Fleeting Shadows

by SkyHighFlyer

Chapter 2, Foreboding Circumstances

Though Twilight attempted to get some rest on the train, sleep eluded her as her mind wandered, from the events of the morning to the day ahead of her. It was no secret that Twilight had a tendency to dwell on the worst possibilities if nopony was there to reign her in, and a long train ride by herself was the perfect place for her to drift into less pleasant thoughts. What if she went missing like all the ponies in Spring Shades, or what if she couldn't solve the mystery, and the princess didn't want her as a student anymore. She idly wished on more than one occasion that the princess would have let her bring Spike along with her, she ultimately understood her reasoning, and had no choice but to agree with it.

The train arrived at it's destination right on schedule, and Twilight wasted no time departing on her journey. Though she had planned to reach the town shortly before dusk, her nerves kept her moving at a faster pace than she had anticipated. Twilight had never actually set foot in a forest before, and everything about her surroundings felt alien compared to the city she called home. Though she had guessed from what she had read across many books that the forest would be full of sounds, she was unprepared for how quiet it actually was. The sounds of her own hooves walking across the poorly maintained trail was so vivid in the oppressive silence that it felt disconcerting, and constantly reignited her fears that she was moving far too slowly. The occasional sounds of birds chirping and squirrels scurrying through the underbrush startled her constantly, and made her jump on numerous occasions, each serving as another excuse to step up her pace.

Twilight arrived in Spring Shades several hours before night fell, a testament to just how fast she had been walking.

As soon as she cleared the final treeline, she allowed her pace to slow to a more leisurely walk as she caught her breath and took in her surroundings.

Princess Celestia had described it as a small village nestled into the eastern mountains. At the time she hadn't given a great deal of thought to what it actually looked like, though now that she was actually there, she couldn't help but appreciate the scenic beauty.

The town itself stood out among the many trees of the forest, the only real clearing for quite some distance around. A small collection of houses, which Twilight estimated to be forty at most, was a welcome sight of civilization, in sharp contrast to it's surroundings as much as much as it seemed to live in harmony with the nature around it, though that wasn't what made it so beautiful.

The town was built next to a large lake, which in turn was bordered by a massive cliff face that curved around the lake in a semicircular depression before uniting with the treeline as it continued on into the horizon. Several waterfalls poured out from atop the cliff into the lake, while a small stream that ran along the base of the mountain carried the excess water away. Atop the cliff, the forest continued as if there was never even a change in elevation.

Twilight walked up to the town slowly, taking in the sights around her as she approached. Some of the sense of urgency that plagued her journey faded once she realized how early she had arrived, leaving her with a calming sense of relief, though as she neared the outer edge of the town herself she was force to acknowledge that there was still more to do yet.

For the most part, the town was silent. Nopony was wandering the streets, and at first Twilight was worried that the town had been abandoned before she arrived. It wasn't until she reached the center of town that she found ponies, though there were far fewer than she expected.

The apprehension she had felt on the train was slowly creeping back into her as she approached the closest pony she saw, a pink unicorn with a sky blue mane, a single pink stripe a shade lighter than her coat running through it. Without really having any idea what she was doing, Twilight approached her and said, “H-Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I was sent by Princess Celestia to look into the disappearances.”

The pink mare turned to face her with was could best be described as some mixture of relief and shock. For a moment she just stared at Twilight before she caught herself. “Sorry about that, it's just that... well, honestly we weren't expecting the guard to actually send somepony. My name is Misty Dew... thanks for coming all the way out here, to be honest we could use the help.”

Twilight actually managed to smile. “That's what I'm here for. If you don't mind, can you point me to whoever is in charge? I would like to get an idea of what's going on as soon as possible.”

“Oh,” Misty said, suddenly looking nervous, “well, I guess that would be me.”

Twilight paused, looking her over for a second. Misty Dew couldn't have been more than a year or two older than herself, at most. After a moment, Twilight responded, “Aren't you a little young to be running things?”

“Nopony actually runs the town,” Misty replied, “but since the disappearances started I've been taking charge and trying to keep things under control. With anypony more capable missing, I've been the only one willing to step up. I guess you could say that I'm really the only leader that's left.”

As much as she was obviously trying her best to appear confident, her nervousness was bleeding through at every possible opportunity. If she was really the most qualified pony in town, then just how bad were things?

“No offense, but you seem pretty inexperienced,” Twilight said, “Just how many ponies are missing?”

Misty sighed, “We've lost eighteen ponies since the disappearances started about a month ago, including everypony who would normally take charge in a time like this.”

Twilight paused for a moment. That was more than one pony every two days for a month. As Twilight took time to think about it, she found herself quickly discarding every one of her earlier theories as to what was causing the disappearances, as none of them could explain how that many ponies could disappear without a trace. Quite simply, nothing she had thought of was that effective.

When Twilight didn't respond, Misty seized the moment to ask a question of her own. “Not to change the subject or anything, but you're barely as old as me. Aren't you pretty young to be out here on your own”

“I'm not a foal, I can take care of myself,” Twilight replied. Upon seeing Misty's growing concern, she added, “Princess Celestia wouldn't have sent me if she didn't think I could handle myself.”

