In the Footsteps of a Giant

Lyra had awoken that morning feeling refreshed and somewhat satisfied. She had successfully avoided Twilight Sparkle all day yesterday, and she didn't have to face her and admit she lost the book until tomorrow. With all day to think of her excuse and apology, she could just relax and enjoy the morning. She got out of bed, stretched, yawned, and scratched her back with a hoof-made backscratcher designed to look like a human hand. Sure, it was a little creepy, but it was cool, too.

As she walked downstairs, the smell of haycakes wafted through the kitchen door. Oh wow, Bob-Bon must have gotten up early to buy fresh hay from the market! As she walked in, Lyra saw her suspicions were right; shopping bags were set on the counter and freshly made haycake batter was sitting in a bowl by the sink. Standing in front of a sizzling skillet was Bon-Bon in her favorite apron.

"Well, good morning Ms. Sleepyhead!"

"Good morning, Bonnie! Those haycakes smell delightful, what's the occasion?"

"Ugh, you know I hate it when you call me that. And the occasion is I woke up early and decided to get some shopping done."

"That's it?"

"Well, I was also hoping you might help me at the store today, Blueberry had to take some time off since her family is visiting from Baltimare."

"Ah-ha! You never cook breakfast, I knew there was no such thing as a free lunch, er, breakfast!"

"Oh please help me, Lyra, just this once? I won't complain about the human stuff for a week, I promise!"

"Ah Bon-Bon, you're too easy. Of course I'll help you! And don't worry about the human research, I have a feeling I'm going to be giving that a break for a while."

"Thank you so much Lyra! Now why don't you sit down? You'll need your energy today, we're making taffy!"

Cringing just a tiny bit, Lyra replied. "Oh, I'm sure it'll be lots of fun."

Despite her reluctance, this was just the break the minty unicorn needed. Twilight didn't eat sweets very often, and she never bought them for herself. Lyra could spend all day at the candy store, avoid Twilight, and make Bon-Bon happy all in one go. Things rarely fell into place for her so well. Not to mention... oooh, the aroma held up to its promise, those haycakes were delicious!

Bon-Bon joined Lyra at the table and began to eat. "So there was quite a stir in the market this morning."

"Mmm, hmm." the unicorn tried to seem interested in the conversation instead of the food.

"I was talking to Roseluck on the way to the Hayseed's stall, and do you know what she told me?"

"Hmm."

"Fluttershy is just going to be devastated by this, I just know it!"

"Mmmmmm."

"Apparently Cherilee and Big Mac spent Hearts and Hooves day together, can you believe it? Oh, and Twilight Sparkle is missing or something." A spray of mucus covered haycake coated Bon-Bon, but she didn't seem to mind at all. "I know! The poor dear has been pining after that stallion for as long as I can remember."

"Wh-whuuuat did you say?"

Bob-Bon brightened at Lyra's sudden interest in important matters, for a change. "You heard me right! A teacher and a farmer; who ever heard of such a thing?"

Lyra forced herself to remain calm for a few more seconds. "No, about Twilight. How long has she been missing?"

"Oh, that. Since about two nights ago, I think. Why do you-" But the earth pony no longer had an audience.

Lyra had officially entered panic mode, she made a beeline for Ponyville's library. It couldn't be true, there was no way! The spell had called for two items, and it had taken the eggbeater and the book! What could have gone wrong? She had to see for herself, Twilight had to be there, she had to! As she burst through the door she froze in place, there was no Twilight, but there sure was one pony she didn't expect to see!

Princess Celestia stood before her, gazing down in her radiant glory. Why would the princess be here if not to find her missing student? Guilt flooded the minty mare, and she took a hesitant step backward. Celestia faced Lyra and held up a hoof. "Wait, please."

Lyra waited.

"Twilight Sparkle has gone missing recently, do you know her?"

Lyra nodded.

"Ah, excellent, you wouldn't happen to know her whereabouts, would you?"

Spike and Rarity leaned forward, hopefully.

Lyra shook her head.

"Oh, I see. Do you know anything about her disappearance?"

Lyra averted her eyes.

Celestia narrowed hers. "Twilight could be in danger, if you know anything, please let us know."

"I-um... I, there was a spell... and..."

Her eyebrow raised, so it was a spell. Waving a hoof, Celestia motioned for the unicorn to continue. "And... what kind of spell?"

"A... a Sympathetic Translocation spell."

The princess's eyes went wide. "Where in Equestria did you learn a spell like that?"

"Well, I um, Twilight had this book, see, and I begged her to use it-"

Celestia walked up to Lyra, until they were face to face. "My little pony, if what I think you're saying is true, you are accusing Ms. Sparkle of breaking Equestrian law."

"What!? How? I mean, I don't understand, your majesty." The minty pony forced herself to calm down, she was already in trouble, upsetting the princess even more would not help.

"The only book that contains the Sympathetic Translocation spell is restricted, only high ranking mages may own, or even read it." The princess explained. "By loaning you the book, Twilight broke the law, as did you to a lesser extent, by reading it."

"But, I... I didn't know! I never would have tried to cast it if I knew it was illegal!"

