//------------------------------// // The Quest Begins // Story: It Takes Six // by Goldfur //------------------------------// “As I said before – did anypony see where Nightmare Moon went?” Penumbra asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice. “I spied the dark cloud of the Nightmare pest,” Zecora replied. “She went toward the Everfree Forest.” “Then that’s where I’m headed.” The thestral went over to one of the recovering Royal Guards. “Private Tailspin – when reinforcements arrive, inform them that I am trying to track Nightmare Moon within the Everfree.” The pegasus whose half-burnt feathers indicated she would not be flying again anytime soon glared surlily at Penumbra but nodded. A medical team arrived just then. They thanked the zebra for her efforts and took over. There were gasps of dismay upon assessing the casualties including several dead Guards. The badly wounded were stabilized before they were carried away to the Ponyville Hospital. Then the medics attended to the needs of those with lesser injuries. Penumbra searched for her missing spear which she had lost in the shockwave, but her mind was already planning what to do next. “Who among you is familiar with the Everfree Forest?” “Though few ponies midst the trees do roam, I am one of those who calls it home,” Zecora replied. “Citizen zebra – will you guide me?” “I will do as you ask, for I am up to the task.” Irwin said, “While I have never been in the Everfree, I am no stranger to foraging in the woods.” Big Mac said, “The Everfree is no ordinary forest. We Apples have been dealing for generations with the monsters that stray into our fields from there.” “Makes no difference to me,” Gilda said. “I’ll take them all on!” She noticed the stares of the others. “What? You didn’t think I was going to let Batty here go solve our problems by herself, did you?” Penumbra scowled. “Please refrain from calling me batty or batpony. Those are slurs among my kind. I am a thestral, and my name is Penumbra.” Gilda winced as if slapped. “Sorry. Didn’t know that, Penny.” The thestral lifted an eyebrow at the nickname but let it pass. “The stallion is correct – the Everfree is not a place that anypony goes with impunity, our zebra friend notwithstanding. Are you sure you wish to accompany us?” Irwin nodded. “As I see it, the suffering and deaths that will occur if we do nothing is a far worse fate than anything that might befall me. I cannot bear the thought of letting that happen to every innocent creature. I will do my best to help.” “Eeyup – what he said,” Big Mac agreed. Trixie said, “Far be it for the Amazing Trixie to let even one foal come to harm, or to never hear them laugh again under the brutal hoof of Nightmare Moon. We shall accompany you as well.” “Really, Ms. Trixie?” Big Mac asked. “Don’t you rely heavily on your stage equipment?” The unicorn checked the fit of her saddlebags. “The Amazing Trixie has her traveling kit with her and is ready to go.” Gilda raised an eyebrow. “You do? Did you come here this morning expecting to outperform Celestia and her Summer Sun Celebration?” The blue mare shrugged. “Trixie endeavors to always be prepared, even if to only entertain sleepy and cranky foals during the lead-up to the ceremony.” Gilda chuckled. “I reckon she needs to come. Nightmare Moon might expect regular magic, but not Trixie’s kind.” The stage magician smiled smugly. “That is what makes Trixie so Amazing!” Penumbra said, “Maybe that’s true, but you saw what Nightmare Moon did to anyone who threatened her. We need to track her down while protecting ourselves from the dangers of the forest. The goal is to pin down her location so that we can bring the EUP army to confront her, not fight her ourselves.” “What about also bringing along some of these Royal Guards that are recovered enough?” Irwin asked. “Forget it!” Tailspin spat. “Nopony is following that batpony’s lead. We’ll wait for orders from the Captain of the Guard.” Gilda stared at the pegasus with her eyes narrowed to slits. “If you’re an example of the attitude of the Royal Guards nowadays, we’re better off without you.” She turned to look at Penumbra. “No offense, Penny, but sounds to me like the Royal Guard needs a serious shake-up.” The thestral wished she could disagree, but could not. Instead, she said to the group, “If you’re all willing to assist me with this, then we had better get going. We can’t count on Nightmare Moon being easy to find.” She trotted out the