//------------------------------// // Seek and Find // Story: The Visiting Team -- Part II // by Lets Do This //------------------------------// There was a sound of hooves on stone steps, echoing up the long winding spiral staircase in the rightward spire of the Royal Residence Wing. Plus two ponies very much out of breath. "I wonder how many steps this is," said Twilight. "Ninety-two so far," Starlight said. She shrugged, seeing Twilight's surprised look. "What? I didn't have much else to do on the way up." Twilight grinned. "I thought it was closer to eighty-five, actually." Starlight considered it, then grinned. "You're not counting the landings." "I was, believe me," said Spike, clambering up the stairs behind them. "When I was little," Twilight said, "I don't recall it taking nearly this long, coming to visit the Princess." She paused for a moment, uncertain. "Maybe she made it easier, somehow? Like, she made most of the steps go away?" "Maybe," Starlight agreed. "A good teacher would make sure the difficult stuff is what you really need to focus on." They finally reached the short corridor at the top, and stood before the set of tall, golden doors bearing Celestia's solar icon. Twilight stared at the doors, uneasily. And Starlight nudged her shoulder. "You need to check everything, Twilight, even here. Maybe we'll find a clue. Maybe Celestia managed to leave a message behind somehow." "Maybe." Twilight reached out a hoof, and pushed open the doors. Beyond was a broad suite, a large fireplace to one side with a comfortable day-bed set before it. Across from that was a small vanity, and a much larger desk with a comfortable chair. Beyond was the arched doorway leading out to the suite's balcony, which looked down upon the Palace, upon Canterlot, and upon a seemingly endless vista of Equestria besides. Through it fell the dim, yellowed half-light of the arrested dawn outside, giving everything an antiqued, shadowy look. And without the large, shimmering, reassuring presence of Princess Celestia in the midst of it all, the suite felt empty, silent, and abandoned. Twilight deliberately drew herself up, all business. "Right," she said. "You check that side of the room, I'll check this." "Gotcha," Starlight said, and trotted to the right. She inspected the daybed and the fireplace, then trotted over to the arched doorway and out onto the balcony, just to be sure. Then she turned back into the room. And she found Twilight standing on the chair before the desk, her hooves resting on its edge. Starlight found it hard not to smile at that. Twilight was practically full-grown, yet the difference in scale between herself and Celestia meant that leaning on the Princess's desk like that, she looked like a small filly, nervously inspecting her mentor's workplace. Then Starlight saw what Twilight was staring at. It was a large, heavy book with gilt clasps, lying in the middle of the desk. Almost as if it had been left there, deliberately. "I wonder what it is," Twilight whispered as Starlight came over, and hopped up on the chair beside her. "Maybe a history book?" Starlight suggested. "Or a grimoire Celestia was studying?" "Maybe it's a photo album!" Spike said, clambering up to sit on the desk next to Twilight. "I wonder if there might be any pictures of me in it, from when I was little." "Or maybe it's an autobiography," Starlight suggested. Then she frowned. "Though you'd think, after a thousand years, it'd be a bit thicker, huh?" "Or maybe..." Twilight said uncomfortably, "it's her diary?" She and Starlight exchanged a look. "Might be," Starlight agreed. "Sure looks like one." Twilight looked conflicted. "Do you think we should be reading something that private?" Starlight smiled. "Are you afraid you might learn something unexpected? Like she really cares about you, and trusts you to do the right thing? Why else would she leave something that important just sitting around on her desk?" "I suppose." But Twilight still hesitated. And Starlight put a hoof on her shoulder. "What is it?" "I just feel like," Twilight said, "us being here, searching her room like this, going through her private documents... it's like we're admitting she might not be coming back. That she might be gone for good." Starlight nodded. "That would be scary, wouldn't it?" She sighed, shaking her head. "But we've got to face it. Until the Princesses return, we're the ponies in charge. And we may have to make some tough calls." "Yeah." Twilight nodded. "I'm sure we will." "Look, we only want to find out what happened to her," Starlight said. "So if it is her diary, just look at the last few pages. I doubt there's any deep dark secrets hidden in that!" Twilight smiled sheepishly. "You're right, Starlight." And, taking