2. Visiting Hours
Missing Dreams
Chapter 2
Visiting Hours
Rainbow Dash sat numbly in a small corner of Golden oaks library, watching the scene going on around her as though she were a doll in a little filly's bedroom. Everything seemed... wrong. The front room looked more like a crime scene than a library. Being perfectly honest, that's exactly what it was; tens of guards filled the relatively small room, and there were even more standing outside the tree. She couldn't remember how she got to her small corner, but she did remember being asked repeatedly to “leave the crime scene”. When she refused to budge, a guard had forced her to at least move out of the way.
She didn't know how long it'd been. Ever since it had happened everything had passed by in a seemingly hollow and lifeless to her ears. Everything seemed hollow and lifeless to her.
blur. The clock on the wall reminded her that it was now past midnight, its ticking and tocking
The guards were moving in and out of the front door, propped open for their ease. Through the doorway a small, quickly growing crowd of ponies could be seen forming a semicircle outside, trying to get any information they could.
“Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow jolted at the noise, accompanied by a hoof gently tapping her on the shoulder. She turned, giving the guard who'd disturbed her a questioning look.
“I'm here to collect your statement, if you could come with me please,” the guard explained softly, motioning for her to follow. When she didn't move, the guard sighed and took off his helmet. The enchantment placed on the armour faded, allowing his natural coat colours to shine through. Now a red earthpony with a short-cut brown mane, he sat back on his haunches, continuing to speak softly; “I know you're confused, and you don't know what happened, but neither do we, and we're trying to find out. I won't make you leave the library, but if we could go upstairs where it's a little quieter? I promise it'll only a take a moment.”
Blinking at him, Rainbow slowly rose to her hooves, eyes betraying little emotion as she followed him up the stairs. When they disappeared around the corner, a new face walked through the front door.
“What happened?” Celestia's voice boomed, all of the guards inside instantly stopping what they were doing and turning to look at the princess. Luna walked in behind her with a solid frown stretched across her face. “What happened to my student?” Celestia repeated, her voice shaking the tree without her even having to shout. Her face was pressed into a neutral line, but she had an intense aura radiating off her, as though she were the sun itself giving off a heat so intense a pony would burst into flames if they got too close.
One of the guards rushed up to her and bowed deeply. “Your majesty, we... do not yet know. Miss Rainbow Dash gave us very little information, and I have just now sent one of my subordinates to collect her statement. I believe they went up stairs.”
Celestia nodded curtly. “Thank you. From now on Princess Luna will be heading the investigation; run everything you currently know past her. I will handle Rainbow Dash myself.” Without a word further Celestia walked swiftly through the room, maneuvering deftly through the guards and climbing the stairs.
Luna watched her sister go before turning to the guard. “What do we know?” She asked, drawing a pensive frown from the stallion.
“Not much, I'm afraid. We'll know a lot more after Princess Celestia talks to Rainbow Dash. When she got to the guard station she barely said a word to us and practically dragged me over here,” the stallion explained. “We think it was some kind of enchantment, but none of us have ever seen anything like it before. Whatever had the enchantment placed on it is either gone or destroyed itself. There is one thing we know for sure though.”
“And that is?”
The guard pointed towards a pile of purple shards, as though a large glass structure had been shattered. “Those are all that remain of Twilight Sparkle.”
“Okay, Miss Dash,” the stallion started slowly, quill grasped in the corner of his mouth and notepad in his hooves. Rainbow sat on the edge of the bed in front of him while he'd pulled a chair over from the desk. “Can you tell me what happened?”
Rainbow stared resolutely down at her hooves, fiddling with them idly. “T-Twilight...” she started slowly, throat dry as a desert. “She... disappeared...”
The guard cringed, knowing full well what the shards on the first floor were. “Well... do you know how it happened?”
“I-I don't know... she just...” Rainbow trailed off again, the silence she left weighing heavily upon the room. It was broken by the sound of the door opening.
“Officer,” Celestia's voice called. “You're needed down on the first floor; I'll handle collecting her statement.”
