Chapter Twelve
“Burning bloody days, where is she?!”
Spike jumped, impressively clearing a foot as a surprise lent his feet wings. His arms pinwheeled, and he let out a frantic shout of denial as he fell forward.
“No no no noooooo!” he wailed as he crashed through the tower of cards. The boy landed with a grunt. Cards fluttered down atop him, and Spike slumped with a wordless groaned.
“Dash!” scowled Applejack. She picked Spike up, setting the dazed apprentice on his feet, and glared at her friend as the boy clung to her arm. She patted him comfortingly on the head. “Ya half scared the life outta him.”
Scoffing, Dash pointedly didn’t respond. She spun on one hand, teetering on the brink above. A book, balanced atop another atop another atop a fourth in an untidy stack on her free hand, wobbled dangerously.
“Hey, get down! If you damage those books Twilight will-” Spike began to say.
“What, throw a hissy fit?” Despite her interruption, Dash dropped the books back onto the shelf she had borrowed them from. She began to put them back in place, the feeling of blood rushing to her head familiar enough not to distract her. “There, happy?”
Spike scowled at her in answer. Kneeling, he began to gather his cards. “I was almost done with my tower,” he complained instead. “Do you know long that takes?”
“A couple months? ‘Cause it feels like that long since she ran off to do whatever today’s mysterious mystery thing is.” Dash took hold of the ladder, crawling down it head first. For once she wished she was wearing a skirt; the look on Spike and Applejack’s faces would have been hilarious.
Applejack sighed, reading Dash’s thoughts all too clearly in the mischievous look on her face. Dropping on one knee to help Spike, she gave him an encouraging smile. “Don’t ya worry none, sugar. I’ll help ya rebuild it, won’t take us long together.”
“Thanks,” he said. He looked forlornly across the mess of cards. With a shake of his head he continued gathering them.
It wasn’t all that much later that the door finally opened, and Twilight walked in. “I’m back.”
Whatever reception she expected, a despairing cry of ‘My tower!’ was not it. Her stride faltered. Twilight paused, then, slowly, then blinked a few times to be sure of what she was seeing. Given the news she brought, the scholar was somewhat taken aback by the focus they were all giving to a pile of cards.
“Hey, it wasn’t my fault! You saw her, Applejack totally bumped it with her hand!” said Dash. She pointed at Applejack. “If she hadn’t done that, it would never have fallen over!”
Applejack’s eyes narrowed. “My fault? You were the one who was puttin’ too many dang cards on! It ain’t a race to the top ya know.”
“You’re just saying that because you lost!”
“Why you little-”
Twilight coughed. When that didn’t work, she coughed again, louder. The bickering continued. Now, Twilight liked to consider herself a patient woman. Learning from Princess Celestia called for it in every lesson. Given an endless life as a divine being, the regal Princess took her time with each lesson she imparted, carefully helping Twilight progress only when she was sure she was ready.
She probably hadn’t intended for Twilight to ever use those lessons to magically simulate an ear-piercing whistle. The result was enough to make her giggle. Spike’s stammered greeting and guilty glance at the mess did, admittedly, make her feel a little bad for startling him if not the other two.
“I’m sorry,” she said, looking not even slightly apologetic to the girls. For Spike she had a reassuring smile and a quick hug. “I can’t whistle very well myself. I hope I didn’t surprise you.”
Dash laughed. “Ha, as if! Nothing surprise me!”
Applejack cleared her throat, wearing a shit-eating grin, and jostled the girl in her arms. “‘S’cuse me, sugar, but I kinda need these. I’m sure ya won’t wanna stay up here, since ya weren’t surprised at all.”
Suddenly made aware that she had leaped into Applejack’s arms, Dash’s cheeks flared up. She scoffed, nonchalantly, and dropped out of Applejack’s hold. Giving Applejack a look of barely suppressed embarrassment, she patted the ranger on the arm.
“Good work, you passed,” Dash said. “Because...that was a test! Yeah, I was testing you. To, uh, make sure you could react fast enough. I saw Twilight right away, obviously, so I wasn’t actually surprised.”
“Uh huh, I believe you,” Applejack grunted. She ignored the thief, and turned to Twilight. “Sorry we didn’t notice ya, bit busy. How was it?”
“I noticed her,” mumbled Dash.
Twilight sighed. “It was...interesting. Blueblood and I had to talk,” she said.
“Interesting?” asked Spike. The dragonblooded boy idly scratched the hard skin where the scales around his eyes became skin. “Did he ask you not to marry him?”
Despite her small smile of amusement, Twilight’s eyes were less open. She pursed her lips as she scanned the titles of a bookshelf, searching for something or just buying herself time. The room was dead silent, the wait for her answer clearly dragging on Dash’s nerves. She folded her arms, and a moment later one finger began to tap against her arm. She glanced at Spike, who was waiting eagerly, but not impatiently, and Applejack, who just raised an eyebrow at her as if daring Dash to be the first to speak up.
“Spike,” Twilight began to say. She paused, staring with one eyebrow raised at Dash and the relieved, explosive sigh the slender girl let out before continuing. “Could you go check the Palace Library for a copy of the Greenhilt Chronicles. volume three? I need to check a reference.”
The eagerness dropped from Spike’s expression. He stared at Twilight for just a moment, and nodded. “Okay, I guess.” ‘Why should I get to know anything important, I can just go get books she doesn’t need,’ he thought.
Twilight watched him go, arms folded over her chest. Following him to the door, she traced a symbol beneath the handle. Light flared along the doorframe, rushing along it to ignite runes that glittered with arcane energy.
“I needed to make sure he wouldn’t eavesdrop,” Twilight explained. Again she fell silent, expression grim as she strode through the room to her chair.
“On what? Gonna spill some big secrets?” Leaning forward, Dash grinned. “I’m all ears.”
“Well, I wasn’t gonna say anythin, but they are looking a mite big,” Applejack mumbled. She grinned at the glare she earned.
