Inhuman

Chapter 6: New Friends

The library was buzzing with activity by 7 o'clock the next morning, and there were no signs that anyone noticed the escapade by Zachary in the middle of the night.

Speaking of Zachary, the human was still in dreamland, his body strewn all over the place as he tossed and turned on the mattress on the floor.

However, the noise that radiated throughout the library, particularly the sound of hooves clopping against wood, couldn't help but awake him before long.

"Zach!  You have to get up!  The chariot that the Princess is sending will be here in less than an hour!"

Zachary's eyes fluttered open as he registered the sound of an annoyed female voice.  A tired frown marred itself on his face, as he sat up in the mattress.

"Ugh, what time is it?"

He was there at the party; he knew what time the chariot was supposed to come.  It was a one-way ticket to Canterlot Castle, and there wasn't going to be another one.

Last night had left him a little irritated.  He hated that stallion; he truly did.  And now there was a whole new set of objectives that he really didn't want to fulfill, but it wasn't like he had a choice.

It had left him in a foul mood.

Still, the job itself shouldn't cause him any trouble.  Already, he couldn't believe how easy it was.  Two days, and he had gained the trust of Twilight Sparkle.  He was supposed to rendezvous with Shadow Star anyway, but he just expected to tell him that he was making progress.  He didn't think he'd already gained her friendship, and moreover, he didn't think he'd actually get an invitation to the castle this early.

"Are you up?!  We don't have time for this!" Twilight's voice rang out from downstairs.  He sighed and lifted himself off the mattress.  He hated to have to do this to Twilight; she was innocent... she wasn't involved.

He lifted up his shirt and took a whiff.  He had worn the same clothes non-stop for the last two days, and they were starting to get a little ripe.  Last night, he had talked to Rarity about getting him a new wardrobe, but clearly that wasn't necessary.  He wouldn't have any use for this set a clothes after today, and it wasn't like it mattered whether he offended the Princesses or not.

"Yeah, I'm up!  I'll be down in a minute!" he called back.

Do or die time.  Today was going to bring about big changes.

He proceeded down the staircase; there was no smell of breakfast this time, even if what they ate he didn't consider breakfast.  At least, not anymore.

He noticed Spike running around the library with a stack of books in his claws.  The little dragon didn't even have time to notice and then look suspiciously at him.

When his right foot stepped down the last step, he noticed a standard sized scroll underneath it that he had stepped on.  Raising an eyebrow, he lifted the sheet up to his face.

They were notes of some kind, scribbled down slightly illegibly.  Poring over them a little bit closer, he noticed that it seemed to be a description of human behavior that Twilight had observed so far.  The notes were apparently taken down by the unicorn herself; she mentioned the little episode with the garbage yesterday as a facet of human diet.

Too bad it was all false.  Honestly, Twilight really hadn't gotten much right, though that was probably because he wasn't exactly indicative of normal human behavior.

It creeped him out how she took these notes however, and he got a strange feeling that he was being regarded as some kind of science experiment.

He folded up the scroll and stuck it in his back pocket for later.  He really should've acted more like a normal human.  No use in Twilight having this around, not with...

"Good morning, Zach!" Twilight said hastily.  She was rushing throughout the library, taking scrolls and sheets of paper off shelves.  There were a couple saddlebags strapped to her sides, and she was putting plenty of scrolls into them.

"Probably more notes she's taken about me..." he thought to himself, and he wondered where exactly she would have the time to do that.  Was she watching whatever he did, and writing about it later when he wasn't noticing?

The clock on the wall read 7:30, but Zachary was all ready for the trip.  Twilight looked downright in a hurry, on the other hand.

"I'm glad you're finally up.  We gotta hurry!" Twilight called to him.

"What's the big rush anyway?"

The lavender mare paused in stuffing another scroll into her saddle bag, and stared at Zachary like he was crazy.

"What's the big rush?!  Do you understand what's going on today?!  There's a very important announcement that Princess Celestia is going to make to us, and it's a matter of Equestrian security!  I need to be prepared for every single possibility of what has gone wrong.  And then there's you!  I'm presenting a brand new species to royalty today, and I need to show that I'm serious about my discovery!"

