Spectacular Seven

by Albi


13. Disappeared

Twilight’s eyes opened, halting the dream. It hadn’t been like most nights, where she would gently rouse from her slumber, fading in and out of neverland. No, the dream had simply cut off and she had been shoved back into the waking world. She raised herself into a sitting position, gently nudging a sleeping Spike to the side. Her eyes made out the familiar blurry blobs of her room. She groped for her glasses resting on her bedside desk and slipped them on, turning the blobs into vague outlines. Still, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She hadn’t had a nightmare. There was no elevated heart rate, no irregular breathing. Only a pit gnawing within her. Not in her stomach, no. It ate at her on a deeper level. At her soul.

It was the foreboding sense that came when one knew something bad was about to happen. Something primal and instinctual, like gazelles knowing to run right before the lions came.

She checked her alarm clock. 12:37 A.M. She had been asleep for only two hours. As she looked about the room again, the outlines began to define themselves, and Twilight could make out the details in her bedroom. Her closet door was closed, as it always was when she went to bed. Her dresser was neatly organized, everything was in place on her desk. Twilight couldn’t identify the reason she had been rudely aroused from her sleep, or why she felt so tense.

Sunset.

Twilight blinked. While she wouldn’t outright dismiss the idea that her awakening had something to do with Sunset, it seemed redundant, since Sunset usually occupied a majority of Twilight’s thoughts regardless. Especially now, after the way they had parted earlier.

Still, Twilight’s brain honed in on Sunset, and her sense of foreboding rose, along with her pulse. Sunset was in trouble. But how could Twilight know that? More importantly, how could she prove it without looking paranoid? The last time she had called Sunset in the early morning was to make sure their dance and kiss at the Winter Ball hadn’t been a dream. Twilight had bugged her four times before finally believing it enough to sleep. If she bugged Sunset in a similar fashion, she was sure it would only irritate her. And she was already on edge.

Still, her heart had not settled, and she had developed a tight knot in her stomach that made her queasy. Bad auguries to be sure. Maybe just one call to be safe? Sunset might even see it as a sweet gesture. Or she’d be more annoyed and snippy. Twilight was willing to risk that if it meant peace of mind.

She picked up her cell phone, which buzzed in her hand, startling her. She fumbled with it, having it bounce between her hands before she got a solid grip.

“Hello?” she whispered. Spike raised his head, now as awake as she was.

“Hello, Twilight Sparkle,” Trixie said. Twilight already knew something was wrong. Her voice was missing its usual haughtiness, fake or otherwise. “Trixie apologizes if she’s woken you up, but… is Sunset with you?”

Twilight’s heart hammered faster. Stay calm, stay calm, this doesn’t mean anything yet. “N-no, she isn’t. She went home hours ago.”

“O-oh.” Silence. “W-well, she isn’t here so I figured… but she’s not answering her phone...”

“Okay. Umm…” Twilight bit hard against her lip, and her hands began to shake. “Don’t panic. I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation for this. Let me call the others and I’ll get back to you.”

“Okay, talk to you soon.” The line clicked off, leaving Twilight’s quick breathing to fill the silence.

Spike climbed into her lap and pawed at her, trying to get up and lick her face. Twilight absentmindedly petted him, still staring at her phone. There was a disconnect between her thoughts and actions. Her fingers searched through her contacts to find Sunset’s number, while her mind played out hundreds of scenarios, positive and negative, in seconds.

Don’t panic! The thought did nothing to calm her turbulent mind. She pressed her phone to her ear, listening to the dial tone once, twice, three times... four times... five times...

“Hello, this is Sunset—”

“Sunset!” Twilight cried, scaring Spike off her lap. “I—”

“—sorry I can’t answer the phone right now. Leave a message, and if it’s important, I’ll get back to you. If you’re Pinkie, please keep it under a minute.”

The line beeped, prompting Twilight to say something, but she remained silent. She slowly lowered her arm and disconnected the call.

