Chapter 6: Uncertainties
Twilight yawned and woke from her slumber rather slowly. After all the goings on the evening before, it had actually been hard to fall asleep. Still, Twilight opened her eyes to behold sunlight. She smiled, happy that Luna had succeeded in raising the sun.
The others were still asleep, all except for George who stood vigilantly, watching out for occultists or other dangers that might decide to seek out the Drudges.
Stretching a little, Twilight got up and approached George. “Good morning.”
“Morning,” he answered stiffly, not even looking at her. He didn’t seem to be in a particularly good mood and it made Twilight feel a little awkward.
“So… it looks like Luna raised the sun all right.”
“Yes. It rose five minutes late, but it did rise.”
Twilight sighed. Nothing ever satisfied George did it? It made her feel sympathetic of Trixie who must have gone through quite a lot dealing with him as her father. In that light, she didn’t seem quite as vain as she appeared, having such a high standard to live up too, despite not being as talented as him as a magician. It hadn’t even seemed to bother him that she had been diamondized back in Canterlot.
Sighing again, Twilight realized it was actually around midmorning. George had let them sleep in a bit. “George, shouldn’t we have gotten up earlier? We need to make sure we stay ahead of those occultists.”
“I kind of thought so too, but I haven’t seen any sign of them, not even pegasi. It seems that whatever Rarity did last night actually worked.”
Had he let them sleep so he could test it? Not only was that reckless, but potentially dangerous too. They had no idea how many of the occultists were out there. Of course, Rarity had told the occultists to wait at the inn for a day but still. Before Twilight could speak her mind on the matter though, George started talking again.
“This is uncanny. I’ve lived my life to protect the world from the Drudges and yet, here I am being protected by a unicorn who only just heard of the Drudges yesterday. And she did it by listening to one of them think? What does that even mean? Did she figure out something the rest of us don’t know?”
He was asking Twilight for answers? She still had her own questions for him.
“I don’t know how any of that works, but since you’re supposed to be the expert on the subject, I have to ask you something else about Rarity.” George finally turned his gaze to her. “Rarity is a unicorn like any other and her unicorn magic is normal to. But last night, we found out that her magic ability increased exponentially. She even beat me at magic arm wrestling.”
This time, George’s eyebrows rose. That had certainly gotten a reaction out of him. “Her magic is stronger than yours?” Twilight nodded. “I’ve heard from Celestia that you have a raw talent for magic, unsurpassed by any unicorn she has ever seen. Is that also true?” Twilight nodded more hesitantly, embarrassed to admit to such a thing. George looked straight ahead again and was silent for a few moments.
Then he sighed, loudly. “Thank you for calling me an expert, but to be honest, I have no idea why that happened to her. I know the Drudges are known to give power to their hosts from time to time, like Isis did with Princess Luna, but it was always for more dubious reasons. To give her that added ability while he’s still regaining his own power… I admit it. I have no idea. I’ve never even heard of Salamander doing that till now.”
The Great and Powerful George admitting a lack of knowledge? Twilight was shocked more so by his actual admittance than the answer itself.
“What do you know about the relationship between the Drudges and their hosts? Do you know of any kind of side effects at all? I think it would help to know.”
George looked at her again, this time looking a bit more serious. “I’m not sure about specific effects but I am growing a bit concerned about the effects the Drudges are having on them so far and how quickly. Especially where Rarity and Davenport are concerned. I know I spoke about it in Canterlot, but all this about the hosts hearing them talk and such is completely new to me and I’ve been studying them for almost my entire life. Isis even spoke to us through Davenport. It’s taken me completely by surprise.” He slowly shook his head.
“Yeah. I don’t see how anypony could have expected that. George, did you notice that Rarity kept calling the Drudge hers, as if she owned it?”
“I did. Davenport said it once or twice too. They’ve both started calling the Drudges by name otherwise and neither of them did that before those occultists showed up. As for Fluttershy, I don’t know if it’s something in her nature that makes her immune or if Rip Van Winkle is really just that lazy, but so far, she seems totally unaffected by him.”
“I’d rather believe it’s just Fluttershy. She’s too kind to fall into the control of the Drudges.”
