Chapter Three: The Long Night: Part One
Chapter Three
The Long Night
Part One
"And in a thousand years on the longest day, the stars will aid in her escape," Twilight read as she Woke Up, trailing off as her mind clicked in what this Loop was. Sending off a ping, she quickly looked at Spike the Dragon, who had a certain look on his face-one that a person only received after Yggdrasil Awoke them.
"Are you feeling loopy Twi-" Spike got out before Twilight nodded her head.
Reaching into his Subspace Pocket, an action mirrored by the lavender pony across from him, he grinned. "Is this the Loop?"
Simultaneously, the two pulled out a note with Sleipnir's unmistakable penmanship, and began reading it. It had only one line:
This is it, guys. Time to get one little alicorn filly married.
Smiling with pride that this day was finally becoming a reality, Twilight pulled her little brother/son surrogate into a hug with tears already escaping her eyes.
The two were suddenly interrupted when, with a gentle pop, Celestia appeared in the room with a soft smile on her face, telling the two all they needed to know.
"Need I say that I need you two to go to Ponyville for a certain festival?" Celestia raised an eyebrow, pulling the two into a powerful hug.
"Almost," Twilight stated, breaking the hug as she lifted Spike onto her back. "I need to make a detour at Moondancer's party, just to let her know what is happening." Twilight knew that for a Loop this special, she couldn't let anything go wrong. Consulting her mental checklist, she knew she needed to make sure her Canterlot friends knew where she was going and that they were always welcome to visit her in Ponyville.
"Of course," Celestia beamed, pride bursting from her voice. "The chariot will be waiting to take you there as soon as you are ready."
With a nod of her head, Twilight and Spike left the room and trotted down the street towards the mare’s apartment as the two began to examine their in-Loop memories.
While a majority of events and details seemed to be that of a baseline Loop, the glaring difference was that there was a strong governing structure in this Loop. Celestia was sitting in the centre of the government, with four ponies below her: the Arch-Mage Twilight Velvet, in charge of all things magic related, including the educational system. The Master of Arms, in charge of both all the military and police forces and who would become the Grand Commander in Chief during time of war. The Minister of Finance, with the economy of Equestria and the world resting in their hooves. Nothing passed by their nose as they took note of all exchanges that happened, whether it concerned high level business mergers that meant very little in the long term of the economy or the start of a small apple orchard in a fledgling town that would one day become the staple and standard of all things apple related. And finally, the most mysterious of them all was the Spy Master, leader of a massive spy ring of anonymous agents, and whose identity was kept a secret, only known by Princess Celestia.
Shaking her head as she put these thoughts out of mind, she walked down the street as she looked for Moondancer.
As she was about to open her mouth to ask for help, she heard a familiar voice from behind.
"Twilight?" the pale unicorn pony asked, tilting her head. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you, actually," Twilight chuckled, brushing her mane back. "About your party tonight."
"What about it?" she asked, frowning slightly as she pushed her glasses up her nose. "It's not for a few hours."
"I know, but I just wanted to tell you that I can't make it." Twilight bit her lip, blushing slightly.
"Oh?" Moondancer looked a bit worried at that, which tugged at Twilight's heartstrings. "I guess you have more important things to do than come to my party."
As the guilt started to build, Twilight coughed slightly before continuing. "Well, Celestia did just ask me to help make sure the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville goes according to plan."
"Oh," Moondancer blushed at that very good reasoning. "Well, I suppose we can get together after you're done in Ponyville," she said, chuckling a bit as she forced a smile on her face. "It's not like you're going to go live there, right?"
Doing her best not to wince at that unintentional jab, Twilight looked at her friend. "I don't know, really. I think Celestia has been hinting at me that I should broaden my horizons a bit, so she might just have me move there."
Giggling at the silly notion, Moondancer smiled. "Well, if she does have you move to that town, I’m sure you'd invite me and the girls to visit you right away while you tell everypony about your big brother, right?"
Doing her best to ignoring the stifled laughter coming from the drake on her back, Twilight nodded her head. "You’re not mad?"
Moondancer paused for a moment. "Well... I did want you there tonight, but I can understand you have other obligations and you did take your time to tell me, so I can't be mad at you, Twilight." Smiling at the purple unicorn, she leaned in for a hug. "I will see you tomorrow, okay? And we'll tell each other about our parties? Does that sound good?"
"Yeah," Twilight smiled back, making a mental note to do that despite whatever her daughter was planning to do tonight. "I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world."
Bidding her friend a proper goodbye, Twilight quickly made her way to the royal hanger where a carriage was already waiting for her. However, there seemed to be more guards than normal hovering around.
Frowning, she went towards the nearest one when the crowd of guards perked up at her appearance and walked over to her.
"Greetings, Lady Sparkle," the youngest guard said while saluting her. "We are here to escort you to Ponyville."
"I see, but I don't think all of you are really needed," Twilight said while hoping to avoid a large number of guards. If they could get away with just the four normal guards, then they could have a big party and catch up with Nyx instead of having to do the whole song and dance in the Everfree Forest. "It is just a small village, after all."
"Ma'am," the young guard said while the rest began to board other carriages, guiding the purple unicorn to a more detailed one. "You are the daughter of the Arch-Mage, younger sister of General Shining Armor, and the personal student of Princess Celestia." Nodding his head to the pegasi team and the other waiting carriages to take flight, he turned back to Twilight. "If anything were to happen to you while you are in Ponyville, I cannot begin to imagine who would raise the most fur out of my coat."
"Fair enough," Twilight blushed slightly while Spike continued to laugh behind his claw. "I cannot imagine explaining to your boss, your boss's boss and your boss's mom why something bad happened to me would be easy or safe."
The young stallion snorted with amusement before shaking his head. "Especially on my first assignment, no less," the stallion said, holding out his hoof. "Sergeant Lucky Shot, ma'am."
"Formality makes me feel old," Twilight smiled as they flew over the vast green expanse of Equestria. "Please, just call me Twilight."
"Not sure if I can actually do that, a bit too frank," Lucky Shot said sheepishly before looking out into the green yonder. Equestria was really beautiful in how simple it was at times. Peaceful landscapes with gentle curves, soothing greens and filled with marvellous flowers greeted her, tranquil landscape as far as the eye could see with the air full of life and peace. Twilight might love her library with all of her heart, but she could easily see many claiming this world to be paradise. "I'm just a guard, really. Nothing special. Not meant to be a hero, a grand champion of the Princess, or anything like that. Just do my duties, to protect ponies from any harm."
Twilight smiled at the simple pride that this pony had for his job, finding his humble and earnest pride refreshing. She knew that in another life, in another variant of reality, she would very likely end up falling in love with this stallion. She had lived enough lives and lived long enough to recognize what was happening and for a moment, she felt a stab of regret at depriving Lucky of his future that Yggdrasil had planned for him, for what could be and what might be if things were different. But the moment passed and she moved on as she had done countless times in the past. "Then as a ‘simple’ guard, can you not indulge a fellow ‘simple’ pony by calling her by her first name?" she said a bit coyly, with a teasing smile on her lips.
Lucky snorted, smiling broadly before tipping his head in agreement. "I'll see what I can do, ma'am," he said with a wink before he pulled himself straight, remembering their positions in society and what was deemed proper. That, and most likely remembering who she was and whom she was related to and what those ponies could do to him might have scared him into straightening his back.
Snickering, Twilight paused in her light teasing and looked over the side of the carriage to see this loop's Ponyville. From how she'd seen Canterlot was run, she knew to expect more from Ponyville, since it was one of the few villages close to the capital. From the looks of things, it was clearly not the sleepy and easy-going little village, punctuated by the occasional burst of chaos that she was used to.