a deep breath, she pulled over the book and flipped it open. ------------------------------ A short distance away -- at least, as the alicorn flies -- another set of hoofsteps echoed up another long staircase. Trixie finally reached the top of the tower. Trotting down the corridor and around the corner, she came at last to the tall, ivory-white doors of the Lunar Suite. And paused to catch her breath. Even with her pitifully weak levitation spell to help her, it had been a long climb getting to the top. Recovered at last, Trixie nervously trotted forward, reaching out a hoof to push open the doors. "Princess Luna?" she called, just out of habit, not really expecting an answer. Hearing none, she trotted forwards, through the doorway and into the dark and shadowy suite beyond. Its furnishings, tapestries, and lamps were merely dim outlines against the general dusk. Across the room, the doorway leading to the room's broad balcony cast a stream of cold, brilliant moonlight across the broad marble tiles. The room itself held the strange, disquieting stillness of a place where somepony normally expected to be there, unexpectedly wasn't. Trixie strode forwards into the room, her snout held high and proud. Then she stopped in the middle of it all, peering around, uncertain of what she was looking for. Casting a fitful luminance spell with her horn, she crossed to the large writing desk and hopped up onto the hard-backed chair. On the desk in front of her was a large book, leather-bound with silvered clasps. Trixie unhesitatingly pulled it over and flipped it open. It turned out to be a journal, written in Luna's exact, almost typeset horn-writing: I am returned. And yet, this place is unfamiliar to me. My sister, the castle, all of it... it feels like a dream, almost. And I do not recall what came before... Intrigued, Trixie paged through the few entries that the journal contained, finally coming to one near the end: Tea with my friends again. Such a trivial, informal occasion. Yet it is the one constant, the one anchor, in my new life. I need keep no secrets from them, for I have none. They seem to know me so well, even as I struggle to recall myself. Especially Trixie: at once so confident, and yet so needy. I see myself in her. If only I could recall the kind and caring Princess that she sees in me... Trixie looked away from the page, her eyes shut, fighting back tears. Shutting the journal, she hopped down from the chair, and crossed over to the balcony. Above her, the sky was the same half-dawn, half-dusk as ever. And directly in front of Trixie was the disc of the Moon, hovering above the horizon. Hooking her forehooves over the railing, Trixie stared at it. We'll find you, Luna, she silently promised. No -- I'll find you. I promise. And then she grimaced. But what if we can't? she thought. Who'll raise the Sun and Moon then? Trixie stared helplessly at the cold white disc of the Moon, anxious and afraid. And she thought she saw it shift, just a tiny bit. Trixie blinked, not sure if she'd only imagined it. She squinted, staring intently at the Moon's disc, trying to measure its position against the distant hills. And thought she saw, just barely... "Hey, Trixie? Are you in here?" Trixie looked round, almost guiltily. She saw Moondancer peering in through the Lunar Suite's open doors. "Out here, Moondancer," Trixie called. The beige pony trotted into the room, then crossed to the balcony. She joined Trixie in leaning on the railing. "Thought I saw you heading up here. Find anything?" "No." Trixie glanced up at the Moon briefly, then shook her head. "Nothing that tells us what happened to Luna. Or the others." Moondancer put a hoof around her shoulders. "Don't worry, Trixie. We'll figure it out. We'll find her." "But what if we don't?" Trixie demanded, crossly. "What if we never do? What if it's all left up to us?" Moondancer shrugged. "Then we'll just have to come up with something. We're the Heroes of Equestria, just like it says on the tin. It's... kind of our job now." "I guess." Trixie hunched inside her magician's robe, feeling worried. And occasionally glanced the Moon. Did I just move that? She wondered. And if so... what do I say? Should I say anything? Would they believe me, or just think I'm crazy? "You wanna hear something interesting?" Moondancer said, breaking into her whirling thoughts. "With help from the Archive ponies, I've been doing some research on the Everfree Forest. And I think I know why it is the way it is. Why it's such a magical desert. Because --" "Because it was where Celestia and Luna fought, that final time," Trixie said, grumpily. "And afterwards, Luna was gone, and Celestia never went there again, because it reminded her of what she'd