//------------------------------// // Telecommunications // Story: Vanishing Act // by redandready45 //------------------------------// Three Weeks Later "Let's scan this and send it back," Sour said wearily, looking over a welfare form. She did a double take. "Oh yeah, I forgot. This stupid world DOESN'T HAVE ELECTRONIC MAIL!" The Shadowbolts sat at their workplace, trying to find any proof of Twilight's existence. They'd gone through hundreds of forms related to welfare, social services, education, health care, and any other government agency that their Twilight would go to. They'd gone through hundreds and hundreds of names that were synonyms of Twilight and Sparkle in case she was forced to change her name. Twinkle, Dusk, Shine, Winkle, Dawn. To their annoyance, there was 957 Dusk Shines in the pony version of Manehattan alone. "This is getting us nowhere," Sunny said, slamming a folder down. "We're not gonna find Twilight like this." "Well, what else can we do?" Indigo said with a bored moan. "Even if the Princess would let us leave, we have no idea where to go. And if the police here haven't found her yet, then what good are we?" "What if this is pointless?" Lemon asked aloud with a melancholy tone. "What if we can't find here because she-," "Don't say that," Sugarcoat said forcefully. "We can't give up!" "That's a fat load coming from you!" Sour said. "After all, you were the ONE GOING ON ABOUT SHE WAS SCREWED!" If Sugarcoat was bothered by her own words thrown back at her, then she didn't reveal it. "I was wrong." The words were simple and matter-of-a-fact. "Twilight had potential. She still does. Only by keeping up hope and doing the best for her can we help her achieve it." The words pushed away the poor mood, but not entirely. "But there's got to be a better way to do this," Indigo groaned. "If only this place had, like, satellites and GPS or something." A thoughtful frown appeared on Sunny's face. "But we can't just build that from scratch," Lemon Zest said with a groan. A wry smile appeared on Sunny's face. "Or can we?" "Do you have an idea, Sunny-bun?" Sour asked in a kind tone. "OR ARE YOU JUST TALKING FOR THE SAKE OF TALKING?!" A confident smirk appeared on the blue skinned girl-turned-unicorn's face. "Not my idea. But someone else's." "Let me get this straight." Juniper put down her fork and stared at her friends with a flat expression. She and her friends were gathered in the cafeteria, where they asked her for one request. "You guys want me to build an entire satellite system from scratch, and make it so it can find your Twilight's magical signature?" Lemon shrugged. "That's pretty much it." Juniper looked dismayed. "Guys, I can't just build a whole satellite system!" "But June," Lemon protested. "You're like...really smart." "I can't build an entire satellite system from scratch." "You told me you could build a telecommunication system from a bunch of balloons," Sunny replied. "Not only that, you said they were designed for poorer countries that can't afford more conventional equipment." "And Equestria is, kind of, a backwards country," Sugarcoat commented. Juniper gaped at her friends. "You actually cared about that stuff?" "After being lab assistants, you kind of pick up this stuff unconsciously," Indigo said with a shrug. "You also said that magic is kind of like a radio wave?" Sour asked. "So maybe, just maybe, you could design them to hone in Twilight's magical signature. Can you?" Juniper sat in her seat in thoughtful silence, while her friends looked at her with fragile optimism. "It could work," Juniper said. "Technically," she stressed when she saw happy smiles form on their faces. "But I can't just build one. I need to build a whole network of them. I don't have the money to do that." The other Shadowbolts felt smug smiles form on their faces. Juniper marveled the bag full of coins was dropped in front of her by Princess Twilight. She, the Princess of Friendship, Sunset, and her friends were gathered in front of the horse statue. She mentally counted. "There's got to be....a million dollars worth of gold here." She had never seen this much money in her entire life. "That's about a weekly paycheck back home," Sunset said with a smile. Juniper's jaw dropped even more. "So don't worry," Princess Twilight said with a smile, " this is no skin off my muzzle-I mean, nose. I can also offer you technical assistance, a working crew, a lab to work in." Juniper was astonished. "Why? I'm hardly a professional engineer." "Well not just because I want to find your Twilight," Princess Twilight said with a wry smile. "I've always talked about bringing in human technology to Equestria. The chance to bring in human telecommunications is too good to pass up. Being able to spread knowledge quickly could do so much good for Equestria." "And despite being someone who isn't a professional, you've managed to do very well with magic." Sunset said with a smile. "In fact, for someone who had no knowledge that magic existed, you could be an excellent mage." That kind of praise from an actual magic creature filled the pigtailed girl with no small amount of pride. "It's thanks to you we figured out our Twilight's still alive," Sunny said with honest warmth in her voice. "It can be empirically proven that you are a highly skilled engineer," Sugarcoat said in her trademark frown. But even she couldn't stop even a tiny smirk from forming on her face. "So are you gonna do it, Juney-Woony?" Sour asked in a kind voice. "OR ARE YOU JUST A LITTLE SPICY CHICKEN?!" "Come on June, you can do it!" Indigo Zap said with her trademark enthusiasm. Lemon Zest started chanted. "June. June. June. June." Soon, the other Shadowbolts, the Princess, and Sunset started doing the same thing. After several moments of chanting, the blue-green haired girl relented. "Alright fine," Juniper said. "But it's gonna take me a few weeks to do. Even with money and help, I can't just build this stuff overnight." "Alright fine," Sunny said. "June will work on her communications system, while we'll continue going through the old records." The Shadowbolts sighed in exhaustion, but accepted the assignment. Juniper couldn't stop the massive grin form on her face. Not just at the opportunity, but the faith others had for her.