Awry

I remember being lucky and finding the Princess in the throne room. Otherwise, the palace seemed fairly deserted, only the pounding of a couple of armored guards' hooves echoed on the walls apart from mine. Not once did the sound of conversation reach my ears, even though I would have really needed it between the high, unfeeling walls. However, if it hadn't been for the determination to finally investigate the strange events, I would have preferred to turn back so that I could gallop home and get into bed next to Ambrosia and forget all my troubles. But I've already decided. Anything could have happened, and I couldn't stand being idle any longer. I wanted answers, and I wanted them immediately!

I felt the sharp gaze of the guards on me the whole time, so it was a relief to close the gate behind me. I tried to hold back my steps as my hooves still clattered painfully loud in the ominous silence. I was in even less of a hurry when I saw that Celestia was sitting on her throne, but she wasn't alone. In front of her two thestrals were waiting with their backs to me. Damn nightguards... They didn't even have to say a word for me to recognize them from their black armor, and of course from their leathery bat wings and conspicuously long fluffy ears. They didn't choose to meet my mentor at the best time. Especially since it was daytime anyway; what does the Nightguard have to do with Celestia then?

But it was not revealed what kind of business they came for. As soon as the Princess noticed me, she beckoned towards her, but the two strange stallions - or perhaps I had seen them somewhere before - did not move aside, they just stared silently, suspiciously, until I walked around them. I didn't want to bring up my problem in front of them, but it really seemed like I had no other choice.

"How can I help you, Thread?" Celestia asked with a smile.

"It's about my friends, Princess," I cut right in the middle of it, but at least my voice remained calm. "Today, three of them did not come to fulfill the imposed... task." I almost said punishment, but at the last moment I changed it because of the two unexpected eavesdropping stallions. "We tried to look for them, but we couldn't find them, and nopony knows anything."

"And you thought you'd ask me about them," Celestia nodded as if she wasn't surprised at all by what I said. Very well, exactly what I was hoping for.

I nodded.

"You don't need to worry, my faithful student," she continued to smile. "I have everything under control. Everything will be fine."

"Why, what happened?" I asked suspiciously.

"Nothing happened, Thread," she stated with perfect calmness. "Your friends are fine. I'd like you to make do with this for now."

I gaped in disbelief. I wasn't used to Celestia talking to me like that. As if I was completely stupid...

"Why am I not allowed to know, Your Majesty?" I asked when I found my voice again.

"Do you trust me, Thread?" the alicorn asked back with a warm, caring smile. "Do you trust me that I don't do anything without a reason?"

Unfortunately, she didn't mean it as a rhetorical question; she was clearly waiting for my answer. I didn't want to lie to her, but at the moment I really doubted her intentions. I gritted my teeth, chewed the thought a few more times, and then said it.

"I trust you, Princess, but I would be honored if you would not leave me in suspense."

Celestia's expression didn't change, but she couldn't maintain eye contact with me without flinching. It was as if she wasn't sure what to say.

"It is enough for you to know that Still Lotus and Stella did not appear today with my personal consent," she said finally. "They are in a safe place, I can guarantee that, so please don't go looking for them!"

"And Cavernwind?"

I tried to see behind the smiling mask, but I just couldn't.

"You may leave, gentlecolts," Celestia said after a while, and then she waited for the two nightguard to close the door behind them. Finally, looking into my eyes again, she continued. "You know I like you, Thread, and I consider you my friend. It is very important to me that you are happy. And that's why I have to ask you again to trust me. Believe me, it's much harder for me than for you, but I only do what I must to protect you!"

"From what, Celestia?" I asked more harshly than I intended. "From the truth?"

"It wouldn't be in your best interest if I told you," said the Princess, still smiling.

I waited in vain for the continuation, but my mentor remained silent. For a while I didn't speak either, I just looked deeply into her eyes and tried to figure out how I could get her to talk.

"If you want to spare me from something, Your Highness, remember that even certain bad things are better than uncertainty!"

She returned my look, scanning my face, but she didn't answer right away either. Finally, after an unusual amount of thought for her, she summed up her position in a single word.

"Exactly."

