INTERLUDE
2
Canterlot High School, the next day.
Twilight Sparkle emerged through the portal located inside the base of the statue at Canterlot High School, stumbling briefly on her now-two legged form until she adjusted. As was usually the case for her these days, thanks to her altered status in Equestria, she came through looking much like Princess Celestia would: taller than all-get-out in the legs, wearing an elegant evening gown in shades of lilac and lavender and matching evening gloves, and with permanent ears, wings, and excessively long hair in lieu of a tail. Sunset had once referred to it as a permanent pony-up, because Twilight had too much magic for it to be fully suppressed by the portal’s transformation abilities. She couldn’t do much more than levitate simple objects, but it was more than she had when she first came to this world.
Sometimes she wished she had a suit instead of the gown. The gown tended to attract attention, even more so than the wings for some reason, but she’d been unable to figure out how to change her “default” outfit. And right now it was the furthest thing from her mind. If anything, the effect would help.
Twilight ignored the stares she received from the high school students milling about the halls as she made her way quickly to Principal Celestia’s office. Her heels clacked on the floor tiles as she walked quickly but patiently, maintaining a sense of royal decorum. It was all that kept her from panicking.
In her hands she carried what in Equestria had been a set of typewritten scrolls, and had neatly transformed into a file folder with printed out documents. Inside was a list of everything Spike had documented so far from the killing game, every last haunting detail. She intended to arrange for new information to be delivered to her on the hour, every hour, though for now it was just every few hours. She had also set up additional scribes to work with Spike so the poor dragon could get some sleep. Not that she or he were getting much right now.
Approaching Celestia’s door, she rapped on it thrice in quick succession. “Come in!” came a pleasant, if harried, voice.
Twilight opened the door and strode on in, finding Celestia seated at her desk, along with Luna. The two looked her way straight away, very briefly panicked before realization came to them. Good. That saves me some time. “Princess Twilight!” Celestia said, standing up to shake her hand. “It’s always good to see you, especially in light of… recent matters.”
“Indeed it is,” Vice-Principal Luna seconded, also shaking Twilight’s hand. “We’ve been hoping you would show up for some time. There’s been an… incident.”
“It’s good to see you both as well,” Twilight said, trying to smile and succeeding only in grimacing. “I wish it was under better circumstances.”
“Then you’re already aware? About the missing people?” Luna asked, waiting for Twilight to take a seat before she did so.
“Yes,” Twilight answered. “Wait, how long have they been missing, exactly?”
Celestia steepled her hands, her expression grim. “They’ve been missing for almost a month now. Your alternate, and fifteen others, including Sunset Shimmer.” She rattled off the names. “The police investigation is being led by Shining Armor, your alternate’s brother. According to them all sixteen were spotted heading together to a meeting spot at a house somewhere outside the city, and then the trail ends. There’s been no sighting of them anywhere ever since, not at Canterlot International, nor anywhere within the continental Amareican Union.”
With a frustrated sigh, Twilight set her file folder on Celestia’s desk. “That’s worse than I thought. I was hoping you’d know something about where they went.”
“Unfortunately, we don’t,” Luna replied with an equally grim expression. “The truth is, we only became aware of this because Shining Armor contacted us asking if there was a chance Equestrian magic was involved. We told him no, but that we’d contact him if that changes.”
“You’d better get him on the phone then, because Equestrian magic is most definitely involved here,” Twilight said. “And it’s… bad. I’d prefer to save the explanation till he arrives, if that is alright.”
“Luna, if you could?” Celestia said, jerking her head towards the phone on her desk.
“Of course.”
The three of them hardly spoke a word after Luna contacted Shining Armor. Twilight, because she was afraid once she started explaining she wouldn’t be able to stop, and Luna and Celestia because they were taking the spare time to work on some of their school duties. Fortunately they didn’t have to wait too long for Shining Armor to arrive.
He strode in, his whole bearing haggard, his suit wrinkled. Shining Armor was head detective for the Canterlot PD, Twilight recalled. The sight of Shiny, even if it wasn’t her Shiny, looking so worn out broke her heart. But she repressed her urge to hug him. It wouldn’t be appropriate.