She looked him over, and narrowed her eyes at him.

"And you!  You're far too casual about this whole thing!  I mean, just look at you!  You're wearing the same clothes three days in a row!  Don't they stink?!  You're going to be meeting royalty, for Celestia's sake!  You should at least be presentable!"

"Well, I don't really have any options, y'know.  This is my own set of clothes for the time being, and I can't exactly walk around without any like you ponies..."

Twilight grimaced.

"Alright, fine.  But, at least be on your behavior when you're meeting the Princesses.  You need to make a good impression, especially during this important time!"

Her horn glowed for a second, and her saddlebags zipped close through the use of her magic.  She looked over, and noticed Zachary was giving her an odd look as she used her magic.  Come to think of it, he had done that before.

"We need to meet the rest of my friends in the town square in approximately ten minutes.  A chariot will arrive at eight o'clock sharp, and we should arrive in Canterlot by noon."

She opened the door through levitation.

"Are you ready?"

Zachary looked at her, a condescending look on his face.

"Does Kobe play for the Lakers?"

Twilight shot him an odd look.

"Huh?  What are you-?  I don't..." she said, fumbling over herself as she tried to work out the meaning of what Zachary just said.

"Nothing.  You'd have to be a human to get it... Anyway, let's just go..."

Twilight frowned as he excused himself out the door, before she turned the baby dragon, who had finished moving books and was now reclining in a chair in the kitchen.

"Goodbye, Spike!  We should be back by no later than tomorrow, but if circumstances force us to be there longer I'll send you a note!  Be sure to let Owloysius in for the night, and keep the library neat.  Oh, and don't stay up too late!" she called out to the dragon, who waved a nonchalant claw at her.

"Yeah, yeah.  I got it, Twi.  Just get going already.  I can cover this..." he said casually.

Twilight shot him a stern glance from the doorway, but he didn't notice.  She wanted to reprimand him so badly, but she was running late, and she didn't have any other choice.

"Alright, Spike.  I'm trusting you..." she warned, before she trotted out the door and closed it behind her, leaving the baby dragon alone in the library.

She cantered along the streets of Ponyville away from the library, catching up with the human.  He seemed a little out there today.  A little moody.

Zachary didn't say a word the entire way to the town square, and Twilight wished he had.  The awkward silence that had fallen over the two of them was unbearable, but she couldn't think of anything to say.

Something seemed to be bothering him, but when she tried to ask, he just reassured her that everything was fine.  Despite that, he continued to be far more reserved than when he was at the party.

"Twilight!"

Once the human and unicorn entered the town square, Twilight noticed that most of her friends were already there.  Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy were all present, waving a hoof at her.  Rainbow Dash was the only one who had not arrived yet.

"Hello, everybody!  Where's Rainbow Dash?" she greeted, mingling in with the group of ponies.  Zachary fell into place behind her.

"You know Rainbow Dash, darling.  She is likely still sleeping the day away at home.  She'll be late, regardless of whether or not it's for an important meeting such as this..." Rarity huffed.

It was 7:50, which meant that the royal guards would be arriving with chariots no more than ten minutes later.  They might even arrive a little early.

Twilight struck up conversation with her friends for the time being.  Zachary himself seemed to try and act as normal as possible, but the girls would often ask him questions and he would only answer in subdued, one-word answers.

Ten minutes later, the five ponies pointed in awe at the sky, where there was a trio of golden chariots descending upon Ponyville, each them being pulled by two of Celestia's royal guard.

There was a big gust of wind as they landed in the town square, breaking out into a gallop as they folded in their wings and tried to stop as soon as possible.

They snorted proudly, thrusting their golden-clad chests out as the chariots laid before the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and one human.

The stoic pegasus guards saluted the Princess' personal student, and Twilight chuckled at their display.  Waving a hoof at her friends, she opened the doors of the first chariot.

"Wait for me!"

