Dark Cloud

by D5ky

Surprises

A/N: Pony Technology

In my mind, Equestria has developed a rudimentary form of internet by this time. It uses magical connections to access servers, a lot like our internet does, but it's still in early development. So, in order to be any form of internet dev, you have to be a unicorn. Security cameras are also in rudimentary development, and are really hard to manufacture. So, as per Celestia's orders, they only have them in medical facilities, but they insisted on also adding surveillance to Celestia's throne room, despite her assurance that she didn't need them. Her throne room surveillance is managed at the Canterlot Police Headquarters. Keep this in mind as you read this chapter, and wonder why the police don't have surveillance if they have it in the palace.

-Darkened5ky

"So... why are we going to Canterlot, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight hadn't given them any info other than the fact that they were going to Canterlot. Now they were on the train, and were eager to know. Twilight told them the story of Princess Celestia's sudden visit and odd behavior.

"Why not just ask the Ponyville authorities if they know anything?" Whooves asked, once Twilight had finished.

"I tried that," Twilight replied with a scowl. "The chief said nothing was wrong."

"So that explains why you're going to Canterlot, but why bring us?" Dash asked. "Unless..." It slowly dawned on her. Twilight could see it in her face.

"I'm going to ask the Canterlot authorities the same thing, and if they won't talk, we're busting in and looking for ourselves," Twilight said grimly. Her team looked surprised.

"It's dirty work, I know, but it needs to be done."

"Well, there's no backing out now," Whooves said indifferently. "What's the plan?"

"You're really good with computers," Twilight said, looking at him. "I'll need you to break into the system without leaving trace of it, so we can do some digging."

Whooves nodded.

"And me?" Dash asked.

"You I brought for physical ability... and... experience sneaking around guards," she said with a smirk.

Dash laughed. It just so happened that she was holding the very same book that had caused her to break into the Ponyville hospital in the first place. Her face straightened, however, as she asked the next question.

"Twilight, you're sure this isn't like last time?"

"What do you mean by last time?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You know... I've just been visited by myself from the future! Major disaster incoming!"

She laughed as Twilight scowled at her. "This time is different. This was the princess I'm talking about, not me from a different timeline."

"Suuuure, Twi." Twilight scowled even harder at her.

"I'm kidding," Dash said, finally ceasing to laugh.

The rest of the trip was spent in silence, Whooves lost in his computer, Rainbow Dash re-reading the Daring Do series for the ninth time. Twilight, after glancing around nervously, retrieved the next dark magic book in the series. She felt slightly guilty at slightly disobeying Celestia's orders to only study in the study, but she knew there was no danger. The train was fairly empty, and it's not like anypony else could access her magic storage anyway. She was specifically focusing on illusion magic, as she had a funny feeling that she would end up needing it.

After an hour, a voice rang through the train.

Twilight looked up to see Whooves putting away his computer, Dash putting away her book. She did the same. Night had fallen outside the train, and the city lights had activated, their glow piercing through the darkness. The train slowed down before grinding to a halt in the station. The doors opened to reveal the crowded platform.

"Try to stay together, everypony," Twilight said. They nodded in acknowledgement, and they stepped out. They swam upstream through the ocean of ponies, being jostled left and right as they moved. After a minute, they managed to make it to the other side without losing anypony.

"This way," Twilight said confidently, and they set off up a system of alleyways. The alleys were barely less crowded than the street, and they were still being jostled by ponies moving the opposite direction.

"I don't know why anypony would choose to live here," Rainbow said with distaste. "This place is more crowded than Manehattan! I can't even stretch my wings!"

"Opportunity, Rainbow," Twilight replied. "There are a ton of good jobs here. And don't worry," she added with a smile, "where we're going, you'll have plenty of space to stretch your wings."

They continued onward, still avoiding the onslaught of ponies coming the other way. Eventually, they came up to a large, fortress-like building with the police logo embroidered into the exterior.

"Well," Twilight said nervously. "Time to see if they'll talk. You two stay here, I'll be back soon."