She wished she could say the same for Rarity. Before she went to sleep, Rarity had had a twenty-minute conversation, or rather argument, with Salamander. Twilight didn’t know if that really meant anything other than the fact that Rarity and the Drudge didn’t get along very well. She could only hope it wasn’t a sign that Salamander was slowly taking control of the white unicorn.
“Is there anything we can do to help?”
George scratched at his scruffy beard. “Finish the epic quest. That’s about it. If there was another answer I knew about, I would have done so already.”
As long as he wasn’t willing to try Isis’s suggestion, then Twilight was fine with that.
“Well come on then,” George suddenly spoke up. “Where’s my breakfast?”
“Excuse me?”
“Breakfast. You don’t expect me to continue the quest on an empty stomach. So get to it, make me some breakfast.”
Twilight facehoofed. And here she thought she was finally connecting with the snobby Mystic.
Most of their food had burned up in the fire. Surprisingly though, it was Burgle who came up with a solution. As if this were nothing new to him, he turned hay, some wild flowers and fruits, and some eggs he had found into a pretty decent and large breakfast. Apparently, eating on the fly was a specialty that most thieves were well versed in.
“Get everything together in the next ten minutes. It should take at least two more days to reach the temple so we need to get on our way.” After filling his belly with the food he complained was not anywhere near fine cuisine, George had started to give orders as if he was running the whole show. Technically he was, but he didn’t have to act so proud of it.
Twilight rolled her eyes before turning to one of the guards. “So what do we have left?”
“You mean with our saddlebag situation?” The guard looked at the bag he was about to pick up. “Well, we have three bedrolls, enough food for half of us to have another full meal, a bunch of quills, a sofa catalog, two of Burgle’s knives, and this.” He pulled out the box Burgle had intended to put the Drudges in. “Fortunately, I was carrying this in my bag. It might be the most important thing we have left.”
Twilight nodded, checking off all the items in a mental checklist. Briefly, she wondered where Davenport had found the sofa catalog, but decided there were more important things to think about. If it was going to take at least two more days to reach the Temple, then finding food would be more important, possibly even more than having the box. With as little vegetation as there seemed to be in this new land, even procuring hay wasn’t going to be easy. Still, maybe Burgle would be able to figure something else out in that regard, though Twilight didn’t like the idea of putting all that responsibility on one pony, especially a reluctant one like Burgle. Of course, they wouldn’t starve in just two days, but it was still a concern. Not to mention water. Fortunately, that seemed to be at least a little more abundant.
Twilight had used her magic to turn some dry wood into canteens. Fluttershy, Davenport, and the other guard were filling them up at a nearby stream, so Twilight decided to go check on them.
When she got to the stream, she saw Davenport filling the canteens, but not the other two.
“Hey Twilight,” Davenport said rather glumly when she approached him. “Sorry again about last night.”
“It’s not like you could have done anything about it,” Twilight said, trying her best to smile. In reality, the whole thing had scared her a bit.
Davenport paused with a canteen still in the water. “I think I get it. Maybe I just didn’t want to believe it, but I get why we’re on this quest. My store is not as important as this, even if it’s sad that other ponies can’t experience the same joy I feel with quills and sofas.” Twilight smirked, actually feeling a little amused for once at Davenport’s strange obsession. Maybe it was good that he could still think about other things. “I don’t know if I should be saying this, but I could hear Isis while I was sleeping last night.”
Twilight winced. It was bad enough that Isis could take control of him at her whim without the poor pony having to listen to her in his dreams.
“Can you tell me anything about it?”
Davenport smiled nervously. “Probably not. I mean really, it was mostly just nonsense to me, but maybe there was something in there I just didn’t understand. You think Isis would get mad if I told you about it?” Abruptly he jumped. “Yeah. I guess she would. Sorry!”
“Forget about it. It’s too dangerous for you to tell me anything that could potentially endanger the Drudges.” Twilight gave him an understanding nod. “I’m sorry you have to be a part of this.”
Davenport pulled the canteen out of the water and shook his head. “No, it’s my own fault. I have to take responsibility. This whole epic quest is happening because of me. If I hadn’t been so dense and realized what Burgle was doing, I never would have ended up in that ventilation shaft and I never would have broken the cases.”
