‘Your friend is taking his time,' Sunny Days grumbled, proceeding to take another sip from her cup of tea.
Oracle obliged her, and took a sip of her own. It had a smooth texture, with just a hint of mint. Apparently, Sunny was also a good tea maker, though that might have been obvious considering the cupboards were packed with about twenty different kinds of flavor.
The two sat at a small round table by the corner of the kitchen, where they had done so for the last half an hour. There was a clock on the wall, on the opposite side, but Oracle hadn't payed attention to the time beforehand. Only now had it grabbed her attention with continuous ticking in the midst of silence, reminding her she was supposed to be waiting for a rescue. She had become too interested in divulging every last piece of information from Sunny to even remember that she was supposed to have been kidnapped.
Not that Sunny had really helped reinforce the situation, having become loose with her words about five (yes, five) cups of tea into their conversation. Oracle had seen her mother have perhaps half of that at most, at her worst moments, but Sunny Days was going through the stuff like it was out of fashion. She observed the across the table pegasus carefully, especially as she poured each new cup, noting carefully how each time she reached for a bottle that looked to be filled with caramel or something similar.
Oracle had started carefully at first, gathering little tidbits and trading small talk. Things quickly snowballed until the two ponies were telling each other about their lives.
'I had run that place for nearly a decade,' Sunny had begun a few minutes ago, talking about her bakery. 'My father had run it for half his life, and his father had run it for all of his before that. I was the first Mare to take charge, and I had big boots to fill.'
'So, what happened?'
'Business was good, as it always had been. Long lasting businesses get a reputation that fits them. Heck, you can make a few mistakes here and there, and you'll remain fine.' She took a good long drink from her glass, and continued. 'So with that in mind, I took some risks. New recipes, new ideas, new designs and stuff like that. Some worked, some didn't, but my father was always there to help. He was old by then, but mother had passed many years back, and the only thing he had left was the place he had run for so many years. And so, he lent a hand wherever he could, and through good or bad times I enjoyed every minute of it.'
This kind of story never had a happy ending, Oracle thought. 'But it didn't last, did it?' She asked.
You could almost see Sunny go cold at this point. 'No, no it didn't. A few years pass, and this new business opens up next door. Big bakery, three times our size. They use machines rather than hand making, and sell stuff for cheaper too because of it. We couldn't compete with that, but I had faith ponies would choose the more natural choice.'
Canterlot ponies were notorious for adopting the newest trends, even Oracle knew this. 'They didn't, did they?'
'For a time, they did. But slowly ponies were moving over to the new business, and as they got more money they only grew while we shrunk. I could see it coming, but my father saw it earlier, and... it broke his heart.'
'Wasn't there something else you could do? Sell something else?'
'That place was founded on love, not bits. My family lived a modest life, and the bakery was all we had. The only viable option was to sell the place, and at the same time get rid of all the expenses. That's the route I chose, but father disagreed. We argued for nights, until one night I got the letter.'
'Letter?'
'My father was hospitalized, and very sick. The whole ordeal had taken its toll on him, and he paid the price.' Sunny took another stiff drink, finishing the cup off.
'I'm sorry to hear that, truly I am.'
'Of course you are,' she said bitterly, slamming the cup down on the counter. 'Everypony was sorry, but being sorry doesn’t pay the bills. Still lost the business, in the end. Most of the money went to keeping my father well.'
She spoke darkly. 'That's all in the past now, because I have been given a second chance.'
Oracle raised a brow. 'Second chance? By who?'
'Someone who was willing to give me his time, to listen to my plight. More than any other pony was willing, that is for sure.'
‘And I suppose I’m not allowed his name?’
Sunny shook her head. ‘Of course not, because even I don’t know it.’ She seemed a little uneasy at the mention of this, her voice cracking just a little. ‘All I know is that he wanted me to help make some dragons, and in return I would receive enough bits to buy back my business, and then some.’ She sighed, though there was a hint of a chuckle. ‘There’s no point in hiding that fact, anymore, since you’ve already seen them.’
