Professor Layton and the Equestrian Silence

by Crystal Blue

Chapter 16: Chaos and Confusion in Cloudsdale

Chapter 16: Chaos and Confusion in Cloudsdale

As the professor returned to Ponyville, far beyond the diminutive village, a purple and gold hot air balloon rose beyond the mountains. Luke sat in the basket, revelling in the massive landscape that sprawled to the shining horizon. He gazed slack-jawed, his brilliant yet young mind struggling to take in the luscious scenery. However, his companions were a little less settled. Fluttershy was lying on her side, quivering and clutching the baby dragon in all four of her hooves.

“I-I don’t wanna fall!” The timid pegasus’s voice was at a whisper. “P-please don’t let m-me f-f-fall!” As she continued to shake, Spike wore an unhappy grimace on his face.

“Hey, Luke. It’s your turn to comfort Fluttershy. I’ve been lying here for half an hour!”

“Are you able to pilot the balloon?” the boy questioned the dragon.

“Well, yeah.” Spike’s voice carried irritated undertones. “I’ve been living with Twilight for years. I’ve picked up a couple things by now.”

“Alright, just a moment.” Luke stepped away from his lookout and kneeled down to the petrified pegasus pony.

“Fluttershy? It’s me, Luke,” the child’s voice was mellow. The sound of it calmed her considerably. “I’ve got a way to make you feel better.” The youngster placed his right hand between the bases of Fluttershy’s wings, before running his fingers up and down her back. The tension in the pony’s muscles drained away, allowing the dragon to wriggle free of her previously iron grip. Luke continued the gentle massage, but was met with an interesting sound.

It was the sound of gentle sleep. Fluttershy shuffled around the floor, before curling up in a corner, looking more comfortable than even Spike had seen her before. The reptilian himself looked on with amazement.

“How did you do that?” he wondered in a hushed voice. “You’ve just calmed the biggest scaredy-pony in all of Equestria!”

“I have a gift with animals as well,” Luke replied with a smile. “I’ve never had one fall asleep before. She must’ve tired herself out with all of her worrying.” Twilight always kept a couple of spare items in the basket in case of emergency, and Luke wasted no time in pulling out a couple of blankets and draping them gently over the sleeping mare. He stood up again and turned to Spike.

“How much longer do you think it will be before we reach Cloudsdale?”

“I’d say about 20 minutes,” the baby dragon, himself a veritable well of knowledge, replied with confidence. “I hope that Twilight is doing okay...”

“She’s with the Professor,” Luke acknowledged his flight’s partner’s concern, a knowing look of determination coupling his response. “I trust him with my life. Twilight has nothing to fear. Hmmm... Tell me, Spike. How did you and Twilight meet? I mean, you’re a dragon and she’s a unicorn, which still surprises me.”

“It’s a long story.”

“We’ve got time!”

“Well... I started out as a purple and green egg...”

As Spike wrapped up his life story, the balloon breached a layer of clouds, the basket following soon afterwards. A grand sight stood before the group. Building of marble and pearly granite sat atop thick white clouds, and liquid rainbows poured from many places. Wispy cirrus clouds ran rings around the top of the city. On one branch sat what appeared to be a stadium, lined with yellow flags flapping proudly in the breeze. Most noticeable about the sky metropolis was the near-innumerable amount of pegasi whizzing about in perfect synchronisation.

Back in the basket, Fluttershy stirred gently, a few mumbles ringing from her lips. She opened her eyes daintily, so as to avoid being dazed by the sunlight.

“Have... have we arrived?” Spike turned to notice the waking pegasus.

“Yeah, here we are, I think. Wow, I’ve never been here before.”

“Oh, you haven’t? Didn’t Twilight ever bring you up here?”

“Well... she hadn’t completely got a grasp on the cloud walking spells. Heh, ponies are one thing, but dragons? Whole different ball game.”

“I... I’m not too sure about this, Fluttershy.” Luke looked at the cloud, uncertain of Twilight’s capabilities. Spike just shrugged, before diving feet first out of the basket. The cloud absorbed his landing, caving just a touch before rebounding back into place. He spun around on one clawed foot, giving a bow to the basket.

“You can do it, Luke,” the yellow mare offered quiet words of encouragement. The young man gulped, before vaulting himself out of the basket and landing squarely on his backside. Dazed, he sat up, amazed at this previous unimaginable feat.

“This is brilliant!” His London accent made itself obvious with a silent t. He could have leapt around on the cloud all day, but there were other matters at hand. Fluttershy stepped gracefully from the basket before readjusting her mane.

