There *IS* only 1 chapter.
There *IS* only 1 chapter.
In the cool night air, the moon shone brightly in the dark sky. It was a beautifully clear night and without any large towns around, it was easy to see hundreds, perhaps thousands of stars, strewn from horizon to horizon like some cosmic pot of glitter had been spilled. A shooting star sped across the sky, burning out in moments somewhere above the distant mountains, looming over the plains containing a little impromptu camp fire and a small town a few miles south.
A pair of ponies and a griffon sat around the little crackling camp fire laughing and talking as their shadows danced behind them to the rhythm of the flickering flame. On the left sat LT, a grey pegasus in light armour, a blue mane and his wing in a sling. Next to him lay Catcha, another pegasus in light armour. She was orange, with a yellow mane and an inability to sit still. The last figure was Canary, a griffon whose feathers had a yellow hue.
As the three noticed the shooting star, their conversation stopped, all eyes keenly on the sky, looking for any signs that this was not the only falling star they'd see tonight, before the griffon chose to break the silence.
“So, LT, how did you injure your wing?” she said as naturally as she could. She fidgeted awkwardly, like she couldn't sit comfortably. While LT and Catcha could sense her unease about the possibility they were too late to stop the coming comet storm, they chose to ignore it. If they were, there would be nothing they could do about it now anyway. All three of them avoided meeting each other's gaze for a moment by apparently finding the ground incredibly interesting.
“Well, we were Canterlot soldiers at the time. There was... an incident, and it never fully recovered,” replied LT sadly, still looking down. Canary perked up, looking back at LT's injured wing, while Catcha glanced sideways over at LT, her eyes betraying a hint of regret.
“Oooh, an incident? What happened?” The griffon had been dying to know what had happened to LT's wing, which he’d had in a bandage since the day they met.
“Sorry Canary, I think that's a story for another day,” replied LT, before Catcha even got a chance to butt in.
“That's all right... I understand if it's painful to talk about,” replied Canary, a little worried that maybe she'd overstepped the bounds. From a nearby town, they heard a clocktower chime midnight.
“It's another day now. I'll show you who's scared to talk about things!” retorted LT raising his head and locking eyes with Canary.
“No one said scared, LT,” replied Catcha gently. “I can tell Canary for you if you'd prefer?”
“It's fine, I'll tell her... you know what your memory's like,” winked LT.
“... just because I couldn't remember your name for a while...”
“How many years?”
“... some. All right, fine. But if you get it wrong, I'm taking over,” added Catcha.
“Got it. Just means I'll have to make sure I'm right,” responded LT with a grin.
“It all began during opening night for a new opera, at the Canterlot Opera House. I'd just been promoted to Second Lieutenant, and there were a batch of new privates, since we needed the numbers. You see, both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were to be in attendance. They wanted to make sure that the content was... acceptable, so we had to guard them while they were in attendance,” narrated LT.
“Acceptable? Why, what was it about?” asked Canary, puzzled.
“Space monsters,” Catcha interrupted. LT gave her a stern look.
“I thought I was narrating unless I mess something up?” he enquired. Catcha grinned, before shutting her mouth, zipping a hoof across it, twisting it and throwing away the imaginary key.
“So, what was it really about?” asked Canary impatiently.
“It was... about Nightmare Moon,” replied LT.
“Oh, wow... I'm surprised anypony was even allowed to make that into an opera!”
All three glanced up at the full moon for a moment.
“We all were, but the Ponyphonic Symphony Orchestra was known for dazzlingly beautiful music, and a sensitive approach to their stories, so the princesses allowed it. It was a warm summer evening when the opera opened, later than usual to allow the princesses time to fulfil their duties.” LT closed his eyes for a moment as he recalled the events of that fateful night...
GO TO [1]
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[1]
As the moon rose over the horizon, all lieutenants and second lieutenants were ordered to go and see Captain Shining Armor for a briefing on their duties. Since it was an important event, he had specific orders for each of us, and we were each paired off with at least two of the new privates – one armed with a spear, the other with a bow. My two were Private Keen Eye, a spearpony, and Private Arrow Catcha, who obviously had her bow strapped to her back. Our orders were to patrol the west wing of the opera house's backstage area. Naturally, Catcha went about her duties with all the seriousness and professionalism you've come to expect from her.
“Sweeet, can we try on the costumes?” asked Catcha, as we passed great rows of costumes for the second act of the opera.
“Calm down, private Catcha. We're here to keep everypony safe, not to play,” I replied, giving her my sternest frown.
“Awwww, c'mon LT, just for a bit?” she asked, giving me her best puppy-dog look.
“... All right,” I sighed “but only when we're done patrolling, deal?” I added warningly. This is Catcha we're talking about though, so of course it was too late already. I could already tell I would come to regret this precedent.
“Woo, thanks LT!” replied Catcha with a grin. She grabbed some of the helmets for the play, and placed one on each of our heads, replacing our guard helmets.
“I thought I said later. And why do you keep calling me LT? That's short for lieutenant, and I'm a second lieutenant,” I replied, confused.
“Well, it's easier to remember just one name for you,” she replied cryptically. Since she still calls me LT, I guess that's true, though I can't help but feel that's mostly because somepony still doesn't actually remember my name.
By this point, we'd made it to one end of the area. We could either go to see the dressing rooms, go back the way we came or go to check on the main stores warehouse.
Go to check on the stores? - GO TO [10]
Go back the way we came? - GO TO [55]
Go and check in with the actors? - GO TO [22]
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[2]
Catcha and I started back towards the opera house.
“I hope Keen Eye'll be all right on his own,” I worried as we approached the opera house.
“Ah, he'll be fine LT – I mean, what else could possibly go wrong?” asked Catcha as we started up the steps. At this moment, a shield spell began to envelop the opera house. “Totally not my fault!” declared Catcha immediately.
“Ponyfeathers! Come on, we need to move, one way or another!” I urged.
As I saw it, we had two options – we could either dart back inside the opera house (GO TO [12]),
or rush out to join Keen Eye (GO TO [20]).
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[3]
We returned to the royal box to discuss the matter with Captain Shining Armor. By now, the assembled lieutenants had verified the shield around the outside of the building and had returned.
“Captain, the reinforcements just can't break through. We need to find the pony generating it,” said the moustachioed Lieutenant Brass Tacks.
“Agreed. Lieutenant, lead a team to find that shield pony and put a stop to it. We need to protect everypony in the audience, and if that shield's still up at the end of the fourth act, we could have a riot on our hooves,” Shining Armor commanded.
The assembled guards saluted, before rushing off to find the shield pony. Captain Armor noticed Catcha and I once everypony else had left.
“Second Lieutenant. What have you found?” he asked.
“Well sir... two of the cast had been kidnapped, the actor playing Luna and the actress playing Celestia... they claimed... that Luna did it...” I began awkwardly.
The door to the royal box opened and Celestia emerged. From the thunderous look on her face, it was obvious that she'd heard what I'd said about Luna.
“Do you believe that Luna is responsible?” asked Celestia sternly. I considered my options extremely carefully.
“With the greatest respect, Princess... the evidence points that way.” - GO TO [6]
“Something just doesn't add up with that, Princess – there must be another explanation.” - GO TO [47]
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[4]
I'd already made up my mind to try and talk with the guards. I wouldn't want them to give up on me after all. I gingerly approached him, and poked his side with the blunt end of my spear.
“Hey, are you all right?” I asked, but got no response. He was strangely cold, almost clammy. I didn't let that put me off.
“I'm really not sure if that's a good idea LT...” said Catcha.
“I'm inclined to agree with Catcha, sir,” added Eye. I didn't listen, trying again to get a reaction from the shambling pony. This time I poked him in the side with my hoof. He wheeled round, taking me by surprise. I was knocked on my flank in an instant, the prop helmet falling from my head. He quickly brought down a standard issue helmet onto my head and... uh... and...
GO TO [49]
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[5]
As we arrived outside the royal box, it became increasingly clear that something was amiss. While we'd seen a few of the guards shambling around on the way there, in some kind of daze, it seemed that even the ponies that should have been on guard here had disappeared somewhere. As the commanding officer, I walked up to the door and knocked tentatively. I could hear a conversation between Princess Celestia and Shining Armor on the other side of the door, though I couldn't make out what they were saying. The conversation stopped, and the door opened.
“Captain, something's seriously wrong here. The other guards are shambling away from their duties like they're some kind of zombies.” My heart sank - It was clear from the nonplussed look on the Captain's face that I was just stating what he already knew.
“I can see that, Second Lieutenant. Do you have any idea why?” asked Princess Celestia, coming to the door and standing just behind Shining Armor.
“I'm afraid not, your Highness. We were hoping you might know,” I replied, a little sheepishly, mistaking their looks of concern for disapproval.
“I'm not sure. If I had to guess, I'd say it were something magical,” responded Shining Armor. The Princess nodded sagely behind him.
“So, in other words, nopony has a clue?” asked Catcha, clearly bored.
“Private Catcha-”
“It's all right, Second Lieutenant, she's correct. I fear we need more information before we will know best how to react,” said Princess Celestia, before walking over to one of the seats overlooking the opera, still playing. She sat down, next to Luna's empty seat.
“Second Lieutenant, I need to stay here in the royal box to protect Princess Celestia and the other guests. Since you three seem fine still, please find out what's going on with the other guards,” Shining Armor commanded. We saluted and left the royal box.
“So... any ideas where they actually went?” asked Catcha, who hadn't been paying much attention.
“A mystery, huh?” said Eye, with a grin.
“You like mysteries, Eye?” I was a little surprised by how well he was taking this turn of events. Earlier on I'd pegged him as a bit of a wallflower.
“Absolutely sir. It's part of the reason I joined the guards.” Eye rubbed his hooves together eagerly. He seemed a lot more engaged at the thought of a mystery than simply patrolling.
“So, did you see where they went?” asked Catcha, amused by Eye's excitement.
“They looked like they were heading outside.”
“So, what should we do LT?” asked Catcha.
“We should check outside.” - GO TO [33]
“We should check around to see if we're really the only guards left.” - GO TO [39]
“Anypony else find it suspicious that this all started after Luna ran out? Perhaps we should try to find her... just to rule it out, of course.” - GO TO [17]
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[6]
“I see. I thank you for being honest with me... but I simply cannot accept that Luna would do this,” responded Celestia, turning away. I could have been mistaken, but... I swear I saw a tear in her eye as she spoke and she looked a little deflated. Shining Armor was giving the both of us a very stern look. I decided to try and defuse the situation.
