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                       The Artifact                        
                     -by primalcorn1-                      
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                   Prologue: In and Out                    
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Prologue: In and Out
Arcane Fire relaxed in his bunk in the barracks of Canterlot Castle. These barracks were not visible on any floorplan of the Castle that had ever been created. After all, according to official records, they didn't exist. According to official records, neither did he. The only pony who had any authority over him was Princess Celestia herself. He had no listing of rank or even name in any military record. In fact, official records stated that he had been killed in action during a routine scouting mission in the Everfree that had gone horribly wrong five years prior. However, every record of even that mission had been destroyed shortly after it was created. It was as if he had never even enlisted.
But who honestly believed the official story? After all, official records were nothing more than a cover up anyway. As a member of Princess Celestia's Elite Guard, he learned that lesson very quickly. He understood the reasoning behind official records of course. If the unofficial, true story of many events that Arcane found himself involved in got to the public, all hell would break loose within days.
But that was one of the most important parts of Arcane's job: Keep the public blissfully unaware of the threats that faced Equestria every day. Keeping the public blissfully unaware had left him with a body count that would leave any common pony petrified at the sight of him. He didn't enjoy killing by any means, but taking a life didn't haunt him like it had when he first started his career with the military. It was ugly, but it was just something he had to do.
The few ponies who knew Arcane Fire had lots to say about him. Some called him ruthless, others cold and calculating. Some said he was void of emotion at all. The other members of Celestia's Elite Guard simply viewed him as he viewed himself: Professional. His snow white mane was trimmed exactly to the regulation 16 inches, his tail at 24. His maroon coat was always clean, but never made to shine. His amber eyes never betrayed any emotion, even when he actually felt something. His alarm woke him at exactly 0500 every morning. At 0530 he was at the Spell Range to ensure that he was well practiced with his combat spells. At 0600 he ate breakfast, and by 0630 he was standing guard over the Princess. Out of sight of her and anypony she met with, of course. Yes, secrecy had always served him and other members of the Elite Guard rather well. At 1800, his shift was over, and he made his way to Shining Armor's office to receive any assignment the Princess had for him. Technically, Shining Armor had no authority over him, but the Princess didn't usually have time to spend giving orders. Instead, she sent any assignment she had for the Elite Guard to Shining Armor, and he relayed the orders to the leader of whichever squad Celestia wanted on the mission. Celestia was a politician with a full plate, after all. At 1830, Arcane was back at the Spell Range for more in depth practice. At 1930 he returned to the barracks and settled in for the night. That was his routine almost every night. That was his routine for three weeks before the Changeling attack on Canterlot.
The Changeling attack had taken every member of the Elite Guard by surprise. Celestia had sent more than half of their number away to take care of what she had believed to be the source of the threat against Canterlot. Celestia had made a good judgement call with the information she had: An insurgent group based in the Innercity of Manehatten had been developing a spell that would have the power to wipe a city like Canterlot off the map. The group also had many smaller bases stationed around Equestria, each working on different spells to give them an edge in battle over the empire, and the rest of the Elite Guard had been sent to clear them out. Naturally, Arcane's team had been sent to the main base in Manehatten, and they quickly discovered that the insurgent base was nothing more than a distraction designed by the Changelings to draw his outfit away from Canterlot for the attack. By the time they figured it out, Canterlot was already under attack. The fact that Chrysalis could possibly know about the existence Celestia's Elite Guard meant that she had managed to get her forces to infiltrate the highest ranks of the Equestrian Military.
That was a slip that would not soon be repeated. Ever since the attack, Arcane and his squad had spent every day playing search and destroy with whatever Changeling forces managed to remain in Equestria. The crazy "Love-Bomb" that Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amour e Cadenza used had driven back most of the Changeling forces, but naturally a few stragglers remained. It was just another thing that Arcane Fire kept the public blissfully unaware of.
Arcane Fire sighed as he felt his horn tingle. The Elite Guard consisted entirely of unicorns, so naturally they had developed a means to communicate from a distance with magic. His horn cast a crimson glow as he projected Princess Celestia's image onto the ceiling above him. As soon as he realized that it was the Princess that was contacting him, he jumped out of his bunk and snapped to attention.
"Princess Celestia, Ma'am!" He snapped a smart salute. The Princess nodded to him.
"At ease, Arcane Fire."
Arcane lowered his right foreleg to the floor and spread his legs to shoulder width. He was expecting Shining Armor to be the one communicating with him. If Princess Celestia was contacting him, something was wrong. And Arcane was not a pony who enjoyed cleaning up a political mess.
"Yes, Ma'am. What do you need?"
"I have an assignment for you, Arcane. Assemble your squad and meet me in the throne room immediately."
"Yes, Ma'am. We'll be there shortly."
No more words were exchanged as Princess Celestia cut the communication spell. Arcane's face may have been chiseled in stone as he made his way to the throne room, but he couldn't have been more worried. The Princess was always trying to get him to be more chatty, even when she requested him for an assignment. She was never so to the point.
Civilians. Arcane thought bitterly as trotted through the barracks. Always want to make nice when the empire is falling apart around us. Arcane Fire hated nothing more than dealing with civilians. He was glad he didn't have to make a habit of it.
"Stinger! Angel! Report!" Arcane called out. His two squadmates stepped into view.
"Right here, Fire!" Dark Sting called back. His coat and mane were both jet black, making him a terribly imposing enemy to anypony who managed to see him. Dark Sting was the best infiltrator Arcane had ever encountered. He was a shadow against shadows. Like Arcane, he never hesitated, and ice was visible in his deep blue eyes.
"What's going on, Sir?" Angel Hair's scarlet coat shone in the dim light of the barracks. She kept her jet black mane shaved, and her tail cropped roughly at her knees. Her emerald eyes conveyed a determined air. She was always ready for anything, and as the squad's counter spell specialist, that readiness was an invaluable asset. That and her peculiar affection for anything that exploded.
Arcane allowed himself a rare smile. Dark Sting and Angel Hair not only were his squadmates, they were his only friends. They were the only ponies in Equestria he enjoyed the company of, and when he got the chance to do so he usually took it. He snapped himself back to reality.
"Princess Celestia has an assignment for us. We're to assemble and meet her in the throne room ASAP."
"Yes, Sir!"
"Understood!"
Stinger and Angel parted so Arcane could get through, then proceeded to follow him to the throne room. Inside, they found the Princess in a heated discussion with Shining Armor.
"Princess, are you sure the Wraiths are necessary for this job? We have other small group infiltration specialists who can get the Asset and get out without the collateral damage they'll cause!" Shining Armor pleaded.
Arcane Fire felt a small sensation of pride well within him at the mention of the nickname his outfit had received. Wraith. It was so much more fitting than the title of an Elite Guard. In a way, they really were just like the Wraiths of legend. If they were called to a mission, they would eliminate all opposing forces without ever being seen. They were cold, calculating, and showed no mercy. It was their job. He continued to listen to the conversation as he and his team approached the throne.
"Getting the Asset isn't enough, Shining Armor. We need to wipe out the insurgent forces that are there. My Elite Guard is the simplest solution." The Princess responded flatly. She hated the term Wraith for her Elite Guard force. It was hard enough for Celestia to send them to do what they did. If she called them guards she could pretend it wasn't as ugly as it looked.
"Is the trail of bodies they'll leave worth it? There are civilians working in that building! Civilians that have families and aren't involved with the rebels at all!" Shining Armor may as well have been begging at that point.
"You think I don't know that, Shining Armor?! You think I like that I have to send them in?! The fact of the matter is that the Asset means more to us than he does to them. If we take the Asset and leave the rebel force intact, more civilians will die than Arcane Fire's team will kill tonight!"
Shining Armor sighed. He hated to admit it, but he knew the Princess was right. It was days like this that he couldn't stand his job. He scowled as Arcane Fire and his team approached the throne. Shining Armor hated the Wraiths, but he didn't have a say in their presence. The Wraiths were a necessary force to maintain peace in Equestria. And like the other Wraiths, Arcane Fire and his squad hated Shining Armor. They never once questioned his ability as Captain of the Royal Guard though. He was a natural leader, and every grunt in the guard looked up to him as though he were a god. The reason the Wraiths hated him was because he was far too emotional. It wasn't uncommon for him to allow his emotions to get the best of him, causing him to hesitate and make bad calls for the sake of saving lives. He commanded an army. Soldiers die, and Shining Armor needed to come to terms with that fact. Arcane broke from his train of thought to address the Princess. He was here for a mission, not a mental exercise.
"Ma'am! Delta Squad, reporting in. Ready for briefing when you are."
Princess Celestia sighed. She hated herself every time she had to give an assignment to a team of Wraiths, especially Delta Squad. Delta was the most ruthless team she had at her disposal. Every time she deployed them, ponies died. And they died in large numbers. She cleared her head. She needed that ruthlessness for this particular assignment, and she couldn't let herself get emotional over it. A golden glow enveloped Princess Celestia's horn as she cast the image of a large building on the wall of the throne room.
"Delta Squad, our scouts have recently located a rebel base in central Manehatten. It is hidden inside the thirteenth floor of the Aratec Headquarters building. Aratec has been suspected of assisting the rebel force for as long as we have known of them, but until now we haven't had any solid evidence of a connection. They go by the name Celestial Downpour. We need you to eliminate the rebels, however there is one asset that we need left alive."
Princess Celestia's horn flashed and the image of a gray stallion with a black mane appeared on the wall of the throne room. He looked older, which pleased Arcane. He would be easy to distinguish against a group of young rebel soldiers.
"His name is Gamma Ray. He is a scientist employed by the rebel forces. He has been linked to seventeen bombings in the last eight months, which is responsible for the deaths of nearly fourteen hundred civilian lives. We believe he has prepared an explosive device intended for the Capitol Building in Manehatten. Take him alive and bring him back here with his latest creation."
Princess Celestia heaved a deep sigh. She really hated this part of her job.
"Lethal force is authorized for everypony else you encounter."
"Will we have any assistance on this operation, Ma'am?" Arcane asked.
"Yes. Alpha Squad will move in from the roof of the target building." Celestia answered. "Arcane, you'll be in charge this operation. Alpha will provide any additional assistance that you request of them. They've already been briefed and are getting their equipment. Any more questions?"
Her query was met with silence, which was usual among Wraiths. She nodded.
"Get your equipment and meet Alpha Squad on the chariot launch pad. Dismissed."
Arcane nodded to his squadmates and they double-timed to the equipment room. They each made sure to put soft pads on their hooves to muffle the sound of their hoofsteps. Stealth would serve them well on this operation. They looked around for anything else they might need. This equipment room had every death machine that money could buy, but they ignored it. Anything that they could get from that gear they could create with their magic. There was no need to haul extra equipment around. However, Angel made sure to grab six small, but incredibly powerful, explosives. Arcane approached her.
"Angel, what's with the D-23's? We don't want to make a mess out of this op."
"Sir, I saw the image of the target building. It may be one of the smaller skyscrapers in the city, but it's still far too large to do a sweep of the building and get out in an acceptable time frame. The only way we can ensure that there are no survivors is to blow it. I can plant these in the basement and it will look like the Architect didn't build the place to hold it's own weight."
