The Apple Falls Far from the Tree

by David Silver

First published 10th of April, 2015

Applejack has returned from her Everglow adventure with magic all her own. Magic that her little sister and friends want to investigate. What could go wrong when the Apple family falls far from the tree without Twilight to rely on? Ponyfinder/MLP

Applejack has returned from her Everglow adventure with magic all her own. Magic that her little sister and friends want to investigate. What could go wrong when the Apple family falls far from the tree without Twilight to rely on?

They will have to learn to fight as a unit with magic they've only just begun to understand, but Applejack won't be pleased if she allows harm to come to the younger foals in her care. What's a mare to do when she has to foalsit in the middle of a potential battlefield?

Link to character sheets: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxUh1iVHP4kiUzBCTk14bVhsalU/view?usp=sharing

1 - Down on the Farm

Applejack drove her hooves back into the tree with a deep thunk. Apples rained from the sky into her carefully-arranged baskets and she smiled. "Still got it," she proclaimed before picking up several baskets and setting them on a faintly-glowing disk. The disk floated along after her as she trotted to the farm.

When she arrived, Big Mac was taking a breather. He watched her walk past with the apple baskets. He didn't say anything, but Applejack could feel a faint disapproval from him. She set the baskets down safely before returning, "What's on your mind? Don't like the magic?" asked Applejack.

"Nope," replied Big Mac. "Yer strong enough on yer own, what do you need that fer?"

Applejack glanced back at the glowing disk, then back at Big Mac, "It lets me get the work done faster. It's still a heap ah work, it just gets done in three days instead'a five. What's the harm?"

Big Mac said nothing, and Applejack trotted past. She would prove her case by working extra hard! She threw all she had into apple-bucking season, determined to show her trip away had been for the better.

Meanwhile, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had gathered in their treehouse. "Do you have it?" asked Sweetie Belle, grinning at Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom reached into a saddlebag and produced the heavy book, setting it down between all three of them.

Scootaloo clopped her hooves together, "Real magic! That anypony can use!"

Apple Bloom raised a hoof, "It gets better! Ah heard Twilight say she made all kindsa fancy notes about all kinds magic!" She pointed at Sweetie Belle, "Ya kin hold a note real well, right?"

Sweetie Belle shrunk a little, "I guess..."

Apple Bloom flipped the book open eagerly and nosed to the right page, "Yer voice can be magic! Ya kin be lahk a superhero or somethin'!"

Sweetie's interest was captured and she leaned forward with bright eyes.

Apple Bloom pointed at Scootaloo next, "Ya like ta move a lot. Ya kin learn what mah sister's doing. Magic and kicking flank!"

"Buck yeah!" exclaimed Scootaloo, her small wings fluttering wildly.

Apple Bloom pointed at herself with a hoof, "And Ah'll keep up with mah alchemy, except instead of just making a plant grow..." She grinned with triumph, not finishing the thought.

Without prompting, their hooves met together in a communal hoof-bump, "Cutie Mark Crusaders, Spellcasters!"

Days passed, which turned to weeks. Applejack went away on some kind of adventure with Twilight and their friends for some reason, and that suited the CMC just fine as they had all the more time to practice their magic. The first real test came when Sweetie Belle tripped going up the ladder and scraped herself on the ground. Tears turned to triumph when she managed to sing away the ouchie, and the moment of victory served to heighten their dedication.

One day Apple Bloom stood before the others, "This is our last chance!"

Scootaloo tilted her head, "Last chance for what?"

Apple Bloom pointed at the big tower castle, "Ta get Twilight's book! It has a lot more spells in it, and she's coming back tomorrow."

Sweetie Belle shrunk a little, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Scootaloo grinned, "No, it's a great idea! Put Applejack's book back and let's get the big one!"

Soon they were moving as one, dressed in all dark outfits that did little to hide them in the brightly-colored town of Ponyville. Other ponies took note of them, but said and did nothing. The CMC were just being the CMC, and that was hardly unusual. They snuck through the town with all the grace of a stampeding giraffe and soon arrived at Twilight's new home.

It turned out that Twilight is a trusting soul, and very little stood in their way, except...

"Hey guys," said Spike, waving at the foals that had failed entirely to hide from him.

Standing close to Spike was his strange new marefriend, the half-blind half-pony known as Soft Mane. She smiled at them, "Are you looking for Twilight?"

Scootaloo glanced at her conspirators, then back at Spike and Soft Mane, "Uh, no... We were just..."

Sweetie Belle suddenly spoke up, her voice squeaking adorably, "Getting a book!"

Apple Bloom nodded, "Yeah, getting a book."

Spike and Soft Mane accepted this as truth. "Plenty to choose from," said Soft Mane, gesturing inwards. "Need any help finding the right one?"

Scootaloo waved dismissively, "Nah, we know the way." All three of them smiled with faked innocence, then scurried past the guardians into the depths of the tower.

When they had rushed past, Spike looked to Soft Mane, "Sure you don't want to visit Big Mac with me? Hoofball's a fun game!"

Soft Mane held up her palm, "No, thanks. You enjoy your stallions' night out."

Spike smiled widely and marched off to hang out with Big Mac.

The Crusaders searched high and low, digging through the books in a great upheaval that would surely send Twilight into fits when she returned. There was no sign of Twilight's spellbook.

Scootaloo suddenly perked up, "Duh! It's probably in her room!"

They scurried up the crystal steps and shoved open the door to find Twilight's little sanctum from the world. Everything was in perfect order, waiting patiently for their owner's return. Sweetie Belle suggested, "We should be careful. Twilight'll get really upset if her room's messy."

Apple Bloom pointed, "No need! There it is!"

Sitting right on her bed was the book. They rushed for the tome and reached for it simultaneously only for their hooves to bounce off a suddenly-visible dome. Twilight's voice began to speak, "I assume that this is you, Spike. You don't have the training to cast that spell, and I'm disappointed you would break into my room to try anyway! Turn around and we'll talk when I get back. I'm not angry at you, just let down."

They stared with building frustration at the book that was so close, and yet barred to them. Scootaloo suddenly had an idea and grinned. "Hey, Apple Bloom. Can you kick as good as your sister?"

She shook her head, "Not as good... I've practiced ah few times. Why?"

Scootaloo pointed at the bed, "Kick the bed, this way."

Apple Bloom looked uncertain but moved into position. She gathered her will with a deep breath, then let out a high-pitched cry as she lashed out her hind legs. The bed nudged over a few feet, and the book fell out of the bubble which had no bottom. "Ta da," proclaimed Scootaloo, grinning with pride.

They claimed the book quickly, stuffed it into Sweetie Belle's saddlebag, and ran off past Soft Mane to freedom and victory outside. Soft Mane followed them out, "Did you girls knock something over? I heard a thump and screaming. Everything OK?"

Sweetie Belle smiled as she swayed back and forth, "Oh that was just me being a klutz. I might have knocked a few books over, sorry..."

Soft Mane huffed a little, but smiled. Even to the half-pony, the CMC were adorable little scamps. "Alright, I'll clean up, but next time, just ask."

All three bobbed their heads, then they were off. Soft Mane returned to the tower and poked her head into the library to discover the mess the CMC had left behind. She clopped a hoof on the ground with a grunt, making a mental note to shadow them in the future if they wanted any books. Still, there was work to be done. "Mother didn't raise a slacker," she said to herself as she got to organizing and cleaning the piles of books to a state that wouldn't send Twilight into a frenzy.

The three fillies were ignorant of the trouble they left behind, focused on rushing back to their tree house and slamming the door shut behind themselves. They set the book down with over-eager smiles. It was bigger and heavier than Applejack's by far. Apple Bloom looked to Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie gave an 'oh' and her horn glowed, carefully opening the book. They all looked on as she slowly flipped through the pages. There was just so much to choose from! Sweetie clopped her hooves excitedly, "Now we can really get started!"

Apple Bloom mused, "What if Twilight notices her book's missing?"

Scootaloo got a devious expression, "She'll blame Spike?"

Sweetie shook her head, "We should try to get it back as soon as we're done with it. I don't want Spike to be in too much trouble."

A nod was shared by the three, then they got to work.

Predictably, Twilight returned and had a fit loud enough to be heard through town, though the words were lost over the distance. The CMC worked on, intent on completing this crusade. Even while at school, their minds were full of strange arcane facts and spells, rather than whatever thing Cheerilee was speaking on. Her lessons seemed so small in comparison. Who cared about why bees liked flowers when held up against hurling fire out of your hooves or teleporting half-way across Equestria?

Over the weekend, Apple Bloom was busily mixing some plants together into a little packet. Sweetie watched her curiously, "Whatcha doing?"

Apple Bloom tilted her head, "If it works right, we kin use it to fight off Timberwolves n' stuff!" She tapped it down with a hoof, then grasped the packet in her mouth, moving to the balcony of the treehouse. "Watch this!" she said muffedly before she clenched her teeth down on the packet and then hurled it away. It exploded on hitting a tree, catching it on fire in a sudden burst of flames and heat.

Scootaloo's jaw dropped, "Uh, you can put that out, right?"

Sweetie ran in place a moment before shrieking, "Run away!" And run she did, half-sliding down the ladder before fleeing the scene with Scootaloo right behind. Apple Bloom rushed back into the tree house and grabbed the book before moving to escape, but the flames were spreading all too quickly, having already jumped over to the combustible wood of their clubhouse. Apple Bloom was trapped.

"Ahm coming!" came the bellowed voice of Applejack.

Apple Bloom tucked the book away as she shouted, "Up here! Help!" She glanced at the window a moment, considering leaping through it.

Applejack suddenly burst through the window. She grabbed Applebloom up by the scruff and threw herself right back through it, swinging down the tree with all the skill of a monkey. She set her little sister down with a loud panting, "What in tarnation's going on!?"

Big Mac was hurrying to the scene with a water wagon strapped to him. Apple Bloom looked at him, realizing by the time he got there... "Ya saved me, sis. Thank you!" She grabbed Applejack around the neck and squeezed, sobbing into her fur. Applejack didn't interrogate further, just hugging her precious little sister.

Big Mac arrived shortly afterwards and, with Applejack's help operating the pump, they soon had the fire out. The clubhouse was a total loss, but the fire didn't spread to the rest of the orchard at least.

Author's Notes:

Welcome to the newest installment of Ponyfinder/MLP hijinks! I think this is a much stronger starting chapter compared to what we had to work with last time, but let me know what you think.

Eager little CMC are known for leaving typos everywhere for other ponies to clean up...

2 - CMC Regroup!

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo returned to find Applejack hugging Apple Bloom. They shared a glance before sitting down patiently. The embrace did not last too much longer. Applejack ran her hoof through Apple Bloom's hair, "Alright, everything's gonna be alright. Now, what happened?"

Apple Bloom glanced around, looking uncertain, "Well... Ah..."

Applejack let out a slow breath, "Just this once, free pass. Tell me true, Apple Bloom. Ah promise to not be angry."

The rest of the CMC advanced together, joining Apple Bloom. Apple looked happy for the company, or at least relieved. She nodded hesitantly, "Well, OK... Y'see, we kinda borrowed a book..."

Applejack raised a brow high, "What kinda book are we talkin'?"

Apple Bloom reached into her saddlebag and drew out Twilight's book. As it entered sight, Applejack gasped loudly, "Ya didn't!"

Apple Bloom cringed, dropping the book to the ground, "Ya promised!"

Sweetie Belle bobbed her head, "You promised to not be angry."

Scootaloo joined in nodding, "I definitely heard that."

Applejack lowered her hat over her eyes a moment before she pointed at the book, "Twilight's been madder than a beehive in a clothes dryer about this thing. What were ya doing with it, besides setting fires?"

Scootaloo rose up to her hooves and spoke words that were familiar to Applejack. A floating sphere of almost invisible force began to circle her. Applejack's eyes widened, "Ya... learned that on yer own? Land's sake girl! On one hoof ah should be fuming, on tha other, that's just amazin'!"

Emboldened by Scootaloo's confession, Apple Bloom pulled out a few potions, "Ah made these mahself. Watch." She worked off the cork of one in her teeth and spit it aside before chugging down its contents. Applejack watched on curiously as Apple Bloom hopped up to her hooves and dashed off at an incredible rate, even though she looked like she was just walking. She did a wide circle around the group before coming back to where she started.

All eyes settled on Sweetie Belle. "What?" she asked, "Oh! Uh..." She rose up on her hind legs and spread out her forehooves. Sweet words began to emerge from her as she sang, and the world responded with several balls of light that orbited her a moment before one darted over the head of each of the others.

Applejack shook her head, "Ya... did good, in a kinda bad way..." She took the time to pat the head of each of the three, "Ah'm right proud ya came so far fer how little time ya had, but it's never right to steal from somepony. Twilight's plum beside herself. That book is a lot of her work and I didn't raise no thieves." She gave Apple Bloom a hard look.

Apple Bloom nodded slowly, "Yer right... We shoulda asked, but she woulda said no!"

Applejack crossed her forelegs, "And that makes it right?"

The CMC shook their head in unison. "No," they all said, looking downcast.

Scootaloo suddenly perked up, "Cutie mark check!"

The fillies quickly peeked at their own rumps, which were as blank as the day had began.

Applejack snorted softly, "Yer talent isn't book stealing, thank goodness. C'mon. Ah'll try to smooth things over with Twi if y'all promise not to do it again."

That deal seemed to agree with them, and soon the four were walking towards the town of Ponyville. Sweetie moved closer to Applejack as she pointed out, "Since we're being honest... we kinda borrowed your book first."

Applejack took a slow breath, visibly restraining the first urge to berate. "Thank you, Sweetie Belle, for being honest. Please leave my book alone in tha future. It wasn't easy ta write and I'm a mite protective of it."

Scootaloo raised a hoof, "What if I ask real nicely? We're sisters now! Sorta... We're the only two ponies learning our kind of magic."

Applejack raised a brow at Scootaloo, "Whattaya mean by that?"

Apple Bloom pointed at Scootaloo, "She took after ya, big sis. She's learning how to be a magus! Ahm an alchemist, like Twilight was starting to show me, and Sweetie's a singer, with magic!"

Applejack hesitated, slowing to a stop. "Scootaloo."

Scootaloo tilted her head at Applejack, settling on her haunches as she asked, "What?"

Applejack took a slow breath, "Tha art ah learned is mainly for fightin'. Ah've learned how to use it for some peaceful things, sure, but that's not what it was made for. Do ya want to fight?"

Scootaloo squirmed a little, "Not... really? But I can use it for good stuff, like you! Nothing bad about protecting yourself, or other ponies!" She flashed a brilliant white smile, "And I'm a pegasus with magic! How cool is that?!"

Applejack smiled thinly, "Yeah... That was a good feeling. Take that, snooty unicorns."

Sweetie pouted. Applejack immediately looked guilty, "No offense or nuthin', Sweetie. Yer a darling. Ah meant other, snootier, unicorns." The pout continued. Applejack threw her hat on the ground in frustration, "Ahm sorry! That was a mean thing to say."

Sweetie's pout turned into a dazzling smile, "You're excused."

Applejack let out a slow breath as she regained her hat, "Alrighty, so, Sweetie Belle. You sing magic? That's kinda lahk how Pinkie was doing it, back in Everglow."

Sweetie blinked and tilted her head. "I have something in common with Pinkie Pie!?" she squeaked out.

Applejack chuckled, "Yep. That magic ah feel better about. It seems a lot... nicer. Like you, Sweetie."

Sweetie blushed softly at the praise, tail swishing back and forth, "Aw, thanks AJ!"

Apple Bloom raised a hoof, "What about mah magic?!"

Applejack shook her head, "Can't say ah ever saw quite the like, but it reminds me something awful of Zecora. What else kin ya do?"

Apple Bloom shrunk, "Uh, well..."

Applejack frowned a little, "Offer's still good, out with it."

The other CMC looked to Apple Bloom but said nothing. Apple Bloom squirmed a moment before she confessed, "Ah can make explosions real good... Ah kinda started that fire." She hung her head low and shamefully.

Applejack sucked in breath through her teeth, "Well... ya kinda punished yerself there, kiddo. Ah know how much y'all loved that clubhouse."

All three sagged in place at the reminder that their beloved clubhouse was destroyed. Applejack felt her heart wrench at the sight of them, "Look, we'll get this straightened with Twilight, then we'll see about maybe making a new clubhouse."

With renewed spirits, they resumed their trek through town, arriving at the towering home of Twilight Sparkle, looming as it was over the rest of the city. "Still not used ta that," said Applejack as she entered with the others following behind. "Twi? Ya in here?"

Soft Mane was there, reading a book in the entry foyer. She looked up at Applejack and smiled, then noticed the three fillies behind her and it became a frown. "You're not here to make another mess, are you?"

"Nope." "Nuh-uh." "Promise!" were the replies of the three, wearing innocent smiles.

Applejack chuckled nervously, "Hey there. Don't suppose ya know where Twilight is?"

Soft Mane shook her head, "Can't say for sure, but I heard her steps upstairs. Third or fourth floor. She sounded like she was researching something."

Applejack tipped her hat at Soft Mane, "Thanks kindly!" And off they went, proceeding up the stairs. As they scaled them, they noticed a cordoned off pattern on the floor. With their enhanced learning of things magic, it seemed obvious that it was a spell of some kind. A small sign was posted in front of the velvet rope. Even Applejack felt curious, and soon all four had diverted to peek at the sign.

'Official monument. Do not touch. In memory of Equestria's new age, and what might have been its last. -- Twilight Sparkle,' it read.

Sweetie tilted her head, then ducked easily under the rope, looking around. The other two joined her shortly, inspecting the odd symbol. "Ah don't get it," said Apple Bloom, "What's so special about it?!"

Applejack clenched her teeth, "Alright, y'all, get offa that thing before it... does... something."

Sweetie backed up and drove a splinter, that had gotten lodged in the wall of her hoof when she had haphazardly slid down the wooden steps to safety, inwards. After all the walking it finally penetrated and pricked the sensitive flesh beyond. She gave a sudden yelp of pain, collapsing on the spot. The drop of blood was enough to rouse the portal. Apple Bloom was standing far too close to the center, and was swallowed up with barely a blink. The portal swirled and eddied dangerously. The blood had been enough, but not sufficient to keep it steady for long. Scootaloo rushed after Apple Bloom without much forethought, hoof extended as if she could catch the vanished Apple. She too vanished.

Applejack stomped her hooves and looked around in a frantic motion. She could hear Twilight coming down the steps, but the portal was already closing. Sweetie Belle suddenly lifted from the ground, sucked in with a loud squeal. The portal began to wobble and shake, looking like it was about to collapse. Seeing no other possibility, and fearing how long it may take Twilight to figure it out, Applejack charged in, knocking aside one of the posts and dragging it along with her as they all tumbled into Everglow.

They arrived abruptly on sandy ground that did little to cushion the fall as they had appeared several feet up, with Applejack landing on the fillies with the velvet rope and posts coming behind her.

Apple Bloom, at the bottom of the heap, gave a soft, "Ow..."

Applejack hoisted herself up and off, and soon they were seated in a rough circle. All four heads craned around, taking in the desert they were in. The heat was intense, easily penetrating their fur and making them uncomfortable.

Applejack buried her face in a hoof, "Ah don't even have mah book!"

Apple Bloom nudged Twilight's book forward, "We got a better one."

Applejack sighed softly, "That's... not better. That means Twilight will be working from scratch while trying t'find us." She rose up and looked around again, seeing little but scrub plants and dunes. She stomped a hoof in the sand. "OK... keep it together girl..." she said to herself, mumbling, "First step, find a town. Then ah guard the girls, and then Twilight finds us."

Sweetie Belle pointed off into the distance, "I think I see something that way!" The CMC were soon on their hooves and moving as one towards the top of a dune. Applejack quickly grabbed the abandoned book and tucked it away before rushing after them.

"Y'all can't just... do that. No running away!" said an irate Applejack, "If this here world is the one ah think it is, it's mighty dangerous! As the responsible adult, ya stay by me at all times, got it?"

A new male voice spoke, "Good advice. A shame you didn't hear it earlier." Sand parted in several mounds as the group became aware it was surrounded by cloaked individuals. Their faces were visible and looked a bit odd, at least where their bandannas didn't conceal their mouths. They were furry, but not pony furred. It was odd to place. Some of them held long curved blades, and two of them had crossbows. They clearly had fingers rather than hooves, covered in gloves. Lashing against their cloaks were long, thin, and furry tails. "Put your hooves in the air. We're taking your gold. Make it pleasant and we'll leave your water behind. Don't, and we'll let the desert claim you."

Author's Notes:

Welcome to Everglow! The typos grow extra large in the elemental energies.

3 - Cutie Mark Crusaders Anti-Ambushers!

Scootaloo suddenly buzzed her small wings and said a few funny words. A bolt sailed towards her, only to get lost in thick fog that exploded outwards from her in all directions. The bandits advanced on the fog, drawing out their swords and abandoning crossbows on the way for those who needed to. They cut through the fog ineffectively, but the wind did slowly carry it away, revealing nothing but an empty dune top.

"Sun King take them all!" cursed the leader, "Come on, we've wasted enough time on this trap. We can get better marks to the west."

The group grumbled softly, but were soon gone, following the leader away.

The sand displaced as Applejack rose up from the sand, shaking it free of her fur. Apple Bloom and Sweetie were next. Sweetie looked at the other two, "Where's Scootaloo?"

Applejack looked immediately worried and began digging around, finding and recovering a barely-conscious Scootaloo from the sand. A bolt had penetrated her deeply in the ribs, and her breathing sounded funny. "No! No no no no," said Applejack as she started to panic, "Why did ya have to go fight them?!"

Sweetie rushed up and grabbed the bolt in her mouth, pulling it free. Scootaloo spasmed, curling on herself before going limp in Applejack's forelegs. Applejack's eyes went wider, "Sweetie Belle! Ya done... killed yer friend!"

Sweetie shook her head quickly before she drew a deep breath. She let out a sweet little note that seemed to shake through Applejack's tattered nerves. Sweetie reached out and touched the wound as she sung about it being time to wake up. Scootaloo jerked awake, blinking. "Wha?"

Apple Bloom smiled brightly at Scootaloo, "Ya saved us! That was quick thinking!"

Applejack set Scootaloo down, who was on her hooves, a little wobbly but intact. "This is too much fer me. Please, I'm begging all of ya, please stay with me. Please don't run away. Please don't go casting spells like that! Ah want ya all to get home safe and intact..."

Sweetie smiled in her charming way, "We're here together, Applejack. We have to protect each other, not just you on us."

Apple Bloom bobbed her head, "Yeah! 'Sides, ah reckon our tricks might come in handy."

Scootaloo was the last to join the chorus, "They woulda done a lot meaner things if I didn't do that. They didn't look like they'd just take your bits and walk off."

Applejack sagged in place, "Maybe yer right, but Ah'm still gonna tan yer hides when we get home, after we have the biggest dang party ever." She took a slow breath and began to turn, surveying the land for signs of civilization. "There," she pointed, "Looks like a city or somethin'."

They began to walk through the blazing sands, keeping that glint of a city in sight the whole way. Applejack stopped suddenly, "This is taking too long. Everyone up." She pointed at her back. The Crusaders were swift to clamber up onto Applejack's back, not looking the gift in the mouth.

Applejack took a firm stance and a deep breath before she spoke the words of magic carefully. She expanded out from underneath the crusaders, making their weight practically negligible. Another, more complex, spell sent a strange power through her legs. She took off with a new speed, alien muscles working to propel her across the sand fast enough to feel a mild breeze with her effort.

The Crusaders were delighted at the performance, clapping their hooves excitedly. "Yer gettin' better at this, sis!" exclaimed Apple Bloom with a huge grin.

Sweetie fanned herself with a hoof, "Can you go just a little bit faster? That breeze is just divine."

Scootaloo said nothing, instead thrumming her wings as they went. It was only then that Scootaloo noticed something. "Hey, girls, you both look a bit different."

They looked down at themselves, then at Scootaloo, and their mighty steed known as Applejack. It was true, each had altered in subtle ways to match the form of an Everglow pony, which was much more like a small horse than that of the round and friendly features of an Equestrian pony. Following an old habit whenever something new happened, they checked their flanks to find they were still bare. "Nuts," said Apple Bloom.

Applejack suddenly pulled up short as the sand before her exploded in activity. A giant carapaced scorpion dug free and lashed out at her with a long stinger. Applejack yelped in pain as it bit into her and she came down with both hooves, knocking it away with her enhanced strength.

Sweetie Belle suddenly looked like she was screaming, but no sound emerged. The scorpion writhed in clear agony despite the silence.

Apple Bloom poked her snout into her pouch and came out with another bundle of half-prepared explosives. Without waiting she clamped her teeth down on it and gave it a good throw. It sailed just past the scorpion and exploded behind it, engulfing it in a brief wash of hot flames.

It was too much for the critter, and it flopped over limply from all the abuse.

Applejack smiled with some pride, "Woo-eee, y'all did real good up there." She then staggered, feeling the poison sapping her strength away, "We'd best mosey on while we can... Not sure how long ah can hold y'all." She pressed on against the weakening feeling, talking largely to herself, "Ah don't know what else t'do.."

Apple Bloom softly nudged Applejack's head, "Can ya make one of them fancy things that float? I saw ya do it once."

Applejack nodded as she walked, "Sure can. How's that help?"

Apple Bloom gestured at the others and soon they had hopped clear into the sand. "Go on," she urged. "We'll take it from here."

Confused, but also dizzy with dehydration, poison, and fatigue, Applejack did as was asked and called up the floating disk. Apple Bloom pointed on it, "Lay down."

Soon the Crusaders were marching along with a sleeping Applejack floating behind them. Sweetie asked quietly, "Do you think we'll be alright? Applejack looks pretty bad."

Scootaloo bobbed her head, "We'll be fine as long as we have each other. Applejack just needs to sleep it all off."

Apple Bloom pouted a bit, though she kept walking, "If'n we don't get water soon, we'll all be sleeping it off, forever-like."

The somber thought brought silence to the group. Mercifully, the sun was beginning to set, and the heat faded away, but then began to sink into the opposite extreme. What was once baked rapidly became chilly. There was a muffled thump as Applejack landed in the sand, her spell expiring.

Scootaloo sighed, "Well, guess we stop here tonight."

Sweetie pointed at Scootaloo, "You're the same kinda wizard as Applejack, do you know the get-really-big spell too?"

Scootaloo nodded hesitantly, "Yeah? Oh!" She said the words and expanded quickly to full-grown size and brimming with borrowed strength. She grabbed Applejack and they were soon able to proceed, though it was clear Applejack was still heavy to Scootaloo, large or not.

The moon hung heavy in the sky, still rising. Apple Bloom looked up at the strange thing, similar and yet very different. "Ta think there's no Luna controllin' that one."

Sweetie blinked owlishly, "And no Celestia lowered the sun!"

Scootaloo nodded between huffs of breath, "We're a far way away from home."

Apple Bloom smiled, "Could be worse. We got each otha." They paused just long enough to clop all their hooves together.

The sound apparently drew attention, as a male voice called out, "Who goes there?"

The three exchanged a quick look before Sweetie Belle spoke up, "We're really thirsty and hungry, can you help please?"

There was silence for a time, then a figure emerged over the next dune. They were dressed like the bandits, but had clear pageantry of some kind on their chest. Their wings were exposed, which they used to coast down the dune towards them. "You're a rough looking lot," said the male purrsian. "I'm Amethyst Crooked-Tail, city patrol. Were you aimed at Murrage, or as lost as you look?"

Sweetie began introductions, "Hello! I'm Sweetie Belle, and this is Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and the sleeping one's Applejack." Scootaloo suddenly shrank, becoming her normal size and sinking into the sand beneath Applejack with barely a squeak of protest.

Amethyst advanced, proving strong enough to rescue Scootaloo from beneath Applejack, "You're nothing but children! What happened to your caretaker?" He pointed a finger at Applejack.

Scootaloo shook herself out as she regained her hooves, "She got stung by a big nasty scorpion."

Apple Bloom added, "And we've been walking all day without any water. Please tell me ya got some?"

Amethyst frowned, "All day? Only a mad..." He trailed off, looking over the tired and weathered-looking group. He unhooked a canteen and poured some water out into the cap, "Drink the cap, no more. Everyone gets a turn." The small portion of water felt maddening, but Amethyst let them have second rounds after the first was finished. He offered a cap to Applejack, gently feeding it to her despite her sleepy state. "Alright, let's get you all into town. Rescue service is ten gold."

Apple Bloom tilted her head, then dug into her pouch, producing the two bits she had. Scootaloo produced one, and Sweetie Belle three, "Rarity wanted me to pick up some carrots on the way home."

Amethyst gathered up the bits, squinting at them, "Strange currency, but the right weight. I'm sure I'll find a collector. I'll take it." He fell to all fours, walking as easily as he had on two as he led them towards the city. After a few dunes, it came into clear view, and was huge!

Apple Bloom whistled sharply, "It's bigger'n Canterlot!"

Amethyst smiled, "Welcome to the Jewel of the Desert, Murrage. Home of the purrsians, sole survivor of the great demon Apep, and your oasis away from the cruelties of the desert sands." He descended the dune, heading for a road with his charges. Soon they arrived at a small building. "This is where we part. It is a small inn for guardsman and those we rescue. Your rescue fee gets you one night here. After that, you're on your own."

The inside had strong and foreign scents. Sweetie volunteered, "Smells like those fancy things my sister sometimes lights."

Amethyst cocked a brow, "Do you speak of the incense? No matter, let's get your mother to bed." Amethyst carried Applejack the rest of the way and set her own on a soft mattress before turning to leave, "I trust you are satisfied with your rescue?"

Scootaloo bobbed her head, "Yeah, you were great, thanks! See you later, Amethyst."

Amethyst nodded and made himself scarce, vanishing into the darkness to resume his patrol and leaving the Crusaders behind. Apple Bloom closed the door to the small room and joined the other girls gathered around the sleeping Applejack. "Ah hope she wakes up in the morning. Ah don't know what to do without her."

Sweetie raised a hoof, "Me too."

Scootaloo raised one of her own, "Me three. Let's get some sleep ourselves."

Author's Notes:

Sweet sweet civilization!

Typos lurk beneath the sands, waiting for unwary travelers to ambush!

4 - A New Day

When the group awoke almost as one, they peeked at the still-sleeping Applejack. Sweetie smiled, "She looks comfortable."

Scootaloo nodded, "Well, that's good, but we're still stranded in a strange city and all."

Apple Bloom moved beside her sister and plopped down, "Why don't y'all check if there's food t'get?"

Sweetie hopped to her hooves, "I got it!" And she dashed off into the main room. She saw there were two cats seated at a table, playing some card game or another. "Hey misters! Excuse me, where can we get food?"

One of them, a female, looked down at her, "Good morning, little pony. The cook could get something, but the prices here are ridiculous."

A shout came from where Sweetie guessed was the kitchen, "You're not complaining when you're stuffing your face!"

Sweetie smiled nervously, "What if we don't have any money?"

The male playing cards with the female snorted, "Then you get money, or you starve. At least you get two options." He put down a card, producing a sour look from his game partner.

Sweetie took a slow breath before putting on the most pitiful expression she could muster. "How do we get money?" she asked in a meek tone.

The male looked down at her and her beseeching expression, "You would fetch a decent price, I imagine."

The female kicked the male under the table with a scowl. "She is too young to suggest that casually!" she hissed before looking down at Sweetie Belle herself, "What are you good at doing? Share it, for a price."

Sweetie tapped her chin thoughtfully a moment before she suggested, "I've been practicing how to sing. If I sing a nice song for you two will you get me and my friends some breakfast?"

The male hid a chuckle poorly, "Are you sure selling her wouldn't be the best way?"

His actions only seemed to stir up the protective urges of the female, whose claws extended against the table, gripping against the wood with a low scraping noise. "Little one, sing us your best. If I like it, I will part with a few coins."

Sweetie Belle looked between the two a moment before deciding to give it her all. She reared up onto her hind legs and took a soft breath before she began to sing her song. She sang a song of springtime in Ponyville, of all the smiling faces and the start of a new year. She sang of green plants, fresh baked goods, and friends waiting to play in the good weather. It was a simple song, but had a pleasing beat and her voice carried it well. She noticed her voice seemed to be more stable in this world, doing as she asked of it without squeaking, at least in song.

The female clapped her paws together when it was completed, "She clearly has talent, does she not?"

The male snorted, "She can carry a note well enough. Does she expect to be paid for that?"

The female frowned, "Yes, yes she does. She earned it." She fished out a golden coin and held it out to Sweetie, "Enough for one day's meal for three people, or ten if you go cheap."

Sweetie advanced to accept the coin, "Thanks, miss!"

The female nodded to Sweetie, then looked across at the male. With a sudden sly grin she shrugged, "It looks like Longwhisker's gone poor. He can't even afford to pay for his entertainment."

Longwhisker thumped the table, "Who's poor? Not I! I have plenty of coin."

The female shrugged, "You say that, but I don't see any of it. A cat who speaks of coin but never uses it may as well be poor."

Longwhisker scowled at her, then reached into a pouch and shoved a silvery coin into Sweetie's reach, "Here!"

The female whistled softly, "I take it back. You are clearly a wealthy and generous soul."

Longwhisker nodded, "And don't you forget it."

Sweetie tilted her head, peering at the silver coin, though it looked off and little too grey to be silver. "Excuse me, miss, how much is this one worth?"

The she-cat looked down at Sweetie and the coin, "That one, my dear, is platinum, worth ten of the gold one. The Sun King has smiled on you today."

Sweetie grinned widely as she grabbed both coins in her magic, "Thanks!" She scurried off back to the room with her haul, displaying the coins proudly to the other girls, "Look look! Enough for... uh..." She looked to Apple Bloom, "You're good at math. If this one," she displayed the gold coin, "Is worth three ponies' worth of food, and this one," she displayed the platinum one, "Is worth ten times as much, how many days of food do we have?"

Apple Bloom frowned, "Less than ya think. We have ta pay fer a room too, remember? Still, good job!"

Scootaloo bobbed her head, "I heard your singing from here! It was amazing! Have you been practicing that much?"

Sweetie Belle flushed darkly, "Sorta... You can't use song magic without being good at songs."

Scootaloo pointed at where she had been struck with a bolt the day before, "Can you do that trick again? It's still sore."

Sweetie had no reservation with helping Scootaloo and soon pressed a healing hoof against the hurt, banishing it with the song magic. "You were very brave," said Sweetie. "When I gave the hoofsign for duck and cover, I was worried you might not do it. I... would have been scared."

Scootaloo bobbed her head as she flopped back onto her haunches, "I was scared! But I couldn't let you all get hurt."

Apple Bloom smiled, "Well, let's enjoy what we got while we got it! 'Sides, we need to feed and water Applejack until she wakes up."

Scootaloo tilted her head, "How do you feed a sleeping pony?"

Sweetie raised a hoof, "Very carefully?"

All three sighed before Apple Bloom spoke up, "At least water. We're all thirsty. Scootaloo, yer turn, go see if there's a well or somethin'."

Scootaloo gave a sharp salute before flapping her wings. They felt... funny. They didn't want to buzz quite as quickly as she had been doing the day before, and grabbed a lot more air by her estimation. She rose up to all fours and hunkered in place, flapping her wings as hard as she could.

"Scootaloo!" squeaked out Sweetie Belle, eyes wide as she looked up at Scoots, who had gained half a foot of altitude and was holding it in a dangerous wobble.

The surprise of the exclamation ruined the moment, and Scootaloo flopped to the ground gracelessly. Despite that, a goofy grin was spread on her small snout. "My wings! They work!"

Her friends gathered around her with congratulations and hugs as Scootaloo began to cry on the spot, overwhelmed by the idea that her disability might have been banished. When they saw her emotions, the comforting intensified, and they spend some time just being together, thoughts of food or water forgotten.

When she recovered, Scootaloo wiped her face clean with a fetlock, "I still don't know how to fly, but I feel like I can!"

Sweetie reached up to poke at her horn, "I have to practice my horn magic all the time. Now it's your turn! We'll be there for you."

Apple Bloom bobbed her head, "You'll be flying like Rainbow Dash in no time atall!"

Morale boosted and feeling energized, Scootaloo left the room on her quest. She spotted the same two purrsians playing cards and wandered towards them "Excuse me, where do ponies get water?"

Longwhisker raised a brow, "More little ponies? If you're looking for free, which I assume you are, there's a fountain two blocks that way." He hiked a thumb, "Now stop bothering us. Our shift starts soon and I plan to win this game."

The female cautioned, "Bring your own jar. The ones others leave behind are often... undesirable."

Scootaloo had no jars, but she did have an idea. She rushed back to the room and looked to Apple Bloom, "Give me the biggest thing you have to hold water."

Apple Bloom blinked before she produced a large beaker from her saddlebag. It still wasn't that large, relatively speaking to a jug. Scootaloo took it anyway, and quickly fled the building. She flapped her wings as she ran, getting giddy every time her hooves left the ground for a moment. She ducked and wove around the building morning crowd. There were a lot of cat people in the way, with about half of them on all fours and the other half on two. They had wings too, except where clothing covered them up.

Scootaloo found the square with the fountain. It was quite busy, with cats all over, eating, shouting, doing business, getting water, and all kinds of things. Scootaloo pressed through it all, trying to duck under where possible to make her way steadily to her goal. Just as she reached the fountainside, a strong hand grabbed her at the back of the neck and lifted her up.

"You don't look like a native," spoke a deep female rumble. "Visitors have to buy a water pass."

Scootaloo dropped her vial. It thankfully landed on a little sand and didn't break. "Uh, hi," she said as she saw the large female cat holding her up. "How... much is that? Where do I get it? My friends really need water."

"One silver gets you a week pass," said the female without much compassion. "If you have that, I'll take you to the water office now."

Scootaloo pointed back in the direction she came, "My friends have all my money."

The cat frowned, "A copperless beggar in our streets? And she admits it without shame?" She shook Scootaloo a bit, "Your parents have taught you nothing!"

Scootaloo suddenly began to struggle, wings flapping wildly as she wriggled around. The cat released her and she took off running. Scared and confused, she returned to the others with nothing to show for it, not even the vial she had started with.

"Is that a silver?" asked Apple Bloom, pointing at the grey-silver coin they had.

Sweetie shook her head, "She said that one was 'plat eye numb?' or something. I think I heard Rarity using that before... Oh yeah! Princess Platinum!"

Scootaloo scuffed the ground with a hoof, "Well we still don't have a drink! Or a silver. All we got is this bit." She nudged the gold coin, then the grey-silver one, "And this platinum."

A sudden soft groan caught all their attentions and their heads snapped to the bed. Applejack slowly sat up, a hoof to her temple, "Who hit me with a train?" she grumbled, eyes scrunched closed.

The Crusaders rushed to the bedside with broad grins and hopeful expressions. If anypony could figure out a way to defuse the situation, surely Applejack could come through for them and save the day.

Author's Notes:

The Crusaders meet a small portion of Murrage. Some of it is kind, much of it is not. Quite a different reception than Twilight got on her first visit to Everglow.

5 - Looking up to big Sister

The three fillies looked at Applejack hopefully as she pulled herself together. Applejack's eyes wandered over the room, noticing the two coins laying on the floor, "What all have y'all been up to?"

Apple Bloom pointed at Sweetie Belle, "Sweetie did a nice song for eleven bits of coins."

Scootaloo flapped her wings, lifting from the ground briefly, "My wings work!"

Applejack smiled lightly, "Alright, good. Uh, congratulations..." Applejack slipped from the bed and stretched out slowly, "Ah'm still feeling a mite weak and dizzy, but I'm awake. Let's take stock ah things." She set her own saddlebag down and began to nose through it, finding a pouch of bits and setting it down. "Now... if I recall proper, ponies around here don't take kindly to nudity. If we want ta be respectable like, we'll want ta get some new duds."

Apple Bloom moved to tug open the pouch with her teeth and started counting quickly. "Thirty," she announced shortly.

Applejack nodded, "Bits ain't tha same as the coins they use 'round here, we should exchange them. Can ah trouble ya girls ta carry mah stuff?"

The three quickly gathered up bits of Applejack's belongings, leaving Applejack to reclaim an emptied saddlebag and put it into place. "First thing, I'm thirsty as a fish outta water. Let's go." She led the way out to the front. The original two purrsians had since left. Applejack approached the bar directly and tapped a hoof on it, "Excuse me?"

A voice shouted from the back, "Keep your pants on!"

Applejack sighed, glancing back at her lack of pants, but waited anyway.

What emerged wasn't a cat as they had all expected. Instead it was a pony, sort of. They were comprised entirely of gears and metal, clicking as they moved. "What can I do you for?" asked the masculine voice of the machine-pony. Seeing the shocked and confused expression of Applejack and her small charges, he sighed. "First time seeing a clockwork or something? It's not polite to stare."

Scootaloo pointed directly at him, "You're a machine!"

He nodded, "Alright, you're not completely blind. So are you here to order?"

Applejack cleared her throat, "Right, sorry 'bout that. Didn't mean nothing. So... what do you have to drink?"

He let out a raspy sort of sigh, "Cactus juice is a local favorite, got a few dwarven liquors in stock, and two kinds of tea, green and white. If you order food, you get a glass of water included. Here." He ducked his head down and came back up with a flat sheet of wood with a menu written out on it. "I don't normally give a hoot, but I can't help but notice the lot of you are naked as the sky. You get robbed something fierce, or are you some kind of performing troupe?"

Scootaloo tilted her head, "We're usually like this. Why?"

Applejack put a hoof out in front of Scootaloo, clearing her throat, "We were mugged on the way to th' city. Know a good place to exchange coins, then to pick up some new duds?"

The clockwork's expression flattened a little, "Do you have coin to get food with?"

Sweetie proudly produced the gold piece and floated it up to the countertop.

With a quick motion, the coin vanished, "You're all good with me. I'll even throw in a bulk discount, so you're good for today, three meals each."

Applejack smiled, "Right kind ah you." She tapped the menu, "Get us all some 'home style' taters and eggs, and make that glass of water extra large if'n ya please." Applejack then lead the way to a table. She sat on the ground, while the three fillies hopped up onto the chairs surrounding the table so they were closer to the eating surface. The table was much higher off the ground than Equestrian standard architecture.

The water arrived first, a clay mug filled with the precious fluid set before each of them. All four quickly drained their mug, letting out a communal sigh of relief. The bartender, still standing there, pointed out, "Clothes are as much for keeping the heat off of you as they are for looking pretty."

Apple Bloom looked baffled at the idea, "Ah thought clothes made ya warmer, not colder."

The mechanical pony smirked, "I had a feeling you weren't locals. Trust me, it works. I'll be back with breakfast." He wandered off into the back.

Applejack sighed, "This'll get us out of being stared out as bad as that tin pony in the back, but we're still in a bad spot, girls."

Sweetie raised a hoof, "I can sing more!"

Applejack smiled gently, "That ya can. I'd feel like a right heel relying on a fillie t' raise all mah money fer me. Let's do what we can first. Once we figure out how much money we actually have and got some right clothes, we'll figure it out, right?"

Scootaloo stuck out her tongue at Applejack, "We're not just fillies! We got you here nice and safe."

Applejack looked at Scootaloo flatly, "Yer right, y'all did get me here." She huffed, "We gotta get home. Everglow's not a safe place."

Apple Bloom tilted her head, "This is where tha magic came from, right?"

Applejack nodded, "Twilight learned it all, at great personal price. She literally died and came back ta get it all. I don't want you girls taking after that." She held up a hoof and pointed at each of them in turn, "I want allaya to play it safe. We are not here to sightsee or prove anything, just be safe." She shrank a little after saying that, "Ah wish she was here..."

Sweetie smiled brightly, "Don't be sad, Applejack. We'll help, promise."

Scootaloo bobbled her head, "I know you just see fillies when you look at us, but we're here for you, AJ. We're all we got, so, uh... what I'm trying to say..."

Apple Bloom extended a hoof at Applejack, "Sis, ah formally invite ya to be an honorary Crusader."

Applejack looked at the small hoof a moment before a smile broke free of her. She bumped her hoof against Bloom's, and soon the other two had joined in. "Alrighty then."

It was just in time for platters of food to arrive, set before them with delectable aromas. Talk paused to devour the food set before them, filling bellies eager to have it. The entire group looked a bit happier with that particular edge worked off.

Applejack pushed to her hooves, "Alright! Ah'm feeling a bit better. Let's get ta work." The fillies quickly got to their hooves. Apple Bloom approached Applejack, looking up at her with a silent question.

AJ shook her head, "Ah'm still a little under the weather."

Bloom pouted a little, but let the matter drop. Soon they were outside in the building morning heat. Following the clockwork's direction, they pushed their way through the crowd with Applejack forming the front of the displacement wave that the others followed in. They found a small building with a sign, 'Tasha Emerald's Fine Jewelry and Coin Exchange'. Applejack nudged the door open and slipped inside.

It smelled dusty, and was quite small. It was barely half a room with a purrsian seated behind a counter. There was no jewelry or coins in sight. Sweetie blinked as she looked around, "Are we in the right place?"

The male feline smiled in that way only felines can, "If you're here for an exchange, yes. If you are penniless beggars here to plead, or desperate robbers, no."

Applejack shook her head, "We're here ta trade, uh, but where's allayer stuff?"

He waved a paw lightly, "I learned long ago that the convenience of easily-viewed merchandise does not compare with the hassle of thieves and brigands. You have entered my store, you clearly want what I have. What do you have?"

Apple Bloom scurried up to the counter and set down the bag of bits in front of him. "Here ya are!"

He pulled open the bag with deft fingers and spilled out the Equestrian bits. He held one up a moment, then produced a scale and weighed it with a soft 'hmm'. He then bit into it roughly, worrying his teeth into it. "Not pure gold, mild artistic value. Did you make this yourselves?"

Applejack shook her head, "No sir. Right proper currency where we're from."

He shrugged then, "That must be a long way away. I have never seen this coin before." He smiled, "Good for you. Rarity can be its own value. Shame it isn't pure gold, but I suppose that would be a poor choice for currency." He flipped one of the coins before setting it back down on the pile, quickly sorting it out into sets of ten. "Fifty. Very well, fourty proper gold for the lot."

Scootaloo quickly started to agree when Sweetie shoved a hoof against her mouth, silencing her. Sweetie smiled up at the feline, "Surely you could offer a little more than that? I didn't think we were walking into an establishment owned by a poor pony."

He scowled and bristled instantly, "I am no pauper!"

Applejack got nervous at the prompted reaction, "Uh, she did--"

He slapped the top of the counter, "You'll get fourty-five coin and be thankful for it!"

Sweetie leaned forward, gazing at the larger feline with a measured look, her eyes half-lidded, "Fourty-five? For such exotic treasures? Get our coins, Applejack, we shouldn't be seen dealing with the destitute."

"Fine!" shouted the storekeeper, "I'll match it even. Fifty gold coins. You'll not find a better price in the city, I promise it." He crossed his forelegs over his chest. "For such a small pony, you haggle like a pirate."

Sweetie nodded, "A pleasure doing business!" Her sweet tones only brought an angry grunt as the shopkeep produced a small sack and counted out fifty gold coins to place in it. He tied off the top of it and thrust it towards Applejack violently without a word.

Applejack numbly collected the sack of gold coins the storekeeper offered and led the girls outside. Once they were in a relatively quiet place, she turned on Sweetie Belle, "What was all of that?!"

Sweetie grinned triumphantly, "Just some things I picked up this morning when I did my singing, and watching my sister haggle with ponies back home." Apple Bloom and Scootaloo quickly offered hooves and bumps were shared around.

"That was great!" exclaimed Scootaloo, "Now we have enough money to get by."

Apple Bloom bobbed her head, "If we want ta stay at tha same place, we're good fer about five days wit' food." She frowned, "Oh, but we gotta get clothes..."

Applejack blinked, "That place was ten a night? Ah reckon we can do a fair bit cheaper than that. But, first, let's get those duds. Ah feel like ah'm being stared at."

Author's Notes:

Food is had, Sweetie gets to show off her mad diplomacy skills, and Applejack is doing her best to lead the group to safety.

But can Applejack steer clear of typos?

6 - Interruption

As they wove through the streets, the crowd began to thin. The heat of the day was intensifying by the moment, and it seemed the cats had no interest in enduring it. With some breathing space, Scootaloo smiled, "This is almost better."

Applejack nodded lightly, "In some ways, sure. Just st--"

A purrsian stepped out in front of Applejack, wearing an almost stifling amount of clothing by the look of it. Dark robes concealed most of its form, and even its tail was wrapped up from sight. "What a pleasant day for a walk," she said, "I know just the place you should do so..."

Apple Bloom tilted her head, "We're already walking to tha tailor!"

The purrsian wagged a finger, "Not any longer." Stepping out beside her came a hulking shape, dressed similarly, but its shape was all wrong for a purrsian. The arms were too thick, and though shrouded, its thick claws were on full display. "My associate here will guide you. Be courteous and save us both some time and energy in the hot sun."

Applejack bristled as she pawed the ground, "Now see here! Ya best be backin' off before ah decide you're trying ta threaten us."

The hulking figure showed no response, save to suddenly thrust a clawed hand forward. Applejack was too slow to avoid being grabbed around the throat, but reared up, lashing out with her deadly hooves. Though she landed the blows, it was like punching a bag of leather, and the assailant cared not, instead lifting her bodily from the ground despite her bulk.

The purrsian looked towards the smaller ponies, "Don't damage them, they're valuable."

Sweetie let out her best, silent, scream, forcing the purrsian to raise a single paw to the side of her head. "Ow," she said in a complaining voice, "Cut that out, or I may allow some bruising."

Apple Bloom dug out a packet of a bomb and tossed it quickly where it could catch the smaller in its blast, afraid to catch Applejack if she aimed any closer at the hulking beast that had AJ. The cloaked figure swept away the flames, clearly unimpressed. "Is that the best you have? Give up. I'm not even here to hurt you anyway."

Scootaloo edged closer to the others, whispering, "Should we run?"

Sweetie shook her head a little, "She's got Applejack!"

Upon mentioning, the hulking figure hefted Applejack up into the air over its head and pinned her hooves in place, immobilizing her struggles. The cloaked purrsian chuckled darkly. "I do have your friend. Now come along. If you're stalling for the guards, I paid them well to leave us alone, and I mean to earn that money back and more."

With the figure's hands on her hooves instead of her throat, Applejack could speak, and did so, "Run girls! Ah'll take care of mahself!"

Scootaloo began speaking words of power with a scowl. Taking it as a prompt, Apple Bloom let loose another bomb, even if it only seemed to irritate the purrsian.

She drew a short curved blade and advanced on them, "Enough. I did try to be kind."

Sweetie Belle backed away from her as her voice rose into a nervous song. Despite her uncertainty, the words filled the fillies and Applejack with a renewed sense of vigor and determination. Apple Bloom moved between the purrsian and Scootaloo, trying to protect her as she cast her spell. She paid the price quickly as a quick slash of that blade left a nasty gash in her shoulder. Already this was becoming much worse than their other adventures.

The spell finished, and suddenly Applejack surged outwards in size, coming down on the hulking creature that held her. She lashed out her hooves in a stunning buck as she said a quick spell. There was a bright flash when her hooves connected with the purrsian, knocking her into the air to crash against the side of a building. The hulking figure took immediate revenge with a duo of raking claws, leaving painful and bloody lines across Applejack's front.

Taking advantage of the chaos of Applejack's escape, Apple Bloom hurled a bomb at the purrsian that had crashed against the wall, engulfing her briefly in flames. The purrsian quickly gathered herself back up, "This has become too high a price." She ducked into a close sideroad without further comment. The hulking brute nodded at Applejack before leaping clear over her, landing on her back, then hopping down the other side to chase after the purrsian.

Sweetie Belle was first to speak as she stepped forward uncertainly, "Is everyone OK?"

Apple Bloom sagged in place, "No... But we won!"

Applejack quickly hurried up to her wounded sister and seized Bloom by the scruff of the neck. Applejack placed Bloom on her back, "You just stay right there. That was a right brave thing ya did, foolish too."

Scootaloo pointed at Applejack, "You're hurt too."

Applejack snorted, "I've been through worse. Sweetie, can ya do more ah that healin'?"

Sweetie shook her head, "Out of song magic... "

Apple Bloom grumbled from on top of Applejack, "I'm outta bombs. Oh!" She dug out a potion and chugged it down, and her gash sealed into an angry red wound. She tucked the empty vial away for later re-use.

Applejack blinked at the display, "Y'all really have been practicing. I'm... proud of y'all, but ya should run when ah say run!"

Scootaloo concentrated a moment, and Applejack shrunk to her usual size. "If we did that," argued Scootaloo with a scowl, "You'd be dragged off to who knows where!"

Sweetie bobbled her head in agreement, "The Cutie Mark Crusaders don't abandon their members, and you're one of us!"

Applejack let the matter drop for the moment, turning and walking, with one Crusader on her back and the other two flanking her. There were no more obstacles stopping them from reaching the tailor, and they soon stepped inside, collectively sighing with the coolness of the interior compared to the increasing heat of the approaching noon sun.

The tailor was present. The male purrsian stepped towards them on all fours, dressed in fine silks and delicate jewelry. "Ah, look what comes, hiding from the scorch of the Sun King's glare. Are you here for shelter from the day, or do you seek to cover yourselves in fine attire?"

Apple Bloom flashed a bright smile, "Is both outta the question?"

"Certainly not," agreed the purrsian. "I am Reginald Silvertail, and it will be my distinct pleasure to serve you." He pointed at Applejack, "I apologize for being rude, but you appear to be injured, madame."

Applejack shook her head, "Jus' pretend it's not there. Not much ah can do about it right now. Get these fillies some functional clothes, if ya would be so kind?"

Reginald nodded as he looked over the small forms of the Crusaders, "You," he pointed at Apple Bloom, "Let's start with you. Do you have a profession, little girl?"

Apple Bloom slid down off of Applejack and approached, "Mah name's Apple Bloom, and that's my big sister, Applejack!"

Reginald smiled, "I had heard that prairie ponies could have powerful family bonds, but never witnessed it for myself. I would expect you to have a brand of destiny much like hers... but you don't have any? Surely there is an interesting tale to be told?"

Apple Bloom tilted her head, but Scootaloo spoke first, "We didn't get ours yet!"

Reginald blinked softly, "How can that be? I was told ponies were born with their marks, branded by destiny itself in the womb. Let us put that aside for the moment, as that will not get you clothed." He looked over Apple Bloom, reaching to turn her head this way and that, then to lift her hooves. He produced a measuring string and started going over all of her dimensions.

Apple Bloom tried to be still for him, but couldn't stand being silent, so she spoke, "Ah was training ta be an alchemist!"

"That explains the bottles," agreed Reginald. "I am certain you will become a great one, with time."

Applejack raised a brow, "Don't mean ta be rude, but yer a mite kinder than most of the cats we've run into."

Reginald shrugged, "Purrsian, and we may be all cut from the same cloth, but that does not mean our patterns do not change. Do not assume we are all obsessed with wealth simply because many are." He flashed a smile, taking a few notes before he moved on to Sweetie Belle, "And what is your name, adorable little foal?"

Sweetie Belle returned the smile quickly. "Hi there! I'm Sweetie Belle," her voice squeaking in the greeting.

Reginald reached to petted her on the head gently, "I can feel a warm spirit here, are you aiming to be a priest of some kind?"

Sweetie shook her head, "I'm learning song magic."

Reginald nodded, "That would have been my second guess, I assure. Will you sing for us? I will give a discount if you do."

Sweetie glanced at Applejack and the others before she took a soft breath and began singing a soft little wordless melody. Reginald smiled as he worked, taking all of Sweetie's measurements with practiced motions and quick scribbles in his notebook.

"Last, but certainly not least," he said as he approached Scootaloo, "Hello there, little pegasus. Now, I suppose chances are against it, but are you all related?"

Scootaloo shook her head, "Applejack's like a big sister to all of us, but not by blood, no. I'm Scootaloo! You're the nicest purrsian we've run into so far!"

Reginald began measuring Scootaloo, "Sometimes a soft word and a smile will earn you more money than a thousand scowls and threats. I have no need for the coarse rudeness of some of my fellows." He rapped a knuckle against Scootaloo's spellbook, "What do you have in here?"

Scootaloo tilted her head, "That's my book of spells. Every wizard has to have one, uh, that's what I read."

Reginald tilted his head, "A wizard, are you?"

Applejack interjected, "Ah think Twilight called it a 'magus'."

Reginald shook his head, "I'm afraid I wouldn't know the difference, but you must be a smart filly to practice the arcane."

Sweetie stopped singing to chime in, "She is!"

Reginald departed with a final nod, vanishing into the back. "Make yourselves comfortable." The last part of him visible was his bejeweled tail, then he was gone.

Applejack settled down on her belly. "Apple Bloom, what do ya need ta make more of them potions? Could ya make a big ol' batch of 'em?"

Apple Bloom shook her head. "If ya try ta make it too big, the whole thing goes to waste. It's, uh, complicated, but th' one ah used tastes pretty nasty. I haven't quite got it to th' point ah'd want to share it around. Ah'm not even sure it'd work for somepony else."

Scootaloo tilted her head. "I don't get it. It's a potion. If it works, who cares how bad it tastes?"

Apple Bloom shook her head quickly. "There's magic involved! My magic. Until ah get it right, it only works with mah magic."

Applejack reached for Apple Bloom and pet through her mane gently. "You'll get it right, Ah'm sure of it. We'll get some supplies after we're done here."

Author's Notes:

Taking harsh lessons to heart, about three quarters or so in, I started dropping 'saidisms'. In future chapters, you should call me out if I start throwing them around again.(he said, she said, he shouted, she replied, etc)

They just give more room for typos anyway.

7 - A Task Undertaken

Reginald sent the Crusaders off into the changing room to try on their new attire, then approached Applejack. "You mentioned they were not all your blood relatives. It must be difficult, watching three foals at once."

Applejack raised a brow. "Least ah can do, being the only responsible adult around."

Reginald nodded quickly, "Of course, but you aren't the only one... I could watch one of them for you, if you like. I'll even pay a fair price. Is the darling little earth-bound yours?"

Applejack flipped her ears back, "Ah don't like the direction this conversation's headed. How about ya give a fair price on the clothes ya rustled up and we leave before ah have hard feelings."

Reginald held up his paws, "No offense is intended! I am no brigand or scoundrel. If you don't wish to sell, then I won't be buying today. Thirty gold pieces will settle the balance."

Applejack snorted softly, "That before or after Sweetie's discount?"

Reginald clapped his paws together, "Ah, how forgetful of me, we'll make that twenty, and give Sweetie Belle a free outfit for that mesmerizing little voice she has. Are you certain you wouldn't part with that one? I'd give you the other two for free, and fifty gold on top of that, a fair price for a household servant."

Applejack's eyelids narrowed. "She ain't a servant, she's practically kin! She ain't for sale so stop askin'." She produced the coins angrily. "Here, now kindly be quiet. Yer really working mah nerves."

The three emerged from the back, gussied up as their chosen profession. Apple Bloom looked quite pleased with her plentiful leather hoops to hold her potions and vials, Sweetie Belle looked like a little performer, and Scootaloo was presentable in her explorer's attire. Apple Bloom rushed up to Applejack, practically bounding in place. "How do we look!?"

Reginald nodded at the three. "You look like three angels descended from the upper planes to grace my store."

Scootaloo looked baffled. "What's an angel?"

Applejack gently nudged them towards the door. "Ah'll explain later. Thanks kindly, mister. Bye." She couldn't be out of the store fast enough, and let out a breath once they were safely outside. "Y'all never going back in there ever again, ya hear?"

Scootaloo repeated her question. "What's an angel? And what's wrong?"

Applejack shook her head, "Ain't nothing ah wanna talk about. Y'all look good. Let's find a place ta rest, it's getting mighty hot out here."

Sweetie raised a hoof, "I know where to go!"

Applejack hiked a brow, "How?"

Sweetie tapped her ears with a hoof, "I've been listening while we walk. People talk about things."

Apple Bloom held up a hoof, to be met by Sweetie, "Ah didn't know ya were so good at listening."

Scootaloo bobbed her head, paused, then peeked at Sweetie's flank for any changes. Nope... "Well lead the way, Sweetie!"

Sweetie did a slow turn in a circle. "I think we're... That way." she pointed. "That should lead to the main street. There's a nice, but not too expensive, inn ponies were talking about not far up on the left side called the shiny something or other."

Applejack nodded, "Alright, let's get moving." They set off together down the road, emerging onto the main thoroughfare as Sweetie had predicted. There were more purrsians about, but Applejack's eyes fell on a pegasus perched on a crate. She pushed towards the winged stallion, "Hey, mister."

The pegasus looked Applejack and her wards over quickly. "What kin I help you with?" He wore loose and airy clothing that seemed to fit both his flying nature and keeping the heat off. Strapped at his belt was a small dagger, a compass, and a few other things in pouches.

Applejack smiled, "Don't mean to be a bother, but it's nice to see a fellow pony. Do ya know a good place to get a job or at least directions?"

The pegasus extended a wing before folding it down and across himself in a sort of bow. "I am Hot Zephyr, pleased to meet you. This is no city for ponykind, it's true. It depends what manner of work you seek. You look like an adventuring party?"

Scootaloo perked her ears up, looking over Hot. "What makes us look like that?"

Hot pointed at Applejack. "You have a warrior." Then Sweetie Belle, "A bard." Then Apple Bloom, "Clearly an alchemist." He paused on Scootaloo, looking uncertain.

Scootaloo puffed herself up. "I'm a warrior too!"

"Of course. If you are being adventurers, there is no lack of work to be found, pony, purrsian, or something else entirely." Hot leaned back on his perch. "I don't mean to be very rude, but it is custom in this city to trade favors with money. You understand?"

Applejack's happy expression fell to suspicion. She sighed out heavily. "How much are ya talkin'?"

Sweetie interjected, "What if we paid you after we got lots of treasure and stuff?"

Hot barked out a laugh, clopping his hooves on the box he was seated on. "Oh, what spirit in that one! I would feel bad sending her to her death, but you chose the life of adventuring, not me."

Applejack hesitated, stepping back. "Ah'm not trying ta get the girls mixed up in more danger."

Apple Bloom looked up at hot and rolled a hoof. "Is there another way to get money?"

"Quickly? As a pony? No." Hot crossed his arms. "I will trust you, because you may go far, or die. Either way costs me nothing. If you succeed, find me and return the goodness I show you now." He gave directions to a different inn several blocks away. "Look for a purrsian, male, green cloak, brown eyes, calico coat. Name's Louis Bristletail. He has all the jobs and will give you something to do for quick gold."

Applejack's head sunk a little. "Don't suppose ya could just point the way to Viljatown?"

Hot extended a wing, pointing in a direction. "Just go that way. You'll have to pass through dangerous desert, then across fields of hungry monsters, cross a river, and likely cut through a forest of wild fey creatures-- besides us, I am meaning. I'm sure you can manage it in about a month of hiking."

Applejack blanched at the idea. Apple Bloom nodded her head firmly. "Looks like we're going adventuring!" Her upraised hoof was met swiftly by the other two girls. All three looked to Applejack. She added her own hoof to the bump with a grumble.

Applejack nodded at Hot. "Appreciate the spot of kindness. This whole city seems plum out of its mind."

Hot saluted with a wing. "I know the feeling all too well. These cats have some kind of shared disease I am thinking. You watch out for yourselves, eh?" He spread his wings and took off, ascending into the sky with lazy circles before heading off into the city.

Their destination settled on, they started through the streets, passing by 'The Shining Goblet' that Sweetie Belle had mentioned and eventually arriving at the far less reputable looking 'Six Feet Brew'. The door was ajar, allowing them to see the dimly-lit interior. "This time y'all stay by me, no wandering, no touching, and definitely no meddling."

The three smiled with innocent expressions that did little to relieve the tension in Applejack. She nudged open the door and stepped in. A few purrsians loitered at the bar alongside a crystal pony. Scootaloo pointed to the right, where private booths were. A wealthy-looking purrsian with a ring on every furry finger was sipping from a goblet while reviewing papers. "I think that's the one!"

The barkeep, also a purrsian, bellowed out at the newcomers. "Hello! Welcome to Six Feet Brew! We have drinks so strong they'll put you that far down." He barked out a loud roaring laughter, while his clientele groaned softly at the repeated joke. "What can I get for you and your little friends? We have fresh-squeezed agave for the little ones."

Applejack shook her head, "Maybe in a moment, thanks kindly." She ushered the girls towards the back, her eyes taking in the pampered features of their contact. "Ah hear ya can get us a job?"

Louis leaned forward, "We don't get many ponykind in here looking for work. What are you good at?"

Apple Bloom piped up quickly before Applejack could get in a word. "We can do anything ya want! We're adventurers!"

Applejack shot an intense if brief glare at Apple Bloom before chuckling nervously, "Ah heh, foals, ya know? Whattaya got?"

Louis snorted softly, "I'm quite happy to report all my kittens are earning their own livings now." He fingered through the papers on his table a moment, eyes scanning them before he pulled out out and slid it towards Applejack. "We'll make this easy. Rich cat can't even hunt rats in her own basement. She's nice enough, if a little loopy. Be nice to her, don't damage her property, kill the rats, get paid. Can't get easier than that."

Sweetie made a face, sticking out her tongue in disgust. "Yuck, rats?"

Applejack accepted the letter, "We'll take it. Do ya know how much she's paying?"

Louis shook his head as he shrugged. "Afraid she never specifies, but she's always fair. I don't take bounties from someone twice if they aren't, and we've been doing business a long time." His eyes wandered over Applejack. "I'm going to be forward. I'm appreciating the half-naked warrior motif you have going there. Stetson and a saddle? Nice."

Applejack's ears sunk, "Uh, yeah, thanks partner. Do we come back here after we're done?"

Louis wobbled a furry paw. "If you want more work, or want some strong drink, yes. She should pay you herself, so don't leave without being paid. The rooms are clean and reasonable, if you don't already have a place. Avoid the food. I've seen better in trash cans."

Sweetie hopped up suddenly, landing lightly on the table before seating herself. "How do you get money out of this?"

Louis pointed at Sweetie. "Now you, you could go far. You wouldn't believe how many saps run through here and never ask that question. It's real simple, kid."

"I'm not a goat."

"Whatever." Louis waved dismissively. "The clients have to pay to post the bounty. She already paid me, and it's good until the job's done. It's my job to find people like you to make her happy. Everyone gets paid, everyone gets happy."

Applejack nodded as she glanced towards the bar and its selection of drinks. "Any rush on this, or would taking care of it first thing in the morning be alright?"

Louis lifted his shoulders. "It's waited this long, the morning should be fine. Just don't sit on it. I look bad when my agents get lazy."

Author's Notes:

The team has a new place to reside that isn't quite so exhorbitantly expensive, and a job! Surely they can manage some rats!

I'm not sure what that Reginald guy was sniffing after. Maybe some typos were hiding his true intentions.

8 - Rat Hunters

The next morning, everyone felt refreshed and ready to go. A quick, and surprisingly affordable, shopping trip got them the supplies Apple Bloom needed to continue practicing her potions and bombs. Taking Louis' advice, they ate out, finding the food from the Shining Goblet to be quite serviceable and reasonably-priced.

Applejack strode with the girls, with a full belly and a renewed sense of determination. "Ah'll admit, almost looking forward ta taking care of that lady cat's pest problem."

Scootaloo pointed up ahead, her head craning to take in the sight. "I think... that's the place?"

It wasn't a small dwelling like most of the others. Instead, a sprawling manor was coming up on the righthand side. Even the part of town they were in seemed to be higher quality, with finely-cobbled walkways, actual street lamps, and more visible guards. The crowd was also thinner here.

This led to one of those visible guards checking on the group. The purrsian wore leathers and had a khopesh at his side. He was standing on two legs, with wings half-unfurled as-if for balance. "Hail. There are no tourism venues this way. What brings you here?"

Sweetie smiled up at the large cat man, "Hello! We're here to help out there." She pointed at the manor. "The lady's waiting for us, and we don't want her to be angry."

The guard hesitated visibly. "No! No, we wouldn't want her to be upset. Let me escort you." He strode ahead of them without further words, guiding them to the gate of the manor. He pointed a finger at a small copper plate beside the gate. It read 'Longtail Manse'. "Press the plate and you can reach them, if this is your first time here." He backed away, but kept them in easy sight.

Applejack glanced at the guard, then advanced on the plate, eyeing it a moment. She rose a hoof and pressed it lightly. She felt it click like a button and a gentle chime rang out from it.

"Oh, do come in," came an elderly female voice. "That is you, Emerald? I've been waiting all morning."

Applejack shook her head at the plate. "'Fraid not, ma'am. We're here about tha pests?"

"Oh! Of course. The gate should be unlocked, come in, come in." As if to emphasize the point, the gates swung inwards a few inches.

The guard nodded at the group of them. "I'll leave you to your work. Don't be surprised if another guard sees you out. We can't have the fine citizens of the area being harassed." He offered a salute with two fingers. "May your fortune ever grow."

With parting waves, they all proceeded inside. The gate silently swung shut until the two halves clattered together with the sound of colliding iron. Apple Bloom casually checked her inventory as she went, counting out three bombs, a healing potion, and a 'move real fast' potion.

Scootaloo nodded as if listening to the inventory. "I have the get-big spell and the get-out spell ready to go."

Sweetie Belle shook her head. "Song magic's a lot simpler than that! I feel full up and ready to go."

Applejack smiled at their reports, tipping her hat as she spoke, "Y'all really are planning. We'd be stuck here a while if ah started listing everything up mah sleeves."

Apple Bloom tilted her head up at her sister, looking her over. "Hate ta say it, sis, but ya ain't got sleeves."

"Don't get smart with me."

They walked past a burbling fountain. It wasn't as large as the public one, but was in much better repair, made of marble with gold trim along the outside. The bottom was lined with embedded gemstones that made it sparkle in the light. Apple Bloom hopped up on the lip and took a quick drink. "Never thought Ah'd be so happy to get a free drink. This here's a fancy-looking fountain. Ah get the feeling we may be doing more than fighting some pests."

The others approached, taking their turn to enjoy the water. It was clear and clean, refreshing them all. Scootaloo spread her wings wide. "I'm gonna scout!" She hopped off the edge of the fountain and took off with a gallop and eager flaps of her wings. She soon began to gain altitude and soared into the air with a squeal of delight. She managed a half-turn before she collided with the top of a large bush. She slid back to the ground through the branches, mildly dinged up, but with a goofy grin on her face.

The others rushed up to her. Applejack brushed the twigs and leaves off of her while checking for harm. "Ya need more practice, but good job. Did ya see anything?"

Scootaloo gave a flap of her restored wings before folding them tight against her back. "The whole place looks rich! Sweetie, time for you to shine."

Apple Bloom nodded in agreement, "Work that silver tongue of yers."

Sweetie Belle tilted her head a little, "I have a silver tongue?"

Applejack laughed nervously. "Just a saying, Sweetie. She means ya good at getting ponies to give ya what ya want."

Sweetie bobbled her head and moved towards the main house. "I can do that!" The rest of the party formed up behind her, and soon they arrived at the stout-looking double wooden doors of the manor house. Applejack reached over Sweetie and nudged the door open for her. It was as heavy as it looked, requiring some effort to get it going.

Seated in a small, but plush, red chair was an elderly purrsian in a fine silk robe. She smiled at them as they entered. "Louis has outdone himself today. Look at the lot of you. Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"No." Applejack went for brutal honesty, looking around at the fancy art pieces that seemed scattered all over the available wall space and often every elevated surface.

Sweetie advanced quickly towards the elderly cat. "We're more than ready! We were told you have a rat problem?"

She nodded, "Ratfolk, digging into my vaults and stealing my life's work."

Apple Bloom tilted her head in confusion. "Did ya just say rat 'folk'?"

She rose up to her feet. "Oh, look at me, forgetting all of my manners! I am Lady Longtail." Her tail didn't seem especially long compared to other purrsians. "And this is Longtail Manse. I expect it will take time to fully exterminate them, so consider this your home until the task is complete."

Sweetie nodded hesitantly. "Alright, what was that about ratfolk?"

Longtail just looked at Sweetie expectantly a moment. Sweetie caught on quickly. "Oh! I'm Sweetie Belle, that's Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Applejack! Nice to meet you, Miss Longtail."

She nodded slowly. "Very good, now that formalities are out of the way... Yes, ratfolk. They're rat men. Short, hunched, dirty naked tails and beady eyes. They don't believe in working for their money, so they're after mine."

Sweetie Belle tapped at her chin with a hoof, "I confess, we were told to expect rats, not rat people..." She narrowed her eyes. "That's gonna cost extra."

