Professor Layton and the Equestrian Silence

Chapters

Chapter 1: An Invitation
Chapter 2: The Divine Equines
Chapter 3: Beeline
Solutions (updated in line with story)
Chapter 4: Dragon's Despair
Chapter 5: Only The Stump
Chapter 6: A Cover and a Case
Solutions 2
Chapter 7: Up To Your Gills
Interlude: Out of the Blue
Chapter 9: Reunion
Chapter 10: Beau in a Bind
Chapter 11: Rarity's Riddles
Chapter 12: Agricultural Affairs
Chapter 13: Fear Outside the Forest
Chapter 14: A Matter of Time
Chapter 15: Shadows Sending Shivers
Chapter 16: Chaos and Confusion in Cloudsdale
Chapter 17: From The Tree To The Truth
Solutions 6
Interlude: The Professor's Conclusion
Chapter 18: Burning the Last Bridge
Chapter 19: Inside The Silence
Epilogue: Exuent
Solutions 7
Prologue: The Vanishing Dusk
Chapter 8: Signs in the Sand
Solutions 3
Solutions 4
Solutions 5

Chapter 1: An Invitation

The burning ball dropped to half-face, streaking a silhouette of Tower Bridge, its leaving light firing blinding glances off of London’s most prominent structures. The clock tower of Westminster Abbey pointed to where the sun once stood, and Londoners milled in the busy streets, savouring the last of the warmth.

Across the city stood a premier teaching establishment named Gressenheller University. The main building stood amongst some of the oldest in the area. If one were to step through the front doors, the building was less insistent on showing its age. The foyer was open for two floors, with wooden balconies for the second level lining the edges of the hallway. In one of the ground floor hallways to the left stood a door straight from a stereotypical private eye film. However, the window did not bear a name but a symbol: a top hat. That alone announced whose office it was.

In the office sat a slender man, facing the window in a four-legged wooden chair. The gentleman wore green shoes, a brown pair of trousers and a high-collar jacket to match. Underneath, the man wore a t-shirt of the most citrus orange. However, none of these details stood as much as the top hat on the man’s head, a black silk affair with a red band expertly wrapped around the base of the funnel.

Professor Hershel Layton’s office was a mixture of the sublime and the ridiculous. On a couple of the walls, there were various artefacts of note, and more strewn across parts of the desks, including a gold-coloured box with a goat’s head detailed on the lid. On the other hand, a shabby green sofa occupied the centre of the floor space. What desk area was not taken by interesting finds was covered in abstract notes, along with numerous patterns. Even amongst this, the professor found a prime spot to squeeze in a record player. The gentleman in question smiled, a saucer held softly in his left hand and a teacup in his right. He closed his eyes just briefly, taking a sip of his Layton Elixir, when a rapping came at the door.

“Hm?” The professor turned his head to the door, before placing the cup and saucer together on the nearest desk. He rose to his feet and walked upright towards the source of the sound. Upon open the door, he noticed a short man dressed in an orange suit, complete with a green tie. His head vaguely resembled a pineapple in both shape and the fact that a single tuft of hair sat on top of it (which Layton knew to be a toupee). The short man has a bushy white moustache and wore thick, round-framed glasses that obscured his pupils.

“Good evening, Hershel,” the orange-dressed man spoke properly.

“Dean Delmona! To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“A young man popped by the lobby not ten minutes ago with this package for you,” replied the Dean, brandishing a small package marked with the professor’s name in blue ink.

“How curious...” Layton mused, taking the package into his right hand. “Thank you, Dean.”

“No problem. Make sure you get home and have some rest, Professor.”

“I will. Have a good evening, Dean Delmona. Say hello to the family for me.” The Dean walked off down the corridor, and the gentleman closed his office door gently, before setting himself down at a desk and opening the box. A couple of folded pieces of papers revealed themselves as the package’s contents, each sealed with a golden stamp emblazoned with the letter C. The professor opened the desk’s drawer and pulled out a letter knife, before carefully unsealing the first sheet. It was a letter. Layton read onwards:

Dear Professor Hershel Layton,

Please forgive our intrusion. However, we are in dire need of your vast intellect.

Several of our subjects have been going missing, presumed abducted. We have not come across such activity for centuries, so we have had no real need for a service of your calibre. We write to you as a matter of urgency.

Please find enclosed instructions on how to find us. Should these instructions be followed as we expect them to be, you will have proven that you are the right one for the task.

We await your quick response.

Yours sincerely,

HRH Princess Celestia

And

HRH Princess Luna

Professor Layton thought for a moment. He had not heard of monarchs by those names before. Also, why would he be the right one, as opposed to being the right person? With this in mind, he unsealed the second sheet, revealing a map and instructions:

Puzzle 001

“From where we’ll be, leave from the eastern entrance and turn left. Take the right at the next junction, and a left at the next. Take the right at the next junction; take the next left and the next left again. Turn left at the end, then turn right at the end. Take the second left, then the next right. Take the next left, turn right and right again. Turn left at the end, then take the next right. Take the next left, the next right and the next left. Turn left at the end and take the second right. You should now be in front of a gallery. Where we are, the house number adds to eleven. The highest house number on the street is 30.

Good luck, Professor.”

The professor had a couple of questions in his mind, but he was a gentleman first and foremost, and he was happy to accept the task offered, especially by royalty. He studied the map carefully, tracing the directions in his mind. He quickly came up with an answer, of which he was sure. He placed the papers back in the box, before placing the box in his right jacket pocket. He quickly made for the door, closing and locking it behind him, before heading for the building’s entrance.

Around half an hour later, Layton stepped off a double-decker bus, a short walking distance from where he knew he had to be. With a fair geographical knowledge of the city, he arrived on the street where he was needed within minutes, and headed straight for the house.

“A simple enough riddle. Hmm, let’s see...” Layton noticed a metal plaque, a red button and a four-wheel dial on the door. He looked closely at the plaque, reading the following:

Puzzle 002

“One number brings you fortune,

And one lets bad luck reign,

Multiply, then once more each,

And spin them ‘round again.”

The professor placed his chin in his hand for a moment, before smirking in triumph. He dialled the required number on the wheels, before pressing the red button.

“And now?”

No sooner had the professor said these words, than did a peculiar aperture open in the door. It was a swirling void. Layton jumped back in restrained surprise.

“What is this?” This oddity was not like anything he had seen in his illustrious career thus far. The portal opened wider and wider until the professor could fit through it without stooping, top hat and all.

“Most intriguing, but worth investigating. A case beckons where a gentleman is needed.” With that, Professor Layton stepped into the hole, the world behind him becoming a blur. Before long, the tunnel took its toll and he lost all consciousness.

He hoped these royals had control of this, because to him it was dangerous, more so than he had encountered in a long time.

Chapter 2: The Divine Equines

“Are you sure that this... human... will help us?”

“I should expect so, little sister. He almost as famed for his gentlemanly conduct as for his archaeological and deductive prowess.”

“He will have expectations impressed on him like none before.”

“Indeed, but we can help him as best we can.”

The professor awoke, but felt far too comfortable to shuffle himself from his current position. Wearily opening his eyes, he noticed he was lying on a king-sized four poster bed, underneath a gleaming white quilt.

“Hm... Where am I?” Layton looked around for any sort of clue. The room around was spacious, with finely-carved marble walls and a ceiling crafted with the utmost care. To the right of where he lay was a roaring fire, sat comfortably behind a mesh guard. Upon gathering his thoughts, he noticed that he was still in his apparel, and that (mercifully) his trademark hat still rested squarely on his head. He had quickly deduced that he was in a royal residence, what with the level of beautiful yet understated opulence.

“Well, I believe that is time to meet these Princesses,” the professor told himself. After clambering out of the bed and flattening the quilt once again, he headed to the door. He opened the door and took a peak into the corridor, which ran from left to right. It was a similar marble affair, lined with potted plants of various designs mounted on pillars. The floor had a smooth red carpet running along the middle of it. However, one particular feature caught his eye: a marble plinth with a brass plate, sat in the hallway. The plaque read:

“Welcome to the Royal Palace. We are grateful that you have answered our call. We await your presence in the Palace Throne Room, but you will need directions."

Puzzle 003

“You can reach the Throne Room by following one of the walls either side of you, left or right. The wrong direction will lead to an intruder trap. You’ll be surprised how many try to break in for my prized cider from Sweet Apple Acres. However, you will not know which way to go unless you ask anyone. Three step into view. One pony always tells the truth, one always lies and one can lie or tell the truth.

“The first pony states that he can’t stop lying, that the second pony could tell either a truth or a lie, and to follow the left wall. The second pony states that he speaks only the truth, that the third pony is lying and to take the right wall. The third pony states that he cannot tell a lie, that the first pony is indecisive on his truths and that the left wall is the one to follow.

“Which wall do you follow?”

A small smile wondered onto Layton’s face as the answer stood out at him. He took the appropriate direction, following the wall all the way, until he came across a pair of regal doors. Upon closer inspection, he notice a curious panel reaching across the gap, and a telltale brass plaque on the right door:

Puzzle 004

“A final test for you, Professor, we promise. We hope that you are a man of letters as well. We shall give you this phrase to help unlock this door."

LADLE ACHE!

“You need to use all of the buttons to solve this.

“See you on the other side.”

The man in the hat placed his hand to his chin again, thinking what the symbols could be. Then it clicked.

“Ah, puzzles are not without answers, and this one is no different. Let’s see, now...” Layton punched in a combination of button presses, before hitting the centre button. Within moments, the doors swung inwards, revealing a cutting light from across the throne room. The professor shielded his eyes as he walked into the light. He braced himself for whom he was about to meet.

The throne room, much like the rest of the castle, consisted of marble walls and pillar plants, with the red carpet stretching to the throne podium. The podium itself was made from gold, with the carpeted pathway sloping up towards the throne, also gold with deep red cushions. There were beautiful blue flowers in bloom at the base of the pedestal, and water flowed from the podium’s sides into pools. The furnishings seem quite fitting for royalty, Layton thought to himself. As he approach the throne, there before him stood two winged ponies with long and slender horns protruding from their heads. These two ponies were flanked by two dark grey stallions, also with horns and clad in golden armour. At the base of the platform, the Professor bowed his head, as best he could without losing the hat from his head.

“Greetings, Professor Hershel Layton,” a soft yet authoritative female voice carried to him from the left pony. She was white with a pink tinge, with a gentle and sparkling spectrum of sparkling hair billowing from her head and flank. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of magenta. She wore a matching crown and necklace, along with golden shoes holding themselves to her hooves. A detailed image of the sun decorated her flank on both sides. The pony in question smiled softly.

“You don’t seem surprised that we are not human.”

“I had anticipated it from your hallway test, Your Majesty,” the professor answered, smiling subtly.

“Please, call me Princess Celestia.” At this point the second pony, presumably Princess Luna, cleared her throat. She was a deep shade of blue, with black patches and a white crescent moon on her flank. Her mane and tail were also blue, with transparent edges. These also seemed to billow and glitter without aid. She wore a solid black crown and necklace, spare the white crescent moon on the latter. She wore glimmering shoes made from light blue crystal.

“We have brought thee to help us in this time of need, dear Professor,” Luna spoke sombrely.

“I am at your service, Princess,” Layton replied. “Please relay to me the details of the situation.”

“Very well,” Celestia agreed, before detailing her prized pupil’s disappearance. The professor paced the chamber during the description, hand on his chin and his eyes closed.

“Normally,” the white alicorn continued, “I would not call for help. But seeing as Twilight Sparkle is my personal protégée, I deemed it necessary to call on a fine mind such as yours, Hershel. Will you help us?” Layton turned to the throne.

“Of course, Princess,” he responnded, smiling again. “A gentleman always endeavours to help when he can.” Celestia and Luna smiled, placing their implicit trust in the human before them.

The first port of call for Layton was to the carriage storage area. The professor, following the instructions given, opened a pair of doors leading into the darkness. He reached for a valve on the right wall, before twisting it open. The room, now illuminated by candles, revealed that the professor was stood on a balcony, overlooking a group of canopies covering the carriages below. Standing beside him was a brown earth stallion with a matte grey mane and tail, with deep blue eyes and a cartwheel on his flank.

“Ah, excuse me, sir,” Layton began. “Would you happen to know the... pony in charge of storing and maintaining the carriages?” The pony cocked his head sideways slightly.

“Yep, that would be me,” replied the stallion, not even reacting to the professor’s form. “Name’s Cartwright.”

“Ah, excellent. The Princesses sent me here for an investigation. I am looking for the carriage named ‘Excelsior’. Would you be able to point me in the right direction?”

“Hmmm... Let’s see, now...” Cartwright pulled a catalogue from the pocket on a nearby wall, flicking through the pages. “Ah, it’s a four-pony-pulled gold carriage with a roof.”

“Of course. Do you know where it is?”

“I’m afraid my memory’s a little fuzzy, but I think a couple other memories may help...”

Puzzle 005

“From what I remember, Gallant is a silver open-top carriage, and Courage and Jimmy are pulled by two ponies each. All our carriages are kept under those canopies. Is that of any help, Professor?”

“That is very helpful, Cartwright,” cheerily replied the human. “I’m curious, though, as to why one of the carriages is named Jimmy.”

“Ah, that was Princess Celestia’s idea. Just a bit of fun, really. Princess Luna’s got one named Ploddington down there.”

“Ah, that’s fair enough. Shall we?” Layton and Cartwright travelled down the metal steps into the belly of the room, stepping under the appropriate canopy. Cartwright immediately noticed that the nine carriages were in the wrong order.

“Drat!” he barked in disgust. “I’m gonna have to re-arrange them to find the Excelsior carriage!”

“I don’t think that will be necessary, Cartwright. I believe I know which one is Excelsior.”

Puzzle 006

“I would believe that these symbols on the undercarriages would represent some sort of emblem. However, one of these does not fit the pattern in any way, shape or form. I believe that would be the carriage masquerading as the Excelsior.”

“Masquerading? As in the carriage is fake?”

“Indeed. Let’s have a look inside.”

Upon opening the door, the first thing the professor noticed was the smell of burning. Closer inspection noticed two of the seats were scorched.

“Tell me, Cartwright. Is it possible for anything to break inside this carriage whilst it is transit?”

“Break in? No. The outer shell is protected by a spell that Princess Celestia herself put on it.”

“Spell?” Layton enquired. “Is it possible to escape under the same circumstances?”

“Yep. Sort of a safety protocol. If there’s any need to abandon ship, they can.”

“Yet,” the professor added, “The door was properly closed when the carriage arrived, and from what the Princesses said there was no point in the journey when the carriage stopped. He looked back in the carriage, knocking on the wood panelling at the foot of each seat. The first knock was a dull thud, but the second knock gave a telling ring. He lifted the seat to confirm that the space beneath the cushion was hollow.

“Excellent. I believe some progress has been made in my investigation. I must report to the Princesses.” The professor turned to the maintenance pony. “Thank you, Cartwright. You have most helpful.”

“Any time, Professor. If you need anything else, please feel free to stop by.” Layton tipped his hat and smiled.

“But of course.” With that in mind, the professor quickly made his way to the throne room again.

Chapter 3: Beeline

Princess Celestia sat open-mouthed as the professor explained his findings thus far, while Princess Luna was wide-eyed and following his every step with her head.

“You mean to say...”

“Yes, Princess. At some point, the carriage itself was switched.”

“But that’s impossible!” Luna blurted out.

“What do you have in terms of security in the carriage bay?”

“We have two guards at the docking gate.” Princess Celestia whispered, crestfallen. “We have never needed them, what with the in-flight charm in place. But you can’t just walk past them.”

“Hm...” The professor readied his next question. “Tell me of the different types of ponies.”

Princess Luna jumped a bit at the question. “Is it of importance to the investigation?”

“I believe so, Princess.”

“Very well, then,” Luna continued. “To our knowledge, there are four different species of ponies. The first of these are earth ponies. Earth ponies are restricted to the ground under normal circumstances. There are strong and very athletic, and tend to anything based off the soil. Without earth ponies, the whole of Equestria would starve, but they are also avid inventors of convenient machines, in order to make these tasks easier.”

“The second type,” Celestia picked up, “are the pegasi. Each pegasus is gifted a pair of wings from birth, allowing them mobility that earth ponies can’t have. Like earth ponies, they also tend to be athletic, but not as strong. Without the pegasi, the weather system in Equestria would be in utter chaos. Pegasi are also well-renowned for architecture.”

Luna continued. “The third species are the unicorns. Quite like earth ponies, they are restricted to the ground, but they have horns protruding from their heads,” Luna paused, gesturing to her own horn, before continuing. “The horns grant them the power to control magic. Unicorns are normally the least physically capable, but they have yielded some magnificent scholars. They also help the earth ponies and pegasi with the tasks they need to complete.”

“Finally,” Celestia concluded, with a small smile on her face. “There are the alicorns, gifted not only with the talents of earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns combined, but with much longer lives that most any creature of this planet. To our knowledge there are only three, and we are two of them.”

Luna interjected. “Was this of use to you, Professor Layton?” In return, the man in the hat smiled.

“Yes. Very much so,” the professor assured the Princesses. “I believe the next step in my investigation would be to investigate your student’s departure point. From which town did she leave for here?”

“Ponyville,” Princess Celestia answered. “She left from Ponyville...” Tears began to well up in Celestia’s eyes. Luna was quick to take the reins.

“We shall arrange for you to be transported by carriage, fair Professor.”

“Thank you,” replied the professor shortly. “But it would be unwise. Though this conversation has not left this room, I wouldn’t dare tempt fate again until the carriage debacle is resolved.” The Princess of the night looked a little stung, but she took it as the best response she could have received and smiled calmly.

“Very well, then. We shall have you sent on the next train to Ponyville. Our guards will make sure thou art well-prepared, Hershel Layton. Good luck, and have the utmost care.” The professor nodded, before turning for the doors. As they closed behind him, Luna placed a glimmering hoof on the shoulder of her sister, who was crying quietly to herself.

“We must have the utmost faith in the Professor, older sister. He shall return Twilight Sparkle to us.”

“I know he will, Luna,” Celestia replied through the tears. “But Twilight is like a daughter and friend to me.”

“He shall bring her back. You must trust on this.”

“Thank you, little sister. Thank you...” Celestia embraced Luna, as the sun sent rays through the stained-glass windows.

The train station was just ten minutes’ walk away from Canterlot Castle’s front gate. The professor walked there at a decent pace, with Celestia’s grey unicorn guards either side of him. Needless to say, the sight of someone so clearly un-equine drew some attention, but the top-hat donning gentleman had paid it no mind. At the entrance to the train station, they stopped, with one of the guards turning to Layton.

“Here are some instructions for you from the Princesses’ scribes as to how to find the platform you need.” The guard levitated a piece of paper. The professor opened the page, finding the instructions.

“These are quite complicated instructions for locating the correct platform.” The guard turned to him, perplexed, before looking at the paper himself and groaning slightly.

“That would be Miss Hooves’ work. She’s a scribe in training, but she is accident-prone and not very strong on precise instructions. I’m sorry Professor, but we must make our way back to the castle.”

“I see. Well, thank you gentlecolts.” Professor Layton’s reply was met with a smile from both guards, before they turned tail and trotted back the way they came. The professor turned his attention back to the instructions.

“Hm...”

Puzzle 007

“The platform you need is the one connected to the line in the middle of the pile. P.S. Why do they pay me in bits? Can’t they skip that and just give me muffins in hand?”

Layton smiled at the addendum, before tracing the platform he needed with his finger.

“I’ve got it.” He folded the paper neatly in half and slid it away in his inner left jacket pocket, before pacing briskly towards the platform. The increase in the light level caught Layton slightly off-guard. He made his way to the first available carriage, and tried to pull the door open, but to no avail. Upon closer inspection, he noticed a dial with 26 buttons on it, one for each letter of the English alphabet. Alongside the dial was a slot, which the professor deduced was for the ticket. It seems the scribing staff (noticeably this Miss Hooves character) had neglected to include a train ticket with the instructions. He looked around for help and noticed a unicorn mare, with tan skin, curly dark brown hair, a blue uniform including a peaked cap and a cutie mark depicting a white and a red flag.

“Excuse me, miss,” Layton raised his voice slightly. “Are you the platform manager?” The mare in question turned to look at the man, her magenta eyes casting a quizzical look.

“I am. How can I help?” she answered in a booming voice. Years on the train platform must have thrown her hearing for a loop.

“I seem to have trouble getting on the train.”

“Do ya have a ticket?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Huh. It’s a bit late to get one. The train’s due to leave in a couple of minutes. However, I may be able to help you with that there dial you were espying.”

Puzzle 008

“You see, Princess Celestia likes to encourage ponies to think rather than just be mindless in their pursuits. So she commissioned the dials on the trains to encourage that sort of behaviour. As well as that, the Princess released lists to all of the platform managers, upon a royal promise that we would not share each other’s codes. Basically, I have a list of codes for everywhere the trains go, except for where mine goes. Careful, though. A wrong attempt will deadlock the door, and it can only be opened again with a ticket. I can give you a few examples:

• Appleloosa: Z

• Canterlot: I

• Manehatten: Y

• Trottingham: G

• Hoofington: T

“You got any idea of what to make of this, sir?”

“I think I have, madam.” Layton walked over to the carriage, entering a single letter into the dial. He pulled at the door handle and the door itself swung right open.

“Incredible, sir!” the station manager swooned. “There’s only one pony in Equestria who has solved this one of her own accord. That’s Celestia’s student for ya!”

“Do you mean Twilight Sparkle?”

“Why, yes! How’d you know?”

“A gentleman can always keep a secret, madam.” Layton grinned slightly. “Thank you for your help.” He stepped into the carriage, ready to take himself into Ponyville.

On board the stationary train, the Professor wandered down the side alley, windows to the platform on his left and compartments on his right. Most of the compartments were taken, their occupants including a stylish unicorn with a suit, monocle and well-maintained moustache, the long-legged light-haired unicorn mare accompanying him, a mint green female unicorn mare sitting awkwardly on her seat alongside her friend (a beige earth pony with a bi-coloured blue and pink mane), a pair of unicorn colts (one taller than the other) chasing each other around the room and arguing, and a grey pegasus mare with a blonde mane, bubbles on her flank and her eyes pointing in two different directions, who set about eating a muffin and the dinner mat on which said muffin was placed.

The professor reached the end compartment, before sliding open the door, stepping through, sliding the door closed behind him and taking a seat. There were tea-making facilities on the table in the centre, so the professor set about doing what he did best, before wrapping his jacket around his chest and snoozing. A rested mind is a healthy mind, after all.

A short time later, Layton woke to the sound of dull thuds coming from the wall behind him. That is strange, he thought. It seems that this was not the last compartment on the train. He put on his jacket again and stepped outside the room. He looked at the wall in question, which had a seemingly abstract painting on it. Then it hit him.

“Ah, of course! Why didn’t I see it before?”

Puzzle 009

“I don’t seem to enjoy this sort of art as much as I would impressionism. However, one part of the painting strikes me as slightly odd, a little different from the other parts. I wonder...”

The professor pressed on the painting. Suddenly, the wooden wall slid aside, revealing a dark room, barely kept lit by several candles on the walls. At the end of the room was a small wooden desk and cushion, on top of which sat a blue unicorn mare, with a white mane and tail. Her cutie mark could just be made out as a wand and a crescent moon. She sat with her back to Layton.

“Ah,” the professor started. “Please forgive my intrusion. The picture piqued my curiosity...”

“Curiosity is not without merits, as long as it brings answers.” The voice had a tinge of overbite to it. She turned to face the professor with turquoise eyes and a smug smirk. “That is where the Great and Powerful Trixie prevails!”

“Are you a follower of this Trixie? Who is she?”

“Why, you must have just fallen into this land. The Great and Powerful Trixie is only the greatest pony who has ever lived! She holds so much magical power and such grace, far beyond what any other pony can comprehend!” By this point, the professor had already gathered the pony was singing praises of herself.

“Of course.” The gentlemanly side of Layton’s psyche kicked into overdrive. “I am Professor Layton, here upon request of the Princesses. If I may be so bold as to ask you a question...”

“Yes?” Trixie responded flatly.

“Why have you sealed yourself away in a secret room, away from all of the other ponies?”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie showed these ponies the full potential of what they could become. She gave them a glimpse of what capabilities they are squandering, and what did they do? They stigmatised the Great and Powerful Trixie, drove her out of towns like a ravenous pack of dogs! Such feral behaviour is unbecoming of somepony so gifted, but if they will not understand then more fool them!”

“I understand. For what reason are you going to Ponyville?”

“Ponies have very short memories, but not the Great and Powerful Trixie! The last time Trixie was there, the whole backwater town was unwelcoming to the presence of such a magnificent being. Trixie shall try her luck there again.” Professor Layton nodded sombrely.

“Thank you for sharing your story.”

“Trixie asks one favour of you, otherworlder.”

“But of course.”

“Trixie requests you keep her return a secret. She wants to have a full impact on making the grand appearance to the public. In return, Trixie will grant you this map of Ponyville.” She reached into her star-patterned cape (which looked as if it had been tossed aside with reckless abandon) and produced a folded map for the professor.

“You have my word, Miss Trixie. I shall leave you in peace.” The professor made his way to the light of the doorway. The panelling slid back into place, leaving Trixie alone with her candlelit self.

Solutions (updated in line with story)

Solutions

Puzzle 001

The key is to work the answer out by going backwards through the puzzle. This would land you at Fisherton Street.

As for the house number, if the highest house number on the street is 30 and the one you need has its digits adding to 11, then only one solution is available: 29.

Puzzle 002

The number that brings good fortune: 7
The number that lets bad luck reign: 13
Multiply, then once more each: 7 x 13 x 7 x 13 = 8281
And spin them 'round again: 1828

The answer, therefore, is 1828.

Puzzle 003

The whopping big problem with the first pony's claims is that if he can't stop lying then how can he tell the truth on the same point? This must mean that the first pony could either lie or tell the truth.

This leaves one pony always telling the truth and one always telling a lie. Taking a look at the third pony, he states that the first pony is indecisive on his truths, and we now know this to be true. Therefore, the third pony must be the one that always tells the truth.

By process of elimination, the second pony must be the one who always lies.

That means we must follow the third pony's advice and take the left wall.

Puzzle 004

If "LADLE ACHE!" has 7 different characters, and we have 7 different buttons, they must each represent a character. Take a look at the shapes or, more specifically the number of edges or angles each one has. The circle has 1 edge, the six-pointed star has 12 edges, the pentagon has 5 edges, the four-pointed star has 8, the square has 4 and the triangle has 3 edges.

The letters connect to this relating to where they are in the alphabet. A is 1st, L is 12th, E is 5th, H is 8th, D is 4th and C is 3rd.

Connecting one to the other, the buttons must be pressed as follows: six-pointed star (L), circle (A), square (D), six-pointed star (L), pentagon (E), circle (A), triangle (C), four-pointed star (H), pentagon (E), !

(A stinker, I know, but only the best for Princess Celestia.)

Puzzle 005

If Courage and Jimmy are both pulled by two ponies only, they must share their circle. Not only that but Excelsior, pulled by four ponies, cannot share the same circle at all. Regardless of whether the top circle represents silver carriages or open-top carriages (of which Gallant is both), Excelsior cannot share the circle. As no carriages are kept outside of the circles, Excelsior must be where it is marked on the diagram.

Puzzle 006

The other eight markings can be flipped and rotated to match each other, but the one circled won't match at all unless you swap some of the colours with each other.

Puzzle 007

From the top of the pile down, you have Line 5 (grey), Line 6 (blue), Line 2 (red), Line 7 (purple), Line 4 (green), Line 1 (orange) and Line 3 (black) at the bottom. The middle of the pile has three lines above and three lines beneath, which is Line 7.

Puzzle 008

The letter K.

In the alphabet, start off at the destination’s first letter, i.e. P. Then go backwards in the alphabet however many letters forward the last letter in the destination is in the alphabet.
Ponyville: P O N M L K

A B C D E

Puzzle 009

If you look carefully, it is the only shape in the picture that doesn't have a diagonal line running through it.

Big thanks to shadow0knight for helping me retrieve those lost little answers!

Chapter 4: Dragon's Despair

Chapter 4: Dragon’s Despair

The train eventually came to a stop, and Layton opened the door to disembark. He looked out on the new sight that awaited him, a rural affair with thatched roofs and beautiful natural scenery. The air was crisp and the ponies in the vicinity were smiling and chatting away whilst going about their daily business. The professor smiled and opened up the map he was given.

“Oh dear...” The ink had smudged on the map, a result of being kept in a damp place. The professor folded up the now-useless map and headed away from the station. It wasn’t long before he came across a group of fillies chasing each other and giggling. As they noticed Layton, they stopped playing and stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the biped standing before them.

“Good afternoon, young ladies.”

“Oh my gosh!” yelled one of the fillies, a yellow-coated earth pony with red hair and a pink bow, with golden eyes. “Yer not a pony!”

“Ooh, what are you?” a second filly squeaked. She was a white unicorn with curly pink and lilac hair and emerald green eyes.

“Awesome! Lyra keeps talking about humans, but I never believed her until now!” The third filly trotted up to Layton, looking on in awe. She was a vivid orange pegagus with purple hair in a quiff and lilac eyes.

“What are your names?” Layton asked politely. In order, they replied:

“Ah’m Apple Bloom!”

“I’m Sweetie Belle!”

“And I’m Scootaloo!”

In unison, they announced, “and we are the Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

“Excellent. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Tell me, would you happen to know the way to the local library?”

“Well...” Apple Bloom hesitated. “Ah reckon we know the way...”

“But it’s a super-duper secret!” Scootaloo interrupted. Both she and Apple Bloom looked at Sweetie Belle, who took a moment to register the glances.

“Ooh! Oh! If you play a game with us, we might tell you where it is.”

“Y’all up for a Cutie Mark Crusader challenge, Mr. Big Hat?” Apple Bloom posed to the professor, who chuckled to himself.

“What did you three have in mind?”

Puzzle 010

“Each a’ the critters can see their food in plain sight. But every time they get to a new path, they get curious an’ walk down the new route. They always head the way where the food is, but I ain’ never see a mouse take too well to eatin’ a fish, an’ ah’m sure dogs prefer bones over cheese! Can ya put in two new paths in so the cat, dog, mouse and frog reach the fish, bone, cheese an’ fly in that order? Y’all can’ go crossin’ the paths over each other, now. That’s cheatin’!”

Layton took a moment to think it over, before placing his two lines on the ground-drawn diagram, confident in his answer. This was met again with Apple Bloom’s thick Southern burr.

“Aw, yer no fun!”

“No fair!” chuckled Sweetie Belle. “We took all of a night to think up that one!” A high-pitched squeak emphasised the word ‘night’ over the others.

“Puzzles are a speciality of mine, of course,” replied the professor, not allowing too much of a smugness to break through his expression.

“You must be REALLY smart, sir!” Scootaloo exclaimed excitedly. “I’ve only come across one pony as smart as you.”

“Indeed. In fact, I have come to see her.”

“Of course!” Sweetie Belle squealed.

“A promise is a promise!” Scootaloo announced proudly.

“Come on, sir!” Apple Bloom took command. “We’ll show ya the way to the library.” With that, the professor and the Cutie Mark Crusaders walked briskly to the north end of the town.

Upon reaching the northern lanes of Ponyville, Layton noticed a very large tree. The tree had windows dotted around certain parts of its trunk, and a balcony stood off its east side, holding a telescope in its firm standing. The sign next to the front door was a picture of the book.

“I expect, girls, that this would be the library.”

“Yes, sir!” Apple Bloom confirmed enthusiastically.

“Wonderful! Well, thank you for your help, young ladies. I shall attend to my business here."

“Of course!” a bubbly Sweetie Belle replied. “If you need any more help, you’ll see us about.”

“Definitely!” echoed Scootaloo. “We shall continue to find out who we are. We are...”

“THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” The three fillies chorused together. “Bye, Mr. Man!” The Crusaders were soon out of sight. Layton couldn’t help but smile at the playfulness of the three friends. He turned to the library door, noticing a peculiarly hand-written note nailed to the front of it.

“Library closed due to compassionate leave.”

It seems I’m not the only one informed of Miss Sparkle’s disappearance, the professor thought. He knocked on the door, which elicited a sobbing male reply from the other side.

“G-go away! We-we’re closed!”

“Forgive the intrusion, but I was sent by the Princesses to resolve your friend’s disappearance.”

