Day 3

-OR-

Wednesday

Mist, thick enough to swim through, blanketed the streets of Bridle Bay. It flowed in rivers between the buildings, but began on the ocean and moved uphill. As Applejack held the letter delicately between her teeth, she could taste the moisture clinging to the paper. The scent that wafted from the leaves enclosed was making her heady and hot. Luckily, she had taken the counter-potion to negate the worst of its effects, but it still left her feeling somewhat affectionate. The letter slid into the letterbox quietly, but with a satisfactory woosh like the sound of wind between the trees. Applejack allowed a yawn as she moved onto the next house.

Applejack dug her muzzle into her saddlebags, catching another deep whiff of the spicily scented letters within. She drew her head back out, moving to focus on the... Something collided with her, and both objects toppled. Letters poured out of her saddle bags, fluttering onto the damp ground in a mess. Applejack looked at the thing she had just collided with, profuse apologies already leaping to her lips. She saw a light blue pony wrapped in elaborate clothing and a wide-brimmed sun hat quickly coming to her own senses.

“Ah’m mighty sorr-”

“Applejack!?” the mysterious mare said.

“Beggin’ yer pardon? Do ah know you?”

“Uh... Why yes! We met at the gala remember?”

“Ah remember, sure. Ah remember the only ponies ah met that night were my friends and that one wonderbolt. Now, how in tarnation do you know my name?”

“Ah, well you see...” The pony before her bit her lip delicately. The gesture, as well as her accent, seemed familiar to her somehow...

“Wait, Rarity? Is that you?” The pony before her was silent for a moment, mouth agape, before sinking her head in defeat.

“Yes, you caught me,” Rarity responded, as the coat-changing spell dissolved to reveal the Rarity Applejack recognised. Rarity locked eyes with Applejack, her gaze was intense but pleading, expertly crafted. “You won’t tell anypony anything right?”

“Sure, what’s there to tell? Why... Why’d you want to keep this secret anyhow? What’re you hidin’ Rarity?” Once again, Rarity dropped her gaze. She was cornered now.

“Shall we take a walk?” she asked, calm as a still pool of water. Applejack chuckled as she prepared to proceed into the mist.

For some time, neither talked. Applejack left her duties for later and simply trotted beside her friend, waiting for her to make the first move. Rarity avoided eye contact, instead she watched the sea pensively. So early in the morning and with the fog so thick, the streets of Bridle Bay were lonely and quiet. They were traveling towards Needle point, and were almost half way by the time Rarity broke the silence.

“So what are you doing in a place like this, dear?” She asked.

Applejack, who was not to be taken so easily, replied: “Well, ah’m not supposed to tell ya’,”

“Why ever not darling? Not even the slightest hint?”

“Sorry Rarity, but ah promised Pinkie not to tell ya’ anything,”

“...Pinkie? She’s here too...?” The edges of Rarity’s lips began to curl upwards, while Applejack’s lips flattened. Their trot slowed to a stop somewhere in the middle of Titan avenue. Little trace remained of the previous day’s festivities, despite extending well onto the night. It seemed strange that things could be forgotten so easily.

“Look, Applejack, we obviously can’t go on like this,”

“No m’am,”

“With all the secrets and lies, it has to stop!”

“I reckon’ ya got the right of it there,”

“So let me put this to you straight- what do want to keep this from Pinkie?” Applejack chuckled, a little too loud it seemed, and Rarity blushed. “I mean, it’s just so hard to tell what that filly’s-”

“Don’t you fret none now, Rar. I won’t tell your secrets if you don’t tell mine to Twilight and the others.”

“...Why of course, dear! I wouldn’t dream of it. That would be disastrously duplicitous,”

“Heh, ah’m gonna assume that means yes, but if’n you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some things to take care of.”

“Yes, you go, darling, and we simply must catch up once all this nasty secrecy business is taken care of, hmmm?” Rarity called as Applejack disappeared into the mist. The earth pony waved back as best she could, but soon she was engulfed in a veil of white. Rarity, listening to the hoofsteps fading away, was bound for town hall the moment they disappeared.

For a while, Applejack was content just to deliver letters. She walked through the quiet streets while the night’s coolness lingered and the mist gradually dissolved. The town she discovered was not the one she expected. Sturdy paved streets supported frail-looking bamboo houses. The various inhabitants, be they pony, zebra or griffon were slowly growing more active. In patches of forest which occasionally burst through the rocky ground, choruses of song birds greeted the rising sun. It was a far cry from ponyville’s dirt roads and sturdy wooden abodes, or from anything else she’d seen before.

Suddenly there was an explosion. Something white came rushing out of a manhole infront of her. With curling claws and eyes that flashed with lightning, the serpentine shape dwarfed the tallest of building around it. Applejack stumbled onto her backside in shock and barely found the air in her lungs to scream. Then came the laughter and she knew she’d been made a fool of.

Rainbow Dash fell out of some place behind the monster laughing herself to tears.

“Rainbow! What the hay are ya’ playin’ at?” Applejack demanded.

“You should see the look on your face!” Rainbow said between bursts of laughter, “You were sooo scared,”

Rainbow wasn’t letting up on the hysterics any time soon, so Applejack took the chance to examine the thing in front of her. Against the mist, it seemed to shadow her ominously and threateningly. On closer inspection, it was made of vapour just like that which filled the air around her. She kicked it with an experimental hoof and discovered it went right through. “What in tarnation is this?” she asked

“Vapour melons!” It looked like Rainbow had finally calmed down and gotten to her feet. In fact, she quickly flew up bucked the creature’s head from existence, shouting “Alright Fluttershy, you can come out now,”

“Oh, thank goodness, I thought- Applejack?”

“You too, sugarcube? What’s going on here?” Rainbow Dash floated down beside Applejack, leaning an elbow on her back.

“Can you keep a secret?” she chuckled. Applejack looked at her friend, and at Fluttershy too, who was slowly trotting towards them from some nearby bushes. She didn’t like the sound of this and she was sure her face showed it. “Come on, it’s just a little prank,” claimed Rainbow.

“You call this ‘little’?” Applejack asked, craning her head vertically

“It’s the legendary sea serpent. Once Pinkie sees this, she’s gonna go crying for her momma pie... but it needs a little work. So, you want in?”

“Look, sugarcube, ah don’t know what you think is goin’ on, but ah’m only helpin’ Pinkie ‘cause ah lost a bet, ya hear? Ah don’t want nothin’ to do with your scheming,”

“Heh, whatever, just don’t tell anypony, escpecially not Rarity,” Rainbow spread her wings, ready to launch off.

“Wait, Rarity?”