“Well… yeah. That is true.”
Davenport looked at her, seeming a little hurt. “Oh come on, at least blame the thief a little for this. I can’t take all the blame can I?”
“According to George, you can.” Twilight tried to laugh but Davenport just looked miserable. Twilight cut off her fake laugh and cleared her throat. “Actually, if we really want to blame somepony, it’s whoever hired Burgle to steal the Drudges. We still don’t know who that is or how that someone knew the Drudges would be in Canterlot.”
“I don’t blame that someone. In fact, I’m quite grateful that someone was such an idiot.” It didn’t take Twilight even a second to realize that Isis was talking. “You should see the look on your face. Are you having a nice morning, Twilight Sparkle?”
“I sort of was,” Twilight answered, taking a step back. In a defensive reaction, she pulled magic into her horn.
“Oh please, you don’t really expect to beat me with you’re petty magic abilities do you? You really want to risk hurting your precious friend here?”
Twilight let her magic go. “I don’t understand you, Isis. You seem to have a lot of power back, so why aren’t you doing anything to stop us?”
“Twilight, Twilight, Twilight, haven’t you learned anything about provoking the Drudges? That was a really stupid thing to say, don’t you think? Really though, the truth of the matter is I’m enjoying our little game. A thousand years of waiting in a dark cave is really quite boring. I’m guessing I have you and your friends to blame for Discord’s defeat?”
She called this a game? Honestly, she sounded like Discord. If he had really tried, he might have been able to defeat them straight out, but instead he had decided to taunt them all with the crazy game he cooked up and separate them with disharmony. Perhaps that had something to do with the nature of chaos in itself.
“What’s the matter? You don’t want to talk to me anymore? Why, I’m crushed.” Isis laughed. “You ponies really are amusing. However, just to make things even more interesting, let me give you a little heads up on your time limit.”
“Time limit…?”
Abruptly, the canteen Davenport had been filling rose into the air as if lifted by unicorn magic. Twilight saw the Drudge’s eyes light up in blue and the canteen instantly diamondized without the flash Isis had used on Pinkie Pie before.
“My power is not limited to just living matter anymore. But I’m biding my time and waiting to get stronger before I ditch this host and find another more suitable one.” The canteen fell in the stream and Twilight stepped back in shock when a portion of the running water turned to diamond and washed away. “Speaking of such things, tell that stupid Salamander to stop wasting all his power on trifles and insults. He should be more patient like Rip Van Winkle and me. Otherwise he’s going to waste that unicorn away before he gets even a fourth of his power back.”
“Rarity…,”
Twilight looked back at camp where she could just make out her friend talking to the guard that was there. Had she really gained power from Salamander or was Salamander actually using hers every time it made fire? Or could it be that their power had been fused together so Salamander could eat her energy faster?
“It’s only a matter of time before this game ends, Twilight Sparkle. I was thinking about diamondizing the vain and pathetic George, but it might be more satisfying to do you first, especially since you have a connection with Celestia.”
“Isis…” Twilight’s horn ignited in magic again, as she prepared to defend herself.
“Now, now, it wouldn’t be much of a game if I finished you so soon. I just wanted you to know that it’s something to look forward to. Go on back to your friends. Have your little epic quest. Just remember it won’t end well and denial is futile.”
“Twilight!” Davenport jumped. “I’m so sorry. I tried to stop her, I really did.”
Twilight dropped her magic and only then remembered to breath. “I said it’s not your fault. Just… I don’t know. Just hurry up. George wants to leave in ten minutes. Probably more like five now.”
Without giving him a chance to respond, Twilight walked away as fast as she could without looking like she was rushing. She didn’t want to admit it, but she wanted to keep away from Isis. This quest was insane. How could they travel so openly with the Drudges? Any one of them or at least two of them so far, could destroy them at virtually any time. Why either Isis or Salamander had decided to let them travel was a mystery. Could Isis really be amusing herself or was taunting them what was amusing her? That was when Twilight thought about something else she had said. She had talked about Salamander wasting his power, twice now. Salamander had been quite offended by it too. Did that have something to do with it? Were she and the other Drudges being careful and saving up power? She had mentioned being patient.
