//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Order-naries // by CTVulpin //------------------------------// Ashen Blaze was always impressed by libraries. Truth be told, he wasn't much of a reader, at least compared to Soul Mage, but the sheer amount of knowledge that even a single book could hold was amazing. The fact that this world he'd been roughly thrown into was basically run by intelligent equines- not the most dexterous of structures- and still had books and libraries in a form he recognized almost blew his mind. It made sense that the unicorns, Twilight Sparkle and Rarity, seemed to be the most knowledgeable of those he'd met after seeing the delicacy Twilight was able to achieve using magic to hold a feather quill as she wrote a letter. "I don't know how I'm going to get this to Princess Celestia," she said after putting the quill down, "I always use Spike's magic fire to send it to her, but…" her gaze went to the petrified dragon on the table next to her letter. "Fire to send letters?" Ash asked, looking up from the book he was reading, "That's interesting. Why not just throw into the fireplace then?" "Because only Spike's fire works, silly," Pinkie Pie said. She was standing by a bookshelf, tapping her hoof to a beat only she could hear. Rarity was scanning another shelf, plucking out books that looked like they'd be useful and stacking them next to Ash, while Gold Heart was outside with Rainbow working on her flying technique. Gale was off exploring the tree. Soul looked over Twilight's shoulder and read the first few lines of the letter. "Dear Princess Celestia, I am writing to inform you of a potential disaster that has fallen upon us here in Ponyville. You really think she needs to know about this?" "Yes. The Princesses oversee everything in Equestria," Twilight explained, rolling up the letter and tying it up with a ribbon, "It's my duty, not only as a responsible pony but as her student, to inform her of anything that might threaten the peace of the land." "That's us all right," Ash said grimly, "A regular quartet of trouble hunting out the most dangerous bits of magic this side of… something or another," he finished in a dull voice. "Ah, this book's worthless," he said, slapping it shut with a hoof and almost losing his balance. "Speaking of magic," Twilight said, "I better teach you how to move things before you hurt yourself." She set the letter back on the table as Ash came over to stand next to Soul, both of them giving her their full attention. "Right," she said, "you've seen Rarity and me doing this all day, so let's get into how it works. Unicorn magic comes from the whole body and is focused through the horn, and more advanced spells will tax your strength based on how much you're trying to change." Ash nodded his understanding. "Moving small objects is not that hard," she continued, "you just need to think. Focus on the object you want to move and where you want it to go." She demonstrated by picking up the quill and moving it around her head once before putting it back, not once taking her eyes off her students. "You don't even need to look at it if you know where it is in relation to you." "And this is something every unicorn learns from… a very early age?" Ash asked, looking to Rarity. "Yes," Twilight said, "although everypony has their own level of skill with it, whether it be with details, weight, the number of objects, or a bit of all three. Now, one of you try to move something on the table. Except Spike that is," she added quickly. Ash looked at Soul, who smiled and said, "You're the real mage, you go first." The grey unicorn nodded and turned his attention to the quill pen. His eyes narrowed as he concentrated on making it move. "So 'etching powerful back home," he muttered, "The old guard would die of laughter if they saw me struggling like this…" Soul poked him in the side. "Focusing," the grey unicorn said before shutting up. His horn began to glow faintly, and the quill wobbled on the table. A very faint smile appeared to Ash's face and the glowing brightened considerably. The quill jumped up and floated a foot off the table. "Good," Twilight said, nodding, "Now, try to put it down carefully." Ash gave the faintest of nods. The quill descended gradually halfway to the table, stopped, and then settled back onto the table as Ash's horn stopped glowing. "What did I tell you?" Twilight said, smiling, "Easy. With a little practice, you'll be a natural in no time." "No time eh?" Ash said with a mischievous grin, "That usually