Professor Layton and the Equestrian Silence

by Crystal Blue

Chapter 15: Shadows Sending Shivers

Chapter 15: Shadows Sending Shivers

“It’s settled, then,” Twilight had addressed the group in her standard state of organisation. “Do you all know what you’ll be doing?”

“Yes, Twilight,” Fluttershy had gathered herself enough to join the group. “I’m taking Luke and Spike to Cloudsdale to find Rainbow Dash. Is... Is that right?” Twilight nodded, before continuing.

“Yes. The professor, Cranky and I will head into the Everfree Forest to find Pinkie.”

“But Twilight,” Spike prepared to point out a flaw in the division of effort. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“Oh! Oh my, I did!” The unicorn lowered her horned head towards Luke and Spike. “Hold still, you two.” This command put the poor boy at unease immediately, but the baby dragon was braced.

“What are you doing?” Twilight’s action had prompt Luke’s query, but it was too late. A glowing pink beam arched from the talented pony’s horn. The spell enveloped the boy in blue, surrounding and permeating him for a moment. Twilight repeated the spell, bathing her assistant in the same lustre.

“What’s going on?” Luke was becoming a little irate.

“I used a spell on you so you can walk on clouds! Pretty neat, huh?”

“Is it safe?”

“Absolutely. I’ve used it a lot of times. You’ve nothing to worry about, Luke!”

“Well, okay, if you’re sure. But how am I supposed to get up into the sky?” The professor stepped in.

“I believe that those hot air balloon trips you had with your father might help.” Luke stood, mouth agape.

“How did you...?”

“Clark has been a friend of mine since before he bore you, Luke,” the professor smiled, reminiscing of his companion. “It is only natural that we keep in correspondence with each other. Now, I know you are capable. You have the makings of a great investigator. I have the utmost confidence in your abilities, so take Miss Sparkle’s balloon and go with Spike and Miss Fluttershy to Cloudsdale.” Luke wanted to protest, but he pressed his lips together and nodded in determination, before turning to the town. The professor’s attention switched to the pearl-white unicorn.

“Miss Rarity, Twilight, Cranky and I need to venture into the Everfree Forest. We believe Miss Pie to be in that area.”

“Of course, Professor Layton,” Rarity replied authoritatively. “I shall see that Sweetie Belle and her friends are returned to Ponyville once we have restored Fluttershy’s home to its original glory. The three of you take care in there.” The fashionista’s vocal tone wore concern with good reason, Hershel could tell that much. He nodded in return, before venturing into the wilderness, flanked by Celestia’s student and the Mayor’s detective.

“Good luck, Professor...” Rarity sighed. “Oh, Sweetie! Don’t put the welding equipment next to that bush! How did she get welding equipment, anyway?”

“We need to drop in and see a friend of mine, Professor,” Twilight announced. “She knows the Everfree Forest like she knows her cutie mark.”

“You mean Zecora?” Cranky caught on quickly.

“You guessed it!” It wasn’t long before the party of three happened upon a thick tree, more golden than the growth surrounding it. It stood out for many reasons: a couple of tribal masks sat outside the bark, peering deeply into any being unused to their gaze. The tree itself bore many bottles, dangling from the thicker branches by well-tied string. The tree had a front door, a plain wooden brown affair, and a pair of simple-framed circular windows, uneven distances from the ground. Twilight trotted up to the door, before rapping on it.

“Zecora? Are you there? Helloooooo?” Suddenly a voice rang, but not from the house itself.

“Twilight, dear, I’m around here!” The voice sounded feminine, yet calm and exotic, deeply calling from the rear of the tree hut. “Come hither so I’ll be free to see you and you to see me.”

“Shall we?” The human motioned the way around, leading the pack to a small clearing, completely bare save for a pair of trees. Looking at them was a zebra, much the same size as Twilight. Her light grey body was patterned with darker grey stripes, arranged in such a way that the centre line of either side of the body was unobstructed. The zebra bore hooves of black and a mane styled into a proud Mohawk, again decorated two alternative shades. The base of the equine's tail was tightly wound, before giving way to its natural flow further towards the tip, ending in two straight edges. Her flank bore a more abstract cutie mark, that of a tribal spiral sun, drawn in an elegant yet simple dark grey. The zebra wore gold earrings and gold rings around her leg. More gold rings adorned the circumference of her neck. In contrast to this were her deep blue eyes.

