I now find myself with another specter of my past.
Spike the dragon is with me currently. He is the former friend and assistant of the queen, and I have offered him his room in this book to give insight into… the newly made Princess Rainbow Dash. Needless to say, my original plans of returning to the Crystal Empire to find out more about the Therstels has been… delayed.
Spike, this dragon, is too traumatized to talk of Twi-of the Queen. I am… still in reservation over whether or not I can continue to speak of Princess Dash. So we will talk of each other’s blind spots – he of Dash’s profile, and I of the events that led him to Ponyville again after our… fiasco in Canterlot.
We must be quick with this passage. You are only hearing of this now, reader, but the apparently minted Princess Gympis has relayed –and Fluttershy confirmed – the imminent arrival of the Queen’s marriage to Princess Dash. Such an event requires the Element’s forced participation in preparing the events. And should they refrain from doing so, the lives of the Cake family, foals included, will be in mortal danger.
I take no pride in being right about the Queen and her cohorts. Only a deep, welling sense of shame. I have read of these ponies, replied to their mail, sent one of them copies of my books! And that they would so flagrantly exploit that trust to… force me into revealing information on the Thestrel hybrids frustrating them. What Princess Gympis related to me of what the Queen and Dash were planning to do to me after that turnover of notes…
I am sorry, reader. I leave the next part of this passage to Spike. I need a moment.
Spike: Soo… Princess Dash, right? What’s the first part of this?
Relevant History: Whoa, thanks. Well, that’s just it, A.K. – Princess Rainbow Dash is was supposed to be the best. Her Sonic Rainbooom…. Like, I still can properly call I into words. It’s a thing that… well, turns the theory of a pegasus on its head. Like, this was a pegasus that didn’t need a machine to change the weather, her speed did it for her. She’s.. a living force of nature.
Guess that’s why it was so quick to turn its gales on us.
She’s the one who inspired the rest of the Elements. With a thing she could do since childhood. It got her buried in trophies and enough bits to get a big home in the clouds! It showed why she’s an Element… and now it’s showing just how shallow loyalty can be when you have to choose between a friend and the law.
From that point on, a lot of the rest can be told by Applejack and the others – she saved us on multiple occasions, at least twice by replicating the same Rainboom that made her famous. She was with us against Discord, and Chrysalis, and so many others besides. And she was… always the most chipper among us. Like, she wasn’t just here for us, she was happy to be here in general.
Then Blueblood and Fleur died got murdered, she got arrested, sentenced to life, and… sprung from it by the other imprisoned, the Queen. And the second we found out they were framed, the Wonderbolts tried to offer them, including amnesty. Ex-Princess Luna actually called us to show us their heads. I used to spend my nights yelling at her into the covers for this. But after all that happened after….
I mean, she was Nightmare Moon. She could see where this slope was leading to. I just don’t think even she knew the speed they’d all go down it.
I… sometimes wanna believe Dash wasn’t a part of what happened to Spitfire and the others. Know enough of that changeling and Shadow Pony prince the Queen’s been all but welded to as of late to see how they could do all the dirty work. But I saw Rarity’s notice on Sweetie Belle, and… There’s no way she wasn’t a part of that. Turns my stomach thinking about it. And that’s something, since Rarity’s been showing me with gems as of late. Among… other things.
It’s also what makes one of the Thestrel–hybrid’s (I got it right? Sorry, hand’s shaking.) asides to try and ‘clear her name’, sadly impossible. I… don’t even think she knows. And I don’t wanna be around when she does. She survived a Rainboom, and I’m worried about what havoc she might evoke. Gotta find out somehow but… there’s gotta be a better way.
Seem to be saying that a lot, don’t I.
Right now, Dash is the head of the Wonderbolts, closest to the Queen, and… lost to us. To all of us sick of the Queen’s depravity. I don’t want to try and say this – heck, they were the ones who got me hooked on the idea of redemption and getting around any obstacle – but the best parts of the Queen and that Princess died in those cells.
