//------------------------------//
// 2 Search Party 
// Story: Blackout Shelter 
// by Brass Polish 
//------------------------------//

	Twilight did something she’d never done before when the sun rose; she let Spike sleep in.
“What’s the occasion?” he asked an hour after reveille.
“I need you to save your energy as much as you can today,” said Twilight, and she told him about Princess Luna’s search party for Tuckaway.
“Got any leads?” asked Spike.
“Just one.”
Twilight magiced one of the drawings Spike had found yesterday up off a neat pile next to her throne. He took a moment to recognise it. There wasn’t much drawn on this paper, but it did raise some questions. In one corner, there was an illustration of a large tree. It was labelled “G.O.”. A wavy line was pencilled in between the tree and a square in an opposite corner of the sheet. This was labelled “B.S.”.
“It might be just a silly doodle by some bored pony,” said Twilight when Spike looked up. “But we have to look into every possibility. ‘G.O.’ must stand for Golden Oaks.”
Spike had an idea of what ‘B.S.’ meant that he knew better than to say out loud, and didn’t think this investigation would go anywhere.

Spike was left in charge of the castle library again as Twilight went out to talk to Fluttershy.
“You want Discord’s help?”
“Not directly,” Twilight said quickly. “I just want to tell him about the search party. Who knows? He could be useful.”
Fluttershy glowed. She was happy about Twilight’s attitude towards Discord becoming less hostile after the Chest of Harmony had been opened. She took a blank scroll and the quill Philomena gave her. Twilight looked away. She wasn’t too keen to watch Fluttershy send her note.
“I’ve given him the message,” Fluttershy said in a would-be attention grabbing voice.
Twilight turned back to face her.
“And I’ve asked him to set you up with an inbox.”
“What?!”
Owlowiscious, asleep in a room upstairs, was luckily not disturbed; not even when Twilight shrieked a moment later as a scroll had dropped out of her left nostril.
‘We’re all set, besty,’ it read.
Twilight attempted to look grateful for the benefit of Fluttershy, who was happy to know how helpful her pen pal was being.

There was a bit of a complication late that afternoon. Snips and Snails showed up with a long overdue library book from months ago when the large oak tree had still been standing. They were bouncing with pride at finally finding it, but they were soon looking rather anxious. Spike suggested that they were afraid to ask a Princess if they could have their money back after having to pay a lost book fine. Twilight decided that there was no harm in giving them the two bits, which she paid out of pocket in order to speed things along. But it did take a while to adjust the records, as a replacement had already been added to the shelves. This was the second replacement actually; the first had been a victim of Tirek’s attack. As there was no damage to the book Snips and Snails had borrowed, it simply became a second available copy.

“We’ve lost some time,” Twilight said to Spike after the moon was out. “We better get going if we want to finish our investigation before midnight.”
She magiced the drawing into the air in front of herself and Spike, and they started to follow the line out of the Castle, through Ponyville, and towards Froggy Bottom Bog. It took a while for them to realise where they were heading, but before they even made it, Twilight slapped her forehead.
“We messed up, Spike!” she groaned. “We were supposed to start at the Library, not the Castle!”
Spike was no happier than Twilight, but after his last visit to Froggy Bottom Bog, he was at least glad not to have to go there.

They returned to the town and made their way to the remains of Golden Oaks. The burnt bark and charred roots had long since been disposed of and the hole where the basement once was had been filled. Twilight was grateful to the Mayor for holding off on any plans to replace the Library with something else for a while. She and Spike restarted and it was already past midnight when they had once again left Ponyville. Now the curvy line on the paper indicated that they had to go into the Everfree Forest.
“I don’t know which is worse,” sighed Spike. “What do you think we’ll find?”
“Hopefully nothing that wants to eat us,” replied Twilight, lighting her horn before pushing on.

It seemed like lately they’d been catching the Everfree Forest on a good day. The number of times they’d gone to Zecora’s hut without running into a vicious creature was outweighing the times when they had been ambushed. And now that they knew the safest route to the Castle of the Two Sisters, trips there for the restoration project were becoming less and less eventful. Tonight, Twilight and Spike only came across one disturbing thing on the way to their destination.
“What is that?” Spike asked from behind a large rock.
“I think it’s a giant land shrimp,” Twilight whispered, eyeing the large, green shape.
“That’s a shrimp?” Spike thought it had a shape like a loudhailer.
Twilight took a cautious step forward. Upon closer inspection, the shape appeared a little transparent.
“Oh. It’s a land shrimp shell,” she said. “We can move on. There’s nothing in there.”
“OK,” said Spike, following her. “But I hope we don’t meet the thing that shed that shell.”

