Mending Hearts

by Ronglar

Chapter 11: Retrieval

Chapter 11: Retrieval

*Ding, Dong, Ding, Dong* chimed the clock tower, its announcement about the time breaking the peaceful silence that had lulled over the countryside. The silence was quick to recover though, and blanketed the fields once more. “It was shattered a second time, however, as the clock struck a surprise encore.

“Ugh, must that tower be so loud?” Trixie yawned. “It’s too early for this.”

“Too early? Have you spit yer bit or something?” Applejack replied, “By the time ah left the farm ah’d already finished most of the day’s work! ‘Sides, ain’t noon like half the day already?”

“It’s still too early…”

Applejack, Trixie and Twilight were currently standing beside the Ponyville clock tower. They had all recently arrived and had began talking about the trip into the forest. Well at least Twilight and Applejack were, Trixie was doing her best to stay awake. It was a losing battle.

A gentle breeze blew over the group, threatening to tip the showmare over. Trixie nearly did fall over, but the observant farmer was quick to step beside her and brace her. Stifling a yawn, she was slow to stand up of her own accord.

“What’s a’matter girl? You two have too much fun last night to get any shut eye?” Applejack teased.

“Heh, hardly,” Trixie grumpily replied. “This one spent the entire night prodding and sciencing that stupid box Mister Grey gave her.”

Twilight’s horn stopped glowing as she put the containment cube down at her hooves. She smiled at her drowsy roommate who she had unfortunately kept awake all night. “Mister Grey? You do mean Silver right?”

“Yeah, that’s I said the name of who,” Trixie grumbled, before revising her statement. “Eh, shut up. I’m sleepy and I’m do what any grammar mistakes I want.”

“And that’s why you’re so lovable in the morning Trixie!” Twilight cheered.

“Bite me.”

“Proly how she likes it,” Applejack grinned. Trixie muttered something incomprehensible into her hooves, having sat down at some point in the conversation. Twilight on the other hoof blushed a deep shade of crimson. Looking for a distraction, she turned her focus on the clock tower.

“Really! 12:20 and not a sign of either pegasi!” Twilight commented. “I would expect this kind of tardiness from Rainbow Dash but not of Silver! I mean co-”

“Oh, hold yer horses girls. Ah think that’ll be the cavalry approaching!” Applejack hollered, while looking into the skies above them. Twilight and Trixie both followed her gaze upwards past the clock tower. The three of them could see two fast moving objects heading in their general direction. One had a faint multi-colored streak following it while the other had a light red glow.

“Yep, that would be them,” Twilight confirmed. Trixie was too tired to look up. Instead she sat down, rested her head on her fore hooves and closed her eyes.

Up in the sky the red-colored pegasus began turning towards the clock tower while the rainbow one continued flying forward. Noticing the oversight, said rainbow pegasus made a sharp turn towards the clock tower and quickly caught up. The two flyers bounced into each other, making a beeline for the road.

“Oh, we might want to move outta the way,” Applejack warned. She and Twilight took a couple steps back off the road, Trixie still lying on the dirt street. “Trixie! Y’all might wanna get yerself up!”

Trixie ignored them and continued trying to sleep. Unfortunately for her, both pegasi were too busy to notice her until the last moment. “Watch out below!!” one of them called out. It happened too fast for anypony to catch who said it.

Trixie finally raised her head to look at what the commotion was all about. To avoid crashing into the ground, both pegasi flapped their wings which sent a huge gust of wind downwards. While slowing the flyers, the air had the negative side effect of slamming into the road and sending a huge cloud of dust into the air—right into Trixie’s face.

As soon as Rainbow and Silver realized the mess they had created, they both flapped their wings again to push the cloud of dirt away. Twilight and Applejack poked their head out from behind the tower, and began laughing simultaneously. Rainbow joined in once the cloud had passed, even Silver managed a small chuckle.

Trixie was rolling and gagging on the ground in the middle of the group. She had been at ground zero for the dustpocalypse and had taken the worst of it. Slowly she managed to compose herself and stand up. “*Cough* Ugh. *Cough* Okay. *Wheeze* You’ve made your point.” Trixie choked while inhaling a large gulp of fresh air. “I’m getting up.” Still, everypony else was laughing. “What? What is so funny?”

