//------------------------------// // Act 2 - Chapter 2 // Story: The Curious Case of Vanishing Unicorns // by Virydyan //------------------------------// Far away from the trees of Bridlewood forest, in the depths of the Equestrian wilderness, inside a hidden facility, there was a dark-secluded room lit up only by rows and rows of computer screens and the sounds of distant machinery at work in the background, and within that same dark-secluded room, a shadowy figure of a pony lurked within. They were sitting back on their chair watching over footage of a familiar group of ponies seemingly running away from something that was chasing after them, growing amused over their shouts and screams as they were blasted at by unseen enemies. They were however disappointed when one of the ponies, a familiar Pegasus princess, started to fight back against their attackers, pulling back a big thick branch along with the sheriff, letting it go, smacking into the attackers, sending them reeling back, and in one case, causing one of them to break down in smoke. As the group escaped into the trees towards Bridlewood, the figure turned away deep in thought, pondering their next move. "So... the sheriff and his merry mares have all managed to escape my robot's have they? Hah, I was hoping that the robots would rough them up a little more before they escaped to the village. There is no doubt now that they will warn the remaining Unicorns about what's going on in the forest, that, and having seen my robots in action against them, they will likely be wary of further attacks against them." The shadowy pony leaned back on the chair, in deep thought about the circumstances at hoof, silently considering their options and what to do next. "I could just send in my whole army of robots straight into Bridlewood, they would almost certainly overwhelm them with sheer numbers alone, and lead to the capture of everypony that is there, but... Such a move is too reckless for my liking, and I don't want to play all of my cards so soon, especially since I still need to finish up my master plan." The shadowy pony turned their chair towards another screen, a big one that showed the progress of some sort of secret project they were working on, a sinister grin growing on their face as the progress was reaching the final stage. "I only need just a few more days to put the final touches onto it, and then once I have done so, no pony will be able to stand in my way as I achieve my long held ambitions at last!" Leaning back on the chair to let out a deep hearty laugh, the shadowy pony was then interrupted by an alert that went off on the screen to their right. Swinging around to check it out, they saw that a group of robot ponies were approaching a secret location, bringing along with them a Unicorn that had been captured in a net, a familiar looking Unicorn. Tenting their hooves together in delight, the figure turned around to view another screen to see the Unicorn being taken away to some sort of entrance into a facility built underground. "Excellent, another Unicorn has been captured, that makes seventeen that have been taken so far. If I can just capture one or two more, that should be more than enough to complete the master plan." The shadowy pony shifted their chair over to yet another screen, one that showed security footage of every single Unicorn that had been captured by them so far, more than half of them were familiar faces, including the music duo of Onyx and Dapple, Leaf, Dreamy, and even poor Primrose. "Let's see who we've got this time." Imputing some commands, the screen changed to footage of the newly captive Unicorn being taken to some sort of holding cell in a secret location. The lead robot with a red spiky mane inputted on a nearby control panel, causing the cell to unlock and open up. The robot ponies then unlocked the net that the Unicorn had been trapped in, and with a heave ho, they threw their captured prey into the cell, closing the door behind him. The Unicorn was none other than Starduster from before, he had sacrificed himself to the robots in order to give Jasmine time to escape back to Bridlewood safely. Starduster had tried to fight back against them, but he was outnumbered and outmatched by their sheer robotic strength and weapons, leading to his capture. "What a foolish Unicorn, trying to fight off my creations all by himself, the poor fool deserved his injuries if I say so myself. He can just stay lying there for now until I have need of him, heh heh heh." The figure then leaned forward to shout out orders to the robots on the intercom. "Leave the Unicorn inside the holding cell for now, do a check to make sure the location is secure, then report back to your posts for further orders!" The robots obeyed the orders, and carried out as their leader had asked. Leaving Starduster inside the cell alone, they scouted around to check for any breaches or slips in security, scanning around twice over. Satisfied, the robot pony with the red spiky mane, seemingly their commander, motioned to them to leave the facility through the main door, one by one they left, the big heavy steel doors closing behind them, soon silence fell onto the room, as Starduster lay on the floor in the holding cell, still unconscious from his battle. After a few minutes, some voices began