• Published 27th Apr 2019
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The Equestrian Odyssey - A Tale of Two Worlds - Kamahido



Twilight accidently brings a human from Earth to Equestria. Will he be able to coexist with the equine inhabitants of this new land?

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Chapter 8 - Little Detectives

Derpy knocks on the bedroom door. Hearing nothing she steps inside. Even though it is light outside the room inside is dark due to the curtains being closed.

“Sweetie?”

Dinky lies on her father’s bed wrapped up in his blanket.

“Did you want to go out and play?”

“No, mom. I… just want to lie here with dad.”

“With… Arc?”

Dinky nods as she nuzzles the pillow. “Yeah. The covers still have his scent. I just close my eyes and imagine he’s here.”

Derpy walks over and puts a hoof on her daughter’s back.

“But he’s not here. Physically anyways.”

“I know. Do you… think he misses us, mom?”

“Yes, dear. After all, you were the most important pony in his life, sweetheart.”

“What about Miss Rarity?”

“Believe me when I say Arc always put you first in that regard.”

“Huh?”

“Twilight and her friends told me a while back that they all wanted to marry your dad.”

“I know. Sweetie Belle told me.”

“Do you know why he didn’t?”

“Was he waiting for the right time?”

“Kinda. You see, Arc was upset that he wasn’t giving you enough attention. So he decided to forego a relationship until Princess Celestia was back.”

“But why?”

“Because a marefriend, or six in his case, is a full time commitment. He didn’t want to split his time any more than he did already.”

Dinky sighs. “That actually makes me feel worse.”

“I’m sorry, Dinky. While I guess I didn’t think that one through, I just wanted to you how much your father loved and cherished you.”

Dinky sits straight up and glances at Arc’s Crest of Light on the end table before looking her mother squarely in the eye.

“Mom? Is… do you think there’s any way dad could’ve survived?”

Derpy sighs as she shakes her head. “I don’t think so, sweetie. After all, we both saw what was left of his armor. That and if he had made it, there isn’t anything in this world that would have prevented him from finding a way back here.”

“Yeah, I suppose that’s true.”

“Why don’t you go outside and play with your friends, sweetheart? They’ve been coming by every day asking about you.”

“I think I will.”

Dinky hops off the bed and heads for the front door. As she puts her hoof on the doorknob she soberly looks to Derpy.

“I love you, mom.”

Without another word Dinky bounds through the door and down the path. Derpy looks out the window after her and smiles.

“I know your father’s very proud of you, sweetie.”

Meanwhile, Dinky runs down the road as fast as she can. Reaching town she spots Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle coming out of Barnyard Bargains with full saddlebags. Seeing their friend the pair wave happily.

“Hey Dinky!”

“How… how’re you doing?”

Dinky looks at them soberly. “I need to talk to both of you.”

They follow Dinky around to the back of the shop and unbuckle their saddlebags before sitting down in the grass. Apple Bloom is the first to speak.

“So… what’s up?”

“I… um… need some help.”

Sweetie Belle smiles. “Sure! What do you need?”

“My dad, he… um… he deserved better.”

Apple Bloom sighs. “You mean a nicer funeral?”

Dinky shakes her head. “No. A more thorough investigation.”

Sweetie Belle grins. “So you want us to help you figure out what really happened to him?”

“No, I believe that Princess Celestia really did kill my dad. What I want to do is…”

Dinky lowers her voice and whispers her plan to the pair. Sweetie Belle gasps.

“But we can’t do that!”

Apple Bloom looks confused. “Why not?!”

“Because that’s what the guards are for!”

Dinky frowns. “Well, I didn’t see any of them trying to figure this out!”

Apple Bloom stands. “Right. It’s up to us now.”

“But… but Rarity will be FURIOUS!”

Dinky puts her hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “Sweetie Belle, you wanted my dad to be your dad once, right?”

“Of course!”

Apple Bloom nods. “Me too!”

“Well, this is what family does. They take care of, and stand up for one another. Now I’m going to do this with one with or without help. So I guess the question is… are you two in or out.”

