Chapters She had to admit, it was a nice change of pace. Instead of the rolling green fields and simple woodlands that adorned the lands outside of Ponyville, now Twilight was gazing upon vast and majestic-looking rocky hills, as she and her companions travelled further and further along the train tracks. Their carriage was warm and comfortable right now, and the young unicorn kept her eyes on the scenery outside, with a contented smile on her face as she did so. Applejack and Pinkie were nearby, involved in some sort of discussion, though Twilight could not hear it herself. Letting out a sigh, she finally turned to her two friends, getting off her chair and walking over to them.
"I've never been to Appleoosa before. What's it like?"
Looking to her, Applejack cracked a smile.
"It's a town founded by Apples, Twi. So it's just about the homeliest, friendliest place y'all can find in Equestria."
Giggling slightly, Pinkie looked to the lavender unicorn and nodded in agreement.
"And cousin Braeburn is the friendliest of all. Though he can be a little bit...overwhelming at times."
Applejack rolled her eyes.
"She means he can't figure out when ta stop talkin."
Stifling a giggle of her own, Twilight, to the confusion of her friends, suddenly started to take on a more concerned expression.
"I hope Spike will be okay back in Ponyville."
Gaining a softer expression, Pinkie reached forward, gently placing her hoof upon Twilight's shoulder.
"Don't worry, Twilight. Fluttershy will take good care of him. Besides, he'd have probably been pretty bored coming out here."
Applejack nodded to that.
"True. This is just a visit ta make sure things are goin alright with the new orchards down there."
Twilight looked over her shoulder, out to the window besides her own seat.
"Well, I may not know apples or orchards, but I like to think I could help when we get there."
Smiling, Applejack tipped her hat to her friend.
"THAT'S the spirit, Twi! Ah reckon it'll be good for y'all ta get away from all that politics and stuff."
Sighing, Twilight nodded.
"No argument here. Hearing my brother and Cadence talk about difficulties with Ambassador Rarity can get...trying ."
But, it wasn't long before she resumed her earlier smile.
"But, no matter. Appleoosa's not far off now so..."
However, she was unable to continue speaking, as it was in this moment that the door of their carriage opened, revealing one of the train's conductors, a stallion, who stood in the doorway and addressed the passengers in a loud voice.
"We are now coming up to Appleoosa Station! If you would all be so kind as to prepare your belongings and ready yourselves for arrival!"
He left shortly after saying that, and Twilight and her friends looked to one another, nodding in unison before getting to the business of sorting out their respective travel-bags. Once sorted, they waited at their seats, looking out of the windows for a shot while before, finally, Applejack called out.
"There it is!"
Twilight could see that her friend had the right of it, as a town soon appeared on her side of the train as well as the other. She had to admit, it looked pretty much exactly how she'd been picturing it through the entire journey. A town with almost nothing but earth ponies, of many wooden homes, and most importantly of all, with everypony in view bearing some variation of an apple. This was indeed a town of Applejack's kin, that much was obvious, and when Twilight turned to her, she saw a wide smile upon her face.
"Well...let's get to it, shall we?"
Nodding, Twilight placed her bags upon her back, and got out of her seat, following her two friends out of the carriage. After just a short bit of walking, they arrived at the exit of the train, and they, along with a number of other ponies, began to depart from it. The air was warmer than Ponyville out here, and the sun far brighter, as shown when Twilight suddenly shielded her eyes from it for a short few moments. But, before she had a chance to comment on her new surroundings, Applejack beat her to it, taking in a gulp of air before exhaling deeply with a contented expression on her face.
"Ah! Ya smell that, girls? That's proper air!"
Chuckling, Pinkie nodded.
"Yeah, it's nice to get back out here again. It's been, what, two years, cousin?"
Applejack nodded to her.
"Eyup. And here's hopin we can...ah!"
Twilight looked to her after hearing that, and saw, to her slight confusion, that her farmer friend was now pointing straight ahead of her. Turning, Twilight could see that she was looking straight at an approaching earth pony stallion. He was bright yellow in his fur with an orange mane, and clad in garb that was very reminiscent of Applejack's, especially the hat. When he arrived, he did so with a friendly smile.
"Welcome ta Appleoosa, ladies!"
A brief laugh escaped Applejack before she took a step forward.
"Good ta see ya, Braeburn!"
The stallion nodded, turning his gaze over to Pinkie.
"Howdy, cousin Pinkie!"
The party-lover nodded.
"Doing good, Brae. And this ..."
She gestured to Twilight.
"...is Twilight. I think we wrote to you about her?"
Braeburn looked to Twilight, who smiled nervously before stepping forward briefly.
"Nice to meet you, Sir."
At that, the stallion chuckled.
"Heck now, Miss Twilight! Any friend of Applejack's is a friend of mine!"
He reached out his hoof, offering it to Twilight, and after just a brief moment of hesitation, the latter accepted it, shaking it slightly.
"Thank you for welcoming us here. I look forward to helping out how I can."
Braeburn nodded.
