A swirling haze of grey and red filled Rainbow’s mind like a passing dream. Time ceased to be for her, as did the world around her. She was numb for what felt like a few moments, and then rudely awakened by a bright light.
“Gah!” she yelped, wincing before she could even open her eyes. She rolled over, reaching for a pillow that wasn’t there. “Five more minutesss…”
Her empty hoof caught her somewhat off guard. She dared open her eyes to look, a task much easier said than done. This glare was downright blinding! At least, it was at first. Her eyes gradually adjusted and allowed her to see that she was not in fact in her comfy bed, but instead in the middle of a patch of grass amidst the trees.
“Wha… when did I— oh, right, Nightmare Night. But I thought I… ugh, I am way too tired to remember things right now.”
She stood up on shaky hooves. When she attempted to stretch, she heard a loud pop from between her wings, a sudden shock that knocked the breath out of her.
“Ow!!” she exclaimed. As she reached back to clutch her shoulder, even the joints in her legs were crackling and popping like a campfire. “Oh sweet Celestia… never sleeping on solid ground again. Clouds… clouds forever.”
With a flap or two of her wings, she seemed to have worked all the stiffness out. At least, so she hoped. She was able to maintain a steady hover without any more pain, so that was good.
“Speakin’ of, I could use some real sleep,” she said mid-yawn. “Now just… where the heck am I, and where’s my house?”
Kicking off of the trunk of a tree, she swooped up above the canopy for a better look. From her vantage not a quarter-mile away from Ponyville, a few things immediately caught her attention: For one, the sky was still very much overcast from the night before, despite how bright the sunlight felt. The decorations from Nightmare Night were still all over town and the surrounding forest, yet limp and lifeless and devoid of any sense of festivity. Ghostly streamers whipped aimlessly in the wind, banners of cut-out bats clattered together, and half of the jack-o’-lanterns were toppled, stepped on, or both.
Most worrying, however, was the quiet. Where she might expect to hear birds or the faint clip-clop of hooves, there was only wind.
Rainbow flapped her wings and sent herself into a glide into town, glancing down at the streets below. Almost everywhere she looked, the streets were empty, save for the same abandoned decor. That was except for in front of Ponyville Town Hall. There, it seemed, was everypony. Absolutely everyone.
As she moved in closer, landing at the tail end of the mass crowd, Rainbow could hear the static of a microphone. On the Hall’s front doorstep, a small wooden stage had been crudely slapped together, along with speakers and a podium. Nopony was up there yet, but everypony was fixated regardless.
Rainbow nudged one of the mares huddled in the back. “Hey,” she said, “what’d I miss?”
The other mare shook her head. “W-we don’t know yet. These ponies showed up this morning and said they had important news.”
“You seem a little spooked. Rough Nightmare Night?”
“Actually, no,” she said. “I thought last night went just fine. I took my foals out trick-or-treating, then got them home before bedtime. It’s just… well, the way these new guys told us about the town meeting, that it was mandatory…”
Rainbow’s eyes widened at that. “Oh, jeez. And here I almost slept through it.”
Feedback from the speakers made half the crowd jump. There was finally somepony at the podium, tapping the microphone; he appeared to be a unicorn stallion of indeterminate age, wearing mirrored sunglasses and a matching set of well-pressed fedora and trenchcoat. His face was locked in a permanent expression of neutral indifference.
“Attention, Ponyville,” he said in an authoritative tone. “We apologize for the delay. We are still compiling a full list of missing ponies.” He paused, letting a murmur build amongst the crowd. “If you or someone you know are aware of any missing ponies or other creatures, please come forward with your report at this time.”
As he stepped down, the murmur turned to an anxious roar. The ponies before the stage began to look around frantically for anyone they knew. Rainbow was not an exception.
She hovered above the crowd, looking around for her closest friends. Up near the front was the unmistakable bouncing cotton candy that was Pinkie Pie. Rarity and Applejack were off to the right, each sheltering her respective sister as best they could.
