Chapter 11: The Elements new home
"Hey Twi, I have an idea!" Rainbowdash called out in the dark of the cell.
"What is it this time? Use a magic lock picking spell?" Twilight asked feigning interest.
"No, you can't use magic remember! How about we pick the lock with your horn?"
"Wait, what?" Twilight was actually interested this time, had the memory spell finally worn off? How pray tell do you say we do this?"
"We could sharpen it on the metal bars by the window and then pick the lock! Wait... you don't have nerves there do you?"
"Unfortunately yes do you remember the time when Sweetie smacked Rarity's horn to get her saddle bag back? That proves we do have feeling in it."
"Sorry I wasn't there. Wait how do you know about that?"
"Rarity was complaining about it one day."
"Oh. Could we use a feather?"
"The feather would break before the first tumbler clicked into place. But good thinking."
***
Auto looked at his team. He had picked every last pony in the group, except Anti-Freeze and Wildpaw, and all of them had passed Princess Celestia's test. He felt a surge of pride as he opened the letter while walking toward the table at which they all sat. Flashburn was telling a story about a pony he met while working on the cruise ship. "To which I said, "Oatmeal? Great idea!" and it was... it was! Oh good morning Cappytan!"
"Good morning Flashburn! I just got new orders. They say,
"Captain Auto Tomaton You have been ordered to
take your team deep into enemy territory to retri-
ve Twilight Sparkle and her friends who have been
captured by Queen Chrysalis! Make haste to their
aid, failure is not an option this time."
huh, looks like we have some traveling to do, don't we?" He looked up at the group. "Are you all ready to leave?"
"Wait... does that mean we are going to pass through Fillydelphia?" Flash asked worriedly.
"That would be the fastest way so I'm going to go with... yeah." James thought aloud. "Haste is important here you know."
"Why are you hesitant Flash? What is in Fillydelphia that you are so worried about?" Rogue pressed.
"Well you see... um..."He began nervously as he started blushing. "That's... where... Sparkboom lives... and I haven't seen her for a long time... I've kinda been nervous about our next meeting... If we bump into her I don't know what I'll do... Probably put my hoof in my mouth... again."
"Is this Sparkboom special to you?" Wildpaw winked.
Flash's face flushed a strange hue of red as he has a purple coat. "She was... um... well... so the mission is to rescue Twilight? I've always wanted her opinion on a certain fire spell!"
"Yes... The letter goes on to explain that the Princess has arranged for a supply drop in a town half way between here and Fillydelphia so we don't need to delay for supplies on the way there. And yes we have to go through Fillydelphia sorry Flash," he winked, "I guess we can try to rush through but at that point we will need to stop and buy supplies. Besides it is a large town." Auto sighed. "But if push comes to shove you may have to say hi."
"Ponyfeathers..." Flash mumbled as he slid down in his chair.
***
"This is most disturbing..." Absol muttered as he signaled his troops to halt. "Equestrian armed forces are blocking the road. I have a feeling that they are patrolling the forest. Swiftfall?"
"Yes sir?" A voice came forth from the back were a diminutive pegasus in a red jacket sat.
"We need a distraction, I want you to fly three miles to the west, then be spotted and lead them back towards here. They will believe that you tried to lead them away from us and you will not be taken alive. If you can escape then fine, if not... You will not be taken alive. Understood?"
A look of a dark surety crossed over his face as he steeled himself for what was to come. "Sir yes sir. In your name and that of Evandra I go." He nodded, dropped his saddlebags, sword, bow, quiver, and map taking only a dagger. He flew toward the west at a low altitude.
"Now we wait." Absol grumbled. After a few hours a royal messenger landed by the command post and the Equestrian Guard rose from their post and galloped to the west. "All according to plan. Wait but one more half-hour and then we make for the border."