A rainbow blue surged through the marketplace, coming to a halt at its edge.  Twilight frowned at the presence of Rainbow Dash, who was slightly sweaty and breathing heavily.

"I'm.... I'm here!"

"You're lucky, Rainbow!  The chariots just got here, and you didn't get left behind!" Twilight lectured.  Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"What can I say, I overslept.  But I'm here now, so what does it matter?" she cried, trying to defend herself.  She stole one glance at Zachary, before she leaned against the second chariot.

"I'm not riding in the same chariot as him..."

"Rainbow!"

"Just forget it.  Someone else ride with him, because I'm not doing it!" she demanded, and Twilight knew that reasoning with her would be pointless.

"Well, okay.  The Princess sent us three chariots, and with seven of us, that means that one extra pony will have to sit in one of the chariots.  How about... Pinkie and Applejack, you go with Rainbow Dash.  Fluttershy, would you mind pairing with Rarity?  And..." she trailed off, looking around at her friends.  None of them seemed to object so far.  She looked at Zachary.

"I'll go with Zach.  Does that sound good?"

"Mmm-hmm!" Pinkie hummed cheerfully, while the rest of the ponies nodded.  Twilight smiled at them, climbing into the first chariot, while her friends went off to their own seats in the others.

Zachary was staring suspiciously at the chariot.

"Come on!  It'll be fine!"

"We're actually going to be flying in this thing?" he asked.  Nonetheless, he crawled into the chariot apprehensively and took a seat next to Twilight.

The two chariots next to theirs took off, and Zachary gaped in amazement as theirs followed suit, taking to the skies with an amount of grace that he had never seen before.

Taking to the sky like this was something that Zachary had never experienced before.  The way the chariot moved effortlessly through the skies thanks to the incredible strength and skill of the two pegasi that drove it.

He grunted as the chariot lurched suddenly and he grasped the railing on the side to brace himself.  Twilight just hummed a cheery tune, seemingly unperturbed by the unstable chariot.

The other chariots had pulled away from theirs, and Zachary could see them in the distance.  However, what he was really paying attention to was the city of Canterlot, which was becoming much clearer to him.

"Wait, wait, wait.  Is that Canterlot?!" he asked incredulously.  The skyline of the city looked so perfect that it seemed like it went on a postcard in the middle of a fairytale.

Most of the buildings were spectacular in their own right, but what really stood out was the castle in the middle of it all.  It was unlike anything he had ever seen before.  It was a whole mess of colors bathed in an alabaster white, with multiple towers adorning the standard of Equestria.

Twilight giggled.

"I imagine you don't have anything like it where you come from, right?"

"We have cities... but they're a lot different than this.  I don't think I've ever seen architecture like this before.  Honestly, this city looks straight out of a fairytail to me..." he whispered.

"Hmm..." Twilight said wistfully.  She was happy; Zachary's previous bad mood seemed to be withering away as the day became older, which was probably for the best if he was to meet the Princesses.

"What if she doesn't know how to send me back?" he asked.  Again, he continued to pretend that he needed to go back to his world, but Twilight didn't pick up on it.

She frowned at him.

"Well.... she may not.  But I'm sure she'll do everything in her power to make sure you're sent home safely!  You can trust Princess Celestia; she's very reassuring!" Twilight said.

Zachary smiled lightly at her, before he noticed something surrounding the city.

"Now, uh... what is that?" he asked.  Twilight looked at him oddly, though as they came closer it was apparent that he was talking about the magenta bubble that was encompassing the city.

"That must be the barrier that Shadow Star was talking about.  No wonder they can't get in; it looks complicated."

"Oh!  I didn't tell you!  There has been some increased security over the city of Canterlot as of late.  You see, Equestria's capital was not too long ago invaded by a race known as the Changelings.  They're creatures that feed off of love and can impersonate the ponies you love.  So Princess Celestia and I developed a spell to shield Canterlot in my brother's stead.  That way, we can prevent something like the Changeling invasion from happening again!  The barrier is impenetrable, and any Changeling that touches it will be instantly repelled!  Fortunately, since we have a royal escort, the barrier will let us in no problem!" Twilight explained.