“We have a...mission? A quest? Something like that. We have something we need to do,” Twilight interrupted. It took a surprising amount of effort not to smile at the banter. “It’s going to be dangerous.”
“And you don’t want Spike involved? What, one little run in with a mind-controlling monster got your hackles up?” Dash grinned as she spoke. She too took her seat. Twilight’s seat, in fact. Some of it, at least. Slender legs curled atop the armrest as she planted her chin on her palm. “Cool.”
Applejack frowned. “I wouldn’t quite say ‘cool’. Lyin’ t’ain’t cool. I take it this is somethin’ important?”
Twilight looked away from Dash, watching Applejack carefully. The ranger had folded her arms and was leaning against a bookshelf. She was watched in turn by Applejack, Twilight’s lips pressed thin for a moment into a frown. Fear for the fragile bond of new friendship nearly made her stop right there.
‘No, I need to make sure he’s safe. Applejack will understand.’.
“It may be lying, but I needed Spike out of here. So yes, Dash, I do need him away. Spike has already been exposed to violence far too much, and I won’t let it happen again. Especially not where we need to go,” she explained.
Dash’s grin grew wider,corners of her lips curving up. “Danger? Like, some old temple? Ruins? A dungeon?” Her voice rose. “I’ve heard all about proper dungeons, how they’re filled with loot for anyone to take. We’re going to one of them, right?”
“They’re also filled with monsters an’ traps,” Applejack told her. She waggled a finger at the thief. “They don’t just give up that loot without a fight.”
Twilight frowned. Magic flowed through her hand, lighting it up with a violet aura. The aura appeared on a book on the other side of the room, dragging it to her.
“We’re not going into a dungeon. We’re not even leaving the city...technically, anyway. We’re going down.” She held up the book as she spoke. The title, Legends Lost Below, stood out in silver against the cover. “Into the ruins of the ancient undercity.”
She got no further; laughter, loud and uncontrolled, immediately exploded from the women perched next to her. Dash clutched her sides, struggling to rein herself in. She forced it down, until only a titter escaped as she spoke.
“The undercity? You think that exists?” She shook with contained snickering, shaking. “I thought you were smart. Everyone knows the undercity is just an old story!”
Twilight’s frown grew. Laying the book on her lap, she began to gently leaf through its pages. “Why do you say that?” was all she asked.
Shrugging, Dash leaned over to peer at the book. “Because I’ve been down there. The tunnels go everywhere. This one kid I knew, she…” Suddenly the mirth was gone. A sour note, bitter, slipped into her voice. “She knew her way around there better than even the old guild guides. If there was some lost city down there, someone would have found it and picked it clean of anything shiny.”
“They coulda missed it,” Applejack said. She came to stand on Twilight’s other side, and unlike Dash, when she looked down she could read more than two words. “Seemed a big place down there.”
“Not that big. Hell, the wererats would have gone down there when the Solar Guard came knocking,” the thief replied with a snort. Falling silent, Dash’s lips moved without speaking for a moment. She sounded out a word, brow furrowed. “C-cat...Cata…”
“Cataclysm,” said Twilight. She turned the page. “There is an undercity. I know that for a fact.”
Dash rolled her eyes. “Yeah, sure you do. What, did you read it in a book?”
“No. Someone told me,” the wizard answered. She smiled, faintly, in amusement.
“Oh yeah? Who was the wise guy who fed you that?” scoffed the half-elf with a roll of her eyes. “Cause they were talking out their arse.”
Twilight’s smile widened. “Princess Celestia.”
Dash nearly went tumbling off the chair’s arm. She threw an arm around Twilight, effectively killing the fall and Twilight’s smug smile at the same time as it nearly took both of them down. Covering her smile, Applejack watched the pair squabble for a moment to untangle themselves. It was easier to focus on that than on yet another reminder of the lofty circles Twilight lived in. Princess Celestia, the Sun made mortal, was one woman away. Unbelievable was the first word to rise to attention in her mind. Unbelievable, yet true, and it made her think. Later, that is, she could think about it, Applejack decided when she noticed the pair were settled back into their spots.
“I guess ya just didn’t look hard enough, sugar. If the Princess says there’s one, there must be,” Applejack said. She patted the mop of rainbow-hair in consolation. “Better luck next time.”
Swatting Applejack’s hand away, Dash scowled and said, “Yeah, well, I never heard about anyone finding it. It must be really well hidden.”
Opening the book again, Twilight returned to the page she had been on. She traced the writing on aged paper, finger hovering a fraction of a centimetre above the page. The words came rushing back, filling in the blanks since the last time she read it.
“It is. Technically the city itself is gone, but the bowels of the city remain. Massive magically enchanted reservoirs that purify water and send it up to the city. It’s the source of all of Canterlot’s wells, and the reason they stay pure. They’re wonders of another age…” Twilight trailed off. Her thoughts went to the hints and clues she had gathered of what that age had been like. The mystery, as ever, frustrated her. She sighed and continued, “Princess Celestia sealed them away so no one could gain access to the artifacts within or damage the reservoirs.”
Dash scratched the back of her neck as she tried to make sense of the words in the book. “So, how are we supposed to go down there? And, y’know, why?”
“The Princess mentioned leaving a way in, one only she knows about. I’m sure she can tell me, and as for why...it’s for Prince Blueblood. We’re going to find something he wants,” Twilight explained. “Hmm. The Hall of Studies...that might be it…”
Applejack scowled. “Why’re we gettin’ anything for that damn fool? Ya owe him money?” she asked.
“Yeah, because the one thing she doesn’t have is money,” Dash said with a laugh. She threw her arms out, taking in the wide room and its collection of magical tools and priceless tomes with her gesture.
Twilight raised a hand, cutting the two off before an argument could start. She lowered it a few moments later when the only result was Dash smirking and Applejack sighing.