She trotted up and went through the front door. There was a regular policepony sitting at the front desk. She walked up to him.

"I need to talk to the chief. It's urgent," she said importantly.

"Chief's busy," the stallion said, raising one eyebrow. "Might I ask who's interrupting him?"

"Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia," Twilight declared confidently.

The stallion's eyes widened. "Just a sec," he said, running into the back.

She waited there for a minute or two, before the stallion poked his head back out of the door, gesturing for Twilight to come over. She went to him, and into the office of the chief. The stallion closed the door behind her.

"Twilight Sparkle," The chief said in a deep, strong voice, standing up and shaking her hoof. "I've heard about you and your friends. I'm Chief Iron Hooves, head of the Canterlot police force."

"Nice to meet you, Chief Iron Hooves," Twilight said, looking into his blue eyes. They sat down.

"So," the chief began, "What is so urgent that you came all the way out here to talk to me?"

"Well," Twilight began, "It's actually about the Princess."

Iron Hooves' eyebrows raised in interest. "What about her?" he asked.

"She came to visit me earlier today, and... it was quite an odd visit. She looked pale, and wasn't herself. She told me to prepare, because dark times are coming. I was just wondering..." she hesitated again. "Is there anything... large-scale that could be bothering her?"

The chief contemplated for a moment, before saying "I don't think so, Twilight. Nothing really big has happened, to my knowledge, since the return of the Crystal Empire."

Her face fell. She had almost been hoping that there was something obviously wrong, something to explain the Princess' odd behavior and dire warning. She didn't press the question like she had in Ponyville; at this point, she knew that if they knew something, they weren't going to tell her this way.

"Thank you, Chief," she said in a defeated tone. "I'm sorry for wasting your time."

"It wasn't a waste, Twilight," the stallion replied. "If the Princess told you to be ready for something, then something must be going on. If I hear anything, I'll let you know."

Her heart lifted slightly. It was a step further than what had happened in Ponyville. This act of sincerity almost made her feel guilty about planning to come back and break in.

Almost.

But the feeling passed after a second. She had to be sure they weren't lying.

"I appreciate it, Chief Iron Hooves," she said. "Thanks again."

She left the building, and walked back to where Whooves and Rainbow Dash were sitting.

"Any luck?" Rainbow asked, but she already knew the answer from the look on Twilight's face.

"Nothing," Twilight replied glumly.

"So, are we coming back later?" Whooves asked.

Twilight nodded. "We'll give it another hour; the station should be closed by then. Then we'll get in and look at the computer system."

Whooves used his computer to obtain a blueprint of the police station, and they spent the hour until the station would close by studying it, wondering how best to break in. They had a route picked out when the clock struck 10:00, and the regular policeponies began piling out of the fortress, each moving in different directions up the street back towards their various homes. They each retrieved the black suits that were customary to wear when sneaking around, and put them on.

"All right," Twilight said, nervously. "Here goes nothing."

They moved around to the north end of the building, where there was a side door that wouldn't trigger any alarms. Twilight used her magic to unlock the heavy lock, and moved the few huge deadbolts that helped lock it. They entered the fortress into a dingy storage room, moving across it quickly to a door that revealed a long hallway. They moved quickly down the hallways, peeking around corners to see if there were any guards. On the fourth turn in their route, they finally had to hide behind pillars to avoid a single guard on patrol.

In the next hallway, they weren't so lucky. This one had two guards standing right in front of a set of doors, making it virtually impossible to sneak past them.

"What now?" Dash asked in a whisper. "There's no way to sneak around them, and this is the only way through."

The first thing that popped into Twilight's head was illusion magic. But would it be safe to use it in front of Rainbow Dash and Whooves? But even as she wondered that, something from an earlier textbook popped into her head.

Dark Aura can be sensed easily, even by Earth Ponies or Pegasai. This is one of the few downsides to Dark Magic, although it is rarely a problem as most of them cannot tell that they are sensing something magical.

