Prologue: Thunder on the Horizon
“Thank you for your help. If you remember anything else, you know where to find me.”
Twilight sighed as she left the cottage's front stoop and went out into the street where her brother was waiting. She had visited over a dozen houses, conducted lengthy interviews, and spoken with any number of ponies in an effort to get answers. An effort that seemed in vain.
“Anything,” Shining asked.
She shook her head. “They didn't seem to know anything. Just like all the others, they wanted answers I don't have. I wish I could tell them something, anything, that might help them.”
He nuzzled her. “I know, Twily.”
“How could this have happened? Who's been doing this? Why? Why foals?”
“I don't know, but we're going to find out.”
A guardspony trotted up to them and saluted Shining. “Princess Celestia awaits the both of you at the Golden Oaks library.”
Twilight let out a second sigh. She didn't know how she didn't expect it. Celestia came, personally, for regular reports every Wednesday evening and Twilight always made a point of meeting her mentor and sovereign at the door, but, with all of the work she had been doing, she had forgotten. Between the stress of the case and the lack of sleep, she had been forgetting a lot.
Shining followed her to the hollowed-out tree that served as Ponyville's Golden Oaks library. Several guardsponies had set up a perimeter but only loitered about it, managing to look simultaneously attentive and bored. There was no threat here in peaceful Ponyville. Unless, of course, a pony was under the age of ten.
She pushed the door open and entered the main library. The lower levels were public while the upper levels were her private apartments. Her paced slowed to a shuffle as she neared the door to the private meeting room where she usually discussed the case with the Princess. Hesitating, she opened the door and entered. Celestia was not in her usual spot, at the table with a cup of tea. A quick glance revealed the white Alicorn curled up in a corner. The closed eyes, limp wings, and deep breaths indicated her deep sleep.
Curious, Twilight trotted over. “Princess?”
Celestia's right ear flicked as she mumbled.
Twilight gently poked the Alicorn. “Princess Celestia?”
Celestia snored deeply and shifted.
“Princess, wake up.” Twilight placed both fore-hooves against the princess' withers and shoved.
With a snort, Celestia opened her eyes, “Oh, Twilight.” She stood and yawned widely. “I must have dozed off.”
Twilight was shocked at Celestia's appearance. The powerful Alicorn looked worn. Her cheeks were sunken and there were dark circles around her eyes. Her mane and tail, usually shimmering as they wafted in the magic that emanated from her, hung limply. Her feathers, always neatly arrayed, were a mess.
“Princess, are you okay? You don't look well.”
Celestia yawned again. “I'm fine. I haven't been sleeping well. Ponyville isn't the only place that foals have been disappearing from. I've had to dispatch inspectors to Fillydelphia, Baltimare, Manehatten, and as far west as Appleloosa and have been running myself ragged collecting reports.
“Have you made any progress here?”
Twilight shook her head. “I'm sorry, princess. Nopony around here has seen anything. It's like the foals have just turned invisible. You would think that somepony, anypony, would have seen something or heard something but...” she sighed and shook her head again “...nothing.”
Celestia lowered her head as her ears fell back. “That's exactly what I feared. All of my investigators and inspectors are having the same problem while parents grow more frantic by the day. It seems I'm going to have to call in outside help.”
“Outside help? From where? Griffonia? Zebrafrica?”
Celestia shook her head. “I suspect that there's a lot more to this than there seems to be.”
“Princess, what are you talking about?”
Celestia turned to Twilight with a hard stare. “I need to know that, when I bring this special investigator in, he'll have your unwavering assistance.”
“Princess, am I being bumped?”
“It's nothing personal, Twilight.” Celestia was quick to reassure her. “It's been three months and you've made no progress. I know you're trying your best but he's better. I need to know if he'll have your support when he comes.”
There was no mistaking the disappointment in her voice. “Yes. I'll help him if you need me to.”
Celestia sighed. “Do you want to do this?”
“Honestly? No. I can't help but feel a little betrayed, but, if it will go towards ending this nightmare, then I'll do whatever it takes.”
