//------------------------------// // 4. Looking for Twilight // Story: Twilight's World // by grouchopony //------------------------------// Pinkie had spent the morning throwing a birthday party for a young colt named Toasty Oats. His family lived on a farm some distance to the west of Ponyville, and had contacted Pinky to arrange a special party for his fifth birthday. They felt that living on an isolated farm as they did, it may have caused their foal to fall behind on his socialization skills. Like always, Pinkie had taken the party challenge to heart. She prepared her most Super-Duperific-Funtastic-Happy-Fifth-Birthday-Social-Party ever. Everypony had been amazed by her party. The parents had been even more amazed and thankful that she had arranged special transportation to cart in every other isolated filly and colt of a like age from miles around the farm. It was now early afternoon. The party, like always, had been a huge success, and the little ones were all being carted on their way back to their homes again. Now that her work was done, Pinkie was humming an original tune to herself as she trotted along the road leading back to Ponyville. As always, she had a huge smile on her face. At the moment, Pinkie was a pony on a mission. She was on her way to the Town Hall, to ask Mayor Mare about a fantastic new idea she had just had. She wanted to ask if Ponyville could sponsor a series of parties for the young preschool foals of the outlying districts, to help them begin socialization and learn to form friendships even before they entered school. It wasn’t that the foals were deficient in any way. It was only that out on the distant farms, they hardly ever even met their neighbors. Pinkie’s thoughts were fully occupied as she trotted through Ponyville. So then, it came as a huge surprise to Pinkie, when halfway through Ponyville, her whole body started to shudder. Immediately, she knew that she was having a doozy. Even among doozies, it was a doozy. It was, in fact, a doozy of a doozy. Pinkie vibrated randomly about the road, unable to make any forward progress before the doozy came to an abrupt end, a full ten seconds after it had started. Any other ponies witnessing her doozy immediately ran away and shut their doors. This was because anypony that had lived in Ponyville for any length of time soon learned that ‘When Pinkie is twitching. Take cover, fast!’ So when the doozy ended, Pinkie found herself alone in the middle of a deserted street. “Oh-My-Gosh! Oh-My-Gosh! One of my friends is in trouble!” she announced as she began to gallop. Although Pinkie counted everypony and the cows and several mules in Ponyville as her friend, she knew somehow that this doozy was for one of her special friends; it was for one of the elements. When the doozy had ended, Pinkie found that Rarity's home was the one she was nearest to. She directed her gallop towards it. In but a few moments, she arrived at the Carousel Boutique. Without bothering to knock, Pinkie barged inside, screaming out, “RARITY! Are you okay?” “Yahh!” Rarity screamed back. “Pinkie! What is the meaning of such uncouth behavior? You scared me half to death, barging in like that. Don't-” Rarity did not get the chance to finish her tirade as Pinkie broke into one of her trademark rapid explanations. “Sorry, Rarity. I was walking-towards-Town-Hall-after-a-really-great-party-when-I-had-a-doozy-of-a-doozy, and that's when-I-knew-that-one-of-you-was-in-trouble-so-I-came-as-fast-as-I-could-to-see-if-you-were-the-one-in-trouble, but I can see you're fine so-I-gotta-go-check-out-the-others. Bye!” Rarity was left gasping in frustration as Pinkie vanished faster than the blink of an eye. “But I didn't get to finish what I was saying.” she whined. “Young lady it is simply unacceptable for you to go around scaring ponies like that. Why you might have given me a frazzled mane.” Pinkie, however, was already on the road towards Twilight's library and did not get to hear any of Rarity's complaints. Half way there she ran into Spike who was making his way towards Rarity's boutique. She knew he was headed towards Rarity’s because of the goofy grin on his face. “Spike!” Pinkie called out to him, “I'm-so-glad-your-okay. Is-Twilight-home?-I-need-to-see-her.” “Huh?” Replied the baby dragon. “Slow down Pinkie. I couldn't understand a single word you were saying.” “I said, Spike! I'm so glad you're okay. Is Twilight home? I need to see her?” As she repeated herself, the pink pony was literally hopping up and down, feeling the urgency of the crisis. Unfortunately, Spike mistook her activity for her usual cheerful exuberance. “Why wouldn't I be Okay? As you can plainly see I'm looking good, real good.” Spike laid on a few macho poses for her. “Tee-Hee, that's funny Spike.” Pinkie tittered at his antics. However, in a rare display of focus, Pinkie reiterated her question. “Is Twilight home? I need to see her. My Pinkie-sense tells me that something bad has happened to one our friends.” Naturally, Spike had a proper respect for the party mare's Pinkie-sense. After all, he'd seen Twilight getting repeatedly clobbered while ignoring those same warnings. Immediately, he assumed the worst. “Oh no! What if Rarity needs rescuing? I'm coming for you Rarity!” Spike started running towards Rarity's boutique, though he did not get any further than two paces before Pinkie stepped on his tail. “Rarity's just fine Spike! I just came from her place. Now tell me, is Twilight home at the Library?” “Uh, no Pinkie. I just came from there a few minutes ago. She wasn't home. I was expecting her to spend the afternoon studying some books, but she must have trotted out for some reason.” “Okay, thanks, Spike you just saved-me-from-checking-on-Twilight-when-she's-not-at-home. Gotta-go!” Pinkie resumed her gallop, only now she was headed northeast towards the market, where she hoped to find Applejack. Spike resumed his interrupted journey towards Rarity's boutique, anxious to make sure that Rarity was actually unharmed. Pinkie was in luck. Upon reaching the market, she found the orange coated earth pony, Applejack. Applejack appeared none the worse for wear, simply minding her stall, selling apples. “Applejack!” She called out. “Well, howdy Pinkie, how ya doin'?” “Applejack!