It had been a few days since Discord had been defeated and Equestria was still recovering from the reign of terror. Everyone was still rather unaware of their surroundings, allowing two grounded fillies to run around town unnoticed or missed.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle could see the toll the chaos had on everyone and worried for their pegasus friend; while they got a little relief by telling their sisters had seen Scootaloo had disappeared again after they had been found. Since school had been cancelled the girls didn't have to worry as they started to search the town. The town was quiet, quieter than usual since most were indoors doing a lot of self-reflection, leaving the girls to not have to worry about sneaking.
There were a few ponies going around, though typically they were heading for friends and family. The duo came across a familiar pink earth pony on her way to the library in a rather subdued manner; Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shared a worried look at how the usually peppy mare was acting and hurried to catch her.
“Pinkie Pie!” As the two fillies drew up to the baker, Pinkie gave a weak smile in return.
“Hey girls, are you guys ok? No frowny faces?” At the two no's, Pinkie smiled a little stronger.
“That's great, it's not very fun to be sad all the time. What great awesome amazing adventures are you gonnah do now? Where's Scootaloo?” The pink mare asked as she noticed the trio was a filly short; upon seeing the worried frowns Pinkie started to frown as well.
“We were hopin' ya seen her...” Pinkie frowned a little deeper at Apple Bloom’s hopeful inquiry before closing her eyes and sticking her nose in the air.
The older mare took a large breath of the soon-to-be fall air and stood on her hindlegs and spun in a circle. After making three spins, Pinkie licked her hoof and stuck it into the air with her tongue sticking out in concentration.
“Uhmmmhh....” The two girls watched in fascination as the older earth pony stuck her ear against the ground and listened; after giving a few experimental taps on the earth, Pinkie Pie stood rapidly while pointing with a hoof to the east.
“There! Two point three clicks, not clops, east; on a lovely little hill surrounded by trees except on one side where you can see all of Ponyville.” The two fillies blinked in shock at the answer and the method to reach it; instead of worrying about it, the two friends merely shook off into their surprise and smiled at the mare.
“Thanks Pinkie Pie!” Pinkie smiled back in almost her usual manner, glad to see others happy after such a tough time.
“You're welcome! I'll see you guys and the other filly later!” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle blinked at the sentence but shrugged as they continued on their way.
The two girls ran due east, desperate to find their friend. Once again they came across no one and soon found themselves at the foot of the hill with the only way up through the forests on either side.
The girls didn't pause for a moment and rushed up the slope and burst through the foliage to find their quarry sitting in the center of the clearing, facing the town below.
The three friends sat side by side, looking down from the hill to the town that was clearly visible from their vantage point, with Scootaloo in the center.
“Hey guys.... What's up?” The young pegasus asked her friends in an almost monotone manner.
“We were worried about you and if you were doing ok after we tried to fight Discord...” Sweetie Belle stated while Apple Bloom nodded on the other side.
“Yeah, we hadn't seen ya much since then and whenever yer at school, ya seem so, so...” Apple Bloom fumbled for wording, trying to explain why they became concerned enough to sneak away from their punishment.
“Withdrawn.” Sweetie Belle finished for the young earth pony who smiled briefly in thanks before looking to their friend in the middle.
Scootaloo merely shrugged as she remained silent; she wasn't used to having others care for how she felt and she certainly wasn't used to talking about emotions. It was almost a foreign concept to her, the orphanage that she grew up in wasn't the best place to talk about feelings.
“You know we're here for you...” The young unicorn nudged their silent friend who didn't resist nor show any sign of receiving the nudge.
“Ya don't have tah talk about it, but it helps.” Apple Bloom stated firmly as she tried to catch her friend's eye.
“Nothing to talk about...” The two others shared eye rolls; they recalled all too easily what the nightmares were like and knew the statement to be untrue.
“It helps tah talk about it...”
“Please, don't run away from this too...” Sweetie Belle leaned forward as she also tried to catch Scootaloo's eye; something she succeeded as the pegasus raised a questioning brow to the unicorn.
“Who said I was running away? I don't want to leave Ponyville, it's nice here; even if there are nosey fillies running around.” Scootaloo smirked while her friends looked on in annoyance.
“Stop tryin' tah change the subject Scootaloo; ya know what we mean, yer running from talking about yer feelings.” Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement at Apple Bloom's statement while Scootaloo just frowned at having been caught in her attempt.
