Chapter 10: Regroup and Plan
Fluttershy sighed as she gazed at the moon. Even after Rhubarb had flown around the area several times, he wasn’t able to find a single sign of either Rarity or Burgle. She had no idea what had happened, but if Salamander had taken control of Rarity then she worried that he may have done something even worse to Burgle.
“Please don’t look like that, Fluttershy,” Rhubarb said, having returned with firewood. “It couldn’t be helped. Two of the Drudges got away and we couldn’t risk a third.”
“I understand, but sill…”
Rhubarb had made the decision to start on their way to the meeting point George had told them to wait at. He didn’t want to chance Rip Van Winkle taking control of Fluttershy. Because of the delay, they wouldn’t get there until the following afternoon.
Grey sat almost right beside her. Since Rip had spoken to Fluttershy, Grey had stopped talking all together. Even when Fluttershy begged him, his eyes never stopped glowing. What’s more, he seemed weary of Rhubarb speaking to her and wouldn’t let him any closer than ten feet without getting defensive.
“I wish things didn’t have to be like this,” Fluttershy said suddenly. “Everything is so wrong. I want everyone to be together again. We shouldn’t have split up.”
“Rarity’s disappearance wasn’t something we planned on. Wishing for them to just suddenly come back isn’t going to help anything.”
“Hey, we’re back. Is dinner ready yet?”
Fluttershy and Rhubarb both stared when Burgle walked into sight, casually carrying Rarity on his back.
“W-where have you two been?” Rhubarb asked angrily.
“We ran off to get married, but I got cold hooves.”
Rarity’s face abruptly contorted into a dark void. “Put me down before I do something I might regret later.”
“Like kissing me?”
“Keep up with the jokes and there won’t be a later.”
Looking at her face, Burgle seemed to take her seriously for once. “Got it.”
“Rarity, I’m so glad you’re okay!” Fluttershy said excitedly. “Oh, and you too Burgle.”
“Happy to be an afterthought,” Burgle said, sitting down across from her as Rarity carefully lay down on her stomach much further away from him.
“So, what happened?” Fluttershy asked Rarity.
“Just the jerk over there deciding to be a good guy for once.” Much to Burgle’s discomfort, Rarity told Fluttershy and Rhubarb all about what had happened. Rhubarb in particular didn’t look very pleased with him.
“Thank you, Burgle,” Fluttershy suddenly said.
“Huh? For what?”
“For staying and helping us. I’m glad you changed your mind.”
“Um… you’re welcome?”
“Don’t thank him too much. We almost got lost trying to find you,” Rarity said. “Though I admit his tracking skills are rather impressive.” Burgle grinned and scratched his nose sheepishly. “But don’t think that means anything between us. You’re still a jerk.”
“Ouch. Harsh.”
“Still, I’m glad you’re both back. Now we just need to catch up with Twilight, George, and Davenport and we’ll all be together again.” Fluttershy smiled.
“Speaking of which, I hope they found him all right,” Rarity said with concern. “How do you suppose they plan to bring him back with Isis still in control?”
As Rarity and Fluttershy got deeper into a conversation, Burgle was suddenly aware of a large pegasus standing over him.
“Hey there Rhubarb? How’s life treating ya?” Rhubarb raised an eyebrow at him. “What? What is it?”
“Just let them be a moment and come over here. I need to discuss something with you.”
Burgle gulped. “Look, I came back didn’t I? I mean, yeah I ponynapped her but-”
“No, not that.” Rhubarb reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a piece of paper. “It’s about the meeting place and George’s map.”
“What about it?”
“How does he expect us to follow this?”
Burgle looked at the map and paled. It had some dotted lines, some crudely drawn landmarks, and a big X on top.
“I have no idea.”
Twilight watched George pace back and forth at the base of the rocky hill. The reason he had chosen this spot to meet up was that climbing up the rock trail to the temple could be difficult and hard to navigate if a pony didn’t know where to walk.
“Where are they? This is the exact time I specified. They couldn’t have gone ahead yet,” George said and tapped his hoof impatiently. “I was expecting a hot meal.”