I knew illusion magic would come in handy, Twilight thought to herself. Her horn began to glow with an ever-so-slightly darker shade of lavender than usual, as Twilight created a full, true-to-life copy of Chief Iron Hooves right beside them.

"How did you do that?" Whooves asked in amazement.

"It's a new magic I'm studying," Twilight said, completely truthfully. She made the illusion of Iron Hooves trot around the corner. The two guards jumped as they saw their chief approaching them.

"Chief Iron Hooves," one of them said, respectfully.

"Hello," Twilight said. Her voice had been modified to sound exactly like Iron Hooves, and rather than coming from her own mouth, it seemed to be issuing from Iron Hooves'. "Anything to report?"

"Nothing, sir," the other guard answered.

"Good, good," Twilight replied, thinking hard. She had once been in here with Celestia, and she had learned the inner workings of the rotation system. She struggled to remember all of the details, but a moment later, she had a plan.

"You guys have been doing good. Why don't you go on your break early tonight? Go use the lounge in the southern wing."

"Really?" One of them asked, awestruck.

"Sure," Twilight said, in an attempt at a jovial voice. "I'm in a good mood tonight."

"Thank you, chief," the other guard replied, and they both turned and headed up the hallway, away from Twilight's group.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" Dash exclaimed, as Twilight's illusion of Iron Hooves dissipated into thin air. "But it would've been cooler if you created somepony to seduce the guards into letting us in, just like Daring Do."

"Noooot really," Twilight said, with an embarrassed little laugh. "Let's keep going."

After those two, they didn't have any more problems sneaking around the guards on patrol. After ten more minutes, they reached the room where the main security for the palace was regulated. They remained hidden as a few guards moved past them.

"We need to get the guards out of there," Twilight said in a quiet whisper. "Any ideas?"

"We need a distraction," Rainbow Dash whispered back. "Something to draw the guards away."

Twilight thought hard. She couldn't use another illusion; she had to maintain eye contact with it for it to remain intact.

"I'll be the distraction," Dash said.

"What?!" Twilight exclaimed quietly. "Are you crazy?! They'll catch you!"

"No they won't," Dash said, optimistically. "It's me, remember? Tell you what - meet me back at the station in an hour. That should give you enough time."

Before either of the other two could do anything to prevent it, Rainbow Dash had put her hood from her suit up so it completely obscured her face, and hurtled out of their hiding place straight at the guards on patrol.

"HEY! UP HERE!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. The guards looked up at her in alarm, as she flew down the corridor at top speed. The two guards in the hallway hurtled after her, as well as the third guard who had been in the palace security room. He left the door wide open as he left.

"She's crazy," Whooves breathed, as an alarm sounded throughout the fortress. "Absolutely crazy."

"Well, let's not let her sacrifice be in vain," Twilight said. She and Whooves raced into the main security room. He instantly got on the keyboard and began hacking into the system. Twilight sat there, breath held, watching him while also worrying about Rainbow Dash as the alarm continued to blare in their ears.

"Got it!" Whooves cried triumphantly a few minutes later. He had logged into the system as an administrator. He began searching through the files, while Twilight watched over his shoulder. After a couple of minutes, the brown stallion looked up into the eyes of the lavender mare.

"There's nothing, Twilight," he informed her.

"WHAT??"

She watched as he went through the system for a second time, sifting through all of the minor cases. "I'm pretty sure that if there was something major, it would be easy to find, Twilight."

She couldn't believe it. There had to be something. SOMETHING had to explain this.

"Look at the surveillance for Celestia's throne room."

He found the video files, and fast forwarded through them. At the time when Princess Celestia should've been visiting Twilight, she still had not exited the throne room.

"But..." Twilight said, completely lost for words. She felt as though her brain had evaporated. "But... HOW?"

"I don't know," Whooves said, looking worriedly out into the hallway.

"She was there!" Twilight exclaimed. "She talked to me!"

"Twilight, we've got to move!" Whooves said, standing up suddenly. "I think they're coming back this way!"

