Original Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1owRxOZYadnNa5cT89s3OPv4Z58rt9u4aUkOYMr7HBys/edit?usp=sharing

Baltimare was a medium-sized city at the eastern coast of Equestria. Despite its high population, the buildings were all rather small and consisted of two floors at maximum. Therefore, all houses were tightly packed together to save as much space as possible. As the keepers of harmony roamed through the streets, it made them feel like they were in the exact opposite of Ponyville. Noisy, bustling and crowded.

Everything about Baltimare clearly spoke out its specialization in transportation by ship. The harbor area was so huge, it made up a third of the whole city. There were countless smaller and bigger shipment companies and ponies could constantly be seen transporting goods from the harbor to the city and vice versa. Since the Griffon Empire lay just on the other side of the ocean, it also was just common to see a griffon walk or fly by every now and then.

“Land sakes! This place is like an ants nest! How are we ever gonna find anythin’ around here?” Applejack wondered.

“We just need to be methodical. Let’s just do it the same way we tried back then in the Crystal Empire: Divide the city into sectors and each one of us searches a part for information,” Twilight suggested.

“I would not recommend to ask around too much, though,” Crystal commented.

“Huh? How are we supposed to gather information if we don’t ask the ponies living here?” the purple mare asked with a confused expression.

“If your assumption is correct and we are dealing with multiple insane ponies, it is likely they are organized. If we start asking around, we might arouse their attention and alarm them. In order to truly find out more, we need to be subtle,” the reaper mare explained.

“Well that makes sense. But don’t you worry, my dear! I can be very subtle. Those crazed ponies won’t suspect a thing!” Rarity agreed.

“I do not doubt your skills, Rarity. The many years simply have taught me to be cautious. While I do know that insane ponies are very often incapable of thinking rationally, it is still suspicious we got our first clue that easily. We should not exclude the possibility that this could turn out to be a trap,” Crystal replied.

“Hm... you are right about that. Come to think of it, that idea should have crossed my mind sooner. Well you have a lot more experience in this, Crystal. What do you suggest we should do?” Twilight asked.

“Act unsuspicious. Just sit down somewhere and listen to conversations. Apprentice Fluttershy is currently in stealth training, so she should be able to give you some good advice,” the elder reaper mare spoke.

It did not require a lot of effort for any of the mares to understand why she delegated this task to her trainee. Even though Crystal Blossom was an elder reaper and therefore much more experienced, she wanted to create moments for the friends to be together. Fluttershy really did not exaggerate. For such an old reaper, Crystal Blossom truly was very caring.

Slowly, the presence of the light blue coated and white maned mare started to become strangely appealing to the keepers of harmony. She had a certain calmness about her that they only knew from elder reapers. The thought of having one around again for a longer period of time was nearly... nostalgic.

In fact, the more Twilight looked at Crystal Blossom, the more she felt like this mare reminded her of somepony else she used to know. She just wasn’t entirely sure who that would be. But that was not important at the moment either. Twilight needed to stay focused.

“Alright then. Fluttershy, would you-” the purple mare started, but became distracted by a magical sound.

A small cloud of smoke gathered in front of Twilight and turned into a scroll. At first, she expected it to be a letter from Princess Celestia. But she quickly came to realize that it did not carry the royal seal.

“Hang on,” Twilight requested, picking up the scroll by magic, unrolling it and starting to read.

“Twilight Sparkle,

What were you thinking to start an investigation on a murder?! Especially in your condition! First you completely disregard telling us about Spike’s death, then you make up some shady story regarding how you got your organ damage, and now this?! We need to have a serious talk, young lady!”

“Who’s writin’ to ya, Sugarcube?” Applejack wondered.

“Mom and Dad. It seems like Princess Celestia informed them about my investigation... They are not quite happy about it,” Twilight replied and kept on reading.

“We are your parents, Twilight! We are worried about you! What are we supposed to think when you act like this? It is one thing that you could not tell us about Spike in time because you were so depressed about his death. But why in Equestria has it to be your mentor who tells us about your dangerous activities? Please respond as soon as possible!

Signed, your parents.”

“Yep... she told them...” the purple mare finished.

After she rolled the scroll back together and stored it in one of her saddle bags by magic, Twilight made a fresh scroll, quill and traveling inkpot levitate in front of her face.

Dear Mom and Dad,

I’m sorry you had to learn it that way. I was afraid you would get mad at me. But please, you have to understand. I changed in the last few years. I saw a few pretty bad things and I’m not even allowed to talk about most of them to you. I’m aware how my actions look like, but I have no other option. I must do this, despite my organ damage. Please understand.

Your daughter, Twilight.

As soon as she finished the letter, she turned it into magical smoke and sent it on its way. She already knew that this reply would not be enough.

“I am sure they are just worried about you, darling,” Rarity commented.

“Yes, they are. But they do have a point... I’m not writing to them or seeing them very often. I can imagine what kind of a shock it must have been for them to hear what has happened to me... Anyway, back to topic. We better go some place where we are undisturbed,” Twilight spoke and started walking.

