//------------------------------//
// Mission Accomplished 
// Story: Wings of Friendship 
// by DemonBrightSpirit 
//------------------------------//

"Thank you so much, darling." Rarity politely accepted the four tickets from the pony at the train station.

"Any time, Miss Rarity. Don't forget to be here tomorrow morning!"

After parting from the train station Rarity tucked the tickets away as she readjusted her scarf. Everything was coming along splendidly. Twilight was getting the reverse mold. With that she could make flawless wings. And, thanks to Applejack, she had more than enough gems to go get the crystalline cloth and dozens of other fabrics. Nothing was going to stop them from fixing Rainbow Dash's wing!





"We're doomed!" Fluttershy openly weeped barely visible in the feeble light provided by Twilight's horn. The alicorn had Fluttershy on her right and Pinkie on her left in the darkened, sealed cavern of the mirror pond. They were huddled against one of the cavern walls—the most stable part of the cavern—along with the molds.

"It... I know things look bleak, but I do know a spell that should shield us in case of collapse," Twilight said in little more than a whisper as she ran a hoof through Fluttershy's mane.

"That doesn't help us get out of here!" Pinkie shouted from across the cavern as she uselessly scratched at the collapsed tunnel with a hoof. "We need to start digging!"

"Pinkie! I can't protect you unless you are next to me!" Twilight admonished. "Besides, that tunnel completely collapsed. It would take you just as long to dig out no matter where you decided to start." Twilight sighed as she glanced at the terrified pony in her lap. "Actually, don't dig at all! You might just cause a collapse."

Pinkie slunk back over to Twilight before sitting down and pouting. "Then what are we supposed to do! We have to get out of here! Everypony is waiting for us!"

"That's what I'm counting on," Twilight revealed. "They might come looking for us. I just hope that they realize how dangerous those pyreflies are."

"Tw-Twilight I-I have to tell you s-something. In case...we-I don't get out," Fluttershy said, cringing away from Twilight's comforting hooves.

Twilight looked questioningly to the shaking mare. "Fluttershy...we're getting out of here," she lied. "Everything and everypony is going to be okay."

Fluttershy shook her head a bit. "Rainbow Dash has been lying to us!" she confessed.  She looked up as tears trailed down her cheeks. "M-my friend...my animal friend. He overheard the Wonderbolts talking to-to Rainbow Dash."

Twilight frowned a bit. "F-Fluttershy...you shouldn't..." She had expected better than Fluttershy than to eavesdrop. Still, in spite of herself she couldn't help but to be curious. Rainbow Dash was lying? About what?

"I know! But..." Fluttershy turned her head away. "I want to..." she trailed off as her own words caused her to wonder. She did not like the question her own words spurred. What do I want? To help Rainbow Dash, or just...revenge? Fluttershy hung her head as she clenched her jaw and grimaced. "I-I'm sorry! Never mind!" she choked out as she started bawling.

Twilight scooted over a bit as she gently stroked Fluttershy's mane. "Shhh, it's okay, Fluttershy," she cooed. "It's okay."

"No." Fluttershy shook her head. "It's not."





"Rarity!" Rainbow Dash shouted as Applejack wheeled her over.

"Applejack, Rainbow Dash," Rarity greeted in a dignified manner. "What brings you two here? Does Twilight have my mold ready?"

Rainbow Dash shook her head as Applejack stepped around the wheelchair wearing a worriful expression. "Twilight, Pinkie, and Fluttershy never came back from the Everfree Forest!" Applejack said, emphasizing her words by stomping a hoof. "They left first thing this mornin'! They should've been back hours ago!"

"Oh! Oh dear," Rarity said, raising a hoof to her mouth. "What should we do?"

"We have to go find them, what else?" Rainbow asserted.

Rarity skeptically looked at Rainbow Dash, "Applejack and I—"

"I'm going!" Dash cut Rarity off. "They went to the Everfree Forest for me. I'm going."

