“Welp, Ah’m sorry Twilight, but it looks like Rainbow Dash isn’t on the farm.”
“That’s ok Big Macintosh,” Twilight sighed, “It was a bit of a long shot anyway.” It was now well into the afternoon and Twilight was close to bone tired. While searching for the missing cyan pegasus, she’d also been roped in to helping the Apples, and the ever-eager Cutie Mark Crusaders, dig drainage ditches around the property to deal with the unexpectedly large amount of rain, something Applejack wasn’t too happy about.
“Hey Twi,” the farm mare said as the unicorn prepared to leave, “When ya find Rainbow, tell her I don’t want ta see her round here unless she’s got a good excuse fer shirking on clean-up today.”
“I’ll do that,” Twilight said dryly, “Good luck with everything.”
“Thanks,” AJ said, “We’ll be needing it.”
Twilight left the farm and started making her way toward the library, intent on a warm bath to wash out the mud and the aches. Along the way she kept an eye and ear on the state of the town and its populous. By this point the weather patrol had managed to clear the skies and the summer sun was drying up the mud. The ponies had bounced back quickly from the Twisted Desire and business was starting to get back into its normal rhythms, but in the conversations Twilight passed there was an undertone of fear and trepidation that something else would befall the town soon. Rainbow Dash’s mysterious absence was a hot topic as well, considered by some of the more paranoid as an ill omen. Twilight made a few inquiries as she walked and failed to find any clues to her flying friend’s location. In fact, nopony could remember seeing Rainbow Dash since she had retired to her home after starting last night’s storm. Pinkie Pie was nowhere to be seen either, even though Twilight was sure she’d have finished looking around Fluttershy’s and have canvassed half the town by now.
As she passed through the center of town, Twilight saw Rarity emerge from the spa looking noticeably un-relaxed and trotted over to her. “Oh, Twilight darling,” Rarity said as the lavender unicorn approached, “You haven’t seen Fluttershy by chance have you? Today was our spa day and she never showed up. She’s never late, and if she has to cancel she always remembers to send word or even comes by to apologize in person.”
“First Rainbow Dash and now Fluttershy?” Twilight exclaimed, “What’s going on? There can’t be any kind of pegasus event going on or there’d be a lot fewer in the air and around town right now. I’ve lost track of Pinkie too, but you can never be too sure with her in the first place…”
“This sounds like a matter of utmost urgency,” Rarity said, “You must get to the bottom of this Twilight. Who knows? This may be something that dratted Discord is orchestrating in his bid to escape again.”
“You’re not the only pony thinking that way,” Twilight said, “I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but we might want to put the Princesses on alert.”
“Or the Order-naries,” Rarity suggested, “They do have experience in tracking-” She was interrupted by the slap of clawed feet on the muddy road as Spike came sprinting toward them holding a scroll in his hand and calling Twilight’s name in between gasps for breath. “Oh dear, now what?” Rarity asked in concern as the baby dragon reached them and nearly collapsed in exhaustion.
“Urgent,” he gasped, “Order-naries… missing.”
“What?” Twilight exclaimed, taking the scroll in her magic while Rarity gave Spike a leg to lean against as he panted. “Twilight,” the lavender unicorn read, “Would you happen to know the location of Soul Mage and Gold Heart, as well as Ashen Blaze and Gale? Soul and Heart failed to report in for duty today, and a search of their usual haunts has come up empty. From the letter you sent to Princess Celestia yesterday, I was under the impression that the Order-naries would be back in Canterlot today. Has something else come up? Signed your BBBFF, Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard.”
“But we saw Ash teleporting them away last night,” Rarity said, confused.
“I know,” Twilight said, frowning, “If this is a coincidence, then I’m a mule.” She glanced around quickly to see if Ponyville’s resident mild-manner mule was in earshot. He wasn’t, so she picked her train of thought back up. “Spike,” she said, “head back home and send a message to Canterlot. Tell the Princesses and my brother that the Order-naries aren’t in town and that we’re missing a couple other ponies.”
