Chapters Luna stepped through the portal into the next dream. She had noticed strange magical behavior surrounding this dream and decided to investigate personally rather than send one of her dream guards. The first thing she noticed after stepping through the portal was the landscape. It was one she did not recognise. Normally in the ponies' dreams she entered she could recognise the landscape almost immediately, but this was different. Although she could not recognise where she was, she didn't feel any sense of danger, which made her relax slightly. The area was very open. After looking at the area, Luna started to notice similarities to that of the open plain just north of Canterlot. She looked up at the sky and noticed there were no clouds. The only thing in the sky was the moon surrounded by a shroud of stars. "I should make a night like this," Luna thought to herself, admiring the beauty of the night.
As she gazed at the sky she saw that the sun was starting to come up, only there was no sun. Luna tried to find the source of light that was illuminating the sky. She looked directly up to see a giant ball of fire heading towards her. She instantly teleported away from where she was. As she reappeared some distance away, she saw the ball hit the ground. It crashed through the surface and went deep underground. As it did so, she felt a surge of magic in the ground all around her. As the smoke dissipated from the impact of the giant fireball, something odd happened. A giant rock formation started to rise just south of the crater left by the fireball. Luna immediately recognised the giant forming mountain. It was the mountain on which her sister would soon found the city of Canterlot after their battle. Luna realised that this must be how the mountain came to existence. She always thought the mountain was there naturally, as that was what her sister told her. She then felt another surge of magic flow through the ground as the crater left by the giant fireball filled itself in. Luna was bewildered, she had no idea what was going on."Whose dream could this be?" she thought to herself. Before she could think of an answer everything went white and then she opened her eyes.
Luna opened her eyes to a bright light. The sun was just coming up, which shone brightly through the window which she was lying beside. "Your majesty, are you alright?" she heard someone call from behind her. She turned around to see two guards rushing toward her.
"I'm fine," she responded."What happened?" she said, holding a hoof to her head.
"You were walking along and then you collapsed for a couple of seconds. You had gotten up before we reached you," the guard said, making sure she was alright.
"I see, well I'm very much okay, thank you for your concern. If you'll excuse me, I must talk with my sister at once," Luna said, standing on all four hooves.
"Of course, your majesty," the guards said. They followed behind her in case she collapsed again. Princess Luna reached Celestia's room and ordered the guards to wait outside. She knocked on the door, so as to make sure she was not disturbing Celestia.
"Come in!" was heard through the door. Luna entered her sister's chambers.
"Luna," Celestia said happily. "How are you on this fine morning? you made a lovely night!"
"I must talk with you about an important matter, Tia," Luna said with a worried look on her face. Celestia noticed this and became serious.
"What is the matter?" Celestia asked her sister.
"I was walking in one of the castle corridors, when I collapsed–" She was interrupted by her sister.
"Are you alright? are you hurt?" Celestia asked, trying to examine her sister.
"I'm fine, I was only unconscious for a few seconds."
"Unconscious? how did you manage to become unconscious?" Celestia asked her.
"I'm not sure, but while I was I entered somepony's dream, but I don't know whose."
"Well, what happened in the dream?"
"Something very beautiful. I saw the creation of this very mountain that Canterlot was founded upon".
"Are you sure? I always thought this mountain was here as a natural rock formation."
"No, the mountain was formed by a giant ball of fire crashing into the plain just north of where the mountain is now. When it crashed into the ground, there was a surge of magic and the mountain just formed. Then there was another surge and the crater left by the fireball was sealed up." Celestia stared at her sister.
"You mean that the mountain was created magically? That would explain the cave at the centre," Celestia said. Her thoughts were scattered by the dream her sister had witnessed. "We will have to look further into this matter. This could lead to a breakthrough in magical research. I want you to look into the dream you had and see if the fireball is actually there."
"Of course, sister. I will check it out at once". Princess Luna left her sister's chamber to head to the plains north of Canterlot.
Princess Celestia headed from her chamber to the throne room where she spent most of her day attending meetings and ruling over Equestria. As she was going to the throne room, she felt a sudden burst of magic flow though her. Could this have been what her sister had mentioned? She turned to one of the unicorn guards. "Did you feel that?" she questioned him.
"Feel what, your majesty?" he responded, a bit puzzled.
"Never mind," she said, and continued walking to the throne room.
Princess Luna headed the older part of the castle which held the tunnel to the cave at the centre of the mountain. The tunnel leading to it had been discovered after they tried to construct rooms into the mountain for the castle. It was now sealed off and only Celestia and Luna were allowed to enter it. Luna used the spell to open the door and headed into the tunnel. She walked through the tunnel in silence thinking about the dream she had seen. The question still lingered in her mind. "Whose dream was it?" she thought to herself over and over again. If she could figure that out, maybe she could figure out its significance. She reached the cave, which contained a small hot spring. "There has to be a connecting tunnel around here somewhere," she thought to herself. The magic would have had to travel down a tunnel in order to create this cave. She started to cast spells in the hope of finding the tunnel. Nothing happened. She went to the centre of the cave and looked in the water. After staring into the pool for a few minutes she realised something. She couldn't see the bottom. "That's it!" she thought to herself, "The pool is the tunnel. I must inform my sister of this!" She headed back up the tunnel to tell her sister.
Princess Luna reached the end of the tunnel and headed straight for the throne room where she knew her sister would be. "Luna!" Celestia said as her sister entered the throne room. "Have you found out anything about the fireball?" she asked.
"Yes, I went down to the cave and I may have found the connecting tunnel to where the fireball landed!"
"Where was it? we both searched that cave and found nothing but the pool."
"That's just it, Tia! the pool is the tunnel!" Luna said.
"I see. very well, we will have to organise an expedition. I want you to take four guards with you and I want you to find where the tunnel in the pool leads".
"Of course, sister, I will set off at once". Luna went to leave the throne room to go and gather the guards who would assist her in her expedition.
"One more thing before you go, Luna. I want you to take Twilight with you. She would be very interested in something like this, and two alicorns are better than one".
"Of course, Tia, I will have a letter sent at once." Luna left the throne room to get everything ready.
Princess Luna and Twilight gathered at the pool with the four guards. "Are we ready?" Luna asked one of the guards.
"Yes, your majesty. We will cast the protection spells for the heat of the water and we will also cast water breathing spells," he said. they cast their spells and plunged into the pool. Even with the protection spells the water was still quite hot. They went further into the depths of the pool. As they got deeper, the walls started to close in resembling something of a tunnel that was filled with water. After a while they finally reached an air pocket.
"How much further do you think it is?" Twilight asked Luna.
"I'm not sure," she responded. "But we'd better keep going. The sooner we find the end of this tunnel, the sooner we will be finished."