It took me a minute or so to fully comprehend what she was saying. And indeed, as I concluded, it shocked me even more than if she had just told me that my friend was dead.

"You don't know?" I asked in shock.

The answer was simply that all cheerfulness disappeared from the Princess's face with a drastic suddenness. I could hardly believe it. Celestia, who was always the first to know about everything and who seemed to be literally everywhere at the same time, was unable to answer such a simple question! What in Tartarus could have happened... what would have to happen to somepony for this to occur? Or would I have overestimated how interested the Princess was in my friends? Obviously, she couldn't keep every one of her subjects under close surveillance... But she still knew that Cavern had disappeared! So what's going on?

"I have already deployed the necessary forces to find him," she finally said firmly, but in a remarkably restrained voice. "From here it can only be a matter of time."

I shook my head in disbelief. It can't be true... it just can't happen for Celestia to have no idea where to look for somepony!

"Calm down, please!" she tried to prevent my outburst. "I am not saying that our situation is not complicated. Still, I want to ask you again to trust me! The most important thing now is not to panic! I can see in your eyes that you are too worried. Don't be! Go home to Ambrosia and attend to her, and leave the rest to me!"

"I want to help..." I said, almost shaking with anger. I seriously didn't understand why she was doing this to me...

"It would be wiser to listen to me," Celestia smiled again. "I know, it would be impossible to forget what happened, so all I ask is that you stay out of it and don't get upset. You are young and you still have a whole life ahead of you. Take advantage of the opportunity and enjoy it!"

"But..."

"Go now!" she continued just as softly. "I would like to find out about things as soon as possible. And your love is surely waiting for you. Don't leave her alone!"

My legs almost gave out. I couldn't process it all. I felt like the ground was slipping out from under my hooves. What is happening and why can't I participate? What is the Princess so spectacularly hiding from me? She's never done that before. She practically always let me be with her, and I listened in freely to her conversations with other ponies. Sometimes she seemed to watch with visible pleasure as I tried to figure out what she was up to. Maybe she perceived this as a friendly game between the two of us, in which she always won. Even if she played with open cards, I never knew exactly what she was doing, or why.

But this was different. This time there was not a hint of the mischief she usually directed at me despite being an adult - or heck, thousands of years old - mare. Now this secrecy was not a joke, nor was it a challenge. I couldn't decide if she's doing it only because it was my friends who were involved in all of this, or because the problem was really that serious...

Before I opened the door, something occurred to me. As much as she wanted me to be left out from all of this, I wanted to give her all the help I could.

"Quicksilver Catalyst," I said, turning back to the throne.

"Beg your pardon?" Celestia looked at me confused.

"A gray unicorn mare about our age from the Department of Alchemy. If you want to find Cavernwind, I think it's a good idea to start with her."

The Princess returned my gaze with a strange, inscrutable face, then nodded slightly.

"Go and relax, Thread!" she said as a farewell. "You need it. Until this matter is settled, I won't bother you with private lessons either. That much stress was already more than enough."

Again! She just sends me away again, as if she doesn't want me to stay near her! Why...?

"It's never burdensome for me to learn from you," I tried, even though I already knew the answer.

"If you really want to, just continue to develop the technique we practiced in the last few lessons. Until it goes perfectly, we can't move on anyway."

Well, at least that made some sense. Although I didn't have much of an idea how we would benefit from further development of my dispersing magic in this direction - we spent several occasions trying to make sure that I could break down the particles that make up my body really, really small - but since she had already explained the method once, in recent times she didn't comment too much during our sessions. She basically just repeated the same things and drew my attention to the fact that I should do more concentration exercises.

"If that's what you wish..." I bowed slightly towards her, then left.

* * *

"Even then, I can't calm down!" I explained to my friends the next day after work, which for the sake of variety was again weeding in the same place, only about one and a half times the amount, so that we wouldn't accidentally get to catch our breath. "She told me not to interfere, almost as if I was just in her way. But I can't sit on my ass if anything happens to Cavern!"

"Do you think she hid both Stella and Lotus to protect them from the same thing that caused Cavern to disappear?" Wish asked worriedly.

