What Lies Within

"So, you're sure that you are gonna be safe?" Twilight smiled as Spike shifted nervously. "I could come with you to help protect you!"

"It's alright Spike, I need you here to look after the library." Twilight pulled her friend into a hug. "I know that you're brave enough, I just need you here."

"Oh. Well, uh, good. Because, I.. I really didn't want to go anyways you know. I knew I could protect you." Spike puffed out his chest in fake bravery and Twilight rolled her eyes. The little dragon could be so irritatingly adorable. Letting him go, she grabbed her saddlebags and walked to the door. She had just pushed the door open to meet the rest of the ponies waiting for her outside when Spike called out again.

"Wait, Twilight! You can't go! You'll miss the eclipse that you wanted to document!"

"Spike, that's a full week from now. I'll be back by then."

"Well what if you aren't?"

"I will be, and we'll observe it together." Twilight assured, then stepped out into the crisp early morning air.

Not very many ponies were walking around at this time of day, as most of them were still asleep just after sunrise. Despite this, a large group of mostly bleary-eyed ponies stood outside of the library. Twilight noticed her friends immediately; Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all leaned wearily against each other as Pinkie Pie bounced happily around them. Next to them stood the seven Guardponies, in a square formation with Silver Spear in front. They immediately snapped into attention and saluted Twilight as she trotted up to her friends, then turned back and listened intently to something Silver Spear was saying.

"Well aren't we all bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning." Twilight snickered, and Rainbow Dash slowly shifted to face her.

"It. Is way to early for this." She mumbled. "How are you. And Pinkie. So awake?"

"All of my early morning study sessions have really paid off, I guess. And Pinkie is just, Pinkie."

"Morning is my favorite time of day!" Pinkie squealed as she bounced by. "You know, along with afternoon, midday, night, lunchtime, dinnertime, snacktime,"

"Pinkie, that's pretty much all day." Dash groaned, rubbing her eyes.

Silver Spear and the other guards strode up to the group, and Twilight and her friends turned to face him.

"If we are all ready, then we should proceed with the plan." He beckoned to Star Gazer, who stepped out of the ranks and joined him.

"Miss Sparkle, I do believe that you understand what needs to be accomplished here. Am I correct in that assumption?" Star Gazer's look of mild concern annoyed Twilight. She was Celestia's personal protege! Of course she knew how to perform a basic searching spell, albeit a slightly altered one.

"I think that I will be just fine, thank you." Twilight affirmed, and closed her eyes.

Tightening her focus, she drew in all of the magic that she could. Suddenly, some of the magic she was absorbing shuddered and sparked slightly. Before the strange shudder could leave her horn, she cast the spell. Her horn was struck with a twitching feeling, almost as if it was shuddering along with the magic. Opening her eyes, she saw a bright ray of light coming from her horn and pointing straight for the Everfree. She tilted her head in all directions, but the light remained pointing like a compass to it's goal.

"Woohoo Twilight!" Applejack whooped. "Nice work there!"

"Don't get so excited yet, this was the easy part." Twilight said, but still felt warmed by her friend's praise. Orienting herself in the direction of the light, she started to walk with the others following closely behind.

Then sun was bearing down brightly on the forest from the center of the sky, but barely any of the light could reach the group of ponies trudging frustratedly through the undergrowth. Twilight and Rainbow Dash both walked and flew in front, with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie behind them. Applejack followed slowly behind, burdened by the weight of Rarity upon her back. The white unicorn had absolutely refused to walk in the mud, and Applejack had begrudgingly offered to carry her. Making up the rear were the Guardponies, marching in perfect formation.

"Are we there yet?" Rainbow Dash sighed.

"No." Twilight groaned. The spell may have been simple, but it was getting harder to maintain the growing thrum of the magic in her horn. This probably meant that their destination was getting closer, but Twilight could barely handle both her magical headache and the headache from Rainbow's nagging.

"Are you sure? That light thing is getting brighter."

"Yes, Rainbow. I'm quite sure." Twilight tried to focus on the mud beneath her feet as they forged deeper in to the Everfree, but it provided no relief from the complaints or her ever growing headache.

"Maybe we passed it already and we didn't know?"

"Wow, Rainbow, you're a genius." Twilight snapped. "We probably did pass it and I never noticed. It's a good thing you're in charge of the spell getting us there, or else we would be totally lost by now. Oh wait, you aren't. So stop bugging me."

"Soorry." Rainbow huffed.

"Um, hey guys?" Fluttershy whispered.

"Do you have a problem with my navigating too, Fluttershy?" Twilight groaned, rubbing her head.

