Little Redd: the Lost Concept of Peace

Chapter Fifteen

Heavy Relations

Silence draped across the ponies in the room like a dark entity, preventing words from escaping their lips and tension from leaving their muscles.  Pinkie spoke up first, turning to Scootaloo.

"I have a question!"

She pointed at the map, of which the handwritten text had been ignored up until then.

"Why is this in Germane?"

Scootaloo sighed, and gave her a dark look.

"Maybe because Hoofler is a Nazi.  Duh."

Rainbow Dash popped into the air, inspecting the map from above.

"Wait, this's in Germane?  Then how're we gonna read it?"

Suddenly she turned on Pinkie.

"How can you read it?"

The party mare giggled, and waved a hoof dismissively.

"Silly, I've always known Germane.  My grampa was Germane."

Looking back at the map, she scratched her mane, a gumball falling to the floor.

"But I don't know what Changelings have to do with this."

Redd facehoofed.

"Wrong plans."

Pages of parchment filled the air as a crazy-eyed Adolf Hoofler threw books and notes across the library, a few strands of his oily black part hanging in his eyes.

"Vere ah zey!?"

"Yeeeah, he's gonna be heated about this."

"Probably, yes."

Redd took over as the center of attention.

"As the Captain suggested, we need to formulate a plan.  Pinkamina.  I need you to translate and redraw the map.  Despite the mistake, it may still be useful.  Twilight, you'll need to do some research on offensive spells or anything that Hoofler could use to track the map.  We need to know any and every threat that he poses against us.  Fluttershy--"

Once again, Rainbow Dash interrupted her.

"Who said you're the one in charge?"

Redd's eyes reflected the impatience she harbored when she hadn't had her tea for awhile.

"Don't know if you're familiar with this fact, but I happen to have plenty of experience in the position of 'in charge.'"

"She does," Scootaloo nodded.

Rainbow Dash harumphed away, muttering something about authority, her colorful language rivaling her mane.  Redd leapt back into action.

"Fluttershy, I need your help attaining dragons, bears, anything that can take down an army of Nazis."

Fluttershy squeaked, and shrank into herself, her big eyes flicking around the room.

"She's terrified of dragons," Twilight explained.  Redd facehoofed again.

"Ballucks."

Redd stepped out of the castle, gathering the dark gazes of her previously paralyzed victims.  To whom she smiled.

"Sorry about that.  I just needed to see Celestia--"

"We know," a pure black stallion in slightly burnt armor said.  Hawk Eye stood, somewhat shakily, and regarded her with a tilted corner on his lips.

"Just try asking first."

A white stallion behind him scoffed.

"We wouldn't have let her in if she had, with the Princess in the midst of a meeting."

Hawk slowly turned around, and glared at his brother.

"Do you realize how much of a dick you are?"

"Meh.  I've been told before."

Redd giggled.

"Honestly, it's fine.  I've dealt with enough wankers to know how to tune them out."

Eagle Eye cocked a brow.

"... Admittedly, I haven't been classified as one of those before.  I like you."

Scootaloo bumped into Redd from behind, knocking her forward a step or two.

"Eh, heh, sorry."

Scootaloo squinted across the vicinity, scanning for anypony they knew, before digging through her saddlebags and pulling out a pair of glasses.  Again, Eagle Eye's brow cocked, but Scootaloo caught him before he could say anything.

"Notice.  I dare you."

His eyes widened, and he took a sudden interest in a cobblestone.  Hawk Eye looked between the two, and chuckled.

"Wow.  That's never happened before."

"Shut.  Up," Eagle said, gritting his teeth.

"Well ladies, travel safely," Hawk said, leaning against a column and removing his gear.  A bronze mane fell out from under his helmet as he took it off, and hung in his eyes a bit.  Redd flushed.

"Oh my god, come on Redd," Scootaloo groaned, dragging her friend down the road.

"So where to first?" Scootaloo asked.

It took a moment for Redd to reply.

"Zecora's.  She needs to know that they know about us."

Her eyes tracked a faint glint of metal darting into the shadows.  Scootaloo's face quirked up, her glasses sitting crookedly across her muzzle.

"How does Zecora know about us?"

Redd's gaze flicked to her friend before focusing on the trail again.

"Zecora's originally from Africa.  She moved to East Riding for awhile, met my parents, admired my mother's art."

She smiled, remembering the first time she saw Zecora.

Redd's eyes cracked open, and gazed curiously at the unfamiliar face above her.  After a moment she reached up and carefully touched the stranger's nose.

"Noo?"

The face smiled, dark blue eyes reflecting Redd's back at her.

"Deepest Care, she will be a beautiful mare."

Taking her tiny hoof away from Zecora, Redd turned over and poked one of the zebra's earrings, watching it swing like a steady metronome.

"Helloooo?"

Redd snapped out of her reverie, and smiled apologetically at Scootaloo.

"Sorry, just... remembering."

After another moment of silent travel, Scootaloo pressed on.

"Uh, Redd, you were in the middle of saying something...?"

"Oh!  Right.  She moved from Africa to East Riding, and met my mother on the road.  When she found out that mum was an artist, she came to her gallery displays.  When I was born, she became my godmother, and visited so often...  But racism was a recurring thing back home, and she was eventually run out of town.  I only found her here recently, a few days after Discord sent us in the field."

"Heyyy, ladies.  Lookin' for a date?"

Thud!

"Shit.  You blinded me.  Hope you're happy now, bitch."

Redd stopped walking.

"You realize you're probably going to tree hell, right?"

The face, now mangled with several hoofprints, scoffed.

"And what's so bad about hell for a tree, huh?  I can't move, can't be enslaved.  What's the reaper got on me?"

"Hell freezes over on a daily basis.  Then it bursts back into flames."

From then on, the face remained silent as Redd and Scootaloo walked inside Zecora's hut.