Imprisoned

The girls were exhausted. In the past two months, they had been searching every nook and cranny for Fluttershy, with no success. So far, they hadn't told Zephyr Breeze about his missing sister, though they'd have to soon. He was coming over to visit her for the week tomorrow and would need to be told. Twilight looked at Rainbow, concern for her friend briefly outweighing her worry about their missing friend. The blue mare was draped over her throne, not saying a word while her eyes were shiny with still unshed tears. Suddenly, the door to the throne room burst open, revealing Spike and Zephyr. The green pegasus was holding onto her little brother while the drake had a look on his face that clearly read 'help me'.

"Hey all. I knocked, like, ten times but you didn't answer. Finally, I went in and got him to show where you all were. Now, where's my sister? She wasn't at her cottage." He looked around, though his face fell as he soon saw that something wasn't right. When he turned towards the lethargic Rainbow, his unsure face turned concerned.

"Girls?" Twilight sighed and flew over, levitating Spike over to Rarity. She sat down and gestured for Zephyr to do the same. Now, he was very worried.

"Zephyr, I realize that we should have told you this sooner." His head tilted and he gave a short, unsure laugh.

"Told me what. You're... you're scaring me a little bit." Twilight sighed and looked at Rainbow, who had curled up, shaking and very clearly crying. She turned towards a scared Zephyr and gently wrapped a wing around him.

"Fluttershy's not here. She went missing about two months ago. We thought we could find her so we didn't tell you. Your parents agreed to keep it a secret." Zephyr froze, his mind going blank as he tried to process this. Soon, he began to shake and hyperventilate. Twilight gently wrapped her hooves and wings around him, holding his shaking body close. Soon, she felt drops of water fall against her neck and tightened her grip. Zephyr whimpered and his tears increased as what she'd said finally registered completely. He could feel Twilight rubbing his back as she tried to comfort him but it wasn't registering. That word kept echoing through his head as his trembling sped up.

After a few more seconds, he let out a loud scream and wrapped his hooves tightly around Twilight, sobbing loudly. Twilight gently stroked his mane, shushing him and trying to provide comfort. Although they never really showed it, Fluttershy and Zephyr were almost as close as Twilight and her own brother. He buried his muzzle into her neck and his shoulders shook and his chest heaved. Rainbow looked up and for the first time since Fluttershy first disappeared, her eyes brightened and she left her throne. She walked over and gently joined the hug, her own tears flowing as well. Soon, the other four, including Spike, joined as well. It took him a whole two hours to calm down. They needed to find Fluttershy, or Twilight didn't know what he would do.

When Zephyr had confronted his parents, he'd ended up not speaking with them for two weeks. However, he had been helping them search for Fluttershy. She'd been missing for ten months now and they were all losing hope. But when the police came to see them, their remaining hope was shattered.

"Twilight! Girls!" The girls and Zephyr came racing to the door. The two police-ponies outside had an odd look on their face. When they saw Twilight, they stood straight, though the look stayed.

"Princess and friends, I understand that you've been searching For Fluttershy. Well so have we, as you know but we've exhausted our leads and resources. I'm afraid we can't continue investigating a lost cause." Twilight and the girls looked at each other in shock. Shaking her head, the purple mare stepped forwards.

"What... what do you mean 'a lost cause'?"

"Well, it's become clear to us that Fluttershy is most likely not going to be found at this point. Our chief has signed a document that labels her as legally dead. I'm sorry, but there's nothing else we can do." The two nodded and left, leaving the group in a state of horror. Spike shut the door and turned towards his family. Out of the seven of them, Zephyr was taking it the hardest. He was shivering and whimpering, tears filling his eyes. Rainbow turned towards him and gently wrapped a wing around him. Only to have him pull away and fly out the window, small drops of water following him.