Ocean’s Maw

Chapters

To the Letter
Looking for Questions
Looking for Answers

To the Letter

Princess Celestia sat alone at the desk in her bedroom, reviewing by candlelight her last few scrolls of governmental business for the night. It was but a few minutes until she finished her task, stowed the scrolls inside a drawer, and blew out the candles on either side of her desk, extinguishing the warm orange tones that had filled the room. In their stead, the crescent moon that lay high in the night sky cast an eerie blue glow upon everything within view of the window. Celestia paused a moment, taking in the ambiance of the night, and then ambled towards her majestic purple bed.

It was then that there was a knock on the door. A slight rapping—unsure, as if the knocker did not know whether it were appropriate to knock at this hour.

“Come in,” called Celestia. A cloud of magenta enveloped the bedroom door’s handle and rotated it. The latch clicked and the door gave way to reveal a tiny unicorn filly.

“Hi,” she squeaked.

Celestia smiled. “Hello, Twilight Sparkle. Whatever is the matter?”

Staring at the ground, Twilight shuffled her hooves nervously. “Well, I know that you said I could come talk to you any time I needed to,” she began. “But it’s pretty late and I don't think it’s very important, and…”

“I meant what I said, my little pony. I am here for anything you need to talk about—any trouble you may be having, any information I can give you.”

“Thank you, Princess.” Twilight paused, took a shallow breath, and then went on. “I was wondering... I’m having some trouble going to sleep.” She paused once more before letting out the rest in a quick burst: “Please could you maybe tell me a story?”

This was not what Celestia had expected—she honestly had feared that something far worse was the matter—but that didn't mean that she was unprepared. “Of course, my faithful student. Come here,” she replied, beckoning forward with her hoof. Relieved, Twilight trotted across the room and settled on the bed alongside the princess.

“Let us see... what would be a good one? Have you heard the one about how the three pony tribes came together to found Equestria?” Celestia inquired.

“Well, duh—oh, Goddess, I'm sorry.” Twilight hastily put her hooves over her muzzle, cheeks ablaze. Celestia merely chuckled.

“Think nothing of it. Hmm…” Celestia looked out into the darkened room, trying to think of which stories she hadn't yet told the filly.

“Princess?”

“Yes, my faithful student?”

“Could you tell me the story of Conch Shell and Sand Dollar? I was reading a book in the library earlier today, and it mentioned that story but didn’t go into any detail…”

Celestia was momentarily surprised, but she put a hoof to her forehead as she regained her composure. “Of course—that is an old tale that I know well, and an interesting tale it is. It all started with those two mares, a unicorn named Conch Shell and an earth pony named Sand Dollar. They lived in a small village on the western coastline, an aptly-named town called Seaside.

“Conch Shell and Sand Dollar were as close as two friends could be. They had met back in the beginnings of their school days and hit it off immediately, in part because they shared an interest in studying marine life but also simply because they got along very well. It’s no surprise, then, that the two became roommates after school ended, and started studying the local flora and fauna, cataloguing everything they were able to find. In fact, for a time, the pair were at the cutting edge of marine biology research.” Celestia included that detail in particular only because she knew it would make the small unicorn at her side perk up with interest; as expected, Twilight did.

“However, despite the strength of their friendship, Conch Shell and Sand Dollar also had strong differences. More and more, they began to fight—at first over small things, like how they should organise their house, but then over large things, like the direction of their research. If legend is to be believed they were on the brink of a discovery involving a certain type of fish whose scales contained the secrets of longevity—to live nearly forever. Yet right before they were able to complete their research, their tempers grew too short and they couldn't put up with each other any longer. After a cruel, biting comment made in the heat of the moment, Conch Shell stormed off.

“Naturally, because they had been fighting, Sand Dollar did not immediately go looking for her and instead buried herself in her work. Yet after a few days, she began to grow concerned. She sent letters to everyone she knew who was related to—or friends with—Conch Shell, asking if she had gone to stay with them. However, her friend was nowhere to be found. A police investigation of the case, including a thorough search of Seaside and the surrounding areas, turned up nothing as well. As far as anyone could tell, Conch Shell had disappeared completely from Equestria.

“Sand Dollar grieved and blamed herself for what she saw as her best friend’s untimely death. To cope, she thrust herself further into her work, becoming a renowned researcher and scientist in the field. She began to travel around the coastlines of Equestria, looking for new species and assisting with conservation efforts of endangered species, albeit with a secondary goal: to find Conch Shell. But no matter how long and how hard she looked, no matter where she went, she could find neither hide nor hair of her friend. With no other choice, Sand Dollar grieved and tried to move on, though she never quite gave up hope.

“One day, though, Sand Dollar found herself on a research boat, on a trip sponsored by Manehattan University—not long after the university was founded, actually. The voyage took her out to open sea, past the eastern coast and into an area she hadn't been through before. A few days into the trip, Sand Dollar was looking out into this mists with her spyglass and saw an island that she hadn’t seen before, and that she couldn’t find on any map. She told the crew members that she was going to check it out, and sailed off in a dinghy to the island.

“She didn’t return that evening. At first, the crew members weren’t particularly concerned… until she didn’t come back the next day. But when they sent out a search party, they couldn’t find a trace of either Sand Dollar or the island she said she’d seen. They spent days searching, but eventually gave up and returned home. And so it was that Sand Dollar joined Conch Shell in being lost to the mists of the ocean and, indeed, time itself.” Celestia swallowed, uncomfortably, gazing unfocused into the room as she realised how utterly morbid the end of that tale was.

She shook her head and looked down, greeted by the sight of a slumbering Twilight Sparkle. Celestia smiled and lay a wing across Twilight, before laying her own head to rest and closing her eyes. Although both ponies slept in warmth together, the final words of the princess’s story lingered eerily in the room.

The room smelled of smoke. Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes. “Hmm… wha—?”

Fire. Something’s on fire.

At this realisation, she jumped awake and out of bed, nearly tripping on her blanket in her hurry. The air was thick with a hanging greyness which billowed up from downstairs.

“Spike? Spike?!”

She heard coughing. “It’s okay, Twilight, I’ve got it under control.” Spike came into view as she heard this. Twilight had to squint to see through the smoke, but she could tell Spike was holding a blue plastic bucket under the faucet in the sink.

“What happened? Are you alright?” Twilight’s eyes darted around the room.

“It’s all fine, really. I was just making eggs for breakfast, y’know, like I always do on Tuesdays. But then, as I was cooking them with my flame, I received a letter at the same time which I wasn’t expecting so I lost control and, well, you can see what happened…” Spike trailed off, looking around and frowning.

The kitchen was blackened from bursts of flame, and still smoking. The cabinets looked waterlogged but salvageable, and most of the appliances had been spared from the destruction. “Well, I’m glad that you got it under control! Heh… it would’ve been bad to have the fire escape to the library section.” Twilight rubbed her eyes. “Were you able to save the eggs?”

Spike fidgeted nervously. “Sorry, Twi, but they ended up pretty burnt and damp. I’ll have some new ones for you in a jiffy, though!”

“Thank you so much! Now, what was that you said about a letter?”

Spike gestured towards a scroll on the tile, wrapped up in a red bow with a golden seal. “It’s right over there,” he said, walking over to the refrigerator.

Miraculously unscathed, the scroll appeared to have avoided both the inferno and the flood; this, however, was likely due to its nature as a note sent through magical flame. Twilight magically picked it up, removed the seal, unrolled the scroll, and began to read.

My faithful student Twilight Sparkle,

I know not whether you will have heard of such news, but word reaches me that there have been a few troubling disappearances of ponies near Manehattan, and that these disappearances may somehow be connected. I was asked by the local government to assist with their investigation; however, I am unfortunately required here in Canterlot to assist with rebuilding and morale after the incident at your brother’s wedding. Yet the timing and area of these disappearances is most concerning to me and I was hoping that you, my faithful student, could investigate the matter in my stead. If you are able to help, then you will be making the journey to Manehattan by train and then you will be briefed further on the situation by a member of the Royal Guard once you are there. Please respond as soon as possible.