---

A week had passed by and another nighttime began in Baltimare. Compared to how busy the city was during the day, it was rather peaceful at night. Barely anypony was still outside. It seemed like Fluttershy was the only one walking through the dark back streets of the city.

So far, the investigation wasn’t going very well. Even though Fluttershy taught them all she knew about sneaking around and spying on ponies at great length, they just couldn’t get any useful information. This frustrated Twilight so much that Fluttershy volunteered to go out tonight for an extra round.

She hoped that the ponies they were looking for would rather use the dark hours to meet up than the daytime. But it seemed like Baltimare and Ponyville both had the complete inactivity of the citizens during the night in common.

After a while, Fluttershy decided to stop and sit down in the shadow of a sculpture. Her glance fell down to the heart pin on her cloak and slowly, she started sinking into memories again. Remembering the happy times she used to have had become her favorite thing to do when she was not busy with any tasks. She really missed her old life, free from any worries. Her old home in that peaceful cottage a bit secluded from Ponyville.

But mostly, she missed her beloved one. Life just wasn’t the same anymore without him. Even though three years had passed since his death, she still didn’t get used to the thought that she would never see him again. She didn’t want to either. The memories and lessons of Obsidian Shards were all that kept her going. At times, she thought that, if he would have never come into her life, she would not have made it.

Yet, all had changed. Now she was here in Baltimare, as a reaper, trying to help her friends chasing after something which none of them even knew what it actually was. Fluttershy started wondering if all of this made even any sense.

Suddenly, the yellow mare saw something in the corner of her eye. As she turned her head, she was looking directly at a gray figure. The same one she saw in Ponyville. Though she could not clearly say what it was. It was just too far away, but seemed to be about the size of a pony and looking directly at her. A moment later, the gray figure went behind a corner.

Fluttershy decided to get up again and followed the figure. But after she stepped around the corner, she had to realize it had vanished. She was about to leave when she heard hoof steps ahead of her. So she quickly hid herself in the darkness again.

After a few seconds, she spotted a mare coming from the left corner ahead, nervously looking around and then walking to the right, down another street.

This made Fluttershy suspicious. Why was she so nervous? Did she have anything to hide? The yellow mare decided that it might be worth it to follow.

She lifted up into the air and carefully landed on the roof of a nearby building. Trying to make as little noise as possible, she kept flying from building to building, making sure to constantly stay out of the mare’s range of sight. Finally, the mare reached a small warehouse close to the harbor, featuring no windows and thick stone walls.

The mare knocked four times on the only door of the warehouse. A few seconds later, the door opened by a narrow gap. Fluttershy could hear the mare whispering, but it was too quiet for her to understand. So she landed back on the ground behind the warehouse, hiding in its shadow.

The yellow mare went around the corner and came as close to the mare as she could get. Then, she carefully laid down to the ground and listened.

“So Cinnamon has not returned, yet?” a female voice asked.

“No... Gosh, that fool! I can’t believe she went off all by herself! She wasn’t even halfway done in her training! She still can’t control the blessing! And worst of all: She took her robe with her! What was she thinking?!” the mare Fluttershy had been following spoke in frustration.

“You know how impatient she was. Actually, I can understand her. After that damn alicorn tyrant Celestia sentenced her father to death, I wouldn’t have wanted to just sit around and wait for an order in her position either,” the other voice commented.

“Still, she was anything but ready for an assault mission! She doesn’t even know how to fight! What if she failed? What if she busted us? It hasn’t even been a month since we extended from Trottingham to here and we might already be in trouble!” the mare worried.

“Relax. Don’t worry. Even if she failed to kill Twilight Sparkle, nopony has any idea about us. We are too well hidden and too well organized. Just go by the plan. Soon, our time to rise will come anyway,” the other mare reinsured, causing the first one to sigh in relief.

“You are right... There’s nothing to be worried about. If Cinnamon died, then she did in honor of Nightmare Moon. If not, we will kill her anyway, since she didn’t follow the rules. But for now, I think it’s time you go home. You look tired,” she spoke.

“Yeah... it’s been a pretty long watch shift. Good night,” the other voice agreed.

Fluttershy could hear the door open and the clattering of two sets of hooves. Then the door closed and locked again while she heard one of the mares walking into the distance.

The yellow mare had heard enough. This was the evidence they had been looking for. She needed to inform her friends about this discovery immediately.

After she snuck back around the corner, Fluttershy lifted into the air and flew away from the warehouse in a large bow to prevent any chance to be discovered.

---

On the next morning, Twilight Sparkle and her friends met up behind a corner close to the warehouse Fluttershy had been observing.

“So this is the building?” the purple mare whispered while glancing around the corner.

A dark blue earth pony stallion was standing in front of the door, constantly looking around with a serious expression. He seemed to be guarding the building.

“Yes. The two mares last night said they had been planning the assault on you and that they came here from Trottingham not long ago,” Fluttershy confirmed.