“It’s to pay back a debt, yes, but not mine. I went to see him today to, well…” Twilight blushed slightly, embarrassed to admit her intentions. “I was going to pay back your friend Rarity’s debt. You didn’t want anything for helping me, so I figured…”
She trailed off, fidgeting and looking away from Applejack. Fear mounted. A few seconds stretched further than she could stand. Twilight feared, for a moment, that she had made some social faux pass. In the noble circles she was forced to deal with on occasion, everything was clear and obvious. Everyone knew the rules. There were books about those rules. Applejack was anything but upper crust, though Twilight privately found few nobles as noble as the rough and tumble ranger, and she couldn’t help but worry she had done something wrong.
“Ya figured ya’d just go an’ help a friend of mine ya barely knew?” asked Applejack. She slapped Twilight on the shoulder, smiling down at her. “Well colour me surprised! That’s big of ya, Twilight.”
Twilight rubbed her shoulder, trying not to let her wince of pain be too obvious. She was pretty sure Applejack was happy with her, despite hitting her. “...thanks? I mean, I do owe you. The whole city owes you.”
“You’re a regular hero,” Dash added with a snicker. “Which means we get to go diving into the ‘bowels’ of an old city. Hoo-burning-ray.”
Applejack rolled her eyes. “There could be stuff down there, ya know, other stuff that’d be valuable,” she said.
“And if there is? I’d bet every coin I’ve ever palmed off a merchant that Sparkle won’t let me take any of it. Its probably ‘historical’.” The thief looked down at Twilight. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
“....somewhat,” Twilight admitted. She harrumphed, looking away from Dash’s victorious smirk. “Well, they are very historical! It would be a crime to take one.”
Dash opened her mouth, an obvious reply jumping to mind.
“Which you’re not supposed to be doing anymore,” the scholar added. She crossed her arms over her chest. “So no pillaging ancient sites of historical significance. Between the three of us we’ll have more than our fair share of things to deal with without two of us keeping an eye on you.”
For a moment, Dash affected an offended expression. It broke with a few seconds. “Okay, yeah, I was totally gonna do that if you didn’t say not to. What can I say, habit?”
Applejack stared at Twilight, a question in her eyes. “Just the three of us?” she asked.
“Yes, just us,” Twilight told her. She paused, catching the look in Applejack’s eyes. “Spike is not coming. I refuse to put him in danger like that-”
“But not us,” Dash threw in.
Twilight ignored her. “-because he’s too young to go gallivanting around old tunnels filled with monsters. So we’re just going to tell him we’re going on a visit to Time Turner, whenever we do it. I won’t put him in danger.”
“So yer gonna lie to him?” Applejack shot back. “What happens when we get back? It’ll be pretty dang obvious we didn’t just go for a stroll. Ya think that won’t hurt him?”
Huffing, Twilight looked away, arms crossed. “It’s better that he be hurt by a small lie than be hurt by a trap, or a monster, or something. He’s staying here, where it’s safe, and that’s final.”
Applejack folded her arms over her chest, and she wore an expression of undiluted stubbornness. “Twilight, I respect what you’re trying to do, but Spike deserves the truth. He might be put out a little if ya be honest and just tell him he ain’t comin’, but he’ll get over it. If ya lie to his face, y’all could hurt him.”
“Spike will get over it, if he finds out. We’ll leave, get ready somewhere else, get back and clean up somewhere else, and all the while Spike will be here safe and sound instead of trying to sneak after us like I know he will,” Twilight said with a shake of her head.
Dash watched the pair argue back and forth for a minute. She glanced around the room, a quizzical expression on her face.
“Hey, Twilight, this room?” she asked.
Twilight paused mid-retort, the unexpected interruption taking her by surprise. “What?”
“You mean he’ll be safe in this room, yeah?” asked the thief with a little smirk at the corner of her lips.
“Yes, Dash, this room. No where else is as safe as here, and he won’t be hurt again,” Twilight said with a firm nod of utter certainty.
“Like the first time he got hurt. Here. You know, with the book? That spat acid on his face?” Dash’s tone was just shy of mocking, although not much, and she grinned at the expression of shock Twilight was suddenly wearing.
“I, uh, well, yes, but that won’t…” Uncertainty came upon her for a moment, and Twilight took a step back as if it would shield her from the criticism.
“Rainbow’s right, sugar. Spike got hurt here too. The fact is, it ain’t safe anywhere.” Applejack put a hand on the noble’s shoulder, giving the woman a sympathetic look. “I know what yer feelin’. I got a little sister, I know what it’s like to worry, but lyin’ to him won’t do nothin’ but hurt him even worse.”
Twilight stood stiffly, eyes closing, and left the room to fall silent. Applejack looked back, but her other friend could only shrug.
“...alright.” Sighing softly, Twilight nodded. “I’ll be honest. You’re right, it would hurt him if he ever found out. I can’t imagine doing that to him, no matter how safe I want to be. Spike is...he’s as much my little brother as he is my apprentice.”
Applejack smiled, dimples forming in her warm expression. “Like I said, I know exactly how ya feel. My little sister can get herself into trouble at the drop of a hat, I can tell ya.”
She paused for a moment.
“Usually my hat, after she’s knocked it off.”
Snickering, Dash leaped up. Her hand lashed out, coming away with Applejack’s hat and plonking it on her own head. “Kid sounds like fun.”
“Give that back, ya thief!” Quick off the mark, Applejack charged after Dash as the impetuous thief made her escape. “Get back here! Landsakes, you’re actin’ like a kid!”
“Yeah, but you’re good with kids, so it should be no trouble!” Dash darted out of Applejack’s reach, a laugh on her lips. “What, want your hat back? Come and get it!”
Twilight sighed. She rubbed her forehead tiredly. “Girls, we’re supposed to be preparing for a deadly quest into ancient...oh, never mind…” She folded her arms, scowling at the pair as their chase continued. “Real children would be less difficult than you two.”
*
The pitter-patter of three running pairs of feet filled the alley. It was an almost peaceful sound, until the noise of their panting and the bark of dogs joined it. They found round the corner, three girls not quite at the cusp of puberty, and given the expressions on their faces, not likely to make it there.