“So you want me to just be all emotional and sappy...? It won't help and it won't change anything.”
“Yes it will! We had our own nightmares just like you, we know what we're talking about when we say that it helps to talk about it.” Sweetie Belle stomped a hoof lightly as she tried to convince her friend to talk with them about what she saw.
The trio fell silent as they thought about that day that nopony would be able to forget; Scootaloo sighed and shook her head, at least she had friends that were there for her.
“What were your nightmares like then?” The young pegasus tried a different tactic to make her friends stop pestering her about it, which failed utterly with their next words.
“Alright, we'll tell ya about ours an' then you tell us about yers.” Apple Bloom firmly stated to which Scootaloo sighed in aggravation before nodding.
“.... Ah... Ah dreamt that because of hangin' out with y'all an' learnin' so much new stuff, mah family kicked me off the farm.... They, they said Ah wasn't ah part of the family anymore.” Apple Bloom stared forward into nothing as the not-real memories came back, feeling the hopelessness of not having such a large family anymore to lay claim to.
The other two fillies gave the green-yellow earth pony a reassuring hug as they now sat in a circle in order to reach one another. Scootaloo was starting to realize that they were hurting just as much as she was and wanted to help them just as much as they wanted to help her.
“You know that's not true Apple Bloom...” Scootaloo whispered to her friend who returned the hugs gratefully.
“Ah know that now and Ah know that it won't ever happen... It doesn't mean it don't hurt though.” Scootaloo tilted her head as she thought about the last part before focusing on Sweetie Belle who was having trouble speaking; she was already crying and now clung to her friends for support as she thought about her own nightmare.
“You, you don't have to tell us Sweetie Belle...” Sweetie Belle shook her head and gave a watery smile to her friends even as they looked at her in concern.
“If it helps you with your nightmare, then I'll talk about it... Besides, it does help to talk about it and realize that it's not true.... My whole family was trapped under a pillar and I couldn't get them free. I tried to use magic, but it was no use and soon they weren't responding....” The two others flinched at the brief description and redoubled their hug on the unicorn this time.
“Sweetie Belle, that's awful... Ya know we're here tah help, especially if something like that happened right?” Apple Bloom nuzzled the unicorn who smiled gratefully back as she sniffed back her tears.
“Apple Bloom's right, we'll always be here to help if you need it. Besides, I'm sure you'll learn and be a great magic user; you just need to practice.” Scootaloo tried to cheer up the unicorn and was pleased to see a watery smile in return.
Suddenly the young pegasus didn't feel so alone in her fears or pain, and realized that her friends would be there for her just as she would be for them. The orange filly sighed and steeled herself to finally admit aloud what she had seen, now realizing that it would be helpful in the long run.
“... I dreamt about the night my parents died.... I was in the moving cart my parents were flying with, in a storm; I watched as they were struck by lightning. I tried to save them but I couldn't fly; instead I just started to fall and knew that I wasn't going to make it this time....” The two other Crusaders gasped at the description of both the nightmare and what had most likely actually happened to Scootaloo's family; something she herself wasn't too sure about but the nightmare gave the memory substance and made it feel more real.
As the two friends wrapped their hooves around their friend, Scootaloo flinched at first as they moved towards her; after seeing what they were trying to do, the pegasus allowed them to hug her and even returned the sentiment.
“I'm sure you'll be able to fly one day too Scootaloo...” Sweetie Belle gave her slightly shaking friend a nuzzle while Apple Bloom did the same.
“Yeah, an' we'll always be here tah hold ya up and keep ya from fallin'.” Scootaloo allowed herself to shed a few tears at the promise of always having her friends there to help and gave them a squeeze in thanks.
“... Thanks you guys... I do feel better after telling you, and I'll be there for you guys as well.” The three Crusaders stayed in that position for a moment longer before breaking apart and smiling at one another.
The trio had never felt closer as they went back into town; they had a whole day before ponies came out of their shock fully and resume their normal days and the trio weren't going to waste it.
Unfortunately, by the time they got back more ponies were breaking free of their stupor so the girls had to be on the look out for anypony who'd question them.
As they stayed to the back alleys, they found a green unicorn with brown saddlebags enter from the main road a block ahead of them; the filly was looking around the alley when she spot the blurs of movement as she was tackle-hugged by the Crusaders.
“Eripio!”
“Hey guys, I was just looking for you.” The four friends kept their voices low, previous experiences teaching them to be cautious of who might be listening.