“Twily?!” he blurted upon seeing her, blinking profusely and rubbing at his eyes. The brief spark of hope faded immediately as he took in her appearance. “No. You’re not my Twily. You’re too tall. And you have wings. Well, she does sometimes too, but, you know.” He attempted an amused smile, but to Twilight it just seemed sad.
“Sorry, Shining,” she said, offering her hand in lieu of a hug. He shook it professionally. “I didn’t mean to spook you.”
Shining shrugged as he entered the office, nodded to Celestia and Luna, then closed and locked the door. He took a seat next to Twilight. “It’s not your fault. I’ve had a lot on my mind.”
“I can imagine.”
Celestia took a moment to set out four cups of coffee for the four of them, which Shining attacked like it was his lifeblood. “So, Detective Armor,” Celestia began, “Luna told you the situation.”
“Yes, she said Twil--excuse me, Princess Twilight had information regarding the disappearances.”
“I do,” Twilight said, steeling her nerves. She opened up the file folder and laid it in front of them. “It’s… bad. I won’t lie.”
Twilight began her explanation, and the further she went on, the more scared, worried, and downright depressed the other three became. Shining in particular withered like dried out grass, ready to crumble at the slightest touch. When she finished, he let out a nasty curse and laid his face in his hands. “This is unbelievable,” he moaned. “And you said two of them are already dead?”
“Yes, sadly,” Twilight answered, while wishing her human ears could flatten like her pony ears did. “Wallflower Blush, and Timber Spruce.”
“God… I’ll have to notify their families. If we can even say anything about this,” Shining muttered. “This has turned into some kind of interplanetary incident or something I don’t even have words for.”
“I remember Wallflower very well,” Celestia said with a sniffle. She withdrew a tissue from a box on her desk, dabbing at her eyes. “She was a very sweet young woman, who used to be so lonely until she was befriended by Sunset and her friends. And you said their memories were taken away?”
“They were. As far as the ‘passengers,’ as this Monoponi calls them, are aware, they’re complete strangers.” Twilight shivered, the room suddenly colder than she liked. “Wallflower was so sad and angry at the world. Like she’d grown up to that age completely alone. Timber, meanwhile, was so worried for his sister he felt obligated to act.”
“I’m not sure I can blame him for that,” Luna admitted, sharing a glance with her own sister. “In such a situation, even I might have felt the need to act, just to save Celestia.”
“But that’s just it though,” Twilight replied with more bite to her tone than she’d intended. “Gloriosa is just fine. I saw her at Heart’s Warming just last year, when I came to visit. Wallflower and Timber died for no reason at all!”
“Hey, hey, easy there, Twily,” Shining said, immediately launching into the BBBFF tone Twilight was so intimately familiar with that for a moment she forgot he wasn’t her Shining. “Yelling isn’t going to help right now.”
“I know, I know,” Twilight replied. She held a hand to her breast and forced herself to breath in and out, just like Cadance had taught her. “I’m sorry. I’m usually more composed than this.”
Celestia tittered, just like Princess Celestia used to do when Twilight was her student. “It’s okay, Twilight. We’re not your subjects. We’re your friends. You can relax the regality if you need to.”
Twilight breathed out a sigh and visibly relaxed, letting the tension she’d held trying to keep her bearing fade. She slumped into her chair, looking far more like an exhausted employee at the end of a nine-to-five work week than a Princess. “Thank you,” she mumbled. “I think I needed to hear that.”
“It sounds like this Monoponi is targeting you personally,” Luna said, pressing her knuckles to her chin. “Do you have an idea why?”
Twilight shrugged and shook her head. “No, I don’t. I think it’s someone I’ve dealt with before, but… none of the villains I’ve ever had to deal with have been so, so monstrous before. This killing game is so unlike anything I’ve ever faced.”
A sudden knock knock at the door left the four glancing at each other before Celestia stood up and opened it up a crack. “I’m sorry, Gallus, but I’m in the middle of a meeting. Can this wait?”