Yours,
Princess Celestia

Cogs turning in her head, Twilight Sparkle set the note on the counter, filled a glass with water, and slowly drank it. The princess? She wanted Twilight to be her representative in this important case? Twilight was excited; this was unlike anything she’d been asked to do. Monsters, sure—she’d tackled dragons, an Ursa Minor, Discord… heck, even the whole changeling army. But a mystery? It would be like Shining Armor and Cadance’s wedding, but nopony would be telling her that she was crazy or that her ideas didn’t make sense.

“So, what’s the letter about?” asked Spike, turning her way. He held out a plate of beautiful, immaculate fried eggs in front of him, which Twilight took with her magic and started eating.

“Mmm… thanks, Spike… these are great,” Twilight mumbled between bites. “Princess Celestia is just asking me if I would go and help with an investigation in Manehattan having to do with some ponies that disappeared.”

“Whoa…” Spike said, eyes widening. “You’ll be just like Batmare from the comics! I wonder which dastardly villain is behind this evil plot…”

“Erm, yeah. Whatever you say.” Rolling her eyes, Twilight finished the eggs and set her plate aside on the counter. “I’ve got a response to write.” With that, she walked out of the room with the letter. Spike remained, continuing to clean up the kitchen.

Rainbow Dash spent most of her time flying, sleeping, or being bored. At that moment, Rainbow Dash was bored.

She had already finished concocting that day’s weather with the rest of her patrol and then planning for the rest of the week and into the next. She already went to Sweet Apple Acres and bugged a grumpy Applejack for an hour and a half before getting bored of that and falling asleep on a cloudbank. But now that she had woken up, she found herself yet again bored.

So, in an effort to stave off this growing boredom, she flew into town and settled onto a fluffy white cloud. She kept an eye on the passersby below in case something actually interesting happened.

It took a little while, but then she saw it: a window on the lower level of the Golden Oaks Library, where Dash’s friend Twilight Sparkle lived, was enveloped in grey smoke. At first, she paid it no mind; Twilight probably had it under control, whatever it was. But although the smoke eventually stopped, Rainbow’s curiosity got the best of her. Without getting up, she piloted her cloud down to the library’s doorstep and knocked a few times on the door. The handle lit up with a magenta magical aura and the door opened, revealing Twilight Sparkle inside looking as she always did, albeit a little more bleary-eyed and a little more bedheaded.

“G’morning, Rainbow,” Twilight yawned.

“Hey, Twi, how’s it hoofin’? Did I just see some smoke or something coming from your window?”

“Oh, I’m fine and that’s all fine,” Twilight dismissed. “Spike just had a little accident with cooking and magical letters but it’s nothing that can’t be cleaned up pretty easily.”

Rainbow Dash paused for a moment, processing what Twilight had said. “Wait, what? Magical letters? From Princess Celestia?”

Twilight smirked. “The one and only. C’mon in.” She stood aside to allow entry to Rainbow, who flapped her wings to bring her cloud into the house. “You hungry?”

“Nah, I already ate. Hi, Spike!” Rainbow waved. Spike looked up and waved back, but he was still focused on sweeping the kitchen floor so Rainbow shrugged and looked back at Twilight. “So, what’s Celestia asking you to do this time?”

Twilight rolled her eyes and proceeded to explain the whole situation, while at the same time writing a short reply. By the time she finished explaining Celestia’s summons, Rainbow’s eyes were wide and her muzzle was agape.

“You’re gonna be a detective? I have to admit, Twi, that sounds pretty darn awesome.”

“Heh, thanks…” Twilight replied, rolling up the letter. “But I’m sure that either it won’t take very long or I won’t be able to do anything. There are plenty of cold cases all over Equestria—which probably will never be solved due to a lack of evidence—and I’m sure this will just be yet another one; Celestia’s really only having me go to sate the locals.”

“But still… I’m pretty jealous. I’d love to be a badflank superpony, prowling the night for villains and trouble.” Rainbow paused, lost in thought, and then looked up once more. “Wait... Twi, can I come with you?” she asked excitedly.

Twilight had just handed the scroll to Spike and he was about to blow it away. In response to Rainbow’s statement, the unicorn blinked and held out a hoof to temporarily halt the dragon.

“Oh, I don’t know… there’s not really much to do,” Twilight said, mulling it over. “I’d have you and the rest of the girls come with, but it’s probably not going to take very long no matter how it goes down. I wouldn’t want you to get bored.”

“Pff, whatever! It sounds super fun!” Rainbow exclaimed, her wings flapping about with excitement. “How about I come along and if it’s boring, I can just fly back to Ponyville and leave you to it?”

“Well, alright; I don’t see why not, if you really want to come,” Twilight replied with a smile. “I mean, it’ll be good to have some company—I’d bring Spike, but he’s got to stay here to help Rarity set up for a fashion show in a few days.” Spike blushed and pulled away from the two, walking around in a circle and mumbling to himself.

“Awesome! So, when are we gonna go?” Rainbow asked. “I can just go back to my house and get my stuff, and I’ll be ready.”

“I’m not quite sure yet, but I think it’ll be later today.” Twilight looked over at her desk, where Spike had placed the letter before wandering off, and then looked back to Rainbow. “Come back once you have your things together, and I’m sure I’ll have a reply from Celestia by then.”

Rainbow Dash hopped off her cloud and ran out the open door, taking off into the sky. She was gone in a rainbow blur. Twilight giggled, and trotted to her desk, looking over her reply to the princess.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I am most definitely able to make the journey to Manehattan and help the local government with this case. I really appreciate the chance to help wherever I can, friendship problem or not. Let me know when I should take the train over there.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle

She picked up a quill with her magic and dipped it in an inkpot.

P.S. My friend Rainbow Dash asked me if she could come along to help, and I said that was okay. I hope that is fine with you.

Twilight set the quill down and rolled the letter up again. “Spike!” She heard a thump in the kitchen, and then the little dragon ran into the room.

“Yes, Twilight?”

“I need you to send this letter to Princess Celestia.”

“Sure thing!” He took it in his claw and puffed out a lick of green flame from his mouth. The letter vanished.

“Good luck, you two! I do hope you’re able to find those missing ponies post-haste.”

“Thanks, Rares!” Rainbow replied with a grin. “But you know that I can totally take care of whatever evil pony has been kidnapping those poor, innocent, helpless townsponies. Oh, and Twilight will probably help too.”

Twilight shot Rainbow a sidelong glare, but laughed her friend’s antics off. After all, Rainbow Dash’s gleeful optimism would do them well on what Twilight saw as a hopeless case in which her role was merely symbolic. She and Rainbow were standing with their friends at the train station that evening, saying their goodbyes in the last few minutes before the train was to leave. The last rays of the sun were disappearing over the horizon as the silvery light of the moon began to peek out.

“I hope that you don’t run into anything too dangerous… or too scary,” said Fluttershy.

Pinkie Pie, with an excited squeal, jumped up out of nowhere into the centre of the group. “Of course they will, silly! Didn’t you hear Dashie? They’re going to be badflank detectives, snooping for clues and solving crime and eating donuts and all sorts of fun and crazy and spooky and wicked stuff!”

“Well, shoot,” Applejack hummed, “I’m sure it won’t be all that crazy. But still, take care, Twi. And don’t get into too much trouble, Rainbow.”

“Aww…! But trouble is my middle name—Rainbow Trouble Dash!”

Off a few feet away, Twilight bent down as Spike draped her saddlebag over her back and then leaned over to nuzzle her assistant on the cheek. “Have fun helping Rarity this week!”

As she stood up, a whistle on the train blew. Twilight looked up at the clock before turning rapidly to Rainbow Dash. “Hurry up, Rainbow, or we’ll miss the train!”

Waving their final goodbyes, Rainbow Dash and Twilight trotted onto the train just as the final whistle blew. The doors closed behind them and, with a puff of steam, the train began a steady chug. After just a few moments, the train had left the station and all that remained were four mares and a dragon waving goodbye.