"Well, ah hope so too."
However, before anypony could say anything else, Pinkie started to take on a somewhat concerned look.
"No offense, Brae...but you're looking a little...tired."
Looking to him closely, Twilight saw that Pinkie was right. There were noticeable dark circles under the stallion's eyes, which, when noticed, caused him to look away, seeming somewhat embarrassed.
"Yeah...well...things have been pretty busy here lately."
Applejack took on a confused look.
"Why? What's wrong?"
Braeburn opened his mouth to speak, only to be halted when somepony called out.
"BRAEBURN!!!"
All four of the ponies turned to see that it was another earth pony stallion, who looked to Braeburn with a great deal of concern.
"It happened again!"
Immediately, Braeburn frowned.
"Are they comin?"
The other stallion nodded.
"Yeah. Doc's lookin at em now."
Groaning slightly, Braeburn nodded back.
"Alright. I'll be over in a bit."
To that, the other stallion started to gallop back where he'd come from, and was, shortly afterwards, joined by a number of other nearby ponies, prompting an understandable amount of confusion from Twilight and her friends.
"Wha...what's going on?" the young unicorn asked.
Braeburn turned to her, then to his two cousins, and started to seem more than a little hesitant. But, in the end, he let out a sigh, raising a hoof and gesturing to where the other stallion had run off to.
"Follow me. It's probably better if ya see it fer yerself."
The mood of the moment was very much a dour one, as Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie continued to follow their host, Braeburn. As they journeyed through the main street of Appleoosa, they would watch as more and more of the local ponies began to make their way ahead of them, heading for the same building. From the looks of it, it appeared to be the town hall, twice as tall as any other building in the immediate area. There was a feeling of urgency with everypony who moved there, and Twilight could not help but look more than a little worried about what it was they were going to find in there. Eventually, Braeburn reached the front door of the place, letting out a sigh before turning to his cousins and Twilight.
"Well...here we are."
And with that, he opened the door, leading to a collective gasp on the part of the three mares. For there, inside the main room of the town hall, there was utter chaos. There was frantic activity as doctors and nurses rushed about the place, tending to a number of patients that were laying in makeshift beds. However, what caught Twilight's attention first and foremost was that the patients in question were not ponies . No, these people were larger, with horns, and covered in thick brown coats of fur. Taking a step forward, she turned to Applejack.
"...Buffalo?"
The farmer nodded.
"Yeah. Ah've met em a few times before, but..."
She looked over to her cousin, her face one of confusion.
"Brae...what's goin on here?"
The stallion hung his head low, before then starting to slowly make his way inside the building, with the other mares close behind him.
"It started a few days ago. The buffalo have got themselves a small settlement just a few miles out of Appleoosa. But lately, every few nights...someone's been attackin em!"
Twilight seemed aghast at this.
"What?! But...but...why?!"
The stallion turned to her and shook his head.
"Ah don't know! Nopony does! They never take nothin. Whoever it is, they just...attack! Then they leave without a trace!"
He looked over to several of the injured buffalo, many of which were clearly in pain as the doctors looked them over.
"These poor folks have had to come over here pretty much every other day since it started. We're doin all we can ta help, but..."
He didn't finish, but even so, the unspoken meaning in his words were clear, especially when he hung his head. Twilight, glancing over to her two friends, then gave the stallion her complete attention, taking a step forward and gently placing a hoof upon his shoulder.
"Braeburn...for what it's worth...I'd like to help."
That, at the very least, caused her host to offer her a small smile.
"That's mighty good of ya, miss Twi...but ah just don't see how ya can ."
Twilight opened her mouth to speak, only to be halted when, all of a sudden, a deep and booming voice called out to them all.
"Braeburn!"
Immediately, all four of the ponies turned in unison to find, to their surprise, that the largest of the buffalo was walking towards them. He was clad in an ornate feather headdress, giving the clear indication that this was someone of authority amongst the buffalo. But what was more important right now was that he was limping badly, with one of his back legs bandaged heavily. So bad was it that one of the nurses soon rushed over to him.
"Chief Thunderhooves! You need your rest!"
But the older buffalo shook his head defiantly.
"No! I need to speak with him!"
Trotting over, Braeburn, gave a brief glance to the nurse, who silently nodded back before starting to walk off, albeit hesitantly. Then, with her gone, Braeburn now turned his eyes to the Chief.
"Chief? What's wrong? I mean...besides the obvious?"
The large buffalo glowered briefly, but the pain of his leg caused him to soften considerably.
"Braeburn...my friend...things have become worse than before!"
It was at this point that Twilight, along with Applejack and Pinkie, chose to step forward and address him themselves.
"What do you mean, Sir?"
The Chief looked to her, and was, at first, unsure of her. But, after being given a reassuring look from Braeburn, Thunderhooves sighed deeply.
"Our assailants...they didn't just inflict these injuries last night. They...they..."
He seemed hesitant to speak, almost pained to do so. But, eventually, he got his words out, with his tone tinted with rage as he did so.
