“W-What do you mean s-she's gone?” Twilight asked as her frizzled mane straightened like the prickling hairs on her neck. “W-When was Princess Luna l-last seen?”

“The professors said that they haven't seen or heard from her since last night,” Lyra replied through clenched teeth; unfortunately, the attempt to resist the chattering of her pearly whites didn't last long. “Hey, T-Twilight, w-would you m-mind if I borrowed your c-comforter for a while?”

Twilight glanced at her bed and the sheets she had flipped and turned in her troubled sleep. After witnessing enough of Lyra's shaking and shivering, she couldn't help but motion her friend over.

“S-Sure, knock yourself-”

Before she could finish, Lyra snatched the thick, tangled blanket up from Twilight's bed and threw it over her body, completely covering herself and the mass of bags she carried. She looked like a dark but cottony ghost until the wearer shifted it around until it fit more like a cloak.

Twilight grabbed a couple of the leftover bedsheets herself and wore them like layered robes, their silky white texture smooth and wonderfully soft. The duo's shivering slowly came to a stop, though their hooves still trembled as the ground didn't warm up in the least.

“Ah, that's better,” Lyra exhaled soothingly. “I was getting tired of my jaw shuddering. Wouldn't that have been annoying to listen to until we get out of this mess?” She reveled in her contentment a little longer before suddenly shrieking, “What am I saying!? With the way things are, we'll never get out of here!”

Twilight recalled the urgency Lyra had initially displayed. “What exactly is going on-?”

“We don't know! Everypony's been trying to figure that out, but even the professors don't seem to understand the situation. We've tried to ask nicely, but we all just keep getting sent back to the entrance hall like we're... we're... sheep!”

“They're sending you away without explaining anything?” Twilight asked, puzzled. “That doesn't seem very much like our professors.”

“If you don't believe me, ask the others! They're all just down the hall with their bags and everything,” Lyra said. “We've been trying to figure things out for the past hour, but we're just being told to stay put.”

'Past hour'? What time is it?

Twilight tried to spot the sun's position outside her window, but was swiftly reminded by the icy layer outside the glass that her attempt would be in vain. Instead, the bookworm squeezed past Lyra through the doorway and checked the grandfather clock in the suite's common room. The hands on the clock hadn't reached a half hour past seven.

“You guys have been awake since before seven?” Twilight asked, rubbing her eyes at the mere thought of getting up so early.

“Well, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration... but only slightly! Still, everypony's out in the foyer trying to make sense of things. It's all a mess! I figured I should come get you since you would probably know what's going on. Come on, let's find the others.”

The two made their way out of the quiet suite and into the corridor. A number of fellow students sat about, idle, their ears and eyes shifting at every sight and sound nearby as if in eager expectation. Bags, big and small, saddlebags and suitcases, were strewn throughout the span of the hall and beyond, not a single one standing more than a few paces from its owner.

Twilight's brain eased into awakening as the mare tried to summon an explanation for at least the ice. It was a strange phenomena; ice was not an uncommon form of precipitation, she knew, but that it would freeze over the windows and in such thick layers seemed unbelievable. Whatever it was, the fact that a terrible storm had possibly come – and already gone – made Twilight wonder about Princess Luna's words the night before. If the headmare's goal had been to stop an oncoming storm, then she obviously had failed.

That is, unless the worst was yet to come.

But if that were so, where's Luna? Either she's off figuring things out... or maybe she's the one-

The mare stopped dead in her tracks. Twilight wasn't sure she even wanted to finish her train of thought. She shied from the recollections of Nightmare Moon as they swarmed her head. She labeled every such involuntary accusation that her mind threw out as 'silly' or 'unfounded'. More and more, however, pieces seemed to fit more snugly together.

Except for that Taraxippus ghost, Luna's always been absent in times of disaster...

“Twilight?” Lyra interrupted her thoughts as she tried to keep up their pace. “Is everything all right?”

Grateful for the distraction, Twilight nodded.

“Yeah... I think so,” she muttered. “Just some... memories coming back to me.”

She continued to follow Lyra to the end of the corridor and into the entrance hall where a mass of students flooded the main floor. A number of them were shivering, their own collective body heat unable to conquer the overwhelming cold. Some had been wise enough to grab the covers off their own beds, and around such resourceful spirits a number gathered for just the touch of the warmth. While some chatted with teeth chattering, most just stood about with worry glimmering in their eyes.