Next up is the… Personal Notes?
Personal Notes: Right, got it. Look, I’m not sure exactly what caused it, but I do know this. Rainbow was the first taken down, even before the Queen. They were... close. Not just like… y’know, friends. And I think that tracks with why she’s sticking with her through all this evil.
I… I actually thought that Scootaloo would be enough to turn her back from all this. Used to think that she’d die looking up to this cyan pegasus. Sadly enough, I think she actually did.
Because even as Fluttershy and Rarity… and I were busy doubting the Queen, Rainbow Dash never did.
Dragon part o’me is actually a bit .. I dunno, surprised? That Dash could find somepony that means that much to her. Ex-assistant part of me knows she’s used it to… Celestia’s mane, I don’t even want to describe! A.K. haven’t you written enough on that stuff that went down at the Ponyville Schoolhouse?! What the Queen did to those Sailor Scouts! What she…made me…
I’m sorry. You’re right, A.K. More ponies gotta know how Princess Dash came to this and what she is now.
Next up is… did I get that right?
Abilities: So, Princess Dash is fast . Like, she was crazy fast before, but she’s got a trinket from the Queen that can put her Sonic Rainboooms out at half the distance it normally took. Reports are right, she doo down Princess Celestia with that move. There’s only one pony who faced down a Rainboom head-on and survived without seriously getting hurt, and… Well, A.K. doesn’t want me throwin’ about names in case it gets back to ‘em.
Says it all though, doesn’t it? Here we are, arm-deep in a book that’s supposed to be telling you about why you should be running away from the really fast and this might be the first of Twilight's inner circle no amount of distance will do you good against.
The main thing that does hold Princess Dash back is her own obsessions. She wanted to be captain of the Wonderbolts, so keeping your distance from them – whichever’s left, anyways – is important. And despite herself, she’s actually still given over to competition. Something that can get you the slip on her – assuming you can escape her during or afterward – is key.
Final word is this, but my above statement made it obvious. Don’t bother looking for ways out if she’s got you on her radar – because more often than not, the Queen’s likely following just behind her. Run and you’ll die tired. Hide and you’ll die cramped. The best solution for her is avoidance, and considering she’s still mostly limited to Ponyville, Cloudsdale, and Canterlot, I’d suggest keeping a wide berth round here. Like, big enough to reach Mt. Everhoof.
And sweet Celestia, don’t get involved in anything she sets up. After what happened to Lemon Hearts, Lemon Honey and Twinkleshine, I’m not even sure getting cold hooves after the fact might help you then. Princess Rainbow Dash… whatever she was before, she’s got it bad for the Queen now. And because of that, Equestria’s gonna get it worse.
[AN]: Now we turn to my own actions that day. Technically, this took place over two days, but my arrival in Ponyville was in the late evening, so that part of my notes will be brief.
Day 1: I’d returned from my travels to find a Ponyville mired in chaos. Apparently, Princess Dash and Luna's visit to this city had run afoul of both the Thestrel hybrids and the Caball at the same time. That fatal interrogation session of the three stray mercenaries due to Hel demanded blood, by their code. But I do not think they appreciated whose blood would likely be spilled.
Of the nine Caball henchponies that were part of this stick-up, only two survived by the time the fires – and the Rainboom phenomena – were suppressed. And only one henchpony was present on the scene, the other (Withers) apparently on the run*. Apparently, Dr. Cabelleron’s info about the ever-growing situation with Equestria was catastrophically out of date, especially in light of how to handle Princess Dash. Thankfully, Knight-Commanders Flash Sentry and Spearhead’s efforts prevented more ponies from being in the middle of this… bloodbath.