Don’t panic… But the knot in Twilight’s stomach had multiplied and grown needles. Even if she wanted to, she wasn’t sure if she could throw up now. Okay, who else is up this late that she could be with? Her fingers dialed in Rainbow’s number.

It rang twice before Rainbow picked up the line. “Hey, Twi. Isn’t it past your bedtime?”

“Rainbow, is Sunset with you?”

The joviality in Rainbow’s voice died. “No. But like, I was just thinking about her, and this is gonna sound weird, but I got… scared. Like… I dunno, like—”

“Something’s wrong?” Twilight finished.

“Yeah. I’m guessing she’s not at home, is she?”

“No,” Twilight said, fighting to keep her voice level, “no, she isn’t. We hung out today, but she left a long time ago. And Trixie called and said she hasn’t come back home yet.”

Rainbow swore. “Okay, let me call Applejack and Fluttershy, you call Rarity—”

A sharp ringing interrupted them. Twilight looked at her phone. “It’s Pinkie. I think she’s trying to make a group call.”

“This can’t be good,” Rainbow said. Sure enough, as Twilight accepted the invitation, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy were added.

“Well,” Rarity said, “judging by the conversation I had with Pinkie, am I correct in assuming you’ve all had a bad premonition about Sunset?”

There was a grim murmur of agreement before Pinkie spoke. “My Pinkie Sense has been going crazy, and not in the good way! My heart’s been beating super hard, and my tummy’s been upset!” she said with a distressed whine. “It’s a really bad doozy, and I want it to stop!”

Fluttershy spoke next, sounding like she had just finished crying. “I h-had a terrible dream. Sunset was s-screaming in agony, asking us to help, b-but I couldn’t reach her. Then… she disappeared.”

Twilight’s free hand gripped her blanket hard. “She left just before sundown, but Trixie says she hasn’t come home.” Her voice cracked and remained at a higher pitch. “She wouldn’t just go off somewhere without telling one of us.”

Without telling me…

Applejack spoke, “And with all of us feelin’ the same thing? This can’t be a coincidence. There must be some friendship magic at work. Sunset’s in trouble!”

“So what do we do?” Fluttershy asked.

“We get out there and we look for her,” Rainbow said firmly.

“Agreed,” Twilight said, regaining a surprising amount of vigor in her voice. “Canterlot Park serves as a central location for most of us. Let’s meet there.”

There were no complaints about it being late, no suggestions to wait until morning, just determined agreements and promises to be there posthaste. Twilight hung up the phone and jumped out of bed, getting dressed in record time while Spike watched curiously from her pillow. Twilight paused in her haste and looked at him. Spike was no bloodhound but maybe he could help, at least emotionally. She patted her leg, giving him the sign to follow along.

Spike gave a happy yip as he hopped down, then rubbed himself against Twilight’s leg while she tried to put his leash on. “You’re going to have to be quiet, Spike. We can’t wake anyone else up.” She grabbed a flashlight from beneath her bed and scooped Spike up in her other arm.

Twilight gently pushed her door open, cringing as it creaked. She squeezed through and tiptoed downstairs, nearly tripping on the last step. The rest of the house was dark and quiet, punctuated by the absence of Shining’s snoring.

Twilight slipped on her shoes and jacket and stepped outside, closing the door as softly as she could. She let Spike down, and started a brisk jog toward the park.

Numerous scenarios popped through Twilight’s head again. Sunset had been in one of her moods. Did this have something to do with it? Or what if she had been kidnapped? Had the Sirens returned to extract some kind of revenge?

“Too many variables, not enough constants.”

Her stomach squirmed. Frankly, she didn’t care who did what, as long as Sunset was okay. Twilight had to hold onto the belief that everything would be fine. Anything else just made her heart ache.

