Chapter 2: The Fox and the Filly
The Golden Oaks Library wasn’t Ponyville’s most frequently visited establishment, but it was certainly among its most unique. It was built within the very trunk of an incredibly wide tree that stretched upwards for the height of about a four story building. Its verdant green leaves made for a shady canopy, and aside from a few elegantly carved windows, a homey looking door at the trunk’s base, and a second story balcony, one would hardly know the tree had been hollowed out to house Ponyville’s public library.
Diamond Tiara heard that it was old earth pony magic that kept the treehouse library sustained and alive, despite being mostly hollow. She wasn’t sure if that was true or not, but whenever she stood on the tree’s smooth interior floors she could feel a sense of liveliness and calm contentment, almost as if the tree personally welcomed anypony who entered to share in its knowledge.
“So may I ask why you have such a sudden and keen interest in legends of the Everfree Forest?” asked Ditzy Doo, the librarian’s wings flapping in slow, lazy motions as she hovered around the top of the library’s bottom row of shelves. Her light gray fur seemed to perfectly accentuate the mare’s wide rimmed, thin glasses, and her slicked back blonde mane reflected her prim and neat demeanor. Gold eyes glanced with sharp curiosity at Diamond Tiara, making the filly a tad nervous.
Ditzy Doo wasn’t just Ponyville’s resident librarian, but was something of a recent celebrity. Diamond Tiara didn’t know all the details, but she did now that not long before the kaiju had arrived in Equestria from another world the Crystal Empire had also reappeared from a thousand year banishment, with its evil Empress Cadance. Cadance fended off attempts to dislodge her from control of the Crystal Empire, and allied with the dangerous kaiju who had arrived from Earth. Now Diamond Tiara wasn’t certain where Duchess Chrysalis’ protege and student, Trixie Lulamoon, had found them, but she’d obtained powerful artifacts called the Elements of Harmony and found six special individuals to wield them.
And just in time, for one of the evil kaiju, a mad, giant dark moth-like insect called Battra Lea, had threatened Canterlot itself with destruction. Only the Elements of Harmony had had the power to empower the good kaiju who had made friends with Canterlot’s royalty, allowing Sir Xenilla and Lady Destroyah to assume their true forms and fight off Battra before she’d been able to do Canterlot any harm.
Since then the Element Bearers has been asked to remain close to the Canterlot region, in one way or another. In Ditzy Doo’s case, she’d chosen to take up residence in Ponyville’s library. Apparently the city of Canterlot didn’t agree with her. ‘Too noisy’, apparently. Other than that, all Diamond Tiara knew was that Ditzy Doo bore the Element of ‘Wisdom’, and certainly seemed like one of the smartest ponies she’d ever met.
Which just made having her staring at Diamond Tiara all the more nerve wracking, as she wasn’t at all ready to reveal the real reason she wanted to study on tales of the Everfree, among other things.
“Well, you see, uh, my friend Silver Spoon is planning a sleepover-” at Ditzy Doo’s furrowed brow Diamond Tiara hastily went on, ‘-and, um, we’re kind of having a camp out her back yard! But you know how it's a tradition to tell campfire stories and such, so I thought I’d do some research on any spooky stories about the Everfree. You know, stuff about ghosts, monsters, or, um, ghost-monsters.”
The fact was she wanted to hunt for stories about the gray phantom she’d seen. It had only been two days since the incident in the Everfree, and Diamond Tiara had found her mind continuously being drawn back to wondering what that strange creature was. But she couldn’t let any adults know about it, otherwise they’d either think she was crazy, or worse they’d believe her and forbid her from ever investigating the matter on her own. Ditzy Doo certainly had that kind of severe look about her, of a mare who liked forbidding things.
“Hmm,” Ditzy Doo adjusted her glasses with a hoof, “The Everfree Forest certainly does have many strange and, as you put it, ‘spooky’ legends concerning it and its denizens. Some of which, I may point out, are not at all suitable for a young and overactive imaginations such as that possessed by eager fillies. That said I do believe I have a copy of ‘Grim Folktales of Yore Vol.6’ which has several stories about both the Everfree Forest and other local woods.”
She flew over to another shelf, her hoof running over the spines of the books until she came to a tome bound in dark blue with gold lettering. “Ah, here we are.”
Ditzy Doo set the book down on the table by Diamond Tiara, almost as quickly flying back up to eye the bookshelves. “I might also suggest ‘The Beginner's Guide to Fae and Spirits’, as while the stories are largely of a tame nature there are several that might be suitably, ahem, ‘spooky’ enough for your tastes without being inappropriate for your age. In fact that book is fairly educational for a young, budding researcher of otherworldly folklore.”
Ditzy’s eyes once more focused in on Diamond Tiara like a pair of golden scalpels. “I don’t suppose you’re seeking a cutie mark as a monster researcher, are you?”
“N-no of course not! I mean, I’m far more interested in business than in supernatural critters, heheh.”
“I see. I do recall you’ve borrowed quite a few books on business and economics. I merely thought that with your recent exploits in befriending our newest, most unusual residents you perhaps gained a new hobby. The kaiju are fascinating, are they not?”
It was hard not to smile a bit, if only out of pleasant memory. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had literally tripped over Lady Destroyah’s unconscious form just after she’d been sucked into Equestria, and had tried to drag the transformed kaiju’s massive pony body all the way to Ponyville. It hadn’t quite worked. Destroyah was heavy, and in her Equestrian form as tall if not taller than either Duchess Chrysalis or the not so long ago reformed Celestia and Luna.
Ironically a run in with a Timberwolf had occurred then, too, with Destroyah waking up just in time to turn the lone beast into a smashed pile of twigs in seconds.
I must have some kind of curse when it comes to Timberwolves. Maybe they just like the color pink? Diamond Tiara wondered.
Whatever the case, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had shown Destroyah around town and acted as the first ones to show the large and imposing, but ultimately extremely friendly and gregarious kaiju friendship. It’d certainly paid off in spades when she, along with Sir Xenilla, had become some of Equestria’s most powerful defenders. Defenders the country sorely needed with the likes of Godzilla and Battra, among others, out there seeking to do who knew what kind of harm to the world.
So in a lot of ways Diamond Tiara fully understood Ditzy Doo’s fascination with the kaiju. “They are pretty cool.” she admitted, “I’m surprised you don’t choose to live up in Canterlot so you can study them.”
Ditzy Doo coughed politely, “Would that I could, but Sir Xenilla has firmly denied access to either himself or Lady Destroyah for being, as he put it, ‘poked and prodded at’. I suppose as long as we know that they can be charged with powerful positive magic to allow them to reach their true forms then for the time being that is all we need to know. As it stands I’m happy to perform the humble task of librarian here in Ponyville. Its peaceful and quiet, just as I like it. Now, let’s see about finding you that other book.”
As Ditzy went off to grab the book she’d mentioned Diamond Tiara took a quick glance through the contents of the first one. Grim Folktales contained quite a number of stories and poems, packed with the occasional dark illustration. Giants, trolls, gremlins, ogres, and other manner of motley creatures were featured in many of the tales. There were several concerning the Everfree, just as Ditzy Doo had said, but at a surface glance none of them seemed to describe the gray phantom.
When Ditzy Doo returned with the next book, Diamond Tiara decided to take a chance, “I don’t suppose you’ve ever heard of a creature that looks like a fox?”
Her mane bobbed as Ditzy tilted her head quizzically, “That’s an oddly specific question.”
“Oh, well, I happen to know that Silver Spoon thinks foxes are...er... creepy, so I was hoping to find a good scary story about a fox like creature. You know, if there happened to be any.”
