Editing done, still probably missed something.
Chapter 6: Elements.
Sitting at the table they all had listened to Dolly's odd plan, what more could the wild mare need? She was armed with weird magical objects like exploding balloons and streamers that stretched while retaining the strength of metal. She had a sword and newly armored front legs. What did they need that would require her to run to the west back through Fetlock Forest to a settlement that was actually on one of Twilights maps.
"I can't say but you'll know when if one of you will come with me, the others will have to stay behind and help Hippolytus in any way they can if you haven't already notice theirs an ugly problem going around and it's destroyed the mailing office here. Derpy opinions and continuation of other topics wherever you see fit and as long as we're willing to talk about it." Dolly's tone was rather cold but she still deferred who was heading this meeting.
"Okay, next topic Trixie are you okay and do you need a muffin and a group hug." Derpy gave Trixie a friendly look and smile and she returned it.
"I The Trixie am most fine my friend, however I find myself thinking about how my life has gone so far and I figured out with the help of the best friendship maker around, that I'm neither great nor powerful. To become as such I'll have to work up to it and actually be something instead of talking about it, but I would like a hug from Dolly if she doesn't mind." Trixie dipped her head at the table slightly before looking up at Dolly with a hangdog expression, Dolly got up and fluttered over to Trixie and embraced her calmly, if a bit coolly.
"Is It because I reminded you of Magnolia… your mother was something else Trixie, but I'm not her though I'm kind of flattered. I did actually see her last show, you need to start doing her proud by learning all her spells and how to use them, she'd like that. Just know Trixie, it isn't the power of a spell that makes you great; it's the power of your heart. It also doesn't matter how great a spell is, what makes a spell truly great is how you use it. Just remember what I told you about Poison Joke. Ask Zecora, Twilight and Derpy as they can help you learn about that particular flower, they've all had a taste of its effects before." Dolly just whispered all this into Trixie's ear as she held the stage magician who was nuzzling into her chest, Dolly kept her hooves wrapped around the magician who pulled back and mouthed 'thank you' to Dolly before they turned to continue the meeting of DERP.
"Next agenda, we should all apologize to Twilight for laughing at her, friends know to apologize and I laughed a bit too. Sorry for laughing at you Twilight. I hope the muffins see fit that we're still friends." Twilight just looked at Derpy with something akin to an awed smile.
"I the normal and everyday Trixie shall apologize for my snickering in a snide manner at you." Trixie was the biggest shock to Twilight, but then again they were friends now though it was still jarring to hear Trixie apologize.
"I too need to apologize for my actions laughing at you in such a way, such merriment certainly held my sway this day." The smiling zebra still had Twilight on edge but she was at least talking like she was acting normal.
"I apologize for my actions Ms. Sparkle; I wholeheartedly hope to make it up to you when the time is right. It's a promise I intend to keep." Dolly was still no nonsense and Twilight gave thought to the mare. She was cool when talked to and she threw herself into danger without a second thought and this was the mare they were all following around on some important quest? Well it wasn't all so bad, Dolly had a good heart or at least Twilight would like to believe that. She seriously seemed to care about Hippolytus to insist they stay and help out while she attends to other business.
"Friend discussion, how are all of you feeling right now?" Derpy was lightening the mood quite well; even if she weren't smiling or wall eyed she would have lightened the mood up by sheer force of will alone.
"I'm healthy enough, though I feel things are about to shoot downhill if the chill going down my spine has anything to do with it." Though her reply was dryly given Dolly could literally feel a chill going through her body. "Hey Marahute, can I get a pencil, paper and an envelope? I got something I need to write down."
Marahute looked tired as she plopped some food down in front of a injured watch guard who had been waiting a while for food and turned to Dolly and nodded before rushing off to fill out some other order for a pony, griffon, hippogriff or otherwise.
"Trixie will be fine for now." Trixie had to think and she thought about Poison Joke, why had that flower been mentioned more than once? Marehute quickly placed an envelope, a sheet of paper and a sharpened pencil down in front of Dolly as she quickly passed on by carrying a tray to more customers of the Chipotle Inn. Dolly picked up the pencil and started writing away at her piece of paper.
"I'm feeling most dandy; I could possibly go for a glass of Brandy." Zecora was never one to drink much but she couldn't help but be all smiles as she was right now. Dolly continued to scribble some writing onto the sheet of paper in the background completely ignoring the other mares; she swiftly sealed what she wrote in her envelope and stuffed it into her right side bag with her Pinkie supplies.
"Well I'm feeling perfectly fine and fully muffin, now the topic about how to help Hippolytus; I guess it coincides in whose going with Dolly. I volunteer." Derpy received Dolly's blankest stares before she spoke. "Sorry to disappoint you Derpy, but it'll either be Twilight or Trixie that goes with me. You're needed here in Hippolytus."
"Huh? But why can't I go with you? Why didn't you mention Zecora?" It was Derpy's most eloquent response as she didn't know why Dolly wouldn't want to travel with her, from everyone's perspective she looked thoroughly hurt that her long time boss was asking her to stay behind.
"Zecora needs to get herself back in gear and she can help here by patching them up." She motioned towards the injured guards sitting at a separate table talking quietly, one of the guards perked up at hearing her talk about them. "We can use all the help we can get around here, the attacks have gotten fiercer over the past few days. If you can lend a hoof we'd be obliged to help you out in any way we can if we survive another night."
They watched as the griffin guard turned back to his compatriot a hippogriff and continued their conversation, they looked to be the guards from last night and they were both covered in scratches, bruises and one looked to have a bite mark on his neck. Dolly took Twilights map and laid it out on the table for all of them to look at.
