//------------------------------// // Insistent Messengers // Story: The Mask of Despair and the Face of Hope // by Wings of Black Glass //------------------------------// I wasn’t sure I would see Sable at breakfast, so when he failed to show I was not surprised. When I asked if Spike has seen him the little dragon confirmed that he had not. The library was empty, the books I loaned Sable in neat stacks on the table. The balcony was clear; he did at least close the doors when he was done. I considered knocking on his bedroom door, only to decide against it, I had no idea how late he stayed up thinking. If he wanted to sleep in, that was his decision. So instead I turned to my own tasks, put aside over the last days to help Sable. Later in the afternoon Spike and I were out in town, meeting with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. We were having a pleasantly ordinary conversation when we were interrupted by the arrival of a most unusual message. “Oh, what’s this?” Pinkie Pie wrinkled her nose, a pink bird had perched there. “All I see is pink!” She shook her head; the bird refused to leave. Something about it seemed off to me; it didn’t seem to be a real animal. “Oh dear. Let me help you.” Fluttershy went to shoo the creature away, but when she leaned close, the winged thing tried to swat her hoof aside and remain where it was. “Come on. Go home. Leave my friend alone.” The bird thing resisted. It made a crumpling noise as it moved, it sounded like paper. “Hold on, let me take a look.” Fluttershy moved aside to allow me to lean in. Upon closer inspection, I could see that this thing was not a bird at all. “An animated origami paper swan. That’s interesting.” No sooner had I recognized this than three more of the little paper birds, in similar shape although different in color, arrived and demanded our attention. A yellow one landed before Fluttershy, its folded beak tapping her hoof. A green one settled atop Spike’s spikes and a purple one buzzed around my head to flit in and out of my view. “Ahh, get it off!” Spike flailed uselessly at the paper bird, his short arms not quite able to catch it. “Hold on, hold on.” I snatched the origami creations in front of Pinkie’s nose and over Spike’s head using my magic, the little things flapped helplessly as I held them in place. “A bit insistent aren’t they?” The one in front of Fluttershy made no move to resist when the Pegasus picked it up. “They are cute little things.” The swan seemed to preen itself. But after a moment the one in Fluttershy’s possession unfolded itself and stilled its motion. “It’s a message.” I watched my friend’s eyes sweep over the page, the purple one around my head finally annoying me enough for me to bother catching it. “It’s from Mr. Stardust.” I brought the one meant for me to where I could reach it, letting Spike and Pinkie take theirs. “To the pony who receives this message, please join me at my old hovel at earliest convenience. I will explain when everypony has arrived. Sable Stardust.” “That's all it says?” When I had a hold of my own messenger it unfolded the same as Fluttershy’s. The text is identical on mine, and when I looked at Pinkie and Spike, they indicated the same. “This seems a little excessive to me.” “Isn’t that the fun part?” Pinkie was already trying to refold hers back into its bird shape. “I bet everypony else got one too.” “Twilight, help!” I looked up to see Rainbow Dash barreling towards us, followed by a veritable cloud of little blue paper birds. “I can’t get them to stop following me!” I couldn’t help but laugh. I took to the air, snagging the swarm of flapping papers all at once. “Thanks.” I picked one out from the cloud and passed it to the blue Pegasus. “It’s just a message from Sable. We’ve each received one.” I turned my attention to the now immobilized cloud of paper. “I don’t know why he sent you so many though.” “There was only one at first.” Rainbow Dash paused to read the letter. “I didn’t see it coming, and accidentally shredded it. Each piece turned into its own bird and started chasing me.” She flipped the paper over, looking for more to the simple message. I examined the origami swarm; it appeared Sable made a ‘Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ error. “I think mine is broken.” I looked down at Pinkie Pie, her bird folded again but looking a bit crumpled. The origami swan was immobile even when she poked it. “They must return to inanimate state once the message is delivered.” I passed another letter to Rainbow Dash, plucked at random from the blue cloud. Dash looked back at the swarm, clearly lamenting what would have to come next. “I’m going to have to read them all?!” Dash grabbed at her eyes, pulling her eyelids down in an exaggerated display of anguish. “I don’t think you have to actually read them, just pick it up and let it unfold.” Fluttershy helpfully explained to her. “Wonderful…” “We should go see what he wants if he’s sending us all letters.” I landed next to spike, nodding in agreement. “Yeah, before he sends out more of them.” Dash grabbed another paper bird, crumpling the first one into a ball and tossing it behind her. I lifted it from the ground and deposited the trash in a nearby bin. “Those sound adorable!” “Did I get a bird?” “No, sorry, Starlight. He knew you were away, so he didn’t send you one.” “You could have just said he sent everypony letters. You didn’t have to include this.” “Well, they were cute, and he later found a novel use for this spell which came in useful when we had to deal with…” “Twilight? Deal with what?” “Oh, sorry. Let me continue.”