They went back down and continued to swim down the tunnel. As they went further, the water started to heat up. Just before it was almost boiling, the water level started to lower until the tunnel was no longer flooded. They continued along the unflooded tunnel until they reached an open cavern. there were also smaller tunnels and caves that seemed to connect to the cavern, but this was definitely the centre. They walked around in search of the fireball, but there efforts were fruitless. There was no sign of any giant rock ever crashing into this cavern. Just as Luna was about to say there was nothing here she felt something familiar flow through her body. It was the same kind of surge of magic she felt in that dream.
"Did anypony else feel that?" she said. The guards shook their heads but Twilight gave a positive response.
"I did! It was like I had all the magic in the world, but then I lost it all" she said trying to contemplate what had happened.
"Twilight, you and I shall walk around the cave and see where we feel the surge of magic at its strongest."
"Of course, Luna". The two alicorns wondered around the cave feeling the surge of magic many times, stronger in some places and weaker in others. Eventually they both came to a place were they found the surge the strongest.
"This must be the place," Twilight said, staring at the ground.
"Start digging," Luna ordered the guards.
"Yes, your majesty," they said as they pulled out the shovels and started digging. After the guards had dug a hole three times their size they eventually hit a much harder surface.
"Your majesty, we've hit a surface we can't dig through." Luna turned to Twilight.
"That must be it," she said. They both flew down into the hole. Immediately after touching down, the two alicorns were filled with magic beyond that of an alicorn's.
"What is it?" Twilight said looking at Luna.
"I believe it's the source of Equestrian magic. Before ponies ever lived in Equestria, this rock fell from the sky and crashed into the ground. It filled Equestria with the magic that must have been the reason why alicorns were attracted here. I guess in all the time it's been here its magic has worn away".
"Then why did you have a dream about it?" Twilight asked Luna, curiosity filling her head.
"Maybe the dream was trying to tell me where the magic that resided in Equestria came from. I'm honestly not sure." Luna stared at the rock unsure of what to do.
"If we could find a way to break bits off the rock, we could place them throughout Equestria to use as defense against threats" suggested Twilight.
"That would be a great idea, but only alicorns can use its magic" Luna responded, not taking her eyes off the rock.
"Well, we should let Princess Celestia know what we've found," said Twilight.
"Of course. You and two of the guards should go back. I will stay here and investigate this rock further." Princess Twilight headed back to the tunnel with two of the guards.
After going back through the tunnel, Twilight went straight to the throne room to inform Celestia of their findings. She entered the throne room and was greeted by Celestia.
"Twilight, did you find anything?" she asked her.
"Yes. we did. we found the rock which Luna believes to be the one from her dream. It gives off a surge of magic which can only be felt by alicorns. Luna thinks it's what gave Equestria it's magic and why the alicorns were attracted here in the first place."
"I see, thank you for letting me know. Where is Luna now?"
"She's still in the cave with the rock."
"Thank you, Twilight. I will send down a team of unicorns to examine this rock. I want you to lead this team." Twilight beamed.
"It would be my honour, Princess!"
"Of course, I will gather the the team and tell them to meet you at the tunnel. you may go now." Twilight left the throne room to leave Celestia, whose thoughts now were on the rock. "Why would Luna end up in a dream about this now?" she thought to herself.
"Why is it so important?" Her thoughts would be left unanswered.
Four days had passed since the expedition to find the rock under Canterlot. Twilight and her team of unicorns had set up a monitoring station in the cave to see how much magic the rock was emitting. The charts clearly showed that the magic being emitted by the rock was decreasing, yet Twilight didn't feel any difference in the surge of magic she recieived from the rock. She took the sheet, which had the newest records and she went to head back up to the castle.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were in the throne room discussing a visit from one of the members of the Royal Zebra Family. They had planned to bring the prince to the Crystal Empire, then to Canterlot and to finish in the Everfree Forest as the prince had a keen interest in the strange creatures that reside there. As they were discussing this they noticed the table started wobbling. Then the whole room seemed like it was shaking.
"Grab onto something!" Luna shouted to her sister. All of Canterlot started shaking and everypony started to panic.
Down in the tunnel, Princess Twilight was on her way up to the castle when she felt the ground start shaking. "What's going on?" she thought to herself. She just had enough time to jump out of the way of half the tunnel ceiling collapsing on her. She ran back in the direction of the cavern. When she reached the cavern she saw all the other ponies running around. "Take cover!" she shouted at them.
In the castle, the shaking had stopped and Celestia and Luna ordered an immediate evacuation of the city. "I want you to get everypony out of the city," Celestia told her guards.
"What are we going to do?" Luna asked her sister.
"We are going down to the cave. Twilight is down there and she might need our help." The two sisters ran to the tunnel.
The shaking had stopped in the tunnel and Twilight looked around to make sure everypony was alright. "Is everypony okay?" she shouted.
"Yes", "Yeah", "I'm fine" were the collective responses she got.
"No, I've hurt my hoof!" one unicorn called out. Twilight ran over to him.
"What happened?" she asked.
"One of the rocks fell on my hoof and hurt it real bad. I don't think I can walk on it."
"We have to get you back up to the surface." Another unicorn came over to help the injured stallion.
"Princess Twilight, we may have a problem!" one of the other unicorns called out. Twilight ran over to her. "The chart say that the rock is starting to produce magic again at an unbelievable rate!"
"That's probably what caused the shaking."
"According to the chart, the magic is supposed to increase even more." Twilight looked at the paper in fear.
"That means the shaking isn't over. And this time it will spread over most of Equestria." Just as Twilight finished her sentence, Princess Luna and Celestia arrived.
"You're alive!" Celestia said, hugging Twilight.
"I'm fine," said Twilight, "But we have worse matters. The rock's magic levels are spiking back to what they were when it first crashed here!"
"When it first crashed here I was far away from it, but I still felt the ground shake," Luna said. "If that's the case, Equestria is in danger."
"Then we must warn everypony," Celestia said. "Everypony, back to the surface." They all rushed to the tunnel. As they were running through the tunnel, they felt the start of the shaking.
"Twilight, help Luna and me cast a shield spell!" The three alicorns cast a shield spell to protect them from debris as they ran through the tunnel. The shaking got worse as they progressed. When they reached the top the shaking had stopped. They stepped out of the tunnel into the room where the entrance was. What they saw shook them all.
The three alicorns stared out across Canterlot from the room in the palace, or what was left of it. The palace had been destroyed by the shaking. All throughout Canterlot there was havoc. Ponies were running in terror, but had nowhere to run to. The pegasai tried to fly ponies out of the city but the falling debris had them grounded. Canterlot was in ruins. Princess Celestia stepped forward only to have to jump back to dodge a piece of debris. She stared at what remained of her castle and city.
