The next morning started with a fiery letter.

Calpain had always heard about the Princesses sending letters through magic, but he had always figured that was only on special occasions. However, now he bolted up at the flash of fire a few feet from his eyes, and watched an envelope fall down onto the bed next to him. It didn’t actually look on fire, but he could have sworn he’d seen fire. He looked around the room, and realized from the grey light coming in through the window it was only a few minutes from dawn. When he actually glanced at the envelope, he noticed the giant crescent moon wax seal.

“Red!” Long Jump called out. The unicorn rolled, and then Calpain winced as Red Ink fell on top of him.

“What? What’s happened? What’s going on?” the unicorn said. His horn glowed for a moment, and the room lit up as though it was noon.

“I think Princess Luna sent you a letter,” Long Jump said.

Their little group had arrived late at the inn, and Red Ink had refused to sleep in the common room like a sensible pony. Instead, he’d plopped several coins down on the bartop and started to walk upstairs like money solved all his problems. Calpain’s issue with this had been that the money DID solve the problem: a colt rushed after them with a key and a few bowls of barley stew. Long Jump hadn’t said anything last night, instead just removed the harder parts of his gear, leaving on most of the barding and flopped down on the bed and gone to sleep. Calpain had slept on the floor with a blanket.

Red Ink got up, split open the seal with magic and pulled out a very long piece of parchment with elegant-looking lettering. Calpain didn’t feel like reading along, so he rolled over and focused on waking up. Red Ink made a bunch of ‘erm’ and ‘hmmm’ noises, but now Calpain just wanted to get one more hour of sleep in before they started back out on the road. They knew their direction. Princess Luna must have just sent some specific instructions.

“Mmm…” Red Ink mumbled. Calpain stood up a bit shakily.

“Something more specific?” Calpain asked. He licked his lips. Maybe there was oatmeal downstairs.

“We’re apparently going to the Ascelle Ruins,” Red Ink said. “I’ve actually never been there.”

“I have,” Calpain said. Long Jump turned to stare at the earth pony, which made Calpain blush. As he understood, Red Ink was quite well-traveled, but Long Jump rarely left the capitol.

“It’s basically just a bunch of crumbling buildings, trees, and some weird plants,” Calpain continued. “I don’t know why she’d need us to go out there. I’ve found some rare plants for potions, but nothing you can’t find anywhere else.”

“Maybe something evil moved in,” Long Jump mumbled. Both of the other ponies stared at him.

“Why wouldn’t Luna just take care of it, then?” Red Ink asked.

“Not my place to question that,” Long Jump said. “We have our orders.”

“Well, I sure can question it,” Red Ink said. He got up off the floor and trotted over to the window. Even if the light of his horn was bright, he still apparently wanted some natural light.

“The ink is completely dry…” Red Ink continued. “She must have written this before we left. I wonder why she waited to send it.”

“Maybe she was worried it would be intercepted?” Calpain suggested.

“Is that possible?” Long Jump asked. Calpain knew how the messenger spells worked, but whether or not a powerful unicorn could interfere with them was a weird question that he didn’t really have the answer to; his specialties were more on the practical, physical side of things instead of the metaphysical stuff.

“I’m… not sure,” Red Ink said, his gaze still on the letter. Well, that was a little disconcerting. If a professor of magic didn’t know if someone was even possible, did that mean they’d be screwed if something more important came up?

“Well, I’m awake,” Long Jump said and rolled out of bed. Calpain caught a glimpse of the heart-shaped lock as he limped to the door, opened it, and slammed it back shut behind him.

“Is something wrong?” Calpain asked.

Red Ink sighed, stretched, and rolled his neck a few times before answering. Calpain had run this routine before; when Red Ink was searching for a more appropriate way to describe something, he delayed to give himself time to censor his language.

“Long Jump is mad at me about the lock, I think,” Red Ink mumbled. He honestly looked down about the whole thing, but Calpain kind of figured it was his own fault.

“Maybe you should have asked him before snapping a heart-shaped lock on his collar,” Calpain said, though he couldn’t help but smile a little. Long Jump might be overreacting a little, but Red Ink did stuff like this all the time. He’d move stuff around the lab, borrow books without asking, or eat hay from someone else’s plate, assuming a joke or a smooth word would fix it. Calpain didn’t think that worked as well for Long Jump.