-Am-I-glad-your-okay.-I-was-walking-towards-Town-Hall-after-a-really-great-party-when-I-had-a-doozy-of-a-doozy,-and-that's-when-I-knew-that-one-of-you-was-in-trouble-so-I-came-as-fast-as-I-could-to-see-Rarity-but-she's-okay-and-then-I-saw-Spike-and-he's-okay-but-Twilight-is-not-at-home-right-now-and then I came to see you.” After delivering her speech, Pinkie gasped, taking in a huge breath. “Now hold on there. Ya say that ya had a doozy?” Applejack was worried now. She took Pinkie's twitches very seriously. “Uh huh!” “An it was concernin' one a us?” “Yep!” “An Rarity is fine? “Yepper's!” “An ya saw Spike, an he's okay too?” “Double Yep!” “But Twilight's not at home, so yer still trying to find her?” “Yep-a-roonie! Have you seen Twilight, Applejack?” “No I haven’t seen hide nor tail of her today. Well ah'm fine and yer fine an you say Rarity is fine. So that just leaves us with locatin' Fluttershy, Rainbow and Twilight. “Pinkie, what says we split up, an you try an find Rainbow, and then the two of you together can try findin' Twilight. Ah'll head on over to Fluttershy's place an see if she's doing okay. Let's just all meet up back at the library.” “That's a really great Idea, Applejack. Bye!” Pinkie departed in a cloud of dust, galloping off to the west. She had a hunch that Rainbow would be out that way, over the park, practising her flying routines. She had seen her earlier when she was returning from Toasty Oats' party. AppleJack took a few moments to close up her stand and then she was galloping as well, off towards the east, past the outskirts of Ponyville, towards Fluttershy's cottage home. ---------------- Spike ran up to Rarity's boutique and entered inside. “Rarity! Rarity!” he called out urgently to the pony of his heart. Rarity, of the snow white coat and the most beautiful of indigo manes. “Hello, Spike. And what is my little dragon assistant all excited about today?” “Rarity, you’re okay. I ran over here to save you. Ah, I mean, to see if you needed my help with anything.” “Spike, whatever do you mean? Why would I not be okay?” “Oh that, Heh! Well, Pinkie told me-” “Pinkie! Why I saw her not half an hour ago. She stormed in here and gave me such a shock that I think my mane is starting to frizz.” “The nerve!” Spike agreed. Rarity, however, was curious about Pinkie's earlier outburst. She never had found out what had gotten into Pinkie, to make her behave so rudely. “Spike, you were saying something about Pinkie?” “Oh yeah. Pinkie was saying that she had a doozy-” Rarity's face blanched, though it was difficult to notice under her immaculate white coat. What one could see were the pupils of her eyes, first dilating and then constricting. Her ears also folded back. “-and that one of her friends was in trouble. But that could be anypony she knows. And Pinkie knows every pony in Ponyville. So it's probably nothing important.” “Spike! How un-gentlestallionly of you. You should never dismiss anypony's troubles as being unimportant. Spike was suddenly speechless, mortified. Stricken by a reprimand from the pony he loved. “Still Spike, I have a suspicion that Pinkie's doozy was for one of us element bearers. The way she barged in here earlier… I can see now that she was only acting that way because she was very worried about me. And since it wasn't me, then maybe one of our other friends is in trouble.” “What?” Spike cried out. All of his apprehensions from earlier had quickly faded as soon as he saw that Rarity was okay. Now they returned as he considered the possibility that something had happened to one of Twilight's friends. And Spike held all of Twilight’s friends as his friends. “What if something happened to Applejack, or Rainbow or Fluttershy?” Spike voiced his anxiety. “Or even Twilight.” Rarity added. “Twilight? Pfft! That's ridiculous.” Spike rejected the notion. The very idea that his marvelous and most powerful caregiver, the rock in his life, Twilight, could ever be in trouble was not even conceivable. “Spike, I do think we should head over to the Library. I have a feeling that we will all need to be meeting together there quite soon.” ---------------- Rainbow Dash was a cyan colored pegasus. Her most distinguishing feature was her rainbow-striped mane, from which she proudly took her name. She had spent several hours that morning practising her aerial routines. Feeling somewhat fatigued after a hard training session, she had transformed a couple of her cloud pylons into a fluffy cloud bed and proceeded to take a well-deserved nap. “RAINBOW…" "RAINBOW…" "RAINBOW!” Rainbow Dash was feeling slightly irritated when Pinkie's voice woke her up from her nap. Pinkie was a dear friend and the best pranking buddy a mare could ever ask for, but a nap was a nap. She decided to ignore the call. “RAINBOW!” Pinkie's last call, made with a megaphone, nearly shook Rainbow Dash out of her cloud. She was awake now. Rainbow Dash peeked over the edge of the cloud. “Uh, Hey Pinkie. What's up?” Pinkie gasped in a huge breath, “Rainbow! Am-I-glad-your-okay.-I-was-walking-towards-Town-Hall-after-a-really-great-party-when-I-had-a-doozy-of-a-doozy,-and-that's-when-I-knew-that-one-of-you-was-in-trouble.