Night had fallen across the land, yet one regent stayed awake.
Princess Celestia sat in silence, staring at the papers in front of her. They covered her desk, and the subject was frightening.
They were missing pony reports.
There were around fifty of them. Most of them had come from Ponyville, but a few were from the road between Ponyville and Canterlot. What made them so disturbing is that they were mostly unicorns, and that they had all happened within the last three weeks. Each report was about the same: The pony would go for a walk or would depart on a trip. Anypony nearby when they disappeared witnessed nothing. There usually was no trace, except for a large scorched area, and around that area there was churned dirt, with the grass or any plants removed. Also, reports of strange figures a few miles outside of Ponyville were given by pegasi who happened to fly nearby. They all said that they saw large things moving in the forest beneath them, attempting to keep track of them, but the pegasi would always fly faster and escape from whatever was below. Many strange things were happening in the area around Ponyville. But it seemed the Princess was powerless to stop it. She had assigned some pegasi to patrol Ponyville's outskirts and keep watch. Two days later three of them vanished, but this time no one knew where. Princess Celestia had changed the assignment after that. No flying at night, and each pegasus must fly fifty feet above the tallest tree. She called for any pegasi from Ponyville to help search for the missing ponies. None had been found so far. She turned and looked at the moon. Nightmare Moon's outline was visible on it, yet it would still be a few more decades until she returned, and Celestia could find a way to set her free. She desperately missed her younger sister, Luna. She-
"Princess!" Two ponies rushed into the room and quickly bowed. One was a pegasus, a guard of her court. The other was an earth pony, an adviser to the Princess.
"Yes? Bountiful, what are you doing awake at such an hour?"
"Your majesty, we have a new development on the disappearances!" She shifted from hoof to hoof. "We found one of the three pegasi!"
"Who was it?"
"Her name was Thunder Wind."
"Was?"
"Yes, your highness....she's...she's dead."
Celestia's eyes widened slightly at this. "Take me to where her body lies."
"Yes mam! We've left the body where it was found. There is something wrong with everything there."
"Well, let me see for myself."
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Princess Celestia's chariot landed softly in a large clearing. She could see clearly by the moonlight, although it didn't reveal everything.
"Your majesty, we found her over...there."
She turned to see a small pegasus standing there, looking in the direction she pointed in with fear.
Celestia slowly made her way over to the area. As before, there was a large circular area where all of the grass was dead. But instead of a ring of missing grass, here the grass was white. It was also completely dry, there was no moisture left within it at all. Her first thought was of Discord. But then she thought more about it. Discord had never killed anypony before. That reminded her of Thunder Wind. She walked over to where the body lay, taking care to avoid stepping on the grass. She reached the body. It was white, not unlike the grass. Offhoofedly she asked Bountiful, "What color was she?"
"She was yellow, your highness. Her cutie mark was a cloud with lightning under it, and a sun above it."
Celestia's gaze shifted to Thunder Wind's flank. It was blank. There was no cutie mark. Celestia's thoughts began to spiral. She regained her composure, then used her horn to see if any magic had been performed there recently. Nothing. She looked back to the body. At that moment, two pegasi flew up and moved the clouds so that the Princess could get a better look.
What she saw shocked her.
Thunder Wind's eyes were glazed over. But the shocking aspect was that her eyes were crystallized on the outside. Also, some patches of yellow remained in her fur and mane, but everywhere else was white. Finally, she also noticed the wings. The wings showed Celestia something she had not realized: This pony had been in intense pain when she died. Her left flank was upturned towards the sky, showing a perfectly bundled wing. But her other wing was crumpled underneath her, broken and useless. Then Celestia noticed something even more horrifying. There was a hole right above Thunder Wind's left eye. Something had killed this pony with precision. As she stared at the body, a tear rolled down Celestia's cheek. Even during the times when Chaos reigned, she had never seen anything as cruel as this. This was apparently done in a manner unknown to her as well, which made it all the more frightening. She turned and walked slowly back to the chariot.
"Bountiful, I want a doctor to look at that body, and find out what happened if they can. I want to avoid any more of these incidents if I can."
As she climbed aboard her chariot, she breathed in. She smelled something...strange. She had never smelled that scent before, and knowing this made her skin crawl, and the fur on the back of her neck raised. She shook it off and dismissed the ponies bowing before her. A pony had died this day, or a recent day, and this was cause for mourning.