Arcane nodded. As much as he hated to make a mess out of this operation, Angel was right. They had to ensure that nopony inside the building survived, and time was of the essence.
"Good call. Delta, you have everything you'll need?"
"Yes, Sir." Angel responded.
"Ready to go, Fire!" Stinger called out.
"Alright, let's hit the launch pad." Arcane double timed to the chariot launch pad hidden on the side of the mountain that Canterlot was built on. He often wondered how his outfit still managed to be a complete secret. He would have at least expected a few legends to spring up. Then again, he never left the Castle enough to find out what the world knew about the Wraiths.
Arcane quickly found himself rounding the corner to the launch pad. Delta Squad met up with Alpha Squad, and the six ponies exchanged a series of brief nods before boarding the chariots and taking off towards Manehatten.
Communicate via telepathic link. Keep the chatter to a minimum. Arcane spoke over the telepathic link he had with his squad. Let's have a roll call, make sure we all remember this spell.
Stinger, checking in.
Angel here, Sir. Everything looks solid.
It took some time for Arcane to get used to hearing other ponies voices inside his head, but once he got used to the telepathic communication spell he couldn't appreciate it enough. He took a moment to check in with Alpha.
Alpha Squad, communication check. Let's have a roll call.
Pincer, checking in.
Ghost here.
Scythe, reporting in. Alpha Squad is go.
Arcane nodded. Everypony knew their role in the assignment. Celestia had left him with a floor plan and some aerial images of the building they were heading into. It was a skyscraper, one of many in Manehatten. No challenge getting in from the ground, but Alpha may have some trouble on the roof. It appeared that the rebels kept a guard on the roof, likely intended to take out chariots that tried to land.
Scythe, you might want to look at these. These rebels are obviously more organized than what we're used to. Arcane thought to Alpha Squad's leader.
Yeah, I've got the pictures, Arcane. We'll circle above and take them out from the skies. Scythe thought back.
Arcane frowned. He didn't like that idea.
You sure? You'd be better off jumping from above. You have spells to slow your descent, it was a part of our training. You'd be better able to fight them with your hooves on the roof. Arcane knew that aiming spells would be easier if Alpha Squad wasn't flying around on a chariot above the building. Combat was far easier when a pony was in control how he moved.
On the roof where we'll be outnumbered and with little cover. We'll take them from the skies. Once we get rid of the guards on the roof we'll land and head inside. We'll meet you on the thirteenth floor, by the labs where we'll find the Asset. Scythe responded.
Arcane nodded. He had been thinking about Delta Squad's strength and ignoring the fact that Alpha was more capable of taking down enemies at a distance. Forgetting a squad's strength was a mistake that got teammates killed. He made a mental note of the mistake and would make sure he never made it again.
Alright. We'll head in from the streetside as soon as you raise the alarms. When we're inside, we'll make our way to the basement. Angel will be planting six timed D-23's to blow the building. We're going to have fifteen minutes for this operation once the bombs are planted. We'll have ten minutes tops to get the Asset if we're going to get out of this alive. Arcane thought.
Understood. We'll keep them busy as long as we can. Scythe responded.
Listen up, everypony. We've got a two hour flight ahead of us, and this mission needs to be carried out quickly and efficiently. Grab some sleep on the way, we need to be well rested. Arcane thought to the squad. Everypony responded with a click inside Arcane's mind. It was a simple acknowledgement, and any further response would have been unnecessary. Arcane curled up to make himself as comfortable as he could on the chariot and quickly fell into a light sleep.
Thirteen Years Earlier...
Arcane stood his ground as his father charged towards him. The young colt glanced over at his mother, the only pony he had ever loved. She was lying in a pool of her own blood, and even a pony as young as Arcane knew that she was dead. His father would pay for murdering her. Tears streamed down Arcane's face as he forced as much energy into his spell as he could manage. He screamed as he released the spell, sending a ball of fire hurtling toward his father. Arcane heard screaming as his father tried to put out the flames that engulfed his body, but it was to no avail. Flames born of magic would only die when they had burned themselves out. Arcane watched with a smile on his face as his father burned. He felt a light tingle on his flanks, and when he looked back he saw the image of a bright orange flame adorning them. He turned again to ensure that he was able to witness his father's dying breath. He ran a hoof down his mother's face to close her eyes, and cast the same spell that had just taken his father's life against the walls of the home he had spent his entire life in. He may only have been twelve, but he knew he would be better off on the streets.
"Arcane Fire, Sir! We're almost there!"
As soon as Arcane heard the voice of the the Pegasus pony flying the chariot, he was wide awake and on his hooves. Stinger and Angel were close behind. He tucked away the memories that his dream had resurfaced into a dark corner of his mind. Now was not the time to be dwelling on the past. He had a job to do, and his squad was going to look to his leadership to get through it alive.
You heard him, everypony up! Arcane thought to both Alpha and Delta squad. Give me a roll call!
Stinger, checking in.
Angel, up and ready, Sir!
Arcane nodded.
Scythe?
Alpha is awake and alive, Arcane. Ready when you are.
Arcane nodded. Most commanders would smile proudly at such efficiency and professionalism from their team, but Wraiths were efficient and professional in all situations. It was just how they operated. Arcane looked at the Pegasi flying Delta's chariot.
"Captain, bring us in for a flyby drop roughly two miles from the target building, and make sure it's somewhere dark. Expect about 20 minutes for this operation. After you drop us off, find a cloud. Extraction will be on the roof of the target building. Come as soon as we launch our flares."
"Yes, Sir."
Arcane sighed. He hated using verbal communications on a mission, and he definitely hated launching flares, but the Pegasi that were flying the chariot naturally couldn't use the magic necessary for telepathic communications. They would have to risk being spotted if they were going to accomplish their goal.
Arcane looked over at Alpha Squad's chariot. They were pulling away to begin circling high above the target building. Scythe was giving instructions to the chariot captain.
Give us the signal when you're in position, Arcane, and we'll start the air strike. Scythe's voice spoke in Arcane's mind.
Will do. Good luck Alpha Squad. Arcane responded.
Good luck, Delta. Scythe finished.
Arcane felt the chariot begin to descend. He watched as it quickly made it's way towards a dark alley roughly two miles away from the target building.
Delta, on my mark! Arcane thought. Stinger and Angel nodded and made their way to the back of the chariot. Arcane looked over the edge at their landing zone. He counted down the seconds to his team.
Three, two, one, MARK!
Stinger and Angel jumped from the chariot without hesitation, closely followed by Arcane. The team cast their spells to slow their descent and safely landed in the alley below. Unfortunately, the alley was already occupied by two ponies making a drug deal of sorts. Before they had the chance to scream, two crimson lances of magic shot through their throats. The two earth ponies slumped over soundlessly. Angel nudged one of the bodies.
What a shame. The buyer couldn't have been more than 16. Already ruining his life with that crap. We probably just did him a favor. She shrugged and turned to Arcane to get his input.
Doesn't matter. We have a job to do. Double time to the target building, Delta. Arcane thought to his squad. Stinger and Angel nodded and the squad began galloping to their objective, soundless thanks to the padding on their hooves.
"It's my daugher's birthday tomorrow!" One of the guards in front of the building was saying. "I can't believe she's already turning six! I'm taking the whole day off to spend time with just her and my wife! It's going to be wonderful!"
The other guard grinned.
"Oh yeah? What's it like being a dad, Mario?"
"It's wonderful, Dawson! But I'm sure you'll find that out soon enough, won't you?"
"Yeah, I guess I will." The guard named Dawson said with a blush. "Summer's seven months along now. We're having a colt! I've never been so excited!"
Delta Squad watched the exchange from the shadows. They were in position and ready to go, but any information that a loudmouthed guard leaked could be dramatically useful to the squad. The guards would likely know the layout of the building better than Delta did, they might know of any traps inside the building that the squad might accidentally trigger, and more importantly they might show just how devoted the rebels were to their cause. Loyalty could drive anypony to fight harder than they normally would, and would give them a reason not to back down. Loyal foes were always more difficult to deal with than hired guns. Unfortunately, the guards at the door were as useless to Delta as was possible.
Sounds like they're civilians, hired by Aratec to keep watch at night. Judging by their uniforms, they're probably on loan from a freelance security force. I'm guessing they have no idea that Aratec has rebels working inside those labs. Angel observed. Arcane nodded.
We still need to get in that door. Stinger, let's make this quick and quiet.
You got it, Fire.
Arcane took a moment to focus on Scythe. It was time to start the operation.
Alpha, Delta Squad is in position and waiting on you.
Understood. Scythe responded. Launching the air strike.
The sound of a magical explosion was heard from the roof of the building, followed by a scream. The scream got louder and louder, and Arcane noticed that it was from a falling unicorn. The unicorn hit the pavement with a sickening crunch. The two guards in front of the door looked at the dead unicorn, eyes wide with shock. Before they had a chance to react, magical auras enveloped each of their heads. A second later the guards slumped over, their necks twisted at unnatural angles. Delta team moved the bodies of the three dead guards inside the building and made their way to the basement. So far, everything was going according to plan.
Charges are in place, Sir. Setting the timers now...Done. We have fifteen minutes to be out of here. Angel informed Arcane. Arcane nodded.
Alright, double time to the Asset. Kill anypony who gets in our way. Move out, Delta!
Neither Stinger or Angel responded. There was no need to respond. They fell in behind Arcane and moved up the stairs towards the Asset. On the seventh floor, they ran into a lone janitor. Without breaking stride, Arcane cast a crimson lance of superheated magic straight through his torso, incinerating the soft organs inside his body. Delta Squad galloped past the dead stallion and continued making their way up the stairs. Before long they had reached the thirteenth floor, where the rebel forces were already in complete disarray. What was left of the rebel force that had occupied the building was casting combat spells in every direction, with no single target in mind.
Looks like they all pulled back to protect the Asset...And it looks like Alpha's been wreaking havoc down here. Stinger observed. Arcane nodded.
Let's finish them off and get the Asset. We've only got seven minutes left.
Stinger and Angel nodded in acknowledgement and began casting lethal spells with deadly accuracy at the group of disoriented rebels. Arcane followed suit, and after roughly eight seconds, fourteen rebel soldiers fell.
Took you long enough. I was starting to wonder if we were going to have to leave you behind. Scythe's voice said in Arcane's head as he stepped into view.
Focus, Scythe. The Asset is likely to have a personal guard on himself. Do we know where he is? Arcane responded.
Yeah. He's in this lab here. Scythe used his magic to project a floorplan of the labs the Asset was hiding in against the wall. A lab on the far end of the layout from their position was marked with a pulsing light. Nine red dots were visible in the room.
The eight closest to the door are the Asset's personal guard. The one under the desk is the Asset. I say have Stinger teleport in to start the party, and then you, Angel and I bust in the door and finish the rest. I'll send Pincer and Ghost to the roof to launch the flares and ensure that we have nothing but empty halls on our way out. Scythe thought to Arcane. Arcane nodded.
