//------------------------------//
// Hidden Hearts 
// Story: Wind Chimes 
// by flutterspin 
//------------------------------//

Unlike all of my other dreams I've had lately, the room's transition was near instantaneous. Light coming from four awesomely stained-glass windows brightened the vibrant inwards of the cathedral. The grand throne, highlighted by its three strong chairs and each their own individual banners overhead, dominated the end of the hallway. A stretch of violet carpet with golden stripes at its fringes enthralled me. Princess Celestia gallantly stood in the center chair with Princess Luna on her right. Twilight Sparkle, though small in appearance, proudly smiled with her eyes glued forward. Two guards opened the grandiose doors as Night Star, Sumica, and another one resembling the description of Day Star approached the princesses, completely unaware of my presence.
I stood there helplessly as fear pressed upon me. I did not know whether to say something or to back myself into a corner. None of their eyes made contact with mine. No one directly spoke to me. I remained motionless, carefully observing the events that unfolded. 
"You have something to report, Sumica?" Princess Celestia asked as she raised herself upright.
"Yes your majesty," Sumica responded. "As you are aware, for the past few months there have been an unusual number of cases involving fire within our borders. With the assistance of Day Star and his Flight Brigade, we have managed to quelch them from spreading farther into the residential areas."
Princess Celestia stated, "From what I have gathered from your investigation, there has yet to be a confirmed case of any pony casualties. Is this correct? Then, why are the ponies so fearful?"
Night Star replied, "The ponies are scared, your majesty, for good reason. Rumors of traveling merchants disappearing overnight and an impending invasion from the east have spread through the town quicker than the wildfires themselves. Yet, no pony has brought forth concrete proof or evidence of any kind that can substantiate these allegations.
"Though, if you may have me speak, I will admit that I myself can attest to personally witnessing these mysterious dark figures the ponies talk about creeping in and out of the shadows when patrolling the grounds at night. Yet, each of my pursuits ends in failure. They seem to vanish without a trace. It is my personal opinion that these interlopers seek something specific, something valuable you might possess." 
Princess Luna leaned out of her chair. "And why do you say that?"
Day Star stepped forward. "When examining the timing of the fires, we were able to extrapolate one common element - the fires struck locations specifically where your majesties have recently attended to."
Twilight Sparkle nervously whispered to Princess Celestia, "Do you think they know?"
Luna sighed, looking a bit perturbed over what was said. "We don't know that for sure."
"Is it true?" Sumica asked. "Does it exist?"
Princess Celestia closed her eyes for a brief moment and slightly nodded. "What you have heard is true, but I must insist you keep this secret to yourself. We still do not know what it can do or what power it contains. Losing something as precious as this without knowing its full potential can be devastating to the kingdom."
Night Star asked, "If they are seeking it out, may I ask that the three of us keep it safe for you, your majesties?"
Celestia looked at Luna. Her sister, in turn, stared directly at Day Star. He did not say a word or speak his mind. He didn't even blink his eyes. Instead, he simply acknowledged Luna's gesture with a solitary nod.
Princess Luna turned to Night Star. "Previous arrangements have already been made."
In the far corner of the room where the light grew dim, a black pony with the head of a fox, identical to the one I previously encountered in Lela's Grace, casually leaned his body up against the wall with his forelegs crossed. His bright red eyes were fixated at the pegasi in the center of the room. I tried harder to identify the figure, but a dark aura masked his physique well. He blinked once and shifted his glare towards me. He rocked himself off the wall and pressed all four legs to the ground. 
This shadow's demeanor was more relaxed than I anticipated. The way he leaned into each step, looked at me with his gentle eyes, and lowered his shoulders convinced me he had no intention in harming me. He even abruptly halted his approach when a guard unexpectedly opened the door behind him. His soft eyes keenly watched the pony approach the throne.  
The apathetic being yawned when the guard whispered something into Princess Luna's ear. He turned his attention back to me and raised his hoof above the ground. With one stomp, the creature shattered everything into long shards of glass like from a smashed mirror. 



My head immediately rose from the straw bed as the dream fell apart. Only Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were still comfortably snug, fast asleep behind me. A little bit of fading sunlight shined onto my face through the tiny gaps in the chamber's walls. I was surprised to see any light at all since the sun rose from the opposite side of the mountain. Despite being so high up, I found it unusual not to be hearing any wind howling through the Dragon's Nest. It was as if the morning was completely shrouded by a terrifying silence, an early sign of an ill omen. 
