Aged Eternal

Chapter 3:

As the train pulled into its station at Cantropolis, a small crowd of refugee ponies led by the one Guard who'd come along began to disembark, making their way towards the Guard Barracks at the far edge of the city. A smaller group of ponies pulled away, discussing what they were going to do amongst themselves. "Look, all I'm saying is that Pie said the Guards never did much for the Heroines in their time, and they're not likely to do much now either. We need to go right to the source if we're going to get help." Circus was quite animated now that things were back on track for his hero idea.

The rest of the group wasn't so sure it would be that easy, especially since they had no proof of their claims. "What makes you think that we'll even get into the Castle, let alone see one of the Diarchs?" Smokey asked, raising an eyebrow. "After all, they rarely see anypony besides government officials and city mayors. It would take some real convincing to get to them, and I'm not sure we have that kind of time." Moonlit and Charm nodded their heads at Smokey's point, while Bolt just gave a grunt and kept her eyes to the sky above.

"Umm. Act'ally, I think I might have a solution to that, 'chaknow." The group turned and stared at Terra in surprise, who scuffed her hoof in the dirt. "My folks are on the Council. I kinda have a pass for the guards, and that can get us in the gates, at least." She looked embarrassed and quickly went back to Sculpted Charm's side, resuming her post with her friend.

"Oh. Uh, well, I guess that solves one problem, then." Smokey gave her a hard look, wondering just whose daughter Terra was, to have a pass into the Castle of the Capital. "Well, once we get inside, if we can make our way to the Night Court we can try to let the Steward know of our problems. I'm, not sure he'll believe us, but... " she trailed off, looking slightly downcast.

"It's a better idea than relying on the Guard to mobilize in time, that's for sure." Charm gave Smokey a reassuring glance, and confidently strode onwards. Despite her private doubts about the whole situation, if she could help inspire these ponies to save their town, well, who was she to refuse the task? Besides, surely the Princess' Stewards was a reasonable pony. And perhaps good looking, too...

As they reached the gates of Cantropolis Castle, they saw a small phalanx of Guards outside the doors. A guard gruffly announced "No common rulings tonight. Move along please." Terra strode up and pulled him to the side, reaching into her saddlebags to pull out a paper. He read it, then stiffened and saluted. She spoke a few more words, and trotted back to the group. The guard waved his men aside, and formed them into salutes as well. "Have a good evening, ma'am. Pass along my greetings to your Mother, ma'am."

As the group entered the castle foyer, most of them were picking their jaws back up from the ground. "W-what was that? That wasn't just some pass, was it?" Smokey stared at Terra, who smiled softly and said "Well, like I said, meh folks are on the Council. It's just that my mum's also a Colonel of the Guard." Everypony except for Sculpted Charm stared in disbelief, while Charm simply chuckled and pushed them onwards.

"She hardly gets to see them though, you know. They're always busy here, and she doesn't like to take advantage of their reputations." Charm sighed at that, thinking of all the times she could have gotten into THE Cantropolis Castle with her friend.  As they continued on, Terra shot her a grateful look and added "Except when I really need to, 'course. Still, I'd be grateful if you guys didn't mention it to nopony back home, mkay?" They nodded one by one, and shortly found themselves outside a tall and imposing door, decorated with paint to appear as the night sky.

"Alright everypony, this is it. Behind these doors lies the Night Court. Are you all ready?" Smokey looked around, seeing firm looks of determination around her, and raised a hoof to knock.

Professor Brite Night, Ponyton High instructor and local Astrologist, had just rounded the corner towards the Night Court after a long and stressful meeting of the Royal Astrologists Guild.  They'd called an emergency meeting earlier that day to discuss the disappearance of the Crystal Gem constellation, lacking any notification whatsoever from the Office of the Nocturnus. After finally having decided on a course of action, they'd selected Brite to deliver their findings to the Steward during Night Court.

Imagine his surprise when as he turned the corner, he discovered a group of his students standing right outside, with one Smokey Moonlight right about to knock on the door. "Ms. Moonlight! What in the name of the Nocturne are you DOING here? Where are your folks? Did you come here all by yourself!" As he spoke, she froze and turned to look at him in surprise, the others staring in confusion.

"Professor Night! What are YOU doing here, sir?" She stumbled over herself as she rushed to see him, relief and anxiety showing on her face. He snorted, and said "I believe I asked you the question first, my dear. Who are your friends there? Is that, Ms. Bolt? And Terra and Charm? Even Ms. Shy, too!" Moonlit Shy, having been startled by the Professor, was currently hiding beneath Defiant. Who, living up to her name, was giving him a challenging look.

