The search of Canterlot continued throughout the rest of the day and into the night, all for naught. Nopony had seen anything, and Celestia was nowhere to be found.

A sleepless night and a late sunrise over a cold, gray morning did not improve anypony's mood. The fruitless search continued, with increasingly lackluster energy. Meanwhile, the citizens became more and more restless: looting increased, there were several instances of street violence, and three squads of Guards had to be called in to stop a riot in the eastern district.

"It's looking worse by the minute," Twilight said, looking out the balcony of the Palace into the city beneath her. She had grown up in the capital, known it as her first home. Now it seemed to unfamiliar and alien to her, a frightening beast that threatened danger from all angles. For a horrible moment, Twilight wondered what would happen if this horrific nightmare spread to the rest of Equestria: what would happen if the entire country panicked all at once? The thought was even worse to her than the memory of Discord's first return and overtaking of Ponyville.

Behind her, Flash paced endlessly in a circle, muttering to himself. "I missed something..." he muttered, chewing his words and spitting them out as if they had a bad taste. "What? What was it? What was out of place?" He growled softly, rubbing his temples to soothe his pounding head. "Come on, Flash, think!"

Outside, a bell began to chime, sounding out twelve bells. It was noon: Princess Celestia had been missing for thirty-six hours. Unbidden, a statistic from his training in the Investigative Division flew into Flash's head: The likelihood of a kidnapping victim being found alive greatly diminishes after forty-eight hours...

He shook the thought out of his head. Or he would've, if the incessant clang of the bells hadn't driven it out already, aggravating his headache in the process. With a groan of pain, he massaged his forehead.

"Take a deep breath, Flash," instructed a voice. Phillip Finder was standing at the window, staring out at the city. "You're no help to anypony if you get frustrated."

Nodding, Flash took a breath and let it out slowly, forcing himself to calm down.

"What are your instincts telling you?" Phillip asked.

"That I missed something," Flash replied, continuing to pace.

"That means you probably did," Phillip stated, turning to face him. There was no emotion in his voice, no sign of disappointment; he was merely trying to guide Flash through his confusion. "Your subconscious mind is trying to tell you something. What sticks out the most?"

"Dirt Nap," Flash stated, continuing to pace, gritting his teeth at the memory of the undertaker's sneering face.

Phillip walked over and gently grabbed Flash's shoulders, stopping him in pace. "Close your eyes," he instructed him. Flash gave him a look of confusion, then slowly closed his eyes, taking a breath to settle himself down.

"Go over everything from your visit there in your mind," Phillip told him. "What was the first thing you saw?"

"The displays," Flash said, speaking slowly. In his mind, he was transported back to the funeral parlor; he could see, hear, smell and feel everything that, and he moved through the parlor at his own pace. "There's coffins everywhere. All of them are expensive-looking. I can smell the flowers."

"Is there anything that sticks out in your mind?" Phillip asked.

Flash paused, allowing the memories to sift before his eyes, the most pertinent details catching on the filters before his eyes. "The one big coffin on display. The one for Rosebud. Her funeral's today."

"Describe the coffin."

"It was large: almost twenty feet long, and four feet high," Flash said. "It was white, and carved with roses..."

A flash of clarity sparked in his mind and his eyes opened wide. They met Phillip's gray, and he knew that he had realized the same thing. "Stupid!" Flash burst out loud, smacking himself on the forehead.

"Excuse me?" Twilight said, her face a mixture of shock and offense: she clearly thought that he'd been talking to her.

"Not you, me!" Flash said, already hurrying out of their chambers, Phillip racing after him. They raced down the hallway towards the main meeting chamber, a bewildered Twilight close behind. What fools they'd been! If only they'd seen it sooner! They had to tell Captain Polaris right away!

As it turned out, Flash was going to see Captain Polaris much sooner than expected. As he turned a corner, he collided at top speed with another pony. There was a loud crashing of armor, a cry of "Oof!" and the shattering of ceramic, and the next thing that Flash knew, he was lying nose-to-nose on top of a surprised Captain Polaris in a decidedly suggestive position, both of them covered in cold coffee.

Attracted by the noise, other Guards and Twilight and her friends came bounding up to see what was going on. Rainbow Dash took one look at the two stallions and burst into hysterical laughter, rolling around in midair as Phillip helped Polaris and Flash up.

"You wanted to see me, Corporal?" Polaris said in an entirely unamused tone.

"Sir, I think I know where Celestia is!" Flash shouted through his frantic pants. Immediately, every head turned towards him, eyes wide with anticipation. "She's being hidden in a coffin that's being used in a funeral today!"

"How can you be sure?" Twilight asked.

"Twilight, remember Dirt Nap's funeral home?" Flash said. "You remember that big coffin?"

"Yeah," Twilight said.

"Think about it; a big coffin for a tiny, little old mare?" Phillip explained. "That coffin was big enough—"

"To put an alicorn in!" Twilight finished with Flash, her eyes widening.