This Ponyville was, from the looks of it, on the verge of becoming a proper town. The curved and easygoing thatched buildings were replaced with colorful but straight structures with tile roofs. There were exceptions, as Twilight spotted the familiar gingerbread house style of Sugarcube Corner, as well as the town hall's domed roof and the Golden Oak Library's proud limbs and green foliage reaching out to the sky. There were also a large number of temporary buildings darted around the town hall, with a few that looked very familiar.
"Breathtaking, isn't it?" Lucky Shot smiled at her before remembering exactly who she was and his role once more. "Sorry ma'am. Er, Twilight."
"It's okay." Twilight smiled as the carriages landed in a vast clearing space near the town hall, most of the guards going into the building or spreading out to paved streets of the town. A few, including Lucky Shot, stood near Twilight acting as her personal bodyguards.
Rolling her eyes at having so many guards to try and protect her, she watched as the mayor of Ponyville walked over to them, a smile threatening to break her political face.
"Hello there," the mayor said with a nod of her head. "I am Ivory Scroll, the mayor of this fine town. You must be Twilight Sparkle, the mare that Princess Celestia sent to supervise the final preparation work for the Summer Sun Celebration?"
"Yes, miss Scroll," Twilight answered, bobbing her head respectively. "While it's my first time in Ponyville, what I saw from the fly in was just beautiful."
"Why thank you," Ivory responded just as kindly. "If you will follow me for a bit, I will show you around the venues we have already set up." She paled a bit, chewing on her lip before continuing. "Mind you, Ponyville is a bit odd at times."
There was a loud gasp, with a pink pony briefly visible in the air before dashing off.
"And with Pinkie Pie," the mayor said, sighing into her hoof, "Things can get unusual fairly quickly."
Lucky Shot just looked at her before shaking his head and muttering something under his breath. Twilight simply coughed politely and tilted her head as to indicate that they should move along with the tour.
"While we normally have a somewhat modest celebration, when word got out about Princess Celestia coming here, a fair number of newcomers showed up as you are aware of the importance of this Summer Sun Celebration," Ivory said as she directed them to one stand that had a distinctively non-pony running it. "Miss Gilda here has offered to share with us some of her homeland’s delicacies, for instance."
Said griffon turned around with a smile on her face, and held out a sweet in her claws. "Scone, ma'am, for you and your coltfriend?" she asked, her smile briefly turning into a smirk before vanishing.
Lucky Shot blushed immediately while Twilight did her best not to facehoof since it could attract some unwanted attention as the guards were fairly competent this Loop and she didn't have a good excuse for why she did that. "Thank you, and if I do find a special somepony," she said as she took a bite, smiling back at the griffon. "I'll be sure to direct them to you as these are quite tasty."
"Thank you, ma'am," Gilda tipped her head playfully, although Twilight could tell that she would hear no end of this from Gilda and her friends afterwards. "I hope you have a good day, ma'am."
"As I do you," Twilight said politely, with Ivory already directing them to the next stand that had a very garish hearts design. Before she could even ask, another pink blur raced over and gave her a very tight hug.
"Ooooo, I can just taste the love lines in the air surrounding you!" the strange mare cooed, stealing a nuzzle before letting Twilight fall back to the earth. "My name is Lovey Dovey and next to Hearts and Hooves Day, this is one of the most romantic days in the entire year!" She then paused, tilting her head and tapping her chin. "Although there is Hearth's Warming day, and some find the Winter Moon Celebration to be just magical..."
"And there are other days that are equally as romantic in the Great and Powerful Trixie's opinion," a mare from behind them said with a hint of smugness in her voice. "As well as other romantic events, like a magician's show!"
Turning around to see the showmare give a grand flourish with her hooves, Twilight watched as the blue unicorn hopped down from her stage and gave a short bow to the ponies, holding her hat to her barrel. "Allow Trixie Lulamoon to introduce herself properly," the unicorn said as she straightened up, with a pair of cards in her outstretched hoof as she placed her hat back on her head. "Trixie is available to do shows of all kinds and amaze foals of all ages!"
"‘Note, some of The Great and Powerful Trixie's Tales of Incredibleness are based on other stories and that you should take everything with a grain of salt.’" Lucky Shot read out the small text of the card with a curious look on his face, missing Twilight, Spike and Ivory all doing their best to hold back their laughter.
"Trixie has had some eager fans of hers trying to prove Trixie's story true despite evidence to the contrary," Trixie said with a huff, blowing some of her mane out of her eyes. "Trixie had that put in after Trixie overheard some colts were talking about finding a Ursa Major for Trixie to tame."
"You're kidding, right?" Lucky Shot asked, paling a bit after Trixie gave him a deadpan look.
"Trixie wishes she was kidding..." she muttered before turning to face Twilight again. "Anywho, Trixie will be working with miss Zecora to help her telling of Princess Luna's self-imprisonment in the sky to the foals, to pass the time until Princess Celestia raises the sun."
"The showmare speaks the truth," a voice said a soothing tone with an exotic accent. "The young ones we shall soothe. To ease them through tonight, by recounting the tale of the fair Princess of the Night." The zebra then dipped into a bow and batted her eyes at the guard next to Twilight. "And who might you two be? Perhaps some names so I can address you properly?"
"She is Lady Twilight Sparkle, daughter of the current Arch-Mage Twilight Velvet, sister of the Master of Arms General Shining Armor, and personal student of her majesty Princess Celestia," Lucky Shot said as he reached out to take Zecora's hoof as a gentlecolt, missing the hooves covering many mouths to prevent the sniggering from the assorted mares. "I am sergeant Lucky Shot, my fair lady," he said as he kissed her hoof. "It is rare to see a fair maiden such as yourself far from the Savannahs."
"You're too much the gentlecolt," Zecora blushed, clearly enjoying the attention directed to her. "Your praises make my heart quite jolt. Perhaps later we could meet, once our duties are complete?”
"I hope so, my lady," Lucky Shot said with a grin before remembering where he was and what he was supposed to be doing, and coughed loudly. "Um, shall we continue miss Ivory?" he said with a bit of a voice crack, with Trixie holding her hat over her mouth to hold back her laughter.
"Sure thing," Ivory said with a coy look in her eyes. "Come along you two, I need to introduce you to the musicians playing tonight."
"Sup!" a rough feminine voice called out further ahead, moving their attention to a now blushing gray earth pony mare standing alone on a stage and to the white unicorn that was both working on the speakers and trying to hide and embarrass her friend by her less than sophisticated manner of speaking.
"Vinyl," the mare on the stage hissed as she risked a glare at the other mare before trying to place Twilight's status in society and how to properly interact with her. "What did we say about doing that?"
"Ta not fake being you when you're around?" the unicorn spoke in a tone that suggested she was not paying any attention to the conversation.
"If not for the fact that kicking you right now would launch you into the speaker system and thus short it out, I would be strongly tempted to do that to you!" She then paled as she remembered that she was in public at the moment.
"What about my well being?" Vinyl, raising her head, gave the earth pony on the stage a look with big, red eyes, a hint of tears at the corners.
Octavia huffed, rolling her own eyes before remembering once again that they had guests. "Hello there, my name is Octavia Melody and my friend here," she said with a hitch in her voice, and a yelp emitting from the other mare as a hoof made contact with a plot. "Is Vinyl Scratch, also known as Disc Jockey Pon 3."
“Octs," Vinyl muttered as she rubbed her abused posterior. "I'm a DJ, not a disc jockey."
"It's the same thing, Vinyl," Octavia responded with a sly smile. "And fair is fair, after all." She winked at the mare before walking down to shake Twilight’s hoof. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, miss Twilight Sparkle."