Alright, sounds like a plan. Stinger, Angel, let's move! Six minutes and counting!
Delta team and Scythe quickly moved through the labs, and before long they were waiting outside the room that held the Asset. Arcane nodded to Stinger. Stinger nodded back and cast a cloaking spell on himself before teleporting inside. Shortly after, a chorus of confused screams were heard as Stinger began eliminating the Asset's guards one by one. Angel pressed her horn to the door of the lab and blasted it open. Arcane, Angel, and Scythe then quickly moved in and finished the rest of the Asset's guards.
A black aura eveloped Stinger's horn as he lifted the Asset out from under the desk. Before the Asset could attempt to beg for his life, Stinger cast a non-lethal "submission" spell on him, rendering him incapacitated. Arcane found the bomb the Asset had created for the Capitol and picked it up off of the desk with his magic. Stinger tossed the Asset onto his back, and the four ponies made their way to the roof.
Alpha Squad had done a good job ensuring the path to the roof would be clear. Bodies of fallen rebels and unfortunate scientists littered the floor on either side of every hallway. When the four ponies made it to the roof, both chariots were already waiting for them. Alpha and Delta Squads boarded their respective chariots without a word. Stinger dropped the Asset off of his back and sighed.
Another day, another bit, right Fire?
A loud rumbling was heard as the building they had just left crumbled to the ground. The few ponies that had been left alive inside the building could now be seen jumping from windows in a vain attempt to escape their inevitable fates. Pedestrians on the street either screamed and ran or stood watching with mouths agape, too afraid to move. A couple of adolescent ponies who had been curious about the flashes of light and screams from inside the building were crushed as the upper floors toppled on top of them. Arcane allowed himself a satisfied smile as he set down the bomb and leaned back against the side of the chariot.
Another day, another bit, Stinger.

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                        Assignment                         
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Assignment
Twilight sighed happily as she sipped her tea. It was a gorgeous day in Ponyville. A gorgeous day for studying, that is. A hard rain pelted the windows of her treehouse as she pulled out a couple of her older manuscripts, many of which she had written herself. She furrowed her brow as she read through what little information she had on a mysterious object that had eluded her for years: an object known only as The Artifact. All she knew was that this Artifact was buried somewhere in the Everfree Forest...if the legends were true. That was all she had to work with on this project: legends. It burned her that she was so lost, without guidance. No, it tore her apart. She had obsessed over The Artifact for seven years. Every break she got from studying the magic of Friendship was spent in the Library studying The Artifact.  Her interest in the Artifact had sparked eleven years prior, when she was still a filly under Celestia's wing. It was the reason she had opened that old copy of Predictions and Prophecies and stumbled across the information about the Elements of Harmony. She used her magic to flip one of her personal manuscripts open to reveal an ancient scroll: One older than Celestia herself. Twilight, after several years of constant study, had fully translated it. Unfortunately, a portion of the scroll was missing, leaving her translation incomplete. She sighed as she read her translation of the text. It had been years since she had successfully translated the mysterious scroll, and to that day she still hadn't learned anything from it.
Only after enduring the trials of following The Way is one permitted access to
Twilight groaned aloud.
"Ugh, access to WHAT!?"
In the back of her mind she knew. She knew the moment she found the ancient scroll what it those last three words were. They were the true name of The Artifact.
The Artifact had eluded Twilight for years. She had searched through every book she had in her library about magic, ancient idols, even weapons of past civilizations to discover just what this "Artifact" was, and where she could find it.
"Maybe if I think back to when I first learned about it, something will stand out." Twilight thought aloud. She breathed deeply, exhaled, and closed her eyes...
"Princess Celestia! Princess Celestia!" The little lavender filly called out. The Princess gave her a stern look.
"Remember Twilight, we're supposed to be quiet in libraries."
Twilight lowered her head sadly.
"I'm sorry, Princess. I guess I forgot." As quickly as the guilt came, it left as Twilight lifted her head, eyes sparkling and an ear to ear grin on her face. "I just wanted to tell you that I found something to read tonight! It's a book, and it looks really really old!"
Princess Celestia let out a warm chuckle. She lowered herself to the floor of the library and lifted a wing.
"What do you say we read it right now?" The Princess asked. Twilight's eyes grew wide with joy.
"Really?! Right now?!"
Princess Celestia chuckled again at the filly's excitement.
"Of course, Twilight. Come now, let's see that book."
Twilight galloped to the Princess' side and snuggled in next to her. Celestia then wrapped her wing tight around the filly's form and used her magic to pry open the musty pages. As soon as she opened the book, a withered piece of parchment fell from inside. Intrigued, she levitated the parchment so she could better read it. She raised an eyebrow when she found text that even she couldn't read.
Twilight's eyes were wide with fascination. She had never seen such fancy writing before! Well, maybe she couldn't read it, but there was no doubt in her mind that Princess Celestia could!
"What's it say, Princess?" Twilight asked, her voice full of energy. Princess Celestia just sat and stared at the page. She was, for the first time in almost a thousand years, completely stumped. Celestia had never seen anything like the text she was staring at. She hadn't even seen anything similar from any point in history that she could compare it to! It was as if it came from a civilization that existed before time itself.
"I...honestly don't know, Twilight."
Twilight's jaw dropped. That couldn't be right! Princess Celestia, not knowing something? That was just silly.
"But you know everything, Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed, to which the Princess chuckled.
"Nopony, even myself, knows everything. Even my extra experience in this world hasn't taught me everything. But this...This has to be even older than I am! And that's saying something."
Twilight scrunched her nose as she tried to read the words. After a while, she got an idea.
"Maybe if I read it enough times, I'll figure it out! Can I have it, Princess Celestia?"
Celestia chuckled again. Her student's enthusiasm always warmed her heart. And although strange, this was just an old piece of parchment. It was likely something of little or no importance. Twilight would spend a couple of days trying to figure it out, forget it existed, and then Celestia could take it for the Royal Archives where it belonged without Twilight ever noticing.
"Yes, Twilight, you may have it."
Twilight looked at Celestia with wide eyes and an open mouthed smile.
"Oh thank you thank you thank you Princess Celestia!"
Princess Celestia smiled.
"Of course, Twilight."
Twilight hugged Celestia and turned to the parchment with a look of grim determination, her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed tightly together as she studied the ancient document. Celestia had to stifle a laugh at the look on Twilight's face.
"I wonder what it says." Twilight said after a couple minutes of scrutinizing the page.
"As do I." Princess Celestia responded.
"Well, I'm going to find out!" Twilight exclaimed, her grin matching her enthusiasm. Princess Celestia smiled warmly.
"I know you will, Twilight."
Twilight let out an explosive groan. No matter how many times she went back to that day, no matter how hard she tried to remember something new, there was never anything new. It was the same scene, time and time and time again. She decided to think to the times afterwards when the Artifact was brought up in conversation. She smirked when she remembered showing the Princess her correct translation of the first few words of the scroll. Celestia had been so astonished she tasked Twilight with the sole honor of translating the document, and anyone who tried to take over the task would have to face the crown. But that memory was useless to Twilight at the moment. Like all the other memories, it didn't turn up anything new for her to work with. Nothing to help her solve this mystery that had been tormenting her for years. She was nearing her breaking point on this endeavor entirely, and feared that it wouldn't be long before she gave up on it entirely.
"Ugh!" Twilight groaned aloud. "What am I missing?!"
"Twilight!" Spike called out from their bedroom. Twilight sighed. She could use a break from dead ends anyway.
"Yes, Spike?" She called back. She could hear his footsteps as he ran down the steps to where Twilight lay.
"I found a book!"
Twilight raised an eyebrow.
"You found a book?" She asked quizzically.
"Yeah!" Spike's voice was full of enthusiasm. Twilight facehoofed.
"Spike...we're in a library. Of course you found a book. They're all over the place in here."
"No Twilight, it's a book I've never seen before! I know where every book in this library is, and even if I didn't I wouldn't have missed a book this old!"
Twilight's eyebrow raised even further, this time being an involuntary reflex. She shook her head. Stranger things were known to happen in Ponyville.
"Well, okay. Let's read it." Twilight suggested. Spike happily walked over to her and sat down. Twilight looked at the book with her mouth agape. She had never seen a book so old in her life! It was leatherbound, the cover faded and cracked. The cover bore no words or pictures to hint at what was inside. She opened it with her magic, and to her surprise, the text inside, although not quite the same as that of the scroll, was similar enough that she could guess it had evolved from the same language used in the scroll.
"Spike..." Twilight began, still unable to believe her eyes. "Where did you find this?"
Spike shrugged.
"It was actually with your personal astronomy books. I found it while I was organizing them for you to use tomorrow night."
Twilight couldn't help but smile at his diligence, but she quickly returned her attention to the book. There was much more important things to deal with right now. She flipped through the pages with her magic, and eventually fell across a map. She was about to turn the page again, but she couldn't help but to gaze for a little longer. A map was something she could read, although the legend and the compass would need to be translated, as well as the map key. She gathered that it was a map of a portion of the Everfree Forest, ancient though it may be, and one thing stood out to her. One thing that yanked her jaw straight to the floor.
"Spike...that castle...it's the ancient Royal Palace! The first place where Celestia and Luna ruled together! But the Princess said this writing was older than her...Spike, what could this mean?"
Outside of Twilight's library, the storm raged on. The dark skies and heavy rainfall left almost no visibility. The weather team hadn't planned for the storm to be so powerful, and had no explanation why it wouldn't let up. And due to the heavy storm, nopony in the entire town noticed the dragon standing outside of Twilight's library. Larger than any of his kind, with scales as black as the sky around him. His emerald eyes seemed to pierce the souls of any who gazed into them, causing even the most powerful of rulers to fall to their knees before him. Even the falling rain respected his authority, and altered it's path as to avoid making any contact with the mighty creature. He smiled as Twilight began to decipher the map inside the book. The book he had left for her.
"Many years ago, I gave you a gift. The time has come for you to understand that gift. Twilight Sparkle, the time has come for you to carry out your destiny."
The dragon closed his eyes, and inside the library Twilight's horn began to glow. As quickly as the glow came, it left. The dragon heard a surprised shriek from inside. He smiled as he turned and flew off. At long last, he could truly begin his work with her. As soon as he was outside of the storm's farthest reach, he relinquished his control over it. Within seconds, the rain ceased entirely and the clouds dissipated. He had no more need of it as it was. His work in Ponyville was complete. It was up to Twilight to finish what he had started.
"Twilight?! Twilight, what is it?!" Spike asked, his eyes wide with concern. Twilight shook her head and blinked her eyes, trying to refocus herself.
"I...I don't know. I...used magic? But that doesn't...make..." Twilight's gaze fell back towards the book that lay open before her. She cocked her head to the side, and her eyes went wide with surprise.
"Twilight?" Spike asked, concern mostly replaced by confusion.
"I...I think..." Twilight levitated a quill and piece of parchment over to her and got to work. "If I put that there...Move that over like that...Spike, this is encrypted! If I can just...Yes, that works there...Ugh, what am I missing?" She began to groan, but her eyes quickly fell upon the scroll she had found so many years ago. Her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped.
