Book 3 The Shadows: obscured by the shadows

The whistle’s sound had Tempest up and alert in an instant and peering into the crowd below.

But she still felt the need to rub her eyes. There was an unusually large amount of ponies out today, but there were also some creatures that Tempest wasn’t used to seeing intermingling in the crowd.

It wasn’t hard, however, to notice her welcome party. Nearby was the very same Twilight Sparkle, along with her dragon...

Spike? With wings now, huh.

They greeted Tempest...Fizzlepop...warmly and started walking her around town. Some ponies were curious to see who the newcomer was and what she was doing here, but others were trying their best to act natural and leave.

Tempest...Fizzlepop...still noticed, and it led her mind to wander. Spike and Twilight didn’t seem to see it at all as they continued to try to chat with her half hearted responses.

They were taking a turn around one of these neighborhoods while their guest was in this distracted state when she thought she saw something that caught her attention.

He was covered in saddlebags, but he seemed to have the right height and color...

But it can’t be.

In spite of herself, she took a longer look in that direction.

No, it’s not him.

Twilight Sparkle noticed her guest pause and paused herself.

“Everything ok?”

“Yes,” Fizzlepop said, acting calm, cool, and relaxed once more as she started walking forward again, “everything is fine.”

Soon, Fizzlepop saw the Castle of Friendship looming in front of them. Made out of multicolored crystals, it seemed like a fairytale castle oddly set among the cottages of Ponyville.

“You’re lucky you came when you did. It’s a school holiday,” Twilight excitedly explained as they walked through a large set of doors and into a room with a huge crystal table and similar thrones set around it.

“Only until tomorrow, darling. The students that didn’t go out and about already are absolutely going stir crazy, and I don’t blame them,” they heard a sophisticated voice speak out.

It was Rarity’s, and she only took that second to speak before going back to her work. She was inspecting her notebooks and glancing between them and the project she was working on.

It was a beautiful new scarf, with a brilliant strand of gems lining it in chevrons near the ends. It didn’t look like it would be comfy, but Rarity let the newcomer try it on and it felt like paradise! It was going to be a present for Rarity’s sister, Sweetie Belle, who had just helped another pony get their cutie mark, and whom Rarity still felt like she was neglecting sometimes.

Taking a nap on another seat nearby with her hat pulled over her face was the only other pony in the room, Applejack. The dirt on her coat was easily visible and a twig or two was sticking in her hair and in her ever present hat. She had spent a long day on the farm, her beloved home Sweet Apple Acres, before this and deserved the nap.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy could be heard talking in another hallway. Fizzlepop could just barely hear the muffled sounds of Rainbow’s raspy voice and Fluttershy’s soft, stream like one. Those two were polar opposites in many ways but were always close friends. One gentle, and the other bold, they were always looking out for each other since fillyhood. It was a bond that anypony, including Fizzlepop, could see and she felt a little bittersweet at the thought of not having such a bond herself.

Pinkie Pie could only be witnessed through smell, as smells of freshly baked goods wafted from what must have been the kitchen down the hall.

It all felt so natural and homey that Fizzlepop felt like she could be comfortable, and, even though it wasn’t totally her style, like she never wanted to leave.

Twilight had already tried asking earlier on the walk, but she once again asked about the names of Fizzlepop’s old filly friends, and upon hearing their names, Spring Rain and Glitter Drops, Twilight looked a little confused.

“Hmmm, I don’t think I’ve heard of them,” she said, before adding more cheerily, “Pinkie Pie knows everypony, though, so I’m sure she’s seen them before.”

The three continued onward to the nearby kitchen. The new unicorn could see cakes piled up to the ceiling in a disorganized array, while still managing to stay in their spot without collapsing or intermixing with one another. And they all smelled and looked delicious.

A particularly beautiful red velvet cake was nearest the door. The icing on it was perfectly uniform, with blue spirals over a delicate pink. It reminded her that even though she was living at large, she hadn’t exactly been living large. She felt mesmerized looking at it, wondering who all the cakes were for, and ended up not hearing the first time Pinkie Pie addressed her.

