A Head Full of Clay

by Squinty Mudmane

Rating: everyone
Tags: Other, Scootaloo, Adventure, Sweetie Belle, Main 6, Apple Bloom, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 79408

The Cutie Mark Crusaders attempt to rediscover the all-but-forgotten art of golem making.

When yet another unsuccessful attempt at getting Cutie Marks results in Apple Bloom having too much time on her hooves, she turns to books in the hope of hatching a plan that definitely cannot possibly fail. However, one book in particular—an inconspicuous little thing concerning old history and something called a "golem"—catches her attention and becomes the object for her boundless energy, much to her sister's concern.

Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo have their own problems to deal with, consisting of a fussy, overbearing older sister and an undeniably awesome yet slightly oblivious role model. On top of that, they soon have to contend with their best friend's zealous conviction that the answer to their troubles lies well beyond the safety of home.

Published 2012-09-30 07:54:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-03-31 18:45:07 UTC

Chapter 1: Boring Books and Tortoises

Apple Bloom trotted glumly back through the street, carrying the brown box in her mouth. Of course, just when she was going to be brilliant, something had to come up. She couldn’t very well tell Sweetie Belle about the plan if she was going to be within earshot of others, and getting Scootaloo away from Rainbow Dash now that the pegasus filly had latched on to her idol’s location would be an epic feat in itself. If only she could—

For the second time that day, Apple Bloom collided with someone else, though this time she was the only one to be knocked down.

“Oh goodness, I am so sorry, Apple Bloom! I really need to stop reading books while walking in public. This is starting to become a bad habit,” Twilight blurted in apology. She was levitating a book in front of her, wrapped in a faint purple shimmer of magic.

“It’s okay, Twilight, Ah didn’t see you either,” Apple Bloom replied as the other pony leaned down to nuzzle her apologetically and help her up again. Twilight looked around for a moment.

“I don’t see Scootaloo or Sweetie Belle with you. I thought you girls were going to be crusading today?”

“Well, we were, but Rarity went all crazy protective big sis on Sweetie Belle after she got a lil’ bump on her head, and then Scootaloo went off to find Rainbow Dash, and now Ah’m stuck with nothin’ to do until Rarity quits fussin’ over Sweetie or Scootaloo stops chasin’ after Rainbow Dash, and Ah don’t know which of those’re more likely to happen first!” Apple Bloom finally stopped for breath, leaving Twilight looking somewhat perplexed.

“Oh. Uhm, well, that does sound problematic.” The unicorn furrowed her brow in thought for a moment, and then lit up in a big smile. “I know! Why don’t you stop by the library and pick up a book to read while you wait? After all, there’s no better way to pass the time than by exercising the mind, right?”

Apple Bloom scrunched her face dubiously. “A book? But—” She paused, then broke into a wide grin. Of course! For once, a book was precisely what was needed. “Yeah, actually, that’s a great idea! Thanks, Twilight!”

The librarian positively beamed with happiness. “Wonderful! I’d help you find one to your taste myself, but I already promised Mayor Mare that I’d help her go through the yearbooks from the time around Ponyville’s founding. Oh, it’s going to be so exciting! It’s like stepping through a gateway into the past, all that precious information stored in—” A puzzled look from Apple Bloom brought Twilight back to the present before she went off on a tangent. She cleared her throat and blushed just a little.

“Uhm, anyway, Spike is still around the library, so just ask him to help you out. Look for A Brief History of Equestria, Part I if you want some solid night-reading material. There are seventeen volumes in the series, so there’s plenty to dig into. Oh, and Astral Analysis: A Reference Guide is great if you’re already awake during that time, anyway. Or maybe Apple Cider Versus Pear Cider: The Ongoing Feud! Or maybe—”

“Thanks, Twilight. Really, it’s fine! Ah’m sure Ah’m gonna find somethin’ good,” Apple Bloom interjected a little more brusquely than she had intended. She gave the unicorn an apologetic smile. “Ah don’t wanna hold ya up an’ all. Ya had a meetin’ to get to, right?”

“Oh, right, yes. Well, good luck, Apple Bloom!” Twilight waved cheerfully as she trotted off towards the town hall. Apple Bloom let out a sigh of relief as the geeky unicorn moved away. She had nearly broken the first rule when meeting Twilight while you were in a hurry: Don’t get Twilight started on books. The suggestion offered was good, though, and Apple Bloom set a course for the great tree that housed the town’s library.

“Hello? Spike?” she called as she pushed the door to the library open. The place was warm and pleasant enough, but it had a peculiar musty smell of paper that clung to everything as unmistakably as the smell of apple pie in Granny Smith’s kitchen. No wonder Twilight was a bit odd when she lived, breathed and slept in here.

A pile of blankets near the foot of the staircase leading up to Twilight’s room gave a snort, a grunt, and then sprang to life, revealing the purple-and-green baby dragon custodian.

“Huh? What? I’m awake! I wasn’t sleeping, I was nap—” Spike blurted frantically before he noticed Apple Bloom. “Oh, hey there, Apple Bloom!”

“Hoo?” came the query from the owl perched atop one of the bookshelves. Spike glanced up at Owlowiscious.

“Who? Apple Bloom! You know, Applejack’s little sister?”

“Hoo.”

Spike shook his head at Apple Bloom, who was doing her best not to snigger. “I swear that bird is making fun of me. Anyway, what’s up?”

“Books!” Apple Bloom replied with a big smile.

“Huh?”

“Books! Ah’m here for books!”

“Well, this is a library, but… could you maybe be a bit more specific? I mean, if I’m going to find you anything…” Spike trailed off, gesturing meaningfully at the numerous shelves crammed with books.

Apple Bloom fidgeted her hair bow a bit. How do I go about this without making him ask too many questions?

“Ah need a, uh… book,” she began. “About… uhm… Manehatten! Yeah, Ah’m tryin’ to figure out how mah sis got there on her own when she was ’round mah age. Ah mean, Manehatten ain’t jus’ over the hill, right?”

“Uhh, right.” Spike nodded in agreement, still looking fairly puzzled. “I’ll just, uh, have a look around. I’m sure there’s something around here about—”

“Hoo,” said Owlowiscious, swooping down to place a book in front of Apple Bloom. It was titled A Tourist’s Guide to Manehatten. Spike and Apple Bloom blinked in unison.

“How did you…?” Spike began.

“Hoo,” the owl replied. If owls could grin, Apple Bloom would have sworn Owlowiscious would be doing so just now in a particularly smug manner.

Spike picked up the book and read the description on the back of it. “‘A comprehensive guide to all the hottest tourist sights and attractions in Manehatten’—Aha! This book is about Manehatten, not how to get there! Close, but no cigar, Feathers!” He grinned triumphantly and waved the book at the owl.

“Hoo,” Owlowiscious replied, taking wing again and flying towards one of the many bookcases in the library.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Spike yelled after the owl. He looked over his shoulder at Apple Bloom. “Wait here just a moment,” he said with a polite smile. Then he set his face in an expression of grim determination and rushed towards another bookcase. Within moments, books started piling up in front of Apple Bloom. She barely had time to read the title of one before another was piled on top.

Maps and Travel Routes of Eque—New book.

The Long 13: A Courier’s Recollections of—New book.

From Fillydelphia to Manehatten by Wing: Pegas—New book.

A Traveller’s Essentials: Packing with—New book.

“Uhm, Spike?” Apple Bloom peeked around the growing stack of books in front of her.

“Aha! Got it!” Spike grinned triumphantly as he smacked a colourful magazine on top of the other books with finality. “There’s an article on that exact route in this issue of Wanderhoof Weekly, page four. How’s that for up-to-date info?” He turned to look at the owl with a smirk. “Can you beat that, bird-brain?”

“Hoo,” replied Owlowiscious, depositing a thin brown book next to the others.

“Tracking Tincoat: In Pursuit of Understanding.” Spike blinked as he flicked through the book. “What is this? I don’t even—This isn’t even a book about Manehatten! It’s written by somepony from Manehatten about somepony else! And you know what that means?” Spike snapped the book shut and let it drop to the floor. “It means I win! Yes! Score one for the dragon!” The dimunitive custodian whooped and hollered, punching the air in an excessive victory celebration. Owlowiscious just gave a little shrug and flew back to his perch atop one of the bookshelves.

“Wow, uhm… thanks for yer help, both of ya.” Apple Bloom looked at the stack of books in front of her for a few moments. “Ah certainly ain’t gonna be lackin’ for stuff to read.”

Spike raised an eyebrow. “What, you aren’t seriously going to read anything that—” he leaned closer to Apple Bloom and dropped his voice to a very unsubtle whisper “—the bird gave you, are you?” If Owlowiscious heard the baby dragon, he gave no indication of it. Apple Bloom gave Spike a little smile.

“Well, Ah’d feel kinda bad if Ah took only one book when ya both went through all that trouble just now. Besides, ’tain’t like Ah’m gonna be busy anytime soon, what with Sweetie Belle gettin’ grounded an’ all.”

“But seriously, this?” Spike asked incredulously, holding up the last book Owlowiscious brought.

“Well, if Owlowiscious thinks it’s worth readin’, it probably is. Animals are smart like that. Jus’ look at Winona,” Apple Bloom replied in a voice that brooked no argument. Spike merely shrugged.

“Fair enough, not for me to tell you not to waste your time. Well, if you’re sure about this, you can borrow a couple of Twilight’s satchels to carry the books home in. She’s got plenty lying around. Just let me note down the titles of the books first.” The dragon snatched a piece of paper from a nearby table, along with one of the many inkbottles placed strategically around the library for checklist emergencies.

“I still won,” he muttered in passing to Owlowiscious.

“Hoo?”

Spike ground his teeth together and let out an unintelligible grumble.

When Apple Bloom later returned to Sweet Apple Acres, she carried no less than eight heavy books in satchels on her back. The sun had started its slow descent into the late afternoon autumn sky at this point. Applejack came trotting from the edge of the orchard to meet her.

“Heya, lil’ sis. Uh, y’know, when Ah asked ya to get that there box o’ nails, Ah kinda meant today,” the farmpony said with a little grin. Apple Bloom threw the brown box in front of her sister with a little toss of her head.

“Relax, would ya? Ah got ’em right here, sheesh,” the filly replied in a slightly annoyed voice.

“Don’t get yer tail in a tangle now, missy, y’know Ah was jus’ jokin’ with ya.” Applejack chuckled a bit and looked over her shoulder. “Hey, Big Mac! Hustle on over to the barn so’s we can fix up the cart!” she called out before picking up the box. Apple Bloom heard a muffled “Eeeeyup” from somewhere behind the farmhouse. The two sisters fell in step as they walked back towards the farm. Applejack glanced down at the book-filled satchels.

“So, uh, what’s with all them books, lil’ sis?” she asked after setting the brown box down next to the half-assembled cart. Big Macintosh shuffled into view from behind the farmhouse, carrying two empty buckets on his back and chewing on his perpetual piece of straw.

Apple Bloom gave a little shrug. “Sweetie Belle went an’ got herself grounded by Rarity, so Twilight suggested Ah get some books to read to pass the time now that we can’t do any crusadin’ for a while.”

“Huh. Leave it to Rare to go an’ get herself worked up into a frenzy over small stuff,” Applejack muttered with a little shake of her head, before giving her sister a bright smile. “Well, ya wanna help me an’ Big Mac fix up this here cart?”

“Naw, thanks, but Ah think Ah’m gonna go get started on some of these books. Ah’ll be in mah room,” Apple Bloom replied, walking towards the farmhouse. Applejack looked quietly after her for a few moments.

“Our lil’ sis is startin’ to become all fancy, readin’ like that,” Applejack muttered partially to herself as Big Macintosh came over to join her. “Ain’t sure if Ah should be happy she’s puttin’ her mind to use on other stuff, or worried what new plans those three lil’ fillies might come up with from all this.”

“Eeeeyup,” her brother replied. Applejack looked up at him.

“What does that mean? Ya think it’s good, or ya think it’s cause for worry?”

Big Macintosh slowly rolled the straw from one corner of his mouth to the other. “Ain’t sure,” he conceded at length.

After closing the door to her room behind her, Apple Bloom upended the satchels on the floor, scattering the treasure trove of books all over. It was so obvious to her now; nothing of what the Crusaders had done around Ponyville had gotten them any closer to getting their Cutie Marks, and therein lay the problem. She recalled the stories they had been told about how Applejack and her friends had gotten theirs, and in hindsight, it made perfect sense.

Applejack and Rarity had both been far away from home when they got their Marks, in Manehatten and in a desert, respectively. Both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had also been away from Cloudsdale, either racing through the skies or frolicking down on the ground surrounded by critters. Apple Bloom was still unsure what to make of Pinkie Pie’s story, and Twilight had admittedly been in Canterlot the entire time, but four against two still spoke volumes. The only logical conclusion, therefore, had to be that the Crusaders also needed to go beyond the familiar territory of home.

The only question, of course, was where to begin. Cloudsdale was out of the question for obvious reasons, and a desert seemed like it might be a very uncomfortable place to begin searching in. Manehatten seemed like a much safer bet; Apple Bloom did not know all that much about the city, but she had heard it was as big as Canterlot, if not bigger, which would mean that there would be plenty of opportunities to try loads of different approaches. She had briefly contemplated simply going to Canterlot, but from what she had seen of the capital, she doubted the ponies there would be very welcoming of the Crusaders if they had to try more drastic approaches. In addition to that, accidentally causing irreparable damage to the Princesses’ property seemed like the kind of thing that would probably see the fillies grounded for life.

She shook her head firmly. No, this time it was definitely going to work. All (well, some) evidence spoke in favour of it working. She grabbed one of the books at random and leapt onto her bed, excitement fluttering in her stomach as she opened up on the first page.

A couple of hours earlier, Scootaloo was racing towards the lake near Ponyville as fast as her wings could propel her on her scooter. The few other ponies she encountered had the good sense to step to the side of the road when they saw the orange filly approach. She fought the urge to shout with glee as she zigzagged around loose pebbles and small holes in the dirt road; even though she was still trailing the now-empty cart behind her, she still revelled in the rush of speed and in the feeling of the wind against her face. After only a few minutes, she saw a familiar rainbow-coloured tuft of mane jutting up from behind a pair of bushes. Scootaloo pulled to a halt and snuck closer, moving into the bushes as quietly as possible. Just as Fluttershy had said, Rainbow Dash was there with her pet, Tank. Dash stood behind the tortoise, whose shell-mounted propeller was deactivated. Tank was currently engaged in what seemed to be a fierce staring competition with one of the lake turtles.

Scootaloo peeked out from the bushes as the lake turtle let out a low croaking sound and snapped its beak at Tank. The tortoise blinked very slowly and turned his head to look up at Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, you aren’t going to take that kind of smack talk from a jerk like that, are you, Tank?” Dash asked incredulously. The tortoise turned his head back to the turtle. Very, very slowly, he drew his head back and headbutted the offending reptile, which promptly withdrew into its shell and flopped backwards into the lake. Rainbow Dash held up her pet victoriously.

“Yes! Tank: one! Lake losers: zero!” she cheered, doing a little loop through the air with the tortoise before settling back down on the ground.

“Nice one, Tank. No one treats us like pushovers, especially not when we can easily buck their flanks straight into next week!” She grinned widely, nudging the tortoise’s shell with a hoof. Tank gave a little croak of affirmation.

“Hi, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo said cheerfully as she jumped out of the bush. Dash whipped around, immediately tense, but relaxed when she saw Scootaloo, instead adopting a more laid-back attitude.

“Oh, heya, Squirt. What’s up?”

The question was about as basic as it got, but Scootaloo still found herself struggling a bit to find the right answer.

“Well, me and the other Crusaders are on a bit of a break at the moment, so I was wondering, uhm… you wanna hang out with me? If you aren’t too busy, that is.” She looked at the rainbow-maned pegasus hopefully, mentally kicking herself the moment she had spoken. Way to appear cool and casual, Scoots. Why don’t you ask her if you can follow her home and take Tank’s place, too?

Dash rolled her neck a bit, glancing away for a moment. “Yeah, sorry there, Squirt, but I was really just burning a bit of time here before heading off to Cloudsdale. I got tickets to the Wonderbolts’ newest show later today! How awesome is that?” Dash grinned widely, waving her hooves a bit for emphasis.

Scootaloo’s expression dropped a bit. “That’s... awesome. Very awesome. Sounds like an awesome amount of awesome.”

“Oh, that reminds me.”

“Yes?” Scootaloo asked, her face lighting up with excitement. Is she going to offer me…?

“Could you bring Tank over to Fluttershy’s place? She was going to hang out with Rarity today, to talk about dresses or who knows what, and she probably won’t be home until I have to leave.”

Oh.

“Well, I think Fluttershy already went home, because Rarity dragged Sweetie Belle off to plaster her with band-aids or something,” Scootaloo replied, doing her utmost to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

“Oh, well, cool, then I’ll just hand him over myself—”

“But I don’t mind doing it anyway! I mean, that’s what friends do, right? They help each other out?” Wow. We’re really that desperate, aren’t we?

Dash raised an eyebrow. “Well, if you insist.” She gave a little shrug. “Means I can grab a power nap instead before heading out. Thanks, Squirt.”

“Hey, it’s cool! Don’t mention it,” Scootaloo replied, smiling so widely that the corners of her mouth hurt.

“Right, well, I’m off, then. Have fun at Fluttershy’s, Tank. Catch you later, Squirt.” With that, Rainbow Dash took off, leaving Scootaloo alone with Tank. They looked at each other.

“Don’t judge me,” Scootaloo muttered to the pet. The tortoise looked at her mournfully, or perhaps disdainfully. It was rather hard to tell.

“Fine, let’s just get going. How does this thing work, again?” She inspected the shell-mounted propeller curiously. There was a small button near the bottom of the casing strapped to the tortoise’s shell. Scootaloo gave it an experimental poke, and the propeller emitted a soft yellow glow as it started to spin up, slowly lifting the tortoise off the ground, his legs dangling limply in the air. As the now airborne Tank slowly reached head height, Scootaloo’s own stubby wings began to flap subconsciously as she watched. Before Tank rose any higher, Scootaloo deactivated the propeller again, causing the tortoise to rapidly descend back to the ground. Tank gave her the same mournful slash disdainful slash indifferent look from before.

“You know what?” Scootaloo picked up the tortoise, placing him in the scooter cart. “If we’re going to go anywhere, we’re going my way.”

Getting to Fluttershy’s cottage took only a short while on the scooter. A persistent clatter of shell against wood from behind her told Scootaloo that Tank was still more or less safely placed in the cart. She pulled to a stop near the bridge leading across the stream and lifted Tank from the cart.

“Still with me, huh?” she asked. A stare was the only reply. Scootaloo headed towards the cottage, stopped to sigh in irritation near the door when she noticed that the stoic tortoise had yet to even set foot on the wooden bridge, and walked back to push him the remaining distance. The door was opened after she knocked on it a few times, but instead of the demure yellow pegasus she had expected, a small white rabbit stood in the doorway, glaring at Scootaloo with an expression which was not even remotely friendly, no matter how positive an outlook on life one might have.

“Oh. Uhm. Hey, Angel. I don’t suppose Fluttershy is home yet?” she asked cautiously. It was disturbing how intimidating the furry little bunny could be.

In response, Angel slammed the door shut with more force than such a small creature seemed able to muster. Scootaloo counted herself lucky that she had not received a bloody nose on top of that.

She slumped down next to Tank in front of the closed door and looked around. There was no sign of Fluttershy anywhere. Of course, unless the yellow pegasus had started galloping home the moment she parted ways with the Crusaders, there was no way she would have beat Scootaloo to her cottage, even with Scootaloo’s stop by the lake.

“So,” she began, looking down at the tortoise. “A turtle, huh? How’s that working out for you?”

Stare. Slow blink. Stare.

Scootaloo sighed. “This is going to take a while, isn’t it?”

Chapter 2: Sweet Sister

The walk back to the Boutique took place in an uncomfortable silence. Rarity trotted along in front with her head held high, maintaining an air of dignity, while Sweetie Belle followed with an extremely dissatisfied scowl on her face. As soon as Rarity had closed the door to the Boutique behind them with a little flare of magic, however, Sweetie Belle could no longer hold her tongue.

“Rarity, you’re being stupid! This is no worse than that time we tried zip-lining, or when we tried kite flying!”

“And how does that make this any better? I can assure you, Sweetie, if I’d been present at those times, I’d still have reacted the same way as now. There’s a fine line between being bold and being reckless, and you’re skirting on the wrong side of it,” Rarity said firmly, walking over to a nearby desk and going through the drawers.

“Rarity, you went into a desert when you got your Cutie Mark! A desert! On your own! That’s way more dangerous than anything I’ve ever done!”

“Sweetie Belle!” the fashionista replied incredulously, looking sternly at her sister. “I was dragged through that horrid place—literally, I might add—by my horn! I did not suddenly decide to go there on the off chance that I would discover my talent!”

“Well, you’re… you’re still being stupid! And you’re treating me like I’m just a foal! Which I’m not!” Sweetie Belle sat down on her rump and pouted, folding her front legs defiantly.

“Of course you aren’t, Sweetie,” Rarity cooed, lifting a band-aid from one of the drawers. “Now let’s just get that little-wittle scwape patched up nicely, shall we?”

“Rarity!”

“Now now, Sweetie, stop being so fussy. This will take but a moment,” she admonished.

“You’re the one being fussy! It’s not even a scratch! How’s a band-aid supposed to do any good?” Sweetie Belle complained, her cheeks flushed red in anger and embarrassment.

Rarity frowned as she walked closer, holding the band-aid in a telekinetic grip. “Now you’re just being difficult! Really, Sweetie Belle, I did not think you would throw a tantrum over something as small as this. Now just hold still and—”

“No!” Sweetie Belle yelled, pushing past Rarity and running towards the stairs. “I don’t want your stupid band-aid! Just leave me alone!”

Rarity spun around and immediately gave chase. “Sweetie Belle! Stop being such a drama queen! Get back here now! Sweetie Belle!” Before her sister could reach the top of the stairs, Rarity snatched her up by the hind legs with a shimmer of magic and levitated her back. The filly thrashed wildly.

“Rarity! Quit it!” she shrieked so loudly that her voice cracked. Her horn flared briefly and dully.

“That’s quite enough, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said sternly, dragging her furious sister closer. “I must say, I am very disappointed in you. This is so incredibly immature and—”

There was a flash of magic and a sharp slicing sound. A large chunk of elegantly styled purple mane fell almost lazily to the floor. Rarity dropped her sister out of sheer shock and surprise, raising a hoof to where something incredibly sharp had cut clean through the rich curl that usually fell gracefully from the side of her head, leaving only a stubby patch of mane.

“Wh-wh-what did…?” she stammered, looking down at her sister with wide eyes, who for her part looked every bit as shocked as Rarity.

“I’m s-so sorry, Rarity! I-I don’t know what happened!” Sweetie Belle whimpered pitifully.

“I… I need some time alone,” Rarity croaked, running past her sister and up the stairs. Sweetie Belle heard a door slam shut on the floor above her. She wanted to run after her sister, to apologize again and again and try to make her understand that it had been an accident, that Sweetie Belle really had no idea what she had done or how, but she found herself rooted to the spot. She had seen the tears welling up in Rarity’s eyes. She felt awful, unable to take her eyes off the sad remains of purple mane lying on the floor.

After several moments of paralyzed indecision, she managed to force one leaden hoof in front of the other up the stairs, until she found herself in front of the door of her sister’s room. She could hear faint sobbing coming from the other side. She gulped and leaned closer to the door.

“Rarity?” she called out in a quivering voice. There was no response. “Please don’t be mad at me. I didn’t mean for any of that to happen! I’m sorry, I’m really, really sorry! Please… come out?”

Still nothing, though the sobbing grew more muted. Sweetie Belle sat down, her ears flopping dejectedly. She could feel the hot rush of tears pressing at her eyes, but fought to hold them back. She could not break down now. She had to make this right somehow.

She trotted back downstairs and headed for the pile of papers Rarity kept at her desk. She took a blank piece of paper from the stack and placed it on the floor before looking back at the colourful pencils strewn on the desk, hesitating for a moment. Is it worth trying to...?

Sweetie Belle concentrated and attempted to lift one of the pencils with her magic, but the pencil in question remained unimpressed and immobile, without even the smallest glimmer of magic. She squeezed her eyes shut and focused as hard as she could on the simple task of levitating the pencil to her. Just that tiny distance between her and the desk; surely she could manage that. The pencil quivered slightly, but instead of lifting, it spontaneously combusted and burned to ash in a second, leaving behind a small char mark in the spot where it had been. Sweetie Belle let out a little sigh. She supposed she was lucky that the paper stack had not caught fire too. She grabbed one of the other pencils with her mouth and began to write on the paper.

Dear Rarity,
Gone to get something to cheer you up.
Promise to be back soon.
Really, really, really, really sorry.

Love,
Sweetie Belle

She finished off the note by drawing a sad-faced pony at the bottom and went upstairs to place it in front of her sister’s door. Afterwards, she went to her room and emptied her piggy bank, putting her meagre savings in a small satchel. As she went back down, she gingerly picked up the severed mane, doing her best to keep the wavy length of hair intact. She placed it atop a pillow and left it on the desk before heading out of the Boutique, closing the door quietly behind her.

Perhaps she could go to Sugarcube Corner and get the biggest, most delicious treat she could afford. It seemed cheap and unworthy to try and buy her sister’s forgiveness with sweets in light of what Sweetie Belle had done, but short of crying her eyes out in front of Rarity while repeating how sorry she was, it was the best idea she could come up with at the moment.

The doorbell chimed cheerfully as Sweetie Belle entered the confectionery shop. The scent of baked goods was potent enough for those passing by outside, but inside the store, it hung over everything like a fine, mouth-watering mist, causing Sweetie Belle’s stomach to rumble, even though she was not particularly hungry. A pink earth pony came bouncing in from the kitchen, her mouth smeared with red and green frosting which she quickly licked off.

“Hi, Sweetie Belle! You look like somepony who could use a cake or ten. Unfortunately, I just proof-tasted the last of this batch, so you’ll need to wait a bit for the next to be ready!” she announced cheerfully. Sweetie Belle could not help but smile a bit at the energetic pony.

“Hey, Pinkie Pie. Uh, I don’t suppose you have something that sort of says ‘I’m sorry’, do you?” she asked hesitantly. Pinkie Pie tilted her head curiously.

“Sorry, huh? Hmm, I don’t think so. Why, did something happen?” She let out a gasp and leapt up on the counter, looking down at Sweetie Belle with wide eyes. “Oh no! Did something happen to my super secret balloon emergency stash?”

Sweetie Belle blinked in confusion. “Uh, no. It’s for me. Or, no, I mean, it’s for Rarity.”

“For Rarity?” Pinkie looked a bit concerned now. It was a bit odd to see on a face that was usually set in an expression of carefree excitement.

“Yeah, we—” Sweetie Belle paused for a moment. Well, no way out now. “We had a bit of a fight, and I ended up accidentally cutting off part of her mane.”

“Oh. Oh dear.” Pinkie Pie looked decidedly perturbed now. Sweetie Belle winced, her fears confirmed; she had definitely screwed up when even Pinkie could not find a silver lining to the situation.

“I didn’t mean to! You have to believe me, it just sort of… happened! One moment we were shouting, the next, swoosh! I tried to talk to her, but I think she was too upset for that, so I decided to go here and get her something.” Sweetie Belle sat down on the floor. “But it was a stupid idea. Cake isn’t going to bring her mane back. And she really likes her mane. I just wanted to do something for her.”

Pinkie Pie leapt down to the unicorn filly and gave her a tight hug.

“Aww, don’t be sad, I think it was a great idea!” The pink pony smiled encouragingly. “She’ll come around. I’m sure she wants to be best friends with you again as much as you do. Nopony wants to stay sad and lonely for long.”

Sweetie Belle hugged back. Even though she doubted it would be that easy to just gloss over the entire episode like that, it still felt nice to have her fears soothed, however slightly.

Pinkie Pie suddenly stood up, lifting Sweetie Belle with her and giving the filly a dazzling smile. “Hey, tell you what, how about I make you a bunch of muffins? Then you can take them back to Rarity and share them and eat and talk and become best friends again!”

“Uhm, well, if you don’t mind—” Sweetie Belle broke into a little yelp as Pinkie Pie spun around on one hoof.

“Yay! You wait right here, I’ll be back faster than you can say ‘Schnootzelgoops’ five hundred times!”

Even though Sweetie Belle did not count, she was fairly certain it took a while longer than Pinkie Pie’s estimate before the earth pony returned, carrying a green box with red stripes on top of her head.

“Here you go! One batch of nommy-nommy yummy tasty sugarific muffins! That’ll cheer Rarity up for sure!” she chirped. Sweetie Belle opened her satchel and rummaged through it.

“Uhm, I’m afraid I only got a couple of bits to—” she began, but Pinkie silenced her by pressing a hoof to her lips.

“Bits? Filly please, the only thing I want from you is a big, happy smile!” she said cheerfully, looking at Sweetie Belle expectantly. The little unicorn’s face widened in a warm, genuine smile.

“Thanks, Pinkie! You’re so nice!”

The pink mare positively beamed with happiness. “That’s just what I was looking for! Come on, I’ll help you get these home while they’re still warm,” she declared, leading Sweetie Belle out of the shop. As they walked, Pinkie continued to talk in what seemed more and more like a ramble than anything else. “Not that there’s anything wrong with cold baked goods, but warm baked goods are just that much more delicious, you know? It’s probably because things usually get warm if you bake them, and since they’re called baked goods and not chilled goods, it’s like, duh, of course they’re meant to be warm! It’s like why moles don’t fly or birds don’t live in water! By the way, have you seen any moles lately? I want to ask one to do a super-speedy-diggy-hole competition with me…”

After waving goodbye to Pinkie Pie and assuring her that she would be on the lookout for moles, Sweetie Belle slowly walked towards the staircase inside the Boutique, balancing the muffin box precariously on her back. The dress store seemed more subdued than normal.

“Rarity?” she called out nervously. “Big sister?”

She heard a door open upstairs, and after a few moments Rarity came down to meet her. She wore a yellow silk pajamas and an elegant wide-brimmed hat tilted at an angle that largely obscured her impromptu manecut. She looked at Sweetie Belle with a mixed expression: relief, concern, slight anger and… fear? Sweetie Belle swallowed a bit.

“Uhm… I brought muffins?” she ventured hopefully, doing her best to keep her voice from breaking. Her sister’s expression softened for a brief moment and the corner of her mouth twitched into a slight smile before fading.

“I think we need to have a little chat, dear,” Rarity said, moving back up the stairs. Sweetie Belle followed her with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

Oh no, she’s still angry and sad. Of course, why wouldn’t she be? I just ruined her mane after acting like a little foal again. Is she going to throw me out? Oh, please don’t send me home, Rarity!

They went into Rarity’s room, which Sweetie Belle thought looked remarkably normal compared to… well, what had she expected, really? That it would be a mess with drawers pulled out and mannequins flipped over? She felt guilty for assuming her sister would have reacted in such a manner, and even more so when she noticed the only thing in the room that was out of place, namely the bed pillows stained with tears and mascara.

Rarity sat down at the foot of the bed, and Sweetie Belle did likewise, putting the colourful muffin box down next to them somewhat sheepishly. Although Rarity looked rather calm and composed, Sweetie Belle could see that her eyes were still puffy and slightly red. Rarity cleared her throat.

“First, let me just—”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do anything, please don’t throw me out!” Sweetie Belle blurted before she could stop herself. Rarity gave her a little smile.

“I know, Sweetie, and I’m sorry too. As I was saying, I just want you to know that I don’t blame you personally for what happened. Tensions ran high, and… I suppose we both got a little carried away, and, well, accidents do happen.” The unicorn’s voice was carefully modulated and calm. Sweetie Belle blinked a bit. She had expected a reprimand, or an accusation, or a furious rebuke. Not this.

“So… you don’t hate me? You aren’t even going to send me to my room?”

Rarity shook her head. “You’re my sister, dear. I could never hate you. True, we may get upset and yell and quarrel at times, but I still love you. If anything, I should be apologizing to you. I know I can be a bit… overbearing with you, at times.” Sweetie Belle felt that might be the understatement of the year, but she kept quiet about it.

“So you aren’t mad about your mane, either?” she asked instead.

“Well, of course I wish it hadn’t quite happened the way it did, but as I said, it was an accident. Truth be told, what had me more upset was that we very nearly hurt each other during that whole affair. Things could so easily have escalated there, and—” Rarity closed her eyes for a moment and swallowed, letting out a slightly shivering breath. Sweetie Belle could feel a lump forming in her own throat. “But luckily that didn’t come to pass,” she added quickly. “And besides, now I have an excuse to try out some of all these hat designs I’ve had lying around.” Her voice took on a lighter tone, though Sweetie Belle could hear the forced cheer her sister put into it.

“I did want to talk about something on a related note to that, though,” Rarity continued, biting her lip slightly for a moment. “You are still having, ah, difficulties with your magic, right?” Sweetie Belle lowered her head a bit, her ears drooping.

“If you count being a total failure as ‘having difficulties’, sure,” she replied glumly. “I don’t understand it. Whenever I try to do magic, something bad always happens, if anything happens at all.”

“Well, I was thinking, perhaps we should try and see if Twilight can offer us any insight on this. I’ll be the first to admit that, apart from my gem-finding spell, my own magic repertoire is limited to just the basics.”

“You think she’s got a spell to fix messed-up unicorn horns?” Sweetie Belle asked with a little more snark than she had intended.

“Well, surely it can’t hurt to try,” Rarity replied, looking just a little bit offended. “I’m just trying to help you here, Sweetie.”

“I know, I know.” Sweetie Belle sighed. “And again, I’m sorry about earlier. I guess I was acting like a little foal then.”

Rarity gave her a soft smile. “And I guess I was being too much of a fussy big sister. I promise I’ll try to be a bit less of a control freak from now on, if you try to be a little more, ah, cooperative in return?” she suggested with a wink. Sweetie Belle could not help but let out a little giggle.

“You’ve got yourself a deal, big sister!”

They both laughed for a bit, and the atmosphere in the room grew noticably less strained. It felt a lot nicer to know that her sister was not angry and sad, or at least willing to move on and extend a hoof in reconciliation, though a tiny part of Sweetie Belle still felt that something had been lost between them, somehow. She could not place a hoof on exactly what it was, though.

“Well, what say you that we have a sample of those muffins you brought? They do have the most delicious and enticing smell,” Rarity said, pulling Sweetie Belle from her train of thought. She could find no objection to that, and the two sisters ate in amicable silence. Outside, the sun took on a golden hue as it set, bathing the room in a warm, soothing light.

Chapter 3: These Old Ponytales

It was late in the afternoon when Fluttershy finally returned to her cottage, trotting along at a relaxed, serene pace and singing a happy, wordless song. Scootaloo—who had spent the better part of the afternoon in front of the cottage door, alternating between being bored out of her mind and fending off curious animals ranging from small rabbits and songbirds to one particularly irate duck—leapt from the doorstep and rushed to the yellow pegasus before she could even cross the bridge.

“Finally!” Scootaloo groaned in relief. “Feels like I’ve been waiting here forever.”

“Oh, hello again, Scootaloo. Gosh, I didn’t realize you wanted to talk that badly. You should have just said so; I would have come back much earlier,” Fluttershy said with a smile. Scootaloo blinked.

“What? No, I’m not here about that! I’m here with Rainbow Dash’s turtle. She asked me to give him to you while she’s in Cloudsdale.”

Fluttershy let out a little gasp and held a hoof to her mouth. “Oh goodness, that’s right, I had almost forgotten. How’s Tank doing? I do hope he isn’t feeling too lonely without Dash.”

“Huh? Uh, he’s fine, I guess. Anyway, can you take him from here? I’ve kind of got someplace to be.” Scootaloo shifted a bit on her hooves. It had been frustrating to sit still for so long, unable to go anywhere.

“Oh, of course. Are you sure you don’t want something to eat first, though? Maybe a cup of tea?” Fluttershy asked, giving Tank an affectionate stroke on the head.

“No thanks, I really need to get going,” Scootaloo replied, growing a bit irritated with the other pegasus, even though she knew Fluttershy was just being kind.

“Okay then. But if you ever want to talk—”

“Enough about talking!” Scootaloo snapped, instantly regretting it when she saw the timid mare flinch as if she had been kicked, though somehow Scootaloo could not bring herself to apologize for it. Instead, she headed for her scooter and put her helmet back on.

“Look, it’s really nice of you to offer and all, but I’m busy right now, all right? If I need to talk, you’ll be the first to know, but until then, stop asking, okay?” The words tasted bitter from the harsh tone she knew Fluttershy did not deserve.

“Oh, that’s okay, I shouldn’t be so nosy,” the yellow pegasus mumbled into her pink mane, her eyes fixed firmly on her own hooves.

Scootaloo clenched her teeth as she sped off on her scooter, trying to block out that annoying voice in her head.

Wow, that was really nice of you, Scoots. Why didn’t you just tell her that she’s a big crybaby and that her tail looks like an old mop? You remember how sensitive she is about her tail from that time with “Gabby Gums”, don’t you?

‘Shut up,’ she thought to herself.

Because she’s totally the one you’re upset with in the first place, right? Oh, the nerve of that pegasus, showing thoughtfulness towards others.

‘I said shut up!’ She squeezed her eyes shut, willing her mind to be silent.

It’s not because you’re actually frustrated with somepony else, and you’re just too much of a scaredy-pony to admit to yourself that she’s not flawless, oh no.

“Shut up!” she yelled angrily at the sky, startling several birds from the nearest trees and losing control of her scooter for just a moment. She tried to correct her course, but at the speed she had been going and on the bumpy road, it quickly went from bad to worse, and then to a full stop as she crashed into the wayside.

“Ow,” she groaned, picking herself up from the ground with effort. She groaned again when she saw that one of the wheels on her scooter had been bent out of shape by the crash.

“Great. Can this day get any worse?” As she half pushed, half dragged her scooter along, she glanced up at the sky apprehensively for a moment. Mercifully, no rain clouds seemed imminent, and the nagging voice at the back of her mind had subsided for the time being.

Dusk was falling by the time Scootaloo reached the little cluster of houses near the fork where the road branched towards the towns of Twinrivers and Starlingholm. The collection of buildings was not large enough to qualify as a village of any description; it consisted of a two-storey inn, a small general store and a slightly larger house with an adjacent shed. The outskirts of the Everfree Forest loomed nearby, far enough away not to be a danger, but still near enough that its presence was just a little unnerving. Ponyville was visible downhill from the houses, with Canterlot perched majestically on the mountainside further off in the distance. To most ponies, this road juncture was just a temporary stop at best, a place to rest up before continuing on to more important locations. To Scootaloo, the third house was home.

She opened the door to the shed and pushed her scooter inside, before heading to the house itself. She was tired, hungry and none too pleased about how the day had turned out.

“Dad, I’m home!” she called as she entered the house. She picked up an enticing, spicy smell in the air, a smell that threatened to pull her out of her gloomy state of mind.

The characteristic tock tock tock of a pegleg against wood in addition to the expected sound of hooves announced her father’s presence before she saw him, peeking his head out from the kitchen.

“Hey there, Scoots. You’re just in time for dinner. Come on and help me deck the table.”

Scootaloo sniffed the air again and brightened up. “Is that… Super-Spicy-Chili-Paprika Soup?” she asked excitedly as she bounced into the kitchen, all her previous troubles momentarily forgotten.

Her father let out a chuckle. “It sure is. I figured you could do with a little something extra after a hard day of ‘crusading’.” The red stallion was stirring a pot on the stove with a wooden spoon in his mouth. He was a somewhat lanky pegasus, with a frazzled mane of dark purple and a Cutie Mark depicting a crossed wrench and screwdriver on his flank. In addition to the wooden prosthetic replacing his right hind leg from around the knee and down, he was also missing his right wing.

Scootaloo darted over to the cupboard and took out two wooden bowls, a skip to her step. There were only a few ways a really bad day could be salvaged, but her favourite meal was definitely among the top three. After filling the bowls with generous helpings of steaming soup, Scootaloo and her father sat down at the low table in the living room

Her father took a sip from his bowl and looked at her expectantly, smiling a little. “Well, don’t keep me in suspense here, Scoots. How’d it go?”

Scootaloo recounted the day’s events, from their ill-fated attempt at Sweet Apple Acres to her delivering Tank to Fluttershy. She omitted the part where she had snapped at the other pegasus, though. “Also, uh, I think I need you to have a look at my scooter again. I kind of crashed on the way home, and one of the wheels got bent,” she concluded.

Her father let out a tutting sound and shook his head a bit. “Sometimes I wonder if making you that scooter was really one of my better ideas or not.”

“Hey! I know how to handle it!” Scootaloo retorted indignantly. “Most of the time,” she added after a few moments.

Her father gave her a wry smile. “Uh-huh. Well, all right, I’ll get it fixed up first thing in the morning.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Scootaloo said, slurping up the rest of her soup. She glanced back at the pot on the stove. “So, uh, think there’s enough left for a second helping?”

Although it had long since grown dark outside, Apple Bloom continued to read through her books by the light of a firefly lamp. Just like Spike had warned her, A Tourist’s Guide to Manehatten had been exactly what the title said: a generic tourist guide. Although it had a lot of nice pictures of various buildings and statues in the city, it did not have anything that she could really use. From Fillydelphia to Manehatten by Wing was a lot of mumbo jumbo about optimal wind currents for long-distance flight which had quickly made Apple Bloom give up on it, and The Long 13, while interesting, mostly revolved around the stretch of road between Las Pegasus and Sandshade Peak, a griffon settlement near the western border of Equestria. Manehatten was mentioned in passing on a grand total of two pages, so she had put that aside as well. A Traveller’s Essentials had some helpful tips about what to pack for trips to anywhere from deserts to tundras, so Apple Bloom had put it in the pile for ‘Potentially useful if we can find backpacks big enough.’ Maps and Travel Routes of Equestria had decent maps of most places, though none of them were too detailed. The real winner seemed to be the magazine that Spike had found, containing precise descriptions of landmarks and which inns along the way had the cheapest accommodations.

Apple Bloom was just about to pick up the last book, the thin brown one Owlowiscious had found for her, when the door to her room opened and Applejack poked her head inside.

“Apple Bloom? Sugarcube, would ya like ta come down an’ have a bite of apple pie? Granny Smith just made it, delicious an’ warm as ya please.”

“Mm, in a minute, Ah’m jus’ gonna read this,” Apple Bloom replied absently, flipping the book open.

Tracking Tincoat: In Pursuit of Understanding

By Dew Glitter, scholar at Jadehorn University, Manehatten

Dear reader. If you are of the scholarly mindset, you may have stumbled upon the name of Tincoat, a unicorn sage who is supposed to have lived during—

“It’s jus’, ya’ve been cooped up in yer room pretty much from the moment ya came back home, an’ we’re startin’ ta get a mite worried ’bout ya. Not that there’s anythin’ wrong with wantin’ ta read, mind, but ya didn’t come down for dinner either,” Applejack continued, giving her sister a worried glance.

“Right, right, jus’ gimme a bit to finish this,” Apple Bloom mumbled, not taking her eyes off the book.

“All right then, sugarcube, but don’t take too long now. Gonna want ta grab a slice while the pie’s still warm.” Applejack gave her sister a bright smile before closing the door again.

—lived during the years immediately following the banishment of the legendary Nightmare Moon. Whether Tincoat is a fictional pony or not has been a subject of debate since the moment a tablet referencing his name was unearthed near the small settlement of Ponyville.

“Huh?” Apple Bloom muttered to herself. This did not seem at all like the other books she had borrowed. She tried to look for any sort of date on the book. Between heaps of formal-sounding stuff on the first page before the introduction, a small number indicated that it was written nearly seventy years ago. That would make it close to when Granny Smith and her family had helped found Ponyville. Apple Bloom continued to read, suddenly feeling very interested.

Soon after its discovery, the tablet was declared to be a fake by several experts, and its discoverer, one Jitterleaf, was branded as a fraud. Most of my peers have dismissed Tincoat as an elaborate scam by a desperate settler pony looking to get rich and famous. However, I have since come to believe that Jitterleaf’s find may in fact have been genuine. I base this not least on a recently discovered journal, which I can say with almost complete certainty belonged to somepony who lived almost a full millennium ago. A pony who identifies himself as Tincoat.

The journal was discovered by a mining team excavating a new dig in Silverpeak Mountain, where they found it in what seemed to be a natural cave that had partially collapsed at some point. While the journal itself had been protected from the ravages of time by a powerful preservation spell, the same could not be said for whatever else was in the chamber, and it was impossible to determine whether there had been more of Tincoat’s belongings there. Nevertheless, while the journal appears to have been only one of several, it shed considerable light on this mysterious pony.

Tincoat appears to have been a pony wracked by guilt. Many of the entries in the journal lament a great “mistake” that he needed to atone for, though none of them go into greater detail about the exact nature of this mistake that seems to have haunted him so. Also of interest are a few references to an apprentice of his, who is stated to have been living in the vicinity of the ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. This corresponds well with the tablet that was discovered, as Ponyville’s proximity to the Everfree Forest places it relatively close to the old castle. Alas, there is no way to know for certain, as the tablet was destroyed soon after it was declared a fake.

Perhaps the most interesting clue about Tincoat’s purpose is an entry in which he refers to a “golem” (see page 78 for an exact transcript). As some of my readers may know, a golem is an old ponytale for foals in some of the more rural parts of Equestria. Supposedly, it is a pony made of clay and magic, with the strength and fortitude of ten earth ponies. An obscure legend, but one that Tincoat seems to treat as fact. Indeed, Tincoat alludes to a “golem” being a traveling companion of his.

Apple Bloom paused. The strongest pony she knew was Big Macintosh, and only Applejack came even close to being as tough as him. The idea of ten Big Macintoshes crammed together into one pony seemed absurd. Such a pony would probably be able to flip the entire farmhouse over with a single buck. She leafed through the book until she came to page 78.

Transcript of entry five from Tincoat’s journal:

Day 33.

I am starting to believe my endeavor is a lesson of futility. I am no closer to my destination now than when I set out all those days ago. The damnable golem has been silent for a full week now. It is maddening! It just stares at me, day and night, stares without eyes, accusing me, blaming me. As if it is not enough that I am haunted by guilt in both my waking and dreaming moments, now I must also be judged by a pile of clay? I wish I had never created it. Part of me wants nothing more than to tear its gem out and be rid of its baleful sightless glower. But another part of me realizes that it is justified. It knows. And it is right. It is my fault. My fault. My fault. My fault. [Author’s note: This is repeated 27 times. I suspect Tincoat’s mind may have wandered at this point, or he may have been suffering from some form of mental ailment. The entry concludes as follows]

I cannot give up. I must set this right. May Celestia show me mercy.

Apple Bloom was growing more confused by the moment, but she found it hard to put the book down. The story being told seemed ridiculous; she had certainly never heard of anything called a golem. Yet whichever smarty-pants had written this book seemed to believe it was real. A pony as strong as ten Big Macintoshes? And it could be made out of clay?

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts as her sister appeared again, looking more concerned this time.

“Uh, sugar? Are ya sure ev’rythin’s all right?” Applejack asked. “Y’aren’t upset ’bout somethin’, are ya?”

Apple Bloom gave her a little dismissive wave. “Nah, Ah jus’ got the itchin’ to do some readin’. Y’know how it is, right?”

“Right. Well, me an’ Big Mac are gonna catch some shuteye now. Granny Smith’s already dozed off. Ah left ya a slice of the apple pie on a plate outside yer door, in case ya start feelin’ hungry.” Applejack looked at her sister with growing concern, scuffing a hoof against the floor.

“All righty. Night-night, sis,” Apple Bloom replied, leafing through the book to get back to where she left off.

“G’night, sugar. Try not to stay up all night, hey?” Applejack gave her a little grin that she did not see, her nose already buried in the book again. The older farmpony looked at her with worry before silently closing the door again. Apple Bloom cuddled up a little further under her blanket as she continued to read.

No matter how much my peers may want to dismiss this as wild speculation and fanciful thinking, I believe the evidence speaks overwhelmingly in my favour; Tincoat was indeed a real pony, and his place in history may have been more significant than we realize. My peers were wrong to dismiss the original tablet as a fake, and they are wrong to dismiss my theory as amateurish.

At that point, the book went into an extensive rant about how Dew Glitter was right and her peers were wrong, descending into a heap of scientific jargon and yack that Apple Bloom quickly grew bored with. She skipped ahead in the book, noting with frustration how there was little else about Tincoat or his golem. Only at the end of the book did her interest perk up again.

Thus we can conclude that Tincoat, regardless of his state of mind, is a figure that warrants further investigation. His journal alone is a discovery of the century, and it frustrates me beyond words that it has not received more attention. I have personally sent several petitions asking to have the journal moved to the Canterlot Archives to take its place among other significant relics of history, and I have recently submitted a petition to the Royal Canterlot Archaeologist Society—as well as our own Jadehorn Excavations branch of the Society here in Manehatten—asking for funding to organize an expedition to further unravel this mystery. With luck, we will soon have more insight into our collective history than ever before. Those who participate in this glorious undertaking should rightfully be called champions of history, and should be credited for daring to stand up to the sceptics and naysayers.

