//------------------------------// // Where Are Those Guys? // Story: My Little Pony Tales: Quest To Babylon // by Phoxjes Rome //------------------------------// My Little Pony Tales: Quest To Babylon Chapter 1: Where are those guys? Coltonville. A quiet little town in the world currently known as Ponyworld. Being inhabited by most earth ponies, not much really happens magic wise, so the residents mostly focus on their special talents indicated as their Cutie Marks. Or, as the ponies call in this world, their Hip Marks. Being given the week off from school, the main seven girls from the school took their time to do literally what ever they wanted. What's more, each one of them already knew what their six friends were getting up to, without even having to ask. This was because they knew each other too well. For instance, Patch, the adopted tomboy spent the majority of her time at the Soccer field, practicing anything, from penalties to free kicks. Although she didn't mind playing alone, she did think it was more fun when she had a team, or even opponents to play with. But she was just one of seven. They all had their own agendas to attend to, their own lives to live, their own goals to pursue. That is, until tonight, when the girls were getting together at Starlight's house for their sleepover. Getting ready took a bit more time for some than for others. "Where are those girls already?" The Pink Blonde filly asked herself as she paced about in her own living room. "It's already 7:00, they should be here by now. Or at least one of them." "Don't worry, dearie." An older mare told the young girl. "You're little friends will be here soon, Starlight. I'm sure that they're just meeting up, so they can all arrive together at the same time." "Yeah, maybe. Thanks mom." Starlight replied. Just then, the two of them heard the doorbell ring. This brought her hopes right up, and Starlight rushed right to the door. As she opened it, a smile exploded on her face, at the sight of her friends: Sweetheart, Melody, Bright-Eyes, Patch, Clover and Bon-Bon. "Girls! Where've you all been?" Starlight queried. "Sorry, Star. We got caught up with a blind pony, and we just had to help him. He looked like he was new to Coltonville." Another pink pony with a blue mane told her. "Explains his outfit, really." A yellow pony with a burgundy purple mane added. How very naive she is. "Oh. Well, it doesn't matter now, come right on in." Starlight told the six girls outside. The girls made their way inside, and proceeded to walk right on in, and into Starlight's home. "Hello, girls." The mother mare gave them a warm smile, which the six of them returned, with their own kind comments. "C'mon girls, let's head up to my room." Starlight said to the other ten year old's, which they followed. "Okay, there're refreshments in your bedroom, Starlight. Any of you just ask if you need anything, but I want lights out by 10." "We will, thanks mom. Bye." Starlight waved to her, before she waved back. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The seven of them got to the bedroom, and saw the inviting cabin. The same set-up that they've seen a few times before: bed on the side, the window where it always was, the cupboard against the wall, etc. But this time, their sight turned to the middle of the room, and the table standing there. More importantly, the spread on the table. Candy, chips & dips, soda, popcorn, everything they could've asked for. "So, girls, what do ya wanna do first?" Starlight asked her guests. "Good question." The custard colored filly responded. "Kitchen raid, or hoof wrestling? Hmm..." "Um, Patch?" The much more pale white pink-haired girl said to her. "I was thinking more of hair-do's and makeovers." "I thought we could try baking. If you're mom's got the right ingredients, that is." The yellow pony told Starlight, in between bites of the spread. "Tough choice, really." Starlight said. "Bright-Eyes, what do ya think?" The girls turned to look at the only one sitting on Starlight's bed. The minty green ginger haired filly looked up from her book she was reading. "It really doesn't matter to me." Bright-Eyes answered. "I'll be reasonably satisfied with whatever you girls want." "What cha reading, by the way?" The Pink, blue haired girl from before asked, wondering why she wasn't deciding with them. "It's called "Cornered", by a pony called Checkmate. It's new to me, so I wanna finish it as soon as possible. It's surprisingly riveting." Bright-Eyes answered. "Oh right, I forgot: You're married to a library." Patch commented to the smarter girl. "Anyway..." Bright-Eyes continued. "I don't even know if this is the library's or not. When I got to my room, it was just lying there on my bed with a stick-on bow attached, so I presume it was just a gift from some pony." "Probably Lancer, if anyone." The last girl said to her. This one had a lavender coat color, and a fairly pink mane. "You know he really likes you, Bright-Eyes." "Wishful thinking, Clover. But, I think that even with his family's money, someone like Lancer wouldn't be able to enter another pony's room without being