Normal and Blank

by BurningQuill

Fear

Sunlight warmed the streets and avenues in, around, and above Ponyville, a wonderful side effect and indication of a job well done. Down below, ponies went about their daily lives. All the traffic headed every which way and games and fun in the streets were all so exciting. It was the excitement a certain black pegasus had hoped to join.

Thunderlane made his way to a home nearer to the edge of town. He landed with a strong, confident thud and strode up to the front door, knocking with one hoof.

“Yo! Caramel!” he called. “You still okay to go?”

From the inside, Thunderlane could hear a frenzied nothing.

“Uh, the rest of us are still going bowling if you’re still up for it!”

Again, no response.

Did he go out on his own? Was there another job?

“Big Mac’s going too! He said a couple of his sister’s friends agreed to cover him for the afternoon!”

No response, but Thunderlane could hear movement. The shuffling of hooves traversed the house.

Thunderlane was getting scared.

“Dude! Caramel! You okay? You’re not hurt, are you?” Thunderlane started flexing his forelegs subconsciously, readying to do something, anything to make sure his friend was okay. “Caramel! You’re freakin’ me out! I can hear you! I’m gonna break the door down!” The hoof steps were the only answer. “I’m comin’ in! Three…”

The door opened. Thunderlane recoiled in shock. It took a moment to recover

The stallion before him was clearly Caramel, but… washed out. Everything was grey. His eyes, his mane, his tail, they were all the same shade of sterile grey. His face, slack and unfeeling. He didn’t seem sad, just… calm. It was like someone doing a task just because it needed doing. The expression bore no pain or frustration, or joy for that matter.

“C…Cara… mel?”

“You called? You do not have to break my door down,” Caramel answered, listless.

“Y… you didn’t get back to me yesterday. You had me worried. Is everything alright?” Thunderlane prodded.

“Everything is fine. I did not mean to worry you.”

“I know, I know. You look a little… off, though. You feeling okay?”

“I feel fine.”

“You still wanna head out? We’ll be bowling later, but the guys are getting pizza first.”

“I’m sorry, but I have work to do.”

As Caramel turned to close the door, Thunderlane caught a glimpse of his perfectly blank flank.

What the…

If the situation weren’t already outright freaky, it was an emergency now. Something bad was going on with Caramel, and Thunderlane would rather be sent to the moon than remain idle for this. Thunderlane hadn’t even spoken with Caramel yesterday… but Flitter had spoken with him immediately before departure…

Flitter might know something.

Thunderlane needed first to tell the guys an emergency came up. They’d understand.

Hang on, buddy. Hang on…

* * * * * * *

The warm sun lifted Twilight’s spirits from her annoyance. Her complete lack of direction and goals still weighed heavily on her mind, though now the thoughts were less harsh and angry about it.

I still need to figure it out, though…

Accompanied by her entourage of four big and armored stallions, the procession received greetings of low bows and reverent blessings all along the street.

I didn’t realize just how annoying this could be…

The constant kneeling and prostration wore on her. Twilight never received preferential treatment before, even when she was Princess Celestia’s personal protégé, and she very much preferred being like everypony else.

I’m their princess… but I was their friend first. Why did they forget? Is it my status? My crown? If I covered my wings and took off the crown would they still care? I just wish I could bridge that gap, but how? Should I write a book? Maybe an editorial. How would I present it? Could I start a new paper or would I be able to work into the ones that already run?

“Princess?”

The Foal Free Press might be too childish, but am I being too judgmental by calling it childish? Ponyville Times, maybe? Wouldn’t that limit my audience to just Ponyville?

“Your Highness?”

What about pamphlets or leaflets? No, that would make me like those Jehoova Witnesses…

“Princess Twilight!”

Twilight snapped from her musings to find herself at Sugarcube Corner and that one of her guards was averting his eyes.

“Pardon me, your majesty. I did not mean to raise my voice.”

“What? Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize we were here,” Twilight said. The guard still couldn’t lift his gaze.

Okay, how am I supposed to feel about this? He’s a stallion, he’s supposed be able to deal with this, and he’s a member of the Royal Guard so he should be ashamed of raising his voice to a princess. Then again, he is another pony, same as me.

“Um, pardon me,” said another guard.

“Augh! Sorrysorrysorry,“ Twilight blurted.

