//------------------------------// // Ch 4: The Plan // Story: Alterverse: Welcome to Ponyville // by Lord King Cocoon //------------------------------// “Is this another attack from Solaris?!” Ditzy exclaimed, running around in a panic, “Solaris is going to kill my little Dink-” BONK! Ditzy, in her panic, crashed into a familiar gray mare, completely unphased by Ditzy crashing into her, “Solaris is primarily straightforward about their attacks,” Maud Pie said in her monotone voice, “The Lunar Core are primarily subtle in what they do… when they’re not loud…” “Fancy running into you again, Maud,” Surprise said. “You’re not the one who ran into me…” Maud said, pointing at Ditzy, “She is.” “That’s not what… nevermind,” Trixie sighed, “Can you help us? There’s a group of fillies who were foalnapped. And we could use the help to find them.” “…Okay…” “It it just my imagination, or is that pony’s lack of emotion offputting?” Cheerilee asked Trixie in a whisper. “Think of it as her having a calm mind and not letting emotions cloud her judgement,” Trixie whispered back as they watched Maud slowly blink, “I assume introductions are in order. Everypony, this is Maud Pie Maud, This is Cheerilee and Ditzy Doo. “Now that everypony knows each other, let’s get to planning,” Trixie continued, “Ditzy , Surprise, you two scout ahead and keep an eye on the group. But do not engage! We don’t know what these ponies have planned, or if knowledge of our presence could put the fillies in danger. Maud, Cheerilee, and myself should try to find somepony to help. Cheerilee can-” “I should go with Ditzy and Surprise…” Maud said flatly. “Are you sure?” Trixie asked, “They’re pegasi. So don’t underestimate their speed.” “Don’t underestimate my speed…” Trixie had trouble believing Maud was a fast pony. Everything she did seemed to indicate somepony who takes their time. “Only if you agree that if you can’t keep up, you are on your own,” Trixie explained, “We can’t waste any time.” “I’m skilled at tracking…” Trixie couldn’t deny that a tracker would be beneficial to the team, “Fine. Just don’t slow them down. Now go.” Surprise lead the way, making sure to keep at a pace that Ditzy could keep up with, which was a rather fast pace surprisingly. Ditzy flew at speeds only a worried mother could fly. But that wasn’t the shocking part. When Maud ran after them, she shot off like a bullet, almost creating a shockwave from her speed. It seemed she wouldn’t be slowing the pegasi down much. “Cheerilee, you know this town better than I do,” Trixie said after the scout team were gone, “And because we can use the extra help, and because you know this town better than I do, you should lead the way.” “Is that why you let Ditzy go and not me?” Cheerilee said. “I can tell that she’s a protective mother, and I only met her today,” Trixie explained, “And it’s because of that that there was no way I was gonna stop her from going. So I made sure that she knows the danger if she tries to engage. Though you have a connection with one of the fillies, you’re not her mother, so I’m sure you’re able to put things in the hooves of others.” “Are you implying that I’m not worried?!” Cheerilee exclaimed. “Not at all. Just that, being a teacher, you can keep calm under pressure,” Trixie explained, “You’d be able to think rationally if you had to stay here, while Ditzy would likely be an emotional wreck in worry. I’d choose Surprise as a guide if it weren’t for the fact that she lacks much knowledge of the town, and the fact that she has to guide the others to the fillies. Maud would certainly be calm and composed. But she’s not from Ponyville.” “I’m not sure who can specifically help,” Cheerilee explained, “But I do have a friend who’s adept with sound related magic. Her name is-” “Vinyl Scratch!” a feminine accented voice called out, “How many times do I have to tell you not to leave your equipment in the middle of the room when you’re not using it?!” A white unicorn with an electric blue mane and a bronze metal collar walked out to meet the gaze of the dark gray earth pony mare. “Come on, Tavi,” the unicorn, Vinyl Scratch, said in a synthesized robotic voice, “So I forgot this one time.” “You have forgotten several times in the past week, and multiple times in the past month!” Octavia growled, her usual sophisticated voice becoming an uncharacteristic growl, “Is it too much to ask that you just move your equipment to the side?” Vinyl silently sighed before lighting up her horn and moving the equipment next to the wall at the side. “I’m sorry I yelled at you like that,” Octavia said apologetically, “I know it brings back bad memories of home. Unfortunately, father’s influence on me is still part of me.” “How you reacted is his fault,” Vinyl’s mechanical voice said, “But the frustration you feel is real,” “That doesn’t excuse that I-” KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! There was a knock at the door. Octavia went to