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// 24 - A Little Help 
// Story: Tarnished Silver and Clouded Diamonds 
// by David Silver 
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One morning, a soft clopping came from the door. Pinkie bounced over and pulled it open to reveal a little pony wearing priestly robes. She smiled brightly at Pinkie. "Hello. Is Silver Spoon in?" The blue pony sat up on her haunches. "It's very important, miss."

Pinkie tilted her head. "Oh sure, she's right over there. I'm Pinkie, what's your name?"

The short one smiled at the introduction. "I'm Blue. It's nice to meet you. Luminace bids us to make friends whenever possible." She held out a small hoof, and Pinkie met it with a soft clop. They were friends, and that was settled.

Silver looked up from her book. "Who are you talking to?" She saw the pony wearing a clear Luminace holy symbol and her interest spiked. She set her book aside and trotted up beside Pinkie. "Hi there!"

Blue smiled back. "You're looking well today, Silver Spoon. I've been bid to journey with you on a very important task." She pointed at Silver Spoon, then herself. "We are both servants of Luminace, so we should help each other out. The kingdom needs our help, or it will fall completely to darkness."

Pinkie frowned a little. "That sounds super bad. How can we stop that?"

Blue clopped her forehooves together. "We are defiances of destiny! We can change what was meant to be. The short legs should be dead. Equestrians should not be here, and Equestrians should not be worshipping Everglow gods, and yet, all of these things have happened." She placed a hoof at her belly. "There will even be one more generation of short leg. I'm not sure of it beyond that, but at least one more."

Pinkie gasped loudly. "We have to throw a foal shower! Wait, how young are you? You look way too small to be doing that..."

Blue giggled softly at Pinkie's concern. "I'm about as large as I'll ever be, miss Pie. I'm old enough to have a coltfriend, but that's beside the point. If we are to succeed, I will need the help of as many destiny defiers as possible, preferably those that side with friendship and goodness."

Silver pointed at herself. "I like both of those things. Luminace has been, like, really good to me. What do we need to do?"

Diamond Tiara was drawn to all the conversation. "What are you all talking about?"

Pinkie pointed at Blue. "We're gonna save the day, I think?" She tilted her head at Blue. "What do we need to do exactly?"

Blue was looking all the more excited as people rallied behind her cause so willingly. "The pony empire is facing dark times ahead, but we can help. We're not... We're not supposed to exist, but we do. We can change what should not be changed, to make everyone better." She glanced away. "Luminace is being a little naughty... But it's for a really really good reason."

Gneech joined the crowd, drawn by the ever growing nature of it. "Huh? Is big treasure?"

Diamond pointed at him. "That's my dragon. What's in it for us?"

Silver Spoon frowned a little. "It's for a good reason, Diamond Tiara. Everglow has given us so much already... Can't we give something back without asking for, like, money?"

Diamond Tiara grew an expression of distaste, but she could see Silver Spoon was adamant about it. As much as she liked her comfort and wealth, sending Silver Spoon off on her own... "Fine. I don't want my partner getting hurt the moment she's out of my sight."

Gneech raised a hand. "Where alpha horse goes, Gneech goes."

Blue clopped her hooves excitedly. "Good! We're all together! I'm very excited." She looked to DT and Gneech. "I'm Blue. Like Silver Spoon, I worship Princess Luminace. She's a very kind goddess that wants us to be good friends to everyone around us, so I'm looking forward to being your friends too."

Diamond Tiara pulled free the handaxe she never surrendered. "Someone has to keep this group moving in the right direction. So what's your plan, small pint?"

"Blue," Blue corrected without realizing the insult intended. "She talks to me through scraps of books I find, which isn't perfect, but it works. We have to find the Queen first. She is hiding, somewhere. Without finding her, we lose."

Pinkie frowned a little. "She helped us out last time. Why can't we get her to come to the big castle over there?" She pointed towards castle that resided in Viljatown.

Blue shook her head quickly. "She feels the... She's dying. She waited too long, hoped too hard. She will die with no suitable heir."

Diamond raised a brow. "She never got a king?"

Blue let out a little sigh. "Every stallion she met only wanted her attention because of what she could offer them." Blue dug out a book from a saddlebag and set it down. "Here, the collected thoughts on a historian that made it his life's ambition to follow the Queen at every opportunity. She tried dating a few times, and every time she ended up with a broken heart. She wanted love, but that's hard to get when you're the queen of the largest empire in the world."

