Fighting back her tears, Dinky tried again. A pale blue aura began to form around her horn, slowly growing in intensity. She pointed her horn at the latch on the cage, letting the magic free. Instead of popping the lock like she wanted to, the magic was reflected back at her, hitting her horn and causing her to wince from the shock she received. It was the same if she tried to physically open the cage, both of her forehooves now very numb.
Dinky didn’t have anything left to give, her stomach was protesting about being empty, and her lips were dry. So when the door to the basement opened and filled the room with light, she didn’t even move, nor did she when the cage door was opened.
“Eat and drink,” Amber said, placing some bread and a cup in the cage, then closing it back up. “I’m going to give your father one day to respond… then he gets your horn.” Stepping back, Amber watched as the filly reached a shaking hoof towards the food, pulling it towards her and taking a small bite. “Good girl. If you keep quiet, you can have some more later.” With that, Amber left the basement, plunging it into darkness once again when she closed the door.
Something about the room changed as the filly ate, but she didn’t know what it was until something bumped her cage, and she saw a shadow moving amongst the shadows, and there was only one pony it could be. Sure enough, a moment later she heard Dark Star’s voice. “It’d be a shame if we had to kill you… I could find some uses for a cute filly like you.”
Dinky whimpered and moved away from where she heard the voice, but it didn’t put much more distance between her and the stallion. He just continued to circle the cage, giving a chuckle. “Of course, not just yet. I’d say you’re about ten… so all I’d have to do is keep you for several years. But… Miss Vain pays the bills, so she sets the rules.”
Dinky had no trouble believing that Amber would allow him to do so instead of killing her, but with no way to free herself, she had to think of other ways and means. Summoning her courage, Dinky sat up and looked to where she thought Dark Star was standing, frowning. “I-if you’re doing this for money… my d-daddy has lots! More than her!”
“True, I am doing it for the bits,” Dark Star replied, stepping close enough that Dinky could see the yellow of his eyes. “But I can not return to the services of the crown, as my life would be forfeit. There is no place else I can use my abilities, so here I stay. But what of you? A unicorn born to a pegasus… would you not prefer parents of your race? You could have that if your father takes up Miss Vain’s offer.”
“My daddy will never agree to that!” Dinky shouted out, now angry. Her horn flared with bright light, causing Dark Star to howl in pain and cover his highly sensitive eyes, the stallion stumbling around the room. Dinky’s horn was still glowing when he tried to open an eye, but it just made him wince and hide again. “My daddy is going to kick your ass!” Dinky screamed at Dark Star, a triumphant grin coming to her face when he ran up the stairs from the basement instead of shadow-diving to leave.
Turning around, Dinky reached for her cup, giving a sigh before parching her dry throat, the light from her horn finally dying down.
Spike walked into the living room carrying a tray of cups and teapot, with a plate of biscuits on the side. Twilight and Big Macintosh sat on a couch opposite Derpy and Blueblood as they awaited a reply from the princesses. As he placed the tray at the centre table, the dragon couldn’t help but sigh when he saw the crestfallen eyes of the guests.
“Thank you, Spike.” Twilight said as she used her magic to levitate the pot and cups and pass them to her company.
“No problem…” Spike replied as he yawned and rubbed his eyes.
The alicorn smiled down upon her son as she shook her head. “Spike, I think it’s time for you to go to bed now… it’s getting late.” Twilight said, taking a sip of her tea.
“No no! I’m not tired! Just tell me what to do next and I’ll—” Spike’s words were silenced when Twilight got up from her seat and placed her hoof on his mouth.
“Spike, I don’t want you to jeopardize your health just to help me, okay?” What kind of mother would I be if I let my boy work himself to death just to help me out? Twilight slowly removed her hoof and received a nod from her son.
“Okay... “ Spike replied and extended his arms to hug his mother around her neck, who in turn returned the gesture and nuzzled him. “Night, mom.” he said and turned to Big Macintosh who was still seated on the couch. “Night, Mac.”
