOW, so long since I've felt a Pinkie Sense. Ok, Rainbow, where're you?" Pinkie told herself, eyes up to the sky for what she was sure to be some sort of rainbow.
"Uh, I'm right here," Rainbow Dash said. Pinkie Pie quickly shook her head.
"No no no, my ears got floppy, my knees got twitchy, and my eyes fluttery. That means the sky is about to be graced with a beautiful rainbow!"
"Oh yeah. You know I knew that."
"Yep, but the audience doesn't."
"How does that make sense?" Sadie asked.
"DUH, it's my Pinkie Sense. OOOO, here it comes now!" And that Rainbow started to come in shortly after Pinkie said that. Up high in the sky, just above the contest, the ponies started to notice the arrival of another rainbow-maned mare flew towards the center of the street. The ponies around were surprised to see her, some bowing in her presence, as Princess Celestia settled down gently on the ground. And in such regards, she wasn't alone: giving a ride to Spike and Pink Diamond in her flight over. Celestia was slightly winded for the flight, but it wasn't too bad on her, as Spike and Pink Diamond took a look around.
Not an actual rainbow, but close enough. With their landing, Pink didn't take much time to notice her pink human not too far off, and took even less time to rush over and see him. Lars did duck before Pink would try and take him, but Pink stopped just short of the table. Pink Diamond sure knew how to stop on a dime.
"A pleasure to see you're here," Celestia said, joining Pink Diamond by the stand alongside Spike.
"Celestia? What're you doing here?" Steven asked, humbled as with everyone else.
"Just here as an appearance for the contest, and an extra judge for the contestants. No need to be so formal just because I'm present. I see the posters went through well," Celestia reassured. It probably wasn't needed, though with her experience with Twilight Sparkle, it was more of a natural response than anything else.
"We just got them, so we decided to give it a try. By the way, since you're here to judge too, care to try one?"
"S-Sadie!" Lars murmured, as Sadie presented their own share. He expected some to judge the work, sure, but he didn't want to jump the gun THAT quickly. Celestia was delighted to, and levitated one for herself, Spike, and Pink Diamond. Celestia explained how these work, so as Spike gobbled his up, Pink Diamond took a few nibbles of hers, as she never really "ate" anything before.
"W-Whoa, what is this?!" Pink gasped, eyes wide in shock at this sensation inside her mouth.
"That's a donut, Pink," Spike answered. He didn't feel like he had to be the one to explain some basics to Pink Diamond. "And, it's actually pretty good. You make this, Steven?"
"No, not me, I'm aiding today, right Lars?" Steven said, nudging Lars playfully. Enough indication to figure out the true chef now, and while he would try to at least give credit to his friends, he was at a loss for words when the princess nodded in agreement to Spike's statement.
"It is a nice treat. Well done, Lars," Celestia complimented. Lars just smiled, and watched Celestia go off along her way to check the rest of the entries. … And everyone else saw how "hot pink" in the face Lars was on being given a compliment by the ruler of Equestria.
"Loyalty-struck. You okay, Lars?" Spike asked, waving a clawed hand in front of Lars's face to bring him back around.
"Huh? OH, yeah, I'm fine, just … questioning everything."
"Oh no, not you too," Pink groaned.
"What, no not that, I … oh, nevermind," Lars corrected (or tried to correct).
"Eh, by the way, isn't Twilight with you? You always seem to hang out with her," Sadie pointed out.
"Eh, she's taking a break today," Spike replied.
Cutaway to Twilight back in Canterlot. Celestia had brought her to Luna's bedroom, and the two Alicorns were fast asleep side by side in the same royal, comfortable bed. Not even the birds flying by wished to chirp as to not disturb either of them. Make of that what you will.
"Don't tell me: over-studying again?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Big time," Spike replied. They didn't need any more on that.
And with this arrival, Pinkie Pie began to feel something come up in her again. This one was more simple, mainly her knees feeling as if someone came by and pinched them, making the pink mare jump.
"What's up with you?" Pink Diamond asked, confused.
"OOO, my knees are pinchy!"
"Another rainbow?" asked Lars, looking up to the sky.
"Nope: that's when my ears get floppy, my knees get twitchy, and my eyes fluttery. Nope, when my knee gets pinchy, that means something scary's about to happen!" Pinkie warned. That was a bit of a broad statement though, considering this was … well, Pinkie.
"Scary? Unless we're talking about bad food, how's anything gonna end up scary?"
Lars just had to ask.
*BOOOOOM*
"That's how."
This explosion sure got everyone's attention, but the explosion itself didn't come from any of the vendors, or any of the food brought to the contest, yet it was still dangerously close and got everyone startled in some way. It was as if the entire food contest stopped in time for a brief moment, everyone looking off down the road to where the explosion came from.
The first one to get moving on this was Celestia, who spread her wings and flew right off to see what happened, as some others (either out of curiosity or wanting to help) trailed behind. What they did find upon arriving was a bit of a shocker: a building on fire! The explosion set the building ablaze, at least two floors filled with fire, and smoke shooting out. How this didn't get noticed just yet up to this point was a mystery, but seeing the fire and potential of danger to anyone inside, Celestia immediately took action. The alicorn focused her magic in a particular spell, and the aura magic coming out turned into a spray of water, similar to that of a fire hose, and she went to work on the flames. Those observing saw Celestia make the work easy, and the fire itself didn't start to show resolve until after ten minutes of focused blasting, leaving the building in just smoke. After seeing the fire no longer as deadly, and gone, Celestia halted her spell though feeling a bit winded from the focused blast.
"WOO! Give it up for Tia!" Amethyst cheered, as the other ponies cheered for the effort. Connie, Spike, and Steven went right up front and checked to see if anyone was stuck inside still, but no one looked to be inside. Lucky for them many of the ponies who'd live in the building had gone to the contest already, otherwise this would be a much more dangerous issue.
"What happened in there?" Connie wondered.
"I'm not too sure. A good thing we were nearby when the explosion occurred," Celestia replied. Then they began to hear something …
WEEE WOOO WEEE WOOO WEEE WOOO WEEE WOOO WEEE WOOO!
A little late, but eventually the police of Fillydelphia began to arrive, the group of police ponies skidding to a halt. Much of the ponies themselves were basic officer ponies, mares and stallions in blue, though two ponies stood out: one looked lime green with bluish-gray mane, tail, and mustache on his muzzle. In fact, his Cutie Mark seemingly was a mustache, but it was brown, and on a guard's yellow shield. The second stallion, looking more in his prime than the first one, had yellow fur with ginger mane and tail, looking more like an investigator than a police official with his cutie mark even being an hourglass with a detective's cap on. The yellow pony immediately charged into the building as the other officers stood off outside, the green pony seeing Celestia first.
"Princess! My lord, what a time for another one. Everypony alright? no damage to anyone?" the green pony called, no one claiming to be in any pain, nor looked it.