A slow smile spread across Apple Bloom’s face as she closed the book. Of course! This was it! Forget Manehatten and deserts and Cloudsdale and all that other stuff. This was how they were finally going to earn their Cutie Marks! ‘Champions of History.’ Apple Bloom rolled the word over in her head. It was good. It felt suitably epic. And she knew exactly where to start.

Chapter 4: Rise and Shine

Apple Bloom woke up to the crowing of the rooster, blinking bleary-eyed and half sliding, half stumbling out of bed. She still felt tired from her late-night reading marathon, but she could not stay in bed; there was simply too much to do. She slid Tracking Tincoat underneath her bed before leaving her room, feeling a pang of guilt as she noticed the uneaten slice of apple pie still waiting in front of her door. She quickly gobbled it up before heading down the stairs to the living room. Her siblings were nowhere to be seen and had most likely already eaten breakfast before heading out to work, and Granny Smith was dozing off in her rocking chair, which creaked lightly as it swayed back and forth.

Apple Bloom helped herself to a generous amount of the still warm pancakes from the breakfast table, sitting down to eat in silence while watching Granny Smith thoughtfully. Dew Glitter had said that tablet thing had been found by somepony from Ponyville. Was it possible that Granny Smith might have known him? It was a bit of a long shot, but Apple Bloom felt that it could not hurt to ask. She finished up her pancakes and moved next to the elderly pony.

“Hey, Granny Smith, can Ah ask ya ’bout somethin’?” There was no response other than a steady snore. Apple Bloom poked Granny Smith’s leg, still with no response, then grabbed a hold of one of the chair’s legs and shook it vigorously, eliciting a little grunt followed by more snoring. Finally, she went to the kitchen, grabbed a frying pan and a wooden spoon and banged them together next to the slumbering pony as hard as she could. The noise was finally enough to wake Granny Smith—and all of their neighbours, Apple Bloom suspected—and she sat up, opening her eyes halfway.

“Huh, whassat, young’un?” she mumbled sleepily.

“Ah was wonderin’, have ya heard ’bout somepony named Jitterleaf?” Apple Bloom asked, panting slightly from the exertion.

“Eh? Jittery? Ah ain’t jittery, missy, Ah was havin’ a nap.”

“No, Jitterleaf,” Apple Bloom said patiently. “He’s a pony who’s supposed to have lived here in Ponyville a long time ago.”

“Jitterleaf…” Granny Smith muttered, her expression becoming strangely lucid. “Jitterleaf… now there’s a name Ah ain’t heard in a long, loooong time. Sure, Ah remember ’im. Came with one o’ the first big groups o’ ponies lookin' to settle down after we’d gone an’ put up our farm ’ere. He was a real nice fella, not much older’n me. Gentlecoltly as they came, too. Used to chop down trees in the Everfree to help build houses for the new families. Didn’t ’ave no family o’ ’is own, far as anypony knew, but that didn’t seem to bother ’im none.”

Apple Bloom sat down and listened as Granny Smith continued, the elder pony’s expression at once vacant as she reminisced, yet at the same time more focused than what Apple Bloom normally saw.

“Then one day, he comes stormin’ into town, excited as a filly an’ sayin’ he’s done found a jan-u-wine relic while out on one o’ ’is trips into the great Everfree. He kept sayin’ this ’ere find o’ ’is was gonna put Ponyville on the world map, an’ he practically begged the postmaster to send a letter to Canterlot soon as could be done. We tried to figure out what got ’im so excited, but all we got from ’im was somethin’ ’bout tablets an’ history in the makin’. Sure enough, a couple o’ days later, a bunch o’ posh-lookin’ city ponies come to town in a carriage, sayin’ they wanna speak with Jitterleaf. We all figure this a good sign, ’specially when they’re in ’is house for hours, but next thing we know, the whole bunch o’ them are leavin’, lookin’ very cross, an’ Jitterleaf’s right behind them, all but breakin’ into tears.”

Apple Bloom listened in rapt attention, her mouth slightly agape. So it was true! That which she had read in the book, it was real. “Why, what happened?” she asked almost breathlessly.

“Don’t rightly know,” said Granny Smith, shaking her head slightly. “All Ah know is that them city-folk looked mighty peeved. They called Jitterleaf a fink an’ a fraud. Now, we all knew that Jitterleaf was honest an’ straight as an arrow, an’ we tried to tell ’im that we didn’t care none ’bout what a bunch o’ hoity-toity city ponies said, but he didn’t hear none o’ it. Ah ain’t never seen a pony look more defeated ’fore nor since. He just wasn’t the same after that. Didn’t smile or laugh no more, barely even came outta ’is house.” Granny Smith looked morose all of a sudden, even ceasing her gentle rocking back and forth in her chair. “He left town soon after. Poor feller. Was the last any o’ us saw ’im,” she finished.

“D’ya know where he went off to?” Apple Bloom asked after a moment.

“Think he went off ta some other town named, ehh… what was it now, uh… Storkingholm? Sparrrowton? Somethin’ ’bout birds,” Granny Smith muttered, her state of clarity slowly giving way to her usual distracted self. “Hnnmhh… run along now, young’un. Ol’ Granny needs a nap.”

Apple Bloom gave the old mare a hug. “Thanks for the story, Granny Smith,” she said, smiling, before heading for the stairs.

“Eh, what story?” Granny Smith muttered, already dozing off again. Apple Bloom fought the urge to bounce across the floor in giddiness as she rushed back to her room. She could not remember the last time she had felt this elated. She could not wait to tell her friends about Tincoat and the journal, the tablet and Jitterleaf who was real. She could picture it already; the Crusaders unearthing long-forgotten truths unknown to everypony else, being hailed as heroes, pictures in the newspapers, and best of all, Cutie Marks finally appearing on their flanks. She wondered what hers would look like. A shovel? A pickaxe? A scroll? She put Tracking Tincoat into her schoolbag, along with the map book and A Traveller’s Essentials. An insistent voice in the back of her head finally gained enough strength and volume to pierce her ecstatic train of thoughts. Books. Schoolbag. School.

“Oh, horseapples,” she whispered, hoping nobody else heard her.

The morning announced its presence with bright light pressing insistently against Sweetie Belle’s closed eyes until she finally surrendered and woke up. The curtains had been parted from the window, illuminating the room she occupied when she was staying with her sister. The white walls had been decorated with colourful drawings that she had made herself, and several pieces of paper—some blank, some with half-finished doodles—lay scattered across the floor, along with several pens and crayons. In one corner of the room stood a small dress form and an old sewing machine that Rarity had given to Sweetie Belle, along with several rolls of fabric and thread. Several more or less (mostly less) successful attempts at making clothing were scattered in the vicinity.

Sweetie Belle let out a little gasp when she noticed Mister Paws on the floor and quickly picked him up. She gave the puppy plushie an apologetic hug and placed him back in bed, pulling the blanket back up over him.

“Sorry about that, Paws. I had a bad dream. I must have pushed you out by accident.” She could not remember much of the dream, except that it had involved her being chased by a pair of giant, snapping, cackling scissors. She shook her head to clear it of the uncomfortable vision and headed to the kitchen. There was no sign of Rarity. Perhaps she was still asleep. Sweetie Belle considered making breakfast to surprise her. Surely it could not go as badly as last time.

A bell chimed as the front door was opened and Rarity called out in a singsong voice.

“Sweetie Beeeeeeeelle! Rise and shine, sleepyhead!” Moments later, she walked into the kitchen, smiling when she saw Sweetie Belle. She was wearing the same large, wide-brimmed hat as yesterday.

“Ah, you’re already up. Perfect! I just came back from visiting Twilight, and she said she would be happy to look into your magic situation.” She moved over to prepare breakfast before Sweetie Belle could start trying to cook something herself.

“Oh, that sounds… nice, I think?” Sweetie Belle suggested as Rarity began to make a pair of fried eggs and toast.

“Well, she said she needed a while to read up on a few books, so she suggested you came by after you finish school. Does that sound all right?”

“You’re not coming along?”

“Well, I can if you want to, of course, but I did not think you wanted me to be there looming over your shoulder?” Rarity gave her sister a quizzical look while pouring two glasses of orange juice.

“No no, it’s just, you don’t mind me going on my own, then?”

Rarity let out a little chuckle as she floated the glasses and plates with breakfast over to the table with a shimmer of magic. “Oh, Sweetie, I did tell you yesterday that I would try to be less fussy, didn’t I? I’m not going to be on you like a hawk all the time. I trust that you can take care of this yourself.”

Sweetie Belle smiled and embraced her sister. “Thanks, Rarey.”

“Nothing to thank me for, dear,” Rarity replied with a warm smile. “Besides, it’s just a trip to the library. It’s not as if you are suddenly going to get lost and wind up in Trottingham, is it?”

They both started giggling as they sat down to eat their breakfast, dispelling any tension Sweetie Belle worried might have lingered from yesterday.

A familiar tock tock tock sound pulled Scootaloo’s from her rainbow-tinted dreams and into the waking world before a knocking on her door could. She looked up to see her father smiling at her from the doorway.

“Up and at ’em, Scoots. It’s a bright new day, and your scooter’s fixed and good to go.”

Scootaloo yawned and stretched. “Thanks, Dad. I’ll be out in a moment,” she replied sleepily. As soon as her father had closed the door again, she flopped back against her pillow. She looked at the wall across the room from her bed, plastered with newspaper articles and pictures featuring her idol. Most of them were from the time Rainbow Dash became Ponyville’s local hero, shortly before “Mare-Do-Well” had taken her down a notch again, but there were others, too.

“Winner of Best Young Flier Competition Saves Unicorn and Wonderbolts!” one of the articles declared in bold letters, complete with a picture of a beaming Rainbow Dash together with three smiling Wonderbolts and a rather frazzled-looking Rarity, as well as a picture showing the spectacular effects of the sonic rainboom.

“Ponyville Pegasi Pull Off Jumbo Tornado Against All Odds,” another read. This one had a joint picture of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, along with one of all the Ponyville pegasi gathered for a group photo, but Scootaloo had kept the article anyway for the uplifting story it told about triumph in the face of hardship.

She had even, somewhat guiltily, kept the embarrassing picture of Rainbow Dash caught in the spa during the time Scootaloo and her friends had attempted their ill-fated career as gossip columnists, though she had stripped away the rest of the slandering article.

Looking at that collage of pictures of her idol usually motivated her to meet the day head-on with vigour and energy, but this morning, she had difficulty finding the same level of inspiration from it. Her resentment from yesterday was returning to her like a cloud, though the more she thought about it, the more silly it seemed for her to be nursing a grudge. Rainbow Dash had had a perfectly good reason to leave, and it was Scootaloo herself who had volunteered—practically begged, let's be fair—to bring Tank over to Fluttershy’s cottage. Nobody had forced her to do that except herself. Blaming Rainbow Dash for Scootaloo being a doormat when it came to her idol was both stupid and foalish.

With these thoughts in mind, she slid out of bed when she felt she could not procrastinate getting up any longer and went to the kitchen. Her father was just finishing up his own breakfast when she arrived, but a pair of daffodil sandwiches had already been prepared for her. Their unfinished game of Battlecloud from last night had been moved to the windowsill, the pieces on the board still placed at their original positions.

“There you are. I was starting to wonder if I was going to have to tip your bed over to get you up,” her father said with a grin. Scootaloo rolled her eyes a bit as she sat down to eat.

“I’m not that late,” she muttered.

“You will be if you don’t get on your way soon. I’m pretty sure even you can’t get to school in less than five minutes,” he replied as he began to clear the table except for Scootaloo’s plate.

A smirk spread across Scootaloo’s face as she ate. “Is that a challenge?”

Her father chuckled. “Not smart of me to bet if I can’t be there to check whether or not you actually get there in time, is it? Besides, even if I did bet, I would probably lose anyway,”

“You know it,” Scootaloo agreed as she dug into the sandwiches, feeling a little surge of pride. Whatever else she might doubt or not know about herself, she knew she was unbeatable on her scooter.

Her father put the clean plates back in the cupboard and headed for the door. “I need to get started on fixing Cider Cup’s wagon before noon. You going to say bye before you head off?”

Scootaloo nodded and finished up her breakfast. Her eyes drifted from a photo set in a gilded picture frame of a younger Scootaloo standing next to her father with her brand-new scooter, to a portrait of her father together with a dark blue mare holding a tiny orange foal swaddled in cloth between them. Her eyes lingered on the portrait for several moments, before she pounded her chest and let out a little burp. She headed back to her room to get her things, giving her Rainbow-wall another look, half hoping to feel an invigorating surge of energy, but none was forthcoming. Scootaloo shrugged and swept up her schoolbag before leaving.

Without the passenger cart to weigh her down this time, Scootaloo rode her scooter along the road at a reckless speed. Bet or no bet, she was determined to try and beat her personal record for getting to school quickly. Dust billowed behind her in a cloud, wind whipping against her face. It was exhilarating; enough to make her forget about everything except the moment here and now, all her attention focused on navigating the small irregularities in the road that would send her flying into the roadside again if she got too careless.

Although she was pretty certain that she had beaten her own personal best, she regretted it slightly when the Ponyville schoolhouse came into view far too early for her liking. Even so, she continued at the same speed for as long as she could, feeling a rush of satisfaction as she caused Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to dive for safety on either side of the road and grinning at the string of insults the two insufferable fillies hurled after her. She finally pulled to a halt a short distance from the doors to the schoolhouse. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stood a bit off to the side, away from the other fillies and colts, engaged in a hushed but heated conversation. Scootaloo trotted over to join them.

“…Told you already, I’ve got to go and meet Twilight after school!” Sweetie Belle hissed in a low voice.

“Ah heard ya the first time, an’ Ah tells ya again, this is really, really important!” Apple Bloom retorted.

“What are you two arguing about?” Scootaloo interjected before Sweetie Belle could reply. Both turned to look at her.

“Oh heya, Scoots. Can ya help me convince Sweetie Belle stop bein’ so stubborn and come to the clubhouse after school? Ah got somethin’ real big to tell ya both, but she won’t listen.” Apple Bloom gave the unicorn filly a rather frustrated look.

“Help you out? You mean like how you helped me yesterday by bailing on me with Sweetie Belle and Rarity, huh?” Scootaloo replied, feeling slightly vindictive for a moment, though it faded as soon as she saw Apple Bloom’s crestfallen expression. “Hey, wait a moment, didn’t Rarity ground you?” she added, looking at Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle crossed her hooves and looked away. “We worked it out, but I promised her I’d try and be more careful from now on.”

“This is gonna be different, Ah promise,” Apple Bloom said in a softer voice. “It ain’t just a shot in the dark this time; Ah know this’ll work. Please?”

Scootaloo looked from one to the other. “Well… It really sounds like you think you’re on to something this time, AB. I’m in,” she said after a moment. Apple Bloom gave her a wide smile and they both turned to look expectantly at Sweetie Belle.

“Oh, fine,” she relented at length. “But I can’t stay for long. I really, really need to go and see Twilight as soon as we’re done, okay?”

The school bell rang before any of them could say anymore and they went to class without another word, one looking happy and pleased, the other looking somewhat dubious, and the third seeming rather displeased. They all put their game faces on as soon as they entered the classroom, however.

Chapter 5: The Best Idea Ever

“Good morning, my little ponies! I hope you’re all happy and excited to begin today’s lesson! Let’s start out by going over the results of last week’s math test!”

It was always a source of amazement and slight admiration to Sweetie Belle how Cherilee could muster the same level of enthusiasm for teaching, no matter the day, weather or motivation of her pupils. She was always cheerful, always smiling, always willing to offer help and encouragement if there were parts of the day’s lesson that someone was struggling with. Above all, she exhibited a pure, genuine passion and joy for teaching, something that usually inspired Sweetie Belle to listen in rapt attention to whatever the subject for the day was. Usually.

Today Sweetie Belle’s attention was divided between four different things. She was dutifully trying to follow the lesson, naturally, but she also kept thinking about her meeting with Twilight later that day. Additionally, she wondered what it was that Apple Bloom had come up with that was so urgent and pressing. Lastly, she was trying very hard to block out the spiteful whispering of Silver Spoon of Diamond Tiara from the row behind her. They were loud enough that she could hear their conversation, but not loud enough that Cherilee could make out their words from her position at the blackboard. It seemed like someone had agitated the two snobby fillies, and they had decided to make the Crusaders the object of their displeasure.

“…And just look at that hideous shade of purple in her mane. I mean, if I had something like that for my mane, I would probably, like, try to hide it or dye it.”

Sweetie Belle picked up her pencil with her teeth and looked firmly up at the blackboard. Minty, another unicorn filly with an appropriately mint-coloured coat, was in the process of writing the results for the first couple of questions—fairly basic addition and subtraction—while Cherilee offered words of encouragement and praise. To Sweetie Belle’s chagrin, Minty was levitating the piece of crayon in a shimmer of magic, and even though her writing was somewhat clumsy, the sight of the floating and firmly intact crayon still stung slightly.

“…And what kind of self-respecting unicorn doesn’t use her magic to write?” Silver Spoon whispered.

“Probably just the kind that's too stupid to be able to do magic. I mean, even Snips and Snails can do it,” Diamond Tiara replied, eliciting very unsubtle giggle from both of them. Sweetie Belle did her best to shut her ears and instead checked her own results against those of Minty’s on the blackboard. To her satisfaction, they were all correct so far.

“Thank you, Minty, that was very good!” Cherilee said brightly as a somewhat embarrassed but pleased-looking Minty took her seat again. “Now, how about you come up here and go through the multiplication questions, Diamond Tiara?” she continued with a smile, turning her attention to the row behind Sweetie Belle. The giggling from the two fillies ceased abruptly, and Sweetie Belle struggled to resist the urge to give Cherilee a high-hoof.

For the next five minutes, she had the enjoyment of getting to watch Diamond Tiara stew by the blackboard, and while the earth pony had gotten most of the questions right, there were still a few which Sweetie Belle triumphantly could note that she alone had gotten right, while Diamond Tiara had to redo them on the blackboard in front of the rest of the class. The unicorn filly took a moment to glance around, noting that Scootaloo was making no effort to hide her obvious entertainment from watching the discomfort of their nemesis, grinning widely and leaning back in her chair. Apple Bloom, meanwhile, seemed disinterested and almost bored, glancing towards the windows as if anxious to get outside.

The rest of the lesson was uneventful, with a couple of other foals being pulled up to go over the remaining parts of the test. To Sweetie Belle’s silent relief, she was not among them. Even though her results were perfect, she did not feel like showing off her distinct lack of magical ability to everyone else more than necessary. She tried to press Apple Bloom during lunch break for more information regarding the supposed big revelation, but the other filly merely shushed her and looked meaningfully at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, who were nearby having a very animated, very unflattering conversation about the Crusaders.

After finishing school, the three fillies made their way towards the orchard of Sweet Apple Acres. Scootaloo was—somewhat reluctantly—pulling her scooter to allow her friends to keep up, while Apple Bloom all but skipped along.

“Do we have to go all the way to the clubhouse? It’s a long way from the library,” Sweetie Belle grumbled at the back.

“Of course! This is the kind of news that ya just can’t tell anywhere ’cept in private, an’ there ain’t no more secure a place than our clubhouse,” Apple Bloom declared happily. Scootaloo rolled her eyes a bit, wondering if Apple Bloom knew that their clubhouse often played home to meetings of the Rainbow Dash Fan Club as well.

“If you say so,” the unicorn filly muttered, though she seemed unconvinced as well.

The rest of the walk took place in relative silence, with only the occasional annoyed huff from Sweetie Belle. Once the door to the clubhouse was safely closed behind them, Apple Bloom upended her bags, revealing the books she had borrowed, along with her other schoolbooks and papers. She picked up Tracking Tincoat and tossed it towards her two rather puzzled-looking friends so that it slid to a halt between them.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders, allow me to present ya with the best idea ever!” she announced, beaming at her friends. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked from Apple Bloom to the book and back again.

Scootaloo sighed in exasperation. “That’s it? A book? Apple Bloom, we already tried Cutie Mark Crusader Librarians, remember? That was a dud, too.”

“No, it ain’t that. It’s the book itself! It’s got the answer to our problems!” Apple Bloom was practically bouncing on the spot in excitement.

“And would you care to tell us exactly what that answer is, or do we have to read the book first?” Sweetie Belle asked in an annoyed tone.

“Right, so listen here,” Apple Bloom said, her tone mimicking that of Applejack when she told bedtime stories. “So long ago, there was this feller named Tincoat, right? An’ he made these things called golems, which are ponies made of clay and magic. The pony who wrote this book says Tincoat might’ve been a really important pony, only no one knows what happened to him. It said somethin’ ’bout discoverin’ a tablet near Ponyville, even had a name of the pony who found it, an’ Granny Smith confirmed he was real!” Apple Bloom paused to look at her two friends, who both looked rather nonplussed.

“Don’t ya see? It’s our chance to find somethin’ that’s gonna make history! We know it really happened, because Granny Smith said the discovery of that there tablet thingy was real! If we can find out what happened to this Tincoat feller, we’re gonna be famous! Discoverin’ somethin’ like that is sure to reveal our special talents! We’re gonna be Cutie Mark Crusader History Finders! Uhm… Cutie Mark Crusader Dust Diggers! No, Cutie Mark Crusader… erh…”

“Lore Seekers?” Sweetie Belle suggested flatly.

“Yeah! Cutie Mark Crusader Lore Seekers! It’s gonna be so cool!” Apple Bloom cheered, flashing her biggest, most winning smile at her friends.

“Are you even listening to yourself?” Sweetie Belle groaned. “You want us to go looking for some story you read about in a book that nopony else in who knows how long has managed to find? And you expect us to do this how?”

“Well…” Apple Bloom hesitated. “Granny Smith said the pony who found that tablet moved to another town, named somethin’ about birds an’ starting with ‘S’. An’ in the book, it said Tincoat’s journal was moved to the Canterlot Archives, or was goin’ to be moved there, anyway.”

“So all we have to do is trudge all over Equestria until we find the right town starting with ‘S’, and break into the Canterlot Archives to steal a book? Yeah, that doesn’t sound dangerous or crazy at all,” Sweetie Belle scoffed, throwing her hooves up in the air.

“It’s no crazier than some of the other things we’ve already done,” Scootaloo pointed out. Sweetie Belle looked at her incredulously.

“Wait, you’re actually taking Apple Bloom’s side in this?” she protested.

“Yeah? Don’t you remember the promise we made to each other when we started all this? That we were gonna keep on trying no matter what until we succeed? And that we were going to do it together?” Scootaloo retorted.

“This isn’t the same—”

“Girls,” Apple Bloom tried to intervene, but with no success.

“Oh, so you’re just too scared to go through with this when it really counts, huh? You’d rather just sit at home waiting in case a Cutie Mark is magically going to fall on your flank?” Scootaloo let out a derisive snort.

“Hey!” Sweetie Belle jumped to her hooves, her face red with anger. “Just because you don’t have a sister on your tail all the time throwing a fit whenever you get in trouble—” She immediately regretted her words, wishing she could swallow them and put them in the deepest, darkest corner of her stomach when she saw the look on Scootaloo’s face.

“S-sorry, Scootaloo…” Sweetie Belle whimpered apologetically.

“It’s fine,” Scootaloo hissed through gritted teeth, pointedly not looking at the unicorn filly. Apple Bloom swallowed. The tension in the clubhouse was so oppressive that it felt like the roof was pressing down on them.

“So, uhm…” she ventured cautiously. “Ah was thinkin’, since ya were gonna go visit Twilight an’ all, maybe ya could try an’ get her to take ya along to them archives? Ah mean, if ya still wanna be in on all this…”

“I’m… I don’t know…” Sweetie Belle mumbled, fidgeting nervously, looking like a mouse trapped in a corner. Scootaloo still refused to look at her.

“Ain’t askin’ ya to steal anythin’. Just borrow it. It ain’t illegal to borrow stuff from libraries,” Apple Bloom assured her, moving over to touch necks with the unicorn filly. “Meanwhile, me an’ Scootaloo could go lookin’ for the old-timer. We got maps, an’ Scootaloo’s got her scooter, so we’d be able to get around quick. If we find out this is just a dead end, we’ll drop it, promise, but Ah just really, really, really wanna give this a shot. Please?”

Sweetie Belle wilted under the imploring look her friend gave her. She looked from Apple Bloom to Scootaloo, biting her lip.

“Oh, all right. Okay, I promise I’ll try,” she relented at last, her shoulders sagging a bit. “Just don’t tell Rarity or anypony else what we’re planning. I just promised her yesterday that I’d be more careful. If she knew—”

Apple Bloom smiled and gave her a hug. “Don’t worry, we ain’t gonna tell nopony. Just tell Twilight you’re really interested in all them books in the Canterlot Archives, Ah bet she’ll buy it for sure.”

“I’m not sure, Apple Bloom, is it really right to be lying to somepony like that?”

“It ain’t lyin’. Not really. Ah mean, ya really are interested in findin’ Tincoat’s journal, right?”

“I guess…” Sweetie Belle conceded.

“Right! It ain’t lyin’, then, it just… ain’t the whole truth. That’s different.”

“I’m still not sure about this, but… okay then. I’ll try.” The unicorn filly took a deep breath. “I better get going. I’m already late as it is.” She sighed and got up, heading for the door.

“Good luck, Sweetie Belle! We’ll meet back here tomorrow after school,” Apple Bloom called after her.

“Yeah. Good luck,” Scootaloo said, finally looking at her. Sweetie Belle gave them both a little smile before closing the door behind her.

Apple Bloom turned to look at her pegasus friend with worry. “You okay, Scootaloo?”

“Yeah, I’m just… nevermind.” Scootaloo shrugged. “What did you say that town we’re looking for was called?”

Apple Bloom picked up Maps and Travel Routes of Equestria and flipped it open. “Well, Granny Smith said it was something with ‘S’ and birds. Can’t be too many of those, right?”

Scootaloo went over to join her. “Hmm… well, there’s Starlingholm. It’s down one of the roads from where I live. Think that might be it?”

“It’s worth a shot, ain’t it?” Apple Bloom smiled. “If it ain’t too far, I reckon we can have a look today, see if anypony has seen or heard of a pony named Jitterleaf.”

“That’s his name?” Scootaloo raised an eyebrow and let out an amused little snort. Apple Bloom rolled her eyes slightly.

“Anyway, reckon ya could get the cart for the scooter? Don’t think we can make it there an’ back in a day otherwise.”

“Yeah, guess so. Pick you up at the farm?” Scootaloo asked, putting on her crash helmet. Apple Bloom nodded.

“Right, see you in a little. Better be ready.”

Apple Bloom grinned. “Oh, Ah’ll be ready. Trust me, this is gonna be awesome.”

Scootaloo was on her way back towards Sweet Apple Acres with the scooter cart in tow, just passing by Fluttershy’s cottage, when a voice above her made her heart leap up in her throat.

“Hey, Squirt, wait up a second!”

A second later, Rainbow Dash appeared next to her. She was sweating a little, but showed no sign of being really exhausted. She looked every bit like a tireless athlete, and Scootaloo suddenly remembered why she admired her idol so much.

“Hi, Rainbow Dash! How was the Wonderbolts show?” the filly asked excitedly, thrilled that the blue pegasus had come to her. She already felt guilty for even thinking bad about Dash.

“It was awesome! They performed a bunch of new tricks that I’d never seen before! You should’ve been there, Squirt, it was so cool!” Dash seemed oblivious to the expression that briefly passed over Scootaloo’s face at her words.

“Yeah, I guess I should’ve been, huh?” she agreed with a slightly forced smile. “So, uh, did you want to talk about something?”

“Oh, yeah, are you going to be stopping by the library?” Dash asked, stretching her back and wings for a moment before flying up to a nearby tree. She returned after a moment with a book in her mouth.

“Uhm, well, actually—”

“Think you can hand in this book for me? I’ve been busy practicing some of those sweet new moves I saw the Wonderbolts perform, and I forgot I had to return the latest Daring Do novel to Twilight. I’m in a good flow at the moment, so I’d rather not break off from that.”

“Oh. Sure,” Scootaloo replied, now with a very forced smile. “No problem at all, Rainbow Dash!” Hellooo? Apple Bloom, Starlingholm? Ring any bells? You’re supposed to get the cart, pick her up and go to that town, not run errands for Rainbow Dash!

“Great. Well, I’m gonna get back to my workout. These moves won’t learn themselves,” Dash said with a grin and a wink, taking off towards the sky again.

“Okay! Bye, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo called after her. Hold on, you’ve got other places to go! Just tell her to hand it in herself! She could probably do it in like two minutes! She flung the book into the back of her scooter cart and sped off towards Ponyville instead of the farm, doing her best to block out the voice that she secretly agreed with deep down in herself. Above her, Rainbow Dash darted through the air in elaborate loops and turns, blissfully unaware of the thoughts going through the head of her number one fan.

Why do you let her do this? Are you hoping that she’s going to ask you to move in with her one day? Adopt you as her sister?

Scootaloo almost hit a very startled Lyra and Bon-Bon as she drove past them at full speed, not even bothering to shout an apology back at them. Her eyes were firmly set on the library tree growing in the distance.

What is it you admire so much about her, anyway? That she is one of the best fliers in Equestria? That she is strong and independent? And you try to emulate that by bending over backwards trying to please her, hoping for her approval? Don’t you see a problem here?

She all but kicked the door to the library open, startling the two unicorns inside. She flung the book across the floor to the lavender mare.

“Book delivery,” Scootaloo told Twilight and Sweetie Belle by way of explanation, not even trying to hide the frustration in her voice, before slamming the door after her again.

The ride back to Sweet Apple Acres took only a few minutes, though by the time she got there, Scootaloo’s anger had dimmed to a dull ember. Next time Rainbow Dash asked her to run an errand like that, she would tell the mare just what she thought of being treated like a lackey.

Yeah, right.

Apple Bloom was tapping her hoof impatiently near the arch leading up to the farm, but brightened up in a smile when Scootaloo pulled to a halt next to her.

“Ready?” Scootaloo asked the yellow filly, who promptly hopped into the scooter cart.

“Ready!”

Scootaloo took off again, going by the most direct route back home this time, circumventing Ponyville entirely. Behind her, she could hear Apple Bloom letting out whoops and cheers from the speed they drove at. It was rare for Scootaloo to hear her be so excited. She figured her friend really did believe that they were on to something big this time. She rather wished she had the same confidence.

As they passed by Fluttershy’s cottage, Scootaloo glanced skywards to see a rainbow-streaked bolt of blue flash by high above her.

‘Next time, Rainbow Dash… Next time,’ she thought.

After a short while, they came to the crossroads with its cluster of three houses around it. Scootaloo took them down the road towards Starlingholm without slowing down.

“Hey, Scoots, was that where ya live, back there?” Apple Bloom called out behind her.

“Yeah,” Scootaloo replied simply.

“How come we ain’t ever been over at yer place?”

“Can’t hear you, wind’s in my face,” Scootaloo called back, though she had heard her friend clearly enough.

They continued on in silence. Scootaloo eventually had to slow down a little as weariness began to settle into her stubby wings. The trees on either side of the road slowly thinned out and gave way to large tracts of farmland, fields of gold swaying gently in the wind. Several earth ponies were trudging through the fields, pulling harvest machines after them, followed by other ponies who deftly gathered the corn into bundles. Starlingholm came into view as they went down a gentle slope, situated next to a large river going westward. It looked similar to Ponyville, though slightly smaller, and the buildings were more spread out, several of them with sheds or small barns next to them. A great wooden arch inscribed with the words “Welcome to Starlingholm” removed any doubt about whether they were in the right place or not.

“So how do we do this?” Scootaloo asked as she started to slow down, rolling into the town at a sedate pace and pulling to a halt next to a flagpole near the center of the town.

“Well, Ah reckon we just ask around, see if anypony’s heard of this Jitterleaf feller,” Apple Bloom replied as she hopped out of the cart and walked towards the nearest pony. Scootaloo shrugged and followed.

“Makes sense to me.”

“Uhm, ’scuse me, mister, don’t suppose ya know of a pony named Jitterleaf?” Apple Bloom asked a large earth pony, who for all the world looked like a brown and more scruffy version of her brother.

The stallion shook his head. “Nope, ain’t never heard that name, sorry.”

This reply was repeated by the next half dozen ponies they asked, but a middle-aged, cream-coloured mare finally gave them some hope.

“Ain’t heard of a pony by that name, but try askin’ ol’ Penstroke. He’s been ’ere longer’n most. Think he’s down by the riverside,” she said helpfully.

“Thank ya kindly, ma’am!” Apple Bloom smiled widely, leading the charge down to the river. An emerald-coated pony with a thinning mane of silvery grey sat by the water’s edge with a drawing board, carefully running a pencil wedged between his teeth across the paper in front of him. Even at a distance, the fillies could see that the drawing was a richly detailed replica of the golden fields and the small shapes of ponies working on harvesting them. Each stroke of the pencil was slow and deliberate, often no more than the tiniest flick.

“Shouldn’t we go talk to him?” Scootaloo muttered to Apple Bloom from the corner of her mouth. The yellow filly shook her head.

“He looks awfully busy. Ah reckon we should wait until he’s done,” she whispered back.

Scootaloo groaned. “But that could take all day! You know how it is with these old—”

“I may be old, but I ain’t deaf, young’un,” the elder grunted, not turning around or even putting down his pencil. His voice was raspy like sandpaper. “Speak your piece or get on outta here. I don’t like being bothered while I work.”

Apple Bloom gave Scootaloo a slightly reproachful look, and the pegasus had the good grace to look at least a little embarrassed.

“Sorry, mister, but we’re lookin’ for somepony named Jitterleaf, an’ we were told ya might know somethin’ ’bout ’im,” Apple Bloom said, walking a little closer. The old pony stopped and slowly put down his pencil before looking over his shoulder at them. His face was ancient and gnarled, even older than Granny Smith, but he looked more lucid than she normally did.

“An’ just who told you that? Eh, bet it was that blabbermouth, Buttercream. Nevermind that, ain’t nopony ’round here with that name. Go on, shoo!” he snapped, before turning back to his drawing.

“Are ya sure ya ain’t heard the name before? He’s supposed to have come here from Ponyville back when—”

“I said no! No Jitterleafs here anymore! Scram!”

“Not a chance, old-timer! You know something, and you’re holding out!” Scootaloo snarled, darting up to the old pony and glaring at him. “I didn’t come all the way out here just for a cantankerous old coot like you to brush me off.”

“Now hold on just an apple-bucking minute—” the wizened stallion began.

Apple Bloom was slightly impressed that Scootaloo knew a word like cantankerous, but she decided to interrupt before things could escalate.

“We’re awful sorry, mister, it’s just that Ah was told by mah Granny Smith that a feller named Jitterleaf left Ponyville a long time ago, an’ we’re tryin’ to find him.”

The old pony stopped and looked at her. “Smith? As in the Smith family?”

“Hah, I knew—” Scootaloo went quiet as Apple Bloom mouthed a rather unsubtle “quiet” at her. The yellow filly nodded at the elder.

“That’s right. Mah Granny’s a green earth pony with an apple pie as her cutie mark. Ya know her?”

The old stallion slowly sat down, the many wrinkles in his weathered face creasing into a pensive frown.

“Yeah… yeah, I knew her. Knew her family, too, an’ the rest of the ponies she lived with.” He let out a defeated sigh and looked at the two fillies. “You’re bringin’ back memories of a time I’ve been tryin’ to forget for more than seventy years. Why? What is it you want?”

“You really are Jitterleaf, then?” Scootaloo asked, still looking at the ancient one with a degree of hostility.

“I am,” he replied with a nod. “Congratulations on your keen insight. Now what did you want, other than to dig at old wounds?”

“Well, Ah read this book ’bout how ya found some tablet—”Jitterleaf’s expression darkened as Apple Bloom spoke “—an’ Ah was wonderin’ if ya could tell us ’bout it? We think it was real, see, an’ we’re tryin’ to find out the truth ’bout the whole thing.”

“So two little fillies are gonna clear my name an’ set the record straight, huh? Well, thank Celestia for that, ’cept that you’re a couple of decades too late. ‘Jitterleaf’ is long gone, and as for what comes to that damned tablet—” Jitterleaf took a hissing breath between clenched teeth “—ugh. Sorry, young’uns, I just don’t see the point.”

“Well, what exactly do you lose by telling us? You already said you don’t care about it,” Scootaloo pointed out.

Jitterleaf let out a little groan. “Fine, there’s obviously no reasonin’ with you. I don’t know why you care so much about this, but I’ll tell you what I know if it’ll get you off my back.” He exhaled slowly and spat a gob of phlegm at the grass.

“It all started when I was out in the Everfree Forest, markin’ trees for choppin’ an’ lookin’ for fallen ironroot tree branches. I ended up walkin’ in deeper’n usual. Can’t really remember why. Ain’t important. What matters is, after a while, I stumbled into a small clearing, an’ right there, halfway submerged in the ground, flanked by two crumblin’ stone pillars, was a tablet. The tablet. I couldn’t make out much of what it said, but right there I thought, sure as Celestia raises the sun, that there’s a right an’ proper relic, is what it is. I knew there hadn’t been ponies livin’ in the Everfree so long as anypony could remember, so I hauled the damn thing back home, thinkin’ I’d just made the find of a lifetime.”

The two fillies both sat quietly and listened, Apple Bloom with wide eyes and an attentive look, Scootaloo wearing a more skeptical expression, watching Jitterleaf with a hint of suspicion.

“Soon as I got back, I started tellin’ everypony I could find about the paperweight, how it was goin’ to make our fledgin’ community famous. Stupid. I had no way of knowin’ if anypony would even care to come take a look at it. As it turned out, a bunch of Canterlot snobs showed up a couple of days later, not askin’, but demandin’ to be shown the tablet. I showed it to ’em, expectin’ ’em to see it the same way I did, but after a lot of pokin’, proddin’ and talkin’ amongst themselves, they accused me of havin’ made the thing myself to scam ’em for bits. Me!” Jitterleaf snorted, his many wrinkles contorting in a way that made it look like his face was collapsing on itself. After a moment, he continued.

“Don’t know why, but they wouldn’t listen to a word I said, even flat-out refused me when I offered to show ’em where I’d found the thing. Only one of ’em seemed like he wanted to bring the tablet for further study, an’ the others browbeat him into silence. An’ just to rub it in, they denounced me right in front of the rest of the town before they left. An’ then it was over. My reputation was ruined. There was nothin’ left to do for me but to leave,” he finished with a sigh.

“That’s it?” Scootaloo asked incredulously. Jitterleaf raised an eyebrow.

“So a bunch of snobs call you a liar, and you suddenly decide it’s all over? You just packed your things and left over that?” she pressed.

“Missy, I don’t know what it’s like for you, but gettin’ chewed out in front of all your friends an’ bein’ called a cheat and a liar would be enough to break any pony’s pride,” he said in a dangerously low voice. “Don’t you judge me over somethin’ you never saw yourself. Some things you just can’t live down.”

Scootaloo was about to make a scathing reply, but Apple Bloom cut her off.

“What about the tablet? Ah read it was destroyed. Is that true?”

“Destroyed? Hah, I almost wish I'd done that.” Jitterleaf snorted. “No, I buried it back where I found it, the last thing I did before leavin’ Ponyville.”

Apple Bloom blinked. “Ya mean it’s still there?”

“How should I know? For all I know, it still is. It stopped bein’ my problem when I buried it,” Jitterleaf grumbled.

Apple Bloom smiled hopefully at the old pony. “Well, uhm, d’ya think ya could show us where ya hid it? We’d really like to have a look at it.”

“I suppose if I don’t help you, you’re just gonna wander ’round the Everfree Forest until you find it yourselves anyway?” he asked wearily.

“That’s right, and then come back to you if we don’t find it, so you may as well save us all some time, gramps,” Scootaloo replied, pacing back and forth a bit. Jitterleaf let out an unimpressed snort.

“You know what? Fine. If you two want to run around repeatin’ other ponies’ mistakes, be my guest. Just leave me out of whatever your wild goose chase turns up,” he grumbled. He took a fresh piece of paper and deftly sketched a pair of rectangular standing stones, the left one partially crumbled at the top. “The stones where I buried the tablet looked somethin’ like that. If you head directly east from the Smiths’ farm, you’ll be on the right track. If you’re lucky, my old marks will still be on the trees along the way, unless somepony’s chopped ’em down in the meantime.”

Scootaloo took the offered piece of paper with her teeth. Jitterleaf let out a little sigh and turned back to his drawing board. “I suppose I should say good luck, but I’d rather you just changed your minds before you got there and give up on it now.”

“Thanks a lot, mister Jitterleaf, we’re real grateful.” Apple Bloom smiled widely, glancing at Scootaloo and nodding meaningfully towards Jitterleaf, but the pegasus filly merely rolled her eyes.

The old pony let out a little grunt. “We’ll see. Go on, then, leave me alone, an’ don’t tell nopony about me. To everypony here, I’m still Penstroke, the cranky ol’ coot, got it?”

Apple Bloom looked at him quietly for a bit. “Ya know, nopony thought bad ’bout ya back in Ponyville. Ya could still come back.”

Jitterleaf let out a little sigh. “Just let me be,” he muttered. “Please.”

The two fillies headed back towards the parked scooter, leaving the old pony at the riverside with his drawing. For a long time, he stared out towards the golden sun setting over golden fields, silent and still, watching spots of black dance across the horizon as thousands of starlings began to soar through the air like a swarm. He slowly placed a fresh piece of paper on the drawing board, the strokes of the pencil creating a meticulous, painstaking replica of the view.

Chapter 7: Super Secret Undercover Fillies

The train pulled into Canterlot station after an uneventful ride, each pony having been too engrossed in their own thoughts to have much in the way of conversation. Twilight led the Crusaders through the grand and dignified station building, then through the bustling streets full of ponies going about their business, some carrying bags full of shopping goods, others sitting at tables outside cafés enjoying various refreshments.

The route to the Canterlot Archives took them through an immaculately tended park populated by numerous sculptures of stone and marble, the trees in various hues of green, purple and gold. Here and there, groundskeepers were busy clearing away the occasional fallen autumn leaves, keeping the park in pristine condition. The Archives reared up in the middle of the park, a tall, imposing building topped with a sun-crowned spire. Members of the Canterlot Royal Guard stood watch near the entrance, while others patrolled the walls in pairs.

“Greetings, Miss Sparkle!” one of the guards at the main door barked as they approached, maintaining a perfect poker face. “Would you like to enter through the door this time, or do you prefer to use the window again?” His companion did his best to suppress a snigger.

Twilight smirked a bit. “Very funny, Bulwark. If you gentlecolts are done cracking wise, could you allow us entry? I’m taking the fillies here to visit the Archives.”

“Sure thing, Twilight,” the second guard replied with a chuckle and opened the door with a little shimmer of magic. “Enjoy the books.”

“What was that about?” Scootaloo asked as Twilight led the fillies inside the building. The walls were lined with colourful tapestries, some heraldic in nature, others depicting scenes of what were presumably parts of Equestrian history. These were separated at regular intervals by wooden double doors.

“Oh, nothing,” Twilight replied, letting out a slightly nervous chuckle. “Uh, let’s start our tour here, shall we?” She led them over to the first door.

“This is the section for Equestrian judicial history. It contains documents and records of every legislation passed in the last hundred years, complete with transcripts of all tribunals and court proceedings.” She directed their attention to the opposite door. “And this is the medical section. It contains detailed anatomy studies not just of ponies, but of every living species discovered thus far, along with extensive lists of known ailments and illnesses, as well as their cures and treatments.”

Apple Bloom led out an inward groan as Twilight led them towards the next set of doors. Looking at the number of them in this hallway alone, Twilight’s well-intentioned tour would most likely take them several hours. She decided to speed things up a little.

“Say, Twilight, if somepony wanted to find records of, uhm, how many apples were picked last year, where’d ya find that?” she asked innocently.

“That would be the fifth door on our right, in the agricultural section under yearly statistics,” Twilight replied with a smile.

“And how about, uh, scooter designs?” Scootaloo chimed in, picking up on Apple Bloom’s idea.

“Scooters? I would assume that would be under engineering in the technical section, the seventh door on our left.”

“And how about stuff like diaries and journals?” Apple Bloom continued, trying to affect as nonchalant an air as possible.

“Those would be in the section for biographies. That’s around the corner at the end of this hallway and then the third door on our right.” Twilight let out a little chuckle. “Don’t worry, girls, we’ll get around to them all in due time. Just be patient.”

“Sure thing, Twilight!” Apple Bloom smiled widely, while Scootaloo mouthed “Distraction!” to Sweetie Belle behind Twilight’s back. Before she had a chance to think one up, however, it was presented to them on a silver platter.

“Halt!” a commanding voice called out behind them. All four ponies snapped around to see an imposing white unicorn clad in gold-trimmed violet armour and wearing a crested helm. A smaller, somewhat lanky grey unicorn wearing glasses and carrying a saddlebag filled with several rolled-up scrolls accompanied him. The larger of the two ponies stepped towards the group, his face set in a stern, unyielding expression of authority. He stopped a few steps away from Twilight.

“Miss Sparkle,” he said tersely.

“Captain Armor,” Twilight replied in an equally curt tone.

The standoff went on for several moments, before Twilight broke into a ridiculous grimace involving poking her tongue at her own nostril, causing the larger unicorn to burst into laughter.

“Celestia save me, that face is just too much! It’s cheating!” he gasped in between fits of amusement. “Inkhoof, did you record the time? I think that might have been a new record.”

“Erh, yes, sir,” the smaller unicorn replied stiffly, browsing through the various scrolls in his bag. “Should I list it under ‘Commendations’, ‘Noteworthy behaviour’, or…?”

“Relax, Inkhoof, I’m just kidding.” He grinned at his companion before turning to look at Twilight with a wide smile.

“Well played, Twily. But one of these days, I’ll get back at you.”

“Keep dreaming, brother,” Twilight giggled and embraced Shining Armor. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo exchanged a look and nodded in unison.

“Remember, keep her occupied,” Apple Bloom whispered urgently to Sweetie Belle, before she and Scootaloo ran off as quickly and quietly as they could, heading for the end of the hallway.

“So what are you doing here? You don’t usually come to a place like this just to read,” Twilight said as she let go of her brother, who smiled and shook his head.

“You’re right, sadly. Duty as usual. I’m inspecting the guards stationed here at the Archives and making sure everything is up to scratch. After all, we have to make sure the place is protected from break-ins by studious unicorns.” He smirked just a bit as Twilight rubbed her temple with a hoof.

“I’m never going to hear the end of that one, am I?” she sighed.

“You know it.” Shining Armour let out a little chuckle and nudged Twilight on the shoulder. “What about you? I’m guessing you aren’t here to throw me a surprise party on an otherwise dull inspection round?”

“Actually, I’m showing these three fillies here around the Archives.” She smiled and gestured at Sweetie Belle and her two absent friends. “I’m sure you remember them; they were the flower fillies at your wedding. This is Sweetie Belle, sister of my friend Rarity, and this is—Wait, where’s Apple Bloom and Scootaloo?” She looked around in surprise.

“Oh, they, uh, decided to go off and explore the rest of the Archives on their own. They said they’d meet us back here when they were done,” Sweetie Belle replied with a little shrug.

“Oh, shoot,” Twilight muttered.

“Well, don’t worry. I’m sure the archivists will be able to keep them from wandering too far. If I see them on my round, I’ll tell them to come back to you,” her brother said reassuringly.

“I guess you’re right. If you find them, tell them we’ll be in the medical section here.”

“I will. Take care now, Twily. You too, Sweetie Belle.” Shining Armor grinned a bit and saluted the two before walking off, followed by his assistant.

“See you later, BBBFF,” Twilight called after him. She turned to Sweetie Belle with a smile. “Well then, let’s get started, shall we?”

Apple Bloom nudged the door to the biography section open and slipped inside. Even though she was pretty sure that nothing prohibited fillies from visiting the Canterlot Archives, she still felt like they were doing something furtive. A desk to their left was manned by an elderly unicorn who seemed busy reading some novel or another. She did not look up even when the door closed behind them with a noise that seemed shockingly loud in the otherwise quiet atmosphere of the building.

The two fillies glanced around at the many bookshelves, realizing with a sinking feeling that there were far more books here than in Twilight’s library.

“Where do we start?” Scootaloo whispered to Apple Bloom.

“Well, them bookshelves are marked with letters. Ah suppose the one marked with a ‘T’ is as good a place as any?”

They snuck past the archivist’s desk, even though sneaking at this point was probably largely redundant, and headed over to the appropriate bookshelf, which was many times higher than the two fillies.

Apple Bloom glanced quickly at the rows of books. “All right, looks like these are all ordered alphabetically. So long as the journal’s on one of the lower rows, we’ll be fine.”

They began to look through the books. Several of them, mainly the diaries, did not have names on their spines, and they had to pull them from the shelf and look at the front cover instead.

“Tidebreak, Tiepin, Tillery, Timbercoat, Timberhoof, Timbermane, Timidwing… aha!” Scootaloo triumphantly pulled out the last book on the lowest row. “Here we go! Angling as a Lifestyle! Wait, what?” She blinked and looked at the author name again.

“Tincoast? Urgh, that means Tincoat must be—” The two fillies looked up to the top of the next section of the bookshelf. They let out groans in perfect synch.