“Do you know what that pony’ll do to me if she finds out what I’m doing? Speaking of which, I’ve gotta jet, catch you guys later!” With a rustle of feathers, Rainbow shot into the sky, dispersing the rest of the cloud serpent on her way. Applejack watched her go, slowly shaking her head. Meanwhile, Fluttershy was watching silently at a distance. Applejack turned towards her, an unimpressed look adorning her face.

“And what about you, Fluttershy?” The pegasus scratched at the ground and began her ritual whimpers before Applejack interrupted her “Don’t you worry, ah’m not gonna ask you to tell me why you’re part of this, seems everypony’s got some secret now days,”

“Actually, Pinkie wanted me to tell you that she needs some supplies,”

“What sort of supplies?”

“Hardware, she said.”

“Hardware? Well, we better get on with these letters then, wanna help?” Fluttershy nodded as they cantered off down the street.

Rainbow Dash swerved between limestone buildings, eliciting the cries of nearby fliers as the flashed past. The mist had cleared now, so she kept low, letting the buildings on either side hide her rainbow trail. Within a clichéd measure of time she was at town hall, landing on a balcony with a spin and a flourish. Posing in pride for just a second, Rainbow was unceremoniously yanked inside by Rarity.

“Rainbow! Big news! I just ran into Applejack and she told me Pinkie’s in town too! This... this changes everything! My plan... it’s... you- you’re not surprised at all, Rainbow?”

Rarity looked to be in distress- her dress was piled around her hooves and her mane was uncharacteristically undone. All around the room were racks of clothes at some phase of completion while needles, thread and lengths of exotic fabrics dotted a nearby workbench. Whatever she had done to borrow this room from the mayor, Rainbow was impressed. And no, she wasn’t surprised at all that the rest of their friends were here.

“Uh... Oh. Really? I totally didn’t know that,” she said with far too little enthusiasm. Rarity totally wasn’t buying it. She stepped forward so close Rainbow could feel the breath from her nostrils. Her eyes locked onto Rainbow’s and drilled into her soul with a diamond-tipped gaze. Rainbow searched for something to look at that wasn’t interrogating her and tried to put on her most innocent smile. Before long she felt a bump as the wall was pressed up behind her.

“You knew! And you didn’t tell me? Wha... How could you Rainbow? Doesn’t Twilight’s happiness mean anything to you? And where were you this morning? you weren’t-”

“Flying!” Rainbow cried before she drowned in questions, “I was out flying out of sight of everypony, you know, practicing my tricks,” Rarity backed off a little, though her eyes grew no less intense.

“Hmph!” she snorted, turning her head, “Just please be punctual next time, dear, we’ve got a lot to do today.” Rarity turned to one of her clothes racks. That subtle hum filled the air as Rarity sparked up her magic. Like lightning, a garment streaked off its hanger and hit Rainbow like an ocean wave. When she opened her eyes she was covered in the drab uniform of a taxi mare. Another spell tucked her mane and tail away from sight.

“Now hurry along, Rainbow, the carriage is already outside.”

“Yeah, yeah” she mumbled as she glided out the door.

Rainbow met Twilight outside the Ocean Breeze Spa & Bath. The building was sculpted to look like a bright pink shell, was choked in a cloud of floral perfumes and constantly played a tacky recording of the ocean through some hidden speaker. Being perched high against the mountain however, it had a powerful view of the sea mottled with the shadows of clouds passing overhead.

Rainbow touched down just in time to see Twilight trotting out the double doors with Spike waddling quickly behind her. She seemed to be smiling, relaxed and not focussed on anything in particular. Rainbow directed a little nod at Spike and the two of them quickly climbed into the small two-seat carriage.

“Hello,” Said Twilight Sparkle.

“Uh, hi,” Rainbow replied, but in a voice too deep and gruff to recognise. The wind started to pick up as Rainbow Dash began to pull them into the air.

“Where are we going? I bet I have a book about it.”

“We’re going to the shipwreck, remember?” Spike told her. He gave his friend a quizzical look, but she just looked back with the same smile he’d been seeing all day.

“Shipwrecks are often caused by inclement weather or rocks hidden below the water!” She replied enthusiastically. Rainbow Dash risked a glance back at Spike, who shrugged, just as confused as she was.

“Uh, how long until we get there?” He asked, watching the buildings below them whipping past in a blur.

“We’re actually here already,”

Rainbow came to a halt next to a fenced off swathe of green. Twilight oohed and aahed when she looked to her right. There, embedded in the hill and swamped in vines and moss, was the skeleton of an old galley. To the left, the mountain sloped downwards and away, terminating finally in the docks and the waves lapping at the ships coming and going. Again, the view was superb, comparable to the one they had left behind at the spa.

A unicorn in an airy rose-coloured dress came galloping up to the trio. She quickly shuttled Spike and Twilight out of the carriage and along the dark, iron fence. Rainbow watched as they turned into a boxy wooden hut that marked the entrance to the fields beyond. As soon as they had disappeared from sight, she shot off into the air, carriage and all.

“...With banners in the, uh, the lunarian style,” The unicorn in the rose-coloured dress was saying. Resting against her horn was a pair of large,dark sunglasses that obscured most of her face. Her coat was pale pink, but her mane and tail were concealed beneath a large sunhat and the folds of her dress respectively. “And over there, miss, is the tour group you will be joining. Congratulations again on winning the Neighchelles super fun package!”

The unicorn handed over a pair of tickets and pointed Twilight towards the tour group. It was headed by a tall brown stallion leaning against the reception counter and talking animatedly to his batch of tourists. Once Twilight had left for the group, the other unicorn swiveled and left the other way. Only once she had heard the door click behind her did she look back to see Twilight walk off with the tour. Somepony was missing, however. A second later, the door clicked again and Spike stepped out into the sunlight.

“Spike, wha? Go keep an eye on Twilight!” The unicorn said in an harsh whisper.

“Sorry, Rarity, it’s just that I’ve got a cold.” Spike shot a tongue of green flame from his nose for emphasis. “And I wouldn’t want to burn that old ship down,”

“Oh dear, very well then, it can’t be helped. How did Twilight take it?”

“She didn’t seem to care,”

“I see, that’s... fortunate,” Rarity glanced back into the building, but Twilight was long gone and couldn’t be seen through the fence either. “Why, she’s been remarkably cooperative today... I dare say conjuring up an imaginary prize for her has been my best idea this trip. Now, come along Spike, we’ll try find something else for you to do,”

Spike and Rarity set off into town, Rarity dissolving her disguises as they began to blend into the crowd.

Twilight peered through the greasy window with her violet eyes. It was blurry, but she could make out something pink fiddling with the things inside. She heard the clanging and banging of metal on metal as well as various other mechanical noises. On top of it wall some some kind of high-pitched singing filtering through the shed’s wooden walls.

