//------------------------------// // Chapter Sixteen: Twilight and Rarity snatched, Building with Luna // Story: Gleaner Chronicles // by sevenofeleven //------------------------------// Lower Canterlot Airfield Late Evening “Margot, wake up!” Sweetie said in between jabs of her white forehoof into Margot’s stomach. After a few more prods she opened her eyes. “We're back in Lower Canterlot, ” Far said while looking out the window. “Finally, we’ve arrived. I need a bath to get that smoky stink out of my coat,” Skybreeze said while glancing at the window. The door opened and the cool breeze pushed away the rest of Margot’s drowsiness. She watched as the ponies left the carriage. When Margot left she could see two Royal Guards waiting for them. “The Princesses request your presence. Except for the wounded,” One of the guards said. Dusk faced Blunt. “You be goin to the meeting and I will check on Quick.” Blunt opened her mouth, but then she closed it and nodded. The guards headed to the Princess’s Meeting tent two while Margot followed them. Princess Meeting Tent Two Meeting tent two looked different from the Prophetess’ tent. While that one was gray with gold highlights, this one had dark blue and silver highlights. On the opposite side of the blue table with silver highlights, were Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, Applejack and Fluttershy. On the other side were Blunt, Skybreeze, Sweetie Belle, Far, Nga'Devro and Margot. Fluttershy had her muzzle deep in a bowl of some sort of fried food. Margot sniffed, it seemed like Fluttershy was eating some mix of potatoes and hay. It had been a while since breakfast and Margot’s stomach was starting to grumble. Fluttershy raised her face out of the bowl. “You know, um, Dimroot used to laugh when my stomach would growl. He said it sounded like a baby timberwolf. I hope he’s okay.” “Well, I’m not sure I could trust such a creature, he didn’t feed you,” Skybreeze said with a toss of her mane. “Rotvine ordered him not to feed me. I could get all the water I wanted but no food,” Fluttershy said as she eyed the contents of her bowl. “Nga'Devro wonders how you were able to survive,” Nga'Devro said while looking around for more food. He was getting hungry smelling Fluttershy’s snack. “Um, somehow the animals I helped found out where I was. They brought me food, but nothing too big. Dimroot would chase any animals that brought larger bits of food,” Fluttershy said then her eyes narrowed. “Then Rotvine tried to feed me tomato soup. I was so hungry that I almost fell for his trick.” Applejack leaned in toward Fluttershy. “What trick sugarcube?” Fluttershy looked around. “The soup smelled so tasty. I had nothing but bitter acorns and a few berries. The tomato smell was soooo good, but there was something else underneath it. I couldn’t put my hoof on it. Then that monster Rotvine showed me that the soup had some sort of greasy gray meat in it. He laughed then he suggested that it was bunny meat. I was so angry, I knocked the bowl over. I wondered maybe the meat was from Angel. Dimroot tried to clean up the mess, but Rotvine told him not to. I had to put up with the stink of the soup as it rotted. Normal flies stayed away, but there were these gray flies with bright green eyes. “They fed on the soup and the meat. You should have seen it. Um, maybe not. It was disgusting. The flies were as big as bumblebees and twice as noisy. When they would land on me, I felt even more filthy. I, um, won’t mention the maggots. After a few days, it rained really hard and all of that stuff got washed away. I hope that Rotvine burned up and is ashes now!” Fluttershy banged on the table with a forehoof. “Fluttershy!” Applejack said. Margot had a sneaking suspicion that Rotvine was still alive. She did not know how she knew. The door opened and Rainbow Dash and Scry walked in. Sweetie left her chair to trot up to Rainbow Dash. “Is Scootaloo alright?” “Scootaloo’s going to be fine, she just needs some rest,” Rainbow Dash replied with a smile. She took a seat next to Fluttershy and bumped her hoof. “You are fine, sister?” Skybreeze said to Scry. Scry nodded and turned away. Rainbow Dash peeked inside Fluttershy’s bowl before looking up and facing the Princesses. “Princess Celestia, have you decided on doing something about the upcoming shrieker attack?” “Rainbow!” Applejack said. “Rainbow Dash