Cadance

Chapters

Telling All
Inside Job
The Weather Ministry
Storm Clouds Gather
Nightmares
Agents of Chaos
Arrival

Telling All

"Lieutenant, as soon as the door is locked, you and one of the three guards are to proceed to the end of the hallway and stay stationed there. The other pair of guards will do the same for the other end of the hallway. Do not let anypony pass for any reason whatsoever. If there is an emergency, tell them to stay where they are and have one of the pair knock loudly on the door. Explain the situation and wait for a reply from myself. Acknowledged?"

"Yes sir."

"Take your posts. As soon as the chamber door opens again, report for further instructions."

"Yes, Lieutenant Captain."

Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor lets out a weary sigh as he enters the royal resting chamber. Already inside were Princesses Celestia and Cadance, as well as Kibitz, the old unicorn stallion responsible for managing Celestia's daily schedule. Kibitz was currently levitating a written schedule in front of a Cadance who didn't seem to be at all interested in reading it, or listening to the million words a minute he was speaking.

Shining resisted an urge to roll his eyes at the presence of Kibitz - he couldn't just order him to leave the room, only Celestia or Cadance could do that. Like all of Princess Celestia's senior staff, Kibitz held a "warrant of operation" - essentially, a written and sealed pass issued by the Captain of the Guard that allowed the holder free movement within Canterlot and "reasonable authority" to refuse or ignore Royal Guard orders given by a Lieutenant or lower grade. These warrants were issued primarily so that the senior civilian staff could operate more freely than the Guard command structure would otherwise allow. As a Lieutenant Captain, Shining Armor now technically outranked the warrant holders, but in practice it was still generally a bad idea for a Lieutenant Captain to order warrant holders around - the warrant holders were usually there for a good reason after all.

"Your Highnesses, the guards are in place. Shall we begin?" Shining says in the direction of Celestia and Cadance.

"Yes, Lieutenant Captain. Kibitz, leave us please." Celestia replies, her expression and voice somber.

"But Your Highness, I haven't finished explaining..." Kibitz begins to object, his voice carrying a smooth "Braytish" accent.

"Leave us, Kibitz. I'm not going to say it again." Celestia interrupts, the irritation being all too obvious.

"Yes, Your Highness." Kibitz responds after but a moment's hesitation, disappointment mixed into the tone of his voice. The parchment on which the schedule is printed is rolled up and stored in a pocket in Kibitz's clothes before the servant begins walking out of the room. He mutters something Shining can't hear as he exits, presumably headed to set up the schedule for tomorrow. Shining Armor telekinetically closes the door to the resting chamber and manipulates a lock that is secured with an audible clicking sound.

"Sit down to my left Shining. I need you to hear this too." Celestia states in a quiet, weary tone.

As Shining Armor moves to sit down on a cushion to Princess Celestia's left, he hears Celestia speaking: "In a way, I'm glad your carriage was delayed. It gave me more time to practice what I wanted to tell you. It still won't be easy, though, what I have to tell you."

Shining Armor sits down as he hears Cadance's response: "Aunt Celly, I don't understand what all this is about! You sent me away from Canterlot before last Hearth Warming's Eve, going here, there and everywhere without giving me a reason why! And then something happening during the day of the Summer Sun Celebration, getting the recall order... I just want some answers, that's all."

Celestia inhales deeply before replying: "Cadance dear, I know the past months have been very confusing and frustrating for you, and I'm sorry I couldn't make them any easier. There was a reason I sent you away from Canterlot that long, and I will tell it to you now. What have you heard about what happened at the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville?"

"Just... scattered rumors. No hard facts. The fulfillment of thousand-year old prophecy, the threat of eternal night... beyond that, nothing solid."

"Ah, so the dispatches never got to you. I suppose that's a good thing, since I wanted to tell you myself."

"Tell me what, Aunt Celly? Tell me what?" Cadance asks with pleading confusion.

Princess Celestia looks nervously over at Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor, now sitting directly to her left. He gives a sympathetic look as Princess Cadance, to Celestia's right, also looks over to Shining in confusion. Celestia then looks down, inhales and breathes out a loud sigh, her face a pained expression.

"Aunt Celly?" Cadance asks in a concerned tone.

"Cadance, what happened to you during the day of the Summer Sun Celebration?" Celestia asks in turn, her voice unusually low and uncertain.

"It was... terrible. I was in a town doing their own celebration. The Mare in the Moon disappeared, and then the sun didn't rise for hours after it should've... everypony was scared. There was a stallion in the town square that had arranged the celebration, orange coat with a poofy brown mane and tail... he just stood on the stage and started playing his instrument solo - tune after tune, to comfort the scared ponies. I could tell he himself was scared, though. We were all scared. And there was absolutely nothing I could do about it."

Celestia is on the verge of tears when she speaks again: "That's right, Cadance. There was nothing you could've done, either there or in Canterlot. I knew she was coming, and you weren't the one. That's why I had to keep you away until now."

"'She'? 'The one'? Aunt Celly, I don't understand who you're talking about." Cadance replies through a dismayed expression.

Celestia looks back at her adoptive niece with guilt, and a single tear slips down a cheek as she asks another question: "Remember the first time you came here? Remember how you asked if you had any other aunts or uncles, and I just looked away without answering the question? I couldn't give you a straight answer to that question then, I just couldn't. I knew what was coming, and I didn't want it to hurt you. I hope you understand, Cadance, but I felt I didn't have a choice. The legends... the only thing I can say to you is 'I'm sorry'."

Cadance's face is blank for a moment, then her eyes go wide in shock. "Then the thousand-year legend, 'Nightmare Moon'..." she gasps out.

"All of it true, Cadance. You do have another aunt - that's Luna. I knew she would come back in your lifetime. I thought that you may have come in my life to save her, but that was only half-right. You didn't have 'the spark' to save her." Celestia says as she chokes back sobbing.

"So you sent me away so that 'Nightmare Moon' wouldn't find out about me? So that she couldn't hurt me? Is that it?" Cadance asks. Celestia can only nod out an answer, so overwhelmed with emotion that the tears are starting to flow freely.

"She also sent you away so that I wouldn't be constantly worrying about you. Trust me, I had plenty to worry about besides you that day!" Shining Armor interjects. He can see the tears silently flowing down Celestia's cheeks, and can feel his own beginning to well up in his eyes.

"But I still don't understand things, Aunt Celly. Who was 'the one'? Who had 'the spark'? What happened to Luna... Aunt Luna?" Cadance asks in desperation, already recognizing what her adoptive aunt was saying was true.

"You didn't have 'the spark', but you helped me find the one who did. It was from the foalsitting job you took up, after we lost Sunset Shimmer..." Celestia answers, an occasional tear flowing down the cheek.

Back then, the name "Sunset Shimmer" was but a vague abstraction to Shining Armor - somepony rarely mentioned, and never positively when she was. Since Cadance rarely talked about her either, all Shining could guess at the time was that she was another promising unicorn student that had met a tragic fate - it would not be until much later that Celestia was forced to reveal the truth to Twilight Sparkle, with Shining himself learning quickly afterward.

Cadance, on the other hoof, had as much reason to not speak the truth about Sunset Shimmer as Celestia. Sunset positively hated Cadance despite the latter's attempts to befriend her, apparently because Cadance already had what Sunset really wanted, and Sunset's abandonment hurt the "apprentice" princess almost as much as it did Celestia. The spectre of Sunset motivated Cadance to go into the foalsitting business, and was part of the reason she invested so much time and love into the young Twilight Sparkle, both before and after she became Celestia's apprentice in magic. It was also the ultimate reason why the mirror through which Sunset fled ended up in the Crystal Empire Palace - placed there by a haunted Cadance at her request, to spare Celestia further pain...

All that information, though, was but a bitter aside understood by both Cadance and Celestia that made the recent salvation of Luna that much sweeter.

"The foalsitting job?" Cadance asked of Celestia.

"Yes, Cadance, that job was how I found the one with the spark. Without you, my sister might still be trapped in darkness and all Equestria would be slowly withering under an eternal night as a result." Celestia explains.

"But I still don't understand. What happened? Who was it that had the spark?" Cadance asks pleadingly.

Celestia opens her mouth to speak, but Shining Armor cuts her off, perhaps the result of the high emotion coursing through the room: "It was Twily, Cadance. Your aunt sent Twily to Ponyville to supervise the Summer Sun Celebration preparations, and it was there that Luna returned from her moon exile, as 'Nightmare Moon'. Twily and five other fillies went into the Everfree Forest, the old castle, to find the Elements of Harmony. They found 'em and they defeated Nightmare Moon with them. Twily's one of the new Element Bearers, Cadance. She saved us. She saved us all! And she brought Luna back, back out of that monster."

Cadance looks on with agape shock for a few moments - it seemed her old prophecy of Twilight Sparkle being "more than any ol' unicorn" was more true than she had ever dreamed of! The room is silent for a few more moments save a sniffle from Celestia still trying to gather herself back together.

"Yes, Cadance, Twilight found the missing Element of Magic. She bears that now in my stead." Celestia quietly states. She did not seem irritated that Shining cut her off - possibly because he explained things better than she could've at that point.

"Then... where's Twilight? Where's Aunt Luna?" Cadance asks once she can find her tongue again.

"Luna came back to Canterlot with me. She is very weak - the Elements ravaged her body to save her, and she's only now beginning to regain her old powers. I sent Twilight on field assignment to learn more about the magic of friendship. Just like I told Shining earlier, this is not to be a permanent thing." Celestia explains.

Disappointment briefly flashes on Cadance's face, doubtless for not being able to congratulate Twilight on her accomplishments, then is replaced by curiosity. She asks if she is going to meet Luna now.

"Yes, dear. She should be coming on-duty right now, so I will take you to meet her as soon as we are done here. But there's one more thing we need to talk about first." Celestia answers.

"Is it about Shining?" Cadance asks again, making an educated guess based on his presence there.

"Yes, Cadance, it is about him." Celestia answers. "I know for years you've wanted to marry Shining Armor. I've seen you and him go through thick and thin, and he has never treated you wrong or done anything to make me doubt my trust in him. But for years now I have withheld my royal blessing knowing what was to come. Now I have no more reason to withhold it."

Cadance's face immediately brightens - the long-desired Canterlot wedding seems to finally become a possibility after years of being held back under various excuses. But she also senses that the Canterlot wedding is not something Celestia wants to happen immediately.

Her intuition is confirmed by what Celestia says next: "Here and now, I do give you, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, my royal blessing to marry Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor should you both agree to it. I ask only one condition - help my sister. Shining is already helping pull Luna out of the thousand-year darkness she was trapped in. Now I ask you to join him in the work. If you two succeed, you will get your Canterlot wedding. I promise you that will happen, Cadance."

"Oh Aunt Celly!" Cadance exclaims, throwing herself in a hug over her adoptive aunt. The two princesses share some more bittersweet tears, and Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor sitting next to them cannot help but cry out some "liquid empathy" himself.

Shining Armor could see that now he was effectively considered part of Celestia's family, and that Celestia was laying the foundations for bringing both himself and his sister formally into the Equestrian royal family. He could already imagine walking down the aisle with Cadance beside him, "Twily" joyous at becoming the sister-in-law of the former fillysitter she adored so much, Luna seeing Twilight as actual family instead of just the filly that ended her thousand-year nightmare...

Of course, all that was dependant on Luna. And, as Shining realized to his chagrin, that was the hard part.

