Captain’s report,
First Element recovered. Element confirmed to be Honesty.
Within a day’s travel of Mustangia, changelings were discovered returning ponies to local settlements. They justified it as part of a new policy, where they abduct ponies, drain them mostly of love until there is just enough for it to grow back and then leave them within walking distance of pony settlements where they can settle down or find their way back home. Raid leader confirmed as Honeydew Wisp, princess of the changeling swarm.
Element found in cave located in Rearing Stones Canyon. Entrance enchanted to only let one pony in, Applejack being the pony in question.
Applejack described various traps in the dungeon, including a room filled with intrinsic magic circles. She explicitly refused to test them all on the grounds that a number of them might have been lethal or too dangerous to just test and leave them. Her eventual choice led her to being teleported to a dragon’s hoard, residing in the Rearing Stones.
Records have proven the name of the dragon to be Taloth, a dragon reputed to run racketeering profits to build his hoard. Applejack was unaware of the dragon’s identity but never encountered the dragon.
Instead she encountered Sombra possessing Steel Beard and an unknown number of griffins wreathed in shadows and carrying weapons. The griffins are now suspected to be working for Sombra. They are also suspected to be bandits. Applejack evaded the enemy, retrieved the Element of Honesty and escaped Taloth’s lair with Sombra pursuing her.
Twilight Sparkle and co. confirmed to have been assaulted by griffins of the same type, but evaded injury and teleported aboard the Spectrum with Applejack and the Element of Honesty.
Sombra was spotted from a distance possessing Steel Beard before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
Applejack is currently in infirmary, due to several bruises, two fractured ribs, a crossbow bolt previously embedded in the leg, lacerations of unknown origin and exhaustion.
The morning after, smoke was spotted rising from Mustangia. Investigation discovered Mustangia had been attacked and emptied of ponies. The only one found was an Earth Pony filly named Sweet Cheek. She described an attack where the assailants came from the dark and grabbed everyone in town with their claws without a warning.
We are in pursuit of the next Element of Harmony. Destination unknown.
Star Sight, ERAF Captain, Spectrum
Twilight and the others sat quietly in the infirmary. Spike sat on the little bed where Sweet Cheek slept after having been forced to be awake all night. Applejack was still in her bed next to Sweet Cheek and Rarity wasn’t there at the moment, she had gone to check with the rest of the crew.
“All of them, gone,” Fluttershy muttered.
“Just…” Rainbow choked up. Twilight agreed with her on how hard it was. “just one little filly. No adults, nopony else in that mess. Just her.”
“Bon Bon had a cousin there.” Twilight snapped up at what Pinkie said. The others looked to her. “Bon Bon’s cousin lived in Mustangia.”
Twilight paled at the mention of it. Bon Bon had a cousin? Oh no, this was worse than ever.
“Didn’t Noteworthy have a brother out there, too?” Applejack asked.
“No, no, it wasn’t Noteworthy,” Rainbow told them. “It was Colgate. Colgate had a sister there.” Then she paled herself. “Oh man, Colgate had a sister there…”
Twilight shuddered herself. Just how many ponies in Ponyville had family in Mustangia? The whole city was missing and-
Twilight just then noticed that Pinkie went very pale. “Pinkie, Are you okay?”
“Not really,” Pinkie practically whispered. Twilight nudged in closer. “I had a cousin in Mustangia.”
“What?!” Everyone closed in, except Applejack. Nonetheless, she listened intently, no doubt. “You had a cousin out there?”
Pinkie took quick breaths as she looked to the floor. “Banana Pie. My cousin twice removed, we met each other in a baking contest and we were thrilled to meet each other.” Fluttershy immediately gave Pinkie a hug. “I… I…”
“You knew Banny Pie?” A little voice asked. Sweet Cheek seemed to have woken up in the commotion. “She always made these little banana splits sundaes for us, and she got to smile after her trip up to Canterlot and...”
Fluttershy let go of Pinkie so the latter could walk up to Sweet Cheek and give her a hug.
Twilight felt sadness coming at her. It was nearly as bad as the rehearsal incident, but she didn’t want to think of that time again any time soon. And she felt rage stirring within her. Sombra had to be stopped, no matter the cost.
If stealing the Elements of Harmony wasn’t personal enough, this assault on Mustangia most definitely was.
The door opened and in stepped Rarity. “How are the others?” Twilight asked.
“Mixed, really,” Rarity said. “Four of them had family out here themselves, two of them were locals, and one was set to be married to a mare in the town after this tour.”
“Okay, this just got real.” Rainbow’s tone was one of barely controlled anger. “This is no longer about the Elements, Sombra just wiped out a whole town in one night and we have barely just begun.”