"I wouldn't bet my leg on it, but it's possible," I answered.

"And she said we are not in danger?" Jasper frowned, sometimes glancing around suspiciously. "What the everlivin' crap can threaten them that doesn't us?"

"You don't believe the Princess?" Ambrosia asked.

"This whole stuff is very strange," answered the stallion. "Especially that she was tryin' to calm Thread down. Why didn't she say that we're under attack and let's hide in the shelters? If it wasn't that bad, she could have told that without all this bullshit."

"She claimed she didn't know where Cavern had gone," I said thoughtfully. "But ponies don't tend to disappear without a trace from one moment to the next. Especially without a well-defined reason."

"She was also able to make Stella and Lotus disappear," Wish noted. "But in any case, this really doesn't bode well when we're dealing with somepony who has the same influence as Celestia."

"What if it's a trap?" Ambrosia asked. "The Princess asked you specifically not to investigate, Thread. If somepony knows you and wants to use Cavern as bait...?"

"Why would anypony want to trap me?" I was confused. "And then, following this logic, does Celestia want to lure out the culprit, using Stella and Lotus as baits?"

"Or rather she wants to protect them and we are the bait..." Jasper snarled.

We all fell silent for a few seconds. I couldn't have imagined such a thing about Celestia, but Jasper had a point. Why else would she make our friends disappear and leave us here, in front of everypony's eyes at the same time?

"Either way, we can't do any harm if we look into a few things," I finally concluded. "Of course, we investigate together, as a team, and we do not engage in any risky ventures. I really want to have a word with this Quickie. If we can believe Cavern that she really followed him all the time, then it can't be ruled out that she was the last to see him..."

"Or that she was the one who made him disappear," Jasper pointed out. "Anypony who is insane enough to stalk ponies, is might capable of anythin'!"

"I agree, we need to find her first," Wish nodded. "Do any of you have any idea where we can find the girl?"

"Cavern didn't tell much about her," I pondered. "Apart from her name and the fact that she is an alchemist, I know practically nothing about her."

"I only know her by sight as well..." remarked Ambrosia.

"Then there is not much else we can do, we have to ask around at the Department," sighed Wish.

* * *

This time I was even gladder than before that Scorch had left us earlier. As grumpy as he was at work again every time we spoke to him, I probably would have strangled him if he whined and made comments during the search. Luckily, as soon as we finished, the red stallion immediately picked up his bag and started somewhere, but obviously not in the direction of the dormitory, so he spared us his company from then on.

And considering how difficult it was to find competent ponies in the Department of Alchemy, he certainly wouldn't be able to make it through without his usual unfunny remarks. It was difficult for me too, although their ineffectiveness not just annoyed me, it straight up terrified me. Nopony we asked had heard of the mare. Not only had they not known her personally, but her name didn't ring a bell to anypony. There weren't many ponies inside, and those few were busy with more or less vital activities, such as watching the nutrient solution drip through small tubes onto some plants. The best part was when a stallion in another lab, after we questioned him, took notes in a notebook in front of a flask containing a hissing solution for half a minute, and only then told us that he had no idea who we were looking for.

We could not find the head of the department, and nopony else could provide us with useful information, so we were forced to look for other methods. First, we asked around at the Starswirl Dormitory, especially among our acquaintances - and of course, once we were there, for the sake of safety, we also asked if anypony had heard of Cavern's disappearance - but we didn't get any further. However, we achieved so much with the fruitless search that Jasper remembered that it might be worth looking into the Canterlot Royal Guard's records of wanted ponies. If nothing else, we could at least find out if our friend was officially declared missing, and if Celestia involved the military in the search. And on the way, Wish also came up with an idea - for which I scolded myself, for I didn't think of it sooner - that we could ask Mr. Polter about all of this. If anypony, then he had to know about the affairs and students of the Academy, especially when such strange things happen. I even saw a slight chance that he might know even more about all of this than the Princess herself.

