Chapter 62: Ryan
Ryan paced back and forth through the workshop, feeling as though he might be wearing a path down in the deck. It was dark outside, with the lights of Canterlot distant twinkles through the drawn shutters. But he didn’t need to sleep, and Aerial had made no objection to the hour either.
He had known before he even got back to the Bright Hawk that somehow all the pressure would end up falling on him. Blake had reported the disappearance to the Canterlot police, but they could do no more than promise to investigate. Useful if Kaelynn was spotted out in the open, since she'd be incredibly obvious—but if the kidnappers never took her out again, what good would that do?
Vesper had given them at least one new piece of information, confirming that only one pony had walked aboard the Bright Hawk, and only one had left.
"But that does not provide any additional clarity," Aerial had said. "A single unicorn could have teleported our missing pony away. Canterlot has numerous ponies with the skill to do so. Any dockside warehouse could've had a crew waiting with a cart to wheel her away, packed up and gone now."
A “teleport” seemed like quite the stretch in terms of magic. But Ryan had seen enough in Equestria not to even bother arguing with the local expert. It didn't matter if it seemed absurd—if the changeling said it could be done, than it probably could be.
For over an hour now, Aerial had been investigating the Bright Hawk. For a little while, Blake had followed along behind them, until Aerial complained that the additional emotions were confounding the reading she was trying to get. But changeling feelings were apparently different, so Ryan was allowed to remain.
"Ryan," the changeling said, startling him from his thoughts. "Come here."
He did, crossing the workshop to the drafting bench.
"Do you feel it?"
He shook his head once. "I feel furious at myself for letting this happen. I'm worried about what happened to Kaelynn, and where she might be right now. I don't know how they are treating her, or how carefully guarded she would be."
Aerial's wings buzzed briefly in annoyance. "Not that. There is an imprint of emotion upon this place. All creatures leave such traces, though ponies leave the deepest tracks. Unharvested feelings."
Ryan closed his eyes, trying to sense whatever this changeling wanted from him. If he remained still, he could almost feel something. He would've missed it completely, except that it was exactly the mind he was missing. Kaelynn was terrified of something. The impression came to him only for an instant, as though she were several rooms away, right on the edge of his perception.
"She was here! I mean... I know she was here, this is where she spent most of her time."
Aerial nodded, pleased. "Unfortunately it does not tell us much we couldn't already infer. This is where the confrontation took place. She went from feeling sick to surprise, then great fear. This is the same pattern almost any living victim would pass through, realizing too late they were about to be taken. But there is more. The criminal was also here—a single mind, far more confident and collected than your missing pony. This makes her feelings difficult to resolve."
"Her?" Ryan raised an eyebrow. "Vesper said the witnesses didn't know who it was. They couldn't even say for sure it was a unicorn."
"I can." Aerial walked across the room, standing a few paces away from the desk. "She was a unicorn. She walked through the ship, before stopping here. She was overjoyed to see a seapony here, alone. She can't believe her luck, she isn't sure she'll ever get another chance like this. So she acts. She turns around, goes down the hall to Kaelynn's quarters. After a few minutes, she hurries out of the ship, and she's gone into the city."
Ryan sat in place, stunned. If he concentrated really hard, he could imagine there was someone else in the room with him, for just a second. He imagined a stern, older face, like a disapproving librarian. But it didn't last. "I didn't know we could see the past! Can we follow her trail?"
"We can do neither," Aerial said flatly. "We see the feelings ponies had in the past. Yet their traces do not last for long. As soon as she walked off your deck, her traces mingle with tens of thousands of others. I cannot follow her."
"Oh." Ryan's ears folded flat. He pawed at the ground in front of the desk, defeated. "So it was a waste of time? We have some impressions about a suspect, but an 'older unicorn mare' doesn't tell us where to go to save her."
Aerial marched right up to him, fixing his eyes with a burning insectoid glare. "Do not whine to me like a larva, Ryan. You have been away from the hive a long time—you were untrained, and unprepared. You lost a creature who fed you."
She bore her teeth at him, barely even visible in the gloom. The two of them hadn't lit the lantern at any point during this investigation. He hadn't noticed the darkness until right now.
"We are changelings, Ryan. Our lives are surrounded by enemies on every side. There will be a knife against your throat until you die. If you think that's unfair, too bad. The universe is the cruelest queen of all—she does not justify herself, and rewards sanctimony with despair. Do you want to cry, or do you want your lover returned to you?"