*******

Twilight was second to arrive at the park. Pinkie was waiting at the top of the hill, under the tree they had gathered around to watch the stars on New Year’s Eve. The leaves were returning, and small flower buds were starting to sprout. It might have lifted Twilight’s spirits had she seen it in the daytime.

Instead, the colors were lost in the darkness, leaving just the outlines. The frown on Pinkie’s face, however, was clear as day. As Twilight got closer, she could see Pinkie twitching and fidgeting. She didn’t greet Twilight with her usual bubbly demeanor, just a pained smile. Twilight’s own smile took a lot of effort to put on.

Rainbow arrived next, panting and resting her hands on her knees when she got to the top of the hill. “Sorry I’m late. It took me forever to find a flashlight.”

Rarity came next, then Fluttershy, eyes red and puffy, followed by Applejack. Six flashlights lit up the dark, gathered at the base of the tree.

“Okay,” Rainbow said, “where do we go from here?”

“I’m not sure,” Twilight admitted. “ In all likelihood, Sunset would have crossed through the park to get home. I thought here might be a good place to look for clues.”

Pinkie nodded, still shaking. “My Pinkie Sense is still going off. I think something happened here.”

“It’s better than nothing,” Applejack said, starting down the hill. “Fan out and search for anything suspicious.”

The girls compiled without another word. Twilight stepped carefully, slowly drawing her flashlight back and forth across the grass while Spike sniffed around. She pulled her phone from her pocket every minute to see if Sunset had called her, spirits sinking every time.

Canterlot Park was large, consisting of three separate fields, a hill, a small garden, a gazebo, a playground, and a stream that led into a small pond. Twilight wandered down to the stream, crossing the bridge where she had encountered Sunset for the third time. It was at the meeting Sunset told her of the existence of another world where magic dictated the laws reason. Twilight hadn’t wanted to believe her, but Sunset said it with so much conviction, Twilight had to wonder.

She looked over the bridge, shining her light into the water. It’s not very deep. She couldn’t have fallen in, could she? Twilight walked around to the banks, wanting to make sure no stone was left unturned. She followed the stream up and down, waving her light across the pond. She found a few annoyed ducks, but no Sunset.

Come on, Sunnykins, where are you? Twilight pulled her phone out once more. Still nothing. It was getting close to two in the morning. Twilight felt a tug of exhaustion, but her fear and adrenaline overrode it. She backtracked to the field in front of the hill, her friends slowly making their way as well.

“This is hopeless,” Rainbow said, sounding more defeated than frustrated. “Even in the daytime, I doubt we’d find anything useful.”

“She might have a point,” Rarity said. “We need a different approach.”

Ruff!” Spike pressed his nose against the stone path, sniffing intently.

Twilight knelt beside him. “What is it, boy?”

Spike barked again and waddled toward a nearby bench, his tail wagging. He looked around intently, barked a third time, then looked back at Twilight.

“I think… he’s trying to tell us Sunset was here.”

“Ah know pets are smart, but he’s not that smart, is he?” Applejack asked.

“You’d be surprised,” Twilight said with a smile. “Spike, can you find Sunset?”

Spike pressed his nose to the ground again, tail wagging. He followed the path, zigzagging back and forth. Eventually, he came to a stop, sniffed the air, then let out a short whimper.

Applejack frowned. “What’s that mean?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he can’t find her anymore.” Twilight sighed. “It was worth a shot.”

Rarity cast another look around. “I don’t want to be a pessimist, but… this is becoming very serious. She’s not at home, she hasn’t talked to any of us since school ended.”

Fluttershy wrung her hands. “She has seemed a little sadder than usual. You don’t think she ran away, do you?”

“Out of all the possibilities, Ah hope that’s the case.” Applejack looked out to the distance. “Only questions is, why?”

Pinkie, who had been jittery and twitchy the entire time, finally fell still and collapsed onto her bottom. She let out a sigh of relief. “Bad feeling is finally gone. Maybe that means Sunset is okay!”