Taking advantage of Jasper's connections, which he made in order to establish his military career, with a couple of higher-ranking - and, by the way, quite nice - officers, we were able to relatively easily convince the loyal guardians of the order to do a little searching in the wanted lists. Cavern was indeed featured on it, but apart from a detailed personal description, there was no other information about him. And we didn't find anything about Quickie, although we weren't too surprised by this development. Jasper's acquaintances also said that Princess Celestia had mentioned to them that the guards had to find a missing stallion, but to them she had not given any specific orders.

We didn't have any other options left, and we already used up much time, so all four of us headed towards our dean's office. We couldn't even be sure if we would still find Mr. Polter there, and we didn't have the gall to disturb him in his home, so it was a great relief when we saw the light coming from the window of the Dean's Office. Of course, the noble task was assigned to me to knock on the door...

"One moment!" said a rather irritated female voice, what I recognized as Mr. Polter secretary's.

It would have been unlikely if it wasn't she who came to answer the door, although I wasn't the least bit thrilled by the fact. To say I didn't like the mare would be an understatement. I ran into the things she didn't do which was her job more often than the things she did, so I had a sneaking suspicion that her cutie mark hidden under her costume had nothing to do with paperwork, at most with making coffee or something similar. Every time Mr. Polter entrusted her with the organization of something, the deadlines suddenly delayed. Good thing I didn't intend to exchange more than a few words with her this time.

After a little while, the door opened a crack, and the mare, only a few years older than us, poked her head out. She looked around unfriendly, and she hardly wasted a single glance at my companions. And since she saw who she was dealing with, she only raised one eyebrow as a greeting.

"Is our dean in?" I asked immediately, avoiding the politeness formulas like her.

"Do you have an appointment?"

So he is... That's all I needed to know.

"It's urgent. And we need him specifically," I tried to prevent her from trying to take on the responsibility of "helping". If she takes action, we won't get answers in this life...

The secretary reluctantly turned her back on us, and although she didn't invite us in, at least Mr. Polter soon appeared at the door.

"Hello, children," nodded the red stallion, and then he looked over his reading glasses with mild interest until his gaze settled on Ambrosia. "What wind has blown you here?"

"Good mornin'... evenin', sir!" Jasper began hastily. "Our big question would be, have you heard anythin' about Cavern?"

The dean took his eyes off my fillyfriend and looked at us again with an emotionless face, but he waited a little longer with his answer.

"All I know is that he disappeared," he said finally. "That's why I'm not thrilled to see you out here so late."

"What makes you think it's not safe for us to walk on the street?" I asked immediately.

"I'm not thinking anything," answered the stallion inscrutably, looking sometimes at me, sometimes at Ambrosia. "But when anything like this, well... weird happens, a little extra... caution doesn't hurt. Am I right?"

None of us could answer. He was obviously right. I, however, was getting more and more worried about all this, so I couldn't have sat at home and waited until something was finally revealed. And I saw on my friends that they were also adequately scared by the situation.

"Sir, could we possibly ask you one more question?" Wish addressed the stallion. "Would you look up in the registry a certain mare named Quicksilver Catalyst?"

"What do you mean by that?" asked Mr. Polter, turning to the girl.

"Well... we heard of a pony with that name," said Wish timidly. "In principle, she studies or works at the Department of Alchemy, but nopony there has heard of her. Could you look her up for us, please? She's probably already in graduate school, but I can't say for sure."

"We'll look into that," answered the stallion in a lackluster voice, and then disappeared for a moment behind the door. "Quill, be a dear and find the letter Q in the register! If my memory serves me right, it won't be too long..."

Fumbling and rustling of papers emanated from the office, and after a short wait we could hear our dean's voice again.

"And the previous years? No, just a few..."

This time the search took a little longer. Until then, I couldn't do anything other than exchange a few worried glances with my friends and a soft kiss with Ambrosia. To be honest, I already had an inkling of what Mr. Polter was going to say, and I wasn't the least bit thrilled.

"There is no student with that name in the register," said the red stallion to us, and then he stepped in front of us again, thoughtfully chewing the stem of his glasses. "I don't know where you got it from... Or maybe you're just remembering the name wrong."

"Yeah, most likely," snapped Jasper briskly. "But it's okay, it's not that important! We were just interested anyway. Thank you, sir! Goodbye!"