Not bothering to stay hidden anymore, they both put up their hoods to hide their identities as they hurtled down the hallway. They collided with three guards a minute later, and Twilight used magic to instantly put all three to sleep. They left the guards on the ground as they hurtled out of the hallway. When they were close to the exit, the alarm stopped, and a voice came over the loudspeaker.

"The intruder has escaped. Detectives are on their way to survey the scene. All night guards are to return to their previous stations immediately. The detectives will come question you as they see fit."

"Take cover," Whooves hissed, as the sound of several sets of hooves became louder and louder. They both shrank into the shadows, as several guards came moving past them. They could overhear bits of the guards' conversations.

"--just flew out of the window. I didn't think she'd dare--"
"--faster than anything I've ever seen. I couldn't keep up with--"
"--but nopony saw what they really looked like. I don't think the detectives will get very far without--"

The voices of the guards faded into the distance. Twilight and Whooves exited the police station the same way they came in, taking off their suits as they melded into the crowded alleyway. They moved back towards the train station, and waited there for half an hour. Finally, Twilight saw the unmistakable rainbow-mane moving towards them through the crowd.

"You're crazy," Twilight said, exasperated. "If they'd caught you..."

"You're welcome," Rainbow Dash replied with a smile. "What did you find?"

"...Nothing," Twilight said, "nothing. Except..."

She told her how it seemed Celestia hadn't left her throne room all day.

"You sure you weren't dreaming?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight hesitated, then shook her head. "I honestly don't know anymore."

"Well, I had a lot of fun anyway," Rainbow Dash said, with a grin. "Turns out, I did get to practice my moves for the Wonderbolt Academy Reunion."

Twilight couldn't help herself. She smiled.

She had no memory of the train ride home, and she didn't bother reading up on dark magic. She was completely preoccupied with one pressing question:

If Celestia hadn't visited her...

Who had?

The dark cyan unicorn cursed under his breath, as he stood, invisible, in the police corridor.

"You say they looked at the throne room surveillance?" A detective asked.

"Yes," Iron Hooves replied. "I don't know what they were looking for, but they didn't delete anything or change anything. They just looked."

The unicorn moved back out of the Police Station, not bothering to keep quiet. Once outside, he once again transformed into a dark cloud of smoke and streaked back over Equestria. He reached the Everfree Forest ten minutes later, descending into his hiding place, and using what he had left of his O+ blood to contact the dark spirit, again blocking out certain memories he didn't want it seeing.

As you can see, there's a slight problem. Twilight Sparkle knows that I wasn't Celestia.

That's not something we were counting on, the spirit replied. How close are we?

Close. I just need to make a couple more preparations, and the ritual will be ready.

Good. We can't afford to wait much longer. She might approach Celestia at any time now.

He felt the link die. He let the rest of his memories flow back into him.

Don't worry. The world will soon be rid of the scum up north...
And you.

Twilight,

I promised I'd tell you if I heard anything. It didn't take very long, did it?

Well, somepony (we suspect multiple accomplices) broke into the police station last night. We don't know who they were or what they were after, but they looked through the surveillance files for Celestia's throne room. Maybe Celestia does know something that she's not telling us. It's just too ironic for her to tell you that, and then have somepony look through the surveillance.

I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anypony I wrote you this; I'm not supposed to be talking about this because a gag order gas been imposed, which is why I'm sending it securely.

I'll let you know if I find out anything else.

-Chief Iron Hooves

Twilight felt a slight pang of guilt as she read the letter. Not only had she been the one who had broken into the station, but Iron Hooves was now breaking the rules to unknowingly remind the culprit of her guilt. But the guilt was only temporary, and after all, she had more dark magic to read up on. She carried the letter back upstairs, and threw it into the everburning fireplace. It was not a sign of disrespect; she was keeping her promise not to tell anyone (or show anyone) that he had written her. She watched it fold up and crumble, before it was nothing more than ash. She then retreated back down to her study, retrieving the next book from her storage, and began to read once again.

Read the author's note for some clarification on visualization

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