Zachary fidgeted in his seat, though Twilight didn't notice.  The purple unicorn continued to hum that cheerful little tune, completely unaware of what was at stake.

At approximately eleven, they arrived.  Zachary shuddered as he, Twilight, and the chariot phased through the barrier like it was nothing.  The chariot continued to fly above the skyline of Canterlot, and when Zachary looked down, he saw a multitude of high-class ponies milling about the picturesque city.

The chariot took a sudden turn down, and the two pegasi guards landed the golden vehicle in the center of the castle courtyard.  The other two chariots had already arrived.

Zachary looked up at the castle that he was to enter.  He took a blunt out of his pocket, and lit it.

Ghastly Gorge was likely the least populated area of Equestria.  By that, it meant that no ponies lived within in at all, and nopony definitely came around there with the exception of the occasional daredevil pegasus.

That meant it was the perfect place to make a hideout.

If anypony had bothered to look, they would find a cave directly on the southeast side of the gorge.  It was the biggest cave within all of Equestria, but what's more, it housed a labyrinthine underground complex that stretched on for several miles.

Within the cave, Shadow Star paced within a particularly wide area of the underground complex, looking at the forces that he had to work with.

The black earthpony had met with Zachary the previous night, and had learned that he had a direct invitation to Canterlot Castle.  The barrier would be down today, which meant they were to leave immediately.  It had come as a surprise to Shadow Star; he didn't think that they were to leave this early.  Zachary was in instrumental piece, and if he couldn't get into the castle, then they couldn't proceed.

As such, he had twenty ponies and three-hundred humans to work with.

The fighting force of three-hundred humans was to be teleported to the capital city of Canterlot.  That was what the twenty ponies were for.  A force of that many humans was likely to draw attention on the way to Canterlot, but if they were teleported in, it would be a sneak attack.

Normally, teleporting such a large group over a distance like that was impossible.  But with the power of the twenty unicorns that were gathered, it could be done.  The organization had developed a special spell like that, and it could even nullify the human's.... weakness.... to magic.

The crown didn't have any idea they were coming.  They barely even knew they existed.

There wasn't much to work with though.  Twenty ponies and three-hundred humans were likely not enough to take the city of Canterlot, especially fresh off an invasion.  He knew this, but their leader didn't seem to grasp it.

He wasn't the one who would be leading them, however.

Shadow Star looked over at the twenty ponies.  Like him, they were dressed in blood-red robes with a symbol of a magic circle with thorns sticking out of it.  Their faces were concealed by their hoods, and one couldn't tell their gender, fur color, or cutie mark from their uniform.

These were his spies.

He didn't lead "armies" into battle.  Well, nopony had within their organization before, but that wasn't the point.  Shadow Star was the lead spy within the Arcane Ascension.  It was his job to scout and research potential.... targets, as well as brief anybody under his jurisdiction.  Nothing more.  These twenty ponies were a part of his special squad.  They would not be doing any fighting.

The three hundred humans behind them though; that was a different story.  They were the main bulk of the fighting force for this time.

Yet he was not impressed.

The humans were not dressed like the ponies; there were no blood-red robes.  They were mostly dressed in old, worn-out clothes.

For this group to actually succeed in taking down Canterlot Castle would be an absolute miracle.  They were not equipped well.  Most of them were armed with cheap knives or other sharp objects such as axes that the organization could get a hold of.  A few of them were armed with what the humans called "guns", but that didn't make anything better.  The Arcane Ascension had an astounding lack of weaponry at this stage in their lifetime, and it was very difficult for them to get their hooves on guns since they rarely had access to the human's world.  When they did happen to get some, they were usually quite old and out-dated by the human's standards, or there wasn't enough ammo anyway.

This group was ill-equipped, ill-trained, and outnumbered.  Against the Canterlot Royal Guard, it would take a miracle.