"Another is that I'm going to be drawing off whatever wargs I can from Hippolytus, they are likely going to attack in mass tonight. I know this because I saw the force driving them; it knows I'm here and it's going to be gunning for me. I need you here to figure out what that force wants with Hippolytus, while I make my way to Novascoltia. I have reasons of my own for wanting to travel with either Trixie or Twilight, but more importantly I need someone to watch my back when a magically inclined evil powerhouse is around. You can understand my trepidation with the fact that magic has already disabled my and Derpy's ability to fly once already and if for any reason I stop being able to fly I'd want some magical support."
Twilight could see what Dolly was getting at. Two Pegasus set out and then drop to the ground and are quickly swarmed and devoured in her mind, which was followed by the image of a Unicorn managing to use a spell to deflect unimaginable beasts as they continued on their way.
Derpy wasn't the physically strongest pony but she could distract and fight better than most ponies, however against magic they would be sitting ducks. Zecora probably didn't even register in Dolly's mind as she wasn't very much for fighting as she was for avoiding danger altogether. Plus Dolly said whatever was controlling these Warg things was targeting her, but why was that? Did it have to do with Dolly's absence earlier this morning?
Trixie and Twilight looked at each other before opening their mouths to talk.
()
Luna yawned and stretched out before sitting up, it felt good to get a hotel room with no royal treatment to get in the way and she was just like every other pony. She had changed back after leaving the spa and hardly anyone recognized her much to her relief, she had bid Fluttershy a farewell and then took up a room in a quaint hotel. She heard a yawn in the bed next to hers and she saw Ditzy looked completely haggard, she didn't look to have gotten a good night's rest, it was currently in the evening and they both spent all of last night having fun after she did her job to give the moon it's momentum.
"How do people sleep in these things, I prefer my rock filled sleeping bag." Ditzy got an astonished look from Luna. Ditzy would rather sleep on a pile of hard rock's than in a soft comfortable bed? Well she has heard a lot about Ditzy's living arrangements around Ponyville, she has to camp outdoors as she's considered too dangerous to own a house within the towns limits.
Luna shook her head it was almost time for her to start working in another few hours, she now pulled out a list of friends she had. She had Derpy Hooves, Ditzy Doo and Fluttershy; she wasn't quite sure whether or not to add Rarity to the list; maybe a bit more before she decides, otherwise that pony was just an acquaintance. From some point of view Luna figured sleeping on rocks might actually be pretty comfortable to someone who slept on them all the time.
()
Pinkie was currently walking by the hotel in Ponyville when she felt a very, very, very cold twitch. The kind of twitch she'd feel if she were completely unloved and hated by everyone. Looking around Pinkie didn't know what the twitch was for or what it meant, but it had her feeling on edge.
None of their friends have been by to visit Applejack lately; she must be working too hard and Pinkie hasn't heard much from Rainbow Dash either. Then again Pinkie knew that Rainbow Dash was struggling with the town being interested in her preferences, which wasn't very nice of the town but then again Pinkie really shouldn't have invaded Rainbow's dreams either that was wrong of her and she should really apologize.
At least Pinkie knew Rainbow wasn't interested in any romantic situations right now considering her repulsed reaction to Pinkie interfering with her dream. Maybe she should go throw a party for that injured Pegasus at the hospital after she was done visiting Applejack it'd give her something to do instead of worrying about this scary twitch that was more of an itch that wouldn't stop.
()
Dixie rocked and cuddled little Dinky in her hooves, she was so cute when she was sleeping. Looking up Dixie thought she heard Ditzy's voice and saw her pass by with a strange mare with a moon on her flank.
Dixie smiled to herself she was happy that Ditzy was back so that she could go talk to her, but before she did she had to place the filly in her bed. Sure Ditzy might not be the sanest pony, but she was a strong and trustworthy companion to Dixie even if their personalities had a slight clash with Ditzy's overly destructive nature and horrible sense of humor.
Plus it looks like Ditzy had a new friend who looked to have not noticed her eccentric nature or too the more probable thoughts buzzing in her skull that her friend could have overlooked it entirely too actually want to spend time with Ditzy. If so then Dixie could be friends with that pony too, a lot of ponies really needed to stop seeing her as a one mare wrecking crew despite the fact that she literally was. There was a lot more to Ditzy then random acts of wanton destruction like the fact that she was a licensed nurse, something even Dixie herself hasn't accomplished, mostly because she didn't want to be a nurse or a doctor.
Though Dixie could say she wasn't bad at open heart surgery which she only did once under a high amount of stress and given five minutes to skim through a book on the subject and a nurse to walk her through the stuff she didn't know. It was surprising that the doctor asked her why she wasn't a doctor herself after she was finished deftly saving his life and as a result quite a few others in the Fillydelphia hospital that day, having a mild knowledge of sewing helped with closing up the incisions nicely though she was sickened by all the blood.
()
"ARRROOOOO." The warg was sent flying away by a flash of metal as Dolly kept flying backwards making sure to keep facing the wargs charging after them, her weapon held tightly in her right hoof curled around the hilt as the sun was almost done setting.
Turning to look Twilight didn't see blood flying anywhere and looked confusedly at Dolly's sword or what she had; like every pony else, assumed was a bladed weapon. It was certainly more different than what Twilight knew of weapons, the steel cylindrical bar ending in a slightly rounded point where the sharp cutting blade was posed to be had her baffled. Why did Dolly buy a weapon that couldn't cut? Not that Twilight was complaining or anything, it was just really odd and it definitely wasn't a rapier. Rapiers were thick at the base and thin at the tip, this weapon was thick all the way through to the tip.
