S-So you’re the pony that Princess Celestia mentioned?” Scarlet asked, wincing when the skin on the pony’s vacant eye flapped shut.

“The one and only,” she replied. Her voice had a unique, hardy grit to it. Unlike the other alicorns back in Equestria, her voice didn’t carry the steady demeanor of a Princess along with it. The tone felt prepped, ready to burst with energy despite her terrible condition. The chains rattled as the mare shifted against the hard ground.

Scarlet’s hooves warmed up. The ground was getting hotter, but not uncomfortably so. She turned her eye back to cyclops. “I… I never expected you to be an alicorn. It’s a shock.”

She responded with a short chuckle, spitting out of the open window leading to the outer layer of the mountain. Her horn continuously swirled about with frightening arcane strength. “Glad to surprise you, but did you honestly expect anypony else to survive out here? It’s a mess.”

The grey mare felt her body ease up from the tension of their encounter. She rested her haunches on the ground, making herself as comfortable as she could be. “After what I’ve been through in the last week and then some, I honestly didn’t know what to expect.”

“Heh. What did you have to deal with?” Gemini’s voice eagerly questioned the filly’s adventure.

Scarlet tapped her hoof like a counter. “A cockatrice, a large pack of timberwolves, and then the Plains of Woe,” she paused, remembering the fresh, cold smile of the stallion she met just an hour ago, “and that strange pony.”

“Heh, yeah. I managed to get to Ignis just fine, no scratches whatsoever,” Gemini continued, ignoring Scarlet’s skeptical look. “Strange pony? Whaddya mean?”

“Well, he was creepy to be around. He… He smiled too hard. Told me he murdered a bunch of ponies back in Equestria, so I ran as far away as I could. I didn’t want to be anywhere near him.”

Gemini took a moment to let her claims sink in. She smirked, exploding into a fit of laughter that caused her body to twitch. The meat on her open wound fidgeted before another piece fell out.

“Son of a bitch!” She flinched between gasps of air. “Yeah, I know who you’re talking about. Relax, he’s harmless,” her magic flared to life again, circling around the wound, mending it.

“How,” the detective nervously started, “How are you doing that so consistently? Doesn’t it hurt?”

“It’s head-splitting,” she replied. “Alicorns have bountiful magic. The sisters can move stars and planets, right?” Her mane lit up for a moment, burning in a similar fashion to the colt in the tunnels. “In any case, I’m pretty bad at medicinal spells. Time and aging spells are totally up my alley though.”

“Time spells? You’re-”

Gemini gave Scarlet a toothy grin, “Just reversing the damage. It doesn’t hold long, but it helps ease the pain, and I can’t get the damn thing to revert to the moment before I got the scar. It’s bullshit.”

Scarlet shuddered. Gemini’s voice just oozed with confidence, reminding her of a specific unicorn several thousand feet below. “I-If you don’t mind, how did it… you know…?”

Gemini followed the red maned mare’s hoof to her exposed meat. “Oh, that’s easy. First things first though, you’re from Canterlot, right?”

“…I am? Why?” she raised an eyebrow.

“Got any food?”

Scarlet pulled her hat back, letting it fall to her neck. “Sorry Gemini,” she reached for the water she had been carrying, hearing the fluid swish around in the half empty container. “I have a bit of water,” she reached in her coat, “and some nuts here, but that’s everything.”

A deep red aura gripped at the water and nuts, hurling them straight at Gemini. Scarlet’s eyes widened as the nuts and water disappeared down her throat.

“That… was all I had left,” Scarlet mumbled, catching the empty water bottle tossed back to her. Gemini gave a greedy swallow and sigh of relief as the food quickly moved through her system. Her mane and body quivered, gaining a stronger aura for a brief moment before fading back to the pale reds and orange.

“You’re fine. There’s water near the entrance of Ignis,” Gemini noted. “Strange though. Normally they come with a lot more than just a hoof’s worth of food. It’s complete shit to just live off the magically grown fruits that grow at the base of the mountain.”

Scarlet removed the band holding her mane together, letting her hair fall back into its natural pattern after a quick shake. She took a breath before storing her bottle, and gave the alicorn a curious look. “What do you mean by that?”

