Chapter 5: Only the Stump
Opening the door swiftly, the professor and the dragon peered in and down a lit staircase, leading below the library itself. The room was well-kept, and scientific equipment lined the walls in a uniform fashion. However, that was not the first thing to catch their attention. In the centre of the basement room laid an unconscious lavender unicorn mare, with deep hair of purple with streaks of pink and a lighter purple. Her cutie mark was made of multiple stars, with a pink six-pointed star taking prominence in the centre. Her hooves were shackled to the floor.
“Twilight!” Spike cried out.
“Spike! Do not get ahead of yourself,” Layton warned, before pointing to a peculiar grey stone hovering above Twilight’s head. The stone was held in place by a peculiar machine, with what appeared to be attractors on four sides.
“What is that thing?!”
“I’m not sure, Spike. But I believe it seems to be sapping Miss Sparkle of her magic. Let me take a look at this machine.” Layton looked on the side of the machine, noticing two digit dials, a lever and a silver plaque:
Puzzle 013
“Neither of my digits are zero. I am a cube’s square and a square’s cube. What am I?”
The professor frowned at the state of the quiet pony held to the ground. An answer to this problem arrived quickly in his mind.
“Spike. Prepare to catch the stone when I say,”
“Got it!” the dragon answered, ready to pounce. Layton spun the dials to the needed positions and readied his hand on the lever. Spike stood braced, claws ready.
“Ready, Spike? 3... 2... 1... Now!” Layton threw the switch. As predicted, the attractors shut off and the strange grey stone fell. Spike made a diving catch of it, landing on the opposite side of Twilight’s body.
“Alright!” Spike exclaimed.
“It isn’t over yet. We need to release Miss Sparkle. Do you see that panel there?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“See if you can solve it. I’m not familiar with the history of Equestria.” Spike looked at the ground beneath his feet, picking up the quill that was nearby.
Puzzle 014
“The developer of over 5 score incantations and tricks.”
“Huh,” Spike muttered to himself. “About this time, I could with Twilight being awake.” He looked over at Twilight, wondering if he should wake her, before deciding against it. Suddenly, a pang of inspiration hit him.
“Aha! That’s it!” The baby dragon wrote in the missing letters on the squares. As he finished the last one, the shackles holding Twilight down snapped open.
“Good work, Spike,” the professor congratulated him. “Miss Sparkle must have educated you well.” Spike blushed again.
“Aw, shucks, Professor!” Twilight began to stir from her slumber, groaning as consciousness flowed back into her. Eventually she sat up groggily.
“Wha... what happened?” she spoke slowly.
“Twilight!” yelled her dragon friend as he hugged her tightly around the neck. “I’m glad you’re okay!”
“Spike... Thank you...” Twilight began to well up. The professor headed for the stairs, but the unicorn caught a glimpse of his hat.
“Sir, please don’t go!”
“As you wish, Miss Sparkle.”
“Please. Call me Twilight.”
“Of course. We had better get you upstairs. I believe a cup of tea is in order.” To that, Twilight Sparkle smiled a toothy smile.
Upstairs in the main library, the professor, the unicorn and the dragon sat, relaxing after the recent spot of excitement.
“So humans are really real, huh?” Twilight sat in awe of the man in front of her.
“Quite, Twilight,” the professor charmingly answered. “I was summoned by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to find you specifically. However, I fear it may not be as simple as that.”
“What do you mean? You rescued me, so surely the Princess would send you back. I mean, you have something to go back to, don’t you?”
“Ah, that is not what I meant, Twilight.” The professor pulled out the grey stone from the machine. “This stone was what was siphoning your power.”
“Oh! I was wondering why I’m feeling a little less... capable than usual.”
The professor closed his eyes and smiled, before getting to his feet.
“Twilight, come with me.” The purple pony obeyed, following the biped to the cellar again. Layton stopped and pointed at the machine.
“See if you can make a fine incision in that device.” Twilight aimed her horn and focussed her magic down to a fine beam. Even while drained, Twilight made light work of the task, and she was soon rewarded, as glowing red magic washed from the gap and straight onto Twilight’s body, before congregating onto the tip of her horn with military precision. She could feel her magical strength returning to her almost instantaneously.
“Good as new! Thank you, Professor... I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name.”