Rainbow lay between fuzzy crimson sheets on her bunk, reading the brand-new Daring Do and the Monster of Mexicolt. As the train ride was scheduled to arrive the next morning, Princess Celestia had very kindly secured a cozy little cabin with a bunk bed for the two mares so that they didn’t have to sleep in their seats. Rainbow Dash had naturally jumped quickly towards the top bunk, leaving the bottom for Twilight, and had stayed put for the past few hours, making her way slowly yet steadily through the book as the sun had set and the world they could see out the window grew darker.

Twilight Sparkle, however, wasn’t lying in her bed; she was pacing. Back and forth, back and forth, hoofmarks embedding themselves into the off-white carpeting. Rainbow Dash unconsciously put her hooves in her ears for a moment before she realised what she was doing and why; then she looked up from her book to see Twilight trotting back and forth.

“Something up?” Rainbow asked. “It’s funny—normally you’re the one in bed with a book and I’m the one who can’t stop moving.”

Twilight didn’t answer at first and just kept pacing. A moment later, it seemed like she had registered what Rainbow had said and she stopped, looking up. “Heh, you’re right. How things have changed. I’m just a little anxious, that’s all.”

“Anxious?” Rainbow Dash inquired. “About what?”

“Ugh, it doesn’t matter. I’m really just getting all worked up over things that don’t matter.”

Rainbow placed a bookmark in her book and set it down on the bed. She shuffled out from in between the blankets, and fluttered down on the ground. Twilight jumped a little as Rainbow wrapped her wing around the lavender mare. “It’s okay. If you don’t wanna talk about it, that’s fine… but it’s sometimes super helpful when you do.”

“Heh… when did you get all, uh, ‘sappy’?” Twilight asked, surprised.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “I’ve been trying to be a better friend. I was talking with Fluttershy a few weeks ago after that whole thing with Iron Will, and she made me realise how much a little kindness can go.”

“Well, jeez… erm… thanks? Eheh…” Twilight trailed off. “I guess I’m just nervous about this, uh, mission that we’ve been sent on. In the past, Princess Celestia has sent me on missions of friendship, and both me myself and all you girls have gotten pretty good at working those out.” She bit her lip. “But a criminal case? Government bureaucracy? How in the hay does she think I know how to deal with that?”

“The princess wouldn’t have asked you to do it if she didn’t think you could handle it,” Rainbow replied, hugging Twilight closer. “We all know that you’re, like, super awesome at figuring stuff out! Why would a case like this be any different? And if you need help, that’s why you’ve got me along.”

“Thanks, Dash… I really appreciate it.” Twilight smiled, putting a hoof around her friend.

“Hey, don’t sweat it! That’s what friends are for, right?” Rainbow shot Twilight a hammy wink. “Now, let’s get some shuteye. They’ll probably want us to get started right away tomorrow.”

Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle parted and each went to their own bunk, settling snug between their blankets. Twilight magically extinguished the overhead light, leaving them in darkness until she drew open the curtains of the window overlooking her bed, letting in the eerie glow of moonlight. It was not long until she heard Dash’s gentle snores overhead. She spent the next few minutes staring through the glass at the night-drenched desert landscape outside, watching the dark forms of sand dunes and cacti going by until she too succumbed to the warm caress of sleep.

Author's Note

And thus begins...
Ocean’s Maw
by fourths

edited by Space Jazz
who is really, really cool; check him out

with thanks to NaPoWriMo
without which this story would never have been written

Looking for Questions

The first thing Twilight felt that morning was a hoof on her shoulder, shaking her awake.

“C’mon, Twi, we’ve gotta get off the train.”

She opened her eyes and was greeted by a bleary-eyed Rainbow Dash. “G’morning,” Twilight managed to murmur.

Rainbow smiled. “Oh, good, you’re up! We really gotta skedaddle—c’mon…”

Twilight rose and quickly packed a few things back into her saddlebags before sliding them onto herself with her magic. Rainbow was already ready by the time she was done, so they together went out the door. Ponies filled the train car hallway, rendering them immobile in either direction. They were forced to wait as, slowly but surely, the line in front of them moved forward and off of the train; once Twilight and Rainbow finally set hoof outside in the fresh air, it had already been nearly ten minutes.

The Manehattan train station was much larger than the one in Ponyville; rather than a traditional-looking station as in many of the small towns that Twilight had visited, it was more of a covered brick expanse with several tracks leading in, so that multiple trains could stop there at once. Ponies walked around in all different directions, spread throughout the station; although there were many ponies, there was also lots of space in between them. Twilight and Rainbow walked over to the other side of the station, weaving their way between the groups of ponies.

“Hey, Twi?” Rainbow said loudly over the noise of the crowd.

“Yeah?”

“Do you know exactly where we’re going?”

“Oh, yes, the princess said that we should just wait outside the station because she’s sent a member of the Royal Guard who was stationed here to come escort us to the City Hall.”

“Cool beans,” Rainbow Dash replied.

They continued in silence across the rest of the station and quickly they found themselves descending down the brick steps and onto the sidewalk. From there, they found and sat upon an old wooden bench adjacent to the busy street that sidewalk flanked, feeling a breeze as carriages sped by. No escort of Celestia’s Royal Guard was anywhere to be seen, but a large clock tower across the street confirmed that it was only 9 in the morning—a good time to wake up, for sure, but earlier than they had been expected to arrive. They kept waiting.

As the minutes passed, Twilight’s eyelids grew heavy. She closed her eyes. A moment later, Rainbow’s voice resounded loudly in her ears. “Twi, I think you’ll wanna see who’s come to escort us.”

She opened her eyes again, revealing a burly white stallion with a navy blue mane and a similar-coloured shield cutie mark with a pink star on top. “Hey, Twily!”

“Shining Armor?” Twilight gasped. Her face lit up and she wrapped her hooves around him. “My B.B.B.F.F.! I haven’t seen you since the wedding!”

Shining Armor returned the gesture. “Heh, yup, it’s me alright. The princess sent me to take you mares to see the mayor at City Hall.”

“But how come you’re all the way out here in Manehattan?” Twilight asked. “Weren’t you and Cadance just on your honeymoon?”

“Right you are, little sis, but duty calls… though thankfully we were able to get back home to Canterlot before I had to leave again.” Shining Armor took a deep breath. “Really it was Queen Chrysalis and that nearly-successful changeling invasion that really got Celestia and Luna to up the guard throughout Equestria. I dunno if I’m really supposed to be talking too much about it, but it seems that the princesses think that there might be changelings stationed in Equestria’s major cities. Some of the other guard leaders and I were sent out to the different cities to investigate, and Manehattan in particular is important because of the disappearances.”

“Does that mean that the princesses think that the changelings have something to do with this?” asked Rainbow Dash.

Shining shrugged. “I don’t think they’re certain, but the timing is so close that it seems hard to believe they’re not related.”

“Hmm…” said Twilight, deep in thought. “Well, let’s head over to City Hall while we talk about it. I’m curious to see what the mayor says about all this.”

“I was wondering about that myself, to be honest,” said Shining Armor. “No offense, Twily, but I’m not really sure what you can do that would help our investigation that our own mares and stallions can’t do.”

Twilight smirked. “None taken. I know that the royal guardsponies are quite capable; it’s their job, after all.”

Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle continued to talk as they walked along the sidewalk, discussing the state of the city since Shining Armor’s arrival, and what Twilight had been up to after the wedding. Rainbow Dash followed slightly behind, walking around and looking in different directions. Although the pony-filled streets of the metropolis seemed often more warm and organic than what she was used to, Rainbow also noticed something slightly off about the city’s general vibes. She felt a wave of cold rush over her and she shuddered as she looked across the street at the skyscrapers, an uncomfortable and unsettling taste in her mouth. Rainbow Dash swallowed.

“Good morning, Ms. Sparkle and Ms. Dash. It is a pleasure to meet you both, though I would have hoped that it could be under… ah, under more happy circumstances. My name is Quick Wit, though you can just call me Mayor Wit or Mr. Mayor for short.”

