The sky was a sea of gray. Enormous, menacing clouds covered the sun. Celestia always took pride in her aster, but in winter cold, bitter climates were an obligation. Twilight Sparkle always liked rain and grizzle: mundane things assumed a melancholic feeling, and even the most trivial of occurences took an aura of sadness and gloomy. A perfect atmosphere for a library. A fitting one for an investigation, too. Her first case, here in Canterlot. It thrilled her a bit... Being locked up for six months and then suddendly get thrown in the capital of Equestria... It was exilarating to say the least. The feeling of seeing ponies again, walking, talking, embracing each other, living their lives oblivious of what was going on around them. Ignorance is bliss. What made her so excited was the feeling of escapade: she was for everyone dead. Her family, her friends, everyone who knew her thought she was pushing daisies. She had to dye her coat and mane: the former was white and the latter was black striped with purple. She was still famous, so there was a chance someone could recognize her. But even in disguise, she felt the excitation of a filly trying to put his hooves in a jar of jam, the forbidden pleasure of deceit and delusion. The training if anything, taught her one thing: never let your past cloud your future; what was gone, was gone. Twilight Sparkle was dead, buried in the graveyard of Ponyville, mourned by many. What a tragic loss! A talented unicorn, loved by all, hero and scholar. Definitely dead. However, Dawn Wake, member of the Equestrian Intelligence Service, was pretty much alive. And did she felt great. She was trotting down of Canterlot main street. She stopped by a newsstand and bought the Equestria Daily out of curiosity: who knew what happened to the world while she was gone. She immediately regretted it:
Princess Luna take over morning audiences for fifth time in a row
Princess Celestia still mourning her protege?
You reap what you sow, Celestia. Instead of sheltering your little ponies, you could have told them the truth.
Pinkie would have been still alive. She doesn’t deserve my pity.
She threw the paper on the street, while the newsagent asked confused:
“Whatc’ha doing? Ya just paid for it!”
“I’ve seen what I needed to.”
She trotted away, disappearing in of the back alleys. She was getting emotional. She needed to stay focused, sharp, fixed on the mission she received the day before. She could still remember the briefing file word for word:
Three ponies in the Canterlot area have been found with no memories whatsoever: they don’t remember their name, place of residence, relatives, or anything else. Their childhood and adult life have been completely wiped clean. Magical examination shows no traces of amnesiac spells, or any mind altering spell. No witnesses. The Canterlotian Royal Guard managedto cover everything up. Your mission is to investigate the case to verify if there might be a SCP involvement. If so, capture it. Your alias for this mission is Dawn Wake, agent of the EIS. In the envelope you will find the badge. Below you will find what info we managed to gather on the victims and their families.
Good luck, agent.
Her first chance to prove once and for all the justness of the method she developed in training. She saw how other agents conducted their work: mostly lucky guesses and gratuitous violence. She couldn’t blame them, though. The training was...
However, she realized that the succes ratio with these kind of methods was pretty low, and mostly aleatory. She needed more than that. What striked her was how the scientific method that she used in her studies of magic, biology, astronomy and so on worked so well, with so little to work on. Equestria was practically devoided of serious crimes since the exile of Princess Luna, so the police force was just being used for petty crimes and parades. The art of investigation developed in science, not in criminology. It was about time to port it. She needed to examine the victims, ask the relatives, look for any evidence on the location they were discovered, and then put all the pieces back together. A voice ringed in her head, clear as crystal.
“Testing, testing. Can you hear me, Twilight?”
“Yeah, the comm spell is working” Even if she was in a back alley, and she saw no one around her, talking out loud to herself was still pretty embarassing. This communication spell was actually overriding her auditory functions, so when she communicated with Bright Light she couldn’t hear anything else. “Bright, have you found anything related about the case?”
“Well, I’ve looked around. There are several myths about the loss of memory, so I don’t know what could actually be useful to you, I’m gonna need more details. What I can tell you though, is that there are not many deities connected to memory, so maybe a cross research will trim down useless legends. There are just two memory gods that I know of: Alkerun, the draconic god of fire and rock that sculpted everything out of a gigantic boulder. He’s also the god of memory, since he helped a famous draconic hero, Parthurnax, by inscripting on a rock the complete history of the dragonkind so that he could answer a question posed by the Bastheth, dragon’s equivalent of the Sphynx. The other one is Nabu, wyvern god of Ice and crystals. Wyverns believe that the ice was the first matter from which everything originated, so they associate ice with knowledge, wisdom and memory. Sorry I couldn’t find much more... Call me back when you find more, Oracle out.”
It’ll take a long time getting used to a voice in your brain....
____________________________________________________________________________
She entered the Canterlot Central Hospital hesitantly: hospitals made her nervous. She didn’t like to think that whatever problem she may have, it would probably still be small time compared to what some of these ponies had to endure. There was a frantic activity: nurses and doctors running around, ponies waiting for visiting chatting or screaming, demanding to be received. She walked to the front desk, waiting for the turned nurse to notice her. She managed to contain the surprise when she saw the white, pristine coat, the light pink mane and the red cross cutie mark.