Softly, so as to not attract attention, Twilight slumped against the partition, clinging to the sliver of shade provided by an inch of overhanging roof. The shed was pressed up against the water, removed from the shade of nearby trees. Also, despite the cooling effects of the ocean, it was humid and the bright sun was searing hot. Twilight wished she was in the shed’d presumably cool interior, but she needed to extract Pinkie Pie first.

And there was the crux of the issue.

While Pinkie still occupied the shed, Twilight had no hope of fully examining what she was doing or why. She needed to be stealthy too. Prowling around somewhere was Applejack, which effectively doubled the number of things she had to keep her mind on. Again, she peered into the shed, standing on the tips of her hind legs to glimpse through to the pink pony within. Carefully, she slid a wrench on one of the high shelves a little closer to the edge.

Her plan was simple. She’d, using a wind spell, buffet the shed so that the wrench fell from the shelf triggering: A- Pinkie’s pinkie sense which would cause her to step back from whatever she was doing; and B- a bag of saw dust to tip over (which, combined with the wind spell spilling through the cracks in the shed would fill the air with a cloud of dust). She would then magically unlock the door before introducing a swarm of bees (prompting the nose-itch pinkie-sense reaction and driving Pinkie to leave the shed for one reason or another) to the shed’s interior. This would be coincided cleverly with Applejack’s next appearance, so that when Pinkie left the shed and picked up Twilight’s carefully laid trail of candy (including some throat soothers and other healing substances, just in case), Applejack would follow her (Which her observations told her would occur with 90% confidence). The trail ought to be long enough for Twilight to enter and observe the shed, take notes and then lead Pinkie towards town with more candy to commence more observations.

Slinking around the corner of the shed, Twilight spotted Applejack. She was trotting calmly along the shore with a red toolbox held between her teeth. Twilight calmed her mind and let the familiar hum of magic surround her horn. She enacted the plan. Everything went exactly as predicted, and soon she was peering around a corner at Applejack galloping towards a distracted Pinkie Pie.

“Perfect,” she hummed to herself, and entered the shed... moments before being driven out by a swarm of angry bees. Almost perfect.

Having rid herself of the bees, Twilight stepped into the shed properly. Just as she had seen before, every surface was coated in a slick layer of grease and dust. Complimenting the sunlight suffusing through the windows and the cracks in the walls and roof was a candle burning low on a bench on the far side of the room. A smoggy industrial scent mingled oddly with the smell of salt from the sea, just as the hot humid air outside mingled with the cooler still air within. Tools, cans of paint or other, more suspicious chemicals and hardware supplies of all kinds crowded in disorganised piles along the benches. Finally, occupying a good portion of the, admittedly large, shed was Pinkie Pie’s work project.

Twilight took notes on the sleek, metal body, the gears and pedals linking to what looked like a tail and the pointed triangles aligned along mechanisms front. She worked efficiently, then disappeared in a flash of purple light.

Was it her imagination, or was Applejack seeing purple flashes? A trail of candy was suspicious enough as it was, but she didn’t need phantom lights confusing her. ‘Pinkie,’ she had said; ‘this is suspicious’ she had tried to tell her, but she had given up on that fairly quick. When Pinkie Pie saw free candy, mere strange circumstances were hardly going to deter her. Applejack resigned herself to watching over her friend and watching out for tricks or trouble.

Applejack and Pinkie were being led through a familiar part of town. There were no market stalls almost collapsing with wares here, but she recognised the building’s style on either side. Here in the daylight and with the crowd reduced greatly, she could see the imprints of shellfish in the limestone walls. Similarly, the shops housed within seemed cool and welcoming compared to the streets glaring in the sun. One shop, particularly iridescent, bore the name 'Crystal Clear’s emporium of optical instruments and glassware' in large, shiny letters on the window.

Applejack would have been glad to see the candy trail end, despite the fate that certainly awaited them. Her face was starting to ache from all the awkward smiles she made to passers-by. Luckily, what she saw in the distance had the potential to signal her relief.

“Pinkie, look!” she whispered as if she were pointing out some dangerous animal. She stuck her hoof towards the end of the street and the unicorn with the purple dragon trailing behind her. Rarity seemed to be trotting towards an unknown destination while Spike laboured unstably under the weight of several large rolls of fabric. Thankfully, Pinkie actually looked. Sharply, instantly, she gasped.

“They must be the ones with the candy,” She cried, “Let’s follow them!”

“Are ya’ sure that’s such a good...” Applejack’s words were lost as Pinkie galloped away. She stomped the ground in frustration and began to follow.

Not long after, they had lost the pair but retrieved the candy trail. It had taken them around the back of town hall where a heavy looking door sat on it’s rusted hinges. It was sitting somewhat ajar, with a line of bon-bons leading around the door and into a room inside. Applejack carefully paced her way around the door and into the shadowy chamber. It turned out to be a small library with shelves lined with dusty books and a table in the centre. This table was where Pinkie was enjoying the fruits of her chase: a pile of assorted sweets that she munched upon distractedly. Suddenly, the door swung shut behind them with a creak and a bang.

“It’s stuck!” AJ whispered as she strained against it with her back hooves. “Dang... Rusty... Hinges! looks like we gotta get out another way if we don’t wanna attract attention,”

The room had gone rather dark with the light of day cut off, but still some light radiated from the door on the other side. Applejack snuck around to peek out the door, seeing the same open hall she had entered on her first day on this island. The door emerged under a colonnade that skirted three edges of the room, with the last, opposite her, holding the exit. AJ looked back at Pinkie, who was busy making chewing and giggling noises. She slunk out the door and began edging along the wall to her right.

Rarity whinnied as she carried a pile of maps back to the mayor’s office. The slippery stallion was currently out. In fact, there was nopony currently in town hall except herself and Spike (as far as she knew). The weight of the task ahead of her was crushing. She had never faced down such an enormous body of planning or paperwork. Setting the pile of wrinkled, brown paper on the wooden floor, Rarity leant against the balcony to try and collect her thoughts.

For a brief moment, she locked eyes with an orange pony glancing out from behind a column. Applejack disappeared in a flash. Rarity stared down the column her friend had vanished behind until Applejack inevitably reappeared. When she did, they held their gaze long enough for Rarity to give her a look that could only mean ‘what?’. Applejack returned with a shrug and followed up by putting a hoof to her lips. Looking about furtively, Rarity leaned out and waved her hooves in a shooing motion, causing the intricately carved balustrade to creak under her weight. Applejack pointed to the door she had just come from and performed a bounce they both knew all too well. Despite her best efforts the clacking of her hooves echoed about the chamber. Rarity couldn’t help but put a hoof to her exasperated face.

“Oh, Spikey-wikey, could you do a favour for me?” She called as she headed back into the workroom.

Pinkie Pie looked about the dimly-lit room and didn’t see Applejack. Then, she poked her head out of the doorway behind her and saw Applejack.