Big Macintosh looked to Spike giving him a nod. “Night, Spike.”
As he turned to the Derpy and Blueblood, Spike’s words were muted when he saw the couple’s faces. He turned to Twilight, who only shook her head. The dragon sighed before he walked up the stairs, leaving the four ponies in the living room.
Just as Twilight was about to return to her couch and wait for Celestia’s reply, a steady flashing red light above the basement door drew her attention, causing Twilight to run towards it. As she ran down the stairs, she was greeted by one of her many devices being active, the machine magically connected to her equipment in Canterlot, supported by relay stations along the rail road. Twilight carefully studied the display, then gasped when she saw what the alert was for, galloping back up to the living room.
“Blue! Come quick!” Twilight called out to the baffled unicorn stallion.
When he and Twilight were down at the basement, Blueblood looked around the room and cocked his brow at the contraptions that littered the place. “What’s all this?” he asked the mare.
“Remember when I came to the Ministry to apply for funds regarding a project to detect any strange magical occurrences in Equestria?” Twilight asked Blueblood.
“Of course, The Alicorn Amulet incident…” Blueblood remembered Twilight’s fully detailed explanation as to why she made the request.
Twilight pointed to the screen. “It seems a few of the relays have detected something… but I can’t tell where from here… I need to go to Canterlot to find out more!” she said before she ran back upstairs, leaving Blueblood in her wake.
The alicorn rushed to the entrance of the library and opened the door to find two Katakan guards stationed in front of the library as ordered by their captain. One of them turned to see Twilight emerging from the building. “Is something the matter, Princess?” he asked her
“I need to speak to Captain Deadeye please, it’s an emergency.” Twilight said.
“Yes Princess!” the guard saluted and dived into the darkness, leaving the other guard and Twilight behind. A few moments later, the guard returned with Deadeye at his side.
“You called, Princess?” Deadeye asked her Twilight.
Twilight cleared her throat before she spoke. “Yes, I need to get to Canterlot as soon as possible please.” she asked the Katakan, who furrowed his brow and flattened his lips in thought before he answered her.
“We’ll take the Dreamcatcher to get to Canterlot… but I insist we take Prince Blueblood and Lady Derpy along with us, for extra protection.” he replied to Twilight.
“Yes, that would be for the best…” Twilight trailed off and walked into the library with Deadeye following suite. “Blue?” she asked the stallion who was standing alongside his fiancée. “We’re going to Canterlot now.”
Blueblood frowned at Twilight’s words. “Who’s ‘we’?”
“You, Princess Twilight and Lady Derpy,” Deadeye replied before the alicorn princess could. “For your own safety, I recommend you and your fiancée be relocated to Canterlot for the time being.”
“I’m sorry, but I must decline…” Blueblood replied. “If there’s a chance that the kidnapper may return then—”
Deadeye snorted as he stomped his hoof to the ground. “If it was Dark Star, he would never return, especially when he has done something like this... This is for your protection, your highness… If you please?” he stood aside, giving enough room for Blueblood to walk through.
“My answer is—” Blueblood yelped when he felt his tail being pulled by his fiancée, who had it latched in between her teeth. “Derpy! What are you doing?” he blurted out, only to be dragged to the outside of the library.
“We’re going.” Derpy spoke through her teeth, ignoring Blueblood’s protests as she exited the library, leaving Twilight and Deadeye behind.
That was unexpected… “Shall we go?” Deadeye asked Twilight as he stood between the door’s entryway.
“Just a moment…” Twilight trailed off as she walked to Big Macintosh, who walked towards his mare. “I’m sorry, Mac… I need to go to Canterlot right now for urgent business, and I don’t know how long I’ll be gone… do you think you can—”
“Watch Spike for you?” Big Macintosh finished her sentence. “Eeyup.” he said as he nuzzled Twilight, stealing a nibble from her ear. May give me some time to spend with the little fella… Heavens knows Ah’m goin’ be that boy’s pappy soon…
Twilight sighed in relief and placed a gentle kiss upon Big Macintosh lips. “Thank you…” she said. “I’ll try to be back as soon as I can.” she winked at her stallion, and made her way out of the library with Deadeye following her.