Longtail quickly nodded. "Of course. Fair pay for fair work. Louis has always sent quality help over, and I don't want that to change." She made a dismissive gesture. "I don't much care how you do it, just get rid of them, and don't cause any additional harm to my collections. If you should need any assistance, use this." She handed a small silver bell to Sweetie, who held it in her magic. "My manservant can hear that clear across the house, and will come quickly."

Scootaloo took a step forward, looking up at Longtail. "Can you show us where they've been breaking in through?"

Longtail pointed at the bell. "I won't go near the place until they're gone. Ring the bell. Are there any other questions, or shall I leave you to your work?"

Scootaloo raised a hoof. "Just one. Do you have any, uh, weapons, just in case?"

Longtail smiled. "Ring the bell. He'll show the way to the armory. Just return what you use when you're done. First time I saw a mercenary arrive without a weapon, I admit. Best of luck." She moved to shuffle off, ascending a spiraling staircase almost painfully slowly.

Applejack looked to the others. "Are ya sure this is a good idea? Ah don't reckon ah like the idea of killing somepony for somepony else, rats or not."

Apple Bloom shook her head with a thoughtful expression. "We'll try talking to them first and see if we can't work out a deal, or block up the way they're getting in."

Sweetie nodded in agreement. "Maybe they're looking for something specific. If they wanted to take everything, why wouldn't they have already?"

Applejack blinked, looking at Sweetie with a new bit of respect. "That's actually a mighty good question. Alright, let's investigate, carefully."

Sweetie gave the bell held in her magic a good shaking, ringing out its little ring-a-ling. As if from nowhere, a human appeared. He was dressed in a tuxedo and looked quite severe. "You called, madame?"

Scootaloo looked over the butler curiously. "You're like Soft Mane. Cool! Can you take us to the armory, please?"

"Right this way." He lead the way with smooth efficient steps.

Applejack asked as she walked along. "So, ya work here long?"

"Most of my life, ma'am. Are those your children, ma'am?" His voice was even and deep. It had a polite tone to it, dripping with formality.

"Only one by blood, and she's a sister, but ah reckon they all are in mah care, yeah."

"Pardon my saying, but they seem young for this work, ma'am."

Applejack sagged a little. "Don't remind me. I'd rather be doing almost anything else, but we need tha money."

Apple Bloom huffed softly. "We can take care of ourselves! We're a team. We'll have your rat problem cleared out in no time at all!"

They arrived in the armory. Weapons of all types were arrayed on display racks that went across the walls, while suits of armor stood in upright rigidity. Scootaloo hurried in and browsed the selection. She spotted some weapons smaller than the others and pointed at them. "What's up with these?"

"Training weapons." The butler gestured at them as he spoke, "They're for the children of the family, to train while their hands were too small for larger weapons."

Scootaloo bobbled her head. "Perfect." She grabbed a small longsword in her mouth and gave it a few test swings. She set it down, satisfied, then began to search again. "Do you have something to wear it with?"

The butler advanced and picked Scootaloo up from the ground, slipping a sheath over her and placing the sword into it where it dangled properly. He placed her before a tall mirror to inspect herself. "Oh, uh, thanks!" She did a slow turn. "I look dangerous!"

"To yerself," muttered Applejack low enough to go unnoticed by the others.

Author's Notes:

Rats, ratfolk... Easy mistake to make! These are how typos are born.

9 - The Rat Race

The butler led them through the large manor. "Mind your step." The reason for his warning became clear as debris began to appear on the ground. "I've long since abandoned trying to clean this portion of the manor. Dreadful, really."

Apple Bloom hopped over some fallen rock with a frown. "They're really tearing up things, huh?"

Applejack nodded as her eyes wandered over the cracked walls and empty furnishings. "Reckon so. We'd best fix the issue before tha house comes down on everypony."

The butler gestured down an unlit corridor. "The hole they enter through is directly ahead. I must return to my other duties. Should you require my services, you have the bell."

Sweetie gave it a soft shake, making it ring out clearly. "Thanks mister!"

With a nod, the butler departed back towards the cleaner portions of the house. Sweetie put the bell away and drew out a dagger in its place.

Scootaloo tilted her head. "When'd you pick that up?"

Sweetie shrugged. "'Bout the same time you got yours? Why should you have the only one!"

Applejack huffed out as she returned to the two. "Now's not tha time for feudin'. Sweetie, put that away. That's no way ta start talking, waving weapons around."

Sweetie tucked the dagger away before she released a few soft notes, releasing balls of light into the air to zip around and cast back the shadows. They could see a large gash torn in the wall at the end of the hallway. Taking the lead, Applejack walked carefully towards it. With an intonation, she conjured the hovering disk of force that floated around her protectively.

Apple Bloom suddenly dashed out between Applejack's legs and threw out her forelegs wide. "Stop right there!"

Applejack came up short, rearing in surprise. "What? What is it?"

Apple Bloom moved carefully to the right and pointed. "Look, a trip wire!"

Scootaloo shook her head as she advanced to peer at the thin, nearly invisible, wire. "Good job! Now we can just step ov--" She moved to proceed and tripped on a rock, falling over onto the wire. An arrow shot out from the side, aimed far too high to strike the small Scootaloo. It landed in the opposite wall with a disquietingly powerful thunk. "Oops..."

Sweetie tilted her head. "You don't have much luck with arrows."

Scootaloo quickly gathered herself up. "I guess not, but it's all clear now!"

Applejack let out a breath she only just became aware she was holding. "Please let me go first, alright?" She proceeded towards the hole only to pause a few steps forward as metal glinted in the darkness.

"Put the mockers on right there," came a high-pitched squeak of a voice. "'oo are yer, eh, mate? Yer don't 'ave a look like cats."

Sweetie Belle moved up beside Applejack with her charming smile on display. "Hello! I'm Sweetie Belle. Can we talk?"

"We'z talking right now." There was shuffling in the darkness. Sweetie sent one of her balls of light into the darkness, revealing a rat-like biped that was barely taller than the Crusaders. It held a crossbow in its hand, and it wasn't alone. Two others skulked behind it with short swords drawn and ready. "Wotcher want?" demanded the crossbow wielder. "Better be good, right, or yor copping a belly full of wood." The skulkers in the back nodded in agreement with the words, but appeared in no rush to advance.

Applejack tipped her head forward slightly. "Y'all're making a big mess."

Sweetie glanced up at Applejack before looking back at the ratfolk. "What my, uh, associate means is that we'd like to find out what you want so we can both be happy!"

The crossbow wielder trained the weapon at Sweetie directly. "Yor usin' fancy words. Yor just about the right size for a few fings I bet we could make out of that wite pelt of yors. Go oray."

Apple Bloom leaned closer to Scootaloo, whispering quietly, "She's being super brave right now." Scootaloo bobbled her head in agreement.

Sweetie wasn't feeling as brave as she might look, her heart pounding wildly as the deadly weapon leveled at her. "We, uh, don't want to bother you, uh, mister..."

"Thomas," said the rat as he held the weapon steadily on her. "Now wot can yer do for us, since yer seem so eager ter make us 'happy'?"

Sweetie relaxed faintly. He had asked a question, a sign that she had made progress, however small. "Why don't we start with why you moved here, specifically? Are you looking for something? Did something happen to your old home?"

One of the rats hiding in the back seemed to become agitated. "Why are yer goin' on wiv the bloody wee fluffball?! Kill them all and cop it over wiv! Right!"

Thomas turned his head slightly, "Shut yor North and South! Don't mind 'im, right, he's a wee nervous. Yer want ter hear? Not so bad. We 'ad a not so bad nest gahn in the sewers. Only place in this damned city yer can cop water wivout payin' for it, do wot guvnor! The bleedin' cats took offense ter it and drove us out, right? They called us dirty wile they sell their own children for a few coins. Fat lot of 'ypocrites if yer ask me, right, wich yer did."

Sweetie nodded lightly as she considered the words. "Well that's awful! But the lady that lives here is nice."

"So?" Thomas scowled at Sweetie. "She's a cat. She's a rich cat. She probably 'elped pay for the ffugs that kicked us out."

Applejack suddenly spoke up, frowning a bit. "So yer gonna prove them right? Be as bad as the cats say you are? Is that it?"

Thomas' weapon turned sharply over and up to aim at Applejack's center of mass. "Yer don't cop to rabbit and pork ter us like that! Honest guv! Yer don't know us."

Sweetie shook her head quickly. "She didn't mean offense, but she isn't entirely wrong. You're just playing into their bad words. Uh, what if we find you a better home, that's not part of somepony else's house?"

Thomas snorted softly, but lowered his crossbow. "I'll believe that wen I spot it. Go on! Struth! Come hammer and tack wiv good news, or don't bovver comin' hammer and tack at all."

One of the others scowled. "Yor lettin' them go, eh, mate? They'll just brin' more ter attack us wiv! Honest guv!"

Thomas was unmoved by the words of his inferiors, just staring levelly at Sweetie and the others.

Sweetie nodded her head at Thomas. "Alright. We'll do that, but I'll be back, good or bad news. You deserve to know." She turned and rejoined the other Crusaders. Her gait was stiff with barely restrained fear and relief.

Applejack tipped her hat, but remained in place until the others had moved further away. She backed away slowly, facing the rats the entire time. They all regrouped around the corner and a short distance away. "That coulda gone worse. What's yer plan now?"

Sweetie sank to the floor. "First I'm going to sit here."

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo moved in on either side of Sweetie and sandwhiched her in their warmth. "You were great!" said Apple Bloom.

Scootaloo bobbed her head. "I've never seen you braver before! Uh, so what are we doing now?"

Applejack considered a moment, then shrugged. "Well we promised ta help, so we should try that. Let's talk ta Lady Longtail and see if we can't work a compromise to tha problem." Applejack leaned in and grabbed Sweetie by the scruff, depositing the still-overwhelmed filly onto her back.

Sweetie pulled out the bell and gave it a soft shaking. The bell quivered in her mental grip dangerously and she put it away quickly afterwards.

Apple Bloom frowned up at Sweetie. "It's OK Sweetie. There's nothing to be afraid of anymore." Sweetie did not appear entirely comforted by the words, though she gave a wan smile.

Scootaloo slid up alongside Apple Bloom. "We should get her something special after this."

The butler arrived shortly. "Is the problem taken care of already?"

Applejack shook her head, "'Fraid not, but we may have a solution. Can ya bring us to Lady Longtail?" They were soon following the human through the halls, to arrive in a sitting room where the Lady was enjoying a cup of something dark, almost black.

She looked up at the lot of them. "Back so soon? Oh my." She rose to her feet and approached Sweetie and Applejack. "You have the face of someone who has seen death for the first time."

Sweetie Belle trembled a little bit, then the dam broke and she wailed piercingly. Lady Longtail reached to carefully pick Sweetie Belle from Applejack's back and stroked over Sweetie from head to tail with old and withered fingers. "There there, let it all out... What happened?"

Applejack sighed softly as she tossed her head to indicate back where they came from. "We talked ta tha rats. They were kicked out of their nest by city guards fer taking sewer water." She made a face. "Do they really do that?"

The Lady settled back in her chair, still holding and petting Sweetie Belle. "I wouldn't put it past them. Even if they don't want it, giving things away for free is against the modern purrsian way. It wasn't always like that, I'll have you know."

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were beside the Lady, staying close to Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo spoke with curiosity, "What was it like before?"

The Lady smiled thinly. "Once, we were creatures of the air. We were grace incarnate, moving through life like a dance. Now we have fallen to the earth, many too fat with laziness or greed to even bother with their wings. We were nomads, like our cousins, the sun cats. We valued art, grace, and speed, not the size of a coinpurse." She teased over Sweetie's ear, making the filly start to giggle, showing signs of recovery.

Applejack smiled gently. "That sounds like a right better time. So, uh, whataya want to do with the rats? They seem more desperate than outright bad people."

Sweetie sat up in the Lady's lap. "I promised to find them a new home."

The Lady's face contorted with a bitter thought. "I have far too many buildings I don't use. Tell them to stop being brutes and they can rent one of the smaller ones." She sank back into her chair. "I miss the days the manor was filled with the voices of my children, and their children. If they're capable of being civil, I will find room for them." She looked to the butler, who had hovered there so silently as to be forgotten. "Show them to the Oak building if they agree, then hire some contractors to repair the damage. Be careful in hiring."

The butler bowed and moved off. Applejack raised a brow. "Trouble with hired help?"

The Lady scowled a moment. "I trust the rats more than I do my kinsmen, and that breaks my heart. I pray every day that the Sun King will show my people back to the path of grace. I'm too old to dance, but there is no excuse for living a life of thuggery."

Author's Notes:

Feelings are had, negotiations proceed. That accent... is it typos?

10 - A Measure of Friendship

Applejack strode with the others back towards the dark hole. "Ya reckon they'll be happy ta hear tha good news?"

Scootaloo bobbed her head as she went. "I bet they'll be blown away at how fast we were."

The butler paused as they reached the edge of where the damage begin. "Pardon my forwardness, but I can't say I look forward to servicing the needs of rats. Still, I will obey the Lady's desires."

Apple Bloom waved a hoof up at the human. "Don't think of it none too hard. I betcha they'll be nice enough folk once ya get ta know 'em."

The butler didn't approach any further, but the girls could find the rest of the way on their own. Applejack looked down at Sweetie. "Ya sure yer ready for this? Ya don't have to. We're just bringing good news after all, and ya did mighty fine already."

Sweetie shrank back a little. "If it's OK, I'll stay in the back."

Applejack nodded at Sweetie, reaching to give her a soft pat. "It's just fine. Ah'll take care of it."

They approached the dark hole. Scootaloo suddenly took off, zipping up and tagging Applejack's hat with a quick spell. The stetson began to glow softly, dispelling the darkness.

"Huh," said Applejack. "It's better'n a torch. Thanks kindly." She advanced on the hole. "Hey, got some goo--" Applejack broke off, hearing strange noises from the hole. Lowering her head a little, she could hear the rats were in a tizzy. "Hey, what's going on in there?"

One of the rats turned to Applejack. "Blimey! We're under attack, yew under-sized 'orse! Either 'elp us awer go away. Nuff said, yeah?"

Applejack started to respond, but the Crusaders rushed past her--at least Apple Bloom and Scootaloo did. Sweetie Belle stopped behind Applejack, unwilling to move past her.

"Ya can stay here.... Should be safe," Applejack said to the filly before crouching down and following the other girls.

The tunnels were just the right size for the ratfolk, making them a little tight--but reasonable--for the Crusaders and an awkward squeeze for Applejack as they followed the sounds of shouting and fighting. In a wider cavern, the rats were engaged in a pitched battle with some small, scaly bipeds that reminded the ponies of Spike.

Apple Bloom quickly drew out one of her bomb packets and sent it flying into a dense group of lizard people, where it exploded in a bright flash and accompanied by hisses of pain. Scootaloo drew her little blade, but hesitated to advance with it. "None of my spells are good right now!" The hilt of her sword muffled her voice a little, but her meaning was clear to her companions.

Applejack summoned the protective disc as she brought down a hoof on a nearby lizard. "Ah'll keep it clear around us, girls. Don't move away from me, ya hear?" They both nodded, keeping close to Applejack as they watched the battle. Apple Bloom tossed a second bomb when the timing felt right, catching several more lizards in the explosion. Applejack had launched a full offensive, pounding any lizard thing that came too close to the ponies into the dirt. The fight wasn't going as well as they would have liked, with the rats being pushed back.

Suddenly, Sweetie's voice pierced the din of combat, rising above it. It was a soft song of hope and summer, with an undercurrent of struggle. The rats were affected by it as surely as Sweetie's friends, and the tide began to change. Fighting with a renewed sense of purpose, the rats began to win over their reptilian enemies. Thomas emerged from the fray, covered in a variety of cuts and bruises. "Awright geeezzaa! So yew came back after all? I didn't expect yew ter show up in da middle ov a raid, but I'm not angry at da timing. Sorted mate." He lifted his crossbow and let loose a bolt, catching one of the scaled attackers before they could plunge a spear into a rat. "Very appreciated."

Scootaloo shoved her sword away and rushed to Sweetie Belle with a broad smile. "I'm glad to see you! You feeling OK?"

Apple Bloom let loose her last bomb before joining Scootaloo. "Keep doin' what yer doin'! It's working ah think."

With the Crusaders tucked away in the entrance, Applejack felt emboldened to advance further into the cavern. She was proving too much for any of the scaled creatures to handle in single combat, and they were starting to realize it. Soon she had two, then three of them trying to overwhelm her, but she was an engine of determined pain. The exposed backs of those brave, or foolish, enough to challenge Applejack were soon set upon by rats, and together they were clearing the cavern. The sounds of battle began to die away, and soon only the quieter sounds of the injured were left.

Scootaloo moved to join Applejack in a fit of renewed bravery. She shied back, but charged in with her blade whenever the opportunity to get a quick jab in presented itself. The rats could find no fault in her strategy.

Thomas looked over the remaining Crusaders. "Can any of ya lil' 'orses do sum 'ealin' magic? we 'ave sum casualties over 'ere we might save."

They followed Thomas over to a row of terribly wounded rats and almost in unison made faces at the grotesque nature of life-or-death battle. Sweetie rushed up and sang her song of renewal, bringing peace to two of the rats. They didn't awaken, but they sagged and relaxed while still breathing. "That's... all I have..." Sweetie was panting and tired, having dug deep into her song magic.

Thomas nodded as he looked over them. "They'll bee 'ive. You've done in the bleedin' buff for wahn day. If we 'ad any bread and honey, it would be yours."

Apple Bloom huffed. "We did it cause it was the right thing to do."

"Your loss."

Applejack wandered over to the Crusaders. "Everything alright over here? Y'all OK?" All three heads bobbed at her and she sighed out in relief. "Alright, good. Thomas was it? We got some mighty good news fer ya."

Thomas put his crossbow face-first on the ground and leaned on it. "Oh? Wot kind of news is that? Daan't keep me waitin'."

Scootaloo spoke up quickly, clopping her hooves together. "You can all live in one of the houses up above. No more dirty tunnels or, uh, attacks from whatever those were."

Thomas frowned and threw up a paw. "'re ya kiddin' wif me? Sid ya kill the cats or summit?"

Apple Bloom's eyes widened. "No! We talked to her, and she said she'd ratha have you as tenants than hidin' in her walls."

Applejack nodded. "Ah heard her maself. If y'all will come out of the tunnels, there's a butler waiting to show you to your new home. Y'all have ta pa--"

Thomas held up a paw with a full scowl. "There it is. We daan't 'ave bread and honey! if she wants gold aahhht of us, she can wither up and die for aw that I care."

Other rats, apparently listening in on the conversation, shouted their agreement and irritation.

Apple Bloom held up her hooves. "Calm down. She's a really nice lady, cat, rat, pony, or whatever. Just give her a chance. If you don't have any money, fine, but ah bet if you're just civil she'll give y'all a chance ta make money."

Thomas let out a tired sigh and turned towards the gathering crowd. "Alwigh' boys. We can stay 'ere and slowly die, or we can give the this and that lydy a try. Let's give it a chance, alwigh'?"

The crowd rippled with opposing thoughts. Some advanced to stand by Thomas, while others remained resolute in standing in opposition. One of the opposition leveled a sword at Thomas. "Ya might be won over by the sweet dickie birds of sum this and that Doug McClure ya ain't even pearly queen yet, but we won't be! We're leavin'. I 'ope ya 'ave fan in your cage." The dissidents left in a grumbling mass. There were about six rats around Thomas, and as many wounded on the floor.

Applejack spoke arcane words of power, conjuring the floating disc. "Ya can put the injured up on here and we'll carry them to safety." The remaining rats were hesitant, but they soon had the disc loaded up and ready.

Thomas pointed at the fallen of the field. "Strip them daahhhn ter nuffin'. We'll not leef wif nuffin'!"

The rats quickly made a circuit across the field, stripping weapons and trinkets from the bodies with a determined efficiency. They amassed a pile in front of Thomas. Thomas began to poke through it, tossing aside what he deemed as worthless. Rusted and bent weapons were the first to go, then things like wooden rings and moldy food. The pile was soon whittled down to a small stack. Applejack, hit with sudden inspiration, nudged Scootaloo. "Can ya see if any o' that is magic?"

Scootaloo nodded quickly and cast the spell, looking over the pile, then turning her gaze over the junk pile and back again. "There's... something." She focused harder, then moved forward. She plucked the wooden ring out of the junk pile and held it up in her hooves, looking it over. "It... is a shielding ring! Cool!" Scootaloo turned and put it over Sweetie's horn. "You deserve it." Once the ring slid down as far as it could go, a faint skin of energy crackled into place around Sweetie Belle, then faded away.

Thomas nodded. "I'd normally 'rgue that, but considerin' the 'elp she's been today, I agree."

Apple Bloom grinned widely. "Our first treasure! Is there anything else, Scoots?"

Scootaloo turned her attention back to the collected assortment of things. She slowly nudged out a few vials, which Apple Bloom snatched up. "Ah can handle these." She shook them carefully, held them up to Applejack's hat, which was still glowing, and inspected each carefully. "Two of them are healing potions, tha other's some kinda magic ta make yer skin harder."

Thomas advanced and claimed the healing potions. He moved to the injured rats and fed them slowly to the unconscious ones. One of the two he could get to suddenly awoke with a groan of pain. The rat was quickly brought up to speed. The recovered rat approached the ponies, giving an appreciative bow, then backed away without a word.

Scootaloo shook her head. "Don't see any more magic."

Thomas shrugged softly. "Not a sorry and sad 'aul. We paid too 'igh a price for it, but we're beechams pill jack's, so that'll 'ave ter do for na. lead the bloody way."

They left the battlefield and emerged into the hallway of the manor house. The butler stood there patiently. The lights had been relit. "I decided to have confidence in you. I trust your negotiation went well?"

Applejack stretched out in the plentiful space of the hall. "Ah could use some rest, but we pulled through. There were some nasty scaled varmints in there. Ya best close up that tunnel right quick."

Thomas emerged with the Crusaders next. The butler raised a brow. "Our new guests?"

Applejack nodded. "About a dozen of 'em."

Scootaloo pointed at the butler. "You better be nice to them! They've been through a lot." Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle gave strong agreements and all three nodded in unison.

The manor's tranquility would be broken. Perhaps it was for the best?

Author's Notes:

The girls fight hard against a new foe, but gain a new ally for it. A fair trade, right?

They're not high enough level to defeat the typo menace!

Speaking of levels, they gained one! I'll be working on that today.

11 - The Manse Fills

Lady Longtail sat out on the balcony, shielded from the direct glare of the angry sun by an overhanging cloth from the roof. She watched as ratfolk darted about the lawn. Her lawn. "Have I done the right thing, offering shelter to a bunch of rat men?"

Applejack pointed at one particular biped. "That one's a rat, uh, woman?"

This seemed to relax her a little, and she smiled. "Perhaps they will have a family of their own." She turned her gaze to the Crusaders lined up on either side of Applejack. "Let's talk about you. The rats are no longer your problem. You've done as I asked, but something bothers me. What were you fighting?"

Apple Bloom turned to face Lady Longtail, sitting on her haunches. "Well they were about so big, and they had scales and teeth and claws. Kinda lahk little dragons without the fire breath n' all that. Oh! Two-legged too."

The butler spoke. "Kobolds, madame. Dreadful beasts, they're arguably worse than the ratfolk."

Applejack frowned a little. "Which critter's more known for tunneling?"

The butler considered this a moment before gesturing at the rats. "In my reading, the ratfolk were once as nomadic as the purrsians, though I shudder to draw likeness between the two people. Kobolds are traditionally underground creatures, not creatures of the desert."

Scootaloo turned away from the scurrying ratfolk to look at the butler. "Hey wait! What if the rats didn't dig those tunnels? What if they just moved in after the lizard people dug it out, and they just came back?"

Lady Longtail let out a slow sigh. "Then you've done me a greater favor that I already knew. The kobolds would have raided the manor, not holed up in its walls. They weren't trying to, but the ratfolk saved me." She looked to Applejack. "You slept here last night. Do you not have a home of your own?"

Applejack jumped a little. "Ah thought ya said we could stay over? Ah didn't mean no offense by it."

Longtail shook her head. "No offense is taken, but...?"

Applejack shuffled a little. "But it's true, we were staying at a tavern before we came here."

Longtail nodded. "Then it's settled. Your payment, besides two hundred coin, will be one of the master bedrooms, to be used until you need it no longer. It will do my old heart good to have some little ones running around the grounds... besides the rats."

Sweetie Belle clopped her hooves together. "That's really nice of you, ma'am!" The others quickly echoed the sentiment.

Longtail smiled with a building warmth. "You're brave little warriors, aren't you? Did you learn anything from your battle?"

Apple Bloom raised a hoof to go first. "Ah figured out what ah was doing wrong with mah potions! Now anypony can drink 'em!"

Sweetie went next. "I... learned that there are more uses to singing than singing."

Applejack raised a brow. "Come again?"

Sweetie shook her head. "It's hard to explain... I feel like I can tell a tall tale like a sung story, and tell when somepony is trying to do the same to me."

The butler spoke up as he looked at Sweetie. "You are a bard, maturing into your social powers. It really suits you, madame, if you don't mind my saying."

Sweetie flashed a bright smile. "Thanks!" She looked back at her flank, blank as ever...

Lady Longtail noticed the glance. "What were you looking for, little pony?"

Scootaloo offered an answer first. "A cutie mark! We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

Longtail shook her head. "Do you mean a brand of destiny?"

Applejack nodded. "That's what ponies around here call it. They haven't gotten theirs yet."

Longtail looked befuddled, wrinkled brow raising. "Ponies are born with them, branded by the gods themselves, or so I heard. How did you... avoid that?"

All of them but Sweetie started to look nervous. Sweetie immediately wove a tale. "We're cursed! That's why we made the Crusaders, to break the curse and get our marks!"

Longtail reached out and ran slightly shaking fingers through Sweetie's mane. "You just finished telling me you got better at tall tales. You won't fool me that easily. Tell me the truth."

Sweetie shrunk with sheepish shame. Applejack stepped forward. "Well, ya see, we ain't from around these parts."

Longtail looked over the ponies. "Where are you from then?"

Applejack sighed softly. "I can't answer that question, not for lack of wanting ta. A world away? Universe? I don't know."

Longtail looked from one to the next and back again. "Brands aside, you look very... normal... for extraplanar travelers."

Apple Bloom smiled brightly. "We changed when we got here. We used ta be different-shaped a little."

Applejack nodded in agreement. "Hard ta describe really. More rounded, less threatening. We were still ponies. We weren't trying ta be deceitful, it's just a mite difficult ta explain."

Scootaloo spread her wings wide. "My wings work now!"

Longtail focused on Scootaloo, as if the rest of the world ceased to exist. "You couldn't fly before? How terrible! Do you know how to?" Scootaloo shuffled in place. "Answer enough." Lady Longtail rose to her paws, stretching out slowly, arching her back and extending her wings. "For this, I will spread my wings one more time. Come, little one, let's show you how to embrace the sky."

The two were soon gone, Scootaloo following after Longtail with a goofy grin.

The butler gestured inside. "I'll show you to your room." He led them through the halls of the manor, stopping at a room that seemed large enough to fit an entire family if there were more beds in it.

Applejack whistled low. "Hoowee, she weren't kidding 'bout it being a 'master' bedroom.

Apple Bloom faced the butler. "If she's so rich, why are you tha only one working here?"

He raised a brow. "The other staff left over the years, when other employers offered them more money."

Sweetie frowned at the story. "What? Just like that? She's such a nice cat! Doesn't that count for something?"

He smiled then, but bowed stiffly. "It does for some of us. Ring the bell if you require my services." Then he was gone, door closed gently behind him.

Applejack frowned and snorted. "That's it. Ah ain't taking charity from that cat lady sitting down. Ah'm gonna patch up that wall fer her. You two up fer helping?" Both crisply saluted with grins. "That's tha spirit! Let's make it good as new." Applejack led the way, and the rest of the day was spent repairing the damage done and reinforcing the breach to discourage any other underground residents.

Before they finished closing it up, Apple Bloom squeezed through the hole and vanished from sight. There was a muffled bang and she came scampering out, covered in dust. "Nothing's coming through that tunnel!" Applejack held out a hoof and they bumped with sisterly pride. The sun was lowering by the time they emerged from the hallway, looking satisfied with their work.

They heard elevated voices as they came. Following them brought them to the front yard, where Longtail was arguing with another purrsian that Applejack found faintly familiar.

The younger purrsian snorted at Longtail. "You went from living alone to living with rats? Have you lost all sense of pride? They're filthy, disease-ridden beasts!"

Longtail scowled her wrinkly face. "That makes them one step up from the average cat on the street. They're willing to work for their keep and they need a place to live. Did you come back just to berate me? I was happier alone."

"Mother..." The younger purrsian sighed softly. "No I didn't come back just for that. I wasn't expecting to come back to this! Why do you have a pony child here?" She pointed off to where Scootaloo was playing in the fountain with a purrsian kitten. They appeared to be having quite a good time of it. The other Crusaders abandoned Applejack, rushing to join Scootaloo and her new friend. "Children! Is that their mother?" She leveled her gaze at Applejack before her expression changed like a switch. "You!"

Applejack approached cautiously. "Me? What's wrong?"

The younger purrsian smiled at Applejack. "You were with the ponies that rescued us. It's your fault in part that I'm here at all to complain at my senile, but lovable, mother."

Applejack tapped the ground twice. "Willow was it? Nice ta meetcha again."

Willow nodded. "Willow Longtail. I wasn't expecting to see you here."

Lady Longtail blinked at their reunion. "You know this pony?"

Willow nodded. "It's thanks to her and her friends that I survived the train wreck and got back to civilization. I did a lot of thinking about them. They didn't even really want the money I was offering for it."

Applejack smiled gently. "We were doing what was right ta do. That's how neighbors should behave."

Longtail pointed a furry finger at Applejack. "See, that's what I'm talking about."

Willow sighed. "Enough arguing. Give me a hug." Old arguments were set aside long enough for the two to embrace warmly. "I missed you, crazy old bat."

"I missed you too, foolish child. And you brought my grandkitten. For that, I will let you stay."

Willow turned to the fountain. "Sunflower! Come say hello to Grandmother!"

"Yes mom!" Sunflower shook himself free of water and rushed up to Lady Longtail, who caught him in a dive and they hugged fiercely.

"Oh, how you've grown!" Longtail set him down and pet over the fur of his head. "Look at you! You're going to break so many pretty girls' hearts."

Sunflower blushed at the praise and made a face. "Grandma... Say, Grandma, why are there a bunch of ponies here? They're fun!"

Scootaloo arrived on the scene first on her restored wings, tackling Sunflower to the ground with a giggle of delight. They wrestled, forgetting about the adults for the moment.

Longtail smiled at the sight before letting out a slow sigh. "My home is starting to feel more like a home again... How long are you staying, Willow?"

Willow shrugged her shoulders. "My plans fell through... I'm returning with my tail between my legs. Will you give your foolish daughter harbor while she works out her next scheme?"

Longtail pulled Willow forward into a new embrace. "As if you had to ask. You are welcome here as long as you need it, just don't pick on the rats. They've been through enough."

Willow made a bit of a face. "I will try not to, mother. At least tell me you put them in one of the outer houses?"

Applejack cleared her throat softly. "Sorry ta interrupt a family moment, but thought ya should know we patched that hole up for ya. No more varmints'll bother ya from there."

Longtail nodded in thanks. "You didn't have to do that, but thank you. You really are a kind neighbor."

Willow tilted her head slightly. "Are they neighbors?"

Longtail shook her head in return. "They're staying here for now, same as you."

Willow looked over Applejack, then smiled. "I can deal with civilized pony folk. It's nice to run into you again."

Author's Notes:

Lady Longtail gets more background info, Apple Bloom learns the magic of infusions, and the manor seems full of people!

I bet they brought typos...

12 - Sleep with one Eye Open

It was quiet through the manor as everyone settled to bed in their own way. Applejack faced the Crusaders with a warm smile. "Ya did good. Even if ah'd rather not be here, since we are, ahm proud of how y'all been handling yerselves." Her head rubs were accepted by each Crusader in turn. "Now let's get some shuteye. Ahm sure we'll want to be ready fer tomorrow."

While they had been busy working on the hole, someone had hauled in a second bed into the room. Applejack moved to claim one, but soon found the girls had followed her. She briefly considered shooing them off to their own bed but thought better of it. "Night girls."

"Night, sis."
"Night, AJ."
"Goodnight!"

The room fell to silence, and sleep came to tired ponies.

Applejack lashed out her hooves, striking the tree dead center. Apples rained in a great torrent, filling her baskets perfectly. Whistling softly, she placed the baskets on her floating disc and trotted towards the barn with her haul. Big Mac was there. Applejack paused and looked him over. Something was wrong. Big Mac wasn't his usual self. He had the hard lines, subtle details, and other features of an Everglow pony. "Brotha?"

Big Mac snorted softly. "See where that magic's gotten ya?"

Applejack shook her head, feeling the fog of dreams settle back over her. "Ah'll use what ah can! There ain't nothing wrong with magic." She marched past Big Mac and began unloading her apples, but something was wrong. Each basket was full of rotten apples, their stench wrinkling her nose with an awful potency.

Big Mac frowned from the doorway. "Magic ain't nothing but trouble. If yer such a good wizard, maybe ya ain't nothing but trouble neither."

Applejack turned to face her brother, but he was gone. She trotted uncertainly from the barn to find the entire orchard was laden with rotting and festering apples. Many fell limply from their branches, splattering on the ground into unappetizing mush. Applejack reared up in alarm, eyes wide and heart starting to pound. "Mah farm!"

With a flash, the apples were restored, and a heavy presence came from above. Applejack looked up to see a new pony descending from the sky on large wings.

She was a soft blue shade, with the most brilliant silver for mane and tail. She wore platinum jewelry, studded with deep purple gems. As she drew closer, it became clear that she was larger than Applejack as Applejack was to the Crusaders. She was also an alicorn. "Luna? Is this what ya look like in Everglow?"

The visitor tilted her head. Her voice was at once gentle and resounding, echoing through Applejack's entire body with the new sensation of divinity. "I am not usually called 'Luna'. I am the Moon Princess. Strange pony, you are not one of my children, but your mind is troubled, and you are close enough. I would speak to you further, but I must bid you awaken." The Moon Princess gave a powerful flap of her wings, and Applejack was thrown off her hooves and sent sailing through the void--

--before she woke with a start. Raising her head, she looked around. Everything seemed peaceful, and the soft breathing of the Crusaders told her that nothing had troubled their sleep. Applejack carefully slipped from the bed and moved for the door. She couldn't put her hoof on it, but something was wrong. The dream still rang clear in her mind, and someone like the Moon Princess would not wake her up for no reason. She felt too... real--and too much like Princess Luna--for a dream figment.

Applejack nudged the door open and peered into the gloomy, moonlit hallway beyond with a frown. There! She saw something dart down the hallway. Sucking in a breath, she shut the door as quietly as she could before hurrying back to the bed and nudging the Crusaders awake. "Shhh, Ah think something's going on."

Apple Bloom was fastest to stir. "What's wrong, Sis?" She hopped off the bed and scurried to gather her things.

Scootaloo roused with a stretching of her newly restored wings, rubbing over her eyes with her fetlocks. "What's going on?"

Sweetie was last, looking at Applejack silently and saying nothing. Applejack nodded. "Ah think there's trouble. Git ready." She wove the protective spell, conjuring the protective floating disc.

Everyone quickly readied themselves just in time to hear a shriek from the next floor up. They burst out of their room as if it were the starting bell for a race and began rushing through the hallway towards the sound. They ascended the stairs like a stampede and ran into a familiar figure guarding the door to the next floor.

Thick arms, bipedal, and shrouded, the partner of the foalnapper stood there. He adopted a ready stance when they came into view, clawed fingers at the ready. "Return to your room and we'll pretend we didn't see you."

"Nothing doing!" Applejack charged the figure, bringing down her hooves to have them caught by it. He threw her back a step and stepped in, slashing cruelly along her side.

Scootaloo zipped in with her small sword in mouth, jabbing it into the intruder's side. His flesh was far tougher than Scootaloo would have guessed, and she could barely score a nick. Sweetie glanced around nervously before she took a slow breath and began to sing a song of winter's end. Apple Bloom went for a bomb, tossing it behind the figure where it struck the door he was guarding, singeing him and the door in the flash of fire. Applejack muttered words of power, making her hooves glow with electric might even as she lashed out with them. She planted her hooves in the chest of the biped, knocking him back through the weakened doors with the sizzling crackle of her power.

The figure quickly scrambled to his feet. "Long enough." He vanished without a sound.

The girls charged past the vanished presence. One door was open on the left side and they moved to charge through it, only to come up short. Applejack's eyes widened and she threw herself sideways, blocking the view. "Back! Everypony back!" She ushered the Crusaders out of the room and pulled the door shut.

Scootaloo tilted her head with confusion. "What is it, AJ? Why'd we stop?"

Applejack shook her head, shivering from head to hooves. "Nothin', jus'... nothin'. Stay there."

The butler arrived not too long after. "I heard a noise. Is something wrong?"

Applejack nodded towards him and waved him closer. She leaned in close and whispered in his ear. "There is... a body in that room."

The butler frowned. "Terrible, but hardly your first I should think? You look like you've seen a ghost, madame."

Applejack stomped her forehooves on the ground. "This one ah know! Jus'... do what's gotta be done..."

The butler nodded silently and moved around Applejack, proceeding into the room.

The Crusaders were confused as a group. Apple Bloom approached the still-shaking Applejack. "Sis, tell us what's wrong."

Before Applejack could answer, the door opened and a small shape darted out. Sunflower tripped and collapsed between Scootaloo and Sweetie, sobbing hysterically. Applejack went rigid a moment before advancing on the kitten. "This world ain't right in the head." She grabbed Sunflower and deposited the kitten on her back. "There, there..." She almost said everything would be alright, but that would be a lie.

Scootaloo frowned before she took flight and landed lightly on Applejack's back. She softly poked Sunflower. "Hey, come on. What's going on?" For her efforts, she was tackled by Sunflower, both falling off of Applejack with a thump.

"My mom!" he wailed. "She's dead!"

Applejack winced, but she couldn't take back the words.

Apple Bloom frowned. "What? Who did done it? We'll show 'em a thing or three!"

Applejack stomped a hoof. "Apple Bloom! We are not playing city guard."

Sweetie Bloom shuddered before she turned her head away. "I don't like this anymore. I want to go home. Now."

Scootaloo patted Sunflower down the back. "Oh wow... Uh... So... how'd it happen?"

Sunflower began to recover in Scootaloo's earnest comforting. "Some strange cat snuck in while we were sleeping. She cast a funny spell that woke me up and suddenly I was falling. Good thing... I have wings." He spread his wings as if to demonstrate this fact. "When I got out of the hole, Mom was..." He didn't seem able to finish the thought, looking to the ground.

Applejack sank heavily to her haunches. "I shoulda..."

Apple Bloom tilted her head at Applejack, "Shoulda what? Ya woke us up and came as quick as ya could."

Applejack snorted softly. "Ah coulda just came. I mighta caught the cat before she... I messed up."

Apple Bloom hopped up to swat Applejack's face with a hoof. "Stop that! We're a team! Ya did the right thing."

Applejack looked at the angry Apple Bloom a moment before she smirked a little. "The day ah let mah little sis boss me around." She reached for and snatched up Apple Bloom, hugging her tight. "Thanks, sis."

The door opened and the butler arrived carrying something wrapped up in bed linens. It didn't take much creativity to guess what it might be, and they all turned away, except for Sunflower. He charged the butler's legs. "Give her back!"

The butler moved on, unimpeded by the child's antics. "I'm afraid I can't do that."

Scootaloo advanced to pull Sunflower off of the butler. "Let him go. This isn't easy for him either."

Applejack tried to remember what roused her in the first place, but all the excitement and drama had driven the dream entirely into fog. "Bring him with us. He'll sleep in our room tonight." She rose up and tossed Apple Bloom onto her back before moving to return to their quarters.

Sleep came slowly for the group, but eventually they could find it, and morning came.

A soft knocking from the door woke them. The door opened shortly after and the old face of Lady Longtail peeked in. "I hope I'm not disturbing, but this is not something that can wait." She advanced across the room, moving for the bed filled with ponies, and one kitten. She plucked up the kitten easily, holding Sunflower close. "Poor thing... In my own house..." Sunflower curled up against his grandmother.

Applejack thought back a moment as she sat up. "Uh, pardon mah ignorance, but ah seem ta recall there were ways of... undoing that kinda thing? Mah friend went through it once."

Lady Longtail looked at Applejack with some surprise. "Did they? Even the most basic of ways to turn back death's hand is more expensive than most people ever see in their lives. The... attacker... made that quite impossible."

Apple Bloom, now fully awake, asked, "How'd they do that?"

Lady Longtail's lips went flat and strained. "That is not something I want to discuss with children present, foal or kitten. You're all very brave, but that isn't right."

Author's Notes:

Well, there goes the downtime. I hope the girl's enjoyed it while it lasted!

The typos dream too, I hear.

13 - Tell It to Me Straight

Longtail had departed to take care of affairs brought about by the attack, leaving Applejack and the others behind. Apple Bloom looked up at AJ. "Enough dawdlin'. Ah know it's not a good thing, but what happened?"

Applejack shook her head, "There ain't no reason for ya to know. Go on and play."

Apple Bloom glanced aside at Scootaloo, who nodded and spoke in solidarity. "We can't 'go and play' until we're home."

Sweetie Belle suddenly grabbed Sunflower by the forepaw in her mouth, tugging him away. He went with her and soon they were across the courtyard, out of earshot.

Apple Bloom gestured after Sweetie Belle. "There, Sweetie's gone. Not that there's nothing wrong with her, but ah don't think she wants ta hear it. But ah do! Stop treating us like little fillies."

Applejack mustered to full height, towering over Apple Bloom. "Ya are little fillies! Ah mean ta return ya home still as little fillies. Ya don't need to hear 'bout that kinda thing."

Scootaloo crossed her forelegs and squatted on her haunches. "Well I want to know what's going on! This isn't Equestria, AJ. I mean... I appreciate having you around. You're awesome! But what if you're not there? I want to know."

Applejack tipped her hat forward over her eyes and sank. "Fine... Whoever done killed Willow went through tha' effort of clean carving out her heart." Applejack shuddered. "It was a most unkind killing, uh, not that there are many kind ones."

Apple Bloom raised a hoof, "Ya done pummeled those kobolds?"

Applejack frowned and shuffled. "Ah did... but they were fighting back. They had a chance. Poor Willow was sleeping in bed right snuggled up beside her kitten... If a kobold stopped and gave up, ah woulda left it alone. Willow didn't get that chance." She shook herself out. "Do ya really think Ahm as bad as the assassin?"

Scootaloo quickly shook her head. "No way! You're awesome, Applejack!" She launched herself into the air, landing on Applejack's back easily. "We're just trying to understand."

Apple Bloom nodded slowly as she glanced across the way to Sweetie and Sunflower. "Yeah... What are we gonna do now? That was the same big fella that tried ta foalnap us before. Ah bet he was with the same cat. Were they looking fer us?"

Applejack's expression darkened. "Maybe... Listen, girls. Ahm gonna do everything ah can ta protect all of ya."

Scootaloo hugged Applejack's head from behind. "Of course you will. We're friends. We're here for you too."

Apple Bloom bobbled her head. "We're Cutie Mark Crusaders! We won't let each other down, no matter what!"

Applejack sagged a little. "How can y'all still be so galldurn chipper after all that?"

Scootaloo suddenly stood up on Applejack's back. "I'm going to see if Lady Longtail needs any help." She spread her wings and took off in a flash, reveling in the feeling of flight despite the events of the night. Hearing voices ahead, she came for a gentle landing. Hovering proved to be a lot harder in practice than Rainbow Dash made it look.

A male voice spoke. It sounded like the butler. "The cost of reviving her would bankrupt you, madame. The savings have been going nowhere but down slowly over the years, and ten thousand coin in just the materials is enough to ruin you."

A muffled grunt, and something being knocked over, then several shattered objects. "Then I'll be ruined! If it's a choice between dying a pauper and letting one of my precious daughters lay dead, then so be it! The Sun King will smile on me, if no one else will."

Scootaloo froze a moment, then turned tail and fled back where she came from on uncertain wings. She landed beside Applejack and Apple Bloom with wide eyes.

Applejack tilted her head at Scootaloo. "Couldn't find her?"

Scootaloo shook her head quickly. "I found her. She was talking. I think she's going to sell everything to afford fixing Willow."

Applejack sunk to her haunches. "Ah... Ah would do the same, if selling the farm would bring Apple Bloom back." She reached out and pulled Apple Bloom closer. "Ah don't even wanna think about that."

Apple Bloom squirmed a little before settling into the embrace of her distressed sister. "We should help, not feel bad for her!"

Scootaloo smiled at the idea. "Yeah! I like the sound of that. How?"

Apple Bloom shrugged. "I dunno, but it mighta been our fault she was attacked at all! We could do more jobs, get more money so she doesn't haveta sell the manor."

Applejack released Apple Bloom with a heavy sigh. "Ah know that tone ah voice. You're going whether I like it or not, so Ah'll just say Ahm going too."

Apple Bloom hopped up to kiss Applejack on the nose. "Yer the best, sis. Let's get Sweetie."

They arrived shortly to find Sweetie Belle and Sunflower seated across from each other. They were clearly in discussion until the rest approached and looked up at them.

Scootaloo spoke up first, pointing towards the rest of the city. "We're going to go back to Louis and get some more jobs, make some money, and help pay to get Willow back."

Sunflower bounced to his feet. "You can fix Mom?!"

Sweetie Belle blinked at the news. "You can?"

Scootaloo nodded quickly. "I heard Lady Longtail talking about it. She can barely afford it. She's going to sell off the whole manor to do it. We shouldn't let her do that."

Sweetie Belle's expression turned hard as she looked towards the ground a moment, then pushed up to her hooves. "Alright... I'll help with that."

Sunflower thumped his chest. "I'll help too!"

Apple Bloom crossed her forelegs. "Sorry, but this is Cutie Mark Crusader business. Yer not an adventurer."

Sunflower snorted at Applebloom. "You're just a kitten like me! It's my mom! You can't stop me from helping!"

Applejack sighed softly. "Ah'd rather ya didn't, Sunflower. What will yer mother think if we bring her back and ya ain't here to greet her? We can't have ya getting hurt."

Sunflower let out an angry hiss. "She's my mother! Not yours! I can't... won't... How can you go off and do dangerous things for her and tell me not to? I'm the alpha now! I command you bring me."

Scootaloo tilted her head. "Alpha?" She slid down off of Applejack and approached the other Crusaders. "I don't think he's wrong. It is his mother we're talking about..."

Sweetie looked at Sunflower, then back at the others. "I say we make him a Crusader."

Apple Bloom huffed. "What?! He ain't even a pony! He don't got no cutie mark and never will."

Sweetie raised a hoof. "Where in the rules did we ever say they had to be a pony? He doesn't have a cutie mark, therego, he can join." She looked smugly satisfied with her logic.

Scootaloo gave a slow nod. "I think she's right. We never said Crusaders had to be ponies."

Apple Bloom went crestfallen. "You too, Scootaloo? Fine!" She pointed a hoof at Sunflower. "Yer in! But before ya get official, we have ta do an initiation."

Applejack tilted her head. "Ah don't remember none of that."

Sweetie smiled at Applejack. "Of course. You're just an honorary member. You already have your cutie mark, you can't be a crusader."

Sunflower looked excited at the news, smiling widely. "Alright! We're going to fix Mom! Uh... how?"

Scootaloo raised a hoof. "First we should talk to Lady Longtail and make sure she doesn't sell the house while we're busy." She was gone quickly.

Apple Bloom looked off in the direction Scootaloo went in. "Ah think she's enjoying her wings plenty... Alright, Sweetie? Ready to swear in Sunflower?"

Sweetie moved to stand beside Apple Bloom, nodding firmly. "We, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, elect Sunflower to join us as sis... brother, friend, etc., etc., etc., and fellow Cutie Mark Crusader! You are solemnly sworn in, here this day, in witness of your fellow sisters, confidantes, etc., etc., etc."

Apple Bloom spread her hooves wide. "Congratulations!"

Applejack nodded lightly as she sighed. "And ah get another little one ta protect. Y'all gonna drive me ta drink."

Apple Bloom stuck out her tongue at Applejack. "Ya drink already. When we get back to Equestria, ya gonna let me have a taste of that cider?"

Applejack looked ready to quickly deny, then paused. "When we get safely back home... Ah think Ah'll treat everypony to a cup."

Sweetie clopped her hooves together, voice squeaking in excitement. "Really?! I heard stories about Apple family cider."

Applejack nodded with a prideful expression. "Best darn cider this side of Equestria! Ya ain't had cider till ya had ours."

Sunflower looked confused at the exchange. "What's cider?"

Apple Bloom snorted. "What? They don't got cider 'round here?"

Scootaloo returned with Lady Longtail following her. Longtail looked to Applejack directly. "What is this I hear about you raising money?"

Applejack tipped her head. "We feel partially responsible fer all the trouble. We're gonna go and get some jobs and help ya pay ta fix Willow up good as new, so don't go selling the manor just yet. Ya deserve yer home, and she deserves to have this home ta return to."

Longtail let out a slow long breath. "And you're bringing all your foals with you?"

Sweetie pointed at Sunflower. "And Sunflower!"

Longtail's eyes widened. "What? Sunflower, get over here this instant!"

Sunflower shrank back, then fled behind Sweetie. "No! I'm not going to let these ponies work for Mom and hide here."

Longtail's tail lashed fitfully behind her. "You're not an adventurer! What do you know of defending yourself? You'll only slow them down. Now get over here, you rascal of a kitten."

Sunflower stuck out his tongue. "Make me!"

Applejack suddenly plucked Sunflower up by the scruff of his neck and dropped him in front of Longtail. An instant later, Longtail secured him. "Your mother will never forgive me if I let you come to harm, Sunflower."

Sunflower squirmed mightily in the grip, proving to be quite the pawful for the old cat. "I won't forgive me if I don't help get Mom back! Let me go!"

Scootaloo tilted her head. "Excuse me, Lady Longtail? If he hasn't tried adventuring before, how can you know if he's good at it or not? We'll make sure he stays safe, but he might turn out to be a great adventurer!"

Apple Bloom bobbed her head in agreement with this line of thinking. "Yeah! We were new at adventuring too but we're getting tha hang of it real fast!"

Lady Longtail sunk to the ground, tears staining her muzzle. "That's exactly what I'm afraid of." She released Sunflower. "There are rarely happy endings for thrill-seekers and adventurers. Please... Come back safely. Your mother will miss you too much, and your grandmother will die of grief and shame."

Sunflower staggered to his feet, then spun on Longtail. He thumped his chest. "I'll be back! Promise! We'll have so much money we'll bring back Mom and get her a great gift!"

Author's Notes:

A new member has joined the party! But what good will he be?

Maybe his kitty eyes are better at spotting typos?

14 - The Call to Adventure

The butler led the group of five through the manor to the armory. "The Lady has insisted you be given full access to whatever will assist you." They entered the room of weapons and armor, but the butler proceeded across the room. His clever fingers caught under a shelf and lifted. With a grunt, a hidden niche was revealed with a mace, chain armor, and a rapier inside. "These are heirloom pieces, enchanted with magic. I would ask that you return them, even if Lady Longtail has given leave for you to take what you will. It does not do for a house to surrender its past."

Applejack moved up to inspect the pieces, then looked down to Scootaloo. "Ya can figure out magic things, right?"

Scootaloo bobbed her head before intoning the proper spell. She gazed over each slowly. "The shirt just kinda glowy. I don't think it's special besides being magic..." Her eyes turned to the rapier. "Ooo!" She hopped up and grabbed the rapier in her mouth and gave it a few swings. It burst into flame in her mouth, illuminating the room slightly in dancing light with her energetic waves. Scootaloo dismissed the flame, set the rapier down, then pulled the one she had out and switched for it. "Mine."

Applejack snorted softly before pointing at the mace. "One left."

Sunflower wandered the room, gazing from one piece to the next with wide eyes. Scootaloo squinted at the mace a moment intently before announcing. "It's..." She frowned and pulled out her spell book and leafed through it quickly. "Uh, a ghost-hunting mace? Cool, but we're not hunting ghosts are we?"

Sunflower reached up and took the mace, giving it a swinging about. It was a light mace, and rested easily enough in his paws. "If we see any, I'll be ready for them!" Sunflower turned the mace over and pointed at the bottom. "Look, it's got the family crest on it." There was an icon of the sun with a tail wrapped around it.

Applejack pulled the armor off. "Everypony got what they want? Get something t'wear. Yer fur ain't gonna protect much." She heaved a sigh. "Ah can't believe Ahm saying that."

Far better equipped than when they entered, the Crusaders departed the manor they had just started to call home. On the way out, they saw Lady Longtail engaged in conversation with one of the ratfolk. It sounded serious, but they didn't pry into it. Sunflower waved wildly at her on the way past. "Bye Grandma! We'll be back with stacks of gold in no time!"

Apple Bloom giggled a little. "Ah can't promise we'll be back with all of it that fast. Alright, ah think it's time we went over signals."

"Signals?"

Sweetie bobbed her head. "We have to stick together, and that means knowing what to do. If one of us does this." She made a motion with her hoof. "It means find something to hide under super fast."

Scootaloo winced. "Ugh, last time we used that, I got shot." She laughed it off though. "This one means charge!"

Applejack watched out of the corner of her eyes. She might not have been a full crusader, but knowing what her little companions were planning couldn't hurt.

Apple Bloom nodded towards Sunflower as they reached the end of the tutorial. "Don't worry about giving signals at first. Yer a new member, so just follow our lead, alright?"

Sunflower bristled a little at the idea. "But I'm the man here..."

Sweetie tilted her head. "Man?"

Sunflower bobbed his head. "Alpha, male. You're all girls. I should be in charge and take care of you, not the other way around."

Scootaloo suddenly sailed over Sunflower, bumping his head with her dangling hind legs very much on purpose. "That's stupid. We have more experience."

Applejack gave a soft snort. "Ya reckon ya can take care of me?"

Sunflower craned his head back to look up at the relatively towering Applejack. "Uh..."

Applejack reached out a hoof and gently nudged Sunflower. "We can wrastle for it if ya like?"

Sunflower shook his head quickly. "No ma'am! You can be in charge for now."

Applejack tipped her head. "Mighty magnanimous of ya."

Sunflower leaned towards Sweetie. "What's that mean?"

Sweetie beamed brightly. "She said you were nice!"

"Oh."

They traveled through the city to return to that dark tavern. Their contact was in the back, shuffling papers as if he had never left, though his drink was decidedly orange that day. His eyes raised to look at the four ponies and kitten that approached. "You're not dead! I assume that means the job went well?"

Applejack nodded her head. "Yep. Job was a mite tougher than expected, but we were paid fair. We're ready for more. We're saving up for something special."

Apple Bloom advanced just ahead of Applejack. "Do ya got something special?"

Louis raised a furry brow. "You can take care of rats, but you haven't earned your way into 'special' yet. I have two jobs I can part with." He quickly searched through the papers and laid them down in easy view. "The first is a guard detail for a warehouse. The owner's extremely paranoid about a shipment going through it. They're willing to pay ten gold per head, per night, and it should be a week. That's 350 in your pocket for what is likely easy work."

He nudged the other paper forward. "The other is an exploratory assignment. Cat discovered some ruins in his backyard while trying to dig out a cellar and is nervous something spooky will come out and eat him in his sleep. This one doesn't have a guaranteed pay. You get full looting rights, and that's it. Could be great, or nothing, can't say. Could be a boring walk around some old tunnels and a waste of time. Who knows?"

Applejack turned towards the Crusaders. "Well, ah like the one we know what we'll get paid fer."

Apple Bloom nodded slowly. "But... what if we look around the other one first, then we go play guards? We get both!"

Louis pushed the papers forward. "I like that foal's style. The shipment arrives in two days, so you have that long to finish exploring the other one, or you'll have to put it on pause and come back. The warehouse isn't negotiable. If you aren't there, you don't get paid. Since the ruins aren't being paid for, that cat gets what he gets."

Sunflower advanced to claim the papers, looking them over curiously. "There could be a mountain of gold..."

Scootaloo giggled. "Or a big fat nothing. Let's find out!" She thrust a hoof forward. "Cutie Mark Crusaders Ruin Explorers!" Her hoof was met by Sweetie and Bloom swiftly, with Sunflower's paw coming in shortly after, and Applejack's larger hoof finishing the job.

As the party turned to depart, Louis tapped Applejack on the flank. She turned sharply to find him offering a vial. "For the little ones. Let it not be said I have no heart. If they get hurt, give it to them."

Applejack accepted the vial and tucked it away into her saddlebag. "Thanks kindly. Ya ain't so bad, uh, fer a cat..." She trailed off, looking awkward.

Louis waved it off. "Go on. Try not to get them all killed."

Applejack frowned sharply at that. "Ah'll do mah best." Then she departed.

They proceeded through the crowded city, but were less hedged in that day than when they arrived. Armed and armored, they seemed to repel most of the casual contact. They were dressed like adventurers, ready to fight, and were given berth for it. Even the smaller Crusaders commanded a minimum of respect with their obvious weaponry on display.

Scootaloo took notice of the difference. "I could get used to this. I don't feel like somepony's gonna step on me."

Sweetie bobbed her head in agreement. She was the least obviously equipped of them, and stuck to the middle of their little herd. "I think I see it."

'It' turned out to be a small one-story house that, unlike most of the buildings in the area, had a small space on either side separating it from its neighbors . Scootaloo flew up and knocked on the door, clopping her hoof on the wood.

The door swung open to reveal a wiry looking purrsian with sandy brown fur. "What?"

Applejack tipped her hat at the cat. "Howdy. We heard ya had a problem out back and came ta fix it fer ya."

He nodded and waved a scrawny paw towards the back. "Go 'round the side and she's all yours. I don't want to hear about it. Tell me when it's safe." The door slapped shut without waiting for reply.

Sunflower wrinkled his nose. "He's not a very good purrsian."

Sweetie lifted an ear at Sunflower. "What do you mean?"

Sunflower shrugged. "Well, you can be a greedy cat, but he isn't that, because he's letting us take everything we find. He could be a nice cat, but..." He waved at the door. "He isn't that either. He's a coward, hiding scared in his house and doing nothing." He put his paws on his hips. "I'm going to be a great purrsian and make Mom proud."

Apple Bloom stuck out her tongue. "You better be the nice kind of cat or we'll have a problem. There's no room for greedy cats in the Cutie Mark Crusaders."

Sweetie bobbed her head. "He is a nice kind of cat! He was telling me about when they were lost in the middle of nowhere! Nopony wanted to do anything, so he went into the forest and hunted up food for everypony!"

Applejack raised a brow. "Ah remember that a little different... But yes, Sunflower's a good cat. Come on, let's have a look at what we came fer." She led the way around the building. There was a jagged hole in the sandy dirt, leading into darkness. "Sweetie? Send some of your light down there."

Sweetie clopped her hooves before letting out a sweet note. Balls of light erupted around her, then zipped down quickly into the hole, revealing a large room made of stone. It looked like sand had poured in from above in uneven piles. They could easily see two doors of stone leading elsewhere, but they were closed. Sweetie leaned over the edge a little. "Looks like it's time to explore."

The drop wasn't far, and with Applejack to serve as a landing point for Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, they were soon underground. Applejack lowered herself for her two passengers to slide free. "Stick togetha, alright? We'll do this nice and slow and safe. Ya won't do a lick a good to nopony if ya get hurt."

Author's Notes:

Character sheets updated at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxUh1iVHP4kiUzBCTk14bVhsalU/view?usp=sharing

Want to support the author? Join the patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ponyfinder

The group proceeds on their first true 'adventure', but little do they know the true horrors lurking underground are the typos.

15 - Beneath the Sands

Apple Bloom, once she was dismounted from Applejack, began looking around the room in a slow circling patrol. "Nopony move." She paused after several minutes of searching and pointed. "Ah see a pressure plate or somethin'."

Sunflower suddenly approached. "Where? I'll take care of it."

Apple Bloom tilted her head in confusion. "Ya know how ta work with traps? When'd ya learn that?"

Sunflower arrived at the spot Apple Bloom had indicated and pulled out a few thin wires, getting to work with his deft little fingers. "Some of my friends are very naughty cats..."

Scootaloo tilted her head. "What kind of friend shows you how to do that?"

"Very naughty ones." Sunflower hopped back up to his paws. "All fixed."

Sweetie huffed softly. "They don't sound like the kind of cats we want to be around."

Sunflower shrugged. "You're more fun if that's what you're asking. Come on, let's go!" He moved to the door beside the plate and began pushing against it. Fire exploded in a jet from the door and the small kitten wheeled out of the way in a roll that almost defied physics.

Applejack called out, "Ya OK?!"

Sunflower was soon on his paws again, shaking himself out. "I'm OK! Just a little crispy."

Sweetie Belle approached and gently banished the scorches Sunflower got with a sweet note of her song magic. "Please be more careful."

Scootaloo grinned. "That's good news!"

Applejack tilted her head at Scootaloo. "How do ya figure?"

Scootaloo pointed to the slightly-ajar door. "Why would you put a trap, no, two traps, on somewhere that doesn't have anything?"

Apple Bloom bobbed her head. "Good point! Let's go find our treasure. Now don't touch anything! Let me look first." She trotted to the front and looked over the door before nudging it open carefully. The hallway beyond was about ten feet wide and extended well beyond the reach of their lights. Sweetie advanced beside Apple Bloom and sent her motes forward, revealing the hallway, and its inhabitants.

Several skeletal purrsians turned towards them, mouths open in silent hisses. Their wings flared in an odd display of bones as they began to approach. Applejack immediately lunged into action, practically leaping over the smaller fillies and moving towards the threat. "Ah can handle these things." One gave a powerful leap forward, only for Applejack's hoof to catch it and slam it into the ground, crushing the bone into the dust it came from. "Sticks an' stones. Mah hooves are a mighty fine replacement fer stones."

The other skeletons closed the distance and swiped at her, but her new chain shirt proved effective against their swipes, turning aside the reaching claws. Applejack spun around and lashed out with her powerful hind legs, sending the two back where they came from and shattering them on the door at the end of the hall. "All clear."

Apple Bloom stepped up beside Applejack and held out a hoof, for it to be met by her big sister. "Good job, sis! Ya sure showed them." Her progress slowed to a crawl as she inspected the hallway bit by bit after Applejack's location.

Applejack tilted her head. "Why so slow after me?"

Apple Bloom peeked over her shoulder. "If there were any traps before you, you'da hit them already."

Applejack didn't like that logic, but couldn't fight it either. She huffed and watched Apple Bloom, ready to move again.

Sunflower darted out between Applejack's legs and joined Apple Bloom in looking around. It didn't make it any faster, but two sets of eyes couldn't hurt.

Sunflower pointed. "Ah ha!"

Apple Bloom blinked at the spot he pointed at. "What? Ah don't see nothing."

Sunflower nodded. "Well, you see... when my friends wanted to get something, sometimes it was guarded by magic. That's magic. I know it." He pulled out his collection of wires and a few hooks. "I'll have this taken care of in two shakes of a tail."

Sweetie Belle looked over her shoulder and twitched her tail twice. It took five shakes before Sunflower was finished. When he was, the hallway before him flashed brightly, then went dull. "All done!"

Scootaloo gave a soft whistle. "You're more handy than I thought you'd be."

Sunflower wriggled his fingers. "That's because I have hands." All ponies present rolled their eyes.

They arrived at the door and inspected it before pushing it open to reveal a large mausoleum. There was an enormous casket on a raised dais with smaller caskets lining the walls. They weren't shaped like purrsians, or ponies. They were clearly bipeds, like a human or an elf. Applejack and the others advanced to have a look at the room. "Ah don't like tha look of this."

Sweetie shook her head. "Me neither, but if I was going to hide my treasure, this isn't a bad place for it."

Apple Bloom and Sunflower stepped into the room and began to look around when several of the caskets shoved their way open. Skeletal humanoids ambled out of them as the main casket disgorged a human wrapped in bandages. Sunflower suddenly froze in place, gaping at the bandaged figure. Apple Bloom grabbed Sunflower by the scruff and fled with him behind Applejack.

Applejack summoned her protective disc as she hunkered down to receive the attack of the undead. "Come on, ya varmints. Ya ain't getting past me!"

The skeletons were quick to oblige Applejack. They proved tougher than the purrsians in the hallway, but only by a small degree. Applejack was handling herself well when the bandaged one approached and she froze up in place, staring at it with a sudden abject terror.

Sweetie sang a melody of hope, but it had little effect on the frozen Applejack. Scootaloo moved to the fore as Sunflower and Apple Bloom pulled Applejack away with some effort. With her burning rapier, Scootaloo began wildly carving into the skeletons, shattering one of them into bits as the others scraped her delicate hide with dusty claws.

Sunflower rushed up to fight alongside Scootaloo. What he lacked in raw power, he made for in speed, acrobatically leaping past the skeletons and dashing them with swift mace blows to their backs. They were holding their own quite well until the bandaged one arrived, grabbing Sunflower by the scruff and throwing him violently against one of the caskets. The cat slumped to the ground where he struck, bleeding quietly.

Apple Bloom threw a bomb at the figure, and it roared in pain as flames licked at its dry bandages. "If ya got fire, it doesn't seem ta like that!"

"Fire, got it!" Scootaloo ignored the two remaining skeletons in favor of engaging the larger menace, driving her rapier into its unliving flesh.

Applejack suddenly shook free of the terror that had seized her up and drove a hoof down on a skeleton creeping up on Scootaloo. "None o' that! Sweetie, can ya reach Sunflower? He's hurt!"

Sweetie shook her head violently, but didn't reply with words, still singing her song.

Applejack let out a soft sigh and surged forward. The larger undead slammed into her as she barreled past, leaving a bruise but not keeping her from quickly reaching the fallen kitten.

Sweetie approached Scootaloo, mending the worst of the scratches she'd received in her battle. Though her song spoke of bravery, she was shaking like a leaf.

Scootaloo gave a quick thanks as she ducked under a lunge of a bandaged hand. She stabbed upwards into the dry arm. A bomb sailed past the creature, catching it in its explosive burst. Scootaloo grinned with confidence just a moment before a hand swatted her aside. She crashed against the wall and collapsed to the ground, rapier going out along with her consciousness.

Apple Bloom grabbed up the rapier and held it up towards the creature, shivering in her own fear. "Come on... Ah can take ya..."

"Hey! Big n' ugly!" The mummy turned to face the hindquarters of Applejack. She lashed out her hooves with a mighty cry, catching it in a terrible double buck, electricity crackling over its unliving form. It sailed over Apple Bloom's head and crashed to the ground, unmoving. Sunflower rushed over to it a moment later, pummeling its still form with his mace for good measure.

Sweetie rushed for Scootaloo's prone form and sung her back to wakefulness, cradling her dear friend tight. Scootaloo jerked awake and looked around. "Did we win?"

Apple Bloom spat out the rapier before bobbing her head. "We did! That was..."

"Intense!" said Scootaloo. "Rainbow Dash woulda been so proud of me."

Applejack raised a brow a little. "Ah'm proud of ya right now, Scoots. Y'all did mighty fine."

Sweetie Belle shoved Scootaloo out of her lap. "Intense?! You almost died!"

Scootaloo tilted her head. "But I didn't. We did it, together. We were great!"

Apple Bloom raised a hoof towards her big sister. "Ya saved mah flank, thanks!"

Applejack met the hoof. "Ah'd rather not have ta, but yer welcome. Is everypony OK?"

A chorus of affirmatives echoed to her and Applejack turned to start exploring the room all the undead spilled out of. "Well, we might as well have a look around in here, but ah motion we call it a day after this. Sweetie, how ya holding up fer song magic?"

Sweetie shook her head. "No more healing, but I can still sing."

Apple Bloom pointed at her bandoleer of potions. "I have healing potions. Applejack, why don't ya take one, in case?"

Applejack moved to accept the offer, claiming one of her potions to tuck away for later.

Sunflower suddenly gave a triumphant cry. He was holding an amulet in his paws. "Look! I bet it's worth a million gold! The dead human was wearing it."

Scootaloo pointed to the ground. "Put it down and I'll look it over." Sunflower rushed over to do just that, and a quick spell allowed Scootaloo to inspect its magic. "It's... for bucking things real good, or punching, or kicking, or biting."

Applejack tilted her head, then reached for it. She soon had a new fashion accessory dangling around her neck. "Well until we sell it, might as well enjoy it. No wonder that thing was hitting so hard."

Apple Bloom pointed at Applejack. "Didn't it hit you?"

Applejack glanced at her side. "Well, yeah, but it'll take more'n that ta keep yer big sis down!"

They began searching the rest of the room, sifting through the scattered bones and peeking into the many caskets.

Sweetie Belle spotted something in the larger casket and with a pull of her magic, she gently extracted a bit of silk clothing that had resisted rot over the ages. "Look at this!" Without waiting for permission, she casually slipped out of her clothes and into the new dress and looked herself over. "It fits me perfectly!"

Scootaloo blinked at Sweetie. "Why did you just do that? Stand still, let me see if it's magic." She inspected the clothing on her friend and nodded. "Try thinking of it as some other design."

Sweetie clopped her hooves excitedly. "I knew it was special!" Her dress changed at her mental command, cycling through a few different patterns she had seen her sister use in dressmaking. "This is amazing!" Sweetie's gloomy attitude seemed to melt with the simple joy of experimenting with her new silk dress. It seemed whichever way she wore it, it accentuated her figure subtly. "Do we have to sell it? It makes me extra pretty."

Apple Bloom giggled at Sweetie's antics. "Yer not old enough to be lookin' for a special somepony yet. Whattaya need to be extra pretty fer?"

Scootaloo waved it off. "What's wrong with being pretty? It runs in her family."

Sweetie bobbled her head at Scootaloo. "Rarity would just die to have one of these. I want to show it to her!"

Applejack shook her head slowly with an amused expression. "Well ah reckon ya can keep it fer now. We won't settle on what has ta go until we're done."

Author's Notes:

Ruins are dangerous, OK?

Typos are more dangerous, because you never see them coming and they have sneak attack!

16 - Second Wind

Applejack turned to depart when Sweetie Belle squeaked out, "Wait! Look!" She pointed where her motes clearly lit up the wall, showing a vast mural of what looked like a city with a great eyeball hovering over it. "What does it mean?"

The others peered at it quizzically a moment. Apple Bloom shrugged. "Bet it came from whoever built this place."

Sunflower moved up to the mural and joined in the peering before he pointed up at the eye. "I want to poke that."

Scootaloo was alright with granting that wish. She spread out her wings wide and launched herself up at the eye, prodding it with her hoof. The wall to the side of the mural began to move with the sound of stone grinding against stone, revealing a staircase that wound deeper into the earth. "Awesome!"

Applejack shook her head a little. "I swear, y'all got the special talent of finding trouble. Ah move we finish looking around up here before we consider looking down there."

Sweetie bobbed her head, but looked particularly pleased with herself. "We can come back to this."

Apple Bloom held up a hoof towards Sweetie. "Good job finding that." The hoof was quickly joined by Sweetie, then Scootaloo and Sunflower. They filed out into the first room in a cloud of giggles and excited chatter.

Applejack followed along with a more subdued energy. "Not sure we should be that happy..."

Apple Bloom and Sunflower rushed for the second door in the main room and looked it over. After being satisfied that it wasn't trapped, Sunflower reached for the knob and found it stuck. "Locked. I have this!" Sunflower got to work fixing the door's locked state without further prompting.

Scootaloo glanced to the side at Sweetie Belle. "Think we'll find something else cool in there?"

Sweetie Belle smiled nervously. "Maybe. Let's be careful, OK? We're down to whatever Apple Bloom has. Oh!"

Scootaloo tilted her head at Sweetie. "What?"

"I remembered where I heard about that thing we fought, with all the bandages! They're mummies!"

Apple Bloom blinked. "What? It's not mah mummy!"

Sweetie Belle snorted. "Not like a mom... Don't be silly."

The door's lock clicked satisfyingly as Sunflower defeated the mechanism at last. He stepped back with a grin, then opened it swiftly, letting lose a rapidly spreading carpet of beetles across the floor, walls, and even the ceiling in short order. The Crusaders shrieked in unison and ran away with more terror than they had before the forces of the undead.

Applejack made a face of displeasure, but saw no reason to get worked up over bugs, until Sunflower let out a pained mewl and joined in the retreat, swiping at several beetles that had bit through his clothing and fur to find tender flesh. "What tha?" She stepped towards the spreading carpet and brought down a hoof, crushing several of the bugs, but there were countless more. Not even registering the loss of their friends, they began to scuttle up Applejack's leg, biting and tearing as they went.

