Twilight pushed the last book into place, the first of many re-shelving days planned for her new castle’s library. Spike pushed against the post of one of the shelves, using his feather duster to wipe off the dust from the crystal shelves. Spike wiped an arm over his sweaty forehead as he began to descend.
“See, that wasn’t so hard. We had it done in no time in all, just like I said.” Twilight commented as she took a white rag and wiped off one of the harder to reach nooks of the shelf. Spike put his feather duster over his shoulder as he cracked his back.
“Yeah sure, if you call two hours and a half no time at all.” Spike retorted. He quickly waddled over to one of the tables set around the room that had a pitcher of lemonade, which he had prepared, and a few disposable cups. Spike lifted the pitcher and poured a cup for Twilight and himself. Twilight nodded and smiled at him as she levitated the cup over to her lips.
“This is really good,” Twilight commented as she levitated the pitcher over to her now empty cup and refilled it and downed her second cup in a few gulps before levitating the pitcher back to Spike and pouring him some more. “What would I do without you, Spike?” She said as she finally set the pitcher back onto the tray.
“You’d probably go insane and lock yourself in here with nothing but your books and a few sandwiches.” He replied with a smirk. Twilight chuckled lightly at the joke.
“Yeah, I’d probably do something as drastic like that.” She commented as she walked over to the table and tossed her cup into the trash bin nearby. She drew Spike in for a hug with a smile. “Thanks for being there for me.”
“I wouldn’t be much of a number one assistant if I didn’t, now would I?” Spike replied with a chuckle. “You’re welcome, Twi.” He said as he returned the embrace. Suddenly there was a gurgling noise, and in a rush of green flame, Spike burped up a scroll as he quickly turned his head away, the scroll landing neatly on one of the reading table nearby. Twilight and Spike let go of each other with a laugh.
“Remind me not to give you a hug when a message is coming in.” Twilight joked as she walked over to the message as she used her magic to lift it and bring it closer for her inspection. “Well isn’t this curious…” Twilight muttered as she looked at the still closed scroll.
“What is it Twilight, something wrong?” Spike asked as his laughter faded and turned into a concerned tone. Twilight turned the message toward him and showed him what had made her curious.
“The seal, it isn’t Celestia’s, it’s Luna’s.” She stated as she turned it back to herself, looking it over carefully. “I don’t recall her ever sending me messages before.” She continued as she used her magic to break the seal. “I hope everything is alright…” Twilight trailed off as she began to read. Spike watched as her expression shifted from concerned to terrified and then to horror until it finally came upon a feeling even beyond those. Twilight rolled it up and galloped out of the crystalline library, leaving Spike behind her, running up behind her in an attempt to keep up.
“Twilight, what’s going on? Why are we running?” He shouted after her, but she didn’t take the time to stop and reply, instead she just kept running. Spike continued chasing after her through hall after hall, through stair cases and other adjoining rooms that Spike hadn’t even been to previously.
“Hey, Sugar cube, what’s going on?” Applejack said, but Twilight just barged past her. “Spike, what’s going on?” Spike just held his hands up in confusion as he ran by as well. Spike heard Applejack running behind him, and then felt her scoop him up as she began to overtake him and catch up with Twilight. Suddenly she skidded to a stop and then jumped through a door and, by what Spike heard before going through the doorway, began to throw things to and fro.
Applejack and Spike entered the room and found themselves in a disaster area that was at one time Twilight’s room. Twilight was a lavender blur galloping this way and that, throwing things into a pair of saddlebags that lay in the middle of the floor that had several things already shoved into it.
“Twilight, what’s going on here?” Applejack asked as she watched Twilight bounce from one end of the room to the other like some sort of deranged tennis ball.
“Ooh, what’s happening here?” Pinkie asked as she popped her head through the gap between Applejack and the door. “Is this run crazy and panic type of time? I can do that!” With that she zipped into the room and began flailing about screaming beside Twilight while making funny faces and giggling occasionally. Applejack rolled her eyes, not even noticing as Spike slipped off of her back and walked farther into the room.
Spike jogged over to Twilight general pattern, and as she passed, ran his claws along her side, which caused her to spasm and trip over herself, landing face first into a heap of scarves. Pinkie immediately noticed the change in pace and froze stock still in the middle of the air before landing softly on the ground with a smile.