The stallion jumped up at the voice, bowing respectfully before slapping his helmet back on his head and hurrying towards the door, his coat back to the uniform white of the Royal Guard. “Yes Ma'am,” he said as he passed the Princess, giving a quick salute and leaving the room. Once he was gone, Celestia closed the door softly and walked further into the room, sitting down on the chair the guard had vacated.
“Rainbow Dash,” she greeted quietly. The pegasus didn't even lift her eyes. “Can you tell me what happened?”
Rainbow glanced up, meeting Celestia' gaze for a brief second before returning them to the her lap. “I... I don't really know...” she started slowly, just as she'd said to the guard. “Twilight just... she just disappeared.”
“What in tarnation is going on here!?” A familiar southern accented voice called from the main room.
“Ah, it seems your friends have arrived. One moment, please,” Celestia said, standing from her chair and walking to the door, shouting down the steps for the guards to let them pass. After a few moment of silence four mares came charging into the room.
“Princess,” they greeted simultaneously, bowing respectfully before taking note of the pegasus sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Rainbow!” Fluttershy cried, hurrying over and leaning down, trying to catch the despondent mare's eye. “Rainbow, what's wrong? What happened?” In an instant the rest of her friends were there, all talking over each other as they tried to have their questions answered.
Celestia cleared her throat with enough power to silence the entire room. “Please, I know all of you have many questions, as do I, but we need to take it one step at a time. Have a seat. Rainbow, if you could continue?”
The pegasus nodded wearily, finally looking up as her friends all sat back on their haunches, forming a semicircle around the bed. “Well... after me an' Twi left dinner with you girls we, uh... came back here and...” her voice cracked sharply, making her pause and regain her composure before continuing. “We... we found a box sitting outside. It'd been mailed to her.”
“Is that the box sitting on the table downstairs?” Celestia interjected in the moment of silence Rainbow left behind.
Nodding, Rainbow continued. “So... we brought it inside, and when she opened it, it was a present. I thought it was from her family or something; a birthday gift delayed in the mail. I left the room and... and when I came back she... Twilight...” A strangled sob broke free, bringing forward the first tears. “She had these... lines. Like... like cracks almost, glowing white and-and covering her face. They kept spreading, a-and then... sh-she just...” Rainbow finally broke down into quiet crying, unable to finish the story.
Celestia couldn't keep her eyes from widening as she listened. “Rainbow Dash... did it... did Twilight seem to almost shatter? As though she were made of glass?”
Rainbow nodded.
A gasp ran through the crowd of gathered ponies, all of them unsure what to think. Eventually, four pairs of eyes turned to Celestia for some kind of explanation. The Princess seemed just as shocked as the rest of them, and if one were to look closely, they would be able to see shimmering tears in the corners of the alicorn's eyes. “I have not heard of this curse being used in millennium... not since Discord first ruled the land...”
“Princess? What happened to Twilight?” Pinkie asked fearfully.
Celestia stood from her chair and closed her eyes. “My little ponies... I am sorry.” She turned away as a single tear rolled down her cheeks. “Twilight Sparkle is dead.”
“NO!” All heads turned to the source of the roared rejection, misty eyes staring at a crying rainbow maned mare. “She is not!”
Celestia froze, having begun walking to the door. Without turning around, she explained, “I am sorry, Rainbow Dash. So very sorry, but she is; once this curse is activated it takes mere seconds for the recipient to die. There is nothing she could have done once it started.”
Rainbow leaped off the bed, landing mere inches away from the Princess. “Twilight is not dead!” She screamed, loud enough to be heard by the entire block.
“Denial is a very dangerous condition,” Celestia warned quietly, her voice hollow and drained. “It's best to accept it now and work on moving on; there's nothing more we can do for her except give her a proper funeral and catch the ones who did this.”
Tears flowed freely down Rainbow's face as she stomped her forehooves against the floor. “Twilight Sparkle is alive!”
Celestia whirled around in a heartbeat, glaring through teary eyes at the pegasus. “You can't possibly know that!” She shouted, her voice booming louder than a thunderstorm in the small room.
“I can!” Rainbow shot back without hesitation. “Before she...”
“Died,” Celestia offered in the absence of Rainbow's words.
“Disappeared,” the pegasus corrected through gritted teeth, “she told me to find her. She knew what was going on, and she told me to find her! She's not dead!”