Shadow Star had talked with the leader about this, yet he learned that she didn't care.  The more he thought about it, the more he realized that this was likely a ploy for attention.  To make themselves known, and that they weren't ready to hide anymore.

She wanted to show Celestia something.  Why, Shadow Star didn't know, but he knew their leader wasn't all there in the head.

Yet, as long as their mole was still in place, they would be fine.  They would no longer have the need to hide anymore.

"Lambda!  Hurry up!"  Shadow Star called out, into the darkness of the cave.

Footsteps echoed against the ground, and out of the darkness a human came into view.

She was a young woman around Zachary's age.  Unlike the rest of the humans there, she was dressed in the standard robe of their organzation., to show her status as being somewhat above that of the other humans within their militia.

She was tall, closing in on six feet, which gave her the ability to tower over almost any pony.  Her blonde hair hung out of her hood, but other than that her face was concealed underneath.

"Yes, Shadow Star..." she said humorlessly.

"It is time..." the earthpony said.

"Your Majesties, they have arrived..."  a royal guard said.  He bowed before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, as the grand double doors to the throne room opened before her.  The two Princesses looked at each other cautiously.

"Princess Celestia!"

The Princesses heard the galloping of six sets of hooves as they rushed into the throne room, but their eyes were really locked on the strange, bipedal creature that entered the room at a much slower pace.

"Sister, that is-"

"Hush, Luna..."

"Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student!  How good it is to see you!  And your friends as well!" Celestia began cordially, while Luna did nothing to mask her discontent.

"We got here as fast as we could, Princess Celestia!" Twilight said proudly, unzipping her saddlebags with her magic, but Princess Celestia held up a hoof.

"I understand.  Thank you, thank you all.  But you will not be needing anything you have packed in those saddlebags, Twilight Sparkle," she said lightly.

Twilight pursed her lips as she zipped up the bag once again.  Behind her, Zachary had finished walking up and put a hand on her withers, looking up at the Princesses with an unreadable expression.

And then, he bowed at them.

Celestia smiled.

"Thank you for your show of respect, but there is no need to bow like that.  We are here to talk as equals.  Forgive me for being rude, but I trust that you are the being that Twilight spoke of in her letter?" she asked.

"I am.  And I'm sure you are Princess Celestia.  Twilight seems to talk a lot about you..." he commented.  Twilight spluttered something out, and a blush creeped onto her face.

Princess Celestia laughed, a quiet, classy tinkle.

"Yes.  You are correct.  I am Princess Celestia of Equestia, and beside me is my dear sister Luna.  On our behalf, we would like to welcome you to Equestria, and hope your stay is a wonderful experience."

"If it is not too much trouble, I would like to return to my home as soon as possible..." Zachary said, looking Celestia directly in the eye.  The Princess' eyes went downcast a little, but they twinkled with light after a few seconds.

"Indeed.  Twilight Sparkle mentioned that you believe you are from another world.  As the regent of Equestria, I have ties and alliances all across the world of Equus, yet in all my time I have never heard of an intelligent race such as your own.  The idea of you coming from another world may not be as far-fetched as one would think.  Yet..." she trailed off.

"We do not understand the method of how you came to be here.  However, I will do all in my power to help you return safety to wherever you came from," Celestia pledged.  Twilight shot Zach a knowing smile.

"Wait, so he is from another world!?  How am I gonna throw parties for all the humans in his world!" Pinkie cried indignantly, while Twilight grumbled in annoyance at her antics.

"Land sakes, that's unbelievable!" Applejack cried.

The ponies began to chatter amongst themselves, but when Princess Celestia held up a hoof, they all fell silent.

"Unfortunately, we must transition this conversation to a much more serious subject.  This is also the reason why I have called you here, as well as our guest..."

"I would like you all to listen carefully to what we have to say, without interrupting us.  Luna, would you care to give them the full details?"

Luna cleared her throat, and spoke for the first time.

"Perhaps you have already heard of this, perhaps not.  But the reason we have called the bearers of the Elements of Harmony here is because of a series of strange events that have occurred over the past month.  Ponies have been disappearing, vanishing without a trace," she began ominously.

