Marelaysian Battle Squad: The Balance For Harmonyby theshadows64ChaptersEpisode 1: A Shadow in the Darkness (Part 1)Episode 2: A Shadow in the Darkness (Part 2)Episode 3: The Final ScoreEpisode 1: A Shadow in the Darkness (Part 1)Episode 1: A Shadow in the Darkness (Part 1) With a dark purple glow, the door opened. Twilight immediately heard the sound of a violin being played as she walked into the store. It was soothing and warm as if you had just wrapped yourself with a blanket after a day in the snow. She took a quick look around her. The whole store was filled with musical instrument of every kind. Violins, pianos, cellos, drums, the whole works. A light grey unicorn stood in front of the counter. Her bright lavender mane was short and jagged but it somehow fitted her appearance. A big smile shined on her face. “Hello,” the unicorn said “Welcome to G Major. How can I help you?” Twilight smiled and took out a piece of parchment “I’m looking for a replacement parts for this piano” She floated the parchment towards the counter and placed it in front of the mare. The mare took a good look at the sketch that had been roughly drawn on it. “Hmmm, I’m not quite familiar with this type of piano but…” the mare’s horn illuminated with a grey glow, lifting the parchment in the air “Could you please wait while I get my husband?” “Sure, please do take your time.” Twilight smiled as the mare went through the back door. A few weeks ago Spike had gotten a piano from Scootaloo for his birthday but it seemed that after just a short time the piano had stopped to function. Pinkie took one look and had suddenly come up with a sketch of what seemed to be the problem. She had tried every store in Ponyville but to no avail and she hoped that this last one would have the parts she needed. After awhile Twilight noticed that the music had abruptly stopped. The back door opened and the mare appeared. Along with her was a grey stallion with long bright blue bangs that was brushed to the side. “So do you have it?” The stallion faced Twilight. His face was blank, showing almost no emotions. “At the moment, we don’t have what you need,” Twilight sighed in defeat “but we can order it for you.” Twilight quickly started to beam. “Oh really, Oh thank you so much. You have no idea how many stores I went through just to get this.” She quickly went over to the counter to thank the stallion “Thank you so much… ermm… Mister…” “Cobalt... just call me Cobalt. You can take the part you need in a week.” Twilight extended her hoof but the stallion just turned around and left. “Sorry for that,” said the mare that had been beside him “He tends to get grumpy when ponies interrupt his violin sessions.” The mare extended her hoof and shook Twilight’s unintended hoof. “I’m Lavender Diamond but just call me Lavender.” “Hello Lavender, nice to meet you. I’m Twilight Sparkle. Are you new here? I’ve never seen you around before?” “Actually we’ve been here for quite some time. Two years I think…” Twilight eyes shot out of her sockets. Her cheeks turned dull red “Really, I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize you. I just never saw…” “There’s no need to apologize,” Lavender interrupted “We don’t actually socialize or go out much. So it’s quite reasonable if you didn’t know.” “Still I feel so embarrassed… How about you join me for tea one day? It would be nice to have some company over.” “Well it would be nice to get out of this stuff shop sometimes,” Lavender thought for a while and smiled "Maybe I will," “So you’re from Marelaysia?” Twilight asked as she sipped on her tea. “Yes, we moved to Ponyville after we weren’t having much luck in our hometown.” “I see. How is Marelaysia? I’ve never been there before.” “It’s quite the city. Not as fancy as Manehatten or Trottingham but its interesting.” “I would love to personally go there. Just think of all the rich and exotic culture I could learn.” “Yeah, that’s one way of saying it,” Lavender said as she giggled. “Anyway thank you for delivering the piano part. You didn’t have to go through all that trouble,” “Oh, it was no trouble at all. An old friend of Cobalt is in town and he asked me to go get him, and I thought I might as well send these parts as well.” “His friend comes and you're the one to go get him?” Her face a bit quizzical as she asked “Well…” Lavender’s smile suddenly disappeared. “You see… Cobalt is blind.” The purple unicorn gasped in shocked “Oh…” “Yeah, it’s actually a very long story but in short. He got injured and went blind afterwords.” “Oh, I’m…” Twilight was at a loss of words. She had never met a blind pony. To be more exact, she had never met a pony with any disabilities. Sure Granny Smith was a bit deaf in the ears but she was more than capable of handling her life. Lavender took one look at the clock and stood up. “Well it was nice seeing you Twilight. Thanks so much for the cup of tea.” “The pleasure is all mine,” Twilight went to the door and opened it for her guest “and if you ever need anything don’t be afraid to ask.” “Actually I do have a favor,” the violet maned mare blushed “You see, though it’s easy to find this library, seeing that it’s the only tree house in Ponyville. I was wondering if you could show me to the Ponyville Inn.” Twilight grinned “Well sure, it just around the corner actually,” She made a quick note to Spike that she was going out and left it in his basket so he could read when he came back from his gem collecting with Rarity. She swiftly looked around the library to see if she had forgotten anything and went out the door. Spring was in the air. The serene and cool breeze that it blew filled Ponyville with a peaceful air like no other. The Market Square was full of stalls. The trees at Sweet Apple Acres were painted with small red ripe apples and Ponyville’s streets were filled with ponies going about their daily lives while the fillies were out playing in the field. The walk towards the inn was a peaceful one up to the point where The Cutie Mark Crusaders crashed landed right in front of them. Something about trying to get a cutie mark in base jumping. Lavender giggled at their antics as they passed by. It took them five minutes to get to the inn and by the time they did a very dark blue unicorn was just leaving the Inn along with an orange and yellow dragon about the size of a pony. Twilight looked one look at him leapt with glee. “Shadow? Bright Shadow? Is that you?” She called out. Shadow took one look at Twilight and immediately beamed. “Holy Celestia, Twilight? I thought you were in Cantorlot?” Lavender confusedly looked at the both of them. “You know each other?” “Hello Lavender, it’s been nice seeing you again and yes, we do know each other,” “Shadow and I both studied at Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. He was my senior. By the way, that was a really great thesis you wrote last year,” Twilight grinned ear to ear. “I never would have thought teleportation as a sort of time manipulation spell.” “Well if you want, I could elaborate more on that matter,” Twilight squealed with delight. “Oh yes, I would just love to hear all about it.” “Sure, where are you staying? I’ll come by later after I’ve met with Cobalt.” “I’m living at the Ponyville Library. Oh I can’t wait. There’s just so much to discuss.” “Well I will see you then.” Shadow looked towards Lavender “I’m sure Cobalt is just dying to see me,” “I wouldn’t go that far as to say that after what happened in Kudala Lumpur” She said jokingly as she started walking. “By Starswirl’s beard, that was an accident…” Celestia plopped on to her bed. Today’s court had been quite the bore. The same old rich and upper class ponies with their minuscule problems plague the royal court. She wished she had more action like in the good old days. Back when she was with her sister Luna. Fighting side by side against the in justice of equestria but she guessed that was the price to pay for becoming a princess. It didn’t matter though. Her ponies respected her and she kept them safe. A green flash of fire suddenly emerged out of nowhere and out landed a roll of parchment. She smiled. Twilight’s weekly report. Even though Celestia insisted on only giving friendship reports only when a lesson in friendship had been learned, Twilight still felt obligated to give her a weekly report on the happenings in her life which she didn’t mind. It was a breath taker of sorts from all the mundane happenings in the castle. Dear Princess Celestia, Hello princess, I hope everything is great in Cantorlot. Both Spike and I are fine and doing well. I’m also happy to say that I have finally able to do 50 different types of magic and spells. I was so happy that I told Pinkie to arrange a party just for that occasion. She had the party arrangements done within the minute. I also met Bright Shadow today. It’s been a while since I met him. We had a heated discussion on the physics and biological traits of a magically influenced metamorphosis. It’s so great to finally be able to have an intellectual conversation again. Not that I’m saying there aren’t any smart ponies here. I hope everything is fine and please say hi to Princess Luna for me. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle Celestia stared at the letter in horror. Bright Shadow was in Ponyville. She quickly got of her bed and gathered the royal guards. She had to get to Ponyville as fast as she could. Twilight was in danger. Twilight looked around the room. At first everything was pitch black. She let her eyes adjust to the darkness. The mossy cobblestone walls surrounding her gave off an eerie ambiance. There were no windows just a wooden door a few feet away from where Twilight was lying down. She stood up and went towards the door. She concentrated all her might towards her horn but to her surprise her horn didn’t respond. She quickly panicked. “What just happened? What happened to my magic?” she thought to herself. She tried to scream for help but it was only then did she realize the muzzle that had been placed on her. She tried to recall the events of the day. The last thing she remembered was that she had just sent a letter to the princess and was continuing her conversation with Bright Shadow when suddenly she felt tired and passed out. She suddenly heard the sound of the wooden door unlock. She quickly went to the back of the room, worried that her captives would hurt her. A black aura engulfed the door and it slammed open as Bright Shadow trotted into the room with a grin on his face “Ahh, Twilight. You’re awake.” “How are you feeling? A bit restricted I hope,” His demented eyes were locked onto Twilight. “I’m pretty sure you must be confused right now. Well that’s good. I wouldn’t want you to know what is happening anyway. Not that you’ll remember anything after I’m done with you.” Twilight tried to teleport out but again her horn didn’t respond. “It’s useless to use your magic Twilight,” Shadow pointed towards her horn. Three black rings had been worn on it. “That there are Anti-magic Rings. You like it? I made it myself. It took me months to make it. Though one would’ve work just fine for a normal unicorn but then again you aren’t just like any unicorn aren’t you. No, you my dear are the Element of Magic and the protégé of the most powerful princess in all of Equestria, a position that was actually meant for me.” Shadow turned around and began to walk towards the door “Try to rest my dear. There is much we need to do tomorrow,” “What do you mean you don’t know?” Asked Rainbow Dash as she slammed Cobalt towards the wall “I don’t know he never told me.” Celestia was too late. By the time she had arrived in Ponyville, Twilight was nowhere to be found. Spike had remembered Twilight saying that Shadow was here to meet Cobalt. So Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity quickly went to the little music shop at the edge of town while Pinkie Pie headed the Ponyville search party and Fluttershy using her unique talent to ask help from the birds and other animals. “Please,” Lavender pushed Rainbow Dash aside “Be careful” “Careful?! CAREFUL?! Twilight is missing and apparently according to the princess it’s because of that little…” “Whoa there Dash,”Applejack interrupted“Ain’t any use being too worked up about it He already said he doesn’t know anything.” “And you believe him?” “Rainbow Dash, even if so,” Rarity replied as she checked up on Cobalt “Do you really have to act so barbaric to such a poor little pony.” “Ladies, I’m blind not deaf.” Lavender helped Cobalt stand up. “Please, if there is anything you can do or anything you know please don’t hesitate to say. We need all the help we can get.” “We here just wanna save a friend and I’m pretty sure you would’ve done the same for a friend, wouldn’t you?” Applejack asked. Cobalt sighed. He knew he was going to regret what he was about to do but they were right. If he had been in there situation he would’ve done the same. “I know a pony that might be able to help.” A bright ray of hope shined in the once gloomy room. Cobalt searched for his bow and his violin with his hooves to which Lavender levitated them to. He stood up and started playing a very high and cheerful note. “Her name is Pencil Point.” Episode 2: A Shadow in the Darkness (Part 2)Episode 2: The Shadow in the Darkness (Part 2) Canterlot’s market plaza was among the busiest in all of Equestria. Merchants and travelers from all over the world came here to sell or buy the different items that the vendors had to offer. The bustling noise of the market plaza was quite the contrast from the calm and serene streets of Canterlot. “I don’t get it,” Rainbow Dash asked as they arrived at Canterlot’s market plaza “How can bread seller help us?” “Pencil Point isn’t just any kind of bread seller,” Lavender explained “She’s an expert in the art of drawing and illustration,” “I still don’t see how that can help us in any way?” Rainbow Dash and the others had followed Lavender to Canterlot to meet with Pencil Point. Cobalt had insisted on staying in Ponyville, saying that his blindness wouldn’t at all help them find Pencil Point any faster. He explained to them that Pencil Point was able to help them in their search but Rainbow Dash suspected otherwise but what other choice did she have. This was the only lead they had. “Oh come on Dashie, where’s your sense of surprise and adventure?” “Not if the adventure is threatening one of my friends,” “Please Rainbow Dash, your complaining and constant pestering isn’t helping Lavender find this friend of theirs,” “Well I still think this plan stinks,” “You have any better idea sugercube?” “Hey, I’m just sayin…” “There she is,” Lavender interrupted as she pointed towards the direction of a stall. The stall was quite crowded. An array of delicious looking bread of all types was up for sale. Croissants, baguettes, white, whole meal, the whole works. In front of the stall, stood a light blue unicorn with tourmaline pink eyes. Her dark blue mane was cut short and it hung just before her eyes. It took the group a while to get through the crowd of bread hungry ponies and when they did the smell that came off from the line of deliciously looking breads was so tempting that they almost forgot why they were there in the first place. “So, what will it be?” Asked the blue mare “I’ll take this one, and this one, and ohh and those éclairs just look sooooo creamy…” “Pinkie!” Rainbow dash abruptly placed a hoof in her mouth “We don’t have time for that now and didn’t you just eat a whole cake this morning?” “But I’m worried about Twilight and when I’m worried I eat and when I eat I fill so good inside and when I feel so…” Lavender just giggled as Pinkie went on and on. She then placed her attention on the cerulean mare. “Hello, Pencil Point. We’d love to have your specialty.” “Which one?” She asked. “The other one,” Pencil Point’s smile almost ripped her face. She merrily jumped up and down before signaled them to follow her “Tintin, could you please take care of the stall for a while?” She hollered to a sapphire blue pony wearing a blue cap over his orange wulfenite mane. “Alrite boss,” Pencil Point led them to a white van that was parked behind the stall. She opened up the back doors and told them to get inside. The van despite its size was actually quite spacious. It had enough space for all of them and some more. Pencil Point closed the doors behind them and looked at them with a weak smile. “When Lucid Dream came last night… I just couldn’t believe it… are we getting back together?” “No. We aren’t.” Lavender responded. Pencil Point smile went out like a blown candle. She sighed and levitated a piece of paper from her satchel that was on the floor and spread it out. On it was a drawing of a very mossy stone building. There was not a single tree in it except for the two trees that stood in front of the stone building, both of them without a single leaf on their branches. The background was dark and murky. A small lightning bolt could be seen at the very far end of the artwork. “Ermm... what’s this?” Applejack asked “I don’t know. Lucid Dreams just told me to draw this and give it to you guys…” “That’s it! I’ve had enough!” Rainbow Dash stormed out of the van “This isn’t going anywhere and most probably this was all just a wild goose chase so Cobalt could go warn the son of a bitch!” “Rainbow