"What is it, Twi?" Spike asked, excitement creeping into his wide smile. He knew how long Twilight had been working to find the elusive Artifact, and every time she found another clue he was as joyful as she was.
"Spike, it's a key! The scroll is an encryption key!" Twilight exclaimed while levitating the scroll over to where she lay. She set it down next to the book and nodded.
"Well, I've got a day ahead of me! I'd better get to work! You want to help?" She asked Spike, knowing full well that he'd be all over a chance to work with her.
"I'll go get some snacks ready!" Spike called as he ran towards the kitchen.
"Who?"
Twilight chuckled as Owliscious took a perch on her shoulder.
"Yes, Owliscious, you can help too."
"You've read the mission reports, Shining Armor?" Celestia asked as she stepped into his office. She was always strictly business when it came to Wraith operations. The sooner she could stop talking about the necessary evils of ruling her nation, the sooner she could pretend they didn't exist. Shining Armor sighed as he set down the very report she inquired about.
"Yes." He responded bitterly. "Thirty seven hostiles and seventy eight civilians dead. An architect unjustly blacklisted, two point nine million bits in damages, and massive transportation blocks due to wreckage in the streets. So far four of the workers tasked with cleaning up have been injured due to loose rubble falling on top of them. Every one of them is in the hospital." He paused after his recount and took a deep breath. "Asset and weapon retrieved. Mission accomplished." With his magic, he tossed the mission reports into a fireplace behind his desk. Neither he nor the Princess watched as the flames engulfed the small portfolio containing the one and only record of any government involvement in the recent building collapse in Manehatten. "Records destroyed."
Celestia nodded. No hint of emotion crossed her stone cold features through the entire exchange.
"Good." She said flatly. She jumped as Shining Armor slammed his hoof against his desk.
"Good? GOOD?! DAMMIT, CELESTIA, THEY KILLED MORE THAN TWICE AS MANY CIVILIANS AS THEY DID REBELS! IT'S NOT GOOD, IT'S A DAMNED DISGRACE!" Shining Armor shouted as he stood on his back hooves and planted his front hooves on his desk. Fire burned in his eyes as he met Celestia's outraged stare. "YOU SHOULD LEAVE MILITARY AFFAIRS TO ME! AT LEAST I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!"
"YOU WILL WATCH YOURSELF WHEN YOU SPEAK TO ME, SHINING ARMOR!" Celestia roared back. "YOU MAY ADVISE ME IN MILITARY AFFAIRS, BUT YOU WILL NOT QUESTION MY AUTHORITY FOR ANY REASON, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"
Shining Armor didn't blink through Celestia's entire reprimand, but he still knew his place. Still seething, he lowered himself back to his chair behind his desk.
"Of course, Princess." He forced through gritted teeth. "I don't mean to force you out the door, but I have a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it. So if you'd be so kind, I'd like to get on top of it." He tried not to growl, but he failed miserably. Celestia simply nodded. More than a thousand years of rule had allowed her the ability to regain her composure almost instantly after losing her temper, and she wasn't about to let this same old argument with Shining Armor prevent her from keeping herself in check.
"Of course, Shining Armor. I'm sure you'd like to get home to Cadence before one in the morning. Have a good evening."
Shining Armor simply nodded his reply. Celestia accepted that as enough of a pleasantry considering the recent chain of events, and turned to leave. As she opened the door and stepped outside, she was surprised to see Cadence, eyes wide and mouth agape.
"Oh, Cadence! I didn't expect you to be dropping by today. How are you?" Celestia bore a warm smile as she greeted her niece. Cadence blinked.
"Is everything okay, Princess?" Cadence asked.
"It's nothing to worry about, Cadence." Celestia's smile remained warm, but something about it warned Cadence not to press the issue any further. Cadence simply nodded.
"Well, I'm going to check up on Shining Armor, see what time he'll be home." Cadence informed Celestia. Celestia nodded.
"A visit from you would do him some good. He's been rather tense today." With that, Celestia slowly turned and walked away. Cadence hurried into Shining Armor's office. Shining Armor seemed shocked to see her.
"Cadence?" He asked.
"Shining Armor, what just happened? I heard you and my Aunt yelling at each other, and-"
"How much did you hear?" Shining Armor interrupted. Cadence was surprised at his unusually abrasive behavior, but anything that could get him to yell at Princess Celestia had to be enough to keep him in a less than pleasant mood.
"Nothing that wasn't muffled by the walls. I couldn't really make out anything. But if it was loud enough to carry through those walls than something really bad must've happened. Shining Armor, is everything alright? Did something happen?" Cadence asked, her features wrought with worry. Shining Armor got up and rested his head against his wife's shoulder. He heaved a long sigh as he closed his eyes and allowed himself to be comforted.
"Everything's fine, Cadence. Today's just one of those days where I really hate my job."
Why do we, of all the teams in Canterlot right now, get stiffed with watching Shining Armor today? Angel complained over the telepathic link. We're high risk infiltration operatives, not foalsitters.
Especially after having a mission last night. Stinger added. Not to mention the stallion we're foalsitting has been trying to have us disbanded the entire time he's had his post. Fire, can't you get us a better post during the day?
That's enough. You can complain later, right now we're here because we were ordered to be here. Arcane reprimanded his squad. The Princess saved each of our lives, it's only right that we return the favor by doing what she orders us to do. Besides, the two of you never have any problem watching the Princesses.
Of course we don't have a problem watching the Princesses, we actually like them! Angel snapped back. Princess Celestia saved our lives, and Princess Luna created our outfit more than a century ago!
Actually, Nightmare Moon created our outfit in an attempt to assassinate Princess Celestia. Stinger responded, chuckling at the irony. After banishing Nightmare Moon, Princess Celestia found the first Wraiths and gave them the choice to join her or die. Being loyal to Nightmare Moon, they were killed and Celestia chose the next generation of Wraiths, calling them her elite guard.
Didn't ask for a history lesson, Stinger. Angel retorted. Stinger grinned.
I'm still going to give you one.
Shut up, I learned all that crap when I got picked for this outfit anyway. She snapped before refocusing on Arcane. Seriously though, why are we here? Even on the slim chance that we had an internal assassination attempt, I'd just as soon leave that one to die. All he ever does is try to get in our way.
He's also the most respected Captain of the Guard Celestia has ever hired. Arcane responded. Most of the soldiers under his command are more loyal to him than they are to the Princesses themselves.
Which makes him more of a threat to the stability of the nation than any assassin would be. Angel noted. He could use that power as an attempt to rise and take the Princesses' place. I say we should kill him ourselves and keep Canterlot Castle even safer. Angel said with a wide, sadistic grin. Arcane zapped her with a small pulse of magic.
Angel, watch it. He may not help us any, but he's loyal to the Princesses. As are we. If Celestia orders us to keep a watch over him and ensure his safety, that's what we're going to do. Arcane snapped at her. Angel rubbed the spot on her shoulder where Arcane's magic had hit.
Yes, sir. She grunted as she thought it.
Wow, Fire. Getting a little touchy, are we? Stinger joked, only to receive a pulse of magic similar to what Angel had gotten earlier.
That's enough chatter, you two. Arcane reprimanded. We have two more hours until Gamma relieves us. Let's keep it quiet until then.
Yes, sir. Angel and Stinger grumbled in Arcane's mind. He held back a sigh. His team was always incredibly professional with any assignment Celestia gave them. Be it simply keeping guard over her or destroying a rebel base, they were always quiet, alert, and never fooled around. It was when they got stuck keeping guard over extensions of royalty that they let professionalism slide. And it always grated at his nerves. They could fool around all they wanted in the barracks, but not on an assignment. Even if they didn't want the assignment, it was their job to carry it out without question or complaint. Wraiths didn't decide what was important or necessary, they followed orders. It wasn't their job, it was their purpose.
Princess Celestia slowly lowered herself onto a cushion in her personal quarters. Having just lowered the sun to make way for Luna's moon to take it's place, now was a time for her to rest and relax before bed. It had been a particularly long day for her. Between cleaning up after her Elite Guard's mission the night before and her dispute with Shining Armor about the issue, she was ready for some rest. As she was about to rest her head, her horn flared. With a sigh, she projected the image of Sigma team's leader on the wall in front of her.
"I assume that you are contacting me because your assignment is complete, Gradient?" Celestia began, not even trying to hide that she didn't want to have that conversation at the moment.
"Yes Ma'am. Sigma found the changelings in Ponyville. We drew the targets into the Everfree and engaged them. All hostiles were neutralized and the bodies are on the way back to Canterlot for further study, as per your request."
Celestia sighed. It was days like this that she hated her position more than anything else in the world.
"Excellent work. Get back to Canterlot as soon as possible. I will have a new assignment for you tomorrow. You are dismissed."
"Thank you, Ma'am. Gradient out."
Without a sound, the image on the wall snapped from reality. Celestia sighed again as she relaxed and the glow from her horn faded. She thought to make herself a cup of tea. Yes, some chamomile would do wonders for her at the moment. She levitated her teapot (which was graciously always kept hot with magic), her personal teacup and a single tea bag over to her. Before she could brew the wonderful concoction, a spark of green flame flashed before her eyes and a scroll fell to the floor. Celestia smiled. Letters from her student always brightened her mood after a long day. She lifted the scroll with her magic and scanned the letter.
Dear Princess Celestia,
My continued studies of the Artifact have finally led me to some answers! Spike discovered an ancient book in the library today. Neither of us have any idea how it got there, but it's written in a similar text to the scroll you and I found all those years ago! For a long time, I thought the scroll was just a clue, something to help me find what I needed, but it was so much more than that! You see, the book was encrypted! The text, although similar to that of the scroll, can't be translated the way the scroll was. Fortunately, I didn't need to translate the book because the scroll was the encryption key! I've been working on decrypting the book a couple of hours now, and so far it's coming along incredibly quickly! The book refers to an ancient object of great power called "Enok Shi Arai," and I believe that is the real name of the Artifact. The book is frustratingly vague as to the power it holds, so I still don't know exactly what it does. I think I even know where to look for it now! It's buried deep within the castle you shared with Princess Luna over a thousand years ago! Granted, had I known that you and Luna simply occupied the castle instead of having it built yourselves my search for the Artifact likely would have been shortened greatly, but it doesn't matter now. I still have no idea what the Artifact does, or what it's significance is, but we can find it! If you would be willing to lend me a team of guards, I would very much like to search the Everfree for the Artifact. I await your quick response.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle.
Celestia stared open mouthed at the letter in front of her. Twilight had found the Artifact? Celestia had long ago chalked it up to a myth, but her student had found more evidence? She set the letter down with her magic. Admittedly, Celestia herself had been intrigued by the scroll Twilight found all those years ago, and when Twilight sent Celestia a letter that held the translation of the scroll, she had begun to do her own research into The Way and this mysterious "artifact" that Twilight had been able to link it to. Oddly enough, while Twilight's discoveries, few and far between though they were, seemed to fall into her lap despite her more limited resources, Celestia had found absolutely nothing in the Royal Archives concerning anything about this "Artifact." Granted, it would be easier to research something if she knew it's name, but she couldn't even find anything to shed some more light on any discovery Twilight sent her way. Eventually, Celestia simply gave up and decided to let Twilight have her fun. She read through the letter again, and a couple of words stood out from the rest.