Applejack let loose a most unkind word as she backed away, shaking loose the ones attached to her. Apple Bloom pulled out a bomb. "Ah got this!" She threw the bomb into the center of the mass where it exploded in a bright flare of heat, taking out a wide hole of the bugs. The carpet began to home in on Bloom quickly. She bared her teeth nervously and dug out her last prepared bomb. "Here goes nuthin'." The swarm was scuttling across the room with an unsettling speed. All the others dared not stand beside Apple Bloom. The second bomb she threw blew up at the head of the swarm. Despite so many of their member being roasted and crisped, they still came. Apple Bloom shrank back in terror just before Scootaloo rushed overhead and grabbed her up, coming to a rough landing across the room. "Thanks Scoots!"

Scootaloo rushed for Applejack without delay. "Give me Twilight's book, now!"

Applejack offered up the book numbly. "Whatcha gonna do?"

Scootaloo looked to Apple Bloom. "Distract them! Don't let them get on you!"

Apple Bloom saluted and pulled out a potion. After guzzling it down quickly, she zipped across the room with supernatural speed, taunting and leading the swarm around in wide circles.

Scootaloo almost threw the book down and flipped through it hurriedly. "It doesn't have the spell! I knew I saw it somewhere!"

Applejack blinked. "What spell?" She dug out her own book and tossed it aside Twilight's. "Is it in here?"

Scootaloo grinned. "Here it is! Apple Bloom, keep it up!" She started reading hurriedly, trying to cram the spell into her head as quickly as possible.

Apple Bloom did her best, scurrying around away from the swarm and trying to keep its attention away from Scootaloo. Her spell ran dry, but she was still just a little faster than the swarm in her fearful running. "Almost done? This is getting mighty tiring!"

"Hold on a second..."

Apple Bloom eventually collapsed, only to be ferried to safety by Sunflower and replaced by Sweetie Belle, who added the delight of her piercing shrieks as she ran about with the swarm dangerously close to her soft tail. Scootaloo finally slammed the book shut and rushed for the swarm. She reared up onto her hind legs and thrust her forehooves forward. "Burning hooves!" Flames washed out over the bugs, driving them to scatter into the dark corners, losing their cohesion.

Apple Bloom looked up at Applejack. "Why'd ya get that spell?"

Applejack shrugged. "Seemed a good idea fer dealing wit' timber wolves. Scootaloo, what did ya just do? Ah'm used to doing all mah reading at the start of the day."

Apple Bloom nodded in agreement. "Yeah, ah make all mah potions when ah wake up."

Scootaloo pointed to Twilight's book. "Twillight said, er, wrote, that you don't have to do them all. I left some room for a new spell, just in case."

Sunflower slapped Scootaloo's back with a grin. "Good thing you did! We did it!"

Applejack collected both books, tucking them away. "Shame it takes so long, but good thinking, Scootaloo. Ya done good."

Sweetie moved to the door all the bugs had rushed out of and peered inside. "Looks like it used to be a bath."

The others moved to join her and agreed. It had the shape of a large bath tub in the floor, almost a pool in size. The tiles were faded, but were clearly made to handle water. Apple Bloom gravitated towards some vials perched beside the pool and popped them open to sniff and inspect them. "Soap... shampoo... What the..." She picked up the third one and held it up towards one of the motes before shaking it up and looking again. After thorough investigation she announced. "Ah think it's a hair grower."

Sweetie giggled. "We all have enough hair."

Apple Bloom tucked it away. "Maybe it's worth somethin' to somepony what don't have no hair."

Applejack pointed towards the hole in the ceiling of the first room. "Well ah reckon that's enough fer today. Don't know about y'all but I'm ready fer a tall drink and some relaxation."

Scootaloo bobbed her head. "We did real good! Tomorrow we can get the rest. Maybe we won't even need that other job."

It took more effort to get out than to get in, but the group eventually emerged into the afternoon sun of the city. As they made their way back to the manor, they ran into a new pony with dark sandy fur and a bright smile. She bowed at the group. "What a rare pleasure to run into so many other ponies in this city! Come, we must share tales and drinks!"

Applejack tilted her head. "That sounds right up mah alley right about now. Whattaya say girls?"

Apple Bloom nudged Applejack. "That mean ah get to have a drink?"

Applejack raised a hoof. "Sure does, something non-alky-holic."

Apple Bloom pouted, but they all followed Applejack and the new pony to a nearby tavern.

Sweetie moved amongst the others. "Don't talk too much about what we were doing."

Sunflower looked baffled. "Why not? I want to talk about how great we all were."

Scootaloo clopped her hooves together. "No, she's right! If they know where we're going, or think we're doing too good, they may follow us. We could get attacked."

Apple Bloom frowned at the thought and rushed over to Applejack. Using her esteemed sister privileges, she clambered up onto the larger mare and scooted forward until she was by an ear. She whispered softly in an ear, "Play it off like we're barely getting by. Don't want nopony trying ta steal our stuff."

Applejack nodded and smiled at the new mare. "So, never caught yer name?"

They all enjoyed well-deserved refreshment from their adventure, playing up the dangers while downplaying the rewards of their ventures. Sweetie suddenly jumped as a paw slapped her flank.

"Dance for us!" commanded a male purrsian. "You are a performer, are you not?"

Sweetie perked her ears, "What? Oh, uh, I guess..."

"Don't be shy." The purrsian laughed. "We tip well if you can amuse us."

Sweetie suddenly got a devious look and leaned towards the purrsian. "I'm very exclusive. I'm afraid I can't sing for you unless you pay up front."

Apparently the purrsian liked what he saw, and he marshalled his friends into raining down coins around Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom quickly gathered them up and counted before nodding at her. Sweetie smiled brightly and looked around. Spotting a small performing stage, she rushed for it and hopped up onto it. She stood before the small crowd, swallowing back some fear that threatened to well up in her. If she could face off against horrible mummies and nasty beetles... She took a slow breath before she closed her eyes and let the music within her free.

The tavern quieted as many eyes were drawn towards the sweetly-singing young mare. As she drew close to the end of the first song, she opened her eyes to find an adoring crowd smiling up at her. Her spirit soared with joy until a new figure climbed up onto the stage. It was the original purrsian. "You sing very good. But I want to see you dance. Come, dance with me little angel."

Sweetie shrank back from the purrsian. "Oh, uh, dancing's not really my specialty..."

Sunflower suddenly landed in front of Sweetie, between her and the pushy purrsian. "She said no! The rest of us want to hear singing. Buzz off!"

Sunflower's words were well chosen, inciting the rest of the crowd to start jeering and booing the offending purrsian.

"Let the pony sing!"

"Get off the stage!"

"You're ruining the show!"

Annoyed but seemingly unwilling to face the crowd, the purrsian stepped down and marched off with a grumble. Sweetie hugged Sunflower from behind. "Thanks!" She fell back to all fours and turned to the crowd. "Thank you everypony. One more song, just for being great." Sweetie sang all the more freely, her relief and pleasure coming through her words in notes that soothed the souls of all who listened to her.

Author's Notes:

Adventuring sure is hard work!

Good thing there's booze to be had afterwards.

Sadly, booze only increases the typo swarm!

17 - We Must Go Deeper

The next day saw them renewed and reinvigorated. Their success the day before felt strong in their minds, while the troubles had faded for most of them. Even Sweetie Belle seemed more enthusiastic about things. "Hey girls, look!" She did a slow turn around in her new outfit.

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom peered at her, but couldn't see much different about the silks on their friend. "What are we looking for?"

Sweetie Belle grinned. "It cleans itself! I also stretched it all out of place when I was running around and that's fixed too. This dress is amazing!"

Scootaloo threw a leg over Sweetie's neck and hugged her close. "We're going to make sure you can keep that."

Sweetie's expression brightened as her voice raised to a squeak. "Really?!"

Apple Bloom nodded. "Sure thang. Ya obviously like it a lot. Ah'm sure we can rustle up more things t'sell past that there secret door."

Sunflower ambled over to join them, smiling. "Good morning, girls."

"Hey Sunflower." Scootaloo held up a hoof to him and he slapped it with a paw. "Ready to explore?"

Applejack approached, completing the party. "Y'all looking mighty pleased with yerselves."

Sunflower bobbled his head. "We did it! We found lost treasure and defeated evil monsters, just like real heroes. I even got to rescue a fair maiden."

Apple Bloom blushed a little. "Hey! Ah'm a hero too, don't be calling me a fair maiden or nuthin'. Ah appreciate the help though."

Sweetie Belle colored as well. "I think he meant me. Thank you for being so brave, Sunflower. That big cat could have hurt you."

Sunflower waved a paw. "Proper gentlecats are supposed to stop brutes like that. Women folk shouldn't be harassed, especially when they're busy being amazing."

As reward for his words, Sweetie planted a kiss on his cheek and dashed off giggling towards the dining hall. Applejack snorted out a chuckle. "Ah clearly missed something? Glad everything worked out." She reached out a hoof and ruffled the top of Sunflower's head. "Yer a good kitten. Just try ta be more careful."

Sunflower barely registered her words, lost somewhere between a faint sense of disquiet from a female's sudden contact, and a thrill at the same. He looked up at Applejack. "Hey, can I ask you a question since you're an adult?"

Applejack tilted her head. "Sure thing, what's on yer mind?" The other girls had already vanished, following after Sweetie.

Sunflower pointed after the girls. "Can you have a pride of pony girls?"

This question befuddled Applejack. "Uh? Ah'm mighty proud of them mahself, sure. Come on, let's get some breakfast."

In the dining hall, the table was set with enough food for everyone, which included a few rats, one of whom was discussing things with Lady Longtail. They quieted when Applejack and Sunflower entered. Longtail reached for Sunflower and he dashed for her. They exchanged a warm morning hug. "You simply must tell me what you've been up to. The girls mentioned you were very brave."

Sunflower began going into great detail about his adventures, playing up his parts a little and making everything much more dramatic than it had been originally. Applejack settled into a place at the table and started serving herself, thankful for her magic letting her snatch things from the far side of the table without fuss. A rat beside her spoke up. "Don't worry. We have this covered."

Applejack blinked and looked down at the ratfolk. "What do ya have covered?"

He made a wide gesture. "All of this. This place is our warren now. We're going to protect it. Misses Longtail won't be attacked again while we're here." A few other rats at the table gave a quiet agreement of this. "She's doing right by us, we'll return the favor. Besides, she pays good for it, too. Best food I've had in months. And you should see our quarters!"

Applejack nodded with a smile. "Well that's right encouragin' ta hear. We'll be heading out again today, so don't be waiting on us."

Fed and ready, the group assembled themselves at the gates and departed out into the city. They approached the house of their 'employer' and Applejack gave a soft knock. No answer came from within. They moved around the building to discover a hole battered into the back end of it. Applejack bristled immediately. "Stay behind me." She proceeded into the gloom of the interior. There was a scent in the air she didn't like.

They found the cowardly owner of the house, battered and dead, just a foot away from his bed. Applejack succeeded in kicking the door shut before the others could get much a look at what was going on. She approached cautiously and looked over the body, prodding it. "Guess ya were right. They done got ya while yer sleepin'..."

The body suddenly lunged for Applejack, nicking her with sharp claws. She cried out in surprise and the door flew open, admitting the others in. "Ghoul!" cried out Sweetie Belle. "Don't let it bite you."

Sunflower rolled his eyes as he advanced. "I'll try not to, especially since you told me to."

Scootaloo drew out her flaming rapier and moved in to strike at it, making the ghoul leap out of the way to avoid it. Applejack thrust out a hoof, battering it back against the wall. "No ya don't!"

Sweetie clopped her hooves together encouragingly, but didn't try to get involved. Apple Bloom sat beside her. "Ah ain't throwing no bombs in here. It's way too cramped."

Sunflower rolled into place under a claw and closed the trap, enclosing the ghoul between the three melee combatants. His mace battered at its flesh, hitting at soft points and joints. The ghoul wasn't ready to accept defeat casually and went into a flurry of claws and teeth. It caught Scootaloo across the snout and she suddenly froze up like a statue, staring dead ahead without movement. It got another claw on Sunflower but he resisted the paralyzing poison. It went to complete its berserk fury with a lunge forward, but met the powerful back legs of Applejack for its trouble. She pounded the former-employer into the ground until she was quite certain it was dead. "Yer alright?"

Sunflower gave a crisp salute. "Barely got me, ma'am."

Scootaloo shook off the paralysis after a moment, slumping forward. "Woah! That was crazy."

Sweetie Belle looked between Scootaloo and Sunflower before giving her healing to Scootaloo, mending the bleeding wound on her snout. "What happened?"

Applejack snorted softly. "Ah reckon there was something past that secret door that came up and attacked our cat."

Apple Bloom frowned. "We shoulda closed it..."

Sunflower lifted his shoulders. "He shoulda did something about it. He wasn't even paying for us to be here."

Applejack sighed softly. "Well, nothing for it now... Where ya going Sunflower?"

Sunflower looked back from where he was rifling through a drawer. "Looking for stuff. He's not going to need it anymore." He triumphantly pulled free a jingling bag. "Here we go!"

Sweetie Belle pointed at the drawer. "Put that back, it's not yours!"

Sunflower blinked with an utter sense of confusion. "He's dead. He doesn't own anything anymore. What's he going to do with it?"

Scootaloo waved at the body. "Yeah, sure, but we kinda caused it. I don't feel right taking his stuff. Put it back. We can find better stuff downstairs anyway, right?"

Sunflower released the bag with some hesitation. "Fine..."

Applejack nodded. "Good, right proud o' ya fer listening. We don't need ta go stealing from this poor cat after letting him down. Let's get back to work so whatever's down there doesn't get other cats or ponies." They departed the house-turned-grave and descended into the hole they left behind. "Everypony ready?"

They approached the secret door to find it closed again. Applejack tilted her head at it. "That's funny..."

Sweetie Belle mused out loud. "Maybe whatever it is knows how to open it on its own? Maybe it wasn't our fault?"

Applejack reached up and poked the eye, making the door slide open. "Let's be extra careful. Could be anything down there."

Apple Bloom and Sunflower took point, looking for traps or other interesting things as they began descending the spiraling staircase.

They emerged at the bottom into what appeared to be a library. Apple Bloom whistled softly. "Bet Twilight wishes she were here."

The noise was enough to draw movement from the dark. Sweetie sent out her light, revealing three ghouls peering at them from the dark. Two of them looked more human-like than purrsian, but none of them were terribly friendly. One of the human-like ones spoke in a gravely voice. "You are intruding in our home. Have you come to feed us?"

Applejack stepped over Apple Bloom and Sunflower. "Reckon we ain't. Did ya kill that cat up above?"

The purrsian ghoul laughed a dry laugh. "He should be risen by now. He is not killed, merely improved."

The other human-like ghoul brandished his claws. "Enough talk. We hunger. Surrender your delicious flesh. The sooner you are dead, the sooner you will ripen."

Applejack conjured her protective shield, which prompted Scootaloo to start a spell of her own. The ghouls charged forward with claws outstretched, ready to cleave into pony and cat flesh alike.

Sweetie Belle began to sing a nursery rhyme about being safe from the dark. Sunflower advanced just in front of the casting Scootaloo, protecting her. Just as the ghouls reached the center of the room, Apple Bloom's bomb landed amongst them. Flames licked at their dead flesh, but didn't slow them.

Applejack met them, hoof to claw. She struck one across the face as dirty claws dug through her armor. She howled in pain as long teeth gnawed at her barrel and she kicked the ghoul, knocking it back. "There's too many of 'em!"

Scootaloo's spell came to an end and Applejack swelled in stature and power. The horse-sized pony grinned and knocked one of the ghouls half way across the room. To her dismay, it bounced back up to its feet and charged back into the fray.

Scootaloo drew out her rapier. "Charge!" Sunflower charged with her. While Scootaloo pulled up short as she came close to the first ghoul, Sunflower ducked and weaved around them, getting to the far side and striking at their exposed backs mercilessly.

Though Applejack's enlarged hooves were a terrible force, they didn't stop her from being torn at, and she could only turn aside the paralyzing poison for so long. She went stiff and still and the ghouls turned on the smaller of their foes. Scootaloo drove her rapier deep into the ghoul she faced, piercing through the skull and sending it to the ground where it stopped moving.

Apple Bloom threw a bomb past the fray, catching just one of the ghouls in the blast. "Keep it together girls!"

Sunflower ducked under a wild swing of a claw. "I'm not a girl!"

One of the ghouls went in for the kill on Applejack, yanking her head forward and lunging with its teeth at her vulnerable neck. Scootaloo's eyes went wide and she lunged for it, stabbing it in the thigh with her flaming rapier. Sunflower bashed it from the other end, leaping up to strike it across the face and knock it away from Applejack.

Applejack suddenly shook off the poison and lashed out a hoof, sending that ghoul to the floor. "Ah'm getting mighty tired ah being frozen stiff!"

The last ghoul, one of the human-like ones, put up its hands. "Wait! I can tell you things you want to know."

Applejack raised a brow. "Mighty convenient ya mention that now. We're not such easy dinners now are we?"

The ghoul frowned. "You can kill me if you wish. I will take posthumous pleasure in knowing you will die terribly."

Author's Notes:

The adventure goes deeper. Actions have consequences, who knew!?

The typos knew... They always know...

18 - Heart of Darkness

Applejack tried her best to look mean. Her size helped, but the savage tearing the ghoul trio had given her didn't do any favors. "How do ah know yer not plannin' ta go kill somepony the moment ah let ya go?"

Sunflower waved his mace at the ghoul. "You can't trust a dead person!"

Sweetie tilted her head. "Wasn't Twilight dead once?"

Applejack scuffed at the ground. "That was different!"

The ghoul edged away as quickly as it dared. "I promise I will not harm anypony. Guarantee my safety and my knowledge is yours."

Scootaloo waved her flaming rapier at the ghoul, moving around to cut off his retreat. "You don't fool us! There are more than ponies counting on us."

The ghoul turned to flee, and Apple Bloom pegged in directly on the back with a bomb. He fell over into a smoldering pile. "That's what ya get."

Applejack gave a firm nod. "Make sure tha perimeter's safe, then we can have a look around." They spread out through the library, finding there were three hallways leading down darkened passages leading off from the library. There wasn't anything else immediately threatening.

Apple Bloom came up to Applejack and held up a potion. "Here, ya look roughed up."

Applejack accepted the elixir and chugged it down, some of the worst of the slices fading. "Mighty kind o' ya. Best save tha other fer emergencies. Let's see what we did that fighting fer, 'sides clearing up some nasties."

They dug around, finding some scrolls hidden amongst the largely-rotted collection, as well as a book written in a strange language. "Anypony know how ta read this?" Apple Bloom looked to Applejack, then Sweetie and Sunflower. Scootaloo bobbed her head.

"Give me a few minutes and Twilight's book. She has a spell for that." Scootaloo held out a hoof. Applejack surrendered the book, setting it down carefully. "Guess it's a good thing we brought this with us."

Applejack tilted her head. "She's going to be angrier than a three-legged bull in a headbutting contest when she gets her hooves on y'all."

Scootaloo raised a brow at Applejack, but continued studying the spell.

Sunflower whispered aside to Sweetie, using a paw to muffle the words. "What'd she say?"

Sweetie tilted her head before replying in hushed tone. "She said our friend's going to be really angry when she catches up with us. That's her spell book right there."

Sunflower hopped back. "You stole a wizard's spell book?! She'll set you all on fire then blow away the ash! I've heard the stories."

Applejack blinked as she turned towards Sunflower. "Now calm down. Twilight ain't the type to be hurting little fillies. She's a good pony. Now that don't mean there won't be a price t'pay. Ya did wrong by her, and y'all deserve the tongue-lashing yer gonna get." She tapped her chin lightly in thought. "I suppose being her servant for a week might also help make this lesson stick."

Apple Bloom groaned as she sank to the floor. "She'll make us reshelve all her books every day!"

Sweetie sagged against a bookshelf. "She'll make us dust that entire huge castle."

Sunflower didn't look overly calmed. "What?! She has a castle?"

"Of course she does," said Scootaloo as she flipped to the next page. "She is a princess."

"You stole a magic book from a wizard princess? You're all mad!"

Applejack nodded at Sunflower. "Ya don't know the half of it." Taking advantage of the lull with Scootaloo studying, Applejack unfurled the scrolls they found and with a quick spell, she pulled back the mystery of the magical writing. "Hmm. Spells. Ah think this one's yer kind of magic." She offered the scroll towards Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle quickly repeated a similar spell. "Yep! It's the healing song I use, or something similar. What do I do with it?"

Applejack waved a hoof. "Twilight said ya could read scrolls like that out loud and the spell goes off. Ya sh--"

Before she could advise saving it, Sweetie Belle read the odd words out loud, and tapped Applejack, making more of her angry wounds fade away. "Uh, that works too. Thanks." The scroll fell to ash, making a little pile on the floor. "One use."

Apple Bloom pointed at the two other scrolls. "What's on tha other ones?"

Applejack tucked them away. "One's a spell ah want ta copy later, called 'magic missile'. The other one looks dreadful complicated and sounds powerful. With a name like 'fireball', ya figure it's something interesting and burny. Near as ah can figure, it'll set a whole room on fire."

Sweetie tilted her head. "They sure do have a lot of bad magic in this world."

Apple Bloom shrugged. "Works both ways. They got that healing song magic you have, and can bring a pony back ta life, or kill 'em twice as fast."

Sunflower looked from one pony to the next. "Uh, where are you from again? You sound way too surprised about basic stuff."

Applejack waved a hoof. "Long story. Scoots, how's it coming?"

Scootaloo closed the book and nodded. "Ready. Where's the book you want me to read?"

Applejack reclaimed Twilight's book and replaced it with the new one. "Maybe ah should get in the habit of doing that 'just in case' stuff."

Scootaloo spoke the words of understanding and began leafing through the book. "Huh... It's... about some kingdom of dur-ow, drow? I don't know what that is. The years are all off, so I don't know how long ago this was." She flipped ahead. "Talks about rituals and day-to-day stuff. Are we looking for something specific?"

Applejack shook her head. "Nothing specific. Maybe it's worth something to ah collector, take it. Let's get a move on." They started forward, with Apple Bloom and Sunflower taking their trapfinding positions. As they were about halfway down the tunnel, the sound of stone against stone became deafening as both ends of the tunnel came crashing down, two walls falling from above to seal them in. "Uh..."

Apple Bloom tilted her head. "I didn't see any traps..."

Scootaloo gestured at the dead end before them. "And yet?"

Sunflower hurried forward to the end of the hallway and began looking a the wall, pawing over it frantically for an exit, his breath rough and eyes wide. Sweetie did a slow circle in place while Scootaloo moved back for the rear wall to have it a look over. Apple Bloom moved beside Sunflower, looking around, but mostly at the cat himself. "You alright?"

"No, I mean, yes. I'll be fine. We just have to find out how to make this... open."

Apple Bloom raised a brow. "Ya don't sound fine. What's wrong?"

Applejack asked from a few feet away. "Are ya scared of being trapped?"

"I'm not scared!" Sunflower thudded a small paw against the wall. "Open, Sun King blast it!"

A soft trickling noise brought all their attention to the center of the tunnel where water began to flow. It was a dribble at first, but was quickly accelerating, becoming a torrent of water that threatened to flood the tunnel. Sunflower wailed in terror, and the Crusaders only looked marginally better.

Applejack pointed upwards. "There!" There was a tunnel heading into the wall, but it was too high to reach. Scootaloo discovered that taking flight while being rapidly submerged was nowhere as easy as it looked. Applejack cast a quick spell, fins appeared along her legs and hooves. "Everypony grab on tight."

Everyone grabbed ahold of Applejack, wrapping legs around her as she began to lift with the water, treading the water easily. "Y'all gonna need ta hold yer breath when we get to that tunnel. Just hold on as tight as ya can. We'll make it through this." Sunflower's desperate grip had the extra delight of little claws sinking into her flesh. Applejack winced but stoically accepted it, watching as that tunnel crept ever closer.

She took the deepest breath she ever took then plunged forward just as the water began to fill the tunnel. It turned into a downward slant a short way in, causing then to slip downwards like the water slide it was. They were all screaming as Applejack tried vainly to see where they were headed. The slide ended in more water, and Applejack kicked forward, paddling through the darkness and tapping at the ceiling and walls to find an exit. It was too dark to see, and she didn't dare open her mouth to cast a spell.

Doubts ran wild in her mind. Why did she ever agree to take the foals here? They'd all die in an ancient sewer and her friends would never forgive her for letting them come to harm. Her hoof fell forward as she found a new tunnel and she darted through it with her precious cargo, having no idea if it led to freedom or just more watery tunnels. Her spell-enhanced lungs ached for breath and she feared for the foals relying on her that had no such advantage. Apple Bloom suddenly slipped and Applejack doubled back to grab her and rush forward. Apple Bloom wasn't moving. Fear pounded through her. She couldn't lose Apple Bloom, not like this!

With a terrific splash, Applejack emerged from a pipe in a dark room to open air. She sailed forward with momentum, starting to fall quickly. She fell through the darkness before landing heavily on what felt like cobblestone. She heard a few groans of pain, and they were like sweet whispers of angels. It meant they were alive. She set Applebloom down and listened close. No breathing. Light suddenly flared up from Sweetie Belle. Applejack pointed at the still Apple Bloom. "Save 'er!"

Sweetie approached quickly, slipping on the water-slickened stone before she came to a haphazard rest beside Apple Bloom. A quick singsong intonation and a touch and Apple Bloom curled up, coughing up an impressive amount of water. She drew a harsh gulp of air and started to breathe raggedly. "Did we make it?"

Author's Notes:

That escalated quickly.

The typos report they enjoyed the water flume ride.

19 - To Chase the Light

Applejack lowered herself to her haunches and looked over her wards. "Alright, how's everypony feeling?"

Sweetie raised a hoof. "I'm OK. How do we get out of here?"

Apple Bloom pointed up at the water-spewing tunnel they emerged from. "Not back that way. Ah almost drowned, but ah'm feeling better now, thanks Sweetie."

Scootaloo was busy shaking her wings free of water. "Ready!"

Sunflower rubbed behind his head. "It was my fault for not spotting that trap. I won't do that again."

Apple Bloom tilted her head. "I didn't spot it neither, ya know?"

Sunflower frowned. "But it's my job. You're an alchemist. I should be spotting these things before we get hurt."

Applejack reached out, putting a hoof on Sunflower's chest. "Nopony here is blaming you, Sunflower."

Sunflower puffed up despite the water. "I'm blaming me! I have to get better, and I will. I'll pull my weight." He took a moment to shake himself free of much of the water, then start to look around the dim room. "Where are we?"

Applejack rose to her hooves and had a look around. The room was about twenty feet tall, with a clear spider motif, if the webbing design across the walls were any hint. The webs seemed to dance with how Sweetie's light bounced off the pool of water on the side of the room close to the spouting pipe. The ground closer to the pool was slickened with water. The floor had a large pattern of some kind of castle. She could see a single door of stone on the far side and pointed to it. "Go check that out, careful like."

Apple Bloom and Sunflower approached carefully, and soon the door was pushed open. Despite the age and humidity, it slid open silently, revealing a hallway that went off to the left and right. Bloom peeked left while Sunflower took right, both squinting into the gloom. The others came up behind them and they quickly decided to stick to the right. The hallway came quickly to a metal door. It was locked, but nothing Sunflower couldn't handle deftly with his tools.

Pushing open the door revealed a well-lit and spacious chamber. There was a deep red carpet running down the middle, leading to a lifted dais with a great cushion. On the cushion sat a curious creature. It was like a greatly overgrown purrsian, with the body of a cat and wings on its back, but it also had the face and upper torso of a humanoid female at its front. She clearly saw them, and was watching them.

She spoke in a soft tone, a smirk playing over her features. "Look at these curious little morsels. You're furrier than the usual interlopers. How long has it been?" She rose up to her paws. "Were you looking for treasure? Or did you learn of me and hoped for answers?"

Sweetie shook her head quickly. "No ma'am, nice to meet you! I'm Sweetie Belle, this is Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Sunflower. We're lost. Sorry if we shouldn't be here. We didn't mean any harm."

"What an adorable little thing you are." The creature looked over Sweetie Belle. "Are you ensorceled animals?"

Applejack shook her head. "Not as far as ah'm aware, ma'am. We're not looking for no trouble now, ya hear?"

She huffed softly. "I am going to assume you are. My orders don't include pest control, so I don't have to attack you." She prowled forward with all the grace her feline ancestry implied. "It has been quite some time, I believe. What year is it?"

Sunflower raised a paw, "IC 291"

She shook her head. "I don't recognize that. IC? That just means more time has passed than I would have liked." She gestured with a paw for them to come closer. "Come in. I already said I won't bite."

The group advanced into the room nervously, their disposition not helped when the door slammed shut behind them with the soft click of the lock re-engaging. "Oh don't look like that, little things. I would hear of the world. Tell me what lies above my head."

Apple Bloom put a hoof to her chin. "Well, there's this huge city called 'Murrage' up there, filled with ponies like that." She pointed at Sunflower.

"That is clearly a cat, not a pony."

Sunflower made a dismissive wave of a paw. "They do that. They call everyone a pony. It's kind of cute when you get used to it."

Scootaloo asked while leaning forward curiously. "Who put you here? You said you were following orders?"

She made a disgruntled noise as she returned to her cushion. "Damned dark elves bound me to guard this room long ago. They used to come by once in a while, but that stopped. It's impossible to determine the time here, so don't ask how long ago that was. I was to guard against intruders, grave robbers, and despoilers of all sorts, but they were speaking of other gangly hairless things like themselves. If you were human..."

Applejack swallowed her fear. "Well... we ain't. We're ponies, and Sunflower's a 'purrsian'?" Sunflower nodded agreement. "We, uh, so... do ya like it here?"

"Hate it." She stretched out her paws, revealing long and deadly looking claws that retracted at the end of the motion. "You don't look like you would be skilled enough to fix that."

Sweetie Belle smiled brightly. "We could try if you tell us what we'd have to do?"

She considered Sweetie Belle, her eyes wandering up over the others. "I see no harm in trying, but if you kill yourself, I accept no responsibility." She shrugged softly. "This is your choice."

Apple Bloom turned to the others. "It's the right thing ta do. 'Sides, she may help us get outta here!"

Applejack faced the woman. "Well, ta start, is this here a physical problem, or a magic one? What are we talking about here?"

She pointed up to the wall behind the party and they all spun to see an intricate pattern in jewels embedded in the wall made to look like a staring eye. "So long as that watches me, I cannot leave. Simple as that. I feel they constructed it to spite me. It's so... dull. There's no grace or subtlety to it, no puzzle, just denial."

Sunflower tilted his head at it. "That looks pretty simple. Why not pry the jewels out?"

She huffed. "I can't touch it. I've tried throwing things at it, they bounce off. I gave up after a time."

Scootaloo spread her wings wide. "Come on, Sunflower, let's have a look." They took off together and circled roughly around the jewels, inspecting them. The center had a huge onyx-like crystal, surrounded by dozens of other gems to create the colors and impression of the eye. It was locked in a perpetual scowl. Scootaloo reached out to touch one and got a nasty shock for it. She squeaked and veered away, coming down for a landing.

Sunflower frowned thoughtfully before coming down soon after. "I think we need a stick, a nice long stick."

Applejack flipped up the lid on her saddlebag and peeked inside. "Huh, they weren't kidding when they said it was made well. Everything's nice and dry in here." She found her rope and pulled it out. "Will this do?"

Sunflower took hold of the rope. "Not exactly a stick..." He took off with it anyway, the rope dangling along underneath him as he approached the baleful eye. He tied the rope into a lasso, then tossed it at the eye. Missed. With a soft grunt he reeled it in and tried again. After three more increasingly frustrated tries, the rope snagged around the largest gem and pulled tight when he yanked on it. "Now we're talking!" He quickly flew down and offered up the rope. "Pull!"

The sphinx didn't need any further prodding. She leaped forward and grabbed the rope, giving it a mighty pull between her paws. The rope went taut, then began to strain as it became a contest of pure brute strength. Applejack grabbed the rope in her teeth, yanking in assistance. The gem began to spark and fizz, a powerful bolt of energy striking the rope and starting a small fire on it. Sunflower waved his paws. "Pull harder, before the rope burns through!"

Applejack and the sphinx redoubled their efforts before the rope broke with a resounding snap, sending the two into a pile on the ground. The sphinx howled out her displeasure. "So close! Damn you, drow, you curse me from your graves."

Scootaloo pointed. "It wasn't for nothing, it's halfway out already!" The gem did seem to be partially dangling free, clearly dislodged a few precious inches.

Applejack looked at her rope, the fire already spread uncomfortably far along it. "Well we ain't using that again..." She stomped out the fire and reclaimed her much shorter rope. "Any other ideas?"

Sweetie shook her head. "Maybe we should look for that stick?" She smiled at the sphinx. "We'll be back, promise!"

The sphinx settled on her cushion, facing the door. "Take your time. That is one thing I have in unfortunate abundance."

Applejack pointed at the door they came in through. "Don't suppose ya could open that?"

She shook her head. Sunflower advanced with his tools and had it back open shortly enough. The Sphinx twitched faintly, grabbing at her cushion with clawed paws. "Don't remind me too much that you may resemble raiders."

They soon departed the company of the sphinx, the door closing on its own as they trekked down the hallway past the water room. The hallway turned right, then opened into a round chamber with the hallway continuing at the other end. Applejack frowned at it. "Don't trust it."

There were grates running along the outside of the circular room, and smooth stone in the center. Apple Bloom and Sunflower peered cautiously from the entrance, no one daring to wander in. Sunflower pointed. "Look." With his pointing Apple Bloom could see a faint circle in the stone in the center. "A pressure plate."

Sweetie tilted her head one way and then the other. "Can you turn it off?"

Scootaloo spread her wings and soared over the pad without prompting, landing on the far side safely. "Ta da!"

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. "The rest of us don't got wings!"

Sunflower advanced. "I do." He didn't fly though, he simply went along the outside, staying on the grating. He soon reached Scootaloo's side. One-by-one, the others skirted around the plate in the center.

Sweetie peeked back at it as they advanced. "I wonder what it did?"

Scootaloo chuckled. "Nothing good. Maybe boiling hot lava would rain down or something."

Applejack huffed softly. "Ah reckon ah don't rightly want ta know."

They reached the end of the hallway where finely crafted wooden double doors stood, defying age and looking as new as if they were carved just the day before.

Author's Notes:

A new potential ally is encountered, and traps... traps everywhere! They're almost as bad as the typos if you ask me.

20 - Scaling the Depths

Applejack held up a hoof silently and cocked an ear. They all went quiet and listened. It was quiet, but there were sounds coming from beyond the door. Low and sibilant conversation, though the words were hopelessly lost through the door.

Sweetie Belle tilted her head and spoke softly. "We should try saying hi."

Applejack looked quite uncertain, but the alternative hardly seemed better. She strode towards the door and raised a hoof, knocking against the door in a soft rapping. "Excuse me, We come in peace y'all."

There was a pause in the conversation before the door opened sharply, revealing a reptile not unlike the ones they battled beneath the manor. The short figure looked between them with a sword at the ready. It hissed something in an unfamiliar tongue.

Sweetie Belle waved a hoof. "Hi there! Do you speak our language?"

The door closed.

Scootaloo softly huffed. "Well that didn't seem to work."

Apple Bloom tapped at her chin. "Maybe they went to get a friend that does speak our language?"

They waited with mixed patience. They were rewarded when the door opened again. The new figure at the door was significantly larger, and seemed to be more snake than dragon. He even had a cobra-like hood and long pointy teeth as he spoke. "I am informed you wish to parley? What do you want, warmbloods? I confess surprise, most times your type do not wait to engage in civilities. Your hot blood leads to hot heads, and dead warriors." His voice was filled with subtle hisses and his penetrating gaze moved slowly from one pony to the next, until Sweetie drew it back on herself.

"Well hello, Mister...? I'm Sweetie Belle, and this is Applejack, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sunflower! We're on our way back up." She pointed towards the ceiling. "We don't have anything against you nice folks. Oh! Do you have a stick or some rope handy? We'd be really appreciative of that." She batted her lashes and turned up her adorable as high as it could go.

He was quiet a moment before he nodded. "You wish to trade? We have both things. Do you trade with the gold coins, or do you have a more immediate means of barter?"

Applejack took a half-step forward. "Ah reckon we'll stick ta coins fer now. How much?"

They were soon the proud owners of a new length of rope and a ten-foot pole. Applejack stowed both away. "Mighty thankful. We'll be right back."

Sweetie was quick to add. "Will it be a problem if we come through? We won't mess anything up, promise. We just want to get back to the surface."

"I suppose you would." The snake man softly hissed and glanced back at his fellows. "That will cost more, but if you remain polite, we may tolerate this for a time. Knock again when you are ready to proceed."

The door closed as the conversation came to an end. Apple Bloom tilted her head. "He never said what his name was."

Scootaloo shrugged. "I don't think he wanted to share."

Sunflower shook his head. "We're lucky he said as much as he did! Snake people aren't, uh, known for having huge conversations that don't end in dead people."

Applejack turned back towards the trapped sphinx. "Come on. We'll assume they're on the up and up fer now. Ah think they were as surprised that we came up politely as we are at them. No reason ta spoil that now."

Sweetie Belle shook her head as she walked along. "They didn't do anything wrong to us. Why wouldn't we be polite? I bet there's song magic that'd let me speak whatever crazy language that littler dragon one was using."

Scootaloo moved beside Sweetie. "How do you learn more? You don't have a spellbook like the rest of us. It confuses me."

Apple Bloom looked significantly less confused about it. "Different kinda magic. Hers is inside her. Hay, some ah yours is inside you too! Ah don't need anything but supplies to cook up mah bombs, but it's a bad idea to cook up potions without being sure on the recipe. It's trickier than it looks."

Applejack shook her head. "Ya saying it's safer to brew up bombs than a potion that heals ya? This world is upside down sometimes."

"Simpler, not safer."

They retraced their steps to find the door had locked itself just as surely behind them. Sunflower had it open and they stepped back into the sphinx's room. She smiled on seeing them. "I thought you may well have wandered away as soon as you felt safer."

Applejack pulled the pole off her back. "Nothing doing. We made a promise and we ain't about ta go back on it. Ya ready ta be free?"

"Please." She let out a slow breath, looking quite eager. "I suppose you have earned my name. I am Shale. A pleasure to meet you, ponies and cat."

Sunflower took a hold of the pole and flew up at the half-broken ward. He jammed the pole into the small space provided by the dislodged center gem and began to work the pole back and forth, forcing the gem out bit by bit. The pole proved more resistant to catching on fire than the tiny threads of the rope, though it smoldered and smoked under the dangerous magic of the gems.

With a final wrench, the gem popped free and fell to the ground, to be caught with a flying dive by Scootaloo. She quickly pocketed her valuable-looking find.

"Freedom!" Shale stretched out luxuriantly, then hopped down off her cushion. "You have given me a grand gift today, one I mean to return. Ask a question and I will do my best to answer it. It is in our nature to know much of anything."

Sunflower asked from above. "Why didn't you use that to get out?"

She frowned sharply. "I could not draw on that power under its baleful gaze. That is one way I know your work has succeeded. I feel my birthright returned to me. Now, ask."

Applejack tapped her chin a moment. "Well, tha most pressing thing on mah mind is how ta get these little ones back up to tha city as quick and safe as possible."

Shale looked Applejack over a moment. "You are a kind and good protector. They are fortunate to have you as a mother."

Applejack flushed softly. "They ain't my foals, just my wards. She's mah sister." She reached out and ruffled Apple Bloom's mane.

Shale settled to the ground. "Give me peace, and you will have your answer." She closed her eyes and seemed to lapse into meditation.

While she did her magic, Sunflower busied himself with the jewels. Magic broken, the other gems offered no resistance, save being stuck, to being pried away from the wall one by one. By the time Shale opened her eyes, Sunflower had stripped the eye design completely of its valuables.

"I have seen several things. There is a tribe of lizard and snake folk between you and the most direct passage, but there is also a secret way, but it will require swimming through darkness."

Applejack frowned. "Well seeing as we made friendly with tha reptiles, we ought take the direct way. Anything else?"

Shale looked away into the distance. "I saw some kind of platform. Command it to rise with confidence. I see a powerful figure of death, avoid them. That is all I may say."

Sweetie Belle smiled brilliantly. "Will you come with us? You're not staying here, right? I bet you'd be real popular in the city."

Shale looked hesitant. "I do not wish to be crowded... It is not our way. Still... You have shown me a kindness. I can see you to the surface, as I will want to be there myself. We will part ways there."

Scootaloo pointed at Shale's wings. "Do those work?"

Shale looked back at her wings. "Of course they do. It would be a cruel joke to give wings that don't work."

Scootaloo laughed nervously. "Uh, yeah, why would that happen...?"

They departed the room. As the door slammed shut behind them, Shale sighed wistfully. "Like the end of a chapter."

They quickly returned to the door of the reptiles and Applejack nodded. "All them lizardfolk are past here. They said we could pass if we're polite, and we got no reason ta be otherwise." She knocked on the door lightly, and they all waited until the snake man from before opened it.

"Ah, you return to us." His eyes fixed on Shale. "You've brought another. Large. It will be ten gold coin for each, twenty for the larger one. Assurance of safe passage will be given."

Applejack grumbled softly as she counted out the seventy gold worth of coins to surrender. "Here ya go. Lead tha way."

Proceeding through the door, they could see many reptilian figures. Most were relaxing, still and patient. Some were conversing softly. The only light was what they brought with them, as the cold-blooded inhabitants seemed to have little need for it. While they were pointedly ignored by the majority of the populace, eyes peered out at them from the darkness by a few that watched them warily.

Their guide moved with a purpose through the tunnels. Applejack quietly pondered how much harder it would have been if it had come to blows as they passed at least two dozen combat-ready individuals. Sometimes the peaceful way was the best way. Applejack shuddered softly as she realized her thoughts. When was the peaceful way not the best way?

They eventually arrived in a small chamber with winding stairs that ran along its outer perimeter. "Good fortune, warmbloods. I mean no offense, but do not return." He turned and departed without awaiting reply, though the Crusaders all waved farewell in unison.

Once he was gone, Shale advanced to the center of the room. "This is the platform I saw."

Apple Bloom stepped forward with her. "Looks like a floor, not a platform? I dun' get it."

Shale circled once, then reached a paw out and scraped the ground, activating a mechanism that caused the floor to slide open. A platform raised into view, a simple disc of metal. "I hadn't seen that before."

Applejack chuckled as she circled the platform. "It's like mah disc ah use fer apples, but metal." She hopped up onto it and did another circle. "Seems secure. Everypony aboard."

The disc wobbled when it was Shale's turn, but held her and the rest of the party up. Scootaloo tilted her head a little. "Alright, so, you said to command it to go up, right? So go up!" The disc needed no further prompting, and began to smoothly raise without a sound.

While they rode the platform, Sunflower was picking through the gems he found. "I don't know exactly how much these are worth, but they have to be worth something! Maybe we have enough now!"

Applejack tilted her head. "We gave our word ta watch over that there warehouse. Twouldn't be fair ta back out at tha last moment seeing as it's just tomorrow."

Apple Bloom smiled and bounced a little in place eagerly. "We can still hand over tha money so they can get started on Sunflower's mom while we work! She'll be so proud of you, Sunflower. Ya done saved her life and yer grandma's house all at once!"

Sweetie Belle pointed ahead as they arrived at the top, a door of iron barring the way. "We're not out yet. Let's save the celebration for then."

Author's Notes:

The party grows by one likely temporary member, a fight is avoided, and progress is made!

The typos only grow stronger in the dark.

21 - Reach for the Sun

Sunflower approached the door and looked it over carefully before working the lock and pushing it open. Beyond it, the stone walls looked similar to the level they had fallen from, a comforting thing to notice. That comfort was broken with a skittering sound in the darkness, a sense of movement beyond the reach of their lights.

Sunflower rushed back to the others and Applejack took the lead. Shale seemed content just following after the group, doing little to assist or hinder in any way. As they pressed onwards down the hall, the movement became more frequent and manic. Applejack came up short as she spotted a pair of malignant red eyes staring at her from the shadows ahead. "Ya can let us pass, or we're goin' through anyway." She stomped a hoof. "Git."

Applejack's attempt at intimidation only brought the diseased-looking corpse forward, hands curling into fists. "I don't know what you are, but your life calls to me. Children, feast!" The sensation of movement returned with a fury as more red eyes joined the first with hungry groans and reaching hands to join it.

Apple Bloom chucked her last bomb at the one in front of Applejack where it exploded with a new intensity, though it did not drop the fell creature. It rocked back from the explosion, flames licking at rotting flesh, then lunged forward, swinging its hands like maces at Applejack. Applejack shuddered even as her armor held true. "That didn't feel right, be careful y'all." She lashed out a hoof, boxing the creature back. "Ah told ya ta git, now we're doin' it the hard way."

Shale looked like she would be just as happy waiting, but one of the undead made the mistake of approaching her. She exposed her teeth, hissing with feline fury in warning, but it came anyway. She nimbly dodged out of the way of its attack, then leaped at it, knocking it to the ground and grinding its fetid form beneath her terrible claws.

Just as Sweetie began to sing, Scootaloo put herself between one of the approaching creatures and the bard. She jabbed fiercely with her burning rapier and ducked under the return swing. The other creatures seemed measurably slower and hesitant than the one Applejack faced, a fact Scootaloo had little problem with.

Sunflower moved to get in the way of another coming in from the side. He had no time to be fancy with his aim, the unholy thing's full attention on him. His mace thudded into the rotting body, and it returned the favor with a strike across the face. While that stung, the sudden lethargy that followed it was worse, and Sunflower recoiled away.

"Back up!" Applejack shouted an order as she began to slowly backing away from the creature, lashing out at it when it dared to come closer. They all started a fighting withdrawal, moving back down the hallway they had come from until the creatures were all at one side of the party. Applejack drove her creature to the ground under the weight of both forehooves and crushed its head with a stomp. The other two shuddered, then dove back into battle with renewed fervor, moving with all the speed the first had previously held to itself.

Apple Bloom pulled out a potion she hadn't used before and made a face before swigging it down. Her muscles suddenly doubled in mass as she became almost a caricature of her old self. She grabbed Sweetie's dagger off her belt and charged forward into the battle. Sunflower smiled at her presence, double-teaming the undead between them and quickly knocking it to the ground.

The last undead hissed and took off running down the hallway it came, allowing silence to return.

Applejack let out a loud breath, looking over the group. "Y'all did mighty fine, don't even see a scratch on ya."

Sunflower took his bruising stoically. He wouldn't be the only one griping in the group. He noticed Apple Bloom's muscular appearance and blinked at her. "What happened to you?"

Apple Bloom went red in her cheeks. "Nuthin'..."

Sweetie tilted her head at the Apple Hulk. "That sure doesn't look like nothing. Are you alright?"

Shale looked over Apple Bloom from where she sat. "You are an alchemist, are you not, child?" Apple Bloom nodded at her. "Then that is the effect of a mutagen."

Scootaloo tilted her head. "Muta what? Why didn't you make us some of that?! I wanna be big and strong." She sheathed her rapier away.

Applejack shook her head a little. "Odd lookin'. Sis, will that wear off?"

Apple Bloom quickly nodded. "Should in a little while. Ah don't like using it much. Makes me look all ugly." She smiled at Scootaloo nervously. "It don't work for nopony else, like mah potions used ta. It'll just make ya sick if ya try it, so don't do that."

Scootaloo pouted a bit. "Fine! Keep your awesome juice to yourself." She turned away then, peering into the darkness before casting a spell and having a look around. She approached the first undead and nudged it with a hoof before yanking its cape free. "Magic." She examined the cape, noting it had withstood its unknown amount of time far better than its previous owner. "Should protect you from nasty things like magic, but it won't do anything against a sword."

Applejack approached it, considering a moment before shaking her head. "Ah'd rather one of y'all take it. Ah kin take a whallop better already." Sunflower took it and wrapped it around his shoulders. It quickly adjusted to his smaller stature.

Scootaloo pointed at Sunflower with an arcane word, and the stink of the cape vanished. Sunflower smiled. "Much better, thanks!"

Sweetie looked up at Shale. "Was that the 'figure of death' you mentioned?"

Shale shook her head. "Those were but mere shadows, easily dispatched with your skill and camaraderie."

They resumed their journey, moving cautiously down the hallway to the first door and peeking inside. It looked like an old bedroom of some sort. They were ready to move on when Scootaloo looked around with her magic sight and started into the room. Apple Bloom suddenly hopped on top of her, tackling her to the ground. "Wait a second! Let us check it out before ya get hurt."

Scootaloo wriggled up to her feet and huffed, but let Apple Bloom and Sunflower inspect the room. About halfway in they found a thin trip wire. "See, told ya."

Sunflower soon had the wire disabled, and Scootaloo resumed her search. "Sorry, I just saw something glow in here." She approached the bed and began poking over it before she grabbed the old mattress in her mouth and tossed it to the ground roughly. She pulled her rapier free and cut into it, eventually recovering a lost ring from its mouldering stuffing. "See?"

Apple Bloom clopped her hooves with joy. "Wow, good going, Scoots! What's it do?"

Scootaloo examined the ring before frowning. "Boring. It just makes marks on things that you can't erase easily."

Applejack shrugged from the doorway. "Maybe it's worth somethin' at least. Good going. Let's keep on a'movin'."

The next room was a small study, and their eyes wandered over the rotting books and the old desk within. Sunflower advanced, pulling at the drawer of the desk to find it locked. Working industriously with his tools, he soon had it open with a satisfying click. His reward was a surprisingly well-preserved book. He pulled it free and flipped through it. "Just a bunch of exercise instructions and stuff about food."

Scootaloo peered at it, then clenched her eyes shut with a whimper. "Oh wow! That thing's super bright! It's magic, but don't ask me what kind."

Sweetie tilted her head at the book. "But it's just a book."

Applejack shrugged. "So's Twilight's book, and it's full of right powerful things. Take it with us."

Shale spoke up in agreement, "Knowledge may be one of the more potent forces the universe knows."

Applejack smiled and gestured towards Shale. "See? Now let's get a move on."

Scootaloo giggled softly. "You sound like Cheerilee."

As Sunflower moved to exit the room with the book, the doorway shone brightly. A creature familiar to Applejack abruptly appeared with a whiff of brimstone. It wielded a long iron glaive with a saw-toothed tip and its beard writhed with as much malice as the rest of its reddened body put off. It had two thick horns that jutted backwards from its skull and its stout legs ended in clawed and cloven hooves. It roared with fury and charged for Sunflower. Sunflower squealed in terror and ducked around the door, vanishing past Applejack.

Applejack advanced into it with a scowl. "Ya distracted me while ya hurt two dear friends o' mine last time. Not this time." It brought its glaive down at Applejack, who caught it with a quick swipe of her hoof and knocked it off balance in time for a rapid switch around, bucking it powerfully and forcing it back a few steps.

The infernal creature threw aside its glaive and grabbed for Applejack, seizing her shoulders in its painful claws and thrusting her face into that writhing beard. She hollered in pain and indignation as the filthy thing jabbed into her snout and face. She reared up, boxing it across the nose. "Not today!"

Scootaloo flew over Applejack, catching a raking claw for her trouble, but landing on the other side of the thing and jabbing it with her rapier. The strike wasn't nearly as effective as she would have liked, its flesh refusing to sizzle in the fire and as tough as rock.

The creature laughed with fell amusement as it suddenly grabbed up Scootaloo and dangled her. "Do you fear for this little one?"

Applejack shrank back a little. "Put 'er down, nice and slow."

"As you wish." The creature hurled Scootaloo at Applejack, using her as an improvised projectile. Scootaloo squealed as she was granted involuntary flight. Applejack moved to catch her, but that was all the distraction the creature needed. He grabbed up his glaive and struck forward, piercing Applejack's barrel with a wet slicing sound, blood starting to run free to the ground.

Applejack grunted, dropping Scootaloo safely to the ground. "Bunch o' dirty playin' son of a..." She bashed the glaive free of herself and advanced on him with a scowl. "When ah get finished wit' you..."

Sunflower leaned in close to Apple Bloom. "She's kind of scary when she's serious."

Apple Bloom bobbed her head in reply, but her eyes were fixed on Applejack's battle. She nudged Sweetie. "Ya should sing. Applejack needs tha help."

"Oh yeah!" Sweetie began her song, weaving a tale of their eventual escape from the darkness.

Once Applejack had it pinned into a corner, it abandoned its glaive and they became locked in hoof-to-claw combat, at least until the creature suddenly vanished, leaving an exhausted Applejack behind. Apple Bloom rushed up with a vial in her mouth, waving it. Applejack gave a tired smile before accepting it, drinking it down, but little seemed to happen, and she still bled.

Sweetie's ears fell as she moved up to apply some of her own magic, but it too failed to stop the oozing wound from its course. "What's wrong?"

Apple Bloom began drawing out gauze and fabric from her pouches. "Lay down, sis. We're here for ya. We're gonna have ta do it tha old fashioned way."

Applejack reluctantly sank to the ground, surrendering to the care of her little sister. "Do yer best. Ah'm mighty proud o' ya." She relaxed then, concentrating on keeping her own breathing even, trying not to scare the fillies any more than they already were.

Author's Notes:

Great saves couldn't persist forever, could it? Applejack's in a tight spot, but she has friends and family close at hoof.

Was that a typo demon?

22 - Live On

As the Crusaders gathered around Applejack, she waved Apple Bloom closer. "Bloom, come here. Ah have to tell ya something."

Apple Bloom approached, putting down the gauze. "What is it, sis?"

Applejack smiled. "Ah just wanted ta say that ah'm mighty proud of you. If... ah don't make it, ya should go on and make yerself happy. That's... That's how ya can do me most proud."

Apple Bloom stiffened. "Don't talk like that! We're gonna save ya." She grabbed up the gauze and resumed her work with a frown.

"Just don't... linger on me. You'll make your sister right sad if she finds out you moped over her. Step over me... Find that light in ya, Apple Bloom, promise me."

Apple Bloom shook her head violently. "Shut up!" She squeezed her eyes shut, tears leaking out of the corners. "Shut up! Yer not d... yer..."

"Ah'm serious. Apple Bloom, listen ta me! Yer a fine filly. Don't live a life of regret." Applejack stared at Apple Bloom intensely a moment before her head collapsed to the ground and consciousness fled her.

Apple Bloom perked up her ears as Applejack went silent. "Sis? AJ?" Those ears went back sharply. "Wake up! Don't... Don't go. Not like... Ya don't deserve ta die so far away from the farm. This ain't right..."

Scootaloo softly nudged Apple Bloom. "Hey, come on. We have to try our best, awake or not."

Sweetie cleared her throat before a new song began to issue from her small throat, a soft song of hope. While it had originally served as a lullaby, Apple Bloom could suddenly hear the subtle references to passing on. She shuddered powerfully before she began to bandage up Applejack as quickly as she could. Blood soaked through the cloth as quickly as she put it down, but she didn't give up, she couldn't. "Scootaloo, press down here!"

Shale watched on passively from the doorway. She offered no help to the dying or dead Applejack, save the protection she may have been serving, blocking the doorway as she was.

Apple Bloom's meager supply of gauze was worked through quickly, going down to ripping apart any cloth they could find. The bleeding eventually came under control, and Apple Bloom sank in place, crying muffledly into her own hooves. "Ah can't even check. Is she?"

Scootaloo moved in carefully and perked an ear over Applejack's snout. The room went silent. The faint breath that Scootaloo heard brought a quick smile to her face. "She'll be OK, Apple Bloom, we did it."

Sweetie Belle let out an explosive sigh. "That was too close!"

Apple Bloom threw herself over the upper barrel of her fallen sister. "Ah'm so sorry we dragged you here! Ah'll be good, promise!"

Scootaloo tilted her head. "We weren't trying to. She'll be OK, we just have to get her out of here."

Apple Bloom gestured at Applejack's limp form. "How? She's as big as all o' us combined!"

Shale approached on almost silent paws. "I will carry her; just get her on my back."

The Crusaders mobilized, soon getting Applejack comfortably sprawled on the wide back of their new feline friend. "Say, where's Sunflower?"

Sunflower peeked from around the corner outside. "Is everything OK?"

Scootaloo nodded. "As OK as it can be." She took a slow breath. "Why were you hiding? Scared of that big thing?"

Sunflower bobbed his head. "And I still feel sore and tired from that dead thing before."

Sweetie tilted her head in the opposing direction. "You were hit by one? Why didn't you ask for healing?"

Sunflower's ears wilted a little. "I didn't want to waste your magic. She needed it more." He pointed at Applejack.

Apple Bloom smiled gently. "Wow... Yer... really not just a purrsian."

Sunflower bristled at the words. "What do you mean by that?"

Apple Bloom walked up to Sunflower and hugged him tight. "Thank you, for thinkin' of others. For savin' some magic for mah sister. For being a good friend..." She had started to weep on Sunflower's shoulder, a fact that made Sunflower look mortified and awkward.

"I... You're welcome... Let's get out of here." Sunflower pointed up the hallway.

They set out, eyes barely leaving the hallway as they passed other rooms, interest in exploring or looting thoroughly dashed against the rocks of reality. They were silent as they pushed on, until they heard a soft hiss and saw familiar red eyes. That dead thing had returned.

Apple Bloom pulled out the dagger she never returned to Sweetie Belle while Scootaloo and Sunflower drew their own weapons. Sunflower pointed at the dead humanoid. "Last chance, back off!"

Those that are already dead are difficult to intimidate, and this proved true. The half-rotted, half-skeleton of a figure lurched forward at them. Scootaloo drove her flaming rapier forward, and it exploded in fire violently, knocking the creature back a step with a soft moan.

Sunflower dashed forward. "Nice hit." He wove under an awkward swing to bash it from behind. Apple Bloom charged in with a frustrated cry, driving her mutagen-enhanced neck forward with her dagger and cutting the beast down. She began stabbing its still form repeatedly.

Scootaloo sheathed her blade and gently pulled Apple Bloom away. "It's OK. It's dead, real dead. We should keep moving."

Apple Bloom shivered as she drew away. She tucked the dagger in a belt and nodded. "Yeah..."

Shale spoke as they resumed their journey. "The life of an adventurer is no easy task."

Scootaloo chuckled softly. "No kidding. But cool things aren't easy, or they wouldn't be cool. We'll get through this, girls, and we'll laugh at this afterwards."

Sweetie offered a forced smile. "If you say so. I just want to see the sun again, and hide under the covers for a week."

Apple Bloom looked back at the still form of her sister. "If she doesn't make it, Ah'm never making another potion ever again."

Sweetie frowned at that and moved beside Apple Bloom. "That isn't what she wanted. She said so!"

Sunflower smiled a little. "Besides, she'll make it, so don't make stupid promises."

"Death approaches." All eyes turned to face Shale, wide with fear. Shale carefully shook Applejack to the floor. "Take her and go. I will delay it. You deserve a chance." She turned to face an offshoot hallway. "I must have been trapped here too long..."

They rushed in unison, hefting Applejack up between all four young forms. Sunflower looked at Shale. "Will you be OK?"

Shale shook her head. "In all likelihood, no. Go, before I change my mind and come to my senses."

They went. Hooves and paws worked to carry them away from their new ally as they struggled somewhat under the bulk of Applejack. They suddenly emerged into a familiar library. Apple Bloom's face brightened like the coming of the new dawn. "We're near tha entrance! Tha stairs should be... there." She pointed and they fled towards it. As they crossed the room, the ground shuddered, as from the shockwave of a distant explosion. It felt like it came from behind them, where they had left Shale.

Sunflower frowned. "I hope she gets out alright."

Sweetie bit her bottom lip. "I want to help her, but we can't do anything. If it's bad enough to scare her, we'd... just be in the way. We have to get out."

Apple Bloom nodded at Sweetie. "We can come back after we get AJ to safety." They ascended the winding stairs with some difficulty, having to start and stop constantly as they worked Applejack around and around. They emerged into the tomb and saw the floating visage of a pony there.

It turned and looked at them with sad eyes. "So close." It rushed at them with outstretched hooves. Sunflower drew his mace and swung at their bodiless foe. True to its ghost-hunting nature, the mace solidly struck the floating pony, making it recoil in surprise. Scootaloo set Applejack down more gently than Sunflower had and pulled free her rapier, willing it to ignite brightly.

Apple Bloom leaped forward at it, but both she and her dagger passed through it as if it wasn't there. The pony lashed out a hoof, leaving a patch of ice where it brushed Apple Bloom's shoulder. She howled in pain and recoiled away from it. Scootaloo jabbed into its side, the fire-enchanted steel cutting into it like wispy jello, causing some harm to it.

The pony sighed a whisper of death. "He is coming for you all. I'm sorry." She lashed out a hoof that barely tapped Scootaloo's snout, ice blooming on contact. Scootaloo scowled and held firm to her rapier despite the piercing chills.

Sunflower bashed into the ghost's exposed flank, battering quite effectively despite its incorporeal body. "We won't be here for 'him'. Go away!"

Sweetie swallowed heavily, not singing. It wasn't for lack of trying, but her voice was spent, and the magic of her song refused to come to her any further. She instead focused on slowly dragging Applejack towards the exit.

Scootaloo tried to stab the thing, but the chills made her blow slow and clumsy, allowing it to dodge around the blade easily. This put it in the right spot for Sunflower's mace. With a solid thump, it discorporated, vanishing with a soft sigh of a death rattle. "We have to go, now!"

All four quickly took hold of Applejack and ferried her into the main room. They could see a shaft of blessed sunlight streaming in from above and realized their next issue. Sweetie tilted her head. "How are we going to get her up there?"

Scootaloo grabbed the rope from Applejack's pack. "Follow me, Sunflower." They both took off, launching up through the hole. Aboveground, they found a stone fence and tied off the rope there quickly with Sunflower's agile fingers. Down below, Apple Bloom and Sweetie tied up Applejack securely. With a combined effort, they slowly hauled her up to the surface, flopping limply to the sand.

A deafening roar issued from the hole as countless shadowy figures poured out from the tomb into the entryway. They didn't seem to want to enter the light of the sun. Apple Bloom pointed into the city. "Let's get outta here!" And that is exactly what they did, ferrying Applejack through the city, away from that cursed hole and the darkness that had almost consumed them.

They arrived at Longtail Manse without difficulty, save the sweat that poured freely from their effort to carry Applejack so far. They moved to the Crusader's room and tucked Applejack in carefully into their bed. Apple Bloom collapsed against the side of the bed, panting with effort and relief. "Ah'm... gonna start brewing up more potions. Applejack's gonna need lots of medicine."

Sunflower nodded at her. "You did good. We all did good." He smiled at them. "I couldn't ask for a better pride."

Scootaloo tilted her head. "That's a funny way of saying that. Don't you mean 'I couldn't be prouder'?"

Sunflower blinked. "No? I..." It seemed to click. "Do you know what a pride is?" All three shook their heads at him. "Oh! Well... Successful alpha cats, like me, make prides." He grinned. "They're like a bunch of wives. It's our job to make sure they're happy, and they make him happy. You all make me very happy."

Sweetie tilted her head, joining Scootaloo. "I don't remember getting married. You're, uh, nice, but you're a cat, and I'm a pony."

Scootaloo shrugged a little. "Spike chases after Rarity all the time, or used to? Now he's with that Soft Mane girl, and she's not a dragon either."

Apple Bloom was setting up her supplies, apparently quite set on getting to potion-making. "Ah don't have time fer romance! Ya can't just say we're yer pride or whateva."

Sunflower looked a little crestfallen. "Well... I'll prove I'm worth it!" He nodded firmly. "Just you wait."

Scootaloo giggled at him. "Oh boy. Are you going to sweep me off my hooves?"

Sweetie Belle joined the giggle. "You sound way too excited about that, Scoots."

Author's Notes:

The foals deal with stress in their different ways. The adventure draws to a conclusion, and maybe some lessons were learned.

Like never trust a typo in a dark tunnel.

23 - Downtime

The next morning, Scootaloo took flight with Sunflower over the city. Their first stop was the hole they escaped from, but it was gone. There was nothing but smooth sand, as if the terrible place had simply never been.

Scootaloo poked around the area, looking for it, but they both had to admit after a while that they just weren't going to get down into the ruins again with anything short of shovels.

Sunflower shrugged a little. "I can think of worse things. That place was dangerous, to everyone!"

Scootaloo gave an uncertain nod in reply, poking the sand. "Yeah, maybe, but I was hoping to look for Shale if nothing else..." She flopped onto her haunches. "That part kind of sucked. She was awesome, and she really came through in the end."

Sunflower moved beside Scootaloo and took the same position, sitting on his haunches. "It was her choice. We should... respect that, Mom said. Come on, let's go to that bar."

They spread their wings and took off. Louis was hidden in the back as usual, and looked up at them as they approached. He spoke before they did. "You look as if you've seen a ghost. Was your dig better than expected, or worse?"

Sunflower wobbled a paw. "A little of both. There's no way we can make that guard assignment tonight."

Scootaloo nodded and gestured towards the manor. "Applejack's hurt real bad, and we're all shook up. We appreciate the work though, thanks!"

Louis sucked air through his teeth. "That's a shame. Fortunately, I had a feeling this might happen and over-hired for the guard job." He pulled the papers before him into a somewhat-orderly stack. "New adventurers often get in over their heads on their first 'true' run. So, how did it go?"

Sunflower smiled as he rocked in place. "Mostly good? We found some valuable things to sell, and more trouble than I even knew existed."

Scootaloo raised a hoof. "Oh! The cat that hired us is kinda dead? He turned into an undead thing and there wasn't much choice about it. The hole's all filled up."

Louis raised a brow. "Well, it's a good thing he paid upfront then. Go, relax. Come back in a week or so when you're feeling better if you want another job." He raised a furry finger towards the bar. "Why don't you get a drink. You've earned it, as true adventurers, and I don't see your matron around to say no."

Sunflower and Scootaloo shared a look. With a silent agreement, they approached the bar.

They returned home an hour later, a little tipsy, but with their self-assigned missions accomplished. When they landed, the butler was in view and approached them. "Little Apple Bloom has been given permission to borrow books from our library and is reading in their room with her friend, Sweetie Belle. Miss Applejack is stable and well. I'm told she woke up. We've secured a buyer for that book you found and your mother should be seen to immediatly."

Scootaloo bobbed her head. "Thanks for the update! I'll go join them." She moved off towards their room as Sunflower discussed matters involving his mother's return.

---

Earlier, Apple Bloom carefully pulled a vial free from her little workshop and stepped over to the sleeping Applejack. She turned Applejack's head back with her hooves and slowly poured the potion into her mouth, waiting long enough for a swallow between pours. Slowly, the vial was emptied.

Apple Bloom set the vial aside for use later, then hopped up onto the bed. Sweetie Belle watched from the side. "Do you think it'll work?"

Apple Bloom bobbed her head. "We stopped the bleedin', she should be fine. Wake up, sis. Ah miss you."

As if on command, Applejack made a soft groan and stirred under Apple Bloom. Her eyes opened a crack, then snapped open. "Huh? What? How'd we get here?"

Her words were cut a little short as Apple Bloom tackled her and hugged tightly. "Don't ya ever do that again!"

Applejack hugged Apple Bloom back gently, looking a bit confused. The mugginess of sleep slowly faded, and, with it, she seemed to remember how things went. "How'd I live through that?"

Sweetie Belle pointed at the sniffling Apple Bloom. "She saved you. She was like a real doctor and wouldn't give up. You were... bleeding everywhere."

Applejack grimaced at the mental image. "Well shoot. I didn't think ya could make me any prouder, but then ya go and do somethin' like this." She lifted Apple Bloom easily into the air from under her forelegs and kissed over her face. "You wonderful little filly."

Apple Bloom smiled. "Ya can thank me by not dyin' anytime soon. Ah want mah big sister! Are ya feeling alright?"

Applejack nodded. "Feels like ah got run over by somethin', but ah'm alive."

Sweetie hopped up onto the bed, joining the others. She laid a hoof on Applejack and sung of the renewal of spring, chasing away some of the worst hurts in Applejack. Apple Bloom squirmed until she was put down. "Ah'll cook up some more medicine for ya. Just relax." She hopped down and eagerly got to work on her little lab.

Applejack watched Apple Bloom curiously, one hoof grabbing Sweetie and hugging her gently. "So what happened after ah blacked out? Did Shale leave?"

Sweetie tilted her head. "Sort of...? She stayed behind while we ran with you and we barely got out in time."

"In time fer what?" Applejack raised a brow, turning her gaze onto the nervous-looking Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie shook her head. "I don't know! It was like a thousand shadows! We ran off with you back to here as quick as we could. Uh, Scoots and Sunflower are looking it over right now, to see if it's as serious as it looked yesterday."

Apple Bloom called out from her workshop. "They're also reporting we won't be making it ta guard duty. Today, we relax."

Applejack nodded at that, releasing Sweetie Belle. "Well, ah can't disagree wit' that." She sat up in bed and stretched towards the ceiling. "Ah'm gonna get up now. Ya made me good enough fer that, ah reckon."

---

Scootaloo pushed the door open to find Applejack nursing a drink of something. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were seated side-by-side, reading a book together. Scootaloo waved at all three. "I'm back! Looking good, AJ. How're you feeling?"

Applejack smiled warmly. "With a little sister like Apple Bloom, how can ah feel anything but great?"

Apple Bloom went red, but looked pleased at the words. Applejack went on. "Ah hear we got more than enough ta fix up Sunflower's mom good as new. Shoot, the way the butler was goin' on about it, maybe there'll be some left over fer us."

Scootaloo clopped her hooves together joyfully. "That's great! Sunflower will be so jazzed up when that's done." She moved over to sit with the other Crusaders. "Do you think he'll stay here?"

Sweetie tilted her head thoughtfully. "He might. I doubt his mom wants him adventuring any more than his grandmother did."

Apple Bloom waggled her brows. "Why? Are ya waitin' for him?"

Scootaloo went quickly red. "What? No! He's just cool. He's a part of the team now, right?"

Sweetie giggled softly. "It's OK if you like him."

Scootaloo shook her head furiously. "Stop that! I can like a colt without like liking a colt, sheesh! We're friends, not colt and marefriends." She crossed her forelegs in a pout. "What are you reading anyway?"

Sweetie tapped the book in front of her and Bloom. "A book about monsters that like the taste of ponies."

Apple Bloom nodded. "We're brushin' up on things we might run inta, so we'll be prepared next time."

Applejack frowned a bit. "I'd rather there not be a next time, if ya know what ah mean?"

Scootaloo looked around. "Well, if you know how to get home, I'm all ears."

Sweetie nodded. "As long as we're stuck here in this world, we should be prepared." She tapped the book. "Which means knowing what wants to eat you and how to not get eaten."

A soft knock came from the door before Lady Longtail peeked inside. She smiled as she slipped in. "I hope I'm not disturbing. I wanted to thank you all. I'm told you went through great pains to secure that tome. It's hard to believe a single book could be worth so much."

Applejack nodded a little. "How valuable are we talkin' here?"

She looked thoughtful a moment. "If I remember correctly, we could easily get at least thirteen thousand for it. Adding in the gems little Sunflower retrieved and we can get his mother up and restored easily."

Apple Bloom raised a hoof. "What's ta stop somepony from doin' that all over again?"

Lady Longtail frowned at the notion. "The rats have agreed to guard the house. They've learned all the ins and outs and will patrol during the night. They're darlings once you get to know them. They won't let anyone hurt my kin again."

Applejack tilted her head. "Well, that's mighty fine. Ah guess that did work out then. Ah gather that covers their room and keep, right?"

"And an allowance to spend as they please." Longtail nodded. "Thank you for rescuing them, and me, from each other. How are you feeling? You were quite hurt yesterday."

Applejack stretched a little. There were still pains and aches, but nothing she'd let keep her down. "Ah got the care of two skilled doctors right here. They pieced me togetha better than new. Reckon we're ready fer round two."

Apple Bloom snorted softly. "Stop joking around, AJ. You have to rest up, 'doctor's' orders."

"Yes ma'am." Applejack saluted with a soft snicker. "When's dinner served?"

The rest of the day passed in peace. They were informed Sunflower's mother would be raised with the coming of the dawn the next day, a fortuitous time for such rituals. Some of the diamonds Sunflower had pried free from the trap would be used directly for the spell, a fact that seemed to please Sunflower greatly.

Dinner was delicious and shared with all the residents of the manor, rats included. There was no animosity to be found at the table that day as everypony, cat, and rat, talked freely and happily. The future seemed bright.

Applejack raised a hoof. "Say. If we wanted ta get to Viljatown, what'd be the best way fer that?"

