• Published 5th Sep 2014
  • 12,564 Views, 2,033 Comments

Where Is My Love? - TheMyth



Two hearts yearning for near a decade. Will fate let these two ponies meet once more... and what is it hiding from one of them?

  • ...
38
 2,033
 12,564

Chapter 19

After dinner was eaten, Dinky found herself on a stool in front of the kitchen sink, her tongue poking out as she carefully lifted a plate in her magic, sent a sponge over it, then rinsed it and placed it in the drainer.

Ever since Pip had invited her to sleep over at his house, Blueblood had been quite strict with Dinky the past week. Extra chores around the house, no playing until her homework was done, and other such things. She didn’t mind though, as her reward would be worth it. So, with a happy hum, she stuck her hoof into the warm water and swirled around, finding nothing and pulling the plug out.

Hopping down from her stool, Dinky scampered out of the kitchen, up the stairs, and into her bedroom, where she came to a skidding halt. Her mother was already there, packing a set of saddlebags with some of Dinky’s pyjamas. Turning to her daughter, Derpy slowly raised an eyebrow. “Tell me again why I shouldn’t be worried.”

Dinky sighed, then gave a small giggle. “I told you mom, we’re going to do some stargazing, then spend the night in his treehouse. His mom will be with us all time… besides, I’m too young for any of that.

“And how do you know about… that?” Derpy asked, fearing the answer.

“Uh, I like science, remember?” Dinky replied, rolling her eyes. “That includes biology.”

“True… but you’ll understand my concerns when you’re a mother,” Derpy warned, smirking when she saw Dinky’s worried expression. Derpy glanced at the clock next to Dinky’s bed, giving a gasp then turning around and finished her packing, then gently placed the bags on Dinky’s back. “You’d best get a move on, and have fun.”

“I will mom, see you Sunday,” Dinky said, rising up to wrap her forelegs around her mother’s neck, giving her a kiss on the cheek. She then pulled away, running from her room and down the stairs. Blueblood was stood in the hall, and Dinky paused to hug and kiss him too, calling out her goodbye over her shoulder as she ran out of the door, not hearing his reply.

The streets of Ponyville in the early evening were sparsely populated, just the odd pony here or there, none of them blocking the fast moving filly as she made tracks across town. She had only been to Pip’s a few times, but knew exactly how to get there from her home. So when she came across an impromptu street party in her way, she skidded to a halt, cocking her head.

“Princess Dinky, what troubles you?” came a male voice from behind the filly, causing her to spin around. Her heart was pounding, both from the exertion and surprise, but she took a deep breath before smiling at the pony, who was wearing a black cloak with the hood down.

“Um… I know you’re a Katakan, but you’re not wearing any armour…”

“Ah. My name is Dark Star,” said the stallion, giving her a friendly smile. “I am here on orders from the Night-Mistress and Captain Deadeye. They want me to keep an eye on you. Now where are you going so late at night on your own?”

“I’m on my way to my co… friend’s, but I dunno how to get there other than this way,” Dinky said, pointing her hoof at the crowd in her path.

“There’s an alley over here, Princess,” Dark Star said with a nod of his head. “It loops around. I can take you down there if you wish?”

“That would be lovely, thank you Mr Star.”

Giving her another smile, Dark Star waited for Dinky to enter the alley and walk down it a little before reaching into his cloak with a wing. Once he was certain nopony could see them, he jumped forward, sticking a syringe in Dinky’s flank.

The filly gave a yelp from the slight pain, turning to ask Dark Star what was going on, but she couldn’t form the words and her vision was blurry. Dinky then began to feel tired and heavy, like her hooves were made of lead, and her body went numb. The last thing she saw was the golden eyes of Dark Star.

Checking he was still in the clear, Dark Star gently rolled Dinky into a sack and placed her on his back. He grabbed a scroll from inside his cloak, using his hoof and a nail to attach it to a wall. Moving out of the building’s lights that were shining into the alley, he faded away into a fine mist, taking the filly with him.


“You know, this is more complicated then I remember!” Blueblood moaned as Derpy lay sprawled over his back, the stallion’s hooves supporting the weight of them both.

Derpy giggled and kissed his cheek. “Unicorns aren’t exactly built for this.” she teased him as she stretched a hoof towards an arrow that pointed to various colours. When she gave it a spin, she watched until the arrow finally landed on a random target. “Right Forehoof Green!”

Here goes! Blueblood pressed hard against his left foreleg’s hoof and lifted his right forehoof to a green spot not far from him. He smiled in glee as he was about to reach it, but dread soon followed when his left foreleg started to wobble. Pony feathers! Before he knew it, he fell onto his back and Derpy landed on his chest as she cheered and laughed at the same time.

“I win!” Derpy shouted out as she laughed hysterically and blew a raspberry at Blueblood. “That’s two for me and one for you.”