Ditzy’s penetrating gaze remained on Diamond Tiara for several, agonizingly long seconds before she shrugged and said, “Foxes don’t play a particularly notable role in most Equestrian folklore. If one is seeking stories of fox-like beings then one would have to look eastward to the lands of Neighpon or Carrea. The cultures of those lands are rich with many strange tales of fantastic beasts, and I do believe several are fox-like in nature. Sadly I don’t have any such tomes here. You’d have to seek one of the larger libraries in Manehattan or Canterlot to find such a book.”
“Oh.” Diamond Tiara tried to hide her disappointment, and with a deep breath smiled at Ditzy Doo, gathering up the two books she’d been given. “That’s fine. These should do just great for now. Thanks so much, Miss Doo.”
Ditzy Doo provided one of her rare, small smiles, adjusting her glasses again. “You’re quite welcome. Normally I’d have insisted you bring back some of the books you already have checked out before taking more, but given you’re one of my only regular customers I suppose I can make an exception.”
A short laugh escaped Diamond Tiara as she put the books in her saddlebag. “I appreciate it. I’ll bring back the one’s I already borrowed soon as I finish them. That one you recommended on managing small businesses has been really helpful!”
“Spreading knowledge is my humble yet endlessly fulfilling task. Good day to you, Diamond Tiara, and come back anytime.” Ditzy Doo said with a farewell wave, which Diamond returned before heading out. She had agreed to meet up with Silver Spoon at her friend’s house. It was just the start of the weekend, and the ‘campout’ sleepover at Silver Spoon’s had been something she’d looked forward to all week. Silver Spoon’s father was even going to barbecue hay burgers. Diamond Tiara’s mouth watered just thinking about it. There were going to be a number of other foals there as well, kind of a group sleepover to welcome one of the school’s new students who’d moved to Ponyville just that week. What was her name? Gentle Leaf, that was it! As class representative Diamond Tiara had been more than happy to endorse Silver Spoon’s idea for the group sleepover. It’d be a fun night, and she’d still have time to read through the tomes of tales she’d just picked up before evening fell.
And even if she couldn’t find anything of use in the books she’d just borrowed, she was still confident she’d find out who, or what the gray phantom was, even if she had to venture back into the depths of the Everfree to do so.
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She had heard the mortals use a strange word at times, ‘insanity’, often in conjunction with actions that supposedly didn’t make sense. Jeog hadn’t quite understood what line one needed to cross for one’s actions to be dubbed ‘insanity’ but she was growing ever more certain she was close to the mark right now. She was hidden in the line of bushes outside one of the pony lairs within the depths of the town-warren the mortals called Ponville.
In broad daylight. Surrounded by happy, smiling ponies who trotted about the streets.
She was going to be seen! At least that’s what her more frightened instincts were screaming at her. She knew she was quite capable of avoiding being spotted, even in daylight, as long as she was clever and swift. That, and her innate magic of illusion was a supremely useful tool, allowing her to blend into her environment with ease. Usually. She hadn’t used much illusion craft of late. In a pinch it should work just fine to keep her from being spotted, yet despite all that, she trembled. It had been many years since she’d dared venture into mortal dwellings when the sun was high and beaming in the sky. The sun didn’t harm her, but she was a creature of the nocturnal hours, when the land was dark and the moon and stars gracing the sky rather than that baleful bright orb of fire.
Why was she doing this? It didn’t make sense even to her own cagey mind. Was she really just that lonely that she was going to risk discovery, and hence her very existence, just to see that odd little pink pony? Just because the filly had acted friendly and unafraid of her?
“Mad. Mad, mad, mad. Hehehe, gonna end up poked full of holes by the Hunter just to hear pretty pony voices. Yes, I think I understand what insanity is now.”
Her unstable little giggle and whispered words to herself gained a few odd looks in the direction of the bushes she hid in, and Jeog growled at herself. She talked to herself all the time, but in public it was probably a bad idea. It was time for her to move anyway, as she spotted her quarry exiting the giant warren shaped like a tree.
The pink filly, Diamond Tiara. Mortals liked to name things, especially themselves, and she rather liked the filly’s name. It sounded like something shiny and precious to snatch up and keep nestled in one’s own liar like a hidden treasure. Hmm, foalnapping would probably bring the Hunter all the faster, and Cho Yon would’ve frowned on it. She could all but see his face shaking his head at her. Stupid Cho Yon. He was dead, he didn’t get to tell her what to do!
Still, the dead kirin had a point. No foalnapping. No matter how tempting.
Then why am I following her?
She didn’t have a clear answer to that as she watched Diamond Tiara trot off down the street. Jeog just narrowed her eyes in concentration, and slipped away from one bit of cover to the next, fast and silent as a ghost.
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Silver Spoon’s house was on the north end of town, not far from where the river passed by on its way to the Everfree. A number of cozy homes were nestled together here, larger than the ‘economic’ houses like where Diamond Tiara’s family lived, but still far from the largest homes in Ponyville. The white picket fences were like symbols of ideal middle-class Equestrian living. Diamond Tiara could all but taste the fresh cut lawns, and she noted garden gnomes peered from many a well trimmed hedge.
The Spoon family’s home sported one of the larger lawns in the area, with the back yard being especially spacious and going near to the edge of the river. The house was just one story, but it had a side garage that made it look larger than it was. Silver Spoon’s father, Red Alert, was one of Ponyville’s crew of fireponies, and actually kept a water wagon in the garage for responding to emergencies. Fire emergencies were rare, and Ponyville couldn’t afford a full fire department like big cities such as Manehattan had, but it maintained a local group for responding to the occasional fire that did break out. It paid well enough to keep the family comfortably middle-class, even if Silver Spoon’s mother choose to be a full-time homemaker.
Stormy Day answered the door, smiling down at Diamond Tiara. “Great timing. Silver Spoon just woke up. The poor dear really does like to sleep in on the weekends.”
Stormy shared her daughter’s dark gray coat, but the pegasus mare sported a neon blue mane with a silver stripe, cut in a well groomed shoulder length set of curls. She wore a white and red checkered neckerchief, and had a pair of sunglasses nestled upon her brow. Diamond Tiara returned the older mare’s smile and said, “Good morning Mrs. Spoon. She in her room still?”
There was a yawn and Silver Spoon, still bleary eyed and trying to get her glasses on straight, appeared from behind her mother and looked sleepily at Diamond Tiara.
“I’m here, I’m here. Yeesh, I thought you’d be at least a bit longer at the library.”
“Well when you ask Ditzy Doo for a book, she doesn’t waste any time.” Diamond Tiara said with a light laugh, “So you need a few minutes, or are you good to go?”
“Give me five to inhale some food and I’ll be right out.” Silver Spoon said, yawning again and turning to trot towards her home’s kitchen.
Stormy Day stepped aside for Diamond Tiara to pass, “Won’t you come in? I could fix you something up real quick before you and Silver Spoon head out.”
“That’s okay, I had some breakfast already, and I’m enjoying the weather so I’ll wait here, but thanks for the offer.” Diamond Tiara said, and Stormy nodded, leaving the door open in case Diamond Tiara changed her mind as she went to join her daugher in the kitchen. Meanwhile a stallion trotted by one of the hallways Diamond Tiara could see from the doorway, balancing a few plates piled high with hay burger patties.
Red Alert was as crimson of coat as his name, an earth pony who wasn’t particularly tall but was more than strong enough to haul a full water wagon around town at a full gallop. He gave Diamond Tiara a friendly wave as he passed by. “Hey there little Diamond! Hope you’ll be bringing your appetite over this afternoon. Plan on cooking up a storm for you kids.”