It took about 20 minutes for Celestia and Cadance to expend the last of their bittersweet emotions and have a servant touch up the smears and smudges in their makeup jobs. During that period, Shining summoned a "representative guard" - one member of each pony species, including Lieutenant Vesper representing the bat ponies - to be the escort for the official meeting, then waited anxiously for the touch-up jobs to be finished. He knew that the upcoming meeting would be a critical one - what little he, or his little sister for that matter, knew about alicorns was that there were only supposed to be two - Celestia and Luna. If other alicorns ever had existed, their identities had long since been lost in the mists of time.

Cadance, therefore, was a riddle wrapped in a mystery wrapped in an enigma. And the fact that she knew nothing about her lineage or any potential family relationships did nothing to help in the situation. The fact that Cadance could not properly explain where she came from would be cause enough to worry things would go seriously wrong, but adding in Luna's hair-trigger temper and suspicions seemed to be a recipe for disaster. All Shining Armor could do in this situation was follow protocol, hope for a little luck, and seriously wish his sister were the one doing this job instead.

Shining had sent a guard ahead to Luna to inform that Celestia had somepony she wanted to meet, so he already knew Luna would be waiting for them when they arrived. Still, he couldn't completely hide his worry from a weary and tired Celestia and a concerned Cadance - and, for their part, the Princesses didn't hold it against him.

Finally, the group arrived at Luna's chambers. Cadance, surrounded in a box formation by the representative guard, was kept out of sight of the doorway while Shining Armor and Celestia did the talking through the closed doors. Shining gives a cautious knock on the doors with a forehoof.

"Pray tell, who is knocking?" Princess Luna's voice comes from the other side of the door after a moment's pause.

"Sister, the pony I wanted you to meet is here." Celestia replies through the door.

"Very well, send them in."

Shining Armor telekinetically unlatches the doors and slowly open them, letting Princess Celestia go in first before following her into Luna's suite. Already the room showed the signs of an... interesting choice of redecoration, the normal pastel decorations covered over with items more appropriate for a Nightmare Night party than a gleaming castle on the side of a mountain. Fortunately, Celestia gave warning of Luna's tastes beforehand to Shining Armor and anypony else that would be regularly in contact with Princess Luna.

Luna was alone in the suite. looking over curiously from her old-style covered canopy bed - the once-pink curtains having been taken down for recoloring more appropriate to Luna's tastes. As she looks, Shining opens the doors more fully and then both he and Celestia step aside to let the representative guard pass through the doors.

Lieutenant Vesper, as the seniormost officer of the representative guard, had the privilege of making the announcement as the group entered Luna's suite: "Presenting Her Majesty Princess Mi Amore Cadenza!"

The skepticism immediately appears on Luna's face as the representative guard parts to reveal Cadance standing there and giving her practiced gracious smile - she recognized staying silent was the best option in this case. It must've seemed odd that her new aunt was actually shorter and smaller than she was, Shining had to think. Shining could also feel the electric tension in the room growing rapidly.

Princess Luna's skeptical eyebrow stays up as she gets up from the bed, walks over to in front of Cadance, and gives her an awkward once-over. Shining could see Cadance nervously trying to hold her practiced smile in the face of Luna's withering skepticism.

Finally, Luna looks over at Celestia and Shining and says but one sentence: "She is an alicorn."

"Yes, sister, she is." Celestia replies, the sun princess giving an awkward, sheepish grin Shining had never seen before on her. Usually Celestia was able to finesse or force her way out of these situations, but neither of those strategies would work here.

"She is an alicorn." Luna repeats, both more forcefully and with a more hostile expression.

"That's correct, sister. Your eyes are not deceiving you." Celestia tries again, sincerely hoping Luna would leave it at that.

"Explain!" Luna continues, in a very loud voice and with an angry expression on her face. Celestia nervously looks over Shining Armor, who just looks back in response.

"Explain!" Luna repeats, this time practically shouting in Cadance's face. Luna didn't have enough power to do the echoing amplified "Royal Canterlot Voice", but she was certainly loud enough at point blank range! Cadance was left confused, blinking excessively and frozen in place as a result of the blast.

A few moments of electric and extremely awkward silence followed, with nopony speaking and nopony daring to in the face of the obvious conflict between the two alicorns. Finally, Luna broke the silence with a loud rant: "If nopony will give us an explanation, then this 'princess' we wish nothing to do with! Begone, impostor!"

Everypony else in the room recoils from the shock, and one of the guards lets out an audible gasp. They knew Luna was wrong, but there seemed to be no way to convince her she was wrong.

"Dear sister, Mi Amore Cadenza is not..." Celestia wearily responds.

"WE SAID BEGONE WITH THE IMPOSTOR! We wish nothing to do with her! And this shall apply to all our staff as well!" Luna cuts off in a full shout.

"But dear sister..." Celestia tries again.

"And that is our last word on the matter! Good evening!" Luna cuts off again, giving a scowl at Cadance before turning and walking away to another room in the suite, telekinetically slamming the door shut behind her.

Approximately 30 seconds of defeated silence follows, even Celestia letting slip a deflated expression. Finally, Shining discretely beckons Lieutenant Vesper over. Shining whispers something in Vesper's ear, and Vesper nods when Shining is done. Vesper in turn goes back over to Cadance and whispers in her ear, which shortly afterward causes her and the entire guard group to take their leave of the suite.

"I gave the Lieutenant orders to have the guard escort Cadance to her suite. Everything ought to be set up in there by now." Shining quietly explains to a clearly deflated and frustrated Celestia.

"I suppose that's the best thing to do. It's a good thing she was put on the opposite end of the castle from Luna." Celestia states, her voice a near whisper due to fatigue and frustration.

"So, now what do we do, Your Highness?" Shining asks, about the only appropriate thing to say at the moment.

"My sister needs time to cool down and get over the mental barriers. I want you and Cadance to not be seen together, at least for a few days. That would just set Luna off again, I would think."

"But Your Highness...!" Shining objects in dismay, trying not to sound like a whining colt in the process.

"Just... do it, Shining. I don't have the time or energy to argue about it right now." Celestia quietly states, the sun princess holding up a forehoof to block any further attempts at objection.

A few moments later, Celestia silently takes her leave, glancing back a final cautionary look that seemed to be a warning for Shining not to do anything too rash. Shining Armor, now alone in the chamber, slumps with his back against a wall. A forehoof gently moves to cover his face, Shining wondering if his sister could've done any better in this precarious situation...

Inside Job

"Good morning, Shining."

"Good morning, Captain..."

"...So I'm guessing it didn't go well last night?"

"No sir, it did not."

"Well, unfortunately I'm not surprised. The whole situation was dicey right from the start. You don't need to give me details, just leave your report on my desk. I'll look at it later."

"Yes, sir."

A weary and defeated Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor was standing in the office of Captain of the Guard Gibraltar. There was hardly a pretense of military manner about him, or in the old unicorn captain for that matter - both of them knew Luna's blowup at Cadance's presence was a serious setback in the recovery effort and could undo it altogether. Nopony, not even Celestia, could force Luna to accept Cadance, and what was worse lack of knowledge about her meant that rumor was just as easy to believe as the truth. The situation was on a knife's edge, one step away from total disaster...

"Sir? Lieutenant Captain Aten has arrived for the morning debriefing." one of the unicorn Upper Class guards says as he peeks into the office from his post guarding the doorway.

"Send him in." Captain Gibraltar says, his sapphire blue eyes showing some degree of annoyance.

Out from the hallway came a distinctive pattern of hoofsteps that deliberately overemphasized the force of each step, and in stepped the pegasus Lieutenant Captain Aten. As was usual for him, he was closely escorted by a pair of pegasus Upper Class guards. Aten almost always wore either a smirk or a scowl when not on duty, his bright yellow coat and fiery red eyes matching both his pride and fire-breathing oratory. Aten also always tied his mane and tail, both the color of milk chocolate with a dark red stripe, with spiked bands decorated with the symbol of the pre-Equestrian pegasus tribe - Lieutenant Captains had a little leeway when it came to unofficial additions to their uniforms, and Aten pushed that envelope as far as it would go.

Aten had first made a name for himself about five years ago, when as a Lieutenant he "blew the whistle" on a pair of his unicorn comrades that were blatantly discriminatory toward the pegasi and earth ponies under their command. A subsequent court-martial found them guilty of the accused crimes, and Aten leveraged the resulting fame into taking leadership of the embryonic "pegasus affirmative action" movement that arose over the course of the court-martial. He quickly went on the attack, accusing the entire Royal Guard of having an in-built bias against pegasi and earth ponies.

These attacks, appealing both to the glory of the old pegasus tribe and the ideals of Equestria's founding, both garnered Aten a large following among the pegasi members of the Royal Guard and protected him from anything more than token punishment. Then he decided to hold a rally for "pegasus rights" in the Canterlot statue garden in front of "the Statue of Discord"; for reasons that would not become clear until years later, this hit Princess Celestia's panic button and she immediately ordered negotiations between the upper ranks of the Guard and Aten's group opened.

One of the results of the negotiations was that Aten became the Lieutenant Captain leader of the morning shift, whereupon he could shape its roster according the ideals he championed so vigorously. Unfortunately, Aten tended to choose his officers more based on loyalty to his ideal than any measure of competence, creating a dysfunction in the morning shift Captain Gibraltar called "a dryrot". Since Celestia blocked all attempts to remove or transfer Aten, Gibraltar had little choice but to put up with Aten's presence and spread the "dryrot" by shuffling around the least competent of Aten's choices to other shifts to cover up their dysfunction. The presence of this "dryrot" was a factor in the continuing troubles surrounding Luna's rehabilitation and eventually played a major role in several critical failures, most notably the Changeling invasion of Canterlot.

"Well well, who do we have here? What's the matter, Mr. Perfect? Your marefriend dump you, perhaps?" Aten mocked as soon as he saw Shining Armor present in the room.

"Aten, we knew going in this situation that there was a high probability of trouble occurring between Princess Luna and Princess Cadance." Gibraltar corrected. "But there hasn't been any marefriend dumping, and hopefully there won't be any of it. Period."

"Whatever you say, sir. But it is a shame the Lieutenant Captain has been put in this situation." Aten replies.

Neither Shining Armor nor Gibraltar believed Aten's words were sincere for a minute. The antipathy between Aten and Shining Armor was well-known - one reason was obviously that Shining was one of the "horned ones", Aten's favorite epithet for unicorns. Another was the favoritism shown toward Shining by Princess Celestia - Aten had gotten most of his non-pegasus supporters by tapping the resentment and doubt of capability this generated, generally by the unspoken premise that Aten was the only one able to counter the favoritism. A third reason was that Aten desired Princess Cadance as his marefriend, despite her not wanting anything to do with him and spurning his advances toward her.

Shining Armor had the feeling he was now Aten's number one target. Princess Celestia giving her approval to Shining's chivalrous act by placing him in charge of the night shift, in combination with Luna's obvious need, now made holding any kind of resentment of favoritism most unwise. Aten had also made the mistake of giving mere lip service toward helping with Luna's problems. These two factors worked together to produce a steady whittling down of support for the "affirmative action" cause, and with his power base declining his "immunity" was in danger. Needless to say, this was not a picture of peace and harmony in action, and would not be unless one or the other was gone for good.

"Are you quite finished, Aten? I'm sure your Lieutenants are waiting for their assignments." Gibraltar now states impatiently.

"Yes, sir. If the morning report is waiting for me, I will take it and be on my way." Aten replies coldly.

