My Little Layton: Puzzles are Magic

by sailor sunburst

a new investigation

Luke and the professor walked through the streets of London. As they walked into the library, they saw a girl with dark hair streaked with pink and purple. When she saw Luke glance over she hid her face behind her book. Luke raised an eyebrow. He nudged the professor in the ribs
“Professor, look at that girl over there.” he told him quietly. The professor glanced over
“Hmm… she certainly is different-looking.” He said “I’m sure she’s here for the same reason we are.”
However, at the café half an hour later, Luke saw the girl again with a girl wearing a yellow dress and light pink hair, and they were looking at the professor and Luke.
“I think we’re being followed.” Luke told the professor quietly
“Perhaps…” agreed Layton. They went back to the professors flat, and Luke saw the two girls meet up with several other girls. The wind carried up snatches of their conversation
“I told ya’ll to be careful!”
“A.J., we’ll handle this!”
“Maybe we should ask someone else…”
“Nonsense, Fluttershy! They’re the only ones who can help!”
“Why not just go up there and explain?”
“We might just have to…”
The next day, Luke saw the dark haired girl again.
“Excuse me?” she asked, going up to him and the professor. “Are you Luke Triton and Professor Layton?”
“Yes.” Said Luke
“I need to show you something. You see, my teacher sent me here with my friends because we have a bit of a problem… and she thinks that only you two can help us.” Said the girl
“Well, a gentleman never ignores the request of a lady.” Said the professor “we’ll try and do what we can.” The girl smiled
“That’s great! I’ll go get my friends!” later, Luke and the professor met the girl and her friends
“Ok, rarity I’ll need your help with this.” Said the dark haired girl
“right.” Said another dark haired girl wearing a white dress. The two girls’ grabbed hands and an aura shone around them. Their eyes shone with a bright light
“Almost…” muttered the girl in the white dress
“Professor, what’s going on?!” asked Luke.
“I don’t know, Luke…!” said the professor. Suddenly, they were transported to a grassy field outside a forest.
“Ugh… I hurt all over…” whined Luke. He looked at his…
“HOOVES?!” he shouted. He looked over his body “wh-wh-why am I a horse?!” he asked
“The term is ‘pony’” said the pony who was the girl in the white dress. She had a horn on her forehead, same with the pony who had the dark hair. The one who had worn the yellow dress was a pony with wings.
“Ah man, it feels so good to be a pony again! I hated being grounded!” said one winged pony who had rainbow colored hair. She did loop-the-loops in the air “I just wanna' race around!”
“Now hang on their sugar cube we gotta' explain!” said a pony with blonde hair who gave off a cowgirl look. She turned to Luke and the professor “mighty sorry. My friend here has been antsy since we went to ya’ll’s world since she wasn’t able to fly.”
“Of… course…” said the professor as he examined his own body.
“Come ooooon! We need to get to Canterlot! They gotta’ meet the PRINCESS! Twilight, rarity, you two messed up on where to SEND US!” said one pony, who had fluffy pink hair and had a pink coat
“She’s right, twilight. We’re supposed to take them to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna for them to explain.” Said the blonde haired pony
“Right. Let’s go gang, and remember what the princess said, no one can know about Luke and the professor.” Said twilight. A little later, they were on a train, in a compartment to themselves
“Phew… okay, nopony saw us…”
“I… I hope spike is doing okay watching our pets.” Said the pink haired pony
“I’m sure he’s doing alright.” Said twilight. She looked at Luke and the professor “now, it’s the princess who’s going to explain why you’re here, but I can explain about where we are. We’re in the land of Equestria, where all the citizens are ponies. There are 3 kinds of ponies, technically four but you’ll learn about that later. Those three kinds of ponies are unicorns, Pegasus, and earth ponies. Earth ponies are stronger and have more stamina, pegasi aren’t as strong, but they’re faster and have much more agility. Unicorns are able to perform magic and can organize their minds much more quickly. You two are unicorns.” Luke and the professor looked at their reflection and saw that they were unicorns. “Hey, neat!” said Luke
“As you heard my names Twilight. My full name is Twilight Sparkle, but you can just call me Twilight. The blonde pony right here is Applejack. The Pegasus with the pink hair is Fluttershy, the rainbow haired one is Rainbow Dash, the white pony is Rarity, and the pink one is Pinkie Pie.”
“Hershel Layton.” Said the professor
