Chapter 3 - Meeting Royalty

"Ah don't understand how ya sister could be so cold..." Apple Bloom broke the silence, kicking the wooden planks of the Cutiemark Crusaders Clubhouse.

"I know! If I had Twilight's powers, I would have ordered my timberwolves to attack, she was just too kind..." Scootaloo mumbled, staring at her hooves.

"She was crying too..." Sweetie Belle added, keeping her eye glued to a rusted nail on the roof.

"Ah wonder wha that was all about, she didn't seem like tha type o' pony to get riled up so easily..." The yellow earth pony pondered aloud.

Suddenly, their musings were interrupted by a sharp knock on the door, the crusaders glanced at each other.

"Who is it?" Scootaloo called out, hoping it wasn't Rarity, it would be the last pony she wanted to see right now.

To their relief, another familiar voice yelled back, "Girls! Ya'll comin down for lunch?"

The door opened to reveal an orange earth pony with three apples for her cutiemark and her trademark hat.

"We'll be right there sis!" Applebloom exclaimed as the three fillies quickly cleaned up the dirt tracks they left on the ground before dashing out the door to Sweet Apple Acres as the delicious scent of apple fritters caught their attention.

Twilight conjured up more plates of raw meat out of thin air nonchalantly, placing them down randomly and making sure to cover the entirety of the Everfree lest the creatures under her care get hungry.

After several hours of neglect for the animals while she was... indisposed, the lavender unicorn was determined to show them she cared by checking on each and every one of them personally to make sure they were alright, and to reassure them that she herself was okay, having heard about the distress they had showed upon seeing her break down.

She had to be a pillar of support to the inhabitants of the Everfree, to stay strong and resilient, and to show them the ways of kindness, teaching them to not be the monsters others deemed them to be.

"Does any creature want more food?" Twilight sent her voice across the forest with a gust of wind, and hearing a distant grumble, the vines parted for her, creating a direct route to a pack of timberwolves and a manticore.

"Good evening every creature," The lavender unicorn greeted with a gentle smile, receiving deep bows in response, "More food?" Twilight asked, producing more meat and setting it down on the forest floor, where the ravenous creatures bounded over to, eating to their heart's content.

All but one timberwolf, Aegis, who made his way towards his master, who regarded him with a quizzical look, "Aegis?" She questioned, "Is there something wrong?"

"Mistress." Aegis bowed before rising and sitting down, "Are you alright after..." He paused, worry making it's way into his normally stoic voice.

Twilight gave a small chuckle, before letting a grateful smile cross her features, "Of course Aegis, your concern is much appreciated, thank you."

"At your service, Mistress."

Twilight made her way to a secluded section of the Everfree Forest, where all the eggs were stored.

She checked for damaged or missing eggs, and finding none, was about to exit the canopy, when suddenly, a loud crack caught Twilight's attention, making her swivel around to find the source of the disruption.

A cockatrice egg, made of stone, bore a large crack in the middle, and the lavender unicorn suspected only a couple of days before infant cockatrices would be crawling all over the Everfree, freezing anypony who is unfortunate enough to cross its' paths.

"Every creature to the hatching den please." Twilight let out a soft, melodic summon, her voice travelling across the entire forest, within minutes, every animal, big or small, were lined up in a straight line, awaiting their master's next orders.

"My apologies to those who were still in the midst of their meals, but this cannot wait." Twilight addressed the bowing creatures, "The infant cockatrices have started to hatch, this means anypony entering the forest within these couple of weeks will not stand a chance." she explained,"You are all still under the effects of my shield spell I assume?" receiving nods she smiled, "Any creature other than the adult cockatrices, please guard the border of the Everfree Forest, do not allow anypony to wander in oblivious to the consequences, and do not engage in conflict either." With their instructions, most creatures bowed once more, before hurrying off to their posts near the outskirts of civilisation.