“Looking forward to it.” Diamond Tiara called back.
“Oh, and tell your dad that his self-lighting grill, uh, worked pretty well for a few days, but it kind of blew up a little bit. I got it in the garage and can drop it off tomorrow if he wants to take a look at it.”
Diamond Tiara sighed, “I’ll let him know.”
It wasn’t uncommon for Filthy Rich to get ponies in town to help him test his inventions. Red Alert had been a willing guinea pig for almost as long as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had been friends. It was probably for the general safety of all Ponyville that her father’s inventions were test run by a certified firepony.
Waiting for Silver Spoon wasn’t at all unpleasant, as it was a magnificently clear and beautiful morning. The weather schedule had called for a mostly cloudless day, warm but with just enough breeze to keep it from actually getting hot. Diamond Tiara closed her eyes for a second to enjoy the feel of both the wind and sun on her face. A moment later she heard a bush rustling nearby and her eyes snapped open, looking to her left. One of the thick leaved plants kept along the edge of the front lawn seemed to stir, but it stopped the moment Diamond Tiara looked at it. Was it the wind?
Licking her lips, Diamond Tiara slowly walked over to investigate. The bush didn’t stir again as she got closer, and with a gulp Diamond Tiara pushed some of the leaves aside. There was nothing there. However she noticed a tiny garden gnome beside the bush was knocked over. Had it been like that a moment ago?
“Hey, what are you looking at?” Silver Spoon said right behind her, making Diamond Tiara leap about half a foot off the ground and probably lose several years of her lifespan.
“GAH! S-Spoon! Make some noise or something before sneaking up on me!”
Silver Spoon giggled, and oddly Diamond Tiara swore she heard some other feminine giggling from somewhere nearby as well, but she couldn’t see anything as she looked around. Was another bush further down the yard rustling now? Just her imagination?
“Sorry, sorry. I couldn’t help it. You were seriously staring at those bushes like you expected something to pop out of them.” Silver Spoon said, her smile slowly fading as she gave Diamond Tiara a curious look, “You aren’t seriously thinking that thing from the woods followed us here?”
“N-not really. She seemed pretty shy. Not sure she’d wander into town during the daytime. Guess I’m just being jumpy.”
“What makes you so sure it was female anyway?” Silver Spoon asked.
“Just a hunch. She moved so... gracefully. I don’t know, either way I got some books from the library that might shed some light on the subject. Was going to read through them while we were out playing today.”
Silver Spoon rolled her eyes, “It's an amazing looking day, and you want to spend time reading books? We’re going to the lake, Diamond, are you going to sit on the grass reading while everypony else is swimming?”
She brushed at her mane self consciously, “Just a little bit. I promise I won’t get distracted or anything. Besides, I might find some good stories for the sleepover tonight.”
Silver Spoon accepted this with a reluctant nod, “Okay, but just try to relax and let’s have some fun today. We can go monster tracking later. Much later. You know we’re probably never going to see that critter again, right?”
“Well... you never know.” Diamond Tiara said as she and her friend trotted off to go spend the day out by the lake.
And neither noticed the bushes behind them stir once more, and a pair of ice blue eyes stare out at the departing fillies with keen interest.
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That had been a close call! Diamond Tiara had been within a bare pace of Jeog’s hiding spot, and only a quick bit of illusion craft had kept her presence hidden. She’d been trying to avoid relying on too much illusion, lest she alert any of the magical ponies with the horns on their heads. However it was going to only get harder to follow the object of her attention, now that the filly was heading deeper into the warren of mortal dwellings. If she wanted to keep up, she’d have few options but to make use of more illusions.
Spreading such illusion craft over an area was entirely doable, but far more likely to be noticed. Easier to craft the illusion around herself, less risk of being spotted. But she found herself nervously pawing at the dirt as the thought squirmed its way around her mind. She hadn’t crafted illusion around herself in a long time. It’d invite interacting with the ponies. So far she’d only mustered the courage to follow...
An irritated growl pulled itself from her throat. If she was going this far, there was no point in simpering. It was either do what she came here to do, or go crawling back to her empty, boring, lonely forest! Snarling to herself, she let azure foxfire blaze around her paws as she called forth her own unique and innate magic, the very ethereal essence that made up most of her solid body. Illusion craft usually required a certain focused mindset, especially the kind that affected her own body, almost akin to shape changing.
Frustration and foxfire don’t mix.
A young pony couple, out enjoying a pleasant morning stroll, cast odd looks at a nearby clump of bushes outside one of the homes they were passing as a spontaneous puff of blue smoke and fire flashed for a second, and a coughing small gray earth pony filly stumbled out.
“Stupid bushes, why do they combust so easily!?” growled the filly in a scratchy, squeaky voice that somehow didn’t sound quite right, as she shook her head and gained her bearings.
The filly’s light gray coat carried a tint of blue to it, and her ears, while seemingly normal pony ears, had a rather pronounced pointed taper to their tips, making them look larger. Her mane was wild and unkempt, a more heavily blue tinted gray than her coat, as was her tail which was so bushy that it almost didn’t look like it belonged on a pony.
The pony couple had stopped to stare, and the filly turned light, frosty blue eyes onto them and pulled her lips back in a snarl, showing bone white teeth that might’ve actually had canines.
“What are you looking at!? Have you not seen a perfectly normal, not suspicious tiny mortal before!?”
The stallion exchanged a glance with the mare he was with and smiled politely, if uneasily. “Sorry, didn’t mean to stare. Are you okay little miss? You’re not playing around with fireworks without adult supervision are you?”
Blinking, the filly gave them a strange look where she licked her lips with a tongue that seemed a shade too long to be normal. “Yes. Fireworks. That’s it. And nothing else.”
With a twitch of her tapered ears, the filly took a slight side step away from the couple, then said, “Bye.”
Before either of the ponies could question her further Jeog galloped off, leaving the utterly bewildered couple behind. As she ran she shook her head ruefully. She was really out of practice with personal illusions. Too many years alone in the woods with nothing to do. Not only did the bit of foxfire she used to craft the illusion get away from her and burn the bushes a bit, but her personal changes weren’t quite as complete as she’d like. She’d been trying to imitate a fully grown pony, but had ended up with the shape of a filly.
Oh well, it’d work well enough, as long as she didn’t get too close to hated water or iron.
Now, back to stalking her quarry! Expertly. Silently. Like a shadow in the night.
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A crashing noise amid the shelves behind her made Diamond Tiara look over her shoulder. At the end of the grocery store aisle a stack of cans had been knocked over, clattering about the floor. Several other shoppers, startled by the commotion, were staring at the mess, but there was no clear perpetrator. Diamond Tiara thought for a second that she saw some small, gray form scampering around the corner of another aisle, but she couldn’t be sure.
“Wow, somepony’s being clumsy.” Silver Spoon noted, also glancing back at the mess, but then shrugging as she said, “Anyway do we have everything yet?”
Diamond Tiara starred in the direction that gray form had gone a moment longer before shaking her head and looking at the list held in her hoof as she and her friend walked along the aisle. “Still need to grab some soda. Do you think Gentle Leaf will prefer grape or orange flavor?”
“You didn’t ask her?”
“Uh, she’s mute Spoon, kind of makes it hard to get details like that. It was hard enough just getting her to agree to coming over for the sleepover.” Diamond Tiara admitted, “I didn’t want to push her too hard. She seems pretty shy already, so I’m hoping we can just get her to feel more welcome and relaxed here in Ponyville.”