“Over here,” Twilight called, motioning Trixie to walk over to the nearby pond. Apprehensively, she trotted over and stuck her head out over the water for a better view. She was appalled at the view.

Trixie’s eyes were red and bloodshot. Her mane was frazzled every which way and covered in dirt. She looked like she had just been through a sandstorm, which was actually partially correct. Just the thought of not looking flawless when in company was enough to upset the poor mare. Now she looked like a walking disaster. Her left eye twitched as she looked over her shoulder at Rainbow Dash. “Well. Any last words?” She seethed.

“H- hey, now hold on a second!” Rainbow gulped “I can fix this!”

Trixie took a step forward, fully intending to smack Rainbow upside the head, while Rainbow stepped back. She looked around for anything that could save her. Twilight and Applejack were leaning on each other behind Trixie trying their hardest not to burst out laughing again. Rainbow looked over to Silver who only had a smug grin that said, “Have fun with that.”

“Heh. Now let’s be reasonable here Trixie,” Rainbow nervously chuckled, “This was a complete and utter- woah!”

Trixie lunged at her with a head of steam, hooves swiping at any piece of pegasus they could reach. Unfortunately for her said pegasus did in fact, have wings and quickly flew into the air to avoid her wrath.

Up in the air Rainbow had a moment to think. She could book it, but that wouldn’t be upholding loyalty much. Fight? Not an option at this point. Trixie ready to tear Rainbow a new one. Fortunately, an idea struck Rainbow, just as Trixie’s hooves wanted to.

“Hey Trixie! Twilight and Applejack are laughing at you!” she called, drawing the magician’s gaze around and off of herself. Within an instant Rainbow flew to the ground and placed her hooves around Trixie’s waist. “Oh you’re a heavy one! Up we go!”

It took Trixie a moment to register that she had been picked up of the ground. Her brain did eventually catch up with her. “Put me down you belligerent oaf!” she hollered while struggling in Rainbow’s grip.

“As you command.” Rainbow all-to-happily replied. With a huge grin plastered over her face, she let go over Trixie right over the pond. The fall was brief, only about three seconds. Enough time however for Trixie to promise the eventual demise of one Rainbow Dash. A large wave spread out from the impact sight as she smacked full-stomach onto the water.

“Ooooo… That’s gotta hurt,” Silver commented.

A flock of bubbles surfaced from the pond, drawing everypony’s attention. Following close after, Trixie floated up to the surface and took in a huge gulp of air. Slowly she turned towards the group and began paddling to the shore. It wasn’t the largest body of water, and Trixie quickly stood up in the shallow water.

For a moment, nopony said a word. Trixie’s mane and coat where completely soaked and flat. It was debatable if the new look was an improvement over the old one. One interesting feature was that her eyes looked like they were about to shoot lasers at Rainbow Dash. Sensing immediate doom, the pegasus attempted to defuse the situation.

“Hey, hey, hey Trixie, no need to get so upset, I did fix your dirty mane right?” Rainbow pleaded. She shrunk back as Trixie continued to glower at her.

The only possible outcome of this situation that the group could see was Trixie opening a can of whoop-ass on Rainbow Dash. Foreseeing disaster, Twilight began prepping a shield spell to separate the two just in case. This, however, was completely unnecessary however as Trixie’s expression performed a full 180 and even cracked a small giggle.

“Well, I suppose that’s one way to wake up in the morning.” Trixie smiled. Her statement was followed by a sigh of relief from everypony else. Having an all-out fight with the pony she had just saved would not do well for Trixie’s new reputation.

“So if that’s all fine an’ dandy can we head on out to the forest?” Applejack interrupted, “Ah have plans for this afternoon and ah wouldn’t enjoy bein’ late.”

A chorus of nods came from group as they all settled down. With the potential disaster avoided, they could now move onto the actual work ahead.

“Alright girls, I think we’ve spent enough time here,” Twilight announced. With a faint glow of her horn, the cube at her hooves lifted into the air and flew over to Silver. “I believe this belongs to you.”

Silver pulled open her bag with her right wing as the cube floated inside. “Thanks,” she said in return, “So if everypony is good, let’s go.”

With the morning drama behind them, the five ponies began their trek towards the Everfree Forest. Twilight and Trixie led the way, the only two having actually been at the crash site. Silver had planned to visit the area on her own but never got the chance with everything that had occurred recently.