Rainbow's words gave Celestia pause for thought, but it lasted mere seconds. “Rainbow Dash, it's not possible for her to know what was happening to her; the curse works too quickly. You either misheard her or your mind is making false memories to fuel your denial; there is only one spell that would do this, and that spell kills. She's dead, Rainbow Dash. The sooner you accept that the sooner you can move on.”
Without waiting for another argument, Celestia left the room at a swift pace closing the door behind her.
“She's not dead! I'll prove to you that she's not dead!” Rainbow screamed at the closed door.
“Rainbow Dash... darling...” Rarity whispered through her sniffles. “Come here.” The pegasus turned, seeing the four other ponies in the room wrapped into a single glob of a tearful group hug.
Pinkie peaked out of Fluttershy's mane as she clung to her like a piece of driftwood at sea. “There's already one friend missing; please don't make it two,” she said through her own tears.
“You believe her...” Rainbow said in disbelief. “You actually believe Twilight's dead!”
“Rainbow, when have we ever had a reason to doubt the Princess? You saw what happened!” Applejack argued, but she may as well be speaking a different language for the effect it had.
“I'll prove it to all of you!” Rainbow shouted, running to the balcony door. “She's not dead! I'll find her and prove to all of you that she's alive!” With that, she jumped out into the night and took off, soaring through the sky as fast as her wings would carry her.
“Sister,” Luna greeted carefully as Celestia descended the stairs, a look of mortal exhaustion on her face. “I believe I've figured out what happened.”
“Glass Statue,” Celestia answered automatically before Luna could.
The Princess of the Night nodded. “So we've come to the same conclusion. I am... sorry; I know she was very dear to you.”
Celestia sighed. “I have lived for many centuries; this is not the first time I have dealt with the death of a student, and it will not be the last. The only thing we can do is find the pony who did this to her . Do you have any leads?”
Luna started to reply but was cut off by the sound of muffled shouting from the second floor, followed by a crash. Not too long after, four sets of hooves came running down the stairs. Not one of the remaining Elements of Harmony stopped to greet the princesses as they ran to the door, only stopping when a golden glow shut and held it closed.
“My little ponies, where are you going?” Celestia asked calmly, gazing down at them and noting that one was – predictably – missing.
Applejack snorted, wiping away what remained of her tears from her cheeks. “We're gonna help her prove Twilight's alive.”
Celestia frowned. “Do not tell me she has dragged you four into her denial as well?”
“We doubted them once,” Rarity said defiantly. “We shan't be making that mistake again.”
“If Rainbow believes, then so will we,” Fluttershy spoke up in a voice louder than anypony present had ever heard from the mare.
“I'll throw Twilight a great big party when we find her!” Pinkie declared. “It'll be like she was never even gone!”
With an air of determination, Applejack turned around and bucked the door, sending it flying open into the darkened street outside.
“We'll tell you when we found her,” Rarity called as the mares ran out the doorway, chasing down a fading rainbow trail hanging in the sky.
Celestia sat and watched the mares ran out the door with an expression of utter and serene calmness, even if it felt like a bomb had gone off not five feet away from her. “Luna...” she started slowly, “Can you explain to me why ponies can be so...”
“Difficult?” Luna offered with a frown.
“Stupid,” Celestia corrected with a quiet groan. “Having faith in a friend is one thing, outright denying the facts is just stupidity.”
“Excuse me, your majesty?” A guard said hesitantly. “If you wish, I could go-”
“Do your job,” Celestia barked. “Find the one who did this to my student. I will deal with the rest of the Elements.”
The guard gave a quick salute. “As you wish, ma'am.”
Celestia sighed heavily, her shoulders slumping an imperceptible amount as she looked to her sister. “I need to go talk to them. Keep things moving here and I'll be back as soon as I can.”
With a sympathetic nod Luna returned to her work watching over the investigation and the guards filling Golden Oaks library. Meanwhile, the elder alicorn turned and trotted swiftly out the door, the slowly dwindling crowd of spectators parting for her like a stream around a stone as she looked to the sky. In the distance a rainbow coloured trail could be seen, pointing in the direction of Canterlot.
