Harmony's Wrath

by hahatimeforponies

Wild Goose Chase

After the quick bath, Fluttershy was away again. Against her better judgement, she had decided to fill in Zecora on their findings, if only to explain why she was so taken with that one staff. The zebra was stunned by the story, but luckily, sympathetic. She didn't have any information that might be useful to them, but swore to keep their secret and aid them in any way she could.

Once outside, the pegasus noticed the position of the sun had changed. Her friends would probably have noticed her absence by now; she thanked Zecora for the staff, and the handy sling she had for it, and rushed home.

"I'm back!" She threw open the door upon her return, stumbling inside. In her haste, she tripped on the doormat and skidded across the floor. While she got up and shook herself off, she heard the door close, accompanied by a faint twinkling. The sound startled her a little, and when she looked back in front of her, she jumped again. Twilight was awake and sitting on her couch, and she caught the last moment of her horn's glow. "Twilight!" she grinned, bouncing over, past the others. "You're alright!"

"A little tuckered out, but fine, thanks." the unicorn smiled. Her fatigue was evident in her voice. "Now that we're all here, I can clear up some of the... ahem, confusion." She looked over to Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity. All three lowered their heads, with apologetic expressions and ruffled manes. Rainbow even had a black eye. "You may have noticed that something odd happened back at the palace..."

---

"Gee, it sure is a long way to Canterlot..."

"You can say that again, Applebloom..." Scootaloo wheezed, weakly flapping her tired wings to propel the scooter along. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had been travelling for what felt like forever... at least an hour! Maybe even two hours! They had initially been making good time, travelling a little faster by scooter than the average pony's walking speed, even with two passengers. However, the pace was exhausting on the little pegasus, and soon they just had to stop and rest.

"Look! There's a town! Maybe we can rest there!" Sweetie Belle called, pointing a hoof at the top of the next hill, where a cluster of dark, wooden buildings protruded from the blanket of snow on the meadows around them. Scootaloo groaned and soldiered on, beating her tiny wings furiously.

"Could you at least get out and walk for a while?"

---

"... and that's everything we know so far." Twilight concluded. Everypony else just gawped, processing the veritable trove of information she had acquired through Luna. "Well don't look so shocked, I think it clears up a lot of holes in my theory. Plus, now we know what we should do next!"

"Find the seventh..." Rarity began, a little uneasily.

"... and find the way to banish Celestia from this plane in the study of... heemy... haemomancery? What's that?" Applejack continued.

"Haemomancy. Blood magic." Twilight stated calmly. Everypony else gasped at the mention. "I know it's not pretty, but it at least makes sense. Now, one thing at a time. We need to figure out who the seventh is."

"But she could be anypony!" Rainbow Dash protested.

"Actually, with what we know, we have a fairly good description to go by, and because they... we... they... were all banished together, we're likely to have met her at some point in the past. From the story, we know she's a blue unicorn with a white mane, an able magician but scheming and boastful..." They all thought for a moment, constructing a mental image of the pony in question, before it all came together and hit everypony at once. Nopony was exactly thrilled at the prospect.

"Not her..."

"Anypony but her..."

"I'm afraid it probably is... Trixie fits the bill better than anypony we know." Twilight gulped.

"Are ya sure? Can't it be somepony else? Somepony we didn't want to never see again?" Applejack groaned.

"She's never going to let us hear the end of this..." Rarity muttered.

"But we only met her once! I thought there was supposed to be some special connection or something!" Rainbow whined. Twilight sighed.

"It doesn't matter that we only met her once, she still left enough of an impression that we remembered her right away. The description is... it's too accurate. It has to be her." the unicorn admitted. "We just need to figure out where she went after she left town."

"With any luck she's all washed up..." Rarity whispered to one side, and Applejack and Rainbow couldn't help but chuckle. Pinkie Pie was already giggling anyway, but she was never one to pass up an opportunity for a laugh.

"Anyway, as for the second part, I need to track down some books on haemomancy. Since its study was outlawed even in the times before Celestia, I doubt it'll be on my library shelves. We may well need to travel outside Equestrian borders to find something."