“Hey-!” Applejack cut Pinkie off before she could say another loud, high-pitched word with a lightning-quick hoof to the mouth. She let out a gentle shush and motioned for her to be silent. Floating through the hall’s cool air was the muffled conversation of Rarity and Spike, and Pinkie nodded vigorously in understanding. Applejack pointed to the exit on the other side and the two began creeping along the left wall.

It was not long until the conversation above seemed to be reaching some sort of crescendo. Suddenly they heard a door swing open and the hurried scraping of dragon claws against the wood of the mezzanine above. The pair froze against a column, waiting for Spike to pass. There was a yelp, a thump and flurry of paper before Pinkie saw a number of maps twirling their way onto their floor. Pinkie and AJ exchanged panicked looks as they began the retreat back to the library door. Luckily, they had left the door ajar and managed to slip in without making a noise.

Two pairs of eyes, one blue the other green, peered out of the crack in that door. They followed Spike as he scampered down the staircase at the far end of the hall and up to the field of fallen papers. Then the eyes shrank into the room for fear of being noticed.

“What should we do?” Applejack whispered.

“You stay here and look for a secret exit, I’ve got a plan...”

“A secret what now? Pinkie... where’d you go?” The room was already empty, and Applejack saw no other option but to do what Pinkie said. Reluctantly, she began to examine the walls and bookshelves.

Pinkie Pie was out in the hall, hidden from AJ and Rarity by a column but not from Spike. Spike was staring at her, head cocked in confusion.

“So I did hear-” Pinkie motioned for quiet. Spike proceeded in a whisper.

“Oh, right, I bet you don’t wanna attract Rarity’s attention, huh. So, uh, you ready for this afternoon? I don’t know how I’m going to-”

“I need you to distract Rarity so Applejack and I can escape,” Pinkie motioned in an elaborate waving of hooves before Spike could speak any further.

“Come again?”

“Applejack’s in the library and we need to get out through that door before Rarity finds us!” Pinkie waved even more vigorously.

“Huh?”

“We need to escape! Help us!”

“You’re trying to... get out?” Spike was rewarded with an enthusiastic nod. “And... you want my help?” Another nod. “Well, why didn’t you say so? Sure thing, Pinkie Pie, the door’s just over there,”

Pinkie responded with a dramatic feint and pointed towards the workroom where she’d heard the unicorn’s voice from. By chance, at that very moment they heard Rarity call out.

“Spiiike!” she sang “Whatever is taking you so long?” Hoof steps echoed around from above as Rarity made her way to the railing. She peered down to see Spike peering back amid the scattered maps.

“Uh, just a minute Rarity, I’ve just gotta collect all these maps,”

“Well do hurry up about it, we’ve got lots of important things to do,” Rarity said as she trotted back inside her room

“Actually, there was something I wanted to talk to you about,” He gave Pinkie a claws-up and, grabbing the last of the maps, ran off up the stairs. Pinkie returned to the library.

Inside the library, Applejack had pulled one of the bookshelves out slightly and was examining the wall behind it. Pinkie snuck in without a sound.

“Hey Applejack, my plan worked!” she exclaimed as quietly as she could. The sudden noise caused Applejack to jump a little.

“Pinkie Pie, where’d you come from? And where’d you go? And what were you doing?”

“I was enacting my plan, silly and- ooh! Is that a secret doorway?”

“Yes, wouldn’t you know it. I jus’ found it here behind this bookshelf. Looks like somepony blocked it off for some reason.” Pinkie Pie peered around Applejack at the dusty wooden door. It was still blocked from entrance by the furniture, but the shelf had been swung out just enough for a clear view.

“Alright, let’s get out of here,” she declared suddenly, and without another word (though not without a confused glance from Applejack) the two left the room.

Twilight briefly glanced down from the window to scribble down some more notes. Though her primary interest was the schemes of her friends, she couldn’t help but take special note of the architecture and design of the building. It had a primarily rectangular layout with two storeys of rooms. Above this was the curved roof inlaid with a set of large circular windows on each of the four faces. It was there, nestled against one of these windows, that Twilight Sparkle was watching her friends sneak about town hall’s interior and carefully noting their interactions. Especially curious to her, however, was the design of the balustrade circling the mezzanine.

It took the shape of a winding serpent, of a sort she’d seen before. She’d seen it as a cloud sculpture yesterday and she need only look towards the plaza before the hall to see it again, coiled about the fountain. This time, however, as the creature twisted its way to the centre of the rail, a spot opposite the entrance, it met with a carving of the royal sisters positioned on either side of a large disc. Twilight knew such a design was not used flippantly, and it made her wonder whether the sea serpent had some historical significance. On the floor below this device was a lectern supporting and ancient looking book, which Twilight thought might contain some wisdom on the subject.

Twilight looked up from her notes just in time to see Pinkie emerge from the room at the end of the hall. Applejack and Pinkie had already gone in and out of that room a couple of times each. Even now they continued to move slowly and cat-like, despite their presences being well-known to both Rarity and Spike. Twilight watched in interest while her mind buzzed over ways to subtly force another confrontation with Rarity and Spike. Luckily, fluttering away slowly through the humid tropical air was the perfect pony for the job.

“Fluttershy!” She hissed as she dragged the pegasus over in a haze of purple light. Fluttershy began to squeak with surprise and protestations, feebly attempting to escape Twilight’s magical grasp.

“I need you to fly into town hall for me, no time to explain,” Twilight commanded and teleported her to the front door before she could respond. She turned her attention once again to the hall’s shady interior. I was just in time to see Fluttershy meet with Pinkie and Applejack as they were approaching the final leg of their escape. Meanwhile, she also saw the door to Rarity’s room swing open, revealing the last of her friends, a cyan pegasus, inside.

The trio on the ground floor seemed alerted as soon as the door first clicked. They scattered. Applejack made a mad dash for the exit, whilst Pinkie and Fluttershy made for the cover of the colonnade. When Rainbow stepped out of the room she seemed a little tense, as if she were about to leap into the air at any moment. She crept over to the railing and leant over, using her natural pegasus lightness to reduce the sound of her hooves below a whisper. Twilight made some careful notes, both on Rainbow’s behaviour and the timing of both pegasi’s appearance, then settled in to watch.

Rainbow stopped for just a second as the door before her swung open. For a fleeting second she saw- or imagined- the flick of a yellow tail disappearing into the nook that marked the hall’s main entrance. She had certainly heard somepony running. More to the point, she thought she’d heard two sets of hooves traveling in different directions. She didn’t need to be Twilight to figure out what that meant. She hushed Rarity and Spike before glided through the threshold and leaned over the balcony, extending her blue feathers in readiness. Hoof by hoof she climbed on top of the balustrade and looked down on the empty marble floor and basalt pillars beneath her.