“All right, what if Ah give ya a hoof up? Think ya can reach it then?” Apple Bloom asked hopefully.

“Unless you can also grow to like ten times your own size, probably not,” Scootaloo grumbled in reply.

“Okay, uhm… How about if we make a step ladder out of books? Then we’d be able to reach the top shelf!”

Scootaloo shrugged. “Better than my idea.”

“Which was?” Apple Bloom asked as she began to pull out various books and stacking them.

“Tip the entire bookshelf over.”

They had just emptied two of the bottom rows of the shelf and stacked the books about halfway up to the top when a shadow fell over them. They paused and looked up to see the unicorn from earlier looming over them, looking at them with a mixture of puzzlement and annoyance.

“Can I help you, young ladies?” she asked in a dangerously polite tone.

“Uhm, yeah, we’re lookin’ for a journal written by somepony named Tincoat. We think it’s way up there, an’ we couldn’t reach it, so, uh…” Apple Bloom shifted nervously from hoof to hoof. The unicorn raised an eyebrow.

“And why, may I ask, did you not ask for assistance? Or even more pressingly, why didn’t your friend just fly up and get it? She has wings, doesn’t she?”

Scootaloo turned a deep shade of red, but Apple Bloom cut her off before she could reply.

“Yeah, well, think ya could get it for us now that you’re here anyway?”

The unicorn sighed and her horn glowed a light blue. “Tincoat, you say? Let’s see… Here it is.” She levitated a thin, black and wholly unremarkable book down from the top shelf. There was a fine layer of dust on it. “Doesn’t look like anypony has asked for this one in a long time. Are you going to read it here, or do you plan on borrowing it?”

“Borrow it, if ya please,” Apple Bloom replied, glancing at Scootaloo who looked to be struggling very hard to keep her temper in check.

“Right, this way, then. I’ll need your name and address.”

Apple Bloom glanced behind her at the half-finished improvised step ladder. “What about them other books? Should we clean ’em up?”

“I think it’s best you leave that to someone more qualified,” the unicorn replied shortly. “Now, write your name here and your address here…”

“That hag should get bucked right in her stupid face,” Scootaloo growled as they closed the door to the biography section behind them.

“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom let out a gasp, glancing nervously at the door, half expecting the unicorn to burst out after them. “Ah’m sure she meant no insult. She didn’t know that, uhm—”

“That I can’t fly? Maybe she could, oh, I don’t know, put two and two together about why I hadn’t already tried getting the book myself?” Scootaloo let out a sigh of exasperation. “Ugh, let’s just go and get Sweetie Belle so we can get out of here.”

As it turned out, finding Twilight and Sweetie Belle was easy; one of the patrolling guardsponies helpfully informed them of what Shining Armor had told him to relay to the fillies if he saw them. The medical section looked similar to the one for biographies, the room lined with bookshelf after bookshelf. They followed the sound of muted chatter until they found Sweetie Belle and Twilight, along with a somewhat anxious-looking dark unicorn stallion, presumably whoever managed this section of the archives. Twilight had already gathered a small mountain of books around herself, and was continuing to pull yet more books from the shelves.

“…And we could definitely use this one. This one might be interesting too. Oh, this one I’d love to read later. This one might have something too. Oh! And this one!” Sweetie Belle gave her friends a hopeless little shrug as Twilight continued to ramble excitedly to herself. Apple Bloom fought the urge to giggle. It seemed like it might be harder to get Twilight away from the archives than it had been to get her to bring them along.

“Miss Sparkle, are you really sure you want to borrow all of these?” the archivist unicorn asked nervously. “It seems like an awful lot all at once.”

“Oh, Paperclip,” Twilight chuckled lightly, “you of all ponies should know that there’s only one solution if you can’t find the answer in one book.” She turned to look at him with an expression bordering on the unstable. “Read all the books!”

“Erh, yes, well, but maybe you could settle for an amount that, uhm, you might realistically be able to carry out of here?” he replied, glancing at the pile of books.

“Oh.” Twilight looked around herself. “Right, well…” She quickly levitated the books past herself one by one. “In that case, I guess I’ll stick with these five. They seem to be the most promising. Thank you for your help in finding them.” She gave the archivist a bright smile.

“It, uh, was my pleasure,” he replied, wincing a bit as he looked at the mess of books left behind. “If you’ll just follow me to get these checked out, then.”

“Hello again, girls,” Twilight greeted Scootaloo and Apple Bloom as she noticed them. “Are you ready to continue the tour, then?”

“Actually, we already finished exploring on our own, so we’re ready to go home,” Scootaloo said.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What, did you see all of the Canterlot Archives already?”

“Yep! Every nook an’ cranny! We’re all set!” Apple Bloom confirmed cheerfully.

“But I never got to finish our planned tour!” Twilight complained, looking disappointed. Scootaloo shot a glance at Sweetie Belle, who rolled her eyes behind Twilight’s back, before putting a hoof to her head.

“Oh, ow! Ow! I think I feel a headache coming on again,” she declared, with all the dramatic flair she had picked up from Rarity.

“Oh? Well, in that case, I suppose we better head back,” Twilight said somewhat reluctantly. “Very well, let me just get these books checked out and we can head off.”

The Crusaders waited until Twilight had moved to the desk with the archivist pony before huddling together.

“Did you get it?” Sweetie Belle whispered. Apple Bloom nodded.

“Got it right here in mah saddlebag,” she confirmed. “How ’bout here? Did Twilight find ya anythin’?”

“I think so. At least she seemed rather excited about a couple of those books.”

“Good for her. So where do we go from here?” Scootaloo asked.

“Ah reckon we should meet up at the clubhouse tomorrow mornin’. Maybe go look in the Everfree Forest afterwards?” Apple Bloom suggested. Her friends nodded in agreement. “Ah’ll have a read in the journal meanwhile, see if there’s any—”

“Girls? Are you coming?” Twilight called from the door.

“Coming, Twilight!” the three fillies called back, moving over to join her.

“So, uhm, do you really think you’ll find something in those books?” Sweetie Belle asked Twilight after they had parted ways with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom back at the Ponyville train station.

“I can’t say for sure, of course, but it seems like our best bet. These books are specifically about unicorn physiology and conditions. There’s bound to be something there,” the unicorn librarian replied, giving Sweetie Belle an encouraging smile.

“I guess. I just want to say thanks for all your help, Twilight. It’s really nice of you to spend all this time dealing with my problem.” Sweetie Belle gave Twilight’s right foreleg a little hug.

“It’s quite all right,” she chuckled. “I’ll be sure to tell you as soon as I find something. Say hi to Rarity from me.”

“I will. Bye, Twilight.” Sweetie Belle picked up the bag of eagle feathers in her mouth and headed towards the Carousel Boutique.

“Now let’s see…” Twilight muttered to herself, flipping open the first book and hovering it in front of herself as she trotted back towards the library. “Uncommon Unicorn Ailments, chapter one…”

Applejack was waiting outside the farmhouse when Apple Bloom came trotting up the road, her bushy tail swishing slowly back and forth over the dirt. As her sister came closer, the farmpony stood up and looked at her carefully.

“Hey there, lil’ sis. Ya got a second to talk?” she asked in a way that made it rather clear to Apple Bloom that they were going to have words, whether she had a second or not.

“Uhm, sure,” the filly replied somewhat uncertainly, faltering slightly in her step. “What’s the matter?”

“Ah had a look at those books in yer room, an’... Ah’m jus’ gonna get straight to the point. Are ya plannin’ somethin’, AB? Maps, travel guides, books about Manehatten? What’s goin’ on?”

“Applejack!” Apple Bloom protested, her cheeks growing red. “Ya can’t just go riflin’ through mah things like that!”

“Ah had mah reasons,” Applejack replied defensively. “Ya weren’t exactly forthcomin’ ’bout it on yer own, so Ah had to go have a look mahself.”

“Oh yeah? And what would ya say if Ah went an’ looked through your room without permission?” Apple Bloom asked angrily, stomping a hoof in the ground.

“Don’t get uppity with me, missy. Ah’m the older sister here, it’s mah job ta make sure ya don't go an’ get yerself in trouble. If yer hatchin’ some kinda plan ta visit Manehatten on yer lonesome, Ah gotta tell ya that it’s straight out unless ya got a place to stay an’ family to go with.”

“This ain’t about Manehatten!” Apple Bloom snapped.

“That so?” Applejack pointed a hoof at Apple Bloom’s saddlebag. “What’s in the bag?”

“It’s just a book, no big deal!” the filly complained.

“If it ain’t no big deal, then go ahead an’ show me,” Applejack said in a voice that brooked no opposition. “Now, young missy.”

Still fuming, Apple Bloom opened her saddlebag and showed her sister the worn black journal. Applejack leaned forward and squinted slightly to read the words on the cover.

“Tincoat’s Journal. Ain’t that the name o’ that feller from the other book? What exactly is this, lil’ sis?” she asked. Apple Bloom put the book back in her bag.

“It’s just an old travel journal, okay? About somepony who went travellin’ a long time ago.”

“Interested in travellin’ now, are ya?” Applejack inquired. Apple Bloom just gave a little shrug.

“Apple Bloom, be honest with me here,” Applejack said earnestly, looking directly into her sister’s eyes. “What is it yer plannin’?”

Apple Bloom looked away and clenched her teeth defiantly.

“Look at me, Apple Bloom.” Reluctantly, Apple Bloom raised her gaze up at the older mare with slightly puffy eyes. “Lookie here, lil’ sis, Ah ain’t doin' none o' this ta be mean to ya or anythin’. Ya know that, right?” Applejack continued in a softer voice. Apple Bloom let out a non-committal sound.

“Before they went away, Ah promised Ma and Pa Ah’d take care of ya. We all did,” Applejack said gently, putting a hoof around Apple Bloom. “Now, ya don’t need ta tell me what this is all about right now. Ah can wait a bit if it makes ya feel better. But ya gotta promise me ya ain’t gonna run off on yer own without tellin’ me, all right?”

“Okay,” Apple Bloom mumbled. Applejack gently lifted her sister’s head to look at her.

“No, promise me, AB. Not a Pinkie Promise or scout’s honour or nothin’. Promise me as one sister ta another.”

Apple Bloom looked up at her sister quietly for a while, seemingly struggling with herself. “Okay. Ah promise ya, big sis, Ah ain’t gonna go off without tellin’ ya. An’ Ah promise to tell ya what this is all about soon. Just... not now, okay?”

Applejack smiled and gave her a tight hug. “That’s all Ah need ta hear, lil’ sis. Ah believe ya.”

Apple Bloom hesitated only for a moment before hugging back. Lying to her sister was one of the most abhorrent things she could think of doing, but if worst came to worst, she could think of a way where she would not actually be lying.

I’d just be… leaving out the truth for a bit. That’s different from lying, right? Right…

She kept telling herself this as a mollified Applejack led her into the farmhouse and towards the kitchen where Big Macintosh and Granny Smith were busy preparing dinner.

Chapter 8: Into the Everfree Forest

It was gloomy and grey outside by the time Scootaloo awoke, rain pattering against the window in her room. The sun was hidden behind a thick layer of dark clouds; some pegasus somewhere had evidently decided that today would be the perfect day to schedule a downpour. She pushed herself out of bed and ran a hoof through her unruly mane, turning her gaze to the wall dedicated to Rainbow Dash. Looking at it now, it seemed more like some kind of creepy shrine than anything else, something that a pony obsessed with another would keep. She resolved to do something about it later, which might or might not involve tearing it all down.

Her father was already busy at work out in his shed, leaving Scootaloo to eat breakfast alone, which, all things considered, she did not mind. She was not feeling particularly conversational today, and if she had not needed to go and meet her friends at the clubhouse, she might have decided to crawl back into bed instead.

After giving her father a quick goodbye, she went off on her scooter towards the clubhouse, zigzagging around the puddles of water gathering in the holes on the road. By the time she got to the treetop house, she was soaked to the bone and feeling decidedly grouchy. Apple Bloom was already there, looking almost as wet as Scootaloo felt. Tincoat’s journal was open on the floor before her, a saddlebag tossed aside over in the corner. She looked strangely morose, but quickly brightened up in a smile when she saw Scootaloo.

“Don’t you think it’d have been better to leave that at home? Isn’t it just going to get soaked out here?” Scootaloo asked with a nod towards the book.

“Doesn’t look like it. Look, it’s all dry,” Apple Bloom replied, nudging the book towards her. “See? Ah figure Tincoat’s time spell also protected it from stuff like water.”

“Right. No sign of Sweetie Belle yet?”

Apple Bloom shook her head as Scootaloo sat down next to her, glancing at the journal. “Anything useful in it?”

“Some, yeah. Ah’ll tell ya when Sweetie gets here.”

A couple of minutes later, the last Crusader showed up, wrapped in a yellow raincoat with matching boots. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow.

“Rarity insisted,” Sweetie Belle muttered by way of explanation as she stepped out of the clothes. Scootaloo noted with slight envy that the unicorn filly’s coat was almost completely dry. She shook her head and turned her attention back to Apple Bloom.

“So what did you learn, AB?”

“Well, there’s loads of stuff that don’t make much sense. Ah don’t think this was Tincoat’s first journal, ’cause the first entry’s called ‘Day 19.’ A lot of ’em just say stuff like ‘Made good progress today’ or ‘Foul weather slowed us down.’ One of ’em just says ‘One less’. Only a few of ’em say anythin’ really interestin’.”

“Any hints about where he was going?” Sweetie Belle asked. Apple Bloom shook her head.

“Not many. One of the later entries says somethin’ about a rockslide, though, so Ah guess that’s when he was headin’ up Silverpeak Mountain, that place where his journal was found. Ah looked at the map, an’ Silverpeak’s one of those mountains way off to the east.”

Scootaloo gave the journal a cursory look. “So what do the entries that are actually useful say?”

“Well, there’s this one here…” The earth filly leafed through the journal for a moment. “Listen to this.” She cleared her throat and put on her best storyteller voice, even managing to lose her characteristic farmpony twang.

“Day 29. I feel so very far from home. I miss the sights and sounds of the Royal City. More than that, I miss Amber. I miss her sharp wit, her reassuring voice, her kind compassion, her beautiful smile, her well-meaning, blunt honesty. She was so much more than just an apprentice. If only she were with me now. Why wouldn't she just listen? She was supposed to stand with me. One more mistake to my long list of sins.”

“Sounds like this Amber pony was really dear to Tincoat,” Sweetie Belle commented.

“You think?” Scootaloo made a gagging expression. “Sounds like the kind of stuff you’d find in a sappy romance novel.” Both her friends looked at her.

“Not that I’ve ever read any sappy romance novels,” she hastily added.

“There’s also this one,” Apple Bloom continued, unperturbed. “Day 25. The moon seems to glare at me whenever darkness falls. They say that is where She was imprisoned. Looking at it now, I can believe that. Its glare has the same cold intensity that She had towards the end, every bit as beautiful yet intimidating.”

Scootaloo furrowed her brow. “Wait, who’s the journal talking about here? Who’s ‘she’?”

“Ah guess it must be referrin’ to Nightmare Moon. Princess Celestia banished her to the moon, right?” Apple Bloom ventured.

“What’s meant by ‘towards the end’? Did Tincoat know her?” Sweetie Belle murmured.

“Nightmare Moon or Princess Luna?”

“Both?”

“There ain’t a whole lot else in the journal,” Apple Bloom concluded. “A few bits here and there talkin’ about fixin’ ‘the mistake’, an’ how time is runnin’ out.”

“What was he trying to do?” Sweetie Belle wondered aloud. “What was so important?”

“Well, whatever it is, if he didn’t fix it back then, it’ll be a thousand years too late now,” Scootaloo pointed out.

“Maybe we’ll find out more in the Everfree Forest,” Apple Bloom suggested. “The tablet might tell us somethin’.”

Sweetie Belle glanced out the window at the oppressive skies, her ears drooping a bit. “Perfect day for a walk in the dark, scary forest too.”

A couple of minutes later, the Crusaders were approaching the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. Rain was still falling in a steady drizzle, a cold wind rustling through the trees. Sweetie Belle had offered Scootaloo the yellow raincoat, which she had declined on the grounds of it being “not her style”. Only Apple Bloom seemed undeterred by the weather, leading the trio at a brisk pace towards the looming trees.

“You sure this is the right way, Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle asked at the back. “Shouldn’t we be taking the regular path into the forest?”

“Naw. Jitterleaf said he headed straight east from the farm back when he went there, so all we gotta do is go in the same direction,” Apple Bloom replied cheerfully.

Scootaloo brushed a strand of slick mane out of her eyes. “How do you know this is straight east? Do you have a compass or something?”

“The sun always goes up in the east, so we just gotta go in the direction the sun rises in. Simple!”

“There’s no sun to look for right now,” Scootaloo pointed out, glancing meaningfully up at the heavy clouds.

“Well, Ah know in which direction it normally pops up,” Apple Bloom retorted. “Now come on, keep an eye out for marks on the trees. Jitterleaf said they might still be around.”

They entered the wild overgrowth that was the Everfree Forest, picking their way past twisting roots and the occasional brambles. The wide treetops provided a degree of shelter from the rain, for which Scootaloo was quietly grateful. Sweetie Belle seemed less pleased about their off-road route, her raincoat frequently snagging on low-hanging branches or thorns. They walked in silence for a while. The forest was quiet save for the rustle of fallen leaves as the wind occasionally picked up. They passed an old, dead and rotten tree, its twisted trunk gnarled and withered. Before their eyes, it slowly began to change, old bark falling off to reveal a fresh layer beneath, the naked, twisted branches sprouting leaves that grew in seconds, and new roots snaking over brown leaves on the ground, pulling them into the earth. Within moments, the tree stood healthy and rejuvenated.

“Well, that just ain’t right,” Apple Bloom murmured.

Scootaloo let out a little groan. “How are we gonna find seventy-year-old marks on trees if they can change like that in just a few seconds?”

“There’s one,” Sweetie Belle said, pointing at a tree further ahead. A rough X had been scratched into the bark, and although the colour had been mostly worn off, it also had a distinctive streak of blue paint left on it.

“Oh,” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo muttered in unison.

“All right, let’s spread out a bit here so we’ll have a bigger chance of spottin’ the next markin’, but let’s keep in sight of each other all the time, a’right? Ah’ll keep goin’ straight. Scootaloo, on mah right. Sweetie Belle, on mah left.” The other two Crusaders nodded and moved off to either side of Apple Bloom.

Each tree in the forest seemed different from the others, yet at the same time, it was hard to tell them apart. Most were tall, twisted things; some intertwined with others in ways that made it difficult to tell where one tree ended and another began. Others were stunted, but with large gnarled roots coiling over the ground. Others still were covered in moss and lichen, some of which seemed almost luminescent. Plants of all sorts bloomed on the forest floor, common daisies standing side by side with outlandish flowers that Apple Bloom had no names for.

“Here’s another one!” Scootaloo called out after a few minutes of searching. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle came over to join her. Sure enough, there was another mark scratched into the trunk of a once-mighty oak.

“Right, well, we’re still on the right track,” Apple Bloom said with a smile. “Let’s keep lookin’. A clearin’ with two big rocks in it shouldn’t be too hard to notice.”

Despite Apple Bloom’s confidence, the trees continued to stand densely packed ahead of them, allowing only limited visibility of what lay ahead. Sweetie Belle felt more and more uneasy. The further they went, the stronger the palpable sense of wrongness became. She began to wonder if they would be able to find their way back again. Would they remember which direction to go if they even found what they were looking for? As she looked around, she became uncomfortably aware that she had no inclination of where the way back actually was. Had they unknowingly been veering off to the right or left since they entered?

“Got another mark here!” Apple Bloom’s voice called, pulling Sweetie Belle from the pit of panic she was starting to sink into. Her two friends would know where to go; they had a much better sense of direction than she did. She quickly trotted over to join them, wincing a bit as the precious raincoat Rarity had given her received yet another nick from a thorny shrub.

“We’re definitely goin’ the right way. Can’t be much further now,” Apple Bloom said confidently.

Scootaloo squinted a bit as she looked at the trees. “Hey, do you see something ahead?” She jumped over some twisting roots and disappeared from view for a moment. “Girls, I think we found it!”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle quickly followed her. The trees quickly began to clear out, and after a few moments, they stood in a small clearing, two crumbling stone pillars rearing up in the center of it. Wildflowers flourished in the open space, and it seemed almost idyllic compared to the rest of the mysterious forest. The Crusaders moved towards the standing stones. There seemed to be nothing remarkable about them, save for their inexplicable placement in the middle of a forest.

Apple Bloom looked around the clearing, a look of satisfaction on her face. “Well, Ah suppose we better get messy. Jitterleaf said he buried the tablet somewhere around here.”

The three fillies began digging with their hooves near the stones, the rain making the ground muddy and easy to clear away. They were all covered in a good dose of dirt and mud when Apple Bloom’s hooves struck something hard beneath the soil. Excited, she redoubled her efforts, sending dirt and pebbles flying.

“Hey, girls, I think I found the tablet! Look,” Scootaloo’s voice said. Apple Bloom paused and looked up from her work. Scootaloo was clearing dirt away from something square and stony poking out of the ground. The farmfilly glanced down at her own find in puzzlement. If that was the tablet over there, then what was it she had found here?

Sweetie Belle trotted over to join the pegasus. “Can you make out what it says?”

Scootaloo wiped away some of the dirt and squinted a bit. “I think… hold on, there’s a lot of mud on this…”

Apple Bloom left her own dig site to join her friends.

“It says, uh… Tincoat and Amber Gleam. Royal Artisans. And there’s this fancy symbol below the title,” Scootaloo said. She looked up at Apple Bloom. “I guess that old coot was right. Looks like Tincoat really had been here.”

“But that sounds like the name of a shop or something,” Sweetie Belle pointed out. “Why would that just be lying in the middle of the Everfree Forest?”

“Well, the forest wasn’t always here, right? There’s the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters somewhere deep within it. Applejack told me she and the others went there back when Nightmare Moon returned,” Apple Bloom said.

“I guess,” Sweetie Belle replied hesitantly.

“Ah also found somethin’, but Ah ain’t sure what it is. Might be another tablet or somethin’. Gimme a hoof with it.” Apple Bloom gestured for her friends to follow and headed back to where she had been digging. Between the three of them, they managed to clear away enough soil to reveal a large stone slab, cracked and worn. For a moment, Apple Bloom thought it was another tablet, but this one was unmarked except for the splintered lines criss-crossing it.

“What is that?” Scootaloo asked, frowning. “I don’t think normal stones are as square as this.”

“Ah think it’s—Hold on…” Apple Bloom murmured. She began to clear away some of the soil surrounding the stone slab. All of them were positively caked in mud at this point, but none of them cared much about it. The thrill of discovery was too strong.

Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened a bit. “It looks like… there’s a floor beneath all this dirt?”

Apple Bloom looked around. “Y’know, Ah think we’re standin’ in the remains of a house. Look; them stone pillars must be what’s left of the supportin’ frame.”

“But where are the rest of the ruins? Don’t houses usually have more than one wall?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“This is the Everfree Forest, remember? You saw that tree earlier? For all we know, the remains of the house could’ve come to life and decided to walk off,” Scootaloo pointed out.

“I don’t think—” Sweetie Belle began, but stopped and shook her head instead. “So what do you suppose this is? A door to a cellar?”

“If it is, there’s no hatch,” Apple Bloom replied. “There must be some other way to open it. Look around, see if ya can find anythin’!”

They scrambled through the mud, uncovering nothing except more of the floor, much of it splintered from where plant roots had slowly burrowed through it over time.

“Maybe the pillars? A hidden switch or something?” Sweetie Belle suggested.

They all rushed over to the crumbling stone pillars. After a few minutes of intense scrutiny, it became clear that the stones were disappointingly void of hidden switches, symbols or similar.

“I don’t think we’re going to find anything here,” Scootaloo said dejectedly. “And the stone looks too heavy for us to move, even together.”

“But we’re so close! There’s somethin’ down there, there’s gotta be!” Apple Bloom snapped in frustration. She walked over to the defiant stone slab, glaring at it as if it was personally taunting her. “Just open, dang it!” she yelled, stomping her front hooves down hard on it. The stone slab, weakened by untold years of wear and tear from the strange forest, crumbled away under the impact, sending Apple Bloom tumbling down a set of stairs into the darkness below.

“Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle cried out in unison, rushing over to the revealed hole and running down the stairs.

“Ah’m okay! Ow! Sorta…” Apple Bloom’s voice responded below them. In the sparse illumination provided by the light seeping down the tunnel from above, they could make out their friend lying atop the crumbled remains of the stone slab at the foot of the stairs. She stood up groggily and shook her head.

“Ah think Ah found a way to open it,” she said sheepishly. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked at each other, before they started to giggle, more out of relief than amusement.

“Uh… are you sure this place is safe, though?” Sweetie Belle asked when the laughter died down, glancing at the walls of the tunnel surrounding them. It was made of what looked to be bricks, but dirt and plant roots were slipping through cracks in the walls in countless places. “I mean, this doesn’t look all that stable.”

“Well, it’s stood for a thousand years,” Apple Bloom pointed out.

“True, but you also just destroyed the trapdoor in two seconds,” the unicorn filly retorted.

“Are you two going to argue all day, or are you actually coming along?” Scootaloo asked, quickly moving down the stairs and past Apple Bloom. The yellow filly turned and followed her.

“Wait for me!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, rushing down to join her friends. They soon found themselves walking in pitch darkness, the light from above no longer able to reach them this far into the tunnel.

“Sure is dark in here,” Sweetie Belle murmured, somewhat unnecessarily.

“You think?” Scootaloo sneered in response.

“Hey, do ya see light ahead?” Apple Bloom asked. A small sliver of light shone out on the floor against the blackness surrounding them. They stopped in front of the light, their way blocked by something solid.

Scootaloo put a hoof against the surface. “Is that a door?”

“Ah reckon so. Help me get it open,” Apple Bloom said. With a heavy grinding sound, the three fillies managed to push the door open slowly, revealing a large circular room. It was in noticeably better condition than what they had seen before. The room was illuminated by several glowing orbs along the walls, revealing tables and shelves untouched by the decay that had claimed the rest of the ruins. Even so, most of the tables were flipped over and broken. Books that had presumably stood on the shelves were scattered across the floor, most of them scorched and blackened. At the opposite side of the room from where the Crusaders had entered was another door, this one made of golden metal. Its surface was wrought in a pattern depicting a radiant sun with a crescent moon below it. Something had dented the door, making it stand slightly ajar. It was framed by a large, circular scorch mark.

“What is this place? What happened here?” Apple Bloom muttered.

Scootaloo looked at the third Crusader in alarm. “And what’s happening with Sweetie Belle’s horn?”

Sweetie Belle was staring straight at the bent metal door and the encircling scorch mark. Her horn was glowing brightly at the tip with a white light. She began to move slowly towards the door, and as she did, the glow in her horn intensified. Wispy tendrils began to dance from it towards the door.

“Sweetie Belle? What are ya doin’?” Apple Bloom exclaimed. She and Scootaloo moved over to try and grab a hold of their friend. Before they could reach her, there was a flash from Sweetie Belle’s horn, making them all cringe. When they looked again, it was as if the light in the room had been turned down a notch, taking on a more subdued, oily tone.

“Uhm… Sweetie Belle? What did ya do?” Apple Bloom asked nervously.

“I… I don’t know! That’s never happened before!” Sweetie Belle whimpered, her voice teetering on the edge of panic. A strangled noise from Scootaloo drew the attention of them both. The pegasus filly was looking behind them, her face gone sickly pale.

“L-l-look!” she stammered almost breathlessly. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle turned around, their expressions mimicking that of their friend when they saw the figure standing in the doorway behind them. It had the ghostly shape of a pony, though the swirling mists it seemed to consist of robbed it of all features except for the horn protruding from its head. A unicorn.

The three fillies stood paralyzed with fear as the phantom came closer, making no sound. It moved past the Crusaders, seemingly not noticing them, heading straight for the door.

“Stop!” a female voice echoed through the room, making the three fillies let out little squeaks of fright, too terrified to scream. A second ghost appeared at the entrance of the room. It had no horn, nor any wings. An earth pony.

“Tincoat, stop!” the newcomer repeated, walking towards the first apparition. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“What I have to,” the ghost-unicorn replied in a distinctly feminine voice. “Amber, please. Walk away.”

The spectral Amber moved in front of Tincoat, interposing herself between the unicorn and the door.

“Walk away? Are you insane? Don’t you remember what you said earlier? You were the one who said we must never make another!”

“I know what I said!” Tincoat replied. “But it's the only way for me to set this right. Please, move. Don’t involve yourself in this. This burden is mine to bear.”

“Would you listen to yourself?!” the voice of the ghostly Amber yelled, causing the three fillies to flinch from the unearthly sound. “This is wrong, Tincoat! We swore never to do it again! Does that mean nothing to you?”

“Please, Amber!” Tincoat’s ethereal voice took on a pleading tone. “I have to do this! Don't you understand? I have to! It's my fault!”

“No, I don’t understand!” Amber replied fiercely. “I only know you are about to make a terrible mistake, and I won’t let you do it! I won’t let you past this door! Tincoat, it wasn't our fault! It wasn't your fault! If you won't back down, I'm going to have to inform the Royal Guard. You're not thinking straight!”

“Amber—”

“No, I won’t let you do this to yourself! You’ll have to go through me first!” The voice of Amber was adamant, the faceless specter glaring at the equally faceless ghost-unicorn. The silence lasted for several moments.

“I’m sorry,” Tincoat’s voice whispered with infinite sadness. The ghost-unicorn’s horn began to shine with an almost unbearably bright glow. There was a blinding flash, and when the fillies tentatively opened their eyes again, the room had returned to normal. The apparitions of Tincoat and Amber had vanished, no trace of either of them left behind.

Apple Bloom swallowed and looked around, the chaotic setting of the room suddenly making awful sense.

“Ah think… Ah think what we just saw was what happened here,” she said timidly. “Tincoat… she…” Apple Bloom looked over at the scorched metal door and swallowed again.

“Yeah…” Scootaloo murmured. She glanced at Sweetie Belle, who looked to be on the verge of tears, and gently brushed her muzzle against the unicorn’s neck. “You okay, Sweetie Belle?” she asked softly.

“No,” the white filly sniffled. “I’m really not.”

“Maybe we should head back?” Scootaloo suggested carefully, looking at Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom bit her lip, looking towards the doorway leading up to the forest again. Part of her wanted nothing more than to get as far away as possible from the cellar as possible. But another, stronger part wanted, needed to know what lay behind the metal door. What had been so important that it had driven Tincoat to do the most abhorrent of deeds? It was not simple curiosity tugging at her anymore, it was something else now. Something stronger.

“We came this far,” she said at length. “We gotta go through to the end with this. We gotta see what’s behind that door.” She half expected her friends to protest. Part of her wanted to object to her own words, too. To her surprise, both her friends nodded slowly.

“We’re right behind you, AB,” Scootaloo said firmly.

Sweetie Belle wiped her eyes and swallowed. “Cutie Mark Crusader Ghost Hunters, yay,” she murmured in what was undoubtedly the most unconvincing rallying cry any of them had ever heard. It also made Apple Bloom smile and realize just how much she loved her friends.

“Right, Crusaders,” she said with more confidence than she felt, walking over to the metal door. “Let’s do this, together.” She pressed a hoof to the twisted metal and pushed the door open on creaking hinges.

Chapter 9: The Clay Pit

The door led into another brick-lined tunnel, descending in a gentle slope. It was illuminated by more of the glowing orbs on the walls, bathing the fillies in a light that was eerie and cold rather than warm and reassuring. The further down the tunnel the Crusaders went, the chillier and clammier the air became. Eventually, it opened up into an irregular chamber that looked more like a natural hollow than a constructed room. Soil pressed in from the walls and ceiling, glow-globes partially consumed by the earth providing some degree of lighting. The floor was paved with large, crude stones littered with dirt fallen from the bare ceiling. The stones ended about halfway across the room, giving way to a mass of something in a darker shade of brown than the rest of the chamber.

“What do you suppose this room is for? Seems like there’s no way to go on from here,” Sweetie Belle murmured, glancing around the peculiar chamber. A fine, thin mist shrouded everything in a ghostly veil. A solitary table served as the room’s only piece of furniture. Several papers were scattered across the table as well as on the stone floor.

“Ah ain’t sure, but Ah suppose this is where Tincoat wanted to go,” Apple Bloom replied. “Must be somethin’ important here.”

She and Sweetie Belle went over to the table and began to look through the various papers. Most seemed to be rough sketches of various parts of the equine body, complete with measurements of leg length compared to the main body and similar odd details. Some of them had peculiar notes, such as one sketch of a pony’s legs with arrows pointing to the joints and the word “important!” scribbled next to them.

Scootaloo walked towards the brown mass at the back of the room and began to dig at it with a hoof.

“Looks like this is… clay? Why’s there so much of it here?” After a moment, she realized that the “dirt” scattered across the floor was in fact small pieces of even more clay.

Apple Bloom looked from the sketches to the pile of clay and back again. “Y’all remember that Ah said Tincoat had made that golem thingy? That book Ah found about her said it was made out of clay.” She looked at her friends who were staring at her. “Ah think this might be where she made it.”

“So, what, you think this was some kind of workshop? Doesn’t really have a lot of tools, does it?” Scootaloo pointed out.

“Ya don’t need nothin’ but yer hooves to model somethin’ outta clay,” Apple Bloom replied. She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Ah bet Ah could do it.”

“Why the hay would you want to do that?”

“Well, jus’ think about it! A pony who’s stronger than ten Big Macs would make applebuckin’ super easy! We could get work on the farm done so much faster. In fact,” Apple Bloom said, her face lighting up in a big smile, “Ah bet everypony would like to have somethin’ like that to help ’em out. This could be big. Like, really, really big!”

“Hold on a second,” Sweetie Belle interjected. “If it’s that easy to make this… golem thing, why hasn’t anypony thought about doing it for the last thousand years? In fact, why doesn’t every sculpture made by artists or foals playing with modeling clay start to walk around?”

“Well, obviously ya need to do more’n just slap some clay together,” Apple Bloom replied, rolling her eyes. “The book said it also needs magic. Probably needs a unicorn to cast some fancy spell on it. Or maybe this here is special magic clay or somethin’.”

“I don’t know, it still seems too simple,” Sweetie Belle muttered.

“Not everythin’ needs to be super complicated, ya know.” Apple Bloom dug up a hoof-full of clay and dropping it on the floor. “Ya gonna help me out or what?”

“I’m just trying to be reasonable here! There’s got to be more to it than that!” Sweetie Belle protested. “Maybe there’s something back in the other room that we missed. I think we should go back there and have a look.”

“Yeeeah, well, when you’re done playing Twilight, you can come back here and help us get our Cutie Marks in golem making,” Scootaloo said, moving over to join Apple Bloom in gathering up a pile of clay.

Sweetie Belle puffed her cheeks and stomped out of the clammy chamber. Sometimes there was just no arguing with her friends. She wondered if Rarity ever had as much trouble getting along with Applejack and the others. Somehow she found it hard to believe.

It was not until she approached the dented metal door and reentered the foreboding circular room that she became acutely aware of just how uncomfortable she was about being there all by herself. The image of the two apparitions was still fresh in her mind, as was the thoroughly disconcerting knowledge that she had been the one who had conjured them up. Above her, muted and sounding strangely distant, she could hear the rustling trees of the Everfree Forest. How long had they been here? Was it starting to grow dark outside? All manner of monsters came out in the forest at night; she knew that from first-hand experience. Even as she stood here, a cockatrice might stumble upon the entrance to the cellar and come down here... or maybe a manticore, or a hydra!

Sweetie Belle began to tremble as she stood rooted to the spot by rising panic, too afraid to look behind her lest she would come face to face with the ghosts again, too terrified to move further into the room for fear that a rampaging monster would hear her and come down the stairs, regardless of the limited size of the doorway. She could hear an eerie whisper behind her, a chill creeping up her back. Her heart beat so fast that it felt like it was trying to break out of her chest and make a run for it on its own. She had to fight the urge to scream and run as far away from the haunted cellar as possible.

The whisper shifted in tone, her panic-stricken mind slowly realizing that the voice belonged not to any ghost or specter, but to a filly with a coarse voice exchanging light banter with a farmpony. The sound of her two friends chatting was incredibly mundane and infinitely reassuring. Sweetie Belle almost wanted to laugh as she thought of how she had almost freaked out mere moments ago. No creature was just going to wander down here, and there had not been other ponies here, ghosts or otherwise, for a thousand years. Whatever it had been that she had accidentally conjured up earlier, the apparitions had acted as if none of the three fillies had been present. Apple Bloom had been right; it had just been some sort of memory or echo of what had once happened here.

With the creepiness of the room diminished, though not entirely gone, she took a deep breath and began to look through the papers scattered all over. Most of them were burned too badly to make much sense of what was written, though a few of them were more intact. They seemed to be research notes, marked with dates that made no sense to Sweetie Belle.

—thinks the key lies in following a very specific procedure when crafting the form. Each step must be followed precisely; otherwise it might as well be an oversized paperweight. I am dubious about such a ritualistic approach, but Amber is insistent—

Sweetie Belle began to pick up the most useful notes and collect them in one spot. With luck, they might be able to make more sense out of what they were doing rather than just fumbling blindly.

The theory may seem ludicrous on paper, but I cannot argue with the results. I am not convinced by Amber’s explanation, though. “Magic is as magic does” is not enough to account for the—

—a gem to serve as its “heart”. I am perplexed by this sentiment, but Amber believes that it was the crucial part missing in order to make it come to “life”. I am still dubious as to whether it is truly alive or merely animated, but the evidence before my eyes cannot be refuted: the construct walks!

—simply infuriating. All my own attempts at shaping the form, even when following the steps suggested by Amber, have yielded no result. Is there a connection between earth ponies and the procedure of shaping, or am I simply missing a crucial step in the process?

Sweetie Belle frowned as she looked through the notes. The fact that they were fragmented did not help much in understanding the confusing texts, but what was that about earth ponies? And those steps being referred to? One note in particular caught her attention, however.

—a momentous occasion. Last night, Princess Luna herself came to see our creation, and while She still seemed as melancholic as ever, it is with a horn trembling with pride that I now write that for the briefest moment, the sight of our creation brought a flicker of genuine delight to our beloved Princess Luna’s noble features. I believe I speak on behalf of Amber as well as myself when I say that it was the single most joyful moment in our lives. It has made all the hardships we went through to get to this point seem trivial and insignificant, and—

The more Sweetie Belle read of these notes, the less certain she felt about the whole thing. From the notes, it sounded like Tincoat and Amber had been close, but the echo of the past they had seen had implied that something had eventually made Tincoat turn on her friend. Why? And how did Princess Luna fit into all this? Still, despite her uneasiness, Sweetie Belle had promised her friends she would help them, and that outweighed whatever trepidations she might have about this. She was still going to bring up her findings with them, though, as well as her concerns.

She gathered up the papers she had found and headed back down the tunnel to her friends. As she approached the chamber, she could hear Apple Bloom’s voice.

“All right, says here that step five is to stomp firmly on the clay that’ll be used for the hooves.”

“Oh, for—Are you just making this stuff up, AB?”

Sweetie Belle entered to see Scootaloo stomping on chunks of clay on the floor, while a larger lump was rolled up into a ball next to her. Apple Bloom stood over a piece of paper, studying it intently.

“Okay, so the next step is to shape the main body usin’ yer back,” she continued. “Guess that means ya roll yerself back and forth over it until it’s got the right shape.”

“Hey girls, you should have a look at what I found,” Sweetie Belle said, putting the papers down on the floor.

“If it’s about how to make the golem, we already know. We found the guide amongst the other papers here,” Apple Bloom replied, moving over to join Scootaloo in rolling across the larger lump of clay.

“It’s not that. Well, it is, but it’s more. It says that only earth ponies can make the golem work. Tincoat tried several times, but it was a dud. Seems like only Amber could do it,” Sweetie Belle explained.

“Wait, you’re saying I worked my tail off for nothing?” Scootaloo groaned and stood back up.

Apple Bloom shrugged. “Guess that just means Ah gotta do this on mah lonesome, then. Anythin’ else we should know about?”

“Well, there’s also something about needing a gem to act as a heart of sorts for it.”

“Oh, that’s easy, Rarity’s got loads of those, right? You and Scootaloo can go get one while Ah work on this,” Apple Bloom said cheerfully.

“Wait, you’re going to stay here alone?” Scootaloo asked incredulously.

Sweetie Belle held up a hoof. “There’s more. Listen to this.” She read the note about Luna aloud. When her friends both looked at her with nonplussed expressions, she continued in a slightly exasperated voice. “Don’t you see? Something very wrong must have happened somewhere in all this. Why else would Amber have tried to stop Tincoat from coming down here again?”

“I don’t know, it does sound a bit weird,” Scootaloo admitted, but Apple Bloom just shook her head.

“Maybe we’ll find out when we discover where Tincoat went. Right now, we gotta make this golem thingy.”

“Why?” Sweetie Belle replied, frowning at the yellow filly. “Why are you so obsessed about making it? Shouldn’t we rather tell somepony about what we’ve found?”

“No way!” Apple Bloom shouted, jumping to her hooves. The sudden intensity of her outburst made Sweetie Belle flinch. “This is our big chance to do somethin’ special! What do ya think will happen if we tell Applejack or Rarity about this? They’ll just tell us to stay home while they go look themselves, or have somepony else go!”

“You keep saying it’s our ‘big chance.’ To do what, exactly? I know I promised to go through with this, but don’t you think there’s a reason why Amber refused to let Tincoat come down here?”

“Look, if ya wanna call it quits, just go ahead and leave—”

“Would you both calm down?!” Scootaloo snapped, surprising herself as well. It was not often that she found herself in the role of the mediator. “Look, I’m still not totally convinced about all of this, but what if, maybe, this really is our chance to find our special talents? Isn’t that worth a bit of risk?”

“I’m not sure what this is about anymore.” Sweetie Belle sighed and was quiet for a moment before continuing. “So what do you suggest we do, Apple Bloom?”

“Right, so here’s the plan,” Apple Bloom said, moving over to look at the notes Sweetie Belle had gathered. “If what these here notes say is true, we’re gonna need a gem to complete the golem. Ah still think Rarity’s our best bet for that. The stuff about makin’ the golem seems to be kinda like when Granny Smith has to make zap-apple jam; ya just gotta do stuff in a certain way. Ah can take care of that if you and Scoots can get the gem.”

“Are you really sure you want to stay here on your own?” Sweetie Belle asked. “I mean, the Everfree Forest isn’t a nice place to be alone. Do you think you can find your way back on your own before it gets dark?”

“Just come back here after ya got a gem. Maybe bring some food too. Just tell anypony who asks that we’re havin’ a sleepover somewhere.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Scootaloo agreed with a shrug.

Sweetie Belle nearly choked on her own tongue. “Wait, wait, wait, you want us to spend the night here?”

“Why not? It seems pretty safe down here.”

“But it’s—” She looked from Scootaloo to Apple Bloom, and then finally hung her head in defeat. “Oh, fine.”

“We’ll be back soon,” Scootaloo said, before heading up the tunnel and back the way they came. Sweetie Belle gave Apple Bloom another look, but the yellow filly had already engrossed herself in the notes again as she dismantled the work she and Scootaloo had done so far. Sweetie Belle shook her head and followed the pegasus upstairs.

“Let’s see, step one…” Apple Bloom muttered to herself.

“You sure it’s a good idea leaving Apple Bloom all alone down there?” Sweetie Belle asked Scootaloo as they made their way back through the forest, following Jitterleaf’s markings on the trees the same way they had done while searching for the ruins. Even though leaving Apple Bloom behind did not sit well with her, Sweetie Belle still felt a sense of relief at no longer being in the cellar.

“She’ll be fine,” Scootaloo replied. “Besides, we’re only gone for a short while. It’s not like we’re just abandoning her there.”

They walked in silence for a bit. “Don’t you think Apple Bloom was acting a bit… strange?” Sweetie Belle asked at length. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow at her. “I mean, she seems really keen on making this golem thingy and finding out about Tincoat.”

Scootaloo shrugged lightly. “Well, it was her idea to do this. I guess she just really wants to see it work. I guess if I had come up with it, I’d push for us to do it, too.”

Sweetie Belle wanted to press the issue, but it did not seem like Scootaloo shared her concerns. After a walk that seemed a great deal shorter and quicker than when they had gone the other way, perhaps aided by the fact that it was no longer raining, the two fillies found themselves at the outskirts of the forest.

“Maybe we should split up,” Scootaloo suggested. “I’ll go tell my dad and Applejack that we’ll be out for the night, and gather up some food too, and you’ll get a gem from Rarity. We’ll meet back here when we’re done, all right?”

Sweetie Belle nodded. “Okay. See you soon.”

The unicorn filly trotted off towards Ponyville while Scootaloo went to the clubhouse where she had parked her scooter. Getting to enjoy the rush of speed, even just for a little while, would be a welcome change of pace from trees, musty cellars and dusty old pages, not to mention the weird ghost-but-not-really-ghost ponies they had seen down there. It all seemed more suited for someone more bookish like Twilight. She wondered how Rainbow Dash would have dealt with things like this, but as she did, she remembered what had happened the last time she had seen the blue pegasus. It was with a considerably dampened mood that she got on her scooter and headed back home.

Interlude: Subtlety

With the rain finally abating, Fluttershy grabbed several buckets filled with food for the animals in her care, carrying one with her mouth and another two by their handles on the tips of her outstretched wings. Most of her animal friends had likely tended to themselves by now, but after a rough patch of weather like this, she figured they might need an extra helping to make up for the rain and the cold. She had, of course, offered all of them shelter inside her house, but a lot of them had preferred to stay outdoors, being uncomfortable in enclosed spaces.

After feeding the birds, rabbits, otters, badgers, raccoons, ferrets, squirrels, ducks, swans, flamingos, lone buzzard, chickens, marmots, lumbering bear and single errant meerkat which had inexplicably found itself in Ponyville, as well as the other assorted small animals—furry, feathered, scaly or otherwise—she went to check her mailbox. As she did, she noticed a rainbow-coloured tail hanging from a small cloud hovering over the roadside.

“Hello there, Rainbow Dash,” she called out loudly enough to get her attention, or at least what qualified as loud for Fluttershy. Dash’s face immediately appeared at the edge of the cloud, though she seemed to relax when she saw Fluttershy.

“Hey there, ’Shy. What’s up?”

“Oh, I was just wondering—uhm, not that it’s any of my business to ask, but—what are you doing up there?”

“Oh, you know, just napping,” Dash replied airily, making a show of stretching languidly and yawning. Fluttershy looked at the soaked mane plastered to the pegasus’ face.

“Have you been out here all morning? You look a little, uhm, soaked.”

“No! I mean, not really. I was out on weather patrol, to see if the rain was falling in the right places like it should. And then I decided to take a nap here.” Dash shrugged lightly.

“But wasn’t the rain supposed to cover all of Ponyville and its surroundings?”

“Yeah, well, had to make sure we didn’t miss a spot, see?”

“Uhm. Okay, then. Would you like something to eat or drink? I can make you a warm cup of tea.”

Dash shook her head. “Nah, I’m good. Nice of you to ask, though. Anyway, I’m gonna take another forty winks, so…” She reclined onto the cloud again.

“All right, uhm, I’ll talk to you later, then?”

“Yeah, later.”

Fluttershy was just about to walk back indoors when Rainbow Dash’s voice called out again.

“Hey, uh, ’Shy, this is where Scootaloo usually comes to and from Ponyville, right?”

“Oh, well, yes, I often see her pass by here. Uhm, why?”

“Aw, shoot, seems like this cloud has lost its fluff. I gotta go get a new one. Later!” With that, Dash grabbed her makeshift bed and zoomed up into the low-hanging clouds, disappearing from view.

“Oh, that’s okay, I wasn’t curious anyway,” Fluttershy mumbled and went back inside her house.

Rainbow Dash waited inside the cloud until she heard the door close shut below her, before swooping back down, a little further away from Fluttershy’s cottage this time. She flopped onto her cumulus-bed again with a little sigh. She had lost track of how long she had waited, but she was fairly sure it had been at least a couple of hours by now. She liked it best when she was able to fly freely wherever she wanted, or failing that, napping to let her regain energy to fly some more, but she was unable to do either at the moment. Simply waiting rankled her something fierce.

“Come on, where are you?” she muttered to herself, rolling a bit back and forth on the cloud restlessly. Finally, her ears picked up a distinct buzzing sound, and she glanced down to see a familiar orange filly zoom along on the road below. At last!

She waited until she estimated that the other pony was just below her before leaning over the cloud’s edge and calling out.

“Oh, heya, Squirt! Didn’t expect to see you here.”

Just as she had hoped, Scootaloo pulled to a stop at the sound of her voice and looked up.

“Rainbow Dash? What are you doing up there?”

“Oh, I was just taking a nap before trying out my awesome new routine. Have to say, it’s probably got some of the coolest moves I’ve ever done, but then again, it’s me, so no big surprise, right?” she replied with a light shrug.

“U-huh…”

“So hey, now that you’re here anyway, you wanna come and watch?” Dash asked, grinning as she waited for the expected response.

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. “What, you need somepony to fetch you drinks and snacks or something while you fly around?”

Dash’s grin faltered for just a split-second. That was not the expected response. Quick, improvise!

