The Stars Shall Aid in Her Escape

The Stars Shall Aid in Her Escape

Chapter 2 – Summoned

Just because Orion almost never fell asleep in class, never meant that she didn’t want to.

“If we have, a right triangle, which is to say, a triangle that has a right angle…”

As she almost dozed off for the tenth time that hour, the quill she was levitating in midair dropped to the table, the subtle clicking noise being just loud enough to catch her attention. It was an old trick, but for classes like this one, it was the only way she could stop herself from faceplanting and snoring through class every single day.

“If you take the length of the first side of the triangle next to the right angle and you square it. That is, you multiply it by itself…”

It wasn’t that Orion disliked math. It was far from her favorite subject in school, but it had its uses. It was just that Prof Annulus was the most boring teacher in the known universe.

“Now take, the length of the second side of the triangle next to the right angle. Not the first one that we already used, but the other one. Take that length and square it, that is, multiply it by itself…”

Imagine if you will a broken record, constantly repeating the same phrase over and over again, only occasionally skipping to another line. Now imagine that it was running at half speed making the voice extremely slow and drawn out. Almost as though each spoken work was about as painful to say as it was to listen to.

“Now adding the squares of these two values together gives us a new value, which when we take the square root of it, gives us the length of the third side, the hypotenuse. That is, the side opposite the right angle…”

Yeah. That about sums it up.

Orion gazed around the room to see how her classmates were faring. Not surprisingly, many of them were attempting similar methods to her for staying awake. Some were also levitating quills to stay awake, while others were precariously resting their head on their hooves. One or two looked as though they were already asleep, mouths agape and heavily breathing, but had somehow managed to keep their eyes open. Dawn, well, Dawn didn’t give a flying feather to consequence. She had her head firmly planted on her desk, a small puddle of drool escaping along with her light snoring.

Orion couldn’t help but laugh to herself. Had she not known any better, she'd have though that she'd just looked at an invading swarm of Zombies.

She stole a glace at the clock before re-levitating the quill over her desk. It was only 9:12. There was still 37 minutes and 23 seconds until class was over. 22... 21... She sighed, attempting to pay attention to the lecture but failing miserable. With every fiber of her being, she wished that she was somewhere else. Anywhere, except right here and now. If only…

*KNOCK KNOCK*

An unexpected knock came from the door, waking several ponies and startling the rest. None, though, more surprised than Prof Annulus. His intense hatred for interruptions was well known throughout the school, even among the other teachers. In fact, there was even a sort of an unwritten law not to bother him in the middle of one of his lectures, unless the building was burning down. (And even then, you'd be hard pressed to find somepony willing to tell him.)

In a huff, he threw his chalk done, muttering a barely audible pardon to the class before moving towards to the door. As he walked, he continued his inane mutterings, attempting to determine which insults and curses were suitable for such an inconsiderate intruder for ruining his “enthralling” lecture. By the time he had reached the door, and had his entire piercing retort planned out word for word.

Unfortunately, he never got the chance to share his thoughts. After swinging the door open to reveal the culprit, he found himself unable to speak from the sight. He just sat there with one rebuking hoof suspended in midair, at a complete loss for words. He remained mute for so long that the guest decided to ignore the strange introduction and invite himself him.

As the tall grey pegasus entered the room, the entire atmosphere changed. It was quiet before, with only the professor’s endless droning and some heaving breathing from the class. Now, as the visitor trotted to the front, not only was everypony completely alert and awake, but it was so silent you could have heard a pin drop. After all, it was extremely uncommon to see a member of the Equestria Royal Guard interrupting a class.

Upon reaching the front and center of the room, he turned and faced the crowd, giving them their first good chance to look at him. He was extremely tall for a pegasus, possibly even matching the size of the royal sisters. His coat was a dark grey, neatly trimmed and groomed save for the various nicks and scars that could be seen all over his body. His golden armor gleaned in the sunlight, revealing a set of dents and scraps matching those in his fur, the tokens of a lifetime of service to Equestria.

But nopony saw any of these things. They were too focused on his breastplate, bearing the image of the rising sun, signaling the breaking dawn.

The symbol of one of Princess Celestia’s personal guards.

He spoke. “Pardon my interruption. I come bearing a message from Princess Celestia for one Orion Equinox.”

A sudden cracking sound of a quill being snapped in half broke the silence. Slowly every set of eyes turned to face the source. That is, every set of eyes except for the ones that belonged to the mare who had caused her levitated quill to break after hearing her name. Her eyes were wide and frozen on the strange visitor.

After much too long of a silence, she spoke. “Th… that’s me.”

The guard looked her over briefly before nodding in acknowledgement. “You’ve been summoned to appear before her highness, Princess Celestia, in the royal court. I am to escort you there immediately. Please gather your belongings and get ready to depart.”