Twilight jumped to her phone and hit Sunset’s number. Instead of ringing, it went straight to voicemail. Twilight’s grip tightened into a vice and she had half a mind to throw the phone as hard as she could.

“Nothing,” she said, tears stinging her eyes. “She’s still not answering.”

Fluttershy sat down next to Pinkie, and pulled her legs to her chest. “What do we do now?”

Applejack pointed her flashlight west. “We should probably go tell Trixie and her folks that we ain’t found nothin’. They can call the police and get some official help.”

Twilight smacked a palm against her head. “Of course! Artemis must have some sort of locator spell! He has magic! Let’s go ask him for help!” She took off for the Lulamoon house, only slowing down when a cramp formed in her side.

“Slow down, Twi,” Applejack said, easily keeping pace with her. “If he did, don’t you think Trixie would have asked him about it first?”

“Maybe it didn’t cross her mind,” Twilight half-shouted, half-panted. The girls all followed her through the park and down the streets, coming to the light blue house with the tower sticking off the side. Twilight rang the doorbell and only had to wait three seconds before Trixie pulled it open.

“What are you all doing here?” she asked. Twilight saw she was still dressed in her day clothes.

“We went out to look for Sunset but couldn’t anything,” Twilight said. “Then we thought your dad might know a spell that could help find her.”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Yes, he knows a spell. It’s called ‘calling the police.’”

“What do you mean?”

Artemis appeared behind her, also dressed in his usual suit and cape. “She means magic isn’t a cure-all for everything,” he said, lacking his usual joviality and flair. He waved his hand. “Come on in, all of you. The police should be here any minute.”

The girls filed in, moving through the living room toward the kitchen. Twilight’s eyes glanced over the numerous pictures lining the walls, spotting a few with Moondancer in them. Twilight knew Moondancer’s family was a touchy subject, but the fact that her relation to Trixie had never come up before still struck Twilight as a little odd. Why hadn’t Moondancer recommended Twilight interact with Trixie when she moved to Canterlot High? In the four years Twilight had known Moondancer, why had it taken this long to meet family so close to her?

Twilight pushed the questions away as they entered the kitchen, finding Selena pacing back and forth. She tried to smile at them, but like everyone else, it came out pained.

“So if you called the police, I’m guessing that means there isn’t some magic locator spell?” Rainbow asked.

Artemis leaned against the island table. “There are tracking spells, as in, had I placed one on her before she left, I could find her. And there are scrying spells which I could use to communicate with her, but they both require us to be next to pools of water. So, not very helpful. But no, there are no spells that just tell me where someone is at any given time. If she used magic, I could find her, but… there’s been nothing.”

“So the police really are our best bet,” Applejack said.

“For now, yes.” Artemis straightened up and smiled, putting some color back in his cheeks. “But, I’m confident Sunset is fine, wherever she is.”

The remaining Spectacular Seven shared an uneasy gaze with one another. They appreciated Artemis’ optimism, but Twilight had a feeling he didn’t have the same foreboding knot in his stomach like she did.

The doorbell rang again and Selena rushed to answer it, followed close behind by everyone else. Twilight knew Shining was sleeping at Cadence apartment tonight, and wasn’t surprised to see another officer instead of him. She recognized him as one of Shining’s friends, Gaffer.

He looked at the present company packing the room. “All right, I can already tell this is serious.” He gave a small wave to Twilight. “So, let’s get straight to business.” He pulled out a notepad and pencil.

Twilight spoke up before anyone else could. “Her name is Sunset Shimmer. She went home with me after school today, and left between 6:30 and 7:00. She… she said she’d see me later, but…”

Trixie picked up where Twilight faded out. “She never came home. She hasn’t called or texted any of us. It’s not like her.”

“She always picks up when I call her,” Twilight said, finding her voice again, albeit frail. “Now, it doesn’t even ring, it just goes straight to voicemail.”

Gaffer nodded solemnly. “Did she say she was going home? Maybe left any hints of going somewhere else?”