"And that is why you won't be- Did you say you attempted to conduct the spell yourself?"

"I guess that's illegal, too."

"No, just technically impossible. It usually takes at least three powerful mages to successfully operate. That's why we still ship freight via mundane means. I apologize for being frank, but you don't have enough magical power to complete the spell."

"So, who did?"

"My guess at the moment would be Twilight, she must have somehow been linked to the spell."

Rarity took the opportunity to break in. "If Twilight was part of the spell, we may still be able to find her. It's been a while since I took 'Magical Auras' in school, but any spell involving travel can be traced, right?"

"That's right, Rarity, I'll just ask... ah, what was your name, dear?"

"L-Lyra Heartsrings, your majesty."

"Lyra, if you could be so kind as to show me the spell circle and fetch the book, I should be able to locate Twilight quite easily."

Lyra was not a happy pony.

The pug dog slowly circled Twilight with his arms crossed behind his back, carefully appraising his new prize. Occasionally, he would make a grunt of approval or stop to sniff curiously. His eyes scanned every inch of her body, causing her to shift nervously in embarrassment. The unicorn was at a loss for words, she had never felt so powerless, so helpless. Sure, in Equestria she could handle anything, even without her magic, but here... She didn't know how things worked here, if there was slavery, they could do all kinds of other horrible things. Her best bet was to play along for now, she decided, just be quiet and compliant until she could put together a plan. Finally, the dog stopped at her head and ran a claw under her chin in mock affection.

"Such a pretty pony will fetch me quite a fortune. Of course, you'll be worth more once you're cleaned up." Motioning to one of the female guards, the pug stated his instructions. "Take her to the baths, the good ones, not the prisoner bath. When she's clean, put her in one of the citizen jail cells." Two guards, both female, stood on either side of the purple mare as the door that led deeper into the mountain opened. As she followed her escort out, the pug called one final remark. "And don't think about trying anything, or your little friend here will feel your punishment for you!" The dog snickered at his own joke as the door slammed shut.

Turning to his real prize, the pug continued. "Of course, the same goes for you. If you get any ideas, your little pony friend will pay for it."

The giant stared dumbly at the dog, showing neither anger or fear.

"I mean it! We will hurt her if you misbehave!"

Tim took a breath and said "Bah junbee maka rellem."

The diamond dog stared at the beast before him in incomprehension for a moment before getting the idea. "Ah, you don't speak common, do you? Allow me to clarify." The pug then mimed a series of motions he considered universal. He first pointed at the giant, then growled and acted like he was stomping on something. Next, he pointed at the door Twilight had passed through with his left hand and made a horn with the other. Finally, he brought his left hand in and ran it across his throat, making a gurgling noise.

Tim stared daggers at the pug.

The pug glared right back. "Understand now?"

Sighing, Tim slowly nodded. The dog's warning seemed redundant, it was clear they were prisoners here. Was he just trying to rub it in? No, it was something else. Perhaps the prejudice that larger animals are dumb applies here, too. Add that to the fact he can't speak the language, he might as well be truly idiotic. Maybe if he moved slow, he could encourage this belief, and use it to his advantage somehow.

A knock at the internal door interrupted Tim's thoughts, the pug eagerly hurried over as it swung open. A slender, brown furred diamond dog walked in. He wore a white doctor's coat and carried a small bag of instruments.

"Ah, Dr. Topaz, so good of you to join me!"

"Save it, Ingot, this had better be wor-" Topaz's jaw dropped as he took in the monstrosity before him. The lack of fur, the enormous size... Could it be? "Is that what I think it is?"

"I have a hunch he might be. He's not like any giant I've ever seen."

"He, eh? Hmm... I'll have to run some tests, but I agree that this is no giant. Is it safe to approach him?"

"He's been docile so far, and he knows we have his friend, as well. He doesn't seem to speak our language though."

"I wouldn't expect him to, they were thought to be either extinct or a myth."

The doctor calmly made his way to the not-a-giant and began to take some tools out of his bag. Some Tim could recognize, like the small rubber hammer and the stethoscope, others were completely foreign. The dog held out his paw, gently but firmly grasping one of Tim's fingers and lifting it toward himself. First he listened for the heart beat, then used the hammer for a reflex test. Topaz nodded his head and wrote something in a small notebook. He then took a curved metal tool with a glowing gem on the end and drew it across Tim's hand, making a small, shallow cut that drew a bead of blood. A faint glow began to show in the doctor's eyes, but nothing more happened.

The doctor cried in surprise. "Great Canis! The legends are true, this being is completely immune to magic!"

Ingot perked up and actually started to wag his tail. "So my hunch was right? How do you know?"

"That was a magically poisoned gem. It's used to test for allergies, so the poison is easy to cure, but it had no reaction to this thing. That's not conclusive on it's own, but when I tried to heal the cut, I couldn't even sense it! I can't even magically detect the beast at all and it's right in front of me!"

"Ha! Amazing! The Emperor will love this, I'll be set for life! He'll never believe that a mythological creature just happened to wander out of history and into the Empire."

"I can hardly believe it myself... sitting right before me... one of the Ancients... "