• Chapter Twenty: Unreliable Trail •

…

Discord was growing more and more nervous by each passing day... he found it stressful, having lied to the queen. He knew that eventually Chrysalis would find out, and he was petrified at how she would take this. Luckily for him, she hadn't been around her mirror recently, because she was organising a visit to her sister. Changelings had massive family trees- however, the family trees of the royal changelings were more restricted. Most changelings were pony-like in size, but in appearance, looked nothing like ponies. It was hard to distinguish one changeling from another, towards other animals, however, the changelings themselves seemed to never have any troubles telling one from another. The royal changelings were easily distinguishable towards other animals, though. Chrysalis was one of them, and she was easy to pinpoint from the rest, because she was a lot taller, and her eyes were green- also the fact that she was the fairest of them all. There were few royal changelings, Chrysalis being the prime leader. The others were limited, but were occasionally spotted around different parts of Equestria. He sighed, as he began to work his way through his home, unsure what to do with life. Then he thought of Snow Flutter, and the answer became clear.

…

Snow Flutter woke up. She sighed, as she removed the blankets from her body, before she got out of bed, and left the room. The dwarves were already gone, but they had left a list of things to do.

"Okay! This shouldn't be too difficult." Snow Flutter smiled, opening the windows up, and breathing in the nice cold air of Winter. "And I'm sure some of my friends would be happy to help."

"Gather around,

I need you.

Look what I found,

I have chores to do.

I have a list,

The dwarves made.

Come help, assist!

I need your aid.

Woodland ally,

Work as a team.

No need to be shy,

Let's make this house gleam!"

Animals began to filter through the windows, mainly birds and a few squirrels and hares. They arrived alongside some deer and foxes. They enjoyed the warmth of the house, and were happy to help Snow Flutter in return for a place to escape the wintry harshness- also the fact that Snow Flutter was a great friend.

"Okay everyone! According to the list, we need to make the beds..." A few animals poured out of the room, and scampered towards the bedroom area. "We need to wash the dishes, sweep the floors, and gather the following ingredients for a meal I will make." Once all the animals had went to work, with whichever job they wanted, Snow Flutter began to slip into the kitchen, to make the meals for later that day.

"Thank you!" She smiled, as a bird handed her some flour. She beamed, as some other creatures got involved, and helped make the food. Once she had lifted the food into the ovens, she danced down the halls, and picked up a broomstick, twirling around and dipping as if it were an actual partner. Animals gathered around, and cheered for the pegasi with the broomstick. Some animals even began to join in, dancing with each other in excitement. Finally, Snow Flutter began to sing.

"Life in Equestria shimmers..." She tossed the broomstick to the side, as all the animals swapped partners. She was now dancing with a squirrel. "Life in Equestria shines..." She smiled, as she spun around. "And I know for absolute certain..." She changed partner. "That everything..."

All the animals joined in, singing the melody in their own languages. "Everything..."

Snow Flutter had her solo again. "Yes everything-"

All the animals sung along with her now. "Yes everything is certainly fine!"

"It's fine!"

It took a while, but eventually all the animals had finished their jobs and had exited the house. Snow Flutter sighed, as she slumped against the door in exhaustion, but had a sense of achievement.

"Hello Snow Flutter."

The voice made her jump, before she smiled, and peered around. "Discord! Where are you?"

"Look up."

Snow Flutter raised her head to the sky, to see the draconequus clinging to the roof like a gecko, whilst glancing down at her. Then, he curled his tail around the fan in the centre of the room, and hung upside down to see her.

"Look who's upside down now!"

She giggled, before getting up onto her hooves. "How are you? Is there anything I can get you to eat?"

"Nothing, and I'm fine... I managed to lie to Chrysalis, and she hasn't found out yet... actually, we've been very lucky, as she is getting ready to visit her sister for a few days." Discord teleported to the ground.

"That's wonderful news! Do you know what you'll do once she finds out?" Snow Flutter shuddered. Although she had never met Chrysalis, she knew that she was a horrible pony by what she had done.

"I don't know... I'll probably hide... and what will you do?" He glanced at Snow Flutter.