“R-really? I... I don’t believe you. B-but if you are, maybe you c-can help me with a problem I’ve been having.”

“Okay, sir. I am here to help.”

Puzzle 011

“I have a love for gems, you see. But I need to get mine valued. 1 out of every 4 gems I have are sapphires, 3 out of every 7 gems I have are topazes, 11 out of every 45 gems I have are emeralds, and the rest are rubies. As I can’t have fewer gems without these amounts being wrong, how many rubies do I have?”

A patch of parchment and an ink-dabbed quill slid out from underneath the door. The professor picked them up and wrote his answer clearly on the parchment, before sliding the paper back under the door. A moment of silence.

“Okay, that’s helpful. I suppose I could... let you in.” The sound of a deadbolt sliding aside rang harshly, before the door to the library creaked open. The interior was dimly lit, but the professor could see books lining the walls, multicoloured specimens ranging from the ancient to the more contemporary. However, there was neither sight nor sound of the crying mystery male.

“Hello?” The professor’s voice rebounded dully off the wooden walls.

“Woah, you are not what I was expecting. When Princess Celestia said she was sending somepony, I had no idea it would be... not a pony.” The professor turned around to notice a short bipedal lizard, with purple skin, an off-white underbelly, green spinal scales and ears, along with eyes to match.

“Ah, good day to you, sir.”

“Uh, hello. I’m Spike the dragon.”

“Professor Layton, at your service. I am making an investigation into the disappearance of Miss Sparkle.” Layton looked around, but Spike’s eyes welled up.

“Oh, I am sorry, Spike. Say, let’s shed some light on this library, shall we?” With that, Layton adjust the lamps in the room and used one of the lit candles to start more that were dotted around the walls. As the room illuminated, something odd immediately caught the man’s attention. He peeked down a nearby corridor, noticing a large wooden door with some text etched on it. In front of the door were 12 buttons arranged in a circle.

“It appears to be in the shape of a clock, Spike.”

“Yeah, but what does the message on the door mean?”

Puzzle 012

“How many hours can a pony sleep?

A sixth of them have skies to sweep,

Another 3 to read away,

Another 2 for fun and play,

Work, a dress, takes up a third,

3 more hours to drive a herd,

Another sixth for creatures’ care,

A digit, please, of what’s to spare.”

“I don’t get it, Professor,” Spike cried, confused.

“Tell me, Spike,” the professor posed a question. “How long has this puzzle been here?”

“I noticed it when I woke up two hours ago, when I received the message from Princess Celestia about Twilight.”

“It is 6:30 in the evening.” Spike blushed noticeably at this observation.

“I tend to nap for a bit in the afternoon.”

“Hm... How very interesting.” Taking this new information into his mind, Layton turned back to the conundrum at hand. He proceeded to press on a number of the buttons, before standing in the centre. A loud clunk rang from the puzzling door.

“You did it, professor! Man, Twilight would be so jealous of your smarts!”

“I think,” pondered Layton, “that Miss Sparkle is about to find out soon enough.”

Chapter 5: Only The Stump

Chapter 5: Only the Stump

Opening the door swiftly, the professor and the dragon peered in and down a lit staircase, leading below the library itself. The room was well-kept, and scientific equipment lined the walls in a uniform fashion. However, that was not the first thing to catch their attention. In the centre of the basement room laid an unconscious lavender unicorn mare, with deep hair of purple with streaks of pink and a lighter purple. Her cutie mark was made of multiple stars, with a pink six-pointed star taking prominence in the centre. Her hooves were shackled to the floor.

“Twilight!” Spike cried out.

“Spike! Do not get ahead of yourself,” Layton warned, before pointing to a peculiar grey stone hovering above Twilight’s head. The stone was held in place by a peculiar machine, with what appeared to be attractors on four sides.

“What is that thing?!”

“I’m not sure, Spike. But I believe it seems to be sapping Miss Sparkle of her magic. Let me take a look at this machine.” Layton looked on the side of the machine, noticing two digit dials, a lever and a silver plaque:

Puzzle 013

“Neither of my digits are zero. I am a cube’s square and a square’s cube. What am I?”

The professor frowned at the state of the quiet pony held to the ground. An answer to this problem arrived quickly in his mind.

“Spike. Prepare to catch the stone when I say,”

“Got it!” the dragon answered, ready to pounce. Layton spun the dials to the needed positions and readied his hand on the lever. Spike stood braced, claws ready.

“Ready, Spike? 3... 2... 1... Now!” Layton threw the switch. As predicted, the attractors shut off and the strange grey stone fell. Spike made a diving catch of it, landing on the opposite side of Twilight’s body.

“Alright!” Spike exclaimed.

“It isn’t over yet. We need to release Miss Sparkle. Do you see that panel there?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“See if you can solve it. I’m not familiar with the history of Equestria.” Spike looked at the ground beneath his feet, picking up the quill that was nearby.

Puzzle 014

“The developer of over 5 score incantations and tricks.”

“Huh,” Spike muttered to himself. “About this time, I could with Twilight being awake.” He looked over at Twilight, wondering if he should wake her, before deciding against it. Suddenly, a pang of inspiration hit him.

“Aha! That’s it!” The baby dragon wrote in the missing letters on the squares. As he finished the last one, the shackles holding Twilight down snapped open.

“Good work, Spike,” the professor congratulated him. “Miss Sparkle must have educated you well.” Spike blushed again.

“Aw, shucks, Professor!” Twilight began to stir from her slumber, groaning as consciousness flowed back into her. Eventually she sat up groggily.

“Wha... what happened?” she spoke slowly.

“Twilight!” yelled her dragon friend as he hugged her tightly around the neck. “I’m glad you’re okay!”

“Spike... Thank you...” Twilight began to well up. The professor headed for the stairs, but the unicorn caught a glimpse of his hat.

“Sir, please don’t go!”

“As you wish, Miss Sparkle.”

“Please. Call me Twilight.”

“Of course. We had better get you upstairs. I believe a cup of tea is in order.” To that, Twilight Sparkle smiled a toothy smile.

Upstairs in the main library, the professor, the unicorn and the dragon sat, relaxing after the recent spot of excitement.

“So humans are really real, huh?” Twilight sat in awe of the man in front of her.

“Quite, Twilight,” the professor charmingly answered. “I was summoned by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to find you specifically. However, I fear it may not be as simple as that.”

“What do you mean? You rescued me, so surely the Princess would send you back. I mean, you have something to go back to, don’t you?”

“Ah, that is not what I meant, Twilight.” The professor pulled out the grey stone from the machine. “This stone was what was siphoning your power.”

“Oh! I was wondering why I’m feeling a little less... capable than usual.”

The professor closed his eyes and smiled, before getting to his feet.

“Twilight, come with me.” The purple pony obeyed, following the biped to the cellar again. Layton stopped and pointed at the machine.

“See if you can make a fine incision in that device.” Twilight aimed her horn and focussed her magic down to a fine beam. Even while drained, Twilight made light work of the task, and she was soon rewarded, as glowing red magic washed from the gap and straight onto Twilight’s body, before congregating onto the tip of her horn with military precision. She could feel her magical strength returning to her almost instantaneously.

“Good as new! Thank you, Professor... I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name.”

“Professor Hershel Layton, at your service. I need you to research this rock, its capabilities and, most importantly, its place of origin.”

“Of course! If you want you can have a look around the rest of Ponyville while I find out more about this stone... I know, maybe you can pay Applejack a visit!”

“You can find her out on Sweet Apple Acres, Professor,” Spike chimed in. “Hold on, let me fetch you the map she gave us.” The bright-eyed lizard dashed off and returned quickly with a sheet of parchment. “Here ya go! You’ll find Sweet Apple Acres out to the west.”

“As soon as I find out more about this stone, I’ll send out Owloysius to you with a note.” Twilight motioned her front left hoof towards the static owl sitting on a perch in the window by the front door. Owloysius rotated his neck 180° to catch an eyeful of Layton.

“Hoo.”

“Okay, I will see what else I can find around.” The professor closed the door behind him on the way into the quietening town.

At a park in the centre of town, Layton noticed that the last stragglers were heading home. Two noticeable exceptions were sat down. The professor immediately recognised them from the train journey. As soon as he saw them, he caught their sights. The mint green unicorn, complete with a two-tone white mane and a lyre on her flank, bounded from her original uncomfortable seating position and bolted straight over to the man in the coat.

“I... I don’t... I can’t... you’re real! You’re really, really REAL! This... this... is the greatest day of my life! Hey, Bon Bon! Get over here!” On cue, the second pony, a beige pony with a pink and blue mane and a cutie mark of three wrapped sweets trotted over at a leisurely pace.

“Yes, Lyra, what is it thi...” Bon Bon stopped in her tracks upon seeing this gangly being before her very eyes. After a moment of placidity, she almost literally tripped on her own tongue.

“B-b-bu-but i-it can’t be! Y-you’re a... human!”

“Indeed I am, Miss Bon Bon.”

“Ooh! You talk too. That is AWESOME!” Lyra squealed uncontrollably. “Do you... do you have a name?”

“I am Professor Hershel Layton. And may I ask of yours?”

"Heartstrings! Lyra Heartstrings. A pleasure to meet you, Hercule!” Bon Bon interrupted at this point.

“Uh, sweetie, it’s Hershel, not Hercule.”

“Oh, right. Sorry, sir.”

“That is quite alright, Miss Heartstrings,” replied Layton calmly.

“Finally! All of Equestria will know I’m not crazy!” Again, Bon Bon felt it necessary to interject.

“I don’t think it necessary to parade the good professor around like a public spectacle.” Lyra’s face lost a little enthusiasm at this. “Sorry, Professor. Say, as you’re here, we wanted to run something by anypony caring to lend an ear. I know you’re not a pony, but will you hear us out?”

“But of course, Miss Bon Bon. I’m more than happy to help. That is what a gentleman does.”

Puzzle 015

“Lyra and I are getting married in a couple of months, but the following dinner is gonna be a private thing. Only 8 are coming: Myself, Lyra, each of our parents, Spike (our ring bearer dragon friend) and the officiating pony, the Doctor. However, I’m a little particular about how we all sit.

“We’ll be sitting so no males or females are sitting next to each other. Lyra is to sit the head of the table, and I want to be able to catch my sweetie’s eye from across the table. No members of the same family are to sit next to each other. Also, the Doctor can’t be seated next to my mom, as he accidentally set fire to the cat while defeating an army of Cybermanes, but that little dragon sure has a way of keeping her from getting too emotional, so I want them seated together. Could you help us out?”

The professor pulled out a pencil and notepad from inside his jacket and scribbled out a solution to the fiancées’ problem, before tearing out the page and giving it to Lyra to levitate between her and Bon Bon.

“I trust this will match your requirements,” spoke the professor, smiling. Bon Bon’s smile stretched across her face.

“Ooh, you’re brilliant! I’ve been worrying about this, but you did it. Thank you!”

“Oh no, the pleasure was all mine, Miss Bon Bon.” Lyra bounded into the conversation.

“We just have one small favour to ask. Could please keep the after-wedding dinner a secret? We want to keep it special.”

“Of course, Miss Heartstrings. Keeping mum is well within the expectations of a gentleman. If I do not see you again during my visit, I wish you both a lifetime of happiness.”

“Thank you, Professor!” With that, the two mares trotted off, complete with skips in their respective steps. Layton strode off again, heading west towards the farmland.

About 15 minutes later, the professor reached an archway onto a mass expanse of land, the majority of which was covered by glorious green trees. Layton pulled out the map given to him. The map looked old and rather muddled.

“Hmmm... This seems to have been written a while ago. Let’s see here...”

Puzzle 016

“Walk all you can to the rising light,

Two fields away from winter bird flight,

Left, again and next turn right,

North, next east, next left, far end right,

Turn to where the sun will set,

Left past the third, and third on the left.”

“Ah, a little bit of a test. This must be to deter burglars. Fortunately, it only fools those not well-versed in riddles.” Layton walked with the map towards the Apple family’s farmhouse.

The red farmhouse was sizeable, decorated with white beams. The house itself was latched onto the side of the main barn. As the professor approached the farmhouse, he could see that the lights were switched on. He knocked on the front door.

“Hello? Forgive my interruption, but I was sent her to see Miss Applejack.” A short spell of silence followed, before the top hatch of the door swung outwards. The professor found himself face-to-face with a large earth stallion, red in colour with a messy tan mane and tail. He wore a stirrup around his neck and had a bisected apple for his cutie mark.

Big Macintosh gave Layton a look up and down the body, an unmoving expression on his face, before placing his thought as to Layton’s appearance.

“Eeyup,” came the deep Southern drawl, before the stallion pulled away from the gap in the door, revealing an elderly green earth mare and a very familiar filly.

“Oh! It’s Mr. Big Hat!” yelped Apple Bloom. “How are y’all?”

“Hello, Apple Bloom. I’m doing well, thank you. I’m looking for Miss Applejack. Would you happen to know where she is?” Apple Bloom placed a hoof to her chin.

“Hmmm... Nah. Ah haven’t seen her since this afternoon. Ah thought she was goin’ to visit Twilight.” At this point, Granny Smith, the older mare, piped up.

“Ooh, ah’ve never seen a critter like you before!”

“Hello, Mrs...”

“Smith, stranger. Granny Smith.” The mare had aged white hair wrapped in a bun, with a tail to match. She wore an apple-patterned neckerchief and her cutie mark was an apple pie. “You lookin’ for mah Applejack? Ah’m ‘fraid she ain’t been here since about 3 this afternoon, when she headed out for Miss Twilight’s place.” The professor wore a stoic expression, broken only when Big Macintosh approached the door with a small cloth bag in his lips. It was plain, but the cord around the neck had been knotted with unparalleled precision. Layton opened the bag, but it was filled to the brim with sand. The professor was already formulating what had happened to Applejack.

“Did this item arrive after Applejack left for the library?”

“Eeyup.”

“Was there anything else attached to this bag?”

“Nnnope.” Layton may have come to a conclusion, but it soon became obvious that someone else had come to the same. The hooting of an owl struck his ears, and he turned to find Owloysius headed straight for him.

“Hello, Owloysius. Do you have something for me?”

“Hoo.” The owl relinquished the scroll from his talons. The professor opened the scroll, which read as it follows:

“Dear Professor Layton,

Please return to the library as quickly as possible. Please bring Big Macintosh with you. It is a matter of urgency.

Sincerely,

Twilight Sparkle”

The man afforded himself no time to think.

“Big Macintosh, we need to head to Miss Sparkle’s home.”

“Eeyup,” the stallion nodded, flipping saddlebags from a nearby wall hook onto his back. The professor stood aside for the large pony to bolt through the lower door, and Big Mac scooped Layton onto his back, catching him by surprise.

“You don’t have to carry me, sir!”

“’S mah sis,” Mac replied solemnly. “She needs mah help, and ah’m quicker. No ‘fense.” Layton wanted to question how Big Macintosh came so quickly to that conclusion, but he simply nodded, before turning to the mares.

“Don’t worry,” the suited gentleman assured them. “We will solve this. I promise.” With that, the big red stallion galloped away, with Layton on his back and Owloysius soaring at high speed overhead. Apple Bloom tugged at Granny Smith’s neckerchief plaintively with her teeth.

“Is Applejack gonna be alrigh’?” Granny Smith sighed deeply in response to her filly granddaughter.

“Ah reckon so, dearie. That stranger carries himself like a true gentlecolt, and don’t ya go doubtin’ yer big brother’s heart.”

Chapter 6: A Cover and a Case

“It hit me as soon as I read the riddle on the basement door,” Twilight began, shaking and barely able to hold in her fears.

“What is the problem?” The professor inquired.

“Whoever wrote this rhyme... knows us very well. We s-seem to be the targets.”

“We?”

“My friends and I. There are six of us.” Twilight stood up nervously. “However, we are not just good friends. We represent the power of friendship in its purest form. We are bearers of the Elements of Harmony: Honesty, Loyalty, Laughter, Kindness, Generosity and Magic. We have defeated enemies greater than any other with these gifts combined.”

“And what does the puzzle represent?”

“It represents our activities, our everyday activities. For me, it’s study.”

“Another 3 to read away...”

“Exactly. As for Applejack, she’s a farmer. She mainly farms apples, but also drives cattle.”

“3 more hours to drive a herd. You’re right, it seems that your assailant knows the six of you well. However, at this moment in time we must focus on finding Miss Applejack.” Twilight looked crestfallen at the floor.

“Trouble is,” she pronounced, exasperated. “We have nothing to go on.” The professor placed his hand to his chin.

“I wouldn’t say we have nothing, Twilight.” Layton produced the small sand bag that Big Mac had given him earlier. “I believe our criminal is trying to toy with us. Do you know of any towns in Equestria that would have vast quantities of sand?” Twilight perked up quickly.

“Yeah, two. There’s Appleoosa and Dodge Junction.”

“I believe,” the professor surmised, “that it is imperative that we investigate these two areas. In the meantime, I suggest you gather your friends if you can.”

“Got it. Wait! How will I know if you’ve found Applejack?”

“I... am not too sure.” Twilight racked her brain, before gasping.

“Of course. Spike!” The small dragon appeared out of a side door.

“Yes, Twilight?”

“I need you to send this scroll to the Princess.” The lavender unicorn carefully plucked a scroll out from a neatly stacked pile with her horn, before handing it to Spike.

“Okay, stand back.” The reptile blew a stream of green flame onto the scroll, causing it to disintegrate and vanish out of the window.

“You’re going to need a bucket, Spike.” He looked at Twilight with a fearful expression.

“It’s gonna be something big, isn’t it?” Spike grimly asked for confirmation. Twilight closed her eyes and nodded slowly. Spike pulled a bucket from under the nearest table. Surely enough, he threw up green flames and two red stones into the container, before sitting on the ground, slightly winded.

“These are beacon stones, Professor,” Twilight remarked. “They’ve not been needed for over 1000 years, but still... Once you find Applejack, give one a polish, and the other will change colour.” The professor took one stone from the unicorn’s telekinetic grasp.

“Right, we must go now.”

“Good luck, professor. Big Macintosh, look after him.”

“Eeyup,” replied the earth pony, before scooping up Layton again and dashing away for the train station. The overnight journey was going to be tense.

The morning had drawn in over Appleoosa. The train pulled up to the station. Out of the window, the professor could see a scenario not dissimilar from a frontier scene often depicted back in his home world. Many stallions wore cowboy hats to shield their eyes from the burning sky. The mares often wore dresses much like those worn by settlers. The ground was nothing but compacted sand and the buildings were all wooden without exception. Stepping off the train, Layton noticed that his companion was somewhat exposed to the sun.

“Are you going to be okay with the sun, Macintosh? You could get sunburn.”

“Eeyup.” The stallion found a black Stetson hat blowing about on the platform. He picked it up with his left hoof and pressed it onto his head. The professor smiled, before looking around for local points of interest. After about an hour, the most obvious of places stood out in the centre of town, a large saloon with doors to match. A sign hung from the overhanging roof, dubbing the saloon ‘The Salt Flock’.

“Hmmm, that seems as decent a place to start as any,” he decided, making his way to the prominent building, with Big Macintosh in tow.

Upon stepping in the room, the mere appearance of the human amongst the ponies silenced the atmosphere. The band, a honky-tonk pianist, a violinist and banjo player, ceased playing. Everypony turned to face the door. The professor, undaunted by the stares, walked to the bar.

“Yer not from around these parts, are ya?” The bartender did not mince his words.

“I’m not, no.”

“You’re not the only one, dude,” a gruff female voice shot from further down the bar. Layton turned to see a creature he could immediately recognise.

“You must be a griffon.” Layton was spot-on. The creature bore the brown rear half of her body similar to that of a lion with wings of an identical colour. The front half of her body was that of an eagle, with talons replacing the front paws. She had striking gold eyes, and her feathers were white with lilac tips. That same lilac colour ringed her eyes.

“Lucky guess, tall stuff.”

“You seem a little unhappy.”

“If you were in my position, you would be.”

“Would you care to explain your situation?”

“I only share with those who I know who can help me. Perhaps a little test will check you out. Barkeep! Nine glasses and a bottle of water, please.”

Puzzle 017

“Let’s see if it’s not just an empty skull under that hat. The game goes as follows: Every time you fill a glass, you have to fill all of the glasses next to it, but not diagonally, just up, down, left and right. If you fill a glass and any of the glasses next to it already have water in them, you must empty those full glasses again. The question for you, Top Hat, is: If you stick to the rules, what is the minimum number of times you have to fill glasses in order for them all to be full?”

The professor quickly worked through the solution in his head, before arranging the glasses into the answer he had reached. “I trust that I have your trust, Miss...”

“Gilda. Gilda the Griffon. Very well, Professor...”

“Layton. Hershel Layton.”

“I used to have a good friend, a pegasus mare in whom I confided everything. We used to fly together, pull pranks together, try to outdo each other, just like sisters would do. However, when I caught up with her down the line, she’d taken to hanging out with a bunch of lame hick dweebs. One thing led to another and, needless to say, I came off worst of all. Time has a way of changing many, Professor. I’m still stuck between holding the belief that I was right to go and staying and... making some changes, changes to myself.” The professor closed his eyes.

“When you see yourself reuniting with your friend, how do you see others reacting to you? Would they forgive your mistakes?”

“I... don’t know.” Gilda looked forlornly at the bar, her feather quiff drooping.

“I think,” the professor concluded, “your answer lies with realising the answer to that question. It is up to you to gain the strength to enter the fray and take the necessary action. Only then will you see the true outcome.” Gilda looked at Layton with a weak smile.

“Yeah. I guess you’re right. Thanks.”

“I’m glad to be of assistance. I have a question to ask myself.”

“Shoot.”

“We are looking for a mare, this stallion’s sister.” Big Macintosh raised his head in acknowledgement. "You wouldn’t have had sight or sound of such a pony, would you?”

“I barely see the outside of this bar during the day anymore,” Gilda replied glumly, “but one pony is about to step in through the door who can probably help you. Speaking of which, I've gotta gather some glasses. It was nice meeting you, Professor.”

“Likewise, Gilda.” The griffon removed herself from her stool and gathered a tray with her lion’s tail. At that point, in burst a jolly male earth pony. He had a yellow body, and a red delicious apple adorned his flank. He wore a brown leather jacket and a brown Stetson with a black band on it. His mane and tail were two tones of orange. His eyes shot open as he browsed the bar.

“Cousin Macintosh!”

“Eeyup,” Macintosh looked at the new stallion and smiled uncharacteristically. “Braeburn!” The larger stallion galloped over, showing little regard for Gilda, who was walking with a tray stacked high with glasses.

“Hey, watch it!” Gilda was a little angered by this. “Big doofus...”

“How’s it goin’, cuz?” Braeburn beamed. “You still bein’ mute most a’ the time?” Big Mac shot him a slightly peeved glance, and Braeburn winced slightly before moving his attention to this gangly upright pony in the fancy hat.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Braeburn.”

“Uh, howdy, stranger,” an obviously nervous Braeburn answered. “Ah-ah’ve never meet a pony who walked on his rear hooves all day long.

“Ah, I’m not a pony. I’m a human. I’m here investigating the disappearance of another of your cousins.”

“Applejack?!” Layton nodded. Braeburn took a deep breath, calming himself over the news.

“Ah have an idea. There was a bit of a ruckus at the apple orchard last night. We may find somethin’ useful over there.”

“Excellent. Please lead the way.”

A short while later, Big Macintosh, Braeburn and Hershel approached a large wooded area surrounded by high brass railings. They landed on the path leading up to the gate.

“Alrighty, let me just open this gate...” The yellow stallion reached into his jacket with his teeth, before recoiling in embarrassment.

“Oh, darn, ah forgot that ah’ve lost mah key! Mah memory’s gone out to pasture again. Ah’m in trouble for this...”

“This seems to be a problem,” Layton mused. Big Macintosh, with little regard for the situation, walked up to the gate and readied himself to buck it wide open.

“Big Mac, don’t!” Too late. Braeburn’s protestation went unheralded, and Big Mac went barrelling 20 metres back down the path. He picked himself up, dazed and surprised by the gate’s reaction, before trotting carefully back to his cousin.

“We’ve had apple poachers around these parts, so we put up this fence. On top of that, we had a spell placed on the area. We can’t get in unless we either have the key or we have the code to the gate.”

“Do you know the code?” asked the professor.

“’Fraid not. But there a clue on the gate itself. My gift’s with apples, not words. That there code was set by Sheriff Silverstar and the pony who set the spell on the orchard.”

“If I may be so bold as to guess, Braeburn, was this pony Twilight Sparkle?”

“You’ve met ‘er?”

“Indeed I have. Anyway, codes fall into my area of fascination. May I?”

Puzzle 018

“Don’t enter numbers, but a word you call home. The letters of this word are next to each other in the alphabet, apart from one replacement letter. Start with an upper-case, follow with all lower-cases, and turn off nine lights, no more, no less. Getting it wrong would not bode well for you. From the Office of Sheriff Silverstar.”

“It seems that Twilight has an affinity for puzzles as well.”

“Ah should think so,” Braeburn verified. “The Sheriff can keep the law better than most but, jus’ between us, he’s more an ideas pony and not so strong on puttin’ those ideas into motion.”

“Ah, I see.” Layton extinguished the last light, before swinging open the gate.

“You and Twilight would be like peas in a pod!”

“Eeyup,” Mac interjected. They proceeded through the orchard, soon crossing a raised bridge between the two enclosures.

“I am intrigued by the need for this bridge.”

“Ah, every so often we have a buffalo stampede come through here. This orchard used to be their stampedin’ ground, which we didn’ know at the time. After a bit of a tussle, we came across this solution to cut a path through the orchard and give the buffalo apple treats in exchange. We can lower them from this bridge. We’re expectin’ the stampede through here sometime today.”

“It seems that you and your town have everything considered.”

“Well, almost.” Braeburn’s tone turned a little sour as the three of them left the bridge and headed to the far end of the new enclosure. There espied an open pair of gates wide enough for vehicles.

“I would say those gates can only be unlocked from the inside,” the professor quickly deduced.

“Yes, sir. The reason they’re open is we’re gettin’ rid of a couple a’ travellin’ salesponies.” Surely enough, past the gate and onto the desert was a peculiar wheeled vehicle. It was covered in rather unnecessary lighting. Atop the machine sat a funnel attached to a hose, feeding directly into the body of the contraption. A window on the side exposed a twin-sectioned conveyor belt, and a red and green light sat above the viewing screen. The machine was been watched over by an earth stallion with a blue jacket and gleaming badge, not to mention a rather dapper moustache.

“Mornin’, Sheriff. Helpin’ the brothers outta town?”

“Howdy, Braeburn. Yep, but we’re havin’ a little trouble. Uh, who’s the tall one?”

“Oh, that’s mah cousin, Big Macintosh.”

“Yer cousin wears a mighty fancy hat.”

“What?... Oops, mah fault. This is Professor Layton.”

“How do you do?” the professor introduced himself, tipping his hat.

“Well, let’s ask our two good-for-nothin’ peddlers here, shall we?” From around the peculiar mechanism walk two very similar unicorn stallions, both beige with red hair, both wearing white boater hats and both wearing blue-and-white striped shirts. The only discernable differences were in their cutie marks and that one bore a prominent moustache to match the mane.

“Well, what have we here, Flim?” the moustached of the two posed.

“I say, Flam. Something not of ponykind, nor any kind I’ve seen for that matter.”

“That is a dandy piece upon your head, sir!”

“Thank you,” the professor responded happily to the compliment.

“But of course, stranger!” Flim carried on. “We are the Flim Flam Brothers.”

“And this,” announced Flam proudly, gesturing at the machine, “is the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000! The fastest cider maker this side of Canterlot.”

At this point, a furious Big Macintosh pushed to the centre of the spectacle. Upon recognising the red stallion and his massive frame, Flim and Flam closed their mouths tightly, looking wide-eyed and panicked.

“Nnnnope!” Big Mac looked about ready to send the duo flying across the desert.

“Easy, cuz,” Braeburn stepped in. “Soon as we heard from Granny Smith ‘bout these two, we upped our strength. We’re not the only ones. Apple Family word travels fast. The only reason they’re still here is that they were let in last night, ‘bout the time the real ruckus was happenin’.” Big Mac relaxed his stance, but kept his emerald eyes trained on the tricksters. Layton turned to the brothers.

“I would like to know if either of you saw anything suspicious last night.” Flam butted in.

“Well, if the dandy one wants us to tell our tales...”

“Then we shall leave right afterwards!” Flim proceeded. “However, we have a little conundrum on our hands. You see...”

Puzzle 019

“Another condition of us leaving these lovely cowponies is that we return the apples we were going to use for our demonstration, and take the apples we’d ruined so far with us. The good apples are in the green tubs and the bad ones are in the red. However, we have positively exhausted our magic in packing up and can only manage one tub at a time between us.

"Secondly, the sand’s a touch too soft for our liking around these parts, so we can only use the three circle pallets and that trailer of ours to hold them. Finally, we can only stack smaller crates on top of their larger counterparts; none of the tubs can go on top of tubs the same size or smaller than they are.

"Any tips for a quick getaway, you spiffy-looking stranger? It looks a tad outside of reality, as far as we can tell.”

“Oh, not at all, Flim,” the professor replied, confident in his answer. “All it requires is a little bit of patience and a touch of teamwork. Shall we, sirs?”

A little while later, Flim and Flam had the bad apples loaded onto their trailer.

“Why, you have a fantastic mind under that dapper cap!” Flam exclaimed, impressed at the short amount.

“As promised, good sir, you shall know what we know,” continued Flim, stepping forward. “We arrived last night at the stroke of midnight. This gate was wide open, don’t you know?”

“Not only that, but we happened upon two dark and shadowy ponies have a good old-fashioned chase.” Layton interrupted at this point.

“Did either of you happen to see what these ponies looked like?”

“Well, the one running away was dressed top to tail in black,” Flim answered, partly jovially. “Even the vagabond’s tail was tucked away!”

“The other,” continued Flam, “was flying, and quite bulky. I’d guess a pegagus stallion. That one was dressed in black, wore a cape, goggles and a wide-rimmed chapeau. Very stylish, if we do say so. In all the confusion, the runner dropped this.” The moustached of the two levitated over a brown Stetson. “The pegasus dropped something... odd, to say the least!” The hat was followed by a thin black leather-coated case with gold trim. A latch held the two flaps from swinging open, and the latch itself was locked by a dial with 5 numbered tumblers.

“How very curious...”

“Soooo, can we go now?” The brothers echoed in unison.

“I don’t see why not.”

“Magnificent. Next town, Flim?”

“Next town!” With that, the brothers mounted their unwieldy machine, starting it up and wheeling down the stampeding trail amidst a chaotic array of whirring and popping sounds. “See ya around, chums!”

“Well, we seem to have made a little progress in our investigation. Tell me, Macintosh. Does this hat seem familiar to you?” The muscular stallion walked up to the hat being held by the professor and gave it a sniff.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac replied bluntly. “’S mah sister’s.”

“Hmmm, I don’t think we’ll find much more here. If our suspect wanted to hide Miss Applejack away from notice, I highly doubt they would risk a chance with that pegasus again.” The professor turned to Braeburn and the Sheriff. “Do you know of the quickest way to Dodge Junction?”

“Sure, Professor,” the more clean-shaven of the stallions replied. “Ah’ll see if ah can pull a favour with the buffalo stampede. Ah’ve stored away a well-decorated, towering apple cake for such an occasion. Cousin Applejack helped me put it together.”

“That would be excellent, thank you, Braeburn.” They readied themselves at the entrance, waiting for the stampede. “I don’t believe you misplaced your key to the orchard.”

“Really? How so?”

“I believe that it was stolen, more than likely by our perpetrator. How else would either party have entered the orchard?”

“But why were the vehicle gates open?”

“I would venture a guess that it was intended as an escape route, either for a clean getaway that faced away from the town, or if something unplanned happened, much like what happened last night.” Braeburn made a ring with his mouth, quickly making sense of the new information. Not a moment passed before the ground started to rumble.

“Ah, righ’ on time!” Braeburn pulled out a gigantic cake from a nearby wooden box, and readied it for the buffalo. A dust storm rose beyond the horizon, headed straight down the trail. Upon seeing that their attention was needed, the entire herd was brought to a gentle stop. At the head of the pack stood a deep brown buffalo with feathers in his fur, accompanied by a far smaller female buffalo.

“Braeburn. Sheriff. For what reasons have you halted our stampede?” The voice from the male was deep and authoritative.

