“How do you know where we’re going?” Sol asked. The early morning mist coated her magenta-veined wings in a heavy layer of dew, so she trotted through the fields alongside Moony instead.
“See that?” Moony pointed towards a hazy light in the distance. “That’s the sun. If we go towards it, we know we’re going east! Well, at least until the afternoon.”
Sol stumbled over a pebble, but Moony was considerate enough to wait for her to catch up. “That… actually makes a lot of sense,” Sol said. “Did you learn that at nir— I mean, kirin school?”
“Well, I didn’t go to kirin school,” said Moony with a chuckle, “we just called it school! Our elders teach us how to navigate both inside and outside the Mysticwood as soon as we can talk, so we never get lost.” She turned her head towards Sol. “So what did you learn at changeling school?”
Touché, Sol thought. “Mostly battle formations, what you need to do to become a guard, and how supporting the guards is supposedly just as important as being one…” Just thinking about it made her roll her cyan eyes. “It wasn’t all bad, though! My favourite subject was history. Most of it was about wars the previous queens had won, of course, but it inspired me to read more in the archives.”
“Your queen sure sounds like an overprotective mother,” Moony drawled.
“Not exactly…” said Sol. The grass beneath her was getting taller; she could feel it tickling the tops of her legs. “Queen Rostrum isn’t exactly anyone’s mom. Well, she might be, but I don’t know who my biological parents are. None of us do. The adults raise each new generation together, and we consider each other siblings.”
“So she’s like the elders in my village?” Moony asked, tilting her head slightly. “Well, not exactly the same — we know which ones we’re related to — but we respect all of them like they’re our own grandparents.”
They walked and talked for several more hours, until the mist thinned to reveal a huge mountain towering beyond the hills. Sol gasped and took a moment to admire the view. It was even more imposing than Seafey’s Hive, and dotted with rounded buildings whose stained-glass windows glimmered in the sunlight like stars reflected on the sea.
“Not… much further… to go!” Moony panted.
It was midday by the time they reached Mt. Zephyr’s base. Amongst the grey slopes and sparse vegetation, the opalescent gate stood out like a beacon. Flanked by two hippogriff statues with their wings spread out wide, it blocked the gentle path up the mountain. Strangely, there were no guards around.
Moony pranced up to the gate and poked it. “Uh… can anyone let us in?” she asked.
“Please identify yourselves,” a crackling voice said, and it made Sol jump. She couldn’t tell where it was coming from; there was no-one else around… right?
Moony seemed unconcerned. “I’m Moonbow Shine, and I’m here with Soli-fyooj.”
Sol buzzed over to Moony’s side and whispered, “Where’s the voice coming from?”
“The hippogriffs have all sorts of fancy gadgets, but I’ve never seen one like this before!” Moony replied, staring at a metal box stuck to the side of a statue. “I guess this one allows them to store voices and send them to other places.”
“Right…” Sol decided to worry about how it worked later.
“Can I hear from Soli-fyooj?” the voice asked.
Startled, Sol swallowed a gasp before it could escape. “It’s pronounced Soli-foog, and I’m a changeling from Seafey’s Hive.”
“Wait there,” the voice said abruptly.
And so they waited. And waited. Sol passed the time by counting blades of grass, while Moony chewed her mane. Eventually, a pair of hippogriffs landed in front of them. One was blue with a short beak, the other was mint-green with a large beak, and they both wore golden armour around their chests. They were both holding spears — made entirely of metal, not wooden like her hive’s…
…And they pointed them towards Sol’s chest.
“Stay where you are,” the blue one said flatly.
“Are you sure about this?” the mint one whispered. “I don’t want to start an international incident…”
“And I don’t want to risk our kingdom getting invaded!” the blue one hissed back.
“Hello!” Moony exclaimed, bouncing towards the hippogriffs as if she was completely oblivious to the situation.
What are you doing? Sol thought.
“You don’t need to worry about Solifuge. She’s with me!” Moony continued. “Changelings can’t shapeshift anymore. Even if they could, why would she show up in her true form if she wanted to deceive you? That seems like the worst way to gain your trust.”
The guards exchanged glances. “She has a point,” said the mint one. He lowered his spear, but the blue one didn’t.
“Can’t we just let Moonbow Shine in alone?” the blue one muttered.
“Uh… think of it this way: if we let both in, Miss Shine can supervise the changeling!” the mint one said to her.
The blue one sighed. “I suppose that makes sense.”
The mint one cleared his throat. “Alright, then. On behalf of Queen Eventide, we shall let you through!”
Fortunately, Sol and Moony didn’t have to walk all the way up to the summit. When they were a few steps past the gates, Sol noticed a round, metal carriage of some sort hanging from a wire.
“What’s that?” she asked.
Moony placed a hoof under her chin. “It’s an… uh…” She shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ll go and ask.” She bounded up to a hippogriff who was standing next to some steps that led to the carriage. “Hello! What’s this?”
