"—was always good at using my horn to make really bright lights flash really fast and make buzzy sounds, and I'd use it all the time because living in a castle is super boring so there was nothing to do but bug the other foals and my mom and uncle. So one day my uncle was trying to teach me math and I kept flashing all the answers over because it was easy and it really annoyed mom and I was hoping she'd leave so we could play chess, when I realized my cutie mark had appeared! And uncle said it was my special talent, and I was all, 'Annoying mom is my special talent? That's great!' and mom looked really unhappy. But it turns out my special talent is messages! You can say a lot with just a few signals. Like, hello is beep beep beep beep! And look over there is beep beep beep beep beep beep beep. But you hear how the other beeps are shorter—"
Thus has been the last two days. Constantly. The filly does not appear to need to breathe.
And so, it is likely with a measure of relief that the herd comes across the final landmark that indicates they have arrived at their destination: a large boulder, the words "NO VISEETORS" written on it with truly atrocious hoofwriting and spelling. The helmet of one of Blueblood's guards is by the base, dented and chipped, along with a messengers bag. There seems to be a large clearing just beyond the rock.
"Good thing we're messengers and not visitors!" chirps Moonlight.
"I'm not sure messengers are that welcome, either..." muses Azure. She runs her hoof along the helmet’s surface, claw marks scratched deep into the metal. "Best be on the lookout, then."
Virtue turns the helmet over, tsking slightly. For all that she seems city-bred and unused to the country, Virtue has made no complaint over the journey, though she has been somewhat aloof and kept to herself. Gracious and charming, she nevertheless seems quite focused on the goal.
As the herd advance through the forest, the clearing widens in front of them. The trees are thick here, and the illumination dim, but they can still make out the entrance to a large cave in the distance, and an area in front of it that has been cleared.
The forest animals are oddly silent, as the ponies spy the cave mouth—and Dot Dash sneaks up around Azure Charger's side. "Cool. I wonder if it's like, a cave troll. Only a dog."
"Maybe!" says Moonlight. "But things like this are kind of suspicious of ponies because ponies tend to want to steal their gems and stuff. So try not to make an aggressive motions."
"Can't imagine why they feel that way..." Azure deadpans, eyeing Virtue's outfit.
Dot Dash looks around the group. "So. Um... what do we do now then?"
"Suppose we should scout it out. Wait here." With that, Azure takes to the skies.
"Miss Meadows." Virtue turns to her. "Have you a means of investigating what may lie about us?"
Moonlight Meadows is doing... something. It appears to be an odd dance—very specific hoof movements, along with a strange, hummed tune.
There's a reason Moonlight hates casting this spell. Birds. "Hey! Hey! Hey, over here! Hey! Hey!" Just... constantly.
"We should be cautious for a trap." Silver Shine says in a low voice.
Meanwhile, ahead, Azure is able to get a better look around the cave mouth. The area has obviously been artificially cleared of brush and wood, although she's not sure why, since there's nothing here. The cave mouth is wide, and it obviously runs deep. She thinks she sees some motion on the hill above—
When something atop the hill throws an unreasonably large rock at her, the projectile striking off her shield and knocking her off her flight plan.
Virtue casts Mage Armor at once, her horn flaring.
Azure really needs to get proper wing guards! That smarts.She falls to the ground, and in the process, loses sight of whatever threw the rock. "Yeah," she says, answering Silver, "about that."
Moonlight finishes her chatter with the birds and rejoins the group. "Hokay then. Something likes throwing rocks." She then turns, looking around to see what other animals might be in the area. She spots quite a few birds, a flying squirrel, and a beehive. She wisely ignores the beehive—insects are very hard to talk to, even with special talents. She instead picks the squirrel, taking a few cautious steps towards it and calling out with a series of chitters.
"Indeed," muses Virtue.
"Go away!" a scratchy voice shouts, something overtop the cave throwing another rock. This rock is considerably less accurate though, landing a few yards to Azure's left.
"Keep back, Miss Charger. Let us stay out of reach for now." Azure doesn't need to be told twice.
Squirrels are very friendly creatures, if a little hyperactive, and Moonlight has barely said hello to this one before it's jumped down out of its tree to say hello to her—running around her, leaping onto her back, and hiding under her mane, chitting all the while. From somewhere, it produces an acorn and offers it to her. Moonlight chitters back, and takes the acorn, her tail taking on a very squirrel-like shape.
"Hail the camp," Virtue calls ahead, letting Moonlight and Silver attend to their means of information gathering.
Moonlight and the squirrel continue to chitter at each other—Moonlight making little nose and tail wiggling motions.
"I should learn to speak squirrel," Dot says, awestruck. "It seems really useful."