Twilight was so consumed in her thoughts that she very nearly walked past one of the guards. He wasn’t looking at her, but instead watching Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus was singing and apparently playing with some small local animals.
“Good morning… um… sir,” Twilight said, not sure which of the two guards he was.
“Uh… good morning.” The guard didn’t take his eyes off Fluttershy, looking rather bewildered. “If you don’t mind my asking, what exactly is the young lady… er, Ms. Fluttershy doing?” It must have been Grey. He always seemed to talk funny when it came to Fluttershy.
“I guess she’s befriending the local animals. She’s like that. Ever since I first met her, she’s had a way with animals that is just amazing.” Clearly, Grey was amazed.
“What’s that song she’s singing?”
Twilight listened for a moment. It was the same song she always heard her sing with her animal friends as well as that time long ago when she had cleaned Twilight’s house as a favor for getting a Gala Ticket. “I’m not sure what it’s called, but most animals seem to really like it.”
“It’s a very nice song. She has a very nice voice.”
Twilight stared at the guard who still hadn’t taken his eyes off Fluttershy. Could he be…? If he was, Fluttershy probably hadn’t even noticed. And if she had, she would be too shy to even talk to him, probably.
“Why don’t you just ask her about it yourself?”
“Who, me?” Twilight nodded. “Well… that is…,” Grey clearly started to blush, confirming Twilight’s suspicions of his behavior. “Look! An eagle!” He shouted, pointing to the sky.
Twilight looked. She didn’t see many eagles in Ponyville and was excited at the chance to actually study one.
“Where? I don’t see…” Twilight turned back to Grey but he was gone. She could just make out a dust cloud running back towards camp. “Of all the…” Twilight sighed. It was none of her business so she wasn’t going to get involved.
“Fluttershy!” she called out. The animals Fluttershy had been singing to scurried away. “Oh… sorry about that.”
“It’s okay.” Fluttershy smiled sheepishly, looking only a little hurt. “Did George finally decide to eat Burgle’s breakfast?”
“Yeah, he wants to leave soon. We better get back.”
Fluttershy nodded. “Goodbye animal friends,” she quietly called, looking back to where the animals had run off.
“Knowing George, he’s probably getting impatient. Think you could fly ahead and tell him I’ll be right there?”
Fluttershy frowned and shyly looked at Twilight from between the tresses of her long pink hair. “I can’t,” she admitted and turned around so Twilight could see her back. “Look, the Drudge is gripped onto one of my wings. I can’t fly.”
“Oh, Fluttershy, I didn’t know.”
“It’s not your fault. Besides, you know I don’t really fly as much as other pegasus ponies anyway. I’ll be all right.” Fluttershy smiled briefly but then lowered her voice even more than usual. “Um… Twilight, I don’t want to alarm anypony, but I actually heard the Drudge today.”
“What!? Oh no! Not you!”
“Well, I didn’t hear him in my mind the way Rarity and Davenport described, but he did make a weird noise. It happened when I sang to the animals.”
“When you sang? What kind of weird noise?”
“I’m not sure. It was sort of a whimper. I don’t think he really likes singing.”
Well that was kind of strange. It was practically the first sign that Rip Van Winkle was even conscious since he first latched onto Fluttershy. In fact, that attack had been the most active he had been so far. George had said he was lazy, but the Drudge seemed so lax it might as well be an afterthought in their quest.
“Well, we can think about that on the way. I don’t want George complaining that we took too long. Besides, the sooner we get the Drudges off of you and the others, the better.”
Cork relentlessly wiped the sweat that dripped in his eyes. He couldn’t stand this. Where were the Drudges? He and the other followers had split up in several directions, trying to feel any sign of their beloved masters. Cork had split off with Daffodil and three others. All of them looked just as bad as he felt, all sweating and painfully trying to keep from panicking. The others wanted to move quickly, but Cork was forcing them to keep a slower pace. He didn’t want to miss the slightest sign of the Drudges presence because they had bypassed it too quickly to notice. He knew it wasn’t easy for the others though. It was all he could do just to keep himself from bolting.
