Intelligence

by Carolus_The_Great

Chapter 2

Twilight Sparkle awoke with a start, breathing heavily. Her body, along with her sheets were drenched in a cold sweat.

It had happened again.

She had had yet another vivid nightmare. Screams and faces of anguish had woven themselves amongst lakes of blood and the stench of death. Untangling herself from her duvet, she sat on her bedside; attempting to re-immerse herself in the real world, away from the horrors of her subconscious. Taking a diary from her bedside table, she painfully noted down the disturbing images in as much detail as she could remember.

They had begun around two months ago, rare at first, but gradually growing in frequency until they were practically nightly. Although leaving her shaken at first, an understanding of pony psychology and practice of meditative techniques had enabled her to at least suppress their overall effect on her.

A cold shower brought her to back to her senses and smoothed out her matted fur. She didn’t want her unpleasant nocturnal experiences to somehow rub off on those around her. She felt better, knowing that ponies weren’t worrying about her. This was all in her head - nothing that she couldn’t deal with herself. Making her way downstairs, led by the smell emanating from the kitchen, she sat at the breakfast table.

“Are you sure you are doing the right thing, Twilight?” Spike poured the unicorn some coffee, “I mean I know your books have methods of nightmare prevention. But I can’t help but notice that this hasn’t really improved. If anything, your dreams have gotten even worse.”

“Spike, dreams are nothing more than an unintelligible mixture of the things that you’ve thought about during the previous day. I’ve been noting down the content of each nightmare when I wake up. If I can find a link, then I stand a chance of putting a stop to them once and for all,” Twilight explained.

“I’m just concerned for you, Twilight. Your sleeping patterns have been getting ever so erratic. You’re practically living off coffee; and you of all ponies should know that that isn’t good for your studies.”

Twilight had been thinking the same thing. Her hope in her methods had gradually diminished over time as days had turned to weeks and months. The nightmares painfully grating away at her psyche, flooding her mind with depression and despair.

“I have made you breakfast.” Spike carried over a towering pile of syrupy pancakes, “It should at least give you some energy to think.”

“Oh Spike, I know I could count on you to help me through this.”

“That’s what I do!” Hanging up his apron, Spike sauntered out of the kitchen, pausing at his exit, “Oh, and just a reminder. The calendar says that you and your little gang are meeting up at Sugarcube Corner for tea and cakes.”

The unicorn’s eyes sprung open, “Oh thank you, Spike! I’ve been looking forward to this get together for weeks. I can’t believe I forgot. Pinkie’s been put in charge of the shop and seemed to see it as a good enough excuse inviting us all over!” Twilight’s initial lethargy seemed to evaporate from her shoulders at the thought of her friends. At last, a chance for me to relax!

“That sounds great, Twilight! But I have to get started on my chores.”

She listened to the dragon ascend the staircase before returning to her breakfast. The gooey pancakes were warm, hugging her from the inside. She knew today was going to be wonderful, she could almost blow away the worries of her sleep for the day - but not quite. The unicorn knew full well that tonight would be like her previous nights - filled with pain and fear. Dammit! Spike’s right! I’ve trusted these books for too long! I need to find something else that could help me. She swirled the last of her coffee, watching whirlpools form and collapse. Well I am seeing my friends today. Maybe they’ll know how I could stop this. She drained her mug and washed up; walking into the library to get started on her studies. But I just feel awkward asking them about something so personal. Picking a book from her substantial magical theory reading list, she began to read. Maybe if I find the right moment, I’ll tell them. But now, studies.

The dragon was spending the week clearing out the rapidly growing mountain of junk in the attic. Twilight had discovered that a family of phoenixes had made their nest out of a stack of waste paper and, in doing so, almost burned down the entire library. The phoenixes had since, with a fair number of pecks and scratches, been safely relocated to the Everfree Forest and the task of clearing away the rest mess had fallen on Spike. As he tended to what sounded like a trapped and angry hippo, Twilight’s morning flew by with the words of Albert Einstallion and Shetland Hawking floating through her mind. Losing herself in the poetry of real life, the chiming of noon from the library’s grandfather clock brought her back to her senses.

“I’m leaving for Sugarcube Corner now, Spike,” Twilight called up into the loft hatch.

A grunt and a crash came from above. After a fairly lengthy silence, the dragon’s voice piped up, “Okay. See you soon.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with that? I’m happy to help if you want me to.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. This is nothing your number one assistant can’t handle!”

“Well if you’re sure. I’ll see you later”

Upon stepping out of the door, Twilight was greeted by the mild warmth of spring, and the smell of fresh air. All, but a few clouds had been cleared; the rays of the sun mixing with a cool breeze to produce the perfect temperature. By now, the day was in full swing. The centre of Ponyville filled with throng of vibrant ponies and the gentle hubbub they brought with them. As she approached Sugarcube corner, she saw her friends gathered around a table outside, making the most of the day’s weather.

“Mornin’ Twilight!” Applejack pulled up a chair for the unicorn, “Now how are we on this here fine day?”

“Fantastic!” Twilight knew, deep down, that it was a lie. But now was not the moment to inform them of her problems. Applejack was right. It really was a fine day, and she didn’t want to sully the mood, “And how are we all?”

“Well, ah just won a game of horseshoes with Big Mac. He had to clean the entire barn and ah got to watch him. So y’all could say ah’m feeling pretty darn good today.” Applejack lowered the brim of her hat.

“I’ve been practicing my latest flying routine. Maybe a few of these hardcore flips might finally get some talent spotter from the Wonderbolts to notice my awesome skills.” Rainbow Dash fidgeted in her chair, clearly finding the passive atmosphere of the meet up difficult to cope with.