Silver Shine mutters, "Let's try something a little more direct," in the general direction of Moonlight and the squirrel. He also takes wing, this time heading up through the treetops.
Nothing like a little altitude to shed some light on the situation. From high above the treetops, cruising as silently as a night owl, Silver Shine can see the whole of the area surrounding the cave. He can also see the strange, ugly creature squatting above the cave—a pile of rocks for throwing next to it. It's something between a dog and a goblins, dressed in a filthy vest stuffed full of shiny things. It obviously has not seen Silver.
"We know you are there," Virtue calls. "We did not miss the rock you threw."
"Go away!" the voice shouts again. "No ponies here!"
"They said 'hello' with a boulder. I'm not expecting much civility here." Azure massages the base of her wing.
"Indeed," Virtue says to her, "but we must at least try, for the sake of peace. Let us await Silver Shine's report."
The squirrel nods at Moonlight, and then scampers back into its tree.
"What did he say?" Dot Dash asks.
"They like to pop out of holes and throw rocks at ponies. Also there are rock flats on top of the hill that could stop them from doing the whole pop out of holes, thing." Moonlight turns to Balti, and her body language changes—suddenly much more aloof and confident.
"Mrrrr." Balti says, slinking off into the bushes.
Azure Charger frowns. "Whatever 'they' are, we can't get closer without risking more boulders. Not sure I'm liking the sound of these 'holes' either, though... But it might be worth it, if we can draw 'it' off the ledge"
Moonlight rubs her chin. "I could get up and behind him or them or whatever. Probably. I don't think they'd care about a bird."
Azure blinks. "A bird? More pets, then?"
"Uuuuuhhhh... no."
"Do you know how many there are?" asks Virtue.
Moonlight shakes her head. "No. The squirrel said 'dogs,' but there could only be one right now."
The other ponies are willing to sit around and strategize, but Silver Shine is a pony of action. He will move into range for a ranged attack with his crossbows.
As the party is considering what to do next, they hear the distinctive thunk-thunk of two crossbows discharging. Though they cannot see where the bolts land, Silver Shine does, the creature up on the hill stumbling away as one gives it a rather close shave and a nick on the ear.
"We're under attack!" the dog screams at the top of its lungs, before burrowing down into the hill and vanishing to sight. From inside the cave, the sound of a wailing alarm can be heard, and the barking of dogs.
Silver Shine mutters to himself "Looks like it's time to return to the group!"
"Well." Virtue clicks her teeth. "I believe he is reporting. Dot Dash, stay close!"
"Blasted accountant!" Azure turns, glaring toward the hill. "I suppose we fixed the problem about getting atop the hill..."
In the wake of the dog creature's shout, a loud alarm can be heard coming out of the cave mouth—horn of some kind, or a whistle. It's not long later that the sound of a pack of dogs becomes clearly audible... and the ground around you starts to rumble.
Azure readies her weapons and flies ahead, gaining a better vantage point of the field.
Nearly as soon as she takes off, around Virtue, Dot Dash, and Moonlight Meadows, the rumbling grows louder. "Uh... Virtue?" Dot Dash pokes her in the side. "Maybe we should—EEEE!" All around them, dog-like creatures burst out of the ground. They turn to face the ponies, bearing down upon them.
Suddenly facing her first ever fight, Dot Dash lets out her loudest shriek of terror. No, really, her loudest shriek. Everypony is left with ringing ears as birds take flight in all directions. The two dogs immediately on either side of her get it much worse though, staggering backwards and clutching their heads..
Silver Shine swoops out of the sky like a hawk—though he would argue that in fact, it is hawks who on occasion swoop out of the sky like him. Bolts take the place of his claws in this case, one of them striking the back of the dogs helmet, hitting it so hard the helmet rings like a bell. The dog has had better days.
The dog creature, upon seeing an angry mountain lion barreling down at him, decides that discretion is the better part of valor and leaps back into the ground as fast as he can. Balti's teeth snap shut around empty air at the last moment—though she does give the dog a good scratch on the tail as it flees.
Moonlight has, once again, begun her strange little dance—this one is rather more involved, and ends with her balanced on her left hind leg, her right forehoof extended to the sky. Her humming was a bit more tuneful this time, and ends with a resounding, "HA!"
It's not entirely clear just where that lightning bolt came from. Out of the trees, maybe? But it courses its way through the bodies of the hapless dog creatures all the same. Meanwhile, out in the clearing, more of the creatures surface, trying to pelt the poor pegasi with rocks.
"Uh, gals?" Azure calls back to the party. "We've got company!" Rocks pelt away at Silver and her, though the rest of the group is luckily out of range from the assault.
