[Chapter 4]
Signs
Hoofsteps was the only sound that was audible. The mouthwatering sensation of the thought of a good meal came to mind every now and again. Hunger was good at breaking concentration of a stressed mare.
Luna was pacing around the room trying to think. She tried to make herself believe that she was not imagining things. Just to make sure she was not going crazy, she periodically closed her eyes and took long deep breaths.
That event was not unknown. It had happened before. Luna remembered reading about it in a sealed scroll she found in her own room. She could tell it was very old and possibly out of date, compared to modern Equestria. The author was that of Starswirl the Bearded.
The event, the energy surge, the sudden random magical disturbance first occurred over one hundred and fifty years ago. Luna didn't quite remember exactly number compared to the current year. Only a few unicorns felt its sudden presence, including Starswirl, but it was enough to cause a stir. The surge was too weak to be felt all across Equestria. The reason Princess Luna had not known about it when it happened was because of her imprisonment on the moon for the last thousand years, for which Luna was unavailable to leave a message at the sound of the beep. (She still greatly regrets her actions, but she has learned to let go since becoming good friends with Twilight and other ponies these days. She also learned how to speak in modern tongue after catching up on the slang the kids used, especially Rainbow Dash.)
This reminder amused Luna like a scientist striving to discover something that would change the world.
She still had that scroll in a secret place in her room. Luna wanted to retrieve it an read it over again, but had an obligation to stay and look out for the tower. She continued to pace around the room thinking about the details in that scroll. She occasionally picked up a book and sifted through the pages on useless, yet secret, information. She also gave some thought on what she felt within the energy surge the night before.
It was the strangest feeling she had ever felt. It almost felt like something went terribly wrong. Luna knew that was not true since Equestria is doing just fine and no pony was hurt. So she put her thinking cap on. She felt a presence of another entity that had apparently interfered with the surge as it happened. Nothing that she could think of could explain what it is, or who it is, that was part of the external influence of the magic. At least she was convinced this no normal mystery, but somewhere between unsolvable and unthinkable.
This gave Luna dizzy spells. Her head ached from thinking too much about it after being so eager to find out what made this event different from all the others.
- - -
It was almost twelve thirty. Twilight, Lyra, and Spike made it all the way back to the tower where Princess Luna was left behind in the Mysterious Magic wing. They were walking up the final flight of stairs on the outside of the castle.
“Do we have to keep it all a secret?” Lyra asked.
Lyra had been listening attentively to every word Twilight said. Occasionally she asked a question on something that was unclear, even when there wasn't much information for Twilight to give other than what Celestia told her.
“Yes. The Princess doesn't want anypony to know about it until she feels it's safe and we know more about it,” Twilight answered with ease. She was improving on her social skills, even if she was just talking to a friend. “I have a feeling it's already safe.”
“You too? I had a feeling it had something to do with... uh...” Lyra paused. She caught herself about to spill her obsession to the both of them. She really wanted to tell somepony about her personal studies that would understand, but maybe Twilight was not the best friend to tell yet. “...uh, something to do with my parents.”
“Why is that?”
“Oh... I don't know, maybe because I haven't seen them in a while,” Lyra decided to lie some more. She was getting good at it, but it didn't get her very far on some occasions.
“I guess you're right. I haven't seen mine in a while either. But I don't think that's why I thought I called here for.”
“Are we there yet?” Spike asked, ending the conversation. He was getting tired of walking so much.
“Just a few more steps Spike,” replied Twilight.
Just a few more steps was more like twenty when they finally made it to the door of the building. They waited patiently as Twilight stepped backward after knocking on the door.
- - -
Luna was exhausted. So tired in fact that she almost fell asleep while walking. She had not been up this late in the day in months.
“Celestia should have been back by now,” she said to herself.
Seconds later, there was a knock on the door.
“Hmm, what a coincidence.”
She walked over to the entrance still half asleep, almost ready to give up her state of being awake. As she tired as she was, she still had enough energy to open the door.