“You weren’t listening to a word I said about friendship and teamwork were you?” Twilight said though she already knew the answer. While they were traveling, she had been telling him a bit about the Elements of Harmony and how she and her friends had used them to stop Night Mare Moon and Discord.
“Teamwork should guarantee somepony on the team making a hot meal. That’s what I got out of that.”
Twilight groaned. “You’re hopeless.”
“Finally, there they are.”
Sure enough, Twilight saw Fluttershy and Grey coming up the trail, followed by Burgle, Rhubarb, and Rarity.
“What took you so long? Didn’t you follow the map?” George said, expecting a good explanation.
“You and your stupid map. We’re lucky we found this place,” Rarity said exasperated.
“Are you okay, Rarity? You seem kind of tired,” Twilight asked her.
“What was your first clue?” Rarity answered angrily. Rhubarb was carrying her on his back.
They took a brief break to let the others rest as well as catch up on what had been going on while they were separated. Davenport’s corruption, Rip Van Winkle’s stronger control of Grey, and even Burgle’s attempt to ponynap Rarity, which Burgle looked quite ashamed of. Still, their biggest concern was Isis and Davenport who they no longer had any way of finding.
“Poor Pops. I can’t believe he went crazy. I mean, he was kind of crazy to begin with but still…” Burgle actually shrugged.
“Well, we’ve wasted enough time. The only thing we can do at this point is remove the other Drudges and use the temple’s power to undo Isis’s damage in Canterlot.” George finally said.
He turned to the trail as if he expected the others to follow him. Of course they did, but more because of Fluttershy and Rarity than him. Rhubarb still had to carry Rarity who didn’t know if she could make the difficult climb unaided. Not in her present condition anyway.
“By the way, I’m blaming you for my still being here,” Burgle suddenly said to Twilight. “You must be crazy to depend on a freaking thief for help.”
Twilight didn’t really understand what he was getting at, but she was glad he was still on their side. Princess Luna was right. It wasn’t so bad having him along after all.
“So George, how exactly are we going to fix Canterlot with the power in the temple? They’re awfully far apart,” Twilight asked.
“What do you think I carry a staff around for?” George replied, waving his staff at her. “This is made of a special wood that will absorb some of Discord’s leftover energy. Then I can bring it back and in the least, change your friends back so we can use the Elements of Harmony again.”
“Well at least we can do that. That way we can help Davenport too. Maybe we can break the spell the Drudges have over the occultists too.”
“Oh yeah, that reminds me,” Burgle spoke up again. “You know the pony who wanted me to steal the Drudges? Somehow, he’s the one leading those occultist ponies now. And get this, the guy is an alicorn.”
“What? That’s impossible. The princesses are the only true living alicorns. Who is he?” George demanded.
“I think his name is Rave.”
George’s eyes widened at the sound of the name and he stopped walking. “Rave?” He lowered his staff to the ground. The light on his horn finally died for once. “He’s not a true alicorn. His wings are a result of a powerful spell cast on him a long time ago.” George clenched his lips and shook his head slowly. “That explains who made the containment box. I can’t believe he’s still alive.”
“So who is Rave? Is he dangerous?” Twilight asked.
George took a deep breath, “You remember what I told you about the occultists and how they’re descended from ponies who were duped into following the Drudges?” The others nodded. “Rave is descended from the few ponies who followed the Drudges by pure choice. Over the centuries, his family kept their dedication to the Drudges alive and eventually passed the knowledge on to him. But apparently, Rave developed a different interpretation of what the Drudges really were. About a hundred years or so ago, he joined the Mystics. His intentions though were to study a way to use the Drudges power for himself. He was found out at some point and was sentenced to several years in prison after trying to kill some of the other Mystics. But he escaped and disappeared before he could serve that sentence and nopony has seen him since.”
George looked at each of his companions in turn. “And that is Rave. If he’s leading the occultists then he’s probably just using them to get what he wants.”
“If he has all those ponies at his beck and call then why would he try to get the Drudges through Burgle? Those occultists could easily subdue us, especially with all the unicorns they have,” Rhubarb said.
“Good question,” Twilight said, thinking aloud. “If he’s just using them to find the Drudges then maybe he’s afraid the occultists would overpower him if he tried to use the Drudges’ power. Um… how would he do that anyway? The Drudges are way too powerful.”