"Lemme guess." Dash grimaced. "The gryphon kingdoms?"

"Actually, I was thinking of something much closer to home. This might just be my own curiosity getting the better of me, but I think it might be worth exploring the ancient royal castle in the Everfree forest again. The last time we were there, I thought it looked like it much older than a thousand years, but I didn't have time to check it out properly. Now that we know it wasn't really the former home of Celestia and Luna, it makes sense that it was never part of Equestria, so it should at least have a clue, and if we're lucky it might even have what we need."

"Ya sure? We're kinda shootin' in the dark here..." Applejack remarked.

"It's a start at least. We have gone out on shakier logic before, and been right, remember? Now, since we have two tasks, we'll split into two teams. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, you're with me. As soon as we're ready, we're going into the Everfree forest. With just three of us, including two pegasi, we should be able to make the castle within an hour, and Fluttershy, you should be able to deal with any hostile animals we encounter." Twilight looked over to the timid pegasus. She whimpered a little, but nodded in acknowledgement. "Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie, you stick around Ponyville and see if you can find a lead on Trixie. Being natives, you'll know where to luck better than the rest of us. If you're lucky, you might find your artifacts while you're at it."

"Artifacts?" Rarity tilted her head.

"These things." Twilight levitated her sword, Rainbow's spear and Fluttershy's staff in front of her. "I don't know what they're for yet, but they are important, so keep your eyes peeled. You're looking for.." She looked at Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie in turn. "... an woodcutting axe, an ornate dagger and a rocket. You should remember what they looked like from the palace, and if you're in any doubt, remember..." Twilight drew the sword a little way from its sheath, and hovered the staff above it at cross-angles. With a sudden, loud crack, she brought the wooden shaft down against the blade, and rather than snapping, the staff just bounced off without so much as a dent. "... the artifacts are indestructible."

---

Having the less strenuous task, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie set off more or less immediately. None of them were particularly enthusiastic, but they couldn't kid themselves; it needed to be done.

"Now, if ah was a self-important talentless blowhard, where would ah be hiding..." Applejack muttered to herself as they reached the centre of town. Pinkie just had to giggle.

"She can't be completely talentless if she's this important, Applejack." Rarity stated flatly.

"Inn't that a bit generous? Ah'm just callin' it like ah sees it." The earth pony smirked.

"Regardless, such banter isn't helping our case. Let's try actually thinking about it for a change."

"Hmm... well, she left town after the whole deal with the Ursa Minor..." Applejack rubbed her chin with a hoof.

"And, and everypony was talking about how she was a joke and how her show was a sham!" Pinkie chipped in.

"... so ah'm guessin' her act was ruined after that."

"I just hope she hasn't done something too stupid..." Rarity mused, frowning at the prospect. "We'd do well to start looking in bars to see if anypony's seen her."

"Uhm... Rarity, there ain't no bars in Ponyville." Applejack interrupted.

"What? How do you know? Dingy taverns aren't exactly my forte."

"All the cider we make down on the farm gets sent out of town, since nopony buys the stuff here. Nearest place ya can get it is Hoofington, a coupl'a hours walk north."

"That's it! Hoofington!" The mention made a connection in Rarity's mind. "Trixie said she saved Hoofington from an Ursa Major. If she has any sense, the story wouldn't have been a total fabrication. She may well have a home there!"

"... And if she don't got any sense?"

"Well, that's a chance we're going to have to take." The unicorn sighed.

"So... what now? Ya think Twilight 'n them'll be back in the time it takes us to walk to Hoofington?" Applejack's statement was cut off by a grumble, that seemed to be coming from Pinkie's stomach.

"I say we stop for lunch! All this investigating is making me hungry!" She beamed, bouncing off in the direction of Sugarcube corner - not very far away at all.

"Pinkie, we just ate half an hour ago, how can you be hungry?"

"Just go with it Rarity, there's no stoppin' her..."

---

Pinkie Pie bounded into the shop in her usual sprightly manner, followed closely by the Applejack and Rarity, both eager to get out of the cold. Mrs. Cake was tending the till, with Mr. Cake moving some trays of muffins around behind her.

