//------------------------------// // Chapter Seven: The Harvest Alicorn // Story: Dragon's Fate // by pokefreak13 //------------------------------// Stars twinkled in the inky black sky and came together to create mythical creatures to protect the heavens. Spike gazed at the twisted constellations and carefully recreated them on the ground, the tip of his sword picking up small clouds of dirt. His eyes grew wary and twice he almost fell asleep, only to be startled by a twig snapping or the occasional owl. Spike slowly got to his feet and stretched. Being on lookout duty wasn't quite as fun as some books led him to believe. Though, the more he thought about it, Spike was glad his shift so far was uneventful. Rarity only knows what would happen to Spike and his friends if the elusive Harvest Alicorn decided to show up. Spike stared into the dwindling fire. The unearthly glow bathed him and his comrades in shadows that seemed to sway in tune with his very breath. Then, he heard the sound of hoofsteps. Quickly, he shifted his head in the direction of the noise. Spike's heartbeats quickened as the sound got louder and louder. Spike looked from Twilight to Blueblood who were still fast asleep. Even the snores confirmed that Shining Armor and Caramel were off in dreamland as well. Of course he could try and wake everypony up, but that would take time and judging from the hoofsteps time was something Spike was sadly beginning to lack. Maybe it isn't the Harvest Alicorn, Spike thought hopefully to himself, but a small part of him knew that wasn't so. He took a deep breath and gripped his sword till his knuckles turned white. Then, Spike slowly made his way towards the hoofsteps. His stomach seemingly doing flips every time he heard a twig snap or an owl's hoot. "Hello?" A voice called out. Spike stopped in his tracks. This voice has to belong to the Harvest Alicorn, yet the tone didn't seem threatening at all. Of course she could be faking it, yet that same small part of him told Spike that she wasn't. Call it a dragon's intuition. "Um, hi!" Spike replied loud enough so that the Harvest Alicorn could hear him without the others being awoken by the noise. A bush began to shake and out stepped a light amber mare with soft aqua eyes. Her horn was smaller then Twilight's and her wings were tightly pressed against her sides. The mare eyed Spike warily before taking a small step backwards. "You're the Harvest Alicorn, right?" Spike asked while slowly lowering his sword. "Y-yes. Please, don't kill me! I'm not in Baltimare anymore." The Harvest Alicorn begged, her pupils were shrunk and her breath quickened. Spike slowly placed his sword back in its sheath, a tint of guilt crossed his mind. Either she was a really good actress, or something terribly wrong happened to his poor mare. "My name's Spike, what's your name?" Spike questioned. Hoping that if she did turn out to be faking it, at least he could try to stall her until his friends woke up. "Sunset...Sunset Shimmer." She answered. "What are you doing here, Spike?" "To um, find the Harvest Alicorn and bring her to Queen Rarity." Spike explained. Sunset Shimmer's eyes twinkled. "Queen Rarity!? W-why me? Oh no, its because she wants to kill me, isn't it? Please Spike, I-I don't wanna-" "Hold it!" Spike interrupted, "Why do you think everypony is after you Sunset?" She let out a sigh and slumped onto the ground. "You...don't know a lot about Baltimare, do you?" Once Spike shook his head no, she took a deep breath, "You see, Baltimare doesn't have the best history with magic. With sea serpents using their powers to create huge storms in order to crash ships, unicorns having magical duels in the streets, and sirens leading ponies to their death. So, when magic disappeared from Equestria, famous story tellers in Baltimare wrote books and stories on the dangers of magic. And, through time, the ponies began to fear and despise magic so much that even the mention of it or anything related to magic stirred their hatred." "That's awful!" Spike gasped. Sunset Shimmer nodded her head, "I guess, though before I was granted with this..this curse, I was one of those haters. However, when I became the Harvest Alicorn, I was fairly young and didn't know how to control my newfound powers. I caused massive damage to my beloved city, and everypony wanted me dead. However, Mayor Claude was kind enough to move me here in the forest where he says I'll be the safest. All I have to do is make sure their food grows and to redirect any monsters or beasts that accidentally wander close to the city. Then, Mayor Claude said that if I do a really good job, the ponies will like me again and I can come back to Baltimare!" "Interesting." Spike turned around and say Commander Blueblood slowly trotting towards them. He gave Sunset and Spike a slight smile, yet his eyes were dark. "C-commander?" Spike gasped. "My apologize for eavesdropping, but your chatter woke me up." Blueblood said before looking at Sunset Shimmer, "I believe the mayor is hiding something. You say he was kind, yet when we talked with him, he had anything but kind words when describing you." Sunset Stood up, a small frown plastered her