The Mystic and The Mundane

by Equus Pallidus

Chapter 3

As it had happened, nopony had had an especially good reason, or the wherewithal to construct an especially good excuse, to postpone the excursion for another time, and it was agreed that the six ponies would reconvene at Fluttershy’s cottage in an hour. In theory, that would give the group plenty of time to reach the ruined castle before dusk, but the others had agreed to Twilight’s insistent suggestion that they bring the necessary provisions to spend the night if something delayed them and they were forced to wait for dawn to perform the ritual. With a final request not to mention the reason for their trip to anypony, Twilight had released the spell shielding their conversation, and sent her friends on their way.

She closed the door behind them, and sighed wearily; maintaining a spell of that magnitude was draining, both magically and physically. She was weighing the comparative benefits of a quick nap to refresh herself versus a bottle of the noxious concoction of caffeine and liquefied magic. It had caused quite a stir when first revealed a decade earlier, initially dismissed as a hoax as nopony had ever been able to condense liquid magic which didn’t dissipate within a few days at most. The greater shock came when the Princess herself announced that the product was legitimate, and issued a public decree heavily regulated the sale and use of the beverage.

The same day, the Princess had also issued a private decree, sternly forbidden her personal student from using the product, a command Twilight had dutifully obeyed…until the next Hearth’s Warming Eve, when the Princess had called Twilight to her study and repeated her prohibition of the potion, immediately before presenting her with four magnum bottles of the shimmering teal liquid. The alicorn had chuckled at her young student’s confused reaction as she poured them both a small measure from a fifth, half-empty bottle, allowing Twilight to have a taste of the liquid before she spoke again. Celestia had laughed, properly laughed, not that demure titter she was publically known for, as the little unicorn’s face twisted, the inexplicably sour liquid rolling over her tongue, the magic sending pulses of energy through her mouth and down her throat. She then explained that she had wanted to make sure she was there to see that reaction, and that desire was the sole cause of her dire warning, though she did advise her young ward that liquid magic, in large enough doses, could have a minor soporific effect on unicorns. The Princess had refilled her pupil’s glass, and they had shared a second drink, spending several hours in conversation before Twilight’s parents had come to collect their unusually energetic daughter for the family’s own celebration. It had become a tradition for the two to spend that morning together, one time out of the year that teacher and student could relax and talk freely.

A sudden, load thud pulled Twilight from her reverie, as Spike dropped a large pile of camping gear on the floor of the library. She stared at the assortment, blinking in confusion at the contents of the pile. She recalled owning a sleeping bag, a spare pillow, and a small tent; she didn’t recall owning a wood axe, a climbing ax, crampons, a machete, an inflatable raft, a camp stove, two kayaks, a spool of barbed wire, and what appeared to be a collapsible cabin. The young dragon noticed his caretaker’s confused expression, and shrugged. “I found it down in the basement awhile back, behind a door marked ‘camping supplies,’ and figured you might need some of it,” he explained simply, before scratching his head. “One of these days, you really need to ask the Mayor why the town library has so much random stuff in the basement. I mean, we’ve got a full bar down there, a room loaded up with weapons and armor, a perfect replica of Sugarcube Corner, a really creepy room full of chains and whips and wooden things I don’t even know what they are, along with a bed for some weird reason…” Spike shook his head. “And that isn’t even getting into all the locked doors we don’t have keys for. Anyway, this trip into the Everfree…much as I’d love to go spend the night in some wrecked old castle, in the middle of a creepy forest full of things that might try to eat me, you mind if I sit this one out? You six might not have much going on, but I actually did have plans tonight,” he offered, carefully not volunteering any details.

Twilight simply nodded dumbly at the dragon’s request, trying to process the strange revelation about her basement as she made her way to the kitchen, the potion having won out over the nap.

****

A short walk away, a bell jingled as Rarity walked into her boutique, humming to herself as she considered what she might need if they were forced to spend the night in the Everfree. Thankfully, she already had a sleeping bag with a satin lining and stuff with goose down along with a suitable pillow. She’d never cared for the camping trips her parents had insisted they all take as a family, but at least it meant she had the means to be relatively comfortable when forced to ‘rough it.’ It also meant that she knew from experience that bringing along her mane care products would be an exercise in futility, unless there was a conveniently placed waterfall. She sighed to herself, perhaps a bit more loudly than was strictly necessary.

“Something wrong, Rarity?” a small voice asked from a shadowed corner. The mare shrieked in surprise, springing forward as her horn ignited a brilliant blue, her magic ready to strike out at the intruder. “Oh, uh, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” the voice continued, slowly emerging from the shadows to reveal its source – a white filly with a purple and pink mane, and a suitably embarrassed look on her face.

