It had been a peaceful semester for the students. Since the fall of the legion of doom; Equestria had entered a new era of peace. Prior, scars had been mended to nations and kingdoms. Their people lived in peace and unity. It was all wonderful and boring at the same time. Smolder, an orange dragoness, rested in her room at the school. Her gaze was cast upward at the ceiling. She wasn't focused on anything, but she was incredibly bored. Her mind wandered to the past. Back, when her and her friends faced challenges. Challenges that would push them to the brink. Now, they were longed for memories. Was it wrong for her to wish for something dangerous to happen?
There was a gently rapping at her door. It was followed by a voice. “Smolder, are you in there?” It was Ocellus.
She sighed and got up before walking over to her door. She opened it and greeted the changeling with a smile. “Hey, Ocellus. What's up?”
She smiled back at her. “I just wanted to see if you were here.” She asked. “Wanna go to sugar cube corner?”
She perked up a little; it had been awhile since they had been to the town sweetshop. She nodded and exited her room. Only to stop for a moment before she quickly turned back to her room. Ocellus was about to ask her what was wrong. But, her question was answered before she could ask it. Her friend had simply forgotten her bits.
She admitted. “I was going to pay for both of us.”
Smolder waved her off. “Naw, you did it last time.” She smiled as they continued walking. “Shakes are on me today.” That earned her a smile.
Ponyville had grown in size and population over the last year. There were a few more dragons living in the countryside. Changelings and Gryphons had joined the workforce. There were even some yaks living in the town. Mainly, as the demolition crew. It had all been wonderful. This was Equestria at it's finest. They made their way through the streets and reached their destination. Surprisingly, the shop wasn't as packed as it usually was. Pinkie waved at them as they sat down at a vacant table. They waved back at her and waited.
Ocellus asked her. “How have you been?”
The questioned surprised Smolder. Normally, she would ask her about her grades or if she remembered to do her homework. She shrugged it off and answered. “Good, you?”
She replied. “I've been great actually.” She giggled a little before she added. “I've got something to show you.” She started to reach into her saddlebag.
She was curious now. Her friend was only this happy whenever they would learn something new. Or, when they would visit the Crystal Empire. At the time they were review the history of Equestria and The history of the Gryphon kingdom. There was also no future trips to the Crystal Empire. She wondered what her friend was so happy about.
Her answer was a photograph that her friend held out to her. In the photo was Ocellus's mother and father. There was just one new face in the picture. It was a recently hatched grub. It had a cute face with light green eyes.
She commented. “Cute.” She smiled at her before handing the photo back to her. “What's the little one's name?”
Ocellus answered happily. “Honeydew.” She smiled happily at the picture. “I can't wait to meet her.”
It was then both of them felt the familiar call of the tree house. They could feel the spirit's energy reach out to them. While their gazes drifted towards the Everfree. Ocellus sighed while Smolder groaned in slight annoyance. They hadn't gotten a chance to order yet. Pinkie had just started to walk up to them.
Ocellus apologized. “Sorry, Mrs. Pie. Harmony is calling us.” She followed Smolder out of the shop.
Pinkie smiled and called out. “Be safe.” She hummed a gentle tune as she walked back behind the counter.
Their group met at the entrance to the tree house. Each of them wondered why Harmony had called all of them. Slowly, they entered the tree house and approached the center. Once they reached the center a ball of light floated down. The light took the form of Princess Twilight. Harmony looked at them and smiled.
She greeted. “A pleasure to see all of you again.” They nodded and she asked them. “How are all of you.”
Sandbar answered. “We're okay.”
Ocellus asked. “But, why did you call us here? Was it just to check on us?” Each of them nodded in agreement.
A sad look appeared on her face. “I wish it was just for that. But, I'm afraid all of you have a long journey ahead of you.”
They looked at each other before Harmony summoned a map of Equestria. It was similar to the one in Princess Twilight's old castle. But, she had better control over it. The map moved away from Ponyville and zoomed in on a town to the far north. The town was located beyond the crystal empire and far beyond Mount Aries. It looked like a small town built in a quiet countryside.
Gallus noticed the name of the town. “Melon Bat?” The towns name threw him off completely. “Did they name their town after a species of fruit bat?” All of them had learned about fruit bats from their teachers.
She shook her head and answered. “No, I didn't know this town existed until this happened.”