"...they took my daughter!"
At that, Braeburn's head snapped in his direction.
"What?! They took Little Strongheart?!"
The Chief nodded.
"Yes. Though...for what purpose, I cannot say."
There was a pause, after which, Twilight turned to Applejack.
"Do you know this buffalo?"
Applejack nodded.
"Yeah. She's a friend."
Frowning, the orange mare took a step closer to the Chief.
"Beggin yer pardon, Chief...but do ya have any inklin where all these varmints are comin from?"
The Chief hung his head low, shaking it.
"I...I do not. They come without warning, and leave just as swiftly. It is always in the middle of the night, so we cannot see them."
For a time, the leader of the buffalo looked almost ashamed of himself right now.
"For all our strength...we have been nothing short of powerless before this foe."
The mares looked to one another, clearly worried over everything they'd learned here. But, as the silence persisted, Twilight let out a sigh.
"Chief...we'll help you bring back your daughter."
The other ponies looked to her with surprise, but the Chief himself merely regarded her with cautious optimism.
"I cannot see how...but...if you can ...I would be forever indebted to you."
Twilight gave a slight bow of her head over this, but, shortly afterwards, the nurse returned, and once more started to urge the Chief to rest himself. Begrudgingly, he went with her, leaving only Twilight and her friends behind.
"Er, no offense, Twi...but how are ya gonna get Strongheart back?" Pinkie asked.
Twilight sighed again, shaking her head.
"I don't know."
Looking to her, Applejack frowned.
"Ponyville is just a day's train trip from here. Ah say we call yer brother and have him come over with a few troops to sort this mess out."
As before, Twilight shook her head.
"We can't just start calling in soldiers until we know for sure what it is we're dealing with."
She gained a determined look upon her face.
"Identifying this enemy is our first priority."
She paused, appearing deep in thought for the time being, which prompted the others to stay silent as she gathered her thoughts together. Then, a look of uncertainty crossed her face, and she turned to Braeburn.
"You said the buffalo have a settlement close to here?"
Though confused, the stallion nodded, prompting Twilight to continue.
"In that case...could you tell me where to find it?"
Braeburn nodded back.
"Sure. I'll get a map fer ya."
Twilight gave him an appreciative smile, then watched as he started to walk off, leaving her alone with her friends.
"What are ya plannin, Twi?" Applejack enquired.
The young unicorn, after giving one final glance to the still-suffering buffalo around her, gave her friend an unsure look.
"I think...there's only one thing I can do, Applejack."
The sun was high in the sky now, and as such, the heat was becoming more and more noticeable. Twilight, determined to keep moving forward, tried her best to ignore it, but the beads of sweat rolling down her forehead wasn't making the matter any easier. Thankfully, it wasn't long before Pinkie trotted alongside her, offering her a bottle of cool-looking water, which she graciously accepted with an appreciative smile. As she stopped for a moment to drink, she took note of her surroundings. Sand and rocky outcrops as far as the eye could see, to the point where even Appleoosa was no longer visible. Applejack and Pinkie were beside her, looking just as uncomfortable with this heat as she was. But even so, they had a purpose here, and one that, after offering the bottle back to Pinkie, the young unicorn was swift to continue with.
"So...what exactly do you plan to do when we get there, Twilight?" Pinkie asked.
Twilight hung her head as she walked, sighing somewhat.
"It's...hard to explain. Truth be told..."
She paused, considering her friend's question, before just coming out and saying the only thing she could say under the circumstances.
"...even I don't really understand it."
Pinkie took that in, raising an eyebrow.
"No offense, Twi, but...that doesn't sound all that reassuring."
In spite of everything, Twilight let out a chuckle to that.
"Yeah, preaching to the choir on that one, Pinkie."
Here, Applejack walked closer, glancing at Twilight briefly before looking around the rest of the area.
"Ah've never been this far out of Appleoosa before."
She then looked back to Twilight.
"The map said the buffalo's place is here?"
Twilight nodded, her horn lighting up as the map was levitated out of her saddle-bags. She peered carefully at it, before promptly pointing to one spot in particular.
"Yes, it shouldn't be much further now. In fact..."
She narrowed her eyes at the directions before her, then turned around and pointed out to one area in particular.
"...it says it should be just around there ."
Applejack and Pinkie turned their heads to see where their colleague was pointed, and there, just ahead of them, was a large rock formation. Together, all three mares looked to one another, giving solemn nods before, at last, carrying on with their walking. A minute or two passed before they reached the base of that massive formation, and a few minutes further before they finally circled around it. As soon as they'd done so, Twilight spoke up.
"Okay, it should be right around..."
Then, her face became just that little bit paler.
"...here."
Both of her friends could hear the concern in her voice, and so rushed ahead to see what she was looking at. Immediately, they understood. For just a little bit further ahead of them was, as promised, the buffalo's settlement. A collection of elaborate tents and huts lay before them, but no longer was it what it once was. The attack that had been described to them did not do this sight justice, as it truly looked as if a full-on disaster had struck this place. Tents were torn, and huts still smouldering from some kind of fires were seen in all places. Whoever had done this clearly had little more than simple destruction as their goal. Naturally, such a spectacle caused nothing but worry for the mares, especially Twilight, who took a gulp before speaking up again.
