//------------------------------// // Enemy Unseen // Story: Kindness and the Heart of Shadow // by Raven-Flight //------------------------------// The door creaked. “Hiya, Twilight.” “Oh, hi Pinkie.” Twilight lifted her book right back up in front of her face. Then she realized her friend was frowning and lowered it again. “What’s wrong?” “I wish Princess Celestia would let us go help too.” She draped her whole front half over the map-table and laid her chin down between her hooves. Twilight set her book down completely and walked over to commiserate. “I know what you mean. I can’t stand staying here in this cushy castle while ponies are out there being scorched alive, but it was hard enough to convince the Princess to let just Applejack go.” “Do...do you think they’re really getting scorched scorched?” There was so much sadness in Pinkie’s quivering pout that some of it spilled over into Twilight and she found herself almost mimicking the expression. “Well, no, probably not scorched scorched. All their lands and homes and belongings, maybe, but the ponies of Appleloosa are most likely going to be fine. If anyponies have the discipline and bravery to put out a wildfire that big, it’s the Royal Guard. I just wish the Princesses hadn’t sent so many of them...” Pinkie Pie lifted her head into an inquisitive tilt. “What do you mean? Wouldn’t more ponies be able to put out the fire more quickly?” “Yes, I suppose, but, well… As tragic as this fire is, I don’t think it should have all our attention right now. I want the ponies of Appleloosa safe as much as anypony else, but don’t you think the circumstances are just a little… off?” Now the moping mare shot up to her hooves. “You mean you think this fire has something to do with Sombra?” “I—” “You think he made this fire! As a distraction!” Pinkie Pie jumped up onto the table and started pacing its diameter. “He’s breaking up the Royal Guard, destroying a huge portion of Equestria’s crops, and weakening its civilians all in one fell swoop! Next he’ll pull another dirty trick just like that one—or bigger!—and the Royal Guard will have to split up again to help the victims, and then he’ll do it again, and again, and finally he’ll storm Canterlot, and nopony will be left there to defend it! GASP! Twilight, this is bad! We have to do something!” She ended her speech taking Twilight by the shoulders and shaking her back and forth. “I am!” Twilight broke herself free of Pinkie Pie’s grip. “I wish I were over there putting out the fire instead of the Royal Guard, but as long as the Princesses command I be hidden away in the safety of the castle, I’m going to be doing research and planning Equestria’s defense! Did you know that this fire is fully one and a half orders of magnitude worse than Appleloosa’s last record fire? It had to have been started or amplified by some very powerful magic, I’m sure of it. And it started just three days after Sombra stole Fluttershy and announced his return—that can’t be coincidence. And he’s back a third time, so soon and apparently unharmed after the most powerful burst of friendship magic we’ve ever created!” Pinkie Pie was nearly crying. “And what worries me most is that this offensive is nothing like anything Sombra’s ever done before! Look!” Twilight levitated the history book she had been reading and flipped its pages past Pinkie Pie’s face faster than anypony except Pinkie and herself could have read them. “You mean somepony else could be attacking Equestria too?” “Pinkie, what if Chrysalis is back?” Pinkie Pie’s eyes grew huge as saucers. “Thank you all for getting here so quickly. And thank you Applejack for letting me teleport you back for this.” “You’re welcome, Twilight, but I hope ya get this little meetin’ over with right quick too. I gotta get back out there!” The farm pony smelled strongly of ash, and Twilight regarded the dark circles under her eyes with compassion. She knew her friend hadn’t slept properly and wouldn’t until everything in Appleloosa was under control. “It just doesn’t feel right to have a team meeting without the whole team here! I sure hope Fluttershy is alright.” Rarity thought back to the last sight she had of her friend and shivered. “We’re here to talk about Fluttershy too, but first we need to make a plan.” “Oh boy,” interjected Rainbow Dash. “Equestria is in danger, Rainbow! I did some thinking. It looks like the fire in Appleloosa was intentional, and it was caused by very powerful magic. Maybe Sombra’s but he’s never been known to do any kind of magic like that. There’s a chance we could actually be dealing with Chrysalis, posing as Sombra to lead us down the wrong track!” “Good heavens!” Rarity stared. Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked at each other, mouths agape. Pinkie Pie just stared down at the table. “I hate to say it, but I don’t think the fire in Appleloosa should be the Royal Guard’s—or our—top priority right now. I’m going to try to convince the Princesses—” “Now, hold up a minute! I got family out there! Just a few more days and we should have that fire under control!” Applejack gave Twilight a penetrating glare. “You’re right. I can’t ask you to stop working on the fire. But just know that there’s a lot at stake, and if this fire was started by magic, it could be extended by magic too.” The glare changed into a horrified stare. “Ya’ll had better find that villain quick.” “Starlight and I are working on that. We think whoever’s behind all this will keep Fluttershy pretty close so she stays within range of their concealment spell, so if we find her, we’ll find our villain too. As the Element of Kindness, Fluttershy has an inherently strong magical signature, and it has resonance with all of ours, which makes it easier still to detect. Their concealment spell must be awfully strong since we haven’t found the slightest suggestion of Fluttershy’s presence anywhere yet, but Starlight proposed we could somehow try to tune the resonance of our magical frequencies in such a manner that Fluttershy’s will precipitate out—” “Wasn’t that one of Discord’s specialties? Sensing magical disturbances? Have you tried getting him to help?” “But Pinkie, he pledged not to get involved or Fluttershy could get hurt!” Rarity’s eyes added or killed. “Yeah, but how much does pointing us in the right direction actually count as helping?” Rainbow Dash contributed. “I mean, how would our villain ever even know?” “Girls!” Twilight silenced them with a flash of her horn. “Starlight and I already thought of that. But we can’t find Discord either.” “Ya mean he’s up and vanished too? At a time like this?” “As far as we can tell… Yes.” “So you’re telling me,” Rainbow Dash squinted and pointed her hoof at Twilight, “we’re facing a really powerful unknown villain, with no sixth Element bearer to perform friendship magic, and no all-powerful Chaos Lord to rescue Equestria if we fail?” “… I need to get in touch with the Princesses right away.”