“I should find Scootaloo…” Rainbow thought aloud, her voice tinged with guilt and worry.
The next thing she knew, she was tackled through the air, clutched tightly in somepony else’s hooves.
“Rainbow Dash!” said a familiar, soft and sweet mare. “We were so worried about you! Oh, I’m so glad you’re okay!”
“Eheh… mornin’, Fluttershy,” said Rainbow, squirming in her friend’s grip. “I’m okay, just— oof, having a little trouble breathing…”
Fluttershy immediately released her friend. “Sorry! I was just so excited. Well, relieved, really.”
“What’s going on, anyway? Who’s missing?”
“That’s just it,” said Fluttershy. “None of us have any idea.” She glanced at a line of ponies forming near the stage, and Rainbow soon followed suit. “Must be at least a few missing, though. I sure hope they’re alright…”
“Maybe they’re like me and just partied a little too hard last night,” said Rainbow. “That reminds me… how do you do it? Sleeping on the ground like an earth pony? I woke up feelin’ like I got hit by a train!”
Fluttershy gave Rainbow a sideways look. “It probably helps to sleep in an actual bed, you know.”
“Hey, not my fault I passed out.”
“It’s kind of your fault.”
“...Yeah, that’s fair.”
A thump on the speakers drew their attention to the front once more. The same stallion— or perhaps another with the exact same fashion sense— stood at the mic, flanked by what could easily have been two of his clones on each side. They waited, motionless, for the crowd to settle down.
“Ladies and Gentlecolts,” he began, matching the earlier stallion in all but pitch. “We are agents here on behalf of the crown. We were sent urgently as of oh-six-hundred this morning to investigate a string of missing persons cases. As some of you are aware, not everypony came home after Nightmare Night last night. We believe each of these disappearances to be related to one another.”
He paused to let this sink in. “All we ask of you is to remain calm. We have the situation under control. However, we will need a few days in order to truly get to the bottom of this and, ideally, bring your friends and family home. To that end, we are hereby instating two temporary yet binding laws here in Ponyville. Number one: There will be an enforced curfew at sundown each day until the investigation is over. Ponies are expected to be inside their homes from sundown until sunrise the next day. We will issue a warning at first offense, and detain upon subsequent offenses.”
“They can do that?!” Rainbow half-whispered to Fluttershy. “That’s so not fair!”
“I mean, if it helps them to do their job…”
“Number two: We are hereby issuing a travel ban for all those present in town during the Nightmare Night celebration. No one will be allowed to leave Ponyville until after—”
“WHAT?!” Rainbow’s defiant cry could be heard echoing even over the voice on the microphone.
“Please save all questions until the end, thank y—”
He could barely finish his sentence by the time Rainbow swooped down on-stage. “Listen here, ‘agent’; I can’t stay here. I’m only on leave for another two days, and after that—”
The stallion used his hat to muffle the microphone. “Leave, you say? I did not realize you were military personnel.”
Rainbow hesitated to respond. “Erm, well, Wonderbolts officer…”
“So, auxiliary staff.” Even with his shades, she could tell he was glaring at her.
“Hey, we count!” Rainbow snapped. “We’re not just tricks and flips, you know. We’re also trained in handling weather and big monster threats!”
“Your ‘corps’, and I use that word lightly, are at best a volunteer militia. Your main ‘job’ is to entertain, not protect. Compared to us, you’re virtually nothing more than a hall monitor. You can stay home like all the other little fillies.”
“Who the hay do you think you are?!” Rainbow shouted back. Despite her outward fervor, she felt herself begin to blush in embarrassment.
A set of hooves trotted briskly up on stage, followed by a mare’s voice. “Sorry I’m late, I— what’s going on? Rainbow? Why are you… dressed like that?”
It was at this point that Rainbow realized that she was still wearing her costume from the night before, clad in plastic crown, fake mane, and a cutie mark cover-up. Rainbow turned to snap at this newcomer, face now bright red, but caught herself mid-expletive. “Starlight Glimmer? What’re you doing here?”