“Sure, if you’re offering…” she replied nonchalantly. “I’ll probably need a little something, seeing as these are like super awesome moves.”

“Yeah, no thanks, I’ve got other plans. Later, Dash.” Scootaloo sped off again without waiting for a reply.

Rainbow Dash looked after the orange filly for several seconds. That was definitely not the expected response. She briefly contemplated chasing after the filly, but decided against it almost immediately. She realized she desperately needed some help with this, but from whom? Normally, she would, albeit reluctantly, turn to Fluttershy with matters like these, but she had just hoof-waved all of Fluttershy’s questions off a short while ago, and knocking on her door now to ask for help would seem both suspicious and weak. Pinkie and Twilight were out of the question for obvious reasons, leaving only Rarity and Applejack. Of those two, Applejack seemed most likely to be able to help her, although Celestia knew the farmpony would not let Dash live this down unless she went about this really smartly.

Reluctantly, she set a course for Sweet Apple Acres.

Rainbow Dash found Applejack applebucking her way through the orchard, collecting the fruits in baskets placed strategically around the trees for just that purpose. Dash had to approach this very carefully so as not to give anything away about her motives. She had to play it cool.

“Hey, AJ,” she said, landing next to the farmpony.

“RD,” Applejack greeted her in return, giving the tree a firm kick. A shower of apples and raindrops drizzled from the tree’s crown.

Dash bounced a falling apple off her left wing and into a nearby basket. “What’s up?”

The farmpony moved to the next tree. “Applebuckin’.”

“Cool.” Dash followed her and let out an inaudible sigh of relief. The ice was broken, now she just had to move on to the next step. This would require extreme subtlety.

“So hey, AJ, you got a sister, right?”

“Whatever gave that away, sug’?” Applejack grunted as she delivered an expert buck, not slowing down in her work.

“You ever have troubles getting along?” Dash asked nonchalantly, feigning interest in a particularly shiny red apple.

“Nope.” Next tree. Kick. Apple shower.

Dash figured that perhaps she was being too subtle; it was clear that Applejack was not picking up on what Dash was hinting at, but neither was she opening up in the direction Dash hoped. Perhaps she needed a little helping along.

“See, I just figure, there’s gotta be times when you two lock heads, yeah? I’m just guessing you’ve got ways to fix your sisterly stuff, right?” Dash made a show of inspecting her own wings in a casual manner.

Applejack looked at the pegasus and raised an eyebrow. “Do Ah need to give ya mah apple-pie speech, too?”

“Huh?”

“Nevermind. Lookie here, sug’,” she said, pausing in her work for the first time to look at Dash, “bein’ a good sister’s a two-way street. T’ain’t just enough that only one pony gives an’ the other one takes. The other one’s gotta be willin’ ta give too, an’ the first’s gotta be willin’ ta take in return. Otherwise, it just don’t work out. An’ that goes not just for sisters, but for friends, loved ones, really any kinda relationship ya can think of.”

Dash stood quietly for a few moments, chewing on her cheek as she digested this information.

“Does that answer yer question?” Applejack asked in a slightly softer tone, smiling a little.

“Yeah, I think so. So, uhm, say you’ve been a bit of a jerk towards Apple Bloom and made her get you apple cider all day or something—Not that I think you’ve done that or anything!” she quickly added after seeing the expression on Applejack’s face. “But if you had, you’d do something for her that she wants to make up for it?”

Applejack shrugged lightly. “Pretty much. But it’d probably be better not to be a jerk in the first place, don’tcha think?”

“Yeah,” Dash muttered, rubbing the back of her head. “Anyway, uh, I can see you’ve got this sister thing under control, so that’s… great for you! Heh, no need for me to get you a book from Twilight about how to be a good sister, right?” She flashed one of her trademark winning grins. Nopony could resist her trademark winning grins.

“Right,” Applejack agreed in a neutral voice.

“So yeah, I’ve got to, ah, go and clear out any straggler clouds. Catch you later, AJ!” Dash quickly took off before Applejack would start becoming suspicious. It had gone perfectly; Applejack had told Dash everything she needed to know, and the farmpony was none the wiser.

“Okay, good luck with Scootaloo,” Applejack called after her as she went back to applebucking.

Oh, ponyfeathers.

Spike was heading up to Twilight’s room with a tray of tea and biscuits when the door was flung open, sending the hapless dragon tumbling back down the stairs.

“Spike! I’ve finally got it!” Twilight declared excitedly, grabbing the teapot, cup, biscuits and baby dragon with her magic before any of them could hit the floor.

“Wh-what? Huh?” Spike stammered from his upside-down suspension in the air. The lavender unicorn put him down along with his tray of refreshments before showing him one of the countless books from her study.

“The answer to what’s going on with Sweetie Belle’s magic problem! I knew the answer would be found in a book! Oh, I’ve got to go tell her right away!” She let out a gleeful squee and ran for the door.

“But what about your—” the door slammed shut behind the librarian “—tea,” Spike finished. He put the tray down on the floor and gave the cookies a sideways glance. “Well, it’d be a shame to let all this go to waste…”

Outside, Twilight made straight for the Carousel Boutique. It took her a few moments to notice the pink pony next to her, effortlessly keeping up with her wild galloping through gliding bounces.

“Hey, Twilight! Where are you going? Anywhere fun? Oh, can I come too?” Pinkie chirped happily.

“I’ve got big news for Sweetie Belle! I’m on my way to tell her,” Twilight replied, wondering briefly what the odds were that Pinkie Pie would be near the library at this exact time to spot Twilight and catch up with her. She quickly dropped the thought; she had learned long ago not to question Pinkie’s erratic behaviour.

“Oooh, is it a surprise? I love surprises! Can I come too? Please let me come!”

Twilight let out a little chuckle. “Sure, Pinkie, why not.” As they made their way towards the Boutique, Twilight noticed something rainbow-coloured streak across the sky towards Canterlot.

The door to the Boutique was opened a few moments after Twilight knocked on it, revealing Rarity wearing a hat that would make any attendee at a Canterlot garden party green with envy.

The fashionable unicorn greeted them with a smile, gesturing for them to come inside. “Oh, hello, Twilight, Pinkie. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Hey, Rarity. Is Sweetie Belle around? I think I’ve finally figured out why she is having such troubles with her magic!” Twilight said excitedly.

“Oh? I’m afraid you just missed her; she left just a short while ago. She and her friends are having a sleepover, apparently,” Rarity replied, gently brushing away a captivated Pinkie who was absorbed playing with a couple of the enormous, colourful feathers extending from Rarity’s hat. “But do tell me. I’m most curious to know myself as well.”

“Right, so if I am correct in my hypothesis, it appears that Sweetie Belle’s problems with magic stem from the fact that she is not supposed to do that kind of magic!” Twilight beamed at the other unicorn, who in turn seemed less convinced that this was somehow good news.

“I… beg your pardon?”

“The book I read describes a rare condition in unicorns called ‘resonance.’ Those who have it experience difficulty in performing what would be considered basic magic for most other unicorns, and they also suffer from occasional outbursts of wild, uncontrolled magic that is tied to their emotional state.”

“Ooo…kay? So what, if I may ask, does this condition actually mean for my Sweetie Belle?” Rarity asked cautiously. Pinkie had lost interest in the feathers of her hat and moved on to inspect a roll of colourful, glittering fabric on the nearby table.

“Apparently, roughly one out of every two hundred unicorns is born with this condition, though it affects each one in varying degrees. The stronger the condition, the more difficult regular magic becomes. For most, it just means they master their magic a bit later than others, but for others, it manifests in a very peculiar way,” Twilight explained, going fully into scholar-mode. “Here’s where it gets a bit technical; according to the book, spells that have traumatic or negative effects leave behind an echo of sorts of what happened. Resonators, as the book calls them, can sense these imprints, and their magic manifests as the ability to purge the echoes by clearing away the negative energy that lingers.”

Twilight was almost bouncing on the spot. “Rarity, I think Sweetie Belle is a resonator! How amazing is that? This opens up such an incredible field of study!”

Rarity let out an outraged gasp. “Twilight Sparkle! This is my sister we are talking about, not a guinea pig you can run tests on! And you are telling me that poor Sweetie Belle may never be able to do magic like others because she is one of these… resonators? And you ask me if I think it is amazing?!”

Twilight’s smile faltered. “Uhm… well…” she mumbled, suddenly feeling very embarrassed.

“Hey hey hey, easy now,” Pinkie said, popping in between the two unicorns. “I’m sure Twilight didn’t mean it like that. She just got really excited because she’s a super incredible smarty-pony and she figured out how to help one of her friends, right?”

Both Twilight and Rarity were a little surprised by the pink pony. Despite having been seemingly caught up in her own world, the earth pony had evidently been paying attention to the whole conversation.

“Well, yes, but—” Twilight began.

“And Rarity didn’t mean to yell, she’s just really worried about her sister because she loves her very much and wants to help her too, right?” Pinkie continued, turning towards Rarity.

“Yes, Pinkie is right,” Rarity agreed. “I am sorry for my outburst, Twilight. I know you’ve worked very hard to help both me and Sweetie Belle out, and I apologize.”

“It’s okay, I think my mouth went ahead of my brain there,” Twilight replied with a little smile, before her face became serious. “I’m not sure what Sweetie Belle will think of it, though. It can be a potentially life-changing revelation, if the condition manifests strongly enough in her. Or it could mean she just has to wait a bit longer than other unicorns to do magic. The book wasn’t clear enough on how to tell a light case of the condition from a severe one.”

Rarity wrung her hooves anxiously. “Oh, how should I go about telling her this? My poor little sister. She already obsesses enough over not having her Cutie Mark when others do. If she knew she wouldn’t be able to do magic like others either…”

“What about saying it with cake? Everything is better with cake,” Pinkie Pie suggested from one of the dressing tables where she was busy amusing herself by making grimaces in front of the mirror. Multitasking was evidently not an obstacle for the pink pony.

“I’m not sure. I think the best you can do is to be gentle but honest about it. Tell her that we don’t know exactly how it will affect her, but that there’s at least a reason for her problems,” Twilight said.

“Maybe… but on the other hoof, I feel that she has enough to worry about right now without having this dumped on her, too.” Rarity sighed, pacing back and forth restlessly.

“If you were your little sister, would you want this kept a secret from you?” Pinkie asked from her new position atop the head of one of the mannequins, balancing precariously on her left hooves.

Rarity thought for a moment. “No. No, I would not,” she admitted. She let out another sigh. “I’ll tell her. Once she is back from her sleepover, I’ll let her know.”

Twilight nodded. “Do you want help deciding how you’re going to tell her? We’ll stay and help you out, if you want.”

“Yeah, I’ve got loads and loads of ideas! And they don’t all have to involve cake, either!” Pinkie chimed in, jumping down to join them.

Rarity smiled at her friends. “You know, I think I would like that. If nothing else, I would be grateful for the company right now. Make yourselves comfortable, I’ll go put some tea over.”

Chapter 10: Golem

“Are you sure nopony saw us go into the forest?” Sweetie Belle asked as she and Scootaloo made their way back to the clearing. She was carrying a rucksack with a thick blanket, while the pegasus filly had saddlebags filled with food.

“Yeah, I took a detour after talking to Applejack. She couldn’t have followed unless she was as fast as me, and probably invisible, too,” Scootaloo replied. They hurried down the stairs and into the cellar, which was still as eerie as when they had first arrived.

“Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle called down the tunnel. “We’re back!”

There was an indistinct reply. The two fillies looked at each other, before heading down to the crafting chamber.

“Apple Bloom?” the unicorn repeated cautiously. In the time that she and Scootaloo had been gone, Apple Bloom had been able to fashion a large pony-like figure out of the clay, though it was still missing neck, head and tail. The filly’s coat was more brown than yellow, matted and full of dust, dirt and clay. She did not even look up as her two friends entered the room.

“Hey, girls,” she replied absently, working on the right foreleg of the pony.

“Wow, you’ve been busy,” Scootaloo commented dryly. “I can almost convince myself that it looks like a pony.”

Apple Bloom let out a non-committal grunt in response. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo put down their bags and began to unpack. The blanket that Sweetie Belle had brought was large enough to accommodate all three of them, and she was confident that it would keep them warm even in the chilly cellar.

“So what kind of food did you bring, Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle asked, feeling her own stomach growl slightly. She realized it had been a long time since she had last eaten. Scootaloo passed her some sort of scone filled with fruit bits. It looked a bit more crude than what one would normally see at Sugarcube Corner, but it tasted good, and more importantly, it was very filling.

“Knock yourself out. I got a bag full of those.” Scootaloo looked over at Apple Bloom. “Hey, AB, you hungry?”

Apple Bloom shook her head, moving on to a lump of clay on the floor, which Sweetie Belle realized after a moment was supposed to be the head. “Nah, not yet. Ah’ll have some later,” she murmured.

“Suit yourself,” Scootaloo said with a shrug and chomped down on her food.

“Where’d you get these, then?” Sweetie Belle asked while munching on the pastry. “They taste delicious.”

Scootaloo let out a belch and reached for another scone. “My dad. He’d made some earlier today. When I told him we were having a sleepover, he insisted that I bring them all.”

It occurred to Sweetie Belle that she knew next to nothing about Scootaloo’s family. The pegasus filly hardly ever mentioned them, nor had Sweetie Belle ever seen them in Ponyville, at least not that she knew of.

“That’s very kind of him. He sounds like a really nice pony.”

Scootaloo nodded a bit. “Yeah, he’s all right. Pretty good at fixing stuff, too.”

“So hey, do you think we could visit your place sometime? I don’t think Apple Bloom and I have seen your home yet.”

Scootaloo coughed as she almost choked on crumbs. “Visit? Ah, no. I mean, maybe. I mean, no, not really. I mean, it’s really far away from Ponyville and all.”

Sweetie Belle looked at her friend curiously. It was rare to see Scootaloo become frantic like this. “That’s… not really a problem. I mean, I’m sure Apple Bloom and I can find some way to get there and back home again.”

“But it’s really very boring! It’s just a house, like one you’d see anywhere in Ponyville. Nothing special at all,” Scootaloo replied evasively.

“Is something wrong?” Sweetie Belle asked, feeling just a little concerned by her friend’s erratic behaviour. “I mean, I’m not going to press the issue if you don’t want us around, but you seem a bit… bothered.”

“Bothered? I’m not bothered. Why do you say that?”

“You’ve squished that scone in your hooves flat.”

“Oh.” Scootaloo looked down at her front hooves and the flat pastry pressed between them. After a moment’s thought, she gobbled it up before speaking in a somewhat nervous tone. “Look, it’s just—My dad is—He’s not like other pegasi.”

“If it’s because you think your family is odd, I’ll point out Rarity and my parents,” Sweetie Belle said with a smile. “You’ve seen them, right?”

“It’s not that,” Scootaloo muttered. “My dad’s not—Look, he can’t fly, all right? He’s crippled. He’s only got one wing, and three legs.”

Sweetie Belle blinked. That was not what she had expected. “Why, what happened?”

“An accident, back when I was not even a year old,” Scootaloo replied glumly.

“And… what about your mom?” Sweetie Belle asked cautiously.

“Not here anymore,” Scootaloo murmured in a thin voice, now looking down at her hooves.

“Oh. Where is she now, then?” Sweetie Belle asked before she registered the voice at the back of her head screaming at her to be quiet. She bit her lip hard and her ears flopped when Scootaloo looked at her.

“Can’t we talk about something else?” the pegasus filly asked in a carefully composed voice.

“Right. Of course. Uhm…” Sweetie Belle looked around frantically for something to divert the conversation. “Hey, uh, Apple Bloom, do you need help with anything at all?”

“Nope,” came the short reply from the earth pony, who had made her way on top of the clay horse’s back. In the brief time span that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had been talking, she had somehow managed to attach both neck and head to the golem. Although calling it a head might be exaggerating, seeing as it was little more than just a rough oval shape.

“Well, uh, maybe I missed some important notes back in the other room when I looked through it earlier. Should we go have a look?” Sweetie Belle suggested desperately. To her relief, Scootaloo nodded and followed her back upstairs.

An awkward silence reigned between the two fillies; Scootaloo either refused to speak with Sweetie Belle, or she was lost in her own thoughts. Sweetie Belle, for her part, was still mentally kicking herself for her blunder, and could not think of a way to start a conversation that did not feel incredibly forced. As a result, for a while the only sounds were the shuffling of papers being turned and the muted noises from the forest above.

Looking through every piece of scattered paper in the room took some time, but after systematically going through each and every burned scrap, Sweetie Belle concluded with a slight tinge of satisfaction that she had found all the useful pieces the first time she looked through the room. A distant, shrill cry, like that of a bird of sorts, made both fillies look up in alert. Sweetie Belle swallowed, glancing towards the stone door leading back up to the forest above.

“Maybe we should close the door for the night? Just to be safe,” she suggested.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Scootaloo agreed rather quickly. The two fillies pushed the heavy stone door almost completely shut, leaving just enough so that they could find purchase to open it again later and avoid trapping themselves in the cellar. Sweetie Belle let out a sigh of relief, immediately feeling a lot safer with a big slab of stone between her and whatever nasties roamed the forest at night. If she had a choice between spending the night in the creepy cellar and spending it in the creepy, creature-infested, dark, incredibly dangerous forest, she would take the cellar any day of the week.

“Maybe we should just try and get some sleep?” Sweetie Belle suggested and stifled a yawn, feeling a sense of exhaustion creeping up on her from all the work they had done, not least the lengthy excavation of the cellar entrance. “I don’t think there’s a lot else left for us to do here.”

Scootaloo nodded. “Yeah, guess you’re right. If AB can pull herself from her work, that is. She’s really keen on making that golem, isn’t she?”

“Do you think it’ll actually work?”

The pegasus shrugged. “Who knows? Apple Bloom sure seems to think so. I guess that’s enough reason to give it a shot. It’s not like I’ve got any better ideas right now.”

When they reentered the clay chamber, they found Apple Bloom in the middle of brushing the neck of the unfinished golem with her tail, balancing precariously on the back of the construct.

“Hey, AB, we’re going to catch some sleep. You coming?” Scootaloo asked. Apple Bloom paused and looked at them. Sweetie Belle was a little shocked to see how fatigued the earth pony looked. She seemed barely able to keep her eyes open, swaying lightly on the spot.

“Myeah, Ah’m a’comin’, jus’… let me finish… this here…” she slurred.

“Have you even eaten yet?” Sweetie Belle asked with concern. “Apple Bloom, I’m not sure it’s healthy working that much without rest. Come on down. You can finish it tomorrow.”

“Ah’m not…” Apple Bloom murmured, wobbling on the spot. Her voice trailed off into an indistinct mumble, before she slumped onto the golem’s back, slowly sliding off it. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo caught their friend before she could fall to the floor.

“Hold on a moment, I’ll get the blanket ready,” Sweetie Belle said. She spread out the large, warm fabric on the ground before helping Scootaloo drag Apple Bloom onto it. They lay down on either side of their exhausted friend and wrapped the blanket around themselves like a cocoon. The ground was still somewhat hard beneath them, but between the warm blanket and each other, it was at least warm enough. A light snoring between the fillies told them that Apple Bloom had already fallen asleep.

“Goodnight, Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle said. “And, uhm, sorry about earlier,” she added in a more quiet tone.

“Night, Sweetie Belle,” the pegasus murmured in reply.

The first thing Sweetie Belle noticed when she awoke was a mess of fuchsia-coloured mane obscuring most of her view. The second was that she was pressed close against Scootaloo, who still appeared to be asleep. The third thing was that Apple Bloom was missing. The fourth thing was that Apple Bloom was, in fact, not missing, but was working on the golem again, which had gained mane, tail, ears and rough indentions that were presumably supposed to mimic eyes since Sweetie Belle had last looked at it. It also occurred to her for the first time just how large the clay pony actually was; easily as tall and broad as Big Macintosh.

“Apple Bloom?” she mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “You up already? Have you slept at all?”

“Almost finished,” Apple Bloom replied, looking over at Sweetie Belle with almost feverish intensity. Her eyes were dark-rimmed and bloodshot. “Did ya get a gem from Rarity? Where’s it at?”

“It’s in my bag, but—”

“Great!” The filly rushed over to rummage through Sweetie Belle’s rucksack. After a moment, she pulled out a large crimson ruby.

“Apple Bloom, wait,” Sweetie Belle began.

“Mmhfh, what’s going on?” Scootaloo mumbled sleepily, looking up for the first time. Before Sweetie Belle could reply, Apple Bloom pushed the gemstone into the golem’s chest, pounding it several times in rapid succession with a hoof.

“It’s done!” she cried triumphantly. “We did it! We made a golem!”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo exchanged looks as the earth pony bounced joyously in circles around the clay pony, before getting up and walking over to their friend.

Scootaloo cleared her throat. “Uhm, AB? Nothing’s actually happening.” Apple Bloom paused mid-bounce and looked up at the golem. It was still as immobile and inanimate as ever.

“But how? Ah did everythin’ they said!” Apple Bloom protested, rushing over to look at the notes and instructions scattered across the floor.

“Everything that what said? The notes?” Scootaloo asked, furrowing her brow.

“I’m not sure I like its mane,” Sweetie Belle said hesitantly. The ‘mane’ mostly resembled a Mohawk, with emphasis on mostly.

“What did Ah miss? How can it—” Apple Bloom muttered as she frantically leafed through the papers, then suddenly looked up. “Oh.”

“Oh? Oh what?” Scootaloo asked with growing impatience. Apple Bloom did not reply, instead walking over to the clay pony and punching the ruby in its chest one more time.

“Ah only did it four times,” Apple Bloom smiled as she stepped away from the figure again, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Scootaloo was about to say something, but before she could, something happened to the clay pony. Before their astonished eyes, the clay that made up the figure began to smooth itself out, filling gaps and roughness in the surface. Mane and tail seemed to attach to the body, as did the limbs at the joints where they had previously been only crudely jammed on. The head folded and shaped itself into that of a pony, though the only visible features remained the eyeless sockets, lacking both mouth and nostrils. Impossibly, the mane and tail took on the texture of real hair, while still remaining stiff and inflexible. Slowly, very slowly, the golem turned its head to regard the three fillies with an eyeless stare. It raised its right hoof, the clay of its leg contorting slightly in an imitation of muscle and sinew, and took a ponderous step towards them.

“Oh dear,” Sweetie Belle squeaked.

A voice, deep and slow, issued from the golem’s head, even though it had no mouth. It was both masculine and feminine, yet at the same time neither of those two.

“Thank you,” it said.

“For what?” Scootaloo asked, somehow managing to sound defiant despite looking as scared as Sweetie Belle felt.

“You heard their plea and gave shape to me. They have waited long for a pony who could hear them to come by,” it stated in an emotionless tone.

Sweetie Belle looked from her friends to the golem in puzzlement. “Hear who? What? We didn’t hear anything.”

“The earth kin. She is like the Shaper. They found her open to their calling.”

Sweetie Belle gasped. “Wait, you’re talking about Apple Bloom? You’re the reason she’s been working like a pony possessed?” She looked at Apple Bloom, who in turn was staring up at the golem with a vacant, almost delirious grin.

“What have you done to her? Whatever it is, stop it right now or we’ll turn you right back into pieces!” Scootaloo said heatedly, even though her threat seemed laughably feeble in the face of the towering construct.

“They have done her no harm. They only strengthened her resolve and aided her in my shaping. Now that they are all in me, she no longer hears their call. She will wake up soon,” the golem replied.

“Who are ‘they’? And what do you mean they’re in you?” Sweetie Belle asked while glancing at the dopey-faced Apple Bloom with concern.

“The ones who were before me. The earth kin used their remains in my shaping, so that their memories would me my memories too.”

Before anyone could say anything else, Apple Bloom suddenly fell over nose first. She pushed herself up groggily, blinking rapidly several times.

“Ow, mah head,” she complained, before looking up at the golem. “Oh. So Ah guess it really did work, huh?”

“What, you don’t remember jumping around and shouting your triumph a few moments ago?” Scootaloo asked with a raised eyebrow. Apple Bloom scrunched her face in puzzlement.

“That was real, then? It seemed all dream-like. An’ there were these voices tellin’ me what to do.”

Sweetie Belle looked back up at the golem. “So, uh, you’re saying you wanted to be created?”

“I had to be. The message was clear.”

“How about you try and make a little more sense and start at the beginning, maybe?” Sweetie Belle suggested. The golem regarded her for a moment—at least, Sweetie Belle assumed it was regarding her—before speaking.

“There were six, like me but not me, made by the Shaper, waiting for their purpose. The Shaper never came back to them. Instead, the Architect did. She destroyed five and commanded the last one to follow her. Before the Architect left, the Sixth called to the Five and bade them remember a single word: Follow. The Five remembered, and have since been calling out for one to help them fulfill their purpose. I am the result.”

“Ah remember the voices said to put the pieces of the old golems together in the shapin’, so that this one would know what the other golems knew, too,” Apple Bloom chimed in, before raising a hoof to her forehead. “Ow,” she complained again.

“So those pieces on the floor... they were the remains of the old golems, right?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Yes. The Sixth was given its heart by the Architect. The Five were brought to ruin instead,” the golem said.

“So Tincoat was the Architect. Does that mean Amber was the Shaper?”

“I do not know those names.”

“It’s got to be. Amber was an earth pony too, right? And only earth ponies can make the golems,” Scootaloo commented.

“But why bring one golem and destroy the others? Seems like a strange thing to do,” Sweetie Belle pointed out.

“I do not know. But I must follow the Sixth. The Five demand it,” came the reply from the clay pony.

“Why? And how do you know which way to go?” the unicorn filly asked.

“Because it is the purpose of the Five to find the Sixth. Perhaps when they have fulfilled their purpose, I can find my own,” the golem stated in the same flat monotone. “The trail of the Sixth is faint, worn by time, but it is there. I can follow it. I must follow it.”

Scootaloo looked from the doorway to the clay pony. “So why aren’t you going?” The golem was still standing where it had been the whole time.

“The earth kin must follow me. If she does not, my body will falter and crumble, and both my own purpose and that of the Five will go unfulfilled.”

“Now hold on, Apple Bloom doesn’t have to do anything you—”

“Ah’ll go,” Apple Bloom interrupted the pegasus. Both fillies turned to look at her.

“You serious, AB? You’re going to follow this block of clay just because it says so?” Scootaloo asked incredulously.

“Ah made it. Ah kinda feel responsible for it, too,” the earth pony said with a look at the golem. “Besides, can’t y’all relate to wantin’ to find yer purpose?”

“What do you mean you’ll falter without Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle asked the golem.

“The earth kin is my creator. I am tied to her. Apart, I will weaken and fail. The earth kin must come.” Even though its voice had not changed a single note since it had first spoken, Sweetie Belle almost felt she could detect a trace of urgency, or even desperation in its voice.

“You’ve got to be kidding…” Scootaloo muttered.

“Well, that settles it for me. Ah’m goin’,” Apple Bloom said firmly. “Besides, it also sounds like our best way of gettin’ to the bottom about Tincoat.”

“And let me guess, we’ve got to go about this without telling anypony else where we’re going?” Sweetie Belle asked in a deadpan voice.

“Of course! D’ya think Rarity’d let ya go off like this?”

“I’m sure it can’t be much worse than going off without telling her,” the unicorn filly replied.

“How ’bout we send ’em a letter from the first town we reach? That way we can tell ’em we’re all right, but we’ll be far enough ahead that they won’t catch up with us until we’re done,” Apple Bloom suggested.

“I suppose…” Sweetie Belle said hesitantly. She could imagine several ways in which her sister would react to the news that she had run off chasing a thousand-year-old pony in the company of a golem. None of them were positive.

“Well, we aren’t going to let you wander off on your own, AB, that’s for sure. I guess that means we’re going, too,” Scootaloo said grudgingly.

“Then it’s settled! Cutie Mark Crusader Golem Wardens, yay!” Apple Bloom cheered.

“Yay,” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle said in unison with considerably less enthusiasm than their friend displayed.

Chapter 11: Trespasser

In Scootaloo’s opinion, the journey started out badly. For one thing, she was almost completely certain that they were heading deeper into the Everfree Forest, not out of it. Although the golem moved purposefully, the route it followed had no discernable path or pattern that Scootaloo could notice. When asked about the direction, the golem simply replied that they were “following the trail”. It did not sit well with the pegasus filly, but at least daylight shone down past the treetops, making the forest bearable to travel through, although Scootaloo would not admit to her friends that she was nervous of just walking in the forest.

Apple Bloom seemed to have no such concerns. Her attention seemed entirely focused on the golem with an almost awestruck intensity. Looking at her, one would think that this journey was just about the greatest thing ever. Then again, Scootaloo hardly felt able to really blame her; the farmfilly had already managed to accomplish one part of her goal and created an actual golem, and now it was apparently leading them to the other half, the elusive Tincoat.

‘Our goal, not just Apple Bloom’s. We're in this together,’ Scootaloo reminded herself. 'But if so, why don’t I feel thrilled about this at all?’

She shook her head a bit, feeling somewhat silly. This was the sort of thing she always imagined herself doing when she thought about being daring and brave like Rainbow Dash; exploring dark places, going where other ponies did not dare to, showing that guts and determination were more important than other things, like Cutie Marks, or whether or not you could fly.

Ah yes, Rainbow Dash. It all comes back to her, doesn’t it?

Scootaloo forced the voice from her mind, unwilling to get into another debate with herself. Instead, she became aware of an insistent voice next to her. She shook her head a bit.

“Sorry, what’d you say, Sweetie Belle?”

The unicorn filly sighed a bit. “I asked: How many scones do you have left? Do you think we have enough to last us until we get to another town?” Sweetie Belle repeated patiently.

“Yeah, a couple. Why?”

“Well, we might be away a while, and I don’t think any of us brought any bits for food.”

“What’s the big deal? We can just eat grass if needed, you know,” Scootaloo pointed out, doing her best not to let her annoyance lash out at her friend.

“Well… yeah, but I’d rather not if I can help it. I’m not sure the grass here tastes so good,” Sweetie Belle replied, glancing around the forest floor meaningfully.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes a bit. Privately, though, she agreed with Sweetie Belle; grass was hardly at the top of her list of preferred food.

“So, uh, golem, d’ya have a name?” Apple Bloom asked ahead of them.

“No.”

“Oh.”

There was silence for a few moments before the earth filly spoke up again, undeterred.

“D’ya want a name? Ah can think up lots of different ones,” she said with a bright smile. The clay pony turned its featureless head towards the filly.

“Want?” it asked.

“Yeah, seems a bit rude to be callin’ ya golem all the time, is all.”

“There are not things I want. There are things I must. And getting a name is not one of them.”

Apple Bloom thought for a bit. “Still… ya don’t not want it, right?”

“There are not things I want. There are things—” the golem repeated, but Apple Bloom cut her off.

“Right! Well, in that case, Ah’m gonna give ya a name, since ya don’t mind either way. Ah’m gonna name ya, uhm...” She chewed her right cheek thoughtfully for a few moments. “Bigger Mac!” she declared.

“You sure it’s actually a stallion?” Scootaloo asked dubiously. Looking at the golem, as well as by listening to its voice, it was hard to determine what exactly it was.

“Yeah, maybe it’s a mare instead,” Sweetie Belle chimed in. “How about something like, I dunno, Clarity?”

“Is that a mare’s name?”

“Well, it’s a combination of clay and Rarity, and my sister is definitely a mare. Hence, Clarity,” Sweetie Belle stated smugly. Scootaloo had to fight the urge to facehoof.

“Ah don’t actually know what he or she is. Guess we’re gonna need a name that covers both options,” Apple Bloom mused. “How ’bout Clayhoof?”

“Claymane?” Scootaloo suggested.

“How about Golem?” came the ethereal reply. All three fillies looked at the golem.

“Did it just… make a joke?” Sweetie Belle asked curiously.

“No,” it said flatly. Scootaloo looked at it suspiciously. If there ever was a pony with the perfect poker face, this was definitely it.

Apple Bloom pouted. “All right, Golem it is, but only until Ah think up a better name!”

They all walked in silence for a bit, each filly wondering if their travel companion had just made fun of them.

Rainbow Dash fidgeted impatiently as she reclined on the tree branch, somewhat grateful for her knack for being able to make herself comfortable on almost any surface. Otherwise she would certainly have worn a groove in her back by now. There had been no sign of Scootaloo all day yesterday, or any this morning, and it was making her frustrated. She was starting to believe that she must have missed the filly in the brief time that she had been gone to attend her weather patrol duty, even though she was almost certain she had broken her own record again.

At last she heard a buzzing sound, in Rainbow Dash’s relieved mind the noise of Scootaloo’s wings propelling her along on her scooter, and she dropped down on the road in an expertly executed somersault, eyes closed, waiting until the buzzing got closer before speaking up.

“Oh heya, Squirt, it’s your lucky day today. I just so happen to have an extra ticket for the Ultra Roller-skater Race, and I was wondering if—”

The rest of her well-prepared-yet-completely-spontaneous speech was interrupted when she opened her eyes and noticed that the buzzing that promptly enveloped her was not an orange filly, but in fact an entire swarm of something that gave her horrible flashbacks to a certain Running of the Leaves event.

“Bees?! Not the bees! Not the bees! Aaaurgh!” She wailed, flailing her hooves around frantically as the swarm of merciless insect monsters surrounded her on all sides.

“Oh, an extra ticket? For me? That’s so nice of you, Dashie, but I’m not sure racing is really—Uhm, Dashie? Are you all right?”

Dash paused in her wild thrashing when she noticed that the expected attack of painful stings was not happening. Instead, the swarm calmly passed her by, or at least as calmly as an angrily buzzing swarm of insects could, revealing the concerned-looking yellow pegasus behind it.

“F-Fluttershy?” Dash gasped, spitting out an errant bee that had gotten into her mouth. It flew off to join its brethren. “What are all those bugs doing here?!”

“Oh, I’m helping them find a new home to set up a hive in. There’s an old oak tree just up the road that I think would suit them just fine,” Fluttershy replied with an affectionate smile at the bee swarm.

Dash shook her head a bit. Sometimes her old friend seemed like she was afraid of her own shadow, while at other times she happily hung around creatures that Dash would not poke with a stick a mile long.

“Uhm, but about your invitation, I’m not really sure—”

“Oh, that wasn’t for you,” Dash said quickly, before realizing how rude it might sound to her timid friend. “I mean, if you want to go watch some stuff, we can make a trip for that some other time, but I was actually going to give this to—You know what, nevermind,” she finished, halting herself before she could reveal too much.

“Oh, that’s all right, I’m not really sure a race is my thing, anyway. Not unless it’s something that somepony I know is participating in, like when you competed for Best Young Flier,” Fluttershy assured her.

Rainbow Dash let out an inaudible sigh of relief. Phew, disaster averted.

“Right, well, you go on ahead with your… bee-herding. I’ll just, uh, go back to napping, yeah.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Okay then. I don’t know if Scootaloo is coming this way, though. I haven’t seen her today.”

Dash almost bit her tongue. How does everypony know about Scootaloo?

“Who said anything about Scootaloo? Like I said, I was just having a nap in my new favourite napping spot,” she replied nonchalantly.

“Of course,” Fluttershy agreed with a smile. “But just in the event you would ever need to talk to her, you could always go see her at her house.”

“Wait, how do you know where she lives?” Dash asked before she could help herself.

“Oh, it’s down the road, in a house with a shed next to it. Her father came to see me one day with his injured pet budgie. Apparently Scootaloo had told him I was good with animals, so he asked me if I could help,” Fluttershy replied with the tiniest trace of pride.

“I fixed the poor thing up before too long and decided to bring her back myself. Scootaloo’s father is, uhm… not well,” she continued, her ears drooping a little.

“What do you mean?” Dash asked curiously.

“Well, he’s, uhm… he’s… he’s got some difficulties with walking. Uh, and flying,” Fluttershy mumbled. “It must have been hard for him to come all the way to me just to get his budgie treated, so bringing her back myself was the least I could do. Uhm, anyway, there are only two other houses there, so it shouldn’t be hard to spot,” she finished.

“Cool, well, thanks. Maybe I’ll go talk to her there, then. I mean, if I ever have to, that is,” Dash said, doing her best to seem disinterested.

“Oh, happy to help,” Fluttershy said with a smile. “I better get moving now. Talk to you later, Dashie.”

“All right, my friends, it’s time to get you settled into your new home!” she announced cheerfully. The swarm of bees, which had dispersed among the many flowers lining the roadside, gathered once again into a buzzing mass and obediently followed the yellow pegasus along the road. Dash gave a little shudder, feeling relieved when the swarm of insects finally moved away from her. She waited until Fluttershy disappeared from sight before taking off, flying high above the road until a distant cluster of buildings came into view.

The door to the house swung open, unlocked, as Rainbow Dash tried to knock on it, revealing the brightly lit interior.

“Hey, uh, Squirt? Anypony? Hello?” she called as she stepped over the threshold. There was no reply. She glanced back at the mailbox outside, which had indeed listed Scootaloo as one of the two names.

“Hello?” she repeated as she entered the house proper. As far as homes went, it seemed fairly unremarkable, with the usual things you would expect: table, kitchen, shelves. Some sort of board game was stashed aside on one of the windowsills. On closer inspection, it turned out to be Battlecloud, Dash’s own favourite. She allowed herself a little grin. Of course Scootaloo would enjoy a game like that, too. She gave the pictures on the walls a cursory glance before moving on; it was just a couple of typical family photos.

It seemed a bit strange that the house was unlocked when nopony came out to meet her. It occurred to Dash that Scootaloo might be napping; in truth, this was the time of day when Dash herself typically liked to catch a bit of shuteye. It should not come as a surprise that others might enjoy it, too. She pushed open the only other door in the house, which presumably led to Scootaloo’s room, and stepped inside. This one was much darker, with the curtains pulled down and the only lamp in the room unlit. To Dash’s surprise, the bed was empty. As she looked about the room, the picture-and-news plastered wall caught her eye. She walked over to see numerous iterations of herself grinning back at her, posing for the camera. She looked over the articles, seeing titles she recognized from moments of self-indulgence—of which there were more than a few—when she had read them herself, as well as others she had not seen before. Picture upon picture, article upon article.

“Wow,” Dash whispered to herself. She knew that Scootaloo admired her, of course; the filly was, after all, her number one fan and headed an entire fan club devoted to Dash, but it occurred to the older pegasus that she had not truly understood just how deeply Scootaloo’s devotion ran. She furrowed her brow a bit as her eye caught something behind the collage. She brushed aside a couple of pictures and articles, revealing another, much older newspaper cutout.

Selfless Heroine Gives Her Life to Save Village, the header declared in bold letters.

“What the hay…?” She squinted a bit to read the words in the dark.

It was supposed to have been a quiet day over the hamlet of Azure Creek, with nothing but a light rain scheduled for the afternoon. Like her co-workers, Summerbreeze was on weather patrol that day, awaiting the rain clouds from the Weather Factory in Cloudsdale. However, for reasons that are yet unknown, the clouds went out of control as they were being released from their berth. In a short time, they had coalesced and turned into a violent tempest. Several factory workers, including Summerbreeze’s husband, Gusting Ember, were grievously injured as the storm tore free from the staff's rushed attempts at restraining it. Unchecked, the tempest rapidly approached Azure Creek at a speed and intensity that eyewitnesses describe as being “like the sky itself roaring in fury, with lightning arcing from every surface.” Caught right in the middle of the tempest’s path, Azure Creek would be annihilated. The weather patrol team quickly began to organize an evacuation, but it was clear that the gale would overtake them long before they could get anypony to safety.

The denizens of Azure Creek were spared the fury of the storm by the actions of a single valiant pegasus. Seeing the impending tempest, Summerbreeze took off straight towards its core. Fellow patrol pegasus Dusk Glimmer described it thus: “There was no hesitation, no doubt, and no fear. I have never seen a pony look more determined than Summerbreeze did at that moment.” In a singular act of bravery, Summerbreeze flew into the heart of the tempest, dispersing it from within. Before the astonished eyes of the ponies watching, the tempest broke apart, scattering into individual clouds, each one only a fraction of the power of the furious storm they had been part of only moments ago. Azure Creek had been saved.

However, this was not without cost. In the moment of her triumph, the fury of the tempest overcame Summerbreeze; a lightning bolt of such intensity that even a pegasus could not survive struck her down. With her actions, she has shown us all the true meaning of that most noble of virtues: Sacrifice. To give everything so selflessly for others speaks of the depth of love Summerbreeze had for her fellow ponies, and such an act should never be forgotten. The mayor of Azure Creek has motioned for a memorial statue to be raised in the town square in her honour, while Princess Celestia herself has stated her intent to attend the funeral, which will take place at high noon three days from now. Summerbreeze died at the age of 22, leaving behind her husband, Gusting Ember, and their one-year-old daughter, Scootaloo.

Rainbow Dash took a step away from the wall, feeling a little queasy all of a sudden. Never in a million years would she have expected—

“Do you always make a habit of wandering into other ponies’ houses?” a deep voice asked behind her. Dash whirled around to see a peg-legged, one-winged pegasus stallion with a red coat standing in the doorway, looking at her with an expression of mild curiosity.

“Who the hay are you?” Dash blurted before she could stop herself. She knew exactly who the stallion was. She recognized him from the pictures in the living room.

The stallion raised an eyebrow. “I’m Gusting Ember. This is my house. I live here,” he replied with a trace of amusement.

“Uh, yeah. Right. I knew that,” Dash muttered, clearing her throat a bit. “Anyway, I’m—”

“Rainbow Dash, yes, I know,” Gusting Ember finished for her. “Scootaloo’s told me enough about you that I’d recognize you, even if you weren’t standing in front of a wall full of your likeness.”

“Oh, ah, has she? Yeah, I guess she would. She is my number one fan, after all.” Dash grinned, trying very hard to keep the nervousness from showing. Right now, she very much wanted to get away and digest the revelation she had just uncovered.

Ember nodded. “She has indeed. Which makes her lack of tales about your ‘awesomeness’ these past few days all the more puzzling. In fact, when I asked her yesterday, she became completely tight-lipped. Not that I’m accusing you of anything, Miss Dash, but has something happened between you two?”

“Uhm…” Dash began, rubbing the back of her mane and wracking her mind frantically for something that could explain to Ember, as well as herself, exactly what had happened between her and Scootaloo. However, the stallion seemed to read enough of her body language before she could think up a reply.

“I see,” he said calmly. “I know my daughter can be a handful, but since I’m sure you're a responsible mare, I don’t think I have to tell you that Scootaloo holds you in extremely high regard, and that if you wanted her to give you some more space, you might’ve considered breaking the news to her more gently.”

“It’s not that!” Dash protested quickly, struggling to find her usual veneer of cool. “It’s, uh, the opposite, actually. What I mean is, I think I might’ve been taking Squir—erhm, Scootaloo’s affection a bit… lightly?” She almost flinched a bit under the stallion’s steady gaze.

“Well, perhaps you should be having words with Scootaloo instead of me, then. Which I suppose is what you came here for in the first place?”

Dash nodded a bit. “I don’t suppose you know where she is?” she asked hopefully.

“She dropped by yesterday to tell me that she and her friends were having a sleepover at the farm. Sweet Apple Acres, I think it is? Since she isn’t home yet, I guess she’s still there. If not, perhaps somepony there can tell you more.” Throughout it all, Ember had spoken in the same calm, polite tone.

“Right! Well, thanks for the tip, buddy. I better get going, I think.” Dash smiled in what she hoped was a friendly manner.

Ember stepped aside to let her pass through the door. “Good luck to you, Miss Dash. When you see Scootaloo, would you tell her to come back home soon? I’d like to talk to her, too.”

“No problem. See you later,” Dash replied with forced cheer.

“Oh, and Miss Dash?” Ember added before she could take off.

“Yeah?”

“If I learn that you have misused my daughter’s affection for you, you and I will be having words, as adults. Have a nice day.” The door closed behind her. Dash took off and headed back towards Ponyville as fast as her wings could carry her.

Chapter 12: Improvisation

“Are we there yet?” Sweetie Belle complained from the back of the row, forcing her way through a particularly nasty mess of brambles.

“No,” Golem stated flatly.

“Is there a long way to go still?”

“Yes.”

She and Scootaloo let out collective groans. By now, all three fillies were covered in small nicks and scratches from grasping vines and thorns. They had been walking through the Everfree Forest for hours, following the steady and relentless advance of the clay pony at the front. Although Golem was able to flatten some of the undergrowth under its hooves, there was still enough left to be a bother for the fillies. Only Apple Bloom seemed to be in as high spirits as ever.

“This is stupid. Why would anypony ever have walked this way? There’s not even a path to walk on!” Scootaloo snapped in frustration as a stubborn vine refused to let go of her right hind leg.

“Well, maybe there once was. The forest can’t have been here forever, right? Maybe this was a road back when Tincoat lived!” Apple Bloom suggested cheerfully, even as a thin branch swiped her across the cheek. “Ouch! Think about it, we could be the first ponies in a thousand years to be walkin’ this way!”

“Yeah, I’m just giddy with excitement,” Sweetie Belle muttered quietly.

Eventually the density of the forest began to thin, and the group finally stepped out into the open again, revealing a sloping landscape full of green hills and blanketed in a fine, light mist. A dirt road wove its way towards a small village nestled at the top of one such hill. Far off in the distance, a towering, snow-capped mountain was visible, which Golem was making a beeline for.

“So, uhm, Golem, if’n ya don’t mind me askin’, how d’ya know which way to go?” Apple Bloom asked. “Ah know ya said somethin’ ’bout followin’ a trail an’ all, but—”

“The Sixth traveled in many different directions. The trail we follow is the most recent. It points to that mountain,” Golem replied.

“An’ ya can tell this even though the trail’s over a thousand years old?” the farmfilly asked in amazement.

“Yes.”

“Hey, AB, not to interrupt your little chat with clay-face there, but if we’re gonna send that letter back home, maybe we should head to that town over there and do it? You know, before the grown-ups start crawling the walls or something,” Scootaloo interjected before Apple Bloom could ask another question.

“Oh, yeah, right! Good thinkin’, Scoots.” She turned towards Golem, who had stopped a bit further ahead and was now looking back towards them. “C’mon, Golem, we just gotta make a detour into the town over there.”

“The trail does not lead that way,” it stated flatly.

Apple Bloom smiled as she followed Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle towards the town. “We gotta tell our family that we’re goin’ away for a while, it won’t take long.”

“This delay is pointless,” Golem protested in the same flat monotone.

“What, you’re in a rush or something? You’ve been waiting a thousand years; you can wait a few hours more,” Scootaloo shot back at the clay pony.

“I have not. Those that came before me were the ones that waited. I only—”

“Whatever.”

“I hope they normally have better weather around here than this, or somepony was having a laugh when they named this town,” Sweetie Belle remarked with a glance towards the sky, the sun hidden behind a layer of white clouds.

The town—which a signpost at the road told the fillies was named Sunny Hill—was a small hamlet not even half the size of Ponyville. It had a town square and a wide street leading in and out of settlement, but apart from that, the houses were placed haphazardly, with some built directly into the slope of the hill, others placed on stilted platforms to provide an even surface. The town seemed largely empty, though lights in the houses and a faint murmur from what looked like a tavern indicated that the denizens were merely indoors.

“You sure it was a good idea to bring it along? Ponies are probably going to notice,” Scootaloo pointed out with a nod towards Golem, who was looming behind them.

“It’s got a name,” Apple Bloom admonished the pegasus. “But you’re probably right.” She looked over her shoulder. “Hey, Golem, why don’tcha wait here while we go send that letter?”

“Very well,” the clay pony replied.

“Let’s just hope nopony comes outside and wonders why there’s a new statue in the middle of their town,” Sweetie Belle said to no one in particular as the three fillies headed towards the post office, identified as such because of the wooden sign with a letter carved into it hanging above the doorway. A lime-coloured mare with a yellow mane sat at the desk reading a newspaper. Apple Bloom walked up to the mailpony and cleared her throat.

“’Scuse me, miss, but we’d like to send a letter.”

“Well, you’re in luck, then. This is a post office. Leave your letter by the desk and it’ll be sent along with the next batch,” the mare replied without looking up from the newspaper.

“Well, uh, it just so happens we ain’t got it written yet. Ya reckon we could borrow some paper?”

“Over in the corner,” came the terse reply, a hoof gesturing at a table by the window with a small stack of papers on top of it.

Apple Bloom looked at her two friends, who both gave little shrugs, before all three moved over to the table. They each grabbed a piece of paper and began to scribble their own letters in various degrees of shaky mouthwriting. After finishing, they pushed the letters over the desk towards the mailpony, who gave them a cursory look.

“You forgot the stamps,” she said.

The three fillies exchanged glances. “Stamps?” Apple Bloom asked hesitantly. None of them had so much as a single bit between them.

“Stamps,” the mailpony repeated in a slightly exasperated voice, giving the three fillies a look of mild annoyance. “No stamps, no delivery. Sorry.”

“But we don’t have any stamps!” Scootaloo protested. This had not been part of the plan.

“Then I’m afraid I can’t help you. Best go ask your parents for the bits. It's one bit for twenty stamps,” the mare replied, going back to her newspaper.

“Now what do we do?” Scootaloo whispered to Apple Bloom, but before she could reply, Sweetie Belle spoke up in the most plaintive, heart-wrenching voice known to ponykind.