"Likewise," Twilight said as politely as she could, nodding her head. "From what I remember of Princess Celestia telling me, you are quite the accomplished cellist."
A blush raced across Octavia’s face before she regained her composure. "Er, yes, Vinyl and I plan to play our brands of music to help ease the time for young colts and fillies if they do not wish to listen to miss Zecora's story of Princess Luna."
"Hard to imagine that happening," Lucky Shot muttered to himself under his breath, but not too quietly as every mare tried her best not to laugh at the lovestruck pony.
"D'aww," a voice called out from above as a blond-maned pegasus mare flew down with a package attached to her side. "Young love is so sweet!" she cooed as she trotted past them towards a stand that had a purple earth pony behind the counter. "How strong is it, miss Dovey?"
"Ooo, I wish I could tell the two but I never tell a pony how strong their love lines are unless they ask me!" the matchmaker squealed with a broad smile on her face. "And I would never tell ponies about another pony's love lines!" She placed a hoof on her chest, rearing back in a somewhat noble like fashion.
"Shoots," the mailmare said, kicking the ground before looking at the mare she walked up to. "Here are your glasses, miss Berry Punch, and I just checked on my little Muffin and your little Pinch with miss Cheerilee."
"Thank you Derpy," the mare said with a smile as she opened the crate and began to check and store the glasses. "They're playing along with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon and the rest?"
"Yup," Derpy chirped happily before turning to shake both Twilight and Lucky's hooves. "I've got to do some more deliveries but it was nice meeting you two." And before either could reply, she flew back into the air.
"By the Princesses, she was strong," Lucky muttered as they walked forwards towards Berry Punch. “Hello there ma’am, as you no doubt heard, miss Berry Punch, that Twilight Sparkle here is to make sure that the Summer Sun Celebration all goes according to plan. I would like to make sure that you have a permit to sell alcoholic beverages,” he said, leaning his head over the center of the counter. “I would hate to have to shut you down and bring you in because you don’t have a license.”
“Right here, sir,” the earth pony replied happily, holding out a square piece of paper before looking at Twilight as she placed a glass on the counter. “Would you like to try some ma’am?”
“Sure,” Twilight said, reaching out with her magic for the drink, only for Lucky Shot’s aura to overshoot hers as the stallion in question looked at her in shock.
“Since when do you drink?” Lucky Shot asked incredulously, moving the glass back across the counter.
Blushing as she had been caught in an awkward situation, she was faintly aware that she could have a bit of trouble getting anything to drink this loop if Lucky was going to be around her for long. Still, Twilight managed to say, “I just thought it would be nice to try something different...” before trailing off.
“Right,” he said distantly, a frown across his face, as he clearly did not approve. “Perhaps you could try something back at Canterlot when you are not on business from Princess Celestia.”
With that logical fault pointed out, it seemed that somepony could not hold back their laughter and was promptly smacked across the back of the head for it.
“Lyra,” a mare with beige coat behind a table covered to the brim with confectionaries hissed at the still snickering mint green unicorn mare that was now on the ground. “I –”
“I know it’s wrong, Bon Bon, but still,” the mare laughed as she raised a hoof in the air. “Not often you hear someone being told not to take a swig because you are on a mission from Princess Celestia.” She tried to sound deep and serious but broke into more laughter, causing Bon Bon to groan and facehoof.
Lyra, taking a deep breath of air, pulled herself upright and smiled at the two ponies from the capital. “Sorry about that,” she flashed a bright smile at the two before shooting an apologetic look at the frowning mare next to her. “Anyways, I’m going to help Vinyl and Octavia prepare for their stuff.”
With that, the mare trotted off with a light tune, causing the guard next to Twilight to draw back.
“That’s... a seapony song,” he said with a bit of fright in his voice.
“Yup!” Lyra said, turning to face Lucky Shot. “I’m Lyra Heartstrings; my great grandma was a seapony and she taught me a lot of stuff!”
“Which explains a lot about her,” Bon Bon said with a chuckle. “Sadly, nothing explains Pinkie Pie.”
“Nothing can explain Pinkie Pie,” Ivory said, shaking her head with an amused snort. “Many have tried to their own peril.”
With good natured laughter, Twilight turned to address the dragon in the town. “So whom else is on the list that we need to visit?”
“Well Twilight,” Spike said as he pulled out the list of important ponies that they needed to meet with. “We need to visit Sweet Apple Acres to meet with Applejack of the Apple Clan for the catering, renowned flier Rainbow Dash for the weather management, caretaker of the animals of the Everfree Forest Fluttershy for some more musical preparations and then finally we need to check with Rarity about her take on the decorations for the celebration this time.”
“I wasn’t aware that Miss Belle had done previous celebrations, Spike,” Lucky said with a frown crossing his face.
“It’s something I read about,” Spike lied easily enough to convince Lucky, with Twilight reminding herself to be careful about what they said around other ponies as the plan was to do a baseline Loop as much as possible without resorting to using stuff from outside the Loop. In fact, Leman and Nyx had made a bet to see which group would end up cheating the least and Twilight was determined to win this for her daughter.
With Lucky nodding his head at that lie, Twilight turned to Ivory Scroll to ask for directions to her friend’s farm with the mayor pointing her in the right direction. Trotting down the pathway, the road transitioning from paved to a beaten dirt path, Twilight found herself breathing in the countryside air. It was fresh, clean and pure and it made her feel light on her hooves and by the look on the Guard’s face, he felt the same way. Magic was plentiful in Equestria but there was a special type of magic here that Twilight seldom saw elsewhere in all of Yggdrasil. The magic of home and belonging, the pure sense of welcoming and comfort was abundant here and it always warmed her heart.
With a happy wordless tune on her lips, Twilight, Spike and Lucky Shot walked under the sign proudly stating Sweet Apple Acres with a herd of earth ponies busying themselves around the farm state, save for one orange mare with a Stetson hat on her head.
“Howdy ya’ll and welcome to Sweet Apple Acres!” she shouted, per the norm with the Apple Clan introducing their property to visitors. “The name's Applejack.”
“Pleased to meet you, Applejack,” Twilight said, shaking the mare’s hoof with Spike waving hi and Lucky nodding his head politely. “I am Twilight Sparkle, this here is my number one assistant Spike the Dragon and this is Sergeant Lucky Shot. We’re here to inspect the food preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration but before I begin,” Twilight paused to blush as she looked at Applejack’s family each in the eyes, endearing her in their eyes as a mare that treated ponies properly and not some snooty unicorn from the capital. “I think more introductions are needed.”
“Ah can’t agree more,” Applejack laughed playfully before turning her head around. “This here's Apple Fritter, Apple Bumpkin, Red Gala, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Caramel Apple, Apple Strudel, Apple Tart, Baked Apples, Apple Brioche, Apple Cinnamon Crisp,” Applejack paused, taking a deep breath. “Mah big brother Big McIntosh, mah little sis Apple Bloom who's out with her friends and Granny Smith. Up'n'attem, Granny Smith, we got guests." Applejack nuzzled her grandmother, causing the mare in question to grumble a bit before drifting off again.
“And yet this is not the entire Apple Clan as we are finished now opposed to tomorrow, correct?” Lucky Shot said with a teasing tone, causing the earth ponies with an affinity for apples to chuckle.
“My, you youngsters sure are cute,” Granny Smith said, surprising everyone as she had walked over to the two unicorns. “It’s a shame that mah Jackie here haven’t found anypony yet.”
“Granny!” Applejack groaned, blushing as her family and guests laughed. “These ponies are here to try our grub, not talk about mah love life.”
“Feh, that’s your excuse every time,” Granny Smith snorted as Applejack started to match her brother’s coat colour.