"Well...might as well get closer."
Of course, nopony actually wanted to get closer to a place like this, but, in the end, they knew they had a responsibility to live up to their promise to Chief Thunderhooves. So, slower than before, they began to trot onwards, watching as their destination drew closer and closer. Once they were finally there, the situation seemed even worse than what it first appeared. Whatever party had been responsible for this, they knew what they were doing. The damage, while clearly done for no sake other than its own, was obviously committed in such a way as to leave little defence against it. Nowhere in this place seemed to have gone untouched, and as the mares reached the centre of the settlement, Pinkie summed up their thoughts.
"Are we sure we want to cross whoever's behind this?"
Twilight sighed.
"I don't want to...but we have to at least try ."
Pinkie nodded, though still not all that convinced about being here. As for Applejack, she took on a more serious expression, turning her eyes once more to Twilight.
"Alright, Twi...time ta show what yer here fer."
Twilight remained looking worried, but nevertheless nodded.
"Okay...I suppose it is."
She took a few steps further, turning her gaze upon everything she could see and hear around her. The smell of the smoke from the ruined homes. The sound of the warm wind that continued to gently blow through the settlement. The feel of the dry earth beneath her hooves. Slowly, she started to close her eyes, taking in many deep breaths. Applejack and Pinkie watched her, gaining looks of understandable confusion.
"Er...Twi? What are you doing?"
Opening her eyes again, Twilight turned and looked right back at Pinkie.
"Do you remember the day we faced the Tantabus? Shortly after we met Queen Moon?"
Pinkie grimaced.
"I try not to, but yeah."
Twilight's expression was one of thoughtfulness as she continued.
"You remember what happened to me? How I thought I heard Celestia's voice?"
Pinkie and Applejack nodded, prompting Twilight to carry on.
"Well...that encounter wasn't just the Tantabus trying to trick me. It was...something more than that."
Her friends looked on, intrigued, but said nothing as Twilight kept on explaining.
"It's something that only a very few unicorns can do. It's like...like...an extra sense. Being able to, for lack of a better word, feel what others can't. Putting your hoof on the pulse of the magical currents of the world."
She paused for a few moments.
"Magic flows through everything in our world, girls. It touches all things, and those things leave their mark upon it, whether they know it's there or not. And some unicorns can...well...kind of see that imprint."
Of course, much of this was going right over her friends' heads, Pinkie especially.
"Okay...I don't really get it."
Twilight shook her head.
"Sometimes, neither do I. But ever since the Tantabus, I've tried multiple instances of attempting to make that sense work...with varying degrees of success."
A look of disappointment crossed her face, giving the other mares all the information they needed not to enquire further on that particularly line of questioning. But soon after, Applejack frowned.
"Wait...ain't that what Queen Moon said she could do? Look into magic and the like and see far-off stuff?"
Twilight nodded.
"It is. But...I don't think I'm going to be anywhere near as attuned to that as she is."
A brief chuckle escaped her.
"She is a bit more experienced, after all."
Soon after, the young unicorn looked around, her eyes narrowing.
"I was hoping that, simply being here , where such trauma and pain took place...might be enough to..."
Here, at last, Pinkie and Applejack understood what their friend was trying to accomplish. So, after a brief silence, it was Applejack's turn to speak up.
"Alrighty, Twi...go ahead."
Twilight gave her an appreciative smile, then got right back to doing what she was doing before, standing perfectly still and closing her eyes. In time, she focused simply on the sounds around her, hoping in her heart that something would trigger that which she hoped to gain access to. But, minute after minute passed, and nothing seemed to do the trick, prompting her to open her eyes.
"Maybe...maybe this isn't something I can do."
Her colleagues kept quiet, watching as she moved in a disappointed way over to a nearby torn tent. She was despondent over this, and slowly raised a hoof to touch one of the tears.
"I guess...we'll just have to go back and tell the Chief that...that..."
Her voice became more and more quiet, causing some concern in Applejack and Pinkie, who started to move closer to her.
"Um...Twilight?" Pinkie asked.
They drew nearer, and here, to the shock of both of them, they saw that, shortly after touching the ruined tent, Twilight's eyes had become somewhat glazed over, and the way she looked was almost as if she didn't even know they were there. Pinkie, clearly concerned about this, started waving her hoof in front of Twilight's face, to no avail. The lavender unicorn was completely disconnected from her surroundings, almost as if her mind was gone entirely. However, to the great relief of her friends, this soon changed, and she took a sudden step backwards from the tent, shaking her head vigorously and panting quite a bit.
"I...wha...what happened?!"
Applejack stepped forward, speaking softly.
"Ya didn't seem yerself, Twi. Ya went...well...all googly-eyed and stuff."