George shook his head. The others all looked at each other, not sure how the lone false alicorn expected to accomplish his task. It was on their minds for quite a ways up the rocky hillside but none of them could come up with an answer.
“Grey?” Fluttershy stopped when she realized that the poor zombie pony wasn’t following her. He was standing with his head slightly lowered and his eyes shut tightly.
“Flu… Flu…” He opened his eyes and they quivered.
“What’s this all of a sudden? What’s he doing?” Twilight wondered.
“Grey, are you trying to fight, Rip?” Fluttershy said, rushing back to him. “Come on Grey, I know you can do it.” He was obviously struggling. Whatever he was doing, he was losing. “Grey, please fight it. We believe in you. Think about your duty. Think about everything you love.”
“Love?” Twilight was suddenly hit with an idea. “Fluttershy, sing your song.”
“Song? What do you mean?”
“You know, the song you sing to your animal friends.”
“But…”
“Trust me, just do it.”
Fluttershy blushed and looked at Grey. She took a deep breath and sang. For a moment, Grey kept struggling. Then he just sort of froze. Fluttershy kept singing and Grey’s eyes slowly changed black.
“That is such a beautiful song,” he suddenly said.
“Grey, you’re all right!” Fluttershy said, hugging him. Then she realized what she was doing and took two steps away. “I mean… yay.”
“Twilight, how did you know that was going to work?” Rhubarb asked her.
“Oh Rhubarb, I swear, boys have no eyes for romance,” Rarity said rather dreamily.
Fluttershy cleared her throat. “Are we going to search for Davenport after this? I hate to think what would happen if he or Isis started making chaos in Equestria.”
Well she had certainly chosen a good change of subject. “I want to, but I don’t even know where to begin looking. I hate to say it, but we might have to wait for the two of them to do something first,” Twilight said glumly. “Darn, Isis. Why would she do that to Davenport?”
George shrugged. “It’s hard to say. I can’t believe that Isis really got so much power back just from him alone. And yet, she’s regained her original form. It’s possible she gave him power just to mess with us or to protect herself while she searches for another host.”
“Oh man. She’s going to keep taking hosts isn’t she? How could this get any worse?”
“At least it didn’t start raining,” Fluttershy pointed out. They all stopped and looked at the sky, almost surprised that a downpour didn’t start.
“Even if it rains, it wouldn’t matter. We’re almost to the temple. In fact, we should see it pretty soon.” George looked around. “Very soon actually.” George was silent a moment. “I’m sure this is the right way. Where are the guards? We should have seen at least a few by now.”
They kept walking, but still they saw no sign of any life, sound, or movement anywhere.
“George, are you sure we didn’t go the wrong way. I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this,” Twilight said nervously.
“No, I’m positive this is the right way. I recognize that outcropping there. It should be…”
As they passed the outcropping George had pointed out, they came across a surprisingly flat clearing. There were no rocks or anything around it.
“What is…? I don’t remember this. We should be…” George gaped. He dashed into the clearing and looked around everywhere. “This can’t be, can it?” He galloped around frantically, looking at every little rock he came across as if expecting it to tell him something. “No,” George whispered. “No. No, no!” George fell back on his haunches.
“George, what’s wrong!?” Twilight asked him.
“This is it. This is it. Isis wasn’t lying. It’s gone. The Temple of Discord is gone!”
Isis led Davenport, or rather his new persona, Quilleficent, to a strange building sitting in the middle of the first wooded area Davenport had seen since arriving in this strange land. After flying down and landing in the clearing, Isis set Davenport down behind her and walked in. As soon as she did, her horn and wings vanished. Davenport walked in slowly, pulling a quill out in case he needed to fight something.
“What is this place?” He marveled at the marble pillars, elaborate floors and, most importantly, a beautiful sofa in the back of the room.
“The Temple of Discord.”
“What?” Davenport took a second look around. It did look rather ancient, except for the awesome sofa anyway. “But this is where George wanted to take you. Why would you…?” Davenport trailed off. Isis was smiling at him as if she thought he was a fool.
“You know why. I’ll grow stronger here. In any case, George and the others won’t find this place. I had it moved.”