"I'll just stay here, and try to not get found by Chrysalis..."

"That'll be more difficult than you think," Discord mumbled. "Chrysalis can spy on ponies you know..?"

"What?" Snow Flutter gaped. "Has she spied on me before?"

"Actually, yes..." Discord murmured. "I was there when she found out about about you..."

Snow Flutter coughed slightly. "So... she knows where I was, and what I look like..?"

Discord solemnly nodded, before giving a troublesome grin. "But she doesn't know where you are right now, and I can disrupt her spells by using my chaotic magic!"

Snow Flutter smiled. "That's great! I knew I could count on you Discord... hey, is there any way we can keep in touch..?"

Discord played with his beard, manoeuvring a thinking action. "Hmm... how about this?" He used his magic, and before Snow Flutter, appeared a typewriter.

The pastel-yellow pegasi raised an eyebrow. "What will this do?"

"Basically," Discord demonstrated. "Type whatever you want into it, and it will arrive in my room as a letter. I have my own typewriter, so I can send you messages too."

"Great!" Snow Flutter smiled, before glancing at the time. "Oh my! It's time I got the food out of the oven..." She quickly skipped away and into the kitchen. Discord followed, and watched, as she quickly put some mittens on, and took a tray of freshly-baked cookies out. "I was going to give these as a treat to the six dwarves... there's enough of them, if you wanted one too..?" She glanced at him hopefully.

Discord smiled at her offer. Although he could just spawn his own cookies, it made him a lot more pleased, to have a pony who'd actually put effort into the treat, to give it to him. He picked up one of the cookies, after he'd waited for them to cool down, and ate it whole. "Thanks Snow Flutter! This is great!"

She blushed, "it was no problem, and the animals helped make it too. Now let me just arrange these on the table, and prepare the soup..."

"I can help!" Discord used his magic to levitate all the bowls of soup into the dining room, and put them before each chair. In the meantime, Snow Flutter was putting the cookies in the centre of the table.

"Thank you for the help Discord! The dwarves will be back any minute now... care to join us?" The yellow pegasi glanced at him hopefully, but he only shook his head.

"Sorry Snow Flutter... I'm not good with ponies... you're the only pony I actually get along with. I need to go now, bye, and don't forget to use the typewriter!"

"Of course," Snow Flutter sighed, as she watched him teleport away. "Bye Discord."

…

Scootaloo awoke, to hear birds whistling outside, and the wind blowing lightly against the windows. She sighed- it had been ages since she had woken up to no sound whatsoever- wait, no sound? In this house, silence almost always meant a bad thing. Scootaloo got up from bed, and noticed that none of her friends were in their beds. Scootaloo bounced onto Sweetie Belle's bed, and sniffed at the sheets. "Hmm... according to my senses, it has been up to three hours since she evacuated the bed... let me dispense my evidence." Scootaloo hopped off of her bed, and did the same examination on the quilts of both Apple Bloom and Babs Seed's beds. The same data was retrieved. "They must have left early... why would they leave me behind? They never leave me behind!" Scootaloo closed her eyes, sheer betrayal lingering. Sighing, she left the room, and went into the kitchen of the house, hungry for food. To her surprise, she saw Rumble rummaging through all the kitchen supplies and cooking something which smelt awfully delicious... Scootaloo shook her head. No, if it's cooked by Rumble, it could be poison.

"What are you doing up, and why the hoof are you in the kitchen?" Scootaloo trotted forward, and examined the pancakes which were being baked in a fry pan.

Rumble shrugged. "I'm up because I woke up about an hour ago, and I am cooking breakfast. You're welcome."

"It's not toxic, is it?" Scootaloo narrowed her eyes, as she glanced at the ingredients the pale grey pegasi had been using.

Rumble shrugged. "If you're so desperate for it to be poisoned, you can add a bit of that to your dish later."

Scootaloo slowly nodded, marking the pancakes as safe to eat, before she glared at Rumble. "And what have you done to my friends?"

Rumble glanced at her in confusion. "Aren't they sleeping?"

