“So what’re we going to do now?”
Twilight shook her head in response to Fluttershy’s question. “I don’t know. I was so sure that Sonata would accept our help. I never thought she’d turn us away.”
“I’m surprised too.” Soft Mane glanced back at the manor, the large house already a blur to her even though they were less than a hundred feet away from it. “I didn’t get to know her very well when we were back on Everglow, but based on how upset Rainbow Dash said she was, you’d think she’d want someone to heal Lex right away.” She scowled a little at that last part, unable to help but feel somewhat disparaged at being refused. “Maybe she’s come around to his way of thinking, and doesn’t want to let a freak near her boyfriend.”
“I dunno,” murmured Spike, still looking a bit disturbed by news of Lex’s recent dragonslaying. “She might have been a villain when Twilight first met her, but she really seemed like she was turning good the last few times we saw her. Pinkie, what do you think?”
The question made Pinkie tilt her head in puzzlement. “Why would I know?”
“Well, you’re the first pony she became friends with, sugarcube,” ventured Applejack. “If anypony can hazard a guess about why she’d say no to Soft Mane’s healin’ her stallion, it’d be you.”
“Hmm.” Putting a hoof to her chin, the party pony’s expression morphed into one of intense concentration. “Well, if I had to guess…I’d say she was worried about the same thing as that filly that jumped us a few minutes ago where because Rainbow Dash hurt the love of her life really badly even though he’s apparently been doing good deeds ever since he got here that now Sonata doesn’t trust that we really want to help and probably thinks that we’re lying about healing Lex and that we’ll actually bump him off as soon as we get the chance in order to get revenge for Princess Luna. But who knows for sure?”
An awkward silence fell then, with Rainbow Dash rubbing the back of her neck in mild embarrassment at being the source of their latest setback. “Going after him seemed like a good idea at the time,” she muttered.
Twilight shook her head, not wanting to revisit that topic. “What we need to focus on is what we can do now. If Sonata won’t let us help Lex, then we need to figure out a way to change her mind.”
“Maybe we should just give her a little time?” ventured Fluttershy. “If she’s more worried about losing the pony she loves than she is about us, she might decide to trust us just a little.”
“Pfft, what kind of boring plan is that?” scoffed Rainbow Dash, quickly recovering her poise. “I say we wait until it’s dark and then sneak in and have Soft Mane heal Lex before anyone knows we’re there. Then Sonata and everypony else will know that we’re here to help.” Nodding at her own brilliance, she turned to Twilight. “You’ve got an invisibility spell, right? Just use that on us and this’ll be no sweat!”
But Twilight didn’t look nearly as confident. “That spell only lasts a few minutes, and we’d need to search the entire place. Not to mention what would happen if somepony found us sneaking back inside after we were thrown out.”
“What we need is somepony who’ll vouch for us,” declared Applejack. “Someone Sonata trusts, and who’ll be willin’ to trust us.”
“Spike and I met a mare who said she talked to Sonata a little bit in Tall Tale after Lex, um…got into a fight there,” recalled Soft Mane. Despite her attempt at being circumspect, she frowned as she saw Spike wince. “But it didn’t sound like a close friendship or anything. And for all I know she’s gone back there by now.”
“Maybe we should go to Tall Tale!” Pinkie jumped up and down at the suggestion. “I bet Sonata made a bunch of really good friends while she and Lex were there!”
“Except we don’t have a quick way to get there, since I can’t teleport us to a place I’ve never been to,” sighed Twilight, glancing at the harbor. “I suppose we could ask somepony for a ride, but I’m not sure anyone here is willing to do us a favor right now…except maybe Prince Blueblood.”
Just saying his name made Twilight roll her eyes, but to her mild surprise she was the only one who did. “Rarity?” When she received no answer, she walked over to the group’s only unicorn, who was staring into space with a thoughtful look on her face. “Is everything alright?”
“Hm?” Blinking, Rarity belatedly turned her attention to Twilight. “I’m terribly sorry, darling. What were you saying?”
“She was suggestin’ that maybe we could get that Blueblood fella to give us a lift to Tall Tale,” explained Applejack.
But aside from grimacing at Blueblood’s name, Rarity only looked more confused. “Tall Tale? Whyever would we want to go there?”
“Duh,” interjected Rainbow Dash. “So that we could track down any friends of Sonata’s and get them to come back here and help us convince her to give us a chance. Weren’t you listening?”
An uncomfortable laugh escaped Rarity’s lips. “My apologies. I think I’m still a shade off-balance from being bowled over by that filly before. Plus, it was very upsetting hearing that the poor dear thought we were assassins. To have such worries when she doesn’t look any older than Sweetie Belle, it’s absolutely heartbreaking.”
She took a deep breath then, giving her mane a toss as she visibly collected herself. “I’ll admit I don’t have any better ideas, but I’m not sure asking Blueblood for help is wise. He’s not exactly the sort of stallion who’ll inconvenience himself for the sake of others, even when it’s a lady asking. And in the unlikely instance that he was willing to take us to Tall Tale and back, do we know for certain that Sonata has any close friends there?”
“I guess not,” admitted Twilight, her ears folding back as another plan fell apart. “But I’m not sure what else we can try.”
A reassuring smile on his face, Spike went over and put a claw on Twilight’s side. “You’ll figure something out, Twilight. You always do.”
“Thanks, Spike.” Returning the little dragon’s smile, Twilight couldn’t resist pulling him in for a quick hug. “But I’ll admit, it would be nice if an answer just fell out of the sky all of a sudden.”
