Chapter 4 - The Stick and Carrot
Larrikin didn’t believe in ghost stories.
They liked reading them, because there was something comforting about the idea that even if they withered up and kicked the bucket, some part of them would keep going. They were positive, though, that most ghost stories were just made up to scare foals or by overdramatic ponies who thought poor plumbing work and creaky floors meant the dead were rising from their graves.
So when Luster Dawn asked Larrikin to come out to the Everfree and look around for a ghostly, cloaked pony, Larrikin had agreed right away. It sounded interesting, and any chance to spend a little more time with Luster was worth it.
It wasn’t like Larrikin would say they were in love, exactly, but maybe it was a little bit of a crush, and Larrikin was never the kind of kelpie to avoid indulging themselves.
“Now does everypony remember our goal?” Luster Dawn asked.
“We’re looking for that mysterious pony that we saw in the woods two weeks ago,” Phantasma answered.
“Not that we got a good look at her,” Arteria said. “Pony wearin’ a cloak like that has somethin’ to hide.”
“Well, Miss Zecora said that the woods have been disquieted for a while now,” Luster Dawn said. “If things haven’t quieted down, they’re probably still out there. As long as we keep our eyes and ears open, we should be able to find something.”
“I suggest a simple search pattern,” Ibis said. “Instead of searching randomly, we stand in a line several paces apart and advance as a cohort. As long as we stay within visual range, we won’t get lost, and we can search a much larger area in detail.”
“With how big the Everfree is, it’s still going to take a long time,” Luster sighed. “But this is close to where we saw her, so we should be able to find something.”
Larrikin nodded along, but they weren't really listening. Larrikin was looking at the forest itself and thinking. Ponies thought it was a terrifying, nightmare-filled patch of woods that served no master, but that seemed like a really equine-centric point of view to them. It was true that the Everfree had its own weather, didn’t care about what ponies did about the seasons, and, if one is being honest, was full of monsters. But that didn’t mean it was scary. Most of the world wasn’t controlled by weather teams and tended by Earth Ponies, and they got along mostly fine. It was just wild, and Larrikin could respect that the forest didn’t let itself get bossed around by ponies.
A hoof wiggled right in front of their snout, and Larrikin blinked.
“Huh?”
“Are you paying attention?” Luster asked.
“Yeah,” Larrikin said. “I just thought I saw something.”
“You did?!” Luster spun around and stared into the woods, rearing up on her hind legs to see further. “Where?”
“Over there. It was a butterfly.” Larrikin pointed.
Luster sighed. “We’re not here to chase butterflies. We’re here to--”
“To catch a pony who might be evil or something,” Larrikin said. “See? I was listening.”
“Right. Okay.” Luster said. “Just get in line with everypony and we’ll try to keep pace with each other. If we go slowly, we won’t miss any details.”
“Slowly is good for me,” Larrikin yawned.
“You can nap when we’re done,” Luster said. “I’ll even buy you a treat from the cafeteria.”
“Ooh. Bribery.” Larrikin perked up. “I like the sound of that.”
“I thought you might.” Luster smiled. “Come on. We’ve only got a few hours to look before we have to get back.”
Larrikin nodded and smiled. “You smell good.”
“What? I--” Luster blushed. “You smell good too?”
“That’s the crystal berries,” Larrikin said. “Want one?”
“I-- maybe later?”
“Cool. Anyway, let’s go find your mystery pony!”
An hour later, Larrikin wasn’t having nearly as much fun. The thick woods meant they could only see the others half the time, and she was right in the middle of the line. Vaguely, the kelpie was aware it was because they wanted to make sure they didn’t wander off or simply disappear. Being made of plants, Larrikin was naturally camouflaged against the forest.
“Maybe I should have worn a hat,” Larrikin mused. And because they weren’t really looking at where they were going, they didn’t see the hole right in front of them until they fell into it.
If their reaction time had been a little better, Larrikin would have screamed when they fell. However, it had been a tiring day and, to be brutally honest, the crystal berries might have looked really cool but they also took a lot of photosynthesis to grow and a few extra naps were probably called for. With their senses and reactions dulled, Larrikin hit the ground before they could even cry out in alarm.
Not that a fall like that was particularly troubling. A pony would have gotten hurt, but the benefit of being made out of water weeds (and a few assorted ornamental plants for decoration) was that Larrikin was pretty much immune to that kind of harm. They just needed a few minutes to put themselves back together.
“Huh,” Larrikin said. “Guess I found something. A hole! Hey, everyone! I found a hole!” They looked up at where they’d fallen through, but none of their friends appeared, even after a full minute.
They waited another minute just to be sure.
“Darn,” Larrikin sighed. “They’ll eventually figure out I went missing.” The kelpie shrugged and looked around. Their night vision was excellent since they usually slept the day away under the sunlight, enjoying soaking up the free food.
The sinkhole looked like the kind of thing that appeared when a tree died and the roots rotted away, leaving the dirt loose and untethered. It wasn’t a huge space, certainly not really big enough to explore in any meaningful way.
But one wall was certainly a little curious. Twisted, unhealthy roots were wrapped around an oddly-colored hunk of wood. Larrikin got closer, tilting their head.
“Weird. I’ve never seen purple wood before…”
They reached out to touch it, and it felt as if they’d stuck their foreleg into a thundercloud. Everything tingled, and their sap crawled like the seasons were changing. The wood shivered and broke free of the roots entangling it. Larrikin held onto it, looking at it with more curiosity than alarm.
“At last! After all this time I’m free! Time to conquer Equestria!”
Larrikin spun around, and found themselves looking up at a mare. She was floating in the air, grinning in triumph. For a moment, Larrikin couldn’t make out much more than that she had wings, a luminous horn, and glowing eyes. In other words, she looked quite like a princess.
She was, however, rather small for an alicorn. And as Larrikin looked closer, translucent. Larrikin could see right through her if she squinted.
“Who are you?” Larrikin asked.
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle,” the mare said, smirking.
“No you aren’t.”
“Uh, yes I am,” the mare said. She was starting to sound annoyed. “I know this is going to be hard to believe, but I was…” She paused. “I was tricked by Discord! He trapped me here, and as my savior, you can help me overthrow the evil, evil duplicate that’s pretending to be me!”
“You don’t even look like her.”
“What?! I look exactly like her!” she spat. “Because I am her!”
“No, Princess Twilight is like, three times taller than you. I met her, you know. She’s also got like, this huge wavy mane. You’re too short to be a Princess.”
“That doesn’t make any sense!”
“And you’re like, a ghost or something,” Larrikin said. They reached forward and poked the floating alicorn, and their hoof went right through them. “See?”
“I am not a ghost!” the mare snapped. She tried to knock Larrikin’s hoof away, but, of course, she couldn’t even touch the kelpie. “Ugh! I lost my physical form, okay? I just need to get it back, and then I’ll be right on top of things again!”
“You lost your physical form? That’s rough, buddy,” Larrikin said.
“Don’t mock me!”
“I’m not mocking you. But you really don’t look like Twilight. I’m gonna give you a different name.” Larrikin thought for a minute. “Hmm…”
“Darklight?” the mare suggested. “Ghostlight?”
“Nah, those are all edgy and stuff. I know! The real Twilight likes books a lot, and you’re made out of wood, and books are made of wood! I’m gonna call you Princess Booky!”
The ghost shuddered. “That’s an awful name.”