Piercing the still air was the creak of an opening door...

“Aha!” Rainbow accused, her wings beating against the air as she came to a stop beneath the mezzanine. The accusation melted out of her face, however, when all she saw was Flutterhy, hovering near a side room, trying to make herself small.

“Fluttershy?” she hissed, “What are you doing here? I thought-” Rainbow cut herself off there, thinking there might be ponies listening in. As if in answer to her suspicions, Rarity’s voice rang over the chamber.

“Rainbow dear, what in the world are you doing?” she called with an hint of uncertainty in her voice.

“Uh...” Rainbow looked at Fluttershy, who was staring back pleadingly. She was torn between betraying Fluttershy or surrendering her to Rarity’s machinations. After all, if she wasn’t here to help Rarity, why was she here at all...?

“...Nothing!” She called back. She gave a shooing motion to the grateful Fluttershy and began wafting her way back into upper floor airspace.

Then, she heard another click from somewhere deeper in the building. Her heart skipped a beat as she launched into action, zooming past Fluttershy into the room beyond. The air whooshing about her billowed through what little space there was inside, tossing papers into the air and rattling a door embedded in the side wall. In even less time Rainbow rushed through this opening, arriving in the next room while it still rang with the sound of yet another door slammed shut in haste. Once more, Rainbow took the side door, which led back out into the hall, throwing it wide open to come face-to-face with Fluttershy.

“Flutter-? Outta my way, where’d Pinkie go?” Rainbow whispered as she tried to push her head past. Fluttershy had her wings outspread, obscuring much of the chamber beyond, but that didn’t stop Rainbow from glimpsing a pink blur disappear through a door in the hall’s far-right corner. Rainbow shoved he friend aside without much resistance and picked up the chase once again.

Making diagonally across the hall she finally came to what seemed like a simple conference room. A long, polished wooden table dominated the room with a pair of cabinets on the far end. Slit-like windows spilt golden sunlight across the floor and shiny wood. The room had three doors: one on the wall to her left, the second she had come through, and a third on the same wall but nearer the far end of the room. This door, opening apparently to another room behind the end of the hall she’d just left, suddenly produced an hollow knock from its opposite face. Tirelessly, Rainbow pounced upon the portal and pulled it wide open.

She found herself taunted by a bookshelf blocking her path and a quiet suppressed giggle from somewhere in the dim room beyond.

Fluttershy quietly slipped into the room Rainbow had just flown out of. It seemed to be some kind of office. It had a small but ornate desk near the slim windows, a smattering of bamboo seats and a row of cabinets along one wall. By way of hiding places it was rather poor. The cabinets looked too heavy to move and had no large spaces inside them, the chairs were to skeletal to provide any cover and the desk was to open to properly protect anything from sight. Regardless, Fluttershy crawled her way under the desk, covered her eyes with her hooves and tried so very, very hard to make herself invisible.

There was some kind of shouting happening in the hall’s main chamber. Mainly the noise was attributable to Rainbow Dash, trying to lure Pinkie out by taunts or tricks. Rarity’s voice was in there too, appealing to the stubborn pegasus for calm at the very least. Occasionally too she heard Spike’s words drift in and out of hearing, franticly trying to convince Rainbow that nopony was in the hall except for them. Once, she thought she even heard Pinkie’s maniacal laughter. The voices came and went from different places around the hall, often accompanied by the clattering of hooves or the slamming of doors.

There was a tapping on the window behind her, causing Fluttershy to practically leap from her skin. It was Applejack, signaling for Fluttershy to open the window.

“What in tarnation’s goin’ on in there?” The earth pony inquired once the window had been opened for her.

“I don’t know, it’s utter chaos! Rainbow seems to have gone mad or something1”

“Consarn it. Alright then, sugarcube, ah’ve got a plan,” Applejack passed a ball of wet dirt into Fluttershy’s hooves. “Ah hate to do this, but if get that stuff into Rarity’s hair, she ought to distract everypony good and long enough for y’all to escape,”

“What? but-”

“Ah know, sugarcube, but trust me, this’ll work and you’re gonna have a hard time gettin’ Dash distracted otherwise,” Applejack reassured in an understanding tone. Fluttershy eyed the mud hesitantly, finally nodding gently in acceptance. She was sorely regretting fluttering through those doors at Twilight’s command. “Good on ya’ Fluttershy, now go, we better not waste any more time,”

It was then that Fluttershy heard something in the next room over, the one closest to the library. Her realisation of how lucky she had been so far was accompanied with a startled meep. Instinctually, she flew in the opposite direction, clutching the mud to her chest and quickly exiting through the side door. The room she entered had papers strewn about the floor from Dash’s windy invasion. It was much like the room she had left, but the pile of books and paperwork gave it a much more lived-in atmosphere. Silently, she closed the door.

She did this just in time, apparently, for she soon heard the clicks and creaks of somepony entering the room. This was quickly followed by another, then a pause, then one more.

“There’s nopony in there, Rainbow,” She heard Spike say out in the hall.

“Argh! I swear I had her this time! Rarity! Keep watching the entrance, she’s definitely in here somewhere!”

Fluttershy retreated from the door and began making for the next one. She had crept about halfway across the room when-

“Hiya Fluttershy!” The high pitch greeting almost made Fluttershy drop the mud, as well as freezing her in her tracks. “Hey, watcha got there? Is it mud? Are we making mud pies? How about mud cake? Or are we going to throw it in Rarity’s hair to distract Rainbow Dash so we can escape? I hope it’s mud cake, I love mud cake!”

“Uh... throw it at Rarity?”

“Great idea Fluttershy!”

Pinkie led Fluttershy to the door to the main hall. Just as Rainbow said, Rarity was standing before the main doors, looking stressed and annoyed. The actual task was a quick and efficient affair. In a moment where Rarity was distracted by Dash’s antics on the other side of the room, Pinkie slipped out and with a mighty swing flung the mud high into the air. In a second she back behind the cover of the door. The following pause, by contrast, was surprisingly drawn out. Fluttershy waited anxiously, dreading that Pinkie had missed, but finally came the piercing shriek that echoed loudly through every room in the building. Rarity screamed and screamed and screamed and Pinkie grabbed Fluttershy and sprinted out the door. The pair met with Applejack outside and the trio galloped away from there, leaving the screeching unicorn and the persistent pegasus far behind.

Spike spun about the second the screaming began. He saw Rarity galloping about uncontrollably, flinging flecks of mud across the white marble floor. He started to run over, but Rainbow got there first.

“Pull it together Rarity! Where did the mu-”

“I meet with such a fate and you just expect me to pull it together!?” Rarity quickly reverted to more melodramatic moaning. “My mane is ruined!”