“Eripio, what are ya doin' here?”
“I found out more about the Red Dragons.” Three pairs of brows raised the four girls checked their surroundings once again.
“Is there a safe place to talk about this?” Eripio asked which earned two slow no's from the earth pony and unicorn.
“Our sisters grounded us and if we went back home we'd be in even more trouble...”
“Yeah an' our Clubhouse is in the orchard, Ah'd have tah pass through where mah family would be.” They looked to the third Crusader who nodded slowly.
“One of my new hideouts is by a bridge; ponies don't check under them all that much, we may be able to talk among ourselves there.” Scootaloo led the way to the nearest bridge, which led eastward towards the Everfree Forest, guarantying that they would be left alone.
The four girls huddled just inside a water drain pipe that was hidden underneath.
“So what did ya find Eripio?” The Crusaders leaned forward eagerly which drew a weary smile from the purple maned filly.
“You remember that book I was telling you about? The one with the same mark as your capes? I brought it to show you guys.” The green unicorn reached into her saddlebags and drew out the reddish-brown book with golden image of a rearing filly; the Crusaders shared blank looks before giving a shrug to which earned an eye roll from Eripio.
“There's a prophecy in here about a trio of fillies who stop the rising ‘red beast'. I believe that this is referring to you and the Red Dragons.” Eripio set the book onto a dry portion of the pipe as the Crusaders watched.
“So? You said this before; we'd still stop them even without some prophecy.” Scootaloo stated decisively while the others nodded.
“Yes, but I want you to keep it in mind when... I... tell...” The four girls slowly tensed as they realized they were no longer alone; without any signal or verbal command the four leapt at the new presence which fought back with advanced martial arts.
As the dark figure retreated out of the pipe, they saw that they were fighting a pony dressed in all black with a mask covering his face, allowing only his eyes to be seen. Eripio's eyes widened in surprise as she realized a few facts about their opponent.
“Guys! It's a ninja from the Red Dragons! And he's got my book!” While the Crusaders had slowed slightly at the new term, they redoubled their efforts in order to recover the book.
“What are ninjas?!?”
“Who are the Red Dragons anyways!?”
“Where is he goin'?!” Eripio couldn't help but grin at the questions while they chased after the fleeing ninja.
“Not now! We have to catch him before-” Just as the girls were finally gaining on the black clothed figure he drew out a little ball from a hidden compartment and threw it onto the ground where it exploded, releasing a swath of smoke.
The fillies drew to a halt as they coughed and waved a hoof to clear the smoke screen, only to find Eripio curled up in a ball staring into nothing and shivering in fright.
“Eripio?” The green filly twitched as the trio put a hoof each onto her.
“Huh? Oh, ah, sorry, sorry.”
“Eripio, are you ok?”
“Is it what ya saw when we fought Discord?”
“Talking about it helps you know.” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shared rueful smiles at the pegasus' sentence; not even a few hours ago they were telling that to her.
Eripio took a few calming breaths and shook her head.
“Yes, it's what Discord did, but we should try and get that book back first!”
“Oh, I don't think you'll make it; he's already used his Ninjistu to run among the leaves... Oh! Hello, I'm Pinkie Pie, what's your name?” As the pink mare leaned towards Eripio, the Crusaders stared in shock.
“Pinkie Pie!”
“Silly, that's my name! Unless...” Blue eyes shifted back and forth as the older mare leaned forward towards Eripio even more.
“Unless that's your name too! Oooh! That'd be so neat, I've never met another Pinkie Pie, though you don't look like me at all and -”
“Pinkie Pie!” The older earth pony paused in her rambling and opened and closed her mouth while blinking before suddenly smiling again.
Eripio had a sudden hunch that the Crusaders were rather normal considering their town and tried to smile back as she realized the pink mare was waiting for an answer.
“Hi, I'm Eripio and you said we wouldn't be able to catch the ninja?” Pinkie smiled a little wider and nodded.
“Yep, I did say that! He's too far now and you don't have super secret ninja training to fight him, not yet at least.” The four fillies looked at the pink mare blankly for a while before coming back to their senses as more ponies started to become active.
“Okay... So, um, it was nice meeting you but we must be going...” The green filly started to edge away and checked her surroundings.
“Yeah, thanks Pinkie Pie.”
“Thanks...”