-So-I-came-as-fast-as-I-could-to-see-Rarity-but-she's-okay-and-then-I-saw-Spike-and-he's-oka-but-Twilight's-not-at-home-right-now-and-then-I-saw-Applejack-but-she's-okay-too-and-we-decided-to-split-up-and-search-for-the-others-and-then I came to see you.” For some reason, Rainbow Dash, who always had trouble following Twilight's speeches, never had any trouble following Pinkie Pie's rapid deliveries. When asked about it, she always claimed that Twilight's talks were too 'egg-heady.' “Woah Woah Woah! Pinkie, are you saying you had a 'doozy' telling you that one of us is in trouble? “Uh-huh. And I’ve already checked on Rarity and Applejack. And now I see that you’re okay and of course, I'm okay.” “Well, that just leaves Twilight and Fluttershy. Oh no! Fluttershy! She might be in trouble, I've got to check on her–” And without another word Rainbow Dash bolted off towards Fluttershy's house, leaving a rainbow colored streak in the air behind her. “But Rainbow–” Pinkie yelled after her. Then in a normal voice, “We were supposed to look for Twilight.” ---------------- Rainbow Dash pumped her wings as hard as she could, but did not quite manage to do a sonic rainboom. As it was, she arrived at Fluttershy's house just as Applejack raced up to the door. “Rainbow!” Applejack breathed heavily after her hard run. “What in tarnation are ya doin' here? I told Pinkie that the two a ya were supposed ta look for Twilight. If'n there's trouble we'll need her help double quick like.” “Pfft. Twilight's fine, she’s probably at home reading a book. I’m sure Pinkie can find her. I’m more worried about Fluttershy.” “Well, for your information, Twilight’s not at home right now. That’s why ah wanted you an Pinkie to look for her together. But since you're here an all, let’s get this over with.” Applejack walked up to Fluttershy's front door and knocked. Rainbow Dash, who didn't bother with doors, just flew into an open window. “Eeek!” A subdued shriek sounded from inside the cottage. That was enough for Applejack, she forgot all propriety and push open the door, running inside. Inside, she saw a yellow pegasus with a long and pink, flowing mane, cowering on the floor. Rainbow was hovering above, with an expression of chagrin on her face. “Fluttershy, are ya all right?” Applejack called out to the yellow pegasus. “We was worried about ya.” “Um, that's all right. I don't mind. That you scared me I mean.” Said the yellow pegasus, coming out of her timid crouch, now that she realized that the intruders were only her two friends. “Whew! Thank Celestia that you’re all right Fluttershy. I thought something awful had happened to you.” said Rainbow Dash. “Um, no. I'm fine, I think. I mean I'm fine if you think I'm fine.” she replied with her characteristic timidity. AppleJack was the first one to put the puzzle together. “Wait Rainbow. If we're all here, an Pinkie is fine, an she said Rarity is also fine, then that leaves-” “Twilight!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Could somepony please tell me what's going on. I mean, if that's all right with you of course.” Fluttershy requested softly. “Ah'm sorry Fluttershy, ah should a told ya right off what's goin' on. Pinkie had one a her twitchy fits. Said that it was a doozy, an that it meant one a us was in trouble. An like ah just said, we're all accounted for, 'ceptn' Twilight. “Ah reckon the first thing to do is to meet at Twilight's house. Ah already told Pinkie we would be meeting there. Rainbow, could ya go and fetch Rarity? Make sure she meets us there.” “Sure thing!” the cyan pegasus shot into the sky leaving behind a rainbow streak. “C'mon Fluttershy, we need ta get a hurry on.” The orange mare took off at a gallop, with the yellow pegasus flying along behind her. ---------------- Rainbow Dash sped to the west, arriving at Rarity's boutique. She quickly found that all the windows were closed, so she was forced to consider her personal route of last resort, the front door. As she approached the door, however, Rainbow could see that a 'CLOSED' sign was posted in the door's window. Upon closer examination, Rainbow Dash spotted a tiny diamond in the center of the 'O.' That was Rarity's private signal, known only to her close friends, that she had left the shop. Taking off again, Rainbow Dash started a search for the white unicorn mare. Almost immediately her search was rewarded as she spotted Rarity from the air. Rarity, together with Spike, was trotting towards the library. “Oh, Rainbow!” Rarity exclaimed as she saw Rainbow Dash come up to hover beside them. “Have you heard? Pinkie had a doozy, and she thinks it's for one of us.” “Yeah, Rarity, we know. I've just come from Fluttershy's place−” “Oh no!” Wailed Rarity. “Not Fluttershy. Whatever shall I do without her on spa days.” “Relax, Fluttershy is fine, and so is Applejack and Pinkie too.” “But, that means-” began Rarity. “No−” breathed out Spike. “That's not possible. N-Not Twilight.” “Oh, Spike. We don't know anything yet. It's too early to be sure of anything.” Rarity attempted to comfort the little dragon. “B-B-But, it’s a doozy!” he wailed. “There there, little guy.” Rainbow Dash also attempted to comfort the dragon, “You gotta learn to be tough, like me.” “You're not helping, Rainbow!” Rarity hissed at the pegasus. “Yeah Yeah, whatever. All I'm saying is that it's too early to start crying. Like Rarity said, we don't know anything yet.” “Twilight!” Spike took off running down the street. His little draconic legs pumping furiously. Rarity made a “Humph” sound. “Really, Spike! You know that running will ruin my hair. But just this once. Spike! Wait up; I'm worried about Twilight too.” Rainbow Dash left the two of them behind as she sped ahead towards the Library. ---------------- Naturally, being the fastest pony in all of Equestria, Rainbow Dash was the first to arrive at the library. A quick check inside the library revealed that no one else was present yet. Seeing that she was the first to arrive, Rainbow Dash went back outside and took a perch up on one of the branches of the tree. The next to arrive were Spike and Rarity. The little dragon was huffing quite dramatically, winded from his run. Coming up behind Spike in a mild canter, Rarity did not look any the worse for wear, yet she immediately began grooming her already perfectly styled mane. Upon their arrival, Rainbow called out from her perch, letting them know she was present. “Hey, guys.” Having already met Rainbow Dash, mere minutes before, Rarity kept her reply brief. "Good to see you too, Rainbow." After a few minutes, Rainbow could see Applejack and Fluttershy approaching rapidly. Rainbow Dash flew down and joined the others just as the two ponies arrived at the Library. “Is this everypony? Where's Pinkie at?” Applejack asked the group. “She wasn’t here when I arrived.” Rainbow stated. “Do you want me to go look for her?” Rarity answered the