"We're fine, officer," Connie replied, the official sighing in relief before seeing the smoke-filled building. Not a good scene after the smoke cleared: with much of the interior burnt up, and the glass shattered, which worried some Gems in some way.
"Everypony, keep back, this is police business! Stay at least fifty yards away from the perimeter!" the green pony advised. By this point, a coughing yellow pony scuffled out, the detective getting some of the ash out of his throat, as a number of other police ponies got to their own work and checking the area. Pink Diamond though took just one step over the line for a pony to jump at her.
"WEEE WOOO WEEE WOO WEEE WOOO!" the pony shouted, mimicking a police siren.
"HEY!" Pink yelped, but it was just enough to move Pink Diamond back, though Steven went right up to the yellow pony. The green pony was a bit gentler towards Spike, Steven, and Connie as he moved them away.
"Wait, can't we help here?" Steven asked.
"A nice offer, but no. As I said, this is police business. You all just stay over here where it's safe."
"But you let her stay in!" Pink retorted, pointing to Celestia.
"And she's the ruler of all Equestria. I'm sure she has some ticket to this show if she wants to," the green pony said. Well, a point was a point. In fact, it was probably a good thing that Celestia was there anyway, as the officer went over to her. All more the reason why Pink needed some more time to get her authority stated, as the green pony went to Celestia.
"Princess. Name's By The Book, lead officer. Sorry for bothering you on short notice with this situation."
"No trouble. I'm just glad to see everyone's safe," Celestia replied, looking to the fire. While many of the officers got look to the fire, the yellow pony took one look to Spike, and …
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" suddenly, the pony pulled Spike out of the crowd, right at his hooves.
"Hard Case, leave Spike be! You know well he's not a local here," By The Book ordered. Hard Case cringed a bit on the order, but given he was right by Celestia, he dropped Spike to the ground.
"What difference does that make? Bad enough we got a princess over our shoulders, now I gotta play nice to a Dragon?" Hard Case spat. By The Book took it in stride with some disgruntle tone.
"Dragon or Pony, he's not responsible for every fire so far, remember? He can even help us out with this."
"Bringing him to investigate a fire is like asking Chrysalis to help with identity theft!" Hard Case retorted, frustrated.
"And you know that, how?" Hard Case didn't have any answer. Even with Celestia standing right there, Hard Case just trotted away to check with the other officers amongst the rubble some more. By The Book sighed before looking back to the crowd again.
"You'll have to excuse my partner, princess, he gets emotional about these cases. He doesn't mean any harm," By The Book made clear. Spike was thanking his lucky stars he wasn't just thrown into the nearest jail cell for starting any fire, but with what By The Book said during his conversation with Hard Case, it did leave some to speculate.
"Everypony, it's all going to be taken care of, continue your day!" By The Book called again, and some of them did begin to head off back to the contest. Well, except for a few, having some more questions.
"Wait, what even happened?" Amethyst asked.
"A fire, obviously!" shouted Hard Case.
"I meant how," Amethyst corrected. By The Book took a moment to check those present (Amethyst and Steven specifically), scratching his chin as he tried to think.
"Hold on now … Steven ,is it? Steven Universe?"
"How'd you know?" Steven asked, both spooked and astonished.
"You got a bit of a record, kid. You have several accounts of saving your world and ours, same goes for your friends there," By The Book explained, referring to Amethyst and the other, non-present Crystal Gems. They may be well-known, but they didn't expect to be known all the way here.
"... Actually. Think you can come round to the station? I want to ask you a few things."
"Wait, I thought you said we weren't involved," Connie said, thinking he was suspecting them of the fire, but By The Book shook his head.
"Just protocol that's all, plus you were here before we were and we could use some witnesses in these fires. You'll be back in the contest before you know it, I promise you that. … Ride Along, cut the siren please."
The siren pony, now known as Ride Along, FINALLY stopped his wee-wooing for a bit … just to start going *BOOP. BOOP. BOOP. BOOP.*
"What's with this guy?" Spike asked.
"Ride Along? He passed through the academy all stars, but turned out all he wanted to do was be a siren so we let him. We all have our enjoyments," By The Book explained. A bit of an odd wish, but harmless. Ride Along backed up until he found a good parking space, even making a clicking noise as if someone just place his alarm. Again, each to his own.
"Hey chief, we got something over here!" called one of the officers.
Time to get to the aftermath of this fire. Steven, Connie, spike, and Amethyst stood off by Celestia right by the entrence was as By The Book took a look inside. The explosion within left quite a mark on the room in question, but this didn't seem to be an ordinary fire. Sure, the building may have exploded, but they all could see that there was a far more prominent line along the floor to the back room, and looking passed the blasted door, they got what remained of the building's furnace. By The Book came down to a proper conclusion upon looking down to the fire line.
"Another dragon line."
"So this isn't the first time this has happened," Celestia said as she went in with By The Book.
"We've counted about twelve times so far, including this one, and they're all made out the same: a straight line leading to some sort of furnace or radiator, or whatever else that can explode or burn up."
"And you think it's a Dragon who's doing this?"
"I'm on it!" shouted a voice, and before Celestia and By The Book could say much, Pinkie Pie jumped right on into the situation. Immediately, Pinkie Pie went complete Bloodhound on the case, with her muzzle right at the ground sniffing the burnt line. She even gave the line a slight lick (don't ask), and by the end her face was completely covered in ash.
"Your verdict?" By The Book asked.
"Hmmmmm … it's a smoky smell, but more like a campfire smoky smell, and less like a Gas Station smoky smell, and …" Pinkie gave one more lick to her lips. "... a teeny tiny hint of peaches."
"Hmm … yes, peaches …" By The Book then turned to the others nearby.
"Alright, everypony come with me back to the station."
"We can't! Who's going to watch my cupcakes and Lars's Pumpkin Donuts, and sees who wins and cheers and/or cries afterwards?!" Pinkie asked. By The Book looked to the pink mare.
"The results aren't announced until tomorrow, you have plenty of time. Now, follow me."
A slight detail they weren't told about at the Food contest, but now they suddenly got themselves involved in police business. …
~~~~~~
"How the heck did we end up here?" Rainbow had to ask.
With some staying behind to tend to the contest, Connie, Steven, Spike, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Celestia were brought back to the police station. The office they ended up in looked pretty modern, yet had a sort of "noire" office style: a basic desk with papers and books on it, big enough for two with lamps and a single quill. PLENTY of files and paperwork abounded in the office, many either stacked or filed in filing cabinets nearby. By The Book himself got some notes in already in his pocket book before he began to address them.
"Alright, so here's the deal. Fillydelphia has been struck down with a lot of different fires as of late - twelve last I've checked, and they all have ended in the same way. And you're all saying you didn't see anyone come in and start anything nearby while doing the contest?"
"No sir," Connie replied, "We all just heard this explosion out of nowhere, and there it was." By The Book felt disappointed with that answer, but kept it to himself. As for Hard Case though …
"Of course, ANOTHER false claim. Tell me again why we have to let a bunch of kids in on police work?"