"Right on the desk." Gibraltar says as he points with a forehoof. Aten walks to the desk, picks up the report and leaves, all the while his eyes trained in a piercing stare on Shining Armor.

"The things Celestia makes me put up with..." Gibraltar sighs out wearily as soon as Aten was out of earshot.

The duty assignment procedure in the Royal Guard was done by lotto at the start of each shift. After accounting for all their charges, the several dozen Lieutenants of the shift assembled separately to take the duty assignment their group would carry out for the day. There were exceptions, generally special assignments given by the Captain of the Guard or the princesses as well as the "bathroom detail" given as punishment either for rule breaking or failure to properly perform duty, but most times the lotto system was used to give out assignments in a supposedly unbiased manner.

On one wall of the room where the assignments were given out was a large blue button and a metal chute sticking out perpendicular from the wall. After a quick test of the mechanism in the wall to ensure it was working, the Lieutenants lined up from most senior to least senior in front of the chute and the Lieutenant Captain pressed the button next to it. The mechanism would spin up for a few moments, then begin dispensing balls out of the chute. The Lieutenant at the head of the line would pick up the dispensed ball and step aside so that the next officer in line could pick up the next ball dispensed. The balls were dispensed one at a time to prevent the temptation of picking and choosing, so the whole process took a while to complete.

Once a Lieutenant had picked up a ball, they saw what assignment it corresponded to on their paperwork and marked it so that they in turn could divide it up further amongst the guard group under their command. Most balls were white and marked with an "S" (for an assignment patrolling the city) or a "V" (for an assignment within the castle itself) with a number indicating the particular sector to be covered. Some special assignment balls were colored: orange for Celestia's personal guard, pink for Cadance's personal guard, purple if guarding a particular visiting VIP (though this was usually an explicit special assignment given beforehand to a particular Lieutenant), green for "standby duty" (remaining in a standby room in case they are needed to cover another group busy with something else) and red for "check duty" (they would roam around as a double-check that Lieutenants were staying with their groups and that the guards were doing what they were supposed to be doing).

A recent addition to the system was a dark blue ball for Luna's personal guard, and it is the group that received this particular assignment we now turn to. As Luna's temper was already becoming common knowledge, getting the dark blue ball was seen as bad luck or a long day. The groans coming the four stallion group that got this particular assignment that day were therefore not surprising.

"I know, I know. I don't like it either. But we have a duty to perform, and I expect it to be performed to standard. Is that clear?" the Lieutenant in charge of that group explains, to which the group responds with various affirmative statements.

"One unicorn and one pegasus to guard the door to Luna's suite, one unicorn and one pegasus to do the sleeping prep for Princess Luna. Seniors do the sleep prep, juniors guard the door." the Lieutenant orders, again followed by various affirmative statements.

The Lieutenant goes over to the senior pegasus and unicorn of the group, both Guard Upper Class in rank, and gives a checklist for the two soldiers to follow. As he does so, he also whispers the following statement to them: "Agent Snake is waiting in bathroom for you. I'll cover you, be quick."

With lists in possession, the unicorn and pegasus chosen for Princess Luna's sleep prep make their way to the nearby bathroom, covered by the Lieutenant telling the other pair of his command group that they are fetching some supplies in order to properly do their duty.

Inside the otherwise-empty bathroom is a stallion, completely covered in a hooded cloak and brown "stockings" hiding his hooves. The only distinguishing features are a grey unicorn horn sticking out through a hole in the cloak's hood and a pair of yellow eyes glowing from under the hood. The pegasus and unicorn give a nod in the figure's direction.

Its voice is in a whisper, only really audible by leaning in close: "Love and the moon are in conflict?"

"Yes, Snake, just as predicted." the pegasus answers in the same whisper tone.

"Good. The sun is behind clouds, and the Weather Ministry is cooperative. Operation 'Love Lost' is being initiated. Agents 15 and 27, you are to begin the misinformation campaign on the moon immediately. Acknowledge?"

"Acknowledged, Snake." is the whisper answer of the pegasus, "Agent 15".

"Good luck. The success of this mission is critical to the continuation of our operations. Do not fail me."

ABOUT 20 MINUTES LATER, IN PRINCESS LUNA'S BEDROOM SUITE...

"So, Your Majesty, I heard that you met Princess Cadance early last night." the unicorn Upper Class Guard, "Agent 27", comments offhandedly as he and "Agent 15" are going about their preparation work to allow Princess Luna to sleep in quiet darkness.

"That 'princess' is an impostor and a fraud! We wish nothing to do with her, nor do we wish to continue this conversation on that subject!" Luna exclaims to the two guards in irritation, a reflection of an annoyed mood that had lasted through the night after her first meeting with Cadance.

"But Your Highness surely must be interested in the juicy information we have on that impostor princess?" comments "Agent 15".

"...Thou knows something of her true nature? Speak!" Luna answers, an eyebrow rising up as her curiosity is piqued by the question given by the pegasus.

"For almost a decade now, that enchantress has been deluding and snaring in illusions all of Equestria." "Agent 15" begins to explain. "Your sister had such heartache from your absence that she did not question the illusions Cadance put up of her being an alicorn and adoptive niece. Her wings are not even real, Your Majesty, just part of the illusion."

"... Really now? Is there more we ought to know?" Luna asks, eagerly listening to every word at this point.

"Oh yes, Your Majesty." the unicorn "Agent 27" picks up. "For most of that decade span, the stallion now in charge of the night shift has been under her illusion he is her stallionfriend, and that they are to be married in the course of time. The illusions have also affected his sister, the new bearer of the Element of Magic. She counts Cadance as one of her few friends. Don't ever expect anypony under the illusions to admit they really are illusions, though, Your Majesty."

The words seemed to fan Luna's smouldering anger - the concept of her sister, the filly that had driven the nightmare out of her, and the brother of that filly serving her so loyally all under these illusions was simply intolerable! Luna's pose quickly changed to that resembling a cat ready to pounce, her face in a scowl and her wings flared open.

"If we were at full power we would blast that fraud right out of Canterlot at this very instant!" Luna exclaims indignantly.

"Fortunately, Your Highness, we know her illusions are just that, and we will help you break them. We just need a little time to set up the plan, that's all." is the calm, collected response of "Agent 15".

"... Very well. We will trust both of thou. As long as the Lieutenant Captain wilt no longer be consort to a fraud and impostor, we will overlook any offenses thou might commit against our sister and thine superiors." Luna states, calming down slightly.

"We thank you greatly, Your Highness." answers "Agent 27", smiles hiding metaphorical knife blades.

After finishing the preparations, it was all the two agents could do to hide their glee at having gotten away with telling a pack of lies to Princess Luna. Luna had believed them because it was what her itching ears wanted to hear, and by the time anypony found out about the deception it would be too late to do anything about it. The inside job would ensure not just their protection, but the conflict their boss wanted so badly. In Equestrian phrasing, "the seeds of discord had been sown"...

The Weather Ministry

On the mountain of Canterlot, hidden from view of the gleaming castle and houses, sits a permanent cloudbank anchored high on the mountainside. This cloudbank, along with some caves carved into the side of the mountain adjacent to it, is a "colony" of pegasi - a version of Cloudsdale in miniature. Most pegasi preferred to live there instead of the buildings of Canterlot, and although officially it was the pegasi "neighborhood" of Canterlot it was usually considered a city unto itself.

Most things related specifically to pegasi life were there, the residents reluctant at best to interact with the unicorn and earth pony residents of the gleaming buildings of Canterlot. Also up there was The Weather Ministry, placed there out of practical necessity. The Weather Ministry was legally a part of the Equestrian governmental apparatus and responsible for all things weather related. In practice, most of the actual duty of creating and controlling the weather was "farmed out" to individual branches of the Ministry in each major settlement of Equestria, and The Weather Ministry itself stocked with the louts of pegasi society. The typical Weather Ministry worker was either an obstructive cog in the governmental machinery or a fat, lazy "weather supervisor" who only cared about whose lives they could make miserable and get away with doing so, as well as how many bits could be extracted in "weather exemption" bribes.

Princess Celestia had tried several times to reform this crooked system in the past, only to encounter furious opposition each time based on the historical responsibility of pegasi being weather creation and control. Eventually, she gave up trying, only the Canterlot Royal Guard able to exert significant disciplinary influence on Weather Ministry "misbehavior". It was commonly believed that Lieutenant Captain Aten's "affirmative action movement" in the Royal Guard was in cahoots with The Weather Ministry, each helping to cover up the other's misbehaviors. The Weather Ministry was already one of the most crooked organizations in Equestria, and now would become involved in "Operation Love Lost"...

Just like not every Royal Guard was crooked, so was not every Weather Ministry member was crooked. One such good member was a young pegasus mare named Sprinkle Medley, the official "Ministry Liaison to Ponyville". As such, she lived in Ponyville although frequently commuted to both Canterlot and Cloudsdale as part of her job. Born and raised in Ponyville, she was still a low-ranking "grunt" when she managed to befriend another pegasus mare named Rainbow Dash. Although Sprinkle Medley's efforts to recruit Rainbow Dash to join the Weather Ministry only resulted in an unofficial membership, she did learn about the origin of Rainbow's cutie mark in the process. In turn, this information was passed along to Princess Celestia. As this piece of information proved vital to the eventual success of Twilight Sparkle and her new friends in the Everfree Forest, the sun princess rewarded Sprinkle Medley with the important Ponyville liaison job, one of the highest in the Weather Ministry.

It was in the course of performing this job, delivering a report to her boss, Weather Minister Thunderdash, that Sprinkle Medley became caught up unwittingly in the conspiracy...

"So then, what can I do for you gentlestallions?" Thunderdash was saying when Sprinkle Medley came within earshot of her office. Sprinkle Medley quickly ducked behind the doorframe of the door leading into the office, only taking a peek over the edge.

Inside the Weather Minister's office were two pegasi Royal Guard stallions, both in their armor. Whenever Royal Guards came around, it was always a serious affair, and the big sack of bits one of them had sitting next to him made it doubly serious.

"Cloudbank blocking the moon completely shortly after Luna raises it, lasts through the night." one of the stallions says.

"And who is going to be marked responsible?" Thunderdash casually responds, as if it were a normal business transaction and not blatant manipulation of weather patterns. One of the stallions opens his side pack and pulls out a rolled-up sheet of parchment in response.

Thunderdash unrolls the parchment and one of her eyebrows immediately go up. "Gentlestallions, even I am reluctant to meddle in the affairs of princesses. You had better have a good price behind you!" she cautions.

Sprinkle Medley gasps as she watches - having heard of the spat between Luna and Cadance, she had immediately jumped to the right conclusion. One of the stallions turns to face in her direction, and she quickly ducks behind the doorframe again.

"10,000 down and 10,000 upon deployment." the stallion not looking in Sprinkle Medley's direction says, plinking down the bag of what appear to be bits on Thunderdash's desk. 20,000 bits was a small fortune, so whomever was behind this was obviously dead serious about it.

"... Done. What do I sign?" Thunderdash states.

"The parchment has already been forged to indicate Princess Cadance ordered the cloudbank. All you need to do is sign off on the order, Minister." the stallion speaking previously explains.

There is the scratching of quill on parchment, and Sprinkle Medley immediately realizes there is something more important than her job that needs to be done. She nervously looks around, then starts slowly walking away from the office door. She only gets a few steps before she hears the voice of one of the Guard stallions behind her, and her heart leaps into her throat.

