//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: The Unicorn Caper 
// by My Little Scribbler 
//------------------------------//


The Unicorn Caper
Chapter 1


Despite the overcast sky, Rarity had no concerns of being rained on, although that would soon be the least of her worries. She was just trotting along the trail leading to Sweet Apple Acres with seemingly no soul in sight. It was not until she heard the twig snap that she became nervous.
“Who’s there?” The trail she was walking on had few trees nearby, leaving no place to hide, but she felt certain that something was there. She saw a bush start to shake, and out leaped...a cute little squirrel.
“Oh, it was just a squirrel,” laughed Rarity. “I must be—”
Before Rarity knew what happened, a large ring flew toward her face....

Back in Sweet Apple Acres, Big Macintosh had injured a hoof on the job, leaving Applejack to take care of her crops alone again. Unlike last time, however, she asked for help. Pinkie, Applejack, and Twilight gathered the apples while Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flew the apples into storage. Not long before the harvesting started did Twilight had an idea.
“I want to try apple bucking,” she said to Applejack.
“Why, when you can use your magic to pluck out the apples lickety-split,” said Pinkie who was kicking more apples out of the tree.
“I know, but I thought I would give it a try,” said Twilight. “I think it’s amazing how much good shape earth ponies have to be to be bucking apples all day.”
“Aw shucks, it’s quite simple,” said Applejack, modestly. “It requires a good posture and a strong kick to the trunk.” Applejack demonstrated by kicking a nearby apple tree with her hind legs, causing every apple to topple down into the buckets.
“Like this?” Twilight kicked a nearby apple tree with her hind legs, but nothing fell down.
“Almost. Apple bucking not only requires strength, but it requires some precision. When you hit the tree, you must keep your hooves close together, and the hit has to be dead on. If you hit too high or too low, you might injure yourself.” To demonstrate, Applejack kicked another tree, causing apples to rain down.
Twilight followed Applejack’s example, kicking the tree at full strength. It took about three kicks before a few apples came falling down.
“This is harder than it looks.”
“Oh this is nothing,” said Pinkie as she kicked down a bushel of apples. “I grew up on a rock farm, and rolling rocks isn’t easy either. I remember one time I...” Pinkie suddenly froze in her tracks. “Uh oh, I feel my Pinkie Senses tingling...my left haunch itches. That means someone is upset.”
“Upset about what?” asked Applejack.
“Usually it’s because someone lost something like a comb, or a book, or a jackhammer, or—“
“Jackhammer?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “How could someone lose a jackhammer?”
“You’d be surprised. There was this one time when I was playing hopscotch near a construction site and...”
Twilight ignored Pinkie Pie’s ramblings, wanting to focus on her work, but then she saw Rarity walking down the road toward Sweet Apple Acres. Immediately, Twilight knew something was wrong. Rarity’s beautiful mane was spread out over her face. She kept her head low in a display of shame.
“It looks like something’s wrong with Rarity,” said Twilight. “I better go over and see her.” Before Applejack or Pinkie could inquire, Twilight teleported away, reappearing in front of Rarity with a blinding flash.
Rarity was sobbing hysterically, so much so that she barely noticed Twilight as she materialized before her.
“Rarity, what’s...?” Twilight gasped as she got a good look at Rarity’s face.
Rarity’s horn had been sliced cleanly off her head.
“What happened to your horn?”
“I was attacked,” shouted Rarity.
“Attacked? Are you wounded?”
“Only my pride. My beautiful horn is gone.”
Fluttershy and Rainbow, who had just finished packing up another barrel full of apples, flew over to Rarity.
“Oh Rarity, what happened to you?” asked Fluttershy.
It was not long before Applejack and Pinkie approached Rarity.
“What in tarnations happened to your horn?” asked Applejack.
“Oh, maybe it’s a new fashion trend,” suggested Pinkie.
“If that thief knew anything about fashion, he would have left my beautiful horn alone,” whined Rarity. “Twilight, can’t you use your magic to restore my horn?”
“I’m sorry, Rarity, but not even magic can restore a horn. You’re just going to have to wait until your horn grows back.”
“But how long will that take?”
“Two weeks.”
“Two weeks? I can’t wait that long. Without my horn, I can’t use magic, and without magic, how will I be able to sew any new cloths.”
Applejack huffed. “Come now, you can still sew without magic. The entire Apple family has run this here farm without the need for magic for generations. I’m sure you can run a clothing store for two weeks without magic.”
“Why do unicorns need a horn anyway?” asked Rainbow, hovering over Rarity. “Can’t you use magic without it?”
“Of course not,” said Rarity. “We can’t cast spells without our horns any more than you can fly without your wings.”
“There’s no need to be huffy. I was just...” Rainbow trailed off when she noticed a small figure flying toward them on a scooter. “Hey, is that Scootaloo?”
Propelled by her wings, Scootaloo dashed across the dirt trail, coming to a hard stop in front of the older ponies. She was panting heavily with a worried expression plastered on her face.
“Scootaloo, what’s going on?” asked Twilight.
“We were trying out mud sculpture when something attacked Sweetie Belle.”
Rarity cried out in alarm. “What! We have to help her.” Rarity dashed off. Not being a fast runner, Rainbow and Scootaloo easily over took her with the others following close behind.
They found Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle at the edge of Sweet Apple Acres, sitting next to a pile of crude mud statues. Sweetie Belle sat under the shade of a tree, tears running down her face with Apple Bloom consoling her.
When Rarity caught up, she shouted, “Sweetie Belle, what’s wr...” To her shock, she saw that Sweetie Belle’s horn had been cut off.
“Girls, what happened here?” asked Twilight.
“We were just making statues when this...flat object flew by Sweetie Belle’s face,” said Apple Bloom.
“Yeah, it looked like a ring that was this long,” said Scootaloo, spreading out her hooves to emphasize the size of the blade.
The ponies all turned their gaze toward Twilight.
“What do you think is going on here?” asked Rainbow.
“Uh...It sounded like her horn was cut off by a...chakram,” said Twilight.
“What’s a chakram?” asked Pinkie. “Is it a type of dessert?”
“No, it’s a flying, bladed ring, but this still raises some questions. If there really were a chakram involved, it would have cut off bits of Rarity and Sweetie Belle’s mane. This is a real mystery, one we’ll have to figure out later. For now, we better get these fillies inside. Rarity will take Sweetie Belle home. Dash will escort Scootaloo.”
Rainbow and Rarity led the two fillies off the farm while the rest escorted Apple Bloom. The implications of these two attacks occurring in one day weighed heavily on everyone’s mind.
As they neared the farm, Fluttershy asked Twilight, “So what do you think is going on?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”

