Chapter 18:Finding Things
It had been a few days since that stormy night with Zecora and the girls yet, Twilight continued to research for any sign as to what this Red pony and his strange spells could be causing. Spike had been disappearing on her much more frequently than before. "What is happening?" She asked herself as she wrote down her theories and then marked then marking them off her other lists. She was sitting at her little desk again looking at several open books and a bag containing the Canterlot books and pieces of paper that she and Applejack had found when they had their first real encounter with the Red Unicorn. On another side of the desk she had a folder of what seemed to be of data that she had collected from monitoring him including brief descriptions of those images she had seen when she tried to probe his mind. "This doesn't make sense." She yanked a few more books from her shelf and then a few newspapers from a chest she had in the corner. "There has never been any article about this so called student but yet here he is out of the blue showing up in Ponyville right after the mine incident and that Canterlot monster thing... Are they connected?" She pondered her theories once again and constantly scratched the top of her head.
But at Sweet Apple Acres...
Applejack was busy bucking apples into big baskets while Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle jumped around in a game of tag. Applejack took a moment to cool down from her work and looked over towards the farm house and the barn. She sighed contently watching her brother and several family members work on the farm house and the barn. But, something caught her attention some sort of noise heading straight for them. She squinted her eyes to see Rainbow Dash gliding down the dirt road of the farm towards them followed by Scootaloo buzzing behind on her scooter. As soon as Rainbow Dash made it to Applejack, she began screaming for her help.
"You've got to help me?! Make it stop... She won't stop talking about him." Rainbow Dash pleaded dropping to the ground.
"What in tarnation are you talkin bout? Who's talking about what?" Applejack asked as the little orange filly pulled up beside her.
"Him..." Rainbow whispered. Not looking in anyone's direction.
"Okay now, who per say is him?" Applejack asked letting curiosity hit her hard.
"She's talking about Mr. Red! He's so cool! He beat the Wonderbolts! He does cool magic! And he even managed to save me from falling with the tree. He's my hero!" Scootaloo happily exclaimed in a Pinkie Pie sort of way.
"I thought I was your hero?... I helped save Equestria... Twice..." Rainbow Dash whispered inaudibly while scratching the ground with the tip of her hoof.
"Oh, him again?. This pony is really starting to sound too good to be true..." She thought to herself then of a wicked idea. "Well whoever this Red fella is, seems to be quite the stallion to beat two of the WonderBolts." She said aloud causing Rainbow's ears to perk up. "I wonder if he's gonna become a Wonderbolt before ya Dash."
Rainbow Dash hopped up and instantly faced her friend with a glare. "There's no way some some unicorn using cheaply done magic would ever get into the Wonderbolts Academy cause one: he can't fly and two-"
Applejack laughed and placed a hoof on her mouth to keep her from speaking. "All right! All right... I just wanted to get your feathers ruffled seeing how mopey you looked a few seconds ago. Looks like it worked like a charm."
"That's not funny. I have a reputation to uphold and if anyone was going to be a Wonderbolt first then that pony is gonna be me." Replied Rainbow with her bravado restored.
Applejack chuckled again. "Why don't you three go to your club house while we finish up here?" The three little fillies nodded their heads in agreement and trotted towards a little area in orchard. "Well now that that's dealt with, is there anything I can help ya with or if ya want do you think you can help me finish up these here apples?"
"I guess I can give you a hoof." Replied Rainbow in her usual laid back attitude. She went towards a few trees that had empty baskets underneath them. "Hmm... Do you think we'll be done here before we have to meet Rarity?"
"Yeah! There's enough time to even pick up Twilight. I'm worried about her again she's beginning to sound like a conspiracist. That's just unhealthy." The farm pony replied. She picked up a basket with her back and put it into a wagon.
At the edge of Ponyville at Fluttershy's cottage.
Fluttershy stood at her little bridge and watched while Pinkie Pie set up a rather larger version of her little blue cannon in an open path I front of her house. "Umm... Pinkie are you sure that's going to work? It might be dangerous..."