***
Snowchaser was tired, so very tired. He had ran harder and faster than he had thought possible. The Element of Kindness was secure in his saddle bag as he fled the Equestrian Armed Forces. He knew he was in a forest known as the Everfree but he was unable to find his way out. The paths were winding and crossed over and over each other creating a confusing maze and he could not risk being spotted by using his magic to find the way out. He knew that North was the way home but ridges and groves of thick foliage made traveling in one direction impossible. He reached a strange clearing. It was made strange by a large hole in the ground that was covered in old soot and ash almost blown away by the wind. He saw a small cave on the edge of the rise and decided to camp there for the night. As he approached a growling ensued from inside as a Timberwolf pack erupted from the darkness with howls of bloodlust. "Sweet Evandra no..." They jumped at him and he did what he knew best. He shot a bolt of ice at them and ran beneath their claws into the cave. He spun about and saw them breaking through the ice that had encased them and they turned around hungrily. "Uh... bye?" He froze the cave entrance sealing himself in and them out. He sighed and turned. The sigh turned into a guffaw as he saw a lovely little living room with all the comforts of home. "Wait... what?" The home seemed almost untouched by the wolves, as if they knew not to mess it up. Even the pantry was untouched! What have we here? Snowchaser wondered. "Is anypony home? Hello?" I'm alone... well might as well enjoy this while I can. He would be safe here a while it seemed. He sat on the couch and began eating some hay fries from a bowl while looking at the wall of old books. Which to read?
***
The Tomaton Team, or Auto's Adventurers, or Freezer Fryers, or Equestrian Armed Forces number two, or Team Super Pony Fire Squad ventured forth from Cantorlot early in the morning. They made good progress that day though it was uneventful. "I have an idea!" Flashburn called. "Rogue shoot an arrow and I'll try to incinerate it!"
"That's a waste of arrows Flash... Okay just one!" Rogue un-shouldered her bow and let fly an arrow into the sky. A burst of flame followed it until poof the arrow head fell back down to earth. "Good shot Flash!"
"Thank you, thank you! So when are we gonna make camp?"
"In about a mile. Why do you ask?" Auto answered.
"My hooves hurt. I've traveled a lot before but always on a cruise ship!" Flash lied.
"Oh okay..." Auto responded suspiciously.
About an hour later they finished setting up camp. "Can I have first watch?" Flash asked.
"Why do you want first watch?" Auto asked surprised.
"I don't want to have a watch in the middle of the night that's why!" Flash retorted.
"Are you okay Flashburn?" Auto asked.
"Yes of course! Why wouldn't I be?"
"Okay. Okay I get it."
As darkness slowly all the other ponies fell asleep Shadow being last as she had not pulled a watch that night. "Hey Shadow?" Flash asked quietly, "Can you do me a favor?"
"What is it Flash?"
"Can you cover my watch? I have to go somewhere tonight. Please don't tell anypony about it please!"
"Okay Flash but hurry back so that James doesn't ask why I'm waking him up and not you."
"I'll try my best." He whispered as he disappeared into the night.
***
James woke up when he heard a rustling near the camp. "Who goes there?" He whispered just to make sure it wasn't Flashburn on watch.
"It's me Flashburn, I'm just patrolling and I thought I saw something. It was only a squirrel though! Now go back to sleep." Flash whispered hastily.
"Okay." James was tired and quickly fell asleep.
***
Shadowfax was beginning to worry. Flash's watch was ending in a few minutes and there was no sign of him. He had been gone for four hours! Where was he? A rustling in a bush near the edge of camp shoved all thoughts of Flash back and she drew her blade. "Show thyself."
"Oh going all ye olde English on me. It tis I, Flashburn, my lady Shadowfax." Flash joked as he stumbled through the brush.
"Oh my goodness Flash are you okay? What happened?" Flash's cloak and hat had slash marks and gashes and a trail of red followed Flash from the shadows. She rushed to his side as he collapsed.
"I'm fine... don't worry about it." He grunted.
