The following morning, Whiplash was initially only vaguely aware of a lot of hoof steps moving about. He tossed over to his side, and groaned in annoyance. He became steadily more aware of ponies voices about, muttering in hushed tones to one another, and all in all disrupting his peaceful rest. Finally, Whiplash snapped his eyes open, and looked around. It was a sunny morning, but something seemed... off. The ponies seemed to be more than a little on edge. He could hear an authoritative, commanding voice echoing through the streets, likely amplified.

Deciding he needed to work the stiffness out of his joints, for the reason that he still didn't have a proper bed to sleep in, and grass wasn't exactly the perfect sub, Whiplash pushed himself to his hooves. A few ponies cast him glances, some with worried expressions, while others wore prominently more stern looks. Something was up, and his natural paranoia was nagging at him that it wasn't going to end well.

Following the echoes, Whiplash wandered up towards town hall, still getting glances from other ponies. He payed them no mind, however, and continued on to the town hall. It was only a short while before he was close enough to listen clearly.

“...To find them. Nopony worry, they will be found. I assure you.” There were a few disappointed murmurs, but the echoing voice stopped. Thinking back on it, Whiplash recalled that the voice belonged to the mayor. He kept walking and was soon at the plaza around town square. Ponies were dispersing, many of them looking a little unnerved. Whiplash scanned the crowds, looking for a familiar face. He soon found Twilight's up on the platform where the mayor was, and the two were having a chat. There was also a white Unicorn with a stylish purple mane, whose features demonstrated a look of worry and anxiety.

“...But I've never heard of so many ponies just up and vanishing like that.” Twilight said as Whiplash came closer. Her voice was filled with confusion.

“I feared as such...” The mayor said, looking distraught.

“Please, just find her. I don't care what you have to do!” The white unicorn pleaded, desperation and concern readily all over her voice.

“Please, Rarity. We'll find her, and the friends who went missing with her.” Twilight assured, though her words didn't seem to convince Rarity. Rarity sighed, and walked off the platform, passing by Whiplash without a second glance. Whiplash slowly approached the steps that led up to the stand. The mayor noticed him first.

“Oh, do you have any leads, sir?” she asked. Whiplash shook his head and then responded.

“Actually, I totally missed it. What's going on?” He asked. The mayor looked to Twilight, then back to Whiplash.

“I'm sorry, but I need to organize the search. Twilight, could yo give our friend here the gist?” The Mayor asked.

“Of course.” Twilight said. The mayor nodded, and trotted inside. Twilight turned back to Whiplash. Before she could speak, however, Whiplash held up a hoof.

“Wait. Before you start talking, I just wanted to apologize about how I acted last time.” Whiplash said, lowering his hoof back to the ground. “I just... there are some bad memories associated with my cutie mark, is all.” He admitted. Twilight stared at Whiplash for several moments, a calculating look in her eyes. Eventually, her expression softened.

“Apology accepted. Now then...”Twilight cleared her throat and continued. “Earlier today, a resident came forward declaring that all of the young ones present at a party the night before seemed to have vanished, and the house was in disarray. She never sent them home, as it was a sleepover, and nopony else has seen the ponies since last night.” Twilight explained.

“Huh... well, I'll keep my eyes peeled.” Whiplash said. Twilight smiled, nodded, and trotted inside town hall after the Mayor. Whiplash turned tail, and trotted into town. No particular goals struck his fancy, so he simply decided to go back to his tree. The sun was drifting higher into the sky, turning the early morning glow to the more prolonged lighting of midday. Birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and all seemed to be at ease, save for the missing foals, which Whiplash wasn't immediately concerned about. Painful memories were starting to disperse, and he was actually beginning to feel safe. He paused to sniff at the air.

WHUMP! Something bumped hard into his back-end, knocking him flat on his face. His mood now officially ruined, he turned glaring eyes behind him, but saw nothing. Just little hoof prints that stopped about a foot behind him. Whiplash forced himself to his feet, and looked around for whatever rascal had just knocked him down, but was sourly disappointed when he found no sign of anypony like that.