noticed." Starlight responded. "Besides, that's kinda illegal." "Yeah, I don't think anyone's seen Lancer near me or my home at any point today." Bright-Eyes agreed. "Come to think of it, have any of you seen Lancer since... Uh..." Melody stopped herself, knowing that she didn't have an answer either. "Yeah, when was the last time we've seen him?" Patch asked the other girls, getting no reply. "He's... Uh... He's probably on a business trip, with his parents... or something like that. I'm sure he's fine." Bright-Eyes said in response. "Either that, or he could be with Teddy and/or Ace, doing whatever they do." Clover suggested. "Yeah? And what's that then?" Melody added. "Hey, I didn't say I knew, just that they'd probably be together." "So, you're saying that the three of them have been hanging out with each other for the whole week, and no-one's seen or heard about them?" Bon-Bon asked the girls. "If we're all so curious, then why don't we just give them a call?" Sweetheart thought out loud. "I'll do it, if none of you want to." "Okay fine, go right ahead." Starlight told her, pointing to her bedroom phone, next to her bed. Sweetheart began to walk over to her phone, and hesitated to pick it up. "Y'know, this isn't exactly how I expected to start our End Of Break Sleepover, but if it makes you girls happy, then I suppose I'll go along." Starlight told them. "The night's still young." Clover replied. "Come on, Sweetheart, what's the hold up? Hurry up and call them." Patch said as she began to grow impatient. Sweetheart didn't answer, as she kept quiet without touching the phone yet. "Oh, I think I got it." Melody told the girls, with a smile on her face. "Got what?" "I think that Sweetheart doesn't know Lancer or Ace's phone or house number, so she has to call Teddy. And, because she has feelings FOR Teddy, in addition to being right in front of us..." Melody trailed on as the girls began to catch on. "Melody..." Sweetheart whispered. "It's alright, Sweetheart." Patch said to her. "Just let me call him, and I'll pretend that I'm you." The other girls laughed at the idea. "Whoa, She's doing it!" Melody told the other girls, as they turned to her, seeing that she was actually dialing the number she needed. "This should be entertaining." Melody told the girls around her. Sweetheart put the phone up to her ear, and waited for the ringing to stop. After a few seconds, the sound silenced and they heard a voice on the other side of the phone. Unfortunately for them, it didn't sound like him. It was angelic, feminine and graceful. "Good evening, Sweetheart." Was the first thing that she said. This completely caught her and the other girls off guard. "Oh, um, sorry, miss. I think I got the wrong number." Sweetheart replied to her, thinking that she might have just called her Sweetheart to be nice, and not by her actual name. "Would you and your six friends happen to be looking for a young stallion? Preferably the one that you call 'Teddy'?" She continued. "What?!" Sweetheart's heart skipped a beat. "But, how did you know-" The other girls looked at each other, before looking back at Sweetheart. "Well, unfortunately for you seven, he and the other two darlings you're looking for aren't available, and they won't be until the day after tomorrow. I apologize if this is inconvenient for you." The lady continued. "Where are they? And who are you, by the way? And how do you know us and why we called?!" Sweetheart began to sweat more now than she would have if she was talking to Teddy instead. "My name is Swan, the young stallion and his rich and athletic friends are safe, and we have our methods of knowing. That will be all you need to know for now, my little ducklings, but I'm afraid I must leave for now. Ta-ta, sweet pea." Sweetheart was just about to hang up on those words, before she heard the mare say something else. Hearing this, she put the phone back up to her ear. "Before we stop talking, would you kindly put miss Bright-Eyes on the line for me please dear." She requested. "Oh, um... Okay." Sweetheart complied. "Hey, Bright-Eyes, it's for you... I guess." Bright-Eyes walked up to the phone and took it. "Hello?" "Hello, Miss Eyes. That book you found on your bed." "You mean 'Cornered'? What about it? Wait, is it yours?" "Not as such, but would you like to speak with the author by any chance? Or more importantly, the pony who gave you it?" Swan asked. "You know them?" Bright-Eyes asked the young mare. "Indeed I do. Would you like a word, or would you prefer to carry on with this little slumber party of Starlight's? You could hang up at anytime you know." After hearing these words, Bright-eyes practically slammed the phone down back in it's holder, and walked back to her friends. "That. Was. Creepy." Sweetheart commented to her friends. "That's a bit of an understatement, Sweetheart." Bright-Eyes said in reply. "Who-How-Why-What-" Starlight tried to find the question she was looking for. "Hold on. This Swan girl said that the three of them will be ready the day after tomorrow. Also she said that we had nothing to worry about. Something like that anyway." Bright-Eyes commented to