“Begging your pardon, but I don’t think I’m your Gallus, Princess--I mean, Principal Celestia.”
Twilight hopped to her feet in an instant. “Sorry, I forgot to mention I had someone ready to bring me updates. That’s my Captain of the Guard.” She slipped past Celestia and stepped outside. “Gallus, you have a report?”
Despite the fact he’d surely come through while wearing his royal armor, Gallus was wearing normal, everyday teenager street clothes, probably similar to if not identical to what this world’s Gallus would wear. “Yes, ma’am,” he said, tossing off a quick salute. Like most of her guard, she’d made sure he was comfortable on two legs as part of the standard guard training, in the event she ever needed to take any with her on a visit to Sunset’s side of the portal. There’d never been a reason before, but prudence was prudence, and prudence paid off. “It’s… it’s not good, ma’am.”
“I understand, thank you,” she said, taking the folder he offered her. “You can head back. Try to keep out of sight.”
“Will do!”
She took the folder with her back inside. “Sorry about that. This is the latest update on the killing game, the events of the past few hours. Or at least, the past few hours broadcast.”
“Right, you said there was a delay,” Shining said, nodding. “I hope it isn’t bad.”
She stared down at the folder in her hands. It gave off a menacing aura, like it weighed ten tons or more, brimming with evil intent. Just like every other update she’d received. “We’re about to find out.”
Sitting back down, she set the folder on the desk, then opened it. She read quickly, scanning the summary. The reports she received were carefully arranged into an abridged summary as well as a line by line transcript of everything that was seen, so no detail would be missed. At first, everything seemed fine. “They had dinner, Trixie was throwing a magic show, and… oh my Celestia!” she clapped a hand to her mouth.
“I beg your pardon?” Celestia said, arching an eyebrow.
“Apple Bloom’s dead,” Twilight whispered. “She’s dead. She was killed by a trap.”
“Oh my god,” Luna breathed, visibly shaking, her hands closing and opening at her sides.
Celestia reached out and gripped Luna’s hand in hers, the other scratching her nails on her desk so hard one of them chipped.
Shining just closed his eyes and shook his head sadly. “God damn it.” Then he opened them. “Do we know who did it?”
Her stomach churning like an outboard motor, Twilight read on. The trials… the trials were the worst. She’d actually watched the first one, seen the paranoia, the fear, the arguing back and forth as everyone constantly suspected each other. Seeing her alternate self involved as well made it surreal, like watching some sort of strange fever dream. But unlike most nightmares, this wasn’t one Princess Luna could rescue her from.
So she chose not to read the line by line transcript. Even her vaunted curiosity had its limits, and this was one of them. Instead she stuck to the summary… and in some ways, wished she hadn’t. Her gorge rose, her heart threatening to leap right out her throat and do a tap dance on the desk. She forced it all back down, and said, “Sweetie Belle.”
“Sweetie Belle? Truly?” Luna asked, shaking her head even as her sister pulled her over into a claustrophobic looking hug. “What possible reason could she--”
“She was trying to kill Sunset,” Twilight interrupted. She explained the rest of the details in a quick hurry. “You… you don’t want to know how she was executed. Trust me.”
“I might have to, for police reasons, but god damn, Twily, this is… I don’t even know what this is anymore,” Shining leaned forward and placed his elbow on the desk so he could rub his forehead with his thumb and index finger. “I’m going to have to discuss this with Chief Spitfire. I think it’d be a good idea if you met up with her. I’ve been keeping this case from going to the state or federal level so far, but with what you’ve told us--”
“We can’t involve your government,” Twilight declared with all her princessly authority. Shining instantly sat up straighter. “I can work with you, Shining, and the local police department, but no one else. Remember our agreement.”
“Keep the existence of Equestria secret,” Shining responded. “Frankly, that might be more difficult than you might think. That cruise ship is operating in international waters. If my Twilight is right and they’re in the south Pacific, we might have to deal with multiple foreign governments. This could easily turn into a global incident, and I can’t promise they’ll keep things secret.”