“Hello sister, I've been-”
…
There was no one here. Luna looked around for anypony, but none to be seen. She then thought I might have been her imagination from her apparent sleepiness. She yawned. Her eyes were looking off into the distance half open. A couple seconds went by when she shook her head.
“I'm too old for this,” she said. Of course she was referring to being pranked by kids these days, but also having to babysit the tower. Luna was about to turn back in the room as rest her eyes, when she noticed an envelope laying on the ground from the corner of her eye.
Luna scanned the area again. Still no evidence of anypony around but the piece of paper in front of her. Looking down at the envelope, it had no postage, no address, no name. Just the symbol of Luna's cutie mark, the crescent moon. She figured it was for her, given that she is the only one in the building at that particular moment. Using her magic, she levitated it up to her face. She opened the seal, took out the letter, and read it.
Princess Luna,
If you want to know the answers you seek, come prepared to listen to the information I am willing to give. It might just be a matter of interest to you. Meet at the Apple residence when you are ready. Come alone.
It was short and vague, but it was enough to get Luna thinking. The only hint of the sender is the image of three apples in a triangular pattern. Luna's mind is riddled with clouded memories of the names of ponies she has met since her return. She has been to Ponyville more often than Celestia for personal reasons, one including her dear friend Twilight. She was happy to see Twilight again when she arrived in the castle earlier today, but showed little emotion from recent events.
Luna was more of the individual type with her own interests and desires that challenge the proper rationale of being a royal sister. There are many things Luna knew that her sister did not, and this letter might as well add to that list of things. She thought about it and decided to leave as soon as she could.
- - -
Princess Celestia was returning from her daily duty to the tall tower of the castle, when she saw a peculiar looking mare come from the direction of the tower. A familiar gray pegasus with a blonde mane swooped down to the city blow and disappeared behind some buildings. It did not bother Celestia for she had to figure out a pressing matter to attend to. Another apology to Twilight is too much, she had been sorry on a lot of things lately that it has become increasingly difficult to properly maintain a stable lifestyle. So, she just ignored the pony and continued to fly up the side of the building.
It only took a minute or so to reach the entrance of the Mysterious Magic wing of the castle. The doors were closed and locked, giving the impression that the room was empty. Princess Celestia used her horn to unlock the door and opening it. The large room was quiet and dark.
“Luna?”
Her voice echoed. A second later she heard a book fall off the couch. There she found Princess Luna asleep on sheets of paper and books piled everywhere.
“There you are.”
She walked over to the sleeping alicorn and noticed that Luna was unaware she had returned. She poked her side and said,
“Wake up, sleepy.”
Luna woke and looked at her with half closed eyes.
“Whoa, you look like you could use a break.”
Luna slowly rose from the couch and stood to stretch her limbs. She yawned and then she replied with slurred speech.
“Huh? Oh you're here sis. I was beginning to wonder why you took so long.”
“Where are the others?” asked Celestia.
“Twilight took Spike to get something to eat back in town.”
“That was nice of her. Why didn't you go with them?”
“Was I supposed to?”
“Only if you wanted to.”
“But I needed to stay here and look after the tower.”
“Good point. I guess I would have done the same. So, has our other guest arrived yet?”
“Not yet. It shouldn't be too long before Twilight returns. Maybe she found Lyra on her way over.”
“Speaking of which, do you have any idea on how or why Lyra knows about some things that you and I both know don't exist?”
“I've been wondering that myself. You didn't tell anypony did you?”
“Even if I did, they wouldn't believe me anyway,” Celestia calmly answered.
“Well I hope that isn't what this investigation is about.”
“I guess we'll have to find out.”
Suddenly, Luna and Celestia heard a knock on the front door.
“Ah, Right on time.”
Princess Celestia walked to the door used her magic to slide the door open. It was as Luna predicted to find. Twilight, Spike, and Lyra stood outside.