“But you aren’t denying you’re made out of wood,” Larrikin noted.
“I am temporarily made out of wood until I fix things,” Princess Booky corrected.
“Cool. I’m gonna take you with me.”
“Yes, good idea, minion,” Booky nodded. “If you continue following orders, I’ll allow you to be an important part of my new regime.”
“You didn’t order me to take you. It was my idea.”
“Anticipating my orders is an important skill,” Booky said.
“Anyway I’m pretty sure you’re evil,” Larrikin continued. “But that’s okay. Maybe we can still be friends anyway.”
“Friends.” Booky snorted.
“Larrikin? Are you down there?” Phantasma called out.
“Yeah! Friends!” Larrikin said, smiling. “I’m down here!” The kelpie moved to stand right under the hole, looking up. “I fell!”
“I can tell,” Phantasma sighed. “I found them, everypony! We’ll have you out in just a minute, I promise.”
“I found something really cool!” Larrikin yelled.
“You can show us once you’re safe,” Phantasma said. “Luster, can you reach them from here?”
“Yeah, just give me a hoof with the weight,” Luster said, her head appearing over the rim. “Larrikin is really heavy sometimes.”
“It’s just water weight,” Larrikin said.
“That and all the snacks,” Luster said, her horn lighting up. She grabbed Larrikin and started pulling, and a moment later her magical grip was augmented by Phantasma’s, the two lifting the kelpie up and out of the sinkhole. The rest of the group had gathered around to watch.
“Thanks,” Larrikin said, once they were on solid ground again. “You won’t believe what I found!”
“Did you find the pony we were looking for?” Luster asked.
“Better! I found this!” Larrikin held up the purple wood.
The assembled group looked that the wood, then at Larrikin.
“...It’s a stick,” Luster said, breaking the tense silence.
Larrikin pointed at Princess Booky. “And her!”
The others looked at each other instead of the alicorn.
“Did you hit your head?” Phantasma asked. “...Can kelpies hit their heads?”
Ibis frowned and leaned in closer, her eyes fixed on the stick.
“I don’t think anypony’s really studied if kelpies can get concussions,” Luster said. “It’s probably a good idea to go back, though. Once there’s one accident, you usually end up with more.”
“I’m not sure what kind of wood that is,” Ibis noted. “Curious. I think it’s been magically treated…”
“It’s not what we’re looking for,” Luster said dismissively. She walked right through Princess Booky, not even shivering or shuddering like one might expect when walking into a spirit. “We probably need to revise our methods. Or check a different part of the forest.”
“I’ll help you come up with a logical plan,” Ibis said, standing up straight. “I’m certain there’s something we can do to reduce the search area.”
“Thanks, I’d appreciate that.”
Larrikin followed the group as they walked out of the forest, confused.
“Why can’t they see you, Princess Booky?”
“First, that’s still not my name. Second, I don’t know! Maybe it’s because you were the one to find me. We could be connected in some way…”
“Oh! Maybe it’s because we’re both plants! I’m a kelpie, and you’re a stick!”
“I’m not a stick, I’m… well, it’s complicated,” Booky said. “You’re not entirely wrong, but you’re mostly wrong and I don’t do partial credit. It’s probably better this way. I’ll be free to pursue my plans until I can get a real body again.”
“What kind of plans?” Larrikin asked.
“That’s for me to know and you to never find out,” Booky snorted.
“Larrikin, stop talking to yourself and keep up, we don’t want to lose you again!” Luster called out.
“I’m coming!” Larrikin called out, picking up the pace, jamming the stick into their tangled mane to hold it. Princess Booky hovered in place until Larrikin got a few paces away, then was suddenly yanked along like she was on a leash.
“Ack!” Booky cried out, quickly adjusting herself so she was flying alongside Larrikin instead of being pulled along. “Wonderful. My projection can’t go very far at all.” Her horn lit up, and nothing happened. “And I can’t use my magic. The one thing she got right was giving me power, and I can’t use it! I should have struck when she didn’t expect it, and then I wouldn’t be in this situation!”
“She?” Larrikin asked.
“My creator. Queen Chrysalis. I’d say you must have heard of her, but she was a useless wreck the last time I saw her. Instead of striking at her foes when they least expected it, she acted like a coward and wanted a layer of minions between herself and any danger. She’s probably crying in some muddy ditch somewhere - I was the best plan she ever came up with and it still failed!”
“I always hate it when one of my plans fails,” Larrikin said, nodding along. “This one time I was going to get a bran muffin from the cafeteria, but then I took a nap and when I woke up, the cafeteria was closed and I couldn’t get a muffin!”
“That’s…” Princess Booky sighed. “At least my first new minion is only marginally worse than my last ones.”
“Oh, neat! I get to be a minion? Hey everybody, I’m a minion!”
“That’s nice, Larrikin,” Luster said. She leaned closer to Phantasma and whispered. “We should probably take her to the nurse when we get back.”
“It can’t have been that long,” Booky whispered.
“Do you want me to hold up the newspaper again?” Larrikin asked. “Sometimes I have to read something two or three times before I understand it. Especially numbers. Numbers are hard.” They’d gone to the cafeteria mostly because Larrikin wanted a snack and a grumpy alicorn spirit complaining at them wasn’t nearly enough to dissuade a hungry kelpie from peanut butter and jelly scones.
Booky had been mollified when Larrikin picked up a newspaper for her to read and get caught up on current events. The actual news was dull, but the date had come as a shock.
“No, I don’t want--!” Booky took a deep breath, not that she needed it since she didn’t have lungs. “I just didn’t think it was… so many years. Why did it take so long to recover? Chrysalis might have been useless, but we were still bound to her. It should have only taken two or three years to siphon enough power to return! Less if she’d actually get a decent meal instead of living like a hobo in the mud.”
“Oh, right… Queen Chrysalis…” Larrikin rubbed their chin. “She got turned to stone. That’s probably why you couldn’t get any power from her.”
“Of course she did!” Booky huffed, floating in circles. “I should have known. She couldn’t even manage hiding in a ditch.” She started swearing in several languages Larrikin didn’t understand. It was very impressive sounding, though, and Larrikin understood the tone well enough.
After a particularly long string of Germane that translated to something like ‘face like a fish and a smell like a bushel of rotten herring’, Booky finally calmed down.
“Are you okay?” Larrikin asked.
“No! Yes!” Booky groaned. “I need to adjust my plans. I can’t believe I slept for so long…”
“Good thing I found you, huh? Otherwise, you could have been there forever!”
“...I could have been there forever…” Booky whispered.
“I’ve been thinking. I think better while I’m eating.” Larrikin took another bite of scone. “We should go to Princess Twilight. The real one, I mean. She’s a super-genus magic expert, and if you were made out of her, maybe she can figure out a way to help you.”
“No!” Booky snapped. “Do you have any idea what she’d do to me?!”
Larrikin looked down, deep in thought. “...Probably something with spells. I don’t really understand unicorn magic.”
Booky sighed and settled down in a chair across from Larrikin, miming sitting since she couldn’t really interact with it. “She’d destroy me. Trust me, I know, because I think like she does. Or at least the way she should think if she had more ambition. I’d end up tossed into a fireplace or exploded or banished to the moon!”
“She probably wouldn’t banish you to the moon.”
“You’re right. She’d want to make sure I was taken care of permanently.” Booky leaned on the table, and slightly through it, groaning. “I need to avoid her until I can get my body back. Then I can face her fairly!”