Twilight kept quiet but she agreed. She had to report this to Celestia and moreover, had to carry on for their sake. But given how she, her friends and the rest of the crew thought of this, this… atrocity, they couldn’t just get mad and track him down. “I’m gonna go talk to the crew. We’re in charge of this expedition and we need to get them to keep their heads.”
“Yeah, you do that, Twilight,” Rainbow said and walked to the door. “I’m gonna blow some steam in the meantime.”
“What about Sweet Cheek?” Fluttershy asked, catching everyone’s attention. The little filly had been let loose of Pinkie’s hugs and most definitely couldn’t fall asleep again. “What do we do about Sweet Cheek?”
“Well, she can’t come with us,” Spike pointed out. “And we don’t know anypony who could be kin to her.”
“But leaving Sweet Cheek just somewhere seems too cruel,” Fluttershy argued.
“Which is why we are not doing that,” Rarity commented. “Sweet Cheek, what was your mother’s name?”
Sweet Cheek looked at her for a couple of seconds first, then answered. “Er, Sweet Treat.”
Pinkie gasped. “Your mom is Bon Bon’s cousin. Now we can leave you with kin!”
“Hang on,” Applejack spoke up. “We just left Ponyville. Now we gotta go back just ta leave off one filly? It would look weird ta do so suddenly.”
Twilight looked at Rainbow first before making her decision. “I’ll figure out first where the Spectrum will go. Then you can meet us there after leaving Sweet Cheek with Bon Bon, Rainbow.”
To say the crew was mad when they heard about moving on was putting it mildly. Those who were locals were the most heard ones and that didn’t count in the ones who had relatives in Mustangia. The captain wasn’t allowed a moment to talk back to them about what they should do.
Twilight kept quiet until everypony had ranted enough or just got too tired to keep ranting. By the time the last one had stopped going on with how she was a moron for suggesting the notion, she took a deep breath. “Okay. As far as I’m concerned right now, we have a choice.
“1, we stop. We give up on our mission to track down Sombra and the Elements of Harmony, we go down blazing in an effort to stop him and we lose all chance we have at ensuring peace between the nations that is already a bit fragile.” The option left many of the crew speechless, she could tell that much.
“2, we move on. We report this to Canterlot so they can take care of things, we keep looking for the Elements of Harmony which we know can hurt Sombra because he took them from us so we wouldn’t be able to use them immediately AND screw up the peace conference.
“I’ll leave it to you if you want to stay or keep moving, but I’m not gonna wallow in misery because so many ponies went missing. I’ll wait until after this mission is over,” Twilight told them. It kind of hurt her to say those things, but the crew needed a firm hoof to ensure them that they had a job to do.
They all looked at each other before one of them nodded to her. “Alright, you win.” The rest of them mumbled their agreement and approval.
Twilight let out a breath she’d been holding. “Good. Now, we have only one pony from Mustangia, that’s better than nothing. Now we’re gonna keep moving on to the next set of coordinates, but we’re making also sure that our civilian gets back safely to family. She leaves in two hours. If you have family or friends that had family out there, contact them. Write letters and be discreet. We can’t have ponies finding out our actual job.” Several of them nodded.
“Alright, debate’s over,” the captain told them all. “You got your new orders, now I don’t want to see a breakdown like this again, you got it? Now get back to your stations, we’re gonna track down the next Element and I want it found yesterday.”
Twilight turned away and clutched her neck. It still hurt, and now it was flaring up again. Ow, the bite must have left a much harsher impact than first expected. “You okay?” The captain asked her.
“Yeah. It’s just…” she sighed. “Sombra bit my neck before we set off. The doctors said I shouldn’t go faster than walking and avoid taking much breath.”
“And you still went on with talking to them,” he concluded. “You shouldn’t do that, ma’am. You can’t ignore doctor’s orders for something like that.”
“Ma’am? Do I look married to you?”
“You look important,” he told her. “Now, you are the Princess’ student of choice, you’ve saved Equestria four times over, you’re the wielder of the Element of Magic, you’re my superior officer’s little sister, your friends look up to you and I know that there are at least twenty married ponies out there with foals coming intending to name them after you because of the things you’ve done. At this stage, I don’t think you have a right to argue at this point about the importance of your health. You are therefore going to adhere to the doctor’s orders and keep using your throat to a minimum. Am I understood, Ma’am?”
Twilight shirked back at his tone and nodded. Only then did he show relief. “Good. Now, I do hope that you can find the next Element soon. The more we stay here, the more I feel we could get another breakdown.”
Twilight started walking over to the hologram projector but stopped herself just before she hit the door. “Er, captain? There are ponies out there who want to name their foals after me?”
He nodded. “Yes.” There was a small pause before he spoke again. “I’m one of them.”
“So I’ll drop off Sweet Cheek over at Bon Bon’s place, and we’ll meet up again in Bretonia?” Rainbow Dash asked as a crew pony adjusted the saddle on her for the little filly.