“Hmm?” Gemini’s head turned from staring out the window expectantly.

“I mean, I came from Canterlot, but,” she looked out the window, “were you expecting somepony?”

“Soon yeah, if you’re not that pony,” Gemini commented. “Celestia always sends somepony every now and then with a ‘care package.’”

Scarlet cringed at her spiteful tone.

“I just expected you to be that pony. Guess not, huh?”

“Sorry Gemini,” Scarlet looked down.

“Don’t sweat it. Besides,” her horn pulsed as another tremor shook their foundation. “That would explain the little bitch down below.”

“Huh?”

“Oh it’s nothing big,” Gemini waved a hoof at her. “An old friend decided to visit, and I’m not exactly the happiest mare now that she’s here. It’s fine though,” her horn gleamed, “As far as I’m concerned, her tight little ass is considered kicked.”

The young pony waved over at the burning alicorn. “Sh-She’s… Her name is Jessica. She’s a friend of mine. She helped me across the plains.”

“Yeah I gotcha,” Gemini snorted, her mind in another realm, “Just thought I’d lay out the welcome mat.”

Scarlet hesitated, tracing into the ground with a hoof. “How do you know Jessica?”

Gemini’s eyes shut in concentration. Her mane burned brighter. “We go back.”

“Go back? But I’ve never even heard of you. You’re an alicorn,” she said. “Celestia just barely mentioned you less than a month ago.”

“I like to keep a low profile. Anyways,” her cracked horn calmed down after another moment of channeling, “I’ve gotta repay ya for the snacks. Let’s switch gears for a sec.”

‘Put that on the checklist,’ Scarlet agreed to Gemini’s request. “I suppose. Anyways, you never answered me about your… um, wound. Or better yet, how an alicorn has slipped under the radar for, at the very least, my entire life.”

“I’ve been incognito for quite some time.” She looked down at her rotten flank. “Anyways, I got this baby a long time ago, right after my time in Equestria.”

“That’s an awfully gentle way of describing it,” Scarlet scratched her head. Clearing her throat, she continued, “What part of Equestria?”

“Where else but Canterlot? I doubt the Princesses would allow an alicorn to freely run amok in Equestria. Unless things have changed?”

“I’m… not quite sure how to answer that,” Scarlet slowly shrugged.

“You’re one of them police types,” the large mare’s mane lit up. “Alright, lesee. My name’s Gemini, and I lived in Northern Canterlot a long, long time ago. I was actually affiliated with the royal families back then, too.”

Scarlet pulled out her notepad and started scribbling the information down. Gemini watched the busy mare with studious eyes.

“My turn?”

The detective quizzically perked her head, looking the alicorn in the eye.

“To ask a question. Eyes for an eye, right?”

Scarlet shuddered at the phrase. “S-Sure.”

“You’re not related to the packages Celestia sends. The only other ponies that show up here are exiled ponies and Equestrian convict punks who got away from the cops. Anyways, you’re neither of those things. That means you’re here for another reason. So what’s your story?”

A pencil flew across the paper, Scarlet kept eye contact and cleared her throat. “I-I’m Scarlet. Scarlet Trace. Celestia suggested that Jessica and I come here to find some answers to our case.”

“Case? You’re a detective?”

Scarlet took offense to her surprised tone of voice, but she quickly put it behind her. “Yes. We’re trying to solve a mystery about a missing pony from Ponyville, as well as what link it might have to a murder of a stallion in Canterlot that happened recently.”

“And she sent you to me,” her voice replied, unamused. “Well I don’t know much about anything from Ponyville that isn’t in the papers.” Gemini’s horn flickered, and from her back came a rolled up newspaper that had far outworn its use. “I get a few of these bad boys once every three to four months. The packages usually come with major papers and their news. If there’s a case about a pony from Ponyville, then you’ve come to the wrong mare.”

“Damn,” Scarlet whispered.

“However,” Gemini unrolled the paper, “This one mentioned a strange death in Canterlot recently. Some poor sap called Conroy Justis. That your stallion?”

Scarlet flinched at how casually the alicorn mentioned the case. The aged pony immediately took notice of the mare’s reaction to her words.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. Was he special to you?”