I gently pushed the blanket to the side and quietly sneaked closer to the balcony. The heads of Sumica, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle were hunched low behind the railing. Their bodies were huddled close together. The rustling out of my bed must have alerted Twilight to my presence. She swiftly turned her head and placed her hoof on her mouth. Even a young pony could tell you that the gesture meant for you to be quiet.
As soft as I could, I squeaked closer for a better look. Down in the valley in the darkest areas of the mountain hopped a tiny black figure from one rock to the next. Considering the distance, the creature reminded me of a jumping spider merrily bouncing across the library's wooden floor. The black blur's identity remained a mystery to me as it passed through a hole.
"Who are we going to surprise?" Pinkie whispered as loudly as she could into my ear.
I gripped my chest and closed my eyes. Her sudden appearance gave me a fright. "Boundaries, Pinkie. Boundaries," I whispered. I made sure to deliver her one of Fluttershy's signature stares. 
Ignoring Pinkie's presence, Sumica commanded, "We should get moving. These passages in the mountains converge right down this hallway. If they're here, there is a good chance our friends might be held inside the cells down at the guard post." She spun around and hustled to the door. "If we hurry, we might be able get there before they do."
Futtershy stood wide awake as Sumica opened the door. "What's going on?"
"No time to explain," Rainbow Dash said, nudging the confused pony down the hallway. 
I could feel the humidity in the air the moment I passed into the corridor. It was a direct contrast to the Dragon's Nest circulating dust vacuum. Ash collected underneath old crumbling torches; they were left abandoned in their sconces on the wall. Sumica purposely left the door open so the daylight would illuminate our path through the narrow tunnel.
The pegasus certainly had enough energy coursing through her body for six horses, or one Pinkie Pie on a good day. She wasn't simply concerned for our friends anymore. Her hastened pace clearly defined a newly determined pony in active pursuit. 
There were quite a few things I grew overly concerned about when the gap between Sumica and the rest of us widened. What if my dreams lately were really just my magic's way of warning me of impending danger? What will we do if we have to come face-to-face with something strong enough to take down a dragon? Is the artifact somehow actively helping us to find our friends or can it be luring us into a trap? "Sumica, I think we need to talk about the artifact."
Our fearless leader stopped at the precipice of one impressive intersection. The forward road branched out into four different directions around a captivating magnolia tree towering over the juncture point. Light poured into the epicenter from three highly-decorative archways separated with beautifully designed pillars in the upper section. Blades of grass and indigenous flowers coated the area around the base of the tree. 
"I don't think this is the time," Sumica said, balancing herself down the crooked cobblestone.
"I'm serious. Something is happening, and I'm afraid you might be losing control of the situation."
Sumica extended her hoof out to halt my progress as she peered down a cubbyhole around the bark of the tree. She turned her head and pretended to smile. "Do you think Day Star would have entrusted it to me if he didn't know I could handle it?"
Unbeknownst to my friend, the jewel inside the necklace had lost all its color. What was once a mixture of dynamic swirls now encumbered by a smoky haze. "I just think you should consider the possibility that it might be clouding your judgement and affecting those around you without you realizing it. That's all."
Sumica replied with a strong nod a commanding officer would give to one of his soldiers, "Your concern is duly noted."
In hindsight, mentioning the combination of unusual dreams, reality-breaking visions, and apparations of strange black foxes might have better corroborated my concerns. Then again, simply repeating those thoughts to myself made me sound like some sort of mad pony speaking nonsense. Considering Sumica's response, pushing the matter any further would have only made things worse for the group. 
Despite the interruption, the one in charge of this operation pressed on and hugged the side of a hidden door underneath the tree limbs. Sumica peered through the barred window and grabbed hold of the cracked handle. The enormous squeal from the rusty hinges made me wish some pony poured a bucket of oil all over the nuts and bolts before cranking it wide open.
"Whoa!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she stepped on the grass. Her wildly tail vibrated high in the air. "Twitchy tail! Twitchy tail!"
Sumica stared at the ecstatic pony's presentation, appalled at her lack of urgency. "What are you doing?" Realizing the futility of her question, she turned and asked Rainbow Dash, "What is she doing?" 
"It's her Pinkie sense," Rainbow Dash explained, repositioning herself in front of the silly pony. "What is it, Pinkie? What is it this time?"