“Thanks fer yer, ah, help.” The green unicorn nudged the others and nodded towards a pony who looked rather menacing while heading towards the fillies.
As the four girls took off in the opposite direction, Pinkie hopped forward to stand in the stallion's way.
“Hi! You must be new here because I know everypony and I've never met you before!” The girls spared a glance behind them and saw the frustrated stallion being delayed by the hyperactive mare.
They shared a triumphant look that turned to ones of shock as they ran into a gray coated with dark-blue mane earth pony who growled in annoyance.
“Hey, watch where you’re going twerps... Scootaloo?! Gotcha!” Scootaloo had looked up sharply at the familiar voice and yelped when the older mare lunged forward.
“Pepper!” The other Crusaders wasted no time in dragging the pegasus away from the older orphan; Eripio followed closely behind them, wanting to get away before asking questions about what was going on.
Something that wasn't needed as the Crusaders began to explain as they ran; Scootaloo leading for where she stashed her scooter to help them get away.
“That's ah pony who's tryin' tah catch Scootaloo an' take her back tah the orphanage.”
“So we're being followed by two different ponies?!” Eipio nodded slightly at Sweetie Belle's question.
“I think the other one is from the Red Dragons. Where are we going and is there is any place that's secure?” After coming to a silent agreement, Scootaloo answered the bespectacled filly's question.
“I'm trying to find my scooter and cart to get us away faster. There is a place we can go to but we may end up being questioned by Apple Bloom's family instead.” The trio waited for the response; it wasn't just the three friends who were avoiding grown ups and their question.
“It will be better than caught by either of the others, let's go!” The Crusaders smiled and Scootaloo led the way to some crates with the others following close behind her; with a sudden loud buzzing, they burst out and sped along the road, passing both of the trackers who were soon left in the dust as the orange pegasus drove with desperation.
Within moments they left the town behind and were heading up the trail to Sweet Apple Acres; they were going to go under a fenced part to try and avoid the Apple Family. As the four fillies quietly trotted through the orchard they listened for anypony apple bucking; while they heard nothing, this didn't relieve them since they could be either searching for the fillies or in deep contemplation of what happened with Discord.
This reminded the girls that they hadn't heard from their friend about what she had seen when they fought Discord.
“What happened with Discord? What did you see?” As the four friends entered the Clubhouse, they turned one by one to the purple maned filly with a question.
“How'd ya find out about them Dragons ponies?”
“What do you find about them?” Eripio was gazing at the Clubhouse as they shut all the windows and door though she kept track of what they asked as was evident by how she answered.
“I saw a nightmare, same as you guys. I went to different towns and read through guard reports to find out about the Red Dragons and I'd be more than willing to tell you what I found out but I have a few question of my own.” The Crusaders nodded to one another and proceeded to set out cushions so that they were next to one another and still be able to keep an eye out for intruders. Apple Bloom knocked the board down on their ramp to make it into a drawbridge once more and fastened it up, preventing easy access to the tree house.
Eripio smirked at the surprises the girls still had left and settled on one of the cushions to start her tale.
“So, the Red Dragon; you already know that they have been popping up in various places. What you may not know is that it is all over Equestria, literally. There are reports of ponies causing trouble all wearing a red bandana with the same symbol and claiming to be a part of the Red Dragon.”
At this news, the Crusaders frowned; they were grounded and couldn't go out to fight them, something that seemed more important as the green filly spoke.
“They're working around the world to gather importance; whether from wealth through objects and businesses or favors by helping the corrupt get or stay in power.”
“What do you mean? The Princesses rule Equestria, they wouldn't let the bad guys be in charge.”
“Normally yes, but the Princesses have to worry about all of the Equestria; they can't always stop the bad guys.” The Crusaders frowned at the almost casual dismissal of the two powerful rulers.
“The Princesses can too stop the bad guys! They're really strong and kind and caring!” The two friends nodded to Sweetie Belle's statement while Eripio rubbed a temple; this was a common reaction but she now had the facts to prove her point.
“The Elements of Harmony, you said you know the current ones?” The trio nodded while Apple Bloom clarified how they knew the bearers.
“Yep! Two of them are our sisters an' they're all best friends so we know the others!” Scootaloo felt the need to point out how the other filly technically met them already.
“You've seen them back at Apploosa! They all came to find us.” Eripio's eyes widened in recognition and filed the information away for later.