He hardly paid attention to his surroundings and only occasionally noticed if they passed a tree or rock. The land itself was quite desolate, hardly anything like Equestria, which was fresh with vegetation. He didn’t care though. No matter how hot, hungry, and thirsty he was, he wanted to continue the search. Briefly, he realized that he hadn’t eaten anything since his strange journey began. His stomach was empty and grumbling profusely, but he had ignored it, keeping the Drudges as his number one priority. The other followers all probably felt the same and were just as hungry and thirsty as he was. The only sleep they had gotten was from when Rave had forced them too.
Cork was actually in a pretty weird position. He had somehow rallied the other followers behind him. They listened to him, as if they thought he had the answers to their long search. Even Rave had recognized this and spoken his wishes through Cork. The only reason Cork listened to Rave was that he didn’t want the other followers to die, if what Rave said about the Drudges was true. Somehow, Cork knew it was.
“There!” a pegasus in the sky suddenly shouted. “It’s faint but I feel something!”
“Where!” Cork called up to him.
“I think it came from that way!” the pegasus shouted back and started flying to the southeast where he pointed to.
“Wait! I know you want to find them, but we have to wait!”
The pegasus stopped but he looked antsy. He kept looking the way he wanted to go. Cork moved closer southeast, trying to feel the pull. It was faint but abruptly it came to him.
“What should we do?” Daffodil asked him.
“Use your magic and contact Rave the way he showed you. He has some kind of plan so we don’t alert those strong ponies who have the Drudges.”
Daffodil nodded and closed her eyes as white light engulfed her horn. Cork waited for what seemed an eternity to him for her to communicate with Rave. The pegasus and the other two followers all watched in anticipation too, waiting for a signal to move. Finally, Daffodil opened her eyes.
“Rave is on his way. I think he wants us to wait.”
They all groaned miserably. Cork was feeling antsy himself. Something in his mind was telling him to forget Rave and just go. In fact, he had to go. His emotions were getting the better of him. Only the thought that he didn’t want the followers to die, kept him still as he waited. It must have been the only thing keeping the others still too. Either that or their unquestioning acceptance of Cork as some kind of leader.
The sun was already down and even with the light of a full moon and the magic of four unicorns, the barren surroundings were not easy to distinguish. The fact that George was the only one of them that actually knew where they were going didn’t help either. He had stopped, turned back, and looked at single trees and other landmarks so many times that he finally gave up and decided to call it a night. It was nice to finally get a little rest after walking with only a single break for a small lunch. Of course, Twilight thought it was a little amusing that George was the most exhausted from the journey and still not wanting to admit that his old age made him the most physically feeble member of the group.
Still, Twilight felt uneasy. The day had been almost completely uneventful. Rarity arguing with Salamander and then developing a headache was the most that had happened. Twilight was beginning to suspect that the arguments were somehow intentional on the part of the Drudge. After George, Rarity was the second most winded and she had only complained of feeling tired after her headache had started. There really must have been a connection with her headaches and Salamander eating her energy.
After finding some wood, Twilight ignited it and they all sat around it while the guards scouted the area. It was actually a bit colder here than in Equestria, where spring should have been almost over. It just brought up more questions about how the weather worked not being controlled by pegasi and Twilight wasn’t in the mood to study strange phenomena at the moment.
“Hey, old man,” Burgle suddenly broke the silence. “Why are we questing to this temple place anyway? What’s it got to do with the Drudges?”
Twilight was surprised. For some reason, she hadn’t thought about that before.
George looked crossly at Burgle. “First of all, you can address me as the Great and Powerful George. Secondly, why are you asking now? We’re already two days into the quest.”
“That’s true,” Twilight said, “but it would be nice to know. Besides, I thought Discord ruled Equestria before the princesses. Why is his temple so far away?”
“What have you been studying all this time, Twilight? I thought you were supposed to be the smart one.” Twilight silently fumed but otherwise ignored the insult. “Don’t you ponies know anything? Discord may have the head of a pony, but he was born outside Equestria. He established a name out here before taking rule over ponykind. His temple is an old homage to him that still resonates with a small dose of his power. As a failsafe, the Drudges lack the ability to use their power against Discord, so if we go to the temple, we should be able to pry them off of their hosts without them being able to retaliate.”