Silver Spoon seemed to mull it over for a moment, then with a firm nod said, “Well, when in doubt, go with grape. Everypony loves grape.”
“I don’t think Pipsqueak does.”
“Pipsqueak is weird.”
Diamond Tiara accepted this with a shrug, and started looking among the shelves of stacked up bottles of soda until she got to the big purple jugs with the pictures of grapes on them. Silver Spoon was pulling the shopping cart, already partially filled with extra food items for both enjoying at the lake and for the sleepover itself. Diamond Tiara felt a stab of guilt at the sight, knowing full well it was Silver Spoon paying for everything. Well, Silver Spoon’s parents at any rate. Diamond Tiara added it to the mental tab of things to pay back someday, when she was able.
She reached for the nearest bottle of grape soda she could, and when she removed it she saw two piercing blue eyes staring at her from the other side of the shelf.
“Ahhh!” she yelped, and whatever was looking at her also let out a surprised yipping sound, banging its head on the shelf as it scooted away. Diamond had also fallen back,, dropping the bottle, which bounced and hit Silver Spoon in the back of the head.
“Oof! Gah, Diamond, what the hay!?”
“Sorry Spoon, didn’t meant to. But did you see that?” Diamond Tiara stood up on shaky legs and peered through the gap left in the shelves. Nothing was there. Frowning she leaned forward, poking her head through to glance around at the other aisle. Nothing to the left, nothing to the right. Had she just imagined someone or something with blue eyes staring back at her?
“Uh, Diamond, see what? You feeling okay?” asked Silver Spoon, still rubbing at her head but now looking at Diamond Tiara with quizzical worry.
“Y-yeah, just thought I saw... nevermind.” she said, turning and going to retrieve the fallen bottle of soda. Placing it into the cart, she joined Silver Spoon in resuming their trek across the grocery store.
While waiting in line at the checkout stand, Diamond Tiara kept looking about, casting watchful glances, wondering if she’d catch sight of whatever it was she saw. Her mind was already turning over the possibilities. Either one of her classmates was trying to pull a prank on her, she was imagining things, or... or maybe she didn’t have to go looking for the gray phantom at all?
Seeing nothing, however, she just sighed and followed Silver Spoon out of the store once their items were paid for, carrying one of the bags herself, although Silver Spoon easily carried twice as much. The extra items they’d gotten for the sleepover would keep just fine until they were done playing at the lake, and the rest of it was stuff for a light lunch and drinks for hanging out at the lake itself.
The lake in question was on the northeast side of town, just outside the actual town limits and nestled between some low rolling hills that kept it fairly private from the rest of Ponyville. It was a popular spot with foals and adult ponies alike, especially when the weather was warm and fine like today. Diamond Tiara wasn’t at all surprised to see the area already had a number of ponies there by the time she and Silver Spoon trotted out to the spot.
Today it looked like there were only foals there, either playing and swimming in the shallows of the lake, or around the lake edge itself where there looked to be a vigorous game of ball being played. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon didn’t waste any time in staking out a spot under one of the trees near the lake, where Diamond laid out a picnic cloth and they could set their bags down.
“Come on Diamond, let’s go!” Silver Spoon said excitedly, practically bouncing on her hooves.
“Okay, just a sec.” Diamond Tiara said as she got her saddlebags off, and gave the books peeking out from within a longing look. Silver Spoon, seeing this, frowned and put a hoof on her friend’s head to turn her around.
“Books later. Swim now.”
“Geeze, you turn into a real Miss Bossy when you don’t get your playtime in.”
“Somepony has to be the not-adult in this pairing.” Silver Spoon said with a wink, “If I didn’t get you to play and have some fun now and again you’d turn yourself crazy real quick.”
Diamond Tiara didn’t have a counterargument for that, and she wasn’t certain she really wanted to argue the point anyway. The books would still be there when she got back. She let herself be dragged to the lake, and within minutes she was splashing around and having a good time along with the other foals. Most of the young ponies present were from Miss Cheerilee’s class, although there were a few foals in town who were homeschooled as well. She recognized Rumble and Pipsqueak, along with Twist and Cherry, all from her class. She didn’t see Gentle Leaf, however, which disappointed Diamond Tiara a little. She supposed it was enough that the shy filly was coming over to Silver Spoon’s house, but it would’ve been nice to see her here. She set aside the concern and within the span of an hour there was everything from games of underwater tag to a entire pretend pirate fleet battle with the vaguest of defined rules but plenty of laughter.
As much as she was enjoying herself, Diamond Tiara was also exhausted in no time. She just wasn’t the most physical of ponies. Earth ponies might’ve been fabled for having higher than average stamina, but just like there were a few pegasi who weren’t great fliers or unicorns who lacked any noteworthy magical talent, Diamond Tiara was pretty much devoid of physical endurance. What she did have going for her was smarts and knowing how to use her words.
In short order, whether she’d really intended it or not, she’d convinced one of the few adults in the lake to let her make use of his blow-up floating chair, and she found herself relaxing lounging upon it while enjoying a box of orange juice that she’d also sweet talked one of the local colts into letting her have. Of course she never forgot a favor, so mentally cataloged names and faces for future payment of debt, but in the meantime she was quite content to relax while the other foals kept splashing around.
“Oi, Miss Tiara?” asked a breathy, heavily accented voice from nearby, “Isn’t that there picnic set-up yours an’ your friend’s?”
She glanced over, seeing that the foal who was talking was Pipsqueak. He’d moved to Ponyville from Trottingham about half a year ago, and while she didn’t know him too well she did find him to be a friendly sort with plenty of energy. He even talked a lot about ways to help the school and had taken an interest in running for class representative next year. Diamond Tiara had been running unopposed for a while, and she welcomed the competition, especially from a young colt who seemed genuinely interested in helping the school. If she won the election again, he'd make an excellent part of the student council. If he happened to win, she'd be more than happy to take on the role of his adviser.
Once his words registered with her head, she lazily kicked her hind legs to turn her floating chair around to look towards the tree where she and Silver Spoon had left their things.
“H-Hey!” she yelled, “That’s our stuff!”
There were a trio of familiar fillies around her and Silver Spoon’s bags, and Diamond Tiara could see the food meant for her and Spoon’s lunch was scattered about, some of the bags torn open. She flopped out of the floating chair and proceeding to half swim, half charge out of the lake, anger pouring into her voice.
“What do you three think you’re doing?”
The ‘three’ in question were fillies Diamond Tiara knew well; Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle. Rivals wasn’t quite the right term to use. Adversaries didn’t fit either. All she knew was that she didn’t mix well with them. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t tried, when first meeting them, but, well... things hadn't gone well, and had only proceeded downhill since. The three weren’t bullies or anything, but they were rather aggressive in pursuing their own brand of fun. The trio even earned near identical cutie marks, swords in the same color as their manes but with differing pommel shapes for each of them; an apple for Apple Bloom, a musical note for Sweetie Belle, and a wing for Scootaloo.
Near as Diamond Tiara could tell their cutie marks represented the trio’s remarkable talent for finding trouble. As foals it was problematic, but if they ever grew into responsible adults Diamond Tiara imagined they’d make good detectives or city guards.
Apple Bloom, as usual, was the one to take the lead in the trio as Diamond Tiara approached them. The sun yellow earth pony filly turned, apple red mane and tail bouncing as she turned slightly narrowed amber eyes on Diamond. Her accent was near as thick as Pipsqueak’s, although more of a farm country drawl than Pipsqueak’s Trottingham accent.
