Last time on 'Mushroom Soup' Quest:
>Were able to cure most of the ponies under mind control.
>The Helmet Head snuck up behind you.
>You panicked, but before you could do anything, it fell down and apparently died.
>Your pony friends ran over to help but it was already over.
>The bunch of you were discussing what happened when Fluttershy came in and immediately started crying over the dead monster.
>You and the others tried to cheer her up but it didn’t seem to help.
You are Rusty Shackleford, a human with no memory who has found himself lost in Equestria.
Currently you are in the significantly damaged store front of Sugar Cube Corner with Twilight Sparkle, Zecora, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, who is sobbing quietly in your arms. On the floor is the dead Helmet Head, a humanoid mushroom creature that had most of Ponyville under in control with is strange spores. The bunch of you are all standing in an uncomfortable silence until Pinkie asks:
"So now what?"
Inventory check:
"Well, I guess the safe thing to do is dispose of the... you know," You say, gesturing with your head at the Helmet Head on the floor, trying not to upset Fluttershy any more then she is by saying something. "It might not be safe."
"Good idea," Twilight says. Using her magic, she pics up the dead fungus creature and carries it out the large, glasses window of the storm front. "Many types of mushrooms can become toxic after they die. Pinkie, help me bring this thing somewhere safe so it won't hurt anyone."
"Okay!"
The two ponies leave into the cold night, Twilight's glowing magic aura disappearing as they walk down the street, heading to the closest way out of town. As you watch them go, the kitchen door creeks open. Mr. Cake pokes his head out, looking around the room cautiously.
"Is it safe now?"
"Yeah it's safe now, but it might be a safe idea to scrub down this whole area. I'm scared that thing might have left spores or something around here that could make everyone sick."
"Yeah, that does sound bad," Mr Cake whispers, cautiously coming out of the kitchen, followed by his wife. Both their babies are sound asleep on their backs. "Thanks everyone, especially you Rusty. But we need to put these little ones to bed. It's been a crazy night."
You and the others say goodnight to the Cakes as they disappear up the stairs. You turn to Zecora.
"Zecora, I know a lot's happened, but do you have any idea what's up with all this snow? Dash seemed surprised by as much as the others."
"It is a mystery, even to me." She lets out a large, audible yawn, covering her mouth with her hoof. "The mushroom is a possibility."
"Hmm," You consider this and look down at the little yellow pony in your arms. "And what about you, Fluttershy? Do you know whats going on? Is that why you were acting so strange before?"
Fluttershy silently shakes her head without looking up at you.
"What is it Fluttershy?" You ask the pony you are holding. "What' s wrong?"
"I don't want... to talk about it, please." She whimpers almost too quiet to hear.
"Come now, Fluttershy," Rarity says sympathetically, standing closer to the two of you. "We are all friends here. You should be able to talk about anything with us."
Fluttershy remains silent, burring her head a little deeper into your clothes.
You pull Fluttershy out from under you and hold her at arms length, level with your head so you are face to face. She's surprisingly light. Fluttershy curls into legs and wings as you do this.
"Fluttershy, we want to help you, but you need to give us something to go on here," You say firmly but gently. "Is it about one of your animals?"
You can see her face partially through her wing feathers and she gives a tentative little nod.
"And you don’t want to talk about it?" Rarity asks.
Fluttershy gently shakes her head.
"Is it your rabbit?" You ask, remembering that little white bunny that always seemed around Fluttershy's cottage the few times you were there.
Fluttershy shakes her head.
"Is it other animals? Did they run away or something?"
Fluttershy shakes her head.
"Listen, Fluttershy," You confront the little pony a little more firmly now. "We can stand here all night asking questions until my arms get tired from holding you, but if your animals are in danger, you should tell us so we can help you help them."
Fluttershy doesn’t say anything, but you can feel her trembling in your hands some.
You don't seem to be making any headway with Fluttershy. You turn her around in your hands and hold her out to Rarity.
"Can you try talking to her?" You ask the unicorn, a little desperately.