Dolly let loose a flurry of jabs and slices batting away each warg that was fast enough to keep up with their pace. From what Dolly could see there were three groups of four tailing them and they weren't very smart about trying to pounce on her, they even tried attacking Twilight only to get sent flying by a quick flick levitation blast from her horn launching them back towards the way they came. Twilight had to have amazing focus to run and use magic at the same time.
One warg charged up and opened its jaws wide as it pounced towards Twilight only for Dolly to block with her left hoof bracer, she rammed it into the wargs open mouth and quickly jammed her oddly bladeless sword into its side point first guaranteeing it wouldn't be standing up anytime soon. The warg gave a pitiful whine as it hit the ground and Dolly kept hovering backwards at a steady pace that was set by Twilight.
Of the three types of ponies that could use weapons a Pegasus was better at getting the full effect of actually wielding a one.
An earth pony was the best type of pony for heavily armored combat; they could take a massive beating and dish out five times more than what was being dealt to them. Unfortunately they were better at using their bare hooves than they were at using weapons, as using a weapon would take up their ability to talk and at times words were better than holding a weapon in your mouth.
A unicorn pony was the best kept sticking to what they do best, which was using their magic. Sure they could use weapons but they'd wear out eventually and a unicorn was not one for heavy armor as they didn't have the muscle build up needed with years of study to control their magical abilities that would be dangerous otherwise if they didn't. Unicorns needed concentration to do anything with their magic and were usually better at long distance combat.
Twilight however was proving herself to be good at multitasking as she kept flinging the small contingent of wargs away as they got too close and only if Dolly couldn't stop them in time.
A Pegasus was the best at effectively using weapons hoofs down, especially if the weapon was a spear. The reason why is because a Pegasus can wield a weapon in their front hooves without need to balance on their hind hooves or to wield the weapon in their mouth.
Dolly proved this point by hovering slightly above the ground and keeping her body vertical giving them little room to get an angle of approach at her; if she were on all fours they'd go after her sides like they were doing ineffectively to Twilight. Dolly had great maneuverability and could effectively use the bracers wrapped around her front hooves to block any claws striking out at her.
"How are you doing Nightlight?" Dolly said uncharacteristically happy about how she was dealing with several wargs at once, proving to be more trouble than she was worth to bring down.
"I've handled worse situations than this." Twilight said continuing to keep going at a steady if rapid pace, she was busy trying to remember her book on how to run and keep running for long distances.
"If you're talking about Luna, the local dragons or the diamond dogs I will say that you have yet to actually handle anything serious. The hydra though was actually a smart decision on your part to run away from, the Kobold was something you couldn't have possibly known was immune to magic and as such this is by far the worst danger you've been in, you've had it easy so far." While she was talking Dolly struck a warg across the throat with a hard slash and it fell to ground with a large nasty bruise forming where it was struck, it was barely breathing for a moment before it got back up.
"How do you figure that? Everything else I've been through seems pretty dangerous to me." They were coming up on the outskirts of northern Fetlock Forest, passing by several large rocks, pools of mud and various bits of grass and swamp lands, a few hills that Dolly avoided while continuing her backwards flight path. Twilight didn't actually think to ask how Dolly knew so much about what she and her friends did; even if she had Dolly was prepared to deflect her questioning as she knew a pony that followed them around endlessly.
"Luna was never actually trying to actively kill you; at worse the fall from that cliff would have broken maybe one or two bones in your body at best, you would have recovered quickly given your rather specific nature. The manticore's around Ponyville are ridiculously small and don't carry lethal toxins in their tails, mostly paralytic stuff and it's quite annoying to lay on the ground for hours at a time waiting for it to wear off and that was just me building up an immunity to the stuff. The 'Elements of Harmony' thing was a planned outcome from the very start so I doubt any danger was actually part of that night at all. The dragon you got to leave the mountain was one of a mostly non volatile species, so at most you probably annoyed him a little and he was just trying to shoo you away. The other dragon was a Spiny Norman which is actually quite lethal. But they are known for poor eyesight, plus operating poorly at night considering it is a primarily diurnal species and it was probably really tired when it found you're assistant Spike in its cave nibbling at its hoard of food. Otherwise outrunning one would have been a lot harder, just be glad they don't hold deep rooted grudges. The Hydra was a tad dangerous, but they are quite slow and easy to confuse and are not very well coordinated, but otherwise you did well considering Pinkie was twitching like mad that day and she actually managed to detect two instances of danger for once and… EXCUSE ME I'M TALKING HERE!" Dolly reared back her left hoof and cold cocked a warg; that was lunging right at her, instantly busting its snout and stopping its forward momentum. It fell straight to the ground where her hoof met its face.
Dolly had to say these things were pretty persistent and had to be magically charged up to handling all the disabling blows she was landing, she had been striking their legs, heads and weak undersides to almost no effect as they were always back in the chase moments later. Her weapon was not for show considering the damage these wargs took; they should already have gone home to lick their wounds by now.
Twilight; who was still putting up decent gallop and keeping control of her breathing, almost stopped at witnessing Dolly managing to put out enough force to stop a lunging warg with a single blow from her hoof. It took longer for that warg to get up than any of the others and Twilight knew that they had to be doing something to them, as they have already injured all twelve wargs in several obviously painful ways. She had been tossing them randomly onto rocks, into shrubs and into the surrounding landscape doing plenty of damage without really trying too; she had to at least have broken one of their legs.
