Absent

by T6J2E5

Chapter 3

The fresh mulberry scone remained on the plate undisturbed. The tea, steaming in a small, deep blue teacup on the table beside it had steeped for a bit too long, the brown liquid becoming slightly opaque. Twilight couldn’t eat, despite the delicious sight and smell of the food Luna had provided. It had been a very rough night, one of unsatisfying and fitful sleep. When Twilight had staggered to her chamber doors late the previous evening crying and aloof, Luna welcomed her open-hearted. Twilight had been in no condition, emotionally or physically, to make the return trip to Ponyville that night. She needed sleep, and by the looks of her frazzled and singed mane, a haircut. Luna had barely managed to lead Twilight into one of her guest rooms before the exhausted unicorn collapsed on the enormous bed.

The princess of the moon sat before Twilight now, across a small, low breakfast table made of the finest mahogany. She neither spoke nor ate, choosing instead to let Twilight speak when she felt ready. Twilight sighed quietly, looking in the direction of the food but not seeing it. Luna glanced up at her, hearing the only sound Twilight had made since she arrived the night before. She waited, expecting her to say something... anything. Twilight remained silent and motionless, peering through the food and into the space of her own mind. The depressed mare sighed again a long while later, the food and tea long since having gone cold. Luna irritatedly used her magic to reheat the tea in her cup and took her first sip of the morning, a mint and chi blend, one of Twilight’s favourites.

Twilight stirred, surprising Luna and causing her to burn her lip on the near-boiling tea. “Luna...,” Twilight started, then halting as if losing her train of thought. The events of the past evening had conglomerated into a manic blur in her memory. She found it difficult to separate her thoughts from the spoken words of those around her or her own. Luna hadn’t been able to get any information about Nyx from Celestia; what made her think she could do any better? Luna is her sister, for Celestia’s sake! She cringed at her own mental obscenity, the mere thought of Celestia’s name bringing dozens of unwelcome and very conflicting emotions to a barely-containable boil within her. She sighed again, her exhale betraying the ragged breath that accompanies a stifled sob.

Luna watched her friend, her “sister’s” mother. She opened her mouth to speak, then stopped, slowly closing it on the behest of some apparently better judgement. The only thing she could do was be with her friend right now. Anything that could be said would be, eventually, at Twilight’s pleasure. Lost in her own thoughts, Luna started at the voice, soft but clear.

“Luna,” Twilight said, picking up the quickly failed conversation where it left off, “you were right. The princess is hiding something.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. That had been rather direct, even for Twilight. “Mm. How dost thou know? What happened last night, Twilight?” She noticed the hesitation on Twilight’s face. “Whatever is spoken here, in our chambers, will remain here. You have our word.”

“She wouldn’t tell me anything,” Twilight continued sadly. “I asked her about Nyx. I told her that you had contacted me, that you knew she knew something. She wouldn’t even tell me ‘no.’”

Luna frowned. Sometimes her sister’s mysticism annoyed even her, the queen of mysticism. “What did she tell thee, Twilight?” she urged.

“She... She just kept telling me how sorry she was.” Twilight looked up at Luna emptily. “She told me that my assignment was to study the magic of friendship in Ponyville and that I should... I should...” Her voice caught on the last phrase, preventing her from saying it aloud.

Luna bristled, her brow furrowing. “That thou should what, Twilight?” She unconsciously began grinding a forehoof into one of the pillows beneath her.

“That I should... forget Nyx!” Twilight wailed, tears beginning to stream from her eyes. She had cried so long during the night that she was surprised she had any tears remaining to be shed.

Luna huffed, clearly angered by Celestia’s words. “Art thou certain? Twilight did she indeed use those words?” Twilight nodded, prompting another huff and an angry sneer from the alicorn. “Then we must speak with her at once!” she said, her volume raised slightly. Her horn glowed dully. “Proper Etiquette, come here!” she snapped aloud, even though Twilight knew she didn’t actually need to.

The stallion servant walked into the room a full minute later, breathing heavily from his gallop from the chambers’ main doors to the small breakfast room deep within Luna’s personal wing. His face bore an expression of worry, fearful of the possibility that he might be the target of one of Luna’s foul moods. “Yes, Your Highness?” Proper said, cautiously.

“Tell our sister that we demand an immediate audience here in our chambers,” Luna commanded. Proper looked at her, stunned. No pony demanded an immediate audience with Celestia! Even one of the Royal Sisters had certain protocol to follow. Luna growled at his hesitation. “What keeps thee? Go!” she yelled, baring her teeth. Proper shuddered and galloped from the room.

Twilight watched the exchange quietly, wide-eyed. The thick tension in the room temporarily damped the other emotions roiling through her mind, and for a moment, she felt proud of the princess across from her, to be relatively safe within her inner circle. If anypony could help her find her daughter, Luna would be the one. Although, if Celestia had already refused information to both her and her sister, what more could even Luna do? Her relief from darker thoughts was short-lived, and she quickly returned to her moping once Proper left them. “Princess,” she said, earning an irritated look from Luna.

“Twilight, please,” Luna interrupted, her voice softening, taking on a soothing texture, “thou art the mother of Nyx, the filly we hold in an opinion of sisterhood. After all thou hast done for us, thou hast earned the right to use our given name.” She smiled pleasantly.

Twilight stared at her scone. It was beginning to look rather tempting, even though it had cooled to room temperature nearly an hour ago. “Sorry, Luna,” she said. “Old habits and all...”

Luna laughed, a stark departure from the agitation of only a few minutes ago. “Worry not, Twilight. We are all too familiar with old habits and customs.” She smiled at Twilight and waved a hoof dismissively. “We still have difficulty with thy modern dialect.” Twilight stifled at giggle. “As thou can obviously attest,” Luna added, a look of mock-hurt attempting to replace the sudden joviality. She thought for a moment, brightened. “Wouldst thou believe our sister...” she paused, thinking about her week-old claim on Nyx before clarifying, “our sister Celestia hired a special tutor for us? We must endure several tedious hours of lectures each week on the... ahem,” she adopted an air of pomposity and waved her forelegs in the air animatedly in front of an invisible lectern, clearly mocking the pony assigned to instruct her, “finer points of proper Canterlot speech.” Luna smiled as she observed another giggle escape the lips of the depressed mare. As Twilight’s giggle subsided, she restored a serious tone. “Forgive us, Twilight. Thou were saying...?”

Twilight looked into Luna’s eyes pleadingly. “Luna, we need to find her. Is there anything you can do? Is there any way you can help?”

Luna deflated, sighed. “When we learned from our sister’s - from Celestia’s RBI agents of Nyx’s disappearance, we immediately began our own investigation. We want Nyx back, as well.” She looked down toward her empty teacup. “Our efforts have as of yet revealed very little, however.” Both ponies fell silent.

Twilight couldn’t, and didn’t particularly care to consider her next move at the moment. The emotional strain coupled with lack-of-sleep had taken its toll on her. She was tired, despite the mid-morning hour. Luna seemed far more energetic than her. Twilight thought this was odd for the pony representation of the moon. Wasn’t she supposed to sleep during the day? Now that she really thought about it, she’d never seen Luna sleep at all. She shook the quickly growing jumble of thoughts from her head. Glancing down, she noticed that Luna had taken the opportunity to refill their teacups. The water in the pot had obviously been magically reheated, since the steeping tea was steaming like a sauna stone. She realized that she was hungry. Her mind had been blocking the messages from her stomach all morning, but now her belly complained loudly (and painfully) enough that the biscuit on the table in front of her proved irresistible. She tried to enjoy the flavour as it disappeared bite by deliberate bite.

Her host’s brief, shallow inhale forced the diversion of her attention back to the princess. Luna’s eyes were squeezed shut, staring intently at images beneath their lids. “Proper Etiquette has returned,” she murmured. Twilight felt a sudden burst of nervousness. After the last night’s encounter, she really didn’t want to confront Celestia face-to-face again for a long, long time. The princess looked equally perturbed. “He has returned without Celestia!” Twilight felt an additional burst of nervousness. Luna’s anger had returned.

“Maybe Princess Celestia’s on her way?” Twilight offered. “She might have been in the middle of something important.” Luna turned and looked at her severely. Twilight shrank back, wishing she hadn’t made the suggestion. She knew that Luna would never harm her, and that any anger directed toward her (intentionally or otherwise) would be fleeting, but Luna had a very intimidating presence about her while emotionally excited. Even Twilight, one of Luna’s closest friends, found that she wasn’t immune.

Luna was tapping her hoof on the marble floor in impatient irritation. “Why does he dally just outside the door?” Twilight wasn’t certain, but she assumed the question was rhetorical and bit her tongue. She really didn’t want another (albeit brief) taste of Luna’s ire. She wanted to say that poor Proper was probably scared silly of her, which was likely true. Luna was accustomed to receiving what she demanded, and woe be to the pony who didn’t deliver. Things must have been very different around here a thousand years ago, thought Twilight.

“Enough of this!” Luna shouted in a random direction. Her horn glowed a sickly violet, and Proper burst into existence in a flash of light several paces away. It took him a moment to recognize that he was no longer standing just outside the chamber doors. When the realization of his new location hit him, he quickly diverted his wide-eyed stare from Luna to the floor and dove into a deep bow. Luna stood, flaring her wings. “WHERE IS CELESTIA?” she bellowed in the Royal Canterlot Voice.

“Y-your Majesty,” the petrified stallion stuttered, “the princess Celestia asked me to deliver this.” He used his magic to float a small, white scroll onto the floor between himself and Luna. It was ringed with brilliant, red ribbon and bore the golden seal of Celestia.

Luna was breathing heavily, attempting to control the anger within her. She snatched the scroll from the floor with her magic. “Our thanks, faithful Proper,” she said, almost apologetically. “Thou mayest go now.” She broke the seal and began to read the parchment as Proper hastily made for the exit.

Several long moments passed before Twilight couldn’t wait any longer, her curiosity getting the better of her. “Prin-- Luna?” She asked quietly, waiting. Luna didn’t answer, continued to read the scroll. The letter from Celestia must be either lengthy or bad. She tried again a few seconds later. “What does she say?”

Luna sighed, closed her eyes, and let the parchment fall lazily onto the table in front of Twilight. “Read for thine self, Twilight. The situation may be more serious than we anticipated.” Twilight read, leaving the scroll open on the table and leaning in to see the perfect calligraphy.

Dearest Sister,

I regret that I can’t visit you this morning as you request. Please do not blame Proper Etiquette for my refusal. He really is one of the best personal assistants I’ve ever had in my employ. You are a very lucky princess to have him.

Proper informed me that Twilight spent the night as a guest in your chambers. Please give her my regards. I wish to sincerely apologise to her, in person, when I am able. Sadly, this might be some time. I fear that she is incredibly upset with me about our encounter last night, and for good reason. If she is, please do not attempt to dissuade her anger. I deserve it in its entirety. Forgive me, sister, but I cannot explain further.

I truly wish you hadn’t learned of Nyx’s abduction during my security briefing yesterday. I know and sympathise with how you feel toward the young alicorn. Sometimes, though, a princess needs to do things she does not want to do, because it’s for the good of her kingdom. Sometimes, like this time, she even needs to do what she knows will hurt her and her friends deeply. I wish I could tell you more, but under the circumstances, that is impossible.

Unfortunately, I also need to insist that neither you nor Twilight begin any investigations into Nyx’s location or the details of her disappearance. Be aware that I will need to seal any investigation I discover in this regard. Please do not force my hoof in this matter. I do not wish to cause you or my faithful student any additional distress.

Forgive me.

Yours always,

Celestia

Twilight balked at the letter, looking at it as one would a snake about to strike. Luna’s eyes were still closed, but she appeared to have been thinking about Celestia’s words while Twilight read them. Twilight finally found her voice, directing a question toward the princess. “I don’t get it. Why won’t she tell us anything? She basically admits to knowing something, probably a lot, that we don’t.”