In addition, two Dragon envoys were present at Dash's tour of Ponyville as well, Cinders and Garble. And the latter is dead. Wonderbolt Misty Fly has taken it the hardest, but the reports of it being one of the Thestrel’s actions that did this…. chilled resonated with me. Until this point, the Thestrel hybrids were a nuisance. Now they’d taken out someone in their capacity. I… fear what this means, both for the Thestrels and the Queen’s future actions.
I embraced Misty Fly for a brief second. To console someone over the corpse of someone they clearly cared about of course. I am no monster. Had to break when Rainbow Dash was finishing her conversation with High Winds about prompt response time. Mainly because her next words were to Cinder about payment, and they were ones I should have seen as prophetic then.
“…. Any you’re lucky you’re getting anything at all, Cinder!“
“Half the gems you promised me and the Dragon clan?” Cinders yelled back. “This is an outrage!”
“Dragon clan, bullshit – I know most of these are going down your gullet,” The chuckle Dash emitted should not have sounded as ominous as it did. “Just decided to take that part of the cut out before you did.”
Clearly, Cinders was addicted to these gems. It is a rare phenomenon on this side of the Equestrian shore, but I often wondered if this was the reason for the dragons’ discontent on their own isle. She would not be denied. “Does hazard pay doesn’t matter to Equestria’s new royalty, either? I would have had one of those murdered of Garble down in flames if your prince wasn’t sent taint-first into my face!”
I snorted once at her phrasing. Goodness, what was wrong with me?
“Considering none of those piss-ponies were supposed to get that close, it’s your own fault for letting them slip away!” Princess Dash’s arms folded, her hovering position allowed her to just be able to look down into Cinder’s eyes. I was surprised her grin didn’t stretch to my position as well. “And speaking of Garble, the light load of your gems should give ya more than enough room to carry him back!”
Cinders snorted, black smoke thankfully jetting to Princess Dash’ right. I suspected that was not the direction she originally had in mind, but that way laid suicide. “Since when do you care about what happens to this city?”
“Since my Queen took over Equestria, Nobody’s allowed to cull anything in this city…” And Dash’s next four words hilted into my core like cutlasses. “… But me and mine.”
“Not until we’ve got every bit of gems you’ve taken from us as down payment. Here as in my Iron Pony.”
“How, you craven concubine?!” Cinders was at the end of her rope. Princess Dash couldn’t have looked less interested, and that relief came the second a far more shadowy regent arrived.
“Quarter of this town’s treasury’s in his gut. You’ve got claws. Use your imagination.” Cinder’s rage wilted in the face of Prince Shroud. Like bottled thunder, she took up the red-scaled corpse that was once Garble and sped off. I was almost thrown off my hooves by her speed.
Needless to say, I needed to get away from there. Twilight’s regent Prince and Princess were here, and I was not sticking around to see what form Prince Toxic Haze was likely in. As I stole away from Misty Fly, I could hear High Winds' response to Princess Dash, tinkling just past the charred Town Hall. “How’re we gonna get a bead on those Thestrels without Cinders?”
“Heh. We always gotta plan B, Winds. Find me the Princes – time we took a ride on the town Carousel.”
There. That should have been where I put two and two together. But I was too busy trying to find those Thestrels. I had so much to reveal to them. So much that I hoped that they could reveal to
set me free set me free set me free set me
Again! It’s here in my notes again!** I was about to nod off and… and the Equilixir within my breast pocket is buzzing again. I want to be rid of it, but it’s the only chance I have to study something. Perhaps I may need to finish my research elsewhere.
I’m not sure I can handle more of this phenomena - the Queen was enough of a chaotic factor, her and this might destroy my chance of staying under the radar.
I retreated back to Dr. Hooves’ house. Derpy Hooves was there, thankfully, and the air blockade had cut her shift early. Thankfully, a little shop I passed on the way there gave me something to help get through to her. A pick-me-up (and-chew.)