"No, when I woke up, they were gone... just like that. They never leave me behind, and if they do, it must be a crisis!" Scootaloo went into panic mode, as she hid under a chair.

"Are you sure they just wanted to leave you behind because you're annoying?" Rumble smirked.

Scootalo gasped, getting out from under the chair, and menacing forward. "You listen to me, mister! They'd never leave me behind! Never! And I am not trusting those delicious smelling pancakes of yours!" Scootaloo's mouth watered slightly, as she gave a longing glance at the baking food, before shaking her head. "I'm not!"

Rumble slowly nodded, whilst grinning. "Whatever you say. Leaves more for me then... don't I love freshly baked pancakes in the morning, with maple syrup and ice cream..."

Scootaloo desperately glanced at the food, which he was now taking out of the pan. "You're not getting to me!"

"With berries... and maybe some sugar..."

Scootaloo began to wail. "You're being so cruel!"

Rumble smirked. "Do you want food or not?"

Scootaloo stubbornly glanced to the side, before she pleadingly stared at him, dropping to her knees. "Please! Give me food! I'll do anything- anything!"

"Wow- not the reaction I was expecting... I was just going to give you one anyway, but now that you will do anything for the pancakes..."

"You're a mean pony," Scootaloo muttered. "Fine, what do you want me to do?"

"Hmm... be my slave for a day!" Rumble smirked, as Scootaloo looked at him, shattered.

"No way! Deal's off!" Scootaloo glanced to the side.

"What? You're a chicken?" Rumble was silently laughing to himself.

Scootaloo's ears perked, and she narrowed her eyes. "I ain't no chicken! Fine. I'll do whatever you want, just give me the pancakes!"

Rumble nodded, "good dog," and lead her to the table.

"Just because I'm not a chicken, doesn't mean I'm a dog," Scootaloo spat.

Rumble raised an eyebrow. "Do I hear my personal servant complaining?" Scootaloo went quiet, before she sat down on the chair across from him, and began to eat the pancake he had given her. She wasn't going to admit it to him, but it was probably the best pancake she had ever tasted.

"Anyway... I'm really worried about Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Babs Seed," Scootaloo murmured. "They've never left me behind... they could be in some sort of danger..."

Rumble listened intently. "Do you want to go search for them with me?"

Scootaloo glanced up in shock. "You'd do that?"

"Why not? It will be fun anyway! Now tell me, Scootaloo, do you know where they would be?" Rumble curiously asked, as he was finishing off his pancake.

Scootaloo shook her head. "I'm not very good with direction... I'm probably the worst navigator out of the group- Sweetie Belle is the best. When we were first venturing into the Everfree Forest, we used to leave behind trails of pebbles when we were walking, so we could just follow them back home. Maybe we could do that now?"

Rumble nodded. "Great idea... do you have any rocks we could use?"

Scootaloo shook her head. "No, but we could use bread instead! We have plenty of it... almost too much!"

Rumble nodded. Eventually, the two finished their breakfast, and began to grab a few loaves of bread. "Ready?" Rumble smirked.

Scootaloo nodded. "When you are, captain!"

"Race ya' to the trees then!"

Before Scootaloo knew it, Rumble was off in a flash, running as fast as he could towards the edges of the Everfree Forest.

"Hey! You had a head start!" Scootaloo cried, before rolling her eyes, and chasing after the colt.

Rumble came first, and was smugly grinning at her, as she panted. "I win!"

"Only because you had a head start!" Scootaloo interrupted.

Rumble shrugged. "Well it serves you right for calling me a filly the other day!"

Scootaloo smirked. "What? Are girls too cool for you?" She playfully batted at him.

"As if!" He chortled, pouncing on her, and pinning her to the ground, as they play-fought.

"Oh yeah? Well how come you need a filly to do all your chores for you?" Scootaloo snickered, as she gently kicked him off with her back hooves.

Rumble brushed some dust off of his shoulders. "Fine, then I don't need you serving me anymore. But I bet, by the end of the day, you will be begging me for orders!"

Scootaloo chuckled. "You wish!"

Rumble snorted. "Suit yourself. Ok, so let's do this! Bread?"

