//------------------------------// // 5 - Missing in Action // Story: Little Changes // by tom117z //------------------------------// Twilight groaned in discomfort as the piercing light of the morning sun filtered in through the library’s loft window, hitting her square in the face. Annoyed at having her peaceful slumber disturbed, she rolled over onto her other side and did her best to ignore it. ‘Just a little longer,’ she silently wished. ‘I don’t want to get up yet…’ Unfortunately, that thought did not reach Celestia, despite what Twilight’s drowsy mind had hoped. The sun continued to rise, unhindered and growing ever warmer. Her blankets and sheets swiftly began to heat up, and soon it was getting to be uncomfortable. Sighing in resignation, Twilight peeled open her eyes. The bedroom was more or less as she had left it. Spike was slumbering peacefully in his bed basket on the floor by Twilight’s bedside, his soft snores reverberating in the cosy space. A collection of books and sheets of parchment were scattered across the nearby desk, a sign that Twilight had been doing research last night before Rainbow had dragged her up to watch the storm. Speaking of whom, Twilight turned her head to look at Rainbow’s bed, expecting to find the blue pegasus there. However, to her surprise, the bed was completely empty. There was no sign of Rainbow Dash having ever come back into the room. Even her hairband was missing from her bedside table. Twilight frowned and slowly sat up in her bed. “Huh… that’s odd,” she mused before looking back towards the window. Had Rainbow stayed outside and fallen asleep on the clouds? It didn’t seem like an unlikely scenario. Rainbow was excellent at napping just about anywhere she wanted, and clouds were exceptionally comfortable to sleep on. ‘Might as well check,’ Twilight decided. The cloud they had been on hadn’t been all that far from the tree, she remembered, and with Rainbow’s hearing, she could probably shout up at her and wake her up. Her course of action determined, Twilight quietly pulled open the window with her magic, faltering for a moment. Nonetheless, it soon stood open, and she was quick to poke her head out and look up towards the sky. It had drifted a few yards to the south overnight, but the cloud was still there. “Rainbow!” Twilight called up to the cloud. “Did you fall asleep up there?!” Twilight strained her ears for several seconds, listening for a response. Nothing. Twilight’s frown deepened. She pulled her head back into the building before turning and easing herself out of the room, careful not to wake a still-snoring Spike. Her descent brought her down to the living room, where yet again, there was no sign of Rainbow Dash. Twilight felt a small flicker of anxiety forming in her chest, but she was quick to shove it down. Rainbow was probably just in the kitchen, or maybe the basement, or something. “Rainbow? You in here?” she called out, heading for the kitchen first. Just like before, Rainbow was nowhere to be found. “Rainbow Dash?!” Something didn’t feel right about this. Twilight swallowed heavily before turning and quickly making her way back up the steps. The moment she was back in the bedroom, she reached out and shook Spike awake. “Spike, wake up!” “Wh-wha? Huh?” Spike snorted before lifting his eyes blearily from his blanket. “Twi… mmbuh. What is it? What time is it?” Twilight glanced over at the window. “It’s sunrise. Look, Spike… did you see or hear Rainbow coming back inside last night?” she asked, nervously rubbing one of her hooves against the opposing shoulder. Spike slowly sat up on his knees. “Uh… no? I was sound asleep,” he replied before going into a languid stretch. “She’s probably just downstairs. Now, if you’ll excuse me-” “I already checked downstairs,” Twilight dismissed with a quick shake of her head. “She wasn’t there either. And I’m pretty sure she wasn’t on the cloud over the library, either, she would have heard me shouting to her if she was.” Spike paused. His expression soured into one of concern before he looked up at Twilight. “What? So, she’s not anywhere inside?” “No, she isn’t, and it doesn’t look like she even came back,” Twilight acknowledged, her gaze drifting over to Rainbow’s bed. “None of her stuff’s moved from where she left it, and her hairband’s gone.” Spike’s eyes widened. “She doesn’t leave the library without that,” he realized before hopping up and running over to her bed. He jumped up and gave it a quick look over himself before turning back to Twilight. “I got a bad feeling about this…” “Where do you think she would have gone?” Twilight asked uneasily, her new wings ruffling unhelpfully at her sides. “I don’t know her as well as you do…” “I know, that’s why I’m worried,” Spike said with a