The date is March 7th. A whole year since Arrell and I got together, and this is how we’re spending it.

With him lost and alone, and me trying to find him.

It’s been maybe a week since he vanished. Risk, False, Nimble, and I haven’t been looking for him for very long, yet I can’t help but feel like we’re close somehow.

He isn’t anywhere in Ponyville or Smooth Grove, and according to the citizens of the latter, he’s not in Snowflake Woods. Princess Celestia has also checked and said that he’s not in Alterspace. In fact, things have just stopped being put in or removed from there, including articles.

Risk found Arrell’s saddlebags abandoned just inside our house in Smooth Grove, and we all know that he’d never leave those things behind without a good reason.

Thankfully, even if he’s not using them, we still are.

We only have one lead on where he could be; some guards who were questioning ponies learned that a large light blue pony with no tail or cutie mark was in Canterlot a few days ago. So that’s where we’re headed, and on the way, we’re going to keep doing what Arrell isn’t.

We’re going to continue the article hunt.

“Somepony found a piece of paper on a wall and picked it up, and a few hours later they were randomly murdered,” Risk explained to us, sorting through the information as it was transferred from the Fine Rock into his brain. “Now the piece of paper they picked up is gone.”

“If it’s gone, how do the guards know that they picked it up?” False asked.

“The victim had a friend with him when he picked the paper up. They separated before the murder actually happened, but the friend was still able to explain that much to the guards,” the unicorn replied. “And get this: the next day, somepony else found a piece of paper, and were murdered a few hours later. And again, the paper was gone.”

False smirked. “An article that causes death by papercuts?”

He shrugged. “Maybe, but apparently the victims weren’t bleeding at all. It was like they just stopped living randomly. No autopsy report can figure out the cause of death.” He blinked. “...and...it’s not one piece of paper.”

I tilted my head. “There’s several?”

“Apparently. The first victim found a piece of paper that said ‘HELP ME’ on it. The second victim found what looked like a rough drawing of a forest with a bipedal figure on it...the description makes me think of a human.” He shook his head. “They haven’t found any other bodies yet, but they’re pretty sure there’s bound to be more.”

“Good thing we’re going there,” False said. “The train should be arriving soon now, I hope.”

I nodded, turning to look out the window. Please be there, Arrell...please, please, PLEASE be there…

“Another one?”

The guard nodded. “Found her not even an hour ago. And once again, no piece of paper.”

I sighed. “Were there witnesses who saw her pick the paper up?”

“We don’t even know if she found a piece of paper. For all we know, her death is completely unrelated.”

“That’s a ‘no’, then.” I turned to the others. “So what’s the plan here? Go searching for random pieces of paper, or what?”

False shook her head. “With what’s going on here, it seems pretty dangerous to go near any of these pieces of paper. Plus, we don’t know how many there are.” She turned to the guard. “Have any of the guards tracked down anything useful?”

The guard nodded. “They located a piece of paper in the castle courtyard. However, they’ve elected to not touch it, instead choosing to block it off from other ponies and keep a careful eye on it.”

I smiled. “Good idea. Can you take us there?”

“Of course.” He turned to lead us off, and we followed. “I will, naturally, ask that the three of you do not come into contact with the paper.”

“Naturally,” Risk said with a nod. He blinked. “...three?”

False and I stopped and looked around. “Nimble?” I called. “Nimble! Where are you?!”

So now we had three jobs to get done. We had to find Nimble, we had to examine the paper, and we still had to ask around for information on Arrell.

Risk went off to find Nimble while False went with the guard. I took it upon myself to go looking for Arrell. I hadn’t been in Canterlot for very long, but already I was annoyed that I hadn’t done anything to try and find him.

Nopony I talked to had any idea where Arrell was - in fact, most of them were never even aware he was missing. Those that were aware he was missing only knew it from overhearing the guards talking.

The most information I got was from one young colt who claimed he saw a flying blue pony without wings a couple days prior. His mother chided him for having an ‘overactive imagination’. I narrowed my eyes at her.

“Excuse me, ma’am, but your son is being helpful, and I would really appreciate you not dissuading him,” I told her calmly.

She rolled her eyes before starting to drag her son away. “You’re both crazy.”

I sighed and continued walking. At least I know he was seen here not too long ago. Hopefully he’s still nearby...

“Asylum!”

I turned to see False running towards me with a panicked look on her face. “False? What’s wrong?”

“Risk found Nimble...he found another piece of paper!” She gestured with her head for me to follow her as she turned to run off. “And there’s something with it I think you’ll want to see!”

Confused, I ran after her as quickly as I could. “What about the paper the guard was taking us to?”

“I checked on it. It’s the one with ‘HELP ME’ on it, and it’s still safe. There’s at least half a dozen guards keeping an eye on it.” She turned a corner into an alley behind a donut shop. “The new paper’s back here!”

I ran after her into the alley. Risk and Nimble were at the end of it, staying a good two feet away from a piece of paper stuck to the wall. False slowed to a stop and stood next to them, and I turned to look at the paper.

There was a strange black scribble on the right side that could have either been a tree or a human. The rest of the paper was filled up with the words ‘LEAVE ME ALONE’. What shocked me was another piece of paper attached to the wall just below it. This one had moderately neat, legible writing on it. I stooped down to read it.

“Eight Pages. Collecting even one of them causes a strange entity to hunt you down, kill you, and take the pages back to scatter them again. I assume you’d have to collect all eight of them and store them in Alterspace to finally get the entity to go away.

Now that I’ve told you that, obey the words on this particular page, PLEASE.

- Arrell”

Author's Notes:

And so it begins.

I'll be updating one "side" of each chapter at a time; first, a chapter from Arrell's perspective that focuses on the past leading up to current events, followed by a chapter from Asylum's perspective that takes place in the actual present.

This should be an interesting ride.