//------------------------------// // Side Op // Story: Mission Impossible: Diamond Dancer's Dilema // by RarityEQM //------------------------------// Sweetie Belle winced when she saw Dee-Dee again later that night. The little silver filly was prancing in place, in front of the entrance to the forest mumbling to herself. Psyching herself up. Sweetie realized as she, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom approached the playground. Dee Dee was going to go through with it... "All right, remember the plan ya'll. Goin' into the Everfree forest at night, is a bad idea. We talk her out of it no matter what!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, to echoing nods from both Sweetie and Scootaloo. "This is totally insane. I can't believe Diamond even suggested that." Scootaloo sighed. Sweetie nodded her head. "I can't believe Dee-Dee accepted. We've gotta stop this before somepony gets hurt." She added. Again there were nods all around as the group strolled up to Dee-Dee. A cheerful gasp escaped the filly giving away her wild surprise that the Cutie Mark Crusaders actually showed up. She offered all of them a bright and brilliant smile, while Apple Bloom and the others frowned. "Hey, Dee-Dee. Uh, listen, we've been thinkin'" Apple Bloom began, but Dee-Dee cut her off with a wide and confident smile. "Me too! I know what you'se gonna say. 'Dis is way too dangerous' and I couldn't agree more!" Dee-Dee squeaked, and giggled at the sighs of relief and the slumping shoulder of the three other fillies. "Really?! Hahaha whew, that's a relief! We were afraid you were gonna go through with it! We told out parents we were having a sleepover in the clubhouse tonight, you wanna come?" Apple Bloom beamed happily. To her ultimate dismay, Dee-Dee turned back towards the forest with a smug grin. "Naw, I'm spendin' da night in da castle!" The plucky filly smirked. Sweetie Belle instantly shook her head, darting in front of Dee-Dee to wedge herself between the filly and the forest. "Y-You just said it was too dangerous!" She exclaimed. Dee-Dee however, simply shook her head. "Uh, yeah. Too dangerous for you'se guys. Not me. I'm a Soyvent of Shadow remembah? I said I was gonna spend da night, in dare, so I'll spend da night in dare. You'se guys don't worry bout me. !" Dee-Dee explained and side stepped Sweetie Belle. Without another word she marched headstrong into the Everfree forest and vanished into the darkness. "W-Wait! Dee-Dee! DIamond Dancer!" Scootaloo called, but the other filly was already gone. The trio exchanged nervous glances and Apple Bloom hesitantly took a step towards the forest. "Alright, I'm goin' in after her. Ya'll go tell Applejack!" Apple Bloom explained, trying to cobble together a plan as quickly as possible. Things were going wildly astray insanely quickly. She'd really hoped Dee-Dee would see reason and not take the stupid dare and while she was going to kick herself for this in the morning, Apple Bloom was not about to sit idly by and watch somepony get seriously hurt. They could have had a fun night all sleeping over in the club house. She sighed, shooting a puzzled glance at Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, who hadn't moved an inch. "We're not letting you go in there alone. Cutiemark Crusaders forever!" She yelled like a warcry. For what they were about to do, it might as well have been one. *<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>* The darkness of the forest was overwhelming. Like some sort of living, breathing all consuming shadow and enveloped everything; from the trees to the ground. It was all darkness. Not that Dee-Dee seemed to mind. Or even notice. She marched along confidently as if she were in her own home. Cautiously the three other fillies followed behind her. They had tried to talk Dee-Dee into spending the night with them instead of a drafty old castle, but Dee-Dee turned out to be painfully stubborn. No she was determined to do this, like it were some sort of mission. After a good ten minutes of pleading and realizing it was hopeless, the trio reluctantly followed Dee-Dee deeper into the forest. Dee-Dee seemed much more relaxed than she did before, chipper and far more upbeat. Sweetie Belle wondered idly, if it was because she was out during the night instead of the day. "Soooooo......are.......you from Manehatten? You sound a little bit like my cousin Babs." Apple Bloom chuckled nervously, as they walked along. She figured even if they weren't in the club house, having popcorn and smores, they could still get to learn about Dee-Dee. "Yeah, but Babs is comprehensible." Scootaloo snickered quietly and was immediately elbowed by Sweetie Belle, who snickered too. Dee-Dee's ears flickered, and for a moment, Scootaloo was afraid she overheard them, but if she did, she made no mention of it. "Sure am! I left cause I wanted to meet princess Luna! Came all by myself, too! "She explained proudly. