Order-naries

by CTVulpin

Chapter 6

While Ashen Blaze was not the greatest party guest ever to attend a Pinkie Pie party, he did manage to last through until Twilight insisted that everypony clear out of the library so she could have some peaceful study time before bed. Applejack had stayed behind to help clean up, so the Order-naries were walking back to Sweet Apple Acres on their own. Gold Heart was flying overhead, pulling loop-de-loops and spins and other simple tricks to use up the excess energy from all the sugar she'd ingested over the course of the afternoon. "Today was awesome!" she shouted, "Finding a Gem, a trip to a spa, meeting new friends, and a party! With food! Food made by ponies, of all things! That tasted amazing! Best day ever!"

"You're starting to sound like Pinkie Pie up there," Soul Mage said, smiling, "Or Rainbow Dash."

"Don't care!" Heart responded, turning upside down and giving her brother a huge grin, "I'm on a sugar high." With a whoop, she flew off ahead of the group.

"So Ash," Gale said, watching the pegasus fly off, "did you enjoy yourself?"

"Meh," Ash replied, looking straight ahead.

"A c'mon," Soul said, "just because a few ponies laughed at your dancing…"

"That's not it," Ash said, "besides, they laughed louder at you." Soul stuck his tongue out at the grey unicorn. "It's just that we could have used that time to figure out how we're going to locate the rest of the Gems," Ash continued, "Unless you just want to wait for Tau'rin to find them all first."

"Not on your life," Gale said with an accusing look. By this point, the group had caught up to Heart, who was mimicking Pinkie's bounce-trot, in place, about six feet off the ground, to the confusion and amusement of a couple passers-by. She stopped when she saw the others and resumed flying above them.

"So," Ash said, blatantly ignoring Heart's antics, "How do you propose we find the rest of the Gems?"

"Oh!" Heart exclaimed, causing everyone to look up at her, "I was talking to a bunch to ponies about what happened when we warped in. A few of them saw something flying toward that forest near Fluttershy's place. One of them, I think it was the mail-pony; you know, the wonky-eyed one? Anyway, she said she saw two things fly that way after the boom."

"Ok, go easy on the sugar next time sis," Soul said, trying to keep up with Heart's train of thought. Heart gave him a quick salute as she nodded.

"Well done," Ash said, "Tomorrow let's get some information on that forest and organize a search pattern. With luck, we can probably head out after those Gems, if that's what they were, right after lunch."

"You're including the morning chores in those calculations, right?" Soul asked.

Ash slowed down slightly, blinking, and then his eyes narrowed slightly. "Ah skvetch."

---

The next morning, to Ash's joy, Applejack told her tenants they would not have to buck any apples that day. That joy turned into disappointment almost instantly when the orange earth pony then instructed Ash and Soul to hitch themselves up to a pair of fully laden carts of apples. "It's my day to mind the stall at the market," AJ said, "and Big Mac's gonna be apple-bucking for tomorrow's stock, so y'all are gonna help me get these apples into town."

"What about Gale and Heart?" Ash asked darkly, eyeing the two mares.

"Somepony's got to help me set up the stall," Applejack said simply.

"I guess we'll see you there then," Soul said, backing into the harness of the first cart. Ash grumbled as he slipped into the second one. Applejack just smiled after making sure they were both ready to go and then galloped off toward town with the girls in tow.

"I'm sick of this," Ash said, watching them go.

"We haven't even started yet," Soul commented, heaving forward to get his cart started. "Besides, a little manual labor in the morning gets you in shape for the rest of the day."

"I'm a mage," Ash groused, plodding along behind Soul's cart, "physical effort isn't my thing."

"Poor thing," Soul said, voice dripping with sarcasm, "That cart too heavy for you? Here, let me help." He reached out with is magic, plucked an apple out of Ash's cart, and put it in his own. "There you go," the yellow unicorn said with a mischievous grin. He accelerated to a fast trot as Ash yelled protests at him. "Speed it up," Soul shouted back, "you'll never catch me at that rate!"

"Skvetchte little…" Ash growled, but the corners of his mouth twitched upward, threatening to spoil his façade of outrage.

By the time the two unicorns arrived at the market, only slightly winded and in good moods, AJ and the girls had just finished preparing the stall. Setting the apple baskets out was the work of a few minutes. "Thanks y'all," Applejack said, "That's all I need ya for today, so go ahead and do whatever ya need to."