Down the street four colourful specs were running towards the train station.
With a mighty flap of her wings Celestia took to the air, quickly closing the distance between her and the remaining Elements of Harmony.
“Girls,” she called, keeping pace with them without so much as breaking a sweat.
Applejack nearly tripped over her hooves and the sudden voice, but quickly regained her balance, tossing a glare over her shoulder. “We ain't stopping. RD went to Canterlot, and so are we.”
Celestia stared at the back of the farmer's head for a moment before sighing in resignation. “I don't know what you expect to find there, but I will not stop you. Just don't get your hopes up.”
“We don't hope, we know,” Fluttershy called, jumping into the air as well and flying along side Celestia so they were on equal height. “If Rainbow believes, so do we.”
“I'll invite you to the party when we bring her home!” Pinkie exclaimed with a smile.
Celestia's eyes widened, her pace slowing until the four mares pulled away from her, eventually leaving her behind as she stopped and landed back on the path. “You can't bring her home...” she whispered sadly, closing her eyes tightly. “Nopony can bring her home anymore.”
Rarity glanced back at the alicorn sitting in the middle of the moonlit street. “She seems to be taking this rather hard...” she muttered softly, a sympathetic frown on her face.
“She'll be happy when we bring Twilight home; don't you worry none,” Applejack assured confidently, an unwavering smile on her face.
“I must admit that I am having some... doubts,” Rarity admitted, hanging her head a little.
“The evidence does seem a little overwhelming...”
Pinkie giggled. “Don't be silly; Twilight can't be...” the mare swallowed, unable to say the word hanging heavily on everypony's mind. “After all, you all heard what Twilight said to Dashie; she must have known what was going on!”
“What if, though?” Rarity insisted, albeit hesitantly. “I don't want to believe it anymore than you girls do but... we all saw her; Rainbow Dash is not exactly in the best place right now, and she has every right to be a little distraught after what she saw, but perhaps it is clouding her judgement?”
“I believe in her,” Fluttershy affirmed with the kind of quiet confidence only heard in her bravest moments. “I believe in Twilight, too.”
“That's right!” Applejack agreed with a hearty nod. “If you don't think so, you're welcome to stay here, but ah'm goin' with RD to Canterlot. Don't quite know why, but she must have an idea.”
“Shadow Charm!” Rarity exclaimed suddenly. “He's being held in the jail in Canterlot! If this was Neon Lightning's doing, then he might know something more! He's probably the first pony she thought of!”
Applejack grinned. “Good thinkin' Rare's. First stop; Canterlot Prison!”
Rainbow Dash flew. She flew fast and hard, the sparkling city of Canterlot still nothing but a pinprick of light on the side of the distant mountains. The distance deterred her even less than the chilled night wind biting at her coat as she rocketed through the sky. Her face, set in a determined grimace against the cold, held not a single tear. She didn't need to shed tears, for there was nothing to be sad about.
With another beat of her wings Rainbow smashed through the sound barrier, a bright ring of colours exploding out from behind her. Ponyville was nothing more than a spec in the distance now, and that spec was growing smaller by the second as the first towering spires of Canterlot faded into view against the dull grey mountain. The dark of night mellowed the colours and turned everything she could see into black and white textures, blurred beyond recognition by her speed.
Harder still she flapped her wings, in seconds she covered more distance than a train could in an hour. Before long the tiny towers were massive, overbearing structures as Rainbow Dash slowed her pace and flew quickly through the gaps between spires. Her eyes scanned the deserted streets below, looking for any signs of life milling about the town.
Eventually she spotted what she was looking for; a lone stallion paced down the road, a simple pony without any of the normal flare associated with Canterlot ponies.
“Hey! Excuse me!” Rainbow shouted, fanning out her wings to stop her momentum before plummeting towards the ground, spreading her wings and breaking her fall mere inches from the cobblestones.
The stallion jumped, eyes widening. “H-hello?” He greeted shakily, putting a hoof to his chest. He glowered at the mare before him as his heart slowed down. “What the hay!? Are you trying to give somepony a heart attack!?”
“No time! Where's the jail around here?” Rainbow asked, brushing off the stallion's comment.