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo exchanged glances before Scootaloo sped up to walk in step with Dee-Dee. "So aren't your parents worried about you? I mean, being in the Night Court, all those dangerous missions you were talking about, coming all the way from Manehatten by yourself?" The orange pegasus asked. Dee-Dee shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Maybe if I had any. " She said crisply and continued walking without breaking stride. Oh. Sweetie Belle, who was exceedingly good at finding new topics of conversation smiled nervously and stepped up to join Dee-Dee's other side. "So, heh, Dee-Dee, what exactly IS a Servant of Shadow?" She asked quietly. Scootaloo immediately perked her ears. The conversation suddenly much more interesting than the previous had been. "Yeah, I've heard they were like some super secret group that has to do with Luna, but I've only heard rumors. Do you really travel through shadows and feed bad fillies to Luna?" she asked. Dee-Dee hunched forward with a sharp snicker and quickly shook her head. "What, really? Don't tell me you'se believe dat junk! Da Soyvents of Shadow are Luna's royal court. I mean, you'se see Celestia's court every day, right? She's got da treasurer, advisers, lawyers. Da woyks, ya know? Well, Princess Luna don't need none of dat stuff, it all happens durin' da day anyway. She runs da night and patrols dreams and stuff. But sometimes she needs stuff done for her, while shes doin' dat. Dat, is what da Soyvents of Shadow do: whatevah Princess Luna needs. We soyve da princess of shadows, get it? I yam one of Luna's Top monstah huntahs and we don't kidnap fillies to feed dem to Luna! We're not even secret, but we don't get talked about a whole lot cause all da stuff we do is at night." Dee-Dee explained. Scootaloo's face lit up with an eager grin. Ok, honestly, that sounded kind of cool. And it made sense, but that still didn't explain why Luna would have chosen Dee-Dee to join. "Really?! What about all that stuff about being specially trained?" She asked as Dee-Dee lead them through the blackened trees and shadowy flora. "Uh...Y-Yeah, of course we're specially trained. Sometimes da night, can be much much more dangerous den da day." She explained and froze, her ears twitching gently. The three fillies all stopped behind her, waiting patiently while she looked left and right, and furrowed her brow. "...What?" Apple Bloom frowned, but Dee-Dee didn't seem to be listening. Not to her at least. She'd narrowed her eyes and perked her ears gazing into the darkness back the way they came. She stepped forward, then two, then three steps all the while listening tensely. Apple Bloom perked her ears too, but all she heard were frogs and crickets in the distance. Dee-Dee seemed like she was listening to something very specific but Apple Bloom couldn't quite tell what. She leaned forward peering into the darkness before she took a slow step back. "Dare is someding following us," she said ominously. Instantly the Crusaders were on high alert; bodies tense and ears perked ready to run at the slightest sight of some horrific monster. Dee-Dee didn't look alarmed in the slightest. She did however, look extremely confused. "A-Actually...is dat...is dat a chicken?" Dee-Dee asked in confusion, gesturing down the path where the other Crusaders looked. Sure enough, in the darkness of the forest and the night, there was an ebony silhouette of a chicken standing on the path. It wasn't moving, but the Crusaders seemed horrified. "Dats weird. Ain't dat weird? Now why is dare a chicken in da forest?" Dee-Dee murmured and squeaked when Apple Bloom violently shoved her forward.Gogogogogogo! "THAT IS NOT A CHICKEN! MOVE IT!" She shrieked, barreling down the path as fast as her legs would go, Scootaloo, Sweetie, and Dee-Dee following right behind. The group threw themselves through the darkness running wildly down the darkened paths- and right into a timber wolf.