"No problem AJ," Gale said, "See you later." With that, the Order-naries made their way to the library. When they arrived, they saw Sweetie Bell trotting away toward the school house as Rarity closed the front door and turned a key in the lock.

"Is Twilight out?" Ash asked as they approached.

"Yes," Rarity said, "She's out shopping for whatever she can find for those potions we found a couple days ago. After that, she's going to Zecora's place to get her opinion on those potions."

"Then where are you off to?" Heart asked.

"Over to Fluttershy's," the Rarity said, "I want to see how my poor Opalesence is doing with her recovery. Did you four need something?"

"We were hoping to get some research done on a lead we've discovered," Ash said, "But if Twilight's not here, that might take too long. We'll... just go see if we can find her in town."

"Very well," the white unicorn said with a nod, "have a nice day." She walked away, seemingly unaware that Ash was watching her with a curious look on his face.

"Do my eyes deceive me?" Soul asked light-heartedly, giving the ashs-grey unicorn a playful push, "or do I see attraction in your eyes Ashen Blaze?"

"You need glasses," Ash said flatly, turning back toward the market, "Come on, we've got a librarian to find." Soul exchanged a satisfied smile with Heart as they and Gale followed their de facto leader.

As they walked past Sugar Cube Corner, they heard a familiar cheerful voice chatting away inside. Heart, Soul, and Gale all smiled and rolled their eyes, only to have those smiles chased away by a big gasp. "Ash! Hey Ashen Blaze! Hold on a second!" The four ponies turned to see Pinkie bounding out of the bakery toward them. "I've got something I absolutely have to give to you right now!"

"What is it Pink…ie?" Ash asked, voice trailing as he saw that Pinkie Pie was wearing a familiar-looking thing on her head. It was a metal device shaped like the right half of a helmet, held in place by a padded wire that went over the left side of her head. From the helmet protruded a small microphone that hung near the corner of Pinkie's mouth, a transparent green screen over her right eye, and what looked like a tiny speaker in her ear. "What… how… where'd you find that?" Ash sputtered, completely surprised.

"This?" Pinkie asked, tilting her head, "Isn't it cool? Guess what? It lets me talk to some pony far, far away from here. He's kind of a mean, sarcastic snarky-pants, but I think I'm helping him brighten up." She paused as a sound the others couldn't quite make out came out of the device's speaker. "Oh, right," she said, "He says I need to give this to you Ash, so here you go!" She pulled the thing off her head, somehow maintaining her balance on her hind legs alone, and held it out. Ash snatched it up with magic and settled it onto his head, a genuine smile of glee on his face as he adjusted the eyepiece, mike, and speaker.

"PC, old buddy!" he said, "Somebody must like me a lot to let me have you this time. You've just made this second pony-world so much easier…" His face fell into a longsuffering expression as the device spoke to him. "No, I'm not," he said, "You just got done spending time with Pinkie Pie and you think I'm the crazy one? Ok, you know what? Shut up and start scanning. Usual signatures, minus the Diamond. We'll settle the sanity issue later." He strode off purposefully in the direction of Fluttershy's cottage, leaving an amused trio of friends and a briefly befuddled Pinkie Pie in his wake.

"A pony and his computer,' Soul quipped, "It's a wonderful thing."

"Where did you find it Pinkie?" Gale asked.

"Umm…" Pinkie said, making a show of thinking, "Well, after you guys landed by the chickens and were all 'ohmygoshwherearewe?' and ran off and Twilight and Redheart followed you, I got this pinchy-twitchy feeling telling me there was something hiding in a bush so I went to look and found that thingy. I was curious about it, but then I heard you talking about lunch and I was all 'gaaasp I need to invite them to lunch!' so I forgot about it and came over to you. Then yesterday I got the pinchy-twitch again and found it again and-" Soul put a hoof over the pink pony's mouth to give himself some time to process the story.

"And then PC decided he'd acknowledge you and began pestering you to return him to Ash," he said after his head stopped spinning, "Which you have done, and he's grateful beyond measure. That sum it up?" Pinkie nodded and Soul removed his hoof. "Now, if that's all, we'll be going." He and the girls hurried to catch up with Ash before Pinkie could properly respond. Pinkie watched them go until her brain reminded her that she had cookies ready to put into the oven.

---

When the Order-naries arrived at the gate to Fluttershy's yard, Rarity was just stepping out of the cottage and thanking the pegasus for taking care of her cat. Fluttershy's acknowledgement of the thanks was cut off by a gasp from Rarity when she spotted the group. "Ashen Blaze," she said, "what is that thing on your head?"