answer the door. When she opened the door, she saw Cheerilee and another mare, “Cheerilee! What do we owe the pleasure?” Octavia asked before coming to a realization, “And why isn’t my daughter here yet?” Trixie looked toward Cheerilee, “Is the third filly her daughter?” Cheerilee nods and turns back to the musician, “That’s why we’re here. This here is Trixie Lunamoon. But introductions can wait,” Cheerilee said, getting Trixie’s name wrong, “We suspect that your her and her friends were foalnapped by the Lunar Core.” “We’re here to get some help with dealing with the assailants,” Trixie said, “There’s already a group of ponies headed in their direction. And my name is Lulamoon, not Lunamoon.” Hearing the conversation, Vinyl joined in, “So, my niece is missing? And you need help?” Vinyl said, receiving an odd look from Trixie. Vinyl pointed towards her collar, “Right, you don’t know about my voice. This is an AVS.” “An AVS?” Trixie questioned, “What’s that?” “AVS? Artificial Voice Synthesizer?” Vinyl said as if it were obvious what AVS stands for, “I need it to talk. Without it, I’m actually mute.” “We can talk about that later,” Octavia said, “You came to us to get some help, right?” “Yes,” Cheerilee confirmed, “To be specific, we came for Vinyl. Her sound manipulation spells would be good for sneaking up on them.” “Enough said,” Vinyl said, walking out the door, “Let’s tear the manes out of the foalnappers’ heads.” “I hate it when she just runs into action before getting all the information,” Octavia said, “But I’ll be coming to get my daughter too.” “Well, we basically already told you everything you need to know,” Trixie said, “Details include going to Whitetail Woods.” “They’re already at Whitetail Woods?” Octavia asked. “Then fillies never came to class,” Cheerilee explained, “So they must’ve been abducted before school. And I know they didn’t skip because we found their saddlebags. They never even ate their lunch.” “But then how will we find them?!” Octavia asked. Trixie’s eyes began to glow blue, “Scrying spell.” “Well, we need to get there quickly, right?” Octavia asked before grabbing a capsule and pushing a button. The capsule then opened up and the contents inside came out in a magic field, causing whatever was inside to grow to the size of a small vehicle, “These are an invention of a local scientist. They are simply called capsules. But the details is that they are items that are magically bonded with the capsule itself with a magical compression field for easy transport of large objects.” When the magical field faded, in its place was a motor vehicle. “That seems… oddly convenient,” Trixie stated bluntly. “Everypony get in,” Octavia said, “By the way, my name is Octavia Philharmonic. And my sister there is Vinyl Scratch.” “I’m the Grrreat and Powerful Trrrixie!” Trixie boasted, “The personal protege of Princess Luna!” The group were getting into the vehicle, “You mean the Trixie?” Octavia asked, “The magician who’s practicing under the princess of the night?” “The one and only,” Trixie said. They started off, heading towards Whitetail Woods. Dinky was annoyed. Not because of being foalnapped… well… that too. But she was annoyed that she had a magic nullifier put on her. Her magic wasn’t even powerful enough yet to escape anyway. Surprisingly, being foalnapped was a lot more boring than you’d think. After the initial capture, it was boring not having anything to do. And after one of them tried to escape, one of her captors placed a paralysis spell on them, so they couldn’t even move. “I’m hungry,” the orange pegasus next to her whined, “Isn’t it lunchtime yet?” One of the captors walked over to give the pegasus an apple. But instead of biting into the apple, she bit the hoof holding it, “OW! You little brat!” Dinky just sighed from that, “Scootaloo, you’re gonna get us into more trouble than we already are,” Dinky pointed out, “Or did you forget who’s responsible for them putting the paralyze spell on us?” “How is it my fault?” Scootaloo asked, “I’m not even a unicorn. So how could I have paralyzed us?” Dinky desperately wanted to facehoof. But being paralyzed prevented that action, “They paralyzed us because you tried to escape!” “I tried to escape because we were being foalnapped!” “This is why I’m not a father,” the unicorn of the captors sighed. “I’m pretty sure that’s not the only reason,” Scootaloo teased, “Even if you wanted to be a father, nopony would want to be with you.” Suddenly, a hoof composed of magic slapped Scootaloo on her cheek. “You know you had that coming, right?” Dinky said, suddenly receiving a slap of her own, “Hey! What did I do?” “You were just as much a part of that argument as she was,” the unicorn said. “That’s why you’re not a father,” a griffon said, “Because you can’t realize that they are just foals. Now undo the holding spell.” “But Gailin…” “No ‘buts’,” the griffon named Gailin instructed, “We’re not here to hurt the