Ooo An Old Police Station ooO
Ponyville Police Station. The best in town, the sign claimed. Those who lived in Ponyville knew, of course, that it was the only police station in town. There was hardly enough crime to keep it active, let alone a second one.
The station’s waiting room had exactly one place for a pony to wait: a comfortable, ratty couch before the front desk, sagging until it almost touched the floor. A single policepony sat behind the desk, munching on what most policeponies would munch on the job: doughnuts. Semi-retired police officer Steel Heart had lost count of how many of those delicious treats he had popped into his mouth, but he carried on anyway.
They’re smaller-sized than the normal ones, he reasoned, so they don’t mess with my health that much. He popped yet another sugar-coated donut into his mouth, careful not to get any crumbs onto his greying moustache.
Why do they have to make these things so nice and bite-sized anyway?
He wondered if the sugar was just going to add on to the flab around his flanks. Probably, yes. That bothered him a little.
I used to be as fit as a fiddle, fresh out of cadet school. Back when cases needed solving, and ponies needed saving.
Those were the days....
He heard the soft jingle of bells from the door and looked up, eyebrows raised. What’s this, a visitor?
A violet unicorn mare stepped into the room, looking a little dazed and lost as her eyes wandered around. Behind her followed an orange earth pony, a faded Stetson hat over her coarse blond mane and a smile on her face that gave her an air of confidence. Finally, a white unicorn with a deep purple mane strode into the room. The first thing she caught sight of was the couch before the front desk, to which she wrinkled her nose at in disapproval.
The violet unicorn caught sight of him, her eyes brightening. “Is this the police station?”
“What’s left of it,” muttered Steel Heart.
She cocked her head a little to the side. “Huh?”
Steel Heart pushed away his box of doughnuts. This group of ponies looked a little familiar, as if he had seen them on the newspapers once. He studied the unicorn in front of him, medium-short in stature and a bit plush, trailing his gaze along the streak of bright pink and purple down her forelock. She had a pair of deep purple irises.
...Which are kinda pretty, actually.
He shook his head and coughed. “Uh, how may I help you, Miss?”
The young mare nodded and placed a hoof on her chest. “My name is Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends, Applejack and Rarity.” She removed the hoof from her chest and indicated at the two ponies beside her. “We have a case to report, officer.”
“Oh, alright. Give me a moment to prepare my... uh... stuff.” Steel Heart gave an embarrassed smile at Twilight, straightening his crumpled uniform over his flabby stomach. He opened a drawer under his desk, pulling out a few sheets of paper and laying them out in front of himself. Noticing that there were no quills, he reached his hoof back inside the drawer, searching the corners.
Where are the darn quills kept?
He closed the drawer and pulled open another, frantically searching around as the three mares watched. Not here... not there...
“Are you looking for something, officer?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah, just give me a minute or so...” He stood up from his seat, and then proceeded to crouch on all fours, bending close to the ground. He searched the floor, inspecting the tiles for any fallen quills, but he only found clumps of gray dirt and a few dead beetles.
“Um... officer? I see some quills on the table, if that’s what you’re looking for.”
“What!” Steel heart jerked his head up and knocked it painfully against the desk. Muttering a series of curses under his breath, Steel Heart clambered onto his chair. “Where are they?”
Twilight indicated a space hidden behind his box of doughnuts.
Steel Heart pushed the box to the side in irritation. Behind it, three quills were placed neatly in their holders, brand new and perfect.
“Celestia damn—” he blurted, stopping when he noticed the stunned expressions of the mares across the desk. “Uh... Thanks, Miss Sparkle.” He carefully pulled out one of the quills, staring at it intently. He looked back at Twilight with her distracting purple eyes.
“Okay, I’m ready, I think. Took a while, didn’t I?” Steel Heart gave a weak chuckle. “Right, the case you wanted to make. Fire away, Miss Sparkle.”
With that prompt, Twilight began to tell him how she had apparently been attacked at night, along with the appearance of strange symbols in her library, as well as an ancient book filled with mysterious fairy tales and poems.
Steel Heart listened, trying to capture all the information being given to him. He was pretty sure he missed out one or two bits, but he had the overall gist of it.