“I... don't like the idea either, Princess. Whether or not anypony actually believes it, we still need to find her though, right?” I asked, still worried I'd angered Celestia.
“Yes, you do. Find my sister, and prove her innocence,” commanded Celestia. Catcha and I saluted, then set off to find Luna.
GO TO [21]
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[7]
While LT continued to recount his tale to Canary, Catcha looked around, bored. Something caught her eye and she peeked each way consiprationally, before leaning closer, whispering.
"I'm on to you, you know," she whispered, with a wink "You shouldn't be reading this one because nothing links to it, so you're probably reading them in order. Shame on you; at least have the decency to cheat properly, playing through and then backing up if or when you mess up." she added with a wry grin. She glanced back over to LT, checking to see that he was continuing the story, before leaning closer again. "If you're curious about why we're out here, I'd look up Cometstorm if I were you. Well... I wouldn't, I don't like reading... though it might be a game... I like games..." Catcha trailed off, lost in thought. LT turned towards her, confused.
"Who're you talking to, Catcha?" he asked, looking around her.
"Oh, no one LT," she replied, before leaning closer one more time. "Here, have a torch. When you need it, you'll know why." she whispered before she got up and moved closer to LT.
"What was that about?" asked LT, perplexed.
"Oh, nothing really. I mean, nothing links to this scene, so it's not cannon, which is good because I can't really break the fourth wall like that."
"Like what?" responded LT, now more confused.
"What? Like what what?" answered Catcha, as though she'd forgotten what he was talking about.
"I... oh, never mind," sighed, knowing it was too far gone now to get a rational answer out of her.
"Alright, alright, so what happened next?" asked Canary, who'd only been paying a little attention to this distracting aside.
"Well we... uh... argh, you made me lose my place!" complained LT, exasperated.
"Maybe that just means you should restart?" suggested Catcha. LT gave an annoyed snort.
"I suppose I should," he conceded, shooting Catcha a quick scowl. "Can you please not interrupt me like that this time though?" he pleaded.
"Well... I wouldn't hold your breath LT... it makes it hard to talk, for one thing." added Catcha, looking away distracted by the thought, as LT started over.
GO TO [1]
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[8]
“Pfft, and let you have all the fun?” asked Catcha, laughing.
“We're not about to just abandon you out here,” I added. Keen Eye sighed.
“Well, somepony needs to report back to the captain you know. I'll be fine. Besides, there's got to be a reason they stopped here. If I can solve that mystery, maybe it'll help us work out what's going on,” added Keen Eye.
“Hmm... I guess you're right... but you leave at the first sign of trouble, all right?”
“Got it sir. You won't see me for dust,” joked Keen Eye with a grin.
“That's what I like to hear. Come on Catcha, I guess we'd best report back then.”
“Oh, I figure you guys may need this more than me, I always carry a spare,” added Keen Eye, throwing a torch to us as we left.
“Thanks Keen Eye!” I called back as Catcha and I hurried back to the opera house.
GO TO [2]
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[9]
Ah, yes, of course we did. With the torch, it was pretty easy to navigate out way around the assault course the fake janitor had left for us. The bigger challenge was the door itself – sealed by magic from the outside.
“Hmm... I can still feel a breeze, can you LT?” asked Catcha, suddenly serious.
“Now that you mention it, yeah, I can... there must still be a way out!” I realised aloud. Catcha was already ahead of me, and quickly found the air vent with the torch.
“After you, LT,” said Catcha, flying slightly to the side of the vent.
“... you just want me to go through first so it's slightly less dirty when you crawl through,” I sighed.
Catcha laughed. “Boy, you're good!” I flew up and entered the vent first. It was tight, but thanks to some pushing from Catcha, we both made it through.
“Right, let's see... it looks likely that Prima Cavallo was kidnapped, so maybe Luna's actor, Dusk, was too?” I asked Catcha.
“Luna! That's it!” exclaimed Catcha.
“What's it?” I asked, confused.
“That's who the janitor kinda sounded like,” responded Catcha. We both took a moment to realise what this implied. I wasn't sure whether to bring it up with Catcha, or to ignore it.
Bring it up – GO TO [14]
Ignore it – GO TO [19]
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[10]
We went to check out the situation in the main stores warehouse. While it was large, it was pretty well organised, so didn't take too long to check.
“Ooooh, more costumes!” exclaimed Catcha, looking in one of the boxes.
“Private, why are you so enamoured with costumes?” If I could at least get to the bottom of that, perhaps her actions would make more sense. With Catcha, I'll admit that's a long shot, but it was all I had.
“Well... I never got much chance to dress up as a child, so costumes are still really cool. Hey, look, there's a mariachi band costume in here... can we dress up, LT?” asked Catcha.
“Maybe for Nightmare Night. Now, come on. It looks all clear in here, so we should get back.”
On the way out, Catcha stopped. “Oooh, a torch. That might come in handy.”
“Don't just pick things up Catcha, somepony else probably needs that.”
“They can find their own, this one's mine.”
“It probably is their own... oh, you know what, fine,” I sighed in exasperation. “Come on, let's just get back on patrol.”
Go back the way we came? - GO TO [55]
Go and check in with the actors? - GO TO [22]
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[11]
We snuck up to the royal box, fobbing off the guards that we passed with some excuse about being summoned by the captain. We peered round the door to the box and we could see both sisters, just as the first song began.
“Why are we being played by a colt?” sniffed Luna.
“I think they wanted to find somepony with a powerful voice,” replied Celestia, watching the performance.
“Those wings are obviously fake. Ours are nothing like that... are they?” asked Luna, self-consciously trying to look at her wings.
“Your wings are beautiful Luna,” replied Celestia, trying to watch the opera unfold but glancing at her sister with a hint of concern. Luna was silent for a while and Celestia relaxed, as both listened intently to the song. It began with a lament that the ponies of Equestria shunned her lovely nights, but as it shifted more towards resentment and self-assured self-righteousness, Luna looked uncomfortable.
“That's... that's not... I didn't mean to... it wasn't...” she pleaded to Celestia fidgeting, obviously agitated.
“It's artistic licence, Luna. It's not meant to hurt or insult, please, calm down,” said Celestia, gently, turning to face her. There was a hint of sadness in her eyes, despite the fact she was obviously trying to hide it from her younger sister.
“... they never liked us, or our night... now they'll hate us!” said Luna, tears in her eyes. She stood up and started pacing a little.
“Luna, nopony hates you. Please, sit down. Try to relax and enjoy the show. I know that the writer cares deeply for your feelings – he'd be upset to see you so disturbed,” added Celestia, standing up. She walked over to her sister to try and comfort her, distressed that her sister was distraught.
“... We need some air.” Luna bolted for the door before her sister reached her. She barrelled past us, down the stairs. We looked back to see Celestia shaking her head at Captain Armor, who had tried to follow her.
“Let her go, Shining Armor. She thought that she had resolved this, but she's still quite sensitive about the whole incident,” said Celestia, a look of concern on her face.
We decided to go back to our duties, so started to make our way back. We were about halfway back when we noticed there were very few guards around. I spotted one in the distance, who was just shambling along. I could tell that something was wrong.
“So, what was wrong?” asked Canary, impatiently.
“Hold on, I'm getting there,” replied LT as Catcha started drawing stick ponies in ash to try and put him off. “As I saw it, we had two choices – we could go and find Captain Armor, or we could directly ask one of the guards what was going on.” added LT, ignoring Catcha's attempts to put him off so that she could tell the story.
“So, what did you do?” asked Canary.
“We went back to see the captain.” - GO TO [5]
“We asked one of the other guards, since the one ahead of us had just left.” - GO TO [13]
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[12]
Without a moment to lose, Catcha and I sprinted up the stairs, into the Opera House. The shield closed behind us moments later, with an audible pop.
“Whew... any closer and I think we would have lost some feathers on that one!” said Catcha, making sure quickly that she had them all. I nodded, examining the shield.
“I don't think it's as strong as Captain Armor's, but it looks like it'll be far too tough for us to break,” I commented, poking at the shield with a hoof.
“Yeah, it'd take an army to get through the Captain's shield, right?” asked Catcha, with surprising foresight. Needless to say, when we eventually found out she was right earlier this year, we weren't exactly pleased about it.
“Probably, Private Catcha. For now though, we should focus on informing the Captain about what's happened.”
We rushed up the stairway, towards the royal box. I was surprised to see a group of Canterlot officers standing on guard outside.
“Halt, who goes there?” commanded a lieutenant with the bushiest moustache I've ever seen.
“Second Lieutenant-” I began, as Catcha interrupted.
“Private Arrow Catcha, sir!” said Catcha, very loudly. By the sounds of it from the main hall, they were taking a brief intermission between Acts One and Two.
“Humph, and where have you been while we dealt with all this mess?” asked the moustachioed lieutenant, when the door to the royal box opened.
“At ease Lieutenant Brass Tacks. These two are reporting directly to me. What happened to Private Keen Eye?” asked Captain Armor, sounding concerned.
“He's outside, watching over the guards who walked out sir,” I responded.
“Sir, are we in the middle of a zombie apocalypse?” asked Catcha, walking round on her hind legs and waving her hooves around as she imagined a zombie to walk. Shining Armor laughed and shook his head.
“I don't think so. Perhaps they just ate something that disagreed with them?” suggested Shining Armor, obviously trying to downplay his concern with a joke and a strained smile.
“Could be, sir,” I responded, as neutrally as possible. “Where did the lieutenant and the others come from? I don't think I saw them on the way in.”
“I sent for some backup. Their unit was nearby,” replied Shining Armor.
“We should have another dozen guards here by the time Act Two's started,” Lieutenant Brass Tacks put in proudly.
“Can they dig?” asked Catcha flatly.
“Dig?” asked Brass, confused.
“Yeah... there's kind of a shield around us now,” Catcha explained.
“Shield? That's preposterous!” said Brass, annoyed.
“I'm afraid it's true sir, we were lucky not to get trapped outside,” I added.
“What? This I have to see. Come on men!” said Brass, rushing down the stairs.
“Hmm... this may be more serious than I imagined,” mused Shining Armor. “Did you come across Luna while you were searching?”
