On the Horizon

Canterlot Square

        Canterlot Square was bustling with ponies. Ponies shopping, ponies playing, ponies eating. Amidst all this energy Twilight Sparkle and her friends cantered down the street. The Summer Sun Celebration was just a day away and Princess Celestia had invited Twilight and her friends to visit for the festivities. Twilight would have came regardless, she loved seeing Celestia raise the sun, especially since her time in Ponyville had made such an amazing sight a rare treat.

        “Canterlot is simply magnificent this time of year!” lauded Rarity. “The fashion, the festivities...”

        “The FOOD!” interrupted Pinkie Pie as she scarfed down a large Bear Claw. “Festival food is the best!” she continued, pausing only to lick her hoof once her sweet had been devoured. “Do you think they measure actual bear claws when they make these?” Pinkie inquired as she pulled another sweet seemingly from nowhere.

        “Somehow ah doubt it,” claimed Applejack, “Those critters can get mighty mad if ya get too close.”

        Pinkie gave a shrug then resumed eating.

        “Food, shmood, the best thing about this time of year is the nightlife!” Rainbow Dash swooped down and flew lazily alongside her friends. “The clubs in Canterlot offer some of the best entertainment a pony could ask for.”

        “Not all ponies enjoy partying as much as you dear,” stated Rarity coolly. Pinkie Pie began to choke on her food. “Except Pinkie Pie of course,” Rarity added quickly. Hearing this, Pinkie managed to swallow her food and started to eat again, like nothing had happened.

        “Um, Twilight?” peeped Fluttershy as the mares passed a group of colts playing tag, “Where are we going?”

        “The princess invited us to stay in the castle, so I figured we’d check in first before heading off to the festival.” Twilight looked at the lights adorning the sides of buildings along the street. There were shapes of flowers, musical notes, and of course, the sun comprised of many multi-colored lights. Banners of Celestia in her dramatic sun-raising pose hung from the street lamps creating a sense of awe.

Twilight wondered if her mentor ever felt awkward seeing so much of herself this time of year. And what of Luna? The younger princess had some self-esteem issues with the ponies of Equestria, and seeing so many celebrating the anniversary of her banishment to the moon couldn’t be good for her. Twilight’s mind wandered as she thought of ways to spend time with both princesses.

“Earth to Twilight! Hello?” Twilight felt her face stretch as Spike tugged repeatedly on her cheek.

“Ow! Spike, what is it?” fumed Twilight.

“We’re at the castle,” retorted Spike, “you’ve been standing there for two minutes.”

“Oh, heh heh, sorry.” Twilight walked up to the stallion guarding the front gate. He looked her over then nodded, stepping aside. The gate opened, revealing the Canterlot Gardens. The group of ponies strolled into the lush garden, taking in the beauty as they went along. There were flowers of every size and shape, arranged painstakingly to compliment each other’s colors. A small wooded area could be seen containing many small animals that scampered along tree branches.

They came to a bridge crossing over a small pond. Pinkie looked over the edge, making faces at the many fish that lived there and giggled to herself. Applejack noted a sweet aroma that wafted through the air, the pleasant smell of lilac. The gardens really were one of the most relaxing places a pony could visit.

After a few minutes, the ponies reached the doors to the Grand Hall, a beautiful ballroom with a large staircase leading to other sections of the castle. As the guards stationed there opened the twin doors for the royal guests, Twilight saw Princess Celestia and Princess Luna standing at the top of the stairs, awaiting the young ponies. Celestia gave a warm smile as she spoke, “Twilight, my dear student, what do you think of the festivities?”

“They are incredible princess. I had almost forgotten what Canterlot was like this time of year,” the student answered as she and her friends bowed to the rulers of Equestria.

“I’m sure there is much you wish to do during your stay here,” the sun princess began, “including spending time with family.” Celestia motioned towards a white unicorn wearing ornate armor walking into the room.

“Shining Armor!” exclaimed Twilight as she trotted over to hug her older brother.

“Good to see you, sis.”

“Are you helping with the Summer Sun Celebration tomorrow?” Twilight asked.

“Well, I am still a Captain in the Royal Guard,” stated Shining Armor proudly, “the protection of the princesses is one of my top priorities!”