“It’s a cable car,” the hippogriff replied flatly; he didn’t even bother to look at Moony. “Seats four, costs 10 coins per rider.”
Moony sighed and looked at the ground. “Oh… I don’t have any money. Do you, Sol?”
“I’ve never even heard of that!” replied Sol.
Moony raised her head. “Pleeease can you let us in? Pretty please? We need to do something important!”
“How important?” asked the hippogriff.
“It’s super, duper important!” Moony continued. “See, we want to find out—”
“I’ve heard you have the most accurate historical records on the continent,” Sol interrupted.
“Those are in the royal archives,” he drawled. “Good look getting in th—” Suddenly, the hippogriff’s beak dropped. Sol and Moony turned to see what he was looking at: a pink hippogriff with a purple mane who was just fluttering down to land. She was taller than Sol and Moony, but noticeably shorter and chubbier than the other hippogriffs. She wore a golden tiara, and a strange metal cuboid hung from a strap around her neck.
“Oh. My. Good-ness!” exclaimed the new hippogriff, singing the last word.
“Princess Anemone Petals!” gasped the male hippogriff, showing emotion for the first time. “What are you doing here?”
Anemone held her head high, flicking her mane. “When I heard the guards talking about how two outsiders had arrived, I just had to go and see!” She leaned towards Sol, lifted up the metal cuboid, and pressed a button which caused it to flash. Sol flinched. “I’ve never seen a changeling before, but you’re so a-dor-a-ble!”
“Uh… thanks? I mean, your majesty,” Sol said, taking a step back. “My name’s Solifuge, and she’s…”
“Moonbow Shine!” exclaimed Moony, chipper as ever. “But you can call me Moony for short. And everyone calls her Sol!”
“Fab-u-lous!” exclaimed Anemone. She lowered her neck to look Sol in the eye. “As the first changeling to set foot on Mt. Zephyr in possibly centuries, would you like me to give you an all-expenses-paid tour? Your friend can come too.”
“Sure… uh, Your Majesty,” said Sol with a quick, polite bow. “We’re only here to read some historical records in the royal archives.”
Anemone gasped. “Are you for real? Mom won’t let just anyone in there!”
Sol thought for a moment, then looked up at Anemone. “Then as a representative of Seafey’s Hive, I request an audience with your queen.”
As the cable car climbed between spiralling towers of metal and glass, Sol looked down at the streets below. They were paved with white cobblestone and marble, and flanked on either side by trees and grass. Some hippogriffs walked, while others flew, but they kept well away from the cable car's path. Sol guessed that there were more hippogriffs in this district than there were changelings in Seafey's Hive. She wished she had the time to admire the view.
"If you can fly, why do you need these cable car things?" Moony asked, shading her eyes with her foreleg.
"Oh, flying can be SO tiring," said Anemone. "Especially when there's a storm, or a heatwave, or the wind's blowing in the wrong direction… Anyway, why do you two want to read boring history books?"
Sol pouted, but reigned in the urge to argue. “We’re trying to find out why all the ponies disappeared over a thousand years ago.”
“We want to find a way to bring magic back!” Moony added.
In an instant, Anemone’s expression changed to a disappointed frown. “Good luck with that.”
Sol sighed. “Bringing magic back would be great, but it’s not our main objective.” Hoping to change the subject, she pointed at the object around Anemone’s neck. “Also — if you don’t mind me asking — what is that thing?”
Anemone held up the cuboid. “You’ve really never seen a digital camera before?” Sol nodded, motioning her to continue. “I point it at something, press the button, and… flash! I have an image of it forever. I couldn’t imagine life without it.”
“I could!” Moony chimed in.
They continued talking until the cable car came to a stop outside the palace. It towered over the other buildings, and the front wall consisted of glass panels criss-crossed by golden frames that reminded Sol of the veins in Queen Rostrum’s wings. Anemone led the way inside, and the guards in front of the doors stepped out of their way in unison.
Thanks to all the windows, the throne room was as bright as the outside. The floor was made of polished, beige marble. As they entered, a pinkish-lavender hippogriff flew down from the ceiling and landed on the white-and-gold throne.
“Moooom! I’ve brought visitors!” Anemone sang, catching Sol by surprise. No changeling would dare speak to their queen so casually.
“Why hello, my darling Anemone!” the queen replied — Eventide, if Sol remembered correctly. She stepped towards Anemone and placed a wing over her side. The second she noticed Sol and Moony, Queen Eventide’s tone changed from warm to serious. “I see you’ve brought some guests. Who are they?”
Sol was about to introduce herself, but Anemone interrupted. “This one’s Sol, and this one’s Moony. I brought them here because we hardly ever get outsiders — oh, the magazines are gonna love this!” Then, she turned to face Sol and Moony. “Oh! By the way, I’m sorry, but I can’t stick around much longer. I’ve got a show to prepare for. Make sure you come watch it!”