When the company reached the Dreamcatcher, Twilight surprised at the speed the airship rose into the air, the wind make her mane billow around. Even though it was an hour trip to Canterlot, the flight itself felt like a few minutes to the passengers. When the Dreamcatcher finally landed just out the main palace structure, the passengers were greeted by Princess Luna.
“Blue, Derpy…” she greeted her nephew and his fiancée as they exited the aircraft. “I received news from Deadeye that you would be coming … but he was rather murky as to the details…”
“I’m sorry about that Princess Luna,” Twilight said as she flattened her ears. “I needed to come to Canterlot because some of the sensors placed around Equestria have reacted to a presence of strange magic…” she said.
“Come. We can discuss more inside.” Luna gestured her guests to follow her inside. “So the sensors… have finally picked up something, Twilight?” she asked her fellow alicorn, as Luna was one of the few ponies who knew the exact reason why the beacons were set up across Equestria. “That explains why you came… but as for my nephew and Derpy…”
Twilight shrugged as they walked through the halls. “It was Deadeye’s idea, for ‘extra protection’…”
Ah… My captain would do something like that… “I see,” Luna replied just as they stopped at a door in between a corridor she, Twilight, Blueblood and Derpy were walking in. “I believe this is where you set up all the equipment for the beacons.”
“Yes, this is it, thank you Luna…” Twilight replied and looked back at Blueblood. “We’ll take it from here.”
Just as Twilight said those words, Derpy let out a loud yawn which she quickly covered up. “I-I’m sorry.” she said as her eyes went from her fiancé to the princesses.
“Derpy, Twilight and I will handle things from here… you go and get some sleep, please.” Blueblood said as he kissed her cheek. “I’ll be there soon, I promise.”
Derpy blinked before she looked to Twilight, who nodded as though she knew what the mare was about to ask her. “Alright,” she replied and returned the kiss by planting her lips to Blueblood’s. “Don’t keep me waiting.” she whispered in his ear, then walked off with Princess Luna to their chambers.
Twilight and Blueblood entered the room to find a similar flashing red light on a large monitor. The mare approached it and used her magic to stabilize the machine, looking at the monitor to see a cluster of red lines on a long list, each one a specialised sensor which something had happened to. The mare looked down the highlighted ones to see why they went off. “Look at this… some of the sensors overloaded!”
“I beg your pardon?” Blueblood asked, stepping up next to Twilight. As he did, Twilight grabbed a large book with her magic and floated it over. She mumbled to herself as she looked through, Blueblood watching with a frown. “How can they have overloaded?”
“Ordinary magic wouldn’t do it, so it could be another artefact,” Twi said, comparing the sensors that had been set off with the list of where they had been placed. “Or… an emotion-caster. Given what I found out when researching magical mythical machines, I’d say it was probably the latter.”
“So, do we know where it is?” Blueblood asked as he worked at resetting the system. Another overload might help them pin down the location.
“It looks like it came from the Trottingham area… but it could be anywhere in the city to a radius of ten miles out,” Twilight replied, frowning hard. “But we checked Trottingham thoroughly. There aren’t any emotion-casters there…” she trailed off until she saw Blueblood’s face. “I’ll look into this more, you can go to bed now.”
Blueblood blinked as he heard Twilight speak, breaking off his train of thoughts. “But what if you need me to—”
“Derpy needs you more than me right now, especially with what’s happened…” Twilight said firmly. “Trust me, I’ll be fine.”
The stallion sighed in defeat. “Alright, I’ll see you on the morrow. Good night.” he replied to Twilight and left the room, briskly trotting towards his chambers, in order not to keep his fiancée waiting too long for him.
