//------------------------------// // Change // Story: Equestria's Messiah // by Baby Seal Burritos //------------------------------// Three days Twilight Sparkle had been missing from Ponyville. Spike had returned to the library from an errand on the day of her disappearance to find it completely empty, a desolate shell of knowledge devoid of any life. He was not concerned until night fell and she was nowhere to be found. He searched the library from top to bottom for a note of some kind that would explain that she had gone to the zebra Zecora’s hut in the Everfree Forest to study some new tonics or that she was going to be out all night charting stars. But there was no note to be found. The next morning when there was still not a hide or hair of Twilight to be found, Spike began asking around Ponyville if anypony had seen her. Not a single pony could remember seeing her since the day before last. Spike’s worries grew. The young dragon asked Twilight’s closest friends to help him search for her; it didn’t take much convincing to get them on board. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, the pegasi, searched from the sky, scouring Ponyville and its immediate surroundings. Applejack and Pinkie Pie joined forces to comb the Everfree Forest. Rarity made further inquiries of Ponyville residents, adding the certain charm that Spike lacked. Spike wrote to the princess. It was a long shot, but he knew that if the princess had called for her she would have gone running without hesitation. It was unlikely though, since Spike was the mode of communication the princess and Twilight used for their back and forth dialogs and not a single scroll had been exchanged in days. He sent his enquiry. It didn’t take long for a response to arrive. “Dearest Spike, Twilight is not here at the castle. I am dreadfully sorry to hear that she has gone missing. Please continue your search and let me know of any developments. I would come and help myself, but matters of state keep me stuck here in Canterlot. Princess Celestia.” The message seemed off to the baby dragon, but he put it from his mind in order to concentrate on the more pressing matter at hand. Where was his Twilight? Night fell and still there was no sign of her. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy collapsed on the floor of the library, wing sore and tired, with nothing to report. Applejack and Pinkie Pie had found nothing in the forest but an angry manticore and a patch of poison joke. They reported that Zecora hadn’t seen Twilight for at least a week. Rarity shook her head sorrowfully at Spike, “Nopony in town has seen her in days. It’s as if she has simply vanished!” Spike ran his claws over his scales, “Did you check the train station?” Rarity nodded somberly, “But of course I did! I asked all about the trains running the day she left, and he said that it was a particularly slow day. Not a soul rode the last train to Canterlot, he lamented, and he proceeded to go on and on about the wasted trip and how he would have rather been asleep! Although, he needs a bit more sleep if you ask me; looked dreadfully puffy around the eyes.” “Sugarcube,” Applejack interrupted, “All this nonsense isn’t getting us any closer ta finding our friend.” Rainbow Dash nodded, “Yeah! What do we do now?” Spike tapped a claw on his forehead, creasing his eyebrows together in thought, “I don’t know! If Twilight were here…” Pinkie Pie spoke up, “Yeah! If Twilight were here she would know exactly what to do to find her! Oh. But I guess if Twilight were here then we wouldn’t need her to find her. She would already be here!” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, “Yeah. Real helpful, Pinkie.” Pinkie Pie stuck out her lower lip in a pout, “I don’t hear you making any suggestions.” From there the room devolved into frenzied arguing. Rainbow Dash chased Pinkie Pie around the room, both yelling at the other at the top of their lungs. Fluttershy chased after the pair, attempting to settle them down. Spike didn’t even see what set Applejack off, but suddenly she was engaged in a one-sided screaming match with Rarity. All of the little dragon’s protests were drowned out by the din that had erupted in the library. “You darned stubborn unicorn! Why, I oughta-” “You’re just being a big meanie!” “You’re just being annoying!” “Oh girls… Please, if you don’t mind… Could you maybe possibly consider…” “Don’t be so uncouth, Applejack.” “Uncouth?! Uncouth?! I’ll show you uncouth!” “Please… Can’t we all just stop fighting?” “Big meanie! Big meanie! Big meanie!” “Shut your mouth, Pinkie!” Suddenly, the door to the library flew open with a thud, shocking the ponies into silence. Spike whirled around, “Twilight?” A pale pink mare stood in the doorway, mouth slightly agape, ears flicked back in surprise. “Um… No.” The mare took a step backwards over the threshold of the library, “Mayor Mare has called a town meeting. She says it’s very important every pony be there.” The five ponies and Spike exchanged worried glances as the pink pony slipped away back into the evening air. Spike grasped his tail in his claws, a nervous gesture that brought him a modicum of comfort, “Do- do you guys think that that’s about Twilight?” Applejack slipped the small dragon onto her back, “Don’t you worry now, Spike. Ah’m sure Twilight’s just fine. Let’s not dally y’all. Let’s go see what the mayor has ta say.” The ponies filed silently out of the library behind Applejack; not even Pinkie uttered a word all the way to the town hall where the entire population of Ponyville was gathered, murmuring anxiously amongst themselves. Mayor Mare stood behind her podium, an all too sweet smile stretched across her cheeks, leaving the corners of her eyes untouched. She seemed to be scanning the crowd, estimating, perhaps, if the crowd was about the size it should be. Her eyes lighted upon the newly arrived group, darting to the face of each pony, counting