"We need to get you bandaged now." She gently removed his cloak and hat. He was covered in burn scars but not all of the wounds were old and not all of them were from fire. He had a long laceration on his forehead but luckily it wasn't very deep and had stopped bleeding. The main concern was a deep puncture wound in his chest. Now that she had removed the cloak blood flowed more freely. "Oh Celestia no... It's bad." She slashed a bit of Rogue's tent off and wrapped the wound. "I'm not really all that sure what I can do at this point... I was never trained as a medic. Maybe a unicorn could help or an alicorn? Rogue wake up!"
*yawns* "Why is there a hole in my tent? Is something wrong?" Then she saw Flashburn. "What has happened!?"
"Help! Can you heal with magic? Flashburn you stay awake!"
***
"You know what this calls for? A PARTY!" Pinkie yelled randomly. "I remember a song for it too! First you wiggle your tail oink oink oink! Then yo-"
"What do we have to party for Pinkie, we're in a cell remember?"
"But it is the Cake Twin's Birthday!"
"You know what? We don't even need a reason to party! Let's just do something to improve moral 'round here! What do yall say?" Applejack called out. The was a general murmur of agreement and they began to use what was around them to decorate their cell. A thought crept into the back of Twilight's mind What is Celestia doing right now?
***
"Please just help me understand what you were tricked by Absol means!" Celestia lashed out at the Guard Captain that had brought her the news.
"He sacrificed a solider to lead us on a wild goose chase through the forest. By the time we realized our mistake it was too late. I am so sorry for my failure and if you want to lock me in a dungeon or banish me or banish me then lock me in a dungeon in the place you banished me to then that's what I deserve." He bowed his head in shame.
She sighed and analyzed the situation. "No. You did your best and behaved with honor, loyalty, honesty, and strength, I could ask no more of you. Unfortunately we still need to get the Elements of Harmony back so I have a special assignment for you. The Horn has found an item that Zecora hid away. Though she would normally just give it to me see is unreachable at the moment so I'll need you and a squad to go collect it for me. This is top secret." She said as she gave him a scroll. "Burn that when you are done reading it."
"Yes my Princess."
After he left Celestia sat before a pile of paperwork and mused aloud, "Why do so many Ponies think I'd banish them and then lock them in a dungeon in the place I banished them to?"
***
"What in the wide world of Equestria has happened!?" Auto bellowed when he was awoken in the dark of the night to see Flashburn bleeding heavily as Rogue began healing him. "Flashburn? What happened to him!?"
"Captain maybe I can shed at least a little light on the situation." Shadowfax began in a shaky voice. "He asked me to cover his watch so he could go do something. I agreed and waited for his return. He came back smiling but bloody. I woke Rogue when I saw how badly injured he was. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let him go." Her head bowed in shame. "Another of my decisions has caused pain to a pony close to me."
"Did you really not even question him!? He seems to have walked straight into a trap! Haven't we learned that Flashburn makes stupid decisions? Or do you not remember the incident where he and ANTI-FREEZE GOT FROZEN!?" He yelled in fury then spun around and galloped into the forest.
"He'll be back, he's just a tad bit upset. He doesn't mean what he said." Rogue said.
"I know..." Shadow said with her head down. She wished that she could believe what Rogue had said.
"What was Auto yelling about?" James questioned as he and the rest of the group got out of their tents. He then saw Flash, "Sweet Celestia what in the name of Luna is going on? Please tell me that he's okay!"
"My talent isn't healing but I have mended many wounds on animals before so hopefully he will be fine within a month or two. He should be awake by morning if all goes well. As for what happened... We have no idea." Rogue explained.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Anti-Freeze asked.
"Not really... I guess you could make a litter so we can carry him in the morning." Rogue replied.
"On it."
***
Rarity led the village of Zebras to the ruin, with the help of Zecora, only to find the entrance blasted open and her friends gone! "Funny... where did they go?"
"There are tracks leading that way... toward the Changeling Empire oh dismay... Many ponies walked this way... far too many to be just Twilight and the others... you will have the help of my brothers... after we send away the children and mothers." Zecora rhymed poetically. As the non-warrior Zebras left for the village. "We will help you find your Pony Friends even if we must fight to the end. We should hurry as we don't have much time to spend."