Twilight looked back to the tent, shaking her head in a slower way than before.
"I...I saw..."
Pinkie raised an eyebrow.
"What? What did you see?"
Twilight turned to look at her.
"I don't know if it was a memory, or...or just my mind playing tricks, but..."
She started to frown.
"I saw a night sky...and shapes, moving quickly towards the ground."
Raising a hoof to her forehead, she continued.
"I heard screaming...burning. I could feel...something sharp, like there was something piercing me."
She glanced down to her side, relieved to see that there was, in fact, no injury there.
"Was it...a knife? No...it moved. A claw perhaps? Yes...Yes, that could be it."
Pinkie, for the first time today, started to smile.
"Wow, that...that's actually pretty impressive."
She pointed to Twilight.
"Can you do that all the time?"
Twilight turned to her, opening her mouth to speak, only to be halted when, all of a sudden, she started to place her hoof on the side of her head, gaining a very clear pained expression, much to the worry of her friends, who rushed to her side.
"Twi?! What's wrong?!" Applejack enquired.
A moment passed, and Twilight, now panting slightly, lowered her hoof again.
"It's...it's fine. I just...don't think I should try doing that again for a while."
The others, for the time being anyway, took her at her word, though still maintained their concerned looks. As for Twilight, she, at last, looked back to her friends.
"I'm not a completely sure on this...but I don't think these images should be ignored."
Applejack nodded.
"Okay. This all seems like a bunch of mumbo-jumbo to me, but...ah trust ya."
Twilight gave her an appreciative look.
"Alright then. In that case..."
She turned, pointing to a far-away mountain range.
"...we need to head there ."
Pinkie glanced over to their next destination, then back to Twilight.
"There? Why?"
To that, Twilight gained a look of utter seriousness.
"Because that , Pinkie...is where I think the attackers are holed up."
If the journey thus far had been difficult before Twilight and her companions had reached the mountains, then it had become even more so now that they'd actually reached them. The jagged rocks, slippery slopes and general sense of danger about this place would have, understandably, put anypony off coming here. But, here they were, though they were in no way pleased about it. At the very least, they had been given a reprieve from the earlier heat of the day, as the sun had begun to set beyond the far-away horizon. Carefully, they walked onwards, always making sure to be as sure-footed as possible with every step they took. Pinkie seemed as irritated as usual with their circumstances, but, given their purpose here, she said nothing on the matter. Applejack, however, did have something she wanted to speak about.
"Um, Twi? Mind tellin us why yer not usin that fancy teleport stuff o' yers ta get us up this ere mountain faster?"
Stopping shortly after hearing that, Twilight looked behind her, her expression a serious one as she answered.
"Magic like that is easily noticed, Applejack, even from a great distance, and especially now that it's getting darker. If I used that power, then whoever we're pursuing might see it, and flee before we can identify them."
Applejack grumbled over the fact that this means of getting around easier was now denied to them, but even so, she gave a nod, silently acknowledging Twilight's point. To that, the young unicorn pressed onwards, her eyes narrowed as she glanced in every direction, as if searching for something specifically. After several minutes of just constant climbing and walking though, it was finally Pinkie's turn to break the silence between them.
"So...what is it we're looking for?"
Stopping again, Twilight sighed before replying.
"It was something I saw in the vision. A cave entrance of some sort. It had a rock in front of it, with a large crack right down the middle."
Pinkie took on a somewhat incredulous expression.
"A cave with a rock, eh? Well, I'm sure we won't be lacking for those around here!"
Her sarcasm gave Twilight a brief moment of annoyance, but even so, the latter could not blame her friend for her attitude about all of this. After all, here they were, alone and in unfamiliar surroundings, pursuing an enemy they didn't even know about. And to top it all off, their only lead was something Twilight had only seen briefly in a magic-induced vision. Bottom line, they were in dire straits, and she knew it. But, as they continued, her mind continued to conjure up images of the buffalo back in Appleoosa. She remembered every face, every look of pain and despondence, and she knew, experienced or not, that she had to help them. So, for a time, she stopped, with her colleagues following suit, and she turned around to look upon them.
"I know this is a bad situation, girls. But if we can find whoever's behind this, and why they're doing it...we can maybe pout a stop to what the buffalo have been going through."
Here, Applejack and Pinkie's expressions softened, and they looked to each other, understanding fully well that Twilight was right about this. So, after glancing to one another, they turned in unison to their leader, giving her looks that were just as determined as hers was, which she was sure to show her appreciation for. As such, she got back to the trail before her, with the other mares doing their best to stay close behind. But, as the minutes turned to hours, things were continually getting darker and colder, much to the chagrin of the three ponies. Eventually, it came to a point where even Twilight was starting to doubt their position here.
"If things keep getting like this...we may have to look for shelter."
The others nodded in agreement, but, before Twilight could say anything further on the matter, she was interrupted by Pinkie, who spoke out loudly, pointing to something far away.
"Er...not to put too fine a point on it...but I think that looks like a pretty good place to go."
