My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Matchmaker

Chapter 9

“wow. Zilver really said that?” Ash asked. The humans gathered at Orion’s engine room when they learned of what had transpired hours earlier to the guys.

“yep. The Scumbag said that he was gonna have nothing to do with Applejack or their foal.” Aura angrily said.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“yeah, but Spike and Rarity have a big problem.” Ash said. “thanks to Sweetie Belle and her love for Spike, there’s a chance that their relationship is over and done with before it began. And he had such a good plan to win her love.”

“well, you haven’t keep keeping an eye on Shadow.” Satoshi said. “he’s in love with Dash but since she’s going out with Soarin’, he’s keeping his feelings bottled up. Eventually, they’re gonna explode out.”

“well, Twi and Halo are reaching a breaking point. Literally. I think if they don’t talk soon, they won’t have a chance to reconcile this.” Req muttered.

“well, me, Bahamut, and Sora can safely say we don’t have to worry about this.” Jax said as she leaned back.

“aren’t you guys lucky?” the rest sarcastically replied.

“but seriously, we need to do something for them.’ Sora said. “If not, this could cause a lot of damage to them.”

“especially Starlight.” Req added. “If a expectant mother gets under a lot of pressure, it can have very bad consequences on the baby. I‘m glad Jess was strong willed when she was pregnant.”

The gang looked at each other and nodded. “well, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… Requiem, time to unleash the romance monger.”

Requiem disappeared for a moment and reappeared dressed as Cupid. “I’m ready to go to work.” she jokingly said. A arrow tipped with the heart symbol fell out of the plastic bow she held. Everyone gagged at the outfit and instantaneously came up with the same reaction:

“Lose the outfit!”

Daring & Derpy:
Wild West Lancer

The Ponyville Express rolled on down the railways to it’s destination, which lay in a deserty part of the world.

Derpy looked out the window at the new scenery as her sister talked up a storm to several fans.

“…and then, just as I was about to be swallowed up into the shrieking abyss, in comes Silverbolt; the dashing Gryphon with a heart of gold. He beat back the forces of Herostol and rescued me before I became a stain at the bottom of a deep, deep, deep hole. We grabbed the Gryphon‘s Goblet and flew out just moments before the place collapsed in on itself. Afterwards, we shared a kiss under the setting sun.”

The fans applauded the story. Daring took a bow and jumped off the table she was on. She walked over to her sis. “ah. It’s always to meet fans.”

“was any part of that story actually true?” Derpy asked.

“well, there was… is… a Gryphon named Silverbolt and there WAS a goddess named Herostol. But, other then those…” Daring took a drink of her mug of cider.

Derpy gave a slight chuckle. “you were always good at making up stories.”

Daring gulped down her drink and set the mug down. “speaking of stories, what ever happened to that Dragon friend of yours, un… eTu`nes, I think his name was. I haven’t seen him at all since I returned to town. Where‘d he go?”

Derpy sighed as she looked out the window yet again. “I don’t know. We had a… falling out 7 years ago then… he just left. Don’t know what happened to him after that.”

Daring got a worried look. She liked that Drake. “what was the fight about?”

Derpy thought back to that day and gave a gasping chuckle. “for the life of me, I can’t remember. Must’ve been something big, otherwise he wouldn’t have disappeared for 7 years.” Derpy sighed as she stared off into space. “eTu`nes… where did you go…?”

Daring caught lament in her words and got cocky. “oh, ho ho ho.” Derpy glanced over. “You loved him!”

Derpy’s face turned a deep shade of red. “I-I did not.”

“yes you did. You loved eTu`nes.”

“N-no I’m now, er… wasn’t.” Daring wasn’t buying it. “that’s like saying you’re in love with a Gryphon.” D.D. scratched her cheek. Derpy adopted a fazed look. “Silverbolt’s your boyfriend, isn’t he?”

“maybe…”

“Oh, Daring.” Derpy groaned.

“What? There’s tons of inter-species relationships these days. Just look at Rarity and that Dragon boy… what was his name again? … Spike. that’s it.”

“in case you forgot, D.D., they aren’t going out.”

“but they want to. You can’t deny it. You’ve seen it.”

Derpy rolled her eyes. “whatever you say, D.D. whatever you say.”

The train rolled into Appaloosa and hissed to a halt. The doors opened and the passengers walked on out, Derpy and Daring among the first ones out.

“So, tell me, why are we here again?” Derpy asked.

“got a letter saying a package of mine arrived here by accident. They don’t know what’s in it. I replied that I’m coming to verify what it is.”

“Any clue as to what it is?”

“well, probably the Scepter of Zax and Jeria. Found it on a dig in the Gryphon Kingdom’s desert.”

“Zax and Jeria?” Derpy muttered. “why do those names sound familiar?”