He probably was crying—the sudden intensity was so bewildering that Ryan didn't know how to react at first. Pharynx had said Aerial came from the old swarm. Hadn't they invaded Equestria once? She had that kind of edge to her, a blade that could cut him too if he wasn’t careful.
He nodded. "O-ok. So you're saying you... you did learn something."
"I can't follow the pony. I don't know their name from their feelings. But if I get close to them again, I will recognize this mind. All we have to do now is arrange circumstances, so we encounter each other. The wealthy have tremendous resources, but what they lack in is liquidity. Whoever this is cannot simply flee the city with her prize. She will have tenants in her properties, she will have a mansion and servants. They bind her here, for us to find."
"I guess I shouldn't be so quick to assume the worst. You're right, it does feel like we've been getting the worst over and over. But I guess it..." He took another deep, slow breath. "I guess we need to meet a lot of rich people, then? That sounds hard; people like that don't usually like to interact with the peasants."
Aerial grinned at him. "You are not wrong, oldbug. We will need to insert ourselves into their community. Fortunately, you have someone with just the talent to make that happen." Her whole body glowed with faint green light, washing over her in an instant. When it faded, it left... an entirely new pony in her place. A stallion, a full head taller than he was, wearing a sharp suit and a monocle. "I will ask around, do a little digging in high society. If we are quite lucky, our kidnapper will attend one of the upcoming balls. It's likely, given her new acquisition. She will want to brag about it to her peers."
Ryan tensed. "I can't help but notice you said 'you.' Do you seriously expect me to wait?"
The new stallion advanced on him, glowering. "You are from another world, oldbug Ryan. How well do you think you could imitate a wealthy unicorn scholar? How much could you tell them about current thaumic study, or royal gossip? How many fashions do you know, how many local musicians?"
He opened his mouth to answer, then shut it again. She was right, obviously—he didn't know a damn thing. "She's my girlfriend. I can't sit around doing nothing while someone else rescues her."
Aerial patted him on the shoulder with one hoof, grinning like the stallion she was imitating might do. "Have no fear of that! I am gathering information—they will not find me, and they will have no proof to link me to the swarm. I cannot aid your rescue, and violate the neutrality of the swarm here in Canterlot.
"While I work, perhaps you should take this time to think of what you'll do." There was another bright flash of green light, and the changeling had returned. "You will not be able to go to the authorities for help, since you will have no witness to testify. It will be for you to affect a rescue, risking the wrath of an old and wealthy family, and possible arrest at the hooves of Equestrian authorities. If you are lucky. If you are not, the family will dispose of the problem themselves. I don't know which is worse."
She turned to go. Ryan reached after her, but lowered his leg after a second. He might still try to convince her to help with the rescue, but there was no reason to do that now. For all he knew, she wouldn’t be able to find the place.
Probably not the best way to get our worlds to start cooperating. The nobility might hate humans before even really meeting any.
He wouldn't find out what Blake or Jordan would say about that particular suggestion, not until morning. With even Aerial gone, Ryan could do little more than pace back and forth along the deck. He visited Kaelynn's room, stared at the empty tank, went to the workshop and back. Over and over again, without any improvement.
He did take some time with his voice recorder, though recording a journal didn't bring him the relief it usually did.
Journal,
Kaelynn is gone. I should’ve been with her to stop it from happening, I wasn't. The changelings are going to help find her, but their spy won't help with the rescue. It looks like a powerful unicorn here in Canterlot must be responsible. We don't know who yet, but we will.
Janet and Galena are still on Earth. They might be the safest members of our whole team, since they won't be caught up in all this. I'm debating sending them a message—Galena can probably fight better than any of us, so we might need her. Janet won't come back for this, and she probably shouldn't. She's just an office worker, and Kaelynn isn't her friend. She's ours.
Maybe Vesper will have some luck with her dream-magic angle, but I'm not optimistic. She's been able to create objects, but that's totally different from finding someone through a dream.
Aerial will be able to find the house holding her. But what we do after that is on us.
It would probably be the last journal he recorded on the subject. All things considered, contemplating a criminal act in a permanent, recorded form was probably setting up future Ryan for disaster.
Eventually the others woke. Blake first, rising with the dawn. Ryan explained everything he'd learned in the night while Blake ate. His expression grew increasingly grim as Ryan got further.
"Breaking into someone's household to rescue her," he said, when Ryan was done. "That's what you're suggesting? You know this is nothing like our usual operation—whoever lives here knows they're criminal, so they'll have tight security. They might be waiting for us specifically, depending on what they extracted from Kaelynn."