“You must be joking,” Rarity said angrily. “Why didn’t you just imprison the Drudges there instead of taking them to Canterlot? It would have saved us all this trouble.”
“Consider it a last resort and a double-edged sword. The last thing we want to do is leave the Drudges at the temple because even though they’d be powerless, they’ll slowly regain their energy without the need of hosts. Why do you think they needed the occultists to protect them? What’s more, if the Drudges soak in the energy there, they can exceed the limits Discord placed on their power. They could become even stronger than they already are.”
The thought made Twilight cringe. “And you said the Mystics preserved it?”
“If they hadn’t we wouldn’t have to go on this stupid epic quest, but we wouldn’t have a way to restore the Elements of Harmony either. Not without finding some other ponies who embody the spirits and who knows how long that could take. The Drudges could take over Equestria by then. Besides, it’s guarded day and night by Celestia’s special hoof picked guard so the Drudges couldn’t rest there. That means it’s perfectly safe.”
“Why doesn’t that sound reassuring?” Twilight said glumly.
“Trust me, I’m a Mystic. I know what I’m doing.”
The ponies all looked at one another. Coming from George at least, it didn’t sound reassuring at all
“I’m starting to agree with Burgle. This epic quest kind of sucks,” Davenport said. The others, minus George, all nodded in agreement.
“I told you from the start that I hate epic quests. At least now maybe you understand why,” George said huffily, not liking the way they were treating him at the moment.
The moment didn’t last long though. Rhubarb and Grey returned from their scouting.
“The area seems safe enough. It seems we’re near a lake and some form of canyon.”
“A lake!” George said excitedly. “Right, right. The lake. And a canyon to the west, right?” The guard nodded. “Now I know where we are. We’re on the right track. We should reach the temple in about a day and a half.”
“A day and a half?” Rarity complained, “You said this morning it would take two days. Doesn’t today count?”
“I said at least two days. Besides, it’s not my fault we got a late start this morning.”
The group was silent a moment.
“Yes it was,” Burgle argued.
“Burgle, just drop it,” Twilight said, rolling her eyes. “Rhubarb, what was that you said about a lake?”
This time the other guard spoke up. “Um, well, as Grey told you, there is a lake nearby.”
Twilight blushed. She still couldn’t tell the two guards apart. If she listened, she could just tell their voices apart but that was still a stretch.
“It might be a good idea to wash up. There’s no telling when we’ll find anymore clean water out here. Not unless Master George knows of any,” Grey said.
“Actually that’s a good idea. The next closest body of water isn’t on our path and I don’t want to go too far off course.”
“Finally a bath. I really need to change this old vest of mine,” Davenport said excitedly.
Twilight hadn’t even realized he was still wearing the same vest from the day before. Actually, he probably couldn’t change it since Isis was latched on through his vest.
“Let’s go, are you two coming?” Fluttershy asked her and Rarity as the guards, George, and Davenport left for the lake.
“Excuse me?” Rarity said in surprise. “You want to take a bath with the boys?”
Twilight and Fluttershy exchanged glances.
“It’s just swimming. What’s the big deal anyway?” Twilight wondered.
“Pardon me for having some class. Ladies do not bathe with boys. I swear, it’s like peer pressure back in college all over again.”
Twilight cocked her head, not sure what Rarity was getting at. What was wrong with swimming?
“Besides, you’re the one who advised me not to get Salamander wet.” She motioned back to the Drudge on her rear. “If his fire burns on water like George claims, that could kill us all.”
“I doubt he would try to kill you. You’re his host after all. He’s got to have his daily dose of Rarity power, right?” Burgle said with a smirk.
Rarity glared at him. “I suppose, for once, you’re right. Touché.”
Burgle snorted a laugh.
“What? What did I say?”
“Touché.”
Rarity looked at her friends, bewildered. They both shrugged in confusion.
“You know, touché? The Drudge is on your touché.”
Rarity groaned. “That’s a pun, right? Very funny. And just as vulgar as I’d expect from a pony like you.”