“Nay, Twilight,” Luna said, opening her eyes and looking to Twilight seriously. “We may have been gone for a thousand years, but we know our sister well.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight was confused. She thought she had garnered all the important information from the scroll.

“Celestia did not say that she wouldn’t help us. She said that she couldn’t help us.” Luna waited for the subtle difference to sink in.

Twilight’s eyes widened with realization. “What?” Is this even possible? “So... Celestia is unable to tell us about Nyx? I don’t get it. Princess Celestia is the most powerful pony in all Equestria!” She flinched at her own words, smiling meekly, “Present company excepted, of course.”

Luna smiled sadly. “Twilight, we are the princesses of Equestria, and we are alicorns. We possess many abilities well beyond what most ponies can fathom. But, we are neither omnipotent nor omniscient. We have limitations.”

“I still don’t understand,” Twilight said flatly.

Luna seemed to consider her next words. “Our sister is operating under one of two conditions: either she does not know or what she does know is being silenced. We don’t know which condition is the correct one. She did not give us enough information for that.” Twilight stared at her, the magnitude of Luna’s words slowly taking root in her mind. “One further thing in this message worries us.”

Twilight was pretty sure she knew what this thing was, and she finished Luna’s thought for her. “Celestia said Nyx was abducted, not missing.” She had suspected this was the case since Nyx’s disappearance, but now she had royal confirmation. Strange, foreign-looking ponies didn’t visit Ponyville. Such a small, pastoral village several hours removed from Canterlot was easily overlooked by any would-be tourists.

“Indeed,” Luna concurred darkly. “Celestia purposefully divulged to us this specific bit of information. She believes Nyx’s disappearance was an abduction.”

How in Equestria am I going to find her, Twilight thought. What could possibly be preventing Celestia from telling me what happened, if she even knows? The only pony as powerful as Celestia is Luna, and she’s obviously not behind this. And why would she shut down any investigation I start to find her? Twilight felt a headache brewing as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“Twilight,” Luna said, interrupting the jumble of thoughts forming in Twilight’s head, “We shall continue our investigation until such time that Celestia discovers and moves to halt it. After that, we will need to work more... surreptitiously.”

“Wait,” Twilight responded. “You’re going to do this behind Celestia’s back? Right under her nose? But I thought you two worked together on everything, and --”

Luna interrupted her with a raised hoof, stopping the manic flow from Twilight’s brain. “We... normally do share our deepest secrets with Celestia.” She looked down distractedly. “But perhaps no more.” Twilight wanted to comfort Luna, but the princess slowly rose from her pillow. “Please remain here for a moment, Twilight. We have something for thee.” She turned and walked out of the room, deeper into her chambers.

This was too much, Twilight thought. I lose Nyx and the Elements on the same day, Princess Celestia won’t tell me anything, I’m not allowed to try and find Nyx, and now Luna thinks Celestia might be at least partially in on it? She sighed. What’s going on? She looked toward the tall windows on one side of the room. They faced away from the sunrise, but it was clearly approaching late morning. She climbed to her hooves and walked unsteadily to the glass. She had been so engrossed in her thoughts, that she had neglected to shift her position at the table. The tingling, burning sensation in two of her legs made it difficult to walk in a straight line. The legs complained about being awakened, their capillaries finally provided the blood that had been denied them for the better part of a morning. As she wiggled her hooves above the floor in an attempt to make them work properly again, she noted the dull throb in her side. She must have hit the wall harder than she thought last night. It didn’t feel like anything was broken, but it was a pain that threatened to linger for a long time.

As she approached the sill, her breath caught. This side of Luna’s private wing of Canterlot Castle overlooked her Royal Night Gardens. Among the full and enormous weeping willows and the stunning pink of nightshade flowers grew the most beautiful plants she had ever seen. Their flower’s petals were closed for the day, and Twilight immediately recognized them as plants of the night. They thrived under the silver light of Luna’s moon and slept during the heat of the day, comforted by Celestia’s warm sun. Their colours, now muted and darker while the sun reigned in the sky, would run the gambit from the deepest violet to the most radiant white once the sun set. Twilight recalled seeing a similar garden outside her dungeon cell in Nyx’s castle during her imprisonment by Nightmare Moon. During the several weeks marked by Nyx’s “eternal night,” the flowers and trees had glowed softly with a light of their own, creating a peaceful, moonlit serenity in the midst of the rugged coldness of the quarry in which it was planted. That garden was responsible for keeping Twilight sane during many of those lonely days in her cell.

Luna returned bearing a small gem, carefully carried in her teeth. She set it on the table and returned to her pillow, watching Twilight enjoy the view outside.

Twilight had heard Luna enter the room and place something on the table, but she allowed her gaze to linger into the garden for several more moments. Even during the day, the garden had a sense of beckoning, drawing her into it, soul and mind. She hated having to leave the window and for the briefest of instants resented Luna for creating something so hauntingly beautiful. It was no wonder now why Nyx had been reluctant to leave for Ponyville after their visit. She walked back to the table, forcing herself not to look back at the gardens just outside.

“Dost thou like it?” Luna asked, a knowing grin on her face.

“Yes, they’re beautiful,” Twilight answered, lost in wonderment. Then she saw the object Luna placed on the table, equally beautiful in its own right. “Wait, we are talking about the gardens outside, right?”

Luna laughed pleasantly. “Yes, Twilight. Sometimes, when our mind overflows with the stresses of running a kingdom, those gardens are where we...” she seemed to weigh her words, searching for the right ones, “... seek solace. Night plants and moon trees have a way of... removing one’s worries.” She looked toward the windows wistfully.

Twilight sat and considered this. That would explain why I didn’t want to look away, she thought dourly. A warning would have been nice. She looked down at the object Luna brought her. It was a large gemstone, amethyst and diamond-shaped. She could swear she’d seen it before but dismissed the thought as déjà vu.

“We want thee to have this,” Luna said, nudging it toward her with a hoof.

Twilight looked at the gemstone. It seemed to have been imbued with a magic, perhaps enchanted somehow. She could feel a very familiar magical pressure on her horn as she looked at it, but she still couldn’t place it. She shook her head slightly, gave up. “What is it?”

“It’s a gemstone,” Luna teased, smirking in her playfully snide way.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I can see that. But I don’t think you would have gone out of your way to give me a piece of jewelry.”

Luna’s playfulness faded to a friendly smile. “Nay, Twilight, we jest. This is indeed no ordinary gemstone. It possesses a powerful and ancient magic, more powerful than even we have.”

Twilight stared at the stone. It’s surface gleamed in the morning light from the windows, glinting painfully into Twilight’s eye as a bright reflection found its way to her. She squinted against the light and concentrated, her horn glowing softly. She had learned a spell several years ago which would tell her the type of enchantment that was placed on an object or individual. The magical presence of the gem felt so... her... She had to know what it was.

“Twilight, what art thou...” Luna gasped wide-eyed, realizing what her friend was attempting to do. “Twilight, don’t!”

“Yee-AHH!” Twilight screamed, her horn flashing abruptly and then returning to normal. Her head throbbed sharply, but the pain quickly subsided. “What was that?!” she yelled, glaring at the stone.

“The magic this stone possesses is not something thou can consciously harness or divine,” Luna explained. “The magic of this stone will show itself only when and how it is most needed.”

Twilight looked at her incredulously. “Huh?” She absently rubbed her head, still throbbing slightly.

“Keep it with thee. This stone,” Luna nodded toward the gem, “helped us surmount one of our most troubled times. We hope it can also help thee.”

Twilight nodded, wrapping the gemstone in a haze of telekinetic magic. She carefully floated it to her saddlebag in the corner of the room. “Thanks.” She smiled. “But what do we do now? We have no idea where Nyx is, and Princess Celestia doesn’t want me trying to find her.”

Luna thought for a moment. “Go home. Allow Celestia’s guards to think thou art following her instructions in thy position as Ponyville’s librarian. Thy main task, however, is to find thy daughter, our sister.” Twilight accepted this. It was the most they could hope to do with the limited information they had. Luna continued, “We have arranged for thy privacy on the next express train to Ponyville in an hour.” She paused, then, “We bid thee good luck, dear Twilight.”

The train departed on-schedule, Twilight lying comfortably in her own, luxury, VIP car. Her eyes had closed and her breathing slowed before the train made it even out of upper Canterlot. For the duration of the three hour trip, she caught up on the peace she hadn’t received the whole night before, her mind filled with hopeful purpose. She slept.

* * * * *

Twilight looked over the parchments spread accross the large table in front of her. She had moved the piece of furniture out of the library’s storage room after her return from Canterlot early that afternoon. This allowed her to organize all her Nyx-related research and look over it at once. The drawback, as Spike pointed out several times while she used her telekinesis to negotiate the table up the stairs, was that her study was very cramped. The baby dragon could still somewhat easily walk around the table, but Twilight was forced to press herself against the wall while sitting at one side. After a few painful attempts, she decided that she simply wouldn’t fit at the other side. Spike, by necessity, claimed this narrower side as his seat.

The purple unicorn brought a hoof down determinedly and hard on the solid surface of the table, causing her draconic assistant to jump in surprise. “All right. What do we know?” she asked both Spike and herself, glossing over the myriad parchments and scrolls. The information displayed thereon represented all the data they had been able to accumulate over the past two days since Nyx’s disappearance. As Twilight looked at it more carefully, she realized that it wasn’t very much, not nearly enough to form even the most rudimentary of theories or leads. She sighed at the parchments, most of them containing a single sentence or a few bullet points. Spike waited patiently across from her, quill and fresh parchment in-hand.

Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt refreshed, more so than she had felt since she learned of Nyx’s disappearance. She mentally reminded herself to personally thank Luna the next time they spoke. Her sleep in her private train car, even though it was only about three hours long, had been a godsend. Now back in her home, surrounded by familiar faces, trinkets, and possessions, she was far more at-ease. Her focus was sharper, her wit keener, and the overwhelming sadness and hopelessness she had felt earlier in Canterlot was all but gone, replaced by a steely determination. Spike, apparently, had fared well, too. Twilight was surprised to find the library closed when she arrived back in Ponyville. Spike had told her that a pair of RBI agents advised the library should be closed to the public until the investigation into the Elements of Harmony was completed. As a result, Spike had little to do aside from some general housekeeping and staying out of the agents’ way. He spent most of the time sleeping. Twilight smiled inwardly at this thought. She wondered how long it would be before he grew into a more rambunctious adolescent.

“I really think we should talk to the other ponies around town,” Spike said. He had placed his parchment and quill on the table in front of him. The nearest parchments on the table had been turned in his direction, and he looked over them carefully, despite the severe lack of information they displayed. “I’m sure someone would have seen something. It’s not like Nyx would walk home alone.”

Twilight considered this. He was right; the walk from the school house to the library was part of the same path Apple Bloom used to go home to Sweet Apple Acres each afternoon. The two would part ways in front of the library (usually with some sort of secret hoof-shake, the mechanics of which Twilight never quite understood) before the yellow earth-filly continued the rest of the way home. “Well,” she thought aloud, “the RBI agents have already interviewed practically everyone in town about the Elements, but they won’t tell us anything.” She resented the government agency. They were known for their secretive and tenacious loyalty. Their decades as Equestria’s national investigatory agency had garnered them the reputation of a group which would do whatever it took to make themselves look good, even if that meant it was at the expense of the citizenry. Celestia herself had expressed concern about this on a few occasions, but she largely let it be to appease the high-ups in her government. The nobles loved their bureaucracy and red tape, it seemed.

“Okay,” she said, finally looking at Spike, a plan forming in her mind. “We’ll start with the obvious. You go and talk to her friends,...” she paused, thinking, “what do they call their little club again?”