“Zecora!” Twilight pounced forward excitedly. “It’s so great to see you!”

“And I, you, girl of magic and love. It grows so lonely with the trees above. I see we’ve guests you wished to bring. Tell me, do you need anything?”

“Actually...”

“Is one of your friends in need of aid? If that is so, don’t speak delayed!”

“It’s Pinkie Pie, Zecora,” replied the unicorn, her initial happiness at meeting her zebra friend wore thin quickly. “We believe she’s stuck somewhere deep in the Forest. We were hoping you could help us find her.”

“And of your party, I know of one,” the rhyming zebra continued, gesturing to Cranky before turning to the man in the hat. “But who are you, tall-walking son?”

“Ah, please excuse my impoliteness,” the professor introduced himself. “My name is Professor Layton, sent by the Princesses to locate Miss Sparkle’s friends.” Something in Layton’s mannerisms caused a smile to spring onto the zebra’s muzzle.

“You style of speech is most refined, I’d say that you have a well-trained mind. That being the case, perhaps you could help in trying to retrieve this wayward whelp.” Zecora motioned to the air between the two trees. Hanging between them was a peculiar spider’s web, and right in the centre of it was a small pegasus colt, crying its lungs out. The child was beige in skin with a brown quaffed mane and eyes.

“That’s Pound Cake!” Twilight blurted out. “We’ve been looking for him everywhere. How did he get up there?”

“Take a wild guess, kid,” Cranky’s sarcasm was very ill-timed, met with Twilight’s intimidating growl. Zecora ran into her home, before returning quickly with four large seeds balanced on her tail.

“This trick was set under a spider’s eye, a clever beast, that friend of Fluttershy. These seeds will liberate the child for you. Twilight, do you know what they can do?”

“I’ve read about these,” the lavender mare replied positively. “Now, if I can just remember...”

Puzzle 040

“From what I can tell, this spider web is weaved with an ancient arachnid magic. The only way to get Pound Cake free to destroy all of the threads at once.

“Luckily, Zecora’s seeds will help. They’re only ever found in the Everfree Forest. If they’re not in contact with something at all times, they have a habit of exploding in eight directions: up, down, left, right and the diagonals directly in between.

“We don’t want to hurt Pound Cake, and we can’t attach the 4 seeds to any of the threads, so we need to place them in the gaps in between. Also, if we place them next to each other, even diagonally, they won’t go off, a sort of in-built self-preservation. Now, using my magic, where should I hold the seeds before letting them destroy the web?”

Twilight gave herself a moment to think, before coming up with an answer, levitating the four seeds from Zecora’s tail up to the web.

“Get ready to catch him, Professor!” Twilight called to Layton. He quickly dashed over to a spot underneath the web.

“I’m ready, Miss Sparkle.” His arms were outstretched to catch the colt.

“Here goes...” The magic from the horn stopped. All eyes looked to the threaded net as the seeds were released. Certainly enough, the seeds blew their shells off in eight directions, carving their way through the threads in one fell swoop. The young Pound Cake, unprepared by the action, fell to the ground, only to be caught by the stranger in the giant hat. The group gathered around.

“Pound Cake!” Twilight fought her way to the centre of the crowd. “Oh, your mom and dad were so worried about you!” She could barely hold back the tears.

“Speaking of which, Miss Sparkle,” Layton spoke, “what arrangements do we have to get Pound Cake back to Sugarcube Corner?” That thought knocked Twilight for a loop.

“Uh, I... well...”

“It’s alright, kid,” the donkey announced gruffly. “I’ll take him back to Ponyville.” Cranky turned to the colt, sound asleep from exhaustion in Hershel’s arms. “Let’s get you back home.” Twilight levitated the baby pony onto Cranky’s back, who turned to the remaining three. “Hey, you three be careful out there.”