Twilight hesitated. “Well… I guess she never directly said… but it was strongly implied. She said she was looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.”

Gaffer nodded again. “And did she show any unusual behaviors recently?”

“She was a little distant this week,” Fluttershy said. “She didn’t speak a lot and she looked lost in thought.”

The others turned their heads to Twilight. She bit her lip before speaking. “She was kind of… tense… and snippy before she left. We didn’t… we didn’t fight, but she was in one of her moods. I… I don’t think she was annoyed enough to run away, but… something has been bothering her.”

“We tried to search Canterlot Park for clues,” Pinkie said, “and we think Spike might have picked up her scent, but… we couldn’t find anything else.”

“All right.” Gaffer closed the notebook. “I’ll need a recent photo of her and a list of places she frequently visits.”

Artemis snapped his fingers and a photo appeared in between them. “Here, this should suffice.”

Gaffer took it with a look of astonishment. “Uh, thanks.” He pocketed the picture and the short list Selena wrote up. “We’ll start a search at first light and put up flyers. Keep your phones charged and close by at all times. We’ll keep you updated as well as we can. If you can think of any other information, give us a call.” He tipped his hat and made his exit.

As soon as he left, Selena stomped her foot against the carpet. “Call it a gut feeling, but I know Lamia has something to do with this.”

“The snake thief?” Twilight asked. “Why would she have anything to do with Sunset?”

Selena lifted her eyebrow like it was obvious. “Because she’s Sunset’s parallel in this world.”

What?” five voices shouted.

“You mean Shimmer was Lamia the entire time?” Rainbow asked, pressing her hands into her hair. “We made friends with an international thief?”

“And that thief is the human version of our best friend,” Rarity said, dazed. “Oh dear.”

“Why didn’t Sunset tell us?” Twilight asked, bordering on enraged.

“I believe it was for your own safety,” Selena said with a calming wave of her hands. “She took a risk telling me. Lamia threatened that if Sunset told anyone her identity, she’d retaliate by hurting all of you. It seems she’s changed her mind.”

“And we can’t tell the police the person we’re looking for is also the person who might have kidnapped her,” Applejack said bitterly.

“She’s also the one who stole an artifact from us,” Trixie added bitterly.

“What? When did that happen?” Applejack asked.

Trixie looked at her with surprise. “A few weeks ago. She didn’t tell you?”

“Seem like there’s a lot of things she’s not been telling us recently,” Rainbow said bitterly.

“I’m sure she had her reasons,” Artemis said. “We’re not even sure what Lamia took. I think Sunset didn’t want to bother you with such a murky topic.”

Twilight kept her head down. Had all this secrecy really been for their own protection? Was that why Sunset was so on edge? Did she know a confrontation with her human counterpart was coming up?

“So where does that leave us?” Rarity asked after a brief pause.

“Up a creek without a paddle,” Artemis said. “All we can do is look as hard as we can and hope to find something. That or wait until Lamia sends us a ransom.”

“If she’s willing to do that,” Selena muttered.

If she’s the one who took Sunset,” Rainbow said.

Selena sighed “It’s late. You all should get back home and get some sleep. We’ll pick up the search in the morning.”

Twilight checked the clock, seeing time had marched onward to four in the morning. Her adrenaline had petered out, and the running had left her exhausted. Still, anxiety and uncertainty stirred in her stomach, making sure she would get no sleep tonight. She complied to go home though, departing with the rest of her friends. They walked back to the park and from there, Twilight got a short ride home thanks to Rarity.

“Are you going to be okay?” she asked before Twilight got out.

Huddling Spike close to her chest, Twilight shook her head. “No. What if she’s hurt or worse? You heard what Fluttershy said—what we all felt.” Her throat and chest tightened. “She’s in trouble,” Twilight said hoarsely. Tears finally found release and flowed down her cheeks.