Long experience made everyone glance upward then, spending a few seconds scanning the atmosphere for any sort of convenient answer. But when none appeared, Twilight gave a self-deprecating chuckle. “I guess that was too much to ask-”
“Sweet Celestia, it’s really them!”
Caught off-guard, the group turned to see five ponies approaching from the opposite direction of the manor. At the forefront was an earth stallion clad in a bandana, grinning widely as he gestured at the others in his party: a pair of pegasi – a mare with a sea captain’s hat and a stallion walking alongside her – a unicorn mare with glasses, and another earth stallion. “And you said it couldn’t possibly be Princess Twilight and her friends,” laughed the bandana-clad pony, nudging the pegasus stallion. “But here they are! Wow!”
“Calm down, Sandbar,” muttered the unicorn, adjusting her glasses. “You’re making a scene.”
“You’ll have to forgive my friend,” began the pegasus stallion, giving respectful nod as his eyes swept over Twilight and the others, barely pausing as he looked at Spike and Soft Mane. “He’s just excited because we’re all getting ready to go on vacation. My name’s Ocean Spray, and this is Sandbar, Scrubby, Compass Rose, and our captain, C. Shells.”
“It’s nice to meet you all,” smiled Twilight. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends.”
A round of introductions later, Applejack spoke up. “Pardon if this sounds like I’m pryin’ into your all’s business, but this” – she gestured toward the manor house behind them – “seems like a mighty odd place to take a vacation.”
“That’s because it’s not,” snorted Scrubby, looking vaguely horrified at the idea. “We’re just telling Lex that we’re leaving so he doesn’t think…whatever he’d think if we suddenly disappeared without saying anything.”
A round of pointed looks were exchanged before Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. “So you guys know Lex Legis?” she asked, doing her best to sound casual. “And maybe Sonata too?”
Ocean Spray started to speak up, but stopped abruptly as C. Shells extended a foreleg out in front of him. “We’ve worked with them for a little while now, purely in a professional capacity” she replied diplomatically.
“‘Professional capacity’?” laughed Sandbar, incredulous. “Captain, Lex brought us back to life!”
That statement earned exasperated looks from his companions, and shocked ones from Twilight and her friends. But no one’s reaction was stronger than Rarity’s.
“My goodness!” she gasped, trotting forward until she was right in front of Sandbar. “Do you mean to say that you all actually died and Lex Legis resurrected you?”
“Oh, well, not all of us, just me and the captain,” chuckled Sandbar, surprised but clearly thrilled with the attention he was suddenly getting. “We were part of an elite team he put together for a special mission, and these other guys didn’t make the cut,” he bragged.
“Elite team my cutie mark,” muttered Scrubby.
“Really? How fascinating!” gushed Rarity, ignoring everypony else in favor of Sandbar. “As well as romantic! Why, your girlfriend must be absolutely overjoyed to have you suddenly return from beyond death!”
The comment made Sandbar flush, shuffling his fore-hoof awkwardly. “I, uh, I’m actually single.”
“Oh now surely you’re putting me on!” Giving Sandbar a once-over, Rarity shook her head a moment later. “A stallion so brave that he went on a special mission for this town’s ruler, so important that he was chosen to be brought back to life, and also so incredibly handsome, single? Why, I simply can’t believe it!”
“Aw, I’m not that handsome,” guffawed Sandbar, his ego visibly inflating with every word of praise. “You should have seen the scar I got at the Battle of the Bay!”
The boast drew an excited squeal from his new admirer. “Oh, you simply must tell me all about that!”
Watching the spectacle, Applejack took a step closer to her friends. “Y’all reckon that Rarity’s actin’ a mite unusual?”
Fluttershy nodded. “The last time I saw her be this, um, outgoing was when she was showing me how to be more assertive. She got a stallion to give her some asparagus she wanted.”
“She certainly seems to want that guy’s asparagus real bad,” noted Soft Mane wryly.
“Huh, and here I thought it had something to do with that guy saying that he was brought back to life,” noted Pinkie. “I mean, what with her being all quiet when that filly said that Lex could bring people back and now her acting all clingy when this guy said he was brought back.” She shrugged then. “Eh, must’ve just been me, I guess.”
Rainbow Dash frowned, glancing back at where Rarity now had her side pressed against Sandbar’s in an overly-familiar manner, nodding attentively as the stallion launched into a blow-by-blow of the adventures he’d had since coming to Vanhoover. “Hey, Twilight, do you think-”
“Rarity has the right idea,” interrupted Twilight, speaking a little too quickly. “These ponies clearly have some sort of relationship with Lex, and probably Sonata too, which means that they might be our only chance.”
“You’re probably right,” admitted Applejack. “But I think we’d be better off bein’ honest with them about what we’re tryin’ to do instead of butterin’ them up like toast at a breakfast buffet.”
“We can do both!” cheered Pinkie. “If they came back to life, then we should throw them a rebirthday party to celebrate!”
Twilight couldn’t help but smile a little at that, though the expression was slightly strained, one ear twitching toward where Rarity was still feeding Sandbar compliments. “If we want to heal Lex, it’s probably better to change Sonata’s mind as soon as we can, and a party might take too long.”
“Aw,” pouted Pinkie.
“Don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of reason to celebrate if we can teach Lex the magic of friendship and complete our map-mission,” Twilight reassured her, before taking a deep breath and turning back toward where the other group of ponies were still watching, amazed, as Sandbar proceeded to hit it off with a mare who was way out of his league.
“Captain Shells? I’d like to talk to you and your crew for a moment…”