fillies, we’re here to properly educate them. Or would you rather let that school do the job and not teach them to properly worship the Empress of the Night?” Gailin lit up his horn and released the paralysis spell on the fillies. As soon as this happened, Scootaloo tried to make a run for it. The operative word being “tried”. Scootaloo realized that as she ran, she wasn’t getting anywhere. She was being levitated off the ground to ensure she doesn’t run. Dinky however went over to the third filly, a gray earth pony with a light gray mane. The earth pony hadn’t been taking this foalnapping well. Now that she wasn’t paralyzed, she was now able to curl up into a ball and shiver. She had been silent the entire time. “Are you doing okay, Silver Spoon?” Dinky asked. The filly in question jumped at the sound. She wasn’t taking the foalnapping well for two reasons. The first is that she’s been foalnapped… obviously. But the second is that she didn’t have her glasses. And without her glasses, she was practically blind. Without her glasses, all she could see were blurs. After realizing it was Dinky next to her and not one of the foalnappers, Silver quickly embraced Dinky, afraid that if she let go, she would disappear. “I want mommy,” Silver Spoon whimpered as tears went down her cheeks. “Me to,” Dinky said, tears forming in her eyes as well. Dinky wasn’t doing much better than Silver. But Dinky was doing her best to stay strong for Silver. Scootaloo’s reaction to the foalnapping was to act out. When they first were abducted, they all had tried to fight back. But it was obvious that there was no way for them to overpower the assailants. After a few escape attempts, and a few bumps and bruises later, Dinky and Silver stopped their escape attempts. Scootaloo has yet to stop trying, resulting in her getting some scrapes and cuts as well. Before they entered Whitetail Woods, Scootaloo had tried again to escape, so desperate that she basically had a wrestling match with one of her captors. That was how they were put under a paralysis spell. The scout team were just arriving at Whitetail Woods. Though they knew not to engage with the enemy, Surprise felt that Ditzy needed a reminder, “Don’t forget, we’re not supposed to try to save them yet,” Surprise told Ditzy, “We don’t want the situation to get worse. So wait for Trixie and Cheerilee to arrive before we do anything.” Ditzy nods, a sparkle in her eye from the tears forming. Before they headed into the woods, a motor vehicle arrived, carrying Trixie’s team. “It seems we got here in time,” Trixie said, “Since we’re all together again, let’s make a plan.” The pegasi landed, short introductions were made, and Trixie started planning, “Alright, we’ll need a bird’s eye view. I’m sure you know who will be taking that role.” Ditzy nods and Surprise salutes. “Octavia and Cheerilee aren’t exactly the fighting type,” Trixie continued, “So Maud will go with them to act as scouts.” “I’m a fighter…” “You’re also a tracker, and can act as the muscle for your group,” Trixie told Maud, “I can act as the tracker for Vinyl and myself. “Vinyl and I will act as the front line,” Trixie continued, “Vinyl can cast a silence spell on the three groups.” “The silence spell will make it so that anything you say can’t be heard, even by each other,” Vinyl explained with her robotic voice. She then held up several ear pieces, “These will allow you all to hear each other, bypassing the silence spell.” “And with my ability to turn us invisible, it will be like we aren’t even there, as far as the foalnappers are concerned,” Trixie explained, “Though I could use the invisibility spell on all of you, I’d rather not have to spread my magic that thin. I’d like to be able to focus on other spells if it comes down to that.” “Because of the nature of my AVS, I won’t be able to speak to you,” Vinyl added, “But these won’t just bypass the silence spell, but will also bypass distance. But to bypass distance, you need to put your hooves to the headset to activate the long range signal.” “So to sum it up,” Surprise said, “The aerial team will be the eye in the sky, the scout team will be the backup and make sure none of them escape, and the front line team will be the main attackers.” “Hopefully, we can do this without fighting,” Trixie said, “But generally, that’s the gist of it.” “For my little muffin!” Ditzy said with determination. “And beating up baddies!” Surprise added. “For the safety of the fillies!” Octavia said. “And my niece!” Vinyl added. “For my sister!” Cheerilee said. “…Hurrah…” Maud deadpanned. “Let’s do this!” Trixie finished. Vinyl Scratch cast her silence spell on everypony before they put the earpieces in their ears. After a sound check, Trixie used an invisibility spell on herself and Vinyl, making sure to enchant their eyes to see through the illusion. The aerial team took to the sky, the front line entered the wood, and soon after followed by the backup team.