"Because this bunch of kids had aided Equestria more than once, so they can give us a hand here. Or did you forget ol' Tirek, or Chrysalis, or even that Discord fella?"
Hard Case clamped his muzzle shut as By The Book went back to the discussion.
"So why do you think it's a Dragon? There's a lot of things that can cause a fire: propane tanks, gas cans, tripping with a lighter," Steven wondered.
"We thought of that, but there's no smell of anything "propane or gas". Fires start at a single source, whereas these fires began in a consistent, straight line."
"As if someone was walking in while breathing fire," Celestia concluded.
"Exactly," By The Book agreed, "See, most of these happen at night, so we thought we'd get a stronger lead this time, but looks like whoever set the fire off this time slipped away again. Guess everybody got so wrapped up in the contest, no one noticed until the explosion."
"Isn't that a little flimsy?" Steven asked.
"On the surface, but we did get some pictures in recently of some suspicious dragon roaming around the area nearby these fires. See for yourself." By The Book went into the files, and then presented the pictures in question. These were made by security camera footage, and none of them were really too conclusive - often too blurred to make out any exact details outside of a draconic-like shape rushing down an alleyway or beside a street. But, it did look ALOT like a dragon in an overall standpoint, though some were still skeptical.
"But why would any Dragon want to do this?" Spike asked.
"Beats me. I've worked beat in Dragon Town not far from here, and they seem like a nice bunch, but whenever I've been asking them about anything they won't talk," By The Book explained. Spike perked up on hearing this: a Town in Fillydelphia where dragons lived?
"WAIT. Dragons live here? The giant firebreathers from the Dragon Lands live here," Rainbow remarked, not believing it at first.
"They're not as big as the Dragons you've seen, and they've reached a truce with Fillydelphia to live here instead of getting caught up in what they call "mega-scales". Though they did go quiet about a month ago."
"Dragon Lord call, I'm just gonna say it," Spike said, Celestia nodding in agreement. This was a bit interesting for them to note though. Most of their experience with most Dragons hadn't been too harmonious, but with soul exceptions in Dragons such as Ember and Scarlett, Spike did know that not all Dragons can be just brutes by nature.
"You know about Dragon Town, Celestia?" Steven asked.
"Not too much, honestly. I've personally never been within Dragon Town myself," Celestia replied. That kind of explained the lack of knowledge throughout Spike's youth supposedly. The admittedly impatient Hard Case had about enough of waiting.
"HEY, you done in there? This case isn't going anywhere with you all just talking."
"OK, what's your issue? All you've been doing is complain ever since we got here," Rainbow asked, as Hard Case got a cup of well-needed coffee.
"What's my Issue? Oh, I don't know, maybe Celestia being here says she doesn't think we can do the job? Maybe the fact we're having a Dragon trying to solve a Dragon crime?"
"Spike has been a faithful, and loyal companion to princess Twilight ever since he was an egg, I know he and everyone else here can help get to the bottom of this," Celestia stated. ANY pony with common sense would at least consider her words, but stubborn ol' Hard Case just rolled his eyes.
"Right. You just go on and chat away the day, while real officers actually get some work done. somebody's got to make sure the town doesn't burn down." With that shockingly snarky remark, Hard Case trotted away with coffee in magical aura lift.
"... Why do I feel like slapping him all of a sudden?" Spike blankly asked.
"Because you're not an idiot, Spike," Rainbow answered.
"Nobody's hurting anybody," By The Book made clear. "... Yet. Since many of these are happening at night, we've been trying to get some stakeouts in play. not many of them worked yet, but I feel that tonight might be a little different. … Know where I'm going with this?"
Indeed they did.
"You want us to go out on a police Stakeout?!" Steven gasped.
"Even though we're not official security personnel?" Connie added, excited.
"We could always use the extra eyes. I know this is short notice, but, given your reputation, I don't have a doubt in my head that this time we'll get lucky on this one," By The Book explained. with how much they've gone through back in their own world AND in this one, they saw his point.
"Wow, look at you! Being asked by the BIG STALLIONS in the big cases!" Pinkie beamed.
"Glad you're feeling up to the task. I would advise though to look into some of the matter first. Spike, you think you can venture into Dragon Town and ask around? See if you can bring in any leads for the police to look into?" Celestia asked. Spike found himself on the spot for a moment, but he took the task with vigor, giving a salute.
"I'll try my best! … uh, where is it?"
"Trust me, fella, you'll know when you see it. You just gotta look around a little," By The Book simply replied. With them dealing with Dragons, that was probably a given. So, Spike began to get a headstart on finding the place, and the others were ready to get this task going themselves.
"SWEET! Ready to ruin some teen's night?" Connie asked.
"Anytime," Steven replied.
~~~~~~
"Wait, a stakeout? And he just asked you on the spot," Lars said. Naturally, after the meeting with By The Book and his company, much of them went right on back to the others and explained the whole thing to them. The only real exception was Spike and Rainbow, who went off to check Dragon Town themselves as the others went to the Food Contest grounds. Sadie, Lars, Amethyst, and Pink Diamond were very interested in this news, some more than others.
"I know, it's gonna be so cool! I always wanted to try a legit police Stakeout," Connie said in excitement.
"What's a stakeout again?" Pink asked.
"It's when police go undercover and bust up some sap's night of mischief. Sick stuff sometimes, but gets the job done," Amethyst explained, stoked about the idea.
"Police … is that elite guard?" Pink Diamond asked, starting to grow more interested.
"In a way, they're pretty important," Connie replied.
"LUCKY," Pink Diamond thought, feeling envious that they'd go on such important tasks whereas she was pushed to the wayside … again. Boy, this was tedious.
"So when are you gonna go off on the stakeout?" Sadie asked.
"Sometime tonight," Connie answered. "They wanted us to go with them downtown."
"AND where's Rainbow and Spike? didn't they go with you?" Lars asked.
"They did, but they're checking in on a few things for us before we go off on our Stakeout," Steven explained. As they were going on about that, Pinkie Pie slowly started to realize a little something off down the road. Something she felt would be something worth while in this game of detective and steaks. They went on about undercover, but they didn't have much of anything for undercover at all!
"HOLY HAYSEED, almost forgot the biggest part!" Pinkie gasped, suddenly bolting off out of sight. The only thing telling them where she bolted to was a chime of a nearby shop door. A quick *ca-ching* later, and Pinkie Pie bolted right on out with what looked to be a LOT of costume props.
"Nobody can go undercover without covers to cover with! Take your pick," Pinkie explained. The box had quite a selection to choose from, ranging from small props like clown noses and glasses, to full-body suits and outfits.
"I'm always down for some "undercover" work. Let's see what we got here," said Amethyst. she can easily change and alter as much as she wanted, but it was just as fun getting an outfit over herself the standard way. So many different combinations and no need to shapeshift.