"Fluttershy, darling," Rarity says, trying to peek under Fluttershy's wings to get a look at her face. "Getting tight lipped isn’t going to help anyone. If there's something wrong with your animals, you should tell us. We want to help you. We care about you."
Fluttershy stays silent and now your arms are starting to get tired from over extending them like this. On top of that, you're starting to feel exhausted all over.
"Ugh, maybe we should pack in for the night?" You suggest, putting Fluttershy down on the ground. She just lays there in a ball.
"Yes, that's probably a good idea." Rarity says, gently petting Fluttershy. "What do you think, Zecor-"
You look over at the zebra when Rarity stopped mid sentence. Zecora is asleep.
"Zecora," You say, gently shaking the little zebra. "Zecora. You OK?"
Zecora snaps up, suddenly alert again. She looks around, blinking up at you absently.
"I am well, I just... I just..." Zecora is already starting to nod off before your eyes. And it's making you start to feel tired too. You don’t even remember the last time you had a good nights sleep in a bed...
"Rarity, what's the closest place we could crash for the night? We're all pretty beat, but I don’t think the Cakes would like us all sleeping here."
"Well, we certainly can't all stay at my place," Rarity says, letting out a yawn of her own. "Excuse me. Twilight's is not far. I'm sure she wouldn’t be opposed if we stayed the night."
You scoop up Fluttershy and try to help Zecora to her hooves, but she's still really drowsy and constantly threatens to fall down. Rarity goes to her opposite side and helps her stay upright.
Your intrepid little group heads out into the snow. Its very late out, though you could only guess at the time. The snow has stopped falling but it seems like at least a foot and a half of snow has fallen, which makes walking slow going for all of you.
All of the ponies that were in front of Sugar Cuber Corner as thralls all seem to have gone, probably all of them went home or somewhere to stay warm.
Twilight's place seems much like its normal self, plus being heavily laden with snow in its branches. A few of the large branches have broken and fallen to the ground under the extra weight. Seeing that the lights are off, you assume Twilight isn’t back yet with Pinkie so you let yourself in with the others. The door isn’t locked.
Inside it's very dark, but compared to the outdoors its much warmer.
"Twilight? Pinkie?" You call out in the dark, as the others shuffle inside around you. "Anyone home?"
There’s no answer, but you distinctly her something shuffle around in the dark.
"Rarity!" You whisper loudly enough for her to hear you, but still trying to keep quiet. "I think there’s someone in here. Give us a light."
Nodding, Rarity uses her horn and it generates a beam of light like a flashlight. Without moving her head, the beam goes around the room, revealing the library in its minor state of disorder. Some of the shadows cast by the light are elongated and menacing in the dark night, but there doesn’t seem to be anything here.
A suddenly growl makes you all jump and Rarity's light jerks over to the source of the sound, near the edge of the second floor, in Twilight's room. The light reveals Spike, sleeping in his little bed. The light makes him shift around in his sleep, pulling a blanket over his head and letting out a little base growl.
"Rarity, could you check everywhere, please?" You ask.
"Fine, fine." Rarity says, and goes over the whole library with the light as you watch, keeping the two sleepy ponies close to you. It takes a few minutes but, aside from Spike, it would appear you are all alone.
"OK, good. It was just Spike," You say, relived. "Thanks Rarity. Here, I'll get some pillows and blankets for us."
You head up to Twilight's room, careful not to wake up Spike and gather up some sleeping materials. When you go back down stairs, you find Rarity already laying down with the others. You guess she was sleepy too.
You set some pillows under the little ponies and cover them up with a few blankets. You also set down a set for yourself, but before you go to bed, you fumble through the desk you saw Twilight get some candles from before and light up a few with your lighter, giving the room a gentle, warm ambiance.
You're so tired. And the little pile of sleeping ponies seems very inviting.
You fight off sleep just a little longer and take a candle into the bathroom. You give yourself a once over, looking to see if you have frost bite or something. You don’t know how long you were passed out in the snow.
