//------------------------------// // Issue #3: Off of a Cliff // Story: Rainbow Flash and the Mysterious Mare Do Well // by HoovesMcCoy //------------------------------// In the morning, Rainbow Dash led the way to the offices of Mareville Comics. She'd woken up first and finished the comic before interrogating the bellhop about how to find where things were in the city. Apparently there was a book for that. She looked it up easily, but made a point of not mentioning this to Twilight. Fortunately it was on one of the streets on their map, and didn't take much trouble to find. It was only a few block away from the hotel. As they walked through the doors, a curly-haired unicorn receptionist gave them a dismissive glance over the rims of her black glasses. "Oh. Fans." Dash’s couldn’t help snapping at her, "We're not fans, we're the real deal!" Twilight smacked Rainbow on the back of the head, then spoke in her most serious tone, a touch of Canterlot accent drifting into her voice, "What my friend means to say is that we are the ponies who were used as the basis for a pair of your characters, and as we were never contacted regarding the use of our likenesses and characters in fiction, we need to speak to whoever runs your Mare Do Well line." The receptionist glared up over her spectacles, "If you'd like to file a complaint, I can have you meet with legal—" Twilight gave her best patronizing smirk, "That won't be necessary. I'm Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia's personal protégé. I'm sure you've heard of me. As all defamation suits are handled on a case-by-case basis through Canterlot, I can assure you, if your legal team needs to talk to me, you've already lost. Now we can work out a licensing arrangement with whoever runs the Mare Do Well line, or you can run me in circles all day until I actually do decide to press charges and we bring this before Aunt Celly." The receptionist actually looked a bit scared. "Just a moment, Miss Sparkle." The receptionist opened up a speaking tube and began talking fast and quietly into it. She put her ear to it, and after a moment, looked up. "Alright, Mr. Tree will see you in just a moment. Fifth floor, first door on your right." As the two friends trotted to the stairway Dash lean in towards Twilight’s ear and whispered, "That was so awesome." As the two mares reached the fifth floor, they walked out into the hallway and saw an unassuming door immediately on their right. It said "Stan Tree, Vice President of Superheroes" in big gold letters on the window. Rainbow Dash cautiously pushed the door open and was greeted by a receptionist nearly identical to the one on the ground floor. If she hadn't known better, she'd have assumed they were the same pony. "You're here to see Mr. Tree, yes?" asked the secretary primly, her green-glowing quill unceasing in its movement across whatever paperwork she was doing. "Yes we are," Twilight said with a grin halfway between her normal, friendly one and the threatening one she’d used downstairs. "Well, he's ready for you, right this way." The secretary gestured them through a smaller door in the side of the room. As Rainbow Dash walked into the little office, she gasped. The wall was covered with posters of ponies in dramatic poses. Particularly striking was a khaki pegasus swinging a whip. That pegasus looked remarkably like her somehow. She looked over at Twilight to find the unicorn practically drooling over the floor-to-ceiling bookshelf on the other wall. It didn't seem to be enough shelf, as piles of books and comics teetered atop the desk, beside the desk, and piled on every other available surface. Behind the desk sat a surprisingly diminutive elderly earth pony. He had a grey coat, black mane, and a trio of word balloons for a cutie mark. He smiled up at them as he said, in a gruff, friendly voice, "Welcome to my office, ladies. I've been hoping to meet you two for some time. Ever since the Mare Do Well concept was brought to me.” Twilight blinked. "Wait, you knew we were real ponies?" "Well, Cart didn't know for sure, but he told me he thought you might be based on real ponies his anonymous collaborator knew. Celestia's student though, wow." Twilight and Dash exchanged glances. "I don't suppose we could speak to this Cartmane pony, could we?" "Of course you could. His name is Cartmane Foalitino and he's one of the best illustrators and writers we've got. I can give you his address if you want. He always likes to meet the fans, and particularly in a case like yours, I'm sure he'd love to meet the real ponies behind his story." "Great! So can we have that address?" Twilight asked, relieved to have something finally go her way. Stan Tree just smiled at her and wrote something on a scrap of paper, which he handed over. "You don't really care about the use of your likenesses, do you?" he asked conspiratorially. Dash smirked and fluffed up her feathers a little, "Well I do like ponies to know how awesome I am." Rolling her eyes Twilight said, "You're right, we didn't really come here for that. Although as long as we are here, I suppose we