Orion didn’t move. She just sat there stunned, her mind moving a mile a minute. The princess… wants to see me? She thought to herself. This was unheard of. Regular civilians were almost never summoned before to the Royal court. What could she possibly want with me?

Slowly she pack up her belongings before walking up to the front of the class. The guard took a moment and looked over the cowering pony in front of him. “Follow me,” he ordered before turning and walking towards the door.

Timidly, Orion followed behind. She could feel dozens of pairs of eyes staring at her from behind, but was unable to turn and look at them. She did however turn to meet the gaze of Prof Annulus who had all but been frozen in place during this entire encounter. His eyes, narrow and confused, told the whole story. Clearly he had never heard of anything like this before either. Orion flashed a weak smile at him before exiting the room. The door slammed behind her, leaving a very confused group of ponies to wonder what in Equestria had just occurred.

As long as Orion could remember, she had dreamed of visiting the Royal Court. She had always dreamed that once she was an astronomer, that she might have been invited to one of the Royal Equestrian Stargazer's Symposiums that were frequently held here. Or possibly, if she had become a higher up in Canterlot society, she might have be invited to the Grand Galloping Gala, or one of the high class ceremonies that took place in these halls. At the very least, she had hoped to someday be able get tickets to attend the Hearth’s Warming Eve pageant held each year.

But she had never in her wildest dreams thought she’d be summoned by the Princess herself.

But yet here she was, sitting by herself in the royal court after a rather awkward walk from the school. Although nopony probably noticed or cared about the filly following the guard towards the castle, she had felt as though every set of eyes was focused intently on her. Her escort didn’t help the matter either, insisting on marching onward in silence. Every attempt to strike up a conversation had been promptly shot down. Eventually Orion had no choice but to sit and wonder what the princess could possibly want to speak with her about.

Even now as she sat alone, a million different ideas kept passing through her mind. Maybe the princess had heard about her falling asleep in class yesterday, and wanted to punish her for her insolence. What if she was going to kick her out of school? What if she banished her from Equestria? What if that wasn’t good enough and she was banished to the moon, or encased in stone or…

Ugh, what is taking so long. She thought to herself. It had been almost half an hour since the solider had left her in here, and being alone with her thoughts was doing nothing but tear her up inside. Eager to stop coming up with more ridiculous theories, curiosity finally got the best of her and she got up to look at the room more closely. Obviously, the room was exquisitely decorated, with the finest furnishings found in all of Equestria. The carpet felt as though it was made of pure silk underneath her feet, and the curtains shown like morning dew. The chandelier hanging from the center was made from pure white crystals, each one enchanted to let off an illuminating glow warming the entire court. Each piece of furniture was meticulously hoof carved, and featured some sort of intricate design.

But what immediately stole Orion’s attention was the massive stained glass windows. Each was a masterpiece, depicting some story from Equestrian history. From the earliest days when the three pony tribes came together under the banner of harmony, to the years of war and eventual peace with the griffons. From the reign of Discord to the reign of the royal sisters. From the learnings of Star Swirl the Bearded, to the opening of Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Thousands of years of Equestria History was depicted on these walls.

Orion moved from window to window before finally stopping before one in particular. It was newer than the others. Near the top was a fearsome mare shrouded in darkness, Nightmare Moon. From her was billowing forth eternal night, blocking out the sun and its life giving substance. All around her ponies were shown trembling with fear. But all hope was not lost. Below her, was the silhouette of six ponies, radiating forth a magical power binding the mare where she stood, stripping her of her dark powers and returning both peace and light to the land.

“The Elements of Harmony. A personal favorite of mine.”

The voice caught Orion off guard. She spun around quickly to stare into the eyes of a bright shining white figure, with her pastel mane flowing as though there was an invisible breeze running through it.

Orion recognized her immediately, bowing down to her knees. “Princess Celestia. I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any harm. I should have stayed seated over there, but I… What I mean to say is that…”

A gentle hoof touched her on the shoulder, silencing the panicking Unicorn. She looked back up and into the kind eyes looking down at her. “There’s no need to apologize my dear. After all, I did keep you waiting for much longer than I had hoped. I should be the one apologizing to you if you think about it.”

Orion wasn’t sure what the proper etiquette was for dealing with a princess apologizing, so she did the smartest thing she could think of. She kept her mouth firmly shut.

The princess just smiled at her, before turning back to the window Orion had been admiring moments earlier. “It’s quite the story this one. Six ponies, each one representing a very different element of harmony. Despite their differences they came together to vanquish a great and terrible evil that threatened the land. Quite the inspirational story if you ask me.”

Orion walked up besides the Princess and admired the picture with her. “It really is. I wish I knew who those ponies were. I’d sure like to meet them someday.”