In the weak candle light, you can see that the tips of your fingers are a little discolored, tinged with a bit of blue. In the mirror, you can see your lips are also very blue, plus a goose egg sized bump from where someone clocked you. You warm your fingers of the little flame. The tips feel like you've set them on fire, even though you're keeping a gentle distance. You do this for a few minutes until you think you feel some circulation under the skin.
Back in the library, you put out the candles, just to be safe. If Twilight comes back you're sure she can find her way in the dark herself. Unable to keep going, you collapse on to the sheet and pillow you laid out. The ponies are sleeping soundlessly
The moment you rest your head, you are out like the candles and drift off into sleep.
...
Your dreams are hectic. You're alone in a very dark place, running blindly from something you cant see. Then you are talking with Pinkie and sharking cupcake, laughing. Then the cupcakes grow spider legs and crawl all over. Everything swirls around in a chaotic mess, making no reason but that of your jumbled subconscious. And through all of it, there the laughter of the crazy pony, haunting and mocking. Never stopping.
Now you're back again, with the crazy blue unicorn on top of you. She's shaking you violently.
You try to fight her off, but she's too strong, seeming to grow larger the more you try to fight back. That terrible, bright white smile dominates their entire face, exaggerating the insanity.
"Why are you doing this? What do you want from me?"
"I want you to wake up!"
"What?"
"Rusty! Wake up!"
You're awake again. Twilight is on top of you, shaking you fanatically by the shoulders with her hooves. She looks down at you, her face stricken with panic and worry.
"Wh-what?" You say weakly, trying to register reality again. How long were you asleep? It feels like you haven't slept a wink.
"Shhh!" Twilight shushes you, both loudly and at the same time trying to keep hushed. "Rusty, you need to get up. They're here!"
"Who's here?" You sit up, resting on your elbows. Squinting through the darkness, you can see its still dark out, but Twilight lit a few of the candles you left out. Rarity, Zecora and Fluttershy are still resting next to you, but they're stirring a bit at the commotion Twilight is making.
"The guards," Twilight says, going to a window, slyly peeking around a curtain. "The Princess sent them here looking for you after she got my letter. They're right outside. Pinkie is buying us time, but they mean business."
"What are they going to do if they find me?" You ask, getting to your feet and wiping the wrinkles out of your suit. It looks as crisp and straight as ever.
"I... I don’t know."
You tip toe around the sleeping ponies and cautiously look out the window next to Twilight. There are two large stallion ponies talking with Pinkie Pie only a few feet away. One is a white pegaus in bright gold armor, the other is a light brown unicorn in dark purple, almost black armor. Both of them look very annoyed with Pinkie, who is talking with lots of fancy arm movements, standing between them and the library.
"Did you tell them about all the good things I did? Or maybe you could explain things to the Princess?"
"No no, we told them you left Ponyville just after I sent the letter." Twilight says, turning from the window and looking up at you. "Rusty, I'm sorry I've put you in this situation. I thought I knew what I was doing, but this doesn’t seem right. You're a good person. You didn’t do anything wrong."
"Is there another way out of your house?"
"Uhh," Twilight rubs her head, clearly trying to think. "There’s no back door, but you can probably jump from one of the back windows, but it's a bit of a drop."
"Wait wait, can't you just teleport me out of here, like you did before?"
"I'm sorry. Me and Pinkie have spent the last few hours trying to get rid of that Helmet Head. The only reason I'm awake right now is because I'm scared out of my mind."
"Rusty! Hide!" Twilight whispers, frantically waving you away from the door. "I'll try to buy you time!"
"No Twilight," You say, gently pushing her aside. "We can't be lying and have me be more of a fugitive then I already am. The best thing to do right now is face the music and prove that I'm a good guy."
"But... are you sure?" Twilight says, looking up at you, her eyes wide. You nod.
Twilight goes over to the door and opens it up a crack, sticking her head outside.
"H-hhiiiiiiiii," She says, trying to keep cool.