“Yes sir.” - GO TO [48]
“I'm afraid not sir.” - GO TO [29]
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[13]
We hurried as quickly as possible towards the nearest guard, finding one slowly ascending the staircase leading out of the main crowd area. We waited for him just outside. I could already tell there was something wrong with him – he looked right through us as though he could see some other plane of existence. There was something about the expression that sent a shiver down my spine.
He shuffled silently past us, apparently completely unaware even of our presence. I began to have second thoughts about bothering the guards, especially this one. I'd met him once before and back then he was as boisterous a pony as you'd care to meet. Seeing him moving like this, his steps out of synch, no awareness in his eyes, like the life had been drained from him, it made my mane stand on end.
“You're not really going through with this, are you?” asked Catcha, obviously sharing my concern.
“Yes, of course.” - GO TO [4]
“... I'm not so sure that's really a good idea. Let's try talking with the Captain first.” - GO TO [5]
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[14]
“Oh sweet Celestia, you don't think...” I asked, trailing off, unwilling to finish the sentence. I looked away, unwilling to make eye contact, but still caught a slight twitch on Catcha's face, which she immediately hid.
“I try not to,” replied Catcha, brightly.
“Catcha-”
“All right, sorry... I was trying to lighten the mood... I don't think it was Luna... I mean, last time she went like that, she went all Nightmare Moon, so why would she be subtle this time?” asked Catcha
.
“... is it wrong that when you say something logical, the fact that you're the one to say it makes it sound less logical?” I asked, concerned for my sanity.
“Haha, you're silly LT,” said Catcha. I'm still not sure whether she got the accidental insult.
“I did, but I didn't really care. You know me well enough to know that by now, surely?” asked Catcha, laughing.
“Hah, true. You're not logical, but at least you know it, right?” laughed LT. Catcha grinned.
“Absolutely.”
“All right, all right, so what did you guys do next?” asked Canary, clearly keen to continue the story.
“We went after the janitor.” - GO TO [37]
“We went to check on Dusk Sonata.” - GO TO [36]
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[15]
No, this was our first time in the dressing room. It was like stepping into a warzone, only with more greasepaint. Everypony was running around like headless chickens, so I naturally assumed that they'd found out about the shield. I decided to try and calm them down.
“Hey, hey, everypony, calm down! We're working on the problem!” I shouted, standing on a box.
“You found them?” asked one of the actor ponies excitedly. The others stopped panicking and listened intently.
“Uh... them?” I asked, unsure what they were referring to.
“Luna and Celestia?” asked another actor.
“We're looking for Luna, but Celestia's up in the box,” said Catcha, as confused as I was.
“What's she doing up there?” asked an actor angrily.
“Well, where else would she be?” asked Catcha, genuinely confused.
“On stage in about five minutes for one thing!” replied the first actor. A moment passed in silence.
“I... don't think we're talking about the same Princess Celestia, are we?” I asked carefully.
“Oh, you mean the actual one, rather than the drama queen,” said the first actor sadly. There was a moment of silence, before the other actors and stagehooves started panicking again.
“Wait, you've lost two of your leads?” I asked, aghast.
“What did you think we were panicking about?” asked the first actor.
“Well, the huge shield trapping everyone in the building for one thing,” I responded curtly.
“There is? All right everypony, settle down, they must be in the building somewhere at least,” said the actor we'd been talking with, waving his hooves to the panicking ponies. They slowed down their panicked running, looked at each other and shared an embarrassed laugh before they started picking up scripts and rehearsing their lines for the next act.
“The shield's a good thing?” I asked, confused by what had just happened.
“Last time Prima Cavallo disappeared, she was halfway to Baltimare before anypony found her. If she's in the building still, there's a good chance that we can find her... though maybe not in five minutes,” conceded the actor, leaning his head on his hoof contemplatively, how brow furrowed with worry.
“You guys need to keep the show going – if everypony starts panicking, it could turn ugly,” I ordered, knowing that this was the last thing we wanted. I placed a hoof on the actor's shoulder to calm him down.
“Sure, sure, but could you go look for them for us?” asked the actor, pulling himself together.
“That's fine. Where did they go?” I asked.
“Our Celestia, Prima Cavallo, strode off towards the east storage warehouse, where the sets are kept. Our Luna, Dusk Sonata, was looking quite upset and walked off towards the main entrance. Poor thing, Dusk really looked up to Prima Cavallo,” added the actor.
“Thanks, we'll find them for you as soon as we can,” I replied, walking away from the dressing room with Catcha.
“So, where're we going first?” asked Catcha.
“We're heading for the set stores on the east side for Prima Cavallo.” - GO TO [35]
“We're going to find Dusk Sonata, by the main entrance.” - GO TO [24]
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[16]
We carried on towards the east wing and a few moments later, Catcha caught us up.
“Is it packed out there?” asked Keen Eye.
“Uh-huh. Seriously, I don't think I've ever even seen so many fancy-looking ponies in one place!” exclaimed Catcha.
“Calm down, Catcha – just wait until you have to guard the Grand Galloping Gala. It sounds like it started while you were over there. Were there many guards out there?” I asked, knowing that there should be about twenty when the opera started.
“No, actually... and those that were there looked like they were slowly leaving,” replied Catcha cautiously as each of us realised that there was something wrong.
“So, what was wrong?” asked Canary, impatiently.
“Hold on, I'm getting there,” replied LT as Catcha started drawing stick ponies in ash to try and put him off. “As I saw it, we had two choices – we could go and find Captain Armor, or we could directly ask one of the guards what was going on.”
“So, what did you do?” asked Canary.
“We went to find the captain.” - GO TO [5]
“We asked one of the other guards.” - GO TO [13]
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[17]
We looked high and low for Princess Luna, throughout the opera house. Catcha flew up to the rafters to search, while Keen Eye and I searched everywhere we thought that anypony looking for some solitude might hide out, but we still came up with nothing. By the time we were done searching, it sounded as though the first act was almost over. The fact that we couldn't find Luna didn't help to ease our suspicions. We still hadn't come across any other guards, even after all that searching. We knew that all the guards had to be outside, and it was possible Luna would be too.
Try to find Luna outside? - GO TO [28]
Look for the guards outside? - GO TO [33]
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[18]
Leaving a confused Keen Eye in my wake, pacing back and forth worriedly, I followed Catcha over to the curtain, just as the first act began. Just before the lights went down, I could see hundreds of Canterlot's elite, along with the rows of guards at the side. The lights went down, and the first song began, the male actor playing Luna striding out to the centre of the stage. He started to sing. While it was odd to see a male version of Luna for a moment, with obviously fake wings, soon his soothing voice made you forget you were listening to anyone but Luna herself, lamenting the fact that her beautiful night was unappreciated by the citizens of Equestria. The song took a sudden change, with her lament quickly turning to slight resentment and bitterness, before she was self-assured that she was taking the righteous path, rallying those that agreed with her into an army.
As the song ended, I looked up to the royal box, and noticed that Luna had left. As the actors got ready for the next song, I looked around, and noticed that most of the guards had left, and those that remained were walking slowly towards the exit. I could tell right away that something was wrong.
“So, what was wrong?” asked Canary, impatiently.
“Hold on, I'm getting there,” replied LT as Catcha started drawing stick ponies in ash to try and put him off. “As I saw it, we had two choices – we could go and find Captain Armor, or we could directly ask one of the guards what was going on,” added LT, ignoring Catcha's attempts to put him off so that she could tell the story.
“So, what did you do?” asked Canary.
“We went to find the captain.” - GO TO [5]
“We asked one of the other guards” - GO TO [13]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[19]
Catcha and I avoided eye contact as we continued trying to work out what we should do next.
“That doesn't sound like you guys,” said Canary, bemused.
“We didn't know each other very well back then, and we were suspecting the recently-returned Princess Luna of kidnapping and Celestia knows what else. It was pretty heavy at the time,” explained LT.
“Was that why? I thought you had something in your teeth,” said Catcha, sounding a little confused. LT sighed and shook his head.
“All right, all right, so what did you guys do next?” asked Canary, clearly keen to continue the story.
“We went after the janitor.” - GO TO [37]
“We went to check on Dusk Sonata” - GO TO [36]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[20]
I decided that we had to give Keen Eye some backup, and that if we were outside, we could at least go for help. On the face of things, it seemed like the perfect plan really. There was just one flaw – the shield was pretty much impenetrable.
“Sounds pretty bad! How did you guys get back in?” asked Canary. LT looked like he was about to respond, but then stopped.
“Hmm... you know, I'm not so sure if I know...” responded LT with a puzzled look on his face.
GO TO [49]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[21]
We searched frantically everywhere we could think of. We asked the patrols looking for the shield pony whether they'd seen any trace of her whenever we passed them, but none had. Catcha had started calling out for her... though I wasn't sure whether she wanted to find her or pet her.
“Princess Luuuuuna. Here princess-princess-princess!” she called, making occasional squeaking noises.
“What're you doing, Catcha?” I asked. I could already tell I probably wouldn't enjoy the answer.
“Well, when I was younger, we had a cat, and she always came running when I did that. It'd be even better if we had a can opener.”
I sighed.
“Catcha, I really don't think that-” I began, as we caught sight of Princess Luna. She noticed us, and started to run away. Catcha and I gave chase.
“See?” asked Catcha as we ran.
“This proves nothing.”
Luna went round a corner and we followed as closely as possible. The only place she could have gone was into a darkened room at the end of the corridor, so Catcha and I gave chase. The door shut behind us with a click, followed by a clunk as something heavy was wedged against the door. I turned on the torch, to find that there was no other way out of the room.
“Hahaha, poor mortals – perhaps somepony will let you out eventually,” laughed Luna on the other side of the door. I could swear I heard some gleeful hoof rubbing, before she laughed maniacally, the laughter growing softer as she skipped away merrily, leaving us trapped in the dark room.
“Oh boy! How did you guys get out of that one?” asked Canary excitedly. LT looked like he was about to speak, but had forgotten what he was about to say.
“Ah... hmm... you know, I'm not so sure we did...” responded LT.
GO TO [49]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[22]
As we approached the dressing rooms, there was a loud argument going on inside. Catcha, Eye and I exchanged a glance, before breaking into a run.
“All right everypony, what's going on!?” I demanded, bursting in. An actor in a Luna's Guard costume turned to me, looking utterly fed up.
“She's lost her shoes,” he sighed.
“Beg pardon?” I asked, taken aback by the level of overreaction.
“She's lost her shoes. She'll be fine. They'll be in her room. Again,” added the actor, rolling his eyes.