“He was my father.”

“…Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine,” Scarlet looked at her hooves, “You just didn’t know.”

“Anyways, if you’re helping out on this little number, I might be able to help. Hell, I can kill two birds with one stone like this.”

“Y-You can?” Scarlet tilted her head.

“You asked earlier how I got this shitty thing on my ass,” Gemini motioned to the bleeding flesh. “I had my own suspicions after reading about this in the papers.”

“How are they at all related?”

“Well, if I’m on the mark,” she gave another cheeky smile, “and I usually am, then I might be able to explain a little bit of what happened to this poor little colt.”

Scarlet’s eyes turned into saucers. “I-If you can, if it’s not any trouble,” she stammered, “please, do.”

“No problem,” Gemini started to chuckle. It quickly turned into a wince as another part of her plopped to the floor. She quickly repaired it and looked back at her eager company. “It’s just an educated guess, so don’t expect it to be completely accurate.” Her weak chuckle turned into an excited laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“Sorry, it’s just that I get pretty hyped when somepony comes by to do this. Not very many of the cons really care for talking after I get done with them, and most of the colts and mares that come with the packages don’t bother to stick around. One or two at best.” Gemini tapped her hoof against her chin. “Been awhile now that I think about it. Anyways, before I begin, can I ask you one last question?”

“Whatever it takes,” Scarlet gulped.

“Do you know what Scars are?”

She looked back at Gemini, utterly confused. “Like the thing on your flank?”

“No. Well, yes. I mean… maybe? It’s weird,” Gemini paused, gathering the words to help her explain. “It’s a title, a term. Kinda like… uhh,” if she had fingers, Gemini would be snapping them vigorously, “Oh, a name!”

Scarlet pondered the question for a moment, searching through her mental archives for any mention of ‘Scars’ back at the Agency. “Not that I know of.”

Gemini’s ears folded back in disappointment. “God dammit. Celestia still doesn’t buy it.”

“…What?”

“Well, if she sent you here now, then maybe she’s finally gonna give me the chance I deserve,” she grinned.

“What?”

Waves of flames devoured the room in a mighty inferno that swirled. A small orange bubble was visible within the ignited maelstrom, being tossed about like a foal’s plaything. The black mare within the shield remained still within the vortex, her world dangling and twirling in every direction.

Her magic exploded from the tip of her horn, sending out waves of frenzied orange bolts that discharged the fiery attack. The storm fizzled into the air, leaving the room covered in thick smog. Another flicker of her strength, and the smoke from the fire immediately vanished, leaving Jessica Scrawl posed in the center of the room.

The mysterious creature retreated to the safety of the shadows, its vision locked on the mare in the spotlight.

“Over here, hot stuff.”

The entity jerked, swinging its flowing form around to meet face to face with a pulsating, black horn. A spell fired directly from her tool, ripping into the entity with enough force to send it twirling about in the air in recoil. It let a shrill sound out of its body, as though in pain.

Jessica cleared her throat and sneaked her way back to the center of the room. The other form of her raised her hoof, giving the original a high hoof before vanishing in a puff of smoke. On the floor, replacing the cloned mare, was a little doll made exactly in her likeness.

The black unicorn lifted the doll with her magic and held it atop her head. “One of my cutest spells. It never gets old.”

“Cute is all I can say about it,” a voice loomed as the shadow crept back into view. Its form bunched together in the air as it gathered power for another spell. Jessica immediately formed another safety bubble, waiting for the next attack.

She gasped as interference in her horn caused the shield to pop. A ringing sound flooded her ears as a blinding magic swallowed the witch whole.

A high pitched scream ripped through the hardened, rock walls of the cavern surrounding her. Her voice scraped against her throat like sandpaper, feeling a surge of pain rocket through her body in vicious waves. A burning hot aura engulfed her body, surrounding a gentle barrier of rogue magic that she had been resisting for what felt like eons. The strange magic pricked at her body with painful, malevolent stabs, manifesting into open wounds on her body.