"An ancient object of great power..." Celestia muttered to herself. "Enok Shi Arai...Where have I seen that before?" Celestia groaned as she reread the letter again. "It's buried deep within the castle you shared with Princess Luna over a thousand years ago...Of course it is..." Celestia sighed. She held no fond memories of that castle. It was a little known fact that Celestia and Luna did not command it's construction, they had simply moved in when they discovered it harbored the Elements of Harmony. It wasn't long after Celestia moved into the castle that the Everfree Forest began to naturally grow around it. In fact, the first signs of the forest's growth coincided almost exactly with Celestia and Luna's first night within it's walls. Not just the flora, either. Hideous mutations of the creatures that graced the world began to appear, creatures now known as the monsters of the Everfree. The first Manticores, Cockatrices and Hydras in history were first seen about a month after the sisters occupied the ancient castle. Oddly enough, they were each discovered attacking the castle. After Luna became Nightmare Moon, Princess Celestia had seen enough of that wretched castle.
"If I deny Twilight's request, she's going to go anyway." Celestia muttered to herself. As much as her student's thirst for knowledge had made teaching her a joy, safety wasn't exactly one of Twilight's priorities. Which meant that Celestia had no choice but to grant her student's request for a guard force to go with her. But she was only willing to send the best teams in to keep her student safe. She smiled as she used her magic to summon Arcane Fire and Delta team.
Arcane? I want you and your team to meet me in the throne room tomorrow morning at six o'clock. I have an assignment for you.
Understood, Ma'am. Arcane responded before abruptly cutting the spell. Princess Celestia smiled as she levitated a quill and parchment just in front of her face.
My Faithful Student
I'm happy to learn that you have finally made a solid discovery regarding the Artifact. I know that there is nothing I can do to stop you from going and searching for it, so I am going to send an outfit of guards with you. They're the best I have to offer you. I imagine that you'll want to be on your way as soon as possible, but I want you to take a couple of days while you're still in Ponyville to spend some time with your friends, unless of course you decide to take them with you. Regardless, I will send an escort in a couple of days to take you to Canterlot, where you will have access to any further resources you may find yourself in need of. I eagerly await more news of your discoveries, Twilight.
Your teacher,
Princess Celestia
With a flick of her magic, Celestia sent the letter to her student. Before she could even settle in for the night, another flash of green flame signaled the arrival of yet another letter.
"Well, that was fast." Celestia noted. She opened the letter.
Dear Princess Celestia,
My friends will not be coming along on this dig. The prospect of Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash getting their hooves on an ancient object of great power terrifies me more than you could possibly imagine.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
Princess Celestia looked at the short note again. After a while, she nodded sagely.
"A wise decision, Twilight Sparkle."

//-------------------------------------------------------//
                          Valiant                          
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Valiant
Shining Armor gave a contented sigh as he set down the last file he had to read that day. Nothing complicated, nothing gruesome, just tactics and intelligence. He dragged a hoof down his face as he leaned back in his chair.
"Only one more item on the to do list..." He mumbled to himself as he got to his hooves. He opened his desk drawer and pulled out a small silver rank insignia. One of his guards was long overdue for a promotion, and it was time to surprise that guard by giving it to him. Unfortunately he had to get approval from Celestia first, but he knew she'd give it to him without much question. He slowly made his way to the door of his office, stepped outside, then proceeded to close and lock the large oak door. Putting on a smile for the diplomats that could often be found walking down the halls of Canterlot Castle, he quickened his pace and hurried to the throne room. It wasn't far from his office, and as usual he was able to get to it within five minutes. He noticed with great displeasure that not only were the massive throne room doors closed, they were sealed shut by magic so only the guard outside the doors would be able to open them. Shining Armor sighed and turned to the grey-coated unicorn guard outside the doors.
"Any chance you can get me in there, Swift?"
It was no secret that Shining Armor knew almost every one of the castle guards by name. He made a personal effort to make sure he did, and it paid off in full. The guards respected him as their Captain more as a result, and he also noticed they seemed more comfortable around him as a result. Even now, Shining Armor noticed Swift break his stone "one duty face" to frown at Shining Armor, though only for a moment.
"Sorry, Sir, but I have orders from Celestia herself sayin' that nopony is allowed in th' throne room until further notice." Swift glanced awkwardly around the halls with only his eyes to ensure nopony was listening before leaning in to speak in a conspiratorial whisper. "Though I'm not gonna lie, sometimes I think you ought ta be th' one sittin' in th' big chair in there."
Shining Armor chuckled to himself.
"Believe me, Swift. That's the last chair in the world I ever want to sit in."
"You an' me both, Sir." Swift replied as he resumed his position of rigid attention.
"Please, Swift, we can be on a first name basis here."
"Not while we're in uniform, Sir. I know how you are about droppin' formalities, but I'm afraid I just can't do that, Sir."
Shining Armor laughed as he clapped Swift on the back with a hoof.
"Understood, Second Lieutenant Swift," Shining Armor said with a cocky grin before continuing. "Well, when Celestia lets you open those doors, you let me know. Keep your telepathy spell ready."
Swift cocked an eyebrow at Shining Armor.
"Uh, can't I just tell you, Sir? I mean, you're right here..."
"Sorry, Swift, but I've got some errands to run. I'll be around when those doors open," Shining Armor said with a salute before trotting off. As soon as he rounded the corner, he checked his surroundings to make sure nopony was watching. As soon as he knew the coast was clear, his horn glowed violet and he pressed it against the wall of the throne room.
Let's see what the fuss is about... Shining Armor thought to himself as he began his eavesdropping session.
"You three are to protect...to protect this mare with your lives, do you understand? No harm is to come to her, no matter what the cost, and each one of you is going to have to be at the top of your abilities. The heart of the Everfree Forest is a dangerous place, no matter how well trained you are."
Shining Armor instantly recognized Celestia's voice, and caught the noticeable pause in her speech. He knew right then that his magic had been noticed, but it didn't matter to him. What mattered to him was why Celestia found that protecting a VIP was such an important mission that it couldn't go through his office.
Something's not right here... Shining Armor thought to himself.
"Understood, ma'am. It will be done."
Shining Armor's jaw dropped when he heard Arcane Fire's voice.
"She's sending Wraiths to protect a VIP? That doesn't make sense at all..." He muttered to himself.
"I hope you learn something from this assignment, Delta." Celestia said warmly, dropping her "strictly business" tone of voice to speak as if she were a mother talking to her children. "Twilight is very wise, despite her youth. She can teach you a great many things. Who knows, maybe you'll even learn something about yourselves along the way."
Shining Armor's jaw hit the floor. When he managed to pick it back up, his face twisted into a storm of pure, unadulterated fury. He immediately pulled away from his eavesdropping session and made his way back to the large double doors to the throne room. When he got back to the large entryway, he nodded to Swift.
"Open the doors." Shining Armor ordered. Swift shifted uncomfortably. Despite his respect for Shining Armor, he had no desire to disobey a direct order from Celestia herself.
"You know I can't do that, Sir. Although I'd sooner take an order from you than Celestia any day-"
"I said, OPEN THE DOORS!" Shining Armor barked angrily. Unfortunately for Shining Armor, Swift held his ground, taking an offensive stance in the event that Shining Armor tried to muscle through.
"I'm sorry, Sir, but I can't do that." Swift reiterated sternly. "As I said, I have orders from Celestia herself that nopony is to be allowed inside, not even-"
Before Swift could finish his sentence, a golden glow enveloped the doors and the slowly swung open. Shining Armor grunted and stormed through them, not even blinking as they slammed shut behind him.
"Shining Armor! What in Equestria do you think you're doing eavesdropping on me?!" Celestia demanded. Fire burned in her eyes as she stared down the captain of her personal guard, yet even the wrath of the Sun itself couldn't stop him in his own fury.
"What in Equestria do you think you're doing sending Wraiths to escort my sister on a dangerous mission?!" Shining Armor roared back, unphased by Celestia's piercing glare. "Why in Equestria are you sending her on a dangerous mission in the first place?! And why in Equestria did you feel the need to keep it a secret from me?!" Shining Armor had finally finished his approach to the throne, and now stood fuming before it. He knew that his actions went beyond insubordination and borderlined on treason, but he didn't care. Even Celestia was shocked, but her fury was enough to keep her standing firm.
"Shining Armor, you will mind your place in my court!" Celestia roared. "Your actions give me every reason to strip you of your position in my guard! Not to mention that this is an assignment that Twilight personally requested, not one that I called her to!"
"I DON'T CARE!" Shining Armor fired back as he stamped his hoof. He took a deep breath and composed himself, knowing that Celestia would easily win any shouting match he could bring. "If Twilight is going on a mission for the crown, I'm going with her."
Celestia sighed and dragged a hoof down her face.
"Again, Shining Armor she's not doing this for me, she's doing this for herself! Besides, you know you can't just leave. I need you here, in Canterlot. This is where you belong now, keeping the nation ready for anything. I didn't want you to know about this assignment because I knew you'd be distracted knowing that your sister was putting herself on the line." Celestia paused as Shining Armor shot her a glare cold enough to freeze molten lava. It was all she could manage to keep herself from exploding at Shining Armor's insubordination as she tried to make him understand her position. "I can assure you that she'll be well protected, but for now I need you here to keep things in order at home."
"Princess, if doing my job means staying behind while Twilight leaves for whatever dangerous task she's going on, then you can consider me resigned." Shining Armor paused to let that sink in, before lowering his head and sighing. "I'm not losing her, too." Shining Armor winced at his own words as he realized what he said. As soon as he said it, all of the wrath left Celestia's face, replaced with a mask of pity.
"You miss him very much, don't you?" Celestia stated more than asked. Shining Armor simply nodded and sighed. There was no use in trying to hide his emotions anymore. He didn't cry, but the hole that was left inside him was immediately filled with a lead weight.
"He was like my younger brother. I still haven't forgiven myself for...for what happened." Shining Armor looked away, unable in his moment of weakness to meet Celestia's gaze. Celestia placed a hoof on his shoulder, and Shining Armor gratefully accepted the comforting gesture.
"It wasn't your fault, Shining Armor," Celestia said as she stepped down from her throne. She made her way to Shining Armor and sat back on her haunches next to him, offering whatever support she could while maintaining a regal air about her. "There was nothing you could have done."
"It was my job to protect him!" Shining Armor exclaimed, stamping his hoof for emphasis. "It was my job to make sure he got home safely! Especially on a simple patrol like that! It was a milk run at worst, and-"
"You were ambushed by the last enemy you ever could have expected, with the last tactics you ever could have expected," Celestia said reassuringly. "You did everything you could have done."
"It should have been me." Shining Armor groaned bitterly. "I should be the one underground. It would be better that way...Especially for...you know..." Shining Armor trailed off, leaving Celestia to fill in the blank. She did so immediately, and again a wave of pity washed over her.