“This happens a lot, uh...?” I asked, feeling that I should know the actor's name.
“Second Fiddle. It does. Every time,” he responded as the commotion reached its peak.
“It's horrible, DREADFUL! Somepony must have stolen them!” cried the actress dressed as Celestia.
“She may be dressed as a princess, but she's definitely acting like a drama queen,” whispered Catcha. I nodded, trying not to smirk. I'd heard that actors were a hoof full, but this seemed a little extreme. Still, if this was the worst thing we had to deal with, we were in for an easy night.
“Oh, here they are. Move it, peons,” added the Celestia actress, instantly perking up. She walked past us and flicked me in the face with her tail. Her horn was quite clearly fake, even from a distance, but her wings were certainly real.
“Nice. She must be quite the actress if the director can put up with her,” I sniffed.
“Oh, yeah. Prima Cavallo does an excellent rendition of 'a pony that's actually a reasonable pony'.” snorted Second Fiddle, before cracking a smile. Catcha laughed, but Eye and I merely smiled at the wisecrack.
“Okay everypony, two minutes to curtain!” called a voice from over by the stage.
“Hmm... since it's about to start, do we really need to keep patrolling? Couldn't we go up to the royal box and see what the princesses are doing?” asked Catcha. I must admit, the proposition was tempting...
Too tempting to resist, really. We snuck off to the royal box. - GO TO [11]
But ultimately I resisted.
“Come on troops, we should get back to patrolling,” I added, leading Catcha and Eye towards the East wing. - GO TO [55]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[23]
Catcha and I kept our ears to the ground, trying to determine what the blue unicorn's plan was. We checked all the props and sets still to be used, but they seemed stable, and there was no sign of her either. We patrolled for about half an hour, before there was a lyrical sounding crash, followed by a bloodcurdling scream from somewhere far backstage. Catcha and I looked at each other, before rushing to the scene. By the time we got there, we could tell it was far too late. Prima Cavallo had had her wing crushed by a piano and had passed out from the excruciating pain. The blue unicorn responsible was already in the custody of several of the other guards, and was laughing maniacally.
“Hahahaha, you should see the look on all your pitiful little pony faces!” she cried, her head lolling around as though she had no control as the guards dragged her away.
“My loyal subjects, I have removed the imposter!” she said, mimicking Celestia's voice.
“Verily, we should have been chosen to play both parts!” she added in Luna's voice, before breaking out into manic laughter. A couple of medics rushed over to Prima Cavallo, while the rest of us just stood in silence, watching that insane unicorn break down.
“Without a Celestia, you can't possibly finish the opera... oh, boo-hoo, too bad... I told the director! I told him I was the only one perfect enough to play a princess like Celestia! Hahaha... I could play both Celestia and Luna – at the same time – with three hooves tied behind my back! HAHAHA! What do you foals think now? My name will live on forever!” she laughed, her eyes completely unfocussed and her pupils tiny, her body shaking with laughter as the guards dragged her outside.
She was right about one thing – without a Celestia, the finale, and the opera, was ruined. Despite our best efforts, it seemed like she'd won.
“Hmm... that's great and all, LT, but that sounds like it's the end?” asked Canary.
“Well, yeah, I guess so, why?” asked LT. Confused.
“Weren't you meant to be telling me about what happened to your wing?” asked Canary.
“Ah... ahaha... yeah, so, about that...” began LT.
GO TO [49]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[24]
We went to check on Dusk Sonata first. As we rounded the corner of the main entrance hall, we could tell that there was something wrong. For one thing, the lights were all out. I tried flicking one of the switches, but it seemed like the bulbs had blown, or, possibly even that the power had been cut. It was too dark to see down the stairs safely. We needed some sort of light source... oh, wait, did we pick up a torch?
Yes – GO TO [34]
No – GO TO [32]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[25]
Catcha and I flew into the air backstage, patrolling from above for any signs of our tricky blue unicorn culprit. After about thirty minutes, there was some movement up in the rafters, though it was well backstage, so shouldn't have had an impact on the opera. Boy, were we wrong. There was a lyrical crash, followed by a bloodcurdling scream from the ground near where we'd seen the movement in the rafters. We raced over there, in time to see the blue unicorn descending slowly. She landed just in front of Prima Cavallo, and was gloating about the piano she'd just dropped, crushing the actress' wing. The actress looked barely conscious from the pain by the time we arrived, more guards close behind.
“Hahahahahaha, poor mortal, you dared take one of the roles which could only be filled by one so talented as I!” she gloated as we arrived.
“All right, stay right there. You're surrounded,” I commanded, ready to charge at the first sign of trouble from her. To my surprise, she raised her hooves in submission.
“It's a fair cop. I'd say I'll come quietly, but that'd be a lie, I intend to sing the whole way,” she laughed.
“What? Why, after everything you put us through to find you, I was expecting a bit of a fight?” asked Catcha, confused.
“Oh, it's quite simple really – you see, the opera is ruined now. It really doesn't matter if you take me in now, I've already won!” she laughed.
“Well... I did notice a spare Princess Celestia costume earlier, while we were flying around... but I don't think it'd fit any of the actors right... but I know somepony it'd fit perfectly...” added Catcha, with an evil glint in her eye.
Naturally, she meant me.
I was forced to go out on stage, not knowing any of the lyrics or dance moves. Luckily, I was able to mime along to somepony else's voice. Still, when I glanced up at Celestia in the royal box, I could see the concern on her face. Luna seemed quite amused by the sudden switch at least. The rest of the audience seemed to think it was pretty funny, though ultimately the opera was considered a failure because of it.
“Hmm, would have loved to have seen that, LT! Haha. Wait, but what was it that happened to your wing then?” asked Canary, suddenly realising that LT's story hadn't actually covered that at all.
“Ah... hmm... you know, I'm not sure...” said LT quietly, glancing over at Catcha, who seemed to still be asleep.
“Tricksy unicorn...” muttered Catcha in her sleep.
“Phew, looks like she's asleep and didn't notice that I forgot,” sighed LT in relief. As soon as he said the word 'forgot', Catcha woke up and sat bolt upright.
GO TO [49]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[26]
“Where are we going LT?” asked Catcha, as I strode determinedly through the backstage with her in tow.
“Even if we're not protecting Prima Cavallo specifically, I still want to protect the other actors,” I responded. Catcha nodded.
“What's the plan then LT?” asked Catcha.
“...there's a load of guards on this level, right?” I asked, stopping to glance around.
“Hmm, guess so, LT, though they're all searching for the shield pony. If I had to comment on them, I'd call them 'background characters',” added Catcha.
“Huh?” I asked. Catcha shrugged. “Anyway... that means that if she wanted to attack the actors, she'd have to attack from above. Let's go up to the rafters and keep an eye on everypony from up there,” I suggested.
“Sure thing LT. I'm sure there's no way this could possibly go wrong,” added Catcha.
“I hope not,” I responded, worriedly, spreading my wings.
Catcha and I flew up to the rafters and followed any group of actors that was on the move from up there. It was pretty quiet for the first half hour or so, until Catcha and I noticed that somepony had lifted a grand piano up into the rafters, on quite a rickety-looking pulley. We went over to investigate, and noticed that Prima Cavallo was walking across below, towards the stage.
“Hey, isn't that-” began Catcha.
“Prima Cavallo, yeah, looks like it,” I responded.
“No, up there by the piano!” said Catcha quickly. I looked up and saw that it was the blue unicorn we'd been looking for, industriously sawing through the rope holding up the piano. I dived at her by the piano, while shouting to Prima Cavallo, who, of course, ignored me. The unicorn had nearly finished sawing through the rope when I tackled her. We both fell towards the ground, plummeting like a rock, just as the rope holding up the piano snapped.
“Wow, how on earth did you manage to survive that?” asked Canary, amazed.
“Erm... I'm really not so sure... uh... what exactly did happen?” asked LT, confused.
“Nyahw... splat,” chucked Catcha, only half awake.
“Hmm... she didn't notice I forgot?” asked LT, surprised. No sooner had he said the word 'forgot', than Catcha sprang upright, her eyes wide open.
GO TO [49]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[27]
“Y're in 'nough tr'ble as it is, aren't you?” I managed to say. My voice behind her obviously took her by surprise. I'll admit, trying to talk somepony out of something while barely being able to speak probably wasn't exactly the peak of my mental reasoning, but let's be honest, I'd just had a piano dropped on me – I think we can forgive that.
“What do you know? You don't know what I've sacrificed! How can I ever be satisfied if I don't finish what I started?” demanded the unicorn.
“'s nev'r too late t'go back,” I tried to reason, taking an unstable step towards her. She took a step back from me, disturbed I was still moving.
“I kidnapped a princess. I'd say that's probably crossing some sort of threshold,” she snapped, irritatedly. I gave this a moment's thought.
“Coul' be ri't. But... y'shoul' give up b'fo' it's too late,” I added, taking another ponderous step forward.
“Too late? Hah! For what? Who's going to stop me? You?” she laughed.
There was a cracking sound behind her, which seemed to be coming from the moustachioed Lieutenant Brass Tacks' neck as he stretched.
“I reckon I've got a good shot. What dya think?” he asked sinisterly, grabbing her as more guards rushed into the area. It looked like the shield had been removed, as there were faces I didn't recognise, along with some medics, who were rushing to me and Catcha. Before they got to me, I turned to Catcha to check on her.
“Hey... you 'lright?” I asked, still dazed. There was a look like a sudden moment of clarity on Catcha's face.
“Yeah... I am... thanks again,” replied Catcha.
“'gain?” I asked, before consciousness slipped from me.
Never did get what she meant by that... and it looks like she's fallen asleep now, so I guess I probably never will.
GO TO [56]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[28]
Catcha and I flew around the whole opera house, looking for the missing princess, but to no avail. It was actually more concerning at this point than anything. Wherever she was, she clearly didn't want to be found. I wasn't sure how I was going to break that to Shining Armor and Princess Celestia. At least while we were flying around we spotted the guards, walking away from the opera house. We gave chase and caught up with them.
GO TO [33]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[29]
“I'm afraid not sir. Didn't see her around anywhere.”
“I see. Well, we mustn't jump to conclusions, but she was upset earlier, so... keep an eye out for her. Let me know if you see her,” the Captain ordered.
“Sir, yes sir.” I replied, saluting.