face. "No, you're wrong! Mayor Claude is the only pony who comes to check on me! He gives me food, compliments me on the amazing work I'm doing, and he saved me from being executed!" Blueblood let out a long sigh and looked up at the sky. Through the leaves he could see that dawn was slowly coming. "Spike, let us go pay Mayor Claude another visit. I have some...questions I'd like to ask." He then looked back at Sunset Shimmer and gave her a quick nod before leaving, Spike following close behind. "Ah, so good to see you!" Mayor Claude bellowed as Commander Blueblood and Spike entered his office. "Though this is quite an early meeting. I hope your search went well." "Yes, in fact, we had a pleasant conversation with her." Blueblood replied. Spike saw the mayor tense up for a second before putting on a big smile. "Oh? And what did she say?" Spike thought was Blueblood would make something up. For if Blueblood told the mayor that they knew everything, Spike could only imagine what the mayor would do to Sunset Shimmer if he knew that she unknowingly told his plan to complete strangers. However, what Blueblood said made Spike gasp. "That you use her. Breaking her down until she'll do anything you say? Sickening." Blueblood spat. His eyes were narrow and a frown was etched into his face. Somehow, seeing Blueblood like this made Spike feel like the room got a whole lot colder. "I only told her the truth. Everypony hates magic here, and she is the very embodiment of it. As for having her do anything I say, isn't that what we all do? As a leading commander, you get pleased when your soldiers follow your orders and punish them when they don't. Well, I'm the commander and Sunset is my soldier. There's nothing against that." Blueblood and Claude got into a staring contest. Spike could feel the temperature dropping even more as the two stared. Then, what seemed like hours, Blueblood broke away. "Spike, let's go." Blueblood said, his voice putting Spike on edge. When they were outside, Spike practically had to jog in order to keep up with Blueblood. "W-what are we gonna do?" Spike huffed. "You are going to deliver a note to Queen Rarity asking for a background check on Mayor Claude." Blueblood replied. Spike gave him a blank look. Sure he has magic powers, but unless Spike could somehow fly he had no idea how to deliver a letter all the way from here to Canterlot by himself. Blueblood let out a sigh, "Your green flames leads me to believe that you are a messenger dragon. Long ago, their flames had a special ability that allowed them to teleport selective things such as paper to places of their choosing. So, ponies would use them to deliver messages quickly to one another." "Neat!" Spike grinned, "but, if I'm the only messenger dragon that has this power, how is Queen Rarity going to send me the background check?" Blueblood smiled and slowed to a walk. "She will most likely have a pegasus fly it over to us. Now come, we have a letter to write! " Queen Rarity gazed at a faded map that was yellow with age. Her brow wrinkled as she circled yet another town with red ink. "Do not worry Your Highness, Commander Blueblood and his team with stop Luna." Fancy Pants piped up while placing some scrolls into a shelf. They were in one of the many storerooms the castle hid within its walls. However, unlike the usual rooms used to keep food cold or wealth hidden from sticky hoofed servants, this room was dedicated to maps of every land known to ponykind and scrolls upon scrolls with detailed history on every living creature. But right now, it was mostly used to document Luna's attacks in hope to find a pattern. Rarity let out an exasperated sigh and ran a hoof through her beaded mane. "That makes five attacks, yet they're all so over the place!" She dropped the pencil in frustration and buried her face in her forehooves. Fancy Pants trotted up to the queen and hesitantly patted her back. "Your army is doing the best they can and if what Blueblood said is true, then all the ponies encased in stone will be able to break free." Suddenly, a green flash of light appeared in front of them, causing the unicorns to jump back and Rarity to let out a slight scream. However, when it disappeared, a neatly folded piece of paper rested on the table. "What was that?" Rarity gasped. Fancy Pants hesitantly trotted to the paper and carefully unfolded it and began to read the elegant font. "What does it say?" "Hmm, apparently Blueblood and his team ran into a bit of trouble and they need...Mayor Claude of Baltimare's...background?" Rarity placed a hoof to her chin before getting up and trotting towards a towering cabinet and opening it. Inside were rows upon rows of neatly stacked parchment paper with faces of ponies on them. She quickly scanned through the piles before coming to a heavily written piece of paper. Quickly, she grabbed the paper and handed it off to Fancy Pants. "Take this to the fastest flyer and have them deliver it to Blueblood's camp." Rarity ordered. Fancy Pants gave a quick bow before heading off. Once he was gone, Rarity slouched and let out a deep breath. "Please find the Harvest Alicorn and soon," Rarity pleaded to the scrolls and maps around her.