Rarity sighed. "All right," she agreed with a curt nod. "They went to the magic mirror pond, correct?"

Applejack nodded before going back to Dash's wheelchair. "Yeah, but everypony that knows where to find it is missing!" she fretted as she started wheeling Rainbow Dash. "I don't know where to start other than the Everfree."

"Wait, what about your brother?" Rarity asked as she followed along.

"Big Mac?" Applejack raised an eyebrow.

Rarity nodded in turn. "Didn't Big Mac help Twilight to seal off the mirror pond to prevent another...incident?"

The wheelchair stopped moving as Applejack took a moment to facehoof. "I'm such a featherbrain! Yeah! Big Mac'll know where to go! Let's get to the farm!"





After recruiting Big Mac for the search and rescue mission, the group headed into the Everfree Forest. At first, everything seemed normal. Then, after only a couple of minutes of hiking, the thick brush opened into a barren plain. The ground beneath their hooves was black and grey. A huge swath dozens of yards wide had been burned to the earth, leaving a winding trail of ashes while leaving the forest itself spared.

"Oh! Look at what all of this soot is doing to my hooves!" Rarity whined as she examined a marred hoof. "And my coat! I just took a bath!"

"Rarity, now ain't the time!" Applejack scolded as she ran out into the middle of the carnage. She looked around frantically. "They were out here, maybe when this fire happened! Big Mac, where's the...the thing!"

The red stallion shook his head as he chewed on the piece of grass in his mouth. "It's all different now."

"You don't know where to go?"

Big Mac shook his head. "Nope."

Rainbow Dash grunted as she let herself out of the wheelchair. "We have to find them!" she asserted as she pushed Rarity into the wheelchair to keep her hooves clear of the staining ashes. "Happy now?"

"Rainbow Dash, I cannot possibly—"

"No time!" Dash denied as she limped out. "We have to find them! Ideas?"

Rarity raised a hoof to her chin a moment before an idea struck her. "Oh! Do you think they wore any gems out here?" She willed her horn to life as she glanced around. "Always accessorize," she asserted as she adjusted her scarf with a hoof, leaving a black mark from the ashes. "There aren't many gems out here in the Everfree Forest. If they did wear any I might be able to find them!"

"Okay, good idea," Applejack announced before running around the wheelchair to push Rarity. Just before she grabbed the handles, the wheelchair began rolling. Rarity's horn seemed to be pulling the unicorn—wheelchair and all—towards some unseen gemstone. "After that pony!" Applejack pointed a hoof.

Applejack and Big Mac started to run after the speeding wheelchair, but Big Mac hesitated as he took note of Rainbow Dash struggling to hobble along. "Got yah!" He grabbed Rainbow Dash and threw the small pegasus over his large back before running after his little sister.

After a short, speedy trip along the charred ground, Rarity came to a stop. The ground beneath her glowed in response to her spell. It was big. It was deep. It...wasn't their friends.

"Rarity!" Applejack finally caught up. "What'd yah find!?"

"It's a huge gemstone!" she pointed to the ground under her. "It can't be the girls, though. Too deep to collect, too." Rarity sighed as she leaned around and looked herself over. The ashes stirred up by the stunt still managed to permeate her pristine coat turning it a light shade of grey. "I'm sorry, I don't think I will be able to find them this way."

"That's all right, sugarcube." Applejack patted Rarity on the shoulder, leaving a jet-black hoofprint there. "It was worth a try."

Of course Rarity grimaced as she tried to wipe it off. Unfortunately her hooves weren't any cleaner and all she did was leave a black streak on her once nice, white coat. She angrily sighed as she made a mental note to not touch anything until after she had another bath.

Finally, Big Mac caught up with Rainbow Dash still strewn across his back. Before either of them had a chance to ask about what was going on, a low rumbling echoed from beneath. The ground began to shake. Then, it cracked right beneath Big Mac's hooves! Reacting quickly, he bucked Rainbow Dash off of himself. The action spared Dash, but his legs came back down with enough force to send his haunches into the sinking rock.

