Twilight's Journey: Canterlot

>The girls look at you expectantly. As for Spike, he just looks outright confused. You can't blame the little guy, as your behavior today has been anything but normal. You remember the last time you panicked it nearly sent Ponyville into complete chaos. It wouldn't be a good idea to let that happen again.
"Alright."
>You take a deep breath. This is going to make you look really crazy, but there's really no other option. If you're going to find Anon you need the help of your friends.
"Anonymous is a human who arrived here a little more than three months ago. I was on a routine check of the surrounding weather with Dash when we spotted him on the ground."
>Dash surges forward, "Wait wait wait. So I was with you when you found him, and even I can't remember him?"
"That's what I'm presuming is happening here, yes. I seem to be the only one who can."
"Ain't that a bit strange though? I don't mean to rain on yer parade Twi, but..."
>You shake your head.
"There's no need to worry about that. I was afraid I was going mad at first, but I preformed a simple memory spell to verify if he had actually been here. The spell was a success, which is why I decided to bring this up with all of you. I checked my journal, and the past three months have unfolded exactly as they did before... only without Anon here. During his time he assisted me in the library and I appointed him as my personal royal escort. The only thing I can think of is that an outside force is causing this. Nothing natural, either. A powerful magic is at work here. A magic that I'm unfamiliar with."
>"It's gotta be Discord again!" shouts Dash, "He's always up to no good."
"I'm sorry to say it Dash, but it's not going to be that simple. I doubt even Discord could recall Anon's presence in Equestria. Besides, he's been busy helping Fluttershy get ready for the rest of the summer."
>Rarity brings a hoof to her chin and smiles slightly, "Helping is a strong word, dear. I went to her cottage yesterday evening and the chicken house was spinning in mid air."
>"Um..." Fluttershy raises a hoof, "The chickens weren't in it. We were cleaning it out."
>"Whatever," says Dash, "He's got some inventive ways of doing things, I get it. That's not what we should be worrying about right now anyways."
"There's another reason I know it's not him. When Discord was malicious, his intent was to sow seeds of chaos between us and break up our friendship, so he could do the same to Equestria as a whole. This, however, is not causing discontent, simply confusion and slight disarray. Whoever or whatever took Anon did it for a purpose... I think."
>The girls fall silent, and Applejack scuffs the floor with her hoof, "So... what're we gonna do about this? I mean, if Anon is our friend 'n all, I suppose we should help him."
>"That'll be super duper hard if we can't remember him," says Pinkie, a frown on her face, "I mean, what if he just poofed out of existence?! Poof! Like that."
"That's why we're going to Canterlot."
>Dash raises an eyebrow, "Canterlot? What for?"
"We won't find any answers sitting around in Ponyville. I'm going to purchase tickets as soon as possible. That is, if you all want to come."
>All five of them look at you as if you've grown a second head.
"I don't know how long it's going to take to find Anon, and you all have obligations here. I would understand if you found those obligations to be more important than someone you don't even know, a human you don't even remember."
>Dash is the first to step forward. She lays a hoof on your shoulder and grins, "What kind of friends would we be if we just let you go after him all on your own? Besides, even if we don't know him, any friend of yours is a friend of ours. If he was awesome enough to know me he's totally worth going after, right girls?"
>You cast a glance at the remainder of your friends...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGNlAIEbtGw
>One by one they nod firmly.
>Then, all of them step forward, surrounding you in a small circle.
>"I've been teaching Sweetie Belle quite a few tricks. I'm sure she can manage the smaller orders. I'll contact our mother and father and put my most difficult dresses on back order."
"We could be gone for a long time, Rarity."
>Her response is to smile softly and say, "Twilight, ever since you've come into our lives you've been a thing of beauty that I could never capture in a dress. You've taught us all important lessons that we will never forget. I think that's worth a smidgeon of my time."
>"Rare's right," says Applejack, "It it wasn't fer you, we'd all be up the creek without a paddle. I'm guessin' it's the same for you, right?"
"Applejack..."
>She waves a hoof and speaks again, her voice lightly cracking, "Big Mac can take on the orchard without me fer a while. We can always hire some help, too."
>"Mr. and Mrs. Cake ran the bakery juuuust fine without me for a really really long time before I moved here!"
>"Um... I'm sure my animal friends will miss me, and I'll miss them too, but... they'll understand. For the ones who don't live in the wild... Roseluck was always good around them, and she always spares time to visit. I'm sure she can handle things while I'm gone. I'll make sure Discord helps, too."