She walked into another room. Davenport followed and stopped when he saw a little pink filly with a purple mane, sitting in a back corner. When she saw them, she walked timidly up to Isis and bowed.
“I did as you asked and waited for you.” The filly was a unicorn. She had a cutie mark that looked like an eye. Davenport felt a strange pang in the back of his heart. What was a filly doing here?
“And the guards?”
“I sent them away first. They’re in the Everfree Forest. Did I do good?”
“Everfree huh? I suppose that will do. As a reward, you may go out and play. However, do not run off or else.”
“Yes ma’am. I would never do that.” The filly cowered.
“Go on then. And keep an eye out for any intruders. I’m expecting some of my followers to find me, but there are others I would rather not meet up with.”
“Yes ma’am.” The filly dashed out of the room.
Davenport watched her go. “Who was that?”
“A host I found after waking up,” Isis answered nonchalantly. “She was so small and weak though, that I barely got anything out of her before I realized that accursed Mystic was coming for me. I knew I wouldn’t be able to fight him off like that, so I gave that filly a nice little power boost before I separated from her.”
Isis walked back into the main room and lay down casually on the sofa, even closing her eyes as she relaxed. “Even though she’s young I could feel that she had a natural talent for winking.” Winking, a magic ability that allowed a unicorn to teleport short distances. Maybe that’s what the filly’s cutie mark symbolized.
“I enhanced that ability and told her to teleport to the Temple of Discord. You see, I need this place. It’s the only way I can exceed my natural limits. That’s why I had that filly transport the whole thing here where nopony knows about it.” Of course, she could have gotten away from George the same way, but she just couldn’t pass up the chance to get to Celestia and throw it in the Mystic’s face. Davenport’s folly had been rather fortunate though, and she might not have survived her gamble otherwise.
Davenport looked back at the entrance again. “What’s her name?”
Isis opened an eye. “Her name is Bubble Gum, but what’s it matter? She works for me and I’ll take good care of her as long as she’s good. In fact, with her around I’ll never have to worry about any Mystics finding me ever again and Princess Celestia is already done with.” Isis smiled and raised a hoof to her chin. “Oh, I know. I should have Bubble Gum transport Celestia here. It would make a wonderful decoration.” Isis chuckled to herself. “Of course, I’m expecting you, my brave and proud knight, to protect me while I reside here.”
Davenport nodded. She had shown him the evils of the ponies around him and he owed her for giving him the power to fight back against those who would mock him.
“I will, even from the Elements of Harmony if I have too.”
“The Elements of Harmony. Who would have thought they could still be used.” Davenport’s promise was relatively empty. The Elements could turn him back to normal as well. “I wouldn’t worry about that. Salamander and Rip Van Winkle will eliminate the Elements soon enough. You can protect me from anything else though.”
“I promise, for as long as there is a quill in my hooves, I will not let any harm befall you.”
“A quill?” Isis glared at him. “You and your obscure knowledge. Because of you I’ll never be able to forget the perfect weight and balance of a good quill.”
“I’m so pleased you approve.”
Isis groaned. “Why don’t you go out and guard something. Guard the kid. She’s important to my plans.”
Davenport saluted and walked out.
“Why did I have to make him my host? I should have gone back to Princess Luna.” Isis rubbed her chin. “That’s not a bad idea. As soon as I get some more of my power back, I should have that filly bring Luna here too. Night Mare Moon was the best success I ever had.”
The ponies stared at the small campfire before them. They had made camp in the middle of the open space that was formerly the Temple of Discord. Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Burgle, Rhubarb, and even Grey sat in remorse.
George walked into the light and sat down glumly. “It’s no use. I can’t feel even the slightest trace of Discord’s power. We can’t remove the Drudges here.”
Rarity shuddered, holding a wet rag to her head. After listening to Salamander’s thoughts, she had learned that he was feeding on her energy quickly whenever she got the headaches. Now that he knew she knew and that the temple was gone, he didn’t care to try to distract her before attempting it. She wondered just how much longer she had left.
“So, what do we do now?” Fluttershy finally asked, breaking the silence.