"Sister, what should we do" Luna questioned her sister, but Celestia did not hear her sister for she was too tramatised by what she saw. Luna turned to Twilight."We need to get out word to Cadence in the Crystal Empire and make sure everything is okay there. I want you to go Twilight".
Twilight nodded at Luna."Of course". She then went to find a way down from the castle. Luna turned back to her sister.
"Tia" she spoke softly."We need to egt everypony to safety, there could be ponies injured. We need to move away from the city incase the shaking starts again". She got no response from her sister, not even a sign to show she had heard her. Luna tapped Celestia on the shoulder."Tia". Celestia turned around to face her sister like she was just snapped out of a trance.
"Your right Luna, get the guards to start evacuating the city, have the wonderbolts get and aerial view of the city to check for ponies in distress". Celestia turned back to face Canterlot."Also find out how far the shaking has affected, I need to know what cities are safe to evacuate ponies too. Also have the army on stand by, if all of our cities lay in ruins we are at our most vulnerable".
"Of course sister". Luna flew off to carry out her sisters orders.
Twilight arrived at the Crystal Empire just before Celestia had lowered the sun. There had been a few minor shakes on her travel north but nothing like what they felt in Canterlot. She headed straight for the caslte at the centre of the city. She found Cadence and her brother in the throne room.
"Twilight" Cadence said greeting her sister in law with a hug.
"Cadence, it's great to see you".
"As it is to you, we heard what happened in Canterlot. As you can see it wasn't as bad here".
"Celestia has started to evacuate the city. Luna sent me here to do a damage report".
This time Twilight's brother spoke."There isin't to much damage, once we felt the shaking I cast a spell to stop the buildings from collapsing. I've also set up patrols to the north of the city in case there is any activity from the Yaks".
"Why" Twilight asked."Are we in danger of an attack".
"Not that we know of" Cadence said answering Twilight's question. "We recieved a special letter from Celestia saying to put all soldiers on high alert incase of any attack. Equestria is vulnerable now Twilight we need to be ready for anything".
"Well I'm glad the two of you are alright, I wouldn't be able to live if anything happened to either of you" Twilight said.
"Celestia also metioned that she wants all of the princesses to headed to Cloudsale for an emergency summit to deal with the crisis at hoof" Cadence said."All three of us are to head there at dawn. I would recommend you get some sleep Twi".
"Okay, I'll see you two in the morning" Twilight said and headed off for the bed chambers. A few minutes after Twilight had left a guard ran into the throne room.
"Your Majesties, I have news from the northern patrol".
"Are we under attack" Shining Armour asked.
"No sir, but there has been movement from a Yak Legion. They have posted themsleves right on the border. I think they are waiting to see if we are weak enough to attack".
"Thank you for the news soldier, head to the barracks and get some rest. I will deal with the Yaks".
"Of course your Majesty". The soldier left to go to the barracks.
"What are we going to do Shining" Cadence asked worried.
"I'll have patrols placed at the border all day and night. If we are attacked, we'll be ready. We should get some rest if we are leaving at dawn". The Two of them went to their chambers.
Celestia and Luna arrived at Cloudsdale a few hours after Twilight had departed for the Crystal Empire. They did not experience any more shaking on their journey to Cloudsdale. They guess Cloudsdale had not been affected by the shaking due to the fact it was in the sky. The city in the sky glistened in Celestia's sun. Upon arriving at Cloudsdale they were given a warm welcome by all the pegasai. News had spread fast of what had happened in Canterlot as the ponies were being sent all over Equestria as part of the evacuation protocol. The two alicorns headed for the military base on the outskirts of Cloudsdale. It was called Fort Hurricane, after Commander Hurricane the great pegasus general. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna entered the base to be greeted by a large group of soldiers who slauted as they passed by. They then went on to the control room.
"What are the status' of the other cities" Celestia asked one of the commanders.
"Vanhoover and Las Pegasus did not take any damae from the shaking as they were outside of it's radius. Manehatten, Fillydelphia and Baltimare took minor damage with a few cracked buildings but no casualties. finally AppleLoosa, Dodge City and Ponyville took quite alot of damage with a few injured ponies. And Canterlot, well Canterlot has many casualties" The commander said finishing his report.
"I see, have we had any attacks from other lands" Celestia asked.
"The dragons have not stirred as far as we know, the girffons have not moved any armies nearer our borders and we have been offered help by the Zebras and the ponies of Saddle Arabia".
"We will have to accept all the help we can get. Send a letter to the Zebra King and the ponies of Saddle Arabia that we will gladly accept their help" Celestia said."Now we move on to the matter of where to move all the ponies that were evacuated from Cantrlot".
"The evacuation protocal has already been put in place your majesty. Ponies are being sent to live with relatives, while those without relatives are being sent to Vanhoover and Las Pegasus so as not to overcrowd any cities".
"Thank you for the report commander" Celestia said."Princess Cadence, Princess Twilight and Captain Shining Armour will be here in the morning with enws of the Crystal Empire. Until they arrive we must hope foe the best. This meeting will resume tomorrow with all princesses present". Princess Celestia got up from the table and left the room followed by Princess Luna.
"Sister I shall go and lower the sun so you may raise the moon".
"Of course sister" Luna said. The two sisters went to the balcony in their chambers and Celestia lowered the sun and Luna raised the moon.
"Goodnight Luna" Celestia said.
"Goodnight sister, I will keep an eye on the land during the night". With that she flew off into the night.
The convoy left the Crystal Empire at dawn as planned the night before. There was a total of 20 guards escorting the convoy.
"Is it really nessessary to have all these guards with us. I doubt we have any real threat" Twilight said looking out the window of the carriage.
"It's just a procaution Twilight, the guards are for show more than anything" Cadence said hoping it would settle Twilight's worries.
"I don't think your going to enjoy Cloudsdale much then Twily. We'll be staying in Fort Hurricane where we will be under protection all day and night" Shining Armour said to his sister. The carriage progressed through the sky on it's way to Cloudsdale."At least you will be able to see your friends again. Princess Celestia had them brought to Cloudsdale as they are bearers of the elements of harmony".
"Yeah it will be good to see them all again. It's been a while".
The convoy arrived in Cloudsdale safely. The two princesses and the captain of the guard disembarked the carriage.
"This way your majesties to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna" a guard said. They followed him into a room in the main building. Celestia and Luna were busy talking to other ponies about pieces of paper. Luna looked up and noticed their guests.
"You made it" she said."Did you notice any shaking on your way here".
"Not from the air" Cadence said as she took a seat at the table in the centre of the room. Twilight and Shining Armour sat down beside her. All the other ponies took their seats and Celestia stood up to speak.