“...and so we came here, officer, hoping you could help us,” Twilight finished.
Steel heart remained silent for a while, scratching his chin in thought. He put his quill away and looked at her. “I hate to break it to you, Miss, but there is absolutely nothing I can do to help you.”
The three mares exchanged glances before looking back at him.
“There ain’t nothing you can do about it?” Applejack echoed, frowning as if she had heard it wrongly. “Whatd’ya mean nothing? You’re the police!”
“Well, yes we are,” Steel Heart said nonchalantly. “You see, the ponies that work here don’t deal with the sort of things your friend’s talking about. We can’t help you on that... Like you said, we’re police. Not ghost busters, not demon hunters.”
He almost sounded bored saying all that, dragging out his sentences in a slight drawl. The old policepony had his fair share of such cases, and this one seemed like any other. He examined their faces, which were decidedly a mixture of shock and confusion, to which he raised up his hooves in a defensive gesture. “Hey, it’s not that I don’t want to,” he added in quickly. “Our new policy doesn’t allow us to.”
Applejack raised one of her eyebrows even higher, until it almost touched her forelock. “Yer new... policy?”
“That’s right. I’ll explain. Here, have a seat.” He motioned to the black swivel chairs opposite him. Once his visitors were seated, he began his story.
“About ten years ago or longer, we had an unusual case thrown at us. A young group of colts claimed to have seen a demon or something. They rang up the police, telling us how terrifying and dangerous it was. We organized a small search patrol immediately, setting out to investigate the area where the creature was said to have been sighted. Two hours later, that patrol came back, calling for reinforcements and a massive search party. They had found blood near the area, and even a few odd-looking tracks on the ground.”
Steel Heart spoke in a low, deep voice, moving his hooves around in the air slowly as if he was telling a particularly frightening story.
“So we called up half the entire force to search for it, afraid that ponies might be attacked.” He paused and gave a tired sigh, the energy draining out of him as his shoulders slumped forwards. “Guess what? All our efforts were wasted. Turns out the whole thing was a fake. The colts created that mess themselves. They made the strange tracks, and the labs showed that the spilt blood was from a chicken, not a pony.”
The three mares were fidgeting uncomfortably, as if somepony was brushing their coats the wrong way up.
“It’s not so much the time wasted that got the top officers pissed.” Steel Heart rubbed his temple with a forehoof. “A bank robbery occurred during the search. There weren’t enough forces to react to the distress alarms because the entire force was out in a damn search party. That’s how our new policy came about.”
“But that’s just one prankster!” Applejack stomped her hoof, suddenly glaring daggers at Steel Heart. “Yer can’t make yer varmit policies from jus’ one prankster!”
Steel Heart’s looked bewildered. “One? Missy, these cases have been popping up for ages. I’d be assured that you weren’t even born before they had started.” Steel Heart leaned back, his chair giving a strained creak of protest. “Yeah, let me finish my little story and it’ll make more sense. Well, let’s just say that the bank robbers managed to escape out of town and were never caught. Shortly after the incident, the whole darn town caught wind of our mishandling of the issue, and that meant that things weren’t going to end well for us. Of course, they didn’t. I can’t figure out how that small bank robbery escalated to a to a full blown distrust of the police force by the townsponies, but it kinda did. The poor chief took a beating, and he promised to stop all this nonsense once and for all, by removing all police involvement in anything supernatural.”
"I... I guess that makes some sense.” Applejack admitted grudgingly.
“I can see the reasoning behind it,” Twilight nodded at Applejack. She turned to Steel Heart. “Is there really nothing you can do to help us, officer? Maybe a little advice on what we could do?”
Steel Heart tapped his chin in thought. “Hmm... I don’t really know. Because, to be honest, I don’t believe any of this demon monster creature crap. It just doesn’t make much sense, and it hasn’t happened before.” He frowned a little as a thought struck him. “Well, we did have a real creepy case in the past, but that was so long ago. It’s become more of a legend now, and I even don’t know how much of it is actually true.”
“Could you tell us about it? I think it might help us.” said Twilight, stepping forward. Her brow was slightly furrowed, and her deep lavender eyes showed a hint of uncertainty.
