Dan looked to see most of the ponies somewhere between cowering and curious, scared but wanting to know more. In the end, only one of them was brave enough to approach, and thankfully it was the unicorn he wanted to speak to.
“Um… hello,” Starlight Glimmer said as she approached cautiously. “Who… What-?”
“Hewo! Ur Stahlite Gimmah, carrak?” he asked.
(Hello! You’re Starlight Glimmer, correct?)
“Uh, um… what?”
“Ah a Hir Aniel Horteshoo, an-”
(I am Sir Daniel Fortesque, and-)
“Whoa whoa whoa, wait, please. I can’t understand you,” Starlight interrupted.
Dan groaned, realizing that this was going to be much more difficult than communicating with the Princesses. Thankfully, Sir Daniel was a marvelous storyteller, and with that an expert of communication… and charades. He cleared his-nonexistent throat and pointed to himself. “Ah. A. An,” he said simply, stressing each syllable.
Starlight Glimmer still looked confused, so he decided to try something a little different. He pointed at the unicorn. “Stahlite Gimmah,” he said before pointing back at himself. “An.” He then pointed back to her. “Stahlite Gimmah.”
She pointed to her self. “Y-Yes. My name is Starlight Glimmer,” she stuttered.
He nodded and then pointed back to himself. “An.”
“... Anne?” she asked, pointing to him.
Dan sighed and stressed his limited vocal powers as much as he could. “Daaaaaaaahn.”
“D-Daaaaaan? Dan?” she asked. He excitedly nodded back. “Dan. That’s your name?” He nodded. “Okay Dan… what are you?”
“Ah’m ha Hero ah Gallahmah!” he said proudly.
(I’m the Hero of Gallowmere!)
“Um… what?”
Dan sighed again. Rather than try and sound it out again he decided to try some pantomiming. He drew his sword and shield, placed one foot on a stump, and posed heroically, humming a heroic tune.
“... Um, I’m sorry, I don’t-”
“He’s a knight!” Sweetie Belle interrupted excitedly.
“What?” Starlight Glimmer asked, everypony looking at her.
“He’s a knight! I’d recognize one anywhere!”
“Yeah, me too!” Scootaloo agreed. “Sword, shield, armor, and fighting monsters!”
“Yup, jus’ like in them stories!” Apple Bloom added.
“Girls, you shouldn’t make-” Starlight, only to be interrupted by Dan clapping and nodding in approval. “Wait, you really are a knight?” Dan nodded. The ponies began to murmur among themselves, some not being completely convinced and others happy to have a possible savior arrive. “Okay, ‘Sir Dan’. Why are you here?” she asked, still suspicious.
Dan thought about how to tell her for a moment before coming up with an idea. He called the three fillies over and the eagerly obeyed, looking a bit star struck. He picked up Apple Bloom and set her on the stump motioning for her to stay still. He then placed Scootaloo on top of her, and then Sweetie Belle on top of her. He then pointed to the strange pony totem.
“... I don’t… what?” Starlight asked, utterly baffled. Dan deadpanned before thinking for a moment, then grabbed Sweetie Belle’s mane and tail and began to lightly shake them, making them look like they were blowing in the wind. Starlight just stared for a moment before something clicked. “Wait… the Princesses!? You were sent by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!?” she asked.
Dan stopped fiddling with Sweetie’s mane and nodded excitedly.
“Really!?” all three of the Crusaders asked excitedly… causing them to fall over… and somehow get covered in tree sap. “Ow.”
The crowd began to murmur more, a bit of hope inching into their tone.
“So you found the Princesses!?” Starlight asked hopefully. He nodded back. “You freed them!?” Dan hesitated for a moment before sagging his shoulders and shaking. Starlight, and the crowd, were a bit deflated. “But… they’re alright… right?” Dan waved his hand in a “kinda sorta” motion. “Well, I mean, aside from them being prisoners.” Dan nodded. “Okay then, well, that’s something. What about Discord?”
“Hame,” he replied.
(Same.)
“‘Same’?” she asked and he nodded, confirming she understood her. “I see. Well then, why are you here?”
Dan pointed to Starlight, then looked around for a moment before pointing to Spike, who looked surprised he was singled out. He then counted on his fingers as he tried to remember the others’ names. Twilight Sparkle, Rarity. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie, he thought then held up six of his bony fingers to Starlight.
She took a moment to think about what he was trying to tell her before she understood. “Oh, so the Princesses sent you here to find me, Spike, and the girls?” Dan nodded back. “The Princesses said that we’d all be able to help you defeat Grogar, didn’t they?” Dan nodded again. Starlight sighed. “That’s… going to be a bit difficult.” Dan tilted his head. “Come with me. Spike, Zecora, you too,” she said walking towards one of the bigger tents. She then topped and turned to the three fillies. “And none of you run off!” she ordered sternly.
“Okay,” they all groaned.
Dan followed the unicorn, zebra, and dragon into a nearby tent, stepping inside to see a flimsy wooden table with a map of what seemed to be the local area, judging by the village labelled “Ponyville” on it.
