The Story of a Royal Guard: A Shield Contingency [OUTDATED/CANCELLED]

As we boarded the train I caught a glimpse at a bright orange coated pegasus entering another car. Flash Sentry, unarmored. He was the backup, acting as just another tourist. No point in Summer or Katana knowing about him. If everything went smoothly, it went smoothly.

The train started off, and in about ten minutes we reached the crystal cavern’s tourist site. There was a gift shop which sold little crystal souvenirs, pictures and maps. Summer couldn’t resist buying a few pictures, especially since she’d forgotten to bring her camera. Afterwards we entered the main building, where the tours began. Tour guides were gathering groups of ponies who’d come from every corner of Equestria to visit the caves. I looked at a clock on the wall. One hour until noon.

“Do you think he’s already here?” Summer asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I wouldn’t miss him in this crowd if he were here. He’s a big stallion.”

“Maybe we should wait for him in the caverns. It wouldn’t hurt to go on a tour meanwhile, would it?”

“I’m definitely not gonna sit and wait around here,” Katana said sourly.

I sighed. “No, I guess it wouldn’t hurt. Let’s go.”

We gathered with one of the tour groups, and I noticed Flash Sentry joining it at the side. He glanced at me with a wink, which I returned with a short nod.

I hope this will all be over soon.

“Don’t try to deny it, Celestia. I know you’re hiding some—oh, some visitors just decided to barge in. How rude of them. Excuse me for a moment.”

“What visitors?”

Poof!

Just what do you think you’re doing here? Do you know who I am? Do you think you can just waltz into my consciousness uninvited, without consequence? Well, now that I think about it, I guess you did that last time, too. Fah, no matter, there’s more important issues to deal with, so I suppose you can come along to see. Just don’t let this become a habit, I am a very private draconequus after all.

Poof!

“My apologies, Princess Celestia, I was momentarily distracted, but the matter has been resolved.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. She is so adorable when suspicious. “You haven’t been getting into any trouble, I hope?”

“Trouble? Me? Pshaw, I would never get into trouble unless I had to. Let’s get back to the matter at hand. I’ve heard of Star Swirl’s magic mirror portals, and I know you have one, or at the very least know where one is.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I cannot allow you through one. Too much has gone wrong already with them.”

I pouted. “I never said I wanted to go through one. If I did, I don’t know if I could come back. There may be something very wrong going on right now, and I think the mirror worlds are in danger.”

“What are you talking about?”

I snapped a claw and Swordulan’s sword appeared in the air between us. “It’s become clear to me that whatever happened to the entity within the Lieutenant’s sword, it’s in one of the mirror worlds, doing who knows what.”

Celestia took the sword within her magic and examined the crystals. “We’ve been over this dozens of times already. Unless you have some way to trace the source of the ‘undead’ magic, there’s nothing I can do. Besides, what danger could the entity pose without a host?”

“There’s no way to know, which is what I’m afraid of. From unrestricted magical phenomenons to finding a new host and corrupting it, the damage it could do is incalculable.” I swiped the sword out of her magic. “The entity is not a nice one. If it doesn’t get contained or destroyed soon, it may grow unstable and threaten all the mirror worlds. Including this Equestria.”

Celestia grimaced and turned around to look over the tower balcony. “Is there anything that can be done?”

“Not without going to the mirror world it’s in and finding it. Perhaps Swordulan can find it and have it rebound to his sword, and then I can destroy it once and for all.”

Celestia nodded. “Where is he? I must speak to him about this.”

I rolled my eyes. “On a date in the Crystal Empire last I heard. He should be back in a few days. Meanwhile, I want to examine the mirror portals. I may be able to find which world the entity is in.”

Celestia sighed and turned back to me. “Very well, I’ll show you them. If you find the entity, tell me as soon as possible.”

I made the most exaggerated formal bow I could. “Of course, Princess Celestia. As soon as possible.”