“What’s it to ya what we’re doin’? We’re just lookin’ ‘round at the mess. What, you n’ Silver Spoon can’t have a’ picnic without makin’ pigs o’ yerselves, Tiara?”
“We didn’t make this mess!” Diamond Tiara stated firmly, nearly getting into Apple Bloom’s face until she remembered she was supposed to be setting an example for the other foals. Taking a deep breath she tried to calm herself and said, “If you guys didn’t do it, who did?”
“Dude, like we care about messing with your food.” said Scootaloo, her small wings flapping with irritation as the bright orange pegasus filly came up to one side of Apple Bloom, glaring, “And if we wanted to, what would you do about it?”
“Guys, can we try to not ruin the day with an argument?” Sweetie Belle said, approaching Apple Bloom’s other side, almost as if she was the good guard to Scootaloo’s bad guard. However there was no particular fondness in Sweetie Belle’s eyes as the creme white unicorn filly glanced at Diamond Tiara, “Believe it or not we didn’t do anything to your little picnic setup. We just saw the mess and got curious.”
“Trouble, Diamond?” Silver Spoon asked, still dripping wet from the lake and adjusting her glasses as she cast a hard glance at the three fillies in front of Diamond Tiara.
“No. Not exactly.” said Diamond, “At least I don’t think so.”
“What’s that supposed ta mean?” said Apple Bloom sharply, looming closer to Diamond Tiara. Apple Bloom might’ve had something of a cutesy look about her, what with the pink bow-tie in her mane, but Diamond Tiara knew the filly was a lot stronger than her compact form made her look. Unlike Diamond, Apple Bloom was very much in touch with her earth pony roots. The whole Apple family was. It lent a certain aura of menace to when Apple Bloom decided to lean in on anypony.
“We didn’t do nothin’, so you can shut yer trap.” Apple Bloom left off the ‘or else’ to the end of the sentence, but it was there for anypony to hear who could read between the lines. Several other foals had noticed the confrontation and had gathered, but didn’t venture close. Only Silver Spoon stood beside Diamond Tiara, but that was comforting presence enough, especially when Silver Spoon interposed herself partway between Diamond Tiara and Apple Bloom, eyeing the other filly head on.
“Hey, if you didn’t do anything, then it was an honest mistake. So back off.”
Apple Bloom’s eyes lit up with challenge, and she was abruptly nose to nose with Silver Spoon.
“How ‘bout you back off.”
In terms of strength, Diamond Tiara had a great deal of respect for Silver Spoon, but she wasn’t eager to see her friend go at it with the burly Apple filly. Besides fighting among classmates wasn’t exactly something she wanted to encourage. Quickly she stepped up to the glaring pair, schooling her voice to a carefully disarming tone.
“Alright, let me apologize. I shouldn’t have rushed up accusing you girls of anything, and I’m sorry for that. How about we all just simmer down and let bygones by bygones.”
“We did come here to play, Apple Bloom, not fight.” put in Sweetie Belle in a similarly diplomatic tone.
“Fighting can be just as fun as playing.” put in Scootaloo, but Sweetie Belle quickly elbowed the pegasus. “Hey! What was that for!?”
“Inserting your hoof into your mouth.”
Apple Bloom, not taking her eyes off Silver Spoon, said, “Can it you two.” She took a deep breath and held out a hoof to Diamond Tiara. “Apology accepted, Tiara. We’ll be all friendly like n’ ferget this.”
The pair shook hooves, and Diamond Tiara breathed a bit easier, “Thanks. I shouldn’t have flown off the handle like that.”
“Meh, I do the same thang all the time. Ya oughta learn ta pick yer battles though.” Apple Bloom said, while gripping Diamond Tiara’s hoof a bit tighter and pulling the smaller filly closer until she was all but staring down Diamond’s snout, “‘Cause if I dang well felt like it, ye’d be eatin’ dirt.”
She let Diamond Tiara go and started to trot off towards the lake, Sweetie Belle sighing and giving a slightly apologetic look before following, and Scootaloo skipping along without a care. Silver Spoon ground her teeth together and looked ready to go after them, but Diamond Tiara held a hoof out to her friend, shaking her head.
“But Diamond-”
“It’s okay Spoon. She’s got a chip on her shoulder. Leave it be.”
Diamond Tiara had meant her apology. She shouldn’t have just immediately thought that the three fillies had messed up her and Silver Spoon’s picnic. Apple Bloom might’ve had a rough attitude, but honestly if Diamond Tiara had a bigger sister who was a wanted outlaw, she might have a chip on her shoulder too. Still, that left the question, if Apple Bloom and her friends hadn’t gotten into the picnic bags... who had?
It was around that moment when, seemingly from nowhere, a clump of mud went sailing straight into the side of Apple Bloom’s mane.
“What the-!? Who threw that!?” Apple Bloom boomed, turning with a furious glare. Most of the nearby foals took rather large and cautious steps backwards, and while Apple Bloom’s eyes briefly passed over them, they went to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon first.
“Was that yer doin’, Silver Spoon?” Apple Bloom asked with gritted teeth. “My sister gave me this here bow. If ya just ruined it then there’s a serious poundin’ comin’ yer way.”
“Wasn’t her, Apple Bloom.” Sweetie Belle said, “It came from the wrong direction.”
“I think it came from over there!” said Scootaloo, pointing at some bushes clumped around a copse of trees by one of the nearby short hills.
Apple Bloom swung towards the bushes, “That right? Hey! Whoever’s in there better come out an’ face the music! I ain’t no fan o’ cowards who like ta hide n’ the brush.”
In response another clump of mud came sailing out of the bushes. It would’ve hit Apple Bloom square in the face, but Scootaloo, fast as a little hummingbird, leaped in the way and took the sling of mud herself. The pegasus just grinned, not even bothering to wipe the mud off her chest.
“Ha! Nice try! Want to try throwing more!? I’m fast enough to catch all you got!”
“Nice save, Scoots, thanks.” Apple Bloom said, still glaring at the bushes.
“No problem. I don’t mind getting dirty. So, wanna find out who the dead pony slinging mud at us is? Give them a friendly Ponyville hello?”
“Ooooh yeah.” Apple Bloom said and started trotting towards the bushes. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes, groaning under her breath.
“Could have been such a nice day, but noooooo...”
Diamond Tiara, seeing all this, sucked in a deep breath and broke into a fast canter. “This is getting out of hoof. Silver Spoon, little help?”
“Right behind you.” Silver Spoon said, cantering right beside her as they quickly got between Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and their intended target in the bushes... whoever they were.
“Hold on, Applebloom, that’s enough.” Diamond Tiara said, holding a hoof out. The other filly didn’t stop, only slowed, like an approaching hurricane with a thunderous look on her face.
“It’ll be ‘nough when I buck whoever did this right upside their noggin’. I only got one o’ these bows!”
“And I’m sure whoever did that is very sorry...” Diamond Tiara said, casting a worried and curious glance at the bushes. “If they come out and apologize I’m sure we can get the bow cleaned up before it stains.”
“Too late fer that.” Apple Bloom grunted, not slowing down. Silver Spoon moved to intercept her, but Scootaloo was faster, leaping with surprisingly athletic ability, little wings buzzing not so much in true flight but a small scale hover, to go right over the heads of both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to land right in front of the bushes.
“No worries Apple Bloom, I’ll flush ‘em out!” said Scootaloo, and leaped right into the brush, vanishing into the thick green branches with a rapid rustle of leaves.