“you were never a fan of history.” Daring droned. “according to legend, Zax, the Human, and Jeria, the Alicorn, created the world long long ago and gave life to it. The Scepter was made by them to keep the balance of the world’s Mana, or Magic Force. Then they hid it in some forgotten corner of the world. Until I came along, that is.” Daring gave a wicked smile. Derpy rolled her eyes in agony. When it came to history, Daring was a big old nerd.

“is it real?” Derpy asked.

“Maybe, maybe not. Keep in mind that it is just a legend and probably not true. Besides, the Scepter is rusted over. Any power it had is long gone by now or transferred into the Elements of Harmony. And besides, I doubt this is the real deal.”

“what do you mean?”

“there’s always copies and fakes lying around. Found 2 myself. They’re in museums now.”

“Ah. So, ho--”

“HOWDY!” A male Earth Pony with a wide grin came out of nowhere, scaring the sisters. “and Welcome to AAAAPaloosa!” Derpy clutched her chest as she had a mini-heart attack. Daring rolled her eyes and helped her up. “Un… did I do something wrong?”

“no. she’s just easy to scare.” Daring said. “who are you, by the way?”

“Name’s Braeburn, Second Cousin to Applejack and owner of the local apple farm. You must be Daring Do and Derpy Whooves.”

“how do you know us?” Derpy asked.

“A.J. sent a letter saying you were coming here on business. Surprised me when it came out of thin air in a puff of green smoke.”

Derpy and Daring looked at each other and knew who sent it. “Spike-a-gram.”

“So, what brings you to town?” Braeburn asked as they started for their destination.

“Scepter I found on a dig.” Daring said. “Guy who I assigned it to brought it here instead of Ponyville. Guess I didn’t write it down clear enough.”

“Scepter? Oh, that thing at the bank?”

“un…” Daring looked at Derpy who was just as confused as her. “if it’s a 6-foot long stick that splits into 2 prongs on the end and with a feather-like crossguard, then yes. But how do you know about it?”

“A Gryphon came to town about 2 hours before you arrived and asked us if we could place it in the bank for safe-keeping. We asked what we were hiding, we don’t want Appaloosa to become known as a place to hide stolen goods. He revealed that it was Scepter and, well, we placed it there.”

Derpy exclaimed in acknowledgement while Daring got suspicious. “This Gryphon… does he have silver fur, yellow eyes, and carries himself with grace?”

“Yes.”

Daring’s heart went all aflutter knowing who is here. “Silverbolt!” she happily said. She ran off to the bank, leaving Braeburn and Derpy behind.

“I take it she knows him?” Braeburn asked.

“yep.”

Daring ran into the bank to see the silver Gryphon talking with the sheriff.

“Bolty!” she exclaimed. Silverbolt looked over to her just as she ran up and hugged him. “Oh, I missed you so much.”

“Daring. You’re here early.” Bolt said in surprise.

“Someone you know?” Silverstar asked.

“my Marefriend.” Bolt said. Braeburn and Derpy entered as Bolt cut the embrace short when he noticed Derpy. “who’s your friend?”

“This is actually my sister, Derpy. Derpy, this is my boyfriend Silverbolt.”

“So this is Derpy.” Bolt walked over and looked her over. “Daring talked a lot about you. You were in love with a dragon?”

“I wasn’t in love. We were just friends!” A flustered Derpy said.

Braeburn chuckled. “you should really talk about this stuff in private.”

“I got a room. Let’s go there.” Silverbolt mentioned.

“Perfect!” Daring exclaimed. “but will the Scepter be safe here?” she asked the sheriff.

“it will be, Ms. Do.” Star said with confidence. “This bank has never been broken into. Trust me, it’ll be safe here.”

“Great. With that out of the way, let’s un…” Bolt grabbed Daring’s hooves and held her close. “… retire to my chambers.”

Daring chuckled seductively as she blushed. Derpy gagged as Braeburn and Star rolled their eyes.

Derpy looked out over the balcony of their fancy hotel room to the night sky as Daring and Bolt eh… did the deed. Images of her old draconic friend entered her mind. “eTu`nes… where’d you go?” she sadly said, looking down to the ground now. “Dash misses you. Zatch, Lightning, and Gothic miss you. ……I miss you.” she closed her eyes as a single tear ran down her face. She looked back up to the moon. “I wish I knew where you were, Dragon-Boy. You would’ve liked Dinky.”

Derpy turned to walk in, hearing that the 2 were done, when she noticed someone sneaking around in the dark streets. She watched him or her sneak though town and head into a alley. “Who’s that?” she muttered. She unfurled her wings and flew on down to the ground, where she hovered a few feet above it.

The sneaking pony snuck all over town, making sure no one was following him. Derpy even had a few close calls where she swore he saw her but he didn’t so he kept on going.

The stranger eventually reached the bank. Using some magic, he summoned up a lock-pick and picked the lock on the door. Derpy, who was hiding behind a lightless lamppost, watched him. “What’s he up to?” she muttered.

The thief picked the lock. He carefully took it off, set it down, carefully opened the door, and walked on in. Silverstar, who was sleeping on the job, didn’t hear a thing when the thief snuck on over to the vault door. He summoned up a stethoscope and went to work breaking the combination lock.