“I’m nurse Redheart, is there something you need?” She asked with a gentle tone that only spoke sincere concern for everypony around them. Twilight was baffled, to say the least. What were the odds that she was transferred and her shift was exactly the one that coincided with her visit?
“Ehm, is everything alright?” She asked again.
“Yes, I’m sorry. I’m agent Dawn Wake from the EIS” she took the badge from an inside pocket of the small black coat she wore and showed it to her” I’m here to see the three, uhm, patients”
The nurse looked at her for a moment, trying to understand who exactly was she talking about. Then apparently made the connection, and gestured her to come closer:
“Take the first corridor you see, then turn left and right again. Last room on the right.” Twilight nodded and left: after the first turn, the tidal wave of squirming ponies was reduced to a small stream; after the second, she was completely alone. A perfect stage for her first interrogation. She found the room and opened the door: inside three beds and three ponies on them. The first two, an earth pony stallion with a gray mane and a black coat, a unicorn mare with a golden mane and a red coat, and a unicorn mare with a lime coat and a white mane. She was the only awake, gazing intensely outside the only window in the room: you could see the Canterlot Castle and the Royal Gardens, in all their luscious magnificence. She didn’t even flinch when Twilight opened or closed the door. Only when she neared the bed, she moved her eyes from the window to look the agent straight into the eyes. Her gaze was empty, lifeless.
“I’m agent Dawn Wake of the EIS. I know this is a difficult moment for you, but I’m here to ask some questions. Do you think you can aswer them?” She watched Twilight for some time, without changing her hollow expression. The mare started to fear the trauma was too great for her to even understand what she was saying, when she talked:
“You’re wasting your time. Everything in me is just.... blank. Nothing. I don’t remember my name, my family, my loved ones, everything that happened from birth since I found myself in this hospital. And I can’t even remember why should I even care. Celestia forbid that me remembering just this room may stop from doing your job. Ask away, officer.” That last sarcastycal remark made Twilight hope there would be still something to salvage from all of this. Maybe with a little help from amnesia-related magic and some luck, she could find something worthwhile.
“Thanks, miss...”
“They say my name is Spring Blossom. Not that it’s actually important, since I can’t remember a thing.” She sighed.
“Ok, miss...Blossom. Obligatory question: Do you remember-”
“Anything? No, I don’t. And before you ask, yes, I’m sure. The only thing I know is this room. Don’t bother with the unicorn mojo jojo, they already tried” and she looked at Twilight with a gaze that dared her to ask more. She was right on spot: the former lavender mare lighted up her horn, preparing to probe her mind with an amnesia spell.
“Do you mind if I try this new technique? I’m sure it will be beneficial for your condition. It’s an experimental spell developed by the D.O.T.A.”
Spring Blossom waved lazily a hoof, gesturing her to go ahead.
“Sure, can’t get any worse than this, I guess.” Twilight neared the mare, and their horns touched. She was momentarily blinded, her whole perspective changed upside down. It was like she was watching through another perspective that kept spinning and spinning around her body, surrounded by pure white light. The spinning stopped, and everything turned pitch black. She had arrived:
Twilight was exploring the depths of her mind: she came in thinking to find a gigantic lock on all her mnemonic processes: even if the Wyvern Protectorate, the Griffin Republic and the Equestrian Kingdom had given their blessing, funds and recruits to the Foundation, the O5 council knew they had their own agencies, tracking down SCPs and doing counter-intelligence against each-other. She suspected an intelligence war was going down in Canterlot, and these ponies had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. But there was no lock. There was no lock because there wasn’t anything to lock at all. Instead of overflowing mundane memories, in front of her there was just the small hospital room. There was no spell she knew that could actually erase memory: amnesiac spells would just lock away a certain memory, and if the lock wasn’t removed after a certain amount of time, the memory would decade, slowly but surely. But the traces would still be there, impossible to remove, like a chain trying to capture the void. No one could miss it. Here, there wasn’t anything.
It’s empty in here. There are just the memory of this room, and the check ups... Wait, what’s that?