“Thank you...for being honest. I can't tell you how many yes-mares bob their heads either because they fear me or because they want something. You're the only one I can count on to tell me what's really going on inside your mind.” She stretched again and started for the door. “I'll place the call tonight. It will take him a few days to get here but I'll be here when he arrives to help you and he get acquainted and start working. Until then, continue your work. I'll be sending Shining Armor back to the Crystal Empire the day after tomorrow. I want you to have all of the information you've collected ready for him when he arrives.”
“Yes, princess.”
Celestia turned and gave Twilight a smile. “Thank you. I know this stings your pride a little bit.”
“It has nothing to do with my pride. I can't help but feel like a failure.”
“You haven't failed, Twilight. Remember what you wrote to me about Applejack learning to accept help from others? I need you to accept my help.”
She frowned but nodded.
“Thank you, Twilight. I appreciate you and everything you do for Equestria.” Celestia opened the door and exited. “I'll be back in a few days.”
Twilight nodded and closed to door, resting her head against the doorframe.
Shining trotted up to her. “Everything okay?”
“I've been bumped.” She confessed. “Celestia's bringing in some sort of special investigator.”
“You don't sound happy about it.”
“Should I be? I've always had the answers, I've always been the one to figure out the solution. Now, Celestia needs to call in somepony because I've been stumped. Excuse me for feeling a little put-out.”
Shining wrapped a fore-leg around his sister. “Hey, none of that. You aren't a failure, you haven't made a mistake, but you do need help and Celestia has gotten it for you.”
Chapter 1: Never That Easy
Having received a letter from the princess the day before, informing her of the investigator's imminent arrival, Twilight made certain that she looked her absolute best. It wasn't that she wanted to look impressive but she didn't want to embarrass the princess by meeting this mysterious individual filthy, smelly, and half-asleep.
She retired early that night, making certain to get enough sleep so that she wouldn't be groggy the next day. She bathed, making sure to brush out her coat, mane, and tail. She wanted to appear professional and make the best possible impression on her...superior? Partner? Whatever he was, he wasn't her assistant.
Downstairs, Spike was hard at work cleaning everything from Top to Bottom and back again. She had told him that she didn't want a speck of dust anywhere near the library and she knew her dragon assistant would fulfill her wishes.
Putting her mane back in a sensible bun, she made certain that there wasn't a stray hair out of place before heading downstairs to the second level. Spike was nearly done with his cleaning, becoming filthy in the process.
“Be sure to take a bath before the princess arrives.” She instructed him as she went over to her desk.
“Yeah, sure thing.”
She had taken notes on everything. Each page contained the name and description of each missing foal and their families, the circumstances surrounding each disappearance, and a detailed written record of each statement.
She sorted the pages into chronological order, then decided on alphabetical, then changed her mind again for numerical by age. Finally, she settled on the original chronological, secured them with a paperclip and set the stack aside. She turned to her photographs. Some depicted the houses the foals and their families lived in as well as the surrounding area. Others were of the foals' bedrooms, where they had been last seen, and were from every conceivable angle. She had Pinkie to thank for that. The excitable Earth pony was able to do some pretty amazing things for not being a unicorn or trained in magic. The mare seemed to exist to defy the laws of physics in every possible manner and Twilight had even heard tales of her breaking dimensional barriers.
Carefully, she labeled each photograph with a short, detailed, description and stacked them into two neat piles. She set aside a map of Ponyville, quills, ink, and parchment for the investigator's use. She glanced at her clock and noticed that it had only been three hours since she had awoken.
Three hours...and Celestia wasn't due for another six...and this investigator could show up at any point after that. What was she going to do for the next six hours?
x----x
For the past six hours, she had done nothing but sit at her desk and slave over her notes. Spike had brought her a sandwich, which sat untouched, and lit the lamps in the room. The sun vanished, replaced by Luna's moon, and still the princess did not arrive.
Finally, something urged Twilight to look out her window and she saw the princess' chariot fly past. She stood and stretched. This was it.
Trotting downstairs, she opened the door and was immediately confronted with Celestia's larger-than-life build. She glanced around but, aside from the usual contingent of guards, the princess was alone.
“Where is he?”
“He'll be here in a moment. He said he was having some trouble setting up a stable geosynchronous orbit, something about the odd revolutions of the planet.”
Twilight blinked, only vaguely understanding a third of what the princess had said. “Okay.”
