Chapters Once Upon a Time; Searching the Spells
Emma waited by the door to Rainbow's like a patient dog. Rainbow had said something about "important buisness" and had flown off. Now it had been three hours, and Emma was worried that something was wrong. She waited to see a cyan rainbow fly toward her, and when Emma looked into Dash's eyes, they were hardened and cold, like polished stone. Intimidated by this before-unseen side of Rainbow, Emma backed off a few paces.
Rainbow turned to look at her slowly. "The amulet," she rasped. "Regina wants it. Is that true?" Emma nodded speechlessly. "How did she know about it?" Rainbow began raising her voice and pacing. Confused, Emma began to stammer out how she learned Regina wanted it and how Trixie had taken it. Rainbow laughed, but it seemed more of a nerveous laugh then humored. "Of course Twilight would explain it that way! She wanted to protect you!" Rainbow stopped pacing, stood there a moment, and slunk down a few minutes later, defeated.
Emma trotted a few steps forward. "What way? Why would she want to protect me?" Rainbow didn't look at her, but her flapping wings definitly had anger written all over them. "Trixe bought the amulet, banished Twilight, made us her personal mare-maids... Need I say more?" Emma shook her head hastily. Rainbow sighed and stood up, seeming slightly wobbly. "The gang told me to go check on Zecora and the amulet. I want you to come with me, 'cause you know Regina best. Not because I'm scared or anything," Rainbow added quickly, and Emma resisted smiling.
Not too long later, the two pegasi were flying over the Everfree Forest. Rainbow pointed out all the placed she and the gang had been, and Emma listened with interest. "Ah, there's Zecora's now." Rainbow pointed down to a colored hut in the forest. Landing a few meters away, Rainbow told Emma to stay there until she had brought out Zecora. Emma obeyed, staying close to the hut. She had heard of the Timberwolves and Manticores, and she really didn't want to meet one.
Zecora had soon stepped out, Rainbow flying just overtop. "Ah, a new one in my sights. I do hope she has not been afraid of hieghts," Zecora directed her speech at Rainbow, who shook her head. "Natural flier." Zecora then turned to Emma. "The Alicorn Amulet is wanted once more? I suppose I must reinforce my door!" Emma tilted her head. "Meaning you have it in..." she simply pointed at Zecora's home, and the shaman nodded. "Safe and sound it is." She didn't rhyme this time, and Emma guessed it was for the better.
Soon back at home, the two pegasi went to their own rooms, reflecting on the chat with Zecora. Emma felt safer that Zecora was keeping the Amulet, because her home seemed hard to find in the forest. It would be safer there. In the meantime, they needed to find the spell tome. Their quest had not yet begun. And they needed to start soon.
Once Upon a Time; Searching the Spells
It was today that everypony got together to discuss who was going where. Henry had read several books himself and was looking forward to it, especially scince it would be like a world tour. One thing he had been confused about, though, was another pony he had never seen before. A gray pegasus with a yellow tail. That was all he had been able to see of the apparation at the time, but he did want to know who she was.
This time their meeting took place in AJ's barn, sitting among rather soft hay. They had formed a semi-circle, looking almost like a strange rainbow across the ground. "The girls and I have been talking," Twilight begun. "We've decided on the top places, of which we chose seven; here, Canterlot, the Crystal Kingdom, Manehatten, Appleoosa, Las Pegasus, and Cloudsdale. I've taken the liberty of dividing the search teams.
"Rainbow, you'll be leading a team into Cloudsdale that includes Emma and Regina, because you can fly. Fluttershy will take Mary Margret and Charming to Las Pegasus, AJ will lead Gold to Appleoosa, Manehatten will be tackled by Pinkie Pie and I, Rarity and Blue will go to Canterlot, and Spike will stay here to look." Henry was confused. "What about the Crystal Kingdom?" he asked, and the gray pegasus flew up.
"You and the crusaders are going up there with guidence from our voulenteer." Twilight said, bringing up the gray pegasus. The mare turned and Henry saw her eyes were crossed. "I'm Derp Ditzy Doo!" The pegasus said. "But you can call me Derpy. Everyone does!" Sweetiebelle was having a happy freak-out, Scoots just looked plain excited, and Applebloom had her mouth open in disbeleif. Henry looked up at Derpy again. Maybe she would be just as fun as Pinkie.
"This is awesome! We're going back to the Crystal Kingdom, and we're staying there for a week!" Scootaloo's wings were flapping at a high speed, nearly going 100 miles per hour and lifting her off the ground slightly. Henry laughed. "You might not be going far if you end up flying to the clouds!" Scoots simply looked embarrased and stopped flapping, her cheeks turning slightly pink. Sweetiebelle let out a happy squee. "I can't wait! Rarity said they have the most beautiful dresses there!" Applebloom smiled. "Ah can't wait to get there to see the crystal berries! Applejack told me they're as delicious as a Red Delicious Apple!"
"What are you looking forward to most, Henry?" Sweetiebelle looked at the colt expectantly. Henry thought a moment. "I'm most excited to find a new place and explore, having a good time." Scootaloo nodded. "Now that is what makes us 20 percent cooler." Applebloom and Sweetiebelle laughed, Henry smiling along. Another adventure was around the corner for them, which meant another chance at getting their cutie marks. Laughing together, the foals ran off.
Once Upon a Time; Searching the Spells
"You can call me Snow,if you want."