The mayor’s office was large and round, with high ceilings and windows that overlooked Manehattan’s tourism district. In comparison to the pragmatic simplicity of the City Hall in Ponyville, it seemed to Twilight that the ponies of Manehattan put more pride in excess and surface-level splendor in an attempt to emulate Canterlot, the nation’s capital and the height of fashion and riches. Expensive-looking trinkets lined the shelves on the left and right walls, leaving only spaces for the various accolades, trophies, and certificates that the city and mayor had achieved and won. On the wall above the large windows, behind the mayor’s desk, were the prized Equestrian City of the Year awards for four of the past five years. Even the tassels on the sitting pillows were woven from golden and silver thread.

The mayor himself, despite his flashy attitude, seemed modest in comparison; his fur was a light grey and his mane was a darker shade, and it lay loosely, unkempt, on his head and neck. His horn poked up through his mane, though it could easily have been hidden with more fluff. He wore a simple black suit, and his face looked young and fresh. From what Shining Armor had said, the mayor had only been on the job for a few months at most, but the way he presented himself was easily apparent as an attempt to discourage any thoughts about his lack of experience.

“Now, I’m sure that the princess and Captain Armor here have briefed you on the situation. Basically, even we don’t know too much about what’s really been happening or who’s behind it; otherwise we could’ve easily resolved the situation ourselves,” he explained. “What we do know, though, is that there have been four known disappearances of ponies in the last month, all pretty close to the fishing and cargo district and the surrounding beaches.”

“Four?” Rainbow Dash interjected, jumping up from her pillow where, just moments before, it looked like she had nearly fallen asleep. “But Shining Armor told us when we were walking over here that there had only been three!”

Mayor Wit grimaced. “Another little filly disappeared from the docks this morning,” he said. “Her mother left her there on the beach to look for shells while she did her shopping at the market; when she came back, the filly had disappeared.” He sighed, leaning back against his desk. “We’re still searching, but because of the location and timing, this seems connected to the other cases. We might have to close off that area if this doesn’t stop… I don’t know how it keeps happening, and in broad daylight, too.”

“Hmm… that is strange,” Twilight said. “Maybe my brother or somepony else could take us down to the area and Dash and I can have a look around?”

“That sounds like an excellent idea,” said the mayor, nodding in agreement. “We can also get you a list of the missing ponies, along with all of the ponies we’ve talked to with relation with the cases.”

“That sounds great, thank you,” Twilight responded. “C’mon, everypony—let’s go.”

As they turned tail and started walking away, the mayor spoke. “Hold on a second; I’d like to speak to Ms. Sparkle by herself.”

“Sure thing, Mayor Wit,” responded Shining Armor, who looked towards Rainbow and gestured towards the exit. As the pegasus flew out of the room, Shining followed and closed the doors behind them. Twilight stood in front of the desk, watching the mayor pace back and forth.

“Twilight…” he started. “I, that is… Ms. Sparkle… erm…” He paused, to compose himself. “I apologise; my nerves seem to have gotten the best of me. What I’m trying to say is this: it is very important to me—and the city of course, and these ponies—that you resolve this case as soon as possible.” When Twilight didn’t answer, he went on. “I just want to make sure that this goes smoothly… eheh… you know, this city, this great city… we’ve got a reputation to maintain.” He waved his hoof upwards, at the City of the Year certificates. “And I, well, I’m pretty new at being mayor. I just, um… I just don’t want my career to be marked, to be remembered by… erm… well, you know. This, uh, this incident.” He procured a hoofkerchief from a desk drawer and wiped a bead of sweat from his brow with his hoof.

“Well, erm… Mr. Mayor… I appreciate your concern—I really do,” Twilight began. “I’m sure that if I were in your position, I’d be pretty concerned for the reputation of Manehattan and even myself, especially if I thought I was the best pony for the job.” She paused. “And I will really do my very hardest to try and find these ponies, because that’s what I came here to do.”

The mayor exhaled in relief. “Oh, Twilight, I can’t thank you enou—”

“I’m not finished,” Twilight interrupted. Mayor Wit blinked. “I do fully intend to put all of my efforts into finding these missing ponies. But don’t think for a second that I’m doing it for your reputation, or to help you politically.” The mayor blanched. “I’m doing this because I care about other ponies and I want them to be safe, happy, and able to live their lives. And I firmly believe that you, as the mayor of this city, should be doing your job for that reason as well. Thank you for your time, and your assistance.” She said this calmly and, upon finishing, turned around and walked away, opening the door in front of her.

“Erm, well, thank you, Ms. Sparkle.”

“Believe me, it’s no problem. No problem at all.”

It was noon by the time Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Shining Armor reached the cargo district of Manehattan. The three ponies walked along the boardwalk, hearing cries of gulls above them as the sun shone brightly in the cloudless sky overhead. A few ponies were milling about, but the area was mostly empty. To their left, there was a series of docks with a few boats moored on their posts. Only one, a large grey and white ship, was a cargo carrier; they could see a few ponies using a pulley system to lift crates into the belly of the ship.

“It’s over here, in this alley,” Shining Armor said, pointing his hoof over to an alley blocked off with police caution tape. It was a dull yellow, weathered by how long it had been there. Shining Armor magically lifted the tape, and the two mares followed him close behind.

As the site of a disappearance, it didn’t look like your average crime scene. Nothing was broken; there was no blood, nor bodies, nor any sign of a struggle.

Rainbow Dash hovered around, looking around at the walls of the adjacent buildings; Twilight turned to her brother. “So, who was it that disappeared here?”

“Her name was Seafoam Dove; she was twenty-two and a unicorn glassblower. She lived alone in an apartment on the other side of the city. Her parents both also live in Manehattan, as does a brother who works at the same glass shop. They have all been ruled out as suspects.”

“Well, naturally!” Twilight exclaimed. “They’re family, after all.”

“Twily, I know you’re used to taking down all different kinds of monsters. But the ponies here—thankfully only a small few, but still some of them—can be much more monstrous than any beast you’ve encountered. Being related by blood or by marriage won’t stop them, not for a minute. These relatives all had alibis and have expressed genuine concern, but we can’t always rule the family out straight away.”

Twilight Sparkle gulped. “I’m glad that our family at least can be counted on to not commit crimes against each other.”

Shining Armor smiled. “Me too.”

“Anyways… how do they know that this Seafoam Dove disappeared here? Why couldn’t it have been somewhere else?” Twilight asked.

“That’s a good question,” Shining Armor started. “The main reason is that she was seen, by one of the ponies in the house to the left, entering this alley. That pony looked away for a few moments and, when they looked back, she was gone. They didn’t think much of it, but they gave us that information after Seafoam’s family reported her missing.”

“But isn’t it possible that Seafoam could have just trotted away while that pony wasn’t looking? Do we even know that somepony else was involved?”

“Indeed, at first we weren’t sure. You’re right—she definitely could have just walked away and left the city, by herself. And we’re still considering that as a possibility. But after the other disappearances, the similarities… they’re uncanny. There’s no way they’re not connected. You’ll see for yourself, soon.”

“Hey, you two! Stop being eggheads or whatever and come over here!” Rainbow Dash waved, a ways down the alley. Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor cantered quickly over to where Dash was hovering.

“Look at the wall here,” said Rainbow, pointing her hoof at a patch of wall which the building behind them cast in shadow. “See how there’s kinda, uh, a green splatter shape?”

Twilight leaned in to get a closer look and, sure enough, Rainbow was right. There was, indeed, a ‘green splatter shape’; to be more precise, it looked as if someone had thrown some sort of green gooey substance at the wall and then removed it, leaving behind that residue. “Do you think it has anything to do with the case? It’s probably been here for a long time. I mean, there’s plenty of other stains all over the alley, and probably in all of the other alleys too.”

“But don’t ya think it would be, like, good to play it safe? I have a weird feeling about this stain… it’s different than all the others, I swear. Can’t you, like, take a sample or something and have the egghead ponies analyse it back at the lab?”

“This isn’t CSI: Mareami, Dash. Lab work takes actual ponies’ time and effort, you know, and we would want to be sure of anything that we have them test so we’re sure we’re not just wasting their time,” Twilight said. Rainbow visibly deflated.