She looked into the wobbly mess that were Spring Blossom’s (few) memories: the doctors examined her and the other two ponies in the room. They were not opposing any resistance, allowing the doctors to just touch them wherever they wanted. She was thinking of shutting the memory down, when she saw one of the physicians find a small, regular, square-shaped burn on the base of the neck of Spring Blossom. Then, on the other two victims. It couldn’t be a coincidence, but she needed to see it for herself. Before going out, she put a lock on the last two minutes, just to be sure. She breathed slowly. Coming out of a memory probing session wasn’t pleasant. It was like being pulled outside through an incredibly small hole in a very tight fabric. She breathed once againg, closed her eyes, and deactivated the spell. She felt compressed, squeezed and splattered across the entire fabric of space. The entire universe screamed all at once, invading her head with an outrageous sound that tore out of the bounds of the cosmos: she floated out of the galaxy, the stars, the visible cosmos, into pure and vast darkness. Her breathing was increasing, it was time to pull out. The inconceivable vastness started to crush her lungs: she closed her eyes, and breathed again. When she opened them again, she was in the hospital room, beside a passed out Spring Blossom. She shook her head vigorously, trying to remove the dizzyness. Then, she reached for the unconscious mare, moving her neck and mane to find the burn. She found it: it was the size of a gold coin, with the shape of a square with rounded corners.She examined the other two ponies, making sure not to wake them up: same burn, same spot.
There is no way in Tartarus this is a coincidence. Bright Light talked about a dragon fire god, right? It’s time to put this comm spell to use.
She got out of the hospital, making sure to avoid eye contact with Nurse Redheart back at the lobby. She entered a narrow backroad, walked down a few blocks, made sure no one was around, and turned on the radio in her brain.
“SPRKL-1. Oracle, can you hear me?”
A familiar and friendly voice resonated in her head.
“Oracle’s here. What can I do for you, Twi?”
“I need more infos about that dragon god, Alkerun. The legend you were talking about, does it involve burns, or the number three?” She really hoped that her first case would turn out to be so easy: maybe this lead would get her somewhere near the SCP, if there was even one involved in all of this.
“Actually, yes. Both of them. Remember what I told you about Parthurnax, the dragon hero? He rised against Basteth, because the latter would require yearly sacrifices from the early dragon tribes. One could imagine what creature could scare 3 stores high creatures into submission....
Basteth was a sadistic being, that liked to play with her victims before doing goddess know what to them. I’m serious, the legend doesn’t even tell... The scary thing is that the sacrifices would always come back to their villages months after their disappearance, without saying a word for the rest of their life. Anyway, Parthurnax proposed himself to be sacrificed, as it was his plan to challenge Basteth to a game. Basteth, being the cruel creature she was, accepted with no hesitations, excited to the prospect of playing with her toys to a whole new level. The game was a simple quiz: 4 questions that Basteth could choose. Parthurnax was pretty confident in his abilities, since he was the shaman’s apprentice and a scholar of his own, he was proficient in every known disciple of the time. Unfortunately for him, history wasn’t one of them: the dragon tribes were relatively young, and there was no one who actively took track of time and events, even if dragons lived a lot of time. On the other hand, Bastheth was a lot more ancient than dragonkind or ponykind, and she had a pretty good memory, so she remembered every little war between the small tribes, every chief, every shaman of the dragon people. Parthurnax was desperate: he was already short of three questions, and if he got wrong the last one, he would have been at the mercy of the cruel being. So, he prayed Alkerun to give him the knowledge necessary to answer the last question. Alkerun heard him, and answered his call: he came down from the Sun, invisible to Basteth, and incided on a rock the entire history of dragonkind until that moment; then he transformed that rock into a small tablet and infused that knowledge to Parthurnax by splitting the incredibly hot tablet in three pieces and melting them with the scaly skin of the dragon right at the base of his neck. Parthurnax, imbued with all the history of his people, answered correctly to the last question. Bastheth, furious, broke the only rule of the game: if he answered at least one question correctly, she would spare him. She rose up and tried to attack him. That’s when she lost the favor of her god, that loved games above everything, but despised cheaters and sore losers: some folklore experts identify him with what the ponykind call Discord” Twilight instantly remembered how much the ‘Chaos God’ emphasized how they were not to break the rules he set for his little Elements of Harmony search game and how actually he didn’t break any of them. “Since she lost the protection of her god, Alkerun took the chance and slayed her, freeing the dragon tribes from the horrible burden. Parthurnax returned to his tribe, and with the favor of Alkerun, founded the first Draconic Council. Why you asked about the burns and the number three?”
“That’s because the three victims were found together, in the same place, at the same time. Also, they all have small rounded burns on the base of their neck.”
“Whoa, that can’t be a-”
“A coincidence, I know. I think we got something here.”
“You may have a rogue draconic artifact. That stuff really packs a punch, trust me. So, what you’re going to do now?”