“M-muffins?” Taking one of the strawberry concoctions (“Heehee! They’re our best-selling one! But don’t tell Applejack!“ said its seller.) As Dr. Hooves had let me know, they’re not Derpy’s favorite. I… had originally taken this one out to eat myself. But her eyes… By Celestia’s mane, I’ve never seen any cave that hollow. The muffin was hers. I would have gotten her a truckload if I could. As it was, I simply turned to the Harphone of Dr. Hooves while she ate, softly nibbling at my own.
There were two messages. Another from Princess Cadance. I expected this first one; Sapphire Joy had made it clear that she would contact her before setting out for Somnambula.
Dr. Hooves: if you get this before A.K. does, make sure this first part of the message goes to her. A.K., if you’re listening, I would like to say: thank you. For all that you’ve done and are doing. It is well appreciated, and I have made sure you will have an easier time for your future experiments. In your mailbox will be a way to get you to a better-suited locale – and with the speed that may have delayed you before. Tell the guard there “Sunset, Sunset, believe in the fight / Resist the Sparkle and bring us back the light”. He’ll know the rest. I wish you safe travel.
As for Flash’s case, Dr. Hooves: I’ve made accommodations to get him back to the Crystal Empire. You’re right: he’s too obsessed with trying to rehabilitate Queen Twilight, and he has negative leverage to make her, especially with the Alicorn Amulet around her neck, those Princes in her ears, and everypony else… I’d rather not say. I’ll speak more about why, but… let’s just say Casa Del Cadance does indeed have one more passenger.
This is why we must be quick. If the statue cannot be moved, we will have to fashion another. And I am too occupied with Shining to do so myself. That means… we will have to trick the Queen into doing so. Keep an eye out for any methods – this may be the way we get the current Thestrel hybrids on point. They’re good, but they’re a wild card. And the only pony more obsessed about their fate than me… is Twilight. For far different reasons.
Sincerely, Princess Cadance.
The other… well, it would prove to be prophetic in its own way.
Doc, we’ve got a problem.
Finally managed to set up that trial lab in Trottingham, and wouldn’t you know Queen Troglodyte decided to snap up a raid for the OTHER Queen! Don’t know whether it's a good or bad thing that her target was the two Sailor Squad ponies holed up in here, but most of the material is out!
Y’gotta call back Sassy, dude. City’s turning into a mess more often, the communication lines are shot to Tartarus, I SWEAR I saw that renegade Cabelleron at one of Queen Trottingham’s galas! And worse yet, the Zebra contingent here is eyein’ the exits, and I don’t know what caused it! If not for Shining’s guarantee of this being a safe haven in case Code Black goes through…
…Sorry, Doc. Ain’t right to gripe about this to you. But if you can get one of the Ponyville School Board to help…
Anyways, I’ll talk to you again once all the materials are set up. 1400 Knickerbovine Lane, in case the-
The rest of the message fell by the wayside. Jasmine Leaf – I recognized her from the tally during the Princes’ First Address -burst into the room. “Damn it Dr. Hooves isn’t back yet?!”
“What for?” Behind me, Hooves had finished her strawberry muffin, crumbs dusting her cheeks as her ears perked.
“It’s Cloudkicker – she ran into Haze while he, Shroud, and Dash were busting into the Boutique! We have to help her!”
I swear I heard a THUMP in the lab behind me. It almost sounded too synchronic to be some backfiring gear. But I had no time to investigate. The teashop mare was told to run to Roseluck’s Botanicals, as she might be talking to him. Then Derpy and I were off to the scene of Cloudkicker's last known location. I admit, using wings with my traveling cloak on was not a normal move on my part.
Normality had fled this village long ago, though.
We arrived to nothing but gouges in the dirt. And the unmistakable smell of… well, what I remembered from the Ponyville Schoolhouse.
My stomach sank into my hooves. Derpy was frantically looking around. “Ria! Ria!” It took me two minutes of careful embrace before she could tell me the second horrifying thing about her disappearance.
Erroria had been with her.
She had been transferring Jasmine Leaf’s stuff to another abode.
And her little sister was with her.
