Lost and Not Found
Chapter Four : Lost and Not Found
Applejack’s brow slowly furrowed more, until a deep scowl adorned her face while she made her way down the stairs back into the library proper. The sounds of Rainbow talking loudly to Spike, and of Big Macintosh groaning from the couch reached her ears as she entered the room.
“Did you get all of that, Spike?” Rainbow leaned forward on her front hooves, peering around the dragon’s shoulder with her long neck to read the letter. It contained everything she needed to update the Princess about; Twilight’s apparent mis-teleportation and the potion; the pond and mysterious whereabouts of Pinkie Pie, Rarity and after a thought, the tornado that had destroyed Sweet Apple Acres, as well.
“Ah huh, I got it all Rainbow. Just hold on and I’ll send it. You should probably back up by the way, or your plumage might get toasted.” Spike inhaled a deep breath, then lit the top of the letter aflame with magic, and the correspondence disappeared into nothing.
Rainbow snorted in irritation, peering down at the dragon over her snout, then turned to look up at AJ as she came down the flight of stairs. “Applejack, I sent the letter to the Princess about...everything new, and that we don’t know where Twilight is either. I asked her if she could, umm, come here too. I’m sure she will...right?”
Applejack widened her eyes a little in response to what her friend was telling her, but nodded absentmindedly in affirmation. Ah can’t believe it’s really that serious, but it is, isn’t it? “Alright, good work Rainbow. Umm, well...” Breathing raggedly from the return of her nervousness, she stared out the window while trying to think of what to do next. “Ah guess...”
The sound of Rainbow trotting up behind her reached the orange mare’s ears. “We should get out there and help the others, Jack.”
Applejack scowled at hearing the name and ignored the suggestion. “Rainbow Dash, what did I tell you about using that name? It’s Applejack, or if’n you’re too lazy to say all that, it’s just AJ.” She could feel herself getting heated, but hid it. “I’m not some stallion, Rainbow. I’m a mare, if you can recall.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes back in a dramatic fashion. “Geez, I didn’t know it meant that much to you. Have you been hangin’ around Rarity recently, Jack?” She raised an eyebrow in at the farm pony questioningly. To her, it was obvious her friend was getting agitated over nothing.
Nearby, Spike raised an eyebrow and looked between both mares, confused. Now why are they fighting? Long familiar with irrationally behaving mares, Spike chose that moment to slink away for a bit.
Applejack stomped a hoof and snorted, whirling around. “Hey! I am not some prissy filly. Is it so much to ask for not to be called a colt’s name? What if I called you...” she looked at ground, not letting her scowl falter too much, and pondered an appropriately insulting name for the pony pushing her buttons. “Rainbow...” Come on Applejack, you can think a something. What was that name that those bullies used to call her when she was young?... Rainbow Bash? Lamebow Smash?... That one’s not bad.
Before Applejack could retort with what sounded like a good enough substitute, she was interrupted.
“Rainbow...Crash?” Rainbow Dash asked, wearing a smug look.
By the kitchen doorway, Spike whistled inconspicuously and pretended he didn't see the quickly escalating cat fight, instead looking the other way. Without somepony to break the two up, it wouldn’t be pretty. Unwilling to leave the couch, and knowing better than to join in one of his sister's tussles, Big Mac did his best impression of being asleep, alongside Granny Smith, who actually was asleep.
Applejack glared at the pegasus. She felt like tackling the showy mare and teaching her a lesson about manners right then... but ultimately decided against any physical education. “Just...keep your muzzle shut right now Rainbow,” she said, trotting past the still smirking mare and towards the door. “We need to go search with the rest of town for our friends. It wouldn’t be right if we made them do all the work while we sat on our keisters all night.”
Rainbow Dash’s expression flattened, then sunk. “Oh, yeah. Right.” She stepped in line behind Applejack, following her out the front door of the Golden Oaks Library.
“Wait,” Spike’s young voice called out and grabbed the attention of the two mares. They turned around to catch the purple dragon assistant belching out a second stream of green flames, followed by a small, tan scroll with a golden seal and red ribbon binding it. Spike reached over and picked up the letter that had fallen onto the ground.
“What did the Princess say, Spike?” Applejack cantered half the distance back to him.
As Spike unfurled it, his eyes quickly scanned the writing. “It says that-” was all he could say before letting out a big ‘oof’ at being tackled by an overexcited weather pegasus. The two tumbled around for a moment before the mare came out on top, and was able to grasp the letter firmly in her teeth. She allowed herself a victorious grin.
“Now what in tarnation was that all about?” Applejack stopped moving, and sighed. She turned to shut the door and shook her head in disappointment at her bothersome friend.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash took the letter out of her muzzle and unfurled it with her hooves. “Quit fooling around, Spike. And what do you mean AJ? The Princess wrote the two of us back.”
Both Spike and Applejack rolled their eyes in wonder at the mare, the former dusting his scales off. “Spike here’s just as capable of reading as you, Rainbow.” Applejack chided.
“Yeah yeah… Oh, awesome! The Princess says she’s coming as soon as she can, and-”
The gentle tapping sound of a hoof, knocking against the front door interrupted the mare.
Rainbow Dash ceased her explanation and looked towards the door. “Well, that was faster than I expected...”
They turned their attention to the door while Applejack trotted back over to open it. The room let out a collective sigh when instead of seeing the brilliant rainbow mane of Princess Celestia, they saw the tired-out, gray mane of Mayor Mare.
“Oh,” Rainbow Dash said letting out a held breath. “It’s only you...”
Whatever expression of sympathy the mayor had displayed upon her reveal was replaced with a glare at the local weather captain. “What do you mean, ‘only me’? Who were you expecting?” Her statement seemed neutral, but her tone hinted she was at least a little offended.
Applejack butted in. “Er, nopony, Mayor. What brings you here at this late hour?”
“Well,” the sand colored mare started. “I went looking for you at Sweet Apple Acres, but I couldn’t seem to find it-” Applejack winced, as if struck, but contained her roiling feelings.
The Mayor continued, giving the orange pony a sad look of reprisal. “And then somepony was kind enough to tell me what had happened, and that you were both at the library. I’m deeply sorry for your loss, Applejack. I can’t imagine how this could have happened.” She gave a pointed glance at the cyan mare in the room. The air was thick with tension; enough that somepony could choke on it. “Anyway, some of the search teams had commented that they hadn’t seen either of you since this all began, and I merely left to check up on everypony.”
Applejack nodded, a grateful smile on her face. “That’s great Mayor Mare, more than anypony could ask for. We’re lucky to have neighbors as...neighborly as all of you.” She put a hoof on the other pony’s shoulder, an earnest gesture of thankfulness.