Twilight and Applejack turned their heads to see where she was pointing, and immediately, they understood. For there, just a short distance from where they were standing, was a cave entrance. However, because of the rapidly-fading daytime, they could see that there was a light coming from within, perhaps from a fire of some sort. But, what truly caught Twilight's interest in this was that, right in front of the cave, there was a rock, with a large crack running right down the middle. Swiftly, she turned to Pinkie, smiling widely as she did so, which the party-lover merely chuckled to.
"No need to thank me. I'm just here to help."
Twilight nodded in a thankful manner, giving a similar gesture to Applejack, and together, the three mares started to carry onwards, now knowing their exact destination. They had to be even more careful than before though, for up at this height the winds were becoming particularly fierce, whipping around them and threatening to blow them off their path at a moment's notice. But continue they did, and while their slow movements meant that they did not go as fast as they would have wanted to, they did actually manage to reach their goal. But here, they stopped, and after Twilight glanced at the broken rock in front of the cave's entrance, she soon regained her more serious expression, turning to her colleagues.
"Okay, girls...we need to be careful here."
She received solemn nods from both of them, and soon afterwards, they moved as silently as they could. Thankfully, the winds were still hard out here, so it was unlikely that their quarry was going to hear them. Even so, they made sure not to take any undue risks, taking careful step after careful step as they drew nearer. Soon, they were within the cave entrance itself, and began their journey through the large tunnel it led to. But, just a minute or two afterwards, they stopped again. They had reached a curve in the tunnel, and here, they could hear some kind of laughter just around it. Twilight silently gestured to the others, and they nodded back, moving forwards with even greater care. As they did so, they finally started to hear the gruff voices of those they pursued.
"Ha! I tell ya! Those savages didn't know what hit em!"
"Hehe, yeah! Did you see the cut I gave that Chief of theirs? Now that was something to be proud of, my friends!"
Gradually, Twilight finally found herself able to peer around the curved corner of the tunnel, and as soon as she was able to see what lay beyond, her eyes widened. There was indeed a fire within that place, illuminating a large chamber where their targets sat nearby. And speaking of whom, Twilight's expression became one of shock as she, at last, took in who it was they had been chasing. They were all larger than ponies, and appeared to be, at a glance, some kind of union between lion and bird. Covered in a variety of different-coloured feathers, they bore sharp talons upon their front legs, and vast wings stretched out from their backs. Razor-like beaks grinned wickedly as they continued to laugh about their victory, so much so that they did not notice the young unicorn who now backed away from where she was. Slowly, Twilight looked to her friends, and when they looked to her expectantly, all she could so was whisper the truth.
"Girls...we're dealing...with griffons ."
The revelation of who their foes actually were caught all of the mares off-guard, as both Applejack and Pinkie took a noticeable step back from Twilight as soon as she'd told then. As for the unicorn herself, she glanced back over her shoulder, narrowing her eyes and returning to her previous position. She knew she had to do her best not to let herself be seen, for who knew what these bandits might do to them if they were discovered. As she watched, she continued to hear them speak amongst themselves, talking in-between bites of large pieces of meat they'd caught for their evening meal.
"Seriously! These raids are just too easy!" one stated.
"Still good sport though, right?" another added.
The first chuckled.
"Yeah! Especially since we caught ourselves a nice little prize last time."
Twilight's eyes widened upon hearing that, and she scoured the cave for the one she knew they were speaking of. But, for the time being, she couldn't find anybody else there. That is, until the largest of the three griffons, who was presumably their leader, got up from his sitting position. And when he did so, and started to move aside, it was revealed that there was, in fact, somebody just behind him. Twilight took on a look of shock to see who it was. Just as she thought, it was a buffalo, but one far smaller and younger than the ones she'd seen back in Appleoosa. This had to be Little Strongheart, the Chief's daughter, but it was obvious that she was in a bad way right now. Not only was she tied up and gaggled, but there were a few scratches and bruises all along her body. prompting Twilight to frown.
"Twi?" Applejack spoke from behind her.
The young unicorn backed away, looking to her earth pony friend.
"It's her, AJ. Little Strongheart."
A look of concern crossed the faces of the other mares, and as they stayed silent, Twilight got back to looking to the captive buffalo. It was here that the presumed leader of the griffons moved closer, kneeling down and grabbing her face unceremoniously with one claw.
"I guess we should start thinking of what to do with her, eh?"
Another of the griffons laughed darkly as he turned to his leader.
"No mystery there, Boss. There's plenty out there who'd pay a pretty penny for a pretty face, right?"
There was a lot of laughter over this remark, while Strongheart herself merely laid there, tears forming in her eyes. Gritting her teeth, Twilight took a few steps backwards, turning to look to her companions yet again.
"We have to help her!"
Pinkie's eyes widened at that.
"What?! But...but we were only supposed to find these guys!"
Twilight looked to her with some indignity, but before she had a chance to speak, Pinkie interrupted her.
"Look, I know she's in a bad state, but those are some seriously big griffons in there! And we're not exactly fighters , Twi!"