Dash!” Rarity called out “There is no need to resort to such vulgar words,” “And for the last time. My husband is not helping Shadow,” Lavender cried out. “Then why in Celestia’s name did he tell us to go here? And who is this Lucid Dream anyway?” Lavender and Pencil Point both gave a quick glance at each other before going silent. “We… can’t say…” Rainbow Dash threw her hooves in defeat and flew off. “Dash! Wait for me,” Pinkie said as she skipped out of the van and followed the multihued pegasus. The van turned suddenly silent. Applejack was trying to figure out what the drawing meant and Rarity was calming Fluttershy who in the midst of it all broke into another meltdown. “Did Lucid say anything at all?” Lavender said breaking the silence “Anything that might help?” The blue mare sat down and tried to think. “He told me that you were coming… and you need help… then he told me to draw this and give it to you…” “That’s it?” Pencil Point nodded. “Hmmm… do you guys know what this might be?” “Enope” “Not a clue my dear” “It’s… *sniff*… a mausoleum…” “What?” They all said together. Fluttershy meeped as the rest stared at her in disbelief. “Why Fluttershy, how on equestria do you know of such a thing?” Rarity inquired “Ermm… I don’t wanna talk about it… *meep*” “Very well then,” Rarity took a look at the drawing “but it now begs the question, why would Lucid Dream, whoever he is, want us to have this?” “Before that, could somepony please clarify what is going on?” Lavender began to explain on what had happened. From Shadow arriving to Ponyville to the time he abducted Twilight then coming here for help. Pencil Point was shocked to hear of what shadow had done and was now denying Shadow would do such a thing but Lavender then explained that the princess had found detail accounts of Shadow stalking Twilight’s every move and his plan of abducting her. The light blue mare just stood there in disbelief over what she had just heard. “But… It’s just not like him…” she denied “It’s not like him at all…” “I know… that’s why we need to find him…” Pencil Point stomped her front hoof. She looked at the other three ponies with determination. “I think I know what to do,” Pencil Point went out of the van and yelled “Tintin! Pack up! We’re going to Ponyville,” “But we just got here,” Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy was dumbfounded by the Pencil Point’s sudden burst of activity. Lavender took one look at them and giggled. “I think you might want to go get Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie,” “On it,” Applejack barged out of the van and started galloping through the streets of Canterlot. “By the way, Lavender?” Rarity politely asked “Who in carnations did your mane? It’s just awfully dreadful” Lavender just smiled. “What are you doing?” Twilight asked as Shadow hooked wires onto the three black rings on her horn. Her hooves were bounded to a metal plate that she was now lying on. The room she was currently in was different then her previous dungeon. It was filled with mechanical and electronic equipment just like her lab under the library but the equipment here were unknown to her or were just to advance for her understanding. Shadow just quietly smiled and continued with his business, only sporadically talking to an orange and yellow scaled dragon for assistance. Twilight franticly looked around the room and at the machinery she was being hooked on. She tried to examine it from where she was. Trying to understand what was going on. Apparently, the wires that were fastened to the rings on her horn lead to another set of rings and then running through a huge mechanical contraption to which she saw what seemed to be a control panel of sorts and a scale that went from 0–9000. To her left she could see the door. If she could only use her magic she would’ve been able to free herself. “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!” Shadow’s voice bellowed across the room “Shadow I’m sorry but I’m not going to let you do the transfer without me testing this out first!” argued the dragon. Shadow kicked the air behind him with frustration. “Alright then we better get this done fast. We’re wasting time as it is.” The dragon nodded and started to pull a few levers on the control panel. Instantly, different multicolored lights began to flash all around the room. The sound of mechanical gears began to hum while the sounds of bits and pieces of metal grinding with each other echoed and clanked. “Start the test at normal and then we’ll try it at full,” Shadow ordered. The dragon nodded and turned a dial. The contraption went into overdrive as electricity began to flow outwards through a series of wires and then ending at Twilight’s horn. The black rings began to glow a deep purple that was in sync with Twilight’s horn which was also started glow. “1350, just over the normal magic level of a standard unicorn” shouted the dragon over the sound of the machine. “Now let’s see what she’s really made of,” the dragon turned the dial to maximum as the device immediately began to shiver and quake. The black rings were now brightly shining. Twilight began feel as if she was overfilled with energy. Her eyes began to glow as a magical energy leaked out of her engulfing her in an aura of magic. Her bounds dissipated into thin air as they were unable to withstand the intensity. “The scale is sky rocketing!” Twilight’s aura began to randomly shoot objects in the room with magic. “3000… no… 5000… OH SHIT!!! IT’S OVER 9000!!!!” “SHUT IT DOWN! SHE’ll OVERHEAT THE REACTOR CORES!!” Shadow hastily started turning off the machine. The aura surrounding Twilight began to subside. She felt exhausted as if she had run a marathon. She rubbed the burning sensation that she now felt from her horn. It was only then did she realize she was no longer bounded. She looked at her kidnappers, both of which were checking bits and pieces of the machine. She silently dragged herself off the metal plate. Taking one cautious step at a time, she went for the door. “I told you the machine couldn’t handle her,” the dragon said to his partner Shadow sighed “How long till its operational?” “I don’t know,” the machine suddenly gave off a spark “A day or two, I guess. I’m going to have to do some modifications.” “Well, then I’m just go…” Shadow had turned around and to his horror Twilight was gone, the door wide open. “FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU” Twilight heard a loud scream from behind her but she pushed it aside. She had to get out and fast. She quickly went through torch lit passageway. It seemed like she was in a catacomb of sorts. Suddenly she found herself in a large square room triple the size of the room she had just been. There were corridors on all sides. “Where’s the exit?” She thought to herself. She began to panic. She looked behind her, there was no one there. She then remembered that she could use her magic. She anxiously started to pull the rings on her horn off but to her dismay, the rings were still lodged to her horn and the pulling made the burning sensation only worst. She stomped her hooves in frustration. “Don’t move,” Twilight froze as she heard a voice, no, a whisper close to her ears. She blink and there right in front of her stood a cream colored colt on his hind hooves while he pointed a blade that was attached to the side of his right hoof at her. The colt flicked his long ghastly mane. Twilight tried to move but the colt quickly pushed the blade towards and left it inches away from stabbing her. Twilight heard the clopping of hooves behind her. “Twilight… you shouldn’t run off so suddenly… we’re not done with you yet.” The dragon quickly grabbed the violet unicorn. “Stop… let go off me… please…” Whack. The dragon had hit Twilight’s head causing her to black out. “Ironhide! Be careful,” Ironhide just grunted as he took Twilight back to her cell. The cream colored colt sheathed his blade and went on all four. “Swift Whitemane,It’s a good thing you caught her before she got out. I’m so glad you’re on our…” “I do what I’m paid to do Bright Shadow. Don’t you forget about that,” Whitemane turned around and within moments disappeared into the shadows. “I never did,” “So what are we doing here again?” Rainbow Dash asked. Pencil Point continued on with her drawing not taking notice to her surroundings. She had placed a very large canvas on one of the walls of Cobalt’s store and was now drawing a life size illustration of the picture from before. “Well…” Cobalt started to explain “Pencil point thinks that Lucid Dreams might have given her a picture of where Twilight might be held. Seeing as the picture is a mausoleum and the person behind the abduction is Bright Shadow, I’m guessing she’s right.” “And how is a large drawing gonna help?” Applejack asked as she scratched her head. “And who in Equestria is Lucid Dreams,” Rainbow Dash butted in. She sounded a bit irritated. “Lucid Dreams is a friend of ours. That is all I can say. As for the picture…” “Done,” Pencil Point smiled proudly over her masterpiece. The artwork was miraculous. The wall now looked as if it had been torn down and on the other side was the dark and gloomy stone building. “You ready Cobalt?” “Wait a darn second. You still didn’t answer the question.” “Do you want to save your friend or not?” Cobalt took his violin and his bow “Yeah, but…” “Then there is no time to explain” Cobalt began to play a low and eerie tone. The notes he played brought everypony there to shivers. He swung his hair aside to reveal a horn underneath. It started to glow a bright blue as he channeled his magic to his violin. Pencil Point’s horn also started to glow as she pointed it towards the large portrait. The music started to get more invigorating and upbeat. Everypony there felt a sudden warmth overwhelming them. Pencil Point’s horn began to glow more brightly and with more intensity. The portrait began to glow and within minutes the whole group felt a cool breeze coming from the picture. Cobalt slowly let the music die out as Pencil Point stopped the spell. The picture was now moving. The trees in the background were swaying. A flash of lightning cracked in the sky as the thunder was heard all around the room. “What in tarnations?” “It’s amaterialization spell,” Pencil Point said as she grinned ear to ear. “I learned it a few years after I got my cutie mark.” She showed them her flank and there it was a pencil with three black blobs under it. “The materialization spell lets me make anything I draw come to life. In this case I made the drawing real so we could just pass through it and go there in an instant.” “Then why didn’t we do it in Canterlot?” the blue pegasus cried out “Well because I couldn’t do it alone. I needed Cobalt to...” “Yes, what was that exactly,” Rarity interrupted “I felt so refreshing and so warm inside” “Yeah, I’ve never felt so happy and so full of energy as if I could just party all night long,” Pinkie began to bounce and pop randomly around the room knocking down a few instrument that were there. “Hey watch it! Those things are fragile!” “Another thing,” Applejack fixed her hat which pinkie pie had just popped out of “You never told us you were a unicorn,” “First of all, you never asked. Second, that was a type of auditory magic. Depending on what song, it conjures different effects. The song I just played increases a pony’s strength and ability from within him or herself. “All this magic fro fro is giving me one heck of a headache,” “Well don’t worry about it,” Pencil Point took her satchel “Let’s go save that friend of yours. Tintin, you coming?” “I think I’ll pass boss,” Pencil Point shrugged “Suits you,” Pencil Point took a deep breath and stepped into the picture. It started to ripple as if it was water. Once she was on the other side she took a look behind her. A picture of the music shop lay suspended in mid air. The next one to go through the picture was Rainbow Dash and then one by one the others went through. Rarity and Fluttershy had remained just in case Twilight was able to free herself and come back. Pencil Point’s eyes widened as Cobalt and Lavender came through the portrait. “I thought you didn’t want to tag along?” She asked Cobalt shrugged and smiled “Well it has been awhile since I was on the field…” Pencil Point replied the smile “That’s the Cobalt I know,” They continued on into the mausoleum. An old cobblestone stairway leads them down to the catacombs below. The dark passages only lit by the dim lights of the torches that seemed to have been recently put up. *CLANK* “Did ya’ll just hear that?” “Hear what?” “I swear I heard something,” *CLANK* “There it is again,” “I heard that too,” They all started to look around, trying to find were the noise came from. Slowly in front of them from out of the shadows they saw a hoard of skeletons wearing metal armor coming closer and closer. “You think they’re all friendly?” Applejack asked as she readied herself for an attack “I don’t know, why don’t you ask?” The horde immediately charged at the group, steel swords in their mouths. Applejack stomped the ground which caused some of them to be stunned. Quickly Rainbow Dash took this opportunity to grab them and smash them onto the walls. Pinkie Pie had suddenly pulled out what seemed to be bottles filled with red liquid and were now throwing them at the skeletons. Rainbow Dash eyed her in confusion. “What?”Pinkie shrugged “Everyone knows healing kills undead,” “This is going nowhere,” Pencil point shouted to the rest. “There’s too many of them,” “Go,” Cobalt shouted back “Lavender and I will handle these. Go take care of Shadow and save Twilight,” Applejack charged straight into the horde making way for Pinkie and Pencil Point while Rainbow Dash flew from above. The horde quickly surrounded both Cobalt and Lavender. “You ready honey?” Cobalt readied his violin and his bow “Ready when you are sweetie,” Lavender said. Cobalt started to play a very catchy and happy melody. Immediately vines started to grow from the ground covering the floor. Lavender used her magic to wrap the vines around the skeletons and squash them. “It so good to be back on the field,” Pencil Point and the others had finally reached a large room with corridors spreading on each side. “Now what?” Asked Rainbow Dash “Which way do we go?” “How am I suppose to know,” Pencil Point retaliated Suddenly Rainbow Dash was knocked out of the air and fell to the floor. A cream colored earth pony landed next to her. He slammed his right front hooves to his side and a blade slid out from a gauntlet that had been equipped to it. He quickly placed the blade to Rainbow Dash’s throat before she could pick herself up. Applejack readied herself for an attack but the cream colored earth pony pushed the blade closer to Rainbow Dash. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Applejack gave a snort and backed down. Pencil Point took one look at the mysterious pony and gave a gleeful smile “Whitemane? Is that you?” Whitemane glanced at Pencil Point and was stunned in his place. He backed up a bit and sheathed his blade back into the gauntlet. “Pencil Point?” Rainbow Dash took this opportunity and tackled Whitemane to the ground. Pencil Point rushed towards her and shoved her off of him. “Rainbow Dash, He’s one of us.” “He attacked me!” “He’s only doing he’s job. Well… are you?” Whitemane picked himself up and brushed off some of the dirt. “Yes I am. Shadow is paying me to guard the catacombs from any intruders.” He looked at her with a slight confusion “Why are you here?” “Shadow kidnapped the Princess’s star student and we came here to save her. Wait… you know that don’t you?” Whitemane was silent. *Smack* “YOU KNEW AND YOU STILL TOOK THE JOB!?” Whitemane rubbed his newly slapped cheeks. “What was I suppose to do Pencil Point? After M.B.S. everything just went downhill. At least you had your bread business. All I have is this. This is all I know.” “But I never thought you would ever stoop so low,” Pencil Point turned away, unable to bear looking at him. Silence. “You know, I still owe you money,” “So,” “Maybe it’s about time I repay it,” Pencil Point glared at Whitemane. “Well, it’s a start,” Whitemane smiled. “Twilight is in a cell a few feet in that direction.” He pointed to a corridor that was west of the large room. “Shadow is in his lab up front,” “You guys take Twilight and get her out of here, Whitemane and I will handle Shadow,” Rainbow Dash nodded and led Applejack and Pinkie Pie towards Twilight’s direction. Pencil Point approached Whitemane. “You do know you owe me a lot of bits, don’t you?” “Well I guess I’m just gonna have to guard you till I finish it,” Pencil Point gave a small peck on his cheeks and it immediately went red. “It’s so good to see you again,” “How long will it take?” Shadow inquired as he paced around the lab “Just a few adjustments here and there and it should be done,” Ironhide responded “Well better hurry up they’ll be here any…” The wooden door threw wide open as Whitemane and Pencil Point barged in. “Whitemane! What the hell?” “I got a better offer. Deal with it.” Whitemane equipped his blade and took up an attacking position. Pencil Point took out her sketch book and pencil. “Shadow, what’s going on here?” “Ahh, Pencil Point. It’s been awhile,” “Cut the crap Shadow. Why did you kidnap Twilight?” Shadow sighed “Years ago, when I was studying at Celestia’s school of gifted Unicorn’s, I had heard that the Princess was in search of an apprentice. I studied my…” “Yes yes… you studied but the princess had chosen Twilight instead. What does this have anything to with all of this,” “It has everything to with all of this. Don’t you see? If she chose Twilight because of her potent magic then all I have to do is take that magic and the princess will have no choice but to choose me.” “That’s insane! Taking her magic will KILL her!” “Then so be it!” Pencil Point gently placed a hoof on her face. “What happened to you? This is not the Bright Shadow that I know. What happened to helping ponies with their troubles?” “HELPING PONES? Have you any idea what has happened to the other’s when M.B.S. was disbanded?” “Well…” Pencil Point was staggered “Well let me tell you,” Shadow began “Solid Tube is now a common guard because of that god damn arrow, The Longcast Sisters lost their home and are going from one town to the next, Switch is still in Trottingham in that small dump he calls a workshop and don’t get me started on Harbinger,” “The fact is, we did all we could to help ponies but what have they done to help us? NOTHING! All I am doing is taking what I deserved,” Pencil Point sighed “I’m sorry Bright Shadow but you leave me no choice,” “Vice versa” Shadow’s horn began glow a dark navy as skeletons emerged from the ground. Whitemane zipped passed the skeletons and with a leap tried to strike the dark blue unicorn but mid-air he was tackled by Ironhide and the both continued to scuffle on the ground. Pencil Point, who was drawing at the time, crumpled up the piece of paper she was drawing on and lifted it up into the air. The crumbled up paper abruptly began to burn with an intense blue flame. The blue flame quickly subsided as the smoke from it began to take shape and solidify into a large bear. The bear quickly charged into the group of skeletons attacking them with such ferocity and after each one of them was subdued, the bear exploded into bits and pieces of paper. “Ahh, it seems you improved since we last met,” commented Shadow “But it’s hardly enough to outmatch me,” Shadow’s horn began to glow more fiercely as he concentrated all his magic into his next spell. A pentagram emerged in front of him. Green fire sparked ablaze as a big horned demon was summoned in front of her eyes. Pencil Point franticly started to draw as fast as she could but the demon was already charging for an attack. “Whitemane!! A little help here!!” Whitemane kicked Ironhide aside knocking him towards the wall causing him to blackout. He quickly engaged the demon but his attacks were quickly brushed off. The demon threw a few jabs at Whitemane to which he quickly evaded. He slashed one of its horns cutting it in half. The Demon roared in anger and began to flail its arms around in rampage. “You done yet Pencil Point?” yelled Whitemane as he dodged the rampaging arms. “Just… about… DONE!” She threw the paper to the ground and just like before, it burst into blue flames and from the smoke came a large blue Dragon. The dragon took a deep breath and out of the depths of his throat came an intense flame that went hurling towards the demon. Whitemane quickly leapt in the air escaping the flames by just inches before landed right next to Pencil Point. The flames incinerated the demon and as it died out all that was left were ashes. “I’ve underestimated you,” Shadow said slyly. “But this next… Is that music?” A soft tune could be heard from within the room. Pencil Point took a quick look behind her and noticed Cobalt playing his violin with Lavender standing next to him. “53 steps forward, 20 steps to the right” Lavender whispered into Cobalt’s ear. He nodded and increased the volume of his playing. “Ahh Cobalt, I’m glad to… oh wait… I know this song…” Suddenly the earth beneath him covered his legs locking them into place. He tried to blink out from his imprisonment but suddenly Cobalt changed to an eerie tone. Pencil Point’s sketch book and pencil fell from its levitated state. “Damn you COBALT! How could you do this to me?” “You played me for a fool Shadow. You had me help you in finding Twilight and for that alone, I resent you.” “ARRRRRGGGHHHHH” Shadow began to throw a tantrum. Twisting and turning around, trying his best to break free but even with his best effort he couldn’t. After awhile, he just stood there, defeated. The Royal guards came to apprehend Bright Shadow hours later. Later he was admitted to an asylum after he was deemed psychologically unfit. Ironhide on the other hand, served prison time for being an accomplice to the kidnapping. After they all arrived back into Ponyville, Pinkie threw a big party to commemorate Twilight’s safe return. It was grand. Cobalt played some tunes on his violin as requested by Rarity. Pencil Point and Pinkie Pie shared baking tips. Even Princess Celestia dropped by from her busy schedule to see her favorite pupil unharmed. But that was not all she was there for. As the party subsided she asked to see Cobalt, Lavender, Pencil Point and Whitemane privately. “I would like to thank you personally for your help in rescuing Twilight.” the Princess began “But I couldn’t resist in asking all of you about… your past… M.B.S. was it not?” Cobalt sighed “M.B.S. or Marelaysian Battle Squad was…” “I am very aware of what M.B.S. was mind you. Equestria does have an espionage service.” “Then what do you want to know?” “Nothing, just… I would like to fund the group,” Pencil Point gasped. “What really?” Cobalt jaw dropped “But why?” “It’s very complicated but all I can say is that we need ponies such as yourselves to help not just Equestria but most probably the world.” “And why us?” “I have yet to find any other ponies that are as capable as you all are,” “Why not asked them to help,” Cobalt pointed towards Twilight and the gang. The princess quickly shook her head. “No, they do not know of the world outside of Equestria and would very like it that it remains that way.” “Ok, let’s say we do help but what are we actually helping with? Who is the enemy? Who…” “Oh come on Cobalt,” Pencil Point interrupted “We’re getting our old jobs back. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this?” “Pencil Point, do remember that M.B.S. was disbanded for a reason,” Cobalt retaliated “I just don’t want what had happened in Cat Town to happen again.” Silence. “I may have been too forward and for that I apologize,” Celestia expressed regret “If it burdens you then you can forget the offer. I will just have to…” “NO! Just… wait a moment princess,” Pencil Point pulled them all to the side. “Come on guys. This could be our only chance to back on the field again. To be where we all belong. In the middle of the action.” “But…” “But what Cobalt? This isn’t like before. This isn’t some company that proclaimed itself to be government funded. No. This is the princess we are talking about. Don’t you trust her?” “Hey I’m just trying to look out for you guys ok.” “I know but come on didn’t you like being back on the field?” “Hmm… I’ll agree if the rest are ok with it,” Whitemane nodded “As long as I’m paid,” “And you Lavender?” asked Pencil Point “I go where Cobalt goes,” Lavender smiled “Then it’s decided!” Pencil Point turned around and went to the princess “We’ll be happy to work under you Princess Celestia.” “That is great news,” The princess took out a scroll “I already have an assignment for all of you,” Pencil Point took the scroll and leapt in glee. “M.B.S. is back!” “Whoa there Pencil Point we still have our first order of business before we can go on the assignment,” “Our first order of business?” Pencil Point gave Cobalt a bewildered look on her face “And what would that be?” “We get the others,” Episode 3: The Final ScoreEpisode 3: The Final Score “So basically, this is what happened,” Cobalt took a sip of his cider and placed the mug on the table “I was playing my violin to get some bits and could you believe it, someone actually filed a complaint saying that my violin work was sound pollution?” Cobalt laughed as he took another sip. “I spent the rest of the night locked up in the town jail with some psycho who believed a poptart cat that was flying around in space, spewing rainbows out of its ass and singing ‘nya nya nya’ was gonna destroy the world. “ “That must've been one hell of a night,” Pencil Point remarked. “Oh, you have no idea.” The airship to Manechester was a quiet one, so the gang went to the onboard bar to catch up on some lost time. Apparently after MBS had been disbanded, Cobalt met Lavender and after a year, they got married but their marriage wasn’t approved by their parents so they eloped to Ponyville and started the music shop. Pencil Point went back to her bread business and has been selling bread ever since. Whitemane on the other hand didn’t have much luck as he was unable to get a job due to the fact that fighting was kind of his way of life. “So, this assignment,” Whitemane pushed aside his mug of cider. Though he made it clear he didn’t drink, they insisted he have one. “It’s just some guard mission?” “More or less,” Cobalt ordered another round “Three days ago, Final Score, star striker for Manechester United, received a letter that he was going to die. For some ponies, they would’ve just shrugged this off for some prank, but the thing is, over the past few months there have been a multiple murders around the Manechester area, each of the victims received a letter telling them that they will die in a week and after a week they coincidentally die.” “Coincidentally?” “Well, that's what the local PD is saying. They’re not investigating it though. The deaths are too random. The victims have no connection to one another and each of them died a different way with no evidence that suggest foul play. There is no connection at all except for the letters that were sent to the victims.” “So, why are we being sent to investigate?” Cobalt had a baffled look on his face. “Didn’t you read the files that the princess gave us?” “I was too busy… ermm… guarding Pencil Point’s van… yeah,” “HA! More like sleeping next to the van,” remarked Pencil Point, a bit tipsy from all of the cider. “So I didn’t read it. So, what?” Cobalt sighed. “Anyway, the police aren’t trying to solve the murders so that’s where we come in and do remember we have to be quick. He only has four days left until…” *DING* “Attention all passengers, we will be arriving in Trottingham in a few minutes. Thank you for using Ponyhoof Airlines.” *DING* “Seems like we’re here. Let’s get this over with.” Final Score took a deep breath. He ran across the field and with all his might and kicked the ball straight into the net. He took it back and returned it to its original position and stood where he was before. “Are you still going to the match?” The red earth pony with a white streak in his red mane looked behind him and there stood a pink mare with a worried look on her face. He quickly turned his head not wanting to look at the worried mare. “This match is important,” “More important than your life?” Final score kicked the ball again. “I just…” the pink mare placed her hoof on his muzzle and stared deep into his eyes .“Stay home with the kids. Please… I don’t want to lose you,” “Sweetie Pie… those are just rumors,” “I DON’T CARE! I DON’T WANT TO LOSE YOU!” Sweetie Pie couldn’t hold it anymore. She fell to the ground, her face filled with tears. Final Score quickly went to her, picked her up and embraced her. “Nothing is going to happen, okay?” He wiped away the tears with his hooves and kissed Sweetie’s forehead as he adored her beauty. Even with the tears in her eyes she was beautiful. “Nothing is going to happen.” He brought her lips to his and they both locked into a passionate kiss. “Ah, Cobalt! It’s a pleasure to be able to meet with you again,” Switch began to furiously shake Cobalt’s hooves. “Two years seems like almost an eternity doesn’t it, old chap?” “I’m not old, Switch,” Cobalt released himself from Switch’s grip “Just worn out.” “Ah, still haven’t lost that sense of humor have we? And who might this fine mare be?” Switch bowed in front of Lavender cause her to blush. “Lavender,” Switch took her hooves and planted a small peck on them “Lavender Diamond.” “Ah, such a fine mare indeed. And Pencil Point! Oh, how beautiful you have become over these years,” “Oh, stop it you.” “Whitemane, those hoof blades working out for you right?” “Better then the last one, that’s for sure.” “Well, I would like to say that I did have a little help making those, and actually I think I have some new ones for you…” He began to rummage through the piles of mechanical junk that had been lying around the room “AHA!! Found them.” He jumped from out of the pile holding a pair of gauntlets in his front right hoof while striking a pose with the hoof in the air as if he was showing them to the gods. He quickly tossed them to Whitemane for him to try on. “They’re a bit of a snug, but….” “Switch, we're here on business remember?” Cobalt interrupted. “Ahh yes, almost forgot about that.” Switch quickly took out a projector and turned it on. “Alice, would you mind bringing up all the files on the Mail Murderer?” “Very well.” said a computerized voice The projector immediately projected detailed accounts of all the killing on the wall behind them. “Mail Murderer?” “It’s what the news is calling it now. Anyhow, as you might know the killings are quite random and without any type of foul play. Heart attack here, asthma attack there. The last one was actually a suicide. The poor chap jumped of a building.” “Any idea how they are being done? “Well I have a theory but well it’s just a theory,” “Well?” “I don’t think these are actually murders. I think the pony doing this is actually trying to warn these ponies.” “So you think whoever is sending these letters know that these deaths are going to happen?” “Precognition isn’t actually a well known type of magic, but it is possible none the less.” Cobalt smiled “And when did you ever start studying about magic? I thought it was all science and computers for you?” “Well, two years is enough to change anypony’s perspective, my friend,” Cobalt pondered for awhile. “So… What're we gonna do?” Asked Pencil Point. “Wait a sec, let me think… Oh god… I wish Lucky Sanity was here…” He looked around the room trying to clear his head for ideas, “Were the Police able to trace who sent the letters?” “Nope, they were all sent by hoof.” “Pencil Point, is it possible for you to draw a scene and see what has happened?” “Never tried, but I think I could possibly do that.” “We'll get to it, go to Final Score’s house and see who sent that letter. Whitemane you follow. Lavender and I will go to the Magic University in Oxford to see if we can find anything about this Precognition Magic.” Pencil Point and Whitemane nodded and walked out of the room only to be stopped by Switch. “Wait! I got something for you guys,” He quickly went to a counter and picked up what seemed to be ear pieces. “This was designed by a friend of mine, Boomer Ethman. It’s a device to relay voice communications via radio waves. It works just like a walkie-talkie but fits just in the ear. It’ll be easier to communicate and relay messages between you guys this way.” He gave them both the ear piece and gave one to both Lavender and Cobalt “Before you go Cobalt. Could I have a word with you, in private, perhaps?” “Ok, why don’t you guys go on first,” The others nodded and left the small cramp basement that was Switch’s workshop. “So, what do you wanna talk about?” “There is something I need you to know. I had Like Spam hack into the Equestrian database like you asked me.” He pulled out a few files from a drawer and gave them to Cobalt “As you can see, I found some…” “Switch,” He interrupted “I’m blind.” “Ahh… forgot about that… Speaking of being blind. I made a little gadget that can attach itself on…” “Switch, the files.” “Ah, yes. It seems Princess Celestia does know everything there is to know about us. Everything that we had and have been doing from the point MBS was founded until well… now. What worries me is the fact that they are all detail accounts of everything and I mean everything of what we have done. Even what we ate for breakfast,” Switch giggled “I never thought you to be a fan of hay fries.” Cobalt sighed and began to walk to the door. Counting the steps in his mind “We ran out of pancake mix.” He opened the door and closed it shut. “Ermm… Cobalt, that’s the closet.” Cobalt swung the door open, took a few steps to his right and grabbed the correct door this time “I meant to do that,” “Oh, come on. It’s just 3 words.” Pencil Point said as she teased Whitemane. “Hey, I only said that because I thought I would never see you again. That’s all,” Whitemane quickly turned the other way. “But you did say it,” She giggled “Come on, say it.” Whitemane sighed in defeat “I… I lo…” The train suddenly halted in a one large screech. Whitemane quickly stood up and went to the door. “Come one. We got a job to do.” he tried to hide the embarrassment but the blushes on his face were to obvious making Pencil Point chuckle in amusement. Manechester was the largest Victorian city in England. The city streets were laid with cobblestone and the houses made of bricks. Unlike Equestria, England had gone through