“I guess I have and hadn’t noticed. But it use to be that the Princesses were the ones using them and saving the world from trouble; now the new Bearers are called to help instead.” The Crusaders opened their mouths to retort but slowly realized that their sisters and their friends were called on to save the world instead of the Princesses; Eripio nodded slowly as she watched her friends realize she was right.
“I don't know this for sure but I think the Princesses are getting older and tired making them not able to help as much; this means that others have to step forward and help... Like us.” The trio were frowning in thought once more and Eripio realized she should let them think about it more before pressing for more action on their parts.
“Anyways, so that one pony was trying to catch you Scootaloo?” The three Crusaders snapped awake once more and nodded.
“Yeah, the orphanage I ran away from is now being investigated so they are trying to round up all the runaways to prove that everything is fine. So I have to be especially careful now that Pepper is back.” Eripio tilted her head in curiosity at the name.
“Pepper? That's the one pony right? Who's she and how does she know you?”
“She's an older orphan who works for Hannigan, the pony who runs the place. She uses the older ones to keep the younger ones under control.”
“Ah, I see...” The green unicorn trailed off, unsure of what else to be said; she recalled the rest of the information and the other reason for the visit.
“Ah yes, I have more information on the Dragons to share before I forget again.” the others perked up and listened closely; even if they couldn't do anything right now about it didn't mean they shouldn't pay attention.
“You remember that one stallion Kobun? I tried to find out about him and his boss and came across some interesting facts and rumors. Kobun is probably the second in command; he shows up everywhere, setting up the different branches of the Dragons. He works for 'Tono' which is Neighponese for 'Lord', who is usually called Tono or Boss making it nearly impossible to know who he is exactly. Rumors, however, say that he may not be all pony anymore; due to some kind of accident, he now has robotic parts as well.” Eripio couldn't help but lean forward as she waved fore-hooves in a spooky manner to the three others who stared back slack jawed at what that could possibly look like.
“Wow!” Scootaloo breathed the word as they stared at the smirking filly before them.
“Oh and one more thing.” The Crusaders leaned in excitedly, wondering what could possibly top a cyborg-pony.
“The Red Dragons are on the search for you by wanted posters focusing mostly on your capes.” The girls' faces fell rapidly and the checked that the area was still clear before turning back to the glasses wearing filly in concern; Eripio had removed a poster from her saddlebags and laid it in front of them.
On the poster was three rough sketches of them prominently displaying their capes though it didn't have their faces or names.
“They don't know who you are or where you live but they know you wear the capes and your basic features. You may want to only wear the capes when you fight them.”
“But, they saw us in town!” Sweetie Belle sat up in alarm as she realized they may be on their way to catch the fillies.
“I think it's just a scout and they have ponies searching all over the place for you. If you be careful and keep traveling, you maybe able to throw them off the trail. Besides, you personally know the ones who use the Elements of Harmony, they should be safe.” Eripio watched in curiosity as Sweetie Belle grew slightly downtrodden with her friends glancing at her than away again.
“What is it?”
“Well... My sister Rarity... Isn't all that tough of a pony. “
“So? She has to be able to take care of her own stuff right?” Sweetie Belle scuffed a hoof along the ground and sighed.
“No, she's a really 'proper' mare... Apple Bloom's sister has to come over all the time to help out.” Eripio blinked but shrugged it off.
“Then Apple Bloom's sister can help keep her safe.” This time it was Apple Bloom who seemed ashamed.
“But they're fightin' because of us travelin'.” Eripio barely staved off the need to face-hoof and settling for deep breaths instead.
“Then we can protect our families by keeping it a secret and fighting the bad guys.” The others nodded with relieved smiles before realizing they still know very little about their friend.
“Eripio, what about your family...? What did you have a nightmare of?” The green unicorn flinched at the gray-white unicorn's questions and glanced away; the trio realized something was wrong and focused on their friend, not allowing the topic to be changed.
“... You won't let this go huh...? Alrighty, I'll tell you... My family doesn't really care what I do any more and have only recently started to take an interest again since I got a 'rescue' kind of Cutie Mark.” The girls frowned and tilted their heads in unison.
“Now why'd they go an' do that? Yer a good pony.” Eripio smiled sadly to Apple Bloom before looking at the ground.
“My family thought I wasn't a rescue pony... My nightmare was about something that happened a long time ago... There was a robbery in a friend of mine's house; I tried to stop them and we ended up starting a fire... I made it out, but my friend didn't … I never found out who was the robber and have been trying to find him and my purpose in life ever since... Until I met you guys.” Eripio gave a small smile before three pairs of hooves wrapped her into a hug.