“Hey, Dash, don’t sweat it,” said Shining Armor, putting a hoof on the mare’s back. “Don’t get your hopes up, but maybe you’ll find something similar at the next site. Then we’ll do a lab test for sure.”

Rainbow Dash’s ears perked up again. “You think? Hey, yeah! It’s gotta be there, it’s just gotta! C’mon, everypony! To the next site!”

“You done here, Twi?” asked Shining Armor.

“Yeah, I think I’ve seen all I need to see here for now. We can always come back if I need to see something else,” said Twilight.

“Woo!” shouted Rainbow Dash, gliding into the air and spiralling upwards. “Let’s go!”

Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor had only walked but a few steps before they heard the same voice calling ahead of them.

“Wait, where are we going, exactly?”

“What did I tell ya?”

Rainbow Dash, to Twilight’s chagrin, had found a near-identical green stain on the wall the minute they arrived at the warehouse that had been the location of the second disappearance. A middle-aged married stallion named Sam Docks who managed the warehouse’s inventory was the pony who had vanished, seen just minutes before tallying crates of fruit. Again, it was very much possible that he had simply sneaked away from the city, but this seemed unlikely especially considering the similarity with the previous case.

“So, now that there’s another green splat here, will you get some for them to test in the lab?”

“Sure thing, Rainbow, but we’ll also have to go back to that alley and pick up a sample there too.”

Rainbow, hovering above the two ponies, simply laughed. “Ha! I’m double right! You totally should have gotten one there!”

Twilight rolled her eyes. She pulled a small glass vial from her saddlebag and magically extracted some of the liquid from the wall. The vial filled partway with translucent light green fluid. Once it was full enough, Twilight replaced the vial in her saddlebag and trotted over to join the others who were already leaving out through the large metal warehouse doors.

After they went back to the alley to get a sample of the first green liquid, Twilight Sparkle, Shining Armor, and Rainbow Dash continued on to the third location, a closed-off storefront which previously sold saltwater taffy, chocolates, and other various candies. The proprietor, a young mare named Sweetie Drops, had gone missing a week before, mere minutes after a customer left the shop. Even Rainbow Dash was starting to see that there was a pattern.

And, sure enough, on the wall behind the counter, in between the jars of taffy and chocolates, was a green splotch. Rainbow pumped her fist while Twilight rolled her eyes and collected a sample in another vial. Across the store, facing away from the two mares, Shining Armor had decided to sample a few of the chocolates from a jar on one of the shelves.

“Yo, Shiny, whatcha doin’ over there?” Rainbow asked, trying to peek her head around Shining Armor.

“Mmmmf—erm… hehe… nothing, nothing.” He quickly screwed the lid back on the jar and slid it onto the shelf.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing. Wordless as well, Shining Armor hoofed a chocolate into Dash’s outstretched hoof, at which she smiled and immediately thrust the thing in her mouth.

A moment later, Twilight turned, appearing not to have noticed. “I think we’d better be off to the last one, now, shall we?”

The fourth and final place where a disappearance occurred was different in that it actually was on the beach rather than simply close to the ocean. Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor walked along the shoreline, dry sand running through the cracks in their hooves and trapping itself in their fur coats; however, Rainbow Dash, hovering above, avoided the misery of granules in her wings.

Eventually, after passing a few families who were enjoying themselves in the mid-afternoon, the three reached a rock wall which led up to a steep cliff. It was the base of this cliff that the police barriers obstructed and therefore that was where they entered. The spot was itself unremarkable, but something else made it stand out from the others besides its location.

Rainbow’s head swivelled around in a chromatic blur. “You guys?”

“What?” said Shining Armor. Twilight looked up from the sand.

“I don’t see any of the green stuff here,” Rainbow said, squinting at the rock wall.

Twilight blinked. “Are you sure? Not anywhere? Remember, at the alley, it was kind of out of the way, kind of hard to spot.”

“Yeah, Twi, I’m pretty sure. I mean, where is there to hide it? It’s not on the wall anywhere, not even on the sand.”

“Hmm… I guess you’re right. Plus, this is out in broad daylight, whereas the other three were out of the way, in places where someone could go unseen. Hey, B.B.B.F.F., do you know about the witnesses for this case? Were there any?”

“No… the police department spoke with several ponies who attested to being on the beach in this area and they never saw a filly matching the description of Sunny Day,” Shining Armor replied. “I mean, it’s possible that she could have wandered off somewhere else. But the timing of the disappearance is what really seems to connect it.”

Twilight stood there for a moment, gazing out at the ocean. The sky was blue, and a few wafty clouds hung daintily here and there. The crashing of the waves beat into a steady rhythm—inhaling, exhaling, inhaling, exhaling—as she gathered her thoughts. At last, she spoke. “It’s possible that this one isn’t connected, but we also can’t rule it out just yet. Let’s just take what we have so far down to the police department so we can figure out what this green stuff is.”

“Sounds like a plan to me, sis.”

“Cool beans. Let’s get outta here—I don’t wanna get any beach cooties or else I won’t be able to fly.”

Shining Armor laughed. “Beach cooties aren’t a thing, you goof.”

“Or are they?” Rainbow offered in rebuttal, a sly grin plastered on her face.

“Uh, no,” said Twilight, beginning to walk away on the sand. “Cooties, beach or not, are just a primary school oversimplification of bacteria, and…”

“Goddess…” Rainbow exhaled, facehoofing. “What have I done?”

Despite Twilight’s objections, the lab’s identification of the green liquid only took about fifteen minutes. During that time, Shining Armor and Rainbow sat on a bench in the hall outside the laboratory while Twilight paced back and forth in front of them. When the forensic equinologist came back out into the hall, clipboard held magically in front of her, Twilight stopped and looked at her.

“So, what is it?” Rainbow asked.

“Kelp, Ms. Dash. This liquid is residue left by kelp, which was stuck to the surfaces and then removed shortly afterwards,” replied the mare.

“And it’s the same for the samples from all three surfaces?” Shining Armor asked.

“Yes, they all match up. What’s more interesting, though, is the variety of kelp. Due to its likely use as an adhesive, and based on the genetic material we’ve analysed thus far, it appears to be one of a few varieties of deep-sea kelp.”

Processing the information, Twilight looked up and blinked. “But… isn’t that pretty strange? How would deep-sea kelp end up on walls in Manehattan, near where ponies had disappeared? How could it even have gotten here?”

“There are a few different possibilities I can think of,” Shining Armor replied. “One explanation is that it could have been tracked on the hooves of somepony who came from one of the islands out east.”

“That’s possible,” said Twilight, “but I’m not sure how we could track them down. Have the disappearance sites been hoofprinted?”

“Yeah, but they don’t match anypony on file as far as I recall, and anyone who enters the city from the sea is hoofprinted. There was also something, uh, weird about the prints that they found, too… I can’t remember what it was, though, so we’d have to look into that.”

“Hmm, okay. I think we can scratch that one off the list for now, unless we can’t think of any other possibilities,” Twilight declared.

“Didn’t your brother say that he had a few other possibilities in mind, though?” asked Rainbow.

“I’m getting there, I’m getting there,” Shining Armor said. “If it’s not that, it could also be the symbol of a gang. Not one I’ve ever seen, but I’ve seen similar ones where a particular liquid is painted onto a building, in a certain shape. I dunno where they would’ve gotten the kelp, though. We could check the shipping records to see if anyone ordered any recently.”

“That sounds like a good idea…” Rainbow said. “Let’s do that next.”

“I agree—it might take a bit to get all of the records together from the shipping companies and search through them, but I’m sure it shouldn’t take us too long, especially with three or more of us.” Shining Armor paused. “The other possibility is that it was stolen from or taken by a pony in a research laboratory, like the one at Manehattan University. They have hundreds of students there with lab access, and any one of them could have done it.”

“If I may interrupt, Captain Armor?” the scientist interjected.

Shining shrugged. “Go right ahead.”