“Well, now we know who’s responsible for that. But what are we gonna do next y'all?” Applejack wondered.

“I’m not sure... but I am very curious about what they are hiding in there,” Twilight commented.

“Perhaps I should walk up to that guard and let my charms do their magic. I might be able to convince him to let us enter,” Rarity suggested.

“The last thing we want right now is for them to know our faces. The moment we lose our anonymity is the moment our investigation will become a lot more difficult. I strongly suggest we should leave this instant,” Crystal spoke.

“We are so close to solving this! All answers are just in front of us! We can’t leave now!” Twilight disagreed.

“No, Twilight. She is right. If they spot us now, we can forget about ever getting in there. I think it would be better to just observe the warehouse for a few days and see if we can find out more from the outside,” Fluttershy recommended.

“That sounds reasonable. Don’t ‘cha worry, Twi. We’ll get ‘em eventually. We shouldn’t rush it now that we are that close,” Applejack agreed.

“Alright...” the purple mare spoke with a sigh. “I need to take my medicine anyway. Let’s go back and work out a plan.”

The group turned around and went back on the main street. But while they were walking, they came across a pink unicorn mare. She acted as if she was working for a shipment company, facing several wooden crates and making notes on a clipboard. But in point of fact, she was observing the group in the corner of her eye.

As soon as they went out of sight, the mare placed the clipboard aside and started sneaking away. Several minutes later, she arrived at the warehouse and went to the blue stallion.

“What are you doing here?! Are you crazy?! Get back on your position before anypony spots us!” the stallion protested.

“I saw something... a group of ponies, guarded by two reapers at once,” the mare started.

“That’s nothing new. We see that happen every once in a while,” the stallion commented.

“I know, but those weren’t ordinary ponies. One was a white unicorn mare with blue mane who had a strange nose and bite marks on her neck. The other was an orange earth pony mare wearing a cowboy hat who had a missing right front leg. And most importantly, they were lead by a purple unicorn mare,” the pink mare continued.

“Hang on... Are you saying that...” the blue stallion spoke.

“Yep. I’m pretty sure those were the ‘keepers of harmony’,” the mare finished.

“How in the name of Nightmare Moon can they be here?!” the stallion wondered in shock.

“That’s pretty obvious. Cinnamon failed. I knew that fool would cause us some trouble eventually,” the mare spoke in a frustrated tone.

“Damn... Alright. I guess we need to abandon Baltimare then. Inform the others. We need to get this done in less than half an hour,” the stallion ordered.

The pink mare instantly turned around and started running while he went inside the warehouse and locked the door.

“My lords, we have a problem,” he spoke.

---

The keepers of harmony had been observing the warehouse for three days now. No matter when Fluttershy and Crystal Blossom came, they never managed to see a pony around the building anymore. At first, they thought that this was just part of their routine. But now, they started getting suspicious. At midnight of the third day, the group decided it was worth the risk to approach.

It was Rarity who first went up to the door of the warehouse and knocked at it four times. She waited a moment, but nothing happened.

“Hellooo! Anypony home?” she called in a friendly tone.

Again, she got no response. As Rarity decided to knock again, she realized that the door wasn’t locked. She carefully opened it and glanced inside. Then, she turned around to the group.

“Um... Twilight... You may want to see this...” she spoke.

Twilight immediately ran over and opened the door.

“What?! No! No, no, no! It’s empty! Nopony is here! I was so close.... Shoot!” the purple mare started shouting.

“Calm down, darling! Somepony might still be around and watching us!” Rarity worried.

“Calm down? Calm down?! How am I supposed to calm down when the answer to all our questions just vanished! I knew we should have gone straight for it! I knew it!” Twilight kept shouting.

“I still stick to what I have said. Even though they got away, revealing ourselves would have been a very bad move,” Crystal commented while approaching the purple mare.

“But the fact that they are gone now means they might have noticed us anyway! I mean, they don’t just disappear like that for no reason! Especially when they just got started with whatever they are doing!” Twilight countered.

“Better safe than sorry, Sugarcube. Don’t ‘cha worry. This is bigger than we thought anyway. They came from Trottingham, remember? Ah am pretty sure that we can find something over there, too,” Applejack commented.

“She’s right, Twilight. Nothing is lost, yet. In fact, we even learned something from this: They are very careful and organized. We are dealing with a well prepared group here,” Fluttershy agreed.

“I... guess that’s true. Sorry I snapped like that. This all just means a lot to me. I really hoped to solve this mystery quickly,” Twilight apologized.

“It’s fine, darling. We fully understand. Don’t worry. You got our support, no matter what,” Rarity spoke.

“Thank you... Well... Seeing that there’s nothing else to do here anymore, I guess we should start heading to Trottingham tomorrow,” the purple mare commented.

“Sounds good to me. No reason to give up so soon! We’re just gettin’ started!” Applejack agreed.

Twilight glanced inside the warehouse once more to make sure they would not miss any clues, but it was entirely cleaned out. With a sigh, she finally closed the door again and started walking, followed by the rest of the group.