//------------------------------// // Panic! // Story: You're not Twilight // by Miner //------------------------------// The next day at Canterlogic Sunny expects nothing interesting to happen today. So, imagine her surprise when none other than Phyllis Cloverleaf as her to come to Canterlogic out of the blue that morning. “Hello,” Sunny calls out as she enters Miss Cloverleaf's office, Miss Cloverleaf was taken back at Sunny’s appearance, “Miss Sunny?” “Yes, that is me. I was trying out a new look,” Sunny says, her hoof across her mane, “Right, *Ahem* Well, I called you here because I need your help with something,” “With what?” “As you know, we here at Canterlogic strive to make a better place for ponies’ everyday lives, be it daily necessities or personal protection. But recently, a stallion came by and ask to create an all-terrain vehicle for long-distance journeys with smaller vehicles for more difficult terrain. Naturally, I decline his proposal for such things, but that is when he showed me this,” Miss Clover Leaf pulls out a map from her desk and presents it in front of Sunny, “What do you make of this Miss Starscout?” Sunny stares in disbelief at the map in front of her. It was none other than the map of Equestria during its golden age. The same one that Aaron had shown her, “But that’s-Ahem,” Sunny stops herself knowing that she must maintain a level of professionalism in this conversation, “Yes, well. It’s my professional opinion that this is a map of the golden age of Equestria,” “Are you sure, Sunny? You didn’t give it much of a look-over. This could be a fake,” Sunny shakes her head, “I can guarantee you this is an accurate map of Equestria’s Golden Age. Did this stallion say where he got this map?” Sunny gives a closer look at the map for any flaws, “No, he didn’t go into detail on where he got it. Only that he wishes to use it to find Canterlot,” “Well, it's going to be hard to go to Canterlot when you are in jail,” “Miss Starscout, please don’t say such things out of the blue like that. But what do you mean?” “You see, Miss Cloverleaf. The only known map of Equestria’s Golden Age belongs to Aaron, and it is currently locked up at Maretime Bay Police Station. Furthermore, there was a break in the station recently where nothing appeared to be stolen, but this map proves that wrong!” “Are certain about that, Sunny? Because as much as I would love to call my little Sugarcube and make an arrest. I am going to need more than your word on this matter,” “I will just call Hitch and have him check to see if that map is still at the station, and if it's not them ask him to make an arrest,” Sunny quickly grab her hoof-phone and calls Hitch, “Hay Hitch, I was wondering if you can check if Aaron’s map is still at the station? It is urgent. Thank you,” She hangs up as Phyllis gives her a knowing smirk, “You have Hitch on speed dial?” “Yes, I mean, we are old friends, after all. It's only natural that I would have his number,” Sunny replies, not understanding what she was hinting at, “Getting back on topic. We had a prototype in the works already to meet his demands; with a few more modifications can be ready for field testing this afternoon. And we want you to join us on the exhibition to find Canterlot Sunny. That is after we have determined whether or not this map is not stolen-” “Which it is,” “Regardless, I would still like you to join us in this endeavor. What do you say, Miss Starscout?” “Oh, thanks for the offer- Hold that thought. Yes?” Sunny answers her phone, but her smile slowly turns upside down, “What!?” “Here it is, Sunny. Aaron’s map. Right where I left it,” Hitch puts the map back in the evidence locker and closes it with his back hoof, “But How?” “I don’t know what to tell you, Sunny. But something doesn’t sound right about this. I mean, somepony broke into the station and takes nothing but leaves nothing behind?” “You think whoever it was wanted a copy of the map?” Hitch rubs the back of his head, unsure what to think about this situation, “Hard to tell. Not only was this the only map known, but the only ponies that knew about it were those in our friend circle. And we were already making plans to head to Canterlot ourselves,” Sunny ponders this as a thought comes to mind, “You think somepony overheard us?” “I don’t know. Did you talk about the map anytime before the break-in?” Sunny shakes her head, “No, the only time it came up was when Aaron shows it to us,” “And you were at the bookstore when that happened. But the Bookstore doesn’t get that many customers, so it’s unlikely that somepony overheard you then. Either that or somepony was looking for something and found the map by chance. It is hard to say. So, what are you going to do, Sunny?” “I don’t know. But Aaron desires to know, at the very least,” Meanwhile, Aaron stares at Sparky playing with the other colts and filly as he sidesteps next to Misty, “Hay Misty,” “What do you want?” She replies, not looking up from making sandwiches for the foals, “I want to talk about the dragon in the room,” She pauses and looks at Aaron, mildly confused, “You mean Sparky?” “No. I mean another fire-breathing death trap in the playroom,” Aaron sarcastically replies before raising