"Of course it's going to work I made absolutely lutsley sure that this will one hundred percent work the way it's supposed to work just watch!" Pinkie shouted back. She toyed with a few levers and switches at the back of the cannon until a little timer bell dinged. "It's all set! Take cover!" Fluttershy quickly hid under her bridge with a few animals. Pinkie ran behind a tree as the front of the cannon exploded shooting out tables with food and drinks already on them followed by a big cake on a stand that had a welcome to Ponyville banner hanging right up on top of it. "It worked! I'm mean... Of course it worked or my name wouldn't be Pinkie Pie of course but, then again it technically already is my name. Oh but who cares! It worked! The Insta-Party Cannon worked!"
"Wow Pinkie, that's amazing. This is gonna be for the surprise party right?" Fluttershy said as she popped out of her hiding place.
"Oh it'll be a surprise alright. From what I got from Mayor Mare he's a super defensivy and shy pony. I bet he's gonna get a big surprise from this." She laughed. "All we have to do is wait for when he isn't watching."
"Umm... Why aren't we having it in his house like you usually do?" Fluttershy asked as she looked into the barrel of the cannon.
"Because of the shield he has protecting the place. I can't get in..." Pinkie replied. She jumped onto the table and began to drink from the bowl of punch on the first table. "Better keep this spread from getting wasted." She continued to snack on the food while Fluttershy walked towards the town. "Aren't you going to have some?"
"I think I'm going to go check on Twilight I haven't seen her all day." She replied. She began to walk her way down the dirt road.
Back in the library.
Spike stood on top of a step ladder placing a few books away carefully to not make a sound. Owlicious watched contently as Twilight silently wrote on a chalkboard until she jumped and shouted. "Im done I know how they're all connected!" She pulled Spike off of the ladder and levitated him in front of this web of theories.
"I... Don't get it?" Spike uttered under the pressure of the magic.
"Here look!" Twilight pointed her hoof at one point of the web. "Back a few weeks ago the Diamond dogs in their main capital published an article about having seen some changelings lurking in their forest but then a few days later there was the first few ponies disappearing. Followed by that we had an Earthquake and the unexplainable green flash. It must've been a changeling or something making his way into the Everfree forest. The creature we must've seen in the mine incident must be a changeling, thus explaining why he would've tried to attack Canterlot. Whatever he did to the princesses... It's probably mind control. It's like what happened at the wedding all over again. Except this time, he's hiding in plain view trying to blend in." Spike tried to say something but Twilight interrupted again. "I just need evidence... Spike I need you to help me watch him. Collect whatever you can."
"Twilight! Listen to me! You've got to stop. I'm pretty sure he's not like that. I'm sorry Twilight but, I have a few things I need to do today." The dragon replied causing Twilight to drop him.
"Oh... Ok. Then if anything see if you can. I need to meet everypony later anyway..." Twilight replied a little saddened and surprised that her very own assistant refused. She walked back towards her papers and returned to marking things on the board.
"Okay this side of the library is clean. I will be home after I go check on Something... Why don't you just take a break from that stuff and go to the spa with the girls? I mean look at your mane it's a disaster, your horn has lost its shine, and it looks like you haven't bathed in a while. I bet that's where Rarity is gonna haul you off to the spa right when she sees you ." Spike explained. He walked into the closet grabbing a small bag with a few scrolls in it shifting a few things around. He walked to the door and opened it. Twilight shielded her eyes from the brightness of the sun. "See ya later, Twilight." He closed the door and was gone.
Twilight saw the mess Spike had made and decided to clean it up. "Ha... And he calls me messy?" She said to herself still a little ticked off. She stacked the boxes, hung the few bags, picked up Smarty Pants and gave it a hug, but stopped when she levitated a big black backpack out. "Wait... Where did I get this?..." She placed it on the side and continued to work on the closet until it was properly put away. She looked back and realized who she had gotten it from. "This was from when we had to go to the mines..." She stood there and thought for a moment. "That's it! This belongs to those changelings! Oh! I wonder what they are!" Her mane puffed up in a crazy fashion again clearing a table and laying the bag on top. "I better get some paper to document this." She galloped over to her desks and pulled out a roll. "Now let's see..." She began to tuff on the zipper but it wouldn't budge. None of them did. She put the bag back down on the table and began to point the tip of her horn at the zipper and it began to glow but the sudden sound of her door being swung open broke her concentration causing the spell she was about to use backfire. She flew into a bookshelf screaming.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack stepped in confused of what laid in front of them. "Twilight?... what the hay is going on here? And why are you covered in those books?" Applejack asked digging her friend out.