“That was fun; maybe we can get everypony to do it next time!” She said while skipping out of the room, gaining her several more eye rolls. Spike turned back to the now dizzy Twilight who was trying to get her sense of direction back.
“Twilight, what’s happening, why are you running around so much?” Spike asked her as he helped her out of the pile. Twilight took a deep breath, calming herself enough to speak.
“Luna said that last night Canterlot was attacked by an unknown entity. They kidnapped Celestia and left Luna unable to give chase until somepony came by and noticed her two hours later. There isn’t any other information that she gave me except I need to get down there right now.” Twilight said before she began trotting around the room and tossing thing into her saddlebags.
“How did they do that?” Spike gasped, “Celestia and Luna are the most powerful magic wielders in all of Equestria; they could take on anything if they were even slightly aware of the danger!” Spike said, waving his arms in exasperation.
“Wait, you’re telling me that some random thing or pony just up and took Celestia but left Luna behind?” Applejack interjected. “If they really wanted to do some damage wouldn’t they take both of them? I mean, if they took Celestia and left Luna unable to chase them, wouldn’t it stand to reason that Luna would be hunting them down. So, why not take her too? It just doesn’t make a lick of sense.” She finished, shaking her head as she removed her hat and held it o her chest with a hoof.
“I don’t know anything about that; all I know is that I need to get there right now.” Twilight replied before stopping and turning to Applejack. “Can you tell the girls to get ready as well? If they ask why just tell them we are needed in Canterlot and we don’t have much time or details on the situation and that we just need to get there now.” She said. Applejack nodded as se set her hat on her head and lowered the rim in determination.
“Alright, I’m on it. See you at the train station then.” Applejack replied. She then turned and galloped down the hall and began to tell the others. Spike looked at Twilight as she continued to throw things into her bags.
“I know this might be a bit cliché for this situation, but…” Spike began, “I got a bad feeling about this.” He said finally, his head bowed and his hands folded together behind his back. Twilight stopped and walked over to him and sat down, placing a fore hoof on his shoulder.
“It’s alright to be scared, Spike. You just have to learn to face your fears. Being courageous isn’t having no fears at all, but knowing how to face the ones you do have.” Twilight replied, a loving smile on her face. Spike smiled back, and then slipped out of the hug.
“I guess I’ll need to pack as well, huh?” Spike said. “Well, better start now then.” With that he scurried off and dug his bag out from under the pile of scarves and began gathering his things together.
Twilight and the rest of the Element of Harmony along with Spike arrived at Canterlot station later that evening and quickly hurried through the streets towards the castle. As they drew nearer to the castle, a large group of guards became visible in front of the main gate and in the courtyard before the castle. The guards at the gate saw Twilight and her friend’s approach and quickly opened the gate, the guards inside quickly forming a wall on either side of the path to the castle’s front. The ponies looked at the guards around them, along with the guards that sat in the windows with crossbows or bows, ready to take down any in coming enemies.
“I say, things must really be in dire straits if the security has been increased so exponentially.” Rarity noted as they continued down the path. Twilight, Applejack, and Spike shared a nervous glance while they drew nearer to the main castle. The guards on either side of the doors used their magic and pulled the door open. The six ponies and the dragon went in quickly, the scores of guards patrolling around the interior of the castle instantly grabbing their attention, as well as the majestic lunar princess that stood at the top of the stairs.
“Princess Luna, what’s happening?” Twilight asked as she and her friends ascended the stair to meet Luna. With a flick of her tail, she motioned for the new arrivals to follow her. Increasing their speed to keep up, the ponies fell in line and entered the main throne room right behind Luna, the guards on either side of the entrance pulling the doors closed behind them. Luna turned to face the ponies, her eyes drifting over each one, reading their expressions like a book.
“Last night, near the eleventh hour, somepony or something attacked Canterlot, catching us completely off our guard.” Luna started.
“Well that explains the increase in security, but why were we called here?” Rarity questioned. “And for that matter, where is Celestia? Is she off trying to figure out what happened?” Luna sighed.
“No, we believe that she was captured by whomever or whatever did this act.” Luna replied, “And before you should ask the same question as those who have heard it before,” Luna cut them off before they could interject, “It is very much within the realms of possibility for that to happen.”