Twilight closed her mouth again, thinking hard on that. Her friend had the right of it, as combat was not exactly something they were known for. But, looking over her shoulder to the helpless captive on the other side, Twilight knew she could not simply stand aside here. So, she paused, looking as if she was thinking hard on this situation they'd found themselves in, all while her friends stood beside her and waited. Then, the young unicorn's eyes widened, and a smile started to creep upon her face.
"I think...we might not have to fight them."
Naturally, a remark like that caught the other mares' interest, and so they leaned in closer. Twilight briefly checking to make sure they weren't being watched, leaning closer herself, before starting to whisper to the two of them. They stayed in this position for some time, hearing everything Twilight had to say, and when it was finally done, Twilight smiled, looking quite pleased with herself. As for the others, they looked to each other, then back to her, before Pinkie finally broke the silence.
"You're sure this is going to work?"
Twilight nodded.
"Trust me...they can't go further than that."
Pinkie sighed, raising a hoof and rubbing her temples slightly.
"How did I ever get mixed up in this?"
Taking on a more determined look, Pinkie took in a deep breath, frowned slightly, then started marching forward. Applejack and Twilight watched her, staying completely silent as they did so, and Pinkie herself just kept going on and on. The griffons, for their part, just kept on eating and laughing, never noticing the pink pony that now suddenly walked around the corner from them. She just waltzed on in there, looking as if she didn't have a care in the world, and before long, she was there, standing right opposite them from the fire. They were still eating, so they failed to see her to start off with. But, after waiting a few moments, Pinkie brought her hoof to her mouth and let out a deliberate cough.
"Ahem?"
Still no reaction, which, naturally, caused some measure of annoyance from the party-lover, prompting her to try even harder.
"AHEM?!"
That one got it, and all three sets of griffon eyes were suddenly upon her, looking at least a little bit surprised to find their cave was no longer secret.
"Is that...a pony?! " one of them asked.
Pinkie cleared her throat a little bit, took in another deep breath, then, to the surprise of the three griffons, her mane poofed up. Before the three could even react, she did something even more unexpected. She sang .
"This is your singing telegram, I hope it finds you well!"
Sadly, it was a short-lived performance, as the leader got up from his seat and pointed angrily at her.
"GET HER!!!"
Pinkie, for her part, seemed surprised by this turn of events, but stayed quiet as all three of the very large griffons suddenly pounced on her. They struck, causing a feathery dog-pile on top of her, and they chuckled to themselves as they remained under the impression that they'd got her.
"Hehe! You're not goin anywhere , little pony!" one said.
"You sure about that?"
Immediately, the three still-piled-up griffons turned, only to find a smiling pink pony right beside their pile, happily waving to them. Naturally, this caused quite a bit of confusion amongst the feathered fiends.
"Wha...but...how?!"
Pinkie shrugged her shoulders.
"It's just what I do."
Again, the griffons attacked, though remained as out-of-their-depth with her as they were before. No matter how many times they struck, or tried to restrain her, Pinkie always seemed to be able to just not be there when they did so. Of course, in time, this led to great frustration on the part of their leader.
"Get her, you idiots! We can't let the ponies know we were here!"
Hearing that, Pinkie chuckled.
"Wow, then you're really gonna be upset when my friends and I get out."
As soon as the griffons had heard that, they regained their earlier looks of confusion, and soon afterwards, they started to turn around. Sure enough, they spotted Twilight and Applejack, not because the latter two had failed to hide, but because they stood defiantly against them, right in the main chamber of the cave. But, as shocking as this was, what surprised the griffons even more was that Little Strongheart was amongst them, having been untied, and now stood tall, glaring at them angrily as Twilight and Applejack stood on either side of her. However, before the griffons had a chance to even open their beaks to comment on this, Pinkie walked into view, taking her place right beside Applejack.
"What the...?!" the griffon leader exclaimed.
He turned back to the spot where Pinkie had been, then glanced over to where she was , just in time to see her smirk slightly.
"Sorry, boys, but this is what you get for interrupting one of my songs!"
The leader's eyes widened, and he saw Twilight's horn lighting up. Perhaps suspecting what was about to happen, he leapt forward, claws outstretched, ready to strike at his foes. But Twilight's spell soon reached its apex, and a blinding light engulfed both her and her companions. So, instead of hitting a few ponies and the young buffalo, the griffon leader instead slammed hard into the cave wall. When he recovered, he darted his head around the cave, seeing no sight of the now-teleported herbivores. All he saw was the dumbfounded looks on his colleagues, and in the silence that followed, his rage grew, until finally, he flung back his head and let out an almighty roar.
"AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!"
He collapsed to his knees, and as he snorted angrily, one of his followers came to him, nervously poking his claws against each other.
"So...does this mean we're not getting paid, Boss?"