"Great," said Mr. Polter with a faint smile. "Goodbye, kids!"

We also waved goodbye to the dean, then quickly caught up with Jasper, who in the meantime was already on his way back.

"What's up with you?" I asked the boy when I caught up.

"He won't find it..." Jasper looked me seriously in the eyes, but he didn't slow down. "Nopony will. That mare... it's like she doesn't even exist!"

"But I remember seeing her!" said Wish with lowered ears and a worried face. "Not nowadays, but in the past. It can't be that she doesn't exist!"

"Somethin' is wrong with her, though," grumbled the boy. "I also remember that I ran into a girl a couple of times who they said was Quickie. Still, based on this, should I believe that she really is a simple, ordinary unicorn? What if our homie is right and it's really just an alias? What if somepony wanted to... infiltrate us this way?"

"Anything is possible, but why?" I pondered. "Who has and what kind of secret business at the Academy? And what does Cavern have to do with all of this?"

"Or Lotus and Stella," Wish added. "Yes, I would also be very curious about that..."

"It would be nice if I had the slightest clue," snorted Jasper in irritation.

"Maybe Cavern knew too much about this Quickie and that was the problem?" Ambrosia asked cautiously.

"How could he know too much?" the boy shook his head. "He himself said that they were only together once!"

"And you believe him if he says that?" Ambrosia pointed out.

Jasper stopped in his tracks, but so suddenly that I didn't realize where he had gone. It was only when we stopped as well and I turned around that I saw him standing with his mouth open and his eyes raised to the sky.

"Oh, buck my buckin' life!" he moaned as loudly as others used to shout. "I soo tired of everythin'! Seriously, I'd rather leave this whole crap to the Guard! Only then, what kind of captain would I be if one day I become one? Then they would come to me with such nonsense cases! But what the heck can we do now? Nopony knows who this Quickie is at all, maybe only Cavern, but that idiot vanished. Well, now what?"

"Stella and Lotus have something to do with the Department of Alchemy, where in principle the mare also studies," I tried to put the pieces together. "Could this be the connection between them?"

"Perhaps, bro, but we can't ask them either, because Celestia stuffed them into her secret fun shed!" Jasper grumbled. "I don't think she actually wants us to find out about anythin' either..."

"Then it's really not the smartest thing to search any further," Wish shook her head. "Why would we want to go against the will of the Princess?"

"Because she doesn't know what happened either," I answered. "And because it's about our friend. Isn't it our duty to do everything we can to find him?"

"But what about what Ambrosia said? What if this is all a trap?"

"Let's say it is!" I answered, a little harder than I intended. "Then should we sit on our asses and wait until our enemy comes up with some new method to trap us? Or whom do they want to capture? Or anything? We know almost nothing now. What guarantees that our ignorance is not more harmful than at least trying to do something?"

"I don't know," she seemed to deflate. "But rushing in blindly is the worst possible idea. So far, at least we had some concept about where to go. Well, it turned out to be a dead end, but at least we know what doesn't lead anywhere. As well as that we have to be careful. That's what everypony keeps saying. How about we listen to them?"

"I support her idea," Ambrosia nodded.

"Are ya two in cahoots, girls?" Jasper whinnied.

"I just want to let this all settle down a bit!" Wish looked pleadingly into the boy's eyes. "Let's avoid being conspicuous and think about what could have happened! We should at least get some sleep! We used up all our free time with this and I'm tired."

"Yeah, ya have a point," Jasper sighed, looking up at the sky. "This forced labor, or whatever, would be enough in itself, so runnin' around investigatin' things like that..."

"At least this way we won't do anything reckless," smiled Wish.

She stepped closer to Jasper and placed her hoof gently on his shoulder, causing the stallion to relax a bit as well.

"It's okay, babe," he said, patting her leg gently, though when he realized we were looking at them with Ambrosia, he quickly let go. "Then we'll walk ya home, right, Thread?"

"Oh, just go!" I tried to hide my smile, although I wasn't convinced that I really succeeded. "I really had enough of this day. Let's rest a bit, and then we'll come back to the question tomorrow!"