“But how did they even manage?” Rainbow cut in suddenly, “You and her are like super powerful, I’m not seeing how anything short of Discord…” Rainbow trailed off slowly, that last word catching on her brain, a catalyst for a train of precarious thought.
“Discord…. yes, it is a possibility, he could’ve done it. After all, he has shown that he can be swayed if talked to correctly.” Twilight theorized.
“Now before you go besmirching my good name,” Discord said from nowhere and yet everywhere, “I’ll have you know that I had no part in this. I was counting sheep by the time this whole thing was happening.” Suddenly a burst of magic blinded the room, revealing Discord sitting on the edge of his bed with a nightcap on, counting the sheep that strolled merrily on by his bunk bed that had a plush Fluttershy on the top bunk laying under a comforter that had a metallic face on it with the word ‘Transformers’ etched across it.
“Discord, if you could remove your bed from the hall and have it placed back in your room I’d be much obliged.” Luna stated calmly to the reformed draconequus. Discord sighed and snapped his fingers, the bed disappearing in a puff of smoke while the sheep grew wings and flew away, straight through the ceiling.
“I wonder if I might be able to make the saying into ‘when sheep fly’… but then it would be more likely.” Discord wondered aloud while he removed his nightcap and pulled out Angel and handed him to Fluttershy before tossing his cap away, and when it hit the ground, it unraveled some of its strings and walked off behind the throne in a huff, using the strings as legs. Angel and Fluttershy looked at each other in surprise.
“Um, Discord… I think you should get Angel Bunny back home. I left somepony watching over the place and I think they might be a bit scared after having him disappeared.” Fluttershy said in a concerned tone.
“Oh don’t worry, I took care of that. They won’t even notice that he’s gone.” Discord replied with a winning smile and crossed arms.
Daisy poured the last of the box of animal feed into the bowl, the small animals immediately scurried over and began devour the food. She looked around and saw little Angle sitting in a shaded corner, his arms crossed, his head tilted downward.
“What’s wrong, Angel? You miss Fluttershy?” She asked as she walked over to him. “It’s alright, she’ll be back before too long, just go over there and eat up.” The bunny, however, stayed still, not responding to her words. Daisy finally sighed and walked off, never noticing the button eyes and stitching across its side.
Fluttershy looked at Discord uncertainly and then back to Angle, and then back to Discord.
“If you say so, Discord; I believe you.” Fluttershy replied finally, letting Angle down on the ground where he hid behind her, looking in anger at Discord.
“How do we know you were actually doing as you say?” Applejack asked, looking unbelievingly at Discord. Discord pondered this for a few seconds, and then snapped his finger, causing the whole group to appear in his house as blue spirits. The room wasn’t a mess, and yet it couldn’t be called clean. Many of his objects were floating about like soap bubbles, and even bounced off of each other when they struck.
“Ah,” Past Discord sighed as he leaned back, a literal chorus of cracks echoing as his back popped each note in perfect harmony with the last, sounding more like a piano than anything. Discord then leaned forwards and touched the floor with his talons and lion paw before bobbing back up, bobbing forward and backwards with a sigh of satisfaction. “That definitely feels a lot better.” He said as he put his fedora on the hat rack and placed his black suit coat on a hanger and placed it on the rod that floated on by as he tossed his suitcase onto the couch, one of the few grounded objects.
Discord plodded over to his bed and twisted his back once more, no more pops sounding before he sat down on his bunk bed, the Fluttershy plushy already snug under her comforter. Discord grabbed his nightcap from the bed post, his talon arm extending extremely just to reach it. Discord planted it on his head. He finally lay down completely on his bed, pulling a comforter over him that had several weird faces and forms on it with the label ‘G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero’ written across it much like the Fluttershy doll’s comforter.
“Oh, right, almost forgot.” Discord said, a little light bulb popping up above his head, which he yanked the chain that dangle from it, turning it off, plunging the room into darkness except for the faint glow of a clock that had a dog’s face on it that clearly read eleven o’ seven.
“Satisfied?” Discord asked before snapping his claw again, setting them back in Canterlot Castle as if nothing had happened.
“Yes, thank you, Discord.” Luna replied with a nod while turning to the Elements of Harmony. She paused for a second, and then turned back to Discord. “Could you possibly show us the incident that happened last night? It would be of great help to our endeavors to find out who did this.”