“We need to find Rainbow Dash,” Spike noted, bringing the boy back to his attention.

“Do you know where we can find her?”

“Really, I got nothing. It’s anypony’s guess...”

“We’d best keep our eyes open for rainbow trails,” the timid mare spoke up. “They should lead us to Rainbow Dash.”

“I don’t think it’ll be too difficult to find her, dear Fluttershy.”

That motherly voice was familiar. The group turned to face the white form of the Solar Princess. Upon the realisation, all of them bowed before her.

“Hello, Princess Celestia,” opened Fluttershy, pleased to see somepony on the clouds that she knew well.

“Hello, Fluttershy, Spike. I trust your journey here was smooth?”

“Yes, thank you. I was nervous coming back here, but Luke managed to calm me down.” The alicorn smiled, before moving her head to face Luke.

“Thank you, Luke, for taking such great care of my subjects.” The human child blushed uncontrollably at this royal commendation.

“Thank you, Your Highness! But how did you know we’d be here?”

“Twilight and Spike sent me a message before you all parted ways. Now, from what the Professor has told me, you are also very good at problem solving.”

“Of course!” replied Luke, his chest puffing up slightly in pride. “I am Professor Layton’s apprentice, after all.”

“Excellent, Luke. Then perhaps you can help solve an architectural riddle for me. It’s one that has been giving the weather factory seniors headaches for the past couple of days.”

Puzzle 043

“The weather factory has been working on technologies for improving condensation for more effective rainfalls, which will in turn help the growing of food.

“They want to create an enclosure out of glass to help them. What you see here are 4 identical supports. The red sections hold the glass in place. The one problem is that the supports must be vertical for enclosure to have the best stability. The base of the enclosure has to be at least as wide as the top.

“Is there any way to arrange the supports so the red connections are the same distance from each other?”

“It always helps to think about things from another perspective,” Luke replied, relatively certain that his first idea would hold. He pulled out his notepad and pencil, scribbling furiously away until his solution was visible. He thrust the pad in front of the Princess’s eyes. After a quick scan, the Princess closed her eyes.

“Well? What do you think, Your Highness?” The white pony smiled, pleased at the nifty work performed by the boy.

“The Professor has trained your mind very well indeed! He speaks highly of you, and with great reason.”

“Thank you, Princess. I aspire one day to be a gentleman just like...” Luke’s explanation was cut short by an aerial stampede rolling across the city, heading straight for the group.

“What’s going on?” Spike was the one to ask the question.

“I’m not sure,” Celestia looked through the crowd, concerned at what was causing the pegasi to fly at such a pace. “They seem to be escaping from the weather factory. Come with me!” The Princess led way through the influx of ponies; her wings open in defence of her charges.

The weather factory was an oddly designed place. Many pillared arches of varying sizes held multiple buildings off the clouds. Atop the tallest building sat a blue orb. Luke couldn’t tell whether the sphere had a purpose or was just an aesthetic choice. More rainbow falls spouted from the clouds beneath the structure, but these were in stark contrast to the black thunderclouds looming threateningly over the entire complex.

Pegasi were still pouring out of the doors to the cloud room.

“It must be in there!” the Princess spoke loudly over the continuous escape.

“What is it?” Spike’s teeth chattered from fear.

“I don’t know, but if the Professor is correct, it will have something to do with Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy’s eyes shot open at the mention of her fellow pegasus.

“Ohmygoodness ohmygoodness. Poor Rainbow! We’ve gotta save her!” The pegasus uncharacteristically bucked open the doors to the cloud room, before turning and seeing the true danger of the situation.

In the centre of the room, a dark grey tornado had formed, tearing at the walls with unrelenting force. It span at a monumental pace, whistling deafeningly and throwing debris in every direction.

“What's causing this?” the little dragon questioned, aghast at the bottled chaos.

“I don’t think it’s coming from above,” Luke noted, holding onto his cap and pointing to the ceiling. It was completely devoid of clouds. He turned to the whimpering pegasus.

“Fluttershy! Do you know how to go downstairs from here?”

“Uh... y-y-yes... This way!” The mare took no time in running from the room, with the young man following, leaving Spike holding onto Princess Celestia’s foreleg.

“I need to stop this madness, Spike. I’ve got to destroy whatever is causing this!” The Princess charged up magic from the tip of her horn, when Spike shouted out to her.