A maroon mare was making her way to her home in the middle of the night, with the moon being the only source of light to guide her path. The city of Trottingham was not a relatively safe city, especially when alone at night. Constant vigilance was her only means to protect herself from any would be criminals. The mare sighed when she left the vicinity of the city walls, her own home being on the outskirts since the living conditions were not as expensive as they were in the inner city.
A smile crept on her face when she neared her home, but soon dropped when she saw an eerie darkness not far from her. She quickly hid behind a tree and saw the darkness form into some kind of portal, where two ponies wearing regal armour appeared. They resembled tall pegasi, but their wings were leathery and their ears almost bat-like. She could see fangs projecting from their muzzles. The mare’s eyes squinted just a little when she saw them walking away from the portal, where a normal little earth pony colt emerged from it. The two demon-like ponies seemed to be oblivious to the colt’s presence, and to hers.
They must be from Tartarus! They’re going to sacrifice the poor colt! I must tell the others! the mare galloped away from the two unsuspecting Katakan ponies, who were now busy scouting the area they were in now.
“He was here… I can still smell that foul stench of his…” Deadeye sneered as he sniffed the air and growled as he glared into the distance. “He could have masked his scent easily… instead he leaves it roaming in the air like an invitation!”
Nightshade furrowed her brow as she placed her hoof on her son’s shoulder. “Easy… We’ll get him before he can do anything. Even if he was not the one to take Princess Dinky, we have an opportunity here.”
Deadeye sighed as he flexed his neck muscles. “Still, I can’t sense what direction he went from here.”
“Maybe he went to the inner city?”
“That’s a good point, Pip.. but we need to—” Nightshade paused as she blinked and turned to her son whose eye dilated slightly. They both turned around and looked down to see Pipsqueak standing behind them, with a fierce look of determination in his eyes.
Pip’s confidence started to diminish when he looked up to the Katakans’ eyes. “Um… Hi?” he waved at the two guards, emitting a nervous smile. I’m so dead…
“Pipsqueak!” Nightshade shouted out and lowered his face to be on eye level with the colt. “What are you doing here? How did you even get here?!” he questioned the earth pony.
The colt pointed to where the portal was just moments ago. “I just jumped in when you made that portal… felt weird, like I was falling for a long time and—” his words were cut off when Nightshade lifted him up from the ground and inspected his entire body. “N-Nightshade!” Pip blurted out as she lowered him to the ground.
Nightshade sighed in relief. He’s not injured in anyway, that’s good to know… still... Her eyes opened to reveal narrow pupils that glared down upon the colt. “That was very dangerous of you Pip! You should consider yourself lucky you’re not hurt… shadow-diving is dangerous to non-Katakans! What were you thinking?” she scolded the colt, who was sniffing as he looked down to the ground.
“I-I just wanted to help rescue Dinky from those bad ponies... “
Just as tenacious as a Katakan foal… Before Nightshade could respond to Pip’s words, Deadeye picked the colt up and placed him on his back.
“We can discuss this later… we have to find find Dark Star… and hope he is the one who took Princess Dinky.” Deadeye said as he sniffed the air again. “Pip’s right… there’s a faint trail leading to the inner city. Let’s go.” he instructed his mother and both of them started to trot towards the entrance of the city. When they reached the gates, a unicorn used his magic to emit a light that shined down upon the trio.
“Halt I say!” the guard shouted out. “Foul beasts! Leave this city or be taken down!”
Deadeye looked to his mother with a flat face as he cocked his brow. “Did we not come here to brief the local guard about us?” he asked Nightshade.
“No… for some reason Trottingham was overlooked. Perhaps because it is closer to the capital than most other places…” Nightshade replied.
“Do you hear me, demons!?” the guard shouted out, though he was quivering and starting to sweat as the supposed beasts walked closer to the gates.