to speak up, it was from none other than the Unicorns from Bridlewood that had also been captured by the robots, all locked up inside cages piled up in a corner of the room. "Is that Starduster? They've captured him too!?" "It looks like him, I recognize that mane of his anywhere." "Oh no... no no no no, I can't take this anymore! Just how many more Unicorns does that monster and his minions have to capture before they're satisfied!?" "Calm down Primrose, we'll think of something..." "Think of what Leaf!? We stood no chance against those things on our own, what if that fiend has got a whole army of them and worse waiting for us if we tried to make an escape? We'd all be crushed into mush!" "But we have to think of something, I can't take being stuck in this stupid cage anymore!" "It's hopeless everypony, I tell you, it's hopeless!" The Unicorns were growing restless, they had been prisoners for weeks now, with little food and water provided to them, now they were slowly going mad from being locked up for so long. The shouting and arguing carried on until they were silenced by a soft yet loud voice nearby, it was coming from a Unicorn in a lonely cage in the other corner of the room. She leaned forward, showing her wavy mane with blue and teal highlights. "Settle down everypony, please! There's nothing we can do right now... we're trapped in here with no way to escape, not without our magic... the only thing we can do is hope for the best right now..." The other Unicorns were silent for a moment, then as the reality sunk in for them, they quietened down. "I'm sorry about the uproar, but... I just want to go home..." "I'm sorry too everypony... I'm just worried about my daughter... I fear for her safety... all alone without anypony to hang out with..." "I'm sure she'll be fine mister, after all, our leader always looks after the little ones with dedication and care, especially in the absence of parents." The older Unicorn sighed deeply, then slunk into a corner of his cage, thinking about his daughter back in Bridlewood. "I hope so... just please be safe, my little Jasmine... Daddy will find a way out of this... somehow." The shadowy pony had been listening in silently on their conversation through the security cameras, they seemed amused at their suffering. "Poor useless Unicorns, they must be so desperate to be let out of their cages, so sad that they all want to go back home again, I bet they'd do anything for it, perhaps even working for me, hahaha! Such melodrama and emotion, it's worthy of a theatre play in of itself." Satisfied with his new captured prisoner, the pony then turned their attention back to the big screen, with the Mane Five in its view. "Still, I cannot just let the sheriff and his band run around and interfere with my plans, that could be a serious problem. Hmmm, as tempting as it is to just launch an attack on Bridlewood itself, I'd rather just wait for them to make the first move instead, and expose themselves out from the villages safety, that way I can deal with them in force and be rid of their meddling hides for good! After inputting some more commands into the computer, the shadowy pony then stood up and began gloating more openly. "Then once they're out of the way, I can finally focus on my dream, my ambition, to conquer all of known Equestria! To subject everypony and everything to my superior will and power! All will bow down to me, their future leader, and no pony will stand in my way!" The pony then gazed sinisterly upon something in the room, a tall glowing cylinder-lantern like device sitting on a desk, pulsing with a familiar rainbow-coloured light, like a prism. "And it all starts with this, the greatest source of power in the world!" The pony then let out a loud maniacal laughter that echoed throughout the place as the glowing cylinder pulsed more in the corner, all the while not far away, inside what looked like an old factory, there were scenes of conveyor belts pulling along parts of machinery, lasers cutting sheets of metal to pieces, and assembly lines putting them all together into a new robot for the pony's army. There were also sights of weapons being tested out, missiles, laser cannons and more, all being aimed at crude cut-outs of various ponies as targets. But, most troubling of all, was the sight of something huge and ominous being worked on in the centre of the whole place, covered in tarps, cables and scaffold, it was hard to describe what it could be, but the size of it leaned into the fear of it being some sort of giant weapon, among many others that were planned to be unleashed upon the whole of Equestria when the time came, which was drawing nearer with each passing hour. There was no doubt about it, the mysterious villain was planning to conquer all of Equestria using these weapons, the ponies at large had no idea of the danger that was building in the shadows, nor who was behind all of it, and just what is this mysterious "greatest source of power" they speak of, and where did it come from? The Unicorns that have been captured may hold the answers, if the Mane Five can find them before it's too late. Elsewhere, back in the Bridlewood settlement, the young Unicorn Jasmine began to stir in the bed, having been asleep for the last little while after running away from the danger in the