As one would expect of somepony who had just been through a dangerous situation, Twilight was still taking her time in settling down. But, at the very least, she had somewhere safe to do it. Having escaped the griffon bandits, both she and her friends had, quite fortunately, managed to make it back to Appleoosa. They were shaken, as was everypony else right now, but they were still doing okay. Right now, the young unicorn was standing in the entrance of the town hall, looking in to the many buffalo who were still being cared for. And there, on the other side of the room, was Little Strongheart. She was still bruised, but had otherwise managed to escape serious injury, and was, at this very moment, being smothered by her Father, Chief Thunderhooves. Twilight couldn't help but smile at the sight of that massive buffalo hugging his daughter, and as she watched them, she sighed.
"So...back together."
Briefly, she turned, and not a moment too soon, for it was at this moment that she caught sight of Applejack and Braeburn, who were walking towards her.
"That were a mighty fine thing ya did fer em, Miss Twilight," the stallion remarked, tipping his hat.
A small blush crept onto Twilight's cheeks.
"Don't give me all the thanks. If it wasn't for the help of Applejack and Pinkie, I doubt I'd have been able to do much."
Applejack let out a hearty laugh to that.
"Heck, girl! Ya don't give yerself enough credit! Ya got Strongheart outta there, an' all o' us too!"
Twilight nodded, turning around to look at the still-recovering buffalo within the hall.
"I just wish we could have done something for them before this mess started."
The two Apples nodded solemnly to that, silently sharing her thoughts on that matter. But, before anypony had a chance to say anything else on the matter, they all turned in unison to find that Pinkie Pie was trotting up to greet them. Her hair had calmed down since their little plan in the cave, and was right back to its normal straight appearance. As she drew nearer, she seemed to bear a satisfied look upon her face.
"I'm glad the Princess was able to send some troops over on such short notice."
Twilight nodded in agreement, looking past her friend to see, as said, that there were indeed a few of the Royal Guards patrolling the town, with some being sent out beyond Appleoosa's borders towards the mountain ranges. However, mere moments after looking to them, Twilight's ears dropped somewhat.
"It's just a shame those bandits got away like they did."
Pinkie sighed.
"Yeah. But, I guess we should have seen it coming. Once they knew Equestrians were aware of their raids, it was only a matter of time before they'd have to get out of there."
Applejack frowned over the memory of those they had faced.
"Ah tell ya, those bandits deserve heck for doin all that nastiness to these poor folk!"
She looked straight at Twilight.
"Ah hope Princess Celestia gives that King o' theirs a right talkin to!"
Here, Twilight frowned back, shaking her head.
"Unfortunately...that might not be possible."
Immediately, all eyes were upon her, looking to her with clear confusion. Raising a hoof, Twilight rubbed her temples, showing obvious annoyance over something, which she soon started to explain.
"After I sent word to the Princess...it wasn't long before she sent a response."
She looked back to the town hall as she continued.
"While it was in her power to send troops to secure the area...it's...not going to be possible to pursue the matter further with the griffons' government."
Applejack took on a look of indignity.
"What?! Why?!"
Twilight sighed.
"Well, according to the illustrious King, Grover the Twelfth, this was a rogue group. Griffons operating without his knowledge."
She turned back to her friends and narrowed her eyes.
"He's already publically condemned these raids...but aside from that ...there's little he's going to do to ensure it doesn't happen again."
Applejack, showing outright frustration with this knowledge, took off her hat and slammed it down into the ground.
"Darn it!"
Twilight nodded at that sentiment.
"From what I keep hearing, that king can barely ever control his people. So this ..."
She gestured to the nearby buffalo.
"...might well just be the start of our problems with them."
Of course, hearing something like that caused no small measure of concern for those in attendance. But, after a brief bout of silence, it was Breaburn's role to break it, clearing his throat and getting the attention of the three mares.
"Well, even so, y'all did yer best helpin these folks, an' us . If nothin else, those bandits won' be comin round here anytime soon."
To that, Twilight offered a small smile.
"I suppose that's definitely something to be happy about."
That, at the very least, was something that was able to cheer the group up, if only a little bit. However, it wasn't long before the four of them were soon joined by another. To their surprise, it was Little Strongheart, who cleared her throat to gain their attention.
"Um...pardon me?"
They turned to look at her, with Twilight smiling in a friendly way to her.
"How are you feeling?"
She laughed a little bit.
"Better than I was, thank you. And..."
She looked away briefly, before looking Twilight straight in the eye.
"...I never got the chance to thank you...for saving me."
While taken aback, Twilight soon let out a little chuckle.
"Oh...don't mention it. I was just...glad to help."
The young buffalo gave her an appreciative look, and one to all the others there, before turning around and heading back to re-join her Father, who was waiting for her within the hall. Twilight watched her go, but her attention was soon drawn to Pinkie, after the latter tapped her on the shoulder.
"Not to spoil the mood or anything, but...do you think your brother might be a bit miffed when we get back and he learns that you went into danger again? "
Twilight considered that, then looked over her shoulder, seeing Strongheart once more reunited with her Father, embracing him warmly. And when she saw this, she regained her smile.
"Maybe...But I'm not."