The mayor returned the look, despite her tired expression. “I suppose then, all there is left to do is to tell you both what I know. You are the Elements of Harmony, after all.” The mare’s quiet tone continued. Despite the fact that they moved over the topic, it seemed like her irritation had something to do with the deep, dark bags she carried underneath her tired, bloodshot eyes. “We rounded up just about everypony to search the town’s outskirts and woods, even as far as Whitetail Woods, but…” She sighed, a hoof rubbing behind her frazzled mane. “We couldn’t find anything that gave us any clue to where they could have gone.”
The eyes in the room widened or saddened at her news, each experiencing their own little flash of dread or hopelessness. Big Mac had his head resting on the back of the couch, watching quietly, while Spike, and a newly arrived Owlowiscious huddled atop the arm chair.
Applejack was the first to shake it off, though. “Well, we ain’t done looking, right? There’s a ton of places we haven’t searched yet. Plus, if they just disappeared without a trace from that pond...they could be anywhere.”
The mayor sighed and nodded at the thought. “Actually... there’s still one place we haven’t looked through. It’s why I came here tonight. We’re about to round up everypony willing and go into the Everfree.” At the sound of the name, the few ponies and the dragon in the room cringed. The eerie place didn’t bring up too many fond memories. “But... first we’re to meet in town square once the pegasi make their last trip over Whitetail.”
Rainbow Dash took a step closer and straightened up proudly. “You can count us in, Mayor. I’ll start rallying the pegasi, and Applejack can talk to the earth ponies and unicorns.” Applejack nodded in affirmation.
“Splendid, I’m sure everypony, the few that volunteered that is, will be nice and safe accompanied by you both. And for the record, I am very sorry about what happened girls. It’s... it’s been hard on the town already. I know that you all are very close. I hope that we find them before too long.” Her expression softened and her voice became less shrill. Her original look of sympathy returned as she trotted back out into the road. Outside, ponies were still frantically trotting every which way, occasionally calling the names of the missing. The door closed softly behind her.
Applejack turned to Rainbow Dash. “Well, I think we need to get a hustle on if we’re gonna organize those folks, RD.” Her statement was met with a head bob in affirmation before they both trotted towards the door.
Once again, the gentle tapping sound of a hoof, knocking against the front door entered the room, though it sounded a little heavier this time.
Dash rolled her eyes. “What do you want this time, Ma-” Before she could finish her statement, the door opened and everypony’s face in the room lit up.
“Princess Celestia!” Applejack said before ducking down into a bow. Rainbow Dash followed suit, nearly falling over in her haste. Over by the couch, Spike did the same, while Big Mac quietly struggled off the couch, so as not to draw his sister’s attention. Granny Smith snored once before quieting again.
The Princess of the Sun’s golden sollerets clopped softly and quietly into the library, an unexpected happenstance considering her larger than average build. Her flawless features smiled, with just a tint of worry, at her subjects. Though she did not look it, the princess was much older than many believed her to be. In fact, she was so old, nopony truly knew her true age. Well, other than her dear sister, of course.
“Please, Applejack, Rainbow, that isn’t necessary.” The Princess smiled briefly and ducked her head down to meet her friends’ eyes, who looked up after a moment. “It is good to see you, all of you,” her gaze swept over the others. “Even tragic as the circumstances are.”
The bowing ponies looked at one another for a split second, then straightened to greet the princess in a less formal manner.
“Princess Celestia, how did you get here so soon?” Rainbow Dash blurted out, but managed to bite back anymore questions. It had taken a few meetings for the Elements of Harmony to truly become comfortable around the strongest figure in the Equestrian government, but in recent times, a certain fondness accompanied their meetings. This meeting was more dark and worrying than fond, though.
Celestia chimed her answer. “I left as soon as I received Spike’s first letter, Rainbow Dash. I received your second mid-flight, as a matter of fact.”
By the furniture, Spike briefly thought, I thought that writing looked a little sloppy…
The Princess continued. “The news was very serious. I’ve left my sister in charge for the night so that I could see to this personally. From the sounds of things… tornados, missing ponies, lives could be at jeopardy. Is it true? Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Rarity are missing?” Her voice was tinged with disbelief as she spoke, something Applejack and Rainbow never heard.
The room hung silent for a moment, just the shouts of ponies from outside barely making their way through the walls, and the multi-hued mane waving majestically in a wind that was nowhere, yet everywhere. You could hear the wind, just barely, if you listened.
Rainbow Dash scrunched her face in a pained way, and finally answered, “Yes, Princess. It’s pretty bad, but I don’t think Pinkie and Rarity are...well, I don’t know what to think! We can’t find them though.” All the while she spoke, her tail lashed erratically out behind her, swiping at the air. ”As for Twilight… she just messed up another one of her egghead experiments, again. I bet she’s okay, probably...” Sitting down, and remembering her manners, she kept her wings furled at her sides, rather than hovering while speaking to the Princess. With effort, her tail stilled itself as well.
The Princess of Day watched the mare quietly, then nodded. “I see. Thank you for staying safe yourselves, my little ponies. We will find our friends, but in the meantime, I must ask you to remain strong for them. For now we should hurry, time may be of the essence.” She shook her head back and forth as she finished, a pained expression replacing her stoic demeanor. “Tell me in greater detail than what was in your letter, please, how did this happen? Are there any clues you may not have mentioned?”
Applejack and Rainbow frowned quietly for a moment, then the farm pony spoke up first. “Should Ah start at the beginning, Princess?”
“Yes, that is fine, Applejack.” Princess Celestia gave the smaller mare her full attention.
AppleJack coughed, clearing her throat before speaking. “Alright, well, besides the weird weather yesterday, and maybe some bad luck at the picnic we all went to… Ah think it only just started earlier today.“ She put a forlorn hoof on her hatless head, remembering that one of her only mementos of her folks was now gone. “Twilight and Ah were inside the library, and she was working on this new potion or something. We tested it, and it seemed to work fine on me, and her too when she took it. Ah guess something went wrong, though. Come to think of it, her teleport did look like it went a might wonky.”
Applejack gave Rainbow a worried look, then pressed on. “Twi’ said she was going to Canterlot to see you, Princess, but with you sayin’ that she never made it... well, Ah don’t think she would’ve gone anywhere else on purpose. Just ain’t in her nature to be late. Twilight could be... well, she could be anywhere really, I guess”…The thought that something worse may have happened to Twi’ was quickly put in a chest, locked with a key, then buried in a hole, and had a house built over it, lickity split. “That potion we mentioned in the letter could have just made her overshoot her target a little bit. Who knows, she could have just arrived in Canterlot right now.”