should work out a formal agreement, now that we've met. I don't think Ms. Dash or I have any problem with being used as the basis for a couple of super heroes, but I'd prefer if our names never be officially connected to the characters. Political baggage and all. What's the standard rate you pay for this sort of thing?" "Wait, they're going to pay us to be in—" Dash felt Twilight's tail whip against her flank. She briefly wondered whether or not Twi was flirting with her before realizing she just wanted her to keep her mouth shut. Some kind of business negotiation thing. Stan either didn’t notice or chose to ignore it, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, "We do in fact pay people who have rights to the initial concept. As this comic is somewhat based upon your lives, we'd be happy—and in fact legally obligated—to pay you. I propose we just give you two the standard rate, but so there are no hard feelings I can cut you a check from the Properties Acquisition budget as a sort of reparation. How does two-hundred bits each sound?" "It sounds awes—" Dash felt a flick against her flank again. Twilight spoke over her, "It sounds fine, thank you. That's two-hundred each I assume. Plus the monthly payment?" "Of course. Just a moment, I'll have Ms. Pots draw up the paperwork. Feel free to browse through my collection while you wait." "It was good doing business with you Mr. Tree." "You too, Ms. Sparkle." He got up from his desk and trotted out into the main office. Dash watched Twilight browse the pile of comics on the desk. Specifically, she watched Twilight's flanks as she bent low to examine something on the pile beside the desk. "Oooh. Latch and Bolt by Crowthrill. He's one of my favorite authors, Dash. You really should try reading a novel one day, you'd really like them. Maybe something with adventure or something a bit scary." Dash jerk her head to the side as Twilight turned around, pretending to idly look at the Daring Do poster on the wall. "Maybe someday I will. Hey Twi, who's this cool-looking pegasus. She seems pretty awesome." "Oh, that's Daring Do! She's a character in a whole series of books. Those were the ones I was going to try to get you to read. They just did a comic book adaptation, but it isn't as good as the novels. Not nearly as much room for characterization." "How about if I like the comics, I'll take a look at one of those books?" "Oh Dash, would you, really?" "It is a little egg-heady but I'll make an exception for you, Twi." Just then, Stan Tree came back into the room with a quartet of scrolls. "Okay, so you each sign two copies on the X at the bottom. You keep one copy, we keep the other. And you can take this check to any bank in Manehattan and cash it in for bits. It's your back pay for the past couple weeks, and the little signing bonus I talked about. Is there anything else I can do for you?" "Just one thing, Mr. Tree," Twilight said, grinning. "I run the Ponyville library, do you think we could get some of the rare issues that you only sell here in Manehattan in my library. I'm sure the ponies of Ponyville would just love it." "Of course. Ponyville is actually making us a lot of money lately you know. The ponies there have really taken a liking to Rainbow Flash for some reason." He grinned at Dash. "And it's gotten them into other comics. If there is any town we'd like to help out with a few special issues, it's Ponyville." "Thank you so much. Now, Dash and I had better get to finding Mr. Foalitino before it gets too late. Is this address far from here?" "Not terribly. Ask the secretary for direction on your way out, it should be perfectly simple to find. Good luck, ladies." Stan smiled and waved at the two mares as they exited his office. He looked down at one of the sketches his niece had sent in. She wasn’t much of an artist, but she had an eye for detail and an ear for dialogue. She’d gotten the conversation very nearly perfect, right down to the half-conscious flirting. He pulled his framed picture of her back out of his desk, and set it up in its usual place, grinning at him. # Twilight walked up to the brick apartment building on the edge of Little Fillily. "You're sure this is the address Stan Tree gave us, Dash?" "Absolutely." The instructions the secretary had given Twilight had been pretty simple as well, just a few turns. And the Manehattan grid layout was much simpler than the winding, poorly-labeled streets of Canterlot, once you knew where you were going. But Dash still seemed uncomfortable in the city. Twilight walked up to the little brick building and knocked on the door. There was no answer. Figuring it was probably an apartment building, Twilight tried the door and found it unlocked. She walked inside, but noticed Rainbow Dash hanging a bit behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and motioned Dash inside. She looked worried for a moment, but then puffed out her chest and followed Twilight's lead. It was cute seeing her usually brash friend worry like this, although some part of Twilight couldn't stand to see Dash look so uncomfortable. They climbed the narrow