“...and then I said, cherrychangas, are you crazy?” A pink pony’s eyes were bulging out.
“Pinkie, what does that have to do with waterskiing pelicans?” a sky blue pegasus asked.
“Uh, what waterskiing pelicans?”
Smacking her hoof to her face, the pegasus said, “Pinkie Pie, you are so random.”
Six ponies were gathered around a restaurant table in Ponyville. Ponyville was a nice little town that provided all the comforts a simple pony could want. Simple houses and lush gardens were all around the village. Rolling green hills and a forest surrounded the area.
An umbrella in the center of the the table provided cooling relief from the sun. They were six best friends, two earth ponies, two pegasus and two unicorns. It was a nice day for a brunch of hay, daisies and apples.
The pink pony was Pinkie Pie. Almost her entire body was pink, starting from her curly mane down to her curly tail. Only three balloons located on her flank were of a different color. Two were blue, one was yellow. She bounced up and down with boundless energy.
The pegasus was sky blue. Her mane and tail were strikingly colorful, with seven streaks containing every color of the rainbow. On her flank was a symbol of a cloud with a rainbow colored lightning bolt firing out of it. Two wings were spread out proudly.
Everyone was having a good time, enjoying the day. Everyone except one. A purple unicorn was prodding around a cup of tea. The amber liquid rippled with every movement.
“What’s wrong, Sugarcube?” a peach colored pony asked with a drawl. She tilted up her rancher hat with a hoof.
Her straw yellow mane and tail was tied at the very end with red bands. Three apples were pictured on her flank.
“Nothing. Well, not nothing. It’s Spike.” The purple unicorn put her hoof down. “He’s late. We had everything planned out perfectly. I even took into account how long he had to search for the flower.”
She had dark colored mane and tail, cut very evenly with two stripes in different shades of violet. Her mark was a pink, sparkling star.
“Twilight, how can you tell how long it takes to find a flower?” a yellow pegasus asked.
“Oh that’s easy.” Twilight held up a hoof in a very teacher-like manner. “Taking into the account of the season and time, I can know how many flowers after around in a given area. Now, I already know Spike’s walking speed and habits so I can take those into consideration as well. And I already took a reading of the weather so I can tell if he would be delayed by things such as rain or strong winds. Furthermore-”
“Yeah, yeah. Skip this part,” the rainbow maned pegasus said. “When was Spike supposed to get back?”
“Two minutes ago!”
“What? That’s it?”
“Rainbow Dash, we had everything planned out! How could he be late? What if he got hurt?” Twilight rubbed her mane nervously. “I was the one that sent him out by himself! I knew I should have gone with him. He said it was a simple task, that I should focus on my important research. If he got hurt, it would be all my fault!”
“Spikes a dragon remember?” Rainbow Dash said. “He’s probably tougher than all of you guys. Not me of course.”
“But why is he late then?”
“You can’t predict everything, Twilight,” the rancher pony said. “I’m sure he just got hung up somewhere.”
“I hope you’re right, Applejack.” Twilight was still fidgeting around nervously.
The rest of the day went on as normal. Rainbow Dash had performed some tricks then went to take a nap. Applejack worked on her orchard, collecting apples. Everyone else had a pleasant and easygoing day.
Twilight, however, was not calm. She paced around the library set within a giant tree. The floor was already worn and scuffed from many long hours of worried walking back and forth. Nervous sweat dripped across her face as she kept her face transfixed on the clock. Every tick of the second hand made the unicorn even more anxious. She began biting her mouth.
“What do you think, Owlowiscious? Is Spike alright?”
“Hoo?” a blank faced owl, perched on a wooden coat hanger, asked. He looked very tawny.
“Spike! Assistant number one? Oh, er, nevermind.” Twilight looked continued staring at the clock.
When the second hand struck a new hour, five in the evening, a knock came on the door.
“Spike?” Twilight dashed over to the door and opened it. Standing there wasn’t a small dragon but another pony. “Rarity?”
Of course it wouldn’t be Spike. Why would he need to knock to enter his own home?
Rarity was an elegant looking white unicorn. Her shimmering, purple mane and tail were permed into fanciful curls. Three shining diamonds were printed onto her flank.
“Hello, Twilight,” the regal unicorn said. She recoiled a bit upon seeing her friend up close. “Er, what’s wrong with your eyes?”
“My eyes?” Twilight’s eyes were stuck, wide open and were full of veins. “I’ve been looking at the clock so much, I don’t think I’ve blinked.” She chuckled nervously. One at a time, her eyelids snapped down. “I wondered what that stinging sensation was.”
“Has Spike returned yet?” Rarity asked. Full eyelashes swept the air as she blinked, hopefully. Pale blue eyeshadow adorned her face.
“No, he hasn’t.” Twilight shook her head sadly.
“That is just horrible!” Rarity wailed. “He’s probably alone and scared out there. All that nature around him, the sliminess, the dirt, the dusty air! He’ll be covered in filth.”
“I agree. With the alone and scared part, not the nature part,” Twilight clarified. “That’s it. I’m going to look for Spike. He shouldn’t be gone this long.”