What they found instead was a clearing in the forest. It was definitely an area they’d never been to. There was a wall of overgrown trees surrounding a flat, grassy mass about a quarter of the size of the Crystal Stadium. There were only four trees in this area and about twenty bushes that were no bigger than Apple Bloom.
“This is where the map leads to,” said Twilight, inspecting the drawing. “But there doesn’t appear to be anything here.”
“Yeah. No giant land shrimp could hide in here,” Spike said, peering around.
Twilight looked up at the full moon and decided that its light was sufficient enough to show them everything in this clearing.
“Let’s go a little further,” she said. “If we don’t see anything past that one bush, we’ll call this a wasted effort.”
Spike had been thinking of it like that since they’d backtracked earlier. It was already well past both their bedtimes.

As they advanced, there was a faint booming noise. They stopped. The noise stopped. They looked around.
“Let’s go back,” said Twilight.
Spike nodded, and they started to turn around. The silent booming came again. They stopped. The noise stopped. This time, they looked down.
“Does this ground feel different to you?” asked Twilight.
Spike jumped up and down a few times. The booming was louder.
“Could there be something buried here?” he asked.
The hard ground beneath them shifted. They stepped quickly backwards and stared down in surprise. A door was opening in the ground. A faint yellow light was coming from what lay beneath it, partially obscured by an emerging head.

A green coat, a white mane, a pair of red eyes…
“Tuckaway?” Twilight breathed.
The red eyes blinked. They were bleary and a little twitchy. They looked up at the full moon, then at Twilight and Spike.
“Who are you?” Tuckaway asked.
“I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle. I’m a recently coronated member of the Royal Family and appointed by Princess Luna as a participant in a search party for you.”
Tuckaway’s eyes widened. “P-princess Luna sent you?”
“Yes.”
“And ‘Twilight’ you’re name is?”
“That’s right.”
Spike thought Tuckaway looked unhinged, but Twilight was too happy about finding her to notice.
“Want to see where I’ve been living since I left Ponyville?” offered Tuckaway.
“May I?”
Tuckaway receded back into her underground dwelling. Twilight and Spike followed, leaving the door open upon Tuckaway’s approval.

Twilight and Spike were impressed. They were standing in an underground bunker. Two dim lanterns hung in opposite corners. On one side was a cot with a white sheet and blue-green duvet, a wide wooden pantry and a pool table. On the other side, there were mostly books and bottles. There were also shelves and another table, but books and papers were nearly covering everything. In the middle was the square door in the ceiling, a downspout that hung down into a wooden barrel, and Tuckaway, who looked almost as messy as the other half of the bunker. Her mane and tail were unkempt and her wings were hanging down by her sides.

“So why have you been looking for me?” Tuckaway asked.
“Well, you moved out of…”
Twilight wasn’t sure she should mention Golden Oaks, as she wasn’t sure how Tuckaway would take the news of it being blown up.
“You moved out of Ponyville,” she said instead, “and no one knew where you went. The Royal Family was worried when no one could tell them what happened to you.”
“The Royal Family? These ponies who’ve been helping Princess Luna try and find me?” asked Tuckaway, her eyes still bleary.
“That’s right,” answered Twilight. “May I ask why you’ve come here and what you’ve been doing since you left Ponyville?”
“Um…” Tuckaway appeared more alert now. “Why don’t you summon Princess Luna? I’d prefer to not have to explain everything twice.”
“Yes, I suppose…”
“Here.” Tuckaway shifted over to the messy side of the bunker and beckoned Twilight to join her. “Here’s parchment and ink.”
She produced a clean scroll and a small pot.
“Thank you,” smiled Twilight, magicing the items out of Tuckaway’s outstretched hoof.