“But… but we got lost during a field excursion with our class,” she sniffled. “A-and now we can’t find our way back home to Ponyville, and it’s been almost a day now, and”—tears were welling up in her eyes all of a sudden, and in a stunning imitation of Rarity when she was at her best, Sweetie Belle broke into full-on gushing wailing—“and we just miss our families so muuuuuch!”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at their friend in surprise for a moment, before catching on to her act and putting on their own best pouting and mournful expressions. The mailpony’s expression turned to one full of concern in an instant.

“Oh my goodness, I had no idea! I’m so sorry! I’ll make sure these are sent right away! You said you needed these sent to Ponyville, right?” The three fillies nodded in unison, Sweetie Belle still making pitiful little sobbing sounds. The mailpony grabbed the letters in her mouth and disappeared through a door at the back of the office, returning a few moments later.

“There, the letters will be on their way in just a little while. Your parents will know soon and come pick you up, I’m sure. If you’re hungry, head on over to the bakery on the other side of the street. Just tell the owner that Clover sent you, and he’ll give you something to eat, no charge.” She smiled comfortingly at the three fillies, who all looked a bit taken aback at the sudden kindness shown by the previously dismissive mare. Apple Bloom had the presence of mind to speak up first.

“Wow, thank ya kindly, miss! That’s real nice of ya!” She beamed at the mailpony, and Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo nodded enthusiastically in agreement. Clover smiled warmly at them.

“Oh, don’t worry about it, dear. You should’ve mentioned that you were lost sooner. Now go on, I’m sure you all must be starving by now.”

“Well, that went better’n Ah expected,” Apple Bloom said upon exiting the post office. Behind the building, unseen by all three, a pegasus with a pair of saddlebags took off in the direction of Ponyville.

“Yeah, that was some quick thinking back there, Sweetie Belle. Nice going on the whole crying act,” Scootaloo said with a grin and nudged Sweetie Belle playfully in the side.

“Thanks,” Sweetie Belle murmured with a sheepish little smile. “Though I feel a little bad for abusing her trust and generosity like that. She was such a nice pony, after all.”

“Maybe, but I’m not going to say no to free—uh oh.” Scootaloo tensed and looked over to where they had left Golem. Two young stallions were eyeing the clay pony curiously.

“Should’ve seen that coming,” Sweetie Belle muttered.

“So long as it doesn’t talk or move, we’ll be fine,” Apple Bloom replied in a low voice.

“Since when did we get a new statue for the town square?” one of the stallions asked his friend.

“I am not a statue,” came the ethereal reply. Both stallions let out little yelps of surprise and looked at the clay pony with wide eyes.

“What in Equestria—” the second stallion blurted.

“Oh, horseapples,” Apple Bloom cursed.

Once again, Sweetie Belle seized the initiative, sprinting over to Golem before her friends could react. She pulled to a gliding halt next to the clay pony with a dramatic flourish.

“That’s right, it’s not a statue, it’s Claypoh N. E., the amazing talking puppet of the even more amazing ventriloquist, Sweetie Belle… Me!” she announced in one breath, flashing a pearly white smile at the two stallions.

“Ventrilo-what?” Scootaloo mouthed to Apple Bloom, who merely shrugged helplessly in response.

The two stallions exchanged glances. “It’s… a puppet?” one of them, an earth pony with a dark grey coat and white mane, asked with a look at the clay pony.

“No,” came the reply from Golem. Sweetie Belle nudged the leg of the clay pony.

“Oh, Claypoh, don’t be like that.” Sweetie Belle giggled, flashing another smile at the stallions. “It doesn’t really like being called a puppet.”

The other stallion, a pegasus with a dusty brown coat and a short-cropped red mane, looked from Sweetie Belle to Golem and back again.

“So… it’s you doing the talking?” he asked carefully.

“No, it is not,” Golem said.

“Oh no, it’s not me, it’s Claypoh,” Sweetie Belle replied with an exaggerated, conspiratorial wink at the stallions. The two ponies exchanged glances, before starting to chuckle.

“You know, you’re actually really good at that!” the earth pony said with a smile.

“Yeah, you should come give a show in the tavern. I bet everypony would be amazed! I sure am,” the pegasus agreed. Sweetie Belle bowed deeply.

“Claypoh N. E. and I will be sure to consider your suggestion. But right now, we need to get some food. Claypoh is getting awfully hungry.”

“No, I am not.”

The stallions chuckled again and headed towards the tavern, chatting with each other while occasionally looking over their shoulder at Golem. When they disappeared inside, Sweetie Belle let out a sigh of relief and sat down on her rump. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, who had both stood rooted to the spot in front of the post office, as absorbed by the spectacle as the stallions had been, rushed over to their friend.

“Great jumpin’ pony on a pogo stick, Sweetie Belle, that was amazin’! Where’d ya get that from?” Apple Bloom exclaimed in admiration. The unicorn filly gave a little shrug.

“I… don’t know. It just jumped into my mind. It seemed like something Pinkie Pie would do. So crazy it might work.”

“At this rate, you’re going to get your Cutie Mark in telling lies,” Scootaloo said in a teasing voice, grinning. Sweetie Belle looked at her in alarm.

“There’s no such thing as a Cutie Mark for lying, is there? I really, really don’t want something like that! Oh, please tell me there’s nothing!” she blurted, trying frantically to look at her own flank.

“Nope. Still blank,” Scootaloo confirmed after a moment. Sweetie Belle let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew. That’s got to be the first time I’m glad to hear that,” she breathed.

“Speakin’ of lyin’, though, we should probably consider hightailin’ it outta here before we draw more attention. We already got one pony thinkin’ we’re lost foals, while another two think Sweetie Belle is some kinda crazy carny,” Apple Bloom pointed out.

“But what about the free food from the bakery?” Scootaloo protested.

“It don’t feel right abusin’ that nice mailpony’s trust just to snag some free lunch.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” the pegasus filly admitted grudgingly.

“Besides, if I have to come up with another lie, I think my head is going to burst,” Sweetie Belle muttered.

“Why? You seem to be doing pretty good at it so far,” Scootaloo said with a smirk.

“Scootaloo!”

“What? Too soon?”

“Does this mean this delay is over?” the ethereal voice of Golem asked, snapping them out of their light-hearted bickering.

“Yeah yeah, don’t get your mane in a bunch. We’re going,” Scootaloo grumbled.

“So, how long do you think it’ll take until the letters reach Ponyville?” Sweetie Belle asked as they followed Golem out of town and resumed their course towards the distant mountain. “I mean, I know we’re not supposed to let them catch up to us, but I also really want to make sure they don’t worry that we’ve been foalnapped or something.”

“Ah ain’t sure. Ah reckon it’ll be a couple of hours or somethin’, maybe even a day. Ah mean, they probably only deliver mail once a day or somethin’, so we should have plenty of time ta get ahead,” Apple Bloom replied with a strained smile. “Besides, Ah’m sure they won’t be that upset. We did tell ’em we were havin’ a sleepover, an’ we kind of are. It’s just outdoors. An’ for several days.”

“If you say so,” Scootaloo said with less conviction.

“Yeah, Ah’m sure.” Apple Bloom trotted ahead of her two friends, her smile vanishing as soon as they could no longer see her face. It was replaced by a tense, nervous grimace along with a growing leaden weight in the pit of her stomach. “Really sure… Won’t be upset at all… No way…”

Less than an hour later, Glider was making his third and final delivery, this one at Sweet Apple Acres. The pegasus mailpony had been informed by his boss, Clover, that there was an emergency, and that he had to deliver three letters to their recipients on the double. Sunny Hill was hardly the busiest of towns, so getting to deliver something that was actually labeled as urgent was a refreshing change of pace. As he flew over the apple orchard, he caught sight of a mare dragging a cartful of apples towards the nearby farmhouse. He touched down next to her and cleared his throat.

“Excuse me, miss, are you Applejack? And if you aren’t, do you know where I can find her?”

“Yeah, Ah’m Applejack. Why?” the farmpony inquired with a raised eyebrow, nudging her hat back a bit.

“Got a letter addressed to you, miss. Express delivery.”

Applejack took the proffered letter and gave a grunt of acknowledgement as the mailpony took off again. As she quickly read the letter through, her expression changed from curious to perplexed and finally to incredulous as she finished reading.

“Ya gotta be kiddin’ me,” she murmured. She shrugged out of the cart’s harness and began to gallop towards Ponyville.

“Mac! Take the cart! Ah gotta go find the girls!” she called over her shoulder. There was a faint “Eeeeyup” in reply.

“Ya really gone done it this time, missy,” Applejack hissed between clenched teeth.

Chapter 13: The Blame Game

Twilight carefully tilted the vial at an exact forty-two degree angle and sloshed the greenish liquid around three times before putting it back over the candle on the table. She picked up one of several beakers with her magic and began to very carefully pour the dark purple contents into the vial.

“What exactly is it you’re doing, again?” Spike asked from his chair, looking up from the comic book he was reading. He had already placed a mop, a cloth rag and a bucket of water within easy reach for when Twilight’s experiment inevitably blew up in her face and made a mess of the library.

“It's supposed to be a mane-growing tonic. I thought it might be something Rarity would want. You know, because of her little, uhm, accident with Sweetie Belle and all,” Twilight replied absently, not taking her eyes off the mixing process.

“Yeah, I get that, but didn’t you offer to help her out once already, and she said no?”

“Well, yes, but… maybe it would change her mind if I offered a non-magical solution like this, where she doesn’t have to have others around watching while her mane grows back.”

Spike rolled his eyes. “You just wanted an excuse to dig out your chemistry set again, didn’t you?”

“No,” Twilight said furtively after a few moments. “That’s not it at all. Now hush, Spike. It’s vital that I get the mixture exactly right.”

“Hey, Twilight! What are you doing?” a bright voice called out from above. Twilight and Spike both jumped, the unicorn only just managing to avoid spilling the contents of the glass containers. Pinkie Pie was standing at the top of the stairs leading to Twilight’s room, looking down at the chemistry set with curious blue eyes.

“Gah! Pinkie! Where did you come from?” Twilight spluttered. She glanced over at the library’s front door, which was definitely still closed. She did not recall hearing it open.

“Your balcony, of course!” Pinkie announced happily as she leapt from the top of the stairs, carrying the momentum into a bounce that brought her next to Twilight in two jumps.

“Why did you—” Twilight began, before shaking her head. “Look, I’ll be with you in just a moment, Pinkie, but it’s very important that I finish this first.”

“Okie dokie! I’ll just stand here and watch real quiet-like!” Pinkie said with a smile, leaning forward to stare at the bubbling liquids with a faint ooh-ing sound. Twilight shook her head a bit and refocused her attention on the beakers. Hopefully the tonic was still salvageable.

She had scarcely begun to tilt the beaker again when the door to the library was kicked open with great force, causing her to drop the glass containers onto the table and spill the precious contents over its surface. She was about to admonish the interloper, but was cut short by an extremely irate-looking Applejack.

“Twilight! We need to talk right now,” the farmpony said brusquely.

“Did you have to make an entrance like that, though?” Spike muttered, but a look from Applejack quickly silenced him and caused him to take cover behind his comic book.

“Applejack, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked with worry. She could barely remember the last time she had seen her friend this upset.

“What’s wrong?” Applejack echoed, then took off her hat and flicked out a piece of paper that she had kept under it. The letter drifted to a stop in front of Twilight. She looked down and read it.

Dear big sister,

I promised to tell you if I went somewhere, so I’ll tell you now. I’ve gone with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo to find that old traveller, Tincoat, and to help a golem (that’s a pony made of clay, like Big Mac but bigger. Ask Twilight, she’s probably heard of it).

I’m sorry for not telling you earlier, but I didn’t think you’d let us go if I did. I promise we’ll be back soon and we’ll be able to tell everypony about what we found. Maybe we’ll even have our Cutie Marks, and we aren’t going to get hurt, so don’t worry! Tell Granny Smith and Big Mac that I’m okay. See you soon!

Love,
Apple Bloom

“Oh. Oh dear,” Twilight muttered in a thin voice.

“She’s been actin’ all weird for days ever since she got back from yer library with her bags full o’ books, an’ then she came back from that trip to Canterlot with another one,” Applejack said through gritted teeth. “That book just happened to be the diary written by somepony with the same name as the one those three silly fillies have gone lookin’ for now. Apple Bloom promised she wasn’t gonna go nowhere without tellin’ me, but now Ah find out she’s gone ahead anyway. It don’t matter that she tells me now, she lied to me! Straight to mah face!”

Twilight looked at the farmpony with wide eyes. “Applejack, I didn’t know—”

“She got those darn books from you!” Applejack took several deep breaths and calmed herself a little with visible effort. “Ah’m not sayin’ Ah’m blamin’ ya, Twilight, but Ah’m blamin’ ya!”

“Hey hey, easy, I’m sure Twilight didn’t do any of that stuff intentionally,” Pinkie said quickly, looking from one pony to the other with concern. Applejack was about to make another reply, but all three ponies stopped to listen to a strange wailing sound that was rapidly rising in volume. It was accompanied moments later by Rarity running in through the still-open front door, looking beside herself with tears. A terrified-looking Fluttershy was clinging to her neck, which did not seem to slow down the unicorn in the slightest.

“Rarity, please calm down! Oh no, watch the doorframe! Rarity, stop!” the pegasus squeaked.

“She’s goooone!” Rarity cried out in a grief-stricken voice. “My little Sweetie Belle is gone! She left!” She collapsed on the floor and broke into heart-wrenching sobs. Fluttershy tried to stroke Rarity’s back, then gave her friends a helpless shrug. She took out a letter that she had been clutching under her left wing.

“I was having tea with Rarity when a mailpony arrived with this. It’s from Sweetie Belle, and… Oh, I don’t even know what to think,” she said sadly, before resuming her futile attempts to soothe Rarity. Twilight picked up the letter with her magic and gulped slightly, already guessing what the letter would contain. She read it aloud for the benefit of those around her.

“‘Dear Rarity, I’m so sorry for disappearing like this after all the talks we’ve had, but I hope you trust me enough to know that I’ll be careful. I’ve gone together with Scootaloo to help Apple Bloom solve a really big and old mystery. We’re writing from a town called Sunny Hill, which is funny because it’s not very sunny right now, but we’re not here for long. We’re travelling with a pony made of clay who doesn’t say very much, but it looks strong, so we aren’t going to be in danger. Please don’t tell Mom and Dad, I don’t want them to think it’s somehow your fault. I really miss you, but we’ll be back soon.’” Twilight bit her lip as she lowered the letter and looked over at the other unicorn. “Oh, Rarity…”

“What do ya have ta say ’bout this, Twilight?” Applejack asked with a glare.

“Twilight? And what about yourself, Applejack? It’s your sister who led mine astray! Again!” Rarity snapped with sudden hostility at the farmpony. Applejack turned to look at her with surprise.

“Me? Ah didn’t ask Apple Bloom ta go wanderin’ off like that! In fact, Ah told her the opposite!” she retorted defensively. “It’s Twilight an’ her darn books that made AB do this!”

“I swear to you, Applejack, I had no idea about any of this! I’ve only heard references to golems in old myths and stories! I didn’t even know they existed!” Twilight pleaded desperately.

“Actually… I’m kind of the one who kind of gave Apple Bloom those books to begin with. Kind of,” Spike muttered nervously, instantly wilting again under the baleful glare he got from Applejack. “Owlowiscious was in on it, too!”

“No! Stop it, all of you! This isn’t at all how friends are supposed to act!” Pinkie yelled before Applejack could say anything. Everyone in the library stopped and looked at the pink earth pony, who looked distraught and on the brink of despair. It occurred to Twilight how used they all were to her cheerful and bubbly personality and how plain wrong it was to see her upset and unsmiling like this.

“What in Equestria are you all yelling about?” Rainbow Dash asked from the doorway, shifting the attention of the entire room once more. The pegasus looked at her friends with puzzlement. Behind her, a small crowd of other townsponies had gathered, keeping a respectful distance from the entrance, but clearly too curious to just ignore the commotion.

“Oh no, you don’t think anypony heard this, do you?” Fluttershy asked nervously.

“Ponies at the other end of Ponyville heard you,” Rainbow Dash replied as she stepped into the library and unceremoniously closed the door in the face of the onlookers outside. “I just heard a big racket and a lot of yelling. What’s going on? What’s happened?” she demanded, looking around.

Somewhat surprisingly, Fluttershy was the first to speak up. “Oh, Dashie, it’s just terrible. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo have all gone off somewhere, and now everypony is arguing about who’s to blame.”

“Ah ain’t arguin’, Ah’m just statin’—”

“Applejack, please be quiet!” Fluttershy snapped. Everyone blinked in surprise, and Applejack went quiet, seemingly more from shock than anything else. Fluttershy blushed and looked down, scuffing a hoof against the floor. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to shout at you. It’s just… we don’t need more arguing right now. It’s not helping anypony. Please?”

“What do you mean, ‘they’re gone’? Gone where? When?” Dash demanded.

“We’re not sure. According to Sweetie Belle’s message and the envelopes the letters were sent in, they were around some place called Sunny Hill,” said Twilight, looking over her shoulder. “Spike, can you get us a local map? They can’t have gone that far.” Her assistant nodded and sprang to his feet, seeming to be grateful for having something to busy himself with.

“We only got the letters less than half an hour ago,” Rarity added. She seemed to have composed herself somewhat again, at least in her voice. She looked over at Applejack, who nodded in confirmation.

“Were any of the letters from Scootaloo?” Dash asked before she could stop herself. “Uh, I mean—”

“Ah reckon her family would’ve gotten her letter, not any of us,” Applejack pointed out.

“Right, I was just, uhm…” Dash muttered, glancing around.

“Worried about Scootaloo?” Rarity asked.

“No! I mean, yes! I mean… kind of?”

“Dash, we all know you care about her,” Fluttershy said softly. The other pegasus blinked at her.

“What? Since when?” she stammered, looking around somewhat frantically.

“Well, it’s not exactly a secret, silly,” Pinkie said with a little giggle. She seemed to be slowly regaining her usual perkiness now that her friends were no longer yelling at each other.

“Look, as nice at it is that Dash ain’t gonna have ta come up with excuses no more for why she likes havin’ Scoots around, we still gotta find those fillies ’fore they go an’ get themselves in trouble,” Applejack said before Dash could muster a reply.

“You’re right. Spike, did you find that map yet?” Twilight glanced over her shoulder moments before Spike put down a large map showing Canterlot and its surroundings.

“This should do,” he said as the ponies gathered around the map on the floor. “We’ve got Ponyville right here”—he pointed helpfully at a stylized couple of houses representing a village—“and Sunny Hill is here, on the other side of the Everfree Forest,” he continued, pointing to another stylized cluster of houses to the east.

“That’s some distance away. Reckon ya can use yer fancy magic to get us there, Twilight?” Applejack inquired, looking at Twilight expectantly, but the unicorn shook her head.

“I’m afraid it’s not as simple as that. Without having seen the area with my own eyes, I have no frame of reference for a safe teleportation spot. I could end up materializing us inside a rock, or halfway into the earth.”

“Can that really happen?” Fluttershy asked, wide-eyed. Twilight nodded.

“Oh yes. There are plenty of recorded examples of such things that serve as a warning of the spell’s dangers. It’s far too risky to teleport blindly without knowing exactly where you want to arrive.”

“Well, that’s a load of hooey!” Applejack cursed. “What good is magic if ya can’t use it when it really counts?”

Twilight frowned. “Applejack, magic isn’t—”

“We don’t need magic. I’ll go find them,” Dash said quickly. “It doesn’t look like it's that far away. I could be there faster than you can say ‘best flier ever.’”

“But they might not even be at the town anymore. Are you sure you can find them on your own, Rainbow?” Rarity asked with concern.

Dash looked at the baby dragon still poring over the map. “Hey, Spike, what’s the landscape around that place like?”

“Well, from what I can tell, mostly hills and grassland,” Spike replied somewhat uncertainly, furrowing his brow.

“Right! How long can it take to check something like that out from the air? Remember that you’re talking to the fastest pegasus in—”

“We get it, sugar,” Applejack said, not unkindly. “Well, short of walkin’ there on our own, Ah guess it’s our best bet for now. But ya make sure ya come back with them, ya hear?”

“Don’t worry, AJ, I’ll find them,” Dash assured her, putting a hoof reassuringly on her shoulder for a moment.

“Do you want to bring the map?” Spike asked, looking over at the pegasus.

“Nah. Due east, right? I can find it easily enough,” Dash replied dismissively, grinning a bit. “Pegasi are good at navigation, you know.”

“This means we’re all friends again, right?” Pinkie asked the others as Rainbow Dash got up and headed for the door.

“We were never not friends, sugarcube,” Applejack assured her. “An’ Ah’m mighty sorry Ah yelled at ya like that, Twi’. Mah mouth went ahead o’ mah brain back there…”

Rainbow Dash had just stepped outside—where the crowd of curious ponies had thankfully disbanded—when a soft voice spoke up behind her.

“Hey, uhm, Dashie? Can I talk to you for a moment?” Fluttershy stepped outside to join the other pegasus.

“Sure, what is it, ‘Shy?” Dash replied, already stretching her wings in preparation for the flight.

“Are you going to tell her?”

“Who?”

“Scootaloo. Are you going to tell her that she matters to you?” Fluttershy asked, looking directly into Dash’s eyes. The other pegasus hesitated a bit, her instinctive response of an airy, joking dismissal about anything regarding personal matters crumbling under the intense scrutiny of her kind-hearted old friend. What was the point in trying to deny anything now, anyway?

“Yeah, I am,” she said at length, nodding. “Maybe not right in front of her friends, but… yeah. I’ll tell her, like I probably should have done in the first place.”

Fluttershy nodded, seemingly satisfied with this answer. “You should probably also consider speaking with her father. I imagine he would like to know about it, too. If nothing else, you should tell him that you’re going to go find her. I think he would like that. He must be as worried as poor Applejack and Rarity.” She cast a concerned backward glance towards the library.

“Were they really fighting?” Dash asked quietly, following Fluttershy’s look. “I mean, I could hear some yelling and shouting, but…”

The others were still inside the library, huddled around the map and talking. Fluttershy’s worried gaze lingered on Rarity for a few moments before she looked back at Dash and nodded again.

“They were. It was awful seeing them like that. Pinkie Pie stopped them, but I’m not sure if it’ll flare up again. Applejack in particular seems to be on edge, but I think it’s just because she feels scared and helpless. I can tell,” Fluttershy said softly, to which Dash nodded quietly in agreement. They stood in silence for a moment, before Dash flapped her wings slightly.

“I better get going. No time like the present, right?” she said with a little smile.

“I know you’ll find them, Dashie, but please hurry, for everypony’s sake.”

She did not head immediately for her destination, instead flying to the crossroads where Scootaloo and Gusting Ember’s house lay. This time, she knocked on the door and waited until it was opened, revealing the crippled pegasus who seemed to be distinctly unsurprised to find Rainbow Dash on his doorstep.

“Ah, I was wondering when you’d show up,” he said by way of greeting, heading back inside. He looked over his shoulder briefly. “You can come in this time, by the way,” he added.

“Uh… you were expecting me to come here?” Dash asked somewhat uncertainly, stepping inside the house. The stallion moved over to the table, upon which lay a piece of paper.

“I got a letter from Scootaloo earlier. It said she’d gone away together with her two friends, which I guessed meant they’d also sent letters to their own families. Since you know their siblings, I assumed you’d also know about it,” he explained calmly, looking over at Dash with one eye.

“Well, yeah, I did hear, but I still don’t really know why they’re gone,” Dash replied. The older stallion seemed remarkably composed for someone whose daughter had just gone missing.

“I’ll admit that I don’t understand much of it myself. Have a look at her letter yourself. It’s partially addressed to you, anyway.”

“It… is?” Dash hesitantly moved over to the table. Ember pushed the letter towards her.

Hey Dad,

Gone off for a while to find old pony from 1,000 years ago with AB and SB. We’re going with a pony we made out of clay, which is kind of cool. Will tell you all about it when I get back.
If you see Rainbow Dash, tell her I’m sorry for yelling at her earlier.

—Scoots

Dash reread the letter twice before looking over at Ember, who shrugged lightly.

“Funny how quickly they grow up, eh? One moment you’re putting band-aids on their knees when they fall off their scooter, the next they’re out in the world doing… well, that,” he said conversationally.

“Yeah, uh… funny. Heh. I was actually on my way to find them right now,” Dash replied, opting for the confident grin that felt a little harder to muster than usual.

“Indeed? Then what are you doing here?”

“Well… I wanted to let you know, to tell you not to worry. You know, in case you were worried. Which you don’t seem to be. So, uh…”

The other pegasus chewed on his cheek for a bit while looking at Rainbow Dash carefully. “Well, I’m glad you did come by,” he said at length. The stallion walked over to the windowsill, where the unfinished game of Battlecloud still stood.

“To be honest with you, Miss Dash, I am worried about my daughter, but I’m not terribly surprised that she’s gone away like this. If the stories are to be believed, you and your friends did save Equestria from certain doom, what is it, three times now?” He looked down at the boardgame for a moment and replaced a few of the pieces that were slightly askew.

“Three times, yeah,” Dash confirmed, somewhat uncertain about where the other pegasus was going with this.

“Rather impressive, I’d say. It’s no wonder an energetic filly like Scootaloo adores you so much. I can’t help but think this is an attempt on her part to emulate you.” Ember turned to face Dash again, giving her another scrutinizing look.

“I don’t know. Maybe? I guess I can ask her when I find her,” Dash replied, feeling an edge of impatience creeping on.

“Maybe,” Ember agreed. Silence fell between them for a bit. Dash shifted restlessly from hoof to hoof, while the stallion looked up at the portraits on the wall.

“She really looks up to you, you know. More than anypony else. You read that article she keeps at the back of her collage of you, right?” the older pegasus inquired.

“Uh, well… yeah,” Dash admitted. “I know about… about her mother, uhm—”

Ember closed his eyes and nodded a bit. “It’s true what it said. All of it. She was Scoots’ hero from the moment she was old enough to understand what happened. That’s changed a bit now, as you probably know.”

“What, are you upset about that?” Dash tried and failed to keep the irritation out of her voice. The conversation was getting on her nerves for some reason, and she was not entirely sure why. Ember shook his head.

“No. I think it’s good for my Scoots that she has somepony around to look up to. I believe her mother would’ve wanted her to grow up to be courageous as well.” The stallion became quiet and looked away for a moment, before continuing in the same unfazed tone. “I believe there are worse ponies that my daughter could’ve chosen as her role model, and the fact that you’re here proves to me that you at least care about her on some level.”

“Worse ponies? I’m the best—” Dash blurted angrily, before she stopped herself. “No, you’re right. I’m not perfect. It took me a while to even dare admit this, but Scoots is like a little sister to me, and you can bet your eyes I’ll do my best to live up to her admiration! There, I said it!” Dash looked at Ember, daring him to try and disprove her, but the older pegasus merely nodded.

“I believe you. Scootaloo trusts you, and to be honest, that’s enough for me. That’s why I also trust you when you say you’ll find her and her friends, and that you’ll tell her what you told me. Correct?”

“Yeah. I’m done pretending otherwise,” Dash said, feeling as if a burden was being lifted from her, though not entirely.

“Good.” Ember nodded towards the door. “Now get going, you’re wasting time you should be spending on Scootaloo.”

For once, the brusque tone of the stallion did not bother Rainbow Dash. She could spot the concern that lay beneath, and she merely nodded before heading outside. For the time being, there was nothing left to say.

Chapter 14: A Matter of Trust

“Seems rather peaceful here, doesn’t it?” Scootaloo commented as Golem continued its steady march onwards. All three fillies were lying across the clay pony’s back, and while it was not exactly comfortable, it was a nice break from having to walk. Its back was curiously warm, which was a welcome change, too. Shortly after they had left town, Scootaloo had asked if they could ride on Golem’s back. She had mostly meant it as a joke, but surprisingly, the clay pony had actually stopped and knelt down until all three fillies had climbed onto its back.

“Yeah. Guess we’re pretty far away from most things out here,” Apple Bloom replied, watching a squirrel dart up a nearby tree with an armful of acorns, which it deposited in its home near the top of the tree.

The mist had all but evaporated, revealing the landscape in all its tranquil splendour. The grassy hills went on in every direction, sprinkled with trees and various bushy growths here and there. Sunny Hill lay behind them, and the faint silhouettes of other houses were visible far away. Silverpeak Mountain rose up further ahead of them, though it was still some distance away. Birds and the occasional pegasus passed overhead from time to time, though none of them seemed to pay the four ponies on the ground any attention.

“Hey, uhm, Golem?” Sweetie Belle asked their transport cautiously. “Did you really wait a thousand years in that room? Or the remains of the other golems did, I mean.”

“Yes,” came the short reply.

“And nopony else came by in all those years? Not a single one?”

“No. After the Architect left, no earth kin came by. Many passed by above, at first, but none could hear the Five’s cries for help. Then there was silence for a long time. There was one other, decades before the little earth kin came, but that one never got close enough to properly hear them.”

“Another ‘earth kin,’ huh?” Scootaloo looked at her friends. “You reckon that might’ve been Jitterleaf?”

“Seems likely, doesn’t it? Ah mean, he did go an’ find the tablet, which was right above the cellar an’ all,” Apple Bloom agreed.

Sweetie Belle nodded a bit. “Were they, uh, aware of time passing? I mean, a thousand years is a long time.”

“Their memories are my memories. I remember it. There was frustration, and even despair, but they were compelled to wait and remain aware.” The clay pony was quiet for a bit. “It is not something I want to experience myself.”

Scootaloo furrowed her brow. “Wait a minute, didn’t you make it very clear earlier that you don’t have things you want or don’t want?”

Golem stopped and became silent for several moments. Its head swiveled from side to side slowly before settling on something to the right. “Behold, a rock,” it said.

“Erh, what?” Apple Bloom followed the direction of the clay pony’s head, looking puzzled. There was indeed a moss-covered boulder a short distance away. “Oh, so there is. Good eye, Ah guess? Or, uhm, eye socket. Erh…”

Scootaloo looked at the two other fillies. “Is it lying to us?”

“I do not lie. There is a rock. Behold.”

“I know there’s a rock, you mud pile! I meant why you said something different about wanting things earlier.”

Golem was quiet again for a few moments before speaking. “Thinking of a name was distracting. I attempted to distract you from distracting me.”

“Why didn’t ya want us to give ya a name?” Apple Bloom asked curiously.

“Helping the Five comes ahead of myself. Once I have fulfilled their purpose for them, perhaps they can rest at last. The waiting was painful for them. Afterwards I can look for my own purpose.”

“Is it because you feel sorry for them?” Sweetie Belle asked quietly, looking at the clay pony carefully.

“If your kin were suffering, would you not want to help them too?” Golem replied, its head still turned towards the mossy boulder. The fillies exchanged glances.

“Still… you could’ve just told us you weren’t interested, and we’d have let it drop,” Scootaloo said in a slightly softer tone.

“Your kin are confusing. I know little of you. What the Five remember is that the Shaper made them but did not give them a purpose. Then the Architect came and destroyed them, taking away only the Sixth. The Shaper never returned,” Golem said.

“We, uh, think she was... destroyed, too. The Shaper, I mean,” Scootaloo muttered uncomfortably. Sweetie Belle winced slightly at the memory.

“Why?” the clay pony asked.

“That’s what we’re hopin’ to find out,” Apple Bloom said. “It doesn’t make a lick of sense, but maybe we’ll know more if we can find that last golem.”

“Yes. The Sixth must be found,” Golem agreed, beginning its purposeful walk towards Silverpeak Mountain again. Even though the clay pony had essentially just told them that it did not trust them, Scootaloo found it somewhat hard to blame it. Its predecessors getting blasted into rubble probably did not do much to give good first impressions of ponies in general.

“Do you think our letters have reached Ponyville yet?” Sweetie Belle asked after a few minutes, looking down at her front hooves and rubbing them together absently.

“Ain’t sure. Depends on how often they ship their mail in Sunny Hill, Ah guess. Ah reckon it’ll probably be a while still, so we’ll be plenty ahead by the time they hear from us,” Apple Bloom said with a little smile that did not quite reach her eyes.

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow a bit. “You really don’t want them to find us, do you?”

“I…” Apple Bloom hesitated a bit before trailing off. She swallowed a bit, unable to meet Scootaloo’s gaze.

“I miss Rarity,” Sweetie Belle muttered to no one in particular. “And I miss Mom and Dad and my bed and Mister Paws, too, but mostly I miss Rarity. I hope she’s not too upset with me.”

“Apple Bloom… do you really still think we’re going to find our Cutie Marks through this?” Scootaloo asked, looking at the earth filly carefully. “And be honest with me here,” she added before her friend could reply.

Apple Bloom paused with her mouth half open. She looked from Scootaloo to Sweetie Belle, who was still staring at her own hooves. She bit her lip for a moment and swallowed, shaking her head slightly.

“No. Ah don’t. Ah reckon Ah kinda stopped believin’ that a while ago, actually, but Ah just didn’t wanna admit it,” she confessed. Both her friends looked up at her.

“What? Why didn’t you say anything?” Sweetie Belle blurted, gaping at her. “We went ahead with this because you wanted to!”

“Ah know! An’ Ah’m sorry, Ah really, really believed in it, too, but… then we found that cellar an’ all the bad stuff within it, an’ now Ah feel responsible for helpin’ Golem, because we made it come to life an’ all. An’ Ah didn’t want to look like Ah’d given up when Ah was the one that brought y’all along for this in the first place.” Apple Bloom looked from one face to the other with a pleading expression. She took a deep breath and looked down for a moment.

“Also… Ah’m kinda scared to go back now without somethin’, anythin’ to show for it. Ah had to lie to Applejack too, even though Ah told mahself it wasn’t really lyin’, but it was, an’ Ah feel awful about it. Ya don’t lie to yer own sister like that, ya just don’t!”

“Or to your friends,” Scootaloo muttered. Apple Bloom let out a little whimper.

“Ah’m sorry—”

“You should have told us right away.” Sweetie Belle glared reproachfully at Apple Bloom, who shrank back somewhat beneath the look. She let her friend stew in it for a few moments, before continuing in a softer voice. “Still, I kind of get what you’re saying. We’ve already gone this far, and I want to help Golem out as well.”

“Me too,” Scootaloo affirmed. “Even if you are a numbskull, AB.”

“Thank you,” the clay pony said.

“Just keep walking.”

Apple Bloom gave her friends a careful smile. “Thanks, girls. Ah promise Ah’ll take this on me when we get back an’ tell the others.”

Scootaloo was about to come with another slightly teasing remark when she saw a flash of colour at the edge of her vision. She looked up and did a double take as she saw a rainbow-streaked projectile shoot through the sky. It suddenly froze mid-air, then changed direction and came straight towards them. Rainbow Dash pulled to a breakneck halt just before she would have slammed into the ground, hovering in front of the clay pony and three fillies.

“Well, that was quicker than I expected,” Sweetie Belle muttered.

“Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?” Scootaloo blurted, looking at the pegasus with wide eyes. She looked only slightly winded from the flight, despite the speed at which she had just flown.

“Looking for you three, of course! What else?” Dash replied. Golem, unperturbed by the pegasus that had just appeared in front of it, continued walking and pushed past her. “Hey! Stop!” she barked at the clay pony, flying in front of it again, which Golem once again seemed supremely unconcerned by.

“Rainbow—” Scootaloo began.

“I’m warning you! Another step, and I’m bucking you right in your stupid face!” Dash snarled at Golem. When the clay pony showed no sign of stopping, she turned around and kicked it forcefully in the head with a dull, wet thud. Golem stopped, a pair of hoof-shaped indentions left in its face from the impact. After a moment, the clay reshaped itself, reverting to the previous featureless face, and the clay pony resumed walking, leaving the pegasus gaping slightly.

“Golem, please stop,” Sweetie Belle said urgently to their companion. Golem halted midstep and became still. Rainbow Dash, still shooting the clay pony a suspicious glare, landed next to it and faced the three fillies on its back.

“How did you find us?” Scootaloo asked, still confused about the sudden appearance of the blue pegasus. She felt elated and appalled in equal measure.

“Well, you did tell us in your letters where you were. I’ve been flying all over this place looking for you.” Strangely, Dash seemed to avoid looking at Scootaloo, instead focusing her attention on Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

“They know already?” Apple Bloom asked in a slightly panicky voice.

“Are they very upset?” Sweetie Belle’s voice was little more than a whisper.

“Well, yeah. We’re all worried. You did sort of, you know, leave without saying a word to anypony,” Dash replied, furrowing her brow. “What were you thinking, exactly? And what’s with that… thing?” She gestured at Golem with her right hoof.

“It’s complicated. We’re tryin’ to help it find out what happened to the rest of its kin,” Apple Bloom said, wringing her hooves nervously. “Uhm… Applejack isn’t… too mad, is she?”

“She looked like she was going to bite somepony’s head off. You’re probably in for an earful when you get back,” Dash replied bluntly, eliciting a nervous gulp from Apple Bloom.

“And Rarity?” Sweetie Belle asked, already dreading the answer.

“Crying and yelling a lot,” Dash said in a spectacular display of social skills. Sweetie Belle whimpered and curled up on Golem’s back. Dash looked at the two clearly uncomfortable fillies with mild confusion. “Well, you did ask,” she murmured defensively. She glanced over at Scootaloo, pawing a bit at the ground with a hoof.

“Hey, uh, Scootaloo? Can I talk to you for a sec?”

Scootaloo looked at her warily. There was something rather un-Rainbow Dash about seeing her idol be nervous like this. “What about?”

“It’s, uh… Think we could maybe talk about it somewhere else? Like over at that tree?” Dash nodded towards a tree on a nearby hilltop, rubbing her right foreleg nervously. Scootaloo glanced briefly at her two friends, who still looked decidedly uncomfortable at the unwelcome news Rainbow Dash had given them.

“Yeah. Okay, sure,” she said with a little shrug. “Just be quick about it.” Before she could say anything else or start to climb off Golem’s back, Rainbow Dash tipped Scootaloo off the clay pony with a wing, causing her to land on the blue pegasus’ back. Scootaloo barely had time to let out a yelp of surprise before Dash took off towards the tree like a bullet. The older mare held Scootaloo’s front legs in a firm grip with her own to make sure she did not fall off during the flight, only letting go once she had landed safely on the ground.

Scootaloo became acutely aware of how fast her own heart was beating, and it was not just from the brief but intense flight. She slid off Dash’s back and dropped onto her hooves, looking up at the other pegasus with a mixture of anticipation and dread. It was the first time she had ever seen Rainbow Dash look so decidedly uncomfortable.

“So, uh—” Scootaloo began after mustering her courage.

“I saw your picture wall!” Dash blurted in a slightly frantic voice. “I went to your house to talk to you, and the door was unlocked! I didn’t mean to go snooping around or anything, it’s not like I make a habit of that—except for that one time where I didn’t get to finish my Daring Do novel before being kicked out of the hospital—and I saw the pictures and stuff you kept in your room,” she continued. “And then I saw the article about your mom, and then your dad appeared like some sort of three-legged ninja pony, and, uh…” She finally slowed down when she noticed the somewhat slack-jawed look on Scootaloo’s face.

“You… saw it? All of it?” The filly felt panic creeping on as she digested Dash’s words. “You weren’t supposed to see any of that!”

“I know, but I did, and I’m sorry! But not for that! I mean, not for reading about your mom! No, wait! I mean, I am sorry about that, really, really sorry, but that’s not what I meant!” Dash rambled on desperately. “I’m sorry for having been such a jerk towards you. It wasn’t intentional, I swear, but Fluttershy helped me realize how I’ve been acting, and—”

“Uh, Rainbow? You might want to remember to breathe.”

Dash took several deep breaths and closed her eyes for a moment. Scootaloo found herself rooted to the spot, still reeling from the barrage of words and the implications of them.

“Right, so here’s the thing,” Dash said in a voice closer resembling her usual self-confident tone. “I know you really look up to me and all that. And I can understand why. I mean, hey, look at me. But I really haven’t treated you as well as I should, and I’m sorry for that. It’s something I want to make up for, if you’ll give me the chance.”

The older pegasus hesitated for just a moment before continuing. “I also want you to know that the admiration goes both ways; I really like you as well. You’ve got a lot of guts and fire, just like me, and you’re pretty hardcore on that scooter of yours. What I mean to say is, I guess you’re kind of like a little sister to me. I guess the only problem is that I’ve never had a little sister before, so I’ve probably not been doing a very good job at it.”

Scootaloo realized after a few moments that she was gaping at Rainbow Dash. She quickly closed her mouth and tried to get her brain to process what she had just heard. A sister?

“Are you serious?” she finally asked, looking at Rainbow Dash incredulously.

“Well, uh… yeah?” Dash replied with a somewhat uncertain smile. “You don’t really believe me, do you?” she asked, her expression falling somewhat.

She’s lying! She’s just trying to worm her way back into your good graces!

Scootaloo took the nagging voice and sealed it inside a soundproof box, before throwing said box out the figurative window.

“Yes, I do. I think I do, at least. I mean, it’s just… a bit much to wrap my head around right now, I guess.” Scootaloo shook her head a bit. She was still trying to come over the unpleasant surprise that Dash suddenly knew that Scootaloo kept an entire wall dedicated to the blue pegasus, not to mention that which was beneath all the photos and articles.

Dash’s posture deflated somewhat. “I guess this isn’t just something that can be fixed with a few words, huh?”

“There’s just a lot else still going on,” Scootaloo replied, glancing over to her two friends atop the immobile clay pony. Even from this distance, she could see that they both looked defeated and miserable. “I mean, Apple Bloom is terrified of going home, because she’s afraid of what Applejack is going to say, and I guess it’s the same for Sweetie Belle. Uh, speaking of which, my dad isn’t too upset about all this, is he?” she asked, feeling a pang of anxiety. She was pretty sure her father would not freak out in a way that somepony like Rarity would, but it still gnawed at her.

“He seemed sort of okay with it, at least after I promised him I’d go look for you.”

“Oh, good. That’s what I hoped.”

“They have to come back eventually, you know,” Dash pointed out with a nod towards the other Crusaders.

“I know, but Apple Bloom really wants something to show for all this. Something that proves it wasn’t just a wild goose chase.”

“Well, what about bringing back that walking pile of mud? That seems like pretty solid evidence,” Dash suggested, not unreasonably.

“I don’t think that’d work. It kind of has a mind of its own. Besides, I think we’re getting close to whatever it is it wants to find. That mountain over there,” Scootaloo said with a nod towards Silverpeak.

Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head a bit. “Well, that’s nice and all, but I kind of told Applejack and the others I’d bring you all back, so I can’t really come back without you.”

Scootaloo thought for a moment. It would be awful to ask the Element of Loyalty to choose between whom to support, but still…

“What exactly did you tell them you were going to do? Look for us, or bring us back?” she inquired. The other pegasus looked a bit puzzled.

“Well, uh… As far as I can remember, I promised I would find you,” she replied.

“Just find us?”

“Bringing you back after finding you sort of goes without saying.”

“But does it? Does it really?” Scootaloo pressed. She would not normally resort to this kind of word distortion, but this seemed like an emergency. “How about if you went back, told them you found us so they wouldn’t worry as much, then came back to keep an eye on us until we finished this? Then everypony would be happy.”

“I don’t know…” Dash said hesitantly, looking at Scootaloo uncertainly, clearly feeling torn on the matter.

“Please, Rainbow? It’d mean a lot to us. And to me,” the filly pleaded. Dash looked about to protest, then sagged slightly in her shoulders.

“Oh, all right,” she relented. “I’ll tell them, but afterwards I’m going to be on you like an eagle with a telescope until you’re done, got it?”

Scootaloo nodded in affirmation. “Got it! Thanks, Rainbow.”

“Might wanna hold the thanks for now. I haven’t tried breaking the news to Applejack or Rarity yet,” Dash muttered.

“Just try. And if they don’t accept it, well… I’ll know you tried your best anyway,” Scootaloo said with a little smile.

Dash knelt down to allow Scootaloo to climb onto her back again. “You sure this is the right thing to do? I mean, I don’t think drawing out your return is going to help anypony.”

“I don’t know,” Scootaloo admitted as she climbed on. “I hope it is, at least.” Dash stood up and unfurled her wings in preparation. Scootaloo swallowed a bit and took a deep breath.

“Hey, uh, Rainbow?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you really see me as your little sister?”

Dash looked over her shoulder at Scootaloo and smiled warmly at her.

“Yeah… I do.”

Scootaloo leaned forward and wrapped her forelegs around Dash’s neck, hugging her tightly and burying her face in the rainbow-coloured mane for a moment.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle both looked up as Rainbow Dash touched down next to Golem.

“Are ya gonna take us back now?” Apple Bloom asked quietly.

“Nope,” Dash said as Scootaloo jumped off her back. She straightened up and flapped her wings a few times as the two fillies looked at her in confusion.

“What? But Ah thought ya said—”

“Rainbow Dash agreed to let us finish our trip as long as she can keep an eye on us the rest of the way,” Scootaloo explained.

“I’m going to tell your sisters that I’ll follow you around. Maybe that’ll be good enough for them. If not, expect to see Applejack and Rarity come running soon while trailing a blaze of fire,” Dash said. “I’m joking. Mostly,” she added after seeing the expressions of the two younger sisters.

“If they’re okay with letting us go through with this, can’t we just wait for Rarity and Applejack to come with us too?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Then we can go together, like we perhaps should have done in the first place.” She gave Apple Bloom an ever so slightly reproachful look.

“That’s all assuming they agree to this,” Dash pointed out. “If they refuse, I’ll have to take you back, and there won’t be any discussing it then.”

“Still, you’re goin’ to let us try?” Apple Bloom asked, brightening up almost instantly. “We promise we’ll come along without any fuss if they say no!”

“I’ll give it a shot, but don’t expect miracles.”

The farmfilly nodded in understanding. “We’ll be headin’ towards that there mountain over yonder, then. It seems to be where Golem wants to go. We’ll wait for ya at the foot of it.”

“If you can get that far before I’m back. Now that I know where to go, getting back here shouldn’t take too long,” Dash said. She looked over at Scootaloo and gave her a little grin. “After all, I am both the best and the fastest flier in Equestria.”

Scootaloo was unable to keep a big, dumb grin from spreading across her face, but she did not care. Whatever the reply to Rainbow Dash’s suggestion would be, Scootaloo felt that she had already gotten something far more valuable than anything they could possibly find with the help of the clay pony. For that reason alone, she was happy to continue.

“Right, I’ll be back before you know it,” Dash said, spreading her wings. “See you when I see you!” With that, the blue pegasus took off and zoomed back the way she had come, towards home. Golem knelt down to let Scootaloo take her place next to her two friends. Apple Bloom had perked up again, and even Sweetie Belle seemed mollified, most likely bolstered by the knowledge that she would soon see her sister again, regardless of the potential storm she would have to face upon her return.

Scootaloo had barely climbed onto Golem’s back before the clay pony suddenly and without warning began to gallop towards the mountain at an astonishing speed. The three fillies could barely hang on, clinging themselves to Golem’s back for their dear life.

“Golem, what are you doing?!” Sweetie Belle squeaked in a panicky voice.

“The earth kin must not be taken away!” Golem replied, and for the first time, its flat monotone was coloured by a trace of urgency, even fear. “I cannot allow it. The Sixth must be found first.”

The three fillies were too focused on simply trying to hold on to say anything else. The great mountain grew ever larger as the frenzied golem carried them forward at a reckless speed.

Everyone was still assembled in the library when Rainbow Dash returned, gently nudging open the abused front door. Applejack was pacing restlessly while Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy were sitting on the floor. Spike and Pinkie Pie were nowhere to be seen, but a clattering of metal from the kitchen hinted at their presence.

“…Just finished sending a letter to Princess Celestia. Normally I wouldn’t bother her unless it’s strictly important, but I felt it would be beneficial for us to know as much as possible about golems and this Tincoat figure,” Twilight told her friends. She paused and looked up as Dash entered the library and closed the door behind her. “Oh, back already, Rainbow? That was quick. Did you manage to find them? Are they really travelling with an actual golem?”

Dash nodded in affirmation. “Yeah, I did,” she said. “And yes, they are,” she added for Twilight’s benefit.

“So, where are they at?” Applejack demanded. “Unless ya carried all three of ’em back here, there better be a good reason why you’re here alone.”

Rainbow Dash let out an inward groan. The earth pony did not seem any less on edge than when Dash had left. She was like a powder keg just waiting to explode. Still, there was only one way to go about this.

“I talked with Scootaloo, and we agreed that I’d let them finish up whatever it is they were doing, provided I am there to keep an eye on them. I’m just here to let you know and get your approval for it.”

Complete silence fell over the library, even the kitchen, where Pinkie Pie and Spike eventually poked their heads out. “You did what?” Rarity finally asked, rising from the floor, but Applejack was already in front of Rainbow Dash, her muzzle pressed against the pegasus while glaring at her.

“Ya did not just say what Ah think ya said,” Applejack hissed. Dash did her best not to budge before the farmpony, looking back directly at Applejack while doing her best to stay calm.

“I said I’d find them. I did. Now just give me the all clear and I’ll go back and escort them the rest of the way,” she replied carefully.