a steam powered revolution. Steam powered automobiles now litter the streets of Manechester and factories with thick black smoke coming out of their chimneys could be seen in the distance. Final Score’s house was just a few blocks from the train station so they decided to walk it out which turned out to be a nightmare for Whitemane because Pencil Point was still bugging him on saying those 3 words which he tried full heartedly to avoid. After what seemed like an hour of torment to Whitemane, they had arrived at Final Score’s house and after introducing themselves, Pencil Point started drawing a portrait of his Mailbox. “So, all you need is to draw a portrait of my mailbox?” Final Score asked “Yup.” Pencil Point quickly answered. “But how would a drawing help?” Pencil point laughed out loud “If I had a bit for every time a pony asked that question I would have a million bits.” Final Score made a reluctant snort. “Okay then. Well, if you need anything I’ll be at the stadium getting ready for tonight’s match.” Pencil Point continued drawing while Whitemane looked around for anything that might lead them to who was sending these letters. So far he couldn’t make out anything that could help. Everything now depended on Pencil Point’s drawing. “Done.” She cheerfully said as she finished. She held the drawing with pride before letting it stand on her table top. She called out to Whitemane and as soon as he was there started her spell. It took a few moments for her to concentrate but after she was done the drawing came to life. The trees in the background began to sway just as they did in real life. Her horn glowed a second time and the portrait suddenly stopped before going in reverse. They began to see themselves walking up to the house, automobiles going back and forth, day turning into night before going back to day. And then they saw it. A dark yellow pegasus with a flowing red mane and brown streaks flew in out of the blue and before putting a letter in the mailbox, checked if any other pony was on the street. He had no indication that he was a mailcolt and his nervous and careful behavior was quite noticeable but what stunned them was the fact that one of her wings was actually half mechanical. “I think we got our culprit.” “You think you can enhance the image?” asked Whitemane nonchalantly, “I can’t seem to see the cutiemark” Pencil Point frowned “This is a drawing Whitemane not a computer,” “Then how are we supposed to know who it is?” “Beats me.” They both sighed. Pencil Point’s horn glowed as she reverted the spell making sure the picture stopped at the most visible frame in which the colt could be seen. “Well at least we have his face. Let’s see if Cobalt and Lavender had any luck,” Pencil Point pressed the little ear piece in her ear. “Pencil Point here. I got a possible pic. Anything on your side?” “We just met with the dean of the university and it seemed that Precognition is a very high level magic and not many unicorns can actually do it even if they did learn it. So I’m pretty sure we can rule that out.” “You can say that again. The one giving all these letters is a pegasus. Dark yellow, red mane and get this, a mechanical wing” “Well then take the drawing and meet us back at Switch’s workshop. We’ll settle things there.” “So what’s the plan Final Score?” “I think we better go on the defense for the first half and on the second just give everything we’ve got,” Final Score said to his team “Their team has many good players but their stamina isn’t that much. If we tire them out in the first half we can easily get through their defenses on the second.” “Got it.” The team spoke all at once. “I know that is match is very important and I won’t lie, I’m nervous as fuck. Just remember to do your very best,” Final score sighed. “I’m glad that I’m about to lead a team such as you guys. We would have never gotten this far if it wasn’t for the determination and the spirits of colts and stallions like all of you. Whatever happens tonight, win or lose, I’m proud to say that this team will always be in my books as the best team I have ever played for.” Final Score placed his hoof in the middle of the group as all the other placed theirs on top of his. “GLORY! GLORY! MANE UNITED!!” They quickly left for the field and as they entered the stadium the heard the roars of millions of fans screaming and cheering. A bolt of lightning could be seen in the distance. “Raining tonight?” Final Score asked one of his team mates “Yup. Heard the pegasus weather team scheduled a thunder storm tonight of all nights.” “That’s not gonna be good.” Whitemane swiftly went towards the side of the door looking left and right to see if anypony else was there. He gave a nod to Pencil Point and she went to the door. Switch had cross reference the pony in the picture with the police department’s criminal database and found a match to a pony by the name Maple Sunrise that had been arrested for trespassing on private property 6 days ago. In the report it had said that he was currently staying in a hotel in Manechester City. Pencil Point quickly drew a ram and rammed the door down. Whitemane rushed into the room to only see the dark yellow pegasus heading out the balcony getting ready to fly. He launched himself from the balcony ledge as the pegasus flew away. He extended his hoof as far as he could, trying to get a hold on the pegasus’s tail. He missed. He looked down towards the ground below. It was a 10 story drop from where he was falling. Suddenly, a giant bird swooped from under him and picked him up. Pencil Point was on it maneuvering the bird. “You are so hasty sometimes, you know that?” She quickly went into pursuit with the pegasus. “This spell won’t last long. The moment we get…” Without warning an arrow came straight towards the pegasus and before it reached him, it exploded in a cloud of smoke and a steel net emerged from it capturing the pegasus in mid-air. Pencil Point quickly reacted by drawing a parachute which she attached to the net so the pegasus wouldn’t fall to his death. “Do I have to do everything around here?” They both looked to their right and standing on the roof of one of the buildings was a bright blue unicorn. Her azure mane was tied in a sidetail. The mare had a longbow in one of her hooves and a quiver of arrows hanging from her back. “Well, what took you so long, Aimfast?” “Was in Oatstralia, had to deal with a little diamond dog problem then had to get this ridiculous ear piece from Switch.” “Well, glad to have you back.” Pencil Point landed near the fallen pegasus who at the time was struggling to get out of his entanglement. Whitemane got him out of the net and slammed him to a wall before pointing a hoofblade at him. “Don’t kill me! I’ve hid all of my data about all of you and only I know where it is!” He yelled. Both of them were confused by this sudden outburst. “Data? What data?” Pencil Point asked as she scratched her head with a pencil. “Oh,” The pegasus began to be less tense then he was before “You’re not them? Oh god I thought you were them.” “Them?” “There’s no time to explain. Final Score is in danger,” He tried to escape Whitemane’s grasp but Whitemane just pushed him back to the wall “You aint going anywhere till you tell us what the fuck is going on!” The pegasus struggled but Whitemane had quite the hold on him. “We saw you sending one of those letters three days ago.” “I didn’t send those letters. Somepony else did. I took that letter 6 days ago to see if I could find a magical signature that could lead me to who was doing all of this. I was going to put it back before anypony realized but I got caught by the police for trespassing. I told them I was trying to catch the killer but they didn’t believe me” “Then why did you run?” “Like I said, I thought you were one of them,” “And who are ‘them’ exactly?” “The Chaotic.” Both Pencil Point and Whitemane looked at it each other in bewilderment. “The what?” They both asked “The… You know what? That doesn’t matter. What’s important now is that we need to…” Whitemane felt a drip of water on his snout. Then he felt another and another. It was starting to rain. “Oh shit! We need to go NOW!!” “What do you think Cobalt?” Pencil Point asked. She had been holding the ear piece throughout the conversation letting Cobalt hear it on the other end. “Well, Switch already did a background check. He’s clear. He wasn’t anywhere near Manechester when the first few letters were sent and I’m pretty sure trying to send a letter via teleport from where he was is quite impossible. Go with it for now but don’t forget to keep an eye on him.” “Okay.” “Well you heard him,” Pencil Point released the button on her earpiece. Whitemane unwillingly frees his hold on Maple. “Now, where to?” “We need to go to the stadium.” He brushed himself of a bit before he readied himself for flight “The unicorn doing this is using the weather to kill those ponies.” “And how exactly does he or she do that?” Aimfast had finally gotten down from the rooftops and was crossing the street towards their position. She had a tint of cynicism in her voice. “It’s not like unicorns can alter the weather. Only pegasi have that ability.” “It’s called Meteomancy. It’s a mix of both Hydromancy and Aeromancy. One can use it to control the air pressure and humidity of their surroundings to alter the weather to suit their choice.” “Okay then… but if this unicorn did alter the weather shouldn’t the Pegasus weather team know about it?” “That’s the thing. The killer is using the weather that is scheduled for that day and just tweaking it here and there. You know the one that had a heart attack? Heat stroke. The victim who had an asthma attack? High humidity levels made it hard for her to breathe. If we don’t go now,” Maple looked into the sky and watched as a flash of lightning raged across the sky “Final Score’s last breath will be electrifying.” “Great,” Whitemane sarcastically commented “He even does puns.” “And that’s it mares and gentlecolts. After the end of the second half Manechester united are tied with the Trottenham Spurs 1-1.” “It’s been a marvelous match tonight but there can only be one team to get to the finals and after getting feedback from the weather team, the referee is going with a penalty shoot out to determine who is going with to the finals.” “Yes, it seems the weather has gotten a bit out of hand and going into extra time seems to be out of the question, aint it?” “Yes Mark, but the question that is on everypony’s minds right now is, will Manechester United be able to win this match and finally go on to the finals against Liverpool who miraculously won against Chelsea by 2-0 just moments ago.?” “I don’t know, Lightweight. We’ll just gonna have to watch and see.” The four of them quickly got out of the cab and after paying the driver, they quickly scanned the area. It was still raining cats and dogs. Thunder roared in the sky above while flashes of lightning became more and more apparent. The stadium was grand. Towering over them at almost seven stories high, it flowed with life as the screams and cheers from the adoring fans from inside it synchronized with the sound of rain hitting the cobblestone walkway. “So,” Pencil point yelled “What do we do now?” “The killer will need someplace high to effectively use his magic. We should look for some high places that he might be in,” Whitemane looked around. They were surrounded by tall buildings that almost reached the sky. “Well that’s very helpful! This whole place is full of high towers! We’ll never make it in time!” “Well he’ll also needs to be near the stadium so we can cross out those buildings over there.” Maple pointed to some buildings in the distance. “That only leaves these two towers here,” Pencil Point pointed to a tower left of the stadium and another on the other side. The latter higher than the former “Aimfast, you take the one on the right. Whitemane, you take the left. Maple and I will check the stadium in case he’s in there.” They all nodded and immediately when into action. Maple quickly picked Pencil Point up and flew into the stadium. Aimfast wasted no time as she entered the skyscraper and after asking the doorpony, found the rooftop access while Whitemane toughed it out and just took the fire escape stairway that was on the side of the building. Maple and Pencil Point quickly scanned through the entire stadium for any signs for any unusual unicorns but the stadium was packed and it was hard to spot anything out of the ordinary. Aimfast had reached the top of the building and after a quick sweep of the roof found nothing. “I got nothing. He’s not… wait a minute… I think I see somepony on the other building. Is that you, Whitemane?” “Nope, still climbing,” “Pencil Point here, what can you see?” “It seems to be a unicorn. Can make out much from all this rain but he seems to be channeling some kind of magic.” Pencil Point relayed the message to Maple. “Ask her what color is his glow.” She stared at him puzzled. “What?” “Just ask her!” Pencil Point wasn’t amused “What does his glow have anything to do about all this?” Maple slowly placed a hoof on his face. “Don’t you get it? All unicorns have a specific glow when they do magic. The killer’s glow is red. Bloody red.” “And how would you know that?” “Just trust me.” There was another round of cheers and screams as a red earth pony took to the penalty box. It was Final Score. A bolt of lightning flashed from above and then another. Pencil Point knew the unicorn was about to strike. “Pencil Point, what should I do?” Aimfast asked through the ear piece. Maple look deep into Pencil Point’s eyes. “If you don’t do something right now, we might lose him!” “Damn it Pencil Point! What should I do!” Final score took a deep breath. It all came down to him. He tried to calm his nerves but the flashes of lightning and continuous roars of both thunder and the ponies around him overwhelmed him. The referee placed the ball on the ground and blew the whistle. It was time. He closed his eyes and emptied his mind. All he could hear was his breathing. In. Out. He opened his eyes. He shoots. He stood there stunned as the ball went to the back of the net just barely missing the keepers hoof. He’s teammate all rushed to him tackling him to the ground. He couldn’t believe it. They were going to the finals. Aimfast gazed as Whitemane checked the unicorn. He was dead and she knew it. She only meant to disable him but the wind had pushed the arrow upwards and it hit the side of his head. She sighed and slowly clicked on her earpiece. “I got him.” “Yeah, I know. Whitemane just told me. Cobalt is sending the CSI team to take care of the body. Why don’t you get back to Switch’s workshop we’ll head back there after everything here is done?” “Okay.” “Hey Aimfast… you did good.” “Did ‘good’? I KILLED HIM! It was suppose to just hit his side not his… arrghhh!” Pencil Point heard a sudden click as Aimfast went off. “Well thanks for the help Maple. We…” She looked around. There was no sign of Maple anywhere. She franticly looked through the crowd of joyful ponies celebrating Final Score’s last goal. Nothing. He was gone. She kicked the floor with angst knowing she should’ve kept an eye on him. Maple looked at the sky. It was beginning to clear up. The rain had begun to subside and he could almost see the gleaming stars that were in the night sky. “Sorry, guys,” he said under his breath. He took out a scroll and began to scribble a few notes on it before rolling it up. He took out a lighter and as he flicked it, green fire came out of it. He burned the scroll with the flames and watched as it magically disappeared into thin air. “This isn’t your fight. Not yet.” “So it seems the unicorn was actually a student who was studying on theoretical pegasus magic. He was kicked out of the university after he started experimenting on other students. I guess he was trying to continue his studies on a much more grand scale.” Cobalt explained to them as they got on the airship to Equestria. “I asked Like Spam to looking for more info on Maple Sunrise and his so called ‘The Chaotic’ but so far he hit a dead end.” “So, that’s it?” Aimfast retorted “We’re just gonna pack up and leave?” “We got the killer and unless you have any other information, we’re done here,” She went silent. “Man, why do we always get pulled into these situations,” Whitemane whined. “I guess it just comes with the territory of being a freelancer.” There was a brief silence. The kind of silence everyone has when everyone is just too tired to say anything. It had been a long day and now that they were all on their way back to Equestria, all they wanted was to just get some rest. Whitemane went to take some shuteye while Aimfast hung out with Pencil Point and Lavender having a nice girl chat. Cobalt took the time to think about all that was happening. He knew right away what he was going to do when he gets back. He was sure of it even if there was a possibility that he was wrong. ‘The princess must at least know something about The Chaotic.’ He thought to himself ‘Why would she send us here if it wasn’t’ His train of thought was suddenly cut off as an unpleasant stink filled his nostril. “Ahh, don’t you just love the smell of the fresh air in the morning?” Said a pony beside him “Not if this is what it smells like.” He answered “Oh, sorry about that. Not a lot of people actually like durians,” The pony beside him chuckled “Hi, I’m Fruit Fall.”