The town appeared to have a strange aura around it. For a moment the town appeared to shift and fade out of reality. Ocellus wondered if this was one of Discords tricks again. Lately, the draconiques had been remembering some of his old tricks he had left behind. Not like the vines he planted. But, more of things he had forgotten that he had done. Her thought changed however when dark clouds formed over the town. That was the mark of the pony of shadows. But, the elements and the pillars had defeated him.
She questioned. “Harmony, what is this?”
She answered. “I do not know, Ocellus. That's what worries me.” She tried to zoom in closer. But, whatever magic was affecting the town. It was keeping her from seeing what was doing it. “This magic is strong and it's old.”
Silverstream questioned. “Old?”
She nodded. “Yes, old. It's almost as old as Discord's magic. But, there's something else.”
Before they could ask all of them heard a feminine voice. “I've done nothing wrong. Why don't they want me? I'm nothing like him. I'm so hungry. Why was I even born?”
The voice sounded so broken and sad. It made all of them worry for the one it belonged to. Even Harmony felt for the voice. Whoever was in trouble she was there in that town and she needed help. The map vanished and turned into another ball of light. It floated in place for a moment before floating over to Ocellus. The moment she grabbed it. It turned into a magical compass. She looked at it and saw the arrow pointing somewhere to the right.
Harmony informed them. “I will let your leaders know of you mission.” She focused her magic and conjured some items for them. She had created some tickets for them to use at the train station. She also made some bits for them to use. The looked at the items and then at each other. This wasn't going to be like any other mission that they had been on. She wished them all luck. “May luck be on your side.” She then vanished in a flash of light.
For a moment they were all silent. They looked at each other again and then nodded. After collecting the bits and tickets; they left the tree house and headed back to Ponyville. They had to let Headmare Starlight know what was going on.
After informing Starlight about their mission all of them regrouped at the train station. All of them were thankful for the tickets. They were to a destination far north. Ticket's, like these would have cost a fortune in bits. All of them boarded the train and entered the cabs the tickets were marked for. The train began to roll down the track.
In the town of Melon Bat many ponies walked the streets. All of them lived happily in their town. But, that was what made them numb to the hidden dangers around them. A mare chatted with her friends while her foal played next to her. The foal was playing with a small ball. She bounced her toy happily; laughing innocently as she played. The ball bounced awkwardly and rolled out into the street. The foal smiled and walked out to retrieve her toy.
Her mother continued to talk to her friends. It wasn't until one of them noticed her foal; the stallion gasped in horror and pointed towards the child. All of them followed his hoof and watched in horror at the sight before them. A taxi wagon was moving quickly down the street. The stallion pulling the wagon had no time to stop safely. He tried to slow down as best he could. The sound of his horseshoes screeching on the asphalt echoed through the air. Some ponies covered their ears from the sound. While others were stunned in horror as the taxi continued to screech towards the foal. The foal was frozen in horror. Her mind slowly processed what she was seeing. It was the last moments of her short life.
Out of no where somepony had managed to grab the foal and get her out of harms way. The pony and the foal landed on the other side of the street. The pony was a stallion who wore a old black hat and duster coat. Both of them panted heavily from the near death experience. The stallion got up and checked the child over for any injuries. There appeared to be no sign of injury on her. He smiled at her before quickly running off. Before she could call out for him; her mother had run over and scooped her up. She was hugged tightly and kissed. Her mother was a wreck of nerves and fear. She couldn't believe that she almost lost her child.
The stallion hid himself in a nearby ally. He smiled at the good deed he had done and disappeared into the darkness. The ponies that had gathered wondered where he had gone. They didn't know his name. But, they were thankful to have him living in the town. They hoped he would never leave their town. And, they hoped he would deal with that thing one day.
Ocellus rested inside her's and Yona's cab. She was trying to find information on the town they were heading to. The only problem was there was no information on the town. It made her worry a little about the mission. Normally, they would know what they were getting into. But, this was different and that scared her. Yona noticed this and moved to sit next to her.
She asked her. “Everything, okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah.” That was a poor lie and she knew it. “I'm just used to knowing what's going on.” She sighed heavily.
She understood how her friend felt. “Yak, understands. Yak's also like knowing.”
Ocellus nodded and commented. “I'm also worried about who we heard.”
Yona asked. “You mean the voice?”
She nodded and explained. “The moment I heard the voice.” She stopped for a moment.
Her friend noticed this and gasped as she saw her crying. She had suddenly started crying. “Ocellus, are you okay!?”
She sniffled a little before wiping the tears from her eyes. “The voice. It had so much sadness in it.” She wiped the tears away again. “It sounded like that she never.” She couldn't believe what she was about to say. “That, she never felt love before.”