done to her own sister. So the magic and light and hope was removed from the Forest, and it became a haven for the creatures of the Night that Luna had summoned to aid her in battle..." Trixie fell silent, blinking. Now how the hay did I know that? Moondancer stared at her. And then laughed. "And here I thought I was being so scholarly! You spent so much time with Nightmare Moon, I should have come to you first. She must have told you all about it." She never told me anything, Trixie said to herself. "Oh yes," she said aloud. "All about it. But... it's not something Trixie likes to dwell on." Moondancer nodded. And then she hugged Trixie companionably. "I miss her too," she said quietly. Trixie hugged her back, feeling conflicted as she did so. After all, here was the one other pony who, more than any, felt the same way that Trixie did. And thus, perhaps, she was the one pony Trixie could trust. Trixie opened her mouth, about to speak... Then her gaze fell on something a lot closer. It was difficult to see, silhouetted against the half-night sky. She stared, trying to make it out. Two winged shapes were steadily flapping their way up the tall spire of Celestia's tower across the way. "Are those... griffons?" Trixie said, pointing. Moondancer looked herself. "Yeah, I think so. Looks like Egmund or whatever his name was. And his aide." "They're heading for the top floor." Trixie grabbed Moondancer. "That's Celestia's suite!" she hissed. "Twilight's searching over there!" Moondancer said. "I saw Starlight and her heading up the tower stairs. We need to warn her somehow. But how?" Moondancer looked around, at the very tall tower they themselves were standing in. "We can't fly over there. And these darned vines, they're still disrupting our magic." "Not all magic," Trixie said proudly. She brought up a smoke-bomb. "Trixie..." Moondancer warned. But the showpony was on a roll, seeing a chance to save the day. "Reward favors risk!" she yelled. Hugging Moondancer, she flung down her hoof. A few moments later, as they clung to the lightning rod atop the very tip of Celestia's tower, Trixie bashfully cleared her throat. "Trixie would like to point out," she said archly, "her aim has been improving of late..." ------------------------------ In the corridor outside Celestia's suite, a side door opened a hair, and a yellowed, avian eye peered through. Seeing no one, Ambassador Egmund flung the door open and stalked out into the corridor. He was careful to keep most of his weight on his rear paws, so his foreclaws didn't tick on the marble tiles. Behind him, his aide Cherp caught the door, almost on her beak. Then she gently shut it behind them as she followed Egmund into the corridor. "Sir, is this wise?" she asked, in a long-suffering tone. "This could be counted as trespassing, at the least. Or far worse..." "There's strange business going on here, Cherp," Egmund replied portentously. "Strange business indeed. And we need to get to the heart of it. We depend upon these ponies not to muck up the weather, to say nothing of the very day and night itself! And now Equestria has seen fit to put an inexperienced stripling on the Golden Throne. And you can see the result, can't you? Well!" He fluffed up his feathers importantly. "Before we sign any kind of treaty, we need to make our feelings known to this new adminstration, in no uncertain terms!" "Yes, sir," Cherp sighed. She followed along loyally as Egmund stalked haughtily forwards, towards the golden doors at the end of the corridor, going over his intended opening remarks in his head. But they'd only gotten a few paces down the hall when the everburn torches all along the corridor abruptly guttered and snuffed out. The hallway was plunged into dim shadows. Behind them, a door slammed, and there was a sound of pattering feet underfoot. Ahead of them, a large hedgehog hurried through the golden doors of the Royal Suite. Turning, he paused with his paws on them, and smirked. "Heh, heh!" And slammed the doors closed. Egmund was taken aback. He paused, squinting in the sudden fall of darkness, waiting for his eyes to adapt. And then he heard, in the darkness behind him, a metallic tap-tap-tap of armored shoes. A sullen electric crackling and whiff of ozone filled the air. Turning, Egmund saw a vision out of a nightmare: a scowling visage, hovering in the darkness, lit only by the electric blue sparking of its broken horn. A scarlet-maned unicorn, with a scar across one eyelid... ... and a look of cold, unrestrained ferocity in her eyes. "I had my suspicions about you," Tempest growled. "I'd hoped that you might be just as fat and stupid as you look. That you wouldn't try something so ridiculously dumb." "Now see here!" Egmund huffed. "You