his voice near shout, “Of course I mean Sparky!” “I rather not,” Misty replies, going back to her task, This remark flabbergasted Aaron, “What do you mean not!” He gestures to the baby dragon waving at them, “Are you trying to say that we should ignore that baby dragon? Who is ten feet away from us, by the way. Who also created Maretime Bay's biggest Ant farm known to pony kind in one afternoon!” He points to the giant ant hill ten miles out of town which can be seen outside the nearby window, Misty rolls her eyes as she finishes up her task before she gestures to Aaron to help her load up the refrigerator, “I am saying that if it wasn’t for the parole, I wouldn’t be anywhere near him. The last time I was alone with him, I thought I was in a filly alone movie,” She opens the fridge and loads the shelves as Aaron passes her more sandwiches, Aaron has no idea what she is talking about, but the movie's name sounds familiar to him, “You mean the movie about trap happy kid that got left behind during the holidays?” “That’s the one,” She replies, closing the door as Aaron groans, covering his face in his hooves, “Thank you, Misty. I didn’t need more reason to be afraid of the little guy. But thank you,” He pulls down on his face confusing Misty with his choice of words, Misty tilts her head, unsure how she helped him, “Uhm. You’re welcome?” “But in all seriousness, what will we do with him?” Aaron lay his upper body on the counter and rest his head on his forelegs, looking towards the play area, “Give him food and toys to play with, and hope he doesn’t breathe fire,” Misty says, casually checking on their drink supply for the day, not seeing Aaron bolting straight up, “And if he goes missing?” “Panic,” “No, Misty, I mean, they are all gone!” He grabs her shoulder to turn her to face the empty play area, “And like I said. PANIC!” Both adults scramble everywhere, trying to discover what happened to the children. They search high and low all over the play area and couldn’t find them. It was as if they vanish into thin air. “Where did they go!?” Misty says, going through the toy chest as Aaron checks a closet before getting buried in supplies. Aaron pulls himself out of the pile, shaking his head, “Why are you asking me for? I don’t know!” “What is going on here!?” Miss Cherry says, entering the room and causing both Ponies to freeze stiff. She glares at them, disappointed that they are making another mess again, “Clean up this mess, you two!” She barks at them as they quickly obey her orders, “Honestly, I can’t leave you two alone for one second without something happening,” “Sorry, Miss Cherry,” They reply together, feeling dejected, “Well, once you are done. Head to the front of the building to watch over the children. Some gentle stallion came and started giving them free ice cream. Make sure not to lose any of them. Furthermore, I have a family emergency that needs my attention, and as much as I don’t like it. I am going to leave you two in charge of them. I already informed the children's parents to come and pick them up. Don’t make me regret this, you two,” “We won’t let you down, Miss Cherry. You can count on us,” Aaron says as Misty nods in agreement, but this doesn’t fill her with confidence, “That is what I am afraid of. Just make sure that everypony gets back inside and waits for their parents or guardians to arrive,” She says before leaving them in a hurry, once she was out of sight, Aaron let out a breath that he was holding, “Oh, thank Celestia,” He says, getting a confused look from Misty before they move to the front of the building seeing the children surround the ice cream pony as the little ones chant ice cream over and over. Aaron leans his body against the door frame as Misty stands next to him. They stand in silence as they watch the Ice cream pony’s foolishness of offering a horde of children ice cream as he slowly loses control of the situation. The children have already started getting on the cart, trying to get the goods from inside. Aaron chuckles as he sees the chaos unfold before his eyes, “Hay Aaron,” “Yeah?” “I know we haven’t known each other for very long. But I had noticed that you say things that other ponies wouldn’t say. Like at all, as if its common knowledge,” He shrugs at her as a cry for help could be heard, “Let's say that I am part of a lost generation of pony and leave it at that,” “If you say so,” She says, not convinced. She can’t put her hoof on it, but something doesn’t add up with Aaron, and it’s driving her crazy thinking about it, After another minute, the children came running back inside the building, causing the two adults to move out of the way to avoid getting swept up in the stampede. “Is that everypony?” Missy asks while Aaron effortlessly counts them coming back as his eyes track each of them, “I think so- hold on, a green menace is missing,” He recounts everypony three times but still short one dragon. He thinks about where Sparky could be before his eyes fall upon the ice cream pony pulls what is left of his cart around the corner of the block, “He wouldn’t,” “Aaron,” Misty says, getting his attention with worry in her voice, “He would,” “Get THAT DRAGON!” His cries out as they gave chase,