The Lost Path 7
Hey there, transition chapter this time.
The long search s coming to an end, though they don't quite know it yet. In the next chapter, we'll get a clue as to where Staria's been this whole time. Stand ready~
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Cold.
The water is too cold.
She remembers how it feels, now. Shivering, curling up on oneself in order to find some warmth, to protect oneself against the cold…
And in a desperate attempt to keep death at bay.
She does not fear death. She's been dead inside for far too long. She can feel it too, now.
The gentle wave of darkness, slowly gathering her in its embrace. She is at peace. A tiny part of her whispers that her time hasn't come yet. That she has yet to understand…
Understand what? For so long, she's been searching. Searching for the missing part of her heart, searching for a reason.
Why was she born in the first place?
Why would there be two princesses of the night?
The day only needs one princess. Equestria only needs two.
Why were they three?
Oh, mother…what did you mean…when you said…
That I was the Guardian of lost souls…?
Please…I always wondered…what have I missed…?
Where did I mess up…?
I never did what I was meant to…did I…?
But why was I the only one who didn't know…?
Mother…I feel so lost…
I wonder…if anypony…will miss me…
Darkness falls over her. She doesn't breathe. The wind still howls as the night embraces the earth one more time as it is entitled to.
And long after the sun has set and the moon has arisen alone in the midnight sky, hooves, somewhere, suddenly break the silence.
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"Finally!" Dash exhaled, shoulders dropping in exhaustion. "It was about damn time."
Before them stood a small village –the first since they'd entered San Palomino desert, a few hours ago. Twilight had casted a spell to protect them from the harsh sun, but even her alicorn magic could not protect them against the sweltering heat. More than new information and the rebirth of their search, a town meant coolness, water, and plenty of rest.
And an end to Rarity's complains, too.
They went straight to the inn, asking to rent a large room for them all, and the mare at the counter was all too happy to get them the best she had, overwhelmed at the idea of housing the princess of Friendship and her infamous friends.
"Really your Highness, it is a true honour to have you in my inn."
They all mutedly agreed to take a much deserved rest before they set out to gather information, once again. They'd stopped counting how many times they'd done this already since the beginning of their search –and perhaps it was better they had. Rarity would probably faint if she knew.
As of now, none spoke a word as they settled down. It was not quite late morning, so they had plenty of time still. And hopefully the heat would lessen by the time the afternoon rolled by –and it would be a lot more pleasant to be outside.
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"Excuse me, miss –do you have a minute for us? We have a few questions we'd like to ask you, about this town and its past, mostly."
The mayor looked exhausted and worried, but she showed them the way to her office without a word, only nodding and checking the notes she was carrying with her, frowning all the way. When she opened the door, they saw her desk was almost crumbling under the weight of a thousand sheets strewn haphazardly everywhere, in oddly-shaped piles, looking ready to collapse. The books on the shelves looked dusty, as though they hadn't been touched in ages, and not for lack of desire to, apparently. Now that she thought about it, Twilight realised the whole town seemed slightly worried and wary, and her friends had gotten more than one distrustful look. Something was fishy here.
"What can I do for you, your Highness?" The unicorn sat in her chair, trying to tidy her environment a bit in order to look more like an office and less like…something else. To no avail. She quickly gave up with a shrug. "Please excuse my office's state –we have a few issues we're trying to deal with, but they prove to be quite a pain."
"Yeah, 'bout that," Rainbow Dash quickly asked before Twilight could say something, "what's wrong here? You ponies look like ghosts keep jumping at you from the shadows or something."
The mayor blinked once. Twice.
"That's pretty accurate. Give or take a few details, of course."
"What?"
The mare put her hooves on her desk and threw a suspicious glance out the window. There was nopony on the streets. Satisfied, she glanced back at her guests.
"It has been going on for a while now –things started to disappear at night. Only merchandise, mind you, but merchandise we intended to sell and earn profit from. We never managed to catch the thieves, but we spotted them more than once. They are terrifying flying creatures, with leather wings and gleaming fangs. Their eyes look like animals' and they blend in with the shadows as soon as we catch a glimpse of them. As though they were ghosts. They are numerous and we fear they might one day steal everything from us, thus our town's current state of weariness," the mayor paused. "We've tried to catch them several time without success. So…"
She looked straight at Twilight, undisguised hope in her eyes.
"Will you help us, your highness? We are in dire need of assistance, I fear."
"Why not file a complain to Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked, thoughts swirling with information. "She would have sent help."
"We were about to," the unicorn replied. "You arrived first, so I figured I'd just ask you."
"We can't leave these ponies alone, Twilight," Applejack said. "It won't delay us to help them."
"I wasn't planning to leave them be," Twilight answered truthfully. "Besides, I'm curious to see what kind of creatures they might be."
"Hell yeah!" Dash did a small looping. "Let's catch these thieves and bring them down!"