Blinking, he looked up and down the street before raising a hoof. “Canterlot Prison is just down this road on Horseshoe Avenue, but- Hey!” His protests fell on ears that were no longer there as Rainbow took off like a shot down the street he had indicated, bidding him thanks over her shoulder.
Eyes scanning the signs, Rainbow watched for the indicated marker, smiling victoriously as she found the sign reading 'Horseshoe Avenue'. With little difficulty she found the prison; a rather small, grey cement building. Two stories tall with glass windows looking out from the front room. Light poured out onto the street from within the building, inside a lone guard could be seen sitting at a desk, his head slumped back and his jaw hanging open.
Pushing her way through the front double doors, Rainbow awkwardly approached the sleeping guard. She cleared her throat loudly in an attempt to wake him. The stallion snorted in his sleep, his limply dangling hoof twitching slightly.
“Hey!” Rainbow shouted, slamming her hoof down on the counter. The guard jolted awake, his body snapping upright and causing him to fall out of his chair and disappear beneath the counter.
“Ow...” he groaned, pulling himself as he held a hoof to his helmet. “I'm up, I'm up. What can I- Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Err... yeah?”
The guard stood up fully, dusting himself off. “What are you doing here?”
“Do I know you?”
The guard's eyes lit up. “Right, the enchantment. I keep forgetting about that...” he trailed off as he lifted his hooves and removed his helmet, the white draining from his coat and revealing the natural lime green colour along with a power blue mane. “The name's Thunder Flash.”
“Thunder Flash...” Rainbow repeat, rolling the name over in her mind. It struck a chord somewhere in her memory. She'd heard it somewhere before, but she couldn't quite figure out where.
When it was apparent she didn't recognize the name, the stallion chuckled. “I didn't think so. I'm the one who replaced you when you were kicked from the Wonderbolts; I got second place in the competition.”
Rainbow's eyes widened. “Oh!...” she paused as recognition shifted to disappointment on her face. “Oh... guess you're not too happy with me then.”
Thunder Flash seemed genuinely confused. “Why wouldn't I be?”
“Well... I kinda got you kicked out of the Wonderbolts...” she admitted guiltily.
The pegasus laughed heartily, shaking his head. “Oh that; don't worry about it. You won the competition, so it wouldn't be right of me to hold a grudge. Besides, you were the one who inspired me to try out for the Wonderbolts in the first place. I can't exactly complain about getting shown up by my idol.”
“I inspired you?” Rainbow gasped.
Thunder nodded. “Yeah, I saw you perform the Rainboom back when you were a filly in flight camp, and ever since then I admired you. Never did get up the courage to actually talk to you back then.”
“Heh...” scratching the back of her neck, Rainbow gave the stallion a small smile. “Well then...”
“Anyway,” he continued, sitting back in his chair. “enough about me; what brings you to a place like this?”
Rainbow's face darkened, the smile slipping from her lips. “I... uh... need to see somepony.”
Thunder looked on in surprise. “You know somepony in prison? Like a distant uncle or something?”
“Actually, I'm here to see Shadow Charm,” Rainbow explained. “Something happened, and I need to know what he knows.”
Thunder frowned. “Neon Lightning didn't come back, did she?”
“How do you know about her?” Rainbow asked, carefully evading the question as her eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“It was in every newspaper in Equestria; everypony knows about what Neon did. And that she escaped. But if you want to see her brother then...” Thunder Flash trailed off, glancing to the clock.
“Well?” Rainbow urged impatiently.
He sighed. “Technically visiting hours are over... but... if something did happen...” Thunder put his helmet back on, his coat fading back to the signature white of the Royal Guard. “Follow me.”
Rainbow nodded as she was lead through a set of door behind the desk. On the other side another guard stood at rapt attention. Flash motioned out to the front room. The guard raised an eyebrow, but nodded slowly and went to take over the position at the desk.
“I can give you ten minutes,” he explained as they turned a corner and found a staircase leading down into a smaller, more cramped hallway, lit dimly with a few mana gems hung on the walls.