“Thank you, Cranky,” Twilight answered quietly, before the donkey left for town. Their attention quickly turned back inwards.

“We need to get to Pinkie Pie,” the unicorn spoke up first, “and I think I know where she’ll be.” Zecora nodded her approval before replying.

“Then lead the way, my pony friend. We’re with you to the very end. The forest is dangerous, no lie, but we do not rest before finding Pinkie Pie.”

“We must make haste, Twilight,” the professor agreed. “I have a feeling that these kidnappings are also a stall for time.”

“What do you mean by ‘also’?”

“Why would whoever is in charge of these actions go after you and your friends specifically? Why no other pony?”

“You... raise a good point. But we need to hurry! Let’s go!” The trio headed deep into the forest, at a pace which did little to disguise their worry.

About half an hour later, the professor, the unicorn and the zebra happened upon a river stretching out across the path. Twilight’s mind clicked immediately.

“I know this place! We came across it on our first journey through the forest!”

“I’ve never been this way before,” Zecora’s voice boomed deep. “But I know of monsters, there may be more. I fear for us, I must own up, but don’t let us, our journey interrupt.” With an uncanny sense of timing, a strangely musical sound carried down the waterway. The professor, a dabbler in classical works, could easily pick out one of the primary instruments.

“That sounds to me like a cello. Do either of you know a cellist?” Zecora shook her head.

“Well, I know of one,” answered Miss Sparkle. “She’s a performer, popular with the Canterlot elite.” Not long afterwards, the air portrayed smooth synthetic violin and organ sounds, along with a thumping and intricate bassline. “Now I know THAT can only be one pony!” Soon after that, a male yet effeminate chuckled in glee from the same direction.

It wasn’t long before the three answers drifted on through. Most obvious was a gargantuan serpentine, a vivid shock of purple with a carefully-trimmed moustache and hair not dissimilar from the toupee belonging to Cranky Doodle. The creature’s scales glistened in the glare of the sun reflecting off the water. Upon the sea serpent’s back stood two ponies, both female.

The first was an earth mare coated in a demure shade of grey, coupled with a carbon-coloured mane and tail. She wore a pink bow tie, and her treble clef, much like her eyes, was a soft purple. She held her beloved cello and played it, feeling the finesse and essence of every last note she played.

The second pony, a unicorn, had a very light grey body and a wide smile on her face. Her mane and tail were two tones of blue and running wild. Over her eyes, she wore armless sunglasses, black-framed and tinted purple on the lenses. A plain black sixteenth note adorned her flank, in stark contrast to her skin tone.

“Vinyl!” Twilight called out. The light grey unicorn’s attention snapped to the shore. She pulled her shade down her nose slightly, revealing her eyes to be a startling magenta.

“Well, I’ll be...” her voice was tomboyish and cutting. “Twilight Sparkle! What brings you to the scary ol’ forest?”

“Is that Twilight, dear Vinyl?” Octavia’s voice was well-affected, befitting a Canterlot pony. The darker grey of the two stood alongside her musical partner, spotting the three on the shore. “How are you, student of Celestia? And Miss Zecora, I presume.” The zebra smiled knowingly.

“Octavia, child, your notes can sway, to tell the night or call the day. With Miss Scratch standing by your side, only good things come when your sounds collide.”

“Oh, no, we’re not... we’re not dating. I have myself a stallion back in the city.” At this, Vinyl Scratch cocked her head towards Octavia, before raising an eyebrow. It wasn’t long before the earth mare broke out laughing in a manner normally unbefitting of her composure. “Oh, I’m sorry, I just can’t do it,” she yelled out ecstatically between uproarious hoots. Vinyl Scratch couldn’t help but giggle at the sight before her. Zecora and Twilight, however, both rolled their eyes at the marefriends before them.

“How are you, Stephan?” The purple unicorn turned her attention to the sea serpent.