“Yer ah really good rescue pony tah us Eripio.”
“Yeah, the best.”
“Yeah, and we'll keep helping others and maybe we can find the one who caused you all the trouble.” Scootaloo promised for the group which left Eripio fogging up her glasses as she held back tears.
After another moment, Eripio and Scootaloo decided it was enough sappy and backed away from the hug.
“So, what now?”Sweetie Belle asked in general, as all four girls gave the Clubhouse another check.
“I'll head back to continue my search on the Red Dragons, see if I can either predict where they'll strike next or at least figure where their command center is... I'll keep in touch with letters, I've learned a new spell and I'll teleport the letters to you guys... Hopefully...”
“What do you mean ‘hopefully’?”
“What spell?”
“Can ya really teleport stuff? Can ya teleport yerself?” Eripio smiled at how excited they were again and waved a calming hoof.
“I learned about it but hadn't practiced yet. I can't manage anything very big since my magic is for smaller things and divination. Wanna try?” The challenging smirk was met with three eager ones that encouraged the green unicorn to focus on the new spell; she closed her eyes and spoke out loud so that the other unicorn could try and learn to do it herself later.
“You picture the object clearly in your mind then the place you want it to go. Feel your horn fill with magic and will it to appear to the location... Just focus and will... Will... Will it!” With a shout and blaze of light a scroll appeared overhead before dropping down with a gentle thud.
Eripio collapsed exhausted but pleased all the same; with a little practice, she would be able to get information to the Crusaders quickly.
“Are you to going to be alright?” Sweetie Belle leaned towards the other unicorn who nodded wearily.
“Ain't there another way tah send us letters? Yer really tired and you've only sent one.” Eripio chuckled as she sat up.
“Yes, but it won't help.” Scootaloo frowned at the tone and sat up straighter.
“Oh yeah? Go ahead and tell us and we'll decided if it's no good.” The other filly shrugged as she flatly stated the other option.
“You would need a laptop or computer with internet access; something it seems Ponyville doesn't have a lot of.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, Ponyville really likes tradition...”
“What about Pinkie's Super-Secret Party Laboratory?” As the two other Crusaders recalled the laboratory Sweetie Belle spoke of, Eripio was once again confused.
“Wait... What secret lab? Pinkie Pie has one? That pink earth pony right?” It was the trio's turn to smile in amusement at Eripio's reaction and opened the door to find the pink mare again.
It was only an hour since they first escaped detection, so they remained stealthy as they went back. The four girls remained on lesser roads and stayed in the shadows, hoping to come across the older mare as they went to the library. Since the lab was right next to Twilight's home the girls figured she might know who made it if they didn't find the hyper mare before then.
Once they made it to the town library, they didn't wait to knock before entering, having felt exposed in the empty space before it. They had crept so quietly that the two main residences hadn't noticed that they had extra company.
Pinkie Pie had been in the midst of tickling the lavender mare in order to get a smile from the other mare; she had Twilight underneath her and was tickling her barrel with both hooves. Upon seeing the four girls the older mares paused in their antics, with half smiles on their faces.
“Hey guys! Do you have ticklish spots?” Pinkie grew an evil grin as she hopped off Twilight and crept closer to the girls who were in shock at the sudden change and stood frozen in the middle of the room.
“Guys, do ya think we came tah the wrong library?” Apple Bloom glanced out the side of her eyes to the others who were all slack jawed at the pink menace.
“Maybe…” Scootaloo tried not to break eye contact with the party pony lest she pounce as the pegasus looked away.
Twilight watched with a smirk at the crouching pink earth pony and her need to put smiles on ponies' faces on these difficult days. The girls' noticed the smirk and shook their heads clear of their shock; they had much more important things to deal with currently.
“Wait!” Pinkie merely grinned larger as she came closer, ignoring the three shouts as she began to wiggle her hind end as she crouched further; Eripio saw and decided a different tactic was needed.
“Secret Labs!” Both older mares paused at the shout and looked to the green filly who was wide eyed and looking between the two mares in slight desperation; Pinkie tilted her head in confusion at the shout and stopped her advancement.
“We want to know about secret laboratories...!” The others nodded rapidly and began to chime in as well.
“Yeah, we wanted tah know where ya got yours from.”