"I can't believe I'm actually getting this opportunity. I can see how my dad handles his police work first hand," Connie said, as she began to get an outfit together.
"Oh yeah, your dad is a police officer, ain't he?" Lars remembered. Eventually, Connie and Steven got their outfits all set.
"Call me … Veronica Cucamonga," Connie said, getting in a dramatic, comic cover-worthy pose with her hat tilted. A true female detective ready to go. Her outfit was mainly a trench coat and hat combo. As for Steven.
"It's a me! Peter Pizzapoppolis, from Italia!" Steven said, wearing a green cap and fake mustache, even going into a Italian accent for good measure. Less effort, but equal enthusiasm. Amethyst came up next with her brand of disguise.
"And you may call me … Amy," Amethyst said. Not most creative name, but good effort in outfit, making her look like a true officer under cover, which included some black shades over her eyes, with a blue shirt, black shorts, and scarf round her neck.
"OH OH ME NEXT … Pinkemina Diana," Pinkie said … only wearing a mustache.
"You really think that'll be enough?" Lars asked.
"Never underestimate the power of the mustache. NEVER."
No point in arguing with the pink mare about this.
…….
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and Spike found themselves in front of their destination. To put it simply, By The Book wasn't lying when he said they'll know. Because when they found the front arch leading into Dragon Town, the place itself looked WAY different compared to the rest of Fillydelphia. The buildings, for example, looked less like the skyscrapers around the city and more fitting for the stone age. Many of the buildings themselves were made up of large boulders, windows slightly disorganized. Rarity or Pearl probably would have a fit if they saw this place for its architecture. As for residents, both pony and Dragon could see plenty of different Dragons present within the area, none of them as large as Torch but still taller than your average pony. None of the Dragons, at least by the looks of it, appeared too monstrous or dangerous either, probably just as dangerous as regular civilians passing through the city.
"Wow, I've never seen somewhere like this before," spike said, bewildered and humbled by what he was looking at.
"In that case, this shouldn't be too hard. Come on," Rainbow said, getting a slight head start as they went to the first door.
"Excuse me, mam. I'm Spike, and this is Rainbow Dash, and we were wondering about some -"
*SLAM* went the door.
"... O.K. Next."
Too bad the idea was easier said than done. This sort of pattern kept up on the next few houses they tried out: they'd knock on the door, try to ask about the situation, and all they would get was a door in their face. By The Book might've been a bit generous calling them friendlier than their larger counterparts they've been seeing, because most of them weren't willing to talk. The ONLY exception to this was when they tried a mother with a baby in a harness … kind of.
"Hey, mam, we're from the capitol and we want to ask about some fires -"
*BLERK* went the baby right in Rainbow Dash's face.
"Sorry bout that," said the mother Dragon.
Might as well get the door in their face. So, after cleaning that mess up, Rainbow and Spike continued walking off and trying their best to find someone who would be willing to talk to them. Maybe the police had bothered them enough already, or maybe it's the fact Rainbow was there with Spike that could be throwing them off, but no matter the case they weren't doing so good, nor getting any closer in finding the next culprit.
"Well that was gross. Isn't there anyone in town that can talk to us?" Rainbow Dash wondered.
"Let's try there," Spike decided.
if they weren't going to get anywhere with the houses, they might as well try the shops instead. In this case, the place they found was actually a comic shop in town. It didn't look too out of place from any other comic shop outside the rocky décor, but what got their attention inside was the fact there were actually pony comics being sold inside, even seeing a statue of a "power pony" right inside the shop the second they stepped inside the store. The dragon working at the counter was generous to greet them.
"Welcome to Dragon Town comics. Let me know if I can help with anything," she said.
"Thanks," said Spike. Well, first words out of any dragon in this town that actually spoke to him or Rainbow all day without a door in their face (or other things). As she was chatting with some other customers, Spike and Rainbow Dash took some time to look around the place for a bit, curious to the pony merchandise within the Dragon shop. A LOT of comics were lined up along the wall with many a power pony as a issue focus: Spider-mare, Iron Pony, Sherlock Pones, even more obscure ones such as amazing mule, or mane-iac. Rainbow Dash began to get more interested in the comics when she saw a few Daring Do issues lined up. Not written by A.K. Yearling herself, but still inspired by said adventurer all the same. Almost before they realized it …
"Enjoying everything?"
Spike jumped out of his scales on the voice right behind him, but calmed down when he saw it was just the dragon from the front counter. The female dragon though was a bit friendlier than that, just chuckling.
"Sorry, didn't mean to spook ya like that. Name's Mina," the dragon introduced. FINALLY someone talking to them after all that time going around town.
"It's okay. It's just no one in town spoke to me all day," Spike replied.
"Dragons here are just on edge, and they don't arm to outsiders to start with. But I never stop talking, so buck up buddy. You got a name?" Mina inquired.
"I'm Spike, and this is Rainbow Dash," Spike introduced, as Rainbow was a little too distracted by some of the Daring Do comics to really take much notice just yet. Fan-observation was hard to ignore. Mina went on up to her.
"Find something you like?" Mina inquired. Rainbow had already gone through a few pages before looking to the dragon.
"I didn't know there were comics published for Daring Do. This the only issue, or is there some more?" Rainbow asked. Mina smiled.
"I could sign you up for future releases if you'd like," Mina offered.
"Sign me up!" Rainbow beamed. A little caught up, but Spike did get an idea on their main mission in this place, and as Mina was getting some signing up for RD, Spike went up to her at the front counter.
"Hey, Mina, maybe we can ask you something?" Spike asked.
"About what?" Mina asked back. Spike readied to ask the question, but something suddenly crossed his mind. He would ask "what dragon had been responsible" but thinking back on some other Dragons he met already, he had to improvise. That just didn't sound fare.
"There's been a lot of fires, and I was wondering if you know anyone who would be responsible for burning down everything."
Yeah, ok, not too exclusive and more broad. Mina took a moment to think about it, but another thought came across her mind with the question, even if it came from Spike.
"You mean anyone around here?" Mina asked.
"Uh … Yeah?"
Red flag.
"What makes you think it's a Dragon?" Mina asked. Spike didn't mean to, but guess he walked into that one a little too quickly.
"I-I don't! … But the police did point out how the fire could start from a Dragon walking into a place from a scorched line on the ground."
Mina's cheery behavior turned a bit more dulled down and more level-headed.
"Let me tell ya something. Fillydelphia's always blaming Dragons for whatever's going on in their side of town. What does that prove anyway? A Unicorn could've easily make that fire line too with some of their magic," Mina explained, even with Rainbow Dash standing right there.
"Hey, what makes you think it's a pony who did that?" Rainbow asked.
"What makes you think a dragon did that?" Mina retorted.
"Well I can't blame them. Most dragons I've known are complete jerks, and would rather eat us than try to talk," Rainbow admitted, hooves crossed, "And didn't they try to beat you up too, Spike, when you tried staying with them over that migration?"