“That should be all I need,” Rainbow muttered, glancing around as closed in concrete walls gave way to the barred doors of prison cells, most of which remained empty. Each cell contained a simple white cot, a cement table formed into the ground, and a chair. The odd pony could be seen, most of them sleeping in their beds, some laying awake and peering at the two as they walked.
“Why are you a guard anyway? Didn't you want to be a Wonderbolt?” Rainbow asked, doing her best to ignore the few sets of eyes watching her.
Thunder Flash let out a laugh. “I kind of got replaced.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Spitfire still wants you, ya know.”
“Does she now?” Thunder asked thoughtfully, before shaking his head. “Nah; I gave it a shot and I couldn't even hope to compete with you.”
“To be fair, most ponies can't compete with me,” Rainbow boasted with a grin. “Seriously though; she even told you to keep the uniform. Don't you plan on trying out again next year?”
“Not really. It would have been nice, but being a guard pays well and I don't have to compete to get in. It was my backup plan to begin with. Joining the Wonderbolts was really just to see if I could even hope to match you,” Thunder explained. “Speaking of you, how did Twilight handle that whole business? I saw your little... display after your retest.”
A shadow fell over Rainbow's face at the mention of her marefriend. “She's fine...”
Flash nodded, oblivious to the suddenly dark tone. “I can't say I'm surprised; being the Element of Magic and everything like she is I expected her to be made of some pretty tough stuff. Still, being pony-napped can be a pretty... shaking experience.”
Rainbow remained in tense silence as they rounded a corner. Finally Thunder Flash stopped in front of one of the cells, peering in at a lanky grey unicorn with a short black mane and tail sitting at his concrete desk and reading a book. “Hey, Shadow Charm, you got a visitor.”
The unicorn's ears perked up as he turned around quizzically, an eyebrow cocked. “Who would visit me?”
Thunder frowned, stepping to the side and revealing the mare standing behind him. “I think you know her well.”
Shadow Charm's eyes widened and his pupils shrank as he shot up from his desk. “M-m-miss Dash!” He stuttered, leaning back and pressing his flank into the desk. “What...what are you doing here?”
Rainbow's gaze narrowed. “I have a few questions for you.”
Swallowing thickly, the stallion took a slow step forward. “Is... uh... is Miss Sparkle with you?”
“No...” Rainbow muttered through a clenched jaw. “That's why I'm here.”
Curiosity peaked, Shadow Charm walked stiffly up to the bars keeping him separated from the outside world. “And... why is that, exactly?”
“She's missing.”
“What!?” Shadow and Thunder shouted in sync, both staring at the mare in front of them.
“Why are you here?” Thunder asked. “You should have called the guard!”
“I did!” Rainbow shouted, stomping her hoof. “You think I wouldn't when my marefriend breaks into a hundred pieces!?”
Shadow Charm gasped. “Did... did you say she broke into pieces?”
Nodding, Rainbow explained, “Yeah, that's why I came to see you; there's only one pony who would do this, and that's your sister. So I need to know where she is.”
“I told you everything I know already,” Shadow Charm sighed. “I never even knew who was paying her.”
Rainbow glared at him through the bars. “How do I know you're telling the truth?”
Shadow snorted. “Why would I lie? Last time I listened to my sister she got me thrown in here, then escaped and left me behind.”
“I suppose you're right.” Rainbow sighed, turning away. “Then I'm no closer to finding her than I was before I came here...”
“Wait!” Shadow Charm called, pressing his face up against the bars. “I can still help you! I am an enchanter, and what you're describing sounds like the Glass Statue curse.”
Rainbow froze. “That's what Celestia said. She said... she said Twilight was dead. But I know that's not true!”
“It might not be! There are very few unicorns alive with both the knowledge and the power to cast such an enchantment, and I can't think of any of them who actually would. Describe to me exactly what happened,” Shadow urged.
After a moment of hesitation, Rainbow complied, relaying the same story she'd told Celestia and her friends. All the while Shadow Charm sat with a contemplative frown on his face, listening intently to every detail and occasionally requesting further elaboration. When the story was finally finished, Thunder Flash was left speechless, while Shadow Charm looked conflicted.
“Well?” Rainbow asked impatiently.
