//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: An Unexpected Visitor - Part 2 // Story: A Mirror of many Faces // by Jyuuma //------------------------------// When the day began, Twilight was convinced that she wouldn’t like to meet anypony that sought answers or help for the strange events that had been happening all over Equestria, since she hadn’t come to any real conclusions just yet, and as such she felt she wouldn’t really be able to help for real. And yet, she had the odd feeling that this unicorn, who had introduced herself just a few moments earlier, had more answers than questions. Well, she was about to find out. After leaving Spike sleeping on her bed, in one of the rooms of the new castle, she walked back to the lobby, where the mare was waiting for her, sitting at a table and sipping some tea that she had quickly prepared before taking care of Spike. Pinkie had left in a rush as her break was almost over, but not before telling Misty about the party she was going to prepare for her. Approaching the lobby, she hurried to finish cleaning up the piles of books, papers, annotations, and other assorted disorder she had left behind before leaving for lunch. When she saw everything seemed cleaner, she walked towards the table Misty was sitting at, and having a seat herself, Twilight cleared her throat and began. “Sorry again for the mess. It’s… been a long day so far.” “Oh, no worries Miss Sparkle.” Misty replied with a smile. “I understand what you are going through, and if it helps, this isn’t really the biggest mess I’ve ever seen.” She chuckled as she sipped some more tea. “Heh, right.” Twilight scratched her head before pressing on. “Um… so, how may I help you?” “Well...” Misty sets down her cup on the table, and reached for a scroll within her cape. “I was hoping you could help me find the pony on this photo.” She unrolled the scroll and passed it to Twilight. The picture on it was that of a stallion, a unicorn to be more specific. He appeared to have a light gray coat, a short, combed back, black mane and well-trimmed beard, and dark purple eyes. On a corner of the picture was a symbol of what seemed like a sun rising at dawn, presumably his Cutie Mark. Twilight looked intently at the scroll, making sure she’d remember the stallion in the photo for weeks to come. Still, she knew she still wouldn’t be much help, as she was aware the Princesses already had plenty of work with missing ponies, and adding one more to the pile didn’t imply much progress. Twilight let out a soft sigh. “Hm… please, don’t get me wrong, I *really* want to help you, but I just don’t have the resources.” Misty just smiled at her again. “Don’t sweat it. As I said, I do understand your position Miss Sparkle. For the record, though, you might want to bring some special attention to this pony.” Twilight couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “And that would be because…?” Misty took the scroll into her cape before she went on. “Because he might, and I stress MIGHT, know something about all these strange events.” “And how, may I ask, do you know that?” Twilight inquired, her curiosity growing by the minute. “Let’s just say my… associates and I, have been tracking this stallion for a while.” “Your… associates?” Twilight wondered. “And how do you know this stallion might have something to do with these events?” “… Actually, we are not entirely sure.” Misty said, rubbing her head with a slightly nervous smile. “We’ve only been able to spot him at most of the locations where the strange happenings took place. If it had been just once or maybe twice, we would have discarded him immediately, but it’s been way more than that.” Twilight grumbled quietly, deep in thought. Something in the back of her head told her something was still not quite right about what this mare was telling her. If anything, she felt she was not telling her everything. Still, she seemed like the only source of actual information she had right now, and she was not quite willing to let it go just yet. “Well, as I mentioned earlier, I’m lacking the resources to search for lost or suspicious ponies by myself, so I’m afraid I won’t be of much help for you or your… allies.” Twilight sighed. “Oh, don’t worry about that!” Misty replied in a sunny voice. “For the time being, I’d just like you to keep your eyes extra open in case you spot him.” “I guess I can do that much.” Twilight continued. “Wait… how can I contact you in case I do see him?” “Oh, that will be no problem at all.” Misty said. “I’ll be roaming around the village, just as you saw earlier. Besides, chances are if you spot him, he might be doing something big or suspicious, in which case it’s quite likely we’ll be nearby as well.” Twilight just stared at Misty for a moment, not feeling sure about a suspicious mare wandering about Ponyville. For all she knew, she could be part of the problem as well. Still, she was curious about the stallion she mentioned, and how he seemed to be connected to the disaster unfolding on their dear Equestria. “It’s… a deal then.” Twilight sighed. “However! I don’t mean to be rude, but all things considered, you are just as suspicious as the stallion you claim to be related to this whole mess. So just as you’ll be watching us, we’ll pay close attention to you and your ‘associates’ as well.” “And I don’t blame you for suspecting of me as well.” Misty said with a smile. “If anything, I would have been surprised if you didn’t think I had something to do with this as well.” She continued as she calmly walked towards the door to leave. “Still, if we really had something to do with the current situation, wouldn’t it have been better for me to keep quiet?” She finished as she opened the door and left the place, leaving Twilight with more questions than she had earlier. Twilight looked out a window nearby, it was night time already, and she was still wondering about what had transpired earlier: Being told about a suspicious stallion, by an equally suspicious mare, both apparently related to the strange events that were occurring all over Equestria. Her only relief at the moment was that, at least, they weren’t alone on seeking answers. She was snapped out of her thoughts by the knocking on her door, now making her wonder who would come to visit at this time in the evening, when everypony was already turning in for the night. She rushed to see who was out there, with a slightly surprised expression on her face as she opened the door, as a yellow Pegasus and a mismatched being stood there. “Twilight! I’m sorry we are coming here so late, but we need to talk.”