"Thank you Zecora." Rarity thanked her. "I have dresses over there that we can wear for stealth purposes. Even some colt fashion that is popular this season."
"I mean not to say something is amiss, but where did you find time for all of this?" Zecora asked to understand just how it had happened.
"Ummm yes." Rarity replied hastily.
***
"*cough* *cough* ow... my sides hurt..." A voice muttered.
"He's awake!" A voice echoed from out in the darkness.
Why is it so dark? His eyelids fluttered open but still a darkness hung over the air around him. The darkness shifted a shaft of blinding light erupted from a crease. Following the light was Captain Auto Tomaton. The darkness slowly faded away and Flash saw that he was in a tent. "Hey *cough* Cappin' what happened?"
"I was about to ask you the same. You arrived covered in wounds and blood after abandoning your post. I would like to know why."
"Do you? Would it matter? Would *cough* knowing what was so important to me that I would *cough* slip away into the night and return like this? What was so private that I only trusted a pony that I had no choice but to trust? *cough* Do you really? Look at me. Even now you know that I don't want to tell you. Think on that. After everything I have freely told you, all the secrets I have confessed. After the blood I have shed for your cause... You have the nerve to ask me? Do you really want to *cough* know? I will tell you eventually but if you push it now it's on you." Flash fell into a coughing fit and spat blood onto one of his bandages.
Auto didn't know what to say at this point. He needed to know but... If Flash was this defensive it couldn't be just a simple mistake that he is covering for... "Flash, I only want one answer. Why didn't you ask for help? I wouldn't have judged! None of us would! Name one pony here who doesn't regret something from their past!"
"This is something I have yet to forgive myself for... I couldn't bear the thought of bringing any of you there... It wasn't even supposed to be dangerous! I was just going somewhere I had been before... Unfortunately some bandits had moved in. I couldn't allow that. I scared them off but, well you saw what good that did me. Now please I need some rest."
Auto left the tent and faced the group that waited outside for the news. "All he would tell me was that he went to visit a place where he did something he regretted and it had bandits in it. Then he cleared it."
"That's it?" James asked surprised. "I would of thought that you'd have stayed in there long enough to find out where it was at least!"
"Trust me, after I saw the look on his face... we don't want to know that anymore. We should just be happy that he survived and carry on. Now we need to move out. We cannot afford to waste a day. I don't think Celestia will forgive yet another delay."
***
"Well done Absol. The Elements of Harmony safely out of the reach of or enemies. We have the element of loyalty. The element of laughter. The element of generosity. The element honesty. The element of magic. And last and certainly least, the element of... Where is it? WHERE IS THE ELEMENT OF KINDNESS!?" Evandra screeched.
"Snowchaser failed to retrieve it my lady." Absol bowed.
"So they already have one?" Absol nodded. "You have failed me Absol. I will forgive this grievance because you are my kin. Scatter the elements among our strongholds and get out of my sight. It would be best for you if you stayed there." Evandra sighed her voice dripping in disappointment. "We go to the next stage of the plan if you wish to remain general then you will not fail me. And if all is well, you know what to do."
"Yes my lady." Absol bowed and left the room. He was furious! He brought her five of the six elements and all she noticed was the one missing one! How dare she! Can she even comprehend the level of risk that a mission of that importance and kind had presented? She was lucky to even have seen one! Now he was outside of the throne room. He shouldered his saddlebags now laden with only four of the Elements as Eve had chosen to keep the element of magic with her. He turned to look upon his soldiers. They shouldn't know about the elements lest one be captured. He had to think of a good lie that was not too obvious. The time had come for him to do a few rounds anyway, but why would he need so many ponies just on a routine check of the strongholds? Maybe they needed to know of the impending plans... The Equestrians would know soon enough of that anyways. The lie formed in his mind and then flowed from his mouth. "Today we tour our strongholds to make sure that they remain as mighty as is befitting the Frozen Empire. Any sign of weakness is weakness. After this has been confirmed and if necessary fixed... WE STRIKE EQUESTRIA!" They cheered and he smiled. He would not fail her again.