“You cheated!” Blueblood said.

“No I didn’t”

Blueblood cocked his brow as he stared at Derpy. “You used your wings, and that’s cheating.”

Derpy pouted as she looked back at her wings, still tucked into her torso. “I didn’t use them.”

“Yes you did.” Blueblood said mischievously before he reached for Derpy’s wings and subjected them to a fury of tickles. As he continued with his onslaught, he felt his fiancée squirm in his hold as she tried to escape, whilst laughing uncontrollably.

“S-stop!” Derpy pleaded as she tried to get out of Blueblood’s grip, yet her attempts were in vain as he continued to tickle her. She tried to tickle him in return but found it difficult as she could barely concentrate. Finally when she felt his hooves releasing her sides, she let out a huff as she sighed in relief.

Just as Derpy was about to get off from Blueblood’s chest, she was caught off guard again when he planted his lips against hers. As the surprise subsided, she melted into the kiss and rested her body upon her fiancé who wrapped his hooves around her torso. When she felt her stallion’s hooves reach for her flank, she momentarily removed her lips for his muzzle and smiled demurely down upon him. “Let’s take this to our room…”

“Okay.” Blueblood answered and both he and Derpy got up from the ground and made their way to the bedroom. Just as he was about to close the door behind him, a knock on the front door stopped the couple from secluding themselves in the separate room.

Who could that be? Derpy thought to herself as she walked downstairs to answer the door. Upon opening it she saw a brown pinto unicorn mare with white patches adoring her body with a cutie mark of a constellation.

“Oh, Autumn Star... Hi,” Derpy greeted the mare, yet frowned a little when she saw the concern on the other mare’s face and she finally noticed a little colt standing in front of the unicorn mare. “Pip? What’s going on here?”

“Is Dinky here with you?” Autumn asked.

Derpy shook her head and furrowed her brow even deeper. “No, she’s suppose to be with...” she said as she switched her gaze from Autumn to Pip.

Autumn shook her head as her ears drooped slowly. “We were expecting her about an hour ago, but she hasn’t arrived at our house… so I wondered if she forgot about the sleepover tonight—”

“But she’s not the kind of filly to ditch a friend!” Pip interjected, scrunching his lips as he looked down to the ground.

“She’s not the kind of filly to run away, is she?” Autumn asked Derpy.

“No, never!” Derpy shouted out before she covered her mouth with her hoof. “She’s would never run away from home.”

“Derpy,” Blueblood called out as he walked toward the front door. “Everything okay?” he asked her.

Derpy shook her head as her lips quivered. “Dinky’s missing.” she uttered out as a tear streaked from her eye, causing Blueblood to hold onto her. Before she knew it, more tears escaped from her as she tried to contain them.

As he held onto Derpy, Blueblood pupils dilated in shock as his jaw dropped open and he stared at Autumn. His mouth slowly closed as his eyes narrowed and a frown appeared on his face.

“Autumn, can you and Pip take Derpy to the local guard and report this please?” Blueblood asked the unicorn mare as he let go of Derpy.

“What are you going to do?” Derpy asked Blueblood as she looked up into his eyes, but was answered by a brief kiss from him.

“I’m going to Twilight… my Aunts need to know about this.” he replied as he walked out the door. “I’ll see you at the guard’s station when I’m done!” Blueblood called out as he galloped towards the library.


“...and then she said ‘I’m a pony, that’s why I have a long face!”

Canterlot Castle’s throne room erupted into laughter as the yellow stallion gave the punchline to his joke, smiling as the twin sisters upon their thrones nearly fell from their seats as they struggled to contain their mirth. Gathering her composure first, Luna wiped a tear from her eye and smiled at the stallion. “Thou art truly good at thy profession, Mr Sandwich. We would greatly appreciate it if thou wouldst perform at the party we have arranged.”

“It’d be my pleasure, your highness,” Cheese Sandwich said as he bowed low. “For now, I have a show to put on at Canterlot’s Comedy Store, so I’ll take my leave.”

Luna nodded, smiling widely as one of her Katakans guided him out of the room. Now that she had managed to calm down somewhat, Luna levitated two glasses over, one being taken in the golden glow of her sister’s magic. A sudden pop made them both blink, a scroll appearing in green flame.

Grabbing it with her magic, Celestia took a sip of her wine as she unrolled the scroll and began to read it over. Everypony in the throne room jumped when her magic cut out and her glass fell to the floor, smashing into bits and the liquid inside soaking into the carpet.

“Celestia, what is it?” Luna asked, frowning when the scroll was shakily floated over to her, getting worried as her sister’s magic never faltered in such a way. Ah, a note from Blueblood. What has he said that has spooked Cele… Her thoughts cut off when she saw the main passage, the alicorn pausing for a moment. She then jumped from her throne and forced the room’s doors open with her magic. “SHADOWBOLTS, TO THE DREAMCATCHER!