"Before I was interrupted... I was just about to see what was in this bag but the zipper is stuck and I really don't want to damage the bag or the things inside." Twilight replied levitating the books off of herself and stacking them away.
"Ha! You couldn't get this measly little zipper open? Here check this out. Applejack can you hold the side of the bag?" Rainbow laughed as she bit down on the end of the zipper while Applejack held the bag with her hooves. "Okay and pull" she gritted her teeth and pulled. They both yanked but in vain, the bag's zipper wouldn't budge. "What the heck? Is it broken?"
"Nahhhh you just ain't doing it right. Let me show ya." Applejack suggested. They switched places and tried again.
"So what happened to doing it right?" Mocked Rainbow.
"What are you girls doing in here?" Asked Fluttershy popping up seemingly from nowhere.
"Oh we're just trying to get that bag open... Fluttershy?! When did you get here?" Twilight replied shocked by the sudden appearance.
"Oh... I'm sorry... I arrived about a minute ago. Isn't that the bag Scootaloo found?" Fluttershy walked inside and closed the door.
"Yeah it is but, it's giving us a hard time getting it open. We've tried opening it with conventional means and with brute physical strength but, still nothing. I think it's zipper is broken." Twilight answered.
"Okay I think we need cut this thing open..." She gave the zipper another look "Nah... I give up. I'd end up breaking whatever's inside." Applejack said in defeat. They left the bag and went to sit down.
"Oh well... Maybe we could bring it to Rarity to see if she could open it without having to completely take it apart or we could try to use an opening spell. " Twilight began to lose herself in her theories and began talking to herself, Fluttershy on the other hand or hoof crept up to the bag. She gave a good look at the zipper and began to pull it gently. This time the zipper actually moved.
"Twilight? I got it open. Now what?" Asked Fluttershy turning her head to see Twilight talking to herself. Fluttershy began tapping her hoof to Twilight's shoulder.
"So, what do you think show it to Rarity or-" Said Twilight before she was interupted.
"HEY LOOK! I told ya I could get it open." Applejack announced as she looked over the bag. Twilight shoved Fluttershy out of the way and stood on the other side of Applejack.
"Thanks girls. Now let's see what's in here..." Twilight happily levitated out the contents of the bag. "What in Equestria are these?" She laid them out in an ordered yet careful fashion.
Rainbow Dash picked up a small black box but Twilight quickly placed it back onto the table. "Hey what was that for?" She angrily questioned.
"I don't know if anything here is dangerous yet. So please don't touch anything just yet. " Twilight warned. She pulled out a big clump of wires and began to unravel them. Everyone else watched her untangle about a dozen different size and shape wires. She placed the black objects with the other black objects. The final thing she examined the large blue and black rectangle. "Hey this can open!" She slowly opened the rectangle like a book on its side revealing a collections of buttons and a big black glassy surface.
Thirty minutes later.
Twilight continued to study the strange devices and sighed. On the other side of her was about four rolls of paper and two empty ink bottles. Fluttershy held the bag and closely examined the shape and size of the bag. Rainbow Dash laid on a stack of books asleep while Applejack sat behind Twilight watching and trying to stay awake. Twilight finally put her examinations to a rest. "I think I will continue this tomorrow. I'm going to take them all apart to see what's inside of them and what these strange glyphs mean." She sighed again a she looked at the rolls.
Applejack rubbed her eyes and shook herself awake. "Well what did ya learn?"
"Not much... Whatever they are aren't responding to whatever I tried on them." Twilight replied. She held up a small black rectangle up to Applejack's face. "I think this May be some kind of apple detection device. But, I can't be too sure of it yet."