Episode 1: A Shadow in the Darkness (Part 1)Episode 1: A Shadow in the Darkness (Part 1) With a dark purple glow, the door opened. Twilight immediately heard the sound of a violin being played as she walked into the store. It was soothing and warm as if you had just wrapped yourself with a blanket after a day in the snow. She took a quick look around her. The whole store was filled with musical instrument of every kind. Violins, pianos, cellos, drums, the whole works. A light grey unicorn stood in front of the counter. Her bright lavender mane was short and jagged but it somehow fitted her appearance. A big smile shined on her face. “Hello,” the unicorn said “Welcome to G Major. How can I help you?” Twilight smiled and took out a piece of parchment “I’m looking for a replacement parts for this piano” She floated the parchment towards the counter and placed it in front of the mare. The mare took a good look at the sketch that had been roughly drawn on it. “Hmmm, I’m not quite familiar with this type of piano but…” the mare’s horn illuminated with a grey glow, lifting the parchment in the air “Could you please wait while I get my husband?” “Sure, please do take your time.” Twilight smiled as the mare went through the back door. A few weeks ago Spike had gotten a piano from Scootaloo for his birthday but it seemed that after just a short time the piano had stopped to function. Pinkie took one look and had suddenly come up with a sketch of what seemed to be the problem. She had tried every store in Ponyville but to no avail and she hoped that this last one would have the parts she needed. After awhile Twilight noticed that the music had abruptly stopped. The back door opened and the mare appeared. Along with her was a grey stallion with long bright blue bangs that was brushed to the side. “So do you have it?” The stallion faced Twilight. His face was blank, showing almost no emotions. “At the moment, we don’t have what you need,” Twilight sighed in defeat “but we can order it for you.” Twilight quickly started to beam. “Oh really, Oh thank you so much. You have no idea how many stores I went through just to get this.” She quickly went over to the counter to thank the stallion “Thank you so much… ermm… Mister…” “Cobalt... just call me Cobalt. You can take the part you need in a week.” Twilight extended her hoof but the stallion just turned around and left. “Sorry for that,” said the mare that had been beside him “He tends to get grumpy when ponies interrupt his violin sessions.” The mare extended her hoof and shook Twilight’s unintended hoof. “I’m Lavender Diamond but just call me Lavender.” “Hello Lavender, nice to meet you. I’m Twilight Sparkle. Are you new here? I’ve never seen you around before?” “Actually we’ve been here for quite some time. Two years I think…” Twilight eyes shot out of her sockets. Her cheeks turned dull red “Really, I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize you. I just never saw…” “There’s no need to apologize,” Lavender interrupted “We don’t actually socialize or go out much. So it’s quite reasonable if you didn’t know.” “Still I feel so embarrassed… How about you join me for tea one day? It would be nice to have some company over.” “Well it would be nice to get out of this stuff shop sometimes,” Lavender thought for a while and smiled "Maybe I will," “So you’re from Marelaysia?” Twilight asked as she sipped on her tea. “Yes, we moved to Ponyville after we weren’t having much luck in our hometown.” “I see. How is Marelaysia? I’ve never been there before.” “It’s quite the city. Not as fancy as Manehatten or Trottingham but its interesting.” “I would love to personally go there. Just think of all the rich and exotic culture I could learn.” “Yeah, that’s one way of saying it,” Lavender said as she giggled. “Anyway thank you for delivering the piano part. You didn’t have to go through all that trouble,” “Oh, it was no trouble at all. An old friend of Cobalt is in town and he asked me to go get him, and I thought I might as well send these parts as well.” “His friend comes and you're the one to go get him?” Her face a bit quizzical as she asked “Well…” Lavender’s smile suddenly disappeared. “You see… Cobalt is blind.” The purple unicorn gasped in shocked “Oh…” “Yeah, it’s actually a very long story but in short. He got injured and went blind afterwords.” “Oh, I’m…” Twilight was at a loss of words. She had never met a blind pony. To be more exact, she had never met a pony with any disabilities. Sure Granny Smith was a bit deaf in the ears but she was more than capable of handling her life. Lavender took one look at the clock and stood up. “Well it was nice seeing you Twilight. Thanks so much for the cup of tea.” “The pleasure is all mine,” Twilight went to the door and opened it for her guest “and if you ever need anything don’t be afraid to ask.” “Actually I do have a favor,” the violet maned mare blushed “You see, though it’s easy to find this library, seeing that it’s the only tree house in Ponyville. I was wondering if you could show me to the Ponyville Inn.” Twilight grinned “Well sure, it just around the corner actually,” She made a quick note to Spike that she was going out and left it in his basket so he could read when he came back from his gem collecting with Rarity. She swiftly looked around the library to see if she had forgotten anything and went out the door. Spring was in the air. The serene and cool breeze that it blew filled Ponyville with a peaceful air like no other. The Market Square was full of stalls. The trees at Sweet Apple Acres were painted with small red ripe apples and Ponyville’s streets were filled with ponies going about their daily lives while the fillies were out playing in the field. The walk towards the inn was a peaceful one up to the point where The Cutie Mark Crusaders crashed landed right in front of them. Something about trying to get a cutie mark in base jumping. Lavender giggled at their antics as they passed by. It took them five minutes to get to the inn and by the time they did a very dark blue unicorn was just leaving the Inn along with an orange and yellow dragon about the size of a pony. Twilight looked one look at him leapt with glee. “Shadow? Bright Shadow? Is that you?” She called out. Shadow took one look at Twilight and immediately beamed. “Holy Celestia, Twilight? I thought you were in Cantorlot?” Lavender confusedly looked at the both of them. “You know each other?” “Hello Lavender, it’s been nice seeing you again and yes, we do know each other,” “Shadow and I both studied at Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. He was my senior. By the way, that was a really great thesis you wrote last year,” Twilight grinned ear to ear. “I never would have thought teleportation as a sort of time manipulation spell.” “Well if you want, I could elaborate more on that matter,” Twilight squealed with delight. “Oh yes, I would just love to hear all about it.” “Sure, where are you staying? I’ll come by later after I’ve met with Cobalt.” “I’m living at the Ponyville Library. Oh I can’t wait. There’s just so much to discuss.” “Well I will see you then.” Shadow looked towards Lavender “I’m sure Cobalt is just dying to see me,” “I wouldn’t go that far as to say that after what happened in Kudala Lumpur” She said jokingly as she started walking. “By Starswirl’s beard, that was an accident…” Celestia plopped on to her bed. Today’s court had been quite the bore. The same old rich and upper class ponies with their minuscule problems plague the royal court. She wished she had more action like in the good old days. Back when she was with her sister Luna. Fighting side by side against the in justice of equestria but she guessed that was the price to pay for becoming a princess. It didn’t matter though. Her ponies respected her and she kept them safe. A green flash of fire suddenly emerged out of nowhere and out landed a roll of parchment. She smiled. Twilight’s weekly report. Even though Celestia insisted on only giving friendship reports only when a lesson in friendship had been learned, Twilight still felt obligated to give her a weekly report on the happenings in her life which she didn’t mind. It was a breath taker of sorts from all the mundane happenings in the castle. Dear Princess Celestia, Hello princess, I hope everything is great in Cantorlot. Both Spike and I are fine and doing well. I’m also happy to say that I have finally able to do 50 different types of magic and spells. I was so happy that I told Pinkie to arrange a party just for that occasion. She had the party arrangements done within the minute. I also met Bright Shadow today. It’s been a while since I met him. We had a heated discussion on the physics and biological traits of a magically influenced metamorphosis. It’s so great to finally be able to have an intellectual conversation again. Not that I’m saying there aren’t any smart ponies here. I hope everything is fine and please say hi to Princess Luna for me. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle Celestia stared at the letter in horror. Bright Shadow was in Ponyville. She quickly got of her bed and gathered the royal guards. She had to get to Ponyville as fast as she could. Twilight was in danger. Twilight looked around the room. At first everything was pitch black. She let her eyes adjust to the darkness. The mossy cobblestone walls surrounding her gave off an eerie ambiance. There were no windows just a wooden door a few feet away from where Twilight was lying down. She stood up and went towards the door. She concentrated all her might towards her horn but to her surprise her horn didn’t respond. She quickly panicked. “What just happened? What happened to my magic?” she thought to herself. She tried to scream for help but it was only then did she realize the muzzle that had been placed on her. She tried to recall the events of the day. The last thing she remembered was that she had just sent a letter to the princess and was continuing her conversation with Bright Shadow when suddenly she felt tired and passed out. She suddenly heard the sound of the wooden door unlock. She quickly went to the back of the room, worried that her captives would hurt her. A black aura engulfed the door and it slammed open as Bright Shadow trotted into the room with a grin on his face “Ahh, Twilight. You’re awake.” “How are you feeling? A bit restricted I hope,” His demented eyes were locked onto Twilight. “I’m pretty sure you must be confused right now. Well that’s good. I wouldn’t want you to know what is happening anyway. Not that you’ll remember anything after I’m done with you.” Twilight tried to teleport out but again her horn didn’t respond. “It’s useless to use your magic Twilight,” Shadow pointed towards her horn. Three black rings had been worn on it. “That there are Anti-magic Rings. You like it? I made it myself. It took me months to make it. Though one would’ve work just fine for a normal unicorn but then again you aren’t just like any unicorn aren’t you. No, you my dear are the Element of Magic and the protégé of the most powerful princess in all of Equestria, a position that was actually meant for me.” Shadow turned around and began to walk towards the door “Try to rest my dear. There is much we need to do tomorrow,” “What do you mean you don’t know?” Asked Rainbow Dash as she slammed Cobalt towards the wall “I don’t know he never told me.” Celestia was too late. By the time she had arrived in Ponyville, Twilight was nowhere to be found. Spike had remembered Twilight saying that Shadow was here to meet Cobalt. So Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity quickly went to the little music shop at the edge of town while Pinkie Pie headed the Ponyville search party and Fluttershy using her unique talent to ask help from the birds and other animals. “Please,” Lavender pushed Rainbow Dash aside “Be careful” “Careful?! CAREFUL?! Twilight is missing and apparently according to the princess it’s because of that little…” “Whoa there Dash,”Applejack interrupted“Ain’t any use being too worked up about it He already said he doesn’t know anything.” “And you believe him?” “Rainbow Dash, even if so,” Rarity replied as she checked up on Cobalt “Do you really have to act so barbaric to such a poor little pony.” “Ladies, I’m blind not deaf.” Lavender helped Cobalt stand up. “Please, if there is anything you can do or anything you know please don’t hesitate to say. We need all the help we can get.” “We here just wanna save a friend and I’m pretty sure you would’ve done the same for a friend, wouldn’t you?” Applejack asked. Cobalt sighed. He knew he was going to regret what he was about to do but they were right. If he had been in there situation he would’ve done the same. “I know a pony that might be able to help.” A bright ray of hope shined in the once gloomy room. Cobalt searched for his bow and his violin with his hooves to which Lavender levitated them to. He stood up and started playing a very high and cheerful note. “Her name is Pencil Point.”
Episode 2: A Shadow in the Darkness (Part 2)Episode 2: The Shadow in the Darkness (Part 2) Canterlot’s market plaza was among the busiest in all of Equestria. Merchants and travelers from all over the world came here to sell or buy the different items that the vendors had to offer. The bustling noise of the market plaza was quite the contrast from the calm and serene streets of Canterlot. “I don’t get it,” Rainbow Dash asked as they arrived at Canterlot’s market plaza “How can bread seller help us?” “Pencil Point isn’t just any kind of bread seller,” Lavender explained “She’s an expert in the art of drawing and illustration,” “I still don’t see how that can help us in any way?” Rainbow Dash and the others had followed Lavender to Canterlot to meet with Pencil Point. Cobalt had insisted on staying in Ponyville, saying that his blindness wouldn’t at all help them find Pencil Point any faster. He explained to them that Pencil Point was able to help them in their search but Rainbow Dash suspected otherwise but what other choice did she have. This was the only lead they had. “Oh come on Dashie, where’s your sense of surprise and adventure?” “Not if the adventure is threatening one of my friends,” “Please Rainbow Dash, your complaining and constant pestering isn’t helping Lavender find this friend of theirs,” “Well I still think this plan stinks,” “You have any better idea sugercube?” “Hey, I’m just sayin…” “There she is,” Lavender interrupted as she pointed towards the direction of a stall. The stall was quite crowded. An array of delicious looking bread of all types was up for sale. Croissants, baguettes, white, whole meal, the whole works. In front of the stall, stood a light blue unicorn with tourmaline pink eyes. Her dark blue mane was cut short and it hung just before her eyes. It took the group a while to get through the crowd of bread hungry ponies and when they did the smell that came off from the line of deliciously looking breads was so tempting that they almost forgot why they were there in the first place. “So, what will it be?” Asked the blue mare “I’ll take this one, and this one, and ohh and those éclairs just look sooooo creamy…” “Pinkie!” Rainbow dash abruptly placed a hoof in her mouth “We don’t have time for that now and didn’t you just eat a whole cake this morning?” “But I’m worried about Twilight and when I’m worried I eat and when I eat I fill so good inside and when I feel so…” Lavender just giggled as Pinkie went on and on. She then placed her attention on the cerulean mare. “Hello, Pencil Point. We’d love to have your specialty.” “Which one?” She asked. “The other one,” Pencil Point’s smile almost ripped her face. She merrily jumped up and down before signaled them to follow her “Tintin, could you please take care of the stall for a while?” She hollered to a sapphire blue pony wearing a blue cap over his orange wulfenite mane. “Alrite boss,” Pencil Point led them to a white van that was parked behind the stall. She opened up the back doors and told them to get inside. The van despite its size was actually quite spacious. It had enough space for all of them and some more. Pencil Point closed the doors behind them and looked at them with a weak smile. “When Lucid Dream came last night… I just couldn’t believe it… are we getting back together?” “No. We aren’t.” Lavender responded. Pencil Point smile went out like a blown candle. She sighed and levitated a piece of paper from her satchel that was on the floor and spread it out. On it was a drawing of a very mossy stone building. There was not a single tree in it except for the two trees that stood in front of the stone building, both of them without a single leaf on their branches. The background was dark and murky. A small lightning bolt could be seen at the very far end of the artwork. “Ermm... what’s this?” Applejack asked “I don’t know. Lucid Dreams just told me to draw this and give it to you guys…” “That’s it! I’ve had enough!” Rainbow Dash stormed out of the van “This isn’t going anywhere and most probably this was all just a wild goose chase so Cobalt could go warn the son of a bitch!” “Rainbow Dash!” Rarity called out “There is no need to resort to such vulgar words,” “And for the last