Celestia regarded the straight backed, confident farm mare in front her. Beneath that confidence though, the Princess saw the worry just barely hanging at the corners of her eyes. “Perhaps... There is a chance you are right about that, Applejack.”
The Princess mulled over the information briefly before nodding. “I will have to speak to Luna about locating the others, as well as Twilight in particular...” She hesitated for a second, as if to say more about her sister, but instead moved on. “For now, what of Pinkie Pie and Rarity?” Her voice was not the normal, cheerful tone, bright enough to rival her own sun which she always used when talking to them. The change of something so familiar was like a blow to the other ponies.
Applejack’s voice softened a degree and continued. She arrived to the conclusion that she and Rainbow Dash weren’t the only ones taking it hard. “We’re certain that they’re not where Rainbow... where Rainbow thought she would find them, in that pond.”
Celestia looked from their tired faces and glanced towards the shut front door. “Tell me, has the town been searching for them long?”
The two smaller mares met each other’s eyes, then looked out of the window into the darkness of nightfall. Ponies were still frantically ambling about, holding firefly lanterns or levitating them. All the while they still shouted at each other and the names of the missing. They noticed a few new additions to the search parties, however, when multiple golden-armored guards galloped by, forming organized teams.
Rainbow answered the Princess. “We’ve been at it ever since late afternoon, Princess, but we haven’t found them yet. I don’t even think anypony is looking for Twilight, either. We just figured out she was missing at all from your letter.”
Princess Celestia’s expression darkened some, and she stood up to walk to the window, staring out of it quietly. “Rainbow Dash, I know it may be difficult, but please, tell me everything about your friend’s disappearances. It may be our only hope of finding Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Any detail, large or small.”
“Pinkie and Rarity…” Rainbow muttered the names, still struck by the fact they were even missing, and for so long. “Okay, I can do that, uhm… Pinkie and I were just swimming with Rarity when something dragged them under.” She swallowed, and a dark air overtook the normally upbeat pegasus. Her explanation went on to cover everything she could think of, from Pinkie’s wagon sinking into the pond, to Rarity’s ruined feathery hat. After the little stuff, she spoke about the riptide, and how strong it had felt. “I-I tried to save them, but... I just...” She trailed off. Two memories drifted by, of Rarity staying under the water so long Dash and Pinkie had become scared, and the other of Pinkie disappearing next. “I’m sorry Princess. I’m so, so sorry. It’s all my fau-”
Celestia, now beside the distraught pony, lent her subject a consoling hug, and then a grateful look. Softly, she said, “It’s alright, my little pony. I’m sure you did everything you possibly could have done. It is difficult, but you mustn’t blame yourself for things that are out of your control.”
Rainbow’s head sunk low. “Yes, Princess.”
“You have already searched the pond where you last saw them, as you said in the letter?” Celestia looked between the two present Elements of Harmony, still eager to find answers.
Rainbow answered first, some of her pep returned, false as it was. “Sure did. I looked, and looked but... I couldn’t find them, Princess. It wasn’t that deep though, like I said in the letter! It didn’t make any sense at all. Anyway, I had to give up, but... I even gathered the pegasi myself and we drained the pond that the three of us were swimming in... There wasn’t anypony underneath the water, Princess!” Her speech was becoming more and more frantic until she finished shakily. Calming some, she went on. “I was happy at first, I figured maybe they had gotten out after I left, or something else. Maybe Rarity managed to pull off a teleport spell?”
Applejack gave Rainbow a doubtful frown. There ain’t no way Ms. Prissy-Pants managed to do something other than stick two pieces of cloth together with that horn of hers. A pang of sadness hit her heart, and she added another thought. But I really hope she did, consarnit…
Celestia’s eyes hardened as she listened to the explanation. “There was no sign of anything else? Magic used, perhaps?”
Rainbow looked up and shook her head quickly. “N-not that I saw.”
Celestia nodded once again, although it was quicker this time. The other two mares did not pick up on it, but even she was beginning to become flustered with worry. “Applejack, Rainbow,” she began, less balanced than before, “what can you tell me about the tornado you wrote of?”
Applejack scowled at just the mention of the calamitous thing that had taken her home from her, and had almost taken her family, too. She answered right away. “Not much, Princess.” She spoke more flatly then she’d meant to, so she softened her voice before continuing. “Rainbow and the pegasi weren’t responsible though, so I think it came out of the Everfree like she said it did. It’s the only explanation that makes a lick of sense. Though, I can’t say I know why, nothing like this has happened that I’ve ever heard of in the history of Ponyville, and I listen to Granny Smith’s stories every night.” She swallowed from the memory of one particular detail that came back to her, something she felt she could never forget. “It was enormous, Princess, biggest twister I’ve ever seen. It had to have been wider than a whole kilometer.”
The diarch’s eyes grew darker as she listened. Her muzzle opened to speak, then closed again slowly.
Applejack waited a second, then added, “Rainbow said she could have tamed it with a few dozen Pegasi, but honestly, to put it into perspective your highness, I don’t think a hundred pegasi could’ve stopped it, maybe not even...a thousand.”
Rainbow’s brow furrowed, and she scowled at the ground. Not because she was upset at AJ for declaring that, but because that sounded about right. The weather had never scared her before this, but it did now. “Do you think it’s connected, Princess?” The pegasus looked up, face squinted in dismay.
Celestia took in a deep breath, and put on a sad, but calming smile. “I do.” Not letting the statement sink in negatively, she went on hurriedly. “You did the right thing by contacting me, though I’m afraid I must admit I am yet at a loss.” She looked towards Rainbow. “Judging from what you have told me, Rainbow, this does not strike me as something natural. There may be foul play ahoof, I fear. Especially if so many of you were targeted. We can’t be for certain of anything yet.”
“You mean somepony’s behind this?” Rainbow’s eyes widened to their fullest. She hadn’t even considered the idea as of yet. If there’s some jerk raining on our parade and coming after us… We could all be in danger. “But who could be responsible for this? All of this stuff is...well, totally unrelated, it doesn’t make any sense at all, Princess! Uhm, ma’am.” She grinned a little sheepishly at the end, but straightened up, her look becoming serious.
“I cannot say, Rainbow.” The Princess sighed. “Yes, I think something of that nature could be at work. I will tell you both all I know as soon as I learn something. For now… it could be that somepony... or something is trying to separate the elements. If there is, they’re succeeding.”
Another eerie, heavy silence hung in the room, punctuated by the sound of Spike’s teeth chattering from the other side of the room. He quietly dismissed himself, and scurried away into the kitchen on his short legs.
Applejack worked up the will to speak again first. She flickered her gaze from the Princess, to around the room, then spoke her mind. “Well, we can’t know about that until we at least look. Princess, is there a spell you can cast to find them? Twilight and the others?”