Shadow sighed. “It certainly sounds like the Glass Statue curse but... something's off. The curse goes straight for the brain as soon as the enchanted object comes into contact with the target's magic; if it actually were that curse, then Miss Sparkle wouldn't have had enough control to move her head, never mind say anything.
“It's complex, but there's a way to disguise one spell as another. It takes a unicorn with a fair amount of skill, but much less power and knowledge than the Glass Statue curse. The guards are good at what they do, but they are no enchanters and might have missed the finer details of the spell used.”
“Great,” Rainbow started eagerly. “Now how do we find out what actually happened?”
“If I could just get there I could check it out myself...” Shadow grumbled to himself.
Rainbow raised a sceptical eyebrow. “Why would you be able to spot something the guards missed?”
Shadowed turned to the side and motioned to his cutie mark. “I am an enchanter, with over two decades experience might I add.”
“And why couldn't I just find another enchanter to do it for me?” Rainbow countered.
“Because if you tell anypony else what you just told me they'll say you're a nutcase in denial. Celestia herself has probably declared Twilight dead; the stories will be in the papers tomorrow morning, and no enchanter in their right mind would help you try and prove the Princess wrong,” he explained.
Rainbow frowned in contemplation. He was right, as much as she hated to admit it; she even sounded a little crazy to herself
“Why would you even want to help them?” Thunder Flash asked accusingly. “You were the one who pony-napped them!”
The smile fell from Shadow's face. “I did, and I am sorry, but Neon forced me to do it.”
Thunder snorted. “Yeah right, how do we know she's not still controlling you?”
Shadow Charm motioned to the bars surrounding him. “I'm safe from her in here. For the first time in a very long time I'm free from my sister's influence, and I want to help drag her back where she belongs; right there.” He pointed a hoof to the cell across the hall from his.
Rainbow looked over to Thunder. “Think he can come take a look?”
“You actually trust him!?” Thunder asked as his jaw dropped.
A ghostly tingle of pain ran through Rainbow's muzzle, her nose wrinkling. “Not in a million years, but I do believe him.”
“I.. but he... you...” Thunder Flash trailed off, holding a hoof to the bridge of his nose. “Fine. In certain cases an inmate can be sent with a couple guards to a crime scene if they have a reason to be there and express permission from the Captain of the Guard, but-”
“Great! Who is he and where is he; I'll get him to give permission!” Rainbow exclaimed hurriedly, watching the guard expectantly.
Thunder raised an eyebrow. “You... don't know who the captain is?”
Tilting her head, Rainbow asked, “Why would I know who he is? It's not like I'm a guard or anything.”
“Yeah but... you're dating Twilight Sparkle; hasn't she told you?”
“Why would Twi tell me who the captain is?”
Thunder gave her the most ludicrous look he could muster from behind his golden helmet. “The captain is Shining Armour.”
“Shining who-now? Look, I have no idea who you're talking about,” Rainbow explained exasperatedly.
For his part, Thunder Flash just stood in shocked silence. After a few moments of struggling to comprehend, he eventually answered, “Shining Armour is Twilight Sparkle's big brother.”
Rainbow Dash blinked. “W-what?”
“Yeah, every guard knows that; he won't shut up about her most of the time. How did you not know? You're dating the guy's sister.”
“I... how did I not know that!?” Rainbow shouted, staring at Thunder Flash. “I'm dating Twilight! Why didn't she tell me? Why didn't she tell any of us!?”
Thunder shrugged uneasily. “I guess you'll have to take that up with Twilight when you find her. But if you want Shadow Charm's help you're gonna have to find Shining and get permission. My guess, if something happened to his sister, he'll already be at the scene investigating; he personally handled the case against Shadow and Neon.”
Rainbow sighed. “Well I guess I get to meet her family,” she muttered. “Thanks, I'll go talk to him. And you,” she rounded to face Shadow Charm. “When I come back with permission, you better be ready.”
Shadow Charm jolted at the suddenly stern tone, standing straight up as though he were a guard. “Of course.”
Keeping her glare on him for a moment longer, Rainbow eventually relented with an approving nod, leading the way back out of the prison. “Back to Ponyville, I guess.”
“You'd think a prison would be easier to find...” Applejack grumbled as the group of four mares finally found the large, imposing structure.