“Sorry, but I can’t,” Discord replied, “I can only show you scenes I was there to witness. Think of it as a third person replay of my memories.” He finished, plopping down onto a couch, an arm wrapped around a surprised Fluttershy’s shoulders who sat beside him, even though she had been standing beside her friends a few seconds ago.
“Um, Discord…” Fluttershy muttered before she was presented with a plate of cookies. She looked over at Discord who now had a thin black mustache and a chef’s hat.
“Do you want some fresh cookies, Madam?” Discord asked in a thick accent. Fluttershy took one and ate it slowly looking over at Discord, motioning with her eyes towards her friends. Discord’s eyes opened up slightly in understanding, and then he smiled as she presented the cookies to the other ponies. “Do any of you ladies want a cookie?” Discord asked with his accent as thick as ever as couch and chairs appeared and scouted under the ponies, sending falling backwards into their cushions. Rarity levitated one over and took a ladylike bite, her eyes lighting up instantly.
“My goodness, these are wonderful. Did you make these, Discord?” She asked, wiping the crumbs from her muzzle.
“Yes, indeed I did. I can give you the recipe if you like.” Discord said as he produced a small cup of milk and dipped his cookie into it before taking a bit out of it, giving a purr of delight at the flavors.
“Not to disrupt this pleasant moment,” Twilight said, “But I believe that as long as Celestia is missing we can hold back on eating cookies.”
“I guess you’re right, Twilight…” Discord groaned as he snapped the couches and chairs away, leaving everypony standing and him floating with arms crossed. Everypony quickly finished their treats before Luna finally spoke.
“I have some of Equestria’s greatest detectives already working on this case, but I believe you might be able to provide them with a bit of assistance.” Luna stated, motioning to all the ponies. “I believe that sometimes those detective’s egos blind them to a certain side to each situation that ponies like you all can see.”
“Well shucks, Princess,” Applejack said bashfully, her front right leg crossing over her left front leg. “We aint super sloths in the slightest, I don’t see how we could be of much help.”
“Um… Applejack, that’s ‘super sleuths’.” Fluttershy corrected in her usual meek tone. Applejack’s ears shot up, her brow furrowed in confusion until she realized what she had said.
“Shoot, I guess I aint much of a pony for speaking either.” Applejack chided herself.
“Either way, I want you all to help in any way you can. Whether it is in deducing clues or simply aiding the other detectives that are already on the case,” Luna stated. “Every bit of help we can obtain to find my sister is appreciated.”
“You can count on us, Princess.” Twilight said confidently. “We’ll do all we can to help in figuring out who the perpetrator of this crime is.”
“What do you mean by ‘the purple traitor’?” Rainbow asked in confusion. Twilight looked at her for a few second, trying to figure out what she was talking about.
“Oh,” She said when she finally understood, “A perpetrator is the one who commits an act, Rainbow.” Twilight clarified.
“Now that meaning of certain word is clarified,” Luna interjected, “I must leave; I need to attend to the ponies of higher position in government. There was to be a congress today, and since Celestia is currently unable to be in assistance, I must be there to represent Canterlot and the crown.” Luna then turned and walked out of the two doors that swung open, enveloped in her magical aura as she approached them. Discord looked around, and then shrugged as he flew after her.
“So, what’s the plan, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked, hovering in front of her friend. “Find those bad guys, get Celestia back and be back here in time for dinner?” She finished, hitting her hooves together for emphasis.
“It’s much more than that.” Twilight said as she looked around at her friends. “These ponies most definitely knew what they were doing, otherwise they wouldn’t have gotten as far as they already are without being caught. If the detectives haven’t found anything yet I bet they really know how to cover their tracks well.”
“Well, we aint getting any closer by just sitting around here,” Applejack commented, “Let’s get going and solve this mystery. Celestia is counting on us.” With that the whole group charged out the room and went their separate ways, each trying to find clues.
The dock was bustling as the group of ponies walked towards their rather small boat. The uniformed guards forming a perimeter around the rather simple looking ponies that pulled a rather large cart that had a cloth roll over it. The guards at the front stopped, forcing everypony behind them to stop as well. The leader walked forward, the guards parting, allowing him passage to the reason they had stopped; the dock master. The lead pony walked up in front of him and lowered his cowl, revealing his royal blue mane and black coat, his steel gray eyes looking over the sailor pony.