Celestia looked to the Element of Honesty, her expression shifting to a trepidant look. “...Perhaps, not readily, but perhaps. Unfortunately, there is not always simply a magical solution to every problem. My sister and I do have some tools at our disposal, though. If our missing friends are near, we will find them. If they are far...we will find them slightly slower.” She gave both of the other mares a motherly smile as she finished speaking. A followup question came quickly though. “Tell me, had anypony left to search the Everfree yet?”
Applejack thought of the stallions and mares that had been forming up outside, but had yet to leave. She shook her head. “No, ma’am, not yet. I think we were going to, though. It seemed a logical place to look.”
“I see.” Celestia paused a moment, thinking. “I will summon more of the guard then, and we will investigate ourselves. I did see ponies outside shouting about doing just that… I had them stick to searching elsewhere. There is no need for them to endanger themselves. Though it is very noble, I cannot allow that sort of recklessness.” She looked towards the shut door behind herself with a serious expression. “Of the many places across the land, the Everfree has proven to be one of a few, dangerous oddities. Harmony is resisted there as you know, and the wild thinks for itself. It may even share the blame for the disappearance of Rarity and Pinkie. Now, we should be on our...” Celestia stopped for a moment and furrowed her brow, still facing the doorway. She abandoned getting ready to leave and turned to face the Elements of Loyalty and Honesty once more.
“Applejack, Rainbow Dash, where is the Element of Kindness, Fluttershy?” Celestia wore a calm expression, but her brow was drawn tight.
Applejack stared back silently, before flicking her eyes over to Rainbow, who spoke up after a slight hesitation.
“Uhm, she’s searching, probably.” Rainbow replied with a measure of doubt in her voice.
The Princess nodded, and after watching her subject for a moment hesitantly asked, “Probably, Rainbow?”
Applejack turned to face her friend, expression widening some from what everypony was thinking already, but had not yet said.
Rainbow Dash stammered at first, but regained her focus. “I- I haven’t seen her yet today, but it’s just like her to avoid large crowds, or stay hidden in them. She might be out there with everypony or the other pegasi right now.”
Celestia broke her gaze for a moment as if she were contemplating something, then spoke. “You’d better check to make sure, Rainbow. I’m afraid that these events may be more than what they seem, as I said. Two disappearances is a coincidence... but three is a trend, my little pony.” She looked back to Rainbow Dash who seemed jittery, her front legs dancing and giving away her worry. Perhaps it was just occurring to her that the yellow pegasus may be in trouble.
“Yeah… Yeah I’ll just go get her right now, if she’s at her house… then we’ll join you both.” Rainbow hardened her look, putting on a mask of confidence.
“Very well. Hurry, my little pony.” Celestia straightened her back in a regal manner after speaking. Her horn lit up, getting the door for the pegasus.
With an affirmation, Rainbow reared up, saluted and practically knocked the open door behind the Princess off its hinges in the wake of her speedy departure.
Once the air had settled, and her ears popped, Celestia turned back to the orange mare. “That leaves us. Before we join the search effort, tell me, Applejack, do you know anything else about what happened? What happened this afternoon?”
“Well,” the orange farm mare started. “After Twi’ teleported out of the library, I went back home to finish harvestin’ my crops. After that, things started to get a little... dark, Princess.” She swallowed a lump in her throat, recalling everything that had lead up to… possibly the scariest moment of her life.
The Princess tilted her head, catching the word used with hesitation. “Dark, Applejack? In what way?” She thought it had still been daylight during that time, unless she was mistaken.
Applejack shook her head. “Ah mean, the sky turned black, pitch black, Princess. I’ve never seen a storm like that before in all my life. Also, before I knew it, it was raining cats and dogs, and the wind started to pick up a might. And that’s not even the strangest part. Ah was nearly killed by that tornado that tore through mah farm, and my family was caught up in it too. If it weren’t for Rainbow, I- I really could have died.” The realization of that threatened to make her legs shake.
The Princess looked a bit taken back by the in depth explanation of the weather related phenomena. Her expression creased more, continuing to stare out into space.
Applejack shuffled her hooves beneath herself anxiously. Never before had she seen the Princess look so shocked from just words. When the Princess finally spoke, it nearly made her jump.
“Come, Applejack, we should join the hunt for your friends. If Rarity and Pinkie were underwater… That complicates matters, but I fear there is worse yet to consider-”
A timid, slightly juvenile voice of a young dragon vied for attention, pulling the two ponies from walking out the door. “Uhm, excuse me, Princess?” Spike stood by the wall, looking for all his worth to be horribly nervous.
“Spike,” Princess Celestia’s eyes widened. “I apologize, I nearly forgot you. You will be alright on your own for a little bit, won’t you?” She leaned down and nuzzled the dragon’ cheek reassuringly.
“Oh, yes,” Spike wrung his tail in his claws, weathering the motherly treatment the diarch gave him. “I’m not worried about that, besides, AJ’s family is staying here right now so I’m not alone… Anyway, it’s just, about Twilight. It sort of sounds like you all thought she might be in trouble or something, too. Twilight’s...Twilight, though! She’ll be fine…right?” The little lizard trailed off, not looking at anypony, just the floor, and the scorch mark his adoptive sister had left.
Celestia follow his eyes, staring at the charred remnant. “It will be alright Spike, you must stay strong, for her, and your friends.” She smiled, sadly, down towards him. “Can you do that for us? We may need your help, after all.”
Spike’s uncertain face strengthened, and he looked up brazenly. “I can do that, yeah Princess.” He grinned, claws planted at his sides and puffing out his chest.
“I am glad.” Princess Celestia chuckled and straightened up. “Take care, we will return soon.”
With that, Applejack followed the Princess out of the library, both of them trotting quickly, and Spike waving farewell from the doorway.
The Princess waited politely until his goodbyes to Applejack were finished, then curtly spoke to the orange mare. “We’ll make our way to Rainbow Dash and stay together, my little pony. I should have sent guardsponies with her. I am more uneasy than I had thought to make such a mistake. I don’t want you girls out of my sight, tonight.”
Applejack stared up at her. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about Rainbow, Princess. She’s slipperier than a rattle snake swimming in a grease trap at the sunday fair.” She let out a nervous chuckle from her comparison, but nonetheless the words spoken by the Princess had shaken her. Holy cow… Just what in the name of tarnation is going on? In her mind, she hoped quietly that her friends were all alright, all of them.
…
Granny Smith’s head shot up, and a snort punctuated her sudden complaint. “Huzzah-wha? Darnit, Applejack, keep it down, I’m tryin’ to sleep!” Barely a second later, she was drooping her head once more in the chair.
