//------------------------------//
// 117 - Together Again 
// Story: A Dangerous Sparkle 
// by David Silver 
//------------------------------//

Applejack arrived only a minute later. Just as she trotted up, a head poked down from above out of the air beside the top of the rope. It was feline, "Are you the friends of Sonata?"

Twilight hopped back in surprise, wings flared, "Oh! Yes. Have you seen her?"

Spike raised a brow, "I'm certain I've read about a spell like that..."

Twilight brightened with realization, "Now that you mention it, of course! It's a rope trick."

Applejack raised a brow, "Rope what? Don't look like no rope trick ah know of."

Rainbow snorted softly as she looked up at the floating cat head, "They'll be like this a while, what were you saying?"

The feline slid down the rope, landing on the ground with the agility of the cat she was. "My name is Willow, and your friends are there." She pointed to a forest not far away. "They are looking for my little one. It was very kind of them, if foolish."

Soft Mane raised a brow, "Why foolish?"

Willow shrugged, "I had nothing to pay them with."

Soft actively bit back a racially charged statement with a well-timed cough, "So let's get going!"

Willow pointed up to the hole, "There are about a dozen of us up there. They're waiting for my signal."

Twilight considered quickly, "The forest is going to minimize flying mobility. Applejack, Rainbow, you two go ahead and bring Sonata back. The rest of us will stay here and watch the others. AJ, bring Soft with you, in case things get rough."

Applejack snorted softly, "'Rest of us' just leaves you, sugarcube. You going to be alright?"

Twilight nodded, "I'll be fine, now go, in case they found trouble."

The others departed, making quick time for the tree line as survivors began to emerge from the space above the rope. One by one, Twilight helped them to the ground. The one with non-functioning legs proved the most challenging, requiring full support from Twilight to basically carry her down and set her gently on the grass. "Everything's going to be alright," said Twilight with a smile.





Sonata looked around the much darker forest. A glance upwards revealed the thick canopy that blocked most of the sun from reaching the leaf-strewn ground. She picked her way through the roots, "Here kitty kitty. Come on out, your mom's waiting for you..."

After several minutes of calling, there was a rustling in some undergrowth near her. Rather than the purrsian kitten she was looking for, however, it was Lex that emerged from the shadowy undergrowth. His eyes narrowed as they locked onto her. "There you are! What were you thinking, running off like that?!" He made no effort to censor his anger; this mare was throwing him off-balance more and more, and he was beginning to tire of it!

Sonata smiled at Lex, "Oh, did they send you to help? That kitten got lost, Sunflower was it? Like I could use another set of eyes." She waved a hoof, "You can yell at me later if that makes you happy." Her eyes rolled as she turned away from him and began stepping further into the forest. A sound drew their attention. It was a young war cry, followed by an immense roar. "Found him!" Sonata took off at a trot, almost stumbling as she tried to hurry through the underbrush.

Lex followed her, biting back a series of blistering invectives as he tried to keep up with her. Finding the missing member of their party came first, but once that was done he was apparently going to need to remind Sonata what an imbecile she was - running off into the wilderness on her own only further showcased that she needed somepony to do her thinking for her. Did she not realize how incredibly dangerous going off on her own was?

They moved as quickly as they could, soon emerging into a small clearing where a great shaggy creature was just prying Sunflower from its back. It looked something like a bat, but very... not. It raised a hand high, ready to smash the kitten on the ground. "Stop!" shouted Sonata, and it did, freezing right in place with the kitten dangling. Sunflower wriggled out of the immobile hand and quickly dashed down its body, scampering towards Sonata in a hurry.

Lex frowned. He had seen myriad different creatures since arriving in Everglow, but that thing wasn't something he recognized, which meant that they were at a disadvantage. "We've found him, now let's get back to the others." He turned around, hoping that they could find their way back as easily as they'd found Sunflower. Glancing around, he called on Sombra's power again to enhance his senses, just in case that creature had others of its kind nearby.

Sonata nodded softly before she looked at the creature, "You should, like, totally go hunt on the other side of the forest. Blink if you agree." The creature blinked, but otherwise remained still. "Perfect!" She trotted away with Sunflower on her back, "Which way?"

Though the way was difficult for Sonata to see in the dim light, the way was clear before Lex, a winding path that led towards freedom. Following that path for only a few seconds brought new sounds to their ears.

"Are you sure they went this way?" came the voice of Rainbow.

"Pretty sure," responded Spike, "Soft?"

The group came into view, with Soft collaborating her findings in the forest soil, "Definately hoof prints."

Lex blinked in surprise, before hurriedly allowing Sombra's power to dissipate. Hopefully the dim light had concealed the state of his eyes. The last thing he wanted was to have to explain himself to the rest of this motley crew. Still... "I wasn't expecting to see you lot out here," he admitted, eyeing them with grudging respect. They might have had underdeveloped value systems, but their presence here showed that they understood the principle of taking care of their own. Maybe there was hope for them yet.