Rarity held up a hoof to her chest. “If you’re going, I’m going too. I can’t leave my poor Spikey-Wikey out in that horrid nature alone.”
Owlowiscious also flew over. He landed gently on the Twilight’s back.
“Thanks for coming along, Owlowiscious. Your great vision will certainly be useful.”
The group stepped out into the cool Ponyville night. It was still bright as day since the time for the sun lowering hadn’t came up yet. Clouds had started forming up in the once clear skies. As they were leaving, they saw two pegasus coming over.
“Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked.
“Twilight,” the a yellow pegasus said meekly. “I’m worried about Spike. Has he returned yet?”
Her pink mane and tail were long and straight. The mane was swept up before falling down in one thick strand that almost reached the ground. The tail actually did drag along the ground as she walked. Her wings were clinging tightly against her body. Three pink butterflies decorated her flank.
“He has not! The poor thing.” Rarity was the one that answered.
“Geez,” the other pegasus, Rainbow Dash, said. “You’re worried too, Rarity? Spike is a dragon remember?”
“I’m still worried. He is way past the latest time I had calculated,” Twilight said. “I’m going to look for him.”
Pinkie Pie bounced over, seemingly from out of nowhere, like a ninja. “Look for who?”
“Hoo?” Owlowiscious said.
“I’m asking the questions here buddy.”
“We’re going to look for Spike,” Twilight explained.
“Ooh, ooh, ooh.” Pinkie waved her hoof.
“Yes, you can come.”
“Great! Just let me get my gear.”
She zipped away in a blur of pink. Before the dust cloud had even settled, a bush had replaced her. Two prominent eyes popped out from the leaves.
“Uh, Pinkie, what is that supposed to be?” Rarity asked.
Pinkie stuck her head out with a hoof to her mouth. “Shhh. I’m in camouflage.” her head zipped back in.
Twilight stared incredulously at the bush. “What for?”
“Well, he won’t know that we’re coming. Then we can snatch him up unaware!”
“We’re not trying to hunt him!”
“Not yet at any rate,” Pinkie Pie said suspiciously.
Leaves shook as there was struggling from within the bush. First, a rancher hat fell out, followed by a full pony, Applejack.
“Oof,” she groaned upon hitting the ground.
“No, Applejack!” Pinkie gasped. “You’re my surprise dragon catcher. And you can’t be a surprise dragon catcher if everyone can see you.”
Applejack’s eyes were still spinning out of sync. She spat out some leaves. “What’s going on, y’all?”
“We’re going to go look for Spike,” Twilight explained.
“Well, why didn’t you just say so? I would have come.”
Pinkie Pie leaned out of the bush. “Surprise. Dragon. Catcher.”
“Er.” Applejack backed away from the bulging eye. “I don’t think that sort of thing is necessary.”
Twilight stamped her hooves on the ground to get everyone’s attention. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Okay,” everyone else said in unison.
Five ponies and a bush left the soothing town of Ponyville, heading towards the area where Spike had been sent. The bush zipped along the side of the dirt path. Once, it accidentally ran into a tree. A branch landed on top of the push. It was drawn in by a pink hoof.
The sky had turned dark, and the moon was shining high in the sky. Cold wind shook the sparse trees in the open plains. Grass rippled on the side of a dirt road.
They didn’t get too far before coming on another traveller. It was an old mare, wrapped in a cloak. Her dirt encrusted tail nearly dragged along the ground. She was pulling a wooden cart filled with random items. The side of the cart was cracked, but it was holding up. Her legs were shaking with every step, but she plodded on without stopping.
“Excuse me,” the old mare said in a raspy voice. “Did you come from Ponyville?”
“Yes,” Applejack said. “What can we do for you ma’am?”
“Do you know a Spike? He’s a dragon, about this tall,” she raised a hoof to around neck height, “purple-”
Before the mare could say another word, Twilight rushed up with both hoofs pressing against her. “You saw Spike? Where is he?”
“You are friends with him?”
Everyone nodded. The bush bounced up and down.
Looking away from the mysterious shrubbery, the cloaked pony said, “Have you seen him?”
“No, we’re looking for him right now,” Twilight said.
“You don’t know where he is? This is bad.”
“What is, what’s going on? Start from the beginning.”
The old mare took a deep breath. “Alright. My name is Musky Brew.”
“What’s all this stuff?” Pinkie Pie asked. She was partially out of the bush and rooting through the stuff in the cart. A flexible metal loop was in her hoof. She managed to stretch it out all the way from fully extended hoof to fully extended hoof.
“I used to deal in magical artifacts. A lot of those are leftovers that didn’t sell. And that is part of the problem. He helped me get my cart out of a ravine in the mountain. As a reward, I gave him one of my belongings. However, he took something very dangerous. I forgot I even had it until I checked through my belongings.”
“What did he take?”
“It was a gem.” Musky Brew looked down, sadly. “I found it a long time ago. Back then, I didn’t realize what it was. Now I know it is a dangerous item. To keep it out of other ponies hooves, I kept it for myself.”
“Spike loves gems,” Twilight said. “No wonder he took it. What make that gem dangerous?”
“The gem came from Lot D. It is called the Gem of Death.”
The young ponies all gasped with front hooves up against their mouths.