//------------------------------// // 77 - Planning Manehattan // Story: A Dangerous Sparkle // by David Silver //------------------------------// News of the victory came with mixed results from the group. Applejack stood before the three with her hat in hoof, "Now don't get me wrong. I'm right appreciative of the idea that Sweet Apple Acres is cleared up, but ya should have told us. Ya'll coulda been hurt." Twilight nodded in agreement, standing beside Applejack, "That was very brave, and reckless. What on Equestria possessed you to go and do that." Soft Mane had her hands on her hips, leaning forward towards Spike more than the others, "We're a team. That means no rushing off by yourselves into danger. What if that dragon hadn't been cooperative?" Spike fidgeted with his claws in front of his belly, "Well, yea, but she was? It worked out in the end." Pinkie bobbed her head, "We saved the town! It was amazing, you shoulda seen it guys!" Long Road chuckled from where he sat, "We would have loved to have, Pinkie." "Oh," said Pinkie, as if she had suddenly got it and deflated a little. Rainbow gave a soft snort, "We had everything under control. Spike was amazing! Almost as amazing as me, and that's saying something." She began gesturing wildly, "He was all rawr while I was zipping around. That thing had hooves the size of a pony! And made of rock! He only hit me once, a lucky shot, but you never got hit by a rock that big!" Twilight raised a hoof, "I've survived an anvil and a piano, to say nothing of that iron golem, ugh, I know what it's like, but that's beside the point. No more running off on your own, OK?" The three agreed as one, "We promise." Though Rainbow may have rolled her eyes while saying it. "Applejack," said Twilight, "You should gather up your kin and all the Ponyvillians you can find and get them home. Getting your farm up to speed is a top priority, and it can't be bad for morale to see ponies going home for a change." Applejack bobbed her head, "Sure thing, Twi. Ah'll have the place bustling with life again before you can shake that tail." She trotted off at a quick pace, looking eager to see her home again. "See you after things settle!" she shouted over her shoulder before she was gone. Rarity pouted a little, "I'd dearly love to see Carousel Boutique, but let's stay focused. Twilight, darling, where are we going next?" Twilight led the way back to the map of Equestria and stuck out a hoof to point at the island city of Manehatten, covered in red. "Let's put out Manehatten. That will give us a huge amount of living space and be a very visible achievement for the citizens. They need hope as much as they need us to win." Pinkie raised a hoof, "And it'll give Babs a home to go back to." Rarity shook her head, "But it's on fire, dear, however do we plan to fight that? I don't think you can kick fire." Pinkie quickly replied, "You can, funny enough." She pulled out a sponge from nowhere in particular, and set it on the ground. Shortly she had it burning in the middle of the war room, "See, it's on fire." She brought down a hoof and started stomping the sponge until it was tattered but no longer burning, "Now it's not." Twilight squinted a little, "What Pinkie is saying, in her own special way, is true. You can stomp out fire elementals, but they can also set you on fire. I'm going to visit the archives and get us some fire protection magic so we'll be safe from that, but," She pointed at the sponge, "They do have a physical part. If they can't put you on fire, beating you to a pulp is an acceptable alternative, so don't think you're invincible." Rainbow raised a hoof, "What if we run into another dragon or something besides these walking fires?" Twilight began to canter from the room, "We'll just have to see first. Our first mission is to scout the terrain, and I'm counting on you, Rainbow, and you, Spike, to make that happen without picking a fight. I'll be back!" And she was gone down the hallway. Spike raised a claw, "I should help!" And he dashed to catch up with her. The next day, Twilight had the others assembled just in front of the castle. "I have the spell we need. I'll cast it when we're closer to the city. For now, let's get to the trains. They're still rolling, but be on guard. On the way to Manehatten we'll pass two other smaller hot spots and we could be attacked." Rarity looked perplexed. "If the trains are being attacked, I'm surprised they could get ponies to volunteer to drive them." Twilight nodded, "The fact that we'll be on the train is the only reason the driver is willing to go. Our first mission will be making sure the train arrives safely. For precaution, he'll stop just short of the bridge into the city, then wait for us to come back." Rainbow rolled her head, popping tendons before lifting into the air, "Enough