Spike snickered. “The ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders.’”

“Oh, right.” Her momentary lapse in memory irritated her. “You talk to them. They were with her in class that morning, and at least two of them, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, would have walked home with her that afternoon.”

“Got it,” Spike nodded. “I’ll stop by the mayor’s office, too. She knows about everything that goes on in town.” Twilight nodded in return. Spike rose from his seat, carefully inching his way along the wall to the door while trying to leave the arrangement on the table undisturbed. He looked back toward the unicorn. “What will you do?”

Twilight was quick to answer. “I’m going to stay here. I have a couple ideas, but I’m not sure if they’ll give me any leads.” Spike looked at her quizzically. She continued before he could interject a confused grunt. “The library downstairs has a few books that I think are something like what Nyx was reading in her castle a few days before she was...” She swallowed the small lump that had formed in her throat. “Before she went missing.”

Spike looked at her sympathetically before leaving the room, disappearing around the door frame.

Once she heard the front door of the library close behind him as he left, Twilight turned her attention back to the papers before her. She sighed again. She was determined, but overwhelmed. She had so much information to gather to supplement what little she already had, and she had only the slightest of ideas about where to get it. She quickly shook the numbing feeling from her head and focused. At least four ponies were involved; she knew that much with one hundred per cent certainty. With equal certainty, she knew that those four ponies weren’t from Ponyville. In fact, they weren’t from anywhere with which she was familiar. One of the several books on equestrian biology in the library downstairs had taught her that those who bore the strangely plain coats with thick, white hairs were called “roans.” A quick perusal of modern Equestrian history confirmed her suspicions that there were no current settlements or towns that were settled by roans, and neither were there any areas in Equestria that contained a large concentration of them. So, four of them just happening to show up in Ponyville at the same time both Nyx and the Elements go missing? That, she thought, was a little too convenient to be sheer coincidence.

A more disturbing piece of information, yet a piece that was of lesser certitude, was that Celestia not only knew something about Nyx, but that she was unwilling (or, as Luna suggested, unable) to tell her what that something was. Did Celestia know something about the Elements, too? If so, then why did she send Twilight back to investigate and help her RBI agents if she could just get them back herself? Maybe, she considered, the two incidents are connected, but Celestia doesn’t know that. If that was the case, then finding the Elements might lead her to Nyx, and with enough information, maybe she could convince Celestia to lend her support in finding her daughter. Finally, why did Celestia say that Nyx was abducted rather than just missing? Twilight had suspected the filly’s absence had sinister underpinnings, but what had prompted Celestia to come to the same conclusion? This, more than anything else, pushed Twilight toward the belief that Celestia knew something important which would make her search much, much easier and faster.

A sharp shout from downstairs disturbed her from her thoughts. She quickly remembered that there were several RBI agents downstairs and in her bedroom running forensic tests on... practically everything they could see or touch, regardless of its significance to their work. A shout rang out again, this time from a different, huskier voice. The floor between the voices and Twilight muffled the sound, making it impossible to determine what was actually being said. It was clear, however, that the shouts were in anger, and the two voices were particularly unhappy with each other. That’s odd, Twilight thought, irritated by the disruption. RBI agents don’t normally yell at anyone. They just tend to be jerks.

Rising from her place at the table, Twilight grudgingly navigated her way out of the cramped study and down the stairs to the living area’s balcony overlooking the library’s main room. Two ponies stood in the centre of the room facing each other and looking as if they were about to exchange more than just harsh words. Surrounding them against the walls were over a dozen other ponies, all but a few clad in the silver-on-black armour of Luna’s Night Guard. Those few not armoured wore the drab black necktie and grey dress shirt of the RBI’s standard field agent uniform. The three RBI agents against the wall huddled together, glancing at each other nervously. They looked more like forensic specialists or scientists than any pony who would stand a chance in a physical confrontation against the raw brawn of the Night Guard.

“You aren’t even supposed to be here!” the RBI pony in the centre of the room shouted at his opponent. “The RBI has declared this library off-limits to all but essential investigation teams.”

The pony across from him, the largest and most intimidating of the Night Guard, leaned in closer to the agent, his nose nearly touching the other’s as he sneered. It looked to Twilight as if he could open his mouth and rip a chunk off the agent’s muzzle. “We are here to perform our own investigation. If you don’t like it, my boys here will be happy to...” he paused, a menacing grin spreading across his face, then placed a pointed emphasis on his next word, “... explain it to you.” A few of the Night Guard gathered along the walls chuckled quietly.

The RBI agent swallowed. He was starting to sweat, Twilight noticed. This brought the hint of a smile to her face, but she couldn’t think of an explicit reason why. “You don’t understand,” the agent said, his tone relatively much more amiable now that he was facing the threat of an “explanation” by a full troop of Night Guard. “Lance Steel, the RBI’s director, has placed this library under our jurisdiction. We can’t have anypony and their brother come in here while we are doing an investigation!”

“We are here under a directive from Princess Luna herself,” the guard growled in return. His voice had lost none of its maliciousness. “We will be happy to deliver your... concerns to the princess.” He flashed a toothy grin that could have made a manticore’s hair curl. “After we’ve shown you a few concerns of our own, of course.” More chuckles from the peanut gallery. The guard adopted a flatter, almost apathetic tone now. “Now, move aside and there won’t be any reason to alert the local hospital.”

The RBI agent bristled. “We will do no such thi--”

“That’s enough!” Twilight shouted from the top of the stairs, magically projecting her voice to emanate from all directions at once into the main room. She descended the staircase with as much seriousness and poise as she could. She wasn’t a large mare; she was quite small compared to most of the Night Guard in the room. What she lacked in size, however, she hoped to compensate with presence. It worked. Every head in the room turned toward her, their argument truncated abruptly. Twilight looked directly into the eyes of both the guard and agent in the room’s middle. “I don’t care who’s jurisdiction this is. It’s still my library, and there will be no fighting here.” Her descent completed, the librarian intercepted the two stallions and planted her hooves firmly between them. She looked to the RBI agent. “The princess’ Night Guard are welcome to perform an investigation alongside yours.” Then, shifting her gaze toward the guard, “If you two can’t accept this like civilized ponies, then I suggest you take it outside.” She had to consciously make an effort not to giggle as she noticed two of the Night Guard looking down at their hooves like scolded foals.

The two verbally sparring ponies glared at one another, then at Twilight. The librarian glared back. Twilight silently thanked Fluttershy for teaching her “the stare” several months earlier. She still hadn’t quite perfected it to the yellow pegasus’ level, and she didn’t think she ever would. Fluttershy’s special talent might be caring for other creatures, but she didn’t doubt that her trademark stare was an equally powerful and unique skill. The guard huffed at the agent, who in-turn growled at the guard. It took less than ten seconds for them to come to a mutual, unspoken understanding, making their way out the front door. Twilight had a good idea of how that renewed confrontation would play out, but she had no interest in actually witnessing it to confirm her suspicions. The other ponies in the room seemed to have immediately forgotten or dismissed the incident, moving quickly to the tasks they had come to do.

Twilight watched as the Night Guard and the three agents scattered into various locations about the library, collecting evidence or taking notes on small, spiral-bound pads. She approached one of the Guard who appeared to be his team’s leader. “So... Princess Luna sent you here to investigate?”

The guard looked to Twilight and smiled. “Yes, ma’am. And thank you for your assistance just now. I really wasn’t looking forward to writing up an incident report this evening.”

Twilight shuddered. Guh... Always with the ma’am stuff... “Please, just ‘Twilight,’ if you don’t mind. And you’re welcome.” She thought for a second. Did Luna send them here to investigate the Elements or Nyx? She suspected the latter, but if that was the case, then they’d have to be here under guise. “Which... er... That is, how many investigations are you here to conduct?”

The guard raised an eyebrow. “We’re here to investigate the theft of the Elements, of course.” He shifted his eyes to either side, aware of the RBI agents’ presence in the adjacent room. Nodding at Twilight, he motioned for her to join him upstairs in the living quarters of the library. Twilight nodded in return, leading the way up the staircase.

Twilight closed the door to Nyx’s bedroom. The RBI agents had no reason to scour that room for evidence, and so the two were left alone in relative quiet. Twilight’s horn glowed briefly as she cast a spell around the room, preventing anyone outside from hearing what was said. “Now,” she turned to the guard and smiled knowingly, “why don’t you tell me why you’re really here?”

The guard chuckled. “Of course. As I’m sure you’re aware, we’re not really here to investigate the theft of the Elements.” He looked around the small bedroom, taking note of the missing filly’s personal items. None of them looked like they had been touched since her disappearance. He returned his attention to the unicorn in front of him. “The princess has tasked us with finding your daughter.” Twilight smiled, relieved. “I’m sure the RBI is perfectly capable of finding the Elements and who took them. But Princess Luna has instructed us to find your filly under the pretense of our own Elements investigation.” He looked at her curiously. “She also said something about Princess Celestia needing to believe this... cover. Do you know anything about this?”

Twilight released the breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. “Yes,” she admitted, pausing for thought. “Princess Luna and I have a shared interest in finding Nyx. When did you start?”

“We just arrived about fifteen minutes ago. We received our orders from Canterlot only a couple hours before that. As of right now, you know as much as we do.”

“Well, I’m just trying to piece together what I know so far. Spike,” she paused, “my assistant, is in town talking to various ponies that know Nyx.” The guard nodded. “So, I’ll let you get back to work, and I’ll be in my study upstairs if you need me.” Twilight allowed the spell to drop, the purple glow around the door and windows fading away.

The guard nodded again, turning to leave the room to direct his troop down in the library. He stopped in the doorway, turning his head toward her. “Miss Sparkle,” he said sympathetically, sighing painfully, “I’ve lost a daughter, too. Periwinkle.” Twilight felt a pit grow in her stomach. Oh no... “She was the victim of a terrible illness as a young filly, barely more than a foal.” He paused, looking at her with steel in his eyes. “Your Nyx was last seen alive, and we will find her. There was nothing we could do for Peri. But we will find Nyx. You have my word... as a father.” He turned and quietly left, leaving Twilight in the bedroom holding back tears.

Nyx was still missing, but now Twilight didn’t feel so alone in her emptiness. She buried the sadness mixed with sympathy that had so quickly rushed over and through her thoughts and climbed the steps once again to her study. Looking at the table from the one side she could sit, she sighed, overwhelmed. She had a lot of work to do.

* * * * *

Twilight breathed deeply, the cool, crisp morning air filling her lungs. She released it slowly, deliberately, watching the clouds of condensation dilute into the still air and slowly fade away. It was late spring in Ponyville, but the recent rains had brought behind them cooler weather from the mountains north of Canterlot. It wasn’t terribly cold by Ponyville standards, but definitely chill enough to wake even the groggiest pony who ventured out just after this sunrise.

Spike had returned to the library late the previous evening. It had taken him several hours to track down the members of Nyx’s Cutie Mark Crusaders, especially Scootaloo. None of the other members of the exclusive club had any idea where she actually lived. Being a pegasus, Spike thought she probably lived in Cloudsdale, but he eventually found her on a grassy hilltop just outside Ponyville watching Rainbow Dash clear away some last-minute clouds before sunset. By the time he returned to the library, he had been gone long enough to worry Twilight and allow the moon to climb far into the night sky. Twilight had greeted him with a half-hearted, maternal scolding and a plate of gemstones, his dinner. He had gone directly to bed after his supper, and Twilight didn’t have the heart to wake him this early in the morning to question him about what he learned.

As she walked down the path leading to the main square in the centre of town, other citizens began to emerge from their homes, beginning what to them was another normal day in the provincial town. She felt a momentary pang of loss as she saw several fillies and colts scampered from a nearby shop and across the road toward the school house in the distance. No, Twilight, she thought. You have to keep it together. You have ponies to talk to, and you need to think straight to get the best information from them. Keep it professional.