“Now, let's see... if there's a shield around us, that means we're trapped here for now. To prevent a panic, the show will have to continue. Go to see the actors and tell them to carry on – I'm sure that they would have discovered the shield spell by now. I'll stay here to protect Princess Celestia, and everypony in the audience,” added Shining Armor. Catcha and I saluted, before heading off down to the dressing rooms.
“Hey, LT, did you say that we already went to the dressing rooms earlier?” asked Catcha slyly, obviously hoping to catch LT out so that she could take over the narration.
“Hmm, let's see...” said LT, trying to remember what he'd already said about the dressing rooms.
“Well, did you (GO TO [50]), or didn't you? (GO TO [15])” asked Catcha.
“... go to what?” asked LT, confused.
“Ah, don't worry about that, LT,” replied Catcha with a grin.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[30]
“Princess Luna, is that you?” I asked. Luna glanced down at the gag. Feeling a bit stupid, I pulled the scarf out of her mouth.
“Bleugh.. We do not believe that scarf has ever been washed. Could you untie us please?” asked Luna, looking a little disgusted.
“We will in a moment Princess, but... we have reason to believe there is an imposter of her highness in this building, so could you prove it's really you first,” I said.
“Oh? And how do you propose we do so?” asked Luna.
“Well-” I began, before I was interrupted by Catcha.
“Tell us a funny story about Celestia!” replied Catcha. Luna laughed.
“A funny story about our sister? Hmm... well...there was the time a pastry chef from across the sea came to Equestria, claiming that he could make a cake so large that nopony could possibly eat it, even with a hundred guests. Our sister managed it. Alone. She was poorly for a week. You could tell, because dawn was a little late, and the sun rose shakily,” reminisced Luna with a chuckle.
“All right... how does that prove she's Princess Luna, Catcha?” I asked uncertainly.
“Well... it's a funny story about Princess Celestia... it must be true, right?” asked Catcha.
“I... that... what?” I asked, completely unable to follow Catcha's train of thought.
“Well, an imposter would have had to think for longer, or probably would have said there weren't any. A sister always knows something embarrassing about her siblings, LT,” added Catcha with a grin.
“I... what... but... ... I guess you're right, that's the kind of thing a sister would know...” I responded uncertainly, “Now, let's get you untied your highness,” I added, as we released Luna from the chair.
GO TO [54]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[31]
“Princess Luna, is that you?” I asked. Luna glanced down at the gag. Feeling a bit stupid, I pulled the scarf out of her mouth.
“Bleugh.. We do not believe that scarf has ever been washed. Could you untie us please?” asked Luna, looking a little disgusted.
“We will in a moment Princess, but... we have reason to believe there is an imposter of her highness in this building, so could you prove it's really you first,” I said.
“Oh? And how do you propose we do so?” asked Luna.
“Well, a demonstration of the Royal Canterlot Voice should suffice,” I replied.
“YOU WISH FOR US TO DEMONSTRATE THE ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE?” questioned Luna, knocking both Catcha and I out of the office with the force of it.
“Ahh... yep... no mistaking that,” said Catcha, getting unsteadily to her feet. A little dazed, we both trotted over to Luna and released her from her constraints.
GO TO [54]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[32]
I really don't know how we'd missed picking up a torch, but it seemed like we were defeated by the dark stairs. Without any light, I couldn't even see to the bottom of them, let alone anything that was down there
“Hello? Anypony down there?” I called into the darkness. There was no reply, but that was about all I could really do at that point. I briefly considered stumbling down the stairs in the dark, clinging on to the railing, but what was I expecting to do when I got down there? Exactly the same on the way back up?
“I can't see any movement... then again, down there I don't think I'd see my hoof in front of my face,” said Catcha, squinting and waving a hoof in front of her face as a demonstration.
“I guess we should head back then, see if we can find Prima Cavallo,” I suggested, heading back to the doorway.
“Sure... feels like we're missing something here though,” added Catcha uneasily, glancing behind as she followed me out.
GO TO [35]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[33]
We caught up easily with the guards outside, since they were moving pretty slowly, just shambling along. They stopped suddenly and just milled around. They looked as vacant as before though, so we kept a little distance between us and them. It was pretty late by this point, so luckily there was nopony around. We watched them for a few minutes, but it seemed unlikely that they'd be moving for a while, as most of them sat down.
“If you want, I can stay here and keep watch while you and Catcha report back to Captain Shining Armor,” suggested Keen Eye.
Head back – GO TO [2]
Stay with Keen Eye – GO TO [8]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[34]
Of course we had a torch – I'm not completely unprepared you know. I turned it on, and we carefully walked down the stairs.
“Hello? Anypony down there?” called Catcha as we walked down. It was obvious that if anypony was, that they probably wanted some solitude. We got to the bottom of the stairs and looked around the foyer area.
“Doesn't look like we'll find anything down here Catcha. Let's-” I started, when Catcha put a hoof to my lips.
“Shh... there's somepony else here... somewhere. Give me the torch,” commanded Catcha. I relinquished the torch to her immediately, without even thinking about it. I'd only known her for the day, but I could already tell that it meant something when she was being serious.
Catcha sniffed the air, and then put her ear to the ground. She paced back and forth a little, before she broke into a charge. Unsure what was going on, I followed close behind her. Catcha barrelled through a potted plant, breaking into an alcove on the other side and peppering it with debris from the plant. There was Dusk Sonata, hog-tied, blindfolded and gagged. Despite now having a sorry-looking de-potted flower on his horn, he looked glad to see us. I removed the gag, while Catcha untied him.
“What happened?” I demanded.
“I... it was... it was Princess Luna... it sounded like she was angry that they'd gotten a colt to play her. She even ripped my wings off, and called them 'tacky'. I never meant to upset her, I... we all... we all wanted to show the sympathetic side of what happened... we care about her.” The unicorn was distraught and seemed to be having a little trouble breathing. He unsteadily stood up, shaking from the shock still, before he promptly collapsed, unable to take his own weight.
“I'm sure that's true. Did she say anything else, like where she was going next?” I asked urgently.
“I don't... wait... yes, she did! She mentioned something about the props warehouse. I'm sure that's where she went!”
“We were just heading to the set stores warehouse to find Prima Cavallo,” I replied.
“Wait a second, it's a different warehouse to that. It's out the back of the main stores warehouse. The entrance is normally partially hidden by a load of costumes,” added Dusk.
“All right, thanks. We'll escort you back to the dressing room, since you seem a bit shaken.”
“Thanks... I don't think I'd make it otherwise,” responded Dusk, only half joking. I lifted him up onto my back and carried him back to the dressing rooms, while Catcha tried to calm him down and lift his spirits by joking with him, leaving me to do the heavy lifting.
He was welcomed warmly back by the other actors when we arrived. By the sound of it, he was only going to have a minute to compose himself to go out on stage. Oddly, he didn't seem to mind, and even in the few minutes I was carrying him for he'd regained a lot of composure. He was breathing normally again, and was able to stand. I guess after his ordeal, the stage didn't seem as intimidating. Catcha and I carried on to the main stores warehouse.
GO TO [40]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[35]
We rushed to the east wing and easily found the set warehouse. There were all kinds of gigantic props packed away in there from various productions. Just outside one of the castles, we ran into a janitor.
“Excuse me, have you seen anypony dressed like Princess Celestia around here?” I asked.
“Oh yes. I saw her go into that one,” said the janitor, pointing at the model of Canterlot Castle behind us.
“Thanks, we owe you one,” I replied as Catcha and I started up the steps.
“Oh, don't worry about it. Muahahahahaha!” replied the janitor. If we weren't in a hurry, I probably would have questioned that maniacal laugh a little more.
“Was it just me, or was that janitor very effeminate?” asked Catcha.
“You do get female janitors you know,” I responded as we forced the door open and looked around inside the castle set.
“She also sounded kinda familiar,” mused Catcha.
“Hmm, she did a bit... I don't see any sign of Prima,” I added distractedly, hunting through the darkened walls and doors, treading carefully.
“Perhaps our princess is in another castle? Wait a sec, isn't that one of Celestia's shoes?” asked Catcha, pointing out something shining in the corner. We rushed over to the corner, and it was clear that there were signs of a struggle – a discarded shoe, a crumpled false horn and a couple of broken white feathers. At that moment, we noticed the room was getting darker. Running back to the castle's entrance, we saw the door to the warehouse was being closed by magic from the janitor, who was laughing maniacally.
“Hmm... you know, on reflection, I'm not so sure she really is a janitor,” said Catcha. I gave her a sideways glance in disbelief, before we both broke into a run before it was too dark to see anything.
We were halfway to the door, and could see the fake janitor had set traps for us as the door shut. The floor was littered with caltrops, and there were wires between several of the sets which made flying impractical in the dark. Without any light, it would be pretty tricky to get through. Let's see, did we pick up a torch?
Yes – GO TO [9]
No – GO TO [42]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[36]
After failing to find Prima Cavallo at the set warehouse, we went to the main entrance to try and find the Luna actor. The stairway was dark, but we still had a torch. I turned it on, and we carefully walked down the stairs.
“Hello? Anypony down there?” called Catcha as we walked down. It was obvious that if anypony was, that they probably wanted some solitude. We got to the bottom of the stairs and looked around the foyer area.
“Doesn't look like we'll find anything down here Catcha. Let's-” I started, when Catcha put a hoof to my lips.
“Shh... there's somepony else here... somewhere. Gimme the torch,” commanded Catcha. I relinquished the torch to her immediately, without even thinking about it. I'd only known her for the day, but I could already tell that it meant something when she was being serious.
Catcha sniffed the air, and then put her ear to the ground. She paced back and forth a little, before she broke into a charge. Unsure what was going on, I followed close behind her. Catcha barrelled through a potted plant, breaking into an alcove on the other side with a shower of soil, ceramic and plant matter. There was Dusk Sonata, hog tied, blindfolded, gagged and now covered in mud. Despite having some potted plant over him, he looked glad to see us. I removed the gag and blindfold, while Catcha untied him.
“What happened?” I demanded.
“I... it was... it was Princess Luna... it sounded like she was angry that they'd gotten a colt to play her. She even ripped my wings off, and called them 'tacky'. I never meant to upset her, I... we all... we all wanted to show the sympathetic side of what happened... we care about her.” The unicorn was clearly distraught from his ordeal.
“I'm sure that's true. Did she say anything else, like where she was going next?” I asked urgently.