Sprinkle Medley dares a look behind her to see the two pegasus stallions, glaring fiercely at her under the armor. It was obvious their intent, so she did the only thing she could think of - break for it.

The two stallions took off after her, shouting for her to stop "in the name of the Canterlot Princesses". But Sprinkle Medley knew they weren't doing anything that would be approved of by the princesses - and that both Celestia and Cadance had to be warned of the crooked deal that had just transpired.

She rounds a corner, sprints to the nearest office door and begins trying to yank it open. The effort was no use - Weather Ministry office doors were almost always locked unless its occupant was working with a client. The pegasus mare takes off down the hallway again, sweat beginning to trickle down her face, as she hears the stallions approaching.

BANG! Not watching where she was going, Sprinkle Medley runs headlong into a cleaning cart pushed by a young pegasus stallion. The cart overturns, spilling its contents everywhere. Sprinkle Medley takes off yet again around another corner, and the chasing stallions comes across the mess asking which way the mare went. The disoriented young stallion points to around the corner, and the two Guards take off again, leaving him to clean the mess alone.

Meanwhile, Sprinkle Medley ducks into the mare's bathroom - a place that would've looked very familiar to a human except for flushing and sink handles being positioned lower than in human bathrooms.

"Check the bathrooms!" one of the stallions is heard outside as Sprinkle Medley tries to hide in the last toilet stall in the row, panting and gasping for air. If they found her here, there would be no escape - ceiling hatches that could be pushed open in an emergency had not been installed as the building was "exempt from such things", and the bathrooms had no windows leading outside.

"Surely two stallions won't come into a mare's bathroom looking for me!" Sprinkle Medley thinks... just in time to hear the door to the bathroom open with a booming slam!

The mare tenses up as she hears the hoofsteps echo in the room. Then a few seconds later, BANG! A stall door had been kicked open. Then comes another bang. And then another!

Sprinkle Medley tensed up as she realized the stallion in the bathroom with her was coming closer and closer with each door banging. Finally, the stallion inevitably banged open the door to the stall she was hiding, grinning like a hunter having just found his prey. Sprinkle Medley tries to scramble up the wall, but it's too little too late as the stallion rears up and literally pulls her down to the stall's floor. As she falls, Sprinkle Medley hits her head on the toilet, and the room swirls about her as she is dragged out of the bathroom stall.

"Got her!" the dragging stallion says triumphantly as he exits the bathroom, towing a disoriented Sprinkle Medley by one of her hind legs.

"Good, we'll use the cloth. That'll keep her out for a while." the other stallion says as he meets up again with his partner. His sidebag opens, and a cloth soaked in some kind of fluid is held up in front of Sprinkle Medley's snout. In quick order Sprinkle Medley's world goes black, and the two stallions carry her away from the bathroom as a hostage...

"She's coming to now." were the next words Sprinkle Medley heard. She found herself inside a maintenance closet, gagged and tied to a chair, able to do little more than bump the chair around. Facing her, their faces in deep shadow as a result of the single light source coming from behind them, were the two Guard stallions as well as Minister Thunderdash! Not surprising for a pony put in such a predicament, she fights against her bonds and shouts in muffled protests, the chair bouncing and shaking from the effort.

"Now now Sprinkle Medley, you've made much too much fuss already about this." Thunderdash scolds. "20,000 bits is a significant fraction of our yearly budget, and I am not about to let you screw the Ministry out of that kind of money."

Sprinkle Medley's muffled response is accompanied by a murderous look. She realized that, just like so many of her comrades in the past, she was getting screwed over for money, her professionalism ignored and drowned out by the jingle of bits.

"The stallions and I can't afford to have you go telling the princess on us, so I need you to stay here until further notice. That's an order, Sprinkle Medley." Thunderdash sternly states.

Sprinkle Medley's eyes go wide, then screw shut as she tries to fight back tears. If she escaped being bound and gagged alive, it would only be with her public reputation and career in shambles - the Weather Ministry's machinations would ensure she was a pariah the whole rest of her life, the same fate suffered by some of her friends before.

"Please doing business with you, gentlestallions. Lock the door behind you. I'll post an 'Out of Order' sign to keep the nosy from investigating." Thunderdash says to the guard stallions.

"Very good, ma'am. Agent Snake will be most pleased by your cooperation. Remain on standby for further orders." one of the pegasus stallions replies.

"Yes, sir." Thunderdash says with a salute.

The stallions and Minister Thunderdash turn and walk out of the maintenance room, Thunderdash locking the door behind them. The last thing Sprinkle Medley sees before she is left in darkness is the knife-like stares of those that have tied her up in that room. In the darkness, she can do nothing but weep helplessly and hold out dim hope for a rescue before its too late...

MEANWHILE, IN A CANTERLOT CASTLE MEETING...

"Your Highness, surely you're not going to do nothing, are you?"

"Captain, what can I do? Even if I tell her about where I came from, Aunt Luna won't believe a word I say! There's rumors out there that are just as believable as the truth, maybe even more so! She's sure to have heard of those rumors by now."

"Then have your Aunt..."

"Aunt Luna won't believe Aunt Celly either! Aunt Celly has already said she won't do anything until tempers cool down a bit."

"And what if they don't, Your Highness? What then?"

"...Did Aunt Celly tell you what she did with the Elements of Harmony?"

"...Yes, but where exactly are you going with this question?"

"Let's just say, Captain, we may need them and their bearers again in this situation."

"I'd prefer not to think that, Your Highness."

"Me and you both, Captain. Me and you both."

Storm Clouds Gather

"Good morning, Your Highness..."

"'TIS NOT A GOOD MORNING! BEGONE, CAPTAIN!"

"But Your Highness, I still have to make my..."

"WE SAID BEGONE, NOW BEGONE!"

"...Yes, Your Highness."

"Goodness, has she been like that all night?" a mortified Captain Gibraltar asks Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor as the former exits Princess Luna's chambers as discretely as the situation allowed.

"Unfortunately, sir." Shining Armor sighs out, his face showing both frustration and exasperation.

"What happened?"

"Shortly after the moon raising, a whole group of pegasi moved a cloud bank directly in front of the moon and kept it there all night. Needless to say, Her Highness was not happy with this and demanded to know who was responsible for it."

"And did you?"

"Well sir, when I sent a Lieutenant to the Weather Ministry to determine who was behind the cloudbank, they came back with this." Shining explains, telekinetically pulling out from his sidebag a piece of parchment with a pink-colored wax seal attached along the bottom. Gibraltar looks at it and immediately his eyebrows go up in surprise.

"We'll need to discuss this in my office." Gibraltar bluntly states, his eyebrows now knitted in seriousness.

It is an awkward and silent trip to the Captain of the Guard's Office. When Gibraltar and Shining Armor arrive, Gibraltar puts the parchment with the wax seal on his desk and sits down behind it. Shining Armor nervously sits himself down in front of the desk.

"Tell me what is wrong with this picture." Captain Gibraltar firmly commands, pointing a forehoof at the parchment on the desk.

"Sir, I don't believe that Princess Cadance would ever authorize such a thing. Not in a million years." Shining Armor replies with as much confidence as he can muster.

"I don't disagree with you on that, but there's something else. I hope you've already spotted it." Gibraltar continues in the same firm tone.

"The seal, sir. It's the old, discontinued design. That one was supposed to have been destroyed when Cadance left on her extended field tour."

"Correct. That design only references herself and Princess Celestia as the princesses of Canterlot. As you said, Celestia ordered the seal destroyed after Cadance left Canterlot, for reasons that have only recently become clear."

"The return of Princess Luna would've necessitated a redesign of the seal, so Princess Celestia must've ordered it done early knowing what was going to happen."

"Exactly. It was also an anti-fraud measure - Celestia didn't want the temptation for its abuse. That seal design is not supposed to exist anymore, so how did it end up on a document dated yesterday afternoon?"

"Well sir, as I said I don't believe this was deliberate act, the only conclusion I've come to is that the parchment is fraudulent. I would've investigated further, but I wanted both you and Princess Celestia to see this first before I took any further action."

"And that you wanted to talk to Cadance yourself?"

"Well... yes, sir, that's correct."

"I really can't blame you for wanting all your bases covered Shining, considering the gravity of the situation here. But if there is something going on, we are losing time to the conspirators as we speak. First opportunity I get, I will send a pair of stallions to the Weather Ministry to get more information on the situation. I will also call a meeting with both Princess Celestia and Cadance to discuss this very matter - if need be, they can authorize more drastic measures than I can. When you report in tonight, I will provide you with an update on the situation. Understood?"

"Yes, Captain." Shining Armor replies with a salute.

"Good. Just leave your report on my desk, I'll look at it later. If you want to talk to Princess Cadance, now would be the time as I'm sure she's en route here for the morning debriefing. Otherwise, go get some sleep, I have a feeling you're going to need it." Captain Gibraltar states.

"Understood, sir. Thank you, sir."

As Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor leaves the Captain's office, he passes by the pegasus Lieutenant Captain Aten, who gives an impish grin in Shining's direction. This in turn provokes an eyebrow raise on Shining's part - was it just Aten taking pleasure in Shining's discomfort, as usual for him, or was Aten in on something Shining wasn't? Shining couldn't tell the difference between those two possibilities, so he decided to ignore Aten as the latter went into the Captain's office for his own morning debriefing from Captain Gibraltar.

Shining Armor then rounds a corner of the hallway to see Princess Cadance waiting there. It wasn't a particularly surprising sight, considering how Cadance loathed Aten's crude attempts at hitting on her and tried to avoid being in close proximity to Aten whenever possible. Shining let out a sigh - he might as well get it over with now.

"Cadance, I need to talk about something..." Shining wearily begins.

"I already know. I heard as soon as I got up. And I know for a fact that I did not do it." Cadance cuts off. "Somepony is playing Luna against me. And both Aunt Celly and I would sure like to find out who it is."

"But why do that? Why sow seeds of discord when Luna could very easily snap back because of this?" Shining asks, the concern weighing heavily on his expression.

"I don't think whoever is doing this either cares or has the slightest idea what they're doing. And there's something else involved too."

"Oh? What?"

"Aunt Celly once told me that, even after living as long as she has, she still sometimes feels a romantic attraction, that the passion still burns within her sometimes even though she knows she will outlive any potential suitor. And I think Aunt Luna would be the same, but more so."

"...So what you're saying is..."

"Aunt Luna might be in love with you. And that fact will be capitalized on, Shining."

"But I didn't mean..."

"I know you didn't mean it. I understand she needs somepony like you supporting her right now. But I'm annoyed I'm even having to talk about this in the first place. As long as Aunt Luna doesn't like or accept me, she will want to keep us apart. And she will listen to anypony that will help her do that, regardless of whatever other motives they may have."

"But..." Shining Armor tries to object.

"I'm sorry, Shining. Until this whole thing blows over we're not going to see each other. I don't have a choice - even if I wanted to, Aunt Celly wouldn't let me try." Cadance affirms.

Shining Armor sighs and his ears droop down, but he nods understandingly. There's no use trying to fight it, he just had to accept it.

"I'm glad we have an understanding. We'll see what happens over the course of today, and if anything changes somepony will let you know." Cadance states, the pained expression in her eyes indicating she was having just as much trouble with this as Shining Armor was.

"Thanks."

SEVERAL HOURS LATER, AT THE WEATHER MINISTRY...