Smokey took a breath and began to explain: "Sir, it's terrible! There were meteors from the sky, and black crystals, and they attacked a pony and turned him into crystals too! They kept spreading all over the city, and we barely were evacuated in time!" She had to keep herself from sobbing as the mental image of that guard pony returned, whimpering in pain as the black crystal spread across his body. Professor Brite stared down at her, a look of confusion and shock on his face.

"What? Calm down my dear, and try to explain more clearly. What is going on, what crystals?" He put a comforting hoof on her shoulder, and tried to get her to face him. To the side, Bolt stepped forwards and said "It's true Professor. We all saw it, and we were lucky to make out of their when we did. If we'd been at home in the middle of town, well..." He turned to look at her, then sighed and let Smokey go.

"If what your saying is true, we'd best get inside right away. It may even be connected to the disappearance I was going to report as well. At the very least, we can see if they can send some pegasi to recon the town. If you girls are making up stories, however..." He shook his head and trotted to the Night Court's door. "Well, here we go ladies... and colt." At that remark Circus stuck his tongue out at him an pulled an eye, making a very, attractive, face.

The Royal Night Court of the Diarch Nocturnus was one of the most important legal courts of the land, the only one of it's level ever since the Day Court had been suspended by her Sister. Princess Selena Lunaria, once commonly known as Princess Luna, sat on the cushioned throne of the upper dais, looking out over the vast Court she ruled. Normally, she would leave the Court in the hands of Noblesse Oblige, the sister's trusted Steward, and concern herself with the matters of the night sky and the dreams of the very young. Tonight, however, she had decided on a whim to attend the court and give a few rulings.

She wasn't quite sure why, but she had an uneasy feeling ever since this morning. Last night had seen her distracted by an influx of terrible nightmares, so bad that she'd barely had time to raise and lower the moon. By the time the sun rose she was so exhausted that she slept most of the day away, and had only an hour before woken up enough to hold court. The youth of the nation were troubled tonight, and that always spelled trouble.

As she prepared to call for the next supplicant, the doors at the far end of the room burst open, and a collection of ponies entered in rather a hurry. She raised a single eyebrow at this display, and subtly motioned for the guards to stand ready. It had been years since there had been a pony crazy enough to interrupt court, and the last time it occurred she'd found a pony interesting enough to become her personal student. There were too many of them for a situation of such to occur tonight, but she could offer a few moments before the guards threw them out.

"Steward! We come bearing terrible- PRINCESS!" The tallest stallion of the group ground to a halt, struck by surprise. In moments, he'd entered a very deep bow and pulled the group down with him. "A thousand pardons, your highness!" He spoke with only a slight tremor of fear in his voice. She was tempted to call him out on it, but her attention was grabbed by the group of young mares and a single stallion that had followed him. Her eyes widened slightly as she counted one, two, three, four, five, and finally six ponies all huddled together.

Briefly, a flash of another group of ponies entered her mind, and she held a hoof to her head. It was patently impossible, of course. It was merely a coincidence that six ponies of the same age and distribution of species had gathered. Her treasonous mind continued to note that they had gathered bearing terrible news, on the eve of a time when trouble was brewing and she felt uneasy. Seeing that the guards were about to haul them out, she held up a wing.

"HOLD. Let them speak." She bellowed, using the traditional Canterlot (or was it Cantropolis now, she supposed) Voice to freeze them in their tracks. The room dropped to the ground, everyone except Noblesse giving her a deep bow. Her nephew, however, leaned over to her and asked "Auntie? Are you well?" in a very low whisper. She subtly nodded her head, and looked to the old stallion of the group.

"Er, uhm, well, your highness..." Professor Brite coughed, keeping his head down but speaking loud enough to be heard. "It's, uh, Ponyton, ma'am. Apparently, it's under attack. By meteors, and uh-"

"Stop. This is nonsense, your majesty. All of our cities have the most sophisticated defense shield known, based straight on the Empress' First's abilities. There's no way some simple meteors could penetrate it." Noblesse coolly interrupted the professor, giving a snort of derision. This seemed to infuriate Bolt, who stood up and looked directly at him.

"Look buster, he's telling the truth. These rocks went straight through those fancy shields of yours like they were a sheet of paper! And what's more, if you'd let him finish, you'd have heard that they spawned these evil looking black crystal things. They take over ponies and make them into creepy black things! So chew on THAT!" Defiant harumphed and folded her arms, hovering slightly to keep her emotions in check.

At her statement, and unexpected reaction occurred. Princess Luna reared back in shock, a whinny of fear escaping her mouth. This stunned Noblesse so badly that he couldn't say a word in response, looking with concern at his aunt. "B-b-black crystal you say?" Luna gave an exclamation of shock, before shaking her head and charging her horn. The group from Ponyton huddled together, afraid she was about to lash out at them with her magic.