The Royal Canterlot Voice echoed down the corridors of the castle, most likely waking those from the day staff who had already fallen asleep, but Luna did not care. Turning to her left, she floated the scroll in front of Deadeye, who quickly scanned the document. With a snarl of anger the stallion slipped into the shadows, leaving Luna with a rather grim looking smile on her face.

Inside one of the barracks that was hidden within the inner walls of Canterlot Castle, nearly a hundred Katakas were sitting at long wooden benches, enjoying their evening meals. Each and every one paused and looked to the centre of the room as a black mist appeared, coalescing into the form of Deadeye. The one-eyed stallion took a single glance around the room then headed towards the doors. “First platoon, with me. We’re due on the Dreamcatcher five minutes ago!”

A third of the Katakans groaned quietly, but still stood and followed their captain out into the training grounds where the airship was docked. Once his group were on board and he checked for the presence of the Shadowbolts, Deadeye made his way to the wheelhouse and told the pilot in no uncertain terms to make for Ponyville at full speed.

When he stepped back onto the deck, the thirty Katakans of first platoon were waiting, silent as they stared at him. To the side were several mares and stallions in purple full body armour, Nightshade stood in front of them and placing a helmet onto her head. Spotting her son she gave him a nod, and he turned to face the regular Corps. “Katakans! We have received a note from Prince Blueblood. His daughter is missing!” Deadeye felt pride over his Katakans as they all began to growl angrily at the news. “We will be in Ponyville within half an hour at full speed. Before we even land, I want you down there and searching for any sign of Princess Dinky.”

Every Katakan, except the Shadowbolts, had their manes and tails billowing in the wind as the Dreamcatcher sped away from Mount Canterlot, twin streaks of magical fire billowing from behind. From below the airship would have seemed like an angry dragon hurtling through the skies, but what it carried was much, much worse.

Very soon the lights of Ponyville came into view, and Katakans started dropping from the Dreamcatcher in twos. Deadeye, Nightshade, and the Shadowbolts waited until they were near the centre of town before jumping over the side of the airship, diving straight down and stopping once they were close to the ground.

As soon as his hooves touched the ground, Deadeye marched up to the house they had landed in front of, staring harshly at of the two guards stood outside. “Report.”

“No sign of the filly, nor any sort of scuffle, has been found in the town sir,” the guard replied, shaking slightly as he faced off against the angry Katakan. “The captain and the other guards are still out looking. She told us to stay here in case somepony tried something against the parents,” he quickly tacked on, taking a deep breath when Deadeye stepped back.

The door being opened drew their attention, Blueblood stood in the light. He took one glance at the scene and then stepped out, being followed by a unicorn mare. “Captain Deadeye, this is Autumn Spark, Pipsqueak’s mother. She is the one that told us about Dinky missing,” he said as he surveyed the Shadowbolts. “Come, let us walk to route to their home.”

Giving a nod, Deadeye, Nightshade, and the Shadowbolts followed Blueblood and Autumn as they slowly trotted down the streets, the Katakans looking, listening, and sniffing for any sign of the missing filly. As one the Katakans began to growl when they passed one alley, Deadeye and Nightshade pushing their way through the others.

The stallion sniffed at the air, his eye narrowed as he looked around. “There is shadow essence here… but I did not send a Katakan. Mother?” he asked, turning to the mare.

“I did not order it either. Whoever this pony is, he is not of those in service to the Night-mistress,” Nightshade said as she moved into the shadow, half of her body turning to mist. Deadeye watched with a little jealously, as it was an ability he did not possess, that of perfect control over the shadow magic. “It is as I feared…. the Katakan was Dark Star.”

Deadeye snarled and struck out with a hoof, leaving a hole in the brick wall to his side. “When I see him again, I am going to rip out his throat!” The stallion said, looking at his hooves. It was then he saw a note of paper, and he picked it up, reading out the writing aloud. “‘If you want your daughter back safe, you will agree to my mistress’ terms.’” Deadeye passed the note over to Blueblood. “Does this mean anything to you?”

The unicorn took the paper with a frown, a number of names coming into his mind as who the mastermind could be. “No. Any number of ponies could be behind this,” he said, giving a dejected sigh.”

“I just hope Dinky is not injured,” Nightshade said, looking Blueblood in the eye. “Shadow diving with those who do not have shadow magic is very risky at best, even more so to… say a unicorn foal...”


“Wake up! Wake up, you little tramp!”

As soon as she heard the cacophony of a mare screaming at her, Dinky eyes opened to find herself in a dark room. When she tried to stand up, her back collided with steel, causing her to yelp from the pain and cold that emanated from it. The filly’s head looked to every corner, and she saw metal bars surrounding her. On closer inspection, she could see wine barrels stacked on top of each other.