“There isn’t anything else to do. The quest has failed,” George said quietly. “Without the temple to remove the Drudges and the taint, the Elements of Harmony can’t be used and without the Elements, the Drudges can’t be destroyed. In any case, the Drudges will probably kill you and Rarity sooner or later anyway, and then there will really be no chance.”
“But that hasn’t happened yet. That means there’s still hope, right?”
“What hope? This was our only hope,” George said and stabbed the ground with his staff.
“I can’t believe that there is nothing else we can do,” Fluttershy stood up. “Twilight? Rarity? Rhubarb surely you’re not giving up?”
“I don’t know. I don’t want to give up, but… I just don’t know.” Rhubarb sighed.
“I’m not sure what else to do either Fluttershy,” Twilight said. “Don’t think I haven’t been trying to think of a way to fix this. There’s just so much I don’t know about the Drudges. I wish there was something I could read that could just give me all the answers, but I’ve never read anything that even mentioned them before.”
“Fluttershy is right though,” Rarity spoke up. “I for one am not giving up without a fight. I’m not about to let the Drudges win.” She threw the wet rag on the ground. “I’ve got nothing to lose anymore. I’m willing to try anything.”
“Like what? You actually have any ideas?” Burgle asked her.
“What about the containment box we have? Can’t we still use that?” Rarity suggested.
“Oh, that stupid box. I forgot about that.”
“Maybe, but that still hinges on the Drudges separating from you and Fluttershy first. Not to mention catching Isis in her parasite form. We would have to make her use a lot of power first,” George noted. “Besides, even if we do trap them we won’t be able to reverse what Isis has done in Canterlot now that the temple is gone.”
Rarity paused. That wasn’t exactly an answer she had been expecting.
“It’s still better than letting the Drudges go loose,” Fluttershy said, sounding much more determined. “I’m sure we can find some other way to reverse the spell on our friends.”
“You’re both crazy. There is no other way. Besides, do you even realize what we’re up against? On one side, there’s the renewed Isis and a deranged Davenport. On the other side, there’s Rave and the occultists. And on yet another side, we still have to worry about the two Drudges we have getting their power back and killing the both of you. Then there’s us, smack dab in the middle of everything and I have no idea what in the name of Celestia we’re supposed to do about it.”
“Like you just said, we have two of the Drudges,” Rarity suddenly put in. “And we also have you and Twilight who are both powerful magicians, and we have Rhubarb and Burgle and even Grey. So why can’t we use that?”
George looked at her as if she were crazy. “You said the Drudges? How exactly are we supposed to use them? They’re what we’re fighting. And that knight…” He pointed at Grey, who stared back with an unreadable expression.
“He’s tame, isn’t he Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy nodded, putting a hoof on Grey’s back. Though he was already lying down, the undead pegasus visibly relaxed and actually smiled for once.
“Maybe Grey won’t fight the occultists, but what about fighting Isis or Davenport? For that matter, how do the Drudges feel about this Rave pony?”
“You’re right,” Twilight agreed. “Rave wants to use the Drudges power for himself. He’s no friend to them. Which means…”
“Which means the Drudges aren’t going to bow down to Rave,” Rarity finished.
“And that would include Isis too,” Burgle added. “She and Rave may be bad, but she’s not going to join up with him if it means bending to his will. Her only master is that Discord guy.”
“I don’t know about that,” George said more methodically. “True they were dependent on Discord’s presence, but after so many years without him, they may have developed a bit more free will. Isis especially.”
“That’s all the more reason to pit Isis against Rave. Maybe we could trap her in the containment box while they’re fighting or something,” Burgle said, being surprisingly methodical about it.
“And if we combine our strength, Rave won’t stand a chance against us by himself,” Rarity said happily.
“That’s all fine and dandy on paper,” George said. “But the real problem is still Isis. Let’s say Rave can’t weaken her enough to force her into her parasite form. The box won’t work in the form she’s in now and if she’s even remotely close to her full strength then she’ll be more powerful then Twilight, myself, and even Rave combined. Only the Elements of Harmony could match her.”
“That’s not entirely true,” Rarity said, giving a devilish grin. “What if you add another Drudge to the mix?”
“Pardon?”