“I don't... wait... yes, she did! She mentioned something about the props warehouse. I'm sure that's where she went!” said Dusk.
“We were just in the main stores warehouse, looking for Prima Cavallo,” I replied.
“Not the main stores warehouse, the props warehouse. It's out the back of the main stores warehouse. The entrance is normally partially hidden by a load of costumes, right at the back,” added Dusk helpfully.
“All right, thanks. We'll escort you back to the dressing room, since you seem a bit shaken,” I suggested as reassuringly as I could.
“Thanks... I'm surprised I can walk. I guess it's lucky I had a while on my own to get over the initial shock,” joked Dusk.
We walked him back to the dressing rooms, Catcha on one side of him and I on the other, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. He was welcomed back warmly by the other actors and by the sound of it, he was only going to have a minute to compose himself to go out on stage. Oddly, he didn't seem to mind. I guess it was probably only half as frightening as the rest of his day. Having found one of our missing actors, Catcha and I carried on to the main stores warehouse.
GO TO [40]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[37]
Catcha thought that she had a decent enough trail to follow from our kidnapper, which meandered all round the opera house. Eventually, we ended up in the main stores warehouse. While Catcha was a little distracted by the costumes in the warehouse, she was still remarkably focused. I figure part of it was to avoid having to really consider the gravity of the situation.
“Pretty much. I didn't want to even consider who we were tracking or why, which I can't do if I'm focused,” chipped in Catcha.
“As you can probably tell, Catcha doesn't normally mind considering those things,” added LT.
“Excuse me? I make it a point to consider them. What if I ended up tracking the wrong pony?” she exclaimed, aghast.
“All right... so what happened next? Did you find her?” asked Canary.
“After quite a while of searching, we still had no idea where she was. In the end, we had to give up and see if we could get any more leads by finding the Luna actor,” replied LT.
GO TO [36]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[38]
After asking around some of the theatre staff, we managed to find the way down to the basement of the opera house. Luckily, Catcha had stolen the keyring from earlier, which included a key to get into the basement.
“Man, this is pretty spooky... and kinda moist... ugh, and sticky? I'm not sure I even want to know...” said Catcha as we wandered around in the wide basement, holding up the torch.
“Come on Catcha. We need to check around for the princess,” I responded. She had a point though, it was pretty unpleasant down there.
“Why don't we ask that pony in the mask if he's seen the princess?” asked Catcha, pointing to a masked pony, who started playing a mouth organ.
“Hello?” I called, causing him to jump. As we got closer, I could see he was a unicorn, and under his cape appeared to be a guard's uniform.
“Hey, how come you didn't end up going screwy like the other guards?” demanded Catcha, ever the diplomat. The pony looked really shifty, then pointed behind us.
“Oh, right, like I'll fall for that,” I responded, laughing.
“Well well well... I knew there was something off about you two!” declared the Brass Tacks. Catcha and I spun round slowly.
“Uh... what?” asked Catcha. I'll admit, I was as lost as her.
“We followed you two down to the basement, and it turns out that this is probably where the shield's coming from. Coincidence? I think not,” declared Brass Tacks with a smug smirk on his face.
“Wh-what? But what about that pony?” I asked, pointing back where the masked pony was stood.
“Delusional as well as a traitor? I can't say I'm surprised,” sniffed Brass, twirling his moustache. Catcha and I turned back to look where I was pointing, finding only empty space.
“Hmm... maybe he was a phantom?” suggested Catcha.
“Look, neither of us are even unicorns!” I protested.
“Maybe not, but you're in this up to your ears. Come on guys, we'll get our answers out of them yet!” he added.
“Seems like a pretty intense situation. How'd you guys manage to convince them it wasn't you?” asked Canary, enraptured.
“Uh... we...kinda didn't... uhm... how DID we get out of that one?” asked LT.
GO TO [49]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[39]
We checked all around the opera house, but all we found were abandoned posts. We found a torch at one of them, and used that to help us look around, but it didn't help. Whatever had tried to get rid of the guards had been pretty thorough, though we still had no idea why we'd been spared, there were no clues anywhere. It's possible some were hiding in places that hadn't had any guards assigned to them, but checking all of those would take even longer, and we'd already wasted enough time. It seemed unlikely that Luna would be in any of those either, but she may still have been outside, so all we really knew at this point was that we were definitely going to be going outside.
Try to find Luna outside? - GO TO [28]
Look for the guards outside? - GO TO [33]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[40]
Now that we knew where it was, it didn't take us too long to find our way into the prop warehouse, behind almost a curtain of costumes. I was glad that we still had a torch, since it was pretty dark back there.
As we stumbled around, Catcha put a hoof in front of me at chest height. I stopped, and was about to say something when she lifted a hoof to her ear. I remained silent, and listened with Catcha. I could hear somepony whimpering but couldn't tell where exactly. Catcha had no such problem, and quickly lead us to a clearing in the props warehouse, where Prima Cavallo was imprisoned in a cage. We rushed over.
“You took your sweet time,” she said irritatedly.
“Uh... pardon?” I asked taken aback.
“Well, I've been trapped in this dirty old prop for minutes now. Minutes! I can't imagine it's doing any good for my mane,” she added, whipping her mane back and forth.
“Uh...” I started, unsure how to continue.
“Sorry, I can see you're busy complaining. Do you want us to come back later when you're free?” asked Catcha, clearly feeling as underappreciated as I did.
“No, no, it's fine. I'll have you release me now,” she responded, somehow totally missing Catcha's snideness. I sighed and looked around for a key to the padlock. There was a set of keys hanging up, so I tried each one in the lock until I found one to open the lock. The actress stepped out of the cage with a slight snort.
“All right, now, did you see who did this to you?” I asked, ignoring the fact she was yet to thank us at all.
“Oh, I was collecting my thoughts in the set warehouse, when Luna attacked me. I rather think she must have been jealous of my amazing singing talent. My amazing talent is as much a curse as a blessing,” she added with an overdramatic hoof across her face, perhaps attempting to feign modesty.
“Luna? Princess Luna, or the pony playing Luna? We heard you had a fight?” I added.
“A fight? Oh, that... I just told him what I thought of his acting talent and he got upset. Some ponies just can't accept constructive criticism,” she added with a flick of her mane. I couldn't help but feel that she was almost certainly one of those ponies. “It wasn't him, though I didn't get a good look at her, it was definitely a female. Unless his acting is better than I give him credit for. Which is unlikely. I'm overly generous as it is.”
I sighed, not quite believing that. Still, one thing was clear – between both actors, it sounded like they'd been attacked by Luna, who may disapprove of the play to an almost ponycidal extent.
Catcha and I escorted Prima Cavallo back to the dressing room, while I tried to figure out what to do next.
As I figured it, we could either go looking for Luna directly (GO TO [45]),
or we could report back what we'd found to the Captain first (GO TO [3]).
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[41]
Catcha and I flew up into the rafters. We searched all the dark places we could find, until we saw a sliver of light coming from what we'd assumed was a wall. We approached cautiously, and shining the torch over it, we found there was a door. On the other side of the door was a small room. It looked like it'd been used for storage years ago, but it seemed like it'd been mostly forgotten since. The light was coming from a small skylight, moonlight bathing the room. Somehow, I think we both instinctively knew that if Luna were to be anywhere in the opera house, it would be here.
There were hoofprints in the dust, and an imprint suggesting that somepony with wings had sat down here. Catcha noticed that the hoofprints lead off towards the stairs, so we followed them down. We were a little surprised to find that we were, in fact, back in the prop warehouse, or at least on a gantry overlooking it.
“Hey LT, wasn't that the cage Prima Cavallo was in?” asked Catcha, pointing down at the clearing we were in earlier.
“Hmm, you're right... I wonder... does that mean we were watched rescuing her?” I mused quietly.
“Probably not... I mean, if they saw us, they'd have tried to stop us, right?” asked Catcha. I nodded slowly in agreement. The more we looked into this, the more confusing things became. There was an office at the end of the gantry.
“Hmm, looks like it's locked,” I said, backing up to take a run-up at it.
“Hold on LT, the key's probably on here,” said Catcha, producing the keys from earlier.
“When did you pick those up?” I asked.
“Oh, I just thought they might come in handy, so I grabbed them when I saw them,” responded Catcha, nonchalantly .
“I'm pretty sure that's theft,” I reprimanded her.
“Oh, you don't want the door open?” asked Catcha, innocently.
“Fine, but just this once,” I responded with a roll of my eyes. Another precedent I knew I'd regret.
Catcha grinned and quickly found they key to open the door. In the office, there were stacks of paperwork, a desk chair with a tied-up pony princess, several filing cabinets-
“Wait, wait... what was the second thing?” asked Canary, quizzically.
“Filing cabinets?” LT asked.
“That was the third. Between the paperwork and the cabinets,” said Canary.
“Oh, that'd be Luna tied to a chair,” replied LT.
“... and to think, sometimes I wonder why you and Catcha hang out...” muttered Canary.
LT laughed.
“Hah, sorry, just wanted to make sure you were paying attention.”
“That's mean, LT.” said Catcha, playfully nudging LT with a laugh.
“So, I take it you untied Luna?” asked Canary, trying to get them back on track.
“Of course, after we checked it was really her,” replied LT.
“How did you do that?” asked Canary.
“I asked her to use the Royal Canterlot Voice.” - GO TO [31]
“Catcha asked her for an embarrassing story about Celestia.” - GO TO [30]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[42]
Oh boy, how did we miss that? We fumbled around in the dark, and fortunately we made it across all the booby traps. However, when we got to the door on the other side, we could tell that it was magically locked from the outside. Catcha and I tried ramming it down, but the magic reinforcement held, so we just had to wait for help to arrive...
“How long did that take?” asked Canary, intrigued.
“Erm... you know, I'm not really sure... hmm... did we even get rescued from the warehouse, given that everypony was so busy...?” mused LT, quite curious himself.
GO TO [49]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[43]
“Can you guard the stage without disrupting the opera yourselves?” asked Shining Armor uncertainly. I'll admit, I was a little sceptical too, but this was what we'd determined we had to do.
“We'll find a way sir,” I responded as confidently as I could manage. Shining Armor nodded in approval. Catcha and I made our way down to the backstage area.
“Do you think she'll be coming from above or on the ground level?” asked Catcha.