This walk always seemed longer in the mornings. She didn’t know why that was. It was a pleasant walk, especially on quiet mornings like these. It took her a full ten minutes to arrive on the doorstep of Sugarcube Corner. The door was locked. Twilight looked upward to the rising sun, confused. I don’t think I’m too early. They should be open by now. Craning her neck, she leaned over to one of the large picture windows beside the door. It was dark, save for the lights in the display cases inside. “Oooookay,” she said aloud to herself. She looked to her left, the local clock tower casting its morning shadow across the town hall. Twilight shook her head, making a mental note to return later. At the least, Pinkie Pie should be awake and causing havoc at this point, probably with the twins. But she hadn’t seen sign of even them.

Her trek to the school house took considerably less time, despite the greater distance. Twilight had gotten over the novelty of a beautiful spring morning and wanted to start collecting answers to her questions. The school yard was busy with playing fillies and colts, several participating in a game involving small, metallic things that looked like burrs and a bouncing, rubber ball. She’d never seen that game before, but that didn’t particularly surprise her. She hadn’t been the most playful filly while enrolled in Celestia’s academy, and games were the last thing she had wanted to do when books were within her newly-acquired, telekinetic grasp.

After watching from the far side of the fence for a few minutes, Twilight saw Cheerilee appear in the doorway to the school house holding a large bell in her teeth. She shook her head, ringing the bell loudly, and the yard began to immediately clear, the young ponies running toward their teacher and into the red building. Less than a minute later, the yard was deserted. Cheerilee looked at Twilight and smiled before heading inside and beginning the day’s lessons.

Twilight stepped into the school yard and waited patiently, resting on a now vacant swing that still hadn’t quite stilled itself from the efforts of its prior user. She had intended to speak with Pinkie Pie first thing in the morning. Pinkie always seemed to know everything about everyone all over Ponyville. If something happened, she usually knew about it even before the mayor did. She hoped that Pinkie would be awake later at Sugarcube Corner. For now, though, Cheerilee might be able to help. She saw Nyx every day, after all. Her ears perked up at the sound of cheering from within the school house. Cheerilee appeared in the doorway shortly thereafter, a large grin on her face. The teacher looked back, making a last check that the fillies and colts were participating in some activity as she instructed, then closed the door behind her and approached the swings and Twilight.

Cheerilee’s smile sagged as Twilight stopped her slight swinging to greet the purple earth pony. “Hi, Twilight,” she said carefully. “How are you doing?” she asked before adding, “Are you okay?”

Twilight wanted to tell her that no, she wasn’t okay. Her daughter was missing, she had no idea where she was, who might have taken her, and she was taking flak from the crown for even attempting to find out. Instead, she settled for, “Eh... I’m fine.” Cheerilee frowned. She doesn’t buy it, Twilight thought. But then, why should she? She knows me well enough to see through such a bad lie. Cheerilee cleared her throat, looking at her as she would one of her students when catching them in a less-than-truthful moment.

“Not,” Twilight took an unsteady breath before continuing, “not all that fine, actually.”

Cheerilee gave a sympathetic moan and wrapped her forelegs around Twilight’s neck. “I’m so sorry, Twilight,” she said, stroking Twilight’s mane to calm the unicorn, tense with emotion. “I found out from Spike before school the morning after she disappeared.”

Twilight broke the hug and nodded. Spike had told most of Twilight’s friends around town about Nyx and had attempted to get any information from them. Unfortunately, most of the ponies either saw him as too much of a juvenile to be burdened with that information, or they were unwilling to talk about it. Cheerilee was probably one of the former. In dragon years, Spike was younger than most of her youngest students. Twilight didn’t believe that Cheerilee would intentionally withhold anything from Twilight. She and the unicorn had become rather good friends over the past two years while Nyx adjusted to a normal life with her few friends. They regularly went to lunch at one of Ponyville’s quaint cafes throughout the year, and Cheerilee had admitted to Twilight her well-hidden fear of the black alicorn. Even though Nyx had proved herself to be one of the mare’s best and most inquisitive students, Cheerilee still saw her intended purpose deep down. Nightmare Moon was sitting in her classroom, and it scared her. Twilight later learned that it also scared most of the parents of Nyx’s classmates. Enough so that several of them had started homeschooling their fillies or colts.

A tap on one of the school’s windows caught both mares’ attention. Twilight leaned over to see past Cheerilee and spotted half a dozen small faces pressed up against the window by the door, watching them. Another dozen peered out at them from the other windows facing the school yard. One pegasus colt Twilight didn’t recognize had alighted himself on one of the upper tree branches in the glass dome. Cheerilee huffed. “I’m sorry, Twilight. I’ll be right back.” She quickly marched toward the school, the faces in the window hurrying back to their seats.

The audible groan of two dozen students reached Twilight’s ears a few minutes later. Cheerilee emerged from the school looking particularly pleased with herself, albeit mildly irritated. She sat near Twilight and seemed to be at a loss of words.

“Did...,” Twilight attempted. “Can you... Do you know anything about what happened to Nyx? Did she say anything before she left? Did she do anything out-of-the-ordinary?”

Cheerilee looked up to a flock of birds in the sky, chirping loudly. They were being playfully chased by a yellow-maned, grey pegasus, but they were too far up to make out who it was. “No, I don’t remember her saying anything strange or unusual that day,” she said as a matter-of-fact, turning her attention back to Twilight. “From what I remember, it was just like any other day. She came to me with her normal hoof-full of questions, packed up her books, and left with Apple Bloom.” She smiled wistfully. “She didn’t even have one of her accidents that morning. She seemed... unusually happy about something, but I didn’t think that was anything to worry about.”

Twilight chuckled sadly. “The day before that, Princess Luna gave her... a gift.” She remembered the look on Nyx’s face after Luna revealed her sisterly affection toward her. “A very special gift.” Tears were threatening to wet her eyes again.

Cheerilee gasped. “You know,” she said, staring absently toward a nearby maple tree, “some RBI agents were here yesterday asking about a pair of roans that had been seen around Ponyville.” This earned Twilight’s undivided attention. “I hadn’t seen the ones they described, but...”

“But...?” Twilight had a sinking feeling about her friend’s unfinished sentence.

“But I told them that I did see two other roans. It was really odd, seeing them in Ponyville. I can’t remember the last time I’d seen roan tourists here.” Twilight stared at her patiently. She shook her head, trying to regain focus. “They tended to hang around the school during recess and as the students left for the day. I told the local guard about it the same afternoon Nyx went missing, because it was getting pretty creepy. After that, I didn’t see them again. I just assumed the guard had taken care of it, or they had just gone home.” Her expression changed to one of concern. “You don’t think Nyx’s disappearance has anything to do with the Elements of Harmony being stolen, do you?”

Twilight shook her head. “I don’t know.” She dropped her gaze to the ground at her hooves. “I don’t know much of anything about what’s going on.”

Cheerilee embraced her in another quick hug. “I need to get back to my students, Twilight. I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help. Are you going to be okay?”

Twilight smiled at her. “No, no, you’ve been a great help. You’ve given me a lot to think about. Thanks.”

Cheerilee rose, glancing back toward the school. “If you need to talk, my door’s always open to you.”

It was well into mid-morning as Twilight left the school grounds and made her way back to the town square. She wondered if Spike was awake. That dragon would sleep all day, if she allowed him to. As she walked, she noticed that the lights in Sugarcube Corner were still off, the windows dark and the door closed. That’s weird, she thought for the second time that morning.

“Woo!” Twilight barely had time to recognize the shout behind her before its origin barrelled into her, forcing both of them through the door and onto the floor in the middle of the shop. She shook her head, seeing stars.

“Hey, Twilight! It’s funny to see you here. The cakes are on vacation. You can’t buy any cupcakes right now!” Pinkie Pie had somehow landed on her feet, straddling the stunned unicorn.

Twilight climbed out from underneath her friend, cracking a few surprised vertebrae in her neck loudly. “Pinkie Pie, what are you doing?”

“Well, I woke up and Mr and Mrs Cake left me a note saying they took the twins to Fillydelphia to visit family and I don’t really know how to run the shop I only know how to bake a few things like cupcakes so I said ‘Pinkie Pie you get a day off today!” Pinkie blurted out in one breath.

“Pinkie P--,” Twilight could sense a Pinkie-tirade coming.

Pinkie continued through Twilight’s attempted interruption. “And then I saw Rainbow Dash just laying on a cloud instead of pushing it out of the way and I just had to tell her to get rid of it because it’s such a beautiful day outside and--”

“Pinkie!” Twilight yelled.

The pink earth pony stopped, startled. She blinked a few times before recognizing that her friend might also have something to say. “Is something wrong, Twilight?” Her smile was as bright as ever. Was it possible that she didn’t know about Nyx? It didn’t seem likely. “Why such a long, mopey-dopey, frowny, sad face?”

Really? Twilight thought. “Pinkie Pie, I need to talk to you.”

The hyperactive pony gasped dramatically, eyes bugging-out before she grabbed Twilight and whisked her away to her apartment upstairs. Before Twilight could say or do anything, she found herself lying on a divan with Pinkie Pie seated nearby in an overstuffed chair looking at her expectantly. Pinkie had placed a pair of reading glasses on her nose and held a pad and quill in her hooves. “Tell Dr Pinkie Pie all about it!”

Twilight rolled her eyes. Pinkie Pie will be Pinkie Pie, I guess. Might as well get this done her way. “Pinkie, I need to talk to you about Nyx.”

Pinkie gasped again. “What, is she back? I owe her, like, three parties now! First an ‘I’m sorry you got ponynapped’ party, then a ‘Woo, you met the princess’ party, and now a ‘Welcome back to Ponyville’ party! Oh, I have so much to plan for and--”

“Pinkie!” Twilight was forced to interrupt again. She gave her friend a confused look. “Wait... how do you know that she was ponynapped?”

“Well, that’s easy, silly! Those two creepy-spooky ponies with the weird coats took her.”

“What? You saw them take her?! Why didn’t you say anything?” Twilight shouted, anger brewing under the careful stoicism she had tried to prepare for this meeting.

“Well, I didn’t actually see them... kind of...” Pinkie put a hoof to her chin, thinking.

“Then how...?” Twilight questioned.

Pinkie Pie stared at Twilight oddly and pointed a hoof toward the far wall. Twilight looked in the direction she indicated. There on the wall above Pinkie’s dresser was a large, pink poster with her own face on it, her eyes and smile beaming at whoever happened to be looking at it. Above Pinkie’s face were the words “Pinkie Pie’s watching.” Below, in bold letters which Twilight found more than mildly disturbing, “FOREVER.”

“Okay, that’s a little bit creepy,” Twilight admitted, looking back to her friend. Pinkie Pie shrugged, still smiling. At least she was quiet now, though, Twilight thought. “Did you see anything else just before Nyx disappeared? Did you recognize the two ponies?”

Pinkie Pie shook her head. Her smile was beginning to slowly fade. “Sorry, Twi. I really don’t spend that much time around the school. I’ve been helping with the twins a lot lately. I only know that those two ponies had something to do with it.”

Twilight sighed. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

Pinkie looked confused. “I did. I told those funny, super-serious guys who asked about the Elements of Harmony.” She paused. “Aren’t you working with them?”

“Eh... not really,” Twilight said. “They’re more interested in the Elements. I’m more interested in my daughter.” Pinkie nodded, her expression serious now. Twilight climbed off the divan and walked toward the door.

“Twilight?” Pinkie Pie called after her. “Nyx will be okay.” She smiled softly. “It’s a Pinkie Promise.” Twilight returned her smile and left Sugarcube Corner.