“That sounds pretty evil.”
Booky looked up at Larrikin and leveled a flat stare at them. “It’s what I was made to do.”
“We don’t have to be defined by that,” Larrikin said. “Like I was made to…” the kelpie paused. “Maybe I should have used cutie marks as an example. You don’t have to do what your cutie mark is telling you! That’s what Miss Apple Bloom taught us. We can do anything if we try hard enough!”
“My cutie mark is exactly the same as Twilight Sparkle’s.”
“I think that means you’re supposed to be best friends with her.”
Booky slammed her hooves into the table, which would have been more impressive if they’d actually impacted it instead of going right through.
“I am not going to be her friend! I don’t need friends! What I need is information. Something that covers history instead of last week’s buckball games.” She huffed. “Take me to the library.”
“Oh, we can’t go there,” Larrikin said. “Sorry.”
“What? Why?”
“I got banned again. You can’t use sandwiches as bookmarks, even for a little while. It wasn’t in the rules, how was I supposed to know?”
“...You’re lucky I’m not solid or I’d strangle you on principle for doing that!”
“Now you sound more like the real Princess Twilight!”
“Just get me to the library. This is more important than some temporary ban!”
“Okay, but if I get in trouble I’m gonna tell them you made me do it.”
Booky rolled her eyes.
“Turn the page,” Booky mumbled. Larrikin dutifully flipped to the next page, and the spirit hovering over the kelpie’s shoulder read the book with increasing horror.
“Are you sure you’re okay? Because you’re going pale. I didn’t think ghosts could turn all pale and spooked. I always thought that was kind of a body thing for creatures with blood.” Larrikin tilted their head, watching the alicorn’s expression.
“I thought you were lying, or exaggerating, or, or…” Booky whispered. “Princess Twilight Sparkle is ruling Equestria? The Elements of Harmony are gone?”
“Technically, they’re sort of discorperated. It means they don’t have a physical shape anymore. Like you! And kind of like me when I go to sleep! Ibis taught me what that word meant because she wanted me to be accurate about turning into weeds.”
Booky kicked the textbook in frustration. She didn’t connect, naturally, but Larrikin wanted to be supportive so they tossed it aside as if the alicorn spirit had actually managed to knock it away.
“I’m… sorry,” Booky said, eventually. “I should have believed you, clearly. You’re not as stupid as I thought.”
“Aw, that’s okay! I am pretty dumb.”
Booky didn’t try to correct her. “Get the other book. The one on golems.”
“What is a golem, anyway?” Larrikin asked, pulling the book out of the small pile she’d been ordered to bring to the most shadowy, dark, evil corner of the library. Every library had one somewhere, usually somewhere in the stacks where the shelving turned narrow along with the subjects.
“It’s a construct,” Booky explained. “The creator of a golem builds a body out of inanimate materials, then binds them with magic and an animating spirit. Maybe there’s some way I can construct a body.”
“Out of books?”
“Why would I make it out of books?”
Larrikin shrugged. The alicorn spirit rolled her eyes and snorted in frustration.
“Just start turning the pages slowly and stop when I tell you,” Booky said. Larrikin started flipping through the tome. Booky ignored the exploded diagrams of various golem bodies and construction methods, speed-reading and skimming the pages until something finally caught her eye. “There! Stop!”
She ran a hoof down the page, slowing to look at it in more detail.
“This has notes on golem repair, and rebinding a spirit. It could be just what I need.”
“What are you gonna do after you get a body?” Larrikin asked. “I mean, you can’t really overthrow Princess Twilight. She’s super strong and everypony loves her.”
“I’ll figure it out,” Booky mumbled. “One thing at a time. I can’t do anything useful at all if you’re the only creature in all of Equestria that can even see me.”
“You said you used to have other minions, right? Do they miss you?”
Booky snorted. “No way. They were made in the image of Princess Twilight’s friends, but they came out wrong. They were easily manipulated, especially since I happen to be a natural leader, but ultimately they were only out for themselves. They would have eventually betrayed me.”
“That’s sad. If they were Princess Twilight’s friends, they could have been your friends, too.”
“I only kept them around because I could use them,” Booky said. She paused. “Because I could use them. Of course! They were destroyed the same way I was, so they’re probably all still stuck in the Everfree like I was!”
“Aw, that’s sad. All alone in holes somewhere…”
“No, it’s perfect! They were created at the same time I was, in the same way I was! I can absorb whatever power they stored up over the years and use it to recharge myself! Then I can return to life! I should have known they’d eventually end up being useful.”
“But what about them?” Larrikin asked. “What’s it going to do to them?”
“Probably they’ll just stay inert,” Booky shrugged. “Trust me, that’s for the best. They aren’t like me. They’re all little disasters waiting to happen. I’m the only one that had half a brain and enough ambition to do anything with it. I want to rule Equestria. They’d just destroy it.”
“Really?”
Booky shrugged, floating away from the textbook. “They’d destroy parts of it, for sure. None of them could think farther than their own snouts long enough to do more damage than insulting the ponies around them and breaking whatever they couldn’t steal.”
“That doesn’t sound good…”
“It’s not. That’s why you’re lucky you found me! If it had been one of the others, they’d just be trying to hurt you. But not me. You can trust me.”
“Hmm… you keep talking about trying to overthrow Princess Twilight and doing evil stuff… but I do kind of feel sorry for you.” Larrikin rubbed their chin. “Okay! I’ll help you. But how are we gonna find the others?”
Booky smiled. “I was already putting together a tracking spell before I… was temporarily inconvenienced. They almost ruined my plans just by getting themselves lost. The plans were ruined anyway a little later, but the spell should still work.”
“And you can cast it even though you’re a ghost?”
Booky’s horn lit up, and the aura shifted as she focused, a spike forming like a compass needle.
“Neat!”
“Less neat,” Larrikin sighed. “Are you sure we can’t take my friends along? They wanted to go into the Everfree anyway, so…”
“You’re the only one who can see me,” Booky said. “You don’t want your friends thinking you’re crazy, do you? You remember what they were saying the last time they saw you talking to me, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” Larrikin admitted. “They thought I should go to the nurse.”
“Because they thought you were acting crazy. I mean, you’re obviously not crazy, you’re just talking to me. But they don’t understand that.”
“I could be crazy.”
“Not until I don’t need you anymore,” Booky said, smiling a little. “You know, it’s funny. I spent almost my whole real life inside this forest, but it still creeps me out a little. It can’t even hurt me! I’m a chunk of magic wood!”
“That must mean the real Twilight didn’t like it either,” Larrikin said.
“Good point! I’ll remember that as one of her weaknesses.” Booky stopped, holding up her hoof. The aura around her horn had split as they’d neared the forest, and one sliver of the tracking magic was lengthening and moving as they walked. “Stop! I can feel something. It’s faint, but I think we’re close. Go that way.”
“That way is off the trail,” Larrikin said, looking the way Booky was pointing.
“If they were on the trail someone would have found them already,” the alicorn said. “And if there are any copies of the Bearers running around, you would have heard about it.”
“There might be a few Pinkie Pies running around…”
“Just keep moving,” Booky said. “Even manifesting like this is a strain. The sooner I can get more energy, the better.”
Larrikin nodded and stepped off the trail, walking into the thick trees and brush of the forest. It only took a few paces before there was a solid wall of greenery between her and the trail. Booky went ahead of her, trying to float up and look ahead.