The door to Carousel Boutique listed open in the distance. Sassy Saddles was busy inside, trying to at least set the chaos within right again. Strewn banners, crushed mirrors, crack-ridden mannequins. And above them all, moonlight flooding the room from a viciously gouged hole in the roof.
Miss Hooves tensed up, sniffing the air. I’d barely gotten my second word out of ‘You recognized something from that store?” before she affirmed that unspoken question. “Heat. Ozone. Like in Ponyville’s Town Square when Celestia fell.” Her eyes shimmered and diluted. In fear or rage, I did not know. “Princess Dash was here.”
I was in that place within seconds. My negligence! My cowardice! And now Dash had attacked an Element’s home! I’d comforted one of her Wonderbolts, what was I thinking! They had to know who she was, so did I! And I just forgot?! There was no excuse. For any of us. Not after this. Everything before this.
Sassy Saddles was busy nudging fallen support beams away from the center floor by the time I passed the door thresh. “Is she still here?”
“Rarity – no, she's not! And it’s because of what Dash took! Her dragon buddy’s gone!”
Dragon! It was… Spike. This dovetailed with the day they were to meet again. And this is what their reunion amounted to. I felt ill again.
For some reason, that smell from outside still lingered here, despite the chaos. I tried hard to not let that occupy my mind.”Derpy, help her! I’ll be back with the Doctor!”
Didn’t have to go far to find the Doctor – he found us, in fact. “Did you bring anyone?”
“I’ll go find Redheart!” Impossible I knew where she was, and who couldn’t be spared. But Dr. Hooves would accept my departure for nopony less. Dr. Hooves was in that fashion shop before I could go.
As I passed by the Town Center, I saw Rarity and Junior Ambassador*** Cori talking to Mayor Rappid Fires. I only hoped they’d move away, not toward, the tenement of Tartarus that Ponyville was becoming southwards.
Then I raced to Ponyville Hospital. Nurse Snowheart was the first pony I talked to. I’d actually tried to talk to Dr. Horse, actually, but the sudden bouts of deafness told me the only pony who’d like the answer less than me was the rest of Ponyville.****
I told her of the situation I noticed the waver in her step as she agreed to have someone check it out. I knew the only reason it wasn’t her was that she was close to dropping herself. And she was the deputy Matron! For Redheart, it must be…
Never mind. I decided I could not spend much more time there. The stories of overcrowding were present in the near bone-dry lobs contrasting with the crowded halls, the guards at the door, the throngs of ponies at the center I now knew Redheart was at.
I had to see if the Princess and Princes attacked any other abodes. My first step was Sugarcube. Rappid, Cori, and Rarity were not present. Pinkie Pie was, and the look she shot me could have stunned a cragadile.
“What is it, Miss Pie?”
“You’re… you’re A.K., right?” She knew this! I had been at the store previously, she’d almost burst out of her coat when I ordered the muffins. Why this sudden recoil at my presence now? “Then… I’m so sorry!”
I tensed myself.
But this apparent threat to my life could be delivered in a 4’ 10’’ strip of folded paper hidden in her mane. Of course it was a letter. Pinkie must have gotten plenty of them in the past few days. And possibly some when her friends suffered their own losses.
Turned out, it was what was inside that would soon validate her newfound neurosis.
Tomorrow evening. Come with Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Make sure A.K. Yearling is here too – I know she’s in this town. Don’t give me a reason to find you all myself. Or think that I CAN’T.
Or we’ll get to see together – in the Town Square - how the Pinkie Sense compensates for a p _ _ _ _ d c _ _ _ _ y .*****
Queen Twilight Sparkle
She knew. She knew of me. And now she expected me by tomorrow.
I’d both started wishing that I’d never come and that I’d come earlier. To find a way out of this. To find a way to keep you away, reader. Away from... her.
