“We might want Skyset to come with us as well.” Starlight Glimmer said as she stepped back into the Castle of Friendship’s foyer, saddlebags upon her. “There’s a good chance she may resonate with the artifact if it’s close, since they’re both displaced in time.”

“Meaning…?” Silver Dreams asked curiously.

“It’s possible to identify when she came from. We can use this fact to our advantage like a sonar once we’re close.” Starlight clarified. “If something comes back with the same time of origin as her, we know it’s probably our artifact.”

“C-come with you?!?” Skyset questioned. “W-with more unicorns?” She questioned, eyeing Fire and Silver warily.

Midnight gave the mare a confused look. “What’s wrong with unicorns?”

“Not you too…!” Skyset groaned. “T-they read your minds! And… and and if you make them mad, they zap you!” At this, Fire Dancer burst out laughing.

“Well, this one certainly knows what I’m thinking, and I certainly feel electric around him.” Midnight said with a grin before planting a kiss on Fire Dancer’s lips. “But I’d personally call it something oh so right rather than wrong.”

“Wait, what?!?!” Skyset demanded. “D-did you just… kiss the unicorn?!?”

“I mean, he is my husband.” Midnight said simply.

Skyset groaned. “I give up trying to understand this timeline.”

“If she gets her tail in a twist that bad over a unicorn and a bat pony, wait until she finds out some ponies date gryphons and dragons.” Silver commented as he started for the door.

“You’re all weirdos!” Skyset exclaimed.

As the group made their way north of Twilight’s castle they eventually came to another home with a broken window. A pegasus stallion stood staring at the window with clear rage.

“Not cool.” he hissed.

“Thunderlane?” Starlight asked. “It is Thunderlane, right?”

“You’re that new unicorn in town that’s always hanging around Princess Twilight… and uh… who are all of you?” he asked looking to the others.

“Crimson.” Crimson said, gesturing to himself, he then gestured to the others. “Fire Dancer, Midnight Sonnet, Silver Dreams. We’re looking for someone who did something similar somewhere else. Do you know anything at all?”

“Only that they stole one of my flight competition trophies, busted one of my windows, and went that way.” Thunderlane said, pointing towards town. “I tried to chase ‘em down but they zapped me out of the air.”

“Zapped you?” Starlight questioned.

“Yeah, y’know, horn lasers. Hit my left wing.” he said, spreading his wings to reveal a section of charred feathers.

Skyset held back an I told you so. She just stared on.

“Ouch. You all right?” Fire questioned.

“Aside from the toasted feathers and being a little shaken up from a bad landing… and completely ticked off about the whole thing? Peachy.” Thunderlane replied.

“Did you manage to get a good look at them? A cutie mark? Coloration… anything?” Silver asked hopefully.

“Brown cloak. Blue fur. Couldn’t see anything else.” Thunderlane snarled. “They’d show their face if they weren’t such a coward!”

“That gets us something to go on at least… what time did this happen?” Midnight asked.

“Five this morning.” Thunderlane answered. “I’d just gotten out of the shower when I realized somepony was in my house.”

“Appreciate the information. Anything else you guys can think of?” Fire asked the group.

“Maybe I can isolate their magical signature from Thunderlane’s injury?” Starlight suggested. An attack like that was sure to leave a bit of a mark, at least for a bit.

“Be my guest.” Thunderlane said, holding out his wing.

Starlight approached and lowered her horn. It flickered to life and her aura spread over Thunderlane’s wing. She picked apart the energies she was feeling. Once she dug past what was clearly Thunderlane and separated it out she did pick out what looked like the faint remnants of unicorn magic. The aura pulsed green around the charred feathers a few times. “...I’ve got it.” she said, letting her horn go out. “I should be able to pick out their signature later if we find anything.”

“Good thinking, Starlight.” Fire said, then turned to Thunderlane. “And thank you for the information. Hopefully we’ll be able to stop them.”

“Hope so. Good luck… thanks for keeping Equestria safe.” he said before turning back to the window. “I wonder how much this is gonna cost…”

“We should head the direction he pointed out before…” Silver said, starting that way. “Why do I get the feeling we’re about to go on a wild goose chase?”

“Silver, shut up. You’re going to jinx it.” Midnight said with a frown.

“Too late, if that’s the case.” Crimson said. “C’mon guys, let’s go.”

As they headed into a deeper residential part of town it seemed they wouldn’t find another sign of anything amiss… until…

“The horror, the horror!”

“What was that?” Silver demanded.