“Sweetie…of course, of course you’d be here. My sister is here, in my home, not some diminutive, high-voiced ne’er-do-well, his heart filled with ill-intent,” the older mare replied, embarrassed at her over-reaction. She willed her breathing to return to its normal pace, the glow fading from her horn as she released her magic. She spared a quick glance around the main room of her shop; thankfully, it seemed as though Sweetie had managed not to innocently destroy anything. The more immediate concerns attended to, Rarity pursed her lips and looked down at her sister. “Oh, but Sweetie, why are you here? Mother and Father didn’t send you, did they?” she asked, worried that her parents might have meant for her to watch Sweetie that night, which would certainly complicate matters.

Sweetie shook her head. “Oh, no, I’m not staying over. One of the other foals in my class, Dinky – Do you know Dinky?”

Rarity thought for a second, trying to recall some of her younger sister’s acquaintances. “I…might. Purplish-Grey unicorn filly, yes?”

A nod, and a wide smile that her sister cared enough to pay attention. “Yup, that’s her. Anyway, she invited the three of us out tonight with her mom and dad. He said he wanted to show us some pegasus statues that he’s trying to get rid of. Something about us being ‘uniquely suited to help deal with them, based on past experience,’ whatever that means,” she rolled her eyes, ignorant to her sister’s thoughts as Rarity struggled to maintain a smile.

Clearly, ‘the three of us’ meant that she would be with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. Good enough, as long as somepony was around to keep them in check. And she had recalled the other filly enough to recall her parents. Despite what some ponies said about her, Derpy Hooves, ne Doo, was sharp as a tack, and fiercely protective of her daughter. Rarity was only vaguely aware of the filly’s father, a brown earth pony, though she couldn’t remember who he was beyond his familial connections. What worried her slightly was the mention of statues, and ‘last time.’

It was a state secret, known only to the six Elements of Harmony and the two Royal Sisters, that the Crusaders had played a part in undoing the seal on Discord. Neither Princess blamed them for that part, nor had there been any talk of punishment, but the fact remained they had been involved. All had agreed that it was best if nopony knew about the connection, lest less reasonable heads demand the fillies be punished. The possibility that a random pony knew about it was…unsettling. Of course, knowing for all she knew, the Crusaders had been involved in the destruction of some kind of mundane statue, as well, and that was all the stallion had meant. She made a mental note to ask Twilight to find out if the Princesses knew anything about it as soon as they returned from the ritual. In the meantime, she returned her focus to her sister. “That’s…nice, Sweetie, but it doesn’t quite explain why you’re here,” Rarity pointed out.

Her younger sister blushed slightly, looking away from her sister slightly. “Well, we all wanted to do something nice for Dinky, and Apple Bloom thought maybe she’d like to hang out with us, so I…was making her a Crusader cloak,” she explained, her voice soft as she indicated her saddlebags, still in the corner. “But I only used fabric from the pile you told me I could use, and I used regular yellow fabric for the lining, instead of the special gold fabric this time!” she added hastily, the memory of the debacle surrounding the original capes burned indelibly into her mind.

Rarity smiled gently, walking over to nuzzle her sister. “Thank you for remembering, Sweetie,” she said as her sister returned the gesture of affection. Sadly, she stepped back, and looked down at her sister. “Now, that being said, I do need you to run along. My friends and I have plans tonight, and I need to get ready to go. You have a pleasant evening with your friends and those statues.” The filly nodded, retrieved her saddle bags, and started for the door. As she opened it, she paused and turned back towards Rarity.

“Hey, sis…if you’re going out tonight, who’s going to watch Opal?” Sweetie asked, earnestly. At the mention of her name, the cat, hidden in some unseen nook of the boutique, let out an otherworldly hiss. Both unicorns flinched.

“I’m sure Opal will be fine on her own for the night.”

****

While Rarity was dealing with her sister, another pony was busily preparing for an excursion into a dark, monster filled forest, for the express purpose of enacting an ancient ritual of untold power, in the only way that made sense to her mind. Pinkie Pie was baking muffins.

“Could you explain this one more time, Pinkie,” Mrs. Cake asked, puzzled. The pink pony had burst into the kitchen in a tizzy, and begun to gather ingredients. Pinkie, vast font of energy that she was, was easily worth two normal ponies in the kitchen, besides her invaluable (and free) services as a go-to foalsitter, so neither of the Cakes had any issue with her using reasonable amounts of their supplies for her own projects, and the quantities she was currently using were positively subdued by Pinkie’s standards. Still, the mare’s pronouncement that she was baking ‘special magic muffins for the Everfree’ had left the shop’s proprietors a touch more nervous than normal. The last time Pinkie had tried to combine magic and pastries, the bear claws she and Twilight had produced had made a valiant effort to defend themselves from the customers, failing to do any real harm only because their nails were, in fact, slivers of almond.

“Not really,” Pinkie replied cheerfully, looking at the ponies who were her employers, landlords, and emotionally-available-pseudo-replacement family. “Twilight asked me not to tell, and you know the whole bit about friends and secrets and trust and all that, so I’ll skip part where I pop out of something I shouldn’t be able to right now since I’m in a hurry, but we might need breakfast, so I want to bake up some super-special muffins to celebrate the cool magic she said she’s going to do,” she offered, in a single breath, as a response to the nervous flutter in Mrs. Cake’s eye.