“Yo! Twi!”

All of the guards locked into a braced stance at the first loud sound. In this case, the sky blue pegasus Rainbow Dash and the young orange filly Scootaloo.

“At ease, she’s an Element Bearer,” Twilight informed, causing the stallions to return to their positions at her sides. “Nice to see you, Rainbow! I see your team has done another fine job,” Twilight said, motioning to the sky.

“Yeah, about that…” Rainbow’s brow furrowed with concern. “One of my team is acting a little… weird…”

“Weird?” Twilight asked. “Weird how?”

“Well… uhm… You see Derpy was… well the thing is…” Rainbow took a deep breath and exhaled. “Derpy was doing work. She did it right.”

“Isn’t that what you’ve been wanting for years?” Twilight asked.

“Well yes, but not exactly… not like this…” Rainbow stumbled. “She was… she wasn’t herself.”

“Look, Rainbow. You know her the best of all of us. That makes you the best pony to help her if she’s having problems,” Twilight explained. “But in order for me to get involved, I’m gonna need a little more to go on than just ‘she’s acting weird.’”

“Yeah but… she’s not…” Rainbow floundered and grasped for the words before accepting defeat and slouching. “Alright. Talk to you later, princess.”

Scootaloo had looked confused the whole exchange, but had remained quiet. With Rainbow Dash turning to leave, Scootaloo began tugging at Dash’s mane and saying something, no doubt asking what was wrong with Derpy. That last word though…

Princess…

Why had it sounded so bitter? Was Twilight just imagining it or was Rainbow Dash really resentful of her friend?

Should I have been a princess or a friend for that? I’m sure Dash can handle it, but did I handle that wrong? Whatever the problem was, it was really eating at her…

Twilight simply watched her friend walk away, wrestling with herself over running to catch Dash and find out exactly what the issue with Derpy was, but eventually decided it could wait. Twilight addressed her guards.

“Come on. I’m in the mood for something sweet.”

* * * * * * *

Applejack and Big Macintosh stared at the young grey stallion working in the apple orchard. He had answered to the name Caramel, but looked nothing like the pony they knew. Still, he did Caramel’s work on Caramel’s path to earn Caramel’s money.

But just what in the hay is wrong?

Pulling in his last cart full of apples, Caramel stopped before the Apple siblings and set the cart on its front legs.

“I’ve finished collecting my apples,” he reported dutifully.

“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh answered, still eyeing his friend.

“I’ve got yer pay all set, Caramel,” Applejack said, trying to sound chipper in blind hopes of eliciting any reaction from the pony before her.

She lifted a sack full of bits and dropped it into Caramel’s saddle bags while Big Mac disconnected the cart’s harness. Applejack helped Caramel put on his saddle bags, all the while noticing just how weird this felt. The feeling was one of being alone, like she could see, hear, and touch the pony right in front of her, but she couldn’t feel anypony there.

“So, ya gonna head over to the Carrots’ place? I’m sure they could use some help,” Applejack cheerfully suggested.

“Yes.”

Okay, this passed freaky a while ago. What’s yer deal?

“Well, I guess we’ll see ya ‘round!”

“Good day.”

With a farewell so bland it would offend even the Mayor, Caramel set off back down the dirt road while Applejack and her brother stared dumbfounded.

“He was grey, wasn’t he?

“Eeyup.”

“He didn’t have a cutie mark, did he?”

“Nope.”

“You scared too?”

“Eeyup.”

“Pinkie should be here soon. Ya can go into town ta meet yer friends when she gets here.”

“…”

“Yer gonna follow him, aren’t you?”

“Eeyup.”

“Alraht. When Pinkie gets her, ya can head out. I wanna check something with him first.”

“Eeyup.”

Applejack trotted after Caramel, only to find he’d made surprising progress toward the Carrots’ farm.

“This is the only ‘work’ he could be talking about on his day off!”

The statement caught Applejack by surprise. A stallion nearby sounded angry.

“I haven’t seen him yet. Do you think he could be finished already?”

“If he did, he’s the fastest worker in all Equestria.”

Applejack ran toward the conversation, rounding a bend in the road that lead down an incline where she found two pegasi AJ recognized as members of the weather team, Flitter and Thunderlane. Flitter responded first.

“Oh! Hey Applejack, have you seen-“

“Caramel?” Applejack finished. Both pegasi perked up at the apparently favorable answer.