“Oh, my dear, you know I prefer it pronounced with eh, not ee, and emphasis on the a!” Stephan replied with a flourish.

“Oh, sorry. Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, Stephan. May we please introduce Professor Layton?” The professor stepped forward and tipped his hat.

“Ooh, a professor!” The DJ squealed. “You must be really smart! Smarter than Twilight here.” This elicited a groan from the offended mare.

“Yes, well, it doesn’t just take intelligence to become a professor, Miss Scratch,” Hershel took the reins of the talk. “It takes time and dedication as well.”

“Yes, Vinyl, my love,” Octavia interjected quickly. “As much as your cutie mark denotes it, you still need to practice to become the finest electronic musician in Equestria.” She turned to Twilight, who was still grumbling her fellow unicorn’s off-handed insult. “Pay Vinyl no mind, Twilight. You and your compatriots have performed feats that all others can only dream of achieving.”

“If I may interrupt,” Stephan felt it necessary to re-enter the back and forth. “We have ourselves a conundrum. Perhaps your wonderful mind can help us solve this.”

“I will endeavour to answer your question, Stephan,” Layton replied, making sure to pronounce the sea creature’s name as he requested.

Puzzle 041

“We have been working on a musical project, the three of us. We use a lake upstream to practice and record our works. However, it is difficult to get my pony friends into the middle of a lake. So! I have put in a special lily pad to hold them whilst they play.

“The lake is a perfect circle, just like the lily pad. Very handy. I’ve put the lily in the centre, and at the moment it stretches a quarter of the way from the centre of the pad to the edge. This lily pad grows to double its old size in a week.

“If I wanted the pad to cover half of the lake, how long from now do I stop it from growing?”

“I find myself quite intrigued by the range of plant life to be found in this forest,” the professor commented with a grin. “I believe you will need this amount of time to reach your pad’s desired size.”

After a little explanation, Stephan, Vinyl and Octavia understood the professor’s reasoning.

“Oh, he’s very good, isn’t he, Octy?” Vinyl turned to her cellist partner, who groaned heavily.

“Please, please, PLEASE don’t call me Octy. It is rather uncouth.”

“Aw, come on! You love it, really.” As much as the earth mare wanted to argue, she did enjoy the nickname. All she could do was giggle at the pet name that the DJ had gifted her.

“Well, come across, my friends!” Stephan cleared the way for the professor’s party to cross the way.

“Thanks, Stephan!” Twilight yelled appreciatively. “Say hi to the wife for me!”

“Ohohoho, I most certainly will!” With that, Octavia took up her cello and Vinyl stood back in front of her keyboard, the two them launching into another tune, more soothing than the last. Stephan drifted gently downstream, chuckling away at the beauty of the sound.

“Shall we?” The professor proposed to the pony and Zecora. They continued onwards at their original gait.

It wasn’t long before Twilight found her theory to be correct. The group crossed a rickety wooden bridge, before coming across a large stone building, left to disrepair.

“It seems to be a castle,” Layton commented inquisitively. “Does this place hold significance?”

“It’s very important, Professor!” Twilight burst out, before restraining herself. “This is the original Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna used to reign over Equestria from here, before... before Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon.” Twilight began to recoil slightly.

“Are you okay, Miss Sparkle?”

“Yeah, it’s just... this was the first place where I truly felt scared for my life. Even so, it is the first place I realised true friendship. It feels like whoever is behind this wants to dredge up old memories... A bad idea for them to make.” Twilight had a slightly evil grin on her face. “Nopony messes with my friends and gets away with it.” The mare dashed to the door, only to be held back by her zebra friend.

“I may never have been here before, but could there be traps behind this door? We must tread lightly for fear of loss. One pony in trouble’s already the cost.” The imparted wisdom brought Twilight back her senses.

“You’re right, Zecora. Thank you. Come on, let’s take a look!” Twilight gingerly opened the doors, ducking just a hail of darts whizzed by the team’s heads. She bore her teeth in worry.

“Yikes! You called it, Zecora.” The professor peered around the doorframe, noticing something which resembled a challenge. He turned to the unicorn.