“I’m in! Applejack will definitely be mad at me for it. But I really wanted her and Arc to get hitched so we could be sisters, Dinky.”

Sweetie Belle sighs. “Rarity’s going to ground me for a year when we get back. But I’m in too.”

“Great! Now all we need to do is gather some supplies for the trip!”

Apple Bloom grins. “Way ahead of you there!”

She opens her saddlebags to reveal some basic camping supplies. Sweetie Belle frowns.

“I wondered what you were planning to do with this stuff.”

“Truth be told, I was planning to ask you two to join me on this little trip when I had everything together. Dinky just beat me to it.”

Sweetie Belle groans. “Well, now we just have to think of when and where to meet up.”

“How about tonight in front of my dad’s grave?”

“So soon?”

Apple Bloom shrugs. “Might as well. After all, we need to be back before fall.”

Sweetie Belle rolls her eyes. “Why? For school?”

“I think Apple Bloom meant before it gets cold.”

“Right. Nopony should be traipsing around the countryside through the snow. Arc wouldn’t want that.”

“I don’t think he’d want us doing any of this.”

“We have to. Or at least I do. After all, he always took care of everypony whom needed him. Now he needs us to do the same for him.”

Later that night as the moon reaches its apex, Dinky silently puts on her saddlebags and peeks out into the living room. She spies her mother lying on her mat, sleeping soundly. Smiling, Dinky quietly closes the door and walks over to the nightstand. Her horn aglow, she picks up Arc’s Crest of Light and looks it over soberly.

“Let’s go, dad.”

Stowing the crest safely in her bag, she turns to the bed and lays a single piece of paper on the covers. Smiling, she closes her eyes and shakes her head.

“Sorry, mom. But I really have to do this.”

Walking over to the window, Dinky quietly opens it and drops down to the grass below. Making her way through the deserted streets to the edge of town she soon reaches Light’s Hope. Trotting around the building she spots Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle waiting for her in front of the memorial.

“Sorry I’m a bit late. I had to make sure my mom was asleep.”

Apple Bloom nods. “We just got here too. It was harder than I thought to get out silently. I ended up jumping off the roof.”

“You okay?!”

“Fine. There was a pile of hay to cushion me. I’m just lucky everypony in my house goes to bed really early.”

“Rarity often stays up all hours to get her work done, so I had to get a little creative.”

Dinky raises an eyebrow. “What’d you do?”

“Switched the labels on her coffee tins. She’s been drinking decaf all day.”

Apple Bloom grins. “So she went to bed early?”

“Not willingly, no. Before I went to my room for the night I brought her a fresh mug. One with a couple sleeping pills dissolved in it.”

Apple Bloom giggles. “That should take care of her for the night. But we should get moving.”

Sweetie Belle nods. “Right. They’ll be ponies looking for us before we know it!”

“Okay. One second though.”

Dinky turns to the grave and sits down respectfully.

“Dad? I… I don’t know if you can hear me or not. But if you can, I just wanted to say… thanks. Thanks for being there for mom and I. Thanks for listening to me, caring for me, and always being there for me when I needed to talk. I know you’re not in this grave. It’s just an empty box down there. But I… I feel like I need to change that for everypony… for me to move on. That and… and you deserve to be properly laid to rest.”

A familiar voice rings out behind them.

“That he does.”

Gasping, the trio turns around to see two bright yellow eyes staring out at them from the foliage. Stepping forward into the moonlight the figure stares at them silently for a few moments. Eventually Dinky speaks.

“S-Sereb?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Yeah. I thought you and Miss Ember were heading back to the Dragon Lands.”

Sereb nods. “We did. However… I decided to return.”

Dinky looks nervous. “When did you get back?”

“A few minutes ago.”

Apple Bloom nods to the memorial. “Here to see Arc again?”

“Yes. However it would appear that you three have much larger plans than merely a moonlit service.”

Dinky nods soberly. “We’re going to go look for my dad’s body.”