“Down there!” Scootaloo called, pointing to a grate with bars a smidge too wide for their own good. She put actions to words, throwing herself deep throught the bars headfirst. Arms thrown over her head, she landed without crying out in pain, despite the abrasions and bruises all over her forearms.
“Look out below!”
She rolled away just in time, Apple Bloom’s feet hitting where her head had been. The farm girl moved aside instantly, but the moment when Sweetie Belle should have come through went by with a rather significant lack of any young ladies appearing.
“Uh…” Apple Bloom leaned up, looking through the gate. “Sweetie, come on, get in here!”
“Er…” Scratching her chin, Sweetie Belle turned her head this way and that, searching for any sign of another, less dirt sewer grate. “That looks kind of...dirty…”
Scootaloo’s head appeared next to Apple Bloom’s. “Well, yeah, it’s a drain. People dump stuff down here all the time.”
“Ew! I can’t go down there, what if we find Rarity and she gets upset with me for going into a sewer?” asked Sweetie with a shudder of disgust, or perhaps simply quite stark fear.
Apple Bloom tried to be understanding, she really did, but the ever-increasing sound of barking dogs was trying her patience. At such a tender age, however, she had very little to give. She groaned, but found her attempt to reason with her best friend preempted by their guide.
“Is coming down here going to be more or less dirty than being bitten by one of those dogs?” Scootaloo demanded. She let that sink in for a moment before adding, “It looked an awful lot like one of them had been eating its own cr-”
“Make way!”
They dived to the side, the catching a glimpse of the other girl jumping down with both hands gripping the hem of her skirt. Apple Bloom pulled Sweetie across, out of sight, the instant she was in and not a moment too soon. All three froze, the barks of hungry,dogs and the pant of someone who clearly needed more exercise sending chills down their spins.
“Where’ve they gone? Bleeding little...well, come on, ya mutt, they must be here somewhere!” cracked a harsh, angry voice. Scootaloo clamped her mouth shut, eyes wide, and somehow found a way to go even more still.
‘Oh no no no,’ she thought, panic running rampant through her mind. They’d only seen the dogs, and she’d hoped desperately they hadn’t been his. That voice, though, was unmistakable. ‘He’s gonna kill me.’
While Scootaloo was busy panicking, she didn’t notice Apple Bloom digging through the little knapsack that held everything she’d brought with her. She did notice when the country girl leaned around just enough to throw something out. Scootaloo gave her a glare, which was returned with a reassuring thumbs up.
“...the hell is wrong with you? Sniff, ya burning mutts!” snarled the man in the alley. A whip cracked, but all he got were canine whines. “Get moving! Useless mongrels.”
Snuffling and whining filled the alley until the hunter grew tired, and with a bark resembling that of his pets, left them. Scootaloo still didn’t move or say anything. When the rubes began to move, she made a single harsh gesture. It got her point across and they stopped.
Minutes passed, and patience was worn thin on all sides by the relentless weight of seconds dripping by. The damn burst as it had to, with Sweetie groaning.
“They left! We can talk now, geez, I’m getting bored,” she whined. Stepping away from the wall, Sweetie Belle stubbornly ignored Scootaloo’s frantic gestures for her to shush as she wiped her dress clean. The girl rolled her eyes. “They’re gone, look.”
Risking a glance out, Scootaloo’s suspicions didn’t fade, and she just kept looking, trying to find some hint. Her nose twitched, an odd smell tweaking her sinuses. ‘No way his dogs could have missed us...’
“Would ya stop worryin’? We didn’t get found an’ they’re gone,” Apple Bloom told the pickpocket with a grin.
“That was Rot Whiler! His dogs can sniff out anyone.” Still not quite believing it, Scootaloo leaned out to look. She wrinkled her nose. “Ugh, what’s that smell? What does he feed those things?”
Apple Bloom puffed up her chest, swelling with pride. “That was me!”
“...ew,” Sweetie groaned, backing away from her.
“Not like that!” The farm girl scowled. “Ah meant Ah made that smell.”
“Snrrk.” Clamping a hand over her mouth, Scootaloo tried in vain to bury her snickering. The reddening of Apple Bloom’s cheeks just made it harder to resist.
“Ah meant,” Apple Bloom repeated, now just glaring at the two,”that Ah threw out the thing that made it smell. Makes a dog’s nose go all funny, so they can’t follow ya.”
Scootaloo’s mouth dropped open for a moment, and her brow furrowed. “What? Why didn’t you use that at the start?” she demanded.
“Ah didn’t have much chance! We were just walkin’ along, then ya got all panicky an’ we were runnin’ before we knew why!” replied Apple Bloom, shaking her head. “Ah had to find it in mah bag.”
Crossing her arms, Scootaloo refused to admit defeat or look Apple Bloom in the eye. Never give in, Dash had always said, and there was no way she was going to let Dash down. Instead she leaned out further.
“At least Rot Whiler is gone.” She chewed on her lip for a moment. ‘Why was he chasing me? He was definitely after us, and it's not like these two are important enough...or..at least one of them isn’t....’
She shot a look at them. They were too busy making sure they hadn’t lost anything in the chase to notice her surreptitious glance. Scootaloo immediately discounted Apple Bloom. She was the definition of a hick, no matter how cool the stink bomb trick had been. No one was going to care enough about her to hire Rot Whiler to track her.
Sweetie Belle, on the other hand….
Scootaloo knew good clothes. Not because she wore it, burning day no, but she had been trained in spotting good marks. Nobles and wealthy merchants alike dressed finely, and their children never left the house as anything but advertisements of their parents’ money and power. The white dress was surprisingly clean, now she looked at it.
‘What if it's magic?’
The thought took her breath away. They’d been warned, constantly, that if they saw someone with clothing that stains simply fell away from, to get one of the others to follow them and go alert whoever was in charge of the market’s gang. Hard Knocks had made it clear; magic was worth a lot, but they weren’t losing any idiots to some lord’s guards being alerted by security magic.
‘Her sister really must be rich, or something. Or maybe her whole family is, and she’s just slumming it. Maybe there’s a reward...’