question. “If you would Rainbow, please do find Pinkie. We need everypony if we are to organize a proper search. But do come back after ten minutes, even if you don't find her.” “Right!” Rainbow replied, putting action to the plan. It wasn't but two minutes before Rainbow Dash returned, slamming down onto the grass before the group in a perfect high-speed four-point landing, her knees and hocks bowing only slightly. “I found her!” the rainbow-maned pony called out. “Well, where did that gal get herself off to?” Applejack inquired on behalf of the entire group. Several voices murmured their agreement with the question. “I found her coming out of the Ponyville hospital–” “What?” Several voices called out anxiously. To which Applejack added “Did she say why she was there?” “Yeah.” Rainbow confessed sheepishly, with hoof rub to the back of her head. “She said she was looking for Twilight 'Just like Applejack told us to do'.” “ 'Ceptin' you, of course, came tearin' over to Fluttershy's 'stead ah helpin' Pinkie look for Twilight.” “Um, Guys?” Fluttershy attempted to interject. “Hey! Ya snooze ya lose! It's not my problem if Pinkie didn't tell me anything before I left.” “Guys?” Fluttershy called again. “But ya didn’t even give her a moment to tell ya. Ain’t that so?” “GUYS!” Everypony looked on in astonishment at the yellow mare, who had uncharacteristically raised her voice. Even beyond that, she had truly shouted at them. Knowing the yellow mare, they understood that the outburst showed just how much concern the yellow pegasus had for her missing friend. Having caught their attention, Fluttershy continued in a normal voice. “Guys. Twilight is in trouble. And the last thing she needs is for any of us to be fighting amongst ourselves.” “Ah reckon yer right Fluttershy.” The orange mare bowed her head briefly in a display of embarrassment. “What matters is that we're all here now. An we're going to find Twilight.” “Your right Fluttershy. What she said.” Rainbow Dash pointed a fore hoof towards Applejack. “Mmm-Hmm. That's right!” Added Pinkie who, was suddenly in their midst. “Pinkie!” Exclaimed Spike, who had been quiet up to this point. He rushed forward towards the Pink mare and fell on his knees before her. “Ya gotta help us! Something terrible has happened to Twilight!” “Yeah I know.” Pinkie hung her head sadly. “Rainbow told me that you found everypony, except for Twilight.” “All right everypony,” suggested Applejack, “let's split up an start lookin for Twilight.” “Ah, I'll go talk to my little animal friends and ask if any of them have seen Twilight today. I'll also check out the White-Tail woods.” volunteered Fluttershy. “And ah gotta close my stall and get my cart back home to Sweet Apple Acres. But then ah'll get my family to help with the searchin'. Big Mac's an ah'll be searchin' our farm and the Everfree forest.” declared Applejack. “I'll fly around and check out all the surrounding parks and farms. I’ll check out any cliffs and ravines, even the Ghastly-Gorge.” proffered up Rainbow Dash. “And I'll help by checking into all the shops in Ponyville. I'll also go talk to the mayor and let her know what's going on.” Rarity volunteered. Spike was torn. He wanted to accompany Rarity, his crush. But he was also very worried for Twilight. “I-I'd better stay here and wait, just in case Twilight comes back while everyone is out searching.” “Oh, my little Spikey-Wikey.” Rarity came over and hugged Spike. “You must be absolutely devastated, as are we all. But you are so brave. Yes, you stay here and wait for Twilight.” “I-I'll clean up the place while we're waiting. I'll make sure that everything is in its proper place, just the way she like's it.” The dragon visibly brightened at the prospect of something to do. “Hold it right there Spike!” This last surprisingly came from Pinkie, who was now wearing a deerstalker hat and had a calabash bubble pipe in her hoof. “Don't touch anything. There might be some important clues inside the library. You don't want to clean up the only evidence we have of what happened to Twilight, do you?” Spike grew pale. “Honestly Pinkie. What game are you playing now?” protested Rarity, “Can't you see that you're frightening our dear little Spike?” “I don't know.” Chirped the pink mare, “I just have a feeling. Maybe there's something in that library.” “All right then,” Applejack spoke. “Ah trust yer feelin's Pinkie. But maybe we should wait for later. So’s we can all look together, an so's we can all put our heads together an think about what we find.” “What if we find a clue involving magic?” Fluttershy asked the group. “Well, maybe Princess Celestia could recommend somepony to help with that.” Rarity suggested. “I know some magic, but I’m nowhere near as knowledgeable about it as Twilight was.” “Wait!” Spike interrupted. “Shouldn’t we send a note to Princess Celestia right now?” “Of course.” Rarity quickly agreed with Spike. “Maybe Twilight just left on some business on behalf of the Princess. Before we run off, we should ask if the Princess knows anything about Twilight's whereabouts.” “Yeah.”, “Mm-hm.”, “Oh I hope so.” A chorus of agreements came from the others. “Spike. Take a letter!” Rarity commanded. “Uh, just a second, I need to find a quill and some paper.” the dragon replied. “Here you go, Spike!” Pinkie handed him the requested items. Where she kept them, nopony had ever figured out. “Uh, thanks Pinkie.” ▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄ Princess Celestia was in the middle of enjoying a rare recess. It was not often that her afternoon court sessions were light enough to allow her the luxury of a recess. Her guards knew that ‘recess’ was code for ‘tea break.’ The princess was enjoying a sip of some Ginseng-Green tea when a missive arrived with Spike's characteristic flash of magic. Celestia smiled with pleasure, anticipating another one of Twilight's letters. Although Twilight no longer submitted friendship reports, she liked to keep Celestia apprised of the goings-on in her life. Celestia cherished these ongoing tokens of their relationship. With a glow of her magic, she caught the roll of paper as it appeared, before it had dropped so much as an inch. Celestia unrolled the letter and started to read. She quickly lost her smile. Dear Princess Celestia. Forgive us for taking the liberty of contacting you in this manner. However, we are all very concerned about the whereabouts of Twilight. It seems that she has gone missing. Even now, we are organizing a search to find her. We were hoping that your Majesties might have some information regarding her present whereabouts, thus relieving us of our worries. Spike is quite beside himself with worry. We are all anxiously awaiting your reply. Your loyal servants Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and of course Spike. Celestia was of course deeply shocked to learn that Twilight was missing. But a millennium of crisis management had taught her to think on her hooves. Taking up her own quill, she quickly penned a reply. Even as she wrote she called out. “Guards!” Two guards stepped into the room. “Princess?” one of the two, Sergeant Clean Cut, answered. “Please inform the court that I am extending this recess to a full hour. An urgent matter has come up.” “Right away princess.” The two guards left the room. Celestia used her magic to send the letter she had written in reply back to Spike via the Dragon Smoke spell. Now, she needed to wake up Luna and ask her if she knew anything about Twilight’s whereabouts. ▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄ With a loud burp, green flames erupted from Spike's mouth and coalesced into a letter from Celestia. “Well, that sure was quick,” Applejack commented. “C'mon, read it already!” urged Rainbow Dash. A faint blue glow enveloped the scroll, carrying it over to Rarity. She had noticed that the little dragon was starting to shake with anxiety, worried about the letter might contain. “Sorry Spike. You just try and take it easy for a moment.” Rarity opened the letter. She read it quietly for a moment, and then out loud for everypony else. Dear Elements and Spike too of course. The news you send is disturbing. I regret to inform you that Twilight is not undertaking any task of which I am currently made aware. I will immediately be contacting Luna, to determine if she has some light to shed upon this news. Should she know of anything, I will of course contact you immediately. Please continue your efforts to search for Twilight. If your efforts should fail to find her, then rest assured that we will join you at the Ponyville library soon after we have finished lowering the sun and raising the moon. Celestia. As Rarity lowered the letter, she saw Spike standing there quivering in silent grief and worry. Great tears were falling from his eyes. “Well,” Applejack spoke up, “y'all heard the Princess. You know what ya got to do. Let’s get going an find Twilight.” “Cheer up Spike!” Pinkie slapped the dragon on his back. “I'm sure Twilight is going to be fine. It's not like she got eaten by a Hydra or ponynapped by Queen Chrysalis or fell down a bottomless well or−” Upon hearing those stark possibilities, Spike began bawling and ran upstairs to the bedroom he shared with Twilight. “Honestly Pinkie, you could learn to show a little more tact!” Rarity admonished the party mare. “What did I say?” Pinkie asked in confusion. “Gee, Pinkie. Even I know you just filled his head with thoughts about really bad things happening to Twilight.” Commented the blue Pegasus. “Um, she is after all his only family. Without her he would be totally alone,” Fluttershy added. “Ah, I'm sorry guys. I just wanted to cheer him up. Oh I know, some cupcakes will cheer him up.” Applejack put a stop to the recriminations. “Stop it Pinkie. Just leave him alone for now. Anything ya try to do will just make him feel worse. Only one thing that will cheer the little guy up now, an that’s to see Twilight, safe and sound. So, we'd best get searchin' for her. “Let's all meet back here at the library when the sun goes down.” “Um, okay.”, “Yeah, finally!”, “Oki-Doki.”, “Why of course.” all the ponies voiced their assent and left the library to begin their searches. ---------------- Spike was waiting anxiously outside the library as the sun was lowering towards the horizon. Unable to contain his tears earlier, Spike had dashed upstairs to the bedroom he shared with Twilight. Without a moment's thought, he had thrown himself upon Twilight’s bed, perhaps seeking comfort from its close association with her or perhaps it carried her scent. Whatever the reason he found himself there, Spike had cried himself to sleep, while curled up on top of Twilight's blanket. When Spike awoke several hours later, he felt somewhat better, though he was at a loss as to what to do with himself. He certainly wasn't hungry, not ice-cream or even an aged gem engendered the faintest spark of his appetite. Spike felt restless. His normal solution for that was to clean the library. But, remembering Pinkie's comments about possible clues he could not do any such cleaning. So, in the end, he simply parked himself outside the library and waited for the return of the others. He found himself hoping against hope, that he would see a certain lavender alicorn come walking down the street. The coincidence was little short of amazing when all the ponies suddenly returned, all within the span of two minutes. The first to arrive, as always was Rainbow Dash. From her dejected expression, Spike knew her search had been unsuccessful. The next to arrive was Fluttershy. Immediately after alighting upon the turf she rushed over and gave Spike a consoling hug. There was a sorrowful look in her eyes. Again the message was clear. Next to arrive was Pinkie. Upon seeing Spike, she immediately burst into tears and threw herself down before Spike. His apprehensions shot upwards like Rainbow Dash performing a full power ascent. “No.” He whispered, from her behavior he was expecting the worst. “I'm sorry Spike!” Pinkie bawled, “I want to see you smile, but Applejack said that only Twilight can make you smile right now. And I couldn't find her…” the rest of Pinkie's sentence dissolved somewhere