Steel heart paused. “I... uh, I’m really not sure about that, miss. You know, we policeponies aren’t supposed to be talking about past cases to strangers and all that... especially unsolved cases.” He frowned, suddenly noticing how uneasy Twilight seemed. “And you don’t look so keen yourself, so—”
“No, no! I’m fine,” Twilight insisted.
“Mhm, yeah. She’s fine.” Applejack confidently patted the purple unicorn on her head. “You go ahead and tell us that story.”
Steel Heart looked at them suspiciously for a few moments, but he decided to ignore it. It wasn’t often that he had an audience for his storytelling sessions anyway. He adjusted himself on his seat, and it squeaked louder than ever as it struggled to hold his weight. Leaning in closer to the three mares, he began on his second story.
“Okay, so this is how the legend goes, if I remember correctly. It all started off with a mysterious call to the police. Heh, all cases begin that way, don’tcha think? There was a break-in at a small shop selling gems or something. Just your average old case... ‘cept that the thief was stupid enough to leave a few markings behind.”
Twilight’s jaw dropped open, and the color drained from her face. “The markings!” she blurted out, “What did they look like?”
“Uh... I’ve no idea, Miss,” Steel Heart said, raising a bushy gray eyebrow at Twilight. “This happened flippin’ years ago, remember? But there’s nothing worth talking about there, because the detectives couldn’t make anything out of it. In fact, they couldn’t find any leads at all from the evidence they had collected. Heh, they could only wait for something else to happen... and something else did happen I tell ya, something big. A week later, the gemstone sellers were murdered. Their bodies were all gray.”
“Horseapples, ah don’t like how this story is going,” Applejack commented.
Steel Heart burst out into a hearty laugh. “Filly, nopony likes how this goes.” He paused for a moment. “Anyways, as I was saying, the bodies turned up all weird and gray. Seems like the killer was real sick in the head, and probably a unicorn too, since ya need magic to do all that weird stuff. So more agents were called in, and the case was taken over by the Hearts. Now, these fellas were some of the best in town. They worked hard on the crime scene, dusting the floors, looking for prints and hairs. But even the great Hearts were stumped by the lack of clues. Unable to find anything useful, they declared the case a mystery.”
As the policepony spoke, he subconsciously fiddled the metal name tag above his left breast pocket, as if it carried some sort of importance.
“A week later, a second murder case popped up. The victim was killed the same way. Now they knew they had a serial killer on the loose, and he was damn good, leaving nothing but those quirky markings. The Hearts were becoming desperate. In the following few weeks, new murders would pop up, all leaving no clues whatsoever. Then, all of a sudden, the string of murders stopped. Just like that.
“The residents of Ponyville grew suspicious. They thought that the killer was lurking among them, biding his time. They wanted revenge, and they didn’t think the police were making much progress. Things got real nasty when they took matters into their own hooves... Real, real nasty.”
Steel Heart saw his box of doughnuts sitting forlornly on the table. He stretched out a hoof and pulled out a doughnut. It had gone soft and greasy from standing out in the air, but he didn’t mind.
“You know, all that mistrust between those town fellows... kinda goes to show how important harmony is in Ponyville. It’s pretty darn important,” he said to himself, taking a bite off the doughnut and chomping in front of the three mares. “Harmony. Without that, things just mess themselves up into some sort of chaos.”
He waved the half-eaten doughnut at them. “You girls want some?”
Rarity crinkled her nose and shook her head, refusing it politely.
Steel Heart shrugged, popping the remaining chunk into his mouth and swallowing it down whole. The three mares were sweating, their pale faces evoking a playfully sadistic grin on Steel Heart. “Okay, that’s all I’m going to tell you for now,” he laughed. “You three like my story, I’m guessing.”
Applejack planted a firm hoof down on his desk in response, a serious look on her face. “Officer, we’re in real trouble. You gotta help us.”
Slightly taken aback, Steel Heart went on the defensive. “I really can’t do anything, even if I wanted to. My superiors would never mobilize the police to go around searching for something that you can’t even describe.”