It was a short walk from the clock tower to the edge of the forest. The main dirt road the group had been traveling turned around the forest and headed south, circling the town. A smaller path split off which lead directly into the forest. Twilight came to an abrupt halt at the fork and turned towards everypony else. Both Rainbow and Applejack could sense the oncoming lecture; having heard many from the unicorn.

“Alright girls, I wanted to quickly go over one thing before we head into the forest,” Twilight stated in her loud, authoritative explaining voice, “I cannot stress this enough, be careful when we reach the clearing. Watch out for anything that moves, I’d like to avoid another confrontation with the shadows if possible.”

“Well what’s the problem there?” Rainbow interrupted, “If those black freaks show up we’ll just open up a can of whoop-ass on them!” She exaggerated her words by flaring on her hind legs and punching the air in front of her.

Silver stuck out a hoof and calmly pulled Rainbow back to the ground. “It might not be that easy,” She said “the one I fought at the party was quite tough. It withstood an attack that should have paralyzed it. The best thing we could do if there are more of them than us would be to stall them until we could escape with the stone.”

“Aw. That’s no fun,” Rainbow muttered, slightly deflated.

“We ain’t her for fun RD,” Applejack sighed, “we’re here to pick up that stone and get out with it.”

Twilight was quick to stick in a point before the discussion could get derailed. “Actually that’s the other thing. Whatever any of you do, do not touch or try to pick up the stone. We don’t want anypony to get hurt.” She saw that Rainbow was about to ask why and quickly explained, “We have Silver’s containment cube to transport it, so let’s use it. Any questions?”

A moment of silence passed before anypony in the group said anything. “Uh, yeah, one other thing,” Rainbow said. Twilight simply nodded in her direction. “What is th-”

*Fwoosh*

Rainbow’s question was abruptly halted as a huge beam of light shot straight out of the Everfree into the sky, catching the entire group’s attention. It was a pulsing blue color with a dark purple glow radiating off of it. It stretched up high enough into the sky that nopony could see the end of it. After only a brief moment however, the beam cut off and completely disappeared.

“Okay, no more time for questions! We gotta go!” Silver exclaimed, pushing herself into the air. Rainbow was quick to flare up beside her.

“Agreed,” Twilight said, “Let’s go everypony!”

With the pretense of certain disaster, Twilight, Trixie and Applejack opened into a full gallop towards the forest in the direction where the light was. Being able to fly much faster, Rainbow and Silver shot ahead of the group and flew up and over the tree line.

The beam of light hadn’t come from very far into the Everfree. Once over the trees the pegasi could easily see the large clearing in the forest. Silver quickly slowed down and looked back to where they had just been while Rainbow continued flying at full speed. She could see the three others just approaching the edge of the forest. “Guys! Over this way!” Silver yelled, pointing a hoof towards the clearing. She didn’t hear anything in response, but saw that the group had slightly changed direction to where she had indicated.

Without another moment of pause Silver turned and rocketed off towards the clearing. The compass on her ankle began beeping furiously the closer to the crash site she flew. On her approach she could see Rainbow hovering in the air, her bright colors standing out against the dark shades of the forest. As Silver came closer she could make out a crater at the far end and what looked like multiple other ponies standing around it.

“Oh, this isn’t good.” Silver gulped as she came to a hover beside Rainbow. What she had seen around the crater were not ponies. Six shadows stood around it, glaring intently at the two of them. Silver could make out two unicorns, two pegasi and two earth ponies. None of them however seemed to respond any differently to Silver’s additional presence. “Have they done anything since you got here?” She whispered.

“No, those things just turned and started staring at me!” Rainbow answered. “This is creepy, why aren’t they doing anything?”

“I don’t know, but hopefully they’ll stay like that until our backup arrives.” Silver sighed. She floated down and landed on the grass. If all six of those things were as good fighters as the one at the party the two of them didn’t stand a chance. Rainbow reluctantly flew down beside Silver, staying on edge in case of anything. The six shadows continued to watch them, staying motionless all the while.

With a moment to think, Silver could feel something off about the immediate area. It looked different than the rest of the forest. The grass was a dull green, almost grey. The trees along the edge also seemed to be dulling in color. A familiar shiver ran up Silver’s spine. She could tell something was wrong here, and not the usual wrongness of the Everfree.