“Yes, that is the plan.” Rarity was with her instead of Twilight since she had been ‘grounded’ by the ship captain and forced to take care of herself. “Twilight found it in our neighboring pony country. We’ll rendezvous together at the port city of Maresillon. Would you like a map?”
“Nah, I’m good. It’s due north to Vanhoover and then west across the ocean, followed by going south again ‘til you hit a natural port formation once you spot the Tower Cliff,” Rainbow told her as Rarity put Sweet Cheek in place. Rarity seemed a bit taken aback. “You need to know geography to be a weatherpony, Rarity. I have to read up on that stuff all time in case I get sent to other places. It’ll take me a few days to get there, though.”
“I did not expect you to be know how to get to a foreign country, that’s all,” Rarity told her. “Local geography would be more up your alley.”
“Oh, that. Yeah, that’s right up my cloudbank, but management has to have us be ready for emergencies in other countries. Drives me around the cloudbank.” Rainbow took a few turns and tried moving her barrel about with the saddle on before confirming it was comfortable enough for her. “Yeah, I’m good to go.”
“Hold up,” the crew pony said before hoisting a big bag over her neck, and Sweet Cheek put her forehooves over it. “Those are all our letters we want delivered. If you don’t mind…”
“Yeah, yeah, not at all. At least ponies will know what happened.” Rainbow adjusted herself to the new weight. “Okay, I’m taking off now. See you in Maresillon.” She cantered off to the edge of the docking bay and took flight, on a clear heading for Ponyville, straight through the San Palomino desert.
Back on the deck, Rarity saw the two fly off north ahead of them, and then the ship adjusted its course to fly across the sea. “I do hope that Rainbow Dash doesn’t try to fly nonstop across the ocean.”
“Nopony’s that crazy, ma’am,” a passing crew pony told her.
“Rainbow Dash is not crazy. She is more determined, but not crazy. Besides, the sooner we get together, the sooner we can complete our mission. Now, I’m off to do my best on saving Applejack’s stetson.”
Today was a slow day.
School days were that. Plus, Pinkie was out of town. Pinkie being out of town for any extended period of time resulted in ponies getting bored quickly. Which was why whenever she came back home, they had a party.
Now, though, they had trouble figuring out what kind of party they should have when they got back. Sure, it would be labeled “Congratulations for keeping Equestria safe once again” but they had to figure out the theme along with getting all the supplies. Pokey would have to visit Canterlot or even Manehattan for enough supplies for this one.
Right now though, Bon Bon wanted a few more customers to last the day. Her Chocolat Shoppe had some following the little attack on Ponyville and with Pinkie not in Ponyville, her goods came under wants and desires and the kids weren’t gonna quit school anytime soon. In a few hours, maybe.
Lyra was upstairs, practicing her harp again. The awful toning probably was what was scaring her customers away. Bon Bon was desperate right now for somepony to come by.
Or maybe she could work on something new. Yeah, a new recipe was always popular when she had something done. They did love those little chocolate balls rolled in shredded coconut she made. Or maybe those lemon drops dipped in dark chocolate. Those always ran out. That would increase business.
No, wait, she didn’t have any lemon drops ready. She had to go buy more stuff to make them. This was turning out to not be a good day to have the shop open. And Lyra was too busy practicing to attract any customers.
Fudge it, I’m going out, she thought and went to the stairs. “Lyra!”
“Yeah?”
“I’m going out to buy ingredients!”
“Okay! See ya later!”
Okay, that went well. Now she just had to go grab her bits, hop on a train to her regular supplier and then get back to Ponyville. Should only take-
Somepony knocked on her door. That’s weird. She’s in her shop, nopony just knocks on the shop door. Bon Bon was gonna close up anyway. “I’m sorry, we’re closed right now,” she said, walking over to open the door. “I’m heading out to buy– Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow Dash was wearing a saddle and a big woolen bag over her shoulders and she had an expression that Bon Bon had only seen once in the time she has known the pegasus.
She was sad. “Hey, Bon Bon.”
Bon Bon had a reflex. “Hey.”
Rainbow gulped as if she was in trouble. Bon Bon had seen that expression on Lyra several times over. “Can… we come in?”
We? Bon Bon checked again. Rainbow was actually wearing a saddle, the kind you have for attaching foals riding on your back. She must be carrying somepony. “Yeah, come in.” Bon Bon took the big bag from Rainbow’s shoulders and let her in. Then she saw who she was carrying. “Sweet Cheek?”
The little filly waved at her and Rainbow took a deep breath. “You’re not gonna like this.”
For the next twenty minutes, along with answering a few of Bon Bon’s questions, Rainbow Dash told her about their time in Mustangia. Rainbow clearly left a few details out, but Bon Bon didn’t pry. Rainbow talked about how they found the whole city empty, with only Sweet Cheek as the official ‘survivor’ of what has been described as an attack by figures wreathed in shadows. Bon Bon asked about Sweet Treat, but Sweet Cheek had a painful expression and Bon Bon dropped the issue, letting it hammer in about what happened.
