Disappear

by ShimmeringStallion

Preparing for the New Day

Preparing For The New Day

Most of the ponies were able to fall asleep, and sleep soundly. However, Scootaloo had been sleeping most of the night prior to the others, and woke up earlier as a result, surprised to find that she had been resting by the rear hooves of Rainbow Dash, as opposed to where she remembered falling asleep: The lobby floor. She took a look around, and saw several others sleeping, including her fellow Crusaders sleeping in a bed with their sisters, and sleeping bags on the floor, with one sleeping bag being unoccupied. A quick head-count later, Scootaloo figured that the one pony who had left was Fluttershy. She crept slowly past the other ponies, hovering with her wings to minimize the sound on the wooden floor; she was loud on her scooter, but the sound of her wings alone were silent due to her own natural size.

Heading down the stairwell, Scootaloo was surprised to find Spike wide awake and packing things up in bags. It was still dark, but Scootaloo could see the night sky turning brighter by looking out a nearby window, so she knew it must have at least been near dawn. She trotted up to Spike at a steady pace, to make sure he knew she was approaching, so as to not startle him into waking the others. Scootaloo spoke softly, almost with a whisper. “Mornin’, Spike! You’re already awake? What’re ya workin’ on, so early?” Spike turned around from packing another saddlebag, placing it with some others by the front door to the library.

“Oh! Good morning, Scootaloo! After I woke up, I received a letter from the princess that requested that I get around to preparing some bags for the others. She figured they’ll be heading out today, and could probably use some food while they’re busy in Canterlot.” Scootaloo never saw Spike this early in the morning and wondered if this was how he naturally was, given how little time she had spent around him, and even Twilight for that matter. She realized that she should ask the question on her mind before continuing. “Oh, did you see Fluttershy at all? I didn’t see her upstairs, so…”

Spike grabbed another empty saddlebag, moving it to the main lobby’s table in order to pack it with various necessities. “Fluttershy woke up after I did. She said that she was just going out to check on her friends back at her cottage. She remembered that she hadn’t returned home last night, and was worried about whether they were hungry, or if they could use some help.” Scootaloo was startled at Spike’s nonchalant nature regarding Fluttershy’s actions. “W-What about Vanish? What if he finds her and takes her wings!?” Spike quickly covered Scootaloo’s mouth, taking a glance up the stairwell, indicating his hopes that the ponies remain asleep.

“Shhh! They need to sleep as much as they can before the trip.” Spike removed his clawed hand from Scootaloo’s mouth, and walked back to the table to grab some apples, blankets, books, and other objects for various ponies. “I asked her that, as well. She told me that her friends are far too important to her, and she feels that it’s only right that she check on them. She said that she isn’t scared of Vanish, anymore.” Spike packed a fifth bag, tossed it aside, and grabbed another.

Scootaloo wasn't content with such a simple answer. “But without her wings, she’ll…” Spike placed the bag, then turned to Scootaloo, who had not considered the impact of certain Pegasi having their wings removed, though Spike had considered the same notion as she had, and asked Fluttershy accordingly, relaying the answer he got to the worried filly. “Fluttershy is a weak flyer, but that’s mainly because of how she rarely uses her wings. She has ways to get around her daily life without using them.” The young dragon smirked back at Scootaloo, as he packed a sixth bag with more supplies. “She’s a Pegasus pony, but she doesn’t let it ‘define’ her. It’s kind of hard to explain.”

Scootaloo thought it over to herself. It was hard for her to understand, but it made sense, in a way. Twilight was the embodiment of the Spirit of the Element of Magic, and a unicorn. Rainbow Dash was the fastest Pegasus in all of Cloudsdale. Even on her scooter, Scootaloo relied heavily on her wings, but maybe that wasn’t what made them who they were. After all, Sweetie Belle never used magic, and she was a unicorn. Scootaloo mumbled to herself, “… hmm… not who they are…” as Spike saw Scootaloo contemplating something, taking the time for him to finish packing the saddlebags.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom came downstairs, followed closely by Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle ran up to their fellow Crusader, forgetting about how their sisters had told them to remain silent since other ponies were just upstairs, still sleeping. “Scootaloo! You’re awake! Feelin' better?” Scootaloo turned around to look at Sweetie Belle, who had a big, curious smile on her face. “Yeah, a little bit better, anyways!” Apple Bloom chimed in. “C’mon, Crusaders! Let’s go organize those books from last night! I’m sure I felt a cutie mark comin’ on, yesterday!”