"PC," Ash said simply, "Short for Portable Computer." Ignoring the confused looks on Rarity's and Fluttershy's faces, he turned toward the forest and set PC to scanning for Gems again.

Gale decided to come to the rescue. "It's basically an intelligent tool," she said, walking over to the two ponies, "Ash uses it to locate the Gems, analyze spells and things that stand in our way, and is frequently insulted by its sarcastic sense of humor."

"I don't get insulted, I get annoyed," Ash said, "PC loves to heckle me whenever I ask for his help." The eyepiece flashed and he glared at it. "I know you can hear me," he said, "You're on my head! How could you not hear me?"

"Stating the obvious isn't going to help your case Ash," Soul said.

"You be quiet," the unicorn said to Soul, "you're only getting half the conversation anyway."

"Well, excuse me," Soul said with a snort, "Have you two found anything yet, or has your little debate distracted you?"

"Um…" Ash said uncertainly. The eyepiece flashed again, and the unicorn smiled. "As a matter of fact," he said smugly, "Yes. Two distinct signals- the Ruby and one other that's too far out to identify yet. Both are that way." He pointed toward the Everfree Forest.

"In… in there?" Fluttershy asked quietly, shrinking back a little, "but… that's the Everfree Forest! You don't want to go in there."

"There are two Gems in there, so I think we do," Ashen Blaze said, "What's so spooky about a forest anyway?"

"Oh, it's a horrible, scary place," Fluttershy insisted, her voice gaining some strength even as she began to quiver in fear, "Nothing there works like it should. The weather changes, the even the little animals don't listen to you, and the plants grow all by themselves." Ashen Blaze, Soul Mage, Gold Heart, and Gale simply stared at the meek yellow pegasus slack-jawed for a few seconds until one of them cracked out a chuckle and all four fell to the ground in uproarious laughter. "Wh-what?" Fluttershy asked, looking at Rarity in horror, "did I say it wrong? I… I don't understand." Rarity just gave her a confused look.

After a few minutes, the Order-naries recovered enough to stand back up, although they were all still chuckling and giggling. "Hahahooo," Ash said, wiping tears from his eyes, "You… you're serious, aren't you?" He looked at Fluttershy and almost broke down again. "Ho boy," he said, catching his breath, "Ah, c'mon team, let's get moving. Those Gems are waiting." The four ponies turned and galloped into the forest, ignoring Twilight, who had just arrived with a set of saddlebags and the petrified Spike strapped to her back. The lavender pony watched the Order-naries run off laughing into the forest and then went over to Rarity and Fluttershy.

"I missed something, didn't I?" she asked.

---

Soul Mage and Ashen Blaze were still laughing as the Order-naries walked deeper into the Everfree Forest, but Gold Heart was beginning to feel bad about it. "Fluttershy seemed so scared," she said.

"Pah, she's the type to be scared of her own shadow," Ash said off-handedly, "Heck, I think that statement might be literal truth." He reared up and waved his hooves menacingly at a random tree. "Oh no," he said in mock horror, "Nopony had a hoof in planting this tree! And it's grown up big and strong without any attention at all! How terrible that nature should work unsupervised!"

"Well," Heart said, "I know for a fact that the pegasi manage the weather around ponyville. Rainbow Dash showed me how she moves clouds around and kicks them away if they're not needed."

"Weather control I can accept," Ash said, "Every magic-based society worth its spells dabbles in the weather."

"It's the animals that get me," Soul said, "I know Fluttershy's a true blue animal lover and all, but the way she was talking about 'the little animals taking care of themselves' makes me think she's coddling the lot. How's the world supposed to work if you feed and protect every single little rodent, bird, and other prey species that you live around?"

"Truth," Ash declared, "and as forests go, this isn't that bad. Sure, the sun's light isn't filtering in through the canopy like I think it should, but I don't see anything scary." A sudden rustling of a nearby bush gave the unicorn a start, but he laughed it off saying, "Ah, it's nothing. Probably just a little critter we scared off." The bush rustled again and a white feathered bird head popped out. "Or a chicken…" Ash said, giving it a strange look, "Must be one of Fluttershy's." The "chicken" crowed as it raised itself out of the bush, and then kept going upward revealing its scaly body and long, serpentine tail. Ash's irises shrank as the cockatrice's eyes glowed red. "Oh, skve-" was all he could manage before he turned to stone. The cockatrice sneered in triumph, which was quite a feat considering it didn't have teeth or lips, before turning on the other three ponies. They all averted their eyes quickly, trying to come up with a plan.