“Ah only waited around here twiddlin’ mah hooves ’cause ya said ya were gonna find ’em. Now Ah’m supposed ta sit on mah rump for Celestia knows how long so they can finish runnin’ around with some freaky mud pony?” Applejack snarled, pacing again, her voice rising in volume.

“I already said I’ll be looking out for them.”

Applejack whirled around, looking furious. “No! Sod that! Ah’m gonna go get them mahself, even if Ah have ta drag ’em back by their tails!” she snapped.

“Applejack, I looked at the map, and even if you gallop all the way, it’ll take you almost a day, perhaps even more to get there by hoof. It’s on the other side of the Everfree Forest,” Twilight interjected in an attempt to reason with the earth pony.

“Then Ah’ll plow straight through the darn Everfree Forest!” Applejack yelled, heading for the door. “Ah’m gettin’ mah sister back, an’ Ah’m gettin’ her back now!”

“And I’m coming with you,” Rarity declared, moving over to join Applejack.

“AJ, wait!” Dash called after the earth pony, but she had already opened the door and was about to storm out. Unfortunately for her, she found her path blocked by a tall, dark mare, wings unfurled, a long slender horn cresting from her forehead, and an ethereal mane like a piece of the starry night sky dancing around her. Applejack and Rarity both stumbled back from the doorway, their expressions of utter bewilderment mirroring that of their friends.

“Element Bearers,” Princess Luna said by way of greeting. “We must speak.”

Chapter 15: Silverpeak Mountain

Rarity was the first pony in the room to recover her wits. “Princess Luna! What an honour it is to see you, your Highness!” The unicorn knelt down reverently. Her other friends immediately following suit, everyone except Applejack, who settled for a respectful nod of her head before fixing the Princess with an even look.

“Beggin’ yer pardon, yer Majesty, but could ya move outta the way? You’re blockin’ the door.”

Rarity let out a spluttering sound, while Twilight, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash all looked at the farmpony with wide eyes. Only Pinkie Pie seemed unaffected, looking at Princess Luna with her head slightly tilted.

“She kind of is,” the pink earth pony agreed after a moment.

“Pinkie!” Twilight hissed at her between her teeth, before stepping forward and bowing before the Princess again for good measure.

“I’m so sorry, Princess Luna, but we’re all a little on edge here, as you can probably tell.” She let out a nervous giggle, glancing up at the imposing figure. Luna, for her part, had barely moved a muscle in her face since she appeared, her expression one of carefully molded neutrality, the only indication of her mood being a slight elevation of her right eyebrow. Twilight gulped a bit before continuing. “I mean no disrespect by this, but, uhm… what are you doing here? N-not that you aren’t welcome, or free to go wherever you please!” she stammered quickly. “Our homes are always open, and we’re thrilled to see you, but… the letter I sent was addressed to Princess Celestia, I mean, to your sister, and, uh…” Her voice trailed off, wilting slightly under the scrutiny of the Princess’ stare.

“I am aware of that, Twilight Sparkle, but my sister cannot simply drop everything in her hooves to come whenever you ask her to,” Luna said in a calm, melodious voice. “She has many other duties to attend to during the day, whereas I am not confined to one place at this time in order to perform my role.”

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t presume to—”

“Besides, given the nature of the subject, my sister and I both agreed that it was more prudent for me to look into this matter, rather than her.”

“If ya got somethin’ ta say, then could ya get to it? Ah got a sister ta find,” Applejack snapped impatiently. Rarity made a sound as if she had just swallowed her tongue. Luna turned her gaze to the farmpony, and for the first time, her voice betrayed a hint of annoyance.

“I am forever grateful for what you and your friends have done for me and for all of Equestria, Applejack, make no mistake. That is why I request that you treat me with the respect you might show another guest.”

Applejack blinked in surprise, her mouth half-open to reply, before lowering her eyes and scuffing a hoof at the floor, seeming suitably humbled. “Sorry, Princess. Ah really ain’t at mah best right now,” she muttered. Pinkie Pie bounced over to give the farmpony an affectionate hug. Meanwhile, Rarity seemed to have recovered from the shock of violated protocol.

“What Applejack is trying to say, your Highness,” the unicorn began, shooting Applejack a slightly reproachful look, “is that our siblings are missing and that we were on our way to find them when you graced us with your presence. Supposedly they are in the company of this... golem… thing, which I believe Twilight mentioned in her letter.”

“I could infer a certain amount of distress from the letter, yes,” Luna confirmed, inclining her head slightly towards Rarity. “Tell me exactly what happened. Perhaps then I may be able to help.”

Between the six of them, they were able to give the Princess a detailed, if somewhat jumbled account of the events of the past few days. Luna listened intently to the descriptions, her calm expression turning into a frown of perturbation when Applejack told her about the journal that Apple Bloom had been hiding in her bag upon her return from Canterlot.

“Most curious,” Luna said. “I did not know such a book was kept in the Royal Archives, and I do not believe my sister knew either. If she did, she would have told me. I am going to have words with the head archivist about this.”

“Wait, you don’t know? What do you mean by that?” Twilight asked incredulously, forgetting her awe for a moment. Luna turned her head to regard the unicorn.

“I mean exactly what I said, Twilight Sparkle. Neither of us was aware of the existence of this journal, which means somepony has omitted telling us about it. But we shall deal with that later. Continue for now.”

“There is little left to tell, I’m afraid. We all came here when we received letters from our sisters about what had happened, and Rainbow Dash went to find them,” Rarity said with a nod towards the pegasus in question.

“And I did find them,” Dash replied somewhat defensively. “I talked to them, and we agreed that I’d escort them back as soon as you allowed them to finish whatever it is they’re doing.”

“You found them, then? Were they truly in the company of a golem?” Luna asked, turning towards Dash. The pegasus shifted a bit, suddenly feeling uncomfortable under the full attention of the Princess. She gave a little shrug.

“Well… yeah, I guess. Either that, or it was the dirtiest pony in Equestria. We agreed that they’d wait near the foot of some big mountain.”

“Silverpeak Mountain,” Spike chimed in helpfully after checking the map still sprawled on the floor.

“Silverpeak,” Luna echoed thoughtfully. She was quiet for a bit before nodding a bit. “Of course. I know where it is. I can take us there.”

“Forgive me, Princess, but you still have not told us how you figure into all this,” Twilight said hesitantly. “I mean no disrespect, but—”

“I will tell you soon enough. Right now, though, I believe it is more pressing to go and find your missing sisters right away, is it not?” Luna asked, tilting her head meaningfully towards Rarity and as well as the impatient-looking Applejack, the former doing a slightly better job at masking her restlessness.

“Pressin’ is the word, yeah,” Applejack muttered.

“Uhm, how will you get us there, your Highness?” Fluttershy asked timidly. “Twilight said teleportation is too dangerous if you don’t know exactly where to go.”

“Yeah, Twilight said that if the teleporting goes willy-nilly, it might turn us all into rocks!” Pinkie Pie said, flailing her hooves wildly.

“I said you might appear inside a—”

“And being a rock is probably not fun at all! I’ve talked to a lot of rocks in my time, and most of them tend to be all stone-faced, if you know what I mean, even when I tell my best jokes, so pretty please, can you not turn us all into rocks?” She looked up at the Princess imploringly.

Luna nodded, seemingly unfazed by the barrage of Pinkie-logic. “It is true, blind teleportation is risky, and the landscape has likely changed in the thousand years since I was last there. However, somepony else in here might know what it looks like.”

All eyes in the room fell on Rainbow Dash, who once again found the undivided attention less thrilling than normal. “What? Me? Do I have to describe what I saw or something?” she asked, glancing around nervously.

“That will not be necessary,” Luna replied, stepping close to the pegasus and lowering her head slowly. “Just try to relax. This will not hurt, but it may be disconcerting.”

Rainbow Dash was about to demand an explanation for this somewhat ominous statement, but the moment Princess Luna’s horn touched her forehead, she felt as if she was plunged into herself. A rush of memories and emotions flooded to the forefront of her senses, as vivid and bright as if she were experiencing them all over again. One particular image stood out clearly, one of a blue rainbow-maned pegasus grinning widely like an idiot while a smaller orange pegasus filly on her back was hugging her tightly, beaming like a little sun from sheer happiness. They stood on a little hill crowned by a mighty oak tree, surrounded by fields of green. A rush of warm feelings flooded to the forefront of Dash’s consciousness at the memory, along with a nagging sense that her innermost self was laid wide open like a Daring Do novel for the Princess to read.

As suddenly as it had begun, the flood of images disappeared, and Rainbow Dash found herself once again in the library, looking up into the ageless eyes of Princess Luna. The pegasus felt a flush of embarrassment, but if the Princess was inclined to make fun of Dash for what she had seen, she showed no indication of it. Instead, Luna just gave Dash the barest hint of a smile, before raising her head again and turned around.

“Very good. Come closer, if you please. We shall leave right away.”

Everyone else moved towards Luna and Rainbow Dash; Applejack and Rarity wore expressions of determination, Twilight and Pinkie Pie looked excited at the prospect, though likely for different reasons, Fluttershy’s face was etched with worry and trepidation, and Spike was brandishing a rolled-up comic book like an improvised and highly ineffective club. Luna closed her eyes, wispy shadows enveloping them and shrouding everything in a thick blackness. An instant later, the shadows melted away, and Rainbow Dash found herself back at the hilltop tree, with Silverpeak Mountain rising majestically a short distance away. She shook her head a bit, trying to clear out the persistent faint ringing and pressure in her ears.

“Amazing, Princess! What spell did you use to get such a precise image of where to go?” Twilight asked in her ever-curious voice. Pinkie Pie was cheerfully bouncing around in little circles, chattering away about how fantastic it was not to have been turned into a rock after all.

Applejack adjusted her hat a bit and looked over at Rainbow Dash. “Foot o’ the mountain, ya said?” she asked. Dash barely had time to nod before the farmpony galloped away as fast as her legs could carry her.

“Well, no sense in just standing around,” Rarity said, before taking off after Applejack with a speed that surprised Dash. The others followed suit, with Spike hitching a ride atop Twilight’s back. Luna effortlessly kept up with them on wing, while Fluttershy seemed to be opting for running instead. Rainbow Dash shook her head a bit before zooming ahead to catch up with Applejack. It seemed like it might be necessary to try and rein the farmpony in a bit if she got to the fillies first.

Sweetie Belle felt reasonably certain that the sign they had passed a short while ago at the foot of the mountain path they were now ascending had said something about a mining operation being closed indefinitely until further notice. She also felt reasonably certain that they were all going to die at any given moment if Golem continued its insane reckless pace up the mountain. Several times she had heard the sound of stones dislodging, and every time she had expected them to tumble head over hoof down the mountainside.

“Golem! Ah order ya to stop, right now!” she heard Apple Bloom yell. Her legs were tensing and cramping from her desperate grasp on the clay pony’s back.

“No.”

“No? Ya can’t just say no!”

“Look out!” Scootaloo cried, moments before Sweetie Belle saw a gap where the path had partially collapsed. A moment later and they were sailing through the air as Golem leapt to the other side, barely slowing down upon landing. The clay pony suddenly veered off to the left, up a smaller path diverging from the main one, which led them into a crevice in the mountain. The pathway terminated in a gaping hole in the cliffside, framed by weathered woodwork, which formed a crude roof above the entrance into the mountain. The entrance itself was sealed off by a number of crossed planks hammered into the wooden pillars surrounding it. There was a sign as well, but the text was too small to make out. More worryingly, Golem was not showing any indication of slowing down.

“Golem!” Apple Bloom cried out. “The way is blocked! What are ya doin’?!”

“Golem!” Scootaloo repeated with rising panic.

“Stop!” Sweetie Belle shrieked just before they smashed straight through the boarded-up entrance, the wood splintering with a resounding crash. The clay pony’s reckless charge carried them into the dark tunnel before it finally began to slow down, eventually pulling to a complete halt. Golem knelt down, and it took a moment for the three shivering fillies atop its back to realize that it intended for them to climb down.

“I’m sorry,” it said. In the dim light creeping in from the entrance, Sweetie Belle could see that it had turned its head to look at them, its featureless visage failing to convey the sincerity that it somehow managed to project into its monotone voice. Apple Bloom was the first to jump off its back, stomping up to the clay pony’s front and glaring up at it.

“What was that all about? We already promised we were gonna help ya, an’ then ya go runnin’ off like some crazy pony!” she yelled. The perpetual bow in her hair appeared to have fallen off at some point during the wild ride.

“I’m sorry,” Golem repeated more emphatically. “I was…” There was a long pause. Scootaloo moved over to join Apple Bloom.

“Well?” the pegasus filly demanded.

“I was afraid,” the clay pony concluded.

“Afraid of what?” Apple Bloom asked in a slightly softer voice. “We already said we were gonna finish this.”

Golem was quiet for several more moments, turning its head from side to side before looking back at the fillies. “The larger winged one said you might have to go back,” it replied eventually. “And you agreed to do so if your kin demanded it. Then I would not have been able to continue. I could not think clearly. Running seemed to be the only option.”

“Great, and here I thought you were all calm and no-feely,” Scootaloo retorted. “Look, try and keep yourself from panicking, all right? We’re doing this, we just have to go and meet up with Rainbow Dash first.”

There was a groaning noise from the entrance, the sound of old wooden support beams on their last legs.

“Uhm, girls?” Sweetie Belle began in a quivering voice. “I think—”

She was interrupted when the supporting framework of the entrance collapsed, followed almost immediately by several tons of rock, completely blocking off all outside light, and more importantly, the entrance itself.

“—I think the entrance is getting unstable,” the unicorn filly finished meekly after the din had died down.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Scootaloo all but yelled, rushing over to the piles of rocks sealing them in. She began to pound the nearest boulder fiercely with her hooves. “No, no, no! Help me move these, come on!” she cried over her shoulder at the others. Apple Bloom obligingly began to fruitlessly shove her shoulder against another boulder, while Golem remained where it was, merely staring at the rock pile. It took them all a moment to realize that the tunnel was not, in fact, shrouded in complete blackness despite the collapse of the entrance, but was instead sparsely illuminated by a faint white light. It took them a further moment to realize where the light stemmed from.

“Wait a second… Sweetie Belle, your horn!” Apple Bloom pointed a hoof at the bewildered unicorn. Thin, wispy tendrils, all but invisible except for the glow they cast, coiled from the tip of Sweetie Belle’s horn and down the tunnel, giving off just enough light to paint out the contours of the walls.

“Oh no, not again,” Sweetie Belle groaned with dread, staring wide-eyed at the coiling threads. She turned towards her fellow Crusaders, her breathing coming in panicky short bursts. “It’s just like in the cellar! It’s happening again! The ghosts are gonna come back!”

Apple Bloom jumped over to her hyperventilating friend and gave her a reassuring hug. “Whoah, easy, easy! They can’t hurt us, remember? They were just… echoes or somethin’.”

“I know, but that doesn’t make them less scary. I don’t want them to reappear! I don’t want to make them reappear!” Sweetie Belle sniffled, squeezing her eyes shut while leaning against Apple Bloom.

“Can’t you just… not do your magic? Or whatever it is you’re doing,” Scootaloo suggested, giving up on trying to dislodge the heavy boulders and moving over to join her two friends.

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “I can’t control it. I don’t even know what it is. It just… happens.” She glared up at her horn. “Stupid magic! Why can’t you ever do what I want you to do!? I hate it!” she yelled at the ceiling with a demonstrable stomp of her hoof.

“Feel any better?” Apple Bloom asked after a moment.

“A little,” Sweetie Belle conceded, giving the wispy tendrils emanating from her horn another rueful look.

“Well, we still have to do something about all those rocks. Rainbow Dash might be down at the foot of the mountain already, waiting for us.” Scootaloo looked over at Golem. “Help us out here, would you?”

The clay pony turned its faceless head towards Scootaloo, then towards the collapsed entrance, then back to the filly again.

“I will once we have found the Sixth,” it said. “Please, come. We are getting close. I can feel it.”

“What? You’re blackmailing us now? Even after we said we’d help you?” Scootaloo asked incredulously.

“You cannot move the rocks without me. I cannot go to the Sixth without you. Help me, then I will help you.”

“But we promised to meet with Rainbow Dash first! She’s probably already down there!” Scootaloo protested.

“Golem, Ah order ya ta move those rocks outta the way,” Apple Bloom said in a stern voice, walking over so that she was directly in front of the clay pony.

“No,” came the reply.

“But ya can’t just say no! Ah was the one that made ya!” Apple Bloom spluttered.

“And I am thankful for that. But the Five already gave me an order. I must follow that.”

“Now ya listen here a moment—” Apple Bloom began heatedly.

“We’ll go,” Sweetie Belle said in a quiet but determined voice. All three of her companions turned to look at her. She glanced to each of them in turn; her breath was still shaky, but she took a firm step forward. “We’re wasting time standing around arguing. The faster we find the other golem, the faster we can get out of here, find Rainbow Dash and go home.” She looked up at the clay pony. “Because you will help us get out after we find the Sixth, right?”

“I promise I will do whatever I can,” Golem replied earnestly.

“Then let’s go. The sooner, the better,” Sweetie Belle said firmly and started to head down the tunnel, following the wispy trail coiling from the tip of her horn. The others quickly went after her, Golem taking the lead with what almost seemed excitement in its ponderous steps, though it still kept close to Apple Bloom.

“I thought you said you didn’t want to go this way,” Scootaloo commented as she caught up to Sweetie Belle. The unicorn filly glanced at her.

“I don’t. I’m terrified to do this. I’m going to close my eyes when the scary bit with the ghosts happens,” Sweetie Belle replied quietly. “But I don’t really see us getting out without Golem’s help. Do you?”

“I guess not,” Scootaloo admitted.

“Besides, this magic… spell… thingy, it’s starting to give me a headache. I just want it to stop so I don’t have to have migraines on top of being tired, hungry, frightened, sore and homesick.”

Scootaloo gave her a little grin. “Yeah, guess I can understand that one.”

“Maybe there’s another exit somewhere,” Apple Bloom suggested, looking over her shoulder. “Then one of us could go find Rainbow Dash an’ tell her where we’re at.”

“Maybe,” Sweetie Belle replied dubiously, glancing around at the solid rock surrounding them on all sides. Here and there she could make out more support beams. In her mind, each one let out creaking, groaning sounds as the fillies passed them by. She swallowed and instead focused her attention on the wispy tendrils, though this was hardly an improvement in terms of soothing her bubbling anxiety.

Chapter 16: The Sixth

“Do ya see ’em anywhere?” Applejack called out to Rainbow Dash as the pegasus came back from her quick flight around the base of the mountain. Dash gave a helpless little shrug.

“I don’t get it. They said they’d be waiting here. Where could they have gone off to?” she replied, looking around anxiously while shooting nervous glances at Applejack. The farmpony could hardly blame her friend for being on edge.

Probably worried I’m going to blow my fuse again. It’s not like I’ve been setting a very good example so far.

Applejack shook her head a bit. Truthfully, she was not really angry with Rainbow Dash, or any of her other friends. She was disappointed in her little sister, but she mostly blamed herself, not least for letting herself snap at the others. Being cooped up in the library unable to do anything other than wait had grated at her worse than anything else, and the mere fact that she was out here now and actually doing something gave her a sense of purpose and direction, enough to quell her anger and keep her focused on the task.

“Well, they can’t have gone far.” Applejack gave the others a slightly impatient glance as they finally caught up with her and Dash. She looked down at the ground, putting her right front hoof against an indention in the soil. “There are some pretty hefty hoofmarks ’round here leading towards that there path over yonder. How big do ya reckon that golem feller was, RD?”

“Eh, not sure. Like Big Mac, maybe slightly bigger?” the pegasus suggested, hovering down to the farmpony’s side.

Applejack nodded. “Seems about the right fit.”

“I’m only seeing one set of hoofprints, though,” Fluttershy pointed out, joining her two friends. “Wouldn’t the fillies have left their own marks, too?”

“Well, when I found them, they were hitching a ride atop the mud pile’s back. Kinda like what Spike is doing,” Rainbow Dash replied with a nod towards the baby dragon, who was still perched quite happily on Twilight’s back.

“You don’t think that thing absconded with our sisters, do you?” Rarity asked in horror, then dropped her voice into a low, dangerous hiss. “If it so much as ruffles a hair on Sweetie Belle’s head, I will end it.”

“Uh, girls?” Pinkie called out in a surprisingly sober tone, drawing everyone’s attention. She had moved over to a wooden sign placed where a path began winding up the mountain. “It says here that there’s an abandoned mine up this way...”

Fluttershy let out a gasp. “Oh goodness, please tell me they haven’t—”

Twilight looked up at Princess Luna, who in turn was staring up at Silverpeak Mountain. “Princess? Do you see anything?” the unicorn asked.

“I can sense other ponies nearby who are afraid,” Luna replied without taking her eyes off the mountain. “Somewhere up there.”

Applejack let out a silent curse under her breath. “Well, that about settles it,” she grunted, taking the lead again. “Let’s go!”

“Y’know, Ah think this is where those diggers found Tincoat’s journal, way back,” Apple Bloom said in a hushed voice as they passed yet another diverging branch of the tunnel. They had come across a couple of discarded mining picks and drilling instruments, along with a few unlit lanterns.

“It doesn’t look like anypony’s been here for years,” Sweetie Belle commented. “That sign earlier said it’d been closed down.”

“Guess they never got ’round to reopenin’ it.”

“What do you think they were digging for in the first place?” Scootaloo asked, wincing as she bumped her hoof on a small rock outcropping. “Ouch!”

“Ah dunno, what ya usually dig for, Ah guess. Gold, gems, that kinda thing?”

“And this is called Silverpeak Mountain, after all,” Sweetie Belle added.

They kept the conversation going mostly to avoid having to focus too much on the eerie ghost-light. There was also a small comfort to find in the fact that they had a very heavy clay pony to interpose itself between them and whatever might await them at the end of the stream of light. The tunnel eventually came to a halt, narrowing into a gap just large enough for a full-grown stallion to get through if he kept his head low. The gap was supported by a number of metal-reinforced wooden planks, and while Golem quickly crawled through to the other side, the Crusaders all hesitated.

“You think those are going to collapse on us as well?” Scootaloo asked in a half-joking, half-serious tone.

“Just be real careful an’ try not to bump against ’em,” Apple Bloom replied, moving very slowly and cautiously into the chamber beyond. It was only a little larger in height and width than the tunnel they came from, but a large number of items were scattered throughout the small chamber: lamps, brushes, small hammers and chippers, all cast in the same glow as the wispy tendrils of light, which coiled towards the back of the room.

“This must be the chamber they uncovered,” Apple Bloom said after a moment. “Just look at all this archy-logical stuff littered ’round the place.”

“Looks like everypony just left in a hurry,” Scootaloo commented with a frown.

“But where do we go from here?” Sweetie Belle asked, approaching the far wall hesitantly. “I don’t see any way out.”

“We are so close now,” Golem said urgently, heading towards the back of the chamber. “The Sixth is here, I can feel it!”

“But this is a dead end!” Sweetie Belle protested. “There’s no—”

A crescent of dark blue light emerged on the back wall as the clay pony came closer, expanding into a series of glowing lines like cracks in a window. All four ponies stopped what they were doing and simply watched as an entire section of the wall, painted in the blue light, began to slide into the floor, revealing a smooth descending passageway, like a spiral staircase hewn directly into the rocks.

“Uhh… what did ya do, Golem?” Apple Bloom asked carefully, moving over to peek down the winding path.

“That was not me,” replied the clay pony, stepping through the newly created doorway after a moment of hesitation. “I do not think it was, at least.”

“This doesn’t look anything like the rest of the mine,” Sweetie Belle commented through clenched teeth, grimacing slightly. Her friends glanced at her.

“You okay there, Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo asked.

“My headache’s getting worse, so… no, not really.”

“Right.”

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” Rainbow Dash shouted in dismay when she saw the collapsed mine entrance. She immediately flew over and began to pull at the nearest boulder. Applejack ran over to join her, and between them they managed to roll it aside. Apple Bloom’s hair bow, which they had found on the path earlier, was tucked safely under the farmpony’s hat.

“I can still sense them,” Luna said reassuringly as she, Twilight and Rarity began to levitate boulders away. “They are definitely this way.”

“How did they manage to bring down an entire mine entrance?” Spike asked nobody in particular, waving his rolled-up comic book like a wand at the boulders Twilight floated away.

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Applejack grunted as she, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy pushed aside another heavy rock. “Maybe ask ’em once we’ve gotten ’em out safe an’ sound.” She gaped slightly as Pinkie Pie managed to roll aside an even larger boulder all on her own.

“It’s all in the technique,” the bubbly earth pony explained cheerfully when she noticed Applejack’s look.

Upon clearing away the last of the rubble and reinforcing the unstable ceiling with a touch of magic, the group hurried onwards, Twilight and Rarity leading the charge with horns illuminating the tunnel.

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and their stoic clay companion descended the winding stairway in silence. Upon reaching the foot of it, they found themselves in another tunnel, this one with a perfectly rounded ceiling and a flat, even floor. In the dim light of the stream dancing from Sweetie Belle’s horn, they could see that the tunnel terminated some distance away in a large stone door.

“Seriously, who built this?” Apple Bloom wondered aloud. “If this is natural, ya can call me a timberwolf.”

“My kin built it,” Golem replied with a hint of confusion. All three fillies looked up in surprise.

“Huh?”

“There are traces of others like me all over this place. I cannot say how many. Hundreds, perhaps.”

The Crusaders all flinched involuntarily as a pair of glowing orbs on either side of the hallway suddenly lit up, casting the walls in a cold, blue light. Even Golem paused for a moment.

“Wow. Creepy,” Sweetie Belle muttered.

“Wait, you hear that?” Scootaloo asked. A faint whisper, too low to be intelligible, crept through the tunnel.

“Sounds like it’s comin’ from that big door over there,” Apple Bloom replied in a low voice.

With every few steps forward they took, another pair of glowing orbs lit up on the walls, until the entire tunnel was bathed in blue light. Scattered across the floor—in a striking resemblance of what they had seen in the cellar in the Everfree Forest—were small pieces of clay, the chunks becoming larger as they came closer to the door. The whisper also became more distinct. It was the same genderless monotone that Golem spoke in, but weaker, more hollow.

“Help,” the voice said in an emotionless plea.

“Is… that what I think it is?” Sweetie Belle asked, looking faintly sick. They had just passed what looked like half a leg made of clay.

“Yeah,” Apple Bloom muttered.

Golem had stopped a short distance from the door. Its eyeless face stared down at the head on the ground. The other clay pony looked just like Golem, right down to the shape of the mane, at least what remained of it. A large emerald protruded from the the neck stump, only partially embedded in the clay. Golem slowly knelt down in front of the head, while the three fillies remained a short distance away, unsure whether to approach or not.

“You are the Sixth,” Golem stated.

“Yes,” the other voice croaked.

“I found you,” Golem added, somewhat unnecessarily.

“I waited so long. I almost gave up hope.”

“The Five are silent now. I no longer hear them.” Golem sounded almost puzzled.

“They sleep now. They accomplished the task I gave them. You brought them here. I felt them as they faded away. Soon, I can sleep too.”

“I do not understand.”

“I am broken. I will never be mended. I have stared down this tunnel for a thousand years. I remember every moment of nothingness. I only want to rest now. But first, you must listen.”

Golem leaned a little closer to the head in a curious gesture.

“The Architect is on the other side of this door. She brought me here to help her destroy our kin,” the other clay pony rasped.

“Why?” Golem asked.

“They are trapped. They wait endlessly for the return of the Dark One, as they were ordered. We were to free them, but my form was destroyed when we attempted to pass through this door. The Architect became trapped on the other side. You must set our kin free.”

“And you?”

“I can no longer do what the Architect tasked me with. She is no longer alive to free me from my task. Only another of our kin can set me free now, in the same way I had to set others free before. The final way.”

Golem turned its head slightly to look at the emerald heart of the other clay pony, glowing with a faint, dull light.

“Please. Set me free,” the other voice pleaded monotonously. “I cannot order you to do it, but I beg you to.”

Golem was quiet for a full minute. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle all stared at it in silence, holding their breath. The room became utterly silent.

“Rest now,” Golem said eventually, bringing its right hoof down on the emerald. There was a faint crack, and when the clay pony removed its hoof again, a tiny fracture had appeared in the gem. Something resembling a weak sigh escaped from the gem, and its glow faded completely. The Sixth seemed to age a thousand years in a second, ears and lifelike mane reverting to a crude mold and breaking off from the head, the pieces disintegrating the moment they touched the floor. Within the blink of an eye, all that remained was a pile of crumbled clay. Golem slowly straightened up, eyeless face staring ahead.

“Uh… Golem?” Apple Bloom carefully edged a little closer to the clay pony. “Is everythin’ okay?”

Golem turned its head to look at the three fillies. While it looked no different than before, it was as if something had changed in the way the clay pony moved.

“I am free,” it said. Its voice, which now carried a distinct tone of emotion despite remaining genderless and indefinable, was a mixture of confusion and elation.

Scootaloo looked at the clay pony warily. “Free? Free how?”

“The Five are gone. I no longer hear their voices urging me on. They fulfilled their purpose when I—when we found the Sixth. I am only one now. I am my own. There is no one telling me what I should do.” Golem paused for a moment. “I can create my own purpose now. I can do what I want to do.”

“And what’s that, exactly?” Sweetie Belle asked, grimacing slightly from the painful throbbing headache pounding at her skull like a hammer. Her friends looked at her with worry.

“You are suffering,” Golem commented.

“Just… just a little,” the unicorn filly groaned in reply.

“I want to help my kin, but first I want to stop your pain. How do we stop it?” it asked.

“Ngh… I guess by finding out where that is going.” She gestured at the wispy tendrils dancing from her horn. Golem’s head followed the ghost-light from the filly to the solid stone door. The clay pony studied the heavy slab of stone for a moment, before pressing a hoof against an indention roughly on the middle of it. The door lit up with a cobweb of blue light before sliding open with a loud grinding sound, revealing a circular domed chamber illuminated by more of the glowing orbs. A dark stone obelisk reared up in the middle of the room, crescent figures carved into it. The stream of wispy tendrils from Sweetie Belle’s horn danced around the monument.

“Well, glad that doesn’t look creepy at all,” Scootaloo muttered.

“No good. There’s nothing in here except more tools and stuff,” said Rainbow Dash as the others entered the excavation chamber.

“But the other tunnels were dead ends, too. Where could they possibly have gone?” Rarity wondered, absently dusting off her single remaining, no longer quite so elegant curl.

“Are you sure they went this way, Princess?” Twilight asked as Luna came through the entrance. “Rainbow Dash is right; it doesn’t look like there is anything here.”

The Princess did not reply at first, instead looking around the small chamber for a moment. “Let me think,” she said softly. “There should be a door here somewhere—Ah.” Her gaze fixed on the far wall, a pale glow surrounding her horn for a moment. There was a slight noise of stone against stone, but nothing else. Luna’s calm, passive expression turned into a frown.

“I have no time for this,” she hissed, her eyes and horn lighting up briefly but intensely. The wall exploded inwards in a shower of debris, revealing the descending stairway behind it. The Princess stepped past the rubble, pausing for a moment to look over her shoulder at the gaping ponies.

“Well?” she inquired expectantly.

“Your Highness, how did you know there would be a door there?” Rarity asked carefully.

“Simple. I was the one who made it, long ago. Now come, your sisters are close.”

“I don’t know about you, but she’s still a bit of a scary princess to me,” Pinkie Pie whispered to Fluttershy at the back of the group as they descended the stairs. The yellow pegasus merely nodded timidly in reply.

Sweetie Belle stepped over the threshold of the stone door and into the circular chamber, eyes locked on the dancing ghost-lights that swirled around the center. It was getting difficult to think clearly due to the throbbing migraine pressing like an anvil inside her skull. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, blinking away stinging tears of pain that mingled with tiny beads of sweat running from her forehead. She could hear the voices of her friends, but they were muffled and indistinct, as if the sound was being carried underwater. She felt a pair of supporting hooves on her shoulders.

“Mnngh… huh?” she groaned, forcing herself to look at Apple Bloom. The other filly stared at her with eyes full of concern. Scootaloo was on Sweetie Belle’s other side, lending assistance to the unicorn.

“Ah said that maybe we should stop. Ya don’t look right,” Apple Bloom repeated, looking at her friend uncertainly. Sweetie Belle shook her head.

“No, it’s right there. Just a little closer and it’ll disappear, just like last time,” she replied, swallowing the bile she felt rising in her throat as she shrugged free of her friends’ hooves and stumbled closer. Each step seemed to magnify the headache tenfold until it felt like her head was going to split open.

“Sweetie Belle! Stop!” Apple Bloom cried, or perhaps it was Scootaloo, though it did not sound like either of them. It sounded almost like… Rarity? More voices joined in with the first, but they sounded so distant that they might as well have been shouting all the way from Ponyville. She wanted to turn around and look, but a searing lance of whiteness shot into her forehead, momentarily blinding her. When her vision returned, everything had taken on the disturbing, oily, otherworldly light. She turned around, the movement feeling sluggish and difficult. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were close behind her, while Golem was looking around as if confused. She saw vague silhouettes on the other side of the stone door, near the stairway, but they were too indistinct to make out.

Her attention was drawn to the two specters stepping through the door, one a unicorn, the other looking like a much larger earth pony. The unicorn moved carefully, head scanning the room slowly. The other pony walked more ponderously with heavy, lumbering steps.

“Careful,” the voice of Tincoat hissed. “There’s something—”

With a sound like the crash of thunder, an arc of pure blackness whipped from the tip of the obelisk, striking the larger of the two specters. It was flung back through the door by the impact, shattering into pieces that disappeared from sight. The heavy door closed shut with a loud grinding of stone on stone.

The specter of Tincoat let out a wordless cry of shock and despair, her horn flashing and enveloping her in a shimmering bubble, which shattered almost immediately as a second arc of black lightning struck it. Tincoat was flung against the door with a sickening thud, falling heavily to the floor. Coughing and gasping for breath, she pushed herself on her hooves unsteadily and staggered forward.

“No!” she hissed, a stream of sickly yellow spearing from her horn towards the obelisk, striking it without any apparent effect. “Not like this! I’m so close!”

The vile blackness struck the unicorn again, smashing her back once more, this time just to the right of Sweetie Belle. She cringed as the ghostly unicorn flew past her and hit the wall. Tincoat let out breathless groan of pain as she collapsed, coughing and retching. She dragged herself forward, her hindlegs bent at an unnatural angle.

“Please… so close…” she wheezed. Black lightning whipped from the obelisk, but instead of striking the ghostly unicorn a third time it lashed towards Sweetie Belle. The world exploded into whiteness again. Pain burned into her head through her horn. She opened her mouth wide in a silent scream, unable to see anything other than the pure white. Suddenly, she heard the sound of stone splintering, accompanied by a keening wail. She felt herself being flung backwards by a wave of pressure, and for a brief, wonderful moment, everything became dark and still as the deepest night.

Chapter 17: The Fate of Tincoat

When Sweetie Belle opened her eyes again, the pain had subsided to a dull ember, and she found herself staring up at the one pony she both longed and dreaded to see, once-elegant mane still maimed and pristine coat matted with dust.

“Hey, big sister,” she whispered, mustering a cautious little smile in spite of the aching she still felt.

“Oh, Sweetie Belle, you wonderful, awful, utterly insane filly!” Rarity cried, scooping Sweetie Belle up in an embrace so tight she almost felt as if she was going to choke.

“I’m glad to see you too,” Sweetie Belle muttered into her sister’s shoulder, wishing for a moment that she could just stay there forever, squeezed or not. When Rarity finally relinquished her grip enough that Sweetie Belle could move and breathe normally, she noticed the tall, dark figure looming over both of them. Princess Luna was studying Sweetie Belle the same way an entomologist might study a particularly fascinating bug, surprise evident on her face.

“Do you know what you have done, child?” the Princess asked gently.

On top of being one of the most unlikely ponies she had expected to see at this moment, Sweetie Belle had no idea how she were to properly address a princess, so she opted for a simple shake of her head. Luna looked to her right, and Sweetie Belle followed her gaze to the black obelisk, or rather, what was left of it. The stone simply ended in a jagged stump about halfway to the tip. Fragments of it lay scattered all across the circular chamber.

“Not only did you deflect a discharge of raw dark magic, you destroyed its source entirely,” Luna said, turning her attention back to the filly. “The stone is completely inert now. Granted, its power must have waned over the centuries, but still… I am impressed.”

“What exactly was that vile thing?” Rarity asked the Princess, still cradling Sweetie Belle in her hooves. “It made my hair stand on edge, even from where we were standing.”

“Little more than an enchanted ward, designed to forcefully rebuke those who were not allowed to pass it by. Several were made during the height of my—” a flicker of anguish passed over the Princess’ regal features “—madness,” she finished. “My sister destroyed most of them after my banishment, though she did not find all of them, it would seem.”

“But how did Sweetie Belle manage to destroy this one? Was it some sort of spell she cast?”

Luna shook her head slightly. “The same natural ability she possesses that lets her draw out an echo also functions as a potent shield against dark magic while she channels it. When the ward lashed out at her, its own power was turned against itself, thus destroying the stone.”

“And… the ghosts?” Sweetie Belle asked in a voice that was little more than a whisper. She still felt physically sick thinking about what she had witnessed. Or perhaps the nausea stemmed from the brutal migraine she had felt a short while ago.

Luna regarded her for a moment. “That was something else entirely. What you saw, what we all saw, was an echo, an imprint left by a violent, traumatic event. Child, you are—”

“A resonator!” Twilight said gleefully, suddenly appearing at the Princess’ side, much to the latter’s bemusement. “My goodness, Sweetie Belle, that was amazing, what you did! I’ve never seen magic like that before! It seemed like a blend of various kinds of illusion spells, along with—Mmfhhphmh!” Twilight was silenced as Spike clamped a hand over her mouth and Pinkie Pie dragged her away, perhaps having noticed the “would-you-kindly-shut-up-darling?” look on Rarity’s face. Sweetie Belle looked up at her sister, feeling rather confused by the overly excited Twilight’s sudden and brief rant. Rarity let out a little sigh and a mumble that sounded very much like “Thanks a lot, Twilight” before speaking.

“Sweetie Belle, dearest… I believe we may have found out why you are having, ah, difficulties with your magic. It seems to be related to… what just happened. With the ghosts.”

Sweetie Belle swallowed a bit. Something in her sister’s voice made her certain that she was not going to like hearing what was to come next. “What do you mean, Rarey?” she asked tentatively.

Rarity hesitated for a moment, and then shook her head slightly. “I will tell you once we’re out of this dreadful place and you’ve had a chance to rest. I cannot imagine how you must be feeling right now.”

“Later sounds good,” Sweetie Belle muttered, feeling somewhat relieved that she would not have even more heavy matters weighing down on her mind on top of everything else that was going on. Still, deep down, she had a feeling she knew what her sister was going to say, and she dreaded the real answer as much as she needed to hear it.

Seeking some way to divert her thoughts, she took stock of her surroundings. Twilight had switched her attention to Golem and was bombarding it with questions. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie remained close by, seemingly ready to rein in the librarian if she went out of control again. Sweetie Belle noticed with a small shock that the clay pony’s right side was covered in rock shards embedded in its body.

“What happened to Golem?” she asked, looking up at her sister. Rarity followed the direction of Sweetie Belle’s gaze before replying.

“It leapt in front of you three when that stone’s magic folded back on itself and exploded. It shielded you from the debris with its body.” She turned her head back to Sweetie Belle, looking slightly puzzled. “It… saved you.”

Sweetie Belle gave her sister a weak smile. “It cares about us,” she mumbled.

She glanced over to where Spike was waddling around the chamber, poking lightly at the shards on the floor. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Scootaloo were further to the left, engaged in a very animated discussion, though perhaps it was more accurate to say that Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were talking, while Fluttershy mostly listened and made the occasional comment. All three cast worried glances towards Applejack and her sister, who stood apart from the others, back in the hallway. The very air around the older farmpony seemed frosty. Sweetie Belle’s heart sank a bit in sympathy for her friend. As much as she felt sorry for herself and dreaded whatever Rarity would tell her later, she felt even more sorry for Apple Bloom now that the consequences of their impromptu adventure had finally caught up with them. The unicorn filly felt a pang of guilt, remembering that her own sister was probably as upset about it as Applejack looked.

“I’m sorry I ran away, Rarey,” Sweetie Belle whispered. She felt her sister’s warm embrace envelop her again.

“I’m just glad you’re back, Sweetie.”

Perhaps it was a lie. Perhaps her sister was actually fuming with anger and hurt, and was only suppressing it because of the relief that they had reunited. But even if that was the case, it was a comforting lie, and one that Sweetie Belle readily accepted for the moment.

Apple Bloom shifted uncomfortably from hoof to hoof and swallowed nervously for the seventh time in one minute. Her sister had still not said anything since they had drifted away from the others by an unspoken agreement. The tension was unbearable.

What am I going to say? That I didn’t mean to make her worried? That I didn’t mean to make everypony worried? That I’m sorry I nearly got us killed chasing an old story that we really didn’t have a hayseed’s chance of knowing was true?

All of those were true, but none of them felt remotely good enough to justify her actions to her sister. Or to herself, for that matter. Not any longer. It came as an immense relief when her sister finally spoke up.

“Y’know, Apple Bloom, when Ah first got yer letter, Ah had a heap o’ things Ah was gonna say to ya, an’ that list only grew while Ah was waitin’ for Dash to go chasin’ after y’all. Ah ain’t gonna lie, Ah was so gosh-darn flamin’-as-Celestia’s-sun angry that Ah couldn’t even think straight.”

Applejack took a deep breath and lowered head, enough that the brim of her hat obscured her eyes. “Then Ah realized Ah was only angry ’cause Ah was scared, real scared, an’ it only got worse when we saw y’all were trapped in this mine. Ah feared we’d lost ya for good, an’ that Ah wasn’t gonna see mah lil’ sis ever again.” She looked up again, and Apple Bloom felt a leaden weight punch her in the stomach as she saw the tears forming in her sister’s green eyes.

“Now all Ah can think is: Why? Why did ya go off like that without tellin’ me? Why did ya lie? Why didn’t ya trust me?”

Apple Bloom worked her jaw desperately to say something, and worked her mind even harder to think of something. Why? It was such a simple question, but Apple Bloom found she had no good answer.

“Ah thought—” she began, but faltered. She thought what, exactly? She had stopped believing this was about Cutie Marks shortly after Tincoat’s cellar, but at the same time, was that not what had started it all? It was as pathetic a justification as it was foolish, but it was the only honest explanation she could give. “After all our mess-ups, Ah thought for sure the only way we were gonna get our Cutie Marks was gonna be by goin’ on some big adventure like ya did when ya went to Manehatten. Then Ah found that book about Tincoat an’ thought that was the way we were gonna do it. Ah didn’t tell ya ’bout it ’cause Ah was afraid ya were gonna tell us no.”

Applejack shook her head a bit. “Is that what this is all about? Yer Cutie Marks?”

“Ah didn’t want to lie to ya, but Ah really believed…” Apple Bloom forced herself to maintain eye contact with her sister. After all she had done, the least she could do was stand tall and confess and not look down. “Ah kept justifyin’ it to mahself by sayin’ Ah was gonna tell ya later like Ah promised, an’ Ah went with that at first, ’cause a lie was easier to take than admittin’ Ah was bein’ dishonest with ya.”

The last words had an eerie familiarity to Applejack that she did not like to think about, but she remained silent and allowed her sister to continue.

“Then we found the cellar that belonged to Tincoat, an’ we made Golem. It told us how it needed our help, an’ Ah didn’t want to just leave it to fend for itself when Ah was responsible for it comin’ to life, but Ah also got scared of goin’ back without havin’ somethin’ to show for it. If Ah did, Ah was afraid ya were gonna get even more mad at me for goin’ off without tellin’. Stickin’ with Golem meant Ah didn’t have to own up to what Ah’d done.” The urge to look down in shame was almost getting overwhelming, but she would not give in now. She would not.

“Consarn it, Apple Bloom…” Applejack muttered quietly.

“Ah know it don’t excuse nothin’, but this here’s the honest truth, sis!” Apple Bloom tried her best to keep her voice from breaking. “Ah know it sounds silly an’ foolish an’ stupid, but it's the truth!”

“But it is not the whole truth,” Golem said next to them. Both the Apple siblings looked up at the clay pony, noticing as they did that everyone else had stopped talking and was looking at them, even Princess Luna.

“What do ya mean, it ain’t the whole truth?” Applejack asked suspiciously, eyeing the clay pony warily.

“Apple Bloom opted to come with me because I convinced her that she had to, that I could not go alone,” Golem explained. “That was a lie.”

“What?!” Apple Bloom blurted in dismay. Golem turned its head slightly to look at her.

“I could likely have gone on my own, but the command I had been given by the Sixth through the Five compelled me to succeed. The only way I could ensure that was to get you, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle to come with me. You were the ones that brought me to life, so I believed you could perhaps help me again should I be damaged.”

“You mean you tricked us? After what we’d just done for you?!” Scootaloo asked, disbelieving.

“Yes.”

“Really? We were just… tools to ya?” Apple Bloom snapped, feeling an ironic sting of betrayal at this revealed duplicity.

“Yes. You were.”

“But we saw you shielding the girls against the black stone when it exploded,” Fluttershy pointed out, gesturing with a hoof at the jagged pieces of rock jutting from Golem’s side. “Why would you do that if you did not care about them?”

“I said they were tools,” Golem replied. “But the loyalty they displayed to each other and to me, as well as their genuine desire to help me changed my view.”

“Ah don’t see how that makes a lick o’ difference if ya didn’t think ’bout tellin’ ’em ’fore now,” Applejack growled, taking a menacing step towards Golem, the effect of which was mitigated somewhat by the fact that the clay pony was significantly larger than the muscular farmpony.

“The golem is a victim of its own nature,” said the calm voice of Luna, shifting the attention in the room again.

“I don’t follow,” Rainbow Dash muttered after a moment.

“A golem is single-mindedly devoted to the completion of its assigned orders, regardless of what is required. It will not relent until the task is accomplished,” Luna continued. “The golem saw your sisters as a chance to increase its own likelihood of success and exploited it. This behaviour is what makes them such efficient servants. And, I regret to add, it is why I demanded that so many should be built.”

The room became silent, except for the patter of little footsteps. Spike peeked into the hallway where the others had gathered, clutching a small, tattered stack of papers wrapped in moldy leather in his right hand.

“Hey, uh, guys? I think you need to hear this,” the dragon said, his stubby tail flicking anxiously from side to side.

“Now’s not really the best time, Spike,” Applejack began.

“No, seriously, you need to hear this. It’s written by that Tincoat pony.”

Everyone turned to look at Spike, even Golem. “What? Are you sure? Where did you find it?” Twilight asked curiously, stepping closer to look at the papers in the dragon’s hand.

“It was tucked away at the wall near the door,” he explained. “I found it when I was looking around for, uhm… stuff.”

“You weren’t trying to figure out whether the obelisk shards were edible, were you?”

Spike glanced around evasively for a moment. “Uh… No.”

Twilight walked over to Spike and studied the papers for a moment. “It looks like… like the text was burned directly onto the pages rather than written,” she said in surprise. “Tincoat must have been desperate to share this.”

“What is it? A diary? A journal?” Rarity asked.

“Is it a treasure map?” Pinkie Pie chimed in.

The dragon looked down at the bundle of papers. “Well…” he began hesitantly.

If you are reading this, I pray that you have fared better than I have, and that it means the wretched stone that ended me has been destroyed. My back and my legs are broken. I cannot move from the spot where I write these words. Whether you have found this place on purpose or by chance, I implore you to take heed of what I write next. This is my confession as much as it is my plea.

My name is Tincoat. I lived in the Royal City before it was brought to ruin. Together with my dearest friend, Amber, I discovered a way to create golems: ponies made of clay that could walk and speak, but required no rest and had the strength of many. As well as being a marvel of magical craft, the golems were perfect for menial labour, or so we thought. When we made our first breakthrough, we presented our creation to our beloved Princess Luna, who had over time become increasingly morose and withdrawn. We hoped our work would catch her interest and enliven her, or at the very least serve as a temporary distraction from whatever malaise troubled her. To our surprise and great joy, Princess Luna not only approved of the golem, but also immediately ordered that a hundred more be made according to her design.

Amber and I worked with great fervour to comply with our Princess’ demand. We created more golems, each bearing the crescent moon symbol we had been instructed to mark them with. As each golem was finished, we sent it to a prespecified destination where retainers of Princess Luna took over. The initial excitement of our beloved Princess was short-lived, though, and soon we did not hear from her anymore. Feverishly, we redoubled our efforts in the hopes that we could rekindle the spark we had seen in her for that brief moment. As our work neared completion, however, the true horror of what we had created began to dawn on us. It became clear that the golems were not simple automatons. The magic that animated them and allowed them to speak also allowed them to think and feel, yet at the same time, their very nature forced them to carry out the orders of whomever they were bound to serve without question. We were not creating tools to make life easier. We were creating slaves. I rushed to find Princess Luna and tell her of our grave mistake, but then the unthinkable happened.