Celestia smiled and looked at the unicorn. “Perhaps, they do not represent actual ponies, but rather they represent the elements of harmony that reside within each of us instead.”

Orion laughed at the vague answer. Then stopped suddenly once she realized just who she was laughing at. She started stuttering looking for another apology, when she was again silenced by the Sun Goddess. “It’s quite alright my little pony. Maybe someday you’ll understand my meaning more fully, but in the meantime, I’m sure you’re curious as to why I’ve summoned you here today?”

“Oh yes!” Orion exclaimed, then immediately attempted to regain her composure, as Celestia smiled and trotted over to her throne. “Um… I mean. Yes, I am interested as to the purpose of this meeting today.”

Celestia chuckled at the flustered filly. “If you’re thinking that you’ve done something wrong, and are here to be punished you can relax. In actuality, it’s quite the opposite. I have a very important mission that I need you to complete for me, something vital to the well-being and security of Equestria.”

Orion couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief after hearing that she wasn’t here to be punished. Then after hearing that she had been chosen to perform such an important task for Equestria, well, she found herself standing a little bit straighter at the prospect. “Thank you princess, “she said with a bow. “I will do everything I can to complete this mission.”

The Alicorn looked down at her and smiled. “I’m sure you will Orion, but I haven’t even told you what it is that I need to you to do for me.”

A slight twinge of embarrassment slinked down Orion’s back. Slightly less confident, she smiled back up at the Princess. “Um… yes of course. I guess that would be useful information, now that I think of it.”

Celestia stiffiled a laugh before continuing. “As I was saying. This mission is very important for the well being of Equestria. Failure to follow my commands exactly could be lead to catastrophic consequences. It’s imperative that you do exactly what I am about to tell you without any question. Do you accept these terms.”

Orion nodded barely able to contain her excitement as the princess proceeded.

“The quest that I have for you…”

She had never dreamed that she would ever do anything of great importance in her life.

“…for the safety of this great nation… “

And now, she was about to be given one of the most important callings ever.

“…and all the ponies within it is…”

And here it was...

“I need you to retrieve some books for me.”

For the second time that day, Orion sat stunned, unsure if she had heard correctly. “Books… your highness.”

“Yes. Three books in particular. ‘An Advanced Guide to Unicorn Magic’ by Joanna Colt, ‘Magical Balances’ by Burro Degan, and ‘The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide.’”

Now Orion was completely speechless. For a moment there she had started to assume that perhaps she was being sent out to go find some rare mythical tomes hidden away for thousands of years. But these books were extremely common, and could be found in any public library. In fact, Orion had her personal copy of ‘An Advanced Guide to Unicorn Magic’ for one of her classes there with her at the moment. “I’m not sure I understand. You want me to go to the library and get these books for you.”

“Yes and no, I’m afraid. Yes I need you to get these books from a library, but not from the library in Cantorlot. I need you to travel to Ponyville and retrieve the books from the library there.”

This just confused the poor Unicorn even more. Ponyville was half a day’s journey away by train. It would take her all day just to get down there to complete this strange request. She started to protest again. “I’m sorry, but wouldn’t it be easier to send for the books, or send one of your servants. I mean, I’m sure there must be some other...”

“No. I’m afraid that is impossible. This mission must remain a secret to everypony, and sending a request or one of my servants would surely arouse suspicion. In fact, after you leave here, you cannot tell anypony about this mission or even your true identity. Your anonymity is of the utmost importance to this mission.

Orion’s head was spinning by this point. Nothing made sense anymore. “I have to lie to them? I’m sorry but could you please explain…”

“Orion.” The sternness in the goddess’ voice silenced the filly. “You gave your word that you would be able to complete whatever task was given to you without question. Do you mean to tell me that you gave your word in vain?”

Orion shuffled her hooves on the floor. She had agreed to those circumstances. “No your highness. I will do as you ask.”

Celestia nodded her approval. “Very good. Please prepare yourself to depart immediately.” Then turning to the door she called out. “Stonewall.”

Immediately the door opened and the stone grey Pegasus from earlier entered. “Yes your majesty.”

“Please escort Miss Orion to the train station and obtain a round trip ticket for the next train to Ponyville for her.”

He saluted. “Yes Ma’am.” Then turning to Orion, “At your ready Miss.”

For the umpteenth time that day, Orion had no idea what to say. Instead she silently made her way to the door. Celestia watched her trug along obviously weighed down by the strange task she had been given. She felt she had to do something more for the filly before she left. “Orion, wait, “ she called out from her throne. Orion stopped and turned to face the throne. “I’m sorry that I cannot be more specific about the task at hoof, but I assure you that it is very important.” She then smiled at her. “And I’m sure that you’ll do an excellent job.”

Orion smiled back, albeit weakly. “Thank you your highness. I’ll do my best.” With that, she bowed again, and turned back to her strange mission.