Big Mac exhaled a tired breath, then looked back up at the unfamiliar ceiling from the couch. “Eeyup.”
The wind tousled Rainbow Dash’s currently shadowed multi-colored hair while she tore through the clouds over Ponyville. She passed several other pegasi, a few of which tried to stop her and ask various things; how they could help, or if somepony had been found, in most cases. In her haste, she ignored them entirely, only taking the time to feel a little bad about being rude.
Rainbow just kept flying, low, fast, and with a cause. Despite her extremely tired wings, she rocketed towards Fluttershy’s cottage. If the Princess sounded so dire, then... Her thoughts trailed off, unable to comprehend something that serious. The last time anything had made Celestia speak so to them had been Discord.
Rainbow Dash felt troubled from the thought, and flew faster. Over the next road, she could see the little bridge that led up to a small, out of the way cottage. A few animals were still awake, and walking around the yard in the bright moonlight. That was her first sign that something was wrong. If the animals were out this late, that meant Fluttershy hadn’t put them to bed. And Fluttershy never forgets to put her critters to bed.
With a quick whip of her wings, the weather mare flew onto the front porch, landing with a dull thud. As fast as she could, she grabbed the door handle and swung it open. She ran inside.
“Fluttershy!” Rainbow shouted, voice full of worry. She had meant to sound angry that she hadn’t shown up, but it hadn’t stuck. She galloped into the living room. “Fluttershy, where are you!?” Her voice was raised, but no reply came. Not waiting, the pony clambered up the stairs to her left and went into the only other room in the house. “Fluttershy, come out!”
Rainbow’s eyes glazed over as she looked into the empty bedroom. The bed was made, the floors were clean, and there was no evidence that anypony had been there in a while. “Dang It,” she hissed, turning around and sprinting back down the stairs. “She must be with the searchers.... yeah, that must be it.”
Princess Celestia gestured to her side with one wing. “Applejack, you’ll be riding with me tonight.”
Applejack nodded and quickly hopped up beside the Princess in the golden chariot. Interestingly enough, it had only just arrived as they left the Golden Oaks library.
After leaving Twilight’s home, the two had ventured out into the lantern-lit streets, a plethora of armored guards standing at attention. The ponies ranged from all shapes and manner of descriptions, but every mane was cut and hung in the same fashion through the helmets resting on their heads.
Amidst the stallions that made up Canterlot’s own guardsponies, were several of the darker toned, mysterious bat-winged ponies. They mingled with guards speaking to citizens of the town, helping as much or more than everypony else.
One mare, tall and dressed in an armor indicative of being at the top of Equestria’s military, cantered up to the Princess, just then reaching them both.
The Princess inclined her head ever so slightly to acknowledge her approach. “Captain, please report.”
“Your highness,” the powerfully built mare spoke respectfully, bowing beforehoof. “The search teams from Ponyville are organized and are looking across the farmlands and eastern forests, and the Whitetail Wood, as you’ve ordered. Each group has at least two guards, and nopony was sent to the Everfree, as commanded.”
The Princess nodded, “Very good, thank you my little pony.”
The captain straightened further, staring ahead at nothing as was protocol. “What are your next orders, your highness?”
Princess Celestia regarded the pink coated earth pony, and responded curtly. “Form large groups of scouts with the ponies present, not too small, it may be dangerous, then send for more guards from the capitol. I want the entire border of the Everfree surrounding Ponyville to be searched for the missing ponies. Ensure everypony is aware they are the Elements of Harmony, and that they know their descriptions. I want everypony to know that we are looking for Pinkie, Rarity, Twilight and Fluttershy. On the double, Captain.”
The straight backed mare held up a hoof in salute before turning around and barking orders at her fellow guards.
Applejack looked up at the Princess. “Fluttershy? But she might just be at home.”
“Perhaps, but until we know, at least now her group may bring her back to us, if she is with them.” The Princess spoke softly, almost not loud enough to be heard over the military surrounding them both.
Orderly and swiftly, the guardsponies all divided and marched or flew toward the edge of town. One team, entirely made up of Pegasi, remained by the princess, with only a smattering of guards milling in the square still. A ways away, the captain began loudly telling a pegasus orders to have sent back to the capitol.
“Everypony,” Princess Celestia called out over the heads of the armored stallions and mares. “I need you all to keep watch over this pony, Applejack-” she pointed at the orange mare for emphasis, “-as well as her friend, Rainbow Dash, at all costs. They are your top priority, the second, yourselves, and thirdly, me. Understo-?”
Applejack was caught off guard by the last sentence and opened her muzzle before she could stop herself to speak out against such an order, interrupting her in the process. “Now wait just a second Princess, you can’t just put yourself at...”
Both the Princess and remaining guards, all stallions, regarded her. The attention got the best of Applejack, given the situation. “Er, nevermind… sorry.”
Celestia looked back at her guards. “That will be all.” Leaning down some to Applejack, she raised the part of her mane pulled over her face, and gave the shorter mare a wink. “I can take care of myself, Applejack.” She smiled coyly.
Applejack grinned sheepishly up in return. “Of course, Princess.”
The stallions gave a quick salute in their long line, then dispersed in a band around the two mares present. Together, the group set off, following after Celestia’s chariot, which in turn was directed to follow the other guards that had already left.
Applejack, however, had begun feeling a little less safe than she had before. Despite having an entire... squad of the best trained royal guards in Equestria, the sudden realization of danger was brought to mind. Before, it was just a case of missing ponies, but now... now she knew that somepony may be out to get her. After all, tornados don’t just make themselves, and lakes don’t try to swallow ponies whole while they’re just having an afternoon swim. At least, she didn’t think they did.
Still, Applejack stayed side-by-side with the princess in the chariot, hoping that somehow they would find Rarity and Pinkie Pie and put an end to all of this. Maybe everything is just a coincidence, and maybe all of this worrying is for nothin’. I can’t imagine anything being worse than that storm coming so close to Ponyville, after all. Who knows, by the end of the night, Pinkie could be throwing a “We were found!” party for all the searchers. She’ll set up games and there’ll be cake... Oh, and the Apple family cellar survived, so I could even break out a little bit of my ‘special’ apple cider to sell. After all, she considered, her family had to get money to raise another house, barn, and replant all of the orchards.
While thinking over just how many bits that might cost to preoccupy herself from worrying, she peered over the edge of the chariot, watching the fields slowly pass underneath her. Applejack heaved a heavy sigh and sagged a bit, then straightened quickly, eyes looking up at Celestia. She didn’t wish to distract her highness from finding a solution by making her think she wasn’t at one hundred percent.