"Dash, what about you? Your situation has to be a bit more difficult. You have a salaried job."
>"I'll take a leave of absence, just like I did when I went to boot camp."
"Dash, I don't know when..."
>"We're coming back?" She pulls her hoof away from your shoulder and shakes her head with a smile, "Yeah, I'm not stupid, you've only said it about a million times already."
>Your friends, your wonderful friends. They're willing to put their lives on hold... just to help you find someone they don't even know, because you said he was a close friend to all of you.
"I... I..."
>Before you can stop them, the tears start to fall from your eyes.
"Thank you so much, everyone. I don't..."
>As you gather yourself and wipe your eyes they remain silent. You take a deep breath and step towards Spike.
"Spike, I'm going to assume you feel the same way."
>"Heck yeah I..."
>You hold up a hoof.
"As much as I want to bring you with us I need you to stay here."
>"But I..."
"I know. Someone needs to watch the library while I'm gone. We're the owners now, and we can't just abandon it whenever it suits us."
>You lean down and wrap him in a tight hug.
"Everyone else can make arrangements to leave, so I should too. You're growing up fast."
>You smile softly and rub a hoof on his head, causing him to frown.
"You're gonna be just fine. We'll be back before you know it, and everything'll be back to the way it was. We'll all go back to living our normal lives... well, at least as normal as they get."
>Spike laughs lightly at that. It's extremely true that none of you seem to have the chance to live normally. It's always something in Ponyville.
>You stand up straight and take a deep breath. You're as ready as you're going to get.
"I'll purchase the tickets today, and we'll leave first thing tomorrow."
>Not a single one of them mentions how early that is. Barely any time to say goodbye, really. However, there's an unspoken agreement between you. There can be no hesitation, no inaction. If you let what little trail Anon might have left go cold, you'll lose him forever.
>Every last one of you knows this without saying a word to each other.
>You have a feeling this is going to be different.
>You've faced the dangers of the Everfree Forest, braved Nightmare Moon's eternal night, reformed Discord, sent Chrysalis packing, and sealed Sombra.
>But this?
>This will be different.
>There isn't really an explanation for why you feel this way, but you can't shake it.
>This isn't going to be a conflict or a lesson learned.
>This is going to be a journey.
----To Canterlot----
>You are Princess Celestia, and it has been a rather long day. Despite the meeting yesterday, the tensions with the Minotaurs are rising. It doesn't help that their country is so far away, and they rarely come to talks like this. In fact, you haven't had much time to even think today. This is the first time the throne room has been empty the entire time.
>There have been difficult days like this before, but for some reason it seems especially taxing this time.
>As the door to the throne room remains closed, your muscles begin to relax. The tension starts to drain from your body, and you realize just how tired you really are. Perhaps you should have accepted your sister's help. Then again, she needed her sleep too, and you were loathe to disturb it.
>The guard to your left fidgets a bit, then turns his head slightly towards you, "I believe that was the last appointment Your Highness."
>You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding.
"Well, I suppose it's time for a break then."
>Before you can step down from your throne, however, the door flies open. In less than a second your guards are in front of you, ready for a fight. It doesn't take long for you to realize there's no threat to worry about. You step past them with a smile on your face, ready to greet your former student.
>Your smile vanishes when you see she is breathing heavily, a look of distraught on her face.
>"Princess. I need access to the royal archives."
>You step forward, a frown on your face, "Twilight, there's no need to ask for permission. You're a princess now, too, remember?"
>As if just remembering, she nods. "Right, and I'm afraid one of my uh... subjects has gone missing."
>The throne room falls silent. You try to think of something to say, but nothing comes to mind. You decide to turn to your guards instead.
"Why was I not informed of this?"
>The guard on your right flinches slightly. He otherwise keeps his bearing though. "Princess, I am afraid that this particular information had not been made available to us."
>"There's a reason for that," says Twilight, "Princess Celestia, do you remember a human called Anonymous?"
>You turn to Twilight and frown. This is a surprising question, and a confusing one.
"A human? There hasn't been a human in this world for... hundreds of years. You are the only one who's encountered them, Twilight."
>She shakes her head vigourously, "No, this one is different. He isn't from the mirror world. He appeared here a little more than three months ago with no memory of how he arrived. I took him in and let him work with me at the library. He's my royal advisor now."
>That can't be... can it? You would have surely heard about such an important thing. Royal advisors get ceremonies, much like the princess' and princes that take them under wing. You had expected her to take Spike as her advisor, but a human you've never heard of, much less encountered?