"Oh, no. I just noticed and I though you should know that-"

"Why are you picking on Fluttershy now? Maybe I should be in charge of this magic thing if it's gonna make you all grumpy like this."

"Oh, please don't fight. I just thought that I should point out the-"

"Rainbow, you can't even use magic! If you're so confident, why don't you just fly ahead and find it yourself!"

"I really should mention the-"

"Fine! Maybe I will! I'll get there long before you stumble your way there!"

"Please, this is importa-"

"You'll fly back here within five minutes of your silly little-"

"LISTEN TO ME!" Everypony stopped dead in their tracks at the sheer ferocity of Fluttershy's voice, and both Twilight and Rainbow cowered beneath her glare. Just as quickly as it had came, Fluttershy's anger was replaced by her usual timidness.

"If that's okay with you, I mean."

"Okay Fluttershy." Twilight said nervously. "What were you trying to say?"

Taking a deep breath, Fluttershy shakily pointed beneath them. Among the mud that Twilight had been trying to distract herself with earlier were holes, rocks, and the occasional paw print.

"Okay, what about the mud?" Twilight sighed.

"Not the mud, the tracks." Fluttershy corrected gently. "See how they are bigger than the tracks of the animals that we've seen so far, and how the print curves into points at the top?"

"Yeah, now that you mention it." Twilight looked closer at the tracks, noting the pointed prints and the strange pattern they created. "What tracks are they?"

"T-t-timberwolf." Fluttershy whispered.

Silver Spear's eyes widened. Though he was at the back of the group, he had still heard the conversation. "Miss Fluttershy, did you not think that this information was important enough to explain earlier?"

"I tried to." Fluttershy whimpered, and both Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked at each other guiltily.

"We can't smell them, so that means they aren't close by." Silver Spear said, looking into the shadowy forest around them. "We will have to keep an especially sharp eye out for them."

Nodding, the group resumed their long trek.

Twilight's eyes drooped as she trudged further through the continually deepening mud. Her horn was glowing brighter than ever before, and it illuminated the forest around them clearly. The setting sun painted the sky a brilliant array of colors, but nopony was admiring the beautiful display. The group shuffled miserably forward, and even Rarity had gingerly begun to walk after Applejack nearly collapsed from carrying her all day.

They were muddy, cold, tired, and hungry when they finally broke into a clearing in the forest. An enormous flat stone took up much of the space in the area, and the ponies all rushed forward and onto it to escape from the mud. Panting and groaning, the Elements of Harmony flopped unceremoniously down onto the stone with the Guardponies following behind less hurriedly.

"This seems as good a place as any to camp for the night." Silver Spear commented, then turned a bemused glance to the 6 disheveled ponies on the ground. "We'll set up camp."  He had to strain to remain from laughing as the six mares simply nodded gratefully from their spots on the rock.

The other Guardponies quickly went to work unpacking their saddlebags and the tents and tools within them, setting up the camp with practiced precision. By the time a few of the ponies came back with firewood, the six mares were already sound asleep.

"Wow, they sure knock out quick." A green-colored Guardpony named Swift Blade chuckled, and Silver Spear nudged him with his hoof.

"Reminds me of a certain recruit I trained." He joked, and Swift Blade's face flushed. "it's been a long day, and civilians aren't used to marching like this."

Silver Spear's eyes fell on Twilight. "That light was getting much larger. We should be getting close. I hope Gazer got that spell right."

"Gazer? Sir, with all due respect, that fussy pony probably instructed that girl on every possible problem or outcome with that spell. I'm not worried."

Silver Spear's smile was a slight grimace as he found Star Gazer appraising his tent with yard stick. "He is quite... Specific."

Swift Blade laughed. "Specific is far from it, sir. I swear, that pony probably took that yard stick straight out from his ass."

An amused but stern look from Silver Spear silenced the Guardpony, who instead shrugged and went to help with building a fire. With a last glance at the snoring mares, Silver Spear turned to help with setting up tents as sparks ignited the wood piled in the center of the large, flat stone on which they stood. A few short minutes later, the Guardponies sat around the roaring fire, stretching as they removed their armor.

"Silver Spear, sir, should we wake the civilians and get them a tent?" A younger hazel-colored stallion asked.

"No, Light Burst, let them sleep. Besides, the tents won't be any more comfortable. We can use them if it rains." Silver Spear remarked dryly. "And just call me Spear, kid. You keep regarding me like I'm a prince or something."

"Yes, Princess Spear!" One of the guards called out, but Silver Spear couldn't distinguish who it was by the flickering firelight. He simply rolled his eyes.