“...so that was it.” Rainbow was beginning to choke up. “I took Sweet Cheek here hoping that–”
“It’s alright,” Bon Bon interrupted her. “It’s getting boring here anyway without Pinkie here to liven things up. I… wasn’t prepared at first, but I think Lyra and I can accommodate Sweet Cheek here.”
Sweet Cheek practically glomped her then. Bon Bon didn’t say no to that and gave her a small squeeze in return. “So… what now?”
“Right now?” Rainbow asked. “I’m gonna go post all these letters at the post office, hope that Derpy doesn’t get lost again and then I’m gonna catch a train to Vanhoover. I… can’t say more than that.”
“Sweet, why don’t you go say hi to Lyra upstairs? We’ll get you sorted in within the day.” Sweet Cheek nodded and headed up the stairs. Bon Bon seized the free opportunity to pin Rainbow Dash against the wall with a scowl-ish expression. “Before you go, I need you to promise me this: Track him down. Capture the son of a bitch and get him before my hooves so I can beat him to an inch of his life before he’s turned over to the princesses.”
Bon Bon sounded angry. She was angry. She must have looked frightening too, since Rainbow Dash seemed scared beyond her wits. “I thought you frowned on violence.”
“For what he did, I’m making an exception.” Then Bon Bon let Rainbow go. The pegasus picked up the bag and left the shop.
Bon Bon took a deep breath and walked up the stairs. She needed a hug from Lyra and comforting words that everything was gonna be okay, stat.
Maresillon. The biggest port city in the pony country of Bretonia. They said that next to the capital, Maresillon was a jewel among Bretonia’s walled cities. The big castle on the cliff overlooking the rest of the port dominated the city, with strong sturdy towers and flags snapping in the wind. Down in town, the tallest building was the great church, dedicated to Hon Itron. The translation had been lost in time and Hon Itron just came to be the name.
The airship port was built into the castle and Twilight saw that Rarity was ecstatic about visiting the city, to pick up the latest Bretonian fashion. They weren’t here for sight-seeing, though they could go visit after the mission was over.
Twilight came to Bretonia once. Celestia had brought her along when the new queen was being crowned. She was upset over the whole caste system, even as a child, but she didn’t complain about it until they were on their way back home. Plus, it was fun trying to study the language along with the queen’s two kids.
Several pegasi marched up to their docking bay and presented arms. Well, they weren’t expecting visitors probably, she imagined. Took a moment before they saw the unicorn lord of the city.
“Welcome, travelers from Equestria,” he spoke in a gentle yet firm tone with an accent. “I’m Mailoc, the lord of Maresillon, and I was not informed of a visit from Equestria.”
Twilight stepped forwards. “I apologize, milord, but the reason we are here is secret by orders from Princess Celestia in relations to the peace conference soon to be held.”
She could hear Applejack whisper behind her, but ignored it. Mailoc continued. “I do hope that it is not a severe threat to our nation. But I would like to know about it as soon as possible.”
Twilight weighed her options. “Alright, but in private. There are… things that have ears everywhere. We need someplace private that you know nopony would hear us.”
“Oh, and another thing, my lord,” Rarity spoke up. “We have another of our group coming in across the sea. Pegasus with chromatic hair. Name of Rainbow Dash.”
“I’ll have my stallions keep a lookout.”
It took an hour, about half of that time to find a good secluded spot, for the girls to explain the situation to Mailoc. He kept quiet, only asked for clarification on subjects or words he didn’t understand properly and made constant checks to see if anypony not privy to the conversation was listening in.
Applejack was given a moment to explain how her time in the Rearing Stones went, though it became obvious quickly that Mailoc had trouble understanding her accent. To that end, she took it slowly, so he eventually did understand.
He was quiet for a few moments first. Then he made one final sweep of the secluded room, looking for somepony who shouldn’t have heard any of this before turning back to them. “I will need to report to my queen about this. If this Sombra intends to stop the conference, then it is vital that you stop him. I can assemble some of my knights to aid you-”
“Appreciated, my lord, but not needed,” Twilight interrupted. “We have everyone we need for this mission.”
Mailoc nodded. “I trust you know where to go.”
“We do. It’s not in Maresillon, for a start.”
“And that is a challenge for you,” Mailoc told them. “As much as Equestria and Bretonia are allies, military access to our countries is not easily given, even with a cause as good as yours.”
“Oh, brother.” Applejack’s groan has been one shared by many in the past. “Politics.”
“I dare you to raise your foals with it,” Mailoc retorted. Twilight sighed.