The pony gasped for breath, letting out another destructive yell. Her barrier gripped around her body as tightly as it could, doing its best to combat whatever curse she was under. Beneath the soul shredding agony, her mind struggled to come to terms with exactly what was happening to her. With no experience in the matter, and no idea of how to respond to the incredible pain building up in her haunches, she clenched her eyes and teeth together.

She expected death, and stubbornly deciding to resist it until she could scream no longer.

The enigmatic spell shifted focus, all of its attention drawn to her familiar cutie mark. A large focus of energy gathered against the symbol of a brilliant sun against a cloudless sky. The pony felt her lungs drain as another shriek escaped through her teeth.

It was as quick as a bolt of lightning. Her body ripped itself to pieces, blood gushing onto the hard floor. She refused to open her eyes, to acknowledge the feeling of her body being torn apart. Tears escaped through her pinched eyelids as a soothing numbness took over.

Death had come, and she embraced it with a sigh of relief.

Jessica’s eyes flashed open, her form sweating and trembling from the vision. Her body ached and groaned under her own weight, her strength completely drained from her ethereal experience. She glanced around her surroundings, she had been returned to the battlegrounds underneath Ignis.

“I,” she felt the sweat drenching her forelock, “don’t understand. I just… don’t.”

She fell to her knees, fatigue sucking her will to continue from her body. Jessica’s head shot up, spotting movement in the distance. The essence was still lingering, waiting for her to respond to her experience, she assumed.

“You’re a stubborn one. It’d be impressive if you weren’t so disgusting to look at.”

The scribe growled at the insult, pulling herself shakily back on her hooves. Her horn pulsed, whisking magic around her body. The wound atop her head sealed itself gently, and the numerous bruises, burns, and cuts she had accrued thus far from the battle disappeared without a trace.

She gasped, feeling her horn crackle at the excess magic she just released from the spell.

‘I need to either end this, or get the hell out of here,’ she cracked her neck.

“Really disgusting. Did you steal that spell too?”

“I don’t get you, cloud,” Jessica spat at the entity. “I don’t know how the hell you expect me to react to… whatever it is that image was. You’re as insane as I am if you think it’s going to stop me!”

The shadow remained motionless.

“I suppose I just need to beat it into your skull a bit longer.”

“Gemini? An alicorn Princess!?” The cobalt colt took a step back, almost bumping into his winged companion with the shock. He regained his stance and continued, “How come the Agency doesn’t know about this information? I’d think we’d have access to something this huge!”

“Calm down, maggot,” Steele filled his lungs. “Celestia only brought it up with me just this morning. She was very hesitant to send Scarlet and Jessica to her.”

The hoofsteps of the three ponies clacked against the ground as they beelined for Steele’s office. The main room at the Agency was buzzing with life from other detectives running about, reporting their findings on a variety of different material. Locks quickly took a gander at Scarlet’s desk. Another pony had temporarily taken her position, signing paperwork for other agents working out in the field.

“So that’s what they left Equestria for,” Locks muttered.

A flap of wings and a blow of a whistle caught the attention of the stallions.

“As long as Jessica’s keeping a good eye on her, I doubt Scarlet would be in much trouble, even if she’s sick. She’ll be more careful about exerting herself after we sent her the letter,” Steele assured the younger detective.

“I still don’t like it. She’s not well, and this case is getting thicker.” Locks fidgeted, “And if this thing happens to be a disease of some kind… What do we have that’s anything similar to a cutie mark epidemic?”

Another note flew by the colts on a stray wind.

“A strain of the Cutie Pox? I can see that being possible, but the symptoms are nothing alike,” Steele replied to the worried look on Amy’s face. “Cutie Pox are generally harmless, and if Ms. Sparkle’s report carries its weight, then we know that it has an herbal cure.” The leader of the Agency slowed his pace as they entered the narrow pathway towards the three rooms in the back of the building. “Perhaps it’s a cousin of the strain? It’s far more violent.”

“Nixie Hope and Detective Justis had the exact same symptoms before they died, sir.” Locks narrowed his eyes, “Heavy coughing and fatigue. I talked to Scarlet before she left. She looked tired. She had a cough.”