Light Burst sat down a few paces away from Silver Spear and awkwardly fumbled with the straps on his armor. Spear ignored him until he nearly dropped his helmet in the fire, then nudged the black pegasus to his right.

"Private, please tell me you can take your armor off correctly." The pegasus snapped at Light Burst.

"Yes, Night Wing, I just... gotta get the right strap here..." Burst struggled for a few more minutes before hanging his head dejectedly. "This armor is different from the one I learned how to use." He mumbled.

Night Wing's eyes softened slightly. "Well you should've just said so, kid. You would've looked a whole lot less stupid just there." Burst cringed slightly at the comment, and Night Wing laughed.

He got up to help Light Burst out of his armor, muttering something about the Royal Armory switching armor types around without notice, and Silver Spear turned his attention back to the other ponies around the fire. Gazer and Blade were both pouring water into an MRE and waving away the steam it gave off, while Wing was setting Burst's armor down and explaining about the unfamiliar armor's workings. Two other pegasi, one orange and one white, were staring tiredly into the fire. Silver Spear chuckled at the sight of the two ponies zoning out; Thunder Crash and Winter Gale had both returned from a holiday and were not re-accustomed to the marching yet.

"You two look like you've been in a stampede." Spear joked, addressing the two pegasi. They both looked up blearily, and Winter Gale yawned.

"Sorry Sarge." She murmured. "We just gotta get used to the armor again. Then we'll be fine..." Crash noticed her leaning forward after she trailed off, and pushed her upright again.

"Sir, If you don't mind, we should probably hit the hay. Could we take the last watch?" Crash asked, still trying to hold Gale upright with one hoof.

"I'm not tired, I'll take watch now." Gale murmured incomprehensibly. "Somepony needs to keep all you stallions from doing something stupid." Immediately after speaking, her head lolled forward: she was fast asleep. Spear rolled his eyes.

"Sure, you can take the dawn watch. I don't think you would be very useful right now anyways." Spear remarked, poking Gale and receiving only a few muttered phrases.

"Thanks Sarge." Thunder Crash smiled in relief as he dragged his friend to a nearby tent.

"Get away... from my cereal..." Gale mumbled, turning in her sleep. Crash simply rolled his eyes, and both ponies vanished into the tent.

"Aw, Sarge. I wanted the dawn shift!" Swift Blade sighed dramatically from across the campfire. "If only I was an attractive mare, I could have made that watch too!"

"Blade?" Silver Spear sighed.

"Yeah Sarge?"

"Shut up."

"Will do." Blade smirked, and went back to eating his MRE. Night Wing, apparently satisfied that Light Burst understood how to care for his armor, sat back down at the fire to polish his own armor. Gazer simply continued to eat quietly, while reading a spell book that he had brought along. The sound of the fire popping was the only noise for a long time, before Burst spoke.

"Silver Spear, sir?"

"What did I say about just calling me Spear, Private?"

"Sorry Sil... Sorry Spear." Burst trailed off awkwardly.

"Well?" Spear prompted. "What is it?"

"I was just... well, I thought maybe I could ask... You know, if it's alright with you..." Burst stammered.

"Get to the point." Wing snapped, causing Burst to jump slightly.

"Is it true that you fought off a whole patrol of changelings during the invasion?" Burst asked, then immediately shrank down as if expecting reprimand. Across the fire, Swift Blade was doing his best to look innocent.

"Blade, are you spreading stories about me again?" Spear sighed, giving him a disappointed glare. Blade seemed to not even notice.

"Oh, why shouldn't I tell about the glorious exploits of the great Master Sergeant Silver Spear?" Blade exclaimed in a sing-song tone. "There's just so much to tell!"

Once again, Spear's best glare didn't seem to phase the green pegasus as he waved his hooves dramatically in the air. Light Burst leaned in further, seemingly awestruck.

"Our magnificent leader over here -" Blade waved a hoof at Spear, who had given up glaring at this point and merely listened with a sarcastic look. "- was on patrol in Lower Canterlot when the changeling army broke the shield. A swarm of them fell around him, and were about to start devouring innocent ponies when BAM!" Light Burst jumped at the exclamation, and Blade whipped around on his back legs to face him with hooves flying in the air.

"There was Silver Spear, weapon in hoof, fending off the changelings so that the civilians could escape! All of the other guardponies in the area were either fighting changelings themselves or too dead to help him, so he faced the swarm alone." Night Wing rolled his eyes as Blade paused for dramatic effect, then continued slowly.

"When the battle was finally over, and Princess Cadence and Captain Shining cast the spell to expel the monsters, Spear had slain at least a hundred of the bastards. He saved nearly all of the civilians in the area, and Princess Celestia herself awarded him and some of the other guardponies a medal of valor."