"A pony is singing."
Standing perfectly still, we carefully listened for what might have triggered Ponyville's favorite candy muncher's sixth sense. Though my ears were still ringing from the obnoxious wail that grit my teeth just a moment ago, I was unable to distinguish any unusual sounds or catch a pony carrying a tune. The only sound I discerned was the lulling burble of a nearby waterfall.
A few seconds passed before Pinkie's tail relaxed. Yet before it reached the ground, it rapidly shook again. She pointed at the opened door. "It's coming from there."
Sumica rolled her head back. "Then let's get going!"
Down the hallway and on the right rested another iron door with similarly shaped bars across the window. Behind the prison walls rumbled a heart-stricken voice. The lowly pony, properly identified as our good friend Applejack, was monotonously singing her version of a nursery rhyme:

This old mare.
She played four.
She played knick-knack on this door.
With a knick knack paddy wack.
Give Winona love.
This old mare comes rolling home.

Rainbow Dash flew past us and grabbed hold of the bars. "Applejack?" Her nose rested on a small cavity in the middle of the window frame. "Applejack, is that you in there?"
"Rainbow Dash!" A small chime reverberated from Applejack's hooves clunking into the iron bars. "Boy, am I glad to hear your voice again."
Sumica lifted up a corroded padlock wrapped tight around the latch on the door. "First we need to break open this lock." She looked around the dusty ground. "If only I had something to pick it."
"I know how to break it open." Rainbow Dash lunged her hoof straight at the device nearly side-swiping the poor pegasus in the process. A second and a third time she struck the fixture. "Hang on! We'll get you out of there!" The persistent pony lifted herself up into the air and bashed her hoof against the metal frame. She kicked it so hard this time that it left an impression in the structure of the door. Tiny pieces of the mechanism - springs and pegs alike - crumbled onto the floor. She yanked the broken lock out of the socket and pulled the door open.
I quickly covered my ears in preparation of an impending screech but was ultimately surprised when the rail slid smoothly across the surface of the ground without once scratching the concrete. Oddly enough, the hinges also held much better together than any of the previous ones we encountered on our little adventure.
Inside the next room laid bare three individual cells enclosed with long thick iron bars. Each one tightly fastened with a trough and a built-in lock in front. Behind them showed evidence of various hoof prints and claw marks made out of desperation. Around the corner, extending past Applejack, could be seen a whole other section of the jail. 
Fluttershy gripped her friend's hoof through the iron bars. "Oh Applejack, we were so worried about you."
"I was worried about you guys too," Applejack moaned. The exhausted pony had dirt under her eyes. "How did you find me?"
"Sumica showed us the way." I lifted my hoof to present the lovely lady to Applejack but noticed her strangely absent from among the group. "Where did she go?" My curiosity drove me back to the hallway for a second look, yet she was still nowhere to be found. 
"Did you say Sumica?!" Applejack exclaimed. "Why, she's the reason I'm cooped up in this place!"
Rainbow Dash waved her hoof in the air. "Whoa, now. There's no way. She's been with us the whole time."
"Now listen here. What I'm telling you is the honest truth." She barely flicked the front tip of her hat up and raised her head high. "Sumica was the name of the pony that took my order in Hollow Shade. Right after I gave her the paperwork, I got dizzy all of a sudden and blacked out. Before you know it, I woke up to this - " Applejack shook the bars " - prison cell, locked up tight."
"What did this pony look like?" Twilight asked to compare the two figures. 
"Well, let's see." Applejack prodded against her chin. "She was a pegasus. Very tall. Both her eyes and her mane were green - I know that much! Oh, she had some playing cards as her cutie mark."
Fluttershy turned and looked right at me with her puppy dog eyes. "It can't be her, can it?"
"What if it was mind control?" Rainbow Dash stated, clearly throwing out an idea from one of her Daring Do books.
"Found them!" Sumica shouted from the opposing room. She twirled a set of guard keys around her hoof. "I knew there had to be something to open these locks." Though, once looking upon the startled ponies around the room, the lack of our enthusiasm in response gave her pause. "What?"
"That's her!" Applejack shouted, extending her hoof through the other side of the cell. Her hat nearly tumbled off the back of her head when she pressed closer to the iron bars. "She's the one that put me in here!"