Celestia stepped past Twilight and into the library. “Is everything ready?”
“Yes. I've spent the day going over my notes and making sure I haven't left a single thing out. Where will he be staying?”
“Here, of course.”
Twilight figured she'd be spending time alone with this investigator while they worked but she never figured that there would be so much of it. “Here? With me?”
“Yes.” She turned to Twilight. “Let me give you some advice on this investigator. He, like many of his race, can be abrasive. This one, in particular, is very cynical and is suspicious of everyone. Do not try to force him to be your friend. He will come to you when, and if, he is ready. He doesn't like to be disturbed while working so leave him alone unless he approaches you.”
“How do you know so much about him?”
“We've worked together before. His race is responsible for helping ours achieve what we have today.”
“If they're so important, why haven't you mentioned them before?”
Celestia sighed, “It's complicated. All I need you to understand is what I've warned you about. If you heed those warnings, you'll do just fine. Who knows, you may even come to consider him a friend, like I do.”
At that moment, Twilight felt the ground begin to tremble. The vibrations grew steadily, shaking various items and rattling windows. Nervously, she glanced at the princess.
“That would be him now.” she said.
Outside, they could hear the sounds of pounding hooves and Twilight opened the door to find the princess' guard contingent on the verge of chaos. Quickly, they tightened their perimeter around the library and kept their weapons at the ready. Townsponies came to their doors and stared out, trying to find the source of the commotion.
Stepping out, Twilight looked up to see an amazing sight. Directly overhead, an odd egg-shaped craft hovered. It was nearly five times the size of Celestia's largest carriages. The noise from the craft was deafening and an odd blue aura glowed from what she could only guess as it's back. The noise rose to an ear-splitting whine that caused more than a few ponies to cover their ears as the craft began to slowly inch forward. Four hoof-like structures extended down from it's glowing metal belly as several lights blinked on, possibly to guide the craft.
Twilight followed it as it circled the library a few times before coming to a hover again directly behind the library. The whine quieted to a dull hum that was felt more than heard as the craft began to descend, sliding snugly between the library and the surrounding buildings. Twilight was certain, seeing the gaps between the craft and the structures, that she could fit one, maybe two, but not three sheets of parchment in there.
Finally, the craft quieted and silence reigned. Shocked and terrified ponies milled about, torn between wanting to see what would happen next and wanting to find a secure place to hide. The ponies who lived in the houses that the craft had settled next to pranced about in anxiousness.
Screams erupted from some of the more timid onlookers as a metal grid expanded from the craft. The grid formed a box around the craft and a few lights flickered before...
“What magic is this?” Twilight heard somepony whisper in awe.
The craft had vanished and been replaced with a building almost exactly like the one next to it. One of the bolder ponies crept forward and put a hoof to the building. Instead of stopping at the wall, the hoof passed clear through.
“It's not real.” The mare called back to the crowd.
Instead of calming them, her information only heightened their sense of terror. Missing foals? Giant flying eggs? Buildings that looked real but weren't? What was next? Was Discord going to pop out of a Jack-in-the-Box?
The pony who had gone up to the grid screamed suddenly and fell back. “It touched me! It touched me!” She stood up and galloped into the night, knocking over three other ponies in the process and screaming that something had touched her hoof.
The building seemed to shimmer as something stepped through the wall of the none-building and stood before the crowd of ponies, eliciting a collective gasp from all present.
Twilight had never seen anything like it before. It was a bipedal and as tall as Celestia. It's head was oddly shaped with a tiny muzzle and tiny, round, ears. It moved like a minotaur but it's legs bent back instead of forward. The mane, if it could be called that, was short and narrow, barely a hoofs-span in width and not even covering the entire top of it's head
Reaching inside it's long brown overcoat, it withdrew a small red box and opened it. From the box, it took a long, narrow cylinder of paper and stuck one end in it's mouth. Producing a flame in it's hand, it inhaled deeply and exhaled smoke.
Now that the initial shock of the creature's appearance had worn off, Twilight began to observe it more objectively. Yes, it was large but not impressively so. It gave off an aura of authority that was slightly intimidating but no more than that. She could hear mutters from the crowed around her as they speculated that this was the being that was taking their foals.