“Fine, we’ll wait. At least we’ll give Rainbow Dash time to catch up to us. But if it would help, could you tell queen Maëlla that Twilight Sparkle would appreciate the assistance she can give us?”
Mailoc blinked at her but nodded and then walked away. “You can traverse the city, but I recommend not leaving. Not until we get word back.”
When the girls were alone, only then did Pinkie ask, “And how long is that gonna take?”
“A couple of days,” Twilight answered. “Hopefully we’ll get the permission we need.”
Rarity approached her. “It seems you have a history with her Majesty the Queen as well, Twilight. Why is that?”
“You know, growing up as Princess Celestia’s student wasn’t all magic. I mean, she took me with on some important meetings when I was curious about how the government worked, whenever an important person from their respective country, I was allowed time off to play with their kids if they brought them along.”
“And her Majesty?”
“Princess Celestia was invited to her coronation and took me along,” Twilight explained. “I attended, I was at the after-party, then I found the library and spent some time with her own two foals. Queen Maëlla apparently liked me since I wasn’t afraid to speak my mind when asked.
“All I wanted to do then was study magic and be with my books, but no, Princess Celestia had to have me along for her political stuff. I mean, why? Why would she want me to learn the names of important ponies when I just wanted was to be as good a student in magic as she was a great teacher?” Twilight sighed.
“Whoa, that’s number 14…” Spike said.
“You keep count?” Rarity asked.
“Kinda have to. Twilight doesn’t want to disappoint Princess Celestia at all, so she keeps it in her. It does come to a boil at times so I keep track for her.”
Twilight walked over to them. “I’m fine. I’m fine. Let’s… let’s just get into town, we can do some window shopping while we wait for Rainbow.”
Rainbow sighed. I guess the distance to Bretonia was longer than I first expected.
She could always just make a burst flight, but if she messed up and hit something, she’d crash headfirst into the water. Although somewhat softer, at the speed she was going at right now, the water would still hurt like she slammed into a mountain again. No thanks. I’m conserving energy and speed here.
Good thing though she had to study on how to get there. Next time she saw administration, she’d invite them to show some of her moves when off-duty- Oh, hey, a seal with its baby. Eeeee!
What was she thinking about again? Oh yeah, administration was gonna get a real treat with what she’s got in store for the Wonderbolts. She had been working on some new moves and she needed a beta-checker to see if it would work. Applejack was good, but a professional flier would be needed for these things.
It took a couple of hours, but she finally could see the big cliff that marked that she had reached Bretonian soil. Sweet! Now she just had to head south until she reached Mare-
Thwump! “OW! What was that?!”
“Hasta Nabana!” She heard Tempest cry out and saw him fly towards the big cliff. “What’s the matter, slowpoke? Can’t keep up with an actual Wonderbolt?”
“Why you- I’LL SHOW YOU SLOWPOKE, SLOWPOKE!” Rainbow Dash bursted like crazy after him. It was stupid, yes, but nopony insulted her and got away with it.
He proved himself a fast pegasus, as expected of an ex-Wonderbolt, but Rainbow had gotten some tips from Spitfire. He was not all that fast in a straight line so he liked to make swift turns and banks at high speed to throw pursuers off, a trick he had perfected to avoid crazy fangirls. Thing was, this came at the cost of reduced speed for him when he turned, but it was enough for him to get away in a tight spot.
Of course, this was the open air above the sea, meaning Rainbow had plenty of space to catch up and adjust. And she could tell when he was gonna turn, another little hot tip from Spitfire. The base of the muscles always moved first, and Tempest’s wings always flicked in the direction he wanted to get where he wanted. At high speeds, it took a pro to see the shift.
Rainbow could have seen that a mile away.
She banked upwards when he did and thus she didn’t lose sight of him. He must have noticed so he made a hard turn to the left. Rainbow had to change her course to avoid collision. While a good move to take him down, both would have crashed into the sea and neither would like that.
“Good move, but you need to adapt fast if you’re ever gonna have a chance of joining the reserves, rookie!” He yelled at her when she dove back down and flew straight for the cliff.
“Hey, get back here!” She yelled back and pursued him. “I’m not done with you yet!”
“Neither am I! But let’s go somewhere more private first!” He headed for a cave mouth on the cliffside.
“Yeah, I can get behind-” She stopped herself outside the entrance. “Wait… this is a trap.”
“What’s the matter?” He yelled from inside. “Don’t tell me you’re claustrophobic?”
“No!” Actually she was, but she’d rather rip out her own tongue before admitting that. “But I’m on to you. I bet the Element of Loyalty is in there and there are a truckload of monsters and traps just waiting to pounce on me while I’m in there in the dark. Your plan was sneaky, I’ll admit: Get me riled up enough to follow you wherever you went and get me in there without back-up from my friends. Well, it didn’t work, pal! I’m heading down south again to get my friends so we can all come here.”