means days or weeks." His horn started glowing again and the quill floated up again, accompanied by Twilight's letter and a book. He took up a nonchalant stance as the objects flew to him, orbited once, and returned to their original spots after taking a detour around the now-surprised purple unicorn. "I take it literally," Ash said with a flourish of his right front leg, which upset his balance again. "You'd think I'd be more stable with four legs," he muttered, glaring at his front hooves. You put too much weight on your back legs," Gale said from the second floor balcony, "You need to start thinking like a quadruped again." She smiled at Soul and said, "How about you Soul? I think it's your turn." "Right," Soul mage said, turning his attention to the table. He started to focus on the scroll, but Pinkie Pie suddenly sprang in front of him excitedly saying, "Biped? That means you walk on two legs! Is that your big secret 'real shape?' Because that's not so weird; lots of creatures walk on two legs, like birds. Are you really birds?" "Not now Pinkie," Twilight said, pushing the pink pony away, "Sorry about that Soul." "No… it's cool," the yellow unicorn said, still trying to process Pinkie's outburst. "Birds?" he asked, giving Ash a confused look. Ash poked him with a wicked smile on his face. Soul blew a raspberry at Ash and focused on the quill. His horn began to glow, but instead of the usual aura, the glow became an ethereal blue tendril. It stretched out through the air and wrapped itself around the quill. "Well,' Twilight said, blinking, "That's… unique." Soul gazed at the glowing tendril for a second, and then smiled and gave his head a slight tilt. The quill floated up from the table and wiggled about before returning to its place. The tendril unwrapped and moved toward the scroll. At the last second, it changed course and curled around Twilight's neck. "What are you doing?" Twilight asked. "Stretching," Soul said as the tendril retracted back into a simple glow around his horn. "Now let's see," he mused, looking around. He locked his eyes on something and flicked his head. The tendril shot out toward a lantern and wrapped around it. "What?" Soul said, "Don't grab it!" He pulled the tendril back and lashed it toward another lantern, which was also wrapped up. "Dang it!" The tendril pulled back and hung down in front of Soul's face. "What the heck?" he said, very annoyed, "It's not that big a difference between a lasso and a strike! Stupid… weird… pony-body rules." The tendril retracted fully and the glow faded. "What was all that?" Twilight said, "I've never seen a unicorn magic be so… visible." "Eeeh…" Soul Mage said, scraping at the ground with a hoof, "Let's just call it my own special brand of magic. It's not working quite like I'd like it to, but I guess I'll take what I can get." "Aye," Ashen Blaze said, "No more 'one-trick pony for you', if you'll pardon the phrase," he added with a glance around the room. No one seemed to get it besides Gale, who rolled her eyes. Soul nodded, and then blinked as a thought occurred to him. He turned toward a window and called out, "Hey sis! C'mere a minute!" Gold Heart flew up to the window and poked her head in. "What's up?" she asked. "Hold still a sec," Soul replied as his horn began to glow again. With a flick, he sent a tendril flying at Heart. It wrapped around her hoof, which she'd thrown up reflexively, and the two yellow ponies were wreathed in ethereal fire. "Ha ha!" Soul exclaimed, dancing in place, "Soul beend!" Heart looked herself over, and then gave her brother a sideways look tempered with a smile. "Thanks for warning me," she said sarcastically. "You're quite welcome," Soul said sincerely, pulling back the tendril. The flames vanished as Twilight, Rarity, and even Pinkie stared slack-jawed. "What?" Soul asked them, "Two of you have seen that before, at least. It's a rare gift that allows us to link our spirits and access special powers. And it looks like the link's really spirit-to-spirit, not through physical contact" "Just like it should be," Heart said, nodding. She backed out of the window and returned to her flight practice. "Super," Gale said, a note of sarcasm coming into her voice as she put her front hooves up on balcony banister, "The mages are making a comeback and Heart can fly. Where does that leave me?" "I can't see a reason why your talent for machines or your aim would be affected Gale," Ash said, "you're wonderfully mundane." "Pony, remember? No fingers," Gale said, holding out her front legs, "And