"Do you honestly think that losing you would have been any easier for Twilight? Do you think that losing you would have been easier for him?" Celestia asked calmly. Shining Armor sighed for what seemed to be the thousandth time that night. Every time this particular stallion was brought up he wholeheartedly wished it had been himself that was killed. For himself and for his sister. After all, why could he have Cadence when his sister was left without her own lover? Why did he have to deal with the pain of losing his closest friend? Why did he have to hold a dying stallion and tell him that everything would be alright, all the while knowing full well that their wasn't any hope left for him? But Celestia was right, of course. It was selfish to wish it had been him. Not in principle, but in his reasoning. He just didn't want to deal with the emptiness the loss of his friend left, and he certainly couldn't bear to see his sister's sobbing face as he told her what happened. Why would it be any easier for anypony else to carry that burden?
"No. No, it wouldn't have been." He fought back a wave of sorrow before turning to face Celestia, a new fire in his eyes. "I'm not going to let anything happen to Twilight. I'm not losing anypony else that I care about. I'm sorry, Princess, but I'm going with her, and nopony can stop me. Not even you." Shining Armor stared straight into Celestia's eyes, determination burning across every crease one the skin of his face and into the darkest depths of his sapphire irises. Celestia sighed in resignation, knowing he had won the argument. She turned from him and made her way up to her throne, sitting down to face Shining Armor to officially admit her defeat.
"Very well. Your request has been granted," Celestia said calmly. "You will lead the expedition for the Artifact. I will allow you no more than twenty-five guards to help you with this assignment." Celestia took a deep breath before continuing. "You may take the next two days before the expedition is set to leave to gather your team and prepare a substitute to serve in your place until you return."
Shining Armor snapped to attention and saluted Celestia. After lowering his hoof, he relaxed his stance and nodded gratefully to Celestia.
"Thank you, Princess." For once, Shining Armor didn't have anything else to say. He suddenly just felt tired, drained by painful memories of loved ones passed.  Celestia simply nodded and motioned for Shining Armor to leave. Shining Armor bowed respectfully and obliged. He had two very full days of work ahead of him, and he was eager to get to it. As he completed the long walk down the throne room and exited the large double doors, he turned to Swift and snapped a crisp salute. Swift returned the gesture and Shining Armor relaxed his posture. It then struck Shining Armor that he had forgotten the very reason he went to speak with Celestia in the first place.
Eh, it's just a formality, Shining Armor thought to himself. He then looked Swift up and down. His bronze armor was on tight, nothing out of place. He was standing at rigid attention, completely unmoving save for his eyes, which were scanning the halls for anything that might be out of the ordinary. Fully alert and devoted to serving the Crown, even if he didn't always agree with how the Princesses ran the nation. Yes, he was far overdo for this promotion.
"I'm sorry for losing my temper, Swift. It was unprofessional, and I commend you for following your orders despite of me. Congratulations, First Lieutenant." Shining Armor pulled a small, silver bar insignia from the pocket of his uniform with his magic. He then removed the brass bar from Swift's armor, replacing it with the new insignia. "This is long overdue for you, Swift. Consider it official for now. Come by my office tomorrow and we'll get you fitted for some new armor and deal with the paperwork. And possibly a slightly disgruntled Princess," Shining Armor added with a wink.
Swift was dumbstruck, not just by the promotion but by the entirely unofficial issuing of it. Promotions always entailed a small ceremony of sorts, never just a simple "Oh, and here you go." He mentally shrugged it off. Stepping outside the bounds of protocol wasn't exactly uncommon for Shining Armor anyway. Instead of worrying himself with protocol, he snapped a crisp salute to Shining Armor.
"Thank you, sir!" Swift exclaimed, more cheerfully than he intended. He didn't really care though, he knew Shining Armor would have been disappointed if he hadn't shown his gratitude in his voice. Shining Armor simply laughed and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Don't thank me yet, Swift. I've also got an assignment for you. Make sure you spend some time with your family in the next few days, because I'm not sure when we'll be back."
With that, Shining Armor trotted away as if the last conversation had never happened. Swift, still dumbstruck by his sudden promotion and now the mention of a new assignment, resigned himself to sigh.
"I hate it when he just drops things on me like that."
Wraiths were not an outfit to frequent the training room to relieve stress. They had far a far better handle on their emotions than most ponies, and they didn't need to let their stress out. In fact, stress wasn't an emotion Wraiths usually even understood. But after receiving their last assignment, all three members of Delta were using the facility; Arcane to keep his combat skills honed as always, Angel and Stinger to vent their anger through extensive workouts.
"What in the hay is the Princess thinking, sending us to protect some scientist while she plays in the mud?!" Angel grumbled as she fired a powerful lance of magic into a concrete barrier on the range, shattering it as if it were sugar glass. "We're a high-risk infiltration team, NOT FOALSITTERS!" Another concrete barrier exploded at the force of her magic.
Down the range, Stinger was taking part in live combat training. Despite his use of non-lethal spells, several of the Wraiths he was training with were currently being treated for extensive injuries. Nothing the medics couldn't handle, but enough that the trainers had decided to kick him out of the ring to take a breather. Quiet as he was, he didn't say anything, but a veil of raw fury had spread over his features, warning everypony who looked at him to keep their distance.
Arcane, however, remained completely calm as he trained. He tirelessly blocked, repelled, dodged and countered each and every spell the training drones sent his way. Sure, he was irritated that he was getting stuck foalsitting some scientist in the Everfree, but it wasn't his job to decide where he was needed. If Princess Celestia thought this was an important assignment, then he would carry it out with dignity. So, as always, his face was a calm mask of grim determination as he trained. The only emotion he showed was a minor irritation, brought about when the trainer running the drones cut the spell to have a word with him.
"Arcane, you need to get control of your team. Either they relax, or they hit the barracks. Honestly, if they keep this up I'd be more than happy to toss them into a cell until they can get a hold of themselves. I've never seen such immaturity out of a military outfit before, not even from the grunts."
Arcane sighed with frustration as he looked at his squadmates. Angel was blasting away barrier after barrier faster than the trainers could set them up, and Stinger was moving back into the arena and making good use of his cloaking and teleport abilities to best any and all foes that were sent his way. Without a word to the instructor, Arcane contacted both of his squadmates telepathically.
Stinger! Angel! Get over here, now!
As soon as Stinger and Angel received the message, they complied without question. As soon as they saw the look on Arcane's face, they knew they were in trouble. Before they could say anything to Arcane, he fired a powerful wave of magic directly into them, sending both Stinger and Angel flying across the room and slamming them into it's concrete wall more than thirty feet away. The two ponies groaned as they got back to their hooves. Arcane, still standing in the drone field, again contacted them telepathically.
You two done?
Yes, Sir, Stinger and Angel responded in unison. Even though they were communicating telepathically, Arcane could almost hear the angry grunts in their responses. He cast a disappointed frown at his teammates as they got to their hooves and again made their way to him. Wraiths were as powerful of a unit as they were because they never allowed their emotions to get the best of them. Such a display from any military outfit was disgraceful, but from two Wraiths it was downright unheard of, let alone from the most elite team in the outfit. Deciding to show some form of mercy to his squadmates, Arcane opted to continue his reprimand telepathically instead of further embarrassing them by shouting out loud for everypony in the training facilities to hear.
What in Equestria has gotten into you two?! Arcane demanded. You two are far better than this! Angel, how old are you?!
Nineteen, Sir, Angel replied while lowering her head.
Stinger? Arcane asked as he turned to his other squadmate.
Twenty-Two, sir, Stinger replied shamefully.
Then I think it's time you two started acting your age! Arcane reprimanded, to which he received two ashamed nods from his squadmates. Arcane nodded, and then cut the telepathic link.
"Alright. You two take the rest of the night off from training. You've already overworked yourselves as it is. I'll meet you in the mess hall."
Stinger and Angel snapped to attention and saluted smartly.
"Yes, Sir!" Angel exclaimed.
"See you there, Fire." Stinger added, his tone more resigned than his counterpart. Arcane watched quietly as his squadmates left the training facilities, neither of them making a sound the entire walk to the door. As soon as they had left, Arcane turned and made his way back to the drone field and nodded to the trainer, indicating that he get the training drones back in the air.
"How many do you want, Arcane?" The trainer asked calmly, as if nothing had happened.
"Eight. And don't hold back this time," Arcane responded, his voice betraying absolutely no emotion. The trainer grinned.
"You say that as if you think you'll be able to beat eight of them."
"I say that because I know I will."
Twilight woke slowly as the late-morning light filled her irises. She had been up late studying, and although it was almost noon, she still felt it was too early to wake up. To her vast displeasure, rolling over and shielding her eyes with her pillow weren't going to help her go back to sleep. The pillow blocked the sun, but not the abominable racket just outside her window. Rather, on her window, as Rainbow Dash repeatedly pounded it with her hooves to pull Twilight from her slumber.
"Twilight! Twi, I know you're in there! Wake up already, will you! Don't eggheads have some sort of "sleep schedule" that they're supposed to follow or something?"
Twilight groaned as she threw her pillow at the window.
"Not now, Rainbow. Sleep good, wake bad." Unfortunately for Twilight, Rainbow didn't take the hint from the pillow, and she certainly didn't hear her friend's sleepy mumble from inside. Thus, she continued pounding at the window. Twilight, being in no mood to deal with her friend's antics, used her magic to make a rope appear from nowhere and tie Rainbow's wings together. Before the unfortunate pegasus realized what was happening, she fell from the sky, hitting the ground below her with a powerful thud. Twilight simply gave a contented sigh.
"Finally, some peace and-"
Before Twilight could finish her sentence, a loud knocking came from the front door to her library.
"Alright, Twi, that just isn't fair! Let me in, it's important!"
With an exasperated growl, Twilight finally accepted that sleep was no longer an option. She rolled out of bed, groaning as each one of Rainbow Dash's knocks seemed to resonate inside her head.
"I'm coming, I'm coming! Just stop knocking!"
As soon as Twilight requested Rainbow to stop knocking, she regretted her word choice. Immediately, the knocks not only became more frequent, but they also became much louder. Twilight groaned again, her brain pounding at her temples in a desperate cry for mercy. After what seemed like an eternity, she managed to reach and open the door, thus stopping the abominable racket her impatient friend was making. It crossed Twilight's mind to knock the pegasus unconscious with one of the many very heavy books in her library, but she opted against it. After all, what if she damaged it's spine?"
"What. Do. You. Want. Rainbow. Dash," Twilight growled. Rainbow Dash, entirely unphased by Twilight's borderline threatening statement, snapped the rope around her wings, rocketed inside the library and began frantically searching it's shelves. To Twilight's great dismay, that meant throwing every book that she wasn't looking for onto the floor. Twilight was in no mood for much of a cleanup today, so she decided it was acceptable to simply grab Rainbow Dash with her telekinesis and pull her to a stop. With little effort against Rainbow's struggle, Twilight moved her friend to an acceptable talking distance from her.
"Let me go!" Rainbow grunted as she struggled against Twilight's grasp.