again? One. Two. Three. Four. Five… It would have to be enough, most every pony in town knew by now that Twilight Sparkle, newest resident in Ponyville and protégé of the princess, was nowhere to be found. Mayor Mare cleared her throat before the microphone, “Fillies and gentlecolts, please. If everypony will settle down we can begin.” An uncanny hush fell over the crowd. It seemed as if each individual pony was holding their breath, praying for good news but knowing it wasn’t going to come. Hardly anypony could be so blind as to know when things were about to take a turn for the worst. Twilight’s disappearance was a bad omen, the beginning of something much more sinister. Spike twisted his tail in-between his claws, it was painful and yet it eased the tension in his stomach that tied his insides into knots and burned the back of his throat. Rarity put a gentle hoof on his back for comfort, but for once he was oblivious to the gorgeous pony. His thoughts were only on Twilight. His boss. His best friend. His sister. Mayor Mare shuffled some papers around with her hooves before continuing, “I’ve just received a directive from Canterlot. It seems that Princess Celestia is instating a new regime. It’s been ordered that higher taxes shall be instated and strongly enforced” An uproar erupted from the crowd as ponies began stomping their hooves and shouting nonsensically towards the mayor. The middle aged mare tried in vain to reclaim control, but had to wait for the crowd to settle before she could be heard again. “A new set of laws have been passed which include compulsory curfews and restrictions on speech…” A single voice boomed above the din of the newly ignited crowd, “This is tyranny!” A pair of pegasi clad in dark armor lunged from the top of the town hall where they had been lurking and grabbed a dark blue earth stallion between them. The crowd fell silent once more as the pegasi swooped back into the sky, the earth pony between them flailing and screaming. They climbed higher and higher until they were barely visible to the crowd below. And then they dropped him. Applejack was the pony who was able to tear away from the sight of the plummeting pony to shield Spike’s horrified eyes from the scene. She clutched him to her body and began frantically talking directly into his ear in an attempt to block out the sounds. “Spike. Listen ta me now, Spike. Everything’s gonna be alright. Don’t listen ta anything else, Spike. Just listen ta me. Everything’s gonna be alright.” Dead silence. Two sets of hooves thudded on the wooden panels of town hall’s porch, flanking the mayor. The old mare licked her lips and gave a single nervous chuckle into the microphone before shuffling her papers again. The pegasus to her left flapped his wings once, irritably; the one to her right stomped a hoof with a barely audible growl. Papers flew everywhere and Mayor Mare bent shakily to grab them, “I-I’m so sorry, everypony. I just seem so clumsy tonight.” She set the pages back on the podium and stared at them blankly for a moment. Her gaze fell back on the crowd, sweeping the faces, searching for something. She apparently couldn’t find it, “Any and all speech against the princess shall be met with… harsh retaliation. Be aware that all new statutes shall be posted in the town hall. Everypony will be held responsible for the new content starting tomorrow. That is all. Please make your ways back to your homes. Curfew is long past and shall be enforced starting tonight. Thank you for your… kind attention.” Nopony said anything as the crowd dispersed quickly, each pony heading for home. Spike found himself being carried to Sweet Apple Acres astride the unshakable Applejack. They were joined wordlessly by Big Macintosh just before they hit the outskirts of town. The large red earth pony eyed Spike with a dull expression before returning his gaze to the road. The siblings pretended not to hear Spike’s choking sobs. *** “We can’t afford these new taxes and expect to last the winter.” Applejack paced back and forth across the kitchen, all too aware of wide-eyed Applebloom gazing at her from around the corner, who assumed she was hidden from sight. Granny Smith sat in her rocking chair in an endless cycle of back and forth that elicited creaks and groans from the old piece of furniture that needed to be put out of its misery. Spike was upstairs, hopefully asleep in the guest bedroom. Big Macintosh stood on the other side of the kitchen table, a chart and a bunch of fancy mathematics scrawled across a slew of sheets of paper that were slapped hastily together atop the splintering wood. He was right. He was always right. He had a head for figures, that one, and Applejack knew better than to argue. Applejack stopped her pacing and stared at Granny Smith, “What do we do, Granny?” Granny just stared off into space, fascinated by the wood grain of the door post, perhaps, or maybe just deigning to say nothing at all. Let the younger generation handle the business now; she’s old and tired. Applejack turned back to Big Macintosh, “Well? What’d you think we should do?” Big MacIntosh lowered his eyes to the table, “Family comes first.” Applejack slammed a hoof on the ground, “And consarn it! What does that mean?” She lashed out with her hind hooves, clipping a solid oak support beam, and shaking the house. Applebloom’s head disappeared for a moment before reappearing, eyes wide with fright. Applejack sighed and shook her head, “What’s best for the family, Big Mac?” Big Macintosh just stared back at her with those droopy green eyes of his. Family comes first. --Author's Note-- There are parts in this section that are a little iffy to me so feedback is appreciated (And any typos you might notice because it's embarrassing what slips by my radar). Things are starting to get real in Ponyville now. As always, thank you for taking the time to read. I hope you enjoyed this portion of the story.