“Howdy, fellas,” the sheriff began to explain. “Chief Thuderhooves, the professor here was wondering if he could get a lift inta Dodge.” The human tipped his hat at his name’s mention.

“We’ve got somethin’ extra special for ya!” Braeburn produced the cake, to the sight of every last buffalo salivating over its size and iced goodness. “Of course, it’ll be on top of the usual round a’ produce.” The Chief and Little Strongheart deliberated for just a moment, before nodding.

“Climb on my back, creature of height. It must be of urgency if you request a small favour for such a reward.”

“Thank you most sincerely, sir.” Layton clambered onto the Chief’s back, being careful not to tug hard at his fire or accidentally jab in the sides with his shoes. “Macintosh, will you be able to keep up with us?” An unusual smile wandered onto Big Macintosh’s face.

“Eeyup.”

“Alright, then. Thank you, Braeburn, Sheriff.”

“Just make sure you bring mah cousin back safe, Professor.”

“Go get ‘em, pardner!” All the farewells made, the buffalo, Big Mac and the professor set off on the trail towards the tiny town of Dodge Junction.

And much, much deeper into the mystery.

Solutions 2

Puzzle 010:

If you manage to find a solution, please let me know and I'll do my best to include it, along with your screen name.

Puzzle 011:

97 rubies.
Firstly, find the lowest common multiple:
4 x 7 x 45 = 1260. There must be 1260 gems in total. Next, work out the number of each of the other types of gem.
¼ x 1260 = 315 sapphires
3/7 x 1260 = 540 topazes
11/45 x 1260 = 308 emeralds
The total so far is 315 + 540 + 308 = 1163 gems
The remainder of the gems are rubies.
1260 – 1163 = 97 rubies

Puzzle 012:

Press all of the buttons to form the digit 0.

1/6 of the hours to sweep skies: 4 hours.
Hours to read away: 3 hours.
For fun and play: 2 hours.
1/3 for work, making a dress: 8 hours.
Driving a herd: 3 hours.
1/6 for creatures' care: 4 hours.
Sum total: 24 hours.

This leaves zero hours for sleep, but the puzzle asked for a digit specifically, so pressing all of the buttons creates the digit 0.

Puzzle 013:

There are 2 cube numbers with two digits, not including 1 and 8 as they would have to be entered 01 and 08, and neither digit can be zero. The remaining numbers are 27 and 64. The cube root of 27 is 3, which is not a square number. The cube root of 64 is 4, so this is the only answer. The answer is 64.

Puzzle 014:

Starting from the bottom-right corner and forming a reverse N: S-T-A-R-S-W-I-R-L.

Puzzle 015:

Puzzle 016:

Walk as far as you can east (the rising light), two fields north (away from the winter birds' flight), left, left again, take the next turn right. Take the next north exit, then take the next eastern exit. Take the next left and turn right and go to the far end of that path. Then turn west (the setting sun), continue until you pass the third field on your left (the corner) and travel until you reach the third field on your left. That is where you need to be.

Puzzle 017

13 fillings.

The quickest solution to the puzzle is to fill all four corner glasses once each as well as the middle glass. The question only asked for the number of fillings of glasses required, NOT the number of times a glass is emptied as well. As three glasses are filled on the first corner, followed by two glasses for each of the second and just one for the final corner, this leaves four more to be filled along with the centre. 3 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 5 = 13. The answer would still be same no matter which order the moves are performed. Another way to answer it is to consider how many glasses there are and how many would have to be filled twice. 9 glasses + 4 glasses that would be filled twice = 13 fillings.

Puzzle 018

Puzzle 019

The quickest solution I have found is 21 moves. Feel free to comment if you have a quicker solution. My solution is as follows:
1) Move the small good tub to one of the empty sand pallets.
2) Move the medium good tub to the other empty sand pallet.
3) Move the small good tub on top of the medium good tub.
4) Move the small bad tub to the empty sand pallet.
5) Move the medium bad tub on top of the large good tub.
6) Move the small bad tub on top of the medium bad tub.
7) Move the large bad tub to the empty sand pallet.
8) Move the small bad tub to the empty orchard pallet.
9) Move the medium bad tub to the empty sand pallet.
10) Move the small bad tub on top of the medium bad tub.
11) Move the large good tub onto the empty orchard pallet.
12) Move the small good tub onto the trailer.
13) Move the medium good tub on top of the large good tub.
14) Move the small good tub on top of the medium good tub.
15) Move the small bad tub onto the trailer.
16) Move the medium bad tub onto the empty sand pallet.
17) Move the small bad tub on top of the medium bad tub.
18) Move the large bad tub onto the trailer.
19) Move the small bad tub onto the empty sand pallet.
20) Move the medium bad tub on top of the large bad tub.
21) Move the small bad tub on top of the medium bad tub.

Try it out with coins or buttons and see what happens.

Thanks again to shadow0knight for hunting down those elusive answers. That's what late nights will do to you.

Chapter 7: Up To Your Gills

Chapter 7: Up to Your Gills

After about half an hour, Layton was used to the balancing act, although he would have avoided it had it not been so urgent.

“We are nearing Dodge Junction, sir!” Little Strongheart yelped happily between breaths. “We’re almost...” Irony kicked in as the herd came across some heavy barricades spread right across the route for a clear mile in each direction. Chief Thunderhooves’ pent-up adrenaline turned to anger at this obstruction.

“What is the meaning of this?!” the Chief growled.

“I believe it would have something to do with those three ponies over there.” Layton pointed to the herd’s right. Surely enough, three stallions were tumbling about on the sandy plain, aiming hooves to jaws as best they could in the commotion.

“Macintosh, Chief, I require your assistance.” Layton, Thunderhooves and the red stallion wandered quickly over to the fight. They proceeded to split apart the three ponies.

“Gentlecolts! I request your attention.” The three fighting ponies stood, mouths gaping at the gangly-looking being addressing them.

“Whaddayawant?” the first pony, a yellow-bodied muscled brute with a tail and mane of blue, blurted out with not even the slightest tact.

“My friends the buffalo,” the professor gestured to the Chief, close to snapping, “are trying to run their stampeding trail. However, these barricades are blocking their path. Would you know anything about this?”

“Yeah, we put ‘em up. What of it?” the second pony, a sleeker blue stallion with a red mane and tail, answered curtly.

“For what reason would you have to raise the obstruction?”

“We’re tryin’ to settle a dispute the old-fashioned way,” the third stallion, with a red coat and yellow mane and tail, answered with a forced politeness. The barrier’s up to stop us gettin’ tangled with any a’ the folks a’ Dodge. We ain’t gettin’ nopony else involved, that much we do agree on. Our las’ brawl almost broke the town.”

“What are your names?” the professor asked. They responded in the order they first spoke.

“Corndew.”

“Shepherd Night.”

“Sun Fire.”

“Are you, perchance, related?”

“Yeah, good guess,” Shepherd Night replied quickly. “We’re triplets!”

“Ah, yes, and what is the dispute concerning?” Sun Fire stepped forward.

“We’re havin’ a little trouble splittin’ up land for our cattle ranch.”

“Hey!” Corndew butted in. “Maybe you got a shiny melon under that hat. Wanna lend a hand?” The professor smiled at the opportunity to solve the argument.

Puzzle 020

“We need ta split this land up nice an’ even. Each of us need a windmill, a water source an’ a barn for storin’. One more thing. We gotta make sure we share some fence each, jus’ in case we need to borrow some help or tools from each other. Can ya help?”

“I believe so. I also think those barricades can be used to make the fences.” The brothers moved the barricades blocking the stampeding trail to suitable positions on the plot of land nearby, allowing the herd of buffalo through to the final stretch. The professor, Big Mac and the Chief rejoined the herd.

“Thank y’all!” the triplets echoed. Hershel waved back. As the brothers become dots on the horizon, the man in the hat could see them walk shoulder to shoulder. It made him smile.

It was not long before the stampede reached the little town of Dodge Junction and slowly came to a halt. The professor dismounted as gratefully as he could, before turning to the crowd again, Mac joining at his side.

“Thank you for your help, Chief Thunderhooves.”

“No. Thank you, upright one. You’ve helped us today. We will not forget.” The Chief grinned wisely, before leading his group off into the swirling sands past the town.

“Shall we rest for a moment, Macintosh?” The stallion in question was panting from running in the searing heat.

“...Eeyup...” Big Macintosh dragged himself over to a nearby water butt, lifted off the lid and dunked his head inside, allowing the coolness to penetrate his cranium. The professor couldn’t help but grin. Something, however, caught his eye. An envelope nailed to a post in front of a nearby house. Layton approached this letter, and it revealed something which unsettled the normally unflappable archaeologist.

The envelope bore a well-drawn likeness to Layton’s own top hat. With a look of restrained annoyance and realising that somepony was toying with him, the man took the envelope carefully from around the nail, before delicately opening it to read the contents.

Puzzle 021

“I have been watching you from afar for some time now. You have quite the intellect for someone so boasting as to wear that hat. If you want your little friend back, I suggest you follow my advice.

“You face a post at your 12 o’clock. A journey from Canterlot to Dodge takes 4 hours. To go from Dodge Junction to Ponyville takes 7 hours. Going from Canterlot to Appleloosa would take 10 hours. The route is one straight line from Ponyville through Canterlot, then through Dodge and finishes at Appleloosa. If I was leaving Ponyville and wanted to make it to Appleloosa at 10 o’clock, at what time would I need to need to leave Ponyville? Oh, and I have no need to make any stops at all.

“Now you have your time, you have your way to walk. Go and get lost in the desert.”

“How curt,” the professor mused, “and quite intriguing.” Big Macintosh continued to soak his mane in his refreshing aquatic bliss whilst Layton pondered over the riddle. It took him but a moment to come across the solution.

“I’ve got it.” He walked over to the wanderlust-stricken stallion. “Macintosh, we must continue.” The red pony removed his head from the barrel.

“But ah don’ wanna.”

“We must. I’ve found where your sister is. Hold on for a moment.” Hershel picked up some glass bottles that lay strewn around the water butt and rinsed them out thoroughly, before filling each of them to the brim with fresh hydration. “This should tide us over until we find Miss Applejack.” Big Macintosh proceeded to sulk.

“What seems to be the matter, Macintosh?”

“Ah... ah don’ wanna be led ‘round in circles, sir. I love mah sis dearly, an’ ah don’ wanna see her suffer, ‘s all.” The professor thought for a moment, before filling more bottles with clean water.

“I don’t believe we’re that far from her now. I need you to trust me on this. Take this.” Layton placed Applejack’s hat on her brother’s head. “It will lift your spirits for you to return it to her personally.” Macintosh shot wide eyes at the professor and smiled strongly.

“Yessir!” Big Mac, more upbeat than an instant before, scooped up the human again, taking him completely by surprise, before galloping away.

“Macintosh! We need to go the other way!” This prompted a u-turn followed by a mad dash into the desert once more.

Interlude: Out of the Blue

It had been far too long since he had seen his greatest friend. Many tales had to be told, feats of gentlemanly conduct to be relayed. Yet a little boyishness couldn’t help but escape via how he carried himself.

The young man, Luke Triton, was dressed in his traditional blue cap and v-neck jumper, brown shorts and shoes. He stepped proudly into the foyer of Gressenheller, and immediately the smell of a distinct tea hit his nose.

“Hmmm... Earl Grey, with a bit of lemon mixed in!” The prodigious puzzle-solver broke into a dash down the familiar corridor.

As he reached the professor’s office, he pushed on the door, only to find it locked. Strange, Luke thought. He pulled out a chain from his pocket, and hanging from it was a single key. Sliding the key into the lock and twisting it a full turn clockwise, he twisted the door knob slowly, so as not to disturb his mentor should he be sleeping inside. The door creaking incessantly as he opened it, he saw no silhouette of the man he came to see.

“Professor? Professor?” Luke called out in vain, hoping wishfully for the man to step from any shadows. Alas, not a hint of movement could be gleaned from the half-light. He thought the situation through to himself. Of course! If the professor couldn’t tell Dean Delmona where he was headed, he would always leave behind some sort of clue of where hewas going in his safe. The boy marched quickly over to the professor’s fossil-dusting desk and opened the cabinet in the left leg, revealing a heavy metal safe.

“Let me see if I can remember the code. It’s made of three numbers, I know that much... Huh? What’s this? A clue?”

Puzzle 025

“Those who want to find me should know me,

My name alone, total the acronym,

Next, turn forever on its side,

Finally, a baker’s dozen five-fold, less a pair.”

“Of course! The professor’s birthday! How could I forget?” With several swift turns of the wheel, the door’s gap swung wider in an instant. Luke reached in and pulled out a scrap of paper with writing in smooth black ink: an address.

“I must find the professor! He’s not going on an investigation without the help of his apprentice!” With a fresh and comfortable resolve, he gathered his bag and bolted out of the office, barely stopping to close and lock the door.

Half an hour’s worth of bus trip later, Luke stepped off, confident enough in his knowledge of London’s transport system to push himself onward.

Stepping onto the street in question, he quickly found the house in question. Upon approaching it, he saw a puzzle on a plaque, along with four dials. The numbers were not set to zero, but arranged in a particular order. Luke looked at the plaque, mulling over the riddle for a while, before figuring the shown numbers as right.

“The professor must have been here! Well, here goes!” Luke reached up and pressed the red button beside the dials. A portal appeared in place of the door.

“What is that?” It was not the most peculiar experience that he’d ever experienced, although it ranked highly with ending up in a deceptively glitzy village or being transported to a future London. Luke reached into the portal with his right hand, before it sucked him inside.

“WOOAAHH!” Luke could barely do anything but scream in transit. It didn’t take long for him to black out.

After what seemed like a couple of hours, the young boy awoke to find himself on the floor of a marble-lined bedroom.

“It’s not the worst trouble I’ve been in,” he remarked to himself whilst gazing around the highly-maintained space. Elsewhere in the building, though, one being’s senses brought her to attention.

“Guards!” commanded Princess Luna in her Royal Canterlot Voice. “To the guest bedroom! Immediately!” A shuffling of hooves came and went rapidly past the closed throne room doors.

Back in the bedroom, Luke sat on the edge of the bed, swinging his feet forwards and backwards, humming ‘The Ballad of the Eternal Diva’ to himself whilst giving the room another look-over. His wistful daydream was shattered by many a thud on the floors of the corridor outside. Shortly afterwards, the door to the room flung open as if by magic, followed by the entrance of several ponies, two grey and two white, clad in golden armour.

“Halt, trespasser!”

“Wha-what?”

“You are to be escorted to the Princess. You are to answer for your crime of trespass!”

“What?! I just woke up in this room! I don’t understand!” It was of no use. Luke was being carted off for a crime he didn’t even realise he’d committed.

At that moment, he cursed his curiosity.

Chapter 9: Reunion

The locomotive drew majestically into the station of Canterlot. Applejack dismounted first, followed by her brother and the towering human. It didn’t take long for the professor to pick Twilight out from the rolling waves of cantering ponies, her lavender body being surprisingly conspicuous.

“Ah, there we go!” Suddenly, the orange mare accompanying him bolted towards the same target, almost knocking over Layton and several passers-by in the process. Twilight had barely turned to notice the obvious top hat (complete with a snoozing Owloysius on the hat’s brim) before Applejack made a diving tackle.

“Twi! I knew you’d get help!” The apple farmer was smiling and slightly breathless, but that nothing in comparison to the mare she was trampling.

“Apple... jack... you’re *cough* crushing... me...”

“Oh, a mite sorry.” Up stood AJ, scooping her trusty cowgirl hat from the station floor. She proceeded to help up her unicorn friend.

“It’s okay. Good to see you, Professor. I see you got my note.”

“Indeed. Owloysius is having a rest for the moment. Catching the train in motion must have been exhausting for him.” The professor couldn’t help but notice the amount of commuter ponies throwing looks at his bipedal figure, ranging from quick glances and open-mouthed gawks to mumbles and gossiping. Undeterred, he gently lifted the dormant bird from his hat and passed him into Twilight’s magic.

“Well, there’s still the Princess’ request to visit, but first I’ve got someone I’d like to introduce you to, Professor.” The mare motioned over to a nearby potted shrubbery which was shaking unnaturally.

“I would say your friend is quite the timid pony, Twilight.” He wore a gentle smile, before walking gingerly over to the shrub and bending his knees to match the plant’s height.

“It’s okay,” softly spoke the professor. “I am a friend of Twilight Sparkle and Applejack.” At the mention of these names, the shrub sported a pair of brilliant blue eyes. Suddenly the foliage spoke, very, very softly.

“...R-really?” The voice was female, that much could be told.

“Yes. My name is Professor Hershel Layton.” The bush squeaked with a quiver.

“I’m... I’m...” Hershel could here Twilight groan from behind him, but he persisted.

“It’s okay, miss. Take your time.”

“I’m... Fluttershy...”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Fluttershy.” The timid creature began to emerge from the shrub. She had a flowing mane and tail of a gentle pink colour, and a body of a well-matching yellow. She sported a pair of feathered wings and her cutie mark consisted of three pink-and-blue butterflies.

“I would say, Miss Fluttershy, that you have a talent for looking after creatures.” Fluttershy raised her head and made a glancing look at the professor’s eyes, before looking away again.

“Yes.” She replied with a smile.

“Do you enjoy tea, Fluttershy?” proposed the professor.

“Oh, yes, I love tea. I like sweet teas the best.”

“Ah, I know the ideal tea for you.” Layton reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small leaf, a pair of similar-looking berries and a tea strainer. “Macintosh, may I have two of the bottles, please?” Quickly enough, the hulking red stallion pulled out two canteens from his saddlebags and passed them to the professor. Pretty much everyone noticed Big Mac’s blushing cheeks when he cast a glance at the nervous pegasus on the station floor. The professor emptied one canteen onto the plant.

“Twilight, could you heat up this bottle for me, please?” On command, the gifted unicorn fired a spell at the other, full container, which was wisely stood on the floor, while Layton popped the ingredients into the empty bottle. Twilight levitated the boiling water to the ingredient bottle, emptying it completely, before swirling and swishing it around. Layton placed the strainer on the now empty bottle, which received a beautiful tasting liquid to it.

“Here you go, Fluttershy. It is a recipe I obtained whilst in a town of illusion.” The winged pony took a sip of the bottle and a beaming smile ran across her face.

“Oh, this is the sweetest tea I’ve had forever! I must get the recipe from you.” The professor could help but chuckle at the timid one’s shell-shedding.

“Haha, of course. But at this moment, we have more pressing concerns. Princess Celestia awaits us.” The group of ponies (accompanied by a human and an owl) headed from the station, down the main road towards the towering castle. On the way, the mass passed a stadium, espying a couple of well-built earth stallions heaving in large speakers. Overseeing them were three ponies.

A cream earth pony with two-tone blue hair and a strong fashion sense was keeping a smooth eye on proceedings wearing a never-ending happiness. She was flanked on her left by a tan-skinned pegasus stallion with a well-trimmed moustache, a lopsided short black mane and a red, eight-branched, flat-edged star for a cutie mark. To the cream pony’s right was a light pink pony with medium-length blonde hair and a short-skirted red blouse. She wore blue ocean waves as her cutie mark.

“Easy, my boys!” The cream mare called out. “We don’t want you doing a number on yourselves now, do we?”

“Are you okay, miss?” The professor, intrigued by the scenario, felt it just to approach. The mare’s eyes and smile widened quickly.

“Oh, my, you are DARLING, you handsome thing! You may not be a pony, but I do know style when I see it. Ow! I am Sapphire Shores! A pah-leasure making your acquaintance!”

“Professor Layton, charmed,” Hershel tipped his hat.

“Oh, how rude of me. Allow me to introduce my fellow musicians. This stunning stallion here is Pony Flow.” The pegagus nodded, a stray section of fringe flopping down over one eye. “And this beautiful mare here is Ash Neigh B.” The pony in question smiled.

“It is a pleasure to meet you all.”

“Say! I do believe you’ve got a good head under that hat. Maybe you could help me out here.”

“I shall endeavour to help, Miss Shores.”

Puzzle 026

“Our concert tonight is gonna be se-e-ensational! We’ve got some great musical talent, but the stadium wants to charge outrageous amounts of money for the tickets. It made me less than happy, but I can’t for the life of me remember how much. I’d thought I’d chip in to cut the price of the tickets.

“Now, the stadium is 50 rows high and 80 seats wide. I’m giving the stadium 50,000 of my finest bits to cut the prices, and I aim to reduce the tickets prices my beautiful fans pay by 25%. How much was the stadium planning to sell each ticket for?”

“I believe I have your answer, Miss Shores.”

“Please! Call me Sapphire!” The professor smiled, before taking Sapphire through to the answer.

“Oh, my...” an astonished Pony of Pop replied. “That is truly outrageous! Oh, I need to sit down before I faint...” Without a moment’s hesitation, Layton grabbed the tea bottle and gave it to Sapphire, prompting her to take a sizeable gulp of the sweet beverage.

“Oh, sir, you are full of surprises. Such a tasty flavour! Ow! Now I’m ready to show those stadium bosses just who is the diva!” With that, Sapphire Shores, Pony Flow and Ash Neigh B. vanished inside to go to war against the unscrupulous stadium owners.

“Let us continue to the palace, shall we?” The mildly mismatched movement milled to shadow of their grand destination.

Entering the palace was of no problem, what with Twilight being well-known and liked among the guards and staff. Although they were informed of the dapper non-equine guest to the palace, the only ones to keep nonchalant were the guards. The remaining staff couldn’t help but notice the biped as he paced the regal halls. Finally, the group reached the open throne room doors, a memorable sight to them all.

“Hmm...” Layton found it amusing that the puzzle that Princess Celestia had placed on the double doors still remained. Twilight took the lead.

“Princess Celestia!”

“Twilight Sparkle, my prized student!” The princess wore a look of relief, barely holding back the tears that would belie her affection. The young unicorn dashed to her royal teacher. Nuzzling each other like mother and child, they separated again, smiles on their faces. Celestia turned to the professor.

“Thank you, Hershel, for bringing my student back to me.” Layton tipped his hat.

“It was the least I could do, your Highness. I would believe, though, that is not the only reason for our summoning.”

“Very well deduced, Professor Hershel Layton.” Standing at the door was the slender and shadowy figure of the Night Princess. Fluttershy couldn’t help but wince slightly. Twilight couldn’t help but greet her.

“Princess Luna!”

“Twilight Sparkle,” the familiar formality of Luna’s tone began. “It pleases us that thou ist safe.”

“Thank you, Princess.”

“Back to the matter at hand,” Celestia inserted herself into the conversation again. “Professor, I may have originally thought that your intellect was one of a kind. But a recent... arrival at the palace would say otherwise.”

“Well, many intellects rival my own, your Highness. Of whose arrival do you speak?”

“Maybe you could tell me.” The Princess stood aside, revealing a small boy, dressed in a blue jumper and hat.

“Professor!”

“Luke, my boy. It seems that I taught you well.” The professor’s mouth curled up at the corners, beaming with pride. Luna gasped at this.

“You... know this child?”

“Know me?! I’m Professor Layton’s apprentice!”

“Luke,” Layton half-whispered, so not to draw the attention of the younger princess. “It would not serve a gentleman well to raise his voice at royalty.”

“Oh... sorry, Professor.”

“It’s quite alright. I would like to introduce you to the Princesses Celestia and Luna. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, allow me to introduce you to a close friend of mine, Luke Triton.”

“It’s so lovely to meet you, Luke,” greeted Celestia with a chuckle.

“Charmed,” Luna’s attempt at a cordial welcome fell a little short of warm. “You must forgive one’s lack of social graces, Luke Triton. A thousand years away from home will have that effect on anypony.”

“Ey?” The boy seemed confused. The professor spoke up again.

“I will explain later, Luke. Let’s just say it was a regrettable time for Princess Luna, best discussed somewhere away from the open.” Luke nodded, accepting, while the professor turned back to the princess on the podium, shortly accompanied by the younger sister. “I believe this is much more than mere coincidence.”

“Why do you think, Professor?” asked the sovereign of the sun.

“Why would someone want to kidnap both Twilight Sparkle and Applejack?”

“The Elements...”

“That was precisely my line of thinking. A mere supposition, though it is the most likely of reasons. I would take it that Miss Fluttershy here is also a representative of one of the Elements.” Fluttershy perked up just a touch, but still timidly.

“Oh, yes... there are six of us...”

“Then I only count three thus far. Who else are we missing?”

“Well,” continued Twilight, “there’s Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Rainbow Dash. I haven’t heard from them for a while.”

“Hmmm... Do you know where they went?”

“Rainbow’s gone to Cloudsdale,” replied Applejack. “They’re up there preparin’ weather fer the plantin’ of the summer crops.”

“You mean to say,” Luke blurted out with just a modicum of restraint, “that there are ponies that can control the weather?”

“Yer darn’ tootin’, little fella! When storms are needed, they bring ‘em. When the sun’s needed, the clouds are moved or bucked. Why? Don’t you have any humans controllin’ the weather?”

“Uh, not really...” Applejack was caught off-guard by this new information.

“Well, how about Miss Pie and Miss Rarity?” The professor continued.

“Pinkie is supposed to be working at Sugarcube Corner,” Fluttershy added, a little more confident. “Rarity was visiting Canterlot to promote a new fashion line.”

“In which case, we should locate Miss Rarity first.” No sooner had the words escaped his lips than a barrage of hoofsteps echoed down the hallway. One of the guards in the rush stopped at the gaping doorway.

“Your Majesties. We have a situation in the corridor to the castle ballroom.”

“We will be there immediately,” Celestia replied, taking command. “Twilight, Hershel, with me.” The two obeyed. “Luna, protect the others.”

“It shall be done,” the deep blue alicorn responded in military fashion.

Chapter 10: Beau in a Bind

The three beings followed the stampede of guards down the grand hallways, marble white and royal red blurring in an adrenaline-fuelled flurry. It didn’t take long for Layton, Twilight and the Princess to see what the problem was: a gigantic iron door blocked the path.

“How in the world did this get set up without being noticed?” A tinge of anger was infused into Celestia’s normally motherly voice.

“I don’t get it. I don’t remember this being here!” The lavender student racked her brains, hopefully trying to find a memory blank in which to place this eyesore that stood before them. The professor closed his eyes, a hand on his chin.

“It seems whoever set up this door is not beyond portraying others. Otherwise, their presence would have been noticed.” He noticed the floor before the barricade was tiled and decorated in a peculiar fashion. This turn of events did nothing to faze one of the unicorn guards, who proceeded to charge headlong at the door.

“No, wait!” Layton reached out to stop the guard, but too late. A couple of steps in and the tiled floor reared up, flinging the armoured pony back down the hallway. Celestia and Twilight stared open-mouthed at what had just happened and the hapless stallion, clearly winded, took a while to attain balance on his hooves again. The human frowned for a moment, before a glint of light caught his attention.

“What’s this?”

Puzzle 027

“I would not advise teleporting; else your prissy friend can kiss her over-prepared mane goodbye. If you want to see her intact, I suggest you move like a bishop until you hit all four edges and land back where you began. The black tiles will result in an impromptu flying lesson. Oh, and you can only step on alternating tiles, going between sun and moon.

“Once you return to the start, the bishop’s curse is broken and your answer should be straightforward.

“Enjoy.”

“I get the feeling that whoever is doing this is taunting us deeply,” surmised Twilight.

“You have the answer as well, Twilight?” the professor asked.

“How did you guess?”

“A taunt in the question itself is far from deep. I would say the answer reminds you of Miss Rarity.”

“Yeah. It does.” The professor made his way carefully across the tricky trap, careful not to land any portion of his green shoes on an unintended tile. Eventually, he reached the final tile. As he made his final step, the floor shook slightly, and the ugly metal door slid down into the ground, granting passage for the three of them.

“Follow me,” Princess Celestia took the lead, bringing her pupil and Hershel to a door on the left. “What is this?” A complex panel appeared on the door to the ballroom.

“It looks like another puzzle,” Twilight quickly deduced. “Let me solve this one, Professor!”

“Of course, Twilight.”

Puzzle 028

“Starting from the centre R and making your way to the edge, how many routes can you take to spell ‘RARITY’? Answer on the tiles before you, please.”

After a little bit of calculation and double-checking...

“Aha! I’ve got it!” Twilight stomped determinedly on the necessary buttons. She met the slowly opening doors with a wide smile, much like if she had been hit with wanderlust. The look quickly turned into one of shock, as the scene that lay before them in the ballroom was one of beautiful bewilderment.

“Who turned my ballroom into an ice rink?” It was a strange sight to behold. The grand room Celestia and Twilight knew so well had been frozen over and strange walls had been erected, blocking a direct way to the door on the other side of the room.

“Who is doing this, Professor?” Twilight was growing panicked.

“I have a couple of ideas, but I need a little more evidence before I draw any conclusions. For now, let’s concentrate on rescuing Miss Rarity.”

Puzzle 029

“Again, it will be known if you use magic or wings to cross this hall. I suggest you play properly.

“As you can see, I went to such efforts to present this wonderful game to you. It would be a shame if it were too easy. As soon as you step in any direction on the ice directly towards any outer wall, you will carry on until you hit something.

“Let’s see if you can wrap your feather brains around this one!”

“Ah, this reminds me of a visit I once made with Luke to an old castle. The lakes were unnaturally icy. Hmmm? What’s this?” Layton leaned in close to the map on the plaque. He espied some small characters in the bottom right corner of the metal plate: 12-He-1003. He took a mental note of the mystery code before turning his attention to the puzzle at hand. It wasn’t long before the answer came to the man.

“Follow me carefully.” The professor trod on the ice, sliding wobblingly towards the wall straight ahead, before heading in his next direction. The princess followed with typical grace. Twilight, however, spent half of the journey on her stomach, barely pushing herself in the right directions before tumbling off her hooves and onto her chin. As they reached the end of the ballroom, Layton took a moment to catch his balance, while Celestia tended to her charge.

“Are you alright, Twilight?”

“Uh, yeah... Give me a moment...” She rose to her hooves shakily, unsure of whether the rules of ice still applied. “Okay... I’m ready.” With that, the professor opened the door, leading out into the Castle Courtyard. It did not take long for the three of them to spot Rarity, as she sobbed loudly from the flag pole in the centre of the well-tended area. The flag pole had a crown attached to the top of it, a crown which had lit and upturned candles protruding from its rim.

“Why, why, why?” Her wailing was typically theatrical and quite cutting in the night air. “I miss my friends! I miss my sister! I miss my boutique! Oh, who’s there?” The royalty, her student and the well-dressed two-legged creature stepped out of the shadows. “Twilight! You Majesty! Oh, you are a sight for sore eyes... Well, I must dutifully admit we have never met, uh, stranger, but you are certainly not of ponykind.”

“Ah, please forgive my impoliteness. My name is Professor Hershel Layton.”

“Well, Professor Layton,” Rarity continued in her affected accent. “It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Rarity, and I seem to be in a bind, uh, quite literally.” She afforded herself a dry chuckle.

“Just a moment, and I shall have you free.” Hershel wasted no time in freeing the restraining ropes. The ivory unicorn stood proudly, away from the sole bar to which she had become helplessly trussed. As the professor read her, Rarity seemed to care greatly about appearance. The precisely-coiffed mane and tail contrasted her snowy white body perfectly. She had two deep blue eyes which could probably stun a stallion at 50 paces, accompanied by lightly-applied blue eye shadow. Her flank on both sides bore three gleaming icy blue crystals.

“Ah, thank you most sincerely, Professor Layton. That rope was tied so tightly that I couldn’t hope to free myself with my magic. I believe I owe you a favour, one I would gladly repay.”

“It was no worry, Miss Rarity,” smiled Layton. The unicorn blushed slightly. “It is the duty of every gentleman to help a lady in need.”

“I must say you have a... unique sense of style, but I believe I can help you look even more – gentlemanly, was it? – than ever. Now, let’s start with that hat.”

“Ah, your offer is most generous, Miss Rarity, but my hat is of great personal importance to me.” The ivory mare became a little sheepish.

“Oh... that’s okay. I will arrive at a point of inspiration before we return to Ponyville.”

“Um, we should head back to the throne room,” interrupted Twilight. “Everypony is waiting for us there. Well, almost everypony.” The librarian wore a look of worry across her face.

“Twilight?”

“It’s a long story,” Celestia responded maternally. “We shall explain it on the way back to the throne room. I also believe it would most suitable for everypony... and Hershel, of course, to rest here in Canterlot, before departing for Ponyville in the morning.”