“I can’t see anything,” Booky said. “Can you?”
The ground crunched under Larrikin’s hoof, and they blinked in surprise, looking down.
“What is it?” Booky asked.
“Can you shine some light down here?” Larrikin asked. “Please?”
“I’m not sure if it’ll even work. I’m a ghost.” Booky’s horn lit up, and pale purple-pink light bloomed around them. It was just about the only thing that was blooming. The scrub and grass under Larrikin’s hooves was brown and dead like it hadn’t seen water or sunlight in a decade. “Maybe I’m not Twilight, but I can still be a Flashlight. Eh? Never mind, I know my sense of humor went right over your head. I’ll explain it to you later.”
“It’s some kind of blight,” Larrikin said.
“No. It’s more like the life was drained out of them. Look.” Booky pointed, and swept the light of her horn forward. The treeline abruptly stopped right ahead of them, turning into a wide clearing like the remnants of a forest fire.
In the center of the creeping death, a twisted, twirling shape erupted from the ground. Larrikin had never seen anything like it before. The mass was studded with holes, ripping out of the turf like a malignant fungus. It was a tree, or two trees, really. They were wrapped up around each other, branches stabbing into each other’s trunks like fangs and claws, the highest reaches, nearly bare of leaves, reared back away from each other like cobras ready to strike. Half of the tree was, under the broken, bleeding bark, a pale blue, and the other half, under the cracked and rotting surface, was orange. Both were so badly damaged by the slow murder of the other that neither could have stood on their own, forced to lean into the other for support.
“Wow,” Larrikin whispered. “It’s like some kind of metaphor.”
“If there’s one thing that Chrysalis was good at, it was dramatic gestures,” Booky said. “They must have ended up right next to each other and started competing for the same resources.”
“It looks painful,” Larrikin said, putting a hoof on the tangled twin tree.
Booky frowned and got closer, examining it from all angles. “...there’s not really anything left of them. They spent everything they had trying to kill each other.”
“That’s so sad…”
“It’s stupid is what it is!” Booky kicked ineffectively at the tree. “Why would they do that?”
Larrikin watched the alicorn spirit attempt to pummel the tree a few more times before giving up. She turned away from the tree, ears folded.
“I’m sorry your friends are gone,” Larrikin said.
“They weren’t my friends,” Booky muttered.
“It’s just that you seem kinda sad about it.”
“That’s because this is an uncomfortable reminder of what could have happened to me if things had been a little different,” Booky said. She wiped at her eyes, facing away from Larrikin, then took a moment to compose herself before turning around. “That’s all it is. Anypony would feel strange after finding a corpse, even if it was one of their enemies.”
“It’s more of a copse than a corpse,” Larrikin said.
Booky just stared at her.
“Sorry, I was trying to lighten the mood.”
“You didn’t do a great job,” Booky grumbled. She floated over to the tree, and her horn lit up. The alicorn concentrated, and two tiny, flickering motes of light floated free of the rotting wood. They converged on her, following along the stream of light and into Booky’s horn. Her magic flashed red, then orange, then went back to its pale shade. The alicorn spirit sighed, glowing a fraction brighter than she had been.
“Is that it?” Larrikin asked, when it was over.
“There really wasn’t anything left. Just a tiny bit of magic left over from their connection to the Elements of Harmony. It wasn’t even theirs, just…” Booky shrugged. “It burned us away, and that was the last ember left over from the fire.”
“That’s really poetic.”
Booky smiled. “I might not be able to beat Princess Twilight at science, but maybe I can manage the arts. Being creative is important in a leader, you know.”
Larrikin nodded. “So where are we going next? If these two landed nearby, maybe some of the others are here too!”
“That’s good thinking, minion!” Booky agreed. “Which way is the Tree of Harmony from here?”
“...The what?”
“I guess it’s still a state secret,” Booky sighed. “Do you know about the Castle of the Twin Sisters?”
“Sure! I put out a fire there once with a bunch of water!” Larrikin smiled. “We found a secret room, and there was a cult, and--”
“Yes, yes. Secret rooms and cults,” Booky said, dismissively. “We’ll head towards the castle. For some reason I’m having trouble pinning two of them down. If we get closer to where we were last together, maybe I’ll have better luck.”
“Sounds good to me,” Larrikin said. “I just wanna get out of here. This place is creepy.”
“Graveyards usually are,” Booky mumbled.
“You’re kidding,” the alicorn said, laughing until she snorted. “And you left him in the hole?”
“It was his hole,” Larrikin shrugged. “He didn’t want to leave. I’m sure Mister Breeze eventually got out. Otherwise Miss Fluttershy would have taken at least half a day off to tell her parents.”
“You know what, just for that, I’m promoting you to Chief Executive Minion,” Booky said. “That’s the kind of decision that gets ponies places in life.”
“Mostly holes,” Larrikin noted. “Like the one I found you in!”
“You’re basically weeds and water, and water naturally flows to the lowest point it can,” Booky decided.
“That makes sense.”
“Of course it does. I was copied from an overeducated pony, after all.” She paused and looked at her horn. “I think we’re getting close to one of the others. We’re lucky we even found the first two. If they hadn’t been literally in the same place we could have wandered for hours! If this ever happens again I’m putting together a better spell.”
“Should we look for another tree?” Larrikin asked, looking around. “Because there are actually a lot of trees.”
“Good question,” Booky said. “It should be… that way!” She pointed.
Larrikin nodded and started trotting.
“Wait, no,” Booky corrected. “That way.” She pointed a different direction.
“I guess it’s easy to get turned around in here, huh?” Larrikin asked, turning around.
“Wait, wait,” the alicorn spirit said, holding up a hoof. The aura around her horn was moving, circling around like it was caught in a whirlpool. “Now it’s a completely different direction… It’s like it’s coming from all around us!”
“I knew we should have tried finding the trail again…”
“Shut up! The trails don’t go where we needed!” Booky bit her lip. “Why can’t I figure this out?”
“There’s something moving in the trees.”
“Moving? They can’t be able to move on their own! There’s no way they’re strong enough for that! There’s no way any of them has more power than me!”
A terrifying howl cut through the air.
“Or it could be a timber wolf,” Booky said. “If I actually had a physical form it wouldn’t stand a chance, but in this particular case, maybe we’ll try your idea.”
“My idea?”
“We’ll go back and find the trail,” Book whispered. “Quietly.”
She turned around and motioned for Larrikin to follow. They managed nearly ten paces before the weeds parted ahead of them and a massive wooden shape stepped forward, eyes glowing baleful green.
“Oh hey, you were right! It’s a timber wolf!” Larrikin said.
“Run!” Booky yelled.
“Why?”
“Because it’s a timber wolf and it’s going to eat us!”
“Nah, it’s like Ibis.” Larrikin smiled and approached the creature. “It’s an, um, what’s the word? Obligate carnivore.”
“Does it know you aren’t made of meat?”
“Hmm…” Larrikin rubber their chin. “I didn’t think about that.”
The timber wolf growled and pounced, reaching out with massive claws of splintering lumber. Larrikin tried to run one way. Booky yelled at them to run the other way. Larrikin’s hooves, knowing just how smart the kelpie they were attached to actually was, disagreed about who they should listen to, half of them trying to go one way and the other half going the other direction. Larrikin ended up just spinning where she stood before falling over.