Spike spotted Lex first, his own vision keen enough to pierce through the darkness easily, "Oh hey! He did make it."

"Who made it?" asked Applejack before Spike lifted and drifted forward to greet Lex and Sonata. 

Sonata reached out a hoof and tapped Spike on his nose, which began to glow softly. "Way better. I knew you guys would come for us!"

Spike smiled at Sonata, "We wouldn't leave a friend behind, uh, well I guess we did, but we came back!"

Sunflower clambered over Sonata's withers, looking at the glowing dragon and his friends, "You have interesting friends, miss Sonata."

"Let's hurry up and get back to the others," snorted Lex. For some reason the interplay between the dragon and the sea pony was irritating him. He chalked it up to fatigue as he moved past them. "I want to get them out of danger as quickly as possible."

Sonata stuck out a tongue at Lex, "Yes sir, mister grouchy pants."

Sunflower helpfully pointed out, "He has more pants than you do, Miss Sonata. My dad wears pants all the time. He says no proper cat should be without a good set of pants."

Sonata nodded lightly as she moved towards the barely visible light of freedom, "He's right, we should totally split." And so they did, marching side-by-side out of the gloom and back onto the mountainside. Twilight raised a hoof, waving at them in the distance. Soon the two groups had become one large mob of mostly ponies.

Twilight tugged the yarn out of the air with her magic, or tried at least. The rope refused to budge and she gave up on it swiftly. "Alright, gather back together, check." A paper drifted up before she marked another box clear, "Now let's go back to Yi Sheng. Whoever put that rope up there, last chance to get it."

Lex frowned, and with a gesture the rope collapsed to the ground. "It's served its purpose." Speaking of which...

"Sonata. I want to talk to you." He moved back from the others, still within sight of them but far enough away that their voices wouldn't carry if they were kept down.

Sonata perked, then trotted over, "What's up?" Her eyes half-lidded, "Are you going to yell again? I've been yelled at enough, K? I survived a few months without anyone yelling at me." She attempted to approach him, "We're in good company again, so let it go and let's get someplace that has a bathroom, for real."

"Don't you tell me to let it go. I want an answer to my original question: what were you thinking, taking off like that? Because I'm finding it hard to believe that you were able to survive for months if that's the sum total of your common sense!" he held his ground as she approached, refusing to back down. It was time to put this issue to rest, once and for all.

Sonata pointed to Sunflower, who was with Willow again, "I couldn't let him get gobbled up by whatever that was. I totally handled that thing anyway. I'm not helpless," She snorted softly, "And I'm not stupid. Yeah I shoulda had you come with me, in case it was bigger and meaner, but you keep shouting at me!"

"That's not the point!" His raised voice caused several pairs of eyes to turn towards them, and that in conjunction with what she'd just said was enough to make him pause to collect himself. "That's not the point," he repeated, more quietly this time. "The point is that you need to consider the consequences of your actions. What if that thing had been bigger and meaner? You wouldn't have saved that kitten and you'd be hurt, or even dead, and it would have been my fault!" Despite his attempt to keep himself under control, he could feel a familiar frustration rising. Why couldn't anypony ever understand what he was trying to tell them?

Sonata looked ready to argue, but her expression softened a little. She smiled and leaned forward, going for a kiss on Lex's head, "That's the sweetest thing anyone ever said. Thanks." Looking entirely satisfied, she moved to prance back towards the rest of the group as if nothing had happened at all.

Had she looked back, she'd have seen the completely stupefied look on his face, eyes wide and mouth gaping. What had brought that on? Why had she suddenly reacted like that? Her mercurial nature was maddening!

Huffing, he started to follow her back to the others. At least she hadn't argued the point, so maybe he'd gotten through to her. In fact, that had been the most positive interaction he'd had with her since he'd taken her to task this morning. Frowning as he tried to puzzle out why that was, he thought back to what Willow had told him earlier. "Sonata?" he called out to her on a whim.

Sonata paused in her step, giving Lex a chance to catch up with her, "What's up?" Despite the heavy thoughts going on in Lex, she remained optimistic and cheerful. A sudden thought came to her and she smiled, "I'll put in a good word with Twilight. You were totes amazing with the others. I don't know what I woulda done if I was on my own."

Lex paused for a split second before replying, "I think you're pretty."

Sonata blinked, expression going vacant for a moment before a giggle escaped her, "Oh you are the best!" Her expression turned a little more serious as she seemed to consider something. "This is going to sound totally weird, but I think you're the first guy to say that without magic involved in a long time. I've been called nice, and stupid, and a good swimmer... graceful once!" She half-lidded her eyes, "But not pretty."

"I think you're pretty," said Sunflower, clambering up Sonata's side. 

Sonata snorted and grabbed the kitten in her mouth, putting him down. "We're having a totes serious adult conversation here. Go hang out with your mother, she missed you." She looked back at Lex, "What part do you think is prettiest?" This was going to be a long, possibly awkward, hike to Yi Sheng.