“Oh. So the muffins are to celebrate something magic-related?” the older mare asked, still uneasy. Pinkie’s curly pink mane bobbed as the pony nodded enthusiastically. “And the muffins themselves are in no way, shape, or form magic themselves, and this unlikely to attempt to extract pastry vengeance upon our shop or customers?” The pink mane shook side to side. The blue mare visibly relaxed, and turned to leave the kitchen. “Well then, carry on, Pinkie.”

“Mrs. Cake?” Pinkie called out, and the older mare turned back to look at her. Pinkie’s head was cocked to the side, and she’d stopped moving. “Do me a favor? Upstairs, in my closet, there’s a big box with a big lock on it. The combination is my birthday, the day I moved in here, and the day the twins were born. I’ve put all kinds of stuff in it for Pumpkin and Pound, when they’re are older. Just…remember that, okay?”

The bakery owner took a step towards her young friend, worried by the solemnity in Pinkie’s voice. “Pinkie…what’s wrong? Why do you need me to know that, when you could just give it to them yourself?” Mrs. Cake’s mind was racing; she wasn’t used to seeing Pinkie behaving so seriously, nor, truthfully, did she care for it. But then the smile was back, and the pink earth pony returned preparing the muffins.

“Oh, just in case I forget the combination or something,” she explained, giggling to herself. “You know me; I can remember the birthdays for everypony in Ponyville, but when it comes to my own anniversaries I’m awful. But you’re really good with dates and numbers and important stuff like that, so if I tell you, I’ll be able to ask you when I forget and then you can tell me.”

Mrs. Cake shook her head ruefully. Of course. She had started to get all worked up, fearing the worst, and it was just Pinkie’s usual unusual train of thought. She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, chastising herself not to worry so much, as she stepped up to the counter the help her husband handle the customers, as Pinkie added hot peppers and chocolate chips to the batter.

****

Rainbow Dash perched on a low hanging cloud, bored. Her preparations for the coming journey had been simple enough, as she’d had nothing to prepare. For any pegasus with functional wings, camping wasn’t something that required sleeping bags, tents, or other, similar items; if there were clouds available, a pegasus had all the bedding she needed. Even in the Everfree, where the strange magic permeating the forest made it impossible to manipulate the weather the way it was in the rest of Equestria, clouds were still just clouds, and responded the same as ever. And that was ignoring the simple truth that Dash could cover in minutes the same distance her earthbound friends would need hours to cross. She’d briefly entertained asking Twilight if the unicorn would mind if she went ahead on her own, though the idea was dismissed nearly as quickly as it entered her mind; brave as she fancied herself, she didn’t care for the prospect of spending hours in the ruins of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, in the heart of the Everfree, by herself. Even the brash mare recognized the different between courage and recklessness. On occasion, she recognized the difference, at least.

Still, that left her with nearly about fifty minutes and nothing to do; she couldn’t go with her default response of ‘nap,’ given the risk of oversleeping and throwing off the timing of the ritual, and she was out of Daring Do novels to read…official ones, anyway. She was about to fly off to Fluttershy’s, see if her fellow pegasus needed any help feeding her animals or anything, when she heard a low, buzzing sound in the distance. Her ears flicked forward, listening as the noise grew louder, coming closer, and her face spread into a half-smile of recognition. Spreading her wings, she leapt from her fluffy vantage point, lazily gliding towards the source of the buzz. Her half-smile growing into a full grin, she waited until her prey was nearly below her before she tucked her wings in tight, entering a quick, steep dive. The buzz stopped, replaced by an excited shriek as her wings snapped back open, her forelegs snatching up the little orange filly as the blue mare laughed and flapped rapidly, regaining altitude rapidly despite the additional form her small passenger and the scooter she had previously been riding, now clutched tightly to her chest.

“Dash, you know my parents asked you not to do that!” Scootaloo admonished her hero, though the massive smile on the filly’s face robbed it of a great deal of weight, as did the tight, one-legged hug she was giving the blue mare, the scooter held fast with the other. The older pegasus laughed.

“Actually, squirt, they asked me not to do that while they were around. They never said I couldn’t do it when they weren’t with you,” Dash corrected as she smiled down at the filly, ignoring the nagging image of Twilight smiling smugly that the pegasus had identified and exploited a loophole. She continued her ascent until they were about fifty feet above the streets, then flared her wings to her sides and began another slow glide back to the ground.

The filly hummed happily as she flew with her idol, and Dash couldn’t it as her smile grew wider. She was an only child, and grateful for it; an older sibling probably would’ve cramped her style, and a younger one…well, even Dash could admit that she wouldn’t be good as that kind of influence on a foal. She’d seen what Rarity and Applejack went through with their sisters, and she knew, in her heart, that she wouldn’t have the talent for it. As an aunt, or at least as a designated-aunt-substitute, however, she got most of the fun of being a sister, with practically none of the work, and that suited the daredevil just fine. Just fine, she insisted to herself, pointedly ignoring the liquid pooling in the corner of her eyes.