“Even if this is a solid lead, there’s not much to work on, right now. I’ll check out on the relatives. Spring Blossom has an aunt still alive. The unicorn mare, what was her name... Nimbus! Yeah, Nimbus has both her parents alive... The stallion is an orphan. I’m going to Blossom first, SPRKL1 out”
“Oracle out”
Blossom’s aunt, according to the briefing file, lived in the outskirts of Canterlot, just under the mountain that sustained the old part of the city. The majestic rock pillars that sustained the Royal Castle, not visible at a first glance, camouflaged into the alabaster wall, stood out beside the small, little cottage permanently shaded by the foundations of the castle. The building loomed eeriely on the cute house; an hypnotic sight, as you could wait for it to crash down any moment. This was a peaceful part of the city, one that Twilight never actually saw back when she lived in Canterlot: this pacific suburban picture, perpetually shaded by the greatness of the royalty, contrasted with the environment she was used to... Small, ancients streets, bustling with life she watched through the dusty window of her father’s library, the most famous in all of Canterlot. Thinking about it now bothered her: her destiny was engraved in stone. Born from a researcher and a librarian, she went ahead and became both. When she thought about it, was there really destiny? She discovered Nightmare’s Moon return because she was destined to, because the Harmony chose her to be the Element of Magic. But there was no Harmony, no Elements, nothing. They were just coincidences. What drove her to become a scholar? She remembered liking the atmosphere of the library her father owned. It was dark, fresh, and dusty. When she opened the first book in her life, her father was beside her, his eyes beaming with pride. Twilight just couldn’t stand disappointing those eyes. Every time she went out playing with other fillies, she could see the imperceptible look of disappointment in his eyes. He probably wasn’t even realizing it, but Twilight gradually spent more and more time inside his library just not to fail him. Gradually, books grew on her, and what started as a simple way of making her dad happy became her full time hobby. She forgot what was her initial purpose, but her drive was still buried deep inside her, and the flame was rekindled every time her dad had a word of praise for her. She tried, she tried so hard not to think about him in a negative way. But something kept telling her... It’s his fault, you know.
Now it’s not the time. Focus, focus!
She walked through the small garden and knocked at the door. A frail looking ancient mare opened. Even with the flow of time distorting and ruining everything in its path, Twilight could still discern behind those wrinkles and drooping cheeks, a young Spring Blossom. They were practically identical, with the same stern, stubborn feel to them.
“Yes?”
“Are you Spring Blossom’s aunt, Lime Streak?” Twilight asked with an inquisitive tone. I need to nail down the “I’m an officer of the Law” vibe. Stay cool, stay professional, Sparkle.
“Who’s asking?” She responded with a more than a bit of suspicion in her voice.
“I’m agent Dawn Wake of the EIS.” She levitated her badge in front of the old mare” I’m here to ask you some questions, if you don’t mind.”
“No, of course. Please, come in, make yourself at home, officer.” She gestured her to come inside. As soon as Twilight stepped into the house, she dashed out of sight.
“I was making some tea. Would you like some?” A voice came from what was probably the kitchen.
“Actually, yes, if that’s not an inconvenience.” Answered the young mare while looking around.
“Not at all, dear. Please take a seat! I’ll be over there in just a minute.”
Twilight started looking around the room. It was definitely the home of an elderly: the furniture, the walls, the floor, every piece of decoration was well worn, ancient looking. She scooped around, searching for something that could connect the grumpy aunt to anything. There were some strange, small statues, but she couldn’t understand what they were supposed to be: they all looked the same, a circle hollowed out in the middle with tendrils that irregularly branched out of it. She continued looking around, searching for more out of place oddities. But all she got was a sad parade of past lives: a collection of photographs were placed on a small chest of drawers. A rather young Lime Streak beside a stallion. Another one where she wore a wedding dress, kissing the same stallion. Them, holding a small filly. The now adolescent mare beside her parents, raising a big cup, Twilight couldn’t read the inscription at the base. The mare, now fully adult, with another stallion and Lime Streak holding another filly, with the same pattern of Spring Blossom. It was a snapshot of a normal life, ruined at some point by tragedy. It was oppressive to look at. Those happy faces, oblivious to what fate had in store for them, a Damocles sword dangling over their heads.
They look so happy… A family…
“Is everything alright?” She turned around, and she saw the old mare waiting for her on an armchair, with two steaming cup in front of her, on a coffee table. Twilight sat down on the couch in front of the old mare, it squeaked under her weight.
“Oh, sorry… I’ll try to make this quick, I know this is a hard moment for you.” She levitated a cup and started sipping some tea. It was hot, and sweet. Pretty good.
“It’s okay, darling, ask away” She lifted the other cup and started blowing on it.
What’s up with the ‘darling’? She almost tore my muzzle off when I knocked at the door. I guess the badge has its perks.
“So, where were you the night your niece… disappeared?”
She looked at Twilight with an annoyed expression.
“Your colleagues of the Canterlot PD already came over and asked.”
“It’s standard procedure ma’am. I’m sorry if it’s redundant” Always prepare a lie first. Good work, Twilight.
“Mph. I was here, at home.” She drank the tea in one shot “And no, I don’t have anyone to vouch for me” And she ended the sentence by slamming the cup on the table
What is the deal with the police work around here? She has no alibi, close to one of the victim, and they don’t even bring her to the station for questioning.
She’s a pegasus, Sparkle. This is clearly magic. They don’t know anything about SCPs and what not.
I guess. But I know about them.
“Do you know anypony who could think of your niece as an enemy?”