“That sounds like the flower trio…” Starlight said before casting her gaze on a pink earth pony sitting on a lawn with a trashed garden and… “Broken window…”

“What’s with whoever we’re chasing and breaking windows?” Midnight demanded.

“I’d say it looks like they’re breaking into stuff.” Skyset deadpanned.

“Yeah, but why always windows?” Midnight asked. “I guess it works, but it’s loud, messy, and dangerous.”

A cream colored earth pony stepped out of the house and lowered her nose to the ground, sniffing about as she walked, her focus like a razor. She brushed her two toned red mane out of her eyes a few times before giving up and continuing to sniff around the window.

“Okay, I know earth ponies like the dirt and all, but what’s her deal?” Skyset whispered.

Silver approached and decided the best way to find out was to ask. “Uh… ma’am… what are you doing?”

“Can smell it.” the mare replied. “That awful pony… all over our home…”

A third earth pony entered the scene, a sharper pink than the one currently lamenting their situation on the lawn. She gazed at the assembled ponies past her disheveled curly lime colored mane. “You’re royal guards… oh thank goodness. It’s awful…”

“Let me guess, something was stolen.” Starlight tried.

“No… but our garden is ruined!” the other pink earth pony with a golden mane cried.

“...your window is broken and that’s what you’re upset about?” Midnight asked in confusion.

“We’re upset about the broken window too… but we sell flowers… who wants to buy flowers from ponies with a torn up garden? That’s bad for business…” the lime maned earth pony pointed out. “Plus it’s probably going to cost a lot to fix that…”

“Something like this should be covered though, shouldn’t it?” Crimson questioned.

The golden maned pink earth pony sniffled. “I-I kept telling the girls we should get insurance…”

“Ouch. Maybe this’ll be a lesson to that.” Fire said with a weak smile.

“The Apple Family are pretty crafty.” Starlight suggested. “Perhaps one of them could quote you a good price on patching it up?”

At this the golden maned pink earth pony turned to Starlight. “Y-you’re right..! Applejack’s never let us down..!”

The red maned pony’s ears perked as Midnight approached. She could feel something from this bat pony. Something… strangely calming. “U-uhm… hi…”

“So like… you totally don’t have to do this but… you’ve got their scent?” Midnight asked hopefully.

“Y-yes! I do… I… oh… oh you want me to track them don’t you?” the red maned pony questioned, sitting up on her haunches, her tail wagging not unlike a dog’s.

“Roseluck, no! Guard work is dangerous work!” the golden maned pony whined.

“I know that! But… Lily, if I don’t what if somepony else’s home gets broken into? I don’t want that…” Roseluck countered, her ears flattening. “They could use some help…”

“Should we be allowing this?” Fire questioned to the others.

Silver seemed to debate internally before suggesting. “I don’t see any immediate danger… and we’ve already got Skyset with us…”

“So long as she’s choosing to and knows it could be dangerous and that she has no obligation to do this.” Midnight said, looking between Roseluck and Fire. “I don’t see the issue with her accompanying us for a short bit… But if we get into any trouble you stay back, understand?”

Roseluck nodded promptly. “O-of course! I’m not… I’m not a fighter. I’d just get in your way…”

“I don’t feel right about it, but I think I’m outnumbered.” Crimson said. “Fine.”

“Wait, we’re actually going to do it?” Skyset said, almost worriedly.

“Well, you’re not a guard either, but you’re coming along.” Crimson pointed out.

“Err… right.” Skyset winced.

“Let’s just make sure we make keeping Roseluck and Skyset safe our priority. At the first sign of any significant danger I’ll teleport the three of us to safety… I’m technically a civilian too.” Starlight pointed out. Despite not technically needing a guard’s protection herself, there technically were rules and procedures to follow.

“That seems like a good idea.” Roseluck agreed with a nod. “B-but I should warn you I get teleport sick…”

“Just uh… don’t face me when you do it and I think we’re good.” Starlight chuckled nervously.

Skyset stared at the communication, almost unable to believe it was happening before her eyes, but said nothing.

“...you come back to us in one piece, alright Roseluck?” the lime maned earth pony said, stepping close and ruffling her mane. “We’ll make your favorite for dinner when you get home.”

Roseluck smiled. “Thanks, Daisy… Alright, they went…” she trailed off before starting to sniff at the ground again. She carefully avoided a few shards of broken glass with her hooves, treading especially lightly before turning and facing towards the south. “I think they went this way…. No… wait… yes, they went this way..! I can smell…. Mare… maybe my age? She smells… fancy…”

“Fancy?” Midnight questioned.