Virtue ducks out of the way of an oncoming dog, its claws filthy, its fur dirty and shaggy. She stands tall, radiant and unconcerned. "Enough of this foolishness," she says, stern, and stamps a hoof. She sets herself, her eyes wide, and power seems to roll off her, even though her horn does not light. "Begone! Flee this place!" she barks.
And one of the dogs in front of her, catching her eyes, seems to stop. "Aww~ Pretty pony~ I will brush your mane and you will be my best friend.”
As the dogs from the clearing bear down on them, with a flourish Azure holds aloft her banner, emblazoned with the insignia of Pegasopolis. Her screeching battle cry gives pause to the cowardly dogs; they soon realize that they face a particularly powerful pegasus pony. Rattled, they take a hesitant step back, unwilling to press toward Virtue and Dot Dash by the treeline.
The dog that Virtue hypnotized accepts her order and flees the battle, while the two that Dot Dash screamed at are still stunned by her high-pitched verbal prowess. But the one who's left? He's totally got this. Those other four guys were sissies! He leaps at Virtue who, for all her magical might, is a rather diminutive pony physically. The much larger dog has no trouble sweeping her up, as she yelps in surprise.
Dot Dash decides that discretion is the better part of valor. Specifically, by running full-speed toward the entrance of the wood, shrieking all the way.
Silver lets loose a crossbow bolt, trying to provide Virtue with some cover fire, but the bolt sails wide left. "Darn!"
"Balti, tackle!" Moonlight points at the dog that has Virtue in a grab.
"Mrrrr!" Balti leaps and tackles the dog creature to the ground. She, Virtue, and the dog all go down into a brawl, struggling in a chaotic pile.
Meanwhile, Moonlight’s mane looks pretty darn staticky, standing out in all directions... but she's doing yet another dance, this one very shuffly. As Moonlight Meadows does her strange dance, the grass around the dog creatures comes to life, growing up and up like an impossibly quick vine. Most of the dogs hack at the unnatural plant growth and manage to avoid being trapped—for now—but one is soon stuck fast.
"Retreat!" one of them shouts, letting out a loud whistle. Those who can still move tunnel down into the earth. The only dogs left behind are those entangled by Moonlight’s vines—
—or the one currently pining Virtue to the ground. Despite her struggles, she cannot push her way free from its grip.
From above, Azure flares her wings up, and descends out of the sky as a bolt of blue and silver, racing towards one of the remaining dogs. The dramatic crash of thunder that follows that is probably just from Moonlight's spell. Probably. There's a crack, a whine, and Team Rocket is blasting off again, as the creature is knocked so hard off its feet it goes flying back into the woods out of sight.
The remaining dogs decide that—holy quartz did you see what that pony just did to Pyrope!? "Run for it!" The dogs tear their way out of the undergrowth and flee back to the safety of their cavern. The one who is currently tangled up with Virtue and Balti tries to follow suit, but Balti soon has the dog by the scruff. After that, he stops struggling.
With the battle won, the herd sets about regrouping itself. Silver flies down from the treetops, a tight frown on his face. Moonlight Meadows steps a little ways, and spends a bit of time allowing the bolts of lightning to discharge harmlessly around her. Azure lands beside Silver and holds a hoof to her wing, massaging the soreness from it. Dot Dash seems a little rattled, but no worse for wear, patting herself down to make sure she still has all her bits.
"Well," says Silver, deadpan, "we've had our first dust up then."
Virtue snarls as she rises. An invisible comb fixes her mane and hair and dirt sloughs off her. She shakes it free and settles it. "Silver Shine!" she calls, her voice shaking the leaves in the nearby trees. She fits her hoof back into a loose cap so she can stomp it properly. "Just what do you think you were doing?" she demanded, imperiously. "We were all endangered due to your rashness."
"He could've run off and alerted the rest of his pack with a moment's notice. I wasn't going to give him the time." Silver Shine frowns slightly. "Nearly had him too..."
"We were coming up with a plan!” Virtue says, her eyes narrowing. "In the future I will expect more caution."
"Duly noted," replies Silver, his expression flat.
Virtue turns aside to her protege. "Dot Dash, dear, please tend to the wounds."
"Oh!" Dot Dash starts, looking up. "Oh, um. Right. Let me see your wing, Azure." Unicorns are cheating cheaters who cheat all the time. However, Azure and Silver Shine might reasonably be grateful for that in this instance. Dot Dash shuts her eyes and focuses, and a little beam of white light shoots from her horn to each of them.
"Ah, that feels much better," sighs Silver.
"Heh, thanks kid." Azure holds out her wing to Dot. "So, now that you've had your first fight... How's mother's advice sounding?"
"I’m... I think I'd rather stay in the castle. Once we're done here, I mean," Dot Dash says, with a nervous little laugh.