“As much I hate to interrupt, may I please sample some of the food you have?” said Twilight through her giggling, with Applejack doing her best to hide her own smile.
Nodding her head, Applejack guided the mare to a table set up with a wide range of meals prepared, which the Canterlotians quickly sampled with gusto. It seemed that the tall tales about how tasty an Apple Clan member’s food could be was based in factual stories, with how the three of them purred with delight in the small amount of food they ate.
With glowing praise and the assurance that Twilight would inform all of her friends back home about this cuisine finer than the five star restaurants touted in the high levels of society, they began to depart the farm to search for the next name on the list.
As it would fit to look to the heavens if one were to search for a pegasus, they saw a sole cloud floating in the blue sky with a rainbow tail dangling off the edge. Twilight opened her mouth to call out when Lucky Shot moved forwards. Clearing his throat, he quickly established he knew how to make himself known on the field with a powerful voice.
“EXCUSE ME SIR OR MADAM, BUT LADY TWILIGHT SPARKLE, SPIKE THE DRAGON AND I ARE LOOKING FOR A MARE KNOWN AS RAINBOW DASH!” he said - Lucky did not shout, as there was a difference between shouting and speaking loudly as times replacing her older brother taught Twilight - causing the pegasus on the cloud to yelp in surprise and tumble off their cloud.
The rainbow maned pegasus quickly snapped her wings out and corrected herself with a small flourish in the air before landing on the ground, facing the visitors.
“Geeze, you don’t need to shout,” the mare grumbled, rubbing an ear with a hoof. “I was just resting my eyes...” She trailed off before shaking her head as she ascended back into the air. “So, who are you three and what do you want?”
Lucky Shot seemed trained well enough not to roll his eyes as he said, “This is Lady Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia and her assistant Spike the Dragon. I am Sergeant Lucky Shot, and I am escorting her ladyship as Princess Celestia has requested that Twilight ensures that this Summer Sun Celebration goes according to plan. Are you Rainbow Dash?”
“Yeah that’s me, the fantastic Rainbow Danger Dash,” the appropriately named mare smirked as she did her best to hold back a yawn. “It’s going to be a big one with Princess Luna coming back.”
“You have no idea,” Lucky Shot said, starting to let his guard down, rolling his eyes. “The Master of Arms had enough trouble trying to convince Princess Celestia to have guards with her for the celebration, the fact that she chose to come to an unknown location on such short notice was a nightmare.”
“I’m sure Shiny managed just fine,” Spike said as he pulled out the list to check off the weather preparations. “He’s Twilight and my big brother, by the way.”
“Neat,” Rainbow Dash said, stretching out her forelegs before doing a backflip in the air. “I guess you’re here to make sure I did my job?”
“We can see that you already did a fantastic job, madam,” Lucky Shot replied, with a smirk on his face. “Save for that sole cloud in the sky.”
Snickering, Dash flew up and bucked her cloud. “I like you, Lucky,” she said as she flew back down. “I guess I’ll see you around later at the party!” she called, flying off with a burst of energy and air, pushing them all backwards towards the forest.
With a groan, Twilight started to stand up when she felt a pair of rough hooves help her up, which ruled out Lucky as he was wearing his horseshoes. Looking up behind her, she saw a pony wearing a dark green cloak.
“Sorry about that, Dash can be a bit much at times,” the pony, a mare by the voice, joked as she used her magic to help the other two up. “Hello there, I am a warden of the Everfree Forest.”
“Thank you ma’am,” Lucky said with a crease across his face as he peered at her. “I can’t seem to see your face.”
“Then my cloak is working,” she said cheerfully. “Despite my skills and what Zecora taught me, it helps if I can go unnoticed.”
“That’s a good idea, miss...” Lucky trailed off pointedly, staring at the pony.
“Warden of the Everfree Forest,” replied the mare, not rising to the bait. “I hope to see you all later at the party for the Princesses.” She then bowed her head before turning back into the forest with Lucky Shot frowning and making a mental note to have a background check run on this warden.
“Come on Lucky,” Twilight said as she lifted Spike back onto her back. “We need to locate this Fluttershy and Rarity before we can start to enjoy the party.”
“I’m surprised to hear you say that. I’d thought you’d like to return home or fret about the party... no offense, madam,” Lucky said a bit too quickly, blushing at his forwardness.
Twilight laughed with Spike, shaking her head to ease the Guard. “It’s okay, Lucky. I’ve been thinking I should try new things, like taking the hints that Princess Celestia has been leaving me about going out more and making more friends.”
“I see,” Lucky nodded his head as they began to walk back to the town side by side. “I now owe your brother twenty bits...”
Rolling her eyes at that little comment, they continued to walk down the path until they heard some singing off in the bushes.
Spike, hopping off of Twilight to investigate, pulled back the branches to show a yellow pegasus addressing a flock of birds, who were singing a beautiful tune.
Twilight was hesitant to speak up when a bird on the pegasus with a pink mane chirped, causing the mare to turn around with a soft gasp.
“Oh hello there,” she said gently, smiling at them behind her long mane. “I did not hear you approach, how long were you all standing there?”
“Long enough to hear your birds sing that wonderful song,” Twilight said as she beamed back at the mare.
“Thank you,” she blushed, as her smile grew larger at the praise. “We’ve been working some time for the Summer Sun Celebration as well as Princess Luna’s return.”
“I am sure Princess Luna will love it!” said Spike. “With all these ponies lined up ready to greet her, I’m sure she’ll feel right at home once she’s back, right Twilight?”
“That’s the plan, Spike,” Lucky replied, nodding his head. “I take it you are Fluttershy?”
“Yes,” she answered before continuing. “But we still a need a bit more practice.”
“Well, it was a true pleasure to meet you, Fluttershy,” Twilight opined, shaking the mare’s hoof. “I’ll be sure to look out for you later tonight.”
Replying in kind, the three visitors departed once more for Ponyville to find the last pony on the list with the sun past its zenith.
As they breached the town again, stepping back onto the cobblestone pathway, it was quickly determined that the best way to locate Rarity would be to see Ivory Scroll at the town hall.
Walking past the number of foreign guests from across the globe, the majority of them chattering peacefully with the local townponies, Twilight opened the doors of the local governmental office and found it in the finishing moments of decorations and preparations, with ponies from the Sweet Apple Acres moving in the food and other ponies bringing various amounts of equipment around at the direction of one white unicorn mare on top of a stage.
“Excuse me,” Twilight called out, sneaking a glance at Spike who was already beaming with pride at his wife’s latest masterpiece. “My name is Twilight Sparkle, the pony sent by Princess Celestia to make sure everything is ready. Are you Rarity Belle, in charge of decorations for the Summer Sun Celebration?”
“Indeed I am, darling,” she cooed playfully before calling out to redirect several ponies that were about to crash into each other. “I must say, it was a very big surprise to be asked to not only plan the Summer Sun Celebration but also the party to welcome Princess Luna back to Equestria.”
Taking in the various amounts of artwork depicting the sun and moon together, with gold and silver dotted around in almost equal parts with the silver being slightly more prominent, it seemed that she had achieved her goal.
With a whistle, Lucky turned to address Spike. “It seems you were right after all,” he said, nodding his head to various decorations adorning the large building. He then turned to face the mare, saying, “My friend here is apparently an admirer of yours, and he spoke highly of your past works.”
“My, what a nice thing to hear from such a charming young dragon,” Rarity said, winking at her husband as she hopped down to speak with them face to face. “If you do not mind me borrowing your young friend, I would love to hear his thoughts about my other works.”