“If the destruction of the castle’s corridor was any indication, he was most likely vaporized.”

Sweetie Belle sighs. “Well… we have to try!”

Apple Bloom puts her front hooves together. “Please don’t tell on us!”

“This is not what Arc would have wanted. He would rather you three went home where it’s safe.”

Dinky shakes her head. “I can’t, Sereb. You and my dad shared a Life Pact, right?”

“That is correct.”

“And when does that pact end?”

“When my rider is slain.”

Apple Bloom raises an eyebrow. “Really? So if a rider gets killed in battle, you just leave him there?”

“No. It was always customary to return their body to their hometown for burial. “

Sweetie Belle nods. “That’s what we’re trying to do!”

Apple Bloom grins. “Come with us! It’ll be safer for everypony if we stick together.”

“And isn’t that what my dad would tell you to do? To keep me safe?”

Sereb sighs and nods. “Very well, little ones. I will accompany you on your trip.”

Sweetie Belle looks relieved. “Hooray!”

“After all, you’ll just go on your own even if I tell you not to.”

He turns to Dinky, soberly.

“I only ask one thing of you.”

“What is it?”

“Please listen to me should trouble find us. After all, Arc would be very upset with me should any harm befall any of you.”

“Okay.”

“We’ll be good.”

“Yeah. Promise.”

“Then you have my aid. Put the contents of you saddlebags in mine and we’ll be off.”

The three fillies open their saddlebags and quickly fill Sereb’s. Sweetie Belle looks at hers nervously.

“I… kinda have to bring mine though.”

Sereb turns to her. “Oh?”

Dinky appears confused. “Why’s that?”

“Rarity made it for me. She spent a really long time on it too.”

Apple Bloom looks at the bag. “I guess it would be kind of a waste for something as nice as yours to just sit here and get rained on, or something.”

“Very well. Put it in.”

The fillies finish putting their gear in Sereb’s bags and step back. Apple Bloom turns to Sweetie Belle.

“That’s the last of it.”

“What should we do with yours and Dinky’s saddle bags?”

Sereb sighs. “Leave them. We cannot bring unnecessary items along.”

Dinky grins. “I have an idea. Bring them over here.”

Following their friend’s lead, the fillies carry their bags over to the grave. Dinky sets hers down in front of the headstone. Placing a rock on top, she speak albeit sadly.

“We’ll leave our bags here with you, dad.”

Apple Bloom nods as she follows suit. “It might take some time, but we’ll come back for them.”

Sweetie Belle smiles. “Yeah. We promise.”

“See you soon, dad.”

Sereb kneels down and motions for the fillies to hop up into the saddle.

“Shall we be off?”

“Yeah. If we wait too long, our journey will be over before we know it.”

“Where should we start?”

“Canterlot Castle. I need to see the scene of the crime.”

Sereb nods. “Very well. I can get you there by about this time tomorrow.”

Dinky giggles. “No need for that, Sereb.”

“Oh? You want to wait for the train now?”

Apple Bloom smiles. “I think what Dinky means is that we can teleport there.”

Sweetie Belle claps her hooves together. “Right. No need to walk when we can be there instantly.”

Dinky motions for the other two to take their places around Sereb. Concentrating, they vanish in a flash of light. A moment later they reappear. Sweetie Belle looks around the room as she casts a simple Light Spell.

“There we go.”

“Where are we?”

“My dad’s old room in the castle.”

Sereb raises an eyebrow. “I was not aware you could use your father’s sigils.”

Dinky shakes her head. “We can’t. To teleport, one of us just has to visualize where we want to go while the other two channel their power into them.”

She steps toward a wardrobe and opens it. Grabbing something off a hook she turns to the others.

“This should help us move around without raising attention.”

“What is it?”

Sweetie Belle gasps. “Is that a magic cloak?! Rarity was just telling me how expensive and difficult they are to make!”

Apple Bloom looks to her friend. “Is this the one your dad got from Miss Derpy?”

Dinky shakes her head. “Nah, he had several of these made up a while back. We just need to borrow one.”