"Howdy Rarity! Are yah here to pick Sweetie Belle up?" The orange farmhand called to the approaching fashionista, smile faltering when she noticed the mare's expression.

"I'm not sure she wants me to pick her up anymore darling." The white unicorn stroked her mane as she stopped in front of Applejack.

"Ya'll two alrigh? The girls seemed mighty eager to go ta Applebloom's room when they saw ya.." Applejack asked concernedly, were the two sisters fighting?

"Oh darling , I've made a disastrous mistake!" Rarity exclaimed, putting a forehoof on her head in a dramatic gesture and falling back on a convenient fainting couch.

Where the hay d' that come from...

"Ya mind tellin meh wha yah did?" The orange mare asked, taking a seat on the haybale.

"Darling, I've been terrible!" Rarity muttered as she launched into her recount of what happened.

"So ya'll saw her with the girls, talkin, and ya heard a scream, so ya assumed she attacked them, an' ya verbally assaulted her?" Applejack summarized with a small dose of disgust.

Seeing Rarity's small nod and regret filled eyes, the orange mare proposed, "How 'bout we let the girls sleep over tonigh, and first thing in tha mornin, we'll go ta tha Everfree ta apologise?"

The pristine mare pondered this "Yes, thank you Applejack, I don't know what I would have done without you, can you please tell the girls for me?" Rarity nodded in agreement, sending her companion a grateful smile.

"Nah problem Rares, I'll see ya at the edge o' the forest tomorrow." With these words, the two mares parted ways with wishes of a good night.

Casting the protection spell on herself, Twilight trotted into the clearing, where the adult cockatrices knelt down and the infants crawled over to their mistress as she studied their half reptile, half chicken bodies for injuries or malnutrition. Satisfied all were healthy, Twilight proceeded in the next step of their training.

The lavender mage took out a dozen dead birds, she had found them near Ponyville, where two stallions had been hunting the 'beasts' of the Everfree and sent home running and calling for help with tales of a mysterious shadow unicorn. She placed them before the baby cockatrices and observed as they clambered up to see the bodies, immediately turning them to stone without a second thought.

The mistress decided to test her influence over them, "Could you all please turn them back? For me?" For a moment, all was silent, then, one by one, the stone around the trail bodies of the birds dissolved to reveal the vibrant hues of red, yellow and blue.

'These infants cannot restrain themselves unless told to, At least the ponies aren't able to get in here, that would be disastrous...

"Thank you all." Twilight sent each cockatrice a soft, encouraging smile, earning proud chirps in return.

"Stella?" The lavender mage addressed the eldest cockatrice, who stepped forwards, lunging into a deep bow as she replied in a dry, feminine voice, "At your command Mistress."

"Would you be so kind as to bring the little ones to a secluded area close to your den?" Twilight inquired despite already knowing her response.

Stella gasped, "Oh Mistress you know me too well! I would love to!" The cockatrice cooed at the little infants, who stared up at her with a curious expression.

Twilight chuckled, the soft, tinkering sound echoing off the trees and sounding like a gentle melody, "Enjoy yourselves." As the cockatrices all bowed in unison, before they followed their elder to the stone dens.

"Fine, we forgive you Rarity, but you have to promise you'll apologize to Twilight, alright?" Sweetie Belle spoke as the rest of the crusaders nodded along with her.

In the morning that followed the events of the day before, Rarity had met up with them at Sweet Apple Acres, apologizing and asking for forgiveness. The Cutiemark Crusaders had forgiven her of course, under the condition she talks to Twilight to smooth things out.

"Of course darling! I promise Twilight will receive a proper apology, my outburst yesterday was most unbecoming of a proper lady." Rarity exclaimed, "maybe I could give her a new dress? You did say she wore a ca-" Her train of thoughts were rudely interrupted by Applejack, who had stopped in her tracks.

"Wha in tarnation is goin on 'ere?" She asked, pointing at the small crowd of ponies arguing with a dismissive royal guard in front of the Everfree Forest.