time. My husband is not helping Shadow,” Lavender cried out. “Then why in Celestia’s name did he tell us to go here? And who is this Lucid Dream anyway?” Lavender and Pencil Point both gave a quick glance at each other before going silent. “We… can’t say…” Rainbow Dash threw her hooves in defeat and flew off. “Dash! Wait for me,” Pinkie said as she skipped out of the van and followed the multihued pegasus. The van turned suddenly silent. Applejack was trying to figure out what the drawing meant and Rarity was calming Fluttershy who in the midst of it all broke into another meltdown. “Did Lucid say anything at all?” Lavender said breaking the silence “Anything that might help?” The blue mare sat down and tried to think. “He told me that you were coming… and you need help… then he told me to draw this and give it to you…” “That’s it?” Pencil Point nodded. “Hmmm… do you guys know what this might be?” “Enope” “Not a clue my dear” “It’s… *sniff*… a mausoleum…” “What?” They all said together. Fluttershy meeped as the rest stared at her in disbelief. “Why Fluttershy, how on equestria do you know of such a thing?” Rarity inquired “Ermm… I don’t wanna talk about it… *meep*” “Very well then,” Rarity took a look at the drawing “but it now begs the question, why would Lucid Dream, whoever he is, want us to have this?” “Before that, could somepony please clarify what is going on?” Lavender began to explain on what had happened. From Shadow arriving to Ponyville to the time he abducted Twilight then coming here for help. Pencil Point was shocked to hear of what shadow had done and was now denying Shadow would do such a thing but Lavender then explained that the princess had found detail accounts of Shadow stalking Twilight’s every move and his plan of abducting her. The light blue mare just stood there in disbelief over what she had just heard. “But… It’s just not like him…” she denied “It’s not like him at all…” “I know… that’s why we need to find him…” Pencil Point stomped her front hoof. She looked at the other three ponies with determination. “I think I know what to do,” Pencil Point went out of the van and yelled “Tintin! Pack up! We’re going to Ponyville,” “But we just got here,” Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy was dumbfounded by the Pencil Point’s sudden burst of activity. Lavender took one look at them and giggled. “I think you might want to go get Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie,” “On it,” Applejack barged out of the van and started galloping through the streets of Canterlot. “By the way, Lavender?” Rarity politely asked “Who in carnations did your mane? It’s just awfully dreadful” Lavender just smiled. “What are you doing?” Twilight asked as Shadow hooked wires onto the three black rings on her horn. Her hooves were bounded to a metal plate that she was now lying on. The room she was currently in was different then her previous dungeon. It was filled with mechanical and electronic equipment just like her lab under the library but the equipment here were unknown to her or were just to advance for her understanding. Shadow just quietly smiled and continued with his business, only sporadically talking to an orange and yellow scaled dragon for assistance. Twilight franticly looked around the room and at the machinery she was being hooked on. She tried to examine it from where she was. Trying to understand what was going on. Apparently, the wires that were fastened to the rings on her horn lead to another set of rings and then running through a huge mechanical contraption to which she saw what seemed to be a control panel of sorts and a scale that went from 0–9000. To her left she could see the door. If she could only use her magic she would’ve been able to free herself. “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!” Shadow’s voice bellowed across the room “Shadow I’m sorry but I’m not going to let you do the transfer without me testing this out first!” argued the dragon. Shadow kicked the air behind him with frustration. “Alright then we better get this done fast. We’re wasting time as it is.” The dragon nodded and started to pull a few levers on the control panel. Instantly, different multicolored lights began to flash all around the room. The sound of mechanical gears began to hum while the sounds of bits and pieces of metal grinding with each other echoed and clanked. “Start the test at normal and then we’ll try it at full,” Shadow ordered. The dragon nodded and turned a dial. The contraption went into overdrive as electricity began to flow outwards through a series of wires and then ending at Twilight’s horn. The black rings began to glow a deep purple that was in sync with Twilight’s horn which was also started glow. “1350, just over the normal magic level of a standard unicorn” shouted the dragon over the sound of the machine. “Now let’s see what she’s really made of,” the dragon turned the dial to maximum as the device immediately began to shiver and quake. The black rings were now brightly shining. Twilight began feel as if she was overfilled with energy. Her eyes began to glow as a magical energy leaked out of her engulfing her in an aura of magic. Her bounds dissipated into thin air as they were unable to withstand the intensity. “The scale is sky rocketing!” Twilight’s aura began to randomly shoot objects in the room with magic. “3000… no… 5000… OH SHIT!!! IT’S OVER 9000!!!!” “SHUT IT DOWN! SHE’ll OVERHEAT THE REACTOR CORES!!” Shadow hastily started turning off the machine. The aura surrounding Twilight began to subside. She felt exhausted as if she had run a marathon. She rubbed the burning sensation that she now felt from her horn. It was only then did she realize she was no longer bounded. She looked at her kidnappers, both of which were checking bits and pieces of the machine. She silently dragged herself off the metal plate. Taking one cautious step at a time, she went for the door. “I told you the machine couldn’t handle her,” the dragon said to his partner Shadow sighed “How long till its operational?” “I don’t know,” the machine suddenly gave off a spark “A day or two, I guess. I’m going to have to do some modifications.” “Well, then I’m just go…” Shadow had turned around and to his horror Twilight was gone, the door wide open. “FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU” Twilight heard a loud scream from behind her but she pushed it aside. She had to get out and fast. She quickly went through torch lit passageway. It seemed like she was in a catacomb of sorts. Suddenly she found herself in a large square room triple the size of the room she had just been. There were corridors on all sides. “Where’s the exit?” She thought to herself. She began to panic. She looked behind her, there was no one there. She then remembered that she could use her magic. She anxiously started to pull the rings on her horn off but to her dismay, the rings were still lodged to her horn and the pulling made the burning sensation only worst. She stomped her hooves in frustration. “Don’t move,” Twilight froze as she heard a voice, no, a whisper close to her ears. She blink and there right in front of her stood a cream colored colt on his hind hooves while he pointed a blade that was attached to the side of his right hoof at her. The colt flicked his long ghastly mane. Twilight tried to move but the colt quickly pushed the blade towards and left it inches away from stabbing her. Twilight heard the clopping of hooves behind her. “Twilight… you shouldn’t run off so suddenly… we’re not done with you yet.” The dragon quickly grabbed the violet unicorn. “Stop… let go off me… please…” Whack. The dragon had hit Twilight’s head causing her to black out. “Ironhide! Be careful,” Ironhide just grunted as he took Twilight back to her cell. The cream colored colt sheathed his blade and went on all four. “Swift Whitemane,It’s a good thing you caught her before she got out. I’m so glad you’re on our…” “I do what I’m paid to do Bright Shadow. Don’t you forget about that,” Whitemane turned around and within moments disappeared into the shadows. “I never did,” “So what are we doing here again?” Rainbow Dash asked. Pencil Point continued on with her drawing not taking notice to her surroundings. She had placed a very large canvas on one of the walls of Cobalt’s store and was now drawing a life size illustration of the picture from before. “Well…” Cobalt started to explain “Pencil point thinks that Lucid Dreams might have given her a picture of where Twilight might be held. Seeing as the picture is a mausoleum and the person behind the abduction is Bright Shadow, I’m guessing she’s right.” “And how is a large drawing gonna help?” Applejack asked as she scratched her head. “And who in Equestria is Lucid Dreams,” Rainbow Dash butted in. She sounded a bit irritated. “Lucid Dreams is a friend of ours. That is all I can say. As for the picture…” “Done,” Pencil Point smiled proudly over her masterpiece. The artwork was miraculous. The wall now looked as if it had been torn down and on the other side was the dark and gloomy stone building. “You ready Cobalt?” “Wait a darn second. You still didn’t answer the question.” “Do you want to save your friend or not?” Cobalt took his violin and his bow “Yeah, but…” “Then there is no time to explain” Cobalt began to play a low and eerie tone. The notes he played brought everypony there to shivers. He swung his hair aside to reveal a horn underneath. It started to glow a bright blue as he channeled his magic to his violin. Pencil Point’s horn also started to glow as she pointed it towards the large portrait. The music started to get more invigorating and upbeat. Everypony there felt a sudden warmth overwhelming them. Pencil Point’s horn began to glow more brightly and with more intensity. The portrait began to glow and within minutes the whole group felt a cool breeze coming from the picture. Cobalt slowly let the music die out as Pencil Point stopped the spell. The picture was now moving. The trees in the background were swaying. A flash of lightning cracked in the sky as the thunder was heard all around the room. “What in tarnations?” “It’s amaterialization spell,” Pencil Point said as she grinned ear to ear. “I learned it a few years after I got my cutie mark.” She showed them her flank and there it was a pencil with three black blobs under it. “The materialization spell lets me make anything I draw come to life. In this case I made the drawing real so we could just pass through it and go there in an instant.” “Then why didn’t we do it in Canterlot?” the blue pegasus cried out “Well because I couldn’t do it alone. I needed Cobalt to...” “Yes, what was that exactly,” Rarity interrupted “I felt so refreshing and so warm inside” “Yeah, I’ve never felt so happy and so full of energy as if I could just party all night long,” Pinkie began to bounce and pop randomly around the room knocking down a few instrument that were there. “Hey watch it! Those things are fragile!” “Another thing,” Applejack fixed her hat which pinkie pie had just popped out of “You never told us you were a unicorn,” “First of all, you never asked. Second, that was a type of auditory magic. Depending on what song, it conjures different effects. The song I just played increases a pony’s strength and ability from within him or herself. “All this magic fro fro is giving me one heck of a headache,” “Well don’t worry about it,” Pencil Point took her satchel “Let’s go save that friend of yours. Tintin, you coming?” “I think I’ll pass boss,” Pencil Point shrugged “Suits you,” Pencil Point took a deep breath and stepped into the picture. It started to ripple as if it was water. Once she was on the other side she took a look behind her. A picture of the music shop lay suspended in mid air. The next one to go through the picture was Rainbow Dash and then one by one the others went through. Rarity and Fluttershy had remained just in case Twilight was able to free herself and come back. Pencil Point’s eyes widened as Cobalt and Lavender came through the portrait. “I thought you didn’t want to tag along?” She asked Cobalt shrugged and smiled “Well it has been awhile since I was on the field…” Pencil Point replied the smile “That’s the Cobalt I know,” They continued on into the mausoleum. An old cobblestone stairway leads them down to the catacombs below. The dark passages only lit by the dim lights of the torches that seemed to have been recently put up. *CLANK* “Did ya’ll just hear that?” “Hear what?” “I swear I heard something,” *CLANK* “There it is again,” “I heard that too,” They all started to look around, trying to find were the noise came from. Slowly in front of them from out of the shadows they saw a hoard of skeletons wearing metal armor coming closer and closer. “You think they’re all friendly?” Applejack asked as she readied herself for an attack “I don’t know, why don’t you ask?” The horde immediately charged at the group, steel swords in their mouths. Applejack stomped the ground which caused some of them to be stunned. Quickly Rainbow Dash took this opportunity to grab them and smash them onto the walls. Pinkie Pie had suddenly pulled out what seemed to be bottles filled with red liquid and were now throwing them at the skeletons. Rainbow Dash eyed her in confusion. “What?”Pinkie shrugged “Everyone knows healing kills undead,” “This is going nowhere,” Pencil point shouted to the rest. “There’s too many of them,” “Go,” Cobalt shouted back “Lavender and I will handle these. Go take care of Shadow and save Twilight,” Applejack charged straight into the horde making way for Pinkie and Pencil Point while Rainbow Dash flew from above. The horde quickly surrounded both Cobalt and Lavender. “You ready honey?” Cobalt readied his violin and his bow “Ready when you are sweetie,” Lavender said. Cobalt started to play a very catchy and happy melody. Immediately vines started to grow from the ground covering the floor. Lavender used her magic to wrap the vines around the skeletons and squash them. “It so good to be back on the field,” Pencil Point and the others had finally reached a large room with corridors spreading on each side. “Now what?” Asked Rainbow Dash “Which way do we go?” “How am I suppose to know,” Pencil Point retaliated Suddenly Rainbow Dash was knocked out of the air and fell to the floor. A cream colored earth pony landed next to her. He slammed his right front hooves to his side and a blade slid out from a gauntlet that had been equipped to it. He quickly placed the blade to Rainbow Dash’s throat before she could pick herself up. Applejack readied herself for an attack but the cream colored earth pony pushed the blade closer to Rainbow Dash. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Applejack gave a snort and backed down. Pencil Point took one look at the mysterious pony and gave a gleeful smile “Whitemane? Is that you?” Whitemane glanced at Pencil Point and was stunned in his place. He backed up a bit and sheathed his blade back into the gauntlet. “Pencil Point?” Rainbow Dash took this opportunity and tackled Whitemane to the ground. Pencil Point rushed towards her and shoved her off of him. “Rainbow Dash, He’s one of us.” “He attacked me!” “He’s only doing he’s job. Well… are you?” Whitemane picked himself up and brushed off some of the dirt. “Yes I am. Shadow is paying me to guard the catacombs from any intruders.” He looked at her with a slight confusion “Why are you here?” “Shadow kidnapped the Princess’s star student and we came here to save her. Wait… you know that don’t you?” Whitemane was silent. *Smack* “YOU KNEW AND YOU STILL TOOK THE JOB!?” Whitemane rubbed his newly slapped cheeks. “What was I suppose to do Pencil Point? After M.B.S. everything just went downhill. At least you had your bread business. All I have is this. This is all I know.” “But I never thought you would ever stoop so low,” Pencil Point turned away, unable to bear looking at him. Silence. “You know, I still owe you money,” “So,” “Maybe it’s about time I repay it,” Pencil Point glared at Whitemane. “Well, it’s a start,” Whitemane smiled. “Twilight is in a cell a few feet in that direction.” He pointed to a corridor that was west of the large room. “Shadow is in his lab up front,” “You guys take Twilight and get her out of here, Whitemane and I will handle Shadow,” Rainbow Dash nodded and led Applejack and Pinkie Pie towards Twilight’s direction. Pencil Point approached Whitemane. “You do know you owe me a lot of bits, don’t you?” “Well I guess I’m just gonna have to guard you till I finish it,” Pencil Point gave a small peck on his cheeks and it immediately went red. “It’s so good to see you again,” “How long will it take?” Shadow inquired as he paced around the lab “Just a few adjustments here and there and it should be done,” Ironhide responded “Well better hurry up they’ll be here any…” The wooden door threw wide open as Whitemane and Pencil Point barged in. “Whitemane! What the hell?” “I got a better offer. Deal with it.” Whitemane equipped his blade and took up an attacking position. Pencil Point took out her sketch book and pencil. “Shadow, what’s going on here?” “Ahh, Pencil Point. It’s been awhile,” “Cut the crap Shadow. Why did you kidnap Twilight?” Shadow sighed “Years ago, when I was studying at Celestia’s school of gifted Unicorn’s, I had heard that the Princess