"As you all know yesterday Equestria was hit by terriffic shaking which has some cities in ruins. Help has been sent to each of these cities and ponies are being moved to safer locations. We know what caused the shaking and we are working to see if it will happen again or not. Princess Twilight will breif you on the cause of the shaking. Twilight stood up sheepishly.
"A few days ago we discovered a giant rock under the plains north of Canterlot. We beleive it to be the source of Equestria's magic. It appeared to have been dorment for thousands of years, but recently it has become active again. We do not know what has caused this and we don't know if it will stop. What we do know is that it has started to expel magic again. We have a hunch on how it is doing this. We beleive it is draining back the magic it gave out when it first arrived here. To test this theory I have sent ponies to examine the Crystal Heart in the Crystal Empire and the Tree of Harmony near Ponyville. If we find that their magic levels are weakening we can confirm that the rock is retracting it's magic".
One of the other ponies stood up."Do we know what will happen if it does retract all of it's magic".
"No, but I assume Equestria would lose it's magical feel which would cause things like enviromental change and land shifts". All the ponies around the table started chatting amongst themselves trying to make sense of what they were hearing.
"Settle down everypony, we have more pressing matters to discuss" Celestia boomed across the table."As of now we are at our most vulnerable. We have been offered aid by the Zebras and the ponies of Saddle Arabia, but that will not stop another nation from attacking us. I have placed our armies on high alert at our borders to the east and south. Cadence, Shining Armour what news of our northern borders".
Shinging Armour stood up to speak."We have seen movement from a Yak legion and we have placed units on high alert. There has been no actual attack, but I think one could be imminent". All the ponies around the table broke into wild conversation again.
"Do not panic anypony, if we are under threat we will deal with it" Celestia said, trying to reassure all the ponies around the table."Our main priorities now are keeping our citizens safe and making sure there is no more shaking. This meeting is adjourned". Celestia got up from her seat and left the room followed by her sister.
"We best go find our chambers while we are here" Shining Armour said to his wife and sister.
Two days passed since the meeting and things had seemed to have gone back to normal. There had been no activity on any of the borders and all the citizens had been moved to safety with the help of the zebras and ponies of Saddle Arabia. Twilight was in the Cloudsdale library looking through maps and books to see if she could find out anything more about the rock. While she was doing so one of the ponies sent to check the magic levels of the Tree of Harmony burst through the door.
"Twilight" he called getting stern looks from others who were studying."Twilight you were right the rock is retracting it's magic from sources around Equestria. I just got a letter from the Crystal Empire saying the smae thing is happening with the heart".
"This is excellent news. With this information we will be able to track how the rock is reabsorbing it's magic. But there's one problem with that" Twilight said with a worrying look forming on her face.
"What's that" her colleague asked.
"We will have to go back to the cave in Canterlot" she said.
"Well that's not too bad, the shaking has stopped and Canterlot was declared safe a couple of hours ago".
"Well if the rock is reabsorbing magic then there's more shaking to come. And this time there would be any Canterlot left".
Princess Twilight and her company of scientists arrived at Canterlot two days after the meeting in Cloudsdale. Princess Twilight had urged Celestia to let her leave sooner, but Princess Celestia refused to let her go until they were certain that the shaking had stopped so Twilight would be at no risk. After descending through the cloud layer, which had been left over Canterlot since the day of the shaking, they were all still shocked by what greeted them beneath the white blankets of clouds even though they were all there on the day this had happened. The carriage landed in the southern part of the city as it had been the only clear place to land the carriage, which had all the research equipment. They would have to walk to the western end of the city, as it was where the palace was. They headed down the main street which they had planned to use to get to the palace quickly. After walking for a while they came to a blockage of the road by a fallen house.
"Looks like we will have to go around" Princess Twilight said to the others. "It will be quicker than trying to clear the blockage." The two pegasi who were pulling the carriage grumbled as they went to turn the carriage around. "We can use the this time while they are turning the carriage to figure out our route," Twilight said as she pulled out a map of Canterlot. She looked around to find a landmark which could be used to find their location on the map, but nothing was recognisable. While attempting to turn the carriage the two pegasi managed to knock a small bit of rubble away to reveal a sign on one of the buildings. "What does that say?" Princess Twilight asked one of the two guards.
"Donut Joe's Doughnut Shop, Your Majesty" he responded.
Thoughts of the night after the Gala flooded her mind. "We must be here then," she said, putting her hoof on a part of the map. "If we take this route, we can get there before sundown." With the carriage now facing the right way, they began their journey along the new route.
They reached the palace just before sundown as Princess Twilight had predicted. The courtyard, which stood before the grand palace, was littered with giant boulders that were once part of the palace. Twilight looked at the palace, trying to imagine it before it had been destroyed. She could see in her mind the library she used to call home here. Then she blinked and it was all gone. "Let's get a move on and head inside. Be careful, the castle still could have loose debris that could fall on us, so tread lightly and watch your step." The ponies walked into the ruins of the castle as they made their way toward the room which had the tunnel to the cave.
"Which part of the palace are we in?" asked one of the ponies.
"I think we are near the throne room, which means that the tunnel isn't too far," Twilight responded. they continued walking around the palace until they finally reached the tunnel.
"That took a bit longer than expected," one of the guards commented.
"Well, we couldn't tell which parts of the palace were damaged, so our routes were limited." Princess Twilight shot back at the guard which made him shut up.
They came to the clearing which Twilight remembered as the place where she first saw the damage done to Canterlot. "Alright everypony, we don't know how stable the walls of the tunnel are, so three ponies will always be casting a protective spell." Princess Twilight announced to her companions. The group entered the tunnel one by one with the first three casting protective spells in case of any falling rocks. After walking for a little bit they came across a blockage in the tunnel.
"Well don't just stand there, get the shovels out!" ordered the head guard. The other guards did as they were told and started digging, but didn't get very far. As soon as the first guards shovel made contact with the rock it shattered. He jumped back out of reflex in case he himself got hurt. "Try again!" the head guard shouted at another guard. They got the same result. "It would seem we are stuck, your majesty."
"Not quite," Twilight said, looking at the rock. She aimed her horn at the rock and blasted it with a spell. The rock shattered into dust. "Let's keep moving forward," she said as she trotted ahead. The guards stared at the princess.
"You heard her majesty, get moving!" the head guard said, bringing the guards to their senses. They continued through the tunnel until they finally arrived at the cavern. Twilight flew around the cavern quickly before returning to her companions.