“Scootaloo?”
The question, so innocently asked, broke her from her musing and with a flush Scootaloo realised she’d zoned out. Wincing, she smiled and reassured Sweetie Belle she was fine.
“Just thinking. Why do you have those stink bombs? Do you get chased by dogs a lot?” she asked.
“No,” said Apple Bloom.
“Yep!” replied Sweetie Belle.
Scootaloo looked between. “Uh...which is it?”
Pouting, Apple Bloom harrumphed. “Ain’t no dogs chasin’ me.”
“But...what about that time we tried to help the butcher?” Sweetie Belle asked, raising a finger to her lip as she thought it over. “And the time when we tried helping Winona find a boy-dog?”
“They weren’t chasin’ us, they were chasin’ the sausages an’ Winona, respectfully,” Apple Bloom asserted with all the confidence of a twelve year old.
“Respectively,” correct Sweetie Belle, memories of her sister and Applejack arguing flashing through her mind. The time she called the ranger a ‘hick’ for saying some spice wrong. ‘Cilantro’ or something.
Apple Bloom shook her head. “Nah, respectfully, ‘cause them boy-dogs were real nice an’ got all in a line for their turn to woo her.”
“I still have no idea how you did that. I never knew dogs could make songs with barks either,” Sweetie Belle said, a thoughtful look in her eye.
Scootaloo really had no idea what to say at that point. She just stared at the pair. ‘Wow, the countryside is weird. At least the city makes sense.’
“Wait a sec, why was that Rot fella even chasin’ us?” Apple Bloom asked, rounding on Scootaloo. “We didn’t do nothin’!”
The pickpocket shrugged. “Search me. He’s usually chasing down people who owe the guild money, or thieves who don’t toe the line.”
Sweetie cocked her head to the side. “Guild? Which one?”
“Er…” Scootaloo smiled nervously. ‘Why not just shout ‘I’m a thief, don’t trust me!’ Stupid!’’ “The...Guild of...dog breeders?”
They stared at her for a few seconds, and her smile grew more nervous and brittle.
“That makes sense,” Apple Bloom agreed.
Sweetie Belle nodded. “Do you think they thought we were someone else?”
Breathing a sigh of relief, Scootaloo’s smile lost its edge and became rather more natural. ‘Hehe, nailed it.’ “Maybe we bumped into someone he was after and the smell stuck?” she suggested.
Apple Bloom rubbed her chin thoughtfully, taking her hand away to crawl out of the grate. “Ah dunno, not sure it works like that…”
“Pfft, nah, don’t worry about it. They’re gone and you made their noses not work, we’ll be fine now. Besides, don’t you want to get back to looking for your sisters?” In the days since she’d found the pair, nothing worked as well as that line. She had them attentive instantly, although, unfortunately, not both quite so positively.
“Yeah, we do, an’ a fat lotta help yer help has been,” demanded Apple Bloom. She scowled. “We been sharin’ our money with ya, an’ we ain’t seen hide or hair of Applejack or Rarity!”
“Whoa, don’t blame me that on me, this city is big. I said I’d help, but I can’t do magic. There’s a lot of people in the city, so it’s taking a lot of time to find them,” Scootaloo shot back hotly, glaring at the country bumpkin. “I have limits; I’m not Dash.”
“Who?” asked Sweetie. “Do you have a sister too?”
Scootaloo flinched. “N-no, she’s...she’s no one. Forget that. I have a plan that’ll work... probably.”
A hint of suspicion flashed in Apple Bloom’s eyes, a suspicion not shared by the ecstatic Sweetie Belle. She eyed their new ‘friend’ as Sweetie Belle squeaked in delight and all but begged to hear her plan.
“Okay, so, we’re looking for your sisters, but there are a lot of people in the city, right? So, we need to find a place a lot of those people are…” Scootaloo trailed off, eagerly waiting for them to catch on.
“....the town hall?” Apple Bloom suggested. “‘Cause back home, that’s where everyone goes when somethin’ big is happenin’. Before we came here, it was the biggest crowd Ah’d ever seen!”
Scootaloo groaned. “No! We don’t have a town hall-”
Sweetie gasped in horror. “But where do you have big meetings and share pies and have festival prayers?”
“We don’t. This is the city, we do things different here. So we’re going to look at the market! But!” snapped Scootaloo, seeing their mouths opening to spout some new insanity. “But! Not just any market! We’re going to go to the night market!”
*
Among the nobles who flocked to lofty towers of Canterlot Castle, few met the Princess daily. The more tactful would never even dare bothering their divine ruler to see them without some dire situation forcing their hand. None had the spine to imagine their troubles were worth her time. Those who did have the spine, or the hot gas to lift their egos enough, sometimes demanded such personal meetings. Demands were, in nearly all cases, met with polite stonewalling.
They would have been enormously surprised if they knew all they had to do was ask.
The secret of asking was one Twilight shared with Blueblood, but she could count the amount of times she had made use of it on one hand. The last time had involved a fire that wouldn’t go out and a one of a kind book from the library.
Some might consider it cowardly to go to the Princess before Spike got back, they might say she was avoiding telling him her plan. Dash had said that, in fact, and looked particularly pleased with herself at the scowl this earned. She had looked significantly less pleased when Twilight had conjured a ball of water over her head in a fit of pique.
‘What if the Princess knows I used my magic for that and tells me off?’ The thought slowed her walk until she came to a stop. Twilight gulped, eyeing the oak door separating her from the princess as if it would open up and swallow her. ‘Now Twilight, calm down, you know better. She kept trying to encourage me to practice magic with pranks, so I don’t think she’ll mind...’
With renewed confidence, Twilight strode up to the door and knocked just in time to destroy her own certainty with a single thought.
‘...but what if she does mind?!’
There was no more time for her to worry; the door swung open without half an instant passing. A voice no mortal could forget, warm and motherly, melodic in each note that sung through the air, called out.