“Don’t do it, Princess! What if...” A blur of colour streaked by from within the tornado, confirming Spike’s suspicion. “Rainbow’s in there, Princess! If you destroy what’s causing this, she could be killed!” A tear came to the pony’s eye.

“What am I supposed to do?!”

“Trust them, Princess. Trust Luke and trust Fluttershy.”

Down on the dark and dusty floor below, the human and the pegasus espied a large cage. Inside laid a giant machine with an industrial fan attached to the top. The fan was spinning frantically, generating the spinning winds upstairs.

“There it is!” Luke led the charge. “Let’s go, Fluttershy!” They approached the cage at full speed, stopping just before the gate.

“Oh, a puzzle!” Luke took a glance at it, before reeling. “I... I have no idea what to make of this.” Fluttershy cleared her throat gently.

“Um... I can give it a try... um, if you want me to...”

Puzzle 044

“The smallest and nimblest of the aerial team.”

“Um, this is not really my area of expertise... Still, I think I know. Can I borrow your pencil?” The boy reached into his pocket and withdrew the writing implement, placing the blunt end into the pony’s mouth. She took to the panel, writing on letters until it looked as she had hoped. She felt a swell of victory as the gate swung open.

SQUEE! Fluttershy squeaked in happiness.

“It’s not over yet,” Luke said worriedly as he stepped into the cage. He was about to bring his attention to the contraption when he heard groaning from the other side of it.

“Fluttershy! I think someone’s here!”

“I’ll go and see.” She rounded the machine. Sure enough, a pony was there. It was a blue unicorn stallion, with a mane of blue and yellow. His left eye was a shade of blue similar to that of his coat. His right eye, however, was a different story. It was metallic, with a single red lens swivelling about freely. Parts of the right side of his face and body were scarred black. His cutie mark resembled a stylised atom.

“Oh, my goodness! Are you okay?” Fluttershy was panicked by finding the unicorn there.

“Ow... My head... It stings...” The stallion’s voice was gravelly, somewhat in conflict with his underwhelming figure.

“Let’s get you out of here.” The pegasus mustered up all of the strength she could to drag the dizzied unicorn up to the Princess and Spike. Luke refocused on the machine in front of him, placing his hand on his chin much like his mentor.

Puzzle 045

“Behold! This is my Tornado Generator. Primed to activate whenever that multi-coloured pony dares touch the air in the room above, I’d guess it worked; else you wouldn’t be down here. As you can see there are six keys and six keyholes. Put the keys in the keyholes and press the STOP button. Sounds simple, but there are a few rules:

• As can be ascertained by anyone, the keys’ colours are representative of each of your circle of friends. With that in mind, only one of any kind of pony can have their key on each row or column.

• The blue key is to enter the keyhole in the centre of the bottom row.

• The yellow key is to enter a keyhole in the top row, as far from the purple key as possible.

• The pink key is to be as close to the STOP button as possible, and must be boxed in by the unicorns’ keys.

“Get going!”

“Let’s see if I can remember the body colours of the group...” Luke thought for a moment, reading over the instructions again. He picked up one key after another, placing them into the slots and turning them with a satisfying clank. Soon, he was ready, hoping the Princess was ready.

“Okay, then. Here we go.” The boy thumped the stop button with considerable force. Shortly afterwards, the offending fan began to slow, bringing the indoor tornado down in size. Rainbow Dash was more noticeable in the winds, her unconscious body flailing limply in the rotation. Celestia plucked the pegasus from the air with her magic, bringing the cyan pony softly down to the ground. A worried Spike ran over, almost unable to stop.

“Rainbow!”

“Stay back, Spike!” Celestia held up a hoof, keeping the dragon away. “Give her some room.” Rainbow Dash’s cyan coat went well with her six-coloured mane. Her vivid rose eyes blinked open, paying little attention to the destruction around her.

“My head...” The young mare shook her mane. “Princess? Where am I?”

“You’re in the cloud room, Rainbow Dash.”

“All I remember is turning up for work, and then I woke up here...” Fluttershy and Luke dragged the unconscious stallion into the main room. The Princess turned to the scenario, recognising the pony.

“Get away from him, you two!” Celestia’s voice was filled with anger. “He’s mine!” The pony and the boy stepped away from the blue unicorn. Celestia levitated him into air, vigorously shaking him awake. “Crystal Blue, you have much to explain!”

“Oh, it’s you, Princess,” Crystal Blue groaned, resigning himself to being found out. “This looks bad, doesn’t it?”

“You’ve met before, Princess?” Fluttershy asked, a little surprised. The regal pony’s face was a look of pure sadness.

