Red stepped off the train he had been riding for the last hour and looked at the station of Ponyville, a frown slightly appearing on his face. If he had a chance he would force Filthy Rich to write a will leaving half his fortune to his daughter, the little punkess by the name of Diamond Tiara, and the other half would go to the town itself. Maybe the Mayor would see it as a sign to improve the town just a bit and repaint some of the worn buildings that needed it.
He shook his head before looking for the hotel, that wasn't why he had traveled all the way from Canterlot to this nearly nameless town in the first place. Sure he had been here several times before, but that was when he was doing recon on the targets he had been given by the mysterious Lady Artemis. Now he was here, just one day after doing in Prince Blueblood, doing recon on Filthy Rich so he could best plan out his abduction. Not an easy feat in a town that seems to have a silent guardian, one mare named Pinkie Pie, but she hadn't stopped him before so he really didn't have to worry.
His mind returned to the strange mare he had seen on the train, the light green coated wild cherry color maned mare that had been staring at him the entire time. He had been reading a newspaper during the train ride, but when he had put it down he had noticed the mare staring at him in the window. Her eyes, eyes that seemed to be full with intense hatred, seemed to be focused on him and only him, as if she had been ignoring the other passengers. He turned his head just a bit and noticed her again, deboarding the train with her eyes still on him.
Something was wrong with that mare and he hoped that she would leave him alone soon.
~
Cherry had originally been surprised when Fury had told her that the Nexus had a suspect in the kidnappings and disappearances, one who was closely tied into Princess Celestia's work. The stallion, Red Velvet she had learned, was supposed to be Celestia's adviser, one of the few that could give the Sun Goddess any advice. As Fury explained the situation it seemed that Red could have used the position to erase any trace of him and throw the chase in the wrong direction.
She was also surprised at how fast the director of the shady organization had pulled the strings and had acquired the necessary paperwork for her to fit in anywhere. It was almost as if he had been expecting her to say yes and had previously prepared the paperwork before coming to her. All she had to do was say yes and he would have finished the paperwork with her new name, her cutie mark, her occupation, and any loose papers she might need.
The director, her new boss as it were, seemed to be well prepared in this line of work.
The stallion had been easy to track, seeing how he had barely left his house since the previous night and was only now doing anything different. All she had to do was follow him closely, record any of his actions, and, if it were come to pass, intercept him if he attempted to abduct anypony. It sounded like an easy job to her, but considering her mark was a master of magic that meant she needed to not use her own magic to follow him. She needed to use stealth and the shadows to her advantage, which meant she would be waiting until nighttime before she really did anything.
Right now he was currently heading for what looked like the hotel, likely to check out a room so he could isolate himself before nighttime arrived. If Cherry had been in the stallion's position she would almost do the same thing, the only difference would be that she would go out and make sure she got the stallion's routine correct. One little error and he would have to wait for the next night to grab whoever his target was, that was considering he was really the one kidnapping ponies.
Cherry watched the stallion for a few minutes, following him closely as he weaved his way throughout the streets of Ponyville, dodging other ponies and their stalls. He didn't seem like the type who bothered to make friends, as if he would rather avoid others whenever possible. Eventually he entered the hotel and vanished from her sight, leaving her to head to the one place she needed to visit. She needed to visit Lyra and see if she could even stay the night.
~
Red entered the hotel and approached the clerk, a fat brown coated stallion who barely looked up at him as he stopped in front of the desk. He quickly paid for his room and went upstairs, fully expecting the mare from earlier to come bursting through the door and order a room as well. He glanced back once and watched her continue down the street, leaving him to wonder why he suspected her of bad intentions in the first place.
Upon entering his room he locked the door and soundproofed the room, making it so nopony could hear any noise that would be going on in the room. He had diagrams to pour over and maps to scribble on as he made sure Filthy Rich used the same route tonight. If he did then he would grab him and head directly towards the makeshift gateway hidden in a shack on the edge of the Everfree Forest. If not then he would rethink his plan and grab him at a later time, hopefully before a couple more days had passed.
~
Cherry stopped at the door of an all too familiar house, the very same house she had stayed in for a few weeks a few years ago. This house was the very house of one Lyra Heartstrings and Bonbon, her dearest sister and one of her closest friends in all of Equestria. She prepared to knock on the door and stopped herself, wondering what Lyra would say if she suddenly appeared on her doorstep out of the blue. She didn't even know if Lyra would even want to see her after she had mysteriously vanished one night over three years ago.
Cherry made up her mind and prepared to knock as the door opened to reveal a surprised mint coated unicorn mare staring her in the face. Lyra had been the same as she had last seen her; a light greenish colored mane with a white streak, yellow eyes, and the familiar lyre cutie mark. Basically she looked the exact same as she had been over three years ago, only she looked more mature now.
