Those Who Seek Death

Ignoring the dismal air surrounding Ponyville and its inhabitants, the journey to Town Hall had been an uneventful one so far.

Even without Starlight asking for directions, I'd already known exactly where the place was. As somepony not native to Ponyville, I was surprised Starlight even knew there was a Town Hall to begin with. What's more, she'd already known where it was and had only asked Bon Bon about the location to move the conversation along from more uncomfortable topics.

When I asked her about it, Starlight told me that she'd simply scouted out the town before inacting her plan to ruin the future. That, in fact, madde a lot of sense so I just shrugged at the explanation and we moved on. Along the way I decided to take in more of this Equestria's Ponyville and in doing so, I started to notice something else—something other than the somewhat morose atmosphere.

Most of the ponies we passed didn't just look sad, they seemed... skittish. I caught lots of furtive glances and hurried steps. The ponies around us rarely, if ever, stopped to chat or even said so much as a 'hello' to one another. It wasn't just the strange behavior either. Whether as a friend or simply an acquaintance, I prided myself on knowing just about every pony in Ponyville.

Sure, my knowledge about those ponies may not have been as extensive as what Pinkie knew, but I made it a point to talk to everypony I came across at least once. Here in this Ponyville, however, I noticed several ponies I didn't recognize at all. And it wasn't just that I didn't recognize them, It was their demeanor compared to everypony else, mostly.

They stood out in strange ways. I would see the occasional mare or stallion with hard eyes or a slightly-too-stiff gait. Unlike the timid, almost paranoid glances of the average citizen, these ponies would scan the crowd with a confidence and purpose that was wholly out of place. These ponies were on the lookout for something and they weren't exactly shy about showing it.

It took me a moment to realize why I noticed this and why it all looked so familiar, but the anwer hit me soon enough. This was the same kind of behavior I'd seen from the Royal Guard back in Canterlot. Looking around, I finally began to see the situation for what it was, and the implications sent a cold chill down my spine.

“Those aren't civilians... they're soldiers...”

The words slipped out in a dread-filled whisper. I was aware that I might've been jumping to some very horrible conclusions. It was entirely possible that the Guard was here to keep Ponyville safe from anymore threats like Nightmare Moon. It was possible that I was reading too much into their behavior and that they weren't soldiers at all.

Or perhaps they'd been soldiers in the past and had simply moved to Ponyville to retire. That wasn't too far-fetched to believe—Ponyville was a great place to live out the rest of your days after several long years of service. I wanted so badly to believe anything other than what I was actually seeing. Unfortunately, Starlight heard my quiet utterance and her equally quiet response cut right through my silent denials.

“Of course there'd be soldiers here in town,” she whispered back, “if even half of what you heard from those slavers about Daybreaker is true, it's only natural there'd be at least a few secret police ponies wandering about.”

“In no way is that natural!” I hissed back.

“Hey, it's what I would've done,” Starlight answered with a shrug, “what I did do in fact. I only wished I'd noticed our situation a little sooner.”

I wanted to berate Starlight for her callous tone regarding what she'd done, but the look on her face stopped me cold. The mare looked calm and collected, but I could see sweat starting to be on her face. I wanted to ask what the problem was, but then her last statement finally registered.

Our situation... oh... oh no...

My mind flashed back to all the questions we'd belted out without a care for who might be listening. I didn't personally see anything wrong with the questions I'd asked, so I didn't worry about it too much. Thinking back on it, though, for all I knew, my alternate self could've been branded some kind of wanted criminal. It was entirely possible that my questions might've sounded suspicious to certain parties I wasn't aware of.

I winced as I thought back to our conversation with Bon Bon. Given her reaction to our inquiries, I could only assume—much to my horror—that she'd been one of those so-called 'secret police'. Unable to help myself, I started to look around me for any ponies watching or following us, but my motion was cut short by Starlight's hushed but frantic words.

“Don't look back.” She muttered under her breath. She kept moving, her eyes locked on the Town Hall building that had finally just come into view a few dozen meters ahead of us “Don't make any sudden moves. Just follow my lead and act natural. If it comes down to it, let me do the talking, got it?”

I swallowed and gave an almost imperceptible nod. I was near panicking, but thankfully we were close enough to our destination that I could hold it together for now. In the meantime I distracted myself by pondering some other questions I had about the situation.