The Element Bearers gasped in surprise, and Fluttershy put a hoof over her mouth in horror.

"O-Oh my... t-that's awful..."

Zachary looked at the Princess calmly.

"They know... those humans have not been stealthy enough..."

"Princess, that's horrible.  But, what does it have to do with us?"

"Everything, Twilight Sparkle," Luna continued.  "These are not indiscriminate disappearances.  Five of them have occurred this month, and the victims all have one thing in common.  All of them have been unicorns, and all of them have been magically talented unicorns at that..." she finished.

The girls and Zachary murmured amongst themselves, while Twilight struggled to think clearly.  Magically talented unicorns were disappearing?  What could that mean?  It was then she noticed that all of her friends were staring at her with concern.

"To top it all off, there have been rumors floating around of a strange creature that has appeared during the case of every single disappearance.  We believe it was involved with the disappearances, but we did not have any proof of its existence.  That is... until we caught it on camera..."

Twilight's mouth went dry, and the murmuring amongst the Elements got louder.

"They were spotted..." Zachary thought.

"What could a ruffian like that have to gain by abducting magically talented unicorns?" Rarity asked.  The others murmured in agreement.

"We do not know, but we do know what the creature looks like, and that is the most important reason of why we have gathered you here..."

"It is tall, much taller than normal ponies..."

The girl's eyes widened.

"It stands on two legs..."

"It lacks a tail..."

"And it was dressed in blood-red robe.  Unfortunately, we could not make out its physical features beyond that..." Luna finished.

The Element Bearers stood there in stunned silence as they tried to process the information they had been given.  Their eyes flicked back and forth between Zachary and the Princesses, shock and disbelief in their eyes as they matched the descriptions.

Twilight herself seemed to have worked two-and-two together, and she discovered why she had been called to Canterlot.

Her legs were shaking as a look of fear entered her face, but when she looked over at Zachary, he looked just as confused and dumbfounded as she did.

"P-Princess... are you really insinuating what I think you are?!" she asked in a light whisper, but it had the same effect as if she had screamed.

"Yes, Twilight Sparkle!  We believe that-"

"Silence, Luna!" Celestia barked, before her voice took on a much more gentle and motherly tone.

"Twilight, we understand that this is a very hard thing to deal with, but we believe that you are next in line.  You are the most magically gifted unicorn that I know of, and we are just worried about your safety.  We called you up to Canterlot to tell you that I will not let any harm befall you, and also... to take some precautions..."

"B-But... Princess.  Are you really accusing Zach of being the one that abducted all those ponies?" she asked her teacher incredulously.  Zachary's eyes wavered.

"Twilight, we have no intention of doing anything harmful to your new friend, and we do not believe that he is responsible for anything.  Yet, we just want to make sure you are safe.  After seeing him with our own eyes, we believe he has no ill intent, but we just wanted to see him for ourselves.  He is welcome in the castle..."

"She's lying..." Zachary thought to himself.

"Zach..." Twilight began.

"Twilight, I honestly have no idea what she's talking about.  Kidnapping ponies?  Tall creatures that walk on two legs?  That does sound like humans, but I would never do something like that!  I just want to go home!"

"It's alright, Zach!  I believe you... Besides, you've been living with me for the past few days, and at any moment you could've had the perfect opportunity, but you didn't.  I trust you..."

"Yeah, there's no way he could've done something as mean as that!  I mean, he enjoyed my very special Pinkie Pie parties and became friends with us!  He's our friend!"

"U-Um, I don't believe he is the o-one who did such a-awful things!"

"Of course not.  There's no way such a gentlecolt would be in with such riffraff..."

"Well, shoot!  I kin spot a liar a country mile away, and it don't look ta me that Zachie boy here is lyin' one bit..."

Twilight smiled at her friends, especially with Applejack's proclamation.  The Element of Honesty would be sure to pick out a liar.

Rainbow Dash was the only one who hadn't said anything, but when her friends looked at her with pleading stares, she caved in.

