Seeking

Chapter 5

The Canterlot Caves.  The once dark caves now served a greater purpose.  The dark rocky passages proved to be the perfect training spot for Princess Luna’s personal royal guard.  Here her bat ponies train for any situation, from watching the night to fighting in times of war, they were the strongest ponies in all of Equestria.  Among their ranks was a newer recruit, Echo, a young, but strong pony.  She was similar in appearance to her brothers and sisters, a dark grey coat, a dark blue mane, a bright yellow bat eyes.  The only real difference between her and other bat ponies was her mane style, she kept it in a ponytail, it made her feel different, special.

Her body became covered in shadowy cloud of a night-sky black, her eyes glowed yellow.  Her fellow new recruits watched in awe as she performed the bat pony’s most renowned technique perfectly.  The Nightmare State.  A form passed down by Luna, only to be used in the direst of situations.  She exhaled and the Nightmare State evaporated into the air.

Her squad trainer trotted up to her and patted her on her shoulder, “Very good Echo, an excellent performance!”  The squad captain looked back at the rest of the group and smiled, “See!  This is how you perform the Nightmare State, though…”  She looked back at Echo, “I don’t blame you since you’re new, but you can’t hold it very long.  Which I understand, it is the most difficult of all techniques.”  The Nightwing began to walk around in circles around Echo, “This is why we teach you ponies the most difficult techniques early on, so you can hone them and then the easier skills come easier to you.  You there.”  Nightwing pointed her hoof at another recruit, “Your turn!”

A voice called from behind the circle of bat ponies.  The entire group turned to the two well armored ponies trotted over to the group.

“Nightwing!  We have orders to retrieve Echo from your group.”

“Why is that?”

“Orders from her majesty Princess Luna, ma’am!”

The entire group looked toward Echo who blushed at the attention she was getting.  She quickly trotted over to the guards.  As she trotted by her peers she could hear them whispering about how lucky she was or how jealous they were.  What did Princess Luna want with Echo?

The guards led Echo down a rocky passage, they were deep in the caves, deeper then Echo had ever been before.  The walls were decorated with blue banners with a crescent moon crest in center of the banner.  The guards stayed completely silent as they lead Echo down the passage which made Echo feel uneasy.  At the end of the rocky passage there was a large stone door with a complex design engraved on the face of it.  The two guards opened the doors and inside stood Princess Luna talking to a brown earth pony.  The two of them were looking over a map on a table in the center of the room.  Echo quietly entered the room trying not to disturb their conversation.  The door closed behind her, but Luna and the brown earth pony didn’t seem to notice Echo, they were too focused on their conversation.

“I believe the library would be around this area.”  The earth pony tapped his hoof on the map.

“But that’s-”

“Exactly, that’s why I need a strong team.”

“We understand you, but we can’t spare my personal guard or higher ranking officers, but I think you chose the perfect pony for the job, she should be-Oh!” Luna looked over to Echo who was quietly waiting to be noticed. “Echo we are glad you came, this is Crow.”  Luan motioned to the brown earth pony.

“It is an honor to meet you Sir Crow.”  Echo bowed her head, “What request do you have of me?”

Luna raised her hoof and Echo raised her head.  “Crow is organizing an expedition to the Badlands and he needs a strong team, so he came here in search of the famed warriors of the night.”

“The best of the best!”  Crow said loudly.  He took a few steps toward Echo, “So!  What do you say?  Are you interested?”

“My Princess?  Do you wish me to go?”

“My dear Echo, you must make this choice on your own.  We do think it would be a good experience for you, but like we said, it’s completely your choice.”

“Come on!”  Crow put his hoof around Echo, “Good company and an epic task! AND THE SINGING!  It’ll be a great time!  Maybe a couple of fights, but hey, every adventure needs a road bump!”

“I don’t know…I have duties here I must attend to and this is all so sudden…”

“Fear not Echo, your duties will be taken care of and I’m sure you’ll be able to hone your abilities while you’re out there.”

“Come on!  I chose you for a reason, I could use somepony like you!”

“You…chose me?  Specifically for this task?”

“Oh course!  I like to hoof pick my team.”

“Very well then, I suppose it would be rude of me to decline such an invitation, if you think that I am your best choice, then I will go.”

“WONDERFUL!”  Crow gave Echo a tight hug, “We’ll have a great time!”

“Oh-um-ok?”  Echo tried to back up, but Crow’s grasp was too tight.

“There will be singing, eating, exploring and fun!  Now!  Go and pack!”  Crow let go and gave Echo a small push towards the door, “We leave in two days!”

“Y-Yes Sir!”  Echo gave a shaky salute and the quickly trotted out.

After Echo left and the doors were shut Crow turned back to the map and stared at the location he pointed out.  Of all the places in Equestria, of all the places in the Badlands, it had to be there, that one place, that one…Crow closed his eyes and rubbed his head.  He would defiantly need a fighter like Echo, with what they were gonna go up against, they might need an army.

Luna saw Crow’s discomfort and walked over to him, “We’ve seen your nightmares young Crow.”  She gave him tight hug, “Are you sure you’re ok with this?  Do you think you can handle going back there and facing it?”

“I’ll be fine.”  Crow backed out of the hug, “I might not even see him and even if I do face him,” Crow began to walk toward the door, “It’s about time I finished what I started there.”