forest. She gave out a long deep yawn, then opened up her eyes to take a look around. She noticed that she wasn't wearing her glasses, but was able to discern that she was inside a room of some kind, and that she was in a bed. "Am I safe now?" She said to herself. Looking around the room again, she then breathed a sigh of relief, next she looked over to the table on her right, she spotted her glasses laying there, along side a cup of water. "Ah, my lucky glasses, I hope they aren't damaged." Said Jasmine, as she took them into her hooves and gently put them on. Luckily she saw that they were intact, though they did need a cleaning from all the dust around the edges. However that was the least of her attention right now, she scanned around the room, and realized right away where she was. "I must be in one of the Crystal Tea House guest rooms. but that must mean..." After letting the thought sink in for a moment, she held her head in her hooves, shedding a few tears, but also smiling in relief. "Ohhh thank Twilight... I made it. But still... Poor Starduster, he gave himself up to save me... I fear what those things have done to him... especially the Metal Monster." She said to herself, reaching over to drink from the nearby cup. The poor filly had a lot on her mind right now, enough that it was giving her a headache just thinking about it all. She wanted to go find Starduster and save him, but she knew that would be dangerous, and foolish after seeing how powerful those "metal looking ponies" looked, she wouldn't stand a chance on her own. She also wanted to warn the Unicorns in Bridlewood about what's really going on in the forest so that they can all be better prepared to deal with the danger that surrounds them. She was still deep in thought when she began to hear voices coming from beyond the door, it sounded like a meeting of some kind was going on in the main hall of the Crystal Tea House. Curious, Jasmine hopped out of bed to hear what was going on, leaning her head onto the door to listen in. "Wait what? You were all attacked and chased into the forest?" "That's right, me and everypony else had split up into two groups to cover more ground, but before long we were ambushed and chased about by these drone looking things, we were lucky to escape into the trees and reach Bridlewood safely." "I'm sorry, but drones? What exactly are those things?" "They're a kind of remote controlled flying machine with a computer program built in, like a robot if you will, they're mostly used for entertainment purposes around Zephyr Heights, but I also have a few that I use for detective work, as you can see right here." "Interesting, but if that's the case, how can these 'drones' pose a threat to you ponies?" "They normally don't, but these ones were all souped up, with armor plating, laser cannons and the works. "Yeah, the way they all zipped around like 'ZOOM', and then blasting away at us like 'PEW PEW PEW', 'BAM BAM BAM', it was so cool, but also scary, it was scary cool!" "Izzy! We could've been injured or worse from those attacks!" "I know that, it's a good thing my glitter flares were able to get us out of that mess right?" "Yeah they did, I figured they would be just for show, but they really came through for us Izz." "I know right? I'm amazed that they worked so well too!" Jasmine studied the voices, she recognized one of them all to well. "Is that Izzy Moonbow? She's finally back in Bridlewood!" She said, trotting on the spot in excitement. Lifting up a hoof, the young filly gently turned the door knob, and slowly opened the door to peek outside. She saw that Izzy was here alright, but so were her friends, including Sunny, Pipp, Hitch and Zipp. They had just cleaned themselves of the debris and mud from their escape, and were now sitting at a table with Alphabittle. "Anyway, onto business as they say, Alphabittle, can you tell us what exactly has been going on round here?" Said Sunny seriously. Alphabittle however, seemed to be rather cross about something, and instead stood up straight. "Well hold on, I have my own questions first, what took you all so long to come to our help?" Said Alphabittle sternly. Hitch was about to say something but he was cut off by Zipp speaking up. "We're sorry that we didn't come soon enough, but we're here now to help you out- Alphabittle however lashed out before she could finish. "Excuse me, sorry!? We've been sending out calls for help to Maretime Bay for the last two weeks now! Letters, e-mails, comments, even some of our own braving the forest to reach there, only to end up vanishing with little trace. I was about to give up hope, and only now you decide to show up here to help us out!? Do you have any idea how bad our situation is right now!?" Shouted Alphabittle. Zipp was taken aback by the statement, but Sunny tried to defuse the situation. "I know how upset you are Alphabittle, we've had ponies in Maretime Bay tell us yesterday about the missing Unicorns, we aim to help you find the missing Unicorns by working together- "Is that supposed to make me feel better!? Foundless optimism and hope isn't going to bring my fellow Unicorns back Sunny! Working together, hah! If we were all working together as you like to champion, none of this would be happening! For somepony who actively promotes friendship, harmony