has a valid concern. Luna and I have been discussing how to handle this problem. The shriekers will be expecting us to attack and will have some sort of trap waiting for us,” Princess Celestia said while facing Rainbow Dash. “If we hit them hard and fast now before their numbers get too big, we could beat them!” Rainbow Dash said. “It’s possible that their numbers might be too large for us to handle now. Also I don’t think it’s a good strategy to walk into a trap even if we know it’s there,” Princess Luna said. “You know they could be gearing up to wipe us out,” Rainbow said while she looked away. “Please understand that we understand your concern. Something must be done. ‘Tia, I wonder if we could lay traps for the shriekers when they attack?” Princess Luna said then she faced Princess Celestia. “Traps in the sky?” Princess Celestia said. “How about if we had ground based systems that attack airborne enemies? They would support our air units. I would have to get data for all friendly flying creatures and the spell is complicated, but the spell could help us survive an attack,” Margot suggested. Princess Celestia and Luna traded glances. Princess Luna faced Margot. “Tomorrow evening, I will help you with this task. Teach me the spell or I can give you power so you can cast the spell. Either way we will make something that will protect us from the shriekers.” “I will round up different flyers to help your magic,” Rainbow Dash said. “Why tomorrow evening?” Margot asked. “You and your friends need some rest. I’m sorry for delaying saving Pinkamena Diane Pie, but you and your team need their rest. It is easy to make mistakes when exhausted,” Princess Luna said. “Ah was wondering if we could find out who is behind Fluttershy being led into the Everfree,” Applejack said while looking at Margot. “Well, no problem Applejack, Margot and I will find out,” Scry said then she started her divination spell. Margot left her seat to help out. She expected to find problems with the spell, but the energy levels were steady. “Ok, gals, can you show us that strange green blur that was near Fluttershy?” Applejack said while peering at the image of Fluttershy’s cottage. The scene shifted to that time. At first the blur resisted Scry and Margot’s efforts to see who it was. “Well, it seems that who or whatever that green blur is knows some Divination magic,” Scry said with a stamp of her left fore hoof. Margot nodded and adjusted the params for her past viewing part. A familiar green alicorn showed up next to Fluttershy. “Empress Razorhoof!” Princess Celestia said while her eyes narrowed and her ears went back on her head. “Scry and Margot, can we see if she is responsible for Rarity and Twilight Sparkle’s disappearance?” Princess Luna said while she leaned toward to image to see more. “Rarity works and lives in the Carousel Boutique near the center of Ponyville,” Rainbow Dash said. The scene shifted to the boutique then it zoomed in close to a white unicorn with a fancy purple mane and tail. Her blue eyes were focused on an empty space. Next to her a purple and green dragon gazed at the same area. Margot adjusted the spell so they could hear what Rarity was saying. “Well, Coco, I am sincerely distressed by your sad news. Please come in darling and we can chat more about it,” Rarity said with lowered ears. “Wow, Coco, I didn’t realize that the flooding was so bad in Manehattan,” the dragon said with concern. “Mahgot, the baby dragon’s name is Spike and he’s Twilight Sparkle’s assistant and a big fan of Rarity,” Applejack said. Scry moved the view inside the boutique. Spike closed the door as Princess Razorhoof stood inside Rarity’s home. Rarity was walking toward the kitchen when she and Spike vanished in a flash of green. “Rarity!” Sweetie Belle yelled. Tears ran down her face. “She’s g-gone.” Fluttershy left her seat to console Sweetie. “We’ll find Rarity. Don’t worry,” Fluttershy said. She waited until Sweetie stopped crying. “Dangit! How are we goin’ to find out where Rarity and Spike went?” Applejack said with a stomp of a forehoof on the table. “I will ask the Prophetess again if she could help us find them,” Princess Celestia said. “This explains why I have not felt their dreams,” Princess Luna said while her ears drooped. “Scry can we see what happened to Twilight Sparkle? Everything kinda happened on the same day,” Rainbow said while