After Anemone left, Sol faced the queen and bowed. “Your majesty, we request access to the royal archives.”
“I see.” Queen Eventide trotted towards Sol; her hoofbeats echoed throughout the room, while her claws scratched the floor. “And why would that be?”
Sol took a breath to compose herself. “I have heard you have the most accurate records of Equestrian history, your majesty.”
“Oh! In that case, I shall have my guards escort you there.” Despite her friendly tone, the queen didn’t look at Sol. She gestured towards a pair of guards, who ushered Moony towards a corridor.
“Okey-dokey!” Moony exclaimed, bounding towards them. Sol was about to follow her, but stopped mid-stride when…
“Oh, stay here, changeling,” said Queen Eventide. “I’d like to have a word with you.”
Sol froze. Had she offended the queen?
Once Moony had left the room, Sol found herself surrounded by spears.
“ARREST HER!” the queen shouted.
Meanwhile, the guards led Moony through a maze of corridors. The walls were all the same goldish-beige colour, and the doors were all uniform slabs of mahogany — this palace was the most boring place in the world! It was nothing like the Mysticwood, where every tree curved in a different way and every patch of flowers contained a rainbow of colours. She wondered how the hippogriffs didn’t get lost here.
After the longest ten-or-so minutes of her life, the guards stopped outside a door. One used a key they were wearing around their neck to unlock it, then twisted a golden knob to push it open. Moony gazed in awe; she’d never seen a doorknob before.
Before Moony entered the room, she asked the guards: “Why did the queen want to talk to Sol, anyway?”
“That information is confidential,” said a guard. Moony didn’t know what “confidential” meant, but she figured that asking more questions wouldn’t get her any answers.
Moony took a step into the royal archives, and what she saw was incredible! The room was lined with mahogany bookcases that rose all the way to the skylight like a cuboid forest, and it was just the right time of day for the sun to bathe it in a golden glow. The guards stayed in the corridor, but left the door open.
She bounded over to the history section and scanned the titles on its bookcases: Lost and Found Fledgelings of Griffonstone, The Invasion of Mt. Aris, Expeditions to the Frozen North… One book on a middle shelf grabbed her attention: What We Know About the End of Equestria. She reared up onto her hind tiptoes and tried to grasp it with her hooves, but it was just out of her reach.
“Need any help?” someone asked. Startled, Moony fell onto her back.
“Yes…” she groaned. She rolled onto her front just and heard the newcomer trot towards her. She was a white hippogriff who looked to be the same age as Anemone Petals, with magenta and cyan stripes in her spiky mane. “Could you bring me that End of Equestria book?”
“Will do.” The hippogriff pulled the book off the shelf, landed, and placed it in front of Moony. “I’ve never seen you before… You here on official business?”
“Uh… sorta.” Moony stood up. “See, a friend of mine wants to learn more about why all the ponies disappeared, and I told her this was the best place. She’s not here right now, though. The queen wanted to talk to her!”
“Okay, one thing at a time,” said the hippogriff, lowering her neck so she made eye contact with Moony. “First things first, the name’s Zephyr Storm, but you… can call me Zeph.”
Moony introduced herself to Zeph.
“Second of all, I don’t think that book’s gonna help you that much.” Zeph pointed to the copy of What We Know About the End of Equestria on the floor, just as Moony pushed the cover open with her hoof. “See, no-one really knows where all the ponies went. As far as we can tell, they were here one day, and the next, they just disappeared into nothingness. They can’t have all died, because then we’d be finding thousand-year-old pony skeletons all over the place. There are no records of a war, or a plague, or a huge natural disaster from around that time, and even if there were, why would it only affect the pony population of Equestria?”
Moony nodded along, motioning for Zeph to continue.
“But I… have a hypothesis. What if some kind of magic spell caused all the ponies to disappear without a trace? That would explain why magic disappeared, too. Something tells me ponies were responsible for maintaining magic, and it can’t exist without them…”
“But who would make a spell like that? And why?” Moony asked.
“I… don’t know.” Zeph shook her head. “Like I said, this is all just a hypothesis, but I think it’s a mystery worth solving. Wanna join me?”
“Sure! And you can join Sol, too!” exclaimed Moony.
“...Who’s Sol?”
“The friend I mentioned earlier. It’s short for Solifuge of Seafey’s Hive. She’s a changeling!”
Zeph’s cyan eyes widened with shock. “A changeling? Oh no…”
Moony tilted her head. “What’s wrong with that?”
“We’ve got some bad history with changelings. There’s only one place the queen would put her — and I can show you where it is.”
Meanwhile, a pair of changelings stood outside the locked gates. It had taken them all day to get here; unlike Sol, neither of them could fly.
“How do you think they’ll let us in?” asked Phalanx.
“Let us?!” Viceroy scoffed. “We don’t have time to wait.” And with that, he rushed forwards and rammed the gap between the gates with his polearm. They shook slightly…