amidst her fountain of tears. Suddenly Spike found himself hugging Pinkie, trying to cheer her up. “There there, Pinkie. I know you tried.” “What's the matter?” interrupted Rarity, who had apparently joined the group sometime after Pinkie started crying. “Why is Pinkie crying? Did somepony find Twilight? Is she– Is she…” Rarity could not finish such a dark question. Fluttershy answered Rarity. “We haven’t found Twilight yet Rarity. Pinkie is just crying because she could not find Twilight for Spike.” “Well shoot, that's just dandy. Big Mac and I searched high an low for that mare, but we never saw a sign a her.” the orange colored earth pony added as she came up to the group. “I was really hopin' that one a you's had found her.” “Nope, nothing.”, “None of my animals saw any sign of her.”, “Oh this is my worst failure ever.” every pony shook their heads and expressed a lack of success. Pinkie did so by resuming her waterworks, “Bwaa…” The depressed group stood there for several minutes as night descended around them. They were interrupted when a bright flash of light appeared overhead, followed rapidly by a second flash. Looking up, the assembled ponies saw both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna descending towards them. It took but moments before the two diarchs stood before them. “That's enough of that Pinkie.” Celestia directed a firm yet understanding glance towards the pink mare who was still watering the grass. “Okay, Princess.” Pinkie resumed her usual cheerful demeanor in an instant. Luna stepped forwards. “Have you found our errant princess as of yet?” she asked the assembled group. “We are sorry Princess. We have all searched most diligently–” Rarity began. “Yeah. I flew my wings off searching every farm, brook, gully, meadow and park within fifty miles.” interrupted Rainbow Dash. “And I asked all of my animal friends, both at home and around the White-Tail woods and even inside the Everfree forest if they had seen Twilight, but none of them can recall seeing her today.” added Fluttershy. “And I searched every hiding place, fun place and sad place not to mention every friend that I know.” Pinkie Pie added. “An she were'nt to be found anywhere's on Sweet Apple Acres or inside the Everfree. Big Mac an I looked everywhere. We also checked with Zecora.” added Applejack. “And I have personally contacted every place of business in Ponyville and inspected their establishments. I have also contacted our Mayor and the local guard contingent. But none of us can report finding the slightest trace of Twilight. Isn't that right girls?” “Yep.”, “Yeah.”, “I'm sorry.”, “That's right.” agreed the other ponies. “I see.” said a frowning Celestia. “Ladies, I thank you for your efforts. But it appears that this has become a serious matter. I am calling out the guard. In the morning you can expect to see a major contingent arrive here in Ponyville, to carry out a more exhaustive search. Luna, perhaps we should return and start the preparations.” “Wait!” shouted Pinkie, once again wearing the deerstalker hat and holding the calabash bubble pipe with it’s white meerschaum bowl. “We still haven't looked for clues in the library.” Celestia appeared surprised at the suggestion. Or perhaps she was surprised that it came from Pinkie. Luna too was slightly puzzled by Pinkies appearance. But in Luna’s case, she was confused by her appearance, not yet having found time to read any of the stories of a certain fictional detective. “Couldst thou be so good as to explain thy request,” she asked Pinkie. “Well of course. Twilight is missing. And that's a mystery. And whenever you have a mystery, the only way to solve it is to look for clues. And that's how you find out who done did what to who for whatever reason.” Upon hearing that, Applejack and Rainbow Dash hoofed their faces, while Fluttershy preferred to conceal her face behind her pink mane. Rarity too, might have hoofed her face, except it would have dirtied her coat. Celestia simply looked on with interest, though her eyes seemed to sparkle a little brighter. “And art thou proficient in the art of finding such clues?” Luna asked. “Yeppers. Twilight showed me how. I even solved the mystery of who ate the Chef's Contest Entries on the train as we were traveling to the National Dessert Competition.” “Perhaps Pinkie, it would be in all our interests if we all go inside the library and start 'looking for clues' as you put it.” Celestia interrupted her sister's impending reply. Soon they had all entered the library. Luna was temporarily engrossed with the antics of Pinkie Pie. No sooner had they entered the library than the pink mare had whipped out a magnifying glass from some unknown location, and was currently crawling about, examining every surface imaginable. “Hey, guys.” Applejack called out, ignoring Pinkie, “Let's say we split up, each of us take a room an check it over for anything unusual.” “Like, what are we looking for?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Ah don't rightly know Rainbow. Just anything that feels odd or out of place or wrong somehow. I'll take the kitchen and the bathroom. Rainbow, Fluttershy, maybe you two could check out the bedroom and the upper loft.” Applejack directed. “What about me?” Rarity inquired. “Don' know. Looks like Pinkie is already doing the main library. Maybe ya could check out the basement.” “Oh, all right.” Rarity agreed. Spike was wringing his claws nervously. He just knew that Twilight would freak out when she learned that both princesses had been inside and had seen the disheveled state of her home. “Can I get you something? Some tea perhaps?” Spike asked the princesses nervously. “Please stay calm Spike.” Celestia urged Spike. “We are not here to be accommodated in comfort. We are here to learn what became of Twilight. Could you please tell us where you last saw her.” “Sh-She was in her study. Reading a book.” “Could you please take us to Twilight's study?” Celestia asked. Luna tore herself away from the sight of a pink mare creeping on the wall and followed after. Celestia was glad she had followed Pinkie's suggestion