“Are you sure, Princess?” Her student questioned. “We wouldn’t want to impose on you.”

“Oh, Twilight, it’s fine. Really. After all, what sort of princess would I be if I wouldn’t offer help to my star student and her friends?” Twilight smiled at this statement, as did the professor, and the small group returned to the castle for the night.

Chapter 11: Rarity's Riddles

Chapter 11: Rarity’s Riddles

Stepping from the morning train back into the welcoming rural setting sent a sigh of relief through the cluster. Quickly, they all turned to the professor and Luke.

“Right, well, we’ve gotta get back to our places,” A beaming but twitching Twilight announced, resplendent with a snoozing Owloysius at ease on her back. “Thank you soooo much for everything, Professor. Feel free to stop by the library any time!”

“It was my pleasure, Twilight,” Hershel answered brightly. With that, the unicorn and the owl teleported away in a brilliant flash of pink light. Applejack was next.

“Well, ah reckon we’d bes’ be headin’ back ta Sweet Apple Acres, right brother?”

“Eeyup.” Big Macintosh smiled.

“You should come by the farm sometime. Ah’ve got a couple a’ difficulties needin’ solvin’.”

“I will make a note to be there.” AJ and her big brother set off sprinting towards the farm, most likely to see who would win.

“Um...” Fluttershy, still nervous around this hat-donning stranger, squeaked a little before continuing. “I... need to get back to my cottage. The critters need feeding. I’ll, uh... see you around. Thank you for the tea...”

“Glad to have helped, Miss Fluttershy. Take care.” The rose-haired pegasus trotted away, eyes closed and a contented smile on her face. The remaining members, Layton, Luke and Rarity turned to face each other.

“I would be honoured if you would accompany me to my boutique, Professor Layton,” Rarity requested in her sweetest voice.

“Of course, Miss Rarity.”

“Can I come too, Miss Rarity?” Luke asked, wanting to come along.

“But of course, darling! I wouldn’t want you to be left out. A friend of a friend is a friend.”

“Then let’s go!”

Layton and Luke followed the gently trotting unicorn to the south-eastern fringes of the city, across the river bridge and into a small grouping of slender buildings and tents. Standing most prominently in the district was the Carousel Boutique, a beautiful building of pale pink, baby blue and gleaming gold. Pony models adorned the exterior of the top level, and a carousel pony sign hung above the doorway.

“Come on in, gentlemen,” the white pony invited the two humans inside, opening the door with a blue glow from her horn.

“Thank you sincerely, Miss Rarity.” Luke was first in the door, overtaken by the sheer elegance of the interior. Mirrors lined the walls; a podium took the centre of the room. A couple of clothing racks were strewn about, with elegant dresses and works in progress streaming from the horizontal bars with an unmatched splendour.

“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity called out for her sister. Soon after, a couple of thuds and crashes bellowed out from upstairs. Three familiar young fillies, a beige earth pony, an orange pegasus and a white unicorn, tumbled down the stairwell in the most inordinate fashion, stopping at the bottom and groaning as they regained their place on their hooves. “Sweetie Belle, I know I said you could have your friends around, but I warned you about making a mess!” The small horned pony reeled slightly.

“I’m sorry, sis.” The guilt in her voice was obvious. “We just...” Her reasons (or excuses) were cut short when she spotted the human with the fancy hat. “Ooh, ooh! Look, Crusaders! It’s Mr. Big Hat! Hi, Mr. Big Hat!”

“You know these three fillies?” Rarity questioned Layton, one eyebrow cocked high above the other.

“Indeed,” replied the professor. “We met as soon as I first arrived in Ponyville. They helped my find the library, and they gave me a puzzle as well.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Apple Bloom replied. “We wanted ta be Cutie Mark Crusader puzzle masters, so we spent a whole sleepover comin’ up with one.” Scootaloo trotted up to the gathering.

“But he solved it in a matter of seconds. I don’t think we’re cut out to be puzzle makers at all.”

“Ah, don’t be discouraged, ladies,” assured the professor. “I have an affinity for puzzles. For your ages, that puzzle was very well-made. You should be proud. It was just unfortunate that I was the first to try it.” The three fillies smiled, happy at the encouragement.

“Alright, girls,” Rarity cleared her throat. “You’d best head out for some fresh air.”

“Okay, sis,” Sweetie Belle happily obliged, with her friends chasing her out of the front door.

“What do you think we should try next to earn our cutie marks?” Scootaloo asked.

“Ah think we should try shootin’ arrows next...” Apple Bloom’s voice faded into the distance as the wide door brought itself gently to a close. Rarity sighed heavily.

“Those girls... They are good friends, but a touch single-minded when it comes to attempts to obtain their cutie marks. Now, I must return to my work. Being attached to a flagpole has a way of cutting into my schedule, hence why I invited you.”

“How may we be of assistance, Miss Rarity?” Layton asked curiously. Rarity pointed a hoof towards what looked to be a pink treasure chest.

“Could you fetch me some rubies? This outfit is in requirement of them if it is to look as magnificent as I envision.”

“Of course.” Luke and Hershel walked to the case.

“Professor,” Luke enquired somewhat abruptly. “Shouldn’t we be looking for more clues for our investigation?”

“I take it that Princess Luna brought you up to speed.”

“Mm-hm,” Luke nodded.

“Luke, it is the duty of every gentleman to help out in any and every way they can. Also, you will be quite surprised as to what you can learn if you look in the least expected of places.”

“Okay, Professor... Hey! This chest is locked!” Luke attempted to heave open the lid, only succeeding in doing his arm muscles a mischief.

“This is quite an intriguing lock. Say, how would you like to shake off some of the puzzle-solving rust?”

“I’m ready for anything, Professor!”

Puzzle 030

“All of the buttons must be pushed in sequence in order to open the chest, the last button being the OK button in the centre. R means right, L means left, U means up and D means down. You need to find the first button to start the sequence.”

Luke scratched his head, before coming up with an answer. He proceeded to press the first button, followed by the dictated sequence. He finally pressed the centre button, lifting the lid with a hint of delicacy.

“I did it, Professor!”

“Well done, my boy. Now let’s show Miss Rarity these rubies.” They returned to the dressmaker, who was hard at work threading together multiple sections of velour into a stallion’s ballroom jacket.

“Oh, why thank you, Luke. These are perfect.” She telekinetically lifted the red stones from the boy’s hand before clicking them into place on the jacket. “Oh, that looks simply smashing! Don’t you think? I had to increase the security on the chest after Sweetie Belle had at my collection of baby blue sapphires. She created a wonderful picture with them, but still...”

“That looks very fetching indeed. Is it for an important client?”

“Much more than important, Professor Layton! It is for my friend Fancy Pants. He is one of the Canterlot elite, you know. Very kind as well.” Rarity smiled as she brought her labours to an end on the jacket. It was a wonderful affair, an epitome of fashion and comfort. “Now I must move onto my next task. One particular customer wanted a jewel display to hang as art of a sort. However, I have been perplexed by what he wants. His instructions are... difficult, to say the least. Perhaps a gentle fellow with your intellectual fortitude would be able to assist me.”

“I would be only too happy to assist.” Rarity passed a piece of paper to the professor.

Puzzle 031

“Dear Miss Rarity,

I request a sewn pattern, a 5 x 5 design in the style of the enclosed sketch. I have come up with the coloured squares and think you would be well-suited to complete the pattern. However, I have some stipulations:

• There must be 5 colours: blue, red, yellow, green and grey.

• No colour must be repeated in the same row, column or corner-to-corner diagonal.

• By that same measure, each row, column and corner-to-corner diagonal must have one square of each colour.

“I will pay 2000 bits to you for the completion and delivery of this pattern by Friday morning.

“Yours sincerely,

Prince Blueblood”

“Ah, you serve royalty as well, it seems,” Hershel noted quickly.

“Indeed. I have had more... personal dealings with that member of the royal line before. He was one of the most arrogant stallions I have ever had the misfortune of knowing. And to think I ever wanted to be married to him! Oh, please forgive the ruffling of one’s own mane, Professor.”

“It is quite okay, Rarity. Your secret is safe with me.” Layton picked up a nearby quill, scratching away on the letter.

“Oh, it’s not a secret, my dear! Far from it. Everypony who was present at the Grand Galloping Gala knows full well what that excuse for a prince did to me. Still, if he wants to pay for some of my work then I must have left an impression.”

“Indeed. Speaking of which, I have an answer to the prince’s request.” Layton turned the letter to show the unicorn. She scrutinised it, before a sweet smile plastered her face.

“Oh, this is spectacular, Professor Layton! You have an incredible mind.”

“Nothing like a touch of logic to solve the issue, Miss Rarity. However, if Prince Blueblood is as obtuse as you have described, I believe it would not be beneath him to set you a task to make an example. Not everypony – or every human, for that matter – is willing to forget.”

“Hmmm... now that you do mention it... Still, it was his promise, and as long as I fulfil his order, then his promise still stands. Besides, he is related to Princess Celestia after all.” Rarity walked over to the open chest, levitating out a gleaming ruby and a stunning sapphire. “Now, as you have both been very helpful, I would like you to have these as a gift.”

“Thank you, Miss Rarity,” Luke replied, slightly stunned.

“Thank you, but we needn’t take this from you,” the professor followed. “They must have some value to you.”

“Oh, darling! Much like friendship, gems may be of a value, but they are worth nothing if not shared with anypony- I mean, person. I insist that you keep them!”

“Well... thank you, Miss Rarity.”

“Yes, it’s very generous of you!” Layton dropped into thought with Luke’s comment. Generosity... one of the Elements of Harmony. Something else, however, caught the archaeologist’s eye.

“There seems to be some sort of powder on your tail.”

“What? Where?” The normally prim and proper pony started panicking.

“Hold steady. I shall remove it.” Layton grabbed a nearby comb and pulled a small paper bag from his inner jacket pocket.

“Where’d you get that , Professor?” Luke felt the need to ask.

“A gentleman always comes prepared, no matter the situation.” The professor carefully ran the comb through the elegant curls, making sure not to disturb the contours. He caught all of the powder in the bag before folding it up and putting it back in his pocket.

“D-did you get it all?”

“Yes.” Rarity looked back at her tail, breathing a sigh of relief.

“My, my, you were gentle! A small wash and it will look like new! Thank you ever so much, Professor Layton, Luke.”

“Glad we could be of service. We must continue our investigation, but I am sure our paths will cross again.”

“See you later, Rarity!” Luke continued in his typical London style. The two of them left via the door, making sure that the door didn’t slam. Rarity sighed contentedly, before making her way gracefully to her bathroom, her work all caught up.

Luke and Layton made their way back into the town centre, conversing along the way.

“Well, that was... a distraction,” Luke commented. “We didn’t learn anything about our case.”

“I wouldn’t say that, Luke.” Layton pulled out the bag, before dipping his index finger into it.

“What are you doing?! That could be poisonous!”

“Why would a poisonous powder be on Miss Rarity’s tail?” The professor placed his powdered finger on his tongue. The taste was instantly recognisable.

“It seems,” he continued, “that this investigation is less clean-cut than I originally thought.”

Chapter 12: Agricultural Affairs

“Where to next, Professor?”

“I think it might be wise to visit Miss Applejack. Perhaps we can gather more information on the...” Suddenly, from out of nowhere, the professor and the boy were knocked clean off their feet by a blur of blonde and greyish blue. They picked themselves up, dusted off their clothes and turned to see the source of the impact, a pony with a barrel on his or her head.

“Who switched off the lights?!” A female voice.

“Hold steady, madam.” Layton slide the wooden barrel off the mare’s head. “There we go. You really should be more careful.”

“Oops. Sorry!” The mare replied honestly, if a little oddly. She had a blonde mane and tail, with golden eyes to match. Unfortunately, the direction of her pupils lacked any kind of uniformity. Her grey-blue body and wings were quite matt, and her flanks bore bubbles as a cutie mark. “I want to visit my friends!”

“Oh, there you are, Derpy!” Bon Bon, having stepped from a nearby shop, had espied the commotion her pegasus friend had caused. Lyra followed not long afterwards. “My goodness, you just keep crashing into everypony, don’t you? Oh, hello, Professor.”

“Good afternoon, Miss Bon Bon, Miss Heartstrings”, Layton replied, unfazed by the collision. “Please allow me to introduce Luke, a dear friend of mine.”

“How do you do?” Luke was still a little unnerved by the concept of talking ponies. Normally, only he could communicate with animals, yet everypony he met so far in this world could talk with the professor without a word out of place. His thoughts were quickly interrupted by the rapid approach of mint green hooves.

“Oh, wow!” a bouncing Lyra could barely communicate between breaths. “TWO humans! Best day EVER!” The jubilant unicorn was quickly deflated by a daggered glare from her fiancée. “Okay, maybe SECOND best day ever.” Bon Bon forgave her for the moment, before introducing the sky pony.

“Professor Layton, this is Miss Derpy Hooves.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Miss Hooves,” Hershel tipped his hat.

“Hello!” Derpy responded cheerfully, waving her front right hoof frantically. Bon Bon continued.

“Derpy has been having a little bit of trouble lately. She has been a loyal employee of the Ponyville Postal Service for years. Sadly, it only took one complaint to have her placed on suspension.”

“We think it was Roseluck!” Lyra butted in, before Bon Bon cleared her throat.

“Yes, well, speculation aside, we have been trying to help her return to work. It has not been easy. We even wrote to Princess Celestia about it.”

“She gave me a job!” Derpy burst out. “I get to be a... a...”

“Scribe, dear.”

“Yeah! One of those!” This triggered off the professor’s memory.

“Ah, you were the pony who wrote my train station guide for Canterlot.”

“Sorry about the mess,” Derpy replied, looking guiltily at the ground.

“Ah, don’t worry yourself too much, Miss Hooves. It offered quite the mental challenge.” The pegasus perked up, her wings shooting from her sides.

“Yay! He liked it! But oh... I still want my mailmare job.”

“Maybe we can help!” Luke entered the conversation. “Tell us all about it.”

Puzzle 032

“I delivered mail to the same 40 ponies each day. The mail was sorted by house before I posted it, so I can’t mix up mail, and I never missed a mailbox. Only one pony has complained about getting the wrong mail. What’s the chance in, uh... percent of me getting one pony’s mail wrong?”

“Hmmm...” Luke was about to reach for his notepad, when the answer he needed struck him like a bolt of lightning. “Of course!” He pronounced with a chuckle. “I’ll explain it to you.” Meanwhile, as Luke explained to Derpy his answer, the professor made conversation with the earth pony and the unicorn.

“Would either of you have seen anything out of the ordinary recently?”

“Apart from humans?” Bon Bon blurted out, still smarting from earlier.

“Honey, manners!” the unicorn was quick to jump in. “Sorry, Professor. Now that you mention it, the weather has been strangely hot. As much as we love to laze outside and catch a tan, we could do with a break.”

“Most interesting... One more thing. Would you happen to know what 12-He-1003 could mean?” The pair of ponies exchanged expressions, both blank.

“...I’m afraid you’ve got us there,” the beige mare answered. “Maybe Twilight would know?”

“Thank you, Miss Bon Bon. You’ve been very helpful. Come along, Luke.”

“Coming, Professor!” The young boy turned to the mailmare again. “That should help you get your job back.”

“Oooooh... Thanks, Luke! That’ll help a lot!” The wall-eyed pegasus rejoined her friends, and the two groups parted ways, with Layton and Luke headed west.

The smell of leaves wafted up the bipeds’ nostrils, a deeply pleasant scent that reminded them of London’s grand parks, where they would wander during Hershel’s downtime.

“It’s been too long, hasn’t it, Professor?”

“What do you mean, my boy?”

“I missed you, Professor. We used to go on adventures like this, but... since I moved away... I don’t get to do this anymore.”

“Luke... Just because life doesn’t seem as interesting as our investigations do, it doesn’t make it any less so.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you ever wonder how I became so proficient with puzzles?” Layton’s gaze remained on their intended path. “I link them with whatever I can find. I research puzzles and create my own, based on my experiences, every detail from birthdays to everyday objects. To find inspiration in the most seemingly uninteresting points of life... That in itself is as exciting as any investigation.” The professor finished his explanation.

“Cor!” Luke beamed, basking in his mentor’s familiar wisdom. “You’re right, Professor. Thanks. I never would have thought it possible, but we are surrounded by talking ponies!”

“Yes, indeed we are, and there’s no need to thank me, Luke. Think of it as an answer to a question I once asked myself.” The farmhouse was within a stone’s throw at that point, the glorious midday sun blazing across the glorious green canopy. Four familiar ponies were arranging buckets by trees, looking ready to catch apples.

“Good afternoon, Miss Apple Bloom.”

“Howdy, Mr. Big Hat!” The filly dashed up to the pair. “Who’s yer friend?”

“I’m Luke. It’s great to meet you, Apple Bloom.” The young mare blushed slightly, but their reverie was soon interrupted by Applejack and Granny Smith.

“Howdy, Prof. Hi, Luke!” The orange mare was in high spirits, but nothing like the elderly green pony.

“Hey, howdy, Mr Professor! Why, ah’ve gotta thank y’all for bringin’ back mah girl ta me!”

“Oh, no, it was the least I could do, Mrs Smith. I thought I’d come by and see if I could gain more knowledge for the investigation. Tell me, Miss Applejack. What can you remember from before we found you?” Big Macintosh, overhearing the conversation, distanced himself considerably without being noticed.

“Well, ah remember gittin’ ta the main entry gate. Ah felt a huge pain on the back a’ mah head. Next thing ah knew, ah was buried up to mah neck in sand! There’s one thing, though. Ah found this tangled in mah mane. Any ideas, Prof?” The mare lifted her Stetson, retrieving an object from the top of her head, before passing it to Layton. It was a rounded piece of tinted glass.

“This could be of great use to the investigation. Thank you,” Layton smiled, yet stronger ideas formulated in his mind.

“No problem. Ah was hopin’ you could help me with somethin’ else.”

“I will assist in any way I can.”

“Well, every so often we get an appearance of magical fruit in one a’ our fields. The biggest problem is time.”

“How so?”

“If’n these apples aren’t harvested within one day of bein’ ripe, they disappear. We got a couple a’ farmhands to help, but they’re differen’ in size an’ strength. Ah asked Big Macintosh, but he jus’ gave me a map a’ the field with some numbers on it, sayin’ I needed nothin’ but four sides each.”

“May I take a look?” Hershel asked. Applejack handed over a scroll, and the archaeologist unravelled it.

Puzzle 033

“I would say that each farmhand’s harvesting area needs to be four-sided: a square or rectangle. The numbers that Macintosh wrote are clues as to the area sizes for each farmhand. It is simple enough to answer once you know where to start. What do you think, Miss Applejack?”

“Ah think he should stop takin’ lessons from Twilight on confusin’ ponies,” Applejack wore a look of perplexity, “an’ you need ta stop callin’ me Miss. Ah’m startin’ to feel high-fallutin’.”

“Ah, my apologies, Applejack. It is a habit. With the map, I suggest you look at this number first...”

As Layton work with the tangerine mare regarding her brother’s puzzle, Luke tracked down the stallion himself, inside one of the barns.

“Uh... hello, Mr. Macintosh,” the child nervously started. The red pony cast a silent glance before returning to tending to his project. “Have you, um... ever seen a human before?”

“...Nnnope.”

“Did you need a hand there?”

“...”

“Okay, then. I’ll leave you to it.” Luke made his way to the door.

“Wait,” The silent stallion breathed a heavy sigh, before finally speaking up. “Eeyup. Ah need some help, Mr Luke.”

“That’s good. Let’s see, now...” They stared at Big Mac’s project, a machine of some sort.

“Winter’s comin,’” Mac’s southern drawl was tinged with worry. “Last one was harsh. This here machine’ll keep the family warm and the animals fed.”

“Oh! This is a generator!”

“Eeyup.”

“Everything seems to be in place, so what’s the problem?”

Puzzle 034

“Ah’ve got the rest of this machine set up. Touchin’ wheels go different ways. The last belt is mah big dilemma. Ah want the green wheel to turn the same way as the red one does, or it ain’t gonna work. That there belt’s too short to twist. Which wheel do ah hitch the other end a’ the belt to?”

“Hmmm...” Luke took a long look at the mechanism. “If this wheel turns that way... Got it! We need to connect the belt there... If you switch on the generator and the belt’s on the wrong wheel, what happens?”

“Dunno.” Mac was unmoved by the possibility that the machine could self-destruct in a most spectacular fashion. The boy in blue, however, gulped audibly as he reached for the power switch.

“Well... Here goes nothing.” The switch threw in a smooth movement, bringing the generator to life. Mac poked his head out of the barn, noticing the nearby indoor pig sty filling with food.

“Is it working, Mr Macintosh?” Luke asked, unsure of why the hulking stallion was looking out the door. Mac pulled his head back into the structure, smiling.

“Eeyup!”

“Luke! It’s time to go,” the professor’s prim voice rang from the field.

“Coming, Professor! ...Hold on a second.” A particularly fruity smell struck his nostrils, a scent he couldn’t quite place. “Mr Macintosh, do you smell that?” The stallion sniffed the air in his relaxed fashion.

“Eeyup,” he answered. “Smells like apples.”

“Uh, I don’t think so...” At that point, Hershel popped his head through the ajar doorway.

“Ah, there you are, Luke... What’s that smell?”

“So you can smell it too!”

“Yes. I can’t seem to place what that it is, though. Hmmm... Anyway, we must continue our investigation. Come along.”

“Right away, Professor.” Luke bolted out of the doorway after his mentor, standing to attention at Layton’s side.

“I have just one more question, Applejack,” the man in the top hat resumed.

“Shoot, Prof.”

“Have you painted any of your barns recently?”

“Hmmm... Nah, can’t say ah have. Why’d ya ask?” The professor pointed to a patch of ground about three feet to his left. Sitting there, well-hidden in the grass, were a few tell-tale splodges of half-dried maroon paint.

“Well, ah’ll be darned! How’d that git there?!”

“I’m not certain as of yet, but it’s not beyond possibility that somepony has been here recently.”

“R-really, Professor?” Luke was taken aback by this turn in events.

“Where are Mrs Smith and Miss Apple Bloom at the moment?”

“They’re headed to town to pick up supplies for the harvest.”

“Good. I suggest you gather your brother and stay in your home. There may be a chance that whomever left this paint has not left the area.” A fearful grimace crossed the normally fearless earth pony’s face.

“H-how will ah know when it’s safe ta come out?” As if on cue, a brief flash of light occurred, revealing a familiar form.

“Professor!” Twilight was breathless, to say the least. “I just got word from Fluttershy. She sounded really upset! You’ve gotta come right away!” Layton nodded.

“Luke, come with us! Applejack, as soon as I know it is safe to come out, I will send Miss Sparkle to fetch you.”

“Righ’, good plan.” The professor turned to Twilight.

“Let us head to Fluttershy’s residence.”

“Right. Teleporting will get us there faster,” Twilight was brimming with confidence.

“What? Are you sure it’s safe?” Luke couldn’t restrain himself from expressing his concerns.

“I’ve got teleporting down to a fine art, Luke. Hold tight!” Luke closed his eyes tightly, while Layton stood calm and resolute. The purple unicorn’s horn glowed brightly, the sphere of light rapidly engulfing the three of them. Within moments, they vanished from sight, a slight crackling of raw magic left in their wake. The only remaining pony, Applejack headed to the barns to escort her brother to safety from this unknown enemy.

Chapter 13: Fear Outside the Forest

Another brilliant flash of light sparked across to the eastern side of the river’s ring. Twilight quickly stood up, shaking her head to clear the minor headache. The professor had landed squarely on his backside on a pile of leaves, whilst poor Luke arrived face-first into a flower bed.

“Sorry, you two,” the unicorn professed shyly. “Perhaps I haven’t got it completely figured out yet.”

“That’s quite alright, Twilight,” the professor was quick to calm the mare’s jangling nerves. “Are you alright, Luke?” The boy in question was busy spitting out loose earth.

“Ugh, I certainly hope that teleportation is a bit more sophisticated all-around than that landing...”

“Manners, Luke.”

“Oh. Sorry, Twilight.” The lavender mare couldn’t help but chuckle at this. However, any sort of hilarity was stopped dead in its tracks by the sight in front of Fluttershy’s cottage. The house itself was perfectly intact, but the bridge leading up the pathway and the railing at the front door had been obliterated, with chunks of wood thrown every which way.

“What happened?!” The unicorn mare was incredulous at the sight.

“It seems,” Layton deduced, “that whoever did this was here for Miss Fluttershy."

“How do you figure?”

“How did this area look when you collected her for the journey to Canterlot?”

“The place was immaculate, but that means that this happened while Fluttershy was away.”

“It is possible that this happened whilst she was here, but highly doubtful.” The professor pressed his hand to his chin in trademark fashion. “What you see here is a product of frustration, most likely by the one who trapped you, Applejack and Rarity.”

A whimper. A very gentle whimper carried on the wind. It was picked up quickly by Luke.

“Hey. That sounds like Fluttershy!”

“She must be around the back,” Twilight figured. “Let’s go!” The trio made their way around the rear of the building. The sight before them wrenched at their hearts. A chicken coop and a couple of hutches lay in ruin, splintered in much the same way as the bridge and the railing. In the middle of the destruction lay a quivering yellow pegasus, hiding beneath her front hooves and light pink mane.

“Fluttershy! Oh my goodness, are you alright?” Twilight galloped urgently to her friend. “Are you hurt?”

“N-n-no...” The pony had been crying. “H-how can somepony be s-so c-c-cr-cruel?” She continued to empty her tear ducts. “All those animals... I-I promised to look after them... and I... l-let them down...” She was nearly inconsolable. The professor turned to his apprentice.

“Luke, I need you to perform a head count of animals for Miss Fluttershy.”

“Yes, Professor!” Luke saluted, before gathering the animals for the task.

Puzzle 035

“Let’s see... I have 3 different types of animals, all with different numbers of legs, and no insects or spiders. I count 31 heads and 76 legs in total. I count 10 chickens, and I can tell that there are more hedgehogs than chickens, although I don’t know how many exactly, as they keep burying their heads for worms. As none of the animals seem to be missing any legs, how many hedgehogs should I have?”

“Hmmm... Aha!” Luke ran back to the others, jotting his numbers on his notepad. At this point, Fluttershy had perked up, thanks once again to Professor Layton’s legendary tea-brewing skill. A weak smile appeared on her face.

“Fluttershy! I did a head count on the animals from the broken hutches. Is this right?” He placed his writing pad at the pegasus’ hooves. She took a glance at the figures and sighed contentedly.

“Yes... thank you, Luke.” Fluttershy got slowly to her hooves. Thank you all. I’m... I’m glad I have you as friends. I really am.” Twilight, the professor and the child allowed themselves a comforting smile. “Oh! I completely forgot about Angel!”

“Angel?” Luke was somewhat perplexed.

“My pet bunny. He means a lot to me...”

“I see,” Layton replied, taking the event in stride. “Would you know where he would have gone in a situation such as this?”

“Well... he would probably have gone to a group of trees he likes on the verge of the Everfree Forest. Hold on a sec.” The mousey mare flapped her wings daintily, carrying herself into her cottage, before returning with a strip of tree bark. “Maybe this will help...”

Puzzle 036

“The scratchings on the bark say:

N-E-S-S-W-W-S-E-S-W-W-W-N-E-E-N-N-W.

“I don’t know how we’ll find him. We don’t even have a starting point. What should we do, Professor? Which tree is he hiding in?”

“We need to think about it deductively. In fact, I think I have my answer already.”

“Really? That’s wonderful.” Fluttershy was as happy as she could be, considering her current situation. “Let’s go find Angel.”

A short walk later, the group stopped at the base of one of the trees.

“Are you sure this is the right one, Professor?” Twilight was a touch sceptical of the man’s reasoning technique. He smiled in return.

“Every puzzle has an answer, Twilight. It is a matter of separating what is important from what is meaningless or what is designed to throw your reasoning. In this case, the path is important, whereas the starting point is revealed at the same time as the answer, making it meaningless.” The animal carer knocked a hoof gently on the trunk.

“Angel! It’s safe to come out now.” This was responded to by a deftly ejected half-carrot from a hole in the tree. If Layton had failed to dodge the volley, his prized hat would have been knocked clean off of his head. “Now, Angel, that’s no way to behave. Come out, before I Stare you out.” The mystery rabbit could sense that something was wrong with his keeper, so he stuck his head out from the gap, looking the strange pale creatures in the eye. He frowned visibly.

“Uh, hello, Angel,” the boy stepped forward. “I’m Luke.” Angel should very little interest in this communicative stranger. He’d spent so many years being able to understand Fluttershy that another animal talker in his life would just be more challenging. Angel promptly pulled out a full carrot and threw it like a dart at Luke’s head.

“Whoa!” the blue-clad youngster exclaimed, avoiding being clobbered by the orange missile by a hair’s breadth. “Angel certainly doesn’t like us! Hold on...” Luke reached into his bag and pulled out a couple of sweet treats for a rabbit to eat. “Here you go, Angel.” The white bunny gave a sniff to this new food, before wolfing down every morsel. He sighed endearingly, before giving a belch most unbecoming.

“I take it you enjoyed that, Angel,” the timid pony observed. Angel nodded frantically, a grin spread across his cheeks. “I’ll have to get the recipe from you. Angel’s a very picky eater from time to time...”

“Of course!” Luke was happy to share her secrets.

“Perhaps another time, Luke,” the professor put slightly deflated Luke’s eagerness. “Take a look at this.” Layton stood over a particular wooden piece that had caught his attention.

“What do you see, Professor?” asked a curious Fluttershy.

“This particular wooden slat is cracked straight down the middle, but the two parts have not completely separated.” Luke looked to his mentor, perplexed as to its relevance.

“What does it mean, Professor?”

“I believe,” Layton resumed, “that it is safe to say that mess was caused by sheer impact or moderate levels of magic. From what Miss Sparkle has told me from her personal experience, if an adult unicorn was to turn to rage, then all you would see here is somewhere between splinters and sawdust, or sub-atoms in Miss Sparkle’s case.”

“So that means all of these hutches were destroyed physically...”

“So far as I can tell. I think we will need a little assistance to repair what has been done. Miss Fluttershy, we shall head into town to get help.”

“Um... okay, I’ll just... go lie down... Earth ponies can’t be that cruel...” The pegasus walked back to her cottage, her dropping mane dragging on the ground as she went.

“Okay, you two,” Twilight prepared herself. “Get ready!” The familiar flash of light illuminated the grisly scene, removing them to Ponyville.

This time around, the professor fared better on landing, legs bent in the proper fashion. Luke, on the other hand, landed on an empty market cart, bouncing on impact before hitting the ground.

“Augggggghhhhhh... Please, Twilight! Please be more careful!”

“Oops... sorry. Again. It must be because you’re not from this world. Hey, look, we’ve landed right outside Town Hall!” Surely enough, there it was, taking pride of place amongst the buildings around it and towering over the square. As they readjusted themselves, they could see a milky-coffee-coloured mare lying on a reclining chair on the porch. The earth pony wore a white collar and what appeared to be a stick of celery hanging where the tie should be. Her hair and mane were two shades of grey, she bore an open scroll as her cutie mark and wore half-moon spectacles, glaring in the sunshine. Upon noticing the commotion, she sat bolt upright.

“I WASN’T SLEEPING!... Oh, hello, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Hello, Miss Mayor, What’re you doing?” Twilight’s voice was of curiosity rather than suspicion.

“Oh, I’ve had such a busy week! My eyes are utterly strained from staring at paperwork for hours on end. Speaking of which, you haven’t come by in the past couple of days.”

“Well, I, uh, I got a little behind in my studies.”

“Uh-huh. Your studies wouldn’t happen to involve these two humans, would they?” This revelation almost bowled the purple unicorn clean off her hooves.

“H-how did you...”

“Know they were humans? Don’t worry, Princess Celestia let me know ahead of time. It saved a lot of confusion from the townsfolk.”

“Oh. Well, we just looking for some ponies to help at Fluttershy’s cottage. Some angry pony went through there and laid some of the animals’ homes to waste. Do you know of anypony around who can help?” From this, the Mayor pressed her right front hoof to her chin.

“I’m afraid I don’t, Twilight. But I do know somepony who can work out who caused it. Just a sec.” The older mare hopped off the recliner and trotted inside the hall. A slightly gruff voice thudded out of the open door.