“I asked first, but… you know, my job as Headmare?” Starlight cleared her throat and turned to the agents. “Twilight got me up to speed. May I add something?”
“Wait, Twilight is—”
“Yes, Rainbow, she’s the one who authorized this. She’s very worried about all of us and just wants to keep us safe.”
The pegasus mare slunk back onto her haunches, jaw agape. “But… why would she—”
“Have you met her?” said Starlight with a snicker. “Over-the-top paranoid, better-safe-than-sorry… that’s kind of her whole thing. It hasn’t been that long since you visited, has it?”
“No, just… ugh…” Rainbow sighed in defeat. “I’ll just… go.”
As Rainbow turned to trot down off stage, the agent who had been speaking motioned for Starlight to take his place at the podium.
“Hello everypony,” she began with a cheeky smile. “Look, I know everything is very tense right now, but I have just one teeny little addendum to the previous announcement, regarding the School of Friendship. Ahem.” She produced a scroll from a saddlebag. “In the interest of protecting the well-being of students, we are going to be instating some more, well, intense security measures. We’ll be giving students twenty-four hours to head home, should they choose, but after that, a barrier will be cast around the school grounds. No creature will be allowed in or out without express permission.”
This was immediately met with a rather loud and vocal backlash that left Starlight recoiling from the microphone.
“Heh,” said Rainbow, under her breath. “Guess it could be worse for the rest of us.”
“Excuse me, ma’am?”
She whipped around to find yet another nearly identical agent staring blankly at her from a mere foot or two away. After the initial shock, she groaned, rolling her eyes and tearing the wig and crown off her head. “What now?!”
He showed absolutely no physical reaction to her tone. “Due to your recent absence, we need you to come with us to answer a few questions. This will only take a moment.”
“Do I have to?” Rainbow whined. “You already know I’m not actually missing.”
Fluttershy trotted up nearby, but hesitated to get closer than several yards of the agents themselves. She gave Rainbow a sympathetic look, but held her tongue as the agent spoke instead.
“True, but you were on the original list. Furthermore, your outburst—”
“Sorry about that. I’m just… I don’t want to screw up with the ‘Bolts, you know?”
“And yet you have shown unusual hostility towards law enforcement officers of superior rank.”
Rainbow took a deep breath. “I am sorry I snapped at you guys. I’m tired, half of my everything hurts, and I’m worried for Ponyville.”
“We, too, are worried. You can rest assured of that. Now, about this questioning…”
“If I tell you what you wanna know, can I go home after?”
Surprisingly, the agent nodded. “These questions are more of a formality. Once we are done, you will be free to return to your local residence.”
“Um, excuse me…”
Fluttershy finally spoke up, having inched her way toward the conversation. “You don’t think Rainbow Dash has anything to do with the missing ponies, do you?”
There was a pregnant pause following that question. Rainbow could feel her heart sink into her chest.
“No, Ma’am,” said the agent, slower and more deliberate than before. “We just want to know what she may have seen last night, and where she was this morning.”
“Fluttershy, it’s fine,” said Rainbow. “I’ll go, clear my name or whatever, and then… er, frankly head home for a snack and a nap.”
“Are you sure, Rainbow?” asked Fluttershy. “You don’t look so—”
“I’m fine,” she said. “Really. C’mon, let’s go play twenty questions and get this over with, eh… guy?”
“Very well,” he replied, back to his perfectionistic manner. “If you would follow me.”
He began to walk up the stairs into Town Hall. Rainbow moved to follow, when suddenly she felt a tug at her hind leg.
“Fluttershy, I’m fi—”
She stopped as a hoof gingerly pressed against her forehead. Fluttershy held her hoof there for a few seconds before shaking her head. “Rainbow, you’re cold. You might be sick.”
“Really? I don’t feel any different. Just sore, and that’s probably ‘cause I slept on a bunch of rocks.”