A strange feeling consumed me. Something was wrong here. My mind suddenly wanted to question the sincerity of Applejack's words. We made a heartfelt connection a couple days ago in Sweet Apple Acres about being true to yourself, and yet now there was a voice in my head telling me to speak out against her accusations. Was I actively trying to defend the pegasus? 
Sumica lightly pressed her hoof against her breast. "You talking about me?"
Applejack angrily scraped the dust on the ground at Sumica's coy response. "Don't play dumb! I know it was you!" 
Now I definitely knew something was wrong here, but it had nothing to do with the trueness of their words. Calculating the top speed of a pegasus and the distance between Hollow Shade and Ponyville, one might entertain the possibility of Sumica ensnaring our friend and barely making it back into town before sunset. Applejack did not mention the artifact in her recollection, neither did she mention the pony verbally speaking out. One might ascertain that Sumica purposely traded our friends in exchange for the jewel. But the more logical conclusion to consider was the involvement of a third party. The dragons could have helped perpetrate this whole facade as a means to frame her for kidnapping.
"I have never seen you before in my life."
"You calling me a liar?"
Sumica's eyes were telling. I could see she was hiding something close to the chest, something devastating and destructive. The fear of being personally deceived plagued my innermost feelings. How could a pony I sat down with yesterday morning do something so cruel? 
Though after my magic peeled away the emotion, I spotted a small glimmer of light in her eyes. It's the same type of passion I saw in Twilight's eyes when she was reading her book. The same kind of trust Princess Luna showed in the middle of our combat lessons. Whatever really happened, Sumica still cared about us. 
"Enough!" I stood between the two of them and gave Applejack the sternest glare I could produce. "I know you believe what you believe and so do I. You don't have to trust her, but you can trust me. I don't think she could have done this. And that's coming from all of us. But in order for us to get you out of here, we have to work together. Is that something we all can agree upon?"
Applejack took a deep breath to carefully consider my words. "Alright, Moonlight. If that is how you feel. I trust you. But I will not be made the fool a second time. She knows something she isn't telling you. I can see it in her eyes."
I grabbed the keys out Sumica's hoof and unlocked the door. Once it swung open, Pinkie Pie glided in and gave Applejack one of her traditional welcome-back hugs. 
Applejack's mouth slowly widened. She wrapped her hoof around Pinkie Pie's cotton candy mane. "I will admit. It is good to see you all. But one thing is still bugging me. Where's Rarity?"
A curling scream pierced through the rock-hard walls, interrupting our tender moment. Only one drama queen could produce such a sound, and it happened to be the pony we've been searching for.
"I guess that answers that question," Twilight said, rushing towards the neighboring room. "Come on!"
In one of the nearby cells, Rarity had stretched her body as far up the corner as she could reach. Her hooves flailed mindlessly as she attempted to look away from the cutest little lizard you've ever seen. "Stay back you foul beast!" 
"Oh you got to be kidding me," Rainbow Dash sighed.
Rarity ordered, "Someone quick, get this gross, disgusting creature away from me."
After turning the lock and opening the door, I circled around for a better look at the fellow. It's tail happily swung in the air as it inched forward to greet me.
Pinkie knelt down in front of the thing and pressed her nose against it. "Aw, he has Gummy's eyes."
Fluttershy flew over and kindly nudged him out of the cell. "Go on, my little friend. This isn't a place you should hang out in."
The little lizard curled his tail straight out and scampered through a small crack in the wall. 
Rarity grabbed hold of Fluttershy. "Thank you so much. I didn't think you would come."
Rainbow Dash teased, "We wouldn't abandon you, Rarity. Who else is going to tailor my dresses? Fluttershy?"
That moment, a familiar sound drew me in to the empty surface of the stone wall. A symbol of a blazing sun on top and a hollow moon on bottom, like the one we saw yesterday, flashed upon the rock. Twilight's mouth moved, but the words were jumbled and incoherent. A form of aphasia choked my concentration as a deep voice called out to me from the depths of the mountain.
"They are close."
An overwhelming sensation tore my nerves apart. My throat dried up and a gripping headache weighed heavy on my mind. For a brief moment, my vision shifted. I could feel Fluttershy touching my shoulder and watch her shout out to Twilight. Yet, her words were no longer audible to me. Time slowed to a crawl as the pain in my muscles brought me to my knees. 
"Sumica," I mumbled as my head drifted closer to the floor, "I don't think. You're in control."