"It would seem that the cavern has altered since our last visit, so don't expect to find anything the same," she said. "Set up a new research stand near the entrance in case we need a quick escape. I want you guards to make sure the scientists don't get crushed. Each one of you will accompany a scientist and keep a protective spell cast. Sergeant Firelash, you will accompany me on my research. Everypony, move out!" As soon as she finished speaking, the scientists got to working, setting up their equipment with the guards accompanying them, while Twilight and the sergeant explored the cavern to see just how much the cave had altered. They searched the cave and found that two tunnels had opened up.
"We will have to send somepony to explore the tunnels," Sergeant Firelash said.
"Well thank you for volunteering, sergeant. You can search that tunnel while I search this one," Princess Twilight said.
"But your majesty, I can't leave you unaccompanied, especially in these caves. It's too dangerous!" the sergeant responded.
"Well it's not up to you to decide. That's an order, now go. We will return here once we have found the end of each cave," Twilight said as she headed down her tunnel leaving the sergeant unsure of what he should do.
"Well, orders are orders," he thought, and went down the other tunnel.
Twilight traveled down her tunnel. "It feels like I walked all across Equestria," she thought to herself. "Surely I must be near the end." No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than she had found herself at the end of the tunnel. It was blocked, but there were small gaps which had sunlight gleaming through them. She pointed her horn at the rocks and blasted them to dust. When she looked up and saw where she was, she was speechless. Standing before her was the Tree of Harmony.
Sergeant Firelash was exhausted. He was one of Equestria's most well-trained soldiers, and yet he was exhausted. "I've surely walked across Equestria," he thought to himself as he felt the strength leaving his muscles. He collapsed from fatigue. When he awoke he saw a light in the distance. "Could it really be? The end of this confounded tunnel!" He got up and ran toward it. As he left the tunnel, he was showered in sunlight. "Thank Celestia!" he shouted. After he had gotten his energy back, he looked around to see where he was. He seemed to be in another cave. He wandered through the cave until he came to a staircase made of pure crystal. "Impossible," he thought to himself. He ran up the staircase to see where they led. At the top there was a wooden door which he burst through into a small room. At the centre of the room on a podium was the Crystal Heart.
Twilight approached the tree slowly. She had been to the tree many times before, but there was something different about it this time. It seemed to be lacking its normal magical essence. She knew that the tree was losing its magic, but at a slow rate. Now there was no magic left in the tree at all. The tree was dead now with no magic to sustain it. She hoped it wouldn't affect her friends. "I've got to let Celestia know of this," she said as she ran back through the tunnel.
Sergeant Firelash trotted over to the heart. The Heart lay unmoving on the podium. He had seen the Crystal Heart before when he was a cadet. The way he remembered it, the Heart was supposed to be floating in the air as it was filled with magic and shining as bright as the sun. Now it was just a large crystal on a podium. The magic was gone. "Princess Twilight must be informed of this immediately," he thought to himself as he raced to get back to the cavern.
The two ponies arrived back at the cavern at the same time and nearly crashed into one another. "Your majesty, I have news that I must tell you immediately!" he gasped, panting, trying to regain his breath.
"What is it?" Princess twilight asked him.
"The tunnel lead to the crystal empire. It brought me right to the room of the Heart. it had no magic, your highness!" he said.
"Really?" Twilight responded. "That can't be a coincidence. My tunnel lead out to the Tree of Harmony and it was dead. All the magic had been drained from it. Was your tunnel in a straight line, by any chance?"
"Yes it was, your majesty," the sergeant responded.
"I have a theory that the magic from both the Heart and the Tree of Harmony carved those tunnels, and that's why they weren't there last time we were here," Twilight said.
"We will have to inform Princess Celestia of this immediately," Sergeant Firelash said.
"Yes we will," Twilight agreed. "Let's gather up the the rest and head back to Cloudsdale."
"Your Majesty," one of the scientists called out, "I think you should come have a look at this." Twilight and the sergeant galloped over to the scientist who called her. He was standing by a small hole. They both looked in the hole and gasped.
"What is that thing?" Princess Twilight said.
"I was hoping you could tell me," the scientist responded.
"We'll have to bring it with us, your highness," Sergeant Firelash said.
"Of course, gather up all the equipment and that thing and let's head back to Cloudsdale.
The group headed back up through the main tunnel to the castle. As they approached the carriage, they felt a huge tremor from the cave.
"What could that have been?" Firelash asked.
"I don't know, but we'd better leave before it happens again," Princess Twilight said.
Down in the cave, there was an explosion that blasted half of the cave away. Out of the cloud of smoke that was created stepped a foot.
The convoy arrived back at Cloudsdale as the sun was setting over Equestria. The sun slowly lowered from the sky giving way to the stars and moon. Maybe the ponies could relax knowing they could now rest as night fell upon them. The ponies disembarked the carriage with the equipment and the thing they had discovered in the cave.
"Take the research equipment to my lab, and bring the new discovery too" Princess Twilight said as soon as she set hoof on the cloud."Where is Princess Celestia and Luna" she asked a nearby guard.
"Her majesty Celestia has retreated to her quarters for the night while Luna is in the war room" he responded. Twilight set off in the direction of the war room as soon as the guard finished his sentence. She passed many ponies along the way who all bowed to show their respect. Twilight ignored this as she hated all the formality that came with being a princess. She prefered just being plain old Twilight. She eventually came to the war room and went inside. She found it empty except for Princess Luna who was reading over files and charts. She put down one of the files and looked up to see Twilight.
"You have returned" she said, keeping her always serious tone."Did you find out anything in the caves".
A wide smile grew on Twilight's face."Oh we found something, although we are not sure what it is". Princess Luna frowned at her."If you would follow me to my lab I shall show you what I mean. The two ponies left the war room in the direction of Twilight's lab. Upon reaching the lab they were met by two guards. They stood tall and fierce.
"What is the password" one guard boomed.
"Hay fries with a splash of apple cider" Twilight responded earning a strange look from Princess Luna.
"You may enter" the guard said and the two guards stepped out of the way. They entered the room and closed the doors behind them.
"What is that password" Luna asked Twilight suspiciously.
"It was Starswhirl the Bearded's favourite food" she said sheepishly. Princess Luna giggled at the other princess's answer.
"Now what's this thing that you don't know what it is" Princess Luna said, the seriousness returning to her voice.
"It's right over here under this sheet" Twilight said using her magic to lift up the sheet. The two ponies stared at the table before Luna spoke.
"Is it supposed to be invisible" she questioned.
Twilight looked around the room worriedly."No" she spoke softly."It was supposed to be dead". Luna's eyes widened and immeadiatly scanned the room in search of what would be only described as a thing.
Out of the corner of her eye Luna saw something move. She instantly tunred around and shot a spell in the direction of the movement. When the smoke cleared there was nothing there except the singed walls.
"Did you see it" Twilight asked.
"I thought I did but I guess it was nothing" she responded frowning at the singe marks on the wall.