“You do know it won’t matter that they’re here because you’d be sealed in, right?”
“Point is, I’m not falling for your tactics. You’re just gonna have to wait until I get here with the airship. Later!”
WIth that she took off. Now which way was south again?
“Mat Deiz,” Twilight said to the shopkeeper.
“Deuet Mat,” he said in return.
“I would like to know what the price would be for a decent suit of leather armor,” She asked. “The cost is being handled by lord Mailoc.”
“Would you like it to be adjustable, or custom?”
“Adjustable. We travel by unusual routes and each of us has to share their burden. Custom takes too long.”
“Hmm, it’ll take me a few hours to get that for you. Are you in a hurry?” He asked.
“No, we’re in town for another day. That being said, we would like it done as soon as possible.”
The shopkeeper nodded and motioned for the ponies and Spike to have their measurements done inside so he could arrange for everything.
“Gee, Twilight, you weren’t kiddin’ when you said you could speak the language,” Applejack commented when Twilight stood up on the podium being measured.
“See, what did I tell you?” Twilight asked with a smirk. “But did you really need me to talk to another pony just to prove it? I could have just said a few simple words to you instead.”
Applejack scratched the back of her head. “Ah, uh…”
Before she could say another word, Mailoc entered the shop, followed by two of his knights, both of them flanking a familiar face. “Hi, Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie bounced in her spot waiting for her turn to be measured.
“Oh, now I see why you had to bring me under escort, here,” Rainbow said.
“Ya,” Mailoc said without turning back and then motioned for the shopkeeper. “Ivez he.”
“Good to see you, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said as she stepped off the podium and changed her tone. “How… did Bon Bon take it?”
Rainbow rapped the floor. “Not so good. She held up a strong face in front of Sweet Cheek, but after I left, she went to get a hug from Lyra. But that’s not all I got to say. I found the next Element.”
“What?” Everyone said. Even Mailoc turned to Rainbow Dash. Twilight asked. “You found the next Element?”
“Yeah. And Sombra had a sneaky plan, too,” Rainbow told them. “See, Tempest ambushed me on my way here and we had a birdfight. Then he flew into a cave in the Tower Cliff to get me in there too so I’d be sealed in there without help.”
“Tower Cliff?” Twilight asked.
“Yes,” Rainbow clarified. “Isn’t that where we’re supposed to go?”
“Well, no. The next Element is further inland.”
“Two Elements?” Mailoc asked. “One was bad enough.”
“Hey now!”
Mailoc raised a hoof in his defense. “I did not mean it like that. What I was trying to say, is that this… Sombra, can spread his influence through the shadows and in the night, yes? So, one Element surrounded by his creatures could cause damage to our country, is what I believe.”
“Ah,” said Rainbow Dash. “now I get it. But still, Tempest ambushing me is way too obvious to point out it’s where it is.”
Twilight sighed. “I’ll have another look at the map for us to check. But we still can’t go anywhere without Queen Maella’s permission.”
Rarity stepped off the podium and Pinkie took the opportunity. “Should it really take so long?”
“Well, unless-” Spike began but he began churning in his mouth.
“Is he sick?” Mailoc asked.
“Not in my shop!” The shopkeeper cried.
“No,” Twilight interrupted. “He’s receiving a message through his dragonfire.” As on schedule, Spike burped up two separate messages. One was a ribboned scroll, the other was a sealed envelope. “I wasn’t expecting Princess Celestia to send us- wait…” She took a closer look at the envelope. “Oh, this is from the Queen.”
Spike cleared his throat. “Since when could Maella send letters via dragonfire?”
Twilight glared at him for his rudeness toward the queen, but opened the scroll first. Quickly glancing through it, and spotting the royal seal along with her signature, it was easy to decipher. “It’s our license for military access. The Spectrum can travel across Bretonia now.”
“Oh, thank you, Twilight,” Rarity said, moving closer. “You were the one who might have convinced her just by dropping your name.”
Twilight wasn’t willing to believe that just yet, though she would take the credit if it was true. Now she turned her attention to the envelope. She broke the seal and opened it.
It was a letter meant for her, written in Bretonian. The grammar was neat, the flow was beautiful and the handwriting was much like Princess Celestia. Twilight didn’t read it out loud, but her expression said a lot to her friends, no doubt.
Rarity was right next to her, so Twilight turned to her. “She says hi.” That was the abridged version of the letter. Twilight decided against elaborating the full extent of it. Nonetheless, it was nice to know they could count on the queen.
The whole group, Twilight, AJ, Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Spike, along with the captain of the Spectrum and lord Mailoc gathered in the Spectrum’s ‘war room’ where the hologram projector was installed. Twilight fired it up and took a closer over the map of Bretonia. “Tower Cliff, was it?”
“Yeah, like I told you,” Rainbow clarified.