“Please come in, Twilight.” Princess Celestia, divine ruler of the principality of Equestria, Herald of the Sun, smiled at her student. The finery she had worn at the party had only been a tad more fancy than her usual court attire, but in the comfort of her personal study, she wore little more than a plain white robe. Light caught on the gold that trimmed it, her sole concession to her station, as she rose from her desk.
“Princess,” Twilight said, curtseying. It was an old ritual now, her genuflecting and Celestia’s immediate dismissive wave.
“You know you never need to do that, Twilight,” the Princess laughed, gesturing for her student to rise. “Especially not with how little time we seem to have for each other lately.”
They took seats at a small table without discussion; Twilight sat across from her teacher, murmuring words of minor power. Flames sparked beneath the teapot already waiting, and she began sort through a tea tray.
“I’m sorry I’ve been so busy, Princess. Teaching Spike and conducting my own research was time consuming enough, but helping Dash as well now has taken up extra time. Not that I mind, of course…” Twilight explained absently, a hint of apology in her words.
Celestia shook her head. “Fear not, Twilight. I would never blame you for that. I understand her reading and writing are improving remarkably fast?”
“Oh yes! It’s wonderful, and I don’t think she realises how fast she’s learning. Although…” Grimacing at a memory, Twilight explained, “I gave her a book to practice with, and when Spike accidently let slip it was a book tutors use to teach very young noble children, she was...a little bit annoyed.”
Princess Celestia snorted. It was a simple sound, a simple, unladylike sound that would make a noble’s heart explode with shock and indignity at the sheer scandal of a snort.
“I imagine so. Was it from the fact it was for children, or nobles?” she asked.
“Both, I think. At least she forgot about it as soon as I suggested we practice her magic. She’s still trying to use the Focus Orbs, and they are helping her refine a little, but she’s still working on the basics.” Selecting the tea bags, Twilight began to prepare the tea.
“Which I gather involves soaking the carpet?” Celestia giggled, and Twilight joined her. “What about Applejack? Has she shown any obvious potential yet?”
Twilight sighed and replied, “None that I’ve seen. The effects might be passive, but something tells me she can do more than that. She definitely has some kind of magical bloodline, but stressful events haven’t caused it to blossom yet.”
She looked up in time to see a mysterious smile on her teacher’s face. Or rather, what Twilight thought of Mysterious Smile #5 ‘I know something you missed, and it’ll be wonderful when you finally catch on’. After a moment it became Mysterious Smile #8 ‘I know you saw my Mysterious Smile but I’m not going to explain it’.
‘So I missed something? Perhaps Applejack used a spell? Something subtle? She doesn’t strike me as a subtle person, and magic is so often related to personality...hmm...’ Twilight poured the tea in silent thought. ‘What could it have been?’
She mused on the question for a few minutes of simple, companionable silence.
“So, Twilight,” Celestia finally said, lowering her cup. “What can I do for you today? I take it you had more pressing concerns than tea.”
That brought a guilty look to the mage’s face. “Well, yes. I’m sorry, Princess, I was going to visit anyway, this wasn’t just so I could-” Twilight fell silent, lips sealing shut the moment her teacher gestured.
“I know. You need never apologise to me, Twilight, especially not when you’re just trying to help a friend.” Celestia’s smile wasn’t at all mysterious this time, just pleased at the surprise on her apprentice’s face. “I’m not omnipotent, but I am very good at keeping my ear to ground. Metaphorically speaking, that is.” Her tone descended into the sort of low level frustration management positions brought. “I imagine if I actually did it, I would shortly find a shrine being built there and preachers claiming it as the most holy of places.”
Twilight kept her mouth shut, unwilling to comment on the truth of the observation or her mentor’s frustration with that kind of thing.
“Speaking of holy places,” Twilight attempted to segway safely to another topic. “The thing I needed was….access to Old Canterlot.”
She waited, tension building. Staring into her cup, she help her breath for the denial and reprimand for demanding such a thing.
“That won’t be a problem.” Celestia took a sip of her tea, patting her lips with a napkin.
The words exploded from Twilight on autopilot, before Celestia’s words had been processed. “I really need to go down there, you see, I-....wait, what? That’s alright?”
What might, in someone less regal, have been a giggle escaped the Princess’s lips. “Twilight, Old Canterlot is warded to keep innocents from stumbling upon them or treasure hunters looting the relics of a bygone era for their own benefit. I was expecting you to be eager to investigate Old Canterlot sooner or later.”
“You were? I mean, ahem, of course you were,” Twilight agreed. She took a breath, settling her beating heart. “It is very fascinating. There’s so much alluded to, but nothing concrete in most sources.”
“Spike will find it educational, I think,” Celestia added. She waited a moment, letting the silence stretch for a few seconds before looking up from her tea to glimpse Twilight’s uneasy expression. “Is something wrong?”
“Spike isn’t coming,” muttered Twilight, quickly raising her teacup.
Celestia nodded. “The choice is yours,” she admitted, “but if I may make a recommendation; take him. Let him see the wonders of an age long gone and experience something few living have ever had the chance to.”
Looking away, Twilight took a few moments to answer. “I...suppose, but it’s too dangerous. He could get hurt.”
“Such is the risk of growth. The only way to avoid pain, physical, mental, or emotional is to hide from the world. All that earns you is a slow pain, one that creeps up until you realise how much you’ve missed.” Taking her apprentice’s chin in hand, Celestia brought the noble’s gaze back to her. Her expression emanated warmth, the sort of motherly love usually found in matronly women of a certain age and experience. “It is your choice, but Spike is a strong young man who deserves your trust. If you never let him out of sight, if you never let him experience the strange and wonderful, and yes, the dangerous, world beyond the castle, you will never give him the chance to grow.”
“He’ll get hurt! I can’t...what if he…” Twilight took a shuddering breath this time, clutching her teacup between straining fingers. “What if he doesn’t make it back? He’s already been hurt, I don’t want to be responsible for him d-dying.”
Celestia rose, for a moment, before taking the seat next to Twilight and wrapping an arm around her. “I won’t pretend that’s not a risk. Instead, let me ask you this; do you think you can stop him?”
