“Sooooo, how’s the Matrix looking?”
“Well, you were right. Even between Discord’s plot and the Tree’s sudden sentience, everything looks pretty good.”
“You say that like I’m supposed to be surprised.”
“You asked, I answered. Either way, though, I think we should probably get another mission going, partly to make absolutely sure it works, and partly because I want to do something with the backlog before we get any more surprises.”
“It has been a while, I’ll agree with you on that. And I can’t say these maintenance checks have done much for us in that regard.”
“I know, I know. But given everything that’s happened to the map in the past, can you blame me?”
“Maybe not, but there is such a thing as too cautious. Let me just pull up the backlog…”
“So what looks good right now?”
“Well, I want to send the girls somewhere different this time. By now, I think they’ve adjusted to life with non-pony species, so exposing them to newer creatures wouldn’t be an unwelcome prospect.”
“Might as well.”
“…Hmm. I might have something.”
“What’cha got?”
“The Peaks of Peril, home to the kirin.”
“‘Peaks of Peril,’ huh? Who came up with that name?”
“Oh, you know, one pony gets into a bad experience with a nirik, and suddenly the whole mountain is dangerous.”
“Ah, a case a of ‘accentuate the negative.’”
“You can say that again. By the time the Pillars were active, all anyone knew about the place was the mere existence of kirin and nirik.”
“But back to the present…”
“Have you actually read up on some of these missions?”
“I’ve skimmed the basics. The entire kirin village has gone completely silent out of some self-imposed mandate to prevent them from going nirik. Talk about your overreactions.”
“Like you said, a case of ‘accentuate the negative.’”
“And doing so has caused not just total silence, but a nearly complete inhibition of their emotions. I mean, I can get a little riled up from time to time…”
“Starswirlthebearded.”
“Hush, you. But even I wouldn’t want to just not feel. Life’s just more worth it if you can appreciate what it has to offer, and even the negative emotions help to define what makes us feel good.”
“Preaching to the choir. Now we just need someone to preach to them.”
“Okay, so, right away, I’m thinking we need someone who won’t beat around the bush. This is something that needs to be said directly.”
“You’re not wrong, but there does need to be some nuance. Telling the kirin they’re wrong is one thing. Telling them why they’re wrong will make for a more convincing argument.”
“So, off the top of my head, I’ve got it down to Rainbow Dash, Applejack, possibly Pinkie Pie.”
“And out of all of them, Applejack is the only one who has the best chance of getting the message across without being overbearing about it.”
“That’s one down. Do we need anyone else?”
“It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have someone on backup. Applejack can still be a little hardheaded, so having someone to temper that attitude could be helpful.”
“There’s also one more thing we need to consider: how to fix the problem. If what I’ve read is true, this isn’t just some professional quiet game; it’s magically induced.”
“You’re probably right. Let’s take a look around the mountain.”
“…”
“Hold up! I think I saw something.”
“…Looks like another kirin. What’s she doing this far from the village?”
“According to our files, her name is Autumn Blaze. Hang on, I’m gonna rewind the clock.”.
“…”
“Exile, huh? Do you see why?”
“Rewinding a little farther… Sweet deities, she can talk.”
“We have our solution, then. How’d she do it?”
“Let’s see here… Found it. Looks like an herbal remedy.”
“Using foal’s breath flowers. Of course, it’s so obvious.”
“Foal’s breath? What’s that?”
“A rather uncommon flower, and not well known unless you’re a botanist or a medical specialist. It has an innate magic to it that, essentially, reverses an afflicted patient to their original state.”
“So, the silence was the affliction…”
“…And the flowers reversed it. It’s our best bet. If the kirin are going to talk again, they’ll need those flowers.”
“Let me look around… And we’ve got a hit. Turns out they make for great nesting material too.”
“Sounds like the choice here is obvious. And it solves our other problem.”
“I guess Fluttershy would be the best voice of reason we could hope for. I mean, it worked out for the Las Pegasus… Oh my gosh, I just realized; this is the first repeat group we’ve ever had.”
“Is that really important?”
“I’ll bet you bits to broccoli I won’t be the only one who notices. Or cares.”
“Whatever. The point is we now have our group. I think the kirin are in good hooves.”
“Then let’s do it. Calling Applejack.”
“Calling Fluttershy.”
“Your mission begins here!”