stairs just inside the door and emerged into a narrow hallway with doors on either side. Twilight looked back over her shoulder and saw that Dash had her wings pulled in tight against her and was glancing back and forth at the walls looming on either side. Even on a sunny day like this, the hallway had a cave-like darkness and Twilight mentally slapped herself. Stupid Twilight. Stupid. She's claustrophobic. She isn't afraid of meeting some comic artist, she's afraid of being in so tight a space. What kind of friend are you, not noticing something like that. Stupid city unicorn. Before she could beat herself up any further, Twilight noticed the door in front of her had the number she was looking for. She raised a tentative hoof and knocked. There was a groan from inside, followed by a rustling of paper. It seemed like it took forever before the door was yanked open and a red unicorn with heavy bags under his eyes looked out. "Whadya want?" The unicorn grumbled at them, rubbing at his eye with one hoof. Twilight spoke up first, keeping her tone polite and professional. "Are you Mr. Foalitino?" "Who's askin'?" "Well my name is Tw—" Before Twilight could explain anything, she was shoved out of the way. "I'm Rainbow Dash. Maybe you recognize me? Now let us in, we've gotta talk." The tired-looking unicorn's eyes widened as he stepped back and allowed the door to swing all the way open. Twilight followed Rainbow in. Stan Tree's office had been a cluttered, disorganized mess, but this apartment made it look like Carousel Boutique. The carpet obviously hadn't been cleaned in months, if ever. It was hard to tell because most of it was obscured by take-out containers from more kinds of food than she could even identify. Manehattan was supposed to be the great melting pot of cultures after all, and whatever bacteria was growing on his floor was certainly getting the full benefit of all that cultural diversity. The only piece of furniture was a big kitchen table, covered with notebooks and sketch pads and loose sheets of paper. There were several inkwells lined neatly along the front edge, in stark contrast to everything else about the apartment and table. She could see a black and white sketch of what almost looked like her face, grimacing in pain. There was a pile of scrolls beside the desk. While the area around the door had a faint hint of dumpster about it, as Twilight and Dash followed the artist into his study, the air had a much more pleasant scent. Some of it was the heady smell of the ink, but there was an underlying burnt toffee scent, like the smell of the slightly singed messages Spike belched up from the Princess. The unicorn’s voice warmed, his Manehattan accent softening a bit, "I was wonderin' what took you girls so long. I got an express message that you were coming yesterday. Have a seat." He gestured towards the table, his magic gathering up piles of sketches and half-heartedly stacking them on the floor. There were, indeed, two extra chairs beside the table. They were surprisingly dust-free, although the stacks of paper sitting beside them hinted at their previous purpose. "I suppose you'll wanta get straight to business, eh? How do I know about you, how did the Mare Do Well comic get started so fast, all that jazz?" Twilight primly crossed her hooves as she took her seat. "Well yes, that is why we came." "I'm sorry, I can't tell you that. I've been sworn to secrecy. All I can say is that this project wasn't my idea. I've got a collaborator from Ponyville who came up with the concept and writes the basic scripts, then I flesh out the dialogue, figure out the art, and draw and ink the thing. If you wanna get paid or somethin' you've gotta talk to the mucky mucks an Mareville." "We already did, and we came to a perfectly satisfactory arrangement. No need to worry about your comic being canceled or anything like that." Cartmane nodded, scratching at the side of his face with an idle hoof. "Glad to hear it. So. I'm not gonna tell ya who my source is, you don't want to complain, ya need anything else or ah we done here." Twilight frowned, "Well I do have two other things I wanted to ask you." "Shoot." "So these comics have been a step ahead of us at every turn. I was hoping you could let us know what happens next? We won't tell anyone, but it could be really helpful." Cartmane rubbed his chin, looking a little dubious of that. "Well, I can't spoil the whole story, cause frankly, I don't know what's gonna happen until I get the script. But this next issue has you two rescuing a pegasus filly." Dash looked up from the collection of sketches on the table, confused. "Didn't we already do that once?" "Different filly, but I think they're connected." "You mean you don't know?" Twilight asked, obviously confused. "All I know is the script says to draw a cute orange pegasus filly with purple hair." Dash shot up from her chair, knocking over several stacks of papers as she dove across the table. "Sweet Celestia! Thats Scootaloo. What is going to happen to Scootaloo!" she demanded, lifting the startled unicorn out of his chair. Twilight