Lyra tried to push her way into the herd, but the large saddlebags she carried made her horizontal span three times its usual length. Ponies she bumped into glared to communicate their irritation, but the mint-colored mare didn't seem to mind them one bit.

Twilight, however, grew uneasy with each and every glower.

“Lyra, why are you even carrying your bags around?” Twilight asked. “Didn't you say you were out here already?”

Her friend harrumphed. “Well of course I was! But I don't know if I trust the others with my things. I have some valuable items in these bags.”

She wiggled her bags side to side and nearly tipped over from the tremendous shift of weight.

Twilight sighed and headed into the crowd. “I saw where the others were; try and follow me.”

Twilight began leading the way. She felt more as though she were dragging an unwilling pet through a park as Lyra took every opportunity to try and stop to explain her unnecessarily large load to everypony along the way.

In time the two reached the Ponyville pack, who greeted the two with inquisitive stares.

“Hey guys,” Twilight asked nervously, hesitant in being met with such anxious eyes. What's, uh, what's going on?”

Each of the seven in the circle looked at one another silently.

“We were hopin' you'd tell us,” Vinyl muttered.

Twilight looked around the foyer, its windows completely frozen over and its air chilled just like the conditions in her own bedroom were.

“I have no idea what's going on; I just woke up.”

“Just woke up?” Quirky asked softly. “Lyra said you'd probably have been awake for a couple of hours now.”

Twilight examined the bunch, their weary eyes and limbs, and guessed that they hadn't been awake much longer than she had been. She glared at Lyra and wondered if she had, in fact, woken them all up herself bright and early.

“Do you know where all this ice could have come from, Twilight?” Starlight whispered. “I mean, I'm guessing there's a lot of snow, too, but we can't tell-”

“Starlight, why are you whispering?” Twilight interrupted, then raised her voice. “Why are you all whispering? Can't we just talk normally?”

The ponies in the circle looked at one another, dazed, and shrugged.

“We were being too loud for everypony else's liking just a minute ago,” Quirky remarked.

“Loud?” Twilight asked. “Why? Were you guys yelling or something?”

“There was maybe a teeny tiny bit of an argument,” Quirky answered in a snap. “Somepony thought it would be a good idea to try and coax some others into heading outside to see what was going on.”

“What? No pony else was thinking it!” Colgate exclaimed. “Excuse me for wanting to go and find some answers.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “So we don't actually know what's going on outside?”

“Well, we can't just go and figure it out,” Starlight explained. “The doors leading outside won't open, and all the windows are covered in ice, and in thick layers, too.”

“Have any of you tried to teleport outside?” Twilight asked.

“That's what I was saying!” Colgate remarked, frustration lighting her fiery tone. “The professors told everypony to just stay put, and that they'd handle the situation. No going outside, no leaving the halls, nothing. They're making this little storm out to be some major catastrophe.”

“That's why they'd rather we stick together,” Windchaser stated.

“Oh, that's funny, coming from the 'lone wolf' of the group,” Lyra suddenly stated. She muttered, “Don't think I forgot about your rejection last night, either...”

Windchaser looked away, red-faced, but Vinyl came to his defense, “Better a lone wolf than Miss Lone Dancer.”

Lyra drew in a breath in shock, during which Twilight swiftly guided the conversation elsewhere.

“You guys! We need to focus,” the bookworm barked. “Quit quarreling, all of you, and let's think of a plan. Now, I've heard you say that the instructors won't let anypony outside. Have they actually said anything about what going's going on outside?”

“Oddly enough, they haven't said much, if anything” Gallant told. “They were in here just a while ago keeping order, but suddenly they left, most likely to avoid all the chaos and questions. I was asking around to see if anypony knew where they had gone, but none seemed to know-”

All of a sudden, as his eyes brushed over the crowd, his face went pale. His mouth shut tightly and the dark blue color in his eyes disappeared. The others turned their heads and watched as a distinct individual, clad in bright, cold-weather armor and robes, parted the sea of students with only the intent look on her face. It was Prim Rose, her eyes set like those of a dragon hunting down a phoenix egg as she made her way toward the Ponyville group.

With one last stomp she entered the circle, and all were more than willing to step aside – though it was done in fear and not exactly courtesy.