Twilight shifted the projection to present the mentioned natural monument and scanned the area for the tracking spell placed on the Elements. She was positive that there was only one signature in the country, further inland. Why would there pop up another one now, if it ever did?
Much to her surprise, a positive signal cropped up in Tower Cliff. “Huh?”
“See? Believe me now?”
“I never outright doubted you, it’s just that only one signal cropped up in Bretonia when I first scanned. “Why would a secondary signal come up now?”
“Perhaps Sombra meant it to distract us,” the captain pointed. “Or maybe he’s just using the same first signal to show up at another location than this one to make it confusing.”
Twilight scoffed. “Oh, even he can’t fiddle with Princess Celestia’s magic. I’m gonna expand the map so we can confirm there’s only one signal.”
Two signals.
“Are you kidding me?!” Twilight was exasperated. “First there was only one signal and now there’s two?! What the hay? I mean… what?”
“Okay, Twilight, take deep, slow breaths,” Spike advised her, Twilight adhering to the commands. “Deep slow breaths. That’s it, that’s it.”
“I’m gonna need a minute.” Twilight walked out of the war room with Spike in tow, leaving the others to think.
“Okay,” Applejack started, “let’s think. If there’s an Element at Tower Cliff, and there’s also one where we first saw it, how come we didn’t see the one at the Cliff before?”
“Our expert just left,” said the captain, “and I didn’t attend the Academy for Unicorns.”
Rarity scratched her chin. “Hmmm… I might be grasping at straws here… but my guess so far would be that while Sombra cannot tamper with the tracking spell on them, he may be able to conceal the signal itself. Or, at least for some time…”
“Better than nothing,” Mailoc shrugged, “Are there any hazards to them being there?”
“Last time we got jumped by shadowy griffins,” Rainbow Dash told him, “all working for Sombra, no doubt. I bet that could happen again at those locations.”
“So how do we go about it, this time?” Applejack asked. “Ah got mine at the last location, now we gotta deal with two. Ah don’ see how we can tackle it.”
“Easy, just move the ship to one location and we move on to the next one,” said the captain. “It’ll be easy.”
“No,” Mailoc interrupted, “both places need to be hit at the same time.” Everypony present looked at him. “To move against just one target would cost us time. Time which he can use to fortify his position around the other, making it even more difficult for us to reach that Element.”
“But we only have one airship,” Rainbow Dash argued, “we can’t be at both places at the same time.”
Mailoc stared at her. “Some of us have wings. One party can go with the airship to one place, the other can travel by wing to the other. Or are you simply being lazy?”
“Okay, just to prove you wrong, I’m gonna fly to my Element, because I know that’s the one at Tower Cliff,” Rainbow Dash boasted. “But what of the other one? Where is that located?”
Mailoc walked up to the projector for a closer look and nodded. “Dragon Scale Woods. One of the oldest forests in Bretonia. Famous for the amount of scales one could come collect after a simple trot through its path.”
“D-di-did you say…” Fluttershy shivered in place, “d-d-dragon?”
“It doesn’t actually house dragons, if that’s what you’re worried.”
“Could ha’ fooled me,” Applejack said.” Everypony knows dragon scales don’t come off easy. Ta make them come off, dragons gotta scrape ‘em on rocks.”
“And…” Fluttershy continued to shiver. “That means that there could be… d-d-dragons there.”
Mailoc groaned. “It’s one of the few places dragons land on to rest their wings during their Migration. It’s an arrangement between us and them.”
“Right,” said the captain.
“So should we do it like before?” Pinkie asked. “Bounce off the barrier and wish the chosen pony luck?”
“No, we are not going to do that, Pinkie Pie,” Rarity said. “I suggest we wait for Twilight to come back in before we find out whose Element it is in the forest.”
“Please let it not be mine,” Fluttershy mumbled.
Twilight and Spike came back in again. “Oh hey, Twilight, can you help us trying to figure out which Element it is at the first location?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Twilight took a deep breath. “Oh, that it?”
“Ooh, how you gonna do it, Twilight?” Pinkie asked. “Are you gonna take a look at what’s there? Use your deduction of systematic removal to determine it? Take a-” She stopped when Twilight flared up her horn. “Oh yeah.”
Twilight fired four rays simultaneously, each hitting Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. Everypony else took a step back but as soon as her horn had flared up, Twilight ceased the spell and hit the lightswitch.
Then two lights, red and pink respectively, filled the room. “Is it my turn?”
“No, Pinkie,” Twilight told her. “I used a spell that tells the proximity of a certain Element to its bearer.” The light came from Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. “Rainbow Dash was right with her Element-”
“Told ya so,” Rainbow smirked.
“- and I had an inkling myself about Fluttershy. Why else pick Dragon Scale Woods when he could have used another cave instead?”
“Well, that still leaves us wondering which way to steer the airship,” Rarity pondered.