"Anyway if you think a Diamond Dog is tough you have yet to see some of the burrowing animals I have. To put it frankly those guys are cheap on intelligence and even cheaper on bathing, sure they might have some muscle and are quick diggers but overall they aren't really all that tough as they appear and it's all eighty percent bravado on their part. I should know, they dragged me into their lair once and I beat them all within an inch of their lives for attempting to enslave any more ponies. Just to make it clear I literally beat up all one hundred and thirty seven of them and the armor that some of them wear is made out of tinfoil, they are quite pathetic when compared to the tenacity that is a giant burrowing ant-lion-scorpion bearing down on you." Dolly spun around and saw that they were at the edge of the forest, the twelve wargs were still in pursuit but they were much slower as if the injuries dealt were finally beginning to overcome the magic that had held them together so far.
Well it was about time to scare them off; Dolly sheathed her blunt weapon and reached into her right side bag where all her important Pinkie Pie related gear was. Her left bag was used for snacks and the like but she hasn't checked it since they left Ponyville, they were the kind of snacks that won't spoil for a long time anyway so there was no need to check it. Thinking of bags Dolly realized Derpy never quite stopped carrying around that old mail bag she gave her since first giving her a job, she should have traded in for a new one by now. Dolly shook her head, now wasn't the time to think of her enigmatic friend.
Dolly pulled out a balloon and quickly blew air into it causing a highly combustible mist to swirl inside it, making sure to keep both her hooves on it she took careful aim as she held the balloon out to her side slightly. When she stopped pinching the balloon with her right hoof. A jet flame shot out and it launched on a spiraling path towards the wargs gathering behind them for a group rush.
It fell short and struck the ground, causing a muffled explosion to blow five of the wargs back two feet and up seven. This didn't discourage them as Dolly initially thought it would and they kept coming. Dolly at the moment didn't feel like using up all her Ballistic Balloons quite yet to ward off something she could handle with her bare hooves as apparently these guys weren't getting the message.
"Got any ideas? It looks like they are ready to die hounding us all the way to Novascoltia and I intend to get there before this night is through." Dolly was hovering right next to Twilight, who slowed down a bit and gained a thoughtful look.
"Not really, I can't think of anything right now. Besides I've never actually read any books on how to fight. Plus I wouldn't know what magic to use to stop them, I'm not magically trained for combat nor have I read any books that would help me disenchant evil magic." Twilight received Dolly's rolled eyes as a starch reply to her book focused mind that came out with a suddenly bored tone. "Never mind, we can stop running now."
With that Dolly dropped to the ground being careful to keep her back right leg held aloft before gently setting it down, it was wrapped in a tight cast before they left Hippolytus and it was to make sure she didn't injure it further. She simply sat on her butt, while Twilight stopped running and panicked by going back for Dolly as the wargs converged on her trying to get her to move.
Dolly kept a straight face as they jumped towards them and soon a sly smirk made its way onto her face. Twilight's ears tilted back in horror; as she was preparing to unleash as much magic as she had to defend them. It was soon followed by a look of confusion on Twilights face as the wolf like creatures fell to the ground and the sudden need to withdraw the buildup in her horn. Each one had at least five to seven arrows in their bodies, none of them appearing to be dead yet, but they were in clear agony. Their legs had been pierced in awkward ways making them unable to get up and do much more than the whine pitifully.
Looking up Dolly smiled at the brown fluffy creatures that were yipping happily at them, she gave them a nod in gratitude. Dolly had felt her danger sense had blanked out entirely when it had been blaring minutely every time a warg tried to capitalize on trying to get a sneak attack in on her, which would never have happened anyway. The sudden loss of feeling danger could mean one of two things, her danger sense overloaded or that the danger she was feeling has passed. Dolly had to give it to the male Brownies they were awfully cute and they had ridiculously good aim, it was nice to see them again.
Dolly wrapped a hoof around Twilight and saw her twitch slightly before she got up and started walking; it was soon followed by Dolly hovering next to her to continue their path to the west. They did not want to know what the Brownies were going to do with those wargs. They made their way through Fetlock Forest at a more sedate if still quick pace.
"How did you know the Brownies were going to help us?" Twilight saw an amused look cross Dolly's eyes. "I didn't, just a feeling that we were safe. For now at least, go ahead I know your just dying to ask me a whole list of questions."
"Well I was wondering why you didn't consider all my other friends for DERP, by the way the organizations name could use some work." Twilight really had to wonder why Dolly specifically chose the ponies for the job that she did. "Do you have any pony in particular to start with or do I need to explain how all the stuff you faced so far has barely been all too dangerous yet, again."
"Well I would like for you to start with Applejack she's strong, dependable and honest." Twilight saw that Dolly didn't really seem to be thinking to hard about what she was about to say. "Unfortunately the element of Honesty is stubborn on many things and sometimes not being honest would help a situation, plus she's an important source of food to Ponyville and I don't think she can spare more than three weeks a year aside from her free time or winter to go gallivanting around. She's too busy and has a really important job, in comparison to yours it's one of the reasons why you are here."
"What about Rainbow Dash, she's loyal, fast and willing to help when she's most needed." Twilight could see the reasoning being as busy as Applejack was; though she didn't rise to the jab at her library work or her study in the ways of friendship, but what did she have to say about her rainbow colored friend?
"She's also competitive, loud and has no sense of patience. I needed ponies that could be level headed and that wouldn't crack under pressure like she did at the young fliers competition, she was initially number two to fly that day. The element of Loyalty is strong in its own right but it relies too heavily on the heart to make decisions when the mind is needed to solve a situation with a better outcome." Dolly saw the questioning look in Twilights eyes and she was about to open her mouth when Dolly held up a hoof. "I know she was number two that day because Derpy was in the competition and Ditzy was there to vouch on what number Rainbow Dash originally had. If you don't help her she won't be a Wonderbolt in the foreseeable future which is another reason you have to live through this more than I do."