slow nod. “She does a good job hiding it, but Rainbow has a lot of mental health issues. And it’s not like her to just up and disappear on us without saying something, not unless there’s something really wrong.” Twilight swallowed heavily. “Okay, okay, well, uh, l-let’s not jump to any conclusions too quickly,” she said with an anxious chuckle. “Let's look around town and ask our friends. Maybe they’ve seen her?” “Maybe…” Spike agreed before jumping down from the bed and heading for the stairs. “I’m gonna grab a few gems from the kitchen for breakfast and go to Rarity’s. Why don’t you start with Fluttershy? Other than you, she’s Rainbow’s oldest friend.” “Okay,” Twilight agreed, falling into step beside Spike. “Once we’re done, let’s meet up at Sugarcube Corner, ok? Pinkie’s there, and if Fluttershy or Rarity don’t know where Rainbow is, Pinkie definitely will.” Spike raised an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah, good point. Then why not hit her first?” Twilight cringed. “Spike… I just got up. I don’t have the energy to deal with her yet. Maybe when I’ve woken up a little.” “Ah,” Spike nodded without another word, totally understanding Twilight’s sentiment. Without any further ado, the two split up. Twilight quickly made her way out the front door and departed at a canter, making her way for Fluttershy’s cottage. “I’m sorry, Twilight, but no, I haven’t seen her,” Fluttershy said softly some while later, much to Twilight’s disappointment and rapidly-mounting worry. The two of them were presently seated in Fluttershy’s living room, the pegasus having happily poured Twilight a cup of tea from her pot once Twilight had arrived. A few birds watched them from the rafters, while an angrily-pouting white rabbit glared at Twilight from the farthest end of the kitchen. His whiskers twitched every so often, and somehow, Twilight just knew he was not fond of her. She did her best to ignore the little devil and instead focused on Fluttershy again. “Are you sure? Absolutely sure? When did you see her last?” she asked, hoping to maybe get a lead or something. Fluttershy hummed before taking a thoughtful sip of her tea. “I think the last time I saw her was during Pinkie’s big party at the library a few days ago…” she said after a second. “The one to welcome me back to Ponyville after…” Twilight trailed off, her throat constricting involuntarily at the reminder of her condition. She looked down at the tea in her hooves, her ears drooping. “...After I got amnesia.” Fluttershy sighed softly from her end of the sofa. Twilight’s ear twitched at the sound of Fluttershy setting down her teacup. Then Fluttershy set a hoof on her shoulder drawing Twilight out of her momentary trance. The pegasus offered her a small, kind smile. “It’s okay, Twilight.” Twilight was quiet for a moment before lightly brushing Fluttershy’s hoof aside with her own. “I know… but I’m not worried about me right now. Spike’s really worried about Rainbow. It’s not like her to just run off in the middle of the night, according to him, and he mentioned she has a lot of mental health problems or something,” she said, trying to get the discussion back on track. Fluttershy winced and looked away. “Erm… yes. You already know about her PTSD, but, um, she’s had a history of depression and anxiety issues ever since her, um… her parents died.” “Do you think she might have relapsed?” Twilight asked uneasily, a lump forming in her throat. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow, turning back to Twilight. “Relapse? What do you mean?” Twilight hesitated for a second. “I mean… I know that, out of all of our friends, she took my condition especially hard… I mean…” she paused long enough to down some more of her tea, letting the heat of the steaming beverage melt the stubborn lump in her throat. “W-we used to be a couple… but…” Fluttershy’s expression hardened considerably. “Twilight, no. Do not blame yourself for this,” she said sternly, surprising Twilight. This was the first time in all of her few weeks of memory that she had heard the pegasus talk like this. “B-but-” she tried to interject, but Fluttershy kept going. “Rainbow took your amnesia really hard, but she’s in a much better place than she used to be. Trust me, I know… I saw her at her worst when she was put in an orphanage in Cloudsdale,” she paused, her ears lowering and her voice trailing off. For a moment she was completely silent before shaking her head and speaking up again. “Wherever Rainbow has gone, it is not your fault. And I’m sure that she’s fine, wherever she is. Now…” Fluttershy threw back the rest of her tea before standing up. “I don’t know where she went, but I’m sure we can find her if we look around together,” she decided before suddenly shrinking back. “Uh, I mean, if that’s alright with you…” Twilight smiled and swallowed the remainder of her tea as well before standing up. “It’s perfectly fine with me. Come on, let’s head to Pinkie’s. Spike will probably be there soon anyway. He was asking Rarity if she’s seen Rainbow anywhere.” Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “Sure he is.” “What?” “Huh?” “Alright, so lemme see if Ah got this right,” Applejack said, one of her hooves pressing tiredly up against the side of her head. “Nopony - not even Pinkie - has got any clue where Rainbow’s gone and disappeared to?” “Nope,” Pinkie replied with a shake of her head on the other side of the table. “Which is super duper weird. Usually, I can find her wherever she goes, but not today! It’s like she fell off the face of the world or something. Just: POOF!” Fell off the face of the world? Well, that wasn’t exactly an encouraging thought. Twilight winced and took a deep breath before closing her eyes to try and get her thoughts in order. She was currently seated at a table next to a window in Sugarcube Corner, along with the rest of the group. Fluttershy sat to her left, followed by Pinkie, Spike, and Rarity, and Applejack was positioned to her right. They had all gathered there not long after Twilight and Fluttershy showed up, with Pinkie having made a few passes around town, asking the locals if any of them had seen Rainbow that morning. But nopony had seen any sign of the rambunctious pegasus. The most recent recounting anypony could give was seeing Rainbow preparing the cloud that she and Twilight had used to watch the storm last night. It was deeply concerning, to say the least. How could nopony have noticed her? Rainbow wasn’t exactly subtle or quiet, most of the time, and her colours did not lend well to blending in with just about anything. When Pinkie had come back, it was with a confused and concerned Applejack at her side, the two having bumped into each other in the streets in the middle of Pinkie’s rounds. “Wherever could the dear have gone?” Rarity asked, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. “No idea,” Spike mumbled, scratching his shoulder with his claws. “I already sent a letter to Celestia while I was at Rarity’s to see if maybe she stopped by Canterlot, but there wasn’t any sign of her there, either.” “I’m starting to get worried,” Fluttershy said quietly, lightly tugging on her mane in a display of anxiety. “If she was going somewhere, she would have said something… right?” Pinkie gasped at that as if an idea had struck her. “What if she CAN’T say anything?! What if she was foalnapped or something?!” she asked, her ears standing at attention. “What if some mean, nasty changelings came by looking to snatch her away for revenge?! We did turn their queen into a fancy tree, after all!” “That don’t seem likely to me, sugarcube,” Applejack was quick to shoot down that idea. “It’s barely been a couple months. The Hive’s still gonna be in an uproar if what Thorax told us up north is true.” “Besides, there would have been signs of a struggle near her cloud,” Twilight added in with a solemn frown. “It had moved a little bit, but it was pretty much the same as we left it, from what I could see.” Spike sighed and set his chin on his palm, resting his elbow on the table. “Right, okay, so how do we figure out where she went?” he asked impatiently. “I’m not exactly comfortable with the idea of waiting for her to turn back up on her own, either.” “Well, she is a Princess,” Applejack pointed out. “If she’s missin’, that’s gonna cause a lotta problems.” “Especially given her new position,” Pinkie added with a series of rapid nods. “Princess of the Skies, right? So she’s in charge of the weather across Equestria, isn’t she?” “In emergencies,” Spike clarified. “The individual weather teams for each town are usually self-sufficient. She has authority over them, yeah, but she doesn’t like to use it unless she has to.” “Which is all well and good, but need I remind you, it is also not the point,” Rarity was quick to nudge the discussion back on track. “A princess has gone missing, dears.” Twilight hummed thoughtfully to herself. “Okay, well… what if we tried to organize a search party?” she suggested helpfully. “In the time it would take to get one put together, especially given the fact Rainbow is royalty, there’s a chance she might turn up on her own. If not, then we go ahead with the search and find her that way.” “Celestia and Luna’ll wanna get involved if we do that,” Applejack noted before nodding in agreement. “So Ah say we do it. It might be nothin’, but Ah don’t think we should be takin’ any chances.” “Hear hear,” Rarity agreed. “I can send out the notifications!” Pinkie declared while thrusting a hoof up