“Hello Twilight.”
“Hi Princess.”
“And welcome Lyra.”
“Nice to see you, Princess Celestia.” Lyra bowed.
“Please, come on in.”
All three of them entered the old room. Twilight trotted straight over to her previous work space and Spike returned to his napping spot. Lyra joined Twilight at the table. She noticed the great Princess Luna standing to the side of a couch looking very exhausted. Maybe it would be best if she didn't bother her favorite Princess just yet. Lyra was a good friend of Luna's and possibly the most understanding of the group. Over the course of each visit to Ponyville, Lyra would spend most of her time with Luna, giving her a lot of useful methods and tips on maintaining friendship between her subjects. However, she thought this might not be the perfect time to talk to her alone about the magical surge.
Celestia wondered if Lyra already knew why she was in Canterlot on such short notice, but wanted to make sure.
“So Lyra, maybe you're curious why you came to Canterlot?
“I still am, but Twilight brought me up to speed with the details on our way over.” At that moment, when Twilight heard Lyra speaking about their discussion, she worried that she wasn't supposed to and cringed.
“She did? That was nice of her. Thank you, Twilight. You saved me the trouble of telling her myself. Are you sure you understand Ms. Heartstrings we we are trying to do?”
“Yes, though, Twilight said she is having difficulties with finding the right information.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, Princess, I don't know what I'm looking for,” said Twilight.
“I'm sure we'll have to continue searching. I have just as much, if not a little more knowledge on what we are dealing with. I assure you, I will do everything in my power to help.”
“Thank you Princess.”
Twilight returned to the book she was reading. Lyra settled next to her and took out the notes of her own saddlebag. Spike was uninterested in the the conversation the ponies had and rested his head on the case of snacks. Celestia turned to Luna.
“Why don't you get some rest? I'll take it from here.”
“Thank you, sister.”
Luna nodded, then left the room. Celestia looked back at the working unicorns and smiled.
“Are you thinking what I'm thinking?”
“I don't know what you're thinking. How could I?”
“I don't know, coincidence maybe?”
“Then probably not. What do you have in mind?”
“Wait... okay never mind.” Dale knew that what he was thinking was the most impossible idea he could think of, but could not explain it any other way.
“Let's hear it. I might have thought of it too.”
“You and I both know...”
“Maybe,” Andrew interrupted. “Juuust maaaybe.”
“But how can magic be the answer?”
*THUMP*
Dale flinched and Andrew jumped.
“What the fu-”
*THUMP*
Dale jumped this time because that sound was right behind him at the bottom of the bookshelf. He looked behind him.
“Damn, that sacred the bejeezus out of me.”
Both Andrew and Dale inspected each of the fallen books, one from the desk at the other end of the room and one from the bookshelf. They were just figuring out how impossible Andrew's situation was when something else weird happens. Andrew had gotten used to it, but was still just as dumbfounded as his friend. He stared at the book for a while, nothing peculiar about the reason it fell. It looked as if it just fell itself. Andrew did not believe in ghosts or the paranormal, and neither did Dale, but after today, anything was possible it seemed.
“Dude, it's just a book.” The both of them said at the same time, then stopped and chuckled at each other.
“Jinx!” they said again at the same time.
“You know what, this is a pointless game.”
“I know, but it's all in good fun,” replied Dale. He looked at Andrew's horn. He squinted his eyes, then shook his head free of a stare. “I must be seeing things again.”
“What haven't we seen today?” Andrew joked.
“No, I mean this time it was... well... your horn.”
Andrew still disliked the sound of his friends speaking of his new form as if he's been a unicorn forever. He would have to live with the truth until it was fixed. He sighed under his breath.
“My horn is what?”
“I'm not sure. It looked like your horn was changing shape.”
“Okay, you are seeing things then.”
“Wait no, let me take a closer look.” Dale crawled on his hands and feet toward Andrew rested next to his desk.