“That sounds like a flu.” Fluttershy scowled in much the same way as a disappointed mother. “You should get some rest, maybe have some soup! Not go swooping around and yelling at ponies!”
“And the sooner I talk to these weirdos, the sooner I’ll get right on that.”
“Are you sure? What if they think you did something, and they keep you in a cold, dark jail cell? Or what if you get them sick and then they get you in trouble for that? Or—”
Rainbow stopped her with a hoof on her shoulder. “Fluttershy, I’ve been through worse. I’ll be fine.”
Fluttershy averted her eyes. “Well… can I at least bring you tea later?”
“Yeah, that sounds cool to me.”
They motioned for a hug, but thought better of it partway through. The girls exchanged a warm smile, then Rainbow trotted after the agent, who by this time was tapping a hoof and checking his watch. Fluttershy left a few seconds later, once she was sure Rainbow was inside, safe and sound for the time being.
A lone lamp flickered to life in this pitch-black room. The initial flash sent Rainbow reeling, clutching her head as it felt like rail spikes were being driven into it. In a moment or two, the pain passed, and she got a better look at this makeshift interrogation room. Besides the fold-out table and pair of chairs in the middle, if she had to guess from the shelves and supplies stacked up against the walls, she figured this was normally a broom closet before the agents showed up.
Across the table, one such agent cleared his throat. “Thank you for joining us, Ma’am. This will only take a few minutes.”
He set a device on the table between them, then clicked a button. A couple of gears in the middle began turning. It took a second for Rainbow to recognize the device.
“A… tape recorder?”
“For record-keeping purposes. Full disclosure, this conversation from this point on will be fully recorded and reviewed as needed by our investigation team. Now, please state your name, Ma’am.”
Rainbow blinked. “Uh, okay?” She leaned in closer to the device. “Rainbow Dash.”
The agent slid the recorder a few inches back. “Thank you, Ma’am, but there is no need to speak up. I assure you, this recording will pick up any sound in this room just fine.”
“Er, right. Sorry.”
“You’re fine, Ms. Dash,” he said. It seemed as though he wanted to sound reassuring, but didn’t quite get there. Just as quickly, he resumed his formal, by-the-books tone all over again. “Now, to begin, let me give you some proper background; as we had assumed that you were among the missing, we pulled any files we could about you.”
Rainbow tilted her head. “What, like my permanent record?”
“Something like that,” he said. “You know, I was actually pleasantly surprised from what we found.”
“Really? I mean— yeah, duh!” said Rainbow, crossing her hooves and trying to play it cool.
“Besides some… juvenile delinquency charges,” he began again, peering at Rainbow over his sunglasses, which she just realized he was still wearing even indoors, “you have quite the commendable service record built up over the years. Most of which credits you under the title of ‘Element of Loyalty’, though there are a few separate incidents. You’ve shown much bravery in the face of danger, Ms. Dash. I have to admit, I’m impressed.”
With every word, the smirk forming on Rainbow’s face grew wider and more smug. “Yeah baby, I know it. I’m kinda awesome, you know?”
“That’s one way to put it,” he replied. “That all said, while this does paint the picture of a generally upstanding Equestrian citizen, there’s still the matter of last night in particular. It says here you own residence in the Ponyville airspace, but have spent the last few months stationed near Cloudsdale. What brings you back to Ponyville?”
“Eh, the Captain told me I should take a break,” said Rainbow. “I figured I might as well pay a visit to some of my best friends. Besides, Ponyville’s more of a home to me than anywhere.”
“I see,” he replied. He pulled out a small notepad and jotted down a few quick notes. This seemed like overkill to Rainbow, coupled with the recorder, but she figured it better not to bring this up. The agent continued soon anyway. “Seems like an interesting time to pay a visit, what with the holiday and all. What made you want to come visit on Nightmare Night?”
“Eheh, well… okay, so, this is all private, right? Like, you’re not gonna tell anypony else what I say here?”