“I don’t see what the problem is. It’s cute!” Red Ink said.

“I think that’s the problem,” Calpain replied, but still tried not to smile. It was funny to see Long Jump, the proud, stoic soldier, with a heart dangling from his collar.

“Well, I don’t have a spare one with me. If he wants the pain suppression spells to work, he’ll need to keep wearing it,” Red Ink said.

“Could you change the shape?” Calpain asked. He knew a few spells that could alter how plants grew or the shape of a desk, but didn’t know if they’d work on something so small. Magic could be weird that way.

“Maybe,” Red Ink admitted, “but I think it’s cute.”

“Do you want him to stay mad at you?” Calpain asked.

It took the unicorn a moment to answer. He was probably so used to being right or not being challenged that the idea of Long Jump just not accepting something was too bizarre.

“No. I’ll fix it.”

Calpain then followed the unicorn out of the room, down the stairs, and around the corner to the common room. Most of those ponies that had chosen to sleep there last night were still there, but he did notice a few pulling on armor or gathering their things. It made the most sense to leave at dawn, since it would probably grow hot midday, and no pony wanted to walk down a dusty road while sweating through their coats. Red Ink turned back to Calpain.

“Should I do it now?” Red Ink whispered.

“Tell him what you’re doing,” the earth pony said. “I think he’ll feel better.”

Red Ink walked over to Long Jump, and as soon as the unicorn started talking the guard got up and limped back to the stairs, leaving his breakfast unfinished.

“Well, that didn’t work,” Red Ink said, looking a little crestfallen but overall still fairly chipper. Calpain did not really understand his level of confidence. Sure, he was a professor, but surely he couldn’t expect everything to go his way all the time?

“Did you expect it to be that easy?” Calpain asked. “He’s really mad at you. You locked a tiny heart around his neck that he can’t pull off.”

“I needed a focus for the spell, and it was…”

Calpain cut him off. “I think you need to actually talk to him. Explain everything to him. And apologize. Don’t say ‘I’m sorry you’re mad.’ Actually apologize. He’s not a student or an angry guard. Well, he is an angry guard, but not because you accidentally turned him into a frog like last year in Canterlot. Talking to him is important.”

Red Ink sighed heavily and propped himself up against the bar. “How can I fix it?”

“Glad you asked,” Calpain answered, and couldn’t help but smile a little. “Go upstairs. Be quiet. Be nice. Try not to smirk.”

“I smirk all the time,” Red Ink countered.

“I think that’s part of the problem.”

Red Ink sighed again, but rather than continue trying to figure out a way out of it like Calpain had expected, the unicorn instead trudged away and upstairs.

While they sorted out their issues, Calpain went ahead and assessed his own situation. Here he was, on a mission, with little else to entertain him. He wanted Red Ink and Long Jump to be happy, but there was little he could do in that situation besides point out to the unicorn when he was being unreasonable. Otherwise, Calpain would do his best to contribute where he could. He might not have the magical prowess that Red Ink had, or the knowledge of the Crown that Long Jump had, but he was probably the only one amongst the three of them who could push heavy things or identify all the strange things they may discover.

A few minutes later, the two other ponies came downstairs, Long Jump in a shaky, unstable lead as he went directly back to the bar and motioned for the barkeep to return his unfinished breakfast. Red Ink walked over to Long Jump. Calpain didn’t hear what the unicorn said, but with Long Jump’s muzzle against his plate, and the pegasus not even looking up from the small bar-top, Calpain had to assume their conversation upstairs had not gone swimmingly. However, there was a small dot of light, enough for several of the other ponies to grumble, and then Long Jump looked up at the unicorn. Calpain trotted over then, and noticed the tiny lock on the front of the collar was now a much more reasonable (and masculine) square, instead of a heart.

“Better?” Calpain asked.

Long Jump looked up from his food and glared at the unicorn. “Would that have been so hard to do before you locked it? Or not use a lock at all?”

“I didn’t figure it would bother you,” the unicorn admitted. “I thought it was cute.”