Meanwhile Apple Bloom took advantage of both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon’s distraction to shove past both of them, following her friend into the bushes. Diamond Tiara grunted as she picked herself back up, given a helping hoof by Silver Spoon, and turned to the bushes to shout, ‘Hey! Whoever it is don’t hurt them! They probably didn’t mean to-”
She was cut off by a sudden loud commotion from inside the bushes that occurred so fast that she couldn’t do much but stare.
“There she is! Get her!”
Bushes rustled and shook at a point a few meters into the brush, like the whole cluster of tangled plants was having a seizure.
“I got her tail! What the- Gah! She slipped away! After her!”
Something or somepony growled in a high pitched tone, and more bushes shook in a line rushing to the left.
“Oh you’re not getting away you bushy little squirt! C’mere!”
The sound of pounding hooves was followed by a grunt of somepony tackling another. The bushes quirvered.
“Hold her still Scoots!”
The bushes went still for a moment, followed by an almost animalistic snarling.
“Tryin’ to, but she’s way stronger than she-OWW! She bit me!”
“Why I oughta! Grraaa!”
As the cluster of bushes continued to quiver with what was no doubt a struggle of epic proportions, Sweetie Belle came up beside Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon with an utterly deadpan look on her face.
“I sometimes wonder why I’m friends with those two.”
Silver Spoon glanced sidelong at the unicorn filly, “Can’t you just keep them in check?”
A smirk that was sardonically seasoned crossed Sweetie Belle’s lips, “Has that ever worked between you and Diamond Tiara when she gets one of her own crazy ideas?”
Silver Spoon opened her mouth as if to say something, then slowly closed it with a frown. Diamond Tiara couldn’t say much to that either, given the events of just a few days ago. Besides, she was distracted from saying anything by the sight of Apple Bloom and Scootaloo being bodily tossed from the bushes like sacks of grain, both of them scraped up by twigs and a noticeable bite on Scootaloo’s right foreleg. Following the pair out of the bushes in a gray blur was a small filly who pounced upon the other two, the trio becoming a tangled mess of swiping limbs and half uttered curses and growls.
However, shockingly enough to Diamond Tiara, the gray stranger was strong enough to end up pinning both the other fillies under her hooves once she got on top in the scuffle. Slightly tapered ears were flat against a head sporting a wildly uncombed mane of dark, blueish gray. A bushy tail of a similar color bristled behind the filly.
Most of all Diamond Tiara noticed the filly’s brilliantly bright, ice blue eyes, that stared icicle-like down at Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. She had seen those eyes before. It couldn’t be a coincidence, could it? Then again, this clearly wasn’t the creature that had saved her and Silver Spoon in the Everfree Forest. The gray phantom had been much larger, and clearly not a pony, for what little Diamond Tiara had seen of her.
Either way, this strange filly was growling down at two of her classmates, and whoever instigated the fight was irrelevant. Diamond Tiara needed to end this before it got any worse.
“Please, whoever you are, will you let those two up?” Diamond Tiara asked, approaching with carefully slow steps and speaking in a quiet, understanding tone.
The odd gray filly’s reaction was even stranger still. She blinked, as if not sure what she was doing, and literally leaped away from the two she had pinned, as if they were on fire. She backpedalled towards the bushes, snapping her head left and right like a trapped animal. Those blue eyes were dilated and the filly was drawing in ever quickening breaths. Her gaze then focused on Diamond Tiara, and seemed to freeze the filly in place for a moment, long enough for Apple Bloom and Scootaloo to get their hooves under them.
“Ugh, dagnabit, I ain’t through with ya yet!” Apple Bloom spat, head lowered and scraping the ground with her hoof as if about to charge. Scootaloo looked equally ready to jump back into the fray. Most of the foals who’d come out to the lake had gathered to watch the spectacle, wide eyed. Diamond Tiara would’ve given her mane if it meant getting an actual adult around here to deal with this, but it was just her and Silver Spoon.
Scrambling, she got between Apple Bloom and the gray stranger. “Wait!”
Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes at Diamond Tiara. “Gimme one good reason ta do that.”
“She’s...” Diamond Tiara glanced back at the filly, who still looked frozen in a mix of confusion and fear, and thought quickly. The filly looked like she’d been hiding out in the wilderness for all the grooming her body showed, and there was a wild, skittish look about her. Diamond Tiara’s mind started rapidly constructing a story. “She’s... a foreign exchange student.”
Apple Bloom’s head tilted to the side and Diamond Tiara could near hear the gears grinding to a halt in the other filly’s head. “Wut?”
“Y-yeah! She’s from... uh...” she picked a name she’d heard recently from Ditzy Doo, “Neighpon. Really far away. My family volunteered to be a... boarding home for traveling students. Yup. She’s a guest at my place.”
“What was she doing hiding in the bushes, throwing mud at ponies?” asked Sweetie Belle, eyeing the gray filly with a critical look.
Diamond Tiara gulped, and dove headfirst into the realm of ‘making it up as you go along’. “Its Neighponese tradition. Mudslinging is a sign of friendship in their culture. She was just showing admiration for how much she, uh... liked Apple Bloom’s mane. And of course hiding in bushes is an ancient form of Neighponese hide and seek. She was just playing is all, you see?”
Scootaloo’s wings buzzed with agitation as she rubbed her leg, “And what, is biting ponies a Nieghponese sign of being a total jerk?”
“Actually that’s called ‘self-defense’, and I think it’s pretty universal,” said Silver Spoon dryly, earning a stink-eyed look from Scootaloo.
“You did just try to attack her," pointed out Diamond Tiara, gesturing with a hoof, “I mean look at her, she’s clearly scared and doesn’t get what’s going on.”
Apple Bloom continued to stare heatedly at the gray filly, but Sweetie Belle came up to her and said, “Look, my sister’s amazing with cloths and accessories, and I’m pretty sure she’s got a spell that can clean up just about anything. Let’s just go to her boutique and she’ll clean up your dumb bow.”
“It ain’t dumb.” Apple Bloom said, her angry exterior cracking for a second as a note of genuine sadness entered her voice. “My sis gave it ta me...”
“C’mon Bloom, let’s go.” said Scootaloo, huffing out an annoyed sigh, “This was getting lame anyway.”
Having seemingly lost the momentum of the moment, Apple Bloom just gave the gray filly a final glare, and then let herself be led away by her friends. A few seconds went by after the trio was gone before all the gathered foals started chattering in excited voices.
“Wow did you see that!?”
“She had them both held down like they were foals!”
“Uh, aren’t we all foals?”
“Tinier foals, then. Like, grade-school foals.”
“I think we’re still in grade-school.”
“...Rumble, why do you have to ruin everything?”
Meanwhile Diamond Tiara had turned to face the strange new filly, with Silver Spoon sticking close to her as she approached the newcomer. For her part the gray filly hadn’t stopped staring at Diamond Tiara, standing so still she may as well have been a lawn ornament.
Taking a deep breath and putting on her best, most friendly smile, and extended a hoof. She spoke in a low voice, so the other chatting foals couldn’t hear her. Hopefully they’d keep buying that she knew this filly, at least until she learned her name. “Hi, my name is Diamond Tiara, and this is my friend, Silver Spoon. Sorry, I know you’re not from Neighpon. Just needed something to tell Apple Bloom. What’s your name?”
Unsure eyes blinked at her offered hoof. The filly looked as if she was about to run away at any second. Fear, apprehension, and a strange glimmer of need seemed to battle across the filly’s face as she hesitantly raised her own hoof... then promptly turned and bolted away at a dead run.
“Hey! Wait! Dang it!” Diamond Tiara rushed after her, Silver Spoon letting out a groan and chasing behind them.