Apple jack looked up towards he clock and yawned. "I reckon it's time we headed on over to Rarity,s place to see what she needed from us." She popped her bones waking up Rainbow Dash. "C'mon now sleepy head. It's time to head on out of here."
"Five more minutes..." Dash yawned. Applejack picked up a book and held it above Rainbow Dash's head then dropped it. "I get it I get it I'm up... So what happens now with these doohickies?"
"When I get back home I'm probably going examine them even further by disassembling them." Replied Twilight."Is everypony ready? Let's go."
They each exited the library followed by the doors magically closing.
In another part of Ponyville
Joe sat along the side of a small pond not farm from the windmill in pony form using his magic to skip a few rocks across the water. "I wonder what everyone is doing..." He thought aloud as he laid there with a few short trees. He levitated the pendant off a little to cause the enchantment to fade a little off of his hooves revealing his hands. He sighed as he let the pendant drop back to being around his neck.
"You're forgetting who you are is what you're doing." Said the voice of the old scarlet suit man suddenly. "You're beginning to become one of them! Look at yourself."
"What the heck are you talking about now?..." Joe replied in thought. "Why are you guys constantly bugging me?"
The Voice stayed quiet for a few seconds before answering. "You mad?" He asked rather mockingly. "I waste all my effort trying to help you and you still think I'm trying to lead you astray? Let me show you!" In an instant the location changed into that of a white void. The change of scene also removed his transformation as well causing him to stand up.
"Hey! What the heck did you do?" Joe panicked. He quickly erected a shield around himself.
"Hey calm down! Its just like a cinema sit down and pay close attention to this." The man suddenly appeared with a bag of popcorn and a row of theater seats. "Look." He pointed forward towards the air.
Joe felt fuzziness of the strange zone calming and belonging as he lowered the shield. He walked over to the old man but still felt tense and cautious. The area began to clear around them exposing them to the familiar scent and appearance of the Canterlot castle. "Why are we here?" He asked looking ahead. The familiar voices of Rex and Celestia shortly resonated into the castle room followed by the owners. They both spoke but their voices were distant and audible.
"Now, Celestia you must hear me out. My brother and that demon he has brought into the country are puppeteering my people and have already decided a role for that human. From what I could gather from some of the guards was that he poses a threat that could change the fate of Equestria drastically." Rex explained as he pounded his paw into the table in front of them. "I could see it through his eyes. This creature will be a key in their victory. We must find a means to keep it out of their grasps.
"Shall we have it destroyed your majesty? It is the most rational mode of action." Came another familiar voice. The unicorn that had first examined the Human appeared along with two other ponies. Suddenly the scene before them froze.
"See look at that. That is exactly what I wanted to show you. "He pointed at the whole lot of them. "They wanted to destroy you when you appeared on their doorstep. I know they could feel the power you possessed and simply saw you as a threat. They would've killed you!" He explained. "Me on the other hand... Would've accepted that type of thing openly."
Joe remained silent as he heard this old mans words. He looked at Celestia concerned until hearing another yet wiser old man's voice. "Play the rest." It spoke.
"Hey! Shut up you old fool!" The old man in the scarlet suit shouted then threw his bag of popcorn behind them causing it to wobble out of existence. "Let's get out of here. I've shown you all you need to-"
"Play the rest I want to see what happens" Joe interrupted the old man. "I need to know..."he walked up to the Princess in the eyes before actually sitting down.
"Well... If you say so. It's your future." Replied the old man.
The scene continued with Celestia standing with her head high considering the potential options and did not utter a single word. The old man and Joe watched as she looked about the room and more amazingly directly at them. She sighed as the disposition saddened her. "I made a promise to a friend a long time ago to help those who need it most. I understand your worry Rex. I can clearly see that. But to destroy a life before it could completely explain itself? I cannot condone that... No matter what the risk."
"But your highness! If in theory the creature could become a destructive force, what else could it bring to Equestria if it were to become an applicable source... Or... Perhaps what the scrolls predicted. A means of salvation by-" explained the unicorn who was interrupted by a loud stomp of a hoof.