The pair glided to the ground in silence, the filly enjoying her temporary freedom from the surly bonds of the earth, the mare basking in the silent affection coming from her passenger. She swept her wings forward as they neared the ground, reluctantly loosening her hold on Scootaloo as the orange pegasus grudgingly dropped the remaining two feet to the ground, her scooter at her side. “So, you got anything cool planned tonight, kid?” Dash asked as her hooves touched the ground.

“Yeah, Apple Bloom, Sweetie and me are doing something with Dinky and her folks. Something to do with statues, I think. Kinda wasn’t paying attention,” Scootaloo answered, kicking idly at the dirt. “But Mom and Dad think said I should go, and Dinky’s family is pretty cool, so no harm in going. What about you, you gonna practice any cool new tricks?” The filly looked up at her hero, eyes wide at the prospect of some new stunt.

The blue mare shook her head, tousling Scootaloo’s purple main with her hoof. “Sorry, squirt. Sounds like you and I are in the same boat; Twilight’s dragging me and the others along for some magic thing,” she explained, feigning disinterest in the ritual for Scootaloo’s benefit. After all, if the filly wasn’t looking forward to her own evening, no reason to brag about how cool hers was going to be. Well, she supposed there was a reason to brag anyway, but it’d just make the filly feel bad, and there was no reason to do that, at least.

“Oh, okay,” Scootaloo said with a nod. She hadn’t expected Rainbow to be able to go with them, so she wasn’t disappointed in the answer, but she had figured it was worth a shot to ask, just in case. She kicked the dirt again, and looked away from her idol. “Hey, uh, Rainbow Dash…listen, I know your busy, but, uh…my parents said that, if you were okay with it, I could ask you…for flight lessons?” Her voice clearly pitched up at the end, somehow turning her statement into a question. “I mean, they’re great and all, but Dad’s not really that great a flier anyway, and Mom’s a unicorn, so they thought that maybe you could…”

For the second time that day, Dash found herself putting her hoof into another pony’s mouth to cut them off, though she was far less forceful this time. “I’d love to, Scoots. I’ll probably be busy tomorrow morning, but how about tomorrow afternoon, around…I dunno, two-ish, in the park?”

A pair of small, orange forelegs thrown around her neck was her answer, and the filly hugged her so tightly Dash nearly had trouble breathing. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” the filly shouted joyfully, her tiny wings fluttering of their own accord, filling the air with a low hum. “I’ve got to get going, I’m meeting the others at Sweet Apple Acres soon, but I’ll see you tomorrow, and this will just be awesome!” Scootaloo released her vice grip on the older pegasus, smiling so wide it almost hurt Dash’s cheeks to see it. With a whoop of glee, she hopped on her scooter, and zipped off towards the farm without another word, though her happy laughter echoed behind her.

Dash just shook her head at the youth’s exuberance as she took to the sky again, making her way towards Fluttershy’s cottage. She’d be early, but she figured she’d either be able to help her oldest friend with her preparations, or else spend a bit of time catching up with the other pegasus. She cast one glance back over her shoulder as the orange filly sped away, and shook her head. “Best. Kind-of-aunt. Ever,” she muttered to no one in particular as she flew off, still pointedly ignoring the half-formed tears at the corners of her eyes.

****

“Now remember, Apple Bloom, you mind Dinky’s parents tonight, and for Celestia’s sake, don’t stare at her mother’s eyes. Ya’ll know it makes that whole family uncomfortable, and besides that, you know full well that mare can see better than you ever will, so it’s just rude,” Applejack reminded her little sister as she strapped her own saddle bags on. On one side, the material bulged outward as it strained against her sleeping bag and pillow. On the other side, the material bulged outward as it strained against two dozen apples, a bottle of plain cider, and a bottle of ‘special’ cider, just in case.

The filly nodded dutifully, her red bow bobbing in time with her head, then turned and ran out into the yard without another word, expecting her friends and minute. She wasn’t especially excited about seeing a bunch of old statues, but she always liked spending time with the other Crusaders, and Dinky was pretty fun, too. The door swung shut behind her, leaving her sister and brother to simply shake their heads. “Ah don’t know about you, Big Mac, but Ah’ve got a feeling tonight’ll end with something smashed into tiny little pieces.”

“Eeyup,” the red stallion agreed, simply.

“And you’re sure you’ve got the farm covered while Ah’m off with ma friends, right?”

“Eeyup,” her brother replied again, as he slowly stood, intent on finding himself a slice of pie.

“And you won’t forget that some of the trees in the northwest orchard are ready for buckin’ in the mornin’?”

“Nnnnnope,” he answer, rolling his eyes before pulling open a cabinet, looking for a plate.

“Ah should be back before noon, but just in case I’m not, rememb-” the mare began, only for her brother to spin on his hind legs and stare at her.

