//------------------------------// // More Problems // Story: Lycanthropy // by Schaechterle25 //------------------------------// Lightning flashed, thunder echoed for minutes, gusts of wind made it seem like buildings were swaying, and the constant downpour of rain was starting to form hoof deep puddles. It had been three days since the mysterious death occurred and everything started going downhill. Luna losing the ability to raise and lower the moon, the Pegasi unable to control the weather, and Canterlot more or less being deserted. Twilight Sparkle, Corporal Archie, and their newly arrived guest, Princess Luna, were in the Canterlot libraries’ study room on the first floor, preparing to discuss the recent events. Even though Luna had lost her most precious power, her appearance hasn't changed from the last Nightmare Night when Twilight saw her. Her ethereal mane and tail were decorated with sparkling stars here and there, resembling the night sky. It billowed in the air, even though their was no breeze in the building. This was when Twilight took notice of one minor detail. She wasn’t wearing her dark colored tiara. She assumed it was because of of her predicament of not being able to control the night sky and she wouldn’t touch on it, for a fear of making her feel uncomfortable. It would certainly limit the questions she could ask, but hopefully Luna would bring it up herself. For now she would work with what she had. “It is most joyful to see that thou ist fine Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said after she glanced at her hind leg. “We were most certainly worried.” Twilight chuckled and thanked her for her concern. “The Corporal here is the one who got me back here and bandaged me back up.” Luna eyed Archie and boomed, “Indeed. We thank thee kindly, but what ever happened to you coming to inform us of Twilight Sparkle’s condition? We weren’t supposed to come to thee.” If she was angry, she didn’t show any sign of it. “Heh heh,” Archie chuckled and replied, “I am deeply sorry Princess. I had every intention to come to you, but I wanted to make sure Twilight was still okay.” “And I thank thee for that. But thou could’ve still told me if thou was okay.” “It will not happen again Princess,” Archie assured as he gave a courteous bow. The Princess walked over next to a table and asked the other two with her booming voice to be seated, “Now, thou may asketh these questions that thee have, and we will answer thee as best we can.” Luna kept her regal appearance and waited for the first question. Twilight started off, “Well, I don’t know really know what to ask first. I would go through my diary of notes we collected, but I seemed to have misplaced it.” “How does one lose their diary?” Luna asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice. “I didn’t lose it,” Twilight put to rest, “I misplaced it.” The cloaked figure she saw right before she found her satchel dashed across her mind. She didn’t want to make assumptions, but it was definitely suspicious. A sense of doubt graced Luna’s face, and it seemed like she was trying to stifle a smile. Losing a journal is no laughing matter. Twilight quickly lost any sense of anger or irritation because she knew Luna had been going through a tough problem lately, and anything that would make her smile sure would help her situation out as well. “Well,” Twilight began while she pulled an object of her satchel. “I didn’t lose this.” She hovered “Lycanthropy” out in front her so the Princess could see. Luna’s face instantly showed change in emotion. She no longer seemed to be calm or trying to hide her emotions. Her pupils dilated and her jaw slightly dropped. Her horn glowed a dark navy blue and the book was torn from the young unicorn’s telekinetic grip and she began to read immediately. “Where did you find this?” she demanded while not even looking up from the pages. Twilight glanced for a second at Archie and responded, “A secret library underneath this one.” Luna’s eyes peeked up from the book at the two and quickly went back to reading. “Interesting. A secret library that neither my sister or I knew about. Can thou show us this room Twilight Sparkle?” Twilight nodded and gave her a gleeful smile, “Sure Princess.” Twilight remembered exactly the point of entry and trotted up to one of the many bookshelves. She heaved the tall object with her telekinesis to reveal...nothing? Twilight was lost for words. She moved another bookshelf, and another after that, but the hidden entrance was no longer where it was before. She didn’t understand. She was sure that it was right here. It had to be a trick. It couldn’t just up and vanish. It was about twenty seconds later when Twilight realized that she hadn’t been breathing. Her lungs were screaming. Letting out a loud exhale, she took in a long inhale and looked at Luna like she had been defeated by Rainbow Dash in a game of