and such ideals, you sure have failed to live up to that standard you set yourself, Sunny Starscout!" Said Alphabittle harshly. Sunny wanted to say something, but she couldn't find the words to say. Alphabittle was angry yes, but he did have a point in what he said, and it cut her deep like a knife. An unsettling silence filled the room, until Hitch finally cleared his throat and spoke up. "It's my fault Alphabittle, I'm the one responsible for this whole mess happening... it's all on me and my failure to take it seriously." "What? You sheriff?" Said Alphabittle, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "Yes, i've been receiving the letters for help from Bridlewood as you said, but my lack of knowledge of Unicorn customs, along with the fact that I assumed to have had no permission to assert authority in Bridlewood lead to me pushing them onto the side while I focused on other matters in the town... It wasn't until yesterday when a citizen came up to me and told me about what was going on, and only then did I stumble upon the case that was going on under my snoot all along... I was a fool for nearly letting this case go cold!" Said Hitch, bucking a nearby chair to the ground. Alphabittle looked on at him, focused on his words. "I'm sorry for letting this happen Alphabittle, I should've known better, but I listened to my misplaced judgement, and now that I look at this mess I ended up in... maybe it's better if you just turn me away and let me return back to Maretime Bay in disgrace..." Said Hitch, slowly turning away in sadness. "Hitch, wait you can't-" Said Sunny, before Zipp stopped her, shaking her head at her. "I let you, and all the Unicorns down... I'm sorry..." Hitch was prepared to leave, but he felt a hoof stop him, he glanced back to see that it wasn't his friends doing it, but Alphabittle, who still had an angry look on his face, but deeper in his eyes, there was a sign of understanding in them. "Sheriff, I'll be honest, I am disappointed in you and your friends for not responding to my fellow Unicorns requests for help sooner, that's why I had that outburst just now, it's been hard for the rest of us here in Bridlewood." Said Alphabittle, who then softened his look and started to talk more calmly, "However, that doesn't mean I will reject your offer to help us outright." Hitch's face brightened as he heard that, turning around to look at Alphabittle fully. "But tell me, why on earth did you ever think that you'd need my permission to operate here in Bridlewood? Sheriff, I don't think you've ever noticed it, but we don't have an active police force active here." Said Alphabittle bluntly. "H-huh!? You mean that..." Said Hitch stutteringly. "That's right, you can operate here as a member of authority under my say so, since you are a trusted and respectful officer Hitch." Said Alphabittle. Hitch rubbed the back of his head, letting out a sheepish sign, "Well, I feel really stupid now don't I?" Alphabittle smiled and let out a hearty laugh, "Yeah, but don't sweat on it too much, right now we've got bigger things to discuss." Sunny smiled, knowing they can finally discuss the case at hoof, "Yes, now back to what we were saying earlier about what was going on." For the last half hour, Alphabittle and the Mane Five proceeded to talk about the whole situation in detail, Alphabittle explaining about all the Unicorns disappearing around Bridlewood and the mysterious "Metal Monster" that has been sighted in the forest, while Sunny and her friends explained what they know about the case, and the "drone" attack that happened to them on the way to Bridlewood and how they escaped. "Huh, so they came from the trees and ambushed you is that it?" Said Alphabittle. "Yeah they did, it was scary, Pipp screamed really loud like 'AHHHHHHH' and then flew off straight ahead like a comet, i've never seen her go that fast before, we struggled to keep up using our roller blades on the rough path." Said Izzy. "I think I went a little too fast honestly, I ended up smacking into a tree and landing in a mud puddle, all the while doing a brief story for my Ponygram too! Augh, they were laughing at my misery!" Whined Pipp, still looking at her phone to filter out the comments. "Hmm, then how did you end up covered in mud then?" Alphabittle asked Sunny. "Oh I was trying to help Pipp out of the mud puddle, but Izzy didn't slow down in time and we both ended up covered in it." Said Sunny, both looking at Izzy unamused. "Hey I couldn't help it, I like to go fast in the woods!" Said Izzy, missing the point entirely. "Right, now how about you two?" Asked Alphabittle to Zipp and Hitch. "We had the same situation in our group too, but when they tried to surround us, we busted our way through using a big tree branch to send them flying, and then we ran as fast as we could, so much that we didn't notice that we had left them behind." Said Hitch. "What I'm concerned about is why did those drones attack us in the first place, how did they know where we were going?" Said Zipp, deep in thought. "Yeah, I mean you and me Zipp have been used to drones since we were fillies, but I've never seen ones like them before, especially since drones aren't allowed to be armed with weapons in Zephyr Heights by law." Said Pipp. "Really? Aww, I would've loved to arm a drone with one