“I’m well aware of the state of Earth’s geopolitical situation.” Twilight's words cut through Shining’s argument like the proverbial hot knife through butter. “That’s exactly why we can’t involve them. I’ve kept them from finding out about Equestria and Equestrian magic so far. I don’t intend to let them discover us anytime soon. You know why.”
Shining nodded, and she swore his hand started to raise in salute before he let it drop. “That’s going to severely limit our options, then.”
“Don’t worry,” Twilight replied, with more confidence in her voice than she actually felt. “I have my best ponies already working on a solution to the ocean problem. They’re converting the newest steamship in the Equestrian Navy into my personal flagship. As soon as we identify the closest naturally existing portal to that cruise ship, we’ll be coming through from the Equestrian side.” Twilight didn’t bother to mention all of the complications with the magic required to do that. She had her best researchers working on that problem, and felt no need to bring it up, lest it dampen any hope these people had.
“I want to be on that ship, if you don’t mind,” Shining requested, his expression all business. “You need someone to represent official Earth interests, and, well… I have a personal stake in the matter.”
“I don’t foresee that being a problem, so long as you’re okay with becoming a pony for a while on my side of the portal,” Twilight answered.
Shining’s face betrayed just a hint of nervousness at that. “Oh. Right. Forgot about that.”
“It is not as bad as you might suspect,” Luna added, with the smallest of smiles that quickly vanished. “You might even have a chance to meet yourself.”
“Yes it was quite the illuminating experience doing that, wasn’t it?” Celestia said with a nod.
Shining held up his hand to his chin and cocked his head in consideration. “Huh. Didn’t think about that.”
“Well that’s all in the future. Right now we need to find that cruise ship,” Twilight interrupted, forced to throw a bucket of water all over the burning embers of a good mood. She hated doing it, but they didn’t have time for daydreams. “In order to do that, we’re going to have to track where the missing people went from Canterlot. And we need to find out how Monoponi had the resources to do all of this in the first place.”
“Right, I’m guessing even with your Equestrian magic he couldn’t just transfigure a cruise ship into existence, huh?” Shining replied, returning to all business. “Tracking down those sorts of assets might be a bit beyond what the local PD can do without tapping into federal level resources.” A hint of a smile appeared on his face. “But Spitfire and I both have some favors we can call in, to keep it all on the down low. It’ll take a lot to convince her to do things your way, but I think she’ll listen.”
“I’m sure she will.” Twilight stood, and very briefly bowed to both Celestia and Luna. “Thank you both for your time. Shining, I’d like to go to meet with Chief Spitfire right away, if you don’t mind.”
“Alright, that can be arranged, but um…” Shining scratched the side of his head as he searched for words. “We might have to do something to disguise your appearance. You’re the spitting image of one of the missing persons, and the wings and ears… don’t help.”
Twilight cursed herself mentally for forgetting this. She should’ve brought some kind of overcoat with her. “Right, of course. I might have to go back briefly and--”
“Actually, that won’t be necessary Twilight,” Celestia interrupted. She moved over to a coat hanger in the corner that Twilight hadn’t noticed and withdrew a large trenchcoat, complete with hood. “You’re about Luna’s size, so my coat should fit with some room to spare.”
Twilight took the proffered coat. It was black, made of leather, more akin to something she’d expect from a punk rocker than a woman of Celestia’s status. But it was comfortable, and more importantly, hid her non-human features perfectly. “Are you sure? I might not be able to return this for a while.”
“Don’t worry about it. You’re trying to save lives. That’s more important than any coat,” Celestia said, waving her hand. “You should get going.”
“Right.”
Twilight followed Shining out to his car, parked just outside the front of the school. She kept the coat firmly closed and the hood down as much as possible as they rode to Canterlot PD headquarters. “Just a warning, Twilight,” Shining said as they neared their destination. “Spitfire can be a bit… harsh sometimes. Quick to anger.”
A soft smile spread across Twilight’s face. “If she’s anything like my own Spitfire, I can handle her just fine.”
As they parked and entered the police department, Twilight received more than a few stares, from officers as well as suspects and visitors. They were very briefly stopped by the officer working the front desk, but a quick reassurance that she was with “Detective Armor” was all that was needed to sweep her on by.