Sweetie Belle gasps. “Isn’t that stealing?!”

“We’ll bring it back.”

“Right.”

Sereb nods. “That and I believe Arc would have wanted you to have it, Dinky. The only question now is what is the plan?”

“Go to your Cub Form, Sereb. I think all four of us can fit under here.”

Sereb does so as Dinky puts the cloak over her head.

“Sweetie Belle, you stand next to me. Apple Bloom and Sereb will follow behind us in a two by two formation.”

“Sounds like it should work.”

“If we can walk in tandem, yes.”

Sereb frowns. “Perhaps a bit of practice is in order?”

Dinky nods. “Good idea, Sereb. Everypony get under the cloak and we’ll try it.”

Walking back and forth from one end of the room to the other the pair do their best to synchronize their steps. Eventually they are able to get into a rhythm.

“So before we turn I’ll motion the direction with my head, like this…”

Dinky tilts her head to the right before slowly turning. The others follow her perfectly in step.

“I think we’re ready to do this!”

“Right!”

Sweetie Belle shudders. “I sure hope so. It’s not like we’ll get a second chance at this if we get caught.

Sereb looks to the filly. “Dinky, what is the plan if we are detected?”

“Depends on who it is and how many there are. If it’s just one guard I think Sweetie Belle and I can put them to sleep.”

“But I don’t know that spell!”

Apple Bloom clops her hooves together. “Then just bash them on the head! We don’t have time to explain ourselves to everypony!”

Dinky sighs. “Not that they’d listen to three fillies and a wolf, mind you. We’ll use Apple Bloom’s plan if something goes wrong.”

Sereb sighs as he puts a paw over his face. “What have I gotten myself into?”

The fillies and Sereb step out into the corridor with the cloak over them. Looking around Apple Bloom turns to Dinky.

“Which way?”

“Take a right.”

They begin walking as quietly as their small hooves will allow. Passing several patrols they eventually make their way to the corridor of stained-glass windows. Dinky looks around and grits her teeth as she pulls the cloak off of everyone.

“This is where it happened.”

Apple Bloom turns to Sweetie Belle. “Let’s look around for clues.”

“Like what?”

Sereb sniffs the air. “Unknown. However it is likely the guards and janitorial staff have already collected all the evidence and cleaned the rest.”

Dinky nods soberly. “We have to try.”

They split up and look around. Sweetie Belle is the first to speak.

“There’s some white pebbles over here.”

Sereb looks over to her. “Glass perhaps?”

Sweetie Belle frowns. “I don’t think so.”

Dinky walks over and gasps. “It’s a few fragments of my dad’s armor!”

Apple Bloom joins them. “Are you sure?”

Dinky nods. “Yes!”

Sweetie Belle looks nervously. “But the amount of force it would take do that would be… um… let’s keep looking.”

Apple Bloom looks up at a window. “Hey! I thought this was supposed to be all stained glass!”

Dinky frowns. “It is. Why?”

“Because that window over there is just regular glass.”

Sereb gestures with a paw. “As are a few over here.”

Sweetie Belle looks around. “I heard that all the widows here were destroyed when Princess Celestia… did whatever it was she did back then.”

Apple Bloom narrows her eyes. “That’s what Applejack said too.”

Dinky nods soberly. “Right. But the rest of them have been replaced to be as they were before.”

Sweetie Belle appears confused. “What’s wrong with that?”

Sereb growls. “It would appear the only windows to be replaced with normal glass have been ones depicting Arc.”

Apple Bloom gasps. “But… why?”

“Rarity told me this was supposed to be a visual rendition of our country’s history. If you take Arc out of it, that would be like… um…”

Dinky grits her teeth. “Trying to change history.”

Apple Bloom gasps. “But you can’t change what’s already happened, right?”

Sereb nods. “Correct. However you can change what is remembered and passed on to future generations.”

Sweetie Belle points a hoof at a damaged column near a clear window. “Hey, look over there!”

Sereb walks over. “It appears to be fresh.”