nearest exit, that being one that Big Mac had made. She spotted her errant spear and picked it up with a grunt of satisfaction. Tucking it under a wing for the moment, she turned to see the others following. “Have you any idea where Nightmare Moon might be heading?” Penumbra addressed them all but her focus was on the zebra. Zecora replied, “The Everfree is vast and deep, its secrets quite easy to keep. But in its heart lies a haven quite bold. ‘Tis the alicorn sisters’ castle of old.” “You’re right, Zecora!” Trixie exclaimed. “It makes sense that Nightmare Moon would head for the place that she once called home.” “That sounds like our best bet,” Penumbra said. “Zecora – please lead the way.” The zebra set off at a trot and the others fell in behind. Gilda took to the air and kept pace with them. At Penumbra’s questioning look, the griffon said, “We’re not built for walking long distances. I’ll fly while I can.” “Fair enough,” the thestral replied. “You’re going to be grounded soon. The dense canopy will prevent you from keeping track of us from the air once we enter the woods.” Big Mac pulled alongside Trixie and asked, “How did you know of that castle?” The blue unicorn smiled smugly. “Trixie knows all the old legends and tales. The Castle of the Two Sisters was the seat of government for Equestria a millennium ago but was destroyed in the final battle between Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon. The dark magics that the Nightmare used turned the beautiful forest around the castle into the dread woods they are today. The story makes fine material for Trixie’s Nightmare Night performances.” “Huh! I did not know that.” “Maybe you would have if you’d attended one of the Amazing Trixie’s Nightmare Night shows,” she accused. The stallion gave the mare a flat look. “As I recall, the ‘Great and Powerful Trixie’ was not well received a few years back.” Trixie’s ears pinked with her blush of shame. “Trixie admits that was not her finest hour, but it did cause her to meet the love of her life. Dowser brought out the best in Trixie, and now she lives to hear the laughter and joy of her audience, not to mention her husband and foal. Since our marriage, Trixie passed the ‘Great and Powerful’ moniker to my husband. You behold the Amazing Trixie now .” Big Mac nodded. “Like I said earlier, I caught one of your shows tonight – you were marvelous.” “Trixie thanks you. By the way, my husband told me that you were known for your one-word responses, yet you seem to be quite loquacious to Trixie.” The stallion snorted. “That old joke?” He sighed. “Truth is, I talked too much when I was a colt. Granny would scold me for chatting when I should have been working. Learned the hard way that there was a time and place for talking, and I tended to cut conversations short so that I could get back to my chores. Somepony started the rumor that it was impossible to get more than one word out of me and it became the town joke for a while. Remind me to have a word with Mark about perpetuating that myth.” “Just one word?” Trixie asked with a grin. Big Mac rolled his eyes. “You’re as bad as each other.” Irwin chuckled at the overheard conversation, drawing the attention of the showmare. “So, what’s your story, minotaur? Trixie has played for your calves before, but your kind has shown little interest otherwise in pony traditions. Why come to this festival?” “I came here to meet Ms. Fluttershy. The timing was a coincidence.” Gilda said, “Yeah, he told me that he only came back into town to watch Flutters’ birds perform. Can’t quite make that jibe with my image of minotaurs.” Irwin smiled sadly. “It’s true. In my homeland, we are told that we need to be mean and dominate others to get respect, but it never sat right with me. However, just to please my father, I tried for a while to do as he taught. He praised me for it but I decided that I did not like it. So, I apologized to him and left home to start living my life the way I felt it should be lived.” “Sheesh! I know that feeling. That had to be hard,” Gilda replied. “It was, and yet it was more rewarding. The world is not always a kind place and our children need to learn that, but that does not mean that we cannot strive to make it as kind as possible. And the best way to do that is to lead by example. Kindness does not stop at your family, your neighbors, or even your tribe. Kindness extends to all living things, and when you live by that philosophy, kindness is