The ground opened up around Big Mac's haunches and he began to slip into the chasm. Rainbow Dash was the first one to reach him. Lying flat on her belly, she extended her good hoof to grab one of Big Mac's. A split second later, Applejack grabbed his other enormous hoof with her two front hooves and pulled with all her might.

"Hold on, Big Mac! I got yah!" Applejack assured even as the bulky stallion started slipping.

Rarity wasn't about to sit by and do nothing. She quickly readjusted her scarf before approaching the dangerous, crumbling ground. "Grab on!" she tossed the end of her scarf near Big Mac's mouth. As he bit down, Rarity turned around and tried her best to pull him out as she struggled to take even a single step.

Little by little, they started to pull Big Mac free. Then, suddenly, a new pressure came from behind, pushing Big Mac up. All at once, they fell over as he burst away from the collapsed ground. As he did, a yellow pegasus tumbled out with him.

"Fluttershy!?" most of the group chimed in unison.

"Girls!" Fluttershy greeted in turn. "I'm soooo glad to see you!"

"Hey! Don't forget about us!" a familiar voice echoed out of the hole Big Mac nearly fell into. "Get us out of here!"

Fluttershy stuck her head down the hole as the rest of the group stayed clear of the perilously unstable hole. After all, they couldn't fly if it collapsed. "I'll come get you." Fluttershy hesitantly floated back into the cavern. She came back out several seconds later with Pinkie Pie in her hooves.

"Hey everypony!" Pinkie smiled and waved, nearly causing Fluttershy to drop her. Clumsily, Fluttershy set her down well clear of the unstable ground. "Thanks for the lift! It's great to be out in the sunshine again! And look! No more pyreflies! It's a happy ending for everypony!"

By the time Pinkie had finished her enthusiastic rant, Fluttershy was setting Twilight onto her hooves. "Thanks Fluttershy." Twilight smiled as she stretched out her wings. "I'm starting to think that maybe it would be a good idea to put a little more effort into learning how to work these."

"Twilight! What the hay happened here?" Applejack asked as Fluttershy went to retrieve the molds.

"It's a long story—"

"No it's not!" Pinkie interrupted Twilight. "We came out to get a...oh wait, you know that part already! Silly me," she giggled before she stuck her tongue out a bit and rapped her head with a hoof. "Anyway, we got here and there were pyreflies! They nearly burned us alive but I spotted the entrance to the mirror pond and Twilight removed the rock—not Rocky—different rock. Then we all jumped in and Twilight put up a barrier to keep the pyreflies out and—"

"Wait, wait." Rarity held up a hoof to silence Pinkie. "What's this 'pyrefly?'"

Pinkie grinned as she began to recite the rhyme,

"Beware of the swarms of winking red,
in the forest the pyreflies bring forth dread!
A single touch brings a fiery pillar
To bring their nest made of glowing cinder."

Twilight sighed as she shook her head. "If you thought parasprites were cute and scary...pyreflies take it to a whole new level," she explained as Fluttershy brought out the saddlebags and molds. "Apparently whatever they touch bursts into flames and is reduced to cinders. I'm glad they're gone."

The group looked around at the destruction. "This was caused by...bugs?" Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow.

"Scary, huh!?" Pinkie excitedly exclaimed. "So after we escaped, the pyreflies got in the tunnel. They started melting the rocks and then the tunnel collapsed and the ceiling and—" Suddenly, another rumbling echoed out as deep cracks extended out from the hole. Then, the earth caved in, belching a plume of dust up as the cavern completely collapsed. "—well, something like that!"

"I suppose that's the last we'll see of the mirror pond," Twilight surmised as everypony backed away from the cratered ground.

"Well, we got the molds, we didn't spontaneously combust, and we didn't die a horrible crushing death!" Pinkie happily bounced around. "Mission accomplished!"