“But this is different! We aren’t mucking around and faking up some darn story. We need help.” Applejack paused, her face inches away from Steel Heart’s. “Isn’t this the place to go for help?”
“I’m can’t, Miss Applejack. I’m sorry.”
The earth pony lowered her head in resignation. “Yes... no, I’m sorry. You’re right, you are only the police.” She paused in silence for a few moments. “We’ll be on our way now then. C’mon Twi, let’s go.”
Steel Heart watched the three mares leave. He couldn’t help but feel as though he had done something wrong. But no, that couldn’t be it. He was doing his job well.
We’re police. Not ghost busters, not demon hunters...
The old police officer found himself fiddling with his metal name tag. He unpinned it, examining his name engraved there in block letters, and then he knew that there was something else that he had forgotten to tell to the three mares.
Princess Celestia walked along the deserted, dimly lit hallway. On either side of her, enormous black marble walls stretched high up to the dark ceiling.
“Eclipse,” the sun goddess murmured. “An eclipse that turns fossils back to life.” She felt the marble under her hooves, strong and sturdy. If only she could be like that too. All she felt at the moment was uncertainty.
“Fossils,” she thought aloud. “Fossils that turn back to life.”
She made a turn to the left, entering a smaller hallway of marble. “Specific fossils that turn back to life.”
The hallway ended with a pair of heavy double doors, stretching at least twenty hoofsteps wide on either side, rising all the way to the ceiling. A full-grown red dragon could easily fit through the set of doors and Celestia suddenly felt a little small, like a bug entering a tunnel. Strange magical symbols were carved along the edges of its frame. They pulsed in time with one another with the amber color of dying coals.
Celestia came to a stop in front of the doors. She levitated out a small gold key from under her wing, inserting it into a small keyhole that was placed conveniently low enough for ponies to reach. The key was given a burst of magic, which seeped through its shining gold and into the metal. A few mechanical clunks came from the door. Slowly, the gears turned and it grinded open, revealing a dark void beyond.
Celestia stood in front of the doorway, setting her eyes on the darkness before her. Taking a deep breath, she stepped through it.
The sun goddess entered a massive chamber. Within it, two long rows of giant candles hung by the sides, each illuminating a small portion of the gleaming black walls, which gave off a soft sparkle against the candlelight. The twin rows of candles extended all the way to the back, the flames getting smaller and smaller until they were only flickering pinpricks of light at the end of the vast space.
In the middle of the chamber, thousands of rectangular silver lecterns occupied the floor, placed in neat rows and columns. Each of the holders contained a single tome, bound and secured tightly using thick metal chains.
Above her, a rectangular slab of old wood floated in the air, almost pony-sized. The Canterlot Arcane Library, it read, the words inscribed into the wood.
Celestia took her time to marvel at the place. This hardly looked like a library at all. The walls of the chamber, for example, were made out of rare black diamond crystals, a queer material that functioned as a magical barrier, perfect for preventing thieves from teleporting into the chamber. She knew how important the tomes in this library were to her scientists and scholars, and to herself as well.
The walls had else something hanging on them—old paintings, mostly of mythical creatures and beasts, just above the row of candles. On one, a phoenix spread its wings out in a stunning display of light and fire. And next to it was an Ursa Major, fully grown and towering above the trees, and after that...
Celestia couldn’t make out what was after that. She stepped closer, squinting at the painting.
“Oh... my,” Celestia murmured. She stared at the dark and murky serpent-like shape for a long moment, recalling how she had fought the creature long ago, sealing it up for eternity. Ever since then, it was thought to be nothing more than a myth or an old mare’s tale.
Inspiration struck, and Celestia let out a small gasp. She knew what she was actually looking for now.
The sun goddess ran along the aisle, counting down the number of lecterns she had passed. At row number forty-six, she turned right and moved ten spaces down, arriving at a silver stand that looked identical to the rest. Inside it sat a plain, black tome, its title a single word engraved in chunky, gold lettering. Celestia snapped the tome away from its chains. Turning around, she hurriedly made her way out of the library, and the giant double doors grinded shut behind her.
Midnight fell upon Canterlot Castle, bringing with it a gloomy silence. One by one, the castle lights began to extinguish as the servants and workers turned in for the night.