even if I had them, none of my gear showed up here anyway." "Oooo!" Pinkie exclaimed, suddenly bouncing in place next to Gale, "I know what fingers are too! Spike has fingers 'cause he's a dragon. You're really small dragons, huh?" "How'd she get up there so fast?" Ash asked quietly, looking to where he last remembered seeing the pink earth pony. "She's Pinkie Pie," Twilight said, "Most of the time, that's the only explanation." "Uuh, no," Gale said, answering Pinkie's question. She got back down on all four and faced the pink pony. "So tell me," she asked, "what lets earth ponies stand out from the other types?" Pinkie gave Gale a confused look for a second, but then smiled and started bouncing again. "Well I throw parties," she said, "and speaking of parties, we haven't had your 'Welcome to Ponyville' party yet! It'll be so much fun; I'll break out the balloons and streamers and candy from Sugar Cube Corner. Applejack can bring her apple pies; she's the best baker in the world you know." Gale had backed away a little under the onslaught of happy but was smiling despite herself. "I… appreciate the thought," she said, "But I think we'll be ok without any parties." "I can guarantee you'll be involved in at least one while you're here," Rarity said, looking up from the book she'd been reading since the magic lesson had begun "And you'll have a good time, trust me. Pinkie Pie puts on the most fabulous parties outside of Canterlot." "It's true," Pinkie agreed. She threw a front leg around Gale's shoulders and said, "And don't you worry about your talent. I'm sure you'll find some way to use it." "Thanks," Gale said, extracting herself from Pinkie's grasp. She trotted downstairs and went over to the pile of books. "Now," she said, "aren't we supposed to be looking for a way to fix Spike?" "That we are," Ash said, levitating a few books and setting them up around the room. A few hours later most of the likely-seeming books had been rejected, a few spells had been tried without success, Twilight had compiled a list of herbal remedies and potions, and Ashen Blaze had determined that he would need more practice with unicorn-style teleportation. He remained stuck on top of a bookcase for several minutes until Heart and Rainbow Dash could pull him loose and set him down on the floor. "That was fun," he drawled. "Well, it's certainly not the worst attempt I've ever seen," Twilight said kindly, "You sure you don't want to try Soul?" "No thanks," Soul said, looking up from a book on Equestrian fairy tales, "Teleporting's not in my regular repertoire and I see no reason to try and add it now. I'd probably end up embedded in a wall." Any reply Twilight might have made was cut off as the front door flew open and a pair of young fillies ran into the library, one a white unicorn with a purple and pink mane and tail and the other a yellow earth pony with a red mane and tail. "Rarity!" the white one cried, running over and rubbing her head against the bigger unicorn's side, "Oh I was so worried! What happened to our house?" "Oh, Sweetie Bell," Rarity said, nuzzling the filly, "I'm sorry, I meant to pick you up when school let out, but I must of lost track of time. I'll explain everything later." "Who's this?" Heart asked, walking over. "I'm Sweetie Bell," the small unicorn said. "And I'm Apple Bloom," the yellow filly said cheerfully. "Any relation to Applejack?" Ash asked with a curious tilt of his head. "Yep," Apple Bloom said, "She's my sister. Nice to meet ya! Who are you?" Once the four newcomers had introduced themselves, Rarity said, "Thank you for keeping Sweetie Bell company Apple Bloom. I know seeing what happened must have been a shock. It was terrible seeing it happen." "Quite," Ash muttered. "Yer welcome Rarity," Bloom said, smiling. "Say, where's Scootaloo?" Rainbow Dash asked, "You three are never far apart from each other." "Ah, she had to run home for dinner," Apple Bloom said, "And speakin' of which, I better get goin' afore the folks miss me. See ya tomorrow Sweetie Bell!" "Hold up," Ash said, catching Bloom before she ran out the door, "Your sister was kind enough to offer us a place to sleep. Do you think she'd mind feeding us dinner as well?" "I don't see why not," Apple Bloom said, "Come on. Maybe on the way you can tell me how you got your cutie marks!" "Eh?" Ash asked, looking at Twilight for clarification. "On your flank," Twilight said simply, pointing with a hoof. The Order-naries all turned their heads to look. "Oh yeah," Soul said, speaking for them all, "Forgot