The butler replied first, pointing northerly. "The most direct way is to board a caravan headed in that direction. It's a long journey from here to there, and not one without more than a little danger..."

Scootaloo thrust a hoof upwards. "We can handle it! It can't be worse than a hole full of shadow things."

Apple Bloom nodded. "Not much choice, is there?"

Lady Longtail shook her head. "If you paid enough, a wizard could transport you across Everglow to the pony capital." She looked over the ponies thoughtfully. "But that would be thousands of coin for the wizard to transport a few of you, come back, teleport the rest, and get himself back."

The butler cautioned as he brought out dessert on a large tray. "That assumes you find a skilled enough wizard. Such tricks are not commonplace."

Sweetie cycled her hooves in the air lightly. "Sounds like we're hoofing it."

Author's Notes:

A chapter to let the characters let out their collective breaths.

The typo nation takes this opportunity to regroup and prepare for their next assault!

24 - The Sun Rises

Sunflower sat impatiently in the solarium. The room was quite warm with the high sun, but the priest beside the wrapped form of his mother stood patiently, waiting for just the right time. His mother's inert form was laid out in a bed of diamonds, representing enough wealth to keep the manor running comfortably for quite some time.

Sunflower frowned, but no words would convince the Sun King priest to proceed. He had said, "I have felt it. He will smile most brightly when his sun is highest in the sky." The words had done nothing to make Sunflower more patient. It was supposed to be at dawn, not noon!

"It'll be OK." Sweetie Belle smiled from her seat beside Sunflower.

Applejack nodded from behind. "Reckon it's about time."

The priest apparently agreed as he raised his paws to the sky. "Oh glorious Sun King, behold as this one seeks to bask in the warmth of your sun. Her own child has sacrificed and labored to make this possible. Honor his work and fill her with your own spark of life. Her life is not yet completed." He began to intone a soft prayer in an odd dialect, bowing his head towards the body as the sun shone bright and hot straight above. As he spoke, the diamonds began to vanish one by one, drawn away in whatever strange exchange the spell demanded. All were silent save the priest until the last one was gone.

Willow sat up sharply with a ragged gasp, clawing herself free of the shroud over herself and starting to pant in surprise and shock. Sunflower jumped from his seat and rushed the dais. With spread wings he flew into her arms, and much of her panic subsided. They embraced tightly as Sunflower began excitedly talking to her through his own tears. "Mom! I... We went adventuring! We got what you needed. Welcome back Mom!"

Willow set a fingertip on Sunflower's nose. "Precious child of mine, I'm dizzy and tired. Let me hug you." And hug they did, rocking back and forth quietly. The priest had the good manners to not interrupt, simply bowing and moving to quietly depart.

Applejack and the Crusaders advanced after the cleric took his leave. Applejack took her hat off and held it to her chest, balancing the hat on her hoof with a practiced touch. "Welcome back, Willow. Good to see ya up and about."

Willow turned Sunflower around to face his friends and hugged him from behind. "Is it you I have to thank for my child's safety? I imagine he would have gone and risked his hide with or without you."

Applejack chuckled ruefully. "I know that feelin'."

Apple Bloom softly nudged Applejack. "Hey, ah saved ya last time!"

"Ya did." Applejack nodded. "They've been very resourceful. Yer mother was plum ready to sell the manor fer ya, but these amazing little foals and kitten wouldn't stand fer it."

Willow's eyes contracted into slits. "What? She would have done that? Where is she?"

Scootaloo pointed towards the house. "She said being in the heat for so long would be bad for her. She wanted you to come visit her as soon as you felt up for it."

Willow threw a leg over the side and was soon standing on her hindpaws shakily, holding Sunflower close. "I should do that. I owe her much, starting with an apology. Thank you, all of you."

Sweetie raised a hoof at Willow. "One moment. I know you'd probably like to forget all about it, but what happened that night?"

Willow's expression soured. "I would prefer to not speak of that. If I ever see that she-cat again, I will rip her heart out in return and dine on it as a fine repast." Her tail lashed angrily as a growl escaped her. "Enough of that. I have a mother to speak to."

Sunflower departed in his mother's arms, offering no objection to the treatment. They went towards the main house. Applejack looked to the fillies around her. "Well, we did it. They're back togetha again. Y'all should be proud. Now, about gettin' ourselves back home. Ah don't know if Twilight can find us here or not."

Apple Bloom suddenly sat up. "Didn't Zecora find Twilight before? She could probably find us."

Scootaloo peeked around. "She could be watching us now, right? How would we tell?"

Sweetie shrugged softly. "I don't think we do."

Applejack tapped her chin. "Celestia has a spell to reach Everglow, but ah haven't seen her use it fer us yet. Maybe she needs to reach us first? There's a temple-library in Viljatown that knows how to get a letter her way. That's why ah want to get there."

Apple Bloom bobbed her head. "Then that's where we need to go! It's just a walk, how bad is walking?"

Sweetie shook her head. "It's not the walking, it's the monsters we might run into while walking."

Scootaloo drew her rapier. "Then we'll fight them!"

Apple Bloom pointed at the rapier. "Isn't that an heirloom of the Longtails? Ah reckon we should give it back now that Willow's back."

Scootaloo sagged a bit and put the rapier away. "But I like it... I'm gonna go ask if I can keep it!" She vanished off on quick wings. She was no Rainbow Dash, but flying was clearly an experience she was enjoying.

Sweetie shook her head a little. "I guess it won't hurt to ask, but she should be ready to give it back. It's not hers." She began walking out of the hot solarium. "I'm ready for a nice tall glass of water. Who's with me?" A chorus of affirmation came from the others and soon they were all headed back for the manor.

As it turned out, Lady Longtail did let Scootaloo keep her weapon, and all the other heirlooms they had 'borrowed'. "You're doing our family proud, and you have already done us a great service. They're not doing any good in the armory, just rotting quietly. Please, keep them, and I hope they keep you and yours safe."

Willow later arrived in their room, garbed in new clothing and looking significantly fresher than when she first awoke. "I am told you were far from idle while I rested in the Sun King's embrace. We should speak."

Applejack raised a brow. "What's on yer mind? Sorry fer puttin' yer, uh, kitten in harm's way."

Willow waved off Applejack's statement. "He put himself there, with great pride and little thought. Mother mentioned you wanted to get to Viljatown?"

Sweetie bobbed her head. "We have to get there to send a letter to the Princess!"

Willow nodded. "It is a perilous journey. When do we depart?"

Apple Bloom tilted her head. "We?"

Willow's tail snagged on the door and pulled it open behind herself. Sunflower rushed into the room. "Did you think you could get rid of me that easily?!"

Willow smiled gently. "I have a debt to repay. You have shown me, and my family, great kindness." She gestured at Sunflower. "Besides, no amount of talking will convince him not to follow you to the ends of Everglow. I would rather be at his side."

Applejack nodded at Willow. "Ah hear ya there. Welcome to the 'adults worried sick 'bout their youngins' association. We're outta membership badges at tha moment."

Willow raised a brow. "They are not actually yours, are they? I recall otherwise."

Applejack shook her head. "Nah. Mah sister," She gestured at Apple Bloom, "and her friends. Ah'm mighty proud, they've gotten into this more seriously than ah ever saw them before."

Apple Bloom shrugged softly. "Makin' potions feels right, and we have ta do what we have ta do, right?"

Sweetie bobbed her head. "Singing helps keep everypony safe and makes them feel better after all that nasty fighting."

Scootaloo grinned broadly. "Magic is fun, and fighting is exciting! I never felt so alive before. I was missing a real challenge."

Willow let out a gentle sigh. "It sounds as if our little ones are rising to their destinies."

The word destiny brought a moment of flank-checking, but there was nothing to see. Willow looked confused. "What are you looking for? Your legs seem fine."

Sweetie gestured at her blank flank. "We were hoping we got our cutie marks. I was so sure that time!"

Sunflower scratched himself behind an ear. "Cutie mark?"

Applejack pointed back at her three apples. "Ah believe y'all call them 'brands of destiny' or whatever."

Willow shook her head. "I'm no expert on ponies, but I've never heard of a pony 'gaining' a brand. They are given in the womb, and permanent until death. It is a divine mark, I'm told. It would take a god to change one, or give one."

Apple Bloom tapped at her chin softly. "Maybe we can't even get one until we get back ta Equestria?"

Sweetie clopped her hooves together. "Then we know what we have to do!"

Three hooves quickly met, joined afterwards by Sunflower's paw. "Cutie Mark Crusaders Caravan Masters!"

Applejack shook her head before looking to Willow. "Alrighty then. So what do we have ta do ta get this moving?"

Willow rose up onto her hindlegs and moved to a writing desk. She set out a scroll and unfurled it. "I came prepared for that question. There are two caravans leaving shortly. One in three days, one a week after that. It's your choice which you want to go with."

Applejack raised a brow. "Why wouldn't we take tha first one?"

"There are more cats on the second one. Safety in numbers. Of course..." She rolled a paw and frowned. "Cats aren't always good news. Most of them will just want to get to where they're going, quietly and quickly, but you're not just another cat. You're a pony, with foals."

Apple Bloom puffed up. "We're not just foals! We can handle ourselves."

Willow fell back to all fours quietly. "I'm sure others could handle you as well. You've been very brave, but you're not the biggest, most experienced, strongest, or smartest things out there."

Sweetie gestured to the left. "But if we take the other one, less cats, more monsters?"

"That is a fair summary." Willow set a paw on her chest. "I will accompany you to Viljatown, whichever you decide. I owe you that much at least."

Scootaloo snorted. "I'd rather deal with monsters. Monsters are straightforward."

Apple Bloom nodded a little. "I think Scoots has a good point. We know how to handle monsters."

Sweetie was the voice of dissent. "I think we can be friends with the cats. I'd rather get along with them and not deal with horrible monsters."

Applejack looked thoughtful as she approached and looked over the map and schedule. This was an important decision, and not one she would make too hastily.

Author's Notes:

Which one should they go for?

Which one has less typos?

25 - Making a Choice

Applejack shook her head. "Don't make no sense to me. We got plenty of trustworthy sorts right in this room." She tapped a hoof on the ground. "What do we need to just git 'er done ourselves?"

Willow brightened at the question. "Funny you should ask. I have led a caravan or two in my time. If you are certain this is the path you desire, I can arrange the supplies."

Applejack moved to the bed and slumped against it. "That's mighty kind, but not right now. Right now, I officially move the Crusaders take a break."

Apple Bloom tilted her head at her bigger sister. "A break? What do ya mean?"

Sweetie smiled. "She means we get to not face horrible monsters for a little while. Let's go play!" With some coaxing, Sweetie lured the others outside and soon they were making noise in the courtyard akin to those of normal youth, unburdened by life and death adventure.

Applejack smiled gently at the sound. "Ah think ah made the right decision."

Lady Longtail nodded and turned for the door. "You're welcome as long as you require the room. Do tell me what you decide to do. Daughter, take care of them."

Willow snorted softly. "Of course, Mother. They saved my life in the most literal way one can." She hiked a brow. "Though they have been paid for it."

Applejack tilted her head faintly. "We have?"

Willow gestured at the chain shirt Applejack had hung up. "You're wearing our ancestral armor, wielding our weapons, and sleeping in our beds. You eat our food as well. How can you say you have not been paid something?"

Applejack huffed. "May be true, and mah grasp on the finances involved may not be tha greatest, but we coulda got more just sellin' what we found instead of using it fer ya. Now ah ain't trying to stir up trouble. Ya needed help and we gave it. That's what neighbors do."

Willow looked quite uncertain. "That does seem to be the pony way. My stance is the same, I owe a debt, and I plan to repay it. I'm no slacker and I'll pull my weight." She snorted softly. "Tell me when you plan to leave and I'll have us ready to brave the desert. Moving in a small group may be in our advantage. We'll draw less attention from beasts and bandits alike if we're harder to find."

Longtail patted Willow on the shoulder. "Stop looking for ulterior motives. Applejack is quite proud of her lack of guile. She just wants to keep her small friends and family safe. You should be familiar with this, with that troublemaker of a son you have."

Applejack perked an ear. "Lack of what?"

Willow chuckled softly. "I see that, Mother. We'll do what we can. I'll treat them well." She leaned over and kissed Longtail's cheek, then was gone into the depths of the manor.

Longtail nodded at Applejack. "Don't mind her. She looks for the hidden angle in everything. One can hardly blame her at this point. Someone thought it important enough to send a message to her, or me through her, that ended with her death."

Applejack winced at the reminder. "A mighty unpleasant one at that. Ya sure everything's gonna be OK? Tha killer's still at large and that doesn't make me feel any better."

Outside, Sweetie looked to Sunflower. "Where do foals go in this city to have fun?"

Sunflower looked confused a moment before he brightened. "Oh! Most of the poor cats get together and play all kinds of fun games. You have to leave your money behind though. Mom never lets me bring my things with me, but it's a lot of fun."

Apple Bloom hiked a brow. "Yer mom's pretty smart. Ah don't want mah stuff taken. 'Sides, who needs adventuring gear to play some games?"

Scootaloo bobbed her head, then tapped her chin. "You all have wings, right? Do you do any racing?"

Sunflower spread his wings. "Of course! All the time! Uh, well, not all the time, a lot of the time? It's one of the games we play. Let's put our stuff away and I'll show you."

They made a quick detour and stashed all their belongings, though Apple Bloom took some potions with her. "Can't go wrong with a potion or three, just in case. They're real cheap to replace." Prepared, they headed out into the streets of Murrage, following after Sunflower through the alleyways until they arrived at a broad courtyard.

There were cats everywhere, most smaller than normal. Many were dressed in very bright clothing, as if trying to compete with one another for their bold displays of clashing hues. There were a few adults, but they were not playing supervisory roles. One was selling meaty-smelling skewers to hungry kittens, and another was being quite secretive about whatever she was offering.

Scootaloo wrinkled her nose. "What are they cooking? Smells nasty."

Sunflower tilted his head with confusion. "Smells like beef to me, pretty good." He rubbed his belly in thought. "But I didn't bring any money."

Scootaloo blinked softly. "What's beef?"

"Cow meat." Sunflower looked quite surprised when he saw the expressions on his companions' faces at his revelation. "What?"

Apple Bloom shook her head quickly. "How can ya eat something that can talk!? That's horrible!"

Sunflower waved a paw. "I never saw any cow talk before! They just go 'moo' and stuff."

Sweetie Belle smiled a little. "I read about that, girls. I don't think animals here are like our animals. I don't think even the cats would be eating... talking things." She made a bit of a face. "Eating meat at all is pretty gross."

Sunflower pointed at Sweetie, her mouth in particular. "You're a horse, of course you don't eat meat. I'm a cat. Cats like meat. That's the, uh... natural order?"

Scootaloo spread her wings. "I guess, but we're not here to eat. We're here to play." Her eyes fixed on a group of youth kicking a ball around quite energetically. "That looks fun!" She nudged Apple Bloom. "Come on!" Soon the two had taken off to join in the game.

Sweetie didn't look as excited about it and looked around with a calculating look. Sunflower stayed by her, watching her patiently. Sweetie suddenly clopped her hooves together. "Got it!" She hurried off to the side of the courtyard with Sunflower chasing after her. She hopped up onto a crate, and from there onto a larger one until she had the right elevation, or so she determined. "Attention everypony!"

Some of the purrsians in the immediate area looked up at Sweetie with idle curiosity. One leaned over to the other. "Did she just call us ponies?"

"Fillies and gentlecolts! I hereby declare the start of a new competition! Everypony with a light step is invited to dance to show who's the best at shaking what they have." Sweetie Belle gave a bright smile and took a breath before launching in a lively little number about playing in the summer sun.

The purrsians started to gather around, watching Sweetie more out of curiosity than anything else. Sweetie rose up on two legs and did a little spin, starting to dance with herself as she sang. Sunflower moved into the middle of the mass. "You heard the lady, dance time!" And he began to wiggle and shake with an impressive lack of skill that he hoped to make up for with sheer enthusiasm. A few snickers came from the crowd before another purrsian tried to show him up with more skilled moves. That was enough to open the floodgates and soon the field in front of Sweetie Belle was filled with purrsians in motion, rocking to the rhythm of her songs, and she was happy.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had figured out the game fairly quickly. It wasn't very different from a game they had played back in Equestria, and they eagerly kicked the ball around, avoiding other players and aiming to get it past the pillar that served as the goal. Flying was allowed, which made Scootaloo pleased, even if it disadvantaged Apple Bloom. Flying was not key to easy victory, with most of the other players equally capable of taking to the sky. The only limitation seemed to be not bringing the ball too high up. Those who did that were jeered and booed to the ground, making most of the action at or close to the ground, with wildly acrobatic jumps and flying leaps an integral part of the game.

They whittled away several hours until they staggered off together, tired, but content. "Ya did good, Scoots."

Scootaloo raised a hoof, which Applebloom met. "You too, Apple Bloom. That was awesome! I couldn't even believe it when you bounced the ball off that purrsian's side and into the goal like that."

Apple Bloom giggled softly. "Your air shot off that otha one's back was jus' as impressive. Say, where's Sweetie Belle gone ta?"

They looked around until they spotted the undulating mass of dancing purrsians. The original crowd had long since given way to a new crowd, recycling and refreshing as purrsians got tired or gained a second wind. Sweetie Belle was still singing for them, looking happy as could be. "There she is." Scootaloo pointed at her and started walking towards the mob. "I remember her being a lot more shy about singing in front of other ponies."

Apple Bloom tilted her head a little as she followed Scootaloo. "Well they aren't ponies. Maybe that makes a difference?"

Scootaloo blinked. "Huh, I didn't think of that. Maybe it does..."

They waved up at Sweetie Belle who bobbed her head back at them. "Hey! Thanks for coming! You were all great!" She hopped down from her crate to the soft disappointed noises of the crowd. Dance time was over. Sunflower emerged from the crowd and offered a paw to help Sweetie down the last box. Sweetie giggled, looking amused at the chivalry and accepting the assistance she didn't technically need. Soon the group had reformed. "Did you girls have fun?"

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom bobbed their heads at Sweetie Belle before Scootaloo spoke up, "That was some nice singing. Did anypony give you any grief?"

Sweetie gestured at Sunflower. "Sunflower was there the whole time and helped keep everything under control. Thanks!"

Sunflower flushed softly as he nodded. "Always a pleasure, Sweetie Belle. So worth it to hear you sing."

Apple Bloom nudged Scootaloo and pointed at the two, making a kissy face. They both giggled quietly. "Let's get home. Ah'm beat and ah bet dinner's waiting fer us."

Sweetie nodded in agreement quickly. "Let's go!"

They marched off together under the late-afternoon sun, pausing only at a fountain to slake their monstrous thirsts in the cool waters. Worn in all the good ways, they entered the manor grounds, refreshed in spirit.

Applejack saw the group coming and moved to intercept them with a smile. "Well, y'all looking mighty pleased. What've y'all been up ta?"

They excitedly described their day of play as Applejack herded them towards the dining hall. It had been a good day.

Author's Notes:

Sometimes you just have to relax and smell the desert flowers.

The typos never relax!

26 - Wanderlust

The Crusaders were gathered just after breakfast. Sweetie clopped the floor lightly. "I move that we go now."

Sunflower tilted his head. "I thought you were enjoying your break?" The other Crusaders nodded their head in agreement with Sunflower.

"I was," said Sweetie, "But what I really want is to get home. It's like bad-tasting medicine. The sooner we get it over with, the sooner we're done. Besides, I heard Twilight talking about Viljatown. It's a nice place! I'd much rather be waiting there, even if we have to get past nasty monsters and things."

Apple Bloom shrugged. "Can't rightly fault the argument. Ah had lots of fun yesterday, but ah could be ready to go by tomorrow if that's what ya want?"

Scootaloo thrust a hoof up. "I was always ready! Let's go find AJ and tell her."

Sunflower bounced up to his paws. "I saw her throwing horseshoes outside." And he was off, girls now far behind.

They found Applejack just releasing a shoe to land around the post with a grin. The butler was her playing partner, to their surprise. "Excellent shot, madame, but don't count me out yet." He started sizing up his shot, swinging the shoe back and forth slowly. The shoe sailed through the air and hit the post, landing close, but not was well as Applejack's had.

Apple Bloom clopped her hooves appreciatively. "Good job, sis. Got a moment?"

Applejack looked to the small mob that had formed for her and raised a brow at them all. "Are y'all about ta ask permission for somethin' dangerous?"

"Sort of." Sweetie Belle brushed her hooves over the ground. "We decided we should really get moving, instead of laying around. The sooner we get to Viljatown, the sooner we can get home."

Applejack nodded. "Well... Y'all in agreement on this?" They all nodded. "Alrighty then. Can't say ah blame ya for wantin' ta get home. Mighty eager ta see the orchard again mahself. Ah'll talk to Willow and get back to y'all." She turned to the butler and tipped her hat. "Thanks fer the game, but ya see ah got business ta deal with."

The butler gave a formal bow. "The business of a proper lady is never truly complete, madame." Then he was off on whatever chore called to him.

Applejack moved off to find Willow, and the Crusaders trailed right after her. "What? Go on! Ya got at least today off. No reason ta follow me around ah reckon."

Sweetie Belle smiled. "What if we like your company and want to be with you today?"

Applejack paused. "Well, ah guess there's... nothing wrong with that." She smiled gently. "Sorry for getting short." She lowered to the ground. "Who wants a lift?" Apple Bloom quickly took her rightful place as rider of her sister, and they were off. "Ya know, ya got heavier? Maybe ponies're bigger in Everglow."

Sunflower giggled and Apple Bloom blushed. "Sis! Are ya callin' me fat?"

Applejack shook her head quickly. "Ah'm callin' you a growing filly, who'll one day be as big and strong as ah am and buck an apple tree with no problem at all. Why, ah reckon you'll be big enough soon."

Apple Bloom tilted her head. "But what if I don't want to be an apple bucker?"

Applejack paused again, frowning with thought. "Well... Ya don't know what ya want to be yet, ah reckon. Not every Apple is a bucker. Nothin' wrong with that, ah suppose."

Apple Bloom nuzzled into Applejack's neck from behind. "Ah'm not talking 'bout leaving the farm if that's what's got ya worried. Ah can help in other ways, right? Ah'm not as big as ya were, even as a filly."

Sweetie Belle tapped the side of her head. "But you're smart!"

Scootaloo pumped a hoof as she walked. "And courageous!"

Sunflower looked uncertain a moment. "And a great leader?"

"Yeah!" agreed the other two Crusaders.

Applejack smiled as she bobbed her head. "Yer definitely all of those things. Don't ya worry none. So long as my little sister's bein' all she can be, Ah'll be prouder than a beaver on a fallen redwood."

They soon arrived at Willow's bedroom and gave a soft clopping knock. The door opened to reveal a feline form that was wreathed in flames. They all hopped back away from it in collective surprise as it chuckled, speaking in a female tone, "You have guests, mistress. The horses and your son."

Willow soon appeared at the doorway, gently brushing the flaming cat aside. "Ah, I see you have met Kalik. She is my partner and guardian."

Applejack tilted her head a little. "I didn't know ya had such a curious, uh, guardian? Why weren't they there when you were being attacked?"

Kalik sat on her haunches and licked over a flaming paw. "When my mistress slumbers, I am sent away to the plane of fire, where I await her call."

Sunflower clapped his paws together. "Why haven't I seen you before?"

Willow answered that. "Because there was no reason for it." She clucked her tongue. "Now what brings you all here? Have you decided when you wish to go?"

Scootaloo raised a hoof. "Yes ma'am! We're ready to go as soon as possible."

Willow raised a brow. "Is that so? I thought you needed more time to recover? No matter. I will have our supplies ready by sundown tomorrow, and we will depart when the sand cools. You need only bring yourselves. I will see there is an ample supply of food and water." She exited her room and moved to Sunflower. "Will you be ready?"

Sunflower quickly nodded. "Of course, Mom." He drew out his mace and showed it to her.

She laughed softly. "I have my doubts you will need a ghost-hunting mace during this journey, but it is still magic and will serve you well. Good, you keep your girls safe. Mother has work to do." She prowled off, Kalik following after her.

When they were out of sight, Applejack raised a brow at Sunflower. "Yer girls?"

Scootaloo burst into laughter, flopping onto her side. "It's a game of his. He thinks he can get a regular harem or something."

Applejack turned to face Sunflower. "That right?" She leaned in, overshadowing Sunflower. "Just a game?"

Sunflower wilted under the stern gaze. "I..."

Apple Bloom softly nudged Applejack from on her back. "Don't be a bully, Applejack. He ain't done nothin' wrong."

Applejack snorted with obvious disagreement. "Ya ain't big enough yet for that kinda thing." She pointed a hoof at Sunflower. "Get yer eyes off mah fillies."

Sweetie Belle crossed her forelegs. "I am not your filly, Applejack. Rarity taught me how to behave and I can handle myself, thank you." She turned up her little snout.

Apple Bloom stuck out her tongue. "And you taught me better than that, sis. We're not doing anything funny. Don't be angry at him for being a gentlecolt."

Scootaloo snorted, looking a little confused. "What's the big deal? He's our friend, right?" She moved over beside Sunflower and threw a leg over his neck, hugging him. "Best buds! That's what the Crusaders are all about, and he's been a good Crusader so far, right girls?"

"Right!"

"Yeah!"

Sunflower looked embarrassed in a good way at the kind words. "I'll do my best, promise."

Applejack let out a soft sigh. "Right. Well, get yer stuff packed and ready. We head out tomorrow."

Author's Notes:

I got the Unchained book, which means Willow and Sunflower's sheets were remade into their unchained variant. Sunflower gets a buff that only gets better with levels. Go Sunflower! Willow got a bit of a nerf before she even got to use her powers, but if you never saw them, were they really nerfed?

The weekend continue to be a jerk. Darn you weekends! The typos thrive on them.

27 - Into the Sands

The party assembled at the northern gate of the city. Willow showed them to a wagon with wide wheels. "They are designed to not sink easily into the sand. See how they are more runners than wheels? They can be converted into wheels when we escape the desert. A most ingenious design that made the purrsian behind it quite wealthy."

Applejack circled the wagon curiously. "Looks mighty fine, and big enough fer all of us. But how's it gonna move forward?"

Willow moved past the wagon and gestured for them to follow. She led them to the stalls and pointed out four camels. "These are ours. Well-suited to desert travel, they don't require frequent watering. We should leave the desert behind before they are in urgent need of a drink. Are any of you skilled at handling such beasts?" When they all shook their heads, she shrugged. "I thought as much. I will handle them. The wagon is loaded with the supplies we require. I have a map of the region, at least as far as Everrain. The gods laugh to place such a wet place right beside the desert."

Sweetie tilted her head a little. "Anything we should know before we head out?"

Willow held up a finger. "One, stay in the wagon unless it is urgent. Two, tell someone before you leave no matter how urgent it is. Three, no walking around outside during the day. Four, stay quiet, some creatures of the desert can hear quite well. Five, drink sparingly, but drink regularly." She led the way back to the wagon and swung herself up into the driving position. "Son, come up here. You may learn something." Sunflower soon joined her and they started going over the basics of how to operate the wagon.

Applejack turned to the rest of the Crusaders. "Well, if ya had any unfinished business in the city, this is tha time to bring it up."

Looks were exchanged and heads shaken. No one could think of something that needed doing. Scootaloo pointed to the sands. "We're ready for action!"

Applejack huffed. "We're hopin' there won't be any of that. Boring is what we're aimin' for." She nudged the door of the wagon open. "Of course, that ain't guaranteed, so be ready, but don't go looking fer trouble, it's lookin' for us just fine as it is. Get on board, Ah'm gonna help out Willow with tha, uh, whatever those things are."

"Camels." Sweetie smiled brightly, then hopped up onto the wagon, the others not far behind.

"Yeah, those. Be right back." Applejack trotted back to the stables, soon joined by Willow. They got the camels into position and rigged up for the journey. The rigging was clearly made with clever purrsian fingers in mind, not pony hooves and mouths, but Applejack did her best to be helpful. The sand that was omnipresent outside the city got into her hooves, digging in between the sensitive padding and the outer wall. She was quietly grateful when she boarded the wagon and sank down once she was in the dim interior. With a softly spoken spell, she banished the dirt, bringing sweet relief. She sighed out and brought the attention of the others.

"Ya OK, Sis?" Apple Bloom trotted over quickly and paused as she spotted a small pile of sand beside Applejack. "What tha?" Before she could question it, Applejack made a sweeping motion and the sand was ushered out the back of the wagon, and the door closed slowly. "Huh. Yer gettin' better at that there magic."

Applejack smiled and reached out to pat Apple Bloom softly. "Ain't nothin' ah can't figure out if ah decide ah want to. Ya ain't the only one learnin'. Now hop up here. Ah'd like to be with mah sister for a while." Apple Bloom obliged her, and they curled together peacefully, both happier for the presence of the other. Applejack took quiet notice of Apple Bloom's relative size. The filly surely was larger than she last recalled. Was it time, or the strange property of coming to Everglow? Would she shrink on their return? Was her little sister just getting bigger? A soft pain stabbed in her chest as evidence of Apple Bloom's maturity lay curled beside her.

Applejack's thoughts remained in her head, not troubling the others. Sunflower had brought a deck of cards and was playing a game with Sweetie and Scootaloo. Though he was the one to introduce it to them, Scootaloo seemed to have a knack for it. She was good-natured about her victories, encouraging her playmates to give it another try. The soft rocking of the wagon and the relative quiet soon had them drowsy, but they didn't surrender so easily.

Sweetie clopped a hoof on the floor. "We can sleep during the day. We shouldn't sleep now." She glanced over at the napping Apples before looking towards her more waking companions. "How about a little friendly game of... truth or dare?"

Scootaloo giggled, covering her snout. Sunflower looked more confused. "What is that?"

Sweetie flashed her bright smile. "It is exactly what it sounds like. We take turns challenging one another to truth or dare. The challenged pony has to pick one or the other. If you pick truth, you have to tell the truth to the question. If you pick dare, you have to do what you're told. No dares outside the wagon, alright?"

Scootaloo bobbed her head and dashed off, returning with a bottle. She grinned and gave it a spin. It stopped on Sweetie. Scootaloo leaned towards her. "Truth, or dare?"

Sweetie tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I'll take truth."

Scootaloo stuck out her tongue. "Don't be a pansy, hmm." She glanced at Sunflower, then back at Sweetie. "Have you ever kissed a colt, for real, on the lips?"

Sweetie went dark red. "No! Gosh!" She reached for the bottle and batted it, sending it spinning around drunkenly. It stopped aiming closest to Sunflower and she smiled. "Truth or dare?"

Sunflower perked his ears and squirmed a little. "Dare."

Sweetie tilted her head. "Brave, or maybe you have secrets you don't want to share." She grinned and tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I dare you to... kiss Scootaloo, right on the lips."

Scootaloo darkened and her wings went out. "What?! Sweetie!"

Sunflower approached her with some hesitation. "If you don't want to, I won't force you... It's just a game."

Scootaloo crossed her forelegs. "I won't be beaten that easily. Pucker up, catboy." They leaned in towards each other with Sweetie watching with wide eyes. Their snouts met with a clumsy bump, and a brief kiss was shared before they drew back quickly and sat down.

Sweetie frowned a little. "That was hardly a kiss, but you did it. Your turn."

Sunflower grabbed the bottle and gave it a smooth spin, making it go round and round until it pointed back at Sunflower. "Uh, what do I do?"

Scootaloo made a spinning gesture. "Spin it again."

Away it went, this time landing on Scootaloo. "Truth or dare? Pick truth."

Scootaloo tilted her head. "Huh? Uh, OK. Truth."

Sunflower grinned. "Did you enjoy the kiss?"

Scootaloo punched Sunflower in the shoulder with a hoof. "Jerk!" But she burst into laughter afterwards. "It was alright."

Scootaloo spun it around, and the game continued through the evening. As the sun rose, the temperature came with it. The interior of the wagon quickly became stuffy, but not unbearably so. The wagon's rocking came to a halt, and soon Willow appeared. "We are parked in a valley, out of sight. We rest now, and resume when the heat has withdrawn." She pulled the door shut behind herself. "I'm ready for a meal." She padded across the wagon towards the supplies. "Anyone else want some?"

Dried trail rations were hardly a luxury meal, but no one refused it. As they chewed softly, Applejack asked. "About how many days ta get out of the desert?"

Willow drew out a map and unfurled it. "We're making excellent progress so far. If we're lucky, the caravan ahead of us is drawing the attention of anything dangerous. We could get out in four more days of travel. The jungles around Everrain are quite thick, so I expect three days of hard journey before we reach the city. So a week until we get some real food in us."

Apple Bloom swallowed the bit she had been grinding. "It's not so bad. Ah'm just glad we're moving. You'll tell us if a monster shows up, right?"

Willow chuckled softly. "You'll be the second to know. I hope it never comes up, but if we are attacked, I expect everyone to help. If the wagon is smashed to bits, we're all basically dead anyway."

Scootaloo waved a hoof dismissively. "We can handle whatever comes. You just haven't seen us in action." She wrinkled her snout a little. "What are our odds?"

Willow settled back against a crate. "Of what? Monsters before we reach the city? Almost a hundred percent."

Sweetie squeaked and tilted her head. "That bad?"

Conversation petered out as the meal was completed, and they managed a good day's rest. The wagon lurched ahead when the sun lowered and continued to slide across the sands. It came to a halt around three o' clock. Willow pulled open the door. "Come see."

They followed her to what appeared to be the remains of another caravan. "They didn't make it very far from the city. I couldn't say what destroyed them, but this could be us, if we are not careful."

Applejack approached the splintered remnants of a wagon, avoiding the twisted body of a purrsian baking in the sun. "Right terrible is what it is. Shouldn't we do something fer em?"

Willow softly snorted. "Bury them in the sand? A gift as fleeting as it is useless. I am guessing it was not a beast. They look stripped to the fur, and not devoured."

Sunflower shook his head. "Bandits?"

Sweetie frowned with thought. "I wonder if it was the same ones we run into when we first got here. I'm going back to the wagon." The others agreed with the sentiment. There was little else in the corpse of the caravan worth seeing, and hot gritty sand in hooves was quite unpleasant. Soon they were moving forward again, feeling a bit less safe with no caravan ahead of them to draw attention away.

Sweetie looked to Apple Bloom. "Do you think we'll make it alright?"

Apple Bloom tilted her head. "'Course we will! Heck, Ah feel kinda bad we didn't go with that other caravan. Ah bet we'da smashed those bandits but good!"

Scootaloo agreed with the sentiment, thrusting a hoof into the air. "Cutie Mark Crusaders Caravan Defenders! That would have been great."

Applejack shook her head. "Like ah said, the trouble's looking fer us. Let's not go pining the trouble we missed. Them bandits may still be out there, and they might find us. Let's just be ready."

Apple Bloom nodded. "Excellent idea. Let's go over a few plans." She clopped a hoof on the wooden floor. "I hereby call this meetin' of the CMC ta order!"

Author's Notes:

The journey across the sands begin. What will they find in the sun-soaked dunes, besides the remnants of ancient typos?

28 - The Sun Watches

The next day, the desert reminded them of its ill intent. As they waited out the heat of the day, Apple Bloom cocked an ear. "Do y'all hear somethin'?"

The rest went silent a moment before Sweetie began bobbing her head and getting up onto her hooves. Sunflower sprang up to his paws and was across the wagon in an instant, making nary a sound. With a lightly trembling paw, he pulled open the door a crack and peeked outside. Just as quickly, he closed it. "Fire!"

Applejack tilted her head. "Fire? It's sand. Sand don't... burn."

Willow spoke a short spell and vanished from sight. "It does when they are elementals. Prepare yourselves."

Scootaloo snorted softly as she drew out her rapier. "Doubt the fire's going to bother them much."

The wagon lurched at her complaint with the sound of something striking the side powerfully. Applejack was the first out to greet their foes. There were two human-sized waves of fire, one directly beside the wagon. She crashed into the one beside the wagon, battering it with her hooves. It was just as hot as it looked, and she yanked one hoof away with some fire clinging to the fur of her ankle. She shook it out quickly with a snort.

Sweetie began to sing a song of rain from the safety of the wagon as Scootaloo flew free and joined Applejack. Her rapier jabbed into its flaming hide, drawing a crackling roar from the beast. Apple Bloom guzzled down a potion as Sunflower joined the battle. The elemental was little more than a sheet of flame. It had no front or back and no weak point that Sunflower could detect. Bludgeoning it to submission would have to be done the old fashioned way.

The flames hedged in by the party lashed out, catching Scootaloo across the snout. Besides the painful thump, which knocked her head back, the flame spread over her with supernatural speed, igniting her in an instant. She squealed in terror and withdrew from the scuffle, taking off in a run across the sand.

Apple Bloom called after Scootaloo. "Stop, drop, an' roll!" She emerged from the wagon and approached the second elemental as she swigged another potion, preparing herself to keep the creature at bay. The fire did not keep her waiting. It rushed at her and she nimbly dodged aside with enhanced physique. "Gonna have ta try harder than that!"

Applejack spun about and brought up her powerful apple buckers. The flames could not handle a twin strike, but set Applejack aflame in spite of it. It was almost as if the fire left the elemental and surrounded Applejack instead. "Ah shoot!"

Willow appeared at the top of the wagon as her spell dug out the sand out from under the remaining elemental, sending it tumbling into the hole. Apple Bloom scooted back away from the flowing sand around the hole. "Woah, cool."

Scootaloo dropped into the sand, burying herself in the hot gritty granules until the flames around her were put out. Applejack followed the example, rolling about on the ground. The heat of the sand was little compared to the licking flames she could get rid of.

Willow called down to them. "The creature is inconvenienced, not dead. Be ready to finish it off." As Applejack and Scootaloo struggled to pick themselves out of the sand, Sunflower rushed to join Apple Bloom by the pit. By the time the pit began to fill to the top with sand, they had all arrayed at the ready. The flame had lost its will to battle them, fleeing the moment it could get over the side of the pit and taking off into the scorching sands. "That also works..." Willow swung down into the wagon, and the others soon joined her.

Sweetie Belle's soft songs banished much of the pain of the fire, and Apple Bloom's potions took care of the rest. Applejack set the vial down carefully. "That coulda gone much worse. Good job, everypony."

Willow snorted softly. "You really should stop doing that."

Applejack tilted her head. "Do what?"

Sunflower flashed a bright smile. "That pony thing. We're not ponies."

Scootaloo rubbed behind her head. "Oh yeah... Sorry, just the way we talked back home."

Applejack nodded in quick agreement. "Didn't mean nothin' by it. Yer plenty fine cats."

They settled in and began sleeping in shifts until the heat faded away. When Willow moved to retake her driving position, she stopped at the door. She tore down a small slip of paper stuck to it with a dagger. Sweetie Belle tilted her head at it. "What's that?"

Willow frowned. "They found us."

Apple Bloom approached curiously. "What's it say?"

Willow surrendered the note to Apple Bloom. "They want us to give up one of our number, or they'll take everyone and everything by force. Thank the Sun King for small favors, they've given us warning."

Applejack frowned. "But why would they bother ta do that? Ah reckon they got another angle."

Scootaloo clopped her hooves lightly. "Maybe they want us to give up somepony, and then they'll attack anyway and we'll have one less pony around."

Apple Bloom blinked. "That's devious... Well I'm not giving up any of you! We can take them on if we have to."

Sweetie Belle puffed out her cheeks. "As Rarity would say, they sound like a bunch of uncultured hooligans, and I will have nothing to do with them." She turned up her nose with a small hmph.

Sunflower bobbed his head in agreement. "I won't let them take any of you."

Willow softly patted Sunflower on the head. "You're a brave little alpha cat, but you're not the largest one here. Trust in these skilled ponies to do some of their own protecting. It's time to get moving. Be ready in case of trouble." She was soon gone, and the wagon began to move, undoubtedly guided forward by her.

Their progress was shorter than they would have liked. After pushing forward for several hours, Willow thumped the top of the wagon. "Wind's picking up, and I see sand building. We may be in for a storm." There were no rocks or trees to hide in, just larger dunes. Willow joined them in the wagon and began bolting shut the small windows. "A sandstorm is no light matter. There's nothing for it but to wait until it passes."

Sweetie pointed towards the front. "What about the camels?"

Willow's expression soured. "There's very little I can do for them. They will either survive, or not. If not, we have new issues more pressing than the idle gestures of bandits. At the very least, they will be hindered by this storm as much as we are. If they planned to attack now, those plans are dashed."

Scootaloo crossed her forelegs. "Well this sucks. I bet if Rainbow was here, she'd just stop the wind."

Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo curiously. "Are ya startin' ta learn weather magic now that yer flyin'?"

Scootaloo shrugged. "Sort of. I figured out how to kick a cloud away, but I'm learning on my own." She shrank a little. "Wish Rainbow Dash was here."

Applejack snorted softly. "Can't disagree. She'd be right useful 'round these parts, 'long with the rest of the girls. Ah bet Twilight could magic us out of this predicament if she were here."

Scootaloo moved over to Applejack and pointed at her saddlebag. "Let me see her book. Maybe we could use the spell ourselves. We're wizards too you know."

Applejack nodded. "Ya got a mighty fine point there." She pulled out the book and put it on the ground. "See if ya can't find some spell that'd help."

Scootaloo flopped to her haunches and began flipping through the dense tome of magical lore as the howling of the sandy wind outside increased in pitch and intensity as the storm came rolling over their wagon. Small bits of dust blew in through the cracks, leaving wild eddies of sand across the floor. Willow stood up and quenched the lamp before replacing it with magical light. "A lamp in a closed place is a poor idea."

Applejack made it her duty to sweep the dust out with her magic, keeping the ground clear so long as she occasionally made a sweeping motion to send the dust off to wherever that spell send dirt and stains. It was quiet, save for the ever-present howl of the wind and the soft creaks of the wheels as the wagon rocked back and forth under the assault.

Scootaloo pointed at a spell. "We could summon up new horses if the camels don't make it."

Sweetie pouted at the idea. "Poor camels. What'd they do to deserve this?"

Willow shook her head. "There is a good chance they will weather through this. This is their home. They are more used to these storms than we could ever be."

Sunflower perked an ear. "How come we aren't used to this, Mom? Aren't we from the desert?"

Willow nodded. "Haven't you listened to your Grandmother? She has told the tale plenty of times. Once we were creatures of the air." She gestured with a paw at Sunflower's wings. "That is where we got those. We would go wherever the wind carried us."

Sunflower smiled. "That sounds nice. Why don't we fly much anymore?"

Apple Bloom raised a hoof suddenly. "Cause y'all like big cities and comfy cushions and stuff?"

"Basically, yes." Willow drew out a slender stick of a pipe and began packing it with some herbs. "We are more comfortable now, but less free. There is always a price to be had in all things, my son, and you would do well to learn that."

Sunflower's eyes darting to the fillies, then back at his mom, looking thoughtful a moment. "How do you know if the price is worth it?"

Willow ignited the end of her pipe with a match, lighting the herbs inside briefly before she gave a lazy puff. The smoke was sweet, rather than the acrid tang the others had expected. "That is something you learn over a lifetime of trials. What you would pay for is not what I would sacrifice for, but you will learn, I have no doubt."

Apple Bloom raised an ear towards Applejack. "Is that something ah should be learnin'?"

Applejack considered a moment. "Reckon it is. Ah made a lot of decisions, and none of them are free. Ya gotta give time, or bits, sometimes more ta get what ya want. Sweat, blood, effort. Nothing's entirely free. Even time is somethin' ya only get so much of, so... yes, ya do gotta learn what's worth paying fer and what's not."

Sweetie tilted her head. "Wow, I never thought of it like that..."

Scootaloo grinned. "Well hanging out with the Crusaders is worth the price every day!" This was a sentiment the other Crusaders could easily agree with, culminating in a group meeting of hooves and paw. With a renewed sense of camaraderie, they huddled together and waited for the raging winds to abate.

Author's Notes:

Fires, notes, windstorms! Welcome to the desert!

The winds sometime expose old typos left by travelers long past.

29 - Towards the Horizon

The wind settled into a dark and gloomy silence. Applejack approached the door and carefully nudged it open, shoving against the mound of sand stacked against it and forcing it out to reveal the changed landscape outside. The dune they had parked beside had ceased to exist, and new dunes had sprouted up in its place.

Sweetie jumped out past her and circled around the wagon swiftly. The camels were still alive, if battered and sullen. She sang them a sweet song as she passed among them, banishing their injuries with her empathy, and getting a slobbery lick in thanks. Sweetie giggled a little with a smile, returning to the others with a satisfied expression. "They're OK!"

Willow stepped out with Applejack, drawing free a compass and peering at it with a raised brow. She pointed into the distance. "Let's try to make up for lost time. Good job with the camels. They'll be much easier to control without those injuries."

Scootaloo, Sunflower, and Apple Bloom hopped out of the wagon. Sunflower smiled up at his mother. "Can we have a minute or two to stretch?"

She huffed softly. "If you must. Don't go farther than ten feet from the wagon. Some beasts are active just after sandstorms." She sat herself down and began muttering some strange spell.

With permission given, the Crusaders began to run and explore the area around the wagon eagerly. Scootaloo pointed at the sand piled against it. "We should get that off the wagon.

Apple Bloom nodded in agreement. "Good idea." Play time became work time as they industriously cleared away the sand and made a new small dune beside the wagon instead of on top of it.

Sunflower clambered up to the top when it was completed. "I am king!" His monarchy was short-lived as Scootaloo barreled into him and they rolled down the small hill together.

"Enough play." Willow waved at the group. "Get inside. It's time to go." Her fire cat was with her, prowling alongside her quietly as she got into position to drive the wagon. "

Soon everyone was loaded into the wagon, except Sweetie Belle. She hopped up beside Willow and sat down. "I want to be here today, please?"

Willow urged the camels forward silently and the wagon struggled a moment before it pulled free of the sand remaining and began sliding along the surface. "As you wish. There is precious little to see from up here, just dunes."

Despite her words, Sweetie seemed to enjoy watching the dunes go past quietly. Sweetie glanced towards Willow, and her flaming cat. "So you've been on this route before?"

"A few times." Willow glanced sideways at Sweetie. "Why?"

Sweetie shrugged her little shoulders. "Is it always dangerous?"

Willow smiled. "Of course. If it was easy, there'd be much less money to be had. Most of those lazy cats would rather sit at home and count the few coins they have rather than risk it all. What about you, little one? Have you been on such ventures before?"

Sweetie tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I've been to a big city a few times to help my big sister, but we were never attacked by monsters on the way. Um, no offense, but Everglow's a lot more dangerous than Equestria is."

Willow pointed at Sweetie, claw extended. "But it hones a person. You have grown more in the week you've been here than in the last year of your life. If you can avoid becoming lunch, you could become a great hero."

Sweetie gave a slow nod. "I suppose... but I'd rather there not need for there to be a hero."

Willow gave a soft laugh, slapping her knee with a paw. "You're wise for your age. Are there truly no heroes in your world?"

Sweetie shook her head quickly. "My sister's one! She and her friends have saved the world a few times from bad guys. I... suppose if there has to be a hero, I could do that." She stuck out her tongue a little. "I'd rather not."

Willow nodded slowly and allowed silence to settle over them for a time, with just the quiet steps of the camels on the sand beneath them. "The best heroes don't want to be, you realize. Keep that desire for peace safe in your chest, Little Bell."

Sweetie smiled brightly at Willow as she craned her neck about, looking over the sandy stretches. "So, uh, do purrsians really get married in groups?"

Willow snorted softly. "Not all the time. Only very wealthy purrsians gather a harem around themselves, usually males. It is a symbol of wealth and success. I had but one spouse, and our love was not... enduring."

Sweetie frowned a little with obvious thought. "What happened? I mean, if you don't mind my asking?"

Willow waved it off. "It is an old wound, and an honest question. For you, I will answer. He found a prettier cat with deeper coin purses and left me holding little Sunflower. Sunflower's the only good thing to come of the no-good tomcat." She spat to the desert floor. "Don't marry for looks."

Sweetie looked sad, which made Willow uncomfortable. "Don't look that way, Little Bell. I am not unhappy with my life. Sunflower is a darling child and growing strong and well." She reached out and patted Sweetie gently through the mane. "He has found such wonderful friends as well. How could a mother be anything but pleased?"

Sweetie's pout melted away into a smile. "Um, this is very personal... but..." She swallowed thickly. "Are you... playing matchmaker? We tried that once with our teacher, and it didn't work so well."

Willow raised a brow. "Did you now? That sounds adorable. What went wrong?"

Sweetie made a vague gesture with her hooves. "We kind of used a love poison and they got crazy over each other. We fixed it in the end though, promise."

Willow snickered softly at the image. "I see... Apple Bloom was already well on her way to becoming a fine alchemist? I am glad it worked out in the end, but love should not be forced, or false. To answer your question, I will let what happens, happen. If you and my son grow closer, I will celebrate, if not, I will hope you at least become friends." She slid a finger under Sweetie Belle's chin. "You are a fine person, pony or cat, and I would be honored to have you as kin."

Sweetie flushed darkly, unsure how to reply to that statement. "Uh, thank you?" It was a nice thing she had said, but... "I'm not sure if it'll work out that way... but Sunflower's nice enough, so we can be friends for sure."

Willow nodded gently, putting her hands back in her lap and controlling the camels. "That is all I can ask. Anything beyond is a blessing. He is a rash kitten, keep him safe and he will gladly play hero for you and your friends."

Sweetie pointed ahead. "What's that?"

Willow frowned and squinted at what Sweetie indicated. The great shape of a beetle rose from the sand, shaking itself free of the recently driven stuff. It was the size of a cow, and fixed its eyes on the wagon in a disconcerting fashion. Willow thumped the top of the wagon. "Company!" With a sharp wave, she motioned Kalik forward.

The flaming cat leaped over the camels and charged at the giant blue beetle. Sweetie looked guilty. "I used up my healing magic on the camels."

Willow waved away the confession. "Too late to worry about that now. Let's focus on not needing it. Sing your song, Little Bell."

Sweetie complied with a little ditty she learned from Rainbow Dash about Daring Do's exploits. Under this adventurous melody, the rest of the group burst out the back of the wagon and were closing in on the beetle. The beetle and Kalik met first, great mandibles closing in on the flaming cat and scoring a grazing gnaw along a leg. Kalik quickly returned the favor with their own teeth, trying to work through the tough chitinous hide of the beast.

As the others closed the distance, Apple Bloom dug out a bomb mixture and hurled it at the beetle. It wasn't spot on, but landed beside the beetle, catching it in its explosive fire. The beetle clicked in fury and turned to approach Apple Bloom, scuttling past Kalik. Kalik swiped at it on the way past, but the claws slid over the steel-like plating. The beetle crashed into the second line of combatants. Scootaloo drove her flaming rapier into it with a sudden forceful burst of flames, setting it alight for a moment with a keening whistle of pain.

Applejack drove a single hoof into it with a punch, knocking a hole in its hide and crushing flesh beyond it. Sunflower ducked around its momentum, weaving around it on all fours and springing up with mace in paw, surrounding the beast. The great beast wheeled and turned, driving mandibles at Scootaloo and grinding at her. Scootaloo squeaked and wriggled away, hopping back with fresh wounds.

Apple Bloom hurled a fresh bomb, landing on the beetle's back and exploding powerfully with flames. "Keep it up, everypony. Ah think it's gettin' weak."

Sunflower brought down his mace with a satisfying crunch as he found a weak point between two plates. "It ain't so tough!"

Applejack went for her signature finisher, driving her hooves into it with an electric charge, but the beetle juked just in time, and only one hoof thudded against it to her annoyance. Kalik picked up the slack, landing on its back and burying her head into the hole Applejack had made earlier. She tore and rended at the creatures innards and it shuddered before collapsing to the ground, succumbing to the abuse heaped on it. "It is done."

Willow nodded from the driver's seat. "Well fought. There's still some cool time left, let's get as much desert behind us as we can."

Apple Bloom approached Scootaloo quickly, giving her a healing potion. "Thanks." Scootaloo chugged it down and let out a sigh of relief. "Did you see that explosion! Boom! We cooked that beetle before it even had a chance." Scootaloo waved up at Sweetie Belle. "Coming back with us?"

Sweetie waved at Willow before hopping down, rejoining her friends. Soon they were all inside the wagon and the trip continued around the beetle, onwards to their destination.

When they parked for the coming day, Willow joined the rest in the wagon. "I think we are safe from the bandits."

Applejack perked an ear. "Why's that?"

Willow gestured. "If they had the means to take us by force, they would have. It was a bluff, dashed to pathetic shreds with the coming of the storm. We should be thankful for it. It has erased our tracks up to its point." She plucked up a small flask with a purple stopper. "I propose a little drink of celebration."

Applejack looked hesitant. "How strong's that stuff?"

Willow scoffed. "A tepid wine. Good for travel, rude for polite company. But we are traveling companions, not polite company." She settled down and poured the flask out into its cap, offering it to Applejack first. "Try."

Applejack sipped it up and made a face. "It ain't cider, that's fer sure. Go on, one cap fer each of ya."

They rested in good spirits that day. The end of the desert felt closer than ever before.

Author's Notes:

The end is in metaphorical sight! We can leave these buried typos behind us.

30 - Into Darkness

It was as if the desert had lost its grip on their hearts, and with it, its grip on their wagon. They traveled swiftly and smoothly across the dunes without further impediment. As the sand began to transition to grass a few days later, Willow drew the wagon to a halt and everyone lent some assistance getting the wheels to actually look like wheels. Better equipped for rolling along the firmer ground, they pushed on.

The next day showed true evidence that the desert was behind them. They came across a tiny pond, an oasis of clear water that the camels eagerly refueled at and the younger members of the party splashed in. They continued forward, approaching a vast-looking jungle. Willow gestured at it. "The town we're looking for is practically in the middle of that. We resupply there, then continue onwards. Be wary, the jungle itself isn't likely to kill us, but what lives in it is quite hungry, and we're unfortunately delicious. The wagon's going to have a hard time here, so everyone out. We'll be shoving it as often as it could provide any kind of ride."

There was grumbling, but everyone walked alongside the wagon. True to her word, the wagon often got its wheels stuck on roots or lodged in small holes, but with their combined might they nudged it along. "Funny thing about this place. They've tried to clear out trails a few times, but they never stuck. Might explain why this place never grew into a proper city despite being part of a significant caravan path." Willow jabbed a hanging vine with a spear and nudged it out of the way. "We're doing well so far."

Their good fortune ran dry a day into the ever-thickening jungle. Applejack was at the fore, trying to clear the way for the wagon when a low growl got her head to turn just in time to be jumped on by a great striped beast. The tiger drove all four of its clawed paws against her as its teeth sunk into her shoulder painfully. Her armor repelled some of those claws, but she gave a surprised yelp as the others carved several jagged lines into her flesh.

Apple Bloom cringed at the tiger that reminded her of a chimera she had run into once. Scootaloo rushed forward on spread wings, drawing her rapier along the way to jab the tiger in one of its legs. It howled in pain and dropped to the ground, facing Scootaloo with ill intent. Willow waved at it and a hole opened to swallow it, but the cat nimbly jumped away from the forming hole with the dexterity felines were known for.

Sweetie rushed forward, putting Applejack between herself and the beast and mending some of her wounds with a quick song-spell. Applejack afforded a quick nod of thanks before edging towards the tiger around the hole. "Ya big varmint. That ain't how we say howdy where ah come from."

With the element of surprise gone, the tiger proved unwilling to press the battle, and darted back into the thick underbrush, quickly lost to sight. Scootaloo sheathed her rapier away and grinned. "Easy."

Willow nodded as she sank back to her seat. "They come in larger varieties, not as easily cowed. Little Bell, see to her wounds. The jungle is thick with exotic diseases."

Sweetie Belle squeaked and quickly poured the remainder of her song magic into Applejack to close up the claw wounds. Applejack put a hoof to her head, ruffling lightly. "Much obliged. Let's try ta keep an eye out for any other 'friendly' wildlife."

Perhaps their luck had not quite yet run dry, as night approached without further attack. They retreated into the wagon and bedded down for the evening. Sunflower chewed at some dried rations with a thoughtful expression. He asked how long until they got to the city, but there were no good answers to be had aside from 'soon' and 'a few days', which felt very much like not soon.

They pressed onwards the next day, though it was hard to tell day from night under the thick canopy of the looming trees at all angles. For a jungle, it was surprisingly firm under hoof and paw, though it lived up to the expectations of rain. A storm began and didn't let up, raining down on them in torrents. The rain was equally as good at making the travelers miserable as it was keeping most of the local wildlife away, and they eventually arrived in the town of Everrain.

The jungle ended abruptly, allowing them to see a sleepy, isolated town of no more than two thousand souls. On the west side of the town, resting on a hill, was a dour-looking stone building. To the east the rest of the buildings looked a bit more cheerful, with lights coming from inside windows. Willow shook herself free of water. "Welcome to Everrain. Not much to look at, but they have supplies and a tavern, and I plan to enjoy both." She clucked her tongue. "Come on, we've earned a little rest."

As they pressed into the city, they saw most of the inhabitants were earth ponies, with the occasional unicorn. There were no pegasi. A dwarf broke the sea of pony bodies. He approached them, stroking his magnificent beard along the way. "Hoi, welcome to Everrain. I'm afraid you have poor timing."

Applejack raised a brow. "Well howdy there. Whattaya mean by that?"

He gestured low towards the ground. "The earth's especially hungry of late, swallowed two people back-to-back. Some are crying foul play." He spat on the ground. "I expect they got too close to the jungle, but it's on my beard to find that out. Where ya headed?"

Willow spoke firmly from atop the wagon, "We're looking for hot food, trail rations, and a bed free of fleas."

"Oh aye, we got that." The dwarf pointed up the way. "Just on the left side there. They got a stable for yer camels too. You may want to trade out for some regular type horses while you're here if you're heading north or west."

Apple Bloom approached the dwarf. "'scuse me, mister? Whattaya mean 'swallowed'?"

He snorted powerfully. "I mean they're missing. It happens sometimes. Usually one at a time, but two isn't that uncommon. Just mind your manners, lest some damn fool decide you're somehow behind it."

Sweetie tilted her head. "How could we do it? We just got here."

He threw up his hands in exasperation. "I never said the people of this town made any sense. Anyway, the name's Hal Roughbeard, of the Roughbeards. I'm the deputy of this town, so if anyone tries to stir up trouble, you look for me and I'll give them a good whallopin' if they deserve it."

Names were exchanged and hands shaken with hooves and paws. Soon the party arrived at the tavern. 'Last Hope' it was called. As promised, there was a stable to park the camels and wagon, and they proceeded inside. A performer plucked lightly at a guitar despite his hooves, playing a lively little tune. The food smelled good, and the air was warm and dry. Everyone relaxed as they gathered around one of the larger tables and had a seat.

Sunflower put his paws on the table. "We made it."

Sweetie Belle corrected him with a lifted hoof. "So far. Plenty more to go, right?"

Willow and Applejack nodded at this. A waitress arrived, a unicorn levitating a pad of parchment. "Hello there, strangers! What can I get for the lot of ya?"

Orders were soon placed, and they began to chat easily with warm food and good drink available. Applejack opted against getting in the habit of feeding the smaller ones strong stuff, so they had a local fruit concoction that was sweet enough to quell any arguments and was free of alcohol.

Applejack looked towards Willow. "How long do ya reckon before we arrive in Viljatown?" She couldn't identify what vegetables were used in the making of her meal, but it was filling and delicious, so she didn't pry too hard.

Willow produced the map and unfurled it carefully. "We could go west through the jungle, but I'm thinking we should go north and get out of it as soon as possible, and skirt along its edge. Our next step is Galloping Dam. That place is much closer to what I'd call 'civilization'. As for Viljatown, hmm... We're at least a week out, at best, likely longer. When we arrive in Galloping Dam, we can get a boat going downstream to the rail station, and take the train the rest of the way. That should be the easiest part of the journey. It wouldn't be an option if we were actually carrying trade goods, but we're not. I agree with that dwarf." She gestured to the door. "We should trade out the camels. There's no desert in front of us."

Apple Bloom quickly nodded. "Makes sense ta me. Ah agree about getting outta this here jungle quick as possible. What's past it?"

Willow indicated northerly. "Rolling grasslands. The wagon will roll easily, and we'll see trouble coming before it's already leaping at our faces. We'll be able to travel during the day for a change of pace."

Sunflower looked thoughtful a moment. "I think I remember this part. We should be careful for centaurs."

Willow shook her head. "Close. The centaurs are mostly past Galloping Dam."

"Centaurs?" Applejack raised a brow. "What're those?"

Willow pointed at Applejack. "Equines. Horses, with the neck and head replaced with the torso of a man."

Scootaloo looked confused. "Sounds a little like Soft Mane?"

Sweetie stuck out her tongue. "Silly Scoots, Soft Mane was half pony, not half horse, and she wasn't on the front part either, she was right down the middle."

Willow nodded with understanding. "They are not satyr. I forgot that you had traveled with one. Centaurs are much larger, and they are not the result of ponies and humans finding love. Their origins are a bit murky, come to think of it."

Apple Bloom waved a hoof. "So, are they mean? Ah reckon if they're half horse, we can get along alright?"

"Perhaps." Willow considered. "I haven't heard rumors of them attacking unprovoked. Be polite if we run into one, and they should return the favor. Just remember, they consider the plains to be their lands and none other. Don't question this."

"Excuse me." A new voice drew their attention to an earth pony stallion dressed in simple attire. He smiled at them with a hopeful expression. "Sorry to interrupt, but I was hoping you could help me. You're dressed as adventurers. Are you for hire?"

Scootaloo raised a hoof quickly. "What do you need done?!"

Applejack frowned at her before clearing her throat. "Ahem, why do ya ask? We're mostly just passing through, if ya know what ah mean."

The new pony pointed westwards. "My friend went to Restful Oak and never came back. I'm worried about him. He was just having a little sleeping trouble and they said they could help him, but he's just... gone."

Apple Bloom tilted her head a little. "Was he, uh, swallowed, like the deputy said?"

He scowled. "Don't even joke about that! Please, can you help me?" His voice became desperate as he brought his forehooves together, begging.

Sunflower looked to the others, then to his mother. "Do you know what the Restful Oak is?"

The pony was quick to answer that. "It's the local sanitarium, for the healing of minds, or so they say. You must have seen it on the way in? Big stone building on the west side of town? Please, you're the only ones that could save him if he's in trouble. Maybe it's nothing, but they won't talk to me anymore." He pulled a pouch out of a pocket with his snout and threw it on the table with the heavy jingle of coins. "It's yours if you go."

Author's Notes:

Free of desert and jungle for the moment, and the world throws another adventure in their way. Will they investigate, or send the desperate pony packing?

A sanitarium sounds like a place where they have especially deranged typos.

31 - For Peace of Mind

The next day, they walked up the hill towards the stone building. Odd scorch marks licked parts of the solid stone, but it was otherwise in fine condition at a glance. A small sign hung over the door that read, 'Restful Oak, where troubled minds are put to rest'.

Willow had opted to not follow after them, "I'm not an adventurer, and I'm not here to do random acts of pity. Put that pony's fears to rest if you must, I'll be here."

Applejack approached the simple wooden door and gave the knob a turn. Just inside was much dimmer than outside. The occasional wall-mounted sconce dispelled utter darkness with flickering light. Seated behind a desk was a tired-looking earth pony mare. She looked up at the lot of them as they entered. "Hello. Welcome to Restful Oak." She paused to yawn widely and shook herself out. "Excuse me. How can I help you today?"

Applejack smiled at the presumed secretary. "Howdy. We don't mean ta be intrudin', we're just checkin' on one of tha patients. Fella by tha name of Whipmane?"

The secretary pulled open a drawer full of folders and began flipping through them. "Whipmane... Whipmane... Ah, here we are." She pulled out a folder in her teeth and set it on the counter before flipping it open. "Sorry I'm so tired today. One of the other desk attendants just quit, leaving me holding the bag. Hmm, are you related to the patient?"

Applejack started to shake her head when Sweetie Belle suddenly spoke up, "Oh yes. Poor Whipmane. We're very worried about him and just want him to know his family's here to support him." Applejack frowned a little but didn't counter the lie verbally.

The secretary smiled. "That's very sweet. So many patients are practically abandoned until they're cured. It's always nice to see a supportive family." Her eyes settled on Sunflower with a bit of confusion. "And you are?"

Sweetie slid in front of him. "He's just here to keep us company, and Whipmane knows him. Family friend."

"How nice." She smiled gently and tapped the folder with a hoof. "Whipmane is making excellent progress and should be ready in about a month."

With the secretary's attention off of him, Sunflower edged himself quietly towards the swinging doors that led further inside. He poked his head past them a moment before jerking his head back and slipping back to the others. He whispered harshly to the girls, "It's scary in there!"

The secretary's ears perked up. "Restful Oak isn't scary, little boy. We heal minds here. We've taken killers and turned them into model citizens, undone--" She paused for another wide yawn, "senility, and restored so many to wholeness. This is good work."

Applejack tipped her head. "Well we're mighty pleased ta hear Whipmane's doin' OK. Can we see him?"

Sweetie raised a hoof. "He'll be so happy to see his family's cheering him on!"

She tilted her head a little. "I really can't do that. Patients are to be isolated until treatment is completed. You seem like a very nice person...?"

"Sweetie Belle."

"Yes, Sweetie Belle." She gave a slow nod. "I'm Cindy Meadows. My family's worked here since, oh... I couldn't even say. A few hundred years now, each in the name of the Moon Princess, may she banish the fogs from our minds." A new yawn escaped her. "If only that stallion hadn't quit."

Applejack cleared her throat softly. "So, problem with the help?"

Cindy shook her head. "Oh no, that makes it sound like I'm in charge. I just help out, but yes. They try to hire others to help me, but they always quit a few weeks in. I don't understand it. It's not a bad job, and pays well enough." She sagged onto a hoof. "Well, sorry I can't help more. You all have a nice day." In a moment, she had faded from the world, sleeping with soft snores.

Applejack looked down at the others. "She reminds me of a mare ah met in Viljatown. Anywho, ah don't see nothing wrong here."

Sunflower pointed towards the double doors. "There is definitely something wrong here!"

Apple Bloom turned to Sunflower. "How wrong are we talkin' here?"

Sunflower tapped fingers together thoughtfully. "On a scale of 'bad color choice for the wallpaper' at one to 'The world's falling apart into pudding' at ten, I'd say seven?"

Scootaloo tilted her head. "Seven on the crazy scale? That's pretty bad." All the girls nodded in agreement.

Applejack looked baffled as the children all agreed on this scale so effortlessly. "It can't be that bad. Wait here." She advanced on the swinging doors and casually brushed past them into the dark hallway beyond. The lighting was even darker than the front lobby. A soft tension began to mount immediately in Applejack's chest as a strange creeping dread built within her. She heard a howl of pain come from somewhere deeper in the building and she immediately backpedaled into the front room, shivering from hooves to the top of her head. "Ah could be wrong..."

Cindy awoke with a snort. Her head fell off her hoof and she thunked onto the desk before she could rouse herself and sit up. "Oh, you're still here? Are you going to wait for your kin? That's very sweet, but he's not scheduled for at least a few weeks. Go on home, we'll send him your way." She smiled with a sincere warmth.

Applejack thrust a hoof at the doors. "Ah heard somepony screaming in there! What kinda operation is this anyway?"

Cindy tilted her head. "Some of the procedures are a little rough, but we only use them when other, gentler therapies have failed. Rest assured, we only act in our patient's best interest. We've never failed to cure someone before." She rest her head on her hooves. "The doctors are really amazing here."

Applejack was not appeased, and clopped a hoof on the stone floor. "Ah'd like ta speak to one of these doctors of yers"

Cindy rose to her hooves and trotted towards the doors. "Alright. I'll see if any of them are available." And she was gone quickly.

Applejack tapped her chin lightly. "Huh, ah expected her ta put up more of a fight than that."

Sweetie pointed after her. "She seems nice, real nice."

Apple Bloom shrugged. "Maybe she's just doin' her job?"

Scootaloo pointed at the doors. "We could go look around now?"

Applejack quickly shook her head. "Nothin' doin'. We'll wait fer that doctor fella to show up first."

An earth pony emerged from the back in a doctor's lab coat and a stethoscope hanging around his neck. He smiled at the group and approached. "Good afternoon. I'm Doctor Macintosh."

Applejack recoiled. "Wha?"

He tilted his head at Applejack. "The secretary said you were agitated." He began to circle around Applejack. He didn't look anything like Applejack, with sandy yellow fur and a creamy stripe along his undercarriage. His cutie mark was concealed by his outfit. "Have you always been so easily confused by basic statements?"

Applejack's confusion only grew worse. "Uh... Sorry, that's just mah brother's name is all."

The doctor reached out and poked Applejack on her apples. "You're also an Apple? How wonderful! I've never treated family before."

"Treated?!" Applejack went rigid. "Ah don't need no treatments, thank ya kindly."

He shook his head. "Your agitation's only getting worse. Relax, we're here to help." He made a sudden flick of his head, and a dart was sticking out of Applejack's flank.

Applejack squeaked in surprise and discomfort and wheeled on the doctor. "Ah'll show you what ya get when... ya..." She slumped to the ground, falling asleep instantly. The Crusaders quickly rallied between her and the doctor.

Apple Bloom clopped the floor. "Get away from mah big sister!"

Scootaloo drew her rapier, willing it to ignite and waving it at Macintosh. Sunflower drew his mace in readiness.

Cindy emerged from the back and frowned. "What's going on? No fighting! This is a place of healing." She moved between the Crusaders and Macintosh. "I thought you were such nice children. If you can't behave, you'll just have to go."

Scootaloo looked less certain about striking Cindy. "Uh, alright, but we're taking Applejack with us."

"Out of the question." Macintosh frowned. "She is clearly suffering from a number of psychosis and mental traumas. She needs treatment immediately."

Apple Bloom drew out an explosive packet, but was snatched from the ground in the mouth of Cindy. "No! Bad!" Cindy trotted out and tossed Apple Bloom into the dirt. "We'll take good care of your sister, don't worry." The doctor snatched up Scootaloo next, only to be swatted by Sunflower's mace. "Cindy, this one has violent tendencies. Bring him for treatment as well."

Sunflower paled and shrank back. He was more slippery than his equine friends and darted away from reaching mouths. Soon he was outside with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, and they made no attempt to follow him there. Sweetie had never entered the brawl and she smiled sweetly. "Can I go with Applejack?"

Cindy shook her head. "She needs peace and quiet to heal. You're a good filly." Cindy patted Sweetie on the head gently. "Go on with your friends. We'll return Applejack to you better than ever."

Sweetie Belle joined her friends outside with a pout. "Well, that didn't work..."

Apple Bloom stomped in place, throwing a little fit. "They have mah sister! We've got ta rescue her, now!"

Scootaloo sheathed her sword. "I think it's time for subtlety."

Sunflower bobbed his head in agreement. "We sneak in, find Applejack, and get her out. No more talking."

Sweetie crept up on the door leading into the building and peeked inside. "She looks like she's already falling asleep again."

Scootaloo grinned. "Great! As soon as she conks out again, we'll dash across and get inside." She held out a hoof towards the others. "We'll get AJ back." Her hoof was met with two others and a paw and they all nodded to each other, determined in their new assignment.

It wasn't long until Cindy was lightly dozing at her desk, head resting on her hooves and quiet little snores coming from her. Sweetie waved to the others, and they crept as one across the lobby. Cindy snorted softly, adjusting in a fitful bit of movement. They froze in place, eyes locked on her as she yawned and flopped down onto her forelegs instead, falling back to slumber. With a silent sigh of relief, Scootaloo dashed ahead and slipped through the sliding doors.

They had made it, but did they really want to be here? The oppressive gloom and building dread made them huddle together in the dark hallway. There was no sign of Applejack, Doctor Macintosh, or any other idea of where to go from there.

Author's Notes:

Stay strong, little adventurers. You can do it!

Just don't let the psychotic typos get you.

32 - Ghosts of the Past

Stepping forward hesitantly, the four pressed into the darkness. This wasn't any normal lack of light. They could feel the gloom pressing in on them from all directions, making it hard to see much past the next person beside them. Scootaloo found a door and nudged it open slowly, peeking inside.

A humanoid doctor in a blood-splattered labcoat was hunched over a pony on a table. "Simply speak the truth, and we can both go home. Don't you want to be free?"

The pony couldn't answer. The mare's tongue had been removed, blood spread around her snout as she gurgled and squirmed. "No no, you're lying again. We'll get through to you..."

Scootaloo backed away from the door with a shiver. "Not that one... Guys, this place is crazy."

Apple Bloom's ears fell. "We can't leave Applejack here for even a minute longer!"

Resolving to rescue their largest member, they pressed on into the dark.