All of the optimistic thinking had only reminded Applejack of all the work that needed to be done. An entire orchard gone. Poof. Just like that. Most of those trees had been older than me. Consarnit, a whole darn century of work, destroyed… I’m going to be owing Apple Strudel and everypony else a huge I.O.U. after this… Apple trees took a long time to grow, and it looked like Sweet Apple Acres would be selling more corn than anything in the near future.
“Is something bothering you, Applejack?” The voice of Celestia interrupted the orange mare’s train of thought, and it was only then that she realized they had been flying in complete silence ever since they left the library.
Applejack looked up, prepared to confess that she was stuck thinking about how her home had been destroyed. That the place where she grew up was just a leveled field of smashed apples and broken trees.
Rather than bring up the fate of her home once again, she answered with something simpler. “Nothin’,” she said. “Nothin’ at all, Princess.”
Celestia gave a sentimental look to the mare but decided not to press the pony. If she needed to speak her thoughts, Celestia knew, then she would.
One of the pegasi whistling overhead and around them came closer than the rest. A couple of the guards moved to bar the newcomer’s way, but flew aside when it became clear in the luminous moonlight, that it was Rainbow Dash.
Celestia and Applejack immediately took note that she was alone.
“Rainbow, you have been gone a long time, did something happen?” Celestia regarded the pegasus with a consoling look, failing to hide her concern. She already suspected the worst.
Rainbow panted, sucking in heavy breaths, her mane was matted against her brow from exertion. “I-” She fluttered alongside them, her forelegs resting on her hind ones while she caught her breath. “I looked in every group I could find, P-Princess.” A cough escaped her. “She wasn’t at home, either, I couldn’t...find Fluttershy.”
Applejack felt her face and expression sink as if on cue. Every part of her honestly wanted to cry a little, or a lot right then. It wasn’t just from the wind blowing in her face, either. Her thoughts flashed across everything that had happened in such a short amount of time, namely, her world tumbling down around her.
Celestia took flight and moved for the exhausted speedster. “You’ve done very well Rainbow, please rest.”
“B-but Princess, Fluttershy!” Rainbow protested, while she was at the same time hovered into the chariot by the royal equine’s magic. Applejack and Rainbow both stared up at her.
The Princess’ wings flapped slowly, a sharp contrast to the smaller pegasi mares and stallions around her. The sensation of the magic keeping her aloft could be felt by everypony present, even the lone earth pony. “I already sent word to the search parties, Rainbow, and the guard searches for her even now along with the other Elements. There is nothing more we can do but continue to look ourselves, and you need your rest.” A final smile punctuated her words, signifying clearly that that, was that.
Rainbow’s worried expression softened some, and she nodded reluctantly. “R-right.” She turned to her friend after the Princess faced forward again, their party still soaring towards the Everfree. “So, AJ, how are you holding up?”
Applejack looked down from the Princess flying beside them, whose radiance inherently brightened the night around her. “I’m doin’ just fine, Rainbow,” smiling reassuringly, Applejack put a hoof on her friend’s still heaving shoulder. It was clear the pegasus had been going all out while flying. “What about yourself?”
“I’m scared.” Rainbow spoke, too quickly from her perspective. She winced and leaned away some, putting her weight on the wall of the chariot. “I- I don’t know what to- Four of our friends- Where are they!?” After several attempts at starting to speak, she finally pushed out the simple, panicked question.
Princess Celestia peaked at the two mares from the corner of her eye, struggling to keep her own expression straight. She remained quiet.
Applejack frowned and looked at the chariot floor in thought, unable to come up with something to say just then.
A pegasus guardspony shouted that the Everfree was fast approaching.
Both mares looked up and ahead of themselves. “Ah dunno, Rainbow, but we’ll find out, together, alright?” She looked over, managing, somehow, to put on a confident, brazen look; the type that they always wore when facing the worst of the worst that chaos or anything or anypony else managed to drum up for them to fight. “Wherever those girls might be, we’ll find them.”
Rainbow stared back a moment, despondently, exhaustion still ringing her eyes and sagging her muzzle’s expression. She took in a deep breath of air though, and her trademarked, cocky grin appeared as if by magic. “You’re right AJ, we’ll find them, together.”
Their hooves slammed together, a gesture the two had perfected over the last two years, and could now do purely on instinct.
The search continued on, an hour passed, and then another, until Luna’s night was nearing its end. It seemed like the whole town of Ponyville was out looking. Everywhere, lights from unicorns not satisfied with the moonlight lit the greenery. Pegasi zoomed through the air at break-neck speeds, stirring up winds while searching on.
The calls of Rarity’s, Twilight’s, Fluttershy’s, and Pinkie’s names echoed across the landscape, only serving as a painful reminder that they were missing. For hours they flew, scanning the ground. After meeting up with another of the guard squads, they entered the Everfree and walked, instead.
The guards protected the party against anything that dared to threaten them, which wasn’t much.
After all, Celestia’s magic and light illuminated the forest for what was likely the first times in centuries. Her horn stretched the magic far, bathing every shadow in a magical glow. The ponies looked diligently, calling out, casting spells if they could, and not leaving a single stone unturned. Some of the guards even requested to look deeper.
At one point, Celestia’s party nearly walked into a patch of poison joke. Thankfully, Applejack spotted it before she took that one, nasty step that might have ended badly.
A pack of timberwolves had been heard, howling far off in the distance, and during that distanced howl three had attacked from their stealth. The howl had been a clever distraction, while the massive creatures sought to kill and rend the ponies treading through their territory.
What they faced off against was something akin to overkill, as the guard and Celestia all blasted them apart, dispelling the chaotic magic that held together the spiteful foliage.
Time wore on, and not so much as a yellow feather or tuft of pastel colored hair was anywhere to be found.
Before Celestia stopped to raise, she turned from the search and looked toward her immediate companions. Their voices were growing hoarse, and their throats sore from the several hours of tireless searching. “Applejack,“ The Princess turned from where she was seated upon a downed log, belonging to a tree long since dead.
The earth pony bit back the call for Twilight she had been about to try again. “Uh, yes, Princess?” She blinked her eyes, working out the bothersome weighty feeling they had.
“I believe it is in yours and Rainbow’s best interest to retire for the night, Applejack. In addition, after you both have rested, I wish you to accompany me back to Canterlot. Your family needs accommodations as well, and they will have them if they choose to come as well.” She held the obviously tired earth pony’s gaze in silence a moment, speaking again before the very easy to notice objection could come out. “Do not worry about the search. I do not tire like normal ponies, and I will be searching diligently well into tomorrow. Soon though, I will leave, and I wish you to accompany me. We need to get to the bottom of things.” Now, she let Applejack reply.