Rarity pulled her into a hug, but Twilight could feel her body shaking, trying not to degrade into a sobbing mess. “We’ll find her, Twilight. Everything will turn out fine, just you wait.”

Twilight wondered if Rarity was speaking to reassure her or herself. Twilight thanked her and pulled away. Spike gave Rarity one last happy lick on the cheek, then Twilight got out and returned home. She made sure her entrance was quiet, and she snuck upstairs to her room like nothing had happened. She hoped to find Sunset in her room, milling about like nothing was wrong or hiding to deliver some cryptic message before vanishing into the night. But, her room was empty and exactly the same she had left it. She checked her phone one last time. Zero missed calls. No text messages.

She laid her head against her pillow, keeping her clothes and glasses on. As predicted, as tired as she was, sleep did not come for her. She watched the light of the new day rise through her window. She heard her mother get up and prepare for her shift at the hospital. Twilight continued to lay on her bed, eyes transfixed on her phone, mind still thinking of countless ways Sunset could be in trouble, ways they could save her, how things would go if they found her, how things would go if they didn’t find her in time…

Bzzzt!

Twilight bolted upright and snatched her phone, a wave of euphoria and relief washing over her until she saw the name on the screen. Her heart leapt for multiple reasons now. If Shining was calling her then… She flipped the phone open. “Hello?”

“Hey, Twily,” Shining said, voice apologetic. “I got to work and saw the news. You really haven’t heard from Sunset?”

“No, I haven’t,” Twilight said, unable to hide the pain in her voice.

“It’s going to be okay,” he said softly. “I’m putting myself in charge of the search. We’ll find her. And because I already know I can’t stop you from looking, be careful and only go in a group, okay?”

Twilight broke into a watery smile. “I promise.”

“You need anything?”

Assurance that Sunset is okay. “No. I think I’m fine.”

“Okay. I’m a phone call away. So is Cadence. I’ll keep in touch, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too, BBBFF.” She clicked the phone off and laid it back on her bedside table.

Love. Why hadn’t she said it before? She had so many opportunities, so many chances when it was just the two of them. This was love she was feeling, right? It had to be. It felt like how other characters in her books described it. And she was pretty much living in a fantasy novel now.

I’m only seventeen. Do I really know what love feels like? Love or not, she needed to find Sunset. A pang of longing shot through her heart. Even if this wasn’t love, it was still friendship. Her alarm clock told her it was just after nine. She picked up her phone and dialed Rainbow’s number first. It didn’t take long for her to pick up.

“You ready to start searching?” Rainbow asked.

*******

The girls met in the back room of Rarity’s boutique. Fabrics and papers with X’d out designs littered the floors. Twilight cleared a space on the modeling stage and laid out a map of the city and surrounding area. She circled Canterlot Park with a red marker.

“If we work under the assumption that Sunset did in fact walk to the park and disappear from there, that gives us a central point to work out from. The park is close to the middle of the new suburban area.” Twilight drew red arrows moving out in all directions. “However, it still gives us an extremely wide range of ground to cover.

“If Sunset has been…” her throat caught again. “Kidnapped, then the perpetrator has had twelve hours to escape. Worst case scenario…” she took a shuddering breath.

“Sunset’s in another state,” Rainbow said hotly. “But that’s the worst case scenario. As far as I’m concerned, she’s still somewhere around Canterlot.”

“R-right,” Twilight said. “The police will be checking all the obvious areas, leaving us to check places they won’t think of, starting with the factory.”

Pinkie smacked her forehead. “Duh! If Sunset’s feeling super down and wants to hide, she’d go there first.”

“Or if Lamia wanted to stash her there, it wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Rainbow said.

“‘Cept Lamia would expect us to look there eventually,” Applejack said. “Either she’s not dumb enough to hide there, or it’s a trap.”

“Do you really think she’d set a trap for six teenagers?” Rarity asked, using Applejack’s skeptical look against her.