* * * * *

“Finally,” Spike muttered under his breath as he closed the door behind the last RBI agent to leave the library. It had been three days since the theft of the Elements and Nyx’s disappearance, and there had been at least one RBI agent present almost constantly. The agents had proved themselves to be a most irritating thorn in the sides of both the librarian and her dragon assistant. “Twilight,” Spike called up the stairs to the living quarters, “they’re finally gone.”

Twilight poked her head out of her third-floor study and descended the narrow staircase to stop at the balcony overlooking the library’s main room. She sighed, relieved. “It’s about time.” Spike made a sour face while looking at the door through which the agent just left. “Ready to get started?” Twilight asked him. Her question was answered by an enthusiastic nod from the dragon. Twilight left the balcony and walked down the larger flight of stairs into the library. A notebook stuffed with parchments floated behind her in a haze of lavender magic. Spike turned and locked the door before meeting the unicorn at the low table in the middle of the room. The notebook landed softly on the table between them, followed presently by two new quills and a large well of ink.

Twilight sat, looked at the notebook and huffed. “Okay,” she said, feeling more than a little overwhelmed. “We still don’t have a whole lot to go on, but between the information we do have and the resources here,” she looked around her at the hundreds of books on the shelves, “we should be able to point ourselves in the right direction.”

Spike looked at the notebook nervously. “Are you sure we can’t get any help from Princess Luna? What about the other ponies in Ponyville?”

Twilight sighed again, “We’ve been over this, Spike. No one in Ponyville really knows anything except that at least two roans were seen around town for a few days before Nyx disappeared. And Luna needs to keep her investigation secret from Princess Celestia. If we worked together on this too closely, she’d find out and make us stop.” Spike grunted.

Twilight had returned from Sugarcube Corner early in the afternoon. Spike was busy reading one of Nyx’s books, the latest release (and the library’s newest fiction acquisition) by Dream Quill. Having spent so much time with the black alicorn filly, Spike had begrudgingly become somewhat fond of the author, despite the intended older-filly audience. Twilight quickly learned not to tease Spike about it, as the jabs would always lead to embarrassed snarls on the part of the dragon, not that it mattered. It’s not like his unexpected enjoyment of the author’s works was harmful.

For the next hour, the two had gone to Twilight’s study to isolate themselves from the lone RBI agent downstairs. Spike relayed what he had been able to learn from Nyx’s friends and the mayor. All of the fillies and the mayor had seen the roans in town, just as everyone Twilight spoke with had. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom provided some invaluable information, however.

Normally, Nyx would leave the school house with Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo. The other member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Twist, lived in the opposite direction, so the three would part ways with their friend in the school yard. Sweetie Belle would be the next to leave her friends. She had adopted a quasi-permanent residence with her sister above Carrousel Boutique, and her side-street came quickly, leaving only Nyx and Apple Bloom together. Normally, they’d remain together until they passed the library. At that point, Apple Bloom would continue on to Sweet Apple Acres alone.

The afternoon of Nyx’s disappearance was different. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle left together, as usual, but without Nyx. The alicorn filly had told her friends that she’d catch up to them after some extra questions for Cheerilee. The two didn’t think much of it and left the school. Nyx never caught up.

Apple Bloom was angry. At one point, Spike said, it took both himself and Applejack to calm her down enough to finish telling her story. Spike had never seen Apple Bloom with such... murderous fury in her eyes. The filly vowed to “teach ‘em a lessen they ain’t gonna forget” if she ever found Nyx’s abductors.

Sweetie Belle was the opposite. She had been devastated by the disappearance of her friend. The poor filly couldn’t stop crying long enough to speak for more than a minute at a time. Even then, her story was half-filled with incoherent blubbering. Fortunately, she had told Rarity about the afternoon’s events a day earlier, and the mare ended up telling Spike what happened second-hand. She looked to her sister for a confirming nod every once in a while, but aside from that, Sweetie Belle was unable to participate. Adding Cheerilee and Nyx’s Cutie Mark Crusader friends to the count, Twilight was pleasantly surprised to learn that Nyx had more friends than she had initially given her credit for.

The library was quiet now. Spike and Twilight sat across from one another at the low table, the notebook and writing instruments between them, so far untouched. They didn’t have to worry about interruptions or intrusions. The library was closed to the public until further notice for the official reason of the investigation into the stolen Elements of Harmony. Twilight opened the notebook with her magic and slowly leafed through the still mostly-blank parchments within. Spike grabbed a few of them as she dismissed them, spreading them out in front of him and pondering the information again with a fresh mind.

“All right,” Twilight began summarizing her thoughts aloud. “We have witnesses of at least two, probably four roans hanging out in Ponyville for a few days before the theft and the abduction.” Spike raised an eyebrow and looked at Twilight when she use that last word. Twilight ignored his surprise. She was convinced, given what she had learned, that Nyx’s disappearance was a ponynapping. At least, it was highly suspicious at this point. Every time she thought about this, her brain became a war zone between the logical, rational part and the emotional, maternal part. Lately, it was the latter which usually emerged victorious. She continued as Spike returned to the parchments in front of him. “You said the ponies you saw during the break-in were brown.”

Spike nodded.

“And the ponies I saw staring at us from the town square were grey,” Twilight added. “But they were pretty far away when I saw them. Did I see them wrong, or are they a different pair?”

Spike shrugged, remaining silent and intensely interested in a particular parchment in his claws.

Twilight rolled her eyes and immediately felt ashamed for doing so. Spike was taking Nyx’s absence just as hard as anyone. He’d always thought of himself as her little brother. That makes two of my friends who’ve lost a sister, Twilight thought. “Wait,” she said a bit too loudly, startling the baby dragon from his parchment, “Spike, what book was I reading the night I brought Nyx back from her castle? Do you remember?”

Spike looked confused, but his mood brightened somewhat. “Sure.” He got up from the table and moved toward the far wall containing books on history and geography. He plucked one from the shelf and moved back to the table, setting it down in front of Twilight. “You fell asleep reading this. I had to put it away before you started drooling on it,” he teased.

Twilight shot him a playfully annoyed look. She read the spine of the thick book before opening it. Early Equestria’s Rise And Fall. The book itself didn’t have anything to do with Nyx’s abduction, but she seemed to remember reading something before she fell asleep that night that wouldn’t leave her mind alone. At the very least, if she could identify what her memory was trying to tell her, she could put it aside to continue her research. She flipped through the first few pages to the table of contents, quickly finding the section on the Southern Equestrian Territories. She could remember that much, anyway. quickly turning to the section, she began reading. It took only a few minutes before she found a passage that sounded familiar.

The Southern Equestrian Territories had been founded immediately after the War of the Night during which Nightmare Moon had refused to lower the moon and attempted to seize Celestia’s throne for herself. Every corner of Equestria had been ravaged brutally by the war, communities and families bitterly divided between support of Celestia’s solo reign and condemnation of Celestia’s use of the Elements of Harmony against her sister, the other half of Equestria’s monarchy. The rift went all the way into the upper levels of Celestia’s new government.

In the years following the banishment of Nightmare Moon, the schism threatened to plunge the fragile and recovering Equestria into another civil war. In desperation, Celestia had hastily passed a series of “subjugation” laws, making the public admonishment of the crown for actions during wartime a crime. These new laws proved to be deeply unpopular, even among Celestia’s most stalwart supporters, bringing several charges of “unlawful censorship” before the nation’s supreme court.

Finally, after several decades, many of Celestia’s remaining critics, most of whom made up the entirety of Equestria’s roan lineage, had moved to the southernmost reaches of Equestria. The arid, mostly desert region fostered a new type of government: one that did not submit to the rule by birthright of a monarch, but instead consisted of councils representing the many established and relatively isolated tribes. Tensions between the tribes and the crown were strained, at the best of times, and often resulted in minor skirmishes along the tribal boundary lines.

At the behest of one of her closest political advisors, Celestia declared the tribal areas to be semi-independent territories of Equestria. She allowed them to have their own governments, their own laws, the capacity to make decisions that affected their own ponies. The declaration was met with great enthusiasm and support from ponies all over Equestria, hailed as a shining example of Celestia’s love for her little ponies, and the lengths to which she’d go to ensure their happiness. The enthusiasm faded gradually with each passing generation, and now the Southern Equestrian Territories were considered to be more of an embarrassment to Equestria than a triumph of ponykind. This portion of Equestrian history was usually ignored in schools more than a day’s journey from the borderlands.

Twilight gasped as she perused the history of her country that she never learned under Celestia’s tutelage. There were semi-independent parts of Equestria? The tribes there consisted mainly of roans? Her mind struggled through her surprise to connect the dots. The roans! “That’s where they came from!” she shouted.

Spike looked up from the doodles he was drawing on a blank space of the parchment in front of him. His head rested in his hand, his elbow leaning on the table. He looked positively bored. “Huh?”

Twilight clarified. “The roans. They came from the Southern Equestrian Territories! All of Equestria’s roans moved there after the War of the Night.”

Spike wasn’t making the same connections Twilight’s brain had managed seconds earlier. “Okay...”

Twilight groaned in irritation. “The roans who took Nyx came from the Southern Equestrian Territories! They must have taken her back there!”

Spike’s full attention was now on the unicorn. “Whoa whoa whoa, Twilight, slow down. How do you know those roans took Nyx?”

“Let’s see,” she began, a rather patronizing tone in her voice, “those roans were never seen before in Ponyville until the week of Nyx’s disappearance. Then they disappear as soon as Nyx disappears, and you witnessed two of them stealing the Elements.”

“Oh... Right.” Spike said, blushing. “But why would they ponynap Nyx and steal the Elements? What could they get out of a filly and some necklaces they can’t use?”

Twilight couldn’t answer. She hadn’t thought that far yet. She was stuck on the fact that roans had something to do with both the Elements theft and Nyx’s disappearance, and the only place she knew of that had a population of roans was the Southern Equestrian Territories. She frowned. She needed to find a motive for their alleged actions. Her logical side forced her to admit this. “Spike,” she said while staring out a nearby window at the waning daylight, “we know where to look.”

* * * * *

The main room of the library looked as if it had been ransacked. Books and scrolls lay strewn and open everywhere: the floor, the shelves, the furniture, and the low table which had become the centrepiece of their research. Spike had retreated to the kitchen about fifteen minutes earlier, taking a much needed break from his reading-induced headache. Twilight, on the other hand, carefully studied no fewer than six books and parchments arranged around her. Spike emerged presently bearing a plate of daffodil sandwiches. He set it on the table, moving aside several of the open, currently unused books.

Twilight didn’t move. Her nose remained in the book she studied, disconnected from the physical world around her. For the past four days, her concentration had been focused entirely on the task of finding as much information about the Southern Equestrian Territories as she could. Her intense concentration did not come without cost. She had averaged about two hours of sleep per night, usually resulting from her collapsing atop whichever book she was reading at the time. Her appetite ignored, the plate of daffodil sandwiches did not lose one member of its cargo. Twice in the past few days, Spike had to force water down her throat, holding her muzzle closed to prevent dehydration. Twilight didn’t even resist. She barely even existed in the real world anymore, her breaths coming shallow and widely-spaced.

Spike looked at her worriedly. “Twilight,” he said carefully, “lunch is ready.” He nudged the plate of food toward her a few centimetres, stopping only when it intercepted another book on the table.

Twilight didn’t move. She either didn’t hear the concerned dragon, or she was ignoring him.

Spike sighed. “I made your favourite,” he encouraged. After a few seconds of continued silence from the unicorn, he started begging. “C’mon, Twilight. You have to eat!”

Twilight sniffed absently, then placed the book she was reading aside, leaving it open and marking the page, then turning her head toward one of the scrolls nearby.