"Only if you promise to SIT STILL." Twilight said flatly. Rainbow flew through the motions of a Pinkie Promise, and Twilight dropped her to the floor. Immediately, Rainbow was hovering just off the floor in front of Twilight, an eager grin plastered on from ear to ear.
"Do you have it?!" Rainbow Dash almost squealed her sentence. Twilight, in her current state of weariness, managed absolutely no comprehension of what Rainbow was talking about.
"Have what?" Twilight grumbled.
"The new Daring Do!" Rainbow exclaimed. "I've been waiting for it to come out for like, two whole weeks!"
Twilight groaned and dragged a hoof down her face as Rainbow resumed zipping around the library, quickly examining books two or three at a time before rocketing over to a different corner of the library. Twilight had just gotten the book in the day before, and Rainbow Dash had begged Twilight to let her have it early.
"Come on, Twi! Just one time, I swear I won't ask again!
Not until tomorrow, Rainbow Dash. There is no reason you should get to read it before everypony else.
Fine, I'll see you tomorrow then. Bright. And. Early.
"I have no doubt it'll be bright by the time you get here, but early? Not exactly your thing, Rainbow Dash.
Twilight regretted teasing Rainbow with that last line, now. Because here was Rainbow Dash, wide awake and destroying Twilight's library. Bright. And. Early. Twilight knew right where the set of novels was. With her magic, Twilight levitated one of her many new copies of Daring Do and the Temple of Fire to her nearly crazed pegasus friend. Rainbow Dash stopped in midflight and squealed before rocketing towards the book. She snatched it from Twilight's magical grasp and raced out of the library, giggling like a crazed fangirl the whole way. Twilight simply sighed as she locked the door of the library and made her way to her bedroom. On her way up the stairs, she checked the clock to see just how much time she had before she needed to get up to open the library for the day.
"Six thirty-three," Twilight grumbled to herself. "Rainbow got here almost an hour and a half before I open..."
Six thirty-three meant Twilight still had exactly twenty-seven minutes to sleep before she got up again at seven o'clock. She would then spend an hour getting ready for her day and then open the library at eight. It was her schedule every weekday, and today was no different. After she finally finished dragging her way up the stairs, she pushed open a door marked "Private." As it was, the Ponyville Library wasn't just a library, it was her home. While the main room of the ground floor was open to the public, the rest of the library was off limits to everypony except for herself, Spike, and any guests she personally invited inside. Most ponies wondered why she was so strict about this. She had always said that "everypony is entitled to her privacy when she wants it," and that seemed to satisfy anypony who felt the need to ask. However, the truth of it was a simple secret. A secret that was kept in Ponyville between Spike, Twilight, and three picture frames that she kept in her home. One in her basement laboratory, one in the kitchen, and a very special one on the nightstand in her bedroom. Even when she personally invited a guest beyond the restricted areas of her home, she always made sure to hide the pictures before her company arrived. Even now, as she entered her bedroom and let her eyes fall upon that very special picture, she knew that nopony could know. No matter how badly she wanted the world to know, no matter how badly she wanted to share her sorrows with the world, nopony could know. Not yet. Not until she had found what she had searched so many long years for. She rested her hoof on the photo by her nightstand, traced it around the curves of his face as it smiled eagerly back at her. Twilight felt the familiar ache of her empty heart craving to feel him against her again, and ten words from her early research into the Artifact rang in her mind. Ten words that she had kept entirely to herself, going as far as to destroy the scroll she found them on so nopony else would have access to the information. Ten words that kept her searching like mad, even when it seemed there was nothing to find.
"It wields the power to breathe life to the perished," Twilight said to herself with a determined grin. She pulled her hoof away from the picture and slowly climbed back into bed. She knew she wasn't going to be able to fall back to sleep, but she could at least rest before she had to start her day. She had barely slept the night before, either. Her excitement kept her up well into the night. Finally, after years, she could have him back. Valiant, the love of her life. Killed in the line of duty five years prior. With the Artifact, she could bring him back.
How could anypony expect her to be able to sleep?
Shining Armor sighed heavily as he pushed open the door to his home. The smell of Cadence's cooking immediately entered his nose, and he breathed a relaxed sigh. He was met almost immediately by an energetic husky as it literally jumped up to greet him. Shining Armor laughed as his dog eagerly licked his cheek, wanting nothing but to make sure he put a smile on his master's face. Shining Armor gently patted his dog's back and rubbed it's sides.
"Hey there, Dawson. How you doing, bud?"
Dawson eagerly barked his reply as he jumped up again to lick Shining Armor's cheek. Shining Armor laughed again as he playfully thumped Dawson's side. He then began to slowly make his way to the kitchen, passing through the halls of his dimly, yet comfortably lit home with a content smile. Cadence always liked to use only what lights were necessary, which meant that as a rule most of the house was kept in the dark. Then again, it took surprisingly little to light their home. It's many windows allowed the light from the cities streetlamps to flood inside, allowing it to gently filter through the open and airy living space. Cadence had specifically requested that the home have as few walls and partitions as was possible, so it was very rare in fact that the home had a light turned on at all. Even Shining Armor's short trip between the foyer and the kitchen was a straight shot, with nothing blocking the way.
"You know you don't have to do that for me every night, right?" Shining Armor said with a warm smile as he leaned against the island counter top. Cadence smiled happily at him as she performed what appeared to be an intricate dance around the kitchen, gracefully maneuvering between cupboards, stove tops, cutting boards, and anywhere else she may find herself while cooking. She even completed the dance by singing along to a tune that refused to leave her head.
"But I love doing this! You know full well that "doing things for myself because I can" is something fairly new to me! Every day at the castle, it's "here, allow me, this" and "no, Princess, I'll get the door for you, that!." Ahh, this is so liberating!"
Shining Armor gave a hearty laugh as his wife continued to skip around the kitchen. True, where most ponies now viewed the "housewife" routine as sexist and belittling, Cadence viewed it as a chance to finally be her own mare.
"Does that mean I don't have to clean the bathrooms tomorrow?" Shining Armor asked with a smug grin. Cadence dramatically rolled her eyes and returned his grin with a snarky smile of her own.
"I'm not a slave, you know. Bathroom cleaning is on you, Toilet Colt."
Shining Armor chuckled as he walked over to Cadence, giving her a gentle nuzzle and a kiss. He pulled away and turned toward the set of stairs going to the top floor of their home.
"I'm gonna get out of this uniform, alright? I'll be right back down," Shining Armor said as he made his way out of the brightly lit kitchen, Dawson at his hooves. "How's Val doing?"
"Sleeping like a baby," Cadence joked dismissively. "However, you are going to have to wake him up and feed him when you get the chance."
"Sure thing, Cadence." Shining Armor called back as he suppressed a chuckle at his wife's antics. Unknown to the public, the calm, polite demeanor she often used publicly was something of a facade. Sure, she wasn't one to be overly energetic, and she certainly wasn't rude, but in the privacy of her home and close friends and family she enjoyed consistent use of a witty and sarcastic sense of humor. It was when he first discovered that side of Cadence that Shining Armor fell in love with her. As he made his way up the stairs and rounded the corner to his left, he stopped in front of a crib next to a window. In the crib rested his son, sleeping peacefully under a small blanket. Shining Armor smiled warmly as he touched Valiant's cheek, and Dawson stood on his hind legs so he could put his paws on the railing of the crib.
"Every time I see you, I can't help but think of how much you look like Twily," Shining Armor noted with a chuckle as he stroked the foal's side. It was true, little Valiant did bear a striking resemblance to Twilight. He had the same purple coat, although his mane and tail were a touch darker than Twilight's, and lacked the stripe. If his eyes were open, Shining Armor would see two beautiful amethysts looking back at him.
"If you had been a filly, you probably would have had the same name as your aunt, too," Shining Armor mused as he continued to gently stroke the colt. He let out a sad sigh as memories of his old friend began to play in his mind, as if they were scenes from a movie being played out in front of him. "But alas, we honor the fallen." He finished with a sad smile as he stepped away from the crib. Before heading into the bedroom to remove his dress uniform, he stopped to gaze again at the small, sleeping colt in front of him. "You're going to be just like him some day. I can already tell."
Sensing his master's distress, Dawson whimpered and licked Shining Armor's cheek. Shining Armor gave his dog a sad smile as he patted his head.
"I'm alright, buddy. But thanks for the support."
Dawson hopped up and and placed his front paws on his master's shoulders. He was about to assault Shining Armor's cheek again with a wet, sloppy lick, but a familiar call from the basement stole the dog's attention.
"Dawson! You hungry, buddy?"
Immediately, Dawson's ears perked up and he shot downstairs. Shining Armor smiled to himself as he heard his wife and his dog playing on the floor below him. Soundlessly, he entered his bedroom and carefully removed his dress uniform, hanging it up in the middle of his walk-in closet so he would remember to take it to the dry cleaner on his way to the castle the next day. He breathed a relaxed sigh as he removed the final piece of his uniform and placed it on the hanger.
"Now to tell my wife that I have to leave town for an indefinite period of time to go on a quest through the Everfree forest," he said to himself. "This should be fun." He stepped outside of the brightly lit closet and turned off the light, and ever so gently he used his magic to lift his son from his crib. The colt slowly woke to the now familiar feel of his father's magical grasp, although being woken up was not something he enjoyed. Immediately, little Val began to wail, and it was all Shining Armor could manage to keep his sanity through the short trip back to the kitchen.
"Baby's awake," he called to Cadence, who immediately rushed over to comfort her foal.
"How is it that you're still so bad at waking him up?" Cadence asked as she took Valiant from Shining Armor and began rocking him in one of her wings. Shining Armor just shrugged as his son began to quiet down.
"I guess I just don't have a mare's touch," he said dismissively, earning him an eyeroll from his wife.
"Maybe it's because you're as graceful as a stampeding cow," Cadence teased, although her voice was as flat as a sheet of paper. Shining Armor knew the shot was nothing more than a "my ears have just been destroyed by a sobbing baby" insult, so he ignored it and made his way to the kitchen to retrieve a small bottle of milk from the fridge. He then returned to Cadence and levitated the bottle in front of her face. She responded with a deadpan stare of a magnitude that Shining Armor didn't know was possible, which simply said "your turn, buddy." Shining Armor sighed and lifted the foal from under her wing, then levitated the bottle to his lips. Little Valiant began to suck happily at the bottle, receiving warm smiles from both of his parents. After a while, he dropped the bottle, and his breathing was stopping short. Cadence quickly scooped him up and patted him on the back, receiving a quick belch from the foal.
"And back to bed with you," Shining Armor said gently as he levitated his son back up the stairs, slowly rocking him back to sleep. This happened to be an easy feat, given that the foal hadn't entirely woken up through his feeding, and before long he was sleeping soundly in his crib again. Shining Armor smiled as he looked down at his son.
"You're about to be the stallion of the house, you know that? You take care of your mom for me while I'm gone."
"And where exactly are you going?" Cadence asked curiously, causing Shining Armor to nearly jump out of his coat. As soon as he realized what had happened, he brought a hoof to his face.