"Good heavens! Princess Celestia's being hidden in a coffin?" a horrified Rarity cried out.

"B-b-but what if she's...if she's been already..." Fluttershy stammered out, the unspoken thought hanging in the air like a guillotine blade.

Immediately, Polaris was on the radio. "Attention, all units, we have a new lead! Be on the lookout for a hearse! Stop and search any hearses immediately!"

By the time he had finished, everypony else had already hurried out of the Palace.

Rainbow Dash flew over the streets of Canterlot, peering downward with her eagle sharp eyes. Twilight, Flash and Fluttershy beside her. Beneath her, she could see the rest of her friends, hurrying beneath her. A few citizens were now walking the streets, as well as some carriages.

Suddenly, she spotted her target: a small black hearse, being pulled by a fat brown pony in a dark suit and tall top hat. "Over there!" she shouted, pointing. Immediately, the group broke, chasing after the carriage. Rainbow Dash dived down towards the pony, who looked up too late to avoid her. With a crushing impact, she drove him into the ground, halting his progress.

"What? What is this?!" Dirt Nap protested from the ground, glaring around at the group in furious astonishment.

"What've you done with the Princess, you slimy rat?" Rainbow Dash snarled into her face.

"I don't know what—hey, leave that alone!" Dirt Nap protested, witnessing several of the Guards taking the coffin out of the hearse and setting it on the ground. Twilight ripped the top open.

Inside was White Rosebud, dressed in a light pink dress, her eyes closed and forelegs crossed as if in peaceful sleep. The group stared at the corpse in disbelief. Flash himself was frozen: had he been wrong? Had he just cost Princess Celestia her life by wasting time on this wild goose chase?

"Wait a minute," Twilight said. She placed her hoof inside the coffin, measuring the distance to the bottom. The problem was immediately obvious. "There's a false bottom!"

"Wait! You can't do that!" Dirt Nap shouted. Ignoring him, Twilight gently levitated the body out of the coffin and set it on the ground next to them. Then, reaching inside the coffin, she grabbed the false bottom and yanked it out. Everypony gasped at what lay inside.

Nothing. The hidden compartment, which really was large enough to hide an alicorn within, was empty. Peering into the secret cavern, Phillip reached inside with and extracted a hair. A long, pink hair.

Dirt Nap looked at the hair, then looked up at Rainbow Dash, who was still lying on top of him. With a smirk, he said, "I want a lawyer."

Celestia opened her eyes slowly. She was lying on a metal table in a cold, dark room. She tried to get up, but her limbs were strapped down. She tried to use her magic, only to cry out in pain as her magic was forced back into her by a powerful restraint ring. Panting, she looked around, trying to see into the suffocating darkness. "Is anypony out there?" she called. "What's going on? What am I doing here?"

"Doing?" a voice like rattling bones answered from her left. "You're doing what any sane pony in your appalling conditions would do." A cloaked pony moved into view next to her, bending over her prone body. "You're going insane."

Celestia swallowed, ordering herself to remain calm. This was nothing she couldn't handle. "Who are you?"

"My name is Doctor Nevermore," the cloaked pony said, his face indistinguishable from beneath the hood. "And you are part of my experiment."

"Trying to kill me for an experiment?" Celestia said, wincing as her injury flared with pain.

"Not kill you," Nevermore explained, moving away from Celestia, although his voice still carried as though he was standing right next to her. "Simply create a cloud of fear over Equestria. You should see the result: ponies panicking, cowering in their homes or giving in to their basest desires." He sniffed deeply, as if recalling the scent of a fine wine. "Delicious. But merely hors d'oeuvres." He turned back towards Celestia, now holding a large syringe filled with a green liquid. "No, the real hypothesis if you, Your Highness. What makes you...afraid."

There was no way to avoid it, no way to fight back. Before Celestia could do more than cry out in protest, Nevermore plunged the syringe into Celestia's foreleg, injecting the liquid into her veins.

Immediately, she felt the effects. Her heart seemed to stop for a moment, her breath freezing in her lungs, then her pulse skyrocketed as terror took hold. The darkness seemed to close in, crushing her helpless body. As he leaned over her, Nevermore allowed his hood to fall back slightly, revealing his face.

If Celestia had been in her rational mind, she would have recognized the face as a mask, a costume. But she was not in her rational mind, and the sight was terrifying to her eyes. The face beneath the hood was that of a corpse, its rotting flesh yellow-green, face frozen in an expression of horrible agony. Its shriveled eye sockets were empty and the toothless mouth was frozen in a silent scream. Most horrific of all, blood was smeared across the corpse's face, trickles leading from it's forehead, eyes and mouth as if the blood had replaced the sweat and tears.

The corpse leaned closer to Celestia, and she could feel, smell the blood dripping off it's face and onto her. "Now, Princess," Nevermore whispered. "Let's discuss your childhood."

Princess Celestia did the only thing that she could do.

She screamed.

Author's Notes:

Remember this guy? If you do, then you know this can't be good.