after all. What they found in the study was most unusual. ---------------- “Eeek!” Rarity's scream, practically a shriek, echoed through the library. Applejack raced out of the kitchen back into the main room of the library, while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew down from the upper floors. Both Celestia and Luna teleported back into the main room in two bright flashes of light. Even Pinkie paused in her search for clues. They all arrived just in time to see Rarity come dashing up from the basement shaking her mane and tail violently. “Eww! Ugh! Yuck! Get off of me!” “Rarity, what happened?” Applejack demanded. “You would not believe how dirty it was down there. When I turned on the lights, I was surrounded on all sides by dusty surfaces. In a sudden fright, I backed right into a spider's web. Oh my tail. My beautiful tail.” Rarity swished her hind appendage, its wavy curls bouncing. “It’s got dusty spiderwebs all over it. I shall have to wash it as soon as possible.” The two princesses hid their smiles behind their hooves. All the other girls grinned openly, except for Fluttershy, who hid her smirk behind her mane. “Oh, Rarity, the way ya carry on sometimes, always about a little bit a good clean dirt.” Applejack scoffed. “Come on everypony, let’s get back to looking for clues.” “Actually everypony.” Celestia interrupted. “We may have found what we are looking for up in Twilight's study. Please join us there.” The two alicorns teleported away again. Spike had been waddling down the stairs to see what all the fuss was about. He had just reached the bottom when all the girls scrambled past him on the way up. “Aw! Come On!” Spike called out in exasperation, reversing course and waddling upwards again. ---------------- The girls crowded around the two princesses in the study. What they saw was a scene of minor devastation. A burned and charred book lay open upon Twilight's desk. Scraps of paper, both burned and unburned lay scattered for several feet about the destroyed tome. “Well, I'll be. What could a caused all this.” Applejack voiced her thoughts. “I agree, this mess is so unlike Twilight.” Rarity added. “Well where you guys see a mess, I see clues.” added Pinkie brightly, pushing her way through the group. “Indeed, and what clues do you see?” inquired the Solar Princess. “Just give me a minute. I need to look over everything. Not having all the clues can cause you to jump to the wrong conclusion.” The other ponies snickered at that statement because that was exactly what they expected Pinkie to do. Pinkie, of course, was oblivious to their amusement. All the girls watched, slightly embarrassed for her, as Pinkie repeated her ridiculous performance with the magnifying glass. This time however, the pink mare spent some considerable time studying every fragment of paper, and then the charred book itself, tilting it up gently to peek at the back side of its cover. Pinkie even looked through the contents of the waste-paper basket. Nopony, except Princess Celestia, noticed that Pinkie never disturbed a single item. Though it appeared she was running rough-shod over everything, not the tiniest scrap of paper was moved in the slightest. Not a fleck of ash fell off of the book. Finally Pinkie completed her investigations. She found a clear spot somewhat off to the side of the desk and sat down facing the others. A thoughtful frown was upon her face as she blew a few bubbles from the pipe. Celestia tittered softly and hid her smile behind a hoof, though she quickly brought her expression under control. “Pinkie, could you please tell us what you found?” she asked. “I'm not totally sure.” She replied, still frowning and blowing bubbles. “But I think it was the book that made Twilight disappear.” The other girls wore expressions of gaping astonishment. “I knew it. She’s gone completely random,” Rainbow commented on Pinkie's behaviour. The other mares voiced murmurs of agreement. “Dost thou offer any proof of thine assertion.” asked Princess Luna. “Well first off, this was a new book that Twilight had just received. She had just opened it.” “My dear Pinkie, how did you reach that conclusion?” Celestia asked. “Well, in this wastepaper basket I found three items.” Pinkie hauled out a mass of torn brown wrapping paper. “The first was this wrapping paper; it appears to have been addressed to Twilight Sparkle, care of Rarity at the Carousel Boutique.” All eyes and not a few frowns turned towards Rarity. The pupils of her eyes grew wide as she suddenly became the focus of everypony's attention. “I-I didn't know what that was. About two weeks ago Twilight told me that she was expecting a package and that it would be delivered to my place of business because…” Rarity's voice trailed off. “Because what, Rarity? What do you know about this package?” demanded a suspicious Rainbow. “I-I'd rather not say. Please don't make me.” Rarity whimpered. “Rarity. If thou knowest something that could lead us to Twilight's recovery, t'were wise not to conceal it.” Luna advised the white mare. Rarity wilted under the princesses’ gaze, “Twilight said it was part of a special birthday present for Spike. It was supposed to be a secret. I'm sorry Spike, now I ruined your surprise.” Spike started tearing up again. Just the thought that Twilight had gotten into trouble while doing something for him was like a terrible burden. “Oh don't worry Rarity. You didn't ruin it. It was ruined already.” Pinkie pointed at the charred remains of the book. Upon hearing those words Spike let out a sob. Fluttershy rubbed a consoling hoof along his tiny back. “So the mystery of the book is explained…” began Celestia. “Not quite.” Interrupted Pinkie, blowing a few more bubbles for emphasis. “The second item I found was this.” she held up a card. “Well what so special about a card?” asked Rainbow impatiently. “The card reads, and I quote, 'The House of Enchanted Comics (HEC) thanks you for your purchase of this pre-enchanted literary blank.'