“Oars…” Sire noted simply as he looked into the ponies eyes. “I thought Gangplank was the port master for this area.”
“He is, Sire, but…” Oars trailed off, a smile forming on his lips, “It appears something he ate did him harm; he called in sick and is now resting at the hospital until further notice.” Sire nodded in approval. Sire took a clipboard out from his saddlebags.
“Nothing but the essential for such a journey, food, water, etcetera.” Sire stated plainly as Oars levitated the board over, taking a stamp out of his bags.
“I usually check if you’re telling the truth right about now…” Oars commented as he pressed the stamp against the paper that was held down on the clipboard, flapping in the breeze lightly. “But I see no reason in this instance.” He said as he gave Sire his papers once again.
“Thank you, brother, I knew I could count on you.” Sire said to his real brother. Oars nodded and walked away to attend to another incoming group of ponies, whom he searched thoroughly.
“Sire, do we continue?” One of the guards asked. Sire nodded, standing still as the guards passed him before he started walking along with the main group towards the ship. The cart clunked over the side of the dock and onto the plank to their ship. Sire walked over to the cart and lifted the cloth away slightly, revealing several bags of grain and what not, which he pushed to the side, revealing a rather angry, and weak, Celestia.
“I hope your ride wasn’t too bumpy, Princess.” Sire sneered at the weakened pony that was still wrapped in the dark chains that sapped her strength. A brief seizing sound, that probably was supposed to be some side remark, came out between her gritted teeth. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Sire covered the princess once more and drew the cloth over, a corner gripped in his mouth.
“Sire,” Magistrate began, “The sailors are slightly suspicious. What should we do with our… cargo?” Sire looked over at his trusted fellow.
“I suggest we find out how many of our ponies are good at sailing in the case they decide to become mutinous.” Sire stated as he walked away from the cart, allowing the two ponies hitched to it to drag it away to the lower decks. “Let’s set sail as quickly as possible. The farther away we are from port when they make their discovery, the better.” Magistrate nodded and trotted off to the captain, exchanging a few hushed words before the sailor pony whistled loudly in an ascending tone. Sire looked around at the ponies climbing up the ropes and unfurling the sails while others untied the ropes that connected the vessel to the dock. Soon the ship began to drift away from the dock and towards the open sea.
Twilight walked down the winding corridor from memory from her time as Celestia’s student. The halls were crawling with guards going back and forth on their new patrol routes. Spike plodded beside her, looking around at the familiar sights.
“Like old times, ay?” Spike commented, “Except the part about guards and crisis, it’s almost we were back in the good old days.”
“Old, yes, good, not so much,” Twilight replied, “There were some good times, but my life has gotten a lot better since we left.” She reminisced as she looked around.
“Yeah, you used to do all you could to avoid parties, now you try to make all efforts to get one.” Spike said. “Kind of funny, really…” He trailed off.
“What’s kind of funny, Spike?” Twilight asked, looking at her reptilian assistant.
“I was just thinking about that day we left. You actually ran from somepony’s party and right into your own.” Spike pointed out. Twilight thought about it for a few seconds, and then smiled as she remembered.
“I guess you are right. It is funny how things work out.” She commented, “It’s almost like there is something behind the scenes laying things out in a progressive storyline.”
“You mean the writers?” Discord said, wrapping around Twilight’s neck like a scarf. Twilight jumped back, looking in dismay at her new neckwear. “Some fine chaps really. You should meet them sometime.” Discord said as he slipped off of Twilight’s neck.
“What are you even talking about, Discord?” She asked, looking rather cross about having him so close to her.
“Well, you were talking about something out there playing the pieces out like a story; I was just wandering what you really meant.” Discord replied as he floated before Twilight. “They really are nice people, trying their best and all.” He said with a smirk. “Except that fellow behind that computer screen, he’s just plain out weird.”
I leaned back from my keyboard, looking at my computer in confusion at what I had just typed out. I looked at my keyboard, and back at my screen, still trying to work it all out until I finally turned my music down a bit and went back to writing.
“Yeah that’s right, you just slink off, mister.” Discord said, shaking his talons at the ceiling. Twilight looked at Spike in confusion, but he just shrugged, just as confused as her.