winced and yanked Dash’s rear hoof, "You should probably put him down Rainbow." Dash looked daggers at her, but set Cartmane down in his chair. She fluttered back to her own and glared silently at the unicorn, her hooves crossed over her chest. Cartmane shook his head, trying not to look unsettled by Dash’s death glares. "Look, I don't know how much of this is real and how much is made up, but the kid gets foalnapped, okay. She's playing with a couple of her friends and she goes off on her own and she script doesn't tell me who takes her, just that we see eyes from the shadows. All I can tell you is that the issue ends with Rainbow Flash flying off that cliff we keep coming back to and getting grabbed by some kind of giant tentacle. Script says to draw it the same purple as the filly's mane. Thats all she wrote, girls." "So it's a she?" "I have no idea. It's just an expression." Twilight’s ears drooped, but looking at Dash’s reaction, she decided to take charge. "Rainbow, if we leave now, we should be able to get to the train station in time to get back to Ponyville tonight. We should hurry though. Before we leave, Mr. Foalitino, do you think you could sign the issues I brought with me? It would really mean a lot to me." "Sure I can kid." He pulled a quill out of his red inkwell as Twilight pulled several plastic sleeves containing comics out of her saddlebag. He scribbled on them, re-sleeved them, and Twilight trotted toward the door, determined not to miss the train to Ponyville. Dash wasn't beside her though. She looked over her shoulder and saw Rainbow Dash talking to the old artist. They were whispering back and forth to each other. A wide grin blossomed on Rainbow Dash's face and she gave the old stallion a hug. Shaking her head, Twilight opened the door with her hoof and begun tapping her foot. Rainbow jumped up and flew over to her, smiling like she'd just won another day with the Wonderbolts or something. Twilight smiled back and lead the way back to the train station. Rainbow had such a great smile. She wondered what the old stallion could have told her that made her so happy. # Rainbow Dash bounced up and down in her seat on the train. They'd hopped on board just as it had begun billowing steam from the engine. They only just had time to pay the conductor and take their seats before it started moving. That wonderful, wonderful comics stallion. He said that although he didn't know where things would end, he was sure Rainbow Flash and Mare Do Well would end up together. And then he'd winked at her and said they had even better chemistry in real life! This decided it. She had to say something. She had to make Twilight know how she felt. "Hey Twi?" "What is it Dash?" "Have you ever had a special somepony? Back in Canterlot or whatever?" Rainbow grinned in what she hoped was an endearing manner. Twilight frowned though, and Dash's heart sank into her stomach. "No. I've never really... I've never really found the time for dating. It always seemed too much of a hassle. And how would you ever meet anypony. I don't go hang out at clubs or anything. I don't like anypony talking to me while I'm studying. And you aren't supposed to date your friends. So how in Tarturus could I ever meet anypony to date. Much less actually find time for them." The sun hid behind a cloud. And sensing that the world was still too bright and cheery for Dash's new mood, the train fled into a tunnel where not a speck of sunlight could interfere with the gloom Dash felt she was projecting out into the world. She looked away from Twilight and then stood up. "Is something wrong, Dash?" "No I'm fine. Just have to use the little filly's room. Be right back!" She was sure her lie sounded less convincing than Applejack but she flew off to the bathroom anyway. She couldn't let Twilight see her cry. Rainbow Dash slammed the bathroom door behind her. It was a sliding panel thing and didn't slam very well, so she pulled it back and slammed it again. It gave a conciliatory faint thud. Feeling pathetic, Dash locked the door, sat down on the closed lid of the toilet, and began sobbing into her hooves. # As Dash sped off down the train car, Twilight wondered what she could have possibly said wrong. She could swear she saw a tear in the pegasus' eye, and Rainbow Dash was not a pony who cried easily. Maybe Dash had been lonely too lately and was hoping for some reassurance things would all get better. If that was the case, Twilight wasn't a very good friend. She'd have to apologize when Dash returned. Maybe she just wanted somepony to talk to about stallions. Or maybe she was upset about the romantic direction of the comics. Maybe she didn't want everypony to think she liked mares. If anypony were going to get a lot of manure about that from the ponies around town, it would be Rainbow Dash. Maybe that explained why she had been blushing so hard when Twilight found her reading the end of that comic in the hotel this morning. Thinking of the comic, what were the chances that Scootaloo would really be kidnapped and Dash would really be attacked by some monster. She supposed it