Booky screamed as the wolf hit her.
And went through without touching anything.
“Oh. Incorporeal.” Booky said, remembering.
The timber wolf hit a tree on the other side of the alicorn spirit hard enough to shake a few terrified squirrels loose. It tried to stand, slipped, and fell onto its side, spitting out a hoof-long fang that had come loose in the impact.
Larrikin stood up and looked around, taking a few extra moments to understand what had happened.
“Looks like the problem took care of itself,” Booky sighed. “My luck isn’t all terrible, just bad.”
“I’m not sure about that. Look at this.” A strange blight was working its way through the timber wolf’s body, eating away at the wood like dry rot and termites. “It’s sick,” Larrikin said unnecessarily. The timber wolf whimpered at Larrikin’s touch, like it was afraid it was going to be struck.
Something giggled behind the kelpie. Larrikin almost jumped, which speaks to just how creepy the giggling was. The kelpie could face down countless terrible monsters, but that soft titter was at a tone that made Larrikin think of lawnmowers and salad bars. In other words, a real horror show.
A pale yellow ghost floated there, Booky backing away from her.
“It’s so sad, isn’t it?” the too-familiar spirit said. “Oh wait, it’s not! It’s pathetic, and that makes it even more fun!”
“You look almost like Miss Fluttershy…” Larrikin said.
The evil twin of the kindest pony in the world snorted and rolled her eyes. “Wow, you sure catch on fast!”
“Thanks!”
“Ugh! I was being sarcastic, you moron!” Evil Fluttershy tried to shove Larrikin and, naturally, failed since she was as corporeal as an imaginary friend. Or imaginary enemy, maybe.
“Be careful,” Booky warned. “She’s a lot stronger than she looks.”
The timber wolf tried to stand and failed, looking at Fluttershy with fear in its eyes.
“Now, now,” Fluttershy whispered. “You can’t get away from me. You should know that by now.” She raised a hoof, and the wooden predator let out a strangled gasp of pain. Larrikin could see the branches that made up its body writhing. She caught a glimpse of yellow, half-rotten wood deep inside.
“She’s inside the timber wolf!” Booky said.
“It’s so easy to torment them like this,” the rotten butter-colored pegasus said, flying over to the fallen beast and settling down on top of it. “A pack of them dug me up, and it took a few tries before I learned how to hurt them without finishing things too quickly. Now, this is the last one left, and I’m going to make it last a long, long time.”
“That’s evil…” Larrikin whispered.
“Maybe a little,” Fluttershy agreed. “It’s just so much fun!” The wolf spasmed, and Fluttershy’s shape became just a tiny bit more solid.
“You need to get her out of there,” Booky said. “She’s drawing power from the timber wolf.”
“I like to think I’m eating it alive,” Fluttershy corrected. “It’s like I’m part of the food chain! The top of the food chain!”
“A parasite like you is at the bottom,” Booky snapped.
“Like it’s any different from what you’re doing!” Fluttershy flew into Booky’s face, smacking the alicorn spirit aside. Larrikin watched in alarm as the purple pony was knocked away.
“You can touch me?” Booky whispered.
“I’m stronger than you,” Fluttershy said. “Because I'm a predator! You just sat there and soaked up what you could like the tree you used to be. Who would want to be a tree?!”
“How do I help it?” Larrikin asked. “It needs a doctor.”
Booky floated closer and looked at the wolf’s side. “She’s burrowed in pretty deep. You have to operate.”
“Operate?!” Larrikin shook their head. “I can’t! Let’s get it to the real Fluttershy. She’ll know what to do. She knows how to heal hurt creatures even better than any vet! Which sort of makes me think she should be paid better.”
“There’s no need for that,” the evil little yellow pegasus said. “I’m not going to let him live that long.” The wolf howled, kicking and struggling. Larrikin could see the vines and moss holding it together strain and swell. It looked like a mole burrowing under the green of a golf course, tearing up everything in its way.
“You can do it,” Booky said.
“Even if I knew what to do, I don’t have a knife!”
Booky looked around and shone her hornlight on the broken fang that had popped out of the monster’s maw. “There. It’s definitely sharp enough.”
Larrikin picked it up, the end still sticky with sap.
“This is a bad idea…” They moved over to the monster’s side, watching something move under its vegetal flesh.
“I can guide you,” Booky said. “If you just follow my instructions, you can cut her loose without hurting the timber wolf. You’d trust Princess Twilight to help you, right? And I’m basically like having her with you! Just without the education or morals, which probably makes me a better doctor.”
“I’m not sure that’s true at all!”
“Just do what I tell you!” Booky tightened her light until it was just a point. “Cut where I show you.”
‘I won’t let you!” Evil Fluttershy slammed into the alicorn spirit, the light going wild just before Larrikin could make contact. “It’s my pet to torment! And when I’m done with it, you’re next!”
“I have no idea why Chrysalis ever thought you’d be able to use one of the Elements!” Booky snarled, kicking the spirit of her insane former ally away. “She made you so wrong you’re completely useless!”
“Princess Booky, help!” Larrikin wailed.
“Just cut her out! She’s not exactly being subtle!” Booky shouted. Fluttershy grabbed her, grappling with her and trying to get her in a stranglehold.
Larrikin made a shallow cut, too slow, the parasite already moving past it before they’d sliced deep enough to reach it.
“Cut where it’s going to be, not where it is!” Booky shouted.
“I’ll cut you!” the doppel-Fluttershy growled, biting the other spirit. It shouldn’t have been a thing she could do, but the magic of friendship meant that no matter how far away you were, you were still together. And able to be bitten. It wasn’t a good friendship lesson.
“I have no idea what I’m doing,” Larrikin whispered. The kelpie closed their eyes and hoped for the best. The fang sliced into the timber wolf, and the energy in the air changed.
“No!” Fluttershy screamed.
Larrikin opened their eyes just in time to see the moving sliver of yellow wood fall free from the monster, clattering against the ground with a sound like steel against stone.
Booky managed to use that moment of distraction to put Fluttershy in a winglock. “I’ve got you now!” the alicorn sneered. “Good work, minion!”
“Is the wolf going to be okay?”
“It’ll be fine,” Booky said, even though she had no idea. “Just be careful. She’s still fighting, and--”
The sliver jumped like it was iron seeing the strongest magnet in the world and instantly falling in love. Larrikin tried to grab it, and that was exactly the moment Fluttershy had been waiting for. It plunged into the kelpie’s leg, and a terrible numbness and burning started spreading from where it touched them.
“Get it off!” Larrikin squeaked.
“I’m not finished, not yet!” Fluttershy gasped. “I’ll just eat you instead of that wolf! Maybe when I’m done I’ll go after more of your pony friends!” She started laughing maniacally, even with the alicorn trying to strangle her.
“Don’t you dare hurt my minion!” Booky snapped. Her horn lit up.
“What are you-- no!” Fluttershy screamed. Her outline started to waver and soften like candlewax. “Not again!”
“She’s mine, not yours!” Booky shouted.
Fluttershy dissolved, melting through her hooves, and the sliver of golden wood in Larrikin’s hoof stopped shivering and trying to push deeper into the kelpie’s fronds.
“Cut her loose before she can manifest again!”
Larrikin grabbed the wood with their teeth and yanked, a few loose strands of water weeds and berry vines coming with the parasite. The kelpie tossed it as far as they could with a toss of their head, the stick bouncing off a tree and landing among the tangled roots.