“Well as we are done with our last item on my checklist, I think I can give Spike some time off,” Twilight said as her brother quickly went to his wife, using this time to catch up and more than likely set up a precedence for them to be together. “I guess it’s time to go out and enjoy this party.”
Lucky Shot snorted, staring at her with an impressed look on his face. “I must admit, I have never thought I would hear you say something like that. The rest of the Guards and your brother will be over Luna’s moon to hear this,” he praised, the unicorn removing his helmet. “Let me inform the rest of the squad, see if they spotted any problems and I will be back here shortly... Twilight,” he said with coltish smile, another sign of what could have been - the Loop was still trying to ensure that Lucky and Twilight would be together, with Zecora as a false lead and possible rival. It was pointless, as Twilight had felt no feelings of attraction towards the colt and she was far too old for him.
Shaking her head as she stepped outside, she tried to make a beeline for her friends at the various stands, but a diamond dog that was eager to talk to her quickly flagged her down, another aspect of this Loop that she was glad to see. It was somewhat rare for Equestria to have poor relations with her neighbours, but it was even rarer for them to have such good relations that other races were a welcome and unnoticed sight in the country, let alone Ponyville.
It seemed that the diamond dog knew that Twilight Sparkle was Princess Celestia’s latest personal protegé and he wished to talk through her to gain Princess Celestia’s ear before Princess Luna arrived. With her eons-long experience in dealing with politics, Twilight quickly made the diamond dog talk to her on a level of equals.
While she managed to both promise nothing and leave the diamond dog feeling as if he had gained some sort of victory, she had made the mistake of making herself noticeable which gifted her the undivided attention of the other various visiting ambassadors.
As she spoke with the horses, the griffons, the buffalos, the minotaurs, the yaks, various free pony city-states representatives, and even several seaponies, time quickly passed her by. She was in the middle of a three-way debate over a fifty-year-old fishing rights treaty between Equestria, Venicia and Atlantria when there was a chorus of trumpets. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that the party was in full swing only to pause as a gold plated chariot was being pulled into Ponyville‘s airspace, making several tightening circles in the sky with Princess Celestia looking down with a serene smile on her face at the sudden outpouring cry of adoration being cast towards her.
Finally, the carriage landed in front of a red carpet with all in the town bowing before the alabaster alicorn that stepped out before them. She then motioned them to rise, clearing her throat to address the crowd.
“My dear little ponies and my dear friends, please, do not stop your celebrations on my account,” Princess Celestia said as she looked at the twenty three bearers in the crowd in the eye. “I understand that my sister is soon to come, but I do hope I am not too late to hear miss Zecora’s telling of my dear sister.”
“Princess, 'tis luck which you are in," Zecora said with a bow of her head, a hoof indicating the mass of foals and youngsters gathered before her. “My tale is ready to begin.”
“Excellent,” Princess Celestia said as she levitated a piece of apple cake over to herself and, without a care in the world, plopped herself down in the midst of the astonished youths.
A chuckle broke out of the crowd as dignitaries and ambassadors joined their children, without a care about the stains they would get on their fancy clothing.
“Many, many eons ago,
Equus was guarded from fiend and foe
by princesses of the dawn and night
who kept us safe from evil's might,"
Zecora recited, relying on the magic illusions Trixie was creating for her to show her tale, with Lyra, Vinyl and Octavia each playing music to make a mystical feel to the entire event.
"When Harmony's Elements they brought forth, the chaotic Discord was soon bested.
Later they went to the far frozen north, where the vile King Sombra rested.
The tyrant's dark magic and evil might proved no match for Harmony's light, and into the shadows he vanished.
The Crystal Ponies rejoiced in a single loud voice now that the dark king had been banished.
And so it was that a lasting peace came about, the wisdom and magic of Harmony widely shared.
With charity, kindness, joy, integrity, devotion and magic itself, an age of safety and happiness was declared."
She paused for dramatic effect, with Trixie replacing the peaceful scene of a world at peace with a spreading darkness and the musicians increasing the tempo.
"But one day, a dark prophecy was heard of a deadly new threat and a darkest hour.
The stars and moon this creature would pass, to engulf the world within its frightful power.
And so that day, with a heavy heart, Princess Luna vowed to stop the beast at its source.
Into the heavens she would withdraw, and intercept the beast in its course.
Entrusting the care of her beloved night to the sister she loved even more,
Princess Luna departed from our dear land. But first, a sacred oath she swore.
She vowed that a thousand years from that day, on the longest day of the year,
the stars would guide her back to her home, and she would bring news of great cheer.
The beast would be gone, she promised us all, and now that day has come.
Night's guardian returns, and our long lost princess too, at the dawning of the sun!"
All cheered loudly at the wonderful retelling of the famous story of the Princess of the Moon, with Celestia being the loudest and most emotional.
The party began to pick up again for a short while before there were signs that the entire celebration was starting to draw to a close. The music and partying began to cease on an unseen cue as everypony looked at Princess Celestia for guidance. A smile breaking through her stately mask of calm and poise, with a tear running down her face and a soft glow emitting from her body, but not enough to outshine the moon, she looked to the adoring crowd of her ponies and Equestria's neighbours who had journeyed far and wide to witness this special moment.
"My dear friends," she began, a hiccup in her voice. "A thousand years ago, my sister, Princess Luna, alicorn of the Moon and matron of the arts, did leave us to defend our world. She took a great burden unto her shoulders that night and since then, every night has been lacking to me as I and Equus have been without her," she cast her head upwards, looking at the profile of her sister leaving the moon, with cheers from all gathered around the town's center. "Tonight, that ends with the arrival of the most important pony in my life-" She gasped as a dark navy alicorn appeared before them on the raised dais. She had Princess Luna's cutie mark, her ethereal mane was the same as in the legends and stories that Princess Celestia told everypony and her face was a perfect match to the countless portraits of her but still... something was off. Something on an instinctual level that caused everybeing to let out a tiny whimper of fear and fright. Guards were forcing themselves to remember their training and stand taller, looking to see if they would need to help calm the crowd.
There was a soul clenching moment of silence before the new alicorn spoke, too softly for Twilight to hear or Princess Celestia either as she had leaned in closer.
"Lulu?" she asked softly with concern in her voice, which was as equally troubling as this wrong alicorn to the crowd below.
"...r...u.......n," it spoke, lips staying still, eyes unblinking. "....Ti....Tia.....ruuu..."
"Lulu, what's wrong, tell me!" Celestia shouted, placing her hooves on her sister's shoulder, with Twilight shouting a warning a moment too late and not before Luna gave her own.
A lighter navy blue head broke out of the dark navy blue alicorn's head, tears of utter terror running her face. "TIA RUN NOW!" she screamed before tendrils of blackness forced her back into the creature’s body with a scream, the tendrils then reaching out for the princess of the sun.
With a squawk of surprise, Celestia threw herself into the night sky with the creature slowly tilting its head upwards, the tendrils still lashing outwards towards the white alicorn and Luna's whimpering vanishing before raising its wings upwards.
It then hit Twilight what was so wrong; it was making no sound, nothing from it made a noise and all sound around it was muted. It was like a vacuum, drawing everything into it. Like the void of space...
The creature then snapped its wings and proved it could make a sound in only the worst manner possible. The snap of its wings was not heard by the ears of anybeing but the aether that all were connected to. It was like the rattling of bones on a sunless foggy day in a graveyard, the death rattle gasp of one close to a painful end, it was like nails scraping against the soul.
With the crowd grounded to the earth in utter terror, the creature pulled itself onto the sky, standing as if it were terra firma, staring at Celestia who was struggling to escape the quick as lightning extensions of the creature attacking her.