“Gallant,” Prim Rose began in her usual emotionless tone, “I heard you were seeking information regarding the whereabouts of our professors. I believe that they are currently inside the main hall discussing a note they found on the headmare's door.”

Gallant, shaking, gave the best grin he could – though it turned into more of a wobbling simper at best – and quickly looked to Twilight.

“Should we try and see if we can speak with them?” he asked.

Twilight felt a gravity in her mind outweigh her quivering heart. “I want to get to the bottom of things. There might be some way that we can help.”

“Then I'll go with you,” said Gallant.

The others nodded one by one and spoke their agreement as they grabbed their bags and prepared to head out as well, ready to find some answers.

“I shall go as well,” Prim Rose declared.

At that moment, the group fell dead silent.

Starlight itched his neck and said, “On second thought, maybe I'll just stay here.”

“Yeah, I'm actually feeling kind of warm right in this spot, so I'm good,” Colgate added.

The others also started to change their minds, one by one, until only half were still sticking with their original choice. After all had spoken and eyes began to linger on the floor, Prim Rose turned and headed out, followed closely by Gallant – as though still pulled along by an invisible leash – and Twilight brought up the rear.

Even at the tail end of the trio, Twilight found the second trip through the crowd far less troubling. It made all the difference when no pony wanted to cross paths with the ever-intimidating red-and-white mare leading the way.

One thing hadn't changed, though: mutters followed where the group passed through.

“Are they allowed to leave?”

“Where do they think they're going?”

“Isn't that Prim Rose? I wonder what they're up to...”

The whispers burned like kindling fires as the three made their way to the glass hall. Twilight recalled Lyra's explanation that none were supposed to leave the bounds of the dormitory. Though discouraging as the murmuring seemed, Twilight felt there was no other way to speed up the process of getting to the bottom of things.

Prim Rose grabbed the doors with her magic grasp and threw the doors to the corridor wide open. The wood and metal clang echoed through the foyer, suddenly silencing all talk and drawing complete attention to the three. Twilight blushed, but didn't turn around to show it.

That was a little dramatic.

The panels frozen over with crystallic shards of ice made the glass hall feel more like a translucent freezer. The sight of the grounds outside were tremendously distorted, but the phenomenon seemed so surreal that it looked more like a piece of art than the remnants of a natural disaster. Still, unpleasant elements such as the crispy cold lingered, its touch more raw than the air back in the foyer. Twilight wrapped herself tightly in the blanket she carried. She glanced at Prim Rose and Gallant – neither of which had much on to fight the cold – and shivered for their sake.

Visible around the bend of the glacial tunnel were the professors standing in a circle, their voices resounding through the main hall. Though Twilight couldn't initially catch their word-for-word discussion, the heated tones and loads of inquiries indicated that a bewildering exchange was underway.

As the three drew close their instructors' eyes drifted over to them, especially over to Prim Rose. Though a number gasped at the sight of students approaching, most let out a sigh upon seeing the strong mare leading the troupe.

“Ah, Miss Rose! It's nice to have a reliable student nearby for safety measures,” Madame Lonsdaleite said. “Mister Gallant, Miss Sparkle, what brings you all here?”

“We were just wondering what was going on,” Twilight answered as she examined the hall. She quickly noted that every window was frozen over like in the dormitory, and a strange white glow hovered near the top floor. “I heard that Princess Luna disappeared. No pony seems to know where she is-”

“Wait a minute, 'Twilight Sparkle'?” inquired Instructor Gearheart as the earth pony pushed her way through the circle. “Isn't this the one you all were talking about getting a hold of for some kind of-?”

“A moment, Gearheart,” Bastion Yorsets stated, calming the restless aviator. “Twilight, to answer your question, we are not completely sure of what is happening. The reason we're gathered here is because your peers were assaulting us with questions, when in reality we don't have all the answers. Princess Luna is missing. We've all tried a number of spells to contact her, but something strange is happening and we cannot seem to find – or sense – where she is.”

Twilight felt her heart stumbling, unable to keep up its usual pace. She looked to Instructor Gearheart, whose expectant eyes were bouncing as a result of her shaking.

She asked, “Is that why you're trying to get a hold of me? I don't understand, what can I do that none of you can?”

Professor Yorsets replied, “We think something is affecting our magic, a special barrier of some sort. We've tried different methods of communication, different kinds of magic – everything – but we cannot seem to hear or reach Princess Luna.”

“A special barrier?” Gallant asked. “Do you mean-?”

