Sunset and Boltsinger walked through Canterlot City at midday, looking at the people walking about. Sunset had a device hanging over her ear that extended out next to her mouth, a familiar voice ringing in her ear.“You should be finished with that area soon. Have you gotten any readings?” Twilight’s voice asked her.
Sunset looked down to the circular orange device in her hand. Around an image of what Boltsinger believed to be her Cutie Mark, there was a large number of blue lights, none of which were lit up. “Nothing yet. How is everyone else?”
In Sunset’s loft, Twilight sat at a normally empty part of the desk with a headset settled firmly over her ears, hunched over a laptop that showed the individual marks of various friends on a large map. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were paired up in one corner, while Pinkie and Rarity were in another. Sunset’s mark traveled alone on the streets, as the most recent addition to their group lacked any means of tracking she had available to her. “Nobody else has found anything, either. Are you sure there’s magic on the loose? Because everything seems normal right now.”
“I’m sure.” Sunset replied, guiding Boltsinger to the next destination. “I think someone must have come across it recently, but I have no idea who it could have been!”
“It could have been someone you don’t know.” Boltsinger pointed out. “There’s a lot of people in this city. No telling who could have found magic and messed with it.”
“That’s a good point.” the fiery-haired girl admitted, looking at the device she held. “But that’s why we have these.”
Twilight typed furiously at her laptop, opening up a new window and entering some information before returning to the map. “They’re based on the device I originally made to detect magic. Except these ones don’t suck it in. But, they also serve as a tracking device for my new ‘Cutie Map’ program. But, it is untested, so I can’t guarantee its reliability.”
Sunset shrugged, shaking her head with a soft smile. “As long as we can keep in touch, I’d call it good to go.”
“Agreed!” Rarity affirmed through their headsets. “But, I must admit, all this searching isn’t exactly doing wonders for my poor, achy feet. Would it be possible to meet up sometime soon?”
Fluttershy stepped over to Twilight, a similar communication device to Sunset’s covering her ear, and looked at the screen over her shoulder. “I wouldn’t mind getting out and seeing everyone.” A bird flew in and landed on her shoulder, tweeting into her ear. “Oh, that’s okay. Thank you ever-so-much for your help, Mister Bird.” The bird nodded, flying off and out the window. “The birds haven’t found anything out of place, but they told me they’ll keep looking.”
Twilight smiled back at her compassionate friend. “Thanks, Fluttershy.” She turned back to her screen, hovering her cursor over a spot between the three groups. “It should be plausible to take a break at the cafe. I’ll text you all the address now.” She produced her phone, entering some information and sending it out as she closed her laptop. She pulled her own detector close, hanging it from her neck as she got up. “Might as well join them. Come on, Fluttershy!”
The group gratefully gathered at the given location, sitting around a large table outside. Twilight was once again hunched over her laptop, looking up some information on the side while they all discussed their findings. Fluttershy held out her hand, prompting a bird to land on her finger as she looked over to her friends. “I know that Sunset said we’re looking for magic, but… What kind of magic are we after, anyway? None of the animals have found anything out of the ordinary.”
Sunset looked at her tracker, watching it spin on the string in front of her. “I don’t know, exactly. I’ve been seeing a bright yellow pulse from my window every night for the past three weeks, but nothing has really been changing. If I knew exactly where the pulse was coming from, I could figure out what’s going on.”
“Do ya know what direction it’s at from here?” Applejack inquired.
Sunset sat up, looking at the streets around her. “No… I can’t really tell.”
“Times like these, I’d normally just get a Pegasus perspective.” Boltsinger stated, leaning on the table. “Hard to miss certain things when you’re up that high.”
“You need to be up high, huh?” Rainbow asked, pondering an idea.
Rainbow Dash walked through the streets in a huff, folding her arms. “I was hoping I’d be the one in the skyscraper…”
“I’m sure that’d be great fer you, Dash, but not all that productive.” Applejack pointed out, walking beside her. “Twilight’s the one with the fancy computer ‘n all that sciencey stuff, so it makes sense that she’s up where she can see everythin’.”
In another nearby part of town, Pinkie nodded. “Besides, out here you get to run around and smell the flowers and chase bad guys!” She ran to a nearby guardrail, hopping up and bouncing off of it with a spin. “there’s so much fun we can have out here it’s CRAZY!”