of my Glitter Flares." Said Izzy, examining one in her hoof. Pipp facehoofed at the thought of it. "Moving on, that means we can rule out Zephyr Heights, but now comes a new question, where did these drones come from, who made them, and why?" Said Zipp, typing down on her phone. "I don't know, but I'm getting a feeling that it might be related to the Unicorn disappearances." Said Hitch thoughtfully. "Hmm, we'll need more information in order to know for sure what we're up against." Said Sunny, trotting around deep in thought. The group were left thinking for a little while before a voice spoke up that spooked them. "Oh umm, excuse me." The ponies looked over at Jasmine who had been listening to them by the open door to the guest room, and almost right away, Izzy rushed over to her, knocking over a table in the process. "AHHH! Hello there Jasmine! How have you been little one? Asked Izzy excitedly, gently patting her head. "Oh u-umm... I've been better?" Said Jasmine with an awkward grin. "Oh what's wrong? Did something happen to you?" Izzy asked her, concern on her face. "Umm... well I was-" "She was attacked by the Metal Monster in the forest." Alphabittle interrupted, adjusting the table back in place. All the ponies looked at Alphabittle, then back at Jasmine, Izzy then reacted in horror and looked closely at Jasmine. "What, a Metal Monster nearly got you!? That's terrible! Can you tell me what happened?" Said Izzy, showing a rare show of seriousness. "Jasmine, please take a seat and tell us what happened out there." Said Alphabittle, providing said seat for her. Jasmine agreed, she walked over and sat down on the chair, taking in deep breaths, after a few moments she looked up, with a serious expression. "Okay, I'll tell you all what happened in the forest." Jasmine then went into detail about how she went into the forest early in the morning to look for her father who had disappeared trying to get to Maretime Bay, she instead ran across Starduster who had also left for Maretime Bay that same day, she was forced to accompany him on the path back to Bridlewood since she wasn't allowed to be out on her own, when they were chased by the Metal Monster and forced to flee. They thought they had escaped it by entering a secluded groove, when they were surrounded by strange metal ponies armed with weapons in their hooves. They then attacked, but Starduster sacrificed himself to allow her to escape to safety, she ran for her life as fast as she could, not looking back, and managed to reach Bridlewood before long. However, she had collapsed from exhaustion after all that running, and had been asleep until now when she woke up and heard the commotion outside her room. "That's all I can remember..." Said Jasmine, trying to hold back tears from Starduster's sacrifice. The Mane Five and Alphabittle had been silently listening to her story, and now were taking in what they just heard. Zipp, Hitch and Sunny seemed to be deep in thought, while Pipp and Alphabittle had blank expressions on their faces, then suddenly, Izzy spoke out loudly. "WHAT!? Strange metal ponies!? They must be aliens who have come to steal our crops! AHHHHHH!!!" Screamed Izzy. Zipp donked her on the back of the head, "Knock it off Izzy, this is a serious situation!" "Ow, and aliens stealing our crops isn't?" Said Izzy to Zipp, rubbing the back of her head. "They aren't aliens Izz, but still, strange metal ponies is a new one on me, if I didn't know better, I'd say that what she saw was perhaps more drones, that were looked like ponies." Said Zipp, typing all of it down. "Hmm, they sound too big to be normal drones sis, I think that they are in fact legitimate robots, real robot ponies!" Said Pipp somewhat excitedly. "Real robot ponies? I don't think i've ever seen such a thing." Said Hitch, who looked at Sunny who shook her head. "It's been on my personal wish-list for like, ages now, but whenever I bring it up to mother, she always says, 'We shouldn't rob our servants and citizens of their jobs by building robot ponies who could replace them'." Said Pipp, imitating her mother's voice, to Zipp's amusement. "Hmm...if that is the case, then we're not just dealing with drones, but also robot ponies that are armed just like they are. But if that's correct, then where could they have come from? Zephyr Heights has already been ruled out since they are forbidden by law, but if so, where else could they have been built?" Said Sunny, thinking deeply. "...Unless, but couldn't it be." Said Hitch, connecting the dots in his head. "If you are thinking what I think your thinking sheriff, then it has to be it." Said Zipp, realizing it too. "Oh my gosh, of course, how could I have forgotten all about it!" Said Pipp. Then the four ponies came together and all shouted, "Canterlogic!" "Canterlogic!? But I thought Phyllis had shut the company down months ago." Said Alphabittle. "That she did Alphabittle, but... even though it sits abandoned and all, it still has plenty of equipment, machinery and materials for manufacturing things, perhaps even these 'robot ponies'." Said Hitch, taking these notes down into his book. "Do you think somepony has started it back up again? If so, why would they make such awful things, and if they are behind the Unicorns vanishing, what could they want with them?" Asked Sunny