This again?, she grimaced internally as she answered the pink pony with the names of her friends.

Pinkie Pie looked up thoughtfully. Her mane picked up a spoon filled with batter from another upcoming cake and she licked it before placing it back into a different bowl, much to Twilight’s dismay and her companion’s bewilderment.

“Huh, I dunno. I think I may know someone who might though!”

She bounced back to the oven to pull out another glorious cake. To the horror of Twilight and surprise of Fizzlepop, Pinkie bolted the entire cake down her throat before they headed out the door.

*** *** *** ***

With Pinkie around it wasn’t long before they made it there.

“No, I don’t see their names in the public records. They could have been pulled, though. We had a break in a while ago and noticed a few files were taken,” a grey haired mare told them, walking them across Town Hall.

The three ponies and dragon found themselves in a semicircle room, with blue cabinets along the curved section of wall and windows across the top. It seemed like a nice, out of the way place to keep and read the records, but they could see what Mayor Mare was talking about.

A few of the window panes had been smashed, and two of the cabinets were toppled over onto each other in the corner. Some of the drawers of other shelves were clearly left ajar. But otherwise, the room was intact.

Twilight Sparkle was going to start interrogating Mayor Mare right then and there, but she was stopped by a shout from Spike, who was struggling to pull out a newer looking folder from one of the cabinets in the center of the wall. Twilight levitated him and the folder over and the eager ponies peered over each other to see what was inside.

Sure enough, Fizzlepop recognized the pictures of her two old friends.

“Their last known location is...” the other two ponies, minus Mayor Mare, squinted a bit. The writing had smudged and faded and it looked like gibberish on the page.

“Hmmm, I can’t tell but I think I know what town it is talking about,” Twilight said, “Pinkie Pie and I can take you there ourselves.”

“That won’t be necessary. Now that I know where they are, I’d like to go for myself,” Fizzlepop responded.

With a thank you to Mayor Mare, the three ponies and Spike trotted out of Town Hall and soon parted ways.

Fizzlepop was two streets away from the retreating backs of Twilight, Pinkie, and Spike when she caught a glimpse of two other ponies trotting down the street in the opposite direction.

One of them was a unicorn who was laughing and bouncing around. This unicorn was teasing an earth pony walking next to her, a grey pony wearing a suit.

Tempest...Fizzlepop...ducked away before either caught a glimpse of her.

“See, you look good in it! I told you!” the purple and blonde unicorn was saying.

“Well, of course, I do. I look good in anything,” he said, trying to pretend he hadn’t already said he would hate it just five minutes ago.

“Not that old thing you used to wear,” the unicorn said before finding herself tumbling over. The stallion had just slightly tapped her and set her off balance just as her hoof was coming down.

She brushed herself off. She felt as bouncy as ever. And seeing Edgy stick his tongue out afterwards only helped her brighten up more. Her new business was doing well, Edgy was her assistant, and she felt good overall.

They continued trotting by.

But Edgy and Tempest had seen each other.

He had tripped Starry partly to tease her, but also partly to stop them both in their tracks. He wanted to have time to get a better glimpse of the familiar orchid colored unicorn he thought he saw across the way.

Tempest had recognized him, too. From the front view and with that level of overconfidence, there was no mistaking it.

She wasn’t sure how she felt. He was alive and seemed happy in his new life. It was miraculous, but she had seen miracles with her own eyes before.

He probably didn’t recognize me.

With his memory wiped, at least he wouldn’t remember what she had done to him.

She had to make her apologies with her two oldest friends, but him? She wouldn’t have to talk to him at all. As far as he was concerned, they had never met.

Edgy and Starry continued walking.

Starry’s not going to find out about this. I won’t let it happen.

As far as she is concerned, we’ve never met.

New Pony Report:

Ponyville Town Hall Robbed!

Mayor Mare not taking in reporters at this time.

Locals have conflicting stories. Some say they saw multiple figures, others that this was a one pony attack. Some say this was an inside job.

Check back for the latest news and announcements on N.P.R..