Song of the Foalsby dshadow14ChaptersPrologueChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 9PrologueAuthor's Note This is my first attempt at a My Little Pony fanfiction. Please feel free to leave constructive criticism, I know it's not great quality, and I welcome and appreciate advice on how to improve. I hope you enjoy the story. Prologue It was a beautiful sunny day in a small and quiet town, the townsponies were all out enjoying the sun. The weather was so nice that many had chipped in to have a town get together with food and activities for no other reason than to enjoy the day. One small filly, tired out from running around with her friends, was resting under a tree, just enjoying the shade. She glanced around, not really intending to focus on anything in particular, just taking in the beauty of summer in all of it’s glory. Her eyes fell on a little grey rabbit standing at the edge of the nearby forest, it seemed to be looking right at her with its big blue eyes. The filly smiled at the cute little animal as she looked back at it, trying not to make any sudden movements as she didn’t wand to scare it away. But the more the young filly looked at the rabbit, she became a little uncomfortable with how it acted; she’s seen rabbits before and had often watched as the moved around, sometimes stopping to analyze their surroundings; but this rabbit was as still as a statue, staring directly at her, not even a single whisker on it’s face making the slightest twitch. The filly heard her friends calling for her to play a new game they had started and snapped out of her thoughts, she stood up and took one final look at the strange rabbit before trotting over to her friends. Later that night, the filly was laying in her bed, exhausted from the fun and eventful day she had had. But she could not sleep. She could not stop thinking of the the strange rabbit that just stood at the edge of the forest and stared at her, she’d never seen any animal sit that still for any amount of time. Was it hurt? Was it sick? She couldn’t understand it. She'd asked her parents about it on the way home, they told her that the rabbit was probably just tired. This did not satisfy the filly, the rabbit didn't look tired at all especially with its eyes open as wide as they were. She eventually forced the rabbit out of her head and tried to get some sleep. Then the filly heard something, music of some kind, she lifted herself out of bed and listened intently. It was music, a very beautiful melody that seemed to becoming from outside. She trotted to her window to see what was making it. The streets were empty, all of the windows were dark, not even the street lamps were lit. The filly had to discover the source of this beautiful sound. Careful not to wake her parents, she crept through the house and went out the door to follow the sound. She followed the music out of town, getting louder the closer she got to forest. The filly knew she wasn’t supposed to go in alone, but she explored the forest all the time with her friends and nothing ever happened. She kept going, determined to find the source of the beautiful music that beckoned her. Chapter 1Spike was laying on his bed, reading a letter he’d got from his changeling friend, Thorax. Apparently, he was still finding it hard to believe that he had become the new leader of his people, though he was getting more used to the idea every day. Some of the changelings started traveling to other parts of Equestria in order to find ways to use their shape-shifting abilities to help ponies. Spike put a claw to his chin, ‘Hmmm, what could they use their abilities for? Maybe they could play the other half of a set of twins in a play?’ He shrugged and set the letter down. He was hapy that making friends with Thorax had such an amazing result in the long run. BUUURRRP! A belch or green flame interupped Spike’s thoughts as he recieved a message bearing the royal seal. Wasting no time, he rushed into the hallway to find Twilight. Twilight was in the throne room along with the rest of her friends (except for Starlight Glimmer, who was visiting Sunburst in the Crystal Empire) , who were helping to plan a picnic lunch for the upcoming weekend. “So, Starlight is NOT going to be back by the weekend?” asked a surprised Pinkie Pie. “She decided she wanted to stop by her old village on her way back to Ponyville,” explained Twilight, “Since the townsponies forgave her for what she did, she wants to get to know them better as actual friends” “I made so many cookies in advance too.” said Pinkie with a sigh The rest of the group rolled their eyes. Knowing Pinkie, there would probably be plenty leftover even if Starlight was there. The double doors flew open as Spike rushed over and stood on his small throne next to Twilight’s handing the scroll to her. Twilight took the scroll from the breathless dragon; noting the royal seal, she wasted no time reading to find out what Princess Celestia could want. She opened the scroll and began to read it out loud: My Dearest Twilight, It is with great urgency that I request your assistance. I have recieved grave news from the town of Centrotlia; multiple foals have disappeared from their homes without a trace. Please, as soon as you recieve this message, take the first train to Centrotlia that you can. Princess Luna will meet with you there. I, regrettably, am currently unable to leave Canterlot. It pains me to watch from the sidelines. I hope for your safe return and the return of those missing foals. Sincerely, Princess Celestia The throne room was silent for a moment or two before the group scrambled to prepare for the sudden journey. Twilight and her friends were on a train headed for Centrotlia less than an hour after reading the letter from Princess Celestia. As soon as the seven friends were settles in their car, they immediately started discussing what they were getting into. “Foals disappearing without a trace?” Fluttershy said to nopony in particular, “I can only imagine how their poor families must be feeling.” “I hear ya, sugarcube.” said Applejack, “Even with all we’ve faced so far, I just don’t know what I’d do if Apple Bloom just up and vanished.” “And what about the poor foals?!” said Pinkie Pie as she paced in a small circle, “Wherever they are, they must be so scared, maybe they’re sad or cold or hungry or…” “Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash held the pink party pony still as she looked her in the eyes, “Freaking out about it isn’t helping.” she let Pinkie go and flew back to her bunk. The car was quiet for a while as the ponies and dragon tried to compose themselves. Everypony’s thoughts raced with concerns and questions, though there was nothing any of them can do as they haven’t even arrived on the scene yet. They tried to push these thoughts away and change the subject to something more cheerful, hoping to cross their bridge when they came to it. It wasn’t until late the next morning when the train finally arrived at Centrotlia. Twilight’s group got off quickly and hurried to find Princess Luna. “Um, excuse me?” the group was called to by a deep, but soft voice. Coming up to them was a unicorn stallion; he had a silver coat, a messy dark red mane, and his cutie mark was a near-full moon that was tinted blue. “Princess Twilight Sparkle?” he asked, sounding a little unsure. “Yes?” replied Twilight “M-my name is Mystic Night. I’m here helping investigate the disappearances. Princess Luna requested I come meet you here and to escort you to town hall.” “Well then by all means, lead the way, darling.” said Rarity Mystic gestured toward the direction of town hall and led them there. He seemed to be trying to stay as close to them as possible and trying to keep his distance at the same time. The town itself seemed very peaceful. Not much bigger than Ponyville, except that the houses were slightly more packed together. If they hadn’t been told beforehand, Twilight and her friends would never have guessed that such misfortune had befallen such a place. “Out of curiosity, why didn’t Princess Luna meet us herself.” inquired Twilight Hidden Mystic stared at the ground for a second, he looked like he was thinking about what to say. “Princess Luna arrived yesterday,” he said, finally, “many ponies started to think that with the princess of the night here, the disappearances would stop and they could focus on finding the ones that were already missing. But last night, two more fillies disappeared. “The townsponies have been bombarding the Princess with questions all morning,” he continued, “they were still going when I left to find you and your friends.” The group arrived at town hall, they could hear the chatter of many anxious ponies on the other side of the double doors. Mystic took a deep breath. His horn glowed ruby red as he pulled open the doors. Chapter 2Princess Luna was doing what she could to calm the mass of panicking ponies. Everpony was questioning how the fillies managed to escape her notice. Many of these questions Luna was mentally asking herself. She and some of her guards were watching the town all night, the fact that none of them had seen either filly so much as leave their home just added to the ever growing concern. “Of course they’re still going.” sighed Mystic Night as he led Twilight and her friends into the building. The group carefully made their way through to Princess Luna, who gave a small smile at their presence. The dark blue alicorn turned back to the crowd for her final attempt at quelling the townsponies. “Enough!” shouted Luna in her Royal Canterlot voice. The entire building went dead quiet. “I apologize for raising my voice at you.” said the princess, lowering her voice back down, “I understand you are all worried, and I deeply regret that I could not prevent last night’s disappearance, but becoming angry with me will not solve this situation. “As you can see,” she continued as she subtly signaled Twilight and her friends to step forward, “Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends have come offer their assistance as well. I promise we will be doing all that we can to return your foals to you. Now please, go about your day as best you can.” The crowd hesitated for a moment, but eventually dispersed. Princess Luna turned to the others with a warm smile. “Good to see you, my friends. I’m grateful that you came to our aid so quickly.” she said slightly bowing her head. “We’ll do what we can to help,” said Twilight, returning the gesture “Is there any information you can give us?” “Of course, follow me please.” Luna led the group to the back of the building to a slightly smaller room in which there were a few of Luna’s guards, some local law enforcement officers, and an earth pony stallion who quickly came up to the group and introduced himself as the mayor of Centrotlia. Twilight and her friends sat down at one side of the room (except for Rainbow Dash, who simply hovered above them) and a slide projecter was set up. Princess Luna gave a nod to Mystic Night, who took a breath and took his place next to the projecter screen. “Here’s what we know:” started the silver unicorn as he turned on the projecter, showing a picture of a white unicorn filly with a yellow mane “About a week ago, a young filly named Daisy Glow was discovered to be missing when her mother went to wake her up in the morning. There was no clue as to where she went and nopony in town had seen her since a town get together that was held the previous day. A search party was organized to look for her within town and the nearby Destrier Forest, but unfortunately turned up empty-hooved.” The slide changed to a picture of a brown earth pony colt with a darker brown mane. “The next morning, a colt named Rocky Road was also discovered missing. Additionally, multiple foals came forward claiming that they had heard what sounded like faint music the previous night as well as the night before.” The slides showed more foals, two pegasi (a filly and a colt) and an earth pony colt, while Mystic explained that a foal disappeared each night and the following mornings, foals continued to report the strange music, and more search parties were organized though they always turned up nothing. The slides then stopped on a picture portraying two earth pony fillies; one yellow with a pink mane, the other light blue with a white mane. “Which brings us to our most recent disappearances. Honey Sweet and Sugar Swirl, sisters who both vanished last night, somehow escaping the notice of Princess Luna and her guards who were watching over the town at the time. “This was the first time that more than one foal had disappeared in a single night, causing ponies to panic at the fact that not only did the situation continue after the arrival of the Princess, but also somehow managed to escalate.” The projector was deactivated as the stallion wrapped things up. “It’s abundantly clear that something magical is behind this, and that is why the Princesses and the heroes of the realm were contacted.” He looked directly towards Twilight and her friends. “And now that they’re here, we offer any assistance we can and hope for the best.” Later that day, Twilight’s group decided to get something to eat while they discussed how to handle the situation (given that they hadn’t eaten since the previous afternoon). To say most of the townsponies were still on edge was an understatement, the cafe owners could barely manage a smile while they took orders. “So, to sum up: mysterious music at night and missing foals the next morning.” Rainbow Dash