Apple Bloom squints. “What is?”

Sereb puts a paw on a column. “These scratches were made by something very hard hitting this at great speed.”

Dinky gasps. “Like my dad’s armor!”

Sweetie Belle raises an eyebrow. “But what does that tell us?”

Dinky points a hoof, angrily. “That my dad was thrown out this window!”

Apple Bloom looks outside. “It’s a pretty big fall to the city below.”

Sweetie Belle sighs. “I don’t get it. Nopony found his body, or even any trace of it. Maybe he really was vaporized like everypony was told.”

Sereb shakes his head. “I do not believe so. After all, his armor was intact enough to make these marks in the column.”

Apple Bloom turns to Dinky. “Is that important?”

“Yes! Don’t you see?! If my dad’s armor was intact enough to make these gouges, it might have protected him from most of the blast!”

Sweetie Belle points to the city with a hoof. “But nopony saw him fall or found his body.”

Sereb nods. “As powerful a blast as this must have been to shatter hydra armor, I can surmise that Arc would have been thrown quite a ways.”

Apple Bloom gasps. “You think he went OVER the city, Sereb?!”

“It is possible. However I personally scoured the city for traces of Arc’s remains, and found nothing. The idea he was vaporized did seem to be likely at the time, but…”

Dinky’s eyes grow wide. “Wait! I think I see something!”

She walks over to what appears to be a piece of her father’s armor firmly embedded into the wall. Looking it over carefully for a few moments before speaking.

“This looks like another shard of my dad’s armor!”

Sweetie Belle looks to Dinky. “You think it broke off when he was blasted?”

“Yes. But let’s think about this. This shard is embedded in the wall BEHIND where my dad was supposedly standing.”

Apple Bloom tilts her head to one side. “What does that prove?”

“That he couldn’t have been standing there! His body would have prevented this shard from hitting that part of the wall.”

Sereb frowns. “Then where did this piece of armor come from?”

Dinky puts a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. “I have a theory.”

She walks across the hall to the adjacent window and turns around.

“My dad was standing here instead.”

Apple Bloom raises an eyebrow. “How can you tell?”

“That piece in the wall! It was blasted loose from my dad’s armor from the princess’ spell. I’m guessing it flew past her, hit that column which left that large gouge in it, and embedded itself into the wall!”

Sereb nods. “That is indeed possible.”

Sweetie Belle walks over and looks out the window. “There’s a pretty big lake down there. Could Arc have somehow landed in that?”

Apple Bloom looks nervous. “Maybe. Um… he could still be down there.”

Sereb sighs. “Perhaps just I should go then. I don’t think you fillies should potentially have to…”

Dinky shakes her head soberly. “No. I have to see his body for myself, Sereb.”

“And Dinky needs us right now.”

“Right! More than ever!”

Sereb nods. “Very well. But only if you’re sure. Now the only question is how to get down there safely.”

Dinky grits her teeth. “Leave that to us.”

The three fillies form a circle around Sereb and join hooves. Concentrating, they vanish and reappear on the shores of the lake. Sereb turns to them.

“You three should probably stay here.”

Apple Bloom pouts. “But we can help!”

Sereb narrows his eyes. “Can you see in the dark?”

Sweetie Belle sighs. “Not… really.”

Dinky nods. “I know a Night-Eye Spell for that. Let me see…”

Concentrating, Dinky casts the spell on her friends before doing the same to herself. They look around. Apple Bloom gasps.

“This is amazing!”

Sweetie Belle nods. “Not bright as day, but as good as sunlight through dark clouds.”

Sereb sighs. “It will have to do. All of you search the banks for any clues that present themselves.”

Dinky turns to the wolf. “What will you be doing?”

“I’ll… search the lake. Hopefully I won’t find anything, but I will do my best.”

Nodding, they split up as Sereb drops his armor and saddlebags before jumping into the cool lake. Half an hour later Sereb returns to the shore as the fillies regroup. Dinky reaches him first.

“Anything?!”

