"..."
"..."
An empty silence filled the room, so fierce you could hear a pin drop and curse the gods. The brothers stayed still, grins plastered on their face. Everything was at a stand still. The Elements were getting nervous. They had never seen two ponies stand still for so long without breathing. Even the Royal Guards fidgeted every so often, though it was rare. Celestia and Luna felt a shift, and then nothing. A minute passed...then two...then five...
And then...
Solaris and Nocturne fell flat.
A collective gasp filled the room. Pinkie, being the ever curious little pony, poked the brothers...only to find out that...
"HEY! These are dummies!" Pinkie shouted.
"Well, that's a little uncalled for there Pinkie," Applejack said, a lil upset that Pinkie called them dummies. She didn't think they were that dumb.
"No, these are actually dummies!" Pinkie yelled, while hoisting the two puppets up.
The ponies gasped again. Fluttershy fainted, Luna hid a smirk, and Celestia was concerned. The two beings that hold both her and her sister's powers in their hands are gone. This was a serious issue. She didn't even think twice before shouting orders to the guards, telling them to find the brothers. Rainbow Dash and Applejack volunteered to look as well, while Rarity and Twilight took care of Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie ran quickly to the kitchen for some ungodly reason. Luna got to work scrying for their minds. They were linked, after all.
"Tia, I'm getting nothing. I can see the door, but it's locked," Luna said, concentrating on where the 'door' might be.
"Let me see if I can find Sol," Celestia offered,"Because wherever he is, Nocturne is close."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now you may be wondering, 'Where are our heroes?!?' or 'Why am I reading this?' Both are excellent questions. The first one is simple, but I'm gonna hold off on answering. The second one is up to you. While our heroes are 'missing', let's see how the search parties are doing!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Consarnit Rainbow, will you slow down? This ain't a race!" Applejack yelled after her poly-chromatic friend.
"C'mon, Aj, they couldn't have gone far." Rainbow Dash said, flying higher and faster.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And a little bit of this, and a dash of that, and we've got enough food to reach the welcome mat~!"
A pink dervish was reported singing this song before all known observers were captured, force-fed sweets, and covered in sugar and confetti.
A nightmare for years to come, the poor lads and lasses.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile
"Uhh...are you guys sure about this? We're new recruits and we don't want to get in trouble..."
"Nonsense, Shield, my little stallion compadre! You and Dusk Flyer are totally in the green with this!" Solaris laughed, wrapping an arm around the Solar Guard recruit.
Dawn Shield and Dusk Flyer were friends since time immemorial. Or, y'know, first grade. They were inseparable, and made every effort to make it into the Royal Guard together. They're fresh recruits, and have been snagged by the two Brothers. It all happened so fast...
Flashback
"Hey, Dusk, whens our first duty?"
"In about ten minutes, why?"
Before he could answer, a shining light appeared in the barracks,and blinded them. And, lo', two hands shot out, and whisked them both away for an adventure.
End flashback
"We're so dead if the CO finds us.." Dawn said, his face in his hands.
"Nah, don't sweat it, man." Solaris said, slapping Dawn on the back, "We're in the clear. Trust me."
"He may not be the brightest star in the universe," Nocturne said, "but he's got a point. We are kind of royalty. And we needed an escort."
Dusk grunted in agreement. Not that he doesn't speak, but because he had nothing else to add.
The four of them walked down the Canterlot streets, minding their own business, when their destination starts to show its lovely face over the horizon...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, in the Castle!
All search teams have regrouped in the throne room. There has been no sign of the brothers, and two guards have been reported missing.
"I just don't know where they could've gone! They're really good and hide and seek when they wanna be!" Pinkie giggled.
"This is no time for laughs, Pinkie. Those two have the power of Gods, and they're gone!" Twilight half yelled, her hair fraying outwards.
"Now hol' your horses there, Twi', they ain't they type to stir trouble." Applejack stated, knowing that no matter how rowdy those two are, they wouldn't destroy anything important.
"AJ has a point Twilight," Rainbow said, nodding in agreement, " And if they did, we'd have heard them."
"Oh, i just hope they're okay." Fluttershy said, now awake.
Twilight turned to her two mentors.
"Have you got any lock on them yet?"
"We haven't. Considering their magical signature is the same as ours, we just keep pinging on our location." Celestia said, shaking her head. "I just wish there was a clue or someth-"
Celestia's head shot upright. The gears were turning. She turned to Luna, who's eyes lit up. They couldn't have. They wouldn't have. They probably did.
'THOSE BASTARDS' Celestia and Luna roared through their mind link.
"Uhh, Princess? Have you found something?" Twilight asked, looking kind of afraid.
"Yeah! Your face is all serious and scary! Like 'Grr, when i get my hands on them!'" Pinkie said jumping up and down.
Celestia sighed, and Luna giggled. These two are terrible. Absolutely awful. They give everyone a scare for that?
"We know where they are." Celestia said, eyes closed, while pinching the bridge of her nose.
Luna turned to the guards present. They saluted when they noticed her.
"Guards, go back to your stations. The problem is resolved." Luna said, sending them back to their boring positions as faux statues.
"Uh, princess? Where are the boys?" Rainbow asked.
"We'll be heading there shortly. Get ready for a mass teleportation." Luna said, smiling. She was going to have some words with those two.
Everyone stepped into the magic circle while Luna powered up the spell. With a flash of light and a crack of thunder, they were gone, and the throne room was left empty. Save for Scruffy, the Janitor.
"Eeyup"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Unknown location, at 2:45 p.m."
"What're you doing?" Dawn inquired.
"Oh. Just adding some suspense." Solaris answered, laughing.
"For what?" Dusk asked. See? He talks. Just when he wants to. Dusk lives by his own rules.
"Yeah, they should be here in about 5...4...3...2...1...." Noctunre said, trailing off.
As soon as Nocturne reached one, flash of light appeared. And there were eight very pissed off ponies standing there. Dawn and Dusk stood abruptly and saluted when they saw the Princesses. If they were afraid about the ordeal before, they were horrified now.
"Took you long enough!"
"Yeah what took you so long?"
"We ordered drinks for everyone!"
"Now, take a seat, and stay a while!"
The two brothers grinned, putting their hands out to the eight chairs they asked for earlier, at the inconvenience of a very confused waitress. The Princesses were angry. The elements were confused. The guards were still standing. And it took a very brave waitress to walk up to the crowd, and with a big breath, she said:
"Hi, welcome to O'Marely's!"