. The book on her desk happens to have been a pre-enchanted literary blank, that Twilight special ordered from a company called The House of Enchanted Comics.” “I am unfamiliar with any such company.” said Princess Celestia. “And what, pray tell, is a literary blank?” Luna added. “Oh my, that name sounds familiar.” murmured Fluttershy. “Ah agree. Ah think I heard that name before as well.” added Applejack. “Well, it should.” Pinkie reminded everyone. “Don't you remember that time we all got pulled into Spike's Power Ponies comic book?” Again she puffed a few more bubbles from the pipe. “Oh, I don't want to remember. I became so violent.”, “My character was Lightning Lame!”, “Oh yes, creating accessories on demand was lots of fun.”, “Grr, I got hogtied by my own rope.” All the girls recalled the incident quite well. “Girls.” Princess Celestia interrupted, “Could you tell me more about that incident? It seems it might be the key to understanding what happened here.” “Ahem. Perhaps I should start. It was my comic book after all” Spike volunteered. “Of course Spike. Please begin.” Celestia agreed. “It happened about one month ago. We had all planned on spending the day at your old castle, the one in the Everfree forest, fixing it up. Unfortunately, I wasn't much help to the girls and ended up being told by Twilight to take it easy and to go finish reading my comic book. So I did that. “Well, I was surprised when the story suddenly ended on a blank page. Down at the bottom of the blank page was some really small fine print. I needed a magnifying glass to be able to read it. It said 'You can return to the place you started when the Maneiac is defeated. Take a closer look to join the adventure in this book.' “And as soon as I had read that, a really bright light shone out of the blank page and it pulled me inside. Twilight must have seen what was happening because she grabbed onto me and tried to pull me out. But the pull of the book was too strong for us.” “And I grabbed Twilight.” Rainbow Dash added. “An ah grabbed Rainbow.” added Applejack. “And then both Fluttershy and I grabbed onto Applejack.” added Rarity. “And I jumped in because it looked like they were having fun.” finished Pinkie. “So as I understand it, a spell on this 'comic book' was strong enough to pull all six of you inside.” commented Celestia. “What did you encounter while inside the book,” Luna asked curiously. “Well, it was a whole other world, with buildings an places and other ponies. Funny thing was, we all ended up in some really weird costumes an had some freaky unnatural powers an stuff.” Applejack stated bluntly. ---------------- Celestia and Luna traded a significant look with each other. Luna used sound dampening magic to have a private conversation with Celestia, “It sounds as if–” “Indeed it does dear sister.” Celestia interrupted her. “It is most disquieting to imagine such a dangerous and forbidden spell as that one is being used so frivolously.” “We shall investigate immediately.” replied Luna, preparing to teleport. “Wait Luna. Try to be discreet yet thorough before you take action. We do not wish the proprietors of this business to escape through some advance warning or any oversight on our part. If they have knowingly been using forbidden spells, then they may have prepared themselves for a hasty exit.” Luna nodded her agreement and then vanished in a bright flash of light as she teleported herself back to Canterlot. ---------------- While the Princesses had their own private conversation, Applejack asked a question, “Pinkie, are ya saying that Twilight was trying to make a comic book for Spike?” “Mm-Hm. That's right. And it would have been a really super-duper surprise too. We all know that Spike is a little bored with Twilight's presents. The ponies all nodded knowingly while Spike folded his arms together, assuming a defiant look. “Come on." He interjected. "You all know that it's always a book.” Pinkie continued. “Well imagine Spike’s surprise when his 'just another book' present turned out to be a special book that Twilight put together herself, just for him. And besides that, it was a magic book, letting you experience the adventure just like that comic book did to us.” “She wanted to do that for me?” Spike looked up at the girls, tears in his eyes again. “Yes, of course, my little Spikey-Wikey. Why wouldn't Twilight want to make a wonderful surprise for her number one assistant?” Rarity cheered the dragon. Spike hiccuped as he fought conflicting strong emotions, simultaneously happy yet fighting the tears of his terrible loss. “Spike” asked the Princess. “Do you still have that comic book?” “N-No. Pri-hic! Princess. It va-hic! Vanished after that. Hic!” Spike replied. “I looked everywhere b-hic! But I couldn't find it again.” “Hmm. That is unfortunate. Let us hope that Luna has better luck in tracking down this 'House of Enchanted Comics.'” “He-Hem.” Pinkie had returned to her pose again, with the serious look on her face and the blowing of bubbles. “Yes, Pinkie. Did you have anything further to add?” the Princess inquired. “Yep, I do. Twilight was sitting right in front of that book when it exploded.” “What?” six other voices asked simultaneously. “Please explain your reasoning.” urged Princess Celestia. “You see all those bits and pieces of paper lying around?” “Yeah. So what, it's just trash.” Rainbow offered her own evaluation. “Not quite. Those blank pieces of paper must have come from the book when it exploded. And if you look carefully, you will see that there are pieces of paper everywhere, except for this clean area right here that looks like a wedge pointing straight back at the book. “I think Twilight was sitting right there, in front of the book, and her body blocked the spray of exploding bits of paper. I see that all the time when I shoot my party cannon.” “Well that's fine and all. But where is Twilight?” demanded Rainbow Dash, growing exasperated with the slow pace of the investigation. “I think I can answer that Rainbow Dash.” Princess Celestia spoke up. “Twilight was pulled into that book.” “WHAT?” All the ponies exclaimed simultaneously. They all turned to look in horror at the burned and charred remains of the literary blank. Spike fainted.