“Look, Discord,” Twilight said, slightly aggravated at the chaotic spirit, “If you aren’t going to be helpful just try not getting in the way.” Discord laughed and then disappeared, leaving Twilight, Spike, and the author in a state of confusion. Twilight just shook her head and walked on, Spike scurried after her, not wanting to be left behind.
“I will get you, Quill.” Discord said one final time before truly disappearing to another part of the story. Yeah, I’m kind of confused about that too.
Twilight finally reached the main body of the investigators who were looking over every inch of the room Celestia was taken from. The guards beside the door saluted and lifted their lances, letting her go through, Spike following close behind.
“Princess Twilight, we were told you were coming. Maybe you can find something we’re all missing in this whole thing.” One of the detectives greeted her.
“I’ll try, but I can’t really say I’m the best investigator here.” She replied bashfully. The detective nodded and walked off; back to the corner he had been scanning with his magic for anything that could indicate what happened. Twilight walked over to one of the investigator’s that was standing in the middle of the room, writing something down on his pad of paper in short hand.
“Hmm… maybe teleportation; no, there’s no trace of the residual magic energy, which would also rule out invisibility and other spells. Unless those chains have the ability to leech the magic from the surrounding area as well as the magic from the wearer… not to self: investigate exact effects of condensed form of anti-magic material in question, determine exact effects on surrounding area’s magical essence and possibility of crime scene alteration.” The detective droned to himself while scratching down what he was saying on his paper, having to turn the page at one point.
“Excuse me, sir, but I wish to ask some question in regards to this crime.” Twilight said, standing directly in front of the pony. The fedora wearing pony lowered his notepad and looked at Twilight before lifting it again and turning in a different direction as he looked over the room.
“Ah, Princess Twilight, good to see you; I suppose you are trying to find the princess as well?” He asked as he continued to scratch something down about the room, though he continued to turn so quickly that Twilight couldn’t discern what he was writing exactly.
“Yes, can you tell me what you have so far?” Twilight asked as she walked beside him as he took a short tour around the perimeter of the room.
“Hmm…no signs of any type of a struggle in physical terms, though a magical conflict is still possible if chain theory is correct.” He said to himself as he continued his inspection of the room. “Well, we’ve ruled out most everything except an inside job. Nopony can confirm if there was any sighting of Celestia after the time Luna said she was restrained, which is our working time for her sister's kidnapping. We still need to investigate the exact effect the chains have on ponies and environments, but we still have no leads in how these ponies got the single most iconic pony of Equestria out of Canterlot without anypony noticing.” Twilight looked at the few words that were scratched onto the current piece of paper on the pony’s notepad, but they only said what he already had said.
“Do you have any ideas where the chains came from?” Twilight asked as the detective once again walked off.
“This type of anti-magic material really can only come from two places: Equestria and the Gryphon Empire. The zebra lands have some anti-magic material caches, but to make something like what we have right now it would take certain conditions that only the Gryphon Kingdom and the Crystal Mountains have, being extreme pressure and temperature. Most places were zebras find their anti-magic caches only have one of the two points or none at all. True, they could make some, but it would really be more of a waste than a viable economic resource.” The detective muttered as he continued to walk in a certain area.
“Have you tried to figure out which of those it came from?” Twilight asked, causing the pony to stop in his tracks. “We could figure out who bought it and so glean where they are, or at least where they were.”
“And how exactly do we tell where it came from? Searching the record would take too long.” The investigator dismissed as he continued to scratch down notes.
“We could always see how it smells.” Twilight said. “That and the state of the exterior of the chains should give us a big clue.”
“How exactly does the combination of those two factors give us the location of the chain’s origins?” The detective asked as he turned to face Twilight.
“Well, it’ll still have a slight scent of the sea if it came from the gryphons. The exterior of the chains should also have a slight crusting of salt on them if it came from overseas.” Twilight explained, causing the detective to pause in thought.
“You know what… that might just work.” The detective turned to one of the runner ponies that stood by, ready to take quick messages. “Have the chains found on Luna taken to a private room where we can have it examined, also call in our best scent experts.” He said, the messenger nodding when he finished. The pony galloped off to accomplish his mission. The detective turned back to Twilight with a smile. “This might just be the break we need. Thank you, your majesty.” The pony said, giving her a bow. Twilight blushed, quickly looking away nervously.