“Sis, Ah know you’re just trying to help, and Ah can appreciate that, but ya’ll need to remember that Ah’m yer older brother, not yer younger. Ah’m a grown stallion and Ah can more than handle this farm for a day without you lookin’ over mah shoulder. No offense, sis, but so long as Ah’m not hurt like Ah was that one year, Ah can handle the applebucking by mahself. So you can just go have fun with yer friends, and leave the farm to me,” he said, mildly annoyed at his sister’s well-meant but unnecessary explanation.

She didn’t know it, but Granny Smith had taught him everything that needed to be done to keep the farm prospering, and he was capable of it all by himself, for the most part. There was no question in his mind that it was easier with the two of them running thing, but sometimes he just had enough with her condescension, and needed to remind her that he wasn’t some foal whose hoof she needed to hold. Staring at her, his face passive, he waited for her to make some reply. None came. “Well then, shouldn’t you be goin’, too?” he asked, allowing himself the slightest hint of a smirk.

“Eeyup,” she replied, suitably chastened as she stood, and walked quickly out the door, leaving her brother to enjoy his pie as she headed towards Fluttershy’s cottage. He nodded to himself as he resumed his hunt for the pastry, unsure where his grandmother had hidden it, only to stop when he heard a wizened, wheezing laugh coming from the door leading into the living room.

“Sometimes, that girl’s head gets bigger than her little purple friend’s balloon and she acts like more of a nag than me. Ah always like it when you stand up to her, remind her that she ain’t the only Apple with a brain in her head,” the old green mare standing in the door frame observed, nodding at her grandson. “Now sit yerself down, and I’ll get you yer pie. Sound good?”

“Eeyup,” the stallion replied, smiling gently as he returned to his seat.

****

Fluttershy nodded to herself as she closed her saddle bags. She had never much cared for sleeping on clouds, even as a foal, and so had packed a goose down sleeping bag and pillow set, despite the dirty looks her geese friends had given her as she did. She had tried to explain that it was donated down, but the birds had wanted no part of it, and had flown off to a pond a few miles away. It wasn’t the first time one of the animals she’d cared for had reacted like that; the sheep shunned her completely if she wore a wool sweater during the winter, for instance, and she’d long since come to accept that they’d come back eventually. After all, friends forgave each other. Besides which, she had a marginally larger problem at the moment, regarding a long, firm, slightly-ridged object she didn’t want to leave behind.

“Angel Bunny, please, I know you’re hungry, but my friends and I might be staying overnight away from home, and I want to bring some carrots and celery along in case I need to settle my nerves, and I didn’t realize we only had two carrots left. So please, can you settle for a salad tonight? I promise I’ll make it up to you when we get back,” she pleaded with the rabbit,

who was currently hiding underneath her sofa, hunched over the orange vegetable protectively.

She was flat on her stomach, her hooves stretched under the furniture, trying to catch her friend, but each time she tried to grab him, he hopped back and kicked at her hooves. He wasn’t large enough, or powerful enough, for his kicks to hurt her, to his chagrin, but he only had three options to express his displeasure with his yellow keeper, and he had learned long ago that she was by far his superior when it came to attempting to stare an opponent into submission, and biting had the tendency to provoke the same resulting as glaring at the infuriating mare. He might have thrown something at her, but the only object at hand was the carrot itself, and surrendering his prize as an expression of his refusal to surrender his prize

was, by its nature, ridiculous.

The pegasus was so focused on retrieving the carrot from her nominal pet that she didn’t hear the door quietly open, nor the sound of footsteps as somepony walked in, somepony shocked into her own silence by the sight of the yellow mare, flank in the air, tail flicking nervously. “Please, Angel, Mommy really needs you to give it to her right now. My friends might be here soon, so we don’t have much time to play,” she pleaded with the rabbit, her voice strained.

“Uh…Shy? Am I…interrupting something?” Rainbow Dash asked with a snigger at the situation before her, bursting into full raucous laughter as her old friend gave a loud, panicked squeak and pulled her head from under the sofa, her face colored deep crimson as she realized the potential implications of her position.

“Oh, Dash! No, no, it wasn’t like that, Angel was just being a naughty little bunny, and wouldn’t give me his carrot so I could put it in my pouch, and…and I’m not really making the situation any better right now, am I?” she tried to explain, before realizing how it all sounded. “Let…let me try that again?”

“Calm down, Shy. I know how much you like to have something crunchy to snack on when you’re stressed, and spending the night in the Everfree would stress anypony out. Well, not me, but almost anypony,” the speedster replied, with her normal bravado, as her laughter faded out. “And I’m sorry for laughing. I wasn’t really laughing at you, ya know? But you have to admit, if you saw me with my face down and my backside up in the air, begging for somepony to ‘give it to me,’ you’d probably have laughed, too,” she continued as she walked over and gave the other mare a friendly nuzzle.