The mayor gratefully thanked them for their help, and proceeded to gather witnesses in the hall to devise a plan. Soon enough, the mane six stood in the room with the mayor, the sheriff (western hat, glinting star on his chest –what else could he be?), two shopkeepers who had been targeted several times already, the librarian (because apparently, several books had been stolen too) and two other mares who grew flowers.
"We've tried to set a net and bait them with items they usually take," the sheriff explained, frowning. "But they either avoid it completely, or tear it to shreds and take the item regardless. We've tried preventing them from entering the shops altogether too, but they always manage to sneak in and out without being seen."
"They attack only at night, right?" Applejack asked. The Librarian nodded.
"It is as though they can see in the dark. We've set quite a lot of random objects to impede their path once –they avoided every single one of them."
"Nocturnal creatures, then," Fluttershy guessed, trying to recall any being that matched the portrait they had so far. "I would say bats –but they are far too small, and have no use for iron or apple seeds…"
"Whatever they are," Twilight quickly scribbled something in her notebook, "they are strong, flying and stealthy nocturnal creatures. They are bound to fear the light –or at least, to be disorientated if we try to shed some light on them."
"We already tried that," one shopkeeper argued, shaking his head. "They always flee before we can switch the lights on."
"Then we tie them up so they can't~" Pinkie sang happily. It was slightly disturbing to hear.
"To tie them up we need to catch them first, darling," Rarity explained. "Which brings us back to the main problem."
"How 'bout we leave only one opening, then shut it once they're in?" Applejack offered, but the idea was dismissed again.
"We've tried that, too." The mayor shook her head slightly. "They never come when we do. It's like they just know what we're doing."
"Oh, come on!" Dash whined. "There has to be something you guys haven't tried and failed already!"
"We've been trying to catch them for months, miss," the sheriff replied, slightly ticked off. "We've tried basically everything we could think of. Closing the doors, lighting them, throwing nets, water, glue, making noise, scaring them, hiding everything –nothing ever worked."
"Except combining all of this."
They all looked at Twilight like she was crazy. Her friends, however, knew that the grin on her face and the passionate scribbling meant she had a plan. They did not ask. The alicorn finally raised her head and smiled at the small assembly.
"We're going to need the whole town for my plan to work –along with ropes, strong lights, large pieces of fabric, and Pinkie's party canon."
They looked at each other confusedly, wondering what the princess' plan was, but she did not say. In the end, they agreed to gather everything she had asked for.
Later that day, before the evening, every Pegasus in the town was busy attaching large pieces of cloth sewn together by Rarity to the buildings on each side of the main street –which provided shadows for the ponies below, which they were thankful for, though they did not quite understand what use they would have in catching the thieves.
"Tighter knots, Fluttershy," Twilight warned. "They must be able to withstand an earthquake."
"We're working on it."
"Applejack –how are the lights?"
"Ready to be lit, Twi."
"Dash?"
"I've distributed the ropes as you ordered."
"Pinkie?"
Kaboom!
"…I'll take that as a yes. Alright then, we're ready for our thieves."
The plan in itself wasn't that complicated, but it heavily relied on coordination and everyone acting at the right time, something that might prove difficult, seeing as more or less the whole town was involved. But she was confident they could pull it off.
She'd spelled a few pairs of glasses so they could see in the dark and protect their eyes against brutal light. When the thieves came to steal from the shops, the unicorns would launch the strongest light spells they knew at the scene, along with the flashlights they had distributed to the ponies. Pinkie would bring out her party canon force ten for extra noise, further disorientating the thieves, and when they'd try to fly up to escape –they'd be impaired by the fabric above and the ropes the citizens would throw at them. Let's see how they escape that, Twilight thought confidently. It seemed ridiculously overboard –but since they had been trying for months to catch the thieves without success, she figured it was justified. Somewhat.
"Let's recap one last time. Fluttershy, you warn us with your bats when they arrive."
The small Pegasus nodded timidly, a small bat nestled in her pink mane. She'd sent them to warn the others of the thieves incoming.
"Applejack, you watch after the bait –you will give the signal to lit the lights and everything."
"Got it."
"Rarity and I will start the light spells."
"Of course."
"Dash, you throw the ropes once the light is on."'
"Roger that," the mare grinned enthusiastically.
"And Pinkie…"
"I blow them up with my super-duper party canon! Yay!" She pulled the trigger, and a shower of confetti rained on her friends. Twilight only shook her head.
"Good. Well then, all we have to do is wait."
It was perhaps the hardest part of their plan, seeing as they had no idea when the thieves would strike again –they did so every few weeks, but they could pretty much spend a month waiting without seeing even the shadow of a thief. Twilight dearly hoped they would not wait so long, because their efficiency would be greatly reduced by stress, lack of sleep and boredom. They would have but one single chance, they couldn't mess it up.
Especially since, she couldn't quite explain it, she had a feeling these strange thieves were somewhat connected to their own search for the lost Alicorn.
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