“It's not exactly a tourist hot spot,” Rarity noted. “It certainly doesn't look like one,” she added, cringing away from plain grey front.
Pinkie bounced ahead of them, bursting through the front doors. “Daaaaaaashie!?” She called ecstatically. “Where are you?”
“Shall we?” Fluttershy asked gently, holding the door open for the rest of the group.
Applejack and Rarity nodded, crossing through the open door into a plain, boring room with a lone white desk at the front, behind which was a white-coated pegasus guard, head angled down at the desk as a quill scribbled away, held in his mouth.
“Excuse me, sir?” Rarity called, putting on her best Canterlot accent and sauntering up to the desk.
The stallion glanced up from his paperwork, setting the quill down and smiling. “Ah, hello miss. How can I help you?”
Rarity returned the guard's kind smile. “Actually we're looking for a friend of ours who may have been here recently. Have you seen a miss Rainbow Dash, perchance?”
The stallion's eyes lit up. “Oh! You must be the Elements of Harmony!”
The group nodded as they came up beside Rarity, all of them looking equally tired from their journey.
The guard frowned. “I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you just missed her; she was here not ten minutes ago, but after visiting an inmate she left on her way to meet back up with the Captain of the Guard.”
Applejack sighed. “Well at least we're catching up. Where is the captain then?”
“Well, if what Rainbow Dash said was true, then he should be in Ponyville.”
A communal groan sounded as four mares fell to the floor.
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Stupid Celsetia. This is Twilight friggin' Sparkle we're talking about here, she actually can't die! Well, that's more because the author would get lynched, but it's a rule nevertheless! You'd think she could be a little more sympathetic, though. I know death holds little consequence to an immortal, but still.
... Celestia is supposed to be an amazing wizard; she taught Twilight!
So why is she insistent that Twilight is dead if a moderately skilled enchanter can provide an alternative explanation that meshes with the inconsistency of Rainbows description of the spell?
Either Shadow Charm is lying and this is part of a plan, or Celestia is being pessimistic way too quickly.
5014005
Ha, I was waiting for this comment! This is explained in... probably next chapter, actually. I've planned out how this entire thing happened, and I've been very careful this time around with plot holes.
5014005 I'm kind of on the same page. I will be watching closely for that to get wrapped up. Twilight apparently recognized the spell fast enough to ask Rainbow to find her, but Celestia missed something. Perhaps if she hears it from Shadow Charm she will realize her mistake, but that doesn't explain the mistake in the first place. Very puzzling.
She did say that she hasn't sent this spell since Discord was in charge, one of the last recorded times that she was an Element weirder. If the spell has been modified or changed in any way during that period of time, she might not spot it. That fits my head-canon of voodoo and hoodoo being newer in this world than unicorn magic and the princesses knowing little to nothing about it... but I digress... 
Tldr: I'm watching you, Kodeake.
The end was pretty good, it actually sounded like a commercial break was about to happen XD
I'm a bit curious now, who is older? Shadow charm or his sister?
And I must say that I kinda understand Celestia. I think one or more of her students died in such a way and she knows already how it is get her hopes crushed after denying it that the student is dead:(
5016821
I never even thought about their ages.... holy crap I'm dropping the ball. Er... I guess... Neon's older? Only slightly though; less than two years. I may need to work that into the story somewhere....
5018309 Those are some little things I just randomly ask myself
And I look forward to more informations about Shadow and Neon.
I did like Shadow Charm. He seemed like a nice fellow, even if he did have all the spine of an amoeba.
Though I do think Celly is being a bit silly in spending a whole 5 seconds looking at the scene. Given all the shenanigans you can pull off with magic, alchemy or any of the incredibly powerful items they just leave laying about like morons, ya'd think she'd want to make absolutely certain.
5018309 I personally think it would make Neon's dominating personality, as well as Shadow's lack of a backbone, more emphasized if Neon was the younger sister, commanding her older brother, bending him to her will.
When the eldest is the dominate one, they just look like an older sibling setting the rules. When it's the younger who is the dominate one, they look much more malicious and powerful. At least to me, they do.
Please update this I don't think my heart will enjoy going to long without knowing what happens.