"Dad?" Sunflower stared off at something. "Wait, Dad!" He ran off, quickly lost in the gloom. The girls rushed to keep up with him, but he was gone, as if the darkness had simply snatched him up.

Sweetie Belle squeaked shrilly and grabbed the other two, pulling them close. "I wanna go home now."

Apple Bloom stomped the floor. "Not without Applejack!"

Scootaloo pointed in the direction Sunflower had run off in. "And Sunflower. C'mon. We don't abandon Crusaders."

"My my my, look at the trouble the blank flanks have gotten themselves into today." Emerging from the darkness came the pink form of Diamond Tiara, followed shortly by the grey form of Silver Spoon. "They couldn't even keep track of their big sister. Pathetic."

Apple Bloom jerked her head back as she peered at the new arrivals. "W-What? How did you two get here?"

Silver Spoon leaned in close to Sweetie Belle. "This one looks like she's about to cry."

Diamond snorted derisively. "Don't worry about that, Apple Dud. A blank flank like you wouldn't understand anyway." She ran a hoof through her mane. "You think you can rescue your friends? I bet you can't even rescue yourselves."

Scootaloo spread her wings. "Shut up! We're adventurers now. We can do anything we want."

Silver pointed at Scootaloo. "Do you hear something, Diamond? I think that chicken is trying to talk to us." They laughed in their mocking titters. Scootaloo spread her wings and jumped into the air, but her wings refused to hold her up and she flopped gracelessly back to the ground. "Ohhh, you almost had it chicken. Just try harder." The laughing grew more intense.

Sweetie shook her head quickly. "Diamond, Silver, this isn't the time for any of this. Applejack's in real danger! Help us."

Apple Bloom gasped in shock. "Them? Help us? As if they'd ever."

Diamond Tiara walked up to Sweetie Belle. "You want us to help? Of course you do. You're just a little blank flank." She reached out and patted Sweetie Belle on the head patronizingly. "You just want to go home, don't you? We can get you home."

Silver Spoon moved in beside Diamond, nodding. "We can get you home, Sweetie Belle. Away from all of this."

Sweetie locked up a moment. "Y-you can? How? Please!" She clopped her hooves together once, falling to her knees. "Send us all back!"

"Just close your eyes," they spoke together with an eerie sync. Sweetie snapped her eyes shut, sniffling loudly.

Apple Bloom jumped at Silver Spoon. "Sweetie!" Sweetie opened her eyes to see Silver Spoon had drawn a butcher's cleaver at some point and was holding it to her neck and Sweetie began to tremble uncontrollably. Diamond Tiara caught the jumping Apple Bloom and threw her to the ground.

"The only way you're going home is in a bag, blank flanks." Diamond Tiara kicked Apple Bloom in the side. "Where you belong."

Scootaloo charged past Diamond Tiara and stabbed Silver Spoon in the gut with her rapier, flame and acid burst free of the weapon, knocking Silver Spoon away with a growl of pain.

Silver snarled at Scootaloo. "You want to go first, chicken? That's fine by me. That barely hurt at all. You think you're a big tough adventurer now? You hit like a little foal." Where Silver had been stabbed, no blood emerged, just a thick dollop of black, tar-like sludge.

Diamond Tiara grinned widely. "No wonder they came here. They have to be nuts if they think they can just fight past us. Imagine it, blank flanks overpowering us." They laughed together as they brought their hooves together in a hoofbump.

While their attention was diverted, Apple Bloom scrambled to her hooves. "Ah think it's time ta go, girls."

Diamond sneered. "Yes, go on, run away. That's something you're good at, at least."

Silver giggled. "A natural defense for a bunch of blank flanks. Not that it'll help them."

The Crusaders quickly regrouped and fled the bullies, their laughter following them even as darkness swallowed their forms quickly. After they had turned a few corners in a hurry, they sank together in a pile. Apple Bloom grunted. "That was crazy! How did they get here?"

Sweetie Belle sagged to the floor. "They aren't usually that mean..."

Scootaloo nodded. "Well, yeah, I mean... They never tried to cut somepony before. Something's fishy about the whole thing."

Sweetie gestured around. "This whole place is filled with crazy. I'm scared."

Apple Bloom nodded as she sat up. "Ah'm scared too, but we have ta keep it togetha. Sweetie, why don't you sing?"

Sweetie tilted her head. "This doesn't feel like the time for songs. They might hear us."

Scootaloo shook herself out vigorously and spread her wings. "Work!" She took off and sailed a few feet before quickly rejoining the others with a bright smile. "See, we can handle this. Go on, Sweetie."

Sweetie gave a slow nod before she drew her breath. A shove sent her sprawling face-first onto the tiled floor. "So this is who you abandoned me for?"

Standing there was Twist, with her creamy coat, large purple glasses, and bright red mane and tail. "What did I ever do to you?" She had her nasal lisp in full effect as she stomped the ground. "We were friends!"

Apple Bloom shook her head. "What? We never stopped being friends. How'd you get here?"

Twist pointed a hoof at Apple Bloom accusingly. "You barely even talk to me after you founded your 'Cruthaders!'. The moment I got my cutie mark, I wathn't good enough for any of you." She drew out a two-foot-long candy cane. "I'll thow you how good my thweets are!"

Apple Bloom held up her hooves placatingly. "Woah now, hold yer horses. Ain't none of us thinking you're not 'good enough', Twist. Yer jus' fine."

Twist growled at Apple Bloom, pawing at the ground. "Then why don't we ever hang out anymore? I'm not an idiot, Apple Bloom!"

Sweetie recovered from her rude shoving and looked back and forth between Twist and Apple Bloom. "I didn't know you were lonely Twist. If you wanted to hang out, you coulda just asked." Scootaloo bobbed her head in agreement.

Twist stepped forward, giving a sudden flick of her neck. The candy cane in her mouth became sharp at both ends, lengthening into serrated edges and pointed tips. "I never had to ath before I had my cutie mark."

The Crusaders began backing away from her with timid steps. Apple Bloom tried assuming a confident stance. "You're taking this way outta proportion, Twist. You're totally our friend. In fact, we could hang out right now. We're looking for mah big sister, Applejack?"

Twist hesitated a moment, then swung the deadly confection around to rest on her back somehow. "Alright. Juth like old timeth." She smiled then, showing off white teeth as she turned in place. "I think I heard her thith way."

The Crusaders gave a collective sigh of relief and began to follow Twist. Scootaloo tilted her head a little. "Say, Twist? What's up with the weaponized candy?"

Twist looked over her shoulder. "A lady hath to defend herthelf. Thith plathe is dangerouth."

Sweetie blinked. "That... makes sense."

Twist bobbed her head, then pointed. "You have weaponth too."

Sweetie raised her forelegs. "Not me!"

Twist smiled. "You alwayth were the thweet one. I could make thuch good candy out of you."

"What?"

"Nothing. Thith way."

A shrill cry echoed down the hallways, but it was impossible to determine what direction it came form. The Crusaders huddled tightly together as they went, cowering from the darkness. "Thith way!" Twist waved at them and pushed open a door, vanishing into the space beyond.

Scootaloo shook her head. "I don't think we should be following her."

Sweetie agreed emphatically. "She's probably leading us into a trap."

Apple Bloom sagged a little. "What do y'all suggest? Ah'm lost." The other two looked around at all the near-identical looking hallways and hung their heads in defeat. With forward being as good a direction as any other, they advanced after Twist.

Past the door were stairs going both up and down in a spiral. Twist was nowhere in sight. None of them were entirely certain if they should be alarmed or relieved at that fact. As they considered ascent or descent, they heard a familiar taunting giggle approaching from down the hallway. Diamond and Silver were approaching.

Apple Bloom pointed upwards and began climbing quickly without a word, the other two trailing after her. The stairs suddenly gave a powerful lurch as if they were caught in an earthquake. With the sound of tortured stone and metal, the stairs broke away from the wall and leaned off to the side, threatening to throw them off into the stair well to fall. Sweetie caught herself, hooves landing on the guard rail. With a quick action she grabbed Apple Bloom by the scruff. Scootaloo took flight and looped around to help push them onto the badly-slanted flight of stairs. "Thanks girls." Apple Bloom gave a nervous smile. "Ya really saved mah flank there."

"Too bad it's such a blank flank," came Diamond Tiara's voice, somehow above them on the next flight. "Game's over, losers."

"Yeah, losers." Silver Spoon approached from below them, sneering. "Nopony will even miss you three after you're gone."

Diamond Tiara tapped her chin. "You know, maybe I'm being a little mean..."

Silver tilted her head at her conspirator. "What do you mean?"

Diamond drew out an already blazing-hot looking brand. "We should help them not be so blank anymore."

Silver drew out one of her own. "Oh that's a great idea! Stay still, this'll only hurt for a moment."

Scootaloo spoke the words of size and swelled in mass and power. "All aboard!" The others were quick in scrambling up onto the larger Scootaloo.

Sweetie Bell asked even as Scootaloo threw herself off the edge. "Can you fly with them around?"

Author's Notes:

Welcome to a very special chapter.

Even the typos were creeped out.

33 - Getting to the Bottom of Things

Scootaloo plummeted into the darkness, her wings pumping wildly in a vain attempt to catch herself. Just as they felt like they were starting to catch air properly and slow her descent, she landed on something warm and soft and a little on fire. Kalik growled softly as she was pressed to the ground under the enhanced bulk of Scootaloo.

Willow stood nearby with a measured frown. "Are you alright?"

With shaking legs, Scootaloo got to her hooves and off of Kalik. "I think so? When did you get here?"

Apple Bloom pointed a hoof accusingly from on top of Scootaloo. "How do we know ya aren't one of them... things?"

Willow gave a soft grumble before pointing into the darkness. "Those 'things' as you call them have my son. I tried to pry him away, to little avail. Your big sister is also in their clutches, so let's not waste any further time accusing one another."

Scootaloo shook her head. "Not that I'm unhappy to see you, but I still wanna know when you got here."

Sweetie slid down off of Scootaloo, wobbling on her legs before she recomposed herself, still panting with excitement and lingering dread.

Willow sighed. "I was always here, following. I tried to follow Applejack but that was quickly a bust. I think there's magic making everything in here a maze. Then I followed you, only for Sunflower to go running off. By the time I realized the futility of reaching him alone, I had lost you all as well. It amazes me that you three have managed to stay together."

Apple Bloom grinned as she sat up on Scootaloo's back. "We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders. One little haunted house ain't gonna bust us apart! Right girls?"

"Right!"

"Yeah..." Sweetie didn't look as enthusiastic. "Do you know the way out?"

Willow shook her head. "I do not, but that is not our destination regardless. I'm not leaving without Sunflower, and I don't imagine you care to abandon Applejack so easily. Come, we'll move and face the demons together."

A new voice came from the darkness. "That'll be just fine." Applejack emerged into the dim light, her eyes closed, and her body covered in bruises and cuts. "Ah knew ya'll would find me eventual-like."

Apple Bloom slid off Scootaloo quickly and rushed towards Applejack. "Sis! Yer OK!"

Applejack knelt down a little and reached out a hoof that Apple Bloom swiftly filled. "It hurt so bad. Ah thought ah'd be stuck forever."

Apple Bloom shook her head violently. "You're OK now! Everything's gonna be OK!" She looked Applejack over closer and recoiled when she noticed those closed eyes had thick leather bands tying them shut. "Oh Celestia!? What have they done to ya?"

Applejack smiled a queer smile. "They opened mah eyes. Ah can see everything now. They could open yers too. Come with me." She pulled at Apple Bloom, but the smaller pony wriggled away and fled to the others. "Now now, that ain't the way a little sister's supposed ta act. Ah'll have ta punish ya." She drew out a long whip and cracked it on the ground with a loud snap. With a sudden intonation from Willow, she fell into a pit that wasn't there a moment ago.

Willow snarled. "That was either not your sister, or she is lost to us. I choose to believe the former. There is no time to lose, let's get to searching."

The Crusaders nodded before they all moved swiftly around the pit, leaving it behind. The gloom didn't allow them to see Applejack, or the thing that looked like Applejack, but they could hear her, crying in pain. Apple Bloom pressed tightly to her friends as she ran, shuddering at every noise it made. She was thankful after they had dashed far enough to not be able to hear it so clearly. Just as she started to relax, a new shrill scream of torment echoed down the hallway.

Kalik snorted loudly. "This place is most unnatural."

Scootaloo shook her head. "You're telling us?"

Willow approached the next door they came across and tried the knob, finding it locked. She growled with obvious frustration. "Would that we had little Sunflower here. His bad habits would come in handy. Kalik, remove this door."

The fire cat stalked forward and looked the door over a moment before she threw herself against it. On the second try, the door swung inwards, revealing a small operating room. It was clean and empty. They continued like that, leaving no door unopened in their quest to find their companions.

"What are you doing down here?" Cindy came into view with a quizzical look on her face. "Only doctors and patients are allowed down here."

Sweetie Belle tilted her head. "You're not either of those. Why are you here?"

Cindy smiled. "I was asked to fetch something for one of the doctors, of course. I work here. Come along, I'll take you to the lobby."

Willow grunted before waving a paw around. "How is any of this alright with you?"

"Any of... what?" Cindy looked baffled. "Come along." She stepped towards them, and the darkness seemed to recede away as if her presence banished it, at least in part. "I don't want the doctors to get angry."

Scootaloo blinked, noticing that she could actually see further than a few feet away. "Hey, uh, how'd you do that, with the shadows?"

Cindy shook her head slowly. "What shadows? It's perfectly well lit in here. Are you alright? I could fetch a doctor for you."

Willow held up a paw quickly. "That will not be required. Lead the way... Cindy was it?"

"Cindy Meadows." Cindy smiled gently, then turned around. "This way. We're in the basement. The stairs are over here." Her attitude was cheerful and uncaring, seemingly entirely unaware of the oppressive nature of her place of work. She walked along at a relaxed pace ahead of the others, who hurried to keep up, lest the shadows press in on them again and cut them off from the seeming island of sanity presented to them.

Sweetie suddenly clonked herself on the head. "Oh, I almost forgot!"

Cindy paused and looked to Sweetie. "Hmm?"

"The doctors." Sweetie smiled. "They asked us to join them with Applejack, some kind of new treatment?"

Cindy nodded her head. "Oh! That makes sense. No wonder you were down here. How innovative. I've never seen them try to use family before. I hope it works well." She changed directions, leading them along through the maze of hallways with no trouble on her face.

Apple Bloom leaned over towards Sweetie Belle. "Good thinkin'! Ah owe ya one."

Willow joined the whisper. "I truly think that one is innocent. How, I could not say, but she is clearly blind to the madness of this place."

Scootaloo bobbed her head even as she shrank, her growing spell wearing off. "Let's not rock her boat then. She's not a bad pony, just has a bad job."

No demons or ghosts of the past approached them while they followed Cindy, and they soon arrived at a door like any other. Cindy knocked on it gently before pushing it open. "Doctor?" She poked her head in, then looked at the others. "The doctor's not in. It's just the patient, resting."

Sweetie Belle raised a hoof quickly. "Oh that's alright. We'll wait here for him. Thank you for being so helpful."

"Any time." Cindy smiled once more and moved to trot away to other tasks. As she left, the darkness creeped quickly back in on them.

Apple Bloom rushed the door, hopping up to grab the handle and practically falling inside. Applejack was strapped to a bed, belly-side up, but appeared intact. "Apple Bloom? S'that you?" Apple Bloom rushed to the bed and scrambled up onto it. "Oh it is! Thank tha stars!"

They took a moment to figure out the straps, but soon had Applejack free. Sweetie found her things in a small box by the door, and Applejack looked much better back in her armor and saddlebags. "Ah can't even express how happy Ah am to see y'all. The 'doctors' round here are plum loco. Good thinking getting Willow."

Willow shook her head. "They did not retrieve me. I was already here. My son is still lost in this place."

Applejack frowned severely. "The thought of a little one being stuck in here... Let's go."

As they stalked out into the hallway, Willow spoke to Applejack, "Most of the things you will see in here appear to be false, but don't assume false means harmless. They are quite physical."

Scootaloo perked an ear towards them. "We saw Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon."

Sweetie Belle grit her teeth. "Don't forget Twist."

Apple Bloom shook her head a little. "Ah... think we took care of Twist."

Scootaloo frowned with thought. "Huh, I guess you're right..."

Sweetie suddenly lit up with realization. "They're our demons! Like one of Luna's dreams! Once we face them, they don't have power over us."

Willow raised a brow. "Does that mean Cindy simply has no inner demons to torment her? She is more innocent than I gave her credit for."

Rounding the corner up ahead was a true horse of a pony. The stallion looked down at Applejack with disapproving eyes. Applejack recoiled away from the vision before gritting her teeth. "Ya ain't real! Ya can't be!"

"I trusted you." The stallion stepped forward towards Applejack. "This is where you bring yer sister? Ya were supposed to protect her, and here she is, in more danger than ever before."

Applejack closed her eyes. "Stop talking! Stop stealing his voice! It ain't real! It ain't!"

Apple Bloom drew out an explosive packet and hurled it at the stallion, but the flames washed over him with little obvious effect. "And now she attacks me, her own father... Ya've failed me, Applejack. Ah thought Ah could trust you... Ah thought you were better."

Applejack sunk to her belly, hooves over her eyes. "No no no no no! Yer just a lie, lahk everything else in here! Go away!"

Willow conjured a pit, but Applejack's father stepped clear of it. Kalik charged ahead, leaping at the horse and inflicting small oozing black wounds before, with a mighty swipe, the horse sent Kalik flying. "If ya won't listen to yer father, you'll listen to his hooves!"

He stomped forward on those heavy hooves, the ground rumbling with every step. "This'll hurt me more than it'll hurt ya, but it's gotta be done. Ya done let me down, girl, and now yer in for a whoopin'."

Scootaloo jumped in the way and stabbed with her rapier, but it slid off of the horse's tough hide like it was made of rocks. A heavy hoof crashed into her and sent her flying to the side to bounce off a wall. Nothing could stop Applejack's father from reaching her.

Author's Notes:

Who's a silly pony?

Cindy banished all the typos for a moment, but they came back when she left.

34 - Rotten to the Core

Applejack shrunk before the imposing form of her father. "Ah did everything ah could! The farm's doing well, and Apple Bloom's a fine filly!"

"How would you know?" Her father leaned in closer. "Yer a long way away from home. Ya could have lost the rest of yer family. Unprotected, unsupported, and unloved. Is Granny still breathing, or did ya miss her funeral as a last shameful note on yer record as a family keeper?"

Willow slid towards the prostrate and sobbing Applejack. With a touch and a quick spell, she made the earth pony vanish. The horse snorted angrily. "What did you do to her?! Ah wasn't done disciplinin' her." He stomped a heavy hoof, making the ground quake with his fury. "Bring her back."

Willow shook her head with a smug look. "She's a floor up. I can't summon her back."

The horse shoved Willow aside effortlessly and stormed off into the darkness, leaving the group to recover themselves. Applejack's voice spoke with a soft quiver. "Thank ya... kindly..."

Apple Bloom's expression was that of disappointment and sadness. "Was father really like that?"

The invisible Applejack was quick to grab Apple Bloom, hugging her. "No! He was a wonderful pony! Ain't never been a better father in all of Equestria! Don't give that... thing the satisfaction of replacing our father's good image."

Apple Bloom scuffed at the ground. "Are ya really that worried yer not a good big sister? Yer amazing, Sis. Ya keep the farm going and work so hard! Dad wouldn't be upset with ya if what ya said is true."

Applejack's expression fell, though unseen by the others. "But, Ah'm here... not at the farm. Poor Big Mac has ta pick up all the slack ah left behind."

Apple Bloom pointed at herself. "That was mah fault, not yours! You're being the best big sister you can be."

Sweetie and Scootaloo both nodded quickly in agreement. Willow did not have words to share at first, but some came to her. "You have conducted yourself with honor and dignity as long as I have known you. You have guarded your wards with all the ferocity I thought ponies lacked."

Applejack let out a slow sigh. "Maybe... yer right. Maybe Ah'm overthinking the whole thing... Can ya make me not so see-through anymore? Ah feel mighty strange." With a thought and a wave, Applejack was returned to sight. "That's better, thank ya. Let's see if we can't locate yer kitten."

Recomposed, the group continued breaking into doors to find mostly empty rooms. With the floor seemingly searched through, they took the stairs up to the ground floor and found themselves emerging into the lobby before Cindy. Cindy blinked at the lot of them. "Oh, hello again. Why is Applejack with you?"

Sweetie quickly spoke. "She's cured! The new treatment worked great!"

Cindy clopped her hooves together. "That's fantastic news! I told you we can solve anything. Moon Princess provides."

Sweetie tapped her chin. "Moon Princess? Is that who you, uh, worship?"

Cindy nodded quickly. "I am one of her divine warriors. I stand against madness, as she would favor."

Sweetie nodded a little and glanced at the others. "So... maybe that's why you don't see half the crazy stuff we saw?"

"What stuff?" Cindy frowned. "We cure sick people here. Look at your sister, isn't she better?"

Applejack smiled nervously, but said nothing.

Sweetie coughed a moment. "She isn't my... Oh! Yes, of course." She laughed unevenly before frowning. "Still, there's something funny going on, er, we should try this new treatment on Sunflower! If it worked on Applejack, it could cure him too."

"Excellent idea!" Cindy slid from her chair and moved towards the hallway. "I'll show you the way." She led them with a content smile through the hallways, keeping the shadows pressed back. Applejack's father stormed towards them, revealed down the hallway. When he reached Cindy, he evaporated on contact with her, and she walked on without having noticed he existed, and without him having caused any harm other than sending Applejack into a momentary new panic.

They soon arrived at one door of many that she knocked on softly. The door opened quickly and an irritable voice spoke out of it. "What is it, Miss Meadow? I'm involved in a serious operation here."

"Very sorry, Doctor Hooves. We were hoping to try an experimental new therapy that's proving quite effective." Cindy looked to the doctor only she could see through the crack with a hopeful expression.

Doctor Hooves snorted. "Did the director approve this? Bah, whatever. Go ahead and fail, then I'll get back to what I was doing." The door swung open and Cindy waved for the others to follow her.

Sunflower was strapped to a chair securely, though one of his arms and attached paw was entirely free. The doctor frowned as the party gathered around him. "This is a lot of people for a treatment. What manner of procedure is this, Miss Meadow?"

Cindy shrugged softly. "They know it better than I do, Doctor."

Willow quickly began unstrapping Sunflower. "We are here for you, my child. Speak to me."

Sunflower brightened at her touch. "It was awful! They kept daring me to escape and every time I tried, they hurt me, then they started daring again. I don't know what they wanted!"

"Aversion therapy." The doctor pushed up the glasses on his snout. "Your kleptomaniac tendencies and your anti-social skills will be driven from your diseased mind with patience and hard work." As Willow freed Sunflower, the doctor pushed the door shut with a loud click of an engaging lock. "For safety's sake. We can't have uncured patients wandering around, now can we?"

Sunflower shook his head quickly. "Can we get out of here?"

Sweetie approached with a smile. "Not yet! The treatment begins. Sunflower, you know how upsetting it is to your mother when you steal things? Look at her. She sacrifices so much to keep you happy."

Sunflower looked confused, but turned his head towards Willow. Sweetie continued speaking. "Why don't you consider her feelings more often?"

Sunflower grabbed his mother in a fierce hug. "I love my mom! I don't want her to be unhappy."

Sweetie raised a hoof. "Then you'll give up your life of petty thievery?"

Sunflower bobbed his head. "Of course!" Not that he had been stealing things before, but it seemed an easy promise to make.

Sweetie locked the straps on the chair. "Alright, let's prove it. Sunflower, stand before these locks and don't pick them for a minute, but keep looking at them."

Sunflower moved over and settled before the locks, peering at them with some confusion. "What if I don't want to pick them?"

Sweetie raised both her hooves. "Success!"

Doctor Hooves tilted his head. "Remarkable... Well... I suppose it worked." He drew out a syringe. "But you're going to make me look bad, and we can't have that."

Cindy scowled. "Doctor! That is extremely unprofessional. Put that away this instant." When the doctor advanced, she drew out a mace that was hidden in her clothes and placed herself between the doctor and the foals. "Not one more step! You're seriously going over the line."

Doctor Hooves scowled at Cindy. "Move aside, nurse, or are you against me too? Of course you are! You don't want to see me advance!" He lunged for Cindy and caught a mace upside the head for it. He collapsed to the ground bonelessly at her feet.

She snorted softly and sheathed the weapon away. "Sorry about that. I'll see that he's reported straight away. Imagine... Most unbecoming." She quickly had the door open and led the way out. "That was a most remarkable procedure. I'll be sure to share it with the others. To think, two patients cured in the first day of arrival! It's unprecedented really."

Scootaloo slapped Sweetie Belle on the back. "All thanks to Doctor Belle!"

Cindy tilted her head. "You didn't mention you were a doctor. So small..." She narrowed her eyes a little. "You're playing a joke on me."

Apple Bloom gave a nervous laugh. "Ah yup, done caught us there. We were just, uh..."

Sweetie smiled as she spun the deceit effortlessly. "Following the instructions of one of the other doctors."

Cindy nodded at that. "That makes much more sense. Well, good day to you, and congratulations." She settled back at her desk. "I have to write this all up."

They were all quite eager to leave Cindy to her work and flee the place. Only when outside did Applejack remember. "Ah shoot! We never did figure out about that pony's friend."

Scootaloo shook her head. "Well I'm not going back in there."

Willow put a paw on Sunflower's shoulders. "I will not permit it."

Sweetie shrugged. "We found out what we had to."

Apple Bloom tilted her head. "Did we?"

Sweetie quickly nodded. "Uh huh. His friend will be fine. They're... scary... but the doctors do eventually cure everypony. Not the way I want to be cured of something, but like she said 'We never failed to cure somepony'. Maybe they'll try our idea out, that'd be nice, right?"

Applejack gently patted Sweetie on the back. "Ah reckon that would be a mighty improvement, using friends and family ta get past rough spots instead of whatever they were doing before. Well, ah agree on not wanting to set hoof in that place again, so I make a motion ta go back to tha tavern and ferget all about this. Let's hear the ayes." The vote was quickly unanimous, and they departed Restful Oaks without looking back.

They ran into their client at the tavern. He wasn't pleased that his friend was still trapped, but they managed to convince him that he should emerge in time. Burning with curiosity, Sweetie asked around about the place.

"Restful Oaks?" A graceful-looking unicorn mare tilted her head towards Sweetie Belle. "A fine place. We never have repeat criminals in town. We send them up there and they come out as model citizens. It's amazing. A true godsend." She smiled gently. "I heard one time some adventures made a big fuss up there and tried to burn the whole thing to the ground. A bunch of lunatics. They even took the secretary off on their adventuring, just up and kidnapped her. She came back eventually though. That's her granddaughter up there."

Sweetie asked, "Who?"

"What was it... Cindy? Yes, Cindy Meadows." The unicorn mare nodded softly. "Her family's been serving there for as long as anyone remembers, and they do a fine job of it. That's Earth-bound for you. They decide on a path and they'll pass it right on to their foal, and their foal's foal and so on forever if they have to. Such a solid tribe."

Author's Notes:

And so concludes the detour to Restful Oaks. Everyone's cured, sorta.

The typos resisted treatment, so I sent them back in. Let's see how their inner demons treat them.

35 - Sisterly Bonding

They ate dinner quietly before moving to retire. Their movements were a bit stiff, heavy with a combination of numbness and relief. Willow took Sunflower off to a room of their own, leaving Applejack and the girls to a second bedroom. Applejack moved for the bed and flopped onto it heavily. She closed her eyes and settled into the softness, ready for the sweet embrace of sleep.

The sudden presence on her back was not in the schedule. Applejack perked an ear back towards it. "S'that you, Apple Bloom?"

"Maybe." That voice was certainly Apple Bloom. Another presence was felt at her left, then her right. She was surrounded by small warm forms. "We need ta talk."

Applejack sighed softly. "Don't suppose this can wait until morning?"

"Nope." Apple Bloom scooted up along Applejack's back and hugged around her neck. "We need ta talk. Ah don't remember pa much... but ya do, right?"

Applejack's head sunk to the cushions, eyes closed and breath becoming more labored. "Ah don't really want to talk about that..."

"Wrong answer." Apple Bloom softly nipped at Applejack's left ear. "Ah deserve to know pa, the good pa, not that thing in there. What was he like?"

Applejack went silent, but Apple Bloom and the other Crusaders would not give her peace. Sweetie Belle sat up beside her. "You know you haven't done anything wrong, Applejack."

"Haven't I?" Applejack frowned, but her eyes remained closed. "Y'all are here, instead of home. Y'all are missing school. Y'all are always in very real danger. Ah didn't stop any of that. The farm only has one pony working it. Poor Big Mac's all alone, suffering while we do our best ta throw our lives away. Yer just foals. Ah'm the adult. Ah shoulda stopped all of this, but ah didn't. Y'all have done more rescuing than ah have. Maybe y'all would be better if ah wasn't even here."

Scootaloo gave a soft pfft. "If you weren't here, we would be in big trouble. You're big and strong and smart too."

Apple Bloom softly bonked Applejack on the head. "And mah sister. Yer the best Apple ah know, and yer doing yer darndest for us and ah ain't blind ta it."

Sweetie quickly bobbed her head. "Uh huh. You're great, Applejack. Everypony needs help sometimes. Just because we had to rescue you sometimes doesn't negate all the times you saved our flanks."

Applejack rolled over, forcing them all to quickly scurry to not be squished or thrown off. "Do ya really wanna know, or are ya just askin' ta get me talkin'?"

Apple Bloom bobbed her head fiercely, though Applejack couldn't see that. "Yes! Tell me about pa, and ma. We may be far away from home, but it's also right here." She touched Applejack over her heart. "Tell me about home."

Applejack cracked a little smile, and began to tell tales of the farm, from before there was an Apple Bloom. Their triumphs, and their failures. How they worked as a family. "Poor Big Mac. He used to talk more, ya know? Their passing didn't rest easy with him. Ah don't think he's... depressed... but ma really could draw the words outta him, and with her not around, well, maybe he just don't have nothin' to talk about."

Apple Bloom reached up and put a hoof on Applejack's cheek. "Ya can cry, ya know."

Applejack frowned a little. "Ah do cry, on the inside."

Sweetie Belle crossed her forelegs. "That's not the same."

Scootaloo stuck out her tongue. "Why are we telling her to cry? Crying's lame anyway."

Apple Bloom reached over to swat at Scootaloo. "Like ya never cried before! Go on, Applejack, we're here for you."

Applejack softly thumped the bed with a hoof. "Ya shouldn't... have ta be here for me... I should..." It was becoming too much, a tear drilling its way to the surface with a painful stinging before it ran free. "Ah'm the adult. Ah have ta keep it together! Ah have to get y'all home... safe... but yer not safe. Yer not safe at all!" Her head sank to the bed and the tears flowed more freely. "Y'all saw things y'all shouldn't ever have ta see, and I wasn't there to stop it, or to protect ya. Ah was too busy laying in a bed while ya risked life and yer heads."

Scootaloo wobbled a hoof. "It wasn't that bad."

Sweetie rolled her eyes. "Oh sure, being chased by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon when they want to kill us instead of just make fun of us wasn't so bad."

Apple Bloom shook her head. "Ya done forgot they changed their minds. They were gonna brand us instead."

Scootaloo snorted. "Twist with a sharp candy cane was pretty awesome really. She looked like she knew how to use it!"

Applejack cringed at the tales of the visions the girls encountered, and could hold back no longer. She began to bawl under Apple Bloom, loud and lost. The girls quieted and gathered close around her, comforting her with their presence and soft strokes of their little hooves. "Sis?"

Applejack perked an ear, the tears slowing a little as she stopped bawling. "What?"

Apple Bloom tilted her head. "What did ya see, when ya were tied down to tha table?"

Applejack cringed. "Ah... Ah saw all of ya. Y'all looked so scared. Y'all were so lost. Ya kept running around in circles, and running into terrible things. Just running. The doctor, he... He told me it was my fault. If y'all were raised right, y'all wouldn't be busting into no place and running around wild."

Scootaloo thumped the bed. "We had to! For you!"

"Fer me..." Applejack's voice was thick with defeat, and she lay there still. "Ah thought it was some kinda trick, that it were some kinda lie... But it wasn't. Y'all really did go through all that."

Apple Bloom smiled gently. "Maybe, but ah'd do it again, fer my big sis. Yer family, and ya done been mighty good ta me." She prodded Applejack in the shoulder. "And don't tell me otherwise."

Sweetie Belle raised her hooves up. "You've been my sister before! I didn't forget. You're a great pony, and a great sister."

Scootaloo tilted her head. "When's my turn?"

Apple Bloom snickered softly. "Yer getting it right now. Applejack's all our big sister right now." She flopped down onto Applejack and hugged her tightly. "And ah couldn't ask for a better one." The girls joined in the hug, and the sleep that had been denied Applejack came gently to whisk her away, a fragile but real peace settling over her troubled heart.

When Applejack was deeply asleep, Apple Bloom sat up and looked around. The other two were awake as well, and she quietly gestured for them to follow before she slipped from the bed and moved for the door. They gathered in the hallway outside the room and Apple Bloom sagged against the door. "That was rough."

Sweetie smiled brightly. "We did a good job."

Scootaloo wobbled a hoof. "I'm not sure I get it, but she looks better now."

Apple Bloom let out a slow breath. "We really need ta get home. Ah don't want too much more of this kinda excitement."

Scootaloo tilted her head, growing all the more confused. "What's wrong? We've handled everything that's come at us. We're doing great! It's exciting, not scary."

Sweetie raised a brow at Scootaloo. "Exciting can be very scary. I'm with Apple Bloom. We need to get home, not here."

Scootaloo shrugged. "Well alright, but saying it doesn't make it happen. We're stuck here for now."

"Fer now." Apple Bloom sat up. "Let's focus on gettin' to Viljatown, and reachin' Twilight. She'll get us home. She has ta."

Sweetie nodded firmly. "No more jobs. No more distractions. We're not adventurers."

Scootaloo looked displeased, but nodded. "Fine. No more adventuring... besides what we have to."

Sweetie pointed vaguely northwards. "I'm sure there'll be plenty we have to do. We don't need extra credit."

They all nodded at one another and slipped back into the room, settling for sleep.

In the other room, Sunflower sat with his mother. "Tell me about dad."

Willow scowled. "You were the only good thing about him."

Sunflower shook his head. "That can't be true. If you didn't like him, you wouldn't have been with him, and I wouldn't be here."

Willow pointed at the bed. "You should be sleeping." Sunflower didn't budge. She sighed softly. "Is this something you must know?" He nodded firmly. "Very well. Because I love you." She scooped him up and sat him down before herself, hugging him in soft paws. He began to purr as she spoke. "He was a handsome cat, young and full of grand ideas. Like someone I know." She softly tickled at Sunflower's sides, making him squirm, but he was listening and struggling not to laugh.

"We met at a social event, a dance. Several purrsian families were there. I think I was the victim of matchmaking elders." She clucked her tongue against sharp teeth. "We hit it off fairly quickly. He had grand ideas of starting a trade enterprise, and I was swept along with his trade goods, helping him get from place to place. I became skilled at driving the beasts, on both two and four legs. He began letting me do the bartering, and I did so. Things were good and happy, until I began to show."

Sunflower perked an ear. "Show?"

Willow patted her belly. "With you, little one. You were making your mother fat, as little ones do. Your father balked at the news. This wasn't in his plans at all. I said it was a sign we should be done with it and be married, he disagreed. He fancied himself a fine slice of meat, and wanted to become wealthy enough for a collection of cats, not just me. Rather than risk being tied to me alone, he cut loose, and vanished one evening."

Sunflower frowned. "I... could have sworn I saw him."

Willow tilted her head. "You never saw him. How would you recognize him?"

Sunflower shook his head. "I dunno. I just thought I did. Was he a bad person?"

Willow frowned with thought a moment. "If I put aside his ambitions, and his faithlessness... I suppose not. He was a good person, mostly. He let his ambitions get the better of him." She tapped Sunflower on the nose. "Never forget to cherish what you have in your paw before chasing after something else."

She hefted him up and carried him to the bed, setting him down on its softness. "And never forget you are a worthy cat, who can do what he sets out to do, so long as you keep your priorities straight."

Sunflower did not seem appeased, claws unsheathing into the bed. "But... the girls don't need me. They're going on an adventure, and I'm just... part of it, not part of them. They like me... kinda... like a friend, not a boyfriend, and I abandoned them! I ran off when they needed me. And then they had to rescue me, I was so embarrassed..."

Willow softly ran a finger down under Sunflower's chin and raised it up to face her. "You go to your saviors tomorrow, and you thank them. Then you offer to do something special for them before we leave the city." She drew out a few gold coins and handed it to Sunflower. "Take this. Get them something delicious to eat, and some pretty things to put in their hair. They all have such lovely hair."

Sunflower gave a slow nod. "Will that make them like me more?"

Willow smiled. "Don't force it. Be a good friend. It may grow into more, or not. Enjoy your time with them, even if it never grows into more than friendship, it should be treasured dearly." She held out an empty paw. "As I said, don't forget to value what is already in your paw. There is no shame in being rescued by a girl, especially a pony girl. They are a fierce lot, and are used to protecting their males."

Sunflower gave a little smile. "I'll make our last day here super special."

Willow nodded. "Do exactly that. They'll want to be distracted and entertained. Be there for them. Now, time for bed. I love you, my dear kitten."

Sunflower bounced to his paws and kissed Willow on the cheek. "Love you, mom."

Author's Notes:

This is the emotion chapter. All feels, all the way through. Plot's for suckers!

They can keep it, and the typos too... please?

36 - Finding the Plains

The next morning, Sunflower knocked on the door the ponies were in. Sweetie answered the door, then squeaked and slammed it shut. "One minute!" The sounds of activity came through the door as Sweetie woke up the others and whisked away dirt with a spell. She returned to the door with two other sleepy girls at her side. "Good morning, Sunflower."

Sunflower shuffled in place a little awkwardly. "You didn't have to do all that. You were pretty enough the first time."

His words, spoken earnestly, brought a warm blush to Sweetie's cheeks. The other two giggled. Scootaloo asked, "So what's up? Just saying good morning?"

Sunflower shook his head. "Not just that. You three deserve a treat for saving me in that place, so I wanted to take you out for breakfast." He smiled brightly. "Tell your big sister, we won't be back until around noon."

Apple Bloom tilted her head. "Oh? Alright!" She turned and trotted quickly back to the slumbering Applejack and thought better of waking her, instead writing a quick note and leaving it beside her before returning. "There we are. Where are we headed ta?"

Sunflower led the way, enjoying the momentary leadership position. Though it felt increasingly unlikely he could become master of the strong personalities behind him, he led them along with pride to a small earth-bound pony-run establishment. It had a lot of vegetarian options he didn't even recognize, and figured the girls would enjoy it.

He pulled out a chair for each of them, which seemed to bring a fresh wave of giggles. When they were all seated, Scootaloo pointed out, "You know, we normally just sit on the floor, but thanks."

Sunflower colored lightly as he got into his own chair. He should have noticed that, or so he berated himself. "Order what you like. Today's my treat."

Sweetie Belle looked over the menu. "I think this was very nice of you to do."

Apple Bloom tilted her head. "So what did you see? Ya know, up in that place."

Sunflower flipped his ears back. "Oh, uh... I thought I saw my dad. Let's not talk about that place. You didn't like it much, right?"

"Nope."

"No way."

"It was kinda cool."

The three of them peered at Scootaloo with wonder. She held up her hooves. "What? It was! Come on, Twist, with a razor candy cane? That was pretty cool. I coulda lived without killer Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon though." She frowned with thought. "I wonder if Twist would actually use one of those..."

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. "Anyway! Ah think ah'll take the fried oat mash. Sounds like hay fries!"

Sweetie Bell pointed at the menu. "I'll take the buttered string bean casserole."

Scootaloo perked up, suddenly focusing on the menu and slapping a hoof down as if by random. "This one." She read more closely. "Butternut squash bake. Not bad."

Sunflower had already decided after scouting the place what he'd order, so they put in their desires soon enough. His mother had suggested going slow, and assuming they'd just be friends forever, but Sunflower wasn't ready to put that down just yet. "So, uh, girls." He squirmed in his seat, eyes darting from one cute face to the next. "Tell me honestly. Do I have a chance?"

Scootaloo looked baffled, Apple Bloom curious, and Sweetie Belle looked at him most directly. "That's a very bold question, improper of a stallion." Sweetie tapped her chin. "But you're not a stallion." Scootaloo suddenly seemed to catch up and looked at Sunflower intently as Sweetie continued, "Since you've been bold enough to ask, I suppose we should answer, right girls?"

Apple Bloom gave a slow nod. "Ta be honest, I'm not looking for a coltfriend, but yer a fun pon--person to be around. That's good, right?"

Scootaloo flashed a grin. "What Apple Bloom said, you're awesome and I hope you stay with us. You're a great Crusader."

Sweetie shook her head a little. "I'm not sure I'd want to be in any 'pride', especially not one with my best friends. We're not, uh, like that." Her words brought color to all the cheeks at the table. "But, maybe..." She reached across and rest a hoof on one of Sunflower's little paws. "If you can settle with just one? We could try that." Sunflower's heart began to pound thunderously in his chest as he felt her touch. All words fled him, but Sweetie was perfectly capable of speaking for both of them. "You'll have to earn it. A proper lady such as myself demands proper courtship."

Apple Bloom suddenly giggled. "Ya sound just like Rarity."

Sweetie gave Apple Bloom a sour look. "Of course I do! We're family." She drew the hoof away from Sunflower and nodded at him firmly. "Does that answer your question?"

Sunflower gave a slow nod. "Y-yes." Maybe he didn't need a pride. Getting that puffy cloud of a pony would be more than enough. His father broke his mother's heart stubbornly chasing after a pride, is that what he wanted to aspire to? He looked at Sweetie Belle with new eyes, considering a whole new tack to take, but he kept that to himself. They ate well, and on the way back he 'happened' to go past a small stand offering bows and bits of metal and gems to put into hair. Sweetie rose to the bait, and Sunflower soon purchased her a little tie-off band of copper with a bright little red stone on it. He happily wove it into her hair, or mane as she corrected him, and they returned to the inn with smiles all around.

Applejack was awake on their return, and looked relieved to see them as they wandered in, though she tried to play it off. "So, had a nice time?"

Apple Bloom moved up quickly and hugged Applejack. "We sure did. Sunflower was a right gentlepony."

Scootaloo and Sweetie nodded in agreement. Applejack smiled with a little relief. She set Apple Bloom down to the ground. "Good, we're headed out in an hour or two. Willow's gone ta get some horses and supplies. Y'all ready ta get movin'?"

They all were, and soon they had gathered around the familiar wagon, though the camels had been traded out for heavy-looking draft horses. Applejack looked them over curiously. "Ah ain't used ta dealing with somethin' that looks so much like mahself but ain't got nothin' upstairs."

Willow looked between them. "You are a little muted in color compared to some of your more... pastel... peers. I suppose you could pretend to be a small horse, if you so wished."

Applejack waved a hoof. "Nothin' doin'." She reared up and set a hoof on one of the horses, a mare. "Easy there girl. Ya gonna take us nice and safe to Viljatown?" The horse gave a snort. "Ah'll take that as a yes." Applejack fell back to all four and retreated into the wagon, where the Crusaders and Sunflower were already getting comfortable.

Sunflower fluffed up a pillow before waving at it. Sweetie Belle set her rump on it with a nod. "Thank you, good sir." Both giggled after the exchange, and Sunflower dug out some cards. Soon they were all playing a game. Applejack smiled at their interactions and settled herself in for the ride.

With the muffled sound of Willow coaxing the horses into motion, the carriage drew away from the town, rolling along the road that led up to the dense jungle. The foliage was mildly sparser on this side, requiring their departing and shoving the wagon just a little less often than the way in, and it got better as they went, approaching the grasslands beyond. It was on the third day of travel that they emerged from the darkness of the jungle into the brilliance of the grassy hills. Even inside the cart, things became much brighter as the sun shone down on the fabric roof.

They traveled in relative peace for several more days, passing from hill to hill until it evened out into flat grasslands. The jungle loomed to the south about half a day away, but everywhere else was grass as far as the eye could see. Applejack pawed at the ground lightly. "Don't know what it is, but ah have a mighty powerful urge ta just run."

Apple Bloom nodded in quick agreement. "Ah know what ya mean. Ah can feel it too."

The others looked more confused at the notion. It was just grass to them.

Applejack invited Apple Bloom along to work out their urge, and they raced off together. The thunder of their own hooves was pleasing to their senses. The sensation of their powerful lungs drawing up air, and the wide open fields to charge together through. They ran free and far, forgetting everything else for a time in favor of the simple pleasure of being true to their slightly-altered tribe. They were prairie ponies, and living well in their home environment.

They raced back towards the wagon and circled it once before rushing ahead. The horses become agitated, as if they wanted to join in the play, but Willow kept them in check. They crested a hill, losing sight of the wagon for a moment as they ran as their hooves carried them, caring little for where they ended up, at least until they realized they were no longer running alone. On either side of them were strange equines with the midsection, arms, and face of a human pasted onto the full body of a horse. Applejack tilted her head. "Centaurs?"

The centaurs seemed surprised to hear Applejack speak, but understanding came quickly. "Ponies." Both slowed to a halt and Applejack realized they were far larger than herself, let alone little Apple Bloom. They were horses, not ponies. The leader of the centaurs, at least as far as Applejack could figure, approached them. "You are on our lands."

Applejack tipped her hat a little. "Beggin' yer pardon, mister. We were just passin' through. Don't mean no harm in it."

He nodded down at her. His appearance reminded her a little of that big jerk, Tirek, though there were obvious differences between the two.

Apple Bloom waved a hoof at the big half-horse. "Howdy!"

The centaur smiled a little. "I will not hold a mother and child from running freely." Applejack opened her mouth to object to the titles, but he kept right on talking. "Leave the land as you found it, and we will have no quarrel. May the wind always guide you." He put a fist over his chest, a gesture that his fellows copied, and they raced off.

Apple Bloom snickered a little. "Well, you 'erd the fella, mom."

Applejack gave Apple Bloom a sour look. "Don't tempt me, or I'll tan yer hide like any good mom'd do."

Apple Bloom hopped up, hugging Applejack around the neck. "Ya know Ah'm just playin' with ya. Yer the best big sister ah coulda asked fer."

Applejack sat down in the grass and hugged Apple Bloom back for a quiet moment before they both got to their hooves. "Race you to tha wagon?" And off they went, enjoying the movement. When the wagon returned to view, they saw Scootaloo circling around it in the sky.

She swooped down towards them and landed on Applejack's back. "Hey! Where have you two been? It's been over an hour!"

They began sharing the story of their run and brief encounter with the centaurs. Apple Bloom was all smiles. "They were huge! But they were also kinda nice. Not bad ponies at all! Ah'll take centaurs over desert bandits, hungry jungle cats, or inner demons what don't know how to stay inside."

Author's Notes:

Nothing bad happened! Yay!

Should I feel bad that this deserves mentioning?

Oh well, at least there are typos.

37 - Galloping Towards the Dam

They proceeded smoothly across the plains, putting distance between them and that dark city. As if the gods themselves felt they had earned their way, they were not challenged for an entire week of peaceful, almost boring, travel. Consulting her map and compass, Willow announced, "We should arrive in a few days. I heard from a few ponies back in Everrain that there's a bit of a gnoll problem around here, so keep your eyes open for them. They shouldn't be hard to spot, but we aren't hard to spot either. If they want to press the matter, we'll be in for a scuffle."

Scootaloo drew her rapier and gave it a few swings. "I'm about ready to mix it up."

Apple Bloom and Applejack both nodded in quiet acceptance. Sunflower put a paw out in front of Sweetie. "I'll protect you."

The chivalric gesture sat well with her, and she smiled brightly. "My hero. Just don't get hurt. Gnolls are dangerous, right?"

"Big hyena men. They have hands and use them well enough with weapons, and usually travel in packs. Left unchecked they can form great big tribes. We shouldn't run into one of those." Willow sat back on her cushion. "For now, sleep."

The next night they found them, or were found by them, after they settled in for slumber, with Scootaloo taking first watch. The pegasus could barely spot movement in the poorly-lit area beneath her. She had taken to flying circles around the wagon rather than sitting on it. She swooped in to have a look at whatever it was, only to have a spear thrust out of the tall grass. She squeaked in surprise and barely ducked out of the way, almost sending herself into the ground with the abrupt jitter. She gave a much stronger holler as she flew away from the spear, rousing the others inside the wagon.

The door to the wagon burst open to reveal an alarmed Applejack. "What's all tha commotion about?" She was answered with a thrown javelin that skidded along her tough hide, leaving a painful gash. She hissed in pain and charged forward at the shaggy biped that had delivered it, summoning her shield as she went.

Sweetie sent out her balls of light, allowing everyone to see what they were doing. There were five of the attackers, most wielding spears. The one that had hurled a javelin was busy drawing a spear like his peers.

Apple Bloom rushed out and hurled one of her explosive packages, detonating between two gnolls in a painful blast that had them ducking for cover with yips of alarm. She grinned with triumph before pain exploded through her back and she collapsed to the ground bonelessly with barely a cough escaping her. Sweetie Belle saw it, however, and screamed shrilly. Apple Bloom had been shot from behind and above by a well-placed arrow.

Sunflower rushed up and out of the wagon, circling around to get at the attacker above. A gnoll had parked himself on top of the wagon with a bow, and was already lining up a shot at Sunflower. Sunflower did a barrel roll, dodging the arrow before landing on the gnoll, smashing his face with his mace with an angry hiss.

As Applejack engaged the gnolls in melee, Willow hurried to Sweetie Belle's side and touched her shoulder with a quick spell. "You are invisible, go help your friend."

Sweetie nodded, though no one could see her, and she bolted from the wagon to Apple Bloom's side. She sang nervously, but it was good enough to make the arrow pop free of Apple Bloom as if it simply didn't belong there, a sentiment Sweetie agreed with. Apple Bloom didn't immediately wake up, so Sweetie kept on singing.

Scootaloo came down from the sky behind the sniper, pinning him between herself and Sunflower. She drove the rapier at the gnoll only for it to dodge, but that put it in the right place for Sunflower to make a viciously well-placed smash to the ribs. The mace landed with a sickening crunch of breaking bones and the gnoll staggered back, wheezing for air.

Applejack had just noticed the prone form of her little sister and roared in fury. One gnoll went down with two hoofprints that'd never come free. "When ah get through with the lot of ya, y'all'll wish ya never even heard of ponies!"

As Scootaloo shoved the winded gnoll to the ground, the others lost their nerve. The attack was going significantly awry, and they scattered into the darkness, leaving their injured behind. Scootaloo gave a triumphant cheer and held up a hoof towards Sunflower, getting a paw in return.

Applejack hurried to Apple Bloom's side, tripping over Sweetie Belle along the way. "What tha?"

Sweetie poured song magic into Apple Bloom despite the interruption, rousing her friend. As soon as one of her eyes opened, she was hugged by a relieved, if invisible, Sweetie. This soon became a double hug as Applejack got in on the action. "I'm OK! Really!"

Once she was let down, she dug out one of her potions and drank it down to chase away the last of the discomfort. "Everypony alright?"

Applejack nodded. "Nothing ah can't sleep off." Despite her words, she was soon touched by Sweetie Belle as a little song stopped the bleeding wound on her side. "Or ya could do that. Thanks Sweetie. Do ya have ta stay see-through like that?"

She suddenly appeared as Willow waved at her. Willow then gestured inside. "We still need rest for the coming day. You all did well."

Scootaloo hopped off the wagon and onto the downed gnoll beside it. Whistling as she worked, she stripped it of interesting-looking things. "Hey, look at this." She came over to the others with a funny stick in her mouth. "I think it's a wand." She dropped it in plain view, then started staring at it, trying to figure it out. The others weren't as eager to plumb its mysteries, and Scootaloo was soon left to resume her watch. She eventually figured out it could lob magic missiles, which sounded pretty cool to her, so she tucked it into her belt and took to the air in case anything else showed up during her watch.

Morning eventually came without a fresh attack, and the wagon resumed its trek across the plains. Scootaloo happily showed off her acquisition to the others. Applejack pointed at it. "That mean ya can stay back and not be in the thick of things, right?"

Scootaloo frowned. "No! It means I can get bad guys that are far away, or if we run into more ghosts we can handle them." She tucked the wand away. "For close up, I'm sticking with the rapier."

Sweetie Belle tilted her head at Scootaloo. "Why are you so eager about all this?"

Scootaloo shrugged, "How can you not be? This is the most exciting thing we've ever done before! And we're awesome at it too. I only wish Rainbow Dash was here to see how much awesome I'm pulling off." She spread her wings and looked quite proud of herself. "Oh, good shot last night, Sunflower. You were pretty cool too."

Sunflower smiled at the praise. "Thanks... When I saw Apple Bloom get hit, I just got so angry."

Apple Bloom giggled a little. "Looks like I have a hero too, Sweetie Belle."

Sweetie Belle pouted a little. "He's mine." She grabbed him and pulled him closer possessively. Sunflower looked quite uncertain with how things were going, but being held by Sweetie Belle certainly seemed like a good way to spend the morning. "Find your own knight."

Apple Bloom waved a hoof dismissively. "Don't get upset about it. Thanks by the way for tha help. Ah didn't see what hit me."

Scootaloo pointed up. "One of them was on the wagon. I didn't see the guy at all until he put an arrow in your back." She stood up and moved over to Applejack. "You're good at fighting. Aren't you having any fun?"

Applejack raised a brow. "Ah'd rather be buckin' apples if ah had the choice, but ah don't want y'all getting hurt. Ah fight 'cause ah gotta."

Scootaloo sank to the floor with a huff, alone in her thrill-seeking pleasure.

The monotony of travel was broken when Willow called out, "I can see the river!" They all emerged to see that a thin sparkling line went across the horizon. They walked alongside the wagon for the next hour, watching as the city they were approaching came into view, spread out across both sides of the river. "Galloping Dam. Used to be two cities, I'm told, but they're connected by the dam that named it. Not a bad place. We should be arriving in the late evening."

Apple Bloom gave a whoop of joy. "Get ta sleep in a real bed tanight." Applejack nodded in agreement before plucking her up, setting Apple Bloom on her back and carrying her along with a content expression.

A rough voice called out from the grasses, "Stop. Pay toll."

Willow frowned from atop the wagon. "Or what?"

Applejack brought up her floating shield without much thought, frowning in the direction of the voice.

A gnoll emerged from the thicket, bow held already drawn and aimed at Willow. "Or you stop the hard way. You're surrounded, don't try anything."

Scootaloo launched herself forward without delay, stabbing the rapier into the toll-collecting gnoll's side with an explosion of flame and acid spraying out at a quickly-intoned spell. The gnoll went down bonelessly as arrows began to rain through the air. He had not been joking about having backup.

Kalik jumped down from the wagon and charged into the underbrush, hunting the gnolls with a low and predatory growl even as his mistress vanished from sight.

Applejack charged at the source of one of the arrows as Apple Bloom, riding on her back, hurled a bomb into the tall grasses, starting a sudden fire and scaring several gnolls out of hiding.

An arrow grazed Sweetie's barrel and she squealed in pain and terror, fleeing into the wagon quickly. Sunflower was not as easily intimidated and took off into the tall grass, taking cover and moving towards the source of those arrows.

The sound of a gnoll being tackled to the ground by Kalik was soon heard as the flaming cat tore into the hyena. Some words came from the brush in a language none of them knew, and arrows focused on the cat, peppering Kalik. Though most had a hard time penetrating her flaming form, sheer numbers ellicited pained growls even as she looked for her next victim.

Applejack came charging up on one of the gnolls and reared up, almost knocking Apple Bloom free as she boxed at the varmint, but the gnoll had the good sense to dive out of the way and stick an arrow into her chest. It didn't penetrate deeply into her tough flesh, and Applejack knocked it free before coming down on the gnoll like an angry train, trampling him underhoof.

"Oops." Apple Bloom cringed a little, holding onto Applejack tightly. Her eyes were on the fire she started, which was spreading a bit faster than she thought it would.

"Whattaya mean oops?" Applejack soon saw the spreading fire and backed away from it. "Shoot!" She fled the flames, and soon everyone else was as well. The attack was called on account of inferno. The only one not fleeing the fires was Kalik, who seemed to find them not at all bothersome, though she had been filled with arrows. She sank to the burning ground, taking advantage of the lull to simply rest despite the spreading blaze.

The wagon went up with the rest of the field, adding to the fire. Sweetie's shrieks were heard over the fires and Kalik hopped to her paws. She charged through the flames and wrenched the flaming door open before rescuing Sweetie and hurrying her to the safety of the others.

Pegasi began to arrive from the city, pushing along clouds with them. A gentle rain poured down over the mess, snuffing the flames and stopping the fire from spreading any further than it had already. The gnolls had long since fled, and left the party gathered in a patch of dirt where the fire hadn't yet reached. One of the pegasi flew down to the group. "Everyone alright? You really have to be careful this time of year. The grass gets dry and being careless can really cost you."

Willow, who had since ceased to be invisible, nodded at the pegasus. "Thank you for the timely assistance. We're headed for the city. Is the way clear?"

The pegasus did a slow circle. "Looks safe to me. We'll escort you in." He waved up at the dozen other pegasi and they got into formation over the party. They were led into town, largely intact.

Author's Notes:

Stupid gnolls. We almost had a perfectly peaceful trip too.

I know, I'll attack them with typos! That'll teach them a lesson.

38 - Passing Through

As they entered the city, Apple Bloom's ears perked up. "What happened to tha horses?"

Their guide looked over his shoulders. "Big brown ones with white spots?""

Apple Bloom bobbed her head. "They were fixed up to tha wagon."

Applejack grit her teeth, preparing for the worst.

The guide shook his head. "We saw some horses bolting away from the fire. They must have tore free when it started."

Willow nodded. "They'll do fine, but if anyone does catch them, they can have them. We couldn't take them past this point."

Apple Bloom looked relieved to hear the horses were alright, if loose, a sentiment shared by the other girls. Of course, the thought that a horse couldn't take care of itself all that well compared to the average Equestrian animal didn't really register.

They were led by the weather team to a small inn. "Good luck!" He took off into the sky, and the group scattered off, likely to their various homes.

Sunflower looked to his mother curiously. "Why don't we have any weather teams? We can fly too, can't we?"

Willow pushed the door open and headed inside. "The trick of cloud magic is something the pegasi hold quite close to their chests. We don't have that gift, and never did, to the best of my knowledge."

Apple Bloom raised a hoof as she walked. "Ah read somethin' about that. The pegasi around here learned it from the griffons."

Scootaloo snorted loudly. "That's stupid. Pegasi could always push clouds around and stuff."

Applejack shook her head. "Maybe back home, but this here's a different world entirely. Tomatoes and apples."

Sweetie tilted her head. "Oranges?"

"No, thanks." Applejack trotted up to the counter and got them a large room to share and ordered a meal to be sent in. "Make most of it vegetarian, but not all of it. We got two cats ta feed n' all." The attendant, a larger stallion, bobbed his head and they all retired to their room. It had three large beds that were soon occupied by tired bodies.

The girls wouldn't leave Applejack alone and made her serve as their cushion. Though she grumbled, she quietly enjoyed the presence of the girls and was glad they were close at hoof. They all looked up at the soft knock, and a little foal came in with several trays balanced on his back. The smell got them moving, and they quickly relieved the colt of his cargo and got to eating ravenously. No matter how good a trail ration was, real food always won out.

Apple Bloom flopped against Applejack with a full belly and an improved outlook on life. "So what's next? We have ta find a boat?"

Willow nodded from where she plucked some meat off a skewer and popped it into her mouth. "I will scout the dockside and see what can be scrounged up on our budget. It's either take a boat down, or get a new wagon and keep going over land. The boat should be much faster. If we're lucky, someone's headed that way already and we can just get a ride."

Applejack put a hoof around Apple Bloom, holding her close. "Boat it is then. Sounds almost peaceful after guarding a wagon fer weeks."

Sweetie moved over beside Sunflower and smiled at him. He glanced around with growing nervousness. She wanted something, but what? "Uh, you're looking especially lovely this evening."

Sweetie giggled at his awkward compliment. "Thank you."

Willow raised a brow at the both of them with growing suspicion. "Is everything alright, Sunflower?"

Sunflower looked aside at his mother, then at the smiling Sweetie. "Better than alright." He moved in and pressed nose-to-nose with Sweetie, and they nuzzled gently a moment before he sat down. "I have a girlfriend."

Sweetie lit up suddenly. Was she a marefriend? She supposed she kind of was... Searching through her feelings with a frown, she found she was alright with the idea and the smile returned. "If you're going to be my coltfriend, you need to protect me a little better. I was so scared when all those ugly things started with their arrows."

Sunflower bobbed his head. "I was fighting them."

Sweetie lifted a hoof. "Then I was trapped in the wagon."

Sunflower sagged a bit. "Sorry..."

Willow snorted gently. "You should not hide during a conflict. Your friends are counting on your support."

It was Sweetie's turn to look ashamed and she went quiet.

Sunflower moved over beside Sweetie and rested against her. He softly whispered, "You're a very brave lady. A proper lady should be nice and safe, away from fights."

Sweetie took this as the best answer possible and snuggled against Sunflower warmly.

Scootaloo joined Apple Bloom and flopped down, soon using Applejack as a warm pillow along with her. "Look at her."

"Who?"

Scootaloo gestured with her snout at Sweetie. "I never saw her fall so hard."

Apple Bloom tilted her head. "It's all fer fun. What's the harm?"

Scootaloo raised a brow. "Remember what happened with your brother?"

Apple Bloom snorted softly. "That was a love poison. Sweetie Belle's not poisoned, she's just the regular kinda in love." She paused. "Shoot."

"See, exactly." Scootaloo looked triumphant a moment before returning to seriousness. "What if she wants to stay with him forever and leaves the Crusaders?"

Applejack, though not spoken to directly, couldn't much help but to overhear and perked an ear at the two fillies. "Ah don't think there's much risk of that."

Apple Bloom looked up to her big sister. "Whattaya mean?"

Apple Jack gestured at Sweetie, who was too busy to notice. "If anything, ah'd put money on him following her. He's gonna break his mother's heart is what he's gonna do, but ya'll ain't gonna lose Sweetie Belle."

Scootaloo brightened as she thought it over. "I guess having him on as a permanent member of the Crusaders isn't so bad."

Apple Bloom bobbed her head. "He's fun to be around." She yawned widely. "Gonna hit the hay."

She flopped against Applejack, and Scootaloo soon joined her in slumber. Applejack held the precious foals gently, and slipped into dreams alongside them.

Sweetie and Sunflower were curled up beside Willow in their own ball of warmth, and peace fell over the room.

The next morning, Willow was already gone. The rest had a big breakfast. Apple Bloom smiled at her sister. "Can we go and play?"

It was a pony city. Surely it was safer than the cat city? "Sure, but be back by noon, ya hear? And don't cause no trouble."

The Crusaders dashed out of the inn with excited cheers. Looking around, they saw that most of the ponies out and about were earth ponies, but this only made Apple Bloom happier. Where there were earth ponies, there were... She found them after some searching. A great gathering of foals of various ages had taken over a grassy clearing and were playing all manner of childish games, from jump rope to a swing set, hide-and-seek and some of the older ones were around a table playing cards. There was no shortage of entertainment options. Scootaloo spread her wings and took to the air, joining some of the other pegasi up there. Apple Bloom, Sweetie and Sunflower stayed together, approaching the card game.

All three hopped up onto available seats and were looked over by the other ponies present. One, a large mare, pointed at Apple Bloom and Sweetie. "Your friend's a cat, so that makes sense, but where're your brands?"

Sweetie blushed through her fur. "Uh, we don't have one."

"Cool." A colt tilted his head at the two blank flanks. It was not a sign of immaturity, but a strange and unique trait. "What does it mean?"

A pegasus clopped the table lightly. "Duh, it means the gods don't know what to do with them."

A unicorn stallion perked his ears at the blank flanks with obvious curiosity. "Is that possible? I guess you could be anything you want to be. That has to feel so weird."

The youngest girl there bobbed her head as she shuffled the cards with amazing skill for working with hooves. "I just have to follow what my brand says to do." General murmurs of agreement rose up, except one dissenting voice.

A scrapper of an earth stallion crossed his forelegs. "I'm gonna do what I want. The gods can kiss my flank." He leveled a hoof at Apple Bloom. "You have the right idea!"

Apple Bloom flicked an ear back. "Uh, yeah, it... wasn't exactly my idea."

Her words went largely ignored as the foals began arguing about fate and determinism. Despite the heavy conversation, cards were dealt and the game began. It took a few hands for the Equestrian ponies to get a hang of it, but soon they were playing competently, and enjoying themselves. Scootaloo joined them on the fourth hand and played boldly and aggressively, which served her fairly well in bluffing her opponents into giving up early.

Eventually the pony who owned the cards stood up and took them with her. "Have to go! Bye everyone!" Waves were exchanged and she left. Sunflower looked up at the sky. "It's almost noon, we should get back to Applejack before she gets mad."

The Crusaders agreed it was a good break point and set off back to the inn. As they went, Sunflower looked to Scootaloo. "You're very brave."

Scootaloo puffed her chest out proudly. "I learned from the best pegasus in all Equestria! Maybe you'll meet her some day. She's so awesome, I can barely describe it. I wanna be like her when I grow up. She does amazing stunts and she's great at flying and nothing can keep her down!"

Sunflower gave a light bobbing. "You do pretty cool stunts, and nothing keeps you down. Out of everyone here you're the least worried about any danger."

Scootaloo threw a leg over Sunflower, hugging him close. "You're alright, cat." She burst into laughter and let him go, trotting ahead of the group.

Apple Bloom took her place. "You know she wasn't always quite this fearless. She's really changed. I think adventuring's really grown on her." She gave a little smile. "I hope she doesn't lose it."

Sunflower looked confused. "Why would she lose it?"

Sweetie came up on the other side of Sunflower. "She can't fly back home... She's going to be really sad when she gets back if she stops being able to fly."

Scootaloo wheeled on the group. "Stop talking about me like I'm not here! Sheesh." She sat on her haunches, glaring at them challengingly. "I'll face it like a real pegasus. Do you think Rainbow Dash would stop being awesome if something terrible happened to her wings? No! She'd keep right on being awesome." She turned back away from them. "I'll be awesome..." She rushed off back to the inn without waiting for reply.

Author's Notes:

Scootaloo has some feelings, but mostly a relaxing bit of time for the Crusaders.

Everything was normal, until the Typo nation attacked!

39 - I'm on a Boat!

Willow arrived at the inn a little past noon and guided them down to the docks. There were many boats of a variety of sizes. None of them got too much larger than a yacht, having to navigate the river. Most were built of wood, though one or two were metal-clad. Willow was not walking towards one of those. She was bound for one of the middle-sized fishing boats, its nets hung up on its sides. "Here we are."

The captain, a pony who reminded Applejack of Sonata, with visible gills and a somewhat fishy appearance waved them aboard as she smiled. "Welcome! I hear you're needing a lift to the rail line?"

Applejack lightly hopped between the dock and the boat. "That we are. Mighty fine ta make yer acquaintance, miss...?"

She held out a hoof to Applejack. "Captain Silvertail. Applejack was it? Willow's been talking about you and your fine wards. Rest easy, I'll get you all down safely."

Applejack met the hoof with a hoof in a clop. "That's a relief to hear."

The Crusaders spread out over the boat, looking at everything curiously. Sweetie approached Silvertail. "Excuse me, miss. What are you?"

Silvertail turned and looked down at the small white pony asking her this. "I'm a pony of course, same as you."

Sweetie pointed up at her horn. "I'm a unicorn. She's an earth pony," she pointed at Applejack. "And Scootaloo's a pegasus." Pointing at Scootaloo was a bit trickier with the pegasus flying from place to place in eager exploration.

Silvertail gave a patient smile. "Ah, what kind of pony, hm? They call me a sea pony, though I prefer rivers to seas. Before you ask, I don't breathe water despite the gills. Never got the hang of that. I sleep in a bed like anyone else. I swim well, at least."

Sweetie bobbled her head appreciatively. "Thank you! Sorry to bother you."

Silvertail shook her head. "You'd be surprised how often I hear that exact question, and many of them aren't as polite as you were." She turned back to Applejack. "Everyone aboard?"

Willow nodded from behind Applejack. "Everyone's here. We're ready to set sail."

Silvertail trotted off and began to ready the ship for departure. Applejack looked to Willow. "I don't see any other sailors. She the only one?"

Willow nodded. "This is her boat and she runs it by herself. When I told her about your journey, she volunteered. A good spirit, she's exactly what my mother talks about when she goes on about you ponies."

Applejack lifted a hoof to Willow's shoulder. "Yer a good po--person too. Just give yerself a chance."

Willow raised a brow. "I trust myself fine enough. It's everyone else that bothers me."

Applejack let Willow wander off and turned to face the children. "Attention! Everypony form up. That includes you, Sunflower." They quickly assembled in front of Applejack. "Now we're gonna sail down this river, and ah I want y'all on the boat, not in the water. Listen to what Silvertail tells ya and don't tarry near the edges, ya hear?"

They all gave a nod before scattering across the boat. Applejack nodded to no one and moved to find Willow. The mother-cat was perched on a barrel, looking out over the water pensively. As Applejack approached, the ground shuddered and the boat began to move, detached from the ground and the dock, it went with the flow of the water, carried swiftly away from the city. "Huh, Ah'm not used ta getting through a place without even a lick of trouble."

Willow chuckled at that. "What does it say about us that I agree with that thought?"

Applejack sat on her haunches beside Willow. "That we're both all-too-used ta keeping an eye on troublesome little ones?"

Willow nodded. "I'll drink to that." She tapped the barrel she was resting on. "Speaking of which..."

Applejack lowered her gaze to the barrel. "There's cider in there?"

"You do like cider." Willow chuckled softly. "But no, a different kind of drink. It belongs to Silvertail, but she said she'd share with us if we shared stories in kind, over dinner."

Applejack smiled. "Something ta look forward ta then. Ah did mean what ah said though. That wall ya built around yerself ain't doing ya any favors."

Willow frowned at Applejack's prying. "I am here to pay back my debt, not be analyzed."

Applejack took off her hat and held it to her chest. "Ah ain't trying ta be a bother, but..."

Willow's expression hardened a moment before she let out a sigh and reached out a paw, tapping Applejack on her nose. "You've got a good heart, now stop talking please."

Applejack set her hat back on her head. "If that's what ya want, but if ya want ta talk, 'bout anything at all, ah'm here." Applejack walked back to the front of the boat and settled down, watching the water pass by peacefully. Her solitude was broken by another equine form settling beside her. A glance revealed Silvertail had joined her. "Huh? Don't ya have ta pilot the ship?"

Silvertail waved waved a blue hoof. "We're safe for at least an hour before my touch is required. Quiet morning, not another boat in sight. So, not from around here, huh?"

Applejack shook her head. "We're from about as far away as ah figure ya could be."

Her brow furrowed. "That's a curious way of putting it. How far are we talking?"

Applejack gestured vaguely into the distance. "It's a mite hard ta explain. Ah really ain't sure how far it is, physical like. We kinda got here with magic. Whole 'nother world ah reckon."

Silvertail poked Applejack in the shoulder. "You look awfully normal for being from another world. You speak mighty fine Common on top of that."

Applejack looked befuddled. "Well, we did go and change when we got here. We used ta look a bit different, but ah didn't change languages? Common's a language Ah'm guessing?" Silvertail nodded. "Yeah, didn't change how ah talked so far ah know."

Silvertail rose to her hooves. "The Author works in mysterious ways. Did she make us in your image, or you in ours? I couldn't say." She trotted off towards the steering wheel with a jaunty little whistle on the way.

Apple Bloom rushed up to Applejack with a big grin. "We're on a boat!"

Applejack sat up and nodded at her. "That we are. Huh, is this yer first one?"

Apple Bloom bobbed her head quickly. "A boat, a real one, not that raft we made!" She spread her hooves wide with obvious excitement. "We're goin' so fast too!" She pointed to the shore that sailed past at a good pace. "We shoulda took a boat straight ta Viljatown."

Applejack shook her head a little, "Don't think that's possible. Ain't no river going from one place to tha other, and Murrage's plum center in a desert. No boats."

Apple Bloom stuck out her tongue. "Another mark against cat city." She turned and fled, calling out to the other Crusaders. She found them all gathered at the back of the boat. "Whatcha'll doin'?"

Scootaloo pointed at Sunflower. "He's fishing."

Resting in Sunflower's agile paws was a long fishing rod, line dragging out behind the boat. Apple Bloom approached curiously. "Ya know how ta fish?"