the other girls in the same bedroom. "What's your point?" Patch asked the baker, looking paranoid. "My point is, why don't we just carry on with the sleepover now, and worry about the colts when the time comes, alright? Coz if we spend the whole night worrying about them, then how are we supposed to have any fun?" Bright-Eyes said, trying to keep the girls in good spirits. "But what if they've been kidnapped?" Sweetheart asked in fear. "You know that Lancer's family is rich, so if anyone got their hooves on him, then his parent would need to pay big money for his safe return." "Calm down." Melody replied to her. "Bright-Eyes's right; the more we worry, the less fun we're gonna have." "You're... You're right." Starlight said to her friends. "I mean, if they're "ready" soon, then all we can do is sit and wait for them to be "done"." "I guess you've got a point." Clover said. "So... Anyone wanna play charades?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "So did they buy it?" A male pony asked the snow white mare on the phone. "They did. So now, hopefully the new appearance of the three of them won't be a complete surprise to those young ladies." Swan replied to the stallion. She saw that a hoof was offered to her in a gentle manor. She took it and was pulled from her seat and into a form of dance. The two of them stood on their hind legs and began to slow dance. The male appeared to be leading, as they moved about the room in the romantic movement. "However, are you certain that these three prodigies are the right ones for our lord? You and the other Marks can't afford to be wrong about this, Illiux." The blonde pony smiled warmly at her question. He span her around himself, before lowering her into a dip. "Well, I suppose we'll find out soon enough. However, if the likes of Bergim and Tetran can be two of them, I fail to see why not these two as well." He got her up and disconnected his hooves from hers, as they both stood on all fours again. "That was refreshing." Swan told him as she spread her bird-like wings. "Are you going back to them already?" "I must." Illiux said, as he reached for his mask. He gently placed it back on his face, being careful as to not mess up his hair. "The young stallions are expecting me for their finishing touches. Plus, I believe that there is a certain unhealthy shop that I need to rectify." "If you insist, sir. But you may have to be prepared for rescuing the goth pony. As I recall, he's already with Walker on his first assignment." Swan told him, which caused him to turn around. "Oh? And what assignment might that be?" He queried. "From what I understand, it involves around the idea of ridiculing the group's leader, miss Starlight Nova." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About 5 or 6 hours later, the girls were all exhausted from doing everything that they had planned for the night. The previous attempted call to the boys was almost completely out of their minds by now. "Well, G'night girls." Starlight said, turning her bedside light light off, allowing the room to fall into darkness. "Good night." "Sleep tight." "See you in the morning." "Night." The other six all shared their good nights and hit the hay. Unwittingly to them, there was a common trend when you were an enemy of Babylon: once a problem becomes stable in your mind, then another one immediately follows. "I believe this is it, then?" A middle-aged pony's voice said to someone next to him. Even if you weren't looking from the girl's POV's, you still wouldn't see where they were. "Yes." A familiar voice responded, seemingly like he knew this place well. "Are you two ready then?" "Yeah, baby! Let's get this party started!" Someone else said, right before the sound of someone covering his mouth emitted. "H... Huh?" Patch said, waking up slightly when she heard the voices. After not seeing anything, she thought she made it up, and went back to sleep. "Don't do that again, Havoc." The familiar voice quietly ordered him. "Now come on, let's get this done." "Okey dokey loky, smokey artachoky schmoky coky droky slok-" The hyper-active voice went on, not catching on with the fact that the other two had stopped paying attention. "Is this child able to hear us, perhaps?" The older voice asked, apparently looking over Patch. "Yes, and she can see us too, even when we're in these forms." The young pony answered, making his way over to the dresser. "I guess it's in here. Havoc, get the key." "-Ky soaky wooky looky trooky quoky noky-" He carried on, sounding like he was making his way over to the nightstand cupboard where Starlight slept. Just then, the sound of drilling and sawing came from where he needed to be, and the other two ponies kept telling him the be quieter, worried that Patch would wake up again and their cover would be blown. "Got it~" He playfully declared, apparently turning around to see them. The other two voices sighed in relief. "Now where's this shrine thingy? I can't wait to see this shipping~" "It should be in the cupboard. Check the side walls on the interior." The familiar pony answered him, looking at the next target for their plan.