“With your permission, I can send this sample to a colleague at the university’s Marine Biology Lab and ask him to compare it with the samples they have there, to see if there’s a match.”

“That would be really helpful! Thank you so much.”

“Of course—I’m just doing my job.” With that, the mare walked off into the lab.

Once she had disappeared through the doors, Shining turned back to Rainbow and Twilight. “Let’s go start rounding up those shipping records,” he said. The two mares nodded in agreement, and all three walked together down the red-carpeted hall and out the large wooden double doors in the front of the building.

Looking for Answers

“Any luck?” Twilight called.

“Nope, not in my stack,” Rainbow Dash replied.

“Nothing here either,” Shining Armor shouted from the other room.

The three had been there for some time in the large basement underneath the city courthouse, searching through the records of all imports and exports that the shipping companies were required to file. Although the documents were among the most-used in the courthouse, the room they were stored in was no less small or dingy. A bare lightbulb in the ceiling was their only source of light.

Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash were digging through the files of the Manehattan Shipping Company, a longtime regionally-owned corporation. Shining Armor was off in a small side-room which mainly housed records of Seashore Shipping Services, a recently-opened high-speed transport company from Vanhoover.

Twilight sighed. “We’ve been at this for hours, and still nothing.”

“Well, there’s a lot of records here,” Shining Armor said, walking into the room. “I’m surprised that we’ve even gone through as many as we have.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” said Twilight. “My eyeballs just feel like they’re going to fall out of my head.”

“Heh, you said it.” Rainbow paused and looked at her wings, stretching them out a tad. “How ’bout we take a break and hit the hay for the night?” she suggested. “Then we can get up early and finish ’em off before lunch.”

“Hmm… that’s not a bad idea,” Twilight said. “I could definitely do with some rest.”

“And food!” Shining Armor interjected. “We haven’t eaten since those hayburgers at lunch, and I’m starving.”

“Alright, everyone—put your files away, and write down where you were. That way we can make sure we start where we left off.” Twilight used her magic to put her file back together and shoved it back into its drawer. She pulled out a small pad and pen and wrote down the dates on the file before passing it to Rainbow Dash.

Once they all had finished, they left the room. Shining Armor brought up the rear, flicking the light switch off on his way out and shrouding the room in darkness.

Twilight rubbed the side of her muzzle with a napkin. “Thank you so much for dinner.” She sat on a plush purple pillow alongside Rainbow Dash; on the other side of the rectangular mahogany table, across from them, sat Mayor Quick Wit and Shining Armor.

The dining room was obviously intended for meetings with diplomats or city councilponies. Like the rest of the City Hall, the furnishings were garish—the table smooth and sleek, the carpeting clean and thick, the wallpaper detailed and intricate. Golden hoof-shaped protrusions in the wall held lit candles aloft, illuminating the room in a warm glow.

Rainbow lifted her head from her plate, licking her lips. “Mmm, yeah. Haven’t eaten this good since, like, Shining’s wedding.”

The mayor smiled. “Oh, it’s no trouble, believe me. Our Manehattan cuisine is indeed quite delicious and, as you’re doing a great service to our city, I thought it only fitting that you should get the best of the best.”

“Well, don’t get ahead of yourself,” Twilight shot back a concerned frown replacing her smile. “We still have a long way to go until we figure out what’s happened to these ponies. I mean, we do have a few different ideas to explore, but we can’t yet be certain if any of them are true.”

“Still, I’m quite impressed that the three of you were able to come up with any ideas at all,” the mayor replied, leaning back. “We’ve had a few detectives take a look at the case and immediately declare it unsolvable. Cited a lack of evidence.”

“Lack of evidence?” Rainbow asked, mouth half-full with spinach. She swallowed. “Guess they didn’t have these babies.” Smirking, she gestured to her magenta eyes. “One look at the crime scene, and I knew exactly what happened.”

“Oh?” the mayor asked, raising his eyebrows. “What would you say happened, then? Who did it?”

“Eheh… well, there are still a few teensy details we haven’t quite figured out yet,” Rainbow replied with a sheepish smile. “But we’re working on it.”

“Dash here found some deep-sea kelp residue at the sites,” Shining Armor explained, “so now we’re in the process of looking through the shipping records at the courthouse, to see if anyone’s imported any recently. It’s taking a while, but we should be able to finish tomorrow morning.”

The mayor, who had been staring forward blankly at the wall across the table, jumped backwards slightly. He gave Shining an odd look. “Oh! That’s wonderful. I wish you the best of luck tomorrow in finding… um… that.”

Shining looked at him, puzzled. “Something the matter, Mr. Mayor?”

“No, nothing at all… I’ve just remembered… I have some business to attend to, and I shouldn’t keep you any longer.” He wiped sweat from his brow with a foreleg. “Thank you so much, everypony, and good night. Captain Armor, if you could, please show these mares to their quarters once you all have finished.” With that, he jumped up from his seat and cantered through the northernmost door that led towards the mayor’s office and quarters. He slammed the door behind him, leaving the other three in silence.

Twilight picked at her spinach with a fork. “Did something… happen?”

“I’m sure he’s just stressed,” Shining replied. “He’s been having to answer a lot of questions about these disappearances, and he probably doesn’t know how to answer. Ponies are scared. Who’s to say they won’t be next? Plus, he did say that he had something else to attend to—I’m sure everything’s fine.” From his tone of voice, it sounded like Twilight wasn’t the only one he was reassuring.

“Mmmf… you guys ready to go, then?” Rainbow asked, shoving the last few cooked carrots into her mouth.

Twilight stood up and started to pick up the dishes with her magic.

“Hey, Twily, you can just leave the dishes for the servants to get,” Shining said.

“Oh, wow,” she replied, setting down the dishes. “I forgot that a city like this would probably have servants in the City Hall… I guess I’m more used to Ponyville now than living in the castle in Canterlot.”

“Heh, don’t sweat it; it’s good to be able to take care of yourself, anyway.”

The three of them walked out of the room. As Shining shut the door behind them, they found themselves in a long hallway. The large windows to their left overlooked the dark skyline of the city, peppered with small lights here and there. As they walked along, Twilight was reminded of the halls in Canterlot Castle; in fact, the entire Manehattan City Hall was more like a castle than a municipal government building. She made a mental note to look up the building’s history when she had a free moment; she knew that many of the major Equestrian cities had been duchies with their own monarchs and castles before the Equestrian unification and the Municipal Reform of 670, but she couldn’t remember whether Manehattan was one of them or just a newer city with an affinity for showing off its splendour.

“So, Shining, how’s it been working in Manehattan?” Rainbow asked. She had already started hovering, though she stayed closer to her companions than to the high ceiling overhead.

“Oh, it’s fine,” he replied. “I’m really only here because I’ve got experience with a changeling attack, and I’ll be able to lead the guard to protect the city if the changelings target here. I’ll be going back to Canterlot as soon as the guards are trained in changeling identification and defense. I’ve only been here for a couple months, and it shouldn’t be longer than a month or two.”

“Well, that’s good,” Rainbow said, nodding. “It’s fun to get away from things for a while, but I always like it when I can go home and sleep in my own bed, y’know?”

“Is Cadance here, too?” Twilight chimed in.

“No, she had to stay behind in Canterlot,” Shining replied. “She’s been writing a piece of legislation with another member of the House of Lords. She wants to set up a support system for changeling defectors.”
“Whoa, I didn’t even know that was possible!” Twilight remarked, excited. “I thought they were bound in a hivemind with Queen Chrysalis.”

“That’s what we thought, too, until a few arrived in Fillydelphia and swore their loyalty to Equestria then and there,” Shining explained as he walked. “It turns out that there’s no actual magical force that ties the changelings together; their social structure is just so rigid that anything beside conformity is taboo.”

“Oh, that’s actually super interesting,” Twilight said, nodding. “I’ll have to talk with Cadance about it once we’re done with… this.”

“Yeah, Cady’s been really amazing, helping these changelings when barely anypony else would.” Shining grinned, looking wistful. “I guess it’s the whole Princess of Love thing, or something. I really love that about her, you know…” He sighed. “It sucks that we have to be apart so soon after our wedding, but… thankfully it won’t be that long until I can be with her again.”