“Bottom of thi-?” Applejack began, nearby, Rainbow fluttered out of the trees, then spotted them. “But Princess, I thought we hadn’t figured somepony’s behind this yet. We don’t even have any clues. Can’t they still just be missing?” Her thoughts felt like sludge, running over the coarse ground that made up her memories.
“Yes,” the Princess spoke softly. “However, it is better to err on the side of caution. You’re right, we don’t have any clues, nothing. Were these simple disappearances, I believe there would be something, my dear Applejack.” Standing up from the log, the Princess strode over to a pair of the guard and began whispering to a guard.
Applejack furrowed her brow in thought over the words, concentrating on Celestia’s back. A hoof poked her side, turning, she met Rainbow’s magenta eyes, glowing in the ambient light of Celestia’s glow spell.
“What did the Princess say?” The pegasus turned her head, the mane atop it full of leaves, twigs, and in even more need of a brushing than usual.
I’m willin’ to bet my mane needs it even worse Applejack frowned, and faced forward again. “She wants us to leave soon, and after we get some sleep, go with her to Canterlot. My family, too. She says it will be safe there…”
Rainbow blanched, jaw dropping. “What!? What the hay, Princess!? We can’t leave the forest yet! Let alone Ponyville!”
The Princess in question was just approaching them both again, looking down with a concerned look at her subjects. “Rainbow, listen to me, please. You’ll do them both no good out here if you are at risk as well. You will be safe at the capitol. Meanwhile, the search will continue. Two more sets of eyes won’t make the difference.”
Rainbow bit her lip and sat back on her haunches, unable to keep her face from showing more sadness than she wanted. Her hoof came up and scraped at her eyes.
Celestia calmly looked between the two mares, and spotted the orange pony of the pair nodding off. “Applejack... I believe it’s time you returned to Ponyville, along with Rainbow. The guard will continue the search, and soon we’ll have fresh soldiers, specialized unicorns and trackers to help our efforts-”
Applejack’s jerked awake and shook her head. “But Princess, Ah can’t do that! They’re still out there! They could be lost... lonely... hungry, and in need of a heap of help. Ah can’t quit just yet...” Her eyes seemed to gain weight as she looked at the white princess in front of her. How long have I been awake for? Got up before the crack of dawn and… and...
Rainbow wasn’t keen on leaving just yet at all. “Princess, I’m fine to keep looking, really! I napped all morning before I went pranking with Pinkie Pie, honest. I’m good to go!” For good measure, she stood up on her hind legs and jabbed at the air a few times with her front hooves. Unfortunately, after the third jab, she nearly fell backwards, just a little unsteady.
Deftly catching the pegasus with her magic and setting her back on four hooves, Celestia held her worried look between the two mares. “Applejack, Rainbow Dash... you both need rest. I’m sorry, but you have to go back home. I will collect you before long, so please, rest.” She turned to the guards that had followed her, one in particular standing up tall. “Please, carry out what I asked, and escort them back to Ponyville, take the chariot. Be diligent, and be very careful. We still don’t know what could have caused this incident.”
“Yes, your highness,” the gruff stallion answered, saluting. Quickly, he trotted over to Applejack and whispered in her ear that it was time to leave. She gave a curt, half-asleep nod, and followed him, along with the hesitant weather mare.
Rainbow gave a final, conflicted look back at Celestia, then turned to go as well, hooves dragging.
Celestia stood by, watching them disappear into the thick of the woods which led to the township of Ponyville. She sighed, turned to the remaining few ponies there, and motioned them to keep searching. Quickly, her attention to the sky overhead, and she began readying herself to raise the sun. It was going to be a long day, but hopefully, they would find something.
The chariot flew Applejack towards the town, and landed in front of Sugarcube corner. A mass of guards were formed in the village square a little ways from it, which seemed to be their target.
Applejack was tired, and near the point where she herself was about to lose it. She had seen a few ponies lose their composure over the course of the search, but she remained steadfast... or so she hoped. Regardless of her appearance on the outside, on the inside, she felt like curling up into a ball and letting loose a torrent of sorrow. They had barely scraped the surface of the Everfree and they had searched for hours on end. She imagined that eventually, they would have to put the search on hold, and after that, she just didn’t know what would happen.
All the farm mare could think about was how terrible her friends must be feeling, what they might be going through on their own. They could be off in danger, hurt and scared in who-knows-where. Every moment she wasted was another moment she saw her friends suffering. And if Applejack was honest, that was the worst feeling she could ever get: watching as her friends drowned in misery.
“Ah’m sorry, what?” Applejack raised her head to look at Rainbow and the stallion that was apparently her ‘bodyguard’ for the night. The stallion was walking away slowly.
“He asked us to wait here just a sec-” Rainbow let out a massive yawn, practically stuffing her hoof in her mouth to try and quell it. “-second. Nuts to that, I’m gonna get a cupcake. I kinda... I just need something.” With that, the other mare trotted quickly into the nearby Sugarcube corner, overall looking worse for wear than usual.
Applejack stared after her in a daze, the weight of things making her pause and just stand still, hanging in the buzz of extreme tiredness. Rainbow… She thought.
Heaving a sigh from past the point of exhaustion, Applejack followed, and pushed open the door to be greeted by the friendly chime of a bell; welcoming fluorescent lights began attacking her sight from above. Despite the overall cheerful scenery of the store, nopony inside seemed to be in all that great a mood. Most were appeared to be resting up from the as of yet failed search, one that had gone on until the early morning hours. One mare in particular seemed more distraught than the others, and stood out.
Sitting in the corner with eyes black from crying with mascara on, the mare Applejack recognized as Rarity’s mother sat sullenly, staring hopelessly at a cup of coffee at her table. Applejack’s heart sank at the sight, realizing that somepony was taking it much harder than she was. And she herself was feeling pretty awful about the whole thing.
Before she knew it, Applejack had walked up to the crying mare, sitting across from her as delicately as possible. It took a minute for her to be noticed, but eventually, the mare lifted her head a little.
“Hey, sugarcube...” Applejack said. “Are you doing alright?”
The mare didn’t respond; she only shook her head slowly. Applejack realized that if she would speak, she would likely break down into an uncontrollable sob at the loss of her daughter.
“Listen,” Applejack started. “I know things look bad right now, and I completely understand your fear about all of this. But you have to stay strong for your daughter. You owe it to her to do that.” Rarity’s mother teared up as she stared at Applejack. “And nothing is for certain. For all we know, we could find the missing ponies within the day, and you could have your daughter back, making dresses and calling ponies “uncouth” until they all take showers on the spot.”
