Chapter 3 The Gathering
Scootaloo scanned the paper before handing it back to Sweetie Bell, “I am not sure I understand, it’s just a letter.” Sweetie Bell rolled her eyes. She grabbed the letter and then handed it to Dinky. The blond mare’s eyes grew wide as she read it. Both Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom nodded their heads at each other. Sweetie Bell crouched down to Dinky’s level, “I am going to need to ask you a favor Dinky.” The grey mare stopped reading and handed the paper back to Sweetie Bell. She then stood up and saluted. Sweetie Bell blushed at the gesture before gathering herself, “I need you to tell the other members that a meeting will be held in one hour at the old club house.”
Dinky’s eyes grew wide again as she realized this meant that something big was about to happen. She saluted again before rushing out the door in a grey blur. Apple Bloom shook her head, “you’d think she would have gotten her cutie mark in speed not delivery.” Sweetie Bell sighed as she knew they were going to need to prepare for tonight. She turned toward her group, “Alright everypony, I will meet you all there. I have something that needs to be done before later tonight.” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom exchanged curious looks as Sweetie Bell left the barn. Once she left, she carefully but quickly made her way toward the Carousel Boutique. Even though it wasn’t far, it still took her awhile to get there having to jump into certain hiding spots every time a Solar Empire guard made their way past. Upon reaching it however, she had to take a minute to look over the damage that had been done to it during the Fall of Equestria.
It was a miracle that half of it was still standing. The top floor was gone however. Black marks surround it and the once beautiful boutique was now just a sorry reminder of that awful day. But she still considered it her home and not just because her parent’s house had been lost as well. As she made her way through the front door, Sweetie Bell was met with the jingling of the bell above the door. She smiled as happy memories flowed through her. She closed her eyes remembering all the good time she and her sister had in this wonderful place. But it could not last, for when she opened her eyes, she was met with the ruins of the shop. Most of the dresses had been burned and any left were too damaged to be recovered. The white mare made her way through the rubble towards the back of the shop.
Upon reaching one of the many changing rooms, she stopped and opened the one in the middle. Inside was where Sweetie Bell had kept all that had been saved from the fire. As she made her way into the small room she glanced over all that she had saved. From the dress the Rarity had made for herself for Gala, to an exact replica of her Element (made with real gold and sapphire) and then towards the rest of her designs she had made on paper. But what Sweetie Bell felt was the most valuable treasure, was the picture of her and Rarity she had made out of Rarity’s special diamonds and crayons. It was just before the Sister Hooves social and while the day may have started out bad, the ending was one she would never forget.
Sweetie Bell touched her hoof to the drawing. “Someday we will be together again, I promise.” She felt a tear roll down her face. She did her best to wipe it away before taking a deep breath and leaving the small room while gently closing the door behind her.
***
Scootaloo made her way home by flying through every cloud she could find. She did her best to not be spotted in the air even thought it was dark. Her wings made her feel like a real Pegasus as they were technically connected to her small wings underneath. As she glided from cloud to cloud, she couldn’t help but thank Apple Bloom over and over in her head for making these. It was Scootaloo's cutie mark that made them easy to figure out however. Her ability is to adapt to just about anything was her special talent. That is why she was always good at her scooter because she could perform her trick by adapting to her surroundings and pulling it off. It also made it possible to quickly learn how to wield certain weapons and other gadgets as well.
Her thoughts ended as her home came in sight. The full moon made it easy to see. But it wasn’t just a simple cloud home. It was Rainbow Dash’s home. It was also the last place she saw Rainbow before she left. Though it pains her every time to have to be reminded of that, it was still a home and she believed like Sweetie Bell, that someday her sister would return. As she went through the front door, she took a deep breath and made her way into Rainbow Dash’s old room. Scootaloo had made sure to leave it exactly like RD had left it.
She went in and walked toward a picture sitting on a small table beside the bed. It was a picture of her and Rainbow Dash taken just a few days before she left. It was the day that RD had taken her under her wing not only as a sister, but a legal guardian as well. It was the happiest day of her life. Scootaloo could still feel Diamond Tiara’s words burning in her mind, but as she touched the picture and thought of RD, her words seemed to melt away. Scootaloo looked out the small window and even though it was cloudy, she could still see the moon clearly. Scootaloo felt a bit of determination stir within her as she looked back at the photo. “You promised me one day we would fly together. And I am still holding you to that promise.” Scootaloo smiled as she got up to leave and prepare for the meeting later that night.
***
Apple Bloom stuck around in the barn after the other mares had left. It took her a few minutes but eventually she left and made her way toward the house. Along the way she decided to stop at a certain old tree. She stopped in front of it and sat down leaning up against a big slab of stone sitting nearby. She cocked her head back looking up and seeing the branches in the moonlight.
“Hey Big George, it’s me Apple Bloom. I just wanted to tell you that we have found a big clue to where my sister is and felt you should know about that. You have been in the family for generations and Apple Jack said that you are here to give us fruit and help protect the farm. I want to apologize for earlier about calling you all those names a few days after that Fall of Equestria. I was just so mad at the time. Besides, Granny wouldn’t want me saying stuff like that to anypony or tree anyways.”