chess. “I’m sorry Princess. I could’ve sworn it was right here, or at least on this wall,” she apologized. Luna kindly accepted her apology. “It doesn’t matter now anyway. This is the only thing that matters at the moment,” as said as she held up “Lycanthropy”. “We are not very surprised by the fact that a copy still exists after all so long. And with such detail to everything.” She hoofed it to Twilight and asked, “Do you know what this is?” Twilight nodded and replied, “Yes, Princess. I’ve read some of...” She was cut short by Luna’s gasp, that seemed to be louder than what any other pony could muster. Twilight felt a grip over her body as she was lifted into the air and brought close to Luna’s widened eyes. “THOU DID WHAT?” Twilight wasn’t sure how to feel. She decided on feeling shocked, since she could feel her heart pounding in her ears. “Take it easy Princess. I don’t feel like passing out again anytime soon.” The Corporal just watched, waiting for the Princess to say something. The Princess closed her eyes and set her down on the floor. She took a deep breath and cleared out her throat. After regaining her regal composure, Luna asked the still dazed purple unicorn, “You are able to read and comprehend the words in this here tome?” Twilight slowly nodded. “Yes, Your Highness, I… I can.” Luna’s posture did not change, but Twilight could see in her eyes that she was struggling on what to say next. She didn’t understand what was so surprising about being able to read it, unless Luna thought that she didn’t know how to read… Nah. A dark shade of blue enveloped the mysterious book and floated over to Archie. Luna’s voice soon followed, “Read a paragraph out of this would you please.” Archie nodded and flipped opened the book. “Um…” was all he could say, completely confused. “I don’t get it. None of this is even legible, if it was ever meant to be legible, looks like a bunch of scribbles.” The soldier doesn’t know how to read. Of course. Twilight thought. “Just as We expected. Twilight and I are the only ponies who are able to read anything from its pages. To any other pony, it appears nothing to them but mere scrawl.” Hoofing the book back to Twilight, the pages were opened. “Thou can read it right?” A nod. “Only two types of ponies are able to understand the text from this here tome,” Luna began. Only Luna’s voice could be heard, along with the distant rattle of thunder and the sound of rain lazily beating up against the outside walls of the library. Twilight was listening carefully to her words, and for some reason, she could feel a slow dread rising from her inner body. One part of her wanted to know the rest of what Luna was saying, but another was telling her that she didn’t want to know. “Only two types of ponies are able to understand the text from this here tome,” the Princess of the Night repeated. “Either ones whose minds are too great for this world.” Twilight gulped. “Or those who have had both their mind and body corrupted by an unspeakable nightmare.” A rumbling could be heard for the next minute and a half that shook the library and even shook some books off the shelves, sprawling out over the ground. Memories began flashing in Twilight’s head. Ones that she didn’t want to remember. Dark, twisting, turning corridors. The sound of nothing, not even of air flow. Only her breath and voice to accompany her in the dank underground labyrinth. The monster she had seen down there. Huge, almost three times her size, with razor claws and a snout filled with teeth made for shredding and tearing. Its growl was like the rumbling of thunder and its movements were as quick as the lightning flashes. She had outwitted it though. She escaped and trapped it underneath rubble, and maybe it was still down there. Twilight didn’t want to think about it anymore. It almost had her. She didn’t want to know what would've happened if she had been caught. Nothing good obviously. The Princess was intently staring into her eyes. Should she tell her what was under the palace labyrinth? She didn’t want to, but she should right? For some reason though, keeping it to herself sounded like a better idea. “Dost thou have something to tell Us Miss Sparkle?” Luna broke the silence. “I don’t know what you mean,” was Twilight’s reply. Archie raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. “I’m not sure I quite understand what I’m supposed to say.” Luna blinked and let out a sigh. “You should understand everything. Have you not read the book?” Had she read it all already? How could she finish it with all the things going on recently? “Not all of it yet,” was what she settled on saying. “It is important that you finish it. Learn all that of which you can from it. You will need it.” Twilight gave a quick single nod, “Okay Your Highness, I will.” “Remember that if thou hast anything important to tell me, about the case or thou well being, you can