“Oh come on. Lighten up, Rearity. You’re such a rump on a log.”
Rarity growled in exasperation. “The only lightening up I do is when Salamander gets angry and lights up everything. How can you expect me to relax when I have this stupid beast on me?” Rarity suddenly turned her attention behind her. “Be quiet Salamander. I know I just called you a name. No. Don’t you dare!”
As might have been expected, Salamander lit a line of flames.
Rarity reacted very calmly, looking more annoyed than anything else. “I swear it would be easier to train a rock to speak.” With a wisp of her magic, the fire went out. Then she turned her attention back to Burgle. “Now what are you laughing at?”
“Nothing. I was just thinking that I wouldn’t mind having fart powered flames,” Burgle remarked, snickering at his own joke.
Rarity on the other hoof looked more than offended. “I did nothing of the sort. That was all Salamander’s doing. And in any case, a lady does not fart. She foofs.”
Burgle snickered in further amusement. “Yeah? Well I think your foofer is on fire.”
“What? Ah!” Rarity stared at her tail, partially on fire. “Darn you Salamander!” Rarity’s horn lit up and, after a moment, the fire died out. But not without a casualty. “My tail. My beautiful tail! It’s singed! You heinous little riffraff. Huh? What did you say?”
Rarity paused a moment, listening to Salamander speak in her mind. Whatever he had said, she gasped. “Why you rude little…” Rarity sat down hard, smashing the Drudge underneath her rear. “Take that!” Then she stood up and sat again. “And that! And that!” She stood and sat a final time, smiling. “That’ll teach you.”
Abruptly, a flash of fire erupted underneath her. Rarity’s face twisted in an excruciated expression as she grit her teeth together.
“Rarity, are you okay?” Twilight asked her.
“… Yes… Just fine…,” she answered through clenched teeth. “I’m… going to the lake… now…” She stood up awkwardly and slowly walked towards the lake, her back legs moving rather haphazardly. Under her breath, Twilight could just hear her saying, “Ow… ow…ow…”
“What happened to Rarity?” Fluttershy asked.
“I think Salamander just retaliated,” Twilight answered softly.
“Either that or she foofed,” Burgle openly cracked up.
“That’s enough out of you,” Twilight scolded him. “You shouldn’t bother Rarity like that, especially since she has a Drudge on her. I know she doesn’t say so, but I’m sure she’s worried about it draining her. We don’t have any idea when any of the Drudges will be done feeding and you know what George said might happen then.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Burgle said somewhat dismissively. “Maybe she should enjoy herself more, just in case. Wouldn’t hurt her to get a few laughs, right?”
This actually surprised Twilight a little. Burgle made it sound like he had been poking fun at her out of some kind of pity for her predicament with the Drudge.
“You know, you’re pretty strange for a thief.”
Burgle shrugged. “I may not live an honest life, but I don’t want ponies to die or anything. Even I still have that much heart left over.” Burgle walked toward the lake rather nonchalantly.
“I think maybe Burgle is right,” Fluttershy said.
“How do you mean?”
“It’s really stressful dealing with the Drudges and the quest and everything. When’s the last time any of us laughed or reminisced about good times and other things like we used to do? I don’t think I’ve laughed once since the quest began.”
Maybe Burgle did have a point. Being depressed and worried all the time wasn’t going to help. The last time Twilight had laughed might have been a little before the fire in the inn when Rarity had joked about getting premature wrinkles. That’s right, Rarity had been the one to make the joke. Why couldn’t things be like that again?
“I wish Pinkie Pie was here. She’d keep us all laughing,” Twilight said, smiling for once.
Fluttershy giggled. “Yeah. Or Rainbow Dash. I’m sure she’d tell us to stop moping around.”
“And Applejack would tell us everything is going to be fine, because that’s the honest truth.”
Twilight and Fluttershy both smiled.
“We’re going to finish the quest and save our friends. That’s also the honest truth,” Twilight said confidently.
“Because we’re just as loyal as Rainbow Dash and we want to laugh with everypony like Pinkie Pie would,” Fluttershy finished.
They both nodded. For the sake of their friendship and Equestria, they would finish the quest no matter what.