“Smells like… expensive products… like… lotions?” Roseluck pondered. She’d smelled this before. But where? It vaguely reminded her of Rarity’s scent. Rarity would always leave behind what to others was a pleasant scent, but to a pony like Roseluck was a rich miasma of individual things she could pick out. Rarity’s shampoo, right down to the brand name… the lotion she used on her hooves. She could even tell if Rarity had been to the spa based on the scents of the shampoos and other products they had there… but this wasn’t Rarity’s scent. Rarity would never use that brand. “I… don’t know who it is.”

“Might be helpful to get a lead, but the good news is that it’s not essential information. Mainly the location is what’s immediately important.” Crimson noted.

Roseluck began heading off in the direction she’d indicated, occasionally taking a moment to sniff the ground to ensure she hadn’t wandered off the trail. Her muzzle scrunched and she glanced up to see they’d entered a more populated area. That would make things tricky. “I… might need a moment… lots of scents around here…” she noted.

“I have to say, it must be interesting having such a sensitive nose…” Starlight pondered.

Roseluck glanced to her. “It uh… has its ups and downs. Some things can be really overwhelming, even if they wouldn’t bother some other ponies.”

“Auntie was telling me that she could smell the neighbor’s cooking from all the way at the other end of her street now.” Crimson said with a light chuckle. “She says it makes her hungry and slightly miffed because she doesn’t want to smell what they’re making.”

Roseluck dodged and weaved her way through a few ponies passing by that gave her confused and curious looks as she sniffed about. Eventually she stopped and looked back. “I’ve found her again… she… turned down this way!” she said, galloping for what was essentially an alleyway.

“How predictable.” Fire groaned, leading the charge behind.

As they made their way through the alley, the cream colored earth pony took them on several turns before eventually coming back out into the open, heading west. She stopped when her nose unexpectedly bumped wood.

Roseluck backed up and eyed what her nose had bumped. Stairs. She looked up the stairs and frowned, her ears splaying back. Train platform. “Oh…”

“Oh indeed…” Midnight said, using her wings to propel herself up above the earth pony and onto the platform, skipping the stairs entirely. “Let’s consider our options here… they probably got on a train…”

“The last train that would’ve left wouldn’t have been too long ago… where could they be headed?” Silver questioned.

“Well, off this line we have… Canterlot, Appaloosa, Las Pegasus, Dodge Junction, Duskmoon Depths, Tall Tail…” Midnight listed off, a growing sense of worry slipping into her voice. “B-but all of those trips are multi-day trips except for Canterlot, which is only a few hours away.”

“I dunno if it helps, but they smell like they use fancy things… I don’t think they’re going somewhere small.” Roseluck suggested. Then again, Rarity lived somewhere small… “Maybe they’d be heading for Canterlot?”

“Canterlot seems likely to me.” Starlight suggested. “They’re a powerful magic user, that much we know… Canterlot has a large population of skilled magic users… use of expensive personal care products also potentially suggests upper class…”

“Let’s go with our guts.” Crimson said. “Let’s go to Canterlot.”

“If we can’t find them in Canterlot we may be able to intercept them at their next destination if we’re fast enough… we should have at least the rest of the day. If we can find any more clues, maybe we can alert the other stations to be on the look out.” Midnight suggested.

“Taking the train would be slow and cost precious time… I could probably teleport us…” Starlight suggested. She glanced to a nervous looking Roseluck.

“I-If it’s all the same with you guys… I think I’d prefer not to leave town… I don’t wanna leave the others right now… not too far.” Roseluck said sheepishly. “This is getting a bit… much for me.”

“Of course.” Silver said with a smile. “You’ve already been a huge help. Thank you, Roseluck.”

“Be safe, and get that window fixed.” Fire winked.

“Let’s go. We gotta move.” Crimson said.

Roseluck gave a brief wave before turning and trotting off back towards town.

Starlight took a breath and let it loose as her horn flared to life with her trademark blue-ish green glow. “Is everypony ready? Any other potential cases of teleport sickness I should be wary of?”

“I teleport all the time, I’m good.” Silver said simply.

“I can handle a teleport.” Midnight added.

“T-teleport…?” Skyset said nervously.

“Yeah. Where we flash outta here, and appear somewhere else.” Crimson said casually. Skyset’s eyes widened.

“Oh, nononononono!” Skyset said immediately, shaking. “Absolutely not no way no how you are not making me do that crazy unicorn madness.”

“Crazy… unicorn madness?” Crimson questioned. “I’m supposed to be the funny one.”