repeated. “Sadly, that’s not very much to go on.” said Rarity “You’re right,” sighed Twilight “I don’t even know where to… Pinkie, what are you doing?” Pinkie Pie was at the cafe’s counter with a large bag of bits. “I’m buying as many cupcakes as I can so I can hand them out to everypony as Don’t-Worry-We’ll-Find-Your-Foals-Pinkie-Promise Cupcakes.” explained the Pink Party Pony as the very confused owners brought up several large trays of cupcakes. Pinkie paid and thanked the owners, somehow managed to fit every single cupcake in her saddlebag, and happily hopped out the door. The rest of them smiled at their friend’s antics. If anypony could help these ponies cope with the situation, it was Pinkie Pie. “Anyway,” started Applejack, “Twilight, have ya ever read anything that sounds similar to this?” Twilight thought for a second, “The closest I can remember is a story about spirits that disguise themselves as breezies to lure foals into the woods. But even so, the similarities are few, and it’s just a story.” “Yeah, but everypony used to think that Nightmare Moon and Daring Do were ‘just stories’. ” Spike pointed out. The door to the cafe swung open as Pinkie Pie barreled back in pulling a stunned silver stallion behind her. She went straight for her friends and started rattling off what had transpired while she was gone: “HeysoIwasgivingoutthecupcakesandIsawMysticNighttalkingtoalloftheparentsofthemissingfoalssoIgavethemcupcakesandIgavehimacupcakeandhesaidhehasnewinformationsoIbroughthimoversohecouldtellallofus.” “Uh… what she said.” said Mystic, still trying to comprehend what just happened. Chapter 3“I didn’t know somepony could move that fast without wings.” mumbled Mystic Night as he sipped from a cup of cocoa. “Don’t think about it too hard,” said Twilight, “Trust me, I speak from experience when I say it’s safer to just accept it.” “If I’m not mistakin’; she said ya had new info, Sugarcube?” asked Applejack. Reminded of why he was brought here in the first place, Mystic set down his cocoa and used his magic to take a notebook out of his saddlebag. “Right,” he said, “I was wondering if any of the parents may have left out some detail that they didn’t think was important at the time, so I questioned them again to make sure. As it turns out, the day they disappeared, most of the foals told their parents about seeing strange animals at the edge of the forest.” “Strange how?” asked Rainbow Dash Mystic cleared his throat before continuing, “The way they acted. The foals described the animals, usually small creatures like rabbits and squirrels, as just standing at the edge of the forest still as a statue and all the while just staring at them.” “Whoa, sounds creepy.” said Spike with a small shiver. “My thoughts exactly, but as if that wasn’t enough, one of the foals claimed that he saw a monkey. And Just like the rabbits and squirrels, it just stood at the edge of the forest, staring at him.” “That can’t be right,” said Fluttershy “Monkeys don’t live anywhere near this part of Equestria.” “Convenient!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie, “So obviously these suspicious animals are somehow connected to the disappearing foals, and if we figure out HOW they’re connected, that will bring us one step closer to finding said missing foals.” With a nod, Mystic closed his notebook and put it back in in his saddlebag. “Well, that’s about all I have. So, if you don’t need anything else, I won’t intrude on your lunch any longer.” “Oh, darling, you’re not intruding.” said Rarity, “You could stay for a bit if you wanted. Plus, your input would be more than welcome whilst we plan how to handle this situation.” “Oh, I’m not so sure you’d really need MY input. Besides, I still need to get this information to Princess Luna.” “No need,” said Twilight as she handed a scroll to Spike, who sent it with his magic fire, “I wrote it down and sent it to her already.” The stallion was about to protest further, but was interrupted by the loud growling of his stomach. ‘Great, my own body’s betraying me.’ he thought to himself. “Well, I suppose I could stay long enough to have something to eat.” he relented, “I’ll try not to be an inconvenience.” “There’ll be no more of that kind of talk,” said Rarity firmly, hovering a hoof in front of the unicorn’s face, “The Princess appears to have faith in you, and we do as well.” Mystic thought about that as he trotted over to the counter to order his food. Did Princess Luna really have faith in him? He supposed it made sense. The locals already suspected something magical was behind the situation before he and Luna had arrived, that was the main reason he was brought along. Mystic’s primary magical study centered around mysterious and lesser known forms of magic. He couldn’t help but question the Princesses’ decision recently. It’s true he did manage to gather some information to get the search for the foals started, but it was nothing that any detective couldn’t have figured out. He only had a basic idea of what magic was at work here; very likely some kind of lure spell, and either portals or illusions could be why the Lunar Guards missed the two fillies from last night. And yet, everypony had faith in him, what did he do to deserve it? Mystic was interrupted from his thoughts by a somepony knocking a hoof against his head. “Hey, you still with us?” asked Rainbow Dash. Mystic wasn’t sure when he got back to the table, but evidently he’d been there long enough to gain some concerned stares for just staring at the sandwich he ordered. “Oh, sorry.” said Mystic with a hint of nervousness, “Did I miss something important?” “We were just discussing whether or not we should organize another search party into the forest.” explained Twilight “On the one hoof, everything we know so far seems to point to the forest.” said Applejack, “On the other hoof, most of the town already combed the place and turned up nothin’, it might just end up bein’ a waste of time.” Mystic tapped his hoof on the table as he thought, obviously there was more magic at work in the Destrier Forest, where else could the foals have gone? But if they didn’t know what they we’re looking for, they were very likely to miss it. “AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!” A blood-curdling scream filled the air, catching the attention the entire town. Everypony immediately dropped what they were doing and galloped toward the source of the scream, at the edge of the Destrier Forest. By the time Twilight’s group had made it to the scene, there was already quite the crowd gathered. They made their way through, trying to see what had warranted such an uproar. The police were trying to keep the townsponies from advancing, but they let Twilight and her friends pass without hesitation. The group was stunned by the scene before them, just at the edge of the trees was Princess Luna next to a stunned mare who was trying to catch her breath, obviously she had been the one who screamed. In the dark princess's hooves was a weak looking, unconscious unicorn filly with a white coat and a yellow mane. Princess Luna looked toward Twilight’s group with a concerned look. One of the foals had returned, but it was far from a happy moment. Chapter 4Everypony sat anxiously in the waiting room of the Centrotlia Hospital. The filly was recognized as Daisy Glow, the first foal to disappear. While everypony was glad that she had returned, that happiness was greatly dampened by her condition: Her breathing was shallow and she looked very thin for a filly her age. The few external injuries she had were very minor, merely a few small cuts and scrapes, but who knew what internal injuries she may have sustained. Daisy’s parents, upon seeing her, refused to leave her side until arriving at the hospital where they reluctantly remained in the waiting area while their daughter was taken into the ER. Twilight and Luna had started talking with the parents, attempting to reassure them that Daisy would be alright. Everypony else was sitting quietly (except for Mystic and Pinkie, who were pacing in a small circle), unsure of what to think of this turn of events. “Does this means all of the foals will eventually just come back?” Rainbow thought out loud. “I don’t think it matters,” said Fluttershy, “That filly has obviously gone through something awful, and we need to find the rest of them as soon as possible.” “And besides,” added Applejack, “I have a feelin’ that even if the other foals came back, it doesn’t mean that they’ll stop goin’ missin’.” Everypony nodded in silent agreement. “Darlings,” said Rarity looking toward Mystic and Pinkie, “Why don’t the two of you sit down? You’re scuffing up the floor.” “Sorry,” said Mystic, reluctantly sitting down, “I get restless when I’m nervous.” “And I didn’t want him to feel lonely pacing all by himself.” said Pinkie, who seemed almost as cheerful as always, though her mane was notably less curly. The group looked up and noticed a nurse come in and say something to Daisy’s parents, who started down the hall immediately after. The nurse then turned to Twilight and Luna, and talked to them for a bit longer. Afterwards, Luna followed the nurse down the hall and Twilight walked back to her friends. Everypony looked at Twilight intently as she took a calming breath and began to relay what the nurse had said. “Okay. Daisy Glow is going to be fine. She has no serious injuries, but she’s malnourished and exhausted. She woke up during the examination and, unfortunately, started to have a panic attack. The nurse was able to calm her down a bit, but they’re hoping that seeing her parents will get her to fully relax.” “Why did Princess Luna go too?” asked Spike “She wants to ask Daisy some questions, y’know, to find out more about what had happened.” “Ugh!” grunted Rainbow Dash in frustration, “We’ve only been here since this morning, and we’ve already managed to waste too much time. We need to get out there, find the rest of these foals, and teach a lesson to whatever evil monster is taking them.” “Rainbow Dash!” said Rarity, “Unless you happen to know something the rest of us don’t, we’ve already discussed that we haven’t the slightest idea on how to begin a search. Right now, we must sit quietly and wait to see if that poor filly can provide any assistance.” Rainbow let out a huff, but didn’t say anything else. After another minute or so, a nurse walked up to the group. “Excuse me,” she said, “Is there a ‘Mystic Night’ among you?” The silver stallion got up and slightly raised his hoof. “Princess Luna has asked for you, please follow me.” “May I come along,” Twilight asked, “There are some questions I wanted to ask Princess Luna.” “Of course, your highness.” said the nurse as she led the two down the hall. It didn’t take long to come across Princess Luna, who was standing just outside the room in which Daisy was resting. Upon approaching, Mystic and the nurse made quick bows while Twilight wasted no time in asking her questions. “Princess Luna, is everything alright? Did Daisy tell you anything that could help us?” “Twilight, please,” said Luna, holding up her hoof, “This is why I summoned Mystic Night.” “Princess?” addressed Mystic questioningly. “Unfortunately, Daisy Glow does not seem comfortable with speaking with anypony at the moment.” the night princess continued, “I have no doubt that she will eventually open up when she’s had more time to recover, but time does not seem to be a luxury we have at the moment. “Mystic, I believe this calls for your particular skills. I assume you remember the spell I am referring?” Mystic put a hoof to his chin and thought for a moment before nodding in understanding. “Pardon me Princess,” came a deep voice from the doorway into Daisy’s room, the ponies looked and recognized the filly’s father, a rich brown unicorn stallion with a golden mane. “I don’t mean to question you, Your Highness, but I can’t say that I’m comfortable with a pony I don’t know magically probing my daughter’s mind.” “I understand your concerns, Mr. Glow.” said Luna, “But I promise you, this spell will not put your daughter at any risk. This may be the fastest way to discover the location of the other foals.” Mr. Glow bowed his head in though for a moment before turning to mystic, looking him straight in the eye. “I suppose if the Princess trusts you, then I have little reason not to do so as well. But if you harm my daughter in any way, I will make you sorry. Do you understand?” Mystic didn’t say anything, but nodded never taking his eyes off the stallion glaring at him. Mr. Glow nodded and stepped aside, allowing Mystic into the room. Daisy was laying in the hospital bed with her mother, an off-white blue unicorn with a snow white mane, right next to her holding her hoof. Mr. Glow came in behind Mystic and gently ushered is wife aside to give some room for the spell. Mystic sat down next to the bed and looked at Daisy with a warm smile, with Daisy looking back with uncertainty. “Hi there Daisy, my names Mystic.” said Mystic, never once changing his warm expression. “Listen, I know that you must have been through something very scary and you don’t really want to talk about it right now, and I’m not going to make you. But there are still other foals still missing, and we need your help to find them. So here’s what we’re going to do. I know a spell that will let me see what happened and hopefully it’ll tell me everything I need to know. “Now, I can’t do this spell unless you tell me it’s okay. If you don’t want me to use it, I won’t. But it would be very helpful if I could, do you