//------------------------------// // Chapter Three – Seeking the Stone // Story: Marking the Generations – Part One // by Glimbursts //------------------------------// Opaline felt like she’d been staring at the map for hours. Growling she spread her wings in fury. “Why is this taking so long? I thought the roots of these trees spread all over Equestria.” Suddenly, the map flashed, and Opaline frowned in puzzlement. However, she gasped as a dot appeared on an island just off the coast. “It’s there? That’s so close,” she grinned. “I’ll be there and back in moments.” She absently started heading towards the doors and thrust them open. However, no sooner had she stepped hoof on the doorstep, she felt a familiar fizzle of magic in front of her, one she’d felt many times. The look of elation drained from her features as she saw the rippling forcefield appear before her. Closing her eyes, she bowed her head to the floor in annoyance. After taking a few deep breaths, she let out a scream of anguish. Thrusting her head to the sky above and bellowing into the blackness. She finally stopped once her lungs were emptied. Opening her eyes and panting for breath, she looked out across the drawbridge with anguish. It was a bridge she couldn’t cross. “Of course, silly me,” Opaline said sarcastically with a fake smile. “Fancy forgetting the spell that’s keeping me trapped here.” The fake smile faded and turned into a scowl as she turned around. She flicked the forcefield with her tail and then slammed the doors as she went back inside. “Looks like Misty has a chance to prove her loyalty after all.” Opaline headed upstairs, turning toward the bedrooms at the top of the ramp. She was careful not to make a sound as she neared Misty’s bedroom. Listening carefully, she could hear Misty’s hoofs pacing up and down. Her voice was muffled; however, Opaline could just make out what Misty was saying. She frowned as her protégé talked to herself about leaving. Readying herself with a deep breath, Opaline let out a loud cackling laugh. Instantly, she could hear Misty banging and clattering inside, clearly trying to tidy up whatever she had been doing. With a little laugh of amusement, she removed the magical barrier in front of the door and thrust it open, standing in the doorway. Misty was stood right where she’d supposedly been stuck the whole time, a slightly goofy grin on her face. “Yay, am I being freed now?” Misty asked awkwardly. Opaline sniffed, playing the game. She could clearly see the magic that had been wisping around Misty’s hoofs wasn’t there. “That depends now doesn’t it,” Opaline said smoothly as she walked in. “Have you been thinking Misty? Have you been thinking about how much we’ve been through together?” Misty blinked, watching as Opaline walked past her towards the small window and looked out. “You do so much for me Misty and I know it’s not easy,” Opaline continued. “I want you to know how much I depend on you and how much I believe in you. I send you to do things for me because I know you can do them.” Opaline turned and walked back towards the door. Misty watched, barely able to make a sound, she hadn’t heard Opaline talk to her like this before. Walking in front of Misty, Opaline placed a hoof on Misty’s cheek. She raised Misty's head so she could look directly into her green eyes. “Soon Misty, I will be free of this castle at last and it will all be thanks to you. Then, we will both get what we want and deserve. I’ll rule Equestria, and you will be at my side.” “With my cutie mark?” Misty asked. “With your cutie mark,” Opaline replied. Opaline gave a flick of her horn and there was a ‘poof’ of magic around Misty’s hoofs. Misty gasped and started trying to act like she’d still been stuck the whole time. Making exaggerated movements and stretches. “Thank you, Opaline. Thank you for freeing me,” Misty said goofily. “I can’t believe I am now free.” Opaline turned, rolling her eyes once Misty couldn’t see them. “Come, Misty, I have a task.” Misty froze, she knew there’d be a catch. “It'll be tidying some mess won't it,” she muttered. Misty followed Opaline down into the throne room. She gasped as she saw the map being projected from the cauldron pool. “Where’s that silly new phoney thing of yours?” Opaline asked. “The thing you take notes on? You’ll need to take note of this.” “Take note of what?” Misty asked getting her phone out. “This map of course,” Opaline explained. “It shows the location of an item we need, the Dragon Stone.” “Dragon Stone?” Misty echoed as she took a photo of the map. “Yes, this is the Dragon Stone,” Opaline said as she changed the image to one of the said stone. “Wow, it’s beautiful,” Misty gasped overdramatically. “It’s not that beautiful,” Opaline sighed. “However, take note of