“Professor Hershel Layton, at your service. I need you to research this rock, its capabilities and, most importantly, its place of origin.”
“Of course! If you want you can have a look around the rest of Ponyville while I find out more about this stone... I know, maybe you can pay Applejack a visit!”
“You can find her out on Sweet Apple Acres, Professor,” Spike chimed in. “Hold on, let me fetch you the map she gave us.” The bright-eyed lizard dashed off and returned quickly with a sheet of parchment. “Here ya go! You’ll find Sweet Apple Acres out to the west.”
“As soon as I find out more about this stone, I’ll send out Owloysius to you with a note.” Twilight motioned her front left hoof towards the static owl sitting on a perch in the window by the front door. Owloysius rotated his neck 180° to catch an eyeful of Layton.
“Hoo.”
“Okay, I will see what else I can find around.” The professor closed the door behind him on the way into the quietening town.
At a park in the centre of town, Layton noticed that the last stragglers were heading home. Two noticeable exceptions were sat down. The professor immediately recognised them from the train journey. As soon as he saw them, he caught their sights. The mint green unicorn, complete with a two-tone white mane and a lyre on her flank, bounded from her original uncomfortable seating position and bolted straight over to the man in the coat.
“I... I don’t... I can’t... you’re real! You’re really, really REAL! This... this... is the greatest day of my life! Hey, Bon Bon! Get over here!” On cue, the second pony, a beige pony with a pink and blue mane and a cutie mark of three wrapped sweets trotted over at a leisurely pace.
“Yes, Lyra, what is it thi...” Bon Bon stopped in her tracks upon seeing this gangly being before her very eyes. After a moment of placidity, she almost literally tripped on her own tongue.
“B-b-bu-but i-it can’t be! Y-you’re a... human!”
“Indeed I am, Miss Bon Bon.”
“Ooh! You talk too. That is AWESOME!” Lyra squealed uncontrollably. “Do you... do you have a name?”
“I am Professor Hershel Layton. And may I ask of yours?”
"Heartstrings! Lyra Heartstrings. A pleasure to meet you, Hercule!” Bon Bon interrupted at this point.
“Uh, sweetie, it’s Hershel, not Hercule.”
“Oh, right. Sorry, sir.”
“That is quite alright, Miss Heartstrings,” replied Layton calmly.
“Finally! All of Equestria will know I’m not crazy!” Again, Bon Bon felt it necessary to interject.
“I don’t think it necessary to parade the good professor around like a public spectacle.” Lyra’s face lost a little enthusiasm at this. “Sorry, Professor. Say, as you’re here, we wanted to run something by anypony caring to lend an ear. I know you’re not a pony, but will you hear us out?”
“But of course, Miss Bon Bon. I’m more than happy to help. That is what a gentleman does.”
Puzzle 015
“Lyra and I are getting married in a couple of months, but the following dinner is gonna be a private thing. Only 8 are coming: Myself, Lyra, each of our parents, Spike (our ring bearer dragon friend) and the officiating pony, the Doctor. However, I’m a little particular about how we all sit.
“We’ll be sitting so no males or females are sitting next to each other. Lyra is to sit the head of the table, and I want to be able to catch my sweetie’s eye from across the table. No members of the same family are to sit next to each other. Also, the Doctor can’t be seated next to my mom, as he accidentally set fire to the cat while defeating an army of Cybermanes, but that little dragon sure has a way of keeping her from getting too emotional, so I want them seated together. Could you help us out?”
The professor pulled out a pencil and notepad from inside his jacket and scribbled out a solution to the fiancées’ problem, before tearing out the page and giving it to Lyra to levitate between her and Bon Bon.
“I trust this will match your requirements,” spoke the professor, smiling. Bon Bon’s smile stretched across her face.
“Ooh, you’re brilliant! I’ve been worrying about this, but you did it. Thank you!”
“Oh no, the pleasure was all mine, Miss Bon Bon.” Lyra bounded into the conversation.
“We just have one small favour to ask. Could please keep the after-wedding dinner a secret? We want to keep it special.”
“Of course, Miss Heartstrings. Keeping mum is well within the expectations of a gentleman. If I do not see you again during my visit, I wish you both a lifetime of happiness.”
“Thank you, Professor!” With that, the two mares trotted off, complete with skips in their respective steps. Layton strode off again, heading west towards the farmland.