Spike had never seen Twilight so wrapped up in research before this. Of course, Twilight had never lost anything so precious to her before this. Even during the Nightmare Moon incident when Princess Celestia had sent her to Ponyville for the first time, she had hit the books pretty hard, but not this hard. He sat at the table across from her, his default spot since their intensive investigation had commenced. He looked at his friend, neglecting her most basic physical needs. Finally, after several minutes, he took the first sandwich off the plate and bit into it, chewing slowly. “You know,” he said, his voice betraying a hint of admonishment, “I could write Princess Celestia a letter.” No response. “I could tell her that you’re so wrapped up in your studies again that you’re ignoring your friends and making yourself sick.” Nothing. He squeezed his eyes shut in aggrivation. “She’ll make you stop. She might even make you leave the library.” Spike never liked threatening Twilight, even emptily. But this wasn’t the first time he had considered sending her mentor an emergency missive explaining the situation. He’d only ever done it once, when Twilight had been so obsessed with her getting a letter to the princess on-time, that she unintentionally enchanted the entire town of Ponyville, nearly starting a riot in the process. That had resulted in the first and only instance when Celestia had been truly angry with her protégé.

This got her attention immediately. She had been paying attention after all, apparently. She looked the baby dragon over carefully before squinting at him in irritation. “You wouldn’t dare,” she said hoarsely. These were the first words she had spoken in over two days.

Spike raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He glanced back toward a fresh parchment and quill just out of his reach, then looked back to the mare. “I would.” He let the continued threat sink in for a moment. “Twilight, you’re hurting yourself. You aren’t helping anypony by starving yourself and losing sleep.”

Twilight’s stare bored into the dragon’s eyes like ice picks. “No,” she said simply.

Spike reached for the quill and parchment.

“Spike...” Twilight’s voice betrayed a dangerous mix of panic and anger. Her horn began to glow softly.

Spike grabbed the parchment and moved for the quill. It disappeared a moment before he could curl his claws around it. He looked around the room quickly, spotting it on a nearby lectern. Twilight had teleported it across the room and far out of his reach. He sighed. He knew that there was no way he’d win this war or wills. “Look, Twi,” he said in a more affable tone. “We’ve gone through everything this library has that’s even remotely related to the territories and roans.” Twilight’s ear twitched. He was being heard, at least. “Why not ask Princess Celestia if she has anything else about them in the Royal Library? It’s way bigger than this.” He motioned to the room around him which held no more than a few hundred tomes.

Twilight had to admit to herself, Ponyville had neither the largest library nor the widest selection, particularly regarding the esoteric scope of their research. “But Celestia has already told me that she won’t help us find Nyx. She even said that she’d stop us if she found out.”

Spike stood, his posture pompous and certain. “Yeah. But what if we told her we were researching the Elements? The ponies who stole them were roans, just like we’re looking for. She doesn’t have to know that we’re really looking for Nyx.” He smiled, obviously satisfied with himself.

Twilight considered this for over a minute. She looked at her assistant worriedly, but sternly. “You realize that this means we need to lie to the princess...”

Spike looked surprised by her implication. “Lie? Who said anything about lying? We’re just not telling her everything about why we need her help.”

You cunning devil, Twilight thought, a devious smile creeping into her features. She closed the book in front of her and teleported the quill back into the dragon’s claws. “Spike, take a letter!”

Dear Princess Celestia,

I have spent the past several days with Spike interviewing various ponies in Ponyville and researching information in the library. We believe we have made significant progress in finding the ponies responsible for this terrible crime, but the library here in Ponyville simply doesn’t have the materials we need to continue our investigation.

We have reason to believe that the perpetrators are roans, and the historical archives in the Royal Library in Canterlot must certainly have something of interest pertaining to this unusual breed of pony. I would like your permission to visit the Royal Library (particularly the restricted archives) and to borrow any useful scrolls or books that I discover there.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

“I don’t know, Spike,” Twilight said as she watched the dragon scribble the last of Twilight’s dictation onto the parchment. “I don’t like deceiving the princess like this... even if we aren’t on the best of terms right now.” Her voice trailed off over the last few words, her emotions bubbling up with a cocktail of guilt, remorse, hurt, loss, and nostalgia. She attempted to put a weak mental barrier over the rising tide.

Spike finished writing and rolled the scroll. He placed it in front of his nose and prepared to breathe his magical dragon fire onto it. He looked at Twilight cautiously. “We’re not, Twilight.” She looked at him incredulously. He admitted, “Okay, maybe we are... a little.” He let the scroll drop to his side, still clutched in his claws. “But it’s not like she’s flying over here to help us or anything,” he added quickly.

Twilight sighed. He has a point, she thought. If we’re going to find Nyx, we need Celestia’s help, but she can’t know that she’s helping us. She waved a hoof at him. “Fine. Send it.”

Spike didn’t wait for her to question herself again. He lifted the scroll and blew his green flames onto it without haste. It disintegrated in front of him, transporting itself to Celestia’s present location. He looked at Twilight, and placed the quill on the table in front of him. “Now that I’m convinced you’re alive,” he teased. Twilight glared at him. He chuckled. “Maybe you should eat something?”

Twilight looked at the plate of sandwiches on the table. It did look awfully good. And now that she thought about it, her stomach was practically screaming for sustenance. “Yeah. You’re right.” She levitated one of the sandwiches to herself and took a bite. “Mm... This is delicious, Spike! Thanks.” She closed her eyes, enjoying her first mouthful of food in over two days.

Spike smiled at her. “Don’t mention it, Twi. I know how much this all means to-- BRAAAAWWWP!” He blushed, finishing his unexpected (and unpleasantly tasting) belch.

Twilight scrunched her face into one of revulsion, her eyes snapping open to look at him sternly. “Spike! There’s no need to lose your manners, even if it is only the two of...” She stopped, looking downward. A white scroll with red band and gold seal lay at the baby dragon’s feet. “Spike... She’s replied already.” That was certainly fast.

“Huh?” Spike looked down, spotting the scroll and picking it up. He smoothly pierced the seal with his claw, but Twilight snatched it away from him with her magic before he could unroll and read it. Spike glowered at her. Twilight’s expression slowly revealed a fiendish giddiness as she read.

My dearest Twilight,

I will instruct the librarians in the Royal Library and historical archives that you are granted full access to any scroll or book you desire in your efforts to find the stolen Elements of Harmony. I’d like to congratulate you, as even my RBI agents have not yet brought the roan connection to my attention.

About our last meeting, I am truly sorry for what happened in my chambers. I sincerely hope you aren’t still angry with me, although I admit that I do deserve it. Please, I beg you, do not use your access to the library and restricted archives for any purpose other than finding the Elements. I must hesitantly insist this.

Please keep me informed of your progress. I don’t have to tell you how important this investigation is to all of Equestria. Good luck, my faithful student.

Your friend always,

Celestia

Twilight allowed herself a brief laugh of surprised relief. “I can’t believe it...” she said, staring at the parchment.

“What?” Spike asked, looking like he was about ready to jump over the table to find out. “What’d she say?”

She passed him the scroll, allowing him to pluck it out of the air and from her magical grasp. “Celestia thinks we’re researching the theft, not Nyx’s abduction.” She felt her emotional cocktail receive an extra infusion of guilt. She’d just tricked her teacher, her life-long friend, her princess into indirectly assisting her in an illegal investigation. Part of her felt justified, citing revenge as a motive. The princess didn’t have the best track record with her daughter. She was impeding Twilight from finding her missing daughter, she had hoof-delivered Nyx to and practically gift-wrapped the filly for the members of that crazy Nightmare cult two years ago, and before that she had ripped Nyx away from her by force. “She has given me unfettered access to the entire Royal Archives,” she mused, returning her attention to her assistant who was still reading through the letter.

Spike put the letter down beside him amidst the veritable mountain of haphazardly arranged books. “So, what’s the plan?” he asked.

Twilight rose from the table. She immediately regretted rising so quickly. Her muscles screamed in protest after having been inactive for so long. That, and her hind leg was asleep again. “The plan is, I go to the library and... figure out the plan,” she said as she tried to shake the tingling sensation from her flank. She yawned. Suddenly it was becoming very difficult to keep her eyes open. She started toward the door. “I think there’s one more train leaving for Canterlot tonight.”

Spike sprinted and leaped for the door, blocking it spread-eagle. “Oh no, Twilight! You’re not leaving for Canterlot tonight! You haven’t slept almost at all in more than four days. I’m not letting you leave until morning, after you get a good night’s sleep.”

Twilight stopped several paces in front of him. Spike’s insistence and delaying irritated her, but she was too tired to argue about it. And it was true that she could use the rest. She smiled at the dragon before her. “Spike, I couldn’t ask for a better assistant. Thanks.”

He nodded, watching her turn toward the stairs and some much needed sleep in her own bed.

* * * * *

A peal of thunder greeted Twilight as she opened the door to the Ponyville Library, her coat and saddlebags soaked completely through. Fortunately for the scrolls and books within it, she had cast a water protection spell on the bags years ago while living in Canterlot. She growled to no one in particular as she entered, leaving puddles in her wake. “One of these days, I’m going to have words with Rainbow Dash,” she spat bitterly. She dropped her saddlebags beside the door and continued to the kitchen. After a few minutes, she decided that a hand towel just wouldn’t cut it, and she shook the water from her coat, spraying the walls, furniture, and a very irate baby dragon with an indoor rain shower.

“Hey! Watch it!” Spike yelled, casting a venomous glare at the lavender unicorn. “What gives?” He moved to a nearby closet and retrieved a specially-enchanted towel, breathing fire on it briefly to warm it. Handing the towel to Twilight, he asked, “Want to tell me what’s going on? You were only gone since this morning.”

Twilight sighed in consternation. The day had not gone anywhere near what she would consider ideal. Spike, still worried about his friend’s well-being, had neglected to wake her at a normal hour in the morning. By the time Twilight rolled out of bed, the sun was already high in the sky, only an hour or two from midday. The cursed her perceived carelessness, skipping breakfast and galloping all the way to the local train station. The morning train was just pulling away when she arrived at the ticket window. She cursed herself again after learning that the next train to Canterlot wouldn’t leave until midday.

She hadn’t arrived in Canterlot until early afternoon, even after having spent extra to take the express train. The high-speed tracks to Upper Canterlot were closed for reconstruction, and so the line terminated at Two Sisters Station in Lower Canterlot less than a kilometre from her parents’ house but several kilometres from Canterlot Castle. Knowing how her parents felt about Nyx, and anxious about their possible reaction when she told them about Nyx’s abduction, Twilight had decided to take a path to the castle which gave the home a wide berth.

Once at the castle and in the Royal Archives, she had been dismayed to find scant few reliable sources of historical reference to roans or the Southern Equestrian Territories. Dejected and agitated, she left early in the evening to catch the day’s last express train back to Ponyville. Against the very vocal wishes of the on-duty librarian, Twilight had borrowed over a dozen items, including two scrolls of extreme age and delicacy. The librarian, bound by Celestia’s order to allow Twilight to borrow anything she wished, refused to let the unicorn leave until she had cast several temporary protection spells on the documents. As the train neared ponyville, the heavens had opened, unleashing a torrential downpour typical of late spring in Equestria’s Capital Region. Unprepared for the storm, she had been forced to walk home in the rain.

Twilight huffed and sat at the kitchen table beside Spike. “This whole day was a waste,” she said sulkily.

Spike looked toward her saddlebags in the adjacent room. “Why? Didn’t you find would you were looking for in the archives?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, I found a few old scrolls and books, but they don’t look particularly promising.” Her gaze dropped to the tabletop. “It’s almost as if someone is trying to keep anypony from learning about the Southern Equestrian Territories.” She shook her head, the remaining water droplets in her mane joining their cousins on the walls and Spike. “I guess we should get started,” she said, turning to look at her sopping saddlebags.