"Good morning, Ms. Sparkle." You hear one of the guards reply. "The Princess sent us to investigate your sighting of the creature she's sent warnings out for all the subjects of Equestria."
"Yeah, about that..." Twilight says slowly and pushes the door all the way open. You get a full look of the two guards and they do of you.
"Whats u-" You start to say before the first stallion shoves Twilight aside and tackles you. You hot the ground flat on your back and the pegasus guard holds you down by putting his whole body weight on top of you. One of his front hooves is pushing right down on your cheek.
"No wait stop!" You hear Twilight shout. "You don’t understand!"
"Stay back! This creature is dangerous!" The other guard says. In your peripheral vision, you can see him trying to block Twilight and Pinkie from getting close. You also see the other ponies who you were spending the night with wake up in the commotion.
"Stop it! He didn’t do anything wrong!" Rarity yells at pegasus guard, storming very forward in his face.
"Yeah!" Pinkie shouts in agreement by Twilight and the unicorn guard.
"Stop!" It's you turn to yell out now, holding up your bound arms. "Stop. Rarity, Pinkie, Twilight. Just... stop. Don't do anything crazy. I surrender."
There’s a long silence where no one says anything. The other ponies stop in place where they are, all staring at you, surprised. Wordlessly, the unicorn guard uses his magic and bound you to your bound feet. You're unable to walk, and the pegasus guard stands next to you for you to lean against. With your weight on him, he drags you along towards the door.
"Can I ask what I'm being charged with?" You ask, try to keep polite and non threatening.
"You have been deemed by the Princess to be a threat to the safety of Equestria," The pegasus guard says. "We have been ordered to retrain you and bring you to Canterlot to be brought before her."
You're dragged outside, heading roughly deeper into Ponyville. The snow seems to have melted a little or something, cause now its less then a foot deep. All your friends are follow behind with worried look and hushed whispers.
"I thought there were two Princesses." You say.
"They're are," The other guard says, Bacon you think the other one called him. "We've been ordered by Princess Luna to retrieve you."
"Huh. Anyway, I give up and everything, but don't you two think it would be safer if you two waited until morning before you bring me back? I heard the way between here and Canterlot is dangerous with all the monsters."
"It is," The pegasus guard says. "There were three of us when we left Canterlot."
"And it is morning," Add the other guard. "It's rough half past ten now."
"That’s... odd." You says, looking around. It's still pitch black out. "Can my friends come with us?"
"They may follow us, but that’s it. When we get to Canterlot, it'll be up the the Princess."
"OK. Twilight!" You call out. the purple unicorn quickly breaks from the others and rushes over. The unicorn guard, Bacon, intercepts her so she's still a distance from you. "Can you do me a favor?"
"Okay! What is it?"
"Write another letter to the Princess. Tell her all the good things I did. Get some signatures from the other ponies, as many as you can get. Your Princess will have to listen to something like that, right?"
"Yeah." Twilight smiles and nods in agreement. "That’s a really good idea, Rusty!"
"Thanks Twilight," You call back. "They said you can follow along so long as you don’t do anything stupid."
"Alright, I'll tell the others and get started on that letter!" Twilight calls back and starts going back to the others. "Don't worry Rusty, we'll get you out of this!"
"Also, you guards..." You start.
"Flatfoot." The pegasi says.
"What?"
"That’s my name. I'm Flatfoot and he's Bacon."
"Nice to meet you two. I'm Rusty."
They don't reply to your pleasantry, leaving a bit of an awkward moment. You clear your throat and change the subject.
"Uhh, if the road to Canterlot is so long and dangerous, wouldn't it make sense to undo my legs? I won't run, I give up. But I can't imagine you're going to drag me the whole way."
"We're not."
You've reached the edge of town. Far in the distance, reflected by the back dropped moon, you can see the miniature speck of Canterlot in the mountains. To the side of the road just in front of you, it a cart with a large metal cage. There’s a locked door, which Bacon opens with magic.
"Get in."