Chapter Ten: Missing

The carriage soared through the clear sky. I examined the pistol. I had very little experience with guns, but had been taught how to handle them. I carefully turned on its safety, which had been off the whole time, I ejected the magazine, it held five rounds. I checked the chamber, and it contained a sixth. I placed the chambered round back in the magazine, and put it into the weapon. The ponies were staring at me, intrigued by the device.

"What is that funny-looking thing?" Pinkie asked.

"Is it some kind of weapon?" Twilight inquired.

"It is. It's called a gun. It uses a combustible powder to propel a metal object down this tube at high speed toward whatever you're shooting at." I indicated the barrel of the weapon. "This is the gun the insane human used to attack that mare." All seven of my companions were confused and shocked. This inanimate object was an enemy to them, to all of ponykind.

"Why did Celestia give it to you?" Twilight always had the questions.

"She thought I would need it. As you can see, I can't fly at rediculous speed, or use magic. I'm useless in any sort of fight. With this, however, I could do a lot, even though this gun has only six uses left. I would only use it in emergencies; it's too lethal to use on just anything. Guns have a tendency to kill what you shoot them at. That's how they're designed." The ponies still looked about with expressions of disgust and confusion.

"But that's just terrible! Why would anypony want something like that?"

"You know how I told you that humans have a violent past? That we're omnivores that have to hunt as well as forage? Well, that's why guns exist. To kill other beings, be it in defense or offense. For food or conflict. Almost all wars in our world have included guns for the last three hundred years. They're a part of our history, and a reminder of our own nature." I put the gun in my pocket after checking the safety again.

"But how can that little thing kill somepony? I mean, it's just so tiny! And that tube that the metal comes out of is even smaller." Rainbow Dash was not familiar with the concept of high-velocity small objects causing damage. She was the only high-velocity object that caused damage around here. I drew upon my reservoirs of knowledge others had called an encyclopedia in the past, and recalled things I had read about guns and bullets.

"There's no single answer to that; the bullet, as it's called, is designed to go through living tissue, breaking blood vessels, damaging muscles, puncturing organs, severing nerves and arteries... A truly terrible weapon. There are very many ways that it can kill. This is a comparatively small gun, and probably wouldn't do much to say, an adult dragon, unless you hit it in the right spot." Spike reacted to this slightly, stirring in his slumber. He had been very tired and had fallen asleep after entering the carriage.

"That sounds like it'd hurt." Rainbow still looked disgusted, as did the rest of the ponies. At least they now understood the device, and probably feared it. But what had this made them think of me?

"That's... really interesting, Zach. Maybe we should talk about something else." Twilight tried to find a new subject, but the remainder of the trip was silent. It had only taken around an hour to get back to Ponyville, and the town was busy as it usually was, ponies walking in small groups or alone, visiting market stalls, and making conversation. The carriage set down, and Twilight politely ordered it to return to Canterlot. All of the ponies went their separate ways, Spike lay asleep on Twilight's back.  I was not sure where to go, and stood there hopelessly. I didn't like asking for a place to stay.

"Where are you going to stay?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know," I said dumbly.

"Why don't you come back to the library and stay there again?" She offered. Twilight still treated me as a guest. I saw her as a powerful ally, and almost as a friend. Was I friends with these ponies? I couldn't tell. They seemed to like me enough, and Pinkie had said that I was. But it was so much of a cliche for humans to become friends with these ponies. I followed Twilight.

"Are we friends, Twilight? I've only caused you and your friends trouble since I got here, and you've treated me so well, even though I've honestly been only a nuisance," I admitted, looking down at the ground I was treading upon, and at that instant I felt foolish, and thought of home. I don't belong here. This should not have happened. Twilight stopped, turned to face me, and brought her hoof to her chin in thought for a moment before answering.

"Of course you're our friend. You need help, and we're happy to provide it, not because we were friends, but because we were stangers. We can't turn away those in need, ponies or humans. Without you, we would quite possibly have never found out about this crisis. Everypony in Equestria owes you greatly, Zach, and we have your back, not just as allies, but as friends, too." She continued walking, and I followed.

"What happens now?" I asked, almost rhetorically.

"We wait for anything bad to happen, then we stop it. That's what heroes like you do, right?" Twilight said, almost jokingly. Did she just call me a hero? I wasn't a hero, I was a kid, a useless, lazy, kid. The events that had taken place thus far had been very chaotic, and I was surprised that we hadn't failed already. Maybe the barrier was stronger than Starswirl The Bearded had thought. Or... was there another human performing heroic acts? Or a pony doing so on Earth? My thought process was answered by the presence of a poster that read "MISSING" on a lamppost about twenty meters away. I pointed to it.

"What's that?" I asked Twilight, though It was obvious that she didn't know. We both proceeded to the poster, and read it. The poster bore three pictures on it of missing ponies in the area. It depicted three familiar ponies: Derpy, Trixie, and the one that bronies call Doctor Hooves. The thought immediately came to me.

"Twilight! They must be ponies that have gone into our world!"

"Why do you think so?"

"I think so because in our world, Derpy and Trixie are both very popular with bronies, and this fellow," I pointed to Doctor Hooves' picture, "is thought to represent a character from a story separate from the story of Equestria, and is popular as well. I think that maybe because of our liking of these ponies, that they were among the gifted individuals that could cross universes and represent this universe. Otherwise, how could they have gone missing?"

"You think so?" She thought about it. "I guess that makes sense. But Trixie? Bronies like Trixie? I've never met the stallion before, and Derpy is one of Rainbow's... assistants, right?" She used the term 'assistants' with uncertainty. "But what can we do about them?" Twilight's eyes grew wide. "What if Trixie's causing trouble?"

"I don't think she would be causing trouble. If anything, she'd be putting on a show of her magic,- which would dazzle any human, because we don't have any magic at all- and trying to help people to get attention, which bronies will deliver in great quantity once they notice her, which wouldn't take long. Derpy would also get a ton of attention."

"I guess so..." Twilight said, uncertainly.

"We should go to the library," I suggested after a pause. Twilight nodded in agreement and led the way. Where were those ponies, and what were they doing? Was there a third human in Equestria with me if there were three ponies missing here? So many questions were left unanswered as we entered the library.