understand?” Daisy looked away for few seconds, thinking it over. But eventually, she faced Mystic again, giving him a smile and nodding her head in consent. Mystic nodded back and closed his eyes, gathering his magical energy. Mystic’s horn glowed with the usual transparent red aura. Slowly, the aura turned white and became more opaque. It then began to slowly fade out and back in repeatedly. Twilight leaned toward Luna, “I don’t recognize this spell.” she whispered as she watched intently. “It is a lesser known spell, and that’s his talent,” Luna explained, “Mystic Night is very skilled at discovering and performing foreign magics or those nearly forgotten to history. He found this one quite by chance whilst studying my dream-walking abilities. It allows him to take in a pony’s emotions and then follow them like a path to their memories.” Twilight watched in awe as Daisy closed her eyes and Mystic’s horn began to fade into many different colors. “Princess Luna, how did you come across Mystic Night?” “You mean he hasn’t told you? Well to answer your question Twilight, my sister is not the only one allowed to have a student.” Twilight decided to save further questions for later as Mystic’s horn stopped pulsating and just glowed continually. Apparently, Mystic had found what he was looking for. Chapter 5Mystic Night felt every emotion that Daisy had over the past week, excitement, curiosity, confusion, calm; but the most prominent, as he expected, was fear. The emotions formed multiple colored paths. The paths leading to recent memories glowed like neon, whilst the ones leading to old memories were dimmed to various degrees. The emotions branched and intertwined here and there, as many memories contained more than one emotion. To most ponies, this may have looked like an impossible to navigate labyrinth, but with the right knowledge or skill, one could see it as a much more efficient and safe way to find memories than digging around the mind until you found what you were looking for. Mystic followed the emotions and searched for his destination. From what he gathered from the townsponies and Daisy’s parents, he figured that he’d get the most information if he started with the memories of the day before she disappeared. He followed the more positive emotions, remembering that a fun get-together of some kind had taken place that day. The red-maned unicorn stopped in front of an orb of bright positive emotion. This was the strongest of Daisy’s recent happy memories, and likely held what he was looking for. Concentrating, Mystic willed himself to enter the memory. It was a bright summer day, the streets of Centrotlia were packed as all of the ponies headed to the grassy area just outside the forest. The area was being set up for their get-together: A dining area had been set up with many long tables and chairs and a long canvas was set above it to provide shade. Most ponies were bringing food to the tables, they had hayburgers, many kinds of flower sandwiches, cornbread, cakes, pies, just to name a few. Outside the dining area had some game equipment set up: soccer goals, a shoe-toss court, and what appeared to be a tub for apple-bobbing. Watching all of this through Daisy Glow’s eyes, Mystic felt impressed that a town full of ponies could be so close to each other to put this sort of thing together. He desperately hoped he wasn’t drooling at the sight of all of that food, the last thing he needed was for the princesses to think something had gone wrong and he’d gone brain dead. Mystic focused and sped up the memory, keeping an eye out for anything that looked important. Daisy played with the other foals for a while before laying down in the shade of a tree. It didn’t take long to arrive at the rabbit that Daisy told her parents about. Mystic already knew that this rabbit had a role in Daisy’s disappearance, but that didn’t prepare him for just how wrong the creature seemed. It looked perfectly normal, but he couldn’t help but feel extremely nervous as it just stood there and stared at Daisy. Mystic thanked Celestia when Daisy’s friends called to her. He let himself a few minutes to calm himself down before he sped up the memory again. The observing stallion found nothing of interest until the memory reached nightfall. For a while, Mystic just observed from the filly’s point of view as she lay awake in bed, just staring straight up. She was just starting to let her eyelids drop when the music started. Daisy got out of bed as she (and by extension, Mystic) listened to the mysterious sound. It was beautiful, it was smooth, every note was perfect. The voice carried by the wind said nothing, just sounded off the most calming melody Mystic had ever heard in his life. So calming, and yet it made him nervous. No. It frightened him. Daisy left her house silently and followed the music all the way to the Destrier Forest. Without any hint of hesitation, the filly entered the forest, letting the music guide her. Mystic tried to memorize every turn she made, but it proved difficult as he couldn’t help but grow more nervous with every step that was taken. Finally, Daisy came to a complete stop in front of a tree. It was rather unremarkable, it wasn’t the biggest out of all of the surrounding trees, it didn’t really look out of place. But there was one detail that Mystic managed to catch: a single line cut into the trunk, enough of a cut to be noticed but too small of a detail for most ponies to pay any mind to. A bright flash of light came forth from the tree and everything went black. Mystic was caught off guard, but didn’t have much time to wonder what had happened before he was bombarded with a flood of negative emotion. Sorrow and Fear forced it's way into his mind. He could hear screams of terror and felt wave after wave of emotional torment. It was too much to handle, he was in horrible pain. He had to get out of here, he ignored the pain and focused as best he could. There was one more flash of light. The pain was gone, the only sound Mystic could hear was his own breathing as he slowly opened his eyes. He found he was lying on the floor with everypony giving him concerned looks. The stallion got up onto his hooves and scrambled for his saddlebags. He quickly located and pulled out a notebook and pencil as he quickly wrote down everything he had witnessed. “I’m sorry.” came a hushed voice next to him. Mystic looked back at Daisy Glow, who had an apologetic look on her face (and had just spoken for the first time since she had returned). Mystic adopted the same warm smile he had before he entered the filly’s mind. “You have nothing to be sorry about.” he told the filly softly. “You were actually a big help. Thank you.” Mystic gave her one last smile before walking over to Daisy’s parents. “You have a strong daughter.” And with that, he rejoined the princesses. As soon as he was out in the hallway, his smile dropped as he looked at the Princesses of Friendship and the Night with a serious and slightly terrified expression. “We need to end this. Tonight.” Chapter 6Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Chapter 7Spike woke up feeling dizzy. He didn't remember falling asleep and he didn't know where he was. He remembered being in the forest outside of Centrotlia with Applejack and Rainbow Dash searching for clues about the missing foals, but after that was a little blurry. Spike sat up and took a look at this surroundings. He seemed to be on the outskirts of some town. Wherever he was, it looked like he'd somehow made it a long way from Centrotlia. It was pretty dark as it appeared to be night-time, the moon being the only light source. The young dragon took a deep breath and made another attempt at remembering how he got here. While he and his friends were investigating the forest, he remarked how much safer it felt compared to the Everfree Forest back near Ponyville. He heard Applejack reply, but couldn't recall what she said. He was distracted by a faint rustling. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a dark grey squirrel with piercing blue eyes. The small critter just stood still as a statue, staring at Spike. Spike couldn't help but stare back. Eventually, the squirrel slowly retreated into the shrubbery. Spike was about to run to catch up with AJ and Dash, but that's when the music started. That was as far as he could remember. He could remember the music very clearly, but what he did after it had started playing was very fuzzy. 'Well, no point in just sitting here.' Spike though whilst getting to his feet, 'I should at least find out where I am.' The young dragon made his way to the town. As he got closer he became aware of how empty the place seemed, even for night-time. Even in a small town like Ponyville, during the night there is still something to indicate that it was inhabited, like a few soft noises, one or two night owls, couples walking in the park, somepony who worked their job at night, at the very least some street lamps. But wherever this was, it was very dark, quiet, and still. Once he was within the town lines, the moonlight allowed Spike to see that many of the buildings seemed run down, adding to the evidence that this place was abandoned. He also caught a very faint smell of smoke. The atmosphere of this town made Spike understandably uneasy, but as he continued his stroll through the deserted streets, he couldn't help but feel uneasy about something else he couldn't explain. He tried to ignore that feeling as he looked for anything that could tell him where he was. Maybe a landmark that he could connect to Twilight's study binge on Equestrian Geography. As Spike rounded a corner, he caught sight of just the landmark he needed. He stood there in shock, staring at the quaint building with the uniquely dipping roof with the upper floors, while in disrepair, still bearing the distinct shape of a giant cupcake. "Sugarcube Corner?!" Spike said to himself in disbelief. How could he have gotten back to Ponyville? Why was Ponyville abandoned? How could it be so run down already? Why didn't he see the castle? As soon as the last question came to his mind, Spike broke into a sprint toward the castle's location. The young dragon was not prepared for what he saw. A couple of large crystal shards and a deep crater were all that remained of his home. Next to the crater, illuminated by the moonlight reflected in the crystals was a very large and very familiar footprint. I was a dragon footprint very much like the ones Spike left behind when he experienced Dragon Greed. You did this. Spike stiffened up and looked around, "Who said that?" You did this. "What are you talking about?" You did this. "No! I was gone for a whole day! Ponyville was fine when I left!" You did this. The voice kept repeating itself, Spike covered his ears as he tried to block it out. He huddled up in a fetal position and clenched his eyes shut as tears started flowing. The voice kept on accusing him, his claws doing nothing to block it out. As the voice continued it's chanting, Spike's mind was filled with visions of his monstrous greedy self engulfed flames. He heard screaming as he felt surrounded by a searing heat. The small dragon briefly opened his eyes, and saw Ponyville ablaze. Immediately his eyes slammed shut once more as he fell to the ground, hugging his knees to his chest. The visions continued as Spike began to believe the ongoing accusations of the unknown voice. "I-I did this..." The time to venture into the forest was drawing near. Final preparations were being made to ensure that the ponies who were no doubt galloping straight toward danger were ready to face it. Standing in front of the town hall, as the sun met the horizon, Princess Luna took hold of the moon with her magic as Mystic Night looked on with worry. "I know you're powerful, but are you sure you can maintain a massive sleep spell and a protection spell overnight?" the young stallion asked with concern. "I admit that it will be quite taxing. And I will, unfortunately, be unable to watch over the Dream Realm. But I cannot let another foal go missing tonight, for tonight is the night that this must come to an end." As the unicorn nodded in understanding, the sound of hooves reached his ear. He turned and saw the six mares he was to guide through the forest. "Ready t' go when you are, sugarcube." said Applejack. Mystic made sure his saddlebag was secure on his back, floated his notebook in front of him with is magic, and gave a confident nod signifying he was ready. The seven ponies bid farewell to the princess of the night and started toward the forest. Once the group arrived at the edge of the woods, the town shimmered with a white aura. Shortly afterward, a light blue barrier engulfed the town. "Luna's done her part," said Twilight, "Now it's time for us to do ours." The group nodded and all eyes turned to the silver-coated stallion. Mystic flipped to a page in his notes and started off into the trees with the six mares following behind him. By now the sun had set and the forest was dark, Mystic had to light his horn with it's red light to see his notes. Twilight and Rarity followed suit to aid in keeping everything visible. "Too think that such a lovely place is housing such a horrible creature." lamented Fluttershy. "Not to worry, Fluttershy," comforted Rarity, "We'll have that ruffian evicted shortly." "And contained, hopefully." added Twilight. "But, we know very little about what we're going up against." the shy pegasus pointed out. "We know enough to justify kicking it's flank into next week." proclaimed