“Salamander has made me stronger. If I fight too, then I think we can handle Isis”
“Are you kidding me!?” George jumped to his hooves. “Salamander isn’t going to let you fight Isis! He’ll stop you himself!”
“So let him shoot his flames everywhere. That’s not going to stop me and I can put them out anyway. You’d just be wasting your power again,” she said, turning to the Drudge on her backside. Then she turned back to George. “Salamander doesn’t really like Isis anyway. He might not try to stop me at all.”
“No way. We can’t trust that. And you want to risk burning the whole countryside?”
“Do we have any other choice? You’re the one who said Isis is too powerful to handle. We’re going to have to take a gamble here.”
“But Rarity, every time you or Salamander uses magic, he drains you even faster. Are you sure you can last in a fight like that? You’re having a hard time standing up as it is. How do you intend to fight at all?” Twilight pointed out.
Rarity smiled reassuringly. “I’ve thought about that and it’s a risk I’m willing to take if it means defeating the Drudges. I should be able to fight for at least a little while.”
Salamander growled, clearly not happy with her statement.
“You better be careful Salamander. If I waste away too quickly, you won’t be able to revert to your original form which means it’s into the box with you.” Salamander growled again, though it made no sign of arguing. “See, Salamander won’t stop me. Not if he wants to stay free.”
George crossed his forelegs in thought and sat for a few moments in seeming contempt. Finally, he spoke again. “Okay, say we do rely on you and Salamander. What about Rip Van Winkle?”
All eyes turned to Fluttershy. She looked a little embarrassed.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have been listening. Rip is getting kind of irritated with the conversation.”
“I can tell,” Grey said and closed his eyes again. He looked like he was in pain. “Rip is mad. He’s really mad. He wants me to… he’s trying to make me…”
“But I know you won’t.” Fluttershy put her forelegs around Grey and started hushing him like a baby. “You can keep control Grey. I know you can.”
“Fluttershy…” Grey’s face showed great pain. If he had the ability too, he probably would have cried right then. “Accursed Rip. Why did he have to do this to me?”
“This plan has way too many variables. I don’t like it at all,” George said and actually gulping.
“It will work. We’ll make it work. Right everypony?” Rarity said cheerfully.
Before anyone could answer, the air was filled with a blood-curdling scream, much deeper than the one Salamander had made before. Abruptly, a giant spider leg erupted from Rip Van Winkle. Then a second… Then a third… In moments, four spider legs were lifting Fluttershy off the ground.
“Fluttershy!” Twilight and Rarity screamed.
“I’m sorry, but I did say Rip was angry,” Fluttershy yelled, flailing her own legs in the air.
Rip swatted at them with one leg and started to walk away.
“What? Come back here! You’re too lazy to even fight?” Rarity yelled at him. She used her unicorn magic to stop him. Rip howled again.
“What do we do? Rarity can’t hold him forever,” Twilight announced.
“You know, as long as she’s got him pinned, we could try this,” Burgle pulled a knife out of his saddlebag with his magic and flung it accurately at the Drudge. However, at the last second, Grey caught it in his teeth and snapped it in half. His eyes burned red.
“Or not,” Twilight said downheartedly.
Abruptly the magic field around Rip died. Rarity held her head painfully. “Salamander… stop eating me. Do you want to go in the box?”
If Salamander answered her, there was no immediate sign nor was there time for one. Rip turned around to face them. One of his legs turned into a scythe and it stretched out toward the ponies. Twilight and the others practically danced as the scythe continuously chopped and sliced around them, barely missing. Twilight wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep it up.
“Rip, stop it!” Fluttershy shouted. Somehow, she turned her head almost completely backwards and stared right into Rip Van Winkle’s eyes. “You’ve got a lot of nerve,” she scolded him. “First you turn Grey into a zombie pony and then you start attacking my friends just because you’re mad. That’s not nice at all. You should be ashamed of yourself, picking on ponies who are obviously weaker than you.”
“Hey!” George complained, but Fluttershy wasn’t done.
“If I were your mother, I’d send you to your room right now, mister. You do not play rough with my friends. You got that? You’re grounded!”