always come consult Us for advice. We will help in way We can,” Luna had a look that told Twilight she knew she was hiding things. With that, Luna was walking out the door. “Also remember to report to me tonight soldier.” “Ah- yes- yes Your Majesty,” Archie said while stumbling to get his hoof up to salute. The Princess of the Night gave a smile to Twilight and actually whispered, in her own sense, “Be safe Young One, Nightmare Night is tomorrow after all.” And with that, the door closed behind her. Only then Twilight had noticed that most of the storm clouds had disappeared and light was starting to shine on the ground once again. She glanced at Archie and asked nervously, “I guess we should be trying to find out what to do for the rest of the day huh?” A shrug in reply. - - - They had gotten news shortly after Princess Luna’s visit. Horrible news. Another victim had been claimed. Every time it started to pour down rain, trouble seemed to soon follow. A messenger guard had come to tell Twilight and Corporal Archie the news saying, “They need you two down on 1st Pony Boulevard, in front of the cafe. There’s been another kill.” They were out of the library as quickly as possible with everything they needed packed. It would take them as long as five minutes to get to their destination on foot. With most of Canterlot abandoned or off the streets, it’s easy to maneuver without constantly running into ponies and having to give a mumbled, “Sorry,” or, “Excuse me.” “It seems more problems keep stacking themselves onto our current problems,” Archie said as he and Twilight rounded onto the next road to their destination. “Yeah, well, lets just get to where we need to go, or I’m afraid even more things will become problems and we won’t be able solve the ones we have now at all,” Twilight responded. When they entered onto the next street, it was almost a complete scene change. Guards were everywhere, making a perimeter around an alleyway next to a cafe named Ponies and Coffee. There were even a few civilian ponies trying to get a look, but the guards were keeping them from getting any closer than a few meters, giving the ones who needed to work their space. The pair were let through without a second thought. Archie’s special mission badge wasn’t even questioned. Twilight wasn’t sure how she was going to react to the dead pony, but for some reason, she didn’t feel the slightest bit dazed. Almost as if she had seen a dozen already. She didn’t notice it all though. The body was leaning up against the side of the cafe. A light blue coat that was still wet with speckles of red, matted fur around the neck. A single pool of blood a couple of hooves wide underneath the head. Other than that though, there wasn’t anything else bad about the body. It seemed to be in perfect condition. Twilight took a fresh notepad out from her satchel and flipped it open. Written in it was all she could remember writing down on her old notes. She wasn’t going to lose this set of notes, she was going to make sure of it. Archie nodded toward another one of the guards, “Give us a couple of minutes.” He got a salute in return. They began with the body. A major difference is to be seen right away in this body and the first, Twilight noted down. This one doesn’t seem to have been mauled. This one is more easily identifiable. Archie pulled the pony from its leaning position onto the wet cobblestone so it could be closer examined from all sides. Male, Unknown eye color (eyes completely glazed over. Black) Light blue coat, darker blue mane and tail. “Do we have a name?” Twilight asked. Archie shook his head, “No. No witnesses either. We’re pretty much blind with this one.” With over three quarters of Canterlot’s population abandoning the city, it was going to be hard to get any information. Twilight turned back to investigating the corpse. The right side of the pony looked slightly indented in the chest area and was slightly discolored, so Twilight pushed in on it. Multiple broken ribs on the right side of the body and heavy bruising. Something hit him hard, most likely knocking the wind out of him and rendering him incapacitated. As Twilight was writing down as much as she could, Archie nudged her and nodded towards the sky beyond Canterlot. Looks like there was another storm coming their way. They had at least another hour before they’d need to take cover. Turning her attention back to the investigation, she began examining the head. The eyes looked extremely black, like tar had filled the entirety of his eye sockets. What she found more interesting was the hole in the back his neck. A single puncture wound to the back of head. Appears to be angled up towards the brain. Probably the main cause of death. Flesh looks burnt around the outside edge. Nothing else to note except for the smell, it’s pretty bad, reminds me of rotting fruit. “He seems to have been killed cleanly,” Archie