“She's a unicorn – ground's most likely.” - GO TO [23]
“She may be a unicorn, but she's pretty tricky... I say above.” - GO TO [25]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[44]
When I say I stepped between her and Catcha, what I really mean is 'staggered'. Still, the fact that I was still able to move seemed to take the unicorn by surprise. She backed off a little, unsure what to make of the situation.
“I... I could easily take you down too!” she declared.
“Pro'ly,” I responded, as coherently as I could manage.
“It... it'd be easy!” she shouted.
“Piano di'n' do 't,” I replied. She backed away a little, probably thinking I was mad or something.
“What do you hope to gain by this?” she demanded.
“Time,” I responded.
“Time? For what?” she asked, as Lieutenant Brass Tacks placed a hoof on the back of her head.
“For this, I reckon,” he responded for me, as he and the rest of the guards took her into custody. It was clear that they'd gotten the shield down, as a couple of medics came rushing over to me. Before they got to me, I turned to Catcha to check on her.
“Hey... you 'lright?” I asked, still dazed. There was a look like a sudden moment of clarity on Catcha's face.
“Yeah... I am... thanks again,” replied Catcha.
“'gain?” I asked, before consciousness slipped from me.
Never did get what she meant by that... and it looks like she's fallen asleep now, so I guess I probably never will.
GO TO [56]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[45]
We tried to figure out where Luna would be likely to be. She was the Princess of the Night, so somewhere dark seemed quite likely. Since we had a torch, we could investigate all the nooks and crannies that we had yet to check.
We'd already looked most places on the main level though, so I decided we either needed to find a way up to the rafters (GO TO [41]),
or else we needed to go down into the basement. (GO TO [38]).
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[46]
I'm not really sure who was more surprised, her or I, when I barrelled into the back of her. I grappled with her for a minute, before she managed to get a hoof to my broken wing and twisted it, causing a new wave of agony to rock my body. All I could do at that point was just to collapse onto her. Luckily, I was quite a bit heavier than her, so my weight managed to distract her just long enough for backup to arrive. Lieutenant Brass Tacks grabbed hold of her, as he and a couple of other guards tackled her to the ground. Some of them weren't familiar, and there seemed to be medics rushing over to Catcha and myself, so I figured they'd gotten the shield down. Before they got to me, I staggered to my feet and turned to Catcha to check on her.
“Hey... you 'lright?” I asked as coherently as I could, still dazed. There was a look like a sudden moment of clarity on Catcha's face.
“Yeah... I am... thanks again,” replied Catcha.
“'gain?” I asked, before consciousness slipped from me.
Never did get what she meant by that... and it looks like she's fallen asleep now, so I guess I probably never will.
GO TO [56]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[47]
“I agree. I simply cannot accept that Luna would do this. Please, find my sister and prove her innocence,” commanded Celestia approvingly. I could be wrong, but it looked like our confidence in her sister had helped to reassure her.
“At once your highness,” I responded happily, saluting with Catcha.
“When Luna wants to be alone, she prefers somewhere high and dark. I suggest you start up in the rafters,” added Celestia. Catcha and I saluted once again, leaving.
GO TO [41]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[48]
“Yes sir. We found her in... uh...” I began...
“Wait, wait, wait... I thought you told me you hadn't seen Luna?” demanded Canary.
“Hmm... you know, I think you're right.” responded LT sheepishly.
GO TO [49]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[49]
Catcha's eyes lit up and she sprang to her feet.
“Yooooouuuuu forgot, didn't ya LT?” she asked, excitedly. LT sighed, knowing that there was no point trying to hide it.
“Yeah, I have no idea what happened next,” he replied.
“So, I can take over, riiiight?” asked Catcha, grinning.
“Knock yourself out Catcha.”
“Great! So, after that happened, there was this bright light, and a kinda 'sczhoom!' sound, and then there were space ponies everywhere...” started Catcha, beginning a night full of illogical and slightly insane tales.
BAD END. Fun, but bad end.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[50]
Anyway... yes, we'd already been to the dressing room earlier. As we approached, I could see that there was a bit of a panic going on amongst the actors. I noticed Second Fiddle and trotted over to see him.
“Hey, is everypony panicking about the shield?” asked Catcha, watching ponies running around.
“Shield? What shield?” asked Second Fiddle, perplexed.
“The one trapping us in the building?” I asked uncertainly.
“Oh, there is? Don't worry guys, she can't have left; there's a shield around the building!” called Second Fiddle to the running ponies who slowed down and laughed, relieved.
“Uh... not sure how that's a good thing. It's not just me, right LT?” asked Catcha, worried that she'd somehow misinterpreted events going on.
“No, it's definitely a bad thing,” I replied, looking at Fiddle. He turned back to us and smiled awkwardly.
“Ah, no, I can see that, it's just that our Celestia and Luna had a bit of a falling out at the end of the first act... kind of ironic really... anyway, they both stormed off. We're just relieved that they couldn't have gone too far,” he replied, looking a little awkward.
“You lost your main actors?” I asked, worried.
“It happens. The show must go on though; we'll find a way to cope.”
“I'm glad to hear that. Since nopony can get out, we really don't want the audience to start panicking, could end badly,” I added.
“Well, I'm not sure if we could keep them occupied forever, and we'll need everypony here to do so, which doesn't leave anypony to look for them.”
Even without him asking directly, the solution was obvious.
“We'll go and find your princesses. Where did they go?” I asked quickly.
“Our Celestia, Prima Cavallo, strode off towards the east storage warehouse, where the sets are kept. It can be a bit dark, so take this torch. Our Luna, Dusk Sonata, was looking quite upset and walked off towards the main entrance. Poor thing, Dusk always looked up to Prima Cavallo,” added the actor.
“Thanks, we'll find them for you as soon as we can,” I replied, walking away from the dressing room with Catcha.
“So, where're we going first?” asked Catcha.
“We're heading for the set stores on the east side for Prima Cavallo.” - GO TO [35]
“We're going to find Dusk Sonata, by the main entrance.” - GO TO [24]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[51]
“The princesses have to be our highest priority right now. She's already kidnapped Luna once, so she's capable of anything,” I added, standing to attention.
“Very well. Patrol around the royal box and make sure that she can't get to the princesses,” commanded Captain Armor. Catcha and I saluted and began to patrol around.
“Cool, so... when did she attack the royal box?” asked Canary.
“Huh? Oh, she never did,” replied LT, distractedly.
“Uh... okay then... so, what did happen?” asked Canary cautiously.
“Not much really. Shield was down before end of the opera at least, but Prima Cavallo was injured right before the finale, so the opera was kind of ruined,” replied LT brightly.
“Right... so, what happened to your wing then?” asked Canary.
“Oh... right... that... uhm... hmm... you know, it's funny, but I'm not really all that sure...” said LT embarrassedly. Catcha, who was half asleep, heard the uncertainty in his voice and chimed in with a gleeful giggle.
“Hmm, sounds like somepony's memory's not all that after all?”
“I... well...” LT responded, before looking down, conceding defeat.
GO TO [49]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[52]
“That does sound most likely if she's bitter about somepony getting the role instead of her,” responded Luna. Catcha and I nodded, then saluted.
“Don't worry – we'll keep everypony safe,” I said, before we headed off to the dressing rooms. They were as chaotic as ever before, though the actors we'd talked to before seemed to be in the first scene of the third act, so weren't around. We hung around for a few minutes, until Prima Cavallo returned from the stage.
“Oh, it's you. If you're here for an autograph, I'm afraid the queue starts outside,” said Prima Cavallo.
“Why you ungrateful little-” began Catcha, who looked like she was ready to swing at Prima Cavallo, until I caught her and covered her mouth with a hoof.
“What the private here means is... we have reason to believe that you're in danger. The same mare that kidnapped you seems likely to do so again,” I said quickly. Prima Cavallo looked bored.
“Oh, is that all? I'm a world famous actress – I have a lot of rabid fans,” said Prima Cavallo.
“I don't think she's a fan,” I responded carefully.
“Oh, nonsense. Everypony loves me. Even if everypony's also jealous of me.”
“We need to protect you, for the sake of the opera,” I said, starting to lose my patience.
“Ugh, as if anything could stop moi from performing. I don't even have an understudy, since it would imply I'm not perfect. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get my makeup touched up before the finale,” she added, flicking me in the face with her tail as she walked away.
“Do we really have to protect her LT?” asked Catcha, scowling.
“Yes, of course... no matter how much of a pain in the flank she is, she's still under our protection.” - GO TO [53]
“Ugh... she deserves whatever she gets. I've had enough. Let's go, Catcha.” - GO TO [26]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[53]
“But it doesn't sound like she even wants our protection LT,” said Catcha sceptically. While I was inclined to agree, I wasn't about to give up.
“Then we just need to find a way to protect her without her knowing,” I responded determinedly. Catcha seemed a little uncertain, when something caught her eye.
“Hey, is that a spare Princess Celestia costume?” she said out of the blue.
“Again? Catcha, this really isn't the time to be playing dress up,” I responded wearily.
“Oh, but it is this time LT. If we can't protect the one who's meant to be wearing that, maybe we can tempt the unicorn out of hiding with a fake one as bait?” suggested Catcha. I blinked twice before I could even process what she was saying – it sounded far too sensible for her.
“That's... actually a good plan, Catcha,” I conceded carefully.
“Great, now get changed,” commanded Catcha. I knew there had to be a catch.
“I thought you were the one who loved costumes?” I asked Catcha.
“I do, but this one's too big for me. You'll fill it out better, which is what we need.”
“... fine,” I responded with a sense of defeat. Catcha grinned. She grabbed the costume, then dragged me by the hoof.
“Great, let's get you into makeup – you need to look the part after all!” she exclaimed, grinning.
“Hahaha, I can't believe you agreed to that, LT!” laughed Canary.
“I know, hilarious, right?” responded LT, a little sourly.
“Totally. We'll have to bully you into a Celestia costume again at some point, right Catcha? Catcha?” asked Canary, looking round. It seemed that Catcha had gotten bored of waiting for her turn to usurp LT's storytelling, so had drifted off to sleep. LT sighed, before continuing with his story.
“The makeup girls were really helpful once we explained the situation to them. I was ready in about twenty minutes.”
Once I looked the part, I made my way towards the stage. We figured that if the unicorn was going to ambush one of the actors, it'd probably be away from the dressing room. Catcha was following behind at a little distance, watching for trouble. Unfortunately, as I crossed one of the larger backstage areas, trouble found us from above. There was a rushing of air, and time seemed to slow. I heard Catcha yelling something to me, but by then it was too late. The blue unicorn had dropped a grand piano on me. Because of the design of the Celestia costume, you had to keep your wings out while you wore it, which was exactly where it hit me.