“We're not sure where it came from,” Professor Yorsets stated. “Drawing any assumptions would be dangerous. All we do know is that Princess Luna is either out of our range of contact, or our magic ability is being hindered by this storm.”

“Out of range?” Twilight asked. “Do you not have any trace of Princess Luna's whereabouts?”

Professor Yorsets looked to the other professors, all of which nodded, and replied, “We have but one note. Follow me.”

He departed from his group of colleagues and led the three up the main hall staircase to the top floor. Awaiting them was the entrance to Princess Luna's chambers, but they looked far from their ordinary state. Massive bulks of ice stuck out from the cracks like needles as tendrils of frost wrapped along the massive doors.

Trapped within a chunk of ice wrapping the handles on the doors was a small piece of parchment.

“What's that?” Twilight asked, eyeing the notepaper.

Professor Yorsets lit his horn, which glowed a blue color like his coat, until a magnifying glass appeared. He hovered the instrument up to the object caught in the thick ice and motioned for the others to look.

“It seems to be a note from Princess Luna herself. We cannot remove it and observe it ourselves as none of our spells seem able to melt this ice.”

Twilight was the first to look, and as she examined the paper she read:

~Princess Luna

Twilight gasped. “The 'cause of the these storms'?”

“It's a most curious thing, indeed. None of us have been able to figure out what 'cause' she could mean,” Professor Yorsets stated. “Perhaps she means to be vague so as to not worry us, but even so, it concerns me as a caretaker of you, our students. In any case, Twilight, about that spell we may need you to try...”

As he went on to explain the rationale, Twilight felt a strange clicking at the back of her mind, as though it were fitting pieces together that even her immediate consciousness could not.

The dream... Luna was asking if anything was wrong. Wait a minute, there was a storm that came from the sea!

“Wait a minute!” Twilight exclaimed.

Professor Yorsets stuttered, then blinked. “W-What is?”

“This morning, I heard Princess Luna's voice,” Twilight said. “She was asking me if anything was wrong. Maybe that was some kind of message telling me that I specifically had to contact her.”

Gallant blew a raspberry. “Well, that seems rather selective, or egoistic on your-”

But Yorsets threw him a silencing glare, which immediately brought the hopeful knight's words to a stop.

Twilight, unaware of the remark, began summoning a spell for telepathic communication. She had only used it a couple of times before, though the attempts were with her assistant Spike, who had only ever stood a few feet away. As she closed her eyes and focused she began to see at the back of her eyelids a ball of energy floating in an environment that pieced out to become like the main hall. It was a strange feeling, having a part of her mind leave her body, but Twilight had no other choice but than to continue.

Every mind had its presence represented by a glowing light, each one bright and brilliant. Against the dark atmosphere of space they stood out tremendously, and Twilight only took a moment to recall how extending her telepathic reach worked. She hovered over to the middle of the foyer and looked down to see the cluster of professors on the main floor. Without further delay, Twilight directed her aim upward to slip through the ceiling and look out at the horizon as the walls seemed to have a block on her telepathic viewpoint.

But the second she got to the foyer's ceiling she felt a barrier, like glass, hinder her progress. She continued to try and push her mind past the hurdle, but the harder she drove, the more she felt like a bee trying to fly through a window panel. Twilight turned her focus to the stained glass window at the front of the hall, but the result was much the same.

Twilight retracted her spell and groaned as the slight pain from bumping her mind into the magic barriers set in.

“Did you see anything?” Professor Yorsets asked eagerly.

“No,” Twilight said, rubbing her head. “I don't think I could even reach outside of the building.”

“Ah, you have not been able to advance your skills with that enchantment yet,” Yorsets said with dismay. “I should have known, that particular spell is only taught to very special individuals. The advanced version, where you can explore beyond the physical barriers, is reserved for even fewer.”

“Would it be possible to go outside and try?” Twilight asked. “You know, where there aren't any of these physical barriers?”

Yorsets cast a sideways glance at one of the windows nearby, its glass coated in ice. The dim light that made its way through seemed far more gray than anything else, as though the clouds were falling to form fog and seep into the building.

“It's dangerous, and you certainly will not do so alone,” he replied with words strong as iron. “Perhaps the best plan of action, though, is to head outside for as long as we can.”

“I'm willing to try. How long do you think it could take to find Princess Luna?” Twilight asked.