“It is-,” the pegasus cut himself off, ears flicking back for a moment, then started again. “I represent the Crown. There is an image to maintain. We’re on a mission. An important one. I shouldn’t be wearing it.”

“Just remind me to re-do it in a couple of days,” Red Ink said. “The shapeshift will wear off.” The pegasus gave a defeated sigh and nodded. Calpain figured if he had to put up with a heart-shaped lock, it would at least be better that it looked more reasonable to other people until they could actually remedy the situation.

Calpain and Red Ink both ordered some oats for the morning, Calpain bought an apple from the barkeep, and they started out on the road a few minutes later. There was a thick fog over the road, but the earth pony figured the Sun would burn it off. Now that they knew exactly where they were going, he wondered why Luna had needed to send them this way.

It took them nearly the entire day of trudging down the hot road to reach the Ascelle Ruins. When they stepped between some trees – the road didn’t exactly lead to an abandoned historical site – the dilapidated buildings, fallen columns, and overgrown vegetation, and statues came into view. It looked almost exactly like the last time Calpain had been here, though without the colts and fillies prancing around and not paying attention to the lecturer. A few more plants, to be sure, but he figured it was like a garden; if you didn’t prune it, more and more weeds just kept growing. A few of the trees, however, looked out of place, since he didn’t think oranges grew this far north.

“Looks… boring,” Red Ink said.

“Calpain, do you have any fighting experience” Long Jump asked, turning to look at the earth pony, catching Calpain a little off-guard.

“Not really,” Calpain said. “I’ve been in a few scraps, but nothing serious.”

Long Jump walked to a stump and sat down behind it. “I assume you know the differences between the pony races right?”

“Yes?” Calpain said.

“But how much have you seen of that practically? Red, come here for a moment,” Long Jump said.

The unicorn walked over to the stump, and directed by the blue hoof pointing, sat down directly opposite of Long Jump. The pegasus put his right foreleg up and motioned for the unicorn to do the same. Long Jump pushed the unicorn’s foreleg against his own and curled his hoof around the other.

“Hoof wrestling, I’m right hooved, Red is right-hoofed, but my leg is very weak right now,” Long Jump said, using his muzzle to gesture to his bandaged shoulder. “How do you expect this to turn out?”

“Red’ll win?” Calpain suggested.

“Give us a countdown,” Long Jump said.

“Three, Two, One…”

With zero effort Long Jump slammed the unicorn’s hoof down, making the red stallion tip over with the force of it. He then put his left hoof up on the stump and motioned for Calpain to take Red Ink’s place. “Now I’m a trained guard, and this is my strong foreleg right now, how do you expect this go to?”

“You’ll win?” Calpain put forward.

Long Jump nodded and then looked to Red Ink, whom was making an exaggerated show of nursing his hoof. “Countdown if you please”

Red Ink got to the word go and match was on. To the earth pony’s surprise, while it was difficult, he was winning. Long Jump was fighting with all his might but the scientist was able to slowly but steadily get the guard’s hoof down to the stump.

Long Jump got up and walked a few paces away, shaking his mane out and generally looking like he was limbering up, then crouched down a bit, staring at the earth pony. “Now come at me.” Calpain just stared at him.

“I’m trying to make a point here to keep everypony here safe, now attack,” Long Jump declared.

Calpain gave up his arguing and then looked his opponent over, who was still standing still, braced, but not moving. Cal started circling to the left to come at the guard from his right, the damaged side, then with what (he would insist later was) a war cry he charged the guard, whom was still looking straight ahead and wasn’t moving.

Calpain crashed into the guard.

Then the world was spinning.

Then he found himself on his back with Long Jump standing over him lightly pressing a hoof to his throat.

“So even with your line of work, you can easily overpower non-earth ponies by shear strength. Training trumps that. Keep that in mind so you don’t do something that would get you hurt. Even though I’m crippled, I’m here to protect you two, not the other way around. Don’t do anything stupid.” Long Jump then took another step toward the ruins and huffed.

“There’s got to be something here,” Long Jump said, and shouldered into the thicket of fallen branches and weeds. Calpain wanted to tell him to be careful, but he figured the soldier pony had his own way of dealing with things.

Now to investigate.

Author's Note

2014-02-10: Revision 1