"Check," Scootaloo held up one of the loaves of bread, and tore off a little bit of the food.

"Okay! Let's go!" The two Crusaders entered the trees which swayed in the amounts of snow which rested on the branches. Scootaloo gulped- she always got the shivers when she entered the undergrowth- not that she was going to admit it to Rumble. With each step, Scootaloo tore off another piece of bread, donating it to the snow.

"So... tell me about yourself," Rumble turned to her in interest.

"What?" Scootaloo gaped.

"Well this may take a while, so we may as well get to know each other. Who are your parents?" Rumble continued trekking, as Scootaloo glanced at the ground cautiously.

"I don't have any parents..." She choked it out.

Rumble glanced at her in shock. "I'm sorry- I didn't know..."

"It's all right," Scootaloo murmured. "It's not your fault."

Rumble sympathetically patted her in the back. "So what did you do when you were a foal?"

"Well... I lived in Cloudsdale... and, I survived on food scraps for a while, until I came across this pegasi- she's the most awesome pony ever! She has a cyan pelt, and her mane has every colour of the rainbow on it! Cinderainbow found me, and felt sorry for me- her job was to deliver milk, and every day, she would secretly donate a bottle of milk to me. Soon, we got really close, and she adopted me as her little sister- not officially, but we were basically sisters, because we did everything together. Oh, and did I tell you, that she is the best flier ever? Anyway, I was very supportive of my sister, and one day, this pony named Soarin showed her a poster, which was for the best fliers competition! Cinderainbow entered, and I watched her win, before my very eyes- she was versing adult ponies, and at the time, she was only about our age right now! It was incredible, but then it turned out the judge was actually Queen Chrysalis! Cinderainbow used to have another name, but I forgot it, and Chyrsalis changed her name to Cinderainbow. Me and Soarin tried to help her, but then Chrysalis took us away, and I watched Cinderainbow swirl down this huge portal. It was the scariest moment of my life... everything blacked out, and I woke up to find me and Soarin in a cage. Chrysalis took me out, and she said this poem... it still lingers in my mind...

'My dear, little pony,

I am going to teleport you.

Just on the edge of the Everfree Forest.

Goodbye Scootaloo.'

After she said that poem, she opened up a portal, and I was blacked out... eventually I awakened, and met Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. We were in the area nearby the Everfree Forest..." Scootaloo explained how they had had an argument over what to make the houses out of, and that they eventually saw the light and all happily lived in the brick house. Scootaloo explained how Babs Seed had been the wolf, and how they met Zecora, and everything which happened beyond that. After she had finished the story of her life, Rumble just stared at her in astonishment.

"Hello? Equestria to Rumble?" Scootaloo shook her hoof in front of Rumble's eyes, before he blinked, and shook his head.

"Your life is amazing..." He stared at her in disbelief.

Scootaloo shrugged. "Thank you. Now tell me about yourself!"

Rumble laughed slightly. "Well... there's not much to say, as it isn't as exciting as yours... but my parents left a few years ago and I don't know why. Although my brother Thunderlane should have been looking after me, he didn't. Most of my life, I spent with my foal sitters Flitter and Cloudchaser... don't get me wrong, they were two of the most amazing ponies you could ever meet. But they were more my sisters than Thunderlane was my brother, and they weren't even related to me. I remember when I was four, Thunderlane and Lightning Dust were tormenting the dwarves for the first time... I hated it, and after the dwarves had left, I told my brother that what he was doing wasn't right. He just excused me... him and his friend Lightning Dust- I think Lightning Dust just influenced him bad, because she was pretty rough. Anyway, from years after that, I watched and watched as the dwarves returned, this time, more trained, and more equipped. They could now steal, and every single time they came, I would tell my brother that it was his fault. I told everyone that we should just let the dwarves live as normal ponies, but of course they wouldn't listen to me... I'm only a little colt. Anyway, I wanted freedom... I wanted somepony to talk to. That's why when I saw you and your friends all of a sudden, I felt a pull from my heart, and I knew that you all were where my destiny lies..." Rumble sighed. "I know you don't like me Scoots, but can't we be friends?"