“Good evening, Calhoun. Thank you for responding so quickly.” Celestia said as she joined the crowd. Ponies usually moved aside and bowed whenever the princess was nearby but, tonight, they shuffled closer.
“You expected anything less from me, 'Tia?” The creature, Calhoun, replied in a low voice.
“Come with me. We have a lot to discuss and I would like to do so without an audience. Besides, you're scaring my little ponies.”
Calhoun nodded as he tossed down his smoking paper and crushed it beneath the heel of a boot. As he started forward, walking with a slight limp, ponies scattered, doing everything they could to stay out of the way. Twilight trailed along behind as the princess and the creature walked back around to the front of the library. In the better light, she could see him in better detail. His short mane wasn't as dark as she had originally thought. It had a dusting of gray in it. Thinner, coarser, fur swept along his jaw and surrounded his mouth. He turned to face her and she saw his eyes.
Sweet Celestia, his eyes.
Never before had she seen a more disturbing pair of orbs. One was a dark brown while the other was almost completely white save the silvery-blue pupil in the center. A shiver ran down her spine as she lowered her ears and crouched down defensively.
“Your daughter doesn't seem to like me very much.” Calhoun spoke in his low, quiet, voice and pointed at her.
Celestia turned and looked. “That's not my daughter. Twilight Sparkle is my personal pupil and the original lead investigator on this case. Your eyes might be what's bothering her.”
“Oh, right, right.” He nodded and reached into a pocket of his coat and withdrew a pair of dark sunglasses. He slipped them over his eyes and turned to Twilight. “Better?”
“Actually, yes.” She nodded. Calhoun's overall appearance was disturbing enough without having to see those eyes. She sighed and approached, “I'm pleased to meet you. I don't think I've ever seen a...er...what are you?”
“Human.” He replied.
“I don't think I've ever seen a human in Equestria before. Have you been living here for long?”
“I'm not from Equestria. I'm from Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter and a colony of the Terran empire.”
Terran empire? Europa? “What?”
“Another time, Twilight. For now, please brief Calhoun on our current situation.”
“Yes, princess.” Twilight trotted over to her desk and gathered the information. Returning to a table in the middle of the room, she spread the documents over the table. She waited until the other two had joined her before beginning her briefing. “For the past three months, Foals have been disappearing from various cities and towns across Equestria. The pattern we figured is that one foal disappears every other day, never more than one in the same night and never the same city twice in one week. There doesn't seem to be any pattern between the cities and when they are struck. As far as we can tell, that seems to be completely random. Also, there is nothing in common between the foals themselves. Every type, from Earth to Pegasus to Unicorn seem to be at risk. There is no correlation between family income, past, or general location. Our spies in Griffonia and Zebrafrica, across the sea, report that none of the missing foals have been spotted there but they remain on the look out.
“I've interviewed every affected family in Ponyville and most of the residents of the town. These kidnappers leave no witnesses whatsoever.”
“They're killing the witnesses?”
“No. We haven't found any dead ponies but nopony has seen or heard anything.”
Calhoun chuckled, “'Nopony'. That's cute.”
Twilight stared at him. “Excuse me, does this strike you as amusing?”
He shook his head. “No, no. Continue please.”
She looked to Celestia, who nodded, before continuing, “Like I said, nopony has witnessed anything. I have photographs of each scene.”
She passed the photos to him. He turned his back to them, leaned against the table, and lit another of his paper smoking sticks. From her closer angle, she could see that he did not create fire in his hand, as she had originally thought, but used a small, metal, rectangle which contained a wick and a metal wheel. The wheel threw up metal sparks when he spun it and the sparks made the wick ignite.
He tucked the metal rectangle away and began to flip through the photos. “What kind of evidence did you pick up?” He muttered around the stick.
“There was no evidence found at the scene.”
“The parents?”
“Saw and heard nothing.”
“Of course not. It can never be that easy, can it?” He set the pictures back onto the table and turned to Celestia, “Alright, I'll do it. I'll find your missing babies, but after this, we're even.”
Celestia nodded, “Of course.”
Twilight looked back and fourth between the human and her princess. Something was going on here and it had nothing to do with foals.