Twilight blinked, but the Princess went on before she could answer.
“Perhaps this time, yes. You probably could keep him somewhere safe,” she admitted. “Maybe even the next time you have to do something dangerous. You could manage it for a year or two, possibly longer. You could keep Spike locked away, safe from all the dangers for a few years, but one day, he’ll get out. He’ll refuse to stay safe and when he leaves it won’t be with your blessing or help. He’ll run and run because he’ll fear you putting him away again. So he’ll be alone, unprepared for what will face him.”
“I…” She grasped for words, yet Twilight found none. It made sense. It made sense and she desperately wanted it not to. Had the Princess not held her, she would have hung her head, gone limp in despair. “I can’t let anything happen to him.”
Sighing, Celestia hugged her student tightly. “Believe me, Twilight, I know the feeling. Better than you might expect…” she trailed off, her gaze turning, for but a moment, to the window and something, someone, far, far away.
They sat together, neither saying a word. It was enough for each to have the other, teacher and student, friends, as each dwelt on their own inner turmoil.
*
Where two women sat in quiet companionship, another two stood, glaring.
“I could so take you in a fight,” Dash growled.
Applejack sighed, rubbing her forward. “Are we really doing this? Really?” she asked.
The thief nodded. “Yep. We are. How else will we know?”
“Why do we need to know? I don’t care, sugar. So just drop it,” ordered Applejack, hands on her hips. “I. Don’t. Care.”
Dash stepped closer, leaning right in and standing on the tips of her toes. “I do. Now pick up your sword and let’s see who wins!”
Applejack sighed, and for a moment, Dash was certain she had won the argument. So certain, she didn’t react in time to the hand that landed just below her breasts and pushed. She went back, yelping as she landed in the armchair and nearly knocking it over.
“I win. Good fight.” Applejack turned away, and had to bite back a sigh when she heard the girl scrambling back up. “Please, Dash, I ain’t gonna fight you, at least not with my actual sword. When I hit you-”
“If you hit me,” Dash cut in. She smirked. “With that thing, I’d have time to take a nap before bothering to get out of the way.”
Spike watched the pair bicker, fighting a yawn. When they had first arrived, it had been fun to watch Dash antagonist Applejack, but now it had lost the same shiny appeal of of newness. He mouthed along with Applejack’s next line, no longer even looking.
“‘I could hit you with my eyes closed, the way your mouth is always yappin’,” he copied, the words ringing out in Applejack’s distinctive accent. He kept going as Dash retorted, his lips moving in near perfect harmony with hers as he silently mouthed each word, “‘Let’s see you try. I’ll be nice and go easy on you’.”
“-on you- hey!” Dash whipped her head around, glaring at the copycat. “How did you know I was gonna say that?”
“Huh?” he blinked, looking back to them. Spike recoiled from the heated glare and gave her a shaky smile. “Did I say that out loud?”
“Yeah, you did,” she grumbled. In a few swift steps she loomed over him, although it might have been more effective if she had more than a half a foot on him in height. “I’m not predictable.”
Spike scratched his chin, not meeting her eyes. “Well, you have kinda had pretty much this same argument before. Like, four times before.”
“We have not! Applejack, tell him we haven’t!” demanded Dash. She spun to lay her glare on Applejack when agreement wasn’t immediately forthcoming. “Come on!”
Holding her hands up to ward the girl off, Applejack shrugged. “Eh, well, you do get kind of competitive, sugar.”
“Hmph.” Crossing her arms, Dash scowled. “Whatever. When does Twilight get back? I wanna get going already, get some action.”
She didn’t notice until the words had left her mouth that Applejack was shaking her head. She gave the ranger a confused look.
“What?” she asked.
Behind her, Spike stared at the back of her head. “You’re going somewhere?”
‘Oh,’ Dash realised. She winced in perfect timing with Applejack’s facepalm. “Whoops,” she muttered. Over her shoulder she gave Spike a lopsided grin. “Nope.”
The young sorcerer look at her. A moment later, he looked at Applejack, then back again. He said nothing, simply looking between the pair with a flat, unimpressed expression.
“You guys are really bad at lying,” Spike told them.
Dash snorted indignantly. “Hey, I am an awesome liar! Watch this!” She jabbed a finger at Applejack. “Hey AJ, you’re ugly as a horse’s backside.”
Applejack stared at her. Her brow furrowed as she tried to decipher this. “...what?”
“See, kid? I can lie like its nothing,” bragged the thief. She strutted past his chair, smirking, until he spoke up.
“I think Dash just called you pretty,” he suggested to Applejack.
Dash froze mid-strut. “Uh…”
A chortle from behind made her hesitate.
“Well now, that’s quite nice of ya, Rainbow, ‘though I’m not sure I’d agree,” the ranger demurred. She tipped her hat towards Dash. “You ain’t so hard on the eyes yourself.”
In the time it took to blink, Dash had spun on her heels, one judgement finger pointing at Applejack like. “Hey, wait, no, I didn’t say that!”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. She dropped one hand to her hip as her gaze drilled into her friend. “Oh? So yer sayin’ that wasn’t a lie and I’m ugly, is that it?”
“Whoa, no no, it was totally a lie, that was the point!”
“So you do think I’m pretty?”
“No!”
“So I’m ugly?”
Lost for words, Dash shook her head in silent rejection. There was a way out, an answer to this on the tip of her tongue but she couldn’t seem to remember what it was with Spike and Applejack staring at her, Applejack walking closer and closer with a grim expression…
Applejack let out a bellow of laughter. Her louder, raucous bark of mirth drowned out Spike’s snickering, and bounced about in Dash’s unresponsive ears. The ranger patted Dash on the shoulder as she passed.
“Lighten up, Rainbow,” she teased with a triumphant little grin. “I always appreciate compliments, no matter how mixed up they are.”
Spike covered his mouth in a desperate attempt to stifle himself. It wasn’t exactly doing much to ease Dash’s return to sanity as she realised how Applejack had played her, but it was the thought that counted, surely.
