The Siren

by McPoodle

Chapter 10

“I’m so sorry!” Twilight wailed a few moments later, crying into Applejack’s withers.

“There, there,” Applejack said, patting her back with a hoof. “Let it all out.”

“I don’t know what came over me!”

“Uh huh,” said Applejack. She opened her mouth for a moment as if to say something based on the emotions—or lack thereof—that she read when she saw Twilight look at Spike but thought better of it and shut her mouth instead.

It’s not like she knew the first thing about lifting this particular curse, if that’s what Twilight was suffering from. Perhaps Zecora could help. But she’d better ask the zebra before saying anything to the emotional mess in her hooves right now.

“Hey Twilight!” Rainbow Dash called out as she dove into an uncertain landing in front of the door to the library.

While she was doing this, Applejack pushed the sobbing Twilight partway into the library and partially closed the door, so Rainbow wouldn’t see the librarian in her current state. “Twilight’s a little busy.”

“Well, she’s about to be a whole lot busier. The Princess is on her way. …Princess Celestia. I forget sometimes that we’ve got two now. …Or three? Anyway. She’s on her way. Princess Celestia. With a spare chariot for taking somepony back to Canterlot with her.” Rainbow then winced at her rotten delivery.

“Princess Celestia? Coming here?!” There was a flash of magic, and Twilight walked out of the library, looking none the worse for wear. “Is she going to give me a pop quiz on monster hunting? Or friendship??” A strand of mane popped up with an audible “sproing!”

Spike walked around the pair to walk outside and scan the sky for a royal chariot. “Well, there goes the composure spell,” he quipped.

Twilight joined him in looking up. “There she is!” she exclaimed. There was a flash of magic over her eyes. “And yes, that is definitely Princess Celestia. But she’s not landing here.”

“What about the spare chariot?” Rainbow whispered to Applejack.

“Ixnay on the ariotchay,” Applejack hissed back.

Twilight and Spike took a moment to relax.

Rainbow gave Applejack a look, then turned back to Twilight. “Oh, I already knew that she wasn’t landing here,” Rainbow declared. “She’s headed for the Everfree.”

“What?!” three ponies and one dragon exclaimed as one. (The extra pony was Rarity, who had wandered over on seeing so many of her friends gathered together in the same place.)

The group then all ran as one towards the edge of the Everfree Forest, to the very point where six ponies had entered the wood during the endlessly-delayed Summer Sun Celebration to confront the monster Nightmare Moon—four of them were begrudging friends, and two of them were bitter enemies. They had emerged as the six best friends Equestria had ever known, along with Princess Celestia and the miraculously recovered Princess Luna.

The group stopped at that entrance and watched as the chariot continued onward.

Rainbow Dash flew up into the sky. “I’ll see where she’s going,” she told the others.

“Don’t bother,” Pinkie Pie told them. “She’s headed for the crumbling castle where we turned Princess Luna’s monster switch off.”

“What are you doing here Pinkie?” Twilight asked.

“What, do you think I’m going to miss out on this? No way, José.”

“How did you know that’s where she was headed?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Well, her trajectory makes that pretty obvious,” Pinkie Pie said off-hoofedly, pretending to buff the edge of one hoof. “And it was stated upfront in the flight itinerary, but you didn’t hear that from me.”

The others chose to interpret that last statement as a joke.

“What could she possibly want with the old castle?” Spike asked. “Didn’t you tell me that the place was empty?”

“Maybe she’s gone to collect what’s left of Nightmare Moon after we blasted her out of Princess Luna,” Rainbow Dash speculated.

“Wouldn’t she need, like, a jar for that or something?” Applejack replied.

“She could have one in the spare chariot,” said Pinkie Pie. “But it would slide all over the place. Ooh! She probably has it strapped in really tight—did anypony see the end of a strap flapping around in the breeze when they flew overhead?”

~ ~ ~

Nearly a half hour passed. Rainbow Dash had confirmed that Celestia—and the pegasi pulling the two chariots—had indeed landed at the old castle. After that, Celestia had then gone in alone—but not before making eye contact with Rainbow.

Rainbow’s reaction had been to go get Fluttershy and drag her over to the clearing where the other Bearers were waiting.

“And why did you feel the need to drag Fluttershy into this?” Applejack demanded. “She doesn’t need this kind of stress.”

“Well…just in case. There’s all six of us together and…”

“And…what?” Twilight asked incredulously, “Are you envisioning a scenario where we have to blast Princess Celestia WITH THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY?!!” All of her mane went haywire after that.

“Um…maybe?”

Twilight looked around like the world had just gone mad. “I…how…”

Applejack calmly put a hoof on Twilight’s withers. “Could I butt in?”

Twilight nodded eagerly.

“Rainbow Dash.”

“Yes?”

“If I’m understanding you correctly, you think Princess Celestia deliberately went to the Everfree castle to infect herself with the Nightmare.”

“Or she’s infected already!” Rainbow exclaimed, launching herself into the air. “It could have happened when we were celebrating, or when you were bawling your eyes out, Twilight.”

Twilight gave Rainbow a look that could melt steel.

Rainbow winced. “Right. ‘Never talk about this again.’ But you get my point.”

Rarity put a hoof on Twilight’s withers. “If I might tag in?”

“Go right ahead!” Twilight declared with enthusiasm.

“If all that was true, and the now-evil Princess Celestia knows where we are, shouldn’t we need to be wearing, I don’t know, the ACTUAL Elements in order to do any good?”

Rainbow looked down. “Wait, they don’t just materialize when we need them?”

Twilight rubbed her forehead with a hoof. “That was a one-time thing, Rainbow. The Princess has them now.”

“The Princess?” Rainbow asked, pointing towards the castle. “Welp, we’re bucked.”

It was at that moment that the pair of chariots flew overhead. They did not stop at the clearing, but instead headed straight for Ponyville. Princess Celestia was clearly in the lead chariot, while the following chariot appeared to contain a tall figure covered with a tarp, which was now strapped around said figure.

“There was a folded-up tarp in the second chariot!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “That would have been my second guess after the Nightmare jar. And that would mean it was a rope end I saw instead of a strap end.” She then realized that Twilight (with Spike on her back), Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack had all run into town to follow the chariots. She turned to Fluttershy. “I guess we should follow them,” she said.

Fluttershy sighed. A moment later both ponies were running after their friends.