Yorsets shook his head. “That depends on how close or how far away the headmare has traveled. You might be able to spot her if we head to the field to the south; it's relatively close by and offers a wide space for your mind to see. I may try again as well.” He looked over at Gallant and Prim Rose. “Very well. One of you inform the other instructors that Twilight and I are going to teleport to the field and then back in not more than a few minutes. The other one needs to stay here and wait for our return.”

The two knights nodded and looked each other – Gallant with greater reluctance – and Professor Yorsets began casting his teleportation spell.

“Brace yourself, Twilight,” he directed, “we don't know what's out there.”

In a flash the hall's atmosphere disappeared, and in its stead a brighter, colder place materialized from the ground up. Twilight felt her stomach churn form the speed and power of the spell, but she had teleported and practiced many times herself in order to avoid getting too queasy; after all, she wasn't fully accustomed to others casting it.

What made Twilight far more uncomfortable, though, was the sudden storm in which the two had been emerged. Thick bits of ice and snow fell together heavier than the biggest downpour Twilight had witnessed. It almost felt as though a waterfall of freezing particles were pouring down on the two, for within the first few seconds an extra inch of the layer of snow and ice had been added to the bank Twilight had already sunken into.

The field was hardly recognizable with the bleachers completely coated in white and the grass of the field not even visible beneath layers of white. Twilight could barely see a few feet away from herself, and aside from the white on top of and surrounding her, the only thing that really stood out was Professor Yorsets.

“Cast the spell!” he shouted, preparing one himself. “We won't have much time in these conditions!”

Twilight wondered if there was a spell that could help fight off the cold around them, but she let go of the thought and instead focused once more on the telepathic reach of her mind. Concentrating, she closed her eyes and let her mind focus reach up and out of her body as the plane went from white to black.

She looked as far as she could with her mind, but the horizon looked completely black. The only minds she could detect nearby were hers and the professor's. She looked off to the south where Professor Yorsets had said he would look, but nothing was out in that direction. She turned her focus off to the north, far out into the distance, all the way across the island. She turned to face to the west once, and suddenly spotted something at the cloud-level directly above the academy.

Is there somepony up there..?

She reached her spell up to the cloud level to check and see to whom the glowing ball of consciousness belonged. The closer she drew near, however, the more her head began to hurt. A low rumbling rang like a growl until Twilight felt her physical body trembling from the sound. She drew her spell to a stop and gasped for air as though she had been drowning.

“Twilight?” came Yorset's voice.

It sounded as though she were inside a bubble, and when Twilight opened her eyes she found that they were indeed within one. Its tint was a reddish color, and from its walls emanated a warmth that heated the inside of the sphere. The snow inside had already melted to reveal blades of grass, dry but dead, and the air made it felt as though spring had already come. The wind outside did not enter, and roared as though passing by a set of tightly-shut windows.

“Miss Sparkle?” Professor Yorsets asked. “Did you see any trace of Princess Luna?”

Twilight shook her head.

“I-I'm not sure what I saw,” she answered. “There was something over by the academy, floating up in the sky.”

Yorsets tried to look off in the direction of the buildings, but the thick mist and snowy downpour did not allow his eyesight to travel beyond the bounds of the practice field.

“Students aren't allowed to leave the grounds during an emergency like this, right?” Twilight asked.

Suddenly, a terrible crash sounded from the direction of the grounds. Twilight and Yorsets turned and watched as the intensifying snow only made the horizon whiter, covering up whatever activity was happening.

“That's no student,” Professor Yorsets uttered. “Come!”

He disabled the bubble of warmth he had created and dug his hoofs into the ground. He began plowing a trail back to the grounds with a magically-summoned giant shovel and pushed without a moment to lose.

“Shouldn't we just teleport back?” Twilight asked, shivering as the cold poured over her once again.

“Teleport possibly into the middle of danger?” Yorsets retorted. “I'm afraid we have no choice, Miss Sparkle. Let's be cautious and follow the trail back. Here.”

He cast another spell while holding the other, the sign of a true master of magic. Twilight felt the blankets she had draped over herself suddenly grow warm like the bubble they had been in. Its heat kept the makeshift garment dry even despite the heavy snow and ice that fell upon it.

Still, Twilight could not help but tremble at the thought of what they were approaching.

Next Chapter: Chapter 33 (Episode 9): Lost and Found Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 41 Minutes