Mina could see the complete issue a mile away.
"Can I be honest for a minute?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah, sure," spike said. Mina cleared her throat, and went on with her thoughts.
"That's the biggest load of baloney I've ever heard. It sounds like you're just talking about bad guys, not bad Dragons. Just because you met bad Dragons once before, doesn't mean you can't be good and still be a Dragon. Maybe those Dragons before wouldn't talk to you because they think of ponies same as you think of us. Besides, how many ponies do you know that are jerks?"
Rainbow and Spike paused for a moment on what she said, just standing there with a blank expression.
"Well, there's Flim and Flam, Trixie, Sombra, Luna once before, I guess Kyra counted too at one - … OK, I see your point," Rainbow admitted.
"I'm not saying all Dragons are good, but we're not all jerks either. We're just as varied as ponies too," Mina concluded, which made sense. Dragons like Ember, Scarlett, or Mina for that matter wouldn't exist otherwise.
They'll have to find out that during the investigation.
~~~~~~
Time continued to tick on by, with different sides working on different things for the upcoming nightfall. Fillydelphia was a bit busy with this aspect, but as with any world, they weren't the only ones. Back in Canterlot, sunset started to approach the castle, where Twilight and Luna were still deep in sleep. Days and nights of such hard work had completely drained them, and even with this time passing it still wasn't much to wake either princess up. Celestia made sure to get the sun and moon working with time, even in Fillydelphia, so Luna didn't have to wake up to handle that at the least.
As the sun settled down on the horizon outside of the window, there did seem to be some stirring within the room, as Twilight Sparkle began to come back around, feeling A LOT better than before. She yawned and got herself out of bed.
"MUCH BETTER. I haven't had that good of sleep since I was a filly," Twilight said, giving a stretch of her back hoof as she walked on towards the door. It took her a bit before she realized that she wasn't back in her own tower, but inside Luna's room instead. But there was one tiny detail that made Twilight less relaxed, and more horrified, especially when she looked back to the bed. Not the fact that Luna was in the same place … but so was she. She saw herself still sleeping.
"... AAAAHHHH! What?! But, wait, how am I here … and there? D-Did I -"
"You're still here, Twilight," said a calming voice. Twilight wasn't the only one stuck in this state, as she found Princess Luna suddenly standing beside her. That didn't mean she didn't jump though on seeing Luna there. Luna didn't look all there much, a slight glow to her body unlike before, and after some checking, Twilight had that glow too.
"Princess Luna! W-what's going on, why're we here and there? Did we get hexed, or d-did I pass away?" Twilight asked nervously.
"No, Twilight, you and I are still very much alive," Luna explained, walking over to themselves still sleeping in bed. However, they both also noticed that both of the horns were giving a slight glow.
"You and I are bringing out projections of ourselves from our dreams into a supernatural state in the real world, bringing us into a conscious dream state. I've only seen this done by powerful Unicorns, and even then it's not often done consciously."
"So ... we're both ghosts?"
"Temporarily. We'll return to our normal selves once we've awaken," Luna reassured. It was a rarity to be sure, but the signs are too distinct to be anything else. Twilight could feel some bit of herself relax a bit, but this still was a surprise to her all the same. Twilight needed a bit to do some breathing techniques to calm down.
"Ok then. Well, guess if I am still conscious, I can get back to work. I'm so close to -" Twilight concluded, ready to go to the door, just to find her hoof going through it. She waved her hoof over it again and again, but she couldn't get her hoof to touch any of it. Luna just walked through the door as a physical demonstration.
"You're unable to interact with the world around you in this state, Twilight," Luna simply stated. Twilight sure felt weirded out just walking through a wall, but this just further established the whole ghost thing. Not even the guard placed in front of the door even remotely noticed anything wrong, even if Twilight screamed. Not even her hoof waving over their faces conjured any reaction from either of them. As they were standing there, some of the night shift started to come over to the two guards.
"Oi, it's our turn," said one of the night guards. The day guards nodded.
"Any word from Celestia yet, or what? Didn't think this contest would last this long."
"I don't know. All she wants us to do was keep princess Luna and princess Twilight from being disturbed, she never said how long."
"It's almost night, so at least Celestia's doing that for Luna. Honestly, I never seen princess Luna so worn out before."
"You never seen her after nightmare night then. Regardless, we have to follow instructions until Celestia's back from Fullydelphia."
Luna and Twilight watched the day guards go off shortly after this, though one of them going right through Twilight Sparkle (which felt creepy on many levels), though this exposition did tell them where Celestia had gone off to. The night guards got to their post, as Luna and Twilight got off down the hall.
"I knew I forgot something," Luna sighed.
"What's wrong?"
"It's just me and my sister were supposed to be going to Fillydelphia to make an appearance during their national food contest. It seems my sister would rather leave me here instead of taking me with her," Luna confirmed, slightly bugged but could understand. Last she remembered before waking up as a "ghost" after all was the blunt end of a swinging door. Twilight thought it over, but then the mare got an idea.
"I know, why don't we go and see her?" Twilight suggested. If they were going to be stuck as ghosts, they might as well do something with it other than hang out at the castle.
"In this state, Twilight? Do keep in mind our consciousness will immediately return us back to our bodies upon awaking," Luna advised. Twilight began to fly in the air, which was a LOT easier than typical flying as she could actually float with her wings spread.
"Well, what else do you want to do? We can at least check in on them."
"Hmm … well, my duties include making sure nobody's suffering through the night, so I suppose checking on my sister wouldn't be too harmful," Luna concluded.
…….
The travel from Canterlot to Fillydelphia was surprisingly quick and easy, flying through towards the city at a rate much like Rainbow Dash at high speed, but without the blasting wind to bother them. For both Alicorns, their travels had them right into the heart of the city, beginning to take sight of the police station. Something was telling them that they were nearby, and this was the closest building at hoof, so they took a look through the window.
With the Stakeout close at hand, Celestia and By The Book were both were still stuck inside the office. The others were getting the game plan together, same as the two leaders, but they admittedly have the fun part. Celestia and By The Book were just handling some paperwork by the looks of things. By The Book was, as his name suggested, just checking out some files as Celestia was actually getting a bit bored with this task.
"Paperwork. Is this what you handle all day?" Celestia asked.
"Paperwork is as vital as you yourself are, princess. We can catch them, sure, but we can't prove anything without the proper files to prove it," By The Book advised, not moving his eyes away from the book.
"Well, it was simpler to just banish those who'd done wrong to the frozen north."
"AND those who'd done wrong come back thousands of years later, and nopony knows what to do, because no one thought to write anything down. … But no, your way is totally better," By The Book said.
"I thought Flint was the only one who thought that," Twilight noted.
"Or Starlight, or you a while back," Luna added. As Luna and Twilight observed, eventually Hard Case came into the room, tired but a bit annoyed to see Celestia again.