“You’ve seen him?” Thunderlane asked. “Was he-“

“Grey?” Applejack finished again. The two noticeably slumped from a mix of disappointment and fear.

“Yeah…” they both said together.

“I’ll go get Big Mac. Let’s go to the hospital n’see what Dr. Stable has to say. Somethin’s wrong and we don’t like it.”

* * * * * * *

“He was all grey an’ his cutie mark was gone!”

Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle sat on the front steps of Town Hall, fervently discussing with nervous excitement the scariest thing Applebloom had ever seen.

“It was the scariest thing ah’ve ever seen!”

“Can cutie marks even disappear?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Something bad must’ve happened!” Scootaloo said.

“Yeah, he finally took the hint.”

The three young fillies looked up to see the offensive sneer of Diamond Tiara with the best friend money could buy, Silver Spoon.

“The hay you talking about?” Scootaloo demanded.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Diamond Tiara taunted. “Nopony wanted him around. Now he’s being the most useful he’s ever been!”

“That’s not a nice thing t’say!” Applebloom defended. “This is serious!”

“Right, I am soo sorry.” Diamond Tiara’s voice flowed with sarcasm. “Just like that waste-of-a-mailmare. On the bright side, she’s finally doing something right!”

The three fillies could do nothing but bare their teeth in seething rage, or at least they could do nothing they’d be able to stop.

“Maybe the three of you could find out what happened,” she suggested. “Maybe then you could do something useful.”

Laughing between each other, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon departed, leaving Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle to boil in their anger and indignation.

“She might have a point,” Sweetie Belle chimed up, drawing confused glares from her friends. “If we did find out what was going on, we might be able to help.”

Applebloom and Scootaloo exchanged glances, calmly mulling over the idea before bubbling over with excitement.

“That’s a great idea!” Applebloom cheered.

“Yeah, we’ll follow Caramel and Derpy and find out what’s making them do this!” Scootaloo said. “I say it’s pod ponies!”

“Cutie Mark Crusader… uh…” Sweetie Bell stopped. “What would we call this?”

“Day Savers?” Applebloom suggested.

“Private Investigators?” Scootaloo said.

“Whatever, we’ll find a name later!” Applebloom said.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders, go! Yay!” They all cheered in unison.

* * * * * * *

“There ain’t no doubt, Twi. He looked just like we did when Discord got us.”

The revelation gave Twilight pause. Rainbow Dash hadn’t mentioned anything concrete with Derpy, but with a second pony now acting strangely the odds of the two sharing symptoms were almost one hundred percent.

Luna’s moon shone through the windows and candles lit the main room of the Golden Oak library, where Twilight convened with Applejack, Big Macintosh, Thunderlane, and Flitter with a compliment of the night guards on standby. Flitter had been silent since entering and had barely been able to even open her eyes. Twilight thought she might be crying, but couldn’t be sure.

“But you said he had no cutie mark, correct?” Twilight asked.

“No, he didn’t,” Thunderlane answered.

“What did Dr. Stable say?” Twilight asked.

“He just said it was like no sickness he’d ever seen. It’s gotta be magic, or a curse, or something,” Thunderlane said.

“I’ll contact the princesses and ask if Discord is still behaving himself. There’s a chance this could be one of his pranks, or worse, a plan,” Twilight said.

“Ah don’t think so,” Applejack suggested. “When we fought Discord the first time, he wanted to see ponies squirm. We tried everything to get a reaction outta Caramel. He never even got annoyed.”

“It’s possible Discord might do this to be watching us squirm,” Twilight proposed.

“Twilight,” Applejack interjected. Twilight stopped at the forceful answer from the farmer. “Please just… look into it.”

Applejack’s eyes felt wider than usual, like she really didn’t know what to do next.

Twilight nodded.

“Alright. I’ll examine him myself in the morning,” Twilight promised.

The visitors silently nodded and made their way toward the door. Before leaving, Flitter managed to open her eyes and look at the new princess of Ponyville. Her eyes were misty and red. Her brow and lip muscles were tensed. She had in fact been crying and was still clearly fighting the tears. The look bore another emotion beneath, though, one that took Twilight a second to place.