About 15 minutes later, the professor reached an archway onto a mass expanse of land, the majority of which was covered by glorious green trees. Layton pulled out the map given to him. The map looked old and rather muddled.
“Hmmm... This seems to have been written a while ago. Let’s see here...”
Puzzle 016
“Walk all you can to the rising light,
Two fields away from winter bird flight,
Left, again and next turn right,
North, next east, next left, far end right,
Turn to where the sun will set,
Left past the third, and third on the left.”
“Ah, a little bit of a test. This must be to deter burglars. Fortunately, it only fools those not well-versed in riddles.” Layton walked with the map towards the Apple family’s farmhouse.
The red farmhouse was sizeable, decorated with white beams. The house itself was latched onto the side of the main barn. As the professor approached the farmhouse, he could see that the lights were switched on. He knocked on the front door.
“Hello? Forgive my interruption, but I was sent her to see Miss Applejack.” A short spell of silence followed, before the top hatch of the door swung outwards. The professor found himself face-to-face with a large earth stallion, red in colour with a messy tan mane and tail. He wore a stirrup around his neck and had a bisected apple for his cutie mark.
Big Macintosh gave Layton a look up and down the body, an unmoving expression on his face, before placing his thought as to Layton’s appearance.
“Eeyup,” came the deep Southern drawl, before the stallion pulled away from the gap in the door, revealing an elderly green earth mare and a very familiar filly.
“Oh! It’s Mr. Big Hat!” yelped Apple Bloom. “How are y’all?”
“Hello, Apple Bloom. I’m doing well, thank you. I’m looking for Miss Applejack. Would you happen to know where she is?” Apple Bloom placed a hoof to her chin.
“Hmmm... Nah. Ah haven’t seen her since this afternoon. Ah thought she was goin’ to visit Twilight.” At this point, Granny Smith, the older mare, piped up.
“Ooh, ah’ve never seen a critter like you before!”
“Hello, Mrs...”
“Smith, stranger. Granny Smith.” The mare had aged white hair wrapped in a bun, with a tail to match. She wore an apple-patterned neckerchief and her cutie mark was an apple pie. “You lookin’ for mah Applejack? Ah’m ‘fraid she ain’t been here since about 3 this afternoon, when she headed out for Miss Twilight’s place.” The professor wore a stoic expression, broken only when Big Macintosh approached the door with a small cloth bag in his lips. It was plain, but the cord around the neck had been knotted with unparalleled precision. Layton opened the bag, but it was filled to the brim with sand. The professor was already formulating what had happened to Applejack.
“Did this item arrive after Applejack left for the library?”
“Eeyup.”
“Was there anything else attached to this bag?”
“Nnnope.” Layton may have come to a conclusion, but it soon became obvious that someone else had come to the same. The hooting of an owl struck his ears, and he turned to find Owloysius headed straight for him.
“Hello, Owloysius. Do you have something for me?”
“Hoo.” The owl relinquished the scroll from his talons. The professor opened the scroll, which read as it follows:
“Dear Professor Layton,
Please return to the library as quickly as possible. Please bring Big Macintosh with you. It is a matter of urgency.
Sincerely,
Twilight Sparkle”
The man afforded himself no time to think.
“Big Macintosh, we need to head to Miss Sparkle’s home.”
“Eeyup,” the stallion nodded, flipping saddlebags from a nearby wall hook onto his back. The professor stood aside for the large pony to bolt through the lower door, and Big Mac scooped Layton onto his back, catching him by surprise.
“You don’t have to carry me, sir!”
“’S mah sis,” Mac replied solemnly. “She needs mah help, and ah’m quicker. No ‘fense.” Layton wanted to question how Big Macintosh came so quickly to that conclusion, but he simply nodded, before turning to the mares.
“Don’t worry,” the suited gentleman assured them. “We will solve this. I promise.” With that, the big red stallion galloped away, with Layton on his back and Owloysius soaring at high speed overhead. Apple Bloom tugged at Granny Smith’s neckerchief plaintively with her teeth.
“Is Applejack gonna be alrigh’?” Granny Smith sighed deeply in response to her filly granddaughter.
“Ah reckon so, dearie. That stranger carries himself like a true gentlecolt, and don’t ya go doubtin’ yer big brother’s heart.”