"No I must disagree with that proposition. I intend to understand what it's nature is." She replied. "I rather we keep it under close watch... If it were to become a threat then we will have to remove it."
"Okay that's enough. The only thing that happens next is he explains how you got there yadda yadda yadda, they leave to his kingdom yadda yadda, everyone goes to bed,You wake up in a jail pretty much you know the rest." Yelled the old man in annoyance. He flipped through a script, threw it into the air. "Now can we go? Someone is tapping your face." He then snapped his fingers causing the theater seats to disappear and walked off into the void. "Remember what I showed you! It's important that you do." The old man's voice echoed as the whole white void thing vanished into one black and dark.
Back out of the void
Spike stood above Joe as he slept pulling at the sleeping pony/human's mouth, nose and ears. He examined how real the illusion was and was in awe of it "Hey are you awake?... HEY!..." The tiny dragon whispered. He finally began to tap at the pony's nose to try to wake him but failed. He leaned over Joe's head and prepared to yell suddenly Joe opened his eyes and yelled at the sight. Spike jumped back and held his claw at his heart as if he had a heart attack. "What the heck was that?!"
Joe yawned as he stood up popping his bones. "Hey there Spike... What brings you here? And that was your fault don't touch anybody's mouth or muzzle or whatever while they sleep. That's messed up."
"I just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out today and to deliver this." Replied Spike. He handed a scroll to Him.
He looked at the seal and opened it.
"Dear Red
We will have to sadly postpone our lesson till noon tomorrow. Please take today as a day to enjoy yourself. Dusty and Nurse Blue Heart have informed me of your condition during their visit. You must rest your mind. I also took note of the pendant constricting your magic and physical well being. You should take a day without the pendant soon. Yours truly, Princess Celestia"
Joe read in thought. He had been hitting the books too often lately, he looked back to the windmill and at the scroll.
He pondered his thoughts for a little. Was What the old man shown him valid? Were they actually deciding to kill him off? He had Questions for Celestia to answer. He turned back toward Spike and shook his head. "Yea... I guess. I think it's going to be awhile. I wonder who's coming to give me lessons tomorrow. So, I guess I'm free today. What do you have in mind?
"Well I was thinking it would be cool to see what kind of spells you know and later we could try some hoofball at the park. But, first do you think we can drop this bag over at the library? I had to drop a letter to the mayor and get a few things earlier."
"Sure thing. Let's just head over to the windmill for a bit I need to go get a few bits and make sure it's completely secured before we head out." He replied.
It was a short walk as the two of them made their way over, Spike explained the rules of hoofball and how to play. "So basically it's like soccer. We kick the ball into a goal and that's it?" Confirmed Joe.
"Yeah that's it... What's soccer? Asked Spike
"Its the same sport but in my world and instead of hooves we use our feet. I used to play it a lot in school." Joe answered.
"Hey what did you study exactly in your school?" Spike asked beginning to become intrigued by his stories.
Joe held his hoof to his face trying to name them all."Well I studied stuff like geography, history, math and science. You know the basics but then there was art, sports, drama, automotive, carpentry and cooking. I took them all." He chuckled at the thought. "I'd say the only class that could really grind my gears was Advanced math. It just kept getting more complex. I couldn't stand it."
"Wow, that's plenty. But that's nothing compared to what they teach at school for gifted Unicorns. They teach all of those and more. Especially magic... But one question. What's Automotive?" replied Spike.
"It's a class dealing with cars and engines. It's pretty fun when you know what you're doing." Joe held his hoof up as they reached the door of the windmill. "Now give me a second while I get the stuff set. Once inside a red pillar of magic shot out of the roof surrounding the entire building except the blades. " okay let's get out of here."
"Can I ask another question?" Asked Spike still scratching his head.
"Okay shoot." Joe quickly replied.
"What the heck is a car?" Spike questioned as if he were a student.
"It's like a carriage thing with a motor..." He continued to explain as they walked onto a path.
"Can I ask another Question?" Spike asked once again.
"Oh man... Here we go again..." Joe thought recalling a similar moment he had with three little fillies. The little Dragon continued his grand list of questions as they made their way towards the library.