“Ah’m just pointin’ out the possibilities. Selena said Lamia was sore that Sunset ratted her out. Maybe this is her way of gettin’ back at us.”

Rarity rolled her wrist. “While I doubt this is the way she’d go about it, it wouldn’t hurt to err on the side of caution. We can see if Selena or Artemis is willing to accompany us.”

On the other side of the suburbs, the girls found themselves at the Lulamoon household again, invited in by Selena.

“Sorry, girls, I already checked the factory earlier this morning. Empty.”

Twilight knew it was a long shot, but disappointment bubbled within her regardless. She laid the map out on the table again and X’d out the factory. “Okay. There’s still plenty of areas left to check.”

Selena tapped an area to the north. “Artemis and Trixie went to look around the mountain base.”

“Well, if they went north, how about we go south,” Pinkie suggested. She pointed to the Everfree Forest.

“Best we do it now before the forest gets too dark,” Applejack said.

The girls rode out again, Selena opting to stay behind on the off chance Sunset returned, or if the police or Lamia called. The girls pulled onto the dirt road leading to Sweet Apple Acres, only they continued south past the farm to the entrance of the forest. The road came to a dead end, the path blocked by a ‘No entrance’ sign on a wooden fence.

“We know this is a long shot, right?” Applejack asked as she got out of her truck. “The forest is huge and hard to navigate. Even if she is in there, it’d be like finding a needle in a haystack.”

“Applejack, while I appreciate your realism, could you try to show just a little bit of optimism,” Rarity asked with a testy edge to her voice. “Sunset is somewhere and we’re going to find her.”

Applejack brought her hat lower over her eyes. “Sorry, Ah just… Ah’m keepin’ mah guard up just in case…”

“That’s not gonna happen!” Rainbow shouted, tears in the corners of her eyes. “Sunset’s alive! We’ll find her, we’ll hug, she’ll pretend to complain about it, and if we have to fight somebody to save her, then I’m ready to throw down!” In a brilliant flash of blue light, her pony ears, wings, and hair extensions appeared. “Oh, now you wanna show up again!”

Normally, Twilight would have marveled at the magic phenomenon before her. Now, it only served as another reminder that Sunset wasn’t with her to speculate or reel her in when she got carried away.

“Wait!” Twilight pointed up to the treetops. “Rainbow, you can use your wings to fly over the forest and give us an aerial view!”

Rainbow put on a determined grin. “On it!” With one flap of her wings, she zipped into the air and took off.

“Stay close!” Fluttershy yelled after her.

The girls climbed over the fence and landed on the forest floor. There was no official road to follow, so Applejack led them down paths she had traversed before. They stuck together in a single file line, as the dense foliage and tightly grouped trees wouldn’t allow for anything else. Even for early spring, the forest was remarkably green and lush, like winter had never happened. Insects buzzed and chittered all around, reminding the girls whose territory they were in.

Their cries for Sunset almost drowned out the insect chatter, each of them taking a turn to make a continuous round. Still, no one ever answered their call.

A clearing came up, allowing them to take a short break from their hike. Rainbow descended and hovered just off the ground. “Man, the forest goes on forever.”

“And we’ll search the whole thing if we have to!” Twilight shouted.

Applejack laid a hand over her face. “Twilight, let’s be reasonable here. You’re a smart girl. You know that ain’t possible to do in any sort of reasonable amount of time, even if we got more people with us.”

Twilight rubbed her tired eyes, feeling a sharp pull behind them. “I… I just… we have to try.”

“And we will,” Applejack said gently. “We’ll do what we can, as hard as we can do it. Just don’t ask yourself to do something you know you can’t follow through with.”

Rainbow muttered something that sounded close to ‘hypocrite’ and flew back into the air. The rest of the girls followed Applejack back into the brush, Twilight taking up the rear.

Don’t do something I can’t follow through with? Twilight furrowed her brow but flinched at the pain between her eyes. If it meant finding Sunset, she’d turn the whole forest upside down.