He nodded. “This stays between you, me, and the agency.”
Rainbow breathed a deep sigh of relief. “I’m… not getting any younger. I wanted a chance to do something crazy, get dressed up and fly around pullin’ pranks on ponies again. You know, pretend I’m just a few years outta flight school again. Spend time with the ponies who I— well, didn’t exactly ‘grow up’ with, but they definitely helped me become a better pony.”
“Interesting. Very interesting…”
Seriously? All that heart-felt mushiness and that’s all he has to say?! What a jerk.
After spending a good minute scribbling frantic notes, he turned his attention back to Rainbow Dash. “Out of curiosity, you say you were ‘pulling pranks’ on ponies. By your best estimate, about how many ponies would you have run into while, erm, having your fun?”
She thought for a moment. “Well, counting non-pony students who were out and about, I’d say I pulled somethin’ on at least a couple dozen by the time I passed out.”
“Passed out? Care to elaborate?”
“Uh, heh. Yeah, I… overdid it a bit, I think. Woke up this morning passed out under a tree. I’m still paying for that…”
“How so?”
“How did I wake up under a tree?”
“How are you ‘paying’ for it?”
She groaned to herself. “Remember how I said I’m not gettin’ any younger? My head, my back, everything hurts. Gosh, I feel like a crotchety old mare…”
“I see…” He jotted down a few more notes. “These pains started when you woke? Are they continuous, or off-and-on?”
“What are you, a doctor?” Rainbow snapped. “What’s this got to do with missing ponies?!”
He shook his head. “You’re right, let us stay focused. You say you were able to prank at least two dozen or so individuals. Granted, the only missing persons we are aware of are ponies, so chances may be affected…”
“Chances of what?”
“Ms. Dash, if we showed you a series of photographs of the missing, could you tell us if you saw any of them last night, and where?”
Rainbow blinked in surprise. “Oh, uh, sure I guess. I don’t know if I’ll remember everything I saw, but I’m happy to help there.”
“Glad to hear. Here, take a look.”
He produced a briefcase, and from within that, a manila folder. The folder flipped open with a spot of unicorn magic, then a series of five photographs spun out onto the table before Rainbow Dash. She leaned over to take a closer look.
But when she did, the glossy photos reflected a lot of light straight into her eyes.
“GYAH!!” she screamed, clutching her skull with both forehooves. It felt as if knives were being driven into her skull by a steadily thumping hammer.
Her sudden outburst actually made the agent flinch for a moment. “Ms. Dash? Is everything alright?”
“I’m f-fine!” she stammered. “I’m perfectly— oh, crap, no I’m not. Fluttershy was right, I need to lay down…”
The agent stared at her quizzically, then slowly began packing up the photos again. “I see… Well, did you at least recognize anypony in these?”
“Sorry,” Rainbow said, still wincing. “Didn’t get a good look, I just… agh, my head…”
He paused, then took another few notes. “I do hope you feel better, Ms. Dash. Should we perhaps pick this up another time?”
Rainbow took a deep breath, feeling the throbbing pain start to fade ever-so-slightly. “Tell ya what,” she said, looking the agent in the eyes again. “Drop a copy of those off at my place. I’ll take a look after I get some z’s. That work for ya?”
The agent thought for a moment, then nodded. “We are currently printing posters to place around town. I’ll have a set sent to your cloud home.” He stood up, shutting his briefcase. “In that case, I believe we are done here. You are free to go, Ms. Dash.”
She wasted no time getting up herself, although she felt a small pop in her shoulder as she did. “Thank you, thank you,” she said as she caught her breath. “I promise I’ll let you know what I can remember. And… sorry again about the whole stage thing.”
The shadow of a smile formed on the agent’s stoic face. “You just focus on taking care of yourself, Ma’am.”
With one last shared nod, Rainbow stumbled back out the door, wincing again at the daylight through the windows but nevertheless trotting for the exit.