“This better be important, Miss Mayor. I don’t wanna have to go off on some wild goo-“ The voice stopped as soon as its owner peered out the door. It was not a pony, but a grey donkey. The male was knobbly-kneed, and bore stubble on his muzzle. He had two gleaming blue eyes and a very out-of-place blond hairstyle, swept back to an almost ridiculous height. “Huh. Well, that’s a new one.” He cocked an eyebrow at the upright strangers. “Has Lyra been teaching you to walk?”

“Well, no, but I can see that Lyra has an obsession with us...” The boy retorted

“Luke,” explained Layton, “it does not do well to speak ill of others.”

“S’alright, sir,” the donkey continued, an unmoving expression on his face. “Lyra’s a well-known conspiracy theorist around here. I’ve learned that after only a couple of months, though she wasn’t completely off the mark... Name’s Cranky... Doodle.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr Doodle!” Luke’s seemingly polite response elicited a mildly barbed response.

“Listen, kid. Nopony calls me Doodle. Nopony except my love. Nopony except Matilda.”

“Sorry, Mr Cranky.”

“It’s okay, you didn’t know. I’m the mayor’s personal detective. I guess I had the right credentials.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Cranky. My name is Hershel Layton.” The professor tipped his hat and smiled. “We came into town to find help for Miss Fluttershy.”

“What kind of help?”

“Construction, mainly that of wooden hutches.” Cranky thought to himself for a moment, but an answer made itself apparent, in the form of three airborne fillies. The Cutie Mark Crusaders fell from a nearby building and tumbled head first in the fountain. “A solution to every puzzle, it seems.”

“That’ll do,” Cranky replied to the situation, shrugging his shoulders. “I’ll pop home to Matilda first. She makes beautiful cakes, having picked up a few tips from Sugarcube Corner. You should pay a visit sometime. If you’ll excuse me. Good day, Mayor.” With that, Cranky made his way impatiently towards the edge of the forest.

“Does he... seem to remind you of anyone we know, Professor?” Luke posed the question to his mentor. Layton chuckled, also noticing the uncanny resemblance in attitude.

“I’d say that he’s just a moustache away from being mistaken from a certain inspector,” he replied wryly. With that, Luke made his way to the soggy ponies in the fountain.

“Well, there go our cutie marks for free running,” Sweetie Belle was despondent.

“Ugh, I so was so sure,” Scootaloo groaned, picking herself up and straining water from her diminutive wings.

“Excuse me, girls,” Luke spoke into the air of unhappiness.

“Oh, howdy, Mr Luke,” Apple Bloom cheered up slightly at the sight of Luke and Layton. “How kin we help ya?”

“We need your help,” Layton joined his assistant.

“Whaddaya need?”

“Fluttershy’s hutches have been damaged. She needs help rebuilding them. Can you help?” The young lad looked at them with pleading eyes.

“Ah reckon so. Ready, Crusaders?”

“Of course!” Sweetie Belle squeaked. The three roused themselves to a chorus, Twilight covered her ears in preparation and the professor held onto the brim of his hat.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER HUTCH BUILDERS! YAY!” They were off, with a firm gallop between them. Luke’s ears rang loudly, and the Mayor fell off of her chair.

“I think,” Hershel announced, “that we should take Cranky’s advice and visit Sugarcube Corner.”

“I’ll lead the way, Professor.” Twilight took point of the trio leading them towards the town centre, leaving behind the Mayor, settling herself back into a comfortable position on her chair.

“I wish ponies would stop causing such a racket. I’m trying to enjoy the sunshine!”

Chapter 14: A Matter of Time

Sugarcube Corner was a luxuriously designed building, decorated on the outside to look like a cake. Even the white icing styling that decorated the roof had been delicately applied. It was certainly an impressive landmark, somewhat different from the thatched houses that surrounded it.

“This is where another of my friends lives and works,” Twilight explained. “It’s strange that I haven’t seen her around anywhere. Is it possible that she...?” The saddened unicorn couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.

“Unfortunately, the probability is quite high that your friend has been taken.” Layton couldn’t lie. “You have my word, Miss Sparkle. We will find her. That is a gentleman’s promise.”

“I hope she’s okay. I really do.” The three of them entered the door into the bakery. The interior was decorated with numerous baked treats. There were rounded tables and stools laid so that any customers could sit and eat, all whilst having a conversation. However, the shop was empty, save for a couple sitting behind the counter. It was immediately apparent that the couple were deeply upset.

“Mr and Mrs Cake! Are you alright?” Twilight enquired, worry overcoming her face.

“Oh, Twilight,” sobbed Mrs Cake, looking up. She was a female earth pony, her two-tone mane manipulated into a tall bouffant. Tears streamed down her blue face. Sat beside her was a slender yellow earth stallion, freckle-faced with a mane of vivid orange. His green eyes were welling up, fighting a losing battle against crying. “It’s awful!”

“Pinkie hasn’t shown up to work for a couple of days,” Mr Cake explained through plaintive sobs, “and now the twins have gone missing too! Just this morning!”

“What shall we do?”

“Would you know where the twins would’ve gone?”

“Well,” Mrs Cake spoke through sniffles, “Pumpkin Cake tends to prefer the city, and Pound Cake seems to go wherever Pinkie Pie does. But Ponyville’s a big place for a baby pony, and we don’t even know where Pinkie has gone!” Twilight’s mind lit up like a light bulb.

“Of course!” Without hesitation or explanation, the lavender mare dashed upstairs, before returning with a chest in control of her magic. Luke stared open-mouthed.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

“Of course!” Mr Cake cottoned on quickly to Twilight’s actions. “Pumpkin likes to chew on things she shouldn’t, especially her toys. If only she were more accepting of food...”

“Exactly!” The magical mare was bubbling with confidence. “We can lure Pumpkin back to Sugarcube Corner with her toys! Leave this to me, Professor!” She darted away.

Puzzle 037

“Pumpkin has 8 toys in her toy chest. I would bet my horn that she’s trying to get into the toy shop to the north of the area. If she’s something directly left, right or straight ahead that she wants to chew, she will crawl to it. Thankfully, I’ve been keeping an eye on her magic surges for the Cakes for a while, and she’s not due for another one for a few days. But if I get too close then she may use her magic to get away, so just picking her up is out of the question.

“Now if I place her toys in the right places, I can lead Pumpkin right back to Sugarcube Corner.”

The humans sat down in the bakery, awaiting Twilight’s presence. Mr and Mrs Cake were huddled together over two cups of Cherry Boost tea, feeling their moods a little more uplifted. Luke was twitching restlessly on his stool.

“Come on, Professor! We have to hurry!”

“Be patient, Luke,” the professor advised calmly. “We still do not know Ponyville well enough. It would be to no-one’s advantage to venture out again without her.” An uncomfortable sigh echoed from the lad’s mouth.

“Alright...”

Five minutes later, Twilight dashed in through the door.

“She’s coming!” she hissed excitedly, placing one final toy in the middle of the shop floor. Surely enough, a tiny filly in a nappy crawled through the entrance, her beady blue eyes fixated on the dragonfly plush doll awaiting her gummy mouth. The youngster was an off-yellow, with a light orange mane and tail, with a small bow taking pride of place on the point of her mane.

“Ah, excellent work, Miss Sparkle,” the professor commended the prodigy on her expedient thinking.

“Ooh, my baby Pumpkin! There you are!” Mrs Cake scooped up the innocent pony from the floor. “You gave us a dreadful shock, dearie!” Mr Cake was happy, but the absence of the second twin bore heavily on his mind.

“Let’s find Pound and Pinkie before we celebrate too much, dear.”

“Oh... yes, you’re right. Will you three find them for us?”

“Of course, Mrs Cake,” the man in the hat stood tall. “It is the duty of every gentleman to help those in need. We shall find them.”

“Thank you, Professor...” Twilight led the charge again, but the gallop was immediately halted by the sound of something fast approaching. A rogue shadow on the ground grew larger and larger, until a blue telephone box slammed onto the road, shattering a couple of windows upon impact. An old stallion’s yell piped from past a window frame.

“Hey! Will ya keep it down? Some of us are on nightshift here!”

“My apologies, sir,” Layton raised his voice within his gentlemanly demeanour, before turning his attention to this strange object. Along with being a blue box, it bore a single caged light on its roof. A sign above the double doors read ‘Police Public Call Box’, and a sticker on the right door read in a circle ‘St. John’s Ambulance’.

“What is that?” Luke was shocked at its appearance.

“It appears to be a police call box. They were seen across London in the 1950’s.” Twilight chipped in.

“It’s more than that, Professor. I know who this is!” At this point, one particular mailmare drift past the small gathering, stopping to take in this unfamiliar structure.

“Ooh...” Derpy enthused. “It’s so pretty... I wanna touch it.” Too late. The doors swung inwards, revealing four ponies.

“Don’t blame me for following my curiosity!” The first male accent was reminiscent of Middle English, with particular words punctuated by pitch raises. The pony matching the voice stepped from the shadows, a brown earth pony with a darker brown mane, swept back and spiky, and a golden hourglass on his flanks. He wore a dark blue neck tie.

“Well, I’m blaming you for not raising your shields properly! This has happened before, remember?” The second male voice was slightly more controlled. If it weren’t for the bubbling annoyance in it, Layton could tell that it would be a more calming voice. The second stallion stepped out, another earth pony with beige, a brown mane with a fringe framing one side of his face, and another hourglass cutie mark.

“Neither did you raise your shields!”

“I know that! It happened in my past so I already know! Hang on a moment.” The second stallion poked his head back into the box. “Derpy!”

“Yes, Doctor!” a pair of voices rang out in almost perfect harmony. Lo and behold, out from the box flew two Derpy Hooves. The first thing they saw was Derpy the mailmare.

“Hi, Derpy!” The three Derpys chorused.

“Oh, dear...” Layton could sense what had happened.

“Well, this is a new one on me,” Twilight spoke quizzically, looking backwards and forwards between the two Doctors. Let me guess, trouble with the TARDIS?”

“Well, yes and no,” the first of the Doctors began. “You see...”

“We both came across a peculiar energy signal,” the second jumped in, “from the Everfree Forest.”

“Yes, and he crashed into me...”

“No, you hit me!”

“No, I didn’t!”

“Yes, you did! For all things that are, was I really that arrogant?”

“Will I really end up being that thick?”

“Jumped-up, scrawny urchin!”

“Pompous, baby-faced clothes-horse!”

Twilight had had just about enough.

“DOCTORS!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. Another growl came from the same broken window.

“WILL YA SHUT UP DOWN THERE? I’m trying to sleep!”

“Sorry!”

“Excuse me, gentlecolts,” Layton stepped in to make sense of the chaos. “We’re you able to discern the source of the energy?”

“From what we could tell,” Doctor No. 2 replied, exasperated, “It was no bigger than an average pony. It came from some sort of structure, as far as we could tell.” The three Derpys circled each other, giggling at each other making silly faces and staring in wonderment at the miracle that was the street lamp.

“Funny thing was, though,” No. 1 continued, “when the energy readings spiked; the needle flung itself from the TARDIS console and embedded itself in the nearest pillar.”

“Mine ended up in the swimming pool.”

“You have a swimming pool?” No.1 asked in awe. Doctor No. 2 wore a smug grin.

“I’m not such a clothes-horse now, am I?”

“Don’t get cocky, I’ll get that soon too.”

“Yes, you will. Now, then, on the way down here we developed a device to separate our TARDISes. Made it out of an old LCD game, a couple of laser lights and some crisp packets. This is some of my- I mean, our finest work.”

“Yeah, but it’s a tiny bit difficult to operate. Care to lend a hand to a time-traveller, you sharp-suited man?”

“Hold on, Professor. I want to give this one a shot.” Luke stepped up to the peculiar device.

“By all means, Luke.”

Puzzle 038

“Right, so here’s our device. It’s a little complicated, but that’s how it goes with all things timey-wimey. You’ve got to get that metal ball down to connect those wires together.

“Problem is with that laser array. If you cross any laser lines, the thing shuts down and we’re stuck here. If you break any of the bulbs with the ball, the device short-circuits and we’re stuck here. Bit of good news, the laser array only points beams parallel with the walls of this contraption from all of the bulbs. No diagonals.

“At the moment, it’s impossible. Don’t try it, just trust me. Now, I can disable 2 bulbs without the array noticing, but no more than 2, else we’re stuck here. Which 2 bulbs need to be disabled?”

“What a weird device!” Luke exclaimed.

“Oi!” the two Doctors chorused, quite offended by the boy’s outburst. The youngster figured out the device, showing it to the two stallions. The second of the Doctors pulled out a strange electronic wand, clad in black, white and gold, gripping it in his teeth to point it at one of the bulbs.

Whirr... Click! The first bulb was out. Whirr... Click! The second bulb followed suit. Luke pushed the bearing through the maze, careful not to trip the array. He let go of the metal ball, allowing gravity to take it to the end and connect the wires. In an instant, the TARDIS split into two, one TARDIS with the sticker on the right door and one without.

“Right, then,” Doctor No. 1 started, not even breaking a sweat. “Off we go! Luke, thanks for your help.”

“Mr... Whoever you are, thanks for stopping by,” No. 2 continued. “Twilight, look after yourself. We’ll meet again, I’m sure.”

“Thank you, Doctor” was Twilight’s answer. The two Doctors nodded to each other, before turning to their TARDISes and stepping inside, closing the doors behind them. Twilight looked on with half-closed eyes. “Just give ‘em a moment.” Twilight called it perfectly. The Doctors stepped out their doors, passed by each other and stepped into the other TARDIS they were each supposed to enter.

“Come along, Hooves!” Doctor No. 2 shouted.

“Coming, Doctor!” One of the Derpys broke from the group. “See you later, Derpy! See you later, Derpy!” She waved, not realising as she crashed into the side of her TARDIS. “Oops. Heehee.” She chuckled, realigning herself with the door before flying through. It clicked closed behind her, before the TARDIS made an outrageous thrumming noise. After a little while, it vanished into time.

“Can’t believe I’ll be that daft,” The remaining Doctor sighed to himself. “Derpy! Time to go!” Another Derpy broke formation and headed for the last TARDIS. She was about to drift straight past the entrance when the Doctor caught her with a hoof and helped her inside. The door clicked, followed by the same metallic sound. The TARDIS eventually dissipated from view.

“That was... strange,” Luke noted, wide-eyed at the exchange.

“Indeed, it was quite peculiar.” Something was on Layton’s mind. He turned to the slightly dazed unicorn. “Your friend, Miss Pie, what is her personality?”

“She is quite nutty, really,” Twilight, ever the realist, started off strong. “She really enjoys throwing parties, wants everypony to smile, you can’t keep her down, even if you try.”

“Well, then,” the professor smiled. “I think we have our next destination.”

"Bye-bye!" Derpy waved over-enthusiastically, as the glow swallowed them again.

A little while later, the three investigators arrived at the other end of Twilight’s teleportation trick, just outside Fluttershy’s cottage. Luke landed precariously close to the edge of the stream, Layton catching his arm just in time.

“What are we doing here, Professor?” the apprentice felt the need to enquire.

“When the Doctors spoke of an energy signal originating from a source no larger than a pony, I formed a hypothesis that Miss Pie would be the source. One piece of advice from Twilight here confirmed my suspicion: That Miss Pie couldn’t be kept down. Would you say that Miss Pie was unbridled in her activity level, Twilight?” Twilight guffawed slightly.

“’Unbridled is an understatement, Professor. Anyway, let’s see how Fluttershy is doing.” Layton, Luke and Twilight rounded the corner. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle’s attention was drawn towards the mild pegasus and her animal friends. Apple Bloom was dashing around, putting finishing touches to the hutches and the chicken coop. Rarity had also arrived, presumably to comfort her friend through the rebuild. Also present were Spike and Cranky Doodle. Spike was first to notice his adoptive sister’s arrival.

“Hey, Twilight!” Spike dashed over, smelling faintly of paint.

“Hey, Spike. What are you doing here?”

“Well, Cranky stopped by the library and said that Fluttershy needed help. I thought it best to tell Rarity, of course.”

“Of course you did...” Twilight’s dry response was enough to elicit a weak chuckle from the baby dragon.

“Well, as Fluttershy and Rarity get along better than most, I thought that would help the situation.” Spike forcibly grinned, before gulping to address his drying throat. Layton came across Apple Bloom first. The earth filly had worked up a sweat in reconstructing the buildings.

“Howdy, Mr Layton, sir!”

“Hello, Miss Apple Bloom. I see you have made tremendous progress. Your family will be pleased to see your efforts.”

“Aw, shucks, Mr Layton, yer embarrassin’ me! Ah, if only ah could fix that darn bridge.”

“What seems to be the problem?”

“Ah think ah’ve got all the materials ah need, but it’s a case a’ figurin’ out how it all goes together. Ah could use yer brain on this.”

Puzzle 039

“I firmly believe that you do have the correct materials for the bridge, Apple Bloom. What’s more, as they are laid out here, they do not even need to be rotated or flipped.”

“I think this arrangement should work. What do you think?” The young female looked at the layout.

“Uh, yeah! That’ll work! Thank ya kindly, sir!”

“The pleasure is all mine, Miss Apple Bloom.” Layton tipped his hat, before making his way over to the other ponies, particularly Twilight.

“I think it might be time to split our efforts, Miss Sparkle.”

“Oh?” The unicorn was taken by surprise. “Well, if you think that’s best. Rainbow Dash is still unaccounted for, after all.”

“Where would Miss Dash have gone?”

“The city of Cloudsdale. Unfortunately, anypony who’s not a pegasus normally can’t get there. Lucky for me, I’ve got a hot air balloon and a spell for walking on clouds.”

“Excellent. I suggest that Luke accompany Fluttershy for this.”

“Just Luke? Fluttershy might do a little better with somepony more... familiar to her.”

“Who do you suggest?” Hershel’s question put the smart pony into thought.

“Hmmm... How about Spike?”

“That is a good idea. Let’s prepare.” With that, the professor and Twilight Sparkle set about organising the parties, ready to bring back Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.

Chapter 15: Shadows Sending Shivers

“It’s settled, then,” Twilight had addressed the group in her standard state of organisation. “Do you all know what you’ll be doing?”

“Yes, Twilight,” Fluttershy had gathered herself enough to join the group. “I’m taking Luke and Spike to Cloudsdale to find Rainbow Dash. Is... Is that right?” Twilight nodded, before continuing.

“Yes. The professor, Cranky and I will head into the Everfree Forest to find Pinkie.”

“But Twilight,” Spike prepared to point out a flaw in the division of effort. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“Oh! Oh my, I did!” The unicorn lowered her horned head towards Luke and Spike. “Hold still, you two.” This command put the poor boy at unease immediately, but the baby dragon was braced.

“What are you doing?” Twilight’s action had prompt Luke’s query, but it was too late. A glowing pink beam arched from the talented pony’s horn. The spell enveloped the boy in blue, surrounding and permeating him for a moment. Twilight repeated the spell, bathing her assistant in the same lustre.

“What’s going on?” Luke was becoming a little irate.

“I used a spell on you so you can walk on clouds! Pretty neat, huh?”

“Is it safe?”

“Absolutely. I’ve used it a lot of times. You’ve nothing to worry about, Luke!”

“Well, okay, if you’re sure. But how am I supposed to get up into the sky?” The professor stepped in.

“I believe that those hot air balloon trips you had with your father might help.” Luke stood, mouth agape.

“How did you...?”

“Clark has been a friend of mine since before he bore you, Luke,” the professor smiled, reminiscing of his companion. “It is only natural that we keep in correspondence with each other. Now, I know you are capable. You have the makings of a great investigator. I have the utmost confidence in your abilities, so take Miss Sparkle’s balloon and go with Spike and Miss Fluttershy to Cloudsdale.” Luke wanted to protest, but he pressed his lips together and nodded in determination, before turning to the town. The professor’s attention switched to the pearl-white unicorn.

“Miss Rarity, Twilight, Cranky and I need to venture into the Everfree Forest. We believe Miss Pie to be in that area.”

“Of course, Professor Layton,” Rarity replied authoritatively. “I shall see that Sweetie Belle and her friends are returned to Ponyville once we have restored Fluttershy’s home to its original glory. The three of you take care in there.” The fashionista’s vocal tone wore concern with good reason, Hershel could tell that much. He nodded in return, before venturing into the wilderness, flanked by Celestia’s student and the Mayor’s detective.

“Good luck, Professor...” Rarity sighed. “Oh, Sweetie! Don’t put the welding equipment next to that bush! How did she get welding equipment, anyway?”

“We need to drop in and see a friend of mine, Professor,” Twilight announced. “She knows the Everfree Forest like she knows her cutie mark.”

“You mean Zecora?” Cranky caught on quickly.

“You guessed it!” It wasn’t long before the party of three happened upon a thick tree, more golden than the growth surrounding it. It stood out for many reasons: a couple of tribal masks sat outside the bark, peering deeply into any being unused to their gaze. The tree itself bore many bottles, dangling from the thicker branches by well-tied string. The tree had a front door, a plain wooden brown affair, and a pair of simple-framed circular windows, uneven distances from the ground. Twilight trotted up to the door, before rapping on it.

“Zecora? Are you there? Helloooooo?” Suddenly a voice rang, but not from the house itself.

“Twilight, dear, I’m around here!” The voice sounded feminine, yet calm and exotic, deeply calling from the rear of the tree hut. “Come hither so I’ll be free to see you and you to see me.”

“Shall we?” The human motioned the way around, leading the pack to a small clearing, completely bare save for a pair of trees. Looking at them was a zebra, much the same size as Twilight. Her light grey body was patterned with darker grey stripes, arranged in such a way that the centre line of either side of the body was unobstructed. The zebra bore hooves of black and a mane styled into a proud Mohawk, again decorated two alternative shades. The base of the equine's tail was tightly wound, before giving way to its natural flow further towards the tip, ending in two straight edges. Her flank bore a more abstract cutie mark, that of a tribal spiral sun, drawn in an elegant yet simple dark grey. The zebra wore gold earrings and gold rings around her leg. More gold rings adorned the circumference of her neck. In contrast to this were her deep blue eyes.

“Zecora!” Twilight pounced forward excitedly. “It’s so great to see you!”

“And I, you, girl of magic and love. It grows so lonely with the trees above. I see we’ve guests you wished to bring. Tell me, do you need anything?”

“Actually...”

“Is one of your friends in need of aid? If that is so, don’t speak delayed!”

“It’s Pinkie Pie, Zecora,” replied the unicorn, her initial happiness at meeting her zebra friend wore thin quickly. “We believe she’s stuck somewhere deep in the Forest. We were hoping you could help us find her.”

“And of your party, I know of one,” the rhyming zebra continued, gesturing to Cranky before turning to the man in the hat. “But who are you, tall-walking son?”

“Ah, please excuse my impoliteness,” the professor introduced himself. “My name is Professor Layton, sent by the Princesses to locate Miss Sparkle’s friends.” Something in Layton’s mannerisms caused a smile to spring onto the zebra’s muzzle.

“You style of speech is most refined, I’d say that you have a well-trained mind. That being the case, perhaps you could help in trying to retrieve this wayward whelp.” Zecora motioned to the air between the two trees. Hanging between them was a peculiar spider’s web, and right in the centre of it was a small pegasus colt, crying its lungs out. The child was beige in skin with a brown quaffed mane and eyes.

“That’s Pound Cake!” Twilight blurted out. “We’ve been looking for him everywhere. How did he get up there?”

“Take a wild guess, kid,” Cranky’s sarcasm was very ill-timed, met with Twilight’s intimidating growl. Zecora ran into her home, before returning quickly with four large seeds balanced on her tail.

“This trick was set under a spider’s eye, a clever beast, that friend of Fluttershy. These seeds will liberate the child for you. Twilight, do you know what they can do?”

“I’ve read about these,” the lavender mare replied positively. “Now, if I can just remember...”

Puzzle 040

“From what I can tell, this spider web is weaved with an ancient arachnid magic. The only way to get Pound Cake free to destroy all of the threads at once.

“Luckily, Zecora’s seeds will help. They’re only ever found in the Everfree Forest. If they’re not in contact with something at all times, they have a habit of exploding in eight directions: up, down, left, right and the diagonals directly in between.

“We don’t want to hurt Pound Cake, and we can’t attach the 4 seeds to any of the threads, so we need to place them in the gaps in between. Also, if we place them next to each other, even diagonally, they won’t go off, a sort of in-built self-preservation. Now, using my magic, where should I hold the seeds before letting them destroy the web?”

Twilight gave herself a moment to think, before coming up with an answer, levitating the four seeds from Zecora’s tail up to the web.

“Get ready to catch him, Professor!” Twilight called to Layton. He quickly dashed over to a spot underneath the web.

“I’m ready, Miss Sparkle.” His arms were outstretched to catch the colt.

“Here goes...” The magic from the horn stopped. All eyes looked to the threaded net as the seeds were released. Certainly enough, the seeds blew their shells off in eight directions, carving their way through the threads in one fell swoop. The young Pound Cake, unprepared by the action, fell to the ground, only to be caught by the stranger in the giant hat. The group gathered around.

“Pound Cake!” Twilight fought her way to the centre of the crowd. “Oh, your mom and dad were so worried about you!” She could barely hold back the tears.

“Speaking of which, Miss Sparkle,” Layton spoke, “what arrangements do we have to get Pound Cake back to Sugarcube Corner?” That thought knocked Twilight for a loop.

“Uh, I... well...”

“It’s alright, kid,” the donkey announced gruffly. “I’ll take him back to Ponyville.” Cranky turned to the colt, sound asleep from exhaustion in Hershel’s arms. “Let’s get you back home.” Twilight levitated the baby pony onto Cranky’s back, who turned to the remaining three. “Hey, you three be careful out there.”

“Thank you, Cranky,” Twilight answered quietly, before the donkey left for town. Their attention quickly turned back inwards.

“We need to get to Pinkie Pie,” the unicorn spoke up first, “and I think I know where she’ll be.” Zecora nodded her approval before replying.

“Then lead the way, my pony friend. We’re with you to the very end. The forest is dangerous, no lie, but we do not rest before finding Pinkie Pie.”

“We must make haste, Twilight,” the professor agreed. “I have a feeling that these kidnappings are also a stall for time.”

“What do you mean by ‘also’?”

“Why would whoever is in charge of these actions go after you and your friends specifically? Why no other pony?”

“You... raise a good point. But we need to hurry! Let’s go!” The trio headed deep into the forest, at a pace which did little to disguise their worry.

About half an hour later, the professor, the unicorn and the zebra happened upon a river stretching out across the path. Twilight’s mind clicked immediately.

“I know this place! We came across it on our first journey through the forest!”

“I’ve never been this way before,” Zecora’s voice boomed deep. “But I know of monsters, there may be more. I fear for us, I must own up, but don’t let us, our journey interrupt.” With an uncanny sense of timing, a strangely musical sound carried down the waterway. The professor, a dabbler in classical works, could easily pick out one of the primary instruments.

“That sounds to me like a cello. Do either of you know a cellist?” Zecora shook her head.

“Well, I know of one,” answered Miss Sparkle. “She’s a performer, popular with the Canterlot elite.” Not long afterwards, the air portrayed smooth synthetic violin and organ sounds, along with a thumping and intricate bassline. “Now I know THAT can only be one pony!” Soon after that, a male yet effeminate chuckled in glee from the same direction.

It wasn’t long before the three answers drifted on through. Most obvious was a gargantuan serpentine, a vivid shock of purple with a carefully-trimmed moustache and hair not dissimilar from the toupee belonging to Cranky Doodle. The creature’s scales glistened in the glare of the sun reflecting off the water. Upon the sea serpent’s back stood two ponies, both female.

The first was an earth mare coated in a demure shade of grey, coupled with a carbon-coloured mane and tail. She wore a pink bow tie, and her treble clef, much like her eyes, was a soft purple. She held her beloved cello and played it, feeling the finesse and essence of every last note she played.

The second pony, a unicorn, had a very light grey body and a wide smile on her face. Her mane and tail were two tones of blue and running wild. Over her eyes, she wore armless sunglasses, black-framed and tinted purple on the lenses. A plain black sixteenth note adorned her flank, in stark contrast to her skin tone.

“Vinyl!” Twilight called out. The light grey unicorn’s attention snapped to the shore. She pulled her shade down her nose slightly, revealing her eyes to be a startling magenta.

“Well, I’ll be...” her voice was tomboyish and cutting. “Twilight Sparkle! What brings you to the scary ol’ forest?”

“Is that Twilight, dear Vinyl?” Octavia’s voice was well-affected, befitting a Canterlot pony. The darker grey of the two stood alongside her musical partner, spotting the three on the shore. “How are you, student of Celestia? And Miss Zecora, I presume.” The zebra smiled knowingly.

“Octavia, child, your notes can sway, to tell the night or call the day. With Miss Scratch standing by your side, only good things come when your sounds collide.”

“Oh, no, we’re not... we’re not dating. I have myself a stallion back in the city.” At this, Vinyl Scratch cocked her head towards Octavia, before raising an eyebrow. It wasn’t long before the earth mare broke out laughing in a manner normally unbefitting of her composure. “Oh, I’m sorry, I just can’t do it,” she yelled out ecstatically between uproarious hoots. Vinyl Scratch couldn’t help but giggle at the sight before her. Zecora and Twilight, however, both rolled their eyes at the marefriends before them.

“How are you, Stephan?” The purple unicorn turned her attention to the sea serpent.

“Oh, my dear, you know I prefer it pronounced with eh, not ee, and emphasis on the a!” Stephan replied with a flourish.

“Oh, sorry. Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, Stephan. May we please introduce Professor Layton?” The professor stepped forward and tipped his hat.

“Ooh, a professor!” The DJ squealed. “You must be really smart! Smarter than Twilight here.” This elicited a groan from the offended mare.

“Yes, well, it doesn’t just take intelligence to become a professor, Miss Scratch,” Hershel took the reins of the talk. “It takes time and dedication as well.”

“Yes, Vinyl, my love,” Octavia interjected quickly. “As much as your cutie mark denotes it, you still need to practice to become the finest electronic musician in Equestria.” She turned to Twilight, who was still grumbling her fellow unicorn’s off-handed insult. “Pay Vinyl no mind, Twilight. You and your compatriots have performed feats that all others can only dream of achieving.”

“If I may interrupt,” Stephan felt it necessary to re-enter the back and forth. “We have ourselves a conundrum. Perhaps your wonderful mind can help us solve this.”

“I will endeavour to answer your question, Stephan,” Layton replied, making sure to pronounce the sea creature’s name as he requested.

Puzzle 041

“We have been working on a musical project, the three of us. We use a lake upstream to practice and record our works. However, it is difficult to get my pony friends into the middle of a lake. So! I have put in a special lily pad to hold them whilst they play.

“The lake is a perfect circle, just like the lily pad. Very handy. I’ve put the lily in the centre, and at the moment it stretches a quarter of the way from the centre of the pad to the edge. This lily pad grows to double its old size in a week.

“If I wanted the pad to cover half of the lake, how long from now do I stop it from growing?”

“I find myself quite intrigued by the range of plant life to be found in this forest,” the professor commented with a grin. “I believe you will need this amount of time to reach your pad’s desired size.”

After a little explanation, Stephan, Vinyl and Octavia understood the professor’s reasoning.

“Oh, he’s very good, isn’t he, Octy?” Vinyl turned to her cellist partner, who groaned heavily.

“Please, please, PLEASE don’t call me Octy. It is rather uncouth.”

“Aw, come on! You love it, really.” As much as the earth mare wanted to argue, she did enjoy the nickname. All she could do was giggle at the pet name that the DJ had gifted her.

“Well, come across, my friends!” Stephan cleared the way for the professor’s party to cross the way.

“Thanks, Stephan!” Twilight yelled appreciatively. “Say hi to the wife for me!”

“Ohohoho, I most certainly will!” With that, Octavia took up her cello and Vinyl stood back in front of her keyboard, the two them launching into another tune, more soothing than the last. Stephan drifted gently downstream, chuckling away at the beauty of the sound.

“Shall we?” The professor proposed to the pony and Zecora. They continued onwards at their original gait.

It wasn’t long before Twilight found her theory to be correct. The group crossed a rickety wooden bridge, before coming across a large stone building, left to disrepair.

“It seems to be a castle,” Layton commented inquisitively. “Does this place hold significance?”

“It’s very important, Professor!” Twilight burst out, before restraining herself. “This is the original Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna used to reign over Equestria from here, before... before Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon.” Twilight began to recoil slightly.