Instead of directing her to the chief’s office, he escorted her down to an empty interrogation room. “Sorry about this,” he said as he led her inside, “but this’ll be more private than the chief’s office.”
Twilight took in the bare concrete, the harsh lighting, the metal table and plastic chair with no cushioning, and snorted. “It’s okay,” she said, taking a seat.
“I’ll be right back,” Shining assured her.
Fortunately she didn’t have to wait long before Shining and Chief Spitfire returned. Spitfire looked exactly as Twilight expected, the same flaming orange and yellow two-toned hair, golden skin tone, crisp business suit pressed to perfection, not a single hair out of place. Even the very same cocky but assured expression plastered across her face lent her an authoritative air that had Twilight sitting just a little bit straighter in her chair.
“So,” Spitfire said as she took a seat with Shining, “You’re Princess Twilight, huh? I’ve heard a lot about you from Detective Armor.”
Twilight, after a nod Shining, removed her coat, revealing her ears and wings. “I am.”
Spitfire let out a long whistle. “Wow. You were not kidding, Armor. She looks just like her, too.” Holding up a fist to her mouth, she cleared her throat. “Armor said you had an explanation for our missing person situation.”
“I do,” Twilight answered. She began her explanation, and fortunately Spitfire was polite enough not to interrupt her. Going over the details again… every time she spoke them, spoke the names of the two--four now--that had died, she felt a little portion of her own soul disintegrate into dust. The process of dealing with this was slowly killing her from the inside, like a cancer. She finished up with her request to keep things local, per the agreement.
Spitfire nodded once when Twilight was finished, then steepled her hands on the desk. “I won’t lie to you, your highness: what you’re asking for isn’t easy. I have half a mind to call up the state governor right now and explain everything. These people’s lives are on the line, and we can’t afford to screw around with delays.”
“But--”
“Please allow me to finish,” Spitfire interrupted, holding up a hand. “I also understand and respect your world’s need for secrecy. I’m more aware than most how shitty the human race can be, and how much shittier we would be towards a whole world full of magic aliens that can cross over through a lot of different portals we have no control over. So in light of that, I’m going to grant your request, and keep this secret. But let me clear about one thing.”
Spitfire stood up just enough to get her face quite close to Twilight’s, just a few inches away. “Every single person that dies on that cruise ship that we might’ve been able to save had we gone through the federal government and the military? That’s on you. You’re going to be the one to talk to their families. And if they ask for something to keep things secret? You give it to them. You’re the leader of your nation. I’m sure you can authorize something from your treasury.”
“Agreed,” Twilight said, despite the churning emotions swirling throughout her body at the thought. She knew Spitfire had a point. With the resources of this world’s governments they might be able to use satellite imagery or something to spot the cruise ship right away. They could save a lot more lives.
At the cost of Equestria’s secret. At the cost of risking invasion, and war, with countless lives lost on both sides through pointless conflicts. She knew eventually, sooner or later, the secret would get out. The sheer amount of magic on display in Canterlot the past few years alone had almost broken it. Time and again the only thing keeping the secret in place was the hard work of local authorities, originally negotiated with Princess Celestia, without Twilight being informed. She didn’t discover these arrangements were in place till she took over Equestria as a whole, and more than once found herself apologizing to Celestia for her original visits to Earth and the lack of caution she’d shown. She didn't want the secret getting out until both worlds were prepared for it.
Twilight had learned a lot about realpolitik in the days since becoming Princess of all Equestria. She was thankful each and every day that she rarely, if ever, had to make decisions like this, with lives on the line. She could barely stand it. These were her friends, close friends and, in Sunset’s case, her student as well. Her responsibility. If Twilight didn’t have to worry about Equestria she’d throw caution to the wind and tell anybody and everybody who could help anything they wanted, just to save them faster.
But she just couldn’t. She had to keep all her responsibilities in mind. And between the millions upon millions of inhabitants of her own world, and fourteen--twelve--of her friends? She knew which one won out.
She only hoped that, when she saved those she could, they could find it somewhere in their heart to forgive her for being so slow.