I guess that was a lucky escape.
It didn't feel it at the time.
It felt like it happened in slow motion, the wooden corner first making contact with my wing, followed by an incredible force, dropping me to the ground as I felt my bones shatter and tendons rip. I was alive, but in total agony. By the time it stopped moving, with a surprisingly musical crash, it felt like every bone in my wing was practically liquidised or something. Fighting against the pain to stay conscious, I saw the blue unicorn slowly descend from above into the dust cloud the piano had formed.
“Well well. Now you see how foolish it was to take a role I was destined for. Oh, poor mortal, you thought you had talent, but compared to me, you are nothing. I could play the role of both Celestia and Luna with three hooves tied behind my back. No, wait, four. I could play it as a quadriplegic, and still be more convincing than either of you. Now both you and that foolish director will know not to cross me. My talent is infinite,” said the blue unicorn, who still hadn't really looked at me.
“Your ego... is the only... infinite... thing,” I managed through the pain.
“What? You're not Cavallo!” shouted the unicorn angrily as the dust cleared.
“Well, yeah, I can't believe it took you that long to notice!” laughed Catcha, who didn't seem to appreciate the pain I was in quite yet. Catcha took out her bow and knocked it at the unicorn.
“Hmm... it seems you want to stop me before I stop the opera. I'm afraid that doesn't work for me,” laughed the unicorn, using her magic to knock the bow out of Catcha's hooves.
Catcha ran after her bow, but was chased by the unicorn, who stamped on it before Catcha could get to it, trapping Catcha in a corner. She hit Catcha with another magic shot, giving her a slight concussion. I pulled my wing out from under the wreckage, accompanied by a renewed sense of agonising pain, then stumbled over to the two of them, my vision blurring and my wing more painful by the second.
“Wow, that's some determination, LT,” said Canary, actually sounding a little impressed.
“According to Catcha afterwards, my eyes looked like they had the fires of the deepest pit of Tartarus burning in them... but I'm not sure, I couldn't see them myself,” laughed LT.
“So... Catcha was cornered by a crazed unicorn? Doesn't sound like her,” said Canary, sceptically.
“Catcha's amazing with a bow. She's... not great at close up fighting though, but at least she's had a lot more training now than she did then. Back then, it was a bow or nothing really.”
“All right... so, she's trapped by a crazy unicorn... what did you do?” asked Canary.
“I stepped between the unicorn and Catcha and told her she'd have to go through me.” - GO TO [44]
“I charged at the unicorn to take her by surprise.” - GO TO [46]
“I tried to talk her out of it.” - GO TO [27]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[54]
“We thank you. Both of you,” said Luna.
“Any idea what happened, princess?” I asked, as we started walking out.
“We were accosted by somepony dressed as ourself. It was quite disconcerting,” replied Luna.
“Aha, so the imposter kidnapped you and the actors then?” I mused.
“We saw her walking around, so we followed her. We wanted to congratulate her on the opera, it was quite moving, but then we saw her attack and tie up the actor who was playing us and we realised it wasn't the same actor,” said Luna.
“Wow... sounds confusing... so there were three Lunas at one point?” I asked, confused.
“No, there is only ever one of us,” replied Luna flatly.
“I mean three ponies dressed as you... if you include yourself,” I replied.
“Ah, in that case, we suppose so,” said Luna, squinting for a moment as she considered this, clearly a little confused herself.
“Any idea what the hay is actually going on?” asked Catcha.
“Catcha! Sorry Princess, Private Catcha can be a little rude at times,” I responded quickly.
“No, it is all right. From what we could tell, it was jealousy, a subject we are ashamed to say we are all too familiar with,” said Luna sadly.
“Jealousy?” asked Catcha, confused.
“Wait, wait... I think I get it now... it was an actress, an actress who was angry that a guy got to play the part of Luna over her. Is that right?” I asked. Luna nodded.
“We believe so. We do not believe our capture was planned, but rather out of desperation,” she responded. We escorted Luna back to the royal box quietly, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. We didn't want Luna to get kidnapped again on our watch.
The journey was actually quite uneventful. We even only saw one of the patrols searching for the shield pony. When we got back to the royal box, Celestia and Luna raced to each other and embraced one another. It was moving to see such concern and affection between the two of them.
“Captain Armor, we-” I began, but was quickly shushed by the Captain – the finale of act two was under way and the princesses wished to hear it.
Celestia had just been forced to banish her sister to the moon, and was devastated. She was singing a heartfelt lullaby for her lost sister. While the acting on stage was outstanding, it was even more fascinating to watch the two sisters react to the song. I swear, I saw Celestia whisper 'sorry', and Luna whisper back 'it was my fault', but that could have been a trick of the light. They stood, their eyes closed and their heads leaning on one another. I saw a tear drip down each of their faces. It struck me then... we think of the Alicorns, especially those two sisters, to be god-like, deities, immortal, beyond our understanding, and so much more than we. But... they're as pony as any of the rest of us. They love, they quarrel, they feel lonely, they make up... I knew in that instant, I'd made the right choice in becoming a Canterlot guard – there was nothing else as fulfilling as ensuring the safety of those sisters and their subjects. Not that I'd ever questioned that. Sometimes, it's just nice to confirm your own life though. The song, and the act, came to a close and the sisters composed themselves.
“Second Lieutenant, Private, we need to have this wrapped up by the time the fourth act finishes. Please find the imposter and stop her. If the others can find the shield pony, you may get some backup,” added Captain Armor.
The third and fourth acts covered the return of Nightmare Moon and her defeat, a tale which took roughly forty four minutes to tell. I knew that Catcha and I needed to act fast. The only problem was, we had no idea where she'd be.
“Do you have any suggestions on where to look for her, Captain Armor?” I asked. Shining Armor shook his head.
“No, I'm afraid not. You've been following her actions so far though... what do you think she'd do next?” he asked.
“Go after the princesses again. We should stay on guard here.” - GO TO [51]
“She was obsessed with this opera – she'll probably try and disrupt it. We should go down and guard the stage area.” - GO TO [43]
“She's already kidnapped the actors once – I bet she'll do it again. We should go to the dressing room and protect them.” - GO TO [52]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[55]
Since it was all quiet on the western front, we began to head back towards the east wing. The sound of chatter in the direction of the stage suggested that everypony was filing in, waiting for the performance to begin. Catcha, of course, was unsatisfied with this, so went to poke her head around the curtain on the main stage.
“Shouldn't we stop her sir?” asked Keen Eye with a worried tone and a raised eyebrow. He glanced from me to the swiftly disappearing form of Catcha, then back again, clearly expecting some response from his commanding officer.
“I've known her all of ten minutes, and I already know it'd be futile to try.” - GO TO [16]
“I'm actually kind of curious myself...” - GO TO [18]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[56]
I woke up a few days later in hospital. There were a few bunches of flowers around, but it seemed like I was the only pony in the room. Suddenly, the door burst open.
“Morning Lieutenant!” said Catcha loudly.
“Morning Catcha. It's second lieutenant,” I responded sleepily.
“Not anymore,” replied Catcha with a wide grin.
“Wha?” I asked, still quite sleepy.
“Well, that 'tash guy hogged most of the attention, since he was the one who brought that blue pony in, and his team found the shield pony in the basement, but Shining Armor wanted to recognise the work we did with a promotion each. You're now a lieutenant, and I'm a second lieutenant!” said Catcha quickly. “Oh, you're also now my permanent CO,” added Catcha. I groaned over-dramatically and she laughed.
“How're the other guards? Did we find out what happened?” I asked.
“They're all fine... somepony put a spell on the guard helmets. Keen Eye managed to get to the bottom of it while trapped outside,” added Catcha.
“Ah... it's a good thing you decided to goof off earlier on then,” I observed with a laugh.
“Of course. Clearly I knew what would happen in advance. You should always trust my goofing off instinct, LT,” added Catcha, poking her tongue out at me. I readied myself for the big question, for me at least.
“What did the doctors say about my wing?” I asked. From the fact that Catcha went suddenly silent and turned away, I could tell it wouldn't be good.
“Well... they say that you'll never fly properly again. At best, you can probably use it to help you jump higher. They also... they also said that if you'd just stayed put, there would have been a lot more they could have done. I'm so-” began Catcha.
“Hey, hey, relax Catcha. Even if I'd known that in advance, do you really think I'd have stayed down?” I asked. Catcha smiled.
“I guess not. Tell you what... if you ever need somepony to fly for you, I've got your back, LT,” said Catcha.
“It's true... she catches me when I fall, and she's my eye in the sky when I need one.”
“Hah, what is it with you and falling off things anyway?” asked Canary with a laugh.
“Well, from what I hear, that's actually quite common for a pegasus that's lost the ability to fly,” replied LT awkwardly with a laugh. The camp fire had mostly burnt down now and it was getting late. Catcha rolled over in her sleep, then scratched her ear with one of her hind legs.
“Heh, you guys really rely on each other, huh?” asked Canary, laying down as LT placed a blanket carefully over Catcha's sleeping form. LT looked up at Canary.
“Yeah... I guess we do. I complain about her all the time, but the truth is, there's nopony I'd rather have watching my back,” replied LT. Canary smiled sadly.
“Sounds nice,” sighed Canary, looking away.
“Hey now, you've got us, right? We've been through enough that you should know we won't abandon you,” comforted LT with a grin. Canary nodded.
“Hmm, I guess you're right LT,” she said quietly. LT could see in her eyes that she still didn't quite believe them when they said that, but at least she seemed to believe it more than when they first met.
“Now, let's get some sleep. Equestria's not going to save itself after all,” laughed LT quietly, lying down next to the remains of the camp fire.
Canary smiled, laying down facing away from LT and Catcha and thought for a few minutes to herself. When she could hear both LT and Catcha breathing peacefully, she quietly rolled over to face them and smiled weakly. She was still pretty sure they were both mad, and probably idiots, but, at the same time, they were her idiots. Maybe even friends. She let the thought sink in as she shut her eyes and began to drift off.
Above, the sky had been thankfully free of any other unusual features, leaving just the moon and the stars illuminating the landscape in the warm night air as Canary slowly joined Catcha and LT in restful sleep.
GOOD END
Author's Note
Let me know what you think :)