Moonlight Meadows trots back over, shaking her mane, which has now calmed down and is not standing on end going every frickin' which way, and trots up to Silver. "Pssst. Silver," she whispers. "Wanna talk over there a bit?"
Silver Shine eyes Moonlight a tad warily. Her cat is pretty much eating one of the dogs, after all.
"Please?" she gives him a smile and some really wide eyes.
Silver Shine sighs and nods to Moonlight. The two of them step aside for a moment, ducking out of earshot of the others.
Moonlight looks to him. "So, like, up on the hill, what happened?"
"Ah, I found that fellow who knocked Azure out of the sky. I didn't like the look of him, so I did what had to be done." Silver Shine looks Moonlight Meadows in the eye. "Would I do it again? Maybe, maybe not."
Moonlight Meadows nods. "That makes sense to me. But, while Virtue's being kind of annoying about it, I think we should start talking about these things beforehand. Kind of everyone's fault for not saying anything before anything happens."
Silver huffs at this, but eventually he gives a quiet nod.
Turning her attention back to the imprisoned dog, Virtue reaches down, her manner shifting again. "Oh you poor dear,” she says, gently touching his ears.
The dog seems to have accepted that he's not going anywhere—held tight in Balti's teeth. His expression, while hard to read under that sloping goblin-like brow of his, might be best described as 'unhappy.'
Virtue continues to stroke the dog’s fuzzy ears. "There there, little one. Let's not fight."
Slowly, the dog feels his willpower draining as he finds himself getting lost in Virtue’s eyes. But despite being a tad weak willed in general, he shakes off Virtue's unicorn trickery. "I'm telling you nothing, pony!"
"I will forgive you for your uncouth behavior if you relax," she says, more harshly, pinning his head with her hoof.
"Ngggh! Your tricks of mind will not fool me!" The dog struggles and squirms, but he can only accomplish so much while in Balti’s grip.
"Oh, you are durant." Virtue stares deeper and deeper into the beast’s eyes, boring her gaze into his. "You will not turn aside from me this time, dog."
"Nnngh! But... that... no!” The dog creature looks into Virtue’s eyes as she holds it in place. “Get outta my head pony!" And then, after a moment, goes... relaxed. Calm.
"Good boy," coos Virtue. "You'll cooperate now, won't you? Dear thing."
"Uh-huh. You're the prettiest pony ever,” he says, in a slightly disconnected, flat tone.
"Let him up, Balti." Virtue says, saccharine. Balti reminds Virtue that she is a cat. Specifically, by ignoring her.
Azure tilts her head, staring at the entranced dog for a moment, before she holsters her lance. "Not the approach I would've used... but not bad."
"I have my ways, Azure Charger," she says with a smile, flaring her cape to reveal her cutie mark for a moment—a shining gem. "Now, then, what is your name, dearie?"
"Feldspar,” he answers with a distant voice. “What's your name, pretty pony?"
"I am Virtue." She bows.
"Oh. That's a nice name."
"I know, dear. We came here for a very specific purpose, Feldspar. We are searching for something of great value to us ponies."
"I know. Ponies are thieves.” Feldspar sits up a bit. “I mean, not you, Virtue. I'm sure you're nice. But ponies always come to steal our gems."
"In this case, we have come to recover something of ours. It is formed of gold, bright and shining, not at all like the many-faceted gems you would like."
"Oh. Yeah.” Feldspar swats the question away, acting nonchalant. “That stuff's been in the meeting hall forever. Alexandrite tried to take some of it into town a few weeks ago to trade for gems. But ponies tried to rob her and she had to run home."
"Well, we have come to trade, Feldspar. Though you have seen we possess the strength to take it."
"Oh, I'm sure whatever you need it for is more important, Virtue~ You're so smart that way."
Virtue giggles gently into the back of a hoof. "Oh, you do know how to flatter a lady. You must be very popular with the girls back home, Feldspar. Clever and handsome. You'll lead us right there, won't you?"
He chuckles, and blushes, looking down at his paws. "Of course, Virtue. I'll lead you right there."
Azure whips her tailbraid idly. "Okay, now we're getting somewhere."
Feldspar doesn't respond to Azure Charger. Then again, Azure isn't totally sure the dog knows she's there, his eyes blindly following Virtue.
Virtue, at least, seems pleased with the results. "Excellent. Dot, dear, come here, I'll fix your mane and coat."
Dot Dash trots up to her teacher’s side, brushing down her mane with a hoof. "I was... I mean, I was fine," she murmurs, though she sticks closer to Virtue's side than she did before.
As Moonlight and Silver rejoin the group, Virtue gives a nod to Feldspar. The dog eagerly leads the herd forward, leading into the mouth of the nearby cavern.