"Do my eyes deceive me?" Lyra asked, shaking her head as she stared at the familiar mare standing on the other side of the doorway, "Wild Cherry?"
"Yeah, it's me Lyra," Cherry answered, offering the mare a smile.
Cherry found herself suddenly being hugged by the mare, who was now holding her tight with her front hooves wrapped around her. She hadn't expected the mare to suddenly hug her, but seeing how it was better than what she had been expecting she sighed and returned the gesture. For a minute they stayed like that before Lyra broke it and backed up, tears rolling down her face.
"Please, come in," Lyra said, beckoning to her as she entered the house.
The house's interior was the same as it had been three years; spacious with a couch, a kitchen fully stocked with all sorts of food, a bathroom, and three bedrooms on the second story. Lyra locked the door and drew the curtains in, leaving them in a darker room. Cherry expected something, but seeing how she had been surprised before she figured anything could happen.
"I take it you heard about Bonbon?"
Cherry had expected the question to rise until later on, after Lyra had made sure that she was actually Wild Cherry and that nopony was messing with her. Still, it caught her off guard and left her standing there wide eyed for a few seconds before she regained herself.
"I did," she responded, sighing as she dropped her only bag on the floor, "I had heard that ponies were disappearing at random from both Canterlot and Ponyville. I had hoped that Bonbon would have been left alone, but you should have seen me when I heard that my own sister had been kidnapped. Sure, I hadn't spoken to her in a few years, seeing how I was busy with work and might have missed her letters, but I literally freaked when I heard the news.
So I decided to come back to Ponyville and see if I could help the officials search for her and any of the other missing ponies. I wanted to make sure that the heartless pony, be they stallion or mare, responsible for this was brought to justice before everypony. Not so I could get revenge on them for kidnapping one of my family, but so everypony could rest easy knowing the monster was taken care of."
"Where were you for the last three years?" Lyra cried, tears running freely as she sat on the couch, "One night, during the Summer Sun Celebration, Nightmare Moon just suddenly appears out of nowhere and you vanish without a trace the following day. We looked everywhere for you, including the dreaded Everfree, and yet we couldn't find you. Where were you?"
"You were bound to find out anyway, I had just hoped it wouldn't be like this." Cherry said, her guise falling to reveal her Changeling side, "My 'Queen', as Chrysalis loves to call herself, found me shortly after Nightmare Moon was defeated and Princess Luna was restored to her former glory. I had already separated myself from the hive mind thanks to being away for so many months, the same months I stayed with the two of you.
After some threats to expose me to the rest of Ponyville, which would have lead to the town chasing you guys and myself out, I gave her what she wanted and left. For three long years I toiled away, giving her whatever information she wanted, making up whatever I didn't know so she would forget all about me. I made up lies in the hopes that she would be forced out into the open and the kingdom would break, giving me an opportunity to leave again.
Then the royal wedding happened and the hive was scattered across the whole of Equestria, blowing my 'family' to who knows where. I landed in Manehatten of all places, so I quickly got a job and stayed low for a while, hoping that I would see news of some kind from the others. After a year of waiting I decided to move back here, so I packed a small bag and made my way here on hoof. I was stopped by one Lady Artemis, who shot me in the side and locked me in a dungeon for being around in my natural form. I was offered out of there by a stallion by the name of Fury, a strange stallion who I swear must have served in the guard at some time in his life."
"Did Bonbon know that you were a Changeling?" Lyra asked, her tears appearing to have finally stopped.
"She found me in my Changeling form after I had wandered through the Everfree," Cherry explained, igniting her magic so she held the form she was familiar with, "She took me in, helped me heal my wounds, and taught me a couple of things about candy making. That was when I learned that I had a talent for making taffy, or to be more specific the cherry flavored taffy that you likely ate several times while i was here. Though I'm still surprised that she didn't tell you about me herself."
"There's a lot of stuff she didn't tell me," Lyra chuckled, "I take it you'll be needing a place to stay for while your in town, hunting the kidnapper?"
"Lyra, I came back to stay for as long as you'll have me," Cherry laughed, a smile appeared on the mare's face and seemed to brighten her spirits, "Though it seems I might have missed more than I bargained for. You need to tell me what I have missed for the last three years. Something tells me I might have missed something very important."
Lyra smiled again and Cherry was glad that she was accepting her back with open hooves, which was more than she could have asked for. Right now she was going to figure out what she had missed, then she was going to find whoever had kidnapped her sister and bring them to justice. Sounded easy, but she knew things were never easy these days.