Andrew did not want Dale to get too close, as his 'condition' might be harmful to anybody. The only harm he has done is lie to his little brother, Alex. Besides, Dale poked him earlier and nothing bad happened. That might be too much already, and didn't want to make things worse. He awkwardly watched his best friend inspect his horn. Suddenly, Dale retreated a few feet away.
“What? What's wrong?” From the moment his friend fell backwards, he felt a strange sensation coming from his head. It wasn't painful, more like when you get goosebumps all of a sudden for no apparent reason. He merely shrugged it off.
“Th- ye- your... um... your horn. It- it's... um... it's glowing!” Dale looked surprised, amazed, and freaked out all at the same time.
“Glowing?”
“Yeah.”
“Really? No way.” Andrew said sarcastically.
“I think it's best for you to believe me this time.”
“I'll-”
Dale quickly pulled out his blue cellphone out of his pocket and pointed it at Andrew. It took less than a second for him to see the reflection and he too retreated just as Dale did a minute ago. Instead of remaining cool like his friend, Andrew fell on his side. He rolled around, trying to scramble to his feet. Every attempt to properly get a hold of himself was useless. It hurt substantially when he hit his horn on a leg of the desk, knocking over a bunch of Dale's things in the process. It also hurt mentally, reminding him more of the existence of his horn.
“Dude, snap out of it!” There was nothing he could do other than to talk to him.
Andrew stopped squirming.
“You gotta control yourself. It's just another impossible thing today. We'll figure out a way to get through this.”
Dale had a way with words in sticky situations. Andrew listened carefully and slowly took a deep breath.
“Okay.”
“Now, do you feel anything? Anything at all?”
“Yes.”
“Like what?”
“Like I'm going mad.”
“No, I mean-”
“Strange! I feel strange.”
“Can you be more specific.”
Andrew picked himself up and lay his head on the side of the bed, but then feeling goes away just like that. Andrew was were unaware that his horn was no longer glowing.
“I don't feel anything anymore.”
“You're making this hard for us both.”
“Sorry, but I don't know how my senses have anything to do with the books..”
“I was talking about your horn.”
“I know that. You think it has a connection with the books falling on their own?”
Both the human and unicorn made a series of facial expressions. The kind that you make when you pretend to think really hard, but only to exaggerate your inability to do so. Dale looked around the room to help his train of thought. Andrew did the same.
“Are you psychic?”
“I don't think anybody is.” Andrew was pretty sure that was true.
“Telepathic?”
“Okay, now you're just being ridiculous.”
“Are you kidding bro!? After all that effort to make me believe you turned into a unicorn, you are afraid of the truth. It seems like I am the one that doesn't care if it is impossible or not, we just need something to help us help you. I offer my help, and I want your trust in return. We've been friends for as long as I can remember. I know you like I know myself.” Dale paused to slow down. “Look, I'm sorry I didn't believe you when you ran in my closet, I thought is was a joke. I usually take a lot of serious things as jokes. This time I was wrong and I'm sorry. I can't ask anymore than for you to forgive me, but I get the hint you already do. So, let's just sit here and think of all the possibilities, no matter what.”
…
Andrew went completely silent. He was listening to every word Dale had said. He was right. They weren't getting anywhere with skepticism. Even though sitting down and thinking is rather boring, it was only thing they could do. He could feel his eyes trying to produce a tear, but it was too weak to exit his eye. Andrew sighed.
“I'm sorry.”
Dale could see that Andrew got a little emotional. Maybe because he had a way with words, or the fact that his best friend was stuck as a unicorn. Dale did not want to hurt Andrew's feeling anymore. After his little speech, they had apparently forgotten about the books.
“It's okay dude.”
Andrew's stomach growled.
“I'm hungry.”
“Me too.”
