The next morning, Luna’s journey began. She and a party of six exceptionally skilled and experienced Solar and Lunar Guards, two of whom she knew were in the Corona Guard (the group of ponies of the highest ranks in the entire Equestrian Royal Guard) left Canterlot Castle together. Each of them was aware of the goals of - and the risks involved in - their mission, leading to a very serious overtone to their interactions with each other and the Princess whom they had sworn to protect. Of course a mission with such incredibly high stakes needed some serious, but it felt too serious to Luna and she missed her more relaxed interactions with Nocté and the guards in her castle.

She hated having to wear her midnight black suit of armour - it reminded her too much of some of the less pleasant times of her reign so far - and she hated having to carry her sword. She loved the sword itself. It was the finest she had ever owned: the metre-long double-edged blade was forged by one of her most trusted blacksmiths in the famous lava pits of the Dragon Lands. The handle had ornate bat wings carved around it. It was beautiful, but the problem was that it made her feel weak, as though she was acknowledging that somepony, somepony who she knew nothing about, not even their name, had more power than her. She was acknowledging that she needed armour and a sword and a group of six guards around her as protection.

The first part of the journey was through Equestria, from Canterlot to just north of Neighagra Falls. (She had considered travelling to Aurora City from the Galloping Gorge in the north-west of Equestria, instead of Neighagra Falls in the north-east, and following the dirt paths there, but had decided against it for fear that it would be too predictable in case the mysterious letter writer was really a threat to her and had given orders to somepony to guard the route.) They walked for a few minutes in between bursts of long-distance teleportation. However, once they were at Neighagra Falls, the border between Equestria and the Crystal Empire lay just ahead of them. Luna had decided that it would be unwise to use long-distance teleportation within the Crystal Empire itself, in case any magical surveillance was being used to pick up on energy disturbances, and also because she and her guards would have no idea of what awaited them in the places they were travelling to.

Crossing the border was surprisingly easy. While some parts of it were guarded by walls, other parts in the mountains were unprotected other than by the natural environment and lack of nearby civilisations. The seven ponies crossed the terrain cautiously. They spoke to each other very little, and the silence added to the nervous atmosphere as they wandered through the steep woodland territory and down towards the dark green grass of the floodplain.

Luna’s mind wandered, far more than she would have liked, to the memory of Celestia’s nightmare. In the dream, she had seen an imagined version of herself attacking Celestia. That image had been conjured by Celestia herself. Her older sister was… afraid… of Luna… attacking her? Luna couldn’t make sense of what the reasoning could be behind it. Perhaps Celestia was not conscious of the images being created in her mind, although even then it suggested an unconscious fear that had been repressed. But why would Celestia fear her turning against her?

“Alright, this is too silent for me,” one of the guards burst out all of a sudden. She was an earth pony Solar Guard in her thirties of pale mint coat and buttercream mane.

The others stopped in their tracks and looked at her.

“What? I’d rather have something to think about or concentrate on other than our extremely high likelihood of getting killed. Is that so wrong?”

One of the other Solar Guards, a stallion, let out a groan. “I told you to stay behind.”

“When I joined the Royal Guard I swore an oath to protect the crown and country, the same as you did,” she retorted. “I could hardly be a coward and refuse to help Their Royal Highnesses after they asked me.”

“We thank you for your services,” said Luna. She looked around at the group of six. “All of you have taken an incredible risk to assist Us, and We are grateful for your loyalty and willingness to help despite the danger.”

“You are more than welcome, Your Highness,” the Solar Guard mare smiled back.

“‘Tis worth mentioning,” added the Princess as the group began walking again, “We, too, were aware of the silence, and would appreciate the joy of a conversation, if any of you have something you wish to speak about.”

“Oh,” said the stallion who had complained about his friend.

“Well,” the first Solar Guard spoke up, “it would be a start to make sure everypony knows everypony else’s names. Of course we all know the Princess,” she nodded in Luna’s direction, “but I think apart from you and Shining Snow here,” she tilted her head towards the Solar Guard who had complained about her talking, “all the faces around here are new to me.” After a pause, she continued, “I’m Buttercup in case you were wondering.”

A Lunar Guard stallion with forest green wings cleared his throat. “My name is Oak Leaf.”

“Nice to meet you,” smiled Buttercup, to the annoyance of Shining.

“The name’s Courage,” the other Solar Guard said as he trotted in front of the group. He was a pegasus, with some unusual pale blue feathers mixed in with the silver ones on his wings.

“I’m Songbird Star,” a Lunar Guard introduced herself.

The final Lunar Guard, a mare with a sandy coat and a wispy blue mane, looked around at the group. “Wyvern Paladin.”

Songbird Star scrunched her muzzle at the name. “I swear I know somepony from the Paladin family…” She looked at Wyvern quizzically, and noticed a subtle difference in the appearances of their suits of armour. “Wait. Are you a member of the Corona Guard?”