A single pony hurried through the dark Canterlot Castle hallways. He raced past the magical torches that hung on the walls in a row, burning with ethereal purple flames. Every now and then, light from the flames or the moon outside would catch onto him as he flitted past more corridors, turning his stone gray coat into silver.
The pony raced up a spiral staircase that led to the highest point of the tower, finally entering through a small hallway connected to it.
“Halt!”
“Who goes there?”
He froze, looking up to see a pair of massive unicorns guarding a door ahead, their sharp armor glinting in the moonlight.
“It’s me, Aether Scroll. I need to speak to the Princess.”
He moved up to the door, but the guards stopped him.
“The Princess is busy,” the larger of the two guards growled in a deep voice. “Come at another time.”
Aether Scroll glared at him, trying to catch his breath. Precious moments were ticking away, and he didn’t rush halfway up the castle just to be turned away like that. These guards were wasting his time.
The scientist shook his head in frustration. “Look. It’s in the middle of the night. Do you pair of scatterbrains think I would be here if I didn’t have anything urgent?”
Taken aback, the guard opened his mouth to argue, but he stopped, exchanging a glance with his companion. They shared a few words with each other before turning to him.
“Very well,” the larger guard conceded. “You may enter.”
Aether Scroll whipped his head up, raising his eyebrows. He didn’t expect the guards to give in so easily, but he didn’t mind. Wasting no time, he trotted up to the door, pushing it open and slipping quietly inside.
A wave of warm air greeted him as he entered the room. He inhaled a breath of it, letting the pleasant, sweet smell fill his nostrils. Looking around, he could see that everything was kept as neat as ever. Books were stacked neatly inside a personal bookshelf, placed against a wall. A princess-sized four poster bed stretched out at the other side of the room, its cream colored sheets pulled neatly over the mattress. Lavish, deep purple curtains were drawn to the sides and tied to each of the posters.
“Ah, good evening, Aether Scroll.” Princess Celestia’s voice made him jump a little, and he spun around in its direction. She was seated behind her golden study table, storing a few sheets of parchment away so that she could give her full attention to her visitor. “How is the magic running on your side?”
Aether’s reply came out as a stammer. “Good, your highness. Very good.”
Celestia glanced at him, her brow slightly furrowed. “Then why the grave expression on your face, old friend?” Her voice was soothing, like a mother speaking to her child.
Aether Scroll looked at her in surprise. He didn’t realize that he was giving that expression. He tried forced out a lopsided grin, and it earned an affectionate smile from the princess.
“Have a seat, Aether. Tell me what is bothering you.”
Aether’s expression darkened. He stepped past the cushioned chair offered by the princess, pulling out a ripped sheet of paper from his saddlebags and slapped it on her desk.
“Princess, this is going to concern you just as much as I,” he said, pushing the paper slowly across.
The Princess frowned at him, picking it up carefully with her magic as if it was harmful. She gave it a long look, seemingly deep in thought.
“Draconequus,” Aether Scroll interrupted. “It’s a sketch of a Draconequus.”
“Yes Aether, I know.” She levitated the paper back to him confidently. “I understand your concern... in fact, I was a little worried myself.”
Celestia pointed a hoof to the seat again, and this time Aether dropped himself onto it.
“A painting down in the Arcane Magic Library triggered my memories, and I had to research on it immediately,” she continued. “The creature that you see here has been cast in stone. It was placed under a seal, a strong one at that. It is highly unlikely that the eclipse could have affected it, magical or not.” Celestia smiled at the scientist. “I will schedule a patrol of guards to check up on the statue in the morning,” she continued. “I assure you that I’m right—”
“I have already sent off a team of pegasi guards to check the statue,” Aether Scroll interrupted again. “It’s missing.”
The Princess remained silent for a few moments. “Missing? How is that even possible, Aether?” She rose up from her seat, a grave look in her eyes. “We are not talking about an ordinary spell here. I used the Elements of Harmony to create it, and that should have been strong enough to last. How could the seal have been broken?”