The bush branches scraped at her face, but in a few seconds Diamond Tiara was through the other side. She was sure she’d only been a few paces behind the gray filly, but when she got through the bushes she cast her gaze about, but couldn’t spot her anywhere. That didn’t seem possible. There wasn’t anywhere to hide and there was no way the filly was fast enough to get away that quickly!
“Where’d she go?” asked Silver Spoon, coming through the bushes, removing a broken twig that had gotten caught in her braid.
“I don’t know.” Diamond Tiara said, letting out a crestfallen sigh. “But whoever she is, I think she’s in desperate need of a friend.”
----------
By the time her panic attack faded to the point where she could think straight, she was already back at her lair in the Whitetail woods. There her anger and frustrations flared up, causing her to vent savagely upon whatever was close at paw. Piles of long collected junk were scattered, and intricately carved bits of swirls and patterns in the walls were marred by harsh, ripping claws.
Settling down some time later Jeog just let herself fall to the floor in a flump, blowing out the last vestige of her anger in a sighing huff.
That hadn’t gone well at all, and she had none to blame but herself for it. First she’d exposed herself, quite foolishly, in hindsight. When she’d seen the food that Diamond Tiara had left inside the bags, after a few close calls of nearly being caught at the strange mortal lair where they exchanged bits of metal for the things stacked on shelves, she’d remembered she hadn’t hunted any breakfast that morning.
So she’d crept up to the bags and rummaged around for a bite to eat. Mortal food was strange tasting but she’d grown fond of it over the centuries. There was always a visceral joy in finding a tasty woodland critter to hunt, but mortal food was so diverse it was hard not to enjoy it. She’d wolfed down a few items and then crept back to the bushes in no time, and certainly none had spotted her.
Then she realized the mistake when the confrontation happened with those three other tiny mortal ponies and Diamond Tiara. Keen hearing allowed her to catch every bit of the conversation, and she’d smelled the aggressive anger coming off the yellow filly with the silly looking pink bow. Jeog hadn’t liked the way that one had given Diamond Tiara a reason to smell of fear, and so had decided to play a bit of a prank.
Once again, in hindsight not the smartest thing to do. Still, she could have slipped away, then, but she’d gotten angry herself when the fillies had chased after her into the bushes. Instinct rose up, hot and sharp, and before she knew what was happening she was scraping with a pair of mini-mortals and being stared at by just about every other mortal present, including Diamond Tiara.
That’s when the fear had hit in full force. She’d let her instincts control her, just as she had in the past.
As Diamond Tiara had spouted off some nonsense to try and calm the situation down, Jeog hadn’t been paying much attention because her mind had been yanked back to a horrible memory from long ago, during another moment where she’d reacted on instinct... with a much darker and bloodier price to be paid for it.
Had that been why she’d run from Diamond Tiara? The filly had asked for a name, and Jeog had none to give save the one the Hunter had given her. There was the name Cho Yon had once called her, but remembering that name was even more painful than the memories of that night of fire. Fear and shame at the memory had driven her away. Anger and instinct had caused her to expose herself. Now she was back to square one.
And the yearning for companionship remained, stronger than ever from how close she’d been to getting it.
Should she have taken Diamond Tiara’s hoof? Even if it ended in fire and blood, just as it had with Cho Yon?
He’d offered his hoof, once. She’d taken it, and it had been a wonderful thing, until the end.
There were times she wondered why she’d taken such an interest in the mortals. Life had been much simpler before then. She’d worried and feared for nothing before she’d mingled with mortals. Back then life was an endless expanse of hunting, playing, exploring, and following whatever whim she wished with no care for anything beyond satisfying her wants of the moment.
Yet in watching mortals she’d become so curious about them. They seemed to have something inside them that made them shine with colors she didn’t understand. But she wanted to. Oh, how she wanted to understand those enrapturing, bright colors. They had so many names; friendship, family, compassion... love. Words that seemed too small to contain the mystery of what they tried to describe.
Like a cub reaching for the reflection of the moon on a dark lake, all she ended up doing was falling in and drowning herself, it seemed.
And it's still better than spending eternity alone and afraid.
So she had a choice to make. Give up and go back into hiding... or try one more time to trust a mortal.
Night started to fall before Jeog decided.
----------
“And then she turned around only to find that the face looking back at her from the mirror was that of the old crone from the forest!” Diamond Tiara said in an ominous tone, using the light from the small campfire to alight her face as she gave a cock-eyed stare at the gathered foals and took on a cracking, affected voice of age. “‘Where’s my rusty horseshoe!’”
There were squeals and shrieks of equal parts fright and delight from the gathered foals, most of whom still had the remains of s’mores smeared on their cheeks. Diamond Tiara took a quick bow amid a few hoof stomps and sat back down on her haunches, enjoying the warmth of the fire now that the sun was setting and the air was taking on a chill.
So far the sleepover was going great. Everypony seemed to be having a good time, even Gentle Leaf. The filly couldn’t speak, but she could certainly smile, and while she’d seemed nervous at first, after a tasty dinner of barbecued hayburgers and gathering around the campfire for s’mores she’d started to grin and Diamond Tiara began to relax as well.
There’d been a few questions about the ‘Neighponese’ filly who’d run off, but so far Diamond Tiara had managed to deflect all of them. She’d managed to read through the first half of one of her books and while there’d been nothing of use concerning foxes or fox-like creatures, there’d been plenty of spooky stories to use as ammo for story-time around the fire.
“So who’s next for storytelling?” asked Twist, a earth pony filly white a cherry red, poofy mane and a slight lisp who was the one who’d brought the stuff for s’mores.
Rumble fluttered his wings and held up his hooves, “I’m no good with scary stories. Hey, maybe Gentle Leaf knows a few?”
Next to him Pipsqueak nudged the pegasus colt and said, “Rumble, shh!”
“What?” Rumble asked, then noticed Gentle Leaf’s sudden uneasy look, and he gulped. “Oh, uh, sorry.”
Gentle Leaf waved a pale green hoof, shaking her head as if to say ‘don’t worry about it’, dark mane falling around half of her face. After a brief, awkward silence Silver Spoon spoke up.
“Well we’ve already done plenty of stories. How about I go pull out some board games? We can set them up on the deck table.”
“Ooo, do you guys have Relic Seekers? That’s my favorite.” asked Twist, grinning and display a full set of braces that gleamed in the firelight.
“I think we do. I’ll have to go check.” said Silver Spoon, “I’ll go grab several, and we can take turns picking which one to play.”
“I’ll lend you a hoof.” said Diamond Tiara, hopping up and joining her friend in heading back into the house. As they trotted towards the door to the garage, where the shelves with the board games was, Diamond took a deep breath.
“I was thinking about what happened at the lake...”
“Uh-huh.” said Silver Spoon, “About the ‘foreign exchange student’. Seriously can’t believe anypony believed that. What are you going to do if your parents heard about that little rumor?”
“Plausibly deny it. Foals make up gossip all the time. Don’t worry about it. Anyway like I was saying, I’ve been thinking about that filly, and you must’ve noticed she had some similarities...” she trailed off as she looked about to make sure neither of Silver Spoon’s parents were in earshot. She and Silver Spoon entered the garage, and after the door closed she continued, “...between her and the gray phantom.”
Silver Spoon paused, pursing her lips. “I’m gray in coloration too. Do you think I’m the gray phantom?”
“No, duh, of course you're not. But think about it. A mysterious gray filly with blue eyes who looks like she’s been living in the woods just happens to show up a few days after a mysterious gray being with blue eyes saves us in the Everfree Forest. I know it doesn’t necessarily make sense, but then again did it make total sense when the kaiju showed up from Earth?”
