//------------------------------// // 7. Books and Breakthroughs // Story: Shadow in Equestria // by ClankHoof //------------------------------// As I waited, I briefly scanned the bookshelves. There were books on almost everything you could think of, from how-to books on growing the perfect vegetable garden, to advice on how to subdue large ice trolls and manticores. Despite the situation, I found it a little ironic that a place of information told about things far away from the confines of its own walls, but not on defending a village from more common attackers, as many of the creatures of the Everfree. If I'm successful in my mission, I might need to recommend a few add to her collection. Nothing like a harmless looking creature popping up, only to have a carless pony accidentally create a Parasprite swarm which would eat all of your crops. I couldn't believe first time I borne witness to one of those; nopony in town had even seemed to know how to get rid of them, until one unintentionally came upon the solution when he brought out his guitar and played a blues tune thinking it was the town's doom, and the Parasprites started dancing along to it. Thinking about this brought me back to my current situation. Could these six ponies figure out a solution, or would they even help at all? They may just try to do as one group in my village had done, try to run away from it all. But they couldn't just leave, they were the Elements of Harmony; meant to protect their town and its residents. Then again, I remember some of the old stories. Every hero must fall at some point, in order to be able to rise again and defeat the evil, or give way to a new hero. No. I mustn't think such dark thoughts; these ponies have done great things. I doubt their heroism was far from over. -S- While I was going through these thoughts in my head, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turn to find that the other ponies were finished with their discussion, and had come downstairs to speak to me. "We've reached a verdict," Twilight said, "we're going to help you any way we can to stop Slendermane. For the defense of Ponyville, and the rest of Equestria." She stepped back. "So, what's your plan, Shadow?" I couldn't believe it. Not only was I going to get with my mission, but with a group of mares who've already saved the day many times over. We definitely stand a chance. More so, I hate to admit, then with just me alone. It almost caught me off guard, and it took me a couple of seconds to dig through my memory to find my course of action. "Alright. First of all, we're going to need information. We can't take something down if we don't even really know what it is, and any details we find out about him could help us. Do you have any books that might help us, Twilight?" She shook her head. "Unless Spike has had new books come in, I read every book that comes through that door before it's put on a shelf, and this is the first I've heard of this creature. If you hadn't supported Sweetie Belle's story, I would still think of it as just a nightmare created from fear and imagination." "Hmm. Well, then I guess I'll have to take you up on your previous offer of traveling to Canterlot. The library there has to have something," I said, then another idea popped into my head, "and even if not from the books, than maybe Princess Celestia herself might be able to shed some light on this situation." The other ponies nodded in agreement. Everything was coming together nicely, I thought. Then I realized one of the group was missing. "Where's Fluttershy?" I asked. Rainbowdash facehoofed. "I bet I know where she is. Hang on, I'll be right back." And she flew out the door. Rarity noticed my confused face, so decided to clarify a few things for me. "Don't worry, darling. Fluttershy is most likely just completely afraid because of your story, and so snuck back home to both try to hide from the creature, and try to get out of going on our little trip, staying as far away from it as possible from danger. Though if the thing we're hunting is a creature of the Everfree, maybe Fluttershy could be extremely useful." "Thank you, Rarity," I said understandably. "Though I wish this problem we have would be as easy as taming a household pet, I highly doubt it. None-the-less, we can use all the help we can get, so we're going to need her with us, scaredy-pony or not." I said, and I meant it. I didn't want to put anypony through this, but these girls seemed to work as a single unit, so we'd need Fluttershy too. -S- After Rainbow Dash returned, dragging the yellow mare by her pink tail, we decided that it would be best to leave for Canterlot on Thursday, in two days, giving us plenty of time to pack and plan, and the the girls could settle any situations with their daily duties around town. It would also give us time to look through the royal archives, as the dinner party the others were invited to wasn't until Friday evening. Applejack noticed the time was past midnight, so we all returned to our own places to get a few hours of sleep. Sleep that I guessed was going to be a minor luxury in the coming days. Going to Canterlot would certainly give us a great boost in our mission, but I have no idea what could be happening in Ponyvlle while we're gone. Nopony else knows what's going on, and somepony's going to go into the forest at some point, whether some young lovers or an herbalist gathering some ingredients; there's no way to bar the Everfree without raising some alarm.