* * *

After we parted ways, we walked straight to Ambrosia's tower. However, the moment we entered, I stopped. If I had thought about this little detail half an hour earlier, my job would have been much easier, but there was not much to do about it. My friends and I had agreed that we'd go everywhere together for the sake of safety if we were to investigate such oddities, but I didn't see the need to bother them with such a thing again today. But I would not have been able to leave it until tomorrow. This small idea, feeling, or whatever you call it, simply did not let me rest. Like a thorn... like a tiny shard of truth that wormed its way under my skin; I had to pull it out, I had to find out.

"I must go back," I said to Ambrosia when she turned to me confused. "I think I found out what was bothering me on that square!"

The girl looked absolutely terrified at my words. "It's almost dark!" she protested immediately. "Don't even think about going out! Don't leave me here alone!"

To reinforce her request, she stepped close to me and took my face between her two front hooves.

"Then come with me!" I grabbed one of her hooves. "You don't have to be afraid, I'll protect you!"

I didn't have to drag her with me, but I felt the resistance from her. She came trotting beside me, barely half a step behind, never breaking contact, as if she was afraid that somepony would jump at us from behind one of the lampposts.

"At least tell me what we're looking for!" she asked as we walked.

"There was a covered statue in the square," I answered. "And it's been there for a while. Haven't you thought about this before, how long do they usually wait until they are inaugurated?"

I turned to her, but all I saw was confusion and concern on her face.

"I don't know," she said. "I've never paid attention to anything like that."

"I find it impossible that they would wait with it so much," I stated firmly. "And I definitely remember that the date was written on it. So I'll check it out..."

"But... why did this suddenly become so important?" she asked uncertainly. "Why can't it wait until morning? Why don't we go together with Jasper and Wish?"

"Because I finally figured it out, and I'm not willing to wait a minute longer! I don't know why, but I can feel it's important!"

We made a beeline through the streets at a brisk pace, but luckily, we didn't run into many ponies. Of course, regardless, I kept my eyes and ears open, carefully watching for any threats. In the same way, I was constantly ready to crumble to dust and disappear from possible attackers at any moment, taking Ambrosia with me.

There was no need for it. We arrived without a problem. The square looked almost exactly the same as the last time the two of us visited it. Even now, the hair on my back stood up from the strange play of light and shadow. But this time I didn't care. I focused my attention in one direction as I trotted towards the tall, gray, veiled statue with my fillyfriend by my side.

Indeed... I didn't even remember what occasion it was erected... Who does it represent? Who is the artist who created it, and why was it decided just now to put it on a display in a square that has not had a statue yet? Why now... when it could catch my eye? I didn't usually pay much attention to this sort of thing, so I wouldn't have been too surprised if I didn't hear anything about this specific piece of art beforehoof, and then it appears here overnight. But the fact that time has essentially stopped above it... It made me wonder what secret the shroud can hide...

I glanced at the small sign that stood in front of it, but behind the thin chain link fence that separated it from the walkable parts of the square. The date. Oh yes, the date. As I suspected. It was supposed to be unveiled on Monday afternoon. It was already Wednesday night. I knew what was missing when we went to Lotus's party at the lab. The crowd. The crowd in the square. As many ponies gather and listen to the speech of somepony, perhaps even Princess Celestia herself, so that they can finally see what new landmark has been added to Canterlot. And that was quietly forgotten. As if nopony had noticed. It's like nopony knows anything. Just like Quickie, the mysterious alchemist unicorn. Or like Cavern. How can such extraordinary things happen so quietly? Has everypony gone completely blind?

I don't know what exactly made me do so, but I reached out towards the statue with my dust-tentacles and pulled the grey blanket off it. Maybe I just wanted to jolt things back into their natural state. If nopony else showed the statue to the world when the time came, then I did. My heart skipped a beat when I saw what was hidden under the veil.

"This... can't be...!" I whispered in shock and with widely open eyes, when I processed the sight.

On the high plinth stood a tall, grey, metal figure. As one could guess from the position of the shroud, he proudly raised his tail and one of his front legs. He looked like any normal full-grown pony, but something made him unmistakable.

The head of the statue was missing.