Twilight went to open her mouth again only to receive another raised hoof to hold her tongue, she was about to ask what had Dolly meant by her having more reason to live than she did.
"Before you say Fluttershy next, Derpy already does a pretty good job with making friends and is steadfast in any situation. Also consider the fact that we're dealing with a massively meticulous magical malcontent magnificently messing with my mailing menagerie. Do you seriously want that innocent mare dragged into this entire thing? There are a few things that's she's not going to be able to stare down, that Kobold being one them as summons are not naturally occurring phenomenon. The element of Kindness cannot affect that which has no heart, another thing to remember is that kindness has its limits and can only get you so far." When Dolly finished speaking in her even; if slight cold voice, Twilight started to pick up on something about the way she was pointing out their flaws.
Dolly mentioned the elements specifically and she was giving some very good reasons as to why Applejack, Fluttershy and Rainbow couldn't come along. She more than likely had a few reasons for why Rarity and Pinkie couldn't come along too, what Twilight was more worried about was Dolly seeing herself as less important. Maybe it was because she wasn't an element of harmony?
"Is there something about the elements of harmony that you know that I don't?" Twilight saw Dolly's steely gaze turn in her direction as she hovered next to her, they were already half through the forest and they could see the road to leading to Novascoltia ahead.
Dolly opened her mouth, nothing came out as her pupils shrunk and she shuddered in the air violently she quickly dove into Twilight pushing them both into a nearby bush and she had her hoof tightly wrapped over a panicked Twilights mouth. "Quiet."
With but a single word Twilight stopped putting up a struggle and her ears much like Dolly's stuck straight up at hearing what sounded like a large creatures wings beating eerily in the early night. Given that they were almost to the trail they could see a clear patch of sky through the tree's that were filled with moonlight. A large shadow hovered around the area, its red glowing eyes looking around through foliage it sent out gout of flame at some nearby trees on the opposite side of the road from Twilight and Dolly. A bunch of woodland creatures screeched and fled from the burning trees as they turned into a sickly black husk.
The eyes of the beast narrowed looking around as it hovered menacingly for a moment, not successfully flushing out one of many targets it started heading for its destination, followed by several other large shadowy creatures with glowing red eyes. It could have sworn that it saw a grey coated Pegasus among the brush heading towards the road.
Dolly kept a tight grip on Twilight for a few minutes. As soon as she felt the danger had passed she released Twilight carefully and checked on her back right leg, the cast had a slight crack in it from her sudden tumble but she made good not to initially land on it.
Twilight stood up and heaved a few deep breathes, she looked at Dolly still laying on her back checking her leg cast. With a flick of her magic and a slight glow of her horn she levitated Dolly into the air and set her down gently on her three good legs.
"What… was that…?" Twilight never seen a creature with so many teeth and that snake like head had almost caused her to lose control of her bowels, then there was the fact that it could breath fire and it didn't have any forearms like Spike. She had never seen a dragon like that, but Dolly obviously knew a thing or two about dragons. Dolly seemed like an encyclopedia of dangerous stuff that Twilight has only just begun to hear of, she had read books sure, but witnessing something first hand was a frightening experience.
Twilight never had to personally witness a monster that sucked all the light out of the air around it, most of the books she read were based around magic and the creatures that could use it. Those things were something she hoped couldn't use magic, she didn't even know what a parasprite was when she first saw one and she hoped these things didn't have the nasty surprise of spontaneously multiplying themselves.
She felt a hoof on her shoulder causing her to jump. Twilight had spaced out without realizing it and she soon found herself staring into a calming pair of grey eyes hovering in front of her, with her horn glowing at a really dangerous level of magic.
"Whoa there Nightlight, I guess it's your first time seeing a wyvern. They are the reason why Wonderbolts are still considered military and not just aerial acrobats. Specifically those wyverns were being powered by the same entity that was leading the wargs and furthermore they were looking for us. I just wanted to ask if you could pull out your map, I sense no danger right now." Dolly urged Twilight a bit and she magically opened a flap on her left saddle bag and unfurled a map showing where they were and where Novascoltia was. Novascoltia was directly west of the north part of Fetlock Forest, far southeast of Fetlock Forest was Canterlot but it still put them a pretty good distance away from what Twilight called a safe home. Dolly traced a hoof along the map and stopped at some mountains in the far northwest barely connecting to Mangora Mountain and then tapped her hoof on it.
"Snoneigh Heights, What could those things want all the way out there?" Twilight said looking at Dolly's hoof lightly pressed against the floating map. "There's a mailing office in Snoneigh Heights, not very much mail goes to there. But a lot of stuff does come from there, including some of my favorite hair care products. There are only a few places in the world that a unicorn can make a magical shampoo and that's one of them. I can only hope the ponies there hold out till we arrive, I wouldn't wish wyverns on any pony and I can't even begin to wonder what the magical force behind all this is thinking. Those are an especially rare intelligent fire breathing breed of wyverns; most likely summoned by magic as they are not even natural for this region of the world, the only place you'd see wyverns like that is in the badlands deep in Griffon territory. By the way, never ask a dragon what a wyvern is or if they are related to them unless you want to die. Dragons may hate being interrupted or bothered, but they will drop any transgression and go for the nearest wyverns' throat if they so much as see a hint of one."
"I'll keep that in mind Dolly. Those 'wyverns' as you called them kind of freaked me out with their long snaking necks." Twilight shuddered she didn't like snakes, she was fine with Gummy the gator, but she's been put in relative low levels of danger since she's been in Ponyville. Now; however, she was seeing more dangerous things in these two days that it made her head spin that she had been almost completely unharmed, then again she had to give thanks to Dolly's 'danger sense' or else they would have been ambushed by those snake necked leathery winged creatures.