“We, ah, we wanted one too.” Scootaloo was nervous as the lavender started to frown as possible bad ideas ran through her mind of what the girls could do with a 'secret laboratory'.
“But we wouldn't want to use it for much! We just want to have internet and computers and... And things... So we can talk with Eripio when she goes back to Manehatten.” Sweetie Belle finished with an innocent smile, which was soon copied by the others as they looked to the party pony who began to smile in return with realization in her eyes.
“Yes, we wanted to know who helped to make it; the Crusaders said that it was really cool when they were telling me about yours.” Eripio flashed a smile at the pink mare who nodded happily before bouncing to Twilight and giving her a quick nuzzle.
“I'll be right back Twilight! Don't you worry your pretty little head, Auntie Pinkie Pie has it all sorted out in a big ol' knot!” Twilight raised a brow at the phrasing and smirked at the nuzzle before frowning a little towards the girls.
“You girls are going to be safe with that kind of thing?” The four fillies smiled reassuringly at the studious unicorn.
“Yes ma'am!” Twilight relaxed slightly at the answer while the pink earth pony led the way outside with the four girls following behind.
The four friends tried to keep an eye out while the older mare led the way to a small tinker shop filled with clocks and various gadgets that moved and made soft sounds in the background. As they made their way further into the shop, they could hear two voices arguing; though they couldn't make out what about.
“Hellllooo in there! We need the Doctor's help!” The four girls shot the older mare a surprised look at the title of the pony they were there to see; the five ponies stopped in front of the counter that was in front of a doorway leading to the basement.
“Who’s the Doctor?” The four girls looked at the older mare as Sweetie Belle posed her question. Pinkie gave the girls a reassuring grin as she answered.
“Why, Time Turner is of course! He fixes clocks and gadgets and just about anything, like a Doctor!” The girls stared on in surprise at the description before turning to face the doorway where the voices were coming closer from.
In moments a brown earth pony stallion with dark short mane and tail came up from the basement followed by a blue-gray pegasus; four of the seven ponies gave small starts at the sight of the others though before anyone can say anything about it, Pinkie started to explain the situation.
“Hey there Time Turner! Hi Derpy! The girls need your help Doctor, they want a secret laboratory.” Derpy quickly looked to the pink earth pony in surprise before staring at the Crusaders in suspicion; the girls tried to appear innocent as they looked pleadingly towards the brown earth pony.
“We want tah be able tah talk with our friend when she goes back tah Manehatten. Can ya help us?”
“What kinds of things did you want in it?” Time Turner rubbed his chin with a hoof as he looked to the girls in curiosity while Pinkie smiled.
“We want some computers!”
“And ways to get internet and email.”
“An' maybe some way tah watch out for ponies coming towards the Clubhouse...” Derpy started to frown at some of the things the girls wanted in their Clubhouse.
“... And maybe... Some basic defense abilities...” Eripio stared off to the side as she practically muttered, unwilling to have either of the older mares hearing her while trying to ask for it from the stallion.
Derpy was flat out frowning at this last request and was about to question them when Turner spoke first.
“That sounds rather reasonable, but I need something from you guys in return.”
“Oh, I can cover the cost!” Pinkie waved her hoof in the air to which drew indignation from the Crusaders about who would pay for all of the work to be done.
“No way!”
“Yeah, we can take care of it!”
“We earned lotsa bits an' we can pay for our own stuff now!” Eripio remained silent since it was their Clubhouse while Pinkie merely raised a interested brow as she smirked at the outburst.
“You can't expect a couple of foals to have to pay for a large amount of work do you?” Derpy turned her frown towards the stallion who seemed slightly offended at the accusation.
“Of course it won't be a large amount for the work; it will only cost four hundred bits and they must tell me four facts of history.” Turner smiled at the girls who seemed relieved at the cost to the confusion of the blue-gray mare.
“Facts of history?” Sweetie Belle tilted her head as the others looked just as confused about the last part of the cost.
“What kinds of facts?” Scootaloo asked with a slight frown.
“Any kind of fact, whatever you can think about.” Turner smirked as the four fillies screwed up their faces in thought.
“Uhmmm, Nightmare Moon had been trapped on the moon for a thousand years?” Sweetie Belle tentatively stated to which earned a nod from the stallion, emboldening the others to state facts.
“The Elements of Harmony saved the day when Nightmare Moon came back.” Scootaloo firmly said to which earned a bit more of a smile from the brown earth pony.