It was anger. Flitter’s look held contempt for her princess, but it also swirled with some other feelings that made the expression murky. Fear, indignation, guilt, blame. Flitter followed her friends into the streets and the door closed behind her.

Maybe I have changed… Maybe the crown has affected me… Maybe I’m not thinking about this the right way. It’s not like I’m running a whole country, I do have the time to spend on the problem…

…

Maybe I’m thinking more than I’m feeling…

Twilight silently marched to her bed room, lost in her thoughts, not even aware of the guards asking if she was alright.

* * * * * * *

The sky blazed with the color of another spectacular sunset. Reds and oranges flowed and burned through the sky above the farms just outside Ponyville. The workers and residents finished up their chores, putting away their tools and heading in for nice night’s sleep. On a hill nearby, unaffiliated any farm or crop, two young fillies sat, watching the beauty of the heavenly dance.

“The sunset’s beautiful tonight.”

“Yeah.”

“You ever wonder where we’re going?”

“Sometimes.”

“My dad started Barnyard Bargains, and yours got Moon Silver going. But those were sorta… chance.”

“I know.”

“What if, you know… What if my grandpa didn’t sell the first zap apple jam? What if your dad sold the tiara to just another random somepony, instead of the Duchess? Would we still know each other?

“I don’t know.”

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon watched the sunset like they always did. Talked like they always did, and just relaxed they always did. Well, okay, they might not always do that, but up her nopony was around to get in the way. When it was just Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, the pressures were as absent as the other ponies of the town.

The hill, this hill, was their hill. Everypony knew of its existence but nopony acknowledge its significance. When stargazing, everypony went to the open fields. Lovers went out to the lighter forests, and bird watchers could go just about anywhere. But up here, this one hill could look upon the sky and couldn’t see anything else. No farms, no town, nothing. The perfect place to be alone and collect one’s thoughts existed only because nopony cared about it.

“I know I’m still way too young to be thinking about this, but I don’t even know what I want to do when I grow up,” Diamond Tiara said.

“Me either,” said Silver Spoon.

“What do you think about your cutie mark?” asked Tiara.

“What do mean? Like, do I like having a spoon on my flank?”

“Well, maybe. But like, what does yours mean?”

“I think mine means I’m good with the finer things. Upper class, you know?”

“But how is mine any different?” Tiara said. “Sometimes I feel like mine means I’m just here to make someone else look good.”

Silver Spoon didn’t respond, she just let the silence flow in.

“I think we should get going. Don’t want to be out here when the sun sets,” Tiara said. “Come on, my dad said you can spend the night, if it’s okay with your dad.”

Silver Spoon stretched, standing up in a fashion similar to jelly.

“Okay.”

The two youngsters began the scenic walk back to town along the rolling dirt paths, watching the stars spark to life overhead. Despite the relaxing sounds of night wildlife and the breathtaking and gorgeous transition from day to night, the silence between the two friends bore something… else… There was some pervasive overall feeling Tiara could not quite explain. The closest way she could think to describe it was knowing something was wrong or out of place.

Silver hasn’t been saying much lately…

“Hey, Silv? You okay?”

“Hm? What?”

“You’ve been really quiet lately. Are you doing okay?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine, I’m doing fine,” Silver Spoon’s nervous smile did not convince Diamond Tiara. The smile was weak and still had a tinge of sadness, although a small one. No doubt, something was bugging Silver Spoon.

She’ll tell me when she’s ready.

The two continued in that same uncomfortable silence for several unsettling minutes. The silence was practically tangible, something was not right with her friend. Diamond Tiara bumped into Silver Spoon.

“Tag! You’re it!”

Diamond Tiara galloped away from “it” who in turn lit up with a more pronounced smile than earlier, and gave chase.

For a brief time of indeterminate length to those present, the night air carried the happy cries of two children just having fun, lost in the carefree bliss of simply being children. The two dodged, ducked, dashed, and dove, laughing all the while, resting where necessary, running where useful. As the excitement rose so too did their creativity, weaving between the trees of the forest, and bobbing behind rocks.

Diamond Tiara crouched, playfully growling at the tree line where her prey had disappeared. She stalked and prowled in search of she-who-was-not-it, growing steadily more anxious as the realization hit her she could hear nothing but the sounds of the crickets, and even those had faded some.

“Silver Spoon?”

Silence.

“Silv? Come on, now, you’re scaring me.”