Ryan rose from his chair—there was no food in front of him, since of course he couldn't eat it. His wings opened to full size, and he glowered down at Blake. "What else can we do, ask nicely? They can laugh in our face, move Kaelynn where we'll never find her, and that's it. We never see her again! I'm not leaving her behind, no matter what it takes!"
Blake raised a hoof placatingly. "Hey, Ryan? I know this might seem rich coming from me—but cool it. Deep breaths, okay? When Kaelynn suggested we leave her to die in the desert, I wasn't cool with it then either. We're not going to abandon her. But that doesn't mean we take the most obvious solution to solving every problem. There are other angles."
He probably shouldn't have been shouting so loud. A few minutes later and Vesper dragged herself down into the kitchen. She wore a nightcap, and looked a little like death herself. Clearly she hadn't got much sleep.
She yawned, glaring at them both. "Couldn't give me one more hour?"
"Sorry." Ryan wilted, sinking into his chair. "Please tell me you have good news."
"The retired princess will be keeping an eye out for Kaelynn," she said. She added nothing else as she poured herself a bowl of cereal. When had they even bought Sugar Buggos? Vesper crawled zombie-like to the table, leaning against Blake as she languidly poked at her bowl.
"That's... great!" Ryan didn't smile—these last few days had been far too mired with disappointment to let himself feel anything positive. "How long will it take her to find Kaelynn? Can she bring all of us there, or just you?"
Vesper finished chewing before she answered. Watching her was painful, like a creature in slow-motion. But then, her mind still felt like it was halfway in another world. Equestria had given each of them gifts, but also asked a price. One thing it had taken from Vesper was the ability to wake up during the day with any comfort.
"She isn't optimistic. Princess Luna thinks it could take so long it isn't even helpful to us. We're on our own."
Blake explained, with far too much patience, everything Ryan had already told him. Vesper gradually animated, becoming increasingly alert as Blake spoke.
"So it's a heist," she finally said, with her first hint of real emotion. "I always loved the Ocean’s movies."
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I’m in love with Vesper so much, so very much.
Did Vesper manifest a box of cereal in her half awake state?
I like Vesper's reaction and I doubt it's going to have much consequences since the nobles don't even know who they are dealing with. In the best case they just get Kalynn to explain things to the police and get Morningtide arrested but I doubt things will got that smooth.
Plan's coming together. Let the heist begin.
With how unlucky things have been in the last few months, pessimism seemed only natural.
Luna's been apprised of the situation. Though she won't give full support, some strings can be pulled. A few hooves twisted.
It's likely fated to end up badly anyway. Though at least they can say the nobility started it.
I would especially love a Payday style heist to happen, specifically the Scarface Mansion heist where we burn the paintings to lure the boss out, assassinate, then loot the vault.
But it is highly unlikely. But an alternative that comes to mind is a surveillance operation where they plant bugs and cams that can potentially ruin more than one reputation when brought to the authorities. Clean and bloodless.
Well, if Aeriel finds the culprit first, Luna can change tack and focus on supporting their rescue effort, either by giving them resources or pulling strings to make things a bit harder for the noble to hide or run. She might not rule anymore, but a former princess should still have some clout, right?
I think the word should be bared. The verb bared is to expose, whilst bore is to carry.
The Oceans movies? Should I mention that I just finished Drowning in a digital sea? :-)
Alright. So, we can expect the readers to see the expected plans laid out, followed by everything going off the expected path, seemingly random improvisations, and somehow it just manages to fit into a perfect plan...
or, perhaps, better writing coming from you :-).
Mmm. Rooting out criminal nobles is a good way to get on a world's good side, with good nobles and royalty like Celestia and Luna...
Is Discord watching? Hmm...
----
Typo:
affect a rescue > effect a rescue
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Looks like! =0
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Is he conscious of these events? Probably. Do they stand out from the background noise? Discord only knows.
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Heh, "plant bugs." Imagine surreptitiously swapping the houseplants with changeling soldiers.
My big worry is, they know to be wary of a changeling thanks to what Kaelynn said, and now a changeling is going to hunt for info...
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Thanks for the info! Unfortunately, that comes from having to rely on Google to do translations. Far from anywhere near accurate, but it's all we got.
The box of Sugar Buggos is amusing, but eating your own dream constructs seems like it could very wrong. At the very least, I doubt it's a net energy profit.
In any case, we have a plan! Now it's a question of how it goes wrong. And what Kaelynn does in the meantime.
Anyone else think that Vesper is going to want to stay in Equestria after all this?
Even if this is all the changelings can help with, this is a great start.
This bug is intense.
That is a workable plan.
Particularly so if scary spy buggo handles all of the spy parts.