I almost tore a rotator cuff racing to Fluttershy’s cottage. I had to cross-reference this. This had to be some sick prank. But the second I got the door open (and realized that it was Pinkie Pie who’d given me this, the pony least likely to trade in suck black comedy), I knew that was not the case immediately. Everypony – every Thestrel-hybrid – was present. And Fluttershy had a letter of her own with her. One that also requested me. One that also threatened her.
I… had my words with the assembled group. Made clear that I would not occupy the same room as them, many of which you know personally, dear reader. And Cori said she’d work out a way to avoid this situation. I’d… forgotten what it was like to put my life in the hooves of another. But as I saw Cori, this new Cori, with certainty in her voice her trepidation once lied, with the pony by her side that had proven worthy of going all the way to win, to the changeling who for her fledgling presence was just as taken in by mystery as I was…
…to Viscera. Yes, Viscera, the thief with a fractured leg and haughty tongue, but that still wished to know how to break into the Queen’s very palace. It was either bred of suicidal urge or altruistic yearning. I would soon learn more of this later.
I had to know more about her position in this later. But that they were so accepted by the Elements, despite the danger… well, it left me with little option but to add my own hat. I knew too much of the inner circle of Queen Twilight to trust that I would escape detection long –or capture either.
I had to leave myself. Too many ponies in this location – especially with the Queen’s missive present and her encounter imminent – would be mass suicide. I returned to the hospital, greeted the weary Redheart, and slumped into a chair. I think it was next to one of the instigators Iron Pony II – Caramel, was it? They would not tell me what had befallen him since my last visit here.
Again, I found myself grateful over something I didn’t know. I do not like this feeling.
I tried to figure out my next move. Now the Queen herself was upon me and I had to survive. Whatever follows this reader… I will not let such a fate befall you. Knowing the true nature of your rulers is not a crime. Neither is resisting them when they prove unfit to rule.
Goodness, I’m an explorer. I should never have had to deal with this my lifetime!
But I do.
And If I am not immune, reader… neither are you. Choose your actions accordingly.
For now, I will ponder my next move. And then return to Fluttershy’s house with the verdict.
Day 2: Apparently, I would not be able to return that day. Snowheart’s said I… ended up dropping asleep in the hallway. How long had it been without sleep? She also notified me of the condition of Cloudkicker and Erorria, the former retrieved last night, the last this morn. I… will need time to process this. Later, I shall let you know of this. Later.
Seriously. I hate. This feeling.
The rest of the morning – afternoon, really – passed by like quicksilver.
I made my way to Fluttershy’s cottage again, narrowly avoiding Iron Standard. Fluttershy was almost inconsolable (Thankfully not due to the Knight-Commander) but managed to point out Dr. Hooves’ location.
I located the group within seconds, only managing to intercept Rappid during her return trip to the Ponyville Center.
“Thank you for offering to help us. We may have a good plan coming together, and Gympis has returned – so we’re all set.
I asked why. Considering she had left late last night, whenever kept her till the next morning must have been important. Rappid got very red and would not answer. She simply said to report to the Ponyville Station within 20 minutes and wait for Standard to bring the rest of the Mane 4 there too. Also said I’d be busy with a task that should keep me out of sight of the queen and her inner circle. Arguably, it’d be the most important one, assigned by Rarity herself to me. She said I could name my price if I succeeded.
I have a feeling it may have something to do with how red-faced she was when last I saw her. I hope it is not something she regrets later. She has gone through too much already.
It is at this point, reader… that I must find myself admitting to a certain role I play, one that is the only way you will ever believe the chain of events that led me to rescue Spike.
My name is A.K. Yearling. But I am also known… as Daring Do.
And I am a world-level treasure hunter.
I have hunted down gold, goons, great troves of information. And throughout my myriad trials, I have penned countless amount s of tales relaying my greatest triumphs. They were… the most exhilarating moments of my life.
I… apologize for keeping this from you, reader. It is a breach of the trust I have so repeatedly implored from you. But now you know exactly what is at stake if the Queen should know about this. I fear… she already has a sampling of such prowess.
