//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Song of the Foals // by dshadow14 //------------------------------// “I didn’t know somepony could move that fast without wings.” mumbled Mystic Night as he sipped from a cup of cocoa. “Don’t think about it too hard,” said Twilight, “Trust me, I speak from experience when I say it’s safer to just accept it.” “If I’m not mistakin’; she said ya had new info, Sugarcube?” asked Applejack. Reminded of why he was brought here in the first place, Mystic set down his cocoa and used his magic to take a notebook out of his saddlebag. “Right,” he said, “I was wondering if any of the parents may have left out some detail that they didn’t think was important at the time, so I questioned them again to make sure. As it turns out, the day they disappeared, most of the foals told their parents about seeing strange animals at the edge of the forest.” “Strange how?” asked Rainbow Dash Mystic cleared his throat before continuing, “The way they acted. The foals described the animals, usually small creatures like rabbits and squirrels, as just standing at the edge of the forest still as a statue and all the while just staring at them.” “Whoa, sounds creepy.” said Spike with a small shiver. “My thoughts exactly, but as if that wasn’t enough, one of the foals claimed that he saw a monkey. And Just like the rabbits and squirrels, it just stood at the edge of the forest, staring at him.” “That can’t be right,” said Fluttershy “Monkeys don’t live anywhere near this part of Equestria.” “Convenient!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie, “So obviously these suspicious animals are somehow connected to the disappearing foals, and if we figure out HOW they’re connected, that will bring us one step closer to finding said missing foals.” With a nod, Mystic closed his notebook and put it back in in his saddlebag. “Well, that’s about all I have. So, if you don’t need anything else, I won’t intrude on your lunch any longer.” “Oh, darling, you’re not intruding.” said Rarity, “You could stay for a bit if you wanted. Plus, your input would be more than welcome whilst we plan how to handle this situation.” “Oh, I’m not so sure you’d really need MY input. Besides, I still need to get this information to Princess Luna.” “No need,” said Twilight as she handed a scroll to Spike, who sent it with his magic fire, “I wrote it down and sent it to her already.” The stallion was about to protest further, but was interrupted by the loud growling of his stomach. ‘Great, my own body’s betraying me.’ he thought to himself. “Well, I suppose I could stay long enough to have something to eat.” he relented, “I’ll try not to be an inconvenience.” “There’ll be no more of that kind of talk,” said Rarity firmly, hovering a hoof in front of the unicorn’s face, “The Princess appears to have faith in you, and we do as well.” Mystic thought about that as he trotted over to the counter to order his food. Did Princess Luna really have faith in him? He supposed it made sense. The locals already suspected something magical was behind the situation before he and Luna had arrived, that was the main reason he was brought along. Mystic’s primary magical study centered around mysterious and lesser known forms of magic. He couldn’t help but question the Princesses’ decision recently. It’s true he did manage to gather some information to get the search for the foals started, but it was nothing that any detective couldn’t have figured out. He only had a basic idea of what magic was at work here; very likely some kind of lure spell, and either portals or illusions could be why the Lunar Guards missed the two fillies from last night. And yet, everypony had faith in him, what did he do to deserve it? Mystic was interrupted from his thoughts by a somepony knocking a hoof against his head. “Hey, you still with us?” asked Rainbow Dash. Mystic wasn’t sure when he got back to the table, but evidently he’d been there long enough to gain some concerned stares for just staring at the sandwich he ordered. “Oh, sorry.” said Mystic with a hint of nervousness, “Did I miss something important?” “We were just discussing whether or not we should organize another search party into the forest.” explained Twilight “On the one hoof, everything we know so far seems to point to the forest.” said Applejack, “On the other hoof, most of the town already combed the place and turned up nothin’, it might just end up bein’ a waste of time.” Mystic tapped his hoof on the table as he thought, obviously there was more magic at work in the Destrier Forest, where else could the foals have gone? But if they didn’t know what they we’re looking for, they were very likely to miss it. “AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!” A blood-curdling scream filled the air, catching the attention the entire town. Everypony immediately dropped what they were doing and galloped toward the source of the scream, at the edge of the Destrier Forest. By the time Twilight’s group had made it to the scene, there was already quite the crowd gathered. They made their way through, trying to see what had warranted such an uproar. The police were trying to keep the townsponies from advancing, but they let Twilight and her friends pass without hesitation. The group was stunned by the scene before them, just at the edge of the trees was Princess Luna next to a stunned mare who was trying to catch her breath, obviously she had been the one who screamed. In the dark princess's hooves was a weak looking, unconscious unicorn filly with a white coat and a yellow mane. Princess Luna looked toward Twilight’s group with a concerned look. One of the foals had returned, but it was far from a happy moment.