"What have you done to my sister," she snarled in anger, fire starting to flow down her white coat as to burn off the entity, but to no avail. "What are you!" she snapped as she dove around it, with the creature moving to keep its eyes of the diarch of the Equestria.
"....NiGhTmArE...." its voice was that of Death, horror drugged up the deepest recess of the mind. "...oFtHeMoOnCrEaTuReS..."
"Nightmare," Celestia spat out before shaking her head, correcting herself as she named her foe. "Nightmare Moon, you signed your defeat! You are but a bad dream, I, Celestia Morning Star, will do what has been my job for countless years," she denoted, her coat exploding in fire as her horn glowed a painful golden shine. "I WILL BE THE HERALD OF THE DAY TO SHOW THAT FEARS OF THE NIGHT HAVE NO PLACE IN EQUUS!" With the dawn of the sun exploding up from behind Celestia, the princess of the sun blasted the creature into the ground with a cry that reminded all of moments of triumph, times of great victory, seconds of success over incredible odds.
In the crowd below, almost all were cheering at the victory so easily achieved.
Those who were not cheering was because it was a victory so easily achieved.
"What do you have to say to that, Nightmare Moon," Celestia spat out, glaring at the hole where she blasted the creature.
"DiStRaCtIoN," the whisper of the soon to be departed spoke into Celestia's ear, echoing clearly across the aether. Everyone looked up in soul-dread at the creature next to Princess Celestia's neck, moving to face her in less time it took to blink.
Then, for a second time, it snapped its wings again and created an impossibility across the sky. A falling star going backwards, the tail pitch black pushing the white and fire across the country, and into the golden capital city of Equestria.
A point was made when Celestia was pushed into her castle, the heart of her land, and into her throne so hard it was knocked off its dais and almost crushed a couple of maids before she caught it with her magic. Celestia looked around for a split second, seeing nothing of the creature before looking at her ponies to reassure them.
Their faces were pale in sheer fright. Turning her head back around, she found she was staring directly into the creature's face, not an inch between the two. So close that only Celestia saw the void eye shift into the orb of a serpent, snapping off a wink before it returned to normal.
It then raised its terror wings into the sky and snapped them for a third time, exploding upwards as it destroyed the tiles and throne, shattering all the glass in the castle and punching a hole through the ceiling.
The Master of Arms’ fabled and famed shield raced to catch it, but it flew faster, reaching an apex above the golden capital of Equestria before sending down a wave of darkness.
Within seconds, the shield meant to keep the monster contained became the only way to protect the citizens from the horrors it was unleashing.
It then tilted its head upwards, looking at the moon and sun before lowering its head down, and with it came both heavenly bodies.
The creature known as Nightmare Moon stood victorious over a lightless world with the cries already being echoed out through the entire planet before vanishing.
END OF PART ONE
Chapter Three: The Long Night: Part Two
Chapter Three
The Long Night
Part Two
The globe labelled as Equus was bathed in neither the light of the sun nor the reflective glow of the moon, both celestial bodies banished. Only the light of flames and the glow of the aether used by the inhabitants shined in the darkness, but it was muted and dim, as if something was actively choking all light into nothing. It was as if they were in the void of space itself...
Across the entire planet, while light was dying out as in the vacuum of space, sound proved to be immune. The cries of fear and terror rang out from end to end, from one side of a continent to another, the sobs of hopelessness echoing loud and clear.
No place was spared this crippling blow; hope fading as quick as the sun and moon vanished. It was up to those entrusted with the protection of others in times of need, great and small, to stand tall.
Lucky Shot quickly found his way to the stage, memorizing the pathway before the party began. He heard Mayor Ivory Scroll call for calm and order, and that might have worked if not for the young and visitors unaccustomed to the sheer inane obstacles and trials that presented itself in Equestria. It spoke of how adept Equestria was that all cities, no matter how small, were required to have at least one end of times bunker that was stocked to last several months and were checked regularly, with hefty fines leveled against towns that were found wanting for inadequate reasons.
It also spoke of how far Princess Celestia and Master of Arms planned for the worst, with the ultimate horrific scenario running across his mind, electing a shudder of utter terror through the sergeant. But he banished that thought; he was entrusted with the safeguard of this town and its people.
Clearing his throat to speak loud - it would do no good to shout or, the Princesses forbid, scream - he addressed the crowd.
“Silence and order,” he narrowed his eyes, willing them to cope with the current level of light. “I am Sergeant Lucky Shot of Their majesties, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s Glorious Guardians, and I am placing this town under martial law,” he spoke, flicking looks at his squad that were already helming in the crowd, to not have stragglers wandering about. “No Twilight,” he spoke, looking at the mare with whose safety he was entrusted above others. She had created a weak orb of light with Trixie the illusionist and the warden before banishing it under his command with some struggle, each of the unknown mares’ magic stronger than he had expected. It was truly unnerving to see how weak the spell was, though, when he knew how strong Twilight was, electing a silent praise that there were few unicorns in this town, as he could not have banished all of them. “I understand the desire for light but I am ordering that no one create any light until I or one of my Guards say otherwise. I do not know when the sun and moon will return and we will need time for our eyes to adapt to this light.” He then looked at Ivory Scroll. “Mayor,” he coughed as he stopped himself from speaking loudly, seeing he had got attention from all gathered. “Mayor, I trust that your bunker is prepared? Or is it bunkers?”
“It was bunkers,” she said, nodding her head in the lightless world, her eyes starting to show a few hoofsteps beyond her nose as she walked onto the stage beside the light blue unicorn guard. “There was one in the Golden Oak Library but it was moved to the town hall as Ponyville grew larger.”
“Good,” he said sharply, eyes raking across the crowd, seeing that the ponies were going out of their way to comfort and ease the fears of the visitors. It warmed his heart to see such kindness and generosity given without thought, reminding him why he loved Equestria so deeply. “Initiate relocation procedures and have ponies you can trust gather resources from the backup bunkers once you have made sure everyp-everyone is inside,” he whispered.
“I know how to do this, sergeant,” Ivory responded under her breath, making sure to flash him a reassuring look, knowing how nervous the stallion must be. He was too young to have had other commissions, meaning this had to be his first. A trial by fire like no other, and hopefully no one else would be tested as he was.
Turning to face her town, Ivory leaned on her experiences dealing with a powder keg like this; managing the town when nearly all of the residents were like the flower trio had given her great patience and temperance that few could match. “My dear ponies,” she spoke calmly, her eyesight adapting quickly to the darkness, seeing dull silhouettes of everyone appearing in the darkness. Lucky was right to tell Twilight and the girls to quit it, the dregs of light stabbing the corners of her eyes. “Please, walk slowly and carefully towards the town hall. I will need ponies to do circuits of the town to make sure that there is no one lost. Sir Sergeant, is this acceptable?”
“To a degree,” Lucky Shot said, nodding his head at the mare. “I will be requesting that your ponies are accompanied by my Guards at all times when you are out in the town,” he then pawed the stage loudly, eyeing the crowd as it began to move to the town hall, staring at one pony in particular that was moving with a small herd around her. Something was wrong with that picture and it was itching at the back of his mind. “Lady Sparkle, a moment. Mayor Scroll, you too,” he recalled the government official whose office he had just usurped. Lucky decided to let the ramifications of what he had done sink in later; he still had a duty to perform and citizens’ safety to ensure.
Addressing the earth pony first, he inquired, “This library you mentioned; how well stocked is it?”
Ivory paused in the darkness, tilting her head and fixing her glasses, a dim piece of glass. The lack of reflection of any kind of light from either celestial body was unnerving and he hoped to the Princesses that he was not showing it to anypony. “It is not like the Royal Archives for certain but it is well stocked in the history of Equestria and Equus. May I ask why you are asking about literature now?”