“It’s nothing abnormal, Skyset. All it does is move us to somewhere else much faster than we could through other means of transportation.” Fire commented.

“Y-you’re just saying that! You wanna torture me with your unicorn wizardry!” Skyset said shakily. Fire raised an eyebrow.

Starlight sighed. “Skyset… you remember the timber wolf? And the pizza? I’ve never done anything to hurt you… and I wouldn’t suggest something that could.” she tried patiently. That was part of friendship. She had to be patient with others. Skyset’s fears were real, even if she felt they weren’t warranted. “If it helps, I could describe to you what you’ll feel before we do it.”

Skyset swallowed. “I-I guess… you didn’t hurt me b-before….” She shut her eyes tight. “Ooooh. I hate this so much just do it!” she said, gritting her teeth.

Starlight resumed preparing the spell. “Now… you’re going to feel my magic envelope you… for a brief moment, you’ll feel a bit warm and like you’re moving very quickly… try not to panic… for some ponies it’s very disorienting, though it usually lessens with practice.” Starlight explained. “For some… they get teleport sick… that’s basically a really dizzy feeling and some nausea, but it’ll pass. Might be best to close your eyes.”

She waited a few seconds before… FLASH.

When the light faded, they weren’t standing at Ponyville’s train station, but instead outside a tea shop. The owner of said tea shop backpedaled a few hoof steps, holding a hoof to her chest. “I… oh goodness… I hadn’t expected…” she panted. “I really ought to get a designated place for these sorts of things.” she said, brushing a bit of her brown-ish orange mane from her face.

“Eheh… sorry, Cinnamon.” Starlight said weakly. This was probably the tenth time she’d nearly given the poor unicorn a heart attack.

“N-not to worry… Though… oh! Oh goodness…” Cinnamon said, stepping back at the sight of a pegasus that seemed on the verge of being ill. “Your pegasus friend isn’t looking like she enjoyed the ride too much…”

“If you call that enjoying it… I… oh…” Skyset tried to speak, but her face turned VERY green.

“Someone get a bucket…” Crimson said.

At this, the tea shop owner trotted in place for a moment with worry before her horn flared and a trash can zipped through the door. She set it near the pegasus. “Here… use this.” she suggested, releasing the trash can from her purple glow.

Skyset took the bucket and proceeded to make horrific sounds for the next two minutes. Crimson winced as Skyset groaned in between. “Ugh, why….” she whined.

“The technical explanation is a bit complicated.” Starlight said, scratching the back of her head. She admittedly felt a little guilty, but time was of the essence. “Suffice to say some ponies are particularly sensitive to the sensation of teleporting. You’re uh… not one of the lucky ones it seems… you can build up a tolerance to it with repeated experiences.”

“Miss Glimmer…” Cinnamon said with a sigh. “I don’t think now is the best time for that explanation… give her some time to recover first.”

“R-right, sorry…” Starlight said sheepishly.

“I-I’m done…” Skyset groaned. “Now my whole mouth and nose have the taste and smell of acid…”

Several napkins were offered to the pegasus in the glow of a purple magic aura, matching the one around Cinnamon’s horn. “Here… you might want these…”

Skyset took them without questioning, her mind only focused on getting rid of what she was feeling right now, but that would still take time.

“You wait here, I’ll go get you some water.” Cinnamon suggested before hurrying inside.

“Well, she’s awfully nice.” Midnight said, content with the shop owner’s generosity.

“There’s a reason this is often where I pop in.” Starlight commented with a grin. “Cinnamon Chai’s always been a nice pony. Twilight comes here sometimes, so that’s how I found out about the place… you okay, Skyset?”

“Peachy.” Skyset groaned.

“She’ll be fine in a moment, most likely.” Fire said.

“Probably.” Skyset said. “If magic weren’t so horrible, there’s another reason it sucks.”

Starlight tapped her chin. “It doesn’t happen to everypony. It’s sort of like… how some ponies get sick on amusement park rides. A lot can do it just fine, but sometimes some ponies are a little more sensitive to stuff like that.”

“If it weren’t Starlight, I’d say the unicorn in question put that little extra bit in there on purpose…” Skyset groaned.

“I did warn you that it might upset your stomach, to be fair.” Starlight said gently.

After a moment, Cinnamon Chai returned with a glass of sparkling water. She held it out in the glow of her magic. “Here… I dunno if you prefer sparkling or not, but this should help ease your stomach some.”

Now that she was more coherent, she nodded and took it, but was wary of the drink, considering it was a unicorn who had served it. They’re not as bad as you think. Let it rest. She shook her head and sipped at the offered drink.