Rarity’s mother let out a small, weak laugh. Her voice was scratchy, but Applejack thought she might be a little bit better. Maybe she just needed a pony to talk to.
“And don’t worry about your daughter. I know Rarity better than most ponies know their siblings. She’s tough whether or not she wants you to think so. I’ve even seen her hold her own against a full grown manticore!” Rarity’s mother’s eyes widened. Oops, maybe I shouldn’t have told her that...
“Er, I mean, she can take care of herself... and you know that even if she couldn’t for some reason, she still has Pinkie Pie with her, hopefully. At least they were together last time anypony saw them. And if I know Pinkie Pie, then I can be absolutely certain that nothing bad is going to happen to them.”
The crying mare’s gaze softened, and a wave of relief seemed to pass over her. Before she knew it, a light smile graced her muzzle. “Thank you...” she said.
“No problem,” Applejack replied with a smile. “But honestly, I was just telling the truth. Your daughter is going to be okay, alright?”
“My-my daughter?” Her face paled and her eyes returned to their widened state. “MY DAUGHTER!” Instantly, she got up, knocking the cup of coffee she had been sipping to the floor.
Applejack reeled back. “Uh, what? Wait, what’s going on? What about Rarity?”
Rarity’s mom turned back to her, her face absolutely struck with horror. “Not Rarity,” she said in a panic. “I forgot all about Sweetie Belle! I need to go and check on her!” As quick as her hooves could carry her, the pink unicorn galloped out the door, which swung back and forth from the force of her leaving.
Applejack stared after her. Oh. Summoning up some remaining strength, she followed suit on instinct.
By the counter, a certain distracted cyan pegasus continued to eat a chocolate cupcake with passion fruit pink frosting.
In the street, Applejack quickly caught up to the unicorn mare, tired as she was, and galloped closely behind her. Despite the fact that they weren’t really close to the destination in mind, and she thought she heard that guard shouting at her from behind, they were there within two minutes. A record breaking time if Applejack ever saw one, all considering.
Upon arrival, Rarity’s mother burst into the front door of her daughter’s store/home. “Sweetie!? Are you here? Mommy’s here! Please say something!” The Carousel boutique was pitch dark, only the light from firefly street lamps illuminated the doorway.
Applejack searched the wall for a light switch, then clicked it. Gems illuminated in the ceiling, while Rarity’s mother continued to call out with no replies. “Mrs. Belle! I’m gonna check..the kitchen.” Applejack shook her head, barely even managing to say the words she had summoned up. Her hooves clopped into the neighboring room, and she immediately stopped dead in her tracks.
“Ooooooh” a moan came from in front of her, seemingly from...inside what looked to be a small container. Applejack furrowed her brow and stared at what seemed to be the source of the noise. In her exhausted state, she stood and listened, trying to figure out what it was. “Oooooh,” the voice called again.
“Sweetie Belle!” The shout from Rarity’s mother came from behind the farm mare.
Applejack had just enough time to sidestep before she was bowled over by the panicked mother.
“Sweetie Belle, oh thank Luna’s stars you’re alright.” Rarity’s mother dug her hooves into the container, and pulled out the hidden front half of a small, white coated filly. “What’s wrong? Sweetie Belle?” her mother asked the mass of white fluff held in her forelegs.
Applejack could see she was in pain, but it seemed to have something to do with her stomach. It was three sizes too big for the little filly.
“Ugh,” she said, her voice punctuated by a loud belch just a second later. “Too much... ice cream...”
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Sweetie has been taking eating lessons from Kirby.
It's dangerous to go alone buddy. Here, take this.
3088494
Should have taken some advise from spike.
Looks like past Sweetie Belle made some descisons that future Sweetie Belle regrets.
And Capitol refers to the legislative building in the capital city, not the city itself. Common mistake for you Yankees.
ARG!!
What sinister force is behind this?!
The suspense is building a bridge over New York's East River which shiesters will try to sell to naive Irish immigrants!
*everypony is puzzled by the metaphor...*
But maybe YOU can figure it out!
Sigh, I'm glad to hear that Sweetie Bell is alright.
Sooo, this is what's been going down in Equestria (the current four chapters that are up.) while MLM, ATL, Abhorsen and So many wonders has been going on. Though in the other stories events of Equestria seem farther ahead than what's going on here.
I'm slightly confused though, in ATL, Twilight said that she was testing a teleportation potion but here (chapter 2) it was the Talent enhancer from Double Rainboom.
Which one is it really Merlos?
3159266
Haha, I recommend rereading that little bit, actually.
3334852 Oh, did you get to fixing that up? Which chapter of ATL am I suppose to read again, I kinda remember it either being in the first chapter, or the beginning part of the second chapter.
3335029
No no, no changes were made. To flat out tell you, Twi' was just being sorta general. She was using it to teleport. But it was the talent potion.
3335034
Ah ok thank you for the explanation.
RR: "GAH!! An angry Twilight has Appeared!!"
fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/231/b/3/twilight_sparkle_is_very_hot__day_17_by_frostmusic-d5bqcvi.jpg
RR: "Now....Twilight, I think that you need to take a deep breath and just cal--!!" *BOOM*
"RANDOMREADER IS BLASTING OFF AGAAAAAIN!!"..............*ding*
I think the ending was just a brilliant way to release the tension and suspense that's been growing since the horseapples started hitting the fan.
Overall, this makes me feel really guilty for Twilight.
Here's everypony running around, freaking out about Twilight and the others going missing and what that could possibly mean. I know from reading A Twilight Landing, and its side stories that Twilight is making the best effort she can all things considered to try to get back home, but she's also hanging out with her human friends, accidentally watching porn, going to Halloween parties, talking to nerds on the internet, and playing video games. I haven't gotten to what Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy are up to, but I don't imagine it's good. 
Anyway, this story does a good job of building up the suspense and introducing the mystery of what is behind all this. I would really like to see what happens next here, but given where A Twilight Landing and Mary is a Mare are standing right now, it looks like we might not. Either way, with all the other stories coming together, I imagine we will find out what happened after this. I hope you keep up the work and that it's good.
So I started reading ATL when the first chapter hit the featured, and then, an update tells me that the next part is going to blend in with another of the Madverse series. I knew about them, but thought "fuck that, I just want to read this here thank you very much!" But I gave My little Marriage a chance, and FUCK ME UP THE URETHRA WITH A MAPLE-SYRUP COVERED NEEDLE; IT WAS AWESOME! So naturaly I started reading the other stories of the madverse. Now it's time to see what Pinkie and Rarity is up to!
SEE YA LATER, SHITLORDS!
I'm finally caught up on your mad verse group. I must say, I'm beyond impressed. What do you plan to update next among the five, by the way?^^