“Hey!” The same mare barked out to Dinky and slammed her hoof on the cage, causing it to rock as it suspended in the air thanks to a rope tied to it. “I’m talking to you, you little horseapple!”

Dinky tried her best to back away from the leering amber unicorn mare, but was stopped by the metal bars behind her. “Who are you!? Where am I?!” she shouted out.

Before Amber could retort, Dark Star stepped out of the shadows with a malicious grin on his face. “Where you are now doesn’t matter… who she is, is my client.” he answered Dinky, pointing at the elder mare. “By the way… the task is over, you should pay up now.” he said as he exposed his canines at the amber unicorn.

“The task is over when I say it is over!” Amber snapped as she pointed a hoof at Dark Star, who only cocked his brow at her. “Fine!” she spat out and levitated a bag of bits to the Katakan. “But only half now! The rest later… are we clear?”

Dark Star inspected every bit in the bag before he nodded. “Crystal,” he said before his ears twitched, causing him to look to the stairs. “Looks like we have company…”

“Who—” Amber asked as she looked to the stairs, where a pale yellow unicorn stallion stood still. “Sly, what are you doing here?” she asked him.

“Getting some wine, what do you think?” he replied sarcastically, not even glancing at Dinky as he walked past the cage she was in towards racks full of bottles. Amber watched him with a frown as he stood their humming, then selected a bottle with his magic. As he turned around, Sly’s eyes met Dinky’s, then he looked to his sister. “Amber… there’s a filly in a cage.”

“Your point?” Amber asked harshly.

“I just hope you know what you’re doing,” Sly said giving Dinky a sideways glance. “Oh, and the cooks said dinner will be ready in about ten minutes.” With that, he walked up out of the basement, leaving Amber and Dark Star alone with the filly once more.

“I’ll pay you double to make sure nopony else comes down here,” Amber said as she faced Dark Star, getting a grin and a nod in return. Turning back to Dinky, Amber tapped the edge of the cage, laughing when the filly backed away. “You’re the perfect bargaining tool. If your father doesn’t meet with my request, then he’ll be getting bits of filly in the mail!”

With that, Amber and Dark Star left the wine cellar, turning the lights out as they went. The stallion went a different way to the mare, more than likely to find his prefered type of meal, whilst she made her way into the dining room. Amber expected to see Sly sat down and waiting, but he hadn’t arrived yet. Probably off with the scullery maid again. Taking what would have been his seat at the head of the table, Amber impatiently tapped a hoof on the thick wood.

Several minutes passed, the mare now annoyed, and she turned to face the open door to the kitchen. “Hey! Hungry noblemare in here!” No reply came, and it was then she noticed the sound, or rather lack of, coming from the kitchen. Pushing her chair back with a growl, Amber stomped into the kitchen, abate to berate the staff when the empty room caused her to stop in shock, the words she thought echoing in the silence. “...where is everypony?”


His heart was pounding in his chest, his leg muscles burning, and his lungs hurt from lack of air. Sly Cur ignored all of these as he galloped his way down the streets of Trottingham, one destination in mind. Even if he failed in his current task, the fact he had told the household servants to flee before certain doom was visited upon them made him feel better about himself.

Sly kept to the lit paths instead of using the alleyways as a shortcut, as he might be ambushed by his sister’s lackey if he used them, and he didn’t want to take that chance. Skidding around a corner, Sly caught sight of what he was after, sleek airships held in a large docking structure above Lake Starswirl.

Ignoring the larger airships, Sly slowed to a canter and approached the gangplank of a medium sized vessel. The pony stood there noticed him coming, raising an eyebrow at Sly. “Can I help you, sir?” The stallion asked.

Sly paused for several moments, catching his breath and then falling to his haunches, looking over at the airship. “How… how fast can she… get to Canterlot?”

“Canterlot from here?” the pony replied, rubbing his chin with a hoof. “If we had a full compliment of unicorns on board, an hour. We’re at half crew, but if they pushed hard, we’d probably do it in an hour and a half.”

“I need you to take me to Canterlot, specifically the castle, right now!” Sly almost shouted, going to step on board when he was surrounded by a pale yellow aura and lifted into the air. His eyes went wide when he was turned around and saw who it was that had captured him.

“Now I am rightly confused. Doesn’t your family have its own airship?” Fancy Pants asked with a hint of amusement.

“Amber has Blueblood’s daughter!” Sly blurted out, grunting when the other unicorn’s magic cut and he was dropped to the floor.

“What?! Then why aren’t you going to the guards?!” Fancy bellowed, glaring at Sly.

“She has a Katakan helping her…”

“Captain,” Fancy said, turning to the pony watching with a frown. “We make for Canterlot with all haste. Make sure there are no shadows large enough to hide a pony in any section of the ship. We’re going to need another Katakan to fight a Katakan.”