“Hey Rainbow, does anything feel off to you?” Silver gently whispered.

“Yeah, it does,” she replied. Rainbow looked down and gave the cold grass a kick. “This numbness, I remember feeling it right before the party fell apart.”

Silver mulled the though over her head for a moment. “This is the same feeling I’ve gotten whenever being near one of those things,” she said, gesturing to the shadows. “Agh. Whatever it is, it can’t be good.”

The situation didn’t look very promising. The group of shadows stood directly between them and the impact site. Silver imagined that she and Rainbow could take two or three, but six would be out of the question until help arrived. Therefore it was a great relief for her to hear the stomping of hooves and breaking of branches from behind them.

“The clearing is right over here!” Twilight called before rounding a particularly large tree and into the open. She was flanked on both sides by Trixie and Applejack. The three of them were quick to reunite with Silver and Rainbow.

“Girls! What’s going on? Has anything- Woah!” Twilight stopped min-sentence as she noticed the six shadows surrounding the impact site. Her horn immediately flared as a bubble of magic enveloped the five of them. “What the hay is going on here?” she asked, unsure of what to make of the situation.

“Yeah, why’re y’all just standing here?” Applejack joined in. “Better question yet, why’re they all just standing there?” She stretched out a hoof and pointed through the bubble at the shadows on the outside.

“I don’t know,” Silver stated matter-of-factly. She looked outside the bubble then back to the group. “They’ve been like that since we got here. We haven’t tried anything because in a straight fight Rainbow and I wouldn’t last very long against so many of them.”

“Well we have to do something!” Rainbow asserted.

“Yes, we can’t just stand around here,” Twilight agreed.

“So what should we do!?”

“Have you tried diplomacy?”

“Okay. Now it’s my turn to comment,” Trixie interrupted. “Diplomacy? Did you already forget what happened only a few nights ago?” Nopony required a reminder about the fire. Something that ruins a town-wide party and destroys half of it isn’t something forgettable. Trixie asked more out of shock than actually from wondering if Twilight had forgotten.

“No, I haven’t,” Twilight deadpanned. “What I’m trying to say is that we need a new plan as fighting won’t solve this one.” She looked over to Silver who nodded in agreement. “Those shadows haven’t shown any hostility now have they? I’m wondering why. If they wanted to fight, they would have attacked already. If they are guarding the stone, it looks like they’re waiting for something. Now since fighting will not go well for us and it seems that the first thing on their minds is not violence, diplomacy looks like our only viable option.”

“Ah don’t like this,” Applejack muttered.

“I agree, but it doesn’t look like we have any another choice,” Silver added, “if this does turn out ugly, we need to be able to escape quickly. Applejack, can you stay by the rear and make sure we have a clear path behind us?”

“No problem Sugar.”

“Hopefully it won’t come to that, but if it does I’ll need your help Rainbow to distract them so all of us can get away safely,” Silver continued.

“You can count on me!” Rainbow energetically replied.

“And uh, here you go,” Silver said while taking the containment cube out of her pack. She tossed it over towards Twilight who caught it within a glow of purple magic. “Once we get the stone, we are out of here. So are we all good?” There was a chorus of nods and agreements that blew through the group. “If you would be so kind then Twilight,” Silver said as she bumped the large purple bubble surrounding them.

“Alright girls, get ready,” Twilight istated. Everypony in the group tensed as the shield disappeared around them. The only change however was the cold breeze washing over them. Twilight took a careful step forward, followed closely behind by the others. The shadows continued to stand and stare as the group slowly marched towards them.

“Hello?” Twilight called out, “Can you understand me?” She received no reply or sign of acknowledgement. “We do not wish to cause a conflict!”

The group froze as all six of the shadow’s eyes began glowing bright red. In unison they spoke in a deep, growling voice: “Oh, but we do.” Upon hearing this, everypony in the group tensed and prepared for a fight. Twilight and Trixie’s horns began to glow while Applejack starting move back, keeping the exit clear. Both Rainbow’s and Silver’s wings rose up in preparation for a diversion. This was all unnecessary however.