Rainbow Dash. Mystic was only vaguely aware of the banter as he was busy muttering reminders to himself while keeping an eye out for the landmarks recorded in his notebook. That is, until Pinkie Pie started hopping pretty close beside him. "Do you need something?" Mystic asked. "I just wanted to ask you: what's you're favorite kind of cake?" the bubbly mare said matter-of-factly. Mystic was a bit taken aback, but remembering the other mares advice to not question the pink pony, he decided it was best to just answer her. "Um, Germane chocolate." "Okay, thanks!" Pinkie said as she fell back a bit. Mystic pushed his questions out of his mind and returned to his notes. But he was soon brought out of his silence again when Princess Twilight trotted up next to him. "Hey, Mystic, I've been meaning to ask," she said "Princess Luna said you were her student. Could you explain that a bit for me." "Oh, uh, alright." said Mystic, "Well it's a bit... um... complicated..." Author's Note Finally got this done. Next chapter will shed a bit of light on Mystic Night. As always, constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated. Chapter 8Okay, I guess the best way to begin is to tell you about my cutie mark. Or, did the princess already tell you about it? She did mention that you had a talent for lesser known forms of magic. Yeah. It's a little funny actually. When I was a young foal, if you told me I'd get a cutie mark in magic, I wouldn't have believed it. I had a ton of hobbies and interests growing up, every other day I'd find a new passion that I was convinced would earn me my mark. One day it was astronomy, the next was archaeology, I even tried to write a novel at one point certain that it would be a bestseller. Then one day, I came across an old reference book in the library. To this day, I still don't know why I took it off the shelf and started reading it. The book mentioned magical practices and theories from before Princess Luna's banishment, stuff that even the oldest unicorns in my town didn't recognize. It wasn't very detailed, but something just clicked in me and I knew I had to know more. The next day I brought a notebook and copied down some of the more interesting or detailed techniques and theories. I started cross-referencing with spellbooks and history books trying to find other references to these types of magic or, at the very least, something similar. I was at it for months. For the first time in my life, I was sticking to something. The first lead I found had to do with a substance called "stardust". Ooh! I read about that! Unicorn mages used it to enhance their spells thousands of years ago. But the details on how to make it was lost! Not all of the details. The book I found had some details, but like I said, it was just the bare bones stuff. It mentioned the use of crystals and drawing power from the stars, but no mention of the method of drawing said power. So I went to work on studying spells that utilized crystals, spells for drawing and storing power, and spells relating to the celestial bodies. I continued to study and cross-reference until I was sure that I had figured it out. Afterwards I set about preparing to put it into practice, saving up my allowance to buy everything I needed. I was a clear summer night when I put my plan into action. At around midnight I gathered my supplies, snuck out of the house, and made my way to an open field just outside of town. I arranged the crystals evenly around the area and drew a few sigils with sea-salt, My setup wasn't flashy or glamorous, the crystals weren't exactly high quality but I took care to at least make it functional. I looked to the sky for a minute, then closed my eyes and charged my horn. I focused my magic around me, feeding it into the crystals and sigils until I heard a high-pitched sound. I opened my eyes to see that all of the crystals were projecting white beams of light straight into the sky! It was an amazing sight, though a little intimidating. Then, the beams changed until they each sported the full spectrum. Finally, more beams shot from the crystals, meeting in the center of the arrangement, and right there in the center I watched as the multicolored stardust drifted down, and I quickly galloped to catch it in a container before it hit the ground. In that moment, I felt accomplished. I had put on such a beautiful display of magic and recreated a magical reagent that had been lost to history. I knew at that point that I wanted to continue my pursuits, to uncover the secrets of magic that had been forgotten. And that's when my cutie mark appeared. Mystic turned to the side, presenting the blue moon adorning his flank. "Of course when I showed my parents the next morning, I got grounded for sneaking out in the middle of the night." Mystic said sheepishly, "But they were proud of me all the same." "So what did you do with the stardust?" asked Twilight excitedly. "I still have it, actually. I didn't know how to use it at the time, and I learned a few years later that it wasn't enough to do anything anyway. So I just keep it in a wax-sealed bottle as a memento of that night." "Alright, so that's yer cutie mark story," said Applejack, "Now what about how you became the student of the Night Princess?" Well, once I was old enough to set out on my own, I started travelling across Equestria collecting as much information as I could on lesser known forms of magic. I had yet to do anything else comparable to what earned me my cutie mark, but I was making progress nonetheless. But, a few months ago, I really messed up. I was was in Whinnypeg in the Lunar Bay area, and I was attempting a method of creating water crystals utilizing the energy of the moon. Oooh! What a great idea! With the moon's connection to the tides, it just makes so much sense! However, the spell didn't produce a single crystal. In fact, at the time it didn't seem to do anything. But I was exhausted, so I decided to try again some other night. Early the next morning I was confronted by Princess Luna. Turns out that my spell had somehow caused everypony in town to become locked in a shared nightmare. Yep. Sure sounds like somethin' that'll get 'er attention. What'd she say? What'd she say? Not much at first. She just told me to go with her and she led me onto a chariot and took me to Canterlot. The entire trip was spent in silence, she didn't look at me at all and I had thousands of scenarios running through my head as to what was going to happen. When we finally landed in Canterlot, she led me to the castle and into the throne room where Princess Celestia was waiting. That only made my fears worse, I was thinking 'Oh great, I'm about to be chewed out by both of the Royal Sisters, possibly followed by imprisonment or exile.' Sure enough, the two of them lectured me on being extremely cautious when experimenting with magic, let me know how stressful and difficult it was for Princess Luna to fix my mistake, and informed me that the officials of the Lunar Bay area have banned me from setting hoof there for an indeterminate amount of time. Afterwards, they surprised me by telling me that my abilities had potential, and that Princess Luna would aid me in further research. I was more than happy to accept. But why Princess Luna specifically? Apparently, she retained more knowledge of the old magical practices, as Princess Celestia was often studying and teaching the more modern practices. Also, since I inadvertently demonstrated that my magic can affect the dream realm, Princess Luna seemed like the most fitting to be my mentor. "So, there you have it." Mystic Night said, concluding his story. "Your studies into ancient and forgotten magic sound amazing." said Twilight, looking about ready to do her best impression of Pinkie Pie. "I'd love to see some of your notes! And I could see if any of the books in my library have anything you haven't come across yet!" "That sounds great actually," Mystic said with a smile, "We could make plans after we get back to town, but for now..." The stallion's face became serious as he stopped, staring straight ahead at the tree in front of them, the same tree he saw in Daisy Glow's memories. Author's Note I hope this wasn't too much at once, I didn't really know how else to work in my OC's backstory. As always, constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated. Chapter 9"Alrighty, then." said Applejack, "So this here tree is the last thing ya saw in that filly's mind?" "Yep." said Mystic, "Right before I was blinded by a flash of light and bombarded with negative emotions." Twilight examined the tree closely, doing a few magical scans and occasionally flipping through one of the many books she had brought with her. "There's definitely a door here," she said, "stand back everypony." "Wait!" cried Fluttershy, "W-what if whatever is on the other side knows we're coming?" "Seriously?" sighed Rainbow Dash. "I think she has a point," said Mystic, "We still only have a vague idea of what we're dealing with, so we can't really rule anything out." "Well, if whatever it is does know," said Applejack, "there ain't much we can do besides keep our guard up and be ready in case it decides to attack." Everypony nodded and took a step back as Twilight told them. Twilight charged her horn, working to open the hidden entrance. In less than a minute, the was a clack and part of the trunk rose up revealing a winding staircase leading down into darkness. 'Oh, my favorite.' thought Twilight, remembering her first time in the Crystal Empire. "Alright," said the purple princess turning to her friends, "Everypony ready?" Everypony gave a determined nod in response. "Then lets get moving." One by one, the seven ponies descended the stairs with Twilight in the lead, followed by Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and finally Mystic Night. The descent was mostly silent, except for Pinkie Pie occasionally ooo-ing or giggling when seeing a shape in the light of the unicorns' magic. Mystic thought about asking her to quiet down, but he couldn't help but feel comforted at seeing how chipper she was being in such a situation, which he reasoned might be why the other mares didn't say anything about it either. Just as their hooves started to ache, the monotony of the staircase was finally broken as the ponies saw a light coming from further ahead. The three unicorns extinguished the lights from their horns and the group picked up the pace down the rest of the steps. "Whoa Nellie!" exclaimed Applejack. At the end of the staircase was a large cavern. The walls, floor and ceiling were almost entirely covered in thick cobwebs. The light the ponies saw was coming from orbs of luminous gel scattered around the room. "Goodness!" said Rarity, "I expected an inhabited cavern to be in better condition." "Alright, let's keep moving," said Twilight, "Just tread lightly." The ponies stepped into the large cavern and made their way forward, their hooves becoming briefly stuck to the surprisingly thick webs with every step. "Aw, this is nothing." said Pinkie, "The party string I've been saving for Pound and Pumpkin's Sneezaversary is WAAAAY stickier." The group could see three tunnels branching of from the cavern: one directly in front of them and one on either side. "Which way should we go?" asked Fluttershy. "I don't know," answered Twilight, "But I don't want to risk wasting time going the wrong way, we may have to split up." "Ya sure that's a good idea, Twi?" said Applejack, "This ain't like patrolin' the orchard for an apple thief, we got no way of signalin' each other if we find somethin'" "Hold on a sec." said Mystic as he opened up his saddlebags and levitated out half a dozen notebooks. "Now let's see," he muttered as he flipped through the scribbled pages, "No. No. Huh, forgot about this one. No. Aha!" Mystic floated the notebook over to Twilight as he explained, "I've actually been working on a signal spell for a few weeks now. You send out a a magical signal to any unicorn you're thinking about, and they'll receive it in the form of a series of pulses from their horn. It's not as reliable as I would like, but do you think it could work?" Twilight read through the notes with a hoof to her chin. They were much more legible than the ones taken back in the hospital, and she grasped the concept easily. However, like Mystic said, the spell was flawed. Twilight took a pencil out of her own saddlebag and quickly read through the spell again adding a few notes of her own. Twilight gave a satisfied smile as she gave the notebook back. "I think it could work now." The stallion read through the notes himself, a wide grin appearing on his face as he read Twilight's additions. The talented alicorn had immediately caught the problems he had missed and knew just how to fix them. He handed the notes over to Rarity to study as well. "Alright, listen up everypony." said Twilight, "We'll split up and use Mystic's spell to contact each other should we find anything. Rainbow Dash, you're with me. Applejack, you go with Rarity. Pinkie and Fluttershy, you two go with Mystic." "And I got a feelin' there might be some twists and turns to keep track of," Applejack pointed out, "So I suggest we all think of a way to mark our path so we don't go n' get ourselves lost." After giving nods of understanding, the group split up down the three tunnels, officially beginning their search for the missing foals. Author's Note A bit short, but I kind of hit a wall and it's been almost a year since I updated update, hopefully I can get more out sooner.