What seemed like a simple attack quickly became a rampage throughout Ponyville. Within three days after Rarity and Sweetie Belle were attacked, many other unicorns of all ages were robbed of their horns. Although the attacks occurred at different times and different places, the story was always the same: the victims would see an object fly toward their faces and their horns would be cut off without seeing an attacker. In a peaceful town where crime was almost unheard of, these attacks left the ponies of Ponyville fearful. So much so that the Mayor of Ponyville had to insist on asking the residences not to travel alone and asked volunteers to escort foals to and from school.
Two of the volunteers were Twilight and Spike who were helping one of the teachers, Cheerilee, escort her class home.
“All right, my little ponies, stay together now,” said Cheerilee to the class. Each foal huddled together, constantly looking behind their backs and jumping at the slightest sound. Twilight stood on the other side of the group with Spike riding on her back.
Once all the foals were returned home, Spike whispered to Twilight, “So who do you think the thief is?”
“I don’t know. He’s been able to attack ponies in broad daylight without being seen. The thief might be using some kind of invisibility or teleportation.”
“It could be very dangerous.”
“I know. The thief might try robbing earth ponies and pegasi.”
“No, I mean dangerous for you.”
Twilight turned her head and saw a genuinely worried expression on Spike’s face. “Don’t worry, Spike. I know enough magic to take care of myself.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of. You’re the most magical unicorn in all of Ponyville, and that’s no secret. I just know that thief will come after your horn next.”
Spike’s concerns had sparked Twilight’s worries. Ever since she was taken in as Princess Celestia’s apprentice, she always relied on her magic. But perhaps that was her Achilles’ heel.
“Maybe you’re right, Spike. My magic is a part of who I am. If I lose it, I won’t be able to do much to help. All the more reason why I should help find the thief.”
“Will you at least promise not to go anywhere alone until this all blows over?”
“Of course.”
The two jumped in surprise when they heard a scream. Concerned, Twilight jogged toward the source of the scream and came to a small outdoor market where fruits and vegetables were sold. Standing behind one of the stalls was a young stallion unicorn, his horn lopped off. There were at least a dozen other ponies in the area, looking at the stallion in shock.
“What happened?” asked Twilight to the crowd.
“I was just minding my own business when all of a sudden—whoosh—my horn was gone,” whined the stallion.
“That’s all? Did anyone see the attacker?”
There were ponies everywhere, looking at Twilight with blank faces, helpless to provide any help.
“I saw something.” The ponies in the crowd parted to reveal Applejack standing by her apple stand. “I saw that strange flying blade Rarity described.”
“But nothing else?” asked Twilight as she approached Applejack.
“I saw it fly off from out of the crowd.”
“But that makes no sense. Surely some pony would have seen the perpetrator.”
Applejack shook her head helplessly. “I’m sorry, Twi, but I couldn’t tell who threw it or where it gone to.”
“Ugh, this is crazy. How could someone commit a crime in full view of so many witnesses and not get caught. Even with an invisibility spell, that would have been impossible.”
“Perhaps we’re dealing with some kind of super thief,” suggested Spike.
“I doubt that, but either way, we might need some help with this. Spike, I want you to go back to library and send a letter to the Princess, telling her what’s been happening and what we’ve found out so far.”
“But what about you?” asked Spike, his voice laced with distress.
“I’m going to stay here and investigate,” when she saw the worried look on Spike’s face, she added, “and I’m sure Applejack will be willing to walk me home.”
“Don’cha worry, Spike,” said Applejack. “No thief will harm Twi while I’m here.”
That reassured Spike.

Twilight spent hours searching the area, both with her eyes and her magic, but much to her frustration, she found nothing.
Somewhere, Princess Luna was raising the moon, prompting ponies to rush back home, saving themselves from the unknown threat. Applejack in particular was slowly packing up the coins from her sales and the remaining apples from her stall into her saddlebags despite the fact that everyone else was long gone. She asked Twilight, “Well, Twi, are you ready to skedaddle?”
Twilight made one last glance at the dirt road, sighing in defeat. “Sure, I’ll leave when you’re ready.” As Twilight was about to rejoin Applejack, something caught her eye. In the dirt was a clear trail of hoof prints. With a road walked on by ponies all the time, it was not an unusual sight, but on closer examination, she realized that the trail led off the road and into some bushes. Twilight knew that there could be several reasons why a pony would want to go off the road like that, but deep down, she suspected otherwise. Although she was quite rational, even she could appreciate the use of intuition.
She conjured a light spell, allowing a large glow of light to appear at the tip of her horn. She walked into the bushes, examining the hoof prints. She followed the prints until they abruptly ended. There was no evidence that the tracks were whipped away. The tracks just stopped.
“Maybe it was a pegasus,” said Twilight to herself.
Twilight was so perplexed by this that she did not notice a figure standing in the shadows, nor did she notice the blade flying toward her.