Oracle’s warm demeanor was fading, and she started to feel uneasy. The fact some mysterious figure was asking for a small army of dragons, doing so in private, didn’t bode well for anypony, at all. Especially her, considering she was caught in the middle of it.
She had to admit, though, being in the center of all this was her fault. She was the one that wanted the questions answered. Now that she had those answers, Oracle wished she had stayed home.
Too late for that, far too late. She wished, deep inside, the other two would arrive soon, and safely.
Sunny raised her head. ‘Your friend is taking his time.'
And thus here they were now, in the present.
'You'll have to excuse me for a moment,' Sunny said whilst biting her lip, 'I have to use the bathroom, go figure.'
Sliding out of her chair, she gave a wink to Oracle. 'Now don't you go anywhere, dear. Wouldn't want the dragons to eat you or anything.' Then, she wandered across the room and down a hallway, not in a straight line.
Oracle leapt out of her own chair, and climbed up to Sunnys. Front hooves on the table, she leaned in to what remained of her captors tea and sniffed. Her nose was met with a sharp unpleasant smell that stood out from all the other aromas. She knew enough about adult ponies and their odd habits to figure what she was smelling was likely alcoholic.
That answered more questions than she had hoped for, and it made her grin from one ear to the other. She immediately knew why the pony had been so talkative, but it was more than that. She knew Sunny was stressed, this whole ordeal was bothering the pegasus, and had only been getting worse as time had passed.
The window near the kitchen beckoned her. Outside, she could see the large gingerbread dragon that had brought her here in the first place, nicely curled up under a makeshift tin roof. A length of rope tied around a nearby tree helped to hold the metal upright, and the occasional drop of light rain struck loudly. She tried to peer closer, nose pressed right up to the glass.
Eyes widening, she noticed that the dragons... the damage…
No way! It was nearly all gone! Oracle looked away, back inside the room. How was that even possible? Sunny had remained indoors the entire time, so she had nothing to do with it. Could it be possible, that it had merely repaired its own damage?
Shocking, yes, but given the fact that it was a giant gingerbread dragon. Sensibility had gone right out the window, so there really wasn’t much point tried to justify a reason when the answer was probably magic.
She worried though, and quite rightly so, that the other two probably had no idea this was even possible.
- - -
‘Cold, hungry and tired,’ Sparky muttered dryly to herself. ‘Yep, this exactly what I wanted in an adventure.’
‘Here it is!’ Shouted Cookie from over a small hill. Sure enough, when Sparky finally managed to push herself up said hill, she could see the cabin over in the distance. From this viewpoint, it was a little difficult to spot directly, with several pine trees sprouted around it and winding their way up the side of a small cliff, with exposed roots reaching out the side like angry claws. A pillar of smoke rose from a small chimney, which was the best giveaway that the cabin was even there. There was no clean trail leading to it, worse for sparky was that the way down was rugged and quite steep.
She turned in her seat to Cookie. ‘So, we have a plan?’ Silly question, she thought a little too late, given how sharp in the brainpan Cookie seemed.
‘Um, sure,’ he replied, which did surprise Sparky just a little, but she waited for the answer, which she dreaded. Cookie continued, ‘I should go scout around for those dragons, we can try and find a way in without drawing their att... atten...’
‘Attention?’
‘That’s the word! Thanks. Anywho, we get inside and we can rescue miss Oracle and those dragons won't be able to get us, because the cabin’s too small for them.’
‘That... that is actually a decent plan. Problem though, how do we both get in?’ She scratched her chin with a forehoof. ‘I mean, sure, you can fly and from what I’ve seen are pretty stealthy, I’m not.’
‘But you can teleport, right?’
Sparky nodded. ‘Well, duh. Only short distances, though, plus I need a pretty good idea of where I’m actually porting into. If I don’t know what the inside of the cabin looks like, I could end up inside the wall or something.’
Cookie responded with widened eyes. ‘Really?’
Sparky waved a foreleg in reply and chuckled. ‘Hasn’t happened yet, but my teacher always told me to use caution, and so far so good.’
‘Okay, okay... then I’ll help you get you close enough. We’ll be super dooper quiet so they don’t see us with their ears.’