“Goddess, no. Spring Blossom could be… fierce, sometimes “ I wonder where she got that “ but she was a good girl nonetheless. I can’t think of anypony who could do such a dreadful thing to her”
“Ok. Did your niece ever behaved strangely? Maybe reading or looking for something that wasn’t exactly normal?”
“No, I don’t think so. Her passion was photography. She worked as a stock photographer, taking pictures of pretty much everything and then selling them to magazines, books, and things like that” The grumpy attitude she had until then melted when she started talking about her niece.” She was really talented, she managed to capture everything in a different light… Now that you mention it, she didn’t tell me what her last work before the… incident was about, and that was strange, because she always kept me up to date with her jobs. I remember she started going to a bookshop near the castle” A bookshop near the castle... Oh no, please don’t ” The Dusty Tome, yes, that’s the name” Twilight’s darkened for just a small, imperceptible moment” She came back almost everyday with books about dragons”
“Dragons?”
“Yes, almost every book was about them” She nodded slowly.
Twilight took a small sip and the lowered the cup, breaking the telekinetical force that bounded it. She got up.
“Thank you, you were very helpful, miss Streak”
“Oh, we’re done already?” She couldn’t manage to completely hide the relief in her voice.
“Yes, I have all the info I need. Just a curiosity, ma’am. Those sculptures…”
“Those trinkets? They’re just salt sculptures representing the sun, it’s just a small hobby of mine”
“Well, thank you for the tea, miss Streak. I hope you and your niece can return to a normal life as soon as possible”
“Goodbye, officer” And she slammed the door behind her.
“Oracle, can you hear me?”
“I read you loud and clear, SPRKL-1. I made some background check on the relatives of your victims, and I found something you’ll like. A lot.”
“Surprise me”
“Ok, both Spring Blossom’s aunt and Nimbus’s mother worked at the Royal Canterlot University. Lime Streak was a gardener for the Royal Faculty of Archeological Studies. But Fire Dust, Nimbus’s mother, was a counselor for the Royal Faculty of Archeological Studies. Her field of expertise? Dragons. She lived 5 years in a draconic colony up north, near the Misty Mountains.”
“I just asked a few questions to Lime Streak. She said her niece was fascinated by dragons. Bought lot of books from a… local bookshop. I’m going to check out the place and then, let’s just say that miss Fire Dust will have a lot of explaining to do.”
“Twilight?”
“What?”
“Be careful”
A smile crept on her face
“I will. SPRKL-1 out”
The sun was almost setting when she reached the top of the street. The Dusty Tome sat on the precipice of the mountain, its windows facing 30 meters of pure, beautiful complete void. Everything looked the same, just like she remembered. The pastry shop in front of the shop, the smell would always be engraved in her memory. The park just down the road. The sunset, always stunning from the balcony at the end of the street. The unkempt windows, always covered with dirt, even if this was supposed to be a top notch bookshop for scholars. The door, always creaking loudly. The inside, rows of badly lit old books shelved on top of the other. The scent of parchment, glue, dust. The voice that always welcomed the customers in the same way:
“Welcome to the Dusty Tome, reign of the books. What can I help you with?”
Hello, dad.
“Mr. Sparkle? My name is Dawn Wake, agent of the EIS. I’m here to ask you some questions”
A stallion with a dark blue coat and a darker mane emerged from behind a pile of books. He approached her with a smile and offered his hoof. She shook it.
Keep calm. Stay professional.
“Boy, I hope I’m not into trouble!” said giggling a bit.
“It’s alright, Mr. Sparkle. I just need some information about a client you had recently.”
“Sure, of course. Wait here, I’ll grab here the register.” And he disappeared in the darkness that reigned in the shop, while asking “Do you mind telling me why an agent of the EIS has an interest in a humble bookshop and its customers?”
I can’t let my voice crack.
“I’m afraid it’s confidential, Mr. Sparkle.” He teleported behind Twilight, giving her a small scare. He was levitating a big book. He gestured her to follow her at the counter, lowered the book on it and turned around to ask “So, who are we looking for?”
“A mare named Spring Blossom. She bought a few books about dragons” He started turning the pages of his registry, looking for the name.
“Let me see, dragons, dragons… Here it is, Spring Blossom. She bought 6 books, all about dragon folklore… two weeks ago.” He grabbed the book and put it in front of her.
That’s a lot of time to get into a dragon worshipping cult.
“Thank you for your time, Mr. Sparkle.”