“Are you okay, Miss Sparkle?”

“Yeah, it’s just... this was the first place where I truly felt scared for my life. Even so, it is the first place I realised true friendship. It feels like whoever is behind this wants to dredge up old memories... A bad idea for them to make.” Twilight had a slightly evil grin on her face. “Nopony messes with my friends and gets away with it.” The mare dashed to the door, only to be held back by her zebra friend.

“I may never have been here before, but could there be traps behind this door? We must tread lightly for fear of loss. One pony in trouble’s already the cost.” The imparted wisdom brought Twilight back her senses.

“You’re right, Zecora. Thank you. Come on, let’s take a look!” Twilight gingerly opened the doors, ducking just a hail of darts whizzed by the team’s heads. She bore her teeth in worry.

“Yikes! You called it, Zecora.” The professor peered around the doorframe, noticing something which resembled a challenge. He turned to the unicorn.

“Do you recall this room being filled with mirrors, Miss Sparkle?”

“Uh, no, I don’t think so. Why?”

“It seems our perpetrator has gone to great lengths to prevent us from freeing Miss Pie. However, some critical thinking should light the way.”

Puzzle 042

“It seems that we need to use the mirrors to direct a beam of light into the hatch at the north of the room. At the moment, the light would not reach its intended destination. The mirrors currently in place are affixed to the ground.

“Fortunately, it seems that we have been provided with 3 mirrors to aid the light. They cannot be placed over the holes in the floor. I would also be willing to believe that we have to use all of the mirrors at least once.”

“Well, Professor,” Zecora started, confused and worried, “unfortunately, there is no solution that I can see.” Twilight scanned the room again, her mind struggling to piece it together.

“I’d say it’s impossible, Professor. What if our kidnapper chose to throw in a paradox just to throw us off?” Layton smiled at Twilight’s surprising naivety.

“If this puzzle was impossible, how would our suspect be able to place Miss Pie into it in the first place? It would not be beyond doubt that she has been hidden in one of those holes. In the meantime, we need to move these mirrors.”

“You have an answer?” Twilight arched her eyebrow.

“Every puzzle has an answer.” Layton wore his trademark knowing smile.

As the last mirror was slid in place, the three waited with baited breath.

“What happens now, Professor?” Twilight asked in a panic.

“Now... we wait.” However, no waiting was necessary, as the room began shaking. Zecora and the magician were barely able to hold themselves, but Hershel stood, swaying with the palpitations, all the while holding the hat to his head. Slowly but surely, the missing floors rose from beneath the ground, sliding into place. With a loud clank, the flooring was complete again. Twilight picked herself and dusted off her now dusty coat. She looked at the human, bewildered.

“How could you just remain stood there the whole time? The ground was trembling!”

“A true gentleman remains calm and unruffled in any situation. However, I think we should turn our attentions to that cage.” As obvious as the imposing metal structure was, neither mare had noticed it in the confusion.

“Oh.” Twilight walked over to the cage, a large barred affair with an icy coldness. In it sat a pale pink pony, her mane drooping straight from her head. He cutie mark was indistinguishable amongst the gloom emanating from her. The floor of the prison had a ring-shaped indent worn into it. It was clear that the pony had run herself in circles in a panic. It seemed that she was oblivious to the trembling and the change in environment. Twilight spoke gently.

“Pinkie?” The replying voice was angry.

“I wish these thoughts stopped plaguing me! They’re never coming for me!”

“Pinkie, it’s me, Twilight.”

“Go away, evil thoughts! Stop mocking me!” Pinkie started crying, but Twilight persisted, placing a hoof through the bars on Pinkie’s shoulder. The caged mare raised her head slowly.

“Pinkie, you’re safe now.” The unicorn couldn’t help but shed a tear, looking at how Pinkie’s incarceration had made her fragile. Pinkie turned around, wiping tears from her eyes, greeting her friend with a weak smile.

“Twilight?”

“Yes, Pinkie?”

“Who’s the upright pony in the big hat? He’s never in my thoughts.”

“Exactly. And was Zecora in your thoughts?”

“No.”

“Which means?” Slowly, Pinkie’s mane started inflating and vivid colour slowly returned to her body. The yellow and two blue balloons on her flank became wondrously visible, and her eyes returned to their glorious blue. A grin widened on her face as she fully realised that this wasn’t another taunting dream. The party pony rattled off a breathless one-sided conversation like a volley of cannon fire.

“Twilight, Twilight, Twilight! Oh, you came! I’m so happy you came to find me! I was going crazy in here!” Twilight failed to stifle her giggles. The professor and Zecora looked on with pleased looks on the respective faces.

“Yeah, I could tell. Alright, stand back.” Pinkie Pie happily obliged, and Twilight fired a beam at the bars, a pink wall forming on the surface. “Come on through, Pinkie.” The earth mare bounced jollily through the portal, before throwing her front hoofs around her friend.

“Oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you! You are the bestest best friend a pony could ever have! And not just ‘cause you saved me but ‘cause you are awesome and smart and funny and almost as crazy as me and...” Pinkie’s rapid fire monologue was reduced to mumbles by Twilight stuffing a hoof in her mouth.

“Let’s get out of here, Pinkie.” Too late. Pinkie had already dashed over to the professor.

“Ooh, you don’t look like a pony! What’s your name?”

“My name is Professor Hershel Layton. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Pie.”

“Oh!” Pinkie’s seemingly rocket-powered mouth kicked into overdrive. “Call me Pinkie, Miss Pie is my mother’s name. At least, it was before she got married, then she got married to my father who took her name, then she became Mrs Pie, they had three children, I was one of them. Then Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom taught me to smile and made me all happy! Hey! Let’s have a party!” Layton was a little taken aback by the sheer outflow of information from the pink pony, but he kept himself calm.

“It might be wise, Pinkie, for us to return to Ponyville before anything else.” Suddenly, a shadow cast itself from the door. The silhouette of a large pony stood at the gap. The mystery pony was dressed top to toe in a very deep blue skin-tight suit, complete with a pair of tinted lenses. The pony wore a purple hat and cape.

“Mare-Do-Well?!” Twilight was incredulous. The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well stood in front of them.

“I believe you were at the Appleloosan orchard, Mare-Do-Well,” the professor surmised. “What did you see?” Layton’s question was met in the most hostile way possible. Mare-Do-Well pawed at the ground and lowered her head, before launching herself at the professor.

“Hold on, Professor!” Twilight had gathered herself, Pinkie and Zecora by Hershel’s side, her horn glowing more sharply than before.

Poof!

Upon opening his eyes, the professor could see that everyone was intact. They had landed very accurately outside Zecora’s hut, the potion bottles hanging undisturbed by the warp. The unicorn groaned, holding her head in a hoof.

“Ugh... three species in one teleport... takes some effort to not scramble you all...”

“I want Zecora’s stripy hair. Pleasepleaseplease?” Pinkie was making pleading eyes at her exhausted friend.

“No, Pinkie.”

“Aw, come on!”

“No-“

“Go on!”

“NO!” Twilight was quickly agitated by the party mare’s incessant plea, but Pinkie merely shrugged.

“Oh, well! Worth a shot.” Pinkie Pie being whistling tunelessly, before bouncing off towards the safety of the town. Zecora raised an eyebrow in sheer confusion, before shrugging and turning to the professor and the remaining pony.

“I’ve had enough excitement for the day, so I shall be on my own way. Professor, find the remaining mare, and student of spells, please do take care.”

“We shall, Miss Zecora,” the distinguished gentleman replied, nodding his head in gratitude. Twilight smiled as her herbalist friend turned tail for her hut, nudging the door open with her nose. A faint yet acrid smell filtered out through the doorway whilst it was open, causing the horned pony to clutch her nose.

“Ugh!” she remarked rapidly. “How can anypony live in such a smell?”

“She is a potion maker by art and profession, Miss Sparkle,” the distinguished gentleman returned an answer. “It would not be beyond possibility that she requires ingredients with such potency. In fact, I would venture a guess that she is also an accomplished tea crafter. Hmmm...” Twilight could notice Layton’s frowning eyes, and it made her uneasy.

“What are you thinking, Professor?”

“I think I have made an oversight in the investigation. There was something which did not quite make sense, but I have it solved.”

“And?”

“I’d say,” Hershel replied with a slight grin, “that we are much closer to solving this mystery than we previously thought.” He turned to face the path to Ponyville. “Shall we?”

“Just give me a sec, Professor. I’m still a little worn out from that teleport.”

“Perhaps we should walk. It will give you the opportunity to regain your composure.”

“Heh, yeah... That’s a much better idea...” The two academics headed for the safety of the town, walking gently towards the Everfree’s edge, glints of the sun slicing through the tree trunks.

Chapter 16: Chaos and Confusion in Cloudsdale

As the professor returned to Ponyville, far beyond the diminutive village, a purple and gold hot air balloon rose beyond the mountains. Luke sat in the basket, revelling in the massive landscape that sprawled to the shining horizon. He gazed slack-jawed, his brilliant yet young mind struggling to take in the luscious scenery. However, his companions were a little less settled. Fluttershy was lying on her side, quivering and clutching the baby dragon in all four of her hooves.

“I-I don’t wanna fall!” The timid pegasus’s voice was at a whisper. “P-please don’t let m-me f-f-fall!” As she continued to shake, Spike wore an unhappy grimace on his face.

“Hey, Luke. It’s your turn to comfort Fluttershy. I’ve been lying here for half an hour!”

“Are you able to pilot the balloon?” the boy questioned the dragon.

“Well, yeah.” Spike’s voice carried irritated undertones. “I’ve been living with Twilight for years. I’ve picked up a couple things by now.”

“Alright, just a moment.” Luke stepped away from his lookout and kneeled down to the petrified pegasus pony.

“Fluttershy? It’s me, Luke,” the child’s voice was mellow. The sound of it calmed her considerably. “I’ve got a way to make you feel better.” The youngster placed his right hand between the bases of Fluttershy’s wings, before running his fingers up and down her back. The tension in the pony’s muscles drained away, allowing the dragon to wriggle free of her previously iron grip. Luke continued the gentle massage, but was met with an interesting sound.

It was the sound of gentle sleep. Fluttershy shuffled around the floor, before curling up in a corner, looking more comfortable than even Spike had seen her before. The reptilian himself looked on with amazement.

“How did you do that?” he wondered in a hushed voice. “You’ve just calmed the biggest scaredy-pony in all of Equestria!”

“I have a gift with animals as well,” Luke replied with a smile. “I’ve never had one fall asleep before. She must’ve tired herself out with all of her worrying.” Twilight always kept a couple of spare items in the basket in case of emergency, and Luke wasted no time in pulling out a couple of blankets and draping them gently over the sleeping mare. He stood up again and turned to Spike.

“How much longer do you think it will be before we reach Cloudsdale?”

“I’d say about 20 minutes,” the baby dragon, himself a veritable well of knowledge, replied with confidence. “I hope that Twilight is doing okay...”

“She’s with the Professor,” Luke acknowledged his flight’s partner’s concern, a knowing look of determination coupling his response. “I trust him with my life. Twilight has nothing to fear. Hmmm... Tell me, Spike. How did you and Twilight meet? I mean, you’re a dragon and she’s a unicorn, which still surprises me.”

“It’s a long story.”

“We’ve got time!”

“Well... I started out as a purple and green egg...”

As Spike wrapped up his life story, the balloon breached a layer of clouds, the basket following soon afterwards. A grand sight stood before the group. Building of marble and pearly granite sat atop thick white clouds, and liquid rainbows poured from many places. Wispy cirrus clouds ran rings around the top of the city. On one branch sat what appeared to be a stadium, lined with yellow flags flapping proudly in the breeze. Most noticeable about the sky metropolis was the near-innumerable amount of pegasi whizzing about in perfect synchronisation.

Back in the basket, Fluttershy stirred gently, a few mumbles ringing from her lips. She opened her eyes daintily, so as to avoid being dazed by the sunlight.

“Have... have we arrived?” Spike turned to notice the waking pegasus.

“Yeah, here we are, I think. Wow, I’ve never been here before.”

“Oh, you haven’t? Didn’t Twilight ever bring you up here?”

“Well... she hadn’t completely got a grasp on the cloud walking spells. Heh, ponies are one thing, but dragons? Whole different ball game.”

“I... I’m not too sure about this, Fluttershy.” Luke looked at the cloud, uncertain of Twilight’s capabilities. Spike just shrugged, before diving feet first out of the basket. The cloud absorbed his landing, caving just a touch before rebounding back into place. He spun around on one clawed foot, giving a bow to the basket.

“You can do it, Luke,” the yellow mare offered quiet words of encouragement. The young man gulped, before vaulting himself out of the basket and landing squarely on his backside. Dazed, he sat up, amazed at this previous unimaginable feat.

“This is brilliant!” His London accent made itself obvious with a silent t. He could have leapt around on the cloud all day, but there were other matters at hand. Fluttershy stepped gracefully from the basket before readjusting her mane.

“We need to find Rainbow Dash,” Spike noted, bringing the boy back to his attention.

“Do you know where we can find her?”

“Really, I got nothing. It’s anypony’s guess...”

“We’d best keep our eyes open for rainbow trails,” the timid mare spoke up. “They should lead us to Rainbow Dash.”

“I don’t think it’ll be too difficult to find her, dear Fluttershy.”

That motherly voice was familiar. The group turned to face the white form of the Solar Princess. Upon the realisation, all of them bowed before her.

“Hello, Princess Celestia,” opened Fluttershy, pleased to see somepony on the clouds that she knew well.

“Hello, Fluttershy, Spike. I trust your journey here was smooth?”

“Yes, thank you. I was nervous coming back here, but Luke managed to calm me down.” The alicorn smiled, before moving her head to face Luke.

“Thank you, Luke, for taking such great care of my subjects.” The human child blushed uncontrollably at this royal commendation.

“Thank you, Your Highness! But how did you know we’d be here?”

“Twilight and Spike sent me a message before you all parted ways. Now, from what the Professor has told me, you are also very good at problem solving.”

“Of course!” replied Luke, his chest puffing up slightly in pride. “I am Professor Layton’s apprentice, after all.”

“Excellent, Luke. Then perhaps you can help solve an architectural riddle for me. It’s one that has been giving the weather factory seniors headaches for the past couple of days.”

Puzzle 043

“The weather factory has been working on technologies for improving condensation for more effective rainfalls, which will in turn help the growing of food.

“They want to create an enclosure out of glass to help them. What you see here are 4 identical supports. The red sections hold the glass in place. The one problem is that the supports must be vertical for enclosure to have the best stability. The base of the enclosure has to be at least as wide as the top.

“Is there any way to arrange the supports so the red connections are the same distance from each other?”

“It always helps to think about things from another perspective,” Luke replied, relatively certain that his first idea would hold. He pulled out his notepad and pencil, scribbling furiously away until his solution was visible. He thrust the pad in front of the Princess’s eyes. After a quick scan, the Princess closed her eyes.

“Well? What do you think, Your Highness?” The white pony smiled, pleased at the nifty work performed by the boy.

“The Professor has trained your mind very well indeed! He speaks highly of you, and with great reason.”

“Thank you, Princess. I aspire one day to be a gentleman just like...” Luke’s explanation was cut short by an aerial stampede rolling across the city, heading straight for the group.

“What’s going on?” Spike was the one to ask the question.

“I’m not sure,” Celestia looked through the crowd, concerned at what was causing the pegasi to fly at such a pace. “They seem to be escaping from the weather factory. Come with me!” The Princess led way through the influx of ponies; her wings open in defence of her charges.

The weather factory was an oddly designed place. Many pillared arches of varying sizes held multiple buildings off the clouds. Atop the tallest building sat a blue orb. Luke couldn’t tell whether the sphere had a purpose or was just an aesthetic choice. More rainbow falls spouted from the clouds beneath the structure, but these were in stark contrast to the black thunderclouds looming threateningly over the entire complex.

Pegasi were still pouring out of the doors to the cloud room.

“It must be in there!” the Princess spoke loudly over the continuous escape.

“What is it?” Spike’s teeth chattered from fear.

“I don’t know, but if the Professor is correct, it will have something to do with Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy’s eyes shot open at the mention of her fellow pegasus.

“Ohmygoodness ohmygoodness. Poor Rainbow! We’ve gotta save her!” The pegasus uncharacteristically bucked open the doors to the cloud room, before turning and seeing the true danger of the situation.

In the centre of the room, a dark grey tornado had formed, tearing at the walls with unrelenting force. It span at a monumental pace, whistling deafeningly and throwing debris in every direction.

“What's causing this?” the little dragon questioned, aghast at the bottled chaos.

“I don’t think it’s coming from above,” Luke noted, holding onto his cap and pointing to the ceiling. It was completely devoid of clouds. He turned to the whimpering pegasus.

“Fluttershy! Do you know how to go downstairs from here?”

“Uh... y-y-yes... This way!” The mare took no time in running from the room, with the young man following, leaving Spike holding onto Princess Celestia’s foreleg.

“I need to stop this madness, Spike. I’ve got to destroy whatever is causing this!” The Princess charged up magic from the tip of her horn, when Spike shouted out to her.

“Don’t do it, Princess! What if...” A blur of colour streaked by from within the tornado, confirming Spike’s suspicion. “Rainbow’s in there, Princess! If you destroy what’s causing this, she could be killed!” A tear came to the pony’s eye.

“What am I supposed to do?!”

“Trust them, Princess. Trust Luke and trust Fluttershy.”

Down on the dark and dusty floor below, the human and the pegasus espied a large cage. Inside laid a giant machine with an industrial fan attached to the top. The fan was spinning frantically, generating the spinning winds upstairs.

“There it is!” Luke led the charge. “Let’s go, Fluttershy!” They approached the cage at full speed, stopping just before the gate.

“Oh, a puzzle!” Luke took a glance at it, before reeling. “I... I have no idea what to make of this.” Fluttershy cleared her throat gently.

“Um... I can give it a try... um, if you want me to...”

Puzzle 044

“The smallest and nimblest of the aerial team.”

“Um, this is not really my area of expertise... Still, I think I know. Can I borrow your pencil?” The boy reached into his pocket and withdrew the writing implement, placing the blunt end into the pony’s mouth. She took to the panel, writing on letters until it looked as she had hoped. She felt a swell of victory as the gate swung open.

SQUEE! Fluttershy squeaked in happiness.

“It’s not over yet,” Luke said worriedly as he stepped into the cage. He was about to bring his attention to the contraption when he heard groaning from the other side of it.

“Fluttershy! I think someone’s here!”

“I’ll go and see.” She rounded the machine. Sure enough, a pony was there. It was a blue unicorn stallion, with a mane of blue and yellow. His left eye was a shade of blue similar to that of his coat. His right eye, however, was a different story. It was metallic, with a single red lens swivelling about freely. Parts of the right side of his face and body were scarred black. His cutie mark resembled a stylised atom.

“Oh, my goodness! Are you okay?” Fluttershy was panicked by finding the unicorn there.

“Ow... My head... It stings...” The stallion’s voice was gravelly, somewhat in conflict with his underwhelming figure.

“Let’s get you out of here.” The pegasus mustered up all of the strength she could to drag the dizzied unicorn up to the Princess and Spike. Luke refocused on the machine in front of him, placing his hand on his chin much like his mentor.

Puzzle 045

“Behold! This is my Tornado Generator. Primed to activate whenever that multi-coloured pony dares touch the air in the room above, I’d guess it worked; else you wouldn’t be down here. As you can see there are six keys and six keyholes. Put the keys in the keyholes and press the STOP button. Sounds simple, but there are a few rules:

• As can be ascertained by anyone, the keys’ colours are representative of each of your circle of friends. With that in mind, only one of any kind of pony can have their key on each row or column.

• The blue key is to enter the keyhole in the centre of the bottom row.

• The yellow key is to enter a keyhole in the top row, as far from the purple key as possible.

• The pink key is to be as close to the STOP button as possible, and must be boxed in by the unicorns’ keys.

“Get going!”

“Let’s see if I can remember the body colours of the group...” Luke thought for a moment, reading over the instructions again. He picked up one key after another, placing them into the slots and turning them with a satisfying clank. Soon, he was ready, hoping the Princess was ready.

“Okay, then. Here we go.” The boy thumped the stop button with considerable force. Shortly afterwards, the offending fan began to slow, bringing the indoor tornado down in size. Rainbow Dash was more noticeable in the winds, her unconscious body flailing limply in the rotation. Celestia plucked the pegasus from the air with her magic, bringing the cyan pony softly down to the ground. A worried Spike ran over, almost unable to stop.

“Rainbow!”

“Stay back, Spike!” Celestia held up a hoof, keeping the dragon away. “Give her some room.” Rainbow Dash’s cyan coat went well with her six-coloured mane. Her vivid rose eyes blinked open, paying little attention to the destruction around her.

“My head...” The young mare shook her mane. “Princess? Where am I?”

“You’re in the cloud room, Rainbow Dash.”

“All I remember is turning up for work, and then I woke up here...” Fluttershy and Luke dragged the unconscious stallion into the main room. The Princess turned to the scenario, recognising the pony.

“Get away from him, you two!” Celestia’s voice was filled with anger. “He’s mine!” The pony and the boy stepped away from the blue unicorn. Celestia levitated him into air, vigorously shaking him awake. “Crystal Blue, you have much to explain!”

“Oh, it’s you, Princess,” Crystal Blue groaned, resigning himself to being found out. “This looks bad, doesn’t it?”

“You’ve met before, Princess?” Fluttershy asked, a little surprised. The regal pony’s face was a look of pure sadness.

“Yes. Crystal Blue is one of my best scientists, and has a few spells to his name. But... Did you do this, Crystal? Did you cause this?” The guilty unicorn nodded sombrely.

“Why did you do this?”

“Because...” Crystal Blue gathered his argument. “I was offered a large amount of money to do it.” Princess Celestia’s sadness quickly switched to barely restrained lividness, her eyes beaming white.

“You did this for MONEY?!” Her target gambolled about like a ragdoll under the Princess’s magic. She had quickly lost control of herself.

“Princess! Stop!” Fluttershy raised an unusually loud protest, her eyes moist at the unicorn’s suffering. “Nopony needs to suffer like this!”

“He’s made ponies suffer today, Fluttershy! I can’t forgive him for hurting Rainbow Dash. Not now.”

“Maybe not,” Rainbow Dash spoke up, picking herself up from the debris-covered ground. “But I can. Put him down, Princess. Please. I want a few answers myself.” The angry Princess ceased throwing Crystal about. Her face remained in anger for just a moment longer before her head hung low, her eyelids falling. Crystal fell to the floor, right at the hooves of his next interrogation.

“Who paid you?” asked Rainbow Dash, trying her hardest not to seem curt.

“I... I don’t know. She just called herself Mare-Do-Well. That’s all I know!” Rainbow, in spite of the mention of the mysterious mare, remained stoic.

“Why did you need the money so bad?” The blue unicorn sighed heavily.

“Fern Dweller...”

“Who?”

“Fern Dweller! My one true love. I’d do anything for her. I... needed the money to prepare for proposing a marriage to her. The hoof bands, the wedding, setting up for the rest of our lives together.”

“But wait a minute,” responded Fluttershy. “Why didn’t you ask the Princess for help?”

“Because I’m not you, Fluttershy,” Crystal countered. “You and Rainbow Dash and the rest of your group of friends, you have earned the respect of the Princess through your acts for all of ponykind. I’m a mere meddler in sciences. What right have I to ask a favour of royalty?” The alicorn’s face fell into sadness again. Had she put herself that far out of reach? I tried so hard, she thought to herself. I tried and I failed, and this was the result.

“Oh, come on!” Rainbow replied, indignant. “You think you’re the only one to have tried to ask the Princess for help? I bet there are hundreds who she’s helped.”

“But,” the unicorn began, “nopony I know has talked about such a thing!”

That was when Luke made himself apparent.

“Maybe they’re embarrassed to mention needing help. People can keep secrets for all kinds of reasons! If someo- I mean, somepony you knew wanted to propose, do you think they’d tell any other ponies?”

“...You’re right.”

“I can help you, Crystal,” the voice of the Princess broke under her melancholy. “There will be consequences for your actions, but you’re not the only pony. I should have noticed that you needed help.”

“I only needed a favour, Princess, not help...” Celestia looked at her charge, a look of unbelief in her eyes. Crystal sighed deeply.

“Maybe I do need help,” the unicorn whispered, resigning himself to his inner struggles. The walls of his emotion crumbled and he flooded his patch of floor in salty tears. The Princess kneeled down to the scientist, wrapping her wing around him and nuzzling his scraggly mane.

“Uh, I think we should get outta here,” Rainbow cast a gentle aside to Luke and Fluttershy.

“Um, okay...” her fellow pegasus nodded in agreement. The group of four left quietly, allowing gentle privacy between the regal pony and her employee.

Outside the factory complex, Luke, Rainbow, Spike and Fluttershy saw a massive gathering of pegasi.

“I think we need to go back to Ponyville,” the boy noted. “Twilight and the Professor will be there waiting.” Rainbow shook her head, wearing a confused expression.

“Professor? Wait, you’re not a pony, and I don’t know anypony who’s a professor!”

“I’m human and so is the Professor!”

“Human?! Oh, Celestia help you if you run into Lyra!”

“Uh, we already have. Anyway, we’ve got to get back to Ponyville.”

“Heh, no prob! You came up by Twilight’s balloon, right? It’ll be a quick dash to get you two back to town. Keep up!” The grinning mare zipped away through the sky, leaving a prismatic trail in her wake. Fluttershy turned to Luke in a casual fashion.

“Did I mention that Rainbow Dash is one of the fastest flyers in Equestria?”

“No. No, you didn’t.”

“Oh... I’m sorry... We’d best catch up to her.” The two of them lined themselves up with Spike to chase after their pegasus friend, travelling for the balloon back to the ground.

Chapter 17: From The Tree To The Truth

Chapter 17: From the Tree to the Truth

Rainbow Dash had been true to her word. It hadn’t even been ten minutes and Luke, Spike and Fluttershy’s heads were spinning from the rapid yet controlled descent. They barely gained enough focus to notice where they had landed: right behind the library. In a wobbling fashion, they took a while to dismount from the aerial vehicle, an ordeal which drove the perpetually rapid Rainbow to grow fidgety.

“Come on, you guys!” She egged on through gritted teeth. “We’re gonna be late for Twilight!”

“Hold on a sec, Rainbow...” The dragon spoke groggily. “We’re not all used to moving at your speed.”

A while later, the four of the group opened the tree’s front door, expecting to see just Twilight and the professor. However, joining them in a circle around the room were Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie and another pony that Luke had never met. The mystery pony was female with a purple body. Her purple-pink mane and tail held in neat bundles at the fringes, and she had eyes of green, deeper than those of Applejack’s. She bore three smiling daisies as her cutie mark.

“Hi, Cheerilee!” spoke an enthused Spike, partly to mask his surprise at Rarity being present.

“Hello, Spike!” Cheerilee’s voice was music to anypony’s ears, unless she was angry. At that moment, she wasn’t. It was calm, yet happy and tuneful. “Hello, Fluttershy!”

“Hi, Cheerilee,” the timid pegasus replied, meekly but with a touch of a smile.

“Rainbow! It’s good to see you safe.”

“Heh. Thanks. I’ve gotta admit that I had a little help back there.” Rainbow rubbed the back of her head with a front hoof, a nervous smile plastered on her face. The cyan pegasus was known to have a touch of ego. Admitting such a thing was no easy feat. The teacher turned to the young man.

“And you must be Luke. It’s wonderful to meet you!”

“Thank you, Miss Cheerilee.” Twilight stepped forward.

“Hey! You all came! Listen. Cheerilee, the Professor and I need to do some reading up, so make yourselves at home. And Rainbow?”

“Yeah, Twilight?”

“Try and keep your hooves on the floor. I’ve got some more Daring Do books on the shelf, so...” That did it. Rainbow sped past her studious friend, almost knocking her over in the process. She snatched the latest novel in the series from the shelf and took a position on the stairs towards Twilight’s sleeping area.

“Anyway...” Twilight repositioned herself on her hooves, before leading Cheerilee into a connecting room. Much like the rest of Twilight’s home, the walls were lined in books, spare a single door. Layton, in his imposing form, stood before it, unmoving even as the two mares approached.

“Professor, you were talking earlier about a code.” Twilight’s inquisition snapped Hershel from his own thought.

“Yes,” he began. “12-He-1003. I get the feeling that has a wider meaning than just belonging to that panel alone.”

“It could be a date,” Cheerilee piped up.

“Now’s not the time to be thinking about Hearts and Hooves Day,” the unicorn stated in a deadpan manner, completely missing the meaning. The professor chuckled slightly, annoying Twilight. “What’s so funny?”

“What Miss Cheerilee means,” the man explained, “is that that code could be a date stamp.”

“But I’ve never seen a date written like that. Hmmm...” She pressed a hoof to her chin, before springing up again. “Aha! Luckily for us, I have a special section in the library for just such an occasion.”

“Uh, what sort of occasion?” asked the teacher, confused as to Twilight’s context.

“History from outside of Equestria! The books are really old, so only I can access them.”

“Well, where are these books?”

“Right here!” Twilight gestured to the door in front of the trio. “Now, it’s just a case of getting in.”

Puzzle 046

“As you can see here, I have 5 locks, each with a different spell on them. I have 5 different spells to remove the locks, but they’ll only unlock if you use the right spell on each lock.

“I name each spell after a number, the first spell being called One and the last being called Five. If I have any trouble, I just remember where I live!

“Considering the locks must be unlocked in the order shown by the arrows, I should be able to unlock this door with too much of a bother.”

Twilight set about using her spells on the golden locks.

“That one there... and ... done!” The last lock clattered to the ground, and the unicorn nudged the door open with her nose. The wooden barrier creaked on its hinges, the powdered rust serving as a reminder of the lack of use. Twilight lit a couple of candles which lined the cobwebbed walls before doing the same for a candlestick on an old wooden desk in the centre of the room.

“Now, then.” She turned to the professor with a smile, gesturing at a small tome already on the table. “I’ve got a directory here pointing where we need to look. Do you want to have a look, Professor? It’s strangely written. Somepony else wrote it for a security measure.

“But of course, Twilight,” Hershel stepped forward, his head and hat leaning over the small book.

Puzzle 047

“Let’s see. There are 25 books on the shelves in front of us. For histories of non-Equestrian calendars, we need to follow steps to find the correct book:

1) The book we need is placed directly above a shelf containing a book titled with a vowel.

2) The book we need is directly below a book whose title letter can be reflected in a mirror to read the same.

3) The book we need is directly to the right of a book that can be turned upside down and still read the same in its title.

4) The book we need would not have its title obstructed if we were to stretch string between opposing corners of the bookcase.

5) Finally, the book we need shares its edges with no more than two books whose titles can be reflected in a mirror to read the same.

“An interesting system, to say the least, but this is plenty enough information to find our book.”

Layton gingerly pulled out the book, placing it on the desk. Twilight flicked through the pages with her magic before letting the papers rest. One quick glance at the open book gave Twilight her answer.

“That can’t be right... Can it?” Cheerilee trotted over, taking a peek at the book.

“Well, that’s a turn-up for the books! Professor?” The human looked at the page. He was about to open his mouth, when...

BURP! The sound rang through the library. Spike bolted through the rooms, calling out for his friend.

“Twilight! It’s a letter from the Princesses!” The magical mare stepped from the shadowy room, with her fellow academics in tow. She closed the door and reattached the locks, before turning her attention to the dragon.

“What is it, Spike?”

“They want to see everypony in Canterlot. They want an update on the investigation!”

“Uh... wow, I was not expecting that. Um, do you have anything, Professor?” Twilight swung her neck to Layton, who smiled.

“I believe so, Twilight,” he spoke softly. “In fact, I believe there is just one last little detail to find.” The group of four made their way into the main room, where Luke and the rest of the group were talking and laughing.

“Listen up, everypony!” Twilight resumed command. “We’ve been summoned by the Princesses. We are to leave immediately.” All bodies in the room headed for the door, with Cheerilee waving and parting ways to head back to the Ponyville schoolhouse. Last out of the door was the professor. Suddenly, something caught his eye, something on the floor of the library. He walked up to it, a puddle of red. He touched it and rubbed it on his fingers. It seemed so... familiar. Was it blood?

“Professor!” Twilight brought him out of his head. “We need to get moving!”

“Right behind you, Miss Sparkle.” The door closed behind Hershel, and the band of friends headed for the station.