Blade sat back, evidently pleased with his storytelling, while Burst looked at Spear with awe and respect.

"That's amazing!" Pinkie burst out from her spot on the other side of the fire next to Blade, and everypony jumped at her sudden appearance and outburst.

"When did you get here?" Wing exclaimed, smoothing down his ruffled feathers.

"Oh, like a few minutes ago." Pinkie nonchalantly stuck a marshmallow on the end of a stick and held it over the fire. "But I heard all of the story! That's super-duper-rific! 'Cause they were like GRR! and you were like RAWR! and then they were like EEP! and it was absolutivily amazing!"

Spear, not knowing how to respond to the outburst, simply nodded.

"What about you guys?" Pinkie asked the other guardponies around the fire." Don't you have some cool adventure stories?"

Wing laughed at this, and shook his head. "Not all of us get to be action heroes like Spear." He joked, receiving a glare from Spear that he ignored. "I'm just an armorer who decided to serve my country. And that cheeky bastard-" Wing motioned to Blade, who grinned slyly in reply. "- joined after his home got burned down by some lawless types."

"The East Fillydelphia Rollers." Blade growled. "They burnt down our homes as part of their revenge against a rival gang. If I ever find those bucking fools I'll show 'em revenge..."

"What about you?" Pinkie asked Light Burst, who shied away from the energetic mare. "Why'd you join the guard?"

"Well. Uh." Burst stammered. "Spear used to be part of the patrol in the section of the city that I lived. I was getting by living in the alleys, but he found me after I tried to rob a store for some food. He told me that he could help me out, but that I would have to not go around breaking the law anymore. I felt like I owed him for helping me turn my life around, so I joined the guard to make it up to him when I got old enough." Burst spoke without looking at either Pinkie or Spear, but Pinkie smiled and walked over to sit by him.

"That's a great story." She said, and Burst looked at her, surprised.

"Really?" He asked.

"Absoooolutly!" Pinkie pulled the pegasus into a hug, and he blushed a bright red. His blush only got deeper when Blade caught his eye and winked.

"Wh-What about you, Gazer?" Burst asked lamely to fill the awkward silence.

"Yeah!" Pinkie said and let go of Burst, who sighed in both relief and disappointment. "What's your story?"

Gazer barely even looked up from his book. "I joined the guard to practice combat magic legally."

"Okie-dokie-lokie." Pinkie smiled, unphased by his response. Everypony once again fell silent until Burst let out a huge yawn. Embarrassed, he looked over to see Spear glancing at him.

"You should probably all hit the hay now." Spear said, getting up and stretching. "I'll wake Blade up when the next watch rolls around."

"Aw, horsefeathers." Blade sighed under his breath, but still retreated to one of the tents. Likewise, the other guardponies all found a tent while Silver Spear settled himself on the far side of the fire, looking out into the forest. Pinkie Pie, however, came and sat down by Spear.

"I hope you don't mind the company." Pinkie chirped, settling herself down near him. Spear simply shrugged in response, and both ponies fell into silence as the night wore on.

"WHAT!" Twilight growled, enraged. It was morning, and the group had packed up camp and was ready to set out again. They had run into a problem, however. Twilight's eyes were locked on her horn, the glowing light of the spell guiding them fixated at a point leading back the way they came. "That's not even possible!"

"Maybe yah cast it wrong?" Applejack immediately regretted speaking as Twilight whipped around to face her, her left eye twitching.

"Cast it wrong?" Twilight snapped. "There is no way to cast this wrong and still get this result!"

"Calm down, darling." Rarity comforted. "We just need to figure out how this is happening, and then we'll be back on track."

Twilight took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "Alright." She began more calmly. "This spell has the exact purpose of locating the source of the magical anomaly that I detected."

"And...?" Rainbow Dash prompted.

"It creates a visible beam that points directly to the source of the magical anomaly, like a more visible variation of Rarity's gem finding spell."

"And?"

"That's just it! That's all the spell does! That's it's only purpose!" Twilight exclaimed. "The only way this could be happening is if... Is if... Oh no."

"What? What is it?" Rarity gasped.

Twilight simply stopped the finding spell, letting the light fade. She concentrated, waited until she felt the magical disruption, and cast it again. To her dismay, the light was pointing in a different direction entirely. Casting it again and again got the same result, with the light pointing in various different directions. She felt her heart drop into her stomach, and swallowed hard.

"The only way that's possible is if there's more than one source of the disruption." Twilight let the news sink in as her friends gasped. "And from what it seems, this magic has at least a hundred sources."