Fluttershy tilted her head down, covering her face behind her flowing pink mane out of embarrassment, though she couldn’t help but give a soft giggle as she felt Dash’s cheek pressed against her own. “I’d probably have passed out from the embarrassment, actually,” the gentle pegasus corrected. “That, or flown away so fast even you wouldn’t have been able to catch me,” she added, teasing her friend. The blue mare pulled back quickly, her face frozen in a mask of exaggerated indignation.

“Oh, that’s how it is, is it?” Dash asked, doing her best to mimic Rarity at her most indignant. “I come in, find you in a compromising position with your rabbit, don’t judge you for it, and then you insult me?!” The cerulean pegasus spun around, the momentum brushing her rainbow tail against Fluttershy’s face in a playful mock-slap. “In that case, I say good day, mare!” She began to trot towards the door, making it a grand total of three steps before she broke into hysterical laughter and turned back to her friend. “How was that?” she asked with a wink.

Fluttershy shook her head slowly, her mane swinging side to side, unable to control her smile. “You’re getting better, Rainbow. But somehow, I don’t think Rarity would agree with me about that.” The first time Rainbow Dash had imitated the white unicorn like that, Fluttershy hadn’t cared for it, thinking that her oldest friend was insulting the pony who was, in some ways, her closest friend. After the speedster had explained she only meant it as a harmless joke, not as any kind of insult, Fluttershy did have to admit that Dash had a good grasp of Rarity’s mannerisms, at least when the unicorn was aiming for the overdramatic. She sighed happily at her friend’s antics, hopping up onto her couch and patted the fabric next to her invitingly. Dash, still chuckling to herself, walked back over and joined her. The two sat in comfortable silence for a moment, Fluttershy lost in her memories of all the fun she and Dash had had together.

“Hey, ‘Shy…do you think I’d make a good mom?” Dash asked suddenly, wrenching the yellow mare from her woolgathering. She saw her friend looking at her, devoid of humor. Fluttershy sighed to herself, recognizing where their conversation was headed.

“Scootaloo?” she asked simply, already aware of the answer before her friend’s shallow nod confirmed it. Fluttershy gently wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow Dash, pulling the other mare into a comforting hug while she considered what to say. It wasn’t the first time Dash had visited to ask that question after an encounter with the orange filly, and Fluttershy doubted it would be the last. The yellow mare took a breath, then looked the troubled pegasus square in the eyes, her gaze soft and comforting. “Rainbow, if circumstances were different, I’m sure you’d make a wonderful mother,” she answered, thankful, as she was each time her friend asked the question, that she was meant to embody Kindness, and not Honesty. It was a comforting, harmless lie, though, even if she suspected Dash realized it was a lie, at least on some level. Not even a lie, really, but a half-truth, Fluttershy reasoned. She truly believed Dash could be a good mother, under the right circumstances, and Rainbow had thankfully never asked outright if the relevant circumstance was her orientation. She squeaked in shock as her friend tightened the embrace, Dash’s head nestled in her pink mane as the cerulean mare shed a few silent tears.

The two pegasi sat in silence, holding each other, the minutes passing by as Dash struggled to rein her emotions back in, Fluttershy doing her best to soothe her friend’s distress, just as she’d soothe a frightened animal, all while silently thanking the Princesses that Dash was too proud to either adopt a foal, or to ask for somepony to help her with the magical alternatives, at least so far. She loved the other pegasus like a sister, but the thought of her friend trying to raise a filly or colt on her own frightened the timid pony more than she could ever admit. But she knew that hearing the truth out loud would break Dash’s heart. So she simply cooed softly into her friend’s ear, as she had a dozen times before, waiting for the tears to stop, as she held her own in.

Angel Bunny, his hiding spot long abandoned, watched from the table, shaking his head at the scene. With a frustrated sigh, he placed the carrot he had been holding into the yellow one’s bag, and hopped away to find something else to eat.

****

Twilight was the first to arrive, her saddle bags looking strangely empty. She had reached the cottage earlier than she, or anypony else, had expected, and thus unwittingly stumbled into the cottage in time to catch the conclusion of Dash’s minor breakdown. Fluttershy, spotting the unicorn before Dash became aware of her, simply mouthed ‘Scootaloo,’ prompting Twilight to slowly back out of the house. Turning back down the path, she saw Rarity coming up the path from town, the contents of her bags light enough to be only a minor bother, and teleported next to her, intercepting the dressmaker with a quick shake of her head. “Scootaloo,” she whispered, eliciting a sad nod from the white mare.

Unbeknownst to the cerulean pegasus, both of the unicorns she counted amongst her closest friends were aware of the issue. Rarity, by virtue of being Fluttershy’s dearest friend and confidante, had been told the day after Dash had first broken down in the pegasus’ cottage. She had hoped the worldlier unicorn would have some advice she could pass on, some simple fix for their mutual friend’s problems. Unfortunately, the only advice Rarity had been able to provide was to try and comfort Dash whenever the issue arose, along with a few spells, named in a whispered voice, and a warning to find her if Dash ever mentioned any of them.