Instead, a bolt of energy shot from her horn into a decorative moon above the door to the Court. Upon being hit, it did not shatter but instead released a deep gong, which began to spread across the halls of the castle. It was joined by more gongs that began to ring constantly, and Luna leaped to her hooves. "GUARDS! TO ARMS! TO ARMS!" With that exclamation, the court became a flurry of activity as Royal Guards bolted from the room towards the armory of the Castle. Her personal guards swarmed around her, forming a shield of ponies around her. The sky outside became incredibly bright as it seemed every star in the night sky grew that much brighter.

"Auntie, calm down! What is the meaning of this!" Noblesse Oblige stared at the somewhat panicked looking Princess, beyond confused. He had never seen her act in this manner, and that alone caused him to worry for her sanity. He turned back to the group of ponies below and bellowed in anger. "What have you done! What is this nonsense that you've conjured?"

Despite the intimidating atmosphere, Smokey stood up tall and faced him. "It's the truth. I don't know why she's become so panicked, but we had to warn someone." She looked back at Circus, and whispered "Circus, is that Pie of yours saying anything? Anything that could help?"

He mumbled, looking at his beads and frowning. Suddenly, he froze. After a few moments, he began to move again, but this time seemed excited. He moved towards the Princess, who was directing a squadron of guards to take defensive positions in the Castle. "Excuse me! Princess? EXCUSE ME!" he shouted, avoiding a shove from one of her personal guards. She turned and stared at him, almost seeming to peer into his soul. "WHAT?" The force of her rage nearly blew him back, but he held his ground.

"I'm supposed to mention... well, it's kind of silly, since I've never heard of this before, but it's something called... 'EE-OH-AICH' if that makes any sense. EOH, I wonder what that could possible mean..." He turned around, puzzled. Everyone On Haybales? Every One Hungry? He really had no clue. Behind him, the Princess had frozen in her tracks.

"Loony! Princess Looony!" A bright pink mare with a faded mane bounced through the halls of Canterlot, annoying several guards who were trying to catch the intruder. "Huh, they must be new. Oh well! Luunaaaaa!" Finally, she came across the royal princess in her quarters. The princess was brushing her teeth, and had a look of frustration plastered across her face.

"What is it, pink one?" Luna asked, internally sighing at the antics of an ancient friend. The Pink mare took a deep breath, and set her hoof on the shoulder of the Princess. Luna, startled, sat down on the floor.

"Look, Luna my friend. I'm getting old, I'm sure you know. I've only lasted this long because of all my wonderful friends and descendants, but the show can't go on forever. I'm worried for Twilight, and for the kingdom. Without her, without the elements, some big meanie could come along one day and cause real trouble!" Pinkie gave a small giggle, and then sighed. "Don't worry Loony. I have a plan, a super-awesome-fantastic-cool plan to help out with that. But it'll take a long time. All YOU need to remember, are the letters E, O, and H. Oh, and a mane that's my color too! That's how you'll know!"

She dug around in her mane, and pulled out a map. "When they come, send them riiiight here!" She pointed to a spot on the map, in the section labeled 'Everfree'. "Once you do that, they'll take care of the rest. Until then, never forget: Smile!" With that last remark, she pulled her own tail and a blast of confetti shot out of her mane. When it had finally settled, the pink pony was nowhere to be found.

As Luna returned to the present, she looked down at the group of ponies, talking amongst themselves with concern. Circus Shift gave her a wink, and performed a daring cartwheel back to the group. She looked behind her, to a small door set behind her throne. The entrance to the Hall of History, with it's ancient stained glass windows, had been sealed and abandoned for centuries. Turning back, she conjured an image of a Pinkie's Smile, and levitated the professor to the side of the group. Before he could exclaim in surprise, she charged her most powerful teleportation magic, and blasted the Six with it. A bright flash filled the hall, and everyone turned to stare at the smoking crater where just moments ago five young mares and a young stallion had been talking.

Exhausted, she slumped against the dais. At her nephew's questioning expression, and Professor Night's terror, she tiredly announced. "Fear not. It was simply a teleportation. This will be no place for children, not when the menace arrives." She lay down, and rested her head between her hooves. Celestia forgive her if she had sent those young ponies into trouble, but she knew better than to question the pink one's foresight. She was, after all, under a Pinkie Promise to help her.

A soft gust of wind filled the hall, and a faint "forevvverrrr" filled the hall, freaking out many of the ponies and causing Luna to bury her head deeper, even as the first of the meteors began to impact the city's shields. Overhead, the moon's glow filled the earth with light, allowing six scared ponies to see in the forest around them that they so suddenly had appeared in.