A crease of thought crossed Silver Spoon’s brow, and then her eyes widened a bit, “Wait, are you suggesting what I think you are?”
Diamond Tiara nodded enthusiastically, tail wagging, “I was thinking about it from every angle, and it makes sense, right? We know when the kaiju got yanked from Earth to here they got changed into pony forms, right? But they’re still a lot faster and stronger than normal ponies, with some of them even having powers like their big kaiju forms. And that filly was totally strong enough to wrestle Scootaloo and Apple Bloom at the same time!”
“Duchess preserve us...” Silver spoon breathed, “You think she’s another kaiju!?”
“It makes sense, doesn’t it?” Diamond Tiara said, “I mean, maybe when she saved us in the forest she was using, like, a tiny portion of kaiju power or something to look bigger and stuff.”
Silver Spoon was silent for a brief moment, her eyes growing serious. “We should tell an adult about this, Diamond. If she is a kaiju, this is too important to sit on.”
“Just hold that thought.” said Diamond Tiara, reaching to grab up several of the stacked board game boxes sitting on the lower part of one of the garage shelves. Hoofing them over to Silver Spoon she said, “Look, I don’t want to scare her off. She seems way more skittish than Lady Destroyah was. If we do this wrong she might vanish into the forest and we’ll never find out for sure who she is. It might even be too late for that, if we scared her bad enough at the lake.”
Silver Spoon sighed, pushing her glasses up and eyeing Diamond Tiara levelly. “So you don’t want to get adults mixed into it until... what? You’ve made friends with her? What if she is a kaiju but isn’t one of the good ones?”
“Then why did she save us?”
“That could’ve been a coincidence! Maybe she just wanted to crush a few Timberwolves for fun, and us being there was a happy accident! Diamond, you’re being way too trusting here. You saw what she did to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.”
Diamond Tiara’s eyebrows shot up, “I also saw her back off when confronted. That’s not how a bloodthirsty kaiju acts. If she’s some big threat, why not attack Ponyville itself?”
Silver spoon rubbed her forehead, groaning. “You’re not letting this go, are you? Do you remember that you asked me to smack you the next time you ignored my advice?”
A nervous shifting entered Diamond Tiara’s hooves, “Uh, well, yes.”
“Take it as a sign of my supreme patience I’m not following up on that right now.” Silver Spoon said, heading for the door with the board games balanced on her back. “I trust you Diamond, but I just want you to consider going to the adults if this gets too dangerous.”
“Well, it might not matter anytime soon. We don’t even know where she is.” Diamond Tiara said, and they both went back outside into the vast backyard, and were immediately greeted by the sight of all the foals excitedly gathered on the wooden porch deck surrounding a familiar face.
The unusually shaggy and wild looking filly appeared even more pale in the rising moonlight, her gray fur tinted to a more silvery sheen. Her blue eyes still carried a nervous sense of fear, but there was an even greater gleam of stubborn determination in the frosty blue orbs as well. The foals clustered around her were asking rapid fire questions, save for Gentle Leaf who stood a bit to the side, curious but understandably quiet. Amid it all Pipsqueak noticed Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon returning and eagerly waved.
“Oi, look who it is! You’re Neighpon pal just wandered in outta the dark! She doesn’t talk much.”
“I see that.” said Diamond Tiara, gulping, “Why don’t you guys give her a bit of space, eh?”
The other foals reluctantly backed off, but Pipsqueak kept looking between Diamond Tiara and the gray filly, his own curiosity radiating off his face. “Hey, you never told us her name before you two ran off earlier. What’s she called?”
“How about we let her speak for herself.” Diamond Tiara said, evading the question and giving the gray filly a hopeful look and disarming smile, “Go ahead, it's okay. You can tell them your name.”
At least she hoped the other filly could. If she was also a mute like Gentle Leaf this was going to get really awkward, really fast. All the gathered foals eyes turned to the gray filly expectantly. For a second Diamond Tiara feared she might run away again, but the gray filly visibly steadied herself, her oddly bushy tail twitching behind her, and spoke in a high and slightly scratchy voice.
“I’ve been called Jeog. That is the only name I have.”
Not only was the way she said it strange, but there was a thick undercurrent of what sounded to Diamond Tiara like shame, even bitterness. Yet it was a small, subtle tone, and it seemed lost on the other foals who all started quickly asking ‘Jeog’ questions.
“Whoa is that a normal Neighpon name, it sounds weird!”
“Why’s your tail so fluffy! Are all ponies in Neighpon fuzzy tails like you?”
“Why’d you run away before anyway? You were totally kicking Apple Bloom and Scootaloo’s tails. I wouldn't run away from anything if I was that strong!”
Silver Spoon, glancing at Diamond Tiara and seeing the distress there at how uncomfortable Jeog looked, blew out a sigh and pushed herself between the other foals and their new... friend.
“Alright guys, let’s not barrage her. Remember we’re here to chill and have fun. I got the board games, so let’s get to playing!”
It didn’t take long to get everpony’s attention focused upon choosing which game to play and getting everything set up. Diamond Tiara stuck close to Jeog, who seemed faintly intrigued by the little cardboard cutouts, miniatures, and dice being laid out on the table, almost as if she’d never seen anything like them before. While she burned with as many questions as her fellow foals, she kept her peace and did her best to deflect any questions that went Jeog’s way that night.
The filly had odd mannerisms, that was for sure. She kept licking her lips and kneading her hooves on the table, and if Diamond Tiara looked closely she almost thought she saw scratch marks on the wood. Every now and again she thought the light shifted strangely around the filly, and every time she met Jeog’s eyes the blue orbs instantly made her think of the phantom in the forest.
By the time they went back to hanging out by the fire Diamond was getting more and more convinced she was right about her kaiju theory.
Jeog didn’t want to go near the fire, and instead laid down a few good paces away from it.
Before too much longer it was late enough for everypony to be getting tired, and Red Alert came out to help the foals set up tents. He was a bit surprised by Jeog’s presence, but accepted Diamond Tiara’s hasty explanation concerning her being a foreign student. She winced inwardly, however, at the telling of the fib. Now that Silver Spoon’s father knew it was only a matter of time before her parent’s heard about the foreign filly they were supposed to be housing.
I’ll have to find out everything I can before that happens. she resolved as she settled into her tent alongside Silver Spoon. Jeog was supposed to join them, at Diamond Tiara’s suggestion, but she instead laid down beside the tent.
“Uhh, Jeog, you’re supposed to sleep in the tent, not next to it.” Diamond Tiara said, poking her head out to eye the other filly.
Blue eyes glittered in the dark.
“I don’t like small spaces.”
Silver Spoon’s head now joined Diamond Tiara’s in poking out to peer at the strange filly. “It's gonna get cold.”
“I like the cold.”
Silver Spoon’s rolling eyes clearly said, ‘Well, I tried’ before she flopped back into her sleeping bag. Diamond Tiara waited a minute longer, eyeing Jeog with an unsure expression.
“Will you still be here in the morning? Not going to run off again?”
Those intense, ice blue eyes blinked. Diamond Tiara thought she saw that bushy tail wag, once.
“I will. If that is what you want. For as long as I’m able.”
As long as she was able? That was an odd way to put it. “Well, we’re going to be friends right? Got to stick together.” Diamond Tiara yawned, and settled back into her own sleeping bag. “Good night.”
She drifted off to sleep soon after, and all through the night she was watched over by a pair of eyes that never needed to sleep, but for the first time in a very long time became half-closed with a feeling of contentment.