talk. Let's get going already." Though Twilight gave a sour look, there was no further reason for delay. They went through the city of Canterlot towards the train depot. The ponies around them stared and whispered. "It's Twilight, she'll make everything OK again, right?" "The elements of harmony are on the case." "Who's that donkey?" The murmuring continued the entire way there as the crowd mused about just what Soft Mane could be and the odds of Twilight's team meeting success. The curious ponies did little to slow the group, and soon they arrived at the train. Put together specifically for the trip, it only had one passenger car attached to the engine. The engineer pony stood beside it, looking nervous. When he saw the group approaching, he bobbed his head at them, "Pleasure to see you all today, your highness. The train is ready to depart at your order." Twilight nodded absently before realizing what she had been called. "It's been a while since I was princess," she noted quietly to her friends as they filed onto the train. Long Road looked around skeptically, "The train appears to roll along the ground. I can't imagine it's as fast as the Lightning Rail?" Spike shook his head, "I doubt anything's as fast as the Lightning Rail, but it'll get us there!" He hopped up onto a seat, tail popping out the back as he got comfortable. Rarity found a spot for herself to perch in a dignified manner, "Whatever is this 'Lightning Rail' you speak of?" Rainbow crashed down beside Rarity, "Doubt it's faster than me!" Fluttershy remained silent, but sat beside Soft Mane when the other found a spot, leaving Soft Mane between Fluttershy and Spike. Pinkie grabbed a dangling microphone, "All aboard the Manehatten Liberty Express! Keep your hooves and tails inside the vehicle while it's in motion and enjoy the trip." She released the microphone and waved at the driver, "Ready!" It took about a minute for the train to warm up and get rolling. As it pulled away from the city it gained speed coming down off the mountain that held Canterlot. Spike explained what he knew of the Lightning Rail, "Imagine a whole train that floats on lightning! It's crazy fast, and it doesn't even make smoke. I don't know how it works really. Magic I guess." Long Road nodded in agreement, "That is a fair description of it. We're moving quickly enough. Twilight." He looked over towards her, "When should we expect trouble?" Twilight shook her head, "Hopefully not at all. Attacks on the trains are very rare. But if it was going to happen, it'll be around noon, and at four in the afternoon, when we pass closest to other places that are in trouble, but not nearly as large as Manehatten." Soft Mane raised a hand, "Twilight, why are we going past them? Any of the others that come after us to get into the city has to go past these, and they're smaller. We should clear them out on the way." Twilight opened her mouth to reply, then stopped to consider it, "That is a very fair point. We don't want returning refugees being attacked." Long Road added, "And it will give us a chance to practice working as a team before we get to the big one." With all in agreement, Twilight proceeded to the engine car to ask the driver to stop just short of the first spot of trouble, a request he had little hesitation in fulfilling. Rarity looked to Twilight, "Now that it's decided dear, what is the first little spot of trouble we're dealing with?" Twilight focused her magic, digging deep until she found her old well and produced a glowing map in front of the group. She pointed with her horn at the Neighagra Falls, "The falls are swarming with water elementals, but it's not a large one like Manehatten. There shouldn't be anything too bad." She frowned though, "I didn't look up any water breathing spells though, so be careful." Pinkie was wearing her brightly colored swimwear, snorkel and rubber tube included, "Ready!" Long Road wrinkled his snout, "I must confess, I'm not a natural when it comes to water, especially in all this armor." Spike wriggled his claws, "Well I'm going to fly over it, and flying in it seems to mostly work, so I'll be OK." "You can fly in water?" asked Rainbow Dash, "That's pretty cool, Spike. I can swim just fine. No little water bags are going to take me down." Rarity made an expression of distaste, but kept her complaints to herself for the time. Fluttershy asked in her quiet way, "Are the animals alright?" Twilight tilted her head, "I don't know, Fluttershy. Why don't you check on them after we get rid of all those water elementals, but not before!" She tapped her chin, "Actually, you can talk with the small ones, right? Since flying underwater is less than ideal, why don't you see if they can find us the biggest water elemental? That could save us a lot of time and danger." Fluttershy nodded quickly, "I'll try."