Nightshade walked close enough to be an inch apart from the petrified guard, her yellow eyes staring deeply into his. “I am Nightshade, Captain of the Shadowbolt and this is Deadeye, Captain of the Lunar Corps… we are under orders to locate a missing member of the royal family,” she whispered to the guard, who only nodded dumbly as though he were hypnotized. “Now, will you give us passage into the city… or do I have to submit a formal report on your actions to Lieutenant Silk Spinner?”
The guard etched a nervous smile smile as he shook in fear. “N-no need for a report, Ma’am… y-you’re clear to enter,” he replied and stepped aside to give enough space for Nightshade and Deadeye to walk past.
“Thank you very much…” Nightshade winked and grinned at the guard before she and Deadeye were in the city.
Pip looked back at the guard who fell on his haunches and started to shake uncontrollably. The colt shook his head before he turned to Deadeye’s ear. “Your mom’s scary…” he whispered to the Katakan stallion.
“Try fighting her… now that’s frightening…” Deadeye whispered to the colt on his back, his eyes never leaving his mother who was walking in front of him. I still have a long way to go before I’m even on par with her...
News of the shocking event in Ponyville the previous day had quickly made its way around the castle, spreading to servants and guards alike. So the somber mood that had enveloped everypony throughout the morning was easy to understand. Above all else, the servants avoided one wing in particular, only one stallion brave enough to venture down the halls which was sparsely populated by guards.
Of course, Wise Words had seen Blueblood upset before, but this… this was a whole new level. Stopping outside a set of double doors, Wise took a deep breath and then pushed his way in, not even bothering to knock. As he expected, there was a glass on the main coffee table in the room with a little amber liquid in the bottom, but there was no sign of the bottle.
Looking around, Wise gave a sigh when he noticed a dark mark on one of the walls, with shattered glass on the floor below. Setting the tray of food hovering in his magic down on an empty surface, then began to clean up the small mess. He was almost done when a creak caused his ear to flicked, and he looked over his shoulder towards the bedroom door. The pony who emerged was not the pony he was expecting, even though he knew they were in there.
“I was going to do that,” Derpy said, squinting in the light. Behind her, Wise could see the bedroom was nearly pitch black. Derpy stopped and sniffed the air, her stomach rumbling a moment later to inform her it was empty, the mare giving wise a sheepish smile. “Sorry. Haven’t eaten since last night.”
“Which is precisely why I brought you some food, Lady Derpy,” Wise replied, gesturing to the trays he had provided. Lifting the lids in his magic, Wise revealed a full cooked Prench breakfast, along with two glasses and a pitcher of orange juice. “Will the master be joining you?”
Groaning came from the doorway, Derpy and Wise turning to watch as Blueblood emerged, dragging his hooves with his head hanging low and his ears flat. In a way that seemed more like muscle memory than awareness, Blueblood trudged over to the table and sat next to Derpy, placing one of his hooves over hers.
The meal was eaten in silence, and once finished Derpy made her way to the bathroom as Blueblood remained in his stupor even as Wise cleaned around him. Once Derpy returned, Blueblood left, Wise standing to the side as he watched the mare sit on the couch, frowning when he saw her hooves making a stroking motion.
Overcome with curiosity, Wise slowly walked over, the object in Derpy’s grip revealed to be a plush doll of an alicorn, but it was none of the four he knew of. Derpy slowly turned her head, tears rolling down her eyes as they lock with Wise’s. “I-it’s Dinky’s. Blue bought it for her during the week, and we’ve hardly seen her without at home.”
Wise nodded, about to say something when there was a quiet knock on the door. Knowing Blueblood wouldn’t hear it and not willing to let Derpy open the door, Wise made his way over and opened it himself. Derpy couldn’t hear what was said, giving a gasp when a pair of arms wrapped around her from over the back of the couch and squeezed gently, the mare leaning back and nuzzling Blueblood’s cheek.