"Not exactly how I was hoping to break the news..." he grumbled to himself.
"What news?" Cadence responded, taking a step closer to her husband. Shining Armor sighed as he turned to face Cadence, placing a hoof on her cheek for good measure.
"Twily is going to be going on an expedition of sorts in the Everfree soon. I requested to go with her, and Celestia granted it." He sighed and averted his gaze from Cadence to his son, unwilling to look her in the eye at the moment. As he suspected, he could hear a tremble in her voice as she replied.
"How long will you be gone?" Cadence asked, to which Shining Armor shook his head.
"I don't know. All I know is that we're leaving in three days. I have two days to find twenty four more ponies to go with us, a day to go and get Twilight, ." He nuzzled Cadence and then rested his head on her shoulder. "I know I'm letting myself get in the way of my duty, but I can't let her go alone. I couldn't protect Val, but I am going to protect her. If I can't, I'll die trying."
"Don't talk like that," Cadence snapped at her husband. He turned away, unable to look Cadence in the eyes. She didn't give him a choice, turning his chin so he gazed right into her violet irises. "You're both going to be fine, alright?" Cadence wasn't about to admit it to her husband, but she was saying that for her sake more than his. Shining Armor picked up on her discomfort and rested his forehead against hers. If he knew anything about saying goodbye to his family before leaving on a mission, it was to ensure they didn't know if he had a bad feeling about it going in. Having already made the worst mistake possible in keeping his wife calm about the assignment, he had to admit something seemed off about the situation. He couldn't put a hoof on it, but something about this endeavor into the Everfree felt wrong. He didn't like anything about it, and he didn't even know what was going on. He figured it was his apprehension about Twilight's personal escort, but even that shouldn't have made him as uncomfortable as he was. None of those concerns would ever be brought to Cadence's attention, however. He would do everything in his power over the next two days to ensure that. Nothing was worse than worried loved ones back home, and he was going to make sure his wife had nothing to worry about.
"You're right, Cadence. I'm sorry. I just...ever since..." Shining Armor stopped, unwilling to continue his train of thought. He knew Cadence would connect the dots, and gladly accepted her comforting hoof as soon as she did. He pressed his head tighter against hers as he resumed talking. "I know that was a freak incident, and I know that it's not going to happen again. I guess I'm just being paranoid. She's my little sister, you know?"
Cadence gently wrapped a hoof around her husband's neck as he finished. Despite what he had told her to calm her worries, she still was going to try to get him to stay. She knew the risks of venturing into the Everfree, everypony did. She vastly preferred only one pony that she cared about being at risk at a time, and she certainly didn't want her own husband to be in the mix of something as potentially dangerous as a quest through that most unholy of places.
"You know you don't have to go, right?" Cadence said quietly. "I know Twilight, and if anypony can take care of herself in a tight situation, it's her. She's done more dangerous things without you, you know."
Shining Armor sighed again, having prepared for this particular part of the conversation the entire walk home from the Castle.
"I know you want me to stay, Cadence. I'm sorry, but I can't. I can't let her do this on her own. Not when I finally have the chance to help her. And definitely not when Delta's going with her."
Shining Armor immediately winced when he heard what he said. Did he seriously just mention something that secret to his wife? Out of the blue, just like that? Judging by how Cadence pulled away and cocked an eyebrow at him, it appeared so.
"When who's going with her?" Cadence asked curiously. Shining Armor immediately began searching his brain for some rehearsed "in case I let something like that slip" speech. To his dismay, he found nothing.
The best lie is the truth, plus or minus one fact, he remembered somepony saying. He couldn't remember who told him that, but he thanked somepony for the advice.
"Umm, they're a team of Celestia's guards. Top-tier, top secret. I personally can't stand them," he quickly spat out. Cadence cocked an eyebrow at him again.
"Anything more you want to tell me about them?" She asked curiously, to which Shining Armor shook his head.
"Nope, nothing at all, hehe." He looked away and rubbed the back of his head. For somepony who has as much access to top secret information as I do, I am terrible at keeping it from other ponies, he thought to himself.
"You're not very good at lying, you know."
Apparently, Cadence agreed. Shining Armor sighed, knowing he had lost. Still, he couldn't tell Cadence anything more.
"Look, they're one of those things you're not supposed to know exists, alright? I'm sorry, I-"
"Say no more, Shiny." Cadence said with a smile as she raised her hoof. "I understand."
Shining Armor gave her a smile that simply said "thank you." Despite Cadence's status as a Princess of Equestria, she held no position of authority in the nation. In fact, of the three Princesses, Cadence was the only real "Princess". Celestia and Luna only bore the title because it sounded less intimidating than their true role as Empresses. Cadence wasn't "in the know" as far as government was concerned, and Celestia and Luna worked hard to keep it that way. Cadence, being the only one of the Princesses with a normal single-century life expectancy, had no need to be concerned with the affairs of the state, and was to be treated as if she were any other civilian. Cadence was quite grateful not to have to deal with the affairs of the state, so the arrangement worked out for both parties involved. Shining Armor, however, really wished he didn't have to be so wary of what he said about his job. Not good to have a slip like he just had.
"Well, now that we have that out of the way, what do you say we finish this conversation over dinner?" Cadence asked with a warm smile. "Or even better, why not switch to a happier topic for the night?"
Shining Armor returned Cadence's warm smile as they turned to head downstairs.
"I think I'd like that, Cadence."
"Can we get her that one, dad?" A young Arcane asked his father. The elder stallion smiled warmly down on the colt and ruffled his mane.
"I think we'll just take that gyroscope, please." The elder stallion said to the clerk. The clerk smiled and placed the statuette in a small bag and hoofed it over to the customer.
"That will be three bits, sir."
The colt's father hoofed the bits to the clerk, bid him farewell, and gave the bag to his son. His son eagerly opened the bag and brought the statuette out of it with his magic. His father laughed warmly as he began to play with the small contraption, twirling it in the air with his magic.
"I can't wait to show this to Twilight, she'll love it!" The younger Arcane said excitedly. "Thank you so much, Dad!"
Arcane's father smiled warmly as they began to walk away from the small souvenir shop.
"You're very welcome, son."
Arcane shot awake, recognizing the dream he was having. It was something of a recurring dream, himself and his father on the small souvenir shop on an island. The difference from the usual dream though was that he had never had a name for the filly he was getting the gift for before. His voice always seemed to cut out as soon as he got to her name. Like the dream he had on the flight to his last mission, it hadn't really felt like a dream, so to speak. No, it felt too familiar for a dream. It felt like a memory. That familiarity disturbed him, especially considering that he knew for a fact that the dream couldn't be a memory. That had never happened in his life. His home life in his youth was, well, nonexistent. His father never loved him, let alone buy him gifts to give to friends he never had.
Arcane lay in his bunk, thinking the dream over and rationalizing it in his head. It was a dream, nothing more. Nothing really worth thinking about. Sure, the familiarity of it was somewhat discomforting, but it was something of a recurring dream. His mind was just playing tricks on him. After all, it had been a long day, made even longer by the fact that his squad had to spend it keeping a guard over Princess Celestia. As soon as Arcane saw Celestia in the morning, he knew she was going to pull something on them. It had bothered him all day, particularly because he didn't know what his team was being punished for. Had they done something wrong on their last op? No, that couldn't have been it, the operation went flawlessly. But they must have done something wrong. And the assignment they were given proved just that. Protecting a VIP? What had they done to deserve that punishment? Although he was still outraged by his team's immature reaction to their assignment, he couldn't blame them. Princess Celestia was sending Delta Squad, the best high-risk infiltration team she had, to foalsit for some scientist?
More importantly, why did the name of this scientist, this Twilight Sparkle, feel just as familiar as Arcane's dream? Why did she become the filly in the dream? He had never met the mare before, so why did his ears perk up when he heard her name? He knew that she was Princess Celestia's personal student, was it possible that he had kept a guard over her at some point in the past? It was possible, Celestia did always send the Wraiths to guard high-priority nobles, and her personal student definitely fit that bill. However, this Twilight Sparkle had apparently requested that no guards be sent to watch her in Ponyville, and Celestia granted her request. She had been sent to Ponyville four years prior, right around the same time Arcane had finished training for the Wraiths, so the possibility of protecting her on an assignment seemed unlikely. So how did he know that mare?
Then again, the activities of Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony were the stuff of legends in Equestria. Arcane knew each of the six mares names, faces, ages, which side of the bed they slept on, everything. Ensuring that those six would be safe in a time of crisis, or Harmonic Contingency as the plan had been called, was something every Wraith knew by heart. Of course Arcane was familiar with this mare, despite never having met her.
A whimper from the bunk next to Arcane interrupted his train of thought. He sighed as he rolled over to check on Angel. She was rolling around in a fit in her sleep, and beginning to work up a sweat. Looking more closely, he could see tears beginning to streak down her cheeks.
Great, another nightmare, Arcane thought angrily to himself. Nothing was worse than a soldier who couldn't keep it together, and he wasn't sure how much longer Angel could manage to keep her head in check. The young mare was getting worse, but she at least managed to hide it while she was awake.
"No, stop...don't..." Angel muttered to herself before letting out another whimper. Arcane couldn't stand to sit there and listen to his teammate, but he knew better than to try waking her up. The first time Angel showed such a pathetic display of weakness, Arcane had tried to wake her up to reprimand her. She woke up easy enough, and immediately she kicked right into combat mode. In her mental state, the terrified young mare destroyed half of the Wraith's barracks on her own, not to mention she almost killed half of the outfit, earning her a week of guarding Princess Cadence. With no worse punishment available for the mare, Arcane and Stinger had resigned to a week's worth of hard training, mostly so they could be ready to take her out should she have such a poor reaction to a nightmare again.
That was almost a year prior, and by now Arcane wouldn't think of taking Angel's life. Even if she did attack him again after a nightmare, the worst he would be able to bring himself to do would be to stick her with Cadence again. Perhaps Blueblood, but it didn't matter. Angel wasn't just another Wraith anymore, she was Arcane's friend, which was a rarity in of itself. Arcane himself would never use the word "friend," but it still applied. He even began to feel some sort of sympathy for her after she had gone a week without a full night's rest due to her intense dreaming.
Arcane soundlessly rolled back over in his bunk, knowing he had best follow Angel's lead and get some sleep. His squad had been allotted the next three days before leaving to train for the venture into the Everfree. Fighting unnatural monsters in a jungle terrain while protecting a defenseless filly was a whole lot different from slaughtering insurgents in an urban environment, and they would need to be prepared if they were going to be ready. Celestia had told him to treat Twilight as if she were "just another member of the team," but Arcane knew civilians better than that. Even if this mare did know a thing or two about magic, there was no way she would be a capable fighter. Not to mention with the new complication of Shining Armor and his own guards accompanying them, they would have to make sure she didn't get to close with any of the mare-deprived grunts. As Stinger had said earlier, "that filly is as good as raped."
As Arcane rolled over in his bunk, he forced himself to clear his head of those thoughts. Those were issues he could deal with in the morning. No sense losing sleep over them.