Ghost of the Everfree

by David Silver

52 - Reach Out

On the following day, they noticed that the number of pegasi flying in the sky had increased, with two pairs of fluttering wings now visible. "Well, that's good." Apple Bloom nodded to their darting forms. "A little bit ah thin's gettin' back to normal."

Scootaloo was so excited she couldn't help but buzz her wings. "I'd help... If I could." She frowned, her good mood punctured, but only for a moment. "Rainbow would have this handled in no time at all."

Sweetie Belle came crashing into Scootaloo with a loud thud. "Rainbow is sadly unable to launch fireballs at anything she doesn't like, or perform her signature scooter move, no matter how accurately she kicks."

"Maybe not." A bashful grin spread across Scootaloo's face as she heard the compliments. "We all have our talents."

"Here's to that." Apple Bloom proudly extended her hoof and the loud thunk of their hooves coming together was a powerful show of solidarity.

Diamond rolled her eyes, seated with Silver and Dry. "They're like that."

Silver shrugged her shoulders in response. "Is that bad? They are a powerful force of friendship, Luminace, like, be praised."

Dry reached out a hoof. "We are a group of friends, too. We could do that." He squeaked as Silver crashed her hoof against his all too quickly. "Like that," he agreed, recovering from the surprise. "Diamond?"

Diamond stood up and glared at their union. "Now I feel like I'm just copying them..."

Silver tossed her head at her hoof and Dry's. "Copying a good thing isn't, like, a bad thing. Come on!"

"Fine." She didn't put out her hoof though. "But we already have a way better way."

Silver blinked, parsing through that. "Oh! Right!" She hopped up, and they met in their dance. "Bump, bump, sugar lump rump," they sang together, ending with their rumps pressed together and giggling in shared joy.

Dry slowly inclined his head. "That was... interesting. You are good friends." However odd the dance had been, that they were solid and enduring friends seemed obvious. "Can I try?"

"Please." Diamond reached for one of his hooves. "I planned to show you anyway. So this... Then that." She led him through each step, waiting for him to catch up. "Then you turn around..." Silver was clapping as they went through, singing the song quietly in hums with each step they completed, to a joyous crescendo as they bumped rump to rump. "And there you have it." Diamond nodded firmly at Dry. "Got it?"

Sweetie perked. "Huh?" Her ears swiveled about as if trying to home in on a sound she wasn't sure of the source of. "Yeah? Fantastic!" The other crusaders looked at her curiously. "We were wondering." Sweetie twirled in place, not facing the girls, but the entire room. "We hear you, um, I hear you. I'll tell them." Sweetie coughed into a hoof. "That was Twilight. She used Everglow magic to send a message to me. That she's getting a reply at all tells her that I'm alive. And my reply wasn't me wailing in horror or something, so she knows I'm safe too."

Diamond raised one of her eyebrows in a questioning manner. "Why aren't we having a little chat if she can send messages?"

Sweetie turned up her hooves. "It was like it was a recording. She didn't hear anything I said until it was done, and then it was over. One message to me. One message to her. Maybe she'll cast it again later."

Silver thumped both hooves down, one on either of Sweetie's shoulders. "What did she say?!"

Sweetie fell backwards with a squeak under the assault. "Alright! Um... She said, 'Are you alright? Help is here. We need to know who the bad ponies are, prepare a list.'"

Dry let out an uncertain 'um' of a sound. "It didn't sound like you answered any of those questions. Did we miss that part?"

Sweetie tapped at the side of her head. "I answered in here. 'We're fine, the guards are about equal in alright ponies and ones I'm not sure about. Their commander is a real jerk.' She inclined her head. "I'm not sure the last word got through. It felt like it was cutting off. But this is great! Twilight knows what's going on, which means she and the girls are on the way!"

Upon hearing the news, Diamond's expression changed to a frown rather than a smile. "Great. She has no idea what's going on, and you didn't really tell her. In fact, you told her 'it's complicated.' That isn't helpful. At least she knows we're here, and we're alright. She'll tell our parents so they can calm down on the freaking out part of the show."

Sweetie worried her hooves as she shrank. "What would you have told her then?"

Diamond tapped her chin. "Since you asked. 'Here with Dry, Diamond, Silver, Crusaders. AOK. Enemy Leader is bad. Many guards alright. Druid is OK. Leader has gone native.'" She hmmed gently. "Yeah, that would be more useful."

Scootaloo marched for the door. "Coulda, shoulda, woulda. Too late for any of that. What are we going to do? We know what's up. We should--"

"--Sit down." Silver sat down in demonstration. "It's raining out there. Nopony's walking around unless they have to, and that should include us."

Diamond waved Sweetie closer. "If she reaches out, don't reply right away! Tell us what she said so we can figure out the response."

Sweetie danced nervously in place. "But it felt like I had to reply quickly! I don't know how long I get before the magic's all gone."

Diamond huffed softly. "Figures... I don't suppose any of you already have that spell?" Her eyes danced from one foal to the next, getting a lot of shaking heads. "Figures. Alright, planning time. We need to get that commander out in the open."

"Out of her armor," added Dry.

Diamond waved a hoof at him with a tut tut. "Not so fast. If the others don't see her as she is, first, they will just think this is an imposter. We have to get her to verify herself, without a shadow of doubt. Only then do we reveal what's become of her, poor thing." She snickered at the idea, imagining the dismayed commander. "The trick past that is... how. We can't just talk her into walking out without her armor."