“...very well, tell them they’ll be along shortly,” Wise said as he closed the door, then turned around, looking Blueblood in the eyes. “They’ve got a match for the writing…” Wise, for a stallion of his age, deftly jumped to the side as both Blueblood and Derpy reacted as if a pegasus had shocked them with a lightning cloud. “... on the note.”
By the time Wise made it to the throne room, he could hear his master’s voice, raised, angry, and the content much more vulgar than anything Wise had heard from any of the trips he had taken on board an Equestrian Royal Navy vessel. As he approached, two more ponies escorted by guards appeared from another corridor. Wise, being a butler, could wait for the two nobles to see Celestia before entering. That was his mistake.
“YOU!” came Blueblood’s billowing voice, followed by both Princess Luna and Celestia calling for their nephew to be still and calm down, but even that was drowned out by the sounds of scuffling. Rushing into the throne room, Wise took the scene at a glance.
The two guards who had escorted Fancy Pants and Sly Cur were protecting Fancy Pants, the princesses were holding Derpy firmly between them, and the other guards in the room had formed a ring around something, but Wise’s view was blocked. Pushing his way through, Wise Words’ eyes went wide when he say Sly Cur lying on his back, Blueblood standing above him.
But the shocking part was seeing Blueblood’s foreleg pressing down on Sly’s throat, the sound of struggling breathing coming from the pinned stallion, but none of the guards seemed to what to intervene.
“WHERE THE HAY IS YOUR SISTER!?!?” screamed Blueblood, spittle flying down at Sly. “I KNOW SHE HAS MY DAUGHTER!” Blueblood raised his other hoof and began to bring it down, Sly scrunching his eyes shut.
The impact never came, and he opened his eyes to see an older stallion had blocked the strike, causing Blueblood to blink a few times before looking around. When he glanced down, he snorted once then stepped back, the guards closing around Sly as he lay coughing and hacking, trying to ignore the burning in his throat.
“Somepony get him some water already!” Wise ordered, nudging one of the guards, who gave a small yelp, then charged out of the throne room. Slowly turning around, Wise Words leant down so he was barely an inch away from Sly’s muzzle, his face not showing any emotion whatsoever. “You’d best get talking… or I won’t stop him next time.”
Pushing himself up, Sly took several deep breaths, the guard arriving with a glass of water which Sly slowly sipped down. Once he was done, he thanked the guard and took a single step forward, looking straight at Derpy. “I would have been here sooner had Fancy Pants’ airship not suffered a magical mishap. I am not here to make things worse,” Sly turned his gaze to Blueblood. “Your daughter is being held at my family’s home in Trottingham… but Amber has a pony called Dark Star helping her.”
Upon the name being said, all eyes turned to where several Katakans were standing, now growling away. Swallowing his fear, Sly averted his gaze and instead looked at the floor. “I have no doubt my sister used me as well, but I will still bear any punishment you decree.”
“We shall deal with you when we have Dinky back,” Celestia’s voice called out, a glare stamped on her muzzle. “For now, you shall be our guest, but you can not move freely around the castle. Guards, take him to a guest room.” A group of four guards formed up around Sly and escorted him out. Once he was gone, Celestia looked towards Blueblood as she released Derpy, the pegasus bolting forward and grabbing Blueblood in a tight embrace, one that was hastily returned. “I know what you are planning nephew, and as much as I should, I will not stop you. In fact, I am going to send the Lightbringer along with the Dreamcatcher to Trottingham within the hour.”
Luna, who had been silent, closed her eyes, everything from the base of her neck backwards turning to a fine mist. Her eyes shot open, revealing completely black orbs, wisps of shadow floating around her. “An hour may be too late. I am sensing three shadow-essences within the city boundaries. But they are far apart. Go now nephew, go and be reunited with your filly.”
Making a mental note that thanks his aunts profusely when they returned, Blueblood gave a tug on Derpy’s hoof, and the mare gave him a nod, then they galloped from the room together.