"Gentlestallions, I can assure you that Princess Cadance did indeed order that cloud bank." Weather Minister Thunderdash explains to the two unicorn guards in her office, trying to make the lie sound as convincing as possible. Used to acting to try to weasel her way out of some misdeed she or her underlings had committed, she was now giving the performance of her career trying to convince the two unicorns sent by the Captain of the Guard to investigate the previous night's cloudbank that everything was as it was said to be.

"Ma'am, we were sent here to verify that Princess Mi Amore Cadenza did indeed order a spiteful covering of the moon last night. Do you have proof of your statement?" one of the unicorn guards asks.

"Absolutely. Here." the pegasus mare minister replies, pushing a small stack of paperwork across her desk. All the pages had a bright pink seal in the lower-right corner.

One of the unicorns telekinetically picks up the papers, and the two guards study the sheets with skeptical looks. Except for the same old-style seal, all the paperwork looked correct for Cadance making such a request. The two guards exchange looks briefly before returning attention to Thunderdash.

"Who handled this request?" one of the unicorns asks.

"I did myself, and oversaw the team that put the cloudbank in place." Thunderdash answers. She had made sure to take charge of the implementation herself so that there wasn't a second pony involved that could ruin everything.

"And the implementation paperwork?" a unicorn guard asks now.

"In the stack." Thunderdash casually answers.

After a quick look at the paperwork to confirm what Thunderdash was saying, the two stallions exchange whispers. Except for the not-supposed-to-be-used seal design for Cadance on the paperwork, the two unicorns had nothing to go on to investigate further. They didn't have a warrant to do a more through search of the Weather Ministry offices either - requesting such a warrant was very likely to tip off the conspirators that something had gone wrong with their plan, so the Captain would only do that as a measure of last resort.

"Are we done here, gentlestallions?" Thunderdash asks after a minute of this whispering.

"Yes ma'am. Thank you for your cooperation. If we need you for anything else, we'll be sure to let you know. Have a good day, ma'am." one of the guard unicorns replies, taking the presented paperwork with them as they leave the office.

As the unicorn stallions leave, one of them telekinetically pulls the office door shut behind him. Thunderdash waits a moment, then quietly walks over to a door in the supply closet and opens it just a crack.

"All clear, Agent Snake." she stage whispers into the closet before opening it more fully. The stallion that emerges from the closet is completely covered in a hooded cloak and brown "stockings" hiding his hooves. The only distinguishing features are a grey unicorn horn sticking out through a hole in the cloak's hood and a pair of yellow eyes glowing from under the hood.

"A little too close for comfort there, Agent 5." Agent Snake whispers to Thunderdash.

"Sorry, sir. I wasn't expecting them to show up." Thunderdash replies with a sheepish grin.

"Thanks to your impressive performance, that's the only thing you have to apologize for, Agent. Still, suspicions have been raised, we need to accelerate the plan. We're striking tonight. Start destroying any and all paperwork that could incriminate our operations, and don't stop until I say so or until it's all gone."

"All of it, sir?!"

"Can't afford to take any chances, Agent. If this plan goes wrong, all our operations will be put at risk. The shredding has already begun elsewhere, I suggest you join the effort as soon as possible."

"I understand, sir."

"Good. What about our prisoner?"

"Sprinkle Medley? We keep her out most of the time, and her family knows she sometimes has to go on extended business trips without being able to tell them anything. It'll be several days before anypony suspects anything."

"Then she's no threat as long as she doesn't get lose. Keep a close eye to prevent that."

"What about a raid on this place? What if there's one executed before the strike?"

"They won't raid for at least eight more hours. The Captain of the Guard will have to wait until she can get the princesses in the meeting, then they have to agree to issue the warrant, then Her Highness has to actually draw it up... you understand the red tape involved with these things."

"Of course, sir."

"We are at an understanding then. Anything else I should know?"

"No, sir."

"Then I'll leave you to your work. Don't fail me, Agent."

"Yes, sir." Weather Minister Thunderdash replies with a salute.

BACK IN CANTERLOT, AN HOUR LATER...

"Captain, I didn't do this! What makes you think I would do this?" Princess Cadance pleads as she and Princess Celestia sit in a hastily-arranged meeting with Captain of the Guard Gibraltar.

"Your Highness, nopony is accusing you of anything. But I can't ignore this paper trail I've been given." Gibraltar calmly replies, tossing the stack of paperwork in such a manner it slides down the meeting room table to stop right in front of Cadance.

"Something is going on here. I actually agree you did not do this, because of the seal being wrong for one thing." the Captain continues. "But there is somepony or someponies working to drive a wedge between you and your aunt Luna. And the more we sit around and talk about it, the more time the conspirators have to drive in that wedge. We can't afford to wait any longer on this matter Your Highnesses, we must act now!"

Cadance looks over at the silent Celestia, who looks back and gives a quiet sigh before turning back to look at the determined Captain - she's realized "doing nothing" is not an option anymore.

"What do you think you need in order to take action, Captain?" Celestia asks quietly.

"Two things. One is to try to explain the forged paperwork to Princess Luna. I would recommend Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor do this, and have Cadance accompany him." the Captain crisply answers. "The other is royal warrant to search the Weather Ministry records. Without that warrant, they will stonewall things as much as they possibly can, and time is not on our side here."

"...Very well, I will write up the warrant and give it to you as soon as possible. But don't say I didn't warn you this plan isn't likely to work." Celestia cautions, seeing Luna's temper turning into a no-win situation for any attempts to defeat the conspiracy.

"Well Your Majesty, with all due respect, I hope you're wrong." the Captain replies, looking wearily out the window at the kingdom put in danger by conspirator schemes and alicorn passions...

Nightmares

"There can only be one princess in Equestria! And that princess... will be me!"

"Luna! Cadance is not your enemy! Think of how long you were banished to the moon! You'll give us no choice but to send you back there if you don't stop!"

"Luna, I will not fight you! You must lower the moon! It is your duty!"

"Luna? I am... Nightmare Moon! I have but one royal duty now... to destroy you! And that enchantress called Cadance too!"

The relative luxury of a Lieutenant Captain's quarters and furnishings could not stop Shining Armor from tossing and turning in his sleep as the voices echoed through his head. He recognized the voices - Luna's, then Twilight's, then Celestia's and then Luna's again - and the accompanying scene was horrific, him along with Celestia, Cadance and Twilight watching Princess Luna once again becoming "Nightmare Moon". Reflexively, Shining's dream self casts his barrier magic around "Nightmare Moon", but the evil alicorn shatters it with a mocking laugh and then she leaps at him, wings flared and fanged jaws opened wide.

As "Nightmare Moon" zooms closer, Shining awakes tumbling out of the cot, cold sweat dripping from his forehead. Dazed and staring up at the room's ceiling, he hears the door to his darkened room opened and sunlight streaming in from the outside. Two stallion heads - the guards assigned to make sure Shining wasn't disturbed in his sleep - are heard walking in and then pop into his field of view, looking down at the upside-down Shining Armor.

"Sir, what happened?" one of them asks.

"Ugh, some kind of nightmare - help me up." Shining answers, woozy and slightly dazed by the tumble.

As he is helped up, Shining contemplates what exactly the nightmare he just had was. Even years later, after his younger sister had a very similar vision, it was still a mystery. Luna wouldn't have been awake to "plant" the vision, and her powers hadn't recovered enough yet to do any kind of remote influencing. Considering it was so similar to Twilight Sparkle's later experience, Celestia later claimed the vision Twilight saw produced a magical "ripple effect" that travelled backward in time and influenced Shining's anxious sleep that night.

All that was in the far future, though, and at the time Shining just took it as a foreboding sign of major trouble to come. And indeed, trouble was soon in coming...

SEVERAL HOURS LATER...

After Shining's shock, he had fallen back into an uneasy sleep, then awoke again to prepare for his shift and received news both of the meeting attempt to explain the forged documents and the issued royal warrant. During the assignment lottery process, Shining Armor pulled aside the bat pony Lieutenant Vesper.

"Don't take a lottery ball. Take this instead." Shining whispers out, producing the royal warrant for searching the Weather Ministry.

"...A royal warrant, sir?" Lieutenant Vesper replies after seeing Celestia's seal on the rolled-up parchment. A royal warrant was a virtual "blank check" - the holder was to be given the same access as Princess Celestia herself. A classic "cutting the knot" solution - but one sparingly used, and only in the greatest of emergencies.

"I need you to go the Weather Ministry and get to the bottom of what is going on. I've already given Lieutenant Stratocumulus instructions to assist you with his squad. Both of you go and don't stop searching until you've found the truth! Princess Cadance and I are going to try to talk to Luna about the forgeries as soon as I'm done with the assignments." Shining explains.

"Both of you together, sir?" Vesper replies, a skeptical look passing across his face.

"I know it's not the best idea in the world, but the clock is ticking and we can't do nothing anymore. I'll take the chance, regardless of how things turn out." Shining continues, the nervous expression indication he knew things could go very wrong indeed.

"I understand, sir. Good luck, sir."

ABOUT 30 MINUTES LATER...

"You know, Cadance, I'm amazed you managed to get Celestia to agree to this." Shining Armor says as he and Princess Cadance make the walk toward Princess Luna's suite, escorted by a single Upper Class guard.

"The only reason she agreed to it was because doing nothing would've been worse. But she didn't think this would work. And, to be honest, neither do I." Cadance replies with blunt honesty. Shining has no good answer to that argument, so he just remains silent and says nothing more for the rest of the walk.

As they round the last corner toward Luna's bedroom suite, however, they come across an anxious throng of ponies near the door. All of them are Luna's servants, an about equal mix of bat ponies and unicorns. Shining and Cadance stop at the sight of this and exchange glances, then Shining runs ahead to the throng, kept away from the door by the crossed pikes of the unicorn guards in front of it.

"What's going on here?!" Shining exclaims.

"They won't let us in." one of the group explains, pointing a forehoof toward the guards.

"Guards, I'm sure Her Highness is awake by now. These ponies have work to do, let them in." Shining states toward the pair of unicorn guards, one white and one gray.

"Sorry sir, absolutely no admittance permitted. We have orders." the white unicorn guard at the door replies.

"I'd like to see your orders, if you don't mind Guard." Shining continues, a suspicious eyebrow going up as he speaks.

"Right here, sir." the gray unicorn guard answers, telekinetically opening his sidebag and levitating out a sheet of parchment. Shining Armor "takes it" telekinetically, indicated by the changing magic colors, and studies the parchment carefully.

"What's going on?" Princess Cadance asks as she approaches Shining's location, but he holds up a forehoof to indicate her to hold questions for the moment.

The parchment does indeed indicate, in no uncertain terms, that there was to be no admittance to Luna's chambers, not even by those normally entitled to be automatically admitted by virtue of rank or duty. The parchment was both stamped with Captain Gibraltar's stamp and sealed with the new design seal of Princess Luna.

Or at least, it looked like the new Princess Luna seal. The actual design had been both tweaked at least once and used sparingly over the few days it had actually been in existence - Shining himself wasn't familiar with the final design yet, and the lower ranks certainly wouldn't be familiar with it either. It also didn't make sense for Captain Gibraltar to support such a blanket order, Luna's temper aside, as it would cause great inconvenience to his subordinates, the civilian staff and Luna herself. The Captain would've at least tried to talk Luna out of such an order, or told Celestia to have her try the same thing.