PrologueAuthor's Note This is my first attempt at a My Little Pony fanfiction. Please feel free to leave constructive criticism, I know it's not great quality, and I welcome and appreciate advice on how to improve. I hope you enjoy the story. Prologue It was a beautiful sunny day in a small and quiet town, the townsponies were all out enjoying the sun. The weather was so nice that many had chipped in to have a town get together with food and activities for no other reason than to enjoy the day. One small filly, tired out from running around with her friends, was resting under a tree, just enjoying the shade. She glanced around, not really intending to focus on anything in particular, just taking in the beauty of summer in all of it’s glory. Her eyes fell on a little grey rabbit standing at the edge of the nearby forest, it seemed to be looking right at her with its big blue eyes. The filly smiled at the cute little animal as she looked back at it, trying not to make any sudden movements as she didn’t wand to scare it away. But the more the young filly looked at the rabbit, she became a little uncomfortable with how it acted; she’s seen rabbits before and had often watched as the moved around, sometimes stopping to analyze their surroundings; but this rabbit was as still as a statue, staring directly at her, not even a single whisker on it’s face making the slightest twitch. The filly heard her friends calling for her to play a new game they had started and snapped out of her thoughts, she stood up and took one final look at the strange rabbit before trotting over to her friends. Later that night, the filly was laying in her bed, exhausted from the fun and eventful day she had had. But she could not sleep. She could not stop thinking of the the strange rabbit that just stood at the edge of the forest and stared at her, she’d never seen any animal sit that still for any amount of time. Was it hurt? Was it sick? She couldn’t understand it. She'd asked her parents about it on the way home, they told her that the rabbit was probably just tired. This did not satisfy the filly, the rabbit didn't look tired at all especially with its eyes open as wide as they were. She eventually forced the rabbit out of her head and tried to get some sleep. Then the filly heard something, music of some kind, she lifted herself out of bed and listened intently. It was music, a very beautiful melody that seemed to becoming from outside. She trotted to her window to see what was making it. The streets were empty, all of the windows were dark, not even the street lamps were lit. The filly had to discover the source of this beautiful sound. Careful not to wake her parents, she crept through the house and went out the door to follow the sound. She followed the music out of town, getting louder the closer she got to forest. The filly knew she wasn’t supposed to go in alone, but she explored the forest all the time with her friends and nothing ever happened. She kept going, determined to find the source of the beautiful music that beckoned her.
Chapter 1Spike was laying on his bed, reading a letter he’d got from his changeling friend, Thorax. Apparently, he was still finding it hard to believe that he had become the new leader of his people, though he was getting more used to the idea every day. Some of the changelings started traveling to other parts of Equestria in order to find ways to use their shape-shifting abilities to help ponies. Spike put a claw to his chin, ‘Hmmm, what could they use their abilities for? Maybe they could play the other half of a set of twins in a play?’ He shrugged and set the letter down. He was hapy that making friends with Thorax had such an amazing result in the long run. BUUURRRP! A belch or green flame interupped Spike’s thoughts as he recieved a message bearing the royal seal. Wasting no time, he rushed into the hallway to find Twilight. Twilight was in the throne room along with the rest of her friends (except for Starlight Glimmer, who was visiting Sunburst in the Crystal Empire) , who were helping to plan a picnic lunch for the upcoming weekend. “So, Starlight is NOT going to be back by the weekend?” asked a surprised Pinkie Pie. “She decided she wanted to stop by her old village on her way back to Ponyville,” explained Twilight, “Since the townsponies forgave her for what she did, she wants to get to know them better as actual friends” “I made so many cookies in advance too.” said Pinkie with a sigh The rest of the group rolled their eyes. Knowing Pinkie, there would probably be plenty leftover even if Starlight was there. The double doors flew open as Spike rushed over and stood on his small throne next to Twilight’s handing the scroll to her. Twilight took the scroll from the breathless dragon; noting the royal seal, she wasted no time reading to find out what Princess Celestia could want. She opened the scroll and began to read it out loud: My Dearest Twilight, It is with great urgency that I request your assistance. I have recieved grave news from the town of Centrotlia; multiple foals have disappeared from their homes without a trace. Please, as soon as you recieve this message, take the first train to Centrotlia that you can. Princess Luna will meet with you there. I, regrettably, am currently unable to leave Canterlot. It pains me to watch from the sidelines. I hope for your safe return and the return of those missing foals. Sincerely, Princess Celestia The throne room was silent for a moment or two before the group scrambled to prepare for the sudden journey. Twilight and her friends were on a train headed for Centrotlia less than an hour after reading the letter from Princess Celestia. As soon as the seven friends were settles in their car, they immediately started discussing what they were getting into. “Foals disappearing without a trace?” Fluttershy said to nopony in particular, “I can only imagine how their poor families must be feeling.” “I hear ya, sugarcube.” said Applejack, “Even with all we’ve faced so far, I just don’t know what I’d do if Apple Bloom just up and vanished.” “And what about the poor foals?!” said Pinkie Pie as she paced in a small circle, “Wherever they are, they must be so scared, maybe they’re sad or cold or hungry or…” “Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash held the pink party pony still as she looked her in the eyes, “Freaking out about it isn’t helping.” she let Pinkie go and flew back to her bunk. The car was quiet for a while as the ponies and dragon tried to compose themselves. Everypony’s thoughts raced with concerns and questions, though there was nothing any of them can do as they haven’t even arrived on the scene yet. They tried to push these thoughts away and change the subject to something more cheerful, hoping to cross their bridge when they came to it. It wasn’t until late the next morning when the train finally arrived at Centrotlia. Twilight’s group got off quickly and hurried to find Princess Luna. “Um, excuse me?” the group was called to by a deep, but soft voice. Coming up to them was a unicorn stallion; he had a silver coat, a messy dark red mane, and his cutie mark was a near-full moon that was tinted blue. “Princess Twilight Sparkle?” he asked, sounding a little unsure. “Yes?” replied Twilight “M-my name is Mystic Night. I’m here helping investigate the disappearances. Princess Luna requested I come meet you here and to escort you to town hall.” “Well then by all means, lead the way, darling.” said Rarity Mystic gestured toward the direction of town hall and led them there. He seemed to be trying to stay as close to them as possible and trying to keep his distance at the same time. The town itself seemed very peaceful. Not much bigger than Ponyville, except that the houses were slightly more packed together. If they hadn’t been told beforehand, Twilight and her friends would never have guessed that such misfortune had befallen such a place. “Out of curiosity, why didn’t Princess Luna meet us herself.” inquired Twilight Hidden Mystic stared at the ground for a second, he looked like he was thinking about what to say. “Princess Luna arrived yesterday,” he said, finally, “many ponies started to think that with the princess of the night here, the disappearances would stop and they could focus on finding the ones that were already missing. But last night, two more fillies disappeared. “The townsponies have been bombarding the Princess with questions all morning,” he continued, “they were still going when I left to find you and your friends.” The group arrived at town hall, they could hear the chatter of many anxious ponies on the other side of the double doors. Mystic took a deep breath. His horn glowed ruby red as he pulled open the doors.
Chapter 2Princess Luna was doing what she could to calm the mass of panicking ponies. Everpony was questioning how the fillies managed to escape her notice. Many of these questions Luna was mentally asking herself. She and some of her guards were watching the town all night, the fact that none of them had seen either filly so much as leave their home just added to the ever growing concern. “Of course they’re still going.” sighed Mystic Night as he led Twilight and her friends into the building. The group carefully made their way through to Princess Luna, who gave a small smile at their presence. The dark blue alicorn turned back to the crowd for her final attempt at quelling the townsponies. “Enough!” shouted Luna in her Royal Canterlot voice. The entire building went dead quiet. “I apologize for raising my voice at you.” said the princess, lowering her voice back down, “I understand you are all worried, and I deeply regret that I could not prevent last night’s disappearance, but becoming angry with me will not solve this situation. “As you can see,” she continued as she subtly signaled Twilight and her friends to step forward, “Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends have come offer their assistance as well. I promise we will be doing all that we can to return your foals to you. Now please, go about your day as best you can.” The crowd hesitated for a moment, but eventually dispersed. Princess Luna turned to the others with a warm smile. “Good to see you, my friends. I’m grateful that you came to our aid so quickly.” she said slightly bowing her head. “We’ll do what we can to help,” said Twilight, returning the gesture “Is there any information you can give us?” “Of course, follow me please.” Luna led the group to the back of the building to a slightly smaller room in which there were a few of Luna’s guards, some local law enforcement officers, and an earth pony stallion who quickly came up to the group and introduced himself as the mayor of Centrotlia. Twilight and her friends sat down at one side of the room (except for Rainbow Dash, who simply hovered above them) and a slide projecter was set up. Princess Luna gave a nod to Mystic Night, who took a breath and took his place next to the projecter screen. “Here’s what we know:” started the silver unicorn as he turned on the projecter, showing a picture of a white unicorn filly with a yellow mane “About a week ago, a young filly named Daisy Glow was discovered to be missing when her mother went to wake her up in the morning. There was no clue as to where she went and nopony in town had seen her since a town get together that was held the previous day. A search party was organized to look for her within town and the nearby Destrier Forest, but unfortunately turned up empty-hooved.” The slide changed to a picture of a brown earth pony colt with a darker brown mane. “The next morning, a colt named Rocky Road was also discovered missing. Additionally, multiple foals came forward claiming that they had heard what sounded like faint music the previous night as well as the night before.” The slides showed more foals, two pegasi (a filly and a colt) and an earth pony colt, while Mystic explained that a foal disappeared each night and the following mornings, foals continued to report the strange music, and more search parties were organized though they always turned up nothing. The slides then stopped on a picture portraying two earth pony fillies; one yellow with a pink mane, the other light blue with a white mane. “Which brings us to our most recent disappearances. Honey Sweet and Sugar Swirl, sisters who both vanished last night, somehow escaping the notice of Princess Luna and her guards who were watching over the town at the time. “This was the first time that more than one foal had disappeared in a single night, causing ponies to panic at the fact that not only did the situation continue after the arrival of the Princess, but also somehow managed to escalate.” The projector was deactivated as the stallion wrapped things up. “It’s abundantly clear that something magical is behind this, and that is why the Princesses and the heroes of the realm were contacted.” He looked directly towards Twilight and her friends. “And now that they’re here, we offer any assistance we can and hope for the best.” Later that day, Twilight’s group decided to get something to eat while they discussed how to handle the situation (given that they hadn’t eaten since the previous afternoon). To say most of the townsponies were still on edge was an understatement, the cafe owners could barely manage a smile while they took orders. “So, to sum up: mysterious music at night and missing foals the next morning.” Rainbow Dash repeated. “Sadly, that’s not very much to go on.” said Rarity “You’re right,” sighed Twilight “I don’t even know where to… Pinkie, what are you doing?” Pinkie Pie was at the cafe’s counter with a large bag of bits. “I’m buying as many cupcakes as I can so I can hand them out to everypony as Don’t-Worry-We’ll-Find-Your-Foals-Pinkie-Promise Cupcakes.” explained the Pink Party Pony as the very confused owners brought up several large trays of cupcakes. Pinkie paid and thanked the owners, somehow managed to fit every single cupcake in her saddlebag, and happily hopped out the door. The rest of them smiled at their friend’s antics. If anypony could help these ponies cope with the situation, it was Pinkie Pie. “Anyway,” started Applejack, “Twilight, have ya ever read anything that sounds similar to this?” Twilight thought for a second, “The closest I can remember is a story about spirits that disguise themselves as breezies to lure foals into the woods. But even so, the similarities are few, and it’s just a story.” “Yeah, but everypony used to think that Nightmare Moon and Daring Do were ‘just stories’. ” Spike pointed out. The door to the cafe swung open as Pinkie Pie barreled back in pulling a stunned silver stallion behind her. She went straight for her friends and started rattling off what had transpired while she was gone: “HeysoIwasgivingoutthecupcakesandIsawMysticNighttalkingtoalloftheparentsofthemissingfoalssoIgavethemcupcakesandIgavehimacupcakeandhesaidhehasnewinformationsoIbroughthimoversohecouldtellallofus.” “Uh… what she said.” said Mystic, still trying to comprehend what just happened.