“Sure thing Twi,” Spike wheezed, giving her a thumbs-up, “Just as soon as I stop hyperventilating.”
“Poor dear,” Rarity said, levitating the little dragon, removing the mud from his feet, and then setting him onto her back, “Let me take you to the boutique and I’ll find you a nice sapphire and some water while you write the letter, ok?”
“Thanks Rarity,” Spike said, getting a dreamy look in his eyes, “You’re the best.” Rarity chuckled demurely.
“I think I’ll go check out Fluttershy’s place,” Twilight said, “Pinkie was supposed to go there and I haven’t seen her since. Meet me back at the library when you’re done.” Spike and Rarity both nodded and then set off. Twilight went off another way, headed for Fluttershy’s cottage.
Despite the great urgency and worry she felt, Twilight kept herself to a slow trot as she reached the road to Fluttershy’s, wanting to conserve as much energy as possible in case there was trouble. As soon as she had a clear view of the cottage in the distance, however, she spun around and began galloping back into town at full speed, having suddenly remembered something vitally important she needed to attend to. She made it about twenty yards before coming to a stop, her eyes crossed and narrowed in confusion. “What am I doing?” she asked aloud, “My friends are missing and Fluttershy’s house is the closest thing I have to a clue! Nothing could be more important!” Suspicious, she turned back around and trotted toward the cottage. Once she had a clear view of it again, she found herself galloping away with a sense of urgency. Her hooves dug furrows into the road as she stopped herself ten yards away and turned to glare down the road. “Ok, that settles it,” she said, “Something weird is definitely going on.” She activated her magic and began casting a simple detection spell as she cautiously walked toward Fluttershy’s cottage again. As the house came into view, the spell reacted, causing a faint shimmering wall to appear across the road and extending to either side in a curve that would eventually encircle Fluttershy’s cottage if it continued. Twilight stuck a hoof through the shimmer and felt a sudden, almost irresistible urge to turn away. She pulled her hoof back and the feeling faded away gradually. “It’s some kind of diversion spell,” she mused, “Something doesn’t want anypony getting near Fluttershy’s. Well, I won’t be stopped.” Concentrating hard, she built a bubble of magic around herself and charged forward, but the moment she hit the perimeter of the diversion spell it bypassed her defenses and forced her away, this time to a distance of about twenty-five yards. “Ok,” Twilight said, letting her force-field drop, “Whoever set that up is a particularly good magic user, but there’s a counter for everything. I just need to find it.” She turned away from the house of her own will and galloped off toward the library, repeating in her mind a vow to find Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie no matter what.
Twilight, Spike, and Rarity made it to the library at almost the same time, and the young dragon was looking worlds better. “The letter’s away,” he reported with a salute as Twilight let them inside, “Still waiting for a response.”
“Did you find anything at Fluttershy’s?” Rarity asked, not looking too hopeful since Twilight had arrived alone.
“I couldn’t get close enough,” Twilight said, already scanning the bookshelves, “Spike, help me find everything we have on distraction and diversion spells and how to bypass them. There’s a big one making it impossible to get within a hundred lengths of Fluttershy’s house. If you try it sends you running away thinking you’re late for an appointment or something drastic.”
“Right,” Spike said, jogging into the back room to look. Twilight began plucking books out seemingly at random and stacking them up by the central table.
“My goodness,” Rarity said, taken aback somewhat, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a diversion spell that gets bigger than a few rooms or a small hall, and those have to set into crystals so they’ll stay up without supervision.”
“Really?” Twilight asked, curious, “The only thing I’ve ever seen a diversion spell used for is temporary privacy in school dorms or a colt’s ‘no fillies allowed’ clubhouse…”
“Yes, well Canterlot’s not exactly known for its high crime rate,” Rarity replied coyly, “It’s a different story in the… seedier parts of big cities like Manehatten.”
“What would a lady like you be doing in in places like that?” Spike asked as he waddled out of the back room with a tall stack of books balanced in his arms.