Twilight had heard of scented inks, but she’d never come across one until tonight.
“Mm. Mint,” she said, inhaling a few times before beginning to write her note.
She decided to address it to both Celestia and Luna, as the sun was due to rise soon and the former would likely be awake soon. She wrote her message of success and the location of their whereabouts, requested their presence, and ended with her signature.
“Ooh, it still smells like mint,” grinned Twilight, sniffing her letter once more before giving it to Spike.
Tuckaway watched as Spike set fire to Twilight’s letter.
“There’s jugs of water in there if either of you are thirsty,” she said, indicating one of the pantry doors. “Don’t drink outta the barrel here. That’s where I bathe.”
“Thank you very much,” replied Twilight and Spike.
Twilight had herself a drink along with Spike, and then decided to write another note. This one for Discord. She turned away from Tuckaway so she didn’t see her slide her second rolled up scroll up her nose.
“Tuckaway, may I borrow your bed sheets?” she asked once her letter was gone. “I want to make a marker for the princess.”
“By all means,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll be needing them anymore.”
Twilight happily collected the white sheet and blue-green duvet, and flew out of the bunker.

Spike yawned, his mouth wide enough to make a tatzelwurm jealous.
“You’re still a baby dragon, aren’t you?” asked Tuckaway.
“Uh huh.”
“Probably shouldn’t have let Princess Twilight take those bed sheets,” Tuckaway chuckled lightly. “We could play pool if you like. Might keep you awake.”
Spike agreed. He’d never played pool himself, but he’d seen Applejack and Rainbow Dash play once. However, his sleep deprivation really took hold of him just as he grasped his cue. He stumbled backwards, fell on his tail and hit the table covered in books. His cue struck a book, knocking it off the table and onto his face.

Spike’s sleepiness dissolved.
“Mint-scented poison?!” he gasped, rapidly taking in the page in front of him. “Weaken any magical creature who sniffs it?!”
Tuckaway’s expression was causing Spike even more panic.
“Your regime is about to fall, dragon,” she snarled.
Spike called to the open door in the ceiling. “Twilight! Twilight!”
No reply. Spike grabbed his cue, backed up, ran a little way, then pole-vaulted up to the exit.

Spike appeared above the ground just in time to see Twilight, her bed sheet maker finished, keel over.
“Twilight!”
He ran to Twilight and shook her hoof. Twilight was groaning. Her face was kind of glum-looking. Her legs were stiff and her eyes weren’t moving very fast. She looked like she was having a silent sulk fit.
“Twilight! Please, say something!”
Twilight only managed to say “Sssspike…” before continuing to groan dully.

Spike looked down into the bunker. He didn’t have a chance to start on Tuckaway. She started barking as soon as he appeared.
“I saw the signs! I read Mare in the Moon! I knew Nightmare Moon was returning! I knew she’d overthrow Princess Celestia and take over the throne as Princess Luna, the princess of the night! I knew she’d destroy Equestria with her eternal darkness!”
She flew around the bunker grinning like Berry Punch after a pint.
“I’ve been down here researching my flank off ever since the Summer Sun Celebration! I’ve been trying to find a way to sneak poison to Princess Luna for who knows how long!”
Spike’s efforts to tell Tuckaway that she’d made an awful mistake were fruitless. She wouldn’t stop gushing her excitement at her plan coming to fruition.

Spike looked back at his paralysed friend and panic grabbed him again. There was a familiar shape illuminated by the full moon. He could tell it was Celestia and Luna approaching the clearing, guided by the neatly arranged bed covers. Then Spike watched in horror as the sisters stopped flying and started falling out of the sky. He saw that they were plummeting towards two trees which were fairly close together. He eyed the bed sheets, was hit by inspiration, and franticly got to work. As quickly as he could, he snatched up the covers, sprinted to the trees, tied one end of each to one tree, and stretched the sheets towards the other tree. In the nick of time, he had made a hammock to break the princesses’ fall.

Tuckaway’s voice boomed from behind the out of breath dragon, who wheeled around.
“I’ve done it! I’ve defeated Nightmare Moon!”
Luna certainly stood out amongst the white sheet and blue-green duvet, but Celestia seemed to blend in. Tuckaway hadn’t noticed her.
“The sun will rise again! Goodbye, moon!”
Again, Spike’s warning of Tuckaway’s big mistake fell on deaf ears. Tuckaway flew away towards Ponyville. Spike examined the two sisters. They both had glum faces and their bodies were stiff. Spike made an attempt to drag the two of them towards the bunker, but even if his fatigue hadn’t taken hold of him again, he couldn’t have managed it alone.
“I’m gonna try and find an antidote,” Spike said and repeated to Twilight as he passed her on his way to the door in the ground.