Her steps slowed as she processed the thought. If she was willing to do that for one person… yes, maybe it was indeed love. Teenager or not, Twilight couldn’t ignore that spark in her heart every time she thought about Sunset.

But we’ve only been dating five months. I haven’t even known her for a year! But she was ready to scour an entire forest for her. Of course, she’d do the same for any of her friends. But still...

“Incoming!”

Every head turned skyward, though they couldn’t see much of it through the trees. They heard calamitous crash though, as Rainbow fell to the earth, branches softening her fall until she landed atop Pinkie.

“Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy ran over to them and knelt at their side. “Are you okay?”

Rainbow sat up and groaned, rubbing her arm. “Yeah, I think so. Just bruised this time. Pinkie broke most of the fall.”

“Glad I could help,” Pinkie said woozily from underneath her.

Fluttershy helped both girls to their feet. Rainbow’s pony accessories had vanished, leaving Twilight to wonder what dictated their duration, and if it could be manipulated. She shook her head, reprimanding herself for thinking of anything else at a time like this. With Rainbow grounded, the entire party hiked on foot, spending hours on end zigzagging up and down through the forest. Twilight could never tell if they were exploring new ground or constantly making circles, though she trusted Applejack had some inkling of where she was heading.

Around four o’clock, they stopped at another clearing to take a water break. “Okay, y’all,” Applejack said after nearly emptying her bottle, “it’s time to head back.”

“What?” Twilight jumped up from her seat against a tree trunk. “But we still have plenty of daylight left!”

“Yeah, but it’s almost a two hour hike back to the beginning, and you don’t wanna be out here at night,” she said firmly. “We searched the forest all day and she ain’t here. Let’s move on to somewhere else tomorrow.”

“We’ve barely covered a fourth of the forest,” Twilight said, a surge of frustration rising. “We can’t just move on!”

“Twi, there’s only so much ground we can get to on foot. We can try again early tomorrow if you really want to, but even then, we won’t get to half of the whole forest. It’s best if we search the city and let the police handle out here. They got the tools for it.”

Twilight wanted to argue but knew Applejack’s logic was sound. She just didn’t want to stop searching an area. It felt like giving up. And if Sunset was here somewhere and they didn’t find her…

“Besides, Twilight,” Rarity said gingerly, “I think we could all do with a little rest. I know most of us didn’t sleep well last night.”

With a relenting sigh, Twilight nodded in agreement. The pain behind her eyes was too much to ignore. While she doubted she would get any sleep tonight, closing her eyes for a bit sounded like a good idea.

Like Applejack predicted, the sun was almost gone by the time they reached the edge of the forest. They said their goodbyes, and Rarity offered Twilight a ride home again. It was a somber drive, beset with continuous yawns from both girls.

Twilight stepped through her front door and immediately felt the arms of her mother wrap around her. She gave Twilight a loving kiss on her forehead, numbing some of the pain.

“Oh, baby, Shining told me what happened. Don’t worry; I’m sure she’s out there. We’ll find her.”

It took every drop of her remaining energy not to break down in her mother’s arms, but Twilight managed it. She remained nestled in the embrace for several long minutes though. When she did break away, her father was there to kiss and hug her as well.

“Do you need anything, sweetie?”

“Sleep, probably,” Twilight said, mustering a smile. She kissed them both goodnight and retreated upstairs, Spike on her heels. Instead of lying in bed, she dropped into her chair slumped against her desk.

Her mother and brother liked to watch crime shows and mysteries. Twilight found them entertaining on occasion. She hoped to never have to live through one. They hardly ever ended with the person being found alive.

Her chest tightened. “Don’t think like that. Maybe the odds are stacked against us, but we can find her. Magic and rainbows and super powers… they’ve already done the impossible. They’ve already done miracles.”

Twilight’s eyes drooped shut, letting her fall into something akin to sleep. “Just one more miracle… please.”