“I don’t suppose you’ve seen anything at all suspicious today, have you, Miss Chai?” Silver inquired, looking to the mare.

“Suspicous? Hm… well there was this stallion here earlier today that kept looking at Fleur de Lis… but Fleur clearly wasn’t interested in-” Cinnamon started.

“No, no, we mean something like, legally suspicious, not gossip.” Midnight commented.

“Oh! Eheh… sorry… I can’t say I have, no…” Cinnamon Chai said, her ears folding back.

“Please let us know if you do.” Fire said. “I’m gonna give you a way to call me.”

“Oh! Yes, of course. Anything I can do to help in apprehending the unsavory types that’d threaten our lovely community.” Cinnamon Chai agreed with a nod.

“I believe we’re looking for a unicorn with a blue coat, and a brown cloak.” Silver recalled, remembering Thunderlane’s description.

Cinnamon Chai’s eyes widened. “...A pony like that did come through here! Just a little while ago!”

“Did you happen to get a name?” Midnight asked hopefully.

“Did they use any magic?” Starlight questioned suddenly. If they’d used anything significant, she might be able to track them!

“No… and not that I’m aware of.” Cinnamon said with a sigh. “I did see their cutie mark when they took a tumble though! It was a ruby! And their tail was braided, a lighter blue color.”

“Helpful, though they could easily change that.” Crimson noted.

“Pyxl… can you get me in touch with HQ?” Silver asked.

A tiny metal pony poke her head out of Silver’s mane and she fluttered into the air with her pink wings. “Calling..!”

“IOT HQ, this is Hot Mic speaking, what can I do ya for..? Team 77, right?” a stallion’s voice emanated from the tiny metal pony.

“...can you get me a list of blue unicorns in Canterlot with ruby cutie marks? Also lighter blue tails.” Silver asked.

“...looking for a pony I see… it’ll take me a bit, I’ll call you back as soon as I have the details.” Hot Mic replied. “That’s a… blue unicorn, lighter blue than their coat tail… and a ruby… cutie… mark… do I have that right?”

“Eeyup.” Silver replied.

Pyxl gave a nod. “Call ended… hmm…” she said before hovering over to a menu. “Tea… what do you recommend?”

“Huh? I don’t… do… tiny robots drink tea?” Cinnamon Chai questioned.

“Not exactly… but I can taste things. I am curious.” Pyxl said before hovering back over to Silver. “Now isn’t the time for that though…. I might come back another time!”

Starlight stared at the tiny breezie-like contraption for a moment before shaking her head. PONETs hadn’t ceased to fascinate her, not since seeing Magnum Opus for the first time. She knew that they had originated in the future, though not entirely why what they were were not a violation while what she did was. Her experience with Chronus suggested to her only that they must have some purpose in being brought back, or that in some way their existence in this time wasn’t a problem for the future.

“We should probably ask around in the meantime.” Midnight suggested.

“Getting a call!” Pyxl suddenly chirped. “Putting it on…!”

“Hey, 77! Hot Mic here… got you surprisingly exactly one result. Her name is Radiant Jewel, she lives at 2496 Sunrise Street… no history of criminal activity that we’re aware of aside from a few minor accounts of shoplifting, for which she was properly reprimanded… what’s a pony who can afford Sunrise Street doing shoplifting? Weird… that all you need?” Hot Mic asked.

“I believe so.” Silver confirmed. “Thanks, Mic!”

“No prob! Any time.” Hot Mic replied before the call ended.

“That is suspicious.” Starlight commented. “A pony who could afford Sunrise Street would have no need for shoplifting. That’s wealthy territory.”

Sunrise Street was upper class Canterlot, though far from its wealthiest neighborhood, it was typically a place of three to four bedroom houses, fancy lawns, and the occasional hot tub.

“Let’s see if we can go find out.” Crimson said.

Author's Note

Only thing I really wanna go over in this chapter that may need some explanation at this point is... Why is Roseluck acting like a dog?

She's a Werewood. What's a Werewood? Werewoods are kind of like werewolves, but with Timber Wolves. They can shift between their base form (their pony selves) and a "Werewood" form, which gives them bark along the fronts of their legs and backs, sharper teeth, and their manes and tails become leaves. They are omnivorous, and require more water than the average pony. They are long lived, some think they are immortal they live so long, though they are not. They also have intense canine-like instincts which leads to them having dog-like tendencies. There are more details about them, but are not relevant to the story here so I won't bore with any more, just wanted to give a brief bit of information about them.