"Scoots..? You're the second pony to call me that... the first was Cinderainbow..." Scootaloo glanced at him, but he quickly turned away.

"Sorry... if you don't want me to call you that-" Rumble began.

"No... it's okay... and I never said we weren't friends," Scootaloo smiled warmly, as he stared to her in shock.

"We're friends?" A glint of hope sparkled in Rumble's grey-purple eyes.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "No, but we're not... not friends!"

"Yay! This is the best news of my life!" Rumble bounced around ecstatically, as Scootaloo laughed.

"Come on, you strange colt. We don't know where the others are yet." Scootaloo grinned.

The two trotted further into the woods, still leaving behind their trail of bread. They chatted more, about what they liked and disliked, and it turned out that they were quite similar. The two were so caught in each other's conversations, that they didn't realise the time, which was agitatedly ticking passed.

Only when they heard the sound of an owl hooting, did they stop, and realise that the moon was creeping over the horizon.

"We're here... during nighttime... in the Everfree Forest..." Scootaloo let out a frightened squeal, and hid behind Rumble in terror.

He smirked at her. "Wow, you're tough, aren't you!"

Scootaloo shivered. "I am tough... it's just that this is very dangerous... I bet our friends are already home and wondering where we are- we need to turn back now! All kinds of horrific monsters lurk in these woods during nighttime," Scootaloo whimpered.

"No problem! All we need to do is follow our trail of-" Rumble spun around, but to his horror, he saw a bunch of birds flocking around, and fighting over the last remaining morsels. They hadn't left a crum behind. "Bread..." He finished.

…

There, a jet black structure of Canterlot stood, its dark crystals gushing out the sides with green, icky sludge clinging to the outer walls. Matching the spots of green on the sides, were some fearsome changelings, guarding the outside of the castle- hungry for battle. Deep below the palace were dark blue crystals, forming around the sides. The mine had been unused for mining for years, however, ponies were locked in these dungeons. Some were evil, seeking war wherever they turned... others were good, attempting to restore peace to the land. These rebellion seekers were outnumbered by innocent ponies... ones who didn't deserve to be down there... just the bit of their attractiveness was what sent them to jail. Changeling guards marched along the sides of the bars, glancing at the ill, weak ponies who stared to the ponies in the dungeons across to them. The last dungeon, at the very end, was probably the most special. The bars were stronger than the rest of them, and the outer crystals were jutting out hard- one clumsy move, and the sharp crystals could shed blood. The pony who was crouching inside this dungeon, was a light pink-grey cerise alicorn, with glistening light purple eyes. Her mane was tricolour, striped with violet, rose and pale gold, and at the tips of her wings, was a colour of pretty faded-purple, mingling with the pink. However, she seemed frail and dull. She seemed to be wrinkled and worn with age, and was exhausted, although she could have been resting for a few years.

"Cadance... please awaken."

The alicorn opened her eyes slowly, before she turned to the side, and saw in the dungeon next to hers, a dark blue alicorn. In the dungeon across from the dark blue pony, was a white alicorn, with a mane of blue, pink and green.

"Did you... visit her..?" Cadance creaked, hope sparking in her dull eyes.

Celestia nodded, a grim expression on her face. "Yes, we spoke to her... she may be young, but she is mature beyond her age, and we know she will make the correct decision."

"Good..." Cadance held the word, as she began to sway, and fall asleep.

"No! Stay strong Mi Amore Cadenza! Thee mustn't fade away- please don't..." Luna's eyes welled with tears.

Cadance chuckled softly. "My time is soon... I doubt even if she succeeds I'll make it..."

"Thou lying!" Luna boomed. "Cadance, don't lie to me! Please don't!"

"Luna," Celestia murmured to the other alicorn. "Let her rest."

Luna stared at her sister, before giving in, and slumping to the ground. Cadance breathed heavily, as she listened to her irregular heart beat. She felt her tiara begin to slip off of her head, and it clanged against the hard ground. Cadance noticed that the purple gem was missing from the top, and she slowly curved her lips upwards in content. "Look after them Shining Armour."