looking over at Scry and Margot. The view switched to a large castle outside of town. Scry had to find the exact time when Twilight Sparkle was at the castle. They did see Spike leave to go to Rarity’s. Finally, Scry found the right moment. Again they saw Empress Razorhoof standing next to a purple alicorn. “That’s Twilight Sparkle,” Sweetie Belle said between sniffles. “Sweetie, we will get Rarity back soon,” Applejack said while watching the image. Fluttershy went back to her seat. “Rainbow, are you sure Fluttershy is in trouble and you just need my help? I could get the other girls to help out too,” Twilight Sparkle said. Every few minutes, she would shake her head. “Why am I shaking my head? I have some sort of weird headache. It’s probably from the last spell I did. It was so complicated. Let’s get to Fluttershy’s!” Twilight galloped away and then she disappeared with a green flash. “Princess Celestia, if Twilight Sparkle knows a lot of magic, why did that ornery Empress fool her?” Applejack asked. “Twilight sensed something, but I guess that enchantment magic isn’t an area of magic she knows. My guess is that the Empress has been doing this for a while,” Princess Celestia said then she looked at Princess Luna. “I can’t put thoughts in ponies' heads unless they are dreaming. I can do more research on enchantment, though the number of books on that subject are few. It’s not exactly a common pony talent,” Princess Luna said. “Um, what about Pinkie? Do we know where she is?” Fluttershy asked. “Yes we do sugarcube! She’s in the Melancholy Marsh, a sad place south east of here. When the Gleaners attacked, Princess Celestia sent some scouting parties to search for Pinkie. Two didn’t return. The Prophetess was able to verify what happened to one group. Margot was even able to get a vision of Pinkie’s general location,” Applejack said. “After tomorrow, we should send a party out to rescue Pinkie,” Princess Luna said then she looked at Princess Celestia. Princess Celestia looked back. Two serving ponies opened the doors and pushed in carts loaded with food. Princess Luna faced Margot. “We also must meet with the unicorns making food. I heard that you know some ways to make food generating artifacts,” Princess Luna said while gazing at Margot. “Yes, I’ll help as much as I can,” Margot said as she looked at the trays of food being placed on the table. The rest of the evening passed with fine food and stories about Equestria in the past before the Gleaners came. Outside the Royal Guest Quarters Evening. Margot was gazing at the dark blue night sky when with a quiet rustle of wings Princess Luna landed next to her. “I will make a privacy spell so others will not hear what we are saying,” Princess Luna said while a light blue glow covered her horn. Margot scanned Luna’s spell, it seemed pretty secure. “The spell is done. Now we will join minds. Don’t worry, we will not share secrets. Think of this spell as a way to talk very fast without the limitations of mouths, or as a way for you to show me this spell in a way that is easy for me to understand,” Princess Luna said while stepping closer to Margot. Their horns touched with a blue flash. “How do I start?” Margot asked. “Show me the parts of the spell and let’s see what happens from there,” Princess Luna said. After going over the design, they decided that the anti shrieker system would be a visible thing. Margot wanted it to be invisible so the shriekers couldn’t see it but Luna suggested that non flying ponies might want a safe area to go to without being attacked by shriekers. Then things got strange, Margot could not remember clearly what happened. It was a blur, they went to places and built things. She came out of the trance when they were back at the Royal Guest Quarters. Tiredness filled her body. “Wh-what did we do?” Margot asked after a big yawn. Princess Luna smiled. “We made five anti shrieker towers and a long range radar for sensing airborne enemies.” “Wow, that was a lot of work. Before I pass out, I have to apologize for hacking your privacy spell. I should have minded my own business. I’m sorry,” Margot said then bowed. “I accept your apology. Now, please get some rest. You have a lot of work to do tomorrow. I wish you a good night’s sleep,” Princess Luna said and then she smiled. Margot nodded. Luna headed off to her quarters while Margot headed off to bed.