Now that I knew the citizens of Ponyville were being watched by undercover guards, I couldn't help but wonder about the other Twilights—both the one I knew and the one in this timeline. What happened to them? For that matter, what happened to Spike, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Big Mac?

Were they captured by the Guard? Did they even know they were being watched? Well of course this Equestria's Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Big Mac would... right? From my earlier investigaion, I knew they'd at least made it to the Everfree, but what about after that? And speaking of the Everfree, if there were Guards already station here in secret, then why didn't they go to investigate?

Or did they?

I had no answers for any of these questions and in the end, my distraction only served to pile on additional stress. I kept expecting to be stopped or for somepony to call out to us at any moment... but surprisingly, we continued onward unmolested. I didn't dare search for any suspicious onlookers lest the eye contact trigger some sort of unfavorable reaction, but it took every ounce of self-control to resist.

As my mind wandered, I suddenly remembered the presence of a certain little ferret. It hadn't made a peep since we parted ways with Bon Bon and now that I recalled the creature, I was starting to get worried. I almost turned to check if it was still riding on my back, but stopped myself at the last second. Instead, I moved a bit closer to Starlight and leaned over to mutter, “Hey, Starlight? Is Fluttershy's ferret still on my back?”

I probably should've been able to tell, but the creature was a much lighter load than Spike—light enough to forget it's there. Starlight's response was somehow both worrying and comforting all at once.

“Nope,” she replied with clear disinterest. “Saw the thing dart off a while ago. Probably ran back to the forest or something.”

Not sure how to feel about that, I decided to just remain quiet and keep walking. Another few moments passed by without incident and despite my fears, we eventually made it to Town Hall. I almost allowed myself a small sigh of relief as we reached the entrance, but then remembered that we weren't necessarily any safer inside Town Hall.

If anything, we just might've been in more danger in there than outside. With that troubling thought on my mind, we pushed open the doors to the cylindrical structure and stepped inside. The entrance hall was just as I remembered it from the Town Hall in my timeline. Once quick glance around told me it was just as empty as it normally was, too.

Mayor Mare didn't keep a lot of staff around and Town Hall was usually relatively quiet most days. It was only when there was some kind crisis that the place filled up. While that happened fairly often back in my Equestria, it didn't happen all the time. Here, there were a few ponies going about official looking business but I didn't see any sign of the undercover Guard anywhere.

Starlight and I stood in the entrance for another few moments, waiting with bated breath for something to go wrong. When we weren't immediately swarmed by the Guard—and spurred on by a few strange looks thrown our way—we both finally let out relieved sighs and continued further inside.

With the lack of the reaction I was expecting, I wasn't as sure if we were correct in our assumptions about the Guard as I was before we entered Town Hall, That said, I still didn't want to entirely rule out the possibility that we were being watched so I kept my eyes peeled. I didn't see Mayor Mare around, which likely meant the mare was in her personal office.

Thankfully, she had a sort of literal open door policy. Anypony that wanted to ask questions, air grievances, or otherwise seek general advice or assistance was free to walk right in and do so. At least, that's how things worked in the Ponyville I lived in. Although Mayor Mare employed other ponies for certain day to day tasks, there were no actual receptionists.

Ponyville's mayor had opted to forego the practice—a decision, I initially found incredibly strange as somepony raised in the bustling capital. Given that I saw no receptionist in this Town Hall either, it was safe to assume this Mayor Mare had the same strange policies. With that in mind, I made for the double doors at the other end of the entrance hall where I knew the mayor's office was, but was stopped by a hoof on my shoulder before I could make it three steps.

“Wait, hold on.” Starlight came up next to me and leaned in to mutter, “Before we go marching into the mayor's office, do you have a plan?”

“A plan?” I asked with a slightly bemused frown, “what do you mean? The plan is to find out what happened in the Everfree and to everypony involved in whatever occurred there.”

Starlight rolled her eyes, looking as if she was trying to bite back an exasperated groan. “Okay, that's all well and good,” she replied, clearly attempting to keep the irritation out of her tone, “but I think we should be a bit more careful about the questions we ask. I don't know why we haven't been clapped in irons and accused of conspiring against the Queen yet, but better safe than sorry.”

“Okay, yeah... yeah, you're probably right,” I conceded after a moment, “so what should we do then? Honestly, I don't think the other Twi...” I paused and glanced around worriedly before starting over, “the, uh... alternate arrived in town with the others. If they had, I think there'd be more of a stir.”

“Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing,” Starlight agreed, “that might be why we haven't been accosted by the Guard. And if that is the case, it's probably best we don't mention her at all. If she was involved in what went down in the Everfree, then her name—or at least her description—should come up on its own during the conversation.”

I thought about that for a second, then nodded in agreement. “Okay, that's a fair assumption, assuming Mayor Mare doesn't try to hide the fact,” I replied, “so how do you want to go about this then? I have a few ideas but I'm always open to suggestions.”

Starlight glanced around the entrance hall to make sure nopony was listening in, then turned back to me with a conspiratorial grin. “Alright, so here's what we'll do...”

Starlight and I opened the doors to Mayor Mare's office and entered to find her seated at her desk. The mare sat hunched over the desk scanning through a small stack of documents with a grim frown. Her eyes snapped to the entrance when she heard the door open and our eyes met. Even through her surprise, I could immediately tell that something was wrong.

I wasn't sure if it was just a current situation I didn't know about or if it was just a consequence of how her life had changed under Queen Daybreaker's rule, but there was a drastically different air about this Equestria's Mayor Mare. She looked... haggard—like she'd been trying desperately to hold out as life beat her down. The dark circles beneath her eyes and additional lines in her face spoke volumes.

The sight left me speechless, and for an awkward moment, we just stared at each other. It was only then that I realized we probably should've at least given her the courtesy of knocking first. Thankfully, Starlight was able to pick up the slack. She cleared her throat and took a step forward, an apologetic smile on her face.

“Hi there! We're, uh... sorry for barging in on you like this,” she said with a rueful chuckle, “if you're busy we can come back later.”

Mayor Mare blinked once, then shook her head and set the parchment she was reading back down on the desk. “Ah, no, that's quite alright,” she replied, giving us both a hospitable grin, “I... needed a break anyway.”

With that, she steepled her hooves over the desk and looked between the two of us. Her smile turned to a bemused scowl and she leaned forward slightly as if to get a better look at her guests. “Well now, I don't believe I've seen the two of you around Ponyville,” she commented. She adjusted her half-moon spectacles and narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, “new arrivals from out of town, perhaps?”

“Guilty as charged.” Starlight admitted. She let an embarrassed grin slip before gesturing to herself and me. “My name is Starlight Glimmer, and this awkward mare over here is Bright Spark.”

I give the mare behind the desk an awkward smile and wave, perfectly living up to Starlight's words with far less effort than I would've liked to admit. Mayor Mare didn't seem to mind, thankfully. She just nodded to the two of us in greeting and introduced herself in kind.

“A pleasure to meet the two of you,” she replied cordially, “you can call me Mayor Mare—and yes, that's both my title and my name.” She chuckled a bit, but it was clear from her tone that she'd used that line more than once. “Now... how can I assist a couple of newcomers such as yourselves? If you're looking for a tour of the town I'd be happy to arrange—”

“Nono, we're quite alright on that front, but we appreciate the offer,” Starlight cut in politely. Her expression grew concerned as she continued. “You see, we were planning to move to Ponyville at the suggestion of a relative who lives here.”

It was subtle, but I noticed the mayor's genial smile slip just a bit at Starlight's words. If she was disappointed for whatever reason though, she didn't let it show when she replied, “I see... well, you've certainly come to the right place, but by your tone and the look on your face, I take it there's some kind of issue?”

Starlight nodded hesitantly. I hated to admit it, but the mare was a great actor when she wanted to be. “Kind of,” she replied, “we were planning to stay with that relative here in town while we make our preparations and were told to meet with you to get things rolling... but on our way here we heard a worrying noise coming from the nearby forest... along with some equally worrying rumors.”

Mayor Mare's brows furrowed at that, her slightly diminished smile dropping into a full on frown. “Ah yes... that,” the beleagured looking mare sighed and gave a helpless smile, “I'm afraid the incident tied to that noise is still being investigated, but rest assured, everything is under control. As for these rumors... well I wouldn't put too much stock into them.”

“Believe me, I'd rather not,” Starlight replied with another rueful grin, “but our cousin heard about a few ponies that were involved and wanted us to ask about them while we were here.” She took a step forward, her face full of subtle but genuine distress, “Is there anything you could tell us about what happened?”