was in search of an apprentice. I studied my…” “Yes yes… you studied but the princess had chosen Twilight instead. What does this have anything to with all of this,” “It has everything to with all of this. Don’t you see? If she chose Twilight because of her potent magic then all I have to do is take that magic and the princess will have no choice but to choose me.” “That’s insane! Taking her magic will KILL her!” “Then so be it!” Pencil Point gently placed a hoof on her face. “What happened to you? This is not the Bright Shadow that I know. What happened to helping ponies with their troubles?” “HELPING PONES? Have you any idea what has happened to the other’s when M.B.S. was disbanded?” “Well…” Pencil Point was staggered “Well let me tell you,” Shadow began “Solid Tube is now a common guard because of that god damn arrow, The Longcast Sisters lost their home and are going from one town to the next, Switch is still in Trottingham in that small dump he calls a workshop and don’t get me started on Harbinger,” “The fact is, we did all we could to help ponies but what have they done to help us? NOTHING! All I am doing is taking what I deserved,” Pencil Point sighed “I’m sorry Bright Shadow but you leave me no choice,” “Vice versa” Shadow’s horn began glow a dark navy as skeletons emerged from the ground. Whitemane zipped passed the skeletons and with a leap tried to strike the dark blue unicorn but mid-air he was tackled by Ironhide and the both continued to scuffle on the ground. Pencil Point, who was drawing at the time, crumpled up the piece of paper she was drawing on and lifted it up into the air. The crumbled up paper abruptly began to burn with an intense blue flame. The blue flame quickly subsided as the smoke from it began to take shape and solidify into a large bear. The bear quickly charged into the group of skeletons attacking them with such ferocity and after each one of them was subdued, the bear exploded into bits and pieces of paper. “Ahh, it seems you improved since we last met,” commented Shadow “But it’s hardly enough to outmatch me,” Shadow’s horn began to glow more fiercely as he concentrated all his magic into his next spell. A pentagram emerged in front of him. Green fire sparked ablaze as a big horned demon was summoned in front of her eyes. Pencil Point franticly started to draw as fast as she could but the demon was already charging for an attack. “Whitemane!! A little help here!!” Whitemane kicked Ironhide aside knocking him towards the wall causing him to blackout. He quickly engaged the demon but his attacks were quickly brushed off. The demon threw a few jabs at Whitemane to which he quickly evaded. He slashed one of its horns cutting it in half. The Demon roared in anger and began to flail its arms around in rampage. “You done yet Pencil Point?” yelled Whitemane as he dodged the rampaging arms. “Just… about… DONE!” She threw the paper to the ground and just like before, it burst into blue flames and from the smoke came a large blue Dragon. The dragon took a deep breath and out of the depths of his throat came an intense flame that went hurling towards the demon. Whitemane quickly leapt in the air escaping the flames by just inches before landed right next to Pencil Point. The flames incinerated the demon and as it died out all that was left were ashes. “I’ve underestimated you,” Shadow said slyly. “But this next… Is that music?” A soft tune could be heard from within the room. Pencil Point took a quick look behind her and noticed Cobalt playing his violin with Lavender standing next to him. “53 steps forward, 20 steps to the right” Lavender whispered into Cobalt’s ear. He nodded and increased the volume of his playing. “Ahh Cobalt, I’m glad to… oh wait… I know this song…” Suddenly the earth beneath him covered his legs locking them into place. He tried to blink out from his imprisonment but suddenly Cobalt changed to an eerie tone. Pencil Point’s sketch book and pencil fell from its levitated state. “Damn you COBALT! How could you do this to me?” “You played me for a fool Shadow. You had me help you in finding Twilight and for that alone, I resent you.” “ARRRRRGGGHHHHH” Shadow began to throw a tantrum. Twisting and turning around, trying his best to break free but even with his best effort he couldn’t. After awhile, he just stood there, defeated. The Royal guards came to apprehend Bright Shadow hours later. Later he was admitted to an asylum after he was deemed psychologically unfit. Ironhide on the other hand, served prison time for being an accomplice to the kidnapping. After they all arrived back into Ponyville, Pinkie threw a big party to commemorate Twilight’s safe return. It was grand. Cobalt played some tunes on his violin as requested by Rarity. Pencil Point and Pinkie Pie shared baking tips. Even Princess Celestia dropped by from her busy schedule to see her favorite pupil unharmed. But that was not all she was there for. As the party subsided she asked to see Cobalt, Lavender, Pencil Point and Whitemane privately. “I would like to thank you personally for your help in rescuing Twilight.” the Princess began “But I couldn’t resist in asking all of you about… your past… M.B.S. was it not?” Cobalt sighed “M.B.S. or Marelaysian Battle Squad was…” “I am very aware of what M.B.S. was mind you. Equestria does have an espionage service.” “Then what do you want to know?” “Nothing, just… I would like to fund the group,” Pencil Point gasped. “What really?” Cobalt jaw dropped “But why?” “It’s very complicated but all I can say is that we need ponies such as yourselves to help not just Equestria but most probably the world.” “And why us?” “I have yet to find any other ponies that are as capable as you all are,” “Why not asked them to help,” Cobalt pointed towards Twilight and the gang. The princess quickly shook her head. “No, they do not know of the world outside of Equestria and would very like it that it remains that way.” “Ok, let’s say we do help but what are we actually helping with? Who is the enemy? Who…” “Oh come on Cobalt,” Pencil Point interrupted “We’re getting our old jobs back. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this?” “Pencil Point, do remember that M.B.S. was disbanded for a reason,” Cobalt retaliated “I just don’t want what had happened in Cat Town to happen again.” Silence. “I may have been too forward and for that I apologize,” Celestia expressed regret “If it burdens you then you can forget the offer. I will just have to…” “NO! Just… wait a moment princess,” Pencil Point pulled them all to the side. “Come on guys. This could be our only chance to back on the field again. To be where we all belong. In the middle of the action.” “But…” “But what Cobalt? This isn’t like before. This isn’t some company that proclaimed itself to be government funded. No. This is the princess we are talking about. Don’t you trust her?” “Hey I’m just trying to look out for you guys ok.” “I know but come on didn’t you like being back on the field?” “Hmm… I’ll agree if the rest are ok with it,” Whitemane nodded “As long as I’m paid,” “And you Lavender?” asked Pencil Point “I go where Cobalt goes,” Lavender smiled “Then it’s decided!” Pencil Point turned around and went to the princess “We’ll be happy to work under you Princess Celestia.” “That is great news,” The princess took out a scroll “I already have an assignment for all of you,” Pencil Point took the scroll and leapt in glee. “M.B.S. is back!” “Whoa there Pencil Point we still have our first order of business before we can go on the assignment,” “Our first order of business?” Pencil Point gave Cobalt a bewildered look on her face “And what would that be?” “We get the others,”
Episode 3: The Final ScoreEpisode 3: The Final Score “So basically, this is what happened,” Cobalt took a sip of his cider and placed the mug on the table “I was playing my violin to get some bits and could you believe it, someone actually filed a complaint saying that my violin work was sound pollution?” Cobalt laughed as he took another sip. “I spent the rest of the night locked up in the town jail with some psycho who believed a poptart cat that was flying around in space, spewing rainbows out of its ass and singing ‘nya nya nya’ was gonna destroy the world. “ “That must've been one hell of a night,” Pencil Point remarked. “Oh, you have no idea.” The airship to Manechester was a quiet one, so the gang went to the onboard bar to catch up on some lost time. Apparently after MBS had been disbanded, Cobalt met Lavender and after a year, they got married but their marriage wasn’t approved by their parents so they eloped to Ponyville and started the music shop. Pencil Point went back to her bread business and has been selling bread ever since. Whitemane on the other hand didn’t have much luck as he was unable to get a job due to the fact that fighting was kind of his way of life. “So, this assignment,” Whitemane pushed aside his mug of cider. Though he made it clear he didn’t drink, they insisted he have one. “It’s just some guard mission?” “More or less,” Cobalt ordered another round “Three days ago, Final Score, star striker for Manechester United, received a letter that he was going to die. For some ponies, they would’ve just shrugged this off for some prank, but the thing is, over the past few months there have been a multiple murders around the Manechester area, each of the victims received a letter telling them that they will die in a week and after a week they coincidentally die.” “Coincidentally?” “Well, that's what the local PD is saying. They’re not investigating it though. The deaths are too random. The victims have no connection to one another and each of them died a different way with no evidence that suggest foul play. There is no connection at all except for the letters that were sent to the victims.” “So, why are we being sent to investigate?” Cobalt had a baffled look on his face. “Didn’t you read the files that the princess gave us?” “I was too busy… ermm… guarding Pencil Point’s van… yeah,” “HA! More like sleeping next to the van,” remarked Pencil Point, a bit tipsy from all of the cider. “So I didn’t read it. So, what?” Cobalt sighed. “Anyway, the police aren’t trying to solve the murders so that’s where we come in and do remember we have to be quick. He only has four days left until…” *DING* “Attention all passengers, we will be arriving in Trottingham in a few minutes. Thank you for using Ponyhoof Airlines.” *DING* “Seems like we’re here. Let’s get this over with.” Final Score took a deep breath. He ran across the field and with all his might and kicked the ball straight into the net. He took it back and returned it to its original position and stood where he was before. “Are you still going to the match?” The red earth pony with a white streak in his red mane looked behind him and there stood a pink mare with a worried look on her face. He quickly turned his head not wanting to look at the worried mare. “This match is important,” “More important than your life?” Final score kicked the ball again. “I just…” the pink mare placed her hoof on his muzzle and stared deep into his eyes .“Stay home with the kids. Please… I don’t want to lose you,” “Sweetie Pie… those are just rumors,” “I DON’T CARE! I DON’T WANT TO LOSE YOU!” Sweetie Pie couldn’t hold it anymore. She fell to the ground, her face filled with tears. Final Score quickly went to her, picked her up and embraced her. “Nothing is going to happen, okay?” He wiped away the tears with his hooves and kissed Sweetie’s forehead as he adored her beauty. Even with the tears in her eyes she was beautiful. “Nothing is going to happen.” He brought her lips to his and they both locked into a passionate kiss. “Ah, Cobalt! It’s a pleasure to be able to meet with you again,” Switch began to furiously shake Cobalt’s hooves. “Two years seems like almost an eternity doesn’t it, old chap?” “I’m not old, Switch,” Cobalt released himself from Switch’s grip “Just worn out.” “Ah, still haven’t lost that sense of humor have we? And who might this fine mare be?” Switch bowed in front of Lavender cause her to blush. “Lavender,” Switch took her hooves and planted a small peck on them “Lavender Diamond.” “Ah, such a fine mare indeed. And Pencil Point! Oh, how beautiful you have become over these years,” “Oh, stop it you.” “Whitemane, those hoof blades working out for you right?” “Better then the last one, that’s for sure.” “Well, I would like to say that I did have a little help making those, and actually I think I have some new ones for you…” He began to rummage through the piles of mechanical junk that had been lying around the room “AHA!! Found them.” He jumped from out of the pile holding a pair of gauntlets in his front right hoof while striking a pose with the hoof in the air as if he was showing them to the gods. He quickly tossed them to Whitemane for him to try on. “They’re a bit of a snug, but….” “Switch, we're here on business remember?” Cobalt interrupted. “Ahh yes, almost forgot about that.” Switch quickly took out a projector and turned it on. “Alice, would you mind bringing up all the files on the Mail Murderer?” “Very well.” said a computerized voice The projector immediately projected detailed accounts of all the killing on the wall behind them. “Mail Murderer?” “It’s what the news is calling it now. Anyhow, as you might know the killings are quite random and without any type of foul play. Heart attack here, asthma attack there. The last one was actually a suicide. The poor chap jumped of a building.” “Any idea how they are being done? “Well I have a theory but well it’s just a theory,” “Well?” “I don’t think these are actually murders. I think the pony doing this is actually trying to warn these ponies.” “So you think whoever is sending these letters know that these deaths are going to happen?” “Precognition isn’t actually a well known type of magic, but it is possible none the less.” Cobalt smiled “And when did you ever start studying about magic? I thought it was all science and computers for you?” “Well, two years is enough to change anypony’s perspective, my friend,” Cobalt pondered for awhile. “So… What're we gonna do?” Asked Pencil Point. “Wait a sec, let me think… Oh god… I wish Lucky Sanity was here…” He looked around the room trying to clear his head for ideas, “Were the Police able to trace who sent the letters?” “Nope, they were all sent by hoof.” “Pencil Point, is it possible for you to draw a scene and see what has happened?” “Never tried, but I think I could possibly do that.” “We'll get to it, go to Final Score’s house and see who sent that letter. Whitemane you follow. Lavender and I will go to the Magic University in Oxford to see if we can find anything about this Precognition Magic.” Pencil Point and Whitemane nodded and walked out of the room only to be stopped by Switch. “Wait! I got something for you guys,” He quickly went to a counter and picked up what seemed to be ear pieces. “This was designed by a friend of mine, Boomer Ethman. It’s a device to relay voice communications via radio waves. It works just like a walkie-talkie but fits just in the ear. It’ll be easier to communicate and relay messages between you guys this way.” He gave them both the ear piece and gave one to both Lavender and Cobalt “Before you go Cobalt. Could I have a word with you, in private, perhaps?” “Ok, why don’t you guys go on first,” The others nodded and left the small cramp basement that was Switch’s workshop. “So, what do you wanna talk about?” “There is something I need you to know. I had Like Spam hack into the Equestrian database like you asked me.” He pulled out a few files from a drawer and gave them to Cobalt “As you can see, I found some…” “Switch,” He interrupted “I’m blind.” “Ahh… forgot about that… Speaking of being blind. I made a little gadget that can attach itself on…” “Switch, the files.” “Ah, yes. It seems Princess Celestia does know everything there is to know about us. Everything that we had and have been doing from the point MBS was founded until well… now. What worries me is the fact that they are all detail accounts of everything and I mean everything of what we have done. Even what we ate for breakfast,” Switch giggled “I never thought you to be a fan of hay fries.” Cobalt sighed and began to walk to the door. Counting the steps in his mind “We ran out of pancake mix.” He opened the door and closed it shut. “Ermm… Cobalt, that’s the closet.” Cobalt swung the door open, took a few steps to his right and grabbed the correct door this time “I meant to do that,” “Oh, come on. It’s just 3 words.” Pencil Point said as she teased Whitemane. “Hey, I only said that because I thought I would never see you again. That’s all,” Whitemane quickly turned the other way. “But you did say it,” She giggled “Come on, say it.” Whitemane sighed in defeat “I… I lo…” The train suddenly halted in a one large screech. Whitemane quickly stood up and went to the door. “Come one. We got a job to do.” he tried to hide the embarrassment but the blushes on his face were to obvious making Pencil Point chuckle in amusement. Manechester was the largest Victorian city in England. The city streets were laid with cobblestone and the houses made of bricks. Unlike Equestria, England had gone through a steam powered revolution. Steam powered automobiles now litter the streets of Manechester