“I never said anything of the like Spike,” Rarity said indignantly. She levitated the top book off his load and opened it up, pointedly holding it in front of her face to hide it from him. “Now what are we looking for Twilight?” she asked.
“I’m trying to see if there’s a spell written down that matches what I ran into,” the librarian answered, “if not I’ll have to find the closest match and try to adapt a counter-spell to it. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to by the way, if you had something else you needed to do today.”
“Nonsense,” Rarity said, “I insist on doing everything in my power to help. The sooner you can get us past that security spell, the sooner we find out what’s happened to our friends. Now… what did that spell do again?”
Through the remainder of the day and into the night Twilight poured through book after book, noting down possible leads and scratching them out later upon finding something that seemed more likely. She hardly noticed when Rarity stepped out and returned with dinner from Sugar Cube Corner, although the news she brought that neither the Cakes nor Maggie Pie had seen Pinkie all day spurred Twilight to greater fervor. As evening approached, Rarity finally convinced herself that she had to go home and leave Twilight in the care of Spike and Owloysius, who was beginning to wake up for the night. The lavender unicorn was too caught up in preparing an experimental spell to even notice.
Having failed to find an exact match for the diversion spell around Fluttershy’s cottage, Twilight settled on one that was close: a spell that convinced those who drew too close that there was nothing of interest beyond it, but also gave a headache to anyone who was too persistent. The only counter-spells Twilight could locate depended on being able to see and magically touch the source of the spell, which was out of the question for the current situation. With no other recourse available, Twilight began experimenting with magic shielding that could block a diversion spell’s mental effects. Borrowing a diamond from Spike’s stash of treats, she set a diversion into it to serve as the target and wrapped the shielding around herself. She soon fell into a cycle of studying and modifying spell formulae, casting them, and failing to get through the diversion spell. Around ten o’clock, she was nursing a terrible headache and a sour temper and Spike and Owloysius began conspiring to get her to stop. After the owl flew off with the spellbook she’d been consulting for the third time, Twilight finally got the message. “Ok, ok, I’ll take a break,” she said, dispelling the diversion spell properly and walking away from the work area, “but only for a few minutes, ok?” She sat down at the table, took an aspirin thoughtfully provided by Spike, and then laid her head on the table and despite her intentions fell asleep.
She was startled into wakefulness a couple hours later by a loud and faintly familiar cracking bang sound. Snapping her head up out of the puddle of drool that had formed on the table, she ran to the nearest window and looked outside. “There aren’t any clouds,” she said to Owloysius, who had fluttered over to join her, “So that wasn’t thunder. It sounded awfully familiar though. But where…” The sound came again, echoing through the town and triggering Twilight’s memory. “That’s the sound from when the Order-naries fell out of the sky!” she exclaimed, running for the door, “They landed in Fluttershy’s yard. This can’t be a coincidence. Owloysius, let Spike know I’ve gone to investigate.”
“Hoo,” the owl responded.
Flecks of purple tinted Ash’s green eyes as he levitated the limp and despondent form of Pinkie Pie into the blue-rimmed rift. It was almost disappointing having to cast her into it after all the fun he’d had, but as always pragmatism had won out. He couldn’t risk her rallying her spirit all of a sudden and making a surprise escape, and he had more important things to do anyway. There had been enough close calls already and he had to stay on his guard. As the dimensional rift slammed shut, he returned to the cottage he’d appropriated – long since cleared of anything small and rodent-like or avian – and sat down in the center of the den to meditate and plan. Things were progressing faster than he had expected; the Order-naries and half of the Elements of Harmony had already been dealt with in less than twenty-four hours, and considering Pinkie’s dramatic entrance it was almost certain the disappearances had been noticed by those that remained. He’d put up a large perimeter spell to keep ponies away so that he could focus on the pink one, and it had been put to the test repeatedly in a short period of time earlier. Applejack’s stubborn enough to try and brute-force her way through, he mused to himself, although I can’t discount- His thoughts stopped as he felt the diversion spell react again and he went to the window and cast out to try and sense the identity of the attempted intruder. He felt intense magical power and sensations of lavender and magenta. Twilight Sparkle. She can’t be trying to unweave the spell, can she? Eh, might as well let her wear herself out on it; fighting her is not going to be fun in any case. He decided to wait an hour or two before letting her pass and sat down to meditate again. Half an hour later, he felt the diversion spell collapse from an outside force. “Oh, she’s good.”