Silence.

“Silver Spoon? Are you alright? Please, say something!”

Silence.

Panic setting in, Diamond Tiara ran into the trees. Adrenaline burned her veins, her heart pounded in her ears, her muscles twitched and quivered. The cooling air stung her eyes and sweat dampened her coat as she searching high and low for the only one in all of Ponyville to whom she could connect.

“SILVER! SILVER SPOON! PLEASE, SAY SOMETHING!” Tiara screamed into the chill night air, voice fraying from harsh overuse. “SILVER SPOON! PLEASE DON’T LEAVE ME!”

There’s still enough light to search! Maybe if I get to one of the farms, they could get a search party!

Diamond Tiara galloped toward an opening in the trees through which she could see the path. As she drew near, relief found her when she saw the friend she’d lost waiting on the path.

“Oh, Silver Spoon! I’m so happy I… fou…”

It was the feeling of dread, the absolute horror when something bad had already happened and it was far too late to do anything about it. Silver Spoon’s coat lacked any type of shine, her eyes calm, face slack, and posture eased, and cutie mark conspicuously absent.

“Silver?” Diamond Tiara’s voice quivered, her eyes wide and shivering with abject terror.

“I am fine. Sorry to worry you.”

“W-w-who a-are you?”

“I am Silver Spoon. I believe we should be going.”

Diamond Tiara knew of the scary movies older ponies watched, the movies where a monster chased victims through woods or cemeteries or old factories and abandoned hospitals. The confined spaces made the fear of an ambush ever present. The movies never mentioned anything about just how frightening wide open spaces could be. The lack of cover or obstacles meant anything could be watching from anywhere and you could never see them. The unobstructed gentle hills in every direction reminded Tiara just how alone she was right now and just how far she had to run before finding help. The trees behind her stood as just another spot the danger could be hiding. It could be right behind her and she’d never see it coming.

Not-Silver-Spoon stood there, just as she had when Diamond Tiara had first emerged from the forest. The way she stood out in the open, not even trying to hide was creepy to say the least. The fear she now held toward her friend was far too much for Diamond Tiara to handle.

With fear gumming up her thoughts, she ran. She didn’t know where she was headed, she just ran.

* * * * * * *

“Twilight! Twilight! Wake up, we got a problem! OW!”

Twilight jumped up from her troubled sleep, face meeting the floor in the process.

“Get off me! Let go, this is an emergency! I have to talk to Twilight!”

Regally stumbling down the stairs, Twilight found four of her guards had wrestled Rainbow Dash to the floor where she remained pinned.

“Let her up. She’s okay,” Twilight yawned.

The guards begrudgingly obeyed, maintaining their focus on the visitor. Rainbow stood, shaking herself and turning to Twilight.

“Twilight! We have a problem!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Is it about Derpy?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah! We gotta get to Fluttershy’s place!” Rainbow said.

“Shouldn’t we go to Derpy’s-“

“NO!”

The interruption took Twilight by surprise.

“We can’t go to Derpy’s house, not until you see something else first!” Rainbow Dash barked. The look in her eye was an angrily helpless, pleading urgency. It was a look one did not often see on the blue pegasus.

“Alright,” Twilight agreed. “Everypony get close.”

Rainbow Dash’s sigh of relief comforted Twilight to some extent while she and the guards gathered around the princess. Twilight’s horn glowed with crackling purple light as a blinding flash ignited, engulfing the six ponies.

When the light died down, the group stood outside Fluttershy’s quaint cottage. Fireflies danced in the night air and crickets sang from the grass.

A filly cried inside.

The first sound that registered with Twilight’s ears was the distraught wailing of a terrified little filly from inside. The lights were on.

Twilight exchanged glances with Rainbow Dash, the weight of the situation finally hitting her.

“Guards! Stand watch outside! Make sure nopony comes in!” Twilight ordered over her shoulder while she and Rainbow Dash ran inside.

Inside, Twilight beheld Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie trying to comfort a crying unicorn filly. Pinkie was not pulling her usual antics to cheer the young one up. Instead, she only helped Fluttershy cradle the little one as she cried and bawled, clinging to the older mares for dear life.

When the shock of the scene wore off, Twilight realized the child’s cries formed words.

“I want my momma back! I want my momma back!”

Comments

[sejox]

Woo new episode!