“I...I am so going to get you for that!” she shrieked.
Applejack chuckled, her answer delayed a few seconds as another voice cut in first.
“Get who for what?” asked Twilight. She stood at the door, leaning in. She eyed the three suspiciously. “DId someone pull a prank?”
“Not exactly,” Applejack replied, her voice betraying her amusement. “Welcome back, sugar. Did ya get what we need?”
Spike frown, the scales at the edges of his lips wrinkling slightly. “What did you need? You’re going somewhere and Twilight had to get stuff from the Princess? What for?”
It was barely an instant before Dash had, quite innocently, decided she had somewhere to be other than in Twilight’s line of sight. Applejack sighed, and though she said nothing, the look she gave Twilight when the scholar looked around sharply made her thoughts clear.
“How did you know I went to see Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked. She carried the scroll case under one arm until she reached the table. Magic flared and books began to move until she had a clear space.
Spike grinned proudly. “Its easy. The Princess smells.” He must have seen something in Twilight’s expression, because he hurriedly added, “I mean, she has a distinctive smell, and you pick up a little of it just being around her.”
“Wow, you can smell pretty good,” Dash observed from behind one of the chairs, poking her head out to give Spike a grin.
“Ain’t you hidin’?” Applejack reminded her with a prod. “Pokin’ yer head out seems a fine way to lose it to me.”
“Hey, which one of us is the hiding expert here?”
“Which one of us is trying to argue and hide at the same time?”
“...shut up.”
Twilight rubbed her forehead. ‘Just ignore them, and maybe they’ll grow up.’ “Spike, there’s something we need to talk about.”
He gulped. “I guessed that… you’re going on an adventure, and leaving me behind, aren’t you?” Spike looked away, hunching his shoulders in his seat, but Twilight still caught the look in his eyes.
‘...I can’t hurt him like this,’ Twilight realised. She didn’t let the thought slip from her lips, leaving an uncomfortable silence as she grappled with herself.
“I-I guess I understand,” Spike finally said. He ran a hand through his hair, a sigh escaping him. “I know you don’t want me to get hurt, so I’ll just...stay here…”
He didn’t hear her steps, each muffled by the thick carpet, and when her arms wrapped around him he nearly jumped out of his skin. She leaned down, holding Spike until he looked at her.
“You’re right,” she admitted, “I don’t want to see you get hurt. Every time I imagine what happened with the acid trap, I feel sick. When I think about what could have happened if you had been caught by that monster…” She squeezed him. “Spike, you’re my family. I don’t want to see anything happen to you.”
Spike nodded weakly, but no matter how he tried, he couldn’t quite contain his disappointment. It was a bitter look in his eyes she hated to see. Twilight took a breath, and continued.
“But...I can’t do that.”
He jerked, surprised, but she held on.
“I can’t keep you here forever. I can’t be with you every moment you’re outside. I’m not quite ready to let go of you, Spike, but I want you to be prepared. If that means taking you with me when I need to go somewhere dangerous…” She smiled sadly. “Well, I can’t say I can prepare you for everything, but I can do my best.”
Spike didn’t say a word. He slipped his arms around her, returning the gesture. This was trust, a kind of trust she had never expressed. Trust in herself, and in him.
“Don’t forget us, kid.” Rainbow hair hung down in front of them. Dash grinned from the handstand she was doing on the top of the chair, flashing a smirk at the dragonblooded boy. “We’ll show you the ropes. I can even show you how to pick a lock if you wa-ah!”
Her smirk vanished, yelping loudly as she was yanked away. Applejack settled the thief over her shoulder, and ignored her complaints.
“Sorry, Rainbow, weren’t enough space with you there.” She didn’t put Dash down as she smiled at Spike and Twilight. “But she’s right. You ain’t goin’ down there alone, Twilight. Me and Dash, well, we’ll see you both through this. If Spike here picks up a few tricks, learns a bit about how to survive, what more can ya want?”
‘To see my friend again,’ Spike thought, but still he smiled. He’d find Scootaloo again, he was sure, but right now? Right now he had friends, and that’s what mattered. Friends, and his family, and the lure of adventure before him.
*
Stats
Page generated in 0.019 seconds
Total duration
1,068 users online
1,893,186 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Momlestia is Bestlestia, and some adorable Twilight/Spike siblingry! HEART ATTACKS FOR THE RETURN OF A CLASSIC!
AppleDash flirting is the best flirting . And there's no capitals in "themunck".
6109966 Hey, I wanted to thank you for that one-shot. Neal's such a grump about shipping it's nice to have somebody else on my side
6109977
Not all shipping, just AppleDash shipping.
Also, ScootaSpike is go!
Celestia... thinks Spike should go?
Color me surprised, I figured Spike would be dealing with the CMC while Twilight and co went dungeoneering.
this story looks promising... DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE WE GO!!!!
6110232
Hope you enjoy the story, and if you have any questions about the homebrewed bloodlines introduced in certain chapters, direct them towards me since I made them.
Ah, the Parent's Prayer.
Great stuff here, from Apple Bloom's alchemy and increasing suspicion to the Jack/Dash dynamic to Celestia being Celestia in the best possible way. Definitely looking forward to the dungeon dive.
Ah, finally got caught up with this one. Good stuff all around!
Onward and Downward!
s6.postimg.org/dd47s96ap/Pirate_Approved.jpg
Was that an OOtS reference I saw?
Do you plan to use Occult Adventures at all? Like having Maud Pie as a Geokineticist? Or having Rainbow Dash pick up some Aerokineticist?
...I'll be honest, I haven't looked at anything in that book beyond the Kineticist, mostly because Telekinesis/Bending is awesome
Aaahhh, AppleDash flirting. I suspect it may not have been you actually shipping them consciously, but I appreciate it all the same.
And we go Onward and Downward, to the ruins of Old Canterlot, where our band of heroes find themselves locked in an epic adventure; for their lives, and the lives of all citizens of the land.
I would assume, anyway.