Confused as to why Rarity would be so worried about such harmless-sounding magic, and unable to wheedle any more information from an increasingly nervous Rarity, Fluttershy had decided to talk to Twilight, hoping that the more mystically-minded mare would be more willing to explain the spells. Rarity had accompanied her, trying as they walked to dissuade the concerned pegasus from talking to the other unicorn, but to no avail. An hour later, they sat together in the library, their faces looking for all the world like a pair of very large tomatoes, as Twilight explained, in unnecessarily explicit detail, the purpose and origin of each of the spells Fluttershy had asked about, noticing neither the increasingly frequent whimpers coming from the pegasus nor the embarrassed coughs from Rarity. She was, in fact, completely oblivious to her friends, until she had asked which mare would be fulfilling which ‘role,’ at which point Fluttershy had fainted dead away, and Rarity had found it necessary to explain the situation.

Back in the present, the two unicorns stood silently on the small bridge near the cottage, listening to the flowing brook beneath them and the chatter of Fluttershy’s animals. They had both agreed, at Fluttershy’s insistence, not to talk about the problem unless Fluttershy herself brought it up, though they had made no promises regarding worried glances between themselves. A few minutes later, the pegasi stepped out of the cottage, Dash’s façade of confidence restored, Fluttershy seemingly weighed down by far more than just her saddlebags. Rarity and Twilight both slowly walked over to their yellow friend, giving her a quick, reassuring hug while Dash was distracted by the antics of a trio of chickens.

“Do you think we should wait, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked quietly, looking over at the rainbow-maned mare, who had apparently decided to join in with the chickens, and was chasing them around their enclosure, ignorant of her friends’ conversation. “I don’t want to drag her through the Everfree if she’s not up for it.”

“I think that would just make it worse, actually,” Fluttershy replied, her voice even softer than normal. She cast a glance behind her, her face brightening somewhat as she saw her friend playing with the poultry, laughing triumphantly as the birds scattered before her. “This way, she’ll be with the rest of us, and she’ll have something else to focus on. Besides, she might get suspicious if you try to postpone this right now. You know how Rainbow Dash can be, and if she thinks you saw her crying just now it will just embarrass her. At least, if nopony minds me saying so.”

“No, I think you’re quite right, dear. Dash’s problem isn’t time-sensitive, and a delay might tip our hoof that we know,” Rarity reasoned, quirking an eyebrow as she glanced over to see that the chickens had turned the tables of Rainbow Dash, and were chasing after her, one having somehow found its way onto her head. “Though, it think it would be best, Fluttershy, if we made sure Dash wasn’t alone with Twilight this evening,” she added, all levity gone from her gaze. “I didn’t want to worry you prematurely, but…a few days ago, she stopped by my shop, asking some rather specific questions about a few specific spells.” She paused, letting the emphasis she had placed on the last few words sink in. “She already knew about them, by name and function, so I couldn’t outright lie to her, and tell her that they didn’t exist. I did explain to her that I couldn’t cast them, in no uncertain terms,” she continued, before looking significantly at the purple unicorn, who seemed to have already guessed what was coming next. “The issue is, I…may have let slip that it was a matter of the complexity of the spells, and the mystic power necessary to fuel them.” Twilight groaned, pressing a hoof to her forehead. “Oh, I am sorry, darling, but she caught me off-guard, and I didn’t realize what I was saying until she said she’d just have to ask you.”

“No, Rarity, it isn’t your fault. If she knows that the magic exists, she’d have asked me eventually. At least this way she didn’t decide to ask every unicorn in town. Imagine if she had, and somepony had said something…well, something honest. She’d take it as a challenge, and her pride would never let her back down. As it is, we can still try to talk her out of anything drastic,” Twilight reasoned, though her tone betrayed her exasperation with the situation.

“Who are ya’ll talking outta what?” Applejack asked casually as she walked up to her friends, her stride unaffected by her heavily laden saddlebags. The three mares, so focused on Rainbow Dash that they hadn’t heard the earth pony coming, flinched in surprise, Fluttershy instinctively ducking behind the two unicorns. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle ya there, girls. But what’s going on? Anything Ah can help with?”

“Well, Applejack, you see…we’re worried about Dash,” Rarity suddenly explained, drawing opened mouthed stares from the other two. “You see, Dash has gotten into her head that it would be a splendid idea to…raise…chickens. Yes, chickens. Apparently, she’s decided that they’re horribly lazy birds, what with them walking everywhere instead of flying, so she wishes to raise a few herself and make them, and I quote her directly here, ‘at least two-thirds less lame.’ Fluttershy, bless her heart, is disturbed by visions of Dash hurling poor, frightened chickens from the clouds and then…well, I shan’t go on, for fear of upsetting my dear friend.” She paused, dramatically throwing her legs around the stunned pegasus, her hoof gently stroking Fluttershy’s pink mane as she made a show of ‘calming’ the other mare. “You see how concerned she is? The poor dear can’t even speak!”