“Princess.” Aether faced her, holding her gaze. “Spells, even the strongest, cannot stand up to one thing: the test of time. Decades have passed since it was formed and the magic has worn out over the years. Furthermore, the elements are no longer connected to you, the spellcaster. At this very moment, its power stands distributed among six different ponies, and you’re not even one of them.” Aether Scroll shook his head slowly.
“The magic from the eclipse must have been the spark that finally broke the seal.”
Celestia began to pace around the room, her eyes narrowing until they became tiny slits. A drop of sweat emerged from just under her ethereal forelock, sliding down the coat on her temple before getting trapped within her brow, disappearing among the hairs. She hardly noticed.
“Princess,” Aether pressed on, “We must act at once. There is a magic-seeking monster on the loose in the Everfree forest.” He glanced at the ripped sketching lying on the table. “Ponyville now lies in danger... and we both know who the most magical unicorn there is.”
...and we both know who the most magical unicorn there is.
The words seemed to echo around her head. Celestia barely heard what her lead scientist said after that. Instead, she paced slowly around the room, oddly captivated by putting one hoof in front of another. Her horseshoes clacked against the marble, forming a lifeless rhythm that she latched on to. It would help to calm her down, she hoped. A strange feeling was creeping up on her. It was cold, foreign, but yet vaguely familiar. The same feeling she had when she discovered the return of Nightmare Moon. One that she hadn’t experienced in years.
Celestia felt the dreadful numbness all around her. Her mind was in a haze, and she needed a few moments to pull herself together. Looking slowly around the room, she caught sight of a large pile of royal business letters, rolled up into neat scrolls and each sealed with a shining golden Canterlot crest. A small crumpled scroll was at the top of the pile—Twilight’s friendship report.
Celestia’s eyes brightened for a moment, before her expression changed into a frown of confusion.
She lifted up the tiny brown scroll with apprehension and took her time to unfurled it. She was hardly aware of Aether Scroll leaving the room, for reasons that she didn’t hear. Celestia didn’t even hear the door shut, with all her attention focused on the letter. Inside, the lines were hastily written, its words slanted and scrawled, but still readable.
Princess Celestia,
I need your help. Something is after me. Something that lurks in the shadows and hides among the trees. Deep red eyes was what I saw, darker and colder than anything. It pierces through me, through my mind and soul. I don’t know what it is. I don’t know what it wants.
I’m scared, Princess. I don’t feel safe anywhere anymore. Strange things are starting to happen, and I don’t know what’s coming next. But I’m holding it out... holding it out together with Rarity in her boutique.
I’m holding it out, waiting for you...
I don’t have much time left. You’re my only hope, Princess.
Save me.
Splotches of black ink stained the paper as the quill broke. Any remaining notes in the letter would have been lost in the spill.
Celestia lingered on Twilight’s last few lines. Her writing was more scrawled than ever, as if her quill was shaking badly as she wrote.
“Twilight...”
She noticed one last piece of information just below the splotches of split ink. Three circles drawn in a row, the largest on the left, followed by a medium and small one.
“What have I done...”
Celestia levitated over a sheet of parchment and slapped it down on Twilight’s emergency report. She grabbed a quill with her magic and began to write.
“Hold on, my dear Twilight. I will be there for you,” Celestia murmured as she scribbled a hasty reply. She stopped suddenly, her quill floating in midair. The icy feeling crawled over her coat like a nest of ants, but there was something else added to it, something that was hot and becoming hotter. It came from a deep place in her body, growing steadily within her chest, smouldering and then burning like a fire.
“I should have been there for you.”
Celestia gripped the parchment with her magic, and before she knew it, she had incinerated it into a mess of burning scraps on her table. It didn’t seem to matter. She squeezed her eyes shut, pushing the fire up to the tip of her horn. Spinning around in a flash, she released a blinding white bolt of magic. It pulsed through the air, blasting away one of the beautiful stained glass windows in her room.
Her gaze hardened at the thousands of sparkling pieces flying through the air, a single thought on her mind.
Nothing will hurt Twilight Sparkle.
Celestia cantered towards the broken window. She burst through the remaining shards of glass that still clung on to the frame, spreading her massive wings in the air and flying out into the night.