to Hitch. "I don't know, but I'm starting to get a bad feeling about all of this." Said Hitch, looking worried. "Then there is the matter of the Metal Monster that's lurking out in the forest, if that thing too is responsible for the Unicorns vanishing, then I think we need to track it down and stop it before it strikes again." Said Zipp. "Whaaaat! Are you crazy Zipp!? The Metal Monster sounds scary, it might eat you!" Said Izzy in a panic. "Actually that reminds me, tell me little filly, what did this so called 'Metal Monster' look like?" Asked Hitch to Jasmine. "Well... from what I could remember, it looked like a big floating... trash can like thing, with a strange looking head and a single glowing red eye, and what looked like big long arms on its sides. I also remember it making this real scary noise as it was approaching, like a strange howling sound behind it." Jasmine described. "Hmm... sounds like a very strange looking 'monster' to me." Said Hitch, not sounding convinced. "I wonder... what if it isn't a monster at all, but actually just another robot as well?" Said Zipp thoughtfully. "That is a possibility, but we won't know until we see it for ourselves." Said Sunny. "That's right, and I propose that we do a stake out tonight, to track it down before it strikes again." Said Hitch boldly. Alphabittle overheard what he just said, and shocked turned to look at him, "Wait, you aren't seriously going to try finding that thing are you??" "We have to Alphabittle, if we don't do something about it, then it'll attack again and more Unicorns will vanish, we need to nip this whole problem in the bud right here and now." Said Zipp, looking determined. "But that thing is dangerous! What if it attacks you instead?" Said Alphabittle, concerned for them. "It's a risk that we will have to take, it's the only way that we'll get a lead on what's happened to the missing Unicorns." Said Sunny, standing next to Hitch. "Yeah, and if Canterlogic is involved in this, then we'll need to see if these robots were made by them, and if they do then we can hopefully trace it back to whomever did so, then we can arrest the scoundrel and have them face justice for their crimes!" Said Pipp, standing next to Sunny. Alphabittle looked at the group, they all looked determined to do their part to help out in stopping the Metal Monster, even if it was likely going to be dangerous, especially since it sounded like there was indeed somepony behind all of this, and that the danger is greater than he had imagined. Finally, after letting out a heavy sign, Alphabittle decided to relent. "Very well then, if you are determined to confront the Metal Monster and save the Unicorns, then i'm coming to help out too, they are not just my friends, they're almost my brothers and sisters too." Said Alphabittle, standing tall. The group cheered at the response, now all they needed to do was how to organize the stake out, and how to track down the Metal Monster in the forest. However, while Hitch, Zipp and Alphabittle discussed the plan, Sunny by now noticed that Izzy was being unusually quiet, normally she'd be involved and jumping in by now, but instead she was just sitting there deep in thought about something. Curious about her strange behavior, she went over to check on her, gently tapping her. "Umm Izzy, are you okay?" Said Sunny, tapping on her friend. This seemed to have caught her off guard as she jumped from the unexpected touch. "AHHH! Oh umm, sorry about that Sunny, I was just busy thinking about something in my head after overhearing everypony talking about Canterlogic and robots, something about it rang a bell in my head just now" Said Izzy. "Really? What sort of bell did it ring?" Asked Sunny. "Well, remember yesterday when I was talking about making a new friend down at the junkyard? I just remembered what he mentioned to me when we were talking, my new friend used to work for Canterlogic too" Said Izzy. Upon hearing that, the rest of the Mane Five and Alphabittle turned their attention to Izzy, eyes open wide, Zipp in particular leapt on over to her, nosebooping her intensely. "What!? Izzy that's huge information! Did this friend say anything else to you?" Said Zipp in a serious tone. "Umm... well he also said that he does a lot of inventing, and that he had a little robot drone with them by his side, and that he was looking to see how to use magic for the benefit of all ponykind." Said Izzy, recalling as much as she could. "Uh huh, tell me more Izz, I want to know more about this pony!" Said Zipp, bearing down on Izzy hard. "Sis! Your scaring her!" Shouted Pipp, showing concern for Izzy. Zipp however just shot a harsh glare over to her sister that shut her up fast, before turning back toward Izzy who by now was looking nervous. "Tell me Izzy, who is the pony, and what else did he say?" Shouted Zipp, in full interrogation mode. "Umm... well... the only other things he said to me was his name, that he was part of the 'club' around Maretime Bay before the reunification of all ponies." Said Izzy, who was not used to Zipp being so forceful to her. "Uh huh, interesting... Wait a minute, is this pony the so called 'Dr Wormwood' you mentioned yesterday?" Said Zipp with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah that's the one." Said Izzy with a nervous