what it looks like because you are going to retrieve it for me.” Misty quickly took a photo of the image. “You’re trusting me to find this, err, Dragon Stone when I can’t get the Dragon fire?” Misty said unsurely. “Yes, because I realised that, just getting something, isn’t always as simple as I expect,” Opaline replied. “The difference here is this won’t try to run away.” “Or spit fire at me,” Misty added. “Or have ponies watching it. Ponies which would run after me and try to stop me if they saw me taking it.” “You know you could have said all that sooner,” Opaline pointed out. Misty squeaked and recoiled, thinking she'd spoken out of turn. However, Opaline turned and placed a hoof on Misty's cheek again. Drawing her head up to meet her gaze. “You are special to me Misty,” Opaline smiled. “You are my right hoof pony and I want you to be at my side when I rule Equestria. You will become powerful and respected, just as I will.” Misty gulped, conflicting feelings rushing through her. Opaline had never given her this much encouragement. “W…what do we…erm, you.” Misty corrected. “Need the stone for?” “To accelerate our acquisition of the Dragon’s fire,” Opaline smiled. “This way, we’ll be done with the little dragon in a fraction of the time.” “Really?” Misty asked. “So, once I get the Dragon Fi…” “It charges the stone,” Opaline explained. “And that won’t take long,” Misty concluded. “So, then we’ll be done with the Dragon?” “We’ll be done with the Dragon,” Opaline affirmed with a smirk. She changed the image again, this time it showed an island, a small causeway leading out to it. “This is where the stone is located, somewhere on this Island,” Opaline clarified. “Well, as close as my spell can determine. Exactly where will be up to you.” Misty snapped another photo and grinned. “Okay, I’ll do my best.” “Oh, I’m sure you will Misty,” Opaline smiled. “Now, go.” With that, Misty put her phone away and ran out the castle door. “I wish I could just run out like that,” Opaline sighed. It took Misty a long time to find the island, despite how close it looked on the map. The terrain had been far from easy to navigate, and she had struggled. Finally, it came into view between the trees, and she trotted out onto the beach expectedly. Gasping she suddenly realised something was missing. “Where…Where’s the causeway?” She pulled out her phone and checked the image of the island. It was certainly the correct one, however the causeway to reach it was nowhere to be seen. The sea looked rough and unforgiving, white-topped waves crashing onto the beach, spilling white froth all around before retreating before the next wave arrived. Misty sat dejectedly on the sand. Looking at her phone again she suddenly remembered something. “Tides! The sea, it goes in and out. I think, maybe?” She grinned as she saw her phone had a signal, a weak one but hopefully enough for a simple search. After tapping in the search terms, she held her phone higher as she waited for the results to come up. Once they did, she read the entry at the top and grinned widely. “I can’t wait to tell Opaline how clever I was.” Then she looked again and groaned as she realised it wasn’t even high tide yet. She’d have to wait hours for it to go down and the causeway to uncover. Frowning she looked at the map again. “Maretime Bay isn’t that far away,” Misty mused. “I could go and see what my friends are up to. Maybe even get some Dragon Fire and then come back for the stone in time for the tide,” her stomach suddenly growled loudly. “Oh. And get something to eat. That would be good.” With that, Misty headed off towards Maretime Bay. By the time she was walking up towards the Brighthouse, Misty looked a mess. The route to Maretime Bay had not been straightforward either, the mud, thorns and leaves attached to her coat and stuck in her mane and tail told the story. Tired and hungry Misty felt her heart sink as she saw Sunny and the others. They were all dressed up and looked like they were getting ready to go somewhere. “…in the secret section.” Zipp was saying. “But that’s off limits,” Pipp gasped. “That sounds interesting,” Misty smiled hoping to fit in. Upon hearing her voice, Izzy turned around. “Misty!” she cried with joy. Izzy launched herself at a surprised-looking Misty. Having no regard for how filthy Misty was and how she was ready to go out. Multi-coloured legs, hoof polish, manicured mane, and tail. Izzy had clearly spent a lot of time on it. Misty squeaked as Izzy’s hoofs wrapped around her in a tight embrace. “Where have you been Misty?” Sunny smiled, also sporting a similar pampered look to Izzy. “We’ve not seen you in like forever, we missed you.” “Never mind that,” Pipp gasped looking concerned. “What’s happened to you? You look awful!” Misty