Part 3 – The New Arrivals

Pearly was on the warpath. After a long day of being underground, pulling minecarts and lighting up the tunnels for the baby ponies were in, she'd returned to her cabin to find her bunk missing. The rest of the cabin had been overturned; items strewn from one corner to another. She was in no mood to tidy it, and she was in even less of a mood to deal with whoever had done it.

Still she charged through the halls, looking for the pony in charge. The other ponies, returning from equally long days, ducked and dodged out of her way. They were well-acquainted with her temper at this point, as Pearly had been nothing but angry since she got there.

It was likely not her best, nor brightest idea, to join the pale ponies that suddenly appeared without word or warning in Dream Valley. Her aunt, Moondancer, tried to keep both Pearly and her cousin in Paradise Estate, away from these ponies. That was, until one night, Pearly was awake and saw them.

Pearly was unable to sleep, having taken to reading with a torch under the blankets. Like Dazzleglow, she too could not seem to relax, something that bothered Moondancer to no end. She tried relaxing baths, some herbs from the Moochik, though nothing even came close to helping Pearly. Instead, she spent her nights, reading under the blankets, until eventually, tiredness claimed her for a few scant hours.

It was on one such night she watched the pale ponies arrive in Dream Valley. The movement alerted her, hoof-beats against the grass and crunching through the leaves. She frowned. No one should've been around at this time, it was well after midnight.

She got up from the bed, discarding her torch and book, then threw the blankets off. She moved to the window and opened the curtain. In the distance, she could see figures moving toward Paradise Estate. Behind them, the darkness seemed deeper, without light of any sort, as if it was absorbed light. She moved away from the window, then out of the room, into the living area. She switched on the light and stood at the window.

Though she didn't like to admit it, in favour of being 'the strong one' for her cousin's sake, Pearly was equally as rattled and more than a bit paranoid about Applejack. She hesitated when opening the curtains.

"This is ridiculous," she muttered, then threw the curtains open.

She was met with the back of a pale pony's head, the straggly hair draped over their neck. Pearly's eyes widened, and she ducked below the window. She put her hooves over her mouth to conceal a cry, and tried hard to calm her breathing.

She peeked through the window, and found the pony was gone. She stood up.

"Well…pony feathers," she whispered.

She moved further back into the estate, checking around the curtains, to ensure there were no ponies hiding behind them. She opened the last set of curtains and came face-to-face with one of the ponies.

She clamped her hooves over her mouth and staggered back away from the window.

The pale pony tilted its head.

She tried to control her breathing, never once taking her eyes off of it.

The pony walked backwards away from the window, keeping its eyes locked on Pearly's.

Once gone, Pearly slid down the side of the couch she leaned against, and this was where she was found the next morning.

Despite her hunting, Pearly could not find the head of the group, at least until the baby ponies were rounded up and taken to the assembly chamber. There the leader walked onto the small stage that had been built, her presence filling the entire room.

Pearly nudged one of the ponies beside her. "What's going on?"

The baby pony shrugged. "Heard they'd got some more baby ponies to join us."

Pearly went cold. She watched as the new group were paraded onto the stage. She breathed a sigh of relief when she did not see her cousin there.

"Baby ponies," she began, facing the crowd. "Today we have the pleasure of welcoming more to our ranks. Treat them as you have been treated."

There was an unspoken threat, and they knew it.

The baby ponies were ushered out of the hall, except for Pearly. She was stopped and the leader approached, a smile on her face. It unnerved Pearly to no end.

"How are things with you, Pearly?" she said.

"My room has been messed up and my bunk is missing," Pearly answered. She shrugged the leader's hoof off of her shoulders and shivered.

"Now that is a shame. No matter, I'll send you to a new room with one of the new ponies."

The leader left, and Pearly was escorted to her new room. In the room, her new roommate was another unicorn, purple, with rainbow hair. Pearly cocked her head to the side.

"Rainbow nursery?" she asked.

The unicorn nodded. "Baby Rainribbon."

"Pearly."

Baby Rainribbon frowned.

"It's a nickname."

Though the frown stayed, Baby Rainribbon did not ask further.

There was a knock on the door, and a pony came into the room with a box. Pearly's things were deposited on the bed, while the pony left without a word. Pearly took the box and sorted through it.

"What do they want with us?" Baby Rainribbon asked, going through her own box of belongings.

"So far, we've been made to mine, but I don't what for," Pearly told her, "Because I can glow, I'm usually being used as a torch."

Baby Rainribbon stifled a chuckle. Pearly let a half smile slip across her face.

"Mining?"

Pearly nodded. "At Paradise Estate, we had a pony staying with us that looked like these ponies. She was possessed with dark magic, kept tormenting my cousin."

"The Rainbow Curl ponies heard something about it. They said it had been fixed though."

"It was. Applejack was fine after one of the Princess Ponies came to help."

Baby Rainribbon sighed. "Well, it sounds like I've got myself in at the deep end."

Pearly sat down on the bed. "Who are you here for?"

"My friend, Baby Sunribbon. She went missing and I've a horrible feeling she was taken by these ponies." She too sat down. "What about you?"

"My cousin, Baby Moondancer. I sneaked out before my aunt could find out I was here."

Baby Rainribbon was about to say something else when the lights in the room switched off. She stuck her hoof out, Pearly catching it and guided her to the bed to sit down. "I warn you now, there's some odd stuff that goes on at night," she said.

"Well that makes me feel better."

Pearly patted Baby Rainribbon's shoulder. "I won't let anything happen."