He smiled and said “Oh, I always have time for helping the law! Feel free to come back, maybe for a less formal occasion”
“I’ll try. Thank again”
She was on the roof of a small building in front of the university and the cool breeze of the dusk chilled her. It made her think straight, and logical. Cold. It was strange to watch the old part of the city from the rooftops: the modern part was divided in squares, the streets were perpendicular to one another. But the castle and its surroundings… It was like watching a white, pristine, marble made tumor, that elongated its pallid tendrils across the streets, the houses, the mountain. It just sat there, feasting on the vitality, glamour of the capital, a millenary parasite that made its way into the households of ponies that lived their life like leeches on productive part of society. Nobles…
When she was little and was appointed as the Princess protégé, she had the occasion to meet these so called nobles. Apart from a few notable exceptions, they weren’t the stuck up, dumb, annoying excuses of ponies she thought: they were akin to predators, at least on a social level. Shrewd, clever little malicious beings that realized how shallow was their cling to the privileges they so much enjoyed. One wrong word, one incorrect inflection could mean an untimely demise for the whole caste. So they learned to avoid using the stick too often and resorted to use the carrot much more. Even as a filly, she realized that every party she attended with the Princess, every occasion she met one of them was like being thrown into a pit full of lions, ready to dismember you at the slightest show of weakness. She was disappointed by the Princess’s attitude: she was by no mean like them. But, as time passed, Twilight realized that her mentor, no matter how hard tried and tried to look like a casual, fun loving normal pony, was in fact madly in love with her status, royalty, the perks, the worship that she apparently tried to discourage but that in fact loved, above everything else. Even her prized student. That was the reason of the confinement in Ponyville:
Who would want a socially inept bookworm as her personal student? Immediately after I exhausted my purpose, she threw me away, and started looking for somepony better than me. Discord was just a bump on her road, and Chrysalis, her true colors.
You don’t need her. You don’t need them. You’re strong now. You’re the master of your own fate. You have your life in your hooves. And there’s nothing she can do about it.
The sun set. It went beyond the horizon, and the sky turned black as coal. The lights of the Royal University glimmered in the darkness, slowly eating it. Soon they were in a struggle, pushing each other, annihilating each other, like matter and antimatter. And that wasn’t right. The shadows were… moving? They slithered about, slowly and subtly, taking everything in their grasp. She felt colder, and colder. The temperature was dropping drastically. Her breath was turning visible. She felt an aching sensation her left backleg, and turned around: a tendril was slowly making his way up her hoof. It was unbelievably cold. She dashed and shook her leg, bucking the air. But the tendril wasn’t just there, it disappeared as soon as she stepped into the light. Whatever they were meddling with, it was dangerous. Twilight had to put a stop to it. Her original plan was to wait for Fire Dust to come out, follow her for a bit, then teleport both of them away from indiscreet eyes and make her confess, one way or the other. But now, she couldn’t wait anymore. Whatever she did, it was dangerous, and probably was the same thing that completely wiped out the memory of her daughter, Spring Blossom, and that stallion. She was against a scholar interfering with ancient and cruel forces. Most likely, it started as an accident; Twilight couldn’t understand why she would want to wipe Nimbus’s memory clean, let alone try it again. She tried a ritual, something went wrong, and now she was trying to fix everything. The lavender mare teleported to another building beside the University and fired up a location spell. Her mind exploded and reassembled outside her body. She moved freely through the ether, at literally the speed of thought. She entered the University and started looking for Fire Dust. With her speed, she reached her office in seconds. She passed through the door, just in time to see the scholar collapse on the floor, with a tentacle made out of pure darkness tugging the base of her neck. The tentacle turned white for a second, the skin of the pony started to sizzle, and then it turned around, like he could see Twilight’s astral projection. It swam into the air following her gaze, and then whipped her consciousness. It was so cold. It speaked of the cold of the endless space around Earth, and filled her heads with alien chants. Her mind started to freeze, right there, into midair. She had to pull out: Twilight took every ounce of every magical power, broke the ice, and rewound her consciousness into her body. The dark vine followed her while she went backwards through the corridors, the hall at a neck breaking speed. When she got out of the University, it disappeared, and her mind returned to her collapsed body. Everything turned black. Then, her eyes opened, and she saw the cloudless night sky. She gasped, and cool, soothing air flowed into her lungs. She managed to get up, her legs shaking a bit. It was dangerous to stay here; she made a series of teleports, to distance herself from the crawling darkness. She stopped when she felt safe. It was time to recollect her thoughts.
Fire Dust got her memory sucked out by that thing, the same way it probably went with the other three. But why? Even if she managed to screw up, was she so incompetent that the ritual backfired?
Why are you adamant that Fire Dust was responsible?
But, everything made sense if she’s the culprit: we got the lore, the knowledge, the advantage of being a unicorn, what’s more to ask?
You don’t get it, do you? The answer almost killed you back there. That thing, what it was like?
Dark….
And?
Cold, very cold. And then, it turned white for a moment…
Ice can burn too.
A silent wave of magic unhinged the door. Everything was kept noiseless, thanks to a special purple ball of magic film. She entered the house, carefully and slowly, paying attention to every creak and squint: the living room was empty. The kitchen, too. All the light were turned off. Twilight Sparkle started to wonder if her instinct guided her into barging in the house of an innocent pony. She went upstairs, and looked around. There was a lit room, she could see the light coming out at the base of the door. She approached it, and looked through the keyhole. She was right.