She turned around put her hoof on the slab of stone, “Because I know that just like Mom and Pa, she's watching over us somewhere too.” Apple Bloom ran a hoof through her now watery eyes. “Just do me a favor George, make sure your still here when I bring Apple Jack back.” She then got up made her way toward her house where Big Mac was sitting on the porch. As Apple Bloom made her way up into the house, she was stopped by her big brother. She looked at him for moment. His tired eyes and aching body were clear as day but his warm smile was what shown through the most. They embraced as Apple Bloom felt tears running down her cheeks but she didn’t care anymore. They just sat there as family mourning for their losses but being happy for what they still had.
***
The old club house looked like it was ready to fall apart at any moment from the outside. But from the inside it looked as good as it always had. After getting her Cutie Mark in crafting, Apple Bloom found that she could build just about anything she put her mind to. That included making the perfect camouflage for the club house.
As ponies dressed in cloaks and capes made their way inside, Scootaloo made sure to keep an eye out for any guards. Though the chance of them coming out here was unlikely, it still was a good idea to be cautious. As the last pony made their way inside, Scootaloo ran all the way around the club house to make sure there wasn’t any spies before making her way in as well. The club house would have been too small to fit everypony had Apple Bloom not remolded it to fit them plus several other ponies as well. Sweetie Bell took to the stand at the front as both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom took their seats beside her. Sweetie Bell looked around her before taking a deep breath and beginning.
“Mares and gentlecolts, thanks for risking your livelihoods and coming to this meeting. I assure you that what I have to say is very important and what comes next is going to need the help of everypony here.” Several of the ponies glanced at each other. Most of them kept their hoods up just in case they should be caught but were still there because they all believed in the Lunar Republic and that was time for a change. Sweetie Bell continued, “What I have here in my hoof was a letter given to me by our very own double agent. It is because of the risks she took that we might have the biggest clue to finding the bearers of Elements of Harmony and perhaps Luna as well.”
She paused as some ponies murmured to themselves before continuing, “What this is, is a letter sent by Twilight to queen (then Princess) Celestia from the Castle of the Royal Pony sisters. It tells us that they were suppose to meet there as something important was about to happen. This is believed by our double agent to be the last known place they were at before they disappeared.” Sweetie Bell was met with silence as everypony took this in. “We believe that is extremely important that we go into the Everfree and hopefully learn more about what happened.” Some of the ponies in the room shuffled their feet unsure about going into the Everfree Forest. Scootaloo noticed this, “Don’t worry, we are not asking any of you to come along, however we are asking for your help.”
Sweetie Bell nodded as she placed a large sheet in front of her, “I have the plan already made up on how we are going to do this. Now since queen Celestia has set up guards making it very difficult for anypony to go into the forest anymore, our first step is to make it past them.” Sweetie Bell searched the crowd of ponies before calling out a name,
“Pip?”
A pony sitting towards the front lowered his hood. He was a white colt with a brown patch over his eye. He wore a bandana. Hey raised is hoof, “Here miss.” Sweetie Bell nodded in his direction, “your father works as a guard for Celestia and his main area of protection is the Everfree Forest boundary. I want you to find out where the weakest and easiest access point is or where there is going to be the least amount of guards. Think you can do that?” Pip raised an eye-brow, “Hey if I have to choose a way to stick it to the queen, best way to do it is through my father. Two birds with one stone as they say. No problem.” Sweetie Bell thanked him as she realized there must have been some issues going on at home yet he still remained loyal to the NLR. She then started moving down the list,
“Twist?”
A pony near the middle of the crowd removed her hood. She had a red curly mane and had almost near perfect teeth. She wore round glasses yet still had freckles around her face. She waved her hoof in the air, “Here” she said with clear voice. Sweetie Bell acknowledged her, “I need you to make some cookies laced with sedatives and given to the guards that Pip will deem the easiest targets for our passage into the forest.” Twist grinned and nodded her head several times. Sweetie Bell searched the crowd again before calling out another name,
“Dinky?”
A grey hooded mare raised her hoof before realizing her hood was still up and lowered it. “Yes?” she said as she stood up. Sweetie Bell looked back down at her plans, “We need somepony who can keep track of what goes on in Ponyville while we are gone. Do you still have that two way letter sending spell that Twilight taught you?” Dinky thought for a moment before nodding her head. Sweetie Bell thanked her before moving down to the last most important thing. “That’s it for the plan wise. The rest of you, if you have any supplies you can spare it will be a huge help. If you don’t that is fine, just your support is enough to help keep us going. Now before we end this meeting, does anypony have any questions?”
Dinky raised her hoof again, “um, so it’s just you three going into the Everfree Forest? Are you sure you’re all going to be alright?” Sweetie Bell smiled, “Actually it’s not just us three, there is another who will be joining us as well. I couldn’t imagine not bringing him along nor facing the forest without him.” She gestured her hoof toward the door where right beside it, a reptilian creature was leaning his back against the wall with his arms crossed. As soon as all eyes landed on him, he removed his hood revealing a teenaged dragon with a purple face and green pointed scales. He had a scar across his left eye and both eyes appeared to be glowing in the dim light.
He grinned at her and Sweetie Bell blushed just a bit, “Spike?” she asked, “Are you ready to find Twilight?” Spike closed his eyes as he smiled to himself, “Been ready since the day she disappeared.” Sweetie Bell smiled, turned around, and removed a brown cloth hanging against the wall. As it fell away a flag with the same image as the one on the barn wall appeared. Sweetie Bell and the rest of the ponies in the room raised their hooves as the all chanted, “To the New Lunar Republic. To the NLR!”
Once the chanting ceased Sweetie Bell turned and faced everypony, “Meeting adjourned…”