“Luke triton.” Said Luke.
When they arrived at the castle’s throne room, two ponies were standing, talking
“Princess! We’re back!” said twilight
“Twilight!” said the taller of the two with rainbow colored hair “welcome home, my dear!” she turned to Luke and the professor “you must be professor Layton and Luke. Welcome to Equestria. I am its princess of the day, Princess Celestia. This pony right here-“ she nodded towards the darker pony beside her “-is my sister Luna, the princess of the night. You’ve already met my student Twilight Sparkle, and her friends. They’ve taught you about Equestria, and now it falls to me to tell you why you’re here.” Celestia’s horn glowed and a book flew off a shelf in front of the professor, who held it up with his own magic “These are Changelings. There a species of creature who disguise themselves as a pony and then gain strength by feeding off your feelings for others. We had problems with them before when they threatened to destroy Canterlot when their queen disguised herself as the princess of a neighboring kingdom to Equestria, Cadence, when she was about to marry Twilights brother, Shining Armor, who is now prince of that kingdom. We thought we had banished them for a long while, but a few have slipped out to Ponyville, and now are trying to gain strength so their queen, Chrysalis, can return. Last time she sought to take over, it was the love of Twilights brother, Shining Armor, and his wife, Princess Cadence, that saved the day when their love gave Shining Armor the strength to cast the spell needed to drive them back. But I’m afraid they’re back again! They’ve too-“
“I'm very sorry to interrupt you, but might I ask...why do you need our service?"” Professor Layton asked.
“Why, they’ve kidnapped my husband, Shining Armor!” a voice said. It was a pony with many colored hair.
“You must be Cadence.” Said Layton
“yes.” Said cadence “As I said, the Changelings have kidnapped my husband, learning from last time. Without him, the spell cannot be cast to drive the Changelings back to where they belong.”
“However, there is a kind of prophecy, which leads to where you and your apprentice come in, Professor.” Said Celestia
“The prophecy recites thus:
When the dark ones rise and the protection has been taken, a portal to another world shall open, and two shall be found who can tell friend from foe. With those of evil found and the protection returned, the evil shall be cast back.” Recited Luna
“And you think we’re the ones mentioned in this prophecy?” asked Luke
“I sent Twilight and her friends through the portal that was mentioned. It was really a spell that took them to your world, where they found you.”
“I knew that we’d need to search for someone clever, and you came up many times in newspapers, Professor. We watched you for a couple of days, until finally we were sure that you and Luke were the ones we needed.” Said Twilight
“I understand you’re confused and might not want to help, but Equestria could be in terrible danger if the Changelings aren’t stopped. Please, Hershel Layton, will you help us? Will you help Twilight determine Pony from Changeling as they work to free Shining Armor?” asked Celestia
“Well, I for one won’t say no!” said Luke immidiently, stamping his hoof “whether or not the professor decides to stay, I’m staying myself! I can’t go back home knowing this world might be in trouble if I can do something about it!”
“Well, I can’t very well go home if Luke is staying. People would notice if he disappeared, and it’s my job as his temporary garden and his father’s friend to look after him.” Said the professor “Besides, no gentleman could ignore a request from a lady, especially a princess.”
“Thank you. Twilight and her friends will escort you to Ponyville in the morning, but right now it’s getting late and you’re probably very tired. Twilight, could you show our guests to the rooms in the east tower?”
“Right away, princess!” said Twilight. She showed Luke and the professor to their room “Here you go!” she said “My friends and I will be down the hall. Turn left at the end of the hallway and we’re three doors down on the left. Just come by if you need anything. Good night, Luke, Professor.”
“Twilight, wait! I have one more question.” Said Luke
“Your just full of them, huh Luke?” laughed twilight “Rarity told me more than once that me and you were alike in a lot of ways. What is it?”
“Well, I noticed that a lot of ponies have symbols on their flanks. Why?”