Twilight slammed the book shut. After four hours, the pair had found nothing in the ancient tomes that was of any use or had provided any additional insight into their research. She huffed and looked out the window. The rain had finally stopped about an hour ago and so had Spike. He quietly snored into Nyx’s open copy of her favourite classic, The Ponies of Penzance.

“Argh!” Twilight growled loudly, “This is useless!” She let herself collapse face-first into the cover of the book, whimpering feebly.

Spike, roused from his nap by Twilight’s outburst, lifted his head groggily. “Huh? What?” He yawned and stretched, small puffs of smoke emerging from his throat. “Did you find anything?” he asked, blinking a few times as his eyes readjusted to the room’s magically-enhanced lighting.

Twilight snorted. “No. I would have been no worse off by studying these books using your method.” She grinned at him teasingly.

Spike rolled his eyes and sauntered off toward one of the piles of books in the corner. He had a lot of re-shelving to do after the past several days. He didn’t notice the nearly inaudible click from behind them.

Twilight did. She turned toward the source of the noise, but she neither saw nor heard anything out of the ordinary. Dismissing it as the wind, she looked into her now dry saddlebags at the last scroll they hadn’t perused. The black lettering on its green band indicated that it was the 5th Edition of Sir Winterstar’s Brief History of Post-Nightmare Equestria. The parchment was clearly several hundred years old. The migration of Equestria’s roans occurred within the first couple hundred years after the War of the Night. Surely this scroll would at least mention it in passing. The establishment of the territories was almost current events when it was written.

She unrolled the ancient parchment, being careful to avoid touching the decaying and cracked edges. As her eyes focused on the top line of the scroll’s severely faded script, she saw the shadow pass over Spike, his back turned to her and the room. The shadow moved and increased in size. That thing’s owner must be large... and moving toward me! Twilight nearly jumped out of her skin, realizing there was an intruder in their midst. She literally jumped in surprise, twisting herself around in mid-air toward the kitchen. She was hit with a second wave of surprise when she landed and recognized the figure before her. “Zecora! Oh Celestia’s sun, you scared me!”

Spike turned toward the commotion, until now unaware that anything was amiss. “Oh, hi, Zecora!” he greeted her with a wide smile. “What brings you to Ponyvi... Wait... How’d you get in here?” he asked, his expression changing from one of welcome to one of confusion. He watched as Twilight sat catching her breath, her hooves still shaking slightly from the shock. Looking back to the zebra, he noticed something... odd. “Zecora, are you all right?”

Zecora was listing dangerously to one side; impossibly, even. She somehow was managing to maintain her balance and footing, even though her centre of gravity should have been much father than necessary to tip her. She wobbled as she attempted to right herself only to overcompensate and lean to the other side, swinging slowly like an inverted pendulum. She put a hoof forward as if to take another step toward them, but then replaced it a moment later, apparently deciding the floor beneath her was stable enough.

Spike turned toward Twilight, maintaining his gaze on their striped friend. He whispered behind a clawed hand, “Uh, Twilight? Is she drunk or something?”

Twilight was wondering the same thing. She knew Zecora collected dozens of strange herbs and plants from the Everfree Forest where she lived in her hut. Most of those herbs were native only to the wild forest, and Twilight hadn’t the slightest idea about their properties or what might happen if one consumed them. She suspected Zecora’s current state was the result of just such an experiment.

As she looked over the zebra, she decided that it certainly was not alcohol which inebriated her friend. Although physically, Zecora appeared to be drunk to a level way beyond what any sane pony would attempt, her eyes told a very different story. The pupils were dilated to an unnatural size, her irises becoming nearly invisible due to their strained thinness. Despite this, however, they appeared lucid, coherent, downright clairvoyant. “Zecora? Is something wrong?” Twilight asked nervously.

Zecora silently turned her attention away from the dragon toward the purple unicorn and stared for several long moments. Her gaze seemed able to see through anypony, piercing the soul and laying bare the personal secrets that lay hidden within. Finally, she spoke. “Beware, Twilight, my pony friend. These studies will your life asunder rend.”

Twilight frowned at Zecora’s typically rhyming metre. Whatever drug she was under the influence of was making her even more cryptic than usual. “Huh? Zecora, what are you talking about?”

The zebra continued, ignoring Twilight’s question. “The truth you seek from times long gone may soon reveal themselves quite wrong. Written histories you read will help you solve your questing need. But truly careful you must be, since not every pony speaks truthfully. Let not those trusted your emotions sway, for in the end, they will betray. Sorrow, hatred, pain, and fear. All of these from friends you’ll hear. Be careful, Twilight, I implore! Lest you lose young Nyx forevermore!”

Twilight’s and Spike’s jaws dropped simultaneously. They were left speechless, unable to form any sort of response to the message their friend had just conveyed. Was this some sort of vision? Twilight thought. One of those mysterious zebra prophesies she had read about in school as a filly? How had Zecora heard about Nyx’s abduction? She rarely came into town, and it had happened less than a week ago. And what about her message? It didn’t sound like Pinkie Pie’s “Nyx will be okay” at all. Pinkie was known to all the ponies in Ponyville as having a special (if strangely manifesting) connection with the fabric of time and space. But this... this was... like a dark omen! It had anguish and doom written all over it.

Spike managed to untie his tongue and connect his brain while Zecora still stood in place, wobbling nauseatingly. “Zecora, you’ve passed Weirdsville and gone straight on down to Creepytown,” he said, borrowing a line he’d learned from Rainbow Dash. “What was that all about?”

Twilight came to her senses and added, “How do you know about Nyx? What is this about my friends betraying me? Are you saying that the clues I’ve gotten from my research are correct? Wait, but you said they were wrong, but histories were right...” She scratched her head, skewing her eyes as she attempted to make sense of this apparent logical contradiction.

Zecora stood silently. Even her breaths made no noise in the quiet confines of the library. Twilight and Spike exchanged a perplexed and worried look. When they broke their visual connection and turned back to Zecora, the zebra was gone.

* * * * *

It was past midnight when Twilight awoke to the gentle rapping on the front door. She awakened gradually, spending an indeterminate amount of time in a semi-dream, semi-conscious limbo. The knocking at the door became more urgent. How long had the pony, or whoever it was, been waiting for her? She climbed out of her bed, smiling gently at the baby dragon asleep in his basket at the other side of the room. She paused, feeling a brief moment of guilt for placing as much responsibility as she did on Spike’s shoulders. He was just a baby dragon, no matter how intelligent he was or how grown-up he tried to seem.

The knocking was replaced by a voice, harsh and rough and deep. “Twilight Sparkle!” That didn’t sound like any pony she knew. She made her way to the door, wiping the sleep out of her eyes before opening it. Standing on the other side of the threshold, taking up nearly the entire doorway was none other than Princess Celestia. And she was not happy. The guard who had been knocking and finally shouted for her stood behind the princess, clad in the familiar golden armour. Two additional guards stood vigil over the princess’ chariot parked in the street.

The princess’ horn began to glow dimly as a scroll produced itself from one of the guards. Wrapped in Celestia’s white, magical haze, the scroll unrolled itself and presented its contents to Twilight. The princess scowled. “Do you care to explain the meaning of this, Twilight?”

Twilight gulped and looked to the parchment, beginning to read. It appeared to be part of a security briefing by the RBI agent in charge of the Elements investigation. Her heart sank as she noticed an entire paragraph devoted to her participation in the investigation, or rather, the lack thereof. She tried to feign ignorance. “Um... Explain what, princess?”

Anger flashed in Celestia’s eyes. “You know very well, Twilight. My RBI agent has told me that you have not spoken with them about the Elements in nearly a week. Is this true?”

Twilight gulped. “Y-yes...” she stammered nervously. She avoided her mentor’s eyes.

Celestia stepped inside, followed by the guard behind her. She turned to him, ordered, “Leave us.” The guard nodded, looked to Twilight, and closed the door, giving the princess and her student some privacy. Celestia quickly threw up a magical barrier around the doors and windows and across the stairway, preventing any sound from leaving the library’s main room. Her anger faded quickly, replaced by sorrow. “Twilight...” she started, averting her gaze.

“Princess, let me explain,” began Twilight, desperately hoping her teacher hadn’t discovered her deception of the previous several days.

“Twilight, it’s okay,” the princess said, interrupting her. “I know you haven’t really been investigating the theft of the Elements, and I knew when I replied to you that those documents you requested were meant to help find Nyx.”

Twilight hung her head, ashamed. “I’m sorry, Princess. I really didn’t want to lie to you about the archives.”

Celestia looked at her reassuringly. “You didn’t lie to me, Twilight. I just let it sound like I assumed you meant something else. Although, I suspect your friend Spike had something to do with the idea...” She raised an eyebrow.

Twilight blushed and chuckled nervously, refusing to confirm or deny Spike’s guilt.

“You’ve been through a lot this past week, Twilight,” the princess said, looking at the grossly disorganized library around her. “What you have experienced is something that I would not wish on anypony in Equestria. And I willingly admit,” she continued, her voice beginning to crack, “that I have succeeded only in making this much, much worse for you.” A tear rolled down her cheek, hanging on the bottom side of her muzzle. “For this, I am truly sorry... my faithful student.” Her other eye joined in, expelling a tear of its own. The two combined and dripped off her chin, splashing on the floor between them.

“Princess...” Twilight started. She had so many things to say. Her mind reeled with the possible endings to that sentence. “I...” she stammered.

“Twilight,” Celestia stopped her, “I’m releasing you from the investigation into the Elements theft. I believe the RBI has it under control now, thanks in part to the information you and Spike provided. But I would understand if you did not feel up to the task right now, considering what you’ve been through.” The princess was almost pleading with her, it seemed. Did Celestia want her to help with the investigation or not?

“But, Princess,” Twilight objected, “I can’t just sit here and do nothing, pretend like nothing happened. And my daughter. I have to find her!” The mare was producing her own tears now.

“Twilight, please...” Celestia said.

She had to know. Why did her teacher, her friend, her princess want to keep her from finding the one thing that mattered to her above all else? “Why won’t you let me search for Nyx?”

“Twilight,” the princess said slowly, “I will not prohibit you any longer from trying to find Nyx.”

Twilight’s breath caught. “Wha... really?”

“Yes, Twilight. I won’t stop you, because you are going to stop yourself.” Celestia held her gaze at the floor, unwilling to look her student in the eye.

“Why... Why in Equestria would I stop searching for my daughter?! She’s the reason I get up in the morning, my motivation for trying to make Equestria a better place for everypony!” Her statement surprised even herself. Wow, Twilight thought, I’m really starting to sound like my mother now.

Celestia gasped and looked at Twilight, shock clearly evident on her face through her freely flowing tears. “I...” she was forced to stop as a sob racked her. “I really with you hadn’t said that, Twilight.”

Twilight’s nerves pricked at Celestia’s words. “What do you mean?” She forced a sternness into her voice. “Princess... What’s going on?”

“Wait here for a moment, Twilight,” Celestia managed, doing her best to wipe the evidence of her emotional state from her face. “I’ll be right back.” She turned and opened the front door with her magic, walking through the magical barrier and into the night toward her chariot.

Twilight watched as Celestia pulled something bulky from the chariot and placed it under her wing. She couldn’t quite make out what it was, the combination of distance and darkness working against her eyes. As the princess returned, Twilight could not stop her imagination from conjuring horrible, intensely disturbing images in her mind. They flashed by one after another at lightning fast, subliminal speed. She could feel herself becoming lost in her thoughts, her breath quickening and shallowing, her heart rate increasing. It took all the concentration she could muster to remain in the present, in reality with the princess.