There was a long and uncomfortable stretch of silence following Starlight's question. Mayor Mare's eyes had taken on a slightly sharper edge as she once again looked between the two of us. I suddenly felt as if her earlier attitude had been a facade and this sharp-eyed—almost hawk-like—mare was the true mayor. I tried to dismiss the thought but the grim suspicion in her next words made me break out in a cold sweat.

“Just who is this cousin of yours?” she calmly asked as she leaned back in her chair, “I don't believe you mentioned a name.”

“Amethyst Star,” I blurted out. I was both surprised and relieved at how calm my own reply was. I certainly didn't feel nearly as calm as Mayor Mare looked. “She's... a distant cousin, but we, ah... like keep in touch. She was more than willing to put us up until we got our affairs in order.”

It was a gamble, but I believed it was a safe one to make. I'd actually spotted the mare in question on our way here and the lie seemed plausible when Starlight and I discussed it. Still, none of that stopped me from shifting nervously under Mayor Mare's sudden scrutiny. She remained silent for another second or two as she mulled over my words.

Where is this coming from? I thought, Did we say something wrong? Was there something I missed?

After what felt like an agonzing eternity, Mayor Mare's expression finally softened, though just a touch. She favored us with another smile, this one both sincere and apologetic. “I'm sorry, if I've come across as rude. It's... just been a long day. You understand, I hope?”

“Oh yeah, no we understand completely,” Starlight replied, latching onto the mayor's apology like a lifeline. “I can't imagine how stressful your job must be on a day to day basis.”

“Y-Yeah,” I continued, hoping my own smile looked at least half as sincere, “it's no problem. We've all got our concerns and I'd think the head of a town would have more than most.”

“Well, you're not wrong there,” Mayor Mare chortled. She schooled her features a second later and shook her head sadly, “but I'm afraid there's not much I can say about the incident in the Everfree at the moment.”

“Ah,” Starlight muttered, “I see...”

At our disappointed faced, the mayor sighed and leaned forward to rest her hooves on the desk again. She paused a moment, then smiled softly as she said, “I'm not at liberty to speak about what happened in the Everfree, but I can guarantee you that all parties involved are safe and sound.”

“Well, that's a relief at least,” Starlight replied with a small sigh of her own, “the ponies that got caught up in... whatever ever happened... do you know where they are now?”

Mayor Mare hesitated, as if unsure whether she should say or not. Before she could answer one way or the other though, there was a loud knock at the doors behind us. As we hadn't really moved too far from the entrance since our arrival, the sound nearly made me jump out of my skin. As it was, I let out an embarrassing yelp and scurried away from the double doors.

Both Starlight and Mayor Mare handled the sudden intrusion with far more grace. The former stepped away from the doors with an annoyed grimace and the latter called out for whoever was at the doors to enter without missing a beat. At her invitation, a pegasus mare I didn't recognize with a cobalt blue coat and snowy mane threw open the doors and brushed past Starlight and I without giving either of us so much as a glance.

The mare's icy blue eyes were focused on the mayor, and her stony expression made me more than a little uneasy. More than that, she had the same kind of subtle mannerisms I'd seen in the other mysterious ponies wandering Ponyville. She walked with that same vaguely militaristic march in her step.

None of us said a word as the mare moved around Mayor Mare's desk to whisper in her ear. I couldn't hear what was being said from where I stood, but with each word, the mayor's features seemed to grow more and more severe. Seeing that, a horrible knot of dread formed in my gut. I threw a glance in Starlight's direction and she looked just as pale as I probably was.

Something was very wrong here. I could feel it and so could Starlight. Thoughts of escape flashed through my mind as the pegasus mare finished whatever report she was giving and took a step back. Mayor Mare's grim expression suddenly gave way to bone-deep exhaustion. She closed her eyes and exhaled a long and weary sigh, then stood from her desk.

The mayor opened her eyes and refocused her attention back on the two of us. When she spoke again, both her visage and tone had turned cold. “Come with me,” she all but commanded, “the both of you.”

“Um... i-is something wrong?” Starlight asked as both she and the pegasus mare made their way toward the entrance.

“Perhaps, perhaps not,” Mayor Mare replied as she moved past us and through the open doorway. She stopped just outside and turned back to us, the look on her face unreadable as she said, “in either case, if you want to know more about those ponies you mentioned, I suggest you follow me and Miss Skies here.”