“That really hurt,” Larrikin whined.
“Sorry,” Booky said, actually sounding apologetic. “I shouldn’t have put you in danger like that. You’re my only lifeline to the physical world! If you got seriously injured, I don’t have a backup plan!”
“Is she…?” Larrikin asked.
“Not yet.” Booky narrowed her eyes and focused. “She doesn’t have as much energy as she should after feeding on all those wolves and that nibble she had of your spirit.”
“She must have spent all of her energy trying to hurt other creatures,” Larrikin guessed.
Booky nodded. “A stupid waste. Let’s make sure she can’t spend the rest the same way.”
The alicorn’s horn lit up, and the golden wood shivered and shuddered with resistance. The glow brightened, an unseen struggle obviously occurring between them, and Booky finally tossed her head back like she was yanking a fishing rod. A mote of pink energy floated out, sucked into Booky’s horn. The sliver of wood went inert.
“What do we do with that?” Booky asked, nodding to the rotting yellow stick.
“Don’t touch it,” Booky warned. “The best thing to do would be to seal it in a concrete block and drop that in the river, but we don’t have concrete, and the river is too far away.”
The timber wolf howled behind them, and the two turned to watch it struggle to its feet, hacking up sap before padding close to the evil yellow splinter.
“Wait! Don’t get close!” Larrikin warned.
Thankfully, it seemed to be a very smart wolf. It turned and kicked at the dirt, throwing clumps of wet sod over the yellow stick. With paws as big as shovels, it didn’t take long before it was completely buried under a thick layer of earth.
“It’s not a permanent solution, but that’ll keep random animals from picking her up,” Booky admitted. “Not bad, for a dog.”
Larrikin patted the huge monster on the nose. “He’s a good dog! Can I keep him?”
“Why are you asking me? Oh. Right. I am the one in charge.” Booky smiled. “Do what you want.”
“I’m gonna name you Willow!” Larrikin scratched the wolf behind its ears. The timber wolf licked Larrikin's face in appreciation, tail wagging.
“Isn’t Willow a girl’s name?” Booky asked.
“Willow’s a tree’s name, and he’s a tree!”
Booky was starting to get a headache despite, technically, not having a head.
“We must be near Foggy-Bottom Bog,” Larrikin said. The ground had gotten softer and wetter as they’d gone on. “Are you sure we’re going the right way?”
“Absolutely,” Booky said. “I don’t think she’s moved at all. It’s a detour from the castle, but I should absorb all of my former allies before I go there anyway. Then I’ll be able to wield all the Elements, and my master plan will be complete!”
If Larrikin had paid more attention during their lessons on history instead of spending all their brainpower trying to figure out how to sneak food in without getting caught, they might have been able to remember a few very relevant details that would have saved time and trouble later.
“What is your master plan, anyway?” Larrikin asked. “You never really explained it.”
“It’s too complicated to explain to someone like you,” Booky said, dismissively.
“You don’t have a plan, huh?”
Booky snorted and turned away.
“You know, this bog is supposed to be full of monsters,” Larrikin said, changing the subject. “Think we’ll find any?”
Booky didn’t even turn around. She pointed backwards.
Larrikin followed her hoof back to where the timber wolf was following them like a puppy, tail wagging.
“Willow doesn’t count,” Larrikin said. “He’s a good boy!”
“He’s still a monster. And other monsters can probably smell him and are trying to stay out of his way.”
“That’s too bad. I was kind of hoping we’d see the hydra. It got really badly hurt the other day and I was wondering if it was feeling any better.”
“You are literally the only creature in this entire bog that wants to see a hydra.”
“I just kinda feel bad about tripping it. It was scared and hurt, kinda like Willow.” Larrikin reached over to pet the timber wolf. Willow leaned into it, almost knocking the kelpie over.
“It’s more important to worry about yourself. No one else has to care.” Booky narrowed her eyes. Their progress had slowed to a crawl. “Can’t you go any faster? I didn’t think a bog would slow you down.”
“They usually don’t,” Larrikin yawned. “I don’t know what’s wrong. It’s like I’m moving through honey. Except honey would be exciting…”
Larrkin struggled to take another step, the muck and mud clinging to her hooves and just refusing to be shaken free.
Willow whined. Larrikin looked back at the timber wolf. It was suffering even worse than they were -- it was almost like the bog was trying to drag it down.
“We need to find dry ground,” Booky said. “If the terrain is this bad it might be faster to go around and find a better route.”
“That sounds like too much work,” Larrikin groaned. “We’ve been walking all night…”
“You have. I’ve been carried around at your mercy,” Booky reminded her. “I’d love it if I could walk around all night, but I don’t have legs!” She waved a hoof through Larrikin.
Larrikin blinked. “I think I felt that!”
“...Really?” Booky asked. She looked down at her own hooves. “Maybe I really am getting more powerful!”
“That’s great,” Larrikin said, yawning again. “Are you tired? I’m pretty tired.”
“No napping until we’re done,” Booky said.
Willow yipped and tried to howl, but it, too, turned into a yawn.
“What’s wrong with you two? We’re so close, and then we’ll be nearly done!”
“Close to being nearly done?” Larrikin groaned. “That’s like a million miles away! What if we just stay here and relax.” They slowed to a stop and collapsed onto some soft moss, laying down and yawning again. Willow did the same, pulling himself out of the muck and finding somewhere mostly dry to lie down.
“What are you doing?” Booky hissed.
“It’ll be fine,” Larrikin said, closing their eyes.
“It’s not fine! What if that hydra shows up? Or something worse?! There could be a monster right over there!” Booky pointed in a random direction.
“Nah, that’s just a regular crocodile,” Larrikin said, opening their eyes just long enough to look.
Booky followed their gaze to see what she was actually pointing at. Indeed, there was a crocodile lying there, fast asleep, halfway buried in the bog. There was a raccoon next to it, and birds next to them, and more animals almost everywhere Booky looked, like they’d all decided this was a wonderful napping spot.
“This isn’t natural,” Booky whispered.
“No, you’re not natural,” said a tired voice. “Can’t you just be quiet and let me sleep?”
A pale pink form raised its head out of the mud, looking at Booky with profound exhaustion.
“You!” the alicorn spirit hissed. “You’re doing this!”
“I’m not doing anything,” the pink menace said. “Doing things is too hard. It’s better if we just don’t do anything at all…”
Booky floated back to Larrikin, trying to get their attention. “Get up! She’s right there! She won’t even fight back!”
Larrikin made a sound more like a snore than a complaint.
Booky’s eye twitched.
“See? She knows it’s better to just get a nap…” the pink menace groaned.
“It’s not better!” Booky snapped. “I have ambitions! Needs! And they don’t include staying in this stupid bog!”
“Do you even have a plan?” the shadow of Pinkie asked.
“I… I’m improvising,” Booky said. “It’s something I can do even better than the real Princess Twilight. Right, minion?”
Larrikin mumbled something that wasn’t quite words.
“You’re doing a ton of work,” Pinkie said. “And for what? You might end up getting nowhere. It’s better to just decide to go nowhere, and then your plan is a success right away.”
“I refuse! I am destined to be great!”
“Why? It’s not what your cutie mark is telling you,” the pink spirit said. “You just have a cheap copy of Twilight Sparkle’s mark. It’s not even real, is it?”
