//------------------------------// // We're On Our Way // Story: No Elements, No Harmony // by Fret //------------------------------// Twilight blinked open her eyes, wondering what it was that had dragged her out of her dream. She shook the indigo tresses off of her face so that she could see clearly. The first thing she noticed was a white shape pacing around the cave floor. Once she had adjusted from the dream world back into reality, Twilight spoke. "Celestia? What's wrong?" she croaked, her mouth dry from lack of water. "The queens are on the move," the princess muttered, not even bothering to give Twilight a hint that she had her full attention. "Huh? How do you… wha...?" The young alicorn unsteadily stood on all fours, shaking her head to gain focus on the world around her. "A vision," another voice answered. Twilight's ear flicked to the other side of the cave. Luna was still in the same place - except now her face was visible. Twilight gave both of her eyes a rub with her hoof to scrape the dryness away. "Oh... you sure that was the message?" she asked. Celestia stopped pacing so that Twilight could see her nod in reply. Soon enough, a quiet yawn came from the pegasus lying nearby the youngest alicorn. Fluttershy slowly lifted her lids up from her eyes. At first, her expression was calm, but as the world began to become more clear, her eyes widened as she became more alerted. Unlike Twilight's groggy wake up, the butter-coloured mare shot up on her hooves, glancing around. "Wha... why am I... oh." Hoof on forehead, she managed to relax as memory seemed to catch up. "Now I remember why I'm here..." Twilight tilted her head. Despite having seen ponies talk to themselves before (including herself), the way Fluttershy did it was... different. It was as if she didn't care when there were others around her, and she was the only one who could reassure herself. Perhaps she was overthinking it, but how distant this Fluttershy seemed to be did nothing but weigh down in Twilight's gut. 'I need to know more about her...' The brush of the pegasus' ruffled feathers on Twilight’s side snapped her out of her unanswered thoughts. "Did I miss anything?" she perked up. Despite her efforts, however, no one payed any attention to her aside from the alicorn standing next to her. "If we’re counting Celestia's vision as something, then yes." She held a slight sarcastic tone in her voice. When no reaction came from Fluttershy, she continued. "The queens are after Discord. Right?" She turned her head back to Luna, who nodded. When she faced the mare once again, her expression was unreadable. "Oh dear. That's bad news," she said, her tone revealing nothing as she began to trot forward. Twilight opened her mouth again, but was interrupted by the rumbling of her own stomach. This caused Fluttershy to look back, blinking at the distracting rumble. "When was the last time you ate?" she asked. Twilight blinked, and looked at Celestia, who just shrugged. "...A while ago. We've barely stopped to sit down and eat because we have been so focused on finding you and the others," she answered. "I could go back to my cottage and see if I have any spare food," the mare offered, cantering towards the cave's exit before anypony could answer. But before she could set hoof outside, a gold aura seized hold of her tail. She let out a surprised yelp, stopping in her tracks so that she could look back to see who was holding her tangled pink tresses. Celestia's horn stopped glowing once she had her full attention. "I'm afraid I cannot let you do that, Fluttershy," she sighed. Fluttershy's eyes widened. "But... why not?" "The vision - I think the queens are looking for you... “ “How do you know?” “In my dream they were invading your home. Your cottage is nothing but a danger zone now. Thank you for the offer, however." She nodded in gratitude, though it went unnoticed by the frightened mare. "M...my...home? Why would they be..." She lifted two hooves up to her mouth, failing to resist nibbling them. “That means they’re looking for me… what would they want with me?” "They want me - I'm your pet." The draconequus piped from where he lay upside down on his back. Celestia's muzzle scrunched up in response. "How long have you been awake?" she asked, in a rather irritated voice. Discord just chuckled at the fact. "Long enough. What a pleasure that my life is now at danger. I really do owe you one, Lulu." His gaze flashed over to the dark mare, who was still sitting in the corner idly. A snarl grew across her face. "Zip your mouth up before I sew your lips together," the dark alicorn spat defensively. Twilight looked at her mentor, taking note on her rather irritated sigh. "Err... perhaps instead of arguing," she jumped in. "We should go find something to eat." Her stomach yelled for attention again. Celestia nodded in agreement. "You're right, Twilight. But, is it possible to find something that isn't the stale grass I found before?" Behind her, Luna gagged at the memory of the awful taste. Her sister rolled her eyes. Twilight tapped her chin, thinking of a place where they could get food easily. "Well, I'm all up for helpin'." A familiar voice came from outside. All heads jerked forward, all eyes seeing Applejack standing not far from where they were. "Applejack!" Twilight exclaimed, trotting over to her gleefully. "I didn't expect to see you back so soon. Did you tell your family about us?" The farm pony's smile faded. She squinted, breaking eye contact with violet alicorn. "Gah...yeah...no," she admitted. "I couldn't bring myself to. They'd think I was insane!" "Oh. But... didn't they ask where you were?" Twilight lowered a brow. "Nope. They hardly noticed - and before y'all ask, no I'm not bothered by that. My family rests more than any other ponies, so not much time past them at all for them while I was gone." Twilight was unsure how to answer, so she stayed silent, letting the others come up closer to the two of them. "But either way," The orange mare continued, "I can go get some food for y'all, I should still have some left." She began to trot backwards to leave, only to be interrupted by Twilight. "Er... thank you Applejack, but will there still be enough for you and your family?" She nodded. "I'm givin' y’all the half that's to be given to the queens." The princess' eyes widened. "Won't you get punished