"So… elements of harmony." Twilight started even if a bit numbly, Dolly gave a soft sigh. "Yes, I know quite a lot about them. The element of Generosity can give too much; its flaw is overlooking things and sometimes being generous does not directly translate to being kind. The element of Laughter… you five ponies nearly destroyed Pinkie by accident and I'm upset with all of you for it. I'd rather not bring her weakness up, but knowing me it will anyway. I wouldn't have even given thought to bring you along if I didn't think you were trustworthy."
"Destroyed her? " Twilight stopped her eyes wide and she looked at Dolly's hovering back side, Dolly turned her head slightly showing the claw marks on her face. "An element is a separate thing from a cutie mark in meaning, it's more of a strong personality trait that has a power all its own. Each element can work by itself or combined to strengthen or weaken each other, your element in particular can work well on its own without support. However, without other elements yours can't work its full potential which is its weakness, your element is a well rounded one capable of connecting with almost any other element. The elements are bound to the ponies till death and over the last thousand years they haven't been all together at any point in time, at any given time two or three of the main elements at best have been active. Celestia finally felt the spark in you and five others and knowing her I was given the opportunity to drop from her sight. She can forget the lesser elements she doesn't have much use for anymore, they still live on even if no one is aware they exist."
"Lesser elements, how did we nearly destroy Pinkie Pie, what is your connection to Celestia, what are you talking about?" Dolly stopped hovering and saw the lights of Novascoltia in the distance she set herself on the ground and motioned for Twilight to take a seat next to her, having done so Twilight looked at the mostly three colored mare. "There many lesser elements like Empathy, Wisdom, Perseverance and far more than I have the time to tell you about. We're not quite up to the level of the elements of harmony but we are simply known through the lands as heroes and innovators of lore. Some of us become close to Celestia, closer than some should. The only one that can truly keep her eternal company would be none other than her sealed away sister Luna or one who can ascend into immortality and handle its stresses. Mind you her phoenix does have a three thousand year warranty on it and it's been her best friend since she had to put her sister away with a broken heart, one of the reasons you didn't know about her beloved pet was simply because it's the closest thing to her in life span as she can get without corrupting some poor pony for the need of more than just outright adoration. "
Twilight stayed quiet, but she had so many questions on her lips she couldn't even begin to describe. There was so much she wanted to know but she stayed quiet, of one thing she just learned was that Dolly was a lesser element.
"I'm the element 'Courage' it is as weak as it is strong, I can rush straight into the jaws of death itself even if I was full to the brim with fear that would send most ponies running away. Courage can double as blind stupidity and an early death, I'm only alive because I'm smart and my head blares at me painfully when things are exceedingly dangerous with my natural born sensing ability. The past holders of Courage were not as lucky, I've read every historical document pertaining to those poor ponies and frankly I wasn't surprised Celestia became careful when she learned of me becoming the holder of that element. Her fear is why I had to leave her side."
Dolly gave a pause and looked to the moon in the sky, it was still early in the evening and she wondered how Derpy and the others were doing. They needed some rest anyway so why not indulge Twilight with some knowledge. Said purple pony felt something was off with Dolly. "If she feared for you, than why did you leave her side? Wouldn't that make her feel worse?"
"Those with Courage can do what most others can't and she was smothering me with more love than I knew what to do with and that was after she reattached one of my legs magically after a horrific incident better left unsaid. Celestia didn't think much of my element in a time of peace before that incident. I was a mail carrier at the time and mind you I'm barely five years your elder; she thought that I would be safe and not actively rush to my death. She; to put it quite frankly, panicked and badly at that after personally seeing how the other elements of Courage had died before me. Whether the element gave itself to protecting her personally, someone else or simply facing an insurmountable obstacle to give others a chance at living, they always died fighting for a better tomorrow. Celestia was trying to protect me and that over protectiveness is why I can't be in her presence, I fear if I didn't soon leave her side she might have gone the way of her own sister in a much more differently twisted way. I'm one of the few that would actually have the strength to stop her if she were to actually become twisted; she very well knows it, very few ponies would have the strength to rise up to someone so beloved."
The somber tone in which Dolly spoke sat like a rock in Twilights stomach, Celestia becoming like Nightmare Moon? She couldn't even begin to imagine that happening with her teacher being such a beautiful benevolent being, she was going to say something that sounded foreign, even to her. Maybe only Luna would have truly felt something close to what she was going to say. "Can you answer me on these three topics Dolly; I… I want to know about Pinkie, your strange weapon and if you… hate… princess Celestia."
"My weapon is a neighyashi, a blunt sword that to most ponies would be for disabling you opponents by cutting off blood circulation in their bodies with rapid sharp blunt blows to specific joints. Maybe for a unicorn it can be jabbed hard enough you can damage the unprotected insides of whatever you hit. This weapon can be used better by a Pegasus, there is much more to it then what you see and I hope you never have to see that. As for Celestia I don't hate her nor do I hate her for trying to reconnect to me to smother me with her protection, I did what was needed even if it was hard to do. Avoiding Celestia isn't easy unless she was busy with something else, something really important. She once somehow got a hold of a letter to myself I had tasked with one of my mailing team to deliver to my home, she summoned me and what she got was my friend Dipsy to pick it up for her trouble." Dolly noticed Twilight staring at her sadly, Twilight couldn't even begin to describe what it was like having to avoid a friend to save their sanity.
