Lower Canterlot
Royal Meeting Tent
This time Applejack was sitting behind the table with an alert Rainbow Dash in a wheelchair and the Princesses. Scry, Skybreeze, and Far were there along with a white bunny with black beady eyes and an earth pony. Two pegasus guards in silvery gray armor stood in the corners. Princess Celestia nodded as Nga'Devro and Margot walked through the door. It took a few seconds for them to find seats. Margot peered at Scry, she looked like she hadn’t rested in a while. Her brown eyes were sunken into her face.
“Scry, are you alright?” Margot said with concern.
Scry looked at Margot. “There’s no time to rest, too much to do.”
“Scry, you have done a lot for us. Please take some time out to rest,” Princess Luna said. Scry just looked away.
Rainbow Dash squirmed in her chair, making it squeak in protest. “Princess Celestia, what do you think about my report that the shriekers are made in a factory? We need to get back there and take it out before they replace the ones we killed and come for us here!”
Princess Celestia turned and gazed at Rainbow. “You’ve made a good point, but even if we threw everything at the factory, we could be leaving ourselves open to a counter attack.”
Princess Luna looked at Celestia and then Rainbow. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there were traps. Stumbling blindly into traps isn’t good strategy. I also agree that something needs to be done, but first we should get all of the Elements of Harmony.”
“Let’s discuss this matter later after we have had time to think more on it,” Princess Celestia said then she glanced at Applejack. Rainbow sat back in her chair.
“Okay. Scry and Mahgot, can you do that viewing spell again? We’ll need it to track Fluttershy,” Applejack said while looking over the other guests.
“Wait, I need some paper, quills and ink. I could make a map if I can see enough landmarks,” Far said.
Princess Celestia waved at a guard. “I need a cartographer’s pack.” The guard nodded and left the room.
“Before Ah forget, Mahgot, the Prophetess would like to see you tomorrow morning. She will send a guard to fetch you,” Applejack said.
“No problem,” Margot said while looking at Scry.
“My sister doesn’t look well,” Skybreeze said with lowered ears.
“Don’t worry, sister, I am fine,” Scry said as she glared back at her sister.
“Mahgot and Scry, can you do the viewing spell again? We need to see what happened to Fluttershy,” Applejack said.
Scry started the spell, which flickered a bit before it stabilized. Margot added the parts that looked through the past. It seemed like the amount of magical energy she was getting from Scry wasn’t steady. Margot added more power to smooth out the image.
“First let’s focus on Ponyville several months ago, then I will tell you how to get to Fluttershy’s cabin,” Applejack said while she looked eagerly at the floating image. The scene shifted from a bustling Ponyville to a cottage at the edge of town. There were assorted pens and coops for different animals. As Applejack tried to get the exact time when the enemy tried to trick Fluttershy, the group was treated to scenes of Fluttershy doing her routine and chatting outside with friends. Finally Applejack found the right moment with Rainbow’s help.
“There, AJ! That’s it!” Rainbow yelled while pointing frantically with her left forehoof at the image. The wheelchair creaked as Rainbow moved around. The image showed a scene where Fluttershy was facing an empty space. Even Angel was facing the same area.
“Can you move in closer so we all can hear what they’re saying?” Applejack said.
Scry zoomed in, but before she stopped, Rainbow told her to hold position.
“Hey! Do you see that green blur?” Rainbow said.
“Where?” Applejack said.
“Right there!” Rainbow Dash said while she pointed her right forehoof at the blur. Her wheelchair creaked louder as Rainbow bounced in her seat.
“I see it! What is it? ‘Tia do you see it?” Luna said while she peered closer at the floating image.
“I see it Luna. Scry, can I sense magic from this image?”
Margot looked at Scry. She did not look like she could maintain the spell for much longer. Scry was wobbling on her hooves and her eyes were half closed.
Scry opened her eyes. “Huh, I don’t know if I can.” Margot walked over to Scry.
“Teach me what I need to know to maintain the spell. You need to get some rest,” Margot said.
Scry sighed. “I wish I could do that, but I am so tired. I will try to help with finding Fluttershy.”
“Fine. Let’s follow Fluttershy and see what happens,” Applejack said. A few minutes later, a guard came in with a cartographer’s pack. Far grabbed it from the guard and started working on a rough map. Scry sped up the time in the image so they could see what happened. Halfway to the Everfree forest, Angel stopped and pointed back at the cottage. Scry zoomed in closer so they could hear what Fluttershy said.
“Angel bunny, why are we stopping?” Fluttershy asked. Angel shook his head.
Fluttershy looked at an empty spot on the ground. “Greypaw needs our help!” Angel thrust his left paw at Fluttershy then he pointed at himself and then he pointed back at the cottage.
“Angel Bunny, I’m so surprised at you! You know that I can’t just ignore an animal that needs my help!” Fluttershy said with narrowed eyes. Then she looked at the ground next to her. “Don’t worry, Greypaw, I will help or at least see how bad things are and get my friends to help.”
Angel looked up to Fluttershy with a pleading look in his eyes, but Fluttershy did not look back at him. She just ran toward the dark green looming forest. Margot noticed that Angel watched the image.
Scry advanced the time until Fluttershy was in the Everfree Forest, then things took a dark turn. Fluttershy was walking among some trees and then several strange looking creatures loped into view. To Margot, they looked like someone tied bundles of faded or drained brownish gray branches in the shape of wolves. The leaves were red or orange, but the creature’s eyes had that poisonous Gleaner green glow.