"Ugh, fine.  If you girls trust him so much, I will too.  He's our friend, I guess..." she said unhappily.  The other five Element Bearers beamed at her.

Zachary looked pretty moved, and he smiled at them.

"Thanks, you guys..." he said emotionally.  Fluttershy trotted up and nuzzled his side gently, causing the human to smile at the adorable display.

The Princesses looked at each other, and the display of friendship.  If it came at any other time, Celestia would've been proud of her student.

The friends all embraced, and Celestia cleared her throat.

"Yes.  I understand the important of trust among friendship, but I'm still worried about all of you, especially Twilight Sparkle.  You never know when the true culprit could show up for you, and that is why I'd like all to stay in the castle underneath my protection for the time being.  Here..." she levitated a small box and unlatched it, showing five golden necklaces and one golden crown.

"I have brought the Elements of Harmony and would like you all to wear them during your stay during the castle.  Underneath our protection and the protection of the Elements of Harmony, no harm should come to you..." she said, levitating them as they attached the necks of their bearers.

"Well played, Celestia...  The Elements of Harmony do normally keep them safe.  Too bad it isn't enough..."

"I would also like to request one more thing of you... all of you.  Twilight Sparkle, your intelligence would be of great help of us during the investigation of the disappearing ponies.  I humbly request that the six of you help Luna and myself determine the whereabouts of the missing ponies.  As well as you, Zach the Human.  I feel as if you too can be of great help to our investigation!" Celestia said.

The chatting between the ponies increased once again, before Twilight looked at her mentor with an expression of pride and sincerity.

"You can count on us, Princess!  We will not let you down!" she exclaimed, while the other bearers nodded their praise in agreement.

Along with that, Zachary smiled with his new friends.

"Oh my!  I simply do love the Canterlot Dining Hall.  It is the most wonderful place to enjoy a meal!" Rarity gushed, dramatically covering her forehead with a hoof.

The other ponies and Zach laughed at her melodrama.

"Well, that was quite a dinner.  Princess Celestia always has the chefs prepare the best meals when I'm around," Twilight remarked.

It had been quite a day for the group.  They had spent the day getting informed about the curious case of the disappearances, and the more they heard, the more they were convinced it was not Zach.

The human had been entirely helpful during the entire time.  The Princesses even showed him the picture and he had confirmed that it was not a human.

After that, they had a lovely dinner with the Princesses in the Main Dining Hall, where Princess Celestia seemed to warm up to Zachary a little more.

It was now eight o'clock in the evening, and Princess Luna had just left to raise the moon.  They had got a good chuckle out of Zachary when they told him that the Princesses actually raised the sun and the moon, and the look on his face when he actually saw it happen.

Speaking of Zach, he was chatting animatedly with the ponies as they meandered down the corridors to their rooms.

"About time to begin.  Just a little more time..." he thought to himself, and he was beginning to wonder why he was doing this.  I mean, these ponies seemed to genuinely like him, and considered him their friend, so... why?

"Oh yeah!  It's because I'm pretty much bound to the organization and I have no choice!  That's why!" he reminded himself in his thoughts.

"Well, we're all here!" Applejack called out.  The castle was so lavish that all seven of them had their own assigned rooms.  Big rooms, to be exact.

"Come on, silly fillies!  We can waste the night away telling spooooooky ghost stories!" Pinkie chanted, opening the door to her dark room.

The other ponies chuckled, while Fluttershy cowered underneath her own mane.

Zachary laughed, before his eyes panned over to the side.  A Lunar guard just walked right past him, eying him suspiciously as he passed.  He spotted another peeking out of a room at the end of the hall, spying on him.  The girls did not notice.

"Ha ha!  That sounds great, Pinkie!  But I think I'm going to turn in for the night.  We have another long day of investigation ahead of us tomorrow!" Zachary called out.

Pinkie Pie whined.

"Awwwwwww!"

"He's right, Pinkie.  As much fun as we had at dinner, we should really turn in for the night, even though it is pretty early.  I'm sure the Princess wants us up early tomorrow..." Twilight said.