Twilight was what diverted Celestia's attention to give Dolly freedom and then she moved to Ponyville… a few years and 'Mare in the Moon' lying on the floor in a library, then she's in Ponyville too, researching 'Friendship'. It kind of all stuck out now like a ton of bricks dropped on her head after an anvil and several other things she can't vaguely remember except Derpy smiling sheepishly at Pegasus at the back of a cloud van. Celestia did care though, Twilight knew that much, but she also schemed and mostly out of need to be close some pony that didn't instantly bow down at her feet all the time like her.
"About Pinkie… what you did on her birthday, it was one of the worst things you could have ever done to her. I didn't think it was possible to break the element of Laughter as far as you five did with her and I'm not even sure she fully recovered from it. A pony who knows every pony in Ponyville and will befriend anything at the drop of a hat, broken by five mares she considers her closest friends in naught but a few hours… " Dolly stood up and glared at Twilight with a harshness that ate at her shivering body, like a direct glare from Fluttershy herself.
"How did we… what did we do exactly and does this have to do with why her hair was all straight and she was angry with us." Twilight didn't know the severity of what Dolly was talking about but she had a clue it had to do with Gummy's after birthday party.
"Tell me you didn't spend the entire day avoiding her, just tell me that and I'll try to believe you for your sake. Rainbow Dash confided in me how far gone Pinkie had been before the surprise party barely snapped her back to normal." Dolly's grey eyes were reading Twilights like a book the way they turned away from her and pointed towards the ground, Dolly kept her tone even and cold. "You did, you all left her alone, you avoided her and you were doing stuff behind her back not wanting to spend time with her. What were you thinking?"
"What else could we have done, we were all busy preparing for her surprise party at sweet apple acres and she was so set on holding an after part for Gummy or finding out what we were doing, it would have ruined the surprise." Twilight said weakly not even beginning to make eye contact with Dolly; she was wilting trying to maybe will herself with magic into the ground.
"You could have told some pony that wasn't very busy to distract her until the party was done or even to indulge her even a tiny smidge to keep her hooves busy and away from the surprise party. None of you were there to keep her reassured that you; her friends, were there for her and in the end she forgave you without so much as an apology. Sure she might have doubted you, but you gave her more than enough reason too in the first place with the way you were all acting. Given the circumstances you cared more about the surprise party than you did about who it was for; some friends you were, Pinkie probably never let the hurt go and she is holding it inside of her as nobody bounces back from being on the edge of insanity that fast without repercussions. If you cared about her you wouldn't have to make any excuses even if she was going to find out about the party, I'm not letting you be her friend if you EVER hurt her that badly again. I already got Rainbow Dash to apologize and that's one out of five friends who didn't immediately write off her bounce back so easily. She needs to make ponies happy its part of who she is and if she can't make her closest friends happy, she can't do it at all. And if she can't do it at all…" Dolly sat staring straight ahead as she drifted off, getting up she flapped her wings and started a slow glide towards Novascoltia a town lit with street lights everywhere powered by slow burning wicks, Twilight felt tears start to form up in her eyes.
If Pinkie couldn't make them happy… it had taken Twilight a moment to realize she had made a huge error in how they handled Pinkie that day and Dolly was right, no pony could bounce back from that kind of sadness or conviction that they were unloved so fast without something being wrong even if she finally remembered it was her birthday, she did look kind of subdued after the birthday party and Dash did keep shooting her strange looks. Getting up Twilight quickly trotted after Dolly as she had a few more questions to ask her, if to learn a bit about how Pinkie actually functioned as obviously Dolly knew more about Pinkie than she did. Pinkie was selfless, she always put her all into making sure they were happy, she didn't care about whether she herself was happy or not.
They made their way into the small city, rows of houses that were partially business pass and streets were trotted until they came to a stop outside a restaurant that was still open, both of their stomachs grumbled and Dolly checked how many bits she had on hoof.
"What is Pinkie truly like and what is that stuff you used against the Kobold that came from her." Twilight saw a frown cross Dolly's face. "Pinkie has a varied history both sad and grand, like any element of Laughter you have to laugh when you are sad and you have to laugh when you are happy. I hope you don't think any less of Pinkie with what I'm about to tell you..."
()
Twilight never knew that Pinkie created all her partying stuff by hoof, she never bought any of it from a store. Nor did Twilight ever know that Pinkie was from a rich rock farming family. Every party Pinkie threw was almost literally made by scratch and with every ounce of her hard work thrown into the party preparations and then there was the darker side of Pinkie she never heard of. She wished she didn't know what dark things lurked in that poor bouncy pony's mind, but Dolly drove home the point with the exploding balloons being a clear sign of what Pinkie was more than capable of. Pinkie could make anything you can see at a party into something either more than it appears or even downright lethal, she didn't think she knew any ponies that could do lethal.
Pinkie actually made fantastic sounding stuff like poppers that teleport and streamers that stretched, the balloons were a bit iffy to think about though. The one thing that was left unexplained was the tube that Dolly had used against the Kobold; she said it was Pinkies biggest and deadliest mistake but wouldn't elaborate as to what the tubes did or what its initial purpose was in the first place. Twilight would have never believed Pinkie to be dangerous until she followed her around for one entire day, but this stuff was far more than she thought Pinkie was capable of. Twilight would believe that her friend's intentions were purely innocent in most of her endeavors and hopefully they could have a nice party if they ever made it back to Ponyville.
Dolly quietly took a mouthful of Pasta, chewed a bit and then with a swallow... she started on talking about a few Elements and how they could connect and work together, Twilight started to feel a bit better as she found the elements fascinating as they could partially tie into the cutie mark of the holder. The combination of love and passion had her blushing; she really did not need a rather descriptive of that particular combination of two ponies. The combination of honesty and integrity was also a particular highlight as it was edging closer to ten at night.