"Still here, huh? Hope you're liking my seat, princess, sorry for not putting in a throne on such short notice," Hard Case said dryly. Twilight and Luna couldn't believe their ears at such a rude pony, and to the princess of their world no less!
"A pleasure to see you too, Hard Case," Celestia sighed, as Hard Case got himself some more coffee from the machine again for the night Stakeout. He needed all the "oomph" he could get if he was to be up for the night. But then he saw Connie, Amethyst, Steven, and Pinkie in disguise coming on in, ready to get this stakeout rolling. Hard Case almost choked on his coffee from seeing them like this, but By The Book and Celestia took it in stride. Twilight grew especially freaked out: what happened to make her friends involved with the police?! Twilight went right back to her breathing again, far more frantic this time, until By The Book started talking.
"Well, you're all on form. costume shop?" By The Book inquired.
"Veronica Cucamonga, ready for action," Connie said, looking all dramatic.
"You can't be serious, dame? And who's this?!" Hard Case asked, pointing an accusing hoof directly at Amethyst, who was unfazed as she was chewing some bubblegum she picked up. Look the part, act the part, that's how it works.
"Amy," Amethyst answered, blowing a bubble in Hard Case's face. Not enjoyable for HC, but a giggle from some of the others.
"We're going to capture criminals, not walk down the runway. Seriously, we're gonna be found out miles away!"
"You dare doubt the mustache?" Pinkie questioned, right in Hard Case's face. Before Hard Case could get a word in, By The Book actually used his own magic to zip HC's mouth shut.
"Had Rainbow and Spike made it back yet?" By The Book asked.
"We saw them coming in just a minute ago, SIR!" Steven reported. Hard Case forced the zipper to un-zip his mouth.
"That Dragon won't be giving you anything special. I know exactly what'll happen!"
"Do you?" Pinkie asked.
"Yep: That tyke will come back with some half-cocked reason that Dragons aren't to blame, and then say he got the idea from some Dragon dame he met."
Speak of the devil: Spike and Rainbow just arrived into the room after Hard Case said that, and both pony and Dragon went right up to Celestia and By The Book. Luna and Twilight slipped through the wall for a better view, unnoticed by everyone else.
"Well, look at that. Well, fella, what'd you find out?"
"A bit actually: I don't think the Dragons did this, and the fires are just made to look like it's Dragons," Spike concluded, as Rainbow Dash went over to Connie and Steven.
"Great! What evidence did you find?" Celestia asked.
"Er … well … I mean, a Unicorn could've made a fire spell, and just mimicked a dragon breath, or someone used something …"
Not too convincing at all.
"This sounds like you're just saying this without any witness or sign of it. Who told you?" By The Book asked. The answer made some cringe.
"There was this girl Dragon, Mina. She owns a comic shop in town, and said that ponies can be bad too."
"HA!" Hard Case said, smiling for the first time since they met, "Well, princess, if you excuse me, we're gonna get a curfew goin on Dragon Town. Someone gotta stop these fires from burning the town down."
"WHAT?!" Twilight gasped, shocked as much as she was angry. Seeing him mock Celestia AND Spike in just a few sentences left Twilight one degree away from going all fire mode out of anger. Hard Case went right on out before anyone could stop him, leaving a harsh vibe in the air to much of them.
"Did we miss something?" Spike asked.
"Alright, we better hustle. Sooner we find the true culprit, sooner the Dragons won't miss Nightmare Night because they have to be home by seven," By The Book instructed. This Stakeout was now on a timer.
"But where do we go?" Connie asked.
"I already got us a good spot."
~~~~~~
Well, "good" was debatable, but it was something. Since the latest explosion had been carried out not too far from the location, the group got themselves settled up over by the Food Contest grounds. If the pyromaniac behind this was coming back for a second wind for the night, they didn't want any harm being done on contest grounds, plus the contest was a bit close to urban homes so that was an even bigger danger. They placed themselves off just down the street, By The Book keeping up a set of binoculars to keep a stronger eye on the situation, and the rest of the team kept alongside for the second the threat would rear its ugly head. Connie, Amethyst, Steven, and Pinkie may have gotten their disguises, but with the extra time Spike ended up in his own disguise: a large brown trench coat with black shades and hat similar to "Veronica". Rainbow Dash didn't have much of anything, for she was well out of range and high in the sky. She may not be an owl, but falcon eyes worked just as well in the city at night. With some working too, they gave RD her own walkie-talkie to connect with the group on the ground just in case she would catch sight first. Speaking of, it didn't take much until the walkie-talkie started to go off.
"Any signs of the troubled teens yet?" asked Amethyst's voice.
"Nothing yet, Amy. … Nothing at all," Rainbow said, though admittedly getting bored of, well, nothing. The grounds were rather quiet, much of the contestants and food now removed and only leaving the main tables behind. This situation too was being observed by Luna and Twilight, though while unable to be seen, still kept distance on one of the rooftops for some extra vigilance.
"I'm going to hate myself if it is a dragon behind this," Spike said, leaning against the wall. Being wrong never felt good to anyone, this being a prominent point.
"Chin up. You could be right for all we know, but that won't stop any fires," By The Book said, as honest as it was one-sided.
"Gee, thanks. I feel a lot better," Spike grumbled.
That one moment was all it took.
*crash*
"What was that?" By The Book asked. They tried to look, but they didn't see much of anything at first. It sure sounded close. Amethyst scrambled to get the walkie-talkie on again.
"Rainbow, we heard something down here! Got an eye?"
"Yeah, two of them," Rainbow replied, looking down to the area. All Rainbow could see were the untouched tables. She looked up and down the street, and soon she finally saw something just off by the corner of the area, and it was already moving off. "AND WE GOT A RUNNER!"
"Finally. Come on!" Amethyst said, getting a headstart. Despite them running, Rainbow of course caught up a lot quicker, with her getting into a falcon dive for some extra speed. Needless to say, the runner didn't get too far before Rainbow tackled him to the ground, both going into a bit of a tumble before Rainbow pinned -
"GET OFF ME, YA BLIND JESSIE!"
Hard Case. Great.
"Hard Case? What the hay - what're you doing here?" Rainbow asked, before Hard Case shoved Rainbow off him, and getting back his hat just as the others caught up.
"What does it look like I'm doing? Besides getting a crazed Pegasus to see actual sense?" Hard Case spat. As if his mood wasn't sour enough already, now he was sour and sore.
"Mama mia, Hard Case-a!" Steven sighed in worry, throwing "Italian" in his voice again much to Hard Case's confusion.
"What kind of accent is that? Wait, you know what, I don't wanna know."
"What I wanna know, Hard Case, is what you're doing here? Weren't you going to put a curfew on Dragon Town?" By The Book asked. Hard Case got his hat on after some dusting, but when they saw his muzzle, he had a grin on his face.
"That? Already done. The Dragons are quarantined for the night. Just got the cops to set up barricades around Dragon town borders, takes less than fifteen minutes to do. No fires are gonna be burning any building now all of them firebreathers are in for the night."