A couple of hours later, Layton, Luke, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were all in attendance in the Canterlot Castle throne room. Twilight was slightly off-put by the absence of a certain baby dragon, but she figured he’d be smart enough to keep the library running whilst she was out of Ponyville.

The doors to the throne room flung upon, and Princess Celestia trotted gracefully to her throne. Princess Luna followed in tow, her steps a touch more forceful. She too took her place on her throne. Celestia cleared her throat.

“Thank you all for coming at such short notice. Professor, I trust that you have made progress?”

“I have, Princess,” Layton spoke, taking to wondering among the group of ponies. “In fact, I am quite certain as to who the perpetrator behind the kidnappings could be.” His voice grew more serious. “I have come across many cases before, but never one in a land of ponies. However, the game remains the same: to notice details, large and small.”

“Yes? And?” Princess Luna was becoming agitated. “We request that you stop talking in riddles and get to the point, Professor Hershel Layton!”

“Of course, your Majesty,” Layton proceeded, unfazed by Luna’s demand. “Not only am I quite certain of the suspect’s true identity, but I am certain that said suspect is in this very room. Small details have given away this pony’s facade.”

“Well?” Rarity was on the edge of her hooves, intrigued by the answer the professor’s reasoning would yield.

“If there is one doppelganger in this group...” Layton readied his arm, “then it is YOU!” Layton pointed, straight and true, in one very specific direction, at one pony only.

Applejack.

Solutions 6

Puzzle 040

The reverse also applies.

In order to avoid hurting Pound Cake, you would want to avoid using the corner squares. As you cannot place the seeds adjacent to each other, even diagonally, that leaves only two solutions.

Puzzle 041

Three weeks.

If the lily pad and the lake share their centres, and the reaches a quarter (1/4) from the centre to the lake's edge, this must mean the lily pad is one sixteenth (1/16) the size of the lake. As the lily pad doubles in size in one week whilst retaining the shape, one week will bring the lily pad to one eighth (1/8) of the lake's size, a second week would cause it to grow to one quarter (1/4) of the size of the lake. At the third week, the lily pad doubles from 1/4 to one half (1/2) of the size of the lake.

Puzzle 042

There could be many solutions to this puzzle, if it weren't for the fact that you had to use all of the mirrors!

Puzzle 043

Just because all of the poles had to be stood up straight, it doesn't mean they all had to be the same way up, as shown.

Puzzle 044

FLEETFOOT (of the Wonderbolts).

Puzzle 045

The key point here is to start with the blue key, Once you have placed it, the the pink key can only go in one place, which is the top-right corner. Following this, if the purple key and the yellow key are to be as far away as possible, then the purple key must be in the bottom-right corner, the yellow key in the top-left corner and the white key in the top middle. This leaves the orange key to slot into the bottom-left corner.

Puzzle 046

There was a reason why Twilight named her keys rather than numbering them. With this in mind, Twilight just needed to remember that she lived in a library, where books can be stored alphabetically. The named spells are thus put in alphabetical order, following the arrows.

Puzzle 047

Book T.

This is a process of elimination. As the book must be directly above a row with a vowel in it, this cuts out the third and fifth rows (marked in red). Next, we eliminate all of the books that are not directly below a mirror-reflective letter (marked in blue). Now we take out all of the books that aren't to the right of letters that can be rotated a half-circle to read the same (marked in green). This leaves us with three books. As book I would be caught under the diagonal threads, that book is eliminated (marked in grey). Finally, book J is boxed in by mirror-reflective letters on its three exposed sides (marked in purple), whilst book T has its saving grace in its neighbour, book S.

Interlude: The Professor's Conclusion

Interlude: The Professor’s Reasoning

“Y’all can’t be serious!” The orange earth pony felt all eyes on her, but she puffed up her chest in a defensive stance.

“You’re silly, Professor!” giggled Pinkie Pie. “There’s no way Applejack would be a meanie mean-pants!”

“Pinkie, darling, what the Professor means to say is that this is not Applejack.” Rarity’s explanation made enough sense for the pink mare. Now it was Celestia’s turn to ask.

“Professor, this is a pretty bold claim to make. What brought you to these conclusions?”

“My first question came to me whilst I was on the way to Ponyville for the first time...”

Suddenly, the main doors opened, revealing four silhouettes.

“Spike?” Twilight rubbed her eyes in surprise, caught off-guard by her assistant’s unannounced appearance.

“The one and only,” Spike replied chirpily. “And I brought some guests, too!” Right on cue, the real Applejack, minus her hat, stepped from the doorway towards the crowd. Upon espying her copy, she grew irritated.

“Now, what in the hayseed is this abou’?!” The only obstacle between the two Applejacks was Twilight’s magic holding her back by her tail. “Let me go, Twi! Ah’m gonna find mah answer!”

“A.J., stop!” The unicorn responded rapidly. “Don’t rise to this phony!”

“My suspicions were first raised,” Layton continued, “when we first met on the train.”

“We didn’t meet on the train!” The false Applejack snapped, a touch of the farmpony’s accent slipping.

“In which case,” Hershel responded, “let me bring in the one pony who you were masquerading then.” Again on cue, a second pony walked from the corridor. The pony was a blue unicorn, with a styled light blue mane.

“Trixie demands what she is doing being carted around by an immature dragon!”

“You know, I could’ve just left you in the barn...” The offended party growled through gritted teeth. “You’re in the Princesses’ court, Trixie. Show some respect!”

“Tell me, Trixie,” the professor proceeded with his case. “Have we ever met before?”

“What a ridiculous question! Trixie has never had need to cast eyes on you and your abomination of a headpiece. Trixie can show you a true hat if...”

“TRIXIE LULAMOON!” Princess Luna used her Royal Canterlot Voice, having felt already that the blue mare’s self-obsessed rambling had ventured into the ridiculous. “You shall answer simply the questions that Professor Hershel Layton asks of you!” Everypony looked open-eyed at the lunar sister, who withdrew slightly in embarrassment. “Our... I mean, my apologies for nearly perforating everypony’s eardrums. Please continue.” She gestured to Layton.

“What caught my eye on that very first journey is that, in spite of claiming to be a very talented user of magic, that version of Trixie reached for an item out of a cloak by using a hoof. When I received the map, it was in an unusable condition through being kept somewhere damp.”

“But I have employees check that the trains are kept in pristine fashion, both inside and out!” Princess Celestia wore a look of concern.

“In which case,” Hershel responded in kind, “the source of the damp was not the train itself, but the cloak in which it was kept. Or rather, the wearer of the cloak. The air was pleasantly cool upon our meeting, the candles barely brought the temperature above normal. So why would a pony perspire so much under such normal conditions?”

“Of course!” Luke spoke up. “It had to be another layer of hair or clothing.”

“Indeed, my boy. Another layer of clothing, much like that which can be fashioned as a disguise. Still, I would not say Trixie was completely vindicated of any and all crimes.” The unicorn in question gulped as all focus returned to her, less comfortably than she would have liked. The professor’s vocal tone turned considerably darker. “I have very little doubt that you were the pony who abducted Twilight in the royal carriage. As there was no way to teleport into the carriage in transit, you snuck into the carriage depot at the castle.”

“Really?” Trixie was indignant to such an accusation. “What would make you believe that Trixie would stoop to such a low level?”

“I would be willing to say that it was revenge. I am well aware of Twilight’s subduing of a strong creature in place of you, as all of the town of Ponyville bore witness to her triumph.”

“Trixie... may have had a motive.”

“But you also had a superior, a mastermind to this whole scheme, one who went by the personality of the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well.” The false Applejack winced at this mere mention.

“Wait!” Rainbow Dash yelped in shock. “Mare-Do-Well still exists?!”

“Indeed so, Miss Dash,” confirmed the older human. “However, I would say that in this case, such a title would be a misnomer. There were reports of two disguised ponies, one of whom was on the ground and dressed in black, carrying who I could deduce to be Applejack on their back. The other one was giving chase by flight, and, by eyewitness report, matched very similarly to Mare-Do-Well, whom Miss Sparkle, Miss Pie, Miss Zecora and myself encountered in the castle in the Everfree Forest.”

“But I...” Trixie was about to start, but the professor continued.

“But you were having second thoughts at that point. Your conscious got the better of you, now that your one strong enemy, Miss Sparkle, had been dealt with accordingly. You were trying to save Applejack from Mare-Do-Well, but you were caught. Applejack was placed in the Crumbling Chasm, and Trixie was held elsewhere.”

“Trixie was held in the cherry orchard at Dodge Junction,” the mare announced.

“That would explain the fruit aroma at the farm!” Luke was quick to point out.

“Quite,” smiled Layton. “However, it was of my understanding that Macintosh couldn’t smell the cherry aroma. This struck me as peculiar, but not quite as peculiar as the partially-dried maroon paint. But what if Macintosh wasn’t actually Macintosh?” The remaining silhouette trotted from the hallway, revealing the hulking form of the stallion himself.

“Tell me, Macintosh,” the archaeologist asked the red pony. “Can you remember who fixed your generator?”

“Mah generator’s been fixed?!” blurted a surprised Big Macintosh. He stood for a small while, open-mouthed.

“Indeed. Luke fixed it. However, it was not you who requested it of him, but an impostor. It would not be far-fetched to say that the maroon paint on the ground was actually an over-dried red, used as part of another disguise. Furthermore, I would say that as soon as Twilight, Luke and I left for Miss Fluttershy’s cottage, the impersonator set about kidnapping Applejack, placing her in the same barn as Miss Lulamoon and the real Macintosh.”

“...Is that all you got?” the false Applejack responded flatly, raising an eyebrow.

“It is not,” continued Layton, unabated. “I would believe that the same pony who kidnapped these three would be the same pony who destroyed Miss Fluttershy’s hutches. Due to Miss Fluttershy’s timid nature, it is highly likely that she made no mention of it until much later. I would hypothesise that our suspect would have destroyed the hutches before kidnapping Big Macintosh.

“Trapping Pinkie Pie was very delicately planned, but crudely performed. Another showing by Mare-Do-Well further links in to the probability of a single mastermind. Finally, however, there was the weather factory incident. The hiring of one of the finest scientific minds in Canterlot would seal its success.”

“Crystal Blue...” Both Princesses spoke in unison.

“Yes,” the professor carried on. “A mind such as his would be enough to trap Miss Dash, but that was only knowledge to certain ponies. His plan worked, but he was betrayed by the mastermind of this scheme.”

“However,” Layton spoke, raising a thoughtful finger, “no such plan is ever perfect. Another flaw I noticed was upon my second meeting with the impostor Trixie. The air in that train cabin smelled of sea water. This can be combined with the powder obtained from Miss Rarity’s tail. In my world, it is described as having a sodium base. The next flaw to be found was at Twilight’s library, another small pool of red paint, very wet. This brings me onto you.” Layton turned to the false Applejack. “Does anypony else notice something wrong about this Applejack’s appearance?” Everypony stared at the Applejack in the centre.

“Um...” Fluttershy squeaked slightly.

“What do you see, Fluttershy?” Layton turned to the quiet pegasus.

“Well, her cutie mark isn’t right. It has two apples on top and one on the bottom. The real Applejack’s cutie mark has one on top and two on the bottom... Is... is that right?”

“Very well observed, Fluttershy! Indeed, the cutie mark is incorrect on this Applejack. Now I shall unveil who this is, and how I believe it to be so.” Layton reached into the inside of his jacket, pulling out a leather case with gold trim. “Now, the only ponies to have known that Rainbow Dash would have been caught by surprise through such an ingenious device would have been close friends with Miss Dash, much like you, mystery mare. The code for this case is simple once you see it from that perspective."

"4-1-19-8. D-A-S-H.” The case popped open, revealing a gleaming blue feather. The original owner of that feather finally had the truth dawn over her.

“No...” Rainbow quivered. “It can’t be...”

“The second item,” Layton proceeded, is the powder with the sodium base, better known as salt. Combine that with the smell of salt water, and it seems far to say that our suspect here is a common visitor of watering holes, for example, the Salt Flock in Appleloosa.”

“It can’ be...” Big Mac’s realisation had sunk in.

“Thirdly,” the professor concluded, “the date stamp on the ice puzzle in this very castle was not recognised as being of pony origin, which could mean you are not really a pony. Finally, one slip of the tongue revealed you as being Trixie’s doppelganger. When I stepped into the Salt Flock, you greeted me as a professor without me even introducing myself. Apart from that Trixie impersonation, only the Princesses, a select few Canterlot Castle staff and select Ponyvillians knew of my profession. News does not travel that quickly from Ponyville to Appleloosa.” With this, Layton turned to the rest of the group, who stood nonplussed.

“The date stamp, 12-He-1003, is not of pony origin, but from the origin of the griffon.” He turned to the suspect one last time, bringing his voice to a restrained tone.

“I think it is about time for you to reveal yourself, Gilda.”

Chapter 18: Burning the Last Bridge

“Very well done, Professor,” the fake Applejack spoke, her voice becoming familiarly harsh in tone. Fluttershy quivered, cuddling up next to Pinkie Pie for comfort. Pinkie in turn threw her arms around her meek pegasus friend, in full knowledge of the mark that Gilda left on her memory.

“Gilda!” Rainbow Dash yelled, furious at her former companion. “Get out of that suit so I can pummel you!”

Gilda first removed the hat, the outer skin of the costume quickly following suit to the ground. Gilda stood proud, wearing what appeared to be shadowy armour, complete with a crescent moon shining from the chest plate.

“No...” Luna whispered, quivering. “Please, no...” Celestia stood, open-mouthed at the sheer sight.

“I can’t let you do that, Dash,” the griffon replied. “This piece here is the armour of Nightmare Moon. After you six blew it apart in freeing Princess Luna, you made the mistake of not picking up the pieces. After you lame ponies ran me out of Ponyville, I went to the castle in the Everfree Forest, hoping to find remnants of it.”

“We didn’t run you out of Ponyville,” Rainbow was close to snapping. “You forced yourself out!”

“Details, Rainbow Dash! It doesn’t matter now. I gathered all the pieces and spent months piecing it together, all waiting for the last resort on taking on Equestria’s so-called heroic ponies. But I intended never to let you even get this far. So, here I am! You should know that one pony’s magic alone can’t shatter this.”

“She’s right,” Celestia sighed.

“What’s more,” Gilda continued, “I can do THIS!” She raised a claw, dark, writhing beams pouring from the talons. The deep purple threads wrapped around the Princesses’ hooves and hung them upside down from the ceiling. This made Celestia very angry.

“GILDA! Let us down!”

“I take orders from nopony, Celestia! Now I’m in charge, and my first order of business is to make this entire land fall into silence!”

“But the griffon king is at peace with Equestria!” Twilight shouted. “Surely you can’t rule easily over us without help... Oh, no... No!”

“So, Little Miss Lightbulb caught on! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to see a pony about a dog...” The vicious griffon turned to purple smoke, before whipping out of the throne room door.

“Now wha’ do we do?” Applejack questioned, worry palpable in her voice, as she scooped up her hat to its rightful place.

“I know where she’s headed,” the purple unicorn replied. “I also think she’s got something we need.” She looked to the ceiling. “Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, we’re going to stop Gilda.”

“We have our trust in you, my faithful student,” Celestia replied, resigning herself to hanging from the ceiling for the time being.

“Yes, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna agreed. “Defeat this enemy of peace!” The leader of the group turned to the rest of the group.

“Trixie, are you with us?” The blue unicorn hesitated for a moment, before wearing a look of determination.

“Trixie... I mean, I can put aside our differences to depose that traitor.”

“Professor?”

“But of course, Twilight,” Layton responded.

“I want to come too!” spoke up Luke.

“This is more dangerous than before, Luke. You must stay here and keep the Princesses company.”

“But...”

“I would not be able to bring myself to explain to your father if anything happened to you here, Luke.” With that, the Professor ran for the door with seven ponies in tow, leaving behind Luke, Spike and Big Macintosh to wait.

It wasn’t long before the group of eight reached Twilight’s destination: the Palace sculpture gardens. It looked normal, except for one spot seemed oddly bare. There should have been a statue where the empty spot.

“Twilight!” Rarity exclaimed. “Discord’s statue... It’s gone!”

“It’s as I’d feared...” Her unicorn friend spoke, strained in fear. “We need to find them before...”

RUMBLE.

“Wh-what was that?!” Pinkie yelped, her tail shaking wildly and her head under her front hooves.

“Rainbow! Fluttershy! Hold on to me!”

“Got it!” The cyan pegasus clutched onto Twilight’s left side. Fluttershy grabbed on to the unicorn’s right side. Both pegasi flapped their wings fiercely, and Twilight’s horn lit up brightly, a magical field surrounding the rest of the group. The ground continued to rumble, before collapsing beneath them. Layton and the remaining four ponies held steady in mid-air, Twilight’s levitation spell keeping them from falling into the abyss below.

“Good call, Twi!” The farmpony praised her talented friend.

“Thanks, but it’s not over yet! We need to stop Gilda!” The group descended into cavern, a dimly-lit affair. Hershel could make out some plinths in the distance, but his deductions were caught short by a flash of darkness across his sight.

“It’s her!” Twilight exclaimed, her breath rushing quickly from her body in astonishment. Sure enough, the griffon hovered in front of them, her wings flapping a gust and the plate on her torso glowing a malevolent purple.

“It’s good to see you’re still on your hooves, you dweebs! Still, you can’t stop me, not with your magic.”

“You have made an oversight, Gilda,” the professor stood tall, facing the perpetrator and looking her in the eye.

“I highly doubt that, Layton!”

“While a unicorn’s power would not be able to break your armour on its own, I believe there is a way to get through it. Twilight?”

“Professor?” Princess Celestia’s student sprung to attention. Layton whispered quickly into Twilight’s ears, and her eyes widened in delight.

“Perfect! Rainbow, Rarity, Trixie! Come over here!” The three summoned ponies quickly gathered, whilst Applejack and Pinkie Pie fended off Gilda’s swipes and strikes. “We’ve got a plan...”

Puzzle 048

“Oh, no! The Nightmare Armour must be scrambling our spells! Even worse, we can’t combine our spells until we rearrange some of the paths. Two pairs of tiles need to be swapped in order for this to work. Any ideas, Professor?”

“Hmmm...” Layton gave the situation a quick though. “I’ve got it.” Layton directed the three unicorns’ magic as necessary. “Miss Dash, take your position.”

“On it!” Rainbow stood, ready to receive the spells. Twilight, Trixie and Rarity fired their spells, coating the pegasus in an intense golden glow. The unicorns kept pouring magic into the airborne pony until she was ready. She turned and flashed a determined grin.

“Your turn, Gilda!” Rainbow unleashed her wing power, catapulting at Gilda with an effortless Sonic Rainboom in her wake, both her magic and her feathers propelling her past the sound barrier. She hit the griffon square in the chest, shattering the dark plating and knocking her aside like she was nothing. Gilda slammed into a nearby wall, the armour completely free of her body. She struggled to get up straight, woozily wobbling back and forth.

“My head... My body” She muttered gruffly, before being set upon by Applejack and Pinkie again.

“You ain’ gettin’ away this time, Gilda!” The orange pony declared angrily, holding her.

“It doesn’t matter now, cowgirl!” The griffon spat, as Celestia appeared in a flash. “It doesn’t matter at all.”

“I know what you’ve done, Gilda.” Celestia took hold of the griffon with her magic, before turning to her protégé. “You need to end it here, Twilight.”

“I understand, Princess. Everypony, with me!” The group of eight gathered together, starting for the depths of the cavern, when...

“Well, well!” A male voice called out from the darkness. “I seem to be free again, and old stretch of the legs is in order! Now, I see what my griffon friend has set up here. Very admirable. But! I’ve no need of the spares for this. I think it’s time to open up my Equestrian silence. Ha-HAHAHAHA!” A click rang out, with the professor, Celestia, Gilda and Trixie flung back towards the opening.

“Discord!” The sun princess’s fury was bubbling over as she picked herself up from the ground. “What do you intend on doing?”

“I’ve already made our intentions clear, Celestia. The Equestrian silence, as you are about to hear! Or perhaps not, as the case may be.” A grey bubble of magic rose, separating the six friends from the four at the entrance. Celestia tried to shout again, but not a squeak of sound came out. Layton gathered a rock and threw it a short distance, but not a single noise occurred. Gilda tried to raise her wings, but they felt like they were glued to her side. Trixie tried to fire a spell at the grey bubble, but not a single drop of magic came from her horn.

Outside the bubble, there was no noise, no flying and no magic. All over Canterlot, items in levitation dropped like flies, no sounds of breaking could be heard. In Cloudsdale, the pegasi found themselves firmly rooted to the clouds, some ponies scrambling to keep from falling to the land far below. Ponyville, Appleloosa, Manehatten, Trottingham, everywhere was silent, everywhere was without magic or flight.

Only the inside of the bubble had any of this left. Only the six friends could bring these back to Equestria, and Twilight wasn’t keen on losing the battle.

Chapter 19: Inside The Silence

Chapter 19: Inside the Silence

“Now then, Twilight Sparkle,” Discord’s voice cut the air in its chaotic pomp. “I hope you’ve all taken a few lessons from your friend the Professor. I’ve laid out a little bit of a game for you all. But first of all...” A very familiar stone descended from the ceiling. “I’d say you know what this Sapper Stone does, yes? Until your friends can solve my little teasers, this will take your precious magic.” Right on cue, the stone started absorbing the magic from Twilight’s horn, causing her to writhe uncontrollably on the floor. The remaining ponies looked on in abject horror.

“Twilight!” Applejack screamed. “Let ‘er go, Discord!”

“Or what, Applejack? You’ll buck me into submission? If you want to save your friend, I suggest you play along.” The earth pony sighed in resignation.

“Fine. Everypony get to a challenge!” The room lit up, with five pillars arranged in a semicircle around a large wooden door. Everypony ran to a pillar each, but as they positioned themselves, a cylindrical force field rose around each of them.

“Oh, and just one more thing... Nopony is going anywhere until you’ve won my challenges. Let’s play! Heheheh...”

“Such boisterous behaviour, Discord,” Rarity remarked off-handedly. “Regardless, I must solve this. For Twilight!”

Puzzle 049

“Something simple for you, Rarity. You need to enter the letters A to E in the grid. There is one condition, however. There can only be one of each letter in each row, column, long diagonal and marked section.

“It shouldn’t take you too long. Get to it!”

“Ah, this is a simple case of deductive reasoning, I should say. Now, where should I begin?” A few keen strokes of the quill later, and the puzzle was solved. The pillar crumbled, revealing a golden necklace with a pink diamond cut gem set in the front.

“Magnificent, but if only generosity could aid my friends at this moment...” Rarity looked out plaintively at Twilight, who was still thrashing about on the ground.

At the next pillar, a normally timid yellow pegasus was becoming angry.

“How dare that meanie hurt Twilight! As soon as I solve this, I’m going to make him sorry for what he’s doing!”

Puzzle 050

“A puzzle perfectly suited for you, Fluttershy: A spider’s web. This particular spider must turn at any thread it comes across.

Just one more thing: It must reach the edge of the web in the very same direction it left the centre. Which exit should the spider reach? Have fun!”

Fluttershy pressed her hoof to her chin.

“It’s one of those, but which one?” She panicked for a moment before gathering herself. “Okay... stay calm, Fluttershy. You can’t panic if you want to help Twilight...” After a little more thought, she pressed one of the thread ends. Immediately, the pillar broke into pieces, startling the wits out of the poor pegasus. She looked out from under her hooves to espy a gold necklace, emblazoned with a pink gem carved in the shape of a butterfly.

“Oh! It’s my Element. That must be Discord’s game. I hope the others are okay...” Fluttershy cast a worried look across at the other force fields.

Rainbow Dash was fairing worse than any of the other ponies, save for a drained Twilight.

“Argh! I’m going stir-crazy in here! I wanna break Discord into tiny pieces! I’ve gotta solve his lame riddle, instead...”

Puzzle 051

“This should keep you occupied, Rainbow Dash. Remove two lines to make two letters. Enjoy!”

“Huh,” the blue pony told herself. “That doesn’t seem too hard. Let’s see...” She scratched her head, thinking about the task as hard as she could, until...

“Of course!” Rainbow triumphantly pressed on two of the lines, before standing back. Much like the ones before it, the pillar fell apart, revealing the necklace of Loyalty, golden with a red thunderbolt gem adorning the front.

“A-ha! The Element is mine! Now, I need to get out of here...” She threw herself against the inside of the tubular force field, bouncing straight off on impact.

“Hurry, everypony!”

Applejack, meanwhile, was less than pleased with her situation.

“Well, ain’ this jus’ swell? Stuck inside a tube with a pillar and apples in a barrel! It’s like Big Mac’s las’ party. An’ what the hay are these scales for, anyhow?”

Puzzle 052

“Let’s put your business-pony skills to the test, Applejack. You have three balancing scales in front of you. Can you find how many apples you need to balance out the last scale? Oh, and I suggest you hurry up. Your magical friend’s contortions are amusing, to say the least!”

“That Discord is nothin’ but trouble! I oughta buck ‘im in the jaw! Ah’ gotta solve his little game iffin Ah wanna get out.” The savvy earth pony juggled about the loaves of bread and the pots of jam, swiftly coming up with an answer. She scooped a number of apples from the barrel and dumped them on the bare end of the third scale.

“Alrighty, that oughta do it.” The scale’s base sunk into the pillar, splitting it clean into two. The two halves fell aside, revealing another necklace. The crest of it was an orange gem in the shape of an apple, with a fine triangular emerald placed as the apple’s stalk. Applejack donned her Element, readying herself for her escape.

“Ah hope Pinkie Pie can keep still long enough to figure hers out...”

Applejack couldn’t have called it better. The vibrant pink pony was ricocheting off the inside of her force field.

“Whee! This is fun! Aw, I’ve gotta get Twilight to make one of these for me when we get back to Ponyville.” Then it hit her. “Oh, right, Discord’s riddle!” She dropped stomach first to the ground, before staring at the puzzle on the plateau of her pillar.

Puzzle 053

“Let’s see if this can keep your attention, my dear Pinkie Pie. All you need to do is fill in squares. The numbers on the side and the top tell you how many squares need to be filled in, with gaps between numbers meaning gaps in the line.

“Get to it, you annoying puff ball of positivity!”

“Ooh! This is fun! Let me try this!” The crazy mare proceeded to slam her snout onto the pillar in a seemingly random fashion. After several hits, she stepped back.

“Ooh, he’s good...” The pillar quickly fell to pieces, chunks of rubble parting ways and revealing the Element of Laughter, a gold necklace with a balloon shaped gem, in baby blue, sealed into the front.

“Aha! I found it, I found it!”

The chaotic voice of Discord boomed out across the cavern.

“Well done, everypony! You five have passed my challenges with flying colours!”

“Yeah, that’s great an’ all,” Applejack yelled into the darkness. “Now, how’s about you let us out of these tubes?”

“Oh, I’m not letting you out just yet, Applejack. You see, there is one more test. It was designed for Twilight Sparkle who, as you can see, is a little busy at the moment. As long as she’s busy rolling in the dust, none of you are going anywhere!”

“Hey! That’s not fair!” Rainbow shouted, angered by the disharmonious beast’s two-faced trick.

“Need I remind you who you’re talking to, Rainbow Dash? Fair is not how I play, being who I am.”

“In which case, you have greatly underestimated our friendships!” Rarity was standing proud against the invisible monster.

“Oh, really?”

“Of course! We believe in Twilight. That is a prime position of friendship.” The ivory unicorn turned to face her fellow magician. “Twilight! I know you can defeat this! I believe in you!”

“Yeah, Twilight!” Pinkie bounced around in her force field with her typical enthusiasm. “You’re a super-smart smarty-pants. You’ve got him!”

“If anypony can teach Discord a lesson, it’s you, Twilight,” Rainbow joined in on the encouragements. “You’ve gotta do it. For us, for yourself!”

“You’ve got more power than he has, Twi!” The farmpony Applejack added. “Show ‘im you ain’ Magic’s bearer for nothin’!”

“Please, Twilight...” Fluttershy was full of worry. “Please don’t give up. You can stop him!”

Twilight, whilst writhing on the ground, had processed her friends’ encouragements. What happened next had only occurred once before in the unicorn’s life. Her eyes began to glow a blinding white. She gritted her teeth, before regaining balance on her hooves.

“Nopony... messes... WITH MY FRIENDS!” The mare began to levitate, her body burning brightly. Suddenly, an unprecedented surge of magical energy was released from her entire body.

Celestia sat outside Discord’s bubble, looking on in shock at her student’s full and horrific power in effect.

Oh no, the Princess thought to herself in panic. The binding on her magic has broken completely. She could turn Canterlot to dust! Celestia could only look on in terror as Twilight grew more potent.

Within the bubble, Twilight’s unleashing had reduced the Sapper Stone to mere atoms. The shields restricting her friends cracked and shattered, dissolving among the chaos that poured from the purple pony. Her magic was becoming out of control.

“Twilight!” Applejack screamed at her airborne friend as she held onto an embedded rock in the ground. “You can stop now! We’re safe!” Twilight’s voice became scary, like a more demonic Royal Canterlot Voice.

“DISCORD STILL EXISTS. I MUST CRUSH HIM. FOR THE SAKE OF PONYKIND.”

“And wipe out half of Equestria while yer doin’ it? That’s not the Twilight I know.”

“THIS IS ME, APPLEJACK. I’M LOSING HERE. I NEED HELP.” The poor mare’s voice was tinged with pleading.

“Twilight, this is not you! Yer kind, smart, gentle. Ya can’t just destroy Discord, that’s not mah Twilight! Please... please stop, Twilight... yer scarin’ me...” Tears ran freely from the frightened farmer, clearly enough for Twilight to see.

“I... I... understand... I’m... sorry...” The unicorn descended to the ground, collapsing under the sheer effort she had just expended. The remaining magic returned to her horn. It was several minutes before Twilight woke up again. She stood up woozily, barely able to see straight.

“Wh-what happened? Applejack?”

“Right here, Twi...” Applejack’s eyes were welling up.

“Oh, Applejack. I’m so sorry... it’s never happened before.”

“It’s highly probable,” Rarity interjected gently, “that it occurred for you to help us, my dear.”

“Yeah!” replied the blue pegasus. “Even I couldn’t break out of that thing!”

“We never knew that you had so much ability,” Fluttershy continued, smiling softly.

“Well, that settles it!” Pinkie Pie answered. Her fellow earth pony looked at her quizzically.

“Settles what?”

“Well, duh! That having lots of friends is the best possible thing!”

“I hear that!” responded Rainbow Dash.

“Well, I’m so sorry to break up your pity party,” Discord’s voice cut into the conversation, “but the game’s not over yet, my little ponies!”

“Shoot, he’s right,” Applejack conceded. “You okay takin’ this one, Twi?”

“I think so. Here goes!”

Puzzle 054

“Your magic is mildly impressive, Twilight Sparkle. Let’s see if your brain is half as switched on.

“Six buttons lie in front of you, leading up to the final pillar and the door. All you have to do is have yourself and your friends stand on a button each.

“You must arrange yourselves by the names of your Elements: HONESTY, KINDNESS, LAUGHTER, GENEROSITY, LOYALTY and MAGIC. How do you do that? I’m so generous that I’ll tell you! Arrange yourselves so that the highest value Element is closest to the door.

“First of all, in each Element’s name each of the five vowels has twice the value of a consonant.

“Secondly, no pony of the same type, earth, pegasus and unicorn, can be directly before or behind each other.

“Finally you, Twilight Sparkle, are most certainly at the front of the queue!

“This will keep you busy! Now, it’s time for me to rain more chaos upon this pitiful land. Tchao!”

Twilight stood for a while, puzzling through the final hurdle.

“It doesn’t make sense... This has to be a trick!”

“You mean we’re stuck here?” Rainbow responded, angry at what Discord had done.

“Whatever shall we do?” Rarity chose the wrong time for her amateur dramatics, earning herself a clip around the ear from Applejack. “Oh, you are so uncivilised!”

“Let’s jus’ focus on helpin’ Twilight!” Applejack retorted with a look of underlying contempt.

“It just doesn’t seem to add up...”Fluttershy further added to the group’s concern.

“Wait, what are we doing again?” Pinkie popped the bubble of seriousness with her complete obliviousness. Suddenly, a look of glee crossed the purple unicorn’s face.