"How could it have escaped" Twilight said still looking around the room.
"I'm not sure, but we will have to put the whole base on alert. Until we know what we are dealing with I am authorising a kill on sight order" Princess Luna said as she turned towards the door."Stay here incase we get lucky and manage to recapture the creature". After she spoke those words she left the lab leaving Twilight to think of how the creature escaped.
Princess Luna headed straight for her sister's chambers. On the way she warned every guard to be on the lookout for something that was not from Equestria. Most of the guards were puzzled by this order, but by the seriousness in her majesty's tone they knew to keep their guard up. She barged through the doors into her sister's chambers, the opening of the doors causing her sister to awake.
"Luna" Celestia said as she raised a hoof to wipe her eye."What troubles you to disturb my slumber".
"Twilight's specimen has escaped and we do not know where it has gone. According to Twilight it was supposed to be dead. I have put all guards on high alert. They have orders to kill the creature if nessessary".
Celestia arose from her bed after hearing these words."Where was the creature last spotted" she asked as she put her crown on.
"In Twilight's lab. We went there after she returned from Canterlot. When we arrived at the lab it was gone".
"Did the guards not spot the creature leaving".
"No. They reported that nothing left the lab since it was brought in" Luna said to her sister.
Celestia thought of where the creature could of went. Then a thought entered her mind."What if the creature is still in there".
Luna turned to look at her sister."Impossible, we would have seen it".
"Not if it could hide itself" Celestia said. The two sisters looked at each for a second before running off in the direction of Twilight's lab.
Twilight looked around the lab once more in search of the creature. After a few minutes she went back to her other research on the cave and the newly discovered information they had gotten from their recent trip to Canterlot. She looked at the charts showing the data of the Tree Of Harmony and the Crystal Empire. They seemed to have almost idenical power drainage which was impossible. She put the charts back on her desk before going over to one of the machines used to read the magic levels. She grabbed the latest report from it and headed back over to her desk to compare it with the other charts. She reached for the charts to find that they weren't there. Twilight looked at where she had left the charts and a puzzled look came across her face."I'm sure I left them there" she thought to herself."Maybe they fell on the floor". She looked under the desk to see if they were there but they weren't. She looked around the lab looking for the charts to find them perfectly placed on the table where the creature was. She looked at the charts and slowly moved towards the table. As she was doing this Princess Celesita and Princess Luna burst throught the door.
"Twilight" they shouted in unison. Celestia cast a spell which locked the door.
"Are you alright" Luna asked Twilight as she trotted over to her.
"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be" she asked.
"Because, Celestia and I have come to believe that the creature is still in here" Luna said .
"How can that be, we searched the whole lab".
"We did indeed but what if the creature could shield itself from our sight. I thougth I saw something move in the corner of my eye last time. That must be the fault in it's design" Luna said.
"Well we don't have time to see things in the corner of our eyes" Celestia said."I offer this last warning to you creature, come fourth or suffer the price" she shouted at the room. After getting no response Celestia cast a spell which engulfed the room in light which lasted for a few seconds. The three princesses looked around the room for the creature.
"What spell was that" Twiligth asked.
"That was a magical pulse spell which cancels out all spells in a certain range" Celestia responded.
The door opened and the two guards on watch burst in."Is everypony alright" they asked.
"We are fine" Luna said to the guards.
"How can we still not see it" Twilight asked.
It must of fled the room once the seal on the door was removed" Celestia said."Did you guards see anything" she asked.
"We saw a stallion run out of the room with smoke coming out of his mane. We immeadiatly ran in to see if everypony was alright".
"A shapeshifter" Luna said, suprise in her voice."I did not think they still existed".
"We do not know for sure it is a shapshifter Luna. But until we find out what it is I want this base locked down. Nopony leaves" Celestia said as she walked out the doors.
Twilight turned and looked at Princess Luna."You really think that was a shapeshifter".
"I do, althought how I'm not quite sure" Luna responded.
"I read about them in one of my books" Twilight said."Beings that could change their form at will. Nopony knows what their true form looks like. They lived thousands of years ago".
"You are well informed. Shapeshifters appeared in Equestria thousands of years ago but nopony knows for sure. Nopony knew they were there you see. They were only discovered when alicorns came to be. They were able to sense them and they removed them from Equestria" Luna said a sligth harshness in her voice.
"Why were they removed" Twilight asked.
"Twilight you need to understand, if this is a shapeshifter nopony in Equestria is safe. They lived thousands of years ago back when Equestria had foes we could not defeat. It could easily take the form of one of those creatures. We are defenceless against it".
"But it didn't take any of those forms. Why not" Twilight asked still confused by all of this.
"I wish I knew Twilight. Maybe Celestia can answer that. For know we need to tell everypony that we are in lockdown". She exited the lab, shortly followed by Twilight and the two guards.
Celestia walked in the direction of the war room. Guards trotted past her in multiple numbers. Everypony was on high alert with the base being in lockdown. Checkpoints had been set up all over the base where ponies were being examined. None of the soldiers knew the reason why they were being examined. Celestia walked past three on her way to the war room. Two guards opened the door as she approached. She walked past them and heard the door close behind her. She was greeted by the sight of ponies running around the room shouting at each other. Sitting at the war table was Twilight, who was reading through some sheets that Celestia couldn't read from where she was standing. As she squinted her eyes to get a better look she was approached by a pony.
"Your majesty," he said. "Do we have clearance to tell everypony why we are in lockdown?"
"I'm afraid that is classified information for only the elite officers. As far as anypony is concerned it is just a routine drill taking place. Is that understood?" she said, keeping a blank expression.
"Of course, your majesty," he said, walking away while mumbling something under his breath. Celestia walked over to the table and sat down. Twilight looked up when she noticed something move beside her.
"Celestia," she said. "Have they found it yet?"
"No, Twilight, they have not. But we will not stop searching until it is found." Her horn lit up and she spoke to address the war room.
"Everypony, please settle down and listen." her voiced boomed throughout the room. "There is no need to be alarmed. This is just a routine lockdown." The ponies looked at one another, not sure whether to believe their princess or not.
One stallion stood up. "Your majesty, as the head of security of this base, I think I would know when there is a lockdown scheduled and there isn't." he said sternly. Everypony broke into argument again.
"Quiet, everypony!" Celestia boomed. "I know this was not scheduled, this is a surprise drill and it is very clear that nopony here was very prepared, which leads me to question your skill, commander," she said to the head of security. He sat down and glared at the table.
"I apologise for my troops being so unorganised," he mumbled.
Celestia then turned her gaze to everypony in the room. "Until I say otherwise, this lockdown is to continue. Is that understood?"
"Yes, your majesty" was the response she got from the room.
