“Now, are y'all sure they'd be around here?” Applejack's voice seemed hollow in the dense forest. It was mid-day and there was still no sure sign of either Twilight or Silverline.
Blue Flame dropped lower towards the ground. “Due to the Princess' disappearance, we have quite a few sentries flying around. All eye witness accounts claimed Princess Twilight and her escort came this way.” A ring of pride was weaved in his tone, as if the idea of their information being off was insulting.
Rainbow smirked and dropped down beside him. “And how'd you manage to get that information? By slamming into somepony's side like you did to that innkeeper downtown?”
“Um,” Fluttershy murmured far too quiet for anypony to hear as she stood near a nearby tree.
Blue Flame blushed and snapped, “That was an accident! Besides, you were the one that flew through that street bizarre too fast and scattered all the goods there. If you weren't a guest of the emperor-”
“I think this one knows where they are,” the shy pony whispered, catching Rarity’s attention.
“Or you'd what?” Rainbow asked, still oblivious to Fluttershy's voice. Her tone wasn't as friendly as before, her wings automatically rising her a bit higher in the air.
“Excuse me-” Fluttershy tried again, crouching towards the ground as Pinkie Pie bounced over to her.
“Heeeeeey everypony!” The pink earth pony announced loud enough to break into the pegasus' argument. “Fluttershy has something to saaaaay!!”
All eyes finally turned towards Fluttershy, making her crouch even closer to the ground, her ears down.
“Oh, um, well, it's not a big deal really,” she murmured, looking away.
Rarity rolled her eyes and put a hoof on her friend's shoulder. “Oh, go on, dear. It's no trouble. Now what'd you find out?”
Fluttershy perked up slightly and looked up into the tree. A bright blue bird chirped down at her. “Oh. It's just this little one thinks he knows what happened to Twilight and Silverline. He – What's that?” Her ears pricked forward as the bird hopped down a few branches, chattering rapidly. “Oh? Oh!” she turned surprised eyes towards the others. “He says Princess Lilly was there, too!”
“Really?” Everypony spoke at once.
“Where is the princess?” Blue Flame asked, coming closer with excitement.
Fluttershy dropped her head a bit, still intimidated by this new acquaintance of hers. “Oh, um, well, that's the bad news.”
“Ah don't like the sound of that,” Applejack said with a worried frown. “What happened to em?”
Fluttershy's blue eyes looked up, her head still tilted down. “He said a whole group of darklings -”
“Changlings,” Rainbow corrected bitterly under her breath.
“- took them away to some caves nearby.”
Rainbow grinned devilishly and shot up higher into the sky, hoof pumped upward. “Then let's bust in there and save em!”
“Oh, well, I don't think that's necessary... I'm sure they're fine,” Fluttershy whimpered, nearly flat against the ground. “Twilight is so strong now, after all and -”
Rarity placed her hoof once more on Fluttershy's back. “Fluttershy, darling, we can't just abandon Twilight, now can we?”
Fluttershy sighed and then looked up and smiled at her friend. “No. No we can't.”
Rarity gave her a grin. “Of course not!” She took her hoof off and walked over towards the group, Fluttershy following. “Besides, just think of how filthy those caves must be! It's not place for a proper princess.”
Blue Flame hovered near the unicorn. “Um, Lady Rarity, I hate to ask it of you again, but could you inform my comrades once of our current status?”
Rarity became slightly stiff, but she nodded politely and concentrated on the spell she had been given by one of the palace unicorns before they had split into groups to find Twilight and Silverline. Magic in general wasn't Rarity's forte and she found the spell quite difficult, taking far more energy then she was used to. But this place was large and logic sided with communication being a must.
She focused into the haze around her mind, forcing all the thoughts tumbling around away for a brief instant. “Lady Solace? We might have found our princess and yours. We're headed towards some caves in this area.”
There was a slight buzz as the mental connection she held with the other unicorn shifted. Rarity flinched.
“I know of them, Lady Rarity,” the calm voice of Solace answered her. “We shall head towards your position. Preceded at your own discretion.”
The buzz resumed and Rarity quickly let the spell fade, her thoughts slipping back into her mind, filling the white space with a comfortable hum. She let out a long breath and opened her eyes, not recalling when she had closed them.
Blue Flame was still there, a concerned look on his face that bled into relief as soon as Rarity looked over at him and told of Solace's message. “Thank you.”
Rarity shrugged. “Twas nothing,” she called lightly over her shoulder as she hurried to join the others who were waiting impatiently nearby. But she couldn't help feeling a bit of pride at having learned and used a difficult – at least for her – spell without Twilight's help. She knew she'd never master general magic, let alone the complex magic Twilight often used. But having at least one spell outside of fashion was oddly exhilarating. Like having a secret weapon tucked safely at one's flank, ready to be used whenever the need arose.
“Alright!” Rainbow cried in glee as her wings began to flap faster, “Let's go kick some changling butt!”
As all the ponies charged forward, following Blue Flame towards a denser part of the forest, Fluttershy once more paused and hurried back towards the blue bird in the tree.
“Um, I have a friend, back in the city. I think he's at the palace. He's a small dragon. Purple and green colored. Please let him know what you told me.”
The bird chipped an affirmative and rushed off as Fluttershy muttered to herself worriedly, heading back towards her group at a trot. “I hope he's okay. I wonder what the emperor wanted to see him for...”