The stallion let out a sigh, glancing over at the twin rulers, and spoke in a false whisper loud enough for them to hear, “Though I seem to be more of an errand colt than a guard right now.”

Luna chuckled a little as Celestia began to speak, “And what a good errand colt you are Shining Armor.” The sun princess grinned as she continued, “I assume preparations are going well?”

Shining Armor approached the grand staircase as he gave his report. “The security is the same as before: eight unicorn guards to provide fanfare and immediate protection, four pegasi guards positioned in high vantage points for observation, and two earth pony guards blending with the crowd for covert movement.”

The sun princess continued to stare expectantly at her captain. Shining Armor sighed as he delivered his next bit of information. “And we already have confirmation from the Cakes and other chefs that they will deliver, eh-hem,” the unicorn held up a letter as he read from it, “‘a more delectable delight than has ever crossed Canterlot’s culinary contest; a truly triumphant...’ well you get the idea,” Shining Armor hastily put the letter away. “The rest is just added alliterative appeal to make me mispronounce the message...”

Shining shook his head in annoyance when he realized what he had said. “Anyway, everything is almost ready.”

“Excellent!” applauded Celestia. “Well my little ponies,” Pinky and Rainbow Dash, who had begun to wander the hall by that point, regained focus as the princess spoke, “why don’t you go experience the festivities? Luna and I have some last minute planning to do, and this is one of the most exciting times to be in Canterlot!”

The ponies bowed and left as Shining Armor began to give another report.

“There have been reports of an unusual magic frequency registering at 3.1415...”

The doors closed before Twilight could hear the rest of the message. 3.14159265 (and so on), was the princesses’ magic frequency. It was a rare frequency only encountered in Alicorns, but why would someone report the princesses’ frequencies as strange? Twilight wanted to ponder some more, but decided to forget about it as the group headed towards Canterlot proper.

Canterlot

        Though it was now well past lunchtime, the roads were still packed with festival goers. Rarity trotted along with her friends down the street, marveling at all the stands set up to celebrate Celestia’s raising of the sun. One that stood out was selling hoofmade crafts like masks and jewelry that, while having long lost their cultural significance, were quite entertaining to see. Deciding that it would help them get into the spirit of things, the group stopped to peruse the selection of crafts.

        Pinkie Pie picked up three wooden masks, one for her face and two for her front hooves, and began to put on a little show, doing different voices for each mask.

        “Rawr! I’m the terrible night gnome!” Boomed the mask on her head.

        “We will slay you foul demon!” exclaimed the hoof-masks in unison.

        “Not by yourselves! You are too weak!”

        “We have our friends to help us!” Pinkie pointed at Rainbow Dash and Applejack with her two hind hooves, creating an interesting pretzel effect to those observing.

Showing their amusement, Rainbow Dash and Applejack joined in, picking up masks of their own for the play.

“Don’t worry friends, we are here to help you!” spoke Mask Dash.

“That there demon doesn’t stand a chance against us!” yelled Maskjack.

Pinkie Pie threw her hoof-masks to Twilight and Spike, bellowing, “Haw haw haw, four adventurers come to fight me? How pitiful!”

Twilight, sensing the looks from the others, quickly got into character. “Laugh now evil night gnome, but we will defeat you!”

"Adventurers, attack!" yelled Spike.

The mini drama played out, much to the chagrin of Rarity, and the amusement of the crowd. Rarity turned her attention to a selection of ribbons, each bearing intricate patterns and styles. “Oh, Fluttershy!” The unicorn exclaimed. “This ribbon would look absolutely gorgeous on you!”

Rarity quickly used her magic to tie a teal ribbon into a bow around Fluttershy’s mane, exposing the shy pegasus’ face beneath. Fluttershy seemed intimidated, but did nothing to stop the fashionista.

“There we are, a butterfly knot!” Rarity paused to admire her hoofwork. The bow resembled a beautiful butterfly, billowing softly in the afternoon breeze. Rarity took a pair of mirrors from her saddlebag and held them up to Fluttershy.

The pegasus looked at her reflection in the mirrors and gasped, “Oh, Rarity, I love it!” She turned her head to get a better look at the teal butterfly gracing her mane. The ribbon prevented her mane from covering her face, routing its usual two bangs into one smooth mane that fell softly to the side of her shoulder. Rarity felt pride in seeing her friend so enamoured with her reflection. Ponies often didn’t realize how beautiful they can be until they are pushed in front of a mirror. Of course, having someone as talented as Rarity design your look is also a must, if you want to look magnificent that is.