“Do you recall this room being filled with mirrors, Miss Sparkle?”

“Uh, no, I don’t think so. Why?”

“It seems our perpetrator has gone to great lengths to prevent us from freeing Miss Pie. However, some critical thinking should light the way.”

Puzzle 042

“It seems that we need to use the mirrors to direct a beam of light into the hatch at the north of the room. At the moment, the light would not reach its intended destination. The mirrors currently in place are affixed to the ground.

“Fortunately, it seems that we have been provided with 3 mirrors to aid the light. They cannot be placed over the holes in the floor. I would also be willing to believe that we have to use all of the mirrors at least once.”

“Well, Professor,” Zecora started, confused and worried, “unfortunately, there is no solution that I can see.” Twilight scanned the room again, her mind struggling to piece it together.

“I’d say it’s impossible, Professor. What if our kidnapper chose to throw in a paradox just to throw us off?” Layton smiled at Twilight’s surprising naivety.

“If this puzzle was impossible, how would our suspect be able to place Miss Pie into it in the first place? It would not be beyond doubt that she has been hidden in one of those holes. In the meantime, we need to move these mirrors.”

“You have an answer?” Twilight arched her eyebrow.

“Every puzzle has an answer.” Layton wore his trademark knowing smile.

As the last mirror was slid in place, the three waited with baited breath.

“What happens now, Professor?” Twilight asked in a panic.

“Now... we wait.” However, no waiting was necessary, as the room began shaking. Zecora and the magician were barely able to hold themselves, but Hershel stood, swaying with the palpitations, all the while holding the hat to his head. Slowly but surely, the missing floors rose from beneath the ground, sliding into place. With a loud clank, the flooring was complete again. Twilight picked herself and dusted off her now dusty coat. She looked at the human, bewildered.

“How could you just remain stood there the whole time? The ground was trembling!”

“A true gentleman remains calm and unruffled in any situation. However, I think we should turn our attentions to that cage.” As obvious as the imposing metal structure was, neither mare had noticed it in the confusion.

“Oh.” Twilight walked over to the cage, a large barred affair with an icy coldness. In it sat a pale pink pony, her mane drooping straight from her head. He cutie mark was indistinguishable amongst the gloom emanating from her. The floor of the prison had a ring-shaped indent worn into it. It was clear that the pony had run herself in circles in a panic. It seemed that she was oblivious to the trembling and the change in environment. Twilight spoke gently.

“Pinkie?” The replying voice was angry.

“I wish these thoughts stopped plaguing me! They’re never coming for me!”

“Pinkie, it’s me, Twilight.”

“Go away, evil thoughts! Stop mocking me!” Pinkie started crying, but Twilight persisted, placing a hoof through the bars on Pinkie’s shoulder. The caged mare raised her head slowly.

“Pinkie, you’re safe now.” The unicorn couldn’t help but shed a tear, looking at how Pinkie’s incarceration had made her fragile. Pinkie turned around, wiping tears from her eyes, greeting her friend with a weak smile.

“Twilight?”

“Yes, Pinkie?”

“Who’s the upright pony in the big hat? He’s never in my thoughts.”

“Exactly. And was Zecora in your thoughts?”

“No.”

“Which means?” Slowly, Pinkie’s mane started inflating and vivid colour slowly returned to her body. The yellow and two blue balloons on her flank became wondrously visible, and her eyes returned to their glorious blue. A grin widened on her face as she fully realised that this wasn’t another taunting dream. The party pony rattled off a breathless one-sided conversation like a volley of cannon fire.

“Twilight, Twilight, Twilight! Oh, you came! I’m so happy you came to find me! I was going crazy in here!” Twilight failed to stifle her giggles. The professor and Zecora looked on with pleased looks on the respective faces.

“Yeah, I could tell. Alright, stand back.” Pinkie Pie happily obliged, and Twilight fired a beam at the bars, a pink wall forming on the surface. “Come on through, Pinkie.” The earth mare bounced jollily through the portal, before throwing her front hoofs around her friend.

“Oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you! You are the bestest best friend a pony could ever have! And not just ‘cause you saved me but ‘cause you are awesome and smart and funny and almost as crazy as me and...” Pinkie’s rapid fire monologue was reduced to mumbles by Twilight stuffing a hoof in her mouth.

“Let’s get out of here, Pinkie.” Too late. Pinkie had already dashed over to the professor.

“Ooh, you don’t look like a pony! What’s your name?”

“My name is Professor Hershel Layton. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Pie.”

“Oh!” Pinkie’s seemingly rocket-powered mouth kicked into overdrive. “Call me Pinkie, Miss Pie is my mother’s name. At least, it was before she got married, then she got married to my father who took her name, then she became Mrs Pie, they had three children, I was one of them. Then Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom taught me to smile and made me all happy! Hey! Let’s have a party!” Layton was a little taken aback by the sheer outflow of information from the pink pony, but he kept himself calm.

“It might be wise, Pinkie, for us to return to Ponyville before anything else.” Suddenly, a shadow cast itself from the door. The silhouette of a large pony stood at the gap. The mystery pony was dressed top to toe in a very deep blue skin-tight suit, complete with a pair of tinted lenses. The pony wore a purple hat and cape.

“Mare-Do-Well?!” Twilight was incredulous. The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well stood in front of them.

“I believe you were at the Appleloosan orchard, Mare-Do-Well,” the professor surmised. “What did you see?” Layton’s question was met in the most hostile way possible. Mare-Do-Well pawed at the ground and lowered her head, before launching herself at the professor.

“Hold on, Professor!” Twilight had gathered herself, Pinkie and Zecora by Hershel’s side, her horn glowing more sharply than before.

Poof!

Upon opening his eyes, the professor could see that everyone was intact. They had landed very accurately outside Zecora’s hut, the potion bottles hanging undisturbed by the warp. The unicorn groaned, holding her head in a hoof.

“Ugh... three species in one teleport... takes some effort to not scramble you all...”

“I want Zecora’s stripy hair. Pleasepleaseplease?” Pinkie was making pleading eyes at her exhausted friend.

“No, Pinkie.”

“Aw, come on!”

“No-“

“Go on!”

“NO!” Twilight was quickly agitated by the party mare’s incessant plea, but Pinkie merely shrugged.

“Oh, well! Worth a shot.” Pinkie Pie being whistling tunelessly, before bouncing off towards the safety of the town. Zecora raised an eyebrow in sheer confusion, before shrugging and turning to the professor and the remaining pony.

“I’ve had enough excitement for the day, so I shall be on my own way. Professor, find the remaining mare, and student of spells, please do take care.”

“We shall, Miss Zecora,” the distinguished gentleman replied, nodding his head in gratitude. Twilight smiled as her herbalist friend turned tail for her hut, nudging the door open with her nose. A faint yet acrid smell filtered out through the doorway whilst it was open, causing the horned pony to clutch her nose.

“Ugh!” she remarked rapidly. “How can anypony live in such a smell?”

“She is a potion maker by art and profession, Miss Sparkle,” the distinguished gentleman returned an answer. “It would not be beyond possibility that she requires ingredients with such potency. In fact, I would venture a guess that she is also an accomplished tea crafter. Hmmm...” Twilight could notice Layton’s frowning eyes, and it made her uneasy.

“What are you thinking, Professor?”

“I think I have made an oversight in the investigation. There was something which did not quite make sense, but I have it solved.”

“And?”

“I’d say,” Hershel replied with a slight grin, “that we are much closer to solving this mystery than we previously thought.” He turned to face the path to Ponyville. “Shall we?”

“Just give me a sec, Professor. I’m still a little worn out from that teleport.”

“Perhaps we should walk. It will give you the opportunity to regain your composure.”

“Heh, yeah... That’s a much better idea...” The two academics headed for the safety of the town, walking gently towards the Everfree’s edge, glints of the sun slicing through the tree trunks.

Comments

[The Doctor is cool]

MARE DO WELL what the..