about those… I honestly don't know." "how'd ya forget something so life-changing?" Apple Bloom asked, giving them a hard look. "We'll explain on the way," Heart said, "that's a story we can tell." Even after telling an abbreviated, kid-friendly version of the story multiple times, the last time over dinner with AJ's help, Apple Bloom still didn't seem able to wrap her head around the idea that the newcomers weren't always ponies. If Big Macintosh was confused, he didn't show it; he simply nodded along with the explanation. "A mighty fine story," was all he said after it was finished. "Can you at least tell me what your cutie marks mean?" Apple Bloom asked, "I mean, Miss Gale's got a wrench, so I guess that means she's good with fixin' stuff, but what about the rest of you?" "Mine and Heart's aren't too tricky," Soul Mage said. They each had what looked like opposite halves of a roughly circular blue fireball on their flanks. "I think they symbolize how the two of us have to stick together to work our real magic." "Okaaay…" Apple Bloom said, still confused, "What about you Mr. Blaze?" "No comment," the grey unicorn said sourly. His mark was a strange symbol that looked sort of like a letter B stuck onto the side of an M. He hadn't been very happy when he'd discovered that, and had flatly refused to talk about it to anypony. "Ok then," Applejack said, seeing that Bloom was about to press the issue and putting a hoof on her shoulder, "I think they've had enough questions fer one night. I'm gonna show them to the barn; why don't you help clean up here?" "Fine," Apple Bloom said reluctantly. She picked her plate off the table and skulked toward the kitchen sink. "Come on," AJ said, heading for the front door. As the four followed her, she tossed a few of the blankets stacked up by the door onto her back. Gale picked up the rest, and although her toss was a little clumsier, all the blankets landed more-or-less centered on her back. "We could take those," Soul offered, starting to focus his magic. "Oh please," Gale said, "we earth ponies aren't that helpless. Besides, how am I ever going to figure out my capabilities if I rely on you all the time?" She smiled coyly as soul blushed. "R-right," he stammered, following the group outside. They headed out toward the barn, with Heart flying above the group. She hadn't spent much time on the ground since learning she could fly, except during dinner. It seemed to Soul that her flapping was starting to get a little strained. "Come down sis," he said, "gravity's not that harsh a mistress." "I'm fine," Heart said stubbornly, "Got to build up my endurance." "Alright," Soul said, not in the mood to argue. They arrived at the barn and Applejack showed them to a rank of stalls along one wall. "There's a cow herd that makes the rounds of Ponyville's farms," she explained, setting some blankets down in one stall and moving on to the next, "They stay at each place fer about a month or so, grazing the grass and payin' fer room and board with milk. I don't think they're due to come here for another three months, so don't feel y'all have to hurry on their account." "Oh, we've got plenty of other reasons to hurry," Ash said, arranging the blankets in the stall he chose to suit his needs. "Thank you again for letting us stay here." "No problem," AJ said. After making sure Gale had unloaded the blankets she'd carried, she bid the group goodnight and left. As soon as the earth pony had left, Heart picked up a blanket and proceeded to make a hammock out of it by wedging it between the boards on either side of her stall. The others settled into their areas in their own way; Ash simply lay down on top of the piled blankets while Soul rolled himself up in one and Gale slipped between a pair as she lay on her back. They lay still for a few moments, and then Gale turned her head toward Ash's stall and asked, "That mark of yours, it's from your past, isn't it?" "My cadre emblem," Ashen Blaze said, "As if I need a skvetchte reminder branded onto my flank!" "Well, it's part of who you are, isn't it?" Soul asked, "Not a very nice part, I know, but we've all got things we aren't proud of." "Oh, that's an understatement!" Ash said, with a chuckle in his voice. "So," he said after a moment, "What're everyone's impressions?" "I like it here," Heart said, "Everyone's so nice. It seems like a real peaceful place. Too bad we had to wind up here." "Here here!" Soul said, thrusting a hoof in the air, "Getting our spirit power to work is a pain in the rump though. That