are speaking to an official representative, you know. My aide and I got a little turned round looking for our suite. And I --" He got no further. He found himself forcibly shoved against the wall, with Tempest's gritted teeth inches from his face. "Don't even try it. You're nowhere near where you've any right to be. And you've got five seconds to convince me not to take you down myself, right here and now!" "Er... diplomatic immunity?" Egmund offered, feeling that it was a bad move even as he said it. "I am an ambassador." "Really?" Tempest smirked. "And I am a Commander. You know what that means? It means in time of war, I have absolute authority to deal with any threat to the realm as I see fit." "But we're not presently at war... er, are we?" "Depends how you look at it." Tempest snorted heatedly. "Attempted assault on the person of the Princess herself? I think anypony would agree that could be considered an act of war..." "I did raise that point, sir," the aide whispered, her eyes wide in terror. "Quiet, Cherp." Egmund stared Tempest square in the eye. "I... I don't believe you have that kind of authority. Or that your sovereign would condone such behavior, were she aware of it." "You might be right about that. Twilight is the Element of Friendship, after all. I'm sure she'd be all pleasant and agreeable and understanding. And you know why she's like that?" Tempest scowled. "Because she has somepony like me, backing her up, making sure nothing happens to her. But right now, she's not here... and I am. And she can only court-martial me once -- after the fact. So take my advice," she added tightly. "Don't be worth it to me!" "Uh... er..." Egmund pressed back against the wall, terrified. "Well, the truth of it is, you see..." "Yes?" Tempest purred, like a cat with a particularly interesting mouse. "Go on. Surprise me..." ------------------------------ Twilight and Starlight were staring at the last page of the diary. There was a brief message, written in Celestia's neat, florid quill-writing: If you are reading this, my beloved student, it is reasonable to assume I am unavailable to you, and you are faced with a uniquely difficult challenge. Know then, by this writing, that I grant you full and complete authority and freedom to act as you think best, to defend Equestria and its citizens, as well as the principles that we all hold dear. You may feel the task is too large, too important, that you are not ready for the responsibility. But know this: neither was I, when Equestria's future was first entrusted to me. I only succeeded because I had excellent teachers, and mentors, and good companions to help me all along the way. I was not alone. And neither are you. I believe in you. I always have. Do what you need to do. -- H.R.H. Celestia, Princess of Equestria "See?" Starlight said, in awe despite herself. "I told you she trusted you." "She thinks of everything," Twilight agreed, humbled and misty-eyed. "But this still doesn't tell us what happened to her." She paged back through the blank sheets preceding the final note, looking for the last actual diary entry. Before she could find it, there was a loud thump and a scrabbling on the roof-tiles overhead. The sound seemed to slither across the ceiling, towards the balcony. And Trixie and Moondancer half-dropped, half-fell onto its marble floor. "Trixie?" Starlight asked, amazed. "You do know there are such things as doors, right?" "Later, bestie!" Trixie said, turning to Twilight. "The griffon ambassador is after you!" "We saw him and his aide fly up to a window," Moondancer added carefully, "on this floor of the tower. Which does seem suspicious, I agree." "Suspicious like a marked deck!" Trixie snapped. "Which," she added quickly, "being the Element of Honesty, Trixie knows nothing about..." There was a pattering of feet behind them, making them all turn. Grubber charged through the suite's doors, swung round, laughed through them, then slammed them closed. And then he turned to find Twilight and the others staring at him. "Oh, hey gals," he said brightly, attempting to look casual. "What's up? The boss, uh, she told me to come and see if I could be any help here. You know, looking for the Princess and all?" "Tempest..." Twilight said, worriedly. ------------------------------ In the clearing in the Everfree, the ponies were still staring at the frond that had grabbed Pinkie Pie, trying to get over their loss. Then a cheery voice called to them across the clearing. "Hey, gang! Whatcha doin'?" Astonished, they turned to look. And saw Pinkie Pie standing in one of the downed fronds, holding its jaws open with a hoof. "Pinkie!" Applejack called. "You're all right!" They all rushed over to hug her, relieved. "Of course I