“I’m destined to be great because I decided to be great! I don’t need a mark or a sign in the stars or anything except my own will!”
Booky grabbed Larrikin, trying to get a hold on her with ghostly limbs.
“Come on!” Booky shouted. She instinctively tried to grab them with magic, and the purple sliver of wood in Larrikin’s mane was surrounded by a pale pink aura, dragging the kelpie’s head up.
“Ow!” Larrikin winced.
“Wake up! Don’t you want to see your friends again?” Booky shouted. “You’re a predator, not a potted plant!”
Larrikin blinked. “My friends?”
“I know you’ve got them! If they mean anything to you, you have to stand up!”
Larrikin struggled against what felt like the whole world on their shoulders, like they’d run a marathon, like the air was too thin to breathe. It was a profound exhaustion, a mental and physical fog that hung on them like a cloak.
“Why are you bothering?” the pink spirit asked, frowning. “Don’t you want a nap? Just to lay down for a while?”
“I can’t stay here,” Larrikin said. “She’s right. My friends would be sad, and I’d miss them.”
“What’s the point of friends?” the pink spirit sighed. “They don’t last forever. Nothing does. If it can’t last, why not just give up on it?”
“Friendship can last forever.” Larrikin struggled forward, shrugging off a layer of bog muck and climbing weeds. “And even if it doesn’t, it’s still worth it.”
“That’s it!” Booky shouted. “Grab her!”
Larrikin lunged for the spot where the pink spirit had emerged from the mud, breaking free of the last strands of slime and invasive roots that had been clinging to their hooves. The kelpie felt it under the mud, vibrating like a tuning fork, and pulled it free, a pink fragment of wood that felt heavier than it looked, like it had some magical inertia.
Larrikin braced for the pain. Some kind of attack. It didn’t come. They opened their eyes. The pink spirit was in their hooves, Larrikin holding her by the neck. The shadow hung there limply, looking at Larrikin.
“She’s not fighting back,” Larrikin said.
“What’s the point?” Pinkie asked. “Fighting back just seems like a waste of effort…”
“It seems kinda mean to do this when she isn’t really trying to hurt us.”
“Look around,” Booky said. “There are hundreds of creatures that gave up, and they’re rotting in the mud. She took away what they needed to keep going. They decided to just lay down and die, because they got caught by this… this stick in the mud!”
“It’s easier, isn’t it?” Pinkie asked. “Easier than living. No expectations, no disappointments… you just lie down and go to sleep and never wake up…”
“I don’t want to hear those horseapples when I’m fighting my way back to life!” Booky snapped.
Pinkie sighed. “I don’t care what you do. Just let me go back to sleep…”
Booky closed her eyes, her horn lighting up. Streams of blue energy streamed out of the pink wood, running up Larrikin’s hoof and into her mane before sinking into the purple wood. The spirit in Larrikin’s hooves faded and flickered, finally going out when a pink spark was torn free of the stick. Booky sucked it up, becoming so solid she looked practically real in the dim light.
“Just… let… me… sleep…” the pink spirit whispered, invisibly. The shard of wood vibrated one last time before going still.
“That was…” Larrikin started, obviously torn.
“Check on the dog,” Booky said.
“Oh, right!” Larrikin gasped, running back to the timber wolf. “Willow? Are you okay?”
The predator raised his head, blinking and yawning. A few of the other animals did, but most stayed still. Larrikin hugged the wolf’s neck.
“I’m sorry. I was just so tired, and you almost ended up as a pile of mulch!”
“I’m… glad you’re both okay,” Booky said. “It would be a lot harder to get things done without you.”
“You can just admit you like me,” Larrikin said.
“Don’t be silly,” Booky huffed, turning away. “There’s only one left out there, but she’s probably the least dangerous. We’ll be done in no time.”
“I don’t think anyone’s been here in a long time,” Larrikin said, as they carefully trotted down the stone steps. Willow had some trouble with them, since the steps were smaller than his paws and he’d never had to actually navigate stairs at all before.
“Of course not, it’s one of Equestria’s top secrets,” Booky said smugly, floating alongside. “I found out because I’m a genius, of course. This was the last place all of us were together, so it’s the best place to start looking. If that annoying, greedy mule isn’t here, we’ll just expand our search outward.”
“Okay,” Larrikin said.
“You should be more excited! Very few creatures have ever been here, you know.”
“I mean, I’ve walked past here,” Larrikin said. They stopped to look up. “Mostly to go to the castle up there. It’s pretty neat. There’s an old library and secret chambers and a treehouse and everything!”
“Once I have a body, you can show me,” Booky said. “It might be a good place to use as a lair.”
“Yeah, there was a cult that was doing that,” Larrikin nodded. “They burned a bunch of stuff to hide what they were doing.”
“Smart,” Booky said. “Leave nothing behind for your enemy.” She pointed. “Go into that cave, but keep your distance from the tree inside. It reacted violently to me before, and I want to run some tests before I get that close again.”
“Sure,” Larrikin said, walking into the cave.
“Let me introduce you to the most powerful--” Booky started, trailing off when she got a good look at what was inside the cave. “What the buck?! Where’s the Tree of Harmony?! Where are the Elements?!”
“Are they supposed to be here?” Larrikin asked. “I thought the Elements were sort of an abstract virtue thing.”
“No, they’re big gems full of endless magical power!” Booky snapped. “And they’re supposed to be here!” She floated as far as she could from Larrikin. “All there is… is a bunch of junk!” The floor of the cave where the Tree had been was littered with oddly-shaped sticks, trash, piles of rocks, a haphazard array of camping gear that clearly wasn’t being used as much as it was just piled up, and stray bits in stacks and small piles. It looked very much like the hoard of a dragon who had absolutely no eye for quality, only quantity.
Willow barked in alarm. Larrikin and Booky turned.
“Is someone here to try and steal my treasures?” hissed a voice from the mouth of the cave. A white pony stood there, glaring at the intruders.
“Looks like I was right, she didn’t go far,” Booky said.
“That’s the trouble with having so much to protect,” the white pony said. “If I go too far, for too long, anypony could come down here and try to take what belongs to me.”
She stalked forward, looking very much like a normal pony aside from the way light glinted from her coat, like she was studded with rhinestones.
“What, this junk?” Booky asked. “Who would want to steal it? Why do you even want it?”
“I want it all,” the faux Rarity said, tossing her mane proudly. “I want bits. I want gems. I want sticks that catch my eye. I want bottles of wine. I want books. I want sleeping bags. Blankets. Lanterns. Matches. I want everything!”
“See what I said about them being loopy?” Booky whispered.
“If someone wants something, it means it has value,” the white pony said. “And everyone wants something.”
She trotted up to Larrikin and smirked.
“Give me that ugly purple stick in your mane,” she commanded. “It’s mine!”
Booky scoffed. “What are you going to do about it?” She waved a hoof through Larrikin. “We’re not even solid!”
Fauxrity smiled. “Darling. Just because you didn’t want it enough doesn’t mean we’re all that useless.” She reached out and grabbed Larrikin with a very solid hoof. “Give her to me! Now!”
“She’s solid!” Larrikin squealed.
“Rock-solid,” Fauxrity said. A ripple passed over her, and for a moment, Larrikin could see what was underneath. The glit and glimmer she’d seen was crystal, like a gemstone statue in the shape of a pony. The only part that wasn’t stone was her horn, a sliver of slim white wood carefully polished and maintained.