“Graypaw look out! There are timberwolves here!” Fluttershy said then she looked down. Almost everypony could see the look of surprise on Fluttershy’s face when she saw the bunny was gone. The one pony that couldn’t see the image was Scry. Then the image faded away.
“Hey, we need the image back! I need to know what happened to Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash said.
Scry collapsed to the ground. When Margot saw Scry fall, she feared the worst but a quick scan of her vitals just showed a lot of exhaustion.
Applejack faced Margot. “Can you do what Scry did so we can find out more?”
“No, I just added the part that looks into the past. Scry did all of the heavy lifting. I can make a spell that will show the past, but I will take me at least several hours to make the equipment,” Margot said.
“Well, we don’t have several hours!” Rainbow said.
“Princess Luna, since you enter ponies’ dreams, have you seen any of Fluttershy’s?” Rainbow said.
“Well, you are assuming that Fluttershy sleeps well enough to dream. She may be too scared to rest at all. To answer your question, no. I haven’t sensed any dreams from any of the missing Elements of Harmony except for you and Applejack. I’m not sure why. They could be awake or maybe not in Equestria or maybe my magic is being blocked,” Luna said then her ears drooped.
“We still have one more thing to try. We can ask Angel, he might know something,” Celestia suggested. She pointed at a guard. “Please transport Scry to the hospital.” The guard nodded and left the room.
Applejack faced the earth pony. He had a brown coat with a brown mane and tail. His eyes were also brown. The pony’s cutie mark had a series of different paw prints in it. He bowed.
“My name is Beast Tongue. What do you wish of me?” Beast said.
“We wish to talk to Angel, the white bunny there,” Applejack said while she pointed at Angel.
Beast walked up to Angel and tried to put his left fore hoof on his head. Angel backed up shaking his head.
“I need to touch you for my talent to work. You do want to help us find Fluttershy?” Beast said while trying to touch Angel. Then Beast just stopped and stuck out his left fore hoof. Angel walked up to Beast and touched his hoof.
“Do you understand me Angel?” Applejack said.
“Yes,” Beast/Angel said. Margot thought it was strange to hear a bunny’s squeaky voice come out of a pony’s mouth.
“Can you tell us what you saw, the day Fluttershy went missing?” Applejack said.
Angel looked around and nodded. “Yeah, I can do that. It was late morning when this strange grayish brown bunny with green eyes shows up. Lookin’ at that creepo creature made the fur rise up on my back. Fluttershy shows up and she is all, “Poor little bunny, do you need help?” If it was up to me, I would slow down and ask that funny bunny more questions, but Fluttershy decides the poor thing needs help. Oh yeah, the funny bunny’s name is Greypaw. Fluttershy is sooo lucky she has me to keep her safe. Anyway we head off to the Everfree forest. Halfway there, the weirdness factor just is too much for me. I don’t know why but I didn’t want to be around that Greypaw anymore. I wanted to keep an eye on Fluttershy, but I got that deep down feeling that I was in major trouble if I kept on travelin down that road. I tried to warn Fluttershy but she wasn’t having any of that. So, I went back to the cottage. After what I saw in that magic spell, I kinda wish that I was there to help.”
“No, Angel. You couldn’t handle timberwolves by yourself,” Applejack said. Angel just looked down. An unicorn and an earth pony came into the tent with a gurney. The unicorn levitated Scry onto the gurney, then the earth pony pulled the gurney out the door.
Princess Luna leaned in toward Angel. “Angel, do you know where Fluttershy is?”
“Yes, she’s in an area inside the forest. I can show the map pony. Fluttershy sent some animals to the cottage. They told me where she is,” Angel said.
“Great, we don’t have to wander around and deal with all of the ornery critters in the Everfree,” Applejack said with a relieved look on her face. Her ears drooped. “I’m sorry that we didn’t get back to you, Angel, after Fluttershy went missing. The Gleaners attacked Ponyville and then Cheerilee sent me and Rainbow to Lower Canterlot.”
“Hey, no problem. I had to hitch a ride on a caravan to Lower Canterlot,” Angel said.
“Applejack, I will provide two squads of Royal Guards to help you. One extra squad will fly your team to the area. I leave the rest of the planning to you and Rainbow,” Princess Celestia said.
“No problem Princess, we will have Fluttershy back tomorrow,” Rainbow said with a smile.
Margot glanced at Skybreeze, she looked back.
“Get some rest. Y’all are dismissed except for the Map-” Applejack said, but was interrupted by Far.
“That’s Far Traveler or Far. Not Map Pony,” Far said.
“Whatever. All of you are dismissed!” Applejack said.
While Skybreeze, Margot and Nga'Devro walked back to the Royal Guest tents, it seemed that Skybreeze read Margot’s mind.
“I wonder if that green blur is Empress Razorhoof? Will we meet her in the Everfree forest?” Skybreeze said.
“I hope not, I barely survived the last time. Are there books on Enchantment Magic?” Margot said.
“I don’t know. It’s not an area of interest for me, but I guess we’ll need to study Enchantment Magic,” Skybreeze said.
“Nga'Devro can ask some changeling loreweavers to see if they know,” Nga'Devro said.
“Thanks, Nga'Devro,” Margot said, then she sighed. The ponies traveled to their tents in silence while they wrestled with their thoughts. Margot wondered what she would find out from the Prophetess tomorrow. When she lay in her sleeping bag, she didn’t worry too much. Sleep took her worries away.