Apple Bloom nodded in slow agreement. "Yeah... That's unlikely. Wait!" She twirled on Scootaloo with a big, perhaps malicious, smile. "You know a spell!"

"I know a lot of spells?" Scootaloo pulled out her book and slapped it down. "Gonna have to narrow that down a little."

Apple Bloom tapped at the book. "That's a thin' we have in common. We both got a book fulla our tricks. Ah'm talkin' 'bout the one that makes thin's real real hot. Metal thin's."

Scootaloo flipped to the page, labeled, simply, Heat Metal in big bold letters on the top. "This one. Why?"

"Well... It ain't nice... But if yer wearin' a big suit like that, and it gets hot..." Applebloom waggled her brows full of meaning. "'Magine she'll want to get that off real quick."

Scootaloo flinched at the same image. "Ow! Ow! AB! That'd make us the bad ponies! I don't want to cook her."

Diamond leaned forward, cheeks held up by her hooves. "No, I like where Apple Bloom's thinking. If her suit becomes... that uncomfortable, getting out of it will suddenly be priority number one. If the choice is cooking, or something else, that something else is going to win. Not like she doesn't have help to get her free before she gets hurt too badly." She fixed eyes with Sweetie. "I leave the last part to you. How do we get her to super confirm herself before that happens?"

Sweetie rocked her body gently back and forth, her eyes leisurely roving the room while she softly hummed a tune. "Well... She likes yelling and ordering ponies around. If she has a reason to yell at them, she will. If she yells, the ponies will be sure it's her. If she came out right after that--"

"--Genius. Love it." Diamond made some quick scrawls with a quill in her mouth. "We have a plan! We have dinner. Nothing's in our way. Oh. Let's finish those berries before they go bad."

They descended upon the hapless berries, agreeing that they lived up to the hype, at least qualifying as 'good' if not 'great' berries. When each of them had consumed their share, they looked... satiated. Apple Bloom rubbed at her belly, which wasn't any fuller in appearance then usual. "I feel like ah ate three squares. Huh, guess it really does settle ya fer a day."

Dry wiped at his snout with a napkin carefully. "If we had enough of those, there would be no problem. But the druid said you need actual berries, and a druid doing the magic. We can't do that for everyone."

Scootaloo shook her head vigorously. "That's a lot of berries to make up every day. Better we eat other things, like carrots and apples and things."

Sweetie licked her lips with a fond mmm. "Or some sweets, just to fancy things up." The foals had a lively discussion about which foods were the most delicious and which were over and under-rated.

Diamond leaned back from her writing. "I swear..."

"What's wrong?" Silver sat next to her. "You look, like, distracted or something. What's wrong?"

Diamond waved a hoof vaugely at her writing. "My magic is a subtle magic. I can't make balls of fire or hurt ponies suddenly better. But neither of those are gonna fix this. So, you need my touch, the subtle touch. The pressure... I have to put up or shut up."

"You can do it." Silver leaned in, touching her nose to Diamond's cheeks. "You already proved it to me. I beleive in you. Just tell me how I can help."

Diamond threw an arm over Silver's neck, drawing her in. "Silly filly." Not that she seemed to be complaining about it. "Alright... Get your boy. I think I may need the both of you."

Silver saluted and dashed off to fetch Dry and draw him back towards Diamond. "She has a plan!"

"What plan?" Dry walked towards Diamond curiously. "Is it dangerous?"

Diamond smirked at the cautious colt. "It always is."

Strangely, perhaps, Dry relaxed at the words. "I'm glad you understand that. What is your plan?"

"We need to spread the good word... The good word of fear." She leaned forward, a cruel smile on her face. "And I think you're about the most specialized pony we have for that job. Are you up for it? The guards are getting used to seeing us around, so they probably won't even care if they see us again. No more sneaking."

"But hiding..."

Diamond tapped Dry on the end of his snout. "Sometimes, you have to hide in plain sight. It's where they least expect you, Dry. Are you ready to take your hiding to the next level?"

"R-ready," he forced out, shivering with the dread he felt most of the time. "I need to warn someone?"

"Yes." Diamond turned to Silver. "You're going with them. Two little nice Luminace priests. They won't see it coming... Now, just to be clear, we won't hurt them. Just remind them of the... dangers. Sow a little fear. That'll get her marching out. She won't like it, mmm, not even a little. Once she does, we have her." Diamond clopped her hooves firmly together. "And we reveal her for the big faker she really is."

Silver pointed to Scootaloo. "Are you really going to cook her in her armor? That's... like... That's pretty--"

"--She killed how many ponies on that train? She made how many orphans?" Diamond glared at her softer friend. "She deserves a lesson, and we're not even... You two will be right there to keep her safe. She'll survive."

Author's Note:

Diamond is ready to get real about this. What do you think of her plan?

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Comments

[redmar]

While Diamond may have done better than Sweetie it's not easy to come up with a good reply if you're surprised and have a time limit.

[Booster Spice]

First come Rumor, then Confusion, then Fear, and finally the nastiest horseman of them all.

Panic.

[badninja]

That is a legitimate plan. They have ponies on hand to handle the healing once out of the armor. I say so for it.

[Sunny Rose]

I'm waiting for the shoe to drop when they can't see in the fire resistance in the commander's stat block. 😆