gasped and looked at their faces, all expecting an explanation. “Oh, I…erm. I haven’t been around because I was grounded,” Misty replied. “I hadn’t done something Op… I mean, my Aunt Opel. Asked me to do. I, err, look like this because. I…erm. Tried to take a shortcut that turned out to be a long cut, a really long cut. I won’t be going that way again.” She spotted the mask that Zipp had in her hoof and her eyes widened. “Ooh, what’s that?” she asked to change the subject. “Are you getting ready to go to a place?” “Not just any place,” Sunny giggled. “We’re going to the Manesquerade Ball!” “The most glam night in Zephyr Heights,” Pipp added with a grin. “Oh, that sounds like a big deal,” Misty replied in awe. “Wait, wait, I have an idea!” Izzy exclaimed. “Misty can come with us.” “Yass!” Pipp smiled. “That’ll sort out the plus-one problem. Misty, you will love it, it’s like a total thing.” “What really?” Misty gasped. “You want me to come to a thing? I’ve never been invited to a thing before. Wait what’s a plus one?” “It’s the tickets,” Hitch replied. “We’ve got three, one for Sunny, one for Zipp and one for Pipp. But each ticket allows them to bring a friend and that friend is their ‘plus one’.” “So, we had an extra, and couldn’t work out who else to bring.” Izzy grinned. “But not anymore because you can use it! You are our friend after all.” “Wow, really?” Misty gasped before looking worried. “But it will be full of ponies. Ponies who don’t know me.” “Nopony will know who anypony is,” Pipp exclaimed. “We’ll all be wearing masks.” She popped her mask on and gave Misty a big smile. “But what about Sparky?” Misty asked. “And you all look so fancy, and I look…” “Terrible,” Zipp chuckled. “But nothing my sis and Izzy can't sort out.” “And Sparky is spending the night at Grandmare Figgy’s,” Hitch grinned. “Tonight is no night for a baby dragon, we'd be back well past his bedtime.” “Come on Misty!” Izzy grinned. “Leave everything to us.” Misty blinked as Izzy and Pipp put their hoofs around her and led her inside the Brighthouse. Meanwhile, Zipp and Hitch turned to Sunny. “So, Sunny,” Hitch started. “About Misty,” Zipp continued. “Don’t you think it’s odd how much correcting she does?” “Yeah, she starts to say something then stops only to say something else,” Hitch continued. “She’s just nervous around others,” Sunny smiled. “I think taking her is an excellent idea. We’ll have three of each kind of pony for the unity dance.” “We weren’t saying she shouldn’t go,” Hitch corrected. “Just that she never seems to have a straight answer,” Zipp added. “It’s super suspicious.” “Like I said, she’s nervous,” Sunny replied. “You saw how she went from excited to nervous when she realised there’d be other ponies there. I think she’s shy is all, we should help her.” “We need to keep a close eye on her though,” Zipp countered. “My instincts say we should be cautious.” “Duly noted. Detective,” Sunny giggled. “Wait, that means we’ve got even less time to practice the unity dance. Aaah, and now I’ve got to work out how Misty will fit in before I can even go through it all with you!” With that, Sunny disappeared inside the Brighthouse muttering. Leaving a bewildered Hitch and Zipp behind. It was much later and they had arrived at Zephyr Heights. The lift carrying them up to the red carpet stopped and they stepped out to see the crowd of expectant media. Pipp and Izzy had done wonders on Misty, she looked every bit as fancy as the rest of them and the whole group looked like they belonged together. They found themselves behind Queen Haven as she spoke to the media. Sunny looked confused as she acted as though she was somepony else. “What is she doing?” she asked Pipp and Zipp. “She does this every year,” Pipp sighed. “She thinks that the mask hides who she is.” “I thought that was the idea?” Misty said looking worried. “Kind of hard when you’re also wearing a crown,” Zipp smirked. “Don’t worry, nopony will have any idea who you are Misty.” “Come on everypony,” Pipp grinned. “Time to rock this red carpet.” They started forward, Pipp posing for every camera she came across. Trying to give each one a different pose. Sunny and Izzy meanwhile just stuck together looking like a pair of friends ready for the party. Stopping now and then to pose together. Hitch meanwhile did similar but on his own looking every bit like the Sheriff on the town. Misty meanwhile hung back, squeaking as the first cameras snapped in her direction. She quickly joined Zipp. “Could I maybe trot back here with you?” Misty asked. “I don’t want to be in any pictures.” “Why not?” Zipp asked suspiciously. “Why don't you want to be in pictures?” Misty gasped. “Err, same reason as you?” “Can’t argue with that,” Zipp smiled as they trotted past the waiting media.