“Besides, you of all people can get around faster than anyone.” Twilight stated. The sky outside had begun to go from a shade of orange to a much darker purple, letting her know to stick near the windows. “Okay, everyone, I’ve got my eyes peeled for that pulse. If anything comes up, I’ll let you know.”
“Right!” came six voices from all over. Twilight glanced back at the laptop screen, where her friends’ marks dispersed further.
“Oh! And, Sunset, could you tell Bolt that the search is underway?” the science whiz requested.
“Uh, sure.” she responded, repeating the information aside. “What kind of search is it?”
Walking next to Sunset, Boltsinger chimed in. “Well, I heard some people… talking… yesterday at the park after my little episode.” he explained. “They said something about me being in the news last month. I can only assume they meant the me that’s from this world. So, I asked the best researcher in this world to find out what exactly happened to him.”
“Now that you mention it, Brightling said that you’d been gone for about a month, too.” the artist noted. The two of them looked around the area, spotting a large grassy field with a large number of stone slabs coming out of the ground. There was a black-cloaked figure making their way into the area, a hood draped over their head so as to conceal their face. Sunset raised her hand to her ear, looking aside. “Who’s that?”
Boltsinger squinted at the person in the distance, scrunching his face with curiosity. “I dunno… But if I’ve learned anything from years of reading, it’s that you don’t wanna trust a shadowy figure.”
Boltsinger stepped back, making ready to run after the cloaked figure. As he stepped forward, Sunset grabbed the train of his jacket, causing him to fall unceremoniously onto his rear. “Wait a second!” she whispered, crouching down next to him. “We don’t know if that person has what we’re looking for!” Boltsinger nodded in understanding, directing his eyes back to their potential target as they inched closer. They hid by one of the headstones, getting a look at the grave the figure stopped at. The figure dropped to its knees, putting its gloved hands on the dirt in front of the headstone, running its fingers through the dirt.
“Why isn’t it empty…?” came a muffled voice from under the hood. Boltsinger got a jolt of familiarity from the voice, but couldn’t quite place it. “Oh well… I can still use it. Maybe give him back his memories.” It waited a few moments, holding out a pendant in the shape of a lightning bolt that crackled with yellow electricity. “Something that belongs to him… Something of value… Should spark the--" The headstone, like the pendant, crackled to life, creating a magical pulse of yellow light that shone high into the night sky.
“I see the pulse!” Twilight announced over the phone. “Everybody get to--"
“The cemetery…” Sunset finished. “Bolt and I are already here. There’s someone at one of the graves… That’s where the magic is coming from!”
“I can get everyone there no sweat!” Rainbow stated. “Just tell me where to go!”
The pulse continued for several minutes as a rainbow streak dashed along, bringing another of their friends to the area with each pass, finally revealing Rainbow Dash as it ended. Sunset looked around at the girls, making a circular motion with her fingers as they all spread out, each hiding behind a different headstone. She pointed towards the cloaked person, standing up.
“Hey!” Rainbow called, announcing their presence as the group began walking towards the shadowy figure. “What do you think you’re doing?”
The kneeling person jumped as the magical pulse stopped. It turned to face them, springing to its feet, ready to run as Twilight reached out to it. “We’re not going to hurt you! We just want to ask you some questions!” The group closed in further, causing the figure to step back.
“No… You can’t interfere!” it shouted. It broke into a run, barreling straight for Fluttershy, who screamed and jumped to the side into a low crouch.
Rainbow glowered at the figure as it ran, lighting her necklace and running after it. Rarity ran to her terrified friend, kneeling beside her and helping her calm down while Spike jumped out of Twilight’s backpack. The canine barked incessantly, running after the figure that Rainbow pursued. Sunset, Pinkie, and Applejack sprinted in kind, hoping to catch up. Rainbow easily overtook the object of her chase, taking an aggressive stance in front of it. She lunged forward, making to catch it, only to grab hold of empty space as he weaved around her. She turned around, soon joined by Spike as she continued her chase. Applejack powered on by, while Pinkie was nowhere to be found. The figure rounded a corner, finding the pinkest girl in the world smiling fiercely at him and bringing forth a small cannon. She pulled the string on the back, sending a barrage of confetti at him with a loud boom. The figure turned back, finding Spike growling at him. It bolted in another direction, running into a hedge between two houses. It struggled for a moment, its cloak caught on a cluster of branches. With a ripping sound, it was freed, continuing on its way. Rainbow ran to the other side of the hedge, waiting for it to come out, but nothing did. Applejack and Sunset took positions on either of the sides it might have escaped from, still finding nothing.