>Twilight sighs and shakes her head, "So that's it then. You can't remember him either."
>Once she says that, it's easy to put two and two together.
"Guards?"
>They snap to attention.
"Please leave us. This is a conversation to be held in private."
>"Yes Princess."
>It only takes a moment for them to exit the throne room. Now it's just you and Twilight.
"Where are your friends?"
>"They're here. We're trying to find him."
"They remember Anonymous as well?"
>She shakes her head and frowns, "...No, I'm the only one who can. I've already run through it a hundred times. There's no way he wasn't here. I even cast a memory spell to confirm that it actually happened. My schedule for the past three months makes no mention of Anon even though he was there to assist me with royal affairs."
"I see. Then you know what you must do."
>"I... I do?"
>You take a deep breath, and stand tall.
"Twilight, this is no mere kidnapping. If it were I would dispatch search parties. As it stands, however, it seems that someone... or something is attempting to erase your friend from existence. Anonymous was clearly a citizen of Equestria, thus it is your duty to find out what has happened to him. As the princess of magic, you have a responsibility to the public, just as I do. Are you willing to personally find Anonymous, or would you leave it up to search parties who may not find a trace of him?"
>"There's no way I could do that! I'll find him, even if I have to go to the edge of the world."
>It's hard not to smile at her enthusiasm.
"It isn't just your unremembered friend that is at stake Twilight. If something has the power to make a living being disappear without a trace it is a threat to all of Equestria. Finding Anonymous is important, but you must also consider the implications of whatever has caused this. You must find whatever it is that has done this."
>"Yes, Princess."
------
>When you exit the throne room your friends are waiting for you. Pinkie jumps forward, a huge grin on her face, "So?! How'd it go? Did she remember Nonny, huh huh huh?"
>You let out a sigh and sit on your haunches, your face downcast.
"I'm afraid not. I'm really the only one who can remember him. If it weren't for me it would be like he didn't exist."
>The group falls silent. If you say you aren't worried it will be nothing more than a lie. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Even Celestia is at a loss.
>Hell, you're surprised noone thinks you're crazy.
>"Erm..." Rarity raises a hoof, "I understand that everything is a tad... confusing at the moment, but don't we have a library to scour? Anonymous isn't going to just reappear. Unless he did, which would be rather good, all things considered."
"Yeah. You're right."
>You stand back up and take a deep breath.
"Let's get to the royal archives. There has to be something there. Maybe this happened before. Disappearances without explanations, ponies forgetting friends."
>As you start walking down the corridor your friends, they follow you without hesitation. You hope silently that they will continue to do so.
>It doesn't take long to reach the archives. There are two guards posted at the entrance, standing at attention as always. "Princess Twilight," says the one on the left, "Welcome to the archives. Will you be staying overnight again?"
>Applejack chuckles, "Really Twi? Overnight?"
>Blood rushes to your face, and you clear your throat, "Mm, right, there won't be any need for that Lance..."
>Pinkie leans over to Dash and whispers, "She knows the guards of the archives by name."
>If they were any more obvious they'd be yelling. You give them a death glare and their only response is to giggle. You shake your head and turn back to the guards.
"I'm here for information. Hopefully it won't take us long to find something. Most of the guards' records make their way to these archives, right?"
>The guards both nod. "Yes," says the one on the right, "If you can't find anything you also have access to the station's resources."
"Erm... there won't be any need for that."
>Dash grins, trotting to your side and nudging you in the shoulder, "Woooow Twilight. How's it feel to have all that pull?"
>You can't help but grit your teeth. You love your friends, but sometimes they can really get on your nerves.
"Anyways, I'm sure if there's anything of interest we'll find it here. We're looking for mysterious disappearances. Anything can help. Cases involving magic, or even better, ones that haven't been solved."
>The guard on the right breaks his bearing to bring a hoof to his chin in thought, "Hmm, unsolved cold cases. It should be with the rest of the guards' records. The records are separated by case type and timeline so they should be simple to find."
"Alright, thanks."
>With no further questions, you decide it's time to get cracking. Your horn flashes and the gate opens. The guards point you to the far right corner of the archives. Just as he said, all the files on cases are right here. They're not kept in books, but rather large cardboard boxes, separated by date as the guard said.
"Well girls, let's get to work."
>You pull a random box with your magic and start shuffling through the files.
>Despite some grumbling, everyone gets to work alongside you.
>It may take a long time, but there has to be some clue here.
>These are the royal archives, after all, and they've never let you down before.