makes sense though; it's meant for human use not… this." "You'll adapt," Gale said, "You and Ash mastered that telekinesis trick pretty quick." "I'm not the Thamul Meis for nothin'," Ash said, "I hate the title, but like you said, it's a fact. As for Soul, he cheated." "Ah, go to sleep ya arrogant magician," Soul shot back good-naturedly. The four friends continued to talk and laugh quietly until they each fell asleep. The morning dawned bright and clear- there was still no rain in the schedule, although more clouds were going to be allowed in later in the afternoon. Ashen Blaze slowly came awake as the sun shone into the barn. His eyes blinked open… to reveal Apple Bloom's face hovering right in front of him. "Yii!" he squeaked, jumping up and back. "Geez, what is with the wake-up calls around here?" He composed himself as the others started to wake up. "Not that you aren't cute or anything Miss Bloom," he said, "In fact, you'd probably make a good alarm clock except-" "Really?" Apple Bloom said excitedly, cutting Ash off. She reared up, spun around, and started to gallop off. Ash quickly activated his horn and grabbed her, lifting her off the ground. "Hey! Put me down!" she yelled, struggling. "What the sam hill's going on in here?" Applejack's voice shot through the barn. She came inside and glared at Ash. "You pickin' on mah sister?" "I think I'm saving some pony from a rude wake-up call," Ash said, not letting Bloom loose, "I was joking about her being an alarm clock with no snooze button and I think she took me seriously." "Is that so?" AJ said, turning her gaze to her sister, who gave her a sheepish grin. "Well good catch then. Ya can put 'er down now." Ash obliged and Apple Bloom scampered off, only to return a few seconds later pushing a serving cart laden with plates of pancakes drizzled with syrup and four bottles of juice. "Eat up," Applejack said as everypony gathered around, "You're gonna need your energy for chores." "Chores?" Ash protested, almost dropping a piece of pancake, "We do have important things to do AJ. We can't spend all day working on your farm." "And I ain't gonna have any freeloaders sleepin' in mah barn," AJ replied, "I'm not gonna ask much of you, just buck a few apples, pull a few carts, and keep yer living space clean. Shouldn't take more than a couple hours. 'Sides, most of them town-ponies are still asleep right now, and you obviously don't wanna ruin anypony's beauty sleep Ash." "Botherment..." Ash muttered darkly around a bite of pancake. After everypony had eaten, Applejack assigned the stallions to strip one tree of its apples and cart them to the apple cellar while she led Gale and Gold Heart off to handle some trees across the field. Soul Mage and Ash took turns kicking the tree as hard as they could, but after five minutes of that they were both sweating and only a few apples had come loose, none of which landed in the baskets. "Do you think she'd yell at us if we used magic?" Soul asked. "She never said not to," Ash answered, moving the dropped fruit into a basket, "But she might assign us each our own tree tomorrow if we work too fast." "I'm fine with that," the golden-yellow unicorn said, "We'll each take half and see who finishes faster." "You're on," Ash said, snagging as many apples as possible and giving them a magic tug. Roughly a third of them came off and flew at him, pelting his face and back. "More control, less enthusiasm," he said dryly, picking up his mess. "Duly noted," Soul said, grabbing two apples and pulling them loose. Ash finished picking apples off the ground, discarding those that were bruised, and took another, more conservative attempt at harvesting from the tree. At his coaxing, seven apples detached from the tree and settled into a basket. As the two unicorns continued working, it became clear that Ash was able to handle larger loads than Soul, although the latter wound up with fewer rejects over all. In the space of ten minutes, Ash had not only cleared his half of the tree but picked off a bunch from Soul's half too. "I admit defeat," Soul said with a bow, "I was no match for your superior harvesting skills." "I thought you were doing pretty well Soul Mage," a familiar voice said, startling both of them. The whirled and saw Twilight Sparkle sitting in the shade of a nearby tree. "Morning Twilight," Ash said, "What brings you here?" "I was wondering what was keeping you from dragging me out of bed at daybreak," the purple unicorn said. "And what makes you think we'd do that?" Ash asked. "I've seen how