"Heart," Soul said in a low voice as the cockatrice slithered around the trio, looking for an opening in their defense, "Think you could hit it with a blind shot?"

"Possibly," the golden-yellow pegasus responded, covering her eyes with a wing, "The odds aren't good though."

"What do we do about Ash?" Gale hissed, trying to watch the monster's movements without actually looking, "How do we reverse a petrification without magic?"

"I don't know," Soul said. The cockatrice lost its patience at that point and charged the ponies, knocking them into each other so that they went sprawling and left their eyes briefly exposed. The monster locked eyes with Gale and clucked evilly as it readied its stony gaze. Just as its eyes turned red, it was distracted by a loud, angry voice.

"And just what are you doing?" the stern voice demanded. The cockatrice visibly gulped and turned around slowly. The three Order-nary ponies looked up to see the monster quailing under the intense gaze of Fluttershy's Stare. Their jaws dropped as the pink-haired pegasus walked toward the cockatrice, which was making small, terrified noises as it tried to back away. "Oh yes," Fluttershy said, "you're the same one, aren't you? I thought I'd made myself clear last time; you don't go around turning ponies or innocent creatures to stone. This is your second warning young bird. Don't let me catch you doing this again, or I will tell your mother!" Soul's left eye began twitching in response to reaching a level of confusion he'd never imagined possible. He couldn't even begin to describe what was wrong with that logic, and it seemed to be working! Fluttershy kept her gaze on the cockatrice until the thing snapped and tried to run away. "A-hem," Fluttershy said," Aren't you forgetting something?" The cockatrice hung its head in shame and slithered over to Ashen Blaze. It turned its gaze on the stone unicorn at full power and Ash quickly returned to normal, wobbling on his feet as his eyes rolled in disorientation. "That's better," Fluttershy said in a calmer voice, her eyes soft and kind once again, "now run along." The cockatrice didn't need to be told twice. It fluttered away into the depths of the forest as fast as it could. After it had disappeared, the Order-naires looked back at Fluttershy to see that she'd been joined by Twilight Sparkle and Rarity.

"What… just happened?" Ash asked, still a little dizzy, "Where's that… uh…"

"Cockatrice," Twilight supplied.

"Thanks," Ash said with a nod, "What happened to it?"

"Fluttershy happened," Gale said simply.

"What?" Ash asked.

"Fluttershy got rid of the cockatrice," Gale said with admiration.

"What?" Ash repeated, incredulous.

"Fluttershy gave the cockatrice a scolding and a hard look, and it changed you back before fleeing."

"What," Ash said flatly, utter disbelief on his face," Fluttershy, you… stared down a cockatrice?"

"Yes," Fluttershy said humbly.

"You stared down a cockatrice."

"Y-yes."

"You. Stared down. A cockatrice?"

"I think we've established that fact Ash," Soul said, annoyed, "Thank you." Ash just kept staring at Fluttershy like he'd never seen her before. The Pegasus blushed and tried to hide behind her mane.

"Uh…" she mumbled, "Could you please… stop staring please… if you… if you don't mind. I'd really like it."

Ash flung himself at Fluttershy's feet, eliciting a squeak of surprise from her. "Oh, I am truly in the presence of a master," he said, prostrating himself, "I beg of you, oh Meis of the Stare, teach me your secrets!"

"Ok," Soul said as he and Gale moved to pick Ash up off the ground, "You're now officially broken, Ashen Blaze. Take a few breaths, drink some water if you can find it, and stopping freaking the poor pegasus out."

"I am fine," Ash declared, taking advantage of Gale and Soul's support to strike a dramatic pose pointing in Fluttershy's direction, "I am merely begging this wonderful creature to bestow her secrets upon me."

"You called her a Meis," Gale said, "You never do that. You're broken."

"She deserves it! Far more than any being I've ever met!" Ash said passionately. Gale and Soul exchanged a glance, and then dropped the unicorn with a collective sigh. Ash picked himself up, re-adjusted PC, and brushed off the worst of the dirt, suddenly sober again.

"You're right," he said, "We're wasting time here. Onward!"

"Hold up," Twilight said, "You're not thinking of going off alone after what just happened."

"I'm not alone," Ash said, "I've got three other ponies and a snarky computer with me." He tapped PC a couple times and tried to walk away again.

"You have no idea what you're getting yourselves into," Twilight said.

"Well, we know there's a cockatrice out there now," Gale said.