Luna woke with a headache after an extremely short nap. Her midnight blue eyes were fuzzy and a little tingle ran around in her head. It wore off is a few seconds after she got up out of bed and paced slowly around the her quarters. Once her surroundings were in clear focus, Luna began to think about how she was gonna get to Sweet Apple Acres without her sister knowing. The letter didn't explicitly say not to let anypony know, but is sure implied that it did.
The princess looked outside through the largest window that led to her balcony. She had been asleep for almost two hours, based on the position of the sun still high in the sky. Being a light sleeper, Luna basically wakes up whenever she wants. The letter also did not specify a time to be at the Apple family's farm, though she was already ready before she slept. Apparently, her body disagreed with flying while drowsy.
Luna felt guilty if she left without telling her sister, so she began to write a short message on a small scroll.
Dearest sister,
A source has come up that could lead us to solving the phenomenon of the unknown energy surge. I have been contacted by this source and it has agreed to give the necessary information if I go alone. I am off to Sweet Apple Acres to meet the anonymous pony and hopefully shed some light on our worries. I hope you understand this is nothing personal, just a matter of interest.
-Luna
At the last stroke of the quill, she sighed and whispered to herself
“Please don't be mad at me again sister.”
Princess Luna set the unsealed scroll on her table, turned around, walked toward the window, stepped onto the balcony, spread her wings, and took off.
- - -
“Hmm... no.”
Twilight was starting to feel like her luck was running out. Half the books have been read and the other half was the least interesting batch. She knew this because she recognized most of the labels for the type of magic. With each book down, there is less of a chance of finding something vaguely useful.
Lyra was sitting across the table from her. Every time Twilight was finished with a book, Lyra would double check it for any information overlooked. Though, she was not keeping up, falling behind one book for every two read by Twilight. The reason being was Lyra's concentration on another subject. Her own journal and notebook.
“Doesn't make any sense,” she mumbled to herself.
“What was that?” Twilight noticed Lyra talking to herself for a while now.
“Oh nothing.”
“Did you find something?”
“No, not really.”
Twilight looked at her funny for second, then returned to the old scroll she had hovering in front of her, still thinking whether all this reading is getting to her. The piece she was reading only accounted for an unidentified spell used a long time ago, but found that it was discovered not too long ago. An outdated scroll is not what she is looking for. One down, a lot more to go.
Celestia was pacing around the room, making herself useful by selecting certain books that might help her fellow investigators. It had been an hour and fifty minutes since her sister departed to rest. She wondered in Luna was alright after staying up during the day for the first time. She had thought of checking up on her the last half hour.
“Hey girls?”
“Yes, Princess?” said Twilight and Lyra simultaneously.
“Are you sure you can take it from here?”
This was the thing Lyra had been waiting for.
“Yes, yes, Princess, we'll be fine,” Lyra said almost interrupting.
“Splendid. I am going to check up on my sister. Let's hope you find something in the meantime.”
Princess Celestia left the room before Twilight could say anything. Although she wanted to ask her friends to help out, she was unprepared to. It couldn't hurt if she looked through the whole storage of spells and magic with the help of Lyra for the next couple hours. When the door closed behind Celestia, the room filled with a cold silence.
The room remained quiet for another few minutes. Twilight felt a shiver run down her spine and down to her hooves. Either it was cold, or she was just her. She looked back over to Lyra, who was staring intimately at her. She quickly looked back at the scroll to block the sight of Lyra. This made Twilight feel more uneasy than a second ago. An awkward moment when you look up from reading and find a friend staring straight into your eyes. Other than keeping her focus on the words on the paper, she was waiting for Lyra to make a sound or say something.
“Psst.”
...
“Psst... hey Twilight?” Lyra whispered.
“Um, yes Lyra?”
“Sooooo... this investigation thingy. Do you think it involves-”
“Why are you whispering?”
Lyra paused. She eyed the purple pony and sat up from leaning over the table.
“Oh, uh, it's just that I don't want anypony to hear?”
“You know there is no pony around right? And Spike's asleep.”
“Sure, I knew that.” said Lyra, trying to hide her ill composure.