This is why she calls for me. And why I can never answer it. Not for anything.
Now, however, my prize would be something far different than my normal acquisitions. I have been called to retrieve Spike. Which I set up for along with the rest of the sane Elements aboard the Express.
Rappid was with us, under the excuse of securing the Express after the Caball party-crash last night. Standard… actually agreed without fuss. Perhaps I was wrong about his complicity.
When last I saw Rappid before moving to the next carriage card, she was securing the throne-bed she had seized from Mayor Mare reduced to marble-size within her saddlebags. Apparently, that showmare’s throne-bed would be good for something after all. We had reinforced it with metal siding, enough to help secure anything – or anypony – inside. It would make for a good getaway vehicle. Hopefully, an intact one as well.
Its re-sizing would also hold until Cori got close to her again – which would likely be when she returned from Canterlot Castle with Viscera, Gympis, and the rest of the haul that Fluttershy had requested for their… task.
I would be within visible sight for the trip, and then move to hide in luggage while the re-formed Gympis took my place. I… admit reader, I did give her my glasses to complete the masquerade. Figured some of me must look realistic to ensure a more fluid disguise. I pulled off the glass too quickly, though, and a lock of hair was stuck in the crook. Gympis took it anyway.******
And in a different pattern than I would normally pursue in writings such as this, I will be succinct with when the journey progressed, where I explored, how it concluded.
It is not to it is that… this trip to Canterlot beheld me to such repeated horrors that to pen them, the Queen’s atrocities in her own capital, would be to enable her. I… may break this vow later. When I am sure we can even survive an encounter from the Queen.
But if it is this that is the last venture of Daring Do, I will have these pages tell only of what the Queen failed to suppress in the pony population – the hope for friendship. And what she failed to attain from me – surrender. Let the rest fall as they may. But I am through with hiding from the disaster this nation is becoming, or the alicorn who is making it so.
No matter how many of the Sailor Squad’s heads I remembered as I saw them, mounted, on Canterlot’s golden gates.
So know this Queen Twilight, reader, all who shall witness these next few pages. Equestria has not fallen – not to Chrysalis, to Discord, to Nightmare Moon, or to you, Twilight.
UPDATE: And I have taken Spike from the Queen’s clutches.
As I mentioned before, I was appointed to rescue Spike. The changeling Gympis was to take my guise as A.K., to ensure Queen Twilight would not be looking for me. From her notice, she does not seem to know that I and Daring Do, are one and the same pony. I seek to maintain that scrap of intangibility.
However, how I got back was a mystery – both to myself and its apparent instigator. The chase that Viscera, Cori, Lyra, and Bon-Bon gave ended in the front of Sapphire Shores’ abandoned studio. We – Goldilock and I - had attempted to approach from two different angles Rappid from the west with the transport throne-bed, I from the east to draw any threats.
I drew one. Prince Shroud. It took all my acrobatic acumen to avoid his tentacles, but it was too late for the rest of the crew. I could see Viscera in a bed of glass and bowed timber, within the ruined façade of the studio. Philomena was under C
And the Queen, that dreaded Queen Twilight herself, was closing in on Viscera like a dog to a bone. Complete with salivating jowls and diluted eyes. It turned my stomach more than my mid-air rotations ever could.
And just as Prince Shroud’s tendrils launched at me mid-pirouette, right when my life was flashing before my eyes, reader. I was embraced by the abyss. For but a scant second I thought he had slain me. But just as soon as that cold, unending black seeped into my bones, it was gone.
And we were before the Everfree Hut. I believe reports from the Canterlot Times implied it was Zecora’s, the zebra shaman and former holder of the Alicorn Amulet. We were all sprawled around the clearing leading to it. I… will not recollect our time getting up, only that Viscera emerged from the hut herself to join us. And she had quite a story to tell, one I will fully establish the second I pry it from her. She has had too many phenomena occurring around – and within – her to not gain a full appraisal before I set forth for the Tenochtitlan Basin again. There is much more to do there now that I had anticipated when I left Appleloosa.