Pinkie Pie frowned a little. "Gosh. If I was there before, I would have helped her out. She's a super nice mare. She deserves a good stallion."

Silver Spoon played with her glasses nervously. "It's totally too late for that. Our job isn't to get her a date now."

Gneech held up a finger. "So we find new queen?"

Blue pointed at Gneech. "Yes! You are a very clever person, Gneech." Gneech looked quite pleased at the compliment. "We must find out her plans for a successor, and help her as best we can, but first, we have to find her."

Diamond Tiara tucked her axe away. "Why don't we start by hiring the best wizards bits can buy and getting them to find her?"

Blue tilted her head. "She is also a spellcaster, and has become very talented at not being found."

Diamond waved a hoof idly. "That's why we pay big. I know you're not in this for the money, but she's a Queen. If we help her out, she'll compensate me the money." Or else, thought Diamond Tiara with a little frown.

Blue shook her head. "We have another idea before that... Princess Luminace has bade us to recover the book of my god."

Silver blinked at Blue. "I thought your god was Princess Luminace."

Blue put a hoof over her heart. "I have dedicated myself to her, yes, but this other goddess... She gave birth to the short legs. She is our god, of our entire race. I... can't argue that, but I know almost nothing about her. We have to rescue her book from her enemies. Kara has it, and she won't let go of it lightly. If we have it, we will further fracture destiny itself, and we may yet change the way things will flow."

Diamond leaned forward. "I'm liking the sound of this." She clopped her hooves together. "We're going to do something ponies say can't be done. I'm getting used to that. So where do all these 'Kara' folk live?"

Blue pointed off to the east. "Our first destination, the city of lies, Blevik. It is infested with doppelgangers, but not all of them, and not all of them are evil, but enough that we will... We should be very careful."

Pinkie looked to the other ponies with her. "Dopplegangers are kinda like changelings, but not really. They're a lot smarter, and not a..." she put her hooves close together. "What do you call it when they're all together? Like bees? Hive mind! They don't have any of that."

Silver Spoon shook her head a little. "I remember when they took over Ponyville, yuck, it was the worst. Do they make those icky pods?"

Blue shook her head. "They don't have any pods that I'm aware of?"

Diamond shook her head. "Look, let's just assume they aren't anything like what we know. It's confusing things more than it's helping." She pointed at Blue. "What do you know for sure?"

Blue smiled in agreement. "Yes. They're shapeshifting ponies. A lot of them live in Blevik. Many of them are just, you know, ponies, but you can't tell which is which. I don't know too much more, except their goddess is Kara, and she doesn't like my goddess, which is why her people stole the book away. The book was supposed to stay lost, another fracture of destiny."

Pinkie tapped at her chin a moment before she reached out and pulled Blue into the room and slapped the door shut behind her. "Well it sounds like we're going to have a big full day ahead of us! Join us for breakfast?" She didn't really wait to head a reply as she started guiding Blue towards the dining area and busied herself cooking for everyone.

Diamond slipped closer to Silver. "Good, let them worry about breakfast. Personally? I'm not going out without supplies. Come on, Silver Spoon, we're going to adventure like the rich ponies we are."

Gneech looked hopeful as he moved to follow. "Maybe Gneech get something good too? Gneech use it for alpha horse."

Diamond Tiara threw one leg around Silver Spoon and the other foreleg around Gneech as she walked along. "Yeah yeah. We can't have anypony in this group looking like a slob." She knew the value of a well-equipped minion, and she had no intention of being as underprepared as they were the first time they ran into danger.

Back in the room, Pinkie looked up to find herself alone with Blue. "Huh... They must not have been hungry. It's just you and me." She plucked up Blue and tossed her into the air. The little pony squealed in fright and excitement, but Pinkie caught her and set her back down. "I'll fill that little belly of yours up and we'll get ready to go, alright?"

Blue smiled brightly. "Yes ma'am, Miss Pinkie Pie. I think Luminace would favor you, miss. You're so full of friendship. Do you like to read?"

Pinkie tilted her head. "Not my favorite thing in the whole world, but I like a good mystery novel, and cook books let you make tasty yummy new things!"

Blue brought her forehooves together gently. "Good enough. It will be a pleasure working with you."