“Their called cutie marks. You see Luke, when a filly or colt reaches a certain age and discovers his or her certain talent; a mark appears on their flank that shows it. It can represent their talent as well as an aspect of their personality. When your younger, it’s always fun guessing what your cutie mark might be. There are 3 foals in Ponyville who are around your age who are what are known as blank flanks, meaning that they don’t have their marks yet. They formed a group called the cutie mark crusaders.” Twilight chuckled “their names are Applebloom, Sweetiebell, and Scootaloo. Applebloom and Sweetiebell are Applejack and Rarity’s sisters, and Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash are like sisters.” Luke looked down at his flank, but saw nothing
“I don’t have my mark…” he said sadly “I wonder why?” he went over to the professor, and saw a picture of his wax seal “aw man…”
“Ah, don’t fret my boy! I’m sure you’ll have your mark by the time we return home.” Said the professor
“I hope so… it’s really disappointing that I don’t have it yet…”
“Well, that’s 3 friends you’ll have in Ponyville. The crusaders are always on the lookout for foals their own age that don’t have their marks.” Said Twilight. She sighed “it’s a shame. A foal is supposed to earn his or her mark on their own, and we know just what the crusaders should do. We can’t help them because like I said, they need to figure it out for themselves.”
“What do you think their talents should be?” asked Luke as he climbed onto his bed
“Well, Sweetiebell is a great singer, but she’s so shy about it. Applebloom can repair a home like no one’s business, she even built the crusaders clubhouse, and Scootaloo does great on her scooter.” Said twilight “but don’t worry Luke, I’m positive you’ll get your mark. Like I told you earlier, my friends and I had been watching you and the professor! We know you’re great at puzzles, which reminds me, I thought one up earlier and thought you might like to hear it.”
“Sure!” said Luke, perking up
“Alright.” Said Twilight. She cleared her throat “Four stallions go to sit by each other. You don’t know their names, but each one has a different colored coat. One is red, one is blue, one is yellow, and one is green. With only these two pieces of knowledge, figure out how the four will sit in order. The first rule is that the yellow pony is sitting to the left of the red one. The red and blue ponies fight a lot if they sit by each other, so they sit as far from each other as possible. How will they be sitting?”
“Easy! In order, it’s blue, green, yellow, and red!” said Luke, smiling
“That’s right!” said Twilight “Well, I’ll let you two rest. If you need anything, you know where to find us. Good night.” And she left the room. Luke and the professor turned out the light. Luke yawned
“This has been interesting day, huh professor?” he asked
“It certainly has, my boy.” Said the professor as his horn glowed as he magicked off his and Luke's hats
“You think Flora will be okay?” asked Luke “I’m kind of worried…”
“She can handle herself one night. Tomorrow we’ll ask Twilight and her friends to try and bring her here.” Said the professor “Try and rest Luke.”
“Yes, professor.” Yawned Luke “good night.”
“Good night, my boy.” Said the professor. The two quickly fell asleep, or at least…for a while.
Creeeeeak
“W-What was that?” Luke said, suddenly awake by the sound. “P-Professor, is that you?”
“Oh, sorry Luke. It was just me.” Professor Layton replied.
“Oh… alright. Sorry, professor.” Said Luke
“It’s alright, Luke. Go on back to bed.” said the professor. As Luke snuggled back under the covers, starting to fall asleep again, he had the strange feeling of something not being right…but, he just couldn’t figure out what.
‘Stop being so afraid Luke. It’s just Professor.’ Luke thought to himself, and with that, he went back to sleep.

Author's Note:

in the starting chapter to the colab crossover fic written by me and my buddy peachsapling on deviantart, we have the gentlemanly professor of archaeology, hershel layton, and his apprentice number 1, luke triton, entering the world of equestria and discovering their goal: to help twilight determine pony from changeling so that they can rescue shining armor and drive the changelings back underground where they belong
any part where the fandom seems wrong was written by peach. shes still learning. XD in all seriousness though, she didnt do half bad. I ONLY HAD TO HELP HER OUT A FEW TIMES! lol. peach knows i play~

Comments

[theultimatebrony]

i skipped the story to say you just made layton 20% cooler

[theultimatebrony]

now ive read the story. wow. you need to finish that ASAP..if thats ok with you...if you want..

[sailor sunburst]

2142570
already got part 2 written and spell checked to be uploaded tomorrow. me and peachsapling, my partner in writing this on deviantart, were working on it for a few hours.

[sailor sunburst]

2142513
i have have i? well....