It went against his military training and proper protocol, but Shining was convinced by the pricking of his conscience, particularly in light of the fraudulent Cadance order for the cloudbank the previous night, that this no admittance order could be forged as well. Because of the double authorization and the lack of familiarity with the new Luna stamp design, the ordinary guard ranks would not question whether the order was legit or not. But Shining Armor, both because of the stakes involved and the awareness of the previous forging, had to.

"Shining?" Cadance asks again.

"I'll explain in a minute. Guard?" Shining answers, both to the princess and her Upper Class Guard escort that had come up beside her.

"Yes, sir?" the escort guard answers.

"Fetch the Captain here. Wake him if necessary. Tell him it's an emergency and that he is needed immediately." Shining orders.

"Yes, sir."

MEANWHILE...

The two Guard Lieutenants, bat pony Vesper and pegasus Stratocumulus, marched into the Weather Ministry offices. Each Lieutenant lead a squad of four other Guard stallions, Vesper all bat ponies and Stratocumulus a mix of pegasi and unicorns. Their objective: locate any evidence of possible forging operations and, if it occurred, arrest any perpetrators they ran into. As the two squads marched into the offices, they noticed the eerie quiet - normally there was at least a skeleton staff working at night, but right now there didn't seem to be a pony in the place.

"It's too quiet in here." Stratocumulus comments to Vesper as the two Lieutenants observe the dimly-lit and quiet office hallways leading from the entrance.

"I agree, Stratocumulus. Take your team, start on the east side. We'll take the west side." Vesper orders. Stratocumulus nods, and the two teams quickly go their separate ways, marching in threatening cadence as they proceed two-by-two behind the Lieutenant down the hallways.

Vesper's group quickly happens upon a closed office door. One of the Guards tries the door and finds it locked, so on Vesper's orders he turns his back to the door and bashes it open with a hind leg bucking. Inside the office is a mess - the desk overturned, various papers and other items scattered across the floor, a coffee pot shattered with its dark liquid contents spreading in a puddle as the guards watched.

"Goodness, was this place vandalized?" one of the guards asks as Lieutenant Vesper carefully steps into the trashed office. The bat pony Lieutenant works one of his armor pieces off a forehoof and holds the bare hoof over the coffee spill for a few moments.

"The spilled coffee is still warm. Whatever happened in here must've been just minutes ago." Vesper concludes as the armor piece is worked back on.

"Is it possible somepony warned whoever was in here we were coming?" one of the guards asks.

"I'm beginning to think so now. This place is full of such crooked figures that they would rather destroy their own property and hightail it out as fast as their wings can carry them rather than face justice." Vesper grimly answers.

"So what do we do, sir?"

"Nothing here. It'll take too long to clean up this mess, and we don't have any idea what we're looking for anyway. We need to keep checking offices, find something that's not a mess."

Vesper and his team moved onto the next door office and repeated the break and enter procedure, only to find the same trashed condition in that office as well. Vesper, now concerned that he wouldn't be able to get anything, tried a third office only to find it had been trashed as well. Whatever had happened in these offices, it was a systemically conducted and through attempt to prevent the finding of incriminating evidence...

On the east side of the Weather Ministry offices, Lieutenant Stratocumulus and his team were finding the same trashed offices as Vesper were. After analyzing several offices and coming to the same conclusion Vesper had come to, he decided to pause and determine whether to continue searching or report back to Vesper about their findings and determine what further productive efforts would be possible.

While in his speculations, his team hears a pair of voices giving mocking laughter coming from somewhere out of sight. When the team looks up and down the hallway and around the corner of adjacent hallways, they see nothing, but the voices continue to mock them nonetheless.

Eventually the Lieutenant loses his patience and issues a direct, loud challenge: "Show yourselves, craven cowards!"

"You'll never catch us. We're always one hoofstep ahead of you." the male voice mocks before it and the other female voice join in further mocking laughter.

At that point, Lieutenant Stratocumulus had enough: "The unicorn with me, we'll try to catch whoever's doing this. The rest of you find Lieutenant Vesper and report what's happened so far."

There is a chorus of acknowledgement, and the unicorn guard sets off with the Lieutenant while the rest of his team goes to report to Lieutenant Vesper their findings so far. The Lieutenant and unicorn Upper Class guard with him spot a pair of shadowy figures down a hallway, and the chase is on, the figures always stopping long enough to taught the two guards before taking off again.

The chase goes through several twisting and turning hallways before stopping at a dead-end with the only way out through an unassuming maintenance closet door. The figures, remaining unidentifiable in the shadows, defiantly stand their ground at the end of the hallway as the Lieutenant and his unicorn companion slowly close the distance, hoping to at least get an identification.

"Surely you realize you're trapped. That maintenance closet doesn't have an exit away." Lieutenant Stratocumulus points out.

"What happens to us in the end does not matter. Protecting our fellow Agents is our utmost concern and duty." the male voice answers.

"What are you even talking about?!" the Lieutenant challenges.

"Some ponies... just want to watch Equestria burn." the male voice replies in a sinister tone.

A click noise follows just a moment later, and then a boom as a fireball blasts out from the wall to the right of the shadowy figures. The two figures disappear into the flames as the explosion spread down the hallway toward the Lieutenant and his unicorn companion. Reflexively, the two guards turn away from the blast of heat and light coming toward them.

The fireball stops short of the location of the two guards about halfway down the hallway, and when the scene clears the end of the hallway is both aflame and blown apart, the fire beginning to spread down the hallway. Lieutenant Stratocumulus and his unicorn companion advance as close to the edge of the flames as they dare and look through the gaping hole the explosion left in the wall.

Immediately, three things are obvious. One is that the two shadowy figures that started the explosion are nowhere to be seen in the flames. The second is an obvious casualty - a now-unconscious pony that was inside the maintenance closet when the explosion occurred and blasted against an opposing wall. The third - and most important - is the enormous tank labeled "natural gas" visible through the breach. A fire, possibly deliberately set, was already burning right under the tank!

The Lieutenant looks around for firefighting options - and finds none. Pegasi communities were generally made of non-flammable materials, and so firefighting measures such as sprinkler systems and fire extinguishers were not required to be present in most buildings. There had been several attempts to get those measures installed in Weather Ministry offices, but all got caught up in the reform-fighting attempts and ultimately went nowhere. All this meant that the Lieutenant and his comrades had no way to fight the fire themselves - the only option was to evacuate and call a "bucket brigade" from the adjacent pegasi community.

"That tank is enormous!" the Lieutenant exclaims as a fire alarm starts ringing, triggered by the telekinetic pulling of an alarm handle nearby by the unicorn guard with him.

"Sir, we need everypony to evac this building! That tank is big enough to destroy this whole building if it goes up!" the unicorn guard exclaims over the crackling of the nearby flames.

"There's a casualty - I have to go check to see if they're still alive. If I don't get that pony out, they won't survive the tank going up!" the Lieutenant shouts back, pointing to inside the closet.

"Sir, there's going to be compromised gas lines! Any blowout would incinerate you in an instant!" his unicorn subordinate objects.

"A risk I have to take to save lives. Go warn Lieutenant Vesper! I'll catch up later."

"But Sir..."

"That was an order! Go!"

The unicorn guard reluctantly turns away, and as he sprints down he sees the pegasus Lieutenant plunging right into the flames...

MEANWHILE, BACK IN THE CASTLE...

"Confound it Shining, there'd better a really good reason for this!" a tired and cranky Captain Gibraltar exclaims as he's escorted by the guard previously carrying out Shining's orders to the entrance of Luna's suite, where the throng of denied access servants buzzed in confusion and nervousness and Princess Cadance looked worriedly at the entrance door. Cadance has the servants clear away from the door as the Captain approaches.

"What are all these ponies doing out here? Don't they have work to do?" Gibraltar exclaims, pointing toward the servant ponies.

"That's why I called you, sir. The guards claim no access under your orders." Shining cautiously answers.

"My orders?! Is it in writing?" Gibraltar continues to exclaim.

"Right here, sir." one of the door guards answers, telekinetically holding out the parchment with the Captain's stamp and Luna's seal. The Captain telekinetically takes it, the parchment hovering in a light gray magic glow. After a moment of studying the parchment, an eyebrow goes up on the Captain's face.

"I don't remember signing off on this. How did you get this?" the Captain asks the door guards with a skeptical look on his face.

"The afternoon shift handed it to us when we relieved them for the night." the dark-coated unicorn guard replies, him and his white-coated counterpart exchanging nervous sidelong looks.

Captain Gibraltar looks down at puzzlement at the parchment, and Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor exchanges a concerned look with Princess Cadance. The Guard Captain looks like he's about to speak again when noise is suddenly heard coming from within Luna's suite.

"What was that?" the Captain asks the door guards, his ears perked up in listening attention.

"What was what, sir? I didn't hear anything." the dark-coated unicorn guard again speaks, also again exchanging a nervous sidelong looks with his white-coated counterpart stationed on the other side of the door.

The noises come again within the suite, this time unquestionably audible through the walls. One female and two male voices arguing, then some scuffling noises and shouting. Something bad was obviously going on in there, and a shout by the female voice followed by a hard "thwack" and cries of agony by one of the male voices indicate nothing good.

"That's Princess Luna's voice!" Shining Armor exclaims, recognizing the female voice.

"Open those doors!" Captain Gibraltar roars out at the door guards, switched into full action mode by the commotion going on inside Luna's suite.

"But sir, your orders..." one of the guards tries to object.

"Are countermanded! Open those doors!" Gibraltar cuts off, again at a loud volume. The guards look at each other, apparently hesitant to immediately respond - a tense few seconds as the male voices speak again, followed by more scuffling... and then silence.

"Guards, that was a direct order. If you do not open those doors in the next ten seconds, you both will be subject to immediate court-martial!" Gibraltar roars out again. This seems to produce the desired effect, as the two unicorn guards scramble to telekinetically open the doors to Luna's suite.

Princess Cadance holds the confused, concerned servants back as first Captain of the Guard Gibraltar and then Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor rush into Luna's royal suite. Inside... a mess. The obvious signs of a struggle include rumpled sheets on the bed, a toppled sidetable with several shattered objects and both Luna's crown and light-blue shoes scattered across the room. In a far corner is Luna herself, curled up in a ball and weakly crying.

"Princess? What in the name of sanity happened in here?!" the Captain exclaims upon seeing Luna.

"Sir, look over here!" Shining exclaims, pointing off to one of the windows. Gibraltar follows the pointed forehoof to see a small trail of crimson-colored drops (from a broken snout?) leading toward an opened window with a large burlap sack snagged on the sill.

"An abduction attempt! Lockdown Canterlot airspace, don't let the criminals escape the city!" Gibraltar orders, and his escort unicorn acknowledges the order as he rushes away.

"Shining! The door guards!" Cadance exclaims, and Shining exits the royal suite to see the two unicorn door guards telekinetically dropping their pikes and shedding armor as they make a break for it!

Despite being in full armor himself, Shining chases after them, his horn glowing with magenta-colored magic. The two unicorn door guards don't get far before slamming headlong into a semi-circle magic barrier the Lieutenant Captain had cast in their path, stopping them cold. That barrier breaks, but it slows the other two long enough for Shining to cast a barrier "bubble" which encased them completely. The two other unicorns tumble inside helplessly as Shining telekinetically rolls the "bubble" back toward the royal suite and whatever else was going on there...

BACK AT THE WEATHER MINISTRY...