intense you are about finding your missing gems," Twilight answered, "So I figured you'd be chomping at the bit to start looking for them." "Yeah," Soul said, mildly surprised at Twilight's choice of idiom, "but the… uh…" He paused, searching for the proper phrasing. "The what?" Twilight asked. Soul gave up and simply said, "Applejack insists we lend a hoof around the farm a little. Besides, it's not like we've got much of a clue as to where they all wound up." "Well, you're welcome to use the library if you think it'll help," Twilight said, "and, if you don't mind, I'd like to join you on your search so I can keep the Princess updated." "Have you even sent that last letter out yet?" Ash asked, emptying one of the baskets into the apple cart. "No," Twilight said, "but that's no reason not to chronicle what you do." "What'cha say boss?" Soul asked, looking at Ash, "In the mood for a tag-along this round?" "Why not?" Ash said with a shrug, "In fact, any of your friends that want to can probably tag along if they want to. We'll probably need some insight now and again." "Thanks," Twilight said. "Now, if you'll excuse us," Soul said, emptying the last bucket and helping Ash hitch himself to the cart, "We need to go see if the Meis of Apples is pleased with our work." Ashen Blaze froze and glared at Soul. "Excuse me?" he said icily. "What? Did I us it wrong?" Soul asked, surprised, "Everypony keeps saying AJ's the best when it comes to apples." "Even if that's truth, you don't have the authority to give that title," Ash said, still giving the other stallion a death glare. "It's a joke Ash," Soul replied, rolling his eyes and walking toward the farm house, "Lighten up." "There's nothing funny about Meis," Ash retorted, following Soul. "That's because you're such a sourpuss about it!" Soul snapped. The two continued to argue as they walked away from an increasingly confused Twilight Sparkle. As Twilight walked back to the library, she was surprised to meet up with Rarity coming from another part of town. "Good morning Rarity," she said, "You're up early, aren't you?" "I could say the same for you," Rarity said, "Sweetie Bell woke up not long after you left, I think, and woke me up demanding breakfast. After I took care of that, I decided to go to the post office and have them forward my mail to the library for the time being. I hope you don't mind." "Not at all," Twilight said, "I don't much mail any…way…" She stopped and gave herself a smack on the forehead. "Silly me," she said, chuckling, "That's how I can get my letter to Princess Celestia! I'm so used to having Spike send my letters, I forgot we even had a post office in town." "Why wouldn't we?" Rarity asked, "Really Twilight, you're still not getting out enough, are you?" "Probably not," Twilight replied, rolling her eyes, "I'm going to run ahead and take that letter to the post office. If Ashen Blaze and his friends show up before I get back, tell them I'll be right back, ok?" "You can count on me," Rarity said. Twilight ran on ahead while Rarity continued at a leisurely pace. By the time she got to the library, Twilight had come and gone. The sound of approaching hooves made her pause in the middle of opening the door. She turned around and saw Ash, who looked to be overcoming a sour mood, along with his three companions and Applejack, who was wearing a set of full-looking saddlebags. "Howdy Rarity," AJ said while they were still a short ways off, "Lovely morning, ain't it?" "It is," Rarity said, "Twilight had to go drop a letter off at the post office, she'll be back shortly." "That's fine," Ash said grumpily, "What's another few minute delay?" He walked past Rarity into the library, followed by an equally sour-looking Soul Mage. "Don't worry about those two," Gale said, seeing the look on Rarity's face, "they just took their usual banter a bit too far this morning. They'll be ok." "Well, I sure hope so," Applejack said, "They're not very good company this way." They went into the library, and Rarity caught the scent of baked goods. She looked at Applejack, who was opening one of her saddlebags. "I hope y'all are still hungry," the orange earth pony said, "I brought some of my famous apple fritters." "Oo! Oo! Oo!" Sweetie Bell said excitedly as she dashed down the stairs. She skid to a stop in front of AJ and said, "I'll take one please." Applejack smiled as she handed the filly a fritter. "Thank you!" Sweetie said around the mouthful and walked over to a table to enjoy the treat. "Anypony else?" AJ asked, looking around, "I