“That’s not enough to assume that she caught whatever it is this might be. Even so, Scrawl’ll let us know if Trace gets any worse. If that happens, we can bring her back to Canterlot and have her rest up.”

“Sir,” the detective’s red eyes sparked, “are you finally conceding?”

“That Trace is in trouble? Possibly. I was skeptical at first, but after your little hypothesis, and the whole mission involving this Gemini pony, I’m prepared to accept what may very well be the truth.” His steps gained vigor at the sight of his office. “I’ll be having a little chat with the Princess about this Gemini character in more detail. If Trace is infected, it’ll only get worse. We don’t even know if it’s contagious.”

“We need to be more cautious with Scarlet, sir. As a matter of fact,” Locks’ gaze hardened, “I think it might be for the better if we completely removed her from the mission.”

All three ponies stopped several feet from the gray colt’s office. He partially turned his head towards the eager detective behind him. “Absolutely not.”

Locks felt the heat rise in his gut. “What? Sir, what’s the reason?”

“Several,” Steele turned back to his door. “One: she’s getting us closer to the source if this entire mess. Once we get Gemini’s testimony in our hooves, we may very well be able to solve both of the cases in their entirety.” He gripped the knob in a hoof, “Two: Scrawl’s watching her, and they’re both aware of her condition by now. I doubt that Scrawl would jeopardize Trace’s health to such extremes, even if it meant the conclusion of the case; she’s competent enough to finish off the rest after Gemini. Besides, she’s fond of Trace.”

The door to his office flew open, “And three: Spooking her with her disease will only work to endanger the integrity of the mission. We can’t have Trace moving about the outskirts of Equestria in a half panic, looking for an alicorn that we just barely found to exist. She’s sloppy enough as a detective as is.” Steele walked through the threshold, turning around to face his protégé. “I trust the Princess’ judgment, and I trust Scrawl to do her job perfectly. I can’t allow somepony like you to interfere with that process through some sentimental bullshit.

“I care for her too, maggot. She’s the only daughter of my best friend. But I also know that this case is just about ready to crack itself wide open, and the only way that’s going to happen is if I can rely on everypony to do their job.

“Now get out of my sight,” Steele winced at the younger colt, “You have work to do too.”

Locks’ mane flew back as the door in front of him slammed. He stared back at the name engraved on the door, his ruby eyes burning.

“To protect the integrity of the mission,” Locks whispered. “He’s willing to throw Scarlet into a bear cage to do it.” A blue hoof crashed against the ground in frustration. He turned to Amethyst, who could only offer another gentle note from her tool.

“Sorry Amy. I… I lost control for a second.”

She wrapped a hoof around his neck, a spare wing layered around his head.

“Thanks. You understand where I’m coming from, right? Don’t you feel the same way?”

The mute guardian replied with a nod of her head.

“Of course. We’re all friends here. It only makes sense to care like we do.

The defeated Locks and his companion quickly made their way to the front of the office. As they passed through the doors, flooded by the light from outside, they were greeted by a bright, ivory coat.

A strange lantern hung from the mare’s body, covered by her bright pink hair.

Mystery Hart gave her daughter’s friends a heartfelt smile, lifting her half empty bottle of vodka. “Domino, Amy, would you like to come to Ponyville with me?”

“I was the first victim of Scars, you know.”

Scarlet sat silent and still, trying to take in what Gemini had just dropped on her.

“Since I was the only one to buy into it, I thought that it’d make sense to give it a name. Just something to identify it as. I talked to Celestia about it but she never really put much thought into it. “

“Does…” Scarlet’s voice slowly trailed behind Gemini’s enthusiasm, “Does this have anything to do with your story?”

“Story? Oh right! Totally.” Gemini gave the younger mare a wink through her absent eyelid. “You’ll be the first to ever know about it. What a privilege, right?”

“R-Right…”

“Let’s get started.”

Author's Notes:

Another quick chapter. Shorter ones like these will be making faster appearances. The next chapter should be up sometime early next week.

The rest of this "Gemini Arc," as well as the rest of the next Arc (which itself is pretty short) I'm looking to have updated by the end of January. Chapters should be getting updated once every two days or so until the end of the month.

With that said, please enjoy the chapter.

- G. R.