Pinkie bounced around the area, performing dramatic movements to accent her in-character monsterhood. Unfortunately, one of her landing areas found itself occupied by a certain purple maned white unicorn.

Thud!

“Ow! Pinkie Pie! You need to be... more...” Rarity was unable to finish her sentence as she was dazzled by the lustrous beauty of a piece of jewelry on the stand. “This is... a trapiche emerald!”  The unicorn shrieked in delight as she galloped over to the pony in charge of the stand. “How much for this brooch?!” Rarity was in full inspiration mode, her new discovery filling her head with ideas just short of bursting. The sight of such designer brilliance was a bit intimidating to ponies who didn’t know her however.

“30 bits?” The salespony stammered, more of a question than a statement.

“Oh surely you can go lower than that...” Rarity stared intently at the intimidated pony. “I really, really, REALLY need this wonderful brooch,” said the unicorn instantly.

The salespony cracked easily. “All right, 15 bits then.” The pony found herself being hit with bits flung from Rarity's saddlebag.

“Oh I have so many ideas for you, my precious.” Rarity cooed to the brooch as she placed it carefully into her saddlebag. With all the ponies having found an item of interest (or obsession), the group paid for their items and moved on.

Grand Hall

        “Are you sure about this, Shining Armor?” Celestia spoke in a serious tone as the captain finished his report.

        “Yes, your majesty. There is a third alicorn frequency in Canterlot. It can’t be Cadence since she is in the Crystal Kingdom, so that means that there is an unknown alicorn walking around Canterlot unchecked.”

        “You mean you haven’t found the source yet?” Asked Luna in a surprised tone. “Shouldn’t you be able to trace it?”

        “Normally, yes. But every time we seem to get close to the source, it vanishes then reappears in a different location in the city an hour or so later. So far, six locations have been visited by the odd frequency.”

        “Seven actually.”

        Shining Armor whirled around to see a large gray unicorn standing behind him. He quickly raised multiple barriers between the intruder, himself, and the princesses, adding repelling magic to some of the more powerful barriers.

        “Impressive...” Fawned the black maned stallion as he probed Shining Armor’s spell with his hoof. “Tell me, what is your name?”

        “Captain Shining Armor.” The intruder raised a single eyebrow upon hearing Shining Armor’s name.

        “I see.” The gray unicorn grinned as he analyzed the young captain through his glasses. He turned his gaze to the princesses. “Very impressive, erecting multiple magic repelling barriers within a few seconds, you carry the name of Light well.”

Light? The captain thought to himself as he looked at the intruder. He was wearing an old duster that covered everything from his shoulders to his flank, obscuring his cutie mark. The coat had certainly seen better days. It was torn in several places, stained by many unknown liquids, and looked as if it could fall apart at any moment. But it wasn’t the poor condition of the duster that caught Shining Armor’s eye, it was the crests on each its tails. The left tail, bore the crest of Princess Luna, and the right, the crest of Princess Celestia. Was this stallion an ally of the princesses?

        Shining Armor looked back at his charges, and his blood froze. Luna cowered behind Celestia, who herself was displaying mixed feelings of surprise and rage. The intruder was no ally, and clearly a threat to the sisters. The captain turned to view the mysterious stallion once again. He watched as the intruder took his first steps towards the barrier. He was coming. Thoughts for defense strategies raced through Shining Armor’s head, just in case the stallion could breach the barrier he needed to be ready.

Shhhhrrriiiii!

        The barrier wasn’t so much breached, as torn like paper. The gray stallion didn’t even stop or appear to cast a spell, he just walked as if he knew the barrier would fall. Shining Armor threw up more powerful barriers, all of which were destroyed in seconds. Fortunately, the magic repelling barriers seemed to take a little more work for him to move through.

        The captain immediately began to think of ways to evacuate the princesses. They could escape through the library upstairs, there was a secret passage to the gardens behind a bookcase. He might follow them, but there weren’t many options, Shining Armor had to buy the princesses some time to escape. He readied himself and attacked the intruder.