Both Starlight and I turned to the pegasus who'd stopped just behind us. The mare nodded for us to continued. “Go on,” she urged in a surprisingly husky voice, “I'll be right behind you.”

Starlight and I looked at each other, unsure what to do. On one hoof, I had a very bad feeling about whatever was waiting for us if we followed Mayor Mare. But on the other, we needed that information. This very well may have been a trap of some kind, but in the end, I was confident we could escape if need be.

From the look on Starlight's face she felt the same, and we ultimately decided not to resist. I gave Mayor Mare a nod and together we all left the office. We headed up a flight of stairs nearby and continued on down a series of serpentine halls. I wasn't too familiar with the layout of Town Hall, but I did know that the structure was much larger on the inside than it appeared on the outside.

Evidently this had been due to some kind of ancient enchantment cast by a powerful unicorn mage when the town was first founded. There were a few buildings like that back in Canterlot so it wasn't unheard of, but the spellwork still fascinated me nonetheless. Unfortunately I was too nervous to truly appreciate the fact now.

The trip itself was a painfully silent one, but thankfully wasn't too long. After a few more flights of stairs and another twisty hall, we stood before our destination. Mayor Mare had stopped just outside of what looked—and by all intents and purposes was—a nondescript wooden door at the end of a relatively short hallway.

The mayor stared at the door in front of us for a second before turned back to us. “Well Miss Glimmer, Miss Spark, this is where we part ways,” she announced, her expression still inscrutable. I opened my mouth to ask what this was all about, but Mayor Mare held up a hoof to cut me off and said, “I know you have questions but I'm afraid I can't be the one to answer them for you.” She looked over to the pegasus mare, “I trust you can take things from here?”

The mare nodded once and Mayor Mare nodded in return before making her way past each of us. Before we could say anything, she was already heading across the short hall. She reached the stairs shortly after and headed down without another word or a single glance back. In the ensuing silence, all Starlight and I could do was look to the other mare.

“Alright you two,” the mare said, motioning for us to open the door, “in you go.”

“I, uh... don't suppose you could give us an idea of what we're in for here?” Starlight asked hopefully, “y'know, like... who's behind the door?”

“You'll find out when you open it,” the mare nearly growled before jerking her head toward the door, “now move.”

“Alright, alright, jeez...” Starlight grumbled. Her irritation was short-lived as she faced the entrance. She visibly swallowed, hesistated a second more, then used her magic to twist the door handle and slowly push the door open. The door creaked open and Starlight tentatively peered inside.

My eyes widened as the mare jerked in surprise, pulled back and slammed the door shut. She whipped around to look at me and my heartrate skyrocketed at the mix of horror and confusion on her face. Starlight opened her mouth, her face white as a sheet, but nothing came out. After a few seconds of useless lip flapping, she finally managed to croak something out in a shaky voice.

“We need to go. Like, now.”

I didn't get a chance to respond before another magic aura gripped the door and ripped it back open. Before either Starlight or I could react, we found ourselves wrapped in that same aura. We both shouted in surprise as we were violently yanked into the room and unceremoniously dropped onto the floor. I quickly scrambled to my hooves, scanned the room in a panic, and froze.

The room itself wasn't much to look at. Decorations were sparse, as was furniture save for two plush, dark red chairs and a large cabinet shoved into one corner. The back of the room was slightly rounded with two large arched windows overlooking the town. The light shining in from the windows framed a single desk that sat opposite the entrance.

That was all I was able to comprehend before my thoughts grounded to a complete halt. The only thing I could focus on was the desk in front of me—or rather, the pony who sat behind that desk. The unicorn mare who looked down at me with a cold smile and eyes that were both hauntingly familiar and horribly alien.

“Well now, meeting myself not once but twice! In one day! I have to say, this mission is turning out to be one of the most interesting I've ever been assigned to.”

Somewhere behind me I heard the pegasus mare enter the room followed by the soft click of a door being closed and locked, but I paid it no mind. Flanking either side of the desk were what I could only assume were six Guards wearing strange fire-themed armor with even stranger weapons attached to their hooves. What's more, I could see Bon Bon included in the line-up... but I ignored all that too.

The only thing that mattered—the only pony that mattered—was the mare who'd just spoken. The one sitting behind that desk. The lavender unicorn wearing a cruel mockery of my face. I was so shocked and horrified by what I was seeing that I hadn't even realized the spell hiding my true identity had completely unraveled.