for that?" she gasped. Applejack was already facing towards the direction of her farm, as a smirk grew across her face. Her spring-coloured eyes angled towards Celestia and Luna. "No, 'cuz I'm still givin' it to 'em." ---------- The six friends sat in silence around the checkered blanket, not a word escaping any of their mouths. Spike held a cupcake in front of his face, swirling his claw around the icing. After a few passing moments, he caught the attention of Pinkie Pie, who frowned. "Spike, you know you eat the cupcake... not play with it, right?" she questioned, however unlike usual, her voice was calmly spoken. The baby dragon snapped out of his day dream, almost dropping the cupcake as he flinched his head up. Then he sighed, "Even when you're not hungry...?" Pinkie tapped her chin, and licked her lips. "Well, I know I would!" He put the cupcake back down on the plate that was set out in the middle of the picnic blanket, along with the other foods that were free for grab. The five other mares sat around the map gave him a pitiful look. However, Spike didn't appreciate it. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't patronize me like that." The girls blinked and looked at each other with confusion. Applejack was the one who spoke up. "Hun, we ain't patronizin' you," she said. "Yes you are. You do it everyday, but I usually put up with it because I know that I'm a baby." He hesitated before saying the next sentence. "I'm Twilight's assistant." The words silenced every one of his friends.. He glared up at them. "But ever since Twilight disappeared, I've just been thinking... is that all I am? Without Twilight, am I just an... orphan." His spines drooped. Rarity lent a comforting hoof, but Spike pushed it away. "I wanna know who I am without Twilight. I wanna prove I'm not just a piece of her. It's not that I need her..." He stood up. "I just want her." The five ponies watched him leave, then they stared at each other. Then another pegasus stood up, and cantered after him. "Spike..." she called. It took a while for the dragon to stop and turn around. He didn't say anything in reply, allowing her to continue. "I've been in your position before, trust me. And usually I'd try to convince you but..." She looked back at her friends. "I've kind of gotten over it." "Then what is it that you want to tell me?" He folded his arms, gazing at the ground. "I know someone who's going through the same phase." She smiled. "And I think it's better you both go through it together and find your own way. If you just copy how I found my importance, nothing will change." Spike raised a brow. "Who though?" he urged. The pegasus held his gaze. "You'll find Discord in my cottage." ---------- After a while of waiting, Applejack returned with a filled up sack dangling in her mouth. Once she stepped a hoof inside the cave once again, she let out a relieved sigh. The sack was dropped on the ground, causing a few apples to roll out, along with some good hay - the first the three princesses had seen in a while. Celestia felt her mouth begin to water, but she trapped the saliva in. Formal or not, she wasn't drooling in front of everyone. "Well that's more than I expected," Twilight complimented, despite it being a meal only big enough for about three ponies, and among them were five, plus a draconequus. "Is this how much the queens hog?" Applejack shrugged. "They take it - whether if they eat all of it, is beyond me." The six of them sat down around the pile, and began to fill themselves up. Celestia swallowed a mouthful of hay, then looked to her left, noting that Discord had left his share untouched. "Aren't you hungry?" she asked him. He appeared to be lost in a daydream, but was broken out of it at the sound of her voice. His red pupils moved in her direction, but he refused to move his head from leaning on his two limbs. "Yes, but I don't need to eat that stuff," he told her. "A draconequus can eat a lot of things." Celestia tilted her head. "Are you saying you're being generous?" A smirk grew on her lips. Discord blinked. "...Maybe." The alicorn giggled, giving him a friendly nuzzle. However, she instantly pulled back once she realized what she'd done. "Speaking of which, we need to find Rarity," Twilight said, glancing at Fluttershy and Applejack, who both screwed up their muzzles. "Like I've said before - I know who she is, no idea what she does." Applejack shrugged. "Uh-huh." Fluttershy agreed, nodding her head. The lavender alicorn's ears drooped. "But," the butter coloured pegasus spoke up, catching Twilight's attention. "There are rumors that the pegasi leaders know who exactly she is - I mean, personally, not just by name." She looked outside, up to the sky. "And we've teamed up with a leader." Hope sparked in Twilight. "You think that's true?" Again, she nodded slowly. "I think so." "Woah there nelly," Applejack interjected. "What exactly have y'all been doin’ while I've been gone?" "Well..." Twilight grit her teeth. "We went to Cloudsdale and found Rainbow Dash, who agreed to help us..." "Lulu managed to get caught in the act..." Discord continued. "My hatred and annoyance for Discord increased," Luna snarled, glaring at the draconequus. "And we lost the spell book to the queens," Celestia finished. "Oh yeah, we lost the spe- wait, WHAT?" Twilight swung her head round to meet Celestia, who blinked. "Oh... did I forget to tell you that part?" She circled a hoof on the ground. "Mhmm... the queens have it now." The young princess' eye twitched. "This is awful!" she cried. "How will we know what the next step of the spell is?" "Twilight..." "How will we know if we're doing the right thing?" "Twilight." "How will we know when we're done with the spell and we can go home?!" "TWILIGHT!" Her mentor sat her back down by dragging her tail to the floor with her magic. "It's fine, we'll get it back eventually. But for now, the spell isn't what matters.." The smaller alicorn held her mentor's gaze for a few moments, then she relaxed and lay down on her belly again. "You're right..." She gave a nod. "I should be focusing on finding Rarity." She turned her head towards Fluttershy. "And it looks like Rainbow's our best option to find her as soon as we can." "Should we get going?" The pegasus asked. "Soon, yes." Twilight smiled. "But I think I'd prefer to finish eating before anything."