Sunflower shook his head. "Nope, but I can try! Silvertail let me borrow her fishing rod."

Sweetie pointed at the rod. "I think something's happening?"

Sunflower looked up and squeaked, starting to reel in the line quietly. "I didn't even notice it!"

Scootaloo cheered loudly. "Pull harder! You can get it!" The rod was bending dangerously as Sunflower struggled with it, dragging him back several inches despite his best efforts. Apple Bloom rushed up and threw herself in front of Sunflower, halting his slide. Scootaloo rushed around behind Sunflower and grabbed him at the shoulders, pulling him back.

The struggle against the fish turned into a group activity. Sweetie began a quick song of the water, encouraging them with her melody as they pulled and heaved. With a mighty tug, something came free of the water and arced over the boat before landing in front of Silvertail.

She whistled sharply. "Mighty fine marlin you caught there!" She brought down a hoof in a solid stomp, beating the life out of the flopping fish without hesitation. "I'll have that cooked up for tonight as soon as we set anchor, unless one of you little ones knows how to prepare a fish?"

None of them did, and they all shrugged helplessly. "Don't worry about it. Just take it below decks and find the cold room, leave it there so it'll be fresh for later."

They gathered around the fish and looked it over, with its great fins and sword-like nose. Sunflower grabbed it towards its slippery tail. "Give a hand?"

The ponies held up their hooves, having no hands to lend. Sweetie Bell's horn glowed softly as she helped lift the front with her horn, and Apple Bloom and Scootaloo rushed in underneath it to help carry it along. With all four working together, the fish wasn't hard to get down the stairs. They found the cold room, packed with ice as it was. They tossed the fish aside and slammed the door closed.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were in agreement. "We smell like fish."

Sweetie Belle waved a hoof at them and gave a musical tone. The fish funk vanished from them, and Sunflower's paws a moment later. "All fixed. Do we really have to eat fish though?"

Apple Bloom stuck out her tongue. "Yuck, ah mean, it was alive, right?"

Sunflower wobbled a paw. "Plants were alive too, and I don't see you crying about that."

Scootaloo crossed her forelegs. "It's not the same! I never saw a tree run for its life or grass cry when it was cut."

Silvertail poked her head in. "You found the cold room, good, come on back up." Then she was gone. They emerged back onto the deck, still having their argument.

Sunflower waved at the plants on either side of the river. "Just because you can't hear them doesn't mean they like being eaten."

Willow perked an ear at them. "Hmmm? What's this about?"

Scootaloo pointed at Sunflower. "He's saying eating plants is the same as eating an animal. Ugh, eating something with a face..."

Willow shrugged softly. "Life is a struggle, for plant or animal. We should be thankful to them, of either kind, for yielding their life to sate our hunger. You belittle the plants that have died for you, just as surely as any animal."

Apple Bloom frowned. "But... we don't kill apple trees ta get apples, right?"

Sweetie bobbed her head. "That's true. We don't have to kill most plants, just take a little bit of them, and they grow back. And we take care of them and help them grow. It's a trade."

Willow wobbled a paw. "Any apple could become a new apple tree, but instead ends up in your bellies. True, not every apple would have sprouted, but we don't know which is which. A small price, a trade, as you say."

Food for thought, or thought of food.

Author's Notes:

The group's well on their way! And they caught a fish, score! Then some philosophy. Watch out, philosophy is the traditional breeding ground of typos!

40 - Smooth Sailing

Silvertail was true to her word, and had the fish gutted and grilling in short order after the boat had been parked on the side of the river with its anchor.

Sweetie Belle watched her with a morbid curiosity. "Why did you learn how to cook fish?"

Silvertail looked over at Sweetie. "Why else would someone learn to cook something? Because they are hungry."

Sweetie pointed at the fish. "You're going to eat that? You're a pony."

Silvertail flashed her teeth, her sharp teeth. "I am a sea pony. The leather wings and us sea ponies are the omnivores of the pony world. This fish is smelling mighty fine to me. I suppose a unicorn wouldn't understand."

Sweetie tilted her head a little with confusion. "Omnivore, that... means you eat anything, right?"

Scootaloo landed beside Sweetie. "Cool! I tried fish once, on a dare. It was alright."

Sweetie made a face. "Really?!"

Scootaloo shrugged. "It was tough to chew."

Silvertail pointed at Scootaloo. "You are not made to enjoy meat. You have nice flat teeth, don't you?"

Scootaloo opened her mouth wide and Apple Bloom inspected those teeth. "Yep, flat! What's that mean?"

Silvertail flipped the portion of fish she was tending, making it hiss and pop as it cooked. "It means she's good at mashing up grains and plants. I have some of both, sharp in the front, flat in the back. I can cut up a fish in my mouth like you would with a fork and a knife."

Scootaloo giggled. "Wow! Don't you ever cut yourself?"

Silvertail tilted her head. "Funny enough, that has happened once in a while. No one said the life of an omnivore was easy."

Their lesson on anatomy was interrupted by the boat lurching to the side powerfully, knocking Sweetie Belle and Applejack onto their sides with a squawk out of each. Applejack and Willow got up quickly and came rushing to the grill. "What's goin' on?"

Silvertail moved towards the disturbance, grabbing a javelin in her mouth on the way. "I was hoping they'd moved on."

Apple Bloom pulled out a bottle and guzzled it down, becoming stronger and bulkier almost instantly. "Are there monsters in tha river?"

Silvertail hurled the javelin into the water, but it struck nothing but the waves. A female horse head popped free of the surface with a frown. "Foolish sea pony, give up the land and join us. The waters are your true home."

Silvertail waved a hoof at them threateningly. "Go choke on seaweed, ya blasted deeptide horse! I'm not giving up my legs and that's that!"

Scootaloo advanced alongside Silvertail, peering at the floating head in the water in the dim evening light. "Who is that?"

The head smiled as she looked at Scootaloo. "I'm Glossy Weed. Come closer, little one, and I'll teach you the ways of the Deeptide."

Silvertail quickly put a hoof in front of Scootaloo. "You'll not have any snacks off this boat today."

Glossy bared her teeth. While Silvertail's were sharp, hers looked like a menacing row of daggers in her mouth, clearly designed to rend into flesh, cooked or not. "It won't hurt more than a moment, little chicken."

Scootaloo's wings popped out to either side. "Chicken?!"

Sweetie sighed. "Shouldn't have said that..."

Scootaloo was already in the air, drawing her flaming rapier on the way. "I'll show you a chicken!" Her surprise was great when the head inhaled and explosively blew a stream of water up at her. She was knocked from the sky under the bludgeoning spray and came down with a splash into the river and Glossy Weed was upon her in a flash.

Apple Bloom climbed up onto the edge of the boat and jumped in, dagger held in her mouth, and Applejack was only a moment behind.

Willow pointed. "Kalik, fetch her."

"No." Kalik curled on the boat. "You do it."

"I am your master. Save her!"

"That may well be, but I am fire, and that is water. I can think of more creative ways to end myself than that." Kalik yawned without interest and feigned sleep.

In a huff, Willow dismissed her back to her plane. While she considered another tactic, Silvertail grabbed a trident and joined the ponies in the water. Sweetie Belle stayed on the boat beside Sunflower and began to sing, her eyes riveted on where Scootaloo had vanished beneath the surface of the water.

In the darkness of the waves, Scootaloo was ensnared in the razor-sharp grasp of the Deeptide. She could hear Glossy speaking, "I have you now, little chicken. Stay still for me and I will make your end painless, relatively."

Scootaloo was still holding her rapier, though it bubbled and steamed instead of flaming. She thrust it at the large and sinuous creature, but did little more than scrape the jabbing weapon along toughened scales. Glossy returned the prick by sinking powerful teeth into Scootaloo's left hind leg and giving a cruel pull. She could have inflicted a much more severe injury easily, but she savored toying with her future meal. "Or you can fight. I thought you might..."

Apple Bloom arrived and stabbed her dagger into the beast, getting its attention. She could scarcely see in the dark, but she could discern it had no legs, instead possessing a long aquatic tail that was wrapped around Scootaloo. Its fins were terribly sharp, and Scootaloo was bleeding from where they dug into her form.

Applejack joined the brawl, but flailing hooves were noticeably less effective in water, to say nothing of how difficult it was to get off a good buck while swimming. Regardless of her grace, her presence, along with Apple Bloom, was enough to get Glossy to release Scootaloo and lunge at Applejack, giving her a taste of those sharp fins and long teeth.

Scootaloo was infuriated rather than intimidated and plunged her rapier into the creature's back, drawing a garbled hiss of pain from Glossy, though it was not a telling blow against the terrific creature of the deep. The fight looked chancy at best, with retreat barred with Applejack ensnared by it.

Silvertail joined the battle with threatening jabs of her trident. She couldn't find a good window to get in a true strike on her nemesis, but at least distracted Glossy from tearing into Applejack too viciously. "Let her go, you damp monster. You won't win me over by killing my passengers!"

A bright flash caught their attention as a creature appeared in the water from nowhere, a large crocodile with a golden hue to its scales. It fixed its eyes on the deeptide horse and swam towards it with open maw. Suddenly the battle seemed less one-sided, and Glossy Weed released Applejack, fleeing into the darkness rather than face them.

Applejack grabbed Scootaloo by the scruff and swam back to the boat with Apple Bloom beside her. Soon everyone was back on the boat, dripping but safe. Sweetie was quick to see to Scootaloo's serious-looking injuries, while Apple Bloom offered her curative vials to Applejack.

Silvertail set her trident down and sighed. "You're a fierce bunch, I'll give that. Where did that croc come from? There aren't usually crocs along this portion of the river."

Willow volunteered that information. "That was my doing. Contacting otherworldly creatures is my specialty."

Silvertail tilted her head. "Ah? I've heard of your type. Should have figured that out from the flaming cat you kept around, but I don't like to pry. Thanks." She returned to the grill and plucked the fish off with a frown. "This one's burnt." She flipped it up and caught it in her mouth, eating it, singed or not. "Not too bad."

Sweetie Belle bonked Scootaloo on the head. "Don't do that again! I thought you were going to get eaten!"

Scootaloo looked petulant, crossing her forelegs. "It called me a chicken. I'm not a chicken."

Apple Bloom poked Scootaloo. "I've called you a chicken before."

Scootaloo brought up her hooves to shove at Apple Bloom. "It wasn't funny then either!"

Sunflower tried to intercede with held up paws. "Everyone's OK now. There's nothing to be upset about, right?"

"Wrong!" Scootaloo turned away from the others, sitting on her haunches and she put her snout up into the air.

Sweetie deflated a little. "I was just worried, Scootaloo... You're my friend. I don't like seeing you get hurt..."

Applejack paid half attention to the little ones, trying to not look too obvious about it, but she determined this was not the time for an adult to butt in, even if she did have an opinion on it.

Sunflower bobbed his head with Sweetie. "We're your friends, Scoots. We want you to be safe."

Scootaloo spoke without turning around, "I don't need a foalsitter. I can take care of myself."

Apple Bloom bit back an obvious retort about to escape from her and let out a sigh. "I'm sorry fer callin' ya a chicken, Scootaloo. Yer an awesome warrior, like Rainbow Dash."

Scootaloo looked over her shoulder. "You're just saying that to butter me up."

"Maybe." Apple Bloom smiled gently. "Doesn't make it less true."

Scootaloo giggled and turned around to face the others. She held out her hooves and soon they were filled with her friends. They hugged warmly, and all was forgiven.

Applejack stepped in then, gently ruffling the top of Scootaloo's head. "One thing ah do need ta say. Ah don't want ya jumping into the mouths of monsters, no matter how insulting they get. Don't give them that kinda satisfaction."

As Scootaloo promised to try to be more mindful, Sweetie approached Silvertail. "Who was that?"

Silvertail frowned. "An old 'friend' of mine. She's hunted this river on and off for as long as I can remember, harassing the smaller boats and looking for easy snacks."

Sweetie pointed at Silvertail's flank. "What'd you mean by giving up your legs?" Thinking about it, she looked at Silvertail's cutie mark, which showed a fish skewered on a harpoon. Seeing it was oddly reassuring. Despite her alien appearance, she was clearly a pony.

Silvertail sat. "It's an old story, unproven so far I know, but if a sea pony loses themselves to the waters, they eventually lose their legs, and their civility, and become deeptide horses. Glossy there's convinced she can talk me into joining her, and she doesn't take 'no' for an answer. I rather like the land, thank you kindly." She slapped another cut of fish onto the grill, already covered in herbs and spices.

Sweetie nodded with obvious fascination, looking thoughtful. "Does it work the other way around?"

"You mean, drag a deeptide onto land and get their legs back?" Sweetie nodded quickly. "I've never heard it done, but I suppose what goes one way could go the other. Do you think she'd agree to come up here and live a decent life instead of hunting in the water?"

Sweetie smiled sweetly. "You never tried asking. Maybe she likes you but she's really bad at saying it."

Silvertail snorted as if the idea was ridiculous, but looked thoughtful as she turned her attention to cooking.

Author's Notes:

We start with a lesson on omnivores, because you all came for the education, right?

The typos come from the depths!

41 - Once They Passed

Silvertail saw the party off close to the rail station and set sail back up the river. The little magic motor she had was very slow pushing against the current, but not having to paddle or rely on wind? She considered it worth every gold piece she had to save up to afford it. When the sun sank deep, she watched the water, wondering if another appearance would be made. She was not let down.

Glossy Weed's head popped free and peered back at her, and they stared at one another silently a few moments. Glossy tilted her head a little. "I don't usually see you watching the water like that."

Silvertail smiled. "I was looking for you."

Glossy recoiled in surprise. "For me? Afraid I'd sink that tub of yours?"

Silvertail softly tapped the rail in front of her. "Actually, I was wondering if you'd like to join me."

Glossy's scales darkened slightly. "That trick won't work! I won't be captured that easily."

Silvertail sank to her belly, watching Glossy. "Oh, I think I will capture you, but not the way you think."

Glossy cringed and swam away a little. "I... stop staring at me like that. You'll join me here, in the water!"

Silvertail tapped the deck of her ship with a hoof. "Or, you could join me, here on this boat, and I'll see you're fed forever. We could do honest work, for honest pay."

Glossy scowled. "Sounds boring." She rose up out of the water just far enough to wave her finned hooves at Silvertail. "You could be free! No more stupid air-breathers telling us what to do! Eating what you want, when you want it! If you don't like someone, you can wreck their stuff. Doesn't that sound fun?"

Silvertail slowly trailed a circle with her hoof. "Perhaps, but I'd rather watch a sunset with someone nice beside me. I'd rather do hard things, and celebrate them, instead of easy things that become boring. Those 'air-breathers' I just let off are risking their lives, but they are closer than we can be right now. Don't you want to be closer?"

Glossy approached the boat cautiously a moment, looking tempted, but then she sneered and vanished into the waves with a parting flip of the tail. She wasn't going to be convinced so easily, but Silvertail smiled. Perhaps she would eventually lure that horse out of the river.

---

It was a short hike from the river to the rail station, and everyone was in high spirits. The unicorn that sat behind the counter at the station smiled at them as they approached. "Oh! Hello there. Are you looking for tickets?"

Applejack tipped her hat. "Surely are. Going ta Viljatown."

"Ah, a grand place." He started counting heads. "Thirty gold please. Comes with complimentary meals and room enough to sleep. It takes the train a few days to get from here to Viljatown. For an extra five per person, you can have unlimited basic drinks."

Applejack looked faintly tempted, then tossed the idea aside. Rainbow wasn't here to drink with, and that was half the fun. She counted out thirty coins and set it down, and soon they had tickets. "Enjoy your trip."

They waited impatiently by the side of the tracks on the benches provided, and about an hour later, the train came into view. Unlike Equestrian trains, it didn't roll. It was held up on a bed of lightning and zipped along. Apple Bloom tilted her head. "It's not as fast as ours."

It was true; while certainly smoother, it lacked the pure power of a steam-based locomotive. It drew to a gentle stop in front of them and they boarded after showing their tickets to the dwarven conductor.

Sweetie tilted her head at the humanoid. "What are you?"

The dwarf looked shocked at the question. "What? I'm a dwarf of course! Where've you been hiding, wee lass? Everyone aboard! We got a schedule to keep."

No sooner than everyone getting onto the train, then it started moving. The dwarf stuck out a hand and grabbed a rail as it went by, swinging himself up onto the train with practiced ease.

The party soon found a compartment to house themselves and started to flop onto the provided soft bedding. Scootaloo watched the scenery scroll past. "Imagine if we had to walk all of that."

Apple Bloom snorted softly. "No, thanks. Ahm happy right here."

The general feeling overall was agreement. The train was an almost-wonderfully dull place. They had provided meals and it was warm and safe, and few complaints came of it. The days slipped between their hooves, and soon they were drawing close to Viljatown and its promise of home.

When the train pulled into the large city terminal, it slid in between many other trains and the doors opened to let everyone out. Applejack pointed to the ground. "Form up!" Once all the smaller members were gathered, she nodded at them. "This here's a big city, so ah don't want any o' y'all wandering off without Willow or ah at yer side, alright?"

Sweetie bobbed her head. "When do we call Twilight?"

Applejack turned to the exit. "We're goin' to try and get that done right now." She led them off the trail and Willow suddenly looked uncertain.

"You can handle this from here, yes?" she asked with a tilted head.

Applejack paused in surprise. "Ah, well, ah guess ah can if ah haveta, but ah was getting used to yer company."

Sunflower frowned. "They're not home yet! We're not done." He glowered at his mother. "Don't you even think about it."

Willow returned the harsh look at Sunflower and they stared at one another in a silent contest of wills. Apple Bloom tilted her head. "Don't get ta quarreling over our sakes or nothin'. We can handle ourselves alright."

Willow gestured at Apple Bloom. "See, they're fine. Let's go home."

Sweetie moved up and hugged Sunflower suddenly, squeezing him tight. "I'm gonna miss you!"

Sunflower growled and pushed Sweetie away. "We're not saying goodbye yet. You're not home and I'm not going anywhere while you're still here." He looked to his mother. "Go home if you want, but I'm not going that way."

Willow flexed her paws with obvious irritation, but before she replied, Applejack came between her and the others, gently nudging her back. "Ah know yer trying ta protect yer foal, but he ain't ready ta say goodbye yet."

Willow huffed. "He never will be..." She sagged. "He will leave me like his father, chasing after a girl."

Applejack cringed at the words. "Ya know that ain't true. He obviously loves you." She turned to the small ones and gave directions to the Drowsy Mare. "Go there and wait fer us. Tell the innkeep Applejack sent ya and Twilight sends her regards." When they had scampered off, she turned back to Willow. "We need ta talk."

---

Viljatown was more orderly than Murrage could hope to be, making navigation far less of a chore. Most of the faces they saw seemed friendly as well, though not all. Like any city, most of the people there were hurrying to get to where they needed to be, rather than enjoying the day. With no obstructions, they soon found the Drowsy Mare and pressed inside to find the titular drowsy mare slumped over the counter, her head resting on a comfortable and plush-looking pillow.

Their entry made her jerk awake and blink at them. "Oh, hello there!"

Sweetie advanced at the front of the group. "Hello! Applejack sent us, and Twilight says hello too."

The innkeep tilted her head. "They're both well? That's good. Twilight is a clever one. Few escape Madame's grasp once she has them." She yawned widely, jaw popping several times. "Sorry, are you looking for a room?"

Apple Bloom bobbed her head. "Yes please!"

"Sorry." She shook her head. "Miss Dusk is renting all the rooms. I don't know why she needs all of them, but she's paying."

Scootaloo flew up to Drowsy End. "That's not fair. Where is this 'Miss Dusk'? We'll talk to her."

"Like, did someone call my name?" A soft blue pony emerged from up the stairs. She looked a lot like Silvertail, but the coloring was off, and the cutie mark different, to say nothing of the nice clothes Sonata wore. "'Sup?"

Drowsy pointed at the three fillies and a kitten. "They want a room."

Sonata frowned a little. "Totally sorry, but I'm not giving up any rooms until they come back."

Sunflower rolled a paw. "They?"

Sonata crossed her forelegs and sat on her haunches. "They have to come back. I totally know it. Twilight's too curious to stay away."

Drowsy smiled. "Oh. They just mentioned Twilight."

Sonata glanced at Drowsy, then smiled down at the children. "Why didn't you say so before? Let's go. I'll totally get you a sweet room."

The girls smiled at the abrupt about-face in the conversation and soon they were all following Sonata into a large bedroom. "So, you know Twilight?" Scootaloo asked curiously.

Sonata snorted softly. "You could say that. She left me here, her and her friends, just pfft."

Sunflower blinked. "I thought you were her friend?"

"Was." She waved a hoof at Sunflower and he froze in place as she kicked the door shut. "But if you're here, she'll totally have to come get you little dudes."

Author's Notes:

Oh, hi Sonata! Did you keep the typos fresh while we were away?

42 - Heart-to-Heart

Applejack walked alongside Willow as she spoke. "Ah know yer hurting somethin' awful, and that's alright. That just means yer alive, but yer not alone." She perked an ear towards Willow. "Yer so used to being alone. It doesn't have ta be that way."

Willow ambled along on her hind-legs, a less graceful mode of transport, but it freed her paws to worry over each other. "I understand you're trying to help, and I'm flattered, I truly am, but you don't comprehend Everglow life. How could you? Your idyllic world of friendship is too soft."

Applejack took a soft breath. "Sugarcube, my life ain't been peaches and cream. Mah folks left us when Apple Bloom was a little tiny apple on the end of my hoof. We work hard for what we get, every single day. It's tearing me up on tha inside knowing mah brother's working the whole orchard by his lonesome. Ya think we never saw no monster before? We ain't that far from tha home of the timber wolves, and they come by ta say howdy sometimes. Ya ever see a horse-sized wolf made of twigs and brambles?"

Willow raised a brow. "I can't say I've seen that, but you know as well as I that I've seen plenty of other monsters, to say nothing of the wickedness in perfectly 'civil' people." She frowned then. "About your brother. If your way is so great, why is he out of luck?"

Applejack shook herself out. "Ah wouldn't go that far. Ah worry, it's mah job, but he's not entirely alone. We got family, we got friends. If he's really hurtin', ah'm sure he can get a helpin' hoof from one of the girls or a fellow Apple." She paused, and Willow stopped as well, falling to all fours.

"Yes?"

Applejack pointed at Willow. "Ah just got a thought. Did ya know being helpful and trusting can be selfish?"

Willow frowned. "You've lost me entirely. How is selflessness selfish?"

Applejack settled on her haunches on the smoothly cobbled road. "Look at it this way. If ya help people out, they become indebted to ya, and when ya need help, it's a lot easier ta get. If yer nice ta people, they start ta like ya, and that makes it easier to get things out of them. Now, I still think being good and helpful is its own reward, but it's not like it ain't got other benefits."

Willow sank down, facing Applejack. "That logic is simple enough, but it's not enough when we're dealing with... intimate matters. It's not as if I was cold to my lover, nor he to me. He folded when it came time for commitment, despite, not because, of our relationship before then."

Applejack tapped her chin softly. "Say, do ya know where this feller of yers is now?"

A soft squeak distracted the both of them as they looked over. A little pony, small as a filly with little stubby legs came hurrying up to them. She was wearing a bright yellow dress and an equally bright smile. "Applejack!"

---

Sonata sat in front of the door, watching over the children. Scootaloo yawned softly. "This is boring..."

Sonata nodded lightly. "Yeah... What's taking them so long?"

Apple Bloom shrugged. "Maybe they got lost?"

Sweetie shrank. "Or attacked by vicious monsters?"

Sunflower tilted his head. "In the city?"

Sweetie shrugged. "It could happen."

The hostage situation had lowered in intensity rather quickly, as Sonata insisted they don't leave, but did little else. She yawned. "Oh now you have me doing it! Uh, anyone want a snack?"

Three hooves and a paw went into the air. She nodded quickly and opened the door. "Drowsy! Dinner for five please!" A sleepy noise came back at her, and Sonata closed the door. "She's, like, super keen."

Several minutes later, a knock came from the door. Scootaloo rushed to open it, but on the other side wasn't the food she was expecting. Instead, she found herself staring into the frowning face of a grey unicorn stallion, one with a scary-looking red horn and a shadow that loomed menacingly on the wall behind him, despite the soft light.

Scootaloo fell back with a surprised yelp, allowing the unknown unicorn to step into the room. His severe features tightened as he looked at the assembled children before turning his eyes to the sea pony. "Sonata, what's going on here?"

Sonata smiled brightly. "Hey Lex! They're friends of Twilight, and you remember that one, right?" She pointed at Sunflower.

Sweetie raised a hoof. "Twilight's not here."

Sonata frowned at the news. "How did you get here then?"

"Sonata's question is appropriate," Lex interjected, though the words "for once" hung in the ar, unspoken but obvious. "If you're from Equestria, how did you make the journey to Everglow? For that matter, who are you and how do you know Twilight?"

Scootaloo sat up and glared at Lex as if in defiance of the moment of fear she displayed earlier. "None of your business, foalnappers!"

Sonata smiled at Scootaloo gently. "Oh don't be like that. We're just waiting for your friends. Nothing wrong with that, right?"

Apple Bloom tilted her head. "Ah suppose not, but there are better ways ah askin' than invitin' us to a room and lockin' us in."

Sweetie pointed at the door Lex came through. "I don't think it's locked."

"Of course it's not locked," snapped Lex, "you're not prisoners and you're not being foalnapped; that would be hideously immoral. If you want to leave, then by all means, get out."

He paused for a moment, eyes returning to Sunflower. "You're that purrsian from the trainwreck," he murmured. "What are you doing here?" His scowl faded slightly as a thought occurred to him. "Did something happen to your mother?"

Sonata clopped two hooves together, looking nervous. She would never foalnap anyone! Of course not!

Sunflower shook his head quickly. "She's fine, sir. She's with Applejack. How are you?" He smiled and pointed at Lex. "He saved mom and I a while ago from a big accident. He was awesomely cool."

Scootaloo's expression warmed. "Oh, cool!" She tilted her head. "Food's here."

Drowsy End gently nudged her way past ponies to bring in trays of dinner, setting out an impressive spread for the entire room. "Enjoy." She yawned widely and ambled back towards the door. "The energy here got better." Without clarifying her statement, she was gone.

Lex brushed off Drowsy's parting statement, having long since given up on understanding the narcoleptic mare. Instead, he turned his attention back to Sonata. "If Applejack is here, then Twilight must be with her. She's the only one among them that has the potential to cast a spell powerful enough to cross over the planar divide."

He paused to consider that Celestia or Luna might have come instead, but dismissed the thought. They were far too lethargic to do anything that'd require that much effort unless there was a direct threat to them, and though it irritated him greatly to admit it, he hadn't reached a level where he'd rank as such...yet.

"We should be prepared to meet her. Hopefully she's come to her senses and is here to support my vision for Equestria, but if not we'll need to be prepared to fight."

Apple Bloom pulled a plate over and got to stuffing her face in favor of conversing. Sweetie looked at Lex curiously. "Why would you want to fight with Twilight? She's one of the nicest ponies I know, and she's super smart too."

Sonata, who should likely have been involved, also opted to devour food, face sunk against a plate and making a mess with great joy and vigor. Sunflower drew a plate over and scooped up some on a provided spoon before offering it to Sweetie Belle. She went red in the cheeks but opened her snout to accept the offering.

Scootaloo burst into giggles at the sight of Sweetie being fed, but her attention slid back to Lex. "Twilight's not here. Didn't we just say that? It's just us, Applejack, and Sunflower's mom."

"I don't want to fight with Twilight. I want her to display her vaunted intelligence and realize why my philosophy makes me the most qualified pony to rule." He let out a sigh, moving over to the spread of food and picking out some bland oats. "But if she's not here, then I suppose it doesn't matter, for now at least. Still, that doesn't answer the question of how you lot came to be here."

Scootaloo shrugged. "We were playing around one of her exhibits and poof, here we are. Applejack said they could find us here and get us home, so we came all the way here."

Sonata looked up with renewed curiosity, food dripping from her snout inelegantly. "From where?"

Sunflower provided the quick answer for that. "Murrage." The answer didn't seem to satisfy Sonata, as she lapsed into thought, perhaps trying to figure out where that was.

Lex was silent as well, eating thoughtfully as he tried to figure out what all of this meant for his ambitions. Even if Twilight wasn't here now, the fillies were almost certainly right in that she'd show up for them sooner or later, and he did want to see Twilight again...if only so as to determine where she stood on the issue of his assuming command of Equestra.

"You said that Applejack and your mother," he waved a hoof at Sunflower, "were here with you?" When the kitten nodded, Lex continued. "I want to speak to them when they arrive."

Apple Bloom snorted softly. "Yer free ta do so, whenever they show up. What's takin' them so long?"

---

Applejack smiled at the little blue pony. "Well howdy there. Ah remember you."

Blue bobbed her head. "I can read real good!"

Willow looked curious. "Read?"

"Uh huh. The nice priests showed me how. Mom's got a job too. She's digging again, but they pay her now, and she only has to work a few hours a day."

Applejack perked an ear. "Just a few?"

Blue looked thoughtful a moment. "About a third of the day? They even let her eat lunch. I make it for her every day."

Applejack couldn't help it, and scooped up the little pony. "You are just too darn adorable." She squeezed Blue gently, getting a squeak and a giggle for it. "You be good to yer mother, y'hear?"

"Yes ma'am." Blue wriggled to the ground. "It's good to see you. Who are you?" She looked to Willow with her big eyes.

Willow smiled a little. "Willow Longtail. What manner of pony are you?"

"They said I'm a short leg." Blue tilted her head a little. "I'm going to be a priest."

"Huh, that's a right fittin' name. Priest of what now?" Applejack sat on her haunches.

Blue pointed northerly. "Princess Luminace. She saved us both, so I will save others. She believes in friendship and so do I!"

Applejack pointed at Willow. "Here's your first convert."

Willow recoiled. "What? No!"

Blue trotted up to Willow with a bright smile. "Don't you want to be friends?"

Willow looked at her, ready to spit out a nasty negative, but the small pony was... Ugh. "She really is too adorable." Captivated by the cute pony, she began to get an earful about the wonders of friendship. Applejack settled beside Willow, enduring the cute lesson with her.

Author's Notes:

Old faces return from the mists of time! Do you remember these guys from A Dangerous Sparkle? They didn't forget you, and they brought a basket of typos. How thoughtful!

43 - Coming Together

Willow stood up, nodding at little Blue. "This has been... educational, but we really should get to the children. They must be worried about us by now."

Blue looked concerned. "I didn't know there were kids waiting. Good luck then, and I hope you allow the magic of friendship into your heart." She flashed a bright smile and trotted off, leaving Willow and Applejack alone.

Willow glanced aside at Applejack. "They have a religion about friendship?"

"Ayup." Applejack nodded lightly. "Apparently she's also big into magic, oh and reading too. Reminds me a bit of mah friend."

Willow shook her head. "Well, alright. If nothing else it shows you pony folk are serious about it."

Applejack smiled lightly. "We are. Nothing like being a good neighbor to make things go smoother, ah reckon. Not ta say there ain't a few bad apples, cause there always will be, but ah'd trust the average pony ta be civil at least. Let's get to the Drowsy Mare. Ah want ta be sure the girls're fine."

They departed as one, weaving their way through the streets of Viljatown.

---

Sonata wiped her face on a provided cloth, returning to her cleaner self. "Well, if they don't show up, you can, like, totally sleep here. We can have a sleepover!" She grinned happily, her dreams of revenge instantly replaced with much more benign shenanigans.

Sweetie tilted her head along with the others. Sonata was a little confusing to them, but with a shared glance, they decided she was also fairly harmless. She raised a hoof. "Sure thing, Miss..."

"Sonata's fine, but if you have to, Sonata Dusk. Sorry about the whole, you know, making you wait thing. No hard feelings?" She smiled at the children warmly.

Lex's reaction could not have been more opposite. Finishing the oats he'd been eating, he turned for the door. "I'll be in my room. Alert me when the adults arrive." He didn't wait for a response before exiting, apparently done with them.

Sonata frowned at Lex's sudden departure. "Don't be a sourpuss. Besides, you don't want Applejack to hear you were rude to her kids, right?"

Apple Bloom raised a hoof. "Ah'm the only blood relation, and we're sisters."

"Same difference." Sonata grabbed up a little fried oat cluster and crunched on it.

Now it was Lex's turn to frown as he glanced back at her. Why was she pushing him to stay? There was nothing else for him to do here, and he already felt uncomfortable enough as it was. He had enough trouble talking to adults; children were even harder to understand.

"I don't care what that mare thinks of me. Besides, if I'm really such a 'sourpuss' then wouldn't it be better if I left?"

Sonata rolled her eyes. "Like, oh my god. You're being a sourpuss by refusing to sit down and just, you know, talk? You're not doing anything that important right now." She looked back at the kids and focused on Sunflower with a smile. "Got a new girlfriend?"

Sunflower lit up instantly. "Uh!"

Sweetie tilted her head. "New?"

Still standing in the doorway, Lex gritted his teeth, but swallowed his indignant response. Slowly, he turned around and re-entered the room, sitting down near Sonata and facing the children. Giving his companion a sour look, he tried to make sense of the situation she had baited him into joining, watching the others converse.

Sonata leaned over into Lex warmly, giving silent thanks to his capitulation.

Sunflower shook his head quickly. "I, uh... kinda... liked Sonata before, but we weren't together."

Sonata stood up for him. "It's true, you two look much cuter together."

Sweetie blushed and smiled, accepting the praise as offered.

Scootaloo pointed at Lex. "Why's your horn all weird?"

Apple Bloom tilted her head, now looking at the red thing and its grey base. "Were ya born like that?"

He didn't reply for a moment, silently luxuriating in the feeling of Sonata pressing against him, before turning his attention back to their question. Seeing no harm in it, he answered. "No, I wasn't. This isn't my original horn. It's a graft, a replacement."

Scootaloo grinned. "Cool! Does it, uh, give you super powers?"

Apple Bloom nudged Scootaloo. "That's stupid. Maybe he got his original hurt and this is a replacement."

"You're both correct," interjected Lex. "My original horn was irreparably damaged, or so I thought at the time, and so I replaced it with this one, gaining the dark magic of its previous owner."

Sweetie perked an ear curiously, but it was Sunflower that spoke up, "Dark magic?"

Scootaloo brightened. "Oh! It's like from the comic books. You're a dark tortured soul seeking justice through powers he never asked for!"

Apple Bloom blinked softly, looking between Scootaloo and Lex. "Is that it?"

"What? No! I mean..." caught off-guard by the uncanny description of himself, Lex struggled to find a way to refute the childrens' simplistic summary of him. "...I have other powers that I worked very hard to attain," he finished lamely, ears folding back.

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom united in excitement. Bloom grinned hugely. "Ah never met a real life superhero before! What can ya do?"

Scootaloo pointed at Lex. "I bet you have a ton of super villain nemesises... nemesi? Bad ponies that try to foil you!"

Sweetie Belle seemed more reserved. "Are you really a superhero?"

Lex gave Sonata a long-suffering look, as if silently asking if this was the conversation that she thought it was so important that he stay and have, before turning his attention back to Sweetie Belle. "I'm not a superhero." He put a hoof to his head, rubbing it for a moment as though he couldn't believe what he'd just said. "I'm just a pony, trying to do the best that he can to help Equestria and its ponies."

Looking at Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, he continued. "I have command of several different forms of magic, but those are less notable than the ideas I have. Unfortunately, those ideas have been branded treasonous by Celestia and Luna, and so I've been left with no choice but to take up forelegs against them. They are my nemeses."

Scootaloo snorted. "No superhero says they're a superhero. It's part of what makes them a superhero."

Apple Bloom tilted her head. "Celestia and Luna are nice ponies. Why would you want to have them for nemeses?"

Sweetie pointed at herself. "Luna helped me when I was about to hurt my big sister. I'm glad she talked some sense into me."

Sonata looked a little lost, but stayed where she was as silent support for Lex. She returned his look, gently urging him with a rub to bear with it.

"I don't doubt that they are nice ponies, nor that they perform important functions, and I certainly don't want them as my enemies. I spoke to Celestia at length trying to avoid that very thing." He paused as he noticed how they were listening raptly. Maybe this wasn't a complete waste of time after all. Maybe he could teach these foals something.

"I believe that government should actively help its ponies, that a ruler should implement policies that work proactively to make life better for them, rather than just sit back and not do anything unless there's a crisis. Like..." he paused, trying to think of an example, when an idea came to him. "Twilight told me that your sister is a farmer, right?" he asked, pointing at Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom nodded her head. "Sure as rain. She's tha best apple farmer there ever was!"

Sunflower leaned in to whisper to Sweetie Belle, "I never understood this stuff." A position that Sweetie Belle seemed to sympathize with.

---

Applejack and Willow arrived at the Drowsy Mare, to find Drowsy collapsed over the counter, though she awoke upon the door opening. "Welcome... oh." She smiled lightly. "I thought you might arrive. Have your travels been well?"

"Just peachy," replied Applejack as she stepped into the inn. "What room're the girls in? Did ya get them some food? Uh, sorry ta be pushy, just worried about them is all. No offense or nuthin'."

Drowsy gave a sedate nod. "There is nothing to be sorry for. What will this conversation mean in the end? Your kin is that way." She pointed down the hall. "Second on the left. Knock first, lest you offend someone more easily bothered than I." Advice given, she rest her head on the soft cushion, and surrendered to the little death of slumber.

Willow nodded to Applejack as they shared a glance and moved purposefully to reunite with their family.

---

Lex glanced at the two, flicking an ear in irritation, but let the comment go, looking back at Apple Bloom. "One of the core ideas I have is that the government should collect a little bit of money from everypony - a little more from the rich and a little less from the poor - and then use that money to provide help where it's needed."

Trying to decide which details to gloss over and which to expound upon, he continued. "For example, working a farm typically doesn't pay very much. That means that if something happens, like an infestation or a disease that hurts apple trees, or..." inspiration struck then, "or if you and your sister aren't there to work the farm, then you won't make enough money, and you'll lose your farm. Worse, think of all the ponies that rely on your apples for food, or who take them and sell them in other cities. They'd suffer too."

Pausing to let that thought sink in, he picked up again. "What I would do, if I ran Equestria, is use that money I collected from everypony and pay your family a small amount each month, in what's called an 'agriculture subsidy,' just to keep growing your apples. That way, you wouldn't go broke if there was an emergency, and everypony else wouldn't lose your apples."

Clopping a hoof on the ground for emphasis, he wrapped up. "Because I have these ideas, these visions of how much better Equestria could be, I believe that I can do a better job running it than Celestia and Luna, and I told them such. But they seem to think that such ideas, and simply having this horn, make me a tyrant. So you see, there's little choice left but to take over by force if I want to help Equestria," he concluded, "including your farm."

Apple Bloom looked appalled. "We're gonna lose the farm?!"

Sweetie Belle quickly shook her head. "My sister and the rest of the girls would never let that happen."

Scootaloo hastily agreed. "The ponies of Ponyville wouldn't ever let the Apple family lose the farm."

Sweetie tapped a chin. "Didn't they that one time?"

"Ixnay on the, uh, lim fay rother bays." Scootaloo grinned as she poorly passed her code.

Apple Bloom was not soothed. She hopped up to her hooves and gave her own stomp. "Ah don't want granny and mah brother thrown out on tha street!"

"Neither do I," added Lex, kneeling down so that he was at eye-level with Apple Bloom, "and while I doubt that your family's friends and relatives would stand by and do nothing if something were to happen, how long could they keep providing support without compensation? Could they work your farm as well as your sister? Could they do it for a week? A month? Could they help buy an acre of new trees if there was an apple tree disease?"

He shook his head. "Celestia and Luna would sit back and let things like this happen, not interfering unless it was some sort of disaster that threatened all of Equestria. I, on the other hoof, would spend every day working to stop problems like that before they happen. That's why I need to be the one to run things. I don't want to hurt anypony, including the princesses, but I need to take over, for everypony's sake."

Apple Bloom frowned with thought, tapping her chin. "But if ya were all the way up in Canterlot, how'd ya hear about mah farm's problems before we got kicked out?"

The door swung open just then, revealing Applejack and Willow. Applejack started warmly. "We're he--" She cut off as she spotted Lex and frowned a little. "Ah... trust everypony's alright?"

Apple Bloom smiled brightly. "Hey Sis!" She pointed at Lex. "He was just tellin' us how he'd save tha farm."

Scootaloo nodded her head. "And he's totally a superhero, even if he says he isn't."

Standing, Lex turned to regard the pair. "It's good that you're here," his voice was neutral, which was warm for him. "We have much to discuss."

Author's Notes:

We meet, again, for the very first time!

The typos smile upon this reunion.

44 - Reaching Out

Applejack raised a brow at Lex, but Willow pressed gently past her towards him. "Hello, my past savior. A pleasure to meet you again. Are you well?"

Lex blinked, apparently caught off-guard by the warm greeting. "Ah, yes...I'm alright." He regarded Willow for a moment, uncertain. He believed that saving someone meant that they were his responsibility, but only until they were able to look after themselves again. That had seemed to be the case when Willow had left, but now Lex wasn't so certain of that.

Taking a half-step toward Willow, Lex lowered his voice. "I already asked your son, but I wanted to check with you. Are you in trouble? Do you require assistance?"

Willow gestured back at Applejack, then the fillies. "I'm here for them, trying to see them home. I thought my duty was done getting them to the city, but my son insists otherwise." Sunflower had the decency to look ashamed, though his mind clearly didn't change. "Now what is going on in here?"

"He isn't wrong," insisted Lex, glancing back at Sunflower. A look that might have been approval flickered across his face as he regarded the kitten, before turning back to Willow. "Duty might be laborious, but it must be seen through to completion, despite the burden. As for what's going on here," his gaze went to Sonata next, "apparently we were sitting and talking."

Sonata smiled brightly. "We were waiting for you and Applejack." She waved a hoof at Applejack. "Come and join us, then you get to tell me why you left me behind." Her expression soured a little. "That was, like, totally not cool."

Applejack did enter the room, her attention pulled towards Sonata. "Weren't ya still workin' fer yer crimes? Of course we left ya behind. How's that going, by the by?"

Sonata waved a hoof dismissively as her eyes rolled. "They couldn't wait to get rid of me." Her expression darkened further. "I rushed back here and you guys were already long gone. No note, no way to reach you. Just... gone. I thought we were friends!"

Lex moved alongside the morose sea pony. "Sonata, that was a misunderstanding. All of us thought you'd be stuck here for months working off your sentence, and the portal to Equestria would only remain open for so long."

Applejack quickly nodded in agreement with Lex. "Exactly so. We didn't mean nothing by it. 'Sides, we're here now."

Scootaloo nodded her head. "We could rescue you now!"

Sweetie Belle tapped her chin. "As soon as we figure out how to reach Twilight."

Apple Bloom raised a hoof. "Or Princess Celestia. Ah bet she could do it."

Lex turned to regard the orange mare, and his expression cooled. "You're here because of an accident, not because you meant to come back for her. As it stands, I want to speak to you privately about the state of Equestria."

Applejack snorted softly. "Speaking of that, how did ya end up back here anyway? Last time ah saw ya, ya were running away from the guards something fierce. That weren't the smartest thing ah ever saw done, attacking the princess and all."

"In the face of imminent aggression from Celestia and her guards, creating a diversion so that I could retreat was the wisest tactical decision available to me," hissed Lex, his demeanor shifting back to its usual hostility. "After that, I simply used the plane-shifting spell I received from Twilight to fall back to Everglow, beyond Celestia's reach."

Applejack put a hoof over her face with a sigh. "Ya done surprised her. If ya kept a cool head, nopony had to get riled up." Click. "Wait, what? Ya know the spell? Ya can use it?" She smiled brightly. "Well shoot, ya can send us home then, right?" The Crusaders joined in her smile, except Scootaloo, who looked a bit wary.

Lex was about to tell Applejack exactly what he thought of her suggestion, but cursed inwardly as she asked about him plane-shifting them back to Equestria. That spell had not been among the ones he'd prepared when he'd managed to replenish his primary magical stores barely two weeks ago, and unless they came across a major source of magical power, it would be months before there'd be a celestial conjunction that would enable him to do so again.

He couldn't tell them that, however. That was the single greatest limitation on his powers, and had to be hidden at all costs, especially from anypony that would tell Celestia or Luna. "I have no reason to come to your assistance in that regard. You're still in service to Celestia, whom I've vowed to overthrow."

Applejack shrugged. "Fine, if ya hate me that bad, but don't take it out on tha fillies. They need ta be home, in Equestria, not galavanting around this place." She pointed at the three fillies. "They're missing school and ah'm sure their family misses them too. Ya insist yer working for the good of ponies, how can that not be good?"

Apple Bloom puffed up. "Ah'm not leaving ya here, Applejack!"

Applejack stomped a hoof down. "Ya will and ah won't hear no backtalkin' on it. Ya don't belong here in Everglow."

Lex bristled internally at her attempt to use his own moral code against him, but forced himself to settle down. Dealing with tricky problems of ethics were his specialty. "You misunderstood me. When I said that I have no obligation to come to your assistance 'in that regard,' I was referring to the specifics of casting that spell. Because it doesn't allow me to pinpoint exactly where you'd end up, I'd be morally obligated to go with you to make sure that I didn't send you into a hazardous situation, such as the middle of the Everfree Forest. That would leave me stranded until I could prepare the spell again, which would put me in danger since I've declared my opposition to Celestia's government."

Crossing his forelegs, he continued, "Despite what you think, I do not hate you. But you're asking me to place myself in considerable jeopardy, despite your immediate circumstances," he glanced around, indicating the comfortable room they were in, "not requiring such drastic action be taken."

Sonata stood up as an idea came to her. "Can you, like, send a letter to them or something?" She approached the cross-looking Lex and smiled at him. "Just let them know they're here?"

Applejack sighed as she drew out Twilight's spellbook. "Ahm afraid we took this along fer the ride, so ah'm not sure what Twilight can do without it, but Celestia did get us back last time, right? If they know where we are, shouldn't be too hard, ah reckon." She shook her head. "As fer yer legal shenanigans, ya don't have to be in opposition of anything. Celestia's a mighty fine princess."

"She is not a fine princess!" Lex snarled. "She doesn't know the first thing about being a competent ruler, and she refuses to learn!" He was prepared to go on citing the princess's numerous faults, but felt his anger drain away as he caught sight of one of the fillies, the white one, turn away, clearly distraught.

One of the benefits of having such a rigorously-defined set of morals was that he virtually never transgressed them, and so could avoid feeling guilt. But that emotion suddenly gnawed at him. Everything he'd said about not sending them home had been technically true, but it didn't change the fact that Applejack was right...these fillies didn't belong here, on such a dangerous world. Even if he couldn't get them back, presenting himself as being unwilling to help, no matter how cogent his justifications, was beneath him. He should be focusing on what he could do for them.

Heaving a sigh, Lex reached into one of his saddlebags, withdrawing a large opal. "This contains a spell that is designed to allow for short two-way communication, even across planar boundaries," he explained. "I'll contact Twilight, and tell her that you're here."

Applejack was ready to fight at first, but the situation defused itself before it came to it. She smiled lightly. "Well that's right kindly of ya. Tha sooner she knows where we are, the sooner she can get somethin' done."

Sonata moved beside Lex, gently pressing against him. "You should show her she's wrong by example. Like, if you were running a city or something and it did super well compared to all the others, she'd have to listen, right? All the people would see your way was totally the better way."

Apple Bloom waved a hoof excitedly. "Tell her ah been practicin' mah potion makin'!" The other Crusaders hadn't especially practiced their Twilight-given skills, and looked guilty a moment.

Lex, who had been preparing to cast the spell embedded within the gem, paused as he considered Sonata's words. That was a rather indirect way to attain his goals...but then, trying to acquire enough power to dethrone two alicorns by force was not a quick route either. And perhaps...perhaps demonstrable proof would convince them to abdicate where theories had failed.

Turning his head towards her, Lex caught Sonata completely by surprise as he gently nuzzled her. It was the first physical contact between them that he'd initiated. "That's not a bad idea. We should discuss it more later."

Glancing at the others, he motioned for them to settle down. "I'm going to contact Twilight now. There's a small chance that the spell won't make it past the planar divide, but it will likely make it successfully."

With no further preamble, he started to chant, drawing his hooves across the gem's surface, causing it to glow softly. A moment later, he began to speak. "Twilight, this is Lex Legis. I am in Viljatown, on Everglow. Applejack and the fillies are here with me. Send a twenty-five word response."

Sonata glowed with satisfaction as her idea was well received, and she even got a nuzzle out of the deal. And they say she didn't have good ideas, hmmph!

The reply came fairly quickly. "Lex Legis? I'm surprised to hear from you. Someone took my spellbook. I'll have to contact Celestia. Can you be more specific?"

Applejack looked a bit confused. "She sounds like she didn't know we were gone. Ah wonder where she thought we were all this time. Uh, that's a fair idea there, Sonata. Ah bet if ya ask fer a chance to show yer stuff instead of demanding her throne straight off, she'll be less ornery 'bout it."

Lex snorted at Applejack's half-hearted endorsement. "That's the sum total of what the spell can transmit. What happens next is up to her to make happen."

Willow leaned against a wall. "Then we wait, don't we?"

"Sounds like it." Apple Bloom sank to the floor.

Scootaloo licked her lips. "We could get in one last adventure before we go?"

Applejack frowned at the idea. "The last time Rainbow Dash was in this city, she got herself in a huge heapa trouble with Spike. Don't go lookin' for it now."

"Your sister is correct," concurred Lex. "While Viljatown is relatively stable, this is still a far cry from Canterlot or Manehatten." He looked at Willow. "What will you do, once this expedition is over?" He normally wouldn't have asked, but still felt some lingering obligation towards the purrsians.

Willow sighed softly. "I would say I'd go home, but I am certain that option will not be given to me." She stretched out, then patted the ground. "Sunflower, come here." The smaller cat was quick to obey. "Your mother's getting tired of running away from trouble. What do you think of that?"

This question was a bit heavier than Sunflower was ready to answer easily, but he gave it a try. "You should take what you want." He thrust up a finger. "As long as it doesn't hurt anyone."

Willow smiled gently. "A wise addendum. I think I'll do just that. Go on and play." She swatted Sunflower away, but he wasn't as eager to go just yet.

Lex tilted his head as he watched the exchange. Realizing that this was an excellent chance to further confirm what he'd learned from Sonata about an exchange of personal histories facilitating goodwill, he spoke up. "I can't go home either, even if I returned to Equestria."

Willow looked to Apple Bloom. "Lend me your quill." As the filly retrieved her writing supplies, Willow turned her gaze back to Lex. "Why is this? From the sound of it, you've gotten to a rather bad footing with the local authorities?" She clucked her tongue against her teeth. "But I feel that is not the reason."

Sonata wrinkled her snout. "We can make a home for ourselves, like, wherever we are."

Sweetie suddenly giggled, taking delight in Sonata's transparent fondness of Lex.

Lex glanced between Sonata and Sweetie Belle, clearly not understanding the significance of the former's statement or the latter's sudden laughter it provoked. Shrugging it off, he looked back at Willow. "I was visiting the Crystal Empire, a province with a name far more grandiose than it deserves, when the previous owner of this horn battled Celestia and Luna. He was defeated, but sealed the place and its inhabitants in stasis for a thousand years, myself included."

Applejack spoke up suddenly, "Well if yer looking ta be around tha crystal ponies, they're still alive and kickin'. They just got back themselves ya know. Their ruler was Twilight's foalsitter once upon a time."

Willow looked bemused and just a little lost at the exchange. "Curses are no joking matter. I can feel for your plight, at least in part. Our own city of Murrage was forced to hide from the world for some time after the great demon Apep began tearing up the world with wild abandon. The Everglow we returned to was not the one we had left." She narrowed her eyes at Applejack. "Ponies. Ponies everywhere."

Applejack snorted softly. "We ain't bad neighbors, now are we?"

"I wanted to ask you before," turning his attention to Applejack, Lex moved to a corner of the room and made himself comfortable. It was clear that they'd be here for some time. "Did Twilight read the scrolls I left for her? Did she ever mention anything about my vision for Equestria?"

Applejack shook her head. "Ah admit, matters ah state go right over mah head. The way she's been acting, ah don't think she much likes ta think about most of her time here. Reckon it was too exciting and sad." She tapped her chin. "She'll be mighty pleased ta hear Blue and Yeller's doing alright."

With a sudden crackling, a portal lifted from the center of the room, horseshoe shaped as the last. It was a dark red color, with rubies and emeralds studding its form. Applejack quickly perked up. "That was fast!"

Lex leapt to his hooves, instantly wary. Twilight had said that Celestia would likely be the one to open the portal, and he didn't trust the alicorns not to have treachery planned when they heard that he was involved.

Not risking being left behind again, Sonata trotted for the portal immediately. "Last one in's a horse apple."

Author's Notes:

Man, there sure was a lot of talking in this chapter. All those words providing fertile ground for typo crops. We're rich!

45 - Diving In

Applejack motioned the Crusaders through and they trotted in, though Scootaloo hesitated a moment, she followed her friends with a sigh. Applejack then tipped her hat at the others in the room. "Thanks kindly for all yer help." With a brisk trot, she hopped in.

Willow patted Sunflower on the shoulder, "Up for another adventure?"

"Huh?"

Willow picked up Sunflower and darted through the portal.

Standing alone in front of the portal, Lex glanced around the empty room. He was half-tempted to let it close without him, but knew that wasn't a serious option...not when there was potential progress to be made in reforming Equestria. Besides, there was nothing keeping him here on Everglow. His sole remaining responsibilities were Blue and Yellow, and he'd been checking in on them, surreptitiously, enough to know that they were getting along on their own.

Readying his magic in case this was a trap, Lex walked into the portal.

The portal closed quietly a minute later, leaving no one behind to ponder its mysteries, though Drowsy End would discover her tenants had quietly departed eventually and resume taking in new clients.

Across the divide between planes, the party arrived not in Canterlot or Twilight's castle, but a small cave that became crowded as they fell into it. There was a smell of something curious in the air, and it felt oppressive. Applejack scrambled to her hooves and looked around. "This ain't no part of Equestria ah recognize. What happened?"

The Crusaders discovered Sunflower came with them and were pleased, surprised that Willow had also come along. Willow, on the other paw, was looking around with Applejack. "Are we not in the right place? I don't trust the look of this even slightly."

Lex looked around, the feeling of anxiety he'd had since the portal opened intensifying. "Either we were brought here on purpose, or something diverted us here. The first order of business is to figure out where 'here' is." He didn't share some of the speculations he'd formed in that regard. This could be any cave system, after all. There was no reason to assume a worst-case scenario... because that's what it would be if they'd been brought to Tartarus.

Sonata pointed a hoof at a small passageway that was easy to miss in the wall. "I found a way out, like, let's get out of here. This place is the pits."

Willow shook her head. "Give me a minute." She began the long ritual to summon Kalik, calling for her across that same divide.

Sunflower hugged each of the girls in turn. "Did you see that? Mom just ran through after you all and brought me with her! I thought she didn't want me to go."

Sweetie Belle hopped at Sunflower, pinning him to the ground. "Now you're stuck with me, and you know your mom's OK with it." She grinned down at him, joyfully staking her claim.

Apple Bloom was busy doing little circles. "Ah think we should save the celebrations. Ah don't like the look of this place."

"Ah hear ya there." Applejack frowned. "Let's assume we're in hostile territory 'till we're proven wrong."

Despite the worry, Scootaloo was simply enjoying the fact that the wings she had just said goodbye to were with her a little longer, allowing her to circle the room.

Lex gave a surprised look at Willow, having had no idea she was a spellcaster. It was enough to prompt him to ask, "Does anypony have a spell to determine our location, or possibly transport us out of here?"

Applejack shook her head. "Ah reckon if we had that power, we'd done been home by now." She looked to Willow. "Let's let her finish callin' her friend, then look fer answers."

Scootaloo landed on Applejack's back. "One last adventure!" She sounded quite excited for the opportunity. "We'll get to the bottom of this in no time."

Willow took a minute, as promised, to finish her summoning. From a circle of fire, Kalik stepped free, shaking herself out. "Where is this place?"

Willow shrugged. "It feels like a demiplane of some sort. I thought we were going to Equestria, where Applejack and her kin are from."

Kalik frowned. "Retiring so soon? It seems the fates have other intents for you."

"I doubt fate has much to do with this," Lex frowned as he looked Kalik over, more from surprise at the appearance of the flaming cat than any sort of disapproval. "While it's possible that some sort of accident brought us here, it's far more likely that this was deliberate."

With everyone prepared, a final series of spells saw Scootaloo and Applejack with hovering shields, the former gaining it from a potion handed off by Apple Bloom. "This'll help keep ya safe. Yer always jumpin' in the front an' everything."

Scootaloo saluted in thanks, and the group advanced down the tunnel, Applejack taking the lead. As they proceeded, the faint sound of skittering teased their ears, as if something small and with many legs were scrabbling at the stone, but nothing entered their sight in the gloomy caves. One tunnel became three, which branched out again, and again. No clues were given which was the correct way to go, so Applejack stuck to the right for lack of better idea.

Lex glanced at the fillies as they used magic to prepare for whatever was to come. "I assume that non-unicorn foals learning magic is Twilight's doing?" He didn't bother with any preparatory casting of his own, since his basic defenses were kept perpetually active.

Applejack sighed. "Would ya believe they learned it on their own from our spellbooks and watchin' me do magic? They're little geniuses is what they are, though potion makin's hardly a new field." She drew short as a chasm came into view, with only a narrow walkway of stone leading across it. "Shoot."

Scootaloo spread her wings. "I'll check it out!" Without waiting, she launched herself forward over the black hole and soared quickly until a tentacle lashed out of the darkness and grabbed her by the leg. She flew against it, trying to gain altitude but getting nowhere. "Get it off!"

Adjusting the circlet on his head so as to let him retain the spell, Lex quickly chanted and waved a hoof at the tentacle grabbing the pegasus. A volley of magic missiles flew from it, slamming into the oily appendage with a wet squelching sound.

The attack was followed by a quickly hurled bomb that detonated against the stretched pseudopod. Scootaloo was released, almost crashing into the ceiling before she regained control and came for a smooth landing on the far side of the hole. "I'm OK!"

A sweetly sinister voice echoed from the darkness. "Such a pity. I could have shown you what being a mare is all about."

Applejack turned red with fury, stomping the ground. "That ain't funny! Ya best not be messing wit' us or I'll buck ya so hard ya'll taste yer tail!"

Sweetie Belle was baffled. "What?" Apple Bloom and Sunflower shrugged in mutual lack of comprehension.

Willow gestured forward. "Kalik, lead the way."

Kalik frowned. "Why am I always told to do the most awful things?" She tread carefully onto the narrow ledge, pacing across it slowly, her eyes peering down into the depths.

Also regarding the impenetrable blackness that the voice emanated from, Lex's eyes narrowed. "Attack us again, creature, and we will destroy you," he delivered the line coldly, hoping that in conjunction with Applejack's threat and the thing's initial attack having been defeated, it would decide they were too dangerous to prey on.

"Oh fine," came the sweet voice. "We have all the time in the world. Go on."

The creature, or whatever it was, made no further attempts to harass them, and soon they had crossed over to the other side. Applejack remained by the hole, guarding it as the others caught their breath. When they were ready to go, they trotted away, only for Applejack to be whipped smartly on the flank. She wheeled around, but the tentacle was already slipping back into the darkness under cover of mocking laughter. She snorted and left the pit behind, not missing it.

Scootaloo traded hoofbumps with the other younger adventurers. "Did ya see that? That thing wanted to eat me."

Apple Bloom snorted. "Only ya could be so happy when ya say that. Ah'm just glad yer OK."

Sweetie edged closed to Sunflower. "You wouldn't let that thing get me, would you?"

Sunflower quickly shook his head. "Never! I'd jump on it and beat it until it let you go."

Lex did not share in the younger adventurers' enthusiasm. He was rapidly becoming more and more certain that his initial guess about this place was correct, and that worried him. If this was Tartarus, then they were all in very deep trouble.

Touching his circlet as he cast a defensive spell on himself, one designed to protect him from ranged attacks, Lex immediately followed it up by calling upon Sombra's power. His eyes turned green, purple contrails sprouting from their corners as the dark magic responded, letting him see through the gloom of the caves as though it were full daylight.

Withdrawing a wand from one of his saddlebags, he held it aloft telekinetically. "We should keep moving, in case that thing changes its mind."

Willow nodded in agreement. "I don't know what lurks ahead of us, but certainly nothing good lies behind us."

Applejack joined in the wave, though Sonata looked pensive. "We should be sure we can all see each other. Something even worse than a totally crazy tentacle monster could be waiting to grab us."

Sweetie quickly conjured her floating balls of light, fighting back the gloom a little and keeping them all well in the light. They advanced through the tunnels, wary and ready, but what they found was a dining hall full of set tables and delicious smelling foods of all manner and type. The room was quite well lit and welcoming compared to the corridors they'd been in. A single pony sat at one of the tables. Twilight. She raised a hoof at them. "I'm glad you could make it. Please, join me. I didn't know you were bringing so many friends?"

Lex's eyes narrowed, and he immediately threw a foreleg out in an unmistakeable "stay back" gesture to the rest of the group. Leveling his wand at Twilight, or what appeared to be Twilight, he faced her, even as he directed his words to the rest of the group. "Do not approach her! That is not Twilight Sparkle!"

He started circling, keeping his wand trained directly on the purple alicorn. "This is a most skillful deception, but not skillful enough. The real Twilight would not be here alone, since she could not have brought us here by herself. She told us she lost her spellbook."

'Twilight' gave Lex a half-lidded expression, almost flirtatious. "Oh don't be so defensive. Sit, eat. You'll be here for a while, so you may as well be comfortable."

Applejack grunted in obvious anger. "What are ya? Some kinda changeling?"

"Not a bad guess." She set her head on her forehooves, watching the group with a relaxed energy. "Sit."

Sunflower suddenly approached a table and sat on the bench in front of it. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom joined him only moments later.

Sweetie threw off the command and drew a deep breath before she began to sing Giggle at the Ghosties as loudly as she could. The melody seemed to shake free the hold on Sunflower and the others, and they all scrambled upright swiftly.

Lex felt the compulsion smash against his mental shields with little effect. He had multiple layers of magical defenses designed to protect his mind from attack, and the impostor's attack did little but convince him of their ill intent.

Snarling, he lowered his head while raising his wand, so that it was directly in front of his horn while pointing at the creature. Letting the purple aura around his horn flare around the wand, linking it to himself, he spat out a command word, and there was a bright flash as a huge bolt of lightning struck the false Twilight.

The lightning crashed into 'Twilight' and the table she sat at, vaporizing it and her into a foul black smoke.

Willow raised a brow. "Effective, but I would have preferred a few answers. False as she was, her only crime so far has been to try to compel us to sit."

Sonata snorted softly, unsure how to feel about the situation. Mind control was her bag... "You wouldn't zap me for doing that, would you?"

Applejack huffed. "Good riddance. Besmirching the good name of mah friend like that." She trotted towards the leftovers, head tilted a bit. "Yer a bit overcharged though, dontcha think? Ah don't see a hint of her."

Author's Notes:

Our heroes find themselves in a new and dangerous place. Why are they here? Where is here? And what kind of exotic typos live in these foreboding walls?

46 - Out of the Frying Pan

The food that had taunted them earlier faded away as if it were never there, along with the bright lighting and other signs of welcome. They were soon in just another foreboding cavern. Applejack frowned at the transformation, nudging a decrepit looking table. "Reckon we ain't welcome for lunch no more."

Willow pointed at two exits, one being a tunnel and another a wooden door. "We have little choice but to proceed forward and hope for the best. Be on your guard."

Apple Bloom pointed towards the cave. "If we keep on a goin' the way Applejack was before, that's the right one."

Applejack smiled at her sister. "Right ya are. Let's get movin'."

Lex seemed not to hear them. He had turned his back to the rest of the group, knowing that he couldn't keep the hurt and betrayal that he felt from showing on his face. How dare they...

The comments from the others about how he had dispatched that thing, delivered so casually, had cut him to the quick. Again...again he had done the right thing, and was being scorned for it! That monster, whatever it had been, had attacked them first, trying to use invasive mind-controlling magic on them - and on the children! - but somehow he was the one at fault for defending them?!

Why didn't they understand? When somepony used magic on you without permission, that was an attack - especially if it was an unknown entity in a hostile situation - and it was completely acceptable to respond with whatever force was necessary to neutralize the threat, even if that required more force than the initial attack. They should have been grateful, but for some unknowable reason, they saw fit to castigate him instead!

It was the story of his life. It was his childhood all over again; no matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried, he was shunned by everypony else! But that wasn't the worst part...

"You wouldn't zap me for doing that, would you?" Sonata's question had stabbed into his heart, and it was almost more than he could bear. That one statement had utterly repudiated everything he'd thought about her. It negated everything he'd hoped, because that single sentence had told him the truth:

She didn't trust him.

Of course she doesn't trust you, the hateful words lanced into Lex's distraught mind. At some point his shadow had moved, and was now looming on the wall in front of him, looking down on him both literally and metaphorically. Nopony trusts you. Nopony believes in you. You were a fool for believing otherwise. What mare would ever want to share her life with somepony as noxious as you?

Lex could feel himself starting to shake as an overwhelming sense of humiliation settled over him. He had started to open up to her, to show her affection...in front of others, no less! To think that he had done so when she thought so little of him that she'd thought he would kill her without compassion. It was clear now that she had thought nothing of his feelings for her, and that realization was unbearable.

The only thing that made it any better was the emotion that flowed over him a moment later: absolute bitterness. He welcomed it, burying his pain and his shame under the onslaught of loathing, trying to drown them with it, letting his acrimony for Sonata and all of the others who had oh-so-casually spurned him fill his heart.

Lost in his own misery, Lex didn't notice the black crystals that had begun to sprout around him...

While the others advanced forward. Sonata never stopped watching Lex. When he began to descend into depression, he advanced on him and reached to pull him closer. "Don't look like that. It's OK. Like, we all overreact sometimes." She moved to nuzzle him gently. "This place is just so totally unbearable. I thought Everglow was the pits, but this place is totally the worst."

The only response she received was a wordless snarl as Lex pushed her away. He regarded her for a long moment, breathing heavily with restrained emotions, and the look on his face was one that he would have given his worst enemy.

After a long moment, he closed his eyes. Pushing his feelings down hurt with the pain of an old wound being torn open, but he managed it nonetheless. "We should keep moving," his voice was utterly flat, devoid of emotion. "It's not safe here." Without looking at her, he turned to follow the rest of the party.

Sonata frowned a little. "Why are you looking at me that way? We're supposed to be, like, friends and stuff." She trailed after him. "You're letting this place get to you too. We have to stick together, not pick fights..." She grit her teeth a moment, trying to press close to Lex again. "Come on, I didn't mean anything bad. Don't be like that."

Applejack looked over her shoulder at the two chatting in the back. "Ah'd like ta have the slightest chance of surprise on our side if possible?"

Scootaloo snorted out a giggle. "Yeah, like hooves on rock is real quiet." She emphasized her statement with a few clip-clops in place.

Lex ignored his companions completely, picking up his pace and leaving Sonata at the back of the group as he moved towards the front, wand at the ready. He truly hoped they'd encounter another monster soon; he badly wanted a target to vent his anger on.

Despite any concern for safety, Sonata kept after Lex. "This isn't funny! Stop ignoring me..."

Willow put a paw on Sonata, stopping her from advancing forward any further. "You're barking up the wrong tree."

"I don't bark?"

Willow rolled her eyes. "You're not getting anywhere. That boy's full of complications and you just tripped over them I think. Give him some time to cool off."

Sonata shuffled in place. "But I don't want to be alone..." She looked to Willow. "I... thought we were friends... like, deeper than that."

"Do you love him?" Willow cocked a brow.

Sonata went quiet, walking along with Willow and entirely uncertain. She grunted in annoyance with herself and everything else. "Maybe?"

"That's a yes. Let him cool off a little, then apologize."

Sonata's expression fell. "I don't know what I even did wrong... I'm totally sorry for making him angry. I just want to be with him."

Their private conversation was extremely unprivate in the barren caves. The fillies looked amused by the exchange. It was like watching a play, only right there in front of them without having to buy tickets. Applejack did her best to ignore the entire thing, focused on being ready for whatever the labyrinth had prepared for them. "Ya know, maybe y'all are scaring off whatever's in here."

Sunflower raised a paw. "That's a good thing, right?"

Lex was similarly ignoring the entire exchange, at least outwardly. In fact, he was paying very close attention to what was being said, though he had no idea how to react to it. Sonata's protestations of ignorance infuriated him even as her expressions of remorse took the edge off of his anger. It was all so confusing!

Alas, nothing came to disrupt them. They walked on and on through unending twists and turns, always taking the right-hoof side until they eventually came across the same dining room, with the same scorch on the same table where the fake Twilight had once stood. Applejack scowled as she stepped into the room. "Consarnit. We're being played fer fools."

Sweetie tilted her head. "Better than being devoured by hungry monsters?"

Scootaloo snorted. "I'd rather fight a few of them and get out. What's up with this place?"

Applejack moved up to a table and clopped on it loudly. "Whoever's in charge here, come on down an' talk already!"

The door they hadn't entered before swung open and Twilight emerged, none the worse for wear for being electrocuted to dust. "I was hoping you'd come around. Now, shall we talk like civilized people?"

Lex turned his gaze to the false Twilight, but other than keeping his wand at the ready, didn't react. It was the memory of how the others had reacted to his trying to destroy that thing last time, rather than any desire to parley, that kept him in check. Let them do it their way this time; once they fouled it up, they'd be the ones to need him to rescue them.

Sweetie hopped up onto one of the benches. "Let's have a discussion."

Scootaloo scowled at the false Twilight. "Starting with why we're here and how to get home."

Applejack nodded in agreement with Scootaloo. "We're not off ta tha right hoof here."

Twilight strode towards them at a leisurely stroll. "Don't be so worked up. We've met before. You've done my handiwork, Applejack, savior of the short legs. I'm wearing this shell to be more familiar. Do you like it?"

Apple Bloom waved a hoof. "Not really. We'd rather see what ya really are."

Sunflower admitted. "It's pretty enough..." This got him a glare from Sweetie Belle. "Uh, but your normal form would be nice."

"Since you mentioned our rescuing those smaller ponies, that makes you that 'mistress' that figure boasted about," spoke Lex. It was a statement, rather than a question. "Which settles the question of who brought us here. What's less obvious is why."

The facade of Twilight fell away, leaving a pale purple pony with white mane and tail, flowers woven into both and a large amulet of emerald around her neck. "There are many who eagerly slay to bask in my presence, such is my thanks for your work. I am Kara, queen of love, mistress of shapeshifters, and final word in this domain."

Applejack raised a brow. "Now lemme make sure ah understand. Ah thought ya gods or whateva couldn't just mess with things direct like."

Kara chuckled softly. "Such is the pact, on Everglow. You are not there. I did not force you to come here. I did not even invite you to come here. That was entirely your decision to make. But let's put that dreadful business aside." With a wave of a hoof, the food returned to the tables. "Eat. You must be tired after all that walking."

Lex was unmoving as he tried to figure out the best response to the revelation of who was before them, the realization that they were in the domain of a goddess being enough to snap him out of his petulance. This wasn't Tartarus...this was much, much worse.

Sweetie nudged an apple on the table in front of her. "You're very kind, Miss Kara? But we really want to get home, if that wouldn't be too inconvenient? I'm sure a powerful god like yourself could get us there in a flash."

Kara smiled at Sweetie Belle, looking pleased. "Oh I like you... Of course I could send you on your way, and I will! I'm not a monster, after all... But I have one more teeny tiny favor to ask." She reared onto her hind-legs and held her hooves close apart. "Barely a trifle, really."

Sunflower and Willow were more cowed than the rest. They knew gods from a lifetime of awareness, and negotiating with one was quite off their radar of things to do.

Scootaloo did not share this timidity. She flew up to Kara, hovering awkwardly in front of her. "We don't have to do anything!"

Kara reached up and gently pulled Scootaloo to the ground before patting her on the head. "Of course you don't. But you will listen to what I desire before you make your decision." The statement was just that. There was little room for debate.

Lex lowered his wand, though he didn't put it away...he doubted it would help much if things deteriorated into a fight, but it was better than nothing. Putting that thought out of his mind, he instead tried to analyze what the goddess was telling them.

Since his arrival in Everglow some months ago, Lex had thrown himself into learning everything he could about it. That was simply common sense when arriving in a new environment. Unfortunately, their religions were an area that he hadn't yet had time to study; it simply hadn't been a priority, not with how distant and inactive those beings had seemed at the time...something that had ceased to be the case.