Chapter 3“I didn’t know somepony could move that fast without wings.” mumbled Mystic Night as he sipped from a cup of cocoa. “Don’t think about it too hard,” said Twilight, “Trust me, I speak from experience when I say it’s safer to just accept it.” “If I’m not mistakin’; she said ya had new info, Sugarcube?” asked Applejack. Reminded of why he was brought here in the first place, Mystic set down his cocoa and used his magic to take a notebook out of his saddlebag. “Right,” he said, “I was wondering if any of the parents may have left out some detail that they didn’t think was important at the time, so I questioned them again to make sure. As it turns out, the day they disappeared, most of the foals told their parents about seeing strange animals at the edge of the forest.” “Strange how?” asked Rainbow Dash Mystic cleared his throat before continuing, “The way they acted. The foals described the animals, usually small creatures like rabbits and squirrels, as just standing at the edge of the forest still as a statue and all the while just staring at them.” “Whoa, sounds creepy.” said Spike with a small shiver. “My thoughts exactly, but as if that wasn’t enough, one of the foals claimed that he saw a monkey. And Just like the rabbits and squirrels, it just stood at the edge of the forest, staring at him.” “That can’t be right,” said Fluttershy “Monkeys don’t live anywhere near this part of Equestria.” “Convenient!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie, “So obviously these suspicious animals are somehow connected to the disappearing foals, and if we figure out HOW they’re connected, that will bring us one step closer to finding said missing foals.” With a nod, Mystic closed his notebook and put it back in in his saddlebag. “Well, that’s about all I have. So, if you don’t need anything else, I won’t intrude on your lunch any longer.” “Oh, darling, you’re not intruding.” said Rarity, “You could stay for a bit if you wanted. Plus, your input would be more than welcome whilst we plan how to handle this situation.” “Oh, I’m not so sure you’d really need MY input. Besides, I still need to get this information to Princess Luna.” “No need,” said Twilight as she handed a scroll to Spike, who sent it with his magic fire, “I wrote it down and sent it to her already.” The stallion was about to protest further, but was interrupted by the loud growling of his stomach. ‘Great, my own body’s betraying me.’ he thought to himself. “Well, I suppose I could stay long enough to have something to eat.” he relented, “I’ll try not to be an inconvenience.” “There’ll be no more of that kind of talk,” said Rarity firmly, hovering a hoof in front of the unicorn’s face, “The Princess appears to have faith in you, and we do as well.” Mystic thought about that as he trotted over to the counter to order his food. Did Princess Luna really have faith in him? He supposed it made sense. The locals already suspected something magical was behind the situation before he and Luna had arrived, that was the main reason he was brought along. Mystic’s primary magical study centered around mysterious and lesser known forms of magic. He couldn’t help but question the Princesses’ decision recently. It’s true he did manage to gather some information to get the search for the foals started, but it was nothing that any detective couldn’t have figured out. He only had a basic idea of what magic was at work here; very likely some kind of lure spell, and either portals or illusions could be why the Lunar Guards missed the two fillies from last night. And yet, everypony had faith in him, what did he do to deserve it? Mystic was interrupted from his thoughts by a somepony knocking a hoof against his head. “Hey, you still with us?” asked Rainbow Dash. Mystic wasn’t sure when he got back to the table, but evidently he’d been there long enough to gain some concerned stares for just staring at the sandwich he ordered. “Oh, sorry.” said Mystic with a hint of nervousness, “Did I miss something important?” “We were just discussing whether or not we should organize another search party into the forest.” explained Twilight “On the one hoof, everything we know so far seems to point to the forest.” said Applejack, “On the other hoof, most of the town already combed the place and turned up nothin’, it might just end up bein’ a waste of time.” Mystic tapped his hoof on the table as he thought, obviously there was more magic at work in the Destrier Forest, where else could the foals have gone? But if they didn’t know what they we’re looking for, they were very likely to miss it. “AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!” A blood-curdling scream filled the air, catching the attention the entire town. Everypony immediately dropped what they were doing and galloped toward the source of the scream, at the edge of the Destrier Forest. By the time Twilight’s group had made it to the scene, there was already quite the crowd gathered. They made their way through, trying to see what had warranted such an uproar. The police were trying to keep the townsponies from advancing, but they let Twilight and her friends pass without hesitation. The group was stunned by the scene before them, just at the edge of the trees was Princess Luna next to a stunned mare who was trying to catch her breath, obviously she had been the one who screamed. In the dark princess's hooves was a weak looking, unconscious unicorn filly with a white coat and a yellow mane. Princess Luna looked toward Twilight’s group with a concerned look. One of the foals had returned, but it was far from a happy moment.
Chapter 4Everypony sat anxiously in the waiting room of the Centrotlia Hospital. The filly was recognized as Daisy Glow, the first foal to disappear. While everypony was glad that she had returned, that happiness was greatly dampened by her condition: Her breathing was shallow and she looked very thin for a filly her age. The few external injuries she had were very minor, merely a few small cuts and scrapes, but who knew what internal injuries she may have sustained. Daisy’s parents, upon seeing her, refused to leave her side until arriving at the hospital where they reluctantly remained in the waiting area while their daughter was taken into the ER. Twilight and Luna had started talking with the parents, attempting to reassure them that Daisy would be alright. Everypony else was sitting quietly (except for Mystic and Pinkie, who were pacing in a small circle), unsure of what to think of this turn of events. “Does this means all of the foals will eventually just come back?” Rainbow thought out loud. “I don’t think it matters,” said Fluttershy, “That filly has obviously gone through something awful, and we need to find the rest of them as soon as possible.” “And besides,” added Applejack, “I have a feelin’ that even if the other foals came back, it doesn’t mean that they’ll stop goin’ missin’.” Everypony nodded in silent agreement. “Darlings,” said Rarity looking toward Mystic and Pinkie, “Why don’t the two of you sit down? You’re scuffing up the floor.” “Sorry,” said Mystic, reluctantly sitting down, “I get restless when I’m nervous.” “And I didn’t want him to feel lonely pacing all by himself.” said Pinkie, who seemed almost as cheerful as always, though her mane was notably less curly. The group looked up and noticed a nurse come in and say something to Daisy’s parents, who started down the hall immediately after. The nurse then turned to Twilight and Luna, and talked to them for a bit longer. Afterwards, Luna followed the nurse down the hall and Twilight walked back to her friends. Everypony looked at Twilight intently as she took a calming breath and began to relay what the nurse had said. “Okay. Daisy Glow is going to be fine. She has no serious injuries, but she’s malnourished and exhausted. She woke up during the examination and, unfortunately, started to have a panic attack. The nurse was able to calm her down a bit, but they’re hoping that seeing her parents will get her to fully relax.” “Why did Princess Luna go too?” asked Spike “She wants to ask Daisy some questions, y’know, to find out more about what had happened.” “Ugh!” grunted Rainbow Dash in frustration, “We’ve only been here since this morning, and we’ve already managed to waste too much time. We need to get out there, find the rest of these foals, and teach a lesson to whatever evil monster is taking them.” “Rainbow Dash!” said Rarity, “Unless you happen to know something the rest of us don’t, we’ve already discussed that we haven’t the slightest idea on how to begin a search. Right now, we must sit quietly and wait to see if that poor filly can provide any assistance.” Rainbow let out a huff, but didn’t say anything else. After another minute or so, a nurse walked up to the group. “Excuse me,” she said, “Is there a ‘Mystic Night’ among you?” The silver stallion got up and slightly raised his hoof. “Princess Luna has asked for you, please follow me.” “May I come along,” Twilight asked, “There are some questions I wanted to ask Princess Luna.” “Of course, your highness.” said the nurse as she led the two down the hall. It didn’t take long to come across Princess Luna, who was standing just outside the room in which Daisy was resting. Upon approaching, Mystic and the nurse made quick bows while Twilight wasted no time in asking her questions. “Princess Luna, is everything alright? Did Daisy tell you anything that could help us?” “Twilight, please,” said Luna, holding up her hoof, “This is why I summoned Mystic Night.” “Princess?” addressed Mystic questioningly. “Unfortunately, Daisy Glow does not seem comfortable with speaking with anypony at the moment.” the night princess continued, “I have no doubt that she will eventually open up when she’s had more time to recover, but time does not seem to be a luxury we have at the moment. “Mystic, I believe this calls for your particular skills. I assume you remember the spell I am referring?” Mystic put a hoof to his chin and thought for a moment before nodding in understanding. “Pardon me Princess,” came a deep voice from the doorway into Daisy’s room, the ponies looked and recognized the filly’s father, a rich brown unicorn stallion with a golden mane. “I don’t mean to question you, Your Highness, but I can’t say that I’m comfortable with a pony I don’t know magically probing my daughter’s mind.” “I understand your concerns, Mr. Glow.” said Luna, “But I promise you, this spell will not put your daughter at any risk. This may be the fastest way to discover the location of the other foals.” Mr. Glow bowed his head in though for a moment before turning to mystic, looking him straight in the eye. “I suppose if the Princess trusts you, then I have little reason not to do so as well. But if you harm my daughter in any way, I will make you sorry. Do you understand?” Mystic didn’t say anything, but nodded never taking his eyes off the stallion glaring at him. Mr. Glow nodded and stepped aside, allowing Mystic into the room. Daisy was laying in the hospital bed with her mother, an off-white blue unicorn with a snow white mane, right next to her holding her hoof. Mr. Glow came in behind Mystic and gently ushered is wife aside to give some room for the spell. Mystic sat down next to the bed and looked at Daisy with a warm smile, with Daisy looking back with uncertainty. “Hi there Daisy, my names Mystic.” said Mystic, never once changing his warm expression. “Listen, I know that you must have been through something very scary and you don’t really want to talk about it right now, and I’m not going to make you. But there are still other foals still missing, and we need your help to find them. So here’s what we’re going to do. I know a spell that will let me see what happened and hopefully it’ll tell me everything I need to know. “Now, I can’t do this spell unless you tell me it’s okay. If you don’t want me to use it, I won’t. But it would be very helpful if I could, do you understand?” Daisy looked away for few seconds, thinking it over. But eventually, she faced Mystic again, giving him a smile and nodding her head in consent. Mystic nodded back and closed his eyes, gathering his magical energy. Mystic’s horn glowed with the usual transparent red aura. Slowly, the aura turned white and became more opaque. It then began to slowly fade out and back in repeatedly. Twilight leaned toward Luna, “I don’t recognize this spell.” she whispered as she watched intently. “It is a lesser known spell, and that’s his talent,” Luna explained, “Mystic Night is very skilled at discovering and performing foreign magics or those nearly forgotten to history. He found this one quite by chance whilst studying my dream-walking abilities. It allows him to take in a pony’s emotions and then follow them like a path to their memories.” Twilight watched in awe as Daisy closed her eyes and Mystic’s horn began to fade into many different colors. “Princess Luna, how did you come across Mystic Night?” “You mean he hasn’t told you? Well to answer your question Twilight, my sister is not the only one allowed to have a student.” Twilight decided to save further questions for later as Mystic’s horn stopped pulsating and just glowed continually. Apparently, Mystic had found what he was looking for.