“Twilight Sparkle here has one of the best analytical minds I know as well as being personally taught by Princess Celestia. I want you and several ponies to see if you can find anything that we can use against that thing,” Lucky answered, wishing he had an artifact of the Princesses with him now. So what if Princess Celestia’s Sol Invictus would burn him in an instant: it would prove that the sun still existed and would give light to the world however brief!
He forced himself to calm down and look at the assorted mares around Twilight. Nodding at them, recalling them as the ponies they met only hours ago, he said, “Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity; you are to assist her in whatever way you can. Twilight, I am drafting them as your assistants for the duration of this emergency.” He then frowned, wondering if he was going too far, if he was overstepping his boundaries set down by the law by forcibly enlisting civilians into what he deemed was necessary. If proven for naught, his career was over and- no, the time to worry was later, when both Princesses were back and the sun and moon were up in the heavens where they belonged.
“Understood Lucky,” Twilight said, flashing him a smile before turning to address the mares, asking for directions. Again, something seemed off about how Twilight talked to them, but she was doing a very good job in establishing herself as the leader, with them forming a herd around her again as they moved to the massive tree in the middle of the town. Lucky felt his racing heart slow down a bit before he focused his attention back to Ivory, with his eyes flicking upwards at the darkness, almost making out shapes in the void.
“I will need a briefing of potential troublemakers, any pon-people,” he corrected himself, as there were other races here and he would use the correct term as he had been taught to use in situations like this, “those that need special medical treatment and so forth.”
“Very well,” Ivory said, leading the stallion away to the town hall, with the lump of mass above where they were moving down the wall with catlike grace and land with not a sound before a group of people.
“So it seems that that egghead was told by her coltfriend to look up stuff to beat that Nightmare Moon creature,” the gruff female voice said to her group. “What do you say we do, Trix?”
“Trixie thinks,” the mare glared at her friend, shaking her mane out of her face. “That they are wasting precious time.”
“So what do you think we should do, Trix-Trix?” a pegasus asked, tucking her wings in tightly with her feathers shuffling softly.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie thinks we should do our own little investigation,” the showmare said, looking at the five other people in her small herd. “Save for two, we don’t have any real loyalties tying us here and we could claim-”
“Claim what, ma’am?” a male voice called out, trying to sound strong and firm but there was obvious worry underneath it all. “What are you fi-six doing here?” he asked as he stepped forwards, metal plates clinking off one another. The Guard peered at the smallest member, seeing that it was a young drake of all things. “Why are you not in the bunker?”
“Well Trixie here thinks that she can find something that can help us beat Nightmare Moon at the old castle of the princesses,” the drake, Spike if the Guard’s memory was correct, said. “I mean, I remember Princess Celestia mentioning she’d been wanting to go back to get something from there but never having the time.”
“And the Great and Powerful Trixie has heard and told countless stories about the grand and majestic instruments the princesses have used in days long past. “
“If what young Spike and Trixie say are true, then to the castle we must make due,” it was the zebra the sergeant fancied that spoke, causing the Guard to turn to face her. “We six plan to go, no matter if you say no.”
“I am afraid I cannot let that happen,” the Guard snorted, moving his covered spear towards the front. Sergeant Lucky Shot had not authorized any use of force and every Guard knew the consequences of bringing steel to a citizen, the princesses forbid if any Guard drew blood. “You six are to report to the bunker with me immediately. I will inform sergeant Lucky Shot about your theories, though, and it might lessen your punishments that you will receive for defying orders.”
“Might be a bit of a problem,” a fellow earth pony, the absence of a horn or wings clear in the gloomy world, said as she trotted up to him, a bottle of soft alcohol gestured towards him. “As we’re kinda already in the Everfree Forest.”
“Wha?” the Guard spun around, only now noticing the dark limbs shooting upwards. His spear trembled slightly in his hooves. “How did we get here‽”
“The loudmouth showmare there is a magician,” the gruff voice, the scone making griffon snarked at him with her presence causing an instinctual reaction to pull back. “Man, you are a really lousy Guard.”
“Gilda, Trixie is sure that...” the mare looked at him, waiting for a proper introduction to be made.
“Stout Wall,” he said proudly.
“Pfft,” Gilda snickered; no doubt seeing his somewhat extended barrel and his slightly pudgy face. She was quickly silenced by the pegasus, a wing extending outwards to smack the griffon across the back of the head.
“Thank you, Lovey Dovey,” the showmare grumbled, rolling her eyes. “As Trixie was saying, she is sure that Stout Wall here is a well trained Guard to protect us.”
“Actually… I am from the engineer division of the Guards, and was asked to join sergeant Lucky Shot’s squad because somepony was sick,” he admitted, ears burning up a bit. “In any case, I must insist that we turn around an-“
“Look Stout, we’re going to move forwards regardless and you can either deal with it or you can go back. Trixie will just use her magic to trick you again if you try to make us turn around,” the griffon said without any sign of mercy, being brutally honest with him about the situation. With a heavy sigh, Stout knew he was going to get into serious trouble for this but as an earth pony he had no way of overpowering the unicorn’s magic.
“Very well,” he said sourly, eyes narrowed as he reached into his pack for some material. “Before we proceed, I must alert my superior about what is happening.” He pulled out the scroll and flask of dragon fire that were to be used for such situations. Quickly writing a letter explaining everything that had happened, he poured a bit of dragon fire to send the letter off into the sky.
Lucky Shot paced in front of the town hall, keeping one eye on the building and another on area around the town.
He had left the bunker a moment before, still shaking off the claustrophobic feel of the place. It was a vast multilevel complex; large enough for the entire population to live in relative comfort for however long they were required to be in there and they would be safe from almost anything. It was forged by dragon flames from steel and metals dug from the depth of the earth by diamond dogs, enchantments upon enchantments by unicorns to protect the inhabitants to prevent any casting into the room. It was essentially protected by anything thrown at it short of the princesses going rogue.
It also left the rooms magically dead, which was greatly unnerving, and made ponies very skittish after a few moments in there. It was tremendously tasking all the adults to keep the youths calm for the short while they were in there and it could be expected that they stay in there for months at the very least.
Lucky Shot let out a nicker, reading the message again that had come from the army. He had the orders from the captains and the majors; they would be in the town within two hours and they would take over his command to establish a proper theatre of war. It was unpleasant to have his first command revoked like this but there was little else he could do about it beside maintain the line and ensure that everyone was safe and secure.
With a tilt of his head, he traced the latest passage of message sent by dragon fire and used his own magic to grab it from the air as he had done before.
Opening the scroll and quickly scanning the contents of the message, Lucky Shot almost let out an angry shout when he heard a set of ponies race towards him. Pivoting on the spot, he saw that Ivory Scroll was being followed by Private Midnight Stream, with several other ponies he somewhat recognized from before; the Warden of the Everfree Forest with her cloak of Notice-Me-Not enchantments, that pegasus mother with earth pony strength, the musician unicorn with red eyes and the mint green unicorn musician. They were followed by a worried looking mare with a deep pinkish red coat, a pale, two-tone grayish pink mane and three smiling-faced flowers for a Cutie Mark, eyes darting around the place.
“Sir, we have an issue,” Midnight said, overtaking whatever Ivory was about to say. “The mayor has reported to me that there are five foals missing.”
“Yes,” Ivory Scroll said a bit crossly, eyeing the nox pony before speaking up properly in a manner befitting a leader. “Cheerilee,” a brief head gesture towards the unnamed pony in the group identified her. “Here has given me list of all the children and there are five fillies missing; Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. I am taking this group of ponies with me and miss Private Stream here to find them.”