“Where could he have gone…?” Sunset asked, looking into the hedge. “They can’t have just disappeared, can they?”
“Maybe they’re faster ‘n they look?” Applejack suggested.
Rainbow Dash zipped over to her freckled friend, her fists resting on her hips.”And what do you mean by that?”
“I mean that it’s possible they’re faster than they look, an’ maybe they’re smart enough to wait until we’re…” the hedge rustled once again. “... distracted!” Rainbow turned around, jumping into the air as Applejack put her hands under the athlete’s feet. She sprang Rainbow into the air with all of her might, breaking into a run of her own.
“They’re gone…” Sunset informed her friends as they congregated at the edge. “Whoever it is, that’s the one behind the pulsating…”
“Hey! Hey! I found something! I found something!” Spike called out, hopping and barking. He scampered over to the group, a piece of black cloth in his mouth. “This must’ve ripped off when they were getting away!”
Sunset took the cloth, examining it close. “This is good. Something we can use! Good job, Spike!” She reached down and tussled his head, turning to face everyone else. “Okay, let’s get this back to--”
“Girls… You may want to get back here.” Twilight told her through the phone. “There’s something you should see…”
“We’re on our way.” Sunset confirmed. She looked to the others, who nodded and started back to the cemetery.
The girls arrived back at the graveyard, where Boltsinger stood before the lightly glowing grave, his face contorted with shock at the words in front of him. He dropped to one knee, placing his hand on the headstone. “Suddenly things make… a lot more sense…”
Sunset snuck a glance over his shoulder, letting out a gasp. “Oh my gosh…”
“Yeah…” Boltsinger affirmed. He gave his face a firm slap, standing up and taking a deep breath. “Ladies… There’s someone I’d like you to meet.” he declared. His friends looked on confusedly as he stepped aside. He gestured to the writing on the grave, letting out another sigh. “Introducing… My counterpart!” The grave gave off one more pulse of light, revealing the engraving to the onlookers.
“R.I.P.
BOLTSINGER
BELOVED BROTHER AND SON"
“This… ain’t what I expected…” Applejack said, walking up to the grave with her hat over her heart. “An’ here I was lookin’ forward to meetin’ ‘im someday…”
“Me, too…” Pinkie said in kind.
“Yeah… I think… I need to go.” Boltsinger told them, beginning his walk to the sidewalk.
Twilight followed, quickly catching up to him and taking a look at his face. There was a stern sadness to him that looked out of place on the boy she was coming to know. Like he knew what to do, but hated that he had to do it. “Are you okay?” she asked, reaching for him.
Boltsinger looked back at her, his lips turning up slightly at the sight. “Absolutely not.” he answered, returning his attention to the road ahead of him.
Her pace slowed, eyeing the mark on his back as he walked ahead. “That was… surprisingly blunt.” she mentioned, adjusting her glasses.
Spike ran up next to the pair, looking up at Twilight. “Well, how would you feel if you were standing over your own grave?”
“I understand, but…” She directed her gaze back to him. “This can’t be easy.” She pulled out her laptop, opening it up to look at the page she had pulled up. “So that’s what happened…”
“What’d you find, Twi?” Spike wondered, putting his paws on her leg.
Twilight lifted her dog up, putting him in her bag, where he peeked over her shoulder. “Do you remember how there was a storm front coming through last month?”
“Of course!” Rainbow replied, coming forward to look at the screen. “You wouldn’t shut up about the ‘opportunities to learn about weather patterns’ and all that junk.”
Twilight laughed nervously. “Yes, well it was a rare occurrence. How else do you expect me to learn about the practical applications of a generator with a built-in lightning rod?”
“It exploded…” Sunset deadpanned, following Rainbow’s lead with the rest of the group. “But what does that have to do with this?”
“Well… It was an electrical storm…” She began. Boltsinger stopped in his tracks, listening intently. “And he… Well…”
“Let me guess…” he interjected, turning to face them. “He got struck by lightning?”
“How did you know?” Twilight inquired.
“Because…” He turned again, ready to keep walking. “He’s Boltsinger. And Boltsinger isn’t Boltsinger unless he’s been hit by lightning at least once… He just… didn’t have magic…”
The girls solemnly looked down, Twilight closing her laptop and beginning to follow him. “So… what do you have to do?”
Boltsinger breathed another heavy sigh, straightening his posture. “Talk with my family, of course…”