Sereb shakes his head. “I did not discover a body, no. However, I did find this.”

His horn aglow, he pulls something out of the lake and levitates it over to Dinky. She gasps.

“It’s my dad’s sigil gauntlet! He DID get knocked through that window!”

Apple Bloom frowns. “So everypony investigating his death was searching in the wrong direction!”

Sweetie Belle nods. “It seems so.”

Sereb growls. “This is most disturbing.”

Dinky turns to him. “What do you mean, Sereb?”

“At the memorial service Princess Luna told us Captain Decimus, Admiral Gaston, and Princess Celestia were there when this deed was done. The captain himself wrote the official report, of course. However, I find it hard to believe he, the admiral, and the princess herself could all have been so wrong as to what window Arc fell through.”

Apple Bloom gasps. “You think they were trying to cover it up?!”

Sweetie Belle seethes. “Probably just that Decimus stallion! After all, he was leading the investigation.”

Sereb nods. “It would have been easy to send everyone the opposite direction and then report that they found nothing.”

“So the princess killed my dad and Captain Decimus covered it up?!”

Sereb sighs. “It’s certainly possible, yes. But we should withhold judgment until all the facts are known.”

Sweetie Belle puts a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. “Somepony should probably investigate how that Decimus guy was able to regain his position after all he did.”

Apple Bloom nods. “You mean us?”

Dinky shakes her head. “No. We’d just be laughed at. Somepony who’s all grown up and is allowed to be here would be a better choice.”

Sereb nods. “Perhaps Miss Twilight could do that. She’s quite intelligent as well as a normal figure around the castle. I can’t see anyone trying to impede her.”

Sweetie Belle gasps. “But wouldn’t she be in danger?!”

“No. Everyone knows she’s Princess Celestia’s personal student. Should any harm befall her, the princess wouldn’t rest until she was found.”

Apple Bloom grins. “That and her magic is powerful enough to prevent anypony from hurting her.”

Sweetie Belle nods. “My sister and her friends would probably join in the hunt.”

Sereb picks up his saddlebags with his magic. “There is safety in numbers. But we should head into the woods and make camp for the night. We can resume our search in the morning.”

Dinky sighs. “Good idea. Let’s go.”

As the fillies hop on Sereb’s back he walks into the forest in search of a proper campsite. Finding a small clearing the fillies jump out of the saddle and get to work pitching their tent. No sooner is the last peg secured than a cool rain begins to fall. Sweetie Belle groans.

“Great!”

Dinky opens the flap. “Everypony inside!”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle bound past Dinky into the dry tent. Sereb walks under a nearby tree.

“You too, Sereb!”

“The tent is a bit too small for all of us. I will sleep out here.”

“Just get into your Cub Form! We’ll make it work!”

“Very well.”

Casting the spell, Sereb returns to his Cub Form and bounds into the tent. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom are busy setting out their sleeping bags.

“Not sure all three bags are going to fit in here.”

“This tent is just meant for two, after all. Usually that’s my sister and I.”

Sereb looks toward the tent flap. “I could still sleep outside.”

Dinky shakes her head. “No way, Sereb. I have an idea.”

Unzipping the sleeping bags all the way Dinky lays two of them on top of each other face up.

“Everypony lay down in a row.”

They do so as Dinky joins them. Reaching out with her magic, she pulls the last sleeping bag over them before looking to her friends.

“See? I knew we’d fit.”

Apple Bloom smiles. “That was a pretty good idea, Dinky.”

“Yeah! Where’d you get it?”

“From the time my mom and dad took me to the Winsome Falls. We were all really cold, so my dad suggested what I just did. It worked like a charm.”

Sereb lays down. “Admittedly it is a bit cool out here by the lake. Now then, if everyone is warm enough I suggest we get some sleep.”

Sweetie Belle nods as she yawns. “Good… idea.”

Apple Bloom closes her eyes. “I’m tuckered out too.”

Dinky sighs. “Good night, everypony.”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle fall asleep peacefully. However, Dinky tosses and turns most of the night.

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