In the corner of his mind, Spike was briefly aware of of the main doors scratching the floor as they opened, but he chose to say nothing. Instead, when Rainbow had forsaken consoling the fashionista, she noticed the heavy doors letting in bright sunlight to shine through the hall. She found the stain where the mud had fallen from the roof, but Spike pointed out that nopony could really tell how long it had been there, especially with all the shaking they had been making thee building do lately. Rainbow was still suspicious, but it would do to protect his secrets for what little time remained. Finally, he had an idea.

“Uh, Rarity? I think I know what we could do to help fix your mane. There’s a spot where all these minerals bubble up from the earth and it’s really good for your follicles...”

“Huh?” Rarity sniffled as she looked up at the dragon, “Where?”

“The Black Atoll,”

The air had cleared considerably since the misty morning. Instead, high in the air, fluffy mountainous clouds drifted over the mid-day sun. Fluttershy and Applejack were lying back on a pair of hammocks by their lodgings. Though the fan-like fronds of palm trees protected them from the direct sun, they still had decent view of the sky over the nearby ocean. In the distance, over the breaking waves and rustling trees, they could hear the clangings and whirrings from Pinkie’s mystery shed. Of course, they weren’t allowed to see the ‘surprise’ inside, but that bothered them little in this moment of peace.

“So ya say Dash rides about on those things with some kinda board?”

“Yes, the clouds in Equestria never reach that size, even over the Everfree forest,”

Applejack certainly knew what cloud-boarding was, but as an earth pony she’d never concerned herself too much with pegasus sports. She preferred a game of hoofball more than anything else and could honestly say she was quite good at it. By contrast, Fluttershy wasn’t really an adherent to any sort of sport but had learnt more than enough in her conversations with Rainbow Dash.

“They sure seem mighty far away... I wonder how they’re doin’ back home? D’ya reckon they fixed that weather problem yet?”

Fluttershy didn’t respond instantly. She tried to let the gentle rocking of her hammock calm her before she pressed forth, like a lullaby. It succeeded in soothing her fluttering nerves, but didn’t make her feel much braver. “Um, actually Applejack, can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead, sugarcube”

“Well, it’s just that when we get back I kinda need a favour,”

“You know I happy to oblige with whatever ya’ need,”

“Oh, well, you see, I sort of need you to hide me for a while...”

Had Applejack been able to instantly stop swinging and look up at Fluttershy, she would have. As it was, her attempt to inspect her friend only aggravated the hammock’s once gentle arcs. Typically, her companion wasn’t looking back, but was instead frozen with anxiety and thoroughly avoiding eye-contact. Applejack wanted to be sympathetic, but she wanted answers more.

“Why in Equestria would you want that?” She asked as non-accusingly as she could.

“It’s, um, a long story... I mean, you have to do it if you don’t want to, it’s just that...” Fluttershy trailed off into mumblings.

“Now, don’t fret it, Fluttershy, you’re always welcome down at the acres, hiding or not.”

“Really? Thank you Applejack!” Fluttershy looked visibly relieved at the acceptance, and Applejack couldn’t help but wonder what was going on. Still, it had been a strange few days and she wondered if she’d ever find out what was going on with anypony.

Vaguely, the pair was aware that the noise from further down the beach had ceased. Soon, bouncing along the sand like some animals jump from the water was Pinkie Pie. She announced that the surprise was ready and all but physically dragged Fluttershy and Applejack down to her shed.

“Surprise!” Pinkie yelled as the shed was coming into view. Indeed, Applejack and Fluttershy were quite surprised. What they saw floating a few metres away from the shed was a large a stately boat, much too big to have come from inside. The front was mostly taken up by a deck while the back had a cabin and a ladder to the roof. Suddenly Pinkie was already on board, dressed in a sailor’s coat and hat. “We’re going on a cruise!”

“Where to?” Asked Fluttershy as she floated on board.

“The Black Atoll!”

Pinkie’s vessel cruised towards the edge of the atoll, where the water suddenly became darker and shallower. She could discern, through her brass spy-glass, another ship on the atoll’s opposite edge. It appeared to be empty except for a diminutive purple dragon. Ducking inside the cabin, Pinkie gave the ship’s horn a single, long honk, startling Fluttershy and Applejack. As expected, a wisp of green flame shot up from the other boat, flickering like an ethereal flag in the breeze. After a little more searching she spotted Rarity floating through the deeper waters in the atoll’s centre. Everything seemed to be in place, so she surreptitiously slipped down the hatch that led below deck.

Meanwhile, Spike was leaning over his own ship’s railings, eying Rarity nervously. The ferry was mostly abandoned by the superstitious island folk and Rarity had sent Rainbow away to tend to Twilight’s transport, so there was only Spike and the ship’s captain currently on-board. He rapped his claws over the metal railing, trying to lose his nerves amidst the repetitious clangs, but still the butterflies flittered through his stomach. The sea was mostly calm within the atoll, but still it rippled in the wind. It was between these ripples that he spotted the grey triangle gliding like blade through butter. He almost leapt over the railings then, but restrained himself as he saw it come closer and closer to Rarity.

On the other boat Fluttershy also eyed Rarity with worry, wondering if Pinkie knew she’d be here. Distracted as she was, she barely registered the sound of Applejack splashing in the water, and certainly didn’t see the triangle cutting menacingly towards the unicorn. Not, at least until it was too late.

She gasped when, suddenly, the triangle rose from the waters to reveal a snout dotted with twin, uncompromisingly black eyes and terminating in a maw armed with rows of jagged teeth. Even from this distance, she heard Rarity’s scream ring out loud and clear. Fluttershy watched, frozen in place by shock, as the shark closed in on the pony. Briefly, she noted something small and purple dive off the boat on the far side of the atoll and begin a desperate swim towards the shark.

Spike was making good time. He had timed his rescue attempt well, and though the aching exhaustion was building in his arms and legs he knew he’d get there just in time.

“Hang on... Rarity! I’m coming!” he managed to yell between mouthfuls of seawater.

Spike came up to the side of the flailing unicorn. Rarity barely had a chance to utter a cry of surprise before he leapt against the monster’s snout, holding it shut with all his might.

“Spike?”

“Go!”

Rarity went, swimming all the way back to the boat as Spike thrashed about with the creature in the water. The fight churned up the water as if it were boiling, sending a cloud of black silt billowing around the battle ground. Despite the creature’s spasms, Spike held fast, beating its eyes and nose with whichever appendage he had free.

“Save him!” Rarity commanded the captain before she had even touched the ship’s hull.

The captain looked down at her with pity. “It’s too shallow, miss. We’d be runnin’ aground...”

At that same moment, on a different ship, Applejack was calling Fluttershy’s name. “Fluttershy! FLUTTERSHY! You’ve got to save Spike! you’re the only one with wings!” The words barely registered with her until Applejack doused her in a powerful splash of seawater. “FLUTTERSHY!”