She dismissed the noise absorbing bubble and just destroyed the door with a concussive spell. Inside Lime Streak gasped and recoiled in surprise. Beside her, a flickering image of a stallion.
Twilight Sparkle asked:
“Why?”
“For him”
The young mare lit up her horn. The bolt traveled through the air, sizzling and scorching everything in its path. The old mare closed her eyes, and an eternal dusk covered her.
The door creaked yet again, like every single time. The morning sun couldn’t even budge the thick layers of shadow that engulfed the inside of the shop. The voice came in, soon enough:
“Welcome to the Dusty Tome, reign of the books. What can I help you with”. And the stallion emerged from the unlit bookshelves yet again. He looked genuinely surprised to see her:
“Officer Wake, what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I just wanted to thank you for the info you gave me, Mr. Sparkle. We managed to stop a dangerous pony thanks to you.”
“Oh my, a dangerous pony, here, in this boring town? What exactly he, or she did?”
“It was.... passional. Love, in a way” She avoided his gaze, and he seemed confused by it.
“I thought it was, as you put it, ‘confidential” He started levitating books with his back turned to her. “Love, eh. It’s always love. It grabs us, takes everything we hold dear, and puts it on crystal pedestal, so fragile that you just need the wrong word to see it all crumble away.”
“Mr. Sparkle-”
“You probably knew my daughter” His cheerful tone slowly faded away “She would be about your age.”
“Y-yes, I knew her. Not personally, but I knew about her”
“I was probably like the fiend you captured, you know. I put my daughter above everything. Above myself, my wife, my other son. She was my greatest pride. And I lost her because of that. I couldn’t bring myself to love her for what she was, just for what I wanted her to be. Perfect. Look at me, “ he laughed nervously ” opening with a complete stranger, and I can’t do it with my family. You must be bored out of your mind, a young mare like you listening to the ramblings of an old stallion.”
“N-n-no, it’s okay. Everypony needs to vent up every once in a while. I’m glad you chose me, Mr. Sparkle” Her legs started to wobble.
“Oh, it’s...alright. So, you need something, a book?”
“Actually... Do you have Marvelous Merits of Mare-Eval Magic?”
He lit up and answered “Of course we do! Always a copy of such a classic lying around!”
He digged around for a while, then he returned with a rather worn book in his telekinetic grasp. “Second Edition, autographed by the author! Here, take it.”He dropped it in front of her” It’s on the house.”
Dad...
“Mr. Sparkle, I can’t just acce-”
“Oh, don’t be silly, officer Wake! You just stopped a dangerous criminal running about in Canterlot. I think you deserve a gift from the community.” She hesitantly grabbed the book with her magic.
“Well... Thanks, Mr. Sparkle. I... uhm, have to go. I have a train to catch” She reached the door and started opening it with her magic.
“Come again if you’re in Canterlot!” He waved at her.
Outside the shop, the sky was clear of all the clouds, and an endless blue filled her vision. The sun was so bright it was almost blinding. Before closing the door she turned around and said:
“Mr Sparkle?”
“Yes?”
“I’m sure wherever your daughter is, she has forgiven you.” And she stepped out in the cold and crisp summer morning, without waiting for an answer.
Twilight Sparkle opened the door with a rude telekinetic slam, and made her way to Mbura’s desk. She took out a small file from her saddlebag, and posed it on the desk. The zebra, without even watching her, asked:
“Is this...”
“Yes, it is. Complete with classification and personal retrieval accounts.” She chirped.
“Good work, Miss Sparkle. You’re free to go. Also, tell your Oracle I need to speak with him” He waved his hoof, dismissing her. Twilight, still happy to have recovered an SCP in her first mission, paid no attention to his rudeness and exited the room.
Mbura waited for his field agent to get out, then opened the file:
Item#: SCP-154
Object Class: Zaqar
Special containment procedures: 154 is to be kept in a closed room, with no windows, and with no way in apart from a simple door. The room is inside a 30x30 meters warehouse that must constantly lit. The door is to be kept under surveillance 24/7. Anyone that tries to enter the room without having a research or a 05 authorization is to be immediately subdued and taken for psychological evaluation. In case of breach, the containment squad has to flood the warehouse with as much light as possible until the generators are functional again.
In any case 154 must be allowed near [REDACTED].
Description: SCP-154 is a small salt statue representing the primal form of Nabu, a Wyvern goddess. Magical dating it’s impossible, as the statue doesn’t emit any kind of visible or invisible energy in any known spectrum, even when activated. When 154 is put anywhere near a shadow, it will activate, instantly possessing every single dark, shadowy spot in a 3,3 km radius. Inside this space, SCP-154, that manifest a conscious activity, is able to materialize as ██████ and black tendrils that can reach -272 C. It’s not clear how the tendrils can move even at absolute zero temperature, since the atoms composing it should at a zero energy state. Nonetheless, 154 is able to move, and is highly aggressive. 154 can only activate if it’s handled by a living, conscious being, called 154-A: however, the touch is registered permanently. As such, the last being to handle 154 is kept under constant surveillance. 154 is able to permanently remove parts or the entire memory of the victim, and then materialize memories from 154-A. The connection between the two abilities it’s not completely clear, but it seems that 154 is able to use the stolen memories as “fuel” to create a living, breathing replica of the memories of 154-A.