"By order of the crown, nopony is allowed in the Everfree Forest." The stone faced guard repeated in a monotone, staring straight and unblinking.

"I have to go in for the berries I use in my muffins!"

"Can you not just get rid of the ones near our homes?"

"Get more guards over here and scare them away! Surely the Princess will view this as a threat!"

The fillies and the two mares stood confused, swept up in the crowd. "Wha in tarnation are ya'll shouting about?" Applejack asked the ponies closest to her.

"Haven't you seen?" Derpy Hooves, the local mailmare responded, "The timberwolves are all around the border of Ponyville for some reason, they won't let anypony in, none of us can get to the potions, berries and wood from the forest anymore!"

"Timberwolves? That sounds like..." Sweetie Belle started, thinking in sync with her two friends, before she was cut off by Rarity.

"Are they going to attack us? Oh my! What is the Princess doing about this?" The fashionista's eyes widened as she frantically looked around for some symbol of help.

"Apparently Princess Celestia herself is on her way now, she wants to deal with this problem without any fighting if possible." Cherilee, a local school teacher added, as she was listening to the conversation beside the crusaders.

Before Rarity could utter out another word, she was dragged away from the discussion by the three fillies, "What are you doing? Sweetie Belle?" The helpless mare frailed in the crusaders' strong grip, she was about to use her magic when a low, menacing growl made her jump out of her fur.

"HEY! YOU FOUR!" A royal guard stationed nearby called out to them, "TOO CLOSE! TIMBERWOLF!"

Sweetie Belle gazed up at the timberwolf, trembling and stuttering, "W-We n-need to see y-your mistress!" as Rarity was pushed forwards by the other two fillies, whimpering and avoiding the glowing, green eyes of the ferocious monster.

For a moment, the wolf bared his teeth and prepared to attack, before his eyes widened in recognition, dropping his stance but immediately rearing up when he spotted the white mare, who froze at his venomous glare, "You! I told you to never come back here again. Did I not make myself clear?

"W-Well, I-I am sorry! Uh y-you need t-to move aside!" Rarity managed to blurt out, "P-ponies need t-to get p-past!" Before concentrating a weak amount of power at the tip on her horn, ready to strike.

"The sole reason why I did not rid you of your life before now, is because our master would not have agreed with my methods. But consider this as a warning..." The timberwolf, Aegis, did not wait for a response as he striked with his sharp claws, the fillies yelling, crowd gasping in horror, and white unicorn shrieking...

The pain didn't come.

Rarity opened her eyes to find herself surrounded by a golden orb radiating with power, "Who..?" She tried to say, the frightened mare turned to see her sister and the citizens of Ponyville crouching low on the ground, waves of relief flooded over her as she faced the the almighty Goddess of the Sun.

Though Princess Celestia kept her composure, the air around her heated, her mane cracked with power and her eyes were filled with rage as she regarded the timberwolf standing resolute and staring up at her, unblinking. "No creature ever harms my little ponies." Celestia charged her horn, as much as she tried to be fair to all the creatures in Equestria, she would not tolerate any harm inflicted upon her subjects.

Bang.

The monarch linked, her spell had not even touched the wolf, instead, it came into contact with a magenta shield, protecting the creature from Celestia's attack, without even a slight crack on its surface.

What? A unicorn was protecting these beasts? Such a powerful shield...

The crowd erupted into murmurs, The great alicorn cannot break the shield? What now? What happened? Everypony was asking themselves the same question.

Who was helping the monsters?

Everypony except for the Cutiemark Crusaders.

"Twilight?" Scootaloo, who was standing closest to the Princess, murmured to the other two fillies, gazing towards the shadows of the Everfree.

The name did not escape the Regent of the Sun, "My little ponies, do you have an idea of who could be responsible for the shield?" Celestia bent down, staring encouragingly at the trio, willing them to reveal what they know.