Derpy hovered up to the door and hugged the wall. She peered her head in to see him breaking in. he cracked the lock and opened the vault door.

Derpy waited until he walked in before flying in and over to the sheriff. “sheriff. Sheriff, wake up.” she whispered.

Star grumbled as he opened his eyes. “un… Miss Derpy. What brings you here?”

“SSH!” she shushed him before the thief could hear them. “there’s a thief in there right now. I think he’s come for the Scepter.” she whispered.

“That or the bits.” he whispered back.

He was right. The thief came out with bags of bits on his back, with the scepter among them. The lights suddenly turned on, catching the Unicorn off guard. “put down the money, son. Nobody wants to--” the thief panicked and threw one of the bags at him. It hit him and sent him to the ground. He ran out with the rest of the bags. Derpy took flight after him.

The thief ran out of the bank and panted as he ran as fast as he could. He didn’t get far as a silver streak came out of nowhere and pinned him to the ground. “So much for that plan, huh thief?” Silverbolt badly joked. Derpy groaned at how bad that was.

Cell doors slammed shut on the thief as the police carriage hauled him away.

“he’ll be going away for awhile.” Star said. “thank goodness that Mrs. Whooves woke me when she did.”

“well, when we saw that Derpy had disappeared, we figured something was wrong.” Daring explained. “I thought she was kidnapped for a moment. Who knew she was tailing a robber?”

“I certainly didn’t.” Bolt said with a shrug. He lifted up and looked at the Scepter. “I’m just thankful we stopped him from taking it.”

“what would a thief want with a rusty ol’ lance, anyway?” Derpy asked.

“ancient artifacts sell for a lot on the Gryphon Kingdom’s Black Market.” Bolt explain. “Guy probably thought he struck paydirt when he saw this.”

“well, just glad we stopped him. This was a surprisingly eventful night.” Braeburn chuckled.

Derpy yawned, interrupting the talk. “Sorry. Just so sleepy.”

Daring yawned too, longer as well. “same here. I’m ready to turn in.”

“ditto that.” Silverbolt said. “we’ll be leaving first thing in the morning.” he told Star and Braeburn. “Thanks for your help.”

“Don’t mention it.” they both replied.

The Ponyville Express headed back the opposite way it came and headed for home. Derpy wasn’t particularly happy with the fact that they left at 5 in the morning.

“Did we really have to leave this early?” she yawned. “I was just getting my beauty sleep.”

“no choice. Any greedy ruffians who saw this would want to take it and sell it.” Bolt said, showing off the Scepter.

“right.” Derpy yawned again. “so… I just have to ask, how did you 2 really meet? Not what’s in ‘Gryphon’s Goblet’ but in real life.”

“un, well…” Daring thought back. It was 9 years ago, after all. “Un… we met at a archaeological dig. We were digging up some old fossils when we bumped into each other. It was love at first sight.”

“well, not for the first day and night.” Bolt nervously said. “we were at each other’s throats over a leg bone which was in both our sites. We gathered at night to talk, one thing led to another…”

Derpy stuttered them to stop. “Stapapapapa. I get the picture. Just never heard of a Gryphon-Pony relationship before.”

“well, they’re there.” Bolt said. “just like how there are Pony-Dragon relationships and Pony-Sea Pony relationships. Heck, I even heard of Pony-Diamond Dog relationships in some places.”

“Ew.” both sisters exclaimed.

“The first 2, I can understand, but Diamond Dogs?” Derpy shivered at the thought. “Scary.”

Daring smirked. “Speaking of Dragon-Pony dating services, did you and eTu`nes do it when I left?”

“WHAT!?!” Derpy exclaimed out of shock. “NO! NO NO NO! we were just friends! That’s IT!” she exclaimed with emphasis on the T. Derpy got up and walked to the bathroom.

Daring sighed lamentably. “that girl.”

“did she really love that eTu`nes drake?” Bolt asked.

“I don’t know. I’m just doing this to mess with her.” Daring smirked. She looked down at the Scepter. “So, what are you going to do with that when we get back?”

“Show it to the Princess’s. they can tell if it’s real or not.” Daring looked at him with puppy-dog eyes. “but I guess I can stay in town for Hearts and Hooves. If ya like.”

Daring replied by kissing him on the cheek. “I’d like that.”

The 2 kissed as the sun fully rose. Derpy watched from the bathroom and lamentably sighed.

Author’s Notes.
Yeah, this chapter was rushed. Matchmaker isn’t my most thought-out story. Only chapters I have thought though are the Trixie & Lily/Luna chapter, the Twilight & Halo chapter, the Spike & Rarity/Sweetie Belle chapter, and the final chapter. Every other one, rushed. Just like this one. It also doesn’t help that I had writer’s block with this.
and you guys know i don't introduce something without it having some big role in the future. what role with the Scepter play? i ain't gonna tell.