Alarms were blaring throughout the offices as Lieutenant Vesper issues the evacuation order - he had heard of the fire and immediately realized nothing could be done to save the building if the fire was already at the natural gas tank. As the rest of the guards scramble out of the building to a safe distance, Vesper goes back to determine the fate of fellow Guard Lieutenant Stratocumulus.

In the face of the intense and growing flames of the east side of the building, Vesper finds the pegasus Lieutenant Startocumulus, singed but otherwise OK, carrying some other pony on his back - a young pegasus mare, judging from the face and splayed out wings. The face of the Lieutenant is weary but triumphant.

"Any other casualties?" Vesper asks over the roaring flames.

"No sir, just this one. We need to go now!" Stratocumulus shouts back.

"Don't need to tell me twice!" Vesper replies. He shares the burden of the unconscious mare - Sprinkle Medley, as it turned out to be - and both stallions race out of the building at top speed. The smoke makes navigating the building difficult, and both stallions choke on it, but they know they must escape before the tank blows.

Outside the subordinates of both Lieutenants are waiting anxiously at a safe distance. Firecrews are arriving but direct their efforts to keep innocents out of harm's way - the fire emerging out the office building windows is already indication of how rapidly the fire is spreading and a concerned crowd is beginning to gather. One anxious minute passes, then another. Finally, the inevitable - an enormous KABOOM that blows out the entire space in the mountain in which the Weather Ministry Offices sit in a wave of fire.

Some flaming debris tumbles down the mountainside of Canterlot - it won't directly threaten the city or castle but instead the valley below - and the mountain rumbles slightly as the newly created cavern partly collapses, leaving the former offices partly buried in rock and partly on fire. The party of guards feared for the fate of their commanding Lieutenants as the offices burned and firecrews rushed in to the blown open cavern...

AT CANTERLOT CASTLE...

Shining Armor returns with his two shield bubble "prisoners" back toward Luna's suite. Other guards that had been posted nearby had taken over the duty of keeping the servants at bay from what was now a crime scene, and Princess Cadance had joined Captain Gibraltar in listening to a distressed Princess Luna explain what had happened in the suite.

"They said they would make her go away. They never said anything about us being stuffed in a burlap sack!" Princess Luna was exclaiming through her distressed tears, pointing toward Cadance.

"Your Highness, you should never have listened to them in the first place!" Captain Gibraltar exclaims in exasperation. "They could not have made Cadance 'go away', but they could make Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor 'go away', and there would have been no choice but to make him 'go away' if you were abducted. You've been told who he is - did you not think he would have enemies that would not want him so close to you?!"

Normally, the Captain would've been out of line, but here Luna simply winced and curled up in guilt - she knew he was right. She had been warned repeatedly by both Celestia and Shining Armor that there would be those who would want to take him down simply out of envy, but not unlike what happened a thousand years ago Luna had let her emotions drown out any rational thinking. Back then, it drove her into evil and exile - now, it had nearly gotten her tied up in a burlap sack and abducted from Canterlot!

Princess Luna is allowed to cry for a few seconds - and then stops as she hears somepony speaking to her again. Her eyes are closed, but she recognizes the words spoken by the voice: "Sunshine, moonshine, all Equestria awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake! Sunshine, moonshine, all Equestria awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake! Sunshine, moonshine..."

Luna opens her eyes to see Cadance smiling and repeating the old phrase from her youngest days - an echo of far more innocent and happier times - and immediately her emotional barriers fall, grasping Cadance in a full hug and repeatedly asking for forgiveness. Captain Gibraltar is looking down with a small smile on the scene when he hears Shining speak again.

"I hate to interrupt this touching moment, Sir, but I need you to see this." Shining Armor was saying. The Captain reluctantly pulls himself away from the scene to observe what Shining is telling him.

He arrives at the door to the royal suite, and eyebrows go up in surprise as the Captain observes the two former door guards suspended helplessly in Shining's magic spell bubble. He notices both the missing armor pieces on the guards and the same pieces scattered down the hallway and immediately jumps to the right conclusion.

"So you two are in on this, hmm? I bet that no admittance parchment you showed me was forged, wasn't it? Who gave it to you?! SPEAK!" Gibraltar roars out again. The guards remain silent, but the nervous uncomfortable grins on their faces indicate it wouldn't take much to crack them.

"Speak, or I shall have Celestia herself extract the information from you!" Gibraltar warns with an unusual look of rage on his face.

"Sir, if you'll have the Lieutenant Captain put us down, we'll tell you everything we know." the dark coated unicorn stallion trapped in the bubble meekly offers.

Shining Armor looks over at Captain Gibraltar, who gives a firm nod as he telekinetically pulls out a pair of metallic rings from his sidebag. Shining Armor makes the bubble disappear, which unceremoniously dumps the two unicorn stallions on the floor, and Gibraltar telekinetically slides on a ring onto the horn of each stallion. These rings were designed to "short" any attempt at using magic, making them essentially the unicorn equivalent of handcuffs.

"Well sir, it went something like this..." the white-coated unicorn begins speaking to both Captain Gibraltar and Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor...

Author's Note

TO BE CONCLUDED IN 'Agents of Chaos'...!

Agents of Chaos

"Your Highnesses, let me begin by saying that we last night uncovered a very deeply embedded and dangerous threat to this kingdom. There are dozens, maybe hundreds, of its members seeded in the ranks of the Royal Guard. They hide under a facade of unwavering loyalty and only strike when opportunity arises to divide and conquer, such as with Princess Luna's arrival in Canterlot."

"What do we know about them, Captain?"

"Only that they call themselves 'Agents of Chaos'. They have worked their way into every section of our government structure, apparently for the purpose of subversion and spreading disharmony. The only reason they have been exposed now is because the failure of their plan to drive Princess Luna and Princess Cadance apart, codenamed 'Operation Love Lost'. We don't know who or how many are involved, but there are a great many of them..."

In a Canterlot meeting room, Captain of the Guard Gibraltar was giving Princesses Celestia and Cadance a briefing regarding the tumultuous events of the previous night, which had already sent a great shockwave through Canterlot society. The Weather Ministry offices were a total loss, but all the employees save one - Weather Minister Thunderdash - were accounted for as not in the building when the explosion occurred, and there were no other casualties save the two ponies that had detonated the device to start the fire. Sprinkle Medley, recovering in a hospital overnight from her more than a day in captivity without food or water, had given information that helped piece together the plans of the "Agents of Chaos".

"The plan dubbed by them as 'Operation Love Lost' was intended not just to drive a permanent wedge between Luna and Cadance, but to end in disgrace the career of Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor. Had it succeeded, Luna would've been left open to their further predations and a return of 'Nightmare Moon' would not have been out of the question." Captain Gibraltar is speaking, using heavy language and fierce expressions to indicate how serious he is.

"Who was involved in this plan?" Princess Celestia asks, both her face and Cadance's beside her showing deep concern.

"There were five members of the Guard involved as well as at least one figure in the Weather Ministry. The members of the Guard involved were arrested and remain in custody. We have also identified the ringleader of the plot - Lieutenant Quill." Gibraltar answers.

"Your secretary?!"

"He is the only one capable of forging orders such as the one supposedly from Cadance that put the cloudbank over the moon two nights ago and the no admittance supposedly from Luna last night. The only reason we found the forging operation at all was because of the apparent necessity of using outdated and prototype seals for both Luna and Cadance to craft the orders. Since Quill controlled all information that comes and goes from my desk, it is possible he has been discretely forging orders with my stamping for months or even years without them being questioned or brought to my attention."

Celestia's eyes narrow into a determined expression at hearing this. Captain's orders were not supposed to be questioned, that was a cornerstone of military training. Such an egregious abuse of military confidence and chain of command was a very serious threat indeed.

"Where is Lieutenant Quill now?" Celestia asks.

"Nopony has seen him since he went off-duty yesterday. By now, he could be miles away from Canterlot even if we knew where to look for him. I've named the night shift secretary, Lieutenant Biro, acting substitute for now." the Captain answers.

"And you believe that Quill is the leader of the group?"

"At least a very high rank within it. Their leader is codenamed 'Snake' or 'Snake in the Grass', and the only distinguishing feature any of the Agents in custody know about him is he has a gray unicorn horn. Quill is a gray unicorn, so it's possible that they are one and the same. In any case, our immediate objective is to find and root out the remaining members within the Royal Guard ranks."

"Absolutely. Quill and the Agents in your custody now have all conspired against the Princesses of Canterlot and the harmony of this kingdom. I will see to the punishment of those already in your custody myself. Quill is to be brought back to Canterlot should he be caught."

"Acknowledged. Unfortunately, the destruction of the Weather Ministry offices and the absence of Lieutenant Quill will make it extremely difficult to root out the other Agents in the Guard. Only 'Snake' knows of the locations of the other Agents - the Agents are generally kept in ignorance of each other's identities unless they are working together on a mission."

"Then we all, but Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor in particular, need to maintain constant vigil against their actions, and ruthlessly uproot every trace of them embedded within us." Celestia states with determined seriousness. "There have always been threats to harmony within as much as without, but for something that has gotten this far we all must be relentless indeed."

Unfortunately, as Celestia was speaking, a coded message was being passed around in the Royal Guard ranks to the Agents embedded within them that showed the true extent of the threat was greater than what was envisioned at the time. The message used a "chaotic" cipher that was extremely difficult to break, ensuring the message's security. Rendered in plaintext, it went as follows:

"All Agents, Priority Message

The failure of 'Operation Love Lost' last night has cost our cause grievously. Our operations have been both exposed and seriously hindered, and are in danger of being destroyed altogether. Five of our Agents are in Loyalist custody: 15, 27, 33, 41 and 67. I do not expect them to survive the wrath of the sun. In addition, two additional Agents sacrificed themselves to prevent their knowledge from incriminating others and to destroy incriminating documentation at the Weather Ministry. Thanks to Agents 2 and 5 - civilian identities Lieutenant Quill and Weather Minister Thunderdash - the immediate future of our operations is safe. R.I.P. Agents 2 and 5.

In order for our operations to survive, we must take control of the moon's recovery. The shining one must fall, and all our operations from this point onward are to be directed toward that end. I expect all Agents to give their utmost to this effort. No cost is too great for the survival of our efforts and the resurrection of the chaotic one. Every Agent must do their duty if we are to survive. Glory to the chaotic one.

Agent 1 'Snake in the Grass'"

Arrival

"Sunshine, moonshine, all Equestria awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake! Sunshine, moonshine, all Equestria awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake! Sunshine, moonshine..."

"Your Highness?"

"Oh! My apologies Shining, you took me by surprise. I wasn't expecting you for another 10 minutes yet."

"The Captain kept my briefing as short as possible. He knew he didn't want to keep me waiting for the carriage, particularly considering it was way overdue."

"Of course. Shall we?"

"After you, Your Highness."

Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor, wearing not his usual night-shift armor but a dress uniform with the two gleaming gold stars of a Lieutenant Captain attached, himself escorted Princess Celestia from her chambers to the castle's landing pad, where at any minute the royal carriage containing Princess Mi Amore Cadenza (also known as Cadance) would arrive in Canterlot.

Looking into Celestia's eyes showed Shining that the sun princess shared his nervous anticipation of Cadance's arrival. More than a week had passed since the Summer Sun Celebration, and Shining had recently been treated to the amusing tale of his younger sister trying to figure out how to split two Grand Galloping Gala tickets between six ponies. But Cadance's return and not the Grand Galloping Gala was the main topic of Canterlot discussion and gossip - some ponies even speculating a major blow-up would occur between Luna and Cadance upon the latter's arrival in Canterlot.