After some exchanged glances, a yellow filly with a vibrant red mane came forward, "Ah'm mighty sorry Princess, We don't think its a good idea to tell yah" Applebloom craned her neck to look at her sovereign, resolute and defensive.

"Pardon me?" Celestia was shocked, nopony had ever directly refused her orders before, certainly nopony as young as this.

"We just don't want you to hurt her, she's our friend..." Sweetie Belle trailed off, joining Apple Bloom and Scootaloo in front of the majestic white alicorn.

Princess Celestia put on her best gentle smile, "My little ponies, I would never hurt h-" She was cut off by a low growl.

Bringing her neck back up to regard the one who had rudely interrupted her, she shot the wolf a glare before he spoke, "Our ancestors have spoken about your deeds against our kind and our savior, we will not allow you to pass, Princess." He spat the last word, taking up a defensive stance along with the other wolves behind him.

Deeds? What deeds?

"My little ponies need the resources from this forest to survive, as the Princess of Equestria, I grant you a last chance to step aside before my guards proceed into the jungle." Celestia calmly stated. Their shields, although strong, would not last against her forces for long, but where was the pony who had cast these protective spheres?

Just as the regal alicorn was about to send the command for her guards to attack, a soft voice made itself heard, "That would be ill advised, Princess Celestia."

The crowd, now consisting of mostly guards and devoid of citizens save for the fillies and the two mares, froze, and gaped openly as the threatening beasts, releasing their defensive stance, all lunged into a bow. Princess Celestia squinted into the shadows of the Everfree, where a tall lavender mare moved forward. She stopped at a respectful distance in front of the Princess and bent her forelegs into a bow.

"I presume you are the one they call-" Celestia was interrupted yet again by a voice beside her.

"Twilight!" The three crusaders bounded up to the mare, ignoring their sisters' alarmed yells and Princess Celestia's gasp of horror.

"Girls" The mare greeted with a small twinkling in her eyes, "What have I told you about coming to the Everfree Forest?" Twilight asked in a light, scolding tone, oblivious to the Princess's defensive stance.

She lowered her head so she could see the fillies at their height, where she was met with sheepish smiles.

"We came to see what your timberwolves were doing out, they weren't letting anypony in, could you please tell them to leave us alone?" Scootaloo pleaded, giving her the biggest puppy eyes she could muster.

Twilight spared a glance at the now confused princess along with her guards, and bought her gaze back to the crusaders, "I'm sorry, I was the one who stationed them out here in the first place, they are here for your safety, and will not harm unless provoked." Before any of the ponies could say a word, she added, "The forest is not the best place to be right now."

The lavender mare wrapped the trio up with her magenta aura, and before any of the ponies could protest, Twilight levitated them over to Applejack and Rarity, who were still in a daze, mouths agape, but nodding gratefully as the Crusaders were back in their hooves.

After she had seen the fillies safely held in their sisters' embraces, Twilight turned back to the Princess and rose to stand to her full height, a little shorter than Celestia, and spoke in a quiet, calm tone, "Princess, my friends will return to the shadows of our forest once your ponies are safe to enter, I urge you to tell your subjects to stand down, lest they get hurt."

"Was that a threat Miss Twilight?" Celestia asked with a dangerous edge in her voice, no creature would dare to harm her little ponies as long as she was still standing.

"No. A word of advice. I cannot claim the blame for what fate is bestowed upon your subjects, they are making a mistake if they wish to sneak into the Everfree despite my warning, and I will not have the time to look after them all anymore." Twilight responded curtly, before turning back towards the shadows of her forest and disappearing under the dark canopy of trees and the flow of creatures filling the gap their mistress left.

The guards stared at the defensive monsters in disbelief, awaiting the princess' next command.

The mares held the frailing fillies back, staring at the forest with distrust.

The princess stared at the spot where 'Twilight' disappeared, looking through her memories, Had her magical signature seem too familiar somehow?