“Jeez,” Rainbow said. “Are we there yet? I think I need to take a shower to get all this sap off of me.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, but Shining Armor just laughed. “Yeah, just a few more rooms down the way,” he said, gesturing ahead of them with a hoof.

They came to a door that looked like all the others: a dark brown slab only interrupted by a tiny silver-rimmed peephole and a silver-coloured doorknob. In fact, with the emblazoned number 45 next to the door, it looked quite similar to that of a hotel. Shining Armor magically twisted opened the knob, letting the two mares in through the open door.

“Have a good night, you two! Better get some rest, because we’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

“Thanks for all your help, Shiny, and good night!” Twilight replied.

“Yeah, thanks, dude! ’Night!” Rainbow added.

Shining Armor closed the door as he left, and soon the two mares were alone in the bedroom. Again, much like a hotel, there were two queen beds along the wall. The burgundy carpet had a few lines crisscrossing the floor, but the design was fairly simple and geometric. In contrast, the wallpaper of the room was white with dense maps of burgundy lines, illustrating Equestrian landscapes and scenes from history. Twilight walked over to the rightmost bed and sat down on top of it, looking at the wall beside her.

“Yo, Twi, is it okay if I take a shower? You need to use the bathroom first?” Rainbow Dash asked, hindlegs already on the bathroom tile as she peeked around the doorframe.

“No, go ahead. I think I’m just gonna go to sleep.”

“Oh, cool. Well, goodnight, Twilight!”

“Goodnight, Rainbow.”

Rainbow Dash shut the bathroom door and a few minutes later, Twilight heard the familiar soft pitter-pat of the shower spray. She looked at the wall for a few minutes longer, and then crawled in between the sheets and shut her eyes. By the time Rainbow Dash opened the bathroom door, expelling a cloud of warm air and steam, Twilight had fallen asleep.

“I’m sorry. Yes, I know they shouldn’t have been—no, I don’t think they’ll find anything. It’s not like we haven’t been careful. We’ve covered our tracks.”

Mayor Wit sat alone in his office, curtains drawn closed, with only a candle on the desk to illuminate the room. Other objects on the desk cast large shadows on the walls, moving as the mayor paced around the room. In his magical grip was a small black stone which he held to his ear.

“They know it’s somepony who’s got connections outside of town, at least. How? They found kelp residue.” Silence. “Yeah, but they’re looking through the shipping records now.” He coughed. “Well, um, yeah. I could probably get someone tomorr—tonight? Oh, Goddess… okay. We can do that. Yeah, just teleport in. Which one should we—? Okay, okay. Yeah, I think I’ve got one in mind. And you still promise—? Good, good. I’ll get it done. Talk to you later.”

The mayor set the stone down on his desk and let out a long, drawn-out sigh. He stood still in the centre of the room, gathering his thoughts. A cold draft passed through the room from beneath the door, and Mayor Wit jumped slightly with the chill. He then turned to the desk and picked the stone back up, magically activating it.

“Hello, yes, is this Swift Hoof? I need you to come to my office as soon as possible… I have something I need you to do for me…”

“Hey, did you guys leave the light on?” Rainbow asked, hovering behind the other two. Sure enough, as Rainbow had mentioned, the single bulb in the ceiling buzzed as it shone yellowy light down into the shipping records room.

“Hmm… I don’t think so, Dash,” Twilight replied, scratching her head. “Didn’t one of you turn it off?”

“Yeah, I definitely turned it off last night,” Shining Armor said. “Maybe a janitor came in here and forgot to turn off the light? That’s not unreasonable, especially if a staff member told them that ponies had been down here.”

“I dunno, dude,” Rainbow said. She wiped a hoof on the ground and picked it back up again; it was covered in dust and lint. “This place is as crusty as ever.”

“Still, it’s probably not important,” Twilight said. “Does everyone have their places? Do you know where you left off?”

“Yup!” Rainbow buzzed off to another corner of the room.

“Yeah, I’ll be over in the other room,” Shining said. “Gimme a holler if you find anything.”

Nodding, Twilight turned back to the filing cabinet from which she had worked the previous day, and opened it up. She looked back at her piece of paper with the file number written on it and then carefully selected the folder and placed it magically on one of the room’s tables so she could leaf through it.

On the first page, there was nothing. Just a bunch of hay exports, banana imports, nothing too out of the ordinary. All stuff she had seen many, many times yesterday. The second page was much of the same. So was the third, and the fourth. And the fifth. Thinly-lined tables etched themselves into Twilight’s retinas. She looked up at the clock. It had been only five minutes, but already it felt like forever. She flipped to the next page. This one didn’t have a table; there were only a few paragraphs of notes about the conditions of certain crops imported to Manehattan from the islands. She flipped to the next page. Another table, with exports of hardware items. She flipped to the next page. And she flipped to the next page. Then, she flipped to the next page. After that, she flipped to the next—

“Huh?” Rainbow mumbled to herself.

“Something the matter, Dash?” Twilight asked, trying to get past the lull.

“C’mere, I think I found something!”

Twilight jolted awake and, eyes wide, trotted over to where Rainbow sat with a hoof pointing at a piece of paper with one of those infernal tables on it. But something was different about this one: the entry at the end stood out. While the rest of the items on the list were textiles and stationery products, the final entry was for a few pounds of deep-sea kelp, imported into Manehattan on a ship owned by the Manehattan Shipping Company at 12:32 p.m. about two months before. The buyer listed was a pony simply named Cinder Hooves. No address for the buyer was given, but that could be figured out later.

“Oh, Rainbow, good job!” Twilight exclaimed, wrapping her hooves around her friend.

Rainbow blushed. “Eheh… thanks—I didn’t really do anything, though.”

“What’s that I hear in there? Rainbow Dash being modest? What’s going on?” Shining Armor called from the other room.

“Dash found a record of a kelp import!”

“Oh, awesome!” He poked his head around the corner. “Does that mean we can get out of here? I’m feeling kind of claustrophobic.”

“Yes, of course,” replied Twilight. “We’ve got a name, so we just need to find an address associated with it. Shouldn’t be too hard.”

“What do you mean there’s nopony named Cinder Hooves?”

“I mean what I said, Ms. Sparkle. Based on housing, voting, tax, and welfare records, there is no evidence of anypony with the name ‘Cinder Hooves’ that currently lives in this city.” The pony at the desk adjusted her glasses. Her tone was friendly, yet commanding; she wasn’t messing around. “I even checked the historical records, just in case, but no—all of our searches have turned up with no matches.”

Twilight sighed. “I see. Well, thank you very much for your time and effort; it’s much appreciated.”

“It’s really no problem at all, Ms. Sparkle. This is what I am here for.”

Twilight Sparkle walked through the glass doors and down the marble courthouse steps outside, where Shining Armor and Rainbow Dash stood conversing.

It was Shining who first spied her coming down the stairs. “So, what’s the verdict?”

“Bad news,” Twilight said, frowning. “Apparently there’s no record of anyone legally named Cinder Hooves who has ever lived in this city.”

Rainbow Dash blinked. “What do we do now? Like, how do we even find a pony that doesn’t exist?”

Twilight facehoofed. “I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for all this. Maybe Cinder Hooves is somepony’s nickname? Street name? I don’t know.”

“We could find out if it has something to do with the underworld; ponies there usually have codenames or nicknames and there are all sorts of weird gang and faction names,” Shining suggested. “Honestly, this could tie into the idea that a gang is involved.”

Twilight looked confused. “Hold up… the underworld? What?”

“C’mon, Twi, you never saw any of the Batmare movies?” Rainbow asked.

“Um… no, can’t say I have.”

“Well, in most large cities such as this one, there’s usually a decent-sized criminal underworld,” Shining explained, ignoring Dash. “I’m not super familiar with the situation in Manehattan, but back home in Canterlot there were three main ones who had ties to different industries.”

“In Canterlot? Really? But, the princesses—” Twilight started.