“You’re welcome, I just trying to do my part in finding out what happened to Celestia.” Twilight said before walking off to see if she could find something in the room that the others were missing, not wanting to leave anything to chance.
“And you’re sure that it is sea salt and not just dried salt from Luna’s sweat?” Twilight asked the pony. The pony took a sniff off his flower that he levitated before bending down again and taking another whiff of the chains.
“Indeed, your highness, it has a distinct tang of the sea, I am also getting the scent of Luna’s dried sweat, and I can say for sure there is a great measure of difference.” The olfactory specialist replied before taking another sniff of his flower, making his nostrils able to smell any other smell once again.
“Thank you. Do we have any confirmation from the lab about what we scrapped off the chain’s surface?” Twilight asked one of the ponies nearby.
“The results are coming right now.” She replied, motioning to the messenger pony that galloped down the hallway towards them. The pony skidded to a halt and took a few deep breathes before stating the answer.
“Lab confirms the substance delivered to indicate whatever had the crusting had been near a coastal area or at sea at one time for a period of at least three days, and at maximum, seven weeks.” The pony stated before sitting down and taking several more breathes as she tried to recompose herself.
“Well, the only explanation is that it was shipped over from the gryphons.” Twilight stated. “I want all the records of purchase made as far back as three months ago, search for anything about chains made of concentrated anti-magic material.” Twilight ordered the other messenger pony, who quickly charged down the hall, using her wings to propel herself even faster without leaving the ground.
“Is there anything else, your majesty?” One of the ponies asked. Twilight scratched her chin thought, only to sigh and shrug.
“I can’t think anything else. We just need to wait and see what we get.” Twilight replied finally. “Just stay ready; we never know when something might come up.” The ponies nodded a response as Twilight walked out.
The ship rocked back and forth, the waves all around it surging towards the massive wall of water that climbed up into the sky. Sire stood at the tip of the ship with Celestia at his hooves, still wrapped in the chains.
“Brothers and sisters, today we are here to bring down a wall of unnecessary division that separates from the truth.” Sire said over the noise of the waves, warranting a round of applause and cheers from his fellows. “This very evening, Celestia shall tear down the wall she built all those years ago.” Sire looked to Celestia, who looked unimpressed with him.
“What makes you think I won’t just teleport back to Canterlot when these chains are off?” Celestia asked, her strength completely gone, her voice coming out only loud enough to be heard over the water’s roar. Sire leaned in to her with a grin.
“Because if you do a message will be sent by magic, getting there as fast as you that will give the order to kill Luna. She’s in quite the weakened state I imagine, barely being fed and in chain much like you.” He replied with a grin, making Celestia’s eyes widen. “One strike of the axe and Equestria will be short one princess. After that… well… let’s just say Equestria won’t be the most stable of countries.” He finished, standing back up. “Remove the chains.” He commanded, the two guards complying quickly. “And remember, anything funny and your sister is dead; but if you do as we say and she will be released and you’ll be allowed to live.” Celestia glared daggers at him as the chains were taken away.
Celestia finally stood, her strength returning to her. She looked at the hooded ponies around her, and then at the massive wall. She remembered that day well, the last day of the whole and the first of the halves. She turned back to Sire, who stood patiently.
“I give you one last chance to stop this. You don’t have any idea what lies on the other side, nor do you wish to.” Celestia pleaded.
“Lower that wall, the ponies of Equestria deserve the second half to be present.” Sire stated his tone unchanging. Celestia sighed as her horn flared. She looked to the wall of water, knowing what she’d see. The wall was wrapped in a blue and golden aura as she wrapped her magic into the structure of what appeared to be water. Suddenly there was a loud booming sound as the water fell down, drenching the ponies on deck. Sire looked up to see the wall was gone and saw another ship sitting in the waves opposite of their own ship.
“Sir, we have spotted the ship you talked about. What are your orders?” The first mate said as he trotted up to Sire.
“Bring us in closer; it is time the two halves met.” He stated coolly, his smile growing. “Guards, give Celestia her chains again.” He ordered, the guard immediately obeying as they began to wrap the chains around the stalwart Celestia. “It’s time we looked through the looking glass.”