“Uh, the Elements of Harmony stopped Discord when he got free a few days ago.” Apple Bloom tried to not show any guilt at how the spirit of disharmony had gotten free; the girls guessed at the reason of how it happened and promised not to fight because of it (or at least, not as much). Time Turner continued to smile as he looked to the last filly who stared resolutely back.
“In the years right after the Princesses began their rule, many prophecies were made that have long since turned into old mare tales that few still believe in. One of which was the prophecy about the fillies of Justice and their constant struggle with a rising Red Beast.” Time Turner raised a single brow at the particular prophecy Eripio stated and glanced to the Crusaders as the lines of said prophecy ran through his mind; the Time Clan had always kept track of all prophecies and he knew them by heart.
The stallion had been taught that there was no such thing as coincidences and had a sneaking suspicion that Eripio was right in her belief of who the prophecy was about, meaning that they did indeed need all that technology they requested and perhaps even more. He nodded his agreement and waved the girls forward.
“Alrighty then, you've met half of the agreed amount of the cost so I'll take a look and start to come up with some plans. Lead the way ladies!” The fillies smiled and took the lead out of the shop with the brown stallion and blue-gray pegasus following behind them; Pinkie Pie had done her part to help the fillies and she had a mare to meet for a tickle session, so she bounced her way back to the library pleased that things were going so well.
“Time Turner, you can't be serious about this...” Derpy whispered to the Doctor with a frown as she watched the girls who still checked their surroundings for possible threats.
“These girls are the perfect example of why my family has wanted to record the proper history; they only know of what has been dealt with or at least around the time of Nightmare Moon. Nopony knows the real history and if you help me we can find out what really happened all those years ago!” Turner tried to impart the importance of the pegasus helping with his project as they lagged behind the girls; Derpy rolled her eyes and shook her head at the insistence of the stallion next to her.
“I still don't think it will work or that this is a good idea at all... But if you cut out the price for helping the Crusaders then I'll do it.” Time Turner stopped in his tracks and looked to the mare who had kept going for a little while before realizing that he had stopped.
“Brilliant! Then let's get going, the sooner I set up the kids the sooner we can get started!” The stallion raced forward after the girls who hadn't stopped their trot through town.
The girls had been on the constant watch as they led the way through town; while it was much later in the day, it didn't mean that their pursuers had given up yet. As they continued to lead, they tried to stay off of the main roads while not making the older ponies following them suspicious of why they were practically sneaking around.
It was as they were almost in the clear that they heard a shout; four heads snapped to the right to find Pepper charging straight towards Scootaloo.
“Run Scootaloo!” Eripio shouted which drew the older ponies' attention but they were too late to do anything as the pegasus ran and the others tried to stall the older orphan but were soon pushed out of the way by the gray earth pony.
“I'll be alright guys, keep going! I'll lose Pepper in no time!” Scootaloo shouted as she ran through the crowds in an attempt to lose the bigger pony by slipping through smaller gaps.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shared concerned looks before continuing to lead the way to the Clubhouse; they wanted to help the young pegasus but knew that it would only make it harder on her to convince the pursuing pony that she didn't live there and to stay away from town. Eripio saw the worry and kept up a steady stream of assurances of the pegasus' abilities which did help the girls keep calm and collected as they went to the Clubhouse.
They were only just able to show the Clubhouse and present some ideas to the brown earth pony when the two still rather grounded fillies realized the time and cut the presentation short. Eripio was able to make a list for the stallion to show the kinds of things the girls would need that was a bit more than what they first asked for; writing it down allowed it to be a slight secret from the older mare who didn't seem too keen on how long the list appeared to be but could do nothing to stop them as they were rushed off the land soon afterwards.
Eripio promised to check back with the Crusaders later on; hopefully they would be ungrounded by that time and able to adjust and test out their new secret Clubhouse. She then took side and back ways to get to the train station to head back home; even if they didn't get as much done about the Red Dragons, the Crusaders did help the green filly feel a little better about what had happened in the past.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shared one last worried look before splitting up to head back to their respective homes. It was to both of their shock to find their sisters in much better mood and didn't notice (or didn't mention) the fillies' disappearance for most of the day; this didn't mean they were ungrounded, to the girls' dismay, and they spent the rest of the day in their rooms reflecting on their previous actions and what the orange pegasus might be doing at that very moment.