into the air. “I’ll treat it like I’m sending out party invitations!” “Good idea,” Applejack said with a smile. She then turned to Spike. “Why don’t y’all send Celestia and Luna another message, there, Spike? Let ‘em know what we’re up to?” Spike threw a quick salute. “Will do! Just as soon as Twilight and I are back at the library, I’ll send them a letter right away.” “I can try and talk to some of my little creatures,” Fluttershy suggested. “Maybe some of them saw something. And if not, I might be able to convince them to help in the search.” “And if we do have to start looking everywhere, I would be more than happy to lend myself to the search effort,” Rarity added, puffing up her chest. “Ditto. But, Rarity,” Applejack glanced sideways at the fashionista. “Are ya sure yer all on board fer that? There’s a lotta dirt involved…” “Applejack, I assure you, after everything we went through in the Empire, a little bit of dirt on my hooves is the least of my worries.” Twilight swallowed heavily, suddenly feeling very small and insignificant as the conversation carried on. Already, all of her friends were leaping into motion and picking out roles for themselves in figuring out what had happened to Rainbow Dash. But here she was, barely able to think of any way she might be of help. ‘I can’t fly very well yet, I can barely use my magic, and I know almost nothing about everything around us…’ she lamented internally, her expression souring. ‘How am I supposed to do my part?’ She felt a nudge on her shoulder, and turned to see Fluttershy offering her a kind smile. “You and Spike could probably help coordinate the search,” she suggested quietly. “His dragonfire thing is really helpful for sending letters.” Twilight’s brain stalled for a second before she smiled. “Thanks, Fluttershy… I think I’ll do that,” she said before looking down at Spike herself. “And on that note… Spike, come with me. I want to try something!” “Wha?” Spike went to ask, but Twilight as already cantering for the door. She heard plenty of movement behind her a moment later. Her friends must have taken her sudden departure as their cue to break and do their respective tasks. 'But if my hunch is right,' Twilight thought, focusing on the Golden Oaks Library. 'We won’t need a search party at all.' “So, what is it you want me to do?” Spike asked curiously once he and Twilight were back inside the library. ‘Paper, ink, pen,’ Twilight thought, quickly making her way up the stairs towards her bedroom, her mind set on her desk. “I’m going to write a letter to Rainbow, and you’re going to send it,” she said plainly. “With any luck, if Rainbow is okay, it should let her know that we’re worried and that she should come home right away.” “Oh, clever thinking,” Spike complimented with a toothy grin. Twilight took some pride in the assurance before entering her room. Her eyes briefly lingered on Rainbow’s empty bed before she pulled herself over to her desk. “Alright, here we go…” she mumbled. Her horn lit up with magic, and she pulled a sheet of parchment in front of her before lifting up a quill and getting to work. Rainbow Dash, You weren’t in the library when I woke up this morning, and nopony had any idea where you are. It’s like you just disappeared on us. We’re all a little worried, so if you’re alright, please come home and let us know. Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle She gave the letter a quick look to make sure all was well before nodding in satisfaction. “Alright, we’re set,” she determined before floating it over to Spike. “Send it.” Spike nodded. Without a word, he inhaled deeply before unleashing a torrent of green flames over the drifting parchment, causing it to vanish into a swirling cloud of smoke that lifted into the air. Something was wrong, though. Twilight watched with a rapidly-growing sense of dread as the ball of smoke remained stationary. Normally, it would go flying off at high speeds in the direction of the intended recipient. So… why was it just floating there? Suddenly, without warning, the smoke flashed with more green flames, and the letter was sent flying out of it back at Spike, the edges blackened and charred. “Woah!” Spike exclaimed, throwing himself to one side to dodge the projectile letter. It landed uselessly between the two beds in the room, slid a few inches, and then came to a complete stop. Twilight and Spike both eyed that slowly smouldering letter with horrified eyes. A heavy, uncomfortable silence filled the room until, finally, Spike turned to Twilight. “That’s... not supposed to happen.” She gulped, the dread in her gut growing exponentially. “Oh, Rainbow… what happened to you?” she asked in a whisper, her eyes never leaving the letter that failed to find her first friend.