"Good morning!" The party pony announced cheerily, either oblivious to the time, or just not caring.

"Pinkie, dear! Good to see you, we were so worried! Where have you been?" Mrs. Cake asked earnestly. Pinkie was more interested in bouncing upstairs to check on Gummy, so Rarity stepped forward to take the question, putting a hoof in front of Applejack. They both knew well why.

"We got caught in the blizzard the other night and had to stay with Twilight for the night, and then the following evening... let's just say time ran away with us." the unicorn smiled.

"Oh, I didn't see you two there!" Mrs. Cake perked her ears, noting Rarity and Applejack. "Your sisters were here looking for you yesterday." The two ponies looked at each other with growing worry.

"Yesterday, you say?" Rarity asked.

"Yep, the two of them and Scootaloo. They're playing at being detectives, trying to find where you went, it's adorable!"

"Adorable until they get 'emselves in trouble. C'mon, we need to find 'em!" Applejack started out the door, and Rarity didn't need to be told twice to follow.

---

The pair skidded to a halt outside the Carousel Boutique, their first stop. With just the two of them in that household, Rarity and Sweetie Belle had an agreement with the Apple family; if Rarity didn't come home one night, because of work-related trips or if caught in a sticky situation, then Sweetie Belle was to lock up the shop, meet up with Applebloom and stay with her until Rarity turned up again. Thus, stopping at the Boutique was little more than a formality, to check that Sweetie Belle had done as instructed and locked up the building. When they came to a stop, however, there was more than that waiting for them. Another little filly with a scarlet cape was toddling around the front door. As they got closer, they could make out a horn on her head, and that she appeared to be looking through the letterbox.

"Sweetie Belle?" she called.

"You're looking for Sweetie Belle?" Rarity asked, stopping just short of her. The little unicorn nearly jumped out of her skin. She looked around, revealing her face. She was a soft lilac colour, with a pale blonde mane and orange eyes. She backed up against the door, whimpering in fright. "Oh, I'm... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm Rarity, Sweetie Belle's sister. You are...?"

"D... Dinky Hooves..." The filly mumbled meekly.

"Oh! You must be that new friend Sweetie Belle was talking about. Good to meet you!" Rarity smiled. Dinky sighed in relief. "What has you out here all alone? I would have thought you would be with the others!"

"They went playing yesterday, but I couldn't come out and play 'cos I was sick..." Dinky kicked her front hoof idly.

"So you don't know where they are..."

"Nope, sorry, Miss Rarity..."

"Hmm... well, you should probably head home until we find them, we'll make sure to let them know you called."

"Okay! Thanks!" Dinky giggled, and galloped off, brushing past Applejack.

"Ah didn't know they went an' made a new friend! Ah swear, Applebloom tells me nothin' these days..."

"At least the Boutique is secure. Now let's go!"

---

Ten minutes later, Applejack kicked open the front door of the farmhouse and charged inside. Rarity followed, taking a moment to ensure the door was still attached to its hinges. The frame looked like it took this kind of abuse regularly.

"Applebloom! Applebloom!" The earth pony called. She turned to the kitchen, where her yelling had woken up Big Macintosh, who was sleeping by the fire again. "Big Macintosh, is sleepin' all you do these days?" The stallion blinked and yawned, not visibly startled by the ruckus. Since there was no ploughing or bucking to be done this time of year, he indeed spent most of his time comfortably asleep by the fire; however, all he needed to express this was a casual glance out at the snow, followed by a look back to his sister and the simple utterance:

"... Eeyup." He smirked a little, his indifference clearly driving Applejack up the wall. She sighed and returned to the more important matter.

"Ya seen Applebloom or them anywhere? The Cakes said they were lookin' for us, an' you know what kinda trouble that could mean!"

"They were sleepin' over last night, but they left this mornin' on their scooter with some picnic food." The information elicited another exchange of worried glances.

"I don't suppose they called into the schoolhouse on their way out then?" Rarity chimed in.

"We'll have to find Cheerilee, but ah ain't got high hopes..."

Comments

[themanesix]

ok....if this is a redemption Trixie then this should work out ok....if Trixie is still....then this is going to be a long trip