‘Right, it’s the best we got, and saving Oracle is all that counts, so it will do.’ She paused, bit her lip, and faced Cookie again. ‘I hate to admit it, but I’m nervous as all heck. This is way out of my comfort zone.’
‘I know, but you’ll do fine.’
‘Thanks. That’s very reassuring and all that, but... well, aren’t you even a little bit worried?’
‘Oh, I’m close to fainting in fear,’ Cookie replied a little too cheerfully.
‘That’s not reassuring.’
Cookie placed a hoof on Sparkys chair. ‘We’ll be fine, miss Sparkster. I’ve done this sort of thing before.’
‘What, rescue ponies from an angry baker armed with a small army of dragons?’
‘Well, not that exactly, but-’
A shriek echoed from behind, pulling both ponies ears up. It sounded a little too familiar to the both of them.
They exchanged worried glances. 'Was that?' Sparky asked.
Cookie didn't even need to answer, for the gingerbread dragon the two had fought only an hour ago appeared in the sky, flying towards them. This immediately prompted Cookie to leap a few feet into the air and right into the waiting arms of Sparky. Well, that's what should have happened, but Sparky was facing the other way, and thus Cookie landed flat on the ground.
'Quiet, Cookie!' Sparky said from the side of her mouth, with her wide eyes staring on the creature. She tried focusing on its head, looking for the damage she had done to it. As difficult as this was, she managed just enough of a glance at the creatures head to see it was still partially missing half of it.
'That's also not reassuring.'
However, to her relief, it didn't notice the two of them, as they stared in silence (the most quiet Cookie had been for quite some time). Flying overhead, a rush of wind waved over the ponies as the creature passed surprisingly close to them, messing up Sparkys hair.
Letting out a final roar, the dragon disappeared behind the trees, to where the cabin lay.
Cookies head raised beside Sparky. 'Is it gone yet?'
Sparky had turned slightly lighter in shade. 'I... we... how did it even-'
Cookie stuck a hoof halfway into his mouth. 'That was pretty scary.'
'We have to get moving Cookie.'
He took the hoof out. 'Huh?'
'That dragon didn't look very happy. I can only begin to imagine what's going to happen next, especially when Sunny sees what we did to said dragon.'
'What did we do?'
Spark sighed heavily. 'L... let's just go.'
Cookie gave a salute. 'Aye aye captain!' Then, he shot into the air like an arrow launched out of a bow.
Sparky reached out at nothing. 'Hey, hey wait!' She tried to shout, before biting her tongue, trying not to be too loud. 'You were supposed to help me get there quietly, you silly pegasus.' She then looked down at the precarious path before her, and grumbled. 'Aw, shoot.'
The grey unicorn could have just taken the easy route of teleporting down, except for the fact that it was incredibly noisy and she preferred to have a clear head for what lay ahead (and in her mind, it wasn't pleasant). Naturally, she found herself about halfway down already as she thought, leaning backwards to let the large back wheels of her chair do all the work.
'That filly so owes me.'
The trees passed slowly, her arms were growing weak with exhaustion, but she pressed on. There was a small ragged pathway, with overgrown roots jutting past and rocks gathered in clumps where rain had washed away the dirt. It could barely be called a path, but it was better than either side of her, where the trees were thick.
Though, it really wasn't much of a big deal. In fact it made her remember an old route back in her hometown, a shortcut between her house and the local candy shop that had become overgrown with weeds after years of disuse, and bad weather had roughened up the surface. Such good times she had racing as a filly though that place, gaining small amounts of air in her tiny wheelchair as she shot over hills and roots at just the right angle. It may have cost her several tires in the process, but those times where she forgot every little silly worry she had, and found herself in the moment... the moment of pure adrenaline rushing joy.
And she remembered the day when they paved over the old path with a new fresh cement, and the thrill was all gone. Back to the same old boring life once again.
She smiled to herself in sync with the thoughts in her head. For a moment Sparky forgot why she was even here, how nervous she had felt. Afraid, even. Now all she could think of was why she had finally decided to come along on this little trip.
To feel alive.