grin. "Interesting, very interesting." Zipp said to herself, deep in thought. Sunny and Hitch were also now in deep thought, it seemed that the name 'Dr Wormwood' was familiar to them, especially that he was part of the 'club' around Maretime Bay so to speak, but where did they hear about it? Suddenly, Sunny hopped up in shock, it seemed she had finally connected the dots in her head. "Ah hah! Of course, how could I have forgotten all about him! I know exactly who this Dr Wormwood is!" Sunny exclaimed to Hitch, who seemed to also know what she was talking about. "Wait you do? Who is he then, and what does he have to do with Canterlogic?" Asked Zipp, turning to look at Sunny and Hitch. "It's a doozy of a story, Sunny will explain it better than me." Said Hitch who nodded towards Sunny. Sunny nodded her head back, then she took a seat at a nearby table, doing her best to recall everything she knows about the enigmatic doctor. Alphabittle provided her with some fresh tea to help her relax and talk clearer, then the ponies all gathered round to listen to her. "Well, from what I can remember, his full name is Doctor Altair Wormwood, he used to work for Canterlogic as it's Chief of R&D, in fact he was there when the company was first founded many moons ago. He was friends with my father Argyle and Phyllis way back in their school days, they used to hang out together in class, even during my fathers games about old Equestria, even though Phyllis and the other ponies looked down on him for that, Wormwood was always interested in his stories, especially about magic and the wonders it can do, in fact, my father told me once as a filly that out of everypony else in his class, he was the only one who ever listened to him. I mean hay, they even went out on journeys together into the wilderness beyond town to explore the old ruins and abandoned places in the land, one time they found a ruined factory that was still intact and could be operational, not far from the Bridlewood forest actually." Said Sunny, who took a drink form her tea. "Whoa! That's really interesting Sunny, I never knew about that." Said Hitch, sitting there and listening intensely. "Well I never really told anypony else about it since it hasn't come up until now, but yes, sadly however.... As they got older they started to drift apart as friends, and they all went their own way, my father continuing his studies of old Equestria, Phyllis going on to found Canterlogic, and Wormwood who followed her there. They would sometimes meet each other again a few times when I was a young filly, but even back then I could tell that things were never quite the same between them, especially since he was now part of the 'club' of Maretime Bay." Said Sunny. "Hmmm, that's been said out loud a few times now, but what exactly is this 'club'?" Asked Pipp. "It's what the older ponies in our town referred to their united stance against Unicorns and Pegasus ponies, based on their then superstitions regarding them at the time. Of course such things aren't really important anymore with the recent unification, but still, there are a few ponies around that are still partial to it." Hitch explained. "Yeah... but anyways, it was as I was growing up and after my fathers passing that I started to hear more about what Wormwood was up to at Canterlogic, he was inventing all sorts of things including automated home security cameras, propulsion packs for limited flight, drones for everyday use such as cleaning, but what really put him on the map was his unveiling of the original prototype of what would come to be known as... The Unicorn Traps." Said Sunny, looking down. "Wait wait wait... You're saying that my new friend was the one who came up with those traps?" Said Izzy curiously. "Yes, it was Wormwood who invented them, and Canterlogic mass produced them to be placed all over town in order to snare up any Unicorns who invaded the town... I tried to protest their use many times, but it always fell on deaf ears." Said Sunny, taking a sad sip of her teacup. "Ohhh, well I didn't think they were that bad honestly, after all we did make the most of when I was trapped in one not so long ago, right Hitch?" Said Izzy, recalling the time when she was trapped in a Unicorn Trap. "Don't remind me." Said Hitch, who wasn't eager to remember his frustrations that day. "Anyway moving on, so this Doctor Wormwood wasn't just a former Canterlogic employee, he was also something of a genius as well?" Zipp asked Sunny. "That's right, he was said to have had over a hundred patents at Canterlogic alone at one point, and not just in Engineering, but he also dabbled in Astrophysics, Chemistry, Theoretical Sciences and other subjects, no wonder he recorded an IQ of 277 just a few years ago in a sponsored test." Said Sunny. "Whoa really? You mean he's like a super genius??? No pony at Zephyr Heights even comes close to that IQ number, not even the royal engineers and science team come anywhere near that level." Said Pipp, who was now actively browsing for information on Wormwood on social media using her phone. "That's right, and there is nopony in Maretime Bay who hasn't heard of him, and the 'rumours' around him too." Said Hitch. "Rumours you say?" Said Zipp curiously. "Wait hold on one moment is this Wormwood still employed at Canterlogic, even though the