As they raced to the side room, Spike sighed in response. Upon waking up much earlier than the ponies that were in the library, he decided to reorganize some of the books for Twilight, before receiving a letter from Princess Celestia, which prompted him to start packing bags of supplies for their expedition to Canterlot. Pinkie Pie was surprised by the massive pile of saddlebags that had been formed in one side of the room, and chose to see what was inside of one of the bags, rather than ask about it.

Spike shook his head in disbelief at the intrusive, curious pony's antics before turning to the others by the stairs. “Did you girls get some sleep?” Spike was hoping they weren’t woken up early, since he fell asleep the fastest. A gentle hoof-raise of assurance from Rarity dispelled his fears. “Considering I had to share a bed with another pony, as well as two young fillies, yes, I had an adequate sleep.” Applejack rolled her eyes in response, and chuckled. “We slept fine, Spike. What’re ya up to?” Spike explained the letter he received, while Pinkie Pie fiddled with a latch on a saddlebag.

“Sounds like we’ll be having a lot of fun up in Canterlot today, huh? Nothing wrong with that!” Pinkie Pie stuck her head into a bag and pulled out an apple upon finishing her statement, prompting Spike to go grab another one to replace it. Spitfire showed up behind the others, with a severely bad case of bed-mane. She didn’t have her flight suit on, as she and Soarin’ had removed their suits prior to sleeping; being ponies, they already wore a coat at all times, so wearing a blanket and a flight suit would just make them overheat, not that Soarin’ wasn’t the type of friend to need reminding of this on most days he took a nap. Spitfire couldn’t begin to count the number of times she’d catch him taking a nap before or after a show, still wearing his flight suit.

“Oh, my stars! Darling! You’re an absolute mess! Spike, do you have a brush?” Spike ran over to one of the saddlebags and pulled a brush out; he had put certain objects in certain saddlebags that pertained to the interests of each pony. Rarity used her magic to grab the brush, and started gently brushing Spitfire’s mane, before realizing that a bit more force might be needed. As Spitfire protested at how casually this unicorn, who was practically a stranger to her, was trying to groom her, Applejack chuckled to herself. Seeing her friend being obsessed with the condition of another pony’s mane was nothing new, and never got old to watch.

Spike remembered something important regarding Spitfire, having received a letter that mentioned the plans, as well as something for Spitfire and Soarin’: A way to signal if danger was heading immediately towards Canterlot, and what to do in order to produce the signal. Spike unfurled the scroll in front of Spitfire, who read the contents carefully, as well as taking the time to read over and memorize the section involving a ‘two pony performance’ that could be seen from Canterlot, thus signaling for them to officially raise Shining Armor’s barrier upon completion of the performance.

Several minutes went by before the others had joined everypony in the lobby. Soarin’ had grabbed his own flight suit and goggles, as well as Spitfire’s, but dropped them as he got a good laugh out of seeing Spitfire’s ‘new style’ that Rarity had invoked with her fashion sense. Not only had her mane been brushed out of its normal style, but the unicorn had even attempted to dye it before Applejack interfered, though the fashionista settled with placing a sparkling ribbon in Spitfire’s mane, much to The Wonderbolt Captain’s dismay. After laughing at the new mane, Soarin’ grabbed the brush with his mouth and went to work on Spitfire in order to brush her mane back to its familiar state; The Wonderbolts often helped each other with their manes, or getting into their flight suits, so this was familiar territory to him. While waiting, he helped Spitfire back into her own suit, because even if he couldn’t fly, she still could, and would benefit from wearing it.

Twilight had been writing another letter to the princess before Soarin’ had even woken up. She walked downstairs with Derpy, to that which was now ‘the well-populated lobby’ of her library, carrying the written scroll with her magic. It seemed like everypony was awake, aside from Rainbow Dash, but that was common for her, especially given how she had avoided most of her daily naps yesterday. The realization of the situation hit Twilight hard: “A lot of things happened in just one day. Can we really stop Gather before he reaches Canterlot? And then there’s Vanish… Ugh. What a mess. I get the feeling that we need more information above all else, but right now, it’s time to officially get down to business.”