Misty looked at her for a few more seconds, before finally she sighed in defeat and said, “Well, I guess we need all the help we can get at this point, regardless of how inexperienced we are. So, welcome to Spring Shades. I'm sorry that you couldn't have arrived under better circumstances.”

“Thank you, although the circumstances are hardly your fault,” Twilight said. “I want to get caught up on the situation, but before that, do you mind if I ask where I'm going to be staying?”

“We don't actually have an inn all the way out here, so I guess you can stay with me,” Misty replied. “I'll show you where it it, then we can talk about the situation when we get there.”

Misty motioned for Twilight to follow her and started down one of the side paths away from the center of town. Twilight followed along closely behind her.

“So, what exactly have you learned so far?” Twilight asked.

“Not much,” Misty replied. “Ponies just disappear, that’s it. There’s no discernible pattern to the disappearances, no bodies have ever been found, search parties have come up with nothing. Ponies are there one day, and gone the next.”

Twilight thought for a moment, letting her eyes wander around the town as she contemplated her next question. Her gaze lingered on the waterfalls over the lake as she finally came up with a new question to ask. “You said that the ponies were here one day and not the next. Have all the disappearances happened at night?”

“As far as I know, they have,” Misty replied. “I don't know the specific details of every single disappearance, especially not the earlier ones, but as far as I know none of the disappearances have happened during the day. Even ponies that go into the forest regularly always return before dark.”

Misty stopped in front of a house next to the edge of town, and Twilight turned her attention back to her. “But at night?”

“Ponies just vanish,” Misty said. Without another word she opened the door with magic and stepped inside. Twilight followed, and Misty closed the door behind her.

The interior of the house was poorly lit, even with the evening sunlight pouring through the open windows. There was a small sofa off to the side of the room. A pegasus mare was sleeping on it, though Twilight struggled to discern her appearance in the dim light.

The rest of the room was filled by a small bookcase in the corner, a small table in front of the sofa, and a chair next to the sofa. There was an unlit lantern hanging from the ceiling, and two other doorways leading off to other rooms, presumably a bathroom and a kitchen.

“Sorry that there isn't much space, it's already a bit crowded in here.” Misty pulled out some blankets and a pillow with her magic, unfolded them, and laid them out on the floor.

“Anyway, we'll take the floor for now.” Misty sat down on the blankets. Twilight waited for a moment and sat down next to the table.

For a moment neither of them spoke. Finally Misty broke the silence and said, “I guess you want to here about the disappearances.”

Twilight nodded. “You said that ponies just vanish during the night?”

“Yeah, nopony knows exactly how it happens either. Ponies just disappear, and there's no sign of how it happens.” Misty paused, unsure of how to continue.

“Wait,” Twilight responded, “so these ponies just disappear out of their homes. There's no witnesses, nothing left behind, they're just gone?”

“Not exactly,” Misty replied. “Actually, I don't think anypony has actually disappeared out of their home. It's not exactly clear, but occasionally there have been witnesses that see ponies wandering around town at night, and always on the same night that somepony disappeared.

“After the first few times it happened, I came up with an idea. What if the ponies who disappeared weren't vanishing out of their homes like everypony thought? I came up with the idea that maybe ponies were safe in their homes, but something was luring them out. So I tested the idea by having ponies stay together at night, with at least two ponies together in each house and one pony awake to keep watch at all times.”

Misty stopped, suddenly unsure again. Twilight glanced over to the pony asleep on the sofa. “Did your plan work?”

Misty followed Twilight's eyes over to the sleeping pony, "I think it did. There's only been one disappearance in the last week. I'm not sure how it happened, but the mare he was with said that he was the one on watch for the second half of the night, and he was there when she went to sleep. Aside from that though, nopony has disappeared since ponies started staying together at night.”

Twilight smiled weakly. “It sounds like you have everything under control, right?”

“Barely,” Misty replied. “After the last disappearance, I sent another request for help to Canterlot. At least this time they finally bothered to send somepony. Aside from that, I considered having two ponies on watch at night, but the current arrangements have worked out so far. If we lose another pony I'll consider it again.”

“Alright then,” Twilight said, “I don't have any other questions for now, unless there's anything else you need to mention.”

Misty shook her head. “You know everything I do. I just hope that you'll be able to help.”

Twilight didn't reply. The two of them sat there in silence for what felt like hours. The silence was finally broken when Twilight yawned.

Misty sighed, “Right, you've probably had a long day. I'll let you get some sleep.”

She stood up and walked over to the sofa. She shook her friend awake and said something, far too quietly for Twilight to hear. The mare looked at Twilight sleepily for a second before getting up and making her way over to the blankets on the floor. Misty looked back to Twilight. “The bed is yours.”

Twilight looked at her 'bed' with nervous apprehension. An urge to ask if she could stay up for watch came over her briefly, but the fatigue from her journey reminded her that rest was more important.

“Right then,” she said, “goodnight, I guess.”

She was still restless, but as Twilight crawled onto the sofa, sleep won out. As she fell asleep, she idly hoped that the first day would be the worst of it.