“I had to look after an entire family of blue jays after a sudden gust of wind blew their nest out of the tree,” said Fluttershy, almost at a whisper.

“Nothin’ to do with a certain pegasus’s crazy flying ah hope?” The cowpony shot a glare at Rainbow.

“No way!” the pegasus exclaimed, “Fluttershy here has given me strict instructions about where not to fly during the hatching season. It can’t possibly…”

“Who wants muffins?” A sudden explosion of pink appeared between Applejack and Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie placed a three tiered cupcake stand piled high with vividly iced muffins along with a tray of tea and cups. “Dig in everypony!”

Twilight glanced over her friends, all hungrily tucking into the array of cakes before them, and noticed a certain absence of an expertly sculpted violet mane. “Hey, girls, where’s Rarity?”

Rainbow Dash swallowed heavily, “Oh, she mentioned something yesterday about her running out of buttons, so she is going to get some more this morning.”

“What could be keepin’ ‘er. Buttons can’t be that hard to find.” Applejack scanned the streets around her.

“Maybe it’s some really big buttons or a really big order of buttons; or they could be really small buttons, and she’s dropped them, and she’s trying to look for them, and she can’t find them because they are so small. Ooh, maybe we should find her and help her look for her lost buttons.” Pinkie pie chimed into the conversation.

“Ah know that mare can be impractical at times. But, even Rarity would think twice ‘bout using buttons that she can’t see.” Applejack tried to rationalise the discussion.

“Maybe that’s just what she wanted you to think,” Pinkie glanced suspiciously at Applejack.

“Hey look, there she is!” Rainbow had pulled herself away from the irrational discussion to notice the white mare trotting up to the table.

“Good afternoon Rarity, care for some tea?” Pinkie greeted the mare, “Did you find your lost buttons?”

“Whatever do you mean, darling?” Taking a seat at the table, she picked out a lilac muffin and began taking polite but painfully small nibbles.

“What took you so long? Surely Bobbintop’s shop isn’t too busy at the moment,” asked the unicorn.

“It wasn’t busy at all, Twilight; it was closed! On a Saturday too! I don’t know what she was thinking, not opening on such a busy day. I had to rush back to Carousel Boutique to postpone at least seven orders. Buttons are quite an integral part of fashion. I cannot hope to continue my work without them.”

“Actually, I haven’t seen Bobbintop’s shop open in quite a while, at least a week.” The yellow pegasus sipped her tea.
“Now that you mention it, Ah haven’t seen Bobbintop herself around for quite a while either,” remarked Applejack.

“I thought that she had moved back to Cloudsdale.”

“Well I haven’t seen her. But Cloudsdale is a big place, you could go for days without seeing anypony you knew,” Rainbow explained.

“And the commute would be dreadful!” Rarity took yet another tiny nibble of her muffin.

“Hey look over here!” Pinkie Pie darted away into the main street.

“What is it now?” Applejack exclaimed.

“Probably just another tomato with a slightly different colour to the rest of the tomatoes,” Rarity followed the bouncing mare, leading the rest of her friends, who reluctantly put down their cake to see what Pinkie had found.

The pink pony led them to a newspaper stand. Holding out her hoof, she indicated the front page:

Ponyville mare missing for over eight days

Under the headline was the face of Bobbintop, her lime mane framing her eyes and wide smile.

The six stared at the paper in disbelief.

“What could have happened to her?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight paid for the newspaper, turned to the first page and began to read. “‘The Ponyville mare Bobbintop went missing several days ago. Failing to return home after working at her textiles shop on Wednesday evening…’ Well that certainly explains her shop being closed.”

“Carry on!” Rainbow dash demanded.

“‘Three search parties have been sent out, but have failed to return with any evidence of her current whereabouts. Although, they shall continue to search, the chief of the Ponyville Guard has said, ‘the outlook looks grim’’”
The friends stood in shock.

“She was our age,” said Rarity, “You always hear of these things happening all over the place, but you never think they will ever happen to you.”

Twilight continued to read the article, trying to understand exactly what had happened. “I have to write to the princess.”

“Right now, sugarcube?”

“Yes, right now! I’m sorry to have to leave so abruptly, but it is imperative that I contact the princess immediately.” Twilight grabbed the newspaper and set off at a full gallop back to the library.

Upon hearing the door slam, Spike clambered out of the loft, “Hey, Twilight, you’re back early!” Descending the stairs, he was met by a deafening ruckus as the unicorn searched the library, “Is something the matter, Twilight?”

“Ink! I need ink!” She snapped.

“What’s the hurry?”

“Something has happened, Spike, and I need to contact the princess right away. But I can’t, because I can’t find any ink!”

“Try the cubbyhole under the stairs.” Spike noticed that the mare’s mane was somewhat messed up, whatever this was, it must have been stressful for her, “What’s happened, Twilight.”

“Bobbintop has gone missing.”

“But I thought that she had moved back to Cloudsdale.”

“That’s exactly what I thought, but it turns out that she effectively vanished over a week ago, and nopony has found anything that has brought anypony closer to working out where she has gone,” Twilight explained what she had read in the article, “Now stuff like this rarely happens in Equestria. Normally, if the Guard can’t find a missing pony within a few days, the princess uses some powerful magic to locate them. This is generally a last resort. She avoids having to do this as it can be very dangerous if the spell goes wrong, which it can, and has done.”

“So what you are saying is that Bobbintop should have been found days ago?”

“That is exactly what I’m saying. If the princess hasn’t found her already, there could be a problem.” Twilight located a new pot of ink and sat at her desk, “Could you give me a moment, Spike. I need to concentrate.”

The dragon returned to cleaning the attic, leaving Twilight alone at her desk.

Twilight began to write. Today certainly wasn’t turning out to be as relaxing as she had hoped.