“No, it doesn’t,” Pinkie interrupted. “We take the ship to the woods, because while Fluttershy can talk to the animals, it’s not like in Equestria and with the enchantment that only one of us can get in there, we can at least shed light for her to keep moving without getting attacked by those meanie griffins to her Element. While we’re doing that, Rainbow Dash can fly to the Tower Cliff and get her Element back and overcome her claustrophobia and we all win big time over Sombra.”
“Hey, wait a minute, I never told you about my claustrophobia,” Rainbow protested. “How did you-” She was cut off by the sound of Applejack whistling. “Apple~jack~...”
“Ah lost a bet, alright?”
“Now is not the time,” the captain intervened. “We’ll go with this plan. The Spectrum will head inland to the woods while Rainbow Dash heads for the Cliff with a party of her own.”
Everypony agreed to that. “Hey, Twi,” Applejack asked, “was that a spell the Princess taught you?”
“No, I just made it on the spot.”
Rainbow Dash elected not to get that leather suit. Not that she didn’t need it, of course, she just felt better if Fluttershy got the better protection. Plus, it was kinda spooky to wear refined animal skin. She didn’t know the Bretonians lived with that factor. No, she preferred instead to have a pair of saddlebags filled with an assortment of things they thought they would need for further ‘dungeons.’
Her present company excluded, nopony from the Spectrum followed with her. Mailoc saw it wiser to get her a group of knights to accompany her instead. She had to admit, knights were awesome. Not as cool as the Wonderbolts nor the Elite Guard in Canterlot, but they looked pretty cool with their heavy armor, flying as if it didn’t bother them.
The downside? Not one of them knew how to speak Equestrian, at least fluently. The only one who could, Gwencalon, was right beside her and she didn’t seem the very talkative type. Much like a pegasus foreigner version of Twilight, except Twi could speak Bretonian with a perfect accent. Rainbow didn’t believe it at first until Twilight told her that she needed to brush up on her own languages in Bretonian.
“Tower, just head first,” said Gwencalon in her broken accent. Rainbow looked ahead.
“Yeah, I can see it ahead,” Rainbow responded and began to speed up. The others sped up and followed her flight path. When they arrived, Rainbow began a search pattern to look for the cave entrance. “Could have sworn it was-”
“Amañ!” One of the knights cried out above her. Rainbow Dash and the whole group flew toward the location. Yep, it was the cave entrance.
Rainbow suppressed a gulp. She was scared of tight spots, and this cave seemed like it wasn’t a very shallow one. Or maybe it was Sombra’s dark magic making that illusion. Rainbow did remember having a small notebook with her where Twilight had recounted her interaction with the stuff.
One of the knights flew in for a closer look, but he got bounced off from the barrier surrounding the entrance. Great, so only Rainbow could go through it. “I hear you brought some friends, Rainbow Crash,” Tempest cried out from in there. “Too bad your little scaredy friends can’t come in here. I’d love to creep the hay out of them!” He laughed.
The knights might not understand Equestrian, but they seemed to know tones, since several of them, Gwencalon included, flared up in anger. Rainbow stopped in front of them with her forelegs out to tell them not to try anything. She also motioned for them to look up, because there was a ledge above where they could land and rest. Gwencalon nodded and told her fellow pegasi to follow.
Rainbow yelled inwards that these Bretonians never learned Equestrian, or that Gwencalon could have studied more. This was going to take a while. The sun was starting to set as Rainbow tried her best to explain the situation. Gwencalon did her best to translate.
“Okay, here is how it is going to go,” Rainbow started, deliberately going to slow talk so that the knights could understand Gwencalon’s translation. “Only I can go in, and the entrance will be sealed off once I have gone in. Once the sun has set, you can expect unwelcome company. I will go as fast as I am able to retrieve the Element but when I come out, things could dangerous for you all.
“Remember, the enemy,” she paused to look at them to see if they were with her so far. Apparently, Gwencalon’s translation went smoother than she first thought. So she continued, “will only be hurt when covered with light.” To demonstrate, she took out her headlamp and lit up her hoof as if it was covered in the shadows and flopped it about as if it was set on fire. Somepony seemed to get it at least. “There is a good chance that you will be attacked by these enemies tonight while I go in there.”
“So, we fight them,” Gwencalon said slowly. “You go for main object, we protect your behind.”
...okay, that would have gone somewhere real dirty if it weren’t for the fact that the girl can barely speak Equestrian. Rainbow just had to suppress a snigger. “Yes, you protect my behind, I go for main object.”
Gwencalon smiled, totally unaware of what she had just said. “Okay, here I go.” Rainbow took off and dove down to the entrance. “Good luck, guys!”
The moment she was inside, the stone slab inside the entrance slammed down, sealing her off inside. Oh boy, she thought. Let the horror show begin.