am!" she answered with a shrug, as if not understanding their concern. "You had us worried," Sunset said. "Pinkie, dearest," Rarity demanded. "How did you escape being eaten?" "I didn't get eaten, Rarity -- I teleported!" Sunset blinked. "I thought earth ponies couldn't work teleport spells." "Not me, silly! This plant." She hefted the frond's jaws, then let it slam closed. "It teleports things. It's like a whole network of weird magical tunnels inside. Each of them leads to one of these frond thingies. I popped in there --" She pointed a hoof. "-- and I popped out here!" Sunset shook her head. "Must be that old party-pony magic, at work again. Only Pinkie Pie would discover that a pony-eating plant is actually a living teleport network." "Aw! Thanks, Sunset! But you told me to do whatever was needed, so I did!" "Okay, so Pinkie isn't plant food," Rainbow said. "Which... is good. That still leaves us the problem of getting past these vines, or going around them, to whatever's behind them. Whatever's the real cause of all this." "Or..." Sunset said, thinking dangerously. "We go through them." "Huh?" Sunset turned to Pinkie. "Do you think you could lead us through this teleport network? Like, to a frond somewhere on the other side of this thicket?" "Sure I can!" "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Applejack asked, nervously. "Maybe it only works for Pinkie." Sunset shrugged. "We don't have a lot of time to waste, trying to go around. And if we can turn these vines to our advantage, so much the better. But I'll go first, just to make sure it's safe." She smiled at the party pony. "I trust Pinkie Pie. She won't let me down." "Not on your life, Sunset!" "Well, all right..." Applejack said. "We'll wait right here for ya." Sunset turned back to Pinkie. "Ready when you are." "Wheee!" Pinkie shouted happily. And grabbing Sunset's hoof, she hauled open the frond and dove in, yanking Sunset in after her. It wasn't like normal teleporting, which was a brief flash and a little disorientation as one adjusted to suddenly being somewhere new. It was a long, blurred, disembodied sensation, in which the only sense of solidity Sunset had was Pinkie's unseen hoof still gripping her own. Sunset felt like she was being quickly whisked along dozens of glowing, dimly-lit tunnels, winding and criss-crossing in a bewildering tangle. Some of that is probably our doing, she thought. Shouldn't have tied them into so many knots. She began to worry about whether Pinkie actually knew how to navigate this bizzare thaumic continuum. Maybe she'd just gotten lucky in finding her way back out the first time. Maybe we'll be wandering around in here for days, Sunset thought. Or years. And what happens if Twilight finds a way of dealing with these plants while we're still in here? What if they kill off the plant, trapping us inside? What if we never get out? What if -- Sunset abruptly found herself ejected from the mouth of a frond, landing heavily on an unfamiliar stretch of forest clearing, just far enough away from the wall of vines that the fronds didn't try to attack them. "Ugh," Sunset said. "I've got to stop stress-thinking the way Twilight does..." "See? I told you I could do it!" Exhilarated, Pinkie Pie turned a happy somersault. "You sure did." Sunset said. She was still feeling dizzy from the whirling, tumbling journey. "How do you even find your way around in there?" "Easy! There's this really strong sensation, like something powerful and kind, located over this way. I use it like a compass. I just stay focused on that, and it keeps me from getting turned around in there." She shrugged. "The rest is just, ya know, taking whichever tunnel seems to be heading the right way." "Well, that is officially the weirdest way I've ever traveled," Sunset said. "But where the hay are we now?" "I dunno," Pinkie said. "Maybe we should ask at that funny-looking ruins over there?" She pointed, and Sunset turned to look. And stared. Across a large ravine, much like a dried river-bed, there was a rise of ground on which stood the shattered ruins of an ancient castle. It was little more than crumbling stonework, overgrown by trees and creepers, but Sunset knew it all too well. It was the Castle, hidden deep in the heart of the Everfree Forest, where Celestia had once brought Sunset, seemingly ages ago, as a young filly... ... to show her the Elements of Harmony. And all around the Castle, among the trees of the Forest, Sunset could see the tangling, winding black vines. They formed a huge wall, encircling the Castle, fencing it in. The Castle looked under siege almost. "I think," Sunset said cautiously, "we should go get the others, and bring them all here. We may have just found what we're looking for..."