company was shut down?" Interrupted Alphabittle. "Well no... Less than a year before the unification happened, he was dismissed from Canterlogic by Phyllis, for supposedly harboring symphony towards Unicorns. That was the official statement that the company put out, but no pony in town knows what really happened between them that lead to him being fired." Said Sunny, who had just finished off her tea. "They fired him over that? Hmm... That sounds a little suspicious to me." Said Alphabittle, who took the empty cup away. "Yeah, I mean why would mean old Phyllis sack him for liking Unicorns? I mean yeah at the time they were all 'Unicorns are evil, Pegasi suck, blah blah blah', but still, it sounds rather mysterious, like Canterlogic was hiding something." Said Izzy. "Hmmm, it is mysterious alright, but where do we go from here?" Said Hitch, looking over his notes again. "Hmm, I wonder if Wormwood or Phyllis might know anything about those robots that attacked us, and the Metal Monster in the forest, since their both former Canterlogic big wigs, they might know something about them, and that could give us a big lead towards finding the missing Unicorns." Said Zipp openly. The other ponies turned towards Zipp in surprise, Izzy in particular jumped forward and right up to her face. "Blahhh!" Zipp! Are you suggesting that my new friend is a suspect in this case!?" Said Izzy, showing a rare sign of anger. Zipp however kept a cool head and explained, "Izzy, I hate to say it, but right now there is a hunch I have to suggest it, not enough to say he is guilty, but also not enough to find him innocent either." "What makes you suspect Wormwood of being behind all this Zipp? I mean, yeah he is likely smart enough to be capable of building robots and drones that we've encountered, and he was the one who came up with the Unicorn Capture Devices, but still, he's been out of the public eye for a year now, and if he was dismissed for showing a liking for Unicorns, it doesn't exactly depict him as a suspect to me." Said Sunny, who stood by Izzy. Pipp came up next beside her sister, "That is a good point Sunny, however, as you said, he is the one who came up with the Unicorn Capture Devices, and from what i've just browsed about him on social media, it seems like he wasn't forced into creating them at all, but instead did it willingly, that and all the talk of 'rumours' surrounding him doesn't exactly paint him as an honest horse in my eyes. That and our own private investigation we've been conducting regarding a-" "PIPP! That's strictly confidential to us and the Queen!" Shouted Zipp. "Wait what? What private investigation, and what about the Queen?" Said Alphabittle. The two Pegasus sisters looked on, they had both been sworn not to talk about the details of their meeting with their mother back in Zephyr Heights, leaving the situation awkward and the tension high between the ponies. It was then that a knock on the entrance door surprised them, and a very familiar voice that rang out behind it. "Alphie dear, are you home? The Unicorns seemed to be scared of coming outside today, is everything okay?" Everypony in the room looked towards the main door wide eyed as it opened up, and there, in all her regal glory, was the Royal Highness of Zephyr Heights herself, Queen Haven. Behind her were the two Royal Guards, Thunder and Zoom who both came into the room ahead of her to welcome her in. "Ohh, girls, I didn't expect you and your friends to be here too, am I interrupting anything?" Said Haven. All the ponies were too surprised to say anything, Zipp and Pipp most of them all. Eventually, Alphabittle cleared his throat and went over to greet her. "Well actually Haven, yes you have, but don't worry, we'll tell you all about it, since it is something that's become very personal to me, and it's likely that this could be a bigger problem than we thought." Said Alphabittle. "Oh no, that's not good at all, what is going on Alphie? Why are you all here, and where are all of the Unicorns, they don't seem to want to come outside on this lovely day, what is going on here?" Said Haven, who was now very curious about what was going on. "Yeah I mean usually we'd see them hoping about with their dances and magic, but today they just seem all shut up in their homes, no hello or howdy at all." Said Thunder, blurting it out loud. The ponies looked all around the room awkwardly, but Hitch then stepped forward with Alphabittle to the Queen. "Well... it's a loooooong story your Highness, I think it's better if you take a seat while we explain what's going on." Said Hitch. "Oh well I don't mind at all, I got plenty of time on my hooves, Alphie dear would you mind proving tea for all of us? The usual best please." Said Haven, as she took her seat on a nearby large table. "Coming right up dear." Said Alphabittle, looking happier than he had been all day as he walked to his counter. Pipp and Zipp seemed confused about the exchange, but brushed it off and went over to join their mother. "Right then, tell me what's going on, and why do I get the feeling that involves the Unicorns?" Said Haven to Hitch. The ponies all took their seats around the table, Hitch helped Jasmine up onto a nearby stool, then turned to face the Queen, taking a deep breath. "Well, let me start from the beginning..."