"Why would a being that purportedly has such power, to hear the ponies of Everglow tell it, need us to do anything for her? Don't you have legions of followers slavishly devoted to running whatever errands you need done?" Lex's voice was guarded, but neutral.

"Right you are," spoke Kara, turning her gaze on Lex. "On Everglow, my needs are well met. My cherished pets rush to fulfill my designs to help ensure a better future. However, where you wish to go is not Everglow. My little pink failure has fled to your idyllic little land, and she must be ever-so lonely there. We can't have that."

Applejack shook her head. "Not followin' ya a little bit. Can ya make that a bit simpler?"

Kara snorted, displeased with Applejack's ignorance. "Very well. In the simplest terms I can think of. I want to visit your Equestria."

Scootaloo waved a hoof up at Kara. "No way! You're obviously a super villain."

Apple Bloom nodded lightly. "Ah wouldn't put it in those words, but ya don't come across as the nicest pony ah ever met what with the tunnels and the creepy monster in a hole."

Kara looked towards Sonata. "You're looking a little lost."

Sonata jumped in place, suddenly being looked directly at. "Oh, uh, just thinking, about stuff..."

Author's Notes:

The party realizes where they are. Do things go up or down from here? Maybe Kara can scare the typos away, but I doubt she can handle it.

47 - Honey or Vinegar

Kara took on a sympathetic face, strolling towards Sonata. "You poor thing. I can help with that. Stallions can be so mean at times, but they don't intend to be. It's just in their nature."

Sonata jerked a bit in surprise, glancing around. "It is?" Her eyes stopped wandering when Kara seemed to fill her view, and their eyes met.

"I am a goddess of love. I can soothe these troubled hearts, and give you the happy ending you want, and deserve." Kara reached up a hoof, lifting Sonata's chin.

Applejack approached angrily, "Hey! Don't go pickin' on Sonata!" But Kara ignored her, and Sonata didn't seem to hear her. They were alone despite being in the room with all the others.

"Sonata, you idiot, get away from her!" Lex's angry shout seemed to have no effect, the two ignoring everything other than each other.

Refusing to be ignored, Lex brandished his wand again as he strode up to Sonata and shoved her away from the goddess, standing to face Kara himself. "Don't you dare touch her!"

Pressing against Sonata proved to be more easily said than done, as he realized he had stepped through her, and could only glare at Kara from a new angle. The two were there, and yet out of sync with all others in the room.

Sonata trembled softly, "I... I don't want to force him. I want real love. I..." She looked off, eyes turning towards others in the room, but not seeming to see them. "I love him, but he hates me. I thought I was getting through, but he's so angry." Fresh tears began to build in her eyes. "Why am I so bad at this?"

Kara softly tsked at Sonata. "Poor thing. You're obviously trying very hard. I will help you, this one time. All I want is for you to remember me fondly." She ran a hoof down Sonata's chest. "That's it. No other strings attached."

Scootaloo flew across the room with her flaming rapier drawn, but proved as effective as Lex, phasing through Kara to land on the other side of her. "Cheater!"

Lex spat a quick enchantment, and with an ache in his muscles that was the cost of retaining the spell, unleashed another flurry of magic missiles, this time targeting the goddess. Being force projections, they should have been able to damage her even if she were incorporeal...

...only for them to likewise phase through her harmlessly. Having no further target, the projectiles struck the opposite wall and winked out harmlessly.

Gnashing his teeth in frustration, and trying to fight down a rising sense of panic, Lex tried to think of what to try next. Whatever that thing was doing to Sonata, he knew it couldn't be good, and that thought was undermining his ability to analyze the situation rationally. That and what Sonata had just said...

Willow scowled at the entire unfolding affair. "We're in her realm. We play by her rules or not at all, unless you think you're ready to face a god in battle."

Sonata pawed at the ground lightly. "He said anyone that tried to force him is evil, and he would hate them forever..."

Kara tilted her head. "Then we'll just be sure to not do that, won't we? Maybe he just doesn't realize how much he's hurting you."

Sonata sniffled loudly. "But... how? I didn't mean to hurt him. He looks so sad, but then he's so angry and I just want to scream!" She clopped a hoof against the ground. "I just want to be with him, as a friend. Am I that bad at being a friend? I did everything they asked me to do... I haven't forced him to like me, or anyone else to do things except really bad people. What do I have to do?"

Kara pet across Sonata's shoulder and back slowly. "Just tell me all about it. How much do you love him?"

Sonata whimpered a little, squirming. "He has these really big ideas, and I want to help him make them true. I don't understand most of them, but he gets so excited when he talks about them. It's the only time he really smiles. He's really cute when he smiles..."

Lex was going to keep trying anyway, but found himself unable to stop from listening to what Sonata was saying. Every word out of her mouth felt like it went directly through him, and for the second time that day he found himself wracked by guilt.

He desperately tried to bury it, tried to focus on his anger at the love goddess. She was making Sonata say all of these things, trying to use her as some sort of pawn in order to manipulate the rest of them. There had to be some way to make her stop, but what?

Closing his eyes, trying to shut everything else out, Lex focused on the problem at hand. They were facing a god. Alright, what did he know about gods? They were supposedly invincible beings, at least where mortals were concerned. But despite that, they were bound by rules that placed limitations on their actions. What were those rules, then, and how could he exploit them?

Unfortunately, all of the texts he'd consulted had been very non-specific regarding the rules that gods were bound by. However, all had agreed that a major one was that they couldn't appear in the mortal world without being called. Which - Lex's brow furrowed as he put two and two together - was likely why Kara wanted them to bring her to Equestria. She couldn't get there under her own power.

She couldn't enter the mortal world under her own power...that sounded familiar...

Lex's eyes snapped open as a plan came to him.

Kara smiled gently. "I would like to see that. Is he capable of smiling?"

Sonata gave a nervous laugh. "Don't say that. He looks like a grump, but he has a heart too. I've seen it..."

Sweetie Belle rubbed a fetlock over her eyes. "Aw, that's really sweet."

Apple Bloom raised a brow towards her. "Yeah, if ya ignore the whole kidnapped by a whatever she is part."

Sunflower threw a leg over Sweetie, squeezing her. "We don't need any fancy god to tell us how to feel." Sweetie approved silently with a smile.

Applejack slid towards Lex. "Ah admit we've had rough times before, but how do we get Sonata outta here?"

"I have an idea. Stand back." He gestured for them all to move away from him as he withdrew a piece of chalk and began drawing on the floor, forcing himself to go slowly as he made numerous complicated sigils, all within a larger circle.

"When I was first sent to Everglow, I panicked. I was desperate to get back to Equestria, and so I attempted an ill-conceived plan." He kept working as he spoke, talking more because he wanted to stave off any interruptions rather than because he cared about informing them what he was doing. "I theorized that dreams operated from a place equidistant to all planes, and so tried a ritual to reach Luna. If it had worked, I would have been able to use her as a reference point to map the planar distance between Equestria and Everglow."

He stepped back from the completed diagram, looking it over carefully for any imperfections. Confident that it was as good as he could make it under these conditions, he withdrew a small packet of powdered gemstones and began emptying it along several gaps in the drawings. That was just one of several sacrifices that would have to be made for this to have even the slightest chance of working...

"It didn't work. In fact, it failed spectacularly." That was an understatement. In fact, it had backlashed so badly that it had turned his own nightmares into a somaticognitive construct - a psychic tulpa - that he had no ability to control. It had no physical presence, but manifested its existence in the material world through his shadow, endlessly taunting him. But that hadn't been all that had happened.

"There was one upside, however. Ever since then, I've been receiving a small amount of sacerdotal thaumaturgy, or as you call them, divine spells." As he spoke, Lex took off several items and placed them at various points around the circle. First went his cloak, then an amulet, and finally an anklet that shrank into a ring once he'd taken it off. All were items that were designed to be protective in nature; hopefully they'd be considered worthy sacrifices. In all likelihood, however, more would be demanded...

"I don't know what deity is granting me this power or why, but if I can summon them here, they might be able to help us." That was only technically true; while he didn't know why he was receiving those divine spells, he was fairly certain it was orthopraxic in nature - that he was living his life in a manner that the deity behind them approved of, similar to how Soft Mane had been for her goddess. While Lex wasn't totally sure what deity was giving him that same benefit, he'd narrowed it down to being either the Moon Princess or the Night Mare. He had never investigated further because he was worried about what the answer might have been.

If this worked, he'd find out...

"Now be quiet. I'll need total concentration to pull this off." Ignoring the fact that no one had said anything, Lex closed his eyes again and began to chant.

The reaction came far sooner than expected. With a dark laugh, a hoof stepped free with a jagged gauntlet worn, with a dark-purple figure stepping out behind it. "Oh what a treat this is." She spun on Lex, leathery wings spread wide. "You would invite a war of the gods so casually? I thought better of you." With a casual flick of one of her wings, Kara and Sonata came into focus. Sonata looked baffled, Kara scowled.

"Oh my, unexpected guests. You should have told me you were coming by." Kara's expression melted into a welcoming expression quickly. "I don't have a worthy welcome prepared."

The darker god frowned. "Spare me your sweet words. I don't have time for them. You are just another feeder of the night, waiting her turn to be brought to yoke."

Kara wriggled. "Oh, Night Mare, you always knew just how to talk to me. You can put a yoke on me whenever you'd like."

"Spare me your advances and release these mortals." Night Mare struck the ground, the realm shaking with her fury. "I have other business to tend to, and they are not important enough to consider for long."

Despite the unexpected ease with which his ritual succeeded, Lex felt his spirits dip at the confirmation of which goddess had been empowering him. Her condescension caused him to grit his teeth - let the gods war with each other, so long as he could protect his charges! - but he swallowed his indignation. Instead, he cast a spell. It was one of the weakest he knew, designed to let him whisper a message without having to be right next to the recipient, though they still had to be close.

Targeting Sonata, he whispered. "Sonata, quickly! To my side!"

Sonata moved swiftly, retreating away from the distracted Kara to Lex's side, looking more confused than alarmed.

Kara shook her head. "Oh, how lovely you are, and yet so wrong. Have them. My business is complete." She turned her eyes to Sonata. "Treat him well."

The Night Mare turned away from her, and with the motion wrenched free those she had been summoned to protect. The entire party stood in a field of infinite stars. She frowned at Sonata. "Your mate is willing to upturn the fabric of this world to protect you." A faint smile touched her features. "I respect that. Stop being so weak and be the queen that deserves to stand at his side." She snorted, fire licking the air in front of her snout. Her attention moved to Lex squarely. "Your service is at an end, and you should consider it a boon that I have delivered it thusly. I would banish you all, but I see some there is yet a decision to be made. Decide quickly."

Willow knew the answer to this, and spoke quickly, "We are not all from the same plane. If she banishes us, we would be separated."

Applejack waved a hoof. "Well alright, if ya want to come with us, send us ta Equestria, and if ya don't, then this is goodbye, and it was a right pleasure meetin' ya."

Scootaloo poked The Night Mare in the shin lightly with a hoof. "Are you a god too?"

The goddess put a hoof on Scootaloo's head. "Your heart is too soft to be one of mine. Begone to your sheltered world." Scootaloo vanished without further ado.

Sweetie squeaked before she vanished as well. "Hey!" Apple Bloom objected, then she too was gone.

Lex had managed to keep his composure, but couldn't help but let out a breath as the dark goddess apparently dismissed him. If that was all she demanded for his asking for her interference, then he was getting off lightly indeed. In the back of his mind though, the analytical part of him noted how useful it had been to have a godly sponsor, and wondered if she would deny him if he tried to call upon her for divine spells in the future...

Resolving that that was one bit of knowledge he could do without, Lex instead turned to look at Willow and Sunflower. "If you wish to join us in Equestria, I will see to it you are comfortable there." The offer was genuine, but he made it largely because it gave him something to focus on besides Sonata...he had no idea what to say to her after everything that had just happened.

Sunflower looked to Willow, frightened and unsure of what was going on. Willow already knew her answer and gently gathered him up. "Send us after the little white one." She smiled at Lex then. "See--" She was gone, Sunflower with her.

That left Applejack and Lex. Applejack tipped her hat. "Well... thank ya kindly."

She glared at Applejack a moment. "Would you protect what is yours, your farm, or that foal, against all that would dare to harm it?"

"'Course ah would. Why?" Applejack raised a brow skeptically, unsure she could believe anything that came from one of these beings.

"She also wishes to go to Equestria," interjected Lex. "We all do." He wanted them out of there before the goddess changed her mind and demanded compensation for getting them out of there.

The Night Mare waved at Lex, and he was gone, leaving only Applejack. "Would you shackle those that would do harm to yours and turn them against your enemies? The night's powers can do great harm, but that harm need not be directed at you. Are you willing to rise up against it, master it, and protect those too feeble to protect themselves? I can feel a power in you. You have tasted it, used it to do battle with the darkness, but darkness will never truly be defeated. Better that it be mastered, and turned against itself and those that wrong you."

Applejack didn't like being alone with this alicorn that put out such an intense aura. It was everything Twilight was afraid of when she daydreamed of disappointing Celestia made real and terribly present. "Now ah appreciate tha helpin' hoof, but ah really should get moseyin' on ta mah family. Ah ain't much for them fancy things."

Applejack's spellbook was wrenched from her saddlebag and held before her in invisible magic. "Lying is the tool of a lesser mind. I can see you do not do it easily, and this pleases me. I prefer honest dealings. Do you feel that? That fear when you gaze into my eyes. You could protect your family and friends from ever having to know that terror. I am a fearsome weapon, but I will only terrify those too weak to wield me properly. Are you weak?"

"Ah ain't weak or nuthin'. You stay away from mah kin or Ah'll..." she trailed off, unsure a swift kick would do much to the being in front of her. "We'll have ta settle things..." It sounded lame in her ears.

The Night Mare laughed softly. "You amuse me more by the word. Enough. I have given my offer. There are no tricks here. That is not my way." She tossed the book aside with a flick of her head. "Abandon that, and I will show you true power. You will be no pawn of mine. I have no use for mindless tools. Take my power and wield it as you wish, against all that would do harm to those you cherish."

Author's Notes:

What is Applejack to do? It doesn't help that she doesn't even fully understand how clerical/divine magic works, let alone any amount of preparation for a god suddenly soliciting her face-to-face. Thanks Lex!

As a note, I really did not plan for The Night Mare to appear, but hey, it worked out.

48 - Dark Promises

"Now see here! Ah can't be signing no deals with boogey ponies, that's how ya get into trouble." Applejack took a few steps away from The Night Mare, glaring at her suspiciously.

The goddess gave a faint twist of a smile, her mien patient and cool. "You are right to be suspicious. I make lofty claims of salvation, but are they true? Tell me this, whether intentional or by mistake, our worlds draw closer together. If not you, then who else will I find to carry my power? Will the next pony be as honorable as you? Will you trust this strange pony, or perhaps something else entirely, to wield my might without causing harm to you and yours?"

Applejack tensed and grit her teeth a moment. "If ya could just grab anypony, ya wouldn't be talkin' ta me, right?"

The Night Mare leveled a hoof at Applejack. "I believe in destiny. How can one not, when its hoof prints are all over creation? We did not meet by idle chance. Accept this gift, and your sister will never need know fear again." She paused, raising a hoof to her chin. "I am being rude, perhaps. A gift, yes, that would be fitting. What do you desire?"

Applejack glanced around at the multitude of stars, pondering her chances of escape, but she saw none, and the idea of some stranger having this god's power did feel awful dangerous. She was strong, and good. She could keep it under control and used responsibly... "What kinda gift are we talkin'? Ya ain't gonna try bribing me with a mountain of bits are ya?"

She snorted loudly and approached Applejack. "I would be disappointed if you asked for that. I spoke truthfully. You wish to protect those who depend on you, those too frail to defend themselves. What would you have?" She brought down a hoof and when it came back up, a long blade came with it. "Perhaps a weapon worthy of my champion? It will never harm an ally, no matter how frenzied the battle becomes, instead seeking the hearts of those who mean you ill. No..." She stomped the weapon back into its non-space and drew out another, though this one was also a tool.

"Behold, the scythe. A wonderful tool, to dispose of weeds, harvest crops, or cut down those who would dare wrong you. Surely this would be more fitting a farmer such as yourself, but do not be deceived. It is as mighty as the blade you just saw." She leaned forward. "I can still see doubt in your eyes, but know this. The scythe is my favored weapon, divine in my order, and who comes before me but a humble farmer with a fighting spirit. Destiny! If you take this power, I know it will be used well."

Applejack came forward at last, eyeing the scythe. It was a handsome-looking tool, and she couldn't bear the idea of somepony else having this. She imagined an actual villain with the promised power, using it to do great harm to all ponykind. "What's ta stop ya from giving it ta somepony else even if ah do take it?"

She held a hoof over her chest. "Besides my word? There are rules. You are already caught between here and there, subject to me, but I may not simply intrude on your world. If I draw additional followers, it will be by your magnificent example. Your noble use of this gift will inspire others. On the other hand..."

Applejack was momentarily confused. The Night Mare didn't look like she had hands.

"If you allow some other to be the first, they may create a much darker example to follow. One bad deed will beget another."

Applejack cringed and grabbed the handle of the scythe in her mouth before swinging it onto her back securely.

"You will not regret this decision." The Night Mare waved at Applejack, and she was sent on her way.

---

The Crusaders had appeared in the middle of the apple orchard, with Sunflower and Willow popping in only moments later. Scootaloo was giggling uncontrollably from her perch in a tree.

Apple Bloom tilted her head back to look at the pegasus. "What's so darn funny?"

Scootaloo spread her wings wide. "We're still Everglow ponies! Which means..." She threw herself off the branch, and flew in a wide circle around the group, cheering as she went.

Sweetie Belle tilted her head down at herself. "I'm not sure this is a good thing."

Sunflower was lost. "You all look the same to me?"

Willow clucked her tongue. "I feel it will become much more obvious when we see other ponies of this world. Where are we?"

Apple Bloom pointed at herself. "Yer in mah family's orchard. Welcome ta Sweet Apple Acres!"

Lex appeared a moment later, quickly regaining his bearings as he took in his surroundings. "Where are the others?" He knew asking the question was useless, since there was no way that the others would know, but he had to ask anyway. He didn't care much about Applejack, but he had been the one that had summoned The Night Mare, which meant that if the goddess had done something to the orange mare, it was on him.

Far worse, however, was that he didn't see Sonata anywhere...

"Right here!" Sonata wriggled from up in the tree where she had been caught. "A little help please?" Gravity decided then was a good time, and she slipped off the branch, coming down with a thump. She got back to her hooves, mildly sore but intact.

Scootaloo landed among her friends. "Where's Applejack?"

Apple Bloom scowled and shook a hoof. "Ya give back mah sister!"

As if responding to her demand, Applejack appeared with a scythe strapped to her back. She looked around with confusion, but that faded when she was tackled by Apple Bloom. The two went down with the laughter of siblings reunited.

Lex let out a breath as the last of their group appeared. Everypony had made it back, which meant that the next priority was clear. "Are you alright?" Lex's voice was soft as he approached Sonata.

Sonata gave Lex a shy smile. "I'm alright... are you still angry? I'm, like, sorry I said that."

Willow approached Applejack. "Now that my foolishness has carried me here, I'm afraid I must rely on pony generosity. I get the impression that things work differently around here. I'll need a helping... hoof for Sunflower and I to get our paws under us."

Applejack was about to reply when the sound of thundering hooves reached them. She looked up to see Big Mac charging her. Willow had the good sense to move out of the way, and the siblings crashed together. Big Mac didn't say anything, but his bear hug spoke volumes.

"I'm not angry." Lex barely noticed the commotion. "I..." His voice trailed off as he tried to figure out what he wanted to say, before realizing that he had no idea. That was enough to undercut his resolve, and all of a sudden he didn't want to do this, at least not right now.

Turning his attention to Willow, Lex withdrew a few small gemstones from one of his bags, holding them out to her. "Here. I said I would look out for your welfare if you came to Equestria, and I meant it." It was the last of his funds, but he didn't care. "This should be more than enough to put you and your son up in a hotel for the time being. By the time it runs out I'll have started my administration, and it will be able to help you become self-sufficient." He left out the part about how exactly he planned on instituting his rule, but that didn't matter...glancing back at Sonata, Lex knew that this time, failure was not an option.

Applejack parted from the hug, then gestured at Willow. "Say hello ta Willow, and that's Sunflower, Sonata, and the unicorn there's Lex."

Sonata moved forward at Lex, unwilling to accept a delay it seems. She reached for him with her hooves, trying to direct his face towards her. "I want you to try something new."

Willow accepted the gems, pocketing them away. "I appreciate it, but from the way Applejack and her kin reacted, this world is very different from Everglow. I imagine I'll need more of the friendly help than the monetary, to fit in around here." She looked around, not seeing Kalik at all. "Damn god sent her home. I'll summon her later."

Sunflower smiled at the Crusaders. "So we're neighbors now, right?"

Scootaloo bobbed her head. "Sure are! I can't wait to introduce you in school."

Sunflower blinked. "You have a school?"

Sweetie Belle tilted her head. "Of course we do. You didn't?"

Sunflower shook his head. "Not for a long time, and that was a tutor, not a school. Is it fun?"

Apple Bloom bumped into Sunflower lightly. "We'll all be there, how bad can it be?"

Lex's discomfort was becoming increasingly obvious, and while he didn't object to Sonata turning him to look at her, he tried to cut her off. "We should discuss whatever it is later. For right now I need to make plans on how to deal with Celestia."

Sonata nodded. "That's what I'm getting at. Listen to me, please." She sat on her haunches. "You have great ideas, but you make them sound yucky, and that's not going to work." She raised a hoof to her chest. "From now on, you tell me, and then I will be your spokespony. If you can't make me understand it, you're already doomed, because ponies won't understand, and then they won't like it, and you want them to like it, Lex. They should love your ideas." She leaned in a bit. "Like I love you."

There were a hundred reasons why her idea was a bad one, from her misinterpreting his words to the danger she'd be in if she was beside him when he faced Celestia again. He was already opening his mouth to tell her that when she spoke those last four words, and suddenly he couldn't collect his thoughts. It was one thing to hear her murmur her assent to Willow, or even say it to Kara...but having her say it to him directly, looking him in the eye as she did, was enough to completely rock him back on his hooves.

For a moment, he just gaped, visibly stunned. A few moments later, he collected his wits, and became acutely aware that all eyes were on them. "...come with me." He canted his head to the side, indicating that she should follow him, before turning and setting off without another word. He didn't have a particular direction in mind, just someplace where they could have some semblance of privacy. That and the short walk gave him a moment to try and put his thoughts in order.

After a few minutes, he stopped, letting out a breath that was only slightly shaky as he turned to face her. "Did you mean that? Everything you just said...everything you said before...did you mean all of it?"

She tilted her head at him lightly. "I don't use the big L word unless I mean it, Lex. I want us to work, but that means we have to be working together, not... how we've been doing it." She shuffled her hooves despite her brave words. "Do you think we can do that? Can you... I don't know... have me as a partner?" She lifted a hoof towards him. "A 'mutually beneficial merger of talents', as I think you'd say, but I'd prefer to just call it going steady."

While Sonata and Lex wandered off and away, Big Mac nodded at Willow and the smaller Sunflower. "Yup."

Applejack smiled. "That means he likes ya."

Willow chuckled softly. "A man of few words? Nothing wrong with that. I'm afraid neither of us are very suited to farm life. That's not all there is here, I hope?"

"Well shoot no." Applejack turned and pointed, though the trees were in the way. "Town of Ponyville's just that way. I'll show you around while I say hi to mah friends. They must be worried something awful."

Apple Bloom pointed at Applejack's still open saddlebag. "Did ya drop something, sis?"

Applejack nuzzled the flap up and peeked inside. "Tarnation! She took mah book and never gave it back." She stomped a hoof. "That reminds me though, gotta return Twilight's book pronto."

Despite the soft words Sonata was uttering, Lex could feel himself becoming more and more tense. He knew that there was no imminent danger, that there wasn't any threat around them that he could detect, but for some reason he was reacting as if there was. It was enough to completely ruin his attempts to collect himself, and the words came tumbling out of his mouth without any preparation.

"I think what you said before is not only wrong, but stupid."

Lex had never been able to judge anypony's reactions by their facial expressions, but as Sonata's eyes widened it occurred to him that she had likely misinterpreted what he meant. Realizing that he was about to permanently ruin things with the one pony that actually mattered to him, Lex abandoned any pretense of a plan, letting the words come tumbling out of his mouth in a panic.

"I meant back in the caves! When you asked if I'd ever 'zap' you if you did something wrong!" He didn't know why, but he was suddenly overcome with the desire to explain why he'd reacted the way he did then. "I was angry because I couldn't believe you thought I'd ever do that to you."

He stepped toward her, and now it was his turn to gather her face in his hooves. "Do you think there's anything you could do that would ever make me hurt you? That would make me not want to protect you? Because there isn't. You're the last pony I would ever let anything happen to."

Setting his hooves back on the ground, he kept going. "What you said to Kara before, about how I only smiled when I was talking about my ideas? You were wrong there, too. I talk about the future I want for Equestria because it gives my life meaning, but the thought of doing that brings me satisfaction, not joy."

He swallowed, but forced himself to continue, looking her right in the eyes. "You do that. The reason I smile when I talk about that is because I'm talking about it to you."

Sonata smiled, a slow brightening of her features as she leaned in and threw away all abandon by going for a kiss, only to pull up short. "Wait, you could hear me talking to her? I thought we were totally alone!" She turned red swiftly. "Oh my gosh, I must have sounded like a total dork..." But Lex wasn't making fun of her or taunting her. Maybe? She started to lean in again, pushing aside her worry.

Lex's shadow was whispering loudly in his mind. It told him how this would never work, that he'd eventually push her away, or grow tired of her, or that she'd leave him. It hissed myriad different reasons why this was a bad idea, and all of them were plausible and cogent, being his own fears manifested back at him.

He ignored all of it as he leaned in and pressed his lips to Sonata's.

The kiss went on forever, or at least it seemed that way to Lex, as his awareness of everything else besides Sonata - his very special somepony, he realized dimly - was completely gone. Eventually, he felt her pull away, and slowly opened his eyes, not having realized that he'd closed them.

"I love you too." It took a moment for him to register that the words had come from him, and he started, a hoof coming up to his mouth in surprise.

Author's Notes:

Kara has delivered what she promised, with scarcely any magic at all. Behold the subtle charms of the goddess of love!

Meanwhile, The Night Mare presses Applejack into service much more directly. What other horrible being could be the first to wield that dark blade, wouldn't it be better in her trustworthy hooves?

I'm so excited I'm not even checking for typos today!

49 - Apple of My Eye

Applejack led them into town when Apple Bloom suddenly waved at her. "Ah'm gonna take them ta Sugarcube Corner!" Seeing no issue with the idea, she nodded, and was soon left to proceed on her own. It felt good to walk through familiar Ponyville, knowing the odds of sudden attack were down to 10% on the worst of days.

She gave a wry chuckle, considering the exploits she'd gotten into right there in Equestria. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden appearance of Rainbow Dash. "AJ! Were you in Everglow or something?" Applejack was about to ask what she meant when Rainbow pointed at her. "You're looking all weird and everything, and what's with the thing on your back?" She flew around Applejack and reached out the poke the scythe.

Applejack suddenly felt the need to keep the scythe to herself. Letting somepony else touch it would open them to corruption, and she didn't want that. She dodged away from Rainbow. "Just an old farmin' tool ah took a hankerin' too... Uh, it was a gift from a mare ah met."

Rainbow waggled her brows. "Oh ho! That kind of gift? Say no more." She flew in close and nudged Applejack with an elbow. "I didn't know you were such a smooth operator, AJ. Welcome back! So did you go to Everglow before or after the family reunion?"

Applejack tilted her head. "Reunion?"

"Wow, that must have been some adventure!" Rainbow landed in front of Applejack and sat on her haunches. "Big Mac said you and Apple Bloom and the rest of the Crusaders went to some reunion in Manehattan. Good luck getting extra details out of that guy though, right? Did everything go alright?"

Applejack nodded. "Right as rain." She wondered why Big Mac covered for her like that. A mixed blessing, considering it meant nopony was looking for them at all. "Oh! Ya should go find Scootaloo down by Sugarcube Corner. She can fly!"

"Really?!" Rainbow took off instantly. "Gotta jet!" And off she went in a rainbow contrail, off to see her favorite little pegasus filly.

When Rainbow was out of sight, Applejack pulled the scythe off her back, holding it in her mouth easily despite its weight and length. It felt... powerful. Like she could defend all of Equestria with it. If Tirek had shown up then, she wouldn't need all that fancy Alicorn magic! She suddenly dropped the scythe, a bit surprised at her thoughts. She considered leaving the weapon on the ground, but thought of some random Ponyvillian tripping over it and snatched it up before securing it to her back.

Applejack resumed her course for Twilight's, only to find Sonata and Lex had the same thought in mind as they were coming up on the castle together. "Howdy there. Just came ta return Twilight's book to 'er."

Lex had donned a robe from somewhere - likely another item from his extradimensional pack - and had the hood pulled down, obscuring his horn. He had little doubt that Celestia had put out a description of him since the last time he had been here, and he was hoping to avoid any unnecessary altercations.

"We have business with Twilight as well." He glanced at Sonata, then back at Applejack. "In fact, it would probably be best if we all went together. That way you can affirm our conduct towards you and the others in Everglow as being indicative of good faith for our future dealings with Twilight and the other princesses." Lex nodded to himself, very pleased with his reasoning. Why he apparently needed a spokespony to translate his words was beyond him!

Sonata nodded her head. "If she sees us all together, she'll know at a glance we're not breaking any rules. We want to make a good first impression. What brought you here though?"

Applejack pulled out the spellbook from her saddlebag. "Reckon she's eager ta have this back."

As if the spellbook put out an alluring aroma, Twilight suddenly emerged from the castle on the balcony above. Her wings spread and she dived towards Applejack, tackling her, though Applejack proved strong enough to avoid being thrown to the ground. "Nice ta see ya too, sugarcube."

Twilight hugged Applejack, but snatched the book in her magic, looking giddy. "Did Celestia al--" She trailed off as she spotted Lex and Sonata. "Oh, we have... guests?"

Sonata stepped forward quickly. "I've served my time and would like citizenship in Equestria again." She gestured to Lex. "And as a citizen, I nominate Lex Legis to be given a chance to show his ideas are, like, totally awesome."

Twilight quirked a smile, looking uncertain how to approach this. "I gladly accept you, Sonata Dusk, as a citizen of Equestria, but I don't know about the other part? We should... probably talk to Celestia about that."

Lex regarded Twilight for a long moment, his face neutral. He remembered how, while on their date, he had realized that he was interested in her. But seeing her again, he couldn't summon up that same level of excitement. Instead, all he felt was disappointment at how Twilight seemed to be turning into another Celestia.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle," his voice had the cold ring of formality to it. "I would like to open a dialogue with you and your fellow princesses to cease the hostilities between us. I trust that you'll see to it that no aggressive measures are undertaken by your compatriots during this exchange?"

Twilight tilted her head curiously. "You did attack Celestia... but she is a very forgiving pony to those who come asking for forgiveness." She extended a wing. "Provided they are sincere." She tucked the book under a wing. "Let me put this away, then we can go visit her." She turned and trotted into the castle briskly.

Applejack shrugged her shoulders. "Well, that's mah job done. Ya done distracted her sa good she didn't even ask where ah got her book from. Good luck wit yer talk." She moved to depart as well, mind turning to the heavy weight on her back.

Lex was silent as the two mares left, waiting until they were alone before turning to regard Sonata. "I am not 'asking for forgiveness'!" The outrage in his voice was impossible to miss. "I was right before and I am right now! If she or Celestia or Luna expect me to bow and scrape for their favor, then this is not an avenue I want to pursue!"

Sonata shook her head and gently pressed against Lex. "You're not apologizing for being right, that'd be, like, stupid. You're apologizing for upsetting her. I mean, I was right about, like, not blasting things, but I said it in a stupid way and totally hurt your feelings, and that was wrong, so I was wrong, but not about being right." She squinted a little. "Get it?"

"No," came the grumpy response. But he let it go, though whether it was because he considered it futile, or because of the soft presence of the sea pony pressing against him, was unclear. Either way, despite his pronounced frown, he didn't say anything else as they waited for Twilight to return.

Sonata accepted her victory, small as it was, and remained at Lex's side until Twilight reappeared. "Celestia sent a sky chariot, it should be here shortly." She looked between the two before coughing into a hoof. "Glad you could make it, Sonata. I hope it wasn't too hard reaching us?"

Sonata frowned a little. "I was hoping you guys would wait, like, just a second, but you were gone by the time I got back." She waved a hoof. "But I'm here now, so, cool."

Twilight raised a brow. "You were free that quickly? I'd have waited if I knew. Sorry about that..." She stomped a hoof. "Sorry doesn't quite cover what I'm saying. I'll do whatever is in my power to do to get you settled in, alright?"

"A belated and insufficient sentiment, to say nothing of unnecessary," snapped Lex. "I will be the one to look after Sonata's welfare, so you can get back to hosting tea parties or whatever else it is you and the other alicorns do to pass the time."

He knew he was being peevish, but he didn't care. The fact that Twilight's apology consisted of 'I'll do you a favor by fulfilling the very least of my responsibilities' utterly galled him. Doubly so, since it ignored how he was there to look after Sonata.

Sonata gently nudged Lex. "Lex is looking out for me, but we brought Everglow money and that's, what, worthless?"

Twilight was distracted by the question from her moment of irritation at Lex's lashing out. "Oh, actually, if you have gold or platinum coins, those have some value, but gems are too common in Equestria to be worth much outside of decoration until they're significantly sized." She held out her hooves apart about a baseball width. "Oh look, they're coming." She lifted a hoof to a sky carriage descending from Canterlot.

---

The Crusaders threw open the door to Sugarcube and flooded in, Sunflower just a foot behind. Pinkie was seated at one of the tables, enjoying lunch, but abandoned her cupcake when they came rushing in. "Hello!" She waved a hoof excitedly. "Did ya have tons of fun?"

Scootaloo landed on Pinkie's table, showing off her wings proudly. "Tons of fun!"

Pinkie tilted her head, then reached out and poked a wing. "You look just like everypony else when we went to that scary place with..." She gasped dramatically. "You didn't!" She looked around at Sunflower. "You did! Oh my gosh! This calls for a party of some kind..."

Apple Bloom pointed at Sunflower. "He hasn't gotten a welcome party yet."

"You're right!" Pinkie vanished in a puff of pink to go plan the welcoming party, only to come running back in and point at her cupcake. "Enjoy." Then she was gone again.

Sunflower wandered up to the table she was sitting at and picked up the cupcake, sniffing it before chewing it softly. "This... tastes a lot better than any cupcake I ever had."

Sweetie Belle tilted her head. "Really? That's not even one of the super special ones they have here."

---

Lex watched the chariot descend, throwing back his hood as he did so. Disguising his horn was meaningless now, and in truth he had little desire to do so. Regardless of the consequences, he would not be humbled before those who were his intellectual inferiors!

That thought reminded him of a similar question he'd had, and he looked over at Twilight as the chariot came in to land. "As an aside, did you ever bother to read those scrolls I left you?"

Twilight colored lightly as she looked between Lex and Sonata. "I'm very flattered, but it looks like you found yourself a wonderful mare."

Sonata blinked in confusion. "What?" Then she nudged Lex. "Are you looking at Twilight again? We've been through this."

"What? No!" Lex sputtered, trying to figure out how exactly the conversation had shifted. "I wasn't asking to date her again! I just wanted to find out if she followed up on my philosophy of governance!"

Twilight gave a sheepish 'oh'. "Yes! Yes... I did look over those. You have some very interesting ideas. You really should go before the court and discuss this with the nobles. They eat this kind of thing up." The chariot landed and Twilight gestured to board before easily hopping up herself.

Lex followed after her, with Sonata moving behind him. "Then may I ask what your opinion is of my being the sole authority for at least a portion of Equestria? Because that's what I want to come away from these talks with."

The chariot lifted in the sky, turning to face towards Canterlot and speed on its way under the power of its two golden-armored pegasi. "Well, that depends on if there's a vacancy, which I imagine they keep track of where we're headed to. We'll ask when we arrive, after you've had your meeting with the Princess."

Author's Notes:

It's true, Sunflower, baked goods are pretty sweet when sugar isn't considered a luxury commodity.

Meanwhile, the adults are off doing boring stuff, pfft. Scootaloo can fly!

50 - In These Golden Halls

The chariot set down lightly, the castle well in view. The soft noise of the city could be heard from most directions away from the edge of the city. Twilight stepped off of it with a nod towards the pullers. "Thank you." With a raised hoof, she pointed out the castle. "Here we are. The Princess requested we make our way to her as soon as possible, but if you haven't eaten?"

Sonata thought back. "We ate just before we totally went to that scary place. I'm OK." She looked to Lex for his view.

His response was a curt nod, already focusing on the meeting they were about to have. It idly occurred to him that this was the second time today that he was going to confront a mare that was unpleasantly disposed towards him while also being far more powerful. And just like the last meeting, failure could not be countenanced, not when there was so much at stake.

With that thought in mind, he looked at Sonata, remembering her idea from before. He wasn't sure about the efficacy of it, but his last attempt to negotiate with Celestia directly had failed spectacularly. That and he suddenly found himself wanting to demonstrate how he felt about his new girlfriend.

Turning to Twilight, Lex spoke. "Before we go in, I'm going to cast a spell so that only Sonata will hear my words. She'll speak for me once we're in there, as my spokespony."

Twilight raised no particular objection, but Sonata looked surprised. "You can do that?" Then it struck her again. "You want to do that?" She approached him and wrapped her forelegs around his withers, suddenly hugging him tightly with an obvious delight. "I won't let you down. We'll get around that big fat flank in no time."

"Hey!" objected Twilight then. "She enjoys her cake, but she's not fat."

Lex ignored Twilight, putting a foreleg around Sonata in return. "It's a mutually beneficial merger of talents," he murmured, echoing the words she had used earlier.

Twilight rolled her eyes with a little snort. "When you're ready?" She gestured forward and took a few steps before looking over her shoulder to see when the other two were coming.

---

Willow wandered the streets of Ponyville. She got plenty of curious looks, and some of them shied away, but most were just curious. The air was clear, with no sign of even fledgling industry in the small town. There were stalls, but they offered locally grown food and fare, and none of them were shouting or screaming. They just sat there with a smile and seemed to get enough business to get them by.

Willow found the train station, and even got a chance to see a train pull in, and then roll away. It didn't ride on a bed of lightning, but it seemed to go faster than the train she knew. She hoped it was safer for not flying, considering her recent luck with them. As she turned to finish her tour, a pony stood in her way. He smiled at her. "Excuse me miss. I can't help but notice you look a little out of place." He had a brown coat of fur, with darker brown mane and tail, blue eyes, and an hourglass for a brand of destiny. "May I be of any assistance?" The ponies of this world were remarkably-inoffensive looking. They were so round and cute and lacked any of the hard edges a real creature should have.

"I'm new to Ponyville," she confessed. "I'm taking in the sights, as it were. This seems like a charming place."

He bobbed his head. "Oh, it is, most certainly..." When she looked away, he pulled out an odd device and pointed it at her. She lashed out a paw, knocking it free of his mouth. "Whoa whoa! It's perfectly harmless, I assure you ma'am."

Willow scowled at the pony. "I don't appreciate having strange things pointed at me. I haven't lived this long by assuming. What is that?"

He moved over to reclaim the device and tucked it away. "Oh, nothing, just a little toy really. I really should be going, but nice meeting you, miss..."

"Longtail."

"Miss Longtail, a true delight." He dipped his head, then fled away. Thankfully no other ponies tried any funny moves on her, except a certain pink pony, but that's another story.

---

Stepping back from Sonata, Lex chanted a few words and pointed a hoof at Sonata. There was no visible effect, but he seemed satisfied. "With this, we'll clearly hear each other when we whisper, even if we're not right next to each other. You can still speak normally, and the spell won't transmit that. Otherwise, it's just whispering, and can still be overheard."

Sonata bobbed her head, then moved to follow Twilight. "We're ready. There's no way she's going to win today."

Twilight perked an ear. "You're not going to fight with Celestia. You aren't going to 'win' or lose'."

Sonata shook her head at Twilight. "Of course you wouldn't, like, get it Twilight. This is a fight, just without flashy magic and swords and things, and we will win it." She smiled lightly. "Together." She shot Lex a warm look before proceeding.

It took him a moment to catch up, Sonata's words having caught him by surprise. He had known her feelings ever since Kara had coaxed Sonata into admitting them, and he had suspected even before that, but it was only upon hearing her just now that he fully appreciated what that meant.

She was on his side.

It was the simplest, most obvious thought in the world, but it was powerful enough that it had momentarily stopped him in his tracks. The idea that he had somepony that would wholeheartedly support him, that would willingly - even eagerly - help him carry his burdens and fight his battles, was so monumental that it felt like the entire world had just shaken.

It was a good thing that the two mares had walked ahead of him, because that way neither of them caught the grin that spread across Lex's face before he managed to stifle it. All of a sudden he didn't feel like he should be nervous about facing Celestia. Instead, Celestia should be the one that was nervous about facing them.

Trotting quickly to catch up to Sonata, Lex prepared himself for their battle.

---

The Crusaders departed from Sugarcube, bellies full of sweets, to find a grinning Rainbow Dash waiting for them outside. "Looking good, guys." She tilted her head at them, noticing Sunflower, but her attention could not be held off of Scootaloo for long. She reached out and prodded the younger pegasus in the shoulder. "Race ya to the clocktower." She took off in a streak, and Scootaloo followed without hesitation.

Rainbow didn't put her all into it, wanting to talk to Scootaloo, and remembering that she was slower when she looked like that. "So, how's it feel, getting the wind under your wings for real?"

Scootaloo veered into Rainbow, almost crashing into her. "It feels great! I've been waiting so long to see you again after I could fly. Now we can practice together and you can show me all your awesome tricks! You shoulda been there, we were doing all kinds of crazy things."

"I can't wait to hear about it," said Rainbow with sincerity, carefully nudging against Scootaloo from the side. "We have a lot to catch up on." Her eyes were on Scootaloo from the side, watching the way she flew. Rainbow appreciated the enthusiasm, but could already see so many little things she could start tutoring Scootaloo about, and she would! She brought her hooves together in a loud clop. "We're just getting started."

Back at Sugarcube, Apple Bloom shrugged. "We shoulda seen that comin' a mile away."

Sweetie Belle giggled and grabbed Sunflower. "Let's go to the clubhouse!"

Apple Bloom wobbled a hoof. "We burnt that down, remember? How 'bout we visit Twi and show her our magic?"

Sweetie Belle frowned. "I think I saw her going off somewhere. Oh! Oh! My sister! I haven't checked in with her."

Settled on a course of action, they headed towards Carousel Boutique.

"Well, look who's come strolling in," came a familiar taunting voice.

"And they still don't have their cutie marks," came a second voice, revealed to be Silver Spoon as she emerged from the crowd. "But they do have another friend, and look at that..."

Diamond Tiara snorted. "He doesn't have one either, whatever he is."

"I'm a purrsian," offered Sunflower as he unslung his mace. "And you're a few more words from getting a clobbering right upside your oversized heads."

The bullies cringed back, not quite brave enough to face a hostile alien species. Sweetie moved between the two and Sunflower. "No! My knight must be a gentlecolt, which means no attacking the weak and defenseless, especially not with a weapon when they don't have one."

Diamond Tiara turned red with a new fury. "Who are you calling weak!?"

Silver Spoon stomped in place, throwing a little tantrum. "I am not defenseless!"

Apple Bloom giggled loudly at Sweetie Belle's insult, which only made them all the more furious. "Besides, they ain't nearly so scary without knives."

Diamond Tiara stomped forward. "You don't scare us. Leave it to a bunch of blank flanks to resort to physical violence to get your way." She reached out and prodded Apple Bloom's slung dagger. "What's with the new look? Is there a fair in town?"

Silver Spoon grinned. "Maybe they want to join the guard? The armor would cover up their huge blank flanks!" They shared a laugh together at their barb.

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. "Whateva. Have fun being a pair of stuck-up noponies." She trotted past them, and her friends followed, leaving the mocking bullies behind.

---

Twilight, Lex, and Sonata arrived in Celestia's throne room, where both Sun and Moon resided, in the form of Celestia and Luna, watching the group curiously.

Sonata strode up purposefully. "A pleasure to meet you, your majesty. It has come to, like, my attention that there was some misunderstandings before, making everything a total bummer."

Celestia cocked a brow, amused by Sonata's mode of speech. "That is one way to speak it. That one." she pointed to Lex. "He is being corrupted by a very foul shadow of the north, and we worry for his own sake."

Luna nodded. "It is a great pleasure to see him come before us of his own will. Does this mean he has come to his senses and will allow us to help him?"

Sonata shook her head firmly. "He is his own man, and he has ideas, big ideas, but, like, a better way about it this time, promise." She reared up and held her hooves apart a little. "We want a chance to show his ways are good, starting small, and working up as it becomes, like, so obvious that it's working better."

Forcing his enthusiasm down, Lex focused on the situation at hand. Normally he would have snarled at the way the alicorn sisters had referred to him, but now he found it easy to ignore their condescension. Instead he whispered softly, letting the spell carry his words to Sonata's ears. "Remind them that Twilight has read the works that I left her and found merit in them."

Sonata inclined her head faintly. "Even the well-read and unarguably intelligent Princess Twilight has conceded she, like, sees merit in Lex's ideas, if only they were given a proper bed to grow and become something wonderful for everyone." She smiled brightly.

Celestia turned her gaze onto the suddenly-stiff Twilight. "Is this true?"

Author's Notes:

Twilight is suddenly enlisted in the legal battle, while Rainbow snatches up Scoots for a flight around town, and the other Crusaders find their old bullies lack the bite they used to have.

Like old typos, they're just a few keystrokes away from irrelevance.

51 - A Rare Moment

Sweetie Belle opened the door to the boutique with her magic with barely a thought. She had grown quite a bit better at using her unicorn magic and only then thought about it with a smile. "Rarity!? I'm back!" She trotted inside with Apple Bloom and Sunflower trailing behind her.

"Back from Manehattan already?" Rarity came trotting out from her design room and stopped, staring at the foals and their kitten friend. "S-Sweetie! Whatever happened to you!?" She rushed to close the distance, snatching Sweetie off the ground and crushing her in a hug. "Are you alright? Does it hurt?"

Sweetie squeaked into the embrace, wriggling around until she didn't have her face buried in her sister's fur. "I'm perfectly fine, sis. Uh, we weren't exactly in Manehattan."

"I should think not!" Rarity gently set Sweetie down and looked from her to the others. "You all look... You didn't! You couldn't have!? Please, tell me you didn't visit that dreadful place!"

Apple Bloom scratched behind her head. "Well, we really shouldn't be lyin', Miss Rarity."

Rarity snorted loudly, "That place is unfit for any proper lady, or gentlecolt..." She tilted her head, looking Sweetie over again. "What is that you're wearing, darling. It looks... exquisite."

Sweetie grinned triumphantly and did a slow turn as she willed her garment to transition through a few styles she had learned by watching Rarity. Rarity's face pinkened as her trained eyes noticed immediately the way the dress showed off her little sister's body provocatively. "Sweetie, my little innocent angel, that dress is astounding, but don't you think, hmm, it's a little forward? Why, you'll attract all the wrong kinds of gentlecolts with it."

Sunflower stepped forward. "Too late, uh, ma'am. She captured my heart long before she found the dress, and now that she has it, I have little, uh, choice, but to do as she commands."

Sweetie tittered at Sunflower's words as Rarity gawked. Rarity put a fetlock over her face as her fainting couch was pulled in from another room and slid into position for her to collapse on.

Apple Bloom tilted her head. "She took that better than ah thought she would."

Sweetie pointed at Sunflower. "I got my own knight, and he's brave and loyal."

Rarity sat up like a bolt as Sweetie said the word 'knight'. She looked at Sunflower in a whole new light, frowning a little. "You aren't going to go crusading and leave your lady friend behind, are you?"

Sunflower's ears wilted under the sudden change in tone. "Uh... no ma'am... I mean... I just want to be with Sweetie Belle."

Rarity gave a gentle smile. "Good... good... Run along, Sweetie. Go say hello to our parents. I have some work to finish up." She slipped off her couch and went off to the kitchen, returning with a tub of ice cream.

Apple Bloom eyed the tub hungrily, but Sweetie ushered her friends out the door and closed it behind them. "What'd ya do that fer? Ah wanted some."

Sweetie shook her head quickly. "She only gets that when she wants to get out a good cry. We should give her space."

Rarity's muffled sobs came through the door and Sunflower winced. "You know your sister really well, but why is she sad? Does she hate me that much?"

Sweetie shook her head. "No, I think it's something else... I mean... she had her own coltfriend that was a knight and he..." She trailed off, putting the pieces together in her head. "He died..."

Apple Bloom made quite a face. "Oh, ow... Do ya need some time with her?"

Sweetie waved a hoof. "She doesn't want company when she's like this."

Sunflower frowned. "I disagree. Sing for her."

"What?"

"Sing for her." He waved a paw at the door. "Sing your feelings, sing her feelings. You're really good at it. You can lift her heart."

Sweetie shuffled nervously a moment before giving a stiff nod and turning back to the door. She wouldn't abandon her sister.

---

Twilight smiled nervously to the royal sisters. "Er, well, yes. I have read over his theories, and many of them are refreshingly progressive and could ease some of the troubles that parts of Equestria suffer from." She pulled out a copy of the notes and began analyzing them, pointing out with equal fervor their boons and banes and how they might apply. She had fallen entirely into analysis mode, barely breathing as she went through the notes, giving herself no time to think about where she was or who she was reading it to. It took quite some time before she reached the end, lowering the notes down. "Of course, I add the caveat that these reforms would require a skilled bureaucrat and spokespony to ease the political and social unrest that would undoubtedly occur during the transitional period."

Luna gave a light nod, looking a bit stunned at the information overload. "I... see. And lo, the fates have blessed us with a politician and a spokespony precisely." She waved a dark-purple hoof at Lex and Sonata.

Lex managed to keep his feelings contained as he listened to the Princess of the Night's response, but inside he was roiling with both excitement and indignation. Twilight had given them a speech that was little different than his own - though he disagreed with her points regarding the possible failings of the systems he'd invented - but where he had been utterly rebuffed, she was being welcomed!

Still, that was less important than the fact that they seemed to be receptive, even if they were proving that they were more concerned with who delivered the message rather than what it contained. Now, to press for concessions...

"Tell them that the more territory I can administrate in this manner, the greater the results will be," he whispered. These policies were tailored to take effect at the macro level. He needed a major population center - such as Manehattan or Las Pegasus - in order to make them work...and even then, that was the absolute minimum necessary.

Sonata nodded at what only she could hear. "We would be delighted to showcase these changes. Give us the most troubled city, but it, like, has to be a city, not a little town. These are big changes, and won't really show benefits with just a handful of ponies." She made a broad gesture. "We'll turn it around, and make it, like, a total example for other cities to follow, for the good of every, uh, pony."

Celestia gestured at Lex. "Color me intrigued, but Sombra's horn still worries me. He is and was a creature of shadow. Having a part of him grafted to you is hardly a healthy decision. Will you not let us remove it and restore you to wholeness? What does it give that you covet it so?"

Lex blinked at Celestia's proposition, clearly caught off-guard. He had found Sombra's horn when he had fled from the Crystal Empire just after the tyrant's destruction. That it still had some active magic had made it a curio, but he hadn't given it much thought after picking it up.

That had changed after Tirek's rampage. His own efforts to thwart the beast had failed miserably, and he hadn't been able to stop his magic from being drained. Having already lost his home and his parents, he had descended into near-hysteria at the prospect of losing his magic too, when he remembered that the red horn he'd picked up was still magically-active.

Chopping off his original horn had been the single most painful event of his life, but it had been worth it. Sombra's horn had grafted to the stump of his original one on its own, and he's known instantly that not only had it restored his ability to use magic, but had opened its original owner's dark magic to him as well.

That dark magic had since become the power he used the most, since his primary magic - the restructured spellcasting he'd spent his youth inventing - was still deeply flawed, needing a major external source of magic to recharge. Until he repaired that, he needed to conserve his energies, and other than a few minor resources that let him tap small amounts of those energies without depleting them, that left Sombra's horn as his go-to for using magic outside of dire emergencies.

He couldn't tell that to the alicorns though. Telling them would mean admitting his single greatest weakness to the ones who were still his greatest potential enemies, and that was unthinkable. At the same time, lying was unacceptable as well, which meant that there was little choice but to offer them the truth without revealing too much of it.

"It gives me power, and I will not give that up." Again he let Sonata be the sole recipient of his words. He doubted that there was much that she could do to make that more palatable, but he was willing to let her try.

Sonata did her best with a soft smile. "He, like, would rather keep it. He has it totally under control and it lets him do things he couldn't without it. It's alright." She swayed her tail as she looked at Celestia, but the look back wasn't quite as happy.

Celestia gave a light nod. "I'm certain this is true, to an extent, but we worry for him. It is my responsibility. The shadow that makes up Sombra is an insidious force, that corrupts from within in subtle ways."

Luna raised a hoof. "Our recent explorations have revealed new healing magics. We would be proud, nay, eager to put them to use and care for you while you recover." She locked her eyes directly on Lex. "You wish for us to extend faith in you, but trust is often a road traveled both ways."

Lex felt his stomach tighten at the way things were suddenly turning. He had always pictured this conversation as the alicorns crumbling under the weight of his unassailable reasoning. That they would have conditions of their own had never occurred to him.

"I am not their responsibility!" He hissed the words angrily. "I formally declared myself in rebellion against them, which means that I reject any notion that they have authority over me!"

He wanted to go on, but cut himself off. He had to change the direction this was proceeding in...he had to demand something equally unlikely from them as a counterpoint. If nothing else, that would buy some time to think. "If that's what they want, then I want half of all Equestria, with myself as the supreme ruler, not subordinate to them or anypony else."

Sonata tilted her head, then held up a hoof. "A moment, please." She turned around and closed the distance between herself and Lex, speaking to him directly. "You are not doing that. They're trying to be good people, not attacking you. I'll tell them you're not interested, but you are not rebelling again." She stomped a hoof softly. "We're this close to getting what we came for, let's not drop the ball now. Please believe in me."

"It's not a rebellion if they cede the territory to me willingly," he insisted. "Sonata, they want my horn! Do you know what that means to a unicorn?! Even if they can regenerate my original one, that's still an invasive and crippling assault on my person! Not to mention that they still clearly expect me to be subordinate to them in whatever accord we agree on, which I am not comfortable with!"

He was seething softly. Maybe this entire line of thinking had been a mistake...it was only for Sonata's sake that he didn't call it off right there. "You can refuse them if you want, but they're turning this entire process into what they expect me to give them, instead of the other way around, which is what it's supposed to be!"

Sonata leaned in and stole a quick peck from Lex's cheek before turning back to the royal sisters and returning to her place. "Lex wishes to do what is best for, like, the people of Equestria, but doesn't want his horn, or any other part of him, handled at this time." She raised a hoof to her chin. "To be an innovator, he has to feel like he's not under your hooves, even if you mean it in the, like, nicest possible way."

Twilight frowned at this, but Celestia gave a soft smile. "I understand. Then know this. The offer stands, but I will not force it on you. I think you are a strong and clever unicorn, and do not require the aid of fell creatures like Sombra. You will eventually decide to stand on your own hooves, and I we will lend you our aid to get you there, but only when you feel ready."

Luna clopped her hooves together and a pony scurried forward, spreading out a map of Equestria in the middle of the room. "I actually have a place that may suit perfectly for this demand. This place has been nothing but a pain in our sides, but it could become something great. If you can turn it around, as the Lady Dusk suggests, it will go far to prove your ways have merit."

Lex grit his teeth at Celestia's statement. She had clearly made up her mind that he was some sort of puppet under the influence of his horn, a sentiment that grated on him. But Luna's pronouncement was enough to get him past it as he looked to the map she laid out, waiting for her to continue.

Luna indicated Vanhoover, to the west. "Vanhoover has been rife with unrest since the... incident involving our new contact with the other planes. Ponies are restless and seeking stability. If you can deliver this while building them towards something greater, you would be doing a favor for all of Equestria."

Sonata leaned forward, looking at the city curiously a moment. "Like, what's wrong with it? I mean, you wouldn't be suggesting it if it was an issue you could solve easily yourself." She half-lidded her eyes. "What's the catch, your majesty?"

Luna quirked a bit of a smile. "You're more clever than you appear and sound. The ponies there have lost some faith in the right of alicorns to rule. This troubles not my sister greatly, she would prefer they ruled themselves, but they are hesitant to select a mayor worth half his weight in beans. We will send you both to rule over them, both pure bloods of your own tribes, however exotic your own may be. With no formal ties to our personages known to the world at large, they should accept you, if reluctantly. The rest is your doing."

Lex glanced at Luna, and then her sister, before returning his gaze to the map, turning their offer over in his mind. He was terrible at reading others, but strategic thinking - outside of the realm of interpersonal relations - was a place where he excelled. That same insight went to work before Luna had finished speaking.

He knew that this offer was only being made because it let the alicorn sisters deal with two 'problems' at once. From their point of view, either he and Sonata would pacify an unruly, and potentially dangerous, city before it got out of hoof, or they would fail to bring it under control and thus 'prove' that his methods lacked viability. Either way, they stood to gain something.

But that was fine, because he stood to gain more. Once he had brought the city under his control and restored order and prosperity, he would have the perfect platform from which to show the rest of Equestria why he was more fit to lead. This was exactly the chance he needed.

"They could have saved us all some time and started with this." Just because they'd given him what he wanted did not mean that he was pleased with them; their demand for his horn, and the implication that it had somehow 'tainted' him, was not something he'd easily forgive. "But no matter, this is more than enough."

Sonata quickly chimed, "It's not the most ideal place, but we will make it work." She dipped her head. "Thank you for the opportunity, it will not be, like, wasted and stuff."

Twilight let out a bit of a sigh of breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Let me go over what I know of the situation, this way please, let's get out of their way." She moved to escort the supplicants to the library, where some research could be done.

Author's Notes:

Hello Rarity. We didn't forget your part in the drama of things, and Sweetie knows what a tub of ice cream and the fainting couch mean when combined.

Big fat unicorn tears that smudge all the ink!

In another part of Equestria, Lex gets a city to try to tame, or be crushed under. It could go either way.

52 - Civic Affairs

In the Canterlot Royal Library, Lex was only half-paying attention to the mares who were gathered around a table with him. Sonata kept grinning at him, and Lex was confident that she'd have been unrelentingly voluble if she had been able to get a word in edgewise. That was currently impossible, however, since Twilight had been talking for the last several minutes about the current situation in Vanhoover, consulting several reports as she did so.

For his part, Lex was listening, but found his eyes drawn to the large map of Equestria, which had been returned to the library by the same aide that had brought it into their meeting with the royal sisters. Staring at Vanhoover's, now his city's, name on the map, Lex found himself - for the very first time in his life - admiring Celestia and Luna's political acumen, albeit grudgingly.

He knew it had been shrewd of them to put two of their political problems - himself and that city - together, since that removed both of them from their immediate concern. What he hadn't realized until now was just how adroitly they had given him exactly what he wanted while simultaneously checking his political ambitions.

Vanhoover wasn't among the largest cities in Equestria, but it was among the second-tier cities, something that was fairly remarkable given its relative isolation.

As the northwestern-most city not just in Equestria, but on the entire continent, Vanhoover was nestled between the western ocean and the Unicorn Range mountains immediately to the east. While it had abundant wilderness to the north, covering many hundreds of square miles - the mountain range skewed sharply northeast once it moved north of Vanhoover - before hitting the Frozen North, the mountains ran almost to that frozen wasteland, forming a natural barrier...one that was reinforced by Galloping Gorge being just east of the mountains anyway, making attempts to find further passes futile.

That remoteness kept Vanhoover firmly walled off from the rest of Equestria. Other than a single highway that threaded from Vanhoover through the northern wilderness - doubtlessly connecting it to various hamlets and thorps that were too small to appear on the map - and the ships that he was sure ran south along the coast to Las Pegasus, a single rail line was all that connected the city to the rest of Equestria, carefully threading its way through the mountains and south of the Gorge.

The only possible area for expansion was directly south, and here Vanhoover was also checked, not by nature but by another town: Tall Tale.

While Tall Tale was clearly the smaller of the two cities - even if their markers on the map hadn't been different, Vanhoover's nature as a seaport, thanks to its position where a mountain river met the bay, would have made that obvious - it sat at the northern edge of the vast forests of the western seaboard, with its own railway winding southeast through them to connect to the heartlands.

With the river acting as a natural boundary between the two cities, Lex could tell at a glance that Tall Tale, surrounded by dense woodlands on two sides and mountains on a third, would be very sensitive to any appearance that Vanhoover's sphere of influence was extending southward. Winning them over to his system of government would likely prove difficult.

Bringing order and prosperity back to Vanhoover would be trying. Expanding his political vision beyond the city would be far more challenging. The royal sisters had been canny indeed; they had put the bait in a pit from which climbing out would be challenging, trusting that his ambition would lead him to leap in headfirst...and indeed, he had.

Inwardly, Lex smiled. This was exactly the sort of challenge - one of logistics, rather than personality - that he enjoyed greatly.

His musings were cut short as he realized that Twilight had just mentioned something with regard to what had happened to Vanhoover during the recent planar conjunctions. Shaking off his reverie, he turned his full attention back to the lavender alicorn. "Wait, say that again, Twilight?"

Twilight tapped the ocean beside Vanhoover. "Being a coastal city, I suppose it's unsurprising that they had a water elemental incursion, though Manehattan was on fire... Regardless, the flooding was severe and left many ponies homeless even after the city was reclaimed, to say nothing of infrastructural damages and general losses. Rebuilding has been quite slow with several of the local families at each other's throats." She started going into detail about the three major families of Vanhoover, sparing not a scrap of knowledge, immediately useful or not.

---

Willow sat beside the road, watching ponies go back and forth, most smiling as they did so. She had determined the town as miserably cheerful for her taste, and had developed a good grump until she heard someone settle across from her table. She glanced and saw a bright pink pony, who appeared to be imitating her sour expression. Willow raised a brow. "Can I help you?"

Pinkie grinned, breaking the frown. "Maybe, but I'd rather help you first. Why the sour face? You're Applejack's friend, right?"

Willow nodded. "Miss Apple was a great help to me and my family, three times by my count. I owe her a great debt. Why?"

Pinkie leaned over the table towards Willow. "Because she's one of my best friends! And if you're her friend, I want you to be my friend too! You look a little funny? Are you from that other place? Ever Shine?"

"Everglow," corrected Willow, sizing up the smiling pink mare. "So, you know Applejack then?"

"Yeah! We've gone on tons of adventures together. I've been to Everglow before too. Fun place! Kinda dangerous though." Pinkie produced a plate with a slice of cake on it from nowhere in particular and set it on the table between them. "Here, a snack might cheer you up."

Willow doubted it, and didn't hide the expression, but she reached for the plate, doubting the ponies of this pastoral place would poison her. She then tasted the small slice of the celestial planes brought down to the mortal realm. The cake danced across her tongue with a delicious decadence she could never have afforded back home after moving out of her mother's home. "Hmm... Are you a noble?"

Pinkie tilted her head. "What? No. Mrs. Cake made that! She's the best baker I know, besides me of course."

Willow took another light nibble. "She must be quite wealthy to provide such food for a stranger."

Pinkie waved a hoof dismissively. "You're not a stranger. You're Applejack's friend, which makes you our friend, and she runs a bakery so it's not that big of a deal to give some cake to a friend. So let's turn that frown upside-down. What has you down?"

Willow hesitated a moment, but ultimately decided to give Pinkie a chance. Something about the mare invited being open, and if she was a friend of Applejack's... "This world confuses me. Everyone here smiles too much. Life can't be that perfect."

Pinkie shook her head. "Naw, 'course not. Ponies have bad days all the time, but I try to cheer them back up. We're all friends here in Ponyville and it's my job, no, destiny! To be the bringer of smiles."

Willow raised a brow. "How do you manage that?" She glanced down at her cake. "There aren't happy drugs in this cake, are there?"

Pinkie blinked before bursting into a gale of laughter. "Of course not, silly! I just said, I'm their friend. Just like you, I talk to them. I remember their birthdays, and I throw parties for them and all the holidays and we have a good time, even if life gets frowny sometimes."

Willow's first instinct was to put some distance between herself and the self-avowed socialite, but Pinkie's bright smile and genuine-seeming warmth were hard to outright deny. "Alright... I'm going to take you at your word, and give you a challenge."

Pinkie tilted her head a little. "Ooo! A challenge? Alright, lay it on me! Pinkie Pie's on the case."

---

Sweetie nudged the door open a crack, allowing the sounds of her wailing sister to escape fully. Her ears folded back, she took a soft breath then hesitated. Her friends wouldn't let her back down, gesturing for her to go ahead.

With a nod and another slow breath, Sweetie allowed her voice free, singing a soft song of support for her sister. It was an old song, an epic about a princess who waited for her prince to return home from a war. Sweetie had learned it long ago, and it never had much meaning to her, but as she sang it then, tears flowed freely from her as she imagined Rarity as the princess, waiting for a prince who would never return.

The sounds from inside died down, and a tear-streaked Rarity peeked out of the store, looking down at Sweetie Belle as she sang the sad tale onwards. A ghost of a smile touched her features before she opened the door fully and walked up to the still singing Sweetie. The song hitched as Rarity gathered up Sweetie in a hug. Rarity flopped over, rocking with Sweetie, sniffling but no longer sobbing. "You're too good to your foolish older sister..."

The song ended with Rarity's words, and Sweetie smiled at Rarity. "Do you feel better?"

Rarity gave a slow nod, squeezing Sweetie tightly a moment before she set the smaller unicorn down and looked her over. "Oh... oh my..."

"What?"

Apple Bloom noticed what Rarity was staring at and gasped loudly. "Ya done got yer cutie mark!"

Sweetie Belle began to spin in place before she could spot the pink heart with little curls coming off of it with a lighter purple note right over it all. She shrilly squeaked. "I got it! I got it! I got my cutie mark!"

Sunflower clapped his paws together in applause, looking a little confused, but happy for his friend. "I never saw a pony get their brand of destiny before."

Rarity gave Sunflower a patient smile. "That's how it works here in Equestria. Why, I suppose maybe even you could get one? I don't know if cats can or not..." She sniffed then, wiping her streaky face with a fetlock. "Oh Sweetie, you've made your sister so proud of you! You really do need to go see mom and dad. They'll be entirely beside themselves with joy."

Sweetie moved to flee, but Apple Bloom put a hoof in the way. "Now just wait a second there. Ah want ta get somethin' straight first."

Sweetie tilted her head. "Huh?"

"We're still friends, right?"

Sweetie bobbed her head fiercely. "Forever! Maybe even longer than that."

Apple Bloom smiled nervously. "And... yer still... a crusader, right?"

Sweetie tilted her head then. "I... I don't know. How can I crusade for something I already have?"

Sunflower raised a finger. "Can't you crusade for Apple Bloom and Scootaloo's cutie marks?"

Sweetie smiled at her knight. "I'll gladly do that, if the Crusaders will still have me?"

Apple Bloom tackled Sweetie, hugging her. "'Course we will! Friends forever."

Rarity reached over and pat Sunflower on the head. "That was very sensible advice, young knight."

Author's Notes:

I get back from Everfree NW, and I don't even go to sleep before jamming out another chapter! Send help!

Typos may result from lack of sleep.

53 - Welcome Home

Applejack trotted towards her fields, to find Big Mac working on tending to the orchard as quietly as he usually did. She moved over to him and he looked up with a bit of quizzicalness in his eyes. "Welcome home," he said simply enough, not voicing the questions in his mind.

Applejack moved up and hugged him tight, and he returned the gesture. "Ah done missed ya sorely, brother. Ah'm mighty sorry ah keep leavin' ya alone like this. It ain't right."

Big Mac nodded lightly. "Where's Apple Bloom?"

"Oh, she's fine, just with her friends and already up to no good." Applejack smiled gently. "She's really growin' up ya know. Ah... Ah'm really proud of her..."

Big Mac pointed a hoof at the scythe on his sister's back. "What's that fer?"

Applejack tensed. She knew the question was coming, but it didn't make it much easier. "Funny thing about that... It's kind of a magic thing. Ah'm holdin' ta it so nopony else gets tempted. Supposed to be a right powerful weapon, fer good or evil. Reckon ah can make sure it's fer good."

Big Mac looked thoughtful, though he usually did. He sat on his haunches and shook his head. "Ya should put that away somewhere nopony will get it."

Applejack rolled a hoof. "Ah got no objection ta the idea, but ah ain't seen no place that somepony hasn't eventually found, on purpose or by accident. At least on mah back it won't end up in the hooves of somepony wicked, or even a curious Apple Bloom."

Big Mac gave a slow nod, seeming to surrender to Applejack's logic. "Why ya... ya know... look so funny?"

Applejack snorted softly and smiled. "Ah'm still dudded up like one of them fancy Everglow ponies. Ah'll ask Twilight if she can fix that up fer me. Ah'm quite ready to go back ta normal. But first, ya done earned yerself a break." She moved up and nudged against Big Mac. "Just relax and tell me what needs doin' and let me take on the burden fer a while."

Big Mac shook his head, a soft smile spreading on his face. "Ah just want ta work with ya at mah side right now. Come on." He set the pace, and soon it was back to old times, working side-by-side, and neither could find any faults with the world for the moment.

---

Lex nodded as he listened intently. When Twilight had finished outlining the current scope of things, he spoke up again. "I can guess the answer to this, but did they bother asking Tall Tale for assistance?"

Twilight shook her head. "Not that I'm aware of."

Sonata huffed softly. "Of course they didn't."

Giving a derisive snort, Lex mentally reviewed everything Twilight had told him. None of the information was very surprising, but it painted a grim picture. Luna had been right in her implication that Vanhoover was a mess, but the problem wasn't the state of the town; it was the state of the ponies in it.

A natural disaster and an influx of creatures that they didn't understand and had no idea how to fight had been enough to cause order to completely collapse. While the planar conjunction had eventually ended, causing the waters to recede and - Lex hoped - taking most of the creatures with it, the devastation had still been immense. Worse, the city's isolation had kept there from being any coordinated response from the rest of Equestria, since most other locales were still recovering from their own invasions.

Faced with damage of cataclysmic proportions and no help in sight, it wasn't surprising - at least not to Lex - that the situation had deteriorated. While the townsponies had doubtlessly been inclined to work together to repair their city, disaster relief was an area that nopony had any experience in, which meant that while everyone had been willing to pitch in and help, there had been no clear idea about what to do.

Without coordination and direction, the goodwill which could have immediately been put to work rebuilding Vanhoover had instead been squandered, depleting as the citizenry began to realize that things weren't getting any better, and weren't likely to anytime soon. As such, it was not unexpected that the ponies there were beginning to turn on each other as their desperation mounted.

"We should go there as soon as we possibly can." This wasn't a situation that should be allowed to linger. Indeed, it had already gone on too long. "I have one or two errands that need to be seen to, but I can be ready to leave by tonight. Sonata, does that work for you?"

Sonata nodded firmly at Lex. "I have everything I need, including you." She moved to steal a kiss from a cheek without hesitation. "Let's go rock their socks off and get that city back up on its feet before the royal sisters even know what happened."

Twilight looked less confident, but nodded. "Good luck then. I'll leave you two to it. You're welcome to contact me if you need anything. I know you can do that." She rose to her hooves and moved to depart from the room.

Waiting until Twilight had left the room, Lex glanced at the map again before turning to face his girlfriend. "Sonata, about this...I mean, I wanted to, um..." he trailed off as he realized that he wasn't sure what he wanted to say.

He was keenly aware of the fact that her help in securing this had not only been invaluable, but absolutely vital. The knowledge that she was supporting him, not just willingly but eagerly, was something he was still very cognizant of. But unlike a half-hour ago, it didn't make him feel giddy; instead, he felt almost pensive. It was like...he had to make her know that he wasn't taking her help for granted. That he had to tell her that he felt...he felt...

Grateful. He blinked in surprise as the answer came to him. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt genuine gratitude towards somepony else.

"Your idea," he tried again. "Your spokespony idea...it worked better than I expected."

Sonata reached out and put a hoof on his shoulder. "You have amazing ideas, Lex, they were just hiding behind an ugly mask. People are like that, they won't take medicine that's too bitter until they're, like, half-dead. Let me be your sweetener." She grinned a bit goofily. "In more ways than one." Her face became a tiny bit more serious, though still clearly cheerful. "It's going to take a lot of work to get these ponies moving the way they have to."