Biting the inside of his lip, Lucky Shot opened his mouth but the Guard in the purple and silver of the Lunar division in spoke before him. “Sergeant, I understand that this is not the most optimal situation, but I must ask you to think of this matter carefully.”
He frowned at being spoken to in such a manner by a private but he kept his eyes focused on the mayor. “Scroll, I must commend you on your loyalty to your ponies but I must also clarify how dangerous it may be for you all to go search for these fillies, even with Private Midnight Stream aiding you. I am formally asking you to take your citizens with you and return to the bunkers.”
“With all due respect, Sergeant, it will be far better if we go instead of a group of your Guards,” Cheerilee spoke, stepping closer to him. “The children will recognize me and the rest of the mares here, we can move quicker as we know the lay of the land and we have a general idea to where they could be.”
“And where is that, miss Cheerilee?” Lucky inquired as he moved to her, narrowing his eyes.
“In their clubhouse on the Sweet Apple Acres near the border of the Everfree Forest,” the Warden said, identifying her purpose here.
“I see,” Lucky mused before flashing his eyes towards the musician with the purple lens coated glasses, the one with too wide a grin and the mother pegasus. “And your purposes?” he asked them, keeping his gaze on them.
The unicorn mare snorted, lifting her glasses to show her annoyed red eyes. “I may be the best DJ out there and that means having some pretty barking good hearing.”
He blinked and tried to process the odd curse before dismissing it as unimportant to the matter at hoof.
...She might have spent time with some Diamond Dogs.
Nodding his head at her supposed qualification and his own justification, he moved his attention to the other musician. “I’m good at making ponies laugh and smile,” she said with a wide smile on her face. “Beyond my many side hobbies that include poking around places and not getting caught, I can be useful at calming them down if they’re scared… because you know, the moon and sun are kinda gone.”
“Right...” Lucky muttered, accepting this at face value and grudgingly acknowledging the merit of having a person on hoof that could deal with scared fillies. Who knew how they were coping with all of this chaos. “And you madam?” he inquired that of the pegasus mare who seemed to be either looking at him or at the wall of the building next to him.
“Well, I just want to help,” she replied happily, retrieving a muffin from somewhere and presenting it to him. “Here you go; you seem to need it.”
Blinking in surprise, Lucky Shot took the muffin with his magic and brought it to his mouth and allowed himself to relax ever so slightly by eating the unexpected treat. Coughing to clear his throat, Lucky gave her his thanks and nodded his head in permission to join the expedition to locate these fillies.
“The journey to the Sweet Apple Acres is not a long one, perhaps five minutes coming and going, although with the status of current events I will add another five until I expect you to either be in the bunker or send off a message to inform me that something has occurred,” Lucky Shot informed Private Midnight Stream, to which she saluted her affirmation and directed the six civilians down the road out of the town.
Lucky then found himself passing on the beginning of his patrol to one of his Guards and making his way towards the library. He already had twenty-three civilians out in the middle of a crisis; a number that should, and would almost definitely, cost him his rank and place in the Glorious Guardians. He needed to make sure that the one entrusted to him before this nightmarish situation had happened was still safe and stayed safe. He had no plan to how inform Lady Sparkle that her dragon brother was among those unaccounted for and that she was not to go looking for him, nor how he would do the same with the Apple mare regarding her sister with the Apple clan placing the same amount of worth on hard work as they did on family. He had a sinking feeling that Rarity would act the same for her sister/daughter - he was unsure of her exact relationship to Sweetie Belle and he was not going to judge a potential young mother’s actions - as Applejack would which would bring only more headaches.
Trotting up towards the grand oak tree in the middle of the town with magic light in the window, he could spot movement in the room before the aura was quenched. Moving faster at the worry that Lady Sparkle could be in some danger, Lucky Shot moved at double time when the door opened up and he saw Lady Sparkle and her retinue exit the library with a book in tow.
“Sergeant Lucky Shot, we’ve made a breakthrough,” Lady Sparkle said as she moved the book towards him. Looking at the cover, he could see it was just a foal’s storybook, although he could see Princess Celestia’s sunburst on it which meant it had passed her personal approval. “You are aware of the story of the Two Sisters, right?”
“Where one left due to her jealousy becoming dangerous and splitting up their terrible power before they came to their senses and made up?” It was a pretty silly story with the ending completely counter to the whole narrative that had been built up. In his opinion, it would have been better if the younger sister had just been banis-
“It’s the story of Princess Luna and Princess Celestia,” Lady Sparkle said, causing Lucky to gulp inwardly at his remarks about his diarchs. “Well, shifted enough so ponies wouldn’t notice the connections between the Two Sisters and the Princesses, but it does say where Princess Celestia left their greatest power.”
“You mean the Elements of Harmony?” Lucky could not hold back a gasp of shock. He had heard the stories of what those magical artefacts could do and if he could get his hooves on them, they would have a real chance to defeat this Nightmare Moon creature. “Where are they?”
“Where else do ya hide stuff?” the multi-coloured pegasus said as she started to hover around. “At your home.”
“You mean their old castle?” Lucky almost dismissed the notion out of hoof but as he stopped himself and thought on the matter. General Shining Armor had positioned Guards to defend dead ends in the past with important doors left untouched, so it was not out of the realm of possibility that this would be a standing order to have these artefacts left in the open with a ton of Guards defending an empty vault. “I will have to investigate this; please make your way to the bunker.”
“We are coming with you,” Lady Sparkle said with a cross look on her face.
“Absolutely not,” Lucky replied. “It is far too dangerous with that creature out there. Added onto the fact there are seventeen people out there, with at least five of them young fillies and my small number of Guards already stretched thin at this point, I could not afford to risk your lives as well.” Mentally he cursed; he hadn’t meant to admit there were others out there.
“Wait, which fillies are out there?” the earth pony farmer asked with worry in her voice.
“Please do not say I cannot say,” the other pegasus said, her wide eyes piling at his heart and he felt his resolve weaken.
“Currently, the mayor Ivory Scroll is being assisted by the teacher Cheerilee, the Warden of the Everfree Forest, Zecora the zebra, the pegasus Derpy Hooves, the musicians Vinyl Scratch and Lyra Heartstrings and Private Midnight Stream of the Lunar division to find Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.”
“Those are our sisters!” the violet-maned mare all but shouted, the dread that was clear on her face a mirror that matched both Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “We have to go now!”
Lucky was about to object ot this when Lady Sparkle interjected. “While I do not doubt a Guard of the Lunar division’s ability to see in this darkness, the only way we can ensure the safety of everyone here is to find the Elements of Harmony and this is no insult to your training Sergeant, but we both know that mine was superior and I would stand likely to have a greater chance of harnessing the Elements. Also, both Fluttershy and Applejack know the landscape far better than any of us here and I cannot in good conscious tell miss Belle or Rainbow Dash to hide in the bunker while their sisters are out there, while Pinkie Pie here is also extremely familiar with the territory, as well as possessing a sixth sense that alerts her of danger.”
Lucky frowned at this and while he did not find the idea comforting in the slightest, he was aware of his own limitations and the potential that Lady Sparkle held was the best candidate for something as powerful as the Elements of Harmony.
“I have to say I am still against this idea as it is extremely dangerous but I am forced to admit that we do not have a choice here,” Lucky grudgingly replied. “But before we go, I need to go inform my squad back at the bunker about this.”
“I can agree with that,” Lady Sparkle said with relief clear on the six mares’ faces. “But remember, we cannot bring anymore with us; time is of the essence.”
“Understood, Lady Sparkle,” he said as he turned around and led the way back to the bunker while he began to plan for the trip in the Everfree Forest.
End of Part Two