was reasonable to hope it wouldn't happen. But suppose the mystery collaborator did have some knowledge of the future. Or at least some knowledge of... something. There was certainly more going on in Ponyville than was obvious. The book implied that Ponyville and the surrounding area were prone to unusual heat waves once a lifetime or so. And that these heat waves coincided with whatever ritual the old earth pony religions believed they needed to do to appease their gods. What are the chances that during an unusually hot summer somepony kidnapped Dinky and tried to kill her? Even if there was nothing behind the old religion, that didn't mean some ponies couldn't believe there was. Given that, maybe it was best not to take chances with Scootaloo's safety. Thinking of coincidences, there had been a lot of them with Dash lately. Twilight knew she got a bit flirty with her friend, particularly when they were alone and she was dreading the time when she be left all by herself again. But she'd been feeling awfully happy around Dash lately, and despite the bad parts, traveling to a new place with her—and spending so much time with her—had been a lot of fun. Maybe she genuinely had feelings for Rainbow Dash. It would explain why she'd felt so safe and comfortable in the hotel last night, after everything that had happened. And unless she was mistaken, she'd been catching Dash looking at her much more often than was normal. Stupid Twilight, stupid. Dash had been wondering if Twilight liked her and she'd just spouted off some dumb rule from some dumb magazine that didn't even make sense. She liked having rules and outlines, but 'follow no rule off a cliff' was one of the big ones. A loud crash from the direction of the bathroom snapped Twilight's attention to the fact that Rainbow Dash was still missing. She galloped to the bathroom door and tried to open it. It was locked. Stupid horn injury. Unable to use her magic, Twilight turned around and bucked the door as hard as she could. It flew open, clearly not designed to withstand much force. The bathroom was completely empty. Most of the window was missing, glittering shards of glass littered the floor. # Dash enjoyed the sense of freedom, the slight burn in her muscles as she flapped hard to catch the heart-shaped clouds puffing merrily up from the locomotive. Stupid stupid Twilight. Stupid Scootaloo. Stupid Rainbow Dash. Why should she care about her chances with Twi at a time like this? One of the steam hearts rose in front of her. Dash flipped around and bucked it into oblivion—it wasn't nearly as satisfying as it should have been. Twilight should give her some lessons in heart-smashing. Why did Twi have to buy into some dumb 'don't date your friends' nonsense. Rarity was always going on about stupid rules for romance like that. She was always trying to set her friends up with each other though, so she was obviously working from a different book than Twilight. Dash flapped a few times to reposition herself and match speed with the engine. The hot air rising from it gave her an altitude boost, and she saw a hawk rising circling lazily in the meadow to her left. Must be some good thermals over there. She couldn't understand why anypony would make up rules for love instead of just liking who they liked. Of course, Twilight was just the sort of pony to make up rules and plans for everything. Sometimes planning was a good idea though. Like if she didn't take the time to catch some thermals, she'd be way too tired when she got back to Ponyville. She had to conserve some energy. Spiraling up beneath the hawk, the air eventually grew cold. A mountain with a glittering white lump hanging off it was just visible in the distance. Canterlot. Ponyville must be that blurry thing near the bottom. Maybe she was right, maybe Scootaloo was hanging out with Rarity and AJ's little sisters covered in tree sap somewhere. Dash sucked in a deep breath and cleared her mind. Spotting another likely thermal in that direction, Dash tucking into a dive. It was good to go fast. The wind rippling over her feathers sucked away the tension drop by drop. The train was already well behind her. If she could keep gaining at this rate, she could save Scootaloo and meet Twilight at the station. She could afford to push herself a little. She didn't want to be a second later than she had to be. With some thrilling heroics—and a little help from Rarity—maybe she could be Twilight's exception to the rule. It was a long shot, but it was a shot. # Rainbow Dash was panting by the time she reached the cliff on the outskirts of Ponyville, but the train was just a pastel speck behind her. The little house at the top of the hill was boarded up with a royal seal on the door and nopony was around this part of town. The sky was orange and pink and the only activity was around the restaurants downtown. She squinted at the swamp beneath the cliff but couldn't see anything that looked like a likely place to store a tied-up filly. Something was moving down there though. Letting some air slip through her feathers, Dash dropped stealthily toward