Celestia closed the door behind her with magic and sat in front of her protégé, the parcel from the chariot still hidden securely beneath her wing. She had seemed to steel herself against another emotional breakdown while outside. She was no longer crying; she seemed depressed, morose.

Twilight couldn’t wait. “What could you possible have that would make me stop searching for Nyx?” she asked, no longer caring about formalities between them.

Celestia sighed, her voice flat. “Twilight. You can search for Nyx for the rest of your life, but you won’t... because you won’t find her.”

“What?!” Twilight gasped. She felt her heart skip a beat. “Celestia, what do you know about my daughter’s abduction? You have to tell me!” she demanded.

The alicorn’s steel crumbled, and tears began rolling down her cheeks again, one at a time. “Twilight, Nyx... wasn’t abducted.”

Twilight didn’t accept this. She needed more. “How do you know? Everything I’ve learned points to an abduction by roans from the Southern Equestrian Territories.”

Celestia unfolded her wing and pulled out the parcel with her teeth, showing it to Twilight. The librarian immediately felt sick by what she saw, and she had to resist the sudden urge to purge her stomach. It was taking all her willpower to not embarrass herself in front of her princess. Celestia placed the parcel on the floor between them as Twilight stared at it.

It was a school bag. Or rather, it had been a school bag. The outer pockets had been blown out as if by an explosion inside them, destroying the zippers and buttons in the process. Straps at the bottom where the filly or colt would slip their forelegs to carry the pack on their back were severed at mid-length, burned through and their ragged ends charred black. Then Twilight noticed the top of the bag. In the centre of an area of black fabric was a symbol which had come to mean more to her than any other icon in her life. A small, blue sapphire gleamed, contrasting vividly against the dark background. Twilight immediately recognized it as the gift given by Rarity on a certain filly’s “birthday” the previous year. It was a beautifully carved replica of Nyx’s shield-shaped cutie mark. This was Nyx’s school bag.

Celestia produced one more object, this time levitating it to Twilight directly. Nyx’s glasses. Twilight barely recognized them. The frames were melted into impossible shapes and bore the signs that they had partially boiled. The lenses, which she had enchanted specially to make the filly’s eyes appear normal, were shattered, sharp shards jutting out from the edges of the frames. She dropped them. The broken accessory clattered to the floor, coming to a stop against the school bag. Hanging from a pocket near where the glasses came to rest was a short feather, as black as midnight and with the brilliant opacity of onyx.

Twilight couldn’t breathe, and her world was beginning to spin dizzily. Her stomach threatened to defy her efforts, but she managed to squeak, “Wh-where did you get this? What does this mean?” The items were quickly dissolving into a multicoloured blur, the result of her own tears flowing again. Twilight really didn’t want to hear the answer to her questions. The problem was, she needed to.

“Twilight,” Celestia said after a long pause. Her sobs were becoming so pronounced that she had difficulty enunciating her next words. “Nyx is dead.”

Comments

[T6J2E5]

Aaaaaand Chapter 3 is now up!

This one took much longer to write than I predicted. Some of that was due to health issues last week. The rest was because the chapter turned out to be way longer than I planned. I think it came out all right, though.

The plot thickens...

[Inkblot]

plot thickens indeed. story pacing really good so far. really want next chapter to come sooner

[Gwenio]

Poor Twilight. Things just keep getting worse for her.

[T6J2E5]

283153
I'm glad you're enjoying it. Sorry it takes so long between updates, but I'd really rather spend more time writing something you'll enjoy instead of slapping together a pile of horseapples in a hurry. My hope (that's the key word here) is that I'll update twice per month, or roughly once every two weeks. Beware the Ides of March!

283187
Yeah, I started feeling pretty awful for her, too, while writing this chapter. Don't worry, though. It gets better for her... and worse... kinda...

[Gwenio]

284051

But if better means she has some reason to believe Nyx is alive, then at least she will be enough better to have a reason to live.

[Gwenio]

Is this (kind of) the poster Pinkie had?

fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/078/f/5/pinkie_pie_is_watching_you____by_kefkafloyd-d3by3pd.png

[T6J2E5]

284119
I'm not telling... Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...!

284330
Somepony's read Fallout: Equestria... Yeah, actually, that was a shout-out to Kkat. I won't dissuade you from believing that the poster on Pinkie Pie's wall is that one... but 30 years earlier...

[eeveeextreme]

Yay! Update!
*reads story*
Fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff........................
WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????????????

[T6J2E5]

284554
<insert maniacal laughter here (think the end of Thriller by Michael Jackson)>

Does anypony know of a place like Equestra Daily that has a large brony community? EqD has refused to consider Absent because of its ties to Past Sins. I want more exposure... I'm greedy.

[Jirodyne]

Zecora's Prophecy: "But truly careful you must be, since not every pony speaks truthfully. Let not those trusted your emotions sway, for in the end, they will betray."
Celestia: “Nyx is dead.”

......

Hmmm....

......
......
......

*La Gasp!*
The Princess Lies!
---------
My prediction. Nyx isn't dead, instead she is taken to the Southern Equestria area, which is actually the New Luna Republic! They Worship Nightmare Moon, and need the Elements to make Nyx into Nightmare Moon again! The Princess has to stop Twilight, cause they are holding the Elements, the only things that can banish her and Luna, and/or when she made them independent she made a promise to keep a truse or something and thus can't go against them.

[T6J2E5]

286130
Ooh! Predictions!
It's taking all my willpower right now to refrain from telling you if you're right or wrong...

So what do you think so far, everypony? Good? Bad? Any technical suggestions? This is my first fiction work ever, so I know there has to be room for improvement in a lot of places... I just don't know where.

[Sixpack]

I go with: As long as there is no body the characters death is questionable.

[T6J2E5]

287990
Is that kind of the fanfic version of "pics or it didn't happen?"

[Gwenio]

287990

But what if the body is a fake? Which is something that becomes less difficult to achieve when the body is very baddly burned up. And in this case any tests preformed by authorities to verify may be modified by royal decree.

[Sixpack]

288706
Maybe, it´s more from rules of an evil overlord.

288742
There is no body to talk about as of yet, but I generally have a high doubt level as to wether a character is dead or not, authors quite often keep them alive in some way or form. The time to actually 100% believe them is if they write the character dying, though that doesn´t mean that sucker will actually stay down :)

Need multiquote option..

[Gwenio]

284830

Don't know of a site like that, but you could submit to DeviantART, and then submit it to http://the-nyxian-alliance.deviantart.com/gallery/.

It would be best to put chapters up in PDF format if you do, as I think the word limit for text is 10,000 if you upload as text rather than a file and formating it for submitting would be a pain.

[T6J2E5]

289448
Yeah, I was planning to post it to my dA account once it's finished. That way people can just download a single PDF instead of a bunch of separate chapters.

[T6J2E5]

290558
Comments #6 and 7 on this blog post explain everything I know about the situation.

[Obsidian]

Once again, I am fairly saddened...

Honestly, I think your character portrayal is just off and disingenuous. Twilight's reactions are still far to tame, the entire early part of this chapter was just silly. Is her faith in Celestia, which you've out and out stated had been severely damaged, still so strong as to not rage against Celestia's treatment? That she still turns to her?

And then the shocker, the damaged backpack, if Nyx had been dead, Celestia should have come out and say so, (not that I believe she is for a moment... nevermind Pinkie Sense, it's just too convenient). For all Twilight's supposed to be fairly smart, I almost expect she'll take Celestia at her word on this.

That and cliffhanger? Really? I swear authors are some sort of sadist.

[T6J2E5]

291806
Actually, your reaction is just the type I was kind of hoping for: disbelief. You've picked up on a lot of the subtle plot devices so far. Very good.

There is a reason for Celestia's apparently strange behaviour, given the circumstances as we know them. Also, Twilight is smart, no argument there, but when confronted with maternity, "intelligence" is often discarded in favour of the child in even the smartest individuals. Don't worry, everything will be explained in time.

[Obsidian]

Oh I think I understand some of the subtleties to Celestia's reluctance. You actually may have revealed a bit much with the background behind the southern equestrian territories. She's under political pressure, possibly strategic in nature. Something's a brewing and it involves using Nyx and the Elements of Harmony. Possibly a weapon, possibly for their own god-deity. Possibly something else, and she doesn't want Twilight to get involved.

May well be some sort of geas on Celestia though, cause even she seems pained to do this. I do hope Twilight sees through this ruse with the backpack for what it is, though I can't imagine that conversation being 'pleasant' for Celestia. That is of course, assuming Celestia is informed about all of this and not actually being kept in the dark by shadow powers of her own government... but that may be stretching what I've seen so far.

[T6J2E5]

291928
"You actually may have revealed a bit much with the background behind the southern equestrian territories."
... or did I?

Just a warning, though, you might have to wait a while to find out if you're correct on some of those ideas. At my current rate, this book won't be finished until mid 2013. The plot outline calls for 38 chapters (including a prologue and epilogue, which will be written after the book is complete, since they aren't necessary to the story). I also have notes for a possible interlude (which is also not necessary, but might be written later to add some additional depth). So, 18 more months if I keep producing them at two per month.

[Gwenio]

293161

That is a lot of story.

[T6J2E5]

291806 "... the entire early part of [Chapter 3] was just silly."

This sentence has been eating away at my brain for a while now. What about it makes you think it is a silly scene (I assume you're talking about only the first scene in Luna's chambers)? Is it just because Twilight is still trusting Celestia enough to give her the benefit of the doubt? Previous chapters have mentioned that the relationship between the two is "strained." That's hardly synonymous with "became mortal enemies."

As for the "cliffhanger," there is a little bit of sadist in each of us, I think.

[Obsidian]

346083

Honestly, I don't remember the emotions I had when I read them early on. I still think Twilight's reactions post rage-shift are surreal at best relative to Celestia. Luna expressed more raw emotion towards Celestia's intentional obfuscation than Twilight (again, post rage-shift.. which was awesome).

Sure 'Strained' doesn't mean 'glares of head-explody' but Twilight's already called Celestia out for lying (I think, if memory serves), so why would she turn to her again, let alone trust her? Not with Nyx's life at stake.

[T6J2E5]

346253
Hrm... I'll consider rewriting those relevant scenes when the story's done. I may have left an incorrect impression. Yes, the relationship between Twilight and Celestia is not exactly flowers and sunshine anymore, but Twilight has no real reason to distrust Celestia. Celestia had (that Twilight's aware of) nothing to do with the disappearance of her daughter, but it's revealed that she knows something that she isn't willing to tell Twilight.

Imagine growing up with someone you consider a demigod as your personal mentor and teacher. No matter what happens, your trust in that person is going to be extremely difficult to get away from. Twilight confronted Celestia, but didn't actually outright accuse her of lying, since Celestia never technically lied to her. She's just being (to Twilight's chagrin) dismissive. Also, it wasn't Twilight's idea to contact Celestia the morning after her rage shift. Luna summoned her in a fit of anger.

I hope this helps! Keep your criticism coming. The more I have to think about mistakes or holes I might have left, the better this will be when it's all done. This is my first foray into fiction writing, so I'm kinda learning as I go.

[T6J2E5]

Just as a reminder, everypony! Chapter progress notes are available in my blog. In case you're interested.

[vren55]

You build suspense and suspicion up like a baus. Somehow you make us think Nyx MIGHT be alive (I do hope she is or else I would ), when you presented some evidence she might be dead. I'm getting the chills and the jeepers.

I do have one criticism though, that is you make Twilight-Celestia's relationship much more strained than it was at the end of Past sins. Maybe it's just me, but I found that Celestia and Twilight were getting along pretty well at the end of Past Sins.

[Comma-Kazie]

This twist would have had so much more impact if you hadn't given it away in the description.

[Kit-San]

sSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh*************************************************************************************t

[brony323]

I think im going to be sick

[Green Star]

3018834 your not the only one