The rivulets of cold running down her forehead briefly snapped her to attention. She looked, her face and mind both blank, at the orange pony in yelling at her in the water.

“GO!”

Blinking, she nodded and flew. Even then, flapping as hard as she could, she doubted whether she could do anything against the wild, writhing bodies. She worried she wouldn’t be strong enough to pull Spike away; she worried about her missing primary feather, even now making her flight lopsided and awkward; and she worried about what had been planted below the waves in this very atoll. Despite all this, Spike, somehow, seemed to be winning. Even more encouraging was the Rainbow streak she saw rapidly closing in on the boat ahead.

It was Rainbow Dash, and as halted above the deck of the ferry she was assaulted by Rarity’s incoherent screams.

“Rainbow! Spike! Shark! Save him!” She wailed. For just a moment, Rainbow did nothing, gazing over the water in confusion. After that, the situation hit her like a bolt of lightning. Instantly she was an arrow directed at the raging aquatic battle. She could feel the sound barrier resisting the force of her wings that made her cover the distance in the blink of an eye. Nearing the shark and the dragon she spotted Fluttershy approaching from the other side and prepared to slow down.

Suddenly, there was an explosion.

To Rarity and Applejack, watching at a distance, they saw a white sphere emerge from the waters and burst free with a sound like thunder. Both pegasi were sent spinning off in opposite directions like carelessly tossed pieces of trash. Even the shark shot up into the air with Spike flailing helplessly, still attached stubbornly to its face, as it sank back into the smoke and away from view.

For Rainbow and Fluttershy, hurtling through the air with limp bodies and ringing ears, it didn’t take long to figure out what happened. Those had been their vapour melons, still raw and unsculpted, that had burst beneath the waves and sent them spinning away. Rainbow managed to right herself in the air quickly and dived back into the clouds. She swooped and spun and searched for Spike, but neither he nor his predator where anywhere within the grey world inside the cloud. In the strangely calm silence that followed, the clearing clouds cast rainbows in the sunlight and the explosion’s rippled faded across turbulent water. There was nothing else for Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash except for their ringing ears and the rising dread in their hearts.

And not long after, while Applejack still looked slack-jawed over the atoll, Pinkie Pie slunk up from the hatch in her boat and tried to look shocked.

Twilight dragged her hooves through the doors of her cabin, entering without even pausing to wipe her muddy hooves. Neither the vibrant plant life nor the awe-inspiring view her cabin offered seemed as attractive to her as flopping onto her hammock and closing her eyes. It had been a long day for Twilight, both mentally and physically.

She had her notebook on her mind, as well as literally held within her head by her teeth. In it, she had recorded all the comings and goings of her friends, plus extra information she could gather from the locals and notes on her theories to explain their behaviours. She had made excellent progress, but was still far from an answer. It didn’t help that they all disappeared somewhere for the afternoon, forcing Twilight to seek other ways to occupy her time. The last pony she had seen had been Rainbow Dash, apparently playing superhero around town.

Just inside the door Twilight found two different bodies of paper; A scroll, and a newspaper. She leant down and scooped these up with her mouth, too tired to attempt magic. One by one she dropped them into her saddle bags next to the envelope she had sneakily acquired off Applejack. Her frantic morning gave her little time to examine the envelope then and by afternoon it had slipped her mind. As she lethargically and mechanically trotted for the hammock’s sweet bliss, she quietly pondered what might be inside.

First thing was first however. When she finally slumped into the hanging fabric she set her eyes towards the door. Moments later, coming through like a faithful pet, her doppelgänger trotted into view. This was what had run her ragged all day long, an even now seemed to taunt her by possessing a youthful energy she sorely missed. It was not easy sustaining a magical mirror clone, but this way she could see and feel everything it did should she choose to. Its services had been more than useful, but still Twilight dismissed it with an astounding sense of relief, as if she had just dropped an heavy weight. It turned into a glowing wisp and twirled towards the mirror it rose from like a leaf in the wind.

After a brief rest, Twilight decided to open the envelope, reading it by the orange sunset glow. Though the stationary itself was rather plain, albeit somewhat thicker and grainier than normal paper, it was sealed with a little pink heart. Twilight whiffed a strange scent rising from it, something floral and spicy that she couldn’t identify.

The letter rather simply said:

Meet me before the Hibiscus Hotel at daybreak, Friday morning. I’ve got a surprise for you~

Love, Rainbow Dash

The letter aroused Twilight’s curiosity for a number of reasons. Content-wise, Twilight knew that the Hibiscus was the hotel Rainbow and Rarity were staying at, and she doubted Rainbow would sign anything ‘love’ (the last letter she had gotten from Rainbow was signed ‘awesomely yours’), not to mention this mysterious ‘surprise’. A hint of disapproval leaked into her thoughts when she analysed the hoof-written letters themselves. They were done in Applejack’s messy, spaced out cursive (virtually illegible compared to her own) rather than Rainbow’s equally messy but somewhat more angular style. However, though clearly a fake, the signature matched Rainbow’s quite well. The last thing Twilight took notes on was the scent, much stronger now the letter was opened. It worked its way up her nostrils and somehow began doing strange things to her head. Focusing, she put the letter down and wrote a note to do some tests on a sample. She had read enough stories to guess what the result might be.

Next, she opened the scroll, a standard letter from, surprisingly, Princess Celestia. It said:

My most faithful student,

I regret to inform you that I require Spike for some important diplomatic business. The matter is urgent, so I have already sent Spike on his way. I am aware that you are abroad and hope his absence won’t impact too dearly upon your travels.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia.

This one confused her more. There were no inconsistencies nor any mysterious odours. It was a simple, and apparently genuine letter from her mentor, summoning Spike away for business. She was a little saddened by the news but knew that if this was really the princess’s will, then it must be for a good reason.

Twilight contemplated this for quite some time, swinging back and forth in her hammock. It did explain why Spike didn’t return with the rest of her friends, who had now locked themselves away in their respective lodgings, but whether it related to his recent strange behaviour was another question. Twilight dropped these thoughts just as she dropped the scroll itself and reached down for the newspaper.

It was growing dark, so Twilight resigned herself to reading by violet horn-light. Between the crumpled, black-and-white folds of the islands newspaper, Twilight found little that was useful or interesting. There was regular gossip; events she was already aware of, such as the reported ghost-ship; and the usual ads and notifications. High Stakes Lodge, she noticed, was running some sort of tour deal.

The one thing that really caught her interest was the front page headlines. Cloudsdale Calamity Culprit Chased to the Neighchelles, they read above a photo of Cloudsdale choked in storm clouds. As she scanned the article below, she gathered that the pony responsible for the disaster at the weather factory had apparently fled Equestria. They had originally traced their suspect to Ponyville, of all places, before she evaded authorities and was reported to have purchased a ticket to the Neighchelles.