Applejack blinked dumbly at the white unicorn’s overwrought account of the problem, tilting her Stetson back as she rubbed her forehead with a forehoof. “Well, Ah can understand why you’d be so concerned, Fluttershy. But by the looks of it, now that Pinkie’s saved her from those chickens you’ve got over there, doesn’t look like Dash is too keen to be spending any more time with ‘em. So…problem solved, Ah guess?”

Rarity glanced behind her, boggling both at where Pinkie Pie had come from, and how she had managed to distract the offending chickens with what appeared to be a life-sized replica of a moose constructed entirely from strawberry mousse. “Yes, well, good then. The chickens are now safe, so Fluttershy can rest easy. But it’s probably best we don’t remind Dash about this idea, at all, ever. Just to be on the safe side. Now, Applejack, could you be a dear and fetch them? Daylight, as they say, is burning, and we do have a rather firm deadline for this particular endeavor.” The earth pony nodded firmly, and set off to retrieve the other two, shaking her head at the very idea of Dash teaching chickens to fly like that.

“You…she…lie…chickens…what?!” a flabbergasted Twilight sputtered, staring at Rarity. The designer smirked pleasantly, and tossed her mane.

“If one wishes to consort with the most elite levels of Canterlot society, my dear, and the situation of one’s birth is, shall we say, somewhat lacking, and one also lacks the benefit of meritocratic standing, such as status as the personal student of the divine ruler of said society…well, one had best master early on the ability to deflect attention from undesirable questions or observations, alongside the skills to disguise certain traits – for instance, one’s accent – which act as telltale indicators of said station of birth,” she explained, gently using her hoof to close Twilight’s still open mouth. “Now, come along, you two. We really should get going if we want to reach the Castle by dusk,” she advised as she trotted off to join up with Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie. Twilight and Fluttershy, sharing a look of unadulterated confusion, trailed behind her as they walked over to the others.

Once they assembled, the five other mars turned and looked at Twilight, smiling expectantly. The purple mare nodded, filing away Rarity’s little revelation for further consideration later. For now, she focused on the task at hand, slipping into her unofficial role as leader as she quickly ran down her mental checklist. She had the components she needed for the ritual, along with her some of the camping supplies Spike had found in the cellar, stuffed into her saddlebags. Check. She had, of course, actually had said saddlebag, a Hearth’s Warming Eve gift from Princess Luna ‘to my second true friend’, enchanted to hold more than the exterior dimensions seemed to allow and decrease the weight of anything placed inside. Check. Her friends were apparently ready; a quick glance showed four of them had their own saddlebags strapped around their midsections. Rainbow Dash was unburdened, but considering her tendency to use clouds as bedding Twilight wasn’t surprised. So, check. She could smell something freshly baked coming from Pinkie’s bags, and could see rounded shapes about the right size to be apples straining against the fabric on Applejack’s side, so the two mares had likely thought to bring food for the group, besides what she had brought in case nopony else thought of it. It seemed they were all ready to go, with plenty of time to spare.

“Alright, girls, so, as it stands we should have plenty of time to get to the Castle before the sun starts to set. I’ve been thinking that, if nopony disagrees, we should take more or less the same route we did last time we all went to the castle.” She stopped, looking at the others for any sign of disagreement. “Okay then. I guess we should get going,” she finished with a wide smile, and began to trot towards the forest with a small spring in her step, her friends following close behind.

Comments

[heynow]

Do the statues that the crusaders are going to help destroy look something like this?
thehairpin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/weepingangles.jpg

[Firedon]

1632646 Argh, don't remind me, I hate those guys.
Actually, since Derpy's husband seems to be The Doctor, or at least the equestrian version, the statues could look like that.
Or, something like that as a pegasus/alicorn/whatever.

[John Tannius]

Don't blink! Don't turn away and whatever you do, DON'T Blink!

Momma Dash!

[BBkat]

“I’m sure Opal will be fine on her own for the night.”

I was going to say, I'm pretty sure a cat and take care of themselves for a night.

And It's good to know I'm not the only person whose first thought was Weeping Angels (Pegasi?) when they talked about the statues. n

[The Favoured]

I'm... not entirely sure I get the sub-plot with Rainbow wanting to be a mom. As in, why are Fluttershy, Twilight and Rarity so against the idea of Rainbow Dash being a mother? Fluttershy says (or at least she thinks to herself) that RD could be a good mother 'under the right circumstances'. What does she mean by that? Why is it significant that Rainbow never asked outright if her orientation was the 'problem'?

[New Rebellion]

It'd be pretty amusing if this mystery spell/ritual was actually capable of transforming the ponies into alicorns in the right circumstances. Can you imagine Celestia and Luna's surprise when they discover that THAT'S what Twilight had unknowingly and accidentally caused?

Plus, I have a question: is that black leviathan in the volcano a reference to the story "Que Sera, Sera"?