I still find it difficult to put word to it. Pony eyes were not meant to witness those events. A terrible darkness had consumed our fair Princess Luna, and the entire Royal City with her. What stood in her place was a creature of such malice and evil that it made my knees weak and my insides churn, even though I only glimpsed the monster from a distance, high in the black sky, doing battle with Princess Celestia. The terrible confrontation shook the foundations of the earth, bringing the great city to ruin and twisting the land with wild, rampant magic, but in the end, the monster that had consumed Princess Luna was vanquished, banished to the moon.

The grief that overcame me, as well as many others, was devastating, but I am certain it must have paled next to what noble Princess Celestia felt at the loss of her sister. For days I wandered aimlessly through the crumbled remains of the once-glorious Royal City, dazed and in shock like the rest of its denizens. It was then that I realized that one grave matter remained unresolved: The golems that Amber and I had made for our beloved Princess were still out there, enslaved to the will of one who was no longer here to release them from their servitude. I realized I had to correct my mistake and set them free. Clay or flesh, a hundred ponies would remain under thrall until the end of time because of me, unless they were freed.

It became clear that there was only one way to find the missing golems within my lifetime. I knew not where to look, but we had learned early on that golems could sense each other. I had to ply my wretched craft one last time and create a final golem. With it, I would have chance to set things right. As I went to activate one of the few remaining golems that remained in holding, Amber confronted me. I tried to explain to her the necessity of what I intended to do, but she would not listen, nor would she budge. In desperation and panic, I struck her down.

Even as I lie dying in this room, with nothing but pain and the cold gloom for company, so close to my goal that I can almost reach out and touch it, what I had to do to Amber still remains the single greatest regret of my miserable life. I only meant to incapacitate her. I convinced myself she was merely unconscious, that she would wake up bruised but intact later, but from the way she hit the wall, the way her body was twisted, part of me knew right there and then that I had just murdered my dearest friend.

I set out to find the missing golems, wherever they might be. With the aid of the one I had created, I managed to track down several of them over the course of the following weeks. They were scattered far and wide, and though I still do not know what tasks had brought them there, I at least managed to grant them peace when I destroyed their forms. The vast majority were still missing, but the golem managed to track them to this mountain. It led me to this place, which I can only assume was created specifically to contain the golems. How it was built so quickly I will likely never know. I can only assume that the industrial prowess of the golems is even greater than I had imagined.

This is where my journey ends. The defenses of this place have defeated me. Whoever you may be, I implore you with all my heart to finish what I started. The golems are still trapped further in, locked in servitude. Find them. Destroy them. Set them free. Release them of their curse. Do not allow my mistakes to make them suffer any longer than they already have.

I can only await my death now, whether by starvation, thirst or injury. I hope it will come swiftly in my sleep, but I cannot escape the feeling that this is punishment for my crimes.

Amber, I am so very sorry for what I have done. You were my dearest friend and companion, and I betrayed you. You were better than I ever deserved.

Nightmare Moon, I curse your name for everything you have done. You brought ruin to our people. You made me a murderer. You took our beloved Luna from us. May you languish in the darkest pit of the void for eternity.

Luna, I pray that you are not lost, that part of you still exists. I pray that you will one day return to us, and all the evil that has been wrought in these days will be undone. In my dreams, you are still the fair and noble being I remember. In my dreams, Amber is alive and smiling. In my dreams, there is no pain or darkness, no guilt or failure. In my dreams, I am at peace.

The room became deathly silent once Spike finished reading, except for a muffled sniffling sound. Apple Bloom was not sure whom the faint sobbing was stemming from. It might even be herself. Even though she had known from the onset of their adventure that the pony they were chasing was long gone, the true circumstances surrounding Tincoat’s end horrified and appalled her. This was not at all how she had envisioned their search ending. She swallowed a heavy lump in her throat, looking around at the faces of the others. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash both looked unusually pale and aghast, disturbingly at odds with the usual confident demeanour they both sported. Fluttershy, Rarity and Sweetie Belle all had wet eyes that threatened to spill over at any moment. Applejack had removed her hat and was holding it solemnly against her chest. Twilight was working her jaw furiously with no sound, and even Pinkie Pie was unusually glum and decidedly un-perky. Golem, unsurprisingly, still looked the same, but its eyeless gaze was lowered to its hooves.

It was Princess Luna who shocked Apple Bloom the most, however. The tall dark mare had her eyes closed, a single tear running from her eyes, soon followed by another. Apple Bloom’s mind rebelled at the sight. Surely the Princesses did not cry. They were ageless and immortal, always calm, collected, wise and regal. At the same time, she realized how foolish that sentiment was. Of course the Princesses had feelings as well, and of course those might come to the surface when they were being forced to recall the darkest times of their life. That still did not make the sight of the crying Luna any less unreal to behold.

It took what remained of Apple Bloom’s courage at this point to raise her voice, and even then, it was shaky and unsteady. “P-Princess Luna?” she asked tentatively.

The Princess of the Night slowly opened her eyes and exhaled, not bothering to hide her tears. She began to walk towards the great double doors at the other end of the circular chamber. “I think it is time I told all of you the truth behind this place.”

Chapter 18: Beneath the Night Sky

The stone doors, almost four times taller than Princess Luna, were embossed with twin crescent moon symbols, but were otherwise void of decoration. There were no visible means with which to open the doors, other than a hoof-shaped imprint similar to the one Golem had used to open the other door. The Princess hesitated in front of them and looked over her shoulders at the other ponies who had been following her cautiously. Scootaloo stayed close to Rainbow Dash. It was not that she was afraid of the Princess, but there was an almost palpable sense of sadness and regret about Luna now that made Scootaloo feel ill at ease. She hoped she would never experience something that could cause such painful memories.

“I will be honest. I do not know what to expect behind these doors,” said Luna, looking at each of the ponies in turn. “My memories of the days before my banishment are hazy at times. Bitter feelings often warred with what I can only describe as madness. I remember that after I had the golems made, I ordered them to build an edifice dedicated to me. I demanded that it should have no equal in magnificence, that it should be an everlasting monument to my glory.”

“As much as it shames me to admit that I succumbed to such a fit of vanity, it shames me even more that I cast the golems aside shortly after this. My restless self lost interest in them, plain and simple. I continued to deteriorate in mind and spirit until—” Luna sighed, her gaze downcast for a moment. “Well, the rest, as they say, is history.”

Scootaloo glanced around at the faces of the others, but their expressions largely mirrored that which she felt: confusion, puzzlement, incomprehension. Apple Bloom was the first to speak up, the little filly taking a tentative step forward.

“Uhm, Ah ain’t sure Ah understand, Princess… Why’d ya lose interest in them? Ah thought from what Tincoat’s letter said that ya liked the golems.”

Luna gave her a humourless little smile. “Oh, but I did, child. Their likes had never been seen before. Certainly, unicorn magic is capable of animating objects, but the golems were not created through unicorn magic. Even I do not know exactly how they were made, but I suspect it was through a different kind of magic than the ones known to most ponykind.”

“Then… why?” Apple Bloom pressed.

“You are asking me a question that I am not certain I can provide a satisfactory answer to. I suppose at the time they were like a bauble to me; they were new and fascinating at first, but soon became boring and uninteresting.”

“Why here, though?” Twilight inquired, gesturing around the room with a hoof. “Why inside a mountain, and why these secret entrances and defenses? How would others look at the edifice when it was finished?”

“You assume this place was meant for ponies other than myself to see,” Luna replied. “You also assume a logic behind my actions where there might not have been any. Silverpeak Mountain was simply far enough from the Royal City of olden times that what went on inside would not draw immediate attention from my sister’s watchful gaze.”

“But what of the golems themselves?” Rarity added. “Surely they would have drawn attention as they walked here. If the Royal City was anything like Canterlot, I cannot imagine anypony not noticing something like that lumbering around.”

“The golems were sent out alone as they were finished, and only at night, where the only ponies still awake would be those devoted to me.” A flicker of sadness passed over Luna’s face again. “Something I did not acknowledge properly until far too late.”

The princess looked over the assembled ponies again. “But enough. Are you prepared? I must warn you again, I do not know what awaits us behind these doors, but I give you my promise that none of you will come to harm, regardless of what it may be.”

Scootaloo looked over at Golem. Though the clay pony’s face was as expressionless as ever, it still seemed to be listening intently. She tried to imagine what thoughts were going through its head. Was it upset? Angry? Horrified? Scootaloo had accepted the fact that the clay pony clearly did experience emotions, even if it could not show them like normal ponies. She tried to come up with a good comparison for the situation that Golem found itself in.

What if I found out that all pegasi have been held captive inside a giant cloud factory and forced to work all their lives? But a lot of pegasi already live in cloud cities, and I know a lot of them work in Cloudsdale’s factory, quite freely. And besides, do I really feel related to all pegasi the same way Golem does to other golems? I mean, sure, we all have wings, but…

She glanced at Sweetie Belle and Rarity, then at Applejack and Apple Bloom. Both sister pairs looked apprehensive but determined, neither of the older siblings raising their voice in objection to Luna. Twilight and Spike looked more curious than anything, while Fluttershy seemed rather more reserved. Pinkie Pie seemed more focused on Golem for some reason. Perhaps she was going over the same thoughts as Scootaloo.

The filly finally looked up at Rainbow Dash next to her and found the older mare giving her an inquisitive look back. There was a wordless question in it which Scootaloo nevertheless understood: “You okay?” the look seemed to ask. Scootaloo smiled and nodded slightly. The pegasus mare gave her a little grin and raised her front leg slightly for a hoof bump.

Princess Luna turned to face the stone doors again, her horn shimmering briefly with magic as she pushed them open with a heavy rumble. What greeted the ponies on the other side took their collective breath away.

“Sweet bow-legged goat on a pogo stick,” Applejack muttered, putting words, by and large, to the sentiment felt by the others.

They were standing atop a balcony overlooking a grand plaza so large it seemed as if Ponyville could easily have fit inside. A series of steps led down to the floor level, which was layered with large stone tiles. Hundreds upon hundreds of statues stood in two eerily symmetrical rows so that a passageway of sorts was formed between them. The illumination of the room stemmed from glowing orbs affixed to towering pillars that reared up towards—

“The night sky?” Rarity whispered incredulously.

“But… that’s impossible!” Twilight spluttered. “We’re underneath a mountain, and it was daylight outside when we went in! It can’t be the night sky!”

The sky loomed over them, dark and vast. The illumination provided by the glow-globes was insufficient to indicate where the walls of the chamber ended and where the sky began. A myriad of stars shone in the darkness, every single constellation known to ponykind twinkling down at them.

“That’s because it isn’t,” Spike said, drawing curious looks from the others. The dragon was staring intently at the sky through narrowed eyes.

“He is right,” Luna confirmed. “I know my night sky, and this is not it. It is impressive nonetheless, however.”

“But… if it isn’t the sky, what is it, then?” Fluttershy asked carefully, eyeing the darkness above them warily.

“Scootaloo and I can tell you in a sec,” Rainbow Dash said with a grin towards Scootaloo, lowering a wing to her. “Right, Scoots?”

Scootaloo replied to the grin in kind and leapt onto the blue pegasus’ back, wrapping her front hooves firmly around Dash’s neck a moment before the older mare took wing. Scootaloo felt a rush in her stomach as they left the ground, speeding through the air towards the un-sky. In a somewhat unnecessary but entirely awesome display of agility, Dash circled one of the pillars three times as they ascended, and Scootaloo had to forcefully restrain herself from whooping with glee. Despite the height and the reckless speed at which they were flying, the filly felt no fear towards the risk of falling off. She knew Rainbow Dash would catch her long before the floor would ever become an issue.

“Whoah!” Dash cried suddenly, twisting hard to avoid a collision with the ceiling. As it turned out, the “sky” was in fact simply jet-black rock, and what had looked like stars were multitudes of shining diamonds, carefully arranged in the ceiling to make out the astral constellations they had seen from the floor. Rainbow Dash slowly brought them closer until they could touch the rock ceiling with their hooves.

“Huh… Bet you Rarity would love to get her hooves on these,” Dash commented, brushing one of the diamonds.

“Or Spike,” Scootaloo replied. “He eats gems, after all. I bet that’s why he could tell this wasn’t the actual sky. He could probably smell the diamonds.”

Dash snickered. “Good point. You think we should bring a few of them with us? We could make Rarity and Spike wrestle for them or something.”

Scootaloo bit her lip to keep herself from laughing out loud. “That’s so harsh!”

“Maybe a little,” Dash admitted. “But what do you think? Should we grab a few?”

Scootaloo looked at the numerous diamonds for a few moments. The way the gems had been arranged was too precise, too deliberate to have been natural. Somepony had spent a long time to make the ceiling look as realistic as this. To spoil that seemed pointlessly cruel. She shook her head.

“Let’s just head back to the others. Doesn’t seem right messing this up.”

The others had begun to descend the steps leading down from the balcony when Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo returned. It was perhaps testament to the sombre atmosphere the cavernous room emanated that neither Spike nor Rarity became frenzied at the news of the diamond-filled ceiling. There was something chilling about the hundreds of statues just standing there on either side of the walkway, and it took Scootaloo a moment to realize why: Every single one resembled Princess Luna to an uncanny level. Some of the statues, mostly those standing to the immediate left and right along the walkway, were only slightly larger than the actual Night Princess. Others, standing further out on the sides, were as tall as houses. Some simply stood on all four hooves, others were rearing up, others had a single hoof raised imperiously, others still looked almost as if they were floating, connected to their pedestal only by the tip of their left back hoof. However, no matter the size or pose, every single statue had an exact mirror copy on the opposite side, placed in perfectly ordered symmetry.

“This is what my kin have been making for the past thousand years?” Golem asked, a twinge of disbelief in its voice.

“Ah don’t understand, though… where are all the golems?” Apple Bloom looked towards Golem questioningly.

The clay pony turned its head slightly from side to side for a moment. “Further ahead,” it replied. “There are many of them, but they are… faint, somehow.”

“None of them are smiling…” Pinkie Pie muttered so quietly it was almost inaudible. Scootaloo thought at first that she was merely trying to lighten the mood by making a random observation, but the pink pony seemed to be genuinely unnerved by the cold, hard expressions etched into the faces of the statues. Scootaloo shivered slightly. On closer inspection, she could see why Pinkie Pie was so discomforted by the statues. Although the real Princess Luna seemed somewhat reserved and a little aloof, there was still a sense of warmth and kindness about her. The statues of her, however, displayed none of that. Instead, there was a sense of malice about them, a feeling that the heads of the statues they passed turned to follow them. A glance over her shoulder told her this was not the case, but the unease would not fade. She almost jumped as a soft wing was gently draped over her back, and she looked up to see Rainbow Dash giving her a reassuring little smile. Even the daring flier seemed to be on edge, though.

At the very end of the walkway, a single colossal statue of Luna rose up, facing them, twice as large as even the tallest of the other statues. Its front hooves were raised towards the ceiling, an orb of pure silver held in them. Its wings were unfurled as if taking flight, and like some of the other statues, its hind legs only just touched the pedestal. Luna’s eyes were locked on the colossus, her expression grim.

“This… this is astounding,” Twilight said quietly. “The scale, the level of detail… not to mention the resources this must have required…”

Luna sighed bitterly. “I can scarcely believe I ever sunk this low. This is not the product of a sane mind. It is hubris.”

“You weren’t yourself, Princess. Nopony blames you for what happened,” Fluttershy said softly. The princess gave her an unconvinced look.

“I doubt that ‘I didn’t mean to do it’ is a valid excuse for everything I did,” Luna replied dryly.

“Look!” Sweetie Belle hissed suddenly, pointing towards the base of the colossus. Another statue, one of the smaller variety, emerged from behind the corner on the pedestal’s left side, pushed by two golems. The clay ponies moved the statue into position next to the hundred others.

As Scootaloo came closer, she could suddenly see more golems hidden behind the sea of Luna statues, dwarfed by the stone monuments that surrounded them. There were dozens of them moving back and forth, some carrying large chunks of stone forward from further back in the cavern; others were busy pushing away a larger Luna statue that was missing a wing. There were no words or sounds other than heavy hoofsteps and the grating of stone against stone. Walking past them, Scootaloo could see the clay ponies looked identical to Golem, right down to the texture of the mane.

“They are so weak. Yet they carry on,” Golem said in a faint voice. Scootaloo glanced over at it.

“What’s wrong with them?” she asked, looking in wonder as several golems began to literally assemble a new statue from the chunks of stone. As their hooves pressed the pieces together, the stones melted together seamlessly, and another iteration of Luna began to take shape.

“Look at their hearts. They have so little life left, but they continue on regardless.” It took Scootaloo a moment to realize what Golem meant, but then she saw it. Where Golem’s ruby heart pulsed with a vibrant glow, most of the gemstones embedded in the other clay ponies were dull and lustreless, as if all the colours had been drained from the gems.

“How are they welding the stones together like that? It shouldn’t be possible without magic,” Twilight wondered aloud.

Applejack spat on the floor. “It don’t matter. This here’s just plain wrong. It’s slavery, is what it is! We gotta put a stop to it right now.”

“Can’t ya do somethin’, Princess? They’re followin’ your orders, right? Can’t ya tell ’em to stop?” Apple Bloom inquired, looking up at Luna imploringly.

“Apple Bloom is correct,” Golem said. “Your command bound them, Dark One. You can release them again.”

“I hope you are correct,” Luna all but whispered, stepping towards the base of the colossus and unfurling her wings.

“As do I. If not, there is only one way to grant my kin peace, and I do not like to contemplate it,” Golem replied.

Luna took off from the ground and flew up above the colossus, above the moon it was holding, and called out in a booming voice that reverberated through the cavern and almost made Scootaloo’s teeth clatter.

“GOLEMS, HEAR ME! I AM LUNA, PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT, AND I CALL UPON ALL OF YOU TO ATTEND ME NOW!”

Throughout the chamber, every single golem stopped what it was doing and turned in unison to look up at Luna, gathering around the base of the statue. More emerged from further back in the cavern, through a dark archway almost hidden in the shadows that shrouded the walls. Once they were all gathered around the pedestal, Luna continued.

“THE TASK I SET FOR YOU IS COMPLETED! I RELEASE YOU FROM YOUR BONDS OF SERVITUDE! YOU ARE FREE, AND NEVERMORE WILL YOU BE CHAINED BY ANOTHER PONY’S ORDERS!”

At first, nothing happened. Then, slowly and quietly, what seemed like a sigh passed from one of the golems. It fell apart and disintegrated, its gemstone heart clattering to the floor, empty and lifeless. Another golem followed suit, and then another, and another after that, until eight of the clay ponies had collapsed into dust and rubble. The remaining golems continued to stare at the spot where Luna had been hovering, even as the princess descended and landed on the floor again. One by one, they lowered their heads, looking around as if confused. Golem stepped towards the nearest clay pony and moved to face it.

“My kin,” Golem said carefully. “Can you hear me?”

“Is it… over?” the other clay pony replied faintly, focusing its eyeless stare on Golem.

“Yes. You are free. All of you are free.”

“Free…” the clay pony echoed. “I feel so weak… so… tired…”

“Maybe you need to rest?” Sweetie Belle suggested carefully. Everyone turned to look at her. “Well, they have been working non-stop for a thousand years…” she muttered defensively.

“Do golems even need rest?” Dash asked. “I mean, aren’t they kind of… you know… un-pony?”

“If I’d been working for a thousand years straight with no pauses, I’d be plum-tuckered tired too!” Pinkie Pie chimed in. “Well, tired, and probably a teensy-weensy bit insane. I mean, where would you have had time to actually do something fun in all those years?”

Dash opened her mouth to reply, but seemed to come up short with anything that could argue against that statement, so instead she merely shrugged.

“Rest… yes,” the other golem whispered as it sat down on its rump. “I have never just… sat down. This floor is good for sitting down on,” it commented faintly. “And lying down on,” it added as it lay down flat on the floor, legs stretched out at almost comical angles. “This floor is good for lying down on,” it repeated. The other golems nearby looked at it for a moment, before they too began to lie down, the motion spreading like a ripple in the water.

“What about them others? The ones that just… fell apart? Are they…?” Apple Bloom asked hesitantly.

“They chose the long sleep instead. I imagine it was what they desired most to do with their freedom,” Golem replied. It seemed to Scootaloo as if their friend of clay was becoming better at understanding them, because upon seeing the crestfallen expression on Apple Bloom’s face, it added, “Do not grieve for them. It was their one free choice. What they chose was not for you, me or anypony else to decide for them.”

“So what are the others doing, then?” Scootaloo inquired, glancing around the numerous golems sprawled across the floor. “Resting?”

Golem looked down at the clay pony before it, nodding. “Yes. I can feel them growing stronger again, slowly, but surely. It may take some time; I do not know how long one must rest for after a thousand years, but I am confident they will awaken again soon.”

“What will ya do now?” Apple Bloom asked. “Now that your kin are free, are ya gonna leave this place?”

Golem was quiet for a moment before replying. “No. At least, not yet. I believe most of my kin would prefer time to get adjusted to what it is like not having a compulsion driving your every action. I know I will. We are sheltered here, are we not, Dark—I mean, Luna?”

The princess nodded in confirmation. “The enchantment hiding the entrance is still strong. I can mend the door again and keep you remain hidden from those who do not know of the existence of this place.”

“But… surely the rest of the world should know about you!” Twilight protested. “We can help you, and there is so much we can learn about you in return and—“

Spike cleared his throat loudly, causing Twilight to pause and glance up at him in puzzlement. The baby dragon nodded meaningfully towards the sleeping golems. The unicorn’s cheeks became tinted with a light red hue.

“Uh, but I guess that can wait a while still…” she mumbled.

“Perhaps once we are ready, we will come out to meet you, but it is still too soon,” Golem replied.

“So yer just gonna stay cooped up in ’ere? Doesn’t seem like the coziest place, if ya ask me,” Applejack commented. Golem gave a little shrug.

“We can reshape it in a way that pleases us, should it be necessary.”

“On that subject…” Luna said hesitantly. “I know I have no right to ask anything of you or your kin, but I would… appreciate it if you would destroy the statues in this place. All of them.”

Golem nodded slowly. “I believe that can be arranged.”

“Oh, and you should seriously consider adding mouths to your faces! I can’t imagine what it’s like not having a big smile to flash whenever I’m happy!” Pinkie Pie added cheerfully.

Golem looked at her for a moment with its unreadable visage. “I will be sure to take that into consideration.”

“So… Ah guess this is goodbye, then? If yer stayin’ here…” Apple Bloom muttered, looking down at her hooves. Golem nodded slowly.

“Yes. I will stay here and watch over my kin until they awaken again, and then speak with each of them to ensure they understand what has happened. I do not have much more experience with freedom than they do, but I imagine a little is better than none.”

“What are you gonna do until then? Just wait?” Sweetie Belle asked, tilting her head a bit as she stepped closer to the clay pony.

“Perhaps I will get these shards out of my side,” Golem replied with a nod towards the obelisk shards still jutting from its body. “Or perhaps I will think up a new name for myself,” it added after a moment’s contemplation. “We cannot all be named ‘Golem’, after all. What do you think of ‘Scootabellebloom’?”

“That’s, uh… really sweet, but maybe something, uhm… shorter?” Scootaloo suggested, kicking out lightly with her right hind leg to silence the barely-suppressed sniggering coming from Rainbow Dash.

“Perhaps. I have nothing if not time, yes?”

By unspoken agreement, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo all walked over to hug the legs of the clay pony. Scootaloo could not tell whether Golem was surprised, embarrassed or just unsure how to react, but it simply stood there, looking down silently at them until they let go and moved back again.

“You are not upset that I misled you?” the clay pony inquired, tilting its head. Apple Bloom shook her head.

“Ya didn’t have a choice. Ah understand that now, an’ Ah ain’t gonna hold it against ya.”

“Me neither,” Sweetie Belle confirmed. Scootaloo nodded in agreement.

“Besides… Ah can’t really complain ’bout bein’ dishonest, Ah think,” Apple Bloom muttered with a guilty glance over her shoulder at her sister. Applejack, for her part, seemed to decide against commenting on that. Instead, the farmpony focused her attention on Golem.

“Ya did pretty much foalnap our sisters an’ put ’em in danger,” she said with narrowed eyes. “But ya also protected ’em at the expense of yerself. Ah can respect that. Ah ain’t gonna hold no grudge against ya.”

Rarity nodded and gently put a hoof on Sweetie Belle’s shoulder. “I agree. Your heart was in the right place, as it were. Though I think we would all prefer that this is never repeated.”

“Yeah, we’re cool,” Dash agreed. “Though I still think you’re kinda weird.”

“Likewise,” Golem replied.

“What?!”

“I think it means you’re unique, Dashie,” Fluttershy said softly with a little smile.

“Yes. Of course,” the clay pony agreed. Rainbow Dash nodded a bit, looking somewhat mollified.

“Very well, then, let us depart. Come, gather around me. I will take you back to Ponyville, then I will bring the news to my sister,” Luna said, beckoning the other ponies closer with a hoof. Once they were all gathered around her, she looked over one last time at Golem, trepidation warring with curiosity on her face for a fleeting moment.

“Do you believe your kin will hate me?” she asked, looking intently at the clay pony. It thought for a moment before replying.

“No. I do not think so. And I will do my best to make them understand that who you are now is not the same as the one who bade them toil.”

Luna nodded slightly. “Thank you. That is… comforting to know.”

Scootaloo took one last look around the cavern, at the countless eerie Luna statues, the towering pillars and the strange, artificial night sky, before impenetrable shadows enclosed the group and whisked them all away.

“Thank you, my friends,” the clay pony said after the ponies disappeared. It was unsure whether or not they could hear it, but it had to voice the words that it had found too late, just in case. Still, there would be time to repeat them. There certainly had been a lot of directions to go out in the open world. Perhaps it could go have a look at a few of them, just a peek, once some of the others had woken up again.

It sat down on its haunches carefully. Its kin was right. This floor was indeed good for sitting on. Perhaps it was possible to make something better, though. Looking around at all the statues of the Dark One—for those were not Luna, but the Dark One—there was certainly no shortage of building materials. Before that, however, there was another important matter to attend to, and the golem tilted its head slightly as it sank into contemplation. Coming up with a name of its own would be an exciting experience.

Chapter 19: Homecoming

The shadows parted, revealing the familiar interior of the Ponyville library. A few sheaves of paper on a nearby table fluttered lazily in the rush of displaced air caused by the sudden materialization of ten ponies and one baby dragon. Scootaloo blinked several times in rapid succession and rubbed her right ear with a hoof until the ringing sound in her ears faded.

“I think I prefer flying,” Rainbow Dash muttered quietly, evidently experiencing similar distress from the teleportation.

“Your discomfort is noted, Rainbow Dash,” Princess Luna replied dryly. “However, I must speak with my sister right away about what has transpired, and I imagine most of you preferred to return home quickly, perhaps to have words in private?”

“We are very grateful for all your help, your Majesty,” Rarity said with a gracious bow of her head. “If there is anything we can do in return…”

Luna nodded curtly. “I will need to question your sisters further about what they found, but that can wait until later.”

“Question us? We’re not in trouble, are we? I mean, more than what we’re already in?” Sweetie Belle asked fretfully. Scootaloo looked over at Apple Bloom, who was continuously throwing nervous glances up at her big sister. The pegasus suspected that getting chewed out by the Night Princess herself probably would not be half as terrifying for the earth filly as getting chewed out by Applejack.

Luna gave Sweetie Belle a little smile and shook her head. “No, child, you are not. However, there are some elements about your discovery that I would like clarified. And for you in particular, there are matters which should be discussed in more detail.” The unicorn filly seemed only marginally reassured by this, but she merely nodded quietly.

Luna straightened up and looked around the room at the other ponies. “Very well, then, if there is nothing else…?”

“Princess, wait!” Applejack blushed imperceptibly as everyone looked at her. “Ah jus’ wanna apologize fer bein’ snappy with ya earlier. It was downright rude of me, an’ Ah’m mighty sorry.”

Luna regarded the farmpony with an even stare for a moment before smiling. “Your apology is accepted, Applejack. I know you were merely worried about your sister, so I shan’t hold that against you. She is most fortunate to have you.”

Applejack bowed her head a bit. “Thanks, yer Princessness.”

Luna nodded once and unfurled her wings, thick darkness enveloping her. As suddenly as they had all appeared in the library, the Princess disappeared from it again. Applejack was the first to break the quiet that reigned in the aftermath of Luna’s departure.

“Soo… yeah, if y’all will excuse us, me an’ AB are gonna go home an’ have a lil’ chat. Be seein’ ya, girls.” The farmpony gave a little wave of her hoof and headed for the library door, looking over her shoulder briefly. “Come on, AB,” she called out, not unkindly. Apple Bloom glumly trotted after her sister. In Scootaloo’s eyes, she seemed more like a pony heading to her own doom than one going home.

“Guess we’ll talk later,” she said to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, offering them a half-hearted smile as she disappeared out through the door.

“Sweetie Belle, dearest, are you ready to head back to the Boutique with me?” Rarity asked her sister once the Apples were gone, giving the unicorn filly’s mane an affectionate brush with her hoof. “I hate to sound dramatic, but we… we need to talk.” The fashionista glanced briefly at Twilight and Pinkie Pie, who both nodded encouragingly at her.

Sweetie Belle swallowed a bit and nodded, getting up on her hooves and following her sister out the door. “Bye, Scoots,” she muttered as she passed Scootaloo. The pegasus filly wanted to give her some sort of encouragement to walk home on, but the best her tired mind could come up with was an equally muted “Bye”.

“I’m not going to like this, am I?” Sweetie Belle asked Rarity as they exited the library, but Scootaloo never got to hear the reply as the mannered fashion designer closed the door after her.

“You don’t think Applejack is going to be too angry with Apple Bloom, do you?” Scootaloo asked the remaining four ponies and solitary baby dragon, feeling somewhat worried on behalf of the farmfilly. “I mean, she did seem really pissed earlier.”

“Hah! You have no idea,” Dash replied with a grin. “She had a bigger rage-face than a manticore with a thorn in its paw. I thought she was going to—Oh.” She trailed off awkwardly under the reproachful look Twilight gave her. “I mean, uhm, probably not?”

“Don’t you worry about that, Scootie! Didn’t you see the way the left corner of her mouth was tugged slightly upwards when she and Apple Bloom left?” Pinkie Pie asked in a happy voice, unperturbed by any bumbling blue pegasi.

“Huh?” Scootaloo asked, confused.

“That smile was pretty much a ‘I’m still kind of upset about what you did, but I am much, much, much happier that you’re back home now. I may let you stew for a little, but I still totally love you!’-smile!”

“You can read all that from a twitch of her mouth?” Twilight asked after a moment’s silence.

“Well, duh! You really should pay more attention to the itty-bitty details sometimes, Twilight!” Pinkie replied cheerfully. Twilight made an incredulous expression while Spike did his best not to snigger too loudly.

“Don’t worry, Scootaloo,” Fluttershy said with a little smile. “Applejack was just scared. We all were.”

“Yeah, I guess I can imagine,” Scootaloo muttered as the guilt hammer hit her with full force. “Did, uh… did my dad…?”

“He seemed cool when I spoke to him,” Rainbow Dash replied airily. “I mean, sure, he was worried as well, and he did ask me to do my very best to find you, which I guess is fair considering what—Uh…” Dash became quiet for a moment. “We should probably get you back to him now,” she said soberly, before brightening up in a little grin again. “Hey, want me to keep you company? I’ll go with you and talk to him.”

Scootaloo smiled widely and nodded. It was not that she was afraid of seeing her dad again. She felt confident that, while he might be upset, she could make him understand and accept why she had gone off the way she had. Based on what Rainbow Dash had said, though, it would not be the only thing to speak with him about.

“Do you mind if I tag along?” Fluttershy asked timidly. “I don’t mean to impose, but my cottage is on the way there, and—”

“Sure. Yeah, that’d be great, actually,” Scootaloo replied, smiling. She did have a few things to say to the yellow pegasus as well, things which had been nagging her since she saw Fluttershy again. Things involving a turtle—Or is he a tortoise?—on a doorstep.

“I’m going to write down and catalogue what we found while it’s still fresh in my mind. Who knows when we, or anypony at all, will see the golems again,” Twilight said, already levitating pen and paper over.

“Ugh, boring!” Pinkie Pie groaned with an appropriate tongue-out-of-mouth grimace. “I’ll be at Sugarcube Corner planning out a welcome-home party for the fillies!” she announced, bouncing up the stairs of the library.

“Uh, Pinks? The door is over here,” Dash pointed out with a little smirk.

“I know!” Pinkie Pie replied cheerfully as she continued up the stairs and into Twilight’s room, leaving the rest looking rather perplexed.

“What is she—” Fluttershy began.

“The balcony!” Twilight cried a moment before there was an excited “Wheeee!” from above them. A moment later and Scootaloo saw Pinkie Pie through the window, bouncing away happily.

“That pony…” Twilight muttered, shaking her head. “Spike, could you make sure the balcony door is closed and locked?” The dragon nodded and headed up the stairs. “See you later, girls,” Twilight said with a slightly tired smile at the other three ponies.

“…And that’s why I, personally, in my humble expert opinion, think that Spitfire is both way cooler and a way better flier than both Soarin and Fleetfoot.”

Rainbow Dash had just concluded a lengthy tirade about the pros and cons of every single member of the Wonderbolts, and Scootaloo had to do her best to suppress a grin. They had been walking for twenty minutes at most, but in that brief time span, it had become abundantly clear that Rainbow Dash, in her own way, was every bit as much a fangirl of the Wonderbolts as Scootaloo was of her. The filly idly wondered if Rainbow Dash kept a photo wall in her room as well, decorated with pictures and cutouts of Spitfire. Judging by the way Rainbow Dash seemed able to go on endlessly about the “undeniable levels of awesome” that the air acrobats supposedly oozed like sweat after a long flight—an analogy by Rainbow Dash that Scootaloo felt sounded perhaps a bit less awesome than Dash had no doubt intended—it certainly did not seem all that unlikely. Fluttershy had listened quietly with the patient smile of someone well familiar with an old friend’s quirks, emitting the occasional “M-hm”, “Really?” and “Oh my goodness” when appropriate. Scootaloo had been too busy trying not to laugh and had found it difficult to respond to the veiled prompts during the very brief lulls in Rainbow Dash’s praise.

“But, you know, that’s just my opinion,” Rainbow Dash admitted with a little shrug. “What do you think, ’Shy?”

“Oh, uhm, me?” Fluttershy stammered, suddenly finding her usual responses insufficient.

“Yeah, you. Who do you think the best Wonderbolt is?” Dash pressed.

“Well, uh… I think Spitfire is very pretty, and…” the timid pegasus began, but she stopped when Rainbow Dash let out a groan of exasperation.

“Oh, come on, ’Shy, you’ve been hanging out with Rarity too much! Looks don’t mean squat unless you’ve got it working with everything else. You gotta have style, agility, strength and a whole lot of guts, too!”

“Well, Spitfire has all of those as well, right?” Fluttershy pointed out good-naturedly.

“Well… yeah!” Dash rolled her eyes and looked at Scootaloo. “What about you, Scoots? Who do you think is best?”

“Well…” Scootaloo thought hard, but in truth, she had never actually seen any of the Wonderbolts anywhere apart from on photos or in the newspaper. Whenever Scootaloo thought of the Wonderbolts, they were really all synonymous with a single pony who did not need the blue uniform to look the part. “I’m not sure who of the current Wonderbolts is my favourite. I haven’t seen enough of them to know. But I know that if you were one, it’d definitely be you, Rainbow.”

Dash let out a guffaw and pounded her chest once. “Hah! Well, I’m definitely all of those things as well, that’s for damn sure.”

“Language,” Fluttershy muttered.

“Oh sheesh, I’m new at this, give me a break,” Dash complained.

“I think I’ll live,” Scootaloo chuckled, shaking her head a bit before looking at the yellow pegasus. “So, uh, Fluttershy, listen, I’m sorry about yelling at you a few days ago. I don’t think I ever got around to apologizing, but I felt really bad about it.”

Fluttershy gave her a reassuring smile. “Oh, it’s all right, Scootaloo. I know you had a lot of other things on your mind back then.”

“I was just really frustrated, that’s all.”

“About Rainbow Dash?”

“You knew back then as well, huh?”

“Oh yes. Or, well, I suspected, anyway.”

“Right. Well, yeah, I was.”

“I’m standing right here, you know,” Dash muttered somewhat indignantly.

“Really? I almost forgot,” Scootaloo replied with a smirk at the pouting pegasus. Dash let out a little snort.

“Anyway,” Scootaloo turned back to Fluttershy, pawing a bit at the ground with a hoof, “you and me, we’re cool, right?”

Fluttershy let out a soft little laughter and smiled warmly. “Yes, Scootaloo, we’re cool.”

They continued on down the road leading out of Ponyville for a couple more minutes until they reached Fluttershy’s cottage. The yellow pegasus hugged them both and bade them farewell, and a few moments later, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were alone on the road.

“Just you and me now, eh?” Dash said with a little grin, giving Scootaloo’s shoulder a playful nudge. “You wanna go say hi to your old pony now?”

Scootaloo nodded. “Yeah, let’s. Hopefully he won’t be too upset.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got your back in case he is.”

They walked in silence for a bit, which Scootaloo found a bit strange. Not so much that there was silence, but that Rainbow Dash was walking. Most of the times Scootaloo saw the blue pegasus in the company of others, she was hovering or gliding at least a few feet in the air. Scootaloo was uncertain whether Dash’s walking now was a deliberate choice or not, but it was a nice gesture nonetheless.

“Hey, Rainbow?”

“Yeah, Scoots?”

“Thanks for coming after me.”

“Anytime, kid. Like I said, I’ve got your back.”

“Always?”

“Always.”

Scootaloo knocked firmly on the door and stood back next to Rainbow Dash. The familiar tock tock tock preceded the opening of the door, revealing Gusting Ember with a pipe wedged in the right corner of his mouth. The wooden pipe slowly travelled all the way to the opposite corner, puffing out a little wisp of smoke. He looked over at Rainbow Dash.

“Well, that took you long enough,” he said.

Dash let out a little snort. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

“Dad!” Scootaloo smiled and embraced her father tightly. The stallion finally lit up in a smile of his own and hugged her back.

“Glad to see you’re back safe and sound, Scoots. You’re just in time, too; I was just about to put dinner over. Now you get to help me make it while you tell me just what kind of crazy antics you and your friends have been up to this time.”

“Really? But you always make the best food when you do it on your own—” Scootaloo began with her most ingratiating expression, but Ember shook his head.

“Nice try, but no dice. Get to work on those carrots. Chop chop!”

“Oh fine,” Scootaloo relented as she followed her father into the house, pausing to look over her shoulder at Rainbow Dash, who was still standing on the other side of the threshold. “You coming, Rainbow?”

“Uh, well, I’m not sure I should… I mean…” she muttered awkwardly, scuffing a hoof at the ground.

“Aw, quit your belly-aching and come on inside. For a supposed speedy daredevil, you’re being awfully shy and timid,” Ember grunted.

Rainbow Dash bristled, flaring her nostrils. “Hey, I’m the fastest pegasus in all of—”

“That right? Well, why don’t you prove it by showing me that you can peel those potatoes faster than Scootaloo can chop the carrots? Get on it,” Ember replied, gesturing at a small mountain of potatoes near the fireplace.

Scootaloo could not help but laugh at Rainbow Dash’s gaping, somewhat dumbfounded expression. She took out a cutting board from one of the kitchen drawers and began to prepare the carrots on it.

Dash rushed over and fumbled for the potato peeler in the drawer. “Hey, not fair, you got a head start!”

Later, once dinner had been made, served and thoroughly enjoyed, Scootaloo finished telling about the events of the past few days, aided by Rainbow Dash’s perspective for the later parts, right up until the moment she and Dash had stepped through the door to Scootaloo’s home.

“So Princess Luna herself not only took a personal hoof in your discovery, but she also wants your help to look further into it,” Ember mused. “Not bad for a school-age filly.”

“It’s thanks to Rainbow Dash. She’s the one who found us,” Scootaloo said, beaming at the blue pegasus.

“I know she did, honey. She said she would.”

“Aw, shucks, I didn’t do much. Well, I did some, but Scoots is the real toughie here, not me,” Rainbow Dash replied, doing her best attempt at modesty.

“Well, that’s a given,” Ember said with a wry smile. “But you were true to your word. I read you right, which I’m very happy about.” He glanced over at Scootaloo. “But next time you go off on a big trip like that, let me know in advance, right?”

“Heh, right,” Scootaloo agreed, looking a bit embarrassed. “Deal.”

Ember nodded, satisfied. “Still, it’s a big comfort for me to know you got a Daring Do-kind of pony looking out for you.”

“Wait, you know Daring Do?” Rainbow Dash inquired with sudden interest, leaning across the table.

“Damn skippy. Best book series I ever read. I take it you’ve read ’em too?” Ember gave the other pegasus a reassessing look.

“Heck yeah! Daring Do and the Minotaur’s Maze is the absolute best of them!”

“Hogwash! Daring Do and the Crystal Caverns blows it out of the water by a quarter mile!”

“As if! The saw blade death trap and the fight scene with the minotaur is pure, undiluted awesomeness, and—”

Scootaloo let out an inward groan and shook her head, smiling as she helped herself to another bowlful of the still warm soup while the other two pegasi continued to debate the merits of every Daring Do novel in existence late into the evening.

Carousel Boutique had never felt more warm and welcoming than at this moment when Sweetie Belle and Rarity stepped inside, both feeling more weary and tired than they cared to say. Rarity closed the door behind them and levitated a couple of half-finished designs off the nearest couch.

“Are you hungry, Sweetie? There are still some leftovers from yesterday. I’ve got… hay sandwiches,” Rarity said, cringing slightly, evidently embarrassed at the lack of ‘proper’ food to offer. Sweetie Belle could not help but giggle. Whenever she stayed with Rarity, her sister always made a point out of providing delicious and varied meals, frequently of far more exotic variety than what she got when at her parents’ house, where breakfast, lunch and dinner mostly consisted of pan-fried everything.

“It’s okay, Rarey,” Sweetie Belle replied, smiling. “Well, maybe I’m a little hungry—”

“Say no more! I shall be but a moment. You just wait right here.” Rarity disappeared into the kitchen and, sure enough, returned a few moments later with a pair of sandwiches that still looked moderately fresh. Truthfully, Sweetie Belle would have been happy to eat grass at that moment, realizing for the first time just how hungry she was. She wolfed down the sandwich at a rate that would have made Pinkie Pie proud, culminating the display of gluttony with a content belch.

“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity gasped. “That is so unladylike!” She quickly devoured her own sandwich before letting out an even more impressive burp of her own. Sweetie Belle was so shocked at first that she almost forgot to laugh, but once it seized them both, neither could stop until they were practically rolling around on the floor, hiccupping and gasping for breath in between fits of almost hysterical giggling.

Rarity turned her head to face Sweetie Belle once the laughter finally died down, smiling at her. “You know, when I promised I was going to be less of a control freak, I didn’t know this was what would come of it.”

Sweetie Belle’s smiled faded a bit and she lowered her gaze to the floor. “I’m sorry, Rarey… I didn’t mean for it all to happen like it did.”

“I know, Sweetie, I know,” Rarity assured her softly. “But you’re here now, and that’s all that matters.” She hesitated for a moment before continuing. “We should talk about your… your magic, though.”

Sweetie Belle looked over at her sister quietly. For the longest time, she had wondered why she struggled so much with magic. Now that the answer was within hoof’s reach, she suddenly felt unsure whether she wanted to know the answer at all.

“Perhaps we should go somewhere more comfortable first, however. This floor isn’t exactly the softest surface I’ve experienced.”

Once they were both safely ensconced in Rarity’s bed—Rarity with a cup of steaming tea, Sweetie Belle with one of hot cocoa—Sweetie Belle asked the question most pressing on her mind.

“Back in that room with the black stone, Twilight said I’m a resonator. What does that mean?”

Rarity took a deep breath, as if bracing herself. “It’s… well, it’s difficult to explain. I wasn’t really sure what it meant until I saw what you did in that room. To be honest, I’m still not fully certain, but I’ll try to explain as best as I can.” She gently stroked Sweetie Belle’s mane for a moment before continuing. “From what Twilight described, it’s a rare condition among unicorns that causes problems with their spellcasting.”

“What kind of problems?” Sweetie Belle asked, feeling a leaden weight forming in the pit of her stomach.

Rarity sighed a bit. “It varies. For some, it’s only mild instability in their magic. For others, it’s difficulty casting spells at all.”

Sweetie Belle nodded slowly. She felt oddly light-headed, at odds with the weight she felt in the rest of her body. “What about the… ghosts, then?”

“That’s the other part of it. A resonator can… hmm. Do you remember what Princess Luna said about an echo of a traumatic event?”

“Yes?”

“Apparently, bad deeds done with magic cause a lingering imprint where they were performed. I guess it’s a bit like a haunted house from one of those tacky ghost stories Daddy always used to tell.”

“The ones where Mommy ends up giving him a swipe with the newspaper to make him quiet?” Sweetie Belle asked with a faint smile at the memory.

Rarity let out a little chuckle and nodded. “Exactly so. Except in this case, you’re the one doing the swiping, so to speak. A resonator can purge the echo somehow. I admit, I don’t fully understand it, but if what Princess Luna said is true, then that is also how you destroyed that obelisk. Your… resonance, I guess we can call it? It reflected the ward’s magic back onto itself when it tried to attack you.”

Sweetie Belle tilted her head thoughtfully. “I think I did that earlier as well, down in the cellar where we made Golem. Purged an echo, I mean. There were ghosts there, too.” She took a sip of her cocoa and looked up at Rarity. “Do you think I’ll ever get to do real magic?”

Rarity was quiet for a bit before replying. “I don’t know, Sweetie. I’ve certainly seen you do some magic…” she said, touching her sharp-cut mane meaningfully.

Sweetie Belle cringed a bit. “I mean magic that I choose to do. Not… accidents.”

“I guess it depends on how strong your condition is,” Rarity said reluctantly. “I know it isn’t what you’d like to hear, but… well, I’m afraid that’s the only answer I can give. There has to be somepony who can help, though. Princess Luna certainly seemed to know about it. Perhaps we can talk to her if she comes back to see you like she said she would.”

Sweetie Belle looked at the contents of her cup in silence for a few moments before turning her gaze back to her sister. “Why haven’t you grown your mane back yet? Can’t you or Twilight just fix it with a spell?”

Rarity looked a bit surprised for a moment. “Well, yes, I suppose, but… Well, I wanted to gauge the reaction to a short mane while I had the opportunity,” she said with a light shrug, taking a dainty sip from her teacup.

“Reaction from who?” Sweetie Belle asked curiously.

“Ah, doesn’t matter. It wasn’t what I hoped for, though, so I’ll most likely be growing it back tomorrow. Just as well, it simply didn’t look right in the mirror.”

Sweetie Belle cuddled up with her back against Rarity, taking another sip of her cocoa. Now that she knew the truth behind her magic issues, she realized that she felt better off knowing after all. Whatever her condition might entail, at least she now knew why, even if the why was a far cry from what she had hoped. Still, as she sat in her sister’s embrace, in the warm, soft bed of Rarity’s room, Sweetie Belle felt the past few days of anxiety, fear and dread wash off her like dirt in a bath. She knew for absolute certain that no ghosts, bad echoes or evil could reach her so long as her sister was here, and with that comforting knowledge to bolster her, she slowly drifted off to sleep.

The Apple sisters walked the winding dirt road to Sweet Apple Acres in silence, Applejack looking straight ahead towards the farm, Apple Bloom alternating between staring at the ground and glancing ruefully at her older sister. Finally, the filly could not stand the quiet anymore.

“Ain’t ya gonna say somethin’?” she asked almost desperately. Her sister looked down at her for the first time since they had left the library.

“Like what?” Applejack replied.

“Like how Ah messed up, how Ah wasn’t truthful with ya, how Ah brought both mahself an’ mah friends in danger?”

The farmpony raised an eyebrow ever so slightly. “Now why’d Ah need to go tellin’ ya what ya already know, AB?”

Apple Bloom opened her mouth to reply, but found herself lacking words. Why indeed?

“Lookie here, lil’ sis, we already went over this back in that there mountain,” Applejack continued before she could come up with an adequate reply. “We jus’ never got around ta finishin’ it.”

It took Apple Bloom a moment to realize that they had veered off the road at some point and were instead heading up a grassy hill. Applejack seemed to be moving with a purpose, though, so the filly continued to follow her older sister. The top of the hill presented a wonderful view of almost the entirety of Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack sat down next to an old hollow wooden stump, and Apple Bloom followed suit after a moment’s hesitation.

While it might to the untrained eye seem like the trees were randomly placed, the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres were in fact carefully and meticulously arranged so that all the different apple sorts could be easily distinguished and separated during a harvest. The afternoon autumn sun bathed everything in a golden glow. In a month or two, perhaps a few weeks at most, the pegasi would prepare for the onset of the winter season, and soon everything would be covered in ever-growing layers of snow until it was time for Winter Wrap Up.

“Look, AB,” Applejack began, gesturing towards the orchards with a sweeping motion of her hoof. “Every apple tree the sun touches is our property.”

Apple Bloom glanced up at her sister. “Erh, Ah know that, sis. Ah live ’ere, too.”

“Dang it, AB, Ah was tryin’ ta make some poignant introduction,” Applejack said with a little smile for the first time in what seemed like forever.