He felt himself flush, both at her touch and her words, but fought it down. "You know that that won't always work, right? Some of the ponies we meet in Vanhoover will need a show of force to make them back down and do what they need to do."

Sonata shook her head. "Of course, but..." She rolled a hoof. "You don't have to look like a person ready to use force. You can lure out totally yucky people to make the first move, then they look like the bad guy, and you..." She leaned towards Lex. "Get to be the hero."

"I'm more interested in doing what I can to make things better for everypony in Equestria than being a hero, but I understand your point." He punctuated his statement by leaning towards her as well, nuzzling her softly. "We should get going. I'll need to stop in Ponyville before we go to Vanhoover."

He started towards the door, then paused as he realized that he had no money for the train fare, having given the last of his funds to Willow.

As if reading his mind, Sonata came up beside Lex. "We're proud employees of Equestria. Let's go get a bit of starting funds before we go. Like, I dunno, a thousand bits? What are bits worth exactly?" She was just getting used to the value of a gold piece, ugh. "Let's go find out." She cheerfully led Lex away, his returned affection making everything right in her world. They'd have to work hard, but they'd work hard together.

---

Rainbow landed on a fluffy cloud and Scootaloo came in beside her easily. "That was great, Dash! We have to do that more!"

Rainbow reached out a hoof to pat Scootaloo. "I'm really glad you had fun, but we need to talk, like, serious face time." She frowned in an attempt to be serious, but her smile returned with a sad hint.

Scootaloo shrank a little, wondering what could even phase her idol. "What's wrong?"

Rainbow pointed a hoof at Scootaloo's wings. "You know you can't... keep those right? They're not... you. If you're supposed to fly, you'll grow into your real wings, or not, but you're awesome either way."

Scootaloo clenched her teeth a moment. These thoughts had gone through her own head at one point, but the idea of giving up her precious wings after taking to the sky beside her hero... She couldn't stand to face the thought and turned away, trying her best to hold in the sudden tears that threatened to spill from her traitorous and closed eyes.

Rainbow's hooves reached for Scootaloo and pulled her in close, squeezing her. "Did I tell you about the time I lost a wing?"

Scootaloo twisted to face RD. "What? When? What happened?!"

Rainbow began to retell the tale, of how she and Spike snuck off to fight, for the fun, and for the money, and how their last bout turned ugly, and a life was taken, and her wing. "I... thought my life was over. I thought I'd never get up here again." She patted the cloud lightly. "I was so angry I wanted to punch the world in the snout! But my friends wouldn't let me be sad. They dragged me along, moping and being a big foal until I remembered that I was still Rainbow Dash, and awesome comes from all of me, not just my wings. I had some righteous battles without them and you know what? I was still Rainbow Dash." She poked Scootaloo lightly. "Just like you are Scootaloo, the most awesome filly I know. Don't tell the others."

Scootaloo smiled up at Rainbow, happy at her words, and yet the tears wouldn't stop. She wanted to just fly with her idol... "Why can't I keep them? What's so wrong with it?"

Rainbow ran a hoof slowly over Scootaloo's subtly altered anatomy. "This isn't you. I mean, it's totally awesome, but it's also kinda cheating. Besides, you look odd, and it might wear off on its own eventually, and if that happens while you're in the air... I'd rather a living ground Scoots than a dead air ace. You are not even one tiny bit less cool as your normal self. You'll either grow into them or not, on your own, using your own cool, but you're... Ugh... I'm not really cut out for this kinda thing, but I'm serious!"

Scootaloo squeezed Rainbow tightly, hugging her. "Will you help me?"

Rainbow smiled gently. "Yeah kid... yeah... We'll keep right on trying. But you have to keep on doing your thing. I've seen you on that scooter, and jumping off of things, swinging around, and all kinds of other crazy stunts. You're a natural, and that's awesome. You like... maybe you'll never fly like an eagle, but you sure float like a butterfly."

Scootaloo pushed away from Rainbow, looking down over the cloud with her wings spread wide. "Alright... I won't let you down. I'll be the most awesome butterfly you ever saw." She turned and smiled at Rainbow, even with the tears staining her snout. "You'll come and watch me fly?"

Rainbow bobbed her head. "Whichever way you fly, Scoots, I will be there, cheering you on."

Author's Notes:

I feel like a bit of a wreck. I'm back from Everfree! And Scootaloo made me weep manly tears that I feel stupid for shedding, but there they are.

The typos have no sympathy.

54 - Welcome Party

Scootaloo and Rainbow came down from the sky when they spotted the other Crusaders walking along below them. Scootaloo spotted Sweetie Belle's cutie mark and gasped loudly. "What happened? I was only gone for like a minute!"

Sweetie smiled brightly at Scoots. "It was amazing! I was singing for my sister, and I could feel what she was feeling, and what I wanted her to feel, and everything just felt... right. I was in my element, even if it made me cry like a foal." She raised a fetlock, rubbing at her still stained snout. "I sound like a bit of a doofus right now."

Scootaloo shook her head defiantly. "No way! That sounds awesome! So, uh, that means you graduate from the Crusaders, right?"

Sweetie and Apple Bloom both shook their head before Bloom Spoke, "She's stayin' with us until we get our cutie marks too."

Scootaloo tilted her head. "Oh, OK!"

They had lost track of Rainbow, who flew off while they were talking so quickly, but she returned just as swiftly, holding a familiar object. Scootaloo took up her scooter with a grin. "It feels like forever!" She hopped onto it and tried to buzz her wings, but her Everglow wings were made for flapping, not buzzing, and it wasn't working the way it used to. "Huh..."

Apple Bloom tilted her head one way and then the other. "Don't reckon that's gonna work while ya got them fancy wings."

Rainbow crossed her forelegs. "I didn't think of that, but yeah. You can't flap those wings like a hummingbird or a butterfly."

Scootaloo frowned a bit and lowered a hoof to the ground to give a shove, propelling herself the earth pony way along on her scooter. "It's not quite the same... I... It's like my scooter's trying to convince me too." She thunked her head against the handlebar with a fresh wave of annoyance and grief.

Sunflower rubbed behind his head a little. "What is that?"

Sweetie provided a quick answer. "That's a scooter. Scootaloo used to ride it all the time, and even take us places with it. She's really good at it."

"Was!" exclaimed Scootaloo as she threw it to the ground with a deep frown and the threat of new tears overtaking her. "This isn't fair at all." She pointed at Sweetie Belle. "You can sing real good, good enough to get a cutie mark in it." Her hoof moved to Apple Bloom. "And you're awesome at potions and stuff and I bet you'll get yours in a second or two, but what about me?! I... I really like flying, but that can't be my natural talent, can it? What about all the things I worked so hard to be good at before now? I'm so confused!" She sank to her belly in a ball of misery, and her friends gathered around her. "It's not fair... All of your talents don't care what kind of pony you are, but I can't keep flying if I go back to 'old' Scootaloo."

Apple Bloom tapped her chin, thinking about their adventures. "Ah apologize if this sounds weird or nothin', but the part ah remember best about ya during our adventure was not that ya could fly, but that ya were always ready to go. Nothin' scared ya, nothin' could stop you from coming to help us." She smiled at Scootalooo. "I was so jealous of how well ya were handling everythin'. Even when yer wings stopped workin' in that scary place, ya threw yerself right into a hole with us and kept right on goin'."

Sweetie bobbed her head fiercely. "You have a huge heart! I was ready to just give up and cry but you were always so brave. I was jealous too, a little. I kept wondering how you could want to adventure more, how could any filly be so full of bravery... You were amazing Scootaloo, and that has nothing to do with what you look like at all."

Sunflower shuffled a little. "I saw that too. I'm from Everglow and even I felt more hesitation than you ever did, Scootaloo. It's been a... an honor to have met you, and to call you a friend. You are an amazing pony."

Scootaloo took a long slow breath, then smiled. "Maybe you're right..." She pointed at Rainbow Dash. "You said you were still awesome without your wings, right?"

Rainbow thumped her chest with a hoof. "Sure was. Nothing can keep the Dash down!"

Scootaloo smiled. "Well... nothing's going to keep me down either. Whether I fly like a hawk or hover, I'll do it with class!" She spread her wings wide. "Because... I'm awesome, from the inside, not the outside, and nothing's going to make me stop being that." Her smile took on a sad hint. "I'd prefer to keep flying, and I'm not rushing to Twilight to 'fix' that, but... I don't think that's 'who' I am."

Scootaloo's words were returned with strong hugs from the other Crusaders, but then there was suddenly another presence between them. They pulled back to reveal a Pinkie Pie. "Hi everypony! It's party time!" She handed out an invitation to everyone present, Rainbow Dash and Sunflower included. "You can't miss it because it's for you!" And off she bounced, as if her appearance were entirely normal.

Rainbow shook her head a little. "That mare is crazy." She flipped open her invitation and looked at it. "Wow. This party's in just fifteen minutes!"

The rest confirmed their invitation quickly before the entire group began to head to Sugarcube Corner, leaving behind their heavy conversation for the moment.

---

Sonata had succeeded in securing a hefty bag of bits from the pony in charge of such accounting. A flutter of her lashes and a few sweet words, as well as the written note confirming their new positions, and they were well on their way with enough money to get started. As they wandered towards the train station Sonata asked, "Why are we stopping by Ponyville?"

"I want to speak to Willow before we leave," replied Lex. He glanced at the bag of bits, wondering if it had been a mistake not to count it all when they were there, but brushed the thought aside. There was enough in there to get things started. "I told her that I would make sure she and Sunflower were comfortable in Equestria, and so I need to check their status before we go to Vanhoover."

Sonata nodded. "That's, like, totally good of you." She tapped her chin suddenly. "Wait, before we leave Canterlot, we should totally go native. We don't want to creep out the ponies by not looking like an Equestrian one. I bet Celestia could fix it."

"I am not letting that self-righteous nag cast a spell on me!" Lex's reaction was immediate. "I'm not against the idea of returning to my original appearance, but I refuse to let her use her magic on me. I can figure out how to perform that procedure on my own."

Sonata shrugged a little. "Maybe Twilight then? She's, like, totally smart and stuff. I just don't think we should go to Vanhoover until we look our best. First impression, right?"

"I suppose asking Twilight wouldn't be out of the question," huffed Lex grudgingly.

---

Pinkie fell from an apple tree after Applejack bucked it and fell into a bushel among other falling apples. "What in tarnation are ya doin' up there, Pinkie?"

Pinkie got herself upright quickly and tried speaking, but there was an apple in her mouth. she crunched down on it, the other half falling to the ground. "Mmm, delicious as always. Here!" She thrust forward an invitation letter.

Applejack looked it over. "Uh, Pinkie. This says yer fancy shindig is startin' right now?"

Pinkie Pie gasped with alarm and grabbed Applejack. "Then we better go!" Before Applejack could get out much complaint, Pinkie was hauling her speedily through town, headed for Sugarcube Corner.

They arrived to find the place already a mild bustle of activity. Ponies were gawking at the CMC in their altered forms, oggling at Sunflower, and then turned their attention to Applejack. The ponies of Ponyville were eager to greet trusty Applejack, a bit odd-looking or not.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were in attendance, and approached slowly, their eyes fixed on Sweetie Belle's cutie mark, which had earned no few comments and compliments from the other ponies.

Silver Spoon tilted her head at Sweetie Belle. "I guess you aren't a blank flank anymore..."

Sweetie blinked in surprise at the words. "I guess not..." She smiled at Silver Spoon. "Does that mean you'll stop being mean and we can be friends?"

Diamond Tiara shoved forward. "Of course not! Don't be stupid. Your cutie mark is lame anyway!"

Silver Spoon flinched back, looking not entirely in agreement.

Applejack heard the exchange and something in her burned. That filly wouldn't ever change. She would keep right on hurting everypony around her, even as an adult. Somepony should do something about it... Someone like...

Applejack marched up to the bullying twins. "Say yer sorry, right now."

Diamond Tiara turned up her little nose. "Make me."

"Ya asked for it." She pulled her scythe free and it seemed to buzz wildly with power. She knew it could be rid her of these pests, but killing wasn't the right answer. It rarely was. No, a better idea came to her, and she swung the scythe just in front of the little fillies, rending the space between Equestria and Everglow. The rift was short lived but violent, drawing the two fillies away to lands far removed from their home.

The room was silent, all eyes on Applejack for a moment before Sweetie raised a shaking hoof. "D-did you just... What did you do?"

Applejack swung the scythe back onto her back. "I sent them where they'll learn to be better ponies." Or die, but she didn't voice that. "So where's the cake at? Ain't no Pinkie party without some cake."

Author's Notes:

Oh Applejack...

You just gave me a sequel, thanks!

But first we have to contend with the typos of this story.

55 - Fallen Apple

Rainbow Dash scooched up to Pinkie Pie, her eyes wide and body tense. "Did you just see that?"

Pinkie tilted her head with confusion, "See what?"

Rainbow pointed to where Applejack was calmly nibbling on cake. "She just zapped two fillies to Celestia-Knows-Where!"

Pinkie flashed a bright smile. "Well if Celestia knows where, they're OK!" She pulled out a party hat from nowhere in particular and popped it on Rainbow's head. "Stop looking so glum."

Rainbow frowned at Pinkie's antics, "Pinkie, really. I love you girl, but I need serious Pinkie right now, please?"

Pinkie sat on her haunches and looked at Rainbow. "Alright, what's wrong?"

Rainbow wobbled a hoof at Applejack. "Where did she get that funny thing on her back? She just used it like Discord did his claws at the Gala! Except nopony stopped her and now they're gone!"

Pinkie frowned in obvious thought, tapping a hoof on the ground. "Who was it? I wasn't watching her."

Rainbow sighed softly. "Two fillies, uh, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon? Yeah, those are their names. Not the nicest foals on the playground, but nopony at this party deserves to be chucked into another dimension."

"Ah agree." Apple Bloom sat down beside the two adults. "She got it after we talked ta a no-good mare."

Rainbow clopped her hooves together. "Then it's settled. We get that thing away from her and get our old AJ back! Back in a jiff."

Rainbow took off towards Applejack in a streak and grabbed the scythe from her back before AJ had any idea she was under attack. The metal of the scythe burned angrily in Dash's mouth, but she clenched her teeth all the harder and burst through a window, fleeing out into the evening with the dark item.

Applejack turned red with an obvious fury, stomping her hooves and facing the window Rainbow went through. "Ya best get back! Rainbow Dash! That is not fer ya!"

Rainbow did not turn back, instead fleeing up to her home to set the scythe down on a table as soon as she could and get some water into her slightly cooked mouth. "The price we pay to be good friends," she muttered to herself between gulps."

Back at the party, Apple Bloom approached Applejack. "Ya need ta let that thing go."

Applejack frowned at her sister. "It ain't that easy. Rainbow's gonna abuse it. That thing's a right powerful weapon and ah have ta keep it safe, for Equestria."

Apple Bloom shook her head resolutely. "Ya done banished them! Ah mean, ah kinda thought I'd be happier about the day they got punished, but it ain't supposed to be like that! Where did you send them?"

Applejack shrugged lightly. "Back ta Everglow, where they can learn some manners, or hang out with fellow miscreants. They won't bother you girls or anypony else ever again."

Pinkie was suddenly on top of Apple Bloom, leaning forward towards Applejack. "No way! You sent them there?! Applejack!"

Applejack shrunk a little under Pinkie's admonishment. "Ah... Ah'm just trying ta do right... Where did Rainbow Dash get off ta? Ah gotta find her." She suddenly took off running, bursting out onto the streets and not stopping.

---

Willow sat on a comfortable chair, waiting with slight impatience. Being blindfolded and told to wait was not her usual ideal, but she was trying to have faith in the peppy pink pony. If she was going to live in this naive land, she would give it at least one good chance to do right by her or show its true colors.

"What is this?" asked a strange male voice. "Someone left an exotic female feline here. What a travesty! She should be being treated far better than this."

Willow reached to pull down the blindfold, but a paw came to rest on her own. "Not yet, my precious jewel. The Pink One told me much, but I would rather hear it from your pretty lips. Please, tell me about you, and I will return the favor."

Willow felt the urge to attack, or flee, but fought both down. If the person wanted to talk, there was little harm in that, and they sounded fairly innocent. Their paw also felt familiar, at least compared to pony hooves. So she talked, venting her life to this strange male she knew nothing about, save that they had paws. She vented and she gushed and she said everything, holding nothing back. She spoke of her departed husband, and her fears for her kitten. She spoke about her feelings of joy in exploring, but racking fears that she is wasting her time and failing as a person.

She felt a finger softly brush away her tears. "Your world was a cruel place, but there is happiness to be found, there, and here. I cannot promise I will be your match forever, or even today, but perhaps? Who can know without trying. I will tell you of myself, my flower, then you may decide if we will have a pleasant dinner together."

They talked, and eventually she felt her blindfold being removed, allowing her to see the male feline she was speaking to. He was lean and magenta coated, brightly colored like the ponies, and he had two tails, but he was kind and attentive. She had not known that the nature of Equestrian ponies were shared by other races, but the idea of a doting, emotional, and open husband thrilled some part deep within her, and she agreed to go get something to eat with him. Perhaps Equestria was the right decision.

---

As Lex and Sonata departed to get to the train station, Twilight caught up with the pair. "I need to be getting back to Ponyville. We may as well go together. Have you decided what you're going to do?"

Sonata quickly nodded. "We have a battle plan at the ready. Oh! Can you zap us back into Equestrian ponies? Like, we don't want to show up looking odd to the ponies of Vanhoover."

Lex nodded. "We're going to stop briefly in Ponyville as well, but Sonata makes a good point. We're going to be staying in Equestria for the foreseeable future, so there's little point in maintaining these bodies."

Twilight quickly dug out the tuning fork attuned to Equestria and struck it against the ground. As it hummed softly, she funnel magic through it and across the two. Their bodies were washed with the harmony of Equestria, insides and outsides jiggling oddly as they began to fall into the norm for the universe.

Sonata shuddered as she adopted the rounded look of an Equestrian pony, then giggled. "I look super cute!" She did a circle in place. "Anyone have a mirror? I can't see my face."

Lex shuffled awkwardly, not having realized how used to his Everglow body he had grown until now. Still, returning to his birth form wasn't unpleasant. "I have one." With his magic, he withdrew a modestly-sized silver mirror from his extradimensional pack, holding it up so Sonata could look at herself. It was notably ornate, being carved with great care and intricate whorls and patterns.

Sonata tilted her head at the mirror. "That's, like, a really nice one." Her eyes then moved to herself and she gasped. "I have ears again, and you can barely see the gills at all." She turned left and right, wagging her pony ears about. "How do I look?" she smiled brightly at Lex, clearly desiring his answer above any others.

Twilight answered anyway. "You look lovely, Sonata." She tucked the tuning fork away for later emergencies and appeared ready to move on.

"Yes, very nice." Lex's answer was obviously perfunctory, particularly since he wasn't even looking at her as he said it, instead sliding his mirror carefully back into his pack. It was a valuable component for his scrying spell, after all.

Sonata pouted at the lack of attention and reached to poke him in the side with a flat hoof. "Hey. You have a girl now, that means paying attention to her when she asks if she looks good. I shouldn't get better answers for that out of Twilight." She smiled at Twilight. "No offense, like, thanks anyway."

Twilight knew better than to get involved, and just nodded.

Lex frowned at Sonata, confusion and irritation mixing on his features. Confusion won out. "Are you suggesting that the question had some sort of special significance? Or is there some sort of expectation that's taken to be understood with regards to my answer?" His eyes glanced towards the train station, wondering if they had time for this...but the whistle of the train wasn't audible yet, so perhaps this wasn't completely pointless.

Sonata gestured over herself. "I want to know if my boyfriend thinks I'm pretty or not. That's always important." Her expression flattened a bit. "Lex, come on. All I'm asking is for you to really look at me."

Twilight cleared her throat softly. "I'll meet you two at the station." Her goodbye given, she slipped away, escaping the potentially contentious conversation.

Lex barely glanced at Twilight as she fled, his ears folding back at he processed Sonata's request. Why was this so important to her? Other than basic hygiene and instances where decorum was expected, personal appearance was largely a matter of vanity, which he had little regard for.

"I think you're pretty, whatever form you're in," he stated, though his uncertainty - born of his still not being sure why this was important - was audible in his voice. It was a variation of the line that he'd originally used, at Willow's behest, all those months ago. Hopefully it'd suffice now.

Sonata nodded, at least starting to move toward the trains, but not giving up the conversation. "That's very nice, but, like, how is this form compared to the other? You look cuter." She bumped against him lightly. "Not as imposing, which I think will help, but still handsome, at least when you stop frowning." She leaned in to nuzzle at the frown.

"Oh! You want me to compare your current appearance to your previous one!" His sudden expression of realization was almost comical, his ears having righted themselves and his eyes widening in understanding.

Stopping from where he'd begun to walk alongside her, he slowly looked her over, his gaze focused completely on her. After a moment, he nodded to himself in confirmation. "This body suits you better. The reappearance of external ears and the minimizing of your gills fit more closely to the classical standard of Equestrian beauty. The lack of overt muscle definition also abetts your coquettish nature. And...um..." he trailed off for a moment, before glancing down and offering, more timidly, "your muzzle is also more appealing this way. It suits your voice better."

While not the most poetically striking of compliments, they were all well-received by Sonata, her smile growing with each statement. When he was done, she moved up and kissed him on the lips, as intense was it was brief. "Let's catch up with Twilight." Her spacing from Lex was borderline clingy, happily pressing close to Lex the entire way and looking quite happy with the world entire.

Author's Notes:

Applejack, what's gotten into you? You're supposed to bump into fences, not chase after evil artifacts.

Did someone typo? Must have.

Sonata gets a compliment out of Lex, and the three are headed back to Ponyville to enjoy the drama already in progress.

56 - Rolling Apple

Applejack dashed through the town, charging for the floating home that housed Rainbow Dash. Her progress was abruptly halted as she was hauled from the ground, dangling by her hooves held together in a snare. "Pinkie Pie!"

The pink pony bounced out of a nearby bush. "That's me!"

"Let me down from here right this moment. We don't have a moment ta lose." Applejack flexed and heaved, trying to find leverage to free herself.

"No can do." Pinkie tilted her head. "You don't need that thing anyway, Applejack."

Applejack grunted in annoyance before arcane words began spilling from her. She swelled monstrously, snapping the rope that held her and falling back to the ground. Pinkie waved her hooves, trying to calm Applejack down, but she was already rolling onto her hooves and thundering away from the party pony.

Applejack fretted over how the scythe might be abused or fall into the hands of somepony awful. She arrived just under Rainbow's house. "Rainbow! Git yer flank down here right this second! This ain't funny!"

Rainbow peeked her head off the edge of her cloud. "No way! You just... Applejack, think about what you just did without even hestiating! Sheesh, you blame me for being impulsive."

Applejack thumped the ground with an large hoof. "Ah punished two rotten little fillies. That's what ah did!"

Rainbow leaned a bit more over the side. "You just sent two fillies that don't know anything about fighting, magic, or anything, to Everglow! You've been there! I've been there! You killed them, Applejack. You just killed them. That isn't... the Applejack I know..." She flopped onto the cloud on her belly, mumbling something else too quietly for Applejack to hear.

Applejack raised a hoof towards the house and felt a mild pull. She yanked back against it and the scythe suddenly burst through the bottom of Rainbow's house, flying through the air towards Applejack to land on her back as if it belonged there. Of course it did... Applejack let out a soft breath of relief before nodding at Rainbow. "Maybe I was a mite hasty. Come on down, Dash. We can talk this out, like friends."

Rainbow tensed. She could see the scythe had been reclaimed, though Applejack seemed calm. "You're not super ticked off?"

Applejack shook her head. "You're trying to be a friend. Ah haven't changed." She raised a hoof over her chest. "We're still friends, Rainbow Dash, but you need to not take mah things. That ain't right. If ya think I done wrong, ya tell me that to mah face, without stealin'. Two wrongs don't hardly make a right."

Rainbow slipped off the cloud and landed in front of Applejack. "Sorry, but that thing's way dangerous! Why do you even have it?"

Applejack advanced forward and suddenly threw an leg over Rainbow, pulling her close and almost forcefully nuzzling a cheek. Rainbow's wings fluttered a moment. It wasn't that she disapproved of a hug or affection from AJ, but this was a bit more aggressive than AJ normally was about it. "Yer my friend, Dash. One ah mah best. Ah just want to protect ya. Trust me."

Rainbow looked into Applejack's eyes and saw an intense focus. She felt disquieted, and yet safe. If Applejack said she would be protected, she would be... Nothing in Equestria would stop AJ from keeping her safe... Rainbow stared with half-lidded eyes, about ready to surrender to this powerful magnetism before she suddenly shook her head. "I don't need protection. I'm Rainbow Danger Dash! I do the protecting, Applejack." Rainbow felt... strange all over. Part of her wanted to just roll over and let Applejack be her guardian and protector, but the idea of it angered her. "We're a team!"

Applejack silenced Rainbow with a sudden kiss, and the two sank to the ground, lost to the world for several long moments. Applejack suddenly shrank to her normal size, but that didn't stop the passionate exchange. When Applejack finally did draw back, she was smiling. "Yer the most important mare ah know. Let me protect you."

Rainbow felt intense heat all through her body. As much as her ego demanded she defend the right to stand on her own hooves, she wanted to be loved, and the intense passion Applejack was giving her was so tempting. "I'm... This isn't right. We're part of the same team, AJ. I want to be at your side, not a damsel in distress. Don't you... L-love that part of me?"

Applejack frowned with thought before she gave a hesitant nod, "Yer right..." She got up to her hooves and offered one to Rainbow Dash. "Ya shouldn't be a damsel in distress. Ya should be my right-hoof mare. Maybe that was mah mistake before. Ya can help me stay on the straight and narrow like."

Rainbow accepted the hoof and slid upright. AJ's new proposal felt much better, and she nodded. "Yeah! I can do that." They embraced tightly, the fate of the bullying twins entirely forgotten in the emotional rollercoaster.

---

Willow stepped back onto the streets of Ponyville. Dinner had been pleasant and educational. The cat wasn't as perfect as first impressions led to believe, which actually comforted her a great deal. Nothing perfect could be trusted. Even the ponies of this colorful world had their little flaws that made them real.

Willow conjured Kalik from the void between worlds, and the flaming cat nodded at her. "This place is new. Where are we?"

"This is Ponyville, in the land of Equestria." Willow waved a paw around. "Our new home."

Kalik chuckled softly. "Your new home. I just visit. Did you conjure me for a battle?"

"Of a different sort." Willow huffed. "I could use some advice."

Kalik tilted her head. "Advice, from me? Are you well, dear mistress?"

Willow leveled a finger at Kalik. "Don't give me guff. My boy's found love, and I plan to be there for him, but that doesn't mean I have to be idle. They have cats here too, same as the ponies you see walking around. Brightly colored, two tails, generally nice folk."

Kalik tilted his head. "You plan to go native then?"

Willow snorted lightly. "Not unless I have to. I'm not giving up my body so casually, but that's not the question." She rolled a paw. "It's more a matter of the heart."

Kalik smiled a little. "We elementals have it easier in that regard. We have no need for that kind of binding, or, you know, messy things that lead to painful births. Still, I've known you a long time. I think you know what to do, but you're afraid to do it. You only live once, little mortal, enjoy the life you've been given."

Willow huffed and sat down. "That simple?"

"Most of life is," agreed Kalik. "We just like making it more complicated. Whatever you decide, I am ever your servant, and your friend."

Willow closed the distance and gave Kalik a soft hug. "I'm sorry for forgetting that last part at times. Thank you for putting up with me."

Kalik nuzzled briefly before slipping out of Willow's grip and stretching out. "Let's look around? I want to see some of this new world. Tell me what you've learned of it."

Willow rose up to her paws, nodding. "We'll start the tour at the town hall." She pointed, then started in that direction. "The ponies are a little timid at times. They'll probably shy away from a cat on fire until they get to know you, but they're quite sweet after that."

---

The train came to a gentle stop. Twilight led the way off the train. "Well, good luck. Again, if you need anything, just let me know. It's good to have you on our side." She gave a smile to Lex and Sonata, then moved to trot away.

Sonata waved at the departing Twilight before looking to Lex, waiting for him to lead the way forward.

Lex narrowed his eyes at Twilight's comment about sides, but decided that it wasn't worth pursuing, instead looking around. Willow wasn't immediately in sight, and he belatedly realized that he wasn't sure where to find her. Ponyville wasn't a very large town, but even so, the thought of wasting time by aimlessly wandering in search of her was irritating just to consider.

He looked to Sonata. "We should..." he was going to say 'split up,' but that idea died as soon as it was conceived. He didn't want to be apart from her, not when just looking at her sent a thrill of excitement through him. Not when he still felt a sudden spike of joy every time she smiled or nuzzled him. "...find the most populated area and start there."

Sonata tapped her chin. "It shouldn't be, like, too hard. She's the only purrsian in the entire world, right?" She bumped against him before trotting towards the closest knot of ponies she spotted. "Hey guys. Have you, like, seen a winged cat? About this tall?" she held up a hoof. "Kinda grumpy but mostly nice?"

Two of three of the ponies shook their heads, but the last bobbed hers and pointed down the road. "They had another cat with them, on fire! How could I forget that?"

The other two ponies looked suddenly sheepish as they confessed that they actually had forgotten that. "I just didn't want to stare at them, and got away, but they didn't chase me, and then I saw my friends here," explained the stallion simply.

Lex frowned. Why would Willow summon that planar creature of hers here, where there were no obvious threats? Wordlessly, he turned away from the townsponies and picked up his pace as he trotted down the indicated road.

Sonata scooted after Lex, and the two soon came upon Willow and Kalik seated side by side on one of the town benches, apparently pony-watching. They were noticed swiftly, and Willow raised a paw at them, though she didn't seem certain. "Lex? Sonata?"

Sonata quickly nodded. "That's us. Look, we're all Equestrian now." She did a quick turn in place, showing off her form. "Everything went great! You shoulda seen it. We had Celestia, like, eating out of our hands, er, hooves."

"It was a productive meeting," concurred Lex. "Unexpectedly so." He looked at Sonata again as he said that last part, not realizing that he was clearly telegraphing who had made it so productive.

His gaze lingered on Sonata long enough to be telling before he returned it to Willow. "Because of that, we're leaving for Vanhoover, a distant city, later today. I wanted to see to your welfare before I left. Are you and Sunflower doing well here? Is everything alright?"

Kalik snorted, fire licking the air. "Willow hasn't seen Sunflower since he ran off with his new friends. He is taking to this world like a fish returned to water."

Willow elbowed Kalik lightly. "That's a fair summary. I'm glad to hear you're doing well. I'm still finding my place in things." She leaned back a little. "But I think I will. That pink pony said she would work with the others to get us a house, and we'll live here. She even said she could prove that love wasn't impossible to find here. I'm not sure her first pick will be the one I go with, but... I do think she proved her point. Did you know there were cats in Equestria?"

Sonata blinked softly. "Like housecats?"

Willow laughed softly. "Like me, you daft girl. You're darling but you can be really dense at times."

Sonata pouted with a snort. "Well, no, I didn't know that, but you don't have to get mean about it. Anyway! You're looking at mayor Lex Legis now." She thrust a hoof at Lex with a big grin and obvious pride.

Lex's answer to Sonata's statement was an actual smile. Normally he was uncomfortable with receiving praise, since it was so rare that he had little idea how to react. But hearing Sonata's voice apply that title to him was enough to bypass all of that, and he couldn't help his happy response. "We should think of a title for you as well. Something more than spokespony."

Sonata tilted her head at Lex. "Wouldn't I be a Mayoress? Oh!" she looked at Willow. "Just to be, like, totally sure, you're cool?"

Kalik flashed her flaming teeth. "I hope not."

Willow rolled her eyes. "We're both fine. I... Thank you both. I'll find my way from here on my own."

Sonata pointed at Willow curiously. "You going to go Equestrian?"

Willow raised a brow. "Does that involve two tails?" At Sonata's blank expression, she snorted. "I'll stay the way I am until that particular issue is forced on me."

Lex nodded, feeling satisfied that he had fulfilled any remaining obligation to her. He started to turn back towards the train station, but stopped abruptly. Something nagged at him, a sense that he wasn't quite finished with Willow yet.

Pausing, Lex tried to figure out what it was. It wasn't his sense of duty, but instead something more akin to how he felt towards Sonata. His brow furrowed at that. Did he have feelings for Willow too? No, he realized. That wasn't it. It was something else, more like how he'd felt towards Sonata just after the meeting with the royal sisters.

Turning back to the purrsian, he tried to put it into words. "Willow, I...um... you've provided useful insight on more than one occasion, and I..." he rolled a hoof, as though that would make his meaning more clear. "I want you to know that I'm...very aware of the value of that."

Kalik, speaking with the bluntness she was accustomed to, said, "I believe the term you search for is 'Thank you'."

Willow tipped her head towards Lex. "When I first saw you together, I had a feeling you'd work out. All I did was give a little nudge in the right direction. You've returned that gift to me, and I'm going to get walking and stop digging in my paws. Good luck in your new job. The way you're acting, it won't be an easy trip, but I get the feeling it'll be one worth doing."

Sonata bobbed her head quickly. "You got that right. We're gonna get those ponies out of the hole they half dug for themselves. Totally write us a letter or something, alright?" She held out a hoof. "Still friends, right?"

Willow met the hoof with a paw. "Still friends."

Author's Notes:

Willow accepts a new chapter of her life and gets a chance to say proper goodbyes to Lex and Sonata, who are setting off on their own adventures.

Meanwhile, Applejack ensnares one of her best friends. Will Rainbow Dash be the balance Applejack needs to stay on the right side of things, or will they sink together, lost in a sea where their intentions are little more than typos on the cosmos?

57 - Law and Order

Rainbow slipped free of the embrace and sat down. "Alright, AJ. Now we need to talk. I'm not complaining that you suddenly want to move to the next level and all." She raised a hoof. "That's kinda sweet actually, but, seriously girl, that was way over the top what you did to those fillies. They probably deserved some punishment, sure, but not that."

Applejack frowned, but she had named Rainbow as her right-hoof mare, which meant listening to her. She considered the action over again. They had done wrong, and she had punished them. She even gave them a chance to get off free if they just apologized! No, she was right to punish them... "What kinda punishment do ya think woulda been better?"

Rainbow rolled a hoof lightly. "A few good swats on the bottom, make them clean up the party by themselves afterwards, or rat on them to their parents. Ya know? Maybe some combination of the above. Banishing ponies should be the last thing we reach for when everything else doesn't work." She rubbed behind her head, quietly wondering how she managed to get into a conversation of why banishing a foal to another world may not be a good idea.

Applejack clucked her tongue. "Maybe yer right, sugarcube. Ah shoulda tried that before jumpin' ta such extremes..." She smiled brightly. "This is why Ah'm glad ta have ya right here, beside me." Rainbow was about to comment when Applejack went in for a new kiss that kept the both of them silent for a time. "Ah shoulda came clean long before today. We were both just wastin' time we coulda been spendin' togetha."

Rainbow looked all the more uncertain. She enjoyed Applejack's suddenly exposed romantic side, but this was clearly an influenced Applejack. Were her feelings real? Would she recoil in horror when she came around and then hate Rainbow for going along with it? Rainbow grunted in frustration, unsure what to do. "Applejack, please don't take this the wrong way, because I have your back, girl, always, but maybe you could put that thing down?" She pointed at the scythe.

Applejack turned her head to look at the scythe, looking as if she were just reminded it was there. "Oh, that thing ain't doin' nothin'. Here." She pulled it off her back and a thrill of power ran through her. The scythe felt somehow... better... in her snout than it had before, like a dear friend and eager ally. "See? Harmless. Severance here is just fer helpin' keep the law."

Rainbow tilted her head slowly. "It has a name?"

Applejack tilted her head. "'Course he does!" She slipped the scythe easily onto her back. "But we don't need him right now. Ponyville's safe and sound." She tapped her chin, looking thoughtful all of a sudden. "But ah just got a great idea!"

Rainbow swallowed softly before asking, "And that would be...?"

Applejack thrust a hoof towards the Everfree. "It's long past time we done took care of them varmints. Foals should be able to play by tha forest, or in tha trees without being harassed."

Rainbow spread her wings. "About that. Before we go do something else, bring back the fillies? You agreed it was a bit hasty, yeah?"

Applejack shook her head. "I can banish things, not recall them. Sorry."

Rainbow sagged. "Applejack... We have to help them. They don't deserve to die!"

Applejack reached out and set a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder. "Ah can see this means a lot to ya. Tell ya what, pick somepony and ah'll send them after tha brats and then they'll have somepony ta watch over them."

It was better than Rainbow thought she'd get, so she nodded. "Alright, if that's the best we got. How about me? I could protect them!"

Applejack shook her head emphatically. "Yer my second-in-command! Ah need you!"

Rainbow could see a desperate look in Applejack's eyes and decided she really was needed. Applejack seemed willing to listen to her, even when that crazy thing on her back suggested crazy things. "I won't leave you, AJ... Hmm..."

---

With their business concluded, Sonata was leading the way back towards the train station. "You know, if you had asked me a few years back what I'd do when I got back to Equestria, this would, like, not even be on the list." She glanced over her shoulder at Lex. "Life can really change someone, huh?"

He nodded. "It was only eighteen months ago, at least to me, that I was heading to the Crystal Empire in hopes of studying their Crystal Heart to refine the magical discipline I'd developed." He paused, thinking back on everything that had happened since then. He'd been thrown forward in time, lost his horn and replaced it with Sombra's, been sent to Everglow...and fallen in love. "I never could have predicted everything that's happened between then and now."

Sonata smiled gently. "I wouldn't change a bit, even the parts that were a complete bummer. The ending's just right." She let Lex catch up so she could bump against him and proceeded towards the train. A song came free of her as she went, simple but soothing in its expression of the joy she felt for her life as a whole, and the complicated path that had led her to that very moment, and the challenging path ahead of her that she was eager to start down.

Lex smiled again as he listened to her sing. He had always enjoyed the sound of her voice, but this was the first time he'd heard her singing, and it captivated him as thoroughly as any of her spells could have. The hopeful, happy tune reminded him again that, for everything he had gone through, it had turned out well in the end.

You failed to achieve your goals on your own, came the voiceless words into his mind. Glancing back, Lex could see his shadow trailing behind him. This is only because she accomplished what you could not.

Normally, the hateful words would have soured his good mood, but against the backdrop of Sonata's singing about her hope for the future - about her hope for their future - they were insignificant. It was true that Sonata had been instrumental in achieving this success, but somehow Lex didn't feel ashamed of that the way he would have in the past. Instead, the knowledge of what she'd done for him filled him with a warm feeling, and the fervent desire to let her know how much that meant to him.

Rubbing back against her, gently enough that he didn't disrupt her song, Lex could just make out the approaching train. Silently vowing that he'd do so, not just today but for the rest of his life, he watched as it - and their next adventure - sped closer.

---

Apple Bloom had gathered the Crusaders, including Sunflower, to the base of what once was their clubhouse. "Ah call this emergency meetin' of the Cutie Mark Crusaders ta order." She clopped a hoof against the tree. "Y'all saw what mah sister did, right?"

Sweetie Bloom raised a hoof. "She zapped Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon."

Scootaloo flared her wings. "To Everglow! They don't stand a chance! I mean, no offense Apple Bloom but they're earth ponies, without any, uh, training, at all. We at least taught ourselves some tricks before we went and we barely made it out."

Sunflower pointed at the big castle. "You said you came to Everglow from there. Why not go back and rescue them?"

Apple Bloom grinned and pointed at Sunflower. "Ah knew there was a reason we invited ya. That's exactly what we should do! Cutie Mark Crusaders Bully Rescuers!" The others echoed the war cry and the meeting came to an abrupt end as they galloped towards Twilight's castle, ready to save the two.

They didn't get past the front door. Spike glowered at the lot of them. "Twilight gave specific orders that none of you are allowed in here without her there to watch you."

Scootaloo pouted. "But Spike! It's important! Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are in huge trouble and we have to save them. They're in Everglow right now, being tortured or killed or something."

Spike raised a brow. "How in Equestria did they get there?"

A hand grasped the door above Spike's head and Soft Mane stepped into view. "You can't get to Everglow from here," said the pony satyr. "Twilight had the rune destroyed after she learned how you all went to Everglow. She said it was too dangerous to leave intact."

Sweetie Belle sank in place. "But they're in real trouble... What can we do? I... I really think Silver Spoon wanted to be our friend..."

Apple Bloom tilted her head. "Really?"

Sweetie quickly nodded. "She looked so happy for just a moment before Diamond Tiara butted in. I was going to talk to her after the party, but then all this happened."

Spike shook his head. "I really wish I could help, girls, but none of us know how to get back to Everglow without that rune, and it's gone."

With heavy heads, the Crusaders withdrew from the castle.

---

Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared between Applejack and Rainbow Dash. "Found you! Now let me take this nasty thing away." She plucked the scythe only to drop it instantly, shaking her hooves. "Ow! That thing stings!"

Applejack frowned at Pinkie. "Didn't yer parents tell ya stealing is wrong?" She plucked up the scythe and put it back where it belong. "Whattaya need, Pinkie?"

Rainbow saw opportunity and smiled. "Pinkie, we need a hero."

Pinkie suddenly rose to her hind-legs and saluted sharply. "Pinkie Pie reporting for duty!"

Rainbow bobbed her head. "Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon need your help. Can you keep them safe on Everglow until we can fetch all three of you?"

Pinkie tilted her head with some confusion. Applejack nodded at Pinkie. "Ah was a bit rash sendin' them that way but ah can't pull them back. It would be right heroic of ya ta keep an eye on them."

Pinkie bobbed her head with understanding. "I'll do it! I can't let little fillies be all alone and afraid. I've been there. I can handle it."

With no hesitation, Applejack drew the scythe off her back and rent the fabric between Here and There, sending Pinkie Pie on her way with a 'Whee!'. "There, now they'll be fine."

Rainbow nodded slowly. "Good, now for the next part."

"Next part?" asked Applejack with a raised brow.

"You have to explain this to their parents."

Applejack let out a slow sigh before nodding, and they walked off to see justice be done. "Then we can get ta taming that forest?"

Rainbow smiled a little nervously. "Sure thing, AJ. But parents first, and you have to promise me not to punish them for being angry. They're going to be angry, and they should be. You just zapped their foals off to Celestia knows where!"

Applejack grunted with obvious annoyance. "Ah promise, sugarcube. We'll inform them polite like. Pinkie'll take care of 'em. She's a great foalsitter ya know."

Author's Notes:

Rainbow takes hold of Applejack's broken mind and heart and tries to guide both carefully. Can she manage this juggling act long enough to find a fix for her favorite farmer?

Will Pinkie rescue the terrible duo?

The Crusaders didn't get a chance to throw themselves bodily into another adventure?! Clearly that part must have been a typo.

58 - Informing the Next of Kin

Applejack and Rainbow Dash walked side-by-side. Applejack looked over the town with a critical eye as they went. "Ya ever wonder why we let no-goods like the Flim-Flam brothers get sa far as they did? It's because we ain't got no law in this town."

Rainbow perked an ear at the talk. "I hate to bring it up, AJ, but if there was a law and they knew what you did, they'd probably toss you in a cell."

Applejack snorted with obvious disagreement, but let it lie rather than argue with Rainbow Dash. "We'll figure it out after we take care of that there forest. Ah reckon it's a fair sight more pressing. Ah can't even figure out why ah let the place stand fer so long, threatenin' all of us like that."

Rainbow considered, deciding that fighting dangerous animals was a lot safer than the other activities the unbalanced Applejack could be up to. "Say, what about Froggy Bottom Bog? That place has some creepy critters in it, right?"

"Ah knew ah picked right!" Applejack looked so happy it made Rainbow's chest ache. "The hydra's just waiting to be tamed, and ah bet there are other varmints in there that'd cause trouble. We'll have the place in order in no time at all." She bumped up against Rainbow Dash. "We'll make Ponyville safe, for everypony. Mothers won't need ta worry for their foals bein' outta sight, cause no matter where they go, they'll be just as safe as in their hooves."

Rainbow smiled a little. "That... sounds pretty nice actually."

"'Course it does! Ah'm trying ta do good fer the town. Why else do ya think Ah'm worked up?" Applejack paused, tilting her head at Rainbow.

Rainbow flashed a larger, only partially sincere, smile. "I'm just blown away by your dedication, AJ. You were never this eager to get in a scrap before."

"Well shoot, that was my fault, and now it's time ta fix that!" Applejack marched forward with renewed determination. "Ah'm glad ah won't be doin' it alone at least. Thanks fer stickin' with me."

Rainbow offered a hoof, which was quickly met by one of Applejack's. "Anytime, girl. Now it's time to explain this to Filthy Rich, you know, the guy that pays for a lot of the repairs on your farm, why his foal is off on another world."

Applejack winced a little but nodded. "Reckon yer right..." She trotted up to the rich stallion's door and knocked lightly on it.

Their butler answered the door, looking over the two of them. "Good day, Miss Apple. How can I help you?"

Applejack cleared her throat softly. "It's about Diamond Tiara."

He tilted his head. "Is it now? Has she gotten herself into trouble?" He had a long-suffered expression of weariness, sagging in place. "I thought it was getting a bit quiet."

Applejack shook her head. "Naw, nothin' like that. In fact, Ah sent her away to someplace where she might shape up."

This caught the butler's attention, perking up. "Really?"

Applejack rolled a hoof. "It's a bit dangerous, ta tell tha truth, but ah sent Pinkie Pie ta keep an eye on her and keep her out of trouble. She'll learn how ta camp, barter, and even how to get inna tussle with some dignity. With any luck, she'll come back a new mare! It did wonders fer mah sister and her friends."

The butler looked more intrigued by the word. What kind of place did they send Diamond Tiara? "Sounds great, but I should inform Mister Rich. Please, one moment." The door closed and hurried clopping steps retreated from it.

Rainbow Dash raised a brow. "I... didn't think you could make the trip to Everglow sound like a good thing."

Applejack smiled and crossed her legs in her usual way, looking quite proud of herself. "Ah meant every word. She'll be a better pony by the time she gets back, and ah trust Pinkie ta be sure they both get back."

Filthy Rich was next to open the door. "Applejack! Good to see you. Now what's all this about sending Diamond Tiara to some kind of training camp?"

Applejack nodded quickly. "Pleasure as always, Rich. Sorry fer not askin' first, but tha opportunity was there and ah just couldn't say no ta doin' the right thing while ah could. She's with Silver Spoon and Pinkie Pie, and they're gonna go onna little character-building adventure." She nudged her head towards the butler hiding behind Filthy Rich. "No butlers, no fancy things, just themselves and nature, learning how ta survive on their own wit and skills."

Filthy tapped his chin lightly. "Won't that get in the way of her schooling?"

Applejack waved a hoof. "There ain't nothing more educational than what she's doin' now. She'll appreciate all the comforts ya give her when she gets back, ah promise that. Hay, me and my sister and her friends just got back from there and Sweetie Belle got her cutie mark out of it! They're all better fer it, more mature about the world outside themselves."

Filthy smiled a little. "If it was anypony else I'd be quite sore they didn't ask beforehoof, but." He wobbled a hoof. "Do ask first next time? You're lucky we didn't have anything big planned right away, but we're a busy family. You know how it is."

Applejack nodded. "Ah reckon ah do. Speakin' of which, ah really should be goin'. Ah got a big pile of things ta get ta."

Filthy nodded. "Don't I know it. We're like two peas from a pod, Applejack. We both know the value of time and effort. You haven't steered me wrong yet, so I'll let this one slide. Say, how long is Diamond going to be gone for?"

Applejack waved a hoof. "That depends rightly on her. The sooner she comes around, the sooner she's done. It's a hard course, but she'll learn from it. Oh! I don't know Silver Spoon's parents, could ya tell them she went with Diamond Tiara?"

They parted with friendly waves and Rainbow followed after Applejack with a stunned expression. "That went... better than I expected it to." Rainbow frowned a little. "That wasn't really being honest, Applejack. You made it sound like a camping retreat or something."

Applejack tilted her head. "Should ah tell him his daughter's on an alien world instead? Pinkie'll keep them nice and safe, and they should learn somethin' from it. Ya said ah had to admit to sendin' her away, and ah did that."

Rainbow put a hoof over her face. "Right. So... how about we have a nice calming apple cider and enjoy the day quietly?"

Applejack frowned at Rainbow. "Ya got a problem, girl. Now's not the time fer cider. We can have some after we deal with the Everfree."

Rainbow held up a hoof. "One moment, before we go do that. I want to check with Twilight and see if she doesn't have any fancy spells to help us. Maybe she'll even want to join us. Wait here, OK?" Applejack sat down and nodded, and Rainbow launched herself into the air, quickly zipping towards the castle.

She found Twilight with her nose in a book, being her usual egghead self. "Twi! We have a huge emergency!"

Twilight looked up sharply at the hovering Rainbow. "What? What's wrong?"

Rainbow pointed off in Applejack's general direction. "Applejack's been, like... possessed or something. She wants to 'fix' everything, which includes banishing Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara to Everglow, and beating all the monsters in the Everfree into submission. I've calmed her down a little, and she's listening to me, but I can't stop her, just slow her down and direct her."

Twilight blinked slowly. "Run that by me one more time? She banished two fillies?"

Rainbow bobbed her head. "Pinkie's with them, so they'll need to be rescued like we were, but, ugh, I have to get back. Applejack's waiting, and if I'm not with her, I'm afraid she'll do something crazy." She zipped up to Twilight. "Applejack's in there! I can see it! She's scared, Twilight. She's... she's... trying to do the right thing. We have to save her!"

Twilight nodded at Rainbow firmly. "Go to her, Rainbow, and make sure she's safe, and doesn't hurt anypony else."

"What about the monsters?"

Twilight looked confused. "What about the monsters? They're monsters."

"Alright, clobbering monsters is OK. I can handle this." She zipped back out the way she came, leaving a fading trail of rainbows behind her.

Twilight took a few slow breaths, moving her right hoof in and out along the motions to compose herself. "I will handle this with the grace expected of me as a princess." She pulled a book down from above her on a shelf, changing her study paths. She would help Applejack, somehow, but first she needed knowledge.

As Rainbow flew quickly, she encountered Scootaloo. Scootaloo grinned. "Rainbow Dash! I'm glad to see you! Have you seen Applejack?"

"I was just getting back to her, why?"

Scootaloo pointed down to where the rest of the Crusaders waited. "We want to make sure she's alright. She was acting off before. I mean... That scythe has to be super bad news! Even Diamond Tiara didn't deserve that."

Rainbow Dash flashed a quick grin. "You and the others should stop worrying about her. I have this totally under control. Twilight's also on the case, so don't worry, we'll get this problem licked! Why don't you go find Big Mac and see if he doesn't have the supplies so you can't get to work rebuilding that club house?"

Scootaloo tilted her head. "Are you sure? I mean... we're ready to help, RD. She's our friend, and Apple Bloom's big sister."

Rainbow Dash put a hoof over her chest. "I promise! I won't rest until she's alright, but right now, she needs me, so let me get back to her, and you get back to building. Please, trust me. We're sisters of the sky, right?" She held out a hoof.

Scootaloo hesitated a moment before clopping her hoof against Rainbow's, feeling warm and fuzzy. "Sisters of the sky!" She went down to fill in her friends on the conversation, and Rainbow rushed to find Applejack before she wandered off.

Fortunately, Applejack was where she was asked to wait, and she smiled brightly on spotting Rainbow Dash. "There ya are. Did she have any fancy spells? Did she wanna come?"

Rainbow shook her head. "She decided to egghead it up and read up on spells, boring! We can handle this ourselves, right?"

"Darn tootin'!" Looking quite cheerful, Applejack started walking towards the Everfree. "Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks fer bein' with me."

Author's Notes:

Filthy Rich takes the news rather well, though Applejack made it sound less dangerous than it truly is. Still, she isn't likely to be hunted down by the richest stallion in town, unless DT and SS don't return. Crisis averted temporarily!

If only typos could be misdirected so easily.

59 - Into the Everfree

Applejack led the way into the foreboding thickets of the Everfree. "We won't be stickin' to the paths none. We want ta get attention, ya see? Tha more aggressive, tha better." She drew the scythe from her back, holding it in her muzzle easily. It felt so light and ready, it was like it was barely there to begin with.

Rainbow flew just behind and above Applejack, flying at a sedate rate with her friend while staring with a frown at the scythe that seemed to be forcing her along a road she didn't like. "Yeah, the better..."

Applejack suddenly looked over her shoulder up at Rainbow. "Stop starin' like that, yer makin' him nervous."

Rainbow blinked softly. "Uh, AJ, it's a weapon, not a pony. I can't make it nervous."

Applejack snorted softly and pushed on through the brambles with a swipe of her head, cutting them aside. "Did ya hear that?"

Rainbow tilted her head, trying to hear whatever Applejack was referring to, but it found them first. A cockatrice jumped from the bushes with an angry hiss, charging right for Applejack. She pulled her head back, scythe at the ready for it even as touches of grey began to show around her hooves. The moment it came into range, Severance was brought down in a deadly arc, bisecting the creature.

Instead of the wild spray of blood Rainbow was expecting, it simply staggered and collapsed at Applejack's hooves with a final defeated squawk. "Uh... What did you just do?"

Applejack slipped the scythe onto her back and pulled out some rope, tying up the cockatrice, one thick band going over its eyes. "We done captured our first varmint. Fluttershy can teach it ta stop being so ornery and it can protect the ponies of the town instead of being a threat." She smiled up at Rainbow dash. "Doesn't that sound a mite better?"

Rainbow landed softly on the forest floor, looking quizzical indeed. "Uh, I mean... Yeah, actually, that does. You alright? You were starting to... you know?"

Applejack stomped a hoof on the ground, shattering the thin shell of stone that had formed there. "Ah'm fine. It didn't have near long enough ta get me." She turned to face Rainbow. "Do ya see what I wanna do?" Her eyes were full of hope. "We can turn this whole forest here into an asset instead of a danger. The... The Night Mare may be a mighty frightful mare, but she ain't wrong about this. The critters in here'll be happier if we feed 'em, and we'll be happier with them not tryin' to eat us."

Rainbow gave a hesitant nod. "Sure, alright. I can get behind that, just..." she raised a hoof. "No more bringing the hammer, or scythe, down on ponies." She trotted around Applejack. "Unless you're already forgetting most ponies are already nice, and the ones that aren't are usually more confused than... you know... evil?"

Applejack winced. "Ah already said ah'm sorry fer doin' that! It was a mistake. Ah won't do it again." She set her rump on the floor. "You want me ta be quicker about offerin' mercy, how about ya start with me?"

Rainbow Dash looked at the sorrowful eyes of the pony she liked a great deal and shuffled in place. "Well... So long as you promise, we're cool. I don't have any problem with you clobbering some monsters." She moved up to the unconscious cockatrice, gently poking it with a hoof. "You didn't even leave a mark on it..."

Applejack smiled. "Ah 'course not! Ah'm not trying ta be mean, just catch it so we can reform it. That was my mistake, y'see. Ya can't reform nopony by sendin' them far away. Ah shoulda caught those little fillies and taught them personal-like until they stopped being such bullies. Ah just lost mah temper and did something right foolish." She suddenly paused in thought. "Do ya think ah should be punished?"

Rainbow perked an ear. "What?"

"Punished." She tilted her head. "Ya know, for doin' wrong. Ah trust you, go on, decide on somethin', then we'll move on ta better things."

Rainbow frowned, unsure how to properly parse what was going on. Applejack wanted to be punished? Well... "The scythe."

"What about it?" Applejack raised a brow.

Rainbow held out a hoof. "Give it up for a week."

Applejack went rigid, teeth clenching and shuffling half a step away from Rainbow before stopping and going limp. Her head sank. "We should get outta here before we do that. Ya promise ta give it back? Ah seen ya starin' at it all unkind-like. Promise."

Rainbow Dash gave a relieved smile, feeling hope blossom in her chest. "I absolutely promise. If you want the scythe back after the week's up, I'll hoof it over personally. Pinkie Promise." She did the gesture, ending with a poke in the eye. "But! You have to not ask about it or try to get it back before the week's up, or we add another week."

Applejack held up a hoof. "Scout's honor! Once we're out of here, Ah'll give it up and not ask fer it until noon next week today."

They trotted out of the forest with their still-sleeping cockatrice. Rainbow gently bumped into Applejack's side, looking happier, and Applejack returned the gesture, the friction between them lessened to an almost giddy relief.

Once they were free of the trees, Applejack put the scythe down hesitantly and backed away from it. "There, take it. Just remember ya promised, one week."

Rainbow advanced on it and gently batted it away a little. "Uh, give me a second, AJ. I'll be right back." Knowing it would sting, she steeled herself then scooped it up in her mouth. She threw herself into the sky and flew home as quick as she could, getting it on her dining-room table as quickly as she could, whimpering a little at the renewed hurting in her mouth. The price one paid for their friends. After gulping down some water and catching her breath, she returned to find Applejack waiting patiently.

"Let's head ta Fluttershy. She's the only one ah reckon can tame this bird/lizard critter." She turned and started walking and Rainbow followed alongside. "Do ya think she ever tried ta make friends with a cockatrice before?"

Rainbow shook her head. "I doubt that. The closest I heard was one time she used the stare on one and got it to back off, but they weren't friends." She rubbed behind her head. "So, uh... how long have you... had feelings for me?"

Applejack stopped in place, flushing a bright red through her fur. "Oh, uh... Ah think it was when we did the runnin' of tha leaves? Ah was so furious with ya... but ya wouldn't get out of mah head." She licked over her lips lightly. "Watchin' ya run like a proper earth pony... yer a right work of art, Dash, on tha ground or in tha air." She shook her head. "Ah sound like a love-struck little filly. Ya must think Ah'm so..."

Rainbow softly bumped against Applejack. "Hey, relax!" She reared up onto hind-legs and spread her hooves. "We're practically sisters. I'm not upset, AJ, it's just... Look, I don't like lying about as much as you don't. I'm really worried that scythe is messing with your head." She fell back to all fours. "And I really like what's in that head already."

Applejack frowned. "Yer not gonna steal mah scythe now, are ya?"

Rainbow shook her head. "We made a promise. I'll give it back, but... come on... You haven't been acting yourself."

Applejack grunted softly. "Ah made a mistake! Ah'm sorry! Yer supposed to forgive me now. I did what ya asked all the way."

Rainbow shuffled a little in place. "I guess you did... Even if you did stretch the truth a bit with Filthy." She rubbed behind her own head with a hoof. "Though I guess that was probably for the best..."

Applejack nodded. "Exactly! Besides, look, no scythe. Now tell me straight. Do ya like me back or not? Ah'm a big girl. If Ah'm barkin' up tha wrong tree, just tell me."

Rainbow internally screamed. She wanted to throw herself at Applejack and hold her and tell her everything was fine, but how could she know this was the real Applejack, and that the real Applejack wouldn't hate her guts afterwards? "I..."

Applejack turned away with a hurt expression. "It's fine. Like ah said, ah'm a big girl." She trotted off with the cockatrice, seeming to take the delay for a denial.

Rainbow dashed after Applejack and tackled her to the ground. "No! You don't get to do that!"

Applejack rolled over beneath Rainbow and shoved her off with her powerful legs. "Get ta do what?" She was back on her hooves in a flash, snorting and looking agitated.

Rainbow flared her wings wide. "I am totally in love with you, Applejack."

Applejack took a step back as if slapped across the snout. "Y-you do? Ah mean, ya are?"

Rainbow folded her wings tightly. "I just want to be sure the Applejack I love is the one I'm talking to. I just want to be sure I'm telling the right Applejack my feelings. I just... don't want the real Applejack... to hate me." A single angry tear escaped from her as she glared at Applejack.

Applejack trembled and pawed at the ground, unsure what to say or do. "It's... Ah'm still Applejack. Why wouldn't I be the real Applejack?"

Rainbow stomped the ground. "The real Applejack wouldn't try to steal my heart! You reached for it, and your hooves were cold and terrible."

Applejack winced, a few tears of her own starting to form. "Ah... didn't... what do you mean?"

Rainbow lifted a hoof to her chest. "I felt it, just before you decided on me being your right-hoof mare. You tried to take my heart, to... force me." She flashed a brief smile. "I was way too awesome for that to work on, but I still felt it, and it was dark and cold. It wasn't Applejack. The Applejack I know would just tell me straight and--"

Applejack perked up. "That's what I just did!"

Rainbow pointed at Applejack. "It's the scythe, AJ... It wants to help you, but it's evil. It doesn't care who gets run over so long as you're happy." She swallowed heavily. "If you... promise to throw it away, like... forsake it, I'll be your marefriend right this very instant."

Applejack clenched her teeth. "That's a dangerous path, sugarcube. What if ah don't?"

Rainbow sagged a little. "Then I won't. I can't. I won't do it until I know I'm hugging my Applejack."

Applejack's breathing became erratic as she stomped the ground with a hoof, then did so with another, throwing a bit of a temper tantrum. "Ah just wanna do what's right fer everypony! Even ya agreed we were doin' the right thing!"

Rainbow advanced on Applejack until their eyes met. "I will never abandon you, Applejack. If you want to do this, we'll do it together, and we don't need any stupid scythes to do it with."

Applejack stared into those bright eyes, and the darkness offered by the scythe seemed pale in comparison. She wanted the company of the bright-blue pegasus, walking side-by-side, not... With the scythe so far away, she was starting to forget what was so good about it, but she could clearly see, hear, and even smell what was great about Rainbow Danger Dash. "Ah..."

Her weak sentence was cut off with a sudden fierce kiss. Though she had strength enough to throw Rainbow Dash away, she yielded to it, melting into it as they collapsed together. The warmth she felt from her future marefriend was so bright... How could she have been misled by the cold steel of that weapon?

Rainbow pulled back with a soft gasp. "Am I talking to the real Applejack?"

Applejack smiled, tears staining her snout. "Ya sure are... Ah was so dumb... Will ya--" Her words were cut off by a sudden wet splitting sound and Rainbow's expression of shock and pain. The scythe was lodged through her, embedded in her like a cruel curved spike. Rainbow sagged with a bloody gurgle, losing consciousness.

Applejack sprung to her hooves, looking around for who wielded the weapon, but saw nothing. In a panic she dropped the cockatrice off her back and gathered up the heavily-bleeding Rainbow Dash, but barely made it a step before she was surrounded by the Crusaders. Sweetie was singing soft songs of restoration for the injured Rainbow Dash while Scootaloo and Sunflower moved for the weapon. Apple Bloom moved in front of Applejack. "We're here. Everything's gonna be alright!"

"Ah... Ah didn't do it! Ah swear!" Applejack's eyes were wide and wild, irises contracted with abject terror. "I-is she alright? S-s-save her!"

Apple Bloom nodded quickly. "We saw everythin', we know. That weapon jus' flew outta nowhere!"

Applejack suddenly tensed. "Ya saw... everythin'?"

Apple Bloom snorted, but was happy to keep Applejack's attentions on her and let her friends work. "Everythin'. Ah didn't know Rainbow Dash was such a good kisser."

Applejack went cherry red. "That wasn't fer little fillies ta see!"

Apple Bloom gave a gentle smile. "Ah'm not a little filly anymore, sis. Lay down and relax. We got this."

Applejack slowly sank back down and looked over her shoulder. The scythe had been removed and was being held down under Sunflower, though it seemed to be trying to get out from underneath him. Sweetie's soft songs had closed the horrible wounds in Rainbow Dash. "All out," cried Sweetie, and Apple Bloom moved in to replace her, pulling free a potion and carefully feeding it to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow jerked away about halfway into the flask, coughing and sputtering, but clearly conscious. "What happened?! Apple Bloom?"

Applejack gentle smiled. "Relax, sugarcube. Our little ones just saved our hides."

Scootaloo grinned at Rainbow Dash. "Cutie Mark Crusaders, emergency triage?"

Rainbow Dash snorted softly, but had a bit of a smile. "Thanks for the assist, but really, what happened?"

Apple Bloom pointed across to where Sunflower was keeping the scythe pinned down. "Applejack's weapon just came flyin' outta the sky and got ya good. Are ya alright?"

Rainbow rose to her hooves, wobbling a little. "Nothing I can't walk off!"

Apple Bloom snorted softly and pulled out a second potion, offering it to Rainbow. Despite her haughty words, she accepted the potion and soon drank it down.

Applejack got to her hooves and advanced on the squirming scythe. "Ya just made your last mistake! Yer a broken tool, and ah ain't got time fer broken tools. Sunflower, get off of that."

Sunflower scurried free of it just in time for Applejack to stomp down on it. "Ya tell that Night Mare that ah think yer busted and I don't need ya anymore!" Dismissed with authority, the scythe simply vanished from whence it came with an almost sad sigh.

Rainbow laughed with joy. "Now that's my Applejack! How about we celebrate with a little cider?"

Applejack raised a brow. "Girl, ya really do have a problem."

Rainbow threw her forehooves in the air. "How can I have a problem with something nopony ever lets me have!"

Author's Notes:

Applejack and Rainbow pull through, together, with the power of friendship, and maybe a little love thrown in there.

The CMC prove they will do what they want when they want to.

And they still have a bound up cockatrice.

60 - A Shy Conclusion

Applejack attempted to shoo off the Crusaders, thankful, but wanting to speak to Rainbow privately, but they stubbornly insisted on accompanying them at least as far as Fluttershy's. They set off as an enlarged group, though Rainbow didn't seem upset.

"It's cool. We got the important stuff out of the way." She gave an odd bit of a smile towards Applejack. "Right?"

Applejack nodded lightly. "Reckon we did... Once we drop off this varmint and ah check in with mah brother, ya up ta goin' back fer more?"

Rainbow raised a brow. "You don't have that fancy thing anymore. You still want to hunt Everfree monsters?"

Applejack raised a hoof to her chest. "Why wouldn't I? It's still the right thing ta do. She wasn't wrong, we need ta take charge of ourselves, startin' with what scares us most."

Rainbow was about to ask a question when Fluttershy's cabin came into view, and the shy pegasus was in sight, watering her garden with a watering can with a big daisy on the side. She was looking especially adorable, though Rainbow still worried a bit for the girl. She raised a hoof. "Hey!"

Fluttershy glanced upwards quickly, spotting Rainbow, Applejack, and the smaller ones arrayed around them. She put down the can gently and approached. "Oh, hello... Are you back from your trip, Applejack? I missed you."

Applejack advanced and wrapped her hooves around Fluttershy tightly, hugging her. "Ah missed ya too, girl, but ah confess we came with somethin'. Take a gander at this here." She shrugged off the bundle that held the cockatrice, which appeared to be starting to rouse.

Fluttershy immediately recognized a cockatrice and flinched back, but realized it was securely bound and its eyes covered. "Why did you bring this here?"

Rainbow pointed at it. "AJ thinks you can tame it."

Applejack nodded lightly. "A far sight kinder than just gettin' rid of it, right? Can ya do it?"

Fluttershy tapped her forehooves together while sitting back on her haunches. "Well... I... If you really need me to? I can try..."

Applejack brightly smiled. "You'll be doin' us a huge favor. Ah'll be rustlin' up other beasts. Together, we can make the Everfree safer fer everypony."

Fluttershy became visibly alarmed. "You can't just... I mean... it's dangerous!"

Apple Bloom thrust a hoof at Applejack. "Mah sister can handle herself pretty good. She's amazing."

Applejack smiled with pride at her sister's words. "Ah'll be right careful, and ah'm goin' with Rainbow Dash, promise. No lone stunts here. Now ah don't want ta overwhelm ya, so how long do ya reckon it'll be ta tame the varmint, and how many can ya handle at once?"

Fluttershy carefully rolled the cockatrice into a position she hoped was more comfortable. "I... I'm really not sure. I never tried making friends with one before..." She suddenly smiled, an idea coming to her to give herself more room and slow down Applejack's alarming enthusiasm. "Why don't you let me see how long it takes with this one before you get any others?"

Applejack tapped her chin. "That's... perfectly reasonable. Ah'll find another project ta work on while ya get this straightened out. How are ya feeling, girl? Ah knew ya had it pretty rough, ya know, before?"

Fluttershy trembled softly at the memory, shrinking back. "I-I'm alright..."

Sweetie tilted her head. "You don't look alright, Fluttershy. We're your friends, you can tell us the truth."

Fluttershy looked at Sweetie, then the others. She sank to her belly. "I can still see her. She keeps laughing at me." She spread her wings timidly, drooping. "My wings still hurt sometimes, but I know they're not broken anymore. It's just me, being a silly mare..."

Rainbow winced even as she advanced. "Fluttershy, this isn't cool. I mean... You're fine, but you're... You're hurt, and we're your friends. Please, share with us."

Applejack nodded firmly. "We're here for ya, sugarcube."

Sweetie pointed at herself. "I know how you feel."

Fluttershy focused on Sweetie Belle. "How can you know how I feel?"

Sweetie took a slow breath before she let out her found voice, singing soft and sweetly and painting a story of her time in Everglow, and just how frightened she was by her time there, and the terrible things they encountered trying to find their way back. Fluttershy softly rocked to the tempo of the song, but looked concerned at its contents. "You really... I'm glad you're all alright."

Scootaloo puffed out her chest. "We had it under control."

Sweetie wrinkled her nose at Scootaloo. "Says you." She looked back at Fluttershy with a soft smile. "You have friends. They're the best for this kind of thing. Please talk to them."

Fluttershy looked between Sweetie Belle and the larger forms of Rainbow Dash and Applejack. "I... don't want to be a bother..."

Applejack put a hoof over her chest. "Ya ain't no bother, Fluttershy. Makin' time fer friends in need is what friends do."

Rainbow bobbed her head. "Yeah! I mean... Sheesh, you all cried with me when I had to get one out... I can return the favor." She spread her hooves out. "Now come over here."

Such was the start of a warm group hug, with everypony, and cat, gently surrounding Fluttershy with care, and for a time, everything was alright.

As the group returned to Ponyville proper from Fluttershy's house, Applejack nodded her head. "Ah guess ah'll slow down on tha Everfree plan and give Fluttershy some space. Yer still with me, right?"

Rainbow perked an ear. "Always."

"Good! Ah have other ideas..."

The Crusaders went off on their own, only to encounter Willow near the town square. The older feline waved them over. "Sunflower, we have a house for ourselves now."

Sunflower looked surprised. "How did you get one so quickly, Mom?"

Willow shrugged softly. "I don't go over finances with you, kitten. I had some money saved up for an emergency." She pointed off to a one-story cottage. "That one right there. I want you back by sundown. Tomorrow, you and the girls are going back to school."

The Crusaders collectively sagged, but Willow was unaffected. "Don't give me that look. Education is not something to be laughed off. At least you'll be with your friends, hmm?"

Sunflower smiled at that. "That's true. It can't be that bad if Sweetie Belle will be there."

Sweetie giggled joyfully. "We'll do... oh! I hope Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are alright!"

Scootaloo waved a hoof. "They'll be fine! The girls know what happened. I bet Twilight's already working to get them back."

Apple Bloom swallowed softly. "Ah'm just glad mah sis is back ta normal."

Back at the library, Twilight was busy researching curse-breaking spells, not how to recover the fillies. She found a promising one and tucked the notes in a pouch before taking off in search for the others. She spied Rainbow and Applejack not long after. They were smiling at each other, and there was no sign of dangerous artifacts around at all. They waved at one another, and parted ways. She wondered what was going on.

She approached Rainbow Dash first. "Hey, Dash! What happened? Applejack looks fine."

Rainbow grinned. "We took care of it, Twilight. She sent it away herself through sheer power of awesome."

Twilight tilted her head. "Oh... Well that's good, right?"

"It's great!" Dash tapped her chin. "Oh, uh, did I mention Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and Pinkie Pie are lost in Everglow?"

Twilight cringed, a new project heaped upon her. "At least I have my spellbook back. I'll..." she sighed loudly. "Get on that. I thought destroying the rune would end our adventures there. Are they together at least?"

Dash bobbed her head. "They should be? Applejack seemed confident they were, but hay if I know how to confirm that."

Twilight put a hoof over her face a moment. "Alright. Applejack's OK now?"

Dash bobbed her head. "Right as rain, as she'd say. Thanks, Twi." She grabbed up Twilight, giving her a powerful hug for a moment before bolting off, leaving nothing but a fading rainbow behind.

Twilight smiled a little before taking off back for her castle. Her work seemed to have no end, but there was no point in putting it off. Ponies were counting on her and she'd do her best to see them to safety.

She'd rescue those three, but that was another story.

Author's Notes:

The End.

I hope the trip was enjoyed, typos included.