Chapter 5Mystic Night felt every emotion that Daisy had over the past week, excitement, curiosity, confusion, calm; but the most prominent, as he expected, was fear. The emotions formed multiple colored paths. The paths leading to recent memories glowed like neon, whilst the ones leading to old memories were dimmed to various degrees. The emotions branched and intertwined here and there, as many memories contained more than one emotion. To most ponies, this may have looked like an impossible to navigate labyrinth, but with the right knowledge or skill, one could see it as a much more efficient and safe way to find memories than digging around the mind until you found what you were looking for. Mystic followed the emotions and searched for his destination. From what he gathered from the townsponies and Daisy’s parents, he figured that he’d get the most information if he started with the memories of the day before she disappeared. He followed the more positive emotions, remembering that a fun get-together of some kind had taken place that day. The red-maned unicorn stopped in front of an orb of bright positive emotion. This was the strongest of Daisy’s recent happy memories, and likely held what he was looking for. Concentrating, Mystic willed himself to enter the memory. It was a bright summer day, the streets of Centrotlia were packed as all of the ponies headed to the grassy area just outside the forest. The area was being set up for their get-together: A dining area had been set up with many long tables and chairs and a long canvas was set above it to provide shade. Most ponies were bringing food to the tables, they had hayburgers, many kinds of flower sandwiches, cornbread, cakes, pies, just to name a few. Outside the dining area had some game equipment set up: soccer goals, a shoe-toss court, and what appeared to be a tub for apple-bobbing. Watching all of this through Daisy Glow’s eyes, Mystic felt impressed that a town full of ponies could be so close to each other to put this sort of thing together. He desperately hoped he wasn’t drooling at the sight of all of that food, the last thing he needed was for the princesses to think something had gone wrong and he’d gone brain dead. Mystic focused and sped up the memory, keeping an eye out for anything that looked important. Daisy played with the other foals for a while before laying down in the shade of a tree. It didn’t take long to arrive at the rabbit that Daisy told her parents about. Mystic already knew that this rabbit had a role in Daisy’s disappearance, but that didn’t prepare him for just how wrong the creature seemed. It looked perfectly normal, but he couldn’t help but feel extremely nervous as it just stood there and stared at Daisy. Mystic thanked Celestia when Daisy’s friends called to her. He let himself a few minutes to calm himself down before he sped up the memory again. The observing stallion found nothing of interest until the memory reached nightfall. For a while, Mystic just observed from the filly’s point of view as she lay awake in bed, just staring straight up. She was just starting to let her eyelids drop when the music started. Daisy got out of bed as she (and by extension, Mystic) listened to the mysterious sound. It was beautiful, it was smooth, every note was perfect. The voice carried by the wind said nothing, just sounded off the most calming melody Mystic had ever heard in his life. So calming, and yet it made him nervous. No. It frightened him. Daisy left her house silently and followed the music all the way to the Destrier Forest. Without any hint of hesitation, the filly entered the forest, letting the music guide her. Mystic tried to memorize every turn she made, but it proved difficult as he couldn’t help but grow more nervous with every step that was taken. Finally, Daisy came to a complete stop in front of a tree. It was rather unremarkable, it wasn’t the biggest out of all of the surrounding trees, it didn’t really look out of place. But there was one detail that Mystic managed to catch: a single line cut into the trunk, enough of a cut to be noticed but too small of a detail for most ponies to pay any mind to. A bright flash of light came forth from the tree and everything went black. Mystic was caught off guard, but didn’t have much time to wonder what had happened before he was bombarded with a flood of negative emotion. Sorrow and Fear forced it's way into his mind. He could hear screams of terror and felt wave after wave of emotional torment. It was too much to handle, he was in horrible pain. He had to get out of here, he ignored the pain and focused as best he could. There was one more flash of light. The pain was gone, the only sound Mystic could hear was his own breathing as he slowly opened his eyes. He found he was lying on the floor with everypony giving him concerned looks. The stallion got up onto his hooves and scrambled for his saddlebags. He quickly located and pulled out a notebook and pencil as he quickly wrote down everything he had witnessed. “I’m sorry.” came a hushed voice next to him. Mystic looked back at Daisy Glow, who had an apologetic look on her face (and had just spoken for the first time since she had returned). Mystic adopted the same warm smile he had before he entered the filly’s mind. “You have nothing to be sorry about.” he told the filly softly. “You were actually a big help. Thank you.” Mystic gave her one last smile before walking over to Daisy’s parents. “You have a strong daughter.” And with that, he rejoined the princesses. As soon as he was out in the hallway, his smile dropped as he looked at the Princesses of Friendship and the Night with a serious and slightly terrified expression. “We need to end this. Tonight.”
Chapter 7Spike woke up feeling dizzy. He didn't remember falling asleep and he didn't know where he was. He remembered being in the forest outside of Centrotlia with Applejack and Rainbow Dash searching for clues about the missing foals, but after that was a little blurry. Spike sat up and took a look at this surroundings. He seemed to be on the outskirts of some town. Wherever he was, it looked like he'd somehow made it a long way from Centrotlia. It was pretty dark as it appeared to be night-time, the moon being the only light source. The young dragon took a deep breath and made another attempt at remembering how he got here. While he and his friends were investigating the forest, he remarked how much safer it felt compared to the Everfree Forest back near Ponyville. He heard Applejack reply, but couldn't recall what she said. He was distracted by a faint rustling. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a dark grey squirrel with piercing blue eyes. The small critter just stood still as a statue, staring at Spike. Spike couldn't help but stare back. Eventually, the squirrel slowly retreated into the shrubbery. Spike was about to run to catch up with AJ and Dash, but that's when the music started. That was as far as he could remember. He could remember the music very clearly, but what he did after it had started playing was very fuzzy. 'Well, no point in just sitting here.' Spike though whilst getting to his feet, 'I should at least find out where I am.' The young dragon made his way to the town. As he got closer he became aware of how empty the place seemed, even for night-time. Even in a small town like Ponyville, during the night there is still something to indicate that it was inhabited, like a few soft noises, one or two night owls, couples walking in the park, somepony who worked their job at night, at the very least some street lamps. But wherever this was, it was very dark, quiet, and still. Once he was within the town lines, the moonlight allowed Spike to see that many of the buildings seemed run down, adding to the evidence that this place was abandoned. He also caught a very faint smell of smoke. The atmosphere of this town made Spike understandably uneasy, but as he continued his stroll through the deserted streets, he couldn't help but feel uneasy about something else he couldn't explain. He tried to ignore that feeling as he looked for anything that could tell him where he was. Maybe a landmark that he could connect to Twilight's study binge on Equestrian Geography. As Spike rounded a corner, he caught sight of just the landmark he needed. He stood there in shock, staring at the quaint building with the uniquely dipping roof with the upper floors, while in disrepair, still bearing the distinct shape of a giant cupcake. "Sugarcube Corner?!" Spike said to himself in disbelief. How could he have gotten back to Ponyville? Why was Ponyville abandoned? How could it be so run down already? Why didn't he see the castle? As soon as the last question came to his mind, Spike broke into a sprint toward the castle's location. The young dragon was not prepared for what he saw. A couple of large crystal shards and a deep crater were all that remained of his home. Next to the crater, illuminated by the moonlight reflected in the crystals was a very large and very familiar footprint. I was a dragon footprint very much like the ones Spike left behind when he experienced Dragon Greed. You did this. Spike stiffened up and looked around, "Who said that?" You did this. "What are you talking about?" You did this. "No! I was gone for a whole day! Ponyville was fine when I left!" You did this. The voice kept repeating itself, Spike covered his ears as he tried to block it out. He huddled up in a fetal position and clenched his eyes shut as tears started flowing. The voice kept on accusing him, his claws doing nothing to block it out. As the voice continued it's chanting, Spike's mind was filled with visions of his monstrous greedy self engulfed flames. He heard screaming as he felt surrounded by a searing heat. The small dragon briefly opened his eyes, and saw Ponyville ablaze. Immediately his eyes slammed shut once more as he fell to the ground, hugging his knees to his chest. The visions continued as Spike began to believe the ongoing accusations of the unknown voice. "I-I did this..." The time to venture into the forest was drawing near. Final preparations were being made to ensure that the ponies who were no doubt galloping straight toward danger were ready to face it. Standing in front of the town hall, as the sun met the horizon, Princess Luna took hold of the moon with her magic as Mystic Night looked on with worry. "I know you're powerful, but are you sure you can maintain a massive sleep spell and a protection spell overnight?" the young stallion asked with concern. "I admit that it will be quite taxing. And I will, unfortunately, be unable to watch over the Dream Realm. But I cannot let another foal go missing tonight, for tonight is the night that this must come to an end." As the unicorn nodded in understanding, the sound of hooves reached his ear. He turned and saw the six mares he was to guide through the forest. "Ready t' go when you are, sugarcube." said Applejack. Mystic made sure his saddlebag was secure on his back, floated his notebook in front of him with is magic, and gave a confident nod signifying he was ready. The seven ponies bid farewell to the princess of the night and started toward the forest. Once the group arrived at the edge of the woods, the town shimmered with a white aura. Shortly afterward, a light blue barrier engulfed the town. "Luna's done her part," said Twilight, "Now it's time for us to do ours." The group nodded and all eyes turned to the silver-coated stallion. Mystic flipped to a page in his notes and started off into the trees with the six mares following behind him. By now the sun had set and the forest was dark, Mystic had to light his horn with it's red light to see his notes. Twilight and Rarity followed suit to aid in keeping everything visible. "Too think that such a lovely place is housing such a horrible creature." lamented Fluttershy. "Not to worry, Fluttershy," comforted Rarity, "We'll have that ruffian evicted shortly." "And contained, hopefully." added Twilight. "But, we know very little about what we're going up against." the shy pegasus pointed out. "We know enough to justify kicking it's flank into next week." proclaimed Rainbow Dash. Mystic was only vaguely aware of the banter as he was busy muttering reminders to himself while keeping an eye out for the landmarks recorded in his notebook. That is, until Pinkie Pie started hopping pretty close beside him. "Do you need something?" Mystic asked. "I just wanted to ask you: what's you're favorite kind of cake?" the bubbly mare said matter-of-factly. Mystic was a bit taken aback, but remembering the other mares advice to not question the pink pony, he decided it was best to just answer her. "Um, Germane chocolate." "Okay, thanks!" Pinkie said as she fell back a bit. Mystic pushed his questions out of his mind and returned to his notes. But he was soon brought out of his silence again when Princess Twilight trotted up next to him. "Hey, Mystic, I've been meaning to ask," she said "Princess Luna said you were her student. Could you explain that a bit for me." "Oh, uh, alright." said Mystic, "Well it's a bit... um... complicated..." Author's Note Finally got this done. Next chapter will shed a bit of light on Mystic Night. As always, constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated.