Hold on. While I was writing this, on this very second, Viscera moved upstairs. We were redirected to Fluttershy’s cottage for the debrief and trade-off. It was right in the middle of their realization of the wedding of the Queen and Princess Dash upcoming tomorrow. Spike, you have Rappid and Cori with you, finish this segment while I check what is going on. I shall return with news of our engagement for the next chapter –both of them – and of what we shall
Spike: So yeah – Rappid has it in her mind that we need to rescue Rainbow Dash, and not even I have the heart to tell her of how impossible this is. We’re… gonna need to break it to her sooner or later. But who even would? Who’s equipped for this? Coir has something planned as well, but for it, we’re gonna need the threads of somepony attending – and if the Queen’s word is anything worthwhile (And it both is and isn’t) then she’s gonna have that register locked down tight. Possibly even tighter, not that I’m not around.
Fluttershy’s got a new location for me to hide at. Y’know, so the Queen can’t just roll on up and find me. It’s with Roseluck’s Botanicals. I think I was there at one time before, but it’s fuzzy.
I’ll wrap it up with this – this now marks three different jobs theses… Thestrels got down pat for the Elements. If there’s anyone who can foil what the Queens’ got planned for this wedding. Or why Fluttershy won’t even tell me about it – the better.
Gotta say though, Rarity and Applejack’s rumors that one or all of the Thestrels may have a tap into their meetings… it unnerves me some. I don’t think that it's possible, but then again, until a half-hour ago, I didn’t think untraceable (and apparently magic-less?!) mass teleportation. Yet we’re here, and the Queen isn’t, from one jump back to Ponyville.
We’re gonna need some answers soon. And I have a feeling we’ll get them, because these mares and the Queen are on a collision course.
Spike, signing out.
* This finding was incorrect, apparently. Withers was in Ponyville Hospital, moved there from the Clovers’ house while I was in transit. That he is a member of the Caball may… necessitate my talking to him before I leave Ponyville. But it will have to be fast.
** I am curious about the correlations between the Equilixir’s pulses and my lapses into the writings for freedom. Most pressingly, that it is not a phenomenon present among the other Equilixirs. Is it something that comes from it being outside of a pony’s body? No, then Viscera would surely have mentioned it before. Maybe just this one Equilixir? But what could it have come into contact with that would have it react like this?
*** Correction: Cori, since her debriefing in the Crystal Empire during my time in Appleloosa, has been promoted to full Ambassador status, with all the autonomy and power it provides. I may be able to use this to advantage for accessibility to other venues, should it prove necessary.
**** Redheart, when I greeted her, claimed he was on sabbatical. Reports around the hospital staff confirmed this, but I find it chillingly curious that the sabbatical started just three hours after the first casualties from the Ponyville Massacre were cleared for transfer to Ponyville Hospital from the crime scene. I am… not optimistic about what Dr. Horse is really doing in any case.
***** I will not repeat this part of Twilight’s threat, even under magical redaction. Know only the first and last letters, and that involves her violation.
****** Spike here, one last thing: I think Daring was going to point out something about the changeling, but she was all too quick to tell me of it. Apparently, Queen Chrysalis… she mastered this new form of transformation that couldn’t be detected by magical barriers. It involved using a piece of the original transformation target when transforming, I think it how she got close enough to kill Blueblood and Fleur. Apparently… this Gympis know it too. She thought telling me might either help find a reason for her learning of this technique despite her re-hatching occurring several weeks after the only other user’s death, or… that might help her come to grips with what she saw in Canterlot. She… apologized for her part in the Canterlot invasion, vague as it was to her. I… I mean, I couldn’t not accept, right? I’ll… try to keep an ear to the ground. For her. But we’ll need this wedding to stop first.