Twilight’s glee at defeating the diversion spell faded quickly, replaced by worry as she neared Fluttershy’s cottage and whatever was hiding inside. The gaping hole in the wall and roof around the bedroom gave the cottage a significant foreboding aura as it was, but the utter stillness in the yard and apparent lack of light in the windows only made things worse. She entered the yard and stopped as a mist rose up and the darkness-wrapped figure of an alicorn emerged near the house. For half a second Twilight thought it was Nightmare Moon, until she realized that not only was he a stallion but he wasn’t much bigger than she was, and his eyes were glowing solid orange orbs, lacking even pupils. The two stared at each other for a second, and then he spoke, “Hello Twilight Sparkle. Forgive me if we skip past the part where you wonder who I am and I toy around until you figure it out. I’ve grown tired of that game.” The shadows pulled away from him slightly to reveal a wild mane of fiery red and orange. “You know me as Ashen Blaze,” he said, his eyes starting to turn blue as Twilight stared in open-mouthed shock, “and I’ve been busy removing the Elements of Harmony because the world is about to undergo a change and I don’t want anything in my way.”
“Y-you mean Discord,” Twilight stammered, “He’s using you again, trying to pave the way for his escape.”
“Discord? Pah,” Ash scoffed, eyes turning red, “That joke of a spirit couldn’t plan his way out of a paper bag if it took more than three steps. No, he may have tried but he got more than he bargained for, and now I’m free.” He smiled wickedly and took a few steps toward Twilight. “I almost wish you’d brought your Element tiara,” he said, “I’ve been throwing the ponies into the void, but I’m curious what would happen if I were to throw in one of the jewels. I’d have tried with Fluttershy’s necklace, but I’ve searched every nook, cranny, and rat-hole in this cottage and just couldn’t find it.”
“What did you do to my friends?” Twilight asked with a dangerous look in her eyes.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Ash replied, nonchalant, “Make it easy on yourself and just give up. Powerful as you are, you’re nothing without your friends.”
“They may not be here in the flesh,” Twilight said, focusing her magic, “but our bond is always there.” She unleashed a powerful burst of magic that pushed Ash back against the wall of the cottage and dispersed the mist around the both of them. Ash’s shadow cloak burned away under the onslaught, and his wings disintegrated. His eyes turned yellow but otherwise remained unchanged. He began to slump to the ground as the blast ended, but Twilight galloped up and caught him, holding him against the wall as she glared daggers at him. “You better have a way to bring Fluttershy and the others back when I’m done with this,” she snarled, and then touched her horn to his and cast the memory spell that had always undone Discord’s influence before. She began to delve into the ash-grey unicorn’s mind, looking for the happy memories she was certain were there just under the surface. All she found, however, was darkness, images of strangely colored stars and monsters, and finally a terrible rage that pushed against the spell and forced Twilight out and tumbling head-over-tail away from Ash.
“Foolish little girl,” he snarled, eyes blazing red, “I am the Indomitable; nothing enters my mind without my will. Nothing controls me any more, not even delusions of guilt. I am the Meis Thamule, the greatest mage there ever was, and I will prove it.” He levitated Twilight off the ground, pressing a force against her neck to choke off her air, and with a gesture of his hoof tore open the rip in reality above the chicken coop. “I’m also rather annoyed that you destroyed my wings,” he said, “Do you realize how much work it took to make those?” He flung her up and into the rip, releasing his telekinetic grip on her throat long enough for her to scream once before being swallowed up and the hole slammed shut. “Two left,” the grey unicorn said, raising his eyes to the distant mountain range and the city built into its side.