"I hope so." Charming had taken a step forward, and the clop of his hoof startled the yellow tour guide, sending her behind a parked carriage. Mary and Charming refrained from smiling in amusement as Fluttershy realized it had been Charming, coming back out with an embarrassed blush. She cleared her throat. "Er, well, if you'll just follow me this way. If that's okay with you, I mean..." Charming chuckled and nodded. "Lead the way."
It wasn't long before Fluttershy had led them to the quieter, less busy part of the city, and they had found the library. Splitting up to look in different sections of the library, they began to look through spells, everything from levitation to transformation. Mary and Charming took the spells in, drinking them in with interest, just in case. They might come in useful, if the search turned out unsuccessful, to have learned some magic if they had to live there.
Mary's mind wandered a bit as she read the next paragragh of a book, and that thought crossed her mind. It wouldn't be so bad, she thought. Everyone here seems so kind in their own way, gruff or shy. Fluttershy seemed to be looking with interest too; although not a unicorn or alicorn, spells were often interesting to some of the more quiet, in-the-dark pegasi. Hope was in the heart of all three ponies, despite Mary's being darkened currently. Perhaps, if I hope enough, it might slow the darkness down a little... She knew her husband would do anything he could to get her out of her perdicament, no matter how drastic.
It was around the same time as Emma and Regina had talked in Cloudsdale that the questers took a break to share what they had learned and encourage each other that there was still time. Mary didn't feel so sure. The clock will keep ticking, time will go on, until there's none left. We don't have time. Not enough...
Once Upon a Time; Searching the Spells
Emma lay on the cloud-bed in the guest room of Rainbow's home. Thoughts passed through her mind; what, why, how. So many things had happened in the three weeks that they had been there. Only three weeks. In just that time, she had been taken to a land of talking, multicolored ponies, learned to fly, taken four foals to the emergency room, walked through a palace, met princesses, and been bowled over by four flying foals. Emma smiled lazily, passing those three words through her head in a lazy joke; four flying foals. Try saying that five times fast!
She couldn't remember the last time she had felt this relaxed, but for some reason she felt she shouldn't be relaxed. Something nagged at her, silently trying to warn her, remind her, like an invisible beacon. It was as if she was in the middle of a torrental, misty sea that was her mind, and she couldn't spot the lighthouse that was trying to tell her she was near land. There's something I should be worried about, but I can't remember it... She only had faint hints, that it was something about a book and something Regina had wanted.
But Emma wasn't thinking properly in her relaxed, almost-drunk state. She was exaughsted from all the activity lately, and she just wanted to curl into a corner and sleep. That's what she did, she just lay on the bed and shut her eyes. She only needed the darkness right now.
Emma was woken awhile later, with Rainbow tapping the cloudy doorframe. Emma looked up, and saw that the mare seemed amused. Rainbow chuckled a bit before speaking. "You might wanna see what Pinkie and the Crusaders are doing," the pegasus said, and Emma trotted out after the rainbow-maned mare. They reached the outside area and Rainbow looked downwards, Emma following her gaze before widening her eyes with amusement.
Pinkie, Applebloom, Sweetie and Henry were nearly on the ground with laughter while Scoots stood there, dressed like a princess and her mane done into braids. "I swear, Henry will be the next in this thing!" Scootaloo said, clearly not amused. Emma laughed a little under her breath, and realized the mare next to her was holding a hoof over her mouth in an attempt not to laugh. "Pinkie's really outdone herself this time!" Rainbow said, and looked at Emma. "She's a great prankster. You might get a chance to know her better, but be careful, you never know with her." Rainbow looked back down and laughed again, Emma joining in.
But even with the distraction, the little thing still shouted at her from the back of her mind.
Once Upon a Time; Searching the Spells
Rainbow had quickly led Regina and Emma up to Cloudsdale afterwards. Most of the mares wanted to leave right away, hastily hoping for the best. Rainbow acted as a tour guide and showed them what each building was, until finally they reached Cloudsdale's local library. "No Daring Do books here," Rainbow had said wistfully. "But that doesn't matter. We need to find the spell tome." Rainbow had led them in and gotten admission (after expecting praise for her rainbooms) for all three mares, and each began to search. Spell tomes were rare in cloud libraies, but when they were found, they were always kept in excellent condition.
Scince the book had no known title, they began to pull out every spell book they could find and flip through them, not missing one paragraph in case it was the book they were looking for. Regina was deeply interested, and Emma couldn't get rid of the little nag at the back of her mind. She pictured herself tieing it up and duct taping over its mouth just to shut it up. She darted her gaze back to the tome she had been reading before as Regina noticed her suspicious look. Emma would just have to keep a closer eye on the evil queen.
At 12:00 they took a break; their efforts so far had been useless, and frankly, they began to think that the tome wouldn't be found here. "I'll meet you guys at the resaurant over there, just need to sign some waiting fillies autographs." Rainbow chuckled, gesturing at the small group of pegasus foals nearby. Emma nodded and trotted over to the restauraunt with Regina, sitting at an outdoor table made of cloud. Regina looked at Emma. "You know, you can stop looking at me like that." Emma, confused, looked at Regina with a strange face. "What way?"
"I saw you looking at me like that when we were searching for the spell. You think I'll betray you." Regina narrowed her eyes at Emma. "I want to get home as much as you do." Emma's ears fell backwards, both with guilt and anger. "Then why were you looking at that page in the book at Twilight's library?" Emma challenged. Regina was quick to reply. "I was interested in the page is all." The black alicorn replied. Emma stayed silent, her vow replaying in her head as Rainbow flew up. She wouldn't trust the queen. Not after everything she'd done.