"Very well," she said, "Until then, you are all excused." Celestia walked to the door accompanied by Twilight.
"I hope they find the creature soon," Twilight said, worried.
"I hope so too," Celestia said. The door to the war room closed as they left.
Celestia and Twilight walked through the base in the direction of Twilight's laboratory. They passed by two of the checkpoints. They continued walking until reaching the laboratory. The two guards who were on watch earlier were still there.
"Your majesties," they both said as they opened the doors for the two alicorns. They entered the lab. Twilight trotted over to her desk with all her notes on the magic drainage. She power read through each sheet gathering as much information as she could.
"Well, according to the latest results, the magic draining has subsided temporarily. The only problem is they are predicted to resume soon and at a stronger rate."
"I apologise, Twilight, but we will have to worry about that at a later time. I completely forgot I have to go and lower the sun. I will tell Luna to see you to discuss the topic further," Celestia said as she turned to the door.
"I can go with you to Luna. I needed to talk to her anyway," Twilight said as she rushed over to her mentor. The doors opened and they headed off in the direction of Luna's quarters. As they were walking they passed a guard, who stopped and stared at them. Celestia looked back at the soldier unsure.
"Is everything alright, soldier?" Celestia asked him.
"Yes, your majesty," he stuttered out. "It's just that you just told me that you were heading back to Canterlot with the next research team…" Twilight and Celestia stared at the guard.
"I did?" Celestia said, puzzled.
"Yes, then you walked off in the direction of the hangars." he spoke softly. Twilight and Celestia immediately ran in the direction of the hangar.
"Twilight, I need you to go and tell Luna she will need to lower the sun tonight. I am going to find out where the shapeshifter went." Twilight nodded and ran back in the other direction. Celestia continued running until she reached the hangars. She looked around for the nearest guard.
"Soldier!" she shouted at him.
"Yes, your majesty!" he said, placing a hoof at his head in salute.
"Did I enter through here recently?" she questioned him.
"I don't recall seeing you here, you majesty," he said. "Maybe if you check with the sergeant in charge. She has a record of all the ponies who enter and leave the hangar." He pointed over to a mare conducting soldiers with research equipment. Celestia trotted over to her.
"Sergeant," she said.
"Yes, your majesty" she said with a light voice.
"I need to see the list of ponies who have left and entered here recently," Celestia said.
"Of course, your majesty," she said, walking over to a desk and picking up a clipboard."Here you are, your majesty," she said, handing over the clipboard. Celestia surveyed they names but couldn't find hers.
"Do you document if I come in here?" she asked.
"No, your majesty, your business is your own," she said. Celestia looked back at the list and spotted something. A particular pony entered there who shouldn't have.
"Sergeant, did you see this pony enter here".
"Yes, your majesty. Don't you remember you came here and gave him clearance to leave with the research team?" she said.
"Has the research team left yet?" Celestia asked the sergeant.
"They just docked off. We can send them a message when they arrive at Canterlot," she said.
"Prepare a personal chariot for me. I need to get to Canterlot."
"At once, your majesty," she said, and turned to get Celestia a chariot. Celestia looked at the list once again.
"I've got you now," she said to herself.
The chariot took off with haste after the ship of the research team. Aboard her chariot were two of her best guards, Eclipse and Nitroblast. The chariot would soon catch up with the ship as it was a lot smaller and faster. They flew through the cloud layer and headed in the direction of Canterlot. After a short bit of flying Nitroblast called out "ship ahead!" They came up alongside it and Celestia cast a spell to freeze the ship. It came to a halt. Celestia and her two guards boarded the ship via a side hatch. The two guards went first for the sake of protecting the princess. The crew would be alerted that a hatch had been opened and an engineer would be along shortly to investigate. As they predicted, an engineer came along and was a bit shocked to see the princess and two guards standing there.
"Your majesty!" he said. "What are you doing here?"
"You appear to have a stowaway that I intend to find. Take me to the bridge."
"At once, your majesty," he said, nodded, and turned the other way. Celestia and the two guards followed closely behind.
They reached the bridge very shortly due to the ship's smart and sleek design. The captain greeted Celestia with a salute.
"And to what do we owe the honour?" she said.
"You have a stowaway," Celestia explained.
"I see. Do you know who this stowaway is?" she asked.
"Yes. He is a stallion by the name of Comet Shower. He is the drill sergeant back at Fort Hurricane."
"I will have my crew search the ship immediately" the captain said.
"Just one more thing," Celestia said. "He's a shapeshifter and might no longer be in the form of that stallion."
"I see. That changes things," the captain said. "I will round up my crew and identify each one to make sure there isn't an extra crew member. Then I shall send out search teams to go around the ship. We'll find him," she said confidently.
"I would hope so, Captain," Celestia said. "Eclipse, you will lead one search team. Nitroblast, the other."
"Yes, your majesty," they said in unison. Eventually the captain rounded up her crew and verified them all. She then split them into two search teams for Eclipse and Nitroblast.
"Nitroblast, you take the upper half of the ship. Eclipse, the lower. Good luck to you both. And remember, bring it back alive."
"Of course, your majesty," Nitroblast said. He turned to look at Eclipse.
"Time to hunt ourselves a shapeshifter," he said, smiling. The two teams took off, leaving Celestia, the captain, and two guards in the bridge.
Celestia paced up and down on the bridge. Even though the teams had only left a couple of minutes ago, she was worried about them. She looked over at the captain.
"Have we an audio link established yet?" she asked.
"I'll check now," the captain responded. She walked over to one of the control panels, placing a hoof on a button and speaking into a mic. "All teams, check in," she said clearly. Through a nearby speaker the responses of the two teams could be made out.
"Team One checking in" Eclipse said.
"Team Two checking in" Nitroblast stated.
"Keep your eyes peeled. We don't know what your looking for," the captain said. "Keep checking in every five minutes" she said, and took her hoof off the button.
Eclipse and his team of four pegasi moved swiftly through the lower decks of the ship. They moved cautiously, checking every possible hiding spot. One of the guards tapped Eclipse on the shoulder.
"So, what exactly are we looking for?" he asked him.
"I'm not entirely sure," Eclipse responded. Last I was told it was a stallion, but it could have changed into anything by now. Just keep your eyes open for anything out of the ordinary." They contiued through the ship, sweeping each room. Eventually they came to the engine room on the bottom deck. They searched the room but found nothing. Eclipse got on his radio to contact the bridge. "No sign of the creature on the lower decks your majesty. We're heading topside now," Eclipse said.
"Good job, Commander. I will check in with Team Two," the captain said. She flipped a switch to talk directly to Nitroblast. "Team
Two, this is the bridge, do you copy?" She got no response. "Team Two do you read me?" she said again. All she got was static through the speaker. She then flipped the switch again. "Team One, I have lost contact with Team Two. I want you to head to the upper deck for an S&R. Do you copy?"