“So, you were saying? Involves what?” Twilight had an idea of what she was going to say, but didn't want her to say it.
“Um... you know... humans?”
Twilight looked at Lyra unamused and sighed in discontent.
“Uh, I'm not sure we will find anything in this wing about that. Even if we did, I doubt that's what this whole thing is all about.”
“I'm just curious, what else could it be? I heard this same event happened a long time ago.”
Lyra caught her slip of the tongue and sealed her mouth. Twilight snapped her head forward, looking at her with wide eyes.
“WHAT! Why didn't you tell me this before?”
“Well, I needed to make sure it really happened. I read deep in one of the antique magic books that verifies it did.”
Now Twilight felt like Lyra was ahead of her every step of the way the entire time. She knew where to look, what to look for, and found it rather quickly. This challenged the purple mare's title of the most powerful unicorn in all of Ponyville, or maybe this just was the first time she felt unintelligent.
“What do you know about this from that book? Wait, from what book did you get this information?” she asked.
“Oh, uh,” Lyra reached into her saddle bag and took out an aging black book and set it on the table. “This one, Project Black Book.”
“Not much, it's very obscure. It contains many previously mysterious cases of UMPs and most are easily identifiable as either hoaxes, accidental discharges, or inter-”
“UMPs?”
“Oh, it's an acronym for Unidentified Magical Phenomenon.”
“And you know this how?”
“This book.”
Twilight facehoofed.
“Of course. How did I not know that?” she said sarcastically.
Lyra cocked her head at the purple unicorn.
“Are you alright, Twilight?”
“No no I'm fine. I've just been at this for hours and you've known all along.”
“Not exactly.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I need help making some sense of some of this stuff here.”
“Okay. So what does it say about the last time this happened?”
“Oh yes. It just mentions that some blast of unknown energy shook ponies off their feet one afternoon south of Canterlot a hundred and fifty four years ago. Apparently it came out of nowhere and no pony saw it coming. Princess Celestia at the time was concerned for a period of time, not knowing what it was or why it occurred, but she did not have enough information to work with, which she later set it aside. Over time, the event was forgotten in the minds of ponies and buried deep within the Carterlot Archives ever since. There is little to no evidence of it ever happening because Celestia did not want the majority of the public to worry. However, one pony continued to toil on the event the months that followed. Starswirl the Bearded.”
Twilight's ears perked up at the sound of her favorite ancient unicorn's name.
“Starswirl?”
“Yup. However, it doesn't say any other details about his involvement, how long it took, or if an answer was ever found. And that's about it. Nothing else strange happened in Canterlot that was recorded the weeks of months after, as far as we know.”
“So why do you think it is connected to, um... humans?”
“Oh, uh... I just have a feeling.”
“I think we need more than your seventh sense to figure out the reason for it... randomly appearing.”
“You still don't believe me that humans are not made up.”
“It's hard to say without tangible evidence. I'm sorry Lyra, I try to believe you, but I would feel more serious about it if I saw one for myself. Have you seen one yet?”
“No, but I-”
“How can you know for certain they exist if you haven't seen one before?”
Lyra lowered her head after Twilight's logic. She usually has that effect on talking to ponies. She had forgotten how that one question can make her feel defeated. However, she did not let that stop her continuing to search for the truth. No matter how many times she's been told to consider studying something more practical, there was something else so mysterious about things in Equestria that motivated her in seeking for their origins.
“Well... there is just something about them that makes me believe they are real.”
Twilight also lowered her head for making Lyra feel bad.
“There isn't much I can do to maybe help you out because it's out of my area of knowledge. Beside we don't have the necessary amount of time to do everything.”
“It's fine, Twilight, I can do it on my own time. Sorry for bringing it up.”
“No worries. I'm sorry for asking those questions. I often to do that as a skeptic.”
Both unicorns smiled at each other, accepting the each others apology.
“I can only hope.”
“Why don't we find out?”