made plenty." "I'll take one," Ash said, looking over his shoulder from his spot in front of a bookcase. Applejack reached into her saddlebag, but then stopped at looked up at Soul, who was standing across the room from Ash. "How about you Soul?" she asked. "Sure," Soul said dully, "All that work used up most of my breakfast anyway." "Well then come and get 'em," AJ said to both stallions. They looked at her, then and at each other, back to AJ, and finally back to each other. Smiling, they came over to the earth pony at the same time and claimed their apple fritters. "Clever," Ash said appreciatively as he went to join Sweetie Bell at her table. Gale and Heart also took a fritter each, but Rarity declined claiming she was still full from her own breakfast. Since Ash and Soul had obviously forgiven each other, the mood in the library lightened considerably and the ponies simply enjoyed each other's company and the food until Twilight returned. The first thing she encountered upon entering the tree was Applejack offering her a fritter. "Oh, thanks," she said, grabbing it with magic as she walked to her desk, "I wasn't expecting to see you here Applejack." "Well, I must admit I'm curious what these four plan to get up to today," Applejack said, "'Sides, if y'all wind up going out of town fer some reason, y'all are prob'ly gonna need lunch." She opened the other saddle bag and displayed its contents: a bunch of sandwiches and some apple tarts. "You're the best Applejack," Twilight said. "So," Gold Heart said as Applejack struck a proud pose, "what are we going to get up to today?" "I'm hoping to find the Emerald again," Ash said. "But, it got broken," Rarity said, "Rather dramatically." "Truth," Ash said, nodding, "But, that doesn't mean the energy's gone. It will have sought out the closest suitable emerald to take residence in. That means our best hope to find it again will be to look for places where there are a lot of gems. That's still a long shot; however it is our only clue at the moment." "Oh, I know just the place," Rarity exclaimed, "There's a rock field not too far outside of town that's simply brimming with gems, although most of them are pretty deeply buried." "Yer not talkin' about those Diamond Dog mines are you?" Applejack asked. "Diamond Dog?" Gale asked. "A most uncouth and dirty bunch of canines," Rarity said, putting on the drama, "They inhabit a sprawling mine under the field, always looking for more jewels. Less than a year ago they kidnapped me, hoping to use my natural gift for finding gems to speed up their search. I can't think of a larger collection of gems around here than those mines." "You can track gemstones?" Ash asked, intrigued, "That would be a very nice skill to have." Rarity smiled and gave her mane a vain toss. "Then I insist you let me guide you," she said. "Wow," Applejack said, "I figured those mines'd be the last place you'd ever want to go back to Rarity. You know, what with all the dirt and mud and smelly, mean Diamond Dogs that might try and hitch you up to a cart again?" "Oh please Applejack," Rarity said, smiling at her friend, "I had those brutes wrapped around my hoof the entire time, remember? And I think I can stand a little dirt if it means helping our new friends." He smiled coyly at Ash, who blinked a few times, and then cleared his throat as an excuse to look away. "Right," he said, "Thank you Rarity. Anyone else want to come along?" "I'm coming," Twilight said, beginning to gather writing materials. "If y'all are goin' to those mines, your definitely gonna need lunch," AJ said, "And if those dogs try to get rough, yer gonna need all the buckin' power you can get." "Ooo! Can I go? Can I go?" Sweetie Bell asked, bouncing in place, "I've never met a Diamond Dog before." "No Sweetie Bell," Rarity said, "this is serious business, not a pleasure trip. Besides, you have school in a few hours." "Awwww," Sweetie Bell whined, putting on the most pitiable face she could manage. "Now don't try that," Rarity said, "I'm not going to change my mind." "Fine!" the young filly snapped, and she ran off up the stairs. "Who wants to bet she's going to try and follow us?" Soul asked after Sweetie's hoofsteps had faded away. "If she were Scootaloo or Apple Bloom, I could almost guarantee it," Applejack said, "Sweetie Bell's usually got more sense than to try that, not on her own at least." "Hmm," Rarity said, "I should probably make sure she gets to school before we head out. Would that be ok?" "Shouldn't hurt anything," Ash said with a shrug.