There was a desire to ride this pathway like the old days. Oracle mattered more, though. She threw her arms forward with renewed vigor. With that crazy pegasus Cookie Crumble by her side, they'd get the filly detective back safely and deal with this mad baker and her little army of dragons.
Then she'd go home, sleep, and then go down the hill from the observatory to her home at unsafe speeds, several times, giggling like a filly over and over again.
'Hey Sparkster,' emerged a voice suddenly from slightly above and behind.
Sparky jumped out of her seat slightly, and turned to face the hovering Cookie with a glare.
Cookie looked nervous. 'Oh, um... sorry?'
'Did you ever have a career in scaring mares half to death, or something?'
'Um...'
'I'm just messing with you, ya weirdo. I'm fine, what's up?'
'Oh, I scouted ahead, and we have a problem.'
'Surprised, I am not, but go ahead and explain anyway.'
'Wellll...' Cookie began as he turned this way and that, giving an unnecessary pantomime as he explained, 'lot's of little scary dragons just gathered together with a bigger one, and I think I say Sunny Nights there too.'
'Sunny Days, I think you mean.'
'Yeah, that pony. She didn't look very happykins.'
'Figures. She knows we're coming, and that we can put up a fight, too. Not too good for us, since one dragon is annoying enough. Now the question remains. How do we get inside?'
'I'll distract them, and you get close enough to tele... te... teleport inside.'
Sparky went back to feeling nervous, and worried. 'You thought that up awfully quick, you sure that will work?'
Cookie grinned confidently. 'Nope!'
In response, Sparky closed her eyes. 'We're going to die horribly.'
'Don't worry, I've done this before, too!'
'Sure... sure you have.'
'Really, I have! It was a long time ago, Butterscotch and me were-'
A branch fell beside them, and Sparky jumped a few seconds afterwards. Cookie screamed like a mare, again. Both ponies looked up, and saw the dragon perched in the tree. The corners of their eyes caught other shapes moving. There was more than one, all on different branches in different trees, but all focusing on one object.
Them.
The two ponies looked at one another.
'Plan B?' Sparky asked.
'Plan... B?' Cookie replied with head tilted.
Sparky glanced up for a split second, her horn began glowing. 'Plan B.'
Cookie nodded. 'Plan B.'
The dragons dived. The ponies dived. A ray of green flew out, struck a dragon in its wing, and it banked sideways into a pine tree. Splinters and leaves exploded into the air as the very ground shook. Roots carved through the ground as the tree gave way.
Another dragon rushed past its fallen comrade with claws reaching out towards Sparky. Driving herself as fast as she could towards a stump, the dragon was forced to change course to avoid a collision. With barely a moment to breathe, the next dragon landed in front of her, agitated and ready for a brawl. Her eyes fell beside it, seeing Cookie striking another with extended hind leg, spinning about as it recovered to grab it by its own leg.
Her attention was refocused as the dragon before her charged. 'Not this time!' She shouted and threw up a force field. As the gingerbread monstrosity collided, she pushed the field forward and down, crushing the dragon into the ground as hard as her magic could muster. For a moment, her vision seem to tunnel as she pushed harder and harder, waiting for something... anything, to give way.
A sudden and painful sensation ran through her body as a tail struck her from the side. The face of the attacker came into view for just a moment as she backed into the side of a stump, somehow still in her chair. She had no idea how... no time to even think, more dragons landed.
'Little help, Cookie!' She yelled.
Cookie dropped what he was doing (tying the legs of his victim in a knot), and sprung into action. A wing clipped a dragon from the side, and he barely recovered in time to crash sideways into his new target, bowling the both of them over into a small damp ditch.
The dragon he struck thrashed about, trying to stand up. Sparky aimed her horn and fired, the beam passing by the deadly baked good just a few inches to the left.
'Shoot,' Sparky muttered. She aimed again, but the sound of crunching to her right turned her attention, and the glowing horn pointed at two dragons.
She let out a groan, letting her horn dim as she looked all around her. The dragons surrounded them from but a horses length.
Cookie coughed, speaking from underneath the talons of the dragon he had taken with, who in turn had the pegasus pinned to the ground. 'Plan B kinda didn't work.'
'Plan B sucked,' Sparky replied.