With a sigh, Whiplash was about to turn away, and continue walking, when he noticed something that at first made him think he had lost it. New hoof prints were starting to form, forming the unmistakable pattern of trotting as the prints appeared further and further away. OK, this was officially weird, Whiplash decided. He waited, and watched. The prints slowly made their way into a nearby alley. Curious, Whiplash followed after. He didn't see anything, save for a large collection of these prints, varying in size. And more were forming.

“Hello?” Whiplash asked, figuring he might as well try. He got no response, at least, none that were verbal. Instead, the prints made a b-line for him, approaching very quickly. He stood still, and felt the identifiable warmth and presence of other being sin close proximity. Kneeling down slightly, he looked to the different pairs of prints. His chin hit something solid and pointy, and he recoiled slightly, looking to see what he'd hit. Just empty air. Or so it appeared. He slowly reached a hoof out, and felt around above the prints.

His hoof softly connected with what felt like another ponies head, save for the fact it was smaller, and felt more tender. “I can't see you.” he murmured. The 'head' seemed to respond, and he felt what he only assumed was a jaw moving. “Nor can I hear you.” He affirmed. The head against his hoof seemed to droop a little. “Are you part of the group that went missing last night?” Whiplash asked. The head in his hoof tilted up and down. A nod.

“OK... If you can stay put, I can bring some parchment and quills, and you can tell me about what happened.” Whiplash said, putting on a smile. The head nodded vigorously, jaw moving again. Whiplash nodded. “Alright, stay here. I'll be back.” Whip lash carefully patted the top of the head, and then stood, walking form the alley. He quickly brainstormed; No bits, so he couldn't buy the parchment, and he didn't own any. What options did that leave him with?

“Twilight.” He said the name simply. He only knew one pony in town, and she, from what he'd seen, definitely had a lot of spare parchment lying around her library-tee-house. He started in the direction of where he had last seen her. The town hall.

<><><><><>

OK, that hadn't gone as planned, Whiplash decided. In the time he'd been walking to Town hall, Twilight had run off to gather her friends to look over the town for the missing Fillies. Whiplash didn't reveal that he'd found them, as his paranoid side was telling him to save that bit of information until they were actually visible. No, not visible, Perceivable. They weren’t invisible, it was the other ponies who could no longer take in their image. He'd never heard of magic like that, but then again, living over half of ones life with no education did have side-effects of being under-informed.

So, now Whiplash needed to basically run back and forth all over town, trying to find Twilight. By the time he found her, he was out of breath. This was taking a lot longer then he'd been wanting. Twilight was gathered with five other ponies, whom each had a different expression on their face. Rarity was present, her face unchanged from their prior meeting. The other four ponies, in order form left to right were a Yellow Pegasus with a curly pink mane, and had a timid expression on her face. Her cutie mark was a trio of butterflies.

There was also a pink pony was a somewhat darker shaded mane, and a trio of balloons for a cutie mark. Then an orange pony with a yellow mane, wearing a western-style hat. Then there was a cyan Pegasus with a prismatic, many colored mane that resembled a rainbow. Whiplash stood back a short distance while twilight gave instructions. “Fluttershy, try and see if you can get a few of your critters to help us search.”

“Uh, ok.” The yellow Pegasus whispered, barely audible.

“Rainbow Dash, I need you to keep an eye open from the air.” Twilight instructed.

“Easy. You got it.” The prismatic pony replied.

“Applejack, scour things from the ground with Rarity. Rainbow dash will let you know if theirs something to take note of.” Twilight said.

“Ya got it, Twi.” The orange mare replied.

'Pinkie pie, I need you to try and find some high ground use use some binoculars to keep an eye out.” Twilight said.

“okie dokie lokie!” The pink pony replied.

“Ok, everypony. Fan out. Let's find those fillies!” Twilight said, the others nodding swiftly, before darting off to do their separate jobs. Twilight turned around, and Spotted Whiplash.

“Now that you've got a free moment, I need some parchment, and a quill, if you can spare some” Whiplash said.

“Uh, for what?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Is it overly important? I just want to get some things written down.” Whiplash replied, trying to speed things up.