usually reciprocated.” The griffon snorted. “Pardon me for being skeptical.” “Oh? What did you mean by that? You said you knew how I felt.” “You’re looking at a bird educated by ponies,” Gilda replied. “Grandpa Gruff decided that I needed an education that I couldn’t get in Griffonstone, so he sent me to flight school in Cloudsdale. That’s a boarding school, if you didn’t know. There I was – the only griffon in a school full of foals. It was Tartarus! At least until Rainbow Dash decided it would be cool to hang out with a griffon chick.” Irwin nodded. “Seems to me that you quickly learned the value of kindness.” “Ha! If everypony felt the way Dash did, maybe you would have been right. But she did give me the encouragement to go on and earn respect.” Big Mac said, “That proves what Irwin was saying – the kindness of one filly helped you be strong.” “Yeah, but that wasn’t what I was referring to when I said Irwin’s life had to have been hard. You see, I spent the next several years growing up at that school, only returning home for the summer holidays. By the time I graduated and left school for the final time, I discovered that I did not belong in Griffonstone anymore. I had spent so much time living like a pony and learning like a pony, I had started thinking like a pony. The griffons I had known and admired as a chick now seemed rude and crude. With rare exceptions, there was no consideration for others. They disgusted me, and they sensed that. I’ve been pretty much ostracized from griffon society, and if it wasn’t for my friends, Gabby and Greta, I would have gone nuts by now. I came here yesterday to get away from all that and reconnect with my buddy, Rainbow Dash.” Big Mac said, “I feel kinda sorry now that my sister and I were so suspicious of you. That wasn’t neighborly of us.” Gilda raised an eyebrow. “I don’t recall you acting like that. In fact, you didn’t hesitate to offer me a place to sleep.” “Doesn’t mean that I wasn’t thinking it before Applejack gave you the nod. Only when I was sure you were a good ’un did I think we could be friends.” “Eh! Don’t knock yourself out about it. I might empathize with you ponies but I’m still a griffon – you had reason to doubt. It all worked out in the end.” She flew lower and held out a balled-up set of talons. “We cool?” Big Mac smiled and hoof-bumped her fist. “We’re cool.” “Awesome.” Gilda landed beside the stallion, glad of the excuse to be near him. What she had not said was that she not only tended to think like a pony, she also found stallions more attractive than griffon cocks. Because griffons were bigger than the average pony, that had often put off the colts at flight school, but this huge farm stallion easily overtopped her. He obviously didn’t fear her and she thought he was sexy as hell! Even if she didn’t want to help save the world from the Nightmare, she would have wanted an excuse to spend time with this male hunk. Now, if only he had wings, he’d be perfect! What Gilda did not notice was the grinning unicorn behind her. Trixie knew how to read an audience and this griffon was an open book to the unicorn. She wondered if she could have a little fun with that. Later, of course. When things weren’t so dire. When the conversation lulled, Irwin spoke up. “How about you, Ms. Penumbra? I gather that you have not had an easy life. It can’t be easy being the only thestral among these ponies.” “You have no idea how true that is, Mr. Goodall. However, my sob story can wait. We’ve reached the outskirts of the Everfree and I need to be alert to danger. Ms. Zecora – what do you recommend?” “Here begins a fairly safe path to my home, but on it in the depths of night I don’t roam. But it will get us partway to the castle and, hopefully, without too much hassle.” “Then let’s proceed without delay. I don’t think I need to remind you all that time is probably against us.” Zecora nodded. “Follow me closely, look but don’t touch. Unless you wish to have trouble much.” The bright full moon had given the party adequate illumination up to this moment, but now the zebra withdrew a lantern from her saddle pack and lit it. She then strode into the murky depths of the woods with Penumbra by her side, and with Gilda and Big Mac following. Trixie lit up her horn, and she and Irwin brought up the rear. The oppressive atmosphere of the dread forest settled on them like a heavy cloak, leaving no doubt that the real danger of their quest had just begun. # # # # # # # # #