Retrieval log - Addendum [DATA EXPUNGED]
The object was retrieved by Agent ██████ ████ in the city of ██████. The SCP was in possession of an old lady named [REDACTED]. It’s unknown when or where she found the SCP, but she probably learned of some of its properties listening to the Wyvern lectures while attending her duties in the garden of the Faculty of Archeological Studies. She probably experimented quite a bit with 154, and realized what was capable to do after her long deceased husband appeared right before her eyes. Further investigations revealed that her husband, Sky Trail, died while trying to save his niece, Spring Blossom, from a great fire. Fire Dust apparently only had word of contempt for the gardener. As for the stallion, [REDACTED].The old lady tried to cover her tracks by sending her niece to look for dragon themed books, and “asked” 154 to make it look like the victims were burned by something.The Agent connected the small burns with the tendrils: she realized that after touching the victim, the tentacle turned briefly into salt crystals: this caused frostbite so severe that they looked like real burns. When the Agent confronted 154-A, circumstances called for a preventive elimination.
Test A - Date 13/23/Crescent Moon EQST
Subject: Earth pony, given by the Equestrian government for ████████████
Procedure: REFER TO DOCUMENT 3215PWZ LOG 34
Results: IBIDEM
Addendum 34-C/ Transcription of TEST A i.r. SCP-154
Dr. ███: Just stop it, ███████, right now.
Subject: I just CAN’T, Doctor. She is talking to me. She knows my pain.
Dr. ███: It’s just a statue, ██████, it’s not alive.
Subject: You just can’t hear, doc. But she can. She will always listen.
Dr.███: ██████, we need to flood this room, right now. Drop the statue, and come with me.
Subject: I’m sorry, doc. But my pumpkin pie is just so near and she can [REDACTED]
Dr.███: ██████ STOP IT, THAT’S AN ORDER
Subject: Sorry.
Dr.███: I SAID TO STOP IT
D-Class ██████: IT’S MOVING, HIT THE [REDACTED]
He closed the file. In front of him, the grey stallion was waiting for him to say something. Mbura didn’t even hear him come inside.
“Is there something wrong. sir?”
“Actually, yes, Dr. Light. We have a big, big problem”
The green unicorn knocked at the wonderfully crafted door. They were truly a work of wonder: engraved with scenes from Equestrian history, legends and tales from all around the kingdom. The sturdiness of the wood was covered with solid gold, and it shone in front of her, like the Sun itself.
“Come in”
She opened the doors with her magic, and closed them behind her. The room was most regal, luxurious, yet not boastful or in bad taste. On a big, comfy looking pillow, sat Princess Celestia. She rose up, and hugged Lyra tightly.
“Lyra, Lyra... You’ve done great services to me and my sister... I’m really sorry we have to do this. I know how you grew accustomed to Ponyville and to its...inhabitants.” She broke the hug and the informant could see sincere guilt in her eyes. But, even if she made friends, lots of friends... And something more.... She knew this day would come.
“It’s okay Princess. I guess since... she’s not here anymore, my job there is done. And the things I know... It would be dangerous for the next assignment. I was prepared for this day.”
“I know this is difficult for you. Maybe you’ll find comfort that it’s not easier for me”
“It’s fine, Princess. I am... I am ready.”
“Sorry, Lyra.”
She breathed, and launched the amnesiac spell. She closed her eyes, and felt compressed. When she opened them again, she was floating into a pure liquid river of darkness and memories. She concentrated, she needed just to block the memory of Ponyville. Lyra was her best informant, and she could not afford to lose info about the Elements of Harmony if she was ever captured in her next mission. The river divided into smaller streams, and she managed to find the Ponyville one. She went over it, trying to find the singular source, the first memory that spawned the others. But she found something she didn’t think she would. A lock.
A lock? Someone already amnesiaced her?
She hovered near the lock. It was a small memory, just five minutes, from six months ago. It was the night Twilight passed away... She removed it, but too much time had passed, so the stream wasn’t clear. Everything was confused and blurred. But she managed to recognize something familiar: between the polluted waves of Lyra’s memory, she saw a stallion. To her great disappointment, she couldn’t see his face. But he had a grey coat. And no cutie mark?
There was somepony who already fitted the description. Somepony who wasn’t supposed to be there.
“Bright Light”
I know what you're thinking. NO ORIGINAL SCP YOU JUST MADE THAT STUFF UP. Yeah, I did. I wanted to have the first case on my own terms. But from now own, canonical SCP or Equestrian version of them.