noted “There’s nothing clean about it,” Twilight said with an eyebrow raised. “Well, the body isn’t all mangled I mean. Sorry.” “Yeah I know. It’s fine,” she replied. After double checking her notes to make sure they were accurate enough, she put the notebook back and her satchel and asked, “Are we allowed to use magic on the crime scene?” Confused, the Corporal shrugged and called out to the guard overseeing the area. The pony came galloping over and asked what the problem was. “Not really a problem, my partner just has an important question,” he said, nodding his head to Twilight. “I would just like to know if I could use a spell on the body?” The guard looked at her, confused, and gave the answer, “As long as you don’t change the body permanently in any way.” He looked at the two as if he wanted to know what it was she had planned, but shook his head and decided to get back to writing his report. Archie turned his head back to Twilight to see the tip of her horn start to glow a faint lavender. “What is it your planning?” he asked. As soon as he ended his question, it was answered, as a dim light shot from her horn over the poor, dead pony. After a few seconds, a bright blue substance appeared around the body. Twilight let herself smile and replied, “I used this same technique to reveal the invisible ink trail at the library.” Her smile grew larger and she held her head up proudly. “Except I slightly modified it to show possible areas where blood may have been before it was washed away by the rain.” “Impressive,” the Corporal said. “You seem to be getting a hang of this a lot faster now.” He started following Twilight who was now walking down the alley with her horn pointed to the cobble. The bright blue splotches of liquid led into a single streak of deep blue. “I was kind of guessing that it would be like this,” said the still smiling Twilight. “He wasn’t killed at the entryway to that alley, but was indeed dragged to this location.” She stopped and turned her head to Archie, which stopped as well. “We just simply follow it and eventually we’ll find the source. Piece of cake.” They proceeded to follow the trail. None of the other members of the Royal Guard had even noticed they left the area. The sound of distant thunder could once again be heard from the ominous looking cumulonimbus clouds that were approaching all too quickly. “Hey”, Archie broke the silence that had enveloped the alley. Twilight responded with a simple, “What’s up?” She kept her head pointed forward as she continued walking. “I just wanted to know if you were doing alright.” A slight chuckle came from Twilight’s mouth. “Why wouldn’t I be? Why? Does something seem wrong?” She said everything as if the questions were already answered. Rhetorical or not, Archie continued, “You just seem to be handling everything a lot better right now,” Twilight ceased walking and was now giving her full attention to the white stallion behind her. “Before, you both appeared and acted like were a nervous wreck, but now you seem completely collected and calm. Did seeing the Princess help instill some sort of hope for you?” “I don’t really know what it is,” Twilight said quietly, “But I know now that I can fix this problem.” She closed her eyes and breathed deep. “So yeah, I guess talking to Luna and seeing that she’s doing fine even in her situation made me think, my own selfish problems can be put aside for the time being until everything Canterlot is reverted back to the way it used to be.” She glanced at Archie, who was now beside her, gave a smile and said, “That’s good. Your well being is one of the things that matter the most.” “Thanks for the assurance,” Twilight whispered. Then she noticed something. The trail had disappeared, or rather it had ended. They started looking around for anything that could be of aid to them. Twilight found something of note pretty quickly. “Wait,” she began, “Notice anything off right here?” Archie gave the area another quick sweep with his eyes and shook his head. “This roads on an incline, and yet there’s a sewer grate right here,” pointing her hoof at the single grate beside them. “This doesn’t belong here, it should be farther down the road where any rain would start to gather. Therefore,” she began trotting over to it, “This isn’t a drainage grate at all, but a passage to an underground tunnel.” She rested her hoof on an emblem that was engraved on the middle section of the grate. It seemed to resemble a crescent moon. “Great.” Twilight stared at Archie. “Was that supposed to be wordplay?” She asked. “I guess if you want it to be,” he retorted. Twilight smiled. “Well, good one then.” “Think we’ll be able to check it all out before the rain comes?” “Sure,” Twilight assured, “We’ll just have to be quick and thorough.” They both dropped down the hole they just opened, and with a quick light of a horn, began investigating the underground.