A sliver of moonlight shone through the tiny crevice between two buildings. On the left was a tavern glowing with luminescent golden light. Muffled noise emitted from its open door from afar; it was its most popular night of the week. On the right was a jewelry store, closed for the night with only the slightest sillouhettes of glittering pearls and diamonds through the windows. In the middle of the two buildings were two ponies. If they could be seen at all, they would have looked normal save for the rectangular brands in the corners of their eyes-and if you looked closer, you would see that it was a flag, or seal of some sort.
The duo stood idly, impatiently: a tall mare with a shining silver ring of some sort levitating in the magical purple glow of her horn, a grey hood from her cloak obscuring her face, and a stallion with eyes that wavered back and forth as if he was waiting for something of extreme importance to happen, scanning the vicinity for whatever it was he was looking for.
As for their purpose, it would be revealed in under a minute as a skinny yellow colt trotted down the paved stone street. He was an unicorn, but as the tall mare observed from underneath her hood, his magic ability had not yet matured completely.
"If we were to use him..he would be able to send nothing against us but sparks of magic," muttered the mare under her breath, out of the colt's range of hearing. She led the stallion forward. The colt was now scavenging through the patio of the Cloverwood diner. "Probably abandoned," whispered the mare. "He looks close to starving, too." She turned to the stallion, who nodded.
Nopony would miss the butterscotch foal in front of them, and even on the off chance that there might be somepony out there who cared for him, the mare and her assistant would be halfway across Equestria by the time they realized he was long gone.
She levitated the ring above her head and let the concealment spell surrounding her pop out of existence. The colt looked up, a wary curiosity building in his sky-blue eyes as he stared at the two ponies who had just, somehow, materialized out of thin air.
At midnight on a dark street in Manehattan, an ear-piercing scream for help could be heard. However, when the bartender galloped to his door to find out what the commotion was, all he saw was emptiness where three figures had once been-now cloaked under a illusional, sound-muffling shimmer of purple light.
Dear Twilight,
I apologize for waking you at this hour, but an alarming number of civilians and soldiers have spoken out today with reports of odd behavior and mental abnormalities in unicorns. At the time, I was sure I could handle it myself. However, it appears your sister-in-law, Princess Cadence, has fallen into a strange condition that even I cannot explain. I urge you to bring anypony that you believe is willing to help, and come to Canterlot as soon as possible. I will provide you with as many rooms as needed in my castle until all is well. A few leads I have indicate that this peculiar problem is linked to certain goods that are traveling by merchants in the jewelry industry. However, I cannot tell you much at the moment. Please come immediately.
Celestia
The letter appeared on Twilight's bedroom floor in a flash of golden magic around 3 A.M. in the morning with a loud pulsing noise accompanying it. It had been nearly two weeks after the bright yellow colt had been captured in Manehattan. Twilight stirred in her sleep, attempting to turn a blind eye to the envelope calling for her attention. However, it became clear after a dreadful ten minutes of the enchanted letter's siren-like racket that it would not stop until she opened it. Twilight rubbed her eyes and reluctantly dragged herself out of bed with a loud groan. She levitated the envelope, detaching the red seal holding it together and scanning the contents, her eyes widening as she read.
Twilight harbored a secret annoyance that she wouldn't be able to catch up on her much-needed sleep, although she forced herself to fix up a mediocre breakfast of clover pancakes, which she munched on, eager to get to Canterlot with her friends before any more incidents showed up. Celestia had not sent her letters in a long while, especially not letters as urgent as this one. This must be one huge emergency, Twilight thought as she summoned a telekinetic field that located and hovered her saddlebags, books and travelling essentials in the air at once. "Let me see. Magic: A History, Unicorns' Magic Power and How it Works, I'll definitely need those for some basic research on what's going on..." She mumbled to herself, sorting through her collection of magical books.
At the same moment, Princess Celestia was pacing the halls of Canterlot Castle. The guards stationed in the courtyard were not faring well-despite the extra security she had ordered, ponies of all kinds were flocking to the castle in a panic. It hurt her that she had no ability to help any of them, but it would be the only way until Twilight arrived, preferably with her friends. Though she was only just beginning in her adventures and discoveries as the princess of friendship, she and whoever she brought along would always have their own unique way to solve any problem. She had seen it ever since Twilight Sparkle had settled into Ponyville with her friends: that strangely magical way she and her friends worked together, something even Celestia herself had not been able to achieve with anypony else she knew.
"Princess." The guard in front of Celestia bowed his head. "I'm afraid some of the ponies have escaped into the palace. They are simply too worried..Shall we apprehend them?"
Celestia shook her head. "No need. I can handle a few ponies. Just, please, do your best to keep the rest outside for now."
"They seem terrified, Princess..."
The white alicorn's eyes were clouded with guilt, but she spoke with confidence and authority. "Twilight will be arriving soon. I promise to speak to as many as I can when she does." Twilight would be able to conduct an investigation while Celestia attended to the ponies' inquiries and requests one by one. Meanwhile, Luna and Shining Armor would tend to Cadence and guard her from further danger.
She only hoped that at least Twilight would have some idea of how to cure the growing sea of ponies. The perpetrators had only yet infected one of the three pony races. At this rate, pegasi and Earth ponies would be in severe danger soon as well. If there was no solution for the ailments that were racking Equestria, all of ponykind would be endangered.
