//------------------------------// // One: Enter Sakuya, The Blossom Princess // Story: Divided By The Flames // by New Dawn //------------------------------//         I looked out at the crime scene. The scene where many cosplayers went missing, all in the span of a year. Eyewitness reports say they went missing after talking and/or buying something from a stall that sold video game related items. I should explain, I am a private detective, mostly leading the investigation of the missing cosplayers.         "No clues..." I mutter.         Walking around a bit, I notice a lot more cosplayers than usual. Interesting. Some people must have their hopes up that they'll be next. Only a few have made it back... It's been a few years since he's been missing but today was the first day of Comic con again. I flung my hands in defeat and decided to head home right now. Every year it gets worse. More and more are go missing each year. I only had just started when I heard that my boyfriend and his brother was on the list of the missing.         On the way home I passed a simple yard sale. It was selling a manner of video game related objects. Must have been left over from last year's Comic con.         "May I interest you in some of my wares?" The merchant at the stall asks. He was surprisingly still in cosplay as the merchant from... Gah! What game was it?! I can't remember! I take a quick glance at the stand. Not much was left... Only one thing caught my eye. A single helm, two pink flowers decorated it.         "I see one of my items has caught your fancy?" The man asks.         "Yeah. This." I say, holding up the helm.         "Ahhh... This little beauty, huh?" He chuckles.         He takes it from my hand.         "Eighty." He states.         ... What?         "It's because it took me a lot of time and effort to manage to get it this perfect." He replies to my expression.         "Makes sense, Right?" I mutter.         At the time, I wasn't in my right mind. The case was still weighing heavily on my thoughts. I hand him the money and he hands me back the Helm.         "Why don't you give it a try? Just to make sure it's the right size." He then points to the back of the helm.         "I can adjust it if it's too big for you." He says.         I nod and place it on. A perfect fit. Almost... Too perfect... Then the realization slammed into me like a cargo truck the minute I started feeling tingly.         “You..” I snarl         "You've gotten too close for comfort... Goodbye, Selene." He says with a laugh.         "WHERE... is..." I start to say as a dark void opens up underneath me. The minute I enter, I fall unconscious.         Gaaahh... My head hurts like hell... My eyes flicker open as I find myself sitting on top of... a crystal Eiffel tower? Many things sat down below, pointing in my direction.. they almost looked like....         "Oh hell no." I mutter.         Ponies. CRYSTAL ponies to be exact. If this is someone’s twisted way of making fun of me since I actually ENJOY the show then it ain’t funny! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I was a Pegasister.         “Miss, are you okay?” A crystal pegasi asks, hovering over me.         “Uh… Y-yes!” I shout, slightly startled.         “Well, I’m… going to have to ask you to fly down.. It’s dangerous up here.”         Wait… Fly down? I looked below me to find that I was actually flying. HOLY SHIT I’M FLYING!!!         “Uhh… Yeah, Don’t know how to react to this…” I mutter.         Wait, How do I land? HOW DO I LAND?! Don’t tell me I’m stuck up here for who knows how long!                  “Are you ok? Did you fly up here, not knowing how to fly down?” The pegasus asks again.         “Uh… kinda?” I hesitantly ask-say. “I’m a bit… new to this.”         “I see. One of those creatures huh.” He mutters.         “Hold on…… creatures?” I asked. Was there more than one person stuck in the same situation I was. If so, who were they?         “Yeah, A white one. Introduced himself as Messiah I think. Said something about exacting.. revenge I think?” He says, rubbing a hoof on his head.         “Revenge? On who?” I ask. Could this ‘Messiah’ be a possible suspect? I must gather a few more details before finding out for sure.         “Somepony named… Gah.. What was it… My memory is terrible, forgive me.” He apologizes. Better try a new approach since this one isn’t exactly going well.         “Could you give me a description?”         “I don’t… Ah yes, he was... well, Obviously white.”         “Any features that stood out?” I interjected while trying to figure out how to land properly. Damn my ability to multitask!!         “He had a thing sticking out of his back with a pair of wings wrapped around his waist.”         Yep. Sounds like someone crazy. “Speaking of wings, Just tuck yours in.”         “Wings, Yeah… I understand that I’m flying but there’s no way I’d just…” I stop as I see a wing on each of my arms. Commence Panic? Y/N?         “GYAH!!! Since when did I have WINGS?! I thought… Stupid multitasking!”         I’d take the Y option right around now.         “Miss! Calm down! You’re going to-” His words are cut off as the whistling of wind rushed through my ears.         “Oh come on…” I mutter, flailing around and now I’m plummeting down to the ground. Just my goddamn luck!!         “Hold on!” A bubbly voice calls out.          In a second that I was falling I landed on something squishy. Turns out to be a giant mattress, filled with feathers. And hay. Wait…… Hay? Where the Buck am I?! Matter of fact, WHY DID I JUST SAY BUCK!?!!         “Are you ok?” The voice asks.         I pull my head up to be met with a wall eyed stare. Oh dear… It’s Derpy! The best pony!         “Oh! Y-yes.” I reply, snapping my head in a nod. She was real. One hundred percent freaking real and she was… Adorable! She also had… tear stains? Was she crying? “Are you okay?” I ask.         “Huh? Oh.. U-uh. Yes.. A little bit I guess.”         “I-is something wrong, Miss?”         A fresh tear sprouts in her eye.         “C-come by the Inn later… I can tell you then.” She replies solemnly. The… inn? What the heck happened there that made the pony I want to hug so much… Sad? Taking her advice, I began to follow her.         Once we were in her room, She locked the door and sat down in a chair.         “It all started apparently a few months ago… I think… I was at the beach with my daughter and husband… When that creature came... “ She says.         “Creature?” I ask, suspicious.         “He called himself… Well, Dinky called him… Mister but… to be honest, He never really introduced himself. The last thing I remember was a voice telling me his name… was Jake.” She finishes.         …. J-jake?... He’s… Alive?  HOW THE MOTHERBUCKING HELL!?!!! IF HE’S NOT DEAD BY THE END OF THIS, HE’LL WISH HE’S DEAD!!!         “T-thank you... “ I say, barely containing my anger.         “If I could… Are you here because of him?” She asks.         “I guess you could say that.” I replied back. “I know him. He’s my… well… how should I put this…… He’s… My boyfriend.. Or coltfriend in pony terms.”         “So… he’s your special somepony?”         “Yes, and once I find him he’s going to wish he never went to that convention.” I mumbled. “Besides that though, what happened?”         “I can’t remember much after the building collapsed...” She says, looking down. “But…… *sniff* I don’t know where my little muffin is… And with Time Turner gone…… I don’t know what to do… Why did this all had to happen? I just don’t know what went wrong…”         I swear, My heart just exploded once she said that. I had to restrain myself from releasing a grin.                  “Then how about we find out together?” I offer.         “Y-you mean it?”         “Cross my heart, hope to fly, Stick a cupcake in my eye.” I say, doing the actions as well.         Derpy smiled, flying up and hugging me around the shoulders. Oh my god, my fantasy of hugging her is COMING TRUE!! After having to mentally punch myself in the throat, I returned the hug. Around then though, was when Derpy asked me a question.         “Thank you… I’m sorry, but you never really told me your name… What is it?”         I sneak a glance at the mirror hanging from the opposite side of the wall. My suspicions were correct, I was actually Konohana Sakuya.         “Call me Sakuya, Konohana Sakuya.” I let go of the pony now as I took a chance to look around the room. However, one thing caught my attention. A feather that was on the floor. For a moment, I thought it was one of mine. But, when I got closer, it looked a lot different. Almost fire like. As I pick it up though, something rang through my head.         