“One of the newer ones, yes,” Wyvern answered. “I was promoted six or so months ago. I was actually supposed to be taking a few days off this week which is why I was in Canterlot. Usually my post is over in the Southern Caverns overlooking the Badlands.”

“Oh, that explains the accent,” said Buttercup.

Wyvern nodded. “Most ponies have trouble placing it. Most ponies are blissfully unaware that the Caverns even exist. They hear the name Badlands and assume that there is nothing there but uninhabitable desert land, when actually there are farms and orchards not so far away from the caves. It’s one advantage of being near the Hayseed Swamps: it’s not too far from water, which means food can grow there.”

“Do you know somepony called Diamond Paladin by any chance?” asked Songbird. “I did my Royal Guard training with her.”

“When I see my little cousin again I’ll mention that you said hello.”

They emerged from the trees and found themselves walking on the soft grassy marshland of the floodplain. It appeared to stretch for many miles ahead of them. The river channel circled around them from the north east to the west, and just north of the river was a village. Shining Snow pulled a map out of his saddlebags and checked it. “The last thing we want is to go anywhere near any towns where there could be enemies waiting for us. Due north west from here.”

“No need to worry us, then,” frowned Buttercup.

“Just being honest,” Shining grumbled. “Princess Celestia allowed the Corona Guards allowed to read a letter that was sent to Everfree Castle, supposedly from Her Highness the Crystal Princess, and compare it to a letter which we know actually came from her in early March this year, which was the last time anypony in Equestria heard from her. Either she has changed somehow, or else the Crystal Empire has a new leader who hates Equestria.”

“Hmm?” said Luna.

“Yes, Princess?” said Shining.

“This is news to my ears. When did Celestia take the letter from me, and allow the Corona Guards’ Circle to read it?”

“Last evening, just after moonrise, Your Highness.”

Luna turned to Wyvern next. “Is this true?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Luna frowned. “I never gave her the letter or allowed her to show it to anypony. Odd, but I am sure she has her reasons.”

Wyvern frowned at her.

“Yes, Wyvern?”

“I noticed that you stopped using the Royal We, Your Highness. It made me realise how serious you are. I should add that when I asked why you were not there, Princess Celestia’s reasoning was that you were busy, although after the meeting I saw you walking around without any apparent tasks to complete.”

The river channel lay just ahead of them. It was wide - not so wide that it would be impossible to cross, but enough that those ponies with wings had to fly across it, and carry their wingless companions. Luna observed the deep blue water flowing steadily in the channel as she soared above it. How free it looked; free to flow downstream as it pleased.

She also observed the distant village as she passed. Nothing looked too out of the ordinary. Not until she caught a glimpse of something strange between two houses.

It was difficult to see if it was a pony, or a statue of one. It was covered from head to hoof in what appeared to be black armour, making it impossible to distinguish its identity. In the place where the pony’s eyes should have been, she saw a solid glowing green light, and there were spikes covering various parts of the armour. It was gone in less than a second, but Luna took note of all of these details.

“Disguise yourselves,” she ordered.

Everypony landed safely on the ground. Their appearances shifted, starting with their armour turning invisible. The bat ponies’ wings grew feathers and their pupils dilated to make them appear to be regular pegasi; and Luna’s wings became invisible as well. It was not much, and would only last for a short period of time, but as long as they were conscious and wearing their armour, it would make it more difficult to identify them.

“Princess,” said Oak Leaf, “did you see it?”

She nodded gravely. “Coal-black armour with dangerous spikes along its sides, and those eyes… I have only seen such a thing on rare occasions.”

“I know that divination magic can sometimes cause a pony’s eye colour to change when they make prophecies,” Buttercup stated.

“But it would be foolish to assume it was something so benevolent as that, considering the context,” said Wyvern, who looked at Princess Luna knowingly. “I saw them move, although it was hard to tell if we were spotted. They were under the control of mind magic.”

Buttercup and Songbird Star unanimously gasped, while Shining Snow, Oak Leaf and Courage all wore deeply concerned frowns. Luna lowered her head to the ground.

A memory returned to her, of the first time she had seen such a thing. Discord was one of the first threats she and Celestia had faced as rulers of Equestria. To him, being the puppet master of the land had been an entertaining game, but watching ponies’ eyes turn yellow, blue and grey as he used his powers to manipulate them into harming themselves and others had had a lasting impact on both of the Royal Sisters, and they had also witnessed the fiend Grogar using similar powers on their subjects. After seeing its devastating effects, they had vowed never to use such evil magic themselves.

Luna looked up. She looked at her guards. A cold expression descended across her face.

“Keep moving, and be vigilant,” she instructed. “We are no longer dealing with Princess Amoré. This land now belongs to a tyrant.”

Author's Note

This was going to take too long to write if I didn't split it into two parts, so here's part 1 while I work on how to get Part 2 to flow better. Hopefully I'll be able to give our supporting characters some additional love in the next chapter or two before chaos descends.

~ Angel