Before they could say anything else, Zachary had opened his door and was already walking inside.

"Well, good night girls!" he called out, to which the ponies waved back at him.  He silently shut the door behind him.

A half-hour later, and the lights were off in the room, with Zachary lying in bed.  He had had to maintain the charade for one more day, behaving like a normal human would upon arrival to Equestria.

The timing was all off right now, but the forces shouldn't be arriving for a couple more hours.  He just needed a chance to move.

He lied in bed, pretending to be asleep.  He knew there were guards watching him right now.  Hopefully, they made the first move.

After ten minutes of agonized waiting, Zachary heard a bristle of movement.  He pretended to be asleep, and gasped in alarm as a hoof covered his mouth so he couldn't cry out, while two more sets of strong hooves wrestled him down and grabbed him.

Wide awake, he looked down as he was being hoisted in the air.  Three of Luna's guards had entered his room silently, and were apparently forcing him off to a place where he could be held.

He continued to struggle in their grasp, as the guards hoisted him out of the room and down the hallway.  After around five minutes of walking, they were in the backside of the courtyard, walking down a set of stairs that led to a much darker, gloomier area.

The rustling of metal reached his ears, as the guards roughly carried him down the stairs.  He had stopped trying to cry out or struggle, and simply allow the guards to take him.

When they came to a halt, he realized that they were in one of the castle's dungeons.  But it was totally empty; not a soul resided in the dozen or so cells. One of the Lunar guards let go of him, opening the first cell on the left.  The remaining two guards glared at the human, before tossing him him in none too gently.

One of the guards forcefully grabbed both of his arms and legs, fitting the shackles on the shackles on the wall against him and locking them tight.  Zachary was now bound in place.

"What are you doing?!" Zachary demanded, as the guard locked the cage and stared at him severely.

"Silence!  You are to speak only when spoken to!  By order of Princess Luna, you are to be detained here until further notice, and the interrogation is complete.  If it is found that you are not dangerous, you will be released immediately!" the guard who had locked him in said.

"You two may return to your stations!  He will not be going anywhere!  I will see to it that Princess Luna is forewarned that the creature is in custody..." the first guard said, before the other two saluted and flew out of the stairway.

The first guard glared roughly at the human, before he too took flight and exited the dungeon, leaving Zachary alone in the dark dungeon...

"Thou speakest the truth?!  Thou hast taken him into custody?!" the Night Princess demanded, as her guard escorted her down into the dungeon.

"Yes, your highness!  He will not be able to cause trouble in his current state, and you may interrogate him at will!" the guard reported.

"Very well then.  Let us hurry!" she ordered, as they raced down the steps.  Celestia would probably kill her for this, but it had to be done.  The human could not be trusted.

However, when Luna breached into the dungeon to confront the human, what she saw shocked her.

Her accompanying guard had told her that they had imprisoned the human in the first cell on the left, but there was no human in the cell.

"What is the meaning of this?!" she demanded, as her guard fell into line.  When he saw the empty cell, he broke code for the first time ever.

"H-He was right here.... I-I swear, your Highness!" he stammered, wondering just what happened.  They had definitely imprisoned him, but the human wasn't here.  And there was no sign of activity either.  The door had been tightly locked just as they had left it, and the shackles hadn't been unlocked either.  They just hung on the wall, silently captivating an invisible being.

Luna steamed.

"Well... go... FIND.... HIM!" she roared at her guard, whose ears flopped against his helmet.  Luna thrust a hoof out, and leaned her head against the bars of the cage.  This made no sense.

When she was just about to move onto the next step, something even stranger happened.  The Princess heard the thick crackle of magical energy, and nagging thought pervaded her being.

Leaving her guard behind, she zoomed up the stairs as fast as she could, the crackling noise getting louder as she reached the courtyard.

Her mouth dropped as she realized what was happening.  The pinkish barrier bubble protecting Canterlot was fluctuating wildly.  And she didn't know how.

The Princess watched as it continued to fluctuate, before it finally fizzled out completely...