"We've been out here for five," Pinkie pointed out.
"Really? Well look at that, ten minutes ahead. That's how you get justice DONE."
"Explain that crash we heard then," By The Book quizzed. Suspicious all the same, finding Hard Case right at the same sight as the crash. The smile on Hard Case disappeared the very second that was brought up.
"Eh? what crash? I didn't hear anything."
"HA! Don't play dumb: I saw you seconds after that crash happened!"
"What does that prove?"
"OH, don't you talk to me about what proves what -"
*CRASH*
As sad as it sounds, cut Hard Case off the list. Everyone there rushed right off to the noise, which itself was near the contest itself again, this time in an alleyway. It was cut off to the main street by some fencing, but one look at the fence showed it was torn up! How the heck did this happen?! Even with Luna and Twilight's extra vigilance, none of them noticed this happen until now.
"What in the world? HEY! You're on public property!" By The Book shouted. The response though wasn't all that much, and whoever was present wasn't there anymore. If someone was lurking around the area, they high-tailed it before being found …
"We dealing with some escape artist?" By The Book wondered. As this happened, Steven nudged Spike.
"Spike? You want to go check on your little bambinos?" Steven asked, still all Italian as he would consider it. Spike didn't get the idea at first, but he DID want to see the other dragons, so it was probably what he meant. So as Hard Case was distracted (the only one that would object), Spike went off for it as the rest stuck around. Connie's sharp eyes took a little closer look to the fence, and saw that there was something on it. Not exactly fur, or wiring, but something similar to leather. Connie took it for some evidence to whatever did this, and placed it in the pockets of her overcoat.
For the alleyway itself, it looked surprisingly barren for the damage: not a can knocked over, not a door knocked open, not much stones turned. If anypony lived down any of this alley, they probably would be mildly disturbed from the crash, but that was about it.
"You think whoever did this tried to steal some of our goodies?" Steven asked in a shiver.
"They'd better not be. You know how much work went into making those cupcakes?! If I find one crumb out of place, I'll -"
"Pink, quiet. If he's here, he'll hear you," By The Book snapped quietly. In such heat, there was no time for small talk.
"Call me Pinkemina Diana," Pinkie corrected.
"I'll call you some other thing if you don't be quiet."
*thud*
Bingo. Around the corner, they began to hear something moving about the area, and it's commotion knocked a box out into sight. Whatever was there didn't go too far.
"Alright, lad, give yourself up! This is the Fillydelphia Police Force!" Hard Case warned. So much for being quiet.
Then again, the figure here had nowhere to even go, so why flee? Backed into a corner, everyone there went into the only exit it had, and it was Pinkie Pie (thanks to logic) who pulled out a flashlight from her mane and beamed it right on the intruder.
It was no Dragon. Nor a Pony.
"W-What in Celestia's name …"
A very odd creature indeed. It stood there hissing at its adversaries like a stray cat, even arching its back in a very slightly similar manor. However, so much of it said this was no ordinary animal: the tail was reptilian-like sure, and the back had some extremely tiny wings, too small to fly away with, with its back legs elongated and front legs short much like a frog, though the shoulder looked like something was cut off, or torn away. but the hands, feet, and head were … eerily human.
"... O-Oh my lord …"
And then it breathed fire. It actually breathed fire just like a Dragon would, and nearly scorched them on the spot! Steven was lucky to get a shield up to stop the fire, but it failed to stop the lunge the creature made at them. It was lightning fast, and soon as it knocked them to the wall, it raced off for it, shattering what remained of the fence before tearing through contest grounds and off into town.
"Still think it's a Dragon now, Hard Case?" Rainbow asked.
"Alright, stab me in the back why don't ya?" Hard Case groaned.
"Not now! After it before it hurts somebody!" Connie instructed.
As they went off, Twilight was left completely shaken. What was that thing? why was it running around in Fillydelphia? Oh Celestia, it was painful to just sit there and watch all of this go on, and NOT being able to do anything.
"I can't take it! Luna, isn't there anything we can do to help?! ANYTHING?!" Twilight asked, panicked. Unfortunately for her, Luna shook her head.
"I already told you, we can't interact with anything from the real world."
"OK, is there anything outside the real world we can work with or no?" Twilight questioned.
"Hmm … well, we can still venture into others' dreams in this state as I could already, but that won't work on an awaken being."
"Have you ever tried doing that?" Twilight asked.
"I wouldn't advise it," Luna suggested.
She didn't say it can't be done though.
…….
Unbeknownst to the situation, Spike was still going off through Fillydelphia on his own task to get to the other dragons. If Hard Case was right, then they would be in a whole heap of trouble by now. If there was a bright side right now, it probably would be that at least the culprit was being handled on one end and it gave Spike time to get to the other side of the issue.
Dragon Town itself wasn't too far away, and Spike did manage to get himself there in no time at all. But unfortunately, for him, Hard Case was onto something after all, and he ACTUALLY did get things accomplished over here. Some police ponies were lined up along some police barriers, much of the dragon folk just inside Dragon Town boundaries to Fillydelphia. Much to Spike's surprise, Celestia was trying her best to consort with the police, but nothing had reached any conclusion just yet. Amongst the dragons, right at the front was Mina herself, who looked to Spike with worry over the situation.
"Spike!" she called, getting attention just enough for Spike to start going over, only to be stopped by one of the cops.
"You there, what're you doing? Stay away from the boundary line!" the police pony demanded. The pony wasn't going to throw him with the rest of them, not with Celestia just feet away.
"Hey, let me talk to them! You didn't hurt any of them did you?"
"Course not, but we got them all quarantined," the pony answered. Spike honestly couldn't help it, and rushed off passed the guard to see Mina.
"Spike, what's going on? why's there a curfew going on?"
"I'm very sorry, they still think a Dragon's doing it and they don't want anymore fires tonight," Spike answered gravely.
"So they locked all of us up? That's not right at all!" Mina retorted.
"Tell me about it," mumbled Spike. But what could he do? He could see that Celestia herself was actually in a bit of trouble, as the officers here were notoriously stubborn apparently. Seemed not even Celestia herself could truly persuade them to drop the law for this one situation, much as she wanted to. As the old saying went: The law is the law, and we can't change it. not even Celestia.
"Isn't Celestia going to fix this?"
"It doesn't look like she can," Spike admitted quietly, and unfortunately for the Dragons, Celestia shook her head once she looked their way. It was a bit odd seeing this, but Celestia had to respect the rules same as anyone else, as bias as that may be sometimes. If Celestia of all ponies can't do this, how could he?
Spike! Spike?!
VERY faint noise, and Spike could just make it out. Though, he wasn't sure where it was coming from, or who it was saying. He looked around, but there wasn't anyone nearby to even take notice. If only he could see his alicorn friend flying right beside him, floating just above his head at this point. Her horn was glowing slightly, so some form of magic was at work here for some thought exchange (the only convenient spell she had on hand to make this work).