Rip Van Winkle let out a tiny whining noise. His legs slowly retracted until Fluttershy was back on the ground. Rip actually slinked back slightly on her back, released her wing, and went silent. Grey’s eyes turned back to black too. Fluttershy nodded in approval.
“Now you stay there and think about what you’ve done.”
The other ponies stared at her completely awe struck.
“What was that?” Burgle finally said.
“The seventh Element of Harmony, the spirit of two strict mothers,” Rarity said, only half in amusement. “Seriously though, you just witnessed her special talent, The Stare.”
“The Stare?” George repeated. “If I had known a power like that existed in Equestria, I would have hired her to guard the Drudges.”
“In any case, I guess this means we don’t have to worry about Rip Van Winkle getting in the way either.” Rarity shrugged.
George looked at her wearily. “This is supposed to be a guarantee? This is a terrible plan.”
“Like I said, what have we got to lose? We have no choice but to try something risky. Don’t you agree, Twilight?”
The lavender unicorn looked at the sky, thinking. She was still recovering from Rip’s attack, but she was calm enough to get back to the larger problem. “I can’t say I like everything about it, but it does sound like the best option we have. We have to at least contain the Drudges if nothing else.”
“That may be, but even with all this, there’s still the problem of actually finding Isis. She could be anywhere,” George said, still not convinced.
“Why not just let the occultists find her for us,” Burgle said confidently.
“The occultists?” George said with surprise.
“They’re still expecting me to come back with a Drudge, specifically I promised them Salamander. It’s not like Rave can do anything with the Drudges the way they are now. If you guys follow at a safe distance, we can let them find Isis.”
“That idea…” George said angrily, but trailed off. “Actually, that’s strangely brilliant.”
“Hey, I’m a thief. I’ve had to con more than one pony in my lifetime.”
“Wait, what about Fluttershy?” Twilight asked. “The occultists will sense Rip Van Winkle and come after him too won’t they?”
“Oh. Right,” Burgle scratched his chin.
“Rave’s not stupid either. It’s not going to be easy to follow him even if he’s letting the occultists lead the way,” George added.
“Take Fluttershy to him too,” Grey suddenly spoke up. The ponies all stared at him, surprised that he had suggested such a thing. “I can feel where Rip Van Winkle is, just like the occultists. I’ll be able to follow him no matter where he goes.”
“Sweet. That’s perfect,” Burgle said deviously.
“This plan keeps getting worse and worse. We’re actually going to give Rave what he wants? He’s not a pony to underestimate,” George said sullenly.
“He’s a pony obsessed with power. When you hang around powerful ponies long enough, you start to realize they all think the same,” Burgle put in.
“What about the occultists themselves though?” Twilight added. “Won’t they try to get involved if we manage to get the Drudges in the box? We don’t really want to hurt them.”
“Um… sleep?” Burgle shrugged. “I am a master at sleep spells. If Twilight helps me and combines her power with mine, I might be able to pull it off. How do you like that plan?”
“Maybe it needs to about 20% cooler,” Rarity said with a smile.
“What? What’s that even mean?”
“Nothing. I was just… reminiscing more then anything else. Don’t pay it any mind.”
“Okay…” Burgle said slowly.
Twilight nodded slowly. “Well, I’m fine with this if everypony else is. What does everypony say? All in favor raise your hooves.”
Twilight raised her own, and Rarity and Burgle immediately followed. Fluttershy timidly raised her hoof and as soon as she did, Grey raised his. Rhubarb looked at them all with their hooves raised and tried to smile as he raised his too. George sat with his forelegs crossed.
“If this is what teamwork is, then friendship is stupidity,” he slowly raised his hoof.
“It’s settled then. We let Burgle take Rarity and Fluttershy to the occultists, follow them to Isis, let her and Rave weaken each other, put the occultists to sleep, and at some point we trap Isis in the box.”
“Aren’t we forgetting Davenport?” Fluttershy asked.
“Well, he has that sword, and magic doesn’t work on him, but maybe we can keep him busy with something else. We could always let him chase one of us.” Twilight thought about it some more. “The only other thing I’m worried about is how are we going to convince Rave that Burgle managed to nab two Drudges? That’s just asking for trouble.”
“You leave that to me,” Burgle said confidently.