I am Ember Valkyr, the Tortured Phoenix. If you are in need of help, call upon me and my pain and rage will turn your enemies to ash.         I stepped back a little. What the hell was that just now? But it was surely interesting… I’d better pocket it for now. Might be useful in the future.         “Uh… D- Miss, Did you hear anything?” I ask.         “N-no… Why do you ask?” She looked at me with those googly eyes. God, I feel like I’m going to have a heart attack from all this cuteness.         “No reason…” I tell her. “Oh, I almost forgot. What’s your name? I told you mine so I was wanting to know yours.”         She smiled. “Derpy. Derpy hooves..”         “So… Derpy. What should we do now?”         “Well…… I have a home in Ponyville… We should start there.”         “Okay, how far is it away?”         “Uh… A day by train I think?” She questions. “Maybe shorter by flight…”         The thought of flying had me panic after my last encounter. “Then TRAIN IT IS!!! Whoops, my bad.”         Derpy laughs a little. “It’s no problem.”         We begin to walk- er I mean, trot to the train station… Outside in a blizzard. Looks like the empire revealed itself a bit sooner than expected. I wonder what happened to Sombra... Maybe he was sent to the pits of hell or someplace. Oh well. After getting the tickets though, we were soon held up by… wait, PINKIE PIE!?! In a Detective’s hat!?         “Hold up… This train is a crime scene.”         Oh god… Don’t tell me… This is the MMMystery of the Friendship Express isn’t it? Great… This is going to be a LONG day. Atleast I can contribute to the eating... maybe. Probably… I hope the Buffet isn’t shut down because of this-.         “Because of this investigation, nopony is allowed near the buffet until this is solved.”         FFFFFUUUU-!!!!!! I WAS HUNGRY TOO! CELESTIA, WHY DO YOU HATE ME SO MUCH!!!?         “Wait, Does that mean-” Derpy begins.         “No free food…” I sighed. “Well, at least we can have room service-.”         “We’re also putting room service on hold as well.”         GOD MOTHERBUCKING DAMMIT!!! ME AND MY BIG MOUTH!!!         “This is the worst train trip ever!” I shouted. “Come on Ditzy, let’s go.” As we go though, I thought I saw one of the other ponies glance over at us. A unicorn of Lavender color and… Oh crap… Please don’t tell me that twilight is here too… Wait, she’s more surprised at...Derpy?         “Ditzy? Is that you?...... Oh dear Celestia it is!!!” She says, hugging her like she was a lost relative. And I thought I was a hugger.         “Uh.. It’s good to see you too?” Derpy says, confused.         “Ditzy… Nopony has seen you in six months. Where have you been? Dinky even thinks you’re dead.”         Wait… WHAT!?! WHAT DID YOU DO, JAKE!!?         “W-what do you mean?”         “Everypony thought you died in the fire that killed Time Turner. Orpheus and his brother have been taking care of Dinky ever since.”         Wait, ADRIAN was also here too!? Good god, what else has happened here? Those two better have a good explanation when I get my hands on them!!         “Not only that, but… Let’s just say that there been a lot of-. Oh, Who’s your friend?” She asked, now looking at me. Oh god, think of something!!         “I’m Sakuya. Konohana Sakuya.”         Very smooth…         Shut up, brain. No one asked for your opinion.         “Interesting… You kind of remind me of Orpheus… Would you happen to know him?”         “Well…”         “She’s his Marefriend.”         DERPY!!! WHY!?!! Why… Just I have no words…         “Wow!! Wait, He said something about his special somepony…” Twilight says.         "What did he say..." I’m actually a bit scared now.         “He said that he missed her or something like that. Can’t really remember to tell you the truth. Especially when the Library almost got blown to bits.”         WHAT…… THE… BUCK!?! JAAAAAAKKKKEEEE!!!!!!!! GODDAMNIT, I CAN’T LEAVE YOU ALONE FOR FIVE MINUTES!         “Though, everything turned out well in the end. Dinky even met somepony that she thinks is her new daddy.”         Okay… what? What did I miss?         “I’m sorry, what?”         “Well, somepony that helped Orpheus came one day and was able to help Dinky emotionally. She said that he even reminded her of her dad… Now, where did I place that…… blasted sketch? Ah, here it is.” Twilight was taking out a notepad with her magic and showing both Derpy and I a simple drawing she made. What we saw surprised the both of us.         A… human? What the hell was a human here for? Even though he looked badass, all this did was give me more questions than answers. I’ll get to the bottom of it however, On my honor as a detective!         “How did he get here though?” Ditzy asked.         “Well… how should I put this… He was summoned… I think…”         Wait… Summoned? What is this, a children’s card game? But it is interesting…Grrr… This only raises more questions!         “What was his name?” I ask.         “Anson Nocte.”         Now where did I hear that before? Wait… Wasn’t he that kid who went missing alongside someone else that had his last name? Yeah, He returned a long time ago, with some other people… I was at the station that day, checking out who was missing… So this is where he went… Wait… If he was here… then what about that other guy? N-never mind… I’ll sort this out later.         “Anson, huh...” I mumbled.         “You heard of him?” Twilight asks.         “Sorta.” I reply.         Twilight frowns and looks to Derpy.         "Well, can't be helped I guess..." Twilight sighs. She seemed to be in distress over something, but I’m not sure what. Maybe I should ask about it later.         “So where exactly is this train going?” I ask.         “Canterlot.” Twilight answers.         Right… Let me bang my head against a pole twice and see where we go then.         “We’re supposed to be going to Ponyville… Did we get on the train at the wrong time?” Derpy asks.         I shrug and sit down in a seat. A single wing took up about half the whole seat. So, basically I now took up an entire seat, Just because I can’t use the wings. Thanks Atlus!         “So, I don’t think I got your name.” I ask Twilight.         “Oh, It’s Twilight Sparkle.” She smiles at me.         “Miss Twilight, I was wondering why you sounded distressed a moment ago.” I ask.         She bit her lip. “Well… It’s about what I mentioned earlier… About Dinky…”         Oh here we go.         “She’s been… Missing for around  a month now. Orpheus and Rainbow are still out there, trying to find her.” Twilight explains.                  Derpy gasps, tears welling up in her eyes.                  Oh goddamn it Jake… You’re stupid….         “W-was she ok? I mean, the entire time I was gone?”         Twilight lowers her head. “Not… Really. At night I would catch her crying to herself, while in the mornings she’ll play it off as nothing happened.”         “Well, I guess we’ll have to find her. For all of our sakes.” I say, leaning back and putting my feet up.         Twilight blinks. “Uh… She could be anywhere in Equestria. What makes you think that you can find her?”         I stand up and look down at Twilight.  I should mention now, In my free time I obviously play video games and watch anime. Time to insert an epic anime line.         “Just who the hell do you think I am?! I’m a detective! I care about all of you, even though I just met you. I won’t stop until I find who I’m looking for, On my honor.” I say before sitting back down.         Thank god for Gurren Lagann.         Twilight blink while the car falls silent. Twilight begins giggling a bit.                  “Thanks… We should be stopping soon at Canterlot. The train should be going right back to Ponyville afterwards if you just show your ticket to the canterlot station.” Twilight says after recovering.         We thank her and she goes back to whatever she was doing.         “Did you really mean that?” Derpy asks.         I nod. She immediately glomps me afterwards, catching me off guard.         “Thank you~!” She squeals, tears running down her eyes.         “Hey, Hey, Be careful. You don’t want to get hurt.” I tell her, returning the hug.         She wipes away a tear and nods. After that, It’s just a long wait to ponyville.         “Are we there yet?” A young colt behind me yells. The train picked up a few other passengers while at canterlot. And that one has been loud as hell.         “No, We’re not.” The mother replied.         “I wonder if Jake had to suffer like this with Dinky…” I mutter to Derpy.         “She’s a kind filly. She almost never complains…” Derpy replies. Well, at least that has something for me to look forward too.         “Attention passengers, We are now approaching Ponyville station. Please gather your belongings and prepare to depart.” An intercom says. It’s probably a spell used by a unicorn or something.         “Looks like we’re almost here…” Derpy says.         “You nervous?” I ask.         She shakes her head. “I’m more scared than anything…”         Well, that’s some confidence right? But I can kinda understand where she’s coming from.         The brakes squealed as the station rolled into sight. Outside I can see basically the town that was in the show, only with a few more ruined buildings. Please don’t tell me that… I swear… I’ll make him wish he’s dead…         “W-what the hay happened!?!”         I shrug. “I don’t know… But I may have an idea…”         Twilight shrugged. “Oh hey, there’s Thanatos. Maybe we can ask him.”         Excuse me?! If that’s who I think it is… Maybe I can get some answers out of him.         “Uh…” Derpy starts.         “Better to find out later Derpy… I might know who this one is…” I mutter to her.         “It can work.” Twilight said to herself. “Orpheus and Thanatos are brothers after all.”         As I suspected. Welp, Looks like I might be able to enjoy myself after all… Soon we were able to get off the train, with some difficulty on my end, and approached Adrian.         “Twilight I already sa-....”         His expression is priceless. For a persona, he’s pretty funny now.         The silence is thick as we stare at each other.         “Uh….” He utters.         “Yep. You haven’t changed a bit.” I joke.         “S-selene?!” He shouts, stumbling backwards.         “Took you that long?”         “... DON’T KILL ME! I LOST JAKE!” He shouts.         … Wow. Is it me or has he changed a lot?         “Well, Really-” He stops short once he sees who’s next to me.         “W-wait…… Aren’t you… Ditzy?”         “Why does everypony call me that?! I’m Derpy!” She shouts. Wow… And she told me her name was Ditzy… Something must’ve changed within the past five minutes to her personality.         “Uh.. O-ok?”         I giggle a little at his expression.         “So, Where exactly is he?” I ask.         “I dunno. To be honest he can just go be eaten by a manticore for all I care.” He grumbles.         … Ok, what the FUCK did I miss?! Those two were inseparable back on earth! Did Discord happen?! Nightmare Moon?! Some random MLP villian?!         “Oh and Twilight, this came in the mail for you.”         Twilight took the letter that Thanatos-er I mean Adrian handed her and began to read… “You have been cordially invited to the royal wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and *GASP*... MY BROTHER!?!”         Well, that definitely answered my question. Looks like we’re there. The dreaded Canterlot wedding. I hope we can be able to make it out of the incoming fight alive. Wait, Sakuya uses fire skills so… How do I use them?! Gah… This is the worst situation ever.         “There’s one problem…” Twilight then speaks.         We all look at her.         “Rainbow won’t be able to make the Rainboom that the princess wants.”         Wait… What now? Where is she?         “You mean she hasn’t gotten bored of the search?!” Adrian shouts.         “Guess not.” Twilight says.         “Search? Wait, you mean…” Derpy’s eyes start tearing up again, this time with happiness due to her giant smile.           “Yeah. They went searching for Dinky about a month ago.” Twilight says.         “So no telling how far they’ve gotten.” I mutter. Damn. And I thought we were getting somewhere. Back to square one...                 “Well, We can probably figure something out. I might be able to do something with my magic.” Twilight says.         I turned to talk to Adrian… Oh come on! He ran! CHICKEN!         “Uh, Mrs Sakuya?” Twilight asks.         I turn my attention to her. “I know where Orpheus went… But I’m not sure you’ll like it one bit.”           “Exactly… Where?” I ask.         “The tower that shows up at night…” She pauses dramatically.         “Tartarus.”         Woah woah woah. Slow down for just a second! Are you serious?! That exists?! Ok, Yeah. I’m going to have to be brought up to speed. I’m tired of asking questions with no answers.         “I can see you haven’t been informed.” Twilight replies. NO SHIT SHERLOCK!!!         “You think?!” I shout.         She facehoofs. “Right, sorry, that was obvious.”         She removes her hoof from her face and gestures for us to follow.         “I’ll explain a bit more in detail in the library.” She says, walking away. “Follow me please.”         I turn to Derpy. She’s following Twilight… I knew I could count on you!         I sigh and run to catch up.         So, Here I am, sitting in a chair that’s too small thanks to this oversized wings! They aren’t even technically wings! I really am hating my life.         “So, What exact have you been told? That would make it a lot easier to weed out the information you two have already heard.” Twilight asks, levitating a cup of tea to me.         “You may need to start from the beginning. We haven’t heard all too much.” Derpy says, munching on a blueberry muffin. Cutely, If I may add.         “That may be a bit hard… And a bit long.” Twilight says, giving a crooked smile.         “We’ve got time.” I reply.         Twilight sighs and starts to tell us what has happened from the beginning. Two hours later         “... And that’s about where we are.” Twi finishes, sipping on her cup of tea.         … Ok yeah, That all was a thing. Nothing wrong with that beside… Oh.. EVERYTHING! It’s all not scientifically plausible! Yet it’s  real!         “It sounds so hard to believe…” Derpy says, letting it sink in.         “It IS hard to believe.” I add. “On so many levels.”         “I understand, but right now, we have a lot of other things to focus on and worry about.” Twilight told me. “For example, the surprise announcement of my brother getting married.” Oh here we go again, now Nerd Pony is going on a personal rant. Somepony get me some earplugs because this is going to make my head explode. Thanatos, or should I say Adrian, soon helped me out by getting me out of the room and into another room that seemed to be a study area. Looks like he’s not such a chicken after all.         “If I hadn’t saved you back there your head might’ve exploded from sheer boredom.” Adrian jokes.         I crack a smile. “Yeaaah, You haven’t changed. Much.”         “W-what’s that supposed to mean?!”         “Nothing. You know, You get angry too easily.”         “Do I?”         I try to give him a deadpan stare. “Yes. Yes, you do.”         He returns with a glare.         “Anyways… Twilight should be toned down by now. Or maybe not.” Adrian says, opening the door.         I take a peek out to be met with a glare from Twilight. “I’m not that talkative, am I?” She asks.         I slowly shake my head yes alongside Adrian’s and Derpy’s. Twilight frowns and sighs in annoyance.         “Guess I better write a letter to the princess… She’ll most likely want to meet you.”         “Keep me out of this. I’m heading back out. With Lyra most likely following me.” Adrian replies, walking out the door before anyooopony, Anypony, could object.         “And I wanted to make a Phoenix Wright reference…” I mutter under my breath.         “Spike!” Twilight yells.         Bursting down the stairs is everyone’s favorite drake, The underdog Spike!         “Yeah Twilight?” He asks.         “Take a letter.”         Do I REALLY have to listen to her ramble on and on about what happened? All you have to say is ‘Dear princess Celestia, Rainbow can’t make the sonic rainboom due to her being out with a jerk who doesn’t care about his friends or family. Also there’s a new alien here that knows stuff from the future. Your faithful student Twilight sparkle.’ and that’s all there is to it! Sometimes, I wish I can tone stuff out like Jake does… “... Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” Oh that was quick. Spike rolled up the scroll and blew a stream of fire, turning the letter into magical smoke.                  “Now we just have to wait.” Twilight says.         “Or we could, I don’t know… Tell your friends?” I deadpan.         “I’m just going to ignore your tone.” Twilight replies, levitating Spike on her back.         Why do I get the feeling that Twilight is a jerk?                  “Well, We should go check out my home…” Derpy says, getting up.         “I guess.” I mutter, walking out with her.