A large dark blue glow began emanating from the shadows. With a bright flash of light, they were all gone, leaving the five ponies behind in utter bafflement. All of them still waited, expected something to happen. When nothing did, they slowly lowered their defenses.

“What the hay just happened?” Applejack deadpanned.

“I’ve got as much of an idea as you do,” Trixie replied.

“Well that was unexpected,” Silver stated, “Twilight, can you feel them at all?”

Twilight concentrated for a second, but could only feel the cold magic radiating form the crater. “No, they’re not here. It seems they all teleported away.”

“No fight, running away, it’s almost as if they want us to take the stone,” Trixie guessed.

“Well it’s not like we have much of a choice now. We’re here and we have an anti-magic container. I doubt it would be a good idea to leave the stone here.” Silver replied.

“I don’t like this,” Rainbow added, “let’s just get that rock and get out of here before they come back.”

“Agreed. Twilight?” Silver gestured, pointing to the crater.

“Y- yeah,” she warily responded.

Twilight floated the cube beside her as she and Silver walked over the clearing. “Now that I think about it actually, this area looks quite different than it did two weeks ago,” Twilight commented, “Everything is so much, colder.”

As the two came up to the edge of the crater, they could feel a significant temperature drop in the air. Looking inside, Twilight could now see the shard where she had left it previously. Although this time it wasn’t resting on the ground, but actually floating in the air. A deep blue-purple glow surrounded it, keeping it aloft.

“So you think this is the thing causing us all of these problems?” Silver quietly asked.

“I don’t know,” Twilight replied flatly, “but there’s only one way to find out.” She floated the cube in front of her and clicked open the latch. As soon as it creaked open, Twilight could feel her magic begin to waver. Unlike the stone, which had a cold, dark energy to it, the inside of the cube just felt, empty.

Hovering the cube forward, Twilight encountered the same resistance as she had before. This time it was much stronger, pushing the cube back. She focused more energy into her telekinesis while attempting to force the cube over the shard. It responded by glowing even brighter to the source of magic. After a brief few seconds however Twilight won the battle and successfully clamped the box closed over the shard. Immediately the cold, dark energy in the crater cut off.

“Well, it seems to be holding,” Twilight said, while inspecting the device.

“Thankfully,” Silver commented.

“Alright girls! We’re good to go!” Twilight called as the two of them climbed back out of the crater. Rainbow, Trixie and Applejack all looked relieved as the two of them walked out looking fine.

“So now that y’all have that thing, what’re ya gonna do with it?” Applejack questioned.

“We’re going to take it to the library. I need to examine it in the laboratory before we do anything else with it. Make sure it isn’t harmful,” Twilight answered.

“So are we good to go?” Rainbow asked.

“Yes, we can head back to town now,” Silver stated.

“Finally!” Rainbow yelled. She spread her wings wide and flew up into the air above the tree line. “Ugh, town is that way!” she called out, pointing a hoof in the general direction in which they had come from. With the cube in tow, the group began their quick trot back through the forest, unaware of the danger that loomed over the horizon.

Big thanks to Nikitakitten for prereading/editing the chapter!

Comments

[Raven Flight]

Nice update and EPIC foreshadow.

[Divine Path]

Yay! An update!

[Ronglar]

1301119 Oh yes. Oh yes. Stuff is going to happen.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Great update. And I sense trouble...

[Ronglar]

1327652 Thank you very much! It's always great having your work enjoyed by others!

[nichol-ass24]

1328123

.
.
.

i just finished the chapter to find out that you just replied to me 3 minutes ago
.
.
.

so awesome
also has any one played monmusu quest ?

[Ronglar]

1333880

Um... you're welcome?

and nope, haven't playst monmusu quest.

[nichol-ass24]

1334820
sorry the monmusu quest part was for any pony that knew the game

heres a reference fan made song for the game to any pony that needs a refresher

[Something Eight]

encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRXxyonGs2gRWz3msCHp6cOzoIDa7dwb94Io1KMf4h2J2qk1qxJ4w

[Ronglar]

1622561 I'm sorry, but if my schedule continues the way it currently is, It's going to be a while before the story finishes. I just don't have too much time to write nowadays.

[Mooncalf]

Dammit, another good story ending up on hiatus. Still, I guess I can track it in case it updates eventually.

Still, good story. Pretty novel interpretation of Trixie, too.