“Um... OK, how much do you need?” Twilight finally asked, opening the saddlebags she was wearing with her magic,

“A single quill, inkwell, and at least 4 sheets of parchment.” Whiplash listed off quickly. Twilight noticed his haste, but complied. Four medium-sized sheets of parchment drifted out of her saddlebags, surrounded in her magical aura, followed by a single inkwell and quill.

“Here you go.” Twilight said. Whiplash grabbed the objects with his own magic.

“Thank you.” Whiplash said, before turning and moving at a gallop back to the alley.

<><><><><>

It took him a while to get his bearings straight. But soon, he returned to the alley. Whiplash took a moment to catch his breath. “OK, I'm back.” he said between breaths. Once more, the familiar presence came back, surrounding him. Good, they had stayed. He pulled up a nearby empty box with his magic, and set it down, placing a sheet of parchment and the quill and inkwell on top. He held back the rest of the sheets above his head. “Ok, first, I need a list of names. Whoever I spoke to last, if they are still here, go ahead and jot down the names of everypony here.” Whiplash explained.

Some prints approached the box, and he released his hold on the quill. After a moment, the quill lifted into the air, flipped around a bit, and then began to scribble away at the parchment, pausing occasionally. Eventually, there was a list of twelve different names. “Alright, now, I need to know exactly what happened. Assuming you know, that is.” Whiplash put on a reassuring smile. The quill was picked back up.

“Hold on. I need to get everyponys view.” It spelled out. Whiplash nodded and patiently waited. A few minutes later, the quill resumed writing.

“Most of us were asleep. Sweetie belle says she was awake. She says she felt like she was underwater for a moment. That's all we know.” The words slowly appeared on the parchment. Whiplash nodded.

“Whatever the case, something happened that's made you all completely imperceptible to other ponies, save for physical contact.” Whiplash explained.

“How do we fix it?” The quill spelled.

“I don't know how to fix it, exactly. I'm not capable of making you visible, but I can get the message across that you are all OK.” Whiplash brought the next two sheets up, and ripped them each into six equal strips. He hovered them around himself.

“Alright, everypony get a single strip of parchment. Write down a message, something short that will let your families know your safe.” Whiplash said. For every sheet that was tugged on, he released his magic hold on it. He watched as one by one, the individual strips were brought to the box, and had short messages scribbled on them.

On the parchment on the box, a question was scribbled. “Can we go with you?”

“That might not be wise until we can figure out how to restore you.” Whiplash regretfully said after a moment. “they may think you’ve become ghosts or something like that, and that would cause a panic. Better to try and keep a low profile.” Whiplash advised.

“We can't just sit here.” Was scribbled on the last bit of remaining space on that side of the parchment. Whiplash flipped it over.

“No, you shouldn't stay still. But stay close to here. And stay together. You can all see each other, right?” Whiplash asked, trying to make sure his assumption was correct.

“Yes” Was scribbled on the note.

“Well, then, stick together. Stay close to this area, and keep a low profile. Ration whatever food you find.” Whiplash said. “I'll check up as often as I can. But if anypony finds out that I know where you are, I could wind up in a lot of trouble, so I'm going to have to keep this quiet, which also means my visits might not be very frequent.” Whiplash looked around, trying to find a good indicator.

“Whenever the sun is just above that roof over there, where it is now, assemble here. If I don't show up for an hour, resume normal activity. Otherwise, I'll be here to give you an update, and get an update from you” Whiplash said.

“Promise you'll stick with this?” Was scribbled on the parchment. Whiplash hesitated, remembering the last time he'd made a promise. It hadn't ended well at all. However, he needed to keep their spirits high.

“I promise.” He finally said. He felt something wrap around him, and he figured out he was being hugged. With a warm smile, he returned it with a single hoof.

“Stay safe, now. I need to deliver your messages.” He said. The weight left his neck, and he stood tall. Turning, he walked back out into the streets, and looked at the twelve different messages he needed to deliver.

“I've got this.” He muttered to himself, as he examined the first message.

It read:

Rarity,

Try not to worry too much. I'm OK, but I may be a bit delayed in coming home. Luckily, somepony is looking out for me. Ill be home as soon as I possibly can.

-Sweetie belle.

Whiplash gave his tail a flick. “Yeah, I got this... I can do this. I won't mess this up.” He shook himself a bit, and started walking.