Spike! Spike, you hear me?!
"Huh? Twilight?" spike wondered. No, he couldn't see her exactly, but the voice was unmistakable. Mina was watching this with some bit of confusion, but Celestia went over to her, and gave her a look of reassurance. How she left Twilight sparkle and Luna, she was just waiting for something like this to happen.
Spike, it's me Twilight! Can you hear me?!
"Uh. I think? Wait, where're you?"
It's a spell, I'm not exactly there!
"OH. … Yeah, ok."
Good, ok listen! I think I know who the real culprit is behind those fires, and the others are chasing after it right now but it's coming your way! I have an idea to catch it, but we need the Dragons' help! It breathes fire, and Dragons are fireproof!
"But what can I do? They're in curfew right now."
Spike, I know you can do it! You've helped me out so much over the years we've spent together, I'm sure you can come up with something!
Spike slowly started to build up his confidence again. With most of his friends dealing with the actual culprit, he himself will need to get this properly handled, and get some of the Dragons' aid. Spike marched right back towards the Dragons, but two of the police ponies were right in his way.
"Alright, move aside," Spike instructed, "I need the Dragons help for -"
"Like fluff you do," a police pony said, "Orders are for them to stay!"
"Oh yeah? Well my orders are to let them out before another fire starts, and my orders come from Princess Twilight Sparkle herself! You don't want her to get mad at you. … Seriously, you don't," Spike said. Oh the many times Twilight had blown her top off left enough of an impression on him to give that warning with little problem.
"Don't be silly, all the Dragons in Fillydelphia are right here. There's gonna be no -"
*CRASH!*
"- Fire?"
Spoke too soon. Looking off down the road, as Twilight's message had warned to the young dragon, out came the creature in a smash through one of the streetlights of the city, toppling it easily. The others were still in hot pursuit, Amethyst with her whip trying to grab it, but it moved just quick enough to keep out of range for the most part. Of course, the fact it constantly shot fire blasts at them kept them well back too, Steven's shield saving them from becoming a bunch of fry bits.
"Another Dragon. HEY, get back to Dragon Town!" called one of the police ponies, only to later see the more "humanized" appearance on the creature.
"That's not a Dragon," Spike meekly stated. The police pony did distract the animal long enough for Amethyst to finally wrap her whip around the back leg, and pulling back strong enough to knock it off its feet. Steven and Rainbow held on tight to keep the creature from running any further, but that still didn't stop the firebreath, and it blasted a strong one dangerously close to Celestia herself! At the least it had to be part dragon if it could do that, and just confirmed what Twilight had told Spike about.
Angry, the creature tried to move, but its foot still caught in the whip and combine strength of the others still left it struggling to run or move properly. The reptile tail whipped around until it slammed on the whip, jerking the others forward and losing the grip on the whip, allowing the creature to gnaw it off its leg. It now grew a lot more mobile, and smoke shot out of his nose as he snorted. The police ponies began to rush in, but they were quickly dealt with (albeit by accident), when the creature turned around to face its chasers just for the tail to whack them aside. Even the creature looked back with some confusion briefly before turning back to the others again, inhaling.
"Not again," By The Book groaned, Steven readying the shield again. The searing heat blasted at the shield launched off in several directions, the fiery blaze landing on some buildings nearby. This frustrated the animal, and it started to buck around, kicking the boundary fences to pieces separating the ponies of Fillydelphia from the Dragons of Dragon Town. Twilight was straight on the point suggesting other dragons to help with this. Especially with what happened next.
*BOOOOM!*
Another explosion set off in the next building! This spooked the creature, but before it could run off, Celestia pinned it down before it could cause anymore trouble, as Spike rushed to the other Dragons there. If there's anytime for the Dragons to help, it would be right now!
"Mina! We need to help them! There could be ponies in there!"
"Say no more, Spike," Mina said with confidence. Crisis like this can not be ignored, no matter the bias.
All of a sudden, things got busy. As many of the half-Gems, Gem, and ponies handled the creature, the Dragons immediately went right on into the fire to rescue the ponies inside. The Dragons and their fireproof scasles made rushing into the burning building no trouble at all, and many a pony woken up by the explosion was brought out, slightly burnt but okay overall. Spike too stepped up to the challenge, and managed to get a young foal out of the burning inferno, showing a good moment of bravery on his part and saving the youngster's life much to the joy of her worried mother. The Dragons may have gotten plenty, but there was still some trouble.
"We got a lot, but who knows how many are still in there?" Mina said, while carrying out a young colt. Seeing this, there was one temporary spirit of the night that felt there was one option to get them out of the fire. It may be a risk to work on someone awake, but sleeping ponies were no problem. She was princess of the night after all.
Everypony, AWAKE!!
And anypony nearby the fire was suddenly up and in alarm, rushing on outside and away from the fire. No way was there any one still left inside that fire now, but now came the problem of dealing with said fire. Each second ticking by brought the fire closer to engulfing the whole building. Celestia readied her horn to get the fire out, but the creature underneath her got tired of being pinned down, and forced Celestia off! In a spin, the creature grabbed Celestia by the horn, bringing it down to its jaws and biting down hard!
"Off the princess!" Rainbow yelled. Joined by Amethyst, they both tackled the creature back to the ground again, forcing it to let go of the princess of the sun. Celestia managed to get her water spell working again, and sprayed it all over the fire.
Crisis obverted.
~~~~~~
"And these Dragons are the heroes we have to thank, for even in the face of doubt, they stepped up to the challenge and saved the lives of ours and came to our rescue."
The next morning, there came the important meeting off by town square. Celestia and the now fully rested (and physical) Luna were the two there to congratulate the group of Dragons, including Mina and Spike. Not everyday does one get the honorary hero's calling for rescuing those from a burning inferno. If there was still doubts over the Dragons, they were gone now with Celestia's approval and joy of seeing their brave efforts. By The Book and Hard Case were present alongside to give their thanks, though Hard Case felt plenty of embarrassment over what happened. Pride tainted. The crowds cheered for the efforts as well, especially those saved from said fire. The group was off nearby, Twilight joining them now, alongside Lars, Sadie, and PD (who had some ribbons for the food contest prize).
"Well, that's more like it," said Amethyst. Twilight felt very happy over this.
"Oh, Spike, I'm so proud of you," Twilight noted, almost in tears.
"So, what happened to that "thing" starting the fires?" Lars asked.
"Oh, Celestia had it relocated WAY far away from Fillydelphia. It shouldn't bother anybody now," Rainbow replied.
This all was pretty fine and good: the creature off and gone, and Fillydelphia shouldn't have to worry anymore about the fires plaguing the city. Still, Connie had her own time to check the small piece in her own pocket, and it still left her a bit skeptical on one idea. Namely, how'd such a thing got there in the first place? Well, the so-called cloth gave her a very eerie clue, with what the "cloth" had written on it.
Cut- 52371-A