"To laugh in the face of danger requires courage." It was the most prominent phrase that fit with Dolly's and Pinkie's elements. Aside from that Dolly said one more thing that struck Twilight as odd. "No pony has ever held the element 'Harmony' itself, not even Celestia."
After the serious talk was done Dolly told Twilight a tale of a poor tailor who humbled a giant at least ten to twenty times bigger than her, it was a story Rarity would have loved to hear and it involved the element of humility, which teaches everyone as much as itself a valuable lesson not to overestimate or underestimate ones resourcefulness.
They quickly finished their meal and set out of one of the late open Restaurants in Novascoltia, Dolly was here to pick up something and they didn't come this far for nothing. Twilight flicked her mane to one side nervously and stared at Dolly before asking. "Are Zecora, Trixie and Derpy going to be okay?"
"If they aren't by the time we get back, Derpy is getting too lazy for her own good and I'll find some way to make her go on a muffin diet. Hmm... no muffins for three weeks, that might actually kill her from withdrawal alone. Actually forget I ever mentioned that, I like Derpy too much to do something that cruel to her." Dolly was seriously treating Derpy's love of muffins like it was a drug addiction; it was sadly actually pretty close to that. Twilight gave a light chuckle she had way too much on her mind, Celestia being too overbearing possibly close to the brink of going overboard, Pinkie hiding painful and dark secrets, her own ineptitude with friendship when it counted the most and so much more. She even caught on to something Dolly had said earlier.
"Wisdom… Empathy… Perseverance… are those the elements held by Trixie, Zecora and Derpy?" Dolly gave a small smirk; Twilight was at least learning. Everyone else Dolly chose for DERP was a lesser known element alongside herself. They were going to the Novascoltia post office, only Dolly would be able to get what they needed here something she left behind three years ago. "Derpy is always loyal to a package or letter until it no longer exists or is delivered. I like that about her she'll see anything through if she can, she prides herself on it. I'm sure you've heard Team forty's motto before."
"Yes, I have and I think it was Ditzy who did something silly when she saluted." Twilight saw Dolly smile wistfully at Ditzy being mentioned. "She's a nut and a half, attracting squirrels and living in trees with them sometimes, never has there been a mare wilder and more untamable than her."
"Which one is Wisdom? I assume Trixie, but she doesn't seem to be all too well read." Twilight saw that Dolly had become rather melancholy as they made their way down the street, towards a building that had a light inside and the sign above the doorway was an envelope with a letter in it. "Wisdom is actually a bit more complicated than just what you can read in books Nightlight, it takes time for it to truly show its boon and it takes even longer for its true power to peak. It's an element that most are slow to recognize for what it is. Its power is how best to use the knowledge the user already has, to bend the future in a myriad of small ways and inspire ideas and or new concepts from old ones. That particular element gains more power the longer the user lives, so far she's attempted to stop an ursa minor and failed, what did she gain from that? "
"Well she knows she's not currently capable of handling an ursa of any type and she knows that her wild boasting caused her a lot of problems, but what does that have to do with… oh." Twilight saw it even in a vaguest sense that Trixie's element was capable of, the purple mare thought on it as they went into the mailing office of Novascoltia.
Upon entering a bored looking charcoal colored earth pony colt with a dark purple mane sitting at the desk as they came in. He sat straight up and took notice of the visitors this late, a new policy had given a lot of ponies knew jobs and they were all night time jobs organized to coincide with Princess Luna's return. The colt suddenly pulled out the mail pony manual upon first seeing Dolly then stared at her with a bit of awe after reading off a section specifically made for Dolly appearing in any mailing office other than her own.
"Ms. Verance, what are you doing here in Novascoltia? Should I prepare for evacuation and stir up the local Wonderbolts? I'm not really good in a fight ma'am, haven't been on to many freelance missions to pick up enough experience." The colt was respectful if confused by Dolly's presence and she sighed. "They still have that protocol in the books? One time and you're listed in the manual as an emergency waiting to happen. If you have anyone on staff to spare then do it. If you haven't noticed the mail has been slow lately and someone is trying to take over by taking down mail ponies and their buildings. "
"Oh goddess this is bad, DIZZY DUH GET OUT HERE WE'VE GOT AN URGENT PROBLEM HERE!" A mumbling sound was hear from a nearby door frame, several crashing sounds where heard causing the colt to cringe slightly. The door behind the desk opened and out stumbled a Pegasus who managed to in a manner of seconds: trip over a chair, the counter itself, an envelope with nothing in it flipping back over the counter and finally tipping a potted plant spilling dirt everywhere before coming to a stop in front of the counter where she gave the colt a slightly dazed salute. Even that was followed by her stumbling and falling flat on her face. "Dizzy… Duh… reporting for wooo I… am feeling really off… ready for duty though."
"Dizzy that's how you always feel and it's one of the things I love about you, I hope we're still on for next week if there is one for us. I need you to go spread the word to prep for an evacuation and alert the local Wonderbolts that danger is on the way or is possibly almost on top of us." The colt sighed as Dizzy the grey coated Pegasus with strawberry red colored hair flew out without a single problem. Twilight had to ask a question with a bit of worry in her eyes. "Is she going to be okay?"
"Yeah she's fine, only she learned to fly before she could walk; darned inconvenient for her really as nothing's wrong with her legs. It's just her special talent is being a natural born stumbling pony; it actually makes her really slippery to catch in the air and on the ground, she's really fun to dance with too. Now what else do you need of our services Doll-face?" The colt was waiting for more orders from a legend in mail pony history; one that he doubted would ever be erased from the manual even after her death.
End Chapter.