“Yes. Crystal Blue is one of my best scientists, and has a few spells to his name. But... Did you do this, Crystal? Did you cause this?” The guilty unicorn nodded sombrely.

“Why did you do this?”

“Because...” Crystal Blue gathered his argument. “I was offered a large amount of money to do it.” Princess Celestia’s sadness quickly switched to barely restrained lividness, her eyes beaming white.

“You did this for MONEY?!” Her target gambolled about like a ragdoll under the Princess’s magic. She had quickly lost control of herself.

“Princess! Stop!” Fluttershy raised an unusually loud protest, her eyes moist at the unicorn’s suffering. “Nopony needs to suffer like this!”

“He’s made ponies suffer today, Fluttershy! I can’t forgive him for hurting Rainbow Dash. Not now.”

“Maybe not,” Rainbow Dash spoke up, picking herself up from the debris-covered ground. “But I can. Put him down, Princess. Please. I want a few answers myself.” The angry Princess ceased throwing Crystal about. Her face remained in anger for just a moment longer before her head hung low, her eyelids falling. Crystal fell to the floor, right at the hooves of his next interrogation.

“Who paid you?” asked Rainbow Dash, trying her hardest not to seem curt.

“I... I don’t know. She just called herself Mare-Do-Well. That’s all I know!” Rainbow, in spite of the mention of the mysterious mare, remained stoic.

“Why did you need the money so bad?” The blue unicorn sighed heavily.

“Fern Dweller...”

“Who?”

“Fern Dweller! My one true love. I’d do anything for her. I... needed the money to prepare for proposing a marriage to her. The hoof bands, the wedding, setting up for the rest of our lives together.”

“But wait a minute,” responded Fluttershy. “Why didn’t you ask the Princess for help?”

“Because I’m not you, Fluttershy,” Crystal countered. “You and Rainbow Dash and the rest of your group of friends, you have earned the respect of the Princess through your acts for all of ponykind. I’m a mere meddler in sciences. What right have I to ask a favour of royalty?” The alicorn’s face fell into sadness again. Had she put herself that far out of reach? I tried so hard, she thought to herself. I tried and I failed, and this was the result.

“Oh, come on!” Rainbow replied, indignant. “You think you’re the only one to have tried to ask the Princess for help? I bet there are hundreds who she’s helped.”

“But,” the unicorn began, “nopony I know has talked about such a thing!”

That was when Luke made himself apparent.

“Maybe they’re embarrassed to mention needing help. People can keep secrets for all kinds of reasons! If someo- I mean, somepony you knew wanted to propose, do you think they’d tell any other ponies?”

“...You’re right.”

“I can help you, Crystal,” the voice of the Princess broke under her melancholy. “There will be consequences for your actions, but you’re not the only pony. I should have noticed that you needed help.”

“I only needed a favour, Princess, not help...” Celestia looked at her charge, a look of unbelief in her eyes. Crystal sighed deeply.

“Maybe I do need help,” the unicorn whispered, resigning himself to his inner struggles. The walls of his emotion crumbled and he flooded his patch of floor in salty tears. The Princess kneeled down to the scientist, wrapping her wing around him and nuzzling his scraggly mane.

“Uh, I think we should get outta here,” Rainbow cast a gentle aside to Luke and Fluttershy.

“Um, okay...” her fellow pegasus nodded in agreement. The group of four left quietly, allowing gentle privacy between the regal pony and her employee.

Outside the factory complex, Luke, Rainbow, Spike and Fluttershy saw a massive gathering of pegasi.

“I think we need to go back to Ponyville,” the boy noted. “Twilight and the Professor will be there waiting.” Rainbow shook her head, wearing a confused expression.

“Professor? Wait, you’re not a pony, and I don’t know anypony who’s a professor!”

“I’m human and so is the Professor!”

“Human?! Oh, Celestia help you if you run into Lyra!”

“Uh, we already have. Anyway, we’ve got to get back to Ponyville.”

“Heh, no prob! You came up by Twilight’s balloon, right? It’ll be a quick dash to get you two back to town. Keep up!” The grinning mare zipped away through the sky, leaving a prismatic trail in her wake. Fluttershy turned to Luke in a casual fashion.

“Did I mention that Rainbow Dash is one of the fastest flyers in Equestria?”

“No. No, you didn’t.”

“Oh... I’m sorry... We’d best catch up to her.” The two of them lined themselves up with Spike to chase after their pegasus friend, travelling for the balloon back to the ground.