"There are also manticores, hydras, Ursa Majors, and cranky, full-grown dragons among other things," Twilight said, "and that's just the animal life."

"You've seen all this then," Ash said, giving the unicorn a measured look.

"I've traveled through the Everfree Forest many times," Twilight said, "Mostly to visit Zecora, but my friends and I have gone all the way to the ruined castle at the forest's heart."

"Could you guide us then?" Heart asked, "We could use somepony with experience." She gave Ash a meaningful look.

"I'd like to," Twilight said, indicating the stone dragon on her back, "but I need to stop by Zecora's place and see if she can do anything about Spike."

"Which way is this Zecora?" Ash asked. Twilight pointed and the grey unicorn turned to look. "PC," he said, "where are… oh. Ah, that's convenient." He turned back to Twilight and said, "It seems the closer of the two Gems is in that general direction, so we'll go with you, if you'll have us."

"Sure," Twilight said, smiling, "Follow me. And don't step on any blue flowers."

"So," Gale asked after they'd been walking for a while, "If this forest's so… weird to you, what kind of pony would make their home here?" Twilight opened her mouth to answer, only to close it again as a cloaked figure emerged from behind a tree.

"Seven ponies I see," it said, "four of which are strangers to me."

"Hello Zecora," Twilight said, smiling, "How are you today?"

"I am doing well," Zecora said, "From your burden, I see you have a tale to tell. Before we go to my home, will you make these newcomer's names known?"

"Does she always rhyme?" Ash asked in a low tone. Twilight nodded. Rolling his eyes, Ash stepped forward and nodded to Zecora. "I am Ashen Blaze," he told her, "and these are my friends Soul Mage, Gold Heart, and Gale."

"It is good to meet you," Zecora said, "Now come, I have prepared stew." She turned away and led the group through the trees to her hut.

"Ooo, tribal," Soul said appreciatively as he stepped inside, looking around at the masks, rugs, and the simmering cauldron in the center of the room. "Am I right in guessing you aren't from around here?"

"Your guess is correct Soul Mage," Zecora said, removing her cloak, "You seem rather learned for a Ponyvillager your age." Soul would've adopted a smug look if he hadn't been taken aback by the revelation that Zecora was a zebra.

"Uh… thanks," he said.

Zecora turned to Twilight, who was in the process of setting Spike on the floor. "Tell me of the burden you bear," she said, "He seems to be the victim of a cockatrice stare."

"Actually, he's not," Twilight said, "This happened from a magic… accident."

"That hardly does it justice," Rarity said, "He tried to eat a magical gemstone, but when he bit down the energy rushed out and did this to him, along with destroying my shop in an earthquake."

"This is a magic I do not know," Zecora said, looking closely at Spike, "Although I can see around him a green glow…"

"Oh really?" Ash said, surprised, "Not many have the sight to see elemental energy, at least in my experience. If you can see it, maybe you can find a spell to fix him."

"Magic and spells are not my talent," the zebra said, "It lies in potions, teas, and unguents." Heart, Soul, and Gale all looked impressed at that particular rhyme.

"I was hoping to make use of that talent," Twilight said, pulling out a sheaf of papers and floating them over to Zecora, "I've put together a list of potions and salves that I think might undo the spell. I even looked through Supernaturals, although the best I could find was cures for cockatrice petrification." Zecora took the papers and leafed through them, tossing most of them aside.

"Your diligence in research is to be praised Twilight," she said, "Although most of these simply are not right. There are only two here that may cure Spike, but to try them both will require many nights."

"If you need ingredients, I brought as many as I could find in town," Twilight said, removing her saddlebags.

"Again I applaud your devotion," Zecora said with a smile, "But I will need Everfree herbs to complete either potion." She stuck her nose into each bag and sniffed. "Oh," she said in surprise, "I have underestimated your Ponyville stores. With all of these, I require but two plants more."

"Will you need help finding them?" Rarity asked, not looking too eager at the prospect. She hid a sigh of relief when the zebra simply shook her head.

"Welp," Ash said, "I don't think there's any more reason for me and my team to stay here. It was nice to meet you Zecora. I hope you don't mind if we take a pass on the stew."

"Fare you well new friends of mine," Zecora said with nod, "come again when you find the time."

"We'll be going too," Twilight said, "Let me know when you've done what you can." Zecora nodded and saw the ponies to the door.

Comments

[MariusIoannesP]

Yes, Fluttershy stared down a cockatrice! I love it when Fluttershy gets aggressive.