Chapter 8Okay, I guess the best way to begin is to tell you about my cutie mark. Or, did the princess already tell you about it? She did mention that you had a talent for lesser known forms of magic. Yeah. It's a little funny actually. When I was a young foal, if you told me I'd get a cutie mark in magic, I wouldn't have believed it. I had a ton of hobbies and interests growing up, every other day I'd find a new passion that I was convinced would earn me my mark. One day it was astronomy, the next was archaeology, I even tried to write a novel at one point certain that it would be a bestseller. Then one day, I came across an old reference book in the library. To this day, I still don't know why I took it off the shelf and started reading it. The book mentioned magical practices and theories from before Princess Luna's banishment, stuff that even the oldest unicorns in my town didn't recognize. It wasn't very detailed, but something just clicked in me and I knew I had to know more. The next day I brought a notebook and copied down some of the more interesting or detailed techniques and theories. I started cross-referencing with spellbooks and history books trying to find other references to these types of magic or, at the very least, something similar. I was at it for months. For the first time in my life, I was sticking to something. The first lead I found had to do with a substance called "stardust". Ooh! I read about that! Unicorn mages used it to enhance their spells thousands of years ago. But the details on how to make it was lost! Not all of the details. The book I found had some details, but like I said, it was just the bare bones stuff. It mentioned the use of crystals and drawing power from the stars, but no mention of the method of drawing said power. So I went to work on studying spells that utilized crystals, spells for drawing and storing power, and spells relating to the celestial bodies. I continued to study and cross-reference until I was sure that I had figured it out. Afterwards I set about preparing to put it into practice, saving up my allowance to buy everything I needed. I was a clear summer night when I put my plan into action. At around midnight I gathered my supplies, snuck out of the house, and made my way to an open field just outside of town. I arranged the crystals evenly around the area and drew a few sigils with sea-salt, My setup wasn't flashy or glamorous, the crystals weren't exactly high quality but I took care to at least make it functional. I looked to the sky for a minute, then closed my eyes and charged my horn. I focused my magic around me, feeding it into the crystals and sigils until I heard a high-pitched sound. I opened my eyes to see that all of the crystals were projecting white beams of light straight into the sky! It was an amazing sight, though a little intimidating. Then, the beams changed until they each sported the full spectrum. Finally, more beams shot from the crystals, meeting in the center of the arrangement, and right there in the center I watched as the multicolored stardust drifted down, and I quickly galloped to catch it in a container before it hit the ground. In that moment, I felt accomplished. I had put on such a beautiful display of magic and recreated a magical reagent that had been lost to history. I knew at that point that I wanted to continue my pursuits, to uncover the secrets of magic that had been forgotten. And that's when my cutie mark appeared. Mystic turned to the side, presenting the blue moon adorning his flank. "Of course when I showed my parents the next morning, I got grounded for sneaking out in the middle of the night." Mystic said sheepishly, "But they were proud of me all the same." "So what did you do with the stardust?" asked Twilight excitedly. "I still have it, actually. I didn't know how to use it at the time, and I learned a few years later that it wasn't enough to do anything anyway. So I just keep it in a wax-sealed bottle as a memento of that night." "Alright, so that's yer cutie mark story," said Applejack, "Now what about how you became the student of the Night Princess?" Well, once I was old enough to set out on my own, I started travelling across Equestria collecting as much information as I could on lesser known forms of magic. I had yet to do anything else comparable to what earned me my cutie mark, but I was making progress nonetheless. But, a few months ago, I really messed up. I was was in Whinnypeg in the Lunar Bay area, and I was attempting a method of creating water crystals utilizing the energy of the moon. Oooh! What a great idea! With the moon's connection to the tides, it just makes so much sense! However, the spell didn't produce a single crystal. In fact, at the time it didn't seem to do anything. But I was exhausted, so I decided to try again some other night. Early the next morning I was confronted by Princess Luna. Turns out that my spell had somehow caused everypony in town to become locked in a shared nightmare. Yep. Sure sounds like somethin' that'll get 'er attention. What'd she say? What'd she say? Not much at first. She just told me to go with her and she led me onto a chariot and took me to Canterlot. The entire trip was spent in silence, she didn't look at me at all and I had thousands of scenarios running through my head as to what was going to happen. When we finally landed in Canterlot, she led me to the castle and into the throne room where Princess Celestia was waiting. That only made my fears worse, I was thinking 'Oh great, I'm about to be chewed out by both of the Royal Sisters, possibly followed by imprisonment or exile.' Sure enough, the two of them lectured me on being extremely cautious when experimenting with magic, let me know how stressful and difficult it was for Princess Luna to fix my mistake, and informed me that the officials of the Lunar Bay area have banned me from setting hoof there for an indeterminate amount of time. Afterwards, they surprised me by telling me that my abilities had potential, and that Princess Luna would aid me in further research. I was more than happy to accept. But why Princess Luna specifically? Apparently, she retained more knowledge of the old magical practices, as Princess Celestia was often studying and teaching the more modern practices. Also, since I inadvertently demonstrated that my magic can affect the dream realm, Princess Luna seemed like the most fitting to be my mentor. "So, there you have it." Mystic Night said, concluding his story. "Your studies into ancient and forgotten magic sound amazing." said Twilight, looking about ready to do her best impression of Pinkie Pie. "I'd love to see some of your notes! And I could see if any of the books in my library have anything you haven't come across yet!" "That sounds great actually," Mystic said with a smile, "We could make plans after we get back to town, but for now..." The stallion's face became serious as he stopped, staring straight ahead at the tree in front of them, the same tree he saw in Daisy Glow's memories. Author's Note I hope this wasn't too much at once, I didn't really know how else to work in my OC's backstory. As always, constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated.
Chapter 9"Alrighty, then." said Applejack, "So this here tree is the last thing ya saw in that filly's mind?" "Yep." said Mystic, "Right before I was blinded by a flash of light and bombarded with negative emotions." Twilight examined the tree closely, doing a few magical scans and occasionally flipping through one of the many books she had brought with her. "There's definitely a door here," she said, "stand back everypony." "Wait!" cried Fluttershy, "W-what if whatever is on the other side knows we're coming?" "Seriously?" sighed Rainbow Dash. "I think she has a point," said Mystic, "We still only have a vague idea of what we're dealing with, so we can't really rule anything out." "Well, if whatever it is does know," said Applejack, "there ain't much we can do besides keep our guard up and be ready in case it decides to attack." Everypony nodded and took a step back as Twilight told them. Twilight charged her horn, working to open the hidden entrance. In less than a minute, the was a clack and part of the trunk rose up revealing a winding staircase leading down into darkness. 'Oh, my favorite.' thought Twilight, remembering her first time in the Crystal Empire. "Alright," said the purple princess turning to her friends, "Everypony ready?" Everypony gave a determined nod in response. "Then lets get moving." One by one, the seven ponies descended the stairs with Twilight in the lead, followed by Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and finally Mystic Night. The descent was mostly silent, except for Pinkie Pie occasionally ooo-ing or giggling when seeing a shape in the light of the unicorns' magic. Mystic thought about asking her to quiet down, but he couldn't help but feel comforted at seeing how chipper she was being in such a situation, which he reasoned might be why the other mares didn't say anything about it either. Just as their hooves started to ache, the monotony of the staircase was finally broken as the ponies saw a light coming from further ahead. The three unicorns extinguished the lights from their horns and the group picked up the pace down the rest of the steps. "Whoa Nellie!" exclaimed Applejack. At the end of the staircase was a large cavern. The walls, floor and ceiling were almost entirely covered in thick cobwebs. The light the ponies saw was coming from orbs of luminous gel scattered around the room. "Goodness!" said Rarity, "I expected an inhabited cavern to be in better condition." "Alright, let's keep moving," said Twilight, "Just tread lightly." The ponies stepped into the large cavern and made their way forward, their hooves becoming briefly stuck to the surprisingly thick webs with every step. "Aw, this is nothing." said Pinkie, "The party string I've been saving for Pound and Pumpkin's Sneezaversary is WAAAAY stickier." The group could see three tunnels branching of from the cavern: one directly in front of them and one on either side. "Which way should we go?" asked Fluttershy. "I don't know," answered Twilight, "But I don't want to risk wasting time going the wrong way, we may have to split up." "Ya sure that's a good idea, Twi?" said Applejack, "This ain't like patrolin' the orchard for an apple thief, we got no way of signalin' each other if we find somethin'" "Hold on a sec." said Mystic as he opened up his saddlebags and levitated out half a dozen notebooks. "Now let's see," he muttered as he flipped through the scribbled pages, "No. No. Huh, forgot about this one. No. Aha!" Mystic floated the notebook over to Twilight as he explained, "I've actually been working on a signal spell for a few weeks now. You send out a a magical signal to any unicorn you're thinking about, and they'll receive it in the form of a series of pulses from their horn. It's not as reliable as I would like, but do you think it could work?" Twilight read through the notes with a hoof to her chin. They were much more legible than the ones taken back in the hospital, and she grasped the concept easily. However, like Mystic said, the spell was flawed. Twilight took a pencil out of her own saddlebag and quickly read through the spell again adding a few notes of her own. Twilight gave a satisfied smile as she gave the notebook back. "I think it could work now." The stallion read through the notes himself, a wide grin appearing on his face as he read Twilight's additions. The talented alicorn had immediately caught the problems he had missed and knew just how to fix them. He handed the notes over to Rarity to study as well. "Alright, listen up everypony." said Twilight, "We'll split up and use Mystic's spell to contact each other should we find anything. Rainbow Dash, you're with me. Applejack, you go with Rarity. Pinkie and Fluttershy, you two go with Mystic." "And I got a feelin' there might be some twists and turns to keep track of," Applejack pointed out, "So I suggest we all think of a way to mark our path so we don't go n' get ourselves lost." After giving nods of understanding, the group split up down the three tunnels, officially beginning their search for the missing foals. Author's Note A bit short, but I kind of hit a wall and it's been almost a year since I updated update, hopefully I can get more out sooner.