“The princesses can’t go after everypony,” Shining said, cutting her off. “And, even if they could, they wouldn’t have enough evidence to convict most, especially because a lot of that activity falls under legal grey areas. The princesses can’t just lock them away without evidence in a fair trial. They’re not tyrants, Twilight.”

“Jeez, this is going to take some time to wrap my mind around,” Twilight replied, biting her lip. “I guess I never… really ran into that, seeing as I lived in the castle for so long... and then in Ponyville, which barely even has any crime.”

“Yeah, you’ve been living a pretty sheltered life,” Rainbow teased.

“Easy to say for a mare who spent her childhood with her head in the clouds,” Shining said, rolling his eyes. “Anyway, the point is, we’ll need to talk to someone who’s in with that whole scene. Someone who knows the underworld well, who’d know if this name is at all connected.”

“But how are we going to do that?” Twilight inquired. “We don’t know anyone in this city, let alone someone with underworld connections.”

“You don’t. But you’re forgetting something. Me,” Shining Armor said with a smirk. “I’m a member of the Royal Guard; I know ponies all over the place, in all trots of life. And right here in this city, I have an old contact called Shell Shocked. Used to be in the Guard, even, and I once worked with him to take down a trafficking ring near the Prench border. He’ll be pretty easy to find, too.”

“You know where he lives?” Rainbow asked.

“No, but that wouldn’t help; he’s never there,” Shining replied, grinning. “What I do know, though, is the location of every bar in this city. And I’ll be damned if he isn’t in one.”

It only took until the second bar for Twilight to start to regret tagging along with Shining and Rainbow. Part of it was simply exhaustion; the bars weren’t exactly close together. However, the bulk of it was that Rainbow had insisted on taking a shot of hard cider at each bar that they went to.

“Only a shot,” Dash had assured her. Shining Armor, her stupid brother, had shrugged, saying it wasn’t very much—and what’s worse, he even joined her. What he didn’t know, though, was that Rainbow Dash, athlete and flyer extraordinaire, was a friggin’ lightweight. Like, the lightest of the light. By the time they got to the fourth bar, saw that Shell Shocked wasn’t there, and gulped down their shots, Rainbow was pretty darn drunk.

Yes, that’s right. On four shots of cider.

“Y’know—hic—in that first bar, things were just okay. But—hic—in this bar, things... well, let’s just say they’re—hic—more my way,” Rainbow Dash stammered, a shit-eating grin plastered across her face.

“Ugh, Shiny, look what you’ve done,” Twilight reprimanded. Shining Armor, looking sullen, downed his shot and set the shot glass back at the bar.

“You’re right… that was horribly irresponsible of me. Mmff… let’s get out of here and go to the next one. And no more alcohol for that one.” He stood up from the stool and exhaled. “Me neither… I’m on duty, dang it.”

Twilight grasped Rainbow Dash in her magic and lifted the pegasus onto her back. Rainbow merely moaned.

“How many of these bars are left?” Twilight asked her brother, hopeful.

“Um… let’s see. We’ve hit four already, so, uh, I’d say probably seven,” Shining said with a sheepish grin.

Twilight let out an annoyed sigh and whacked Shining Armor’s cutie mark with a hoof. “Let’s get a move on, then. I don’t want this to take any longer than it has to!”

“Which one are we on?” Twilight wheezed. Rainbow Dash was so kindly demonstrating to the unicorn that even fairly light ponies were still really exhausting to carry for a long while.

Shining Armor took a moment to count mentally and then answered: “Eight. The eighth.”

Twilight groaned. “Please let him be here,” she mumbled under her breath. “Please let him be here, please let him be—”

“There he is!” Shining cried out in surprise.

He pointed across the bar to a table occupied by a lone black stallion covered in bandages like a foal’s mummy costume on Nightmare Night, so much so that it was impossible to tell whether he was a pegasus or not. He also wore a brimmed hat, concealing whether he had a horn. The stallion looked over at them, his green eyes glowing with recognition as they’d entered. Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash in tow, walked over to his table and took seats on the side opposite from Shell Shocked. Rainbow fell into her seat with a plop and remained there silently, still only semi-conscious.

“Ah, if it ain’t my old, uh, acquaintance. Captain Armor, right? Haven’t seen you since… um… a long time now, yeah it’s been?” Shell’s voice was low and rumbly, and only mildly articulate.

“Yes, yes, four or five years now, at this point,” Shining replied with a nod. “I had only just become Captain of the Royal Guard, then…”

“Mmm, yeah, somethin’ like that. Heh. Anyway, uh, what’re you wantin’ from me? Hooves? Intel? Something, um, less legal?” He coughed. “Though I hear you’re a married stallion, now… and to a mare, no less.”

“Intel would probably be the closest word to it,” Shining replied, ignoring the last comment. “We’ve got a name, and we want to know if it’s a codename, nickname, gang name, or something like that.” He eyed Shell’s bottle of vodka on the table that lay only a few centimetres from his hoof but said nothing more.

“Well, that’s something I can, uh, easily help with. Spit ’er out, why don’tcha?” Shell said, softly but forcefully.

Twilight piped up: “The name is Cinder Hooves. We’ve already checked to see if it’s somepony’s legal name, but no dice.”

Shell Shocked’s raspy laughs filled the air like billowing cigarette smoke—an ugly sound, not unlike that of an elephant choking on styrofoam. Twilight caught a glimpse of his brittle, yellowed teeth, and scrunched her face up in disgust.

“A’course. What did ya think? Some badflank mobster’s gonna use the name her momma gave her? Jeez, filly!” he admonished. “What do you do for fun, huff glue? With brains like yours… heh, well... you’ll be the next to disappear.”

Twilight shrunk at this, face hot. She wasn’t used to… this.

“That’s my sister you’ve just insulted,” Shining spat, brow furrowed.

Shell Shocked scratched his head. “Alright, alright, I, um, I apologise. I can get a little... well, you see… carried away, aha…”

“Fine, fine, whatever,” Shining said, still glaring daggers. “Now, can you please just tell us whether you know about anypony or anything called ‘Cinder Hooves’?”

“Yes, yes, I was, um, getting to that.” He paused to take a gulp of vodka from the bottle, and then coughed again. “Huh. That’s gross shit. Anyway… Cinder Hooves is, indeed, the name of, uh, well, of something.” He tapped his chin. “A small group of ponies—can’t be more than a dozen—and I think they’re aligned with the Chiropters. Not exactly sure what they do, though; I only started hearing the name a few months ago at most.”

Shining nodded, shifting to his elbow as he listened. “This is good, thank you. Do you know where we could find them, or a pony associated with them?”

Shell sighed. “Yeah, I… I think I’ve got an address that’s got something to do with ’em. Dunno if it’s a meeting place, or an actual base, or what, but I can give it to you if that’s what you want.” He pulled a small notepad from the pocket on his jacket, and scribbled down a few numbers and words onto the paper before tearing off the front sheet. “I wouldn’t go in there unarmed if I were you, though,” he mumbled as he hoofed the paper over to Shining. “Be a shame to see you all dead ‘n’ stuff.”

“Trust me, dude; I’ve dealt with gangs before,” Shining assured him. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Is that so?” Shell gave him a curt nod. “Well, um, good luck. And scram—can’t you see I’m, um, busy? Me and my new stallion”—he gestured towards the bottle of vodka—“are out on a date. See you, um, you ponies later.” He took another long gulp as Twilight and Shining stood up. Twilight magically lifted Rainbow Dash to her hooves, and Rainbow’s eyes fluttered open.

“Huh? Wha—where are we? Do we still—urp—still have to go to more…?” Rainbow stumbled forward and started to fall. Twilight caught her chest, holding her upright.

“Nope, we just got what we needed,” Twilight assured her. She turned to her brother. “C’mon, Shining, let’s get Rainbow somewhere she can rest.”

With a nod, Shining led the group out of the bar, and they emerged out into the midday sun. With Shining in the lead, Twilight followed close behind—and Rainbow trotted alongside Twilight, leaning on her friend as she needed to.