“Okay, so here’s the situation,” Starlight began. “Me and the other girls were in Canterlot when Grogar attacked, and we barely managed to make it out on the train back. We knew they’d be coming for us next, so we all headed into the Everfree Forest to escape. Zecora already lived here, so she helped us build our camp,” she explained, motioning to the zebra who nodded in response. “We’ve been holding out for days now, and we’ve been trying to gather supplies, get more secured, and find help. Applejack, Pinkie Pie and um… Lyra went here, to Sweet Apple Acres,” she said, pointing to a large farm near Ponyville. “It’s Applejack’s family farm, so she would know best where to get something useful and to get food for us. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity and my friend Trixie went here to the Castle of the Pony Sisters.” She pointed to a castle-like structure. “It was the royal palace one thousand years ago before the capital was moved to Canterlot. It’s old, and a bit worn down, but stone walls with some holes are still better than nothing. As for Twilight, her brother is the Prince of the Crystal Empire, and the former captain of the guard. She said she knew he was off training some new recruits in Manehattan, so she left to try and see if she could bring them back to help. Manehattan’s a long way away, so it’s no surprise she’s not back yet, especially since she didn’t take the train so she could be more stealthy. As for the other girls, they definitely should’ve been back by now, so they’ve probably been captured or… well, let’s just hope they’ve been captured.”
Dan folded his arms, nodding in understanding. They were in quite the conundrum.
“So Sir Dan, what do you think we should do?” she asked.
“Hm?” he asked, looking to her.
“I mean, you are a knight, right? I’m sure you can already come up with some plan to save them all.”
At that moment Dan was thankful he was dead so Starlight couldn’t see him sweat. Apparently she thought that he was some sort of tactical genius, not the fierce warrior that he had often regaled the royal court with. Still, if nothing else, Sir Dan was an expert pseudologist and knew how to appear like the smartest person in the room: get smarter people to guess what your plans are, and then agree with them.
Looking at the map, Dan cleared his throat pointed at this “Sweet Apple Acres”, reasoning that food would be the most important, making sure to look confident as possible. The others merely stared at the spot for a moment, looked back to him confused. Once again thankful he no longer had sweat glands, Dan pointed to himself and then the farm on the map again.
“Oh, so you think it would be best if we started with Sweet Apple Acres, so we get some supplies and try and find Applejack and Pinkie, right?” Starlight asked. Dan internally sighed in relief and nodded. “Great, we’ll come with you!”
“Hm?” Dan asked, confused.
“Well, obviously I’d have to go with you. I mean, ponies haven’t exactly had the best experience with undead, so I should probably go along, just to make sure nopony attacks you or something.”
“Oh. Goo poi,” he agreed.
(Oh. Good point.)
“Yeah, and I’ll go, too!” Spike proclaimed.
“Actually, I was thinking maybe Zecora,” Starlight refused.
“But I wanna help, too! Besides, if Zecora leaves who’s gonna take care of every pony here?” he insisted.
“Spike-“
“And besides, I’m not just some colt, I’m Spike the Brave and Glorious! And I’m a dragon! Everypony knows undead hate fire!”
“But you need to watch the Cutie Mark Crusaders-”
“Oh like I’d be able to stop them anyway,” he retorted.
Starlight groaned and looked to Dan, who shrugged. “He raihes shome compallang koints,” he replied.
(He raises some compelling points.)
Starlight huffed and looked Zecora, but was also denied what she wanted to hear, and this time in rhyme. “Though not what I’d like, it would be safer with Spike. A dragon’s scales and fire would aid when times are dire.”
Starlight sighed. “Fine, okay, I get it. I’ll take Sir Dan and Spike to Sweet Apple Acres, Zecora you can stay here and lead everypony else. Also, you should probably make a few potions, even if you need to ask for some help.”
“Ait… oo ake kotions?” Dan asked Zecora. Before anyone could respond he produced the now useless dragon potion. “Kahn oo fix his?”
(Wait… you make potions?)(Can you fix this?)
“You… want her to fix the potion?” Starlight asked, and Dan nodded in response. “Okay, what’s in it?” Dan shrugged. “Okay… well, what is it supposed to do?”
Dan thought a moment on how to explain it, then realized the perfect example was right next to him. He turned and pointed to Spike, believing that would be enough. When it wasn’t, he sighed and used his other hand to make breathing motions from his upper jaw.
“Uh… I don’t-“ Starlight began.
“It lets you breathe fire like a dragon!?” Spike asked excitedly. Dan happily nodded, growing more thankful they were deciding to take the young dragon with them as he seemed to have an easier time understanding him.
“Wow. You’re really prepared, huh?” Starlight commented, somewhat impressed.
“Such a potion exists, yes. But to brew it is no jest,” Zecora began digging into one of her bags. “Much to my ire, the list of ingredients are old and tired,” she finished, handing them the scroll.
“... ‘Royal Blood’? ‘Heart of Dragon’? These are a little… difficult,” Starlight commented.
“Uh huh,” Dan agreed.
“Uh, so long as we don’t need to rip my heart out or something I’m cool with it,” Spike nervously added.
“Okay, well, it looks like we’ve got something of a plan, so let’s get everything squared away,” Starlight said, moving out of the tent, the rest following her. Outside everypony was looking at her expectantly and she nervously cleared her throat. “Okay everypony, listen up! Spike, I, and Sir Dan here are going to head to Sweet Apple Acres to try and find out what happened to Pinkie Pie and Applejack, and also to hopefully get some supplies for us! All of you move to the next location and obey Zecora until we get back! That means you, CMC!”
“Awwww!” the three of them whined.
“None of that!” she scolded, then turned to Dan and Spike. “Okay, let’s get going.”
“Gotcha!” Spike replied enthusiastically, Dan saluting alongside him.
As they both left everypony else was getting their supplies and packing up, except for one pony who eyed them warily...