This news scared Twilight. She knew Fluttershy had been in Cloudsdale during the accident, and now she was here. Fluttershy rarely travelled, so that in itself was suspicious. But, thinking back towards her interactions with Rainbow back at Town Hall, Twilight began to suspect that the meek pegasus was holding back more than she was letting on.

By the time Twilight was done with her ruminations, it was well into the night. pleasantly cool air billowed through the open doors to the balcony, bringing the scent and sounds of the ocean in with them. Up above, the stars were slowly growing brighter as they traced their hemispherical paths across the sky. Though her mind was whirling with new information, Twilight began to let the comfortable hammock rock her gently to sleep.

Pinkie Pie led the way up the spiraling staircase to their rooms amongst the canopy. It had gotten dark surprisingly quickly here, thanks to the ridge of rock to the west. Up above, High Stakes had apparently lit a series of lanterns that hung loosely from the building’s beams and flickered with an entourage of moths. The yellow light they cast contrasted warmly with the rising cold and gathering dark. Just like the moths, the three ponies sought the comfort of these lights. Their ascent was made in silence, save for the rhythmic creaking of the stairs and the drip drip drip from their wet bodies.

Pinkie’s ‘shark chase’ had left them all drained of will and soaked in brine. The hours of wandering had achieved only one thing- separating her group from Rarity and the others. Not a moment had passed when she did not want to say the one thing that would surely cheer them up, but her promise to Spike forced her to hold her tongue the whole time. Now, as she nudged open their cabin’s bamboo doors, she finally decided to speak up.

“You know what will cheer us up?” Fluttershy and Applejack wearily looked at each other, then back to Pinkie. “A good laugh!”

“What d’ya have in mind...?” Applejack said as she shuffled through the door way to the round table in the centre of the room. This was the table they had spent hours at writing fake letters and tracing copies of Dash’s autograph they had acquired the previous day. Even now it was strewn with spare papers and stained with wayward ink.

“I think we should continue with the prank,”

“WHAT!?” A shocked silence hung about the room and Pinkie was frozen in place by Applejack’s vitriolic stare. Eventually it was broken by Fluttershy, who ran out of the room crying. “Pinkie Pie, have you lost your mind?”

“No please, Applejack, Rainbow will appreciate this, she really will! Trust me.”

“How the hay d’ya expect me to trust ya when ya won’t even tell me what in Equestria y’all are up to?”

“But... you promised...”

“Ya know what...? Fine.” Applejack stood up, turned, and began to leave.

“Wait! I’ll tell you, just please don’t go...” Applejack hesitated. “Have you heard of ‘shipping’...?”

The ‘shark’ hit the beach with a metallic clang. Spike could hear the sound of the waves washing about the hull and reverberating inside to produce a tumultuous roar, like thunder. Spike sat in the bicycle seat breathing heavily. He was glad to be free the constant pedaling to power the machine and the swaying motion it produced. Dizzily, he clambered out of an hatch in the top and slid down onto the sands outside.

Predictably, the beach was empty, but it was also dark. Looking up he could see veins of stars peeking through tufts of clouds. Directly in front of him was a tall, foreboding wall of trees that marked the start of the forest. Somewhere between those trees’ leaves, an owl hooted softly.

“Spiiiiike!” He heard somepony hiss from amidst the trees. “Spiiiike! Over here!” Spike ran over to the source of the voice, a tall fern just beyond the tree line, and found Pinkie’s fluffy face peeking out of it. “Spike! Thank Celestia you’re safe!”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?”

“It’s just that when we were fighting it was so intense and then there was that EXPLOSION and I got you inside the shark and I got back onto my ship and everypony was worried and I spent hours trying to search for you, but really I just didn’t want to confront Rarity at all but then we didn’t find you and I think that just made everyone even sadder because now they think you’re...” Pinkie stopped talking as if her sentence was a train hitting a cliff. “But the important thing is you’re safe!”

“Oh, right... so how is everypony?”

“They’re getting along,”

“And they don’t suspect anything?”

“Nope, you’re in the clear,”

“Phew... Then I guess we better get going huh?”

“Yep! Hop on!” Spike leapt onto Pinkie’s back and the two of them crept away into the forest. High above them, a branch rustled as something took flight.

Their journey first took them to the Hibiscus Hotel. Its smooth, tiled reception was well-lit and friendly. The walls beneath the high roof were decorated with depictions of the sea-serpent in bas-relief. Soothing piano music hung around the air like pleasant scent. Both the check-in and concierge desks were empty, and the only other occupant of the room was a griffon who seemed to have collapsed on top of a round, cushioned seat for reasons unknown. This made it easy for Spike to use his guest key to unlock the Hotel’s doors and sneak through to the stairwell.

After some climbing they arrived at Rarity and Rainbow’s room on the next-to-last floor. Spike dropped onto his belly and tried to peer under the door while Pinkie pressed her ear carefully against the wood. It was dark and quiet inside, presumably because their friends were asleep. Spike produced a photo of him and Twilight from somewhere and checked the writing on the back one last time before slipping it underneath the door. Spike hopped back onto Pinkie and they slipped away themselves.

The next place they went to was the post office. The streets of Bridle Bay, cast in reddish torchlight, were full of shadows and riddled with alleys. There were plenty of places for Spike to hide when the occasional nocturnal denizen came trotting or flying by, and the darkness amplified the sound of their presence far before they came into sight. They made their way downhill until they could hear the steady gurgling of the fountain before town hall. Turning down a side-street, long since abandoned by goers to the night-markets, they found the post office shedding its light onto the cobblestones underneath a red striped awning.

Luckily, Bridle Bay had an all-night postage service, but they hadn’t come here to send any letters. Pinkie gently awoke the dozing stallion behind the counter and negotiated a cancellation for the newspaper delivery to Higher and Drier Cabin, where Twilight now presumably slept. As they left, one of the poles supporting the awning wobbled as a silent flier took to the air once again.

Finally they made it back to the beach where Spike had left the shark. The tide was a little lower now, so Pinkie helped Spike slide it back down into the water and helped him climb up to the hatch.

“There you go Spikey! Need anything else?”

“Huh? I don’t think so,”

“Will you be coming up tomorrow night?”

“Sure thing!”

“Okie Dokie Lokie! Bye! Have fun! Good luck!” Pinkie said as she pushed the contraption into the waves. She watched as the tail began waving and it powered its way out to sea. When it finally sank beneath the water Pinkie sighed and began the journey back to her bed. She didn’t notice it, but once again the rustling of branches could be heard over the wind and the waves.

Author's Note

Edits:
-formatting
-Spelling and grammar