the swamp. It was an old earth pony picking her way cautiously along the base of the cliff. Dash touched down in front of her. She hated to admit it, but it felt good to give her wings a rest after so long. "Where are you coming from lady?" "Oh, Ms. Dash. I was just collecting some herbs for my dinner. This is the only place to get good fiddleheads and around these parts you know." "I don't see any herbs." "I was just on my way to get them." The old mare looked Dash in the eye as if daring Dash to contradict her. She muttered something under her breath. "What was that." The mare leaned closer to Dash as if to whisper in her ear. There was an awfully strong smell coming from her. Dash leaned in toward her. A hoof shot out and pressed something against Rainbow's muzzle, another gripped the back of her head, pulling her in. The old mare was much stronger than she looked. Dash flapped her wings and bucked wildly, but she was exhausted and she already felt her eyelids sinking down and her movements getting even more sluggish. It was the opposite of the adrenaline rush she should be experiencing. And that scent, she couldn't even panic with it in her nose, it pushed everything else aside. As Rainbow's eyes slid shut she heard the old mare whisper something in her ear. "You don't come anywhere near living up to your reputation." She heard nothing else for a long time. # Twilight jumped to her feet as the Friendship Express chugged into Ponyville. She ran to the door, watching the early evening lights of the station. As soon as they were still, she jumped through the door onto the platform. Rainbow Dash wasn't anywhere to be seen. Galloping to the library, Twilight searched the streets for anypony she knew. They were completely deserted. She yanked open the library door with more force than she'd intended, knocking herself off balance. She stumbled in and yelled, "Spike!" There was no answer. No sound of movement. She'd been thinking about what Dash said on the train. There was no time to do more research, no time to wait for Spike to get back or track down all her friends. Every second wasted was another second where Dash could be sacrificed for some ancient Earth Pony religion. But Twilight couldn't rush off unprepared either. Especially without the use of her magic. She grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill. Twilight picked up the quill with her magic. There was a loud snap. "Sweet father of Celestia," she swore. Twilight felt a intense pain in her forehead and something else, something sharper, from her her left foreleg. Examining herself, she noticed a fragment of quill protruding from her leg. She gripped it in her teeth, close her eyes, and pulled. The pain increased for a moment, and then reduced to a throbbing. A trickle of blood ran down her leg and dripped from the bit of quill in her teeth. It must have exploded with some force to pierce her skin. Grumbling to herself, she found another quill, this time holding it in her mouth. She hadn't written this way since kindergarten, her mouthwriting was even sloppier than Dash's. It took only a few minutes to write the note, but it felt like much too long. She laid out her suspicions, left the book underneath the note in case Spike wanted to do some research of his own, and asked him to forward the message to Princess Celestia as soon as he read it. A short trot up the stairs later, Twilight dumped the entire contents of her saddlebags on her bed. In went a topographical map of area around Ponyville, a bag of granola, Mellow Marsh's Guide to the Flora and Fauna of the Wetlands, and a rope—AJ had been teaching her how to tie knots and it might be useful if she found whoever had kidnapped Dash. And Scootaloo of course. On her way out the door, she poked her head into the bathroom and tossed in her first aid kit. She still didn't feel prepared. Deciding she needed to at least tell somepony where she was going, Twilight stopped by Carousel Boutique on her way out of town. She knocked on the door, but there was no answer. "Hi Twilight! You're back super duper early from Manehattan, does that mean Dashie's back earlier too?" "Oh, hi Pinkie. That's why I'm here. Dash ran off to save Scootaloo and never came back. I think she's been foalnapped too." "You know about the girls? That's why Rarity isn't home, she and Applejack are out searching the Everfree for them. I tried to tell them to look in the swamp, but they said the girls don't play anywhere near the swamp and I think they're both just too worried to listen to their good pal Pinkie even though I just want to help!" "Wait, how do you know they're being held in the swamp?" "Because I wrote the comics, silly! Now are you going to come with me to rescue Dashie or am I going to have to do it by myself?" Twilight sighed. As usual, Pinkie's reply had created more questions than it answered. But if AJ and Rarity were in the Everfree, there certainly wasn't time to find them. This was all the help she was going to get. The pink pony was already bouncing merrily off toward the swamp. Twilight sighed again and hurried to catch up.