“How?!” Booky gasped.
“Once the Tree was destroyed, it left shards everywhere,” Fauxrity said. “I don’t know where most of them went, but there was enough left over to make this beautiful body.” She tossed her ethereal mane.
Willow howled and charged, catching the greedy pony up in its jaws and snapping down with the force of a bear trap. Broken splinters rained down, and Willow dropped Fauxrity, backing away in pain, its wooden fangs shattered.
“Please,” Fauxrity scoffed. “I’m as hard as diamond. Something like that would never work.” Her horn lit up with blue ghostlight and the illusion of her coat and mane vanished as she poured her magical power into a blast that threw Willow against a wall hard enough to shatter oak. The timber wolf fell in a limp pile of timber, sap leaking out in a puddle.
“No!” Larrikin gasped, running for Willow.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Fauxrity asked. She grabbed the kelpie as they tried to get past her, yanking at her mane and tearing out a few strands along with Booky.
Larrikin yelped in pain. “Let me go! He’s hurt!”
“He’s broken, darling. Don’t worry, I’ll keep anything interesting as a momento. Maybe I’ll mount his head on the wall! That would be lovely decor, wouldn’t it?” Fauxrity tittered. “I can put it alongside my sister, once I’ve absorbed her power.”
“Let my minion go!” Booky snapped. Absorbing what had been left of Pinkie’s copy had given her more than a little power, and she focused all of it at Fauxrity’s hoof, managing to surprise her with a burst of unexpected force that sent Booky’s wooden shard flying and break her grip on Larrikin.
“Oh! That nearly hurt!” Fauxrity gasped. She checked her hoof for imperfections. “Thank goodness. Not a mark. I’d be simply traumatized if you’d damaged me. I’m the most precious thing in my collection, you know.”
Larrikin backed away from the crystal unicorn, not sure what to do. Out of ideas, the kelpie spat a stream of brackish water at her, as hard as they could.
“Darling, you must be joking! You think getting damp is going to do more than annoy me?” Her appearance flickered, showing the gemstone golem inside the image of Rarity. “I don’t even have a mane for you to ruin!”
She advanced on the kelpie, grinning.
“It’s too bad. I’d keep you as a pet, but you don’t seem like you’d take to obedience training.”
A wooden hoof tapped Fauxrity on the shoulder. “Hey.”
“Yes?” Fauxrity turned to look.
A wooden alicorn with a purple spire sticking out of its driftwood head where a horn should have been stood behind her. Without even a tiny bit of hesitation, she punched the crystal unicorn in the snout.
If it had been an actual alicorn, punching an actual unicorn, it would have ended very badly for the unicorn. But in this case, the alicorn was made out of sticks and the unicorn was polished and cut diamond.
The alicorn’s hoof splintered, and she winced and backed away.
“Booky?” Larrikin gasped.
“I salvaged what I could from Willow,” Booky said. “He’s in here too.”
“How annoying,” Fauxrity said. She made a show of wiping off her cheek. “You nearly scratched me! Nearly.”
“You hurt my minion,” Booky said. “Wanting to steal my power is one thing, but I can’t let you get away with that.”
Fauxrity grinned. “Positively greedy of you, darling! Not wanting anypony else to touch your things!”
Booky scoffed and her horn erupted with light, linking her to Fauxrity. The crystal unicorn gasped in alarm and started pushing back, her pale blue aura battling against Booky’s.
“I can feel your lust for power,” Fauxrity hissed. “How much you want it! I could practically fall in love with that kind of ambition! It’s simply too bad there aren’t two worlds to rule!”
“If there were, you’d want both of them!” Booky retorted.
Fauxrity laughed loudly and took a step forward, forcing her magic closer to Booky. “You’re right! I want it all! If there are more worlds out there, I’d want them, too! The sun, the moon, the stars, all of it should be mine!”
Booky’s gaze flickered behind her opponent. “There’s one thing you’ll never have!”
“What’s that?” Fauxrity asked.
“The magic of friendship!” Larrikin yelled. They tackled the crystal unicorn from behind. It wasn’t enough to hurt her, not nearly, but it knocked her off-balance. Fauxrity squealed in alarm and her magic flickered as she tried to catch herself. That moment was enough.
Booky got a grip on her, and tore the stick from its home in the crystal golem.
“No!” Fauxrity screamed, as her illusion vanished, the crystal stiffening into a statue and slowly falling over.
“You’re too greedy to trust anypony else to help,” Booky said. She tore the magic from the surprised Fauxrity, the unicorn’s voice dropping to a whisper before vanishing, a spark of purple light disappearing into Booky’s horn.
The alicorn spirit took a deep breath, not that they really had lungs, and a wave of magic swept over her, the wooden body instantly vanishing behind her appearance as a purple alicorn.
“That was rough. Thanks.” She offered Larrikin a hoof from where the kelpie had fallen after tackling Fauxrity.
“What are friends for?” Larrikin asked, happily. “Is Willow…?”
“Like I said, he’s in here,” Booky said. “I can feel him. I’m sure he can hear you. I can practically feel my tail wagging.” She looked back. “See? It is wagging! I’m not the one doing that.”
Larrkin smiled. “That’s good. I was really worried.”
“Well, minion, it looks like this didn’t pan out,” Booky said. “Elements of Harmony aren’t here, so there’s nothing I can do to gain ultimate cosmic power and overthrow the order of all things tonight. I did get a body though, so… that’s progress.”
“That means everyone at school will be able to see you now!” Larrikin said, excited. “I can introduce you around! They’re great creatures. You’ll love being friends with them.”
“I’m not going to make friends,” Booky said, firmly. “But… I suppose I don’t have anywhere else to go for the moment. And the school had a library and resources, so it could prove useful. At least the Tree isn’t around to blast me back to oblivion.”
“Does that mean you’ll come back with me?”
Booky shrugged. “For lack of a better option, yes. But we’re not friends! You’re my minion!”
“Okay, boss!” Larrikin said, saluting.
Booky nodded firmly. “Now let’s get going. I want to stretch my legs. I haven’t had a decent walk in decades!”
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And another macguffin is found!
And Larrikin becomes a minion
I admit, I was not expecting Stick-Twilight to show up. This certainly throws an interesting curve into things.
Larrikin is never getting out of detention. Yes, they were instrumental in a villain taking her first steps into redemption. But, they also went into the Everfree Forest alone with a creature they knew to be evil and manipulative without informing anyone of where they were going and Larrikin didn’t even consider turning back after almost dying horribly the first time when there was no real time pressure forcing them to go on without help. The Friendship School cannot condone its students doing something so reckless and dangerous.
Another novel and fun mini adventure.
"...the magic of friendship meant that no matter how far away you were, you were still together. And able to be bitten. It wasn’t a good friendship lesson."
Presented without context.
--Spade
I wasn't expecting the Mean Six to show up but at least one of them got something of a happy ending now.
I'm kind of shocked nobody commented on the blatant reference to The Enchanted Library.
OH MY GOD THERE’S A SEQUEL?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!?????!!!!?!!!
Wooooo! Friendship adventure!!!!
10556061
Someday I’ll read it. What was the reference?
10587798
A ghostly Twilight being called 'Princess Booky'. If it's not a reference it's a heck of a coincidence.
It's not a substantial spoiler for TEL.
10587853
MagnetBolt does seem to love shameless but tasteful references, so it wouldn’t at all surprise me.