The speculation was not entirely unfounded. Cadance's unexpected arrival in Canterlot slightly less than a decade before had brought quickly-squashed speculation she was replacing Luna in controlling the moon and the nighttime in general - speculation that had been dredged up again upon news Cadance was returning, much to Celestia's irritation. It didn't help that Celestia had told very little to Cadance about Luna - Cadance didn't know any more than the average pony about the legends regarding Luna and "Nightmare Moon". Shining suspected this was a protective measure - to prevent Cadance from being emotionally compromised when Luna did indeed return from her moon exile.

Shining Armor also speculated this was why Cadance was not in Canterlot during the Summer Sun Celebration. Cadance had been sent on field tours before, mostly because her love magic proved a useful "troubleshooting" tool regarding problems in the distant reaches of Equestria. But this field tour had been far longer and more comprehensive than anything she had been sent on before - more than six months touring every corner of Equestria and even visiting other realms such as Saddle Arabia and the Griffin Kingdom. It had seriously crimped Shining and Cadance's courtship, but Shining had rationalized the absence as part of Cadance's duty. Now Shining had to wonder if Cadance was sent away just because having another alicorn anywhere near Canterlot when "Nightmare Moon" returned would've been a very bad idea...

"What was that you were doing when I arrived, Your Highness? That is, if I may ask..." Shining comments to Princess Celestia as the two of them walk the castle hallways side-by-side, trying to make the question sound as casual as possible.

"The 'sunshine, moonshine' thing?" Celestia asks, her voice unusually quiet and reserved.

"Yes, that. It sounded familiar..."

"It should. I taught Cadance a different version of something Luna and I did when we were fillies. You've probably seen Cadance do it with your sister before."

Celestia must've seen the surprise on Shining's face, because she lets out a hollow, quiet chuckle before continuing: "There's many things Cadance knows that come from that time. I've never told her where they've come from, though."

Shining Armor sees a sad, pained look pass over Celestia's face that speaks more than words ever could. Shining knew how much Cadance meant to Celestia; it went even deeper than the student-teacher relationship that Twilight Sparkle had, as Cadance was a full alicorn and actually adopted by Celestia as her niece. Twilight Sparkle was not (yet) family, but Cadance already was - keeping all those secrets couldn't have been easy, but it would've hurt more to tell of them. All Celestia (and Shining Armor) could hope was that Cadance would understand why those secrets had to be kept from her until now, and that she would forgive "Aunt Celly" for doing so.

The stairs leading to a tower with a flattened top are climbed in silence by Princess Celestia and Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor save for echoing hoofsteps. A pair of unicorn guards open the door at the top, revealing a flat "pad" with a marked off runway used for royal carriage takeoffs and landings. As Shining Armor and Celestia step out into the cool air and fading sunlight, they can see a crew of afternoon shift guards - pegasi with a unicorn or two mixed in - waiting uneasily off to the side of the "pad". Near them are a unicorn and a bat pony deep in conversation - both are in dress uniforms, the unicorn with a two star insignia and the bat pony with a one star insignia.

Shining Armor steps beside Celestia as they approach the conversing pair, who turn to face the sun princess with a salute as she approaches.

"At ease." Celestia says as she and Shining stop in front of the pair. The duo move to a slightly relaxed standing stance, the pony equivalent of "at ease".

"Long afternoon, Fidelitas?" Shining asks the unicorn with a smirk.

"Too long, Shining." the unicorn, Lieutenant Captain Fidelitas, replies. "I heard that the chariot pullers are working a double to get Her Highness to Canterlot before it became too dark to fly by. They couldn't even stop in Ponyville to rotate and take lunch, that's how tight the schedule was."

"A flying double is quite exhausting, from what I've heard. I hope the Captain will give them a day or two off afterward." Shining comments.

"Speaking of the Captain, I still need to get the shift's paperwork to him. Is he still in the office?" Fidelitas asks.

"He gave me operational authority for the night, but he was still processing paperwork last I saw him. If you go doubletime, you might catch him before he retires to quarters."

"Thanks. Permission to leave?" Fidelitas asks of Princess Celestia, giving a salute as he speaks.

"Permission granted." Celestia answers. Fidelitas gives a thank you and leaves toward the door at doubletime pace, leaving the bat pony, Lieutenant Vesper, facing Shining and Celestia alone.

"It looked like you were engaged in quite the conversation, Lieutenant." Shining comments.

"There is very little even a Lieutenant Captain of the Guard knows of our customs and traditions, sir." Vesper replies frankly in his gruff baritone.

"I can imagine there's a lot to learn about. What's the status of the landing control squad?" Shining asks, pointing over at the waiting group of guards.

"Held over from afternoon shift, sir. Do you want me to gather enough guards to rotate them out?" Vesper asks, which meant that he would temporarily assign enough guards under Shining's authorization to replace the waiting group.

"No, just relieve the Lieutenant there and take charge of the current squad. The chariot shouldn't be much longer, I think. They will be free to return to quarters once they've accomplished their assigned tasks."

"I will tell them that, sir." Vesper states, giving another salute before turning and heading toward the waiting group of guards.

Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor and Princess Celestia pause for a moment to enjoy the view, a panorama of much of Equestria framed in the fading light of the sun. The buildings of Ponyville, as the closest significant population of ponies to Canterlot, was the most obvious sight to see, but there were others: the spreading reaches of the Everfree Forest, the permanent and structured cloud banks of Cloudsdale, and the ridge of mountains called the Unicorn Range that stretched away from Canterlot to the northwest.

Shining then looks over at the landing control group, Vesper talking with the unicorn Lieutenant from the afternoon shift. He notices the unicorn Lieutenant giving Vesper a funny look as Vesper takes command of the group.

"Did you see that, Your Highness?" Shining indignantly exclaims as he points toward the scene, and Princess Celestia nods.

"That kind of suspicion is only marginally easier to change than that surrounding Luna. Make sure you tell the Captain in the morning." Celestia states.

Shining is about to give a reply when he is interrupted by a loud siren noise - the signal for something coming into landing on the "pad". In the fading light, it's hard to tell more than an outline in the sky, but it definitely looks like a chariot. Shining and Celestia hear Lieutenant Vesper barking out orders for the landing control squad to assume "turnaround positions" - the standard terminology for a squad to assist in unloading and stowing away a royal chariot as quickly as possible. This was rendered necessary by the fading light, which would soon make flying unsafe for any that weren't bat ponies.

"They're coming in hot - probably because of the rush." Shining comments to Celestia as both of them see the chariot approaching.

"I see they're coming in hot, sir!" Vesper shouts from across the "pad".

"Hold your position! We'll see what happens!" Shining shouts back as the carriage's outline slowly becomes larger and more distinct.

A few tense moments pass as the elaborate carriage, its golden trim catching the last of the sun's rays, descends closer and closer. The pegasi pulling it, a team of four white guards, pull up and set down on the center of the pad. Immediately Lieutenant Vesper begins barking out orders, the unicorn members of the landing control squad telekinetically unhitching the exhausted pullers and giving the harnesses a quick check over.

Two pegasi start unrolling a red carpet carried between them from the door of the carriage to where Shining Armor and Celestia are standing. As soon as this is unrolled, Vesper takes a saluting position flanking the carriage door. The carriage door opens, and a unicorn guard comes out telekinetically carrying a small scroll of parchment. He also assumes a flanking position such that he and Vesper are facing each other across the carpet.

The parchment scroll is unrolled, and the unicorn loudly reads from it: "Presenting Her Most Royal Majesty, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza!"

Out of the carriage and onto the carpet steps Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, wearing both her usual royal accessories and a flowing sky blue dress. With practiced poise, she slowly opens her wings and then gives a gracious smile to each of the stallions beside the carriage. She steps with slow regality down the red carpet, the previously-mentioned stallions beside her escorting in lock step.

Princess Celestia, with Shining Armor escorting beside her, moves in the same regal manner up the red carpet. The two alicorns meet in the middle, with Celestia and Cadance touching noses and crossing horns - the only acceptable public display of affection between them.

"Good to see you again, Cadance." Shining hears Celestia whisper.

"Same to you, Aunt Celly." Cadance replies in the same whispering volume.

The two alicorn princesses briefly hold the gaze of family members seeing each other again after a long separation before Cadance looks over at Shining Armor. She shyly smiles at him, which provokes an immediate blush in Shining's face as he tries to maintain his composure.

"Shining, you don't need to be so formal with these things." Celestia gently corrects through an amused chuckle.

Celestia's comment just caused Shining to blush even more. The fact that he and Cadance had been courting since their high-school years didn't make these formalities any easier to deal with - Shining was just glad there wasn't any pony around that would give jealous and/or disapproving stares, like he had gotten back in the days when he was still in the main ranks of the Royal Guard.

A few moments of awkward silence pass, while in the background the other guards are at work unloading baggage and preparing the chariot to be stowed away for later. Cadance breaks the awkward silence with a comment about Shining wearing two stars on his dress uniform instead of the one of a Lieutenant.

"Oh, yeah. I got promoted again, Cadance. Lieutenant Captain, in charge of the night shift." Shining awkwardly replies, his cheeks still showing a blush.

"Night shift? There hasn't been a separate Lieutenant Captain of the night shift for a thousand years now. What's changed?" Cadance states, her face showing confusion and surprise.

"Cadance, I want you and Shining to come down to the resting chamber. There's a lot we need to talk about." Celestia states, her face suddenly turning into a pained and worried expression.

"Aunt Celly, is there something wrong?" Cadance asks as the surprise and confusion on her face become even more pronounced.

"Just come down to the resting chamber, I'll explain everything there." Celestia somberly answers. Cadance's expression changes to puzzled worry, but she does not make any statement or motion to object.

Princess Celestia reluctantly turns and begins walking back toward the door leading down from the "landing pad". Cadance, the puzzled worry still on her face, begins to follow, and the unicorn beside her hurries to catch up. Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor and Lieutenant Vesper are still together on the pad, while in the background some pegasi guards are being hitched to the chariot to fly it to the "garage" where it would be stowed away until it was needed again.

The blush slowly fades from Shining's face as he and Vesper watch the princesses depart, and Shining clears his throat to help in putting his military manner back on.

"Not a word of what you just saw to anypony else on the shift. Understood?" Shining firmly states.

"Yes sir." Vesper answers with a firm nod.

"Can you handle the rest of the affairs up here? I have a feeling I'm going to be tied up for a while with the princesses." Shining states, looking back at the pair of princesses as he speaks.

"Affirmative, sir." Vesper answers again.

"Very good. I will be with the princesses in the royal resting chambers. When the turnaround is finished, leave your report at my desk and return to your regular duties. Acknowledged?"

"Acknowledged, sir."

"I am done here then. Get back to monitoring the crew."

"Yes, sir." Vesper says with a salute, before turning toward the busy group of guard unicorns and pegasi behind him.

Shining Armor decided it was best to make as discrete an exit as he could. Slowly he went down the stairs inside the tower, his thoughts flitting from one topic to another seemingly at random - Cadance, Celestia, Luna, Lieutenant Vesper and the other bat ponies, the jealous pegasi he knew would capitalize on any opportunity to take him down, his sister and the other new bearers of an Element of Harmony...

"Oh Twily, if only you were here right now instead of me." Shining says just under his breath as he walks on toward what was certain to be a critical moment in the recovery and reintegration effort surrounding Princess Luna...