"Loud and clear, captain." Eclipse said. "We'll find Team Two".
Nitroblast and his team moved quickly through the upper floors. He only had three pegasi in his team which meant they were more vulnerable.
"So, what part of the army are you?" one of the pegasi quizzed Nitroblast.
"A part that you don't need to know about," he responded.
"So, what your some secret special forces group?" another asked.
"Something like that," Nitroblast replied, scanning each of the rooms as they passed.
"Why did you decide to join up?" the third one asked.
"I didn't," Nitroblast responded. The three pegasi looked at each other, confused by his response.
"What do you mean you didn't decide to join?" Nitroblast stopped and turned to the three pegasi.
I was drafted without a say in the matter," he said, "Celestia had a small problem. She needed my skills for the job. I was never given a choice. I always wanted to be a Wonderbolt, and I was for a short period of time. Now I work for Her Majesty's Royal Army." He turned and continued walking.
"You must be pretty good if you were hoof-picked by Celestia," one of them said.
"I'm the best. Don't tell Eclipse I said that. He tends to disagree with that," Nitroblast said with a smirk. The four pegasi eventually came to a closed door. "Now why is this closed?" Nitroblast teased. He went to push it open and the door exploded outward. The four pegasi were flung backward. Nitroblast immediately jumped up while the other pegasi still lay on the ground moaning from the pain they were in. A small smoke cloud had formed from the explosion. Nitroblast scanned to look for what caused the explosion. Through the smoke he could see a shadow." By order of Celestia, step forward and surrender!" Nitroblast shouted. Out of the smoke stepped a creature that Nitroblast did not recognise. It stood on two legs, not the usual four. It only seemed to have hair on its head. It had a short neck and flat face. "What are you?" he questioned the creature.
"Your worst nightmare," the creature responded. It began to smile and slowly raised its hand and pointed it at Nitroblast. "Time to die, little horse," it said. A ball of light formed in it's hand and started to grow. Then it suddenly shot towards Nitroblast. Dazed and unable to move, Nitroblast watched as the fireball flew toward him. Just before it hit him, he was pushed out of the way and the ball hit the wall and exploded, leaving a gaping hole. He turned to see Eclipse on top of him.
"On your hooves, soldier!" he shouted at him. He got to his hooves and saw the pegasi from Team One surrounding the creature. It smiled at them menacingly.
"Get back!" Nitroblast shouted at them, but they didn't hear him. In seconds the creature had raised his hand once and again and blasted them with another fireball. Eclipse picked up Nitroblast.
"We need to move, now!" he said as they ran back toward the bridge. He pulled out his radio to contact the bridge. "Captain, this is Eclipse. I have Nitroblast. All other personnel are KIA, I repeat, KIA! We have found the creature and it is extremely hostile. We are returning to the bridge." he shouted into the radio.
"Copy that, Eclipse. We will be awaiting your arrival. When that thing arrives, Celestia will blast it with a spell," the captain said through the radio. She took her hoof off the speaker. "Head toward Canterlot. I don't want to risk that thing blowing us out of the sky. We need to land. Your Majesty, can you stop that thing?" she said turning to the princess.
"I don't know, but I will try my best. It now has the blood of seven pegasi on its hands. It will receive no mercy," Celestia said with a threatening voice. The ship started moving in the direction of Canterlot. Eclipse and Nitroblast were still running for the bridge.
"Are we moving?" Nitroblast shouted.
"We must be trying to land in case we get shot out of the sky by that thing," Eclipse responded. They continued in the direction of the bridge. Eventually they saw the captain at the end of the corridor. "It's not far behind us," Eclipse shouted ahead. "Get ready!"
Celestia stepped forward and readied her spell. Eclipse and Nitroblast jumped through the door and took cover. As they did, the creature appeared at the end of the corridor.
"Blast it!" the Captain shouted. Celestia fired her spell at the creature and an explosion filled the corridor with smoke. The whole ship shook.
"Captain!" one of them shouted. "That blast took out one of the turbines! we are no longer moving!"
"Can we get anypony down there to fix it?" the Captain asked.
"Not without going through that thing" was the response she got.
"Celestia dammit," she muttered under her breath. The smoke cleared in the corridor to reveal the creature standing there. It looked angry. "How can it still be alive? Quick, seal the door!" the Captain shouted. The two remaining guards sealed the door. "I don't know how long that will hold" she said. She turned to Celestia. "What do we do now?"
"I'm not sure. I could teleport us out of here, but that leaves a dangerous shape shifter with an airship. We need to figure out where it came fr–" She was interrupted by a banging at the door.
"Little horses, open up," a chilling voice came from outside. "If you don't open the door, I will." They all looked at eacher other.
"What do you want?!" the captain shouted. There was silence for a bit. Then the door was blasted open. The two guards that were standing by the door were killed by the explosion. The creature entered the room. Celestia cast another spell at it. This caught it off guard and hit it in the chest. It fell to the floor, clutching its chest. Celestia walked over to the creature.
"Do you surrender?" she asked it. The creature could not speak. It continued to clutch its chest. Then its hand slowly fell to the floor.
"I'll take that as a yes," Celestia muttered. She turned to face the other ponies.
"Is it dead?" the captain asked.
"I think so. It could be another trick," Celestia said.
"No, It's definitely dead" Eclipse said.
"How can you tell?" Nitroblast asked him.
"Look at it. You can see it in its eyes. There is no life there," he said quietly. You will see the same look in the eyes of all the dead pegasi aboard this ship." They stood in silence for a while. Celestia then spoke.
"We should return to Cloudsdale," she said.
"Well incase you forgot, one of our engines is broken. We need to repair it," the captain said. "You two." she said pointing at the only two remaining crew members. "Go see what the damage is."
"Yes, captain" they both said and trotted out of the bridge. Eclipse and Nitroblast walked over to Princess Celestia.
"We should take the carriage back to the base your majesty. Ponies might be wondering where you have gone" Eclipse said.
"We will leave once the ship has been fixed," Celestia spoke to her personnel guards. "Until then, I suggest you both make yourself useful and see if you can help with the repairs."
"Of course, your majesty," Nitroblast said. The two pegasi headed in the direction that the other two pegasi had gone. Celestia and the captain stood alone in the bridge.
"Well this has been an eventful flight," the captain said.
"Indeed. I will make sure you are rewarded for your work and your crew compensated for what they have done." Celestia responded. "At least now we can relax." A voice came through the radio.
"Your majesty, we should have the engine fixed shortly" Eclipse said.
"Good. It's about time we got off this bloody airship".