and factories with thick black smoke coming out of their chimneys could be seen in the distance. Final Score’s house was just a few blocks from the train station so they decided to walk it out which turned out to be a nightmare for Whitemane because Pencil Point was still bugging him on saying those 3 words which he tried full heartedly to avoid. After what seemed like an hour of torment to Whitemane, they had arrived at Final Score’s house and after introducing themselves, Pencil Point started drawing a portrait of his Mailbox. “So, all you need is to draw a portrait of my mailbox?” Final Score asked “Yup.” Pencil Point quickly answered. “But how would a drawing help?” Pencil point laughed out loud “If I had a bit for every time a pony asked that question I would have a million bits.” Final Score made a reluctant snort. “Okay then. Well, if you need anything I’ll be at the stadium getting ready for tonight’s match.” Pencil Point continued drawing while Whitemane looked around for anything that might lead them to who was sending these letters. So far he couldn’t make out anything that could help. Everything now depended on Pencil Point’s drawing. “Done.” She cheerfully said as she finished. She held the drawing with pride before letting it stand on her table top. She called out to Whitemane and as soon as he was there started her spell. It took a few moments for her to concentrate but after she was done the drawing came to life. The trees in the background began to sway just as they did in real life. Her horn glowed a second time and the portrait suddenly stopped before going in reverse. They began to see themselves walking up to the house, automobiles going back and forth, day turning into night before going back to day. And then they saw it. A dark yellow pegasus with a flowing red mane and brown streaks flew in out of the blue and before putting a letter in the mailbox, checked if any other pony was on the street. He had no indication that he was a mailcolt and his nervous and careful behavior was quite noticeable but what stunned them was the fact that one of her wings was actually half mechanical. “I think we got our culprit.” “You think you can enhance the image?” asked Whitemane nonchalantly, “I can’t seem to see the cutiemark” Pencil Point frowned “This is a drawing Whitemane not a computer,” “Then how are we supposed to know who it is?” “Beats me.” They both sighed. Pencil Point’s horn glowed as she reverted the spell making sure the picture stopped at the most visible frame in which the colt could be seen. “Well at least we have his face. Let’s see if Cobalt and Lavender had any luck,” Pencil Point pressed the little ear piece in her ear. “Pencil Point here. I got a possible pic. Anything on your side?” “We just met with the dean of the university and it seemed that Precognition is a very high level magic and not many unicorns can actually do it even if they did learn it. So I’m pretty sure we can rule that out.” “You can say that again. The one giving all these letters is a pegasus. Dark yellow, red mane and get this, a mechanical wing” “Well then take the drawing and meet us back at Switch’s workshop. We’ll settle things there.” “So what’s the plan Final Score?” “I think we better go on the defense for the first half and on the second just give everything we’ve got,” Final Score said to his team “Their team has many good players but their stamina isn’t that much. If we tire them out in the first half we can easily get through their defenses on the second.” “Got it.” The team spoke all at once. “I know that is match is very important and I won’t lie, I’m nervous as fuck. Just remember to do your very best,” Final score sighed. “I’m glad that I’m about to lead a team such as you guys. We would have never gotten this far if it wasn’t for the determination and the spirits of colts and stallions like all of you. Whatever happens tonight, win or lose, I’m proud to say that this team will always be in my books as the best team I have ever played for.” Final Score placed his hoof in the middle of the group as all the other placed theirs on top of his. “GLORY! GLORY! MANE UNITED!!” They quickly left for the field and as they entered the stadium the heard the roars of millions of fans screaming and cheering. A bolt of lightning could be seen in the distance. “Raining tonight?” Final Score asked one of his team mates “Yup. Heard the pegasus weather team scheduled a thunder storm tonight of all nights.” “That’s not gonna be good.” Whitemane swiftly went towards the side of the door looking left and right to see if anypony else was there. He gave a nod to Pencil Point and she went to the door. Switch had cross reference the pony in the picture with the police department’s criminal database and found a match to a pony by the name Maple Sunrise that had been arrested for trespassing on private property 6 days ago. In the report it had said that he was currently staying in a hotel in Manechester City. Pencil Point quickly drew a ram and rammed the door down. Whitemane rushed into the room to only see the dark yellow pegasus heading out the balcony getting ready to fly. He launched himself from the balcony ledge as the pegasus flew away. He extended his hoof as far as he could, trying to get a hold on the pegasus’s tail. He missed. He looked down towards the ground below. It was a 10 story drop from where he was falling. Suddenly, a giant bird swooped from under him and picked him up. Pencil Point was on it maneuvering the bird. “You are so hasty sometimes, you know that?” She quickly went into pursuit with the pegasus. “This spell won’t last long. The moment we get…” Without warning an arrow came straight towards the pegasus and before it reached him, it exploded in a cloud of smoke and a steel net emerged from it capturing the pegasus in mid-air. Pencil Point quickly reacted by drawing a parachute which she attached to the net so the pegasus wouldn’t fall to his death. “Do I have to do everything around here?” They both looked to their right and standing on the roof of one of the buildings was a bright blue unicorn. Her azure mane was tied in a sidetail. The mare had a longbow in one of her hooves and a quiver of arrows hanging from her back. “Well, what took you so long, Aimfast?” “Was in Oatstralia, had to deal with a little diamond dog problem then had to get this ridiculous ear piece from Switch.” “Well, glad to have you back.” Pencil Point landed near the fallen pegasus who at the time was struggling to get out of his entanglement. Whitemane got him out of the net and slammed him to a wall before pointing a hoofblade at him. “Don’t kill me! I’ve hid all of my data about all of you and only I know where it is!” He yelled. Both of them were confused by this sudden outburst. “Data? What data?” Pencil Point asked as she scratched her head with a pencil. “Oh,” The pegasus began to be less tense then he was before “You’re not them? Oh god I thought you were them.” “Them?” “There’s no time to explain. Final Score is in danger,” He tried to escape Whitemane’s grasp but Whitemane just pushed him back to the wall “You aint going anywhere till you tell us what the fuck is going on!” The pegasus struggled but Whitemane had quite the hold on him. “We saw you sending one of those letters three days ago.” “I didn’t send those letters. Somepony else did. I took that letter 6 days ago to see if I could find a magical signature that could lead me to who was doing all of this. I was going to put it back before anypony realized but I got caught by the police for trespassing. I told them I was trying to catch the killer but they didn’t believe me” “Then why did you run?” “Like I said, I thought you were one of them,” “And who are ‘them’ exactly?” “The Chaotic.” Both Pencil Point and Whitemane looked at it each other in bewilderment. “The what?” They both asked “The… You know what? That doesn’t matter. What’s important now is that we need to…” Whitemane felt a drip of water on his snout. Then he felt another and another. It was starting to rain. “Oh shit! We need to go NOW!!” “What do you think Cobalt?” Pencil Point asked. She had been holding the ear piece throughout the conversation letting Cobalt hear it on the other end. “Well, Switch already did a background check. He’s clear. He wasn’t anywhere near Manechester when the first few letters were sent and I’m pretty sure trying to send a letter via teleport from where he was is quite impossible. Go with it for now but don’t forget to keep an eye on him.” “Okay.” “Well you heard him,” Pencil Point released the button on her earpiece. Whitemane unwillingly frees his hold on Maple. “Now, where to?” “We need to go to the stadium.” He brushed himself of a bit before he readied himself for flight “The unicorn doing this is using the weather to kill those ponies.” “And how exactly does he or she do that?” Aimfast had finally gotten down from the rooftops and was crossing the street towards their position. She had a tint of cynicism in her voice. “It’s not like unicorns can alter the weather. Only pegasi have that ability.” “It’s called Meteomancy. It’s a mix of both Hydromancy and Aeromancy. One can use it to control the air pressure and humidity of their surroundings to alter the weather to suit their choice.” “Okay then… but if this unicorn did alter the weather shouldn’t the Pegasus weather team know about it?” “That’s the thing. The killer is using the weather that is scheduled for that day and just tweaking it here and there. You know the one that had a heart attack? Heat stroke. The victim who had an asthma attack? High humidity levels made it hard for her to breathe. If we don’t go now,” Maple looked into the sky and watched as a flash of lightning raged across the sky “Final Score’s last breath will be electrifying.” “Great,” Whitemane sarcastically commented “He even does puns.” “And that’s it mares and gentlecolts. After the end of the second half Manechester united are tied with the Trottenham Spurs 1-1.” “It’s been a marvelous match tonight but there can only be one team to get to the finals and after getting feedback from the weather team, the referee is going with a penalty shoot out to determine who is going with to the finals.” “Yes, it seems the weather has gotten a bit out of hand and going into extra time seems to be out of the question, aint it?” “Yes Mark, but the question that is on everypony’s minds right now is, will Manechester United be able to win this match and finally go on to the finals against Liverpool who miraculously won against Chelsea by 2-0 just moments ago.?” “I don’t know, Lightweight. We’ll just gonna have to watch and see.” The four of them quickly got out of the cab and after paying the driver, they quickly scanned the area. It was still raining cats and dogs. Thunder roared in the sky above while flashes of lightning became more and more apparent. The stadium was grand. Towering over them at almost seven stories high, it flowed with life as the screams and cheers from the adoring fans from inside it synchronized with the sound of rain hitting the cobblestone walkway. “So,” Pencil point yelled “What do we do now?” “The killer will need someplace high to effectively use his magic. We should look for some high places that he might be in,” Whitemane looked around. They were surrounded by tall buildings that almost reached the sky. “Well that’s very helpful! This whole place is full of high towers! We’ll never make it in time!” “Well he’ll also needs to be near the stadium so we can cross out those buildings over there.” Maple pointed to some buildings in the distance. “That only leaves these two towers here,” Pencil Point pointed to a tower left of the stadium and another on the other side. The latter higher than the former “Aimfast, you take the one on the right. Whitemane, you take the left. Maple and I will check the stadium in case he’s in there.” They all nodded and immediately when into action. Maple quickly picked Pencil Point up and flew into the stadium. Aimfast wasted no time as she entered the skyscraper and after asking the doorpony, found the rooftop access while Whitemane toughed it out and just took the fire escape stairway that was on the side of the building. Maple and Pencil Point quickly scanned through the entire stadium for any signs for any unusual unicorns but the stadium was packed and it was hard to spot anything out of the ordinary. Aimfast had reached the top of the building and after a quick sweep of the roof found nothing. “I got nothing. He’s not… wait a minute… I think I see somepony on the other building. Is that you, Whitemane?” “Nope, still climbing,” “Pencil Point here, what can you see?” “It seems to be a unicorn. Can make out much from all this rain but he seems to be channeling some kind of magic.” Pencil Point relayed the message to Maple. “Ask her what color is his glow.” She stared at him puzzled. “What?” “Just ask her!” Pencil Point wasn’t amused “What does his glow have anything to do about all this?” Maple slowly placed a hoof on his face. “Don’t you get it? All unicorns have a specific glow when they do magic. The killer’s glow is red. Bloody red.” “And how would you know that?” “Just trust me.” There was another round of cheers and screams as a red earth pony took to the penalty box. It was Final Score. A bolt of lightning flashed from above and then another. Pencil Point knew the unicorn was about to strike. “Pencil Point, what should I do?” Aimfast asked through the ear piece. Maple look deep into Pencil Point’s eyes. “If you don’t do something right now, we might lose him!” “Damn it Pencil Point! What should I do!” Final score took a deep breath. It all came down to him. He tried to calm his nerves but the flashes of lightning and continuous roars of both thunder and the ponies around him overwhelmed him. The referee placed the ball on the ground and blew the whistle. It was time. He closed his eyes and emptied his mind. All he could hear was his breathing. In. Out. He opened his eyes. He shoots. He stood there stunned as the ball went to the back of the net just barely missing the keepers hoof. He’s teammate all rushed to him tackling him to the ground. He couldn’t believe it. They were going to the finals. Aimfast gazed as Whitemane checked the unicorn. He was dead and she knew it. She only meant to disable him but the wind had pushed the arrow upwards and it hit the side of his head. She sighed and slowly clicked on her earpiece. “I got him.” “Yeah, I know. Whitemane just told me. Cobalt is sending the CSI team to take care of the body. Why don’t you get back to Switch’s workshop we’ll head back there after everything here is done?” “Okay.” “Hey Aimfast… you did good.” “Did ‘good’? I KILLED HIM! It was suppose to just hit his side not his… arrghhh!” Pencil Point heard a sudden click as Aimfast went off. “Well thanks for the help Maple. We…” She looked around. There was no sign of Maple anywhere. She franticly looked through the crowd of joyful ponies celebrating Final Score’s last goal. Nothing. He was gone. She kicked the floor with angst knowing she should’ve kept an eye on him. Maple looked at the sky. It was beginning to clear up. The rain had begun to subside and he could almost see the gleaming stars that were in the night sky. “Sorry, guys,” he said under his breath. He took out a scroll and began to scribble a few notes on it before rolling it up. He took out a lighter and as he flicked it, green fire came out of it. He burned the scroll with the flames and watched as it magically disappeared into thin air. “This isn’t your fight. Not yet.” “So it seems the unicorn was actually a student who was studying on theoretical pegasus magic. He was kicked out of the university after he started experimenting on other students. I guess he was trying to continue his studies on a much more grand scale.” Cobalt explained to them as they got on the airship to Equestria. “I asked Like Spam to looking for more info on Maple Sunrise and his so called ‘The Chaotic’ but so far he hit a dead end.” “So, that’s it?” Aimfast retorted “We’re just gonna pack up and leave?” “We got the killer and unless you have any other information, we’re done here,” She went silent. “Man, why do we always get pulled into these situations,” Whitemane whined. “I guess it just comes with the territory of being a freelancer.” There was a brief silence. The kind of silence everyone has when everyone is just too tired to say anything. It had been a long day and now that they were all on their way back to Equestria, all they wanted was to just get some rest. Whitemane went to take some shuteye while Aimfast hung out with Pencil Point and Lavender having a nice girl chat. Cobalt took the time to think about all that was happening. He knew right away what he was going to do when he gets back. He was sure of it even if there was a possibility that he was wrong. ‘The princess must at least know something about The Chaotic.’ He thought to himself ‘Why would she send us here if it wasn’t’ His train of thought was suddenly cut off as an unpleasant stink filled his nostril. “Ahh, don’t you just love the smell of the fresh air in the morning?” Said a pony beside him “Not if this is what it smells like.” He answered “Oh, sorry about that. Not a lot of people actually like durians,” The pony beside him chuckled “Hi, I’m Fruit Fall.”