“Of course! What else was I expecting from Discord? The Professor said that every puzzle has an answer, and this one is no different! Ooh, Discord’s good. But I’m better!” In her administrative role, Twilight motioned her friends onto the buttons leading to the pillar. Finally, she stepped on the leading button.

“This is it! I just know it!” As her first hoof pressed on the button, the pillar fell apart like the five before it, revealing a gloriously decorated golden tiara, a six pointed magenta star taking pride of place at the front. Twilight levitated the jewellery onto her head. “Get ready, everypony!” The giant doors before the group of friends shuddered loudly, before swinging rapidly inwards, the interior being revealed by a hole in the ceiling. The friends trotted inside, being greeted by the appearance and cackling of the mad draconequus. Discord was a complicated amalgam of multiple creatures, living up to his name in form at very least.

“Oh, you are clever, aren’t you? It’s such a shame that I have to turn you six circus clowns to dust now. You could have just run, but no! You had to interfere. Well, that’s your mistake! Now, giddy up!” Discord gathered malevolent energy in his mismatched claws, readying to strike.

“You do not touch my friends!” The lavender mare felt a familiar surge in her body, her eyes shining white and her body emanating pure magic. She charged head-on into her enemy, winding him. Energy waves pulsed from her body, forcing Discord to the ground. Every hit knocked his body into a peculiar contortion.

“HOW DOES IT FEEL, DISCORD? DO YOU FEEL THE PAIN? THE HUMILIATION?” Twilight screamed demonically. Discord could only utter pained grunts and gasps in being subdued by this much smaller creature.

“How is she doin’ that?!” Applejack could only look on as Twilight reduced the goliath of a creature to a quivering wreck. “Twilight! Now!”

“Huh?” Twilight turned around to her friends, before realising their intention. “Oh, right.” She galloped over and joined the herd. The six of them hugged each other tightly, strengthening their bonds, before turning to their nemesis, still wriggling on the floor.

“Now, come, Twilight Sparkle... Surely, you wouldn’t attack somepony as defenceless as I am right now...”

“It’s over, Discord,” Twilight replied sombrely. “You brought this on yourself, and it must be done! Goodbye...” All of the ponies rose into the area, the deep and arcane forces bringing them into a formation. Imprints of their Elements zoomed around the room, gathering around the debilitated draconequus. As the last action, a brilliant rainbow formed around the pony posse, before arching under the hole in the ceiling, casting colours across the ground. The rainbow sent a branch of itself up through the gap, shattering the bubble to pieces.

All across Equestria, sound returned. Every screaming foal, every thunderclap, every clopping of hooves on stony roads was music to the ponies’ ears. Wings were freed out of being invisibly tied to the sides of pegasi, and magic roared back into the unicorns’ bodies. All of this relief was felt across the land, saddening the cruel creature that wobbled before Twilight and her friends.

“No... No! Why?!” Discord’s protests went unheralded as the prismatic flow spun around him, slowly rendering his body immobile inside the statuesque prison. He screamed louder and louder until the stone rose to his head, when he accepted his defeat.

“Oh... I’m going to need a bigger pedestal...” The spell finally covered the tip of his nose, blinking him from real-time existence. The team descended gently to the floor, landing squarely on their hooves. They smiled at each other, safe in the knowledge that Equestria could rest easy again.

“I think it is time for us to make our departure,” the white mare announced. “The dust and mould in here is starting to play havoc with my sinuses.”

“I hear that,” the multicoloured pegasus added, whizzing in all directions through the air.

“It’s always a scary enemy... I want to go home...” Fluttershy’s head drooped, her eyes showing her rattled nerves.

“Let’s head on back, sugarcube,” Applejack answered in a maternal manner. “We’ll git ya back to Canterlot first. Come on, y’all!” On the cowpony’s command, the group headed for where they fell in, leaving behind one pony. Twilight stood over the frozen form of Discord, her mind running in fear.

“Am I... too powerful?” She questioned herself quietly. “I overwhelmed him, alone. What have I become? What will the Princess do?”

“Ah reckon,” replied Applejack, “that big ol’ wave a’ magic was you defendin’ us.”

“But... why hasn’t this happened before? I mean, it has happened before, but... not like this!”

“Ah’m not up on mah unicorn magic, but if anypony knows, it’s the Princess. C’mon, Twi. Let’s get outta this place. It’s givin’ me the heebie-jeebies.” The two close companions shared a chuckle, trotting side by side through the crumbled pillars, back to the world outside.

Epilogue: Exuent

Epilogue: Exeunt

“You have much to explain, Gilda,” Celestia took no pleasure from reprimanding the guilty griffon. “Not since Queen Chrysalis has anypony put Equestria in such danger through selfishness.”

“I don’t have to answer you, Princess. I’m not one of your subjects.” The hatred in Gilda’s voice was acerbic.

“You will answer me, Gilda.”

“Princess Celestia!” The royal pony’s student emerged from the ground, carrying Applejack, Pinkie and Rarity with her levitation spell. “I think there’s only one pony who can get an answer out of her.” Fluttershy and Rainbow placed the purple unicorn on the ground. Rainbow landed on her hooves, a look of disappointment on her face.

“Why did you do it, Gilda? Why did you endanger all of ponykind like that?”

“Pffft, like you care, Dash!” Her former friend’s tone was indignant, nay, barbaric. “You’re one of them!” The blue pony became irate against her former friend.

“Is that what this is about? Just because you were too hung up on being cool? I still remember that day. You were sure you were right, yet I know what you did to Fluttershy! I can’t be friends with anypony who does that.”

“It’s not that! From that day, I was all alone. My own griffons found me hard to handle! There was nowhere to go. It made me angry that the one pony I could rely on turned against me!”

“You turned me against you, Gilda!” The pegasus’s chest was puffed up in defence. The professor and the ponies could only watch the bitter exchange unfold. “I gave you the choice: stop trying to be cool, or go find some new “cool” friends someplace else! You chose wrong, and all this chaos was down to that!” Rainbow turned sideways to Gilda, eyes closed with her head hung low. “I’m sorry, Gilda, but this was all your fault, not mine.” The pegasus rejoined her true friends, her eyes welling up as the last breath of truth. The griffon growled.

“I think you need to be returned to face trial before the Royal Griffon Court, Gilda,” Celestia regained control. “Shining Armour!” An armoured white pegasus stepped forward, blue hair sprawling from under his helmet.

“Your Highness?” Twilight’s brother answered faithfully.

“Have the Royal Guard secure Gilda until further orders from me. I have a letter to send.”

“Yes, Princess. Take her to the holding cell!” Two unicorn guards approached Gilda, restraining her with holding spells. Two pegasus guards took to the air, armed with sharpened spears. The four ponies marched a disgraced Gilda back to the castle. Shining Armour turned back to the group and removed his helmet, revealing his smooth blue eyes to the sun. He turned to his sister and smiled proudly.

“You did it, Twily!”

“Thank you, Shining Armour...” Twilight was grateful for the compliment, but it was clear that her mind was on something else.

“What’s wrong, little sister?”

“Oh, nothing...”

“Come on, I can tell when you’re lying. I’m your brother, after all!”

“I believe I may be able to explain,” Layton, silent until now, answered, wearing a small smile.

“By all means, Professor,” the Princess responded, with a quizzical look.

“I would say it has something to do with the power surge from Miss Sparkle, in the defence of her friends. You said that the binding on her magic had broken.”

“The binding was there because she is still young. That amount of pure magic is difficult to control without experience, and while Twilight is one of the most powerful unicorns I have known in all my life, the uncontrolled use of such magic could have been devastating.”

“Really?” Twilight jumped in, slightly mortified. “How devastating?”

“At those levels, if Applejack hadn’t brought you out of it, Canterlot would have been turned to rubble at very best. At worst, you could have turned the entire city and its citizens to dust, and possibly even destroyed Ponyville as well.”

“But Ponyville is miles away!” Pinkie piped up, astonished.

“Exactly. I saw how powerful Twilight could become as soon as we met at the School for Gifted Unicorns. It’s practically impossible for a filly to age a dragon by several hundred years, yet there you were, performing the impossible and...” The Princess choked back a couple of tears before continuing at a near-whisper. “... and you were so scared because you couldn’t control it.” Twilight’s head dropped to the ground, her eyes moistening the ground below her horn.

“It was the same today... I was so afraid... But I still am.”

“Why would you still be scared, my faithful student?”

“Well... I...”

“May I?” Hershel proceeded again. “It is quite possible that Miss Sparkle fears you shall remove her from civilian life until you are certain that she can tame her abilities again. Such an action would take her away from Ponyville, and away from her friends.”

“Is that what it is, Twilight?” Celestia’s voice was soft.

“Yeah...” The student’s voice was as shaky her legs. The Princess thought for a moment before smiling.

“It seems that your studies in friendship have progessed further even than your letters would indicate. That you would choose being close to your friends over use of your magic... That sacrifice shows how strong your friendships have become. Now, it won’t come to you having to stay in Canterlot, but I will need to reform the bindings on your magic before you return to Ponyville."

“Really?”

“Of course! You can even visit so I can see how you’re progressing and adjust the bindings according to how much control you have.” This plan pleased the purple pony, who dried her eyes.

“Thank you, Princess. That would be excellent.”

“Plus,” inputted her brother, “you could come and visit me and Cadance!”

“Heehee, I’ll always come and visit you, B.B.B.F.F!”

The remains of the daylight were spent in congratulating the six ponies for the defeat of Discord. Shining Armour and Princess Cadance, who had come to the castle upon invitation, were front and centre, tears of pride being shed for the husband’s sister and her Ponyville friends.

As Celestia and Luna swapped places to lower the beaming sun and raise the glowing moon, a Pinkie Pie party was in full swing in the castle ballroom, completely free of icy floors. Even the more stuffy of Canterlot’s aristocratic ponies felt in the spirit to boogie down to the sounds of Octavia’s band and Vinyl Scratch, the normally contrasting mediums of music intertwining and weave effortlessly into the dancing ponies’ collective subconscious. Princesses Luna and Cadance had even set to improvising a memorably silly dance for the foals to join.

In a room down the corridor from the controlled craziness, Twilight and Princess Celestia stood facing each other.

“Are you ready, Twilight?”

“I’m ready.” The taller of the two bent down to the shorter, their horns touching and sharing a brief golden glow. Their eyes closed for a moment, before the two ponies drew from each other.

“There we go, my prized pupil. Come back in a month, and we’ll see how your control is. Now go and join the party.”

“Thank you, Princess!” With that, Twilight disappeared in a flash of light. The Princess kept smiling again as she left the room via the more traditional method. Out in the corridor, she looked to her right, spotting two very familiar looking figures.

“Good evening, Princess!” Luke spoke chirpily.

“Good evening, Luke. Hello, Professor.”

“Hello, Princess,” the professor nodded.

“I guess it’s that time, then.”

“Yes. The mystery has been solved, and we must return to London.”

“I understand. I’ll see if I can bring Twilight and her friends out to see you away.”

A short while later in the throne room, Layton, Luke, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rarity stood, making uncomfortable goodbyes.

“You guys were truly awesome,” Rainbow was first to speak, a croak of sadness in her throat. “We’re sure gonna miss you.”

“Hear, hear,” A.J. replied in agreement. “Thanks ta y’all, I ain’t still buried up ta mah neck in the desert.”

“We would have been lost without you,” Fluttershy chipped in. “Oh, and... thank you for the tea and food recipes...”

“It was quite the pleasure meeting fine gentle-er... men such as yourselves,” Rarity added. “We shall remember what you have done for us.”

“Goodbyes are always hard...” Pinkie Pie was a little less buoyant for but a brief moment. “But if you’re ever in the neighbourhood, stop by and say hi!” Twilight looked at her mentor, who nodded calmly. The young unicorn stepped forward.

“The Princess and I... we want you to have these.” Twilight levitated over a pair of glassy stones, completely transparent. “When you want to come back and visit, just run one of these under some water, and it’ll take you straight to Ponyville. Neat, huh?”

“Thank you, Twilight,” the professor replied smiling. “Thank you all. It has been an exhilarating experience. We’re ready, Princess.”

“Very well. Professor Layton, Luke, it has been wonderful to have met you, and thank you for all you’ve done.” The alicorn pointed her horn to the wall on her left, forming a portal.

“It is always the duty of a gentleman to help those in need. Come along, Luke.” The boy scrambled to the side of his mentor. Together, they turned to the ponies one last time and waved, before striding into the portal and vanishing from the land of Equestria. The portal closed up, leaving behind nothing but the pristine wall that was there beforehand. The Princess turned to her subjects.

“So,” she asked. “Shall we go and join in the rest of the party?”

“Great idea, Princess!” Rainbow answered, before quickly zooming out of the door, leaving six cantering ponies in her wake.

Morning had risen over London. The professor had once again assumed his sleeping position on the settee, his jacket covering his torso and his trademark hat still firmly in place. Luke had fallen asleep on a chair near Layton’s fossil-cleaning table.

Even so, as they stirred, they clutched their transparent stones tightly, along with a photograph each.

A photograph of themselves, six brightly-coloured ponies and a small dragon.

Solutions 7

048 - Answer:

You need to swap the two pairs of tiles shown in order to connect all of the magic lines.

049 - Answer:

There a couple of places you can start with this one.

050 - Answer:

This is a simple process of elimination. Just don't get confused into heading back towards the centre of the web!

051 - Answer:

It is a matter of changing your perspective. As you can see, removing matches from the top and the bottom edges reveals the letter H, and a 90° rotation reveals the letter I, and vice versa.

There is also a way of removing two matches to get three letters.

052 - Answer:

The loaf of bread weighs the same as 5 apples, whilst the jar of jam weighs the same as 3 apples. Once you have those numbers, the answer should be simple.

053 - Answer:

This is an example of a Picross puzzle. What impressed Pinkie Pie was the shape it formed, that of a balloon!

(Thanks to Venn and blastdragon for the edit on this one).

054 - Answer:

Twilight Sparkle Magic

Rainbow Dash Loyalty

Applejack Honesty

Fluttershy Kindness

Pinkie Pie Laughter

Rarity Generosity

This would have been fairly straightforward, had it not been for the fact that Twilight had to be on the front button. The word MAGIC has fewer letters than any of the other Element names. Surely if a main vowel was valued 2 to the consonant's 1, Twilight would be at the back, right?

Wrong.

This is were you change your way of thinking. Vowels have twice the value of consonants, but nopony said those values had to be positive amounts. If you give vowels a value of -2 and consonants a value of -1, then Twilight will end up at the front with a value of -7. Rarity's Generosity would doubtlessly land her at the back with a value of -15. Fluttershy are fairly easy to place as well, with values of -10 and -11 respectively.

However, Rainbow Dash and Applejack both have Elements with a value of -9 each. For this, we refer to Discord's second rule, that nopony of the same type can be next to each other in the queue. As Fluttershy's fourth place is solidified, the third place slot can't be occupied by Rainbow Dash as they are both pegasi. So she goes second in the queue whilst Applejack take the third place.

Prologue: The Vanishing Dusk

Professor Layton

and the Equestrian Silence

By Russell Smith

“Crystal Blue”

Prologue: The Vanishing Dusk

The sun shone weakly on the rustic houses of Ponyville. A light yet apparent mist had descended on the town, and Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be found. With the boisterous Pegasus caught in her hometown of Cloudsdale preparing for the upcoming Best Flyer Competition, the skies were a little more unkempt than what was to be expected.

A large tree stood at the top end of the town. Upon closer inspection, a door and windows could be found dotted in strategic places around the trunk, and a balcony stood proudly from a main branch, facing towards Princess Celestia’s dawn. The interior of the tree was hollowed out, and positively coated in tomes, bound in jackets of multiple colours and shades. In the centre of the room wandered a young lavender unicorn, complete with a straight-cut mane and tail, comprising of a deep indigo with a streak of pink and a lighter purple. The unicorn Twilight Sparkle was setting her affairs in order, preparing saddlebags with enough scrolls, quills and ink to form a lengthy essay.

“Spike!” she called, awaiting the patter of her assistant’s feet from the next room. Sure enough, the door opened revealing a wide-eyed young dragon of purple and green colouring. Spike was struggling to maintain his balance, carrying a stack of books twice his height. He let out a despondent huff, before placing the stack carefully on the wooden floor.

“Yes, Twilight?”

“Are you sure you can look after the library on your own while I’m gone?”

“Twilight,” Spike sighed, “I’ve looked after the library before on my own. You need to stop worrying too much. I don’t think you’d look good breaking out in a sweat in front of the Princesses.” Twilight thought to herself for a moment before closing her eyes and smiling.

“You’re right. I must be presentable. Besides, if Rarity got wind of me looking less than my best in front of royalty, I’ll end up being given a lecture on fashion again. As much as I appreciate her input, I don’t think I can sit through another one of those. Right, Spike?” The mare turned to the dragon, only to find that he had zoned out. “Spike? Ponyville to Spike, do you copy?” It was no good. Spike’s focus had evaporated at the mere mention of Twilight’s fashionable fellow unicorn friend, to the point that his heartbeat was audible and his tongue was hanging out of the side of his mouth.

The pony frowned and shook her head. Her horn glowed red, and levitated Spike side to side quickly to shake him out of his stupor. Once he put his feet back on the floor, it took him a couple of seconds to regain his balance.

“Hey! Why’d you do that? Give me a warning next time!”

“You were in a Rarity trance again, weren’t you?” Spike resisted the urge to drift off in his head again, but couldn’t stop himself from blushing and comforting his own tail.

“Yeah...” Twilight grinned knowingly and rolled her eyes at her number one assistant’s indefinite infatuation.

“Right, I must go now. Two weeks of advanced studying await me. Ooh, I can’t wait!” The squeak in the student’s voice spoke volumes about her enthusiasm. “Don’t forget to send me letters, now.” Twilight reached a hoof around Spike’s neck and pressed her right cheek to his left.

“I promise. Now go on, Twilight! You’re gonna miss your ride if you get too snugly with my scales.” Twilight stood bolt upright, before bringing the front door open with the greatest of magical ease. At the threshold, she turned to the dragon again, a smile on her face and a tear in her eye, before heading out and bringing the door to a close.

A beautiful golden royal carriage awaited Twilight Sparkle, with four royal Pegasus guards hitched to the front. Interestingly enough it was a complete carriage, roof, doors and all. The lavender pony smiled, before cracking the carriage door and climbing inside, the array of stars adorning her flank catching the light one last time before the carriage was sealed. All set, the pegasi lifted the carriage from the grass beneath and made a beeline for Canterlot, the royal marble city.

Twilight drew the red velvet curtains and sat relaxed in the carriage, her eyes closed. She imagined the beautiful conjuring she would be able to practice and perform under the guidance of Celestia and Luna.

“Twilight Sparkle,” an indignant voice spat out the unicorn’s name. Twilight’s eyes shot open, looking for the source. The carriage’s interior was now pitch black, rather than the red light which originally penetrated the drapes.

“Wha- wha- Who are you?! How did you get in here?”

“It’s has been too long, Miss Sparkle,” the angry tone continued. "Some issues must be addressed in my life, and thus, I must address my issues with you. Only then can I truly dominate this land in the way I intended!” As soon as the voice had spoken, a blinding white light filled the inside of the carriage, swallowing Twilight whole. She couldn’t even grab a sight of her assailant.

The now-empty carriage touched down in the city square of the marble marvel that was Canterlot. Princesses Celestia and Luna, unaware of the happenings mid-flight, wore smiles of pride to see the gifted unicorn again. One of the towing Pegasus guards opened the golden door. Any trace of a smile either sister wore was quickly erased upon finding the carriage bear, no Twilight Sparkle to be seen.

“H-how could this happen?!” Luna was barely able to control herself. "Where did thy student go, sister?”

“I... I don’t know...” Celestia was aghast at the turn of events. “Did something happen on the journey?”

“This is a matter of the gravest urgency.”

“Indeed. But I have a dreadful feeling this is no isolated case. It’s too well-planned.”

“So what do we do, older sister?”

“We must launch an investigation.”

“But how? Our sharpest mind vanished from that very carriage, and we have too many royal duties to perform!” Luna had made her point, and Celestia stood deep in thought.

“It looks like we’ll need help from... further afield.”

“Does Appeloosa have investigators with such prowess?!”

“Further afield than that, Luna.” Celestia looked upon the carriage with mirth. “Much further afield...”

Chapter 8: Signs in the Sand

It was barely 10 minutes into Big Macintosh’s gallop when they reached a large monument of the desert: A wide canyon, high-walled on either side to stop ponies from tumbling blindly into the chasm during a sandstorm. The most obvious item of interest was a gigantic wooden double door with an apple silhouette on its face. A plaque underneath wrote as follows:

Puzzle 022

“The magical fruit.”

“Well, I must admit I am not well-read in the foods of Equestria,” pondered Layton aloud, frowning. “Do you have any suggestions, Macintosh?” The stallion tapped his chin for a moment before he broke into an open-mouthed grin.

“Eeeeeyup!” Big Mac scooped up a sharp stone in his teeth and gouged the missing letters into the stone grid. After the last scratch had been made, a grinding noise groaned from behind the arches, slowly granting the two travellers a view into the valley before them.

“Excellent work, Macintosh.” The bulky pony smiled proudly. “However, I believe we are not there yet. Take a look at this.” Before them stood a plinth, defiant in the shadow of a stone pillar. Another mystery awaited them.

Puzzle 023

“This should keep you on your hooves. You’ll find your target right in the centre. But I don’t feel it just to let you get in easily, so I’ve rigged the pass with buttons. You need to reach your goal whilst hitting the fewest buttons possible. Any more buttons, and I’ll entomb your friend in a stone vault.

“Enjoy!”

Big Mac went pale. The idea of Applejack being encased for all of time sent a shiver down his spine.

“T-they can’ do tha’! That’s mah sister!”

“I have an answer,” surmised the professor. “We needn’t even remember the route. We just need to remember one thing as we travel.” With this, the two walked into the pillared pass.

Ten minutes later, the pair rounded the last corner when a blonde mane in the sand swayed their attention.

“Sis!” Big Macintosh ran at full pace towards Applejack who was buried up to her neck in the ground. She appeared to be sleeping, presumably from screaming for help.

“Miss Applejack,” Layton confirmed to himself, joining the mare’s brother in digging her out from the sands. A short amount of time later, they had pulled Applejack free of her natural prison. Big Mac took one of the bottles that Hershel had gathered and dunked it over the cowpony’s head. It wasn’t long before the orange and freckle-cheeked earth mare, with a three-apple cutie mark, opened her emerald eyes. Upon catching sight of this tall creature with very peculiar clothing, she leapt backwards in shock.

“WHOA!”

“Easy, sis.”

“Big Macintosh?”

“Eeyup.”

“W-where am ah?”

“Miss Applejack, I apologise for startling you,” the professor intervened. “Please me to introduce myself.”

“Firs’ thangs first, where the hay am ah?”

“In a canyon about 5 miles out from Dodge Junction.”

“Aw, hayseed! Ah’m in Crumblin’ Chasm, ain’ ah?” Applejack picked herself up and dusted the remaining sand from her coat. “Anywho, what’s yer name, now?”

“Professor Hershel Layton, at your service.” The man tipped his hat.

“What kind a’ species are ya?”

“I am a human being.”

“Alrahdy, then, Prof,” Applejack quickly assigned a nickname to the human. Layton wanted to object, but couldn’t bring himself to it. “Am’ mahdy grateful for y’all to come lookin’ for me. How’d y’all know where to look?”

“It had been brought to Miss Twilight Sparkle’s attention that you had been missing, something for which you were not commonly known to do.” Applejack smiled, tears gradually forming in the corners of her eyes.

“Tha’ Twilight. She’s so smart and yet such a great friend. Ah think an apple pie is in order for her when we git back to Ponyville.” At this point, Big Macintosh pulled the hat from his head and placed it her head.

“Aw, shucks, Big Mac. Don’t get all mushy on me now.” Too late. Big Mac, with a dribbling of tears down his cheek, almost crushed his sister in a bear hug. Layton chuckled to himself through closed lips.

“Well, I’d best inform Twilight that we have located you.” He pulled out the beacon stone and polished it with the sleeve of his jacket, causing it to emit a faint golden glow differing from its usual deep red. “That should do it. Now, let us head back to Dodge Junction. We should be able to return to Ponyville from there.” The siblings nodded in agreement, and the three of them returned to town.

Not too long afterwards, Hershel, Applejack and Big Macintosh had settled themselves comfortably into a carriage headed to home. While the mare looked out of the window and gazed longingly at the swirling scenery, her stallion brother tended to any cuts and grazes she may have garnered, taking extra care not to earn a powerful bucking to the head. The professor, however, was in deep thought.

“Whatcha thinkin’ ‘bout, Prof.?” Applejack piped up loudly. The human remained unflinched.

“Ah, it’s nothing worth your worry, Miss Applejack.”

“Aw, shoot, you don’ need those formal words a’ yours, an' ah don’t need ta be called Miss. Jus’ Applejack, though mah closest friends call me AJ.”

“As you wish. I’m going to have a look around the train. I shouldn’t be too long.”

“Alrighty, then.” With this, Layton stepped out of the compartment, already with a destination in mind.

He headed swiftly for the rear of the train, preparing himself for opening Trixie’s secret compartment. He reached the end, finding a somewhat different picture standing before him. Some questions needed to be answered.

Puzzle 024

“She seems to have a fascination with this type of art. However, there seems to be something wrong with one of the blue circles. I’d be willing to venture that the offending circle is the key to gain access to Trixie’s room. But which circle is it?”

A little deduction later, and the panelling slid away in its familiar fashion.

“Will you cease intruding on Trixie?!” The unicorn didn’t even turn her head from the mirror, she could tell it was the professor. The human was very concentrated on the blue pony, but he noticed something he hadn’t on the first visit, an unmistakeable smell. He sniffed the air, confirming his suspicions.

“Have you been swimming recently, Miss Trixie?”

“What is it to you if the Great and Powerful Trixie likes to dominate the ocean as she does everything else?” The professor furrowed his brow.

“It must be quite a distance to the ocean.”

“Pah! Two days of solid travel can’t keep the Great and Powerful Trixie from her objective!”

“Very well, then. I shall leave you to the rest of your journey.”

“As you wish, Professor Hershel Layton. Be gone with you.” Layton turned for the door, ready to exit, when...

“You haven’t told anypony of Trixie’s planned return, have you?” The man in the hat turned back again.

“Of course not. A gentleman always keeps his word.” Layton headed for the door again, sliding the panelling behind him.

As he walked calmly back towards Applejack and Big Mac’s room, he espied a growing dot from the sky through the window. Squinting closely, he could make out a bird-shaped silhouette marked against the sky. The professor opened the window as Owloysius flew ever closer to the carriage, reaching out his hands to catch the tiring bird.

“Ah, Owloysius, how are you?” Layton smiled. Owloysius panted slightly, winded from catching up with the train.

“Hoo...”

“You seem exhausted. Let’s get you back to our carriage. You can rest yourself there.”

“He seems ta be carryin’ a note, Prof.” Applejack pointed out the more obvious of the owl’s predicament.

“Eeyup,” the large stallion agreed.

“Let us see. It must be from Miss Sparkle.” Hershel unravelled the scroll.

“Dear Professor Layton,

Please disembark the train when it reaches Canterlot. Princess Celestia requests your appearance. I’ll be on the platform waiting for you, Applejack and Big Macintosh.

Yours sincerely,

Twilight Sparkle and Spike”

“It seems the Princesses request our attention. We are to leave the train at Canterlot.”

“That don’ sound good. Why would Princess Celestia wanna see us?”

“I’ve got this feeling this regards you and your friends, Applejack. I think a little research will be needed. Please tell me of your experiences with the Elements of Harmony.”

“You sure? It’s a long tale.”

“We have time. Please, go ahead.” With that, Applejack told the honest truth about the rise and fall of Nightmare Moon.

“I thought Princess Luna’s speech pattern was a little rigid.”

“You shoulda seen her when she came fer Nigh’mare Night,” laughed the orange pony. After this brief break, Applejack continued as Canterlot’s host mountain stepped out of the clouds.

Solutions 3

Puzzle 020

Thanks to Venn for finding the second solution.

Puzzle 021

The professor must head west.

If it takes 4 hours to get to Dodge from Canterlot, and 7 hours from Ponyville, that means it must take 3 hours to get from Ponyville to Canterlot. If it takes 10 hours to travel from Canterlot to Appleloosa, then the entire journey must take 13 hours. If you needed to arrive in Appleloosa at 10 o’clock, then you must leave Ponyville at 9 o’clock in the previous half-day.

9 o’clock on a watch is equivalent to west on a compass, so that is the direction in which the professor must go.

Puzzle 022

Zapapples.

Puzzle 23

Using this route, only one button is pressed. The one point to remember about this puzzle is that you must press a button to access Applejack at the centre. Once Layton found the route, he needn’t remember the path, just to not cross any buttons unless he was within sight of Applejack and had only one button to cross in order to reach her.

Puzzle 024

The last circles on each of the rows and columns are made up of the contents of the circles above or to the left. However, if they share an identical shape, i.e. a yellow circle at the top, then they cancel out in the resulting circle.
The indicated circle is wrong, because it should have the circle shown in white in order to achieve the right answer in its row and column.

Puzzle 025

My name alone, total the acronym – Hershel Layton
H = 8, L = 12, Total = 20
Next turn forever on its side – the infinity symbol.
∞ turned on its side = 8
Finally, a baker’s dozen five-fold, less a pair.
13 x 5 = 65, 65 – 2 = 63
The code is 20-8-63.

Solutions 4

Puzzle 026

50 bits.

If the stadium is 50 rows with 80 seats per row, then there must be 4,000 seats altogether. Sapphire Shores is donating 50,000 bits towards the set cost of the 4,000 tickets, working out at 12 bits and 50 cents’ discount per seat.
If the aim is to reduce the cost per ticket to each attendant by 25% (12 bits and 50 cents), then the original 100% ticket price must be 50 bits.

Puzzle 027

From the beginning tile, travelling the bishop’s path (much like in chess) means moving diagonally. It doesn’t matter in which of the two directions as long as all 4 edges of the grid are touched. After returning to the start, the diagonal movement (the “bishop’s curse”) no longer applies, and it is a straight shot for the exit tile.
What Twilight found most mocking was the shape of the path, which resembles the diamonds of Rarity’s cutie mark.

Puzzle 028

124 different routes.

Interestingly enough, you don’t have to count every single path to come up with an answer, as the patterns are repeated four-fold. For the mathematically-minded, you don’t even have to trace a single path. Pascal’s triangle can be applied to each destination. For example, from the centre R to any of the far points on the panel, there is only 1 path. To one of the Y tiles either side, there are 5 different solutions, and to reach the next Y tile from the centre, you can apply 10 different solutions, etc.

Puzzle 029

This is the most direct route across the ballroom.

Puzzle 030

The trick here is not necessarily to work backwards, but to find the one button that cannot be accessed from anywhere else. Working backwards, however, is simpler. Both of these ways can then be worked forward to arrive at an answer.

Puzzle 031

This all becomes much easier when you realise that the first move is to colour the central square yellow.

Solutions 5

Puzzle 032

0 percent.

If the other 39 houses had received the correct post, and if Derpy had made sure to deliver post to each of the 40 houses, that would mean the complainant had to have received the correct mail.

Puzzle 033

The key here is to determine the position of the shape to contain 9 squares. Considering it is an 8 x 9 grid and there are numbers blocking it from being a 9 x 1 shape, this means that it must be a 3 x 3 square. The rest is a little easier from there.

Puzzle 034

Attach the belt to wheel B.

If the red wheel is turning clockwise, the objective is to turn the green wheel clockwise also. This means that the wheels touching the green wheel must turn anti-clockwise. Working from the red wheel down, the wheel with the belt hanging off it would turn anti-clockwise. Considering the belt cannot be twisted, it must be attached at the other end to wheel B.

Puzzle 035

There must be 14 hedgehogs.

The key to this puzzle is finding out what the third type of animal is. In this puzzle, I chose snakes. As snakes have no legs, hedgehogs have 4 and chickens have 2, 20 chickens' legs from the total leaves 56 hedgehog legs, belonging to 14 hedgehogs.

Puzzle 036

Tracing out the path beforehand would reveal that there could only be one answer.

Puzzle 037

Puzzle 038

Your answer is that of the two crossed-out bulbs. The blue line tells of the way through the maze.

Puzzle 039

This is one possible answer. Providing the shapes are of the same size, shape and rotation and that they fit snugly into the bridge, then it is a valid answer.