“Sorry, Ah guess?” Apple Bloom ventured. She was, if anything, even more confused about her sister’s behaviour now.

“Well, Ah can skip ta the heart o’ the matter,” Applejack replied with a little shrug. “Here’s the thing: You, me, Big Mac an’ Granny Smith, we’re family. Ah know we got branches o’ the Apples all over Equestria, an’ they’re family too. Rainbow, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie an’ Fluttershy, they’re also a kind of family, but a different one. But us, we’re family-family, ya see? Ain’t none others like us in the whole wide world, an’ there ain’t nopony else Ah’d trade any of ya for.”

Applejack looked down at Apple Bloom and gently put a hoof around her shoulder before continuing. “But that also means we only got one Apple Bloom, an’ if we lose her, there ain’t nopony else in all of Equestria to replace her.”

Apple Bloom swallowed heavily to try and dislodge the lump she felt in her throat, but without much success. She listened quietly, still unable to formulate a reply.

“It wasn’t even so much the deceit that tore at me. Ah won’t pretend Ah ain’t ever been guilty o’ lyin’ as well. That sick bastard Discord played me like a banjo with that. It was the fear o' losin’ ya that was the worst. Ah don’t ever want to lose anypony if Ah can help it.” Applejack let out a sigh and gazed up at the sky. “But Ah know Ah can’t keep ya from goin’ off an’ doin’ yer own thing. Big Mac was right; it took me a trip to Manehatten to realize mah destiny was right here at the farm. Ah can’t demand ya stay within mah sights all the time an’ never do anythin’ dangerous. Heck, if Granny Smith hadn’t wandered into the Everfree Forest lookin’ for food back when she was a filly, our family might've never managed to settle down ’ere.”

“What are ya tryin’ to say, exactly?” Apple Bloom finally asked. Her sister blinked, then let out a little chuckle.

“Heh, guess Ah should’ve practiced mah speech a lil’ more. Well, mah point is jus’ this: Ah love ya ta bits, an’ no matter what stupid things ya do, Ah’ll still love ya ta bits tomorrow as well, ’cause that’s what family does. Ah can’t tell ya not ta go lookin’ for danger. Ah can only ask ya ta use yer noggin next time ya go off on some grand adventure.”

Apple Bloom sniffled and wiped her muzzle, managing a little grin. “Oh, don’t worry, Ah ain’t goin’ off like that again for a long time.”

Applejack smiled and tussled her sister’s mane. “Well, can’t say Ah’m displeased ta hear that, but don’t go makin’ hasty promises now. It sounded like Princess Luna was mighty keen on gettin’ to know everything about them golems ya found.”

“Ah think Ah’ve had enough golems for a while now. Ah still can’t believe Golem was so… so…”

“Everypony does weird stuff when they’re scared. Guess it ain’t no different for clay ponies,” Applejack said with a little shrug. “Which reminds me,” she added, eyes brightening up a little as she took off her hat and rummaged through it. “Ah found this back on that mountain trail. Ah think ya dropped it.”

Apple Bloom stared in surprise at the pink ribbon her sister was holding up. “Mah bow! Ah thought it was lost for good!”

“Not anymore, it ain’t,” Applejack replied, grinning. “Once we put a brush to that mane o’ yours, ya might even look presentable again.”

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow at her sister. “What, did ya go an’ turn into Rarity while Ah wasn’t lookin’?”

“Why, I do declare that this is an insult most uncouth!” Applejack said in her most outrageously posh voice.

“That was terrible!” Apple Bloom snorted in between fits of laughter.

“Whatever do you meeeean? This is a perfectly—Oh darn it, Ah can’t keep this up,” Applejack chuckled, shaking her head. “Enough o’ that, ya ready ta head back now? We shouldn’t keep Big Mac an’ Granny Smith waitin’. They’ll be wantin’ ta know yer okay as well.”

“Yeah, let’s go,” Apple Bloom agreed once the laughter had died down and her insides did not hurt as much. They headed down the hill towards the familiar and welcoming sight of the farmhouse.

“Hey, sis. There’s jus’ one thing Ah’m wonderin’,” Apple Bloom said after a few moments of silence.

“Yeah? What’s that?” Applejack replied curiously.

“How did ya get to Manehatten back when ya were a filly? That’s the question that made me start lookin’ through all those travel books in the first place. Preparation for a trip of our own, which routes to take, all that.”

“Me? Ah took the train, o’ course.”

Apple Bloom’s faced changed between three different expressions in as many seconds, going from wide-eyed surprised to an incredulous grimace, finally settling on a slightly embarrassed half-smile. “Oh.”

Celestia was in the middle of one of the less exciting aspects of rulership when Luna entered the throne room. An ink-spotted unicorn clerk was in the middle of providing a detailed review of the projected expenses for this year’s Hearth’s Warming Eve pageant, reading aloud from one of several scrolls. Luna, supremely unimpressed by the numbers and figures, strode past the clerk without offering him a second glance and ascended the steps of Celestia’s throne.

Celestia gave the clerk an apologetic little smile. “I’m sorry, Abercus, but we’ll have to finish this later. I believe my sister has urgent news for me.” The clerk, savvy enough in court matters to know when to insist on an extended audience and when to quietly back out, bowed quickly and left.

“Sister?” Celestia inquired, but Luna shook her head. The Sun Princess nodded in understanding and rose from her seat.

“My sister and I will retire to my study for now,” she told the Royal Guards standing at attention at the foot of the throne. “We would like a tray of refreshments delivered outside the door in fifteen minutes.”

Once they were in the modest yet cozy chamber that served as Celestia’s private study, Luna visibly relaxed and sat down on the silken carpet on the floor. After lighting the wood arrayed in the fireplace, Celestia sat down next to her sister, briefly touching necks with her in a gesture of affection before looking expectantly at her.

“It’s over,” Luna finally said, her voice almost trembling with relief as she spoke the words.

“And?” her sister prompted.

“They are free. They had been toiling away beneath Silverpeak for a thousand years, Tia, but now they are free.”

“Silverpeak…” Celestia echoed thoughtfully. “Yes, I guess that makes sense. What of Tincoat? Did you find out what happened to her?”

“She perished trying to get past the defenses,” Luna replied heavily. “We found what I presume were her last words, but no sign of the body. It must have crumbled away a long time ago.”

Celestia closed her eyes for a moment and nodded slightly. “It saddens me to hear that. I wish I could have done something, but at least she can be at peace now.”

“Could you not have stopped her?” Luna asked, an edge of reproach in her voice. “Surely she could not have gone to Silverpeak completely unnoticed.”

“I’m afraid so, Luna. Everything was chaos in the aftermath of our fight. The Royal City was in ruins, and I barely had the strength to do much more than raise the sun.”

Luna’s expression fell a bit. “Yes, of course. I just wish—”

Celestia gently touched her sister’s neck again with her own. “I know, Luna. The guards found out what she had done too late. Nothing could be done to help her. Just take heart in the knowledge that it wasn’t all in vain.” Luna nodded, though she did not seem entirely convinced. “What of the fillies?” Celestia asked in an attempt to divert her sister’s thoughts. “Did they truly make a golem?”

“Yes, it would certainly seem that way. I am still not certain how they managed it, but I intend to question them about it later.” Luna regarded her sister for a moment. “You know what this means, don’t you? If three little fillies found the means to create golems…”

Celestia nodded. “I know. We must find out how they did it and do what we can to keep that knowledge safe. The craft is too open to abuse to let it become public knowledge.” She let out a little sigh and shook her head. “What of the golems themselves?”

“Resting, it would seem. The one that the fillies made said that they would come to us when they felt the time was right.”

The Sun Princess nodded again. “It should not come as a surprise that they are wary. Do you think they can be left alone until they are ready?”

“The wards that hid the entrance still endure. Nopony will find the golems unless they know where to look,” Luna affirmed. “There is one other thing I should add. One of the fillies, the sister of one of the Element Bearers, appears to be a resonator. She may be useful if given training. At the very least, I believe she deserves some guidance after what she did.”

“Oh?” Celestia said in a tone of pleasant surprise. “This is news to me. I will pass on the word. Kettlepot will be happy to hear that.”

There was a polite knocking on the door leading into the study. Celestia gave her sister a little smile. “Ah. Sounds like our refreshments have arrived. Would you care to indulge in a little meal together?”

“I suppose it would be impolite of me to decline at this time,” Luna replied with an air of careful disinterest. Celestia got up and opened the door, returning a moment later with a tray of tea and various baked goods. She set the tray down between them, pouring cups of tea for them both before giving the array of pastry a thorough examination.

“I suppose there has been no news about the journal’s placement in the Archives?” Luna asked after taking a sip of the steaming herbal beverage.

Celestia shook her head. “Nothing concrete yet, but Shining Armour is personally overseeing the investigation and will forward all new findings directly to me. We will get to the bottom of this soon enough.”

“I hope you are correct. I would like to put all this behind me for good.”

“I believe what we have accomplished so far is cause enough for celebration,” Celestia said with a smile. “Don’t worry, Luna. It will only get better from now on.”

Luna nodded. As she looked down at the tray to sample the sweets, her expression became one of exasperated despair and dismay. “You took all the glazed ones, you glutton!”

Epilogue: Two Weeks Later

Scootaloo yawned and stumbled towards the front door, rubbing her bleary eyes with a hoof. It was downright criminal to wake someone at this hour during a day off.

“Yeah yeah, relax, I’m coming,” she grumbled as the knocking on the door intensified. She opened the door to reveal Rainbow Dash on the other side, sporting one of her trademark smug grins. The presence of the athletic pegasus was a pleasant enough surprise in itself to dispel any tiredness Scootaloo felt. Even more surprising was the rainbow-coloured scooter that Dash was leaning casually against.

“’Sup, Scoots? What took you so long?” she asked, not even bothering to hide her amusement at Scootaloo’s frazzled morning mane.

“Rainbow? What are you doing here? And what’s with that scooter?” the pegasus filly asked in confusion, trying to make sense of the situation.

“Running of the Leaves is coming up soon, and that means I need to get ready to beat Applejack’s orange butt up and down the field in the Iron Pony competition,” Dash replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Ooookay? So where do I come in?”

“Well, I need all the edge I can get, and you’re awesome on a scooter. I figured maybe you could help me sharpen my agility a bit by teaching me some of your moves on that thing?” Dash suggested with a little shrug. “You know, if you think you’ve got time to help me out.”

Scootaloo’s face split into a wide grin. “Oh, I’m going to enjoy this,” she said, resisting the urge to let out a cackle and rub her hooves together.

“Hey, don’t be too hard on me now,” Dash chuckled. “By the way, AJ’s already roped Apple Bloom in to help her train, so there are high stakes here. Don’t let me down.”

Scootaloo rushed to the shed where her father was already hard at work fixing the wheels on a stagecoach. He spat out the hammer clenched in his teeth and looked up as Scootaloo grabbed her scooter from its spot in the corner.

“You heading out now, Scoots?” he asked, pulling off the back wheels of the carriage.

“Yeah! Rainbow and I are gonna go train for the Iron Pony competition,” Scootaloo replied happily.

“Oh, is that coming up already?”

”Starting next week, yeah,” Dash confirmed, peeking his head into the shed. “You giving it a miss, Ember?”

“And miss the chance to watch you get flattened by an apple farmer? You kidding?”

Scootaloo stuck her tongue out at her father. “Don’t listen to him, Rainbow. We’re gonna ace this.”

“You know it!” the blue pegasus replied with a grin, giving Scootaloo a hoof bump. They both got on their scooters.

“You ready?” Scootaloo asked.

“Let’s do it!”

They got about fifteen meters before Rainbow Dash careened into a ditch and was catapulted off her scooter and into a nearby bush. She emerged a moment later, coughing and spitting leaves.

“I meant to do that,” she muttered, smoothing back her mane. Scootaloo laughed and took off at high speed down the road heading towards Ponyville.

“Try to keep up now!” she yelled over her shoulder.

“Wohoo! It’s another ringer!” Apple Bloom cheered as her sister managed to make the second perfect throw after an admittedly high number of misses and near-hits.

“Heh, not bad, but Ah think Ah can go one better,” Applejack said with a fairly pleased grin. “Ya mind fetchin’ them shoes, AB?”

“Ah’m on it!” Apple Bloom did a little salute before galloping over to the wooden stake in the ground and collecting the ten horseshoes scattered around it.

“So how’d yer last meetin’ with Luna go?” Applejack asked as the filly returned laden with metal.

“Good, Ah think. She asked a bunch o’ stuff ’bout how we made Golem, then just reminded me again not to tell anypony else about it,” Apple Bloom replied, dropping the horseshoes with a clatter.

“Well, guess Ah can’t blame her for wantin’ ta keep it under wraps.”

“She also said she’d talked to Jitterleaf an’ given him an official-like apology for the way those goons that caused him to leave treated him. Apparently Princess Celestia hadn’t heard a thing about what happened back then. He said he’d consider comin’ back to Ponyville.”

“Huh, well that’ll make Granny Smith right happy, Ah reckon. Kinda fishy that Celestia didn’t know, though,” the farmpony grunted. “Ya ain’t heard no news from yer golem friends, Ah suppose?” She picked up one of the horseshoes and threw it with too much force, missing the stake by a rather impressive margin. “Aw, shoot!”

“No, nothin’ yet. Guess they’re still restin’.”

“Well, they’ll come around eventually, an’ then ya can say ya were the one that rediscovered ’em. Findin’ a thousand-year-old secret an’ clearin’ an old pony’s name, ’tain’t no mean feat for a filly, that’s for sure,” Applejack said, giving her sister a proud smile.

“Heh, yeah. Ah guess,” Apple Bloom replied with a slightly embarrassed grin, shrugging lightly. Applejack threw another horseshoe, coming much closer to the stake this time.

“So what’s yer next plan for gettin’ yer Cutie Marks?”

“Well, Ah asked Sweetie Belle to pick up a bunch o’ feathers since she was in Canterlot anyway.” The filly tried to throw one of the horseshoes as well, but barely managed to get it over the halfway mark. “Oh, pfooey!”

Applejack blinked. “Feathers? What are ya gonna use those for?”

“Bird watchers! We’re going to—”

“Dress up as a giant bird?” Applejack finished for her, smiling a bit and shaking her head. “Ah ain’t exactly sure it’ll work like that.”

“Maybe not,” Apple Bloom admitted. “Still, it sounds like fun, so we’ll give it a go. Our Cutie Marks are gonna come eventually, right? So we’ll just try to have fun along the way.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Applejack replied with a smile. “Ya let me know how that works out, will ya?”

The Canterlot train station was bustling with ponies moving to and fro in an orderly fashion despite the dense press of bodies. Hapless luggage carriers toiled under the weight of heavy baggage, loading them on and off the trams. Rarity and Fluttershy wove their way through the crowd, skipping past the check-in queues and going straight into the station building itself.

“I do appreciate you keeping me company on that dreadful train ride, darling,” Rarity said for the third time in the past hour, making a little toss of her head to move aside the elegant curl from her right eye. In the weeks since the fillies’ return, Rarity’s mane had grown back to its usual length, aided by an equal mix of magic and experimental tonics. “Canterlot may be a wonderful place, but travelling here is nothing short of an absolute bore.”

“Oh, it’s my pleasure,” Fluttershy assured the unicorn with a soft smile. “I just hope Sweetie Belle can find us with all these ponies around. It’s almost a little scary how many there are.” She glanced at a group of stylishly dressed unicorns moving past them, all dignified, haughty and aloof.

“I’m certain she's fine,” Rarity replied confidently. “We agreed to meet outside the station building at three o’clock. She might even be there already.”

As it turned out, the unicorn filly showed up a couple of minutes after Rarity and Fluttershy did, dashing between the legs of other ponies in the street, much to the pedestrians’ annoyance.

“Hi, Rarey! Hi, Fluttershy!” she greeted them cheerfully, hugging each of them in turn.

“Hello, Sweetie,” Rarity said warmly, noting with amusement how her sister was almost bouncing on the spot. “I take it everything went well?”

“Yes! Everypony is so nice, especially our teacher, Mr. Kettlepot. Since I can’t attend class as often as the others, he gave me a bunch of exercises and stuff that I can do at home instead,” Sweetie Belle replied happily. “And they’re completely safe!” she added brightly when a look of concern passed fleetingly over Rarity’s face.

“Well, I’m glad to hear you’re getting along so well,” Rarity said with a smile. Sweetie Belle nodded excitedly.

"Yeah. I can’t wait to get home now, though. The school here is nice and all, but I’m glad I only have to go once a week. There’s no Apple Bloom or Scootaloo here, and no Miss Cherilee either, so it’s still not quite as fun as school in Ponyville.”

Rarity furrowed her brow a bit in puzzlement as she looked at Sweetie Belle’s schoolbag from which something colourful stuck out.

“Are those… ostrich feathers?” she asked. Sweetie Belle glanced down at her bag, and then gave her a sister a cautious smile.

“…Maybe?”

The train they boarded for the return trip was not as packed as the one they had arrived in, but finding empty seats was still difficult enough. They did eventually manage to find a passenger car that was only half-filled, and Sweetie Belle immediately leapt to secure a couple of seats by a window.

“Hmpf, you can say what you like about the efficiency of their train system, but they don’t exactly have the best comfort,” Rarity complained as she tried to make herself at ease in her seat.

“Oh, I’m sure it could be worse,” Fluttershy said gently, unfurling her wings once before lying down.

“It’s not a question of whether it could be worse, darling. It’s a question of simple design decisions and—”

Sweetie Belle subconsciously switched off her hearing for her sister’s rant as the train’s engine kicked into life. She pressed her muzzle to the window as they slowly rolled out of the station and down the winding mountainside of Canterlot. It was not long until Ponyville came into view in the distance, and with it came the sweet promise of her home and friends.

Prologue: Another Day, Another Try

“You ready for this?” Scootaloo asked, grinning widely in anticipation.

Sweetie Belle adjusted her crash helmet a bit. “Ready!”

Apple Bloom gripped the unicorn filly’s legs securely and nodded excitedly. “Totally ready!”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s do this!” Scootaloo held up her left hoof, her right one wrapped around Sweetie Belle’s chest. “On three! One… two… three!”

“Cutie Mark Crusader Battering Rams, yay!” the three fillies shouted gleefully in unison as Scootaloo and Apple Bloom charged at the large doors of the Sweet Apple Acres barn, carrying the helmeted Sweetie Belle between them, who for her part wore an expression of grim determination. However, moments before the Crusaders could smash open this last obstacle in a glorious, Cutie Mark-inducing shower of wooden splinters, the doors swung open, revealing a very startled-looking Applejack hauling an empty wooden cart.

“What in tarnation?” the farmpony blurted, moments before the three fillies collided with her, sending them all sprawling head over hoof into the barn.

Applejack coughed as she picked herself up from the floor, wincing a bit in pain as a broken piece of cart jabbed at her side. “Apple Bloom? What the hay do y’all think you’re doin’?”

The Crusaders looked down at the ground shamefully, except for Sweetie Belle, whose eyes were rolling around groggily. “Sorry, sis,” Apple Bloom whimpered from her position across Scootaloo’s back. “We didn’t know you were in the barn. We were jus’—”

“Tryin’ ta get yer Cutie Marks?” her older sister finished for her with a sigh. “Lookie here, girls, Ah understand it’s hard waitin’ an’ y’all wanna speed things up a bit, but could ya maybe try doin’ somethin’ that ain’t aimin’ at breakin’ down the farm? We ain’t exactly swimmin’ in bits here, ya know.”

“Well, that’s the smart part! See, if this failed, we were gonna try Cutie Mark Crusader Junk Salesponies with the remains of the doors!” Scootaloo chipped in helpfully, flashing her most charming grin at Applejack. The expression deflated quickly under the stern glare the farmpony gave her.

“We’re real sorry, big sis, honestly! It’s just, if we don’t try out ev’rythin’ with the same enthusisism—”

“Enthusiasm,” Sweetie Belle’s muffled voice said from beneath her two friends. “And could you two move it? I’m getting a little squished here.”

“—with the same enthusiasm,” Apple Bloom continued as she and Scootaloo got off the erstwhile battering ram, “we might jus’ miss that one thing which is our special talent.”

“Ah know, Ah know, but don’tcha reckon it might be more fun—an’ safe—if y’all tried doin’ somethin’ a bit more, uh, creative an’ not so destructive?” Applejack suggested hopefully as she gave her poor ex-cart a sad look.

“Safe?” Scootaloo looked as if the word itself was distasteful to say. “Are you serious?”

“Sis, ya went to Manehatten on yer own when ya got yer Cutie Mark!” Apple Bloom protested in support of her friend.

“Nothing wrong with being a bit safe…” Sweetie Belle muttered as she slid the crash helmet off and rubbed her aching head, though the other two pretended not to hear her.

“Ah had Aunt’n’Uncle Orange to stay with, remember? It wasn’t like Ah was jus’ bein’ happy-go-lucky all on mah own in the big city,” the farmpony replied defensively. Apple Bloom looked about to press the issue, but her sister cut her off.

“Anyhow, Ah gotta try an’ see what Ah can salvage from this here wreck if Ah’m gonna fix up a new cart. How ’bout y’all go an’ pick me up a box o’ nails from the market?” She gave the three fillies a wry smile. “Who knows, maybe yer special talents are in deliverin’—”

“It’s not. We tried that last time when we accidentally wrecked Fluttershy’s bridge after being Cutie Mark Crusader Bridge Trolls,” Scootaloo grumbled.

Applejack opened her mouth for a second to inquire further, but shook her head instead. “Well, would ya kindly hop to it anyway?” The Crusaders grumbled their assent as they shuffled out of the building.

“That was a waste of time,” Scootaloo huffed as she sped along the dirt road on her scooter, pulling the cart with her two friends after her.

“Why did I have to be the battering ram, again?” Sweetie Belle asked from the back of the cart, grimacing as she rubbed the bump forming on her head.

“Because with all those fancy words you know, you’d have the biggest head,” Scootaloo retorted.

“Hey! Just because you’re too chi—”

“Don’t even think about going there,” the pegasus filly growled.

The rest of the trip to Ponyville was spent in a sullen silence, with Scootaloo keeping her eyes fixed on the road, Sweetie Belle shooting the occasional glare at the orange filly, and Apple Bloom staring thoughtfully at nothing in particular. As they entered the town, Scootaloo expertly manoeuvred them past the other residents, weaving around and between the townsponies, deftly compensating for the heavier cart trailing behind her. She pulled to a breakneck stop in the middle of the town, mere hoofsbreadths from one of the market stalls. She gave the handlebars of her scooter an affectionate pat before looking over at her friends with a smirk.

“How do you like them scootering skills, eh?” she asked smugly, subconsciously flaring her stubby wings. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes as she dismounted from the cart.

“Wow, you didn’t crash us once. That must be a new record,” she replied sardonically. Apple Bloom, apparently still deep in thought, said nothing as she jumped after the unicorn filly. Scootaloo stuck out her tongue as a reply as the three began to go through the market, looking for right stall.

It was close to high noon, and the market was at its busiest, with vendors extolling the many virtues of their wares, from manebands and gilded ribbons to daffodils and tomatoes. Ponies bustled back and forth with saddlebags crammed full of various goods, greeting and chatting and laughing. It took the Crusaders a couple of minutes of searching and occasionally dodging past other ponies to find the stall they were looking for. A large sign above the stall spelled out the nature of its wares in case the many tools and boxes full of nails, bolts and screws of all sizes failed to.

“There it is!” Sweetie Belle said, somewhat unnecessarily.

“Great, let’s get this over with so we can go back to planning our next move.” Scootaloo looked from one filly to the other. “Who’s got the bits?”

“You mean you didn’t bring any?”

“Does it look like I’m wearing a saddlebag?”

Sweetie Belle let out a low groan. “We never remembered to bring any, did we?”

They both turned to look at Apple Bloom, who had been following in silence, still wearing the same vacant expression. “Apple Bloom?” they both asked in unison. Apple Bloom blinked and seemed to notice the other two for the first time.

“Huh, wha’?” she replied.

Scootaloo gestured impatiently at the stall. “Bits! For the nails! You got any?”

“Uhh… nope. Ah guess Ah kinda forgot ’bout that,” the farmfilly muttered.

“Hide me,” Sweetie Belle said suddenly, diving behind her friends.

Coming straight towards the three fillies were two mares, one a yellow pegasus with pink bangs partially obscuring her face, the other a unicorn with an alabaster coat and an elegantly styled mane. Both were carrying saddlebags of similar design, black fabric embroidered with delicate silver stitching.

“…Very impressed by your last attempt, darling. He was like pudding in your hands! I told you four bits for a simple bundle of celery stalks was nothing short of highway robbery. Clearly, one bit for two was a much more agreeable price. I’m so proud of you!” Rarity cooed, smiling affectionately at the pegasus walking next to her. Fluttershy, for her part, looked away shyly, hiding one eye behind her mane.

“Oh, thank you, but… are you sure it was okay, pressing the poor salespony that much over a celery stalk? I mean, what if he couldn’t really afford to sell the stalks that cheap and just gave me one at that price to be nice?” She let out a nervous gasp. “What if he’s going to go to bed tonight on an empty stomach because I was being a bit-grubber who refused to pay those three extra bits? What if he has foals who will starve because of me? Oh, I better go talk to him!” Fluttershy half-turned to go back the way she had come, but her friend stopped her with a hoof.

“Now now, darling, that’s very thoughtful of you, but I have no doubt he will be more than fine without—Oh, hello, girls.” Rarity smiled warmly at the fillies as she noticed them. “I didn’t expect to see you here at the market. Are you done with your crusading alre—Sweetie Belle! Whatever happened to you, dear?” Rarity gasped in horror as she noticed the bruise on her sister’s head.

“What? It’s… it’s nothing! Really!” Sweetie Belle squirmed in protest as the older unicorn darted forward and scooped her up to inspect her. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo quickly dodged out of the way of the concerned sister to avoid being trampled.

“Sweet Celestia, you’re hurt! Whatever have you been doing?!” Rarity cried out, drawing glances from a few nearby ponies.

“I told you, it’s no—”

“Oh my, are you all right, all three of you? Should we go to Nurse Redheart about this?” Fluttershy asked, concern plain on her face.

“We’re fine, Fluttershy, it was just a little accident during our latest attempt. Sweetie Belle is way too tough to be put down by a little bruise. A few minutes and we’ll go right back to crusading again,” Scootaloo replied confidently, stepping towards her friend who was still being subjected to an intense examination by Rarity.

Sweetie Belle gave Scootaloo a grateful smile and nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I—”

Rarity shook her head fervently. “No, nononono, no more crusading until you have made a full recovery, young filly! Goodness, do you know what your mother would say if she knew I had let you come to serious harm while you were in my care? She might never let you stay with me again!”

“But she doesn’t need to know—”

“You’re right, she doesn’t, because you’re going to stay within sight of me or another adult until that horrible injury has healed fully. Is that understood?”

“What?!” Sweetie Belle squeaked in dismay.

Scootaloo took a step forward. “But—”

Rarity held up a hoof to forestall any further discussion. “I’m sorry, girls, but this is not up for discussion. Sweetie Belle is under my protection as long as she’s staying with me, and as a responsible big sister, I’m going to have to put my hoof down on this matter.”

Sweetie Belle looked as if multiple different sentences were warring to be the first to come out of her mouth, but her sister looked as resolute and adamant as the filly had ever seen her. Fluttershy looked from Rarity to the Crusaders with worry, but said nothing. Scootaloo glanced desperately at Apple Bloom and jabbed her with a hoof.

“Say something! Help me out here!” she hissed at her friend. To her growing frustration, Apple Bloom did not seem to have paid attention to a word that had been spoken in the past couple of minutes.

“Uh… hiya?” the farmfilly ventured, looking up in confusion.

“Nice job,” Scootaloo muttered.

“I guess I don’t have a lot of choice here, do I?” Sweetie Belle grumbled, puffing her cheeks and glaring resentfully at Rarity, who simply shook her head.

“I’ll carry you back to the Boutique if I have to, but I think we’d both much rather avoid causing more of a scene than we already have, yes?”

Sweetie Belle muttered something under her breath that Rarity pointedly chose to ignore. “Uhm, well, I’m sure your friends can still come and visit you, Sweetie Belle,” Fluttershy said softly, looking at the unyielding unicorn mare expectantly. “Right, Rarity?”

Rarity hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Well… yes, as long as you all understand that there will be no crusading for a while.” She looked down at her fuming sister. “Now come along, Sweetie. Let’s get you home so we can start treating that ghastly injury of yours. I’ll talk to you later, Fluttershy dear,” she said in passing as she began to walk towards the Carousel Boutique with her sister in tow, leaving Fluttershy with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, who—to Scootaloo’s teeth-gnashing frustration—seemed to have lapsed back into not-quite-there-land.

“Uhm…” Fluttershy began.

“Yeah,” Scootaloo muttered.

“So, uh… what were you girls here for in the first place?”

“Well, we were going to buy a box of nails for Applejack so she could fix the cart we may or may not have had a hoof in wrecking, and then go back to our clubhouse to think up a new plan to get our Cutie Marks, but it looks like that idea’s been put on ice.” Scootaloo cast a sullen glare at the vacant Apple Bloom. “Not least because somepony forgot to ask her sister for the bits to buy the stuff in the first place.”

Fluttershy shook her head and moved closer to briefly touch the top of Scootaloo’s mane with her muzzle. “Now, Scootaloo, I know you aren’t happy about this, but you really shouldn’t be so angry with your friends. It’s not their fault that things turned out the way they did, nor is it yours.”

“I—” Scootaloo began, before sighing, some of the anger seeping out of her. “Yeah, you’re right, Fluttershy. It’s just… nothing ever seems to go the way I hope. Like, never ever, ever. And I’m starting to get a little sick of it. Really sick of it, actually.”

Fluttershy nodded, giving the little pegasus a look full of sympathy. “I understand. Well, I can help you out with one of your problems right now, at least. I’ve got some spare bits on me. Wait here, please.” She trotted over to the nearby stall, the Crusaders’ original objective before their ill-fated encounter with a certain fussy big sister. After a moment, she returned with a small brown box.

“Oh wow, thanks a lot, Fluttershy! You didn’t have to,” Scootaloo said, surprised and happy as Fluttershy put the box down in front of her.

Fluttershy gave the filly a gentle smile. “Oh, don’t worry about that. And you know, Scootaloo, if you ever want to talk, you can always come by my cottage. I’m not the best talker, but I’m always happy to listen. That goes for both of you.” She looked over at Apple Bloom, though unsurprisingly, there seemed to be no reaction there.

“Talk?” Scootaloo blinked and hesitated for a moment, then held up a hoof. “Urgh, nah, I don’t do all that namby-pamby sappy talky… stuff.”

Fluttershy just continued to smile. “Of course. But if you ever change your mind…” she replied as she began to walk off.

“Right. Yeah. Uhm...” Scootaloo scuffed a hoof against the ground for a moment before brightening up. “Hey, have you seen Rainbow Dash around? If Sweetie Belle’s grounded a few days, I guess we aren’t going to be doing any crusading, anyway.”

“Rainbow Dash? Oh, I saw her down by the lake with Tank earlier. I think she said something about ‘showing the lake turtles who’s a real hard-shell’ or something along those lines.” Fluttershy giggled softly. “Say hi to her from me if you see her.”

“Will do. Bye, Fluttershy!”

“Bye, girls.”

Scootaloo turned to Apple Bloom, who was chewing her own left cheek thoughtfully. She nudged the brown box towards the farmfilly.

“Soo, you can take that box back to your sis on your own. Right, Apple Bloom?”

“Huh? Uh-huh.”

“Riiiiight. Well, I’m gonna go look for Rainbow Dash by the lake. Maybe we should go visit Sweetie Belle later when you’re less… distant?”

“M-hm.”

“Are you even listening to what I’m saying?”

“M-hm.”

“Applejack is a big sissy-pony.”

“M-hm.”

“Oh, the hay with it!” Scootaloo threw her hooves up in frustration and trotted back towards her waiting scooter, bristling with annoyance.

Apple Bloom remained where she was for several more minutes, the brown box still on the ground in front of her. Some of the passing ponies were starting to give the vacant filly concerned looks. Suddenly, her face lit up in excitement.

“Ah got it! Ah really got it this time!” she shouted in triumph, jumping into the air and startling everyone near her. She glanced around, noticing that her friends were gone moments before her mind caught up with the previous events that had rudely been put on hold while she had been deep in thought.

“Oh,” she said to no one in particular. “Darn.”

Chapter 6: The Only Cure is More Books

For the umpteenth time that afternoon, Sweetie Belle tried to lift one of the apples that Twilight had set up for her to practice with, and for the umpteenth time, there was a brief, feeble shimmer of magic enveloping the apple that faded again almost as soon as it had appeared. Sweetie Belle let out a little groan, too exhausted to voice her disappointment with words. Only three times in the past couple of hours had she managed to do something with the test apples: the first one had melted into a puddle of mush, the second one had been cleanly bisected in an eerie echo of the previous day’s events, and the third had been crushed into virtual nothingness by a brief, extremely localized gravitational singularity. Each of these occurrences had been spontaneous and uncontrolled, though they had all occurred at times when Sweetie Belle’s frustrations had overpowered her attempts at concentration.

She looked over at Twilight, who had spent the time alternating between frantically looking through at least fifty different books and offering advice and encouragement, which towards the end mostly amounted to “keep trying.”

Eventually, even the diligent librarian admitted defeat with a sigh. “Sorry, Sweetie Belle. I’ve looked through every relevant book in the library and tried everything I can remember from the time I started doing magic myself. This... this is an enigma!”

Sweetie Belle sat down wearily, every part of her body aching, even though she had done nothing except stand around all afternoon. Or perhaps it ached for exactly that reason. Her stomach felt like it was trying to eat itself, and her head throbbed with a vicious migraine.

“I just don’t get it! This doesn’t make sense! Why is it that either nothing happens, or something completely different than what we’re trying to do happens? It’s maddening!” Twilight paced back and forth, looking almost as dishevelled as Sweetie Belle felt. Being denied an answer when she had been patiently presenting logical solution after logical solution clearly did not sit well with Twilight.

“You know, Twilight… if we can’t find anything here, maybe… maybe there’s somewhere else we can look,” Sweetie Belle slurred, her vision spinning slightly. “Like, uh, Canterlot, maybe?”

Twilight let out a gasp and snapped around to look at Sweetie Belle with excitement. “Of course! If you can’t find the solution in a library, go to an even bigger library! It’s brilliant—”

Sweetie Belle flopped backwards onto the floor with a thud and fell into a fatigue-induced sleep.

“Oh dear,” Twilight squeaked.

About an hour later, she managed to wake the exhausted filly from her slumber. She gently nudged the plate full of hayfries that Spike had voluntarily prepared towards Sweetie Belle, looking at her with concern.

“I’m so sorry, Sweetie Belle, it completely slipped my mind how straining prolonged use of magic is, especially for a filly. I would let you sleep it off, but you really need to eat something first.”

Sweetie Belle wanted to go back to sleep, but more than that, she wanted something, anything to eat. She felt hungry enough to eat a pair of socks if necessary, but the hayfries in front of her were far more appealing. She dug into the food, forgetting all about the proper eating manners that Rarity usually tried to teach her.

After eating every last scrap of food, including that which had spilled on the floor in her frenzy of devouring, she sat down, letting out a little burp. She quickly covered her mouth and blushed.

“Uhm. Sorry,” she muttered. Twilight let out a little giggle.

“That’s quite all right. As I said, I’m the one who’s sorry. I should have made sure you got regular snacks in between our practice session. I guess I just got caught up trying to find a solution.”

Sweetie Belle rubbed her stomach a bit, worried that she might have eaten too much too quickly.

“But I think it was a good idea you had. Perhaps we should try and visit the Canterlot Archives. I don’t think there’s a bigger repository of knowledge in all of Equestria. We’re bound to find something there that will give us a clue about this,” Twilight continued as she began to levitate the many scattered books back to their respective places on the bookshelves. “Of course, we’ll need to check with Rarity first to make sure she’s okay with you going.”

“I guess she’ll be fine with it, so long as I’m going with somepony else,” Sweetie Belle replied, standing up and shaking her head a bit to try and clear the fuzzy feeling behind her eyes.

“Nevertheless, I think it’s best if we get it cleared with her first. Besides, I think you’ll sleep better in your own bed.” Twilight gave the filly a bright smile, before shouting towards the kitchen. “Spike? Can you put the rest of these books back up while I walk Sweetie Belle home?”

There was a grumbled reply, but Twilight seemed satisfied. “Shall we?” she asked, heading for the door. Sweetie Belle nodded and followed, still feeling a bit dizzy, but at least her headache had lessened into a dull throbbing rather than a splitting pain.

It was growing dark outside, and the streets were largely empty, most ponies having retired to their homes for the day. Twilight knocked on the door to the Carousel Boutique, still lit up by virtue of its many windows from which light streamed. After a few moments, Rarity appeared in the doorway, wearing a magnificently wobbly hat decorated with so many feathers that it almost looked as if live birds were perched atop it. Both Sweetie Belle and Twilight looked at the sight in stunned silence for a moment.

“Nice hat,” Sweetie Belle commented eventually.

Twilight shook her head a bit with a smile. “You know, I think I could do something to help you with your mane if you want, Rarity.” The alabaster unicorn made a little toss of her head, setting the entire hat alive with motion.

“As it happens, I’m quite enjoying this impromptu opportunity to try out some more elaborate chapeau designs. Not that I don’t appreciate the offer, darling,” she replied with a twinkle of mirth in her eyes.

“Uhm, Rarey, would it be okay if Twilight took me to Canterlot tomorrow? We didn’t have much luck with what we had in the library, so we were thinking about trying out the Canterlot Archives.” Sweetie Belle glanced warily at Rarity, half expecting her sister to throw a fit at the thought. Instead, she merely smiled.

“Why, certainly, little sister. If anypony has experience digging through dusty, smelly old books, it’s Twilight.”

“Hey!” Twilight let out a little indignant huff, though she did not seem overly offended.

“Oh, but while you’re in Canterlot, do you think you could pick up some eagle feathers?” Rarity asked as Sweetie Belle moved inside the Boutique. “There’s a tailoring shop near the train station that sells some fabulous accessories. You should be able to pick up a couple from there.”

“We’ll be sure to keep an eye out for it.” Twilight smiled, turning her attention to Sweetie Belle. “We can take the afternoon train tomorrow. That should give you more than enough time to finish school first. Does that sound all right to you?”

“That should work,” Sweetie Belle agreed with a nod. “See you tomorrow then, and thanks again for your help, Twilight.”

“Happy to be of assistance. Have a good evening, both of you.” Twilight waved and began trotting off towards the library again.

“So, are you hungry, Sweetie?” Rarity asked as the two sisters moved into the kitchen. “Would you like something to eat? Drink?”

“Actually—” Sweetie Belle yawned “—I’m a bit tired. Do you think I could just lie down for a while?”

“Oh, of course, dear. Just give me a moment.”

A few minutes later, they were sitting on Rarity’s couch, Sweetie Belle with a cup of hot cocoa, her sister with some aromatic herbal tea that she had gotten from Fluttershy. Sweetie Belle was leaning back against Rarity, feeling pleasantly warm and cozy as she sipped the cocoa.

“Are you sure you’re okay with me going, Rarey?” Sweetie Belle asked, her eyelids starting to feel heavy again, though this time, it was in a much more relaxing manner rather than the weight of lead that had dragged her down earlier.

“Of course, dear.” Rarity smiled as she put her tea cup aside on the nearby table and instead levitated over a hairbrush, which she began to gently run through Sweetie Belle’s somewhat ruffled mane. “It’s not the first time you’re going to visit Canterlot. Besides, Twilight will be going with you. Don’t you worry, I have no issues with this.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Sweetie Belle muttered, sipping down the last drops in her cup and slowly closing her eyes. “Didn’t want you to get upset… thought you might be nervous about me going.”

“Sweetie, dear, I already told you, I’m not going to fuss over you so much. You aren’t a little foal who needs her sister holding her hoof all the time anymore.” Rarity chuckled softly as she tenderly untangled her sister’s mane.

“So long as you promise to be careful, I’ll trust you in whatever you want,” she continued, giving the filly a gentle kiss atop her head. There was no response.

“Sweetie Belle?” Rarity could hear a soft, steady breathing coming from her sister. Sweetie Belle was curled up with her back to Rarity’s stomach, still holding the now empty cup in her hooves. Rarity smiled and gently plucked it from her sister’s grasp, moving both it and the brush onto the table, instead levitating a soft blanket and her current favourite romance novel over, wrapping the warm fabric snugly around them both. Although she normally preferred to sleep in her queen-sized bed, perhaps she could make an exception this once. She opened her book and let out a content sigh. This was not a bad way to spend an evening.

“The Everfree Forest? Are you serious?” Sweetie Belle exclaimed as her friends relayed the results of their meeting with Jitterleaf to her.

“It’s not like we’ll be goin’ in blind. We know what to look for. Besides, if we go durin’ daytime, Ah reckon we’ll be fine. Ah’ve gone to Zecora’s house a couple o’ times mahself, an’ it went just fine,” Apple Bloom said in what she hoped was an assuring voice. “But before we go, Ah reckon we should get our hooves on Tincoat’s journal.”

“Did you get Twilight to take you to Canterlot?” Scootaloo asked Sweetie Belle before she could voice another objection.

She nodded. “Yeah, we’re supposed to be taking the afternoon train. It leaves in about an hour. I’m still not sure how I’m going to get the journal while I’m there, though.”

“Don’tcha worry ’bout that. Me an’ Scoots’ll take care of it. All ya need to do is keep Twilight busy,” Apple Bloom said with a smile.

The unicorn filly furrowed her brow. “Huh?”

“So long as we all go there with Twilight, nopony’s gonna wonder why we’re lookin’ around the Archives. Then, while ya keep Twilight’s attention occupied, we’ll go find the journal, an’ there ya go, problem solved.”

“But how will you get Twilight to bring you two along? She’s only expecting me to go.”

“We’ll just come up with some excuse about how we heard you were going to the archives, and we are both super jealous, because we really want to see it too, and blah, blah, blah. I’m sure a bookworm like Twilight will buy that,” Scootaloo replied with a dismissive wave of her hoof.

“We should get ready. See y’all at the train station,” Apple Bloom said cheerfully as she headed out of the clubhouse.

“Uhm. Okay,” Sweetie Belle squeaked behind her.

As Apple Bloom hurried back to the farm to drop off her schoolbag, she almost ran into her siblings near the edge of the orchard. Big Macintosh was pulling the recently repaired cart, while Applejack was loading baskets full of apples onto it.

“Heya, sis,” Applejack greeted her, looking up from her work. “Where’re ya off to in such a hurry?”

“Oh, uh, Twilight’s takin’ us to see the Canterlot Archives. Super exciting, huh? Well, Ah gotta skedaddle, got a train to catch. Bye!” Apple Bloom hurried off before her sister could inquire further. Applejack looked after her with a raised eyebrow. A few moments later, she came racing back the other way, this time with an empty pair of saddlebags, heading in the direction of Ponyville.

“First she’s up all night readin’, now she’s goin’ to Canterlot to get even more books? She ain’t never been that big of a reader.” Applejack furrowed her brow and hauled another basket atop the cart. “Ah don’t like this, Big Mac, not one bit. Our sister’s actin’ all strange.”

“Y’know, AJ, when ya ran off to Manehatten on yer own, me an’ Granny Smith thought it real strange, too,” Big Macintosh said calmly. “But we didn’t stop ya ’cause we figured ya gotta do what ya gotta do.”

“This ain’t the same!” Applejack snapped. “This is her actin’ just plain… odd.”

Big Macintosh gave her a look that rather clearly said: “Yes, this is indeed the same.” The stoic stallion did not actually say anything, though. In his experience, arguing with Applejack when she was in that mood was like trying to argue with a brick wall, except that the brick wall would be more inclined to be reasonable.

“Well, fiddlesticks to that. Ah’m gonna go see what it is that’s got her so gosh-darn excited, an’ Ah’ll eat mah hat if it don’t turn out ta be somethin’ serious,” Applejack declared heatedly, marching towards the farmhouse. Big Macintosh merely shook his head and began to load the baskets onto the cart himself.

“Hey, if it isn’t my number one fan!” Rainbow Dash’s voice called out above Scootaloo, stopping the filly in her tracks. Her heart beat rapidly with excitement even as a nagging part of her brain cried out in frustration in the back of her head. She looked up to where Dash was reclining on a tree branch, probably just recently awoken from one of her habitual naps.

Oh no, not this time. Just keep going.

‘I should at least hear her out. Maybe she has something important to say?’ Scootaloo thought to herself.

You promised yourself there would be no more errands!

‘She wouldn’t stop me like this if it was just about that.’

She would, too.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash! What’s up?” she called back tentatively.

“Nothing much, just chillaxing a bit. It’s hard work being as awesome as me, you know,” Dash replied, stretching her limbs lazily.

“I bet. Uhm, did you want something?”

“You’re pretty fast on that scooter of yours, right?” Dash asked with a little smile. Scootaloo blushed a bit and gave her an embarrassed little grin.

“Yeah, I guess I am. Erh, I mean, I know I am,” she agreed.

‘Ohmygosh, did Rainbow Dash just praise me?’ she thought.

Oh, be quiet, fangirl.

“Awesome. I’m feeling a bit starved, you see. Think you could swing by Sugarcube Corner and get me a cupcake? That’d be great,” Dash said, making herself comfortable on the branch again. The corner of Scootaloo’s right eye twitched.

“A… cupcake,” she repeated.

“Yeah, with extra frosting. I’d prefer if it’s still warm from the oven, too.”

Is this the point where I do my I-told-you-so-dance?

“No!”

Dash blinked in surprise, a confused look on her face. “Huh?”

“No! I’m sick of being used to run every little errand you can’t be bothered to do yourself! I bet you think it’s funny, don’t you? That foolish flightless filly Scootaloo, pretend to give a flying feather about her now and then, and she’ll do whatever you ask. Hilarious, right?” Scootaloo glared furiously up at Dash, her voice cracking slightly. “You don’t treat me as anything other than a joke that’s useful for fetching you things! Well, I’ve had enough of it! You can get your stupid cupcake yourself! I’m done doing you favours! In fact, I’m done talking to you at all! Goodbye, Rainbow Dash!”

Without waiting for a reply, Scootaloo rode off on her scooter as fast as her wings could propel her, fighting to hold back stinging tears in her eyes. Rainbow Dash remained behind on her tree branch, looking utterly dumbfounded and lost for words.

“What the hay just happened?!” she cried out eventually, once the surprise and shock at Scootaloo’s bitter tirade had worn off.

Scootaloo was the first to arrive at the Ponyville train station, which gave her time to regain her composure. She wiped her eyes with a hoof and stuffed her feelings into an iron cage deep down in herself. She would deal with that later. Right now, she had to be in the moment if she and her friends were to pull off their plan. At least the taunting voice in her mind had gone quiet, satisfied that she had finally chewed out her treasured idol. She had felt a savage vindication when she gave voice to her frustrations and saw the look of shock on Rainbow Dash’s face, but at the same time, she felt that it had not been justified. She had been the one who readily agreed to do whatever Rainbow Dash asked, after all. Nopony had forced her to do it.

‘Later,’ she thought to herself. Apple Bloom came to join her on the station platform, followed shortly after by Sweetie Belle and Twilight.

“Hello, girls,” Twilight said, looking somewhat puzzled to see Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, but smiling pleasantly nonetheless. “What brings you here?”

“Hey, Twilight! Sweetie Belle told us you’re takin’ her to visit the Canterlot Archives, an’ me an’ Scootaloo wanted to ask if we could come with you! It sounds so cool!” Apple Bloom beamed at the unicorn mare, her voice sounding utterly sincere.

“Yeah, because AB and me really want to know more about books and… stuff,” Scootaloo muttered. Apple Bloom gave her a little kick with her left hind leg. “Ow! Uhm, please?” the pegasus filly added, putting on a wide smile.

“Wow, I didn’t know you were that interested in books! You should come around the library more, in that case,” Twilight said with a wry grin.

“Yeah, it’s just, uhm… we heard the Canterlot Archives is like super big and special and full of all sorts of cool books, and, erh, we figured it’d be awesome if somepony as brainy as you could show us around.” Scootaloo glanced desperately at Apple Bloom for support.

“We promise we won’t be a bother. We Pinkie Promise!” Apple Bloom declared, making the cross-chest-and-hoof-in-eye motion.

“When I told them we were going, they were so jealous that they practically begged to be allowed to come along,” Sweetie Belle added.

Twilight blinked. “Really? Wow, I had no idea you were all that keen on going. Well, I’ll happily take you along, of course, but have you made sure that you’re allowed to go?”

“Yeah, Applejack said she thought it was a super idea, an’ that it’s great that Ah’m takin’ such an interest in books!” Apple Bloom said